Quantitative analysis of aircraft multispectral-scanner data and mapping of water-quality parameters in the James River in Virginia

Statistical analysis techniques were applied to develop quantitative relationships between in situ river measurements and the remotely sensed data that were obtained over the James River in Virginia on 28 May 1974. The remotely sensed data were collected with a multispectral scanner and with photographs taken from an aircraft platform. Concentration differences among water quality parameters such as suspended sediment, chlorophyll a, and nutrients indicated significant spectral variations. Calibrated equations from the multiple regression analysis were used to develop maps that indicated the quantitative distributions of water quality parameters and the dispersion characteristics of a pollutant plume entering the turbid river system. Results from further analyses that use only three preselected multispectral scanner bands of data indicated that regression coefficients and standard errors of estimate were not appreciably degraded compared with results from the 10-band analysis

Commodity Prices Rock World Markets: Structural Shift or Short Term Adjustments?

International Relations/Trade,

A Lot of Bull? Pablo Picasso and Ice Age cave art

Se ha hablado mucho, y se sigue hablando, sobre la reacción de PICASSO ante el arte del periodo glaciar ; en particular se dice que visitó Altamira o Lascaux y declaró : "no hemos inventado nada" o, "ninguno de nosotros puede pintar así". Este artículo investiga esas supuestas reacciones y concluye que no se basan en absoluto en hechos. A PICASSO le influyó muy poco el arte glaciar y expresó muy poco interés por él

Fluch oder Segen? Hedge-Fonds in Deutschland. Ein Beirag zur Versachlichung der Debatte

Private Equity und Hedge Fonds nach englischem und amerikanischem Modell drängen immer mehr auf die deutschen Finanzmärkte. Die Auswirkung von Hedge Fonds auf die Funktionsweise der deutschen Finanzmärkte und eine zunehmende Verflechtung zwischen deutschen und angelsächsischen Finanzakteuren sind im Allgemeinen positiv zu bewerten. Sie beanspruchen jedoch auch ein Regulierungssystem mindestens auf europäischer, wenn nicht auf globaler Ebene.Private equity and hedge funds are gaining influence over German financial markets. The resulting interaction between different financial models can, as a whole, be seen as a positive development. Hedge Funds have been shown to increase potential gains, albeit with increased risk, and work as a stabilising force on the German financial market. The hedge fund model does, however, offer a new set of legal loopholes which need to be regulated on a pan-European, if not global, level

A Genomic Point Mutation in the Extracellular Domain of the Thyrotropin Receptor in Patients with Graves’ Ophthalmopathy

Orbital and pretibial fibroblasts are targets of autoimmune attack in Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and pretibial dermopathy (PTD). The fibroblast autoantigen involved in these peripheral manifestations of Graves' disease and the reason for the association of GO and PTD with hyperthyroidism are unknown. RNA encoding the full-length extracellular domain of the TSH receptor has been demonstrated in orbital and dermal fibroblasts from patients with GO and normal subjects, suggesting a possible antigenic link between fibroblasts and thyrocytes. RNA was isolated from cultured orbital, pretibial, and abdominal fibroblasts obtained from patients with severe GO (n = 22) and normal subjects (n = 5). RNA was reverse transcribed, and the resulting cDNA was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, using primers spanning overlapping regions of the entire extracellular domain of the TSH receptor. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed an A for C substitution in the first position of codon 52 in 2 of the patients, both of whom had GO, PTD, and acropachy. Genomic DNA isolated from the 2 affected patients, and not from an additional 12 normal subjects, revealed the codon 52 mutation by direct sequencing and AciI restriction enzyme digestions. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the presence of a genomic point mutation, leading to a threonine for proline amino acid shift in the predicted peptide, in the extracellular domain of the TSH receptor in two patients with severe GO, PTD, acropachy, and high thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin levels. RNA encoding this mutant product was demonstrated in the fibroblasts of these patients. We suggest that the TSH receptor may be an important fibroblast autoantigen in GO and PTD, and that this mutant form of the receptor may have unique immunogenic properties

Fluch oder Segen? Hedge-Fonds in Deutschland. Ein Beirag zur Versachlichung der Debatte

Private Equity und Hedge Fonds nach englischem und amerikanischem Modell drängen immer mehr auf die deutschen Finanzmärkte. Die Auswirkung von Hedge Fonds auf die Funktionsweise der deutschen Finanzmärkte und eine zunehmende Verflechtung zwischen deutschen und angelsächsischen Finanzakteuren sind im Allgemeinen positiv zu bewerten. Sie beanspruchen jedoch auch ein Regulierungssystem mindestens auf europäischer, wenn nicht auf globaler Ebene. -- Private equity and hedge funds are gaining influence over German financial markets. The resulting interaction between different financial models can, as a whole, be seen as a positive development. Hedge Funds have been shown to increase potential gains, albeit with increased risk, and work as a stabilising force on the German financial market. The hedge fund model does, however, offer a new set of legal loopholes which need to be regulated on a pan-European, if not global, level.