We also acknowledge that additional research is necessary to inve

We also acknowledge that additional research is necessary to investigate how apomorphine influences cognition in PD patients with greater disease severity and longer disease duration that those reported here. Nonetheless, it is important to point out that this study was designed to explore how apomorphine influenced working memory in PD at a neural rather than Sorafenib Tosylate clinical trial behavioral Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical level. To this end, fMRI is a sensitive tool which can reveal subtle effects of drugs on brain responses, even before the occurrence of noticeable behavioral findings. In fact, apomorphine modulated neural responses independently from its behavioral effects, and this was demonstrated by the stability of the results

when fMRI analyses assessing the main effect of treatment were repeated including RT and accuracy as variables of no interest. Overall, our data extend the knowledge about Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the neural mechanisms of apomorphine in PD by showing that this potent dopamine agonist increased striatal response and reduced SFG activation during working memory. The enhanced striatal response to apomorphine might depend on the super-sensitivity of postsynaptic D2 receptors. There Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is evidence, in animal models of PD, that lesioning

dopaminergic neurons causes reduced DAT-BPND values, increased D2 receptor binding, and increased BOLD response to apomorphine in the striatum (Nguyen et al. 2000). Comparative research has also suggested that this enhanced striatal BOLD response to apomorphine may indirectly reflect

the state of postsynaptic D2 receptors (i.e., sensitivity and/or number) (Zhang et al. 2000, 2006). Although the sensitivity and/or number of D2 receptors were not measured in this study, we selleck chemicals Cabozantinib speculate that the progressive nigrostriatal degeneration Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in PD induced a D2 receptor super-sensitivity state which, in turn, guided the abnormal striatal responses to apomorphine during all working-memory Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical loads. However, it remains to be explained why we found an inverted-U-shaped relation between DAT-BPND values and the brain responses to apomorphine. We hypothesize at least two, not mutually exclusive, explanations for this finding. First, there is clear in vitro evidence that the Entinostat number of striatal D2 receptors follows an inverted-U curve after lesioning dopaminergic neurons (i.e., the number of receptors continue to rise until the ~100th day after the dopaminergic damage; next, it gradually reverts to normal levels, which are reached after ~500 days in total) (Todd et al. 1996). Second, an inverted-U-shaped relation between D2 receptors number and/or sensitivity and disease progression has been also observed in vivo, in PD patients at different stages (Antonini et al. 1994, 1995; Ichise et al. 1999). In particular, patients with initial or advanced PD display normal D2 receptor number and/or sensitivity, while patients with intermediate disease progression show increased D2 receptors number and/or sensitivity (Antonini et al. 1994, 1995; Ichise et al. 1999).

The optimal dosing regimen was cetrorelix acetate, 60 mg, adminis

The optimal dosing selleck regimen was cetrorelix acetate, 60 mg, administered at 26-week intervals. The improvement in IPSS and peak flow rate over placebo observed throughout the duration of the study was comparable with that observed with α-blockade. At the effective doses, cetrorelix did not appear to cause vasomotor or sexual side effects and lowered testosterone levels only transiently. Despite the fact that testosterone Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical levels had returned to baseline within a few weeks, effectiveness continued for the 26 weeks in between the dosing of the drug. Due to the above findings, phase III studies

were conducted in the United States and Europe; in the US study, 637 men were randomized to receive either two doses of placebo or cetrorelix on weeks 2 and 26.37 Upon conclusion of the trial, the drug showed no statistically significant benefit in improving IPSS. In addition, the drug did not have a significant effect on peak flow rate or prostate volume versus placebo. It is difficult to reconcile this lack of efficacy given favorable prior Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical results. A Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical subsequent multicenter European trial also failed to show any treatment-related efficacy of cetrorelix.38 The experience with cetrorelix highlights the importance

of randomized, placebo-controlled trials that are appropriately powered to show clinical benefit and safety. NX-1207 NX-1207 is a new drug under investigation for the treatment of symptomatic BPH. NX-1207 has been suggested to elicit a proapoptotic effect on the prostate.39 The drug is injected directly into the prostate as a single administration. Four clinical trials yet to be published in the peer-reviewed literature have been interpreted to show improvement Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in LUTS exceeding that of all other medical therapies currently marketed for the treatment of BPH. NX-1207 was also reported to decrease prostate volume and increase Qmax. These clinical benefits were maintained after angle injection for a year. Phase III studies are underway to define the true efficacy, safety, and mechanism of action of this novel

