The goal of this study was to investigate the genetic stability of the C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mouse strain maintained in different breeders. Three populations of B6, Popl and Pop2 purchased from Beijing and Pop3 purch...The goal of this study was to investigate the genetic stability of the C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mouse strain maintained in different breeders. Three populations of B6, Popl and Pop2 purchased from Beijing and Pop3 purchased from Shanghai, were examined. Fifteen microsatellite loci reported to be polymorphic among inbred strains were amplified using FAM labeled primers and genotyped with ABI Prism 377 automated sequencer. Seven loci were found polymorphic, and all the loci were homozygous in all the three populations. The present study indicates that genetic variation occurs in different B6 populations although they are still inbred in each breeder. The mechanism of genetic variation is not well understood now, but it is very important to know the precise content of the B6 genome before use of this strain in research.展开更多
[Objective] The study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability and interspecific relationships among four species of groupers from South China Sea, including E. fario, E. merra, E. malabaricus and E. coioides. [Metho...[Objective] The study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability and interspecific relationships among four species of groupers from South China Sea, including E. fario, E. merra, E. malabaricus and E. coioides. [Method] Twenty one mircosatellite loci of groupers were selected from GenBank and eight high polymorphic loci were used to further genetic analysis. [Result] The mean number of alleles per locus (A), effective number of alleles (Ne), mean polymorphism information content (PIC), observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) were 4.38±1.60, 3.69±0.86, 0.69±0.08, 0.67±0.08, 0.72±0.06 in E. malabaricus; 3.88±1.13, 3.55±1.04, 0.66±0.10, 0.68±0.21, 0.70±0.08 in E.coioides; 6.00±1.07, 4.68±0.65, 0.78±0.03, 0.73±0.25, 0.79±0.03 in E. fario; 5.50±1.07, 4.58±0.80, 0.76±0.05, 0.75±0.18, 0.78±0.04 in E. merra, respectively. [Conclusion] We compared the values above, the order of the genetic variability among these grouper species was E. fario E. merra E. malabaricus E. coioides. We found that the level of genetic variability of these groupers species was relatively higher than that of other marine fish, so their genetic status was good. In addition, the analyisis of genetic relationship showed that E. malabaricus and E. coioides was the closest and it was the farthest between E. merra and E. coioides.展开更多
The similarity transformation model between different coordinate systems is not accurate enough to describe the discrepancy of them.Therefore,the coordinate transformation from the coordinate frame with poor accuracy ...The similarity transformation model between different coordinate systems is not accurate enough to describe the discrepancy of them.Therefore,the coordinate transformation from the coordinate frame with poor accuracy to that with high accuracy cannot guarantee a high precision of transformation.In this paper,a combined method of similarity transformation and regressive approximating is presented.The local error accumulation and distortion are taken into consideration and the precision of coordinate system is improved by using the recommended method展开更多
Taking Kenli County in the Yellow River Delta, China, as the study area and using digital satellite remote sensing techniques, cultivated land use changes and their corresponding driving forces were explored in this s...Taking Kenli County in the Yellow River Delta, China, as the study area and using digital satellite remote sensing techniques, cultivated land use changes and their corresponding driving forces were explored in this study. An interactive interpretation and a manual modification procedure were carried out to acquire cultivated land information. An overlay method based on classification results and a visual change detection method which was supported by land use maps were employed to detect the cultivated land changes. Based on the changes that were revealed and a spatial analysis between cultivated land use and related natural and socio-economic factors, the driving forces for cultivated land use changes in the study area were determined.The results showed a decrease in cultivated land in Kenli County of 5321.8 ha from 1987 to 1998, i.e.,an average annual decrement of 483.8 ha, which occurred mainly in the central paddy field region and the northeast dry land region. Adverse human activities, soil salinization and water deficiencies were the driving forces that caused these cultivated land use changes.展开更多
The seasonal generation and evolution of eddies in the region of the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent remain poorly understood due to the scarcity of available data.We used TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry data from 1...The seasonal generation and evolution of eddies in the region of the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent remain poorly understood due to the scarcity of available data.We used TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry data from 1992 to 2007 to study the eddy field in this zone.We found that velocity shear between this region and the neighboring North Equatorial Current contributes greatly to the eddy generation.Furthermore,the eddy kinetic energy level(EKE) shows an annual cycle,maximum in April/May and minimum in December/January.Analyses of the temporal and spatial distributions of the eddy field revealed clearly that the velocity shear closely related to baroclinic instability processes.The eddy field seems to be more zonal than meridional,and the energy containing length scale shows a surprising lag of 2-3 months in comparison with the 1-D and 2-D EKE level.A similar phenomenon is observed in individual eddies in this zone.The results show that in this eddy field band,the velocity shear may drive the EKE level change so that the eddy field takes another 2-3 months to grow and interact to reach a relatively stable state.This explains the seasonal evolution of identifiable eddies.展开更多
Objective: Vacuolating megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is a recently described syndrome with autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Its possible gene was located on chromosomal 22q ...Objective: Vacuolating megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is a recently described syndrome with autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Its possible gene was located on chromosomal 22q tel with 3-cM. The purpose of this study was to narrow down the genetical distance on chromosomal 22q tel with MLC. Methods: Thirty-nine MLC patients in 33 families were collected,and the linkage analysis and haplotype analysis of twelve informative families were done, using seven microsatellite markers and four SNP markers. Results: The maximum tow-point LOD score for marker 355c18 was 6.65 at recombination fraction 0.02. The haplotype analysis narrowed down the critical region of MLC to 250 kb on chromosomal 22q tel. Conclusion: One of the causing genes of MLC was located on chromosomal 22q tel with 250 kb. Four candidate genes were considered. The heterogeneity of one informative family indicated possible existence of a second locus for MLC.展开更多
