Towards operational multisensor registration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rignot, Eric J. M.; Kwok, Ronald; Curlander, John C.

1991-01-01

To use data from a number of different remote sensors in a synergistic manner, a multidimensional analysis of the data is necessary. However, prior to this analysis, processing to correct for the systematic geometric distortion characteristic of each sensor is required. Furthermore, the registration process must be fully automated to handle a large volume of data and high data rates. A conceptual approach towards an operational multisensor registration algorithm is presented. The performance requirements of the algorithm are first formulated given the spatially, temporally, and spectrally varying factors that influence the image characteristics and the science requirements of various applications. Several registration techniques that fit within the structure of this algorithm are also presented. Their performance was evaluated using a multisensor test data set assembled from LANDSAT TM, SEASAT, SIR-B, Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS), and SPOT sensors.

General software design for multisensor data fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Junliang; Zhao, Yuming

1999-03-01

In this paper a general method of software design for multisensor data fusion is discussed in detail, which adopts object-oriented technology under UNIX operation system. The software for multisensor data fusion is divided into six functional modules: data collection, database management, GIS, target display and alarming data simulation etc. Furthermore, the primary function, the components and some realization methods of each modular is given. The interfaces among these functional modular relations are discussed. The data exchange among each functional modular is performed by interprocess communication IPC, including message queue, semaphore and shared memory. Thus, each functional modular is executed independently, which reduces the dependence among functional modules and helps software programing and testing. This software for multisensor data fusion is designed as hierarchical structure by the inheritance character of classes. Each functional modular is abstracted and encapsulated through class structure, which avoids software redundancy and enhances readability.

Concentrated liquid detergent pod ingestion in children.

PubMed

Sidhu, Natasha; Jaeger, Matthew W

2014-12-01

Concentrated liquid detergent pods are an emerging public health hazard, especially in pediatric patients. Ingestion is a more common route of exposure for liquid detergent pods compared with non-pod detergents and it tends to be associated with more severe adverse effects. We present 3 cases that demonstrate the varied clinical symptoms resulting from detergent pod ingestion. These cases not only demonstrate findings such as gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms but also show more rare neurological symptoms. The cases highlight the dangers of concentrated liquid detergent pod ingestion. To help prevent further life-threatening injuries, there is a need for more consumer information and provider knowledge about the potential adverse complications.

Chemometric analysis of multisensor hyperspectral images of precipitated atmospheric particulate matter.

PubMed

Ofner, Johannes; Kamilli, Katharina A; Eitenberger, Elisabeth; Friedbacher, Gernot; Lendl, Bernhard; Held, Andreas; Lohninger, Hans

2015-09-15

The chemometric analysis of multisensor hyperspectral data allows a comprehensive image-based analysis of precipitated atmospheric particles. Atmospheric particulate matter was precipitated on aluminum foils and analyzed by Raman microspectroscopy and subsequently by electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. All obtained images were of the same spot of an area of 100 × 100 μm(2). The two hyperspectral data sets and the high-resolution scanning electron microscope images were fused into a combined multisensor hyperspectral data set. This multisensor data cube was analyzed using principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, k-means clustering, and vertex component analysis. The detailed chemometric analysis of the multisensor data allowed an extensive chemical interpretation of the precipitated particles, and their structure and composition led to a comprehensive understanding of atmospheric particulate matter.

Study on the multi-sensors monitoring and information fusion technology of dangerous cargo container

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shibo; Zhang, Shuhui; Cao, Wensheng

2017-10-01

In this paper, monitoring system of dangerous cargo container based on multi-sensors is presented. In order to improve monitoring accuracy, multi-sensors will be applied inside of dangerous cargo container. Multi-sensors information fusion solution of monitoring dangerous cargo container is put forward, and information pre-processing, the fusion algorithm of homogenous sensors and information fusion based on BP neural network are illustrated, applying multi-sensors in the field of container monitoring has some novelty.

Detection of multiple airborne targets from multisensor data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foltz, Mark A.; Srivastava, Anuj; Miller, Michael I.; Grenander, Ulf

1995-08-01

Previously we presented a jump-diffusion based random sampling algorithm for generating conditional mean estimates of scene representations for the tracking and recongition of maneuvering airborne targets. These representations include target positions and orientations along their trajectories and the target type associated with each trajectory. Taking a Bayesian approach, a posterior measure is defined on the parameter space by combining sensor models with a sophisticated prior based on nonlinear airplane dynamics. The jump-diffusion algorithm constructs a Markov process which visits the elements of the parameter space with frequencies proportional to the posterior probability. It consititutes both the infinitesimal, local search via a sample path continuous diffusion transform and the larger, global steps through discrete jump moves. The jump moves involve the addition and deletion of elements from the scene configuration or changes in the target type assoviated with each target trajectory. One such move results in target detection by the addition of a track seed to the inference set. This provides initial track data for the tracking/recognition algorithm to estimate linear graph structures representing tracks using the other jump moves and the diffusion process, as described in our earlier work. Target detection ideally involves a continuous research over a continuum of the observation space. In this work we conclude that for practical implemenations the search space must be discretized with lattice granularity comparable to sensor resolution, and discuss how fast Fourier transforms are utilized for efficient calcuation of sufficient statistics given our array models. Some results are also presented from our implementation on a networked system including a massively parallel machine architecture and a silicon graphics onyx workstation.

Assessment of molecular contamination in mask pod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foray, Jean Marie; Dejaune, Patrice; Sergent, Pierre; Gough, Stuart; Cheung, D.; Davenet, Magali; Favre, Arnaud; Rude, C.; Trautmann, T.; Tissier, Michel; Fontaine, H.; Veillerot, M.; Avary, K.; Hollein, I.; Lerit, R.

2008-04-01

Context/ study Motivation: Contamination and especially Airbone Molecular Contamination (AMC) is a critical issue for mask material flow with a severe and fairly unpredictable risk of induced contamination and damages especially for 193 nm lithography. It is therefore essential to measure, to understand and then try to reduce AMC in mask environment. Mask material flow was studied in a global approach by a pool of European partners, especially within the frame of European MEDEA+ project, so called "MUSCLE". This paper deals with results and assessment of mask pod environment in term of molecular contamination in a first step, then in a second step preliminary studies to reduce mask pod influence and contamination due to material out gassing. Approach and techniques: A specific assessment of environmental / molecular contamination along the supply chain was performed by all partners. After previous work presented at EMLC 07, further studies were performed on real time contamination measurement pod at different sites locations (including Mask manufacturing site, blank manufacturing sites, IC fab). Studies were linked to the main critical issues: cleaning, storage, handling, materials and processes. Contamination measurement campaigns were carried out along the mask supply chain using specific Adixen analyzer in order to monitor in real time organic contaminants (ppb level) in mask pods. Key results would be presented: VOC, AMC and humidity level on different kinds of mask carriers, impact of basic cleaning on pod outgassing measurement (VOC, NH3), and process influence on pod contamination... In a second step, preliminary specific pod conditioning studies for better pod environment were performed based on Adixen vacuum process. Process influence had been experimentally measured in term of molecular outgassing from mask pods. Different AMC experimental characterization methods had been carried out leading to results on a wide range of organic and inorganic

Multisensor benchmark data for riot control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jäger, Uwe; Höpken, Marc; Dürr, Bernhard; Metzler, Jürgen; Willersinn, Dieter

2008-10-01

Quick and precise response is essential for riot squads when coping with escalating violence in crowds. Often it is just a single person, known as the leader of the gang, who instigates other people and thus is responsible of excesses. Putting this single person out of action in most cases leads to a de-escalating situation. Fostering de-escalations is one of the main tasks of crowd and riot control. To do so, extensive situation awareness is mandatory for the squads and can be promoted by technical means such as video surveillance using sensor networks. To develop software tools for situation awareness appropriate input data with well-known quality is needed. Furthermore, the developer must be able to measure algorithm performance and ongoing improvements. Last but not least, after algorithm development has finished and marketing aspects emerge, meeting of specifications must be proved. This paper describes a multisensor benchmark which exactly serves this purpose. We first define the underlying algorithm task. Then we explain details about data acquisition and sensor setup and finally we give some insight into quality measures of multisensor data. Currently, the multisensor benchmark described in this paper is applied to the development of basic algorithms for situational awareness, e.g. tracking of individuals in a crowd.

Improved blood glucose estimation through multi-sensor fusion.

PubMed

Xiong, Feiyu; Hipszer, Brian R; Joseph, Jeffrey; Kam, Moshe

2011-01-01

Continuous glucose monitoring systems are an integral component of diabetes management. Efforts to improve the accuracy and robustness of these systems are at the forefront of diabetes research. Towards this goal, a multi-sensor approach was evaluated in hospitalized patients. In this paper, we report on a multi-sensor fusion algorithm to combine glucose sensor measurements in a retrospective fashion. The results demonstrate the algorithm's ability to improve the accuracy and robustness of the blood glucose estimation with current glucose sensor technology.

Copernicus POD Service Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, Jaime; Escobar, Diego; Ayuga, Francisco; Peter, Heike; Femenias, Pierre

2015-12-01

The Copernicus POD (Precise Orbit Determination) Service is part of the Copernicus PDGS Ground Segment of the Sentinel missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service (CPOD) being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS (Payload Data Ground Segment). This paper describes the CPOD Service and presents the current status operating Sentinel-1A and its readiness to support the Sentinel-2A and in particular Sentinel-3A incoming Commissioning Phases, with an especial emphasis on describing the Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) activities to be performed during the Comm. Phase. Then, it is shown how the quality of the orbital products is guaranteed through external validation activities and the role of the Copernicus POD QWG (Quality Working Group).

Multi-sensor Navigation System Design

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1971-03-01

This report treats the design of naviggation systems that collect data from two or more on-board measurement subsystems and precess this data in an on-board computer. Such systems are called Multi-sensor Navigation Systems. : The design begins with t...

Pediatric exposure to laundry detergent pods.

PubMed

Valdez, Amanda L; Casavant, Marcel J; Spiller, Henry A; Chounthirath, Thiphalak; Xiang, Huiyun; Smith, Gary A

2014-12-01

Laundry detergent pods are a new product in the US marketplace. This study investigates the epidemiologic characteristics and outcomes of laundry detergent pod exposures among young children in the United States. Using data from the National Poison Data System, exposures to laundry detergent pods among children younger than 6 years of age during 2012-2013 were investigated. There were 17 230 children younger than 6 years exposed to laundry detergent pods in 2012-2013. From March 2012 to April 2013, the monthly number of exposures increased by 645.3%, followed by a 25.1% decrease from April to December 2013. Children younger than 3 years accounted for 73.5% of cases. The major route of exposure was ingestion, accounting for 79.7% of cases. Among exposed children, 4.4% were hospitalized and 7.5% experienced a moderate or major medical outcome. A spectrum of clinical effects from minor to serious was seen with ingestion and ocular exposures. There were 102 patients (0.6%) exposed to a detergent pod via ingestion, aspiration, or a combination of routes, including ingestion, who required tracheal intubation. There was 1 confirmed death. Laundry detergent pods pose a serious poisoning risk to young children. This nationwide study underscores the need for increased efforts to prevent exposure of young children to these products, which may include improvements in product packaging and labeling, development of a voluntary product safety standard, and public education. Product constituent reformulation is another potential strategy to mitigate the severity of clinical effects of laundry detergent pod exposure. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Transcriptome Analyses Reveal Candidate Pod Shattering-Associated Genes Involved in the Pod Ventral Sutures of Common Vetch (Vicia sativa L.)