approach to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical treating BPH. Combination Therapy α-Blocker and 5-ARI The VA Cooperative Trial11 and the PREDICT trial13 unequivocally demonstrated there is no observed benefit of adding a 5-ARI to an α-blocker to further decrease LUTS or increase peak urinary flow rate during the first year of treatment in unselected men with clinical BPH. The MTOPS trial asked an entirely different GSK-3 clinical question than the VA Cooperative and PREDICT trials. MTOPS was the first study to examine the ability of medical therapy to prevent disease progression in a group of men with clinical BPH independent of prostate volume.14 BPH progression was defined by a 4-point increase in IPSS, development of AUR, renal insufficiency, UTI/urosepsis, or social incontinence. The need to undergo BPH surgery was not a primary endpoint, but this clinical information was captured.

5-HT per se is

a weak activator, but dose-dependently enh

5-HT per se is

a weak activator, but dose-dependently enhances platelet activation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and, in particular, thrombin in whole blood.12 It also potentiates selleck compound aggregation in the presence of epinephrine or collagen,13 and potentiates release reactions through a mechanism of amplification by an increase in free cytoplasmic intracellular calcium ion concentration. This induces a shape-change reaction of platelets, priming platelet surfaces for interactions with coagulation factors.14 5-HT may therefore be directly Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical involved in increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in depressed Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical patients. A relationship between depressive symptoms and increased platelet activity has been established in physically healthy depressed patients15-17 as well as in postmyocardial infarction (MI)

depressed patients.8,18 The following mechanisms mediating platelet abnormalities observed in major depression have been proposed19: altered platelet function by increased Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical plasma concentrations of 5-HT and epinephrine, sellckchem affected platelet function by increased intraplatelet calcium mobilization, upregulation of 5-HT2A receptors or ot-adrenoreceptors, downregulation of 5-HT transporter number, altered second messenger signal transduction, or altered intraplatelet concentrations of monoamines

and catecholamines.17 Thus, 5-HT probably plays a role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of depression as well as in primary hemostasis platelet activity, and this neurotransmitter might be a key element Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in the understanding of the relationship between depression and increased risk Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of cardiovascular disease. Amplification of platelet aggregation could be altered by antidepressants that inhibit serotonin reuptake, in particular selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), because of depletion or decrease in intraplatelet 5-HT levels. The purpose of this review of the literature is to summarize changes in hemostatic function observed during treatment by antidepressants. We performed a MEDLINE search of the relevant literature, and reviewed prospective and retrospective studies, as well as case reports and reviews of literature related to bleeding side effects and hemostasis GSK-3 laboratory findings, associated with antidepressant treatment in the psychiatric population, in post-MI depressed patients, or in healthy volunteers. The prothrombotic effect of typical and atypical antipsychotics, as well as the impaired platelet function and thrombocytopenia caused by the mood stabilizer valproate and the possible procoagulant effect of treatment by lithium, are not examined here.

We included all complications that patients presented during chem

We included all complications that patients presented during chemotherapy treatment,

hence global morbidity rate being 26.8%. It was not necessary to contraindicate surgery in any of the eighteen patients who presented complications. Blood levels of haemoglobin, leukocytes and platelets were analyzed and all of them were within the accepted range in order to perform a safe surgery. Global complications that appeared after primary tumor resection were assessed, including cases where another surgical intervention was simultaneously performed. Five surgical and six clinical complications were observed. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The complication global rate was 16.4%, which is comparable to another reported series (15-17) and much lower than the morbidity prediction for this group of patients (16.4% vs. 58.3%). Different speciality-specific POSSUM models have been developed, like O-POSSUM (18) or CR-POSSUM (19). POSSUM Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and P-POSSUM have been considered a good predictor of surgical complications (20) although some studies suggest an overprediction for colon cancer surgery with these scores (21). No cases of surgical conversion from laparoscopic to open approach were selleckchem Vorinostat observed and the Seliciclib CDK reoperation rate was little

