Tropical nighttime warming as a dominant driver of variability in the terrestrial carbon sink

The terrestrial biosphere is currently a strong carbon (C) sink but may switch to a source in the 21st century as climate-driven losses exceed CO2-driven C gains, thereby accelerating global warming. Although it has long been recognized that tropical climate plays a critical role in regulating interannual climate variability, the causal link between changes in temperature and precipitation and terrestrial processes remains uncertain. Here, we combine atmospheric mass balance, remote sensing-modeled datasets of vegetation C uptake, and climate datasets to characterize the temporal variability of the terrestrial C sink and determine the dominant climate drivers of this variability. We show that the interannual variability of global land C sink has grown by 50–100% over the past 50 y. We further find that interannual land C sink variability is most strongly linked to tropical nighttime warming, likely through respiration. This apparent sensitivity of respiration to nighttime temperatures, which are projected to increase faster than global average temperatures, suggests that C stored in tropical forests may be vulnerable to future warming

Differential affinity of FLIP and procaspase 8 for FADD’s DED binding surfaces regulates DISC assembly

Death receptor activation triggers recruitment of FADD, which via its death effector domain (DED) engages the DEDs of procaspase 8 and its inhibitor FLIP to form death-inducing signalling complexes (DISCs). The DEDs of FADD, FLIP and procaspase 8 interact with one another using two binding surfaces defined by α1/α4 and α2/α5 helices, respectively. Here we report that FLIP has preferential affinity for the α1/α4 surface of FADD, whereas procaspase 8 has preferential affinity for FADD's α2/α5 surface. These relative affinities contribute to FLIP being recruited to the DISC at comparable levels to procaspase 8 despite lower cellular expression. Additional studies, including assessment of DISC stoichiometry and functional assays, suggest that following death receptor recruitment, the FADD DED preferentially engages FLIP using its α1/α4 surface and procaspase 8 using its α2/α5 surface; these tripartite intermediates then interact via the α1/α4 surface of FLIP DED1 and the α2/α5 surface of procaspase 8 DED2

Trends in the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide

Efforts to control climate change require the stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This can only be achieved through a drastic reduction of global CO2 emissions. Yet fossil fuel emissions increased by 29% between 2000 and 2008, in conjunction with increased contributions from emerging economies, from the production and international trade of goods and services, and from the use of coal as a fuel source. In contrast, emissions from land-use changes were nearly constant. Between 1959 and 2008, 43% of each year's CO2 emissions remained in the atmosphere on average; the rest was absorbed by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans. In the past 50 years, the fraction of CO2 emissions that remains in the atmosphere each year has likely increased, from about 40% to 45%, and models suggest that this trend was caused by a decrease in the uptake of CO2 by the carbon sinks in response to climate change and variability. Changes in the CO2 sinks are highly uncertain, but they could have a significant influence on future atmospheric CO2 levels. It is therefore crucial to reduce the uncertainties

Mechanosensing is critical for axon growth in the developing brain.

During nervous system development, neurons extend axons along well-defined pathways. The current understanding of axon pathfinding is based mainly on chemical signaling. However, growing neurons interact not only chemically but also mechanically with their environment. Here we identify mechanical signals as important regulators of axon pathfinding. In vitro, substrate stiffness determined growth patterns of Xenopus retinal ganglion cell axons. In vivo atomic force microscopy revealed a noticeable pattern of stiffness gradients in the embryonic brain. Retinal ganglion cell axons grew toward softer tissue, which was reproduced in vitro in the absence of chemical gradients. To test the importance of mechanical signals for axon growth in vivo, we altered brain stiffness, blocked mechanotransduction pharmacologically and knocked down the mechanosensitive ion channel piezo1. All treatments resulted in aberrant axonal growth and pathfinding errors, suggesting that local tissue stiffness, read out by mechanosensitive ion channels, is critically involved in instructing neuronal growth in vivo.This work was supported by the German National Academic Foundation (scholarship to D.E.K.), Wellcome Trust and Cambridge Trusts (scholarships to A.J.T.), Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States (scholarship to S.K.F.), Herchel Smith Foundation (Research Studentship to S.K.F.), CNPq 307333/2013-2 (L.d.F.C.), NAP-PRP-USP and FAPESP 11/50761-2 (L.d.F.C.), UK EPSRC BT grant (J.G.), Wellcome Trust WT085314 and the European Research Council 322817 grants (C.E.H.); an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Feodor Lynen Fellowship (K.F.), UK BBSRC grant BB/M021394/1 (K.F.), the Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator Grant RGY0074/2013 (K.F.), the UK Medical Research Council Career Development Award G1100312/1 (K.F.) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21HD080585 (K.F.).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.439

