Sample records for activation sequence uas

  1. Isolation and Identification of Genes Activating Uas2-Dependent Adh2 Expression in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Donoviel, M. S.; Young, E. T.

    1996-01-01

    Two cis-acting elements have been identified that act synergistically to regulate expression of the glucose-repressed alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2) gene. UAS1 is bound by the trans-activator Adr1p. UAS2 is thought to be the binding site for an unidentified regulatory protein. A genetic selection based on a UAS2-dependent ADH2 reporter was devised to isolate genes capable of activating UAS2-dependent transcription. One set of UAS2-dependent genes contained SPT6/CRE2/SSN20. Multicopy SPT6 caused improper expression of chromosomal ADH2. A second set of UAS2-dependent clones contained a previously uncharacterized open reading frame designated MEU1 (Multicopy Enhancer of UAS2). A frame shift mutation in MEU1 abolished its ability to activate UAS2-dependent gene expression. Multicopy MEU1 expression suppressed the constitutive ADH2 expression caused by cre2-1. Disruption of MEU1 reduced endogenous ADH2 expression about twofold but had no effect on cell viability or growth. No homologues of MEU1 were identified by low-stringency Southern hybridization of yeast genomic DNA, and no significant homologues were found in the sequence data bases. A MEU1/β-gal fusion protein was not localized to a particular region of the cell. MEU1 is linked to PPR1 on chromosome XII. PMID:8807288

  2. JUBA (Joint UAS-Balloon Activities) Final Campaign Report.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dexheimer, Darielle; Apple, Monty; Callow, Diane Schafer

    Using internal investment funds within Sandia National Laboratories’ (SNL) Division 6000, JUBA was a collaborative exercise between SNL Orgs. 6533 & 6913 (later 8863) to demonstrate simultaneous flights of tethered balloons and UAS on the North Slope of Alaska. JUBA UAS and tethered balloon flights were conducted within the Restricted Airspace associated with the ARM AMF3 site at Oliktok Point, Alaska. The Restricted Airspace occupies a 2 nautical mile radius around Oliktok Point. JUBA was conducted at the Sandia Arctic Site, which is approximately 2 km east-southeast of the AMF3. JUBA activities occurred from 08/08/17 – 08/10/17. Atmospheric measurements frommore » tethered balloons can occur for a long duration, but offer limited spatial variation. Measurements from UAS could offer increased spatial variability.« less

  3. NASA's UAS [Unmanned Aircraft Systems] Related Activities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeffrey

    2012-01-01

    NASA continues to operate all sizes of UAS in all classes of airspace both domestically and internationally. Missions range from highly complex operations in coordination with piloted aircraft, ground, and space systems in support of science objectives to single aircraft operations in support of aeronautics research. One such example is a scaled commercial transport aircraft being used to study recovery techniques due to large upsets. NASA's efforts to support routine UAS operations continued on several fronts last year. At the national level in the United States (U.S.), NASA continued its support of the UAS Executive Committee (ExCom) comprised of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and NASA. The committee was formed in recognition of the need of UAS operated by these agencies to access to the National Airspace System (NAS) to support operational, training, development and research requirements. Recommendations were received on how to operate both manned and unmanned aircraft in class D airspace and plans are being developed to validate and implement those recommendations. In addition the UAS ExCom has begun developing recommendations for how to achieve routine operations in remote areas as well as for small UAS operations in class G airspace. As well as supporting the UAS ExCom, NASA is a participant in the recently formed Aviation Rule Making Committee for UAS. This committee, established by the FAA, is intended to propose regulatory guidance which would enable routine civil UAS operations. As that effort matures NASA stands ready to supply the necessary technical expertise to help that committee achieve its objectives. By supporting both the UAS ExCom and UAS ARC, NASA is positioned to provide its technical expertise across the full spectrum of UAS airspace access related topic areas. The UAS NAS Access Project got underway this past year under the leadership of NASA s Aeronautics

  4. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) activities at the Department of the Interior

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Quirk, Bruce K.; Hutt, Michael E.

    2014-01-01

    The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is responsible for protecting and managing the natural resources and heritage on almost 20% of the land in the United States. The DOI’s mission requires access to remotely sensed data over vast lands, including areas that are remote and potentially dangerous to access. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) technology has the potential to enable the DOI to be a better steward of the land by: (1) Improving natural hazard forecasting and the analysis of the impacts. (2) Improving the understanding of climate change to better plan for likely impacts. (3) Developing precipitation and evaporation forecasting to better manage water resources. (4) Monitoring Arctic ice change and its impacts on ecosystems, coasts, and transportation. (5) Increasing safety and effectiveness of wildland fire management. (6) Enhancing search and rescue capabilities. (7) Broadening the abilities to monitor environmental or landscape conditions and changes. (8) Better understanding and protecting the Nation’s ecosystems. The initial operational testing and evaluations performed by the DOI have proven that UAS technology can be used to support many of the Department’s activities. UAS technology provides scientists a way to look longer, closer and more frequently at some of Earth’s most remote areas—places that were previously too dangerous or expensive to monitor in detail. The flexibility of operations and relative low cost to purchase and operate Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) enhances the ability to track long-term landscape and environmental change. The initial testing indicates the operational costs are approximately 10% of traditional manned aircraft. In addition, users can quickly assess landscape-altering events such as wildland fires, floods and volcanoes. UAS technology will allow the DOI to do more with less and in the process enhance the Department’s ability to provide unbiased scientific information to help stakeholders make

  5. NASA's UAS Integration into the NAS: A Report on the Human Systems Integration Phase 1 Simulation Activities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa; Rorie, R. Conrad; Shively, R. Jay

    2014-01-01

    In 2011 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began a five-year Project to address the technical barriers related to routine access of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS). Planned in two phases, the goal of the first phase was to lay the foundations for the Project by identifying those barriers and key issues to be addressed to achieve integration. Phase 1 activities were completed two years into the five-year Project. The purpose of this paper is to review activities within the Human Systems Integration (HSI) subproject in Phase 1 toward its two objectives: 1) develop GCS guidelines for routine UAS access to the NAS, and 2) develop a prototype display suite within an existing Ground Control Station (GCS). The first objective directly addresses a critical barrier for UAS integration into the NAS - a lack of GCS design standards or requirements. First, the paper describes the initial development of a prototype GCS display suite and supporting simulation software capabilities. Then, three simulation experiments utilizing this simulation architecture are summarized. The first experiment sought to determine a baseline performance of UAS pilots operating in civil airspace under current instrument flight rules for manned aircraft. The second experiment examined the effect of currently employed UAS contingency procedures on Air Traffic Control (ATC) participants. The third experiment compared three GCS command and control interfaces on UAS pilot response times in compliance with ATC clearances. The authors discuss how the results of these and future simulation and flight-testing activities contribute to the development of GCS guidelines to support the safe integration of UAS into the NAS. Finally, the planned activities for Phase 2, including an integrated human-in-the-loop simulation and two flight tests are briefly described.

  6. Two DNA-binding factors recognize specific sequences at silencers, upstream activating sequences, autonomously replicating sequences, and telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Buchman, A.R.; Kimmerly, W.J.; Rine, J.

    1988-01-01

    Two DNA-binding factors from Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been characterized, GRFI (general regulatory factor I) and ABFI (ARS-binding factor I), that recognize specific sequences within diverse genetic elements. GRFI bound to sequences at the negative regulatory elements (silencers) of the silent mating type loci HML E and HMR E and to the upstream activating sequence (UAS) required for transcription of the MAT ..cap alpha.. genes. A putative conserved UAS located at genes involved in translation (RPG box) was also recognized by GRFI. In addition, GRFI bound with high affinity to sequences within the (C/sub 1-3/A)-repeat region at yeast telomeres. Binding sitesmore » for GRFI with the highest affinity appeared to be of the form 5'-(A/G)(A/C)ACCCAN NCA(T/C)(T/C)-3', where N is any nucleotide. ABFI-binding sites were located next to autonomously replicating sequences (ARSs) at controlling elements of the silent mating type loci HMR E, HMR I, and HML I and were associated with ARS1, ARS2, and the 2..mu..m plasmid ARS. Two tandem ABFI binding sites were found between the HIS3 and DED1 genes, several kilobase pairs from any ARS, indicating that ABFI-binding sites are not restricted to ARSs. The sequences recognized by AFBI showed partial dyad-symmetry and appeared to be variations of the consensus 5'-TATCATTNNNNACGA-3'. GRFI and ABFI were both abundant DNA-binding factors and did not appear to be encoded by the SIR genes, whose product are required for repression of the silent mating type loci. Together, these results indicate that both GRFI and ABFI play multiple roles within the cell.« less

  7. NASA UAS Update

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeffrey Ervin; Mulac, Brenda Lynn

    2010-01-01

    Last year may prove to be a pivotal year for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) arena, especially in relation to routine UAS access to airspace as NASA accepted an invitation to join the UAS Executive Committee (UAS ExCom). The UAS ExCom is a multi-agency, Federal executive-level committee comprised of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and NASA with the goals to: 1) Coordinate and align efforts between key Federal Government agencies to achieve routine safe federal public UAS operations in the National Airspace System (NAS); 2) Coordinate and prioritize technical, procedural, regulatory, and policy solutions needed to deliver incremental capabilities; 3) Develop a plan to accommodate the larger stakeholder community at the appropriate time; and 4) Resolve conflicts between Federal Government agencies (FAA, DoD, DHS, and NASA), related to the above goals. The committee was formed in recognition of the need of UAS operated by these agencies to access to the National Airspace System (NAS) to support operational, training, development and research requirements. In order to meet that need, technical, procedural, regulatory, and policy solutions are required to deliver incremental capabilities leading to routine access. The formation of the UAS ExCom is significant in that it represents a tangible commitment by FAA senior leadership to address the UAS access challenge. While the focus of the ExCom is government owned and operated UAS, civil UAS operations are bound to benefit by the progress made in achieving routine access for government UAS. As the UAS ExCom was forming, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate began to show renewed interest in UAS, particularly in relation to the future state of the air transportation system under the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). NASA made funding from the American

  8. Swarming UAS II

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-05

    employed biomimicry to model a swarm of UAS as a colony of ants, where each UAS dynamically updates a global memory map, allowing pheromone-like...matter of design, DSE-R-0808 employed biomimicry to model a swarm of UAS as a colony of ants, where each UAS dynamically updates a global memory map

  9. UAS Related Activities at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeffrey E.

    2009-01-01

    NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center is completing its refurbishment and initial flights of one the pre-production Global Hawk aircraft it received from the U.S. Air Force. NASA Dryden has an agreement with the Global Hawk s manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, to partner in the refurbishment and flight operations of the vehicles. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also partnered on the project and is assisting NASA with project management and pilot responsibilities for the aircraft. NASA and NOAA will be using the Global Hawks to conduct earth science research. The earth science community is increasing utilizing UAS of all sizes and capabilities to collect important data on a variety of issues including important global climate change issues. To pursue the data collection needs of the science community there is a growing demand for international collaboration with respect to operating UAS in global airspace. Operations of NASA s Ikhana aircraft continued this past year. The Ikhana is a modified Predator B UAS. A UAS dedicated to research at NASA Dryden is the X-48B blended wing body research aircraft. Flight tests with the 500- pound, remotely piloted test vehicle are now in a block 4 phase involving parameter identification and maneuvers to research the limits of the engine in stall situations. NASA s participation in the blended wing body research effort is focused on fundamental, advanced flight dynamics and structural design concepts within the Subsonic Fixed Wing project, part of the Fundamental Aeronautics program managed through NASA s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. Potential benefits of the aircraft include increased volume for carrying capacity, efficient aerodynamics for reduced fuel burn and possibly significant reductions in noise due to propulsion integration options. NASA Dryden continues to support the UAS industry by facilitating access to three specially designated test areas on Edwards Air Force Base for the

  10. Initial Experimental Airworthiness Certification Guidance for UAS. UAS Experimental Certification Process and Guidance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This paper addresses the regulatory processes and requirements already in place by which an applicant might obtain experimental airworthiness certification for a civil Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). It is more extensive and subsequent to an earlier, similar deliverable, PD007, which was an interim study of the same topic. Since few regulatory airworthiness and operating standards exist for UAS like those for traditional manned aircraft and since most UAS have historically been developed and operated under military auspices, civil use of UAS in the NAS is a new and unfamiliar challenge requiring specific and unique considerations. Experimental certification is the most basic level of FAA approval toward routine UAS operation in the NAS. The paper reviews and explains existing FAA requirements for an applicant seeking experimental airworthiness approval and details the process for submission of necessary information. It summarizes the limited purposes for which experimental aircraft may be used and addresses pertinent aspects of UAS design, construction and operation in the NAS in harmony with traditional manned aircraft. Policy IPT position is that UAS, while different from manned aircraft, can use the same initial processes to gain civil operating experience under the experimental approval. Particular note is taken of those UAS-unique characteristics which require extra attention to assure equivalent safety of operation, such as the UAS control station and sense-and-avoid. The paper also provides "best practices" guidance for UAS manufacturers and FAA personnel in two appendices. The material in Appendix A is intended to provide guidance on assuring UAS safety to FAA, and provides FAA personnel with a suggested list of items to review, with a focus on UAS unique factors, prior to issuance of an experimental airworthiness certificate. Appendix B provides an outline for a program letter which a manufacturer could use in preparing the application for an UAS

  11. Registration and Marking Requirements for UAS. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Registration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    The registration of an aircraft is a prerequisite for issuance of a U.S. certificate of airworthiness by the FAA. The procedures and requirements for aircraft registration, and the subsequent issuance of registration numbers, are contained in FAR Part 47. However, the process/method(s) for applying the requirements of Parts 45 & 47 to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) has not been defined. This task resolved the application of 14 CFR Parts 45 and 47 to UAS. Key Findings: UAS are aircraft systems and as such the recommended approach to registration is to follow the same process for registration as manned aircraft. This will require manufacturers to comply with the requirements for 14 CFR 47, Aircraft Registration and 14 CFR 45, Identification and Registration Marking. In addition, only the UA should be identified with the N number registration markings. There should also be a documentation link showing the applicability of the control station and communication link to the UA. The documentation link can be in the form of a Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) entry or a UAS logbook entry. The recommended process for the registration of UAS is similar to the manned aircraft process and is outlined in a 6-step process in the paper.

  12. NASA UAS Integration Efforts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hackenberg, Davis

    2017-01-01

    This is a benefit to NASA because of all the networking opportunities as well as sharing information about UAS-NAS within the UAS community. NASA has developed, and is executing, a Cohesive Strategy for UAS Integration

  13. UAS in the NAS: Survey Responses by ATC, Manned Aircraft Pilots, and UAS Pilots

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comstock, James R., Jr.; McAdaragh, Raymon; Ghatas, Rania W.; Burdette, Daniel W.; Trujillo, Anna C.

    2014-01-01

    NASA currently is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish future requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flying in the National Airspace System (NAS). To work these issues NASA has established a multi-center "UAS Integration in the NAS" project. In order to establish Ground Control Station requirements for UAS, the perspective of each of the major players in NAS operations was desired. Three on-line surveys were administered that focused on Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), pilots of manned aircraft, and pilots of UAS. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with some survey respondents. The survey questions addressed UAS control, navigation, and communications from the perspective of small and large unmanned aircraft. Questions also addressed issues of UAS equipage, especially with regard to sense and avoid capabilities. From the civilian ATC and military ATC perspectives, of particular interest are how mixed operations (manned / UAS) have worked in the past and the role of aircraft equipage. Knowledge gained from this information is expected to assist the NASA UAS Integration in the NAS project in directing research foci thus assisting the FAA in the development of rules, regulations, and policies related to UAS in the NAS.

  14. UAS in the NAS: Survey Responses by ATC, Manned Aircraft Pilots, and UAS Pilots

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comstock, James R., Jr.; McAdaragh, Raymon; Ghatas, Rania W.; Burdette, Daniel W.; Trujillo, Anna C.

    2013-01-01

    NASA currently is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish future requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flying in the National Airspace System (NAS). To work these issues NASA has established a multi-center UAS Integration in the NAS project. In order to establish Ground Control Station requirements for UAS, the perspective of each of the major players in NAS operations was desired. Three on-line surveys were administered that focused on Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), pilots of manned aircraft, and pilots of UAS. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with some survey respondents. The survey questions addressed UAS control, navigation, and communications from the perspective of small and large unmanned aircraft. Questions also addressed issues of UAS equipage, especially with regard to sense and avoid capabilities. From the ATC and military ATC perspective, of particular interest is how mixed-operations (manned/UAS) have worked in the past and the role of aircraft equipage. Knowledge gained from this information is expected to assist the NASA UAS in the NAS project in directing research foci thus assisting the FAA in the development of rules, regulations, and policies related to UAS in the NAS.

  15. FAA UAS Center of Excellence task A4: UAS ground collision severity evaluation.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-01-01

    The UAS Ground Collision Severity Evaluation Final Report documents the UAS platform characteristics related to the severity of UAS ground collision based upon the literature search of over 300 publications from the automotive industry, consumer batt...

  16. Influence of UAS Pilot Communication and Execution Delay on Controller's Acceptability Ratings of UAS-ATC Interactions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vu, Kim-Phuong L.; Morales, Gregory; Chiappe, Dan; Strybel, Thomas Z.; Battiste, Vernol; Shively, Jay; Buker, Timothy J

    2013-01-01

    Successful integration of UAS in the NAS will require that UAS interactions with the air traffic management system be similar to interactions between manned aircraft and air traffic management. For example, UAS response times to air traffic controller (ATCo) clearances should be equivalent to those that are currently found to be acceptable with manned aircraft. Prior studies have examined communication delays with manned aircraft. Unfortunately, there is no analogous body of research for UAS. The goal of the present study was to determine how UAS pilot communication and execution delays affect ATCos' acceptability ratings of UAS pilot responses when the UAS is operating in the NAS. Eight radar-certified controllers managed traffic in a modified ZLA sector with one UAS flying in it. In separate scenarios, the UAS pilot verbal communication and execution delays were either short (1.5 s) or long (5 s) and either constant or variable. The ATCo acceptability of UAS pilot communication and execution delays were measured subjectively via post trial ratings. UAS verbal pilot communication delay, were rated as acceptable 92% of the time when the delay was short. This acceptability level decreased to 64% when the delay was long. UAS pilot execution delay had less of an influence on ATCo acceptability ratings in the present stimulation. Implications of these findings for UAS in the NAS integration are discussed.

  17. UAS-NAS Stakeholder Feedback Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Randall, Debra; Murphy, Jim; Grindle, Laurie

    2016-01-01

    The need to fly UAS in the NAS to perform missions of vital importance to national security and defense, emergency management, science, and to enable commercial applications has been continually increasing over the past few years. To address this need, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Integrated Aviation Systems Program (IASP) formulated and funded the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project (hereafter referred to as UAS-NAS Project) from 2011 to 2016. The UAS-NAS Project identified the following need statement: The UAS community needs routine access to the global airspace for all classes of UAS. The Project identified the following goal: To provide research findings to reduce technical barriers associated with integrating UAS into the NAS utilizing integrated system level tests in a relevant environment. This report provides a summary of the collaborations between the UAS-NAS Project and its primary stakeholders and how the Project applied and incorporated the feedback.

  18. Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM): Enabling Low-Altitude Airspace and UAS Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal H.

    2014-01-01

    Many civilian applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have been imagined ranging from remote to congested urban areas, including goods delivery, infrastructure surveillance, agricultural support, and medical services delivery. Further, these UAS will have different equipage and capabilities based on considerations such as affordability, and mission needs applications. Such heterogeneous UAS mix, along with operations such as general aviation, helicopters, gliders must be safely accommodated at lower altitudes. However, key infrastructure to enable and safely manage widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS operations therein does not exist. Therefore, NASA is exploring functional design, concept and technology development, and a prototype UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system. UTM will support safe and efficient UAS operations for the delivery of goods and services

  19. UAS Research - Who's Doing What?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hackenberg, Davis

    2018-01-01

    This presentation includes the UAS-Enabled Market Categories used in Study, as well as the reason for the UAS-NAS NO Chase COA flight. It discusses the transitioning of a UA from different airspaces. UAS Integration is a community wide effort, and the FAA Symposium provides attendees with the opportunity to engage face-to-face with a cross-section of government and industry leaders and innovators about the latest industry developments, regulations, research, and other initiatives to safely integrate UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS).

  20. NASA's UAS NAS Access Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Charles W.

    2011-01-01

    The vision of the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project is "A global transportation system which allows routine access for all classes of UAS." The goal of the UAS Integration in the NAS Project is to "contribute capabilities that reduce technical barriers related to the safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS." This goal will be accomplished through a two-phased approach based on development of system-level integration of key concepts, technologies and/or procedures, and demonstrations of integrated capabilities in an operationally relevant environment. Phase 1 will take place the first two years of the Project and Phase 2 will take place the following three years. The Phase 1 and 2 technical objectives are: Phase 1: Developing a gap analysis between current state of the art and the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) UAS Concept of Operations . Validating the key technical areas identified by this Project . Conducting initial modeling, simulation, and flight testing activities . Completing Sub-project Phase 1 deliverables (spectrum requirements, comparative analysis of certification methodologies, etc.) and continue Phase 2 preparation (infrastructure, tools, etc.) Phase 2: Providing regulators with a methodology for developing airworthiness requirements for UAS, and data to support development of certifications standards and regulatory guidance . Providing systems-level, integrated testing of concepts and/or capabilities that address barriers to routine access to the NAS. Through simulation and flight testing, address issues including separation assurance, communications requirements, and human systems integration in operationally relevant environments. The UAS in the NAS Project will demonstrate solutions in specific technology areas, which will address operational/safety issues related to UAS access to the NAS. Since the resource allocation for

  1. UTM UAS Service Supplier Specification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rios, Joseph Lucio

    2017-01-01

    Within the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) system, the UAS Service Supplier (USS) is a key component. The USS serves several functions. At a high level, those include the following: Bridging communication between UAS Operators and Flight Information Management System (FIMS) Supporting planning of UAS operations Assisting strategic deconfliction of the UTM airspace Providing information support to UAS Operators during operations Helping UAS Operators meet their formal requirements This document provides the minimum set of requirements for a USS. In order to be recognized as a USS within UTM, successful demonstration of satisfying the requirements described herein will be a prerequisite. To ensure various desired qualities (security, fairness, availability, efficiency, maintainability, etc.), this specification relies on references to existing public specifications whenever possible.

  2. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) National Campaign II

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Aweiss, Arwa S.; Owens, Brandon D.; Rios, Joseph L.; Homola, Jeffrey R.; Mohlenbrink, Christoph P.

    2018-01-01

    The Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) effort at NASA aims to enable access to low-altitude airspace for small UAS. This goal is being pursued partly through partnerships that NASA has developed with the UAS stakeholder community, the FAA, other government agencies, and the designated FAA UAS Test Sites. By partnering with the FAA UAS Test Sites, NASA's UTM project has performed a geographically diverse, simultaneous set of UAS operations at locations in six states. The demonstrations used an architecture that was developed by NASA in partnership with the FAA to safely coordinate such operations. These demonstrations-the second or 'Technical Capability Level (TCL 2)' National Campaign of UTM testing-was performed from May 15 through June 9, 2017. Multiple UAS operations occurred during the testing at sites located in Alaska, Nevada, Texas, North Dakota, Virginia, and New York with multiple organizations serving as UAS Service Suppliers and/or UAS Operators per the specifications provided by NASA. By engaging various members of the UAS community in development and operational roles, this campaign provided initial validation of different aspects of the UTM concept including: UAS Service Supplier technologies and procedures; geofencing technologies/conformance monitoring; ground-based surveillance/sense and avoid; airborne sense and avoid; communication, navigation, surveillance; and human factors related to UTM data creation and display. Additionally, measures of performance were defined and calculated from the flight data to establish quantitative bases for comparing flight test activities and to provide potential metrics that might be routinely monitored in future operational UTM systems.

  3. FAA UAS Center of Excellence task A4: UAS ground collision severity evaluation, revision 2.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-01-01

    The UAS Ground Collision Severity Evaluation Final Report documents the UAS platform characteristics related to the severity of UAS ground collision based upon the literature search of over 300 publications from the automotive industry, consumer batt...

  4. The UAS control segment architecture: an overview

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gregory, Douglas A.; Batavia, Parag; Coats, Mark; Allport, Chris; Jennings, Ann; Ernst, Richard

    2013-05-01

    The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) directed the Services in 2009 to jointly develop and demonstrate a common architecture for command and control of Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Groups 2 through 5. The UAS Control Segment (UCS) Architecture is an architecture framework for specifying and designing the softwareintensive capabilities of current and emerging UCS systems in the DoD inventory. The UCS Architecture is based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles that will be adopted by each of the Services as a common basis for acquiring, integrating, and extending the capabilities of the UAS Control Segment. The UAS Task Force established the UCS Working Group to develop and support the UCS Architecture. The Working Group currently has over three hundred members, and is open to qualified representatives from DoD-approved defense contractors, academia, and the Government. The UCS Architecture is currently at Release 2.2, with Release 3.0 planned for July 2013. This paper discusses the current and planned elements of the UCS Architecture, and related activities of the UCS Community of Interest.

  5. Mapping with Small UAS: A Point Cloud Accuracy Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toth, Charles; Jozkow, Grzegorz; Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota

    2015-12-01

    Interest in using inexpensive Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology for topographic mapping has recently significantly increased. Small UAS platforms equipped with consumer grade cameras can easily acquire high-resolution aerial imagery allowing for dense point cloud generation, followed by surface model creation and orthophoto production. In contrast to conventional airborne mapping systems, UAS has limited ground coverage due to low flying height and limited flying time, yet it offers an attractive alternative to high performance airborne systems, as the cost of the sensors and platform, and the flight logistics, is relatively low. In addition, UAS is better suited for small area data acquisitions and to acquire data in difficult to access areas, such as urban canyons or densely built-up environments. The main question with respect to the use of UAS is whether the inexpensive consumer sensors installed in UAS platforms can provide the geospatial data quality comparable to that provided by conventional systems. This study aims at the performance evaluation of the current practice of UAS-based topographic mapping by reviewing the practical aspects of sensor configuration, georeferencing and point cloud generation, including comparisons between sensor types and processing tools. The main objective is to provide accuracy characterization and practical information for selecting and using UAS solutions in general mapping applications. The analysis is based on statistical evaluation as well as visual examination of experimental data acquired by a Bergen octocopter with three different image sensor configurations, including a GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition, a Nikon D800 DSLR and a Velodyne HDL-32. In addition, georeferencing data of varying quality were acquired and evaluated. The optical imagery was processed by using three commercial point cloud generation tools. Comparing point clouds created by active and passive sensors by using different quality sensors, and finally

  6. NASA Dryden's UAS Service Capabilities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeff

    2007-01-01

    The vision of NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center is to "fly what others only imagine." Its mission is to advance technology and science through flight. Objectives supporting the mission include performing flight research and technology integration to revolutionize aviation and pioneer aerospace technology, validating space exploration concepts, conducting airborne remote sensing and science missions, and supporting operations of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. A significant focus of effort in recent years has been on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), both in support of the Airborne Science Program and as research vehicles to advance the state of the art in UAS. Additionally, the Center has used its piloted aircraft in support of UAS technology development. In order to facilitate greater access to the UAS expertise that exists at the Center, that expertise has been organized around three major capabilities. The first is access to high-altitude, long-endurance UAS. The second is the establishment of a test range for small UAS. The third is safety case assessment support.

  7. Cohesive ARMD Full UAS Integration Strategy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hackenberg, Davis

    2017-01-01

    Introduction / Background; Current Landscape and Future Vision; UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Demand and Key Challenges; UAS Airspace Access Pillars and Enablers; Overarching UAS Community Strategy; Long Term Vision Considerations; Recommendations and Next Steps.

  8. Highly sulfated hexasaccharide sequences isolated from chondroitin sulfate of shark fin cartilage: insights into the sugar sequences with bioactivities.

    PubMed

    Mizumoto, Shuji; Murakoshi, Saori; Kalayanamitra, Kittiwan; Deepa, Sarama Sathyaseelan; Fukui, Shigeyuki; Kongtawelert, Prachya; Yamada, Shuhei; Sugahara, Kazuyuki

    2013-02-01

    Chondroitin sulfate (CS) chains regulate the development of the central nervous system in vertebrates and are linear polysaccharides consisting of variously sulfated repeating disaccharides, [-4GlcUAβ1-3GalNAcβ1-](n), where GlcUA and GalNAc represent D-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, respectively. CS chains containing D-disaccharide units [GlcUA(2-O-sulfate)-GalNAc(6-O-sulfate)] are involved in the development of cerebellar Purkinje cells and neurite outgrowth-promoting activity through interaction with a neurotrophic factor, pleiotrophin, resulting in the regulation of signaling. In this study, to obtain further structural information on the CS chains containing d-disaccharide units involved in brain development, oligosaccharides containing D-units were isolated from a shark fin cartilage. Seven novel hexasaccharide sequences, ΔO-D-D, ΔA-D-D, ΔC-D-D, ΔE-A-D, ΔD-D-C, ΔE-D-D and ΔA-B-D, in addition to three previously reported sequences, ΔC-A-D, ΔC-D-C and ΔA-D-A, were isolated from a CS preparation of shark fin cartilage after exhaustive digestion with chondroitinase AC-I, which cannot act on the galactosaminidic linkages bound to D-units. The symbol Δ stands for a 4,5-unsaturated bond of uronic acids, whereas A, B, C, D, E and O represent [GlcUA-GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)], [GlcUA(2-O-sulfate)-GalNAc(4-O-sulfate)], [GlcUA-GalNAc(6-O-sulfate)], [GlcUA(2-O-sulfate)-GalNAc(6-O-sulfate)], [GlcUA-GalNAc(4-O-, 6-O-sulfate)] and [GlcUA-GalNAc], respectively. In binding studies using an anti-CS monoclonal antibody, MO-225, the epitopes of which are involved in cerebellar development in mammals, novel epitope structures, ΔA-D-A, ΔA-D-D and ΔA-B-D, were revealed. Hexasaccharides containing two consecutive D-units or a B-unit will be useful for the structural and functional analyses of CS chains particularly in the neuroglycobiological fields.

  9. Developing a UAS Program for Electric Utilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keltgen, James

    New innovations and technologies using unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, have created unique opportunities for commercial applications. Electric utilities, likewise, realize the benefits of using UAS as a tool in electric utility operations. Although the opportunities exist, establishing a UAS program for electric utilities is largely an endeavor of trial and error or research and development with no clear path defined on how to establish a UAS program. By reviewing UAS use case examples and integrating lessons learned with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, UAS best practices, unique electric utility values, legal and insurance perspectives, equipment selection, and thoughtful planning and preparation; a solution model is developed to establish a UAS program for electric utilities.

  10. Life Science Start-up Activities at the Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS).

    PubMed

    Huber, Gerda

    2014-12-01

    The universities of applied sciences (UAS) provide several values for the society and economy of a country. Besides education of high level professionals, transfer of knowledge from research to applications in industry or as new start-up companies is an important task. This is done in different ways in the various disciplines. In Life Sciences, a key industry branch in Switzerland, innovation is a competitive success factor and research findings from UAS/Life Sciences contribute to the valorization of new technologies to products, services and to business performance. In order to foster awareness for the innovation need of industry, UAS install processes and support for transfer of research and technology results to marketable applications. Furthermore they may facilitate contacts of researchers and students with entrepreneurs in order to animate start-up founding as a true alternative to being employed. Access to coaching and entrepreneurial training completes the essential basis.

  11. Expanding the Envelope of UAS Certification: What it Takes to Type Certify a UAS for Precision Agricultural Spraying

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maddalon, J. M.; Hayhurst, K. J.; Neogi, N. A.; Verstynen, H. A.; Clothier, R. A.

    2016-01-01

    One of the key challenges to the development of a commercial Unmanned Air-craft System (UAS) market is the lack of explicit consideration of UAS in the current regulatory framework. Despite recent progress, additional steps are needed to enable broad UAS types and operational models. This paper discusses recent research that examines how a risk-based approach for safety might change the process and substance of airworthiness requirements for UAS. The project proposed risk-centric airworthiness requirements for a midsize un-manned rotorcraft used for agricultural spraying and also identified factors that may contribute to distinguishing safety risk among different UAS types and operational concepts. Lessons learned regarding how a risk-based approach can expand the envelope of UAS certification are discussed.

  12. UAS Integration into the NAS: Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Delegation of Separation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa Carolynn; Kenny, Caitlin Ailis

    2012-01-01

    FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 mandates UAS integration in the NAS by 2015. Operators must be able to safely maneuver UAS to maintain separation and collision avoidance. Delegated Separation is defined as the transfer of responsibility for maintaining separation between aircraft or vehicles from the air navigation service provider to the relevant flight operator, and will likely begin in sparsely trafficked areas before moving to more heavily populated airspace. As UAS operate primarily in areas with lower traffic density and perform maneuvers routinely that are currently managed through special handling, they have the advantage of becoming an early adopter of delegated separation. This experiment will examine if UAS are capable of performing delegated separation in 5 nm horizontal and 1000 ft vertical distances under two delegation conditions. In Extended Delegation, ATC are in charge of identifying problems and delegating to pilot identification and implementation of the solution and monitoring. In Full Delegation, the pilots are responsible for all tasks related to separation assurance: identification of problems and solutions, implementation and monitoring.

  13. UAS Developments Supporting Wildfire Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ambrosia, V. G.; Dahlgren, R. P.; Watts, A.; Reynolds, K. W.; Ball, T.

    2014-12-01

    Wildfires are regularly occurring emergency events that threaten life, property, and natural resources in every U.S. State and many countries around the world. Despite projections that $1.8 billion will be spent by U.S. Federal agencies alone on wildfires in 2014, the decades-long trend of increasing fire size, severity, and cost is expected to continue. Furthermore, the enormous potential for UAS (and concomitant sensor systems) to serve as geospatial intelligence tools to improve the safety and effectiveness of fire management, and our ability to forecast fire and smoke movements, remains barely tapped. Although orbital sensor assets are can provide the geospatial extent of wildfires, generally those resources are limited in use due to their spatial and temporal resolution limitations. These two critical elements make orbital assets of limited utility for tactical, real-time wildfire management, or for continuous scientific analysis of the temporal dynamics related to fire energy release rates and plume concentrations that vary significantly thru a fire's progression. Large UAS platforms and sensors can and have been used to monitor wildfire events at improved temporal, spatial and radiometric scales, but more focus is being placed on the use of small UAS (sUAS) and sensors to support wildfire observation strategies. The use of sUAS is therefore more critical for TACTICAL management purposes, rather than strategic observations, where small-scale fire developments are critical to understand. This paper will highlight the historical development and use of UAS for fire observations, as well as the current shift in focus to smaller, more affordable UAS for more rapid integration into operational use on wildfire events to support tactical observation strategies, and support wildfire science measurement inprovements.

  14. Technology Trends in Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and Counter-UAS: A Five Year Outlook

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-11-01

    types of sUAS are highly sensitive to weather conditions, such as strong winds , which can affect precision maneuverability...will surpass the 200 mph mark, and fixed-wing sUAS will see some enhancement in speed through the advancement of miniature (or hobbyist) turbine ... turbine engine (Figure 6).14 Since then, several other sUAS hobbyists have tested similar aircraft reaching comparable speeds. In response to

  15. Recommendations for UAS Crew Ratings. Pilot Ratings and Authorization Requirements for UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This position paper is intended to recommend the minimum certificate and rating requirements for a pilot to operate an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the National Airspace System. The paper will recommend the minimum requirements based on the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) required of a UAS pilot and show how those compare to the KSAs required by regulation for manned-aircraft pilots. The paper will provide substantiation based on studies conducted using analyses, simulation and flight experience. The paper is not yet complete; only initial working material is included. The material provided describes the body of work completed thus far and the plan for remaining tasks to complete the recommendation. The HSI Pilot KSA document provides an analysis of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for UAS operation in the NAS. It is the source document used for the position paper.

  16. UAS-NAS Flight Test Series 3: Test Environment Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hoang, Ty; Murphy, Jim; Otto, Neil

    2016-01-01

    The desire and ability to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is of increasing urgency. The application of unmanned aircraft to perform national security, defense, scientific, and emergency management are driving the critical need for less restrictive access by UAS to the NAS. UAS represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the NAS. NASA's UAS Integration in the NAS Project is conducting research in the areas of Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability (SSI), Human Systems Integration (HSI), and Communications (Comm), and Certification to support reducing the barriers of UAS access to the NAS. This research is broken into two research themes namely, UAS Integration and Test Infrastructure. UAS Integration focuses on airspace integration procedures and performance standards to enable UAS integration in the air transportation system, covering Detect and Avoid (DAA) performance standards, command and control performance standards, and human systems integration. The focus of Test Infrastructure is to enable development and validation of airspace integration procedures and performance standards, including integrated test and evaluation. In support of the integrated test and evaluation efforts, the Project will develop an adaptable, scalable, and schedulable relevant test environment capable of evaluating concepts and technologies for unmanned aircraft systems to safely operate in the NAS. To accomplish this task, the Project is conducting a series of human-in-the-loop (HITL) and flight test activities that integrate key concepts, technologies and/or procedures in a relevant air traffic environment. Each of the integrated events will build on the technical achievements, fidelity, and

  17. UAS Satellite Earth Station Emission Limits for Terrestrial System Interference Protection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Bishop, William D.

    2017-01-01

    Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) will have a major impact on future aviation. Medium and large UA operating at altitudes above 3000 feet will require access to non-segregated, that is, controlled airspace. In order for unmanned aircraft to be integrated into the airspace and operate with other commercial aircraft, a very reliable command and control (C2, a. k. a. control and non-payload communications, (CNPC)) link is required. For operations covering large distances or over remote locations, a beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) CNPC link would need to be implemented through satellite. Significant progress has taken place on several fronts to advance the integration of UAS into controlled airspace, including the recent completion of Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for terrestrial line-of-sight (LOS) UAS command and control (C2) links. The development of MOPS for beyond line-of-sight C2 satellite communication links is underway. Meanwhile the allocation of spectrum for UAS C2 by the International Telecommunications Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has also progressed. Spectrum for LOS C2 was allocated at the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12), and for BLOS C2 an allocation was made at WRC-15, under WRC-15 Resolution 155. Resolution 155, however, does not come into effect until several other actions have been completed. One of these required actions is the identification of a power flux density (pfd) limit on the emissions of UAS Ku-Band satellite communications transmitters reaching the ground. The pfd limit is intended to protect terrestrial systems from harmful interference. WRC-19 is expected to finalize the pfd limit. In preparation for WRC-19, analyses of the required pfd limit are on-going, and supporting activities such as propagation modeling are also planned. This paper provides the status of these activities.

  18. Possibilities of Uas for Maritime Monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klimkowska, A.; Lee, I.; Choi, K.

    2016-06-01

    In the last few years, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have become more important and its use for different application is appreciated. At the beginning UAS were used for military purposes. These successful applications initiated interest among researchers to find uses of UAS for civilian purposes, as they are alternative to both manned and satellite systems in acquiring high-resolution remote sensing data at lower cost while long flight duration. As UAS are built from many components such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), sensing payloads, communication systems, ground control stations, recovery and launch equipment, and supporting equipment, knowledge about its functionality and characteristics is crucial for missions. Therefore, finding appropriate configuration of all elements to fulfill requirements of the mission is a very difficult, yet important task. UAS may be used in various maritime applications such as ship detection, red tide detection and monitoring, border patrol, tracking of pollution at sea and hurricane monitoring just to mention few. One of the greatest advantages of UAV is their ability to fly over dangerous and hazardous areas, where sending manned aircraft could be risky for a crew. In this article brief description of aerial unmanned system components is introduced. Firstly characteristics of unmanned aerial vehicles are presented, it continues with introducing inertial navigation system, communication systems, sensing payloads, ground control stations, and ground and recovery equipment. Next part introduces some examples of UAS for maritime applications. This is followed by suggestions of key indicators which should be taken into consideration while choosing UAS. Last part talks about configuration schemes of UAVs and sensor payloads suggested for some maritime applications.

  19. The use of UAS in disaster response operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gkotsis, I.; Eftychidis, G.; Kolios, P.

    2017-09-01

    The use of UAS by the emergency services has been received with great interest since UAS provide both informant and helper support in a flexible, effective and efficient manner. This is due to the fact that, UAS can strengthen the operational capabilities related to: prevention (e.g., patrolling of large and hard to reach areas), early detection (e.g., mapping of vulnerable elements), disaster preparedness (e.g., incident inspection), response (mapping damages, search and rescue, provide an ad hoc communication network, monitor evacuation, etc). Through PREDICATE, a project concerning civilian use of drones, the necessary methodologies to guide the selection and operational use of UAS in emergencies, are developed. To guide UAS selection, the project performed a detailed needs assessment in cooperation with civil protection and law enforcement agencies. As a result of this assessment, currently available technologies and market solutions were reviewed leading to the development of an online user-friendly tool to support selection of UAS based on operational requirements. To guide the use of UAS, PREDICATE developed an intelligent path planning toolkit to automate the operation of UAS and ease their use for the various civil protection operations. By employing the aforementioned tools, emergency services will be able to better understand how to select and make use of UAS for watch-keeping and patrolling of their own disaster-prone Regions of Interest. The research, innovation and applicability behind both these tools is detailed in this work.

  20. Considerations for an Integrated UAS CNS Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templin, Fred L.; Jain, Raj; Sheffield, Greg; Taboso-Bellesteros, Pedro; Ponchak, Denise

    2017-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is investigating revolutionary and advanced universal, reliable, always available, cyber secure and affordable Communication, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS) options for all altitudes of UAS operations. In Spring 2015, NASA issued a Call for Proposals under NASA Research Announcements (NRA) NNH15ZEA001N, Amendment 7 Subtopic 2.4. Boeing was selected to conduct a study with the objective to determine the most promising candidate technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) air-to-air and air-to-ground data exchange and analyze their suitability in a post-NextGen NAS environment. The overall objectives are to develop UAS CNS requirements and then develop architectures that satisfy the requirements for UAS in both controlled and uncontrolled air space. This contract is funded under NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorates (ARMD) Aviation Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) Safe Autonomous Systems Operations (SASO) project and proposes technologies for the Unmanned Air Systems Traffic Management (UTM) service.There is a need for accommodating large-scale populations of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) in the national air space. Scale obviously impacts capacity planning for Communication, Navitation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies. For example, can wireless communications data links provide the necessary capacity for accommodating millions of small UASs (sUAS) nationwide? Does the communications network provide sufficient Internet Protocol (IP) address space to allow air traffic control to securely address both UAS teams as a whole as well as individual UAS within each team? Can navigation and surveillance approaches assure safe route planning and safe separation of vehicles even in crowded skies?Our objective is to identify revolutionary and advanced CNS alternatives supporting UASs operating at all altitudes and in all airspace while accurately navigating in the absence of

  1. Considerations for an Integrated UAS CNS Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templin, Fred L.; Jain, Raj; Sheffield, Greg; Taboso-Bellesteros, Pedro; Ponchak, Denise

    2017-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is investigating revolutionary and advanced universal, reliable, always available, cyber secure and affordable Communication, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS) options for all altitudes of UAS operations. In Spring 2015, NASA issued a Call for Proposals under NASA Research Announcements (NRA) NNH15ZEA001N, Amendment 7 Subtopic 2.4. Boeing was selected to conduct a study with the objective to determine the most promising candidate technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) air-to-air and air-to-ground data exchange and analyze their suitability in a post-NextGen NAS environment. The overall objectives are to develop UAS CNS requirements and then develop architectures that satisfy the requirements for UAS in both controlled and uncontrolled air space. This contract is funded under NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorates (ARMD) Aviation Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) Safe Autonomous Systems Operations (SASO) project and proposes technologies for the Unmanned Air Systems Traffic Management (UTM) service.There is a need for accommodating large-scale populations of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) in the national air space. Scale obviously impacts capacity planning for Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) technologies. For example, can wireless communications data links provide the necessary capacity for accommodating millions of small UASs (sUAS) nationwide? Does the communications network provide sufficient Internet Protocol (IP) address space to allow air traffic control to securely address both UAS teams as a whole as well as individual UAS within each team? Can navigation and surveillance approaches assure safe route planning and safe separation of vehicles even in crowded skies?Our objective is to identify revolutionary and advanced CNS alternatives supporting UASs operating at all altitudes and in all airspace while accurately navigating in the absence of

  2. UAS-Systems Integration, Validation, and Diagnostics Simulation Capability

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Buttrill, Catherine W.; Verstynen, Harry A.

    2014-01-01

    As part of the Phase 1 efforts of NASA's UAS-in-the-NAS Project a task was initiated to explore the merits of developing a system simulation capability for UAS to address airworthiness certification requirements. The core of the capability would be a software representation of an unmanned vehicle, including all of the relevant avionics and flight control system components. The specific system elements could be replaced with hardware representations to provide Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWITL) test and evaluation capability. The UAS Systems Integration and Validation Laboratory (UAS-SIVL) was created to provide a UAS-systems integration, validation, and diagnostics hardware-in-the-loop simulation capability. This paper discusses how SIVL provides a robust and flexible simulation framework that permits the study of failure modes, effects, propagation paths, criticality, and mitigation strategies to help develop safety, reliability, and design data that can assist with the development of certification standards, means of compliance, and design best practices for civil UAS.

  3. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS): Evolving Trends

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal

    2015-01-01

    Near-term Goal: Enable initial low-altitude airspace and UAS operations with demonstrated safety as early as possible, within 5 years; Long-term Goal: Accommodate increased UAS operations with highest safety, efficiency, and capacity as much autonomously as possible (10-15 years).

  4. The application of UAS towards tornado research and forecasting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Houston, A. L.; Argrow, B. M.; Frew, E.; Weiss, C.

    2014-12-01

    UAS hold significant potential to advance the understanding of tornadoes and improve tornado warning skill. While the current regulatory environment places limits on the application of UAS towards these ends, demonstrated success targeting tornadic and non-tornadic supercells proves the general feasibility of this work. In this presentation we will summarize the successes using UAS to collect data in the vicinity of supercell thunderstorms and discuss ways that these data, along with additional data collected in future field campaigns, can be used answer basic research questions concerning tornado formation and applied research questions concerning the value of UAS in the tornado warning decision process. The associative relationship between the rear-flank downdraft (RFD) and tornadogenesis has long been recognized. Yet, despite decades of research focused on tornadoes, the causal relationship between the RFD and tornadogenesis remains unresolved. In the presentation, we will describe ways that UAS could be used to test hypotheses posed to explain this causal relationship. We will also present a strategy to quantify the impact of UAS on tornado warning skill. Through controlled forecast experiments conducted using data collected through small field campaigns that leverage prior success targeting supercell thunderstorms with UAS, the value of targeted surveillance of potentially tornadic storms using UAS can be assessed. Significant changes to the existing regulatory environment are likely required for UAS, operated in a targeted surveillance mode, to contribute to improving tornado warning skill, but progress can be made today towards quantifying the impact that UAS could make.

  5. Requirements for an Integrated UAS CNS Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templin, Fred; Jain, Raj; Sheffield, Greg; Taboso, Pedro; Ponchak, Denise

    2017-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is investigating revolutionary and advanced universal, reliable, always available, cyber secure and affordable Communication, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS) options for all altitudes of UAS operations. In Spring 2015, NASA issued a Call for Proposals under NASA Research Announcements (NRA) NNH15ZEA001N, Amendment 7 Subtopic 2.4. Boeing was selected to conduct a study with the objective to determine the most promising candidate technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) air-to-air and air-to-ground data exchange and analyze their suitability in a post-NextGen NAS environment. The overall objectives are to develop UAS CNS requirements and then develop architectures that satisfy the requirements for UAS in both controlled and uncontrolled air space. This contract is funded under NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorates (ARMD) Aviation Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) Safe Autonomous Systems Operations (SASO) project and proposes technologies for the Unmanned Air Systems Traffic Management (UTM) service. Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) requirements must be developed in order to establish a CNS architecture supporting Unmanned Air Systems integration in the National Air Space (UAS in the NAS). These requirements must address cybersecurity, future communications, satellite-based navigation APNT, and scalable surveillance and situational awareness. CNS integration, consolidation and miniaturization requirements are also important to support the explosive growth in small UAS deployment. Air Traffic Management (ATM) must also be accommodated to support critical Command and Control (C2) for Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). This document therefore presents UAS CNS requirements that will guide the architecture.

  6. Development of a UAS-based survey module for ecological research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, R.; McMahon, A. M.; Serbin, S.

    2016-12-01

    The development of small unmanned aircraft system (UAS, < 25 kg) techniques is enabling measurements of terrestrial ecosystems at unprecedented temporal and spatial scales. Given the potential for improved mission safety, high revisit frequency, and reduced operation cost, UAS platforms are of particular interest in the development for scientific research. Our group is developing a UAS-based survey module for ecological research (e.g. scaling and mapping plant functional traits). However, in addition to technical challenges, the complicated regulations required to operate a UAS for research (e.g. Certificates of Waiver or Authorization, COA, for each location) and complying with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions, which still actively evolving, can have significant impacts on research and schedules. Here we briefly discuss our lessons-learned related to FAA registration and COA procedures, requirements, and regulations in the US, accompanied by our hand-on experiences (our group currently have two COA granted and three more under review by FAA). We then introduce our design for a modular data collection software framework. This framework is open source (available on GitHub) and cross-platform compatible (written in Python), providing flexibility in development and deployment hardware configurations. In addition our framework uses a central module to coordinate the data acquisition, synchronization with the UAS control system and data storage through a common interface and interchangeable, hardware specific software modules. Utilizing this structure and a common data transfer format, the system can be easily reconfigured to meet the needs of a specific platform or operation, eliminating the need to redevelop acquisition systems for specific instrument/platform configurations. On-site data measurement tests of UAS-based survey module were conducted and data quality from multi-sensors (e.g. a high-resolution digital camera, spectroradiometer, and a

  7. Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal H.

    2016-01-01

    Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) Enabling Civilian Low-Altitude Airspace and Unmanned Aircraft System Operations What is the problem? Many beneficial civilian applications of UAS have been proposed, from goods delivery and infrastructure surveillance, to search and rescue, and agricultural monitoring. Currently, there is no established infrastructure to enable and safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS operations, regardless of the type of UAS. A UAS traffic management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace may be needed, perhaps leveraging concepts from the system of roads, lanes, stop signs, rules and lights that govern vehicles on the ground today, whether the vehicles are driven by humans or are automated. What system technologies is NASA exploring? Building on its legacy of work in air traffic management for crewed aircraft, NASA is researching prototype technologies for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system that could develop airspace integration requirements for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude operations. While incorporating lessons learned from the today's well-established air traffic management system, which was a response that grew out of a mid-air collision over the Grand Canyon in the early days of commercial aviation, the UTM system would enable safe and efficient low-altitude airspace operations by providing services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning and re-routing, separation management, sequencing and spacing, and contingency management. One of the attributes of the UTM system is that it would not require human operators to monitor every vehicle continuously. The system could provide to human managers the data to make strategic decisions related to initiation, continuation, and termination of airspace operations. This approach would ensure that only authenticated UAS could operate

  8. Comprehensive Analysis Modeling of Small-Scale UAS Rotors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Russell, Carl R.; Sekula, Martin K.

    2017-01-01

    Multicopter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, have continued their explosive growth in recent years. With this growth comes demand for increased performance as the limits of existing technologies are reached. In order to better design multicopter UAS aircraft, better performance prediction tools are needed. This paper presents the results of a study aimed at using the rotorcraft comprehensive analysis code CAMRAD II to model a multicopter UAS rotor in hover. Parametric studies were performed to determine the level of fidelity needed in the analysis code inputs to achieve results that match test data. Overall, the results show that CAMRAD II is well suited to model small-scale UAS rotors in hover. This paper presents the results of the parametric studies as well as recommendations for the application of comprehensive analysis codes to multicopter UAS rotors.

  9. UAS Detection Classification and Neutralization: Market Survey 2015

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Birch, Gabriel Carisle; Griffin, John Clark; Erdman, Matthew Kelly

    The purpose of this document is to briefly frame the challenges of detecting low, slow, and small (LSS) unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The conclusion drawn from internal discussions and external reports is the following; detection of LSS UAS is a challenging problem that can- not be achieved with a single detection modality for all potential targets. Classification of LSS UAS, especially classification in the presence of background clutter (e.g., urban environment) or other non-threating targets (e.g., birds), is under-explored. Though information of avail- able technologies is sparse, many of the existing options for UAS detection appear to be in theirmore » infancy (when compared to more established ground-based air defense systems for larger and/or faster threats). Companies currently providing or developing technologies to combat the UAS safety and security problem are certainly worth investigating, however, no company has provided the statistical evidence necessary to support robust detection, identification, and/or neutralization of LSS UAS targets. The results of a market survey are included that highlights potential commercial entities that could contribute some technology that assists in the detection, classification, and neutral- ization of a LSS UAS. This survey found no clear and obvious commercial solution, though recommendations are given for further investigation of several potential systems.« less

  10. UAS Integration in the NAS FY15 Annual Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grindle, Laurie; Randall, Debra; Hackenburg, Davis

    2015-01-01

    This presentation gives insight into the research activities and efforts being executed in order to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system. This briefing is to inform others of the UAS-NAS progress and future directions.

  11. Staffing for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    Service’s staffing determination . Using these business rules and observations enabled the follow-on assessment of individual UAS mission elements... Determination Framework ......................................................13  B.  Inherently Governmental (IG...authorities, and the determination of inherently governmental (IG) activities. Table 1. Delta between Rank/Pay Grades Annual Total Cost O-4 O-3 W-3 W-2

  12. Kīlauea June 27th Lava Flow Hazard Mapping and Disaster Response with UAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, N.; Perroy, R. L.; Hon, K. A.; Rasgado, V.

    2015-12-01

    In June of 2014, pāhoehoe lava flows from the Púu ´Ō´ō eruption began threatening communities and infrastructure on eastern Hawaii Island. During the subsequent declared state of emergency by Hawaii Civil Defense and temporary flight restriction by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), we used a small fixed-wing Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to collect high spatial and temporal resolution imagery over the active flow in support of natural hazard assessment by emergency managers. Integration of our UAS into busy airspace, populated by emergency aircraft and tour helicopters, required close operational coordination with the FAA and local operators. We logged >80 hours of UAS flight operations between October 2014 and March 2015, generating a dense time-series of 4-5 cm resolution imagery and derived topographic datasets using structure from motion. These data were used to monitor flow activity, document pre- and post- lava flow damage, identify hazardous areas for first responders, and model lava flow paths in complex topography ahead of the active flow front. Turnaround times for delivered spatial data products improved from 24-48 hours at the beginning of the study to ~2-4 hours by the end. Data from this project are being incorporated into cloud computing applications to shorten delivery time and extract useful analytics regarding lava flow hazards in near real-time. The lessons learned from this event have advanced UAS integration in disaster operations in U.S. airspace and show the high potential UAS hold for natural hazards assessment and real-time emergency management.

  13. UAS Modeling of the Communication Links Study Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Birr, Richard B.; Girgis, Nancy; Murray, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the authority that grants access into, and operations within, the National Airspace System (NAS) for all aircraft, including Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The safe operation of UAS in the NAS must be assured if the full potential of UAS is to be realized and supported by the public and Congress. This report analyzed the communication systems that are needed for the safe operations of UAS in the NAS. Safe operations can be defined as the availability of the required links to carry the information to control the UAS and the return links to allow controllers to know where the UAS is at any given moment as well as how it is performing. This report is the end result of work performed jointly between the FAA and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Kennedy Space Center (NASA KSC). The work was done in support of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Special Committee 203 (SC-203) Control and Communications Working Group. The RTCA is a federal advisory committee to the FAA. Though the work was not under the direction of the working group, a large part of the specific values used in the simulations came from the working group. Specifically, all of the radio links were modeled based on the formulation completed by the working group. This report analyzed three scenarios from RTCA SC-203 that represent how a UAS would operate in the NAS. Each scenario was created using the Satellite Tool Kit (STK) modeling and simulation tool. The flight paths of the UAS were generated and the UAS dynamics were likewise modeled. Then each communication asset such as transmitters, receivers, and antennas were modeled and placed on the appropriate UAS, satellite, or Control Station (CS). After that, the radio links were analyzed for signal strength and antenna blockage, and the overall link performance was analyzed in detail. The goal was to obtain 99.9% availability on all of the radio communication links. In order

  14. Safety and Certification Considerations for Expanding the Use of UAS in Precision Agriculture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Neogi, Natasha A.; Vertstynen, Harry A.

    2016-01-01

    The agricultural community is actively engaged in adopting new technologies such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to help assess the condition of crops and develop appropriate treatment plans. In the United States, agricultural use of UAS has largely been limited to small UAS, generally weighing less than 55 lb and operating within the line of sight of a remote pilot. A variety of small UAS are being used to monitor and map crops, while only a few are being used to apply agricultural inputs based on the results of remote sensing. Larger UAS with substantial payload capacity could provide an option for site-specific application of agricultural inputs in a timely fashion, without substantive damage to the crops or soil. A recent study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) investigated certification requirements needed to enable the use of larger UAS to support the precision agriculture industry. This paper provides a brief introduction to aircraft certification relevant to agricultural UAS, an overview of and results from the NASA study, and a discussion of how those results might affect the precision agriculture community. Specific topics of interest include business model considerations for unmanned aerial applicators and a comparison with current means of variable rate application. The intent of the paper is to inform the precision agriculture community of evolving technologies that will enable broader use of unmanned vehicles to reduce costs, reduce environmental impacts, and enhance yield, especially for specialty crops that are grown on small to medium size farms.

  15. Spectrum for UAS Control and Non-Payload Communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.

    2013-01-01

    There is an increasing need to fly UAS in the NAS to perform missions of vital importance to National Security and Defense, Emergency Management, and Science as well as commercial applications (e.g. cargo transport). To enable integration of UAS into the National Airspace System, several critical technical barriers must be eliminated, including: Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid - the uncertainty surrounding the ability to interoperate in ATC environments and maintain safe separation from other aircraft in the absence of an on-board pilot. Human Systems Integration - lack of standards and guidelines with respect to UAS display information as well as lack of Ground Control Station (GCS) design requirements to operate in the NAS. Certification - lack of airworthiness requirements and safety-related data specific to the full range of UAS, or for their avionics systems or other components. Communications - lack of standard, certifiable data links and aviation safety spectrum to operate such links for civil UAS control communications.

  16. Atmospheric Sampling of Microorganisms with UAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmale, D. G., III

    2017-12-01

    Many microorganisms relevant to crops, domestic animals, and humans are transported over long distances through the atmosphere. Some of these atmospheric microbes catalyze the freezing of water at higher temperatures and facilitate the onset of precipitation. A few have crossed continents. New technologies are needed to study the movement of microorganisms in the atmosphere. We have used unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to study the transport of microorganisms tens to hundreds of meters above the ground. These UAS are equipped with unique devices for collecting microbes in the atmosphere during flight. Autonomous systems enable teams of UAS to perform complex atmospheric sampling tasks, and coordinate flight missions with one another. Data collected with UAS can be used to validate and improve disease forecasting models along highways in the sky, connecting transport scales across farms, states, and continents. Though terrestrial environments are often considered a major contributor to atmospheric microbial aerosols, little is known about aquatic sources of microbial aerosols. Droplets containing microorganisms can aerosolize from the water surface, liberating them into the atmosphere. We are using teams of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and UAS to study the aerosolization of microbes from aquatic environments. Controlled flume studies using highspeed video have allowed us to observe unique aerosolization phenomena that can launch microbes out of the water and into the air. Unmanned systems may be used to excite the next generation of biologists and engineers, and raise important ethical considerations about the future of human-robot interactions.

  17. Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities of a Novel Synthetic Cyclic Lipopeptide against Cariogenic Streptococcus mutans UA159

    PubMed Central

    Min, Kyung R.; Galvis, Adriana; Williams, Brandon; Rayala, Ramanjaneyulu; Cudic, Predrag

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Despite continuous efforts to control cariogenic dental biofilms, very few effective antimicrobial treatments exist. In this study, we characterized the activity of the novel synthetic cyclic lipopeptide 4 (CLP-4), derived from fusaricidin, against the cariogenic pathogen Streptococcus mutans UA159. We determined CLP-4's MIC, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and spontaneous resistance frequency, and we performed time-kill assays. Additionally, we assessed CLP-4's potential to inhibit biofilm formation and eradicate preformed biofilms. Our results demonstrate that CLP-4 has strong antibacterial activity in vitro and is a potent bactericidal agent with low spontaneous resistance frequency. At a low concentration of 5 μg/ml, CLP-4 completely inhibited S. mutans UA159 biofilm formation, and at 50 μg/ml, it reduced the viability of established biofilms by >99.99%. We also assessed CLP-4's cytotoxicity and stability against proteolytic digestion. CLP-4 withstood trypsin or chymotrypsin digestion even after treatment for 24 h, and our toxicity studies showed that CLP-4 effective concentrations had negligible effects on hemolysis and the viability of human oral fibroblasts. In summary, our findings showed that CLP-4 is a potent antibacterial and antibiofilm agent with remarkable stability and low nonspecific cytotoxicity. Hence, CLP-4 is a promising novel antimicrobial peptide with potential for clinical application in the prevention and treatment of dental caries. PMID:28533236

  18. Progress toward Modular UAS for Geoscience Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahlgren, R. P.; Clark, M. A.; Comstock, R. J.; Fladeland, M.; Gascot, H., III; Haig, T. H.; Lam, S. J.; Mazhari, A. A.; Palomares, R. R.; Pinsker, E. A.; Prathipati, R. T.; Sagaga, J.; Thurling, J. S.; Travers, S. V.

    2017-12-01

    Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have become accepted tools for geoscience, ecology, agriculture, disaster response, land management, and industry. A variety of consumer UAS options exist as science and engineering payload platforms, but their incompatibilities with one another contribute to high operational costs compared with those of piloted aircraft. This research explores the concept of modular UAS, demonstrating airframes that can be reconfigured in the field for experimental optimization, to enable multi-mission support, facilitate rapid repair, or respond to changing field conditions. Modular UAS is revolutionary in allowing aircraft to be optimized around the payload, reversing the conventional wisdom of designing the payload to accommodate an unmodifiable aircraft. UAS that are reconfigurable like Legos™ are ideal for airborne science service providers, system integrators, instrument designers and end users to fulfill a wide range of geoscience experiments. Modular UAS facilitate the adoption of open-source software and rapid prototyping technology where design reuse is important in the context of a highly regulated industry like aerospace. The industry is now at a stage where consolidation, acquisition, and attrition will reduce the number of small manufacturers, with a reduction of innovation and motivation to reduce costs. Modularity leads to interface specifications, which can evolve into de facto or formal standards which contain minimum (but sufficient) details such that multiple vendors can then design to those standards and demonstrate interoperability. At that stage, vendor coopetition leads to robust interface standards, interoperability standards and multi-source agreements which in turn drive costs down significantly.

  19. Requirements for an Integrated UAS CNS Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Templin, Fred L.; Jain, Raj; Sheffield, Greg; Taboso-Ballesteros, Pedro; Ponchak, Denise

    2017-01-01

    Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) requirements must be developed in order to establish a CNS architecture supporting Unmanned Air Systems integration in the National Air Space (UAS in the NAS). These requirements must address cybersecurity, future communications, satellite-based navigation and APNT, and scalable surveillance and situational awareness. CNS integration, consolidation and miniaturization requirements are also important to support the explosive growth in small UAS deployment. Air Traffic Management (ATM) must also be accommodated to support critical Command and Control (C2) for Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). This document therefore presents UAS CNS requirements that will guide the architecture.

  20. Classification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. UAS Classification/Categorization for Certification

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    Category, class, and type designations are primary means to identify appropriate aircraft certification basis, operating rules/limitations, and pilot qualifications to operate in the National Airspace System (NAS). The question is whether UAS fit into existing aircraft categories or classes, or are unique enough to justify the creation of a new category/class. In addition, the characteristics or capabilities, which define when an UAS becomes a regulated aircraft, must also be decided. This issue focuses on UAS classification for certification purposes. Several approaches have been considered for classifying UAS. They basically group into either using a weight/mass basis, or a safety risk basis, factoring in the performance of the UAS, including where the UAS would operate. Under existing standards, aircraft must have a Type Certificate and Certificate of Airworthiness, in order to be used for "compensation or hire", a major difference from model aircraft. Newer technologies may make it possible for very small UAS to conduct commercial services, but that is left for a future discussion to extend the regulated aircraft to a lower level. The Access 5 position is that UAS are aircraft and should be regulated above the weight threshold differentiating them from model airplanes. The recommended classification grouping is summarized in a chart.

  1. UAS Integration into the NAS Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeff

    2010-01-01

    The goal of the UAS Integration in the NAS Project is to contribute capabilities that reduce technical barriers related to the safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS This goal will be accomplished through a two-phased approach of system-level integration of key concepts, technologies and/or procedures, and demonstrations of integrated capabilities in an operationally relevant environment. Technical objectives include: PHASE 1: a) Validating the key technical areas identified by this project. System-level analyses, a State of the Art Analysis (SOAA), and a ConOps will identify the challenges and barriers preventing routine UAS access to the NAS. b) Developing a national roadmap and gap analysis identifying specific deliverables in the area of operations, procedures, and technologies that will impact future policy decisions. PHASE 2: a) Provide regulators with a methodology for developing airworthiness requirements for UAS and data to support development of certifications standards and regulatory guidance. b) Provide systems-level integrated testing of concepts and/or capabilities that address barriers to routine access to the NAS. Through simulation and flight testing, address issues including separation assurance, communications requirements, and Pilot Aircraft Interfaces (PAIs) in operationally relevant environments

  2. Ergonomics and workplace design: application of Ergo-UAS System in Fiat Group Automobiles.

    PubMed

    Vitello, M; Galante, L G; Capoccia, M; Caragnano, G

    2012-01-01

    Since 2008 Fiat Group Automobiles has introduced Ergo-UAS system for the balancing of production lines and to detect ergonomic issues. Ergo-UAS system integrates 2 specific methods: MTM-UAS for time measurement and EAWS as ergonomic method to evaluate biomechanical effort for each workstation. Fiat is using a software system to manage time evaluation and ergo characterization of production cycle (UAS) to perform line balancing and obtain allowance factor in all Italian car manufacturing plant. For new car models, starting from New Panda, FGA is applying Ergo-UAS for workplace design since the earliest phase of product development. This means that workplace design is based on information about new product, new layout, new work organization and is performed by a multidisciplinary team (Work Place Integration Team), focusing on several aspects of product and process: safety, quality and productivity. This allows to find and solve ergonomic threats before the start of production, by means of a strict cooperation between product development, engineering and design, manufacturing. Three examples of workstation design are presented in which application of Ergo-UAS was determinant to find out initial excessive levels of biomechanical load and helped the process designer to improve the workstations and define limits of acceptability. Technical activities (on product or on process), or organizational changes, that have been implemented in order to solve the problems are presented. A comparison between "before" and "new" ergonomic scores necessary to bring workstations in acceptable conditions were made.

  3. Dynamic mapping of EDDL device descriptions to OPC UA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Atta Nsiah, Kofi; Schappacher, Manuel; Sikora, Axel

    2017-07-01

    OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) is already a well-known concept used widely in the automation industry. In the area of factory automation, OPC UA models the underlying field devices such as sensors and actuators in an OPC UA server to allow connecting OPC UA clients to access device-specific information via a standardized information model. One of the requirements of the OPC UA server to represent field device data using its information model is to have advanced knowledge about the properties of the field devices in the form of device descriptions. The international standard IEC 61804 specifies EDDL (Electronic Device Description Language) as a generic language for describing the properties of field devices. In this paper, the authors describe a possibility to dynamically map and integrate field device descriptions based on EDDL into OPCUA.

  4. Incorporating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into High School Curricula in Hawaii

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McGillivary, P. A.; Lukaczyk, T.; Brendan, B.; Tomita, M.; Ralston, T.; Purdy, G.

    2016-12-01

    The availability of low-cost unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) permits their integration in educational programs. We report on experiences and future opportunities for incorporating UAS into High School curricula in Hawaii. We first review existing high school UAS programs and teaching material to highlight curricula options and needs. By working on the privately owned Island of Lana'i, we had permission for extensive UAS operation. Our initial focus of UAS educational outreach was on coastal ecosystems where erosion of overgrazed lands affects coral reefs and traditional coastal Hawaiian fishpond restoration projects which include high school students. We provide results of our classroom approach allowing students to learn to fly small, inexpensive UAS and discuss the different results at different grade levels. In addition to providing basic concepts of flight aeronautics, we reviewed information on safe and legal operation of UAS, as well as data management issues including geo-registration and imaging mosaics. We recommend science projects where UAS can study short-term events (e.g. storm runoff) or can be used for routine environmental monitoring over longer periods. Additionally, by linking students with local drone and drone racing clubs student participation and interest in UAS was extended beyond the classroom in a complementary manner. We propose inclusion of UAS into a future high school curriculum via a program called the Moonshot Laboratory which strives to repurpose traditional education structures toward design thinking, making use of individual and group collaborations to address self-selected projects relevant to local community interests. A Moonshot facility allows students to spend a portion of their week in a technology equipped makerspace, with access to university, business and community mentors, both local and remote. UAS projects are expected to address basic student questions, such as: how can I build a drone to take water samples?; how can I

  5. UAS Integration in the NAS Project - FY 14 Annual Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grindle, Laurie; Randall, Debra; Hackenberg, Davis

    2014-01-01

    This briefing gives insight into the research activities and efforts being executed in order to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system. This briefing is to inform others of the UAS-NAS Projects progress and future directions.

  6. NASA Experience with UAS Science Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Curry, Robert E.; Jennison, Chris

    2007-01-01

    Viewgraphs of NASA's Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as it applies to Earth science missions is presented. The topics include: 1) Agenda; 2) Background; 3) NASA Science Aircraft Endurance; 4) Science UAS Development Challenges; 5) USCG Alaskan Maritime Surveillance; 6) NOAA/NASA UAV Demonstration Project; 7) Western States Fire Mission; 8) Esperanza Fire Emergency Response; 9) Ikhana (Predator B); 10) UAV Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR); 11) Global Hawk; and 12) Related Technologies

  7. A purified truncated form of yeast Gal4 expressed in Escherichia coli and used to functionalize poly(lactic acid) nanoparticle surface is transcriptionally active in cellulo.

