279 research outputs found
A Peer-reviewed Newspaper About_ Machine Feeling
On the ability of technologies to capture and structure feelings and experiences that are active, in flux, and situated in the present.
Publication resulting from research workshop at CRASSH, University of Cambridge, organised in collaboration with CRASSH, University of Cambridge and transmediale festival for art and digital culture, Berlin
Merged SAGE II, Ozone_cci and OMPS ozone profile dataset and evaluation of ozone trends in the stratosphere
In this paper, we present a merged dataset of ozone profiles from
several satellite instruments: SAGE II on ERBS, GOMOS, SCIAMACHY and
MIPAS on Envisat, OSIRIS on Odin, ACE-FTS on SCISAT, and OMPS on
Suomi-NPP. The merged dataset is created in the framework of the
European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (Ozone_cci) with
the aim of analyzing stratospheric ozone trends. For the merged
dataset, we used the latest versions of the original ozone
datasets. The datasets from the individual instruments have been
extensively validated and intercompared; only those datasets which
are in good agreement, and do not exhibit significant drifts with
respect to collocated ground-based observations and with respect to
each other, are used for merging. The long-term SAGE–CCI–OMPS
dataset is created by computation and merging of deseasonalized
anomalies from individual instruments.
The merged SAGE–CCI–OMPS dataset consists of deseasonalized
anomalies of ozone in 10° latitude bands from 90° S
to 90° N and from 10 to 50 km in steps of
1 km covering the period from October 1984 to
July 2016. This newly created dataset is used for evaluating ozone
trends in the stratosphere through multiple linear
regression. Negative ozone trends in the upper stratosphere are
observed before 1997 and positive trends are found after 1997. The
upper stratospheric trends are statistically significant at
midlatitudes and indicate ozone recovery, as expected from the
decrease of stratospheric halogens that started in the middle of the
1990s and stratospheric cooling
Morphology selection of nanoparticle dispersions by polymer media
A systematic theory of ultrathin polymer films as organizing media to achieve 2D nanoparticle arrangements was developed. The key physical variables to achieve nanoparticle dispersions and control morphology were determined.open727
HIT family genes: FHIT but not PKCI-1/HINT produces altered transcripts in colorectal cancer
Forty-five colorectal adenocarcinomas were examined for alterations in the HIT family genes FHIT and PKCI-1/HINT by a combination of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. In all cases a single transcript corresponding to the reported sequence was detected using primers specific for the PKCI-1/HINT gene. In contrast multiple transcripts were detected using primers specific for the FHIT gene transcript. 6% (3/45) of tumours evinced no detectable expression of any FHIT transcript and a further 12% (6/45) produced only the normal full length transcripts. Ninety-six aberrant transcripts were characterized from the remaining tumours. Deviations from the normal full length sequence characterized included deletions, insertions of novel sequences, a point mutation as well as the usage of a putative alternate splice site in exon 10. Message variants were detected with approximately equal frequency in all tumour stages with the exception that templates with insertions were found solely in Dukes’ stage B tumours (P < 0.001). With the exception of the putative alternate splice site, aberrant transcripts were not detected in matched normal mucosa. These results suggest that members of the HIT family of genes are only selectively involved in tumorigenesis and that perturbation of FHIT gene expression is an early event in colorectal tumorigenesis. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig
Current systematic carbon-cycle observations and the need for implementing a policy-relevant carbon observing system
A globally integrated carbon observation and analysis system is needed to
improve the fundamental understanding of the global carbon cycle, to improve
our ability to project future changes, and to verify the effectiveness of
policies aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon
sequestration. Building an integrated carbon observation system requires
transformational advances from the existing sparse, exploratory framework
towards a dense, robust, and sustained system in all components:
anthropogenic emissions, the atmosphere, the ocean, and the terrestrial
biosphere. The paper is addressed to scientists, policymakers, and funding
agencies who need to have a global picture of the current state of the
(diverse) carbon observations. We identify the current state of carbon
observations, and the needs and notional requirements for a global integrated
