Permafrost - physical aspects and carbon cycling, databases and uncertainties

Permafrost is defined as ground that remains below 0°C for at least 2 consecutive years. About 24% of the northern hemisphere land area is underlain by permafrost. The thawing of permafrost has the potential to influence the climate system through the release of carbon (C) from northern high latitude terrestrial ecosystems, but there is substantial uncertainty about the sensitivity of the C cycle to thawing permafrost. Soil C can be mobilized from permafrost in response to changes in air temperature, directional changes in water balance, fire, thermokarst, and flooding. Observation networks need to be implemented to understand responses of permafrost and C at a range of temporal and spatial scales. The understanding gained from these observation networks needs to be integrated into modeling frameworks capable of representing how the responses of permafrost C will influence the trajectory of climate in the future

Rubber friction: role of the flash temperature

When a rubber block is sliding on a hard rough substrate, the substrate asperities will exert time-dependent deformations of the rubber surface resulting in viscoelastic energy dissipation in the rubber, which gives a contribution to the sliding friction. Most surfaces of solids have roughness on many different length scales, and when calculating the friction force it is necessary to include the viscoelastic deformations on all length scales. The energy dissipation will result in local heating of the rubber. Since the viscoelastic properties of rubber-like materials are extremely strongly temperature dependent, it is necessary to include the local temperature increase in the analysis. At very low sliding velocity the temperature increase is negligible because of heat diffusion, but already for velocities of order 0.01 m/s the local heating may be very important. Here I study the influence of the local heating on the rubber friction, and I show that in a typical case the temperature increase results in a decrease in rubber friction with increasing sliding velocity for v > 0.01 m/s. This may result in stick-slip instabilities, and is of crucial importance in many practical applications, e.g., for the tire-road friction, and in particular for ABS-breaking systems.Comment: 22 pages, 27 figure

The Indo-Pacific ammonite <i>Mayaites</i> in the Oxfordian of the Southern Andes

Oxfordian Iitho- and biostratigraphy of the Chilean and Argentine Andes is reviewed (P. N. Stipanicic). Within the Chacay Group, the Lower to basal Upper Oxfordian La Manga Formation, below, mostly detrital and biogenic, and the Upper Oxfordian Auquilco Formation, above, mainly chemical, are distinguished. The La Manga Formation (with Gryphaea calceola lumachelle) is rich in ammonite faunas, particularly of thc upper Cordatum to lower Canaliculatum Zones. In Neuquén and Mendoza provinces of Argentina, the Plicatilis Zone or Middle Oxfordian has yielded Perísphinctes spp., Euaspidoceras spp., Aspidoceras spp., together with Mayaítes (Araucanites ) stípanícfcí, M. (A.) reyesi, and M. (A.) mulai, Westermann et Riccardi subgen. et spp. nov. The first find of Mayaitidae outside the Indo-Pacific province is discussed in light of _plate-tectonic theory.La revisión Iito- y bioestratigráfica del Oxfordiano de los Andes de Argentina y Chile (P. N. Stipanicic) ha permitido reconocer dentro del Grupo Chacay: 1) abajo, la Formación La Manga, mayormente detrítica y biogénica, del Oxfordiano inferior-superior basa!, y 2) arriba, la Formación Auquilco, mayormente química, del Oxfordiano superior. La Formación La Manga (con lumachelas de Gryphaea calceola) contiene abundante cantidad de amonitas, particularmente de las Zonas de Cordatum superior a Canaliculatum inferior. En las provincias de Mendoza y Neuquén, Argentina, la Zona de Plicatilis (Oxfordiano medio) contiene Perispbinctes spp., Euaspidoceras spp., Aspidoceras spp., conjuntamente con Mayaites (Araucanites) stipanicici, M. (A.) reyesi, y M. (A.) mulai, Westermann et Riccardi subgen. et spp. nov. El primer hallazgo de Mayaitidae fuera de la provincia lndo-Pacífica es discutido tomando en consideración la teoría de tectónica de placas.Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) - Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (FCNM