    PubMed

    Legaz, Sophie; Exposito, Jean-Yves; Borel, Agnès; Candusso, Marie-Pierre; Megy, Simon; Montserret, Roland; Lahaye, Vincent; Terzian, Christophe; Verrier, Bernard

    2015-09-01

    Gal4/UAS system is a powerful tool for the analysis of numerous biological processes. Gal4 is a large yeast transcription factor that activates genes including UAS sequences in their promoter. Here, we have synthesized a minimal form of Gal4 DNA sequence coding for the binding and dimerization regions, but also part of the transcriptional activation domain. This truncated Gal4 protein was expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. A structured and active form of this recombinant protein was purified and used to cover poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanoparticles. In cellulo, these Gal4-vehicles were able to activate the expression of a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene under the control of UAS sequences, demonstrating that the decorated Gal4 variant can be delivery into cells where it still retains its transcription factor capacities. Thus, we have produced in E. coli and purified a short active form of Gal4 that retains its functions at the surface of PLA-nanoparticles in cellular assay. These decorated Gal4-nanoparticles will be useful to decipher their tissue distribution and their potential after ingestion or injection in UAS-GFP recombinant animal models. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. UAS Modeling of the Communication Links Study Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Birr, Richard; Murray, Jennifer; Girgis, nancy

    2011-01-01

    There were many links calculated for this and the other scenarios. The rain was analyzed for 99.9% availability with rain rated of none, 20 mm/hr and 90 mm/hr at a height of 5 km out to 25 NM. This was done for each scenario for LOS and for BLOS links for Scenario 5 and 6. Scenario 1 was a LOS-only scenario. Use of two 3 dB Antennas on both ends. The CS2 was unable to maintain a control RF Link during the flight. The largest access gap periods between object top and bottom UA antennae were caused by terrain (ridges and hills). The CS Antenna was changed to High Gain Directional Antenna, all three CS maintained lock on vehicle. There were RF dropouts between the top and bottom UA antennae caused by aircraft obstructions (fuselage, wings, wheel assembles, etc.). Note that for this study antenna locations were placed on top and bottom center of the UA body. Future study should include actual UA antenna locations on the aircraft providing manufactures are willing to provide information. The importance of CS location(s) was demonstrated for primary or backup CS. With a second backup CS placed in a suitable location the UA was able to maintain an overall RF link. The actual location of both backup CSs required the antenna location to be place 150 ft above ground in order to establish a RF link between the UA and CS.

  9. HALE UAS Concept of Operations. Version 3.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2006-01-01

    This document is a system level Concept of Operations (CONOPS) from the perspective of future High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) service providers and National Airspace System (NAS) users. It describes current systems (existing UAS), describes HALE UAS functions and operations to be performed (via sample missions), and offers insight into the user s environment (i.e., the UAS as a system of systems). It is intended to be a source document for NAS UAS operational requirements, and provides a construct for government agencies to use in guiding their regulatory decisions, architecture requirements, and investment strategies. Although it does not describe the technical capabilities of a specific HALE UAS system (which do, and will vary widely), it is intended to aid in requirements capture and to be used as input to the functional requirements and analysis process. The document provides a basis for development of functional requirements and operational guidelines to achieve unrestricted access into the NAS. This document is an FY06 update to the FY05 Access 5 Project-approved Concept of Operations document previously published in the Public Domain on the Access 5 open website. This version is recommended to be approved for public release also. The updates are a reorganization of materials from the previous version with the addition of an updated set of operational requirements, inclusion of sample mission scenarios, and identification of roles and responsibilities of interfaces within flight phases.

  10. NASA GRC UAS Project: Communications Modeling and Simulation Status

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kubat, Greg

    2013-01-01

    The integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace represents new operational concepts required in civil aviation. These new concepts are evolving as the nation moves toward the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) under the leadership of the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), and through ongoing work by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The desire and ability to fly UAS in the National Air Space (NAS) in the near term has increased dramatically, and this multi-agency effort to develop and implement a national plan to successfully address the challenges of UAS access to the NAS in a safe and timely manner is well underway. As part of the effort to integrate UAS in the National Airspace, NASA Glenn Research Center is currently involved with providing research into Communications systems and Communication system operations in order to assist with developing requirements for this implementation. In order to provide data and information regarding communication systems performance that will be necessary, NASA GRC is tasked with developing and executing plans for simulations of candidate future UAS command and control communications, in line with architectures and communications technologies being developed and/or proposed by NASA and relevant aviation organizations (in particular, RTCA SC-203). The simulations and related analyses will provide insight into the ability of proposed communications technologies and system architectures to enable safe operation of UAS, meeting UAS in the NAS project goals (including performance requirements, scalability, and interoperability), and ultimately leading to a determination of the ability of NextGen communication systems to accommodate UAS. This presentation, compiled by the NASA GRC team, will provide a view of the overall planned simulation effort and objectives, a description of the simulation concept and status of the design and development that has occurred to date.

  11. Crowd Sourcing Approach for UAS Communication Resource Demand Forecasting

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wargo, Chris A.; Difelici, John; Roy, Aloke; Glaneuski, Jason; Kerczewski, Robert J.

    2016-01-01

    Congressional attention to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) has caused the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to move the National Airspace System (NAS) Integration project forward, but using guidelines, practices and procedures that are yet to be fully integrated with the FAA Aviation Management System. The real drive for change in the NAS will to come from both UAS operators and the government jointly seeing an accurate forecast of UAS usage demand data. This solid forecast information would truly get the attention of planners. This requires not an aggregate demand, but rather a picture of how the demand is spread across small to large UAS, how it is spread across a wide range of missions, how it is expected over time and where, in terms of geospatial locations, will the demand appear. In 2012 the Volpe Center performed a study of the overall future demand for UAS. This was done by aggregate classes of aircraft types. However, the realistic expected demand will appear in clusters of aircraft activities grouped by similar missions on a smaller geographical footprint and then growing from those small cells. In general, there is not a demand forecast that is tightly coupled to the real purpose of the mission requirements (e.g. in terms of real locations and physical structures such as wind mills to inspect, farms to survey, pipelines to patrol, etc.). Being able to present a solid basis for the demand is crucial to getting the attention of investment, government and other fiscal planners. To this end, Mosaic ATM under NASA guidance is developing a crowd sourced, demand forecast engine that can draw forecast details from commercial and government users and vendors. These forecasts will be vetted by a governance panel and then provide for a sharable accurate set of projection data. Our paper describes the project and the technical approach we are using to design and create access for users to the forecast system.

  12. Deployment of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) in Emergency and Disaster Response Scenarios to Support Local Emergency Management Agencies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Calamaio, C. L.; Walker, J.; Beck, J. M.; Graves, S. J.; Johnson, C.

    2017-12-01

    Researchers at the Information Technology and Systems Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville are working closely with the Madison County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), GeoHuntsville's UAS Working Group, and the NOAA UAS Program Office, to conduct a series of practical demonstrations testing the use of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) for emergency response activities in Madison County, Alabama. These exercises demonstrate the use of UAS to detect and visualize hazards in affected areas via the delivery of aerial imagery and associated data products to law enforcement first responders in a variety of different scenarios, for example, search and rescue, tornado track mapping, damage assessment, and situational awareness/containment during active shooter incidents. In addition to showcasing the use of UAS as a tool for emergency services, these pilot exercises provide the opportunity to engage the appropriate stakeholders from several communities including first responders, geospatial intelligence, active members of the unmanned systems industry, and academia. This presentation will showcase the challenges associated with delivering quality data products for emergency services in a timely manner as well as the related challenges in integrating the technology into local emergency management.

  13. UAS Reports (UREPs): EnablingExchange of Observation Data Between UAS Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rios, Joseph; Smith, David; Smith, Irene

    2017-01-01

    As the volume of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations increases, the lack of weather products to support these operations becomes more problematic. One early solution to obtaining more information about weather conditions is to allow operators to share their observations and measurements with other airspace users. This is analogous to the AIREP and PIREP reporting systems in traditional aviation wherein pilots report weather phenomena they have observed or experienced to provide better situational awareness to other pilots. Given the automated nature of the small (under 55 lbs.) UAS platforms and operations, automated reporting of relevant information should also be supported. To promote automated exchange of these data, a well-defined data schema needs to be established along with the mechanisms for sending and retrieving the data. This paper examines this concept and offers an initial definition of the necessary elements to allow for immediate implementation and use.

  14. Analysis of Terrestrial Interference Protection from UAS CNPC Satellite Transmitters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.; Bishop, William D.

    2016-01-01

    Unmanned aircraft (UA) are projected to have a major impact on future aviation. Larger UA operating at altitudes above 3000 feet will require at least occasional access to non-segregated, that is, controlled airspace. In order for unmanned aircraft to be integrated into the airspace and operate with other commercial aircraft, a very reliable command and control (a. k. a. control and non-payload communications, (CNPC)) link is required. For operations covering large distances or over remote locations, a beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) CNPC link implemented through a satellite will almost always be required. Protected aviation spectrum (aeronautical mobile satellite (route) service, or AMS(R)S) would normally be used for such a safety-critical link, however studies have shown that currently available aviation safety satellite spectrum is inadequate to support the projected BLOS CNPC link bandwidth requirements. To address this inadequacy, the 2015 World Radio communication Conference studied the possible use of the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) to provide CNPC, including possible allocations in Ku-Band and Ka-Band, under Agenda Item (AI) 1.5. Although UA CNPC satellite links in these bands were shown to meet operational availability and continuity requirements, a serious complication exists in that there are also terrestrial service allocations in these bands, in particular, Fixed Service (FS) point-to-point and point-to-multipoint microwave digital links. During the WRC-15 study cycle, much opposition to AI 1.5 was generated based on fears that UA CNPC satellite transmitters in these bands would impose unacceptable levels of interference to the FS receivers. NASA analyzed the possible interference from the UA transmitters based on probable UA transmission and FS receiver characteristics, and UA traffic distributions and densities to determine conditions under which UA could operate without imposing unacceptable interference levels to the FS. Ultimately, UA power flux

  15. Argument-Based Airworthiness Assurance of Small UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Denney, Ewen; Pai, Ganesh

    2015-01-01

    Presently, there are three avenues by which Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations are authorized in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS): obtaining either (i) a certificate of authorization (COA), or (ii) a special airworthiness certificate (SAC) in either the experimental, or the restricted category, or (iii) an exemption from an airworthiness certificate together with a civil COA. The first is meant primarily for public entities, such as NASA; the remaining two are the only available means for civil UAS operations. Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also proposed a regulatory framework targeted for certain small UAS, specifically those weighing 55 pounds or less, although final rulemaking remains pending. We have previously shown how an assurance case can aggregate heterogeneous reasoning and safety evidence, with application to UAS safety. In this paper, we describe how assurance cases can serve as a common framework to justify overall system safety, unifying both operational aspects and airworthiness, in particular system design assurance. We also show how this approach can coexist with, and augment, existing safety analysis processes and best-practices, by transforming the artifacts they produce into structured assurance arguments. To illustrate the applicability and utility of our approach, we have been applying it for the design assurance of an unmanned rotorcraft system, intended for precision agriculture operations, as part of the NASA Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) project.

  16. Air Traffic Controller Performance and Acceptability of Multiple UAS in a Simulated NAS Environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vu, Kim-Phuong L.; Strybel, Thomas; Chiappe, Dan; Morales, Greg; Battiste, Vernol; Shively, Robert Jay

    2014-01-01

    Previously, we showed that air traffic controllers (ATCos) rated UAS pilot verbal response latencies as acceptable when a 1.5 s delay was added to the UAS pilot responses, but a 5 s delay was rated as mostly unacceptable. In the present study we determined whether a 1.5 s added delay in the UAS pilots' verbal communications would affect ATCos interactions with UAS and other conventional aircraft when the number and speed of the UAS were manipulated. Eight radar-certified ATCos participated in this simulation. The ATCos managed a medium altitude sector containing arrival aircraft, en route aircraft, and one to four UAS. The UAS were conducting a surveillance mission and flew at either a "slow" or "fast" speed. We measured both UAS and conventional pilots' verbal communication latencies, and obtained ATCos' acceptability ratings for these latencies. Although the UAS pilot response latencies were longer than those of conventional pilots, the ATCos rated UAS pilot verbal communication latencies to be as acceptable as those of conventional pilots. Because the overall traffic load within the sector was held constant, ATCos only performed slightly worse when multiple UAS were in their sector compared to when only one UAS was in the sector. Implications of these findings for UAS integration in the NAS are discussed.

  17. The Impact of Suggestive Maneuver Guidance on UAS Pilots Performing the Detect and Avoid Function

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rorie, Conrad; Fern, Lisa; Shively, Jay

    2016-01-01

    This presentation discusses the results of a recent UAS Integration into the NAS human-in-the-loop simulation. In the study, 16 active UAS pilots flew a UAS through civil airspace and were tasked with maintaining well clear from other aircraft in the area. Pilots performed the task with four different detect and avoid (DAA) traffic displays, each of which varied in the form of guidance it provided to pilots The present findings focus on how the different displays impacted pilots' measured response to scripted conflicts with their aircraft. Measured response is made up of several components, each of which help inform our understanding of the pilots' role in the overall detect and avoid task.

  18. An Overview of UAS Used in NASA Atmospheric Science Investigations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schoenung, S.; Fladeland, M. M.; Cutler, F. W.; Cahill, S. A.

    2017-12-01

    NASA's unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have been utilized in many science missions, going all the way back to 1993. Some of these missions have targeted imagery (fire, vegetation) and surface measurements, but many have been applied to atmospheric research, both physical (dynamics, weather, etc.) and chemical (e.g., composition). NASA's largest UAS, the Global Hawk, has been used to study atmospheric composition at the tropical tropopause in the Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX) mission, where the benefit of the UAS was long range and especially duration of up to 24 hours. Other atmospheric missions included Global Hawk Pacific (GloPac), the first atmospheric chemistry mission, and Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP), the first hurricane mission. Two Global Hawks were used in the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinal (HS3) mission to observe hurricane development. Again, long duration at altitude was the significant feature of the UAS. At the smallest scale, NASA has flown DragonEye UAS to measure volcanic gas emissions in both Costa Rica and Hawaii. The small DragonEye could sample gases in hazardous locations where manned aircraft could not fly. At mid-size, the NASA SIERRA UAS has flown imaging payloads and chemical remote sensing instruments in local and international settings. These experiences provide direction for best use of UAS in atmospheric science, which will be presented. New capabilities for future investigations will also be presented.

  19. Evaluation of Forest Health Conditions using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hatfield, M. C.; Heutte, T. M.

    2016-12-01

    US Forest Service Alaska Region Forest Health Protection (FHP) and University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) are evaluating capability of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to monitor forest health conditions in Alaska's Interior Region. In July 2016, the team deployed UAS at locations in the Tanana Valley near Fairbanks in order to familiarize FHP staff with capabilities of UAS for evaluating insect and disease damage. While many potential uses of UAS to evaluate and monitor forest health can be envisioned, this project focused on use of a small UAS for rapid assessment of insect and disease damage. Traditional ground-based methods are limited by distance from ground to canopy and inaccessibility of forest stands due to terrain conditions. Observation from fixed-wing aircraft provide a broad overview of conditions but are limited by minimum safe flying altitude (500' AGL) and aircraft speed ( 100 mph). UAS may provide a crucial bridge to fill in gaps between ground and airborne methods, and offer significant cost savings and greater flexibility over helicopter-based observations. Previous uses of UAS for forest health monitoring are limited - this project focuses on optimizing choice of vehicle, sensors, resolution and area scanned from different altitudes, and use of visual spectrum vs NIR image collection. The vehicle selected was the ACUASI Ptarmigan, a small hexacopter (based on DJI S800 airframe and 3DR autopilot) capable of carrying a 1.5 kg payload for 15 min for close-range environmental monitoring missions. Sites were chosen for conditions favorable to UAS operation and presence of forest insect and disease agents including spruce broom rust, aspen leaf miner, birch leaf roller, and willow leafblotch miner. A total of 29 flights were conducted with 9000+ images collected. Mission variables included camera height, UAS speed, and medium- (Sony NEX-7) vs low-resolution (GoPro Hero) cameras. Invaluable

  20. UAS-NAS Integrated Human in the Loop: Test Environment Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, Jim; Otto, Neil; Jovic, Srba

    2015-01-01

    The desire and ability to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is of increasing urgency. The application of unmanned aircraft to perform national security, defense, scientific, and emergency management are driving the critical need for less restrictive access by UAS to the NAS. UAS represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the NAS. NASA's UAS Integration in the NAS Project is conducting research in the areas of Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability (SSI), Human Systems Integration (HSI), and Communication to support reducing the barriers of UAS access to the NAS. This research was broken into two research themes namely, UAS Integration and Test Infrastructure. UAS Integration focuses on airspace integration procedures and performance standards to enable UAS integration in the air transportation system, covering Sense and Avoid (SAA) performance standards, command and control performance standards, and human systems integration. The focus of the Test Infrastructure theme was to enable development and validation of airspace integration procedures and performance standards, including the execution of integrated test and evaluation. In support of the integrated test and evaluation efforts, the Project developed an adaptable, scalable, and schedulable relevant test environment incorporating live, virtual, and constructive elements capable of validating concepts and technologies for unmanned aircraft systems to safely operate in the NAS. To accomplish this task, the Project planned to conduct three integrated events: a Human-in-the-Loop simulation and two Flight Test series that integrated key concepts, technologies and/or procedures in a relevant air traffic environment. Each of

  1. UAS NAS IHITL Test Readiness Review (TRR)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, Jim; Brignola, Michael P.; Rorie, Conrad; Santiago, Confesor; Guminsky, Mike; Cross, Ken

    2014-01-01

    Requesting release of IHITL test readiness review (TRR) charts to ensure UAS-NAS project primary stakeholders, the Federal Aviation Administration through the RTCA special committee -228 and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Sense and Avoid Science and Research Panel, are well informed on the IHITL test plan and expected outcomes as they relate to their needs to safely fly UAS in the NAS.

  2. Enabling Earth Science Measurements with NASA UAS Capabilites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Albertson, Randal; Schoenung, Susan; Fladeland, Matthew M.; Cutler, Frank; Tagg, Bruce

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Airborne Science Program (ASP) maintains a fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft for Earth Science measurements and observations. The unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) range in size from very large (Global Hawks) to medium (SIERRA, Viking) and relatively small (DragonEye). UAS fly from very low (boundary layer) to very high altitude (stratosphere). NASA also supports science and applied science projects using UAS operated by outside companies or agencies. The aircraft and accompanying data and support systems have been used in numerous investigations. For example, Global Hawks have been used to study both hurricanes and atmospheric composition. SIERRA has been used to study ice, earthquake faults, and coral reefs. DragonEye is being used to measure volcanic emissions. As a foundation for NASA's UAS work, Altair and Ikkana not only flew wildfires in the Western US, but also provided major programs for the development of real-time data download and processing capabilities. In early 2014, an advanced L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) also flew for the first time on Global Hawk, proving the utility of UAVSAR, which has been flying successfully on a manned aircraft. In this paper, we focus on two topics: 1) the results of a NASA program called UAS-Enabled Earth Science, in which three different science teams flew (at least) two different UAS to demonstrate platform performance, airspace integration, sensor performance, and applied science results from the data collected; 2) recent accomplishments with the high altitude, long-duration Global Hawks, especially measurements from several payload suites consisting of multiple instruments. The latest upgrades to data processing, communications, tracking and flight planning systems will also be described.

  3. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project, UAS Control and Non-Payload Communication System Phase-1 Flight Test Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Griner, James H.

    2014-01-01

    NASA's UAS Integration in the NAS project, has partnered with Rockwell Collins to develop a concept Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) system prototype radio, operating on recently allocated UAS frequency spectrum bands. This prototype radio is being used to validate initial proposed performance requirements for UAS control communications. This presentation will give an overview of the current status of the prototype radio development, and results from phase 1 flight tests conducted during 2013.

  4. UAS-NAS Project Demo - Mini HITL Week 2 Stats

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, James R.; Fern, Lisa C.; Rorie, Robert C.; Shively, Robert; Jovic, Srboljub

    2016-01-01

    The UAS-NAS Project demo will showcase recent research efforts to ensure the interoperability between proposed UAS detect and avoid (DAA) human machine interface requirements (developed within RTCA SC-228) and existing collision avoidance displays. Attendees will be able to view the current state of the art of the DAA pilot traffic, alerting and guidance displays integrated with Traffic advisory and Collision Avoidance (TCAS) II in the UAS-NAS Project's research UAS ground control station (developed in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory). In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the research UAS ground control station and "fly" encounters, using the DAA and TCAS II displays to avoid simulated aircraft. The display of the advisories will be hosted on a laptop with an external 30" monitor, running the Vigilant Spirit system. DAA advisories will be generated by the JADEM software tool, connected to the system via the LVC Gateway. A repeater of the primary flight display will be shown on a 55" monitor mounted on a stand at the back of the booth to show the pilot interaction to the passersby.

  5. UAS in the NAS - Analysis Results and Recommendations for Integration of CNPC and ATC Communications Simulation Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kubat, Gregory

    2016-01-01

    This report addresses a deliverable to the UAS-in-the-NAS project for recommendations for integration of CNPC and ATC communications based on analysis results from modeled radio system and NAS-wide UA communication architecture simulations. For each recommendation, a brief explanation of the rationale for its consideration is provided with any supporting results obtained or observed in our simulation activity.

  6. UAS Integration in the NAS Project: Integrated Test and Evaluation (IT&E) Flight Test 3. Revision E

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Marston, Michael

    2015-01-01

    The desire and ability to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is of increasing urgency. The application of unmanned aircraft to perform national security, defense, scientific, and emergency management are driving the critical need for less restrictive access by UAS to the NAS. UAS represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the NAS. NASA's UAS Integration into the NAS Project is conducting research in the areas of Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability, Human Systems Integration (HSI), and Communication to support reducing the barriers of UAS access to the NAS. This research is broken into two research themes namely, UAS Integration and Test Infrastructure. UAS Integration focuses on airspace integration procedures and performance standards to enable UAS integration in the air transportation system, covering Sense and Avoid (SAA) performance standards, command and control performance standards, and human systems integration. The focus of Test Infrastructure is to enable development and validation of airspace integration procedures and performance standards, including the integrated test and evaluation. In support of the integrated test and evaluation efforts, the Project will develop an adaptable, scalable, and schedulable relevant test environment capable of evaluating concepts and technologies for unmanned aircraft systems to safely operate in the NAS. To accomplish this task, the Project will conduct a series of Human-in-the-Loop and Flight Test activities that integrate key concepts, technologies and/or procedures in a relevant air traffic environment. Each of the integrated events will build on the technical achievements, fidelity and complexity of the previous tests and

  7. Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal

    2017-01-01

    NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond line of sight.

  8. Unlocking the potential of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for Earth observation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hugenholtz, C.; Riddell, K.; Barchyn, T. E.

    2012-12-01

    Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS, < 25 kg) are emerging as a viable alternative to conventional remote sensing platforms for Earth observation (EO). sUAS technology affords greater control, lower cost, and flexibility for scientists, and provides new opportunities to match the scale of sUAS data to the scale of the geophysical phenomenon under investigation. Although a mechanism is in place to make sUAS available to researchers and other non-military users through the US Federal Aviation Administration's Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (FAAMRA), there are many regulatory hurdles before they are fully accepted and integrated into the National Airspace System. In this talk we will provide a brief overview of the regulatory landscape for sUAS, both in the USA and in Canada, where sUAS regulations are more flexible. We critically outline potential advantages and disadvantages of sUAS for EO applications under current and potential regulations. We find advantages: relatively low cost, potentially high temporal resolution, rapidly improving technology, and operational flexibility. We also find disadvantages: limited temporal and spatial extent, limited accuracy assessment and methodological development, and an immature regulatory landscape. From a case study we show an example of the accuracy of a photogrammetrically-derived digital terrain map (DTM) from sUAS imagery. We also compare the sUAS DTM to a LiDAR DTM. Our results suggest that sUAS-acquired imagery may provide a low-cost, rapid, and flexible alternative to airborne LiDAR. Overall, we are encouraged about the potential of sUAS for geophysical measurements; however, understanding and compliance with regulations is paramount to ensure that research is conducted legally and responsibly. Because UAS are new outside of military operations, we hope researchers will proceed carefully to ensure this great scientific opportunity remains a long term tool.

  9. GALNT5 uaRNA promotes gastric cancer progression through its interaction with HSP90.

    PubMed

    Guo, Hui; Zhao, Lianmei; Shi, Bianhua; Bao, Jiayu; Zheng, Dexian; Zhou, Baoguo; Shi, Juan

    2018-05-10

    Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play a pivotal role in the occurrence and progression of cancer because of their unique characteristics and have therefore become an active area of cancer research. The object of this study was to screen lncRNAs that are dysregulated in gastric cancer and to investigate their potential functions. Global expression of lncRNAs in gastric cancer and adjacent normal tissues of patients was profiled using a microarray assay. We identified an lncRNA (GALNT5 uaRNA, UTR-associated RNA) that is derived from the 3'-UTR of GALNT5. This lncRNA was transcribed independently of the coding region of GALNT5 and was determined to be markedly upregulated in human gastric carcinoma relative to their corresponding normal gastric tissues by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of tissues from 122 gastric carcinoma patients. The expression of GALNT5 uaRNA was significantly correlated with the TNM stage and with lymph node metastasis. Further results demonstrated that GALNT5 uaRNA facilitated the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells in vitro and promoted tumor growth in a mouse model of human gastric cancer. Our results also indicated that GALNT5 uaRNA might function in gastric cancer by binding with HSP90. Further studies indicated that the 5'-end stem-loop motifs of GALNT5 uaRNA promoted the binding of HSP90 and its client proteins, and thus inhibited ubiquitination of the clients. These results expanded our understanding of GALNT5 uaRNA as a new avenue for therapeutic intervention against gastric cancer progression.

  10. UAS Integration in the NAS Project and Future Autonomy Research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Charles W.

    2014-01-01

    This presentation highlights NASA use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and related technologies for civil purposes. This briefing will give more insight into the UAS projects progress and future goals.

  11. Virtualizing Super-Computation On-Board Uas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salami, E.; Soler, J. A.; Cuadrado, R.; Barrado, C.; Pastor, E.

    2015-04-01

    Unmanned aerial systems (UAS, also known as UAV, RPAS or drones) have a great potential to support a wide variety of aerial remote sensing applications. Most UAS work by acquiring data using on-board sensors for later post-processing. Some require the data gathered to be downlinked to the ground in real-time. However, depending on the volume of data and the cost of the communications, this later option is not sustainable in the long term. This paper develops the concept of virtualizing super-computation on-board UAS, as a method to ease the operation by facilitating the downlink of high-level information products instead of raw data. Exploiting recent developments in miniaturized multi-core devices is the way to speed-up on-board computation. This hardware shall satisfy size, power and weight constraints. Several technologies are appearing with promising results for high performance computing on unmanned platforms, such as the 36 cores of the TILE-Gx36 by Tilera (now EZchip) or the 64 cores of the Epiphany-IV by Adapteva. The strategy for virtualizing super-computation on-board includes the benchmarking for hardware selection, the software architecture and the communications aware design. A parallelization strategy is given for the 36-core TILE-Gx36 for a UAS in a fire mission or in similar target-detection applications. The results are obtained for payload image processing algorithms and determine in real-time the data snapshot to gather and transfer to ground according to the needs of the mission, the processing time, and consumed watts.

  12. UAS remote sensing for precision agriculture: An independent assessment

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) are recognized as potentially important remote-sensing platforms for precision agriculture. However, research is required to determine which sensors and data processing methods are required to use sUAS in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Oregon State U...

  13. A Summary of Two Recent UAS Command and Control (C2) Communications Feasibility Studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ponchak, Denise S.; Auld, Elisabeth; Church, Gary; Henriksen, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    In Spring of 2015, the NextGen Institute conducted two UAS C2 Communications Feasibility Studies on behalf of the FAA UAS Integration Office to develop two limited UAS C2 operational examples, each involving low-altitude BLOS (Beyond Line of Sight) Line of Communication (LOC) UAS applications, as part of assessing the myriad practical UAS C2 deployment challenges associated with these approaches. The studies investigated the feasibility of "Point-to-Point" (PTP) and "Network" approaches to UAS C2 to better understand potential user needs and to explore evolutionary paths to establishing a nation-wide system for delivering UAS C2 communications. This paper will summarize the solicitation, approach and results of the two studies teams led by Aviation Management Associates, Inc. and Exelis Inc.

  14. Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal

    2017-01-01

    NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable a variety of business models and multiple operations in the same airspace. The UTM will provide services such as airspace configuration and geo-fencing, weather and wind integration, demand-capacity imbalance management, and separation management, and contingency management. The UTM research and development has been conducted in collaboration with many in industry, academia, and government. The UTM system will evolve through four builds. Each build will be collaboratively tested with partners. The final prototype will be available for persistent daily use of UAS operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

  15. Building Change Detection from Harvey using Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, A.; Yeom, J.; Jung, J.; Choi, I.

    2017-12-01

    Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) is getting to be the most important technique in recent days since the fine spatial and high temporal resolution data previously unobtainable from traditional remote sensing platforms. Advanced UAS data can provide a great opportunity for disaster monitoring. Especially, building change detection is the one of the most important topics for damage assessment and recovery from disasters. This study is proposing a method to monitor building change with UAS data for Holiday Beach in Texas, where was directly hit by Harvey on 25 August 2017. This study adopted 3D change detection to monitor building damage and recovery levels with building height as well as natural color information. We used a rotorcraft UAS to collect RGB data twice on 9 September and 18 October 2017 after the hurricane. The UAS data was processed using Agisoft Photoscan Pro Software to generate super high resolution dataset including orthomosaic, DSM (Digital Surface Model), and 3D point cloud. We compared the processed dataset with an airborne image considerable as before-hurricane data, which was acquired on January 2016. Building damage and recovery levels were determined by height and color change. The result will show that UAS data is useful to assess building damage and recovery for affected area by the natural disaster such as Harvey.

  16. The application of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in geophysical investigations of geothermal systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glen, J. M.; Egger, A. E.; Ippolito, C.; Phelps, G. A.; Berthold, R.; Lee, R.; Spritzer, J. M.; Tchernychev, M.

    2012-12-01

    Investigations of geothermal systems typically involve ground-based geological and geophysical studies in order to map structures that control and facilitate fluid flow. The spatial extent of ground-based investigations can be limited, however, by surficial hot springs, dense foliage, and roadless or private lands. This can result in data gaps in key areas, particularly around active hydrothermal springs. Manned aircraft can provide access to these areas and can yield broad and uniform data coverage, but high-resolution surveys are costly and relatively inflexible to changes in the survey specifications that may arise as data are collected. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are well suited for conducting these surveys, but until recently, various factors (scientific instrumentation requirements, platform limitations, and size of the survey area) have required the use of large UAS platforms, rendering unmanned aerial surveys unsuitable for most investigations. We have developed and tested a new cesium magnetometer system to collect magnetic data using two different small-platform UAS that overcomes many of the challenges described above. We are deploying this new system in Surprise Valley, CA, to study the area's active geothermal field. Surprise Valley is ideally suited to testing UAS due to its low population density, accessible airspace, and broad playa that provides ample opportunity to safely land the aircraft. In combination with gravity and topographic data, magnetic data are particularly useful for identifying buried, intra-basin structures, especially in areas such as Surprise Valley where highly magnetic, dense mafic volcanic rocks are interbedded with and faulted against less magnetic, less dense sedimentary rock. While high-resolution gravity data must be collected at point locations on the ground, high-resolution magnetic data can be obtained by UAS that provide continuous coverage. Once acquired, the magnetic data obtained by the UAS will be combined with

  17. The upper airway in sleep-disordered breathing: UA in SDB.

    PubMed

    Taranto Montemurro, L; Kasai, T

    2014-02-01

    Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a common condition and could be a risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the pathogenesis of SDB remains to be elucidated. In general, SDB is divided into two forms, obstructive and central sleep apnea (OSA and CSA, respectively). OSA results from the sleep-related collapse of the upper airway (UA) in association with multiple factors like race, gender, obesity and UA dimensions. CSA primarily results from a fall in PaCO2 to a level below the apnea threshold during sleep through the reflex inhibition of central respiratory drive. It has been reported that UA alterations (i.e., collapse or dilation) can be observed in CSA. This review highlights the roles of the UA in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of SDB.

  18. Small UAS Test Area at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeffrey T.

    2008-01-01

    This viewgraph presentation reviews the areas that Dryden Flight Research Center has set up for testing small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). It also reviews the requirements and process to use an area for UAS test.

  19. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Applications to Land and Natural Resource Management

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Johnson, Robert; Smith, Karen; Wescott, Konstance

    Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) have made dramatic technical advances in the past decade. Their use domestically is currently tightly constrained by existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Within the next few years, the FAA is expected to provide a regulatory framework that allows for a greatly expanded role for UASs in domestic airspace for a wide variety of applications. One of those will be remote sensing for land and natural resource monitoring. While there has recently been a large body of published research on UAS applications to environmental monitoring, in practice, very little has been operationalized by private or publicmore » entities to date. In July 2014, Argonne National Laboratory hosted a workshop dedicated to environmental monitoring UAS applications with attendance by representatives from 11 federal agencies as well as academics. The workshop reviewed the UAS state-of-the-art within the federal arena and barriers to broader UAS use. While a number of agencies, the including National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, the United States Geological Survey, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Bureau of Land Management have conducted proof-of-concept UAS demonstrations, typically using surplus Department of Defense equipment, the promise of UAS systems at the moment remains untapped for a variety of reasons. The consensus was, however, that UAS systems will play an increasingly important role in cost-effectively supporting timely natural-resource and land-management monitoring needs. Environmental Practice 17: 170–177 (2015)« less

  20. Analysis of UAS DAA Surveillance in Fast-Time Simulations without DAA Mitigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thipphavong, David P.; Santiago, Confesor; Isaacson, David R.; Lee, Seung Man; Refai, Mohamad Said; Snow, James William

    2015-01-01

    Realization of the expected proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) depends on the development and validation of performance standards for UAS Detect and Avoid (DAA) Systems. The RTCA Special Committee 228 is charged with leading the development of draft Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS DAA Systems. NASA, as a participating member of RTCA SC-228 is committed to supporting the development and validation of draft requirements for DAA surveillance system performance. A recent study conducted using NASA's ACES (Airspace Concept Evaluation System) simulation capability begins to address questions surrounding the development of draft MOPS for DAA surveillance systems. ACES simulations were conducted to study the performance of sensor systems proposed by the SC-228 DAA Surveillance sub-group. Analysis included but was not limited to: 1) number of intruders (both IFR and VFR) detected by all sensors as a function of UAS flight time, 2) number of intruders (both IFR and VFR) detected by radar alone as a function of UAS flight time, and 3) number of VFR intruders detected by all sensors as a function of UAS flight time. The results will be used by SC-228 to inform decisions about the surveillance standards of UAS DAA systems and future requirements development and validation efforts.

  1. AIAA Aviation UAS DAA Demonstration-Mini HITL Week 2 Stats

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa Carolynn; Murphy, James R.; Jovic, Srboljub

    2016-01-01

    The UAS-NAS Project demo will showcase recent research efforts to ensure the interoperability between proposed UAS detect and avoid (DAA) human machine interface requirements (developed within RTCA SC-228) and existing collision avoidance displays. Attendees will be able to view the current state of the art of the DAA pilot traffic, alerting and guidance displays integrated with Traffic advisory and Collision Avoidance (TCAS) II in the UAS-NAS Project's research UAS ground control station (developed in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory). In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the research UAS ground control station and "fly" encounters, using the DAA and TCAS II displays to avoid simulated aircraft. The display of the advisories will be hosted on a laptop with an external 30" monitor, running the Vigilant Spririt system. DAA advisories will be generated by the JADEM software tool, connected to the system via the LVC Gateway. A repeater of the primary flight display will be shown on a 55" tv/monitor mounted on a stand at the back of the booth to show the pilot interaction to the passersby.

  2. Single Operator Control of Multiple UAS: A Supervisory Delegation Approach

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay

    2017-01-01

    This presentation will be given as part of the UAS EXCOM Science and Research Panel's (SARP) workshop on multiple UAS controlled by a single operator. Participants were asked to identify public use cases for multiple UAS control and identify research, policy and technical gaps in those operations. The purpose of this workshop is to brainstorm, categorize and prioritize those use canses and gaps. Here, I will discuss research performed on this topic when I worked for the Army and on-going work within the division and a NATO working group on Human-Autonomy Teaming.

  3. Effect of Vertical Rate Error on Recovery from Loss of Well Clear Between UAS and Non-Cooperative Intruders

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cone, Andrew; Thipphavong, David; Lee, Seung Man; Santiago, Confesor

    2016-01-01

    When an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) encounters an intruder and is unable to maintain required temporal and spatial separation between the two vehicles, it is referred to as a loss of well-clear. In this state, the UAS must make its best attempt to regain separation while maximizing the minimum separation between itself and the intruder. When encountering a non-cooperative intruder (an aircraft operating under visual flight rules without ADS-B or an active transponder) the UAS must rely on the radar system to provide the intruders location, velocity, and heading information. As many UAS have limited climb and descent performance, vertical position andor vertical rate errors make it difficult to determine whether an intruder will pass above or below them. To account for that, there is a proposal by RTCA Special Committee 228 to prohibit guidance systems from providing vertical guidance to regain well-clear to UAS in an encounter with a non-cooperative intruder unless their radar system has vertical position error below 175 feet (95) and vertical velocity errors below 200 fpm (95). Two sets of fast-time parametric studies was conducted, each with 54000 pairwise encounters between a UAS and non-cooperative intruder to determine the suitability of offering vertical guidance to regain well clear to a UAS in the presence of radar sensor noise. The UAS was not allowed to maneuver until it received well-clear recovery guidance. The maximum severity of the loss of well-clear was logged and used as the primary indicator of the separation achieved by the UAS. One set of 54000 encounters allowed the UAS to maneuver either vertically or horizontally, while the second permitted horizontal maneuvers, only. Comparing the two data sets allowed researchers to see the effect of allowing vertical guidance to a UAS for a particular encounter and vertical rate error. Study results show there is a small reduction in the average severity of a loss of well-clear when vertical maneuvers

  4. Maritime Search and Rescue via Multiple Coordinated UAS

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-12

    performed by a set of UAS. Our investigation covers the detection of multiple mobile objects by a heterogeneous collection of UAS. Three methods (two...account for contingencies such as airspace deconfliction. Results are produced using simulation to verify the capability of the proposed method and to...compare the various par- titioning methods . Results from this simulation show that great gains in search efficiency can be made when the search space is

  5. Use of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in Response to the 2014 Eruption of Ontake Volcano, Japan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mori, T.; Hashimoto, T.; Terada, A.; Shinohara, H.; Kazahaya, R.; Yoshimoto, M.; Tanaka, R.

    2015-12-01

    On Sept. 27, 2014, a phreatic eruption occurred at Ontake volcano (3067 m a.s.l.), central Japan. The eruption caused an unprecedented volcanic disaster in the last 70 years in Japan. Search and rescue operations started soon after the eruption until they were suspended due to snowfall in late October. Considering the potential hazards of further explosive events and the severe winter condition, an approach to the summit area after late October was very difficult. To reveal the condition of the volcanic activity and foresee the trend, we considered it important to carry out volcanic gas surveys for the dense plumes in the vicinity of the vents using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). For the surveys at Ontake volcano, the UAS was expected to fly about 8 km roundtrip distance at an altitude of over 3000 m. A multicopter with 8 rotors was adopted and we targeted four types of plume monitoring using the UAS; in-plume monitoring of multiple gas concentrations, SO2 flux measurement with UV spectroscopy, thermography of the vents, and in-plume particle sampling. In order to meet the 1 kg payload of the multicopter, some of the instruments were slimmed down.The UAS campaigns at Ontake volcano were carried out on Nov. 20-21, 2014 and on Jun. 2, 2015 from the safety distance of 3-3.5 km away from the crater. With the UAS surveys, we revealed that the SO2/H2S ratios of volcanic gas were closer to the hydrothermal origin instead of direct magma degassing. The second survey also pointed out that the SO2 emission decreased down below 10 ton/day by June 2015, by taking an advantage of flying the vicinity of the vents before the plume was diluted. Our surveys showed decreasing activity of the volcano, together with the advantages of using UAS in volcano monitoring for inaccessible conditions.

  6. Assessing UAS Flight Testing and It's Importance for Beyond-Line-of-Sight UAS Control in Cooperation with Partnering Organizations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    de Jong, Daphne

    2015-01-01

    From the 1st of June until the 21st of August, the internship has been conducted at NASA Ames Research Center as part of the Master of Space Studies at the International Space University. The main activities consisted of doing research on UAV flight-­-testing and the assessing of safety with respect to Beyond-­-Line-­-Of-­-Sight operations. Further activities consisted of accommodating international partners and potential partners at the NASA Ames site, in order to identify mutual interest and future collaboration. Besides those activities, the report describes the planning process of the ISU Space Coast Trip to 10 different space related companies on the west-­-coast of California. Key words: UAS, UAV, BLOS, Ames, ISU Trip

  7. Cooperative Autonomous Observation of Volcanic Environments with sUAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ravela, S.

    2015-12-01

    The Cooperative Autonomous Observing System Project (CAOS) at the MIT Earth Signals and Systems Group has developed methodology and systems for dynamically mapping coherent fluids such as plumes using small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). In the CAOS approach, two classes of sUAS, one remote the other in-situ, implement a dynamic data-driven mapping system by closing the loop between Modeling, Estimation, Sampling, Planning and Control (MESPAC). The continually gathered measurements are assimilated to produce maps/analyses which also guide the sUAS network to adaptively resample the environment. Rather than scan the volume in fixed Eulerian or Lagrangian flight plans, the adaptive nature of the sampling process enables objectives for efficiency and resilience to be incorporated. Modeling includes realtime prediction using two types of reduced models, one based on nowcasting remote observations of plume tracer using scale-cascaded alignment, and another based on dynamically-deformable EOF/POD developed for coherent structures. Ensemble-based Information-theoretic machine learning approaches are used for the highly non-linear/non-Gaussian state/parameter estimation, and for planning. Control of the sUAS is based on model reference control coupled with hierarchical PID. MESPAC is implemented in part on a SkyCandy platform, and implements an airborne mesh that provides instantaneous situational awareness and redundant communication to an operating fleet. SkyCandy is deployed on Itzamna Aero's I9X/W UAS with low-cost sensors, and is currently being used to study the Popocatepetl volcano. Results suggest that operational communities can deploy low-cost sUAS to systematically monitor whilst optimizing for efficiency/maximizing resilience. The CAOS methodology is applicable to many other environments where coherent structures are present in the background. More information can be found at caos.mit.edu.

  8. Modeling and Simulation of an UAS Collision Avoidance Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oliveros, Edgardo V.; Murray, A. Jennifer

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes a Modeling and Simulation of an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Collision Avoidance System, capable of representing different types of scenarios for UAS collision avoidance. Commercial and military piloted aircraft currently utilize various systems for collision avoidance such as Traffic Alert and Collision A voidance System (TCAS), Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), Radar and ElectroOptical and Infrared Sensors (EO-IR). The integration of information from these systems is done by the pilot in the aircraft to determine the best course of action. In order to operate optimally in the National Airspace System (NAS) UAS have to work in a similar or equivalent manner to a piloted aircraft by applying the principle of "detect-see and avoid" (DSA) to other air traffic. Hence, we have taken these existing sensor technologies into consideration in order to meet the challenge of researching the modeling and simulation of an approximated DSA system. A Schematic Model for a UAS Collision Avoidance System (CAS) has been developed ina closed loop block diagram for that purpose. We have found that the most suitable software to carry out this task is the Satellite Tool Kit (STK) from Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI). We have used the Aircraft Mission Modeler (AMM) for modeling and simulation of a scenario where a UAS is placed on a possible collision path with an initial intruder and then with a second intruder, but is able to avoid them by executing a right tum maneuver and then climbing. Radars have also been modeled with specific characteristics for the UAS and both intruders. The software provides analytical, graphical user interfaces and data controlling tools which allow the operator to simulate different conditions. Extensive simulations have been carried out which returned excellent results.

  9. Regulation of the gut-specific carboxypeptidase: a study using the binary Gal4/UAS system in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Bo; Kokoza, Vladimir A.; Saha, Tusar T.; Wang, Stephanie; Roy, Sourav; Raikhel, Alexander S.

    2015-01-01

    Pathogen transmission by mosquitoes is tightly linked to blood feeding which, in turn, is required for egg development. Studies of these processes would greatly benefit from genetic methods, such as the binary Gal4/UAS system. The latter has been well established for model organisms, but its availability is limited for mosquitoes. The objective of this study was to develop the blood-meal-activated, gut-specific Gal4/UAS system for the yellow-fever mosquito Aedes aegypti and utilize it to investigate the regulation of gut-specific gene expression. A 1.1-kb, 5' upstream region of the carboxypeptidase A (CP) gene was used to genetically engineer the CP-Gal4 driver mosquito line. The CP-Gal4 specifically activated the Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP) reporter only after blood feeding in the gut of the CP-Gal4>UAS-EGFP female Ae. aegypti. We used this system to study the regulation of CP gene expression. In vitro treatments with either amino acids (AAs) or insulin stimulated expression of the CP-Gal4>UAS-EGFP transgene; no effect was observed with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) treatments. The transgene activation by AAs and insulin was blocked by rapamycin, the inhibitor of the Target-of-Rapamycin kinase (TOR). RNA interference (RNAi) silence of the insulin receptor (IR) reduced the expression of the CP-Gal4>UAS-EGFP transgene. Thus, in vitro and in vivo experiments have revealed that insulin and TOR pathways control expression of the digestive enzyme CP. In contrast, 20E, the major regulator of post-blood-meal vitellogenic events in female mosquitoes, has no role in regulating the expression of this gene. This novel CP-Gal4/UAS system permits functional testing of midgut-specific genes that are involved in blood digestion and interaction with pathogens in Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. PMID:25152428

  10. SAFEGUARD: An Assured Safety Net Technology for UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dill, Evan T.; Young, Steven D.; Hayhurst, Kelly J.

    2016-01-01

    As demands increase to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for a broad spectrum of commercial applications, regulatory authorities are examining how to safely integrate them without loss of safety or major disruption to existing airspace operations. This work addresses the development of the Safeguard system as an assured safety net technology for UAS. The Safeguard system monitors and enforces conformance to a set of rules defined prior to flight (e.g., geospatial stay-out or stay-in regions, speed limits, altitude limits). Safeguard operates independently of the UAS autopilot and is strategically designed in a way that can be realized by a small set of verifiable functions to simplify compliance with regulatory standards for commercial aircraft. A framework is described that decouples the system from any other devices on the UAS as well as introduces complementary positioning source(s) for applications that require integrity and availability beyond what the Global Positioning System (GPS) can provide. Additionally, the high level logic embedded within the software is presented, as well as the steps being taken toward verification and validation (V&V) of proper functionality. Next, an initial prototype implementation of the described system is disclosed. Lastly, future work including development, testing, and system V&V is summarized.

  11. NASA GRC UAS Project - Communications Modeling and Simulation Development Status

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Apaza, Rafael; Bretmersky, Steven; Dailey, Justin; Satapathy, Goutam; Ditzenberger, David; Ye, Chris; Kubat, Greg; Chevalier, Christine; Nguyen, Thanh

    2014-01-01

    The integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace represents new operational concepts required in civil aviation. These new concepts are evolving as the nation moves toward the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) under the leadership of the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), and through ongoing work by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The desire and ability to fly UAS in the National Air Space (NAS) in the near term has increased dramatically, and this multi-agency effort to develop and implement a national plan to successfully address the challenges of UAS access to the NAS in a safe and timely manner is well underway. As part of the effort to integrate UAS in the National Airspace, NASA Glenn Research Center is currently involved with providing research into Communications systems and Communication system operations in order to assist with developing requirements for this implementation. In order to provide data and information regarding communication systems performance that will be necessary, NASA GRC is tasked with developing and executing plans for simulations of candidate future UAS command and control communications, in line with architectures and communications technologies being developed and or proposed by NASA and relevant aviation organizations (in particular, RTCA SC-203). The simulations and related analyses will provide insight into the ability of proposed communications technologies and system architectures to enable safe operation of UAS, meeting UAS in the NAS project goals (including performance requirements, scalability, and interoperability), and ultimately leading to a determination of the ability of NextGen communication systems to accommodate UAS. This presentation, compiled by the NASA GRC Modeling and Simulation team, will provide an update to this ongoing effort at NASA GRC as follow-up to the overview of the planned simulation effort presented at ICNS in 2013. The objective

  12. Unmanned Aerial Systems Traffic Management (UTM): Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rios, Joseph

    2016-01-01

    Currently, there is no established infrastructure to enable and safely manage the widespread use of low-altitude airspace and UAS flight operations. Given this, and understanding that the FAA faces a mandate to modernize the present air traffic management system through computer automation and significantly reduce the number of air traffic controllers by FY 2020, the FAA maintains that a comprehensive, yet fully automated UAS traffic management (UTM) system for low-altitude airspace is needed. The concept of UTM is to begin by leveraging concepts from the system of roads, lanes, stop signs, rules and lights that govern vehicles on the ground today. Building on its legacy of work in air traffic management (ATM), NASA is working with industry to develop prototype technologies for a UAS Traffic Management (UTM) system that would evolve airspace integration procedures for enabling safe, efficient low-altitude flight operations that autonomously manage UAS operating in an approved low-altitude airspace environment. UTM is a cloud-based system that will autonomously manage all traffic at low altitudes to include UASs being operated beyond visual line of sight of an operator. UTM would thus enable safe and efficient flight operations by providing fully integrated traffic management services such as airspace design, corridors, dynamic geofencing, severe weather and wind avoidance, congestion management, terrain avoidance, route planning re-routing, separation management, sequencing spacing, and contingency management. UTM removes the need for human operators to continuously monitor aircraft operating in approved areas. NASA envisions concepts for two types of UTM systems. The first would be a small portable system, which could be moved between geographical areas in support of operations such as precision agriculture and public safety. The second would be a Persistent system, which would support low-altitude operations in an approved area by providing continuous automated

  13. UAS Integration Into the NAS: An Examination of Baseline Compliance in the Current Airspace System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa; Kenny, Caitlin A.; Shively, Robert J.; Johnson, Walter

    2012-01-01

    As a result of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are expected to be integrated into the National Airspace System (NAS) by 2015. Several human factors challenges need to be addressed before UAS can safely and routinely fly in the NAS with manned aircraft. Perhaps the most significant challenge is for the UAS to be non-disruptive to the air traffic management system. Another human factors challenge is how to provide UAS pilots with intuitive traffic information in order to support situation awareness (SA) of their airspace environment as well as a see-and-avoid capability comparable to manned aircraft so that a UAS pilot could safely maneuver the aircraft to maintain separation and collision avoidance if necessary. A simulation experiment was conducted to examine baseline compliance of UAS operations in the current airspace system. Researchers also examined the effects of introducing a Cockpit Situation Display (CSD) into a UAS Ground Control Station (GCS) on UAS pilot performance, workload and situation awareness while flying in a positively controlled sector. Pilots were tasked with conducting a highway patrol police mission with a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS in L.A. Center airspace with two mission objectives: 1) to reroute the UAS when issued new instructions from their commander, and 2) to communicate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) to negotiate flight plan changes and respond to vectoring and altitude change instructions. Objective aircraft separation data, workload ratings, SA data, and subjective ratings regarding UAS operations in the NAS were collected. Results indicate that UAS pilots were able to comply appropriately with ATC instructions. In addition, the introduction of the CSD improved pilot SA and reduced workload associated with UAS and ATC interactions.

  14. The First Government Sanctioned Delivery of Medical Supplies by Remotely Controlled Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Howell, Charles T., III; Jones, Frank; Thorson, Taylor; Grube, Richard; Mellanson, Cecil; Joyce, Lee; Coggin, John; Kennedy, Jack

    2016-01-01

    The first government sanctioned delivery of medical supplies by UAS occurred at Wise, Virginia, on July 17, 2015. The "Let's Fly Wisely" event was a demonstration of the humanitarian use of UAS to facilitate delivery of medical supplies to remote or otherwise difficult-to-reach areas. The event was the result of coordinated efforts by a partnership which included the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), Flirtey Corporation, Lonesome Pine Airport, Remote Area Medical (RAM), Health Wagon, SEESPAN Aerial Interactive, Rx Partnership, and Wise County, Virginia. The historic event occurred during the annual Remote Area Medical clinic at the Wise County Fairgrounds. The medical supplies in small packages were delivered to the Wise County Fairgrounds from the Lonesome Pine Airport by UAS operated by Firtey. A larger supply of medical supplies were delivered to the Lonesome Pine Airport from the Tazewell County Airport by NASA Langley's SR22 UAS Surrogate Research aircraft. The UAS Surrogate aircraft was remotely controlled for most of the flight by a UAS Ground Control Station located at the Lonesome Pine Airport. The medical supplies were delivered from the UAS Surrogate to Flirtey for final delivery by Hex Multi-Rotor UAS in smaller packages and multiple trips to the fairgrounds. A Certificate of Authorization (COA) issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designated the site as an authorized UAS test site. The paper will present additional details of the historic delivery of pharmaceuticals by UAS during the "Let's Fly Wisely" event. The paper will also provide details of NASA's SR22 UAS Surrogate Research aircraft. The UAS Surrogate was designed to investigate the procedures, aircraft sensors and other systems that may be required to allow Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to safely operate with manned aircraft in the National Airspace

  15. Advancing UAS methods for monitoring coastal environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ridge, J.; Seymour, A.; Rodriguez, A. B.; Dale, J.; Newton, E.; Johnston, D. W.

    2017-12-01

    Utilizing fixed-wing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), we are working to improve coastal monitoring by increasing the accuracy, precision, temporal resolution, and spatial coverage of habitat distribution maps. Generally, multirotor aircraft are preferred for precision imaging, but recent advances in fixed-wing technology have greatly increased their capabilities and application for fine-scale (decimeter-centimeter) measurements. Present mapping methods employed by North Carolina coastal managers involve expensive, time consuming and localized observation of coastal environments, which often lack the necessary frequency to make timely management decisions. For example, it has taken several decades to fully map oyster reefs along the NC coast, making it nearly impossible to track trends in oyster reef populations responding to harvesting pressure and water quality degradation. It is difficult for the state to employ manned flights for collecting aerial imagery to monitor intertidal oyster reefs, because flights are usually conducted after seasonal increases in turbidity. In addition, post-storm monitoring of coastal erosion from manned platforms is often conducted days after the event and collects oblique aerial photographs which are difficult to use for accurately measuring change. Here, we describe how fixed wing UAS and standard RGB sensors can be used to rapidly quantify and assess critical coastal habitats (e.g., barrier islands, oyster reefs, etc.), providing for increased temporal frequency to isolate long-term and event-driven (storms, harvesting) impacts. Furthermore, drone-based approaches can accurately image intertidal habitats as well as resolve information such as vegetation density and bathymetry from shallow submerged areas. We obtain UAS imagery of a barrier island and oyster reefs under ideal conditions (low tide, turbidity, and sun angle) to create high resolution (cm scale) maps and digital elevation models to assess habitat condition

  16. Single Operator Control of Multiple UAS: A Supervisory Delegation Approach

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay

    2017-01-01

    This presentation will be given as part of the UAS EXCOM Science and Research Panel's (SARP) workshop on multiple UAS controlled by a single operator. Participants were asked to identify public use cases for multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) control and identify research, policy, and technical gaps in those operations. The purpose of this workshop is to brainstorm, categorize, and prioritize those use cases and gaps. Here, I will discuss research performed on this topic when I worked for the Army and on-going work within the division and a NATO working group on Human-Autonomy Teaming.

  17. Water Plume Temperature Measurements by an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).

    PubMed

    DeMario, Anthony; Lopez, Pete; Plewka, Eli; Wix, Ryan; Xia, Hai; Zamora, Emily; Gessler, Dan; Yalin, Azer P

    2017-02-07

    We report on the development and testing of a proof of principle water temperature measurement system deployed on an unmanned aerial system (UAS), for field measurements of thermal discharges into water. The primary elements of the system include a quad-copter UAS to which has been integrated, for the first time, both a thermal imaging infrared (IR) camera and an immersible probe that can be dipped below the water surface to obtain vertical water temperature profiles. The IR camera is used to take images of the overall water surface to geo-locate the plume, while the immersible probe provides quantitative temperature depth profiles at specific locations. The full system has been tested including the navigation of the UAS, its ability to safely carry the sensor payload, and the performance of both the IR camera and the temperature probe. Finally, the UAS sensor system was successfully deployed in a pilot field study at a coal burning power plant, and obtained images and temperature profiles of the thermal effluent.

  18. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Griner, James H.

    2013-01-01

    NASA's UAS Integration in the NAS project, has partnered with Rockwell Collins to develop a concept Control and Non-Payload Communication system prototype radio, operating on recently allocated UAS frequency spectrum bands. The prototype radio will be used to validate initial proposed performance requirements for UAS control communications. This presentation will give an overview of the current status of the design, development, and flight test planning for this prototype radio.

  19. Water Plume Temperature Measurements by an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

    PubMed Central

    DeMario, Anthony; Lopez, Pete; Plewka, Eli; Wix, Ryan; Xia, Hai; Zamora, Emily; Gessler, Dan; Yalin, Azer P.

    2017-01-01

    We report on the development and testing of a proof of principle water temperature measurement system deployed on an unmanned aerial system (UAS), for field measurements of thermal discharges into water. The primary elements of the system include a quad-copter UAS to which has been integrated, for the first time, both a thermal imaging infrared (IR) camera and an immersible probe that can be dipped below the water surface to obtain vertical water temperature profiles. The IR camera is used to take images of the overall water surface to geo-locate the plume, while the immersible probe provides quantitative temperature depth profiles at specific locations. The full system has been tested including the navigation of the UAS, its ability to safely carry the sensor payload, and the performance of both the IR camera and the temperature probe. Finally, the UAS sensor system was successfully deployed in a pilot field study at a coal burning power plant, and obtained images and temperature profiles of the thermal effluent. PMID:28178215

  20. Vicarious Calibration of sUAS Microbolometer Temperature Imagery for Estimation of Radiometric Land Surface Temperature.

    PubMed

    Torres-Rua, Alfonso

    2017-06-26

    In recent years, the availability of lightweight microbolometer thermal cameras compatible with small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) has allowed their use in diverse scientific and management activities that require sub-meter pixel resolution. Nevertheless, as with sensors already used in temperature remote sensing (e.g., Landsat satellites), a radiance atmospheric correction is necessary to estimate land surface temperature. This is because atmospheric conditions at any sUAS flight elevation will have an adverse impact on the image accuracy, derived calculations, and study replicability using the microbolometer technology. This study presents a vicarious calibration methodology (sUAS-specific, time-specific, flight-specific, and sensor-specific) for sUAS temperature imagery traceable back to NIST-standards and current atmospheric correction methods. For this methodology, a three-year data collection campaign with a sUAS called "AggieAir", developed at Utah State University, was performed for vineyards near Lodi, California, for flights conducted at different times (early morning, Landsat overpass, and mid-afternoon") and seasonal conditions. From the results of this study, it was found that, despite the spectral response of microbolometer cameras (7.0 to 14.0 μm), it was possible to account for the effects of atmospheric and sUAS operational conditions, regardless of time and weather, to acquire accurate surface temperature data. In addition, it was found that the main atmospheric correction parameters (transmissivity and atmospheric radiance) significantly varied over the course of a day. These parameters fluctuated the most in early morning and partially stabilized in Landsat overpass and in mid-afternoon times. In terms of accuracy, estimated atmospheric correction parameters presented adequate statistics (confidence bounds under ±0.1 for transmissivity and ±1.2 W/m²/sr/um for atmospheric radiance, with a range of RMSE below 1.0 W/m²/sr/um) for all sUAS

  1. Vicarious Calibration of sUAS Microbolometer Temperature Imagery for Estimation of Radiometric Land Surface Temperature

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, the availability of lightweight microbolometer thermal cameras compatible with small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) has allowed their use in diverse scientific and management activities that require sub-meter pixel resolution. Nevertheless, as with sensors already used in temperature remote sensing (e.g., Landsat satellites), a radiance atmospheric correction is necessary to estimate land surface temperature. This is because atmospheric conditions at any sUAS flight elevation will have an adverse impact on the image accuracy, derived calculations, and study replicability using the microbolometer technology. This study presents a vicarious calibration methodology (sUAS-specific, time-specific, flight-specific, and sensor-specific) for sUAS temperature imagery traceable back to NIST-standards and current atmospheric correction methods. For this methodology, a three-year data collection campaign with a sUAS called “AggieAir”, developed at Utah State University, was performed for vineyards near Lodi, California, for flights conducted at different times (early morning, Landsat overpass, and mid-afternoon”) and seasonal conditions. From the results of this study, it was found that, despite the spectral response of microbolometer cameras (7.0 to 14.0 μm), it was possible to account for the effects of atmospheric and sUAS operational conditions, regardless of time and weather, to acquire accurate surface temperature data. In addition, it was found that the main atmospheric correction parameters (transmissivity and atmospheric radiance) significantly varied over the course of a day. These parameters fluctuated the most in early morning and partially stabilized in Landsat overpass and in mid-afternoon times. In terms of accuracy, estimated atmospheric correction parameters presented adequate statistics (confidence bounds under ±0.1 for transmissivity and ±1.2 W/m2/sr/um for atmospheric radiance, with a range of RMSE below 1.0 W/m2/sr/um) for all sUAS

  2. Monitoring Coastal Processes at Local and Regional Geographic Scales with UAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Starek, M. J.; Bridges, D.; Prouty, D.; Berryhill, J.; Williams, D.; Jeffress, G.

    2014-12-01

    Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) provide a powerful tool for coastal mapping due to attractive features such as low cost data acquisition, flexibility in data capture and resolution, rapid response, and autonomous flight. We investigate two different scales of UAS platforms for monitoring coastal processes along the central Texas Gulf coast. Firstly, the eBee is a small-scale UAS weighing ~0.7 kg designed for localized mapping. The imaging payload consists of a hand held RGB digital camera and NIR digital camera, both with 16.1 megapixel resolutions. The system can map up to 10 square kilometers on a single flight and is capable of acquiring imagery down to 1.5 cm ground sample distance. The eBee is configured with a GPS receiver, altitude sensor, gyroscope and a radio transmitter enabling autonomous flight. The system has a certificate of authorization (COA) from the FAA to fly over the Ward Island campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC). The campus has an engineered beach, called University Beach, located along Corpus Christi Bay. A set of groins and detached breakwaters were built in an effort to protect the beach from erosive wave action. The eBee is being applied to periodically survey the beach (Figure 1A). Through Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques, eBee-derived image sequences are post-processed to extract 3D topography and measure volumetric change. Additionally, when water clarity suffices, this approach enables the extraction of shallow-water bathymetry. Results on the utilization of the eBee to monitor beach morphodynamics will be presented including a comparison of derived estimates to RTK GPS and airborne lidar. Secondly, the RS-16 UAS has a 4 m wingspan and 11 kg sensor payload. The system is remotely piloted and has a flight endurance of 12 to 16 hours making it suitable for regional scale coastal mapping. The imaging payload consists of a multispectral sensor suite measuring in the visible, thermal IR, and ultraviolet ranges of the

  3. Communications for UAS Integration in the NAS Phase 2 - Satellite Communications and Terrestrial Extension

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Griner, James H.; Kerczewski, Robert J.

    2017-01-01

    In order to provide for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System, the command and control communications link connecting the ground-based pilot with the unmanned aircraft must be highly reliable and robust, with national and international standards to enable interoperability and certification. Both line-of-sight (LOS) links using terrestrial-based communications and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) links using satellite communications, supported by national and international standards, are required for integrated UAS operations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has undertaken an extensive technology development and test program in order to provide the required technical data needed to enable C2 standards development. NASAs UAS Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS), or UAS in the NAS Project, included as a major element the Command and Control Communications (C2) Subproject, based at NASAs Glenn Research Center. The successful first phase of the C2 Subproject, completed during 2012-2016, focused primarily on line-of-sight communications. Accomplishments included air-ground channel propagation characterization and modeling; CNPC prototype radio development; CNPC radio flight testing; satellite communications spectrum study and interference analysis; and development of C2 LOS communications standards development. The second phase of the C2 Subproject will focus primarily on beyond-line-of-sight communications, although a follow-on activity for terrestrial LOS communications, known as Terrestrial Extension, is also included. In addition to the terrestrial element, Phase 2 also includes technology development and testing activities for Ka-Band BLOS C2 Satellite Communications; Ku-Band BLOS C2 Satellite Communications; Ku-Band Interference and Propagation; and C-Band Satellite Communications. This paper will provide brief overviews of the C2 Subproject and its Phase I accomplishments

  4. Communications for UAS Integration in the NAS Phase 2 Satellite Communications and Terrestrial Extension

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Griner, Jim; Kerczewski, Bob

    2017-01-01

    In order to provide for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System, the command and control communications link connecting the ground-based pilot with the unmanned aircraft must be highly reliable and robust, with national and international standards to enable interoperability and certification. Both line-of-sight (LOS) links using terrestrial-based communications and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) links using satellite communications, supported by national and international standards, are required for integrated UAS operations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has undertaken an extensive technology development and test program in order to provide the required technical data needed to enable C2 standards development. NASAs UAS Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS), or UAS in the NAS Project, included as a major element the Command and Control Communications (C2) Subproject, based at NASAs Glenn Research Center. The successful first phase of the C2 Subproject, completed during 2012-2016, focused primarily on line-of-sight communications. Accomplishments included air-ground channel propagation characterization and modeling; CNPC prototype radio development; CNPC radio flight testing; satellite communications spectrum study and interference analysis; and development of C2 LOS communications standards development. The second phase of the C2 Subproject will focus primarily on beyond-line-of-sight communications, although a follow-on activity for terrestrial LOS communications, known as Terrestrial Extension, is also included. In addition to the terrestrial element, Phase 2 also includes technology development and testing activities for Ka-Band BLOS C2 Satellite Communications; Ku-Band BLOS C2 Satellite Communications; Ku-Band Interference and Propagation; and C-Band Satellite Communications. This paper will provide brief overviews of the C2 Subproject and its Phase I accomplishments

  5. UAS-Based Radar Sounding of Ice

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hale, R. D.; Keshmiri, S.; Leuschen, C.; Ewing, M.; Yan, J. B.; Rodriguez-Morales, F.; Gogineni, S.

    2014-12-01

    The University of Kansas Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets developed two Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) to support polar research. We developed a mid-range UAS, called the Meridian, for operating a radar depth sounder/imager at 195 MHz with an eight-element antenna array. The Meridian weighs 1,100 lbs, has a 26-foot wingspan, and a range of 950 nm at its full payload capacity of 120 lbs. Ice-penetrating radar performance drove the configuration design, though additional payloads and sensors were considered to ensure adaptation to multi-mission science payloads. We also developed a short range UAS called the G1X for operating a low-frequency radar sounder that operates at 14 and 35 MHz. The G1X weighs 85 lbs, has a 17-foot wingspan, and a range of about 60 nm per gallon of fuel. The dual-frequency HF/VHF radar depth sounder transmits at 100 W peak power at a pulse repetition frequency of 10 KHz and weighs approximately 4.5 lbs. We conducted flight tests of the G1X integrated with the radar at the Sub-glacial Lake Whillans ice stream and the WISSARD drill site. The tests included pilot-controlled and fully autonomous flights to collect data over closely-spaced lines to synthesize a 2-D aperture. We obtained clear bed echoes with a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of more than 50 dB at this location. These are the first-ever successful soundings of glacial ice with a UAS-based radar. Although ice attenuation losses in this location are low in comparison to more challenging targets, in-field performance improvements to the UAS and HF/VHF radar system enabled significant gains in the signal-to-noise ratio, such that the system can now be demonstrated on more challenging outlet glaciers. We are upgrading the G1X UAS and radar system for further tests and data collection in Greenland. We are reducing the weight and volume of the radar, which, when coupled with further reductions in airframe and avionics weight and a larger fuel bladder, will offer extended range. Finally

  6. Ensuring Interoperability between UAS Detect-and-Avoid and Manned Aircraft Collision Avoidance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thipphavong, David; Cone, Andrew; Lee, Seung Man; Santiago, Confesor

    2017-01-01

    The UAS community in the United States has identified the need for a collision avoidance region in which UAS Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) vertical guidance is restricted to preclude interoperability issues with manned aircraft collision avoidance system vertical resolution advisories (RAs). This paper documents the process by which the collision avoidance region was defined. Three candidate definitions were evaluated on 1.3 million simulated pairwise encounters between UAS and manned aircraft covering a wide range of horizontal and vertical closure rates, angles, and miss distances. They were evaluated with regard to UAS DAA interoperability with manned aircraft collision avoidance systems in terms of: 1) the primary objective of restricting DAA vertical guidance before RAs when the aircraft are close, and 2) the secondary objective of avoiding unnecessary restrictions of DAA vertical guidance at a DAA alert when the aircraft are further apart. The collision avoidance region definition that fully achieves the primary objective and best achieves the secondary objective was recommended to and accepted by the UAS community in the United States. By this definition, UAS and manned aircraft are in the collision avoidance region--during which DAA vertical guidance is restricted--when the time to closest point of approach is less than 50 seconds and either the time to co-altitude is less than 50 seconds or the current vertical separation is less than 800 feet.

  7. Biosorption behavior and mechanism of cesium-137 on Rhodosporidium fluviale strain UA2 isolated from cesium solution.

    PubMed

    Lan, Tu; Feng, Yue; Liao, Jiali; Li, Xiaolong; Ding, Congcong; Zhang, Dong; Yang, Jijun; Zeng, Junhui; Yang, Yuanyou; Tang, Jun; Liu, Ning

    2014-08-01

    In order to identify a more efficient biosorbent for (137)Cs, we have investigated the biosorption behavior and mechanism of (137)Cs on Rhodosporidium fluviale (R. fluviale) strain UA2, one of the dominant species of a fungal group isolated from a stable cesium solution. We observed that the biosorption of (137)Cs on R. fluviale strain UA2 was a fast and pH-dependent process in the solution composed of R. fluviale strain UA2 (5 g/L) and cesium (1 mg/L). While a Langmuir isotherm equation indicated that the biosorption of (137)Cs was a monolayer adsorption, the biosorption behavior implied that R. fluviale strain UA2 adsorbed cesium ions by electrostatic attraction. The TEM analysis revealed that cesium ions were absorbed into the cytoplasm of R. fluviale strain UA2 across the cell membrane, not merely fixed on the cell surface, which implied that a mechanism of metal uptake contributed largely to the cesium biosorption process. Moreover, PIXE and EPBS analyses showed that ion-exchange was another biosorption mechanism for the cell biosorption of (137)Cs, in which the decreased potassium ions were replaced by cesium ions. All the above results implied that the biosorption of (137)Cs on R. fluviale strain UA2 involved a two-step process. The first step is passive biosorption that cesium ions are adsorbed to cells surface by electrostatic attraction; after that, the second step is active biosorption that cesium ions penetrate the cell membrane and accumulate in the cytoplasm. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. A Framework for Safe Integration of Small UAS Into the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Logan, Michael J.; Bland, Geoffrey; Murray, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    This paper discusses a proposed framework for the safe integration of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The paper examines the potential uses of sUAS to build an understanding of the location and frequency of potential future flight operations based on the future applications of the sUAS systems. The paper then examines the types of systems that would be required to meet the application-level demand to determine classes of platforms and operations. Finally, a framework is proposed for both airworthiness and operations that attempts to balance safety with utility for these important systems.