AIM: To disclose geographic differences in genetic changes involved in gallbladder carcinogenesis between two distinct high-incidence areas of Japan and Hungary. METHODS: We examined 42 cases of gallbladder carcinom...AIM: To disclose geographic differences in genetic changes involved in gallbladder carcinogenesis between two distinct high-incidence areas of Japan and Hungary. METHODS: We examined 42 cases of gallbladder carcinoma: 22 Japanese and 20 Hungarian cases, p53 mutations at exons 5 to 8 and K-ras mutations at codon 12 were tested by direct sequencing. Microsatellite instability was determined from fluorescent dye-labeled PCR amplifications of flve-microsatellite markers (BAT-25, BAT-26, D2S123, DSS346, and D17S250). RESULTS: Mutations of p53 were detected in 11 of 22 Japanese cases and 6 of 18 Hungarian cases (11/22 vs 6/18, P = 0.348). Transition at CpG sites was found in none of 11 Japanese cases and 2 of 6 Hungarian cases; the difference was marginally significant (0/11 vs 2/6,P = 0.110). K-ras mutations were detected in only one of the Hungarian cases. Eight of 19 (42.1%) ]apanese cases were MSI-high (presence of novel peaks in more than one of the five loci analyzed), whereas only 1 of 15 (6.7%) Hungarian cases was MSI-high (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: It appears that the p53 mutations and MSI differ in patients with gallbladder carcinoma between two distinct high-incidence areas. Geographic variation might exist in the process of gallbladder carcinogenesis.展开更多
Since 2000, red tides have been reported in the Bohai Sea every year, whichoften made coastal waters of the Bohai Sea suffering from red tides. Satellite remotesensing technology and the ocean color observation satell...Since 2000, red tides have been reported in the Bohai Sea every year, whichoften made coastal waters of the Bohai Sea suffering from red tides. Satellite remotesensing technology and the ocean color observation satellite images have beensuccessfully used to identify and observe the initiation, evolution, and dissipation of redtide. However, due to different water bodies, remote sensing data and modelingmethods, a specific model of red tide inversion should be established for the watercharacteristics of the Bohai Sea. In this paper, the correlation analysis between MODISspectral reflectivity data and measured concentration of chlorophyll a in the Bohai Seawas carried out. The expression (B10-B8) / (B13-B8) was chosen as the indicator of redtide inversion in the Bohai Sea, the correlation coefficient reached 0.7815, showingsignificant correlation results. It was found that the spatial and temporal distribution ofred tide in the Bohai Sea in 2014 was obvious. The main causes of the large-scale outbreak of red tide in the Bohai Sea are due to the poor water exchange caused by thesemi-enclosed geomorphology and the large amount of terrestrial matter input fromcoastal runoff. The river input is the main source of land-based pollution into the sea.Then, a red tide inversion model based on a modified red tide index was established byusing GOCI remote sensing data with less cloud coverage, and proven effective indelineating the red tide in turbid waters. The hourly RI images on 15, 26 and 28 May2014 showed consistent evolution, and the area of red tide in the Bohai Sea changedsignificantly during one day. Vertical migration of the dominant species of red tide algaemay be the main reason for the short-term changes in the surface expression.展开更多
Due to inappropriate planning and management, accelerated urban growth and tremendous loss in land, especially cropland, have become a great challenge for sustainable urban development in China, especially in develope...Due to inappropriate planning and management, accelerated urban growth and tremendous loss in land, especially cropland, have become a great challenge for sustainable urban development in China, especially in developed urban area in the coastal regions; therefore, there is an urgent need to effectively detect and monitor the land use changes and provide accurate and timely information for planning and management. In this study a method combining principal component analysis (PCA) of multisensor satellite images from SPOT (systeme pour l'observation de la terre or earth observation satellite)-5 multispectral (XS) and Landsat-7 enhanced thematic mapper (ETM) panchromatic (PAN) data, and supervised classification was used to detect and analyze the dynamics of land use changes in the city proper of Hangzhou. The overall accuracy of the land use change detection was 90.67% and Kappa index was 0.89. The results indicated that there was a considerable land use change (10.03% of the total area) in the study area from 2001 to 2003, with three major types of land use conversions: from cropland into built-up land, construction site, and water area (fish pond). Changes from orchard land into built-up land were also detected. The method described in this study is feasible and useful for detecting rapid land use change in the urban area.展开更多
AIM: To analyze the relationship between perisinusoidal stellate cell (PSC) activation and the dietary fat quantity and composition in the treatment of hepatic steatosis. METHODS: Using an experimental rat model o...AIM: To analyze the relationship between perisinusoidal stellate cell (PSC) activation and the dietary fat quantity and composition in the treatment of hepatic steatosis. METHODS: Using an experimental rat model of steatosis based on the intake of a hyperlipidic diet (14% fat as olive oil or sunflower oil, HL-O and HL-S, respectively), we analyzed the liver's capability of recovery after the treatment with a normal-lipidic diet (5% fat as olive oil or sunflower oil, NL-O and NL-S, respectively) by immunoo/tochemical and Western blot analysis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in PSCs, collagen quantification and serum aminotransferase determination. RESULTS: The fatty infiltration in the steatotic livers decreased after the treatment with both NL diets, indicating liver recovery. This decrease was accompanied with a lower collagen deposition and aminotransferase level as well as changes in the PSC population that increased the GFAP expression. The above-mentioned effects were more pronounced in animals fed on NL-O based diet. CONCLUSION: Treatment with a balanced diet enriched in olive oil contributes to the liver recovery from a steatotic process. The PSC phenotype is a marker of this hepatic-recovery model.展开更多
Forest disturbance plays a vital role in modulating carbon storage,biodiversity and climate change.Yearly Landsat imagery from 1986 to 2015 of a typical plantation region in the northern Guangdong province of southern...Forest disturbance plays a vital role in modulating carbon storage,biodiversity and climate change.Yearly Landsat imagery from 1986 to 2015 of a typical plantation region in the northern Guangdong province of southern China was used as a case study.A Landsat time series stack(LTSS) was fed to the vegetation change tracker model(VCT) to map long-term changes in plantation forests' disturbance and recovery,followed by an intensive validation and a continuous 27-yr change analysis on disturbance locations,magnitudes and rates of plantations' disturbance and recovery.And the validation results of the disturbance year maps derived from five randomly identified sample plots with 25 km^2 located at the four corners and the center of the scene showed the majority of the spatial agreement measures ranged from 60% to 83%.A confusion matrix summary of the accuracy measures for all four validation sites in Fogang County showed that the disturbance year maps had an overall accuracy estimate of 71.70%.Forest disturbance rates' change trend was characterized by a decline first,followed by an increase,then giving way to a decline again.An undulated and gentle decreasing trend of disturbance rates from the highest value of 3.95% to the lowest value of 0.76% occurred between 1988 and 2001,disturbance rate of 4.51% in 1994 was a notable anomaly,while after 2001 there was a sharp ascending change,forest disturbance rate spiked in 2007(5.84%).After that,there was a significant decreasing trend up to the lowest value of 1.96% in 2011 and a slight ascending trend from 2011 to 2015(2.59%).Two obvious spikes in post-disturbance recovery rates occurred in 1995(0.26%) and 2008(0.41%).Overall,forest recovery rates were lower than forest disturbance rates.Moreover,forest disturbance and recovery detection based on VCT and the Landsat-based detections of trends in disturbance and recovery(LandT rendr) algorithms in Fogang County have been conducted,with LandT rendr finding mostly much more disturbance than VCT.Overall,disturbances and recoveries in northern Guangdong were triggered mostly by timber needs,policies and decisions of the local governments.This study highlights that a better understanding about plantations' changes would provide a critical foundation for local forest management decisions in the southern China.展开更多
