Land use/cover change using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems : Pic Macaya National Park, Haiti

A post classification change detection technique based on a hybrid classification approach (unsupervised and supervised) was applied to Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat Enhanced Thematic Plus (ETM+), and ASTER images acquired in 1987, 2000 and 2004 respectively to map land use/cover changes in the Pic Macaya National Park in the southern region of Haiti. Each image was classified individually into six land use/cover classes: built-up, agriculture, herbaceous, open pine forest, mixed forest, and barren land using unsupervised ISODATA and maximum likelihood supervised classifiers with the aid of field collected ground truth data collected in the field. Ground truth information, collected in the field in December 2007, and including equalized stratified random points which were visual interpreted were used to assess the accuracy of the classification results. The overall accuracy of the land classification for each image was respectively: 1987 (82%), 2000 (82%), 2004 (87%). A post classification change detection technique was used to produce change images for 1987 to 2000, 1987 to 2004, and 2000 to 2004. It was found that significant changes in the land use/cover occurred over the 17- year period. The results showed increases in built up (from 10% to 17%) and herbaceous (from 5% to 14%) areas between 1987 and 2004. The increase of herbaceous was mostly caused by the abandonment of exhausted agriculture lands. At the same time, open pine forest and mixed forest areas lost (75%) and (83%) of their area to other land use/cover types. Open pine forest (from 20% to 14%) and mixed forest (from18 to 12%) were transformed into agriculture area or barren land. This study illustrated the continuing deforestation, land degradation and soil erosion in the region, which in turn is leading to decrease in vegetative cover. The study also showed the importance of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies to estimate timely changes in the land use/cover, and to evaluate their causes in order to design an ecological based management plan for the park.

Serine residues 1177/78/82 of the insulin receptor are required for substrate phosphorylation but not autophosphorylation

Serine residues of the human insulin receptor (HIR) may be phosphorylated and negatively regulate the insulin signal. We studied the impact of 16 serine residues in HIR by mutation to alanine and co-overexpression in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells together with the docking proteins insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1, IRS-2, or (SHC) Src homologous and collagen-like. As a control, IRS-1 was also cotransfected with an HIR with a juxtamembrane deletion (HIR delta JM) and therefore not containing the domain required for interaction with IRS-1. Coexpression of HIR with IRS-1, IRS-2, and SHC strongly enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins. A similar increase in tyrosine phosphorylation was observed in cells overexpressing IRS-1, IRS-2, or SHC together with all HIR mutants except HIR delta JM and a mutant carrying exchanges of serines 1177, 1178, and 1182 to alanine (HIR1177/78/82), although this mutant showed normal autophosphorylation. Analysis of total cell lysates with anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies showed that in addition to the overexpressed substrates, other cellular proteins displayed reduced levels of tyrosine phosphorylation in these cells. To study consequences for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activation, we established stable NIH3T3 fibroblast cell lines overexpressing wild-type HIR, HIR1177/78/82, and other HIR mutants as the control. Again, HIR1177/78/82 showed normal autophosphorylation but showed a clear decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation of endogenous IRS-1 and activation of PI 3-kinase. This decrease in kinase activity also occurred in an in vitro kinase assay towards recombinant IRS-1. Finally, we performed a separation of the phosphopeptides by high-performance liquid chromatography and could not detect any differences in the profiles of HIR and HIR1177/78/82. In conclusion, we have defined a region in HIR that is important for substrate phosphorylation but not autophosphorylation. Therefore, this mutant may provide new insights into the mechanism of kinase activation and substrate phosphorylation.

