The epithelial tumour microenvironment is a complex tissue comprising variable numbers of tumour cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells and infiltrating leucocytes. Cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and proteases are key molecules controlling autocrine or paracrine communications within and between these individual cell types. Under some circumstances, endogenous cytokines may orchestrate host responses against the tumour, but there is increasing evidence that the cytokine network contributes to tumour growth, progression and host immuno-suppression. In addition, breast cancer progression is associated with and dependent upon robust neovascularization. It is becoming clear that tumour-associated „normal‟ cells, such as immune/inflammatory cells, endothelial cells and stromal cells, conspire with cancer cells in promoting this process. In this review we outline some of the actions...

Global precipitation measurement (GPM) launched in February 2014 as a legacy of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). Both satellites carry precipitation radar (PR), which measures the three-dimension structure of precipitation from space. Compared to TRMM PR, GPM has dual-polarized radar (DPR) and provides the raindrop size distribution (DSD) including mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm, in mm) and normalized DSD scaling parameter for concentration (Nw, in mm–1 m–3) (DSD parameters), along with radar reflectivity factor (Ze) from the surface to 21.875 km. Here we investigated the regional differences in intense convective clouds over South East & South Asia (SESA) and explored the differences in the East and West coast of India, by selecting the various areas. We defined two types of clouds, namely Cumulonimbus towers (CbTs) and intense convective clouds (ICCs) based on the Z...

Measurements at the high-elevation Lamar Observatory in the Mantaro Valley (MV) in the Central Andes of Peru demonstrate a diurnal cycle of precipitation characterized by convective rainfall during the afternoon and nighttime stratiform rainfall with embedded convection. Wet season data (2016-2018) reveal long-duration (6-12 hr) shallow precipitating systems (LDPS) that produced about 17% of monsoon rainfall in 2016 and 2018 associated with El Nino and La Nina, respectively. The LPDS fraction of monsoon rainfall doubles to 35% with weekly recurrence in 2017 under El Nino Costero (coastal) conditions. LDPS occur under favorable moisture conditions dictated by the South America (SA) Low-Level Jet (SALLJ) and Cold Air Intrusions (CAIs). Backward trajectory analysis shows that precipitable water sustains >80% of seasonal precipitation and ties the LPDS to particular moisture source regions i...

Changes of the onset dates, end dates, and duration of the rainy season over central Peruvian Andes (Mantaro river basin, MRB) could severely affect water resources management and the main economic activities (e.g., rainfed agriculture, raising cattle, among others). Nonetheless, these changes have not been documented for the Tropical Andes. To asses that, we used daily datasets of observed rainfall during the 1965-2013 period. For this period, the average onset (end) date of the rainy season over the MRB occurs in the pentad 17 (19-23 September) [pentad 57 (7-11 April)]. The duration of the rainy season mainly is modulated by the onset dates due to it has higher variability than end dates. There is a reduction of 3 days/decade in the duration of wet season over the MRB for the last four decades due to the delay of the onset days. Furthermore, El Nino favors late-onset and early end of t...

A sensitivity study of the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting regional model (WRF, version 3.7) to the use of different microphysics, cumulus, and boundary layer parameterizations for short- and medium-term precipitation forecast is conducted in the Central Andes of Peru. Lin-Purdué, Thompson, and Morrison microphysics schemes were tested, as well as the Grell–Freitas, Grell 3d, and Betts–Miller–Janjic cumulus parameterizations.

The ability of the WRF-ARW (Weather Research and Forecasting-Advanced Research WRF) model to forecast extreme rainfall in the Central Andes of Peru is evaluated, using observations from stations located in the Mantaro basin and GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) images. The evaluation analyzes the synoptic conditions averaged over 40 extreme event cases, and considers model simulations organized in 4 nested domains. Simulation results show that the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model underestimates rainfall totals in approximately 50–60% of cases. The analysis of two case studies shows that the underestimation by the model is probably due to three reasons: inability to generate convection in the upstream Amazon during early morning hours, limitations on describing mesoscale processes that lead to vertical movements capable of producing extreme rainfall, a...

