69,474 research outputs found
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
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
The theory and practice of utopia in our troubled times : a conversation with author Larissa Lai and critic Sherryl Vint
No full textAmid current global crises, the international conference “The Knock at the Door: Utopian Dreams for Post-Covid Times,” jointly organized by the University of Huelva (Spain) and the University of Calgary (Canada) on May 21–24, 2023, at the University of Huelva, provided a forum for reflecting upon the role played by speculative fiction in (re)imagining better futures, while remaining vigilant to possible threats and dangers. The title of the conference, borrowed from philosopher John Rajchman,1 is intentionally ambiguous. Lying behind that door could be total liberation for all—or it could be secret police who lead us toward genocides, deportation, rapes, and mass graves. Taking this dichotomous trope, “the knock at the door,” as a point of departure, professors Larissa Lai (University of Toronto, Canada; recipient of a Maria Zambrano fellowship at the University of Huelva at the time of the interview) and Sherryl Vint (University of California Riverside, USA) engaged...Depto. de Estudios Ingleses: Lingüística y LiteraturaFac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesTRUEpu
Lenguaje y estructura en comunidades polarizadas
Full text linkPhD thesis in Computer Science has been written by Mirko Lai under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Rosso (Universitat Politècnica de València), Dr. Giancarlo Ruffo (University of Turin) and Dr. Viviana Patti (University of Turin). This thesis was developed under a cotutelle between the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain and the University of Turin, Italy. The thesis defense was done in Turin, Italy on February 11, 2019. The doctoral committee was integrated by: Leo Ferres (Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile), Delfina Malandrina (Università degli Studi di Salerno, Italy) and Sara Tonelli (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy).Tesis doctoral en Informática ha sido realizada por Mirko Lai y dirigida por el Prof. Paolo Rosso (Universitat Politècnica de València), Dr. Giancarlo Ruffo (University of Turin) y la Dra. Viviana Patti (University of Turin) en el marco de un convenio de cotutela entre la Universitat Politècnica de València, España y la Universidad de Turin, Italia. La defensa de la tesis fue en Turin, Italia el 11 de febrero de 2019 ante un tribunal compuesto por: Leo Ferres (Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile), Delfina Malandrina (Università degli Studi di Salerno, Italia) y Sara Tonelli (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italia)
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
Leaf area index estimation in a pine plantation with LAI-2000 under direct sunlight conditions: relationship with inventory and hydrologic variables
Full text link[EN] LAI is a key factor in light and rainfall interception processes in forest stands and, for this reason, is called to play
an important role in global change adaptive silviculture. Therefore, it is necessary to develop practical and operative
methodologies to measure this parameter as well as simple relationships with other silvicultural variables. This work
has studied 1) the feasibility of LAI-2000 sensor in estimating LAI-stand when readings are taken under direct sunlight
conditions; and 2) the ability of LAI in studying rainfall partitioned into throughfall (T) in an Aleppo pine stand
after different thinning intensities, as well as its relationships to basal area, (G), cover (FCC), and tree density (D).
