Effects of long-range aerosol transport on the microphysical properties of low-level liquid clouds in the Arctic

The properties of low-level liquid clouds in the Arctic can be altered by long-range pollution transport to the region. Satellite, tracer transport model, and meteorological data sets are used here to determine a net aerosol–cloud interaction (ACI^net) parameter that expresses the ratio of relative changes in cloud microphysical properties to relative variations in pollution concentrations while accounting for dry or wet scavenging of aerosols en route to the Arctic. For a period between 2008 and 2010, ACI^net is calculated as a function of the cloud liquid water path, temperature, altitude, specific humidity, and lower tropospheric stability. For all data, ACI^net averages 0.12 ± 0.02 for cloud-droplet effective radius and 0.16 ± 0.02 for cloud optical depth. It increases with specific humidity and lower tropospheric stability and is highest when pollution concentrations are low. Carefully controlling for meteorological conditions we find that the liquid water path of arctic clouds does not respond strongly to aerosols within pollution plumes. Or, not stratifying the data according to meteorological state can lead to artificially exaggerated calculations of the magnitude of the impacts of pollution on arctic clouds

Space-Based Analysis of the Cloud Thermodynamic Phase Transition for Varying Microphysical and Meteorological Regimes

International audiencePhase transitions leading to cloud glaciation occur at temperatures that vary between -38°C and 0°C depending on aerosol types and concentrations, the meteorology, and cloud microphysical and macrophysical parameters, although the relationships remain poorly understood. Here, we statistically retrieve a cloud glaciation temperature from two passive space-based instruments that are part of the NASA/CNES A-Train, the POLarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER) and the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We compare the glaciation temperature for varying bins of cloud droplet effective radius, latitude, and large-scale vertical pressure velocity and specific humidity at 700 hPa. Cloud droplet size has the strongest influence on glaciation temperature: For cloud droplets larger than 21 μm, the glaciation temperature is 6°C higher than for cloud droplets smaller than 9 μm. Stronger updrafts are also associated with lower glaciation temperatures

Assessment of operator variation in flow cytometry measurements using gauge repeatability & reproducibility techniques

Assessment of operator variation in flow cytometry measurements using gauge repeatability & reproducibility technique

Estimating internal pelvic sizes using external body measurements in the double-muscled Belgian Bleu beef breed

In the double-muscled (DM) Belgian Blue beef (BBB) breed, caesarean section (CS) is being applied systematically as a management tool to prevent dystocia. As a matter of fact, CS is the only possible way of calving in the breed. High birth weight and a relatively small pelvic area are the main causes of dystocia and, in the DM-BBB breed, the reasons for the systematically applied CS. Selection for lower birth weight and larger pelvic sizes might reduce dystocia and routine CS. Few data on inner pelvic sizes of pedigree animals are available. Using external measurements to estimate the inner pelvic sizes might be an option to resolve this problem. In this study, animals of the DM-BBB breed were measured and weighed on farms and in abattoirs. External and internal pelvic sizes increased with live weight and age of the animals. Gender had a significant influence on inner pelvic traits. Increased muscular conformation was associated with decreased inner pelvic dimensions. Models with weight, gender, age, withers height and outer pelvic width (TcTc) can be used to estimate inner pelvic sizes (R-2 between 0.35 and 0.77). The estimated inner pelvic sizes can then be used to genetically evaluate pelvic traits in the DM-BBB breed. Improving weight, withers height and TcTc width in combination with lowering muscular conformation may help to decrease the high rate of caesarean section in the DM-BBB

Analysis of protein glycation in human fingernail clippings with near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as an alternative technique for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Glycated keratin allows the monitoring of average tissue glucose exposure over previous weeks. In the present study, we wanted to explore if near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy could be used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for assessing glycation in diabetes mellitus. METHODS: A total of 52 patients with diabetes mellitus and 107 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. A limited number (n=21) of nails of healthy subjects were glycated in vitro with 0.278 mol/L, 0.556 mol/L and 0.833 mol/L glucose solution to study the effect of glucose on the nail spectrum. Consequently, the nail clippings of the patients were analyzed using a Thermo Fisher Antaris II Near-IR Analyzer Spectrometer and near infrared (NIR) chemical imaging. Spectral classification (patients with diabetes mellitus vs. healthy subjects) was performed using partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). RESULTS: In vitro glycation resulted in peak sharpening between 4300 and 4400 cm-1 and spectral variations at 5270 cm-1 and between 6600 and 7500 cm-1. Similar regions encountered spectral deviations during analysis of the patients' nails. Optimization of the spectral collection parameters was necessary in order to distinguish a large dataset. Spectra had to be collected at 16 cm-1, 128 scans, region 4000-7500 cm-1. Using standard normal variate, Savitsky-Golay smoothing (7 points) and first derivative preprocessing allowed for the prediction of the test set with 100% correct assignments utilizing a PLS-DA model. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of protein glycation in human fingernail clippings with NIR spectroscopy could be an alternative affordable technique for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus

