Assessment of QuickBird high spatial resolution imagery to detect red attack damage due to mountain pine beetle infestation

High spatial resolution remotely sensed data has the potential to complement existing forest health programs for both strategic planning over large areas, as well as for detailed and precise identification of tree crowns subject to stress and infestation. The area impacted by the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreak in British Columbia, Canada, has increased 40-fold over the previous 5 years, with approximately 8.5 million ha of forest infested in 2005. As a result of the spatial extent and intensity of the outbreak, new technologies are being assessed to help detect, map, and monitor the damage caused by the beetle, and to inform mitigation of future beetle outbreaks. In this paper, we evaluate the capacity of high spatial resolution QuickBird multi-spectral imagery to detect mountain pine beetle red attack damage. ANOVA testing of individual spectral bands, as well as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and a ratio of red to green reflectance (Red-Green Index or RGI), indicated that the RGI was the most successful (p < 0.001) at separating non-attack crowns from red attack crowns. Based on this result, the RGI was subsequently used to develop a binary classification of red attack and non-attack pixels. The total number of QuickBird pixels classified as having red attack damage within a 50 m buffer of a known forest health survey point were compared to the number of red attack trees recorded at the time of the forest health survey. The relationship between the number of red attack pixels and observed red attack crowns was assessed using independent validation data and was found to be significant (r² = 0.48, p < 0.001, standard error = 2.8 crowns). A comparison of the number of QuickBird pixels classified as red attack, and a broader scale index of mountain pine beetle red attack damage (Enhanced Wetness Difference Index, calculated from a time series of Landsat imagery), was significant (r² = 0.61, p < 0.001, standard error = 1.3 crowns). These results suggest that high spatial resolution imagery, in particular QuickBird satellite imagery, has a valuable role to play in identifying tree crowns with red attack damage. This information could subsequently be used to augment existing detailed forest health surveys, calibrate synoptic estimates of red attack damage generated from overview surveys and/or coarse scale remotely sensed data, and facilitate the generation of value-added information products, such as estimates of timber volume impacts at the forest stand level.     

Identifying clinical syndromes in a community sample of elderly persons.

By a strategy suggested by E. H. Uhlenhuth et al (1983), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) referenced syndrome classifications were derived on the basis of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist—42 scores of 1,131 elderly community residents. Overall syndrome prevalence rates were consistent with other epidemiologic data: 3.9% for depression, 1.0% for agoraphobia-panic, 2.6% for other phobia, and 6.9% for anxiety. Prevalence rates reflected expected sex differences and showed an age trend for other phobias. Considerable comorbidity among syndromes was observed. The association of the syndromes with patterns of psychosocial risk factors, prior diagnoses, and medication suggests that some but not all of the identified syndromes reflect clinically relevant classifications. If further developed, syndrome classifications based on self-report scales can provide inexpensive and clinically relevant measures of caseness. Required refinements of this approach are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term expression and secretion of human glucocerebrosidase by primary murine and human myoblasts and differentiated myotubes

The majority of studies dealing with DNA analyses are made on fixed cells. In this context, the efficiency as fixatives of ethanol, methanol, acetone, Carnoy, Boehm-Sprenger and aldehydes was determined using two different DNA fluorescent probes, Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide. The purpose of our study was to find the fixative that would provide the best results with respect to the following parameters: aggregates, cell size and granularity, and DNA staining analysis. Using murine fibroblasts, we found that 68% ethanol, 85% methanol and aldehydes did not increase aggregate formation, whereas Carnoy, acetone or Boehm-Sprenger fixatives did. The results show that aldehydes seem to alter cell size least. All fixatives induce an increase in cell granularity, which is very pronounced with alcohols, but aldehydes alter morphology less than alcohols. We observed that the fixatives giving the best resolution with Hoechst 33342 staining lead to a lower measurement variability than with propidium iodide staining. This study leads us to conclude that 68% ethanol and 85% methanol can be considered as appropriate fixatives for flow cytometry studies of DNA content.     

Incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones in foals: 22 cases (1988-1996)

OBJECTIVE: To determine outcome for foals with incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones and to determine whether clinical and radiographic abnormalities at the time of initial examination were associated with outcome. DESIGN: Retrospective study. ANIMALS: 22 foals. PROCEDURE: Information on signalment, history, owner's initial complaint, clinical findings, whether tarsus valgus was evident, and radiographic abnormalities was obtained from medical records. Radiographic lesions were classified as type I (i.e., incomplete ossification with < 30% collapse of the affected bones) or type II (incomplete ossification with > 30% collapse and pinching or fragmentation of the affected bones). Follow-up information was obtained via telephone conversations with owners. RESULTS: Foals were between 1 day and 10 months old when first examined. Eleven were premature (i.e., < 320 days of gestation) or were twins. Sixteen had tarsus valgus. Severity of radiographic lesions was associated with outcome; 4 of 6 foals with type-I incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones performed as intended, but only 3 of 16 foals with type-II incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones performed as intended. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: For foals with incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones, severity of the radiographic lesions was associated with outcome. Foals with type-II incomplete ossification of the tarsal bones have a guarded prognosis for athletic soundness.     

In vitro activities of novel antifolate drug combinations against Plasmodium falciparum and human granulocyte CFUs

The potency of antimalarial dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors, alone and in synergistic combination with dihydropteroate synthetase inhibitors, against the Kenyan K39 strain of Plasmodium falciparum (pyrimethamine resistant) and against normal replicating human bone marrow cells in in vitro culture has been studied. Therapeutic indices and rank order of synergistic potency were derived. Trimethoprim, pyrimethamine, and the quinazolines WR159412 and WR158122 had the smallest therapeutic indices (1.39, 4.38, 2.56, and 90.0, respectively), while the three triazines clociguanil, WR99210, and chlorcycloguanil had the largest (3,562, 3,000, and 2,000, respectively). In rank order of decreasing activity against P. falciparum, the six most potent drug combinations were WR99210-dapsone, chlorcycloguanil-dapsone, WR158122-dapsone, WR159412-dapsone, WR159412-sulfamethoxazole, and chlorcycloguanil-sulfamethoxazole; pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine was the least potent combination. These experiments form a basis for the selection of rapidly eliminated antifolate combinations for further clinical testing.     

Radiochlorine as a tracer in fat deposition

Radiochlorine³⁸ was evaluated and found to be suitable for use as a tracer in studying the deposition of fat in porcinepanniculus adiposus tissue. Its short half-life makes its preparation from natural chlorine simple and inexpensive, and also minimizes long-term contamination problems, and its energetic beta and gamma rays makes its radio-assay simple and rapid. For swine, the threshhold level for a statistical counting accuracy of 1% was found to be approx 8 × 10⁻² mc/lb of live wt. The time required for the digestion, absorption, transport and deposition of statistically sufficient detectable radioactive material was 3 1/2 hr. The incorporation of radiochlorine³⁸ into lipid molecules does not appear to alter their normal metabolic pathways. Journal Series of The Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station, Paper No. 2818.     

Prediction of MS/MS data. 1. A focus on pharmaceuticals containing carboxylic acids

Metabolite identification is a necessary step in developing safe and effective drugs. Metabolite analysis typically involves rapid identification of the chemical composition of the metabolite by automated HPLC-MS methods, followed by the laborious process of identifying the structure of the metabolite. Since MS is typically utilized to identify the metabolite, it is logical to utilize MS/MS to structurally characterize the sample. However, interpretation of MS/MS data may not provide sufficient information, as fragmentation pathways are not well understood or predictable. Therefore, other more time-consuming methods of analysis are often undertaken. If the dissociation rules for low-energy MS/MS experiments were clearly defined for all classes of compounds, more information would be obtained from MS/MS data, and metabolite identification would proceed more rapidly. We are currently developing methods to define these fragmentation rules. By screening approximately 100 carboxylic acids at a time and applying knowledge of physical-organic chemistry, predictive rules are under development that describe how compounds dissociate under low-energy collision-induced dissociation conditions. Studies of carboxylic acid dissociation demonstrate that this approach is practical and reliable. Dissociation rules were predicted with a 90% success rate, when tested on acid-containing pharmaceuticals. This predictive power cannot be matched by any commercially available software. This study, and others like it, will be used to develop algorithms that more rapidly identify drug metabolites and degradation products, based on MS/MS data. Such algorithms will benefit drug development for all types of pharmaceuticals.     

The NBS Network Measurement System

The NBS Network Measurement System reipresents the implementation of an approach to the measurement of interactive computer networks, teleprocessing systems, and network series which focuses on the service delivered to users rather than on the internal operating efficiency of the system. The information obtained aids users in the quantitative evaluation of such systems and services. The Network Measurement System consists of a data acquisition System and a separate set of data analysis programs. This paper describes the approach to network measurement taken by this system, the models of user-system dialogue employed, and technical summary of, the implementation of the data acquisition system and the data analysis programs.