Improved wetland remote sensing in Yellowstone National Park using classification trees to combine TM imagery and ancillary environmental data

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses the term palustrine wetland to describe vegetated wetlands traditionally identified as marsh, bog, fen, swamp, or wet meadow. Landsat TM imagery was combined with image texture and ancillary environmental data to model probabilities of palustrine wetland occurrence in Yellowstone National Park using classification trees. Model training and test locations were identified from National Wetlands Inventory maps, and classification trees were built for seven years spanning a range of annual precipitation. At a coarse level, palustrine wetland was separated from upland. At a finer level, five palustrine wetland types were discriminated: aquatic bed (PAB), emergent (PEM), forested (PFO), scrub-shrub (PSS), and unconsolidated shore (PUS). TM-derived variables alone were relatively accurate at separating wetland from upland, but model error rates dropped incrementally as image texture, DEM-derived terrain variables, and other ancillary GIS layers were added. For classification trees making use of all available predictors, average overall test error rates were 7.8% for palustrine wetland/upland models and 17.0% for palustrine wetland type models, with consistent accuracies across years. However, models were prone to wetland over-prediction. While the predominant PEM class was classified with omission and commission error rates less than 14%, we had difficulty identifying the PAB and PSS classes. Ancillary vegetation information greatly improved PSS classification and moderately improved PFO discrimination. Association with geothermal areas distinguished PUS wetlands. Wetland over-prediction was exacerbated by class imbalance in likely combination with spatial and spectral limitations of the TM sensor. Wetland probability surfaces may be more informative than hard classification, and appear to respond to climate-driven wetland variability. The developed method is portable, relatively easy to implement, and should be applicable in other settings and over larger extents.     

Group IVB metallocene polyesters containing camphoric acid and preliminary cancer cell activity

Polyesters were formed from the reaction of the salt of camphoric acid and Group IVB metallocene dichlorides using the interfacial polycondenzation process. The polyesters were formed in good yields with moderate chain lengths. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy shows bands characteristic of the presence of both reactants with new bands characteristic of the formation of the M?O and M–O(CO) linkage present. The polymers largely exist in a bridging geometry of the carbonyl groups about the metal atom. Nuclear magnetic resonance shows the presence of bands derived from both reactants. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectroscopy shows ion fragments to three units for the polymers with isotopic abundance characteristic of the presence of metal atoms in the ion fragment clusters. All the polymers exhibit good ability to inhibit all the tested cancer cell lines but the zironocene and hafnocene polymers exhibit especially good inhibition of the tested cancer cell lines that included two pancreatic cancer cell lines. They represent a potential new group of anticancer drugs.     

Degradation Products of Tryptophan in Cell Culture Media: Contribution to Color and Toxicity

Biomanufacturing processes may be optimized by storing cell culture media at room temperature, but this is currently limited by their instability and change in color upon long-term storage. This study demonstrates that one of the critical contributing factors toward media browning is tryptophan. LC-MS technology was utilized to identify tryptophan degradation products, which are likely formed primarily from oxidation reactions. Several of the identified compounds were shown to contribute significantly to color in solutions but also to exhibit toxicity against CHO cells. A cell-culture-compatible antioxidant, a-ketoglutaric acid, was found to be an efficient cell culture media additive for stabilizing components against degradation, inhibiting the browning of media formulations, and decreasing ammonia production, thus providing a viable method for developing room-temperature stable cell culture media.     

Lexical priming deficits as a function of age.

The effects of age on implicit memory were assessed in elderly and young adults using 2 priming procedures. Subjects also completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R), 3 tests to assess frontal lobe function, and 2 recall and 2 recognition tests of explicit memory. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to the low-frequency member of a homophone pair in a test purported to assess general knowledge. Subsequently, subjects completed a spelling test that contained the previously presented homophones to assess priming. Young subjects demonstrated priming (p?p?p?     

Cytosine Arabinoside Release from Polymeric Matrices

Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) has been used in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. However, rapid deamination reduces its effectiveness. Polymeric matrices containing ara-C were prepared in polyether polyurethane copolymer to form a protective, supply of ara-C. Release studies from these devices showed linear relationships between Q, the amount release per unit area, versus the square root of time. Burst effects were predominant at higher loading doses. The diffusivity values indicated that enough drug could pass through the polymer for the combination to have potential application as implants in cancer therapy.     

When flattery gets you nowhere: Discounting positive feedback as a relationship maintenance strategy.

Intimates can rely on a number of strategies to protect their relationships from potential threats. In the present article, the authors investigate a new strategy: to discount flattering comments received from an attractive alternative to a dating partner by making a situational attribution. However, the authors did not expect everyone to adopt this strategy, as not everyone is likely sufficiently motivated to override both the tendencies to make dispositional attributions and to accept positive feedback from others. Dating and single participants were informed that an attractive alternative's positive impression of them had been made freely or under constraint. As expected, dating participants in the constraint condition were less likely than were those in the no-constraint condition to believe that the alternative's impression of them was genuine. In contrast, single participants believed that the confederate's impression of them was genuine, irrespective of their experimental condition. Self-esteem further moderated this effect. As hypothesised, only dating participants with low self-esteem were sufficiently motivated to recognise the situational constraint and discount the positive feedback. High self-esteem daters who were less inclined to discount the positive feedback instead protected their relationships by devaluing the alternative's attractiveness compared to singles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biodegradation pathways of chloroanilines by Acinetobacter baylyi strain GFJ2

The Acinetobacter baylyi strain GFJ2 was isolated from soil that was potentially contaminated with herbicides. It exhibited complete biodegradations of 4-chlroaniline (4CA) and 3,4-dichloroaniline (34DCA), a wide range of monohalogenated anilines (chloro-, bromo-, and fluoro-anilines) and other dichloroanilines. An in-depth investigation of the biodegradation pathway revealed that a dechlorination reaction may be involved in 34DCA biodegradation, which forms 4CA as the first intermediate. By detecting the transient intermediates and characterizing the relevant enzymes, this investigation is also the first to report that A. baylyi strain GFJ2 has two distinct 4CA degradation pathways that yield 4-chlorocatechol (4CC) and aniline as the first intermediate in each route, which are further metabolized through an ortho-cleavage pathway. Analysis of biodegradation kinetics analysis illustrated that A. baylyi GFJ2 utilized aniline and 4CC at significantly slower rates than it used 4CA, suggesting that the transformations of aniline and 4CC were probably the limiting steps during 4CA biodegradation. Our results suggest the potential application of A. baylyi strain GFJ2 in bioremediation and waste treatment, and the kinetic data provide the insights into the degradation mechanism, dynamics and possible limitations of the biodegradation which include substrate and product inhibitions.     

Recognition of liquid and flesh food using an `electronic tongue'

An electronic tongue comprising thirty potentiometric chemical sensors and pattern recognition tools for data processing was used for the analysis of mineral waters, coffee, soft drinks and flesh food, namely fish. The electronic tongue appeared to be capable of distinguishing between different sorts of beverages: natural and artificial mineral waters, individual and commercial brands of coffee, and commercial and experimental samples of soft drinks containing different sweeteners. A quantitative correlation between human perception and `electronic tongue' output was obtained. Taste parameter assessments produced by a professional taste panel was used for `electronic tongue' calibration. It was found that the `electronic tongue' is capable of distinguishing sea water and freshwater fish and monitoring their spoilage.