Phenology of vegetation in Southern England from Envisat MERIS terrestrial chlorophyll index (MTCI) data

Given the close association between climate change and vegetation response, there is a pressing requirement to monitor the phenology of vegetation and understand further how its metrics vary over space and time. This article explores the use of the Envisat MERIS terrestrial chlorophyll index (MTCI) data set for monitoring vegetation phenology, via its estimates of chlorophyll content. The MTCI was used to construct the phenological profile of and extract key phenological event dates from woodland and grass/heath land in Southern England as these represented a range of chlorophyll contents and different phenological cycles. The period 2003–2008 was selected as this was known to be a period with temperature and phenological anomalies. Comparisons of the MTCI-derived phenology data were made with ground indicators and climatic proxy of phenology and with other vegetation indices: MERIS global vegetation index (MGVI), MODIS normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and MODIS enhanced vegetation index (EVI). Close correspondence between MTCI and canopy phenology as indicated by ground observations and climatic proxy was evident. Also observed was a difference between MTCI-derived phenological profile curves and key event dates (e.g. green-up, season length) and those derived from MERIS MGVI, MODIS NDVI and MODIS EVI. The research presented in this article supports the use of the Envisat MTCI for monitoring vegetation phenology, principally due to its sensitivity to canopy chlorophyll content, a vegetation property that is a useful proxy for the canopy physical and chemical alterations associated with phenological change.     

Crisis intervention training at a predoctoral internship in professional psychology.

Describes the model for crisis intervention at the internship level at a university counseling center. The program is organized around 3 components: orientation and didactic training in crisis intervention; crisis team membership in a local community mental health agency; and supervision of crisis intervention experiences. Data on the evaluation of the program are presented. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of an Anti-CD7 Recombinant Immunotoxin Based on PE24 in CHO and E. coli Cell-Free Systems

Recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) are an effective class of agents for targeted therapy in cancer treatment. In this article, we demonstrate the straight-forward production and testing of an anti-CD7 RIT based on PE24 in a prokaryotic and a eukaryotic cell-free system. The prokaryotic cell-free system was derived from Escherichia coli BL21 Star^TM (DE3) cells transformed with a plasmid encoding the chaperones groEL/groES. The eukaryotic cell-free system was prepared from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that leave intact endoplasmic reticulum-derived microsomes in the cell-free reaction mix from which the RIT was extracted. The investigated RIT was built by fusing an anti-CD7 single-chain variable fragment (scFv) with the toxin domain PE24, a shortened variant of Pseudomonas Exotoxin A. The RIT was produced in both cell-free systems and tested for antigen binding against CD7 and cell killing on CD7-positive Jurkat, HSB-2, and ALL-SIL cells. CD7-positive cells were effectively killed by the anti-CD7 scFv-PE24 RIT with an IC₅₀ value of 15 pM to 40 pM for CHO and 42 pM to 156 pM for E. coli cell-free-produced RIT. CD7-negative Raji cells were unaffected by the RIT. Toxin and antibody domain alone did not show cytotoxic effects on either CD7-positive or CD7-negative cells. To our knowledge, this report describes the production of an active RIT in E. coli and CHO cell-free systems for the first time. We provide the proof-of-concept that cell-free protein synthesis allows for on-demand testing of antibody–toxin conjugate activity in a time-efficient workflow without cell lysis or purification required.     

A large sex difference on a two-dimensional mental rotation task.

Mental rotation tests require participants to identify rotated versions of a target stimulus. The Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test depicts rotations in 3-D space and typically yields one of the largest established cognitive sex differences favoring males. It is presently unclear whether this male advantage is related to the nature of rotations depicted in 3-D space or to the high level of difficulty of this task. The present study developed a new test depicting picture plane, or 2-D, rotations. When task difficulty within this 2-D test was varied, a male advantage as large as that seen on the Vandenberg test was found for the difficult component. These findings suggest that processing in 3 dimensions is not a necessary condition for a large sex difference on tests of mental rotation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial localization in left and right visual fields.

Presented a series of single dots tachistoscopically in either the left or the right visual field, Ss task being to locate the dot on a spatial map depicting all of the lot locations presented. 7 experiments were carried out with 232 right-handed male and female undergraduates. For men, localization of the dot was more accurate in the left than in the right visual field, under all testing conditions. Women showed the left-field superiority under some testing conditions; under others they showed no difference between fields. There was no sex difference in over-all accuracy of performance, and simple detection of a dot was not more accurate in 1 field than another for either sex. Results are discussed in terms of a probable "spatial coordinate" system in the right hemisphere of the brain. (French summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of Native, Métis, and Caucasian offender profiles on the MCMI.

Compared Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) profiles of 203 Caucasian, 59 Native, and 39 Métis adult offenders, (CAOs, NAOs, and MAOFs, respectively). NAOs and MAOFs yielded higher alcohol abuse scores than CAOs. An independent assessment of substance abuse problems performed on a subsample of 219 of these offenders confirmed the pattern of severity of the alcohol problem. The internal consistency of the MCMI for the CAOs and a pooled group of NAOs and MAOFs was uniformly high. Principal components analysis performed on the CAO and combined NAO and MAO groups resulted in similar 4 factor solutions. The appropriateness of the use of the MCMI with NAOs and MAOFs was supported. Issues regarding the use of standard approaches to the psychological assessment of offenders of Aboriginal ancestry are discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in perceptual, motor and reading test scores in a remedial reading group.

Two matched groups each composed of nine children with reading problems were compared on a number of perceptual, motor, and reading tests. One group was thereafter exposed to a special remedial program. On retest this group showed significant gains in reading as well as in some of the perceptual and motor areas. No similar improvement was detected in the control group denied the remedial treatment. Not all perceptual tests showed a parallel improvement with reading and the implications of this finding are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantifying the efficiency and biases of forest Saccharomyces sampling strategies

Saccharomyces yeasts are emerging as model organisms for ecology and evolution, and researchers need environmental Saccharomyces isolates to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. However, methods for isolating Saccharomyces from nature have not been standardized, and isolation methods may influence the genotypes and phenotypes of studied strains. We compared the effectiveness and potential biases of an established enrichment culturing method against a newly developed direct plating method for isolating forest floor Saccharomyces spp. In a European forest, enrichment culturing was both less successful at isolating Saccharomyces paradoxus per sample collected and less labour intensive per isolated S. paradoxus colony than direct isolation. The two methods sampled similar S. paradoxus diversity: The number of unique genotypes sampled (i.e., genotypic diversity) per S. paradoxus isolate and average growth rates of S. paradoxus isolates did not differ between the two methods, and growth rate variances (i.e., phenotypic diversity) only differed in one of three tested environments. However, enrichment culturing did detect rare Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the forest habitat and also found two S. paradoxus isolates with outlier phenotypes. Our results validate the historically common method of using enrichment culturing to isolate representative collections of environmental Saccharomyces. We recommend that researchers choose a Saccharomyces sampling method based on resources available for sampling and isolate screening. Researchers interested in discovering new Saccharomyces phenotypes or rare Saccharomyces species from natural environments may also have more success using enrichment culturing. We include step-by-step sampling protocols in the supplemental materials.