scholarly journals High Resolution Definition of Subsurface Heterogeneity for Understanding the Biodynamics of Natural Field Systems: Advancing the Ability for Scaling to Field Conditions

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest L Majer ◽  
Fred J Brockman
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Glory Ngongeh Amambo ◽  
Raphael Awah Abong ◽  
Fanny Fri Fombad ◽  
Abdel Jelil Njouendou ◽  
Franck Nietcho ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The mass drug administration of ivermectin for onchocerciasis control has contributed to a significant drop in Loa loa microfilaria loads in humans that has, in turn, led to reduction of infection levels in Chrysops vectors. Accurate parasite detection is essential for assessing loiasis transmission as it provides a potential alternative or indirect strategy for addressing the problem of co-endemic loiasis and lymphatic filariasis through the Onchocerciasis Elimination Programme and it further reflects the true magnitude of the loiasis problem as excess human mortality has been reported to be associated with the disease. Although microscopy is the gold standard for detecting the infection, the sensitivity of this method is compromised when the intensity of infection is low. The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay of parasite DNA is an alternative method for detecting infection which offers operational simplicity, rapidity and versatility of visual readout options. The aim of this study was to validate the Loa loa LAMP assay for the detection of infected Chrysops spp. under experimental and natural field conditions. Methods Two sets of 18 flies were fed on volunteers with either a low (< 10 mf/ml) or high (> 30,000mf/ml) microfilarial load. The fed flies were maintained under laboratory conditions for 14 days and then analysed using LAMP for the detection of L. loa infection. In addition, a total of 9270 flies were collected from the north-west, east, and south-west regions (SW 1 and 2) of Cameroon using sweep nets and subjected to microscopy (7841 flies) and LAMP (1291 flies plus 138 nulliparous flies) analyses. Results The LAMP assay successfully detected parasites in Chrysops fed on volunteers with both low and high microfilariaemic loads. Field validation and surveillance studies revealed LAMP-based infection rates ranging from 0.5 to 31.6%, with the lowest levels in SW 2 and the highest infection rates in SW 1. The LAMP assay detected significantly higher infection rates than microscopy in four of the five study sites. Conclusion This study demonstrated the potential of LAMP as a simple surveillance tool. It was found to be more sensitive than microscopy for the detection of experimental and natural L. loa infections in Chrysops vectors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i1-i1
Author(s):  
Gilbert Hangel ◽  
Cornelius Cadrien ◽  
Philipp Lazen ◽  
Sukrit Sharma ◽  
Julia Furtner ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVES Neurosurgical resection in gliomas depends on the precise preoperative definition of the tumor and its margins to realize a safe maximum resection that translates into a better patient outcome. New metabolic imaging techniques could improve this delineation as well as designate targets for biopsies. We validated the performance of our fast high-resolution whole-brain 3D-magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) method at 7T in high-grade gliomas (HGGs) as first step to this regard. METHODS We measured 23 patients with HGGs at 7T with MRSI covering the whole cerebrum with 3.4mm isotropic resolution in 15 min. Quantification used a basis-set of 17 neurochemical components. They were evaluated for their reliability/quality and compared to neuroradiologically segmented tumor regions-of-interest (necrosis, contrast-enhanced, non-contrast-enhanced+edema, peritumoral) and histopathology (e.g., grade, IDH-status). RESULTS We found 18/23 measurements to be usable and ten neurochemicals quantified with acceptable quality. The most common denominators were increases of glutamine, glycine, and total choline as well as decreases of N-acetyl-aspartate and total creatine over most tumor regions. Other metabolites like taurine and serine showed mixed behavior. We further found that heterogeneity in the metabolic images often continued into the peritumoral region. While 2-hydroxy-glutarate could not be satisfyingly quantified, we found a tendency for a decrease of glutamate in IDH1-mutant HGGs. DISCUSSION Our findings corresponded well to clinical tumor segmentation but were more heterogeneous and often extended into the peritumoral region. Our results corresponded to previous knowledge, but with previously not feasible resolution. Apart from glycine/glutamine and their role in glioma progression, more research on the connection of glutamate and others to specific mutations is necessary. The addition of low-grade gliomas and statistical ROI analysis in a larger cohort will be the next important steps to define the benefits of our 7T MRSI approach for the definition of spatial metabolic tumor profiles.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Marseille ◽  
K. Houchi ◽  
J. de Kloe ◽  
A. Stoffelen

Abstract. The definition of an atmospheric database is an important component of simulation studies in preparation of future earth observing remote sensing satellites. The Aeolus mission, formerly denoted Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM) or ADM-Aeolus, is scheduled for launch end of 2013 and aims at measuring profiles of single horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) wind components from the surface up to about 32 km with a global coverage. The vertical profile resolution is limited but may be changed during in-orbit operation. This provides the opportunity of a targeted sampling strategy, e.g., as a function of geographic region. Optimization of the vertical (and horizontal) sampling strategy requires a characterization of the atmosphere optical and dynamical properties, more in particular the distribution of atmospheric particles and their correlation with the atmospheric dynamics. The Aeolus atmospheric database combines meteorological data from the ECMWF model with atmosphere optical properties data from CALIPSO. An inverse algorithm to retrieve high-resolution particle backscatter from the CALIPSO level-1 attenuated backscatter product is presented. Global weather models tend to underestimate atmospheric wind variability. A procedure is described to ensure compatibility of the characteristics of the database winds with those from high-resolution radiosondes. The result is a high-resolution database of zonal, meridional and vertical wind, temperature, specific humidity and particle and molecular backscatter and extinction at 355 nm laser wavelength. This allows the simulation of small-scale atmospheric processes within the Aeolus observation sampling volume and their impact on the quality of the retrieved HLOS wind profiles. The database extends over four months covering all seasons. This allows a statistical evaluation of the mission components under investigation. The database is currently used for the development of the Aeolus wind processing, the definition of wind calibration strategies and the optimization of the Aeolus sampling strategy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 514-514
Author(s):  
Tetsuro Kamo ◽  
Sadatomo Tasaka ◽  
Takeshi Suzuki ◽  
Takanori Asakura ◽  
Shouji Suzuki ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 74-77
Author(s):  
J. T. Nakhalbaev ◽  
I. Kh. Khamdamov

