220,479 research outputs found
Supplemental material for publication JAAD-D-19-02389 (Chun-Yu Lai et al. Association between bullous pemphigoid and ischemic heart diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020)
No full textSupplemental material for publication JAAD-D-19-02389 (Chun-Yu Lai et al. Association between bullous pemphigoid and ischemic heart diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020
Optical instruments for measuring leaf area index in low vegetation : application in Arctic ecosystems
Full text linkAuthor Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecological Applications 15 (2005): 1462–1470, doi:10.1890/03-5354.Leaf area index (LAI) is a powerful diagnostic of plant productivity. Despite the fact that many methods have been developed to quantify LAI, both directly and indirectly, leaf area index remains difficult to quantify accurately, owing to large spatial and temporal variability. The gap-fraction technique is widely used to estimate the LAI indirectly. However, for low-stature vegetation, the gap-fraction sensor either cannot get totally underneath the plant canopy, thereby missing part of the leaf area present, or is too close to the individual leaves of the canopy, which leads to a large distortion of the LAI estimate. We set out to develop a methodology for easy and accurate nondestructive assessment of the variability of LAI in low-stature vegetation. We developed and tested the methodology in an arctic landscape close to Abisko, Sweden.
The LAI of arctic vegetation could be estimated accurately and rapidly by combining field measurements of canopy reflectance (NDVI) and light penetration through the canopy (gap-fraction analysis using a LI-COR LAI-2000). By combining the two methodologies, the limitations of each could be circumvented, and a significantly increased accuracy of the LAI estimates was obtained. The combination of an NDVI sensor for sparser vegetation and a LAI-2000 for denser vegetation could explain 81% of the variance of LAI measured by destructive harvest. We used the method to quantify the spatial variability and the associated uncertainty of leaf area index in a small catchment area.This research was funded by U.S. National Science Foundation
grant DEB0087046
Estimation of leaf area index from PROBA/CHRIS hyperspectral multi-angular data
No full textLeaf Area Index (LAI) is a key structural and functional biophysical variable of the vegetated surfaces which is important in quantifying evapotranspiration rates and the energy exchange of terrestrial vegetation. Remote sensing offers a method of providing estimates of LAI through the analysis of the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF), an angular-dependent surface response. High-resolution, multi-angular and hyperspectral image data from PROBA/CHRIS (Project On-Board Autonomy/ Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) are used to estimate LAI. The retrieval of LAI is accomplished using the 1D turbid-medium canopy reflectance model, SAIL, coupled with the leaf reflectance model, PROSPECT REDUX. Look-up-tables are generated using scene-specific parameters required to invert the physically based model. Two experiments are performed to examine the contribution of multispectral versus hyperspectral reflectances (nadir direction) and single-look versus multi-look hyperspectral reflectances in deriving the LAI. Image data of the calibration/validation site at Chilbolton, Hampshire, UK are used for the inversion. In addition, ground measurements of LAI are compared with the retrieved LAI estimates. Retrieved LAI estimates using various spectral and directional sampling suggest that the spectro-directional reflectances from CHRIS provides more accurate results than their lower-resolution counterparts such as single-look and multispectral reflectances
Participation of c-FLIP in NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation
No full textCellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) is an inhibitor of caspase-8 and is required for macrophage survival. Recent studies have revealed a selective role of caspase-8 in noncanonical IL-1 beta production that is independent of caspase-1 or inflammasome. Here we demonstrated that c-FLIPL is an unexpected contributor to canonical inflammasome activation for the generation of caspase-1 and active IL-1 beta. Hemizygotic deletion of c-FLIP impaired ATP-and monosodium uric acid (MSU)-induced IL-1 beta production in macrophages primed through Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Decreased IL-1 beta expression was attributed to a reduced activation of caspase-1 in c-FLIP hemizygotic cells. In contrast, the production of TNF-alpha was not affected by downregulation in c-FLIP. c-FLIPL interacted with NLRP3 or procaspase-1. c-FLIP is required for the full NLRP3 inflammasome assembly and NLRP3 mitochondrial localization, and c-FLIP is associated with NLRP3 inflammasome. c-FLIP downregulation also reduced AIM2 inflammasome activation. In contrast, c-FLIP inhibited SMAC mimetic-, FasL-, or Dectin-1-induced IL-1 beta generation that is caspase-8-mediated. Our results demonstrate a prominent role of c-FLIPL in the optimal activation of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes, and suggest that c-FLIP could be a valid target for treatment of inflammatory diseases caused by over-activation of inflammasomes
Estimation of the boreal forest LAI using C-band SAR
No full textA method for retrieval of leaf area index (LAI) using C-band SAR (ERS and Radarsat) VV/HH polarisation ratio was derived for boreal forests. The regression between LAI and the intensity ratio was found to vary with tree species
- …