In order to analyze the deleterious effects of Passive InterModulation (PIM) on high power communication satellite systems, the basic concept of PIM is introduced, and an equation for the power spectral density of the...In order to analyze the deleterious effects of Passive InterModulation (PIM) on high power communication satellite systems, the basic concept of PIM is introduced, and an equation for the power spectral density of the n-th order PIM distortion insuch systems is derived by applying flat signal-power spectrum assumption and Fourier transform method. It is indicated that PIM level generally decreases with order and the lowest frequency receive channel in the receive band is the channel of most affected by PIM interference.展开更多
Land surface temperature (LST) of Beijing area was retrieved from Landsat TM thermal band data utilizing a radiative transfer equation and the urban heat island (HUI) effects of Beijing and its relationship with land ...Land surface temperature (LST) of Beijing area was retrieved from Landsat TM thermal band data utilizing a radiative transfer equation and the urban heat island (HUI) effects of Beijing and its relationship with land cover and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were discussed. The result of LST showed that the urban LST was evidently higher than the suburban one. The average urban LST was found to 4.5 ℃ and 9 ℃ higher than the suburban and outer suburban temperature, respectively, which demonstrated the prominent UHI effects in Beijing. Prominent negative correlation between LST and NDVI was found in the urban area, which suggested the low percent vegetation cover in the urban area was the main cause of the urban heat island.展开更多
The sea level derived from TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) altimetry data shows prominent long term trend and inter-annual variability. The global mean sea level rising rate during 1993-2003 was 2.9mm a^-1. The T/P sea level t...The sea level derived from TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) altimetry data shows prominent long term trend and inter-annual variability. The global mean sea level rising rate during 1993-2003 was 2.9mm a^-1. The T/P sea level trend maps the geographical variability. In the Northern Hemisphere (15°-64°N), the sea level rise is very fast at the mid-latitude (20°-40°N) but much slower at the high-latitude, for example, only 0.5 mm a^-1 in the latitude band 40°-50°N. In the Southern Hemisphere, the sea level shows high rising rate both in mid-latitude and high-latitude areas, for example, 5.1 mm a^-1 in the band 40°- 50°S. The global thermosteric sea level (TSL) derived from Ishii temperature data was rising during 1993-2003 at a rate of 1.2 mm a^-1 and accounted for more than 40% of the global T/P sea level rise. The contributions of the TSL distribution are not spatially uniform; for instance, the percentage is 67% for the Northern Hemisphere and only 29% for the Southern Hemisphere (15°-64°S) and the maximum thermosteric contribution appears in the Pacific Ocean, which contributes more than 60% of the global TSL. The sea level change trend in tropical ocean is mainly caused by the thermosteric effect, which is different from the case of seasonal variability in this area. The TSL variability dominates the T/P sea level rise in the North Atlantic, but it is small in other areas, and shows negative trend at the high-latitude area (40°-60°N, and 50°-60°S). The global TSL during 1945-2003 showed obvious rising trend with the rate of about 0.3 mm a-l and striking inter-annual and decadal variability with period of 20 years. In the past 60 years, the Atlantic TSL was rising continuously and remarkably, contributing 38% to the global TSL rising. The TSL in the Pacific and Indian Ocean rose with significant in- ter-annual and decadal variability. The first EOF mode of the global TSL from Ishii temperature data was the ENSO mode in which the time series of the first mode showed steady rising trend. Among the three oceans, the first mode of the Pacific TSL presented the ENSO mode; there was relatively steady rising trend in the Atlantic Ocean, and no dominant mode in the Indian Ocean.展开更多
As the number and geometric intensity of visual satellites are susceptible to large slopes in open-pit mines, we propose integration of GPS/Pseudolites (PLs) positioning technology which can increase the number of vis...As the number and geometric intensity of visual satellites are susceptible to large slopes in open-pit mines, we propose integration of GPS/Pseudolites (PLs) positioning technology which can increase the number of visible satellites, strengthen the geometric intensity of satellites and provide a precision solution for slope deformation monitoring. However, the un-modeled systematic errors are still the main limiting factors for high precision baseline solution. In order to eliminate the un-modeled systematic error, the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) theory is employed. The multi-scale decomposition and reconstruction architecture are defined here on the basis of the EMD theory and the systematic error mitigation model is demonstrated as well. A standard of the scale selection for the systematic error elimination is given in terms of the mean of the accumulated standardized modes. Thereafter, the scheme of the GPS/PLs baseline solution based on the EMD is suggested. The simulation and experiment results show that the precision factors (DOP) are reduced greatly when PLs is located suitably. The proposed scheme dramatically improves the reliability of ambiguity resolution and the precision of baseline vector after systematic error being eliminated, and provides an effective model for high precision slope deformation monitoring in open-pit mine.展开更多
