Brief communication: impacts of ocean-wave-induced breakup of Antarctic sea ice via thermodynamics in a stand-alone version of the CICE sea-ice model

Impacts of wave-induced breakup of Antarctic sea ice on ice concentration and volume are investigated using a modified version of the CICE sea-ice model, run in standalone mode from 1979–2010. Model outputs show that during summer wave-induced breakup reduces local ice concentration by up to 0.3–0.4 in a vicinity of the ice edge and total ice volume by up to a factor of 0.1–0.2.Luke G. Bennetts, Siobhan O’Farrell, and Petteri Uotil

Developing a virtual zoological museum

Abstract. This is a documentation of our work developing a virtual zoological museum. Although it’s challenging to create a virtual museum that lives up to the original, Unity3D and virtual reality technology are utilized in order to provide experiences that a traditional museum cannot. As we aim to digitize the museum that once was in University of Oulu, different ways of designing an educating and engaging virtual museum visit are explored. The animals of the museum can be interacted with, being able to play back animations and audio while also providing information in text form. An interactive forest was also developed as a more natural and lively environment. Furthermore, 360° photos of local forests were added to improve the representation of nature. Virtual reality support was programmed for Oculus Rift, allowing movement and interaction as if one was there in real life. In order to achieve a comfortable experience, some performance optimization has been done to reach stable frame rates. We evaluated users’ sense of presence, experienced Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), system usability and content quality. Based on our tests, users found the virtual museum visit enjoyable and immersive overall despite being distracted by some aspects, like the quality of the display. Users were also mostly satisfied with the environments and the quality of the animals. Experienced Game Transfer was low, however. All in all, this concept for creating a virtual museum has appeared to be successful, and it could be developed further.Virtuaalisen eläintieteellisen museon kehittäminen. Tiivistelmä. Tämä on dokumentaatio virtuaalisen eläintieteellisen museon kehittämisestä. Vaikka onkin haastavaa luoda virtuaalinen museo, joka on verrattavissa alkuperäiseen, hyödyntämällä Unity3D:tä ja virtuaalitodellisuusteknologiaa on mahdollista tarjota kokemuksia, mitä perinteinen museo ei pysty. Digitalisoidessamme sitä museota, joka Oulun Yliopistolla ennen oli, tutkimme erilaisia keinoja kehittää opetuksellinen ja kiinnostava virtuaalimuseovierailu. Museon eläimet ovat interaktiivisia, pystyen toistamaan animaatioita ja ääniä sekä antamaan tietoa tekstin muodossa. Interaktiivinen metsä luotiin tarjoamaan luonnollisemman ja elävämmän ympäristön. Lisäksi 360° kuvia paikallisista metsistä lisättiin parantaakseen luonnon edustusta. Virtuaalitodellisuustuki lisättiin Oculus Rift:ille, sallien liikkumisen ja vuorovaikuttamisen kuin olisi siellä todellisessa elämässä. Luodakseen mukavan kokemuksen, sovelluksen suorituskykyä on optimoitu saavuttaakseen vakaan kuvan päivitystaajuuden. Evaluoimme käyttäjien läsnäolon tunnetta, koettua Game Transfer -ilmiötä (GTP), järjestelmän käytettävyyttä ja sisällön laatua. Testien perusteella käyttäjät kokivat museovierailun miellyttävänä sekä immersiivisenä yleisesti ottaen, vaikka jotkin piirteet, kuten näytön laatu, häiritsivät. Käyttäjät olivat myöskin pitkälti tyytyväisiä ympäristöihin ja eläinten laatuun. Koettu Game Transfer oli kuitenkin vähäistä. Kaikenkaikkiaan tämä virtuaalimuseo konsepti vaikuttaa toimivalta, ja sitä voisi kehittää pidemmälle

Assessment of Atmospheric Reanalyses With Independent Observations in the Weddell Sea, the Antarctic