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Analysis of acoustic field in vehicle interior with Radial Based Functions

W artykule opisano możliwości zastosowania jednej z tzw. metod bezsiatkowych do analizy pola akustycznego wnętrza pojazdu. Do analizy wybrano metodę kolokacyjną z bazą globalnych funkcji radialnych. W kolejnych punktach pracy opisano wykorzystywaną metodę analizy i jej zastosowanie do wyznaczenia częstości drgań własnych i charakterystyk amplitudowo-częstotliwościowych wnętrza przykładowego pojazdu. Charakterystyki wyznaczono w dwóch układach źródła: jedno źródło zlokalizowane na środku przedniej części pojazdu (układ siso) i dwa źródła umieszczone po bokach pojazdu (układ miso). Wartości częstości własnych porównano z analizą Metodą Elementów Skończonych.The work concerns the in acoustics of an vehicle interior with the Radial Based Functions. The collocation method was used for determination eigenvalues and frequency response functions of the car interior. All eigenvalues were compared with Finite Element Analysis results. All results indicate that using of multiquadric (MQ) RBF provide a results with very high accuracy in comparison to numerical results in acoustic analysis of 3D close domain

Detekcja pęknięcia w elementach belkowych. Część I. Identyfikacja miejsca pęknięcia

This paper deals with detection of a transverse crack location in beam like structure. An input quantity for detection a natural mode of vibrations was chosen. The crack is substituted by rotational spring, which flexibility is calculated by using Castigliano theorem and laws of the fracture mechanics. Based on this model of crack the first natural mode of Bernoulli-Euler beam was determined then analysed. The modal assurance criterion (MAC coefficients) were determined as a function of crack depth and location. These quantities can be used for crack detection in beam like structures. In order to crack location the discrete and continuous wavelet analysis of mode shapes was used.W pracy opisano pewien sposób detekcji pęknięcia oraz identyfikacji jego lokalizacji. Jako wielkości wejściowe procesu identyfikacji wybrano wektory własne belki z pęknięciem. Jako model pęknięcia przyjęto przegub sprężysty, którego podatność wyznaczono na podstawie praw mechaniki pękania i twierdzenia Castigliano. Wykorzystując taki opis pęknięcia wyznaczono wektory własne pękniętej belki opisanej modelem Bernoulliego-Eulera. Wyznaczono współczynniki MAC (modal assurance criterion) w funkcji głębokości i miejsca pęknięcia. Wielkości te pozwalają jedynie na detekcję pęknięcia. W celu wyznaczenia lokalizacji uszkodzenia wykorzystano dyskretną i ciągłą analizę falkową wektorów własnych

Crack detection based on frequency response

Praca dotyczy identyfikacji poprzecznego pęknięcia, w układach, których modelem jest belka prostoliniowa. Jako wielkości wejściowe procesu identyfikacji wybrano częstości giętnych drgań rezonansowych oraz amplitudy drgań wymuszonych. Wykazano, że zmiany tych wielkości pozwalają na diagnostykę pęknięć o głębokości większej niż 10 % wysokości belki. Do identyfikacji pęknięć o mniejszej głębokości wykorzystano zmianę charakterystyk fazowych belki. Opisany w pracy model pęknięcia polega na zastąpieniu przekroju z pęknięciem sprężyną o określonej podatności. Podatność sprężyny wyznaczono na bazie mechaniki pękania i twierdzenia Castigliano.This paper deals with detection a transverse crack in beam like structure. An input quantity for identification a bending resonance frequencies and amplitudes of forced vibrations are chosen. Changes in these quantities cannot be used for detection of small crack (depth less than 10 % of beam height). To detecting of smaller crack the diagrams of difference in phase shift is used. The crack is substituted by rotational spring, which flexibility is calculated by using Castigliano theorem and laws of the fracture mechanics