Some Conceptual and Scaling Evaluations of Snowmelt Events Forced by Warm Soil

Snowfall occasionally occurs over bare soil with high thermal storage in its upper layer. Quantification and generalization of the potential impact of the thermal storage on episodic snowmelt is evaluated using a scaling approach and assuming negligible net thermal flux at the snow cover top. Soil thermal flux contribution to snowmelt is found to be affected significantly by the level of soil wetness. It is shown that, for a soil temperature of 10°C prior to the snowfall, the contribution of wet soil thermal flux is significant within the first 12 h when compared with intense surface moist enthalpy flux or solar radiation. Implications of these results to modeling of snowmelt using coupled soil–atmosphere models are elaborated

Imaging the Neutrophil Phagosome and Cytoplasm Using a Ratiometric pH Indicator.

Neutrophils are crucial to host innate defense and, consequently, constitute an important area of medical research. The phagosome, the intracellular compartment where the killing and digestion of engulfed particles take place, is the main arena for neutrophil pathogen killing that requires tight regulation. Phagosomal pH is one aspect that is carefully controlled, in turn regulating antimicrobial protease activity. Many fluorescent pH-sensitive dyes have been used to visualize the phagosomal environment. S-1 has several advantages over other pH-sensitive dyes, including its dual emission spectra, its resistance to photo-bleaching, and its high pKa. Using this method, we have demonstrated that the neutrophil phagosome is unusually alkaline in comparison to other phagocytes. By using different biochemical conjugations of the dye, the phagosome can be delineated from the cytoplasm so that changes in the size and shape of the phagosome can be assessed. This allows for further monitoring of ionic movement