Web-based monitoring tool of the Atlantic Ocean observing system (Europe)

Web-based service tool that monitor data flow and key performance indicators of the Atlantic observing system. The focus here is on the monitoring of European contributions, including the EuroGOOS Atlantic ROOSES

Measuring soil moisture with spaceborne synthetic aperture radar data

This report describes the methodology and preliminary results obtained within the NEE6881S Innovation Flexible Fund project funded by the British Geological Survey (BGS) aimed at assessing the capabilities of active radar satellite imagery in deriving soil moisture values. The first part of the report introduces the project in the context of the most recent methodologies used to assess soil moisture with a particular focus on spaceborne technologies. The second part details the datasets and workflow adopted for the two case studies chosen in this work: Chobham Common and Hollin Hill, both in the UK. Around 1.7Tb of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery from Senintel-1 satellite have been processed to detect changes of the hydrological conditions at the two sites for the 2015-2018 period. The backscattering coefficient retrieved from Sentinel-1 images has then been compared with ground truth data on the Volumetric Water Content (VWC) and analysed against the ZOODRM recharge model. The main findings are that: the SAR signal has been able to penetrate down to a maximum depth of 15 cm in the terrain (i), the best correlation with the VWC changes is observed with the vertical transmit – vertical receive polarization of the SAR antenna (ii) and for every unit change in the backscatter signal, VWC varies by about 25% to 33% at Chobham Common and ~20% to ~50% at Hollin Hill which translate into a sensitivity of 0.04 dB/[vol.%] to 0.03 dB/[vol.%] and 0.05 dB/[vol.%] to 0.02 dB/[vol.%], respectively. The Discussion and Conclusions detail the significance and benefits of these findings, current limitations in our methodology and how it can be improved

Computer-aided decision making for regional seismic risk mitigation accounting for limited economic resources

Seismic risk mitigation levels for an existing building are a balance between the reduction of risk and the cost of rehabilitation. Evidently, the more that is paid the more risk is reduced; however, due to limited public budgets a practical approach is needed to manage the risk reduction program when a portfolio of buildings is concerned. Basically, decision makers face a challenge when there are a large number of vulnerable buildings and there is no plan for how to allocate the appointed budget. This study develops a technological platform that implements a decision-making procedure to establish how to optimally distribute the budget in order to achieve the maximum possible portfolio risk reduction. Decisions are made based on various presumed intervention strategies dependent on building’s level of risk. The technological platform provides an interactive, user-friendly tool, available online, that supports stakeholders and decision makers in understanding what the best economic resource allocation will be after selecting the available budget for a specific portfolio of buildings. In addition, the ease of use enables the user to analyze the extent of risk reduction achievable for different budget levels. Therefore, the web platform represents a powerful tool to accomplish two challenging tasks, namely optimal budget selection and optimal budget allocation to gain territorial seismic risk mitigation

Reaction between quinone and thiazolidine. A study on the formation mechanism of new antiproliferative quinolindiones

Reaction between quinolinquinone and thiazolidine in basic medium was investigated. 2-Arylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid ethyl esters undergo two different cleavages in basic medium, yielding the 1-aryl-2-azadiene and a thiolic species. In the presence of quinolinquinone, the isomeric 1-aryl-3-ethoxycarbonyl-pyridoisoquinolin-5,10-diones and 3-amino-3-ethoxycarbonyl-dihydrothienoquinolin- 4,9-diones are formed by a hetero-Diels–Alder reaction and 1,4-Michael addition reaction, respectively. A mechanism for the formation of the reaction products is presented

Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site : ground motion survey report

The report describes the main findings associated with the baseline monitoring of ground motion for the Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site (GGERFS) as part of the UK Geoenergy Observatories (UKGEOS) project. The analysis is based on the interpretation of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data acquired for the period 1995-2017. Overall, the GGERFS sites are stable, small areas near the 2014 Commonwealth Games athletes’ village show a minor subsidence pattern, with rates of ~5mm/yr, observed for the 2015-2017 period between sites GGERFS04 (site currently ‘on hold’) and GGERFS10. This motion is interpreted to relate to settling of relatively thick superficial and anthropogenic deposits, which have recently been built upon for the development associated with the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Overall Glasgow and the surrounding area appears relatively stable for the three decades for which InSAR data has been processed. There are notable small areas of ground motion, which appear to relate to both natural (volume change of peat deposits, compressible ground) and anthropogenic (settling of made ground and landfill) factors

Footprint of mining sites along the Migori River using Earth observation

This report describes the findings from the Earth Observation (EO) work undertaken along the Migori River (Kenya). The purpose of this work was to identify potential mining sites and assess any changes though time (e.g., distribution and/or size). We present a new dataset of mining extents derived by visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite images. A total of c.30GB of satellite data from Sentinel-2, Pleiades and SPOT-5 covering c. 26,000 km2 has been analysed for the years 2005-2020 (inclusive). A total of 67 mining sites concentrated over an area of 140 km2 have been mapped: 57 of which from satellite and 10 from a field survey. The results have been used to inform our work on the environmental impacts of mining and measures that can be taken to mitigate against these

Biophysical and biochemical characterization of a liposarcoma-derived recombinant MnSOD protein acting as an anticancer agent