Results showed that the angular correction scheme applied to LAI-2000 direct-sunlight readings stabilized them for
different solar angles, allowing a better operational use of LAI-2000 in Mediterranean areas, where uniform overcast
conditions are difficult to meet and predict. Forest cover showed the highest predictive ability of LAI (R2 = 0.98;
S = 0.28), then G (R2 = 0.96; S = 0.43) and D (R2 = 0.50; S = 0.28). In the hydrological plane, T increased with thinning
intensity, being G the most explanatory variable (R2 = 0.81; S = 3.07) and LAI the one that showed the poorest relation
with it (R2 = 0.69; S = 3.95). These results open a way for forest hydrologic modeling taking LAI as an input variable
either estimated form LAI-2000 or deducted from inventory data[ES] El índice de área foliar (LAI) es una variable clave en los procesos de intercepción de la lluvia y la luz en masas forestales
y por tanto tiene gran potencial en la práctica de la selvicultura adaptativa al cambio climático, de ahí la necesidad
de establecer tanto metodologías sencillas para su estimación, como su relación con las principales variables
de gestión forestal. Este trabajo tiene un doble objetivo: 1) determinar la viabilidad del sensor LAI-2000 para estimar
el LAI en condiciones de radiación directa aplicando una corrección angular y 2) conocer la utilidad del LAI en el estudio
de trascolación de la lluvia (T) en una masa de pino carrasco con distintas intensidades de clara así como sus
relaciones con el área basimétrica (G), la densidad de arbolado (D) y la fracción de cabida cubierta (FCC). Los resultados
indican que la corrección angular estabiliza los valores LAI-2000 tomados bajo radiación solar directa, permitiendo
una mayor operatividad del sensor en condiciones mediterráneas, donde la nubosidad uniforme resulta poco
frecuente e imprevisible. La variable FCC fue la que presentó un mayor poder predictivo del LAI (R2 = 0,98; S = 0,28),
seguida de G (R2 = 0,96; S = 0,43) y D (R2 = 0,50; S = 0,28). En el aspecto hidrológico, la trascolación aumentó con la
intensidad de clara, siendo G la variable más correlacionada (R2 = 0,81; S = 3,07) y LAI la que menos (R2 = 0,69;
S = 3,95). Los resultados evidencian la versatilidad de trabajar con LAI estimado de forma sencilla o bien a partir de
inventarios disponibles, para su uso en modelos de mayor ámbito espacial.Molina, A.; Campo García, ADD. (2011). Estimación del Índice de área foliar en pinares de repoblación con LAI-2000 bajo radiación solar directa: relación con variables de inventario e hidrológicas. Investigación Agraria Sistemas y Recursos Forestales. 20(1):108-121. doi:10.5424/fs/2011201-10009S108121201Aboal, J. ., Jiménez, M. ., Morales, D., & Gil, P. (2000). Effects of thinning on throughfall in Canary Islands pine forest — the role of fog. Journal of Hydrology, 238(3-4), 218-230. doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(00)00329-2Asner, G. P., Scurlock, J. M. O., & A. Hicke, J. (2003). Global synthesis of leaf area index observations: implications for ecological and remote sensing studies. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12(3), 191-205. doi:10.1046/j.1466-822x.2003.00026.xCescatti, A. (1998). Effects of needle clumping in shoots and crowns on the radiative regime of a Norway spruce canopy. Annales des Sciences Forestières, 55(1-2), 89-102. doi:10.1051/forest:19980106CHEN, J. M., & BLACK, T. A. (1992). Defining leaf area index for non-flat leaves. Plant, Cell and Environment, 15(4), 421-429. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3040.1992.tb00992.xChen, J. M., & Cihlar, J. (1996). Retrieving leaf area index of boreal conifer forests using Landsat TM images. Remote Sensing of Environment, 55(2), 153-162. doi:10.1016/0034-4257(95)00195-6Crockford, R. H., & Richardson, D. P. (2000). Partitioning of rainfall into throughfall, stemflow and interception: effect of forest type, ground cover and climate. Hydrological Processes, 14(16-17), 2903-2920. doi:10.1002/1099-1085(200011/12)14:16/173.0.co;2-6Deblonde, G., Penner, M., & Royer, A. (1994). Measuring Leaf Area Index with the Li-Cor LAI-2000 in Pine Stands. Ecology, 75(5), 1507-1511. doi:10.2307/1937474Grier, C. G., & Running, S. W. (1977). Leaf Area of Mature Northwestern Coniferous Forests: Relation to Site Water Balance. Ecology, 58(4), 893-899. doi:10.2307/1936225Keenan, T., García, R., Friend, A. D., Zaehle, S., Gracia, C., & Sabate, S. (2009). Improved understanding of drought controls on seasonal variation in Mediterranean forest canopy CO2 and water fluxes through combined in situ measurements and ecosystem modelling. Biogeosciences Discussions, 6(1), 2285-2329. doi:10.5194/bgd-6-2285-2009Leblanc, S. G., & Chen, J. M. (2001). A practical scheme for correcting multiple scattering effects on optical LAI measurements. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 110(2), 125-139. doi:10.1016/s0168-1923(01)00284-2Llorens, P., Poch, R., Latron, J., & Gallart, F. (1997). Rainfall interception by a Pinus sylvestris forest patch overgrown in a Mediterranean mountainous abandoned area I. Monitoring design and results down to the event scale. Journal of Hydrology, 199(3-4), 331-345. doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(96)03334-3Llorens, P., & Domingo, F. (2007). Rainfall partitioning by vegetation under Mediterranean conditions. A review of studies in Europe. Journal of Hydrology, 335(1-2), 37-54. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.10.032López-Serrano, F. R., Landete-Castillejos, T., Martı́nez-Millán, J., & Cerro-Barja, A. del. (2000). LAI estimation of natural pine forest using a non-standard sampling technique. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 101(2-3), 95-111. doi:10.1016/s0168-1923(99)00171-9McDowell, N. G., Adams, H. D., Bailey, J. D., & Kolb, T. E. (2007). The role of stand density on growth efficiency, leaf area index, and resin flow in southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 37(2), 343-355. doi:10.1139/x06-233Navarro Cerrillo, R. M., Sanchez de la Orden, M., Gomez Bonilla, J., Garcia-Ferrer, A., Hernandez Clemente, R., & Lanjeri, S. (2010). LIDAR-based estimation of leaf area index on Holm oak [Quercus ilex L. subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp.] trees. Forest Systems, 19(1), 61. doi:10.5424/fs/2010191-01167Olthof, I., King, D. J., & Lautenschlager, R. A. (2003). Overstory and understory leaf area index as indicators of forest response to ice storm damage. Ecological Indicators, 3(1), 49-64. doi:10.1016/s1470-160x(03)00010-4Snee, R. D. (1977). Validation of Regression Models: Methods and Examples. Technometrics, 19(4), 415. doi:10.2307/1267881Stenberg, P. (1996). Correcting LAI-2000 estimates for the clumping of needles in shoots of conifers. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 79(1-2), 1-8. doi:10.1016/0168-1923(95)02274-0Stenberg, P., Linder, S., Smolander, H., & Flower-Ellis, J. (1994). Performance of the LAI-2000 plant canopy analyzer in estimating leaf area index of some Scots pine stands. Tree Physiology, 14(7-8-9), 981-995. doi:10.1093/treephys/14.7-8-9.98
Methanofollis formosanus Wu, Chen & Lai, 2005, sp. nov.
No full textMethanofollis formosanus sp. nov. Description of Methanofollis formosanus sp. nov. Methanofollis formosanus (for.mo.sa'nus. N.L. masc. adj. formosanus from Formosa, the beautiful island of Taiwan). Irregularly coccoid cells, non-motile, 1 5-2 0 mmin diameter. Obligately anaerobic cells. Stains Gram-negative. Cell wall has an SDS-sensitive S-layer protein with an Mr of 138 800. Catabolic substrates used include H2/CO2 and formate, but not acetate, methanol, trimethylamine, dimethylamine, ethanol, 2-propanol, iso-butanol, 2-butanol or dimethylamine. Cells are mesophilic and grow at 20- 42°C, with optimal growth at 37°C. Cells grow at pH 5 6- 7-3, with optimal growth atpH 6-6. Cells grow well in 0-4 % NaCl, with optimal growth at 3 % NaCl. Addition ofacetate reduces the lag time and the trace element tungsten greatly promotes cell growth and extends the growth range. No growth is detected in minimal medium. Growth is completely inhibited by chloramphenicol and partly inhibited by tetracycline, but not by ampicillin, penicillin, kanamycin or spectinomycin. The G+C content of DNA of strain ML15T is 58 4 mol%. The type strain is strain ML15T (= OCM 789T = DSM 15483T), isolated from a marine water aquaculture fish pond near Wang-gong, Taiwan.Published as part of Wu, S. - Y., Chen, S. - C. & Lai, M. - C., 2005, Methanofollis formosanus sp. nov., isolated from a fish pond., pp. 837-842 in International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 55 on page
Feedback synchronization using pole-placement control
No full textSynchronization in chaotic systems has become an active area of research since the pioneering work of Pecora and Carroll. Most existing works, however, rely on a passive approach: A coupling between chaotic systems is necessary for their mutual synchronization. We describe here a feedback approach for synchronizing chaotic systems that is applicable in high dimensions. We show how two chaotic systems can be synchronized by applying small feedback perturbations to one of them. We detail our strategy to design the control based on the pole-placement method, and give numerical examples
On Reading and Writing: an Interview with Larissa Lai
Full text linkCultural activist, author and Creative Writing Professor Larissa Lai is interviewed by Spanish critic Sonia Villegas López
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