Procedure for locating 10 km UTM grid on Alabama County general highway maps

Each county highway map has a geographic grid of degrees and tens of minutes in both longitude and latitude in the margins and within the map as intersection crosses. These will be used to locate the universal transverse mercator (UTM) grid at 10 km intervals. Since the maps used may have stretched or shrunk in height and/or width, interpolation should be done between the 10 min intersections when possible. A table of UTM coordinates of 10 min intersections is required and included. In Alabama, all eastings are referred to a false easting of 500,000 m at 87 deg W longitude (central meridian, CM)

Regional environmental analysis and management: New techniques for current problems

Advances in data acquisition and processing procedures for regional environmental analysis are discussed. Automated and semi-automated techniques employing Earth Resources Technology Satellite data and conventional data sources are presented. Experiences are summarized. The ERTS computer compatible tapes provide a very complete and flexible record of earth resources data and represent a viable medium to enhance regional environmental analysis research

Agribusiness and space: No limits to growth

Technological developments responding to world food needs are examined. It is noted that agribusiness technology has become more space-related in recent years. Although crops forecasting and improvements in yield (the green revolution) were developed prior to the space era, it would be unthinkable today to ignore the contributions of operational meteorological and communications satellites and experimental Earth observation satellites in agribusiness. Space-driven communications now permit national agribusiness database management networks, with a significant portion of the data being space-derived. In demonstration experiments, space communications were shown to improve those aspects of the food problem related to education and communications

Effect of IL-4 and IL-13 on IFN-γ-induced production of nitric oxide in mouse macrophages infected with herpes simplex virus type 2

AbstractInterleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 share a wide range of activities. Prominent among these is the ability to antagonize many interferon (IFN)-γ-induced activities. Here we demonstrate that IL-4 and IL-13 totally abrogate IFN-γ-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA and protein synthesis in a murine macrophage cell line. IFN-γ-treated cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) or costimulated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α showed an enhanced reactivity, which was only partially reduced by IL-4/13. The results indicate that IL-4 and IL-13 function by intervening with a step prior to iNOS transcription by antagonizing IFN-γ-induced signal(s) without counteracting synergistic virus- or TNF-α-induced signals. The beneficial effect of a sustained NO production in foci of virus infection is suggested

Earth resources-regional transfer activity contracts review

A regional transfer activity contracts review held by the Earth Resources Office was summarized. Contracts in the earth resources field primarily directed toward applications of satellite data and technology in solution of state and regional problems were reviewed. A summary of the progress of each contract was given in order to share experiences of researchers across a seven state region. The region included Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Research in several earth science disciplines included forestry, limnology, water resources, land use, geology, and mathematical modeling. The use of computers for establishment of information retrieval systems was also emphasized

Impact of blinding on estimated treatment effects in randomised clinical trials:meta-epidemiological study

International audienceAbstract Objectives To study the impact of blinding on estimated treatment effects, and their variation between trials; differentiating between blinding of patients, healthcare providers, and observers; detection bias and performance bias; and types of outcome (the MetaBLIND study). Design Meta-epidemiological study. Data source Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2013-14). Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Meta-analyses with both blinded and non-blinded trials on any topic. Review methods Blinding status was retrieved from trial publications and authors, and results retrieved automatically from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Bayesian hierarchical models estimated the average ratio of odds ratios (ROR), and estimated the increases in heterogeneity between trials, for non-blinded trials (or of unclear status) versus blinded trials. Secondary analyses adjusted for adequacy of concealment of allocation, attrition, and trial size, and explored the association between outcome subjectivity (high, moderate, low) and average bias. An ROR lower than 1 indicated exaggerated effect estimates in trials without blinding. Results The study included 142 meta-analyses (1153 trials). The ROR for lack of blinding of patients was 0.91 (95% credible interval 0.61 to 1.34) in 18 meta-analyses with patient reported outcomes, and 0.98 (0.69 to 1.39) in 14 meta-analyses with outcomes reported by blinded observers. The ROR for lack of blinding of healthcare providers was 1.01 (0.84 to 1.19) in 29 meta-analyses with healthcare provider decision outcomes (eg, readmissions), and 0.97 (0.64 to 1.45) in 13 meta-analyses with outcomes reported by blinded patients or observers. The ROR for lack of blinding of observers was 1.01 (0.86 to 1.18) in 46 meta-analyses with subjective observer reported outcomes, with no clear impact of degree of subjectivity. Information was insufficient to determine whether lack of blinding was associated with increased heterogeneity between trials. The ROR for trials not reported as double blind versus those that were double blind was 1.02 (0.90 to 1.13) in 74 meta-analyses. Conclusion No evidence was found for an average difference in estimated treatment effect between trials with and without blinded patients, healthcare providers, or outcome assessors. These results could reflect that blinding is less important than often believed or meta-epidemiological study limitations, such as residual confounding or imprecision. At this stage, replication of this study is suggested and blinding should remain a methodological safeguard in trials

Ionisation of noble gas atoms and H2O by antiproton impact

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. A time-dependent convergent close-coupling approach to antiproton collisions with noble gas atoms and H2O has been developed using a fully multielectron treatment of the targets. Integrated cross sections for single ionisation have been calculated in a wide range of impact energies from 5 keV up to 2 MeV. Obtained results are in good agreement with experiment

Monitoring Antigen Processing for MHC Presentation via Macroautophagy

Macroautophagy has recently emerged as an important catabolic process involved not only in innate immunity but also in adaptive immunity. Initially described to deliver intracellular antigens to MHC class II loading compartments, its molecular machinery has now also been described to impact the delivery of extracellular antigens to MHC class II loading compartments through the noncanonical use of the macroautophagy machinery during LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP). Therefore, in pathological situations (viral or bacterial infections, tumorigenesis) the pathway might be involved in shaping CD4$^{+}$ T cell responses.In this chapter we describe three basic experiments for the monitoring and manipulation of macroautophagic antigen processing toward MHC class II presentation through the canonical pathway. Firstly, we will discuss how to monitor autophagic flux and autophagosome fusion with MHC class II loading compartments. Secondly, we will show how to target proteins to autophagosomes in order to monitor macroautophagy dependent antigen processing via their enhanced presentation on MHC class II molecules to CD4$^{+}$ T cells. And finally, we will describe how macroautophagy can be silenced in antigen presenting cells, like human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs)

HSV Infection Induces Production of ROS, which Potentiate Signaling from Pattern Recognition Receptors: Role for S-glutathionylation of TRAF3 and 6

The innate immune response constitutes the first line of defense against infections. Pattern recognition receptors recognize pathogen structures and trigger intracellular signaling pathways leading to cytokine and chemokine expression. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are emerging as an important regulator of some of these pathways. ROS directly interact with signaling components or induce other post-translational modifications such as S-glutathionylation, thereby altering target function. Applying live microscopy, we have demonstrated that herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection induces early production of ROS that are required for the activation of NF-κB and IRF-3 pathways and the production of type I IFNs and ISGs. All the known receptors involved in the recognition of HSV were shown to be dependent on the cellular redox levels for successful signaling. In addition, we provide biochemical evidence suggesting S-glutathionylation of TRAF family proteins to be important. In particular, by performing mutational studies we show that S-glutathionylation of a conserved cysteine residue of TRAF3 and TRAF6 is important for ROS-dependent activation of innate immune pathways. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that ROS are essential for effective activation of signaling pathways leading to a successful innate immune response against HSV infection