  9. Object-Oriented Image Clustering Method Using UAS Photogrammetric Imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Y.; Larson, A.; Schultz-Fellenz, E. S.; Sussman, A. J.; Swanson, E.; Coppersmith, R.

    2016-12-01

    Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have been used widely as an imaging modality to obtain remotely sensed multi-band surface imagery, and are growing in popularity due to their efficiency, ease of use, and affordability. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has employed the use of UAS for geologic site characterization and change detection studies at a variety of field sites. The deployed UAS equipped with a standard visible band camera to collect imagery datasets. Based on the imagery collected, we use deep sparse algorithmic processing to detect and discriminate subtle topographic features created or impacted by subsurface activities. In this work, we develop an object-oriented remote sensing imagery clustering method for land cover classification. To improve the clustering and segmentation accuracy, instead of using conventional pixel-based clustering methods, we integrate the spatial information from neighboring regions to create super-pixels to avoid salt-and-pepper noise and subsequent over-segmentation. To further improve robustness of our clustering method, we also incorporate a custom digital elevation model (DEM) dataset generated using a structure-from-motion (SfM) algorithm together with the red, green, and blue (RGB) band data for clustering. In particular, we first employ an agglomerative clustering to create an initial segmentation map, from where every object is treated as a single (new) pixel. Based on the new pixels obtained, we generate new features to implement another level of clustering. We employ our clustering method to the RGB+DEM datasets collected at the field site. Through binary clustering and multi-object clustering tests, we verify that our method can accurately separate vegetation from non-vegetation regions, and are also able to differentiate object features on the surface.

  10. NASA Unmanned Aircraft (UA) Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) System Waveform Trade Studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chavez, Carlos; Hammel, Bruce; Hammel, Allan; Moore, John R.

    2014-01-01

    Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS). To address this deficiency, NASA has established a project called UAS Integration in the NAS (UAS in the NAS), under the Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). This project provides an opportunity to transition concepts, technology, algorithms, and knowledge to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other stakeholders to help them define the requirements, regulations, and issues for routine UAS access to the NAS. The safe, routine, and efficient integration of UAS into the NAS requires new radio frequency (RF) spectrum allocations and a new data communications system which is both secure and scalable with increasing UAS traffic without adversely impacting the Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication system. These data communications, referred to as Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC), whose purpose is to exchange information between the unmanned aircraft and the ground control station to ensure safe, reliable, and effective unmanned aircraft flight operation. A Communications Subproject within the UAS in the NAS Project has been established to address issues related to CNPC development, certification and fielding. The focus of the Communications Subproject is on validating and allocating new RF spectrum and data link communications to enable civil UAS integration into the NAS. The goal is to validate secure, robust data links within the allocated frequency spectrum for UAS. A vision, architectural concepts, and seed requirements for the future commercial UAS CNPC system have been developed by RTCA Special Committee 203 (SC-203) in the process

  11. Demonstration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Use for Traffic Incident Management (UAS-TIM)

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-12-01

    Previous investigations into technologies that can improve incident response, monitoring, and clearance resulted in the potential application of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for use in Traffic Incident Management (TIM). An initial investigation of UA...

  12. Application of Multiple Categories of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (uas) in Different Airspaces for Bushfire Monitoring and Response

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Homainejad, N.; Rizos, C.

    2015-08-01

    Demand and interest in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for civilian applications, and advances in technology such as development of sense-and-avoid systems, will soon allow UAS to be flown alongside manned aircrafts in non-segregated airspace. An area that can benefit from the application of UAS is the bushfire services sector. Currently such services rely on watchtowers, fixed-wing manned aircrafts and satellite data for reliable information. UAS are a promising alternative to traditional methods of collecting bushfire data. There are several varieties of UAS and each category has certain limitations, hence a combination of multiple UAS with features appropriate for bushfire emergencies can be used simultaneously for collecting valuable data. This paper will describe the general UAS categories, some characteristics of Australian bushfires, and speculate on how a combination of several UAS operating in different airspaces can be of benefit for bushfire response personnel and firefighters.

  13. Examination of Frameworks for Safe Integration of Intelligent Small UAS into the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Logan, Michael J.

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses a proposed framework for the safe integration of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The paper briefly examines the potential uses of sUAS to build an understanding of the location and frequency of potential future flight operations based on the future applications of the sUAS systems. The paper then examines the types of systems that would be required to meet the application-level demand to determine "classes" of platforms and operations. A framework for categorization of the "intelligence" level of the UAS is postulated for purposes of NAS integration. Finally, constraints on the intelligent systems are postulated to ensure their ease of integration into the NAS.

  14. UAS Well Clear Recovery Against Non-Cooperative Intruders Using Vertical Maneuvers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cone, Andrew C.; Thipphavong, David; Lee, Seung Man; Santiago, Confesor

    2017-01-01

    This paper documents a study that drove the development of a mathematical expression in the detect-and-avoid (DAA) minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This equation describes the conditions under which vertical maneuver guidance should be provided during recovery of DAA well clear separation with a non-cooperative VFR aircraft. Although the original hypothesis was that vertical maneuvers for DAA well clear recovery should only be offered when sensor vertical rate errors are small, this paper suggests that UAS climb and descent performance should be considered-in addition to sensor errors for vertical position and vertical rate-when determining whether to offer vertical guidance. A fast-time simulation study involving 108,000 encounters between a UAS and a non-cooperative visual-flight-rules aircraft was conducted. Results are presented showing that, when vertical maneuver guidance for DAA well clear recovery was suppressed, the minimum vertical separation increased by roughly 50 feet (or horizontal separation by 500 to 800 feet). However, the percentage of encounters that had a risk of collision when performing vertical well clear recovery maneuvers was reduced as UAS vertical rate performance increased and sensor vertical rate errors decreased. A class of encounter is identified for which vertical-rate error had a large effect on the efficacy of horizontal maneuvers due to the difficulty of making the correct left/right turn decision: crossing conflict with intruder changing altitude. Overall, these results support logic that would allow vertical maneuvers when UAS vertical performance is sufficient to avoid the intruder, based on the intruder's estimated vertical position and vertical rate, as well as the vertical rate error of the UAS' sensor.

  15. Next Generation UAS Based Spectral Systems for Environmental Monitoring

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, P.; Townsend, P.; Mandl, D.; Kingdon, C.; Ly, V.; Sohlberg, R.; Corp, L.; Cappelaere, P.; Frye, S.; Handy, M.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This presentation provides information on the development of a small Unmanned Aerial System(UAS) with a low power, high performance Intelligent Payload Module (IPM) and a hyperspectral imager to enable intelligent gathering of science grade vegetation data over agricultural fields at about 150 ft. The IPM performs real time data processing over the image data and then enables the navigation system to move the UAS to locations where measurements are optimal for science. This is important because the small UAS typically has about 30 minutes of battery power and therefore over large agricultural fields, resource utilization efficiency is important. The key innovation is the shrinking of the IPM and the cross communication with the navigation software to allow the data processing to interact with desired way points while using Field Programmable Gate Arrays to enable high performance on large data volumes produced by the hyperspectral imager.

  16. UAS noise certification and measurements status report : Tigershark UAS measurements, tracking system development, and certification metrics status

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-09-01

    This report documents work done by Volpe staff to support the FAAs development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) noise certification and noise measurement criteria. The primary elements were the development of a small, lightweight Global Navigation...

  17. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project: KDP-A for Phase 2 Minimum Operational Performance Standards

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grindle, Laurie; Hackenberg, Davis L.

    2016-01-01

    UAS Integration in the NAS Project has: a) Developed Technical Challenges that are crucial to UAS integration, aligned with NASA's Strategic Plan and Thrusts, and support FAA standards development. b) Demonstrated rigorous project management processes through the execution of previous phases. c) Defined Partnership Plans. d) Established path to KDP-C. Request approval of Technical Challenges, execution of partnerships and plans, and execution of near-term FY17 activities. There is an increasing need to fly UAS in the NAS to perform missions of vital importance to National Security and Defense, Emergency Management, and Science. There is also an emerging need to enable commercial applications such as cargo transport (e.g. FedEx). Unencumbered NAS Access for Civil/Commercial UAS. Provide research findings, utilizing simulation and flight tests, to support the development and validation of DAA and C2 technologies necessary for integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System.

  18. Validation of Minimum Display Requirements for a UAS Detect and Avoid System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rorie, Conrad; Fern, Lisa; Roberts, Zach; Monk, Kevin; Santiago, Confesor; Shively, Jay

    2017-01-01

    The full integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS), a prerequisite for enabling a broad range of public and commercial UAS operations, presents several technical challenges to UAS developers, operators and regulators. A primary barrier is the inability for UAS pilots (situated at a ground control station, or GCS) to comply with Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations sections 91.111 and 91.113, which require pilots to see and avoid other aircraft in order to maintain well clear. The present study is the final in a series of human-in-the-loop experiments designed to explore and test the various display and alerting requirements being incorporated into the minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) for a UAS-specific detect and avoid system that would replace the see and avoid function required of manned aircraft. Two display configurations were tested - an integrated display and a standalone display - and their impact on pilot response times and ability to maintain DAA well clear were compared. Results indicated that the current draft of the MOPS result in high-level performance and did not meaningfully differ by display configuration.

  19. Comprehensive analysis of Salmonella sequence polymorphisms and development of a LDR-UA assay for the detection and characterization of selected serotypes.

    PubMed

    Lauri, Andrea; Castiglioni, Bianca; Mariani, Paola

    2011-07-01

    Salmonella is a major cause of food-borne disease, and Salmonella enterica subspecies I includes the most clinically relevant serotypes. Salmonella serotype determination is important for the disease etiology assessment and contamination source tracking. This task will be facilitated by the disclosure of Salmonella serotype sequence polymorphisms, here annotated in seven genes (sefA, safA, safC, bigA, invA, fimA, and phsB) from 139 S. enterica strains, of which 109 belonging to 44 serotypes of subsp. I. One hundred nineteen polymorphic sites were scored and associated to single serotypes or to serotype groups belonging to S. enterica subsp. I. A diagnostic tool was constructed based on the Ligation Detection Reaction-Universal Array (LDR-UA) for the detection of polymorphic sites uniquely associated to serotypes of primary interest (Salmonella Hadar, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Gallinarum, Salmonella Virchow, and Salmonella Paratyphi B). The implementation of promiscuous probes allowed the diagnosis of ten further serotypes that could be associated to a unique hybridization pattern. Finally, the sensitivity and applicability of the tool was tested on target DNA dilutions and with controlled meat contamination, allowing the detection of one Salmonella CFU in 25 g of meat.

  20. UAS close range remote sensing for mapping coastal environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papakonstantinou, Apostolos; Topouzelis, Kostantinos; Doukari, Michaela

    2017-09-01

    Coastline change and marine litter concentration in shoreline zones are two different emerging problems indicating the vulnerability as well as the quality of a coastal environment. Both problems present spatiotemporal changes due to weather and anthropogenic factors. Traditionally spatiotemporal changes in coastal environments are monitored using high-resolution satellite images and manned surveys. The last years, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are used as additional tool for monitoring environmental phenomena in sensitive coastal areas. In this study, two different case studies for mapping emerging coastal phenomena i.e. coastline changes and marine litter in Lesvos island, are presented. Both phenomena have increasing interest among scientists monitoring sensitive coastal areas. This paper outlines the integration of UAS for data acquisition and Structure from Motion (SfM) pipeline for the visualization of selected coastal areas in the Aegean Sea. The followed UAS-SfM methodology produces very detailed orthophoto maps. This high resolution spatial information is used for mapping and detecting primarily, marine litter on coastal and underwater zones and secondly, coastline changes and coastal erosion. More specific the produced orthophoto maps analyzed through GIS and with the use of the appropriate cartographic techniques the objective environmental parameters were mapped. Results showed that UAS-SfM pipeline produces geoinformation with high accuracy and spatial resolution that helps scientists to map with confidence environmental changes that take place in shoreline zones.

  1. Radio Tracking Fish with Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS).

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahlgren, R. P.; Anderson, K. R.; Hanson, L.; Pinsker, E. A.; Jonsson, J.; Chapman, D. C.; Witten, D. M.; O'Connor, K. A.

    2017-12-01

    Tracking radio tagged fish by boat or on foot in riverine systems is difficult and time consuming, particularly in large braided island complexes, shallow wetlands, and rocky reaches. Invasive Asian carp are commonly found in these hard to reach areas, but their near-surface feeding behavior makes radio tracking possible. To identify new methods of fish tracking that could same time and money, this study tested the feasibility of tracking Asian carp with Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) in areas generally inaccessible to traditional tracking equipment. The U.S. Geological Survey worked with NanoElectromagnetics LLC and WWR Development to create and integrate a lightweight custom radio receiver, directional antenna, and accompanying software into a sUAS platform. The receiver includes independent GPS, software defined radio, and compass. The NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) completed payload integration, electromagnetic-interference and airworthiness testing, and provided a DJI Matrice 600 sUAS for this study. Additionally, ARC provided subject matter experts, airworthiness and flight readiness evaluation, and flight test facilities during preparation; and a pilot, range safety officer, and aircraft engineer during field deployment. Results demonstrate that this custom sUAS and sensor combination can detect radio tags at 100m above ground level and at horizontal ranges of 100m and 300m, with operators in either onshore or offshore locations. With this combination of sUAS and radio receiver, fish can be tracked in areas previously inaccessible and during flooding, providing new insights into riverine fish movement and habitat utilization.

  2. U.S. Geological Survey Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Roadmap 2014

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cress, Jill J.; Hutt, Michael E.; Sloan, Jeff L.; Bauer, Mark A.; Feller, Mark R.; Goplen, Susan E.

    2015-01-01

    This Roadmap provides operational procedures and lessons learned from completed proof-of-concept UAS missions in areas such as wildlife management, resource monitoring, and public land inspections. This information provides not only an implementation framework but can also help increase the awareness by resource managers, scientists, and others of the ability of UAS technology to advance data quality, improve personnel safety, and reduce data acquisition costs.

  3. Ikhana UAS Overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rivas, Mauricio

    2017-01-01

    Ikhana demonstrates capabilities of UAS to overfly and collect sensor data on widespread fires throughout Western US and also demonstrate long-endurance mission capabilities (20-hours+). Ikhana images multiple fires (greater than 4 fires per mission), to showcase extendable mission configuration and ability to either linger over key fires or station over disparate regional fires. Ikhana also demonstrates new UAV-compatible, autonomous sensor for improved thermal characterization of fires. Also it provides automated, on-board, terrain and geo-rectified sensor imagery over the horizon SATCOM links to national fire personnel and Incident commanders.

  4. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project KDP-C Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grindle, Laurie; Sakahara, Robert; Hackenberg, Davis; Johnson, William

    2017-01-01

    The topics discussed are the UAS-NAS project life-cycle and ARMD thrust flow down, as well as the UAS environments and how we operate in those environments. NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA, is leading a project designed to help integrate unmanned air vehicles into the world around us. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System project, or UAS in the NAS, will contribute capabilities designed to reduce technical barriers related to safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS. The project falls under the Integrated Systems Research Program office managed at NASA Headquarters by the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. NASA's four aeronautics research centers - Armstrong, Ames Research Center, Langley Research Center, and Glenn Research Center - are part of the technology development project. With the use and diversity of unmanned aircraft growing rapidly, new uses for these vehicles are constantly being considered. Unmanned aircraft promise new ways of increasing efficiency, reducing costs, enhancing safety and saving lives 460265main_ED10-0132-16_full.jpg Unmanned aircraft systems such as NASA's Global Hawks (above) and Predator B named Ikhana (below), along with numerous other unmanned aircraft systems large and small, are the prime focus of the UAS in the NAS effort to integrate them into the national airspace. Credits: NASA Photos 710580main_ED07-0243-37_full.jpg The UAS in the NAS project envisions performance-based routine access to all segments of the national airspace for all unmanned aircraft system classes, once all safety-related and technical barriers are overcome. The project will provide critical data to such key stakeholders and customers as the Federal Aviation Administration and RTCA Special Committee 203 (formerly the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) by conducting integrated, relevant system-level tests to adequately address

  5. Unique Observations in Hurricane Maria (2017) using the Coyote Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bryan, G. H.; Cione, J.; Aksoy, A.; Baker, B.; Dahl, B. A.; de Boer, G.; Dobosy, R.; Dumas, E. J.; Fairall, C. W.; Farber, A. M.; Halliwell, G. R., Jr.; Kalina, E. A.; Kent, B.; Klotz, B.; Lee, T.; Marks, F.; Ryan, K. E.; Troudt, C.; Wiggins, R.; Zawislak, J.; Zhang, J.

    2017-12-01

    Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collected valuable and highly unique data from six Coyote Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) deployed into Hurricane Maria on 22-24 September 2017. Using NOAA's crewed P-3 reconnaissance aircraft as a deployment vehicle, low-level observations of wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature, moisture and sea surface temperature were measured and transmitted by the UAS. In all cases, high-definition observations collected by the Coyote were transmitted to NOAA's National Hurricane Center and made available to forecasters in near-real time. A brief synopsis of the data collected will be given. Highlights include: 1) the highest (to our knowledge) UAS-measured wind speed in a hurricane (64 m/s at 340 m above sea level); 2) record endurance for a Coyote UAS mission in a hurricane (42 minutes); and 3) high-frequency (>2 Hz) measurements in the hurricane boundary layer, which allow for calculations of turbulence intensity. Plans for data analysis and future UAS deployments in hurricanes will also be discussed.

  6. NASA UAS Integration into the NAS Project: Human Systems Integration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay

    2016-01-01

    This presentation provides an overview of the work the Human Systems Integration (HSI) sub-project has done on detect and avoid (DAA) displays while working on the UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Integration into the NAS project. The most recent simulation on DAA interoperability with Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is discussed in the most detail. The relationship of the work to the larger UAS community and next steps are also detailed.

  7. Testing a small UAS for mapping artisanal diamond mining sites in Africa

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Malpeli, Katherine C.; Chirico, Peter G.

    2015-01-01

    Remote sensing technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate. At the forefront of the new technological developments are unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The advent of small, lightweight, low-cost, and user-friendly UAS is greatly expanding the potential applications of remote sensing technology and improving the set of tools available to researchers seeking to map and monitor terrain from above. In this article, we explore the applications of a small UAS for mapping informal diamond mining sites in Africa. We found that this technology provides aerial imagery of unparalleled resolution in a data-sparse, difficult to access, and remote terrain.

  8. BLM Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Resource Management Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hatfield, M. C.; Breen, A. L.; Thurau, R.

    2016-12-01

    The Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management is funding research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to study Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Resource Management Operations. In August 2015, the team conducted flight research at UAF's Toolik Field Station (TFS). The purpose was to determine the most efficient use of small UAS to collect low-altitude airborne digital stereo images, process the stereo imagery into close-range photogrammetry products, and integrate derived imagery products into the BLM's National Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) Strategy. The AIM Strategy assists managers in answering questions of land resources at all organizational levels and develop management policy at regional and national levels. In Alaska, the BLM began to implement its AIM strategy in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) in 2012. The primary goals of AIM-monitoring at the NPR-A are to implement an ecological baseline to monitor ecological trends, and to develop a monitoring network to understand the efficacy of management decisions. The long-term AIM strategy also complements other ongoing NPR-A monitoring processes, collects multi-use and multi-temporal data, and supports understanding of ecosystem management strategies in order to implement defensible natural resource management policy. The campaign measured vegetation types found in the NPR-A, using UAF's TFS location as a convenient proxy. The vehicle selected was the ACUASI Ptarmigan, a small hexacopter (based on DJI S800 airframe and 3DR autopilot) capable of carrying a 1.5 kg payload for 15 min for close-range environmental monitoring missions. The payload was a stereo camera system consisting of Sony NEX7's with various lens configurations (16/20/24/35 mm). A total of 77 flights were conducted over a 4 ½ day period, with 1.5 TB of data collected. Mission variables included camera height, UAS speed, transect overlaps, and camera lenses/settings. Invaluable knowledge was gained as to

  9. Analysis of UAS DAA Alerting in Fast-Time Simulations without DAA Mitigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thipphavong, David P.; Santiago, Confesor; Isaacson, Douglas R.; Lee, Seung Man; Park, Chunki; Refai, Mohamad Said; Snow, James

    2015-01-01

    Realization of the expected proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) operations in the National Airspace System (NAS) depends on the development and validation of performance standards for UAS Detect and Avoid (DAA) Systems. The RTCA Special Committee 228 is charged with leading the development of draft Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS DAA Systems. NASA, as a participating member of RTCA SC-228 is committed to supporting the development and validation of draft requirements for DAA alerting system performance. A recent study conducted using NASA's ACES (Airspace Concept Evaluation System) simulation capability begins to address questions surrounding the development of draft MOPS for DAA alerting systems. ACES simulations were conducted to study the performance of alerting systems proposed by the SC-228 DAA Alerting sub-group. Analysis included but was not limited to: 1) correct alert (and timeliness), 2) false alert (and severity and duration), 3) missed alert, and 4) probability of an alert type at the time of loss of well clear. The performance of DAA alerting systems when using intent vs. dead-reckoning for UAS ownship trajectories was also compared. The results will be used by SC-228 to inform decisions about the surveillance standards of UAS DAA systems and future requirements development and validation efforts.

  10. Definition and test of the electromagnetic immunity of UAS for first responders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adami, C.; Chmel, S.; Jöster, M.; Pusch, T.; Suhrke, M.

    2015-11-01

    Recent technological developments considerably lowered the barrier for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to be employed in a variety of usage scenarios, comprising live video transmission from otherwise inaccessible vantage points. As an example, in the French-German ANCHORS project several UAS guided by swarm intelligence provide aerial views and environmental data of a disaster site while deploying an ad-hoc communication network for first responders. Since being able to operate in harsh environmental conditions is a key feature, the immunity of the UAS against radio frequency (RF) exposure has been studied. Conventional Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) applied to commercial and industrial electronics is not sufficient since UAS are airborne and can as such move beyond the bounds within which RF exposure is usually limited by regulatory measures. Therefore, the EMC requirements have been complemented by a set of specific RF test frequencies and parameters where strong sources are expected to interfere in the example project test case of an inland port environment. While no essential malfunctions could be observed up to field strengths of 30 V m-1, a sophisticated, more exhaustive approach for testing against potential sources of interference in key scenarios of UAS usage should be derived from our present findings.

  11. Recent Advances in the Tempest UAS for In-Situ Measurements in Highly-Dynamic Environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Argrow, B. M.; Frew, E.; Houston, A. L.; Weiss, C.

    2014-12-01

    The spring 2010 deployment of the Tempest UAS during the VORTEX2 field campaign verified that a small UAS, supported by a customized mobile communications, command, and control (C3) architecture, could simultaneously satisfy Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airspace requirements, and make in-situ thermodynamic measurements in supercell thunderstorms. A multi-hole airdata probe was recently integrated into the Tempest UAS airframe and verification flights were made in spring 2013 to collect in-situ wind measurements behind gust fronts produced by supercell thunderstorms in northeast Colorado. Using instantaneous aircraft attitude estimates from the autopilot, the in-situ measurements were converted to inertial wind estimates, and estimates of uncertainty in the wind measurements was examined. To date, the limited deployments of the Tempest UAS have primarily focused on addressing the engineering and regulatory requirements to conduct supercell research, and the Tempest UAS team of engineers and meteorologists is preparing for deployments with the focus on collecting targeted data for meteorological exploration and hypothesis testing. We describe the recent expansion of the operations area and altitude ceiling of the Tempest UAS, engineering issues for accurate inertial wind estimates, new concepts of operation that include the simultaneous deployment of multiple aircraft with mobile ground stations, and a brief description of our current effort to develop a capability for the Tempest UAS to perform autonomous path planning to maximize energy harvesting from the local wind field for increased endurance.

  12. Combining Cluster Analysis and Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) for Accurate and Low-cost Bathymetric Surveying

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maples, B. L.; Alvarez, L. V.; Moreno, H. A.; Chilson, P. B.; Segales, A.

    2017-12-01

    Given that classical in-situ direct surveying for geomorphological subsurface information in rivers is time-consuming, labor-intensive, costly, and often involves high-risk activities, it is obvious that non-intrusive technologies, like UAS-based, LIDAR-based remote sensing, have a promising potential and benefits in terms of efficient and accurate measurement of channel topography over large areas within a short time; therefore, a tremendous amount of attention has been paid to the development of these techniques. Over the past two decades, efforts have been undertaken to develop a specialized technique that can penetrate the water body and detect the channel bed to derive river and coastal bathymetry. In this research, we develop a low-cost effective technique for water body bathymetry. With the use of a sUAS and a light-weight sonar, the bathymetry and volume of a small reservoir have been surveyed. The sUAS surveying approach is conducted under low altitudes (2 meters from the water) using the sUAS to tow a small boat with the sonar attached. A cluster analysis is conducted to optimize the sUAS data collection and minimize the standard deviation created by under-sampling in areas of highly variable bathymetry, so measurements are densified in regions featured by steep slopes and drastic changes in the reservoir bed. This technique provides flexibility, efficiency, and free-risk to humans while obtaining high-quality information. The irregularly-spaced bathymetric survey is then interpolated using unstructured Triangular Irregular Network (TIN)-based maps to avoid re-gridding or re-sampling issues.

  13. The Estimation of Precisions in the Planning of Uas Photogrammetric Surveys

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Passoni, D.; Federici, B.; Ferrando, I.; Gagliolo, S.; Sguerso, D.

    2018-05-01

    The Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) is widely used in the photogrammetric surveys both of structures and of small areas. Geomatics focuses the attention on the metric quality of the final products of the survey, creating several 3D modelling applications from UAS images. As widely known, the quality of results derives from the quality of images acquisition phase, which needs an a priori estimation of the expected precisions. The planning phase is typically managed using dedicated tools, adapted from the traditional aerial-photogrammetric flight plan. But UAS flight has features completely different from the traditional one. Hence, the use of UAS for photogrammetric applications today requires a growth in knowledge in planning. The basic idea of this research is to provide a drone photogrammetric flight planning tools considering the required metric precisions, given a priori the classical parameters of a photogrammetric planning: flight altitude, overlaps and geometric parameters of the camera. The created "office suite" allows a realistic planning of a photogrammetric survey, starting from an approximate knowledge of the Digital Surface Model (DSM), and the effective attitude parameters, changing along the route. The planning products are the overlapping of the images, the Ground Sample Distance (GSD) and the precision on each pixel taking into account the real geometry. The different tested procedures, the obtained results and the solution proposed for the a priori estimates of the precisions in the particular case of UAS surveys are here reported.

  14. UAS Integration in the NAS: Detect and Avoid

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay

    2018-01-01

    This presentation will cover the structure of the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration into the national airspace system (NAS) project (UAS-NAS Project). The talk also details the motivation of the project to help develop standards for a detect-and-avoid (DAA) system, which is required in order to comply with requirements in manned aviation to see-and-avoid other traffic so as to maintain well clear. The presentation covers accomplishments reached by the project in Phase 1 of the research, and touches on the work to be done in Phase 2. The discussion ends with examples of the display work developed as a result of the Phase 1 research.

  15. Evaluating Alerting and Guidance Performance of a UAS Detect-And-Avoid System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lee, Seung Man; Park, Chunki; Thipphavong, David P.; Isaacson, Douglas R.; Santiago, Confesor

    2016-01-01

    A key challenge to the routine, safe operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is the development of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems to aid the UAS pilot in remaining "well clear" of nearby aircraft. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of alerting criteria and pilot response delay on the safety and performance of UAS DAA systems in the context of routine civil UAS operations in the National Airspace System (NAS). A NAS-wide fast-time simulation study was conducted to assess UAS DAA system performance with a large number of encounters and a broad set of DAA alerting and guidance system parameters. Three attributes of the DAA system were controlled as independent variables in the study to conduct trade-off analyses: UAS trajectory prediction method (dead-reckoning vs. intent-based), alerting time threshold (related to predicted time to LoWC), and alerting distance threshold (related to predicted Horizontal Miss Distance, or HMD). A set of metrics, such as the percentage of true positive, false positive, and missed alerts, based on signal detection theory and analysis methods utilizing the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were proposed to evaluate the safety and performance of DAA alerting and guidance systems and aid development of DAA system performance standards. The effect of pilot response delay on the performance of DAA systems was evaluated using a DAA alerting and guidance model and a pilot model developed to support this study. A total of 18 fast-time simulations were conducted with nine different DAA alerting threshold settings and two different trajectory prediction methods, using recorded radar traffic from current Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations, and supplemented with DAA-equipped UAS traffic based on mission profiles modeling future UAS operations. Results indicate DAA alerting distance threshold has a greater effect on DAA system performance than DAA alerting time threshold or ownship trajectory prediction method

  16. Mounting evidence validates Ursolic Acid directly activates SIRT1: A powerful STAC which mimic endogenous activator of SIRT1.

    PubMed

    Bakhtiari, Nuredin; Mirzaie, Sako; Hemmati, Roohullah; Moslemee-Jalalvand, Elham; Noori, Ali Reza; Kazemi, Jahanfard

    2018-07-15

    Ursolic Acid (UA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid compound, plays a vital role in aging process. However, the role of UA in the regulation of aging and longevity is still controversial as we have previously demonstrated that UA increases SIRT1 protein level in aged-mice. Here, we reveal that UA directly activates SIRT1 in silico, in vitro and in vivo. We have identified that UA binds to outer surface of SIRT1 and leads to tight binding of substrates to enzyme in comparison with Resveratrol (RSV) and control. Furthermore, our results indicate that UA drives the structure of SIRT1 toward a closed state (an active form of enzyme). Interestingly, our experimental findings are in agreement with the molecular dynamic results. Based on our data, UA increases the affinity of enzyme for both substrates with decreasing Km value, while enhances the Vmax of enzyme. Additionally, we have determined that UA heightened SIRT1 catalytic efficiency by 2 folds compared with RSV. Thereby, to identify the endogenous activator of SIRT1, UA was administrated to aged-mice and then the tissues were isolated. According to our results, it can be concluded that UA increases SIRT1 activity and mimics Lamin A and AROS behavior in the living cells. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project FY16 Annual Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grindle, Laurie; Hackenberg, Davis

    2016-01-01

    This presentation gives insight into the research activities and efforts being executed in order to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system. This briefing is to inform others of the UAS-NAS FY16 progress and future directions.

  18. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Delegation of Separation in NextGen Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kenny, Caitlin A.; Shively, Robert J.; Jordan, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) performing delegated separation in the national airspace system (NAS). Delegated separation is the transfer of responsibility for maintaining separation between aircraft or vehicles from air navigation service providers to the relevant pilot or flight operator. The effects of delegated separation and traffic display information level were collected through performance, workload, and situation awareness measures. The results of this study show benefits related to the use of conflict detection alerts being shown on the UAS operator's cockpit situation display (CSD), and to the use of full delegation. Overall, changing the level of separation responsibility and adding conflict detection alerts on the CSD was not found to have an adverse effect on performance as shown by the low amounts of losses of separation. The use of conflict detection alerts on the CSD and full delegation responsibilities given to the UAS operator were found to create significantly reduced workload, significantly increased situation awareness and significantly easier communications between the UAS operator and air traffic controller without significantly increasing the amount of losses of separation.

  19. Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) delegation of separation in NextGen airspace

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kenny, Caitlin A.

    The purpose of this thesis was to determine the feasibility of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) performing delegated separation in the national airspace system (NAS). Delegated separation is the transfer of responsibility for maintaining separation between aircraft or vehicles from air navigation service providers to the relevant pilot or flight operator. The effects of delegated separation and traffic display information level were collected through performance, workload, and situation awareness measures. The results of this study showed benefits related to the use of conflict detection alerts being shown on the UAS operator's cockpit situation display (CSD) and to the use of full delegation. Overall, changing the level of separation responsibility and adding conflict detection alerts on the CSD were not found to have an adverse effect on performance as shown by the low amounts of losses of separation. The use of conflict detection alerts on the CSD and full delegation responsibilities given to the UAS operator were found to create significantly reduced workload, significantly increased situation awareness and significantly easier communications between the UAS operator and air traffic controller without significantly increasing the amount of losses of separation.

  20. Evaluation of the Trade Space Between UAS Maneuver Performance and SAA System Performance Requirements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jack, Devin P.; Hoffler, Keith D.; Johnson, Sally C.

    2014-01-01

    A need exists to safely integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System. Replacing manned aircraft's see-and-avoid capability in the absence of an onboard pilot is one of the key challenges associated with safe integration. Sense-and-avoid (SAA) systems will have to achieve yet-to-be-determined required separation distances for a wide range of encounters. They will also need to account for the maneuver performance of the UAS they are paired with. The work described in this paper is aimed at developing an understanding of the trade space between UAS maneuver performance and SAA system performance requirements. An assessment of current manned and unmanned aircraft performance was used to establish potential UAS performance test matrix bounds. Then, nearterm UAS integration work was used to narrow down the scope. A simulator was developed with sufficient fidelity to assess SAA system performance requirements for a wide range of encounters. The simulator generates closest-point-of-approach (CPA) data from the wide range of UAS performance models maneuvering against a single intruder with various encounter geometries. The simulator is described herein and has both a graphical user interface and batch interface to support detailed analysis of individual UAS encounters and macro analysis of a very large set of UAS and encounter models, respectively. Results from the simulator using approximate performance data from a well-known manned aircraft is presented to provide insight into the problem and as verification and validation of the simulator. Analysis of climb, descent, and level turn maneuvers to avoid a collision is presented. Noting the diversity of backgrounds in the UAS community, a description of the UAS aerodynamic and propulsive design and performance parameters is included. Initial attempts to model the results made it clear that developing maneuver performance groups is required. Discussion of the performance groups developed and how

  1. Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to Monitor Forest Health Conditions in Alaska

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Webley, P. W.; Hatfield, M. C.; Heutte, T. M.; Winton, L. M.

    2017-12-01

    US Forest Service Alaska Region Forest Health Protection (FHP) and University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) are evaluating the capability of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, "drone" informally) to monitor forest health conditions in Alaska's Interior Region. On July 17-20 2017, FHP and ACUASI deployed two different UAS at permanent forest inventory plots managed by the UAF programs Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) and Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory (CAFI). The purpose of the mission was to explore capabilities of UAS for evaluating aspen tree mortality at inaccessible locations and at a scale and precision not generally achievable with currently used ground- or air-based methods. Drawing from experience gained during the initial 2016 campaign, this year emphasized the efficient use of UAS to accomplish practical field research in a variety of realistic situations. The vehicles selected for this years' effort included the DJI Matrice quadcopter with the Zenmuse-X3 camera to quickly capture initial video of the site and tree conditions; followed by the ING Responder (single rotor electric helicopter based on the Gaui X7 airframe) outfitted with a Nikon D810 camera to collect high-resolution stills suitable for construction of orthomosaic models. A total of 12 flights were conducted over the campaign, with two full days dedicated to the Delta Junction Gerstle River Intermediate (GRI) sites and the remaining day at the Bonanza Creek site. In addition to demonstrating the ability of UAS to operate safely and effectively in various canopy conditions, the effort also validated the ability of teams to deliver UAS and scientific payloads into challenging terrain using all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and foot traffic. Analysis of data from the campaign is underway. Because the permanent plots have been recently evaluated it is known that nearly all aspen mortality is caused by an aggressive canker

  2. UAS Integration in the NAS Project: Flight Test 3 Data Analysis of JADEM-Autoresolver Detect and Avoid System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gong, Chester; Wu, Minghong G.; Santiago, Confesor

    2016-01-01

    The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Airspace System project, or UAS Integration in the NAS, aims to reduce technical barriers related to safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS. The UAS Integration in the NAS Project conducted a flight test activity, referred to as Flight Test 3 (FT3), involving several Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) research prototype systems between June 15, 2015 and August 12, 2015 at the Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC). This report documents the flight testing and analysis results for the NASA Ames-developed JADEM-Autoresolver DAA system, referred to as 'Autoresolver' herein. Four flight test days (June 17, 18, 22, and July 22) were dedicated to Autoresolver testing. The objectives of this test were as follows: 1. Validate CPA prediction accuracy and detect-and-avoid (DAA, formerly known as self-separation) alerting logic in realistic flight conditions. 2. Validate DAA trajectory model including maneuvers. 3. Evaluate TCAS/DAA interoperability. 4. Inform final Minimum Operating Performance Standards (MOPS). Flight test scenarios were designed to collect data to directly address the objectives 1-3. Objective 4, inform final MOPS, was a general objective applicable to the UAS in the NAS project as a whole, of which flight test is a subset. This report presents analysis results completed in support of the UAS in the NAS project FT3 data review conducted on October 20, 2015. Due to time constraints and, to a lesser extent, TCAS data collection issues, objective 3 was not evaluated in this analysis.

  3. Ursolic Acid and Chronic Disease: An Overview of UA's Effects On Prevention and Treatment of Obesity and Cancer.

    PubMed

    Mancha-Ramirez, Anna M; Slaga, Thomas J

    Chronic diseases pose a worldwide problem and are only continuing to increase in incidence. Two major factors contributing to the increased incidence in chronic disease are a lack of physical activity and poor diet. As the link between diet and lifestyle and the increased incidence of chronic disease has been well established in the literature, novel preventive, and therapeutic methods should be aimed at naturally derived compounds such as ursolic acid (UA), the focus of this chapter. As chronic diseases, obesity and cancer share the common thread of inflammation and dysregulation of many related pathways, the focus here will be on these two chronic diseases. Significant evidence in the literature supports an important role for natural compounds such as UA in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases like obesity and cancer, and here we have highlighted many of the ways UA has been shown to be a beneficial and versatile phytochemical.

  4. Electrochemical Investigation of DA and UA on Carboxylated Graphene Oxide/lanthanum Electrodes with Sundry Content of Ctab

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, J.; Zhu, L.; Qian, W.; Chen, H.; Feng, C.; Han, S.; Lin, H.; Ye, F. Y.

    Glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) were modified by carboxylated graphene oxide/lanthanum with various concentrations of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), and the treated electrodes, called CTAB/GO-COOLa/GCE, were prepared for the detection of uric acid (UA) and dopamine (DA) by using the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and the cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results show that the modified electrode’s electrocatalytic activity could be affected by several factors in the examination, they are the pH value of the system, the main content of CTAB, various concentrations and rates of scan. With a combination of carboxylated graphene oxide/lanthanum and CTAB, the resulted CTAB/GO-COOLa/GCE sensors showed preeminent selectivity and obvious catalytic property toward the electro-oxidation of UA and DA. In optimized conditions, the response of the CTAB/GO-COOLa/GCE electrode for DA was linear in the region of 0.03-500.0μM with detection limits of 0.036μM (S/N=3). Two linear response ranges for the determination UA were obtained from ranges of 1 to 200μM and 200 to 1300μM with a detection limit of 0.42μM (S/N=3). Moreover, the refined electrode was used in the inspection of DA and UA in real samples of serum and urine successfully, displaying its potential application of real samples involved in electroanalysis.

  5. Using Small UAS for Mission Simulation, Science Validation, and Definition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abakians, H.; Donnellan, A.; Chapman, B. D.; Williford, K. H.; Francis, R.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Smith, A. T.

    2017-12-01

    Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) are increasingly being used across JPL and NASA for science data collection, mission simulation, and mission validation. They can also be used as proof of concept for development of autonomous capabilities for Earth and planetary exploration. sUAS are useful for reconstruction of topography and imagery for a variety of applications ranging from fault zone morphology, Mars analog studies, geologic mapping, photometry, and estimation of vegetation structure. Imagery, particularly multispectral imagery can be used for identifying materials such as fault lithology or vegetation type. Reflectance maps can be produced for wetland or other studies. Topography and imagery observations are useful in radar studies such as from UAVSAR or the future NISAR mission to validate 3D motions and to provide imagery in areas of disruption where the radar measurements decorrelate. Small UAS are inexpensive to operate, reconfigurable, and agile, making them a powerful platform for validating mission science measurements, and also for providing surrogate data for existing or future missions.

  6. Volcano Gas Measurements from UAS - Customization of Sensors and Platforms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Werner, C. A.; Dahlgren, R. P.; Kern, C.; Kelly, P. J.; Fladeland, M. M.; Norton, K.; Johnson, M. S.; Sutton, A. J.; Elias, T.

    2015-12-01

    Volcanic eruptions threaten not only the lives and property of local populations, but also aviation worldwide. Volcanic gas release is a key driving force in eruptive activity, and monitoring gas emissions is critical to assessing volcanic hazards, yet most volcanoes are not monitored for volcanic gas emission. Measuring volcanic gas emissions with manned aircraft has been standard practice for many years during eruptive crises, but such measurements are quite costly. As a result, measurements are typically only made every week or two at most during periods of unrest or eruption, whereas eruption dynamics change much more rapidly. Furthermore, very few measurements are made between eruptions to establish baseline emissions. Unmanned aerial system (UAS) measurements of volcanic plumes hold great promise for both improving temporal resolution of measurements during volcanic unrest, and for reducing the exposure of personnel to potentially hazardous conditions. Here we present the results of a new collaborative effort between the US Geological Survey and NASA Ames Research Center to develop a UAS specific for volcano gas monitoring using miniaturized gas sensing systems and a custom airframe. Two miniaturized sensing systems are being built and tested: a microDOAS system to quantify SO2 emission rates, and a miniature MultiGAS system for measuring in-situ concentrations of CO2, SO2, and H2S. The instruments are being built into pods that will be flown on a custom airframe built from surplus Raven RQ-11. The Raven is one of the smallest UAS (a SUAS), and has the potential to support global rapid response when eruptions occur because they require less crew for operations. A test mission is planned for fall 2015 or spring 2016 at the Crows Landing Airfield in central California. Future measurement locations might include Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, or Pagan Volcano in the Marianas.

  7. Assuring Ground-Based Detect and Avoid for UAS Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Denney, Ewen W.; Pai, Ganeshmadhav Jagadeesh; Berthold, Randall; Fladeland, Matthew; Storms, Bruce; Sumich, Mark

    2014-01-01

    One of the goals of the Marginal Ice Zones Observations and Processes Experiment (MIZOPEX) NASA Earth science mission was to show the operational capabilities of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) when deployed on challenging missions, in difficult environments. Given the extreme conditions of the Arctic environment where MIZOPEX measurements were required, the mission opted to use a radar to provide a ground-based detect-and-avoid (GBDAA) capability as an alternate means of compliance (AMOC) with the see-and-avoid federal aviation regulation. This paper describes how GBDAA safety assurance was provided by interpreting and applying the guidelines in the national policy for UAS operational approval. In particular, we describe how we formulated the appropriate safety goals, defined the processes and procedures for system safety, identified and assembled the relevant safety verification evidence, and created an operational safety case in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements. To the best of our knowledge, the safety case, which was ultimately approved by the FAA, is the first successful example of non-military UAS operations using GBDAA in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS), and, therefore, the first nonmilitary application of the safety case concept in this context.

  8. A heterogeneous computing accelerated SCE-UA global optimization method using OpenMP, OpenCL, CUDA, and OpenACC.

    PubMed

    Kan, Guangyuan; He, Xiaoyan; Ding, Liuqian; Li, Jiren; Liang, Ke; Hong, Yang

    2017-10-01

    The shuffled complex evolution optimization developed at the University of Arizona (SCE-UA) has been successfully applied in various kinds of scientific and engineering optimization applications, such as hydrological model parameter calibration, for many years. The algorithm possesses good global optimality, convergence stability and robustness. However, benchmark and real-world applications reveal the poor computational efficiency of the SCE-UA. This research aims at the parallelization and acceleration of the SCE-UA method based on powerful heterogeneous computing technology. The parallel SCE-UA is implemented on Intel Xeon multi-core CPU (by using OpenMP and OpenCL) and NVIDIA Tesla many-core GPU (by using OpenCL, CUDA, and OpenACC). The serial and parallel SCE-UA were tested based on the Griewank benchmark function. Comparison results indicate the parallel SCE-UA significantly improves computational efficiency compared to the original serial version. The OpenCL implementation obtains the best overall acceleration results however, with the most complex source code. The parallel SCE-UA has bright prospects to be applied in real-world applications.

  9. Genetic visualization with an improved GCaMP calcium indicator reveals spatiotemporal activation of the spinal motor neurons in zebrafish

    PubMed Central

    Muto, Akira; Ohkura, Masamichi; Kotani, Tomoya; Higashijima, Shin-ichi; Nakai, Junichi; Kawakami, Koichi

    2011-01-01

    Animal behaviors are generated by well-coordinated activation of neural circuits. In zebrafish, embryos start to show spontaneous muscle contractions at 17 to 19 h postfertilization. To visualize how motor circuits in the spinal cord are activated during this behavior, we developed GCaMP-HS (GCaMP-hyper sensitive), an improved version of the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP, and created transgenic zebrafish carrying the GCaMP-HS gene downstream of the Gal4-recognition sequence, UAS (upstream activation sequence). Then we performed a gene-trap screen and identified the SAIGFF213A transgenic fish that expressed Gal4FF, a modified version of Gal4, in a subset of spinal neurons including the caudal primary (CaP) motor neurons. We conducted calcium imaging using the SAIGFF213A; UAS:GCaMP-HS double transgenic embryos during the spontaneous contractions. We demonstrated periodic and synchronized activation of a set of ipsilateral motor neurons located on the right and left trunk in accordance with actual muscle movements. The synchronized activation of contralateral motor neurons occurred alternately with a regular interval. Furthermore, a detailed analysis revealed rostral-to-caudal propagation of activation of the ipsilateral motor neuron, which is similar to but much slower than the rostrocaudal delay observed during swimming in later stages. Our study thus demonstrated coordinated activities of the motor neurons during the first behavior in a vertebrate. We propose the GCaMP technology combined with the Gal4FF-UAS system is a powerful tool to study functional neural circuits in zebrafish. PMID:21383146

  10. Geomorphological mapping with a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS): Feature detection and accuracy assessment of a photogrammetrically-derived digital terrain model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hugenholtz, Chris H.; Whitehead, Ken; Brown, Owen W.; Barchyn, Thomas E.; Moorman, Brian J.; LeClair, Adam; Riddell, Kevin; Hamilton, Tayler

    2013-07-01

    Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are a relatively new type of aerial platform for acquiring high-resolution remote sensing measurements of Earth surface processes and landforms. However, despite growing application there has been little quantitative assessment of sUAS performance. Here we present results from a field experiment designed to evaluate the accuracy of a photogrammetrically-derived digital terrain model (DTM) developed from imagery acquired with a low-cost digital camera onboard an sUAS. We also show the utility of the high-resolution (0.1 m) sUAS imagery for resolving small-scale biogeomorphic features. The experiment was conducted in an area with active and stabilized aeolian landforms in the southern Canadian Prairies. Images were acquired with a Hawkeye RQ-84Z Areohawk fixed-wing sUAS. A total of 280 images were acquired along 14 flight lines, covering an area of 1.95 km2. The survey was completed in 4.5 h, including GPS surveying, sUAS setup and flight time. Standard image processing and photogrammetric techniques were used to produce a 1 m resolution DTM and a 0.1 m resolution orthorectified image mosaic. The latter revealed previously un-mapped bioturbation features. The vertical accuracy of the DTM was evaluated with 99 Real-Time Kinematic GPS points, while 20 of these points were used to quantify horizontal accuracy. The horizontal root mean squared error (RMSE) of the orthoimage was 0.18 m, while the vertical RMSE of the DTM was 0.29 m, which is equivalent to the RMSE of a bare earth LiDAR DTM for the same site. The combined error from both datasets was used to define a threshold of the minimum elevation difference that could be reliably attributed to erosion or deposition in the seven years separating the sUAS and LiDAR datasets. Overall, our results suggest that sUAS-acquired imagery may provide a low-cost, rapid, and flexible alternative to airborne LiDAR for geomorphological mapping.

  11. Real-Time Risk Assessment Framework for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ancel, Ersin; Capristan, Francisco M.; Foster, John V.; Condotta, Ryan

    2017-01-01

    The new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Small Unmanned Aircraft rule (Part 107) marks the first national regulations for commercial operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) under 55 pounds within the National Airspace System (NAS). Although sUAS flights may not be performed beyond visual line-of-sight or over non- participant structures and people, safety of sUAS operations must still be maintained and tracked at all times. Moreover, future safety-critical operation of sUAS (e.g., for package delivery) are already being conceived and tested. NASA's Unmanned Aircraft System Trac Management (UTM) concept aims to facilitate the safe use of low-altitude airspace for sUAS operations. This paper introduces the UTM Risk Assessment Framework (URAF) which was developed to provide real-time safety evaluation and tracking capability within the UTM concept. The URAF uses Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to propagate off -nominal condition probabilities based on real-time component failure indicators. This information is then used to assess the risk to people on the ground by calculating the potential impact area and the effects of the impact. The visual representation of the expected area of impact and the nominal risk level can assist operators and controllers with dynamic trajectory planning and execution. The URAF was applied to a case study to illustrate the concept.

  12. UAS applications in high alpine, snow-covered terrain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bühler, Y.; Stoffel, A.; Ginzler, C.

    2017-12-01

    Access to snow-covered, alpine terrain is often difficult and dangerous. Hence parameters such as snow depth or snow avalanche release and deposition zones are hard to map in situ with adequate spatial and temporal resolution and with spatial continuous coverage. These parameters are currently operationally measured at automated weather stations and by observer networks. However such isolated point measurements are not able to capture the information spatial continuous and to describe the high spatial variability present in complex mountain topography. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have the potential to fill this gap by frequently covering selected high alpine areas with high spatial resolution down to ground resolutions of even few millimeters. At the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF we test different photogrammetric UAS with visual and near infrared bands. During the last three years we were able to gather experience in more than 100 flight missions in extreme terrain. By processing the imagery applying state-of-the-art structure from motion (SfM) software, we were able to accurately document several avalanche events and to photogrammetrically map snow depth with accuracies from 1 to 20 cm (dependent on the flight height above ground) compare to manual snow probe measurements. This was even possible on homogenous snow surfaces with very little texture. A key issue in alpine terrain is flight planning. We need to cover regions at high elevations with large altitude differences (up to 1 km) with high wind speeds (up to 20 m/s) and cold temperatures (down to - 25°C). Only a few UAS are able to cope with these environmental conditions. We will give an overview on our applications of UAS in high alpine terrain that demonstrate the big potential of such systems to acquire frequent, accurate and high spatial resolution geodata in high alpine, snow covered terrain that could be essential to answer longstanding questions in avalanche and snow hydrology

  13. Sequencing Adventure Activities: A New Perspective.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bisson, Christian

    Sequencing in adventure education involves putting activities in an order appropriate to the needs of the group. Contrary to the common assumption that each adventure sequence is unique, a review of literature concerning five sequencing models reveals a certain universality. These models present sequences that move through four phases: group…

  14. Large and small UAS for trace gas measurements in climate change studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elkins, J. W.; Moore, F. L.; Hintsa, E. J.; D'Amore, P.; Dutton, G. S.; Nance, J. D.; Hall, B. D.; Gao, R. S.

    2014-12-01

    NOAA and CIRES scientists have used Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for the measurement of trace gases involved in climate change since 2005, including both high altitude-long endurance (HALE UAS: NASA Altair & Global Hawk) and 1-m wingspan, small UAS (sUAS: SkyWisp, Aero). These gases include nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), methane (CH4), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and water vapor (H2O). In particular, atmospheric N2O is the third strongest greenhouse gas (326 parts-per-billion, ppb) and is the largest increasing stratospheric ozone depleting gas in terms of future emissions (~4 Tg N2O-N yr-1), primarily from fertilizer use. Atmospheric SF6, another potent greenhouse gas, is present globally at 8.2 parts-per-trillion (ppt) and growing at a rate of 0.25 ppt yr-1, and is used primarily in electrical power distribution. It is an excellent indicator of transport timescales (e.g., mean age) in the troposphere and stratosphere, because of its source distribution (~95% emitted in NH), long atmospheric lifetime (~600-3200 yr), and large relative atmospheric growth rate (~3%). We have developed atmospheric instrumentation for HALE platforms using a two-channel gas chromatograph with an ozone photometer and a water vapor tunable diode laser spectrometer. We are currently investigating a sUAS glider (SkyWisp) for balloon-assisted high altitude flights (30 km) and propeller driven sUAS (Aero) as a test bed for a new autopilot (Pixhawk, 3DRobotics). Our motivation for utilizing this autopilot is a low cost, open source autopilot alternative that can be used to return AirCore samples from high altitude balloons for quick laboratory analysis. The goal is a monitoring program to understand transport changes as a result of climate change during different seasons at many locations from a balloon-borne package (Moore et al., BAMS, pp. 147-155, Jan. 2014). The glider version of our open source autopilot system is also being considered for a

  15. DHS S&T First Responders Group and NATO Counter UAS Proposal Interest Response.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Salton, Jonathan R.

    The capability, speed, size, and widespread availability of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) makes them a serious security concern. The enabling technologies for sUAS are rapidly evolving and so too are the threats they pose to national security. Potential threat vehicles have a small cross-section, and are difficult to reliably detect using purely ground-based systems (e.g. radar or electro-optical) and challenging to target using conventional anti-aircraft defenses. Ground-based sensors are static and suffer from interference with the earth, vegetation and other man-made structures which obscure objects at low altitudes. Because of these challenges, sUAS pose a unique and rapidly evolvingmore » threat to national security.« less

  16. Wind Tunnel and Hover Performance Test Results for Multicopter UAS Vehicles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Russell, Carl R.; Jung, Jaewoo; Willink, Gina; Glasner, Brett

    2016-01-01

    There is currently a lack of published data for the performance of multicopter unmanned aircraft system (UAS) vehicles, such as quadcopters and octocopters, often referred to collectively as drones. With the rapidly increasing popularity of multicopter UAS, there is interest in better characterizing the performance of this type of aircraft. By studying the performance of currently available vehicles, it will be possible to develop models for vehicles at this scale that can accurately predict performance and model trajectories. This paper describes a wind tunnel test that was recently performed in the U.S. Army's 7- by 10-ft Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. During this wind tunnel entry, five multicopter UAS vehicles were tested to determine forces and moments as well as electrical power as a function of wind speed, rotor speed, and vehicle attitude. The test is described here in detail, and a selection of the key results from the test is presented.

  17. Concepts of Integration for UAS Operations in the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Consiglio, Maria C.; Chamberlain, James P.; Munoz, Cesar A.; Hoffler, Keith D.

    2012-01-01

    One of the major challenges facing the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) is the lack of an onboard pilot that can comply with the legal requirement identified in the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that pilots see and avoid other aircraft. UAS will be expected to demonstrate the means to perform the function of see and avoid while preserving the safety level of the airspace and the efficiency of the air traffic system. This paper introduces a Sense and Avoid (SAA) concept for integration of UAS into the NAS that is currently being developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and identifies areas that require additional experimental evaluation to further inform various elements of the concept. The concept design rests on interoperability principles that take into account both the Air Traffic Control (ATC) environment as well as existing systems such as the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Specifically, the concept addresses the determination of well clear values that are large enough to avoid issuance of TCAS corrective Resolution Advisories, undue concern by pilots of proximate aircraft and issuance of controller traffic alerts. The concept also addresses appropriate declaration times for projected losses of well clear conditions and maneuvers to regain well clear separation.

  18. Development of Rotary-Wing UAS for Use in Atmospheric Sensing of Near-Storm Environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greene, B. R.; Chilson, P. B.; Salazar-Cerreno, J.; Duthoit, S.; Doyle, B.; Wolf, B.; Segales, A.; Fiebrich, C. A.; Waugh, S.; Fredrickson, S.; Oncley, S.; Tudor, L.; Semmer, S.

    2017-12-01

    The capabilities of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) to make atmospheric observations is rapidly being realized as a means to collect previously unobtainable observations in the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere. However, in order for these systems to provide meaningful kinematic and thermodynamic data, it is imperative to establish an understanding of the strengths and limitations of the sensors and retrieval algorithms implemented in both controlled and realistic conditions. This initial objective is comprised of two experimental stages, the first of which is calibration of thermodynamic sensors against references from the Oklahoma Mesonet and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in order to understand their quasi-ideal response characteristics. Furthermore, efforts have been made to calculate horizontal wind fields using Euler angles derived from the sUAS's autopilot. The second stage is validation of these sensor performances once mounted onto a rotary-wing sUAS by comparing measurements with instrumented towers, radiosondes, and other sUAS. It appears that these measurements are robust provided that instrument packages are mounted such that they receive adequate air flow and proper solar shielding. Moreover, experiments to locate this optimal location have been performed, and involved systematically displacing the sensors and wind probe underneath the rotor wash in an isolated chamber using a linear actuator. Once a platform's atmospheric sensing capabilities are optimized, its utility has been proven in applications from turbulence to providing forecasters with quasi-real time profiles in convective environments deemed by the Storm Prediction Center to be of highest risk for severe thunderstorms. After addressing the development of platforms operated by the University of Oklahoma, results from recent field campaigns, Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics (CLOUD-MAP) and Environmental Profiling

  19. Draft Genome Assemblies of Enterobacter aerogenes CDC 6003-71, Enterobacter cloacae CDC 442-68, and Pantoea agglomerans UA 0804-01.

    PubMed

    Minogue, T D; Daligault, H E; Davenport, K W; Bishop-Lilly, K A; Bruce, D C; Chain, P S; Coyne, S R; Chertkov, O; Freitas, T; Frey, K G; Jaissle, J; Koroleva, G I; Ladner, J T; Palacios, G F; Redden, C L; Xu, Y; Johnson, S L

    2014-10-23

    The Enterobacteriaceae are environmental and enteric microbes. We sequenced the genomes of two Enterobacter reference strains, E. aerogenes CDC 6003-71 and E. cloacae CDC 442-68, as well as one near neighbor used as an exclusionary reference for diagnostics, Pantoea agglomerans CDC UA0804-01. The genome sizes range from 4.72 to 5.55 Mbp and have G+C contents from 54.6 to 55.1%. Copyright © 2014 Minogue et al.

  20. The Use of Uas for Rapid 3d Mapping in Geomatics Education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Teo, Tee-Ann; Tian-Yuan Shih, Peter; Yu, Sz-Cheng; Tsai, Fuan

    2016-06-01

    With the development of technology, UAS is an advance technology to support rapid mapping for disaster response. The aim of this study is to develop educational modules for UAS data processing in rapid 3D mapping. The designed modules for this study are focused on UAV data processing from available freeware or trial software for education purpose. The key modules include orientation modelling, 3D point clouds generation, image georeferencing and visualization. The orientation modelling modules adopts VisualSFM to determine the projection matrix for each image station. Besides, the approximate ground control points are measured from OpenStreetMap for absolute orientation. The second module uses SURE and the orientation files from previous module for 3D point clouds generation. Then, the ground point selection and digital terrain model generation can be archived by LAStools. The third module stitches individual rectified images into a mosaic image using Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor). The last module visualizes and measures the generated dense point clouds in CloudCompare. These comprehensive UAS processing modules allow the students to gain the skills to process and deliver UAS photogrammetric products in rapid 3D mapping. Moreover, they can also apply the photogrammetric products for analysis in practice.

  1. Point Cloud Generation from sUAS-Mounted iPhone Imagery: Performance Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ladai, A. D.; Miller, J.

    2014-11-01

    The rapidly growing use of sUAS technology and fast sensor developments continuously inspire mapping professionals to experiment with low-cost airborne systems. Smartphones has all the sensors used in modern airborne surveying systems, including GPS, IMU, camera, etc. Of course, the performance level of the sensors differs by orders, yet it is intriguing to assess the potential of using inexpensive sensors installed on sUAS systems for topographic applications. This paper focuses on the quality analysis of point clouds generated based on overlapping images acquired by an iPhone 5s mounted on a sUAS platform. To support the investigation, test data was acquired over an area with complex topography and varying vegetation. In addition, extensive ground control, including GCPs and transects were collected with GSP and traditional geodetic surveying methods. The statistical and visual analysis is based on a comparison of the UAS data and reference dataset. The results with the evaluation provide a realistic measure of data acquisition system performance. The paper also gives a recommendation for data processing workflow to achieve the best quality of the final products: the digital terrain model and orthophoto mosaic. After a successful data collection the main question is always the reliability and the accuracy of the georeferenced data.

  2. Lack of robustness of life extension associated with several single-gene P element mutations in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Mockett, Robin J; Nobles, Amber C

    2013-10-01

    The hypothesis tested in this study was that single-gene mutations found previously to extend the life span of Drosophila melanogaster could do so consistently in both long-lived y w and standard w (1118) genetic backgrounds. GAL4 drivers were used to express upstream activation sequence (UAS)-responder transgenes globally or in the nervous system. Transgenes associated with oxidative damage prevention (UAS-hSOD1 and UAS-GCLc) or removal (EP-UAS-Atg8a and UAS-dTOR (FRB) ) failed to increase mean life spans in any expression pattern in either genetic background. Flies containing a UAS-EGFP-bMSRA (C) transgene associated with protein repair were found not to exhibit life extension or detectable enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) activity. The presence of UAS-responder transgenes was confirmed by PCR amplification and sequencing at the 5' and 3' end of each insertion. These results cast doubt on the robustness of life extension in flies carrying single-gene mutations and suggest that the effects of all such mutations should be tested independently in multiple genetic backgrounds and laboratory environments.

  3. Development of the New Educational Content "small Uas in Civil Engineering Application Scenarios"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levin, E.; Vach, K.; Shults, R.

    2017-12-01

    The key point of this paper is presentation of the main idea and some results of the project "Small UAS in civil engineering application scenarios" (SUAS-CAS). This project was proposed by newly established in 2016 ISPRS WG V/7: "Innovative Technologies in Training Civil Engineers and Architects". Here we are presenting our experience in using low-cost UAS in training architects at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, which was chosen as basic for this project. In the first part of paper, the project outline is presented. Then the first and possible follow project outcomes were described. In some details is described the training module "Small UAS in architecture" which was developed and included as a part of the subject "Architectural photogrammetry".

  4. Analysis of Well-Clear Boundary Models for the Integration of UAS in the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Upchurch, Jason M.; Munoz, Cesar A.; Narkawicz, Anthony J.; Chamberlain, James P.; Consiglio, Maria C.

    2014-01-01

    The FAA-sponsored Sense and Avoid Workshop for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) defnes the concept of sense and avoid for remote pilots as "the capability of a UAS to remain well clear from and avoid collisions with other airborne traffic." Hence, a rigorous definition of well clear is fundamental to any separation assurance concept for the integration of UAS into civil airspace. This paper presents a family of well-clear boundary models based on the TCAS II Resolution Advisory logic. Analytical techniques are used to study the properties and relationships satisfied by the models. Some of these properties are numerically quantifed using statistical methods.

  5. UAS Air Traffic Controller Acceptability Study. 2; Evaluating Detect and Avoid Technology and Communication Delays in Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comstock, James R., Jr.; Ghatas, Rania W.; Consiglio, Maria C.; Chamberlain, James P.; Hoffler, Keith D.

    2015-01-01

    This study evaluated the effects of communications delays and winds on air traffic controller ratings of acceptability of horizontal miss distances (HMDs) for encounters between Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and manned aircraft in a simulation of the Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) airspace. Fourteen encounters per hour were staged in the presence of moderate background traffic. Seven recently retired controllers with experience at DFW served as subjects. Guidance provided to the UAS pilots for maintaining a given HMD was provided by information from Detect and Avoid (DAA) self-separation algorithms (Stratway+) displayed on the Multi-Aircraft Control System. This guidance consisted of amber "bands" on the heading scale of the UAS navigation display indicating headings that would result in a loss of well clear between the UAS and nearby traffic. Winds tested were successfully handled by the DAA algorithms and did not affect the controller acceptability ratings of the HMDs. Voice communications delays for the UAS were also tested and included one-way delay times of 0, 400, 1200, and 1800 msec. For longer communications delays, there were changes in strategy and communications flow that were observed and reported by the controllers. The aim of this work is to provide useful information for guiding future rules and regulations applicable to flying UAS in the NAS. Information from this study will also be of value to the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) Special Committee 228 - Minimum Performance Standards for UAS.

  6. Effective and efficient agricultural drainage pipe mapping with UAS thermal infrared imagery: a case study

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Effective and efficient methods are needed to map agricultural subsurface drainage systems. Visible (VIS), near infrared (NIR), and/or thermal infrared (TIR) imagery obtained by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) may provide a means for determining drainage pipe locations. Preliminary UAS surveys wit...

  7. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    This presentation summarizes the simulation work conducted by the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project. It focuses on the contribution of that research to the development of RTCA Special Committee 228's (SC-228) Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS. The research objectives and primary findings from four different human-in-the-loop simulations are discussed, along with the specific requirements these studies led to in the final MOPS document.

  8. Integrated sUAS Greenhouse Gas Measurements and Imagery for Land Use Emissions Monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barbieri, L.; Wyngaard, J.; Galford, G. L.; Adair, C.

    2016-12-01

    Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) constitute the second largest anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. Agriculture is the dominant source of emissions within that sector. There are a variety of agricultural land management strategies that can be implemented to reduce GHG emissions, but determining the best strategies is challenging. Emissions estimates are currently derived from GHG monitoring methods (e.g., static chambers, eddy flux towers) that are time and labor intensive, expensive, and use in-situ equipment. These methods lack the flexible, spatio-temporal monitoring necessary to reduce the high uncertainty in regional GHG emissions estimates. Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) provide the rapid response data collection needed to monitor important field management events (e.g., manure spreading). Further, the ease of deployment of sUAS makes monitoring large regional extents over full-seasons more viable. To our knowledge, we present the first integration of sUAS remotely sensed imagery and GHG concentrations in agriculture and land use monitoring. We have developed and tested open-source hardware and software utilizing low-cost equipment (e.g., NDIR gas sensors and Canon cameras). Initial results show agreement with more traditional, proprietary equipment but at a fraction of the costs. Here we present data from test flights over agricultural areas under various management practices. The suite of data includes sUAS overpasses for imagery and CO2 concentration measurements, paired with field-based GHG measurements (static chambers). We have developed a set of best practices for sUAS data collection (e.g., time of day effects variability in localized atmospheric GHG concentrations) and discuss currently known challenges (e.g., accounting for external environmental factors such as wind speed). We present results on all sUAS GHG sampling methods paired with imagery and simultaneous static chamber monitoring for a

  9. The yeast DNA ligase gene CDC9 is controlled by six orientation specific upstream activating sequences that respond to cellular proliferation but which alone cannot mediate cell cycle regulation.

    PubMed Central

    White, J H; Johnson, A L; Lowndes, N F; Johnston, L H

    1991-01-01

    By fusing the CDC9 structural gene to the PGK upstream sequences and the CDC9 upstream to lacZ, we showed that the cell cycle expression of CDC9 is largely due to transcriptional regulation. To investigate the role of six ATGATT upstream repeats in CDC9 regulation, synthetic copies of the sequence were attached to a heterologous gene. The repeats stimulated transcription strongly and additively, but, unlike conventional yeast UAS elements, only when present in one orientation. Transcription driven by the repeats declines in cells held at START of the cell cycle or in stationary phase, as occurs with CDC9. However, the repeats by themselves cannot impart cell cycle regulation to a heterologous gene. CDC9 may therefore be controlled by an activating system operating through the repeats that is sensitive to cellular proliferation and a separate mechanism that governs the periodic expression in the cell cycle. Images PMID:1901644

  10. HALE UAS Command and Control Communications: Step 1 - Functional Requirements Document. Version 4.0

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2006-01-01

    The High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) communicates with an off-board pilot-in-command in all flight phases via the C2 data link, making it a critical component for the UA to fly in the NAS safely and routinely. This is a new requirement in current FAA communications planning and monitoring processes. This document provides a set of comprehensive C2 communications functional requirements and performance guidelines to help facilitate the future FAA certification process for civil UAS to operate in the NAS. The objective of the guidelines is to provide the ability to validate the functional requirements and in future be used to develop performance-level requirements.

  11. NHEXAS PHASE I ARIZONA STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR CLEANING: WEEKLY ACTIVITY FOLLOW UP--INDIVIDUAL (UA-D-23.0)

    EPA Science Inventory

    This entry is included for completeness of documentation. The technique described in the SOP was anticipated in study planning documents. It was subsequently not used, and the SOP was not completed. This SOP was replaced by SOP UA-D-22.0.

    The purpose of this SOP is to define t...

  12. NHEXAS PHASE I ARIZONA STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR CODING: WEEKLY ACTIVITY FOLLOW UP (INDIVIDUAL) (UA-D-12.0)

    EPA Science Inventory

    This abstract is included for completeness of documentation. The technique described in the SOP was anticipated in study planning documents. It was subsequently not used, and the SOP was not written. This SOP was replaced by SOP UA-D-11.0.

    The purpose of this SOP is to defin...

  13. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project FY17 Annual Review

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sakahara, Robert; Hackenberg, Davis; Johnson, William

    2017-01-01

    This presentation was presented to the Integrated Aviation Systems Program at the FY17 Annual Review of the UAS-NAS project. The presentation captures the overview of the work completed by the UAS-NAS project and its subprojects.

  14. Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) "AirStation": Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Carrier Concept

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hochstetler, Ronald D.; Bosma, John; Chachad, Girish H.; Blanken, Matthew L.

    2016-01-01

    The advantages of utilizing an airship as an airborne carrier for support and deployment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are examined. Whether as a stand-alone platform or in concert with conventional aircraft, the airship UAS carrier provides a number of compelling benefits for both military and civilian missions. As a mobile base it can remain operational despite political fallout that may render ground or ocean based UAS sites unavailable. It offers the psychological impact of a power projection tool that has few geographical limits, and holds promise as a new method for cost-saving intelligence gathering. It is also adaptable for civilian variants for supporting: emergency response, security/surveillance, delivery of medical/food supplies, as well as commercial package delivery to metropolitan and remote communities. This paper presents the background on airship-aircraft operations, and explores the general airship carrier concept. Additionally, a catalog of contemporary technologies available to support the airship carrier concept are discussed, and essential elements for an Air-Station Development program proposed.

  15. DAIDALUS Observations From UAS Integration in the NAS Project Flight Test 4

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vincent, Michael J.; Tsakpinis, Dimitrios

    2016-01-01

    In order to validate the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) solution proposed by standards body RTCA Inc., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) UAS Integration in the NAS project, alongside industry members General Atomics and Honeywell, conducted the fourth flight test in a series at Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Flight Test 4 (FT4) investigated problems of interoperability with the TCAS collision avoidance system with a DAA system as well as problems associated with sensor uncertainty. A series of scripted flight encounters between the NASA Ikhana UAS and various "intruder" aircraft were flown while alerting and guidance from the DAA algorithm were recorded to investigate the timeliness of the alerts and correctness of the guidance triggered by the DAA system. The results found that alerts were triggered in a timely manner in most instances. Cases where the alerting and guidance was incorrect were investigated further.

