18 research outputs found
Drought risk assessment under climate change is sensitive to methodological choices for the estimation of evaporative demand
Evaluation of Meteorological Data-Based Models for Potential and Actual Evapotranspiration Losses Using Flux Measurements
Evapotranspiration is a key process within the hydrological cycle, so
it requires an accurate assessment. This work aims at assessing monthly scale
performances of six meteorological data-based methods to predict evapotranspiration
by comparing model estimates with observations from six flux tower sites
differing for land cover and climate. Three of the proposed methodologies use
a potential evapotranspiration approach (Penman, Priestley-Taylor and Blaney-
Criddle models) while the additional three an actual evapotranspiration approach
(the Advection-Aridity, the Granger and Gray and the Antecedent Precipation
Index method). The results show that models efficiency varies from site to site,
even though land cover and climate features appear to have some influence. It is
difficult to comment on a general accuracy, but an overall moderate better performance
of the Advection-Aridity model can be reported within a context where
model calibration is not accounted for. If model calibration is further taken into
consideration, the Granger and Gray model appears the best performing method
but, at the same time, it is also the approach which is mostly affected by the calibration
process, and therefore less suited to evapotranspiration prediction tools
dealing with a data scarcity context
Multifactorial inheritance of neural tube defects: localization of the major gene and recognition of modifiers in ct mutant mice.
Neural tube defects (NTD) in humans have been considered to have a multifactorial aetiology, however the participating genes have not been identified. The curly-tail (ct) mutant mouse develops NTD that resemble the human malformations in location, pathology and associated abnormalities. Moreover, there appears to be multifactorial influence on the incidence of NTD in offspring of curly-tail mice. We now describe a linkage analysis that localizes the ct gene to distal chromosome 4 in mice. Further analysis using recombinant inbred strains demonstrates the presence of at least three modifier loci that influence the incidence of NTD. This study provides definitive evidence for multifactorial inheritance in a mouse model of human NTD