PubMed Central

Dong, Rui; Dong, Deke; Luo, Dong; Zhou, Qiang; Chai, Xutian; Zhang, Jiyu; Xie, Wengang; Liu, Wenxian; Dong, Yang; Wang, Yanrong; Liu, Zhipeng

2017-01-01

The seed dispersion caused by pod shattering is a form of propagation used by many wild species. Loss of seeds from pod shattering is frequent in the common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), an important self-pollinating annual forage legume. However, pod shattering is one of the most important defects that limits the reproduction of the vetch in the field and the usage as a leguminous forage crop. To better understand the vetch pod shattering mechanism, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing to assess the global changes in the transcriptomes of the pod ventral sutures of shattering-susceptible and shattering-resistant vetch accessions screened from 541 vetch germplasms. A total of 1,285 significantly differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were detected, including 575 up-regulated unigenes and 710 down-regulated unigenes. Analyses of Gene Ontology and KEGG metabolic enrichment pathways of 1,285 DEGs indicated that 22 DEGs encoding cell wall modifications and hydrolases associated with pod shattering were highly expressed in shattering-susceptible accessions. These genes were mainly enriched in “hydrolase activity,” “cytoplasm,” and “carbohydrate metabolic process” systems. These cell wall modifications and hydrolases genes included β-glucosidase and endo-polygalacturonase, which work together to break down the glycosidic bonds of pectin and cellulose, and to promote the dissolution and disappearance of the cell wall in the ventral suture of the pod and make the pod more susceptible to shattering. We demonstrated the differences in gene transcription levels between the shattering-susceptible and shattering-resistant vetch accessions for the first time and our results provided valuable information for the identifying and characterizing of pod shattering regulation networks in vetch. This information may facilitate the future identification of pod shattering-related genes and their underlying molecular mechanisms in the common vetch. PMID:28496452

Copernicus POD Service Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, Jaime; Ayuga, Francisco; Fernandez, Carlos; Peter, Heike; Femenias, Pierre

2016-08-01

The Copernicus POD (Precise Orbit Determination) Serviceis part of the Copernicus PDGS Ground Segment of the Sentinel missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files of Sentinel-1, -2, & -3 missions, for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS.Although the characteristics and the requirements are different for the three missions, the same core POD setup is used to the largest possible extent. At the moment, the CPOD Service is operating 3 satellites: Sentinel-1A, -2A and -3A, and is ready to support operations of Sentinel-1B.This paper presents the status of the CPOD Service in terms of operations and orbital accuracy achieved for the different orbit products of the different missions, focusing on Sentinel-3A preliminary results.

A multi-sensor scenario for coastal surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Broek, A. C.; van den Broek, S. P.; van den Heuvel, J. C.; Schwering, P. B. W.; van Heijningen, A. W. P.

2007-10-01

Maritime borders and coastal zones are susceptible to threats such as drug trafficking, piracy, undermining economical activities. At TNO Defence, Security and Safety various studies aim at improving situational awareness in a coastal zone. In this study we focus on multi-sensor surveillance of the coastal environment. We present a study on improving classification results for small sea surface targets using an advanced sensor suite and a scenario in which a small boat is approaching the coast. A next generation sensor suite mounted on a tower has been defined consisting of a maritime surveillance and tracking radar system, capable of producing range profiles and ISAR imagery of ships, an advanced infrared camera and a laser range profiler. For this suite we have developed a multi-sensor classification procedure, which is used to evaluate the capabilities for recognizing and identifying non-cooperative ships in coastal waters. We have found that the different sensors give complementary information. Each sensor has its own specific distance range in which it contributes most. A multi-sensor approach reduces the number of misclassifications and reliable classification results are obtained earlier compared to a single sensor approach.

Contribution of the pod wall to seed grain filling in alfalfa.

PubMed

Wang, Hui; Hou, Longyu; Wang, Mingya; Mao, Peisheng

2016-05-23

Three genotypes of alfalfa viz. Medicago sativa (Zhongmu No. 1, Zhongmu No. 2) and M. varia (Caoyuan No. 3) grown in the filed were investigated for the contribution of pod wall and leaves by shading all pods and leaves on July 15, 20 and 25, respectively. Date was recorded for total pod weight (TPW), pod wall weight (PWW), seed weight per pod (SWP), seed number per pod (SNP) and single seed weight (SSW) of one-coil and two-coil spiral pods. TPW, SNP, PWW and SWP were reduced by shading all leaves or pods, whereas SSW was not significantly affected. The relative photosynthetic contribution of pod wall to SWP was 25.6-48.1% in three genotypes on July 15. The pod wall in one-coil spiral pods generated a greater relative contribution to the TPW and SWP than in two-coil spiral pods. In the last stage (July 25), the relative photosynthetic contribution of leaves to SWP sharply decreased, whereas the relative photosynthetic contribution of pod wall to SWP was stable in the late stage (July 20 and 25). In conclusion, the pod wall of alfalfa could carry out photosynthesis and the pod wall played an important role in pod filling at the late growth stage.

A New Multi-Sensor Track Fusion Architecture for Multi-Sensor Information Integration

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION ...NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Company,Marietta,GA,3063 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING...tracking process and degrades the track accuracy. ARCHITECHTURE OF MULTI-SENSOR TRACK FUSION MODEL The Alpha

Shade tree spatial structure and pod production explain frosty pod rot intensity in cacao agroforests, Costa Rica.

PubMed

Gidoin, Cynthia; Avelino, Jacques; Deheuvels, Olivier; Cilas, Christian; Bieng, Marie Ange Ngo

2014-03-01

Vegetation composition and plant spatial structure affect disease intensity through resource and microclimatic variation effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the independent effect and relative importance of host composition and plant spatial structure variables in explaining disease intensity at the plot scale. For that purpose, frosty pod rot intensity, a disease caused by Moniliophthora roreri on cacao pods, was monitored in 36 cacao agroforests in Costa Rica in order to assess the vegetation composition and spatial structure variables conducive to the disease. Hierarchical partitioning was used to identify the most causal factors. Firstly, pod production, cacao tree density and shade tree spatial structure had significant independent effects on disease intensity. In our case study, the amount of susceptible tissue was the most relevant host composition variable for explaining disease intensity by resource dilution. Indeed, cacao tree density probably affected disease intensity more by the creation of self-shading rather than by host dilution. Lastly, only regularly distributed forest trees, and not aggregated or randomly distributed forest trees, reduced disease intensity in comparison to plots with a low forest tree density. A regular spatial structure is probably crucial to the creation of moderate and uniform shade as recommended for frosty pod rot management. As pod production is an important service expected from these agroforests, shade tree spatial structure may be a lever for integrated management of frosty pod rot in cacao agroforests.

Disaster-hardened imaging POD for PACS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honeyman-Buck, Janice; Frost, Meryll

2005-04-01

After the events of 9/11, many people questioned their ability to keep critical services operational in the face of massive infrastructure failure. Hospitals increased their backup and recovery power, made plans for emergency water and food, and operated on a heightened alert awareness with more frequent disaster drills. In a film-based radiology department, if a portable X-ray unit, a CT unit, an Ultrasound unit, and an film processor could be operated on emergency power, a limited, but effective number of studies could be performed. However, in a digital department, there is a reliance on the network infrastructure to deliver images to viewing locations. The system developed for our institution uses several imaging PODS, a name we chose because it implied to us a safe, contained environment. Each POD is a stand-alone emergency powered network capable of generating images and displaying them in the POD or printing them to a DICOM printer. The technology we used to create a POD consists of a computer with dual network interface cards joining our private, local POD network, to the hospital network. In the case of an infrastructure failure, each POD can and does work independently to produce CTs, CRs, and Ultrasounds. The system has been tested during disaster drills and works correctly, producing images using equipment technologists are comfortable using with very few emergency switch-over tasks. Purpose: To provide imaging capabilities in the event of a natural or man-made disaster with infrastructure failure. Method: After the events of 9/11, many people questioned their ability to keep critical services operational in the face of massive infrastructure failure. Hospitals increased their backup and recovery power, made plans for emergency water and food, and operated on a heightened alert awareness with more frequent disaster drills. In a film-based radiology department, if a portable X-ray unit, a CT unit, an Ultrasound unit, and an film processor could be

Evaluation of mature soybean pods as a food source for two pod-sucking bugs, Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) and Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

PubMed Central

Rahman, M. Mahbubur

2017-01-01

Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) and Halyomorpha halys (Stål) cause injury to soybeans by piercing and sucking pods and seeds. Growers believe that new damage decreases near to harvest despite the occurrence of these bugs at that time. As this question has never been assessed, we evaluated two diets: a) mature soybean pods (dried shell + dried soybean seeds) and b) dried soybean seeds for the two bugs by assessing their biological, behavioral, and morphological attributes on each diet in laboratory. While nymphs of both species were able to develop and adults able to reproduce on the tested diets, bugs fed on pods had longer development times and 2.2 to 5.0 times higher mortality rates than bugs fed on seeds. Furthermore, adult longevity of R. pedestris and H. halys fed on pods was 8.4 and 7.5 days shorter, respectively, than that of bugs fed on seeds. However, pod feeding had no effect on adult fecundity or egg viability. In a behavioral choice test, adult R. pedestris preferred seeds over pods and probed seeds longer than pods. On average, adult H. halys also preferred seeds over pods, although 15.6% of H. halys showed the reverse, preferring pods over seeds. The proboscis length and estimated depth of stylet penetration into the host tissue of both nymphs and adults of both species was much greater than the thickness of the pod shell, suggesting that mouthpart structure does not explain the negative effects of pods vs. seeds. In conclusion, mature soybean pods were found to be a suitable food source for both R. pedestris and H. halys despite some negative effects, and thus careful attention should be paid to the population levels of these two bugs approaching harvest to reduce economic damage in soybean. PMID:28430798

ArduiPod Box: a low-cost and open-source Skinner box using an iPod Touch and an Arduino microcontroller.

PubMed

Pineño, Oskar

2014-03-01

This article introduces the ArduiPod Box, an open-source device built using two main components (i.e., an iPod Touch and an Arduino microcontroller), developed as a low-cost alternative to the standard operant conditioning chamber, or "Skinner box." Because of its affordability, the ArduiPod Box provides an opportunity for educational institutions with small budgets seeking to set up animal laboratories for research and instructional purposes. A pilot experiment is also presented, which shows that the ArduiPod Box, in spite of its extraordinary simplicity, can be effectively used to study animal learning and behavior.