The Indo-Pacific ammonite <i>Mayaites</i> in the Oxfordian of the Southern Andes

Oxfordian Iitho- and biostratigraphy of the Chilean and Argentine Andes is reviewed (P. N. Stipanicic). Within the Chacay Group, the Lower to basal Upper Oxfordian La Manga Formation, below, mostly detrital and biogenic, and the Upper Oxfordian Auquilco Formation, above, mainly chemical, are distinguished. The La Manga Formation (with Gryphaea calceola lumachelle) is rich in ammonite faunas, particularly of thc upper Cordatum to lower Canaliculatum Zones. In Neuquén and Mendoza provinces of Argentina, the Plicatilis Zone or Middle Oxfordian has yielded Perísphinctes spp., Euaspidoceras spp., Aspidoceras spp., together with Mayaítes (Araucanites ) stípanícfcí, M. (A.) reyesi, and M. (A.) mulai, Westermann et Riccardi subgen. et spp. nov. The first find of Mayaitidae outside the Indo-Pacific province is discussed in light of _plate-tectonic theory.La revisión Iito- y bioestratigráfica del Oxfordiano de los Andes de Argentina y Chile (P. N. Stipanicic) ha permitido reconocer dentro del Grupo Chacay: 1) abajo, la Formación La Manga, mayormente detrítica y biogénica, del Oxfordiano inferior-superior basa!, y 2) arriba, la Formación Auquilco, mayormente química, del Oxfordiano superior. La Formación La Manga (con lumachelas de Gryphaea calceola) contiene abundante cantidad de amonitas, particularmente de las Zonas de Cordatum superior a Canaliculatum inferior. En las provincias de Mendoza y Neuquén, Argentina, la Zona de Plicatilis (Oxfordiano medio) contiene Perispbinctes spp., Euaspidoceras spp., Aspidoceras spp., conjuntamente con Mayaites (Araucanites) stipanicici, M. (A.) reyesi, y M. (A.) mulai, Westermann et Riccardi subgen. et spp. nov. El primer hallazgo de Mayaitidae fuera de la provincia lndo-Pacífica es discutido tomando en consideración la teoría de tectónica de placas.Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) - Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (FCNM

Inhibition of c-Kit signaling is associated with reduced heat and cold pain sensitivity in humans

The tyrosine kinase receptor c-Kit is critically involved in the modulation of nociceptive sensitivity in mice. Ablation of the c-Kit gene results in hyposensitivity to thermal pain, while c-Kit activation produces hypersensitivity to the noxious heat, without altering sensitivity to innocuous mechanical stimuli. In this study we investigated the role of c-Kit signalling in human pain perception. We hypothesized that subjects treated with Imatinib or Nilotinib, potent inhibitors of tyrosine kinases including c-Kit, but also Abl1, PDFGFR{alpha}, and PDFGFR{beta}, that are used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), would experience changes in thermal pain sensitivity. We examined 31 asymptomatic CML patients (14 male, 17 female) under Imatinib/Nilotinib treatment and compared them to 39 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (12 male, 27 female). We used cutaneous heat and cold stimulation to test normal and noxious thermal sensitivity, and a grating orientation task to assess tactile acuity. Thermal pain thresholds were significantly increased in the Imatinib/Nilotinib-treated group, while innocuous thermal and tactile thresholds were unchanged compared to the control group. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the biological effects of c-Kit inhibition are comparable in mice and humans in that c-Kit activity is required to regulate thermal pain sensitivity, but does not affect innocuous thermal and mechanical sensation. The effect on experimental heat pain observed in our study is comparable to that of several common analgesics, thus modulation of the c-Kit pathway can be used to specifically modulate noxious heat and cold sensitivity in humans

An observation-based constraint on permafrost loss as a function of global warming

