Analysis of Visible/SWIR surface reflectance ratios for aerosol retrievals from satellite in Mexico City urban area

International audienceThe surface reflectance ratio between the visible (VIS) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) radiation is an important quantity for the retrieval of the aerosol optical depth (?a) from the MODIS sensor data. Based on empirically determined VIS/SWIR ratios, MODIS ?a retrieval uses the surface reflectance in the SWIR band (2.1 µm), where the interaction between solar radiation and the aerosol layer is small, to predict the visible reflectances in the blue (0.47 µm) and red (0.66 µm) bands. Therefore, accurate knowledge of the VIS/SWIR ratio is essential for achieving accurate retrieval of aerosol optical depth from MODIS. We analyzed the surface reflectance over some distinct surface covers in and around the Mexico City metropolitan area (MCMA) using MODIS radiances at 0.66 µm and 2.1 µm. The analysis was performed at 1.5 km×1.5 km spatial resolution. Also, ground-based AERONET sun-photometer data acquired in Mexico City from 2002 to 2005 were analyzed for aerosol depth and other aerosol optical properties. In addition, a network of hand-held sun-photometers deployed in Mexico City, as part of the MCMA-2006 Study during the MILAGRO Campaign, provided an unprecedented measurement of ?a in 5 different sites well distributed in the city. We found that the average RED/SWIR ratio representative of the urbanized sites analyzed is 0.73±0.06 for scattering angles a averaged from sun-photometer measurements. The use of the new RED/SWIR ratio of 0.73 in the MODIS retrieval over Mexico City led to a significant improvement in the agreement between the MODIS and sun-photometer AOD results; with the slope, offset, and the correlation coefficient of the linear regression changing from (?aMODIS=0.91?a sun-photometer+0.33, R2=0.66) to (?aMODIS=0.96 ?a sun-photometer?0.006, R2=0.87). Indeed, an underestimation of this ratio in urban areas lead to a significant overestimation of the AOD retrieved from satellite. Therefore, we strongly encourage similar analyses in other urban areas to enhance the development of a parameterization of the surface ratios accounting for urban heterogeneities

Urban Visible/SWIR surface reflectance ratios from satellite and sun photometer measurements in Mexico City

International audienceThe surface reflectance ratio between the visible (VIS) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) radiation is an important quantity for the retrieval of the aerosol optical depth (?a) from the MODIS sensor data. Based on empirically determined VIS/SWIR ratios, MODIS ?a retrieval uses the surface reflectance in the SWIR band (2.1 ?m), where the interaction between solar radiation and the aerosol layer is small, to predict the visible reflectances in the blue (0.47 ?m) and red (0.66 ?m) bands. Therefore, accurate knowledge of the VIS/SWIR ratio is essential for achieving accurate retrieval of aerosol optical depth from MODIS. The heterogeneity of the surface cover in an urban environment increases the uncertainties in the estimation of the surface reflectance and, consequently, ?a. We analyzed the surface reflectance over some distinct surface covers in and around the Mexico City metropolitan area (MCMA) using MODIS radiances at 0.66 ?m and 2.1 ?m. The analysis was performed at 1.5 km×1.5 km spatial resolution. Also, ground-based AERONET sun-photometer data acquired in Mexico City from 2002 to 2005 were analyzed for aerosol optical thickness and other aerosol optical properties. In addition, a network of hand-held sun-photometers deployed in Mexico City, as part of the MCMA-2006 Study during the MILAGRO Campaign, provided an unprecedented measurement of ?a in 5 different sites well distributed in the city. We found that the average RED/SWIR ratio representative of the urbanized sites analyzed is 0.73±0.06. This average ratio was significantly different for non-urban sites, which was approximately 0.55. The aerosol optical thickness retrieved from MODIS radiances at a spatial resolution of 1.5 km×1.5 km and averaged within 10 x 10 km boxes were compared with collocated 1-h ?a averaged from sun-photometer measurements. The use of the new RED/SWIR ratio of 0.73 in the MODIS retrieval led to a significant improvement in the agreement between the MODIS and sun-photometer results; with the slope, offset, and the correlation coefficient of the linear regression changing from (?aMODIS = 0.91 ?a sun-photometer + 0.33 ,R2=0.66) to (?aMODIS = 0.96 ?a sun-photometer ?0.006, R2=0.87)