Relevance and methods. The information on the influence of samples of chickpea sorts, time of planting the lines of chickpeas on seed infection with ascochytosis and on the weight of grain on one plant bush is presented in this article. Samples of chickpea sorts and lines were studied during the first sowing period — the first decade of March and the second sowing period — the third decade of March. Ascochytosis infection was evaluated in natural field conditions. The study was conducted at the Central Experimental Station of the Galaaral Research Institute of Grain and Leguminous Crops in 2015–2017 in Uzbekistan.Results. According to the three-year study, it was found that in the years when there was a lot of precipitation days, sorts Yulduz, ILC 263 and MП 2015/1 of the lines during the first sowing were determined to be infected with acochytosis up to 6 points. During the first sowing period of this cv., there was a decrease in the weight of grains on one plant bush compared to the second sowing period. Cv. ILC 3279, Umid and line 14442 were found to be virtually undamaged in natural field conditions with ascohitosis during both planting periods. It wasfound our that the weight of cv. Мustaqillik-20, line 14442 grain on one plant bush remained high during both planting periods.


2005 ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Caimmi ◽  
C. Marmo ◽  
T. Valentinuzzi

Analytical and geometrical properties of generalized power-law (GPL) density profiles are investigated in detail. In particular, a one-to-one correspondence is found between mathematical parameters (a scaling radius, r0, a scaling density, ?0, and three exponents, ?, ?, ?), and geometrical parameters (the coordinates of the intersection of the asymptotes, xC, yC, and three vertical intercepts, b, b?, b?, related to the curve and the asymptotes, respectively): (r0,?0,?,?,?) ? (xC,yC,b,b?,b?). Then GPL density profiles are compared with simulated dark haloes (SDH) density profiles, and nonlinear least-absolute values and least-squares fits involving the above mentioned five parameters (RFSM5 method) are prescribed. More specifically, the sum of absolute values or squares of absolute logarithmic residuals, Ri=log?SDH(ri) ? log?GPL(ri), is evaluated on 10 points making a 5dimension hypergrid, through a few iterations. The size is progressively reduced around a fiducial minimum, and superpositions on nodes of earlier hypergrids are avoided. An application is made to a sample of 17 SDHs on the scale of cluster of galaxies, within a flat ?CDM cosmological model (Rasia et al. 2004). In dealing with the mean SDH density profile, a virial radius, Rvir, averaged over the whole sample, is assigned, which allows the calculation of the remaining parameters. Using a RFSM5 method provides a better fit with respect to other methods. The geometrical parameters, averaged over the whole sample of best fitting GPL density profiles, yield (?, ?, ?) ? (0.6,3.1,1.0), to be compared with (?, ?, ?) = (1,3,1), i.e. the NFW density profile (Navarro et al. 1995, 1996, 1997), (?, ?, ?) = (1.5,3, 1.5) (Moore et al. 1998, 1999), (?, ?, ?) = (1,2.5,1) (Rasia et al. 2004); and, in addition, ? ? 1.5 (Hiotelis 2003), deduced from the application of a RFSM5 method, but using a different definition of scaled radius, or concentration; and ? ? 1.21.3 deduced from more recent high-resolution simulations (Diemand et al. 2004, Reed et al. 2005). No evident correlation is found between SDH dynamical state (relaxed or merging) and asymptotic inner slope of the fitting logarithmic density profile or (for SDH comparable virial masses) scaled radius. Mean values and standard deviations of some parameters are calculated, and in particular the decimal logarithm of the scaled radius, ?vir, reads < log?vir >= 0.74 and ?slog?vir = 0.150.17, consistent with previous results related to NFW density profiles. It provides additional support to the idea, that NFW density profiles may be considered as a convenient way to parametrize SDH density profiles, without implying that it necessarily produces the best possible fit (Bullock et al. 2001). A certain degree of degeneracy is found in fitting GPL to SDH density profiles. If it is intrinsic to the RFSM5 method or it could be reduced by the next generation of high-resolution simulations, still remains an open question. .


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1211-1218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Jorge de Oliveira Ponte de Souza ◽  
Aristides Ribeiro ◽  
Edson José Paulino da Rocha ◽  
José Renato Bouça Farias ◽  
Renata Silva Loureiro ◽  
...  

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of soybean (Glycine max) in intercepting and using solar radiation under natural field conditions, in the Amazon region, Brazil. The meteorological data and the values of soybean growth and leaf area were obtained from an agrometeorological experiment carried out in Paragominas, Pará state, during 2007 and 2008. The radiation use efficiency (RUE) was obtained from the ratio between the above-ground biomass production and the intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) accumulated to 99 and 95 days after sowing, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Climatic conditions during the experiment were very distinct, with reduction in rainfall in 2007, which began during the soybean mid-cycle, due to the El Niño phenomenon. An important reduction in the leaf area index and biomass production was observed during 2007. Under natural field conditions in the Amazon region, the values of RUE were 1.46 and 1.99 g MJ-1 PAR in the 2007 and 2008 experiments, respectively. The probable reason for the differences found between these years might be associated to the water restriction in 2007 coupled with the higher air temperature and vapor pressure deficit, and also to the increase in the fraction of diffuse radiation that reached the land surface in 2008.


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