Yellowstone National Park mapping from ERTS-1 computer compatible tapes

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Terrain classification maps of Yellowstone National Park

A cooperative ERTS-1 investigation involving U. S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, and Environmental Research Institure of Michigan (ERIM) personnel has as its goal the preparation of terrain classification maps for the entire Yellowstone National Park. Excellent coverage of the park was obtained on 6 August 1972 (frame 1015-17404). Preliminary terrain classification maps have been prepared at ERIM by applying multispectral pattern recognition techniques to ERTS-MSS digital taped data. The color coded terrain maps are presented and discussed. The discussion includes qualitative and quantitative accuracy estimates and discussion of processing techniques

Analysis of recreational land using Skylab data

The author has identified the following significant results. S192 data collected on 5 August 1973 were processed by computer to produce a classification map of a part of the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area in south central Michigan. A 10-category map was prepared of an area consisting of diverse terrain types, including forests, wetlands, brush, and herbaceous vegetation. An accuracy check indicated that 54% of the pixels were correctly recognized. When these ten scene classes were consolidated to a 5-category map, the accuracy increased to 72%. S190 A, S190 B, and S192 data can be used for regional surveys of existing and potential recreation sites, for delineation of open space, and for preliminary evaluation of geographically extensive sites

Thirteen category recognition map of Yellowstone National Park produced from ERTS-1 MSS data

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Automatic Synonym Discovery with Knowledge Bases

Recognizing entity synonyms from text has become a crucial task in many entity-leveraging applications. However, discovering entity synonyms from domain-specific text corpora (e.g., news articles, scientific papers) is rather challenging. Current systems take an entity name string as input to find out other names that are synonymous, ignoring the fact that often times a name string can refer to multiple entities (e.g., "apple" could refer to both Apple Inc and the fruit apple). Moreover, most existing methods require training data manually created by domain experts to construct supervised-learning systems. In this paper, we study the problem of automatic synonym discovery with knowledge bases, that is, identifying synonyms for knowledge base entities in a given domain-specific corpus. The manually-curated synonyms for each entity stored in a knowledge base not only form a set of name strings to disambiguate the meaning for each other, but also can serve as "distant" supervision to help determine important features for the task. We propose a novel framework, called DPE, to integrate two kinds of mutually-complementing signals for synonym discovery, i.e., distributional features based on corpus-level statistics and textual patterns based on local contexts. In particular, DPE jointly optimizes the two kinds of signals in conjunction with distant supervision, so that they can mutually enhance each other in the training stage. At the inference stage, both signals will be utilized to discover synonyms for the given entities. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed framework

Retargeted adenoviruses for radiation-guided gene delivery

The combination of radiation with radiosensitizing gene delivery or oncolytic viruses promises to provide an advantage that could improve the therapeutic results for glioblastoma. X-rays can induce significant molecular changes in cancer cells. We isolated the GIRLRG peptide that binds to radiation-inducible 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), which is overexpressed on the plasma membranes of irradiated cancer cells and tumor-associated microvascular endothelial cells. The goal of our study was to improve tumor-specific adenovirus-mediated gene delivery by selectively targeting the adenovirus binding to this radiation-inducible protein. We employed an adenoviral fiber replacement approach to conduct a study of the targeting utility of GRP78-binding peptide. We have developed fiber-modified adenoviruses encoding the GRP78-binding peptide inserted into the fiber-fibritin. We have evaluated the reporter gene expression of fiber-modified adenoviruses in vitro using a panel of glioma cells and a human D54MG tumor xenograft model. The obtained results demonstrated that employment of the GRP78-binding peptide resulted in increased gene expression in irradiated tumors following infection with fiber-modified adenoviruses, compared with untreated tumor cells. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of adenoviral retargeting using the GRP78-binding peptide that selectively recognizes tumor cells responding to radiation treatment

Rational manipulation of mRNA folding free energy allows rheostat control of pneumolysin production by Streptococcus pneumoniae

Rational manipulation of mRNA folding free energy allows rheostat control of pneumolysin production by Streptococcus pneumoniaeThe contribution of specific factors to bacterial virulence is generally investigated through creation of genetic "knockouts" that are then compared to wild-type strains or complemented mutants. This paradigm is useful to understand the effect of presence vs. absence of a specific gene product but cannot account for concentration-dependent effects, such as may occur with some bacterial toxins. In order to assess threshold and dose-response effects of virulence factors, robust systems for tunable expression are required. Recent evidence suggests that the folding free energy (?G) of the 5' end of mRNA transcripts can have a significant effect on translation efficiency and overall protein abundance. Here we demonstrate that rational alteration of 5' mRNA folding free energy by introduction of synonymous mutations allows for predictable changes in pneumolysin (PLY) expression by Streptococcus pneumoniae without the need for chemical inducers or heterologous promoters. We created a panel of isogenic S. pneumoniae strains, differing only in synonymous (silent) mutations at the 5' end of the PLY mRNA that are predicted to alter ?G. Such manipulation allows rheostat-like control of PLY production and alters the cytotoxicity of whole S. pneumoniae on primary and immortalized human cells. These studies provide proof-of-principle for further investigation of mRNA ?G manipulation as a tool in studies of bacterial pathogenesis.National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov) (R01 AI092743 and R21 AI111020 to A.J.R.). F.E.A. was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (www.fct.pt) SFRH/BD/33901/2009 and the Luso-American Development Foundation (www.flad.pt). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Preserving mobility in older adults with physical frailty and sarcopenia: Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations for physical activity interventions

One of the most widely conserved hallmarks of aging is a decline in functional capabilities. Mobility loss is particularly burdensome due to its association with negative health outcomes, loss of independence and disability, and the heavy impact on quality of life. Recently, a new condition, physical frailty and sarcopenia, has been proposed to define a critical stage in the disabling cascade. Physical frailty and sarcopenia are characterized by weakness, slowness, and reduced muscle mass, yet with preserved ability to move indepen-dently. One of the strategies that have shown some benefits in combatting mobility loss and its consequences for older adults is physical activity. Here, we describe the opportunities and challenges for the development of physical activity interventions in people with physical frailty and sarcopenia. The aim of this article is to review age-related physio(patho)logical changes that impact mobility in old age and to provide recommendations and procedures in accordance with the available literature

Current concepts of the management of dental extractions for patients taking warfarin

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Background: Controversy has surrounded the correct management of patients therapeutically anticoagulated with warfarin who require dental extractions. The risk of bleeding must be weighed up against the risk of thromboembolism when deciding whether to interfere with a patient's warfarin regimen. An improved understanding of the importance of fibrinolytic mechanisms in the oral cavity has resulted in the development of various local measures to enable these patients to be treated on an outpatient basis. Methods: A review of the literature was undertaken. This was supplemented by the authors' clinical trials and extensive clinical experience with anticoagulated patients. Results: Various protocols for treating patients taking warfarin have been reviewed and summarized and an overview of the haemostatic and fibrinolytic systems is presented. A protocol for management of warfarinized patients requiring dental extractions in the outpatient setting is proposed. Conclusions: Patients therapeutically anticoagulated with warfarin can be treated on an ambulatory basis, without interruption of their warfarin regimen provided appropriate local measures are used.G Carter, AN Goss, JV Lloyd, R Tocchett