AIM:To investigate human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)-vAkt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog signaling pathway.METHODS:We analyzed 231 formalin-fixed,paraffinembedde...AIM:To investigate human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)-vAkt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog signaling pathway.METHODS:We analyzed 231 formalin-fixed,paraffinembedded gastric cancer tissue specimens from Japanese patients who had undergone surgical treatment.The patients' age,sex,tumor location,depth of invasion,pathological type,lymph node metastasis,and pathological stage were determined by a review of the medical records.Expression of HER2 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry(IHC) using the HercepTest TM kit.Standard criteria for HER2 positivity(0,1+,2+,and 3+) were used.Tumors that scored 3+ were considered HER2-positive.Expression of phospho Akt(pAkt) was also analyzed by IHC.Tumors were considered pAkt-positive when the percentage of positive tumor cells was 10% or more.PI3K,catalytic,alpha polypeptide(PIK3CA) mutations in exons 1,9 and 20 were analyzed by pyrosequencing.Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) infection was analyzed by in situ hybridization targeting EBV-encoded small RNA(EBER) with an EBER-RNA probe.Microsatellite instability(MSI) was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction using the mononucleotide markers BAT25 and BAT26.RESULTS:HER2 expression levels of 0,1+,2+ and 3+ were found in 167(72%),32(14%),12(5%) and 20(8.7%) samples,respectively.HER2 overexpression(IHC 3+) significantly correlated with intestinal histological type(15/20 vs 98 /205,P = 0.05).PIK3CA mutations were present in 20 cases(8.7%) and significantly correlated with MSI(10/20 vs 9/211,P < 0.01).The mutation frequency was high(21%) in T4 cancers and very low(6%) in T2 cancers.Mutations in exons 1,9 and 20 were detected in 5(2%),9(4%) and 7(3%) cases,respectively.Two new types of PIK3CA mutation,R88Q and R108H,were found in exon1.All PIK3CA mutations were heterozygous missense singlebase substitutions,the most common being H1047R(6/20,30%) in exon20.Eighteen cancers(8%) were EBV-positive and this positivity significantly correlated with a diffuse histological type(13/18 vs 93/198,P = 0.04).There were 7 cases of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas(LELC) and 6 of those cases were EBV-positive(percent/EBV:6/18,33%;percent/all LELC:6/7,86%).pAkt expression was positive in 119(53%) cases but showed no correlation with clinicopathological characteristics.pAkt expression was significantly correlated with HER2 overexpression(16/20 vs 103/211,P < 0.01) but not with PIK3CA mutations(12/20 vs 107/211,P = 0.37) or EBV infection(8/18 vs 103/211,P = 0.69).The frequency of pAkt expression was higher in cancers with exon20 mutations(100%) than in those with exon1(40%) or exon9(56%) mutations.One case showed both HER2 overexpression and EBV infection and 3 cases showed both PIK3CA mutations and EBV infection.However,no cases showed both PIK3CA mutations and HER2 overexpression.One EBVpositive cancer with PIK3CA mutation(H1047R) was MSI-positive.Three of these 4 cases were positive for pAkt expression.In survival analysis,pAkt expression significantly correlated with a poor prognosis(hazard ratio 1.75;95%CI:1.12-2.80,P = 0.02).CONCLUSION:HER2 expression,PIK3CA mutations and EBV infection in gastric cancer were characterized.pAkt expression significantly correlates with HER2 expression and with a poor prognosis.展开更多
Deconlinement phase transition and neutrino trapping in (proto)neutron star matter are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred to as the FST model) for the hadronic phase (HP) and in the color-fla...Deconlinement phase transition and neutrino trapping in (proto)neutron star matter are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred to as the FST model) for the hadronic phase (HP) and in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) quark model for the deconlined quark phase. We include a perturbative QCD correction parameter αs in the CFL quark matter equation of states. It is shown that the CFL quark core with K^0 condensation forms in neutron star matter with the large value of αs. If the small value of αs is taken, hyperons suppress the CFL quark phase and the liP is dominant in the high-density region of (proto)neutron star matter. Neutrino trapping makes the fraction of the CFL quark matter decrease compared with those without neutrino trapping. Moreover, increasing the QCD correction parameter as or decreasing the bag constant B and the strange quark mass ms can make the fraction of the CFL quark matter increase, simultaneously, the fraction of neutrino in protoneutron star matter increases, too. The maximum masses and the corresponding radii of (proto)neutron stars are not sensitive to the QCD correction parameter αs.展开更多
Long-term analyses of vegetation succession after catastrophic events are of high interest for an improved understanding of succession dynamics. However, in many studies such analyses were restricted to plot-based mea...Long-term analyses of vegetation succession after catastrophic events are of high interest for an improved understanding of succession dynamics. However, in many studies such analyses were restricted to plot-based measurements. Contrarily, spatially continuous observations of succession dynamics over extended areas and timeperiods are sparse. Here, we applied a change vector analysis(CVA) to investigate vegetation succession dynamics at Mount St. Helens after the great volcanic eruption in 1980 using Landsat. We additionally applied a supervised random forest classification using Sentinel-2 data to map the currently prevailing vegetation types. Change vector analysis was performed with the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) and the urban index(UI) for three subsequent decades after the eruption as well as for the whole observation time between 1984 and 2016. The influence of topography on the current vegetation distribution was examined by comparing altitude, slope angles and aspect values of vegetation classes derived by the random forest classification. WilcoxRank-Sum test was applied to test for significant differences between topographic properties of the vegetation classes inside and outside of the areas affected by the eruption. For the full time period, a total area of 516 km2 was identified as re-vegetated, whereas the area and magnitude of re-growing vegetation decreased during the three decades and migrated closer to the volcanic crater. Vegetation losses were mainly observed in regions unaffected by the eruption and related mostly to timber harvesting. The vegetation type classification reached a high overall accuracy of approximately 90%. 36 years after the eruption, coniferous and deciduous trees have established at formerly devastated areas dominating with a proportion of 66%, whereas shrubs are more abundant in riparian zones. Sparse vegetation dominates at regions very close to the crater. Elevation was found to have a great influence on the reestablishment and distribution of the vegetation classes within the devastated areas showing in almost all cases significant differences in altitude distribution. Slope was less important for the different classes-only representing significantly higher values for meadows, whereas aspect seems to have no notable influence on the reestablishment of vegetation at Mount St. Helens. We conclude that major vegetation succession dynamics after catastrophic events can be assessed and characterized over large areas from freely available remote sensing data and hence contribute to an improved understanding of succession dynamics.展开更多
基金Supported by Peking University People's Hospital Research and Development Foundation(RDB2007-03)~~
文摘The goal of this study was to investigate the genetic stability of the C57BL/6J (B6) inbred mouse strain maintained in different breeders. Three populations of B6, Popl and Pop2 purchased from Beijing and Pop3 purchased from Shanghai, were examined. Fifteen microsatellite loci reported to be polymorphic among inbred strains were amplified using FAM labeled primers and genotyped with ABI Prism 377 automated sequencer. Seven loci were found polymorphic, and all the loci were homozygous in all the three populations. The present study indicates that genetic variation occurs in different B6 populations although they are still inbred in each breeder. The mechanism of genetic variation is not well understood now, but it is very important to know the precise content of the B6 genome before use of this strain in research.