Laser-Sintern. Die Schluesseltechnologie des e-Manufacturing TM

e-Manufacturing™, das ist die schnelle, flexible und kostengünstige Fertigung von Produkten, Formen/Werkzeugen oder Modellen direkt aus elektronischen Daten. e-Manufacturing™ schließt Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Tooling oder Rapid Manufacturing ein, geht aber zugleich weit über den Gedanken der schnellen Verfügbarkeit hinaus. Zwar wird auch in Zukunft die schnelle Produktentwicklung eine immer wichtigere Rolle spielen, bei der e-Manufacturing™ für ein verkürztes Time to Market sorgt, Entwicklungskosten verringert und zur Risikominimierung beiträgt. Darüber hinaus entstehen aber auch neue Geschäftsmodelle, da Kleinserienproduktion, steigende Variantenvielfalt und eine individualisierte Produktion (Mass Customization) plötzlich möglich und wirtschaftlich sind und sich neue Logistikkonzepte wie (Spare) parts on demand entwickeln. Die neue Konstruktionsfreiheit des Laser-Sinterns ermöglicht neue Produktkonzepte. Minimale Einschränkungen durch das Fertigungsverfahren erlauben funktionelle Integration und die Fertigung des „Unmöglichen“, da kreisförmige und lineare Werkzeugbewegungen das Produktdesign nicht mehr beeinflussen bzw. limitieren. Auch die Fertigungskonzepte unterliegen einem Wandel und werden deutlich flexibler. Werkzeuglose Produktion, losgrößenangepasste Fertigung und dezentrale Fertigung on demand sind die Schlagworte der Zukunft. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt Beispiele für den erfolgreichen kommerziellen Einsatz von Laser-Sintern in allen Phasen des Produktlebenszyklus. Der Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf der direkten Herstellung von Funktionsteilen in der Serienfertigung. Die entscheidenden Faktoren für eine erfolgreiche Einführung und Anwendung von e-Manufacturing™ werden diskutiert. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, wie die neuesten technologischen Innovationen im Laser-Sintern, speziell zur Produktivitätssteigerung, das Spektrum der Anwendungsfelder erweitern, in denen dieses Fertigungsverfahren kostengünstige Lösungen bietet.

Partial volume correction incorporating Rb-82 positron range for quantitative myocardial perfusion PET based on systolic-diastolic activity ratios and phantom measurements.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative myocardial PET perfusion imaging requires partial volume corrections. METHODS: Patients underwent ECG-gated, rest-dipyridamole, myocardial perfusion PET using Rb-82 decay corrected in Bq/cc for diastolic, systolic, and combined whole cycle ungated images. Diastolic partial volume correction relative to systole was determined from the systolic/diastolic activity ratio, systolic partial volume correction from phantom dimensions comparable to systolic LV wall thicknesses and whole heart cycle partial volume correction for ungated images from fractional systolic-diastolic duration for systolic and diastolic partial volume corrections. RESULTS: For 264 PET perfusion images from 159 patients (105 rest-stress image pairs, 54 individual rest or stress images), average resting diastolic partial volume correction relative to systole was 1.14 ± 0.04, independent of heart rate and within ±1.8% of stress images (1.16 ± 0.04). Diastolic partial volume corrections combined with those for phantom dimensions comparable to systolic LV wall thickness gave an average whole heart cycle partial volume correction for ungated images of 1.23 for Rb-82 compared to 1.14 if positron range were negligible as for F-18. CONCLUSION: Quantitative myocardial PET perfusion imaging requires partial volume correction, herein demonstrated clinically from systolic/diastolic absolute activity ratios combined with phantom data accounting for Rb-82 positron range.

The Kabbalah : its doctrines, development and literature : (repr. verbatim from the first ed. which cont. pp. 1-82 entitles "The Essenes")

by Christian D. Ginsburg

Tôṣe'ôt ḥayyîm : sēfer kôlēl kōl ofnê tefillôt û-taḥanûnîm le-hitpallēl baʿad ha-ḥôlîm we-ham-mētîm ... bi-lšôn ʿivrî û-vi-lšôn aškenazz i

ʿal yedê Yiṣḥāq Ben-Aryê Yôsēf Dōv ...

Sēfer ha-ḥayyîm : ... û-vô mepôrāš kōl dînê śimḥôt ... be-kōl ʿîseqê ham-mētîm ... we-hôsāfnû ... teḥinnôt û-vaqqāšôt raḥamîm be-vêt ha-ḥayyîm ...

Digitalisat der Ausg. Zulṣbak, 1790/91

Sēfer ha-ḥayyîm : ... we-hû tôrā ḥēsed we-emet še-ʿôśîm ʿim ham-mētîm we-ha-ḥayyîm ... we-mā-šem-mitpallēl ha-ḥôlē we-hag-gôsēs...

[Simon Frankfurt]

Ms. hebr. oct. 82 - Sefer ha-mitsṿot

Vorbesitzer: Eljāqīm Carmoly; Abraham Merzbacher