carbon observation system that can be built in the next decade. A key
conclusion is the substantial expansion of the ground-based observation
networks required to reach the high spatial resolution for CO<sub>2</sub> and
CH<sub>4</sub> fluxes, and for carbon stocks for addressing policy-relevant
objectives, and attributing flux changes to underlying processes in each
region. In order to establish flux and stock diagnostics over areas such as
the southern oceans, tropical forests, and the Arctic, in situ observations
will have to be complemented with remote-sensing measurements. Remote sensing
offers the advantage of dense spatial coverage and frequent revisit. A key
challenge is to bring remote-sensing measurements to a level of long-term
consistency and accuracy so that they can be efficiently combined in models
to reduce uncertainties, in synergy with ground-based data. Bringing tight
observational constraints on fossil fuel and land use change emissions will
be the biggest challenge for deployment of a policy-relevant integrated
carbon observation system. This will require in situ and remotely sensed data
at much higher resolution and density than currently achieved for natural
fluxes, although over a small land area (cities, industrial sites, power
plants), as well as the inclusion of fossil fuel CO<sub>2</sub> proxy measurements
such as radiocarbon in CO<sub>2</sub> and carbon-fuel combustion tracers.
Additionally, a policy-relevant carbon monitoring system should also provide
mechanisms for reconciling regional top-down (atmosphere-based) and bottom-up
(surface-based) flux estimates across the range of spatial and temporal
scales relevant to mitigation policies. In addition, uncertainties for each
observation data-stream should be assessed. The success of the system will
rely on long-term commitments to monitoring, on improved international
collaboration to fill gaps in the current observations, on sustained efforts
to improve access to the different data streams and make databases
interoperable, and on the calibration of each component of the system to
agreed-upon international scales
Mrp1 is involved in lipid presentation and iNKT cell activation by Streptococcus pneumoniae
The CD1d pathway present lipid antigens resulting in the activation of iNKT cells but the complete pathway remains to be fully elucidated. Here, Chandra et al. use an siRNA screen and identify Mrp1 as crucial for CD1d lipid presentation and activation of iNKT in the context of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection
Biosynthetic Gene Cluster for the Cladoniamides, Bis-Indoles with a Rearranged Scaffold
The cladoniamides are bis-indole alkaloids isolated from Streptomyces uncialis, a lichen-associated actinomycete strain. The cladoniamides have an unusual, indenotryptoline structure rarely observed among bis-indole alkaloids. I report here the isolation, sequencing, and annotation of the cladoniamide biosynthetic gene cluster and compare it to the recently published gene cluster for BE-54017, a closely related indenotryptoline natural product. The cladoniamide gene cluster differs from the BE-54017 gene cluster in gene organization and in the absence of one N-methyltransferase gene but otherwise contains close homologs to all genes in the BE-54017 cluster. Both gene clusters encode enzymes needed for the construction of an indolocarbazole core, as well as flavin-dependent enzymes putatively involved in generating the indenotryptoline scaffold from an indolocarbazole. These two bis-indolic gene clusters exemplify the diversity of biosynthetic routes that begin from the oxidative dimerization of two molecules of l-tryptophan, highlight enzymes for further study, and provide new opportunities for combinatorial engineering
Acquired resistance to oxaliplatin is not directly associated with increased resistance to DNA damage in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000, a newly established oxaliplatin-resistant sub-line of the neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS
The formation of acquired drug resistance is a major reason for the failure of anti-cancer therapies after initial response. Here, we introduce a novel model of acquired oxaliplatin resistance, a sub-line of the non-MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-AS that was adapted to growth in the presence of 4000 ng/mL oxaliplatin (SK-N-ASrOXALI4000). SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells displayed enhanced chromosomal aberrations compared to SK-N-AS, as indicated by 24-chromosome fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Moreover, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were resistant not only to oxaliplatin but also to the two other commonly used anti-cancer platinum agents cisplatin and carboplatin. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells exhibited a stable resistance phenotype that was not affected by culturing the cells for 10 weeks in the absence of oxaliplatin. Interestingly, SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells showed no cross resistance to gemcitabine and increased sensitivity to doxorubicin and UVC radiation, alternative treatments that like platinum drugs target DNA integrity. Notably, UVC-induced DNA damage is thought to be predominantly repaired by nucleotide excision repair and nucleotide excision repair has been described as the main oxaliplatin-induced DNA damage repair system. SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells were also more sensitive to lysis by influenza A virus, a candidate for oncolytic therapy, than SK-N-AS cells. In conclusion, we introduce a novel oxaliplatin resistance model. The oxaliplatin resistance mechanisms in SK-N-ASrOXALI4000 cells appear to be complex and not to directly depend on enhanced DNA repair capacity. Models of oxaliplatin resistance are of particular relevance since research on platinum drugs has so far predominantly focused on cisplatin and carboplatin
Quality assessment of the Ozone_cci Climate Research Data Package (release 2017) – Part 2: Ground-based validation of nadir ozone profile data products
Atmospheric ozone plays a key role in
air quality and the radiation budget of the Earth, both directly and through
its chemical influence on other trace gases. Assessments of the atmospheric
ozone distribution and associated climate change therefore demand accurate
vertically resolved ozone observations with both stratospheric and
tropospheric sensitivity, on both global and regional scales, and both in the
long term and at shorter timescales. Such observations have been acquired by
two series of European nadir-viewing ozone profilers, namely the
scattered-light UV–visible spectrometers of the GOME family, launched
regularly since 1995 (GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, GOME-2A/B, TROPOMI, and the
upcoming Sentinel-5 series), and the thermal infrared emission sounders of
the IASI type, launched regularly since 2006 (IASI on Metop platforms and the
upcoming IASI-NG on Metop-SG). In particular, several Level-2 retrieved,
Level-3 monthly gridded, and Level-4 assimilated nadir ozone profile data
products have been improved and harmonized in the context of the ozone
project of the European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative (ESA
Ozone_cci). To verify their fitness for purpose, these ozone datasets must
undergo a comprehensive quality assessment (QA), including (a) detailed
identification of their geographical, vertical, and temporal domains of
validity; (b) quantification of their potential bias, noise, and drift and
their dependences on major influence quantities; and (c) assessment of the
mutual consistency of data from different sounders. For this purpose we have
applied to the Ozone_cci Climate Research Data Package (CRDP) released in
2017 the versatile QA and validation system Multi-TASTE, which has been
developed in the context of several heritage projects (ESA's Multi-TASTE,
EUMETSAT's O3M-SAF, and the European Commission's FP6 GEOmon and FP7 QA4ECV).
This work, as the second in a series of four Ozone_cci validation papers,
reports for the first time on data content studies, information content
studies and ground-based validation for both the GOME- and IASI-type climate
data records combined. The ground-based reference measurements have been
provided by the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition
Change (NDACC), NASA's Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesonde
programme (SHADOZ), and other ozonesonde and lidar stations contributing to
the World Meteorological Organisation's Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO GAW).
The nadir ozone profile CRDP quality assessment reveals that all nadir ozone
profile products under study fulfil the GCOS user requirements in terms of
observation frequency and horizontal and vertical resolution. Yet all
L2 observations also show sensitivity outliers in the UTLS and are strongly
correlated vertically due to substantial averaging kernel fluctuations that
extend far beyond the kernel's 15 km FWHM. The CRDP typically does not
comply with the GCOS user requirements in terms of total uncertainty and
decadal drift, except for the UV–visible L4 dataset. The drift values of the
L2 GOME and OMI, the L3 IASI, and the L4 assimilated products are found to be
overall insignificant, however, and applying appropriate altitude-dependent
bias and drift corrections make the data fit for climate and atmospheric
composition monitoring and modelling purposes. Dependence of the Ozone_cci
data quality on major influence quantities – resulting in data screening
suggestions to users – and perspectives for the Copernicus Sentinel missions
are additionally discussed
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