lower than what has been described by other authors: 2.9% vs. 3.8-5.8% (15,22). These two cases of reoperation were secondary to an Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical anastomotic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical leakage. One should mention the low blood transfusion requirement. The hospital admission period is within the same range as other colorectal surgery series. It is known that the previous comorbidity is a risk factor of

surgical complications and hospital stay (23). Fifty five percent of our patients had some important copathology. No cases of perioperative mortality were registered. If patients with unresectable metastatic colon cancer should undergo primary tumor resection still remains controversial. Some authors prefer primary Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical chemotherapy (24-26), while others think that primary colectomy improves OS compared with only chemotherapy (27-29). In stage IV CRC patients who complete all treatment steps, classical (primary tumour resection, liver metastases-directed chemotherapy followed by hepatic resection) and reversed (liver metastases-directed chemotherapy, hepatic resection and then, primary tumour resection) sequential managements have been associated with similar survival rates (30). We can find Cilengitide some limitations in this study, such as the unicentric and retrospective character and the use of different chemotherapy regimens before surgery. On the other hand, this is a selected group of patients that were able to achieve the surgical treatment after chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy treatment was administrated before surgery, our results are within the accepted postoperative complication limits of colorectal surgery.

However, core features of NMS were observed significantly more o

However, core features of NMS were observed significantly more often among cases meeting diagnostic criteria. Individual symptoms

were also described in suspected cases that did not meet diagnostic criteria. These findings suggest a continued need for consensus on standard criteria for NMS. Keywords: neuroleptic malignant syndrome, antipsychotics, side effect, diagnostic criteria, extrapyramidal syndrome, creatine kinase Introduction Neuroleptic malignant phase 3 syndrome (NMS) is a rare and potentially fatal complication of treatment with antipsychotics [Strawn et al. 2007], which is characterised by four domains Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of signs and symptoms: rigidity, fever, dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system and alterations in consciousness. Researchers and clinicians face the difficulty of distinguishing its signs and symptoms not only from the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical mental disorder being treated but also from common side effects of psychotropic

medication. Moreover, scientific identification of cases is made difficult by its nature as a diagnosis of exclusion with many conditions, common and rare, in the differential. Despite some evidence for a broad consensus on NMS [Strawn et al. 2007, 2008], much remains controversial Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and obscure about the aetiology, pathophysiology and treatment [Picard et al. 2008; Margetić and Aukst Margetić, 2010] of this condition which is ‘heterogeneous in onset, presentation, progression and outcome’ [Strawn et al. 2007]. Diagnosis remains similarly controversial, several criteria having been proposed with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical different conceptual commitments,

forms and functions. Gurrera and colleagues’ meta-analysis of incidence studies found five published diagnostic criteria, two modifications of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical previously published criteria, and a further four idiosyncratic and four undisclosed sets distributed among 26 eligible studies published between 1960 and 2003 [Gurrera et al. 2007]. Although they found no association between stringency of criteria and estimated incidence, this is likely to be due to the lack of power afforded by typical case numbers. Adityanjee and Regorafenib side effects colleagues reviewed the existing criteria in 1999, discussing or mentioning some 17 sets, or modifications of sets, of criteria [Adityanjee et al. 1999]. They divided these into six groups: Levenson [Levenson AV-951 1985, 1986]; Addonizio and colleagues [Addonizio et al. 1986]; Pope and colleagues [Pope et al. 1986; Keck et al. 1989]; Adityanjee and colleagues [Adityanjee et al. 1988]; Friedman and colleagues [Friedman et al. 1988]; Caroff and colleagues [Lazarus et al. 1989; Caroff et al. 1991; Caroff and Mann, 1993], classifying Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) criteria for NMS [American Psychiatric Association, 1994] as a modified version of these. The authors of this review further proposed a more stringent set of research diagnostic criteria.

