Irrigated lands assessment for water management: Technique test

A procedure for estimating irrigated land using full frame LANDSAT imagery was demonstrated. Relatively inexpensive interpretation of multidate LANDSAT photographic enlargements was used to produce a map of irrigated land in California. The LANDSAT and ground maps were then linked by regression equations to enable precise estimation of irrigated land area by county, basin, and statewide. Land irrigated at least once in California in 1979 was estimated to be 9.86 million acres, with an expected error of less than 1.75% at the 99% level of confidence. To achieve the same level of error with a ground-only sample would have required 3 to 5 times as many ground sample units statewide. A procedure for relatively inexpensive computer classification of LANDSAT digital data to irrigated land categories was also developed. This procedure is based on ratios of MSS band 7 and 5, and gave good results for several counties in the Central Valley

Highly diastereoselective synthesis of substituted pyrrolidines using a sequence of azomethine ylide cycloaddition and nucleophilic cyclization

Abstract: Although cycloadditions of azomethine ylides usually give mixtures of endo/exo adducts, we successfully tuned the mechanistic path of a new reaction cascade to afford substituted pyrrolidines in high yields and diastereomeric purity. This was achieved by forcing the demetalation of tin- or silicon-substituted iminium ions, followed by azomethine ylide cycloaddition and nucleophilic cyclization. Structural complexity is thus built rapidly in a fully controlled one-pot reaction cascade

Nanoscale study of the as-grown hydrogenated amorphous silicon surface

A scanning tunneling microscope has been used to study the topography of the as-grown surface of device-quality, intrinsic, hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposited by rf discharge from silane. The substrates were atomically flat, oxide-free, single-crystal silicon or gallium arsenide. No evidence for island formation or nanoscale irregularities was seen in studies of 100-Å-thick films on either silicon or gallium arsenide. The topography of 1000- and 4000-Å-thick films has much variation; many regions can be characterized as rolling hills, but atomically flat areas have also been observed nearby. Generally, it appears that surface diffusion plays a role in smoothing the film topography. In most regions, the observed slopes were 10% or less from horizontal, but some steep-sided valleys, indicating incipient voids, were observed. The effect of the finite size of the scanning tunneling microscope probe tip is considered; this has an effect on the observed images in some cases

Mediation in the Law Curriculum

Cited by Lord Neuberger in ‘Educating Future Mediators’ at the 4th Civil Mediation Council National Conference, May 201

Platelets kill circulating parasites of all major Plasmodium species in human malaria

Platelets are understood to assist host innate immune responses against infection, although direct evidence of this function in any human disease, including malaria, is unknown. Here we characterized platelet–erythrocyte interactions by microscopy and flow cytometry in patients with malaria naturally infected with Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, or Plasmodium knowlesi. Blood samples from 376 participants were collected from malaria-endemic areas of Papua, Indonesia, and Sabah, Malaysia. Platelets were observed binding directly with and killing intraerythrocytic parasites of each of the Plasmodium species studied, particularly mature stages, and was greatest in P vivax patients. Platelets preferentially bound to the infected more than to the uninfected erythrocytes in the bloodstream. Analysis of intraerythrocytic parasites indicated the frequent occurrence of platelet-associated parasite killing, characterized by the intraerythrocytic accumulation of platelet factor-4 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling of parasite nuclei (PF4+TUNEL+ parasites). These PF4+TUNEL+ parasites were not associated with measures of systemic platelet activation. Importantly, patient platelet counts, infected erythrocyte-platelet complexes, and platelet-associated parasite killing correlated inversely with patient parasite loads. These relationships, taken together with the frequency of platelet-associated parasite killing observed among the different patients and Plasmodium species, suggest that platelets may control the growth of between 5% and 60% of circulating parasites. Platelet–erythrocyte complexes made up a major proportion of the total platelet pool in patients with malaria and may therefore contribute considerably to malarial thrombocytopenia. Parasite killing was demonstrated to be platelet factor-4-mediated in P knowlesi culture. Collectively, our results indicate that platelets directly contribute to innate control of Plasmodium infection in human malaria.This work was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Grants #1037304, #1045156, #490037, #605524, #1047082, #1047090, and #1066502, and Fellowships to N.M.A. [#1042072, #1135820], B.E.B. [#1088738], and M.J.G. [#1138860]), the Australian Research Council (grant #120100061), the Wellcome Trust (Fellowships to R.N.P. [#200909] and J.R.P. [#099875]), the Singapore National Medical Research Council (Award to T.W.Y. [CSA INV 15nov007]), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Cost-Effectiveness of Asthma Step-Up Therapy as an Increased Dose of Extrafine-Particle Inhaled Corticosteroid or Add-On Long-Acting Beta2-Agonist

The analyses were funded by an unrestricted grant from Teva Pharmaceuticals Limited of Petach Tikva, Israel. Access to data from the Optimum Patient Care Research Database was co-funded by Research in Real-Life Ltd (RiRL), Cambridge, UK. All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval to the version to be published. The authors thank Julie von Ziegenweidt for assistance with data extraction.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Strain-dependent host transcriptional responses to toxoplasma infection are largely conserved in mammalian and avian hosts

Toxoplasma gondii has a remarkable ability to infect an enormous variety of mammalian and avian species. Given this, it is surprising that three strains (Types I/II/III) account for the majority of isolates from Europe/North America. The selective pressures that have driven the emergence of these particular strains, however, remain enigmatic. We hypothesized that strain selection might be partially driven by adaptation of strains for mammalian versus avian hosts. To test this, we examine in vitro, strain-dependent host responses in fibroblasts of a representative avian host, the chicken (Gallus gallus). Using gene expression profiling of infected chicken embryonic fibroblasts and pathway analysis to assess host response, we show here that chicken cells respond with distinct transcriptional profiles upon infection with Type II versus III strains that are reminiscent of profiles observed in mammalian cells. To identify the parasite drivers of these differences, chicken fibroblasts were infected with individual F1 progeny of a Type II x III cross and host gene expression was assessed for each by microarray. QTL mapping of transcriptional differences suggested, and deletion strains confirmed, that, as in mammalian cells, the polymorphic rhoptry kinase ROP16 is the major driver of strain-specific responses. We originally hypothesized that comparing avian versus mammalian host response might reveal an inversion in parasite strain-dependent phenotypes; specifically, for polymorphic effectors like ROP16, we hypothesized that the allele with most activity in mammalian cells might be less active in avian cells. Instead, we found that activity of ROP16 alleles appears to be conserved across host species; moreover, additional parasite loci that were previously mapped for strain-specific effects on mammalian response showed similar strain-specific effects in chicken cells. These results indicate that if different hosts select for different parasite genotypes, the selection operates downstream of the signaling occurring during the beginning of the host's immune response. © 2011 Ong et al