基金Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863Program,No.2007AA091404)the National Key Technology Research and Development Program(2007BAD29B03)A Project Funded by the Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(PAPD)~~
文摘[Objective] The study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability and interspecific relationships among four species of groupers from South China Sea, including E. fario, E. merra, E. malabaricus and E. coioides. [Method] Twenty one mircosatellite loci of groupers were selected from GenBank and eight high polymorphic loci were used to further genetic analysis. [Result] The mean number of alleles per locus (A), effective number of alleles (Ne), mean polymorphism information content (PIC), observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) were 4.38±1.60, 3.69±0.86, 0.69±0.08, 0.67±0.08, 0.72±0.06 in E. malabaricus; 3.88±1.13, 3.55±1.04, 0.66±0.10, 0.68±0.21, 0.70±0.08 in E.coioides; 6.00±1.07, 4.68±0.65, 0.78±0.03, 0.73±0.25, 0.79±0.03 in E. fario; 5.50±1.07, 4.58±0.80, 0.76±0.05, 0.75±0.18, 0.78±0.04 in E. merra, respectively. [Conclusion] We compared the values above, the order of the genetic variability among these grouper species was E. fario E. merra E. malabaricus E. coioides. We found that the level of genetic variability of these groupers species was relatively higher than that of other marine fish, so their genetic status was good. In addition, the analyisis of genetic relationship showed that E. malabaricus and E. coioides was the closest and it was the farthest between E. merra and E. coioides.
文摘The similarity transformation model between different coordinate systems is not accurate enough to describe the discrepancy of them.Therefore,the coordinate transformation from the coordinate frame with poor accuracy to that with high accuracy cannot guarantee a high precision of transformation.In this paper,a combined method of similarity transformation and regressive approximating is presented.The local error accumulation and distortion are taken into consideration and the precision of coordinate system is improved by using the recommended method
基金Project supported by the Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province (No. 02BS044).
文摘Taking Kenli County in the Yellow River Delta, China, as the study area and using digital satellite remote sensing techniques, cultivated land use changes and their corresponding driving forces were explored in this study. An interactive interpretation and a manual modification procedure were carried out to acquire cultivated land information. An overlay method based on classification results and a visual change detection method which was supported by land use maps were employed to detect the cultivated land changes. Based on the changes that were revealed and a spatial analysis between cultivated land use and related natural and socio-economic factors, the driving forces for cultivated land use changes in the study area were determined.The results showed a decrease in cultivated land in Kenli County of 5321.8 ha from 1987 to 1998, i.e.,an average annual decrement of 483.8 ha, which occurred mainly in the central paddy field region and the northeast dry land region. Adverse human activities, soil salinization and water deficiencies were the driving forces that caused these cultivated land use changes.
基金Supported by the Key Program of the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No.KZCX1-YW-12-04)the National Basic Research Program (973 Program) (No.2006CB403601)
文摘The seasonal generation and evolution of eddies in the region of the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent remain poorly understood due to the scarcity of available data.We used TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry data from 1992 to 2007 to study the eddy field in this zone.We found that velocity shear between this region and the neighboring North Equatorial Current contributes greatly to the eddy generation.Furthermore,the eddy kinetic energy level(EKE) shows an annual cycle,maximum in April/May and minimum in December/January.Analyses of the temporal and spatial distributions of the eddy field revealed clearly that the velocity shear closely related to baroclinic instability processes.The eddy field seems to be more zonal than meridional,and the energy containing length scale shows a surprising lag of 2-3 months in comparison with the 1-D and 2-D EKE level.A similar phenomenon is observed in individual eddies in this zone.The results show that in this eddy field band,the velocity shear may drive the EKE level change so that the eddy field takes another 2-3 months to grow and interact to reach a relatively stable state.This explains the seasonal evolution of identifiable eddies.
文摘Objective: Vacuolating megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts (MLC) is a recently described syndrome with autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Its possible gene was located on chromosomal 22q tel with 3-cM. The purpose of this study was to narrow down the genetical distance on chromosomal 22q tel with MLC. Methods: Thirty-nine MLC patients in 33 families were collected,and the linkage analysis and haplotype analysis of twelve informative families were done, using seven microsatellite markers and four SNP markers. Results: The maximum tow-point LOD score for marker 355c18 was 6.65 at recombination fraction 0.02. The haplotype analysis narrowed down the critical region of MLC to 250 kb on chromosomal 22q tel. Conclusion: One of the causing genes of MLC was located on chromosomal 22q tel with 250 kb. Four candidate genes were considered. The heterogeneity of one informative family indicated possible existence of a second locus for MLC.