Supporting the Copernicus POD Service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, Heike; Springer, Tim; Otten, Michiel; Fernandez, Jaime; Escobar, Diego; Femenias, Pierre

2015-12-01

The Copernicus POD (Precise Orbit Determination) Service is part of the Copernicus PDGS (Payload Data Ground Segment) of the Sentinel missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS. As part of the consortium PosiTim is responsible for implementing and testing software and model updates thoroughly before integrating them in the operational chain of the Copernicus POD Service. The NAPEOS (Navigation Package for Earth Observation Satellites) software is used for the generation of the orbit products within the Copernicus POD Service. The test procedures and results obtained for a recent software and model update to IERS 2010 Conventions are presented. It has been tested as well that the arc length of 72 hours for the non-time critical (NTC) orbit solutions might be shorten to 48 hours without losing accuracy. Orbit comparisons to external solutions help to validate the different orbit solutions. GPS antenna phase centre variations (PCVs) are one of the largest systematic error sources in POD. Since the satellite body may cause signal multipath a ground calibration of the GPS antenna without taking into account the satellite body might not be sufficient to quantify the PCVs. The PCVs are therefore obtained by an in-flight calibration. A first map for the PCVs determined from a limited amount of data at the beginning of the mission has shown significant multipath signals in parts of the antenna for code and carrier phase measurements. Since the satellite has moving parts it has been checked carefully if these multipath regions are moving as well or if they are antenna-fixed. Normally the correction maps are only applied for the carrier phase measurements. Since significant multipath has been spotted for the code measurements as well investigations are performed to study the impact of

Distributed multi-sensor particle filter for bearings-only tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jungen; Ji, Hongbing

2012-02-01

In this article, the classical bearings-only tracking (BOT) problem for a single target is addressed, which belongs to the general class of non-linear filtering problems. Due to the fact that the radial distance observability of the target is poor, the algorithm-based sequential Monte-Carlo (particle filtering, PF) methods generally show instability and filter divergence. A new stable distributed multi-sensor PF method is proposed for BOT. The sensors process their measurements at their sites using a hierarchical PF approach, which transforms the BOT problem from Cartesian coordinate to the logarithmic polar coordinate and separates the observable components from the unobservable components of the target. In the fusion centre, the target state can be estimated by utilising the multi-sensor optimal information fusion rule. Furthermore, the computation of a theoretical Cramer-Rao lower bound is given for the multi-sensor BOT problem. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed tracking method can provide better performances than the traditional PF method.

Field-design optimization with triangular heliostat pods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domínguez-Bravo, Carmen-Ana; Bode, Sebastian-James; Heiming, Gregor; Richter, Pascal; Carrizosa, Emilio; Fernández-Cara, Enrique; Frank, Martin; Gauché, Paul

2016-05-01

In this paper the optimization of a heliostat field with triangular heliostat pods is addressed. The use of structures which allow the combination of several heliostats into a common pod system aims to reduce the high costs associated with the heliostat field and therefore reduces the Levelized Cost of Electricity value. A pattern-based algorithm and two pattern-free algorithms are adapted to handle the field layout problem with triangular heliostat pods. Under the Helio100 project in South Africa, a new small-scale Solar Power Tower plant has been recently constructed. The Helio100 plant has 20 triangular pods (each with 6 heliostats) whose positions follow a linear pattern. The obtained field layouts after optimization are compared against the reference field Helio100.

Particle protection capability of SEMI-compliant EUV-pod carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, George; He, Long; Lystad, John; Kielbaso, Tom; Montgomery, Cecilia; Goodwin, Frank

2010-04-01

With the projected rollout of pre-production extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) scanners in 2010, EUVL pilot line production will become a reality in wafer fabrication companies. Among EUVL infrastructure items that must be ready, EUV mask carriers remain critical. To keep non-pellicle EUV masks free from particle contamination, an EUV pod concept has been extensively studied. Early prototypes demonstrated nearly particle-free results at a 53 nm PSL equivalent inspection sensitivity during EUVL mask robotic handling, shipment, vacuum pump-purge, and storage. After the passage of SEMI E152, which specifies the EUV pod mechanical interfaces, standards-compliant EUV pod prototypes, including a production version inner pod and prototype outer pod, were built and tested. Their particle protection capability results are reported in this paper. A state-of-the-art blank defect inspection tool was used to quantify their defect protection capability during mask robotic handling, shipment, and storage tests. To ensure the availability of an EUV pod for 2010 pilot production, the progress and preliminary test results of pre-production EUV outer pods are reported as well.

Listening Habits of iPod Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epstein, Michael; Marozeau, Jeremy; Cleveland, Sandra

2010-01-01

Purpose: To estimate real-environment iPod listening levels for listeners in 4 environments to gain insight into whether average listeners receive dosages exceeding occupational noise exposure guidelines as a result of their listening habits. Method: The earbud outputs of iPods were connected directly into the inputs of a digital recorder to make…

Use of plant residues for improving soil fertility, pod nutrients, root growth and pod weight of okra (Abelmoschus esculentum L).

PubMed

Moyin-Jesu, Emmanuel Ibukunoluwa

2007-08-01

The effect of wood ash, sawdust, ground cocoa husk, spent grain and rice bran upon root development, ash content, pod yield and nutrient status and soil fertility for okra (Abelmoschus esculentum L NHAe 47 variety) was studied. The five organic fertilizer treatments were compared to chemical fertilizer (400kg/ha/crop NPK 15-15-15) and unfertilized controls in four field experiments replicated four times in a randomized complete block design. The results showed that the application of 6tha(-1) of plant residues increased (P<0.05) the soil N, P, K, Ca, Mg, pH, and SOM; pod N, P, K, Ca, Mg and ash; root length; and pod yield of okra in all four experiments relative to the control treatment. For instance, spent grain treatment increased the okra pod yield by 99%, 33%, 50%, 49%, 65% and 67% compared to control, NPK, wood ash, cocoa husk, rice bran and sawdust treatments respectively. In the stepwise regression, out of the total R(2) value of 0.83 for the soil nutrients to the pod yield of okra; soil N accounted for 50% of the soil fertility improvement and yield of okra. Spent grain, wood ash and cocoa husk were the most effective in improving okra pod weight, pod nutrients, ash content, root length and soil fertility whereas the rice bran and sawdust were the least effective. This was because the spent grain, wood ash and cocoa husk had lower C/N ratio and higher nutrient composition than rice bran and sawdust, thus, the former enhanced an increase in pod nutrients, composition for better human dietary intake, increased the root length, pod weight of okra and improved soil fertility and plant nutrition crop. The significance of the increases in okra mineral nutrition concentration by plant residues is that consumers will consume more of these minerals in their meals and monetarily spend less for purchasing vitamins and mineral supplement drugs to meet health requirements. In addition, the increase in plant nutrition and soil fertility would help to reduce the high cost

Mass prophylaxis dispensing concerns: traffic and public access to PODs.

PubMed

Baccam, Prasith; Willauer, David; Krometis, Justin; Ma, Yongchang; Sen, Atri; Boechler, Michael

2011-06-01

The ability to quickly dispense postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) using multiple points of dispensing (PODs) following a bioterrorism event could potentially save a large proportion of those who were exposed, while failure in PEP dispensing could have dire public health consequences. A Monte Carlo simulation was developed to explore the traffic flow and parking around PODs under different arrival rates and how these factors might affect the utilization rate of POD workers. The results demonstrate that the public can reasonably access the PODs under ideal conditions assuming a stationary (uniform) arrival rate. For the 5 nonstationary arrival rates tested, however, the available parking spaces quickly become filled, causing long traffic queues and resulting in total processing times that range from 1 hour to over 6 hours. Basic planning considerations should include the use of physical barriers, signage, and traffic control officers to help direct vehicular and pedestrian access to the PODs. Furthermore, the parking and traffic surrounding PODs creates long queues of people waiting to access the PODs. Thus, POD staff are fully used approximately 90% of the time, which can lead to worker fatigue and burn out.

Distributed Multisensor Data Fusion under Unknown Correlation and Data Inconsistency

PubMed Central

Abu Bakr, Muhammad; Lee, Sukhan

2017-01-01

The paradigm of multisensor data fusion has been evolved from a centralized architecture to a decentralized or distributed architecture along with the advancement in sensor and communication technologies. These days, distributed state estimation and data fusion has been widely explored in diverse fields of engineering and control due to its superior performance over the centralized one in terms of flexibility, robustness to failure and cost effectiveness in infrastructure and communication. However, distributed multisensor data fusion is not without technical challenges to overcome: namely, dealing with cross-correlation and inconsistency among state estimates and sensor data. In this paper, we review the key theories and methodologies of distributed multisensor data fusion available to date with a specific focus on handling unknown correlation and data inconsistency. We aim at providing readers with a unifying view out of individual theories and methodologies by presenting a formal analysis of their implications. Finally, several directions of future research are highlighted. PMID:29077035

Multisensor Super Resolution Using Directionally-Adaptive Regularization for UAV Images.

PubMed

Kang, Wonseok; Yu, Soohwan; Ko, Seungyong; Paik, Joonki

2015-05-22

In various unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging applications, the multisensor super-resolution (SR) technique has become a chronic problem and attracted increasing attention. Multisensor SR algorithms utilize multispectral low-resolution (LR) images to make a higher resolution (HR) image to improve the performance of the UAV imaging system. The primary objective of the paper is to develop a multisensor SR method based on the existing multispectral imaging framework instead of using additional sensors. In order to restore image details without noise amplification or unnatural post-processing artifacts, this paper presents an improved regularized SR algorithm by combining the directionally-adaptive constraints and multiscale non-local means (NLM) filter. As a result, the proposed method can overcome the physical limitation of multispectral sensors by estimating the color HR image from a set of multispectral LR images using intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) image fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed method provides better SR results than existing state-of-the-art SR methods in the sense of objective measures.

Information Measures for Multisensor Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-11

permuted to generate spectra that were non- physical but preserved the entropy of the source spectra. Another 1000 spectra were constructed to mimic co...Research Laboratory (NRL) has yielded probabilistic models for spectral data that enable the computation of information measures such as entropy and...22308 Chemical sensing Information theory Spectral data Information entropy Information divergence Mass spectrometry Infrared spectroscopy Multisensor

Multisensor systems today and tomorrow: Machine control, diagnosis and thermal compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nunzio, D'Addea

2000-05-01

Multisensor techniques that deal with control of tribology test rig and with diagnosis and thermal error compensation of machine tools are the starting point for some consideration about the use of these techniques as in fuzzy and neural net systems. The author comes to conclusion that anticipatory systems and multisensor techniques will have in the next future a great improvement and a great development mainly in the thermal error compensation of machine tools.

Intelligent multi-sensor integrations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volz, Richard A.; Jain, Ramesh; Weymouth, Terry

1989-01-01

Growth in the intelligence of space systems requires the use and integration of data from multiple sensors. Generic tools are being developed for extracting and integrating information obtained from multiple sources. The full spectrum is addressed for issues ranging from data acquisition, to characterization of sensor data, to adaptive systems for utilizing the data. In particular, there are three major aspects to the project, multisensor processing, an adaptive approach to object recognition, and distributed sensor system integration.

Adaptive multisensor fusion for planetary exploration rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collin, Marie-France; Kumar, Krishen; Pampagnin, Luc-Henri

1992-01-01

The purpose of the adaptive multisensor fusion system currently being designed at NASA/Johnson Space Center is to provide a robotic rover with assured vision and safe navigation capabilities during robotic missions on planetary surfaces. Our approach consists of using multispectral sensing devices ranging from visible to microwave wavelengths to fulfill the needs of perception for space robotics. Based on the illumination conditions and the sensors capabilities knowledge, the designed perception system should automatically select the best subset of sensors and their sensing modalities that will allow the perception and interpretation of the environment. Then, based on reflectance and emittance theoretical models, the sensor data are fused to extract the physical and geometrical surface properties of the environment surface slope, dielectric constant, temperature and roughness. The theoretical concepts, the design and first results of the multisensor perception system are presented.