  16. Simultaneous Observations of Beach and Surf-Zone Topography from a sUAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slocum, R. K.; Brodie, K. L.; Spore, N.

    2016-02-01

    Beaches and surf-zones can vary rapidly in time and space, necessitating frequent, spatially extensive observations for up-to-date knowledge on their current condition. Traditional surveying methods are expensive, can be dangerous in large wave conditions, and can lack sufficient spatial density. Existing remote sensing technologies have focused on both active sensing (airborne lidar, X-band radar) or passive sensing (electro-optical or infrared imagery) to either directly measure elevations of the beach and seafloor or exploit the optical signal of refracting and breaking waves in the surf-zone. These methods, however, can be prohibitively expensive for widespread, high temporal frequency use, or lack the spatial coverage required to quantify a large stretch of beach. UAS offer an affordable and accessible alternative, but existing COTS UAS sensor suites are not optimized for generation of bathymetry and topography at the same time. Here, we present a new approach using an inexpensive, custom multi-camera sensor designed with a wide field of view for integration on either a fixed wing of multirotor UAS platform. We introduce a processing methodology and workflow to generate a topographic pointcloud and rectified imagery of the water surface using structure from motion algorithms. The topographic pointcloud data is processed to generate a DSM of the beach and extract morphologic parameters (beach slope, dune toe, etc). Rectified imagery of the water surface is used to quantify sandbar location as well as perform a celerity based bathymetric inversion. Accuracy of this methodology is calculated by comparing processed data to lidar pointclouds, as well as photo identifiable targets on the beach and jetted into the surf zone. Funded by the USACE Military Engineering POD:A&U Program and Coastal Field Data Collection Program.

  17. Molecular analysis of UAS(E), a cis element containing stress response elements responsible for ethanol induction of the KlADH4 gene of Kluyveromyces lactis.

    PubMed

    Mazzoni, C; Santori, F; Saliola, M; Falcone, C

    2000-01-01

    KlADH4 is a gene of Kluyveromyces lactis encoding a mitochondrial alcohol dehydrogenase activity, which is specifically induced by ethanol and insensitive to glucose repression. In this work, we report the molecular analysis of UAS(E), an element of the KlADH4 promoter which is essential for the induction of KlADH4 in the presence of ethanol. UAS(E) contains five stress response elements (STREs), which have been found in many genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae involved in the response of cells to conditions of stress. Whereas KlADH4 is not responsive to stress conditions, the STREs present in UAS(E) seem to play a key role in the induction of the gene by ethanol, a situation that has not been observed in the related yeast S. cerevisiae. Gel retardation experiments showed that STREs in the KlADH4 promoter can bind factor(s) under non-inducing conditions. Moreover, we observed that the RAP1 binding site present in UAS(E) binds KlRap1p.

  18. Implementation of a sensor guided flight algorithm for target tracking by small UAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collins, Gaemus E.; Stankevitz, Chris; Liese, Jeffrey

    2011-06-01

    Small xed-wing UAS (SUAS) such as Raven and Unicorn have limited power, speed, and maneuverability. Their missions can be dramatically hindered by environmental conditions (wind, terrain), obstructions (buildings, trees) blocking clear line of sight to a target, and/or sensor hardware limitations (xed stare, limited gimbal motion, lack of zoom). Toyon's Sensor Guided Flight (SGF) algorithm was designed to account for SUAS hardware shortcomings and enable long-term tracking of maneuvering targets by maintaining persistent eyes-on-target. SGF was successfully tested in simulation with high-delity UAS, sensor, and environment models, but real- world ight testing with 60 Unicorn UAS revealed surprising second order challenges that were not highlighted by the simulations. This paper describes the SGF algorithm, our rst round simulation results, our second order discoveries from ight testing, and subsequent improvements that were made to the algorithm.

  19. Ua neeb khu: a Hmong American healing ceremony.

    PubMed

    Capps, Lisa L

    2011-06-01

    Ua neeb khu (pronounced "oo-ah neng kue") is a ceremonial healing practice engaged in by Hmong Americans for the treatment of various health problems involving spiritually focused concerns that only a shaman practitioner is qualified to treat. A qualitative ethnographic case study method with participant observation was used to analyze a spiritual healing ceremony performed by a shaman healer (txiv neeb) for an elderly Hmong American male residing in a midwestern city in the United States. The healing ritual was filmed and reviewed with the shaman healer to identify symbolic meanings and processes. Through ritual exchange and reciprocal transaction between the spirit and living world, the shaman facilitated the resolution of the spiritual problem and promoted the patient's healing and sense of well-being. Awareness of the symbolic aspects of ritual in ua neeb khu and the relationship to the patient's world view is useful to health practitioners for a holistic understanding of Hmong American healing practices.

  20. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Mission Planning

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-07-03

    equipped with a C-Band analog video transmitter that can be received by any L3 ROVER system. This transmitter is planned to upgrade to a digital S or L...Crow platforms. These platforms are being used for student education regarding how to initially setup UAS autopilots, conduct Hardware in the Loop...University, a B.S. in aviation administration from Purdue University, an MBAA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Ph.D. in educational

  1. Progress on the Development of the UAS C2 Link and Supporting Spectrum - from LOS to BLOS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Griner, James H.; Bishop, William D.; Matolak, David W.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.

    2017-01-01

    In order to provide for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System, the control and non-payload communications (CNPC) link connecting the ground-based pilot with the unmanned aircraft must be highly reliable and robust, based upon standards that enable certification. Both line-of-sight (LOS) links using terrestrial-based communications and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) links using satellite communications are required to support UAS operations. The development of standards has been undertaken by RTCA Special Committee 228 (SC-228), with supporting technical data developed by NASA under the UAS in the National Airspace (NAS) Project. As a result of this work minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) have been completed and published for the LOS CNPC system. The second phase of work, for both NASA and RTCA involves the BLOS CNPC systems. The development of technical data to support MOPS development for UAS BLOS satellite-based CNPC links has now been initiated by NASA, and RTCA SC-228 has organized itself to begin the MOPS development process. This paper will provide an overview of the work that has been completed to date by the Communications Subproject in support of LOS C2 communications for UAS followed by an update of plans and progress for the BLOS phase of the project, with the focus on the UAS C2 spectrum aspects.

  2. Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Weather and Climate using the Multi-testbed approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baker, B.; Lee, T.; Buban, M.; Dumas, E. J.

    2017-12-01

    Evaluation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Weather and Climate using the Multi-testbed approachC. Bruce Baker1, Ed Dumas1,2, Temple Lee1,2, Michael Buban1,21NOAA ARL, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, Oak Ridge, TN2Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, TN The development of a small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) testbeds that can be used to validate, integrate, calibrate and evaluate new technology and sensors for routine boundary layer research, validation of operational weather models, improvement of model parameterizations, and recording observations within high-impact storms is important for understanding the importance and impact of using sUAS's routinely as a new observing platform. The goal of the multi-testbed approach is to build a robust set of protocols to assess the cost and operational feasibility of unmanned observations for routine applications using various combinations of sUAS aircraft and sensors in different locations and field experiments. All of these observational testbeds serve different community needs, but they also use a diverse suite of methodologies for calibration and evaluation of different sensors and platforms for severe weather and boundary layer research. The primary focus will be to evaluate meteorological sensor payloads to measure thermodynamic parameters and define surface characteristics with visible, IR, and multi-spectral cameras. This evaluation will lead to recommendations for sensor payloads for VTOL and fixed-wing sUAS.

  3. Rangeland remote sensing applications with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the national airspace: challenges and experiences

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    In recent years, civilian applications of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have increased considerably due to their greater availability and the miniaturization of sensors, GPS, inertial measurement units, and other hardware. UAS are well suited for rangeland remote sensing applications, because of the...

  4. JEFX 10 demonstration of Cooperative Hunter Killer UAS and upstream data fusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Funk, Brian K.; Castelli, Jonathan C.; Watkins, Adam S.; McCubbin, Christopher B.; Marshall, Steven J.; Barton, Jeffrey D.; Newman, Andrew J.; Peterson, Cammy K.; DeSena, Jonathan T.; Dutrow, Daniel A.; Rodriguez, Pedro A.

    2011-05-01

    The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory deployed and demonstrated a prototype Cooperative Hunter Killer (CHK) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) capability and a prototype Upstream Data Fusion (UDF) capability as participants in the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2010 in April 2010. The CHK capability was deployed at the Nevada Test and Training Range to prosecute a convoy protection operational thread. It used mission-level autonomy (MLA) software applied to a networked swarm of three Raven hunter UAS and a Procerus Miracle surrogate killer UAS, all equipped with full motion video (FMV). The MLA software provides the capability for the hunter-killer swarm to autonomously search an area or road network, divide the search area, deconflict flight paths, and maintain line of sight communications with mobile ground stations. It also provides an interface for an operator to designate a threat and initiate automatic engagement of the target by the killer UAS. The UDF prototype was deployed at the Maritime Operations Center at Commander Second Fleet, Naval Station Norfolk to provide intelligence analysts and the ISR commander with a common fused track picture from the available FMV sources. It consisted of a video exploitation component that automatically detected moving objects, a multiple hypothesis tracker that fused all of the detection data to produce a common track picture, and a display and user interface component that visualized the common track picture along with appropriate geospatial information such as maps and terrain as well as target coordinates and the source video.

  5. Application of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for phenotypic mapping of white spruce genotypes along environmental gradients

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Odorico, P.; Wong, C. Y.; Besik, A.; Earon, E.; Isabel, N.; Ensminger, I.

    2017-12-01

    Rapid climate change is expected to cause a mismatch between locally adapted tree populations and the optimal climatic conditions to which they have adapted. Plant breeding and reforestation programs will increasingly need to rely on high-throughput precision phenotyping tools for the selection of genotypes with increased drought and stress tolerance. In this work, we present the possibilities offered by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) carrying optical sensors to monitor and assess differences in performance among white spruce genotypes. While high-throughput precision phenotyping using UAS has gained traction in agronomic crop research during the last few years, to our knowledge it is still at its infancy in forestry applications. UAS surveys were performed at different times during the growing season over large white spruce common garden experiments established by the Canadian Forest Service at four different sites, each characterized by 2000 clonally replicated genotypes. Sites are distributed over a latitudinal gradient, in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The UAS payload consisted of a custom-bands multispectral sensor acquiring radiation at wavelength at which the reflectance spectrum of vegetation is known to capture physiological change under disturbance and stress. Ground based tree-top spectral reflectances and leaf level functional traits were also acquired for validation purposes parallel to UAS surveys. We will discuss the potential and the challenges of using optical sensors on UAS to infer genotypic variation in tree response to stress events and show how spectral data can function as the link between large-scale phenotype and genotype data.

  6. Potentials of RF/FSO Communication in UAS Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Griethe, Wolfgang; Heine, Frank

    2013-08-01

    Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) has gained particular attention during the past few years and is progressing continuously. With the successful in-orbit verification of a Laser Communication Terminal (LCT), the coherent homodyne BPSK scheme advanced to a standard for Free-Space Optical Communication (FSOC) which now prevails more and more. The LCT is presently operated on satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In the near future, the LCT will be operated in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) onboard the ALPHASAT-TDP and the European Data Relay System (EDRS). In other words, the LCT has reached a point of maturity to realize its practical application. With existence of such space assets the time has come for other utilization beyond that of optical Inter-Satellite Links (ISL). Aeronautical applications, as for instance High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) or Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have to be addressed. This is caused due to an extremely high demand for bandwidth. Driving factors and advantages of FSOC in HALE/MALE UAS missions are highlighted. Numerous practice-related issues are described concerning the space segment, the aeronautical segment as well as the ground segment. The advantages for UAS missions are described resulting from the utilization of FSOC exclusively for wideband transmission of sensor data while vehicle Command & Control (C2) can be maintained, as before, via RF communication. Moreover, the paper discusses FSOC as an enabler for the integration of air and space-based wideband Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) systems into existent military command and control networks. From the given information it can be concluded that FSOC contributes to the future increase of air-and space power.

  7. sUAS and their application in observing geomorphological processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gallik, Jozef; Bolešová, Lenka

    2016-07-01

    Methodologies and procedures in processing gained data vary based on possibilities and needs of scientific projects. This paper should help to get a general overview in the choice of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS - commonly known as drones) for scientific purposes, namely remote sensing of geomorphologic processes such as soil degradation in high mountainous areas that are hard to access and have unfavourable weather conditions. All high mountain areas in European countries are legislatively protected, and so various permissions and observation of strict procedures are needed in order to not have a negative influence on the environment. Nowadays, several types of UAS exist that could effectively help us in such protection, as well as in full-fledged utilization when answering scientific questions about the alpine lake genesis. We demonstrate it here with selected examples of our photo documentation.

  8. Assessment of urinary inhibitor or promoter activity in uric acid nephrolithiasis

    PubMed Central

    Doizi, Steeve; Rodgers, Kathy; Poindexter, John; Sakhaee, Khashayar; Maalouf, Naim M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose To assess the presence of a reduced inhibitor activity or an increased promoter activity in urine of idiopathic uric acid stone formers (IUASF) compared to non-stone formers (NSF) independent of urinary pH. Methods 30 IUASF, 9 obese NSF and 12 lean NSF collected 24-hour urine under metabolic diet. Three urine aliquots per subject were used to assess spontaneous nucleation (SN, de novo crystal formation), crystal growth (CG) using a 0.1 mg/mL seed of anhydrous uric acid (UA) and steady state (SS) of UA solubility using a 5 mg/mL seed of UA (assessing maximum amount of UA dissolvable in urine). All experiments were conducted for 6 hours at a constant pH of 5.0. UA concentration was measured in filtered aliquots at 0, 3 and 6 hours. Results At baseline, 24-hour urinary pH was significantly lower and UA saturation significantly higher in IUASF. No significant SN occurred and a similar SS UA concentration was reached in the three groups. IUASF and lean NSF displayed a similar decrease in UA concentration during CG, while obese NSF started with higher UA concentration and consequently displayed higher magnitude of decrease in UA concentration for CG. Conclusions This study suggests that there is no significant difference between IUASF and NSF in terms of promoter or inhibitor activity in whole urine against UA stone formation when urine pH is maintained constant. The findings suggest that UA stone formation is dictated by a high urinary saturation with respect to UA, driven primarily by a low urine pH. PMID:26723865

  9. Varying Levels of Automation on UAS Operator Responses to Traffic Resolution Advisories in Civil Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kenny, Caitlin; Fern, Lisa

    2012-01-01

    Continuing demand for the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) has put increasing pressure on operations in civil airspace. The need to fly UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS) in order to perform missions vital to national security and defense, emergency management, and science is increasing at a rapid pace. In order to ensure safe operations in the NAS, operators of unmanned aircraft, like those of manned aircraft, may be required to maintain separation assurance and avoid loss of separation with other aircraft while performing their mission tasks. This experiment investigated the effects of varying levels of automation on UAS operator performance and workload while responding to conflict resolution instructions provided by the Tactical Collision Avoidance System II (TCAS II) during a UAS mission in high-density airspace. The purpose of this study was not to investigate the safety of using TCAS II on UAS, but rather to examine the effect of automation on the ability of operators to respond to traffic collision alerts. Six licensed pilots were recruited to act as UAS operators for this study. Operators were instructed to follow a specified mission flight path, while maintaining radio contact with Air Traffic Control and responding to TCAS II resolution advisories. Operators flew four, 45 minute, experimental missions with four different levels of automation: Manual, Knobs, Management by Exception, and Fully Automated. All missions included TCAS II Resolution Advisories (RAs) that required operator attention and rerouting. Operator compliance and reaction time to RAs was measured, and post-run NASA-TLX ratings were collected to measure workload. Results showed significantly higher compliance rates, faster responses to TCAS II alerts, as well as less preemptive operator actions when higher levels of automation are implemented. Physical and Temporal ratings of workload were significantly higher in the Manual condition than in the Management by Exception and

  10. UAS Integration into the NAS: Detect and Avoid Display Evaluations in Support of SC-228 MOPS Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa; Rorie, Conrad; Shively, Jay

    2015-01-01

    This presentation provides an overview of the work the Human Systems Integration (HSI) sub-project has done on detect and avoid (DAA) displays while working on the UAS Integration into the NAS project. Much of the work has been used to support the ongoing development of minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) for UAS by RTCA Special Committee 228. The design and results of three different human-in-the-loop simulations are discussed, with particular emphasis on the role of the UAS pilot in the Self Separation Timeline.

  11. Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) "AirStation": Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Carrier Concept

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hochstetler, Ron; Chachad, Girish; Blanken, Matthew; Bosma, John

    2016-01-01

    Proposals for adapting modern airship technologies for military missions have mostly focused on exploiting the airships high flight endurance and low fuel requirement to conduct direct surveillance missions requiring high degrees of persistence over the areas to be observed. While this mission has value, it constrains the airship in two regards. (1) It places all the surveillance sensors, communication systems, and other mission equipment in the airship itself. (2) It requires the airship to be physically in the vicinity of the areas to be directly observed. A more advanced utilization of airship technology would be to add the capability to deploy a separate set of surveillance equipment, thereby enabling indirect and distributed observation operations. This can be undertaken by installing surveillance equipment in a squadron of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that can be carried and operated remotely from the airship, and then return to the airship as a base of support. This could be accomplished by deploying 20-30 UASs on an optionally manned (5 person crew) airship. The mission focus of the airship UAS carrier would be for support of distributed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), close air support (CAS), maritime patrol and interdiction, electronic warfare (EW), persistent area dominance and missile defense. The logic for utilizing an airship carrier over a ground base to deploy UAS will be examined. Whether to be used as a stand-alone platform or in concert with conventional intelligence gathering techniques, the airship UAS carrier can provide the following benefits: a mobile base that will remain accessible despite political fallout which may render a ground base unavailable for use, the psychological impact of a power projection tool that has no geographical limits (imagined in the same way a naval carrier group projects power), cost-saving intelligence gathering over manned alternatives (assumption), and a wider area of influence when

  12. Supporting the Use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems(UAS) for Global Science Observations in Civil and Segregated Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mulac, B. L.; Reider. K/

    2010-01-01

    Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are growing more popular within the earth science community as a way to augment measurements currently made with manned aircraft. UAS arc uniquely suited for applications that require long dwell times and/or in locations that are generally too dangerous for manned aircraft. Environmental monitoring in areas like the Arctic or obtaining data within a hurricane are just a couple of examples of many applications to which UAS are ideally suited. However, UAS are not without their challenges. Most unmanned aircraft are unable to meet current airspace regulations that are in place for manned aircraft, and specific airspace standards and regulations for unmanned aircraft do not exist. As a result, gaining access to civil airspace for flights is very difficult around the world. Under Term of Reference 48 within the ISPRS Commission 1, WGI/I: Standardization of Aircraft Interfaces, efforts have been made to understand and quantify the current state of UAS airspace access on a global scale. The results of these efforts will be presented along with examples of successful science missions that have been conducted internationally during the past year.

  13. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project - Gen-4 and Gen-5 Radio Plans

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Griner, James H.

    2014-01-01

    NASA's UAS Integration in the NAS project, has partnered with Rockwell Collins to develop a concept Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) system prototype radio, operating on recently allocated UAS frequency spectrum bands. This prototype radio is being used to validate initial proposed performance requirements for UAS control communications. This presentation will give an overview of the current plans for the prototype radio development.

  14. Songbird - AN Innovative Uas Combining the Advantages of Fixed Wing and Multi Rotor Uas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thamm, F.-P.; Brieger, N.; Neitzke, K.-P.; Meyer, M.; Jansen, R.; Mönninghof, M.

    2015-08-01

    This paper describes a family of innovative fixed wing UAS with can vertical take off and land - the SONGBIRD family. With nominal payloads starting from 0.5 kg they can take off and land safely like a multi-rotor UAV, removing the need for an airstrip for the critical phases of operation. A specially designed flight controller allows stable flight at every point of the transition phase between VTOL and fixed wing mode. Because of this smooth process with a all time stable flight, very expensive payload like hyperspectral sensors or advanced optical cameras can be used. Due to their design all airplanes of the SONGBIRD family have excellent horizontal flight properties, a maximum speed of over 110 km/h, good gliding properties and long flight times of up to 1 h. Missions were flown in wind speeds up to 18 m/s. At every time of the flight it is possible to interrupt the mission and hover over a point of interest for detail investigations. The complete flight, including take-off and landing can be performed by autopilot. Designed for daily use in professional environments, SONGBIRDs are built out of glass-fibre and carbon composites for a long service life. For safe operations comprehensive security features are implemented, for example redundant flight controllers and sensors, advanced power management system and mature fail safe procedures. The aircraft can be dismantled into small parts for transportation. SONGBIRDS are available for different pay loads, from 500 g to 2 kg. The SONGBIRD family are interesting tools combining the advantages of multi-copter and fixed wing UAS.

  15. UAS Photogrammetry for Rapid Response Characterization of Subaerial Coastal Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Do, C.; Anarde, K.; Figlus, J.; Prouse, W.; Bedient, P. B.

    2016-12-01

    Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) provide an exciting new platform for rapid response measurement of subaerial coastal change. Here we validate the use of a coupled hobbyist UAS and optical photogrammetry framework for high-resolution mapping of portions of a low-lying barrier island along the Texas Gulf Coast. A DJI Phantom 3 Professional was used to capture 2D nadir images of the foreshore and back-beach environments containing both vegetated and non-vegetated features. The images were georeferenced using ground-truth markers surveyed via real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS and were then imported into Agisoft Photoscan, a photo-processing software, to generate 3D point clouds and digital elevation maps (DEMs). The georeferenced elevation models were then compared to RTK measurements to evaluate accuracy and precision. Thus far, DEMs derived from UAS photogrammetry show centimeter resolution for renderings of non-vegetated landforms. High-resolution renderings of vegetated and back-barrier regions have proven more difficult due to interstitial wetlands (surface reflectance) and uneven terrain for GPS backpack surveys. In addition to producing high-quality models, UAS photogrammetry has demonstrated to be more time-efficient than traditional mapping methods, making it advantageous for rapid response deployments. This study is part of a larger effort to relate field measurements of storm hydrodynamics to subaerial evidence of geomorphic change to better understand barrier island response to extreme storms.

  16. Sequence Matters but How Exactly? A Method for Evaluating Activity Sequences from Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Doroudi, Shayan; Holstein, Kenneth; Aleven, Vincent; Brunskill, Emma

    2016-01-01

    How should a wide variety of educational activities be sequenced to maximize student learning? Although some experimental studies have addressed this question, educational data mining methods may be able to evaluate a wider range of possibilities and better handle many simultaneous sequencing constraints. We introduce Sequencing Constraint…

  17. Improving Understanding of Spatial Heterogeneity in Mountain Ecohydrology with Multispectral Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wigmore, O.; Molotch, N. P.

    2017-12-01

    Mountain regions are a critical component of the hydrologic system. These regions are extremely heterogeneous, with dramatic topographic, climatic, ecologic and hydrologic variations occurring over very short distances. This heterogeneity makes understanding changes in these environments difficult. Commonly used satellite data are often too coarse to resolve processes at appropriate scales and point measurements are typically unrepresentative of the wider region. The rapid rise of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) offers a potential solution to the scale-related inadequacies of satellite and ground-based observing systems. Using UAS, spatially distributed datasets can be collected at high resolution (i.e. cm), on demand, and can therefore facilitate improved understanding of mountain ecohydrology. We deployed a custom built multispectral - visible (RGB), near infrared (NIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) - UAS at a weekly interval over the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research (NWT LTER) saddle catchment at 3500masl in the Colorado Rockies. This system was used to map surface water pathways, land cover and topography, and quantify ecohydrologic variables including, snow depth, vegetation productivity and surface soil moisture at 5-50cm resolution across an 80ha study area. This presentation will discuss the techniques, methods and merits of using UAS derived multispectral data for ecohydrologic research in mountain regions. We will also present preliminary findings from our survey time series at NWT LTER and a discussion of the potential insights that these datasets can provide. Key questions to be addressed are: 1) how does spatial variability in snow depth impact soil moisture and vegetation productivity, 2) how can UAS help us to identify ecohydrologic `hotspots' and `hot moments' across heterogeneous landscapes.

  18. Performance Evaluation of sUAS Equipped with Velodyne HDL-32E LiDAR Sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jozkow, G.; Wieczorek, P.; Karpina, M.; Walicka, A.; Borkowski, A.

    2017-08-01

    The Velodyne HDL-32E laser scanner is used more frequently as main mapping sensor in small commercial UASs. However, there is still little information about the actual accuracy of point clouds collected with such UASs. This work evaluates empirically the accuracy of the point cloud collected with such UAS. Accuracy assessment was conducted in four aspects: impact of sensors on theoretical point cloud accuracy, trajectory reconstruction quality, and internal and absolute point cloud accuracies. Theoretical point cloud accuracy was evaluated by calculating 3D position error knowing errors of used sensors. The quality of trajectory reconstruction was assessed by comparing position and attitude differences from forward and reverse EKF solution. Internal and absolute accuracies were evaluated by fitting planes to 8 point cloud samples extracted for planar surfaces. In addition, the absolute accuracy was also determined by calculating point 3D distances between LiDAR UAS and reference TLS point clouds. Test data consisted of point clouds collected in two separate flights performed over the same area. Executed experiments showed that in tested UAS, the trajectory reconstruction, especially attitude, has significant impact on point cloud accuracy. Estimated absolute accuracy of point clouds collected during both test flights was better than 10 cm, thus investigated UAS fits mapping-grade category.

  19. High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS): Pilot Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This report summarizes the initial work accomplished by the ACCESS 5 Human System Integration (HSI) team to identify Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Pilot Knowledge, Skill and Ability (KSA), Training and Medical requirements. To derive this information the following tasks were accomplished: a) Mission and Function analyses were performed; b) Applicable FARs and FAA Advisory Circulars (ACs) were reviewed; c) Meetings were conducted with NASA and FAA Human Factors personnel; d) Surveys were completed by ACCESS 5 HSI Working group UA Pilots; e) Coordination meetings were conducted with the ACCESS 5 Policy IPT. The results of these efforts were used to develop a summary of the current qualifications. for an individual to function as a Pilot In Command (PIC) for UAs currently flown by UNITE companies, to develop preliminary Pilot KSAs for each phase of flight, and to delineate preliminary Pilot Training and Medical requirements. These results are to be provided to the Policy IPT to support their development of recommendations for UA Pilot Rating Criteria, training and medical qualifications. It is expected that the initially an instrument rated pilot will be required to serve as the PIC. However, as operational experience is gained, and automation is applied to accomplish various system functions, it is expected that pilot rating criteria could be lessened.

  20. Meeting of Experts on NASA's Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace Systems (NAS) Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wolfe, Jean; Bauer, Jeff; Bixby, C.J.; Lauderdale, Todd; Shively, Jay; Griner, James; Hayhurst, Kelly

    2010-01-01

    Topics discussed include: Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) and UAS Integration in the NAS Project; UAS Integration into the NAS Project; Separation Assurance and Collision Avoidance; Pilot Aircraft Interface Objectives/Rationale; Communication; Certification; and Integrated Tests and Evaluations.

  1. The State of the Practice of UAS Systems in Transportation

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-12-09

    The objective of this research was to establish the state of the practice of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) applications in the transportation profession, with particular interest in understanding how other state departments of transportation across ...

  2. ICAO RPAS Symposium: NASA RPAS Operational and Research Activities

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Chuck

    2017-01-01

    NASA RPAS Operational and Research Activities presentation discusses the UAS flight operations. UAS vehicles are discussed along with the missions they supported. This is a high level overview of UAS operations at NASA being presented to the RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) Symposium.

  3. Analysis of Polygenic Mutants Suggests a Role for Mediator in Regulating Transcriptional Activation Distance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Reavey, Caitlin T; Hickman, Mark J; Dobi, Krista C; Botstein, David; Winston, Fred

    2015-10-01

    Studies of natural populations of many organisms have shown that traits are often complex, caused by contributions of mutations in multiple genes. In contrast, genetic studies in the laboratory primarily focus on studying the phenotypes caused by mutations in a single gene. However, the single mutation approach may be limited with respect to the breadth and degree of new phenotypes that can be found. We have taken the approach of isolating complex, or polygenic mutants in the lab to study the regulation of transcriptional activation distance in yeast. While most aspects of eukaryotic transcription are conserved from yeast to human, transcriptional activation distance is not. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the upstream activating sequence (UAS) is generally found within 450 base pairs of the transcription start site (TSS) and when the UAS is moved too far away, activation no longer occurs. In contrast, metazoan enhancers can activate from as far as several hundred kilobases from the TSS. Previously, we identified single mutations that allow transcription activation to occur at a greater-than-normal distance from the GAL1 UAS. As the single mutant phenotypes were weak, we have now isolated polygenic mutants that possess strong long-distance phenotypes. By identification of the causative mutations we have accounted for most of the heritability of the phenotype in each strain and have provided evidence that the Mediator coactivator complex plays both positive and negative roles in the regulation of transcription activation distance. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

  4. Maritime Search and Rescue via Multiple Coordinated UAS

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-01-01

    partitioning method uses the underlying probability distribution assumptions to place that probability near the geometric center of the partitions. There...During partitioning the known locations are accommodated, but the unaccounted for objects are placed into geometrically unfavorable conditions. The...Zeitlin, A.D.: UAS Sence and Avoid Develop- ment - the Challenges of Technology, Standards, and Certification. Aerospace Sciences Meeting including

  5. Parameter Impact on Sharing Studies Between UAS CNPC Satellite Transmitters and Terrestrial Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.; Bishop, William D.

    2015-01-01

    In order to provide a control and non-payload communication (CNPC) link for civil-use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) when operating in beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) conditions, satellite communication links are generally required. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has determined that the CNPC link must operate over protected aviation safety spectrum allocations. Although a suitable allocation exists in the 5030-5091 MHz band, no satellites provide operations in this band and none are currently planned. In order to avoid a very lengthy delay in the deployment of UAS in BLOS conditions, it has been proposed to use existing satellites operating in the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS), of which many operate in several spectrum bands. Regulatory actions by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are needed to enable such a use on an international basis, and indeed Agenda Item (AI) 1.5 for the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) was established to decide on the enactment of possible regulatory provisions. As part of the preparation for AI 1.5, studies on the sharing FSS bands between existing services and CNPC for UAS are being contributed by NASA and others. These studies evaluate the potential impact of satellite CNPC transmitters operating from UAS on other in-band services, and on the potential impact of other in-band services on satellite CNPC receivers operating on UAS platforms. Such studies are made more complex by the inclusion of what are essentially moving FSS earth stations, compared to typical sharing studies between fixed elements. Hence, the process of determining the appropriate technical parameters for the studies meets with difficulty. In order to enable a sharing study to be completed in a less-than-infinite amount of time, the number of parameters exercised must be greatly limited. Therefore, understanding the impact of various parameter choices is accomplished through selectivity analyses. In the case of sharing

  6. Safeguard: Progress and Test Results for a Reliable Independent On-Board Safety Net for UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Young, Steven D.; Dill, Evan T.; Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Gilabert, Russell V.

    2017-01-01

    As demands increase to use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for a broad spectrum of commercial applications, regulatory authorities are examining how to safely integrate them without compromising safety or disrupting traditional airspace operations. For small UAS, several operational rules have been established; e.g., do not operate beyond visual line-of-sight, do not fly within five miles of a commercial airport, do not fly above 400 feet above ground level. Enforcing these rules is challenging for UAS, as evidenced by the number of incident reports received by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This paper reviews the development of an onboard system - Safeguard - designed to monitor and enforce conformance to a set of operational rules defined prior to flight (e.g., geospatial stay-out or stay-in regions, speed limits, and altitude constraints). Unlike typical geofencing or geo-limitation functions, Safeguard operates independently of the off-the-shelf UAS autopilot and is designed in a way that can be realized by a small set of verifiable functions to simplify compliance with existing standards for safety-critical systems (e.g. for spacecraft and manned commercial transportation aircraft systems). A framework is described that decouples the system from any other devices on the UAS as well as introduces complementary positioning source(s) for applications that require integrity and availability beyond what can be provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS). This paper summarizes the progress and test results for Safeguard research and development since presentation of the design concept at the 35th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC '16). Significant accomplishments include completion of software verification and validation in accordance with NASA standards for spacecraft systems (to Class B), development of improved hardware prototypes, development of a simulation platform that allows for hardware-in-the-loop testing and fast-time Monte Carlo

  7. Event-based measurement of boundary-layer winds and topographic effects with a small unmanned aircraft system (sUas)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riddell, K.; Hugenholtz, C.

    2012-12-01

    Numerical models are invaluable tools for developing and testing hypotheses about interactions and feedbacks between wind and topography. However, field-based measurements are equally important for building and enhancing confidence in model output. Several field methods are available, including conventional approaches using tall masts equipped with an array of anemometers, as well as weather balloons, but few methods are able to match the level of detail available in model simulations of topographically-modified windflow. Here we propose an alternative method that may enhance numerical models. The method involves a small unmanned aircraft system (sUas) equipped with a meteorological sensor payload. The sUas is a two blade helicopter that weighs 5.5 kg, and has a length of 1.32 m. We designed a simple measurement and control system using an Arduino micro-controller, which acquired measurements at pre-defined coordinates autonomously. The entire survey was pre-configured and uploaded to the aircraft, effectively avoiding the need for manual aircraft operation and data collection. We collected raw measurements at each waypoint, yielding a point cloud of windspeed data. During test flights the sUas was able to maintain a stable position (± 0.6 m vertical and horizontal) in wind speeds up to 50 km/h. We used the raw data to map the wind speed-up ratio relative to a reference anemometer. Although it would be preferable to acquire continuous measurements at each waypoint, the sUas method only provides a snapshot of wind at each location. However, despite this limitation, the sUas does fill a void in terms of spatial measurements within the boundary layer. It may be possible to enhance this method in the future through deployment of sUas swarms that measure wind concurrently at many locations. Furthermore, other sensors can be deployed on sUas for measuring aeolian processes such as dust.

  8. Embedding Human Expert Cognition Into Autonomous UAS Trajectory Planning.

    PubMed

    Narayan, Pritesh; Meyer, Patrick; Campbell, Duncan

    2013-04-01

    This paper presents a new approach for the inclusion of human expert cognition into autonomous trajectory planning for unmanned aerial systems (UASs) operating in low-altitude environments. During typical UAS operations, multiple objectives may exist; therefore, the use of multicriteria decision aid techniques can potentially allow for convergence to trajectory solutions which better reflect overall mission requirements. In that context, additive multiattribute value theory has been applied to optimize trajectories with respect to multiple objectives. A graphical user interface was developed to allow for knowledge capture from a human decision maker (HDM) through simulated decision scenarios. The expert decision data gathered are converted into value functions and corresponding criteria weightings using utility additive theory. The inclusion of preferences elicited from HDM data within an automated decision system allows for the generation of trajectories which more closely represent the candidate HDM decision preferences. This approach has been demonstrated in this paper through simulation using a fixed-wing UAS operating in low-altitude environments.

  9. Dynamic replanning on demand of UAS constellations performing ISR missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stouch, Daniel W.; Zeidman, Ernest; Callahan, William; McGraw, Kirk

    2011-05-01

    Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have proven themselves to be indispensable in providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) over the battlefield. Constellations of heterogeneous, multi-purpose UAS are being tasked to provide ISR in an unpredictable environment. This necessitates the dynamic replanning of critical missions as weather conditions change, new observation targets are identified, aircraft are lost or equipment malfunctions, and new airspace restrictions are introduced. We present a method to generate coordinated mission plans for constellations of UAS with multiple flight goals and potentially competing objectives, and update them on demand as the operational situation changes. We use a fast evolutionary algorithm-based, multi-objective optimization technique. The updated flight routes maintain continuity by considering where the ISR assets have already flown and where they still need to go. Both the initial planning and replanning take into account factors such as area of analysis coverage, restricted operating zones, maximum control station range, adverse weather effects, military terrain value, and sensor performance. Our results demonstrate that by constraining the space of potential solutions using an intelligently-formed air maneuver network with a subset of potential airspace corridors and navigational waypoints, we can ensure global optimization for multiple objectives considering the situation both before and after the replanning is initiated. We employ sophisticated visualization techniques using a geographic information system to help the user 'look under the hood" of the algorithms to understand the effectiveness and viability of the generated ISR mission plans and identify potential gaps in coverage.

  10. UAS in the NAS Air Traffic Controller Acceptability Study-1: The Effects of Horizontal Miss Distances on Simulated UAS and Manned Aircraft Encounters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ghatas, Rania W.; Comstock, James R., Jr.; Consiglio, Maria C.; Chamberlain, James P.; Hoffler, Keith D.

    2015-01-01

    This study examined air traffic controller acceptability ratings based on the effects of differing horizontal miss distances (HMDs) for encounters between UAS and manned aircraft. In a simulation of the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) East-side airspace, the CAS-1 experiment at NASA Langley Research Center enlisted fourteen recently retired DFW air traffic controllers to rate well-clear volumes based on differing HMDs that ranged from 0.5 NM to 3.0 NM. The controllers were tasked with rating these HMDs from "too small" to "too excessive" on a defined, 1-5, scale and whether these distances caused any disruptions to the controller and/or to the surrounding traffic flow. Results of the study indicated a clear favoring towards a particular HMD range. Controller workload was also measured. Data from this experiment and subsequent experiments will play a crucial role in the FAA's establishment of rules, regulations, and procedures to safely and efficiently integrate UAS into the NAS.

  11. Communications Technology Assessment for the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) Link

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bretmersky, Steven C.; Bishop, William D.; Dailey, Justin E.; Chevalier, Christine T.

    2014-01-01

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) is performing communications systems research for the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project. One of the goals of the communications element is to select and test a communications technology for the UAS Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) link. The GRC UAS Modeling and Simulation (M/S) Sub Team will evaluate the performance of several potential technologies for the CNPC link through detailed software simulations. In parallel, an industry partner will implement a technology in hardware to be used for flight testing. The task necessitated a technical assessment of existing Radio Frequency (RF) communications technologies to identify the best candidate systems for use as the UAS CNPC link. The assessment provides a basis for selecting the technologies for the M/S effort and the hardware radio design. The process developed for the technical assessments for the Future Communications Study1 (FCS) was used as an initial starting point for this assessment. The FCS is a joint Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Eurocontrol study on technologies for use as a future aeronautical communications link. The FCS technology assessment process methodology can be applied to the UAS CNPC link; however the findings of the FCS are not directly applicable because of different requirements between a CNPC link and a general aeronautical data link. Additional technologies were added to the potential technologies list from the State of the Art Unmanned Aircraft System Communication Assessment developed by NASA GRC2. This document investigates the state of the art of communications as related to UAS. A portion of the document examines potential communications systems for a UAS communication architecture. Like the FCS, the state of the art assessment surveyed existing communications technologies. It did not, however, perform a detailed assessment of the

  12. UAS Pilot Evaluations of Suggestive Guidance on Detect-and-Avoid Displays

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Monk, Kevin; Roberts, Zachary

    2016-01-01

    Minimum display requirements for Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) systems are being developed in order to support the expansion of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The present study examines UAS pilots' subjective assessments of four DAA display configurations with varying forms of maneuver guidance. For each configuration, pilots rated the intuitiveness of the display and how well it supported their ability to perform the DAA task. Responses revealed a clear preference for the DAA displays that presented suggestive maneuver guidance in the form of "banding" compared to an Information Only display, which lacked any maneuver guidance. Implications on DAA display requirements, as well as the relation between the subjective evaluations and the objective performance data from previous studies are discussed.

  13. UAS Pilot Evaluations of Suggestive Guidance on Detect-and-Avoid Displays

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Monk, Kevin J.; Roberts, Zachary

    2016-01-01

    Minimum display requirements for Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) systems are being developed in order to support the expansion of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The present study examines UAS pilots subjective assessments of four DAA display configurations with varying forms of maneuver guidance. For each configuration, pilots rated the intuitiveness of the display and how well it supported their ability to perform the DAA task. Responses revealed a clear preference for the DAA displays that presented suggestive maneuver guidance in the form of banding compared to an Information Only display, which lacked any maneuver guidance. Implications on DAA display requirements, as well as the relation between the subjective evaluations and the objective performance data from previous studies are discussed.

  14. Implicitly Coordinated Detect and Avoid Capability for Safe Autonomous Operation of Small UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Balachandran, Swee; Munoz, Cesar A.; Consiglio, Maria C.

    2017-01-01

    As the airspace becomes increasingly shared by autonomous small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), there would be a pressing need for coordination strategies so that aircraft can safely and independently maneuver around obstacles, geofences, and traffic aircraft. Explicitly coordinating resolution strategies for small UAS would require additional components such as a reliable vehicle-to-vehicle communication infrastructure and standardized protocols for information exchange that could significantly increase the cost of deploying small UAS in a shared airspace. This paper explores a novel approach that enables multiple aircraft to implicitly coordinate their resolution maneuvers. By requiring all aircraft to execute the proposed approach deterministically, it is possible for all of them to implicitly agree on the region of airspace each will be occupying in a given time interval. The proposed approach lends itself to the construction of a suitable feedback mechanism that enables the real-time execution of an implicitly conflict-free path in a closed-loop manner dealing with uncertainties in aircraft speed. If a network infrastructure is available, the proposed approach can also exploit the benefits of explicit information.

  15. A Family of Well-Clear Boundary Models for the Integration of UAS in the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Munoz, Cesar A.; Narkawicz, Anthony; Chamberlain, James; Consiglio, Maria; Upchurch, Jason

    2014-01-01

    The FAA-sponsored Sense and Avoid Workshop for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) defines the concept of sense and avoid for remote pilots as "the capability of a UAS to remain well clear from and avoid collisions with other airborne traffic." Hence, a rigorous definition of well clear is fundamental to any separation assurance concept for the integration of UAS into civil airspace. This paper presents a family of well-clear boundary models based on the TCAS II Resolution Advisory logic. For these models, algorithms that predict well-clear violations along aircraft current trajectories are provided. These algorithms are analogous to conflict detection algorithms but instead of predicting loss of separation, they predict whether well-clear violations will occur during a given lookahead time interval. Analytical techniques are used to study the properties and relationships satisfied by the models.

  16. Intelligent Hardware-Enabled Sensor and Software Safety and Health Management for Autonomous UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rozier, Kristin Y.; Schumann, Johann; Ippolito, Corey

    2015-01-01

    Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) can only be deployed if they can effectively complete their mission and respond to failures and uncertain environmental conditions while maintaining safety with respect to other aircraft as well as humans and property on the ground. We propose to design a real-time, onboard system health management (SHM) capability to continuously monitor essential system components such as sensors, software, and hardware systems for detection and diagnosis of failures and violations of safety or performance rules during the ight of a UAS. Our approach to SHM is three-pronged, providing: (1) real-time monitoring of sensor and software signals; (2) signal analysis, preprocessing, and advanced on-the- y temporal and Bayesian probabilistic fault diagnosis; (3) an unobtrusive, lightweight, read-only, low-power hardware realization using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) in order to avoid overburdening limited computing resources or costly re-certi cation of ight software due to instrumentation. No currently available SHM capabilities (or combinations of currently existing SHM capabilities) come anywhere close to satisfying these three criteria yet NASA will require such intelligent, hardwareenabled sensor and software safety and health management for introducing autonomous UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS). We propose a novel approach of creating modular building blocks for combining responsive runtime monitoring of temporal logic system safety requirements with model-based diagnosis and Bayesian network-based probabilistic analysis. Our proposed research program includes both developing this novel approach and demonstrating its capabilities using the NASA Swift UAS as a demonstration platform.

  17. Digital Elevation Model from Non-Metric Camera in Uas Compared with LIDAR Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dayamit, O. M.; Pedro, M. F.; Ernesto, R. R.; Fernando, B. L.

    2015-08-01

    Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data as a representation of surface topography is highly demanded for use in spatial analysis and modelling. Aimed to that issue many methods of acquisition data and process it are developed, from traditional surveying until modern technology like LIDAR. On the other hands, in a past four year the development of Unamend Aerial System (UAS) aimed to Geomatic bring us the possibility to acquire data about surface by non-metric digital camera on board in a short time with good quality for some analysis. Data collectors have attracted tremendous attention on UAS due to possibility of the determination of volume changes over time, monitoring of the breakwaters, hydrological modelling including flood simulation, drainage networks, among others whose support in DEM for proper analysis. The DEM quality is considered as a combination of DEM accuracy and DEM suitability so; this paper is aimed to analyse the quality of the DEM from non-metric digital camera on UAS compared with a DEM from LIDAR corresponding to same geographic space covering 4 km2 in Artemisa province, Cuba. This area is in a frame of urban planning whose need to know the topographic characteristics in order to analyse hydrology behaviour and decide the best place for make roads, building and so on. Base on LIDAR technology is still more accurate method, it offer us a pattern for test DEM from non-metric digital camera on UAS, whose are much more flexible and bring a solution for many applications whose needs DEM of detail.

  18. UAS Well Clear Recovery Against Non-Cooperative Intruders Using Vertical Maneuvers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cone, Andrew; Thipphavong, David; Lee, Seung Man; Santiago, Confesor

    2017-01-01

    This paper documents a study that drove the development of a mathematical expression in the minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This equation describes the conditions under which vertical maneuver guidance could be provided during recovery of well clear separation with a non-cooperative VFR aircraft in addition to horizontal maneuver guidance. Although suppressing vertical maneuver guidance in these situations increased the minimum horizontal separation from 500 to 800 feet, the maximum severity of loss of well clear increased in about 35 of the encounters compared to when a vertical maneuver was preferred and allowed. Additionally, analysis of individual cases led to the identification of a class of encounter where vertical rate error had a large effect on horizontal maneuvers due to the difficulty of making the correct left-right turn decision: crossing conflict with intruder changing altitude. These results supported allowing vertical maneuvers when UAS vertical performance exceeds the relative vertical position and velocity accuracy of the DAA tracker given the current velocity of the UAS and the relative vertical position and velocity estimated by the DAA tracker. Looking ahead, these results indicate a need to improve guidance algorithms by utilizing maneuver stability and near mid-air collision risk when determining maneuver guidance to regain well clear separation.

  19. Safely Enabling Civilian Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations In Low-Altitude Airspace By Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management (UTM)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal H.

    2015-01-01

    Many UAS will operate at lower altitude (Class G, below 2000 feet)There is urgent need for a system for civilian low-altitude airspace and UAS operations. Stakeholders want to work with NASA to enable safe operations.

  20. Thrombopoietin contributes to enhanced platelet activation in patients with unstable angina.

    PubMed

    Lupia, Enrico; Bosco, Ornella; Bergerone, Serena; Dondi, Anna Erna; Goffi, Alberto; Oliaro, Elena; Cordero, Marco; Del Sorbo, Lorenzo; Trevi, Giampaolo; Montrucchio, Giuseppe

    2006-12-05

    We sought to investigate the potential role of elevated levels of thrombopoietin (TPO) in platelet activation during unstable angina (UA). Thrombopoietin is a humoral growth factor that does not induce platelet aggregation per se, but primes platelet activation in response to several agonists. No data concerning its contribution to platelet function abnormalities described in patients with UA are available. We studied 15 patients with UA and, as controls, 15 patients with stable angina (SA) and 15 healthy subjects. We measured TPO and C-reactive protein (CRP), as well as monocyte-platelet binding and the platelet expression of P-selectin and of the TPO receptor, c-Mpl. The priming activity of patient or control plasma on platelet aggregation and monocyte-platelet binding and the role of TPO in this effect also were studied. Patients with UA showed higher circulating TPO levels, as well as increased monocyte-platelet binding, platelet P-selectin expression, and CRP levels, than those with SA and healthy control subjects. The UA patients also showed reduced platelet expression of the TPO receptor, c-Mpl. In vitro, the plasma from UA patients, but not from SA patients or healthy controls, primed platelet aggregation and monocyte-platelet binding, which were both reduced when an inhibitor of TPO was used. Thrombopoietin may enhance platelet activation in the early phases of UA, potentially participating in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes.

  1. UAS-enabled assessment of geohazards on coastal cliffs at Dawlish, UK

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dabson, Oliver; Bellis, Alex; Moore, Roger

    2017-04-01

    The last few years have seen the widespread availability of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) - remotely-operated aerial vehicles which are being developed for use in a variety of commercial and recreational applications. The combination of these systems with off-the-shelf digital cameras and image processing software using well-established Structure-from-Motion techniques can produce 3D models with centimetric resolution and accuracy for sites covering several square kilometres. The geo-engineering community has been exploring the use of these systems for collecting data in environments where it may be hazardous or impossible to use more conventional means. Advantages of deployment of UAS have already been identified, which include cost, ease of survey in terms of access, rapid acquisition of data and repeatability, and reduction in the number of personnel directly exposed to geological hazards during site visits. As such, the technology continues to be an exciting tool to explore. At Dawlish, UK, weathering and erosion of the sea cliffs has resulted in numerous serious slope failures, with some notable examples over the last decade that were the focus of national media attention. This poses significant risk to Network Rail's Western Route: a stretch of rail built by Brunel in 1840, situated at the foot of these cliffs. CH2M was commissioned by Network Rail to explore options for improving the resilience of the line, but access constraints meant that sections of the cliff were difficult or impossible to access during site visits. As such, this paper describes the use of UAS to capture and assess this system. We find that the UAS technology offers new insight to the site, allowing for finer-resolution mapping and interpretation of sub-vertical cliffs. This has been an important study within a wider assessment of the site, and the survey has supplemented recommendations on how to best manage the coastal asset in order to ensure the operation of a safe and reliable

  2. sUAS for Rapid Pre-Storm Coastal Characterization and Vulnerability Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brodie, K. L.; Slocum, R. K.; Spore, N.

    2015-12-01

    Open coast beaches and surf-zones are dynamic three-dimensional environments that can evolve rapidly on the time-scale of hours in response to changing environmental conditions. Up-to-date knowledge about the pre-storm morphology of the coast can be instrumental in making accurate predictions about coastal change and damage during large storms like Hurricanes and Nor'Easters. For example, alongshore variations in the shape of ephemeral sandbars along the coastline can focus wave energy, subjecting different stretches of coastline to significantly higher waves. Variations in beach slope and width can also alter wave runup, causing higher wave-induced water levels which can cause overwash or inlet breaching. Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) offer a new capability to rapidly and inexpensively map vulnerable coastlines in advance of approaching storms. Here we present results from a prototype system that maps coastal topography and surf-zone morphology utilizing a multi-camera sensor. Structure-from-motion algorithms are used to generate topography and also constrain the trajectory of the sUAS. These data, in combination with mount boresight information, are used to rectify images from ocean-facing cameras. Images from all cameras are merged to generate a wide field of view allowing up to 5 minutes of continuous imagery time-series to be collected as the sUAS transits the coastline. Water imagery is then analyzed using wave-kinematics algorithms to provide information on surf-zone bathymetry. To assess this methodology, the absolute and relative accuracy of topographic data are evaluated in relation to simultaneously collected terrestrial lidar data. Ortho-rectification of water imagery is investigated using visible fixed targets installed in the surf-zone, and through comparison to stationary tower-based imagery. Future work will focus on evaluating how topographic and bathymetric data from this sUAS approach can be used to update forcing parameters in both

  3. Georeferencing UAS Derivatives Through Point Cloud Registration with Archived Lidar Datasets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Magtalas, M. S. L. Y.; Aves, J. C. L.; Blanco, A. C.

    2016-10-01

    Georeferencing gathered images is a common step before performing spatial analysis and other processes on acquired datasets using unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Methods of applying spatial information to aerial images or their derivatives is through onboard GPS (Global Positioning Systems) geotagging, or through tying of models through GCPs (Ground Control Points) acquired in the field. Currently, UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) derivatives are limited to meter-levels of accuracy when their generation is unaided with points of known position on the ground. The use of ground control points established using survey-grade GPS or GNSS receivers can greatly reduce model errors to centimeter levels. However, this comes with additional costs not only with instrument acquisition and survey operations, but also in actual time spent in the field. This study uses a workflow for cloud-based post-processing of UAS data in combination with already existing LiDAR data. The georeferencing of the UAV point cloud is executed using the Iterative Closest Point algorithm (ICP). It is applied through the open-source CloudCompare software (Girardeau-Montaut, 2006) on a `skeleton point cloud'. This skeleton point cloud consists of manually extracted features consistent on both LiDAR and UAV data. For this cloud, roads and buildings with minimal deviations given their differing dates of acquisition are considered consistent. Transformation parameters are computed for the skeleton cloud which could then be applied to the whole UAS dataset. In addition, a separate cloud consisting of non-vegetation features automatically derived using CANUPO classification algorithm (Brodu and Lague, 2012) was used to generate a separate set of parameters. Ground survey is done to validate the transformed cloud. An RMSE value of around 16 centimeters was found when comparing validation data to the models georeferenced using the CANUPO cloud and the manual skeleton cloud. Cloud-to-cloud distance computations of

  4. Potent Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Ursolic Acid, a Triterpenoid Antioxidant, Is Mediated through Suppression of NF-κB, AP-1 and NF-AT

    PubMed Central

    Checker, Rahul; Sandur, Santosh K.; Sharma, Deepak; Patwardhan, Raghavendra S.; Jayakumar, S.; Kohli, Vineet; Sethi, Gautam; Aggarwal, Bharat B.; Sainis, Krishna B.

    2012-01-01

    Background Ursolic acid (UA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid carboxylic acid, is the major component of many plants including apples, basil, cranberries, peppermint, rosemary, oregano and prunes and has been reported to possess antioxidant and anti-tumor properties. These properties of UA have been attributed to its ability to suppress NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa B) activation. Since NF-κB, in co-ordination with NF-AT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) and AP-1(activator protein-1), is known to regulate inflammatory genes, we hypothesized that UA might exhibit potent anti-inflammatory effects. Methodology/Principal Findings The anti-inflammatory effects of UA were assessed in activated T cells, B cells and macrophages. Effects of UA on ERK, JNK, NF-κB, AP-1 and NF-AT were studied to elucidate its mechanism of action. In vivo efficacy of UA was studied using mouse model of graft-versus-host disease. UA inhibited activation, proliferation and cytokine secretion in T cells, B cells and macrophages. UA inhibited mitogen-induced up-regulation of activation markers and co-stimulatory molecules in T and B cells. It inhibited mitogen-induced phosphorylation of ERK and JNK and suppressed the activation of immunoregulatory transcription factors NF-κB, NF-AT and AP-1 in lymphocytes. Treatment of cells with UA prior to allogenic transplantation significantly delayed induction of acute graft-versus-host disease in mice and also significantly reduced the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IFN-γ. UA treatment inhibited T cell activation even when added post-mitogenic stimulation demonstrating its therapeutic utility as an anti-inflammatory agent. Conclusions/Significance The present study describes the detailed mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity of UA. Further, UA may find application in the treatment of inflammatory disorders. PMID:22363615

  5. Safely Enabling Civilian Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace by Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management (UTM)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal Hemchandra

    2015-01-01

    Many UAS will operate at lower altitude (Class G, below 2000 feet). There is an urgent need for a system for civilian low-altitude airspace and UAS operations. Stakeholders want to work with NASA to enable safe operations.

  6. Genomewide Identification of Essential Genes and Fitness Determinants of Streptococcus mutans UA159

    PubMed Central

    Zeng, Lin; Culp, David J.

    2018-01-01

    ABSTRACT Transposon mutagenesis coupled with next-generation DNA sequencing (Tn-seq) is a powerful tool for discovering regions of the genome that are required for the survival of bacteria in different environments. We adapted this technique to the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans UA159 and identified 11% of the genome as essential, with many genes encoding products required for replication, translation, lipid metabolism, and cell wall biogenesis. Comparison of the essential genome of S. mutans UA159 with those of selected other streptococci for which such information is available revealed several metabolic pathways and genes that are required in S. mutans, but not in some Streptococcus spp. We further identified genes that are essential for sustained growth in rich or defined medium, as well as for persistence in vivo in a rodent model of oral infection. Collectively, our results provide a novel and comprehensive view of the genes required for essential processes of S. mutans, many of which could represent potential targets for therapeutics. IMPORTANCE Tooth decay (dental caries) is a common cause of pain, impaired quality of life, and tooth loss in children and adults. It begins because of a compositional change in the microorganisms that colonize the tooth surface driven by repeated and sustained carbohydrate intake. Although several bacterial species are associated with tooth decay, Streptococcus mutans is the most common cause. Therefore, it is important to identify biological processes that contribute to the survival of S. mutans in the human mouth, with the aim of disrupting the processes with antimicrobial agents. We successfully applied Tn-seq to S. mutans, discovering genes that are required for survival, growth, and persistence, both in laboratory environments and in a mouse model of tooth decay. This work highlights new avenues for the control of an important human pathogen. PMID:29435491

  7. Integration of sUAS Imagery and Atmospheric Data Collection for Improved Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barbieri, L.; Adair, C.; Galford, G. L.; Wyngaard, J.

    2017-12-01

    We present on a full season of low-cost sUAS agricultural monitoring for improved GHG emissions accounting and mitigation. Agriculture contributes 10-12% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, and roughly half are from agricultural soils. A variety of land management strategies can be implemented to reduce GHG emissions, but agricultural lands are complex and heterogenous. Nutrient cycling processes that ultimately regulate GHG emission rates are affected by environmental and management dynamics that vary spatially and temporally (e.g. soil properties, manure spreading). Thus, GHG mitigation potential is also variable, and determining best practices for mitigation is challenging, especially considering potential conflicting pressure to manage agricultural lands for other objectives (e.g. decrease agricultural runoff). Monitoring complexity from agricultural lands is critical for regional GHG accounting and decision making, but current methods (e.g., static chambers) are time intensive, expensive, and use in-situ equipment. These methods lack the spatio-temporal flexibility necessary to reduce the high uncertainty in regional emissions estimates, while traditional remote sensing methods often do not provide adequate spatio-temporal resolution for robust field-level monitoring. Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) provide the range and the rapid response data collection needed to monitor key variables on the landscape (imagery) and from the atmosphere (CO2 concentrations), and can provide ways to bridge between in-situ and remote sensing data. Initial results show good agreement between sUAS CO2 sensors with more traditional equipment, and at a fraction of the cost. We present results from test flights over managed agricultural landscapes in Vermont, showcasing capabilities from both sUAS imagery and atmospheric data collected from on-board sensors (CO2, PTH). We then compare results from two different in-flight data collection methods: Vertical Profile and

  8. Human Factors Guidelines for UAS in the National Airspace System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hobbs, Alan; Shively, R. Jay

    2013-01-01

    The ground control stations (GCS) of some UAS have been characterized by less-than-adequate human-system interfaces. In some cases this may reflect a failure to apply an existing regulation or human factors standard. In other cases, the problem may indicate a lack of suitable guidance material. NASA is leading a community effort to develop recommendations for human factors guidelines for GCS to support routine beyond-line-of-sight UAS operations in the national airspace system (NAS). In contrast to regulations, guidelines are not mandatory requirements. However, by encapsulating solutions to identified problems or areas of risk, guidelines can provide assistance to system developers, users and regulatory agencies. To be effective, guidelines must be relevant to a wide range of systems, must not be overly prescriptive, and must not impose premature standardization on evolving technologies. By assuming that a pilot will be responsible for each UAS operating in the NAS, and that the aircraft will be required to operate in a manner comparable to conventionally piloted aircraft, it is possible to identify a generic set of pilot tasks and the information, control and communication requirements needed to support these tasks. Areas where guidelines will be useful can then be identified, utilizing information from simulations, operational experience and the human factors literature. In developing guidelines, we recognize that existing regulatory and guidance material will, at times, provide adequate coverage of an area. In other cases suitable guidelines may be found in existing military or industry human factors standards. In cases where appropriate existing standards cannot be identified, original guidelines will be proposed.

  9. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay

    2017-01-01

    Over the past 5 years, the UAS integration into the NAS project has worked to reduce technical barriers to integration. A major focus of this work has been in support of RTCA SC-228. This committee has recently published the first UAS integration minimum performance standards (MOPS). This work has spanned detect and avoid (DAA) as well as command and control comm datalinks. I will discuss DAA efforts with focus on the human systems work. I will discuss how automation was discussed and addressed within this context. ICAO stood up a remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) panel in 2014. They have developed an RPAS manual and are now working to revise existing annexes and standards and recommended practices. The Human In The System (HITS) has worked to infuse human factors guidelines into those documents. I will discuss that effort as well as how ICAO has defined and address autonomy. There is a great deal of interest in the control of multiple vehicles by a single operator. The UAS EXCOM Science and Research Panel (SARP) is holding a workshop on this topic in late June. I will discuss research performed on this topic when I worked for the Army and on-going work within the division and a NATO working group on Human-Autonomy Teaming.

  10. Electrical resistivity of the UAs 1- xSex solid solutions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Breandon, C.; Bartholin, H.; Tchapoutian, R.; Therond, P. G.; Schoenes, J.; Vogt, O.

    1987-01-01

    The electrical resistivity ϱ of UAs 1- xSex solid solutions has been measured between 13 K and room temperature. The magnetic phase diagram has been deduced. Effects of uniaxial stress on ϱ allow to understand some results and to reveal anisotropy of ϱ.

  11. General Use of UAS in EW Environment-EW Concepts and Tactics for Single or Multiple UAS Over the Net-Centric Battlefield

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    Tactics for Single or Multiple UAS over the Net-Centric Battlefield 6. AUTHOR( S ) Mustafa Gokhan Erdemli 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION...NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING...MONITORING AGENCY NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) N/A 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this

  12. UAS Air Traffic Controller Acceptability Study-2: Effects of Communications Delays and Winds in Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Comstock, James R., Jr.; Ghatas, Rania W.; Consiglio, Maria C.; Chamberlain, James P.; Hoffler, Keith D.

    2016-01-01

    This study evaluated the effects of Communications Delays and Winds on Air Traffic Controller ratings of acceptability of horizontal miss distances (HMDs) for encounters between UAS and manned aircraft in a simulation of the Dallas-Ft. Worth East-side airspace. Fourteen encounters per hour were staged in the presence of moderate background traffic. Seven recently retired controllers with experience at DFW served as subjects. Guidance provided to the UAS pilots for maintaining a given HMD was provided by information from self-separation algorithms displayed on the Multi-Aircraft Simulation System. Winds tested did not affect the acceptability ratings. Communications delays tested included 0, 400, 1200, and 1800 msec. For longer communications delays, there were changes in strategy and communications flow that were observed and reported by the controllers. The aim of this work is to provide useful information for guiding future rules and regulations applicable to flying UAS in the NAS.

  13. Cerebellar activation during motor sequence learning is associated with subsequent transfer to new sequences.

    PubMed

    Shimizu, Renee E; Wu, Allan D; Knowlton, Barbara J

    2016-12-01

    Effective learning results not only in improved performance on a practiced task, but also in the ability to transfer the acquired knowledge to novel, similar tasks. Using a modified serial reaction time (RT) task, the authors examined the ability to transfer to novel sequences after practicing sequences in a repetitive order versus a nonrepeating interleaved order. Interleaved practice resulted in better performance on new sequences than repetitive practice. In a second study, participants practiced interleaved sequences in a functional MRI (fMRI) scanner and received a transfer test of novel sequences. Transfer ability was positively correlated with cerebellar blood oxygen level dependent activity during practice, indicating that greater cerebellar engagement during training resulted in better subsequent transfer performance. Interleaved practice may thus result in a more generalized representation that is robust to interference, and the degree of activation in the cerebellum may be a reflection of the instantiation and engagement of internal models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Can organized leisure-time activities buffer the negative outcomes of unstructured activities for adolescents' health?

    PubMed

    Badura, Petr; Madarasova Geckova, Andrea; Sigmundova, Dagmar; Sigmund, Erik; van Dijk, Jitse P; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

    2018-06-02

    We aimed to assess the associations of involvement in selected unstructured activities (UA) with health-risk behaviours and academic achievement and the degree to which the participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) changes these associations. Using a sample of 6935 Czech adolescents aged 13 and 15 years, we investigated adolescents' weekly involvement in hanging out, visiting shopping malls for fun and meeting friends after 8 p.m., OLTA and engagement in three health-risk behaviours and academic achievement. Weekly involvement in the selected UA was associated with higher odds for regular smoking, being drunk, having early sexual intercourse and low academic achievement. Concurrent participation in OLTA did not buffer these negative outcomes, except for sexual experience. However, those highly engaged only in UA were more likely to participate in the health-risk behaviours and report worse academic achievement than those participating in any OLTA concurrently. The selected UA are strongly associated with an increased occurrence of adolescents' health-risk behaviours and low academic achievement. Concurrent participation in OLTA does not buffer these negative outcomes significantly, but adolescents engaged only in UA consistently report the least favourable outcomes.

  15. Cotton growth modeling and assessment using UAS visual-band imagery

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This paper explores the potential of using unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-based visible-band images to assess cotton growth. By applying the structure-from-motion algorithm, cotton plant height (ph) and canopy cover (cc) were retrieved from the point cloud-based digital surface models (DSMs) and ort...

  16. Developing a Ruggedized User-Friendly UAS for Monitoring Volcanic Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wardell, L. J.; Elston, J. S.; Stachura, M.

    2017-12-01

    Using lessons learned from a history of airborne volcano measurements and a range of UAS R&D, a reliable and ruggedized UAS is being developed specifically for volcano monitoring and response. A key feature is the user interface (UI) that allows for a menu of automated flight plans that will account for terrain and sensor requirements. Due to variation in response times of miniaturized airborne the sensors, flight plan options are extended to account for sensor lag when needed. By automating such complicating variables into the UI, the amount of background and training needed for operation is further minimized. Payload options include simultaneous in situ gas and particle sensors combined with downward-looking imagers to provide a wide range of data products. Currently under development by Black Swift Technologies, the latest updates and test results will be presented. Specifications of the Superswift airframe include a 6,000 m flight ceiling, 2.4 kg payload capacity, and 2 hr endurance.

  17. U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) - A Historical Perspective to Identifying and Understanding Stakeholder Relationships

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-06-01

    the aviation community vs . 35 Intelligence Community have proponency for the mission? Who should pilot UAS, the officer ranks or the enlisted ranks...quickly and effectively respond to emergencies and natural or man-made disasters within the homeland. The ARNG provides the total Army with 30 of 80...should” fly planes and the Army “should” fly helicopters, but there are other examples, such as that “UAS are intelligence assets vs . aviation assets

  18. Functional Requirements Document for HALE UAS Operations in the NAS: Step 1. Version 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this Functional Requirements Document (FRD) is to compile the functional requirements needed to achieve the Access 5 Vision of "operating High Altitude, Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) routinely, safely, and reliably in the national airspace system (NAS)" for Step 1. These functional requirements could support the development of a minimum set of policies, procedures and standards by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and various standards organizations. It is envisioned that this comprehensive body of work will enable the FAA to establish and approve regulations to govern safe operation of UAS in the NAS on a routine or daily "file and fly" basis. The approach used to derive the functional requirements found within this FRD was to decompose the operational requirements and objectives identified within the Access 5 Concept of Operations (CONOPS) into the functions needed to routinely and safely operate a HALE UAS in the NAS. As a result, four major functional areas evolved to enable routine and safe UAS operations for an on-demand basis in the NAS. These four major functions are: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, and Avoid Hazards. All of the functional requirements within this document can be directly traceable to one of these four major functions. Some functions, however, are traceable to several, or even all, of these four major functions. These cross-cutting functional requirements support the "Command / Control: function as well as the "Manage Contingencies" function. The requirements associated to these high-level functions and all of their supporting low-level functions are addressed in subsequent sections of this document.

  19. Assessing the disturbance potential of small unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) on gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) at breeding colonies in Nova Scotia, Canada

    PubMed Central

    Arona, Lauren; Dale, Julian; Heaslip, Susan G.; Hammill, Michael O.

    2018-01-01

    The use of small unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) for ecological studies and wildlife population assessments is increasing. These methods can provide significant benefits in terms of costs and reductions in human risk, but little is known if UAS-based approaches cause disturbance of animals during operations. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a series of UAS flights at gray seal breeding colonies on Hay and Saddle Islands in Nova Scotia, Canada. Using a small fixed-wing UAS, we assessed both immediate and short-term effects of surveys using sequential image analysis and between-flight seal counts in ten, 50 m2 random quadrats at each colony. Counts of adult gray seals and young-of-the-year animals between first and second flights revealed no changes in abundance in quadrats (matched pair t-test p > 0.69) and slopes approaching 1 for linear regression comparisons (r2 > 0.80). Sequential image analysis revealed no changes in orientation or posture of imaged animals. We also assessed the acoustic properties of the small UAS in relation to low ambient noise conditions using sound equivalent level (Leq) measurements with a calibrated U-MIK 1 and a 1/3 octave band soundscape approach. The results of Leq measurements indicate that small fixed-wing UAS are quiet, with most energy above 160 Hz, and that levels across 1/3 octave bands do not greatly exceed ambient acoustic measurements in a quiet field during operations at standard survey altitudes. As such, this platform is unlikely to acoustically disturb gray seals at breeding colonies during population surveys. The results of the present study indicate that the effects of small fixed-wing UAS on gray seals at breeding colonies are negligible, and that fixed-wing UAS-based approaches should be considered amongst best practices for assessing gray seal colonies. PMID:29576950

  20. UAS in the NAS Flight Test Series 3 Overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, James R.

    2015-01-01

    The UAS Integration in the NAS Project is conducting a series of flight tests to acheive the following objectives: 1.) Validate results previously collected during project simulations with live data 2.) Evaluate TCAS IISS interoperability 3.) Test fully integrated system in a relevant live test environment 4.) Inform final DAA and C2 MOPS 5.) Reduce risk for Flight Test Series 4.

  1. Power Management System Design for Solar-Powered UAS

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-12-01

    PV cells would have their own MPPT modules, which would enable two major advantages. The first can be considered more important to land-based solar ...The efficiency of the PV array is represented by ηpv. R represents the solar irradiance, and θ represents the angle between the array and the sun...SYSTEM DESIGN FOR SOLAR -POWERED UAS by Robert T. Fauci III December 2015 Thesis Advisor: Alejandro Hernandez Co-Advisor: Kevin Jones

  2. Multi-Hazard Assessment of Scour Damaged Bridges with UAS-Based Measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Özcan, O.; Ozcan, O.