A recombinant MnSOD (rMnSOD) synthesized by specific cDNA clones derived from a liposarcoma cell line was shown to have the same sequence as the wild-type MnSOD expressed in the human myeloid leukaemia cell line U937, except for the presence of the leader peptide at the N-terminus. These results were fully confirmed by the molecular mass of rMnSOD as evaluated by ES/MS analysis (26662.7 Da) and the nucleotide sequence of the MnSOD cDNA. The role of the leader peptide in rMnSOD was investigated using a fluorescent and/or 68Gallium-labelled synthetic peptide. The labelled peptide permeated MCF-7 cells and uptake could be inhibited in the presence of an excess of oestrogen. In vivo it was taken up by the tumour, suggesting that the molecule can be used for both therapy and diagnosis. The in vitro and in vivo pharmacology tests confirmed that rMnSOD is only oncotoxic for tumour cells expressing oestrogen receptors. Pharmacokinetic studies in animals performed with 125I- and 131I-labelled proteins confirmed that, when administered systemically, rMnSOD selectively reached the tumour, where its presence was unambiguously demonstrated by scintigraphic and PET scans. PCR analysis revealed that Bax gene expression was increased and the Bcl2 gene was down regulated in MCF7 cells treated with rMnSOD, which suggests that the protein induces a pro-apoptotic mechanism

Connecting Neurons to a Mobile Robot: An In Vitro Bidirectional Neural Interface

One of the key properties of intelligent behaviors is the capability to learn and adapt to changing environmental conditions. These features are the result of the continuous and intense interaction of the brain with the external world, mediated by the body. For this reason “embodiment” represents an innovative and very suitable experimental paradigm when studying the neural processes underlying learning new behaviors and adapting to unpredicted situations. To this purpose, we developed a novel bidirectional neural interface. We interconnected in vitro neurons, extracted from rat embryos and plated on a microelectrode array (MEA), to external devices, thus allowing real-time closed-loop interaction. The novelty of this experimental approach entails the necessity to explore different computational schemes and experimental hypotheses. In this paper, we present an open, scalable architecture, which allows fast prototyping of different modules and where coding and decoding schemes and different experimental configurations can be tested. This hybrid system can be used for studying the computational properties and information coding in biological neuronal networks with far-reaching implications for the future development of advanced neuroprostheses

Discovery of a Novel Small Molecule Inhibitor Targeting the Frataxin/Ubiquitin Interaction via Structure-Based Virtual Screening and Bioassays

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neuro- and cardiodegenerative disorder for which there are no proven effective treatments. FRDA is caused by decreased expression and/or function of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Here, we report findings that frataxin is degraded via the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway and that it is ubiquitinated at residue K147 in Calu-6 cells. A theoretical model of the frataxin-K147/Ub complex, constructed by combining bioinformatics interface predictions with information-driven docking, revealed a hitherto unnoticed, potential ubiquitin-binding domain in frataxin. Through structure-based virtual screening and cell-based assays, we discovered a novel small molecule (compound (+)-11) able to prevent frataxin ubiquitination and degradation. (+)-11 was synthesized and tested for specific binding to frataxin by an UF-LC/MS based ligand-binding assay. Follow-up scaffold-based searches resulted in the identification of a lead series with micromolar activity in disrupting the frataxin/Ub interaction. This study also suggests that frataxin could be a potential target for FRDA drug development

Análisis comparativo de la geometría de la sección transversal de tibias de restos humanos de Patagonia austral y centro-norte de Mendoza

El análisis de la geometría transversal de los huesos largos es un indicador de las fuerzas mecánicas a las que están sometidas las estructuras óseas, que refleja la actividad física, la salud nutricional y la variabilidad genética de los individuos. Aunque algunos análisis fueron realizados previamente en restos de individuos de la Patagonia austral, las conclusiones obtenidas parecen contradictorias respecto de la posible relación entre la morfología ósea de los huesos largos y la actividad física. El objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en forma comparativa el análisis de la geometría de la sección transversal de las tibias de individuos de la Patagonia austral y el Centro-Norte de Mendoza, explorando la posible asociación entre el tipo de práctica económica realizada y el desarrollo de las estructuras óseas de los miembros inferiores. Los resultados muestran que no existen diferencias significativas entre la robusticidad de los miembros inferiores de poblaciones de la Patagonia y del Centro-Norte de Mendoza. Sin embargo, al analizar los resultados de acuerdo con la dieta, los individuos con dietas marítimas en la Patagonia austral presentaron tibias más robustas que aquellos con dietas terrestres. En los individuos del Centro-Norte de Mendoza, los restos de individuos con dietas asociadas al consumo de maíz mostraron menor robusticidad en relación con otros individuos de esa región. Finalmente, sólo un caso de la Patagonia austral mostró resultados que podrían indicar que fue afectado por un trastorno metabólico de la salud.Analysis of transversal geometry of long bones is an indicator of the work of mechanical forces over bone structures, informing about physical activity patterns, nutritional health, and genetic variability among individuals. Although some analyses were previously performed in human skeletons from southern Patagonia, contradictory conclusions were reported in regards to the relationship between long-bone morphology and physical activity patterns. The aim of this work is to comparatively increase the knowledge about the transversal geometry patterns in human remains of individuals from southern Patagonia and Center-North of Mendoza, studying the possible relationship between economic practices and the structure of low limbs. The results showed no difference in the robusticity of the tibias between individuals from southern Patagonia and Center-North of Mendoza. However, individuals with maritime diets from Southern Patagonia showed more robusticity than individuals with terrestrial diets. Moreover, individuals from Center-North of Mendoza with cornbased diets showed lower robustiticy than other individuals from the same region. Finally, only one case from southern Patagonia showed results that could be related to some metabolic disease.Asociación de Antropología Biológica de la República Argentina (AABRA