Recently, the cities of Yerba Buena and Tucuman in Tucumán Province, Argentina, have been affected by several storm flood events, causing hundreds of people to be evacuated from their homes
. Heavy ...intensity rainfall, new housing developments covering previously permeable grounds, and old drainage systems are the main causes for this situation.
This paper presents a simple approach of urban flood hazard assessment in a region where primary data are scarce. The objectives of this study are to develop a GIS-aided urban flood hazard zoning of the two cities applying multicriteria decision analysis and to evaluate it by means of uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. The research methodology focused on the analysis of those variables that control the water routing when high peak flows exceed the drainage-system capacity. The model incorporates five parameters: distance to the drainage channels, topography (heights and slopes), ground water table depths, and urban land use. A final hazard map for each category is obtained using an algorithm that combines factors in weighted linear combinations. The urban flood hazard map shows that the southeast part of San Miguel de Tucumán has the highest flood hazard over an extended area as a consequence of the conjunction of lowlands with slopes under 0.6% and the presence of urban stream channels with poor maintenance plan. In this area, several neighbourhoods have been flooded. The model was evaluated by the error propagation method and global sensitivity analysis to assess the uncertainty and the relative importance of model input factors. Finally, the influence of criterion weights are analyzed ranging from 25% to 75% of their original values showing a robust behaviour.
The recent development of core/shell engineering of rare earth doped luminescent nanoparticles has ushered a new era in fluorescence thermal biosensing, allowing for the performance of minimally ...invasive experiments, not only in living cells but also in more challenging small animal models. Here, the potential use of active-core/active-shell Nd3+- and Yb3+-doped nanoparticles as subcutaneous thermal probes has been evaluated. These temperature nanoprobes operate in the infrared transparency window of biological tissues, enabling deep temperature sensing into animal bodies thanks to the temperature dependence of their emission spectra that leads to a ratiometric temperature readout. The ability of active-core/active-shell Nd3+- and Yb3+-doped nanoparticles for unveiling fundamental tissue properties in in vivo conditions was demonstrated by subcutaneous thermal relaxation monitoring through the injected core/shell nanoparticles. The reported results evidence the potential of infrared luminescence nanothermometry as a diagnosis tool at the small animal level.
Forest production efficiency (FPE) metric describes how efficiently the assimilated carbon is partitioned into plants organs (biomass production, BP) or-more generally-for the production of organic ...matter (net primary production, NPP). We present a global analysis of the relationship of FPE to stand-age and climate, based on a large compilation of data on gross primary production and either BP or NPP. FPE is important for both forest production and atmospheric carbon dioxide uptake. We find that FPE increases with absolute latitude, precipitation and (all else equal) with temperature. Earlier findings-FPE declining with age-are also supported by this analysis. However, the temperature effect is opposite to what would be expected based on the short-term physiological response of respiration rates to temperature, implying a top-down regulation of carbon loss, perhaps reflecting the higher carbon costs of nutrient acquisition in colder climates. Current ecosystem models do not reproduce this phenomenon. They consistently predict lower FPE in warmer climates, and are therefore likely to overestimate carbon losses in a warming climate.
Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) is a human pathogen that causes acute and chronic pediatric diarrhea. The hallmark of EPEC infection is the formation of attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions in the ...intestinal epithelium. Formation of A/E lesions is mediated by genes located on the pathogenicity island locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), which encode the adhesin intimin, a type III secretion system (T3SS) and six effectors, including the essential translocated intimin receptor (Tir). Seventeen additional effectors are encoded by genes located outside the LEE, in insertion elements and prophages. Here, using a stepwise approach, we generated an EPEC mutant lacking the entire effector genes (EPEC0) and intermediate mutants. We show that EPEC0 contains a functional T3SS. An EPEC mutant expressing intimin but lacking all the LEE effectors but Tir (EPEC1) was able to trigger robust actin polymerization in HeLa cells and mucin-producing intestinal LS174T cells. However, EPEC1 was unable to form A/E lesions on human intestinal in vitro organ cultures (IVOC). Screening the intermediate mutants for genes involved in A/E lesion formation on IVOC revealed that strains lacking non-LEE effector/s have a marginal ability to form A/E lesions. Furthermore, we found that Efa1/LifA proteins are important for A/E lesion formation efficiency in EPEC strains lacking multiple effectors. Taken together, these results demonstrate the intricate relationships between T3SS effectors and the essential role non-LEE effectors play in A/E lesion formation on mucosal surfaces.
Conventional treatment of obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome fails in approximately 20–30% of pregnant women without any clearly identified risk factor. It is important to identify risk factors that ...are associated with these treatment failures. This study aimed to assess the impact of risk factors on pregnancy outcomes in women with obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome treated with conventional treatment. We carefully retrospectively selected 106 pregnancies in women with obstetric antiphospholipid syndrome treated with heparin + aspirin. Pregnancy outcomes were evaluated according to the following associated risk factors: triple positivity profile, double positivity profile, single positivity profile, history of thrombosis, autoimmune disease, more than four pregnancy losses, and high titers of anticardiolipin antibodies and/or anti-βeta-2-glycoprotein-I (aβ2GPI) antibodies. To establish the association between pregnancy outcomes and risk factors, a single binary logistic regressions analysis was performed. Risk factors associated with pregnancy loss with conventional treatment were: the presence of triple positivity (OR = 5.0, CI = 1.4–16.9, p = 0.01), high titers of aβ2GPI (OR = 4.4, CI = 1.2–16.1, p = 0.023) and a history of more than four pregnancy losses (OR = 3.5, CI = 1.2–10.0, p = 0.018). The presence of triple positivity was an independent risk factor associated with gestational complications (OR = 4.1, CI = 1.2–13.9, p = 0.02). Our findings reinforce the idea that triple positivity is a categorical risk factor for poor response to conventional treatment.
