New technique measures evaporation globally

Public release date: 11-Apr-2013
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Contact: Holly Evarts
holly.evarts@columbia.edu
347-453-7408
Columbia University

First method to use weather station measurements to obtain daily evaporation rates

New York, NYApril 11, 2013Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models in various conditions. The study was published in the April 1 online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"This is the first time we've been able to map evaporation in a consistent way, using concrete measurements that are available around the world," says Pierre Gentine, assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia. "This is a big step forward in our understanding of how the water cycle impacts life on Earth."

The Earth's surface hydrologic cycle comprises precipitation, runoff, and evaporation fluctuations. Scientists can measure precipitation across the globe using rain gauges or microwave remote sensing devices. In places where streamflow measurements are available, they can also measure the runoff. But measuring evaporation has always been difficult.

"Global measurements of evaporation have been a longstanding and frustrating challenge for the hydrologic community," says Gentine. "And now, for the first time, we show that simple weather station measurements of air temperature and humidity can be used across the globe to obtain the daily evaporation."

Evaporation is a key component of the hydrological cycle: it tells us how much water leaves the soil and therefore how much should be left there for a broad range of applications such as agriculture, water resource management, and weather forecasting.

Gentine, who studies the relationship between hydrology and atmospheric science and its impact on climate change, collaborated on this research with Guido D. Salvucci, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston University and the paper's lead author. Using data from weather stations, widely available across the globe, they focused on evaporation and discovered an emergent relationship between evaporation and relative humidity that gave them the evaporation rates.

Gentine and Salvucci plan to provide daily maps of evaporation around the world that will enable scientists to evaluate changes in water table, calculate water requirements for agriculture, and measure more accurate evaporation fluctuations into the atmosphere.

"Sharing our data with researchers around the world will help us learn more about the Earth's hydrologic cycle and assess recent trends such as whether it is accelerating," adds Gentine. "Acceleration could greatly impact our climate, locally, nationally, and globally."

###

The research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.

Columbia Engineering

Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, founded in 1864, offers programs in nine departments to both undergraduate and graduate students. With facilities specifically designed and equipped to meet the laboratory and research needs of faculty and students, Columbia Engineering is home to NSF-NIH funded centers in genomic science, molecular nanostructures, materials science, and energy, as well as one of the world's leading programs in financial engineering. These interdisciplinary centers are leading the way in their respective fields while individual groups of engineers and scientists collaborate to solve some of modern society's more difficult challenges. http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/

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Public release date: 11-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Holly Evarts
holly.evarts@columbia.edu
347-453-7408
Columbia University

First method to use weather station measurements to obtain daily evaporation rates

New York, NYApril 11, 2013Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models in various conditions. The study was published in the April 1 online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

"This is the first time we've been able to map evaporation in a consistent way, using concrete measurements that are available around the world," says Pierre Gentine, assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia. "This is a big step forward in our understanding of how the water cycle impacts life on Earth."

The Earth's surface hydrologic cycle comprises precipitation, runoff, and evaporation fluctuations. Scientists can measure precipitation across the globe using rain gauges or microwave remote sensing devices. In places where streamflow measurements are available, they can also measure the runoff. But measuring evaporation has always been difficult.

"Global measurements of evaporation have been a longstanding and frustrating challenge for the hydrologic community," says Gentine. "And now, for the first time, we show that simple weather station measurements of air temperature and humidity can be used across the globe to obtain the daily evaporation."

Evaporation is a key component of the hydrological cycle: it tells us how much water leaves the soil and therefore how much should be left there for a broad range of applications such as agriculture, water resource management, and weather forecasting.

Gentine, who studies the relationship between hydrology and atmospheric science and its impact on climate change, collaborated on this research with Guido D. Salvucci, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston University and the paper's lead author. Using data from weather stations, widely available across the globe, they focused on evaporation and discovered an emergent relationship between evaporation and relative humidity that gave them the evaporation rates.

Gentine and Salvucci plan to provide daily maps of evaporation around the world that will enable scientists to evaluate changes in water table, calculate water requirements for agriculture, and measure more accurate evaporation fluctuations into the atmosphere.

