An example of a virtual reality learning environment

Using photographic, computer graphical and experimental data, a pilot model of a tornadic supercell thunderstorm was created in a virtual environment at Iowa State University. One goal of the project was to give students the virtual experience of being in the field, experiencing the dramatic features of typical tornadic supercells, and stimulating them to explore and ask questions in this learning environment. Initial feedback from the prototype version was favorable

Learning Storm Dynamics with a Virtual Thunderstorm

The virtual supercell thunderstorm, scaled to match those commonly observed, can be viewed in a highly immersive CAVE™-like environment (a projection-based virtual reality environment) or on a desktop PC. The virtual storm represents an instant in time during the mature, roughly steady-state stage of a tornadic supercell, and includes such visually realistic features as a wall cloud, tornado, tail cloud, comma-shaped rain region, anvil cloud, mammatus, rear-flank downdraft clear slot, and shelf cloud. Audio representing the roar of the tornado, thunder, rain of varying intensity, and hail has been included

Molecular bases of responses to abiotic stress in trees

Trees are constantly exposed to climate fluctuations, which vary with both time and geographic location. Environmental changes that are outside of the physiological favorable range usually negatively affect plant performance and trigger responses to abiotic stress. Long-living trees in particular have evolved a wide spectrum of molecular mechanisms to coordinate growth and development under stressful conditions, thus minimizing fitness costs. The ongoing development of techniques directed at quantifying abiotic stress has significantly increased our knowledge of physiological responses in woody plants. However, it is only within recent years that advances in next-generation sequencing and biochemical approaches have enabled us to begin to understand the complexity of the molecular systems that underlie these responses. Here, we review recent progress in our understanding of the molecular bases of drought and temperature stresses in trees, with a focus on functional, transcriptomic, epigenetic, and population genomic studies. In addition, we highlight topics that will contribute to progress in our understanding of the plastic and adaptive responses of woody plants to drought and temperature in a context of global climate change.Estación Experimental Agropecuaria BarilocheFil: Estravis Barcala, Maximiliano. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto Andino Patagónico de Tecnologías Biológicas y Geoambientales. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mattera, María Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Soliani, Carolina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Bellora, Nicolas. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto Andino Patagónico de Tecnologías Biológicas y Geoambientales. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Opgenoorth, Lars. Philipps University Marburg. Department of Ecology; AlemaniaFil: Heer, Katrin. Philipps University Marburg. Department of Conservation Biology; AlemaniaFil: Arana, María Veronica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; Argentin

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of Sentinel image processing

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of SENTINEL image processing. The use and processing of satellite images is a methodology that has been used for several years as a fundamental tool for location and first approach to the geological knowledge of a study area. In the present work, the application of the new SENTINEL 2A satellite images of high spatial resolution allowed recognizing unknown outcrops of Proterozoic basement in the area located to the North of Arroyo de los Huesos. Furthermore, it allowed discriminating different lithological types that were later characterized by field works and petrographic analysis. Among these types, the existence of a quartz rock body of geological features that has not been cited yet for the Sierras de Azul of Buenos Aires is highlighted. These new imagery would also contribute to other basement outcrop discoveries in the Tandilia System.Instituto de Recursos Minerale

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of Sentinel image processing

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of SENTINEL image processing. The use and processing of satellite images is a methodology that has been used for several years as a fundamental tool for location and first approach to the geological knowledge of a study area. In the present work, the application of the new SENTINEL 2A satellite images of high spatial resolution allowed recognizing unknown outcrops of Proterozoic basement in the area located to the North of Arroyo de los Huesos. Furthermore, it allowed discriminating different lithological types that were later characterized by field works and petrographic analysis. Among these types, the existence of a quartz rock body of geological features that has not been cited yet for the Sierras de Azul of Buenos Aires is highlighted. These new imagery would also contribute to other basement outcrop discoveries in the Tandilia System.Instituto de Recursos Minerale

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of Sentinel image processing

Recognition of Proterozoic basement units of the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of SENTINEL image processing. The use and processing of satellite images is a methodology that has been used for several years as a fundamental tool for location and first approach to the geological knowledge of a study area. In the present work, the application of the new SENTINEL 2A satellite images of high spatial resolution allowed recognizing unknown outcrops of Proterozoic basement in the area located to the North of Arroyo de los Huesos. Furthermore, it allowed discriminating different lithological types that were later characterized by field works and petrographic analysis. Among these types, the existence of a quartz rock body of geological features that has not been cited yet for the Sierras de Azul of Buenos Aires is highlighted. These new imagery would also contribute to other basement outcrop discoveries in the Tandilia System.Instituto de Recursos Minerale

