The NASA Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) mission is dedicated to measurement of global soil moisture and boreal land surface freeze/thaw state [1]. The satellite will carry radar (active) and radiometer (passive) L-band instruments that will perform simultaneous and coincident measurements of the Earth’s surface. The combination of data from the two instruments will allow unprecedented ...

Remotely sensed estimates of snow thaw offer the potential of more complete spatial coverage across remote, undersampled areas such as the terrestrial Arctic drainage basin. We compared the timing of spring thaw determined from approximately 25 km resolution daily radar backscatter data with observed daily river discharge time series and model simulated snow water content data for 52 basins (50...

Ferrous and ferric sulphates and (oxy)hydroxides can grow on pyrite surfaces and slow oxidation rates. However, in northern climates, repeated freeze/thaw cycles can cause cracks, channeling and exposure of new surfaces. In the present study, weathering in a repeated freeze/thaw experiment was compared to a regular humidity cell experiment. Introductory results (after 17 weeks) show very small ...

background: an effect of cryopreservation on human sperm is sublethal cryodamage, in which cell viability post-thaw is lost more rapidly at later times than in fresh cells. objective:  this study examined whether the addition of an antioxidant to cryopreservation medium could improve the post-thaw parameters and evaluation of sperm chromatin quality of cryopreserved human spermatozoa from men w...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the importance of environmental and genetic factors affecting semen quality; sperm volume (SV), sperm concentration (SPCO), total sperm (TS), fresh sperm motility (FSM), total fresh motile sperm (TFMS), post thaw sperm motility (PTSM), total post thaw motile sperm (TPTMS), number of produced payout (NPP), number of fresh motile sperm in each milt ejac...

We investigated the effect of multiple freeze-thaw cycles on mumps, measles, and rubella virus serum antibody levels with whole-virus immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunoassays. Fresh serum samples from nine healthy adult volunteers were divided into six sets of five aliquots each. Samples were taken through a total of 10 freeze-thaw cycles and stored at 4 degrees C until assayed. Each assay m...

The present work was designed to study the effect of different concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in extender on post-thaw quality of buffalo spermatozoa. Semen was collected from three buffalo bulls with artificial vagina (42°C) for three weeks (replicates). Qualifying semen ejaculate from each bull was split into five aliquots and diluted in tris-citric egg yolk extender containing ...

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are receiving increased attention for their non-progenitor immunomodulatory potential. Cryopreservation is commonly used for long-term storage of MSC. Post-thaw MSC proliferation is associated with a lag-phase in vitro. How this lag-phase affect MSC immunomodulatory properties is unknown. We hypothesized that in vitro there is no difference in lymphoc...

Semen cryopreservation is an important procedure in the treatment of human infertility. However, the ability of spermatozoa to survive freeze/thaw processes varies between patients. Cryopreservation-induced stress may result in membrane injury with consequent loss of sperm motility and viability. We investigated the relationship between the physico-chemical state of the human sperm membranes an...

The objective of this study was to optimize the use of testicular biopsies in 14 patients with obstructive azoospermia. Testicular specimens were retrieved from six patients (group I) and cultured at 32 and 37 degrees C for up to 20 days; changes in percentage motile spermatozoa were compared. In four men of group I, one portion of the specimen was frozen at retrieval, and changes in post-thaw ...