Surface layer and upper‐air in situ observations from two research vessel cruises and an ice station in the Weddell Sea from 1992 and 1996 are used to validate four current atmospheric reanalysis products: ERA‐Interim, CFSR, JRA‐55, and MERRA‐2. Three of the observation data sets were not available for assimilation, providing a rare opportunity to validate the reanalyses in the otherwise datasparse region of the Antarctic against independent data. All four reanalyses produce 2 m temperatures warmer than the observations, and the biases vary from +2.0 K in CFSR to +2.8 K in MERRA‐2. All four reanalyses are generally too warm also higher up in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), with biases up to +1.4 K (ERA‐Interim). Cloud fractions are relatively poorly reproduced by the reanalyses, MERRA‐2 and JRA‐55 having the strongest positive and negative biases of about +30 % and −17 %, respectively. Skill scores of the error statistics reveal that ERA‐Interim compares generally the most favorably against both the surface layer and the upper‐air observations. CFSR compares the second best and JRA‐55 and MERRA‐2 have the least favorable scores. The ABL warm bias is consistent with previous evaluation studies in high latitudes, where more recent observations have been applied. As the amount of observations has varied depending on the decade, season, and region, the consistency of the warm bias suggests a need to improve the modeling systems, including data assimilation as well as ABL and surface parameterizations.publishedVersio

Phylogeny, biogeography and systematics of Dysphanieae (Amaranthaceae)

After a rather turbulent taxonomic history, Dysphanieae (Chenopodioideae, Amaranthaceae) were established to contain five genera, four of which are monospecific (Cycloloma, Neomonolepis, Suckleya, Teloxys) and geographically restricted, and the fifth genus, Dysphania, having a nearly worldwide distribution and comprising ca. 50 species. This study investigates the phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomy of Dysphanieae. We studied specimens from 32 herbaria to infer morphological differences and distribution areas of the species and sampled 121 accessions representing 39 accepted species of the tribe for molecular phylogenetic analyses. The molecular phylogeny tested generic relationships of the tribe and infrageneric relationships of Dysphania on the basis of two plastid DNA markers (atpB-rbcL spacer, rpl16 intron) and two nuclear ribosomal markers (ETS, ITS) and was also used for an ancestral area reconstruction with BioGeoBEARS. Three of the monospecific genera (Neomonolepis, Suckleya, Teloxys) form a basal grade and appear to be relictual lineages of the tribe, while Cycloloma is nested within Dysphania. The ancestral area reconstruction favors a widespread ancestry for Dysphanieae, and the relictual lineages in Asia (Teloxys) and North America (Neomonolepis, Suckleya) might be explained by a wide distribution across Beringia during the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene. Dysphania likely originated in North America; however, the simultaneous diversification into three major clades, an Asian/African, an American and an Australian/African clade, indicates a widespread ancestor at the crown node of Dysphania. Our taxonomic revision results in four accepted genera in Dysphanieae, Dysphania, Neomonolepis, Suckleya and Teloxys. The sectional subdivision for Dysphania is revised. We subdivide the genus into five sections, D. sect. Adenois (13 spp.), D. sect. Botryoides (10 spp.), D. sect. Dysphania (17 spp.), D. sect. Incisa (2 spp.) and D. sect. Margaritaria (4 spp.); three strongly deviating species remain unplaced and need further attention.Peer reviewe

Dysfunction of complement receptors CR3 (CD11b/18) and CR4 (CD11c/18) in pre-eclampsia : a genetic and functional study

Objective To study genetic variants and their function within genes coding for complement receptors in pre-eclampsia. Design A case-control study. Setting Pre-eclampsia is a common vascular disease of pregnancy. The clearance of placenta-derived material is one of the functions of the complement system in pregnancy. Population We genotyped 500 women with pre-eclamptic pregnancies and 190 pregnant women without pre-eclampsia, as controls, from the FINNPEC cohort, and 122 women with pre-eclamptic pregnancies and 1905 controls from the national FINRISK cohort. Methods The functional consequences of genotypes discovered by targeted exomic sequencing were explored by analysing the binding of the main ligand iC3b to mutated CR3 or CR4, which were transiently expressed on the surface of COS-1 cells. Main outcome measures Allele frequencies were compared between pre-eclamptic pregnancies and controls in genetic studies. The functional consequences of selected variants were measured by binding assays. Results The most significantly pre-eclampsia-linked CR3 variant M441K (P = 4.27E-4, OR = 1.401, 95% CI = 1.167-1.682) displayed a trend of increased adhesion to iC3b (P = 0.051). The CR4 variant A251T was found to enhance the adhesion of CR4 to iC3b, whereas W48R resulted in a decrease of the binding of CR4 to iC3b. Conclusions Results suggest that changes in complement-facilitated phagocytosis are associated with pre-eclampsia. Further studies are needed to ascertain whether aberrant CR3 and CR4 activity leads to altered pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine responses in individuals carrying the associated variants, and the role of these receptors in pre-eclampsia pathogenesis. Tweetable abstract Genetic variants of complement receptors CR3 and CR4 have functional consequences that are associated with pre-eclampsia.Peer reviewe

