A compelling collection of poems, Late Self-Portraits
conveys an intimate description of lives through a collage of
portraits and affliction. Weaving history and the sacred, both
intimate and ...worldly, one encounters a blind Jorge Luis Borges with
his mother, a glass confessional in the of Notre Dame Cathedral,
Frida Kahlo in Mexico, ghosts, a neurosurgeon's prognosis, and
Marie Laveau in New Orleans. Whether in a field with Joan of Arc,
encountering the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, or having dinner with
Hades, these are haunting poems of loss and unearthing, equally
bold, personal, and tender. From " Dinner with Hades ": He
shows me a birthday cake, candled. My name is written in
pomegranate seeds. It's like vertigo. Just before he seeks to
devour, he halts to birdsong- sound of goldfinch, bluebird, hawk,
lilting of sparrows. Of whippoorwill and dove. Wings flap, so many
wings, a cool breeze as leaves unfurl into a once forgotten green
and I am back on earth, held in my mother's arms.
A constellation of small, low-cost satellites is able to make scientifically valuable measurements of the Earth which can be used for weather forecasting, disaster monitoring, and climate studies. ...Eight CYGNSS satellites were launched into low Earth orbit on December 15, 2016. Each satellite carries a science radar receiver which measures GPS signals reflected from the Earth surface. The signals contain information about the surface, including wind speed over ocean, and soil moisture and flooding over land. The satellites are distributed around their orbit plane so that measurements can be made more often to capture extreme weather events. Innovative engineering approaches are used to reduce per satellite cost, increase the number in the constellation, and improve temporal sampling. These include the use of differential drag rather than propulsion to adjust the spacing between satellites and the use of existing GPS signals as the science radars' transmitter. Initial on-orbit results demonstrate the scientific utility of the CYGNSS observations, and suggest that a new paradigm in spaceborne Earth environmental monitoring is possible.
The global navigation satellite system-reflectometry (GNSS-R) field has experienced an exponential growth as it is becoming relevant to many applications and has captivated the attention of an ...elevated number of research scholars, research centers and companies around the world. Primarily based on the contents of two Special Issues dedicated to the applications of GNSS-R to Earth observation, this review article provides an overview of the latest advances in the GNSS-R field. Studies are reviewed from four perspectives: (1) technology advancements, (2) ocean applications, (3) the emergent land applications, and (4) new science investigations. The technology involved in the GNSS-R design has evolved from its initial GPS L1 LHCP topology to include the use of other GNSS bands (L2, L5, Galileo, etc.), as well as consider RHCP/LHCP-receiving polarizations in order to perform polarimetric studies. Ocean applications have included developments towards ocean wind speed retrievals, swell and altimetry. Land applications have evolved considerably in the past few years; studies have used GNSS-R for soil moisture, vegetation opacity, and wetland detection and monitoring. They have also determined flood inundation, snow height, and sea ice concentration and extent. Additionally, other applications have emerged in recent years as we have gained more understanding of the capabilities of GNSS-R.
Crop growth is an important parameter to monitor in order to obtain accurate remotely sensed estimates of soil moisture, as well as assessments of crop health, productivity, and quality commonly used ...in the agricultural industry. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission has been collecting Global Positioning System (GPS) signals as they reflect off the Earth’s surface since August 2015. The L-band dual-polarization reflection measurements enable studies of the evolution of geophysical parameters during seasonal transitions. In this paper, we examine the sensitivity of SMAP-reflectometry signals to agricultural crop growth related characteristics: crop type, vegetation water content (VWC), crop height, and vegetation opacity (VOP). The study presented here focuses on the United States “Corn Belt,” where an extensive area is planted every year with mostly corn, soybean, and wheat. We explore the potential to generate regularly an alternate source of crop growth information independent of the data currently used in the soil moisture (SM) products developed with the SMAP mission. Our analysis explores the variability of the polarimetric ratio (PR), computed from the peak signals at V- and H-polarization, during the United States Corn Belt crop growing season in 2017. The approach facilitates the understanding of the evolution of the observed surfaces from bare soil to peak growth and the maturation of the crops until harvesting. We investigate the impact of SM on PR for low roughness scenes with low variability and considering each crop type independently. We analyze the sensitivity of PR to the selected crop height, VWC, VOP, and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) reference datasets. Finally, we discuss a possible path towards a retrieval algorithm based on Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) measurements that could be used in combination with passive SMAP soil moisture algorithms to correct simultaneously for the VWC and SM effects on the electromagnetic signals.