SATA was dissolved in N-N-dimethyl formamide in a ratio of 1:100

SATA was dissolved in N-N-dimethyl formamide in a ratio of 1:100. The SATA was employed for thiolation, which is necessary for antibodies to crosslink with the maleimide group of the DSPE-PEG2000-maleimide lipid. The SATA solution was mixed with the antibody solution in a molar ratio of 8:1 SATA:antibody and incubated for 45 minutes at room temperature during continuous rotation. Unbound SATA was removed, according to the manufacture protocol by using a 50kDa Vivaspin 6 ultrafiltration

device (GE-Healthcare, 28-9323-18). The selleck chemical Vandetanib Protein concentration Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the antibodies was make it clear determined by UV spectroscopy (Implen NanoPhotometer). In order for the SATA to crosslink with the maleimide groups, the sulfhydryl groups were deacetylated by mixing the SATA/antibody solution with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical hydroxylamine solution (0.5M hydroxylamine HCl; 0.5 HEPES M HEPES; 25mM EDTA) and incubated for one hour at room temperature before mixing the SATA:antibody solution with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical liposomes. Finally, the conjugation was performed by mixing the liposomes with the deacetylated SATA:antibody

solution in a molar ratio of ratio of 1:1000 for DSPE-PEG2000-maleimide:antibody and incubated for 2 hours at room temperature followed by incubation on a rotator at 4°C overnight. Unbound antibody and self-aggregated liposomes were separated from immunoliposomes by gel filtration chromatography

using a 4B sepharose gel. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Mean particle size of the various liposomes was determined by dynamic light scattering and the zeta potential by laser Doppler electrophoresis using a Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern). Determination of particle size using the Zetasizer Nano ZS generates a Z-average value of mean Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical particle size, polydispersity of the size distribution, and the mean size of individual peaks present in the particle suspension. All measurements were performed on four separate samples and data was analyzed using Malvern Zetasizer Software v.6.2. The concentrations of the conjugated antibodies were determined using the RC DC Protein Assay (BioRad, Cat. No. 500-0121). A standard curve was prepared consisting of five dilutions ranging from 0.2mg/mL GSK-3 to 1.5mg/mL nonimmune IgG from human serum in HEPES buffer. Liposome samples were diluted 1:2 in HEPES buffer to ensure that the samples were within range of the standard curve. All standards and samples were prepared in duplicate. Absorbance was read at 750nm using a spectrophotometer (Thermo Fischer Scientific, Genesys 10 UV-Vis Scanner) using disposable semimicropolystyrene cuvettes (Sarstedt, Germany). The antibody concentration of the various liposome samples was calculated from the plotted standard curve.

50 In depressed

50 In depressed patients, it has been shown that there is a change in the regulation of the HPA axis.51 A hallmark feature that characterizes the HPA axis in depression is the altered response to stress and inability to maintain regulation: indeed, hyperactivity of the HPA axis is one of the most robust biological findings Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in major depression.51 Both women with PPD and women with nonpuerperal MDD show abnormalities in HPA axis activity. In general women (and men) suffering from MDD exhibit high cell assay baseline cortisol and an exaggerated response to the dexamethasone/corticotrophin-releasing hormone (DEX/CRH) test. However, in the first few weeks

postpartum, euthymic women demonstrate an HPA axis that remains refractory to external CRH challenge.

In contrast, women with PPD have been shown to experience an ongoing blunting of ACTH response to corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) at 6 to 12 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical weeks postpartum compared with nondepressed women, interpreted as reflecting an ongoing hyporeactive HPA axis.43 Additionally, Bloch et al observed that currently euthymic women with a past history of PPD experienced an increased cortisol response and onset of significant depressive symptoms when exposed to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical a protocol consisting of high-dose gonadal steroid administration followed by abrupt withdrawal. This observed effect in those women with a history of PPD was in marked contrast to the group of women without a history of PPD who experienced no observed mood disturbance Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical when exposed to the same protocol. Thus, this work suggests either a trait vulnerability related to the onset of PPD or a consequence of an earlier depression.45 Interestingly, the HPA axis has also been a focus of recent efforts to identify a biomarker for those at risk for perinatal or postpartum depression.