NASA COAST and OCEANIA Airborne Missions Support Ecosystem and Water Quality Research in the Coastal Zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guild, Liane; Kudela, Raphael; Hooker, Stanford; Morrow, John; Russell, Philip; Palacios, Sherry; Livingston, John M.; Negrey, Kendra; Torres-Perez, Juan; Broughton, Jennifer

2014-01-01

NASA has a continuing requirement to collect high-quality in situ data for the vicarious calibration of current and next generation ocean color satellite sensors and to validate the algorithms that use the remotely sensed observations. Recent NASA airborne missions over Monterey Bay, CA, have demonstrated novel above- and in-water measurement capabilities supporting a combined airborne sensor approach (imaging spectrometer, microradiometers, and a sun photometer). The results characterize coastal atmospheric and aquatic properties through an end-to-end assessment of image acquisition, atmospheric correction, algorithm application, plus sea-truth observations from state-of-the-art instrument systems. The primary goal is to demonstrate the following in support of calibration and validation exercises for satellite coastal ocean color products: 1) the utility of a multi-sensor airborne instrument suite to assess the bio-optical properties of coastal California, including water quality; and 2) the importance of contemporaneous atmospheric measurements to improve atmospheric correction in the coastal zone. The imaging spectrometer (Headwall) is optimized in the blue spectral domain to emphasize remote sensing of marine and freshwater ecosystems. The novel airborne instrument, Coastal Airborne In-situ Radiometers (C-AIR) provides measurements of apparent optical properties with high dynamic range and fidelity for deriving exact water leaving radiances at the land-ocean boundary, including radiometrically shallow aquatic ecosystems. Simultaneous measurements supporting empirical atmospheric correction of image data are accomplished using the Ames Airborne Tracking Sunphotometer (AATS-14). Flight operations are presented for the instrument payloads using the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) Twin Otter flown over Monterey Bay during the seasonal fall algal bloom in 2011 (COAST) and 2013 (OCEANIA) to support bio-optical measurements of

A Powder Delivery System (PoDS) for Mars in situ Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryson, C.; Blake, D.; Saha, C.; Sarrazin, P.

2004-12-01

the aerosol stream. Results of a number of tests of the prototype PoDS will be presented. [1] Blake D. F., Sarrazin P., Bish D. L., Feldman S., Chipera S. J, Vaniman D.T., and Collins S., 2004, Definitive Mineralogical Analysis of Mars Analog Rocks Using the CheMin XRD/XRF Instrument, LPSC XXXV abstr. #1794 (CD-ROM). [2] Finn J. E., McKay C. P. and Sridhar R. K., 1999, Martian Atmosphere Utilization by Temperature-Swing Adsorption, University of Arizona, Publication No.961597, http://stl.ame.arizona.edu/publications/961597.pdf [3] Hinds W. C., 1999, Aerosol Technology - Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles, Second edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp 15-67, 111-136.

Multisensor system and artificial intelligence in housing for the elderly.

PubMed

Chan, M; Bocquet, H; Campo, E; Val, T; Estève, D; Pous, J

1998-01-01

To improve the safety of a growing proportion of elderly and disabled people in the developed countries, a multisensor system based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Advanced Telecommunications (AT) and Information Technology (IT) has been devised and fabricated. Thus, the habits and behaviours of these populations will be recorded without disturbing their daily activities. AI will diagnose any abnormal behavior or change and the system will warn the professionals. Gerontology issues are presented together with the multisensor system, the AI-based learning and diagnosis methodology and the main functionalities.

Boeing-747 aircraft with external cargo pod

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quartero, C. B.; Washburn, G. F.; Price, J. E.

1978-01-01

An analysis was conducted to investigate the feasibility of mounting a detachable pod to the underside of the fuselage of a Boeing Model 747 aircraft to carry outsized cargo in case of military emergency. The analysis showed that the 747 configured with the pod and carrying only a bridge launcher as payload attained a range of 8.70 Mm (4 700 n. mi.) at Mach .68. This range was based on a maximum take-off gross weight of 3.447 MN (775 000 1bf) which included 212 kN (47 700 lbf) pod weight and 543 kN (122 000 lbf) payload (bridge launcher).

A system for activity recognition using multi-sensor fusion.

PubMed

Gao, Lei; Bourke, Alan K; Nelson, John

2011-01-01

This paper proposes a system for activity recognition using multi-sensor fusion. In this system, four sensors are attached to the waist, chest, thigh, and side of the body. In the study we present two solutions for factors that affect the activity recognition accuracy: the calibration drift and the sensor orientation changing. The datasets used to evaluate this system were collected from 8 subjects who were asked to perform 8 scripted normal activities of daily living (ADL), three times each. The Naïve Bayes classifier using multi-sensor fusion is adopted and achieves 70.88%-97.66% recognition accuracies for 1-4 sensors.

On the POD based reduced order modeling of high Reynolds flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behzad, Fariduddin; Helenbrook, Brian; Ahmadi, Goodarz

2012-11-01

Reduced-order modeling (ROM) of a high Reynolds fluid flow using the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was studied. Particular attention was given to incompressible, unsteady flow over a two-dimensional NACA0015 airfoil. The Reynolds number is 105 and the angle of attacked of the airfoil is 12°. For DNS solution, hp-finite element method is employed to drive flow samples from which the POD modes are extracted. Particular attention is paid on two issues. First, the stability of POD-ROM resimulation of the turbulent flow is studied. High Reynolds flow contains a lot of fluctuating modes. So, to reach a certain amount of error, more POD modes are needed and the effect of truncation of POD modes is more important. Second, the role of convergence rate on the results of POD. Due to complexity of the flow, convergence of the governing equations is more difficult and the influences of weak convergence appear in the results of POD-ROM. For each issue, the capability of the POD-ROM is assessed in terms of predictions quality of times upon which the POD model was derived. The results are compared with DNS solution and the accuracy and efficiency of different cases are evaluated.

NDE reliability and probability of detection (POD) evolution and paradigm shift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Surendra

2014-02-01

The subject of NDE Reliability and POD has gone through multiple phases since its humble beginning in the late 1960s. This was followed by several programs including the important one nicknamed "Have Cracks - Will Travel" or in short "Have Cracks" by Lockheed Georgia Company for US Air Force during 1974-1978. This and other studies ultimately led to a series of developments in the field of reliability and POD starting from the introduction of fracture mechanics and Damaged Tolerant Design (DTD) to statistical framework by Bernes and Hovey in 1981 for POD estimation to MIL-STD HDBK 1823 (1999) and 1823A (2009). During the last decade, various groups and researchers have further studied the reliability and POD using Model Assisted POD (MAPOD), Simulation Assisted POD (SAPOD), and applying Bayesian Statistics. All and each of these developments had one objective, i.e., improving accuracy of life prediction in components that to a large extent depends on the reliability and capability of NDE methods. Therefore, it is essential to have a reliable detection and sizing of large flaws in components. Currently, POD is used for studying reliability and capability of NDE methods, though POD data offers no absolute truth regarding NDE reliability, i.e., system capability, effects of flaw morphology, and quantifying the human factors. Furthermore, reliability and POD have been reported alike in meaning but POD is not NDE reliability. POD is a subset of the reliability that consists of six phases: 1) samples selection using DOE, 2) NDE equipment setup and calibration, 3) System Measurement Evaluation (SME) including Gage Repeatability &Reproducibility (Gage R&R) and Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA), 4) NDE system capability and electronic and physical saturation, 5) acquiring and fitting data to a model, and data analysis, and 6) POD estimation. This paper provides an overview of all major POD milestones for the last several decades and discuss rationale for using Integrated

NDE reliability and probability of detection (POD) evolution and paradigm shift

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

Singh, Surendra

2014-02-18

The subject of NDE Reliability and POD has gone through multiple phases since its humble beginning in the late 1960s. This was followed by several programs including the important one nicknamed “Have Cracks – Will Travel” or in short “Have Cracks” by Lockheed Georgia Company for US Air Force during 1974–1978. This and other studies ultimately led to a series of developments in the field of reliability and POD starting from the introduction of fracture mechanics and Damaged Tolerant Design (DTD) to statistical framework by Bernes and Hovey in 1981 for POD estimation to MIL-STD HDBK 1823 (1999) and 1823Amore » (2009). During the last decade, various groups and researchers have further studied the reliability and POD using Model Assisted POD (MAPOD), Simulation Assisted POD (SAPOD), and applying Bayesian Statistics. All and each of these developments had one objective, i.e., improving accuracy of life prediction in components that to a large extent depends on the reliability and capability of NDE methods. Therefore, it is essential to have a reliable detection and sizing of large flaws in components. Currently, POD is used for studying reliability and capability of NDE methods, though POD data offers no absolute truth regarding NDE reliability, i.e., system capability, effects of flaw morphology, and quantifying the human factors. Furthermore, reliability and POD have been reported alike in meaning but POD is not NDE reliability. POD is a subset of the reliability that consists of six phases: 1) samples selection using DOE, 2) NDE equipment setup and calibration, 3) System Measurement Evaluation (SME) including Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (Gage R and R) and Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA), 4) NDE system capability and electronic and physical saturation, 5) acquiring and fitting data to a model, and data analysis, and 6) POD estimation. This paper provides an overview of all major POD milestones for the last several decades and discuss rationale

Linking goniometer measurements to hyperspectral and multisensor imagery for retrieval of beach properties and coastal characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachmann, Charles M.; Gray, Deric; Abelev, Andrei; Philpot, William; Montes, Marcos J.; Fusina, Robert; Musser, Joseph; Li, Rong-Rong; Vermillion, Michael; Smith, Geoffrey; Korwan, Daniel; Snow, Charlotte; Miller, W. David; Gardner, Joan; Sletten, Mark; Georgiev, Georgi; Truitt, Barry; Killmon, Marcus; Sellars, Jon; Woolard, Jason; Parrish, Christopher; Schwarzscild, Art

2012-06-01

In June 2011, a multi-sensor airborne remote sensing campaign was flown at the Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research site with coordinated ground and water calibration and validation (cal/val) measurements. Remote sensing imagery acquired during the ten day exercise included hyperspectral imagery (CASI-1500), topographic LiDAR, and thermal infra-red imagery, all simultaneously from the same aircraft. Airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data acquisition for a smaller subset of sites occurred in September 2011 (VCR'11). Focus areas for VCR'11 were properties of beaches and tidal flats and barrier island vegetation and, in the water column, shallow water bathymetry. On land, cal/val emphasized tidal flat and beach grain size distributions, density, moisture content, and other geotechnical properties such as shear and bearing strength (dynamic deflection modulus), which were related to hyperspectral BRDF measurements taken with the new NRL Goniometer for Outdoor Portable Hyperspectral Earth Reflectance (GOPHER). This builds on our earlier work at this site in 2007 related to beach properties and shallow water bathymetry. A priority for VCR'11 was to collect and model relationships between hyperspectral imagery, acquired from the aircraft at a variety of different phase angles, and geotechnical properties of beaches and tidal flats. One aspect of this effort was a demonstration that sand density differences are observable and consistent in reflectance spectra from GOPHER data, in CASI hyperspectral imagery, as well as in hyperspectral goniometer measurements conducted in our laboratory after VCR'11.

