Disentangling the contribution of multiple land covers to fire-mediated carbon emissions in Amazonia during the 2010 drought

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.In less than 15 years, the Amazon region experienced three major droughts. Links between droughts and fires have been demonstrated for the 1997/1998, 2005, and 2010 droughts. In 2010, emissions of 510 ± 120 Tg C were associated to fire alone in Amazonia. Existing approaches have, however, not yet disentangled the proportional contribution of multiple land cover sources to this total. We develop a novel integration of multisensor and multitemporal satellite-derived data on land cover, active fires, and burned area and an empirical model of fire-induced biomass loss to quantify the extent of burned areas and resulting biomass loss for multiple land covers in Mato Grosso (MT) state, southern Amazonia - the 2010 drought most impacted region. We show that 10.77% (96,855 km2) of MT burned. We estimated a gross carbon emission of 56.21 ± 22.5 Tg C from direct combustion of biomass, with an additional 29.4 ± 10 Tg C committed to be emitted in the following years due to dead wood decay. It is estimated that old-growth forest fires in the whole Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) have contributed to 14.81 Tg of C (11.75 Tg C to 17.87 Tg C) emissions to the atmosphere during the 2010 fire season, with an affected area of 27,555 km2. Total C loss from the 2010 fires in MT state and old-growth forest fires in the BLA represent, respectively, 77% (47% to 107%) and 86% (68.2% to 103%) of Brazil's National Plan on Climate Change annual target for Amazonia C emission reductions from deforestation.This work was supported by UK NERC Amazonica grant NE/F005482/1, Brazil MCTI-PCI (302541/ 2014-4), CNPq grants 458022/2013-6 and 400640/2012-0, and NASA-IDS grant NNX14AD31G

Stable sulforaphane protects against gait anomalies and modifies bone microarchitecture in the spontaneous STR/Ort model of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA), affecting joints and bone, causes physical gait disability with huge socio-economic burden; treatment remains palliative. Roles for antioxidants in protecting against such chronic disorders have been examined previously. Sulforaphane is a naturally occurring antioxidant. Herein, we explore whether SFX-01®, a stable synthetic form of sulforaphane, modifies gait, bone architecture and slows/reverses articular cartilage destruction in a spontaneous OA model in STR/Ort mice. Sixteen mice (n = 8/group) were orally treated for 3 months with either 100 mg/kg SFX-01® or vehicle. Gait was recorded, tibiae were microCT scanned and analysed. OA lesion severity was graded histologically. The effect of SFX-01® on bone turnover markers in vivo was complemented by in vitro bone formation and resorption assays. Analysis revealed development of OA-related gait asymmetry in vehicle-treated STR/Ort mice, which did not emerge in SFX-01®-treated mice. We found significant improvements in trabecular and cortical bone. Despite these marked improvements, we found that histologically-graded OA severity in articular cartilage was unmodified in treated mice. These changes are also reflected in anabolic and anti-catabolic actions of SFX-01® treatment as reflected by alteration in serum markers as well as changes in primary osteoblast and osteoclast-like cells in vitro. We report that SFX-01® improves bone microarchitecture in vivo, produces corresponding changes in bone cell behaviour in vitro and leads to greater symmetry in gait, without marked effects on cartilage lesion severity in STR/Ort osteoarthritic mice. Our findings support both osteotrophic roles and novel beneficial gait effects for SFX-01® in this model of spontaneous OA

Measuring and structuring the spatial coherence length of organic light-emitting diodes

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) grants “Challenging the limits of photonics: structured light” EP/J01771X and “Ultra-parallel visible light communications” EP/K00042X. IDWS and KD also acknowledge Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit awards.The spatial coherence of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is an important parameter that has gained little attention to date. Here we present a method for making quantitative measurements of the spatial coherence of OLEDs using a Young’s double-slit experiment. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated by making measurements on a range of OLEDs with different emitters (iridium and europium complexes) and architectures (bottom- and top-emitting) and the fringe visibility is further manipulated by gratings embedded in external diffractive optical elements. Based on the experiments and simulation of the results, we quantitatively determine the spatial coherence lengths of several OLEDs and find them to be a few micrometers. A 60% increase in the spatial coherence length was observed when using a narrow bandwidth emitter and a metal-coated grating.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The interplay of leukemia cells and the bone marrow microenvironment

The interplay of cancer cells and surrounding stroma is critical in disease progression. This is particularly evident in hematological malignancies that infiltrate the bone marrow and peripheral lymphoid organs. Despite clear evidence for the existence of these interactions, the precise repercussions on the growth of leukemic cells are poorly understood. Recent development of novel imaging technology and preclinical disease models have advanced our comprehension of leukemia-microenvironment crosstalk and have potential implications for development of novel treatment options