文摘AIM: To disclose geographic differences in genetic changes involved in gallbladder carcinogenesis between two distinct high-incidence areas of Japan and Hungary. METHODS: We examined 42 cases of gallbladder carcinoma: 22 Japanese and 20 Hungarian cases, p53 mutations at exons 5 to 8 and K-ras mutations at codon 12 were tested by direct sequencing. Microsatellite instability was determined from fluorescent dye-labeled PCR amplifications of flve-microsatellite markers (BAT-25, BAT-26, D2S123, DSS346, and D17S250). RESULTS: Mutations of p53 were detected in 11 of 22 Japanese cases and 6 of 18 Hungarian cases (11/22 vs 6/18, P = 0.348). Transition at CpG sites was found in none of 11 Japanese cases and 2 of 6 Hungarian cases; the difference was marginally significant (0/11 vs 2/6,P = 0.110). K-ras mutations were detected in only one of the Hungarian cases. Eight of 19 (42.1%) ]apanese cases were MSI-high (presence of novel peaks in more than one of the five loci analyzed), whereas only 1 of 15 (6.7%) Hungarian cases was MSI-high (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: It appears that the p53 mutations and MSI differ in patients with gallbladder carcinoma between two distinct high-incidence areas. Geographic variation might exist in the process of gallbladder carcinogenesis.
基金supported by Tianjin Natural Science Foundation Project(14JCYBJC22500)
文摘Since 2000, red tides have been reported in the Bohai Sea every year, whichoften made coastal waters of the Bohai Sea suffering from red tides. Satellite remotesensing technology and the ocean color observation satellite images have beensuccessfully used to identify and observe the initiation, evolution, and dissipation of redtide. However, due to different water bodies, remote sensing data and modelingmethods, a specific model of red tide inversion should be established for the watercharacteristics of the Bohai Sea. In this paper, the correlation analysis between MODISspectral reflectivity data and measured concentration of chlorophyll a in the Bohai Seawas carried out. The expression (B10-B8) / (B13-B8) was chosen as the indicator of redtide inversion in the Bohai Sea, the correlation coefficient reached 0.7815, showingsignificant correlation results. It was found that the spatial and temporal distribution ofred tide in the Bohai Sea in 2014 was obvious. The main causes of the large-scale outbreak of red tide in the Bohai Sea are due to the poor water exchange caused by thesemi-enclosed geomorphology and the large amount of terrestrial matter input fromcoastal runoff. The river input is the main source of land-based pollution into the sea.Then, a red tide inversion model based on a modified red tide index was established byusing GOCI remote sensing data with less cloud coverage, and proven effective indelineating the red tide in turbid waters. The hourly RI images on 15, 26 and 28 May2014 showed consistent evolution, and the area of red tide in the Bohai Sea changedsignificantly during one day. Vertical migration of the dominant species of red tide algaemay be the main reason for the short-term changes in the surface expression.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No.30571112).
文摘Due to inappropriate planning and management, accelerated urban growth and tremendous loss in land, especially cropland, have become a great challenge for sustainable urban development in China, especially in developed urban area in the coastal regions; therefore, there is an urgent need to effectively detect and monitor the land use changes and provide accurate and timely information for planning and management. In this study a method combining principal component analysis (PCA) of multisensor satellite images from SPOT (systeme pour l'observation de la terre or earth observation satellite)-5 multispectral (XS) and Landsat-7 enhanced thematic mapper (ETM) panchromatic (PAN) data, and supervised classification was used to detect and analyze the dynamics of land use changes in the city proper of Hangzhou. The overall accuracy of the land use change detection was 90.67% and Kappa index was 0.89. The results indicated that there was a considerable land use change (10.03% of the total area) in the study area from 2001 to 2003, with three major types of land use conversions: from cropland into built-up land, construction site, and water area (fish pond). Changes from orchard land into built-up land were also detected. The method described in this study is feasible and useful for detecting rapid land use change in the urban area.
基金Supported by Direction General de Investigation Cientifica y Tecnica, SAF 2003 04398-C02-02, and Junta de Andalucia,CVI-0184
文摘AIM: To analyze the relationship between perisinusoidal stellate cell (PSC) activation and the dietary fat quantity and composition in the treatment of hepatic steatosis. METHODS: Using an experimental rat model of steatosis based on the intake of a hyperlipidic diet (14% fat as olive oil or sunflower oil, HL-O and HL-S, respectively), we analyzed the liver's capability of recovery after the treatment with a normal-lipidic diet (5% fat as olive oil or sunflower oil, NL-O and NL-S, respectively) by immunoo/tochemical and Western blot analysis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in PSCs, collagen quantification and serum aminotransferase determination. RESULTS: The fatty infiltration in the steatotic livers decreased after the treatment with both NL diets, indicating liver recovery. This decrease was accompanied with a lower collagen deposition and aminotransferase level as well as changes in the PSC population that increased the GFAP expression. The above-mentioned effects were more pronounced in animals fed on NL-O based diet. CONCLUSION: Treatment with a balanced diet enriched in olive oil contributes to the liver recovery from a steatotic process. The PSC phenotype is a marker of this hepatic-recovery model.