Scalable production of human mesenchymal stromal cell-derived extracellular vesicles under serum-/xeno-free conditions in a microcarrier-based bioreactor culture system

Copyright © 2020 de Almeida Fuzeta, Bernardes, Oliveira, Costa, Fernandes-Platzgummer, Farinha, Rodrigues, Jung, Tseng, Milligan, Lee, Castanho, Gaspar, Cabral and da Silva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) hold great promise for tissue engineering and cell-based therapies due to their multilineage differentiation potential and intrinsic immunomodulatory and trophic activities. Over the past years, increasing evidence has proposed extracellular vesicles (EVs) as mediators of many of the MSC-associated therapeutic features. EVs have emerged as mediators of intercellular communication, being associated with multiple physiological processes, but also in the pathogenesis of several diseases. EVs are derived from cell membranes, allowing high biocompatibility to target cells, while their small size makes them ideal candidates to cross biological barriers. Despite the promising potential of EVs for therapeutic applications, robust manufacturing processes that would increase the consistency and scalability of EV production are still lacking. In this work, EVs were produced by MSC isolated from different human tissue sources [bone marrow (BM), adipose tissue (AT), and umbilical cord matrix (UCM)]. A serum-/xeno-free microcarrier-based culture system was implemented in a Vertical-WheelTM bioreactor (VWBR), employing a human platelet lysate culture supplement (UltraGROTM-PURE), toward the scalable production of MSC-derived EVs (MSC-EVs). The morphology and structure of the manufactured EVs were assessed by atomic force microscopy, while EV protein markers were successfully identified in EVs by Western blot, and EV surface charge was maintained relatively constant (between −15.5 ± 1.6 mV and −19.4 ± 1.4 mV), as determined by zeta potential measurements. When compared to traditional culture systems under static conditions (T-flasks), the VWBR system allowed the production of EVs at higher concentration (i.e., EV concentration in the conditioned medium) (5.7-fold increase overall) and productivity (i.e., amount of EVs generated per cell) (3-fold increase overall). BM, AT and UCM MSC cultured in the VWBR system yielded an average of 2.8 ± 0.1 × 1011, 3.1 ± 1.3 × 1011, and 4.1 ± 1.7 × 1011 EV particles (n = 3), respectively, in a 60 mL final volume. This bioreactor system also allowed to obtain a more robust MSC-EV production, regarding their purity, compared to static culture. Overall, we demonstrate that this scalable culture system can robustly manufacture EVs from MSC derived from different tissue sources, toward the development of novel therapeutic products.unding received by iBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (UID/BIO/04565/2020) and through the projects PTDC/EQU-EQU/31651/2017, PTDC/BBB-BQB/1693/2014, and PTDC/BTM-SAL/31057/2017 is acknowledged. Funding received from POR de Lisboa 2020 through the project PRECISE – Accelerating progress toward the new era of precision medicine (Project N. 16394) is also acknowledged. MAF (PD/BD/128328/2017) and FO (PD/BD/135046/2017) acknowledge FCT for the Ph.D. fellowships and DG (SFRH/BPD/109010/2015) for the Post-Doctoral fellowship.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Long-term carbon sink in Borneo's forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects

Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha‾¹ per year (95% CI 0.14—0.72, mean period 1988-2010) above-ground live biomass. These results closely match those from African and Amazonian plot networks, suggesting that the world's remaining intact tropical forests are now en masse out-of-equilibrium. Although both pan-tropical and long-term, the sink in remaining intact forests appears vulnerable to climate and land use changes. Across Borneo the 1997-1998 El Niño drought temporarily halted the carbon sink by increasing tree mortality, while fragmentation persistently offset the sink and turned many edge-affected forests into a carbon source to the atmosphere

A interface entre as políticas públicas de saúde mental e promoção da saúde The interface between the mental health and health promotion public policies

Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar as estratégias de produção de cuidado em saúde mental de um Centro de Convivência e Cooperativa (CECCO) - serviço da rede de atenção à saúde mental do município de São Paulo - na perspectiva de seu alinhamento às políticas de saúde mental e promoção da saúde, verificando as potencialidades da interação entre elas, no cotidiano das práticas de saúde. A análise baseou-se no material empírico obtido por meio de entrevista semiestruturada junto ao gerente do serviço estudado, assim como nos achados da literatura e nos documentos oficiais do Ministério da Saúde. Verificou-se que, por meio de ações intersetoriais, que visam ao fortalecimento da participação social, do empoderamento de indivíduos e comunidade e da equidade, o CECCO articula pressupostos da saúde mental e da promoção da saúde, produzindo autonomia e cidadania e tornando-se um lugar que constrói sentido de vida às pessoas.<br>This study aimed at analyzing the mental health care production strategies of a 'Centro de Convivência e Cooperativa' (CECCO) - a service of the mental health care network of the city of São Paulo - in the perspective of their alignment with the mental health and health promotion public policies, verifying the potentialities of the interaction between them in the health practices' daily routine. The analysis was based on the empirical material obtained by a qualitative research, through a semi-structured interview with the health service's manager, as well as on the literature's findings and on the official documents of the Ministry of Health. It was observed that, through intersectorial actions aiming at the strengthening of social participation, of the empowerment of individuals and community and of equity, CECCO articulates the presuppositions of mental health and of health promotion, producing autonomy and citizenship and becoming a place that constructs life's meaning to people

Facial emotion recognition in bipolar disorder: a critical review Reconhecimento de emoções faciais: artigo de revisão

OBJECTIVE: Literature review of the controlled studies in the last 18 years in emotion recognition deficits in bipolar disorder. METHOD: A bibliographical research of controlled studies with samples larger than 10 participants from 1990 to June 2008 was completed in Medline, Lilacs, PubMed and ISI. Thirty-two papers were evaluated. RESULTS: Euthymic bipolar disorder presented impairment in recognizing disgust and fear. Manic BD showed difficult to recognize fearful and sad faces. Pediatric bipolar disorder patients and children at risk presented impairment in their capacity to recognize emotions in adults and children faces. Bipolar disorder patients were more accurate in recognizing facial emotions than schizophrenic patients. DISCUSSION: Bipolar disorder patients present impaired recognition of disgust, fear and sadness that can be partially attributed to mood-state. In mania, they have difficult to recognize fear and disgust. Bipolar disorder patients were more accurate in recognizing emotions than depressive and schizophrenic patients. Bipolar disorder children present a tendency to misjudge extreme facial expressions as being moderate or mild in intensity. CONCLUSION: Affective and cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder vary according to the mood states. Follow-up studies re-testing bipolar disorder patients after recovery are needed in order to investigate if these abnormalities reflect a state or trait marker and can be considered an endophenotype. Future studies should aim at standardizing task and designs.<br>OBJETIVO: Revisão da literatura de estudos controlados publicados nos últimos 18 anos sobre déficits no reconhecimento de emoções no transtorno bipolar. MÉTODO: Foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica no Medline, Lilacs, PubMed e ISI, selecionando-se o período de 1990 a junho de 2008. Foram incluídos apenas estudos controlados, que tivessem uma das amostras com mais de 10 participantes, totalizando 32 artigos. RESULTADOS: Bipolares eutímicos apresentaram prejuízo no reconhecimento de nojo e medo. Em mania, mostraram dificuldade para reconhecer medo e tristeza. Transtorno bipolar pediátrico e crianças de risco apresentam dificuldade para reconhecer emoções nos rostos de adultos e de crianças. Bipolares foram mais precisos para reconhecer emoções do que os pacientes esquizofrênicos. DISCUSSÃO: Pacientes com transtorno bipolar apresentam prejuízo no reconhecimento de nojo, medo e tristeza, os quais podem ser apenas em parte atribuídos ao estado de humor. No episódio maníaco, eles têm dificuldade para reconhecer medo e nojo. Entretanto, eles são mais precisos no reconhecimento de emoções do que pacientes deprimidos e esquizofrênicos. Crianças com transtorno bipolar apresentam tendência a julgar expressões faciais extremas como sendo de intensidade leve ou moderada. CONCLUSÃO: Déficits afetivos e cognitivos em bipolares sofrem variações dependendo do estado de humor. Estudos de seguimento, reavaliando pacientes após a remissão dos sintomas, são necessários para investigar se estas anormalidades refletem um estado ou traço da doença e se podem ser consideradas endofenótipos. Estudos futuros devem padronizar tarefas e metodologia