Centralized Multi-Sensor Square Root Cubature Joint Probabilistic Data Association

PubMed Central

Liu, Jun; Li, Gang; Qi, Lin; Li, Yaowen; He, You

2017-01-01

This paper focuses on the tracking problem of multiple targets with multiple sensors in a nonlinear cluttered environment. To avoid Jacobian matrix computation and scaling parameter adjustment, improve numerical stability, and acquire more accurate estimated results for centralized nonlinear tracking, a novel centralized multi-sensor square root cubature joint probabilistic data association algorithm (CMSCJPDA) is proposed. Firstly, the multi-sensor tracking problem is decomposed into several single-sensor multi-target tracking problems, which are sequentially processed during the estimation. Then, in each sensor, the assignment of its measurements to target tracks is accomplished on the basis of joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), and a weighted probability fusion method with square root version of a cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF) is utilized to estimate the targets’ state. With the measurements in all sensors processed CMSCJPDA is derived and the global estimated state is achieved. Experimental results show that CMSCJPDA is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms in the aspects of tracking accuracy, numerical stability, and computational cost, which provides a new idea to solve multi-sensor tracking problems. PMID:29113085

Centralized Multi-Sensor Square Root Cubature Joint Probabilistic Data Association.

PubMed

Liu, Yu; Liu, Jun; Li, Gang; Qi, Lin; Li, Yaowen; He, You

2017-11-05

This paper focuses on the tracking problem of multiple targets with multiple sensors in a nonlinear cluttered environment. To avoid Jacobian matrix computation and scaling parameter adjustment, improve numerical stability, and acquire more accurate estimated results for centralized nonlinear tracking, a novel centralized multi-sensor square root cubature joint probabilistic data association algorithm (CMSCJPDA) is proposed. Firstly, the multi-sensor tracking problem is decomposed into several single-sensor multi-target tracking problems, which are sequentially processed during the estimation. Then, in each sensor, the assignment of its measurements to target tracks is accomplished on the basis of joint probabilistic data association (JPDA), and a weighted probability fusion method with square root version of a cubature Kalman filter (SRCKF) is utilized to estimate the targets' state. With the measurements in all sensors processed CMSCJPDA is derived and the global estimated state is achieved. Experimental results show that CMSCJPDA is superior to the state-of-the-art algorithms in the aspects of tracking accuracy, numerical stability, and computational cost, which provides a new idea to solve multi-sensor tracking problems.

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation.

PubMed

Tkach, Itshak; Jevtić, Aleksandar; Nof, Shimon Y; Edan, Yael

2018-03-02

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors' performance, tasks' priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems.

Multisensor Super Resolution Using Directionally-Adaptive Regularization for UAV Images

PubMed Central

Kang, Wonseok; Yu, Soohwan; Ko, Seungyong; Paik, Joonki

2015-01-01

In various unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging applications, the multisensor super-resolution (SR) technique has become a chronic problem and attracted increasing attention. Multisensor SR algorithms utilize multispectral low-resolution (LR) images to make a higher resolution (HR) image to improve the performance of the UAV imaging system. The primary objective of the paper is to develop a multisensor SR method based on the existing multispectral imaging framework instead of using additional sensors. In order to restore image details without noise amplification or unnatural post-processing artifacts, this paper presents an improved regularized SR algorithm by combining the directionally-adaptive constraints and multiscale non-local means (NLM) filter. As a result, the proposed method can overcome the physical limitation of multispectral sensors by estimating the color HR image from a set of multispectral LR images using intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) image fusion. Experimental results show that the proposed method provides better SR results than existing state-of-the-art SR methods in the sense of objective measures. PMID:26007744

PMHT Approach for Multi-Target Multi-Sensor Sonar Tracking in Clutter.

PubMed

Li, Xiaohua; Li, Yaan; Yu, Jing; Chen, Xiao; Dai, Miao

2015-11-06

Multi-sensor sonar tracking has many advantages, such as the potential to reduce the overall measurement uncertainty and the possibility to hide the receiver. However, the use of multi-target multi-sensor sonar tracking is challenging because of the complexity of the underwater environment, especially the low target detection probability and extremely large number of false alarms caused by reverberation. In this work, to solve the problem of multi-target multi-sensor sonar tracking in the presence of clutter, a novel probabilistic multi-hypothesis tracker (PMHT) approach based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is proposed. The PMHT can efficiently handle the unknown measurements-to-targets and measurements-to-transmitters data association ambiguity. The EKF and UKF are used to deal with the high degree of nonlinearity in the measurement model. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can improve the target tracking performance in a cluttered environment greatly, and its computational load is low.

A smart multisensor approach to assist blind people in specific urban navigation tasks.

PubMed

Ando, B

2008-12-01

Visually impaired people are often discouraged in using electronic aids due to complexity of operation, large amount of training, nonoptimized degree of information provided to the user, and high cost. In this paper, a new multisensor architecture is discussed, which would help blind people to perform urban mobility tasks. The device is based on a multisensor strategy and adopts smart signal processing.

QTL mapping for resistance to frosty pod and black pod diseases in an f1 population of Theobroma cacao L

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a native crop of the Americas; however severe losses due to frosty pod (FP) [Moniliophthora roreri (Cif. and Par.)], and black pod (BP) [Phytophthora palmivora (Butl.) Butl.] have reduced cacao in the Americas to only 13.0% of world production. Agronomic practices to co...

Evaluation results of a new EUV reticle pod based on SEMI E152

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ota, Kazuya; Yonekawa, Masami; Taguchi, Takao; Suga, Osamu

2010-04-01

To protect the reticle during shipping, storage and tool handling, various reticle pod concepts have been proposed and evaluated in the last 10 years. MIRAI-Selete has been developing EUV reticle handling technology and evaluating EUV reticle pods designed using "Dual Pod Concept" for four years. The concept was jointly proposed by Canon and Nikon at the EUV mask technology and standards workshop at Miyazaki in November 2004; a mask is doubly protected by an inner pod and an outer pod and the mask is carried into an exposure tool with the inner pod. Canon, Nikon and Entegris have started collaboration in 2005 and developed three types of EUV pod prototypes, alpha, beta and gamma. The gamma pods were evaluated by MIRAI-Selete and the superiority of the dual pod concept has been verified with many experimental data on shipping, storage and tool handling. The dual pod concept was standardized as SEMI E152-0709 "Mechanical Specification of EUV Pods for 150mm EUVL Reticles" in 2009. Canon, Nikon and Entegris have developed a new pod design compatible with SEMI E152; it has a Type A inner baseplate for uses with EUV exposure tools. The baseplate has two alignment windows, a window for a data matrix symbol and five pockets as the front edge grip exclusion volumes. In addition to the new features, there are some differences between the new SEMI compliant pod design and the former design "CNE-gamma", e.g. the material of the inner cover was changed to metal to reduce outgassing rate and the gap between the reticle and the side supports were widened to satisfy a requirement of the standard. MIRAI-Selete has evaluated the particle protective capability of the new SEMI compliant pods "cnPod" during shipping, storage and tool handling in vacuum and found the "cnPod" has the excellent particle protective capability and the dual pod concept can be used not only for EUVL pilot line but also for EUVL high volume manufacturing.

Multisensor fusion for the detection of mines and minelike targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanshaw, Terilee

1995-06-01

The US Army's Communications and Electronics Command through the auspices of its Night Vision and Electronics Sensors Directorate (CECOM-NVESD) is actively applying multisensor techniques to the detection of mine targets. This multisensor research results from the 'detection activity' with its broad range of operational conditions and targets. Multisensor operation justifies significant attention by yielding high target detection and low false alarm statistics. Furthermore, recent advances in sensor and computing technologies make its practical application realistic and affordable. The mine detection field-of-endeavor has since its WWI baptismal investigated the known spectra for applicable mine observation phenomena. Countless sensors, algorithms, processors, networks, and other techniques have been investigated to determine candidacy for mine detection. CECOM-NVESD efforts have addressed a wide range of sensors spanning the spectrum from gravity field perturbations, magentic field disturbances, seismic sounding, electromagnetic fields, earth penetrating radar imagery, and infrared/visible/ultraviolet surface imaging technologies. Supplementary analysis has considered sensor candidate applicability by testing under field conditions (versus laboratory), in determination of fieldability. As these field conditions directly effect the probability of detection and false alarms, sensor employment and design must be considered. Consequently, as a given sensor's performance is influenced directly by the operational conditions, tradeoffs are necessary. At present, mass produced and fielded mine detection techniques are limited to those incorporating a single sensor/processor methodology such as, pulse induction and megnetometry, as found in hand held detectors. The most sensitive fielded systems can detect minute metal components in small mine targets but result in very high false alarm rates reducing velocity in operation environments. Furthermore, the actual speed of

Survey of college students on iPod use and hearing health.

PubMed

Danhauer, Jeffrey L; Johnson, Carole E; Byrd, Anne; DeGood, Laura; Meuel, Caitlin; Pecile, Angela; Koch, Lindsey L

2009-01-01

The popularity of personal listening devices (PLDs) including iPods has increased dramatically over the past decade. PLDs allow users to listen to music uninterrupted for prolonged periods and at levels that may pose a risk for hearing loss in some listeners, particularly those using earbud earphones that fail to attenuate high ambient noise levels and necessitate increasing volume for acoustic enjoyment. Earlier studies have documented PLD use by teenagers and adults, but omitted college students, which represent a large segment of individuals who use these devices. This study surveyed college students' knowledge about, experiences with, attitudes toward, and practices and preferences for hearing health and use of iPods and/or other PLDs. The study was designed to help determine the need, content, and preferred format for educational outreach campaigns regarding safe iPod use to college students. An 83-item questionnaire was designed and used to survey college students' knowledge about, experiences with, attitudes toward, and practices/preferences for hearing health and PLD use. The questionnaire assessed Demographics and Knowledge of Hearing Health, iPod Users' Practices and Preferences, Attitudes toward iPod Use, and Reasons for iPod Use. Generally, most college students were knowledgeable about hearing health but could use information about signs of and how to prevent hearing loss. Two-thirds of these students used iPods, but not at levels or for durations that should pose excessive risks for hearing loss when listening in quiet environments. However, most iPod users could be at risk for hearing loss given a combination of common practices. Most of these college students should not be at great risk of hearing loss from their iPods when used conscientiously. Some concern is warranted for a small segment of these students who seemed to be most at risk because they listened to their iPods at high volume levels for long durations using earbuds, and reported that

Multi-Sensor Scene Synthesis and Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-01

Quad Trees for Image Representation and Processing ...... ... 126 2.6.2 Databases ..... ..... ... ..... ... ..... ..... 138 2.6.2.1 Definitions and...Basic Concepts ....... 138 2.6.3 Use of Databases in Hierarchical Scene Analysis ...... ... ..................... 147 2.6.4 Use of Relational Tables...Multisensor Image Database Systems (MIDAS) . 161 2.7.2 Relational Database System for Pictures .... ..... 168 2.7.3 Relational Pictorial Database

Selection of Soybean Pods by the Stink Bugs, Nezara viridula and Piezodorus guildinii

PubMed Central

Molina, Gonzalo A. R.; Trumper, Eduardo V.

