Low-latitude boundary layer clouds as seen by CALIPSO

The distribution of low-level cloud in the tropical belt is investigated using 6 months of Level 2 retrievals from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) at 333 m and 1 km horizontal resolutions. Regional patterns of tropical clouds emerge from the data, matching expectations from existing observations. The advantage of the lidar is highlighted by the distribution of cloud-top height, revealing the preponderance of low-level clouds over the tropical oceans. Over land, cloud top is more uniformly distributed under the influence of diurnal variation. The integrated cloud-top distribution suggests tropical, marine low-cloud amount around 25-30%; a merged CALIPSO-CloudSat product has a similar cloud-top distribution and includes a complementary estimate of cloud fraction based on the lidar detections. The low-cloud distribution is similar to that found in fields of shallow cumulus observed during the Rain in Cumulus Over the Ocean (RICO) field study. The similarity is enhanced by sampling near the RICO site or sampling large-scale conditions similar to those during RICO. This finding shows how satellite observations can help to generalize findings from detailed field observations

An update on χc\chi_c Decays: Perturbative QCD versus Data

We present a global fit of current available experimental results on $\chi_c$ decays within next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD. The quality and reduced errors of recent data improve the agreement between theory and experiment.Comment: 10 pages, Late

C Minor: a Semantic Publish/Subscribe Broker for the Internet of Musical Things

Semantic Web technologies are increasingly used in the Internet of Things due to their intrinsic propensity to foster interoperability among heterogenous devices and services. However, some of the IoT application domains have strict requirements in terms of timeliness of the exchanged messages, latency and support for constrained devices. An example of these domains is represented by the emerging area of the Internet of MusicalThings.InthispaperweproposeCMinor,aCoAP-based semantic publish/subscribe broker speci\ufb01cally designed to meet the requirements of Internet of Musical Things applications, but relevant for any IoT scenario. We assess its validity through a practical use case

Effects of Stage of Growth and Inoculation on Fermentation Quality of Field Pea Silage

Field peas (Pisum sativum L.) are a short-term catch crop with a high crude protein content, which provides a high forage yield in a short growing period. Since field peas are a succulent crop and are difficult to field cure, it is preferable to directly ensile them to prevent weather damage and excessive grain losses. The onset of lodging is delayed in field pea varieties, since the crop is supported by the tendrils in a more erect manner, and this allows easy harvesting without soil contamination even at advanced stages of maturity (Koivisto et al., 2003). To our knowledge, no information is available on the ensiling of peas in Southern Europe. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the stage of maturity and inoculant application on the quality of silage produced from directly-cut field peas in the Po Valley, NW Italy

The chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12 are activated during implantation and placentation in sheep

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The progression of implantation and placentation in ruminants is complex and is regulated by interplay between sex steroids and local signaling molecules, many of which have immune function. Chemokines and their receptors are pivotal factors in implantation and vascularization of the placenta. Based on known critical roles for chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) during early pregnancy in other species, we hypothesized that CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12 would increase in the endometrium and conceptus in response to implantation in ewes. The objectives of the current study were to determine if CXCL12 and CXCR4 were upregulated in: endometrium from pregnant compared to non-pregnant ewes and in, conceptuses, cotyledons, caruncles and intercaruncular tissue.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tissues were collected from sheep on Days 12, 13, 14, and 15 of either the estrous cycle or pregnancy and from pregnant ewes on Days 35 and 50. Blood samples from jugular and uterine vein were also collected on all days. Conceptuses were collected from mature ewes on Days 13, 15, 16, 17, 21 and 30 of gestation. Real time PCR was used to determine relative mRNA concentrations for CXCL12 and CXCR4 and Western blot analysis was employed to confirm protein concentration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Differences described are P < 0.05. In the endometrium, CXCR4 mRNA and protein was greater on Day 15 of pregnancy compared to the estrous cycle. CXCL12 and CXCR4 mRNA in conceptuses was greater on Days 21 and 30 compared to earlier days. CXCL12 mRNA was greater in cotyledons on Day 35 compared to Day 50. On Day 35 of gestation, CXCR4 was greater compared to Day 50 in caruncle and intercaruncular tissue. White blood cells obtained from jugular and uterine vein collection had the greatest mRNA concentration of CXCL12 on Day 35 of pregnancy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A comprehensive analysis of CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression in fetal and maternal tissues during early pregnancy is reported with noteworthy differences occurring during implantation and placentation in sheep. We interpreted these data to mean that the CXCL12/CXCR4 pathway is activated during implantation and placentation in sheep and is likely playing a role in the communication between trophoblast cells and the maternal endometrium.</p

Diagnostic pitfalls in the assessment of congenital hypopituitarism.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of congenital hypopituitarism is difficult and oftendelayed because its symptoms are nonspecific.AIM: To describe the different clinical presentations of children with congenitalhypopituitarism to reduce the time for diagnosis and to begin a precocious andappropriate treatment.STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed a cohort of five children with congenitalhypopituitarism, describing their clinical, biochemical and radiologicalcharacteristics from the birth to diagnosis.RESULTS: As first sign of the disease, all of five patients presented a neonatal hypoglycemia, associated in four cases with jaundice. In all these four cases,the clinicians hypothesized a metabolic disease delaying the diagnosis, which wasperformed in only two cases within the neonatal period. In the other three cases,the diagnosis was formulated at 2, 5 and 8&nbsp;years of life because there was severeand precocious growth impairment.CONCLUSIONS: It is important to suspect congenital hypopituitarism in thepresence of persistent neonatal hypoglycemia associated with jaundice and of aprecocious and severe reduction of the growth velocity in childhood. In all thesecases, it is necessary to undertake a hypothalamic-pituitary magnetic resonanceimaging scan as soon as possible, and to start appropriate treatment

Fine structure splittings of excited P and D states in charmonium

It is shown that the fine structure splittings of the $2 ^3P_J$ and $3 ^3P_J$ excited states in charmonium are as large as those of the $1^3P_J$ state if the same $\alpha_s(\mu)\approx 0.36$ is used. The predicted mass $M(2 ^3P_0)=3.84$ GeV appears to be 120 MeV lower that the center of gravity of the $2 ^3P_J$ multiplet and lies below the $D\bar D^*$ threshold. Our value of $M(2 ^3P_0)$ is approximately 80 MeV lower than that from the paper by Godfrey and Isgur while the differences in the other masses are \la 20 MeV. Relativistic kinematics plays an important role in our analysis.Comment: 12 page