In particular, elevated placental CRH has been a potential candidate with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical earlier literature demonstrating conflicting etc results.52,53 The increasing production of placental CRH (pCRH) throughout pregnancy can be measured in maternal peripheral blood54 and within hours after childbirth, levels of pCRH quickly drop and become undetectable.55 Nonetheless, the role of midpregnancy pCRH as a biomarker of maternal prenatal and PPD does not appear to be clinically useful, and the most recent Batimastat report did not demonstrate an association between increased midpregnancy pCRH and increased risk for either depression during pregnancy nor PPD.56 Moreover, while the dysregulated HPA axis in PPD is interesting, disturbances in other endocrine systems may also play a role in the etiology of PPD. For example, one study has demonstrated that women with antenatal total and free thyroxine concentrations in the lower euthyroid range may be at greater risk of developing postpartum depressive symptoms.

smegmatis (Ms) and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/cho

smegmatis (Ms) and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/cholesterol.

Bicalutamide 90357-06-5 Ms-containing liposomes induced a specific IgG response and recognition of MTB surface antigens, showing that immunogenic Ms glycolipids could enhance subunit vaccines against tuberculosis [Borrero et al. 2013]. The relation between archaeal lipid structures and their activity was explored by synthesizing novel head groups linked to archaeol. Archaeosomes consisting of various combinations of synthesized lipids with entrapped OVA antigen were used to immunize mice. Addition of the glycolipids gentio-triosyl archaeol, mannotriosyl archaeol or maltotriosyl archaeol to archaetidylglycero-phosphate-O-methyl (AOM) archaeosomes significantly enhanced CD8+ T-cell responses, but diminished antibody titers. All three triglycosyl archaeols combined with AOM resulted in additive CD8+ T-cell responses [Sprott et al. 2012]. Ansari and colleagues showed that archaeosome-entrapped secretory antigens (SAgs) of L. monocytogenes resulted in upregulation of TH1 cytokines and boosted protective effects by reducing listerial burden in infected mice. Archaeosome-entrapped SAgs enhanced CTL response and increased survival of immunized animals [Ansari et al. 2012]. Finally, Singha and colleagues used E. coli lipid liposome (escheriosome) based DNA delivery to induce superoxide dismutase (SOD) and interleukin (IL)-18-specific

immune responses in murine Brucellosis. Escheriosome-mediated delivery of SOD- and

IL-18-encoding DNA induced specific immune responses in immunized mice. Coexpression of SOD + IL-18 resulted in stronger IgG2a-type response compared with free SOD DNA [Singha et al. 2011]. Currently, no clinical trials with archaeosomal vaccines are registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (see ClinicalTrials.gov, search terms archaeosome AND vaccine). In summary, vaccines prepared with archaeal lipids, the archaeosomes, represent a new interesting and promising alternative to classical liposomes and virosomes. Virosomes Virosomes are liposomes prepared by combining natural or synthetic phospholipids with virus envelope phospholipids, viral spike glycoproteins and other viral proteins. The first virosomes were prepared and characterized by Almeida and colleagues [Almeida et al. 1975], followed by Helenius and colleagues who incorporated Semliki Forest virus glycoproteins AV-951 in liposomes [Helenius et al. 1977; Balcarova et al. 1981]. Significant progress was made with virosomes termed ‘immunopotentiating reconstituted influenza virosomes’ (IRIVs). IRIVs are SUVs with spike projections of the influenza surface glycoproteins HA and neuraminidase. The fusogenic properties of HA are their primary features. IRIVs allow antigen presentation in the context of MHC-I and MHC-II and induce B- and T-cell responses [Gluck, 1992, Gluck et al. 2005].

Other surgical risk scores, such as the logistic EuroSCORE, while

Other surgical risk scores, such as the logistic EuroSCORE, while correlated with overall prediction of risk, are poorly calibrated to estimate precise

sAVR mortality rates.4 Table 1 ACC-AHA recommendations for surgical aortic valve replacement.3 Many patients during cannot undergo sAVR due to excessive surgical risk, including porcelain aorta,5, 6 hostile Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical mediastinum, severe lung or liver disease, frailty, renal failure,7-9 advanced age, and prior CABG,10 among other factors,11, 12 many of which are not included in current surgical risk assessment algorithms. In patients who are deemed unsuitable for sAVR due to comorbidities, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been used as an alternative to relieve Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical symptoms and extend life. Almost 50,000 patients have been treated worldwide with one of the two commercially approved TAVR devices, including the balloon-expandable Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve (Edwards LifeSciences, Irvine, California) and the self-expanding CoreValve Revalving System (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota). A Ponatinib number of additional