2012-01-01

Different biological parameters of the stink bugs, Nezara viridula L. and Piezodorus guildinii Westwood (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), are affected by the developmental stage of the soybean (Glycine max Merrill) pods they feed on. These effects of the soybean on the stink bugs could represent a selection pressure leading to the ability of these species to discriminate the phenological stage of soybean pods, and, therefore, to exhibit feeding preferences. We designed three studies: (1) Distant detection of soybean pods through an olfactometer; (2) Free choice tests to evaluate preferences for soybean pods of different developmental stages; (3) No choice tests to study effects of soybean pod development on feeding time and number of probes. Stink bugs showed no differential response to olfactometer arms with or without soybean pods, suggesting an inability to detect soybean volatiles. Free choice tests showed no species effects on pods selection, but significant differences among fifth instar nymphs, adult male, and adult females. Fifth instar nymphs fed more frequently on soybean pods of advanced development stages compared to female adults, despite previous evidence showing poor development of stink bugs fed pods of the same stage. No choice tests showed significant effects of stink bug species, stink bug stage and sex, and soybean pod phenology. N. viridula expressed shorter feeding times and higher numbers of probes than P. guildinii. The highest numbers of probes of both species were observed when they were fed soybean pods in early phenological stages. When placed in direct contact with food, fifth instar nymphs prefered to feed on more developed pods, despite these pods being suboptimal food items. These results suggest that for the ecological time framework of soybean-stink bugs coexistence, around thirty-five years in Argentina, the selection pressure was not enough for stink bugs to evolve food preferences that match their performance on soybean pods of

Metabolic changes in different developmental stages of Vanilla planifolia pods.

PubMed

Palama, Tony Lionel; Khatib, Alfi; Choi, Young Hae; Payet, Bertrand; Fock, Isabelle; Verpoorte, Robert; Kodja, Hippolyte

2009-09-09

The metabolomic analysis of developing Vanilla planifolia green pods (between 3 and 8 months after pollination) was carried out by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis. Multivariate data analysis of the (1)H NMR spectra, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), showed a trend of separation of those samples based on the metabolites present in the methanol/water (1:1) extract. Older pods had a higher content of glucovanillin, vanillin, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde glucoside, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, and sucrose, while younger pods had more bis[4-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-benzyl]-2-isopropyltartrate (glucoside A), bis[4-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-benzyl]-2-(2-butyl)tartrate (glucoside B), glucose, malic acid, and homocitric acid. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis targeted at phenolic compound content was also performed on the developing pods and confirmed the NMR results. Ratios of aglycones/glucosides were estimated and thus allowed for detection of more minor metabolites in the green vanilla pods. Quantification of compounds based on both LC-MS and NMR analyses showed that free vanillin can reach 24% of the total vanillin content after 8 months of development in the vanilla green pods.

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation †

PubMed Central

Nof, Shimon Y.; Edan, Yael

2018-01-01

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors’ performance, tasks’ priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems. PMID:29498683

Performance assessment of MEMS adaptive optics in tactical airborne systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyson, Robert K.

1999-09-01

Tactical airborne electro-optical systems are severely constrained by weight, volume, power, and cost. Micro- electrical-mechanical adaptive optics provide a solution that addresses the engineering realities without compromising spatial and temporal compensation requirements. Through modeling and analysis, we determined that substantial benefits could be gained for laser designators, ladar, countermeasures, and missile seekers. The developments potential exists for improving seeker imagery resolution 20 percent, extending countermeasures keep-out range by a factor of 5, doubling the range for ladar detection and identification, and compensating for supersonic and hypersonic aircraft boundary layers. Innovative concepts are required for atmospheric pat hand boundary layer compensation. We have developed design that perform these tasks using high speed scene-based wavefront sensing, IR aerosol laser guide stars, and extended-object wavefront beacons. We have developed a number of adaptive optics system configurations that met the spatial resolution requirements and we have determined that sensing and signal processing requirements can be met. With the help of micromachined deformable mirrors and sensor, we will be able to integrate the systems into existing airborne pods and missiles as well as next generation electro-optical systems.

Development of POD from in-service NDI data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forsyth, David S.; Fahr, Abbas; Leemans, Dirk V.; McRae, Ken I.

2000-05-01

The economic drive towards using aircraft beyond their initial design life has created a great interest in damage-tolerance (DT) based maintenance. The DT approach relies on routine nondestructive inspections (NDI), and requires that the NDI performance to be quantified in terms probability of detection (POD) to determine the safe inspection intervals. The most common approach for determining NDI POD is to perform inspections on representative components or specimens simulating the actual parts. This approach is practical but can be very expensive. A more economical approach may be to use actual field inspection data to obtain POD. This approach is particularly attractive for airframe inspection techniques, since most airframe structures cannot be easily simulated. There are a number of difficulties with this approach: Firstly, there is usually a very limited amount of field data. This may require special statistical treatment. Secondly, crack growth data must exist to allow the estimation of flaw sizes at the inspection sites at inspection times before the flaws were found. These factors and others affect the confidence in the calculated POD, and must be quantified before POD data of this type can be used. In this work, data from full scale fatigue tests were analyzed, and methods of overcoming the problems of small sample sizes and crack growth data requirements were investigated.

Case-Based Multi-Sensor Intrusion Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, Daniel G.; Long, Jidong

2009-08-01

Multi-sensor intrusion detection systems (IDSs) combine the alerts raised by individual IDSs and possibly other kinds of devices such as firewalls and antivirus software. A critical issue in building a multi-sensor IDS is alert-correlation, i.e., determining which alerts are caused by the same attack. This paper explores a novel approach to alert correlation using case-based reasoning (CBR). Each case in the CBR system's library contains a pattern of alerts raised by some known attack type, together with the identity of the attack. Then during run time, the alert streams gleaned from the sensors are compared with the patterns in the cases, and a match indicates that the attack described by that case has occurred. For this purpose the design of a fast and accurate matching algorithm is imperative. Two such algorithms were explored: (i) the well-known Hungarian algorithm, and (ii) an order-preserving matching of our own device. Tests were conducted using the DARPA Grand Challenge Problem attack simulator. These showed that the both matching algorithms are effective in detecting attacks; but the Hungarian algorithm is inefficient; whereas the order-preserving one is very efficient, in fact runs in linear time.

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems

PubMed Central

Park, Kyeonghwan; Kim, Seung Mok; Eom, Won-Jin; Kim, Jae Joon

2017-01-01

This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR) of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors. PMID:28368355

A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems.

PubMed

Park, Kyeonghwan; Kim, Seung Mok; Eom, Won-Jin; Kim, Jae Joon

2017-04-03

This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR) of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors.

Determination of urine ionic composition with potentiometric multisensor system.

PubMed

Yaroshenko, Irina; Kirsanov, Dmitry; Kartsova, Lyudmila; Sidorova, Alla; Borisova, Irina; Legin, Andrey

2015-01-01

The ionic composition of urine is a good indicator of patient's general condition and allows for diagnostics of certain medical problems such as e.g., urolithiasis. Due to environmental factors and malnutrition the number of registered urinary tract cases continuously increases. Most of the methods currently used for urine analysis are expensive, quite laborious and require skilled personnel. The present work deals with feasibility study of potentiometric multisensor system of 18 ion-selective and cross-sensitive sensors as an analytical tool for determination of urine ionic composition. In total 136 samples from patients of Urolithiasis Laboratory and healthy people were analyzed by the multisensor system as well as by capillary electrophoresis as a reference method. Various chemometric approaches were implemented to relate the data from electrochemical measurements with the reference data. Logistic regression (LR) was applied for classification of samples into healthy and unhealthy producing reasonable misclassification rates. Projection on Latent Structures (PLS) regression was applied for quantitative analysis of ionic composition from potentiometric data. Mean relative errors of simultaneous prediction of sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulfate, phosphate, urate and creatinine from multisensor system response were in the range 3-13% for independent test sets. This shows a good promise for development of a fast and inexpensive alternative method for urine analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Model Adaptation in Parametric Space for POD-Galerkin Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Haotian; Wei, Mingjun

2017-11-01

The development of low-order POD-Galerkin models is largely motivated by the expectation to use the model developed with a set of parameters at their native values to predict the dynamic behaviors of the same system under different parametric values, in other words, a successful model adaptation in parametric space. However, most of time, even small deviation of parameters from their original value may lead to large deviation or unstable results. It has been shown that adding more information (e.g. a steady state, mean value of a different unsteady state, or an entire different set of POD modes) may improve the prediction of flow with other parametric states. For a simple case of the flow passing a fixed cylinder, an orthogonal mean mode at a different Reynolds number may stabilize the POD-Galerkin model when Reynolds number is changed. For a more complicated case of the flow passing an oscillatory cylinder, a global POD-Galerkin model is first applied to handle the moving boundaries, then more information (e.g. more POD modes) is required to predicate the flow under different oscillatory frequencies. Supported by ARL.

Observer POD for radiographic testing

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

Kanzler, Daniel, E-mail: daniel.kanzler@bam.de, E-mail: uwe.ewert@bam.de, E-mail: christina.mueller@bam.de; Ewert, Uwe, E-mail: daniel.kanzler@bam.de, E-mail: uwe.ewert@bam.de, E-mail: christina.mueller@bam.de; Müller, Christina, E-mail: daniel.kanzler@bam.de, E-mail: uwe.ewert@bam.de, E-mail: christina.mueller@bam.de

2015-03-31

The radiographic testing (RT) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) method capable of finding volumetric and open planar defects depending on their orientation. The radiographic contrast is higher for larger penetrated length of the defect in a component. Even though, the detectability of defects does not only depend on the contrast, but also on the noise, the defect area and the geometry of the defect. The currently applied Probability of Detection (POD) approach uses a detection threshold that is only based on a constant noise level or on a constant contrast threshold. This does not reflect accurately the results of evaluationsmore » by human observers. A new approach is introduced, using the widely applied POD evaluation and additionally a detection threshold depending on the lateral area and shape of the indication. This work shows the process of calculating the POD curves with simulated data by the modeling software aRTist and with artificial reference data of different defect types, such as ASTM E 476 EPS plates, flat bottom holes and notches. Additional experiments with different operators confirm that the depth of a defect, the lateral area and shape of its indication contribute with different weight to the detectability of the defect if evaluated by human operators on monitors.« less

Investigating the intrinsic cleanliness of automated handling designed for EUV mask pod-in-pod systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brux, O.; van der Walle, P.; van der Donck, J. C. J.; Dress, P.

2011-11-01

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is the most promising solution for technology nodes 16nm (hp) and below. However, several unique EUV mask challenges must be resolved for a successful launch of the technology into the market. Uncontrolled introduction of particles and/or contamination into the EUV scanner significantly increases the risk for device yield loss and potentially scanner down-time. With the absence of a pellicle to protect the surface of the EUV mask, a zero particle adder regime between final clean and the point-of-exposure is critical for the active areas of the mask. A Dual Pod concept for handling EUV masks had been proposed by the industry as means to minimize the risk of mask contamination during transport and storage. SuSS-HamaTech introduces MaskTrackPro InSync as a fully automated solution for the handling of EUV masks in and out of this Dual Pod System and therefore constitutes an interface between various tools inside the Fab. The intrinsic cleanliness of each individual handling and storage step of the inner shell (EIP) of this Dual Pod and the EUV mask inside the InSync Tool has been investigated to confirm the capability for minimizing the risk of cross-contamination. An Entegris Dual Pod EUV-1000A-A110 has been used for the qualification. The particle detection for the qualification procedure was executed with the TNO's RapidNano Particle Scanner, qualified for particle sizes down to 50nm (PSL equivalent). It has been shown that the target specification of < 2 particles @ 60nm per 25 cycles has been achieved. In case where added particles were measured, the EIP has been identified as a potential root cause for Ni particle generation. Any direct Ni-Al contact has to be avoided to mitigate the risk of material abrasion.