基金Under the auspices of the‘948’Project sponsored by the State Forestry Administration(SFA)of China(No.2014-4-25)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31670552,31270587)Doctorate Fellowship Foundation of Nanjing Forestry University,the PAPD(Priority Academic Program Development)of Jiangsu Provincial Universities,Graduate Research and Innovation Projects in Jiangsu Province(No.KYLX15_0908)
文摘Forest disturbance plays a vital role in modulating carbon storage,biodiversity and climate change.Yearly Landsat imagery from 1986 to 2015 of a typical plantation region in the northern Guangdong province of southern China was used as a case study.A Landsat time series stack(LTSS) was fed to the vegetation change tracker model(VCT) to map long-term changes in plantation forests' disturbance and recovery,followed by an intensive validation and a continuous 27-yr change analysis on disturbance locations,magnitudes and rates of plantations' disturbance and recovery.And the validation results of the disturbance year maps derived from five randomly identified sample plots with 25 km^2 located at the four corners and the center of the scene showed the majority of the spatial agreement measures ranged from 60% to 83%.A confusion matrix summary of the accuracy measures for all four validation sites in Fogang County showed that the disturbance year maps had an overall accuracy estimate of 71.70%.Forest disturbance rates' change trend was characterized by a decline first,followed by an increase,then giving way to a decline again.An undulated and gentle decreasing trend of disturbance rates from the highest value of 3.95% to the lowest value of 0.76% occurred between 1988 and 2001,disturbance rate of 4.51% in 1994 was a notable anomaly,while after 2001 there was a sharp ascending change,forest disturbance rate spiked in 2007(5.84%).After that,there was a significant decreasing trend up to the lowest value of 1.96% in 2011 and a slight ascending trend from 2011 to 2015(2.59%).Two obvious spikes in post-disturbance recovery rates occurred in 1995(0.26%) and 2008(0.41%).Overall,forest recovery rates were lower than forest disturbance rates.Moreover,forest disturbance and recovery detection based on VCT and the Landsat-based detections of trends in disturbance and recovery(LandT rendr) algorithms in Fogang County have been conducted,with LandT rendr finding mostly much more disturbance than VCT.Overall,disturbances and recoveries in northern Guangdong were triggered mostly by timber needs,policies and decisions of the local governments.This study highlights that a better understanding about plantations' changes would provide a critical foundation for local forest management decisions in the southern China.
文摘In order to analyze the deleterious effects of Passive InterModulation (PIM) on high power communication satellite systems, the basic concept of PIM is introduced, and an equation for the power spectral density of the n-th order PIM distortion insuch systems is derived by applying flat signal-power spectrum assumption and Fourier transform method. It is indicated that PIM level generally decreases with order and the lowest frequency receive channel in the receive band is the channel of most affected by PIM interference.
文摘Land surface temperature (LST) of Beijing area was retrieved from Landsat TM thermal band data utilizing a radiative transfer equation and the urban heat island (HUI) effects of Beijing and its relationship with land cover and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were discussed. The result of LST showed that the urban LST was evidently higher than the suburban one. The average urban LST was found to 4.5 ℃ and 9 ℃ higher than the suburban and outer suburban temperature, respectively, which demonstrated the prominent UHI effects in Beijing. Prominent negative correlation between LST and NDVI was found in the urban area, which suggested the low percent vegetation cover in the urban area was the main cause of the urban heat island.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No 2007CB411807)the NSFC project (Nos 40976006 and 40906002)+1 种基金the National Key Technology R&D Program (No 2007BAC03A06-06)the project of Key Laboratory of Coastal Disasters and Defence (No 200802)
文摘The sea level derived from TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) altimetry data shows prominent long term trend and inter-annual variability. The global mean sea level rising rate during 1993-2003 was 2.9mm a^-1. The T/P sea level trend maps the geographical variability. In the Northern Hemisphere (15°-64°N), the sea level rise is very fast at the mid-latitude (20°-40°N) but much slower at the high-latitude, for example, only 0.5 mm a^-1 in the latitude band 40°-50°N. In the Southern Hemisphere, the sea level shows high rising rate both in mid-latitude and high-latitude areas, for example, 5.1 mm a^-1 in the band 40°- 50°S. The global thermosteric sea level (TSL) derived from Ishii temperature data was rising during 1993-2003 at a rate of 1.2 mm a^-1 and accounted for more than 40% of the global T/P sea level rise. The contributions of the TSL distribution are not spatially uniform; for instance, the percentage is 67% for the Northern Hemisphere and only 29% for the Southern Hemisphere (15°-64°S) and the maximum thermosteric contribution appears in the Pacific Ocean, which contributes more than 60% of the global TSL. The sea level change trend in tropical ocean is mainly caused by the thermosteric effect, which is different from the case of seasonal variability in this area. The TSL variability dominates the T/P sea level rise in the North Atlantic, but it is small in other areas, and shows negative trend at the high-latitude area (40°-60°N, and 50°-60°S). The global TSL during 1945-2003 showed obvious rising trend with the rate of about 0.3 mm a-l and striking inter-annual and decadal variability with period of 20 years. In the past 60 years, the Atlantic TSL was rising continuously and remarkably, contributing 38% to the global TSL rising. The TSL in the Pacific and Indian Ocean rose with significant in- ter-annual and decadal variability. The first EOF mode of the global TSL from Ishii temperature data was the ENSO mode in which the time series of the first mode showed steady rising trend. Among the three oceans, the first mode of the Pacific TSL presented the ENSO mode; there was relatively steady rising trend in the Atlantic Ocean, and no dominant mode in the Indian Ocean.
基金supported by the Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Mine safety, China University of Mining & Technology (No.08KF07) the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education for Young Scholar (No.200802901516)+4 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No.BK2009099)the Special Foundation of NSFC-DEST (No.50810076)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40774010)the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scholar (No.40904004)the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (No.200802900501)
文摘As the number and geometric intensity of visual satellites are susceptible to large slopes in open-pit mines, we propose integration of GPS/Pseudolites (PLs) positioning technology which can increase the number of visible satellites, strengthen the geometric intensity of satellites and provide a precision solution for slope deformation monitoring. However, the un-modeled systematic errors are still the main limiting factors for high precision baseline solution. In order to eliminate the un-modeled systematic error, the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) theory is employed. The multi-scale decomposition and reconstruction architecture are defined here on the basis of the EMD theory and the systematic error mitigation model is demonstrated as well. A standard of the scale selection for the systematic error elimination is given in terms of the mean of the accumulated standardized modes. Thereafter, the scheme of the GPS/PLs baseline solution based on the EMD is suggested. The simulation and experiment results show that the precision factors (DOP) are reduced greatly when PLs is located suitably. The proposed scheme dramatically improves the reliability of ambiguity resolution and the precision of baseline vector after systematic error being eliminated, and provides an effective model for high precision slope deformation monitoring in open-pit mine.