    2017-12-01

    Flood and stream induced scour occurring in bridge piers constructed on rivers is one of the mostly observed failure reasons in bridges. Scour induced failure risk in bridges and determination of the alterations in bridge safety under seismic effects has the ultimate importance. Thus, for the determination of bridge safety under the scour effects, the scour amount under bridge piers should be designated realistically and should be tracked and updated continuously. Hereby, the scour induced failures in bridge foundation systems will be prevented and bridge substructure design will be conducted safely. In this study, in order to measure the amount of scour in bridge load bearing system (pile foundations and pile abutments) and to attain very high definition 3 dimensional models of river flood plain for the flood analysis, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) based measurement methods were implemented. UAS based measurement systems provide new and practical approach and bring high precision and reliable solutions considering recent measurement systems. For this purpose, the reinforced concrete (RC) bridge that is located on Antalya Boğaçayı River, Turkey and that failed in 2003 due to flood-induced scour was selected as the case study. The amount of scour occurred in bridge piers and piles was determined realistically and the behavior of bridge piers under scour effects was investigated. Future flood effects and the resultant amount of scour was determined with HEC-RAS software by using digital surface models that were obtained at regular intervals using UAS for the riverbed. In the light of the attained scour measurements and expected scour after a probable flood event, the behavior of scour damaged RC bridge was investigated by pushover and time history analyses under lateral and vertical seismic loadings. In the analyses, the load and displacement capacity of bridge was observed to diminish significantly under expected scour. Thus, the deterioration in multi hazard

  3. Upcycling UAS into modular platforms for Earth science and autonomy research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dahlgren, R. P.; Dary, O. G.; Ogunbiyi, J. A.; Pinsker, E. A.; Reynolds, K. W.; Werner, C. A.

    2015-12-01

    This reports the results of a multidisciplinary project conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) involving a number of student interns over the summers of 2014 and 2015. The project had a goal of applying rapid prototyping techniques, including 3D printing, to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and demonstrated that surplus UAS could be repurposed into new configurations suitable for conducting science missions. ARC received several units of the RQ-11 Raven and RQ-14 DragonEye manufactured by AeroVironment Corporation, along with ground stations and spare parts. These UAS have electric propulsion, a wingspan and length ~1m; they are designed to disassemble for transport, have a simple wing design with snap-together interfaces, made from lightweight materials. After removing all ITAR restricted technology these were made available to summer interns that also had access to 3D printing, CNC laser-cutting equipment through NASA's SpaceShop. The modular nature and simple wing profiles enabled the teams to deconstruct and subsequently reconfigure them into completely new airframes. Two multi-fuselage designs were assembled using Ardupilot-based common avionics architecture (CAA), with extended wingspans, an H-tail and an innovative cambered flap system. After NASA internal design reviews, the students fabricated new control surfaces and subcomponents necessary to splice the RQ-14 subcomponents back together. Laboratory testing was performed on test articles to determine bending modulus and safety factors, and documentation was prepared for airworthiness flight safety review. Upon receiving approval of documentation and flight readiness certification, the repurposed UAS were flown at Crows Landing airfield in Stanislaus County, California, initially under RC pilot control and subsequently under fully autonomous control. The RQ-11 is now being used to expand on the modularity design and the Team has been at work in designing different configurations and a payload pod

  4. A micro-UAS to start prescribed fires

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Beachly, Evan; Higgins, James; Laney, Christian; Elbaum, Sebastian; Detweiler, Carrick; Allen, Craig R.; Twidwell, Dirac

    2017-01-01

    Prescribed fires have many benefits, but existing ignition methods are dangerous, costly, or inefficient. This paper presents the design and evaluation of a micro-UAS that can start a prescribed fire from the air, while being operated from a safe distance and without the costs associated with aerial ignition from a manned aircraft. We evaluate the performance of the system in extensive controlled tests indoors. We verify the capabilities of the system to perform interior ignitions, a normally dangerous task, through the ignition of two prescribed fires alongside wildland firefighters.

  5. Concept and design of a UAS-based platform for measurements of RF signal-in-space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schrader, Thorsten; Bredemeyer, Jochen; Mihalachi, Marius; Rohde, Jan; Kleine-Ostmann, Thomas

    2016-09-01

    Field strength or signal-in-space (SIS) measurements have been performed by using manned helicopters, aircrafts or from ground level using extendable masts. With the availability of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) such as multicopters a new versatile platform for SIS measurements is deployable. Larger types show up to eight individually driven electric motors and controllers (therefore called octocopter). They provide the ability to fly along predefined traces, to hover at waypoints and to initiate other actions when those have been reached. They provide self-levelling and stabilisation and moreover, they may gear at a point of interest regardless of their actual position, e.g. during their flight around a tower. Their payload mainly depends on the platform size and allows integration of complex measurement equipment. Upgrading their navigation capabilities including state-of-the-art global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and ground station transmitter (real-time kinematic - RTK) enables precise localisation of the UAS. For operation in electromagnetic harsh environments a shielding can be considered and integrated into the concept. This paper describes concept and design of an octocopter and its instrumentation, along with applications in recent projects, in which we measure and validate terrestrial navigation systems applied in air traffic and the weather forecast services. Among those are instrumentation landing systems (ILS), VHF omnidirectional radio ranges (VOR), airport traffic and weather radars as well as military surveillance radars, and UHF wind profilers. Especially to investigate the possible interaction of VORs and radars with single wind turbines (WT) or wind power plants has become a major request of economy, military and politics. Here, UAS can be deployed to deliver measurement data investigating this interaction. Once developed and setup to a certain extent, UAS are easy and cost-efficient to operate. Nonetheless, due to their compact size, UAS

  6. Airborne Collision Detection and Avoidance for Small UAS Sense and Avoid Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sahawneh, Laith Rasmi

    The increasing demand to integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the national airspace is motivated by the rapid growth of the UAS industry, especially small UAS weighing less than 55 pounds. Their use however has been limited by the Federal Aviation Administration regulations due to collision risk they pose, safety and regulatory concerns. Therefore, before civil aviation authorities can approve routine UAS flight operations, UAS must be equipped with sense-and-avoid technology comparable to the see-and-avoid requirements for manned aircraft. The sense-and-avoid problem includes several important aspects including regulatory and system-level requirements, design specifications and performance standards, intruder detecting and tracking, collision risk assessment, and finally path planning and collision avoidance. In this dissertation, our primary focus is on developing an collision detection, risk assessment and avoidance framework that is computationally affordable and suitable to run on-board small UAS. To begin with, we address the minimum sensing range for the sense-and-avoid (SAA) system. We present an approximate close form analytical solution to compute the minimum sensing range to safely avoid an imminent collision. The approach is then demonstrated using a radar sensor prototype that achieves the required minimum sensing range. In the area of collision risk assessment and collision prediction, we present two approaches to estimate the collision risk of an encounter scenario. The first is a deterministic approach similar to those been developed for Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance (TCAS) in manned aviation. We extend the approach to account for uncertainties of state estimates by deriving an analytic expression to propagate the error variance using Taylor series approximation. To address unanticipated intruders maneuvers, we propose an innovative probabilistic approach to quantify likely intruder trajectories and estimate the probability of

  7. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) service demand 2015 - 2035 : literature review & projections of future usage, technical report, version 1.0 - February 2014

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-02-01

    This report assesses opportunities, risks, and challenges attendant to future development and deployment of UAS within the National Airspace System (NAS) affecting UAS forecast growth from 2015 to 2035. Analysis of four key areas is performed: techno...

  8. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project - Systems Integration and Operationalization (SIO) Demonstration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Swieringa, Kurt

    2018-01-01

    The UAS-NAS Project hosted a Systems Integration Operationalization (SIO) Industry Day for the SIO Request for Information (RFI) on November 30, 2017 in San Diego, California. This presentation is being presented to the same group as a follow up regarding the progress that the UAS-NAS project has made on the SIO RFI. The presentation will be virtual with a teleconference

  9. UAS Integration in the NAS Project Test Site Kick-off Meeting

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal; Witzberger, Kevin; Hackenberg, Davis L.; Murphy, Jim

    2015-01-01

    This briefing was presented during the Test Site Kick Off Meeting to discuss the contract awards for Task 1 and Task 2. This briefing covered a high level overview for contract deliverables, Task 1 - UAS Traffic Management and Task 2, Live Virtual Constructive Distributed Environment.

  10. An Energy-Aware Trajectory Optimization Layer for sUAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silva, William A.

    The focus of this work is the implementation of an energy-aware trajectory optimization algorithm that enables small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) to operate in unknown, dynamic severe weather environments. The software is designed as a component of an Energy-Aware Dynamic Data Driven Application System (EA-DDDAS) for sUAS. This work addresses the challenges of integrating and executing an online trajectory optimization algorithm during mission operations in the field. Using simplified aircraft kinematics, the energy-aware algorithm enables extraction of kinetic energy from measured winds to optimize thrust use and endurance during flight. The optimization layer, based upon a nonlinear program formulation, extracts energy by exploiting strong wind velocity gradients in the wind field, a process known as dynamic soaring. The trajectory optimization layer extends the energy-aware path planner developed by Wenceslao Shaw-Cortez te{Shaw-cortez2013} to include additional mission configurations, simulations with a 6-DOF model, and validation of the system with flight testing in June 2015 in Lubbock, Texas. The trajectory optimization layer interfaces with several components within the EA-DDDAS to provide an sUAS with optimal flight trajectories in real-time during severe weather. As a result, execution timing, data transfer, and scalability are considered in the design of the software. Severe weather also poses a measure of unpredictability to the system with respect to communication between systems and available data resources during mission operations. A heuristic mission tree with different cost functions and constraints is implemented to provide a level of adaptability to the optimization layer. Simulations and flight experiments are performed to assess the efficacy of the trajectory optimization layer. The results are used to assess the feasibility of flying dynamic soaring trajectories with existing controllers as well as to verify the interconnections between

  11. The Consequences of the FAA not Offering Emergency Agricultural UAS Rules for Water Conservation During the 2012 Drought

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Darling, R. G.

    2016-12-01

    The FAA's policies for agricultural Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is essential towards preservation and optimization of water use in the parched Western United States. Had FAA applied emergency rules putting farmers on equal-footing with hobbyists for sUAS use at the beginning of the 2012 drought, the Western US could have been able to save approximately 3 Million/AF of water through improved irrigation management. For perspective, Los Angeles city's annual current consumption is 587,000 acre-feet. This study uses various assumptions about developed water use in agriculture and urban areas to determine water use, energy consumption, monetary loss through delay in FAA regulations. If the saved water was added to the ground the energy savings could have been approximately 1.27 Terra-Watt hours, enough energy to power the entire University of California system for 5 years. It remains unclear if new FAA regulations are sufficiently permissive to allow for widespread adoption of sUAS based precision agriculture. Substantial opportunities exist for utilizing UAS traffic management software in rural areas of less crowed airspace: incorporating geofencing and a notification system to operators and air traffic control as an alternative to a difficult examination process.

  12. Mapping informal small-scale mining features in a data-sparse tropical environment with a small UAS

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Chirico, Peter G.; Dewitt, Jessica D.

    2017-01-01

    This study evaluates the use of a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) to collect imagery over artisanal mining sites in West Africa. The purpose of this study is to consider how very high-resolution imagery and digital surface models (DSMs) derived from structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques from a small UAS can fill the gap in geospatial data collection between satellite imagery and data gathered during field work to map and monitor informal mining sites in tropical environments. The study compares both wide-angle and narrow field of view camera systems in the collection and analysis of high-resolution orthoimages and DSMs of artisanal mining pits. The results of the study indicate that UAS imagery and SfM photogrammetric techniques permit DSMs to be produced with a high degree of precision and relative accuracy, but highlight the challenges of mapping small artisanal mining pits in remote and data sparse terrain.

  13. Test and Evaluation of an Image-Matching Navigation System for a UAS Operating in a GPS-Denied Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-09-01

    NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS TEST AND EVALUATION OF AN IMAGE-MATCHING NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR A UAS OPERATING IN A GPS-DENIED...INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. TEST AND EVALUATION OF AN IMAGE-MATCHING NAVIGATION SYSTEM FOR A UAS... Evaluation Setup and Procedures 39 4.1 Test Equipment and Data Collection Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 4.2 Actual Flight Data Collection

  14. A UAS-based remote sensing platform for crop water stress detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, H.; Wang, D.; Ayars, J. E.

    2014-12-01

    The remote detection of water stress in a biofuel crop field was investigated using canopy temperature measurements. An experimental trial was set up in the central valley of Maui, Hawaii, comprising different sugarcane varieties and irrigation regimes. An unmanned aerial system (UAS) was equipped with a FLIR A615 thermal camera to acquire canopy temperature imagery. Images were mosaicked and processed to show spatial temperature difference of entire field. A weather station was installed in a full irrigation plot to collect meteorological parameters. The sensitivity of canopy to air temperature difference and crop water stress index were investigated on detecting cop water stress levels. The results showed that low irrigation level treatment plots resulted in higher canopy temperatures compared to the high irrigation level treatment plots. Canopy temperatures also showed differences in water stress in different sugarcane varieties. The study demonstrated the feasibility of UAS-based thermal method to quantify plant water status of sugar canes used for biofuel crops.

  15. Quantifying streambank erosion: a comparative study using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) and a terrestrial laser scanner

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rizzo, D.; Hamshaw, S. D.; Dewoolkar, M.; ONeil-Dunne, J.; Frolik, J.; Bryce, T. G.; Waldron, A. Y.

    2015-12-01

    Streambank erosion is a common non-point source contributing to suspended sediment and nutrient loading of waterways, and recently has been estimated to account for 30-80% of sediment loading into receiving waters. There is interest in developing reliable methods to quantify bank erosion in watersheds, so effective management strategies can be devised. However, current methods can be either cost prohibitive or unreliable. Direct measurement approaches (surveys and erosion pins) are labor intensive and yield site-specific measurements that are limited for extrapolation to larger scales. Similar issues arise with analytical methods such as slope stability analysis, which require material parameters that are resource intensive to determine. Newer approaches such as use of aerial LiDAR data have proved effective for watershed level assessment, but come with long turnaround times and high cost. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is also effective and offers high accuracy, however collection over large areas is impractical and post-processing is labor intensive. New technology in the form of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has the potential to significantly enhance the ability to monitor channel migration and quantify bank erosion at variable scales. In this study, 20 km of the Mad and Winooski Rivers in Vermont were flown using a senseFly eBee UAS. Flights were made in spring and fall 2015 in leaf-off conditions with selected portions also flown after large storms in the summer. Change in bank profiles between spring and fall flights provide a comprehensive estimate of bank erosion along the study reaches. Six sites with varying bank heights, erosion sensitivity, and vegetation conditions were selected for simultaneous surveying using a TLS. Point cloud data from both the TLS and UAS were compared to assess the accuracy of the UAS for capturing the bank profile. Changes in bank cross-sections and in volumes calculated from 3D digital surface models were used to compare the

  16. The development and validation of an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for the measurement of methane flux

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, G.; Shah, A.; Williams, P. I.; Ricketts, H.; Hollingsworth, P.; Kabbabe, K.; Bourn, M.; Pitt, J. R.; Helmore, J.; Lowry, D.; Robinson, R. A.; Finlayson, A.

    2017-12-01

    Emission controls for CH4are a part of the Paris Agreement and other national emissions strategies. This work represents a new method for precise quantification of point-source and facility-level methane emissions flux rates to inform both the climate science community and policymakers. In this paper, we describe the development of an integrated Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for the measurement of high-precision in-situ CH4 concentrations. We also describe the development of a mass balance flux calculation model tailored to UAS plume sampling downwind; and the validation of this method using a known emission flux from a controlled release facility. A validation field trial was conducted at the UK Met Office site in Cardington, UK, between 31 Oct and 4 Nov 2016 using the UK National Physical Laboratory's Controlled Release Facility (CRF). A modified DJI-S900 hexrotor UAS was tethered via an inlet to a ground-based Los Gatos Ultraportable Greenhouse Gas Analyser to record geospatially-referenced methane (and carbon dioxide) concentrations. Methane fluxes from the CRF were emitted at 5 kg/hr and 10 kg/hr in a series of blind trials (fluxes were not reported to the team prior to the calculation of UAS-derived flux) for a total of 7 UAS flights, which sampled 200 m downwind of source(s), each lasting around 20 minutes. The flux calculation method was adapted for sampling considerations downwind of an emission source that has not had sufficient time to develop a Gaussian morphology. The UAS-measured methane fluxes, and representative flux uncertainty (derived from an error propagation model), were found to compare well with the controlled CH4 emission rate. For the 7 experiments, the standard error between the measured and emitted CH4 flux was found to be +/-6% with a mean bias of +0.4 kg/hr. Limits of flux sensitivity (to within 25% uncertainty) were found to extend to as little as 0.12 kg/h. Further improvements to the accuracy of flux calculation could be made by

  17. Monitoring cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germination using ultrahigh-resolution UAS images

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Examination of seed germination rate is of great importance for growers early in the season to determine the necessity for replanting their fields. The objective of this study was to explore the potential of using unmanned aircraft system (UAS)-based visible-band images to monitor and quantify the c...

  18. Attenuating the mortality risk of high serum uric acid: the role of physical activity underused.

    PubMed

    Chen, Jiunn-Horng; Wen, Chi Pang; Wu, Shiuan Bei; Lan, Joung-Liang; Tsai, Min Kuang; Tai, Ya-Ping; Lee, June Han; Hsu, Chih Cheng; Tsao, Chwen Keng; Wai, Jackson Pui Man; Chiang, Po Huang; Pan, Wen Han; Hsiung, Chao Agnes

    2015-11-01

    High serum uric acid (sUA) has been associated with increased mortality risks, but its clinical treatment varied with potential side effects. The role of physical activity has received limited attention. A cohort, consisting of 467 976 adults, who went through a standard health screening programme, with questionnaire and fasting blood samples, was successively recruited between 1996 and 2008. High sUA is defined as uric acid above 7.0 mg/dL. Leisure time physical activity level was self-reported, with fully active defined as those with 30 min per day for at least 5 days a week. National death file identified 12 228 deaths with a median follow-up of 8.5 years. Cox proportional model was used to analyse HRs, and 12 variables were controlled, including medical history, life style and risk factors. High sUA constituted one quarter of the cohort (25.6%). Their all-cause mortality was significantly increased [HR: 1.22 (1.15-1.29)], with much of the increase contributed to by the inactive (HR: 1.27 (1.17-1.37)), relative to the reference group with sUA level of 5-6 mg/dL. When they were fully active, mortality risks did not increase, but decreased by 11% (HR: 0.89 (0.82-0.97)), reflecting the benefits of being active was able to overcome the adverse effects of high sUA. Given the same high sUA, a 4-6 years difference in life expectancy was found between the active and the inactive. Physical activity is a valuable alternative to pharmacotherapy in its ability to reduce the increases in mortality risks from high sUA. By being fully active, exercise can extend life span by 4-6 years, a level greater than the 1-4 years of life-shortening effect from high sUA. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  19. Assessing Spectrum Compatibility for Beyond-Line-of-Sight UAS Control and Non-Payload Communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.; Bishop, William D.

    2014-01-01

    In order to provide for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS), the control and non-payload communications (CNPC) link must be highly reliable. A specific requirement is that it must operate using aviation safety radiofrequency spectrum. Two types of links are required - line-of-sight (LOS) using terrestrial-based communications and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) using satellite communications. The 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) provided a suitable allocation for LOS CNPC spectrum in the 5030 to 5091 MHz band which, when combined with a previously existing allocation fulfills the LOS spectrum requirement. The 5030 to 5091 MHz band is also allocated for BLOS CNPC, but since a significant portion of that band is required for LOS CNPC, additional BLOS spectrum is required. More critically, there are no satellites in operation or in development to provide such services in that band. Hence BLOS CNPC cannot be provided in protected aviation spectrum under current conditions. To fill this gap and enable integration of UAS into the NAS, it has been proposed to allow CNPC to operate over certain Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) bands in which many satellites currently provide commercial services. To enable this, changes in international regulation must be enacted. Agenda Item 1.5 of the 2015 WRC examines the possible regulatory changes needed. As part of the examination process, sharing between potential UAS using satellite communications for BLOS CNPC and other services allocated to the FSS bands being considered must be studied. This paper reviews the technical requirements and approach being undertaken for these sharing studies, with emphasis on study of interference from UAS into digital repeater links operating under the Fixed Service allocation. These studies are being conducted by NASA Glenn Research Center.

  20. Assessing Spectrum Compatibility for Beyond-Line-of-Sight UAS Control and Non-Payload Communications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert J.; Wilson, Jeffrey D.; Bishop, William D.

    2014-01-01

    In order to provide for the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS), the control and non-payload communications (CNPC) link must be highly reliable. A specific requirement is that it must operate using aviation safety radiofrequency spectrum. Two types of links are required - line-of-sight (LOS) using terrestrial-based communications and beyond-line- of-sight (BLOS) using satellite communications. The 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) provided a suitable allocation for LOS CNPC spectrum in the 5030-5091 MHz band which, when combined with a previously existing allocation fulfills the LOS spectrum requirement. The 5030- 5091 MHz band is also allocated for BLOS CNPC, but since a significant portion of that band is required for LOS CNPC, additional BLOS spectrum is required. More critically, there are no satellites in operation or in development to provide such services in that band. Hence BLOS CNPC cannot be provided in protected aviation spectrum under current conditions. To fill this gap and enable integration of UAS into the NAS, it has been proposed to allow CNPC to operate over certain Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) bands in which many satellites currently provide commercial services. To enable this, changes in international regulation must be enacted. Agenda Item 1.5 of the 2015 WRC examines the possible regulatory changes needed. As part of the examination process, sharing between potential UAS using satellite communications for BLOS CNPC and other services allocated to the FSS bands being considered must be studied. This paper reviews the technical requirements and approach being undertaken for these sharing studies, with emphasis on study of interference from UAS into digital repeater links operating under the Fixed Service allocation. These studies are being conducted by NASA Glenn Research Center.

  1. Evaluation of the Raven sUAS to detect and monitor greater sage-grouse leks within the Middle Park population

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hanson, Leanne; Holmquist-Johnson, Christopher L.; Cowardin, Michelle L.

    2014-01-01

    The Raven sUAS is a hand-launched reconnaissance and data-gathering tool developed for the U.S. Department of Defense by AeroVironment, Inc. Originally designed to provide aerial observation, day or night, at line-of-site ranges up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), the Raven sUAS has a wingspan of 4.5 feet (1.38 meters) and weighs 4.2 pounds (1.9 kilograms). A 60-minute lithium-ion rechargeable battery powers the system which also transmits live video (color or infrared imagery), compass headings, and location information to a ground control station. The Raven sUAS is typically operated by a three-person flight crew consisting of a pilot, mission operator, and a trained observer.

  2. The framework of a UAS-aided flash flood modeling system for coastal regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, H.; Xu, H.

    2016-02-01

    Flash floods cause severe economic damage and are one of the leading causes of fatalities connected with natural disasters in the Gulf Coast region. Current flash flood modeling systems rely on empirical hydrological models driven by precipitation estimates only. Although precipitation is the driving factor for flash floods, soil moisture, urban drainage system and impervious surface have been recognized to have significant impacts on the development of flash floods. We propose a new flash flooding modeling system that integrates 3-D hydrological simulation with satellite and multi-UAS observations. It will have three advantages over existing modeling systems. First, it will incorporate 1-km soil moisture data through integrating satellite images from European SMOS mission and NASA's SMAP mission. The utilization of high-resolution satellite images will provide essential information to determine antecedent soil moisture condition, which is an essential control on flood generation. Second, this system is able to adjust flood forecasting based on real-time inundation information collected by multi-UAS. A group of UAS will be deployed during storm events to capture the changing extent of flooded areas and water depth at multiple critical locations simultaneously. Such information will be transmitted to a hydrological model to validate and improve flood simulation. Third, the backbone of this system is a state-of-the-art 3-D hydrological model that assimilates the hydrological information from satellites and multi-UAS. The model is able to address surface water-groundwater interactions and reflect the effects of various infrastructures. Using Web-GIS technologies, the modeling results will be available online as interactive flood maps accessible to the public. To support the development and verification of this modeling system, surface and subsurface hydrological observations will be conducted in a number of small watersheds in the Coastal Bend region. We envision this

  3. Using the "Economics U$A" Telecourse within the Traditional Microeconomics Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alavi, Jafar; And Others

    1993-01-01

    A control group of 31 received traditional microeconomics instruction; 20 experimentals viewed the Economics U$A telecourse with lecture, discussion, and textbook. Pre/posttest data demonstrated no significant differences in comprehension of content or in cognitive level, although the video group did do better in the area of implicit application.…

  4. Calibration of UAS imagery inside and outside of shadows for improved vegetation index computation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bondi, Elizabeth; Salvaggio, Carl; Montanaro, Matthew; Gerace, Aaron D.

    2016-05-01

    Vegetation health and vigor can be assessed with data from multi- and hyperspectral airborne and satellite- borne sensors using index products such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Recent advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) technology have created the opportunity to access these same image data sets in a more cost effective manner with higher temporal and spatial resolution. Another advantage of these systems includes the ability to gather data in almost any weather condition, including complete cloud cover, when data has not been available before from traditional platforms. The ability to collect in these varied conditions, meteorological and temporal, will present researchers and producers with many new challenges. Particularly, cloud shadows and self-shadowing by vegetation must be taken into consideration in imagery collected from UAS platforms to avoid variation in NDVI due to changes in illumination within a single scene, and between collection flights. A workflow is presented to compensate for variations in vegetation indices due to shadows and variation in illumination levels in high resolution imagery collected from UAS platforms. Other calibration methods that producers may currently be utilizing produce NDVI products that still contain shadow boundaries and variations due to illumination, whereas the final NDVI mosaic from this workflow does not.

  5. Comparison of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to LiDAR for streambank erosion measurement at the site-specific and river network scales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamshaw, S. D.; Dewoolkar, M. M.; Rizzo, D.; ONeil-Dunne, J.; Frolik, J.

    2016-12-01

    Measurement of rates and extent of streambank erosion along river corridors is an important component of many catchment studies and necessary for engineering projects such as river restoration, hazard assessment, and total maximum daily load (TMDL) development. A variety of methods have been developed to quantify streambank erosion, including bank pins, ground surveys, photogrammetry, LiDAR, and analytical models. However, these methods are not only resource intensive, but many are feasible and appropriate only for site-specific studies and not practical for erosion estimates at larger scales. Recent advancements in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and photogrammetry software provide capabilities for more rapid and economical quantification of streambank erosion and deposition at multiple scales (from site-specific to river network). At the site-specific scale, the capability of UAS to quantify streambank erosion was compared to terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and RTK-GPS ground survey and assessed at seven streambank monitoring sites in central Vermont. Across all sites, the UAS-derived bank topography had mean errors of 0.21 m compared to TLS and GPS data. Highest accuracies were achieved in early spring conditions where mean errors approached 10 cm. The cross sectional area of bank erosion at a typical, vegetated streambank site was found to be reliably calculated within 10% of actual for erosion areas greater than 3.5 m2. At the river network-level scale, 20 km of river corridor along the New Haven, Winooski, and Mad Rivers was flown on multiple dates with UAS and used to generate digital elevation models (DEMs) that were then compared for change detection analysis. Airborne LiDAR data collected prior to UAS surveys was also compared to UAS data to determine multi-year rates of bank erosion. UAS-based photogrammetry for generation of fine scale topographic data shows promise for the monitoring of streambank erosion both at the individual site scale and river

  6. Some Impacts of Risk-Centric Certification Requirements for UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Neogi, Natasha A. (Inventor); Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Verstynen, Harry A.

    2016-01-01

    This paper discusses results from a recent study that investigates certification requirements for an unmanned rotorcraft performing agricultural application operations. The process of determining appropriate requirements using a risk-centric approach revealed a number of challenges that could impact larger UAS standardization efforts. Fundamental challenges include selecting the correct level of abstraction for requirements to permit design flexibility, transforming human-centric operational requirements to aircraft airworthiness requirements, and assessing all hazards associated with the operation.

  7. Design and Analysis of Cost-Efficient Sensor Deployment for Tracking Small UAS with Agent-Based Modeling.

    PubMed

    Shin, Sangmi; Park, Seongha; Kim, Yongho; Matson, Eric T

    2016-04-22

    Recently, commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have gained popularity. However, these UAS are potential threats to people in terms of safety in public places, such as public parks or stadiums. To reduce such threats, we consider a design, modeling, and evaluation of a cost-efficient sensor system that detects and tracks small UAS. In this research, we focus on discovering the best sensor deployments by simulating different types and numbers of sensors in a designated area, which provide reasonable detection rates at low costs. Also, the system should cover the crowded areas more thoroughly than vacant areas to reduce direct threats to people underneath. This research study utilized the Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) technique to model a system consisting of independent and heterogeneous agents that interact with each other. Our previous work presented the ability to apply ABM to analyze the sensor configurations with two types of radars in terms of cost-efficiency. The results from the ABM simulation provide a list of candidate configurations and deployments that can be referred to for applications in the real world environment.

  8. Design and Analysis of Cost-Efficient Sensor Deployment for Tracking Small UAS with Agent-Based Modeling

    PubMed Central

    Shin, Sangmi; Park, Seongha; Kim, Yongho; Matson, Eric T.

    2016-01-01

    Recently, commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have gained popularity. However, these UAS are potential threats to people in terms of safety in public places, such as public parks or stadiums. To reduce such threats, we consider a design, modeling, and evaluation of a cost-efficient sensor system that detects and tracks small UAS. In this research, we focus on discovering the best sensor deployments by simulating different types and numbers of sensors in a designated area, which provide reasonable detection rates at low costs. Also, the system should cover the crowded areas more thoroughly than vacant areas to reduce direct threats to people underneath. This research study utilized the Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) technique to model a system consisting of independent and heterogeneous agents that interact with each other. Our previous work presented the ability to apply ABM to analyze the sensor configurations with two types of radars in terms of cost-efficiency. The results from the ABM simulation provide a list of candidate configurations and deployments that can be referred to for applications in the real world environment. PMID:27110790

  9. UAS Integration in the NAS Project: Integrated Test and LVC Infrastructure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, Jim; Hoang, Ty

    2015-01-01

    Overview presentation of the Integrated Test and Evaluation sub-project of the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in the National Airspace System (NAS). The emphasis of the presentation is the Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) system (a broadly used name for classifying modeling and simulation) infrastructure and use of external assets and connection.

  10. Using Small Drone (UAS) Imagery to Bridge the Gap Between Field- and Satellite-Based Measurements of Vegetation Structure and Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mayes, M. T.; Estes, L. D.; Gago, X.; Debats, S. R.; Caylor, K. K.; Manfreda, S.; Oudemans, P.; Ciraolo, G.; Maltese, A.; Nadal, M.; Estrany, J.

    2016-12-01

    Leaf area is an important ecosystem variable that relates to vegetation biomass, productivity, water and nutrient use in natural and agricultural systems globally. Since the 1980s, optical satellite image-based estimates of leaf area based on indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) have greatly improved understanding of vegetation structure, function, and responses to disturbance at landscape (10^3 km2) to continental (10^6 km2) spatial scales. However, at landscape scales, satellites have failed to capture many leaf area patterns indicative of vegetation succession, crop types, stress and other conditions important for ecological processes. Small drones (UAS - unmanned aerial systems) offer new means for assessing leaf area and vegetation structure at higher spatial resolutions (<1 m) and land cover features such as substrate exposure that may affect estimates of vegetation structure in satellite data. Yet it is unclear how differences in spatial and spectral resolution between UAS and satellite data affect their relationships to each other, and to common field measurements of leaf area (e.g. LiCOR photosensors) and land cover. Constraining these relationships is important for leveraging UAS data to improve scaling of field data on leaf area and biomass to satellite data from Landsat, Sentinel-2, and increasing numbers of commercial sensors. Here, we quantify relationships among field, UAS and satellite estimates of vegetation leaf area and biomass in three case study landscapes spanning semi-arid Mediterranean (Matera, Southern Italy and Mallorca, Spain) and North American temperate ecosystems (New Jersey, USA). We assess how land cover and sensor spectral characteristics affect UAS and satellite-derived NDVI, leaf-area and biomass estimates. Then, we assess the fidelity of UAS, WorldView-2, and Landsat leaf-area and biomass estimates to field-measured landscape changes and variability, including vegetation recovery from fire (Mallorca), and

  11. Use of passive UAS imaging to measure biophysical parameters in a southern Rocky Mountain subalpine forest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caldwell, M. K.; Sloan, J.; Mladinich, C. S.; Wessman, C. A.

    2013-12-01

    Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) can provide detailed, fine spatial resolution imagery for ecological uses not otherwise obtainable through standard methods. The use of UAS imagery for ecology is a rapidly -evolving field, where the study of forest landscape ecology can be augmented using UAS imagery to scale and validate biophysical data from field measurements to spaceborne observations. High resolution imagery provided by UAS (30 cm2 pixels) offers detailed canopy cover and forest structure data in a time efficient and inexpensive manner. Using a GoPro Hero2 (2 mm focal length) camera mounted in the nose cone of a Raven unmanned system, we collected aerial and thermal data monthly during the summer 2013, over two subalpine forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado. These forests are dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus ponderosae) and have experienced insect-driven (primarily mountain pine beetle; MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae) mortality. Objectives of this study include observations of forest health variables such as canopy water content (CWC) from thermal imagery and leaf area index (LAI), biomass and forest productivity from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from UAS imagery. Observations were, validated with ground measurements. Images were processed using a combination of AgiSoft Photoscan professional software and ENVI remote imaging software. We utilized the software Leaf Area Index Calculator (LAIC) developed by Córcoles et al. (2013) for calculating LAI from digital images and modified to conform to leaf area of needle-leaf trees as in Chen and Cihlar (1996) . LAIC uses a K-means cluster analysis to decipher the RGB levels for each pixel and distinguish between green aboveground vegetation and other materials, and project leaf area per unit of ground surface area (i.e. half total needle surface area per unit area). Preliminary LAIC UAS data shows summer average LAI was 3.8 in the most dense forest stands and 2.95 in less dense

  12. Advancing drought monitoring using a Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) in a changing climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ryu, J.

    2016-12-01

    Drought as a natural hazard, increasingly threatens the sustainability of regional water resources around the world. Given current trends in climate variability and change, droughts are likely to continue and increase. One of the effective ways to mitigate drought impacts may be to use a Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) to improve understanding of the factors that drive the onset and development of drought conditions at local levels would enable planners and end users to more effectively manage and meter out limited water resources. During the presentation, the author will propose a methodological approach to apply sUAS for drought monitoring along with federal regulations and policies.

  13. UAS-based automatic bird count of a common gull colony

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grenzdörffer, G. J.

    2013-08-01

    The standard procedure to count birds is a manual one. However a manual bird count is a time consuming and cumbersome process, requiring several people going from nest to nest counting the birds and the clutches. High resolution imagery, generated with a UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) offer an interesting alternative. Experiences and results of UAS surveys for automatic bird count of the last two years are presented for the bird reserve island Langenwerder. For 2011 1568 birds (± 5%) were detected on the image mosaic, based on multispectral image classification and GIS-based post processing. Based on the experiences of 2011 the results and the accuracy of the automatic bird count 2012 became more efficient. For 2012 1938 birds with an accuracy of approx. ± 3% were counted. Additionally a separation of breeding and non-breeding birds was performed with the assumption, that standing birds cause a visible shade. The final section of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the 3D-point cloud. Thereby the point cloud was used to determine the height of the vegetation and the extend and depth of closed sinks, which are unsuitable for breeding birds.

  14. Unmanned Aircraft System / Remotely Piloted Aircraft (UAS/RPA) Human Factors and Human Systems Integration Research Workshop Held in Dayton, Ohio on November 8-9, 2011

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-05-25

    station design . These issues include: poor ergonomics ; varying data input methods; multiple inputs required to implement a single command; lack of...facing the UAS/RPA discipline. Major discussion topics included: UAS operator selection, training, control station design , manpower and scheduling...Break 1400 – 1430: Naval UAS Training  LCDR Brent Olde 1430 – 1500: Control Station Design Issues  Melissa Walwanis 1500 – 1600: Tour of NAMRU-D

  15. Identification of sequence motifs significantly associated with antisense activity.

    PubMed

    McQuisten, Kyle A; Peek, Andrew S

    2007-06-07

    Predicting the suppression activity of antisense oligonucleotide sequences is the main goal of the rational design of nucleic acids. To create an effective predictive model, it is important to know what properties of an oligonucleotide sequence associate significantly with antisense activity. Also, for the model to be efficient we must know what properties do not associate significantly and can be omitted from the model. This paper will discuss the results of a randomization procedure to find motifs that associate significantly with either high or low antisense suppression activity, analysis of their properties, as well as the results of support vector machine modelling using these significant motifs as features. We discovered 155 motifs that associate significantly with high antisense suppression activity and 202 motifs that associate significantly with low suppression activity. The motifs range in length from 2 to 5 bases, contain several motifs that have been previously discovered as associating highly with antisense activity, and have thermodynamic properties consistent with previous work associating thermodynamic properties of sequences with their antisense activity. Statistical analysis revealed no correlation between a motif's position within an antisense sequence and that sequences antisense activity. Also, many significant motifs existed as subwords of other significant motifs. Support vector regression experiments indicated that the feature set of significant motifs increased correlation compared to all possible motifs as well as several subsets of the significant motifs. The thermodynamic properties of the significantly associated motifs support existing data correlating the thermodynamic properties of the antisense oligonucleotide with antisense efficiency, reinforcing our hypothesis that antisense suppression is strongly associated with probe/target thermodynamics, as there are no enzymatic mediators to speed the process along like the RNA Induced

  16. UAS Integration in the NAS Project: Detect and Avoid Display UNITED Demo

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Roberts, Zachary

    2017-01-01

    This demo shows the UAS-NAS project's Vigilant Spirit Control Station developed in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab. Attendees will be able to view encounters and see how the DAA and TCAS II alerting and guidance displays are used to avoid simulated aircraft.

  17. Evaluation of UAS for Atmospheric Boundary Layer Monitoring as Part of the 2017 CLOUD-MAP Flight Campaign

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacob, J.; Chilson, P. B.; Houston, A. L.; Smith, S.

    2017-12-01

    CLOUD-MAP (Collaboration Leading Operational UAS Development for Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics) is a 4 year, 4 university collaboration sponsored by the National Science Foundation to develop capabilities that will allow meteorologists and atmospheric scientists to use unmanned aircraft as a common, useful everyday measurement tool. Currently, we know that systems can be used for meteorological measurements, but they are far from being practical or robust for everyday field diagnostics by the average meteorologist or scientist. In particular, UAS are well suited for the lower atmosphere, namely the lower boundary layer that has a large impact on the atmosphere and where much of the weather phenomena begin. The 2016 and 2017 campaigns resulted in over 500 unmanned aircraft flights of over a dozen separate platforms collecting meteorological data at 3 different sites including Oklahoma Mesonet stations and the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. The SGP atmospheric observatory was the first field measurement site established by the ARM Climate Research Facility and is the world's largest and most extensive climate research facility. Data from the SGP was used to validate observations from the various UAS. UAS operations consisted of both fixed and rotary platforms up to 3,000 AGL with thermodynamic, wind, and chemistry (viz., CO2 and CH4) sensors. ABL conditions were observed over a variety of conditions, particularly during the morning transition to evaluate the boundary layer dilution due to vertical mixing and changes in the wind patterns from diurnal variability.

  18. A Bird's-Eye View of Eco-Geomorphology From a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    LeClair, A. J.; Hugenholtz, C.

    2012-12-01

    Physical disturbance regimes play important roles in shaping ecosystems and landscapes; however, our ability to detect disturbance often depends on the method and scale of observation. Here we use a relatively new method in order to detect and map the eco-geomorphic impacts of fossorial mammals in a grassland setting. It is well-known that digging and mound building activity by these animals is a form of biological disturbance that has a number of eco-geomorphic consequences, including: soil formation, hydrology, nutrient cycling, and succession. All these processes contribute to landscape heterogeneity and often increase local micro-topographic variations through mound formation. Most studies that have examined the eco-geomorphic role of fossorial mammals have been limited to observations using traditional field-based methods. While this has yielded important data about the localized effects, the cumulative, landscape-level impacts of such small-scale disturbance events are still largely unknown. While fossorial mammals such as pocket gophers (family Geomyidae) are assumed to be ubiquitous in the environments in which they occur, the small size of individual mounds has meant that mapping their biological footprint using traditional methods has been extremely difficult. Individual mounds disappear in the pixels of conventional remote sensing imagery, while their spatial distribution makes it impractical to study them beyond the plot scale. However, recent advances in both low cost, high-resolution digital cameras, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), have made it possible to acquire landscape-level data that matches the scale of their disturbance, thus potentially bridging the gap between ground-based field methods and traditional remote sensing imagery. In this study we used UAS-acquired, sub-decimeter resolution imagery to map and quantify the extent of fossorial mammal disturbance in a 4 km2 area of the Great Sand Hills - a stabilized dune field in southwestern

  19. UAS in the NAS Project: Large-Scale Communication Architecture Simulations with NASA GRC Gen5 Radio Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kubat, Gregory

    2016-01-01

    This report provides a description and performance characterization of the large-scale, Relay architecture, UAS communications simulation capability developed for the NASA GRC, UAS in the NAS Project. The system uses a validated model of the GRC Gen5 CNPC, Flight-Test Radio model. Contained in the report is a description of the simulation system and its model components, recent changes made to the system to improve performance, descriptions and objectives of sample simulations used for test and verification, and a sampling and observations of results and performance data.

  20. UAS C2 Radio System - Final Phase 1 Development and Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kerczewski, Robert; Shalkhauser, Kurt

    2017-01-01

    Phase 1 of the Command and Control Communications (C2) Subproject of NASA's UAS Integration in the National Airspace System Project included the development and testing of prototype C2 radio systems. This information paper provides an overview of the functionality and testing of the fifth and final Phase 1 generation of the prototype radio system.

  1. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project Subcommittee Final

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Chuck; Griner, James H.; Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Shively, Robert J.; Consiglio, Maria; Muller, Eric; Murphy, James; Kim, Sam

    2012-01-01

    UAS Integration in the NAS Project overview with details from each of the subprojects. Subprojects include: Communications, Certification, Integrated Test and Evaluation, Human Systems Integration, and Separation Assurance/Sense and Avoid Interoperability.

  2. The potential of UAS imagery for soil mapping at the agricultural plot scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gilliot, Jean-Marc; Michelin, Joël; Becu, Maxime; Cissé, Moustapha; Hadjar, Dalila; Vaudour, Emmanuelle

    2017-04-01

    Soil mapping is expensive and time consuming. Airborne and satellite remote sensing data have already been used to predict some soil properties but now Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) allow to do many images acquisitions in various field conditions in favour of developing methods for better prediction models construction. This study propose an operational method for spatial prediction of soil properties (organic carbon, clay) at the scale of the agricultural plot by using UAS imagery. An agricultural plot of 28 ha, located in the western region of Paris France, was studied from March to May 2016. An area of 3.6 ha was delimited within the plot and a total of 16 flights were completed. The UAS platforms used were the eBee fixed wing provided by Sensefly® flying at an altitude from 60m to 130m and the iris+ 3DR® Quadcopter (from 30m to 100m). Two multispectral visible near-infrared cameras were used: the AirInov® MultiSPEC 4C® and the Micasense® RedEdge®. 42 ground control points (GCP) were sampled within the 3.6 ha plot. A centimetric Trimble Geo 7x DGPS was used to determine precise GCP positions. On each GCP the soil horizons were described and the top soil were sampled for standard physico-chemical analysis. Ground spectral measurements with a Spectral Evolution® SR-3500 spectroradiometer were made synchronously with the drone flights. 22 additional GCP were placed around the 3.6 ha area in order to realize a precise georeferencing. The multispectral mosaics were calculated using the Agisoft Photoscan® software and all mapping processings were done with the ESRI ArcGIS® 10.3 software. The soil properties were estimated by partial least squares regression (PLSR) between the laboratory analyses and the multispectral information of the UAS images, with the PLS package of the R software. The objective was to establish a model that would achieve an acceptable prediction quality using minimum number of points. For this, we tested 5 models with a decreasing

  3. Automated detection and enumeration of marine wildlife using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and thermal imagery

    PubMed Central

    Seymour, A. C.; Dale, J.; Hammill, M.; Halpin, P. N.; Johnston, D. W.

    2017-01-01

    Estimating animal populations is critical for wildlife management. Aerial surveys are used for generating population estimates, but can be hampered by cost, logistical complexity, and human risk. Additionally, human counts of organisms in aerial imagery can be tedious and subjective. Automated approaches show promise, but can be constrained by long setup times and difficulty discriminating animals in aggregations. We combine unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), thermal imagery and computer vision to improve traditional wildlife survey methods. During spring 2015, we flew fixed-wing UAS equipped with thermal sensors, imaging two grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) breeding colonies in eastern Canada. Human analysts counted and classified individual seals in imagery manually. Concurrently, an automated classification and detection algorithm discriminated seals based upon temperature, size, and shape of thermal signatures. Automated counts were within 95–98% of human estimates; at Saddle Island, the model estimated 894 seals compared to analyst counts of 913, and at Hay Island estimated 2188 seals compared to analysts’ 2311. The algorithm improves upon shortcomings of computer vision by effectively recognizing seals in aggregations while keeping model setup time minimal. Our study illustrates how UAS, thermal imagery, and automated detection can be combined to efficiently collect population data critical to wildlife management. PMID:28338047

  4. Automated detection and enumeration of marine wildlife using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and thermal imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seymour, A. C.; Dale, J.; Hammill, M.; Halpin, P. N.; Johnston, D. W.

    2017-03-01

    Estimating animal populations is critical for wildlife management. Aerial surveys are used for generating population estimates, but can be hampered by cost, logistical complexity, and human risk. Additionally, human counts of organisms in aerial imagery can be tedious and subjective. Automated approaches show promise, but can be constrained by long setup times and difficulty discriminating animals in aggregations. We combine unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), thermal imagery and computer vision to improve traditional wildlife survey methods. During spring 2015, we flew fixed-wing UAS equipped with thermal sensors, imaging two grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) breeding colonies in eastern Canada. Human analysts counted and classified individual seals in imagery manually. Concurrently, an automated classification and detection algorithm discriminated seals based upon temperature, size, and shape of thermal signatures. Automated counts were within 95-98% of human estimates; at Saddle Island, the model estimated 894 seals compared to analyst counts of 913, and at Hay Island estimated 2188 seals compared to analysts’ 2311. The algorithm improves upon shortcomings of computer vision by effectively recognizing seals in aggregations while keeping model setup time minimal. Our study illustrates how UAS, thermal imagery, and automated detection can be combined to efficiently collect population data critical to wildlife management.

  5. Relative and Absolute Calibration of a Multihead Camera System with Oblique and Nadir Looking Cameras for a Uas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Niemeyer, F.; Schima, R.; Grenzdörffer, G.

    2013-08-01

    Numerous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are currently flooding the market. For the most diverse applications UAVs are special designed and used. Micro and mini UAS (maximum take-off weight up to 5 kg) are of particular interest, because legal restrictions are still manageable but also the payload capacities are sufficient for many imaging sensors. Currently a camera system with four oblique and one nadir looking cameras is under development at the Chair for Geodesy and Geoinformatics. The so-called "Four Vision" camera system was successfully built and tested in the air. A MD4-1000 UAS from microdrones is used as a carrier system. Light weight industrial cameras are used and controlled by a central computer. For further photogrammetric image processing, each individual camera, as well as all the cameras together have to be calibrated. This paper focuses on the determination of the relative orientation between the cameras with the „Australis" software and will give an overview of the results and experiences of test flights.

  6. Considerations for RTCA Phase 2 Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) Surveillance Requirements. UAS Integration in the NAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Santiago, Confesor

    2017-01-01

    RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) Special Committee 228 has initiated a second phase for the development of minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) for UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) detect and avoid (DAA) systems. Technologies to enable UAS with less available Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) will be considered. A white paper is in development for what topics and issues need to be addressed to develop DAA requirements for low SWAP surveillance systems. This briefing will document the issues to be investigated in SC-228. It will also serve as a review with the committee to get feedback so the white paper can be written and finalized. These topics and issues are not necessarily all the things that NASA will contribute to SC-228 during Phase 2, but what the overall committee needs to accomplish. A portion of the work will be in NASA's UAS in the NAS (National Airspace System) project plan.

  7. Atmosphere aerosol satellite project Aerosol-UA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milinevsky, Gennadi; Yatskiv, Yaroslav; Syniavskyi, Ivan; Bovchaliuk, Andrii; Degtyaryov, Oleksandr; Sosonkin, Mikhail; Mishchenko, Michael; Danylevsky, Vassyl; Ivanov, Yury; Oberemok, Yevgeny; Masley, Volodymyr; Rosenbush, Vera; Moskalev, Sergii

    2017-04-01

    The experiment Aerosol-UA is Ukrainian space mission aimed to the terrestrial atmospheric aerosol spatial distribution and microphysics investigations. The experiment concept is based on idea of Glory/APS mission of precise orbital measurements of polarization and intensity of the sunlight scattered by the atmosphere, aerosol and the surface the multichannel Scanning Polarimeter (ScanPol) with narrow field-of-view. ScanPol measurements will be accompanied by the wide-angle MultiSpectral Imager-Polarimeter (MSIP). The ScanPol is designed to measure Stokes parameters I, Q, U within the spectral range from the UV to the SWIR in a wide range of phase angles along satellite ground path. Expected ScanPol polarimetric accuracy is 0.15%. A high accuracy measurement of the degree of linear polarization is provided by on-board calibration of the ScanPol polarimeter. On-board calibration is performed for each scan of the mirror scanning system. A set of calibrators is viewed during the part of the scan range when the ScanPol polarimeter looks in the direction opposite to the Earth's surface. These reference assemblies provide calibration of the zero of the polarimetric scale (unpolarized reference assembly) and the scale factor for the polarimetric scale (polarized reference assembly). The zero of the radiometric scale is provided by the dark reference assembly.The spectral channels of the ScanPol are used to estimate the tropospheric aerosol absorption, the aerosol over the ocean and the land surface, the signals from cirrus clouds, stratospheric aerosols caused by major volcanic eruptions, and the contribution of the Earth's surface. The imager-polarimeter MSIP will collect 60°x60° field-of-view images on the state of the atmosphere and surface in the area, where the ScanPol polarimeter will measure, to retrieve aerosol optical depth and polarization properties of aerosol by registration of three Stokes parameters simultaneously in three spectral channels. The two more

  8. Brain activation during anticipation of sound sequences.

    PubMed

    Leaver, Amber M; Van Lare, Jennifer; Zielinski, Brandon; Halpern, Andrea R; Rauschecker, Josef P

    2009-02-25

    Music consists of sound sequences that require integration over time. As we become familiar with music, associations between notes, melodies, and entire symphonic movements become stronger and more complex. These associations can become so tight that, for example, hearing the end of one album track can elicit a robust image of the upcoming track while anticipating it in total silence. Here, we study this predictive "anticipatory imagery" at various stages throughout learning and investigate activity changes in corresponding neural structures using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Anticipatory imagery (in silence) for highly familiar naturalistic music was accompanied by pronounced activity in rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and premotor areas. Examining changes in the neural bases of anticipatory imagery during two stages of learning conditional associations between simple melodies, however, demonstrates the importance of fronto-striatal connections, consistent with a role of the basal ganglia in "training" frontal cortex (Pasupathy and Miller, 2005). Another striking change in neural resources during learning was a shift between caudal PFC earlier to rostral PFC later in learning. Our findings regarding musical anticipation and sound sequence learning are highly compatible with studies of motor sequence learning, suggesting common predictive mechanisms in both domains.

  9. Anti-angiogenic activity and antitumor efficacy of amphiphilic twin drug from ursolic acid and low molecular weight heparin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Wenming; Zohra Dahmani, Fatima; Zhang, Juan; Xiong, Hui; Wu, Yuanyuan; Yin, Lifang; Zhou, Jianping; Yao, Jing

    2017-02-01

    Heparin, a potential blood anti-coagulant, is also known for its binding ability to several angiogenic factors through electrostatic interactions due to its polyanionic character. However, the clinical application of heparin for cancer treatment is limited by several drawbacks, such as unsatisfactory therapeutic effects and severe anticoagulant activity that could induce hemorrhaging. Herein, low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was conjugated to ursolic acid (UA), which is also an angiogenesis inhibitor, by binding the amine group of aminoethyl-UA (UA-NH2) with the carboxylic groups of LMWH. The resulting LMWH-UA conjugate as an amphiphilic twin drug showed reduced anticoagulant activity and could also self-assemble into nanomicelles with a mean particle size ranging from 200-250 nm. An in vitro endothelial tubular formation assay and an in vivo Matrigel plug assay were performed to verify the anti-angiogenic potential of LMWH-UA. Meanwhile, the in vivo antitumor effect of LMWH-UA was also evaluated using a B16F10 mouse melanoma model. LMWH-UA nanomicelles were shown to inhibit angiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the i.v. administration of LMWH-UA to the B16F10 tumor-bearing mice resulted in a significant inhibition of tumor growth as compared to the free drug solutions. These findings demonstrate the therapeutic potential of LMWH-UA as a new therapeutic remedy for cancer therapy.

  10. Uas for Archaeology - New Perspectives on Aerial Documentation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fallavollita, P.; Balsi, M.; Esposito, S.; Melis, M. G.; Milanese, M.; Zappino, L.

    2013-08-01

    In this work some Unmanned Aerial Systems applications are discussed and applied to archaeological sites survey and 3D model reconstructions. Interesting results are shown for three important and different aged sites on north Sardinia (Italy). An easy and simplified procedure has proposed permitting the adoption of multi-rotor aircrafts for daily archaeological survey during excavation and documentation, involving state of art in UAS design, flight control systems, high definition sensor cameras and innovative photogrammetric software tools. Very high quality 3D models results are shown and discussed and how they have been simplified the archaeologist work and decisions.

  11. Targeted induction of meiotic double-strand breaks reveals chromosomal domain-dependent regulation of Spo11 and interactions among potential sites of meiotic recombination

    PubMed Central

    Fukuda, Tomoyuki; Kugou, Kazuto; Sasanuma, Hiroyuki; Shibata, Takehiko

    2008-01-01

    Meiotic recombination is initiated by programmed DNA double-strand break (DSB) formation mediated by Spo11. DSBs occur with frequency in chromosomal regions called hot domains but are seldom seen in cold domains. To obtain insights into the determinants of the distribution of meiotic DSBs, we examined the effects of inducing targeted DSBs during yeast meiosis using a UAS-directed form of Spo11 (Gal4BD-Spo11) and a meiosis-specific endonuclease, VDE (PI-SceI). Gal4BD-Spo11 cleaved its target sequence (UAS) integrated in hot domains but rarely in cold domains. However, Gal4BD-Spo11 did bind to UAS and VDE efficiently cleaved its recognition sequence in either context, suggesting that a cold domain is not a region of inaccessible or uncleavable chromosome structure. Importantly, self-association of Spo11 occurred at UAS in a hot domain but not in a cold domain, raising the possibility that Spo11 remains in an inactive intermediate state in cold domains. Integration of UAS adjacent to known DSB hotspots allowed us to detect competitive interactions among hotspots for activation. Moreover, the presence of VDE-introduced DSB repressed proximal hotspot activity, implicating DSBs themselves in interactions among hotspots. Thus, potential sites for Spo11-mediated DSB are subject to domain-specific and local competitive regulations during and after DSB formation. PMID:18096626

  12. Morphological analysis of hummocks in debris avalanche deposits using UAS-derived high-definition topographic data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayakawa, Yuichi S.; Obanawa, Hiroyuki; Yoshida, Hidetsugu; Naruhashi, Ryutaro; Okumura, Koji; Zaiki, Masumi

    2016-04-01

    Debris avalanche caused by sector collapse of a volcanic mountain often forms depositional landforms with characteristic surface morphology comprising hummocks. Geomorphological and sedimentological analyses of debris avalanche deposits (DAD) at the northeastern face of Mt. Erciyes in central Turkey have been performed to investigate the mechanisms and processes of the debris avalanche. The morphometry of hummocks provides an opportunity to examine the volumetric and kinematic characteristics of the DAD. Although the exact age has been unknown, the sector collapse of this DAD was supposed to have occurred in the late Pleistocene (sometime during 90-20 ka), and subsequent sediment supply from the DAD could have affected ancient human activities in the downstream basin areas. In order to measure detailed surface morphology and depositional structures of the DAD, we apply structure-from-motion multi-view stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetry using unmanned aerial system (UAS) and a handheld camera. The UAS, including small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) and a digital camera, provides low-altitude aerial photographs to capture surface morphology for an area of several square kilometers. A high-resolution topographic data, as well as an orthorectified image, of the hummocks were then obtained from the digital elevation model (DEM), and the geometric features of the hummocks were examined. A handheld camera is also used to obtain photographs of outcrop face of the DAD along a road to support the seimentological investigation. The three-dimensional topographic models of the outcrop, with a panoramic orthorectified image projected on a vertical plane, were obtained. This data enables to effectively describe sedimentological structure of the hummock in DAD. The detailed map of the DAD is also further examined with a regional geomorphological map to be compared with other geomorphological features including fluvial valleys, terraces, lakes and active faults.

  13. Autonomous UAS: A Partial Solution to America’s Future Airpower Needs

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-04-01

    were able to access real-time UAS video feeds with the help of $26 off-the-shelf software. 32 Though the insurgents were never able to take...examples of generals spending hours watching “Predator Porn ,” telling aircrew what munitions to drop or AU/ACSC/9033/AY10 23 where to place individual

  14. Active Site Characterization of Proteases Sequences from Different Species of Aspergillus.

    PubMed

    Morya, V K; Yadav, Virendra K; Yadav, Sangeeta; Yadav, Dinesh

    2016-09-01

    A total of 129 proteases sequences comprising 43 serine proteases, 36 aspartic proteases, 24 cysteine protease, 21 metalloproteases, and 05 neutral proteases from different Aspergillus species were analyzed for the catalytically active site residues using MEROPS database and various bioinformatics tools. Different proteases have predominance of variable active site residues. In case of 24 cysteine proteases of Aspergilli, the predominant active site residues observed were Gln193, Cys199, His364, Asn384 while for 43 serine proteases, the active site residues namely Asp164, His193, Asn284, Ser349 and Asp325, His357, Asn454, Ser519 were frequently observed. The analysis of 21 metalloproteases of Aspergilli revealed Glu298 and Glu388, Tyr476 as predominant active site residues. In general, Aspergilli species-specific active site residues were observed for different types of protease sequences analyzed. The phylogenetic analysis of these 129 proteases sequences revealed 14 different clans representing different types of proteases with diverse active site residues.

  15. Hyperspatial Thermal Imaging of Surface Hydrothermal Features at Pilgrim Hot Springs, Alaska using a small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haselwimmer, C. E.; Wilson, R.; Upton, C.; Prakash, A.; Holdmann, G.; Walker, G.

    2013-12-01

    Thermal remote sensing provides a valuable tool for mapping and monitoring surface hydrothermal features associated with geothermal activity. The increasing availability of low-cost, small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) with integrated thermal imaging sensors offers a means to undertake very high spatial resolution (hyperspatial), quantitative thermal remote sensing of surface geothermal features in support of exploration and long-term monitoring efforts. Results from the deployment of a quadcopter sUAS equipped with a thermal camera over Pilgrim Hot Springs, Alaska for detailed mapping and heat flux estimation for hot springs, seeps, and thermal pools are presented. Hyperspatial thermal infrared imagery (4 cm pixels) was acquired over Pilgrim Hot Springs in July 2013 using a FLIR TAU 640 camera operating from an Aeryon Scout sUAS flying at an altitude of 40m. The registered and mosaicked thermal imagery is calibrated to surface temperature values using in-situ measurements of uniform blackbody tarps and the temperatures of geothermal and other surface pools acquired with a series of water temperature loggers. Interpretation of the pre-processed thermal imagery enables the delineation of hot springs, the extents of thermal pools, and the flow and mixing of individual geothermal outflow plumes with an unprecedented level of detail. Using the surface temperatures of thermal waters derived from the FLIR data and measured in-situ meteorological parameters the hot spring heat flux and outflow rate is calculated using a heat budget model for a subset of the thermal drainage. The heat flux/outflow rate estimates derived from the FLIR data are compared against in-situ measurements of the hot spring outflow rate recorded at the time of the thermal survey.

  16. Brain Activation During Anticipation of Sound Sequences

    PubMed Central

    Leaver, Amber M.; Van Lare, Jennifer; Zielinski, Brandon; Halpern, Andrea R.; Rauschecker, Josef P.

    2010-01-01

    Music consists of sound sequences that require integration over time. As we become familiar with music, associations between notes, melodies, and entire symphonic movements become stronger and more complex. These associations can become so tight that, for example, hearing the end of one album track can elicit a robust image of the upcoming track while anticipating it in total silence. Here we study this predictive “anticipatory imagery” at various stages throughout learning and investigate activity changes in corresponding neural structures using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Anticipatory imagery (in silence) for highly familiar naturalistic music was accompanied by pronounced activity in rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and premotor areas. Examining changes in the neural bases of anticipatory imagery during two stages of learning conditional associations between simple melodies, however, demonstrates the importance of fronto-striatal connections, consistent with a role of the basal ganglia in “training” frontal cortex (Pasupathy and Miller, 2005). Another striking change in neural resources during learning was a shift between caudal PFC earlier to rostral PFC later in learning. Our findings regarding musical anticipation and sound sequence learning are highly compatible with studies of motor sequence learning, suggesting common predictive mechanisms in both domains. PMID:19244522

  17. Use of Uas for the Conservation of Historical Buildings in Case of Emergencies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gagliolo, S.; Fagandini, R.; Federici, B.; Ferrando, I.; Passoni, D.; Pagliari, D.; Pinto, L.; Sguerso, D.

    2017-05-01

    The task of conservation and management of cultural heritage is quite central in Italy, which lists a high number of beautiful architectures. A quick and precise survey may be requested in case of calamity. In the present paper, the most commonly used survey techniques are discussed, focusing on their applications for the conservation of the artistic heritage in case of emergency. Particular attention is given to Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) photogrammetry and its potentiality in obtaining good results in terms of speed, cheapness, precision and accuracy, assuring at the same time the safety of the operators in critical situations (e.g. natural disasters). A case study, realized at the Castle of Casalbagliano (Alessandria, Italy), is discussed. Different image block configurations and acquisition geometries (nadiral and oblique images) have been exploited, with the aim of defining useful guidelines for emergencies UAS survey of partially collapsed structures. An application to a significative case study is introduced.

  18. Development of a Heterogeneous sUAS High-Accuracy Positional Flight Data Acquisition System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    McSwain, Robert G.; Grosveld, Ferdinand W.

    2016-01-01

    Recently, a heterogeneous FDAS, consisting of a diverse range of instruments was developed to support acoustic flight research programs at NASA Langley Research Center. In addition to a conventional GPS to measure latitude, longitude and altitude, the FDAS also utilizes a small, light-weight, low-cost DGPS system to obtain centimeter accuracy to measure the distance traveled by sound from a sUAS vehicle to a microphone on the ground. Acoustic flight testing using the FDAS installed on several different sUAS platforms has been conducted in support of the NASA CAS DELIVER and ERA ITD projects (Reference 1). The first FDAS prototype was assembled and implemented in the acoustic/flight measurement system in December 2014 to support DELIVER acoustic flight tests. Evaluation of the system performance and results from the data analyses were used to further test, develop and enhance the FDAS over a six-month period to support acoustic flight research for the ERA.

  19. Cognitive context detection in UAS operators using eye-gaze patterns on computer screens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mannaru, Pujitha; Balasingam, Balakumar; Pattipati, Krishna; Sibley, Ciara; Coyne, Joseph

    2016-05-01

    In this paper, we demonstrate the use of eye-gaze metrics of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operators as effective indices of their cognitive workload. Our analyses are based on an experiment where twenty participants performed pre-scripted UAS missions of three different difficulty levels by interacting with two custom designed graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that are displayed side by side. First, we compute several eye-gaze metrics, traditional eye movement metrics as well as newly proposed ones, and analyze their effectiveness as cognitive classifiers. Most of the eye-gaze metrics are computed by dividing the computer screen into "cells". Then, we perform several analyses in order to select metrics for effective cognitive context classification related to our specific application; the objective of these analyses are to (i) identify appropriate ways to divide the screen into cells; (ii) select appropriate metrics for training and classification of cognitive features; and (iii) identify a suitable classification method.

  20. UTM Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal

    2017-01-01

    Conduct research, development and testing to identify airspace operations requirements to enable large-scale visual and beyond visual line of sight UAS operations in the low-altitude airspace. Use build-a-little-test-a-little strategy remote areas to urban areas Low density: No traffic management required but understanding of airspace constraints. Cooperative traffic management: Understanding of airspace constraints and other operations. Manned and unmanned traffic management: Scalable and heterogeneous operations. UTM construct consistent with FAAs risk-based strategy. UTM research platform is used for simulations and tests. UTM offers path towards scalability.

  1. UTM Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal H.

    2016-01-01

    Conduct research, development and testing to identify airspace operations requirements to enable large-scale visual and beyond visual line of sight UAS operations in the low-altitude airspace. Use build-a-little-test-a-little strategy remote areas to urban areas Low density: No traffic management required but understanding of airspace constraints. Cooperative traffic management: Understanding of airspace constraints and other operations. Manned and unmanned traffic management: Scalable and heterogeneous operations. UTM construct consistent with FAAs risk-based strategy. UTM research platform is used for simulations and tests. UTM offers path towards scalability.

  2. Analyzing the Potential for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Photogrammetry in Estimating Surface Deformations at a Geothermal Fiel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pai, H.; Burnett, J.; Sladek, C.; Wing, M.; Feigl, K. L.; Selker, J. S.; Tyler, S.; Team, P.

    2016-12-01

    UAS systems equipped with a variety of spectral imaging devices are increasingly incorporated in spatial environmental assessments of continental surfaces (e.g., digital elevation maps, vegetative coverage classifications, surface temperatures). This presented work performed by the UAS team at the Center for Transformative Environmental Monitoring Programs (AirCTEMPS) examines the potential to measure small (sub-cm) deformation from a geothermal injection experiment at Brady's geothermal field in western Nevada (USA). Areal mapping of the 700 x 270 m area of interest was conducted with a nadir pointing Sony A5100 digital camera onboard an autopiloted quadcopter. A total of 16 ground control points were installed using a TopCon GR3 GPS receiver. Two such mapping campaigns were conducted with one before and one after an anticipated surface deformation event. A digital elevation map (DEM) for each time period was created from over 1500 images having 80% overlap/sidelap by using structure from motion (SfM) via Agisoft Photoscan software. The resulting DEM resolution was 8 mm/pixel with residual aerial triangulation errors was < 5 mm. We present preliminary results from an optimized workflow which achieved errors and average differential DEM heights between campaigns at the cm-scale which is broader than the maximum expected deformation. Despite the disconnect between error and deformation severity, this study presents a unique application of sub-cm UAS-based DEMs and further distinguishes itself by comparing results to concurrent Interferometric Synthetic Radar (InSAR). The intent of our study and presentation of results is to streamline, cross-validate, and share methods to encourage further adoption of UAS imagery into the standard toolkit for environmental surface sensing across spatial scales.

  3. Chromosomal localization and sequence analysis of a human episomal sequence with in vitro differentiating activity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Boccaccio, C.; Deshatrette, J.; Meunier-Rotival, M.

    1994-05-01

    The genomic fragment carrying the human activator of liver function, previously described as an episome capable of inducing differentiation upon transfection into a dedifferentiated rat hepatoma cell line, was mapped on human chromosome 12q24.2-12q24.3. This chromosomal location was indistinguishable by in situ hybridization from that of the gene coding for the hepatic transcription factor HNF1. The sequence of the integrated form of the episome as well as its flanking sequences show that it is rich in retroposons. It contains a human ribosomal protein L21 processed pseudogene, one truncated L1Hs sequence, and 10 Alu repeats, which belong to different subfamilies.

  4. Mapping membrane activity in undiscovered peptide sequence space using machine learning

    PubMed Central

    Fulan, Benjamin M.; Wong, Gerard C. L.

    2016-01-01

    There are some ∼1,100 known antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which permeabilize microbial membranes but have diverse sequences. Here, we develop a support vector machine (SVM)-based classifier to investigate ⍺-helical AMPs and the interrelated nature of their functional commonality and sequence homology. SVM is used to search the undiscovered peptide sequence space and identify Pareto-optimal candidates that simultaneously maximize the distance σ from the SVM hyperplane (thus maximize its “antimicrobialness”) and its ⍺-helicity, but minimize mutational distance to known AMPs. By calibrating SVM machine learning results with killing assays and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we find that the SVM metric σ correlates not with a peptide’s minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), but rather its ability to generate negative Gaussian membrane curvature. This surprising result provides a topological basis for membrane activity common to AMPs. Moreover, we highlight an important distinction between the maximal recognizability of a sequence to a trained AMP classifier (its ability to generate membrane curvature) and its maximal antimicrobial efficacy. As mutational distances are increased from known AMPs, we find AMP-like sequences that are increasingly difficult for nature to discover via simple mutation. Using the sequence map as a discovery tool, we find a unexpectedly diverse taxonomy of sequences that are just as membrane-active as known AMPs, but with a broad range of primary functions distinct from AMP functions, including endogenous neuropeptides, viral fusion proteins, topogenic peptides, and amyloids. The SVM classifier is useful as a general detector of membrane activity in peptide sequences. PMID:27849600

  5. The Main Sequence of Explosive Solar Active Regions: Comparison of Emerging and Mature Active Regions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Falconer, David; Moore, Ron

    2011-01-01

    For mature active regions, an active region s magnetic flux content determines the maximum free energy the active region can have. Most Large flares and CMEs occur in active regions that are near their free-energy limit. Active-region flare power radiated in the GOES 1-8 band increases steeply as the free-energy limit is approached. We infer that the free-energy limit is set by the rate of release of an active region s free magnetic energy by flares, CMEs and coronal heating balancing the maximum rate the Sun can put free energy into the active region s magnetic field. This balance of maximum power results in explosive active regions residing in a "mainsequence" in active-region (flux content, free energy content) phase space, which sequence is analogous to the main sequence of hydrogen-burning stars in (mass, luminosity) phase space.

  6. Evaluation of Antitumor Activity of Long-Circulating and pH-Sensitive Liposomes Containing Ursolic Acid in Animal Models of Breast Tumor and Gliosarcoma.