Changes in morpho-physiological attributes of Eucalyptus globulus plants in response to different drought hardening treatments

Morpho-physiological attributes exhibited in response to drought hardening at the end of the growing season of Eucalyptus globulus Labill under nursery conditions were studied to evaluate the effect of three drought hardening treatments in morpho-physiological traits used as suitable indicators of drought hardiness, such as, plant growth, root growth potential, plant water relationships and survival. Freezing resistance of drought hardened plants was also studied in order to evaluate cross hardening effects in cuttings of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Drought hardening consisted in induced water stress by watering restriction, until plant stem xylem water potentials (\u3a8pd) reached to-0.2, -1.3 and -2.4 MPa. Two water stress-rewatering cycles were applied during 54 days of treatment. The hardening treatments caused a significant reduction in plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, plant, leaf, stem and root biomass. However, stem diameter was not affected. Root growth potential increased with the exposure to moderate water stress (-1.3 MPa). Drought hardening treatments have not effect on water relationship parameters such as saturation osmotic potential (\u3a8\u3c0sat), volumetric module of elasticity (e), relative water content (RWCtlp) and osmotic potential (\u3a8\u3c0tlp) at the turgor loss point. Only 1.7% and 6% of dehydrated dead plants were observed on treatments at -1.3 and -2.4 MPa respectively. Finally, the freezing damage index of leaves (LT50) was not significantly affected by drought hardening treatments. Furthermore, a reduction of 1.1\ubaC of supercooling capacity was observed at -2.4 MPa. As a conclusion, drought hardening is an important step of plants production programs during the final phase of nursery, because changes in morphological attributes caused by exposure to moderate drought, enable the plants to maintain the balance between transpiration and absorption areas and increase the capacity of plants to generate new roots

Syk: a new player in the field of breast cancer

Breast tumor development and progression are thought to occur through a complex, multistep process, including oncogene activation (eg HER2/neu) and mutation or loss of tumor suppressor genes (eg p53). Determining the function of genetic alterations in breast carcinoma tumorigenesis and metastasis has been the focus of intensive research efforts for several decades. One group of proteins that play a critical role in breast cancer cell signaling pathways are tyrosine kinases. Overexpression of the tyrosine kinase HER2/neu is observed in many human breast cancers and is positively correlated with enhanced tumorigenesis [1]. Recently, another tyrosine kinase, Syk, has been implicated as an important inhibitor of breast cancer cell growth and metastasis [2]. This recent finding was unexpected, since Syk function has been predominantly linked to hematopoietic cell signaling, and is discussed further in this commentary

Mixing theory for culture and harvest in bioreactors of human mesenchymal stem cells on microcarriers

The use of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in regenerative medicine is a potential major advance for the treatment of many medical conditions, especially with the use of allogeneic therapies where the cells from a single donor can be used to treat ailments in many patients. Such cells must be grown attached to surfaces and for large scale production, it is shown that stirred bioreactors containing ~200 μm particles (microcarriers) can provide such a surface. It is also shown that the just suspended condition, agitator speed NJS, provides a satisfactory condition for cell growth by minimizing the specific energy dissipation rate, εT, in the bioreactor whilst still meeting the oxygen demand of the cells. For the cells to be used for therapeutic purposes, they must be detached from the microcarriers before being cryopreserved. A strategy based on a short period (~7 min) of very high εT, based on theories of secondary nucleation, is effective at removing >99% cells. Once removed, the cells are smaller than the Kolmogorov scale of turbulence and hence not damaged. This approach is shown to be successful for culture and detachment in 4 types of stirred bioreactors from 15 mL to 5 L

Hypothesis: are neoplastic macrophages/microglia present in glioblastoma multiforme?

Most malignant brain tumours contain various numbers of cells with characteristics of activated or dysmorphic macrophages/microglia. These cells are generally considered part of the tumour stroma and are often described as TAM (tumour-associated macrophages). These types of cells are thought to either enhance or inhibit brain tumour progression. Recent evidence indicates that neoplastic cells with macrophage characteristics are found in numerous metastatic cancers of non-CNS (central nervous system) origin. Evidence is presented here suggesting that subpopulations of cells within human gliomas, specifically GBM (glioblastoma multiforme), are neoplastic macrophages/microglia. These cells are thought to arise following mitochondrial damage in fusion hybrids between neoplastic stem cells and macrophages/microglia

The translation of cell-based therapies:clinical landscape and manufacturing challenges

Cell-based therapies have the potential to make a large contribution toward currently unmet patient need and thus effective manufacture of these products is essential. Many challenges must be overcome before this can become a reality and a better definition of the manufacturing requirements for cell-based products must be obtained. The aim of this study is to inform industry and academia of current cell-based therapy clinical development and to identify gaps in their manufacturing requirements. A total of 1342 active cell-based therapy clinical trials have been identified and characterized based on cell type, target indication and trial phase. Multiple technologies have been assessed for the manufacture of these cell types in order to facilitate product translation and future process development