"Sharing our data with researchers around the world will help us learn more about the Earth's hydrologic cycle and assess recent trends such as whether it is accelerating," adds Gentine. "Acceleration could greatly impact our climate, locally, nationally, and globally."

###

The research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.

Columbia Engineering

Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, founded in 1864, offers programs in nine departments to both undergraduate and graduate students. With facilities specifically designed and equipped to meet the laboratory and research needs of faculty and students, Columbia Engineering is home to NSF-NIH funded centers in genomic science, molecular nanostructures, materials science, and energy, as well as one of the world's leading programs in financial engineering. These interdisciplinary centers are leading the way in their respective fields while individual groups of engineers and scientists collaborate to solve some of modern society's more difficult challenges. http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/cu-ntm041113.php

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Take work safety to the next level with these action items ...

Reducing the risk of injuries in the workplace?can help companies save money by reducing the potential for workers? compensation claims to arise. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA)?suggests?employers?educate workers and prepare them?for possible hazards through training, labels, alarms, color-coded systems, chemical information sheets and other methods.

Seven steps to?improve?workplace safety
Taking preventive action is?key when it comes to avoiding injury in the workplace. According to OSHA, the?Work Safe Center?and other worker?safety organizations, department meetings, classes and demonstrations can help reduce injuries and foster a safer work environment.?Here are seven ways to use these methods to train workers:

1. Department safety meetings can educate and engage
Workplaces may want to consider hosting a series of mandatory safety meetings for staff. During?gatherings, employers and managers can touch upon topics such as hazards, diseases, disaster planning and bullying prevention. Meeting leaders can show worker safety videos and follow the viewings with discussions about the content. Business owners may also consider having open question-and-answer segments after presentations to keep communication channels open and ensure distributed information is understood. Ensuring team members know the correct dates and times of the meetings may help attendance.?

2. Reinforce safety
Positive reinforcement often works better than criticism, according to recent studies. Employers may want to praise employees who take the right precautions?to encourage safe behaviors. For examples, employers may want to recognize workers who demonstrate good?incident?prevention habits,?take safety seriously and help others to do so as well. This may encourage?and spread awareness of?positive practices.

3. Fire up the extinguisher
Showing the team how to properly use the workplace fire extinguisher could?save lives. A fire extinguisher demonstration only takes minutes and gives employees the knowledge they need to mitigate potentially deadly destruction. Employers may consider leading demonstrations for other safety equipment as well.

4. Defensive driving may prevent accidents
According to the National Safety Council?(NSC), a business that employs drivers?may want to implement a course on defensive driving to prevent accidents.

5. Preparing the organization for emergencies
Employers may want to have an emergency plan of action to prepare for natural disasters and other hazardous situations.?After mapping out a plan, employers may want to stage and conduct drills to make sure everyone is prepared. OSHA has a free?emergency action plan available on its website.

6. Implementing a building inspection can prevent illness and?injury
Having a building inspection can ensure the workplace is?safe and compliant with federal and local regulations. Organizations may?want to have buildings checked for asbestos?and ensure it is equipped with properly working fire alarms, sprinklers, carbon monoxide detectors and other safety features.

7. Having a team approach to safety may be?in a workers?s best interests?
Encouraging employees to look out for one another may help prevent avoidable injuries in the workplace. Employers can help workers curb dangerous behavior?by fostering an atmosphere?where team members speak up when a fellow employee?is risking his or her safety. Developing a workplace?culture where employees feel comfortable giving each other feedback when risky behavior is exhibited adds an extra layer of support that could take worker safety to the next level.

Source: http://www.safeatworkaz.com/?p=1426

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Major depression: Great success with pacemaker electrodes, small study suggests

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Researchers from the Bonn University Hospital implanted pacemaker electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle in the brains of patients suffering from major depression with amazing results: In six out of seven patients, symptoms improved both considerably and rapidly. The method of Deep Brain Stimulation had already been tested on various structures within the brain, but with clearly lesser effect.

The results of this new study have now been published in the international journal Biological Psychiatry.