The work carried out a characterization of tropospheric vertical profiles in rainy and dry seasons by behavior of thermodynamic indices obtained with the WRF model for the period January 2018–March 2019 on the central Andes of Peru and its relationship with rainfall in the region. A case study was also analyzed using sounding observation data. The precipitation observed were taken from 8 meteorological stations located in the Mantaro basin belonging to the National Meteorological Service of Peru. As a results, it was found that the behavior of the thermodynamic parameters responds to the general characteristics of each period. The level of condensation was always higher in the dry period, in which the lower troposphere was also more stable. The KI, TT, Sweat and CAPE indices were always higher in the rainy season, as was water vapor mixing ratio. The vertical shear was mostly higher in...

The present study presents a detailed analysis of the diurnal and monthly cycles the surface boundary layer and of surface energy balance in a sparse natural vegetation canopy on Huancayo observatory (12.04° S, 75.32° W, 3313 m ASL), which is located in the central Andes of Peru (Mantaro Valley) during an entire year (May 2018-April 2019). We used a set of meteorological sensors (temperature, relative humidity, wind) installed in a gradient tower 30 m high, a set of radiative sensors to measure all irradiance components, and a set of tensiometers and heat flux plate to measure soil moisture, soil temperatures and soil heat flux. To estimate turbulent energy fluxes (sensible and latent), two flux-gradient methods: the aerodynamic method and the Bowen-ratio energy-balance method were used. The ground heat flux at surface was estimated using a molecular heat transfer equation. The results...

The life cycle of clouds consists of mainly into three phases, namely developing, mature, and dissipating phases. The information about the vertical structure of the precipitation during different phases of development will improve their representation in the cloud models. Whether specific regimes over Peru favor the formation or decay of the cloud systems and how their intensity varies during different phases of development will provide the insight into the precipitation structure over Peru. We used two satellite-based data, namely from Global Precipitation Measurement dual Precipitation Radar (GPM-DPR) and GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) to expose the vertical structure of precipitation during different phases of the precipitating cloud systems (PCSs). A PCS is defined using the GPM based near surface rainfall data and then GOES-based brightness temperature (BT...

The first weather radar campaign over Lima, the capital of Peru, a desertic area on the western side of the Peruvian Andes, was carried out to study the occurrence of rain events in summer 2018. The weather radar was installed strategically and was able to overlook three river basins: Rimac, Chillón, and Lurin. An X-band radar (PX-1000) was used, which operates at 9.55 GHz. PX-1000 was built by the Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) at the University of Oklahoma (U.S.A.). The radar operated from January 26th to April 1st, 2018, at Cerro Suche located 2910 m ASL and 55 km from the city of Lima. The PX-1000 performed plan-position-indicators (PPI) for elevations starting at 0° up to 20°. The data presented here were obtained using a three-dimensional constant-altitude plan-position-indicator (3D CAPPI), which was generated by high resolution (250 m) nearest point algorithm. © 2021

Information on the vertical structure of rain, especially near the surface is important for accurate quantitative precipitation estimation from weather and space-borne radars. In the present study, the rainfall characteristics, from a vertically pointed profile Radar in the Mantaro basin (Huancayo, Peru) are observed. In summary, diurnal variation of near-surface rainfall and bright band height, average vertical profiles of the drop size distribution (DSD), rain rate, radar reflectivity (Ze) and liquid water content (LWC) are investigated to derive the rainfall characteristics. Diurnal variation of rain rate and bright band height show the bimodal distribution, where frequent and higher rain rate occurred during the afternoon and nighttime, and more than 70% bright band height found between 4.3-4.7 km. The average vertical profiles of Ze show the opposite characteristics above and below ...

A set of instruments to measure several physical, microphysical, and radiative properties of the atmosphere and clouds are essential to identify, understand and, subsequently, forecast and prevent the effects of extreme meteorological events, such as severe rainfall, hailstorms, frost events and high pollution events, that can occur with some regularity in the central Andes of Peru. However, like many other Latin American countries, Peru lacks an adequate network of meteorological stations to identify and analyze extreme meteorological events. To partially remedy this deficiency, the Geophysical Institute of Peru has installed a set of specialized sensors (LAMAR) on the Huancayo observatory (12.04◦ S, 75.32◦ W, 3350 m ASL), located in the Mantaro river basin, which is a part of the central Andes of Peru, especially in agricultural areas. LAMAR consists of a set of sensors that are us...