ALBERT

Description: Article Functional imaging of proteolytic activity is an emerging strategy to guide patient diagnosis and monitor clinical outcome. Here the authors present a peptide-based probe to detect and localize thrombin activity ex vivo and non-invasively in mouse models of wounding and pulmonary thrombosis. Nature Communications doi: 10.1038/ncomms9448 Authors: Michael J. Page, André L. Lourenço, Tovo David, Aaron M. LeBeau, Fiore Cattaruzza, Helena C. Castro, Henry F. VanBrocklin, Shaun R. Coughlin, Charles S. Craik

Description: As massas topográficas, tendo em vista suas distribuições e variações de densidade, exercem influências nas grandezas vinculadas ao campo de gravidade. Neste trabalho, o efeito gerado pela Modelagem Residual do Terreno (Residual Terrain Model – RTM) sobre a anomalia de altura, anomalia da gravidade e as componentes do desvio da vertical foi explorado. Os modelos digitais de elevação SRTM30 PLUS e o DTM2006.0, com base em uma filtragem de passa alta, foram usados no contextoda técnica RTM. O Chile tem-se constituído um laboratório natural para estudos em geodinâmica em vista das características de sua topografia e de sua estrutura crustal. Diversos projetos são desenvolvidos com base na análise de grandezas descritas no espaço do geopotencial. No entanto, não são reportadas investigações que vinculemos efeitos residuais do terreno sobre estas grandezas. Desta forma, busca-se a inclusão desta análise considerando-se duas regiões distintas do Chile: as regiões I e VIII, as quais têm características crustais bastante diversas. Os resultados revelam a importância da contribuição do RTM na modelagem da alta frequência do campo de gravidade. Na anomalia de altura os valores alcançados situaram-se entre 1 e –1 m, ao passo que as anomalias de gravidade situam-se entre 100 e –100 mGal, enquanto que as componentes do desvio da vertical apresentaram valores entre 18 e –20 segundos de arco nas diferentes situações topográficas. O estudo mostra a possibilidade de recuperação de grande parte do erro de omissão dos Modelos Globais do Geopotencial por intermédio da técnica RTM. Além disso, a estabilidade das diferentes grandezas em relação à variação do raio de integração, no contexto da formulação de Stokes-Pizzetti, foi explorada. ABSTRACT: The topographical masses, considering its distribution and variations in density, have a measurable influence on functionals of the gravity field. In thispaper, the effect modeled by the Residual Terrain Model (RTM) exerted on the height anomaly, on the gravity anomaly, and on the deflections of the vertical components was explored. The SRTM30 PLUS and DTM2006.0 Digital Elevation Models (DEM), based on a high-pass filter were used in the context of RTM technique. Chile is a natural laboratory for studies in geodynamics considering the characteristics of its topography and crustal structure. Several studies consider the analysis of functionals described in the geopotential space. However, investigations linking the residual effects of topography on these functionals have not yet been reported. Thus, this paper seeks to include this analysis considering two different regions of Chile: the 1st and 8th regions, which have very different crustal characteristics. The results reveal the importance of the contribution of RTM in modeling the high-frequencies of the Earth’s gravity field. The values of height anomaly obtained were between 1 and –1 m, while the gravity anomalies were between 100 and –100 mGal, whereas the deflections of the vertical components reach values between –20 and 18 arc seconds indifferent topographic settings. The study shows the possibility of retrieving large part of the omission errors in Global Geopotential Models (GGM) by using the RTM technique. Furthermore, the stability of different functionals in relation to the variation of the radius of integration, in the context of the Stokes-Pizzetti formulation wasexplored.Keywords: residual terrain model, digital elevation models, global geopotential model, gravity field functional.

Description: In the early days of JPL's solar system exploration, each spacecraft mission required its own dedicated data system with all software applications written in the mainframe's native assembly language. Although these early telemetry processing systems were a triumph of engineering in their day, since that time the computer industry has advanced to the point where it is now advantageous to replace these systems with more modern technology. The Space Flight Operations Center (SFOC) Prototype group was established in 1985 as a workstation and software laboratory. The charter of the lab was to determine if it was possible to construct a multimission telemetry processing system using commercial, off-the-shelf computers that communicated via networks. The staff of the lab mirrored that of a typical skunk works operation -- a small, multi-disciplinary team with a great deal of autonomy that could get complex tasks done quickly. In an effort to determine which approaches would be useful, the prototype group experimented with all types of operating systems, inter-process communication mechanisms, network protocols, packet size parameters. Out of that pioneering work came the confidence that a multi-mission telemetry processing system could be built using high-level languages running in a heterogeneous, networked workstation environment. Experience revealed that the operating systems on all nodes should be similar (i.e., all VMS or all PC-DOS or all UNIX), and that a unique Data Transport Subsystem tool needed to be built to address the incompatibilities of network standards, byte ordering, and socket buffering. The advantages of building a telemetry processing system based on emerging industry standards were numerous: by employing these standards, we would no longer be locked into a single vendor. When new technology came to market which offered ten times the performance at one eighth the cost, it would be possible to attach the new machine to the network, re-compile the application code, and run. In addition, we would no longer be plagued with lack of manufacturer support when we encountered obscure bugs. And maybe, hopefully, the eternal elusive goal of software portability across different vendors' platforms would finally be available. Some highlights of our prototyping efforts are described.

Description: Parallel evolution of ecotypes occurs when selection independently drives the evolution of similar traits across similar environments. The multiple origins of ecotypes are often inferred based on a phylogeny that clusters populations according to geographic location and not by the environment they occupy. However, the use of phylogenies to infer parallel evolution in closely related populations is problematic because gene flow and incomplete lineage sorting can uncouple the genetic structure at neutral markers from the colonization history of populations. Here, we demonstrate multiple origins within ecotypes of an Australian wildflower, Senecio lautus. We observed strong genetic structure as well as phylogenetic clustering by geography and show that this is unlikely due to gene flow between parapatric ecotypes, which was surprisingly low. We further confirm this analytically by demonstrating that phylogenetic distortion due to gene flow often requires higher levels of migration than those observed in S. lautus. Our results imply that selection can repeatedly create similar phenotypes despite the perceived homogenizing effects of gene flow.