    PubMed

    Rocha, Talita Guieiro Ribeiro; Lopes, Sávia Caldeira de Araújo; Cassali, Geovani Dantas; Ferreira, Ênio; Veloso, Emerson Soares; Leite, Elaine Amaral; Braga, Fernão Castro; Ferreira, Lucas Antônio Miranda; Balvay, Daniel; Garofalakis, Anikitos; Oliveira, Mônica Cristina; Tavitian, Bertrand

    2016-12-01

    Background Ursolic acid (UA) is a triterpene found in different plant species, possessing antitumor activity, which may be a result of its antiangiogenic effect. However, UA has low water solubility, which limits its use because the bioavailability is impaired. To overcome this inconvenience, we developed long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing ursolic acid (SpHL-UA). We investigated the antiangiogenic effect of free UA and SpHL-UA in murine brain cancer and human breast tumor models by means of determination of the relative tumor volume, dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), and histopathological analysis. Methods The animals were treated with dimethyl sulfoxide in 0.9% (w/v) NaCl, free UA, long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes without drug (SpHL), or SpHL-UA. The animals were submitted to each treatment by intraperitoneal injection for 5 days. The dose of free UA or SpHL-UA was equal to 23 mg/kg. Results Tumor growth inhibition was not observed in human breast tumor-bearing animals. For murine gliosarcoma-bearing animals, a slight tumor growth inhibition was observed in the groups treated with free UA or SpHL-UA (9% and 15%, respectively). No significant change in any of the parameters evaluated by DCE-MRI for both experimental models could be observed. Nevertheless, the evaluation of the mean values of magnetic resonance parameters of human breast tumor-bearing animals showed evidence of a possible antiangiogenic effect induced by SpHL-UA. Histopathological analysis did not present significant change for any treatment. Conclusion SpHL-UA did not show antiangiogenic activity in a gliosarcoma model and seemed to induce an antiangiogenic effect in the human breast tumor model. © The Author(s) 2016.

  7. Evaluation of Antitumor Activity of Long-Circulating and pH-Sensitive Liposomes Containing Ursolic Acid in Animal Models of Breast Tumor and Gliosarcoma

    PubMed Central

    Rocha, Talita Guieiro Ribeiro; Lopes, Sávia Caldeira de Araújo; Cassali, Geovani Dantas; Ferreira, Ênio; Veloso, Emerson Soares; Leite, Elaine Amaral; Braga, Fernão Castro; Ferreira, Lucas Antônio Miranda; Balvay, Daniel; Garofalakis, Anikitos; Oliveira, Mônica Cristina; Tavitian, Bertrand

    2016-01-01

    Background. Ursolic acid (UA) is a triterpene found in different plant species, possessing antitumor activity, which may be a result of its antiangiogenic effect. However, UA has low water solubility, which limits its use because the bioavailability is impaired. To overcome this inconvenience, we developed long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing ursolic acid (SpHL-UA). We investigated the antiangiogenic effect of free UA and SpHL-UA in murine brain cancer and human breast tumor models by means of determination of the relative tumor volume, dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), and histopathological analysis. Methods. The animals were treated with dimethyl sulfoxide in 0.9% (w/v) NaCl, free UA, long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes without drug (SpHL), or SpHL-UA. The animals were submitted to each treatment by intraperitoneal injection for 5 days. The dose of free UA or SpHL-UA was equal to 23 mg/kg. Results. Tumor growth inhibition was not observed in human breast tumor–bearing animals. For murine gliosarcoma-bearing animals, a slight tumor growth inhibition was observed in the groups treated with free UA or SpHL-UA (9% and 15%, respectively). No significant change in any of the parameters evaluated by DCE-MRI for both experimental models could be observed. Nevertheless, the evaluation of the mean values of magnetic resonance parameters of human breast tumor–bearing animals showed evidence of a possible antiangiogenic effect induced by SpHL-UA. Histopathological analysis did not present significant change for any treatment. Conclusion. SpHL-UA did not show antiangiogenic activity in a gliosarcoma model and seemed to induce an antiangiogenic effect in the human breast tumor model. PMID:27130721

  8. Uterine activity monitoring during labour--a multi-centre, blinded two-way trial of external tocodynamometry against electrohysterography.

    PubMed

    Reinhard, J; Hayes-Gill, B R; Schiermeier, S; Löser, H; Niedballa, L M; Haarmann, E; Sonnwald, A; Hatzmann, W; Heinrich, T M; Louwen, F

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the quality of intrapartum uterine activity (UA) monitoring in daily practice during the first and second stages of labour. The total duration of inadequate UA monitoring is quantified in relation to the technique applied, namely, external tocodynamometry (TOCO) or electrohysterography (EHG). 144 UA recordings, collected from 1st September 2008 until 15th October 2009 from deliveries at the Marien-Hospital Witten, Germany, were analysed by obstetricians based at different centres. The included recordings were from singleton and simultaneously with external TOCO and EHG monitored pregnancies. External TOCO and EHG UA recordings were blinded. The percentages of "adequate" UA recordings in the first and second stages of labour were much higher for the external EHG than the external TOCO mode (p<0.001). All doctors evaluated the UA assessment as "easier" (p <0.001) using the EHG compared with TOCO. Intrapartum UA monitoring in -daily practice via the EHG mode provides a more recognisable UA trace than the TOCO. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  9. Influence of time and length size feature selections for human activity sequences recognition.

    PubMed

    Fang, Hongqing; Chen, Long; Srinivasan, Raghavendiran

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, Viterbi algorithm based on a hidden Markov model is applied to recognize activity sequences from observed sensors events. Alternative features selections of time feature values of sensors events and activity length size feature values are tested, respectively, and then the results of activity sequences recognition performances of Viterbi algorithm are evaluated. The results show that the selection of larger time feature values of sensor events and/or smaller activity length size feature values will generate relatively better results on the activity sequences recognition performances. © 2013 ISA Published by ISA All rights reserved.

  10. Neural Correlates of Skill Acquisition: Decreased Cortical Activity During a Serial Interception Sequence Learning Task

    PubMed Central

    Gobel, Eric W.; Parrish, Todd B.; Reber, Paul J.

    2011-01-01

    Learning of complex motor skills requires learning of component movements as well as the sequential structure of their order and timing. Using a Serial Interception Sequence Learning (SISL) task, participants learned a sequence of precisely timed interception responses through training with a repeating sequence. Following initial implicit learning of the repeating sequence, functional MRI data were collected during performance of that known sequence and compared with activity evoked during novel sequences of actions, novel timing patterns, or both. Reduced activity was observed during the practiced sequence in a distributed bilateral network including extrastriate occipital, parietal, and premotor cortical regions. These reductions in evoked activity likely reflect improved efficiency in visuospatial processing, spatio-motor integration, motor planning, and motor execution for the trained sequence, which is likely supported by nondeclarative skill learning. In addition, the practiced sequence evoked increased activity in the left ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, while the posterior cingulate was more active during periods of better performance. Many prior studies of perceptual-motor skill learning have found increased activity in motor areas of frontal cortex (e.g., motor and premotor cortex, SMA) and striatal areas (e.g., the putamen). The change in activity observed here (i.e., decreased activity across a cortical network) may reflect skill learning that is predominantly expressed through more accurate performance rather than decreased reaction time. PMID:21771663

  11. Simultaneous activation of parallel sensory pathways promotes a grooming sequence in Drosophila

    PubMed Central

    Hampel, Stefanie; McKellar, Claire E

    2017-01-01

    A central model that describes how behavioral sequences are produced features a neural architecture that readies different movements simultaneously, and a mechanism where prioritized suppression between the movements determines their sequential performance. We previously described a model whereby suppression drives a Drosophila grooming sequence that is induced by simultaneous activation of different sensory pathways that each elicit a distinct movement (Seeds et al., 2014). Here, we confirm this model using transgenic expression to identify and optogenetically activate sensory neurons that elicit specific grooming movements. Simultaneous activation of different sensory pathways elicits a grooming sequence that resembles the naturally induced sequence. Moreover, the sequence proceeds after the sensory excitation is terminated, indicating that a persistent trace of this excitation induces the next grooming movement once the previous one is performed. This reveals a mechanism whereby parallel sensory inputs can be integrated and stored to elicit a delayed and sequential grooming response. PMID:28887878

  12. Experimental Optimization of a Free-to-Rotate Wing for Small UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Logan, Michael J.; DeLoach, Richard; Copeland, Tiwana; Vo, Steven

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses an experimental investigation conducted to optimize a free-to-rotate wing for use on a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Although free-to-rotate wings have been used for decades on various small UAS and small manned aircraft, little is known about how to optimize these unusual wings for a specific application. The paper discusses some of the design rationale of the basic wing. In addition, three main parameters were selected for "optimization", wing camber, wing pivot location, and wing center of gravity (c.g.) location. A small apparatus was constructed to enable some simple experimental analysis of these parameters. A design-of-experiment series of tests were first conducted to discern which of the main optimization parameters were most likely to have the greatest impact on the outputs of interest, namely, some measure of "stability", some measure of the lift being generated at the neutral position, and how quickly the wing "recovers" from an upset. A second set of tests were conducted to develop a response-surface numerical representation of these outputs as functions of the three primary inputs. The response surface numerical representations are then used to develop an "optimum" within the trade space investigated. The results of the optimization are then tested experimentally to validate the predictions.

  13. J-FLiC UAS Flights for Acoustic Testing Research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Motter, Mark A.; High, James W.

    2016-01-01

    The jet-powered flying testbed (J-FLiC) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) successfully completed twenty-six flights at Fort AP Hill, VA, from 27 August until September 3 2015, supporting tests of a microphone array system for aircraft noise measurement. The test vehicles, J-FLiC NAVY2 (N508NU), and J-FLiC 4 (N509NU), were flown under manual and autopiloted control in a variety of test conditions: clean at speeds ranging from 80 to 150 knots; and full landing configuration at speeds ranging from 50 to 95 knots. During the test campaign, autopilot capability was incrementally improved to ultimately provide a high degree of accuracy and repeatability of the critical test requirements for airspeed, altitude, runway alignment and position over the microphone array. Manual flights were performed for test conditions at the both ends of the speed envelope where autopiloted flight would have required flight beyond visual range and more extensive developmental work. The research objectives of the campaign were fully achieved. The ARMD Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project aims to develop the enabling capabilities/technologies that will allow prediction/reduction of aircraft noise. A primary measurement tool for ascertaining and characterizing empirically the effectiveness of various noise reduction technologies is a microphone phased array system. Such array systems need to be vetted and certified for operational use via field deployments and overflights of the array with test aircraft, in this case with sUAS aircraft such as J-FLiC.

  14. UAS imaging for automated crop lodging detection: a case study over an experimental maize field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chu, Tianxing; Starek, Michael J.; Brewer, Michael J.; Masiane, Tiisetso; Murray, Seth C.

    2017-05-01

    Lodging has been recognized as one of the major destructive factors for crop quality and yield, particularly in corn. A variety of contributing causes, e.g. disease and/or pest, weather conditions, excessive nitrogen, and high plant density, may lead to lodging before harvesting season. Traditional lodging detection strategies mainly rely on ground data collection, which is insufficient in efficiency and accuracy. To address this problem, this research focuses on the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for automated detection of crop lodging. The study was conducted over an experimental corn field at the Texas A and M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi, Texas, during the growing season of 2016. Nadir-view images of the corn field were taken by small UAS platforms equipped with consumer grade RGB and NIR cameras on a per week basis, enabling a timely observation of the plant growth. 3D structural information of the plants was reconstructed using structure-from-motion photogrammetry. The structural information was then applied to calculate crop height, and rates of growth. A lodging index for detecting corn lodging was proposed afterwards. Ground truth data of lodging was collected on a per row basis and used for fair assessment and tuning of the detection algorithm. Results show the UAS-measured height correlates well with the ground-measured height. More importantly, the lodging index can effectively reflect severity of corn lodging and yield after harvesting.

  15. UAS Integration into the NAS: HSI Full Mission Simulation Preliminary Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shively, Jay; Fern, Lisa; Rorie, Conrad

    2014-01-01

    The goal of the Full Mission Sim was to examine the effects of different command and control interfaces on UAS pilots' ability to respond to ATC commands and traffic advisories. Results suggest that higher levels of automation (i.e., waypoint-to-waypoint control interfaces) lead to longer initial response times and longer edit times. The findings demonstrate the importance of providing pilots with interfaces that facilitate their ability to get back "in the loop."

  16. A10 – UAS Control Station Ergo-nomics Considerations : Tasks CS-6 through CS-8

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-08-01

    The overall objective of the control station tasks within Project A-10 is to provide the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with information on an ergonomic design of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) control stations which will allow safe piloting o...

  17. Mapping and monitoring of sediment budgets and river change by means of UAS multi-scale, high-resolution imageries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Kuo-Jen; Tseng, Chih-Ming

    2017-04-01

    the dataset been verified firstly. The migration of the debris is well defined from DEMs and been calculated. The sediment budgets are thus been evaluated. The riverbed migration is affect both by natural sediment deposition and by human activities. The profile of the riverbed is blocked mainly in the midstream area. One-half of the debris still rested on the mid- to upstream, and in the up-slope. To the end, the UAS and the methodology used in this study is been adjusted and is capable to apply to other region for hazard monitoring, mitigation and planning.

  18. Neural correlates of skill acquisition: decreased cortical activity during a serial interception sequence learning task.

    PubMed

    Gobel, Eric W; Parrish, Todd B; Reber, Paul J

    2011-10-15

    Learning of complex motor skills requires learning of component movements as well as the sequential structure of their order and timing. Using a Serial Interception Sequence Learning (SISL) task, participants learned a sequence of precisely timed interception responses through training with a repeating sequence. Following initial implicit learning of the repeating sequence, functional MRI data were collected during performance of that known sequence and compared with activity evoked during novel sequences of actions, novel timing patterns, or both. Reduced activity was observed during the practiced sequence in a distributed bilateral network including extrastriate occipital, parietal, and premotor cortical regions. These reductions in evoked activity likely reflect improved efficiency in visuospatial processing, spatio-motor integration, motor planning, and motor execution for the trained sequence, which is likely supported by nondeclarative skill learning. In addition, the practiced sequence evoked increased activity in the left ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex, while the posterior cingulate was more active during periods of better performance. Many prior studies of perceptual-motor skill learning have found increased activity in motor areas of the frontal cortex (e.g., motor and premotor cortex, SMA) and striatal areas (e.g., the putamen). The change in activity observed here (i.e., decreased activity across a cortical network) may reflect skill learning that is predominantly expressed through more accurate performance rather than decreased reaction time. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. TigerShark UAS noise flight test at Griffiss Airport : letter report to Dr. Mehmet Marsan

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-05-27

    "This memorandum documents preliminary results of the noise flight test conducted on the Navmar TigerShark UAS at Griffiss International Airport (KRME, http://www.ocgov.net/airport) in Rome, New York on May 17, 2016. This memorandum is intended to pr...

  20. Got Point Clouds: Characterizing Canopy Structure With Active and Passive Sensors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Popescu, S. C.; Malambo, L.; Sheridan, R.; Putman, E.; Murray, S.; Rooney, W.; Rajan, N.

    2016-12-01

    Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) provide the means to acquire highly customized aerial data at local scale with a multitude of sensors. UAS allow us to obtain affordably repeated observations of canopy structure for agricultural and natural resources applications by using passive optical sensors, such as cameras and photogrammetric techniques, and active sensors, such as lidar (Light Detection and Ranging). The objectives of this presentation are to: (1) offer a brief overview of UAS used for agriculture and natural resources studies, (2) describe experiences in conducting agriculture phenotyping and forest vegetation measurements, and (3) give details on the methodology developed for image and lidar data processing for characterizing the three dimensional structure of plant canopies. The UAS types used for this purpose included rotary platforms, such as quadcopters, hexacopters, and octocopters, with a payload capacity of up to 19 lbs. The sensors that collected data over two crop seasons include multispectral cameras in the visible color spectrum and near infrared, and UAS-lidar. For ground reference data we used terrestrial lidar scanners and field measurements. Results comparing UAS and terrestrial measurements show high correlation and open new areas of scientific investigation of crop canopies previously not possible with affordable techniques.

  1. Epigenetic modifications of triterpenoid ursolic acid in activating Nrf2 and blocking cellular transformation of mouse epidermal cells

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Hyuck; Ramirez, Christina N.; Su, Zheng-Yuan; Kong, Ah-Ng Tony

    2016-01-01

    Ursolic acid (UA), a well-known natural triterpenoid found in abundance in blueberries, cranberries and apple peels, has been reported to possess many beneficial health effects. These effects include anti-cancer activity in various cancers, such as skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a master regulator of anti-oxidative stress response with anti-carcinogenic activity against UV- and chemical-induced tumor formation in the skin. Recent studies show that epigenetic modifications of Nrf2 play an important role in cancer prevention. However the epigenetic impact of UA on Nrf2 signaling remains poorly understood in skin cancer. In this study, we investigated the epigenetic effects of UA on mouse epidermal JB6 P+ cells. UA inhibited cellular transformation by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at a concentration at which the cytotoxicity was no more than 25%. Under this condition, UA induced the expression of the Nrf2-mediated detoxifying/antioxidant enzymes heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1). DNA methylation analysis revealed that UA demethylated the first 15 CpG sites of the Nrf2 promoter region, which correlated with the re-expression of Nrf2. Furthermore, UA reduced the expression of epigenetic modifying enzymes, including the DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) DNMT1 and DNMT3a and the histone deacetylases (HDACs) HDAC1, 2, 3, and 8 (Class I) and HDAC6 and 7 (Class II), and HDAC activity. Taken together, these results suggest that the epigenetic effects of the triterpenoid UA could potentially contribute to its beneficial effects, including the prevention of skin cancer. PMID:27260468

  2. Enabling Civilian Low-Altitude Airspace and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal

    2014-01-01

    UAS operations will be safer if a UTM system is available to support the functions associated with Airspace management and geo-fencing (reduce risk of accidents, impact to other operations, and community concerns); Weather and severe wind integration (avoid severe weather areas based on prediction); Predict and manage congestion (mission safety);Terrain and man-made objects database and avoidance; Maintain safe separation (mission safety and assurance of other assets); Allow only authenticated operations (avoid unauthorized airspace use).

  3. NanoPack: visualizing and processing long read sequencing data.

    PubMed

    De Coster, Wouter; D'Hert, Svenn; Schultz, Darrin T; Cruts, Marc; Van Broeckhoven, Christine

    2018-03-14

    Here we describe NanoPack, a set of tools developed for visualization and processing of long read sequencing data from Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Pacific Biosciences. The NanoPack tools are written in Python3 and released under the GNU GPL3.0 License. The source code can be found at https://github.com/wdecoster/nanopack, together with links to separate scripts and their documentation. The scripts are compatible with Linux, Mac OS and the MS Windows 10 subsystem for Linux and are available as a graphical user interface, a web service at http://nanoplot.bioinf.be and command line tools. wouter.decoster@molgen.vib-ua.be. Supplementary tables and figures are available at Bioinformatics online.

  4. Development of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for Scaling Terrestrial Ecosystem Traits

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, R.; McMahon, A. M.; Serbin, S.; Rogers, A.

    2015-12-01

    The next generation of Ecosystem and Earth System Models (EESMs) will require detailed information on ecosystem structure and function, including properties of vegetation related to carbon (C), water, and energy cycling, in order to project the future state of ecosystems. High spatial-temporal resolution measurements of terrestrial ecosystem are also important for EESMs, because they can provide critical inputs and benchmark datasets for evaluation of EESMs simulations across scales. The recent development of high-quality, low-altitude remote sensing platforms or small UAS (< 25 kg) enables measurements of terrestrial ecosystems at unprecedented temporal and spatial scales. Specifically, these new platforms can provide detailed information on patterns and processes of terrestrial ecosystems at a critical intermediate scale between point measurements and suborbital and satellite platforms. Given their potential for sub-decimeter spatial resolution, improved mission safety, high revisit frequency, and reduced operation cost, these platforms are of particular interest in the development of ecological scaling algorithms to parameterize and benchmark EESMs, particularly over complex and remote terrain. Our group is developing a small UAS platform and integrated sensor package focused on measurement needs for scaling and informing ecosystem modeling activities, as well as scaling and mapping plant functional traits. To do this we are developing an integrated software workflow and hardware package using off-the-shelf instrumentation including a high-resolution digital camera for Structure from Motion, spectroradiometer, and a thermal infrared camera. Our workflow includes platform design, measurement, image processing, data management, and information extraction. The fusion of 3D structure information, thermal-infrared imagery, and spectroscopic measurements, will provide a foundation for the development of ecological scaling and mapping algorithms. Our initial focus is

  5. Anticipatory activity in primary motor cortex codes memorized movement sequences.

    PubMed

    Lu, Xiaofeng; Ashe, James

    2005-03-24

    Movement sequences, defined both by the component movements and by the serial order in which they are produced, are fundamental building blocks of motor behavior. The serial order of sequence production is strongly encoded in medial motor areas. It is not known to what extent sequences are further elaborated or encoded in primary motor cortex. Here, we describe cells in the primary motor cortex of the monkey that show anticipatory activity exclusively related to a specific memorized sequence of upcoming movements. In addition, the injection of muscimol, a GABA agonist, into motor cortex resulted in an increase in the error rate during sequence production, without concomitant effects on nonsequenced motor performance. Our results challenge the role of medial motor areas in the control of well-practiced movement sequences and suggest that motor cortex contains a complete apparatus for the planning and production of this complex behavior.

  6. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project: Detect and Avoid Display Evaluations in Support of SC-228 Minimum Operational Performance Standards Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa Carolynn

    2017-01-01

    The primary activity for the UAS-NAS Human Systems Integration (HSI) sub-project in Phase 1 was support of RTCA Special Committee 228 Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS). We provide data on the effect of various Detect and Avoid (DAA) display features with respect to pilot performance of the remain well clear function in order to determine the minimum requirements for DAA displays.

  7. Functional dissection of the alphavirus capsid protease: sequence requirements for activity.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Saijo; Rai, Jagdish; John, Lijo; Günther, Stephan; Drosten, Christian; Pützer, Brigitte M; Schaefer, Stephan

    2010-11-18

    The alphavirus capsid is multifunctional and plays a key role in the viral life cycle. The nucleocapsid domain is released by the self-cleavage activity of the serine protease domain within the capsid. All alphaviruses analyzed to date show this autocatalytic cleavage. Here we have analyzed the sequence requirements for the cleavage activity of Chikungunya virus capsid protease of genus alphavirus. Amongst alphaviruses, the C-terminal amino acid tryptophan (W261) is conserved and found to be important for the cleavage. Mutating tryptophan to alanine (W261A) completely inactivated the protease. Other amino acids near W261 were not having any effect on the activity of this protease. However, serine protease inhibitor AEBSF did not inhibit the activity. Through error-prone PCR we found that isoleucine 227 is important for the effective activity. The loss of activity was analyzed further by molecular modelling and comparison of WT and mutant structures. It was found that lysine introduced at position 227 is spatially very close to the catalytic triad and may disrupt electrostatic interactions in the catalytic site and thus inactivate the enzyme. We are also examining other sequence requirements for this protease activity. We analyzed various amino acid sequence requirements for the activity of ChikV capsid protease and found that amino acids outside the catalytic triads are important for the activity.

  8. Automatic Extraction of Small Spatial Plots from Geo-Registered UAS Imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cherkauer, Keith; Hearst, Anthony

    2015-04-01

    Accurate extraction of spatial plots from high-resolution imagery acquired by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), is a prerequisite for accurate assessment of experimental plots in many geoscience fields. If the imagery is correctly geo-registered, then it may be possible to accurately extract plots from the imagery based on their map coordinates. To test this approach, a UAS was used to acquire visual imagery of 5 ha of soybean fields containing 6.0 m2 plots in a complex planting scheme. Sixteen artificial targets were setup in the fields before flights and different spatial configurations of 0 to 6 targets were used as Ground Control Points (GCPs) for geo-registration, resulting in a total of 175 geo-registered image mosaics with a broad range of geo-registration accuracies. Geo-registration accuracy was quantified based on the horizontal Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of targets used as checkpoints. Twenty test plots were extracted from the geo-registered imagery. Plot extraction accuracy was quantified based on the percentage of the desired plot area that was extracted. It was found that using 4 GCPs along the perimeter of the field minimized the horizontal RMSE and enabled a plot extraction accuracy of at least 70%, with a mean plot extraction accuracy of 92%. The methods developed are suitable for work in many fields where replicates across time and space are necessary to quantify variability.

  9. Prediction of Human Activity by Discovering Temporal Sequence Patterns.

    PubMed

    Li, Kang; Fu, Yun

    2014-08-01

    Early prediction of ongoing human activity has become more valuable in a large variety of time-critical applications. To build an effective representation for prediction, human activities can be characterized by a complex temporal composition of constituent simple actions and interacting objects. Different from early detection on short-duration simple actions, we propose a novel framework for long -duration complex activity prediction by discovering three key aspects of activity: Causality, Context-cue, and Predictability. The major contributions of our work include: (1) a general framework is proposed to systematically address the problem of complex activity prediction by mining temporal sequence patterns; (2) probabilistic suffix tree (PST) is introduced to model causal relationships between constituent actions, where both large and small order Markov dependencies between action units are captured; (3) the context-cue, especially interactive objects information, is modeled through sequential pattern mining (SPM), where a series of action and object co-occurrence are encoded as a complex symbolic sequence; (4) we also present a predictive accumulative function (PAF) to depict the predictability of each kind of activity. The effectiveness of our approach is evaluated on two experimental scenarios with two data sets for each: action-only prediction and context-aware prediction. Our method achieves superior performance for predicting global activity classes and local action units.

  10. Design Requirements for Weaponizing Man-Portable UAS in Support of Counter-Sniper Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-09-01

    paint ball at two times during the shot ......................................................................75 Figure 40. Nonlethal weaponized...development in man-portable UAS resulted in a contract between AeroVironment and the USMC for the RQ-14 Dragon Eye/Swift: The UAV was operationally...used for the first time during OIF in 2003 for reconnaissance and battle damage assessment. In November 2003, the Dragon Eye production prime

  11. Investigation of UAS-based SfM Photogrammetry and Bathymetric Inversion for Mapping a Shallow Water, Low-energy Littoral Zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Starek, M. J.

    2016-02-01

    Small-scale Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) enable the integration of light weight, low-cost imaging payloads providing a flexible and efficient means for conducting localized littoral surveys. Through exploitation of high imagery overlap and minimal aiding technology, photogrammetric techniques and structure from motion (SfM) methods can be applied to derive accurate 2D and 3D geospatial data about the observed terrain. Furthermore, small-scale UAS enable rapid response capabilities and provide the potential for collecting repeated observations at high temporal frequency making them an exceptional tool for monitoring dynamic coastal environments. This study examines the accuracy of topographic and bathymetric data derived from a UAS-based photogrammetric survey of a low-energy, shallow-water littoral zone. The study site is, an engineered and restored beach, located on Ward Island in Corpus Christi Bay, TX. Two UAS surveys were conducted roughly two months apart using a system called the SenseFly eBee. The eBee is an ultra-lightweight ( 0.7 kg) fully autonomous platform and it was equipped with a 16 megapixel RGB camera. The objectives were to: (1) assess accuracy differences in SfM derived point clouds over exposed and submerged beach; (2) evaluate effects of scene-to-scene variability and flight design on derived data products. Several key components were analyzed in order to assess the accuracy and usefulness of elevation data derived from the UAS/SfM approach. First, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the impacts of image scale and match constraints on the fidelity of 3D point cloud data derived from the SfM processing workflow. Evaluation focused on differences in accuracy and density of point data over exposed and submerged beach. Second, a noise filter was developed to remove non-subtrate returns from the SfM cloud for bathymetric modeling. Finally, a bathymetric inversion approach was applied to derive an estimate of water depth. Results show

  12. Purification of mutacin III from group III Streptococcus mutans UA787 and genetic analyses of mutacin III biosynthesis genes.

    PubMed

    Qi, F; Chen, P; Caufield, P W

    1999-09-01

    Previously, members of our group reported the isolation and characterization of mutacin II from Streptococcus mutans T8 and the genetic analyses of the mutacin II biosynthesis genes (J. Novak, P. W. Caufield, and E. J. Miller, J. Bacteriol. 176:4316-4320, 1994; F. Qi, P. Chen, and P. W. Caufield, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:652-658, 1999; P. Chen, F. Qi, J. Novak, and P. W. Caufield, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:1356-1360, 1999). In this study, we cloned and sequenced the mutacin III biosynthesis gene locus from a group III strain of S. mutans, UA787. DNA sequence analysis revealed eight open reading frames, which we designated mutR, -A, -A', -B, -C, -D, -P, and -T. MutR bears strong homology with MutR of mutacin II, while MutA, -B, -C, -D, -P, and -T are counterparts of proteins in the lantibiotic epidermin group. MutA' has 60% amino acid identity with MutA and therefore appears to be a duplicate of MutA. Insertional inactivation demonstrated that mutA is an essential gene for mutacin III production, while mutA' is not required. Mutacin III was purified to homogeneity by using reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography. N-terminal peptide sequencing of the purified mutacin III determined mutA to be the structural gene for prepromutacin III. The molecular mass of the purified peptide was measured by laser disorption mass spectrophotometry and found to be 2,266.43 Da, consistent with our supposition that mutacin III has posttranslational modifications similar to those of the lantibiotic epidermin.

  13. Bridging the provenance gap: opportunities and challenges tracking in and ex silico provenance in sUAS workflows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomer, A.

    2017-12-01

    Data provenance - the record of the varied processes that went into the creation of a dataset, as well as the relationships between resulting data objects - is necessary to support the reusability, reproducibility and reliability of earth science data. In sUAS-based research, capturing provenance can be particularly challenging because of the breadth and distributed nature of the many platforms used to collect, process and analyze data. In any given project, multiple drones, controllers, computers, software systems, sensors, cameras, imaging processing algorithms and data processing workflows are used over sometimes long periods of time. These platforms and processing result in dozens - if not hundreds - of data products in varying stages of readiness-for-analysis and sharing. Provenance tracking mechanisms are needed to make the relationships between these many data products explicit, and therefore more reusable and shareable. In this talk, I discuss opportunities and challenges in tracking provenance in sUAS-based research, and identify gaps in current workflow-capture technologies. I draw on prior work conducted as part of the IMLS-funded Site-Based Data Curation project in which we developed methods of documenting in and ex silico (that is, computational and non-computation) workflows, and demonstrate this approaches applicability to research with sUASes. I conclude with a discussion of ontologies and other semantic technologies that have potential application in sUAS research.

  14. Determinants that specify the integration pattern of retrotransposon Tf1 in the fbp1 promoter of Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

    PubMed

    Majumdar, Anasuya; Chatterjee, Atreyi Ghatak; Ripmaster, Tracy L; Levin, Henry L

    2011-01-01

    Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are closely related to retroviruses and, as such, are important models for the study of viral integration and target site selection. The transposon Tf1 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe integrates with a strong preference for the promoters of polymerase II (Pol II)-transcribed genes. Previous work in vivo with plasmid-based targets revealed that the patterns of insertion were promoter specific and highly reproducible. To determine which features of promoters are recognized by Tf1, we studied integration in a promoter that has been characterized. The promoter of fbp1 has two upstream activating sequences, UAS1 and UAS2. We found that integration was targeted to two windows, one 180 nucleotides (nt) upstream and the other 30 to 40 nt downstream of UAS1. A series of deletions in the promoter showed that the integration activities of these two regions functioned autonomously. Integration assays of UAS2 and of a synthetic promoter demonstrated that strong promoter activity alone was not sufficient to direct integration. The factors that modulate the transcription activities of UAS1 and UAS2 include the activators Atf1p, Pcr1p, and Rst2p as well as the repressors Tup11p, Tup12p, and Pka1p. Strains lacking each of these proteins revealed that Atf1p alone mediated the sites of integration. These data indicate that Atf1p plays a direct and specific role in targeting integration in the promoter of fbp1.

  15. Determinants That Specify the Integration Pattern of Retrotransposon Tf1 in the fbp1 Promoter of Schizosaccharomyces pombe ▿ †

    PubMed Central

    Majumdar, Anasuya; Chatterjee, Atreyi Ghatak; Ripmaster, Tracy L.; Levin, Henry L.

    2011-01-01

    Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are closely related to retroviruses and, as such, are important models for the study of viral integration and target site selection. The transposon Tf1 of Schizosaccharomyces pombe integrates with a strong preference for the promoters of polymerase II (Pol II)-transcribed genes. Previous work in vivo with plasmid-based targets revealed that the patterns of insertion were promoter specific and highly reproducible. To determine which features of promoters are recognized by Tf1, we studied integration in a promoter that has been characterized. The promoter of fbp1 has two upstream activating sequences, UAS1 and UAS2. We found that integration was targeted to two windows, one 180 nucleotides (nt) upstream and the other 30 to 40 nt downstream of UAS1. A series of deletions in the promoter showed that the integration activities of these two regions functioned autonomously. Integration assays of UAS2 and of a synthetic promoter demonstrated that strong promoter activity alone was not sufficient to direct integration. The factors that modulate the transcription activities of UAS1 and UAS2 include the activators Atf1p, Pcr1p, and Rst2p as well as the repressors Tup11p, Tup12p, and Pka1p. Strains lacking each of these proteins revealed that Atf1p alone mediated the sites of integration. These data indicate that Atf1p plays a direct and specific role in targeting integration in the promoter of fbp1. PMID:20980525

  16. Optimal rotation sequences for active perception

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nakath, David; Rachuy, Carsten; Clemens, Joachim; Schill, Kerstin

    2016-05-01

    One major objective of autonomous systems navigating in dynamic environments is gathering information needed for self localization, decision making, and path planning. To account for this, such systems are usually equipped with multiple types of sensors. As these sensors often have a limited field of view and a fixed orientation, the task of active perception breaks down to the problem of calculating alignment sequences which maximize the information gain regarding expected measurements. Action sequences that rotate the system according to the calculated optimal patterns then have to be generated. In this paper we present an approach for calculating these sequences for an autonomous system equipped with multiple sensors. We use a particle filter for multi- sensor fusion and state estimation. The planning task is modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP), where the system decides in each step, what actions to perform next. The optimal control policy, which provides the best action depending on the current estimated state, maximizes the expected cumulative reward. The latter is computed from the expected information gain of all sensors over time using value iteration. The algorithm is applied to a manifold representation of the joint space of rotation and time. We show the performance of the approach in a spacecraft navigation scenario where the information gain is changing over time, caused by the dynamic environment and the continuous movement of the spacecraft

  17. Development of an UAS for post-earthquake disaster surveying and its application in Ms7.0 Lushan Earthquake, Sichuan, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Zhiqiang; Yang, Jiansi; Peng, Chaoyong; Wu, Ying; Jiang, Xudong; Li, Rui; Zheng, Yu; Gao, Yu; Liu, Sha; Tian, Baofeng

    2014-07-01

    The main objective of early impact analysis after a disaster is to produce georeferenced data about the affected areas, in support of humanitarian action. Crucial information is the identification of the disaster areas and the estimation of the number of people involved. Satellite imageries are mainly used as input data for early impact analysis in medium and large scale map. Analyses aimed at defining the damages of infrastructure and/or to facilities require suitable data, such as high resolution satellite images. Unfortunately, satellite images are not always available in a few days after the event. Therefore in situ surveys are preferred. Innovations in Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) have allowed them to become valuable tools in capturing and assessing the extents and amount of damages. Flexibility, safety, ease of operation, and relatively low-cost of ownership and operation facilitate UAS implementation in disaster situations. In this paper, an example of UAS was developed for rapidly obtaining disaster information. Data acquisition at specified scales was successfully performed with the chosen fixed-wing UAS. For the image analysis, a photogrammetric workflow was applied to cope with the very high resolution of the images acquired without ground control points. Tests showed that the system plays an important role in the work of investigating and gathering information about disaster in epicentral areas of the earthquake, such as road detection, secondary disaster investigation, and rapid disaster evaluation. It can effectively provide earthquake information to salvation headquarters for swiftly developing the relief measures and improving the efficiency of emergency rescue.

  18. Validation of Spaceborne Radar Surface Water Mapping with Optical sUAS Images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li-Chee-Ming, J.; Murnaghan, K.; Sherman, D.; Poncos, V.; Brisco, B.; Armenakis, C.

    2015-08-01

    The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) has over 40 years of experience with airborne and spaceborne sensors and is now starting to use small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) to validate products from large coverage area sensors and create new methodologies for very high resolution products. Wetlands have several functions including water storage and retention which can reduce flooding and provide continuous flow for hydroelectric generation and irrigation for agriculture. Synthetic Aperture Radar is well suited as a tool for monitoring surface water by supplying acquisitions irrespective of cloud cover or time of day. Wetlands can be subdivided into three classes: open water, flooded vegetation and upland which can vary seasonally with time and water level changes. RADARSAT-2 data from the Wide-Ultra Fine, Spotlight and Fine Quad-Pol modes has been used to map the open water in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, Alberta using intensity thresholding. We also use spotlight modes for higher resolution and the fully polarimetric mode (FQ) for polarimetric decomposition. Validation of these products will be done using a low altitude flying sUAS to generate optical georeferenced images. This project provides methodologies which could be used for flood mapping as well as ecological monitoring.

  19. Small UAS Detect and Avoid Requirements Necessary for Limited Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Operations

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-05-19

    Potential sUAS BVLOS operational scenarios/use cases and DAA approaches were collected through a number of industry wide data calls. Every 333 Exemption holder was solicited for this same information. Summary information from more than 5,000 exemptio...

  20. Suppression of AMF/PGI-mediated tumorigenic activities by ursolic acid in cultured hepatoma cells and in a mouse model.

    PubMed

    Shih, Wen-Ling; Yu, Feng-Ling; Chang, Ching-Dong; Liao, Ming-Huei; Wu, Hung-Yi; Lin, Ping-Yuan

    2013-10-01

    Our previous studies demonstrated that autocrine motility factor/phosphoglucose isomerase (AMF/PGI) possesses tumorigenic activities through the modulation of intracellular signaling. We then investigated the effects of ursolic acid (UA), oleanolic acid (OA), tangeretin, and nobiletin against AMF/PGI-mediated oncogenesis in cultured stable Huh7 and Hep3B cells expressing wild-type or mutated AMF/PGI and in a mouse model in this study. The working concentrations of the tested compounds were lower than their IC10 , which was determined by Brdu incorporation and colony formation assay. Only UA efficiently suppressed the AMF/PGI-induced Huh7 cell migration and MMP-3 secretion. Additionally, UA inhibited the AMF/PGI-mediated protection against TGF-β-induced apoptosis in Hep3B cells, whereas OA, tangeretin, and nobiletin had no effect. In Huh7 cells and tumor tissues, UA disrupted the Src/RhoA/PI 3-kinase signaling and complex formation induced by AMF/PGI. In the Hep3B system, UA dramatically suppressed AMF/PGI-induced anti-apoptotic signaling transmission, including Akt, p85, Bad, and Stat3 phosphorylation. AMF/PGI enhances tumor growth, angiogenesis, and pulmonary metastasis in mice, which is correlated with its enzymatic activity, and critically, UA intraperitoneal injection reduces the tumorigenesis in vivo, enhances apoptosis in tumor tissues and also prolongs mouse survival. Combination of sub-optimal dose of UA and cisplatin, a synergistic tumor cell-killing effects was found. Thus, UA modulates intracellular signaling and might serve as a functional natural compound for preventing or alleviating hepatocellular carcinoma. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. UAS Integration in the NAS Project Overview: RTCA SC-228 Plenary DAA Working Group 5

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Randall, Debra K.

    2014-01-01

    The presentation is intended to allow the public to know and understand NASA's plans for integrated test to allow them the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions. The integrated testing will support verification and validation of the RTCA SC-228 UAS minimum operation performance standard requirements.

  2. Learning by Subtraction: Hippocampal Activity and Effects of Ethanol during the Acquisition and Performance of Response Sequences

    PubMed Central

    Ketchum, Myles J.; Weyand, Theodore G.; Weed, Peter F.; Winsauer, Peter J.

    2015-01-01

    Learning is believed to be reflected in the activity of the hippocampus. However, neural correlates of learning have been difficult to characterize because hippocampal activity is integrated with ongoing behavior. To address this issue, male rats (n=5) implanted with electrodes (n=14) in the CA1 subfield responded during two tasks within a single test session. In one task, subjects acquired a new 3-response sequence (acquisition), whereas in the other task, subjects completed a well-rehearsed 3-response sequence (performance). Both tasks though could be completed using an identical response topography and used the same sensory stimuli and schedule of reinforcement. More important, comparing neural patterns during sequence acquisition to those during sequence performance allows for a subtractive approach whereby activity associated with learning could potentially be dissociated from the activity associated with ongoing behavior. At sites where CA1 activity was closely associated with behavior, the patterns of activity were differentially modulated by key position and the serial position of a response within the schedule of reinforcement. Temporal shifts between peak activity and responding on particular keys also occurred during sequence acquisition, but not during sequence performance. Ethanol disrupted CA1 activity while producing rate-decreasing effects in both tasks and error-increasing effects that were more selective for sequence acquisition than sequence performance. Ethanol also produced alterations in the magnitude of modulations and temporal pattern of CA1 activity, although these effects were not selective for sequence acquisition. Similar to ethanol, hippocampal micro-stimulation decreased response rate in both tasks and selectively increased the percentage of errors during sequence acquisition, and provided a more direct demonstration of hippocampal involvement during sequence acquisition. Together, these results strongly support the notion that ethanol

  3. UAS stealth: target pursuit at constant distance using a bio-inspired motion camouflage guidance law.

    PubMed

    Strydom, Reuben; Srinivasan, Mandyam V

    2017-09-21

    The aim of this study is to derive a guidance law by which an unmanned aerial system(s) (UAS) can pursue a moving target at a constant distance, while concealing its own motion. We derive a closed-form solution for the trajectory of the UAS by imposing two key constraints: (1) the shadower moves in such a way as to be perceived as a stationary object by the shadowee, and (2) the distance between the shadower and shadowee is kept constant. Additionally, the theory presented in this paper considers constraints on the maximum achievable speed and acceleration of the shadower. Our theory is tested through Matlab simulations, which validate the camouflage strategy for both 2D and 3D conditions. Furthermore, experiments using a realistic vision-based implementation are conducted in a virtual environment, where the results demonstrate that even with noisy state information it is possible to remain well camouflaged using the constant distance motion camouflage technique.

  4. Safe Autonomous Flight Environment (SAFE50) for the Notional Last 50 ft of Operation of 55 lb Class of UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krishnakumar, Kalmanje; Kopardekar, Parimal; Ippolito, Corey; Melton, John E.; Stepanyan, Vahram; Sankararaman, Shankar; Nikaido, Ben

    2017-01-01

    The most difficult phase of small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) deployment is autonomous operations below the notional 50 ft in urban landscapes. Understanding the feasibility of safely flying sUAS autonomously below 50 ft is a game changer for many civilian applications. This paper outlines three areas of research currently underway which address key challenges for flight in the urban landscape. These are: (1) Off-line and On-board wind estimation and accommodation; (2) Real-time trajectory planning via characterization of obstacles using a LIDAR; (3) On-board information fusion for real-time decision-making and safe trajectory generation.

  5. Preliminary study of a millimeter wave FMCW InSAR for UAS indoor navigation.

    PubMed

    Scannapieco, Antonio F; Renga, Alfredo; Moccia, Antonio

    2015-01-22

    Small autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) could be used for indoor inspection in emergency missions, such as damage assessment or the search for survivors in dangerous environments, e.g., power plants, underground railways, mines and industrial warehouses. Two basic functions are required to carry out these tasks, that is autonomous GPS-denied navigation with obstacle detection and high-resolution 3Dmapping with moving target detection. State-of-the-art sensors for UAS are very sensitive to environmental conditions and often fail in the case of poor visibility caused by dust, fog, smoke, flames or other factors that are met as nominal mission scenarios when operating indoors. This paper is a preliminary study concerning an innovative radar sensor based on the interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) principle, which has the potential to satisfy stringent requirements set by indoor autonomous operation. An architectural solution based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) scheme is proposed after a detailed analysis of existing compact and lightweight SAR. A preliminary system design is obtained, and the main imaging peculiarities of the novel sensor are discussed, demonstrating that high-resolution, high-quality observation of an assigned control volume can be achieved.

  6. Preliminary Study of a Millimeter Wave FMCW InSAR for UAS Indoor Navigation

    PubMed Central

    Scannapieco, Antonio F.; Renga, Alfredo; Moccia, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Small autonomous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) could be used for indoor inspection in emergency missions, such as damage assessment or the search for survivors in dangerous environments, e.g., power plants, underground railways, mines and industrial warehouses. Two basic functions are required to carry out these tasks, that is autonomous GPS-denied navigation with obstacle detection and high-resolution 3D mapping with moving target detection. State-of-the-art sensors for UAS are very sensitive to environmental conditions and often fail in the case of poor visibility caused by dust, fog, smoke, flames or other factors that are met as nominal mission scenarios when operating indoors. This paper is a preliminary study concerning an innovative radar sensor based on the interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) principle, which has the potential to satisfy stringent requirements set by indoor autonomous operation. An architectural solution based on a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) scheme is proposed after a detailed analysis of existing compact and lightweight SAR. A preliminary system design is obtained, and the main imaging peculiarities of the novel sensor are discussed, demonstrating that high-resolution, high-quality observation of an assigned control volume can be achieved. PMID:25621606

  7. In vitro activity of the new water-dispersible Fe3O4@usnic acid nanostructure against planktonic and sessile bacterial cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grumezescu, Alexandru Mihai; Cotar, Ani Ioana; Andronescu, Ecaterina; Ficai, Anton; Ghitulica, Cristina Daniela; Grumezescu, Valentina; Vasile, Bogdan Stefan; Chifiriuc, Mariana Carmen

    2013-07-01

    A new water-dispersible nanostructure based on magnetite (Fe3O4) and usnic acid (UA) was prepared in a well-shaped spherical form by a precipitation method. Nanoparticles were well individualized and homogeneous in size. The presence of Fe3O4@UA was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The UA was entrapped in the magnetic nanoparticles during preparation and the amount of entrapped UA was estimated by thermogravimetric analysis. Fabricated nanostructures were tested on planktonic cells growth (minimal inhibitory concentration assay) and biofilm development on Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus), Enterococcus faecalis ( E. faecalis) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli ( E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) reference strains. Concerning the influence of Fe3O4@UA on the planktonic bacterial cells, the functionalized magnetic nanoparticles exhibited a significantly improved antimicrobial activity against E. faecalis and E. coli, as compared with the Fe3O4 control. The UA incorporated into the magnetic nanoparticles exhibited a very significant inhibitory effect on the biofilm formed by the S. aureus and E. faecalis, on a wide range of concentrations, while in case of the Gram-negative microbial strains, the UA-loaded nanoparticles inhibited the E. coli biofilm development, only at high concentrations, while for P. aeruginosa biofilms, no inhibitory effect was observed. The obtained results demonstrate that the new water-dispersible Fe3O4@UA nanosystem, combining the advantages of the intrinsic antimicrobial features of the UA with the higher surface to volume ratio provided by the magnetic nanocarrier dispersible in water, exhibits efficient antimicrobial activity against planktonic and adherent cells, especially on Gram-positive strains.

  8. A DNA Sequence Element That Advances Replication Origin Activation Time in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    PubMed Central

    Pohl, Thomas J.; Kolor, Katherine; Fangman, Walton L.; Brewer, Bonita J.; Raghuraman, M. K.

    2013-01-01

    Eukaryotic origins of DNA replication undergo activation at various times in S-phase, allowing the genome to be duplicated in a temporally staggered fashion. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the activation times of individual origins are not intrinsic to those origins but are instead governed by surrounding sequences. Currently, there are two examples of DNA sequences that are known to advance origin activation time, centromeres and forkhead transcription factor binding sites. By combining deletion and linker scanning mutational analysis with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to measure fork direction in the context of a two-origin plasmid, we have identified and characterized a 19- to 23-bp and a larger 584-bp DNA sequence that are capable of advancing origin activation time. PMID:24022751

  9. A DNA sequence element that advances replication origin activation time in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Pohl, Thomas J; Kolor, Katherine; Fangman, Walton L; Brewer, Bonita J; Raghuraman, M K

    2013-11-06

    Eukaryotic origins of DNA replication undergo activation at various times in S-phase, allowing the genome to be duplicated in a temporally staggered fashion. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the activation times of individual origins are not intrinsic to those origins but are instead governed by surrounding sequences. Currently, there are two examples of DNA sequences that are known to advance origin activation time, centromeres and forkhead transcription factor binding sites. By combining deletion and linker scanning mutational analysis with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to measure fork direction in the context of a two-origin plasmid, we have identified and characterized a 19- to 23-bp and a larger 584-bp DNA sequence that are capable of advancing origin activation time.

  10. Mission Adaptive UAS Platform for Earth Science Resource Assessment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dunagan, S.; Fladeland, M.; Ippolito, C.; Knudson, M.

    2015-01-01

    NASA Ames Research Center has led a number of important Earth science remote sensing missions including several directed at the assessment of natural resources. A key asset for accessing high risk airspace has been the 180 kg class SIERRA UAS platform, providing mission durations of up to 8 hrs at altitudes up to 3 km. Recent improvements to this mission capability are embodied in the incipient SIERRA-B variant. Two resource mapping problems having unusual mission characteristics requiring a mission adaptive capability are explored here. One example involves the requirement for careful control over solar angle geometry for passive reflectance measurements. This challenges the management of resources in the coastal ocean where solar angle combines with sea state to produce surface glint that can obscure the ocean color signal. Furthermore, as for all scanning imager applications, the primary flight control priority to fly the UAS directly to the next waypoint should compromise with the requirement to minimize roll and crab effects in the imagery. A second example involves the mapping of natural resources in the Earth's crust using precision magnetometry. In this case the vehicle flight path must be oriented to optimize magnetic flux gradients over a spatial domain having continually emerging features, while optimizing the efficiency of the spatial mapping task. These requirements were highlighted in several recent Earth Science missions including the October 2013 OCEANIA mission directed at improving the capability for hyperspectral reflectance measurements in the coastal ocean, and the Surprise Valley Mission directed at mapping sub-surface mineral composition and faults, using high-sensitivity magentometry. This paper reports the development of specific aircraft control approaches to incorporate the unusual and demanding requirements to manage solar angle, aircraft attitude and flight path orientation, and efficient (directly geo-rectified) surface and sub

  11. Analysis of constant tension-induced rupture of lipid membranes using activation energy.

    PubMed

    Karal, Mohammad Abu Sayem; Levadnyy, Victor; Yamazaki, Masahito

    2016-05-11

    The stretching of biomembranes and lipid membranes plays important roles in various physiological and physicochemical phenomena. Here we analyzed the rate constant kp of constant tension-induced rupture of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as a function of tension σ using their activation energy Ua. To determine the values of kp, we applied constant tension to a GUV membrane using the micropipette aspiration method and observed the rupture of GUVs, and then analyzed these data statistically. First, we investigated the temperature dependence of kp for GUVs of charged lipid membranes composed of negatively charged dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) and electrically neutral dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC). By analyzing this result, the values of Ua of tension-induced rupture of DOPG/DOPC-GUVs were obtained. Ua decreased with an increase in σ, supporting the classical theory of tension-induced pore formation. The analysis of the relationship between Ua and σ using the theory on the electrostatic interaction effects on the tension-induced rupture of GUVs provided the equation of Ua including electrostatic interaction effects, which well fits the experimental data of the tension dependence of Ua. A constant which does not depend on tension, U0, was also found to contribute significantly to Ua. The Arrhenius equations for kp using the equation of Ua and the parameters determined by the above analysis fit well to the experimental data of the tension dependence of kp for DOPG/DOPC-GUVs as well as for DOPC-GUVs. On the basis of these results, we discussed the possible elementary processes underlying the tension-induced rupture of GUVs of lipid membranes. These results indicate that the Arrhenius equation using the experimentally determined Ua is useful in the analysis of tension-induced rupture of GUVs.

  12. A Compact L-band Radiometer for High Resolution sUAS-based Imaging of Soil Moisture and Surface Salinity Variations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gasiewski, A. J.; Stachura, M.; Dai, E.; Elston, J.; McIntyre, E.; Leuski, V.

    2014-12-01

    Due to the long electrical wavelengths required along with practical aperture size limitations the scaling of passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture and salinity from spaceborne low-resolution (~10-100 km) applications to high resolution (~10-1000 m) applications requires use of low flying aerial vehicles. This presentation summarizes the status of a project to develop a commercial small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) hosting a microwave radiometer for mapping of soil moisture in precision agriculture and sea surface salinity studies. The project is based on the Tempest electric-powered UAS and a compact L-band (1400-1427 MHz) radiometer developed specifically for extremely small and lightweight aerial platforms or man-portable, tractor, or tower-based applications. Notable in this combination are a highly integrated sUAS/radiometer antenna design and use of both the upwelling emitted signal from the surface and downwelling cold space signal for precise calibration using a unique lobe-differencing correlating radiometer architecture. The system achieves a spatial resolution comparable to the altitude of the UAS above the surface while referencing upwelling measurements to the constant and well-known background temperature of cold space. The radiometer has been tested using analog correlation detection, although future builds will include infrared, near-infrared, and visible (red) sensors for surface temperature and vegetation biomass correction and digital sampling for radio frequency interference mitigation. This NASA-sponsored project is being developed for commercial application in cropland water management (for example, high-value shallow root-zone crops), landslide risk assessment, NASA SMAP satellite validation, and NASA Aquarius salinity stratification studies. The system will ultimately be capable of observing salinity events caused by coastal glacier and estuary fresh water outflow plumes and open ocean rainfall events.

  13. The Structure-Activity Relationship between Marine Algae Polysaccharides and Anti-Complement Activity

    PubMed Central

    Jin, Weihua; Zhang, Wenjing; Liang, Hongze; Zhang, Quanbin

    2015-01-01

    In this study, 33 different polysaccharides were prepared to investigate the structure-activity relationships between the polysaccharides, mainly from marine algae, and anti-complement activity in the classical pathway. Factors considered included extraction methods, fractionations, molecular weight, molar ratio of galactose to fucose, sulfate, uronic acid (UA) content, linkage, branching, and the type of monosaccharide. It was shown that the larger the molecular weights, the better the activities. The molar ratio of galactose (Gal) to fucose (Fuc) was a positive factor at a concentration lower than 10 µg/mL, while it had no effect at a concentration more than 10 µg/mL. In addition, sulfate was necessary; however, the sulfate content, the sulfate pattern, linkage and branching had no effect at a concentration of more than 10 µg/mL. Moreover, the type of monosaccharide had no effect. Laminaran and UA fractions had no activity; however, they could reduce the activity by decreasing the effective concentration of the active composition when they were mixed with the active compositions. The effect of the extraction methods could not be determined. Finally, it was observed that sulfated galactofucan showed good anti-complement activity after separation. PMID:26712768

  14. Ursolic acid suppresses TGF-β1-induced quiescent HSC activation and transformation by inhibiting NADPH oxidase expression and Hedgehog signaling

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Shan-Shan; Chen, Biao; Huang, Chen-Kai; Zhou, Juan-Juan; Huang, Xin; Wang, An-Jiang; Li, Bi-Min; He, Wen-Hua; Zhu, Xuan

    2017-01-01

    Activation of quiescent hepatic stellate cells (q-HSCs) and their transformation to myofibroblasts (MFBs) is a key event in liver fibrosis. Hedgehog (Hh) signaling stimulates q-HSCs to differentiate into MFBs, and NADPH oxidase (NOX) may be involved in regulating Hh signaling. The author's preliminary study demonstrated that ursolic acid (UA) selectively induces apoptosis in activated HSCs and inhibits their proliferation in vitro via negative regulation of NOX activity and expression. However, the effect of UA on q-HSCs remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of UA on q-HSC activation and HSC transformation and to observe alterations in the NOX and Hh signaling pathways during q-HSC activation. q-HSC were isolated from adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Following culture for 3 days, the cells were treated with or without transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1; 5 µg/l); intervention groups were pretreated with UA (40 µM) or diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI; 10 µM) for 30 min prior to addition of TGF-β1. mRNA and protein expression of NOX and Hh signaling components and markers of q-HSC activation were examined by western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. TGF-β1 induced activation of q-HSCs, with increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and type I collagen. In addition, expression of NOX subunits (gp91phox, p67phox, p22phox, and Rac1) and Hh signaling components, including sonic Hh, sterol-4-alpha-methyl oxidase, and Gli family zinc finger 2, were upregulated in activated HSCs. Pretreatment of q-HSCs with UA or DPI prior to TGF-β1 significantly downregulated expression of NOX subunits and Hh signaling components and additionally inhibited expression of α-SMA and type I collagen, thereby preventing transformation to MFBs. UA inhibited TGF-β1-induced activation of q-HSCs and their transformation by inhibiting expression of NOX subunits and the downstream Hh pathway. PMID:29042951

  15. A comparison of multicopter and fixed-wing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) applied to mapping debris flows in small alpine catchments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sotier, Bernadette; Lechner, Veronika

    2016-04-01

    The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for documenting natural hazard events (e.g. debris flows) is becoming increasingly popular, as UAS allow on-demand, flexible and cost-efficient data acquisition. In this paper, we present the results of a comparison of multicopter and fixed-wing UAS. They were employed in the summer of 2015 to map two small alpine catchments located in Western Austria, where debris flows had occurred recently: The first event took place in the Seigesbach (Tyrol), the second occurred in the Plojergraben (Salzburg). For the Seigesbach mission, a fixed-wing UAS (Multiplex Mentor), equipped with a Sony NEX5 (50 mm prime lens, 14 MP sensor resolution) was employed to acquire approximately 4,000 images. In the Plojergraben an AustroDrones X18 octocopter was used, carrying a Sony ILCE-7R (35 mm prime lens, 36 MP sensor resolution) to record 1,700 images. Both sites had a size of approximately 2km². 20 ground control points (GCP) were distributed within both catchments, and their location was measured (Trimble GeoXT, expected accuracy 0.15 m). Using standard structure-from-motion photogrammetry software (AgiSoft PhotoScan Pro, v. 1.1.6), orthophotos (5 cm ground sampling distance - GSD) and digital surface models (DSM) (20 cm GSD) were calculated. Volume differences caused by the debris flow (i.e. deposition heights and erosion depths) computed by subtracting post-event from pre-event DSMs. Even though the terrain conditions in the two catchments were comparable, the challenges during the field campaign and the evaluation of the aerial images were very different. The main difference between the two campaigns was the number of flights required to cover the catchment: only four were needed by the fixed-wing UAS, while the multicopter required eleven in the Plojergraben. The fixed-wing UAS is specially designed for missions in hardly accessible regions, requiring only two people to carry the whole equipment, while in this case a car was needed for the

  16. Learning by subtraction: Hippocampal activity and effects of ethanol during the acquisition and performance of response sequences.

    PubMed

    Ketchum, Myles J; Weyand, Theodore G; Weed, Peter F; Winsauer, Peter J

    2016-05-01

    Learning is believed to be reflected in the activity of the hippocampus. However, neural correlates of learning have been difficult to characterize because hippocampal activity is integrated with ongoing behavior. To address this issue, male rats (n = 5) implanted with electrodes (n = 14) in the CA1 subfield responded during two tasks within a single test session. In one task, subjects acquired a new 3-response sequence (acquisition), whereas in the other task, subjects completed a well-rehearsed 3-response sequence (performance). Both tasks though could be completed using an identical response topography and used the same sensory stimuli and schedule of reinforcement. More important, comparing neural patterns during sequence acquisition to those during sequence performance allows for a subtractive approach whereby activity associated with learning could potentially be dissociated from the activity associated with ongoing behavior. At sites where CA1 activity was closely associated with behavior, the patterns of activity were differentially modulated by key position and the serial position of a response within the schedule of reinforcement. Temporal shifts between peak activity and responding on particular keys also occurred during sequence acquisition, but not during sequence performance. Ethanol disrupted CA1 activity while producing rate-decreasing effects in both tasks and error-increasing effects that were more selective for sequence acquisition than sequence performance. Ethanol also produced alterations in the magnitude of modulations and temporal pattern of CA1 activity, although these effects were not selective for sequence acquisition. Similar to ethanol, hippocampal micro-stimulation decreased response rate in both tasks and selectively increased the percentage of errors during sequence acquisition, and provided a more direct demonstration of hippocampal involvement during sequence acquisition. Together, these results strongly support the notion

  17. Functional brain activation differences in stuttering identified with a rapid fMRI sequence

    PubMed Central

    Kraft, Shelly Jo; Choo, Ai Leen; Sharma, Harish; Ambrose, Nicoline G.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate whether brain activity related to the presence of stuttering can be identified with rapid functional MRI (fMRI) sequences that involved overt and covert speech processing tasks. The long-term goal is to develop sensitive fMRI approaches with developmentally appropriate tasks to identify deviant speech motor and auditory brain activity in children who stutter closer to the age at which recovery from stuttering is documented. Rapid sequences may be preferred for individuals or populations who do not tolerate long scanning sessions. In this report, we document the application of a picture naming and phoneme monitoring task in three minute fMRI sequences with adults who stutter (AWS). If relevant brain differences are found in AWS with these approaches that conform to previous reports, then these approaches can be extended to younger populations. Pairwise contrasts of brain BOLD activity between AWS and normally fluent adults indicated the AWS showed higher BOLD activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right temporal lobe and sensorimotor cortices during picture naming and and higher activity in the right IFG during phoneme monitoring. The right lateralized pattern of BOLD activity together with higher activity in sensorimotor cortices is consistent with previous reports, which indicates rapid fMRI sequences can be considered for investigating stuttering in younger participants. PMID:22133409

  18. Triterpenic Acids Present in Hawthorn Lower Plasma Cholesterol by Inhibiting Intestinal ACAT Activity in Hamsters

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Yuguang; Vermeer, Mario A.; Trautwein, Elke A.

    2011-01-01

    Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) is an edible fruit used in traditional Chinese medicine to lower plasma lipids. This study explored lipid-lowering compounds and underlying mechanisms of action of hawthorn. Hawthorn powder extracts inhibited acylCoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity in Caco-2 cells. The inhibitory activity was positively associated with triterpenic acid (i.e., oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA)) contents in the extracts. Cholesterol lowering effects of hawthorn and its potential additive effect in combination with plant sterol esters (PSE) were further studied in hamsters. Animals were fed a semi-synthetic diet containing 0.08% (w/w) cholesterol (control) or the same diet supplemented with (i) 0.37% hawthorn dichloromethane extract, (ii) 0.24% PSE, (iii) hawthorn dichloromethane extract (0.37%) plus PSE (0.24%) or (iv) OA/UA mixture (0.01%) for 4 weeks. Compared to the control diet, hawthorn, PSE, hawthorn plus PSE and OA/UA significantly lowered plasma non-HDL (VLDL + LDL) cholesterol concentrations by 8%, 9%, 21% and 6% and decreased hepatic cholesterol ester content by 9%, 23%, 46% and 22%, respectively. The cholesterol lowering effects of these ingredients were conversely associated with their capacities in increasing fecal neutral sterol excretion. In conclusion, OA and UA are responsible for the cholesterol lowering effect of hawthorn by inhibiting intestinal ACAT activity. In addition, hawthorn and particularly its bioactive compounds (OA and UA) enhanced the cholesterol lowering effect of plant sterols. PMID:19228775

  19. Triterpenic Acids Present in Hawthorn Lower Plasma Cholesterol by Inhibiting Intestinal ACAT Activity in Hamsters.

    PubMed

    Lin, Yuguang; Vermeer, Mario A; Trautwein, Elke A

    2011-01-01

    Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) is an edible fruit used in traditional Chinese medicine to lower plasma lipids. This study explored lipid-lowering compounds and underlying mechanisms of action of hawthorn. Hawthorn powder extracts inhibited acylCoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity in Caco-2 cells. The inhibitory activity was positively associated with triterpenic acid (i.e., oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA)) contents in the extracts. Cholesterol lowering effects of hawthorn and its potential additive effect in combination with plant sterol esters (PSE) were further studied in hamsters. Animals were fed a semi-synthetic diet containing 0.08% (w/w) cholesterol (control) or the same diet supplemented with (i) 0.37% hawthorn dichloromethane extract, (ii) 0.24% PSE, (iii) hawthorn dichloromethane extract (0.37%) plus PSE (0.24%) or (iv) OA/UA mixture (0.01%) for 4 weeks. Compared to the control diet, hawthorn, PSE, hawthorn plus PSE and OA/UA significantly lowered plasma non-HDL (VLDL + LDL) cholesterol concentrations by 8%, 9%, 21% and 6% and decreased hepatic cholesterol ester content by 9%, 23%, 46% and 22%, respectively. The cholesterol lowering effects of these ingredients were conversely associated with their capacities in increasing fecal neutral sterol excretion. In conclusion, OA and UA are responsible for the cholesterol lowering effect of hawthorn by inhibiting intestinal ACAT activity. In addition, hawthorn and particularly its bioactive compounds (OA and UA) enhanced the cholesterol lowering effect of plant sterols.

  20. Large UAS Operations in the NAS - The NASA 2007 Western States Fire Missions (WSFM)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Buoni, Gregory P.; Howell, Kathleen M.

    2008-01-01

    Objectives: Demonstrate capabilities of UAS to overfly and collect sensor data on wildfires throughout Western US. Demonstrate long-endurance mission capabilities (20+ hours). Image multiple fires (greater than 4 fires per mission), to showcase extendable mission configuration and ability to either linger over key fires or station over disparate regional fires. Deliver real-time imagery to (within 10-minutes of acquisition).

  1. Sequence dependence of electron-induced DNA strand breakage revealed by DNA nanoarrays

    PubMed Central

    Keller, Adrian; Rackwitz, Jenny; Cauët, Emilie; Liévin, Jacques; Körzdörfer, Thomas; Rotaru, Alexandru; Gothelf, Kurt V.; Besenbacher, Flemming; Bald, Ilko

    2014-01-01

    The electronic structure of DNA is determined by its nucleotide sequence, which is for instance exploited in molecular electronics. Here we demonstrate that also the DNA strand breakage induced by low-energy electrons (18 eV) depends on the nucleotide sequence. To determine the absolute cross sections for electron induced single strand breaks in specific 13 mer oligonucleotides we used atomic force microscopy analysis of DNA origami based DNA nanoarrays. We investigated the DNA sequences 5′-TT(XYX)3TT with X = A, G, C and Y = T, BrU 5-bromouracil and found absolute strand break cross sections between 2.66 · 10−14 cm2 and 7.06 · 10−14 cm2. The highest cross section was found for 5′-TT(ATA)3TT and 5′-TT(ABrUA)3TT, respectively. BrU is a radiosensitizer, which was discussed to be used in cancer radiation therapy. The replacement of T by BrU into the investigated DNA sequences leads to a slight increase of the absolute strand break cross sections resulting in sequence-dependent enhancement factors between 1.14 and 1.66. Nevertheless, the variation of strand break cross sections due to the specific nucleotide sequence is considerably higher. Thus, the present results suggest the development of targeted radiosensitizers for cancer radiation therapy. PMID:25487346

  2. COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 cascade activation mediates uric acid-induced mesangial cell proliferation.

    PubMed

    Li, Shuzhen; Sun, Zhenzhen; Zhang, Yue; Ruan, Yuan; Chen, Qiuxia; Gong, Wei; Yu, Jing; Xia, Weiwei; He, John Ci-Jiang; Huang, Songming; Zhang, Aihua; Ding, Guixia; Jia, Zhanjun

    2017-02-07

    Hyperuricemia is not only the main feature of gout but also a cause of gout-related organ injuries including glomerular hypertrophy and sclerosis. Uric acid (UA) has been proven to directly cause mesangial cell (MC) proliferation with elusive mechanisms. The present study was undertaken to examined the role of inflammatory cascade of COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 in UA-induced MC proliferation. In the dose- and time-dependent experiments, UA increased cell proliferation shown by the increased total cell number, DNA synthesis rate, and the number of cells in S and G2 phases in parallel with the upregulation of cyclin A2 and cyclin D1. Interestingly, UA-induced cell proliferation was accompanied with the upregulation of COX-2 and mPGES-1 at both mRNA and protein levels. Strikingly, inhibition of COX-2 via a specific COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 markedly blocked UA-induced MC proliferation. Meanwhile, UA-induced PGE2 production was almost entirely abolished. Furthermore, inhibiting mPGES-1 by a siRNA approach in MCs also ameliorated UA-induced MC proliferation in line with a significant blockade of PGE2 secretion. More importantly, in gout patients, we observed a significant elevation of urinary PGE2 excretion compared with healthy controls, indicating a translational potential of this study to the clinic. In conclusion, our findings indicated that COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 cascade activation mediated UA-induced MC proliferation. This study offered new insights into the understanding and the intervention of UA-related glomerular injury.

  3. Development of U.S. Government General Technical Requirements for UAS Flight Safety Systems Utilizing the Iridium Satellite Constellation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murray, Jennifer; Birr, Richard

    2010-01-01

    This slide presentation reviews the development of technical requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) utilization of the Iridium Satellite Constellation to provide flight safety. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) required an over-the-horizon communication standard to guarantee flight safety before permitting widespread UAS flights in the National Air Space (NAS). This is important to ensure reliable control of UASs during loss-link and over-the-horizon scenarios. The core requirement was to utilize a satellite system to send GPS tracking data and other telemetry from a flight vehicle down to the ground. Iridium was chosen as the system because it is one of the only true satellite systems that has world wide coverage, and the service has a highly reliable link margin. The Iridium system, the flight modems, and the test flight are described.