Reconocimiento de unidades del basamento proterozoico de las Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires en las estancias Cerro Blanco y La Torcaza a través del procesamiento de imágenes Sentinel

Recognition o f Proterozoic basement units o f the Sierras Septentrionales de la provincia de Buenos Aires at Cerro Blanco and La Torcaza farms by means of SENTINEL image processing. The use and processing of satellite images is a methodology that has been used for several years as a fundamental tool for location and first approach to the geological knowledge of a study area. In the present work, the application of the new SENTINEL 2A satellite images of high spatial resolution allowed recognizing unknown outcrops of Proterozoic basement in the area located to the North of Arroyo de los Huesos. Furthermore, it allowed discriminating different lithological types that were later characterized by field works and petrographic analysis. Among these types, the existence of a quartz rock body of geological features that has not been cited yet for the Sierras de Azul of Buenos Aires is highlighted. These new imagery would also contribute to other basement outcrop discoveries in the Tandilia System

Impaired Innate Immunity in Tlr4−/− Mice but Preserved CD8+ T Cell Responses against Trypanosoma cruzi in Tlr4-, Tlr2-, Tlr9- or Myd88-Deficient Mice

The murine model of T. cruzi infection has provided compelling evidence that development of host resistance against intracellular protozoans critically depends on the activation of members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family via the MyD88 adaptor molecule. However, the possibility that TLR/MyD88 signaling pathways also control the induction of immunoprotective CD8+ T cell-mediated effector functions has not been investigated to date. We addressed this question by measuring the frequencies of IFN-γ secreting CD8+ T cells specific for H-2Kb-restricted immunodominant peptides as well as the in vivo Ag-specific cytotoxic response in infected animals that are deficient either in TLR2, TLR4, TLR9 or MyD88 signaling pathways. Strikingly, we found that T. cruzi-infected Tlr2−/−, Tlr4−/−, Tlr9−/− or Myd88−/− mice generated both specific cytotoxic responses and IFN-γ secreting CD8+ T cells at levels comparable to WT mice, although the frequency of IFN-γ+CD4+ cells was diminished in infected Myd88−/− mice. We also analyzed the efficiency of TLR4-driven immune responses against T. cruzi using TLR4-deficient mice on the C57BL genetic background (B6 and B10). Our studies demonstrated that TLR4 signaling is required for optimal production of IFN-γ, TNF-α and nitric oxide (NO) in the spleen of infected animals and, as a consequence, Tlr4−/− mice display higher parasitemia levels. Collectively, our results indicate that TLR4, as well as previously shown for TLR2, TLR9 and MyD88, contributes to the innate immune response and, consequently, resistance in the acute phase of infection, although each of these pathways is not individually essential for the generation of class I-restricted responses against T. cruzi

Defining an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome: International Consensus Statement

Around the world, individuals are living longer, but an increased average lifespan does not always equate to an increased health span. With advancing age, the increased prevalence of ageing-related diseases can have a significant impact on health status, functional capacity and quality of life. It is therefore vital to develop comprehensive classification and staging systems for ageing-related pathologies, diseases and syndromes. This will allow societies to better identify, quantify, understand and meet the healthcare, workforce, well-being and socioeconomic needs of ageing populations, whilst supporting the development and utilisation of interventions to prevent or to slow, halt or reverse the progression of ageing-related pathologies. The foundation for developing such classification and staging systems is to define the scope of what constitutes an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome. To this end, a consensus meeting was hosted by the International Consortium to Classify Ageing-Related Pathologies (ICCARP), on February 19, 2024, in Cardiff, UK, and was attended by 150 recognised experts. Discussions and voting were centred on provisional criteria that had been distributed prior to the meeting. The participants debated and voted on these. Each criterion required a consensus agreement of ≥ 70% for approval. The accepted criteria for an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome were (1) develops and/or progresses with increasing chronological age; (2) should be associated with, or contribute to, functional decline or an increased susceptibility to functional decline and (3) evidenced by studies in humans. Criteria for an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome have been agreed by an international consortium of subject experts. These criteria will now be used by the ICCARP for the classification and ultimately staging of ageing-related pathologies, diseases and syndromes

An example of a virtual reality learning environment

Using photographic, computer graphical and experimental data, a pilot model of a tornadic supercell thunderstorm was created in a virtual environment at Iowa State University. One goal of the project was to give students the virtual experience of being in the field, experiencing the dramatic features of typical tornadic supercells, and stimulating them to explore and ask questions in this learning environment. Initial feedback from the prototype version was favorable.This article is from Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 84 (2003): 18, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-84-1-18. Posted with permission.</p