GRB 090423 at a redshift of z 8.1 Racusin, J. L; Amati, L; Guidorzi, C ...
Nature (London),
10/2009, Volume:
461, Issue:
7268
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by rare types of massive stellar explosion. Their rapidly fading afterglows are often bright enough at optical wavelengths that they are detectable at ...cosmological distances. Hitherto, the highest known redshift for a GRB was z = 6.7 (ref. 1), for GRB 080913, and for a galaxy was z = 6.96 (ref. 2). Here we report observations of GRB 090423 and the near-infrared spectroscopic measurement of its redshift, z = . This burst happened when the Universe was only about 4 per cent of its current age. Its properties are similar to those of GRBs observed at low/intermediate redshifts, suggesting that the mechanisms and progenitors that gave rise to this burst about 600,000,000 years after the Big Bang are not markedly different from those producing GRBs about 10,000,000,000 years later.
Summary
Background
Noncoeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a controversial emerging disorder. Despite reported symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten, NCGS remains a diagnosis based on the ...exclusion of coeliac disease, given the absence of reliable biomarkers.
Aim
To evaluate the prevalence, diagnostic exclusion of coeliac disease and the efficacy of a gluten‐free diet (GFD) for NCGS patients.
Methods
A PubMed search was performed up to December 2014. According to consensus diagnostic criteria, NCGS was defined as self‐reported gluten intolerance, negative coeliac serology and absence of villous atrophy. Studies evaluating the impact of a GFD on patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were also included.
Results
Prevalence rates of NCGS (0.5–13%) differed widely. Seventeen studies, including 1561 patients (26 children), met the inclusion criteria for NCGS. HLA haplotypes could not be linked to histology normal or lymphocytic enteritis (LE) in 1123 NCGS patients. HLADQ2/DQ8 haplotypes were present in 44% of NCGS patients. After advanced diagnostic techniques in 189 NCGS patients combining LE and HLADQ2/DQ8 haplotypes, 39 (20%) were reclassified as coeliac disease. There was a higher than expected family history of coeliac disease and autoimmune disorders in NCGS patients. A GFD resulted in variable results for variable, but significantly improved stool frequency in HLADQ2 positive diarrhoea‐predominant IBS patients.
Conclusions
Prevalence rates for NCGS are extremely variable. A subset of NCGS patients might belong in the so‐called ‘coeliac‐lite’ disease. The benefit of a GFD for NCGS patients is currently controversial. HLADQ2 positive diarrhoea‐type IBS patients might gain symptom improvement from a GFD.
NASA’s Mars 2020 (M2020) rover mission includes a suite of sensors to monitor current environmental conditions near the surface of Mars and to constrain bulk aerosol properties from changes in ...atmospheric radiation at the surface. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) consists of a set of meteorological sensors including wind sensor, a barometer, a relative humidity sensor, a set of 5 thermocouples to measure atmospheric temperature at ∼1.5 m and ∼0.5 m above the surface, a set of thermopiles to characterize the thermal IR brightness temperatures of the surface and the lower atmosphere. MEDA adds a radiation and dust sensor to monitor the optical atmospheric properties that can be used to infer bulk aerosol physical properties such as particle size distribution, non-sphericity, and concentration. The MEDA package and its scientific purpose are described in this document as well as how it responded to the calibration tests and how it helps prepare for the human exploration of Mars. A comparison is also presented to previous environmental monitoring payloads landed on Mars on the Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix, MSL, and InSight spacecraft.
Aims
. We report the discovery and characterisation of the transiting mini-Neptune HD 207496 b (TOI-1099) as part of a large programme that aims to characterise naked core planets.
Methods
. We ...obtained HARPS spectroscopic observations, one ground-based transit, and high-resolution imaging which we combined with the TESS photometry to confirm and characterise the TESS candidate and its host star.
Results
. The host star is an active early K dwarf with a mass of 0.80 ± 0.04
M
⊙
, a radius of 0.769 ± 0.026
R
⊙
, and a
G
magnitude of 8. We found that the host star is young, ~0.52 Gyr, allowing us to gain insight into planetary evolution. We derived a planetary mass of 6.1 ± 1.6
M
⊕
, a planetary radius of 2.25 ± 0.12
R
⊕
, and a planetary density of
ρ
p
= 3.27
−0.91
+0.97
g cm
−3
.
Conclusions
. From internal structure modelling of the planet, we conclude that the planet has either a water-rich envelope, a gas-rich envelope, or a mixture of both. We have performed evaporation modelling of the planet. If we assume the planet has a gas-rich envelope, we find that the planet has lost a significant fraction of its envelope and its radius has shrunk. Furthermore, we estimate it will lose all its remaining gaseous envelope in ~0.52 Gyr. Otherwise, the planet could have already lost all its primordial gas and is now a bare ocean planet. Further observations of its possible atmosphere and/or mass-loss rate would allow us to distinguish between these two hypotheses. Such observations would determine if the planet remains above the radius gap or if it will shrink and be below the gap.
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