Development of High Resolution and Homogenized Gridded Land Surface Air Temperature Data: A Case Study Over Pan-East Asia

The Land Surface Air Temperature (LSAT) climatology during the period of 1961–1990 and the anomalies (relative to the 1961–1990 climatology) have been developed over Pan-East Asian region at a (monthly) 0.5° × 0.5° resolution. The development of these LSAT data sets are based on the recently released C-LSAT station datasets and the high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and interpolated by the Thin Plate Spline (TPS) method (through ANUSPLIN software) and the Adjusted Inverse Distance Weighting (AIDW) method. Then they are combined into the high resolution gridded LSAT datasets (including the monthly mean, maximum, and minimum temperature). Considering the mean LSAT for example, the Cross Validation (CV) of the datasets indicates that the regional average of the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for the climatology is about 0.62°C, and the average RMSE and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) for the anomalies are between 0.47–0.90°C and 0.32–0.63°C during the study period. The analysis also demonstrate that the gridded anomalies describe the spatial pattern fairly well for the coldest (1912, 1969) and the warmest (1948, 2007) years during the first and second half of the 20th century. Further analysis reveals that the high resolution dataset also performs well in the estimation of long-term LSAT change trend. Thus it can be concluded that this newly constructed datasets is a useful tool for regional climate monitoring, climate change research as well as climate model verification

Sensitivity of simulated summer monsoonal precipitation in Langtang Valley, Himalaya, to cloud microphysics schemes in WRF

A better understanding of regional‐scale precipitation patterns in the Himalayan region is required to increase our knowledge of the impacts of climate change on downstream water availability. This study examines the impact of four cloud microphysical schemes (Thompson, Morrison, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) single‐moment 5‐class, and WRF double‐moment 6‐class) on summer monsoon precipitation in the Langtang Valley in the central Nepalese Himalayas, as simulated by the WRF model at 1 km grid spacing for a 10 day period in July 2012. The model results are evaluated through a comparison with surface precipitation and radiation measurements made at two observation sites. Additional understanding is gained from a detailed examination of the microphysical characteristics simulated by each scheme, which are compared with measurements using a spaceborne radar/lidar cloud product. Also examined are the roles of large‐ and small‐scale forcings. In general, the schemes are able to capture the timing of surface precipitation better than the actual amounts in the Langtang Valley, which are predominately underestimated, with the Morrison scheme showing the best agreement with the measured values. The schemes all show a large positive bias in incoming radiation. Analysis of the radar/lidar cloud product and hydrometeors from each of the schemes suggests that “cold‐rain” processes are a key precipitation formation mechanism, which is also well represented by the Morrison scheme. As well as microphysical structure, both large‐scale and localized forcings are also important for determining surface precipitation

The effect of radio-adaptive doses on HT29 and GM637 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The shape of the dose-response curve at low doses differs from the linear quadratic model. The effect of a radio-adaptive response is the centre of many studies and well known inspite that the clinical applications are still rarely considered.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied the effect of a low-dose pre-irradiation (0.03 Gy – 0.1 Gy) alone or followed by a 2.0 Gy challenging dose 4 h later on the survival of the HT29 cell line (human colorectal cancer cells) and on the GM637 cell line (human fibroblasts).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>0.03 Gy given alone did not have a significant effect on both cell lines, the other low doses alone significantly reduced the cell survival. Applied 4 h before the 2.0 Gy fraction, 0.03 Gy led to a significant induced radioresistance in GM637 cells, but not in HT29 cells, and 0.05 Gy led to a significant hyperradiosensitivity in HT29 cells, but not in GM637 cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A pre-irradiation with 0.03 Gy can protect normal fibroblasts, but not colorectal cancer cells, from damage induced by an irradiation of 2.0 Gy and the application of 0.05 Gy prior to the 2.0 Gy fraction can enhance the cell killing of colorectal cancer cells while not additionally damaging normal fibroblasts. If these findings prove to be true in vivo as well this may optimize the balance between local tumour control and injury to normal tissue in modern radiotherapy.</p

Analysis of miRNA and mRNA Expression Profiles Highlights Alterations in Ionizing Radiation Response of Human Lymphocytes under Modeled Microgravity

BACKGROUND: Ionizing radiation (IR) can be extremely harmful for human cells since an improper DNA-damage response (DDR) to IR can contribute to carcinogenesis initiation. Perturbations in DDR pathway can originate from alteration in the functionality of the microRNA-mediated gene regulation, being microRNAs (miRNAs) small noncoding RNA that act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. In this study we gained insight into the role of miRNAs in the regulation of DDR to IR under microgravity, a condition of weightlessness experienced by astronauts during space missions, which could have a synergistic action on cells, increasing the risk of radiation exposure. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analyzed miRNA expression profile of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) incubated for 4 and 24 h in normal gravity (1 g) and in modeled microgravity (MMG) during the repair time after irradiation with 0.2 and 2Gy of \u3b3-rays. Our results show that MMG alters miRNA expression signature of irradiated PBL by decreasing the number of radio-responsive miRNAs. Moreover, let-7i*, miR-7, miR-7-1*, miR-27a, miR-144, miR-200a, miR-598, miR-650 are deregulated by the combined action of radiation and MMG. Integrated analyses of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles, carried out on PBL of the same donors, identified significant miRNA-mRNA anti-correlations of DDR pathway. Gene Ontology analysis reports that the biological category of "Response to DNA damage" is enriched when PBL are incubated in 1 g but not in MMG. Moreover, some anti-correlated genes of p53-pathway show a different expression level between 1 g and MMG. Functional validation assays using luciferase reporter constructs confirmed miRNA-mRNA interactions derived from target prediction analyses. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: On the whole, by integrating the transcriptome and microRNome, we provide evidence that modeled microgravity can affects the DNA-damage response to IR in human PBL