After months of deep sadness, a first smile appears on a patient's face. For many years, she had suffered from major depression and tried to end her life several times. She had spent the past years mostly in a passive state on her couch; even watching TV was too much effort for her. Now this young woman has found her joie de vivre again, enjoys laughing and travelling. She and an additional six patients with treatment resistant depression participated in a study involving a novel method for addressing major depression at the Bonn University Hospital.

Considerable amelioration of depression within days

Prof. Dr. Volker Arnd Coenen, neurosurgeon at the Department of Neurosurgery (Klinik und Poliklinik f?r Neurochirurgie), implanted electrodes into the medial forebrain bundles in the brains of subjects suffering from major depression with the electrodes being connected to a brain pacemaker. The nerve cells were then stimulated by means of a weak electrical current, a method called Deep Brain Stimulation. In a matter of days, in six out of seven patients, symptoms such as anxiety, despondence, listlessness and joylessness had improved considerably. "Such sensational success both in terms of the strength of the effects, as well as the speed of the response has so far not been achieved with any other method," says Prof. Dr. Thomas E. Schl?pfer from the Bonn University Hospital Department of Psychiatry und Psychotherapy (Bonner Uniklinik f?r Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie).

Central part of the reward circuit

The medial forebrain bundle is a bundle of nerve fibers running from the deep-seated limbic system to the prefrontal cortex. In a certain place, the bundle is particularly narrow because the individual nerve fibers lie close together. "This is exactly the location in which we can have maximum effect using a minimum of current," explains Prof. Coenen, who is now the new head of the Freiburg University Hospital's Department of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (Abteilung Stereotaktische und Funktionelle Neurochirurgie am Universit?tsklinikum Freiburg). The medial forebrain bundle is a central part of a euphoria circuit belonging to the brain's reward system. What kind of effect stimulation exactly has on nerve cells is not yet known. But it obviously changes metabolic activity in the different brain centers.

Success clearly increased over that of earlier studies

The researchers have already shown in several studies that deep brain stimulation shows an amazing and-given the severity of the symptoms- unexpected degree of amelioration of symptoms in major depression. In those studies, however, the physicians had not implanted the electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle but instead into the nucleus accumbens, another part of the brain's reward system. This had resulted in clear and sustainable improvements in about 50 percent of subjects. "But in this new study, our results were even much better," says Prof. Schl?pfer. A clear improvement in complaints was found in 85 percent of patients, instead of the earlier 50 percent. In addition, stimulation was performed with lower current levels, and the effects showed within a few days, instead of after weeks.

Method's long-term success

"Obviously, we have now come closer to a critical structure within the brain that is responsible for major depression," says the psychiatrist from the Bonn University Hospital. Another cause for optimism among the group of physicians is that, since the study's completion, an eighth patient has also been treated successfully. The patients have been observed for a period of up to 18 month after the intervention. Prof. Schl?pfer reports, "The anti-depressive effect of deep brain stimulation within the medial forebrain bundle has not decreased during this period." This clearly indicates that the effects are not temporary. This method gives those who suffer from major depression reason to hope. However, it will take quite a bit of time for the new procedure to become part of standard therapy.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit?t Bonn.

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Journal Reference:

1. Thomas E. Schlaepfer, Bettina H. Bewernick, Sarah Kayser, Burkhard M?dler, Volker A. Coenen. Rapid Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression. Biological Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.01.034

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/xoNO4EMk4fg/130409105913.htm

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A protein's well-known cousin sheds light on its gout-linked relative

Apr. 8, 2013 ? Johns Hopkins scientists have found out how a gout-linked genetic mutation contributes to the disease: by causing a breakdown in a cellular pump that clears an acidic waste product from the bloodstream. By comparing this protein pump to a related protein involved in cystic fibrosis, the researchers also identified a compound that partially repairs the pump in laboratory tests.

The mutation in question, known as Q141K, results from the simple exchange of one amino acid for another, but it prevents the protein ABCG2 from pumping uric acid waste out of the bloodstream and into urine. A buildup of uric acid in the blood can lead to its crystallization in joints, especially in the foot, causing excruciatingly painful gout.