The main objective was to assess the efficacy of a probiotic (
DSM 17938), a prebiotic (agave inulin), and a synbiotic on the stool characteristics in children with cerebral palsy and chronic ...constipation. Thirty-seven children with cerebral palsy and chronic constipation were included. The probiotic group received 1 × 10
colony forming unit (cfu) of
DSM 17938 plus placebo, the prebiotic group received 4 g of agave inulin plus placebo, the synbiotic group received
DSM 17938 plus agave inulin, and the placebo group received two placebos for 28 days. The probiotic group showed a significant decrease in stool pH (
= 0.014). Stool consistency improved in the prebiotic group (
= 0.008). The probiotic, prebiotic, and synbiotic groups showed a significant improvement in the history of excessive stool retention, the presence of fecal mass in the rectum, and the history of painful defecation.
concentration in feces was higher in the probiotic group than in the placebo group (
= 0.001) and showed an inverse correlation with stool pH in the probiotic group (
= -0.762,
= 0.028). This study showed that the use of
DSM 17938 and/or agave inulin improved the stool characteristics such as the history of painful defecation and the presence of fecal mass in the rectum against placebo in children with cerebral palsy and chronic constipation.
Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS/AMH), produced by granulosa cells of growing follicles, is an important regulator of folliculogenesis and follicle development. Treatment with exogenous MIS in ...mice suppresses follicle development and prevents ovulation. To investigate the mechanisms by which MIS inhibits follicle development, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of whole neonatal ovaries treated with MIS at birth and analyzed at postnatal day 6, coinciding with the first wave of follicle growth. We identified distinct transcriptional signatures associated with MIS responses in the ovarian cell types. MIS treatment inhibited proliferation in granulosa, surface epithelial, and stromal cell types of the ovary and elicited a unique signature of quiescence in granulosa cells. In addition to decreasing the number of growing preantral follicles, we found that MIS treatment uncoupled the maturation of germ cells and granulosa cells. In conclusion, MIS suppressed neonatal follicle development by inhibiting proliferation, imposing a quiescent cell state, and preventing granulosa cell differentiation.
The estrous cycle is regulated by rhythmic endocrine interactions of the nervous and reproductive systems, which coordinate the hormonal and ovulatory functions of the ovary. Folliculogenesis and ...follicle progression require the orchestrated response of a variety of cell types to allow the maturation of the follicle and its sequela, ovulation, corpus luteum formation, and ovulatory wound repair. Little is known about the cell state dynamics of the ovary during the estrous cycle and the paracrine factors that help coordinate this process. Herein, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to evaluate the transcriptome of >34,000 cells of the adult mouse ovary and describe the transcriptional changes that occur across the normal estrous cycle and other reproductive states to build a comprehensive dynamic atlas of murine ovarian cell types and states.
Management of Crohn's disease Kammermeier, Jochen; Morris, Mary-Anne; Garrick, Vikki ...
Archives of Disease in Childhood,
05/2016, Letnik:
101, Številka:
5
Journal Article, Book Review
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Crohn's disease (CD) is rapidly increasing in children so an up to date knowledge of diagnosis, investigation and management is essential. Exclusive enteral nutrition is the first line treatment for ...active disease. The vast majority of children will need immunosuppressant treatment and around 20% will need treatment with biologics. Recent guidelines have helped make best use of available therapies.
•Sublingual BCG induces strong mycobacteria-specific T cell responses in mice.•Sublingual BCG vaccination induces robust and durable protective immunity.•Sublingual BCG vaccination fails to induce ...potent mycobacteria-specific antibodies.•BCG dissemination is less pronounced after sublingual than intranasal delivery.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a tremendous global health problem, with 1/4 of the world’s population infected and causing > 1 million deaths annually. Intradermal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine given during infancy protects against severe forms of acute disease but does not prevent chronic infection or development of pulmonary TB. TB vaccine mucosal targeting potentially could induce mucosal resident immune cells with increased protective capacity against pulmonary infection and disease. Sublingual (SL) administration of vaccines may be an optimal mucosal delivery platform based on the high absorptive capacity of this mucosal surface, the extensive lymphoid tissue, and published preclinical studies demonstrating efficacy of SL vaccination against other pathogens. To this end, we performed preliminary testing of sublingual TB vaccines. Vaccination of mice with SL BCG elicited potent mycobacteria-specific T cell responses which persisted 16 weeks post-immunization. The magnitudes of the T cell responses were similarly induced after sublingual, intranasal, and subcutaneous BCG vaccination. Interestingly, serum mycobacteria-specific antibody responses and systemic recovery of BCG post-vaccination were lower after SL BCG compared with systemic BCG immunization. However, more importantly, SL BCG vaccinated mice were significantly protected against an aerosolized virulent M. tuberculosis challenge (P < 0.0001 compared to unvaccinated mice). Furthermore, this protection was long-lived, persisting for 16 weeks with >1 log CFU reduction compared with naïve challenged mice in both lungs and spleens (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0028, respectively). These exciting results provide strong support for further studies exploring the mechanisms of protective immunity induced by sublingual BCG vaccination.
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