Fire in Australian savannas: From leaf to landscape

© 2014 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Savanna ecosystems comprise 22% of the global terrestrial surface and 25% of Australia (almost 1.9 million km2) and provide significant ecosystem services through carbon and water cycles and the maintenance of biodiversity. The current structure, composition and distribution of Australian savannas have coevolved with fire, yet remain driven by the dynamic constraints of their bioclimatic niche. Fire in Australian savannas influences both the biophysical and biogeochemical processes at multiple scales from leaf to landscape. Here, we present the latest emission estimates from Australian savanna biomass burning and their contribution to global greenhouse gas budgets. We then review our understanding of the impacts of fire on ecosystem function and local surface water and heat balances, which in turn influence regional climate. We show how savanna fires are coupled to the global climate through the carbon cycle and fire regimes. We present new research that climate change is likely to alter the structure and function of savannas through shifts in moisture availability and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, in turn altering fire regimes with further feedbacks to climate. We explore opportunities to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from savanna ecosystems through changes in savanna fire management

Modelled glacier response to centennial temperature and precipitation trends on the Antarctic Peninsula

The northern Antarctic Peninsula is currently undergoing rapid atmospheric warming. Increased glacier-surface melt during the twentieth century has contributed to ice-shelf collapse and the widespread acceleration, thinning and recession of glaciers. Therefore, glaciers peripheral to the Antarctic Ice Sheet currently make a large contribution to eustatic sea-level rise, but future melting may be offset by increased precipitation. Here we assess glacier-climate relationships both during the past and into the future, using ice-core and geological data and glacier and climate numerical model simulations. Focusing on Glacier IJR45 on James Ross Island, northeast Antarctic Peninsula, our modelling experiments show that this representative glacier is most sensitive to temperature change, not precipitation change. We determine that its most recent expansion occurred during the late Holocene a Little Ice Age' and not during the warmer mid-Holocene, as previously proposed. Simulations using a range of future Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate scenarios indicate that future increases in precipitation are unlikely to offset atmospheric-warming-induced melt of peripheral Antarctic Peninsula glaciers

Passage and concentration-dependent effects of Indomethacin on tendon derived cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are commonly used in the treatment of tendinopathies such as tendonitis and tendinosis. Despite this, little is known of their direct actions on tendon-derived cells. As NSAIDs have been shown to delay healing in a number of mesenchymal tissues we have investigated the direct effects of indomethacin on the proliferation of tendon-derived cells.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>The results obtained were dependent on both the type of cells used and the method of measurement. When measured using the Alamar blue assay, a common method for the measurement of cell proliferation and viability, no effect of indomethacin was seen regardless of cell source. It is likely that this lack of effect was due to a paucity of mitochondrial enzymes in tendon cells.</p> <p>However, when cell number was assessed using the methylene blue assay, which is a simple nuclear staining technique, an Indomethacin-induced inhibition of proliferation was seen in primary cells but not in secondary subcultures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that firstly, care must be taken when deciding on methodology used to investigate tendon-derived cells as these cells have a quite different metabolism to other mesenchymal derive cells. Secondly, Indomethacin can inhibit the proliferation of primary tendon derived cells and that secondary subculture selects for a population of cells that is unresponsive to this drug.</p

The EC-Earth3 Earth system model for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6

The Earth system model EC-Earth3 for contributions to CMIP6 is documented here, with its flexible coupling framework, major model configurations, a methodology for ensuring the simulations are comparable across different high-performance computing (HPC) systems, and with the physical performance of base configurations over the historical period. The variety of possible configurations and sub-models reflects the broad interests in the EC-Earth community. EC-Earth3 key performance metrics demonstrate physical behavior and biases well within the frame known from recent CMIP models. With improved physical and dynamic features, new Earth system model (ESM) components, community tools, and largely improved physical performance compared to the CMIP5 version, EC-Earth3 represents a clear step forward for the only European community ESM. We demonstrate here that EC-Earth3 is suited for a range of tasks in CMIP6 and beyond