"The protein where the mutation occurs, ABCG2, is best known for its counterproductive activity in breast cancer patients, where it pumps anti-cancer drugs out of the tumor cells we are trying to kill," says William Guggino, Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "In kidney cells, though, ABCG2 is crucial for getting uric acid out of the body. What we figured out is exactly how a gout-causing genetic mutation inhibits ABCG2 function."

A description of the work with Q141K's effects at the cellular level was published online Mar. 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Gout affects 2 to 3 percent of Americans, approximately 6 million people. It usually involves sudden attacks of severe pain, often in the joint at the base of the big toe and frequently in the wee hours of the morning, when body temperature is lowest. It has been nicknamed the "disease of kings," because it usually results from high-purine diets, food that only kings and other noblemen could afford in large quantities in bygone years: red meat, organ meats, oily fishes and some vegetables like asparagus and mushrooms.

While most gout can be remedied by dietary changes, about 10 percent of Caucasians get the disorder because their ABCG2 protein contains the Q141K mutation. This number is lower (around 3 percent) for African-Americans and much higher (31 percent) for Asians.

Guggino notes that the ABCG2 Q141K mutation was first connected with gout in 2008 through a large genomic study directed, in part, by Josef Coresh, M.D., a biostatistician and epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. At the time, Guggino's laboratory was studying a protein frequently found mutated in cystic fibrosis patients: cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, or CFTR. The structure of ABCG2 is quite similar to CFTR's, so Coresh suggested that Guggino's team apply their knowledge of CFTR to characterize ABCG2.

The team first genetically engineered several standard mammalian cell types to make regular or mutant versions of ABCG2. Cells with the mutated ABCG2 gene contained much less of the ABCG2 protein than cells making the regular form. Additionally, the researchers found that the mutation made it difficult for ABCG2 molecules to get to their proper place on the cell surface. Since ABCG2 pumps molecules from the inside of the cell to the outside, it is not functional anywhere but the cell surface.

The team then lowered the temperature at which the ABCG2-making cells were growing, and found more mutant ABCG2 at the cell surface. Guggino says this finding suggested that the lower temperature had stabilized ABCG2 and helped it achieve its proper 3-D conformation, because proteins that don't assume the right shape are likely to be broken into pieces for reuse, preventing them from reaching their final destinations.

When ABCG2 and CFTR are lined up, their structures are very similar. In fact, one of the most common cystic fibrosis mutations, a CFTR deletion of amino acid F508, lines up next to the Q141K mutation in ABCG2 and causes similar results in the protein's location and processing.

Knowing that the F508 deletion in CFTR creates instability in a certain part of the protein, the researchers introduced additional mutations intended to stabilize the wobbly region of the Q141K mutant ABCG2. As predicted, they found that this stabilization increased the amount of ABCG2 on the cell surface, suggesting again that ABCG2 had been saved from the recycling bin.

To confirm the involvement of the recycling process, the team fed the cells several small molecules known to help malformed proteins avoid degradation. One molecule, VRT-325, partially restores CFTR's activity. The same molecule was also able to increase the amount of mutant ABCG2 found in the cells and on their surfaces, and to decrease the amount of uric acid in the cells, bringing it within the normal range.

"Though there are many more lab tests needed before clinical trials can even be designed, our results represent an important step forward in both understanding how gout results from this mutation and finding a treatment," says Guggino.

Other authors of the report include Owen Woodward, Deepali Tukaye, Jinming Cui, Patrick Greenwell, Leeza Constantoulakis, Benjamin Parker, Anjana Rao and Peter Maloney of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Michael K?ttgen of the University Medical Center Freiburg.

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK32753).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. O. M. Woodward, D. N. Tukaye, J. Cui, P. Greenwell, L. M. Constantoulakis, B. S. Parker, A. Rao, M. Kottgen, P. C. Maloney, W. B. Guggino. Gout-causing Q141K mutation in ABCG2 leads to instability of the nucleotide-binding domain and can be corrected with small molecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; 110 (13): 5223 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1214530110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/lFIDCLseY-o/130408103226.htm

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