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordPermafrost, which covers 15 million km 2 of the land surface, is one of the components of the Earth system that is most sensitive to warming. Loss of permafrost would radically change high-latitude hydrology and biogeochemical cycling, and could therefore provide very significant feedbacks on climate change. The latest climate models all predict warming of high-latitude soils and thus thawing of permafrost under future climate change, but with widely varying magnitudes of permafrost thaw. Here we show that in each of the models, their present-day spatial distribution of permafrost and air temperature can be used to infer the sensitivity of permafrost to future global warming. Using the same approach for the observed permafrost distribution and air temperature, we estimate a sensitivity of permafrost area loss to global mean warming at stabilization of million km 2 °C â '1 (1σ confidence), which is around 20% higher than previous studies. Our method facilitates an assessment for COP21 climate change targets: if the climate is stabilized at 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, we estimate that the permafrost area would eventually be reduced by over 40%. Stabilizing at 1.5 °C rather than 2 °C would save approximately 2 million km 2 of permafrost.European Union Seventh Framework ProgrammeNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Swedish Research CouncilResearch Council of NorwayUK DECC/Defra Met Office HadleyEuropean Unio

Gene Deletion of the Kinin Receptor B1 Attenuates Cardiac Inflammation and Fibrosis During the Development of Experimental Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Objective: Diabetic cardiomyopathy is associated with increased mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. The underlying pathology of this disease is still under discussion. We studied the role of the kinin B1 receptor on the development of experimental diabetic cardiomyopathy. Research Design and Methods: We utilized B1 receptor knockout mice and investiged cardiac inflammation, fibrosis and oxidative stress after induction of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, the left ventricular function was measured by pressure-volume loops after 8 weeks of diabetes mellitus. Results: B1 receptor knockout mice showed an attenuation of diabetic cardiomyopathy with improved systolic and diastolic function in comparison with diabetic control mice. This was associated with a decreased activation state of the MAP kinase p38, less oxidative stress as well as normalized cardiac inflammation, shown by fewer invading cells and, no increase in matrix metalloproteinase-9 as well as the chemokine CXCL-5. Furthermore, the pro-fibrotic connective tissue growth factor was normalized, leading to a reduction in cardiac fibrosis despite severe hyperglycemia in mice lacking the B1 receptor. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the B1 receptor is detrimental in diabetic cardiomyopathy in that it mediates inflammatory and fibrotic processes. These insights might have useful implications on future studies utilizing B1 receptor antagonists for treatment of human diabetic cardiomyopathy

Cost-sensitive learning classification strategy for predicting product failures

In the current era of Industry 4.0, sensor data used in connection with machine learning algorithms can help manufacturing industries to reduce costs and to predict failures in advance. This paper addresses a binary classification problem found in manufacturing engineering, which focuses on how to ensure product quality delivery and at the same time to reduce production costs. The aim behind this problem is to predict the number of faulty products, which in this case is extremely low. As a result of this characteristic, the problem is reduced to an imbalanced binary classification problem. The authors contribute to imbalanced classification research in three important ways. First, the industrial application coming from the electronic manufacturing industry is presented in detail, along with its data and modelling challenges. Second, a modified cost-sensitive classification strategy based on a combination of Voronoi diagrams and genetic algorithm is applied to tackle this problem and is compared to several base classifiers. The results obtained are promising for this specific application. Third, in order to evaluate the flexibility of the strategy, and to demonstrate its wide range of applicability, 25 real-world data sets are selected from the KEEL repository with different imbalance ratios and number of features. The strategy, in this case implemented without a predefined cost, is compared with the same base classifiers as those used for the industrial problem

The Expedition to the Peel River in 2019: Fluvial Transport Across a Permafrost Landscape

The Expedition to the Peel River in 2019: Fluvial Transport Across a Permafrost Landscape EU Horizon2020 project, Nunataryuk. Consisting of 7 legs from 16 June 2019 - 11 August 2019