  4. Sequence features of viral and human Internal Ribosome Entry Sites predictive of their activity

    PubMed Central

    Elias-Kirma, Shani; Nir, Ronit; Segal, Eran

    2017-01-01

    Translation of mRNAs through Internal Ribosome Entry Sites (IRESs) has emerged as a prominent mechanism of cellular and viral initiation. It supports cap-independent translation of select cellular genes under normal conditions, and in conditions when cap-dependent translation is inhibited. IRES structure and sequence are believed to be involved in this process. However due to the small number of IRESs known, there have been no systematic investigations of the determinants of IRES activity. With the recent discovery of thousands of novel IRESs in human and viruses, the next challenge is to decipher the sequence determinants of IRES activity. We present the first in-depth computational analysis of a large body of IRESs, exploring RNA sequence features predictive of IRES activity. We identified predictive k-mer features resembling IRES trans-acting factor (ITAF) binding motifs across human and viral IRESs, and found that their effect on expression depends on their sequence, number and position. Our results also suggest that the architecture of retroviral IRESs differs from that of other viruses, presumably due to their exposure to the nuclear environment. Finally, we measured IRES activity of synthetically designed sequences to confirm our prediction of increasing activity as a function of the number of short IRES elements. PMID:28922394

  5. Learning Behavior Characterization with Multi-Feature, Hierarchical Activity Sequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ye, Cheng; Segedy, James R.; Kinnebrew, John S.; Biswas, Gautam

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses Multi-Feature Hierarchical Sequential Pattern Mining, MFH-SPAM, a novel algorithm that efficiently extracts patterns from students' learning activity sequences. This algorithm extends an existing sequential pattern mining algorithm by dynamically selecting the level of specificity for hierarchically-defined features…

  6. The dynamic range of response set activation during action sequencing.

    PubMed

    Behmer, Lawrence P; Crump, Matthew J C

    2017-03-01

    We show that theories of response scheduling for sequential action can be discriminated on the basis of their predictions for the dynamic range of response set activation during sequencing, which refers to the momentary span of activation states for completed and to-be-completed actions in a response set. In particular, theories allow that future actions in a plan are partially activated, but differ with respect to the width of the range, which refers to the number of future actions that are partially activated. Similarly, theories differ on the width of the range for recently completed actions that are assumed to be rapidly deactivated or gradually deactivated in a passive fashion. We validate a new typing task for measuring momentary activation states of actions across a response set during action sequencing. Typists recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk copied a paragraph by responding to a "go" signal that usually cued the next letter but sometimes cued a near-past or future letter (n-3, -2, -1, 0, +2, +3). The activation states for producing letters across go-signal positions can be inferred from RTs and errors. In general, we found evidence of graded parallel activation for future actions and rapid deactivation of more distal past actions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. The activity of salivary aldehyde dehydrogenase during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Giebułtowicz, Joanna; Wroczyński, Piotr; Kosiński, Przemysław; Pietrzak, Bronisława

    2013-03-01

    The aim of the present study was to describe the changes in the activity of ALDH3A1 in saliva in relation to the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. We also measured major salivary antioxidants, salivary peroxidase (SPO) activity and uric acid (UA) concentration. Fasting saliva samples were collected from 63 women with uncomplicated pregnancies and from 39 healthy women of reproductive age, but not pregnant. Saliva samples were also collected from 10 healthy women with regular menstrual cycles in the early follicular, the mid-cycle and the mid-luteal phase during one menstrual cycle. SPO and ALDH3A1 activity was determined fluorimetrically, whereas UA concentration photometrically. The ALDH3A1 did not vary significantly among phases of menstrual cycle. However, the enzyme activity decreased with the length of pregnancy and in the third trimester is significantly lower than that in the saliva of non-pregnant women. Lower concentration of UA and in the third trimester the activity of ALDH3A1 in saliva of pregnant women could be a risk factor of, e.g. oral pathologies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Automatic extraction of plots from geo-registered UAS imagery of crop fields with complex planting schemes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hearst, Anthony A.

    Complex planting schemes are common in experimental crop fields and can make it difficult to extract plots of interest from high-resolution imagery of the fields gathered by Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). This prevents UAS imagery from being applied in High-Throughput Precision Phenotyping and other areas of agricultural research. If the imagery is accurately geo-registered, then it may be possible to extract plots from the imagery based on their map coordinates. To test this approach, a UAS was used to acquire visual imagery of 5 ha of soybean fields containing 6.0 m2 plots in a complex planting scheme. Sixteen artificial targets were setup in the fields before flights and different spatial configurations of 0 to 6 targets were used as Ground Control Points (GCPs) for geo-registration, resulting in a total of 175 geo-registered image mosaics with a broad range of geo-registration accuracies. Geo-registration accuracy was quantified based on the horizontal Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of targets used as checkpoints. Twenty test plots were extracted from the geo-registered imagery. Plot extraction accuracy was quantified based on the percentage of the desired plot area that was extracted. It was found that using 4 GCPs along the perimeter of the field minimized the horizontal RMSE and enabled a plot extraction accuracy of at least 70%, with a mean plot extraction accuracy of 92%. Future work will focus on further enhancing the plot extraction accuracy through additional image processing techniques so that it becomes sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes in agricultural research and potentially other areas of research.

  9. NASA Activity Update for the 2013 Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (UVSI) Yearbook

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bauer, Jeffrey E.

    2013-01-01

    This year s report offers a high level perspective on some of the UAS related activities in which NASA is involved, both internal and external to the agency. Internally, NASA issued UAS operational policy on certification of NASA UAS and aircrew. A team of NASA UAS experts and operators analyzed all current procedures and best practices to design the policy. An update to the agencies Aircraft Operations Management Manual incorporated a new chapter to address UAS planning, preflight operations, flight operations, flight crew requirements, airworthiness and flight safety reviews. NASA UAS are classified into three categories based on weight and airspeed. Aircrews, including observers, are classified by how they interface with the UAS, and the policy defines qualifications, training, and currency. The NASA flight readiness approval process identifies risks and mitigations in order to reduce the likelihood and/or consequence of the risk to an acceptable level. The UAS operations process incorporates all aspects of airworthiness, flight standards and range safety exactly the same processes used for NASA manned aircraft operations. NASA has two internal organizations that routinely operate UAS. The Science Mission Directorate utilizes UAS as part of its Airborne Science Program and is the most frequent operator of NASA UAS in both national and international airspace. The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts UAS flight operations in addition to conducting research important to the UAS community. This past year the Science Mission Directorate supported the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentimental (HS3) Mission with two NASA Global Hawk platforms. HS3 is a five-year mission specifically targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation. During the 2012 portion of this mission the Global Hawk overflew hurricanes Leslie and Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean completing 6 flights and accumulating more than 148 flight hours. Another multi-year mission

  10. Role of UME6 in transcriptional regulation of a DNA repair gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Sweet, D H; Jang, Y K; Sancar, G B

    1997-11-01

    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae UV radiation and a variety of chemical DNA-damaging agents induce the transcription of specific genes, including several involved in DNA repair. One of the best characterized of these genes is PHR1, which encodes the apoenzyme for DNA photolyase. Basal-level and damage-induced expression of PHR1 require an upstream activation sequence, UAS(PHR1), which has homology with DRC elements found upstream of at least 19 other DNA repair and DNA metabolism genes in yeast. Here we report the identification of the UME6 gene of S. cerevisiae as a regulator of UAS(PHR1) activity. Multiple copies of UME6 stimulate expression from UAS(PHR1) and the intact PHR1 gene. Surprisingly, the effect of deletion of UME6 is growth phase dependent. In wild-type cells PHR1 is induced in late exponential phase, concomitant with the initiation of glycogen accumulation that precedes the diauxic shift. Deletion of UME6 abolishes this induction, decreases the steady-state concentration of photolyase molecules and PHR1 mRNA, and increases the UV sensitivity of a rad2 mutant. Despite the fact that UAS(PHR1) does not contain the URS1 sequence, which has been previously implicated in UME6-mediated transcriptional regulation, we find that Ume6p binds to UAS(PHR1) with an affinity and a specificity similar to those seen for a URS1 site. Similar binding is also seen for DRC elements from RAD2, RAD7, and RAD53, suggesting that UME6 contributes to the regulated expression of a subset of damage-responsive genes in yeast.

  11. SACCHARIS: an automated pipeline to streamline discovery of carbohydrate active enzyme activities within polyspecific families and de novo sequence datasets.

    PubMed

    Jones, Darryl R; Thomas, Dallas; Alger, Nicholas; Ghavidel, Ata; Inglis, G Douglas; Abbott, D Wade

    2018-01-01

    Deposition of new genetic sequences in online databases is expanding at an unprecedented rate. As a result, sequence identification continues to outpace functional characterization of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes). In this paradigm, the discovery of enzymes with novel functions is often hindered by high volumes of uncharacterized sequences particularly when the enzyme sequence belongs to a family that exhibits diverse functional specificities (i.e., polyspecificity). Therefore, to direct sequence-based discovery and characterization of new enzyme activities we have developed an automated in silico pipeline entitled: Sequence Analysis and Clustering of CarboHydrate Active enzymes for Rapid Informed prediction of Specificity (SACCHARIS). This pipeline streamlines the selection of uncharacterized sequences for discovery of new CAZyme or CBM specificity from families currently maintained on the CAZy website or within user-defined datasets. SACCHARIS was used to generate a phylogenetic tree of a GH43, a CAZyme family with defined subfamily designations. This analysis confirmed that large datasets can be organized into sequence clusters of manageable sizes that possess related functions. Seeding this tree with a GH43 sequence from Bacteroides dorei DSM 17855 (BdGH43b, revealed it partitioned as a single sequence within the tree. This pattern was consistent with it possessing a unique enzyme activity for GH43 as BdGH43b is the first described α-glucanase described for this family. The capacity of SACCHARIS to extract and cluster characterized carbohydrate binding module sequences was demonstrated using family 6 CBMs (i.e., CBM6s). This CBM family displays a polyspecific ligand binding profile and contains many structurally determined members. Using SACCHARIS to identify a cluster of divergent sequences, a CBM6 sequence from a unique clade was demonstrated to bind yeast mannan, which represents the first description of an α-mannan binding CBM. Additionally, we

  12. Atmospheric Aerosol Sampling with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in Alaska: Instrument Development, Payload Integration, and Measurement Campaigns

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barberie, S. R.; Saiet, E., II; Hatfield, M. C.; Cahill, C. F.

    2014-12-01

    Atmospheric aerosols remain one of biggest variables in understanding global climate. The number of feedback loops involved in aerosol processes lead to nonlinear behavior at the systems level, making confident modeling and prediction difficult. It is therefore important to ground-truth and supplement modeling efforts with rigorous empirical measurements. To this end, the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has developed a new cascade DRUM-style impactor to be mounted aboard a variety of unmanned aircraft and work in tandem with an optical particle counter for the routine collection of atmospheric aerosols. These UAS-based aerosol samplers will be employed for measurement campaigns in traditionally hazardous conditions such as volcanic plumes and over forest fires. Here we report on the development and laboratory calibration of the new instrument, the integration with UAS, and the vertical profiling campaigns being undertaken.

  13. The EP-3E vs. the BAMS UAS: An Operating and Support Cost Comparison

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    Accountability Office HALE High Altitude Long Endurance ISR Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance JCC Joint Architecture...others are very complex high altitude long endurance (HALE) aircraft. However, most share the common need for satellite bandwidth. The DoD plan is...collection sites, and risks as they apply to the BAMS UAS. These factors were not adequately considered in the original O&S analysis . Once the analysis

  14. Operational Overview for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace (NAS) Project Flight Test Series 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Valkov, Steffi

    2017-01-01

    This presentation is a high level overview of the flight testing that took place in 2015 for the UAS-NAS project. All topics in the presentation discussed at a high level and no technical details are provided.

  15. Erosion rates of a small coastal island revealed by repeated measurements using TLS and UAS-SfM photogrammetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayakawa, Y. S.; Obanawa, H.

    2016-12-01

    Due to the weak bedrock and constant wave erosion, sea cliffs along the outer Boso Peninsula, central Japan, have been eroded at ca. 1 m per year for centuries. Modern coastal protection work had significantly reduced the erosion rate, while this became a cause of limited supply of sands along beaches in this area. Among the almost complete protection, a small coastal island, so-called Suzume-Jima Island (70 km southeast of Tokyo), has not been protected, in which we can still observe processes of coastal cliff erosion at the original rate. We have performed multi-temporal (3 times a year), high-resolution (centimeters) topographic measurements of the small island for 3 years, using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and structure-from-motion multi-view stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetry with an unmanned aerial system (UAS). Landside of the island can be measured by both TLS and UAS, but the seaside could only be captured by UAS, therefore these data are combined to analyze the entire island morphology with a reasonable accuracy. Frequent, spatially variable wave erosion and rockfalls were observed during the measurement period. The dominant wave direction and geologic structure (joint location and orientation) may account for these differences. A severe notch development in the cliff suggests a possible formation of a sea cave through the island in the near future. The measured, short-term results were also compared with the longer-term development of the island shape, obtained by historical aerial photographs for 50 years.

  16. Uric acid activates NRLP3 inflammasome in an in-vivo model of epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the kidney.

    PubMed

    Romero, César Andrés; Remor, Aline; Latini, Alexandra; De Paul, Ana Lucía; Torres, Alicia Inés; Mukdsi, Jorge Humberto

    2017-06-01

    Uric acid (UA) has been associated with renal fibrosis and progression of chronic kidney disease. However, the underlying mechanisms of this process have still not been identified. Here, we studied the role of the innate imunity receptor NLRP3/ASC in UA induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in kidney. Wistar rats were fed with oxonic acid 2% and UA 2% (OXA + U), OXA + U plus allopurinol (ALL) or regular chow (C) for 7 weeks. We analyzed the presence of EMT markers, the expression of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1 and Smad 2/3 molecules and the mitochondrial morphological and functional characteristics. High UA induced renal fibrosis, mild chronic inflammation, as well as morphological and biochemical evidence of EMT. High UA also increased the expression of NLRP3/ASC with activation of both inflammasome related caspase-1 and inflammasome unrelated Smad 2/3 pathways. Ultrastructural co-localization of NLRP3 and Smad 2/3 indicated physical interaction between the two molecules. No morphological or functional changes were found between mitochondria exposed to high UA. In conclusion, kidney epithelial NLRP3/ASC expression was increased in high UA state in rats and both inflammasome related caspase-1 and non-inflammasome related P-Smad 2/3 pathways were associated with the observed EMT, inflammation and fibrosis induced by UA in the kidney.

  17. Fine-resolution repeat topographic surveying of dryland landscapes using UAS-based structure-from-motion photogrammetry: Assessing accuracy and precision against traditional ground-based erosion measurements

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gillian, Jeffrey K.; Karl, Jason W.; Elaksher, Ahmed; Duniway, Michael C.

    2017-01-01

    Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry from unmanned aerial system (UAS) imagery is an emerging tool for repeat topographic surveying of dryland erosion. These methods are particularly appealing due to the ability to cover large landscapes compared to field methods and at reduced costs and finer spatial resolution compared to airborne laser scanning. Accuracy and precision of high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) derived from UAS imagery have been explored in many studies, typically by comparing image coordinates to surveyed check points or LiDAR datasets. In addition to traditional check points, this study compared 5 cm resolution DTMs derived from fixed-wing UAS imagery with a traditional ground-based method of measuring soil surface change called erosion bridges. We assessed accuracy by comparing the elevation values between DTMs and erosion bridges along thirty topographic transects each 6.1 m long. Comparisons occurred at two points in time (June 2014, February 2015) which enabled us to assess vertical accuracy with 3314 data points and vertical precision (i.e., repeatability) with 1657 data points. We found strong vertical agreement (accuracy) between the methods (RMSE 2.9 and 3.2 cm in June 2014 and February 2015, respectively) and high vertical precision for the DTMs (RMSE 2.8 cm). Our results from comparing SfM-generated DTMs to check points, and strong agreement with erosion bridge measurements suggests repeat UAS imagery and SfM processing could replace erosion bridges for a more synoptic landscape assessment of shifting soil surfaces for some studies. However, while collecting the UAS imagery and generating the SfM DTMs for this study was faster than collecting erosion bridge measurements, technical challenges related to the need for ground control networks and image processing requirements must be addressed before this technique could be applied effectively to large landscapes.

  18. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project. NASA Contributions to the SARP WC Definition

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Randall, Debra K.; Consiglio, Maria Cristina; Santiago, Confesor

    2014-01-01

    To better inform sense and avoid research needs and to understand ongoing investigation of potential solutions that ultimately lead to the assisting the FAA with their Congressional mandate to fly UAS in the NAS.

  19. Using the MicroASAR on the NASA SIERRA UAS in the Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-01

    such that the dechirped signal is at an intermediate frequency. Feedthrough rejection is done by a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter with its first...Fig. 3. NASA SIERRA UAS 3-View and Specifications • Up-looking and down-looking shortwave spectrometers. • Down-looking temperature sensors ( pyrometers

  20. A Model for a Single Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program Office Managing Joint ISR Capabilities

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-10-01

    reduction in manning from the multiple program office structure to the new single program management model. Additional information regarding this...OFFICE MANAGING JOINT ISR CAPABILITIES by Angela E. Burris A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty In Partial Fulfillment of...research paper is to answer how a single management office could provide greater agility for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); supporting Joint concepts

  1. UAS Integration into the NAS: iHTL: DAA Display Evaluation Preliminary Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fern, Lisa; Rorie, Conrad; Shively, Jay

    2014-01-01

    The integrated human-in-the-loop (iHITL) simulation examined the effect of four different Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) display concepts on unmanned aircraft system (UAS) pilots' ability to maintain safe separation. The displays varied in the type and amount of guidance they provided to pilots. The study's background and methodology are discussed, followed by a presentation of the preliminary 'measured response' data (i.e., pilots' end-to-end response time in reacting to traffic alerts on their DAA display). Results indicate that display type had moderate to no affect on pilot measured response times.

  2. Using UAS optical imagery and SfM photogrammetry to characterize the surface grain size of gravel bars in a braided river (Vénéon River, French Alps)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vázquez-Tarrío, Daniel; Borgniet, Laurent; Liébault, Frédéric; Recking, Alain

    2017-05-01

    This paper explores the potential of unmanned aerial system (UAS) optical aerial imagery to characterize grain roughness and size distribution in a braided, gravel-bed river (Vénéon River, French Alps). With this aim in view, a Wolman field campaign (19 samples) and five UAS surveys were conducted over the Vénéon braided channel during summer 2015. The UAS consisted of a small quadcopter carrying a GoPro camera. Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry was used to extract dense and accurate three-dimensional point clouds. Roughness descriptors (roughness heights, standard deviation of elevation) were computed from the SfM point clouds and were correlated with the median grain size of the Wolman samples. A strong relationship was found between UAS-SfM-derived grain roughness and Wolman grain size. The procedure employed has potential for the rapid and continuous characterization of grain size distribution in exposed bars of gravel-bed rivers. The workflow described in this paper has been successfully used to produce spatially continuous grain size information on exposed gravel bars and to explore textural changes following flow events.

  3. In vivo activity of ursolic and oleanolic acids during the acute phase of Trypanosoma cruzi infection.

    PubMed

    da Silva Ferreira, Daniele; Esperandim, Viviane Rodrigues; Toldo, Miriam Paula Alonso; Kuehn, Christian Collins; do Prado Júnior, José Clóvis; Cunha, Wilson Roberto; e Silva, Márcio Luís Andrade; de Albuquerque, Sérgio

    2013-08-01

    Reduction in the parasitemic levels of the Y strain of Trypanosoma cruzi in mice treated with oral or intraperitoneal ursolic (UA) and oleanolic (OA) acids was evaluated during the acute phase of Chagas' disease. Oral administration of UA and OA (50mg/kg/day) provided the most significant reduction in the parasitemic peak, while intraperitoneal administration of UA and OA did not significantly affect the biological activity of the Y strain of T. cruzi. Interleukin levels in mice treated by the intraperitoneal route were compared to untreated chagasic mice. Reduced γ-IFN levels and enhanced IL-10 concentrations potentially explain the exacerbated parasitemia. Our data suggests an immunosuppressive effect for UA and OA, which could interfere with host control of parasitemia. Optimal results were achieved with oral administration. This observation may be explained by the low intestinal absorption of UA and OA, could cause a reduced immune response and promote parasite control. Taken together, these data demonstrate that triterpenes could be interesting compounds to develop therapeutically for the treatment of Chagas' disease. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Dimeric PROP1 binding to diverse palindromic TAAT sequences promotes its transcriptional activity.

    PubMed

    Nakayama, Michie; Kato, Takako; Susa, Takao; Sano, Akiko; Kitahara, Kousuke; Kato, Yukio

    2009-08-13

    Mutations in the Prop1 gene are responsible for murine Ames dwarfism and human combined pituitary hormone deficiency with hypogonadism. Recently, we reported that PROP1 is a possible transcription factor for gonadotropin subunit genes through plural cis-acting sites composed of AT-rich sequences containing a TAAT motif which differs from its consensus binding sequence known as PRDQ9 (TAATTGAATTA). This study aimed to verify the binding specificity and sequence of PROP1 by applying the method of SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment), EMSA (electrophoretic mobility shift assay) and transient transfection assay. SELEX, after 5, 7 and 9 generations of selection using a random sequence library, showed that nucleotides containing one or two TAAT motifs were accumulated and accounted for 98.5% at the 9th generation. Aligned sequences and EMSA demonstrated that PROP1 binds preferentially to 11 nucleotides composed of an inverted TAAT motif separated by 3 nucleotides with variation in the half site of palindromic TAAT motifs and with preferential requirement of T at the nucleotide number 5 immediately 3' to a TAAT motif. Transient transfection assay demonstrated first that dimeric binding of PROP1 to an inverted TAAT motif and its cognates resulted in transcriptional activation, whereas monomeric binding of PROP1 to a single TAAT motif and an inverted ATTA motif did not mediate activation. Thus, this study demonstrated that dimeric binding of PROP1 is able to recognize diverse palindromic TAAT sequences separated by 3 nucleotides and to exhibit its transcriptional activity.

  5. Micronuclear DNA of Oxytricha nova contains sequences with autonomously replicating activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed Central

    Colombo, M M; Swanton, M T; Donini, P; Prescott, D M

    1984-01-01

    Oxytricha nova is a hypotrichous ciliate with micronuclei and macronuclei. Micronuclei, which contain large, chromosomal-sized DNA, are genetically inert but undergo meiosis and exchange during cell mating. Macronuclei, which contain only small, gene-sized DNA molecules, provide all of the nuclear RNA needed to run the cell. After cell mating the macronucleus is derived from a micronucleus, a derivation that includes excision of the genes from chromosomes and elimination of the remaining DNA. The eliminated DNA includes all of the repetitious sequences and approximately 95% of the unique sequences. We cloned large restriction fragments from the micronucleus that confer replication ability on a replication-deficient plasmid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequences that confer replication ability are called autonomously replicating sequences. The frequency and effectiveness of autonomously replicating sequences in micronuclear DNA are similar to those reported for DNAs of other organisms introduced into yeast cells. Of the 12 micronuclear fragments with autonomously replicating sequence activity, 9 also showed homology to macronuclear DNA, indicating that they contain a macronuclear gene sequence. We conclude from this that autonomously replicating sequence activity is nonrandomly distributed throughout micronuclear DNA and is preferentially associated with those regions of micronuclear DNA that contain genes. Images PMID:6092934

  6. Active PHO5 chromatin encompasses variable numbers of nucleosomes at individual promoters.

    PubMed

    Jessen, Walter J; Hoose, Scott A; Kilgore, Jessica A; Kladde, Michael P

    2006-03-01

    Transcriptional activation is often associated with chromatin remodeling. However, little is known about the dynamics of remodeling of nucleosome arrays in vivo. Upon induction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae PHO5, a novel kinetic assay of DNA methyltransferase accessibility showed that nucleosomes adjacent to the histone-free upstream activating sequence (UASp1) are disrupted earlier and at higher frequency in the cell population than are those more distal. Individually cloned molecules, each representing the chromatin state of a full promoter from a single cell, revealed multiple promoter classes with either no remodeling or variable numbers of disrupted nucleosomes. Individual promoters in the remodeled fraction were highly enriched for contiguous blocks of disrupted nucleosomes, the majority of which overlapped the UAS region. These results support a probabilistic model in which chromatin remodeling at PHO5 spreads from sites of transactivator association with DNA and attenuates with distance.

  7. Cloning and sequence analysis of a cDNA clone coding for the mouse GM2 activator protein.

    PubMed Central

    Bellachioma, G; Stirling, J L; Orlacchio, A; Beccari, T

    1993-01-01

    A cDNA (1.1 kb) containing the complete coding sequence for the mouse GM2 activator protein was isolated from a mouse macrophage library using a cDNA for the human protein as a probe. There was a single ATG located 12 bp from the 5' end of the cDNA clone followed by an open reading frame of 579 bp. Northern blot analysis of mouse macrophage RNA showed that there was a single band with a mobility corresponding to a size of 2.3 kb. We deduce from this that the mouse mRNA, in common with the mRNA for the human GM2 activator protein, has a long 3' untranslated sequence of approx. 1.7 kb. Alignment of the mouse and human deduced amino acid sequences showed 68% identity overall and 75% identity for the sequence on the C-terminal side of the first 31 residues, which in the human GM2 activator protein contains the signal peptide. Hydropathicity plots showed great similarity between the mouse and human sequences even in regions of low sequence similarity. There is a single N-glycosylation site in the mouse GM2 activator protein sequence (Asn151-Phe-Thr) which differs in its location from the single site reported in the human GM2 activator protein sequence (Asn63-Val-Thr). Images Figure 1 PMID:7689829

  8. UAS-SfM for coastal research: Geomorphic feature extraction and land cover classification from high-resolution elevation and optical imagery

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sturdivant, Emily; Lentz, Erika; Thieler, E. Robert; Farris, Amy; Weber, Kathryn; Remsen, David P.; Miner, Simon; Henderson, Rachel

    2017-01-01

    The vulnerability of coastal systems to hazards such as storms and sea-level rise is typically characterized using a combination of ground and manned airborne systems that have limited spatial or temporal scales. Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry applied to imagery acquired by unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offers a rapid and inexpensive means to produce high-resolution topographic and visual reflectance datasets that rival existing lidar and imagery standards. Here, we use SfM to produce an elevation point cloud, an orthomosaic, and a digital elevation model (DEM) from data collected by UAS at a beach and wetland site in Massachusetts, USA. We apply existing methods to (a) determine the position of shorelines and foredunes using a feature extraction routine developed for lidar point clouds and (b) map land cover from the rasterized surfaces using a supervised classification routine. In both analyses, we experimentally vary the input datasets to understand the benefits and limitations of UAS-SfM for coastal vulnerability assessment. We find that (a) geomorphic features are extracted from the SfM point cloud with near-continuous coverage and sub-meter precision, better than was possible from a recent lidar dataset covering the same area; and (b) land cover classification is greatly improved by including topographic data with visual reflectance, but changes to resolution (when <50 cm) have little influence on the classification accuracy.

  9. C2 Link Security for UAS: Technical Literature Study and Preliminary Functional Requirements. Version 0.9 (Working Draft)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    This document provides a study of the technical literature related to Command and Control (C2) link security for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for operation in the National Airspace System (NAS). Included is a preliminary set of functional requirements for C2 link security.

  10. Fluxgate Magnetometer system mounted on UAS system: First field test at Dominga IOCG deposit, Chile

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yanez, G. A.; Banchero, L.; Marco, A.; Figueroa, R.

    2016-12-01

    With the support of Fundacion Chile (FCH) grant, we developed an airborne magnetic system (GeoMagDrone GFDAS) mounted on a UAS octodrone platform (DJI, S1000), based on a low cost/light-weight fluxgate magnetometer (FGM-301) and a robust/light-weight data logger for position, temperature, radar altimeter and 3 magnetic components at 16 Hz recording. Fluxgate magnetometer is hanging from the UAS platform at a distance of 2.5m where the EM noise is reduced to less than 2 nT. The whole geophysical system, including batteries, weights 650 gr., with an autonomy of 2 hours. Magnetometer calibration includes the 9 coefficients of amplitude, offset, and orthogonality, and temperature correction. We test the system over the IOCG deposit of Dominga-Chile, a magnetite ore (40%) (a block of 2x3 km with NS lines separated every 50m and a clearance of 40m, the mineral deposit buried 50-100m from the surface, where a ground magnetic survey was conducted previously. Ground conditions includes relatively rough topography with slopes of 10-20%, and some windy days. We use the digital terrain model SRTM30 to define the drape flight shape Average flight performance includes a mean speed of 35-40 km/hour, and an UAS battery consumption of 18-12 minutes depending on the wind conditions. A good correspondence was found between plan deployment and survey results in terms of line direction/separation/clearance. Line path were flown with errors less than 5 meters, whereas clearance of 40m was kept depending on the amount of control points used. The comparison between ground survey and GeoMagDrone results show a perfect match (anomaly amplitude/shape and noise envelope), validating in this way the system developed. Main concern for the productive application of this technology in unmanned geophysical platforms is the battery performance and the quality of digital terrain models to follow the topography.

  11. Analysis of in vitro evolution reveals the underlying distribution of catalytic activity among random sequences.

    PubMed

    Pressman, Abe; Moretti, Janina E; Campbell, Gregory W; Müller, Ulrich F; Chen, Irene A

    2017-08-21

    The emergence of catalytic RNA is believed to have been a key event during the origin of life. Understanding how catalytic activity is distributed across random sequences is fundamental to estimating the probability that catalytic sequences would emerge. Here, we analyze the in vitro evolution of triphosphorylating ribozymes and translate their fitnesses into absolute estimates of catalytic activity for hundreds of ribozyme families. The analysis efficiently identified highly active ribozymes and estimated catalytic activity with good accuracy. The evolutionary dynamics follow Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection and a corollary, permitting retrospective inference of the distribution of fitness and activity in the random sequence pool for the first time. The frequency distribution of rate constants appears to be log-normal, with a surprisingly steep dropoff at higher activity, consistent with a mechanism for the emergence of activity as the product of many independent contributions. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  12. Intramural activation and repolarization sequences in canine ventricles. Experimental and simulation studies.

    PubMed

    Taccardi, Bruno; Punske, Bonnie B; Sachse, Frank; Tricoche, Xavier; Colli-Franzone, Piero; Pavarino, Luca F; Zabawa, Christine

    2005-10-01

    There are no published data showing the three-dimensional sequence of repolarization and the associated potential fields in the ventricles. Knowledge of the sequence of repolarization has medical relevance because high spatial dispersion of recovery times and action potential durations favors cardiac arrhythmias. In this study we describe measured and simulated 3-D excitation and recovery sequences and activation-recovery intervals (ARIs) (measured) or action potential durations (APDs) (simulated) in the ventricular walls. We recorded from 600 to 1400 unipolar electrograms from canine ventricular walls during atrial and ventricular pacing at 350-450 ms cycle length. Measured excitation and recovery times and ARIs were displayed as 2-D maps in transmural planes or 3-D maps in the volume explored, using specially developed software. Excitation and recovery sequences and APD distributions were also simulated in parallelepipedal slabs using anisotropic monodomain or bidomain models based on the Lou-Rudy version 1 model with homogeneous membrane properties. Simulations showed that in the presence of homogeneous membrane properties, the sequence of repolarization was similar but not identical to the excitation sequence. In a transmural plane perpendicular to epicardial fiber direction, both activation and recovery pathways starting from an epicardial pacing site returned toward the epicardium at a few cm distance from the pacing site. However, APDs were not constant, but had a dispersion of approximately 14 ms in the simulated domain. The maximum APD value was near the pacing site and two minima appeared along a line perpendicular to fiber directions, passing through the pacing site. Electrical measurements in dog ventricles showed that, for short cycle lengths, both excitation and recovery pathways, starting from an epicardial pacing site, returned toward the epicardium. For slower pacing rates, pathways of recovery departed from the pathway of excitation. Highest ARI

  13. Activation of Adhesion G Protein-coupled Receptors: AGONIST SPECIFICITY OF STACHEL SEQUENCE-DERIVED PEPTIDES.

    PubMed

    Demberg, Lilian M; Winkler, Jana; Wilde, Caroline; Simon, Kay-Uwe; Schön, Julia; Rothemund, Sven; Schöneberg, Torsten; Prömel, Simone; Liebscher, Ines

    2017-03-17

    Members of the adhesion G protein-coupled receptor (aGPCR) family carry an agonistic sequence within their large ectodomains. Peptides derived from this region, called the Stachel sequence, can activate the respective receptor. As the conserved core region of the Stachel sequence is highly similar between aGPCRs, the agonist specificity of Stachel sequence-derived peptides was tested between family members using cell culture-based second messenger assays. Stachel peptides derived from aGPCRs of subfamily VI (GPR110/ADGRF1, GPR116/ADGRF5) and subfamily VIII (GPR64/ADGRG2, GPR126/ADGRG6) are able to activate more than one member of the respective subfamily supporting their evolutionary relationship and defining them as pharmacological receptor subtypes. Extended functional analyses of the Stachel sequences and derived peptides revealed agonist promiscuity, not only within, but also between aGPCR subfamilies. For example, the Stachel -derived peptide of GPR110 (subfamily VI) can activate GPR64 and GPR126 (both subfamily VIII). Our results indicate that key residues in the Stachel sequence are very similar between aGPCRs allowing for agonist promiscuity of several Stachel -derived peptides. Therefore, aGPCRs appear to be pharmacologically more closely related than previously thought. Our findings have direct implications for many aGPCR studies, as potential functional overlap has to be considered for in vitro and in vivo studies. However, it also offers the possibility of a broader use of more potent peptides when the original Stachel sequence is less effective. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  14. An Activation-Based Model of Routine Sequence Errors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-04-01

    part of the ACT-R frame- work (e.g., Anderson, 1983), we adopt a newer, richer no- tion of priming as part of our approach ( Harrison & Trafton, 2010...2014). Other models of routine sequence errors, such as the in- teractive activation network ( IAN ) model (Cooper & Shal- lice, 2006) and the simple...error patterns that results from an interface layout shift. The ideas behind our expanded priming approach, however, could apply to IAN , which uses

  15. Toxins of Prokaryotic Toxin-Antitoxin Systems with Sequence-Specific Endoribonuclease Activity

    PubMed Central

    Masuda, Hisako; Inouye, Masayori

    2017-01-01

    Protein translation is the most common target of toxin-antitoxin system (TA) toxins. Sequence-specific endoribonucleases digest RNA in a sequence-specific manner, thereby blocking translation. While past studies mainly focused on the digestion of mRNA, recent analysis revealed that toxins can also digest tRNA, rRNA and tmRNA. Purified toxins can digest single-stranded portions of RNA containing recognition sequences in the absence of ribosome in vitro. However, increasing evidence suggests that in vivo digestion may occur in association with ribosomes. Despite the prevalence of recognition sequences in many mRNA, preferential digestion seems to occur at specific positions within mRNA and also in certain reading frames. In this review, a variety of tools utilized to study the nuclease activities of toxins over the past 15 years will be reviewed. A recent adaptation of an RNA-seq-based technique to analyze entire sets of cellular RNA will be introduced with an emphasis on its strength in identifying novel targets and redefining recognition sequences. The differences in biochemical properties and postulated physiological roles will also be discussed. PMID:28420090

  16. Capturing and modelling high-complex alluvial topography with UAS-borne laser scanning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mandlburger, Gottfried; Wieser, Martin; Pfennigbauer, Martin

    2015-04-01

    Due to fluvial activity alluvial forests are zones of highest complexity and relief energy. Alluvial forests are dominated by new and pristine channels in consequence of current and historic flood events. Apart from topographic features, the vegetation structure is typically very complex featuring, both, dense under story as well as high trees. Furthermore, deadwood and debris carried from upstream during periods of high discharge within the river channel are deposited in these areas. Therefore, precise modelling of the micro relief of alluvial forests using standard tools like Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) is hardly feasible. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), in turn, is very time consuming for capturing larger areas as many scan positions are necessary for obtaining complete coverage due to view occlusions in the forest. In the recent past, the technological development of Unmanned Arial Systems (UAS) has reached a level that light-weight survey-grade laser scanners can be operated from these platforms. For capturing alluvial topography this could bridge the gap between ALS and TLS in terms of providing a very detailed description of the topography and the vegetation structure due to the achievable very high point density of >100 points per m2. In our contribution we demonstrate the feasibility to apply UAS-borne laser scanning for capturing and modelling the complex topography of the study area Neubacher Au, an alluvial forest at the pre-alpine River Pielach (Lower Austria). The area was captured with Riegl's VUX-1 compact time-of-flight laser scanner mounted on a RiCopter (X-8 array octocopter). The scanner features an effective scan rate of 500 kHz and was flown in 50-100 m above ground. At this flying height the laser footprint is 25-50 mm allowing mapping of very small surface details. Furthermore, online waveform processing of the backscattered laser energy enables the retrieval of multiple targets for single laser shots resulting in a dense point cloud of

  17. Deep Sequencing Reveals the Complete Genome and Evidence for Transcriptional Activity of the First Virus-Like Sequences Identified in Aristotelia chilensis (Maqui Berry)

    PubMed Central

    Villacreses, Javier; Rojas-Herrera, Marcelo; Sánchez, Carolina; Hewstone, Nicole; Undurraga, Soledad F.; Alzate, Juan F.; Manque, Patricio; Maracaja-Coutinho, Vinicius; Polanco, Victor

    2015-01-01

    Here, we report the genome sequence and evidence for transcriptional activity of a virus-like element in the native Chilean berry tree Aristotelia chilensis. We propose to name the endogenous sequence as Aristotelia chilensis Virus 1 (AcV1). High-throughput sequencing of the genome of this tree uncovered an endogenous viral element, with a size of 7122 bp, corresponding to the complete genome of AcV1. Its sequence contains three open reading frames (ORFs): ORFs 1 and 2 shares 66%–73% amino acid similarity with members of the Caulimoviridae virus family, especially the Petunia vein clearing virus (PVCV), Petuvirus genus. ORF1 encodes a movement protein (MP); ORF2 a Reverse Transcriptase (RT) and a Ribonuclease H (RNase H) domain; and ORF3 showed no amino acid sequence similarity with any other known virus proteins. Analogous to other known endogenous pararetrovirus sequences (EPRVs), AcV1 is integrated in the genome of Maqui Berry and showed low viral transcriptional activity, which was detected by deep sequencing technology (DNA and RNA-seq). Phylogenetic analysis of AcV1 and other pararetroviruses revealed a closer resemblance with Petuvirus. Overall, our data suggests that AcV1 could be a new member of Caulimoviridae family, genus Petuvirus, and the first evidence of this kind of virus in a fruit plant. PMID:25855242

  18. Prediction and characterization of enzymatic activities guided by sequence similarity and genome neighborhood networks

    DOE PAGES

    Zhao, Suwen; Sakai, Ayano; Zhang, Xinshuai; ...

    2014-06-30

    Metabolic pathways in eubacteria and archaea often are encoded by operons and/or gene clusters (genome neighborhoods) that provide important clues for assignment of both enzyme functions and metabolic pathways. We describe a bioinformatic approach (genome neighborhood network; GNN) that enables large scale prediction of the in vitro enzymatic activities and in vivo physiological functions (metabolic pathways) of uncharacterized enzymes in protein families. We demonstrate the utility of the GNN approach by predicting in vitro activities and in vivo functions in the proline racemase superfamily (PRS; InterPro IPR008794). The predictions were verified by measuring in vitro activities for 51 proteins inmore » 12 families in the PRS that represent ~85% of the sequences; in vitro activities of pathway enzymes, carbon/nitrogen source phenotypes, and/or transcriptomic studies confirmed the predicted pathways. The synergistic use of sequence similarity networks3 and GNNs will facilitate the discovery of the components of novel, uncharacterized metabolic pathways in sequenced genomes.« less

  19. Student Activity Ideas for the Technology Sequence Systems and Foundation Courses.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany.

    This publication provides single-page outlines of brief ideas for high school student activities in each of the System and Foundation Courses of the New York State technology sequence. The idea outlines are provided as a resource to assist teachers in the development of student learning activities. The six courses for which ideas are presented are…

  20. An airborne low SWaP-C UAS sense and avoid system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Zhonghai; Lin, Xingping; Xiang, Xingyu; Blasch, Erik; Pham, Khanh; Chen, Genshe; Shen, Dan; Jia, Bin; Wang, Gang

    2016-05-01

    This paper presents a low size, weight and power - cost (SWaP-C) airborne sense and avoid (ABSAA) system, which is based on a linear frequency modulated continuous wave (LFMCW) radar and can be mounted on small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The system satisfies the constraint of the available sources on group 2/3 UAS. To obtain the desired sense and avoid range, a narrow band frequency (or range) scanning technique is applied for reducing the receiver's noise floor to improve its sensitivity, and a digital signal integration with fast Fourier transform (FFT) is applied to enhance the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The gate length and chirp rate are intelligently adapted to not only accommodate different object distances, speeds and approaching angle conditions, but also optimize the detection speed, resolution and coverage range. To minimize the radar blind zone, a higher chirp rate and a narrowband intermediate frequency (IF) filter are applied at the near region with a single antenna signal for target detection. The offset IF frequency between transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) is designed to mitigate the TX leakage to the receiver, especially at close distances. Adaptive antenna gain and beam-width are utilized for searching at far distance and fast 360 degree middle range. For speeding up the system update rate, lower chirp rates and wider IF and baseband filters are applied for obtaining larger range scanning step length out of the near region. To make the system working with a low power transmitter (TX), multiple-antenna beamforming, digital signal integration with FFT, and a much narrower receiver (RX) bandwidth are applied at the far region. The ABSAA system working range is 2 miles with a 1W transmitter and single antenna signal detection, and it is 5 miles when a 5W transmitter and 4-antenna beamforming (BF) are applied.

  1. Rapid Object Detection Systems, Utilising Deep Learning and Unmanned Aerial Systems (uas) for Civil Engineering Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Griffiths, D.; Boehm, J.

    2018-05-01

    With deep learning approaches now out-performing traditional image processing techniques for image understanding, this paper accesses the potential of rapid generation of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for applied engineering purposes. Three CNNs are trained on 275 UAS-derived and freely available online images for object detection of 3m2 segments of railway track. These includes two models based on the Faster RCNN object detection algorithm (Resnet and Incpetion-Resnet) as well as the novel onestage Focal Loss network architecture (Retinanet). Model performance was assessed with respect to three accuracy metrics. The first two consisted of Intersection over Union (IoU) with thresholds 0.5 and 0.1. The last assesses accuracy based on the proportion of track covered by object detection proposals against total track length. In under six hours of training (and two hours of manual labelling) the models detected 91.3 %, 83.1 % and 75.6 % of track in the 500 test images acquired from the UAS survey Retinanet, Resnet and Inception-Resnet respectively. We then discuss the potential for such applications of such systems within the engineering field for a range of scenarios.

  2. UAS Conflict-Avoidance Using Multiagent RL with Abstract Strategy Type Communication

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rebhuhn, Carrie; Knudson, Matt; Tumer, Kagan

    2014-01-01

    The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in the national airspace is of growing interest to the research community. Safety and scalability of control algorithms are key to the successful integration of autonomous system into a human-populated airspace. In order to ensure safety while still maintaining efficient paths of travel, these algorithms must also accommodate heterogeneity of path strategies of its neighbors. We show that, using multiagent RL, we can improve the speed with which conflicts are resolved in cases with up to 80 aircraft within a section of the airspace. In addition, we show that the introduction of abstract agent strategy types to partition the state space is helpful in resolving conflicts, particularly in high congestion.

  3. Rapid Conversion of Traditional Introductory Physics Sequences to an Activity-Based Format

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yoder, Garett; Cook, Jerry

    2014-01-01

    The Department of Physics at EKU [Eastern Kentucky University] with support from the National Science Foundations Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program has successfully converted our entire introductory physics sequence, both algebra-based and calculus-based courses, to an activity-based format where laboratory activities,…

  4. AN OVERVIEW OF THE UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS, SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS, AND PARAMETER ESTIMATION (UA/SA/PE) API AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT

    EPA Science Inventory

    The Application Programming Interface (API) for Uncertainty Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, and
    Parameter Estimation (UA/SA/PE API) (also known as Calibration, Optimization and Sensitivity and Uncertainty (CUSO)) was developed in a joint effort between several members of both ...

  5. Effects of missense mutations in sortase A gene on enzyme activity in Streptococcus mutans.

    PubMed

    Zhuang, P L; Yu, L X; Tao, Y; Zhou, Y; Zhi, Q H; Lin, H C

    2016-04-11

    Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is the major aetiological agent of dental caries, and the transpeptidase Sortase A (SrtA) plays a major role in cariogenicity. The T168G and G470A missense mutations in the srtA gene may be linked to caries susceptibility, as demonstrated in our previous studies. This study aimed to investigate the effects of these missense mutations of the srtA gene on SrtA enzyme activity in S. mutans. The point mutated recombinant S.mutans T168G and G470A sortases were expressed in expression plasmid pET32a. S. mutans UA159 sortase coding gene srtA was used as the template for point mutation. Enzymatic activity was assessed by quantifying increases in the fluorescence intensity generated when a substrate Dabcyl-QALPNTGEE-Edans was cleaved by SrtA. The kinetic constants were calculated based on the curve fit for the Michaelis-Menten equation. SrtA△N40(UA159) and the mutant enzymes, SrtA△N40(D56E) and SrtA△N40(R157H), were expressed and purified. A kinetic analysis showed that the affinity of SrtA△N40(D56E) and SrtA△N40(R157H) remained approximately equal to the affinity of SrtA△N40(UA159), as determined by the Michaelis constant (K m ). However, the catalytic rate constant (k cat ) and catalytic efficiency (k cat /K m ) of SrtA△N40(D56E) were reduced compared with those of SrtA△N40(R157H) and SrtA△N40(UA159), whereas the k cat and k cat /K m values of SrtA△N40(R157H) were slightly lower than those of SrtA△N40(UA159). The findings of this study indicate that the T168G missense mutation of the srtA gene results in a significant reduction in enzymatic activity compared with S. mutans UA159, suggesting that the T168G missense mutation of the srtA gene may be related to low cariogenicity.

  6. Four years of UAS Imagery Reveals Vegetation Change Due to Permafrost Thaw

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DelGreco, J. L.; Herrick, C.; Varner, R. K.; McArthur, K. J.; McCalley, C. K.; Garnello, A.; Finnell, D.; Anderson, S. M.; Crill, P. M.; Palace, M. W.

    2017-12-01

    Warming trends in sub-arctic regions have resulted in thawing of permafrost which in turn induces change in vegetation across peatlands. Collapse of palsas (i.e. permafrost plateaus) has also been correlated to increases in methane (CH4) emissions to the atmosphere. Vegetation change provides new microenvironments that promote CH4 production and emission, specifically through plant interactions and structure. By quantifying the changes in vegetation at the landscape scale, we will be able to understand the impact of thaw on CH4 emissions in these complex and climate sensitive northern ecosystems. We combine field-based measurements of vegetation composition and high resolution Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) imagery to characterize vegetation change in a sub-arctic mire. At Stordalen Mire (1 km x 0.5 km), Abisko, Sweden, we flew a fixed-wing UAS in July of each year between 2014 and 2017. High precision GPS ground control points were used to georeference the imagery. Seventy-five randomized square-meter plots were measured for vegetation composition and individually classified into one of five cover types, each representing a different stage of permafrost degradation. With this training data, each year of imagery was classified by cover type. The developed cover type maps were also used to estimate CH4 emissions across the mire based on average flux CH4 rates from each cover type obtained from flux chamber measurements collected at the mire. This four year comparison of vegetation cover and methane emissions has indicated a rapid response to permafrost thaw and changes in emissions. Estimation of vegetation cover types is vital in our understanding of the evolution of northern peatlands and its future role in the global carbon cycle.

  7. Meta-image navigation augmenters for GPS denied mountain navigation of small UAS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Teng; ćelik, Koray; Somani, Arun K.

    2014-06-01

    We present a novel approach to use mountain drainage patterns for GPS-Denied navigation of small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) such as the ScanEagle, utilizing a down-looking fixed focus monocular imager. Our proposal allows extension of missions to GPS-denied mountain areas, with no assumption of human-made geographic objects. We leverage the analogy between mountain drainage patterns, human arteriograms, and human fingerprints, to match local drainage patterns to Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) rendered parallax occlusion maps of geo-registered radar returns (GRRR). Details of our actual GPU algorithm is beyond the subject of this paper, and is planned as a future paper. The matching occurs in real-time, while GRRR data is loaded on-board the aircraft pre-mission, so as not to require a scanning aperture radar during the mission. For recognition purposes, we represent a given mountain area with a set of spatially distributed mountain minutiae, i.e., details found in the drainage patterns, so that conventional minutiae-based fingerprint matching approaches can be used to match real-time camera image against template images in the training set. We use medical arteriography processing techniques to extract the patterns. The minutiae-based representation of mountains is achieved by first exposing mountain ridges and valleys with a series of filters and then extracting mountain minutiae from these ridges/valleys. Our results are experimentally validated on actual terrain data and show the effectiveness of minutiae-based mountain representation method. Furthermore, we study how to select landmarks for UAS navigation based on the proposed mountain representation and give a set of examples to show its feasibility. This research was in part funded by Rockwell Collins Inc.

  8. Structural parameterization and functional prediction of antigenic polypeptome sequences with biological activity through quantitative sequence-activity models (QSAM) by molecular electronegativity edge-distance vector (VMED).

    PubMed

    Li, ZhiLiang; Wu, ShiRong; Chen, ZeCong; Ye, Nancy; Yang, ShengXi; Liao, ChunYang; Zhang, MengJun; Yang, Li; Mei, Hu; Yang, Yan; Zhao, Na; Zhou, Yuan; Zhou, Ping; Xiong, Qing; Xu, Hong; Liu, ShuShen; Ling, ZiHua; Chen, Gang; Li, GenRong

    2007-10-01

    Only from the primary structures of peptides, a new set of descriptors called the molecular electronegativity edge-distance vector (VMED) was proposed and applied to describing and characterizing the molecular structures of oligopeptides and polypeptides, based on the electronegativity of each atom or electronic charge index (ECI) of atomic clusters and the bonding distance between atom-pairs. Here, the molecular structures of antigenic polypeptides were well expressed in order to propose the automated technique for the computerized identification of helper T lymphocyte (Th) epitopes. Furthermore, a modified MED vector was proposed from the primary structures of polypeptides, based on the ECI and the relative bonding distance of the fundamental skeleton groups. The side-chains of each amino acid were here treated as a pseudo-atom. The developed VMED was easy to calculate and able to work. Some quantitative model was established for 28 immunogenic or antigenic polypeptides (AGPP) with 14 (1-14) A(d) and 14 other restricted activities assigned as "1"(+) and "0"(-), respectively. The latter comprised 6 A(b)(15-20), 3 A(k)(21-23), 2 E(k)(24-26), 2 H-2(k)(27 and 28) restricted sequences. Good results were obtained with 90% correct classification (only 2 wrong ones for 20 training samples) and 100% correct prediction (none wrong for 8 testing samples); while contrastively 100% correct classification (none wrong for 20 training samples) and 88% correct classification (1 wrong for 8 testing samples). Both stochastic samplings and cross validations were performed to demonstrate good performance. The described method may also be suitable for estimation and prediction of classes I and II for major histocompatibility antigen (MHC) epitope of human. It will be useful in immune identification and recognition of proteins and genes and in the design and development of subunit vaccines. Several quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models were developed for various

  9. Acquired resistance to rechallenge injury in rats recovered from subclinical renal damage with uranyl acetate-Importance of proliferative activity of tubular cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sun, Yuan; Fujigaki, Yoshihide, E-mail: yf0516@hama-med.ac.j; Sakakima, Masanori

    Animals recovered from acute renal failure are resistant to subsequent insult. We investigated whether rats recovered from mild proximal tubule (PT) injury without renal dysfunction (subclinical renal damage) acquire the same resistance. Rats 14 days after recovering from subclinical renal damage, which was induced by 0.2 mg/kg of uranyl acetate (UA) (sub-toxic dose), were rechallenged with 4 mg/kg of UA (nephrotoxic dose). Fate of PT cells and renal function were examined in response to nephrotoxic dose of UA. All divided cells after sub-toxic dose of UA insult were labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) for 14 days then the number of PTmore » cells with or without BrdU-labeling was counted following nephrotoxic dose of UA insult. Rats recovered from subclinical renal damage gained resistance to nephrotoxic dose of UA with reduced renal dysfunction, less severity of peak damage (necrotic and TUNEL+ apoptotic cells) and accelerated PT cell proliferation, but with earlier peak of PT damage. The decrease in number of PT cells in the early phase of rechallenge injury with nephrotoxic UA was more in rats pretreated with sub-toxic dose of UA than vehicle pretreated rats. The exaggerated loss of PT cells was mainly caused by the exaggerated loss of BrdU+ divided cells. In contrast, accelerated cell proliferation in rats recovered from sub-toxic dose of UA was observed mainly in BrdU- non-divided cells. The findings suggest that rats recovered from subclinical renal damage showed partial acquired resistance to nephrotoxic insult. Accelerated recovery with increased proliferative activity of non-divided PT cells after subclinical renal damage may mainly contribute to acquired resistance.« less

  10. Design, Development, and Testing of a Compound Wing V/TOL small UAS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Logan, Michael J.; Vranas, Thomas L.

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses the development and testing of an innovative small UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System). The design of the vehicle was driven by the need to both have long endurance yet still have the convenience of V/TOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) operation. The paper discusses some of the design considerations and configurations evaluated in searching for a configuration that met the demanding mission requirements. The paper also discusses some aspects of the compound wing and experimental testing conducted to discern the optimum parameters for the wing's design. The paper discusses the results of the preliminary flight testing and outlines further research to be conducted.

  11. In vivo topography of Rap1p-DNA complex at Saccharomyces cerevisiae TEF2 UAS(RPG) during transcriptional regulation.

    PubMed

    De Sanctis, Veronica; La Terra, Sabrina; Bianchi, Alessandro; Shore, David; Burderi, Luciano; Di Mauro, Ernesto; Negri, Rodolfo

    2002-04-26

    We have analyzed in detail the structure of RAP1-UAS(RPG) complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells using multi-hit KMnO(4), UV and micrococcal nuclease high-resolution footprinting. Three copies of the Rap1 protein are bound to the promoter simultaneously in exponentially growing cells, as shown by KMnO(4) multi-hit footprinting analysis, causing extended and diagnostic changes in the DNA structure of the region containing the UAS(RPG). Amino acid starvation does not cause loss of Rap1p from the complex; however, in vivo UV-footprinting reveals the occurrence of structural modifications of the complex. Moreover, low-resolution micrococcal nuclease digestion shows that the chromatin of the entire region is devoid of positioned nucleosomes but is susceptible to changes in accessibility to the nuclease upon amino acid starvation. The implications of these results for the mechanism of Rap1p action are discussed. (c) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

  12. UAS in the NAS Flight Test Series 4 Overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, Jim

    2016-01-01

    Flight Test Series 4 (FT4) provides the researchers with an opportunity to expand on the data collected during the first flight tests. Following Flight Test Series 3, additional scripted encounters with different aircraft performance and sensors will be conducted. FT4 is presently planned for Spring of 2016 to ensure collection of data to support the validation of the final RTCA Phase 1 DAA (Detect and Avoid) Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS). There are three research objectives associated with this goal: Evaluate the performance of the DAA system against cooperative and non-cooperative aircraft encounters Evaluate UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) pilot performance in response to DAA maneuver guidance and alerting with live intruder encounters Evaluate TCAS/DAA (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System/Detect and Avoid) interoperability. This flight test series will focus on only the Scripted Encounters configuration, supporting the collection of data to validate the interoperability of DAA and collision avoidance algorithms.

  13. Antiprotozoal activities of benzimidazoles and correlations with beta-tubulin sequence.

    PubMed Central

    Katiyar, S K; Gordon, V R; McLaughlin, G L; Edlind, T D

    1994-01-01

    Benzimidazoles have been widely used since the 1960s as anthelmintic agents in veterinary and human medicine and as antifungal agents in agriculture. More recently, selected benzimidazole derivatives were shown to be active in vitro against two protozoan parasites, Trichomonas vaginalis and Giardia lamblia, and clinical studies with AIDS patients have suggested that microsporidia are susceptible as well. Here, we first present in vitro susceptibility data for T. vaginalis and G. lamblia using an expanded set of benzimidazole derivatives. Both parasites were highly susceptible to four derivatives, including mebendazole, flubendazole, and fenbendazole (50% inhibitory concentrations of 0.005 to 0.16 microgram/ml). These derivatives also had lethal activity that was time dependent: 90% of T. vaginalis cells failed to recover following a 20-h exposure to mebendazole at 0.17 microgram/ml. G. lamblia, but not T. vaginalis, was highly susceptible to five additional derivatives. Next, we examined in vitro activity of benzimidazoles against additional protozoan parasites: little or no activity was observed against Entamoeba histolytica, Leishmania major, and Acanthamoeba polyphaga. Since the microtubule protein beta-tubulin has been identified as the benzimidazole target in helminths and fungi, potential correlations between benzimidazole activity and beta-tubulin sequence were examined. This analysis included partial sequences (residues 108 to 259) from the organisms mentioned above, as well as the microsporidia Encephalitozoon hellem and Encephalitozoon cuniculi and the sporozoan Cryptosporidium parvum. beta-tubulin residues Glu-198 and, in particular, Phe-200 are strong predictors of benzimidazole susceptibility; both are present in Encephalitozoon spp. but absent in C. parvum. PMID:7811023

  14. Detailed analysis of stem I and its 5' and 3' neighbor regions in the trans-acting HDV ribozyme.

    PubMed Central

    Nishikawa, F; Roy, M; Fauzi, H; Nishikawa, S

    1999-01-01

    To determine the stem I structure of the human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) ribozyme, which is related to the substrate sequence in the trans -acting system, we kinetically studied stem I length and sequences. Stem I extension from 7 to 8 or 9 bp caused a loss of activity and a low amount of active complex with 9 bp in the trans -acting system. In a previous report, we presented cleavage in a 6 bp stem I. The observed reaction rates indicate that the original 7 bp stem I is in the most favorable location for catalytic reaction among the possible 6-8 bp stems. To test base specificity, we replaced the original GC-rich sequence in stem I with AU-rich sequences containing six AU or UA base pairs with the natural +1G.U wobble base pair at the cleavage site. The cis -acting AU-rich molecules demonstrated similar catalytic activity to that of the wild-type. In trans -acting molecules, due to stem I instability, reaction efficiency strongly depended on the concentration of the ribozyme-substrate complex and reaction temperature. Multiple turnover was observed at 37 degreesC, strongly suggesting that stem I has no base specificity and more efficient activity can be expected under multiple turnover conditions by substituting several UA or AU base pairs into stem I. We also studied the substrate damaging sequences linked to both ends of stem I for its development in therapeutic applications and confirmed the functions of the unique structure. PMID:9862958

  15. Purification and sequencing of the active site tryptic peptide from penicillin-binding protein 1b of Escherichia coli

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nicholas, R.A.; Suzuki, H.; Hirota, Y.

    This paper reports the sequence of the active site peptide of penicillin-binding protein 1b from Escherichia coli. Purified penicillin-binding protein 1b was labeled with (/sup 14/C)penicillin G, digested with trypsin, and partially purified by gel filtration. Upon further purification by high-pressure liquid chromatography, two radioactive peaks were observed, and the major peak, representing over 75% of the applied radioactivity, was submitted to amino acid analysis and sequencing. The sequence Ser-Ile-Gly-Ser-Leu-Ala-Lys was obtained. The active site nucleophile was identified by digesting the purified peptide with aminopeptidase M and separating the radioactive products on high-pressure liquid chromatography. Amino acid analysis confirmed thatmore » the serine residue in the middle of the sequence was covalently bonded to the (/sup 14/C)penicilloyl moiety. A comparison of this sequence to active site sequences of other penicillin-binding proteins and beta-lactamases is presented.« less

  16. Super-resolution image reconstruction from UAS surveillance video through affine invariant interest point-based motion estimation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Qiang; Schultz, Richard R.; Wang, Yi; Camargo, Aldo; Martel, Florent

    2008-01-01

    In traditional super-resolution methods, researchers generally assume that accurate subpixel image registration parameters are given a priori. In reality, accurate image registration on a subpixel grid is the single most critically important step for the accuracy of super-resolution image reconstruction. In this paper, we introduce affine invariant features to improve subpixel image registration, which considerably reduces the number of mismatched points and hence makes traditional image registration more efficient and more accurate for super-resolution video enhancement. Affine invariant interest points include those corners that are invariant to affine transformations, including scale, rotation, and translation. They are extracted from the second moment matrix through the integration and differentiation covariance matrices. Our tests are based on two sets of real video captured by a small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) aircraft, which is highly susceptible to vibration from even light winds. The experimental results from real UAS surveillance video show that affine invariant interest points are more robust to perspective distortion and present more accurate matching than traditional Harris/SIFT corners. In our experiments on real video, all matching affine invariant interest points are found correctly. In addition, for the same super-resolution problem, we can use many fewer affine invariant points than Harris/SIFT corners to obtain good super-resolution results.

  17. Guidebook for Integrating a Micro Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) into Police and Emergency Operations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-10-01

    operate and must fly at higher altitudes . The fact that manned aircraft can carry personnel onboard also provides benefits as they can make on the...coûteux à utiliser et ils doivent voler à des altitudes plus élevées. Le fait que les aéronefs avec pilote à bord puissent transporter du personnel à...durée à très basse altitude permettant de prendre des photos de très près. Suffisamment petits pour tenir dans une valise, les micro-UAS sont très

  18. Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) Safely Enabling UAS Operations in Low-Altitude Airspace

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal H.

    2017-01-01

    Conduct research, development and testing to identify airspace operations requirements to enable large-scale visual and beyond visual line of sight UAS operations in the low-altitude airspace. Use build-a-little-test-a-little strategy remote areas to urban areas Low density: No traffic management required but understanding of airspace constraints. Cooperative traffic management: Understanding of airspace constraints and other operations. Manned and unmanned traffic management: Scalable and heterogeneous operations. UTM construct consistent with FAAs risk-based strategy. UTM research platform is used for simulations and tests. UTM offers path towards scalability

  19. Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM): Enabling Civilian Low-Altitude Airspace and Unmanned Aerial System Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kopardekar, Parimal Hemchandra

    2016-01-01

    Just a year ago we laid out the UTM challenges and NASA's proposed solutions. During the past year NASA's goal continues to be to conduct research, development and testing to identify airspace operations requirements to enable large-scale visual and beyond visual line-of-sight UAS operations in the low-altitude airspace. Significant progress has been made, and NASA is continuing to move forward.

  20. Inter-level Scaffolding and Sequences of Representational Activities in Teaching a Chemical System with Graphical Simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Na; Black, John B.

    2016-10-01

    Chemistry knowledge can be represented at macro-, micro- and symbolic levels, and learning a chemistry topic requires students to engage in multiple representational activities. This study focused on scaffolding for inter-level connection-making in learning chemistry knowledge with graphical simulations. We also tested whether different sequences of representational activities produced different student learning outcomes in learning a chemistry topic. A sample of 129 seventh graders participated in this study. In a simulation-based environment, participants completed three representational activities to learn several ideal gas law concepts. We conducted a 2 × 3 factorial design experiment. We compared two scaffolding conditions: (1) the inter- level scaffolding condition in which participants received inter-level questions and experienced the dynamic link function in the simulation-based environment and (2) the intra- level scaffolding condition in which participants received intra-level questions and did not experience the dynamic link function. We also compared three different sequences of representational activities: macro-symbolic-micro, micro-symbolic-macro and symbolic-micro-macro. For the scaffolding variable, we found that the inter- level scaffolding condition produced significantly better performance in both knowledge comprehension and application, compared to the intra- level scaffolding condition. For the sequence variable, we found that the macro-symbolic-micro sequence produced significantly better knowledge comprehension performance than the other two sequences; however, it did not benefit knowledge application performance. There was a trend that the treatment group who experienced inter- level scaffolding and the micro-symbolic-macro sequence achieved the best knowledge application performance.

  1. In vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ursolic acid and oleanoic acid from Miconia albicans (Melastomataceae).

    PubMed

    Vasconcelos, Maria Anita L; Royo, Vanessa A; Ferreira, Daniele S; Crotti, Antonio E Miller; Andrade e Silva, Márcio L; Carvalho, José Carlos T; Bastos, Jairo Kenupp; Cunha, Wilson R

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this work was to use in vivo models to evaluate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of ursolic acid (UA) and oleanoic acid (OA), the major compounds isolated as an isomeric mixture from the crude methylene chloride extract of Miconia albicans aerial parts in an attempt to clarify if these compounds are responsible for the analgesic properties displayed by this plant. Ursolic acid inhibited abdominal constriction in a dose-dependent manner, and the result obtained at a content of 40 mg kg(-1) was similar to that produced by administration of acetylsalicylic acid at a content of 100 mg kg(-1). Both acids reduced the number of paw licks in the second phase of the formalin test, and both of them displayed a significant anti-inflammatory effect at a content of 40 mg kg(-1). It is noteworthy that the administration of the isolated mixture, containing 65% ursolic acid/35% oleanolic acid, did not display significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. On the basis of the obtained results, considering that the mixture of UA and OA was poorly active, it is suggested that other compounds, rather than UA and OA, should be responsible for the evaluated activities in the crude extract, since the crude extract samples displayed good activities.

  2. The influence of viral coding sequences on pestivirus IRES activity reveals further parallels with translation initiation in prokaryotes.

    PubMed Central

    Fletcher, Simon P; Ali, Iraj K; Kaminski, Ann; Digard, Paul; Jackson, Richard J

    2002-01-01

    Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a member of the pestivirus family, which shares many features in common with hepatitis C virus (HCV). It is shown here that CSFV has an exceptionally efficient cis-acting internal ribosome entry segment (IRES), which, like that of HCV, is strongly influenced by the sequences immediately downstream of the initiation codon, and is optimal with viral coding sequences in this position. Constructs that retained 17 or more codons of viral coding sequence exhibited full IRES activity, but with only 12 codons, activity was approximately 66% of maximum in vitro (though close to maximum in transfected BHK cells), whereas with just 3 codons or fewer, the activity was only approximately 15% of maximum. The minimal coding region elements required for high activity were exchanged between HCV and CSFV. Although maximum activity was observed in each case with the homologous combination of coding region and 5' UTR, the heterologous combinations were sufficiently active to rule out a highly specific functional interplay between the 5' UTR and coding sequences. On the other hand, inversion of the coding sequences resulted in low IRES activity, particularly with the HCV coding sequences. RNA structure probing showed that the efficiency of internal initiation of these chimeric constructs correlated most closely with the degree of single-strandedness of the region around and immediately downstream of the initiation codon. The low activity IRESs could not be rescued by addition of supplementary eIF4A (the initiation factor with ATP-dependent RNA helicase activity). The extreme sensitivity to secondary structure around the initiation codon is likely to be due to the fact that the eIF4F complex (which has eIF4A as one of its subunits) is not required for and does not participate in initiation on these IRESs. PMID:12515388

  3. The sky is the limit? 20 years of small-format aerial photography taken from UAS for monitoring geomorphological processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marzolff, Irene

    2014-05-01

    One hundred years after the first publication on aerial photography taken from unmanned aerial platforms (Arthur Batut 1890), small-format aerial photography (SFAP) became a distinct niche within remote sensing during the 1990s. Geographers, plant biologists, archaeologists and other researchers with geospatial interests re-discovered the usefulness of unmanned platforms for taking high-resolution, low-altitude photographs that could then be digitized and analysed with geographical information systems, (softcopy) photogrammetry and image processing techniques originally developed for digital satellite imagery. Even before the ubiquity of digital consumer-grade cameras and 3D analysis software accessible to the photogrammetric layperson, do-it-yourself remote sensing using kites, blimps, drones and micro air vehicles literally enabled the questing researcher to get their own pictures of the world. As a flexible, cost-effective method, SFAP offered images with high spatial and temporal resolutions that could be ideally adapted to the scales of landscapes, forms and distribution patterns to be monitored. During the last five years, this development has been significantly accelerated by the rapid technological advancements of GPS navigation, autopiloting and revolutionary softcopy-photogrammetry techniques. State-of-the-art unmanned aerial systems (UAS) now allow automatic flight planning, autopilot-controlled aerial surveys, ground control-free direct georeferencing and DEM plus orthophoto generation with centimeter accuracy, all within the space of one day. The ease of use of current UAS and processing software for the generation of high-resolution topographic datasets and spectacular visualizations is tempting and has spurred the number of publications on these issues - but which advancements in our knowledge and understanding of geomorphological processes have we seen and can we expect in the future? This presentation traces the development of the last two decades

  4. [Neuronal activity of monkey dorso-lateral premotor cortex during tasks of figure recognition guided motor sequence vs memorized spatial motor sequence].

    PubMed

    Chen, Y C; Huang, F D; Chen, N H; Shou, J Y; Wu, L

    1998-04-01

    In the last 2-3 decades the role of the premotor cortex (PM) of monkey in memorized spatial sequential (MSS) movements has been amply investigated. However, it is as yet not known whether PM participates in the movement sequence behaviour guided by recognition of visual figures (i.e. the figure-recognition sequence, FRS). In the present work three monkeys were trained to perform both FRS and MSS tasks. Postmortem examination showed that 202 cells were in the dorso-lateral premotor cortex. Among 111 cells recorded during the two tasks, more than 50% changed their activity during the cue periods in either task. During the response period, the ratios of cells with changes of firing rate in both FRS and MSS were high and roughly equal to each other, while during the image period, the proportion in the FRS (83.7%) was significantly higher than that in the MSS (66.7%). Comparison of neuronal activities during same motor sequence of two different tasks showed that during the image periods PM neuronal activities were more closely related to the FRS task, while during the cue periods no difference could be found. Analysis of cell responses showed that the neurons with longer latency were much more in MSS than in FRS in either cue or image period. The present results indicate that the premotor cortex participates in FRS motor sequence as well as in MSS and suggest that the dorso-lateral PM represents another subarea in function shared by both FRS and MSS tasks. However, in view of the differences of PM neuronal responses in cue or image periods of FRS and MSS tasks, it seems likely that neural networks involved in FRS and MSS tasks are different.

  5. A sequence-specific transcription activator motif and powerful synthetic variants that bind Mediator using a fuzzy protein interface.

    PubMed

    Warfield, Linda; Tuttle, Lisa M; Pacheco, Derek; Klevit, Rachel E; Hahn, Steven

    2014-08-26

    Although many transcription activators contact the same set of coactivator complexes, the mechanism and specificity of these interactions have been unclear. For example, do intrinsically disordered transcription activation domains (ADs) use sequence-specific motifs, or do ADs of seemingly different sequence have common properties that encode activation function? We find that the central activation domain (cAD) of the yeast activator Gcn4 functions through a short, conserved sequence-specific motif. Optimizing the residues surrounding this short motif by inserting additional hydrophobic residues creates very powerful ADs that bind the Mediator subunit Gal11/Med15 with high affinity via a "fuzzy" protein interface. In contrast to Gcn4, the activity of these synthetic ADs is not strongly dependent on any one residue of the AD, and this redundancy is similar to that of some natural ADs in which few if any sequence-specific residues have been identified. The additional hydrophobic residues in the synthetic ADs likely allow multiple faces of the AD helix to interact with the Gal11 activator-binding domain, effectively forming a fuzzier interface than that of the wild-type cAD.

  6. MOLECULAR CLONING, SEQUENCING, EXPRESSION AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF GIANT PANDA (AILUROPODA MELANOLEUCA) INTERFERON-GAMMA.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Hui; Wang, Wen-Xiu; Wang, Bao-Qin; Zhu, Xiao-Fu; Wu, Xu-Jin; Ma, Qing-Yi; Chen, De-Kun

    2012-06-29

    The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is an endangered species and indigenous to China. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is the only member of type □ IFN and is vital for the regulation of host adapted immunity and inflammatory response. Little is known aboutthe FN-γ gene and its roles in giant panda.In this study, IFN-γ gene of Qinling giant panda was amplified from total blood RNA by RT-CPR, cloned, sequenced and analysed. The open reading frame (ORF) of Qinling giant panda IFN-γ encodes 152 amino acidsand is highly similar to Sichuan giant panda with an identity of 99.3% in cDNA sequence. The IFN-γ cDNA sequence was ligated to the pET32a vector and transformed into E. coli BL21 competent cells. Expression of recombinant IFN-γ protein of Qinling giant panda in E. coli was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. Biological activity assay indicated that the recombinant IFN-γ protein at the concentration of 4-10 µg/ml activated the giant panda peripheral blood lymphocytes,while at 12 µg/mlinhibited. the activation of the lymphocytes.These findings provide insights into the evolution of giant panda IFN-γ and information regarding amino acid residues essential for their biological activity.

