Impacts on South America moisture transport under Amazon deforestation and 2 °C global warming.

The increase in greenhouse gasses (GHG) anthropogenic emissions and deforestation over the last decades have led to many chemical and physical changes in the climate system, affecting the atmosphere's energy and water balance. A process that could be affected is the Amazonian moisture transport in the South American continent (including La Plata basin), which is crucial to the southeast Brazilian water regime. The focus of our research is on evaluating how local (i.e. Amazon deforestation) and global forcings (increase of atmospheric GHG concentration) may modify this moisture transport under climate change scenarios. We used two coupled land-atmosphere models forced by CMIP6 sea surface temperatures to simulate these processes for two scenarios: i) increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) - RCP8.5 atmospheric levels (00DEF), and ii) total Amazon deforestation simultaneous with atmospheric CO2 levels increased (100DEF). These scenarios were compared with a control simulation, set with a constant CO2 of 388 ppm and present-day Amazon Forest cover. The 30-year Specific Warming Level 2 (SWL2) index evaluated from the simulations is set to be reached 2 years earlier due to Amazon deforestation. A reduction in precipitation was observed in the Amazon basin (-3.1 mm·day-1) as well as in La Plata Basin (-0.5 mm·day-1) due to reductions in the Amazon evapotranspiration (-0.9 mm·day-1) through a stomatal conductance decrease (00DEF) and land cover change (100DEF). In addition, the income moisture transport decreased (22 %) in the northern La Plata basin in both scenarios and model experiments. Our results indicated a worse scenario than previously found in the region. Both Amazon and La Plata hydrological regimes are connected (moisture and energy transport), indicating that a large-scale Amazon deforestation will have additional climate, economic and social implications for South America.

The Role of Digital Technologies in Responding to the Grand Challenges of the Natural Environment: The Windermere Accord.

Digital technology is having a major impact on many areas of society, and there is equal opportunity for impact on science. This is particularly true in the environmental sciences as we seek to understand the complexities of the natural environment under climate change. This perspective presents the outcomes of a summit in this area, a unique cross-disciplinary gathering bringing together environmental scientists, data scientists, computer scientists, social scientists, and representatives of the creative arts. The key output of this workshop is an agreed vision in the form of a framework and associated roadmap, captured in the Windermere Accord. This accord envisions a new kind of environmental science underpinned by unprecedented amounts of data, with technological advances leading to breakthroughs in taming uncertainty and complexity, and also supporting openness, transparency, and reproducibility in science. The perspective also includes a call to build an international community working in this important area.

The Effects of Heat Advection on UK Weather and Climate Observations in the Vicinity of Small Urbanized Areas.

Weather and climate networks traditionally follow rigorous siting guidelines, with individual stations located away from frost hollows, trees or urban areas. However, the diverse nature of the UK landscape suggests that the feasibility of siting stations that are truly representative of regional climate and free from distorting local effects is increasingly difficult. Whilst the urban heat island is a well-studied phenomenon and usually accounted for, the effect of warm urban air advected downwind is rarely considered, particularly at rural stations adjacent to urban areas. Until recently, urban heat advection (UHA) was viewed as an urban boundary-layer process through the formation of an urban plume that rises above the surface as it is advected. However, these dynamic UHA effects are shown to also have an impact on surface observations. Results show a significant difference in temperatures anomalies ( p < 0.001 ) between observations taken downwind of urban and rural areas. For example, urban heat advection from small urbanized areas ( ∼ 1 km 2 ) under low cloud cover and wind speeds of 2-3 m s - 1 is found to increase mean nocturnal air temperatures by 0.6 ∘ C at a horizontal distance of 0.5 km. Fundamentally, these UHA results highlight the importance of careful interpretation of long-term temperature data taken near small urban areas.

Evaluation of the painful total knee arthroplasty.

There are a substantial number of patients who continue to complain of pain following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). There are many potential causes of continued pain, and these are broadly categorized into intrinsic and extrinsic sources. When evaluating a patient with a painful TKA, the physician begins with a thorough history and physical examination, along with the appropriate radiographs. Further workup includes laboratory analysis, specifically evaluating the inflammatory markers erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein, along with a synovial fluid aspirate evaluating the white blood cell count with differential and culture. Advanced imaging modalities are sometimes helpful when the diagnosis remains unclear, including stress radiographs, live fluoroscopic imaging, ultrasound, nuclear imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging. Further surgery is not advisable without a clear diagnosis, as this is associated with very poor results. Instead, serial follow-up or a referral to a specialist for a second opinion may be most appropriate.

Optimal bone strength and mineralization requires the type 2 iodothyronine deiodinase in osteoblasts.

Hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis are each associated with an increased risk of fracture. Although thyroxine (T4) is the predominant circulating thyroid hormone, target cell responses are determined by local intracellular availability of the active hormone 3,5,3'-L-triiodothyronine (T3), which is generated from T4 by the type 2 deiodinase enzyme (D2). To investigate the role of locally produced T3 in bone, we characterized mice deficient in D2 (D2KO) in which the serum T3 level is normal. Bones from adult D2KO mice have reduced toughness and are brittle, displaying an increased susceptibility to fracture. This phenotype is characterized by a 50% reduction in bone formation and a generalized increase in skeletal mineralization resulting from a local deficiency of T3 in osteoblasts. These data reveal an essential role for D2 in osteoblasts in the optimization of bone strength and mineralization.