Geometry and Mechanics of Chiral Pod Opening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharon, Eran; Armon, Shahaf; Efrati, Efi; Kupferman, Raz

2012-02-01

We study the geometry and mechanics that drive the opening of Bauhinia seeds pods. The pod valve wall consists of two fibrous layers oriented at ± 45^o with respect to the pod axis. Upon drying, each of the layers shrinks uniaxially, perpendicularly to the fibers orientation. This active deformation turn the valve into an incompatible sheet with reference saddle-like curvature tensor and a flat (Euclidean) reference metric. These two intrinsic properties are incompatible. The shape is, therefore, selected by a stretching-bending competition. Strips cut from the valve tissue and from synthetic model material adopt various helical configurations. We provide analytical expressions for these configurations in the bending and stretching dominated regimes. Surface measurements show the transition from minimal surfaces (narrow limit) to cylindrical ones (wide limit). Finally, we show how plants use these mechanical principles using different tissue architectures.

A Comprehensive Phenotypic Investigation of the "Pod-Shattering Syndrome" in Common Bean.

PubMed

Murgia, Maria L; Attene, Giovanna; Rodriguez, Monica; Bitocchi, Elena; Bellucci, Elisa; Fois, Davide; Nanni, Laura; Gioia, Tania; Albani, Diego M; Papa, Roberto; Rau, Domenico

2017-01-01

Seed shattering in crops is a key domestication trait due to its relevance for seed dispersal, yield, and fundamental questions in evolution (e.g., convergent evolution). Here, we focused on pod shattering in common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.), the most important legume crop for human consuption in the world. With this main aim, we developed a methodological pipeline that comprises a thorough characterization under field conditions, including also the chemical composition and histological analysis of the pod valves. The pipeline was developed based on the assumption that the shattering trait itself can be treated in principle as a "syndrome" (i.e., a set of correlated different traits) at the pod level. We characterized a population of 267 introgression lines that were developed ad-hoc to study shattering in common bean. Three main objectives were sought: (1) to dissect the shattering trait into its "components," of level (percentage of shattering pods per plant) and mode (percentage of pods with twisting or non-twisting valves); (2) to test whether shattering is associated to the chemical composition and/or the histological characteristics of the pod valves; and (3) to test the associations between shattering and other plant traits. We can conclude the following: Very high shattering levels can be achieved in different modes; shattering resistance is mainly a qualitative trait; and high shattering levels is correlated with high carbon and lignin contents of the pod valves and with specific histological charaterstics of the ventral sheath and the inner fibrous layer of the pod wall. Our data also suggest that shattering comes with a "cost," as it is associated with low pod size, low seed weight per pod, high pod weight, and low seed to pod-valves ratio; indeed, it can be more exaustively described as a syndrome at the pod level. Our work suggests that the valve chemical composition (i.e., carbon and lignin content) can be used for a high troughput phenotyping

ATR architecture for multisensor fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Mark K.; Kipp, Teresa A.

1996-06-01

The work of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in the area of algorithms for the identification of static military targets in single-frame electro-optical (EO) imagery has demonstrated great potential in platform-based automatic target identification (ATI). In this case, the term identification is used to mean being able to tell the difference between two military vehicles -- e.g., the M60 from the T72. ARL's work includes not only single-sensor forward-looking infrared (FLIR) ATI algorithms, but also multi-sensor ATI algorithms. We briefly discuss ARL's hybrid model-based/data-learning strategy for ATI, which represents a significant step forward in ATI algorithm design. For example, in the case of single sensor FLIR it allows the human algorithm designer to build directly into the algorithm knowledge that can be adequately modeled at this time, such as the target geometry which directly translates into the target silhouette in the FLIR realm. In addition, it allows structure that is not currently well understood (i.e., adequately modeled) to be incorporated through automated data-learning algorithms, which in a FLIR directly translates into an internal thermal target structure signature. This paper shows the direct applicability of this strategy to both the single-sensor FLIR as well as the multi-sensor FLIR and laser radar.

Multi-Sensor Registration of Earth Remotely Sensed Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LeMoigne, Jacqueline; Cole-Rhodes, Arlene; Eastman, Roger; Johnson, Kisha; Morisette, Jeffrey; Netanyahu, Nathan S.; Stone, Harold S.; Zavorin, Ilya; Zukor, Dorothy (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Assuming that approximate registration is given within a few pixels by a systematic correction system, we develop automatic image registration methods for multi-sensor data with the goal of achieving sub-pixel accuracy. Automatic image registration is usually defined by three steps; feature extraction, feature matching, and data resampling or fusion. Our previous work focused on image correlation methods based on the use of different features. In this paper, we study different feature matching techniques and present five algorithms where the features are either original gray levels or wavelet-like features, and the feature matching is based on gradient descent optimization, statistical robust matching, and mutual information. These algorithms are tested and compared on several multi-sensor datasets covering one of the EOS Core Sites, the Konza Prairie in Kansas, from four different sensors: IKONOS (4m), Landsat-7/ETM+ (30m), MODIS (500m), and SeaWIFS (1000m).

NASA COAST and OCEANIA Airborne Missions in Support of Ecosystem and Water Quality Research in the Coastal Zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guild, Liane S.; Hooker, Stanford B.; Kudela, Raphael; Morrow, John; Russell, Philip; Myers, Jeffrey; Dunagan, Stephen; Palacios, Sherry; Livingston, John; Negrey, Kendra;

Multi-sensor image registration based on algebraic projective invariants.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Wang, Wei; Ye, Hao

2013-04-22

A new automatic feature-based registration algorithm is presented for multi-sensor images with projective deformation. Contours are firstly extracted from both reference and sensed images as basic features in the proposed method. Since it is difficult to design a projective-invariant descriptor from the contour information directly, a new feature named Five Sequential Corners (FSC) is constructed based on the corners detected from the extracted contours. By introducing algebraic projective invariants, we design a descriptor for each FSC that is ensured to be robust against projective deformation. Further, no gray scale related information is required in calculating the descriptor, thus it is also robust against the gray scale discrepancy between the multi-sensor image pairs. Experimental results utilizing real image pairs are presented to show the merits of the proposed registration method.

Multisensor data fusion for physical activity assessment.

PubMed

Liu, Shaopeng; Gao, Robert X; John, Dinesh; Staudenmayer, John W; Freedson, Patty S

2012-03-01

This paper presents a sensor fusion method for assessing physical activity (PA) of human subjects, based on support vector machines (SVMs). Specifically, acceleration and ventilation measured by a wearable multisensor device on 50 test subjects performing 13 types of activities of varying intensities are analyzed, from which activity type and energy expenditure are derived. The results show that the method correctly recognized the 13 activity types 88.1% of the time, which is 12.3% higher than using a hip accelerometer alone. Also, the method predicted energy expenditure with a root mean square error of 0.42 METs, 22.2% lower than using a hip accelerometer alone. Furthermore, the fusion method was effective in reducing the subject-to-subject variability (standard deviation of recognition accuracies across subjects) in activity recognition, especially when data from the ventilation sensor were added to the fusion model. These results demonstrate that the multisensor fusion technique presented is more effective in identifying activity type and energy expenditure than the traditional accelerometer-alone-based methods.

Dynamic PROOF clusters with PoD: architecture and user experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manafov, Anar

2011-12-01

PROOF on Demand (PoD) is a tool-set, which sets up a PROOF cluster on any resource management system. PoD is a user oriented product with an easy to use GUI and a command-line interface. It is fully automated. No administrative privileges or special knowledge is required to use it. PoD utilizes a plug-in system, to use different job submission front-ends. The current PoD distribution is shipped with LSF, Torque (PBS), Grid Engine, Condor, gLite, and SSH plug-ins. The product is to be extended. We therefore plan to implement a plug-in for AliEn Grid as well. Recently developed algorithms made it possible to efficiently maintain two types of connections: packet-forwarding and native PROOF connections. This helps to properly handle most kinds of workers, with and without firewalls. PoD maintains the PROOF environment automatically and, for example, prevents resource misusage in case when workers idle for too long. As PoD matures as a product and provides more plug-ins, it's used as a standard for setting up dynamic PROOF clusters in many different institutions. The GSI Analysis Facility (GSIAF) is in production since 2007. The static PROOF cluster has been phased out end of 2009. GSIAF is now completely based on PoD. Users create private dynamic PROOF clusters on the general purpose batch farm. This provides an easier resource sharing between interactive local batch and Grid usage. The main user communities are FAIR and ALICE.

Sea Ice Thickness, Freeboard, and Snow Depth products from Operation IceBridge Airborne Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurtz, N. T.; Farrell, S. L.; Studinger, M.; Galin, N.; Harbeck, J. P.; Lindsay, R.; Onana, V. D.; Panzer, B.; Sonntag, J. G.

2013-01-01

The study of sea ice using airborne remote sensing platforms provides unique capabilities to measure a wide variety of sea ice properties. These measurements are useful for a variety of topics including model evaluation and improvement, assessment of satellite retrievals, and incorporation into climate data records for analysis of interannual variability and long-term trends in sea ice properties. In this paper we describe methods for the retrieval of sea ice thickness, freeboard, and snow depth using data from a multisensor suite of instruments on NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign. We assess the consistency of the results through comparison with independent data sets that demonstrate that the IceBridge products are capable of providing a reliable record of snow depth and sea ice thickness. We explore the impact of inter-campaign instrument changes and associated algorithm adaptations as well as the applicability of the adapted algorithms to the ongoing IceBridge mission. The uncertainties associated with the retrieval methods are determined and placed in the context of their impact on the retrieved sea ice thickness. Lastly, we present results for the 2009 and 2010 IceBridge campaigns, which are currently available in product form via the National Snow and Ice Data Center

Multisensor Parallel Largest Ellipsoid Distributed Data Fusion with Unknown Cross-Covariances

PubMed Central

Liu, Baoyu; Zhan, Xingqun; Zhu, Zheng H.

2017-01-01

As the largest ellipsoid (LE) data fusion algorithm can only be applied to two-sensor system, in this contribution, parallel fusion structure is proposed to introduce the LE algorithm into a multisensor system with unknown cross-covariances, and three parallel fusion structures based on different estimate pairing methods are presented and analyzed. In order to assess the influence of fusion structure on fusion performance, two fusion performance assessment parameters are defined as Fusion Distance and Fusion Index. Moreover, the formula for calculating the upper bounds of actual fused error covariances of the presented multisensor LE fusers is also provided. Demonstrated with simulation examples, the Fusion Index indicates fuser’s actual fused accuracy and its sensitivity to the sensor orders, as well as its robustness to the accuracy of newly added sensors. Compared to the LE fuser with sequential structure, the LE fusers with proposed parallel structures not only significantly improve their properties in these aspects, but also embrace better performances in consistency and computation efficiency. The presented multisensor LE fusers generally have better accuracies than covariance intersection (CI) fusion algorithm and are consistent when the local estimates are weakly correlated. PMID:28661442

TreePOD: Sensitivity-Aware Selection of Pareto-Optimal Decision Trees.