基金Supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology of Japan,to Yamamoto H and Shinomura Y
文摘AIM:To investigate human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)-vAkt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog signaling pathway.METHODS:We analyzed 231 formalin-fixed,paraffinembedded gastric cancer tissue specimens from Japanese patients who had undergone surgical treatment.The patients' age,sex,tumor location,depth of invasion,pathological type,lymph node metastasis,and pathological stage were determined by a review of the medical records.Expression of HER2 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry(IHC) using the HercepTest TM kit.Standard criteria for HER2 positivity(0,1+,2+,and 3+) were used.Tumors that scored 3+ were considered HER2-positive.Expression of phospho Akt(pAkt) was also analyzed by IHC.Tumors were considered pAkt-positive when the percentage of positive tumor cells was 10% or more.PI3K,catalytic,alpha polypeptide(PIK3CA) mutations in exons 1,9 and 20 were analyzed by pyrosequencing.Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) infection was analyzed by in situ hybridization targeting EBV-encoded small RNA(EBER) with an EBER-RNA probe.Microsatellite instability(MSI) was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction using the mononucleotide markers BAT25 and BAT26.RESULTS:HER2 expression levels of 0,1+,2+ and 3+ were found in 167(72%),32(14%),12(5%) and 20(8.7%) samples,respectively.HER2 overexpression(IHC 3+) significantly correlated with intestinal histological type(15/20 vs 98 /205,P = 0.05).PIK3CA mutations were present in 20 cases(8.7%) and significantly correlated with MSI(10/20 vs 9/211,P < 0.01).The mutation frequency was high(21%) in T4 cancers and very low(6%) in T2 cancers.Mutations in exons 1,9 and 20 were detected in 5(2%),9(4%) and 7(3%) cases,respectively.Two new types of PIK3CA mutation,R88Q and R108H,were found in exon1.All PIK3CA mutations were heterozygous missense singlebase substitutions,the most common being H1047R(6/20,30%) in exon20.Eighteen cancers(8%) were EBV-positive and this positivity significantly correlated with a diffuse histological type(13/18 vs 93/198,P = 0.04).There were 7 cases of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas(LELC) and 6 of those cases were EBV-positive(percent/EBV:6/18,33%;percent/all LELC:6/7,86%).pAkt expression was positive in 119(53%) cases but showed no correlation with clinicopathological characteristics.pAkt expression was significantly correlated with HER2 overexpression(16/20 vs 103/211,P < 0.01) but not with PIK3CA mutations(12/20 vs 107/211,P = 0.37) or EBV infection(8/18 vs 103/211,P = 0.69).The frequency of pAkt expression was higher in cancers with exon20 mutations(100%) than in those with exon1(40%) or exon9(56%) mutations.One case showed both HER2 overexpression and EBV infection and 3 cases showed both PIK3CA mutations and EBV infection.However,no cases showed both PIK3CA mutations and HER2 overexpression.One EBVpositive cancer with PIK3CA mutation(H1047R) was MSI-positive.Three of these 4 cases were positive for pAkt expression.In survival analysis,pAkt expression significantly correlated with a poor prognosis(hazard ratio 1.75;95%CI:1.12-2.80,P = 0.02).CONCLUSION:HER2 expression,PIK3CA mutations and EBV infection in gastric cancer were characterized.pAkt expression significantly correlates with HER2 expression and with a poor prognosis.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.10575005,10435080,10425521,10135030,and 10575123the Key Grant Project of the Ministry of Education under Grant No.305001the CAS Knowledge Innovation Project under Grant No.KJcx2-sw-No2
文摘Deconlinement phase transition and neutrino trapping in (proto)neutron star matter are investigated in a chiral hadronic model (also referred to as the FST model) for the hadronic phase (HP) and in the color-flavor-locked (CFL) quark model for the deconlined quark phase. We include a perturbative QCD correction parameter αs in the CFL quark matter equation of states. It is shown that the CFL quark core with K^0 condensation forms in neutron star matter with the large value of αs. If the small value of αs is taken, hyperons suppress the CFL quark phase and the liP is dominant in the high-density region of (proto)neutron star matter. Neutrino trapping makes the fraction of the CFL quark matter decrease compared with those without neutrino trapping. Moreover, increasing the QCD correction parameter as or decreasing the bag constant B and the strange quark mass ms can make the fraction of the CFL quark matter increase, simultaneously, the fraction of neutrino in protoneutron star matter increases, too. The maximum masses and the corresponding radii of (proto)neutron stars are not sensitive to the QCD correction parameter αs.
文摘Long-term analyses of vegetation succession after catastrophic events are of high interest for an improved understanding of succession dynamics. However, in many studies such analyses were restricted to plot-based measurements. Contrarily, spatially continuous observations of succession dynamics over extended areas and timeperiods are sparse. Here, we applied a change vector analysis(CVA) to investigate vegetation succession dynamics at Mount St. Helens after the great volcanic eruption in 1980 using Landsat. We additionally applied a supervised random forest classification using Sentinel-2 data to map the currently prevailing vegetation types. Change vector analysis was performed with the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) and the urban index(UI) for three subsequent decades after the eruption as well as for the whole observation time between 1984 and 2016. The influence of topography on the current vegetation distribution was examined by comparing altitude, slope angles and aspect values of vegetation classes derived by the random forest classification. WilcoxRank-Sum test was applied to test for significant differences between topographic properties of the vegetation classes inside and outside of the areas affected by the eruption. For the full time period, a total area of 516 km2 was identified as re-vegetated, whereas the area and magnitude of re-growing vegetation decreased during the three decades and migrated closer to the volcanic crater. Vegetation losses were mainly observed in regions unaffected by the eruption and related mostly to timber harvesting. The vegetation type classification reached a high overall accuracy of approximately 90%. 36 years after the eruption, coniferous and deciduous trees have established at formerly devastated areas dominating with a proportion of 66%, whereas shrubs are more abundant in riparian zones. Sparse vegetation dominates at regions very close to the crater. Elevation was found to have a great influence on the reestablishment and distribution of the vegetation classes within the devastated areas showing in almost all cases significant differences in altitude distribution. Slope was less important for the different classes-only representing significantly higher values for meadows, whereas aspect seems to have no notable influence on the reestablishment of vegetation at Mount St. Helens. We conclude that major vegetation succession dynamics after catastrophic events can be assessed and characterized over large areas from freely available remote sensing data and hence contribute to an improved understanding of succession dynamics.