High-Resolution SMAP-Derived Root-Zone Soil Moisture Using an Exponential Filter Model Calibrated per Land Cover Type

Root-zone soil moisture (RZSM) plays a key role for most water and energy budgets, as it is particularly relevant in controlling plant transpiration and hydraulic redistribution. RZSM data is needed for a variety of different applications, such as forecasting crop yields, improving flood predictions and monitoring agricultural drought, among others. Remote sensing provides surface soil moisture (SSM) retrievals, whose key advantage is the large spatial coverage on a systematic basis. This study tests a simple method to retrieve RZSM estimates from high-resolution SSM derived from SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive). A recursive exponential filter using a time constant τ is calibrated per land cover type, which uses as an intermediate step a long-term ISBA-DIF (Interaction Soil Biosphere Atmosphere—Diffusion scheme) dataset over an area located in Catalonia, NE of Spain. The τ values thus obtained are then used as an input to the same recursive exponential filter, to derive 1 km resolution RZSM estimates from 1 km SMAP SSM, which are obtained from the original data by downscaling to a 1 km resolution, through the DISPATCH (DISaggregation based on a Physical and Theoretical scale CHange) methodology. The results are then validated with scaled in situ observations at different depths, over two different areas, one representative of rainfed crops, and the other of irrigated crops. In general, the estimates agree well with the observations over the rainfed crops, especially at a 10 cm and 25 cm depth. Nash–Sutcliffe (NS) scores ranging between 0.33 and 0.58, and between 0.37 and 0.56 have been found, respectively. Correlation coefficients for these depths are high, between 0.76 and 0.91 (10 cm), and between 0.71 and 0.90 (25 cm). For the irrigated sites, results are poorer (partly due to the extremely high heterogeneity present), with NS scores ranging between −2.57 and 0.16, and correlations ranging between −0.56 and 0.48 at 25 cm. Given the strong correlations and NS scores found in the surface, the sensitivity of the filter to different τ values was investigated. For the rainfed site, it was found, as expected, with increasing τ, increasing NS and correlations with the deeper layers, suggesting a better coupling. Nevertheless, a strong correlation with the surface (5 cm) or shallower depths (10 cm) observed over certain sites indicates a certain lack of skill of the filter to represent processes which occur at lower levels in the SM column. All in all, a calibration accounting for the vegetation was shown to be an adequate methodology in applying the recursive exponential filter to derive the RZSM estimates over large areas. Nevertheless, the relative shallow surface at which the estimates correlate in some cases seem to indicate that an effect of evapotranspiration in the profile is not well captured by the filter.This research was funded by the Torrres Quevedo program of the Spanish Science Ministry, MICINN (grant number PTQ-16-08766)

Sustaining Korean Studies: Challenges and Prospects in Philippine Higher Education Institutions

The view and reality of a bifurcated world are brought into stark relief by COVID-19. Those long-standing inequalities in different facets of life are exacerbated by the pandemic that has been widely acknowledged and documented. Scholars recognize that humanity has entered the era of “Covidscapes,” where there is a shared experience of the pandemic; but where segregation is felt at different levels due to its differential impact. While division and its many manifestations are not the makings of the pandemic; COVID-19 is amplifying long-standing binaries between the developed and developing; the affluent and the poor; and even the West and the East. While not exhaustive; this commentary lays out these prevailing divides and disparities from the lens and through the experiences of international students

ARL15 modulates magnesium homeostasis through N-glycosylation of CNNMs

Cyclin M (CNNM1-4) proteins maintain cellular and body magnesium (Mg2+) homeostasis. Using various biochemical approaches, we have identified members of the CNNM family as direct interacting partners of ADP-ribosylation factor-like GTPase 15 (ARL15), a small GTP-binding protein. ARL15 interacts with CNNMs at their carboxyl-terminal conserved cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) domains. In silico modeling of the interaction between CNNM2 and ARL15 supports that the small GTPase specifically binds the CBS1 and CNBH domains. Immunocytochemical experiments demonstrate that CNNM2 and ARL15 co-localize in the kidney, with both proteins showing subcellular localization in the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and the plasma membrane. Most importantly, we found that ARL15 is required for forming complex N-glycosylation of CNNMs. Overexpression of ARL15 promotes complex N-glycosylation of CNNM3. Mg2+ uptake experiments with a stable isotope demonstrate that there is a significant increase of 25Mg2+ uptake upon knockdown of ARL15 in multiple kidney cancer cell lines. Altogether, our results establish ARL15 as a novel negative regulator of Mg2+ transport by promoting the complex N-glycosylation of CNNMs.European Joint Program for Rare Diseases (EJPRD2019-40)Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and Universities (PGC2018-096049-B-I00)Junta de Andalucía (BIO-198, US-1254317 and US-1257019

Addressing the Community Psychology Competency Dialectic through Participatory Pedagogy

Ongoing discussions persist regarding the potential usefulness and/or harmfulness of a defined set of core competencies in the field of community psychology. The competency thesis is that identification of core competencies can help define the field and distinguish the capabilities of community psychologists (Dalton & Wolfe, 2012). A set of competencies has implications for training and education, including clarity regarding what skills current and future students can expect to learn and what community psychologists may be expected to do. However, others have criticized the nature of standardized competencies. Presenting the antithesis to the competency thesis, Dzidic, Breen and Bishop (2013) question if compartmentalized competencies focus too much on static, individually oriented skills. They may distract from considerations of context, ethics and power within the dynamic ecologies of community psychology practice. Community psychology education and training programs are challenged with exposing students to a variety of central competencies while preparing them to engage in value-based research and practice in context. This article focuses on three applications of participatory pedagogy within the classroom that sought to synthesize the dialectic between core competencies and values-based, dynamic community psychology practice. Instructional materials for all three sessions are appended both for readers’ perusal as examples and for possible future adaptation and use in other community psychology courses. Participatory pedagogical approaches seek to foster student engagement, reflection, and collaboration to promote critical thinking, knowledge application and problem solving. In so doing, participatory pedagogy can bridge the gap between competencies and context, and offer at least a partial synthesis for the competency dialectic in community psychology education and training

Addressing the Community Psychology Competency Dialectic through Participatory Pedagogy

Ongoing discussions persist regarding the potential usefulness and/or harmfulness of a defined set of core competencies in the field of community psychology. The competency thesis is that identification of core competencies can help define the field and distinguish the capabilities of community psychologists (Dalton & Wolfe, 2012). A set of competencies has implications for training and education, including clarity regarding what skills current and future students can expect to learn and what community psychologists may be expected to do. However, others have criticized the nature of standardized competencies. Presenting the antithesis to the competency thesis, Dzidic, Breen and Bishop (2013) question if compartmentalized competencies focus too much on static, individually oriented skills. They may distract from considerations of context, ethics and power within the dynamic ecologies of community psychology practice. Community psychology education and training programs are challenged with exposing students to a variety of central competencies while preparing them to engage in value-based research and practice in context. This article focuses on three applications of participatory pedagogy within the classroom that sought to synthesize the dialectic between core competencies and values-based, dynamic community psychology practice. Instructional materials for all three sessions are appended both for readers’ perusal as examples and for possible future adaptation and use in other community psychology courses. Participatory pedagogical approaches seek to foster student engagement, reflection, and collaboration to promote critical thinking, knowledge application and problem solving. In so doing, participatory pedagogy can bridge the gap between competencies and context, and offer at least a partial synthesis for the competency dialectic in community psychology education and training