transfemoral and transapical devices are under evaluation. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The purpose of this report is to review the clinical trials used to evaluate TAVR in patients who are at higher risk for sAVR. The clinical evidence base includes both prospective registries and randomized clinical trials. Future trial designs evaluating TAVR in intermediate populations will Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical also be discussed. Extreme-Risk or Inoperable Patients for sAVR Early clinical evaluation of TAVR included patients deemed unsuitable for sAVR. The logistic Euroscore was the primary risk algorithm used for reporting these series, but a number Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of specific clinical factors, including advanced age, prior CABG, cirrhosis, pulmonary disease and pulmonary artery hypertension, right ventricular failure, or mediastinal radiation were used for inclusion

of patients in TAVR studies. Balloon-Expandable TAVR Drug_discovery Registries and Randomized Clinical Trials The Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve consists of a trileaflet bovine pericardial valve and a balloon-expandable, stainless-steel support frame. The SAPIEN valve has undergone clinical study in the United States in 23-mm and 26-mm sizes. It is placed by means of a 22-French (Fr) or 24-Fr sheath from the femoral artery or via the transapical approach using a modified frame and larger delivery sheath. A second-generation 18-Fr RetroFlex II delivery system and a 29-mm SAPIEN XT valve are both available outside the United States and are currently undergoing US-based clinical trials through the PARTNER II study. A number of single-center series have evaluated the outcomes of TAVR using the Edwards SAPIEN system.

Spatial resolution of Formosat-2 data is 8 m for the 4-band multi

Spatial resolution of Formosat-2 data is 8 m for the 4-band multispectral mode and 2 m for the panchromatic mode, respectively. Formosat-2 can revisit the same areas in one-day intervals. The authors used only multispectral data at the 8 m spatial resolution for the purpose of classifying the surface cover types.We used ASTER data acquired in the daytime of March 6, 2001 and Formosat-2 data acquired on July 12, 2004, respectively, to estimate the heat balance in Tainan City.3.2. Meteorological DataThe authors used the ground meteorological data acquired at the meteorological station in Tainan City, managed by the Southern Region Weather Center, Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan. The weather station is located in the center of the city, as shown in Figure 1. Meteorological http://www.selleckchem.com/products/VX-770.html observations come from a standard site but which is surrounded by dense urbanized surfaces and thus it is expected that the observations are representative of canopy layer conditions in the urban area. In the present study, the data used were solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity, air-pressure and atmospheric temperature acquired at 1100 TST on March 6, 2001, according to the acquisition date of the ASTER data.The meteorological data are summarized in Table 2. The interpolation method is basically the same as that of Kato and Yamaguchi [2]. Because there is only one meteorological observation site and the study area is relatively small, we assumed that atmospheric temperature and air-pressure, at 0m ASL, are the same throughout the study area. Extrapolations of these parameters for each pixel including altitudinal corrections were applied based on the environmental lapse rate with ASTER DEM data. Solar radiation, wind speed and relative humidity were assumed to be constant throughout the study area.Table 2.Summary of the meteorological conditions of the analysis in Tainan City at 1100 TST on March 6, 2001.4.?Surface ClassificationIn order to estimate surface heat fluxes, the authors needed to interpolate the roughness length for sensible and latent heat fluxes, and the minimum stomatal resistance for latent heat flux, respectively, based on surface types as mentioned in Section 2. Because of that, we wanted to classify the surfaces according to vegetation types, and density and height of buildings. In the present study, the authors classified surface types from satellite data by the combined methods of the maximum likelihood, decision tree and manual classification in order to separate surface coverage having similar spectral patterns. First, we classify the surface types in more than 30 categories by the maximum likelihood method. The categories are too numerous for the following analysis because they are based on not only surface coverage but also their spectral pattern. Therefore, they are combined into 8 categories: buildings, roads, water, bare soil, short grass (e.g., lawn), tall grass (e.g., paddy field), bushes, and forests.