  7. A Safe Cooperative Framework for Atmospheric Science Missions with Multiple Heterogeneous UAS using Piecewise Bezier Curves

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mehdi, S. Bilal; Puig-Navarro, Javier; Choe, Ronald; Cichella, Venanzio; Hovakimyan, Naira; Chandarana, Meghan; Trujillo, Anna; Rothhaar, Paul M.; Tran, Loc; Neilan, James H.; hide

    2016-01-01

    Autonomous operation of UAS holds promise for greater productivity of atmospheric science missions. However, several challenges need to be overcome before such missions can be made autonomous. This paper presents a framework for safe autonomous operations of multiple vehicles, particularly suited for atmospheric science missions. The framework revolves around the use of piecewise Bezier curves for trajectory representation, which in conjunction with path-following and time-coordination algorithms, allows for safe coordinated operations of multiple vehicles.

  8. Increase in posterior alpha activity during rehearsal predicts successful long-term memory formation of word sequences.

    PubMed

    Meeuwissen, Esther B; Takashima, Atsuko; Fernández, Guillén; Jensen, Ole

    2011-12-01

    It is becoming increasingly clear that demanding cognitive tasks rely on an extended network engaging task-relevant areas and, importantly, disengaging task-irrelevant areas. Given that alpha activity (8-12 Hz) has been shown to reflect the disengagement of task-irrelevant regions in attention and working memory tasks, we here ask if alpha activity plays a related role for long-term memory formation. Subjects were instructed to encode and maintain the order of word sequences while the ongoing brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). In each trial, three words were presented followed by a 3.4 s rehearsal interval. Considering the good temporal resolution of MEG this allowed us to investigate the word presentation and rehearsal interval separately. The sequences were grouped in trials where word order either could be tested immediately (working memory trials; WM) or later (LTM trials) according to instructions. Subjects were tested on their ability to retrieve the order of the three words. The data revealed that alpha power in parieto-occipital regions was lower during word presentation compared to rehearsal. Our key finding was that parieto-occipital alpha power during the rehearsal period was markedly stronger for successfully than unsuccessfully encoded LTM sequences. This subsequent memory effect demonstrates that high posterior alpha activity creates an optimal brain state for successful LTM formation possibly by actively reducing parieto-occipital activity that might interfere with sequence encoding. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Assessment of Antarctic moss health from multi-sensor UAS imagery with Random Forest Modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Turner, Darren; Lucieer, Arko; Malenovský, Zbyněk; King, Diana; Robinson, Sharon A.

    2018-06-01

    Moss beds are one of very few terrestrial vegetation types that can be found on the Antarctic continent and as such mapping their extent and monitoring their health is important to environmental managers. Across Antarctica, moss beds are experiencing changes in health as their environment changes. As Antarctic moss beds are spatially fragmented with relatively small extent they require very high resolution remotely sensed imagery to monitor their distribution and dynamics. This study demonstrates that multi-sensor imagery collected by an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) provides a novel data source for assessment of moss health. In this study, we train a Random Forest Regression Model (RFM) with long-term field quadrats at a study site in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica and apply it to UAS RGB and 6-band multispectral imagery, derived vegetation indices, 3D topographic data, and thermal imagery to predict moss health. Our results suggest that moss health, expressed as a percentage between 0 and 100% healthy, can be estimated with a root mean squared error (RMSE) between 7 and 12%. The RFM also quantifies the importance of input variables for moss health estimation showing the multispectral sensor data was important for accurate health prediction, such information being essential for planning future field investigations. The RFM was applied to the entire moss bed, providing an extrapolation of the health assessment across a larger spatial area. With further validation the resulting maps could be used for change detection of moss health across multiple sites and seasons.

  10. Characterization of a Nonclassical Class I MHC Gene in a Reptile, the Galápagos Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

    PubMed Central

    Glaberman, Scott; Du Pasquier, Louis; Caccone, Adalgisa

    2008-01-01

    Squamates are a diverse order of vertebrates, representing more than 7,000 species. Yet, descriptions of full-length major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in this group are nearly absent from the literature, while the number of MHC studies continues to rise in other vertebrate taxa. The lack of basic information about MHC organization in squamates inhibits investigation into the relationship between MHC polymorphism and disease, and leaves a large taxonomic gap in our understanding of amniote MHC evolution. Here, we use both cDNA and genomic sequence data to characterize a class I MHC gene (Amcr-UA) from the Galápagos marine iguana, a member of the squamate subfamily Iguaninae. Amcr-UA appears to be functional since it is expressed in the blood and contains many of the conserved peptide-binding residues that are found in classical class I genes of other vertebrates. In addition, comparison of Amcr-UA to homologous sequences from other iguanine species shows that the antigen-binding portion of this gene is under purifying selection, rather than balancing selection, and therefore may have a conserved function. A striking feature of Amcr-UA is that both the cDNA and genomic sequences lack the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains that are necessary to anchor the class I receptor molecule into the cell membrane, suggesting that the product of this gene is secreted and consequently not involved in classical class I antigen-presentation. The truncated and conserved character of Amcr-UA lead us to define it as a nonclassical gene that is related to the few available squamate class I sequences. However, phylogenetic analysis placed Amcr-UA in a basal position relative to other published classical MHC genes from squamates, suggesting that this gene diverged near the beginning of squamate diversification. PMID:18682845

  11. Bubbles versus biofilms: a novel method for the removal of marine biofilms attached on antifouling coatings using an ultrasonically activated water stream

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salta, M.; Goodes, L. R.; Maas, B. J.; Dennington, S. P.; Secker, T. J.; Leighton, T. G.

    2016-09-01

    The accumulation of marine organisms on a range of manmade surfaces, termed biofouling, has proven to be the Achilles’ heel of the shipping industry. Current antifouling coatings, such as foul release coatings (FRCs), only partially inhibit biofouling, since biofilms remain a major issue. Mechanical ship hull cleaning is commonly employed to remove biofilms, but these methods tend to damage the antifouling coating and often do not result in full removal. Here, we report the effectiveness of biofilm removal from FRCs through a novel cleaning device that uses an ultrasonically activated stream (UAS). In this device, ultrasound enhances the cleaning properties of microbubbles in a freely flowing stream of water. The UAS was applied on two types of commercial FRCs which were covered with biofilm growth following twelve days immersion in the marine environment. Biofilm removal was quantified in terms of reduction in biovolume and surface roughness, both measured using an optical profilometer, which were then compared with similar measurements after cleaning with a non-ultrasonically activated water stream. It was found that the UAS significantly improves the cleaning capabilities of a water flow, up to the point where no detectable biofilm remained on the coating surfaces. Overall biofilm surface coverage was significantly lower on the FRC coatings cleaned with the UAS system when compared to the coatings cleaned with water or not cleaned at all. When biofilm biomass removal was investigated, the UAS system resulted in significantly lower biovolume values even when compared to the water cleaning treatment with biovolume values close to zero. Remarkably, the surface roughness of the coatings after cleaning with the UAS was found to be comparable to that of the blank, non-immersed coatings, illustrating that the UAS did not damage the coatings in the process. The data supporting this study are openly available from the University of Southampton repository at http

  12. The Unmanned Mission Avionics Test Heliciopter - a Flexible and Versatile Vtol-Uas Experimental System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schulz, H.-W., , Dr.

    2011-09-01

    civil customers. These applications cover a wide spectrum from R&D programs for the military customer to special services for the civil customer. This paper focuses on the technical conversion of a commercially available VTOL-UAS to ESG's Unmanned Mission Avionics Test Helicopter (UMAT), its concept and operational capabilities. At the end of the paper, the current integration of a radar sensor is described as an example of the UMATs flexibility. The radar sensor is developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR). It is integrated by ESG together with the industrial partner SWISS UAV.

  13. Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) and UAS Integration in the NAS Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wolfe, Jean

    2010-01-01

    Program Goal: Conduct research at an integrated system-level on promising concepts and technologies and explore, assess, or demonstrate the benefits in a relevant environment.Criteria for selection of projects for Integrated Systems Research: a) Technology has attained enough maturity in the foundational research program that they merit more in-depth evaluation at an integrated system level in a relevant environment. b) Technologies which systems analysis indicates have the most potential for contributing to the simultaneous attainment of goals. c) Technologies identified through stakeholder input as having potential for simultaneous attainment of goals. d) Research not being done by other government agencies and appropriate for NASA to conduct. e) Budget augmentation. Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project Explore and assess new vehicle concepts and enabling technologies through system-level experimentation to simultaneously reduce fuel burn, noise, and emissions Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project Contribute capabilities that reduce technical barriers related to the safety and operational challenges associated with enabling routine UAS access to the NAS Innovative Concepts for Green Aviation (ICGA) Project Spur innovation by offering research opportunities to the broader aeronautics community through peer-reviewed proposals, with a focus on making aviation more eco-friendly. Establish incentive prizes similar to the Centennial Challenges and sponsor innovation demonstrations of selected technologies that show promise of reducing aviation s impact on the environment

  14. Chemopreventive activity of ellagitannins and their derivatives from black raspberry seeds on HT-29 colon cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Cho, Hyunnho; Jung, Hana; Lee, Heejae; Yi, Hae Chang; Kwak, Ho-kyung; Hwang, Keum Taek

    2015-05-01

    Black raspberry (BRB) seeds are a major waste product after fruit processing. The seeds are abundant in ellagitannins (ET), a class of hydrolysable tannins, which are hydrolyzed to ellagic acid (EA) and further metabolized to urolithin A (UA) and urolithin B (UB), known to be bioavailable in the colon and the prostate. In this study, the anti-cancer activities of these compounds were evaluated on HT-29 colon cancer cells. ET, EA, UA and UB inhibited the proliferation of the cancer cells. EA caused a slight, but significant cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase, and urolithins caused cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and upregulated p21 expression. Apoptotic cells were detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI assay when treated with the compounds. Disruption in mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of caspases 8 and 9 suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways may be involved. Activation of caspase 3 and cleavage of PARP further confirmed the induction of the apoptosis. ET, EA, UA and UB showed anti-cancer activity by arresting the cell cycle and inducing apoptosis on HT-29 human colon cancer cells. This study suggests that the BRB seeds could be a potential source of anti-cancer ET.

  15. Enriching Genomic Resources and Marker Development from Transcript Sequences of Jatropha curcas for Microgravity Studies

    PubMed Central

    Tian, Wenlan; Paudel, Dev

    2017-01-01

    Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an economically important species with a great potential for biodiesel production. To enrich the jatropha genomic databases and resources for microgravity studies, we sequenced and annotated the transcriptome of jatropha and developed SSR and SNP markers from the transcriptome sequences. In total 1,714,433 raw reads with an average length of 441.2 nucleotides were generated. De novo assembling and clustering resulted in 115,611 uniquely assembled sequences (UASs) including 21,418 full-length cDNAs and 23,264 new jatropha transcript sequences. The whole set of UASs were fully annotated, out of which 59,903 (51.81%) were assigned with gene ontology (GO) term, 12,584 (10.88%) had orthologs in Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), and 8,822 (7.63%) were mapped to 317 pathways in six different categories in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) database, and it contained 3,588 putative transcription factors. From the UASs, 9,798 SSRs were discovered with AG/CT as the most frequent (45.8%) SSR motif type. Further 38,693 SNPs were detected and 7,584 remained after filtering. This UAS set has enriched the current jatropha genomic databases and provided a large number of genetic markers, which can facilitate jatropha genetic improvement and many other genetic and biological studies. PMID:28154822

  16. Carrier-Free, Pure Nanodrug Formed by the Self-Assembly of an Anticancer Drug for Cancer Immune Therapy.

    PubMed

    Fan, Lulu; Zhang, Bingchen; Xu, Aixiao; Shen, Zhichun; Guo, Yan; Zhao, Ruirui; Yao, Huilu; Shao, Jing-Wei

    2018-06-04

    Ursolic acid (UA) is a food-plant-derived natural product which has good anticancer activities and low toxicity. However, the poor water solubility of UA limits its application in clinic. To address this issue, we developed a carrier-free nanodrug by self-assembly of UA. Here, we showed that UA nanoparticles (NPs) have a near-spherical shape with a diameter of ∼150 nm. UA NPs exhibited higher antiproliferative activity; significantly caused apoptosis; decreased the expression of COX-2/VEGFR2/VEGFA; and increased the immunostimulatory activity of TNF-α, IL-6, and IFN-β and decreased the activity of STAT-3 in A549 cells in vitro. Furthermore, UA NPs could inhibit tumor growth and have the ability of liver protection in vivo. More importantly, UA NPs could significantly improve the activation of CD4+ T-cells, which indicated that UA NPs have the potential for immunotherapy. Overall, a carrier-free UA nanodrug may be a promising drug to further enhance their anticancer efficacy and immune function.

  17. Estimating Rangeland Forage Production Using Remote Sensing Data from a Small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, H.; Jin, Y.; Devine, S.; Dahlgren, R. A.; Covello, S.; Larsen, R.; O'Geen, A. T.

    2017-12-01

    California rangelands cover 23 million hectares and support a $3.4 billion annual cattle industry. Rangeland forage production varies appreciably from year-to-year and across short distances on the landscape. Spatially explicit and near real-time information on forage production at a high resolution is critical for effective rangeland management, especially during an era of climatic extremes. We here integrated a multispectral MicaSense RedEdge camera with a 3DR solo quad-copter and acquired time-series images during the 2017 growing season over a topographically complex 10-hectare rangeland in San Luis Obispo County, CA. Soil moisture and temperature sensors were installed at 16 landscape positions, and vegetation clippings were collected at 36 plots to quantify forage dry biomass. We built four centimeter-level models for forage production mapping using time series of sUAS images and ground measurements of forage biomass and soil temperature and moisture. The biophysical model based on Monteith's eco-physiological plant growth theory estimated forage production reasonably well with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.86 and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 424 kg/ha when the soil parameters were included, and a R2 of 0.79 and a RMSE of 510 kg/ha when only remote sensing and topographical variables were included. We built two empirical models of forage production using a stepwise variable selection technique, one with soil variables. Results showed that cumulative absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR) and elevation were the most important variables in both models, explaining more than 40% of the spatio-temporal variance in forage production. Soil moisture accounted for an additional 29% of the variance. Illumination condition was selected as a proxy for soil moisture in the model without soil variables, and accounted for 18% of the variance. We applied the remote sensing-based models to map daily forage production at 30-cm resolution for the

  18. Characterizing the Diurnal Cycle of Land Surface Temperature and Evapotranspiration at High Spatial Resolution Using Thermal Observations from sUAS.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dutta, D.; Drewry, D.; Johnson, W. R.

    2017-12-01

    The surface temperature of plant canopies is an important indicator of the stomatal regulation of plant water use and the associated water flux from plants to atmosphere (evapotranspiration (ET)). Remotely sensed thermal observations using compact, low-cost, lightweight sensors from small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) have the potential to provide surface temperature (ST) and ET estimates at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, allowing us to characterize the intra-field diurnal variations in canopy ST and ET for a variety of vegetation systems. However, major challenges exist for obtaining accurate surface temperature estimates from low-cost uncooled microbolometer-type sensors. Here we describe the development of calibration methods using thermal chamber experiments, taking into account the ambient optics and sensor temperatures, and applying simple models of spatial non-uniformity correction to the sensor focal-plane-array. We present a framework that can be used to derive accurate surface temperatures using radiometric observations from low-cost sensors, and demonstrate this framework using a sUAS-mounted sensor across a diverse set of calibration and vegetation targets. Further, we demonstrate the use of the Surface Temperature Initiated Closure (STIC) model for computing spatially explicit, high spatial resolution ET estimates across several well-monitored agricultural systems, as driven by sUAS acquired surface temperatures. STIC provides a physically-based surface energy balance framework for the simultaneous retrieval of the surface and atmospheric vapor conductances and surface energy fluxes, by physically integrating radiometric surface temperature information into the Penman-Monteith equation. Results of our analysis over agricultural systems in Ames, IA and Davis, CA demonstrate the power of this approach for quantifying the intra-field spatial variability in the diurnal cycle of plant water use at sub-meter resolutions.

  19. Sequencing the extrachromosomal circular mobilome reveals retrotransposon activity in plants

    PubMed Central

    Llauro, Christel; Jobet, Edouard; Robakowska-Hyzorek, Dagmara; Lasserre, Eric; Ghesquière, Alain; Panaud, Olivier

    2017-01-01

    Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements abundant in plant and animal genomes. While efficiently silenced by the epigenetic machinery, they can be reactivated upon stress or during development. Their level of transcription not reflecting their transposition ability, it is thus difficult to evaluate their contribution to the active mobilome. Here we applied a simple methodology based on the high throughput sequencing of extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) forms of active retrotransposons to characterize the repertoire of mobile retrotransposons in plants. This method successfully identified known active retrotransposons in both Arabidopsis and rice material where the epigenome is destabilized. When applying mobilome-seq to developmental stages in wild type rice, we identified PopRice as a highly active retrotransposon producing eccDNA forms in the wild type endosperm. The mobilome-seq strategy opens new routes for the characterization of a yet unexplored fraction of plant genomes. PMID:28212378

  20. Sequencing the extrachromosomal circular mobilome reveals retrotransposon activity in plants.

    PubMed

    Lanciano, Sophie; Carpentier, Marie-Christine; Llauro, Christel; Jobet, Edouard; Robakowska-Hyzorek, Dagmara; Lasserre, Eric; Ghesquière, Alain; Panaud, Olivier; Mirouze, Marie

    2017-02-01

    Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements abundant in plant and animal genomes. While efficiently silenced by the epigenetic machinery, they can be reactivated upon stress or during development. Their level of transcription not reflecting their transposition ability, it is thus difficult to evaluate their contribution to the active mobilome. Here we applied a simple methodology based on the high throughput sequencing of extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) forms of active retrotransposons to characterize the repertoire of mobile retrotransposons in plants. This method successfully identified known active retrotransposons in both Arabidopsis and rice material where the epigenome is destabilized. When applying mobilome-seq to developmental stages in wild type rice, we identified PopRice as a highly active retrotransposon producing eccDNA forms in the wild type endosperm. The mobilome-seq strategy opens new routes for the characterization of a yet unexplored fraction of plant genomes.

  1. Science sequence design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Koskela, P. E.; Bollman, W. E.; Freeman, J. E.; Helton, M. R.; Reichert, R. J.; Travers, E. S.; Zawacki, S. J.

    1973-01-01

    The activities of the following members of the Navigation Team are recorded: the Science Sequence Design Group, responsible for preparing the final science sequence designs; the Advanced Sequence Planning Group, responsible for sequence planning; and the Science Recommendation Team (SRT) representatives, responsible for conducting the necessary sequence design interfaces with the teams during the mission. The interface task included science support in both advance planning and daily operations. Science sequences designed during the mission are also discussed.

  2. Kidney segmentation in CT sequences using graph cuts based active contours model and contextual continuity.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Pin; Liang, Yanmei; Chang, Shengjiang; Fan, Hailun

    2013-08-01

    Accurate segmentation of renal tissues in abdominal computed tomography (CT) image sequences is an indispensable step for computer-aided diagnosis and pathology detection in clinical applications. In this study, the goal is to develop a radiology tool to extract renal tissues in CT sequences for the management of renal diagnosis and treatments. In this paper, the authors propose a new graph-cuts-based active contours model with an adaptive width of narrow band for kidney extraction in CT image sequences. Based on graph cuts and contextual continuity, the segmentation is carried out slice-by-slice. In the first stage, the middle two adjacent slices in a CT sequence are segmented interactively based on the graph cuts approach. Subsequently, the deformable contour evolves toward the renal boundaries by the proposed model for the kidney extraction of the remaining slices. In this model, the energy function combining boundary with regional information is optimized in the constructed graph and the adaptive search range is determined by contextual continuity and the object size. In addition, in order to reduce the complexity of the min-cut computation, the nodes in the graph only have n-links for fewer edges. The total 30 CT images sequences with normal and pathological renal tissues are used to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of our method. The experimental results reveal that the average dice similarity coefficient of these image sequences is from 92.37% to 95.71% and the corresponding standard deviation for each dataset is from 2.18% to 3.87%. In addition, the average automatic segmentation time for one kidney in each slice is about 0.36 s. Integrating the graph-cuts-based active contours model with contextual continuity, the algorithm takes advantages of energy minimization and the characteristics of image sequences. The proposed method achieves effective results for kidney segmentation in CT sequences.

  3. Folate-Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded with Ursolic Acid Confer Anti-Breast Cancer Activities in vitro and in vivo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jin, Hua; Pi, Jiang; Yang, Fen; Jiang, Jinhuan; Wang, Xiaoping; Bai, Haihua; Shao, Mingtao; Huang, Lei; Zhu, Haiyan; Yang, Peihui; Li, Lihua; Li, Ting; Cai, Jiye; Chen, Zheng W.

    2016-07-01

    Ursolic acid (UA) has proved to have broad-spectrum anti-tumor effects, but its poor water solubility and incompetent targeting property largely limit its clinical application and efficiency. Here, we synthesized a nanoparticle-based drug carrier composed of chitosan, UA and folate (FA-CS-UA-NPs) and demonstrated that FA-CS-UA-NPs could effectively diminish off-target effects and increase local drug concentrations of UA. Using MCF-7 cells as in vitro model for anti-cancer mechanistic studies, we found that FA-CS-UA-NPs could be easily internalized by cancer cells through a folate receptor-mediated endocytic pathway. FA-CS-UA-NPs entered into lysosome, destructed the permeability of lysosomal membrane, and then got released from lysosomes. Subsequently, FA-CS-UA-NPs localized into mitochondria but not nuclei. The prolonged retention of FA-CS-UA-NPs in mitochondria induced overproduction of ROS and destruction of mitochondrial membrane potential, and resulted in the irreversible apoptosis in cancer cells. In vivo experiments showed that FA-CS-UA-NPs could significantly reduce breast cancer burden in MCF-7 xenograft mouse model. These results suggested that FA-CS-UA-NPs could further be explored as an anti-cancer drug candidate and that our approach might provide a platform to develop novel anti-cancer drug delivery system.

  4. Bottom-up driven involuntary auditory evoked field change: constant sound sequencing amplifies but does not sharpen neural activity.

    PubMed

    Okamoto, Hidehiko; Stracke, Henning; Lagemann, Lothar; Pantev, Christo

    2010-01-01

    The capability of involuntarily tracking certain sound signals during the simultaneous presence of noise is essential in human daily life. Previous studies have demonstrated that top-down auditory focused attention can enhance excitatory and inhibitory neural activity, resulting in sharpening of frequency tuning of auditory neurons. In the present study, we investigated bottom-up driven involuntary neural processing of sound signals in noisy environments by means of magnetoencephalography. We contrasted two sound signal sequencing conditions: "constant sequencing" versus "random sequencing." Based on a pool of 16 different frequencies, either identical (constant sequencing) or pseudorandomly chosen (random sequencing) test frequencies were presented blockwise together with band-eliminated noises to nonattending subjects. The results demonstrated that the auditory evoked fields elicited in the constant sequencing condition were significantly enhanced compared with the random sequencing condition. However, the enhancement was not significantly different between different band-eliminated noise conditions. Thus the present study confirms that by constant sound signal sequencing under nonattentive listening the neural activity in human auditory cortex can be enhanced, but not sharpened. Our results indicate that bottom-up driven involuntary neural processing may mainly amplify excitatory neural networks, but may not effectively enhance inhibitory neural circuits.

  5. Generation of a transgenic ORFeome library in Drosophila

    PubMed Central

    Bischof, Johannes; Sheils, Emma M.; Björklund, Mikael; Basler, Konrad

    2014-01-01

    Overexpression screens can be used to explore gene function in Drosophila melanogaster, but to demonstrate their full potential comprehensive and systematic collections of fly strains are required. Here we provide a protocol for high-throughput cloning of Drosophila open reading frames (ORFs) regulated by Upstream Activation Sequences (UAS sites); the resulting Gal4-inducible UAS-ORF plasmid library is then used to generate Drosophila strains by ΦC31 integrase-mediated site-specific integration. We also provide details for FLP/FRT-mediated in vivo exchange of epitope tags (or regulatory regions) in the ORF library strains, which further extends their potential applications. These transgenic UAS-ORF strains are a useful resource to complement and validate genetic experiments performed with loss-of-function mutants and RNAi lines. The duration of the complete protocol strongly depends on the number of ORFs required, but the procedure of injection and establishing balanced fly stocks can be completed within approx. 6-7 weeks for a few genes. PMID:24922270

  6. Integration and Testing of Miniaturized Volcanic Gas-Sensing Instruments on UAS Platforms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lopez, T. M.; Kern, C.; Diaz, J. A.; Vanderwaal, S. J.; Levy, A.

    2015-12-01

    Volcanologists measure the concentrations and emission rates of gases emitted from active volcanoes to understand magmatic processes, which aids in eruption forecasting, and to evaluate air quality for human and environmental health. Both of these applications become particularly important during periods of unusually high volcanic unrest when it is typically hazardous to approach a given volcano. Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) represent a promising platform for continued gas measurements during unrest, while reducing the risk to volcanologists. Two miniature gas-sensing instruments have been developed specifically for integration onto small UAS platforms. Both instruments weigh 1 kg or less, including integrated power. The microDOAS instrument is an upward-looking UV/vis spectrometer that measures the spectral absorption signature of SO2 and certain halogen oxides in scattered solar radiation. By flying beneath a volcanic plume, the instrument can measure the SO2 content in the plume cross-section which can be used to determine the SO2 emission rate. The miniGas instrument is flown within the volcanic plume and records in situ concentrations of CO2, SO2 and H2S, as well as atmospheric temperature, pressure, relative humidity and GPS location. All data are telemetered back to the base station to immediately alert the operator of potentially hazardous conditions. Both instruments have been successfully tested at active volcanoes in Alaska and Costa Rica and were integrated onto small ACUASI Ptarmigan hexacopters. A test mission was conducted at the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. During this experiment both instruments were successfully flown in flight patterns typical of manned volcanic gas measurements and new UAV-specific measurement strategies were developed. Here we describe the instruments and platforms employed, our experimental results and observations, and make recommendations for application to volcanic settings.

  7. APE1 incision activity at abasic sites in tandem repeat sequences.

    PubMed

    Li, Mengxia; Völker, Jens; Breslauer, Kenneth J; Wilson, David M

    2014-05-29

    Repetitive DNA sequences, such as those present in microsatellites and minisatellites, telomeres, and trinucleotide repeats (linked to fragile X syndrome, Huntington disease, etc.), account for nearly 30% of the human genome. These domains exhibit enhanced susceptibility to oxidative attack to yield base modifications, strand breaks, and abasic sites; have a propensity to adopt non-canonical DNA forms modulated by the positions of the lesions; and, when not properly processed, can contribute to genome instability that underlies aging and disease development. Knowledge on the repair efficiencies of DNA damage within such repetitive sequences is therefore crucial for understanding the impact of such domains on genomic integrity. In the present study, using strategically designed oligonucleotide substrates, we determined the ability of human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) to cleave at apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in a collection of tandem DNA repeat landscapes involving telomeric and CAG/CTG repeat sequences. Our studies reveal the differential influence of domain sequence, conformation, and AP site location/relative positioning on the efficiency of APE1 binding and strand incision. Intriguingly, our data demonstrate that APE1 endonuclease efficiency correlates with the thermodynamic stability of the DNA substrate. We discuss how these results have both predictive and mechanistic consequences for understanding the success and failure of repair protein activity associated with such oxidatively sensitive, conformationally plastic/dynamic repetitive DNA domains. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  8. Validity and responsiveness of the urticaria activity and impact measure (U-AIM), a new patient-reported tool.

    PubMed

    Maurer, Marcus; Mathias, Susan D; Crosby, Ross D; Rajput, Yamina; Zazzali, James L

    2018-03-19

    Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), also known as chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), may produce hives, itch, and angioedema. The Urticaria Activity and Impact Measure (U-AIM) is a newly developed 9-item patient-reported measure designed for use in routine clinical practice to assess CSU activity and impact over the previous 7 days. To evaluate validity, responsiveness, and clinically meaningful change of the U-AIM. Data from a 24-week open-label single-arm period of a randomized, placebo-controlled study of omalizumab were used to assess the psychometric properties of U-AIM items for itch, hives, and angioedema. 206 patients (75% female, mean age 44.6 years) were enrolled. At baseline, U-AIM results included prevalent severe itch (55%) and >12 hives (67%), angioedema (15%), and bother by itch (84%), hives (84%), and angioedema (49%). Urticaria Patient Daily Diary (UPDD) mean weekly scores were 15.4 (itch severity), 16.8 (number of hives), and 32.2 (Urticaria Activity Score [UAS7]). At baseline, Weeks 12 and 24, U-AIM itch and hives items and UAS7 proxy scores (the sum of itch severity and number of hives over 7 days) demonstrated strong correlation coefficients with their corresponding measures from the UPDD (itch severity: 0.634-0.806; hives number: 0.735-0.843; UAS7 proxy: 0.724-0.852). Changes in U-AIM scores differentiated patients by their perspective of symptom improvement. Meaningful change thresholds were established for itch severity and number of hives scores (0.8-1.0 for both) and the UAS7 proxy score (10.5-12.5). The U-AIM is valid and responsive to change, and may help clinicians monitor CSU activity and track treatment effectiveness. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  9. Emergency Response Fire-Imaging UAS Missions over the Southern California Wildfire Disaster

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    DelFrate, John H.

    2008-01-01

    Objectives include: Demonstrate capabilities of UAS to overfly and collect sensor data on widespread fires throughout Western US. Demonstrate long-endurance mission capabilities (20-hours+). Image multiple fires (greater than 4 fires per mission), to showcase extendable mission configuration and ability to either linger over key fires or station over disparate regional fires. Demonstrate new UAV-compatible, autonomous sensor for improved thermal characterization of fires. Provide automated, on-board, terrain and geo-rectified sensor imagery over OTH satcom links to national fire personnel and Incident commanders. Deliver real-time imagery (within 10-minutes of acquisition). Demonstrate capabilities of OTS technologies (GoogleEarth) to serve and display mission-critical sensor data, coincident with other pertinent data elements to facilitate information processing (WX data, ground asset data, other satellite data, R/T video, flight track info, etc).

  10. Emergency Response Fire-Imaging UAS Missions over the Southern California Wildfire Disaster

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cobleigh, Brent R.

    2007-01-01

    Objectives include: Demonstrate capabilities of UAS to overfly and collect sensor data on widespread fires throughout Western US. Demonstrate long-endurance mission capabilities (20-hours+). Image multiple fires (greater than 4 fires per mission), to showcase extendable mission configuration and ability to either linger over key fires or station over disparate regional fires. Demonstrate new UAV-compatible, autonomous sensor for improved thermal characterization of fires. Provide automated, on-board, terrain and geo-rectified sensor imagery over OTH satcom links to national fire personnel and Incident commanders. Deliver real-time imagery (within 10-minutes of acquisition). Demonstrate capabilities of OTS technologies (GoogleEarth) to serve and display mission-critical sensor data, coincident with other pertinent data elements to facilitate information processing (WX data, ground asset data, other satellite data, R/T video, flight track info, etc).

  11. UAS Applications for Hurricane Science, Hurrican and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Braun, Scott

    2014-01-01

    Earth Science Industry Update: UAS Applications for Hurricane Science Unmanned systems can significantly transform hurricane observations and monitoring, improving our knowledge about and ability to forecast storm formation, track, and intensity change. NASA's use of the Global Hawk has demonstrated the scientific value of this platform and provided a proof-of-concept for operational applications. However, science flight operations face several challenges and constraints. In this session, learn about how NASA adapted the Global Hawk to do science; How NASA conducts its hurricane missions, and some of the challenges and constraints they face; Science results from NASA's recent hurricane field campaigns using the Global Hawk. How assimilation of dropsonde and radar data into weather prediction models may improve forecast accuracy; Other Earth science problems that could be addressed with Global Hawks.

  12. Detection of active transposable elements in Arabidopsis thaliana using Oxford Nanopore Sequencing technology.

    PubMed

    Debladis, Emilie; Llauro, Christel; Carpentier, Marie-Christine; Mirouze, Marie; Panaud, Olivier

    2017-07-17

    Transposables elements (TEs) contribute to both structural and functional dynamics of most eukaryotic genomes. Because of their propensity to densely populate plant and animal genomes, the precise estimation of the impact of transposition on genomic diversity has been considered as one of the main challenges of today's genomics. The recent development of NGS (next generation sequencing) technologies has open new perspectives in population genomics by providing new methods for high throughput detection of Transposable Elements-associated Structural Variants (TEASV). However, these have relied on Illumina platform that generates short reads (up to 350 nucleotides). This limitation in size of sequence reads can cause high false discovery rate (FDR) and therefore limit the power of detection of TEASVs, especially in the case of large, complex genomes. The newest sequencing technologies, such as Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) can generate kilobases-long reads thus representing a promising tool for TEASV detection in plant and animals. We present the results of a pilot experiment for TEASV detection on the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana using ONT sequencing and show that it can be used efficiently to detect TE movements. We generated a ~0.8X genome coverage of a met1-derived epigenetic recombinant inbred line (epiRIL) using a MinIon device with R7 chemistry. We were able to detect nine new copies of the LTR-retrotransposon Evadé (EVD). We also evidenced the activity of the DNA transposon CACTA, CAC1. Even at a low sequence coverage (0.8X), ONT sequencing allowed us to reliably detect several TE insertions in Arabidopsis thaliana genome. The long read length allowed a precise and un-ambiguous mapping of the structural variations caused by the activity of TEs. This suggests that the trade-off between read length and genome coverage for TEASV detection may be in favor of the former. Should the technology be further improved both in terms of lower error rate

  13. Snow Depth Mapping at a Basin-Wide Scale in the Western Arctic Using UAS Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Jong, T.; Marsh, P.; Mann, P.; Walker, B.

    2015-12-01

    Assessing snow depths across the Arctic has proven to be extremely difficult due to the variability of snow depths at scales from metres to 100's of metres. New Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology provides the possibility to obtain centimeter level resolution imagery (~3cm), and to create Digital Surface Models (DSM) based on the Structure from Motion method. However, there is an ongoing need to quantify the accuracy of this method over different terrain and vegetation types across the Arctic. In this study, we used a small UAS equipped with a high resolution RGB camera to create DSMs over a 1 km2 watershed in the western Canadian Arctic during snow (end of winter) and snow-free periods. To improve the image georeferencing, 15 Ground Control Points were marked across the watershed and incorporated into the DSM processing. The summer DSM was subtracted from the snowcovered DSM to deliver snow depth measurements across the entire watershed. These snow depth measurements were validated by over 2000 snow depth measurements. This technique has the potential to improve larger scale snow depth mapping across watersheds by providing snow depth measurements at a ~3 cm . The ability of mapping both shallow snow (less than 75cm) covering much of the basin and snow patches (up to 5 m in depth) that cover less than 10% of the basin, but contain a significant portion of total basin snowcover, is important for both water resource applications, as well as for testing snow models.

  14. Evaluation of H.264 and H.265 full motion video encoding for small UAS platforms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McGuinness, Christopher D.; Walker, David; Taylor, Clark; Hill, Kerry; Hoffman, Marc

    2016-05-01

    Of all the steps in the image acquisition and formation pipeline, compression is the only process that degrades image quality. A selected compression algorithm succeeds or fails to provide sufficient quality at the requested compression rate depending on how well the algorithm is suited to the input data. Applying an algorithm designed for one type of data to a different type often results in poor compression performance. This is mostly the case when comparing the performance of H.264, designed for standard definition data, to HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), which the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) designed for high-definition data. This study focuses on evaluating how HEVC compares to H.264 when compressing data from small UAS platforms. To compare the standards directly, we assess two open-source traditional software solutions: x264 and x265. These software-only comparisons allow us to establish a baseline of how much improvement can generally be expected of HEVC over H.264. Then, specific solutions leveraging different types of hardware are selected to understand the limitations of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) options. Algorithmically, regardless of the implementation, HEVC is found to provide similar quality video as H.264 at 40% lower data rates for video resolutions greater than 1280x720, roughly 1 Megapixel (MPx). For resolutions less than 1MPx, H.264 is an adequate solution though a small (roughly 20%) compression boost is earned by employing HEVC. New low cost, size, weight, and power (CSWAP) HEVC implementations are being developed and will be ideal for small UAS systems.

  15. Antimycobacterial activity of methanolic plant extract of Artemisia capillaris containing ursolic acid and hydroquinone against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    PubMed

    Jyoti, Md Anirban; Nam, Kung-Woo; Jang, Woong Sik; Kim, Young-Hee; Kim, Su-Kyung; Lee, Byung-Eui; Song, Ho-Yeon

    2016-04-01

    In order to protect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection, novel drugs and new targets should be screened from the vast source of plants. We investigated the potentiality of the herbal plant of Artemisia capillaris extract (AC) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we isolated ursolic acid and hydroquinone by bio-activity guided fractionation from the methanol extracts of AC, and tested the inhibitory effects against several strains of MTB. Anti-mycobacterial evaluation of these compounds was carried out using the MGIT™ 960 and resazurin assay. Mycobacterial morphological changes due to the treatment of these compounds were further evaluated by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ursolic acid (UA) and hydroquinone (HQ) inhibited the growth of both susceptible and resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. The MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values of both UA and HQ were 12.5 μg/ml against the susceptible strains of M. tuberculosis. Also both UA and HQ showed 12.5-25 μg/ml of MIC values against MDR/XDR MTB strains. However, against clinical strains of MTB, UA was found sensitive against those strains that are sensitive against both INH and RFP but resistant against those strains that are resistant to INH. On the other hand HQ was sensitive against all clinical strains. TEM image-analysis of the strain H37Ra after treatment with UA revealed cell wall lysis, whereas HQ-treated cells showed deformed cytoplasmic morphology. All these results indicate that AC extracts containing UA and HQ possess promising chemotherapeutic potency against MTB for future use. Copyright © 2015 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Security Risk Assessment Process for UAS in the NAS CNPC Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Iannicca, Dennis C.; Young, Dennis P.; Thadani, Suresh K.; Winter, Gilbert A.

    2013-01-01

    This informational paper discusses the risk assessment process conducted to analyze Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) architectures for integrating civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The assessment employs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Risk Management framework to identify threats, vulnerabilities, and risks to these architectures and recommends corresponding mitigating security controls. This process builds upon earlier work performed by RTCA Special Committee (SC) 203 and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to roadmap the risk assessment methodology and to identify categories of information security risks that pose a significant impact to aeronautical communications systems. A description of the deviations from the typical process is described in regards to this aeronautical communications system. Due to the sensitive nature of the information, data resulting from the risk assessment pertaining to threats, vulnerabilities, and risks is beyond the scope of this paper.

  17. Security Risk Assessment Process for UAS in the NAS CNPC Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Iannicca, Dennis Christopher; Young, Daniel Paul; Suresh, Thadhani; Winter, Gilbert A.

    2013-01-01

    This informational paper discusses the risk assessment process conducted to analyze Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) architectures for integrating civil Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). The assessment employs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Risk Management framework to identify threats, vulnerabilities, and risks to these architectures and recommends corresponding mitigating security controls. This process builds upon earlier work performed by RTCA Special Committee (SC) 203 and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to roadmap the risk assessment methodology and to identify categories of information security risks that pose a significant impact to aeronautical communications systems. A description of the deviations from the typical process is described in regards to this aeronautical communications system. Due to the sensitive nature of the information, data resulting from the risk assessment pertaining to threats, vulnerabilities, and risks is beyond the scope of this paper

  18. Olive Actual "on Year" Yield Forecast Tool Based on the Tree Canopy Geometry Using UAS Imagery.

    PubMed

    Sola-Guirado, Rafael R; Castillo-Ruiz, Francisco J; Jiménez-Jiménez, Francisco; Blanco-Roldan, Gregorio L; Castro-Garcia, Sergio; Gil-Ribes, Jesus A

    2017-07-30

    Olive has a notable importance in countries of Mediterranean basin and its profitability depends on several factors such as actual yield, production cost or product price. Actual "on year" Yield (AY) is production (kg tree -1 ) in "on years", and this research attempts to relate it with geometrical parameters of the tree canopy. Regression equation to forecast AY based on manual canopy volume was determined based on data acquired from different orchard categories and cultivars during different harvesting seasons in southern Spain. Orthoimages were acquired with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery calculating individual crown for relating to canopy volume and AY. Yield levels did not vary between orchard categories; however, it did between irrigated orchards (7000-17,000 kg ha -1 ) and rainfed ones (4000-7000 kg ha -1 ). After that, manual canopy volume was related with the individual crown area of trees that were calculated by orthoimages acquired with UAS imagery. Finally, AY was forecasted using both manual canopy volume and individual tree crown area as main factors for olive productivity. AY forecast only by using individual crown area made it possible to get a simple and cheap forecast tool for a wide range of olive orchards. Finally, the acquired information was introduced in a thematic map describing spatial AY variability obtained from orthoimage analysis that may be a powerful tool for farmers, insurance systems, market forecasts or to detect agronomical problems.

  19. Investigations on the Possibilities of Monitoring Coastal Changes Including Shallow Under Water Areas with Uas Photo Bathmetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grenzdörffer, G. J.; Naumann, M.

    2016-06-01

    UAS become a very valuable tool for coastal morphology. Not only for mapping but also for change detection and a better understanding of processes along and across the shore. This contribution investigates the possibilities of UAS to determine the water depth in clear shallow waters by means of the so called "photo bathymetry". From the results of several test flights it became clear that three factors influence the ability and the accuracy of bathymetric sea floor measurements. Firstly, weather conditions. Sunny weather is not always good. Due to the high image resolution the sunlight gets focussed even in very small waves causing moving patterns on shallow grounds with high reflection properties, such as sand. This effect invisible under overcast weather conditions. Waves, may also introduce problems and mismatches. Secondly the quality and the accuracy of the georeferencing with SFM algorithms. As multi image key point matching will not work over water, the proposed approach will only work for projects closely to the coastline with enough control on the land. Thirdly the software used and the intensity of post processing and filtering. Refraction correction and the final interpolation of the point cloud into a DTM are the last steps. If everything is done appropriately, accuracies in the bathymetry in the range of 10 - 50 cm, depending on the water depth are possible.

  20. Draft Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus crispatus EM-LC1, an Isolate with Antimicrobial Activity Cultured from an Elderly Subject

    PubMed Central

    Power, Susan E.; Harris, Hugh M. B.; Bottacini, Francesca; Ross, R. Paul; O’Toole, Paul W.

    2013-01-01

    Here we report the 1.86-Mb draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus crispatus EM-LC1, a fecal isolate with antimicrobial activity. This genome sequence is expected to provide insights into the antimicrobial activity of L. crispatus and improve our knowledge of its potential probiotic traits. PMID:24356836

  1. Transcriptome Sequencing of Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis to Analyze the Genes Related to Optically Active Phycoerythrin Synthesis.

    PubMed

    Huang, Xiaoyun; Zang, Xiaonan; Wu, Fei; Jin, Yuming; Wang, Haitao; Liu, Chang; Ding, Yating; He, Bangxiang; Xiao, Dongfang; Song, Xinwei; Liu, Zhu

    2017-01-01

    Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis (aka Gracilaria lemaneiformis) is a red macroalga rich in phycoerythrin, which can capture light efficiently and transfer it to photosystemⅡ. However, little is known about the synthesis of optically active phycoerythrinin in G. lemaneiformis at the molecular level. With the advent of high-throughput sequencing technology, analysis of genetic information for G. lemaneiformis by transcriptome sequencing is an effective means to get a deeper insight into the molecular mechanism of phycoerythrin synthesis. Illumina technology was employed to sequence the transcriptome of two strains of G. lemaneiformis- the wild type and a green-pigmented mutant. We obtained a total of 86915 assembled unigenes as a reference gene set, and 42884 unigenes were annotated in at least one public database. Taking the above transcriptome sequencing as a reference gene set, 4041 differentially expressed genes were screened to analyze and compare the gene expression profiles of the wild type and green mutant. By GO and KEGG pathway analysis, we concluded that three factors, including a reduction in the expression level of apo-phycoerythrin, an increase of chlorophyll light-harvesting complex synthesis, and reduction of phycoerythrobilin by competitive inhibition, caused the reduction of optically active phycoerythrin in the green-pigmented mutant.

  2. Decrease in gamma-band activity tracks sequence learning

    PubMed Central

    Madhavan, Radhika; Millman, Daniel; Tang, Hanlin; Crone, Nathan E.; Lenz, Fredrick A.; Tierney, Travis S.; Madsen, Joseph R.; Kreiman, Gabriel; Anderson, William S.

    2015-01-01

    Learning novel sequences constitutes an example of declarative memory formation, involving conscious recall of temporal events. Performance in sequence learning tasks improves with repetition and involves forming temporal associations over scales of seconds to minutes. To further understand the neural circuits underlying declarative sequence learning over trials, we tracked changes in intracranial field potentials (IFPs) recorded from 1142 electrodes implanted throughout temporal and frontal cortical areas in 14 human subjects, while they learned the temporal-order of multiple sequences of images over trials through repeated recall. We observed an increase in power in the gamma frequency band (30–100 Hz) in the recall phase, particularly in areas within the temporal lobe including the parahippocampal gyrus. The degree of this gamma power enhancement decreased over trials with improved sequence recall. Modulation of gamma power was directly correlated with the improvement in recall performance. When presenting new sequences, gamma power was reset to high values and decreased again after learning. These observations suggest that signals in the gamma frequency band may play a more prominent role during the early steps of the learning process rather than during the maintenance of memory traces. PMID:25653598

  3. Fungal Community Associated with Dactylopius (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Dactylopiidae) and Its Role in Uric Acid Metabolism

    PubMed Central

    Vera-Ponce de León, Arturo; Sanchez-Flores, Alejandro; Rosenblueth, Mónica; Martínez-Romero, Esperanza

    2016-01-01

    We studied fungal species associated with the carmine cochineal Dactylopius coccus and other non-domesticated Dactylopius species using culture-dependent and -independent methods. Thirty seven fungi were isolated in various culture media from insect males and females from different developmental stages and Dactylopius species. 26S rRNA genes and ITS sequences, from cultured fungal isolates revealed different species of Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula, Debaryomyces, Trametes, and Penicillium, which are genera newly associated with Dactylopius. Uric acid (UA) and uricase activity were detected in tissues extracts from different insect developmental stages. However, accumulation of high UA levels and low uricase activities were found only after antifungal treatments, suggesting an important role of fungal species in its metabolism. Additionally, uricolytic fungal isolates were identified and characterized that presumably are involved in nitrogen recycling metabolism. After metagenomic analyses from D. coccus gut and hemolymph DNA and from two published data sets, we confirmed the presence of fungal genes involved in UA catabolism, suggesting that fungi help in the nitrogen recycling process in Dactylopius by uricolysis. All these results show the importance of fungal communities in scale insects such as Dactylopius. PMID:27446001

  4. Wageningen UR Unmanned Aerial Remote Sensing Facility - Overview of activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bartholomeus, Harm; Keesstra, Saskia; Kooistra, Lammert; Suomalainen, Juha; Mucher, Sander; Kramer, Henk; Franke, Jappe

    2016-04-01

    To support environmental management there is an increasing need for timely, accurate and detailed information on our land. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are increasingly used to monitor agricultural crop development, habitat quality or urban heat efficiency. An important reason is that UAS technology is maturing quickly while the flexible capabilities of UAS fill a gap between satellite based and ground based geo-sensing systems. In 2012, different groups within Wageningen University and Research Centre have established an Unmanned Airborne Remote Sensing Facility. The objective of this facility is threefold: a) To develop innovation in the field of remote sensing science by providing a platform for dedicated and high-quality experiments; b) To support high quality UAS services by providing calibration facilities and disseminating processing procedures to the UAS user community; and c) To promote and test the use of UAS in a broad range of application fields like habitat monitoring, precision agriculture and land degradation assessment. The facility is hosted by the Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing (GRS) and the Department of Soil Physics and Land Management (SLM) of Wageningen University together with the team Earth Informatics (EI) of Alterra. The added value of the Unmanned Aerial Remote Sensing Facility is that compared to for example satellite based remote sensing more dedicated science experiments can be prepared. This includes for example higher frequent observations in time (e.g., diurnal observations), observations of an object under different observation angles for characterization of BRDF and flexibility in use of camera's and sensors types. In this way, laboratory type of set ups can be tested in a field situation and effects of up-scaling can be tested. In the last years we developed and implemented different camera systems (e.g. a hyperspectral pushbroom system, and multispectral frame cameras) which we operated in projects all

  5. Sequence Search and Comparative Genomic Analysis of SUMO-Activating Enzymes Using CoGe.

    PubMed

    Carretero-Paulet, Lorenzo; Albert, Victor A

    2016-01-01

    The growing number of genome sequences completed during the last few years has made necessary the development of bioinformatics tools for the easy access and retrieval of sequence data, as well as for downstream comparative genomic analyses. Some of these are implemented as online platforms that integrate genomic data produced by different genome sequencing initiatives with data mining tools as well as various comparative genomic and evolutionary analysis possibilities.Here, we use the online comparative genomics platform CoGe ( http://www.genomevolution.org/coge/ ) (Lyons and Freeling. Plant J 53:661-673, 2008; Tang and Lyons. Front Plant Sci 3:172, 2012) (1) to retrieve the entire complement of orthologous and paralogous genes belonging to the SUMO-Activating Enzymes 1 (SAE1) gene family from a set of species representative of the Brassicaceae plant eudicot family with genomes fully sequenced, and (2) to investigate the history, timing, and molecular mechanisms of the gene duplications driving the evolutionary expansion and functional diversification of the SAE1 family in Brassicaceae.

  6. Design, testing and demonstration of a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) and payload for measuring wind speed and particulate matter in the atmospheric boundary layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riddell, Kevin Donald Alexander

    The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is the layer of air directly influenced by the Earth's surface and is the layer of the atmosphere most important to humans as this is the air we live in. Methods for measuring the properties of the ABL include three general approaches: satellite based, ground based and airborne. A major research challenge is that many contemporary methods provide a restricted spatial resolution or coverage of variations of ABL properties such as how wind speed varies across a landscape with complex topography. To enhance our capacity to measure the properties of the ABL, this thesis presents a new technique that involves a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) equipped with a customized payload for measuring wind speed and particulate matter. The research presented herein outlines two key phases in establishing the proof of concept of the payload and its integration on the sUAS: (1) design and testing and (2) field demonstration. The first project focuses on measuring wind speed, which has been measured with fixed wing sUASs in previous research. but not with a helicopter sUAS. The second project focuses on the measurement of particulate matter, which is a major air pollutant typically measured with ground-based sensors. Results from both proof of concept projects suggest that ABL research could benefit from the proposed techniques. .

  7. Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cooper, Brian; Hartman, Frank; Maxwell, Scott; Yen, Jeng; Wright, John; Balacuit, Carlos

    2005-01-01

    The Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP) is the software tool for use in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission for planning rover operations and generating command sequences for accomplishing those operations. RSVP combines three-dimensional (3D) visualization for immersive exploration of the operations area, stereoscopic image display for high-resolution examination of the downlinked imagery, and a sophisticated command-sequence editing tool for analysis and completion of the sequences. RSVP is linked with actual flight-code modules for operations rehearsal to provide feedback on the expected behavior of the rover prior to committing to a particular sequence. Playback tools allow for review of both rehearsed rover behavior and downlinked results of actual rover operations. These can be displayed simultaneously for comparison of rehearsed and actual activities for verification. The primary inputs to RSVP are downlink data products from the Operations Storage Server (OSS) and activity plans generated by the science team. The activity plans are high-level goals for the next day s activities. The downlink data products include imagery, terrain models, and telemetered engineering data on rover activities and state. The Rover Sequence Editor (RoSE) component of RSVP performs activity expansion to command sequences, command creation and editing with setting of command parameters, and viewing and management of rover resources. The HyperDrive component of RSVP performs 2D and 3D visualization of the rover s environment, graphical and animated review of rover-predicted and telemetered state, and creation and editing of command sequences related to mobility and Instrument Deployment Device (IDD) operations. Additionally, RoSE and HyperDrive together evaluate command sequences for potential violations of flight and safety rules. The products of RSVP include command sequences for uplink that are stored in the Distributed Object Manager (DOM) and predicted rover

  8. Modern and prospective technologies for weather modification activities: Developing a framework for integrating autonomous unmanned aircraft systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeFelice, T. P.; Axisa, Duncan

    2017-09-01

    This paper builds upon the processes and framework already established for identifying, integrating and testing an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with sensing technology for use in rainfall enhancement cloud seeding programs to carry out operational activities or to monitor and evaluate seeding operations. We describe the development and assessment methodologies of an autonomous and adaptive UAS platform that utilizes in-situ real time data to sense, target and implement seeding. The development of a UAS platform that utilizes remote and in-situ real-time data to sense, target and implement seeding deployed with a companion UAS ensures optimal, safe, secure, cost-effective seeding operations, and the dataset to quantify the results of seeding. It also sets the path for an innovative, paradigm shifting approach for enhancing precipitation independent of seeding mode. UAS technology is improving and their application in weather modification must be explored to lay the foundation for future implementation. The broader significance lies in evolving improved technology and automating cloud seeding operations that lowers the cloud seeding operational footprint and optimizes their effectiveness and efficiency, while providing the temporal and spatial sensitivities to overcome the predictability or sparseness of environmental parameters needed to identify conditions suitable for seeding, and how such might be implemented. The dataset from the featured approach will contain data from concurrent Eulerian and Lagrangian perspectives over sub-cloud scales that will facilitate the development of cloud seeding decision support tools.

  9. Correlations between prefrontal neurons form a small-world network that optimizes the generation of multineuron sequences of activity

    PubMed Central

    Luongo, Francisco J.; Zimmerman, Chris A.; Horn, Meryl E.

    2016-01-01

    Sequential patterns of prefrontal activity are believed to mediate important behaviors, e.g., working memory, but it remains unclear exactly how they are generated. In accordance with previous studies of cortical circuits, we found that prefrontal microcircuits in young adult mice spontaneously generate many more stereotyped sequences of activity than expected by chance. However, the key question of whether these sequences depend on a specific functional organization within the cortical microcircuit, or emerge simply as a by-product of random interactions between neurons, remains unanswered. We observed that correlations between prefrontal neurons do follow a specific functional organization—they have a small-world topology. However, until now it has not been possible to directly link small-world topologies to specific circuit functions, e.g., sequence generation. Therefore, we developed a novel analysis to address this issue. Specifically, we constructed surrogate data sets that have identical levels of network activity at every point in time but nevertheless represent various network topologies. We call this method shuffling activity to rearrange correlations (SHARC). We found that only surrogate data sets based on the actual small-world functional organization of prefrontal microcircuits were able to reproduce the levels of sequences observed in actual data. As expected, small-world data sets contained many more sequences than surrogate data sets with randomly arranged correlations. Surprisingly, small-world data sets also outperformed data sets in which correlations were maximally clustered. Thus the small-world functional organization of cortical microcircuits, which effectively balances the random and maximally clustered regimes, is optimal for producing stereotyped sequential patterns of activity. PMID:26888108

  10. Ribosomal DNA replication fork barrier and HOT1 recombination hot spot: shared sequences but independent activities.

    PubMed

    Ward, T R; Hoang, M L; Prusty, R; Lau, C K; Keil, R L; Fangman, W L; Brewer, B J

    2000-07-01

    In the ribosomal DNA of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sequences in the nontranscribed spacer 3' of the 35S ribosomal RNA gene are important to the polar arrest of replication forks at a site called the replication fork barrier (RFB) and also to the cis-acting, mitotic hyperrecombination site called HOT1. We have found that the RFB and HOT1 activity share some but not all of their essential sequences. Many of the mutations that reduce HOT1 recombination also decrease or eliminate fork arrest at one of two closely spaced RFB sites, RFB1 and RFB2. A simple model for the juxtaposition of RFB and HOT1 sequences is that the breakage of strands in replication forks arrested at RFB stimulates recombination. Contrary to this model, we show here that HOT1-stimulated recombination does not require the arrest of forks at the RFB. Therefore, while HOT1 activity is independent of replication fork arrest, HOT1 and RFB require some common sequences, suggesting the existence of a common trans-acting factor(s).

  11. Baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity in early heart failure assessed by the sequence method

    PubMed Central

    Lataro, Renata Maria; Silva, Luiz Eduardo Virgilio; Silva, Carlos Alberto Aguiar; Salgado, Helio Cesar

    2017-01-01

    Key points The integrity of the baroreflex control of sympathetic activity in heart failure (HF) remains under debate.We proposed the use of the sequence method to assess the baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA).The sequence method assesses the spontaneous arterial pressure (AP) fluctuations and their related changes in heart rate (or other efferent responses), providing the sensitivity and the effectiveness of the baroreflex. Effectiveness refers to the fraction of spontaneous AP changes that elicits baroreflex‐mediated variations in the efferent response.Using three different approaches, we showed that the baroreflex sensitivity between AP and RSNA is not altered in early HF rats. However, the sequence method provided evidence that the effectiveness of baroreflex in changing RSNA in response to AP changes is markedly decreased in HF.The results help us better understand the baroreflex control of the sympathetic nerve activity. Abstract In heart failure (HF), the reflex control of the heart rate is known to be markedly impaired; however, the baroreceptor control of the sympathetic drive remains under debate. Applying the sequence method to a series of arterial pressure (AP) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), we demonstrated a clear dysfunction in the baroreflex control of sympathetic activity in rats with early HF. We analysed the baroreflex control of the sympathetic drive using three different approaches: AP vs. RSNA curve, cross‐spectral analysis and sequence method between AP and RSNA. The sequence method also provides the baroreflex effectiveness index (BEI), which represents the percentage of AP ramps that actually produce a reflex response. The methods were applied to control rats and rats with HF induced by myocardial infarction. None of the methods employed to assess the sympathetic baroreflex gain were able to detect any differences between the control and the HF group. However, rats with HF exhibited a lower BEI

  12. How to Interactively Operate the Global Hawk UAS NOAA/NASA ENSO Payload, from Your Armchair, Five Thousand Kilometers Away

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sullivan, Don

    2016-01-01

    This paper will describe the information technologies developed by NASA and NOAA for the February 2016 Sensing Hazards with Operational Unmanned Technology (SHOUT) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Campaign. The air vehicle is a NASA Global Hawk UAS, with a primary payload of four instruments, two developed by NASA, two developed by NOAA. The aircraft is based at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California. The payload components are remotely operated by scientists at various facilities, and the data collected downloaded over satellite links in real time for analysis and collaboration. NOAA: Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS), developed by NCAR, which deploys dozens of dropsondes at altitudes up to 65,000 ft to collect high vertical resolution measurements of the temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction. NASA: High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), a radar designed to examine the factors of storm intensity: formation, structure and intensification. NOAA: O3 Photometer (UAS-O3), designed specifically for autonomous, precise, and accurate O3 measurements in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS). NASA JPL: High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR), an atmospheric microwave temperature and humidity sounder instrument that looks at the microwave spectrum.

  13. The external amino acid signaling pathway promotes activation of Stp1 and Uga35/Dal81 transcription factors for induction of the AGP1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed Central

    Abdel-Sater, Fadi; Iraqui, Ismaïl; Urrestarazu, Antonio; André, Bruno

    2004-01-01

    Yeast cells respond to the presence of amino acids in their environment by inducing transcription of several amino acid permease genes including AGP1, BAP2, and BAP3. The signaling pathway responsible for this induction involves Ssy1, a permease-like sensor of external amino acids, and culminates with proteolytic cleavage and translocation to the nucleus of the zinc-finger proteins Stp1 and Stp2, the lack of which abolishes induction of BAP2 and BAP3. Here we show that Stp1-but not Stp2-plays an important role in AGP1 induction, although significant induction of AGP1 by amino acids persists in stp1 and stp1 stp2 mutants. This residual induction depends on the Uga35/Dal81 transcription factor, indicating that the external amino acid signaling pathway activates not only Stp1 and Stp2, but also another Uga35/Dal81-dependent transcriptional circuit. Analysis of the AGP1 gene's upstream region revealed that Stp1 and Uga35/Dal81 act synergistically through a 21-bp cis-acting sequence similar to the UAS(AA) element previously found in the BAP2 and BAP3 upstream regions. Although cells growing under poor nitrogen-supply conditions display much higher induction of AGP1 expression than cells growing under good nitrogen-supply conditions, the UAS(AA) itself is totally insensitive to nitrogen availability. Nitrogen-source control of AGP1 induction is mediated by the GATA factor Gln3, likely acting through adjacent 5'-GATA-3' sequences, to amplify the positive effect of UAS(AA). Our data indicate that Stp1 may act in combination with distinct sets of transcription factors, according to the gene context, to promote induction of transcription in response to external amino acids. The data also suggest that Uga35/Dal81 is yet another transcription factor under the control of the external amino acid sensing pathway. Finally, the data show that the TOR pathway mediating global nitrogen control of transcription does not interfere with the external amino acid signaling pathway. PMID

  14. Visualizing UAS-collected imagery using augmented reality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conover, Damon M.; Beidleman, Brittany; McAlinden, Ryan; Borel-Donohue, Christoph C.

    2017-05-01

    One of the areas where augmented reality will have an impact is in the visualization of 3-D data. 3-D data has traditionally been viewed on a 2-D screen, which has limited its utility. Augmented reality head-mounted displays, such as the Microsoft HoloLens, make it possible to view 3-D data overlaid on the real world. This allows a user to view and interact with the data in ways similar to how they would interact with a physical 3-D object, such as moving, rotating, or walking around it. A type of 3-D data that is particularly useful for military applications is geo-specific 3-D terrain data, and the visualization of this data is critical for training, mission planning, intelligence, and improved situational awareness. Advances in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), photogrammetry software, and rendering hardware have drastically reduced the technological and financial obstacles in collecting aerial imagery and in generating 3-D terrain maps from that imagery. Because of this, there is an increased need to develop new tools for the exploitation of 3-D data. We will demonstrate how the HoloLens can be used as a tool for visualizing 3-D terrain data. We will describe: 1) how UAScollected imagery is used to create 3-D terrain maps, 2) how those maps are deployed to the HoloLens, 3) how a user can view and manipulate the maps, and 4) how multiple users can view the same virtual 3-D object at the same time.

  15. New Satellite Project Aerosol-UA: Remote Sensing of Aerosols in the Terrestrial Atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Milinevsky, G.; Yatskiv, Ya.; Degtyaryov, O.; Syniavskyi, I.; Mishchenko, Michael I.; Rosenbush, V.; Ivanov, Yu.; Makarov, A.; Bovchaliuk, A.; Danylevsky, V.; hide

    2016-01-01

    We discuss the development of the Ukrainian space project Aerosol-UA which has the following three main objectives: (1) to monitor the spatial distribution of key characteristics of terrestrial tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols; (2) to provide a comprehensive observational database enabling accurate quantitative estimates of the aerosol contribution to the energy budget of the climate system; and (3) quantify the contribution of anthropogenic aerosols to climate and ecological processes. The remote sensing concept of the project is based on precise orbital measurements of the intensity and polarization of sunlight scattered by the atmosphere and the surface with a scanning polarimeter accompanied by a wide-angle multispectral imager-polarimeter. Preparations have already been made for the development of the instrument suite for the Aerosol-UA project, in particular, of the multi-channel scanning polarimeter (ScanPol) designed for remote sensing studies of the global distribution of aerosol and cloud properties (such as particle size, morphology, and composition) in the terrestrial atmosphere by polarimetric and spectrophotometric measurements of the scattered sunlight in a wide range of wavelengths and viewing directions from which a scene location is observed. ScanPol is accompanied by multispectral wide-angle imager-polarimeter (MSIP) that serves to collect information on cloud conditions and Earths surface image. Various components of the polarimeter ScanPol have been prototyped, including the opto-mechanical and electronic assemblies and the scanning mirror controller. Preliminary synthetic data simulations for the retrieval of aerosol parameters over land surfaces have been performed using the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) algorithm. Methods for the validation of satellite data using ground-based observations of aerosol properties are also discussed. We assume that designing, building, and launching into orbit a multi

  16. Ursolic acid improves domoic acid-induced cognitive deficits in mice

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wu, Dong-mei; Key Laboratory for Biotechnology on Medicinal Plants of Jiangsu Province, School of Life Science, Xuzhou Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, Jiangsu Province; Lu, Jun, E-mail: lu-jun75@163.com

    Our previous findings suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction is the mechanism underlying cognitive deficits induced by domoic acid (DA). Ursolic acid (UA), a natural triterpenoid compound, possesses many important biological functions. Evidence shows that UA can activate PI3K/Akt signaling and suppress Forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1) activity. FoxO1 is an important regulator of mitochondrial function. Here we investigate whether FoxO1 is involved in the oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in DA-treated mice and whether UA inhibits DA-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive deficits through regulating the PI3K/Akt and FoxO1 signaling pathways. Our results showed that FoxO1 knockdown reversed the mitochondrial abnormalities and cognitivemore » deficits induced by DA in mice through decreasing HO-1 expression. Mechanistically, FoxO1 activation was associated with oxidative stress-induced JNK activation and decrease of Akt phosphorylation. Moreover, UA attenuated the mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive deficits through promoting Akt phosphorylation and FoxO1 nuclear exclusion in the hippocampus of DA-treated mice. LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K/Akt signaling, significantly decreased Akt phosphorylation in the hippocampus of DA/UA mice, which weakened UA actions. These results suggest that UA could be recommended as a possible candidate for the prevention and therapy of cognitive deficits in excitotoxic brain disorders. - Highlights: • Ursolic acid (UA) is a naturally triterpenoid compound. • UA attenuated the mitochondrial dysfunction and cognitive deficits. • Mechanistically, UA activates PI3K/Akt signaling and suppresses FoxO1 activity. • UA could be recommended as a possible candidate for anti-excitotoxic brain disorders.« less

  17. Development of a Tightly Controlled Off Switch for Saccharomyces cerevisiae Regulated by Camphor, a Low-Cost Natural Product

    PubMed Central

    Ikushima, Shigehito; Zhao, Yu; Boeke, Jef D.

    2015-01-01

    Here we describe the engineering of a distant homolog of the Tet repressor, CamR, isolated from Pseudomonas putida, that is regulated by camphor, a very inexpensive small molecule (at micromolar concentrations) for use in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The repressor was engineered by expression from a constitutive yeast promoter, fusion to a viral activator protein cassette, and codon optimization. A suitable promoter responsive to the CamR fusion protein was engineered by embedding a P. putida operator binding sequence within an upstream activating sequence (UAS)-less CYC1 promoter from S. cerevisiae. The switch, named the Camphor-Off switch, activates expression of a reporter gene in camphor-free media and represses it with micromolar concentrations of camphor. PMID:26206350

  18. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project: Terminal Operations HITL 1: Primary Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rorie, Conrad; Fern, Lisa; Monk, Kevin; Roberts, Zach; Brandt, Summer

    2017-01-01

    This presentation covers the primary results of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) Project Terminal Operations Foundational Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulation. The study tasked 16 pilots (half with manned piloting experience, and the other half with unmanned piloting experience) with maintaining "well clear" from other traffic while performing three different types of approaches into the Santa Rosa airport. A detect and avoid (DAA) system was provided to pilots to assist their ability to manage separation. The DAA system used in this test conformed to the criteria defined by RTCA Special Committee 228 (SC-228) in their Phase 1 Minimum Operational Performance Standards (MOPS) for UAS intending to operate in the NAS. The Phase 1 system was not designed to account for terminal operations, focusing instead on en route operations. To account for this, three different alerting and guidance configurations were presently tested in order to determine their effect on pilots operating the system in the terminal area. Results indicated that pilots with the alerting and guidance condition that provided the least amount of assistance (fewer alert levels and guidance types) experienced slightly increased pilot response times and rates of losses of separation. Additional data is presented on the effects of approach type and descriptive data on pilot maneuver preferences and ATC interoperability.

  19. Predicting human activities in sequences of actions in RGB-D videos

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jardim, David; Nunes, Luís.; Dias, Miguel

    2017-03-01

    In our daily activities we perform prediction or anticipation when interacting with other humans or with objects. Prediction of human activity made by computers has several potential applications: surveillance systems, human computer interfaces, sports video analysis, human-robot-collaboration, games and health-care. We propose a system capable of recognizing and predicting human actions using supervised classifiers trained with automatically labeled data evaluated in our human activity RGB-D dataset (recorded with a Kinect sensor) and using only the position of the main skeleton joints to extract features. Using conditional random fields (CRFs) to model the sequential nature of actions in a sequence has been used before, but where other approaches try to predict an outcome or anticipate ahead in time (seconds), we try to predict what will be the next action of a subject. Our results show an activity prediction accuracy of 89.9% using an automatically labeled dataset.

  20. Olive Actual “on Year” Yield Forecast Tool Based on the Tree Canopy Geometry Using UAS Imagery

    PubMed Central

    Sola-Guirado, Rafael R.; Castillo-Ruiz, Francisco J.; Jiménez-Jiménez, Francisco; Blanco-Roldan, Gregorio L.; Gil-Ribes, Jesus A.

    2017-01-01

    Olive has a notable importance in countries of Mediterranean basin and its profitability depends on several factors such as actual yield, production cost or product price. Actual “on year” Yield (AY) is production (kg tree−1) in “on years”, and this research attempts to relate it with geometrical parameters of the tree canopy. Regression equation to forecast AY based on manual canopy volume was determined based on data acquired from different orchard categories and cultivars during different harvesting seasons in southern Spain. Orthoimages were acquired with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) imagery calculating individual crown for relating to canopy volume and AY. Yield levels did not vary between orchard categories; however, it did between irrigated orchards (7000–17,000 kg ha−1) and rainfed ones (4000–7000 kg ha−1). After that, manual canopy volume was related with the individual crown area of trees that were calculated by orthoimages acquired with UAS imagery. Finally, AY was forecasted using both manual canopy volume and individual tree crown area as main factors for olive productivity. AY forecast only by using individual crown area made it possible to get a simple and cheap forecast tool for a wide range of olive orchards. Finally, the acquired information was introduced in a thematic map describing spatial AY variability obtained from orthoimage analysis that may be a powerful tool for farmers, insurance systems, market forecasts or to detect agronomical problems. PMID:28758945