PubMed

Muhlbacher, Thomas; Linhardt, Lorenz; Moller, Torsten; Piringer, Harald

2018-01-01

Balancing accuracy gains with other objectives such as interpretability is a key challenge when building decision trees. However, this process is difficult to automate because it involves know-how about the domain as well as the purpose of the model. This paper presents TreePOD, a new approach for sensitivity-aware model selection along trade-offs. TreePOD is based on exploring a large set of candidate trees generated by sampling the parameters of tree construction algorithms. Based on this set, visualizations of quantitative and qualitative tree aspects provide a comprehensive overview of possible tree characteristics. Along trade-offs between two objectives, TreePOD provides efficient selection guidance by focusing on Pareto-optimal tree candidates. TreePOD also conveys the sensitivities of tree characteristics on variations of selected parameters by extending the tree generation process with a full-factorial sampling. We demonstrate how TreePOD supports a variety of tasks involved in decision tree selection and describe its integration in a holistic workflow for building and selecting decision trees. For evaluation, we illustrate a case study for predicting critical power grid states, and we report qualitative feedback from domain experts in the energy sector. This feedback suggests that TreePOD enables users with and without statistical background a confident and efficient identification of suitable decision trees.

Multisensor configurations for early sniper detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindgren, D.; Bank, D.; Carlsson, L.; Dulski, R.; Duval, Y.; Fournier, G.; Grasser, R.; Habberstad, H.; Jacquelard, C.; Kastek, M.; Otterlei, R.; Piau, G.-P.; Pierre, F.; Renhorn, I.; Sjöqvist, L.; Steinvall, O.; Trzaskawka, P.

2011-11-01

This contribution reports some of the fusion results from the EDA SNIPOD project, where different multisensor configurations for sniper detection and localization have been studied. A project aim has been to cover the whole time line from sniper transport and establishment to shot. To do so, different optical sensors with and without laser illumination have been tested, as well as acoustic arrays and solid state projectile radar. A sensor fusion node collects detections and background statistics from all sensors and employs hypothesis testing and multisensor estimation programs to produce unified and reliable sniper alarms and accurate sniper localizations. Operator interfaces that connect to the fusion node should be able to support both sniper countermeasures and the guidance of personnel to safety. Although the integrated platform has not been actually built, sensors have been evaluated at common field trials with military ammunitions in the caliber range 5.56 to 12.7 mm, and at sniper distances up to 900 m. It is concluded that integrating complementary sensors for pre- and postshot sniper detection in a common system with automatic detection and fusion will give superior performance, compared to stand alone sensors. A practical system is most likely designed with a cost effective subset of available complementary sensors.

Open-Source Conceptual Sizing Models for the Hyperloop Passenger Pod

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Jeffrey C.; Gray, Justin S.; Jones, Scott M.; Berton, Jeffrey J.

2015-01-01

Hyperloop is a new mode of transportation proposed as an alternative to California's high speed rail project, with the intended benefits of higher performance at lower overall costs. It consists of a passenger pod traveling through a tube under a light vacuum and suspended on air bearings. The pod travels up to transonic speeds resulting in a 35 minute travel time between the intended route from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Of the two variants outlined, the smaller system includes a 1.1 meter tall passenger capsule traveling through a 2.2 meter tube at 700 miles per hour. The passenger pod features water-based heat exchangers as well as an on-board compression system that reduces the aerodynamic drag as it moves through the tube. Although the original proposal looks very promising, it assumes that tube and pod dimensions are independently sizable without fully acknowledging the constraints of the compressor system on the pod geometry. This work focuses on the aerodynamic and thermodynamic interactions between the two largest systems; the tube and the pod. Using open-source toolsets, a new sizing method is developed based on one-dimensional thermodynamic relationships that accounts for the strong interactions between these sub-systems. These additional considerations require a tube nearly twice the size originally considered and limit the maximum pod travel speed to about 620 miles per hour. Although the results indicate that Hyperloop will need to be larger and slightly slower than originally intended, the estimated travel time only increases by approximately five minutes, so the overall performance is not dramatically affected. In addition, the proposed on-board heat exchanger is not an ideal solution to achieve reasonable equilibrium air temperatures within the tube. Removal of this subsystem represents a potential reduction in weight, energy requirements and complexity of the pod. In light of these finding, the core concept still remains a compelling

Variation among edible podded snap bean accessions for pod and seed sugar content

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugar content of immature snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) pods and the effects of sugars on other flavor compounds are important to consumers and affect their food and vegetable choices. The objective of this study was to identify variation within Phaseolus vulgaris in relation to sugars that affect ...

RadMAP: The Radiological Multi-sensor Analysis Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandstra, Mark S.; Aucott, Timothy J.; Brubaker, Erik; Chivers, Daniel H.; Cooper, Reynold J.; Curtis, Joseph C.; Davis, John R.; Joshi, Tenzing H.; Kua, John; Meyer, Ross; Negut, Victor; Quinlan, Michael; Quiter, Brian J.; Srinivasan, Shreyas; Zakhor, Avideh; Zhang, Richard; Vetter, Kai

2016-12-01

The variability of gamma-ray and neutron background during the operation of a mobile detector system greatly limits the ability of the system to detect weak radiological and nuclear threats. The natural radiation background measured by a mobile detector system is the result of many factors, including the radioactivity of nearby materials, the geometric configuration of those materials and the system, the presence of absorbing materials, and atmospheric conditions. Background variations tend to be highly non-Poissonian, making it difficult to set robust detection thresholds using knowledge of the mean background rate alone. The Radiological Multi-sensor Analysis Platform (RadMAP) system is designed to allow the systematic study of natural radiological background variations and to serve as a development platform for emerging concepts in mobile radiation detection and imaging. To do this, RadMAP has been used to acquire extensive, systematic background measurements and correlated contextual data that can be used to test algorithms and detector modalities at low false alarm rates. By combining gamma-ray and neutron detector systems with data from contextual sensors, the system enables the fusion of data from multiple sensors into novel data products. The data are curated in a common format that allows for rapid querying across all sensors, creating detailed multi-sensor datasets that are used to study correlations between radiological and contextual data, and develop and test novel techniques in mobile detection and imaging. In this paper we will describe the instruments that comprise the RadMAP system, the effort to curate and provide access to multi-sensor data, and some initial results on the fusion of contextual and radiological data.

Quaternion-Based Unscented Kalman Filter for Accurate Indoor Heading Estimation Using Wearable Multi-Sensor System

PubMed Central

Yuan, Xuebing; Yu, Shuai; Zhang, Shengzhi; Wang, Guoping; Liu, Sheng

2015-01-01

Inertial navigation based on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMUs) has attracted numerous researchers due to its high reliability and independence. The heading estimation, as one of the most important parts of inertial navigation, has been a research focus in this field. Heading estimation using magnetometers is perturbed by magnetic disturbances, such as indoor concrete structures and electronic equipment. The MEMS gyroscope is also used for heading estimation. However, the accuracy of gyroscope is unreliable with time. In this paper, a wearable multi-sensor system has been designed to obtain the high-accuracy indoor heading estimation, according to a quaternion-based unscented Kalman filter (UKF) algorithm. The proposed multi-sensor system including one three-axis accelerometer, three single-axis gyroscopes, one three-axis magnetometer and one microprocessor minimizes the size and cost. The wearable multi-sensor system was fixed on waist of pedestrian and the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for heading estimation experiments in our college building. The results show that the mean heading estimation errors are less 10° and 5° to multi-sensor system fixed on waist of pedestrian and the quadrotor UAV, respectively, compared to the reference path. PMID:25961384

Copernicus POD Service: Ready for Sentinel-3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, H.; Fernández, J.; Escobar, D.; Féménias, P.; Flohrer, C.; Otten, M.

2015-12-01

The Copernicus POD Service is part of the Copernicus PDGS Ground Segment of the Sentinel missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS. The Sentinel-1, -2 & -3 missions have different but very demanding requirements in terms of orbital accuracy and timeliness. Orbital products in Near Real Time (latency: 30 min), Short Time Critical (1.5 days) and Non-time Critical (20-30 days) are required. The accuracy requirements are very challenging, targeting 5 cm in 3D for Sentinel-1 and 2-3 cm in radial direction for Sentinel-3. Sentinel-3A carries, in addition to a GPS receiver a laser retro reflector and a DORIS receiver. On the one hand, the three different techniques GPS, SLR and DORIS make POD more complex but, on the other hand, it is very helpful to have independent techniques available for validation of the orbit results. The successful POD processing for Sentinel-1A is a good preparation for Sentinel-3A due to the similar demanding orbit accuracy requirements. The Copernicus POD Service is ready for Sentinel-3A and the service will process GPS and SLR data routinely and has the capacity to process DORIS in NTC and reprocessing campaigns. The three independent orbit determination techniques on Sentinel-3 offer big potential for scientific exploitation. Carrying all three techniques together makes the satellite, e.g., very useful for combining all the techniques on observation level as it could only be done for Jason-2 until now. The Sentinel POD Quality Working Group strongly supporting the CPOD Service delivers additional orbit solutions to validate the CPOD results independently. The recommendations from this body guarantee that the CPOD Service is updated following state-of-the-art algorithms, models and conventions. The QWG also focuses on the scientific exploitation of the

Design of a multisensor data fusion system for target detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomopoulos, Stelios C.; Okello, Nickens N.; Kadar, Ivan; Lovas, Louis A.

1993-09-01

The objective of this paper is to discuss the issues that are involved in the design of a multisensor fusion system and provide a systematic analysis and synthesis methodology for the design of the fusion system. The system under consideration consists of multifrequency (similar) radar sensors. However, the fusion design must be flexible to accommodate additional dissimilar sensors such as IR, EO, ESM, and Ladar. The motivation for the system design is the proof of the fusion concept for enhancing the detectability of small targets in clutter. In the context of down-selecting the proper configuration for multisensor (similar and dissimilar, and centralized vs. distributed) data fusion, the issues of data modeling, fusion approaches, and fusion architectures need to be addressed for the particular application being considered. Although the study of different approaches may proceed in parallel, the interplay among them is crucial in selecting a fusion configuration for a given application. The natural sequence for addressing the three different issues is to begin from the data modeling, in order to determine the information content of the data. This information will dictate the appropriate fusion approach. This, in turn, will lead to a global fusion architecture. Both distributed and centralized fusion architectures are used to illustrate the design issues along with Monte-Carlo simulation performance comparison of a single sensor versus a multisensor centrally fused system.

Surveillance of paediatric exposures to liquid laundry detergent pods in Italy

PubMed Central

Settimi, Laura; Giordano, Felice; Lauria, Laura; Celentano, Anna; Sesana, Fabrizio; Davanzo, Franca

2018-01-01

Objective To analyse paediatric exposures to pod and traditional laundry detergents in Italy and changes in exposure trends. Methods Analyses of a series of patients aged <5 years and exposed to laundry detergents between September 2010 and June 2015, identified by the National Poison Control in Milan. Results In comparison with patients exposed to traditional laundry detergents (n=1150), a higher proportion of those exposed to pods (n=1649) were managed in hospital (68% vs 42%), had clinical effects (75% vs 22%) and moderate/high severity outcomes (13% vs <1%). Exposure rates were stable over time for traditional detergents (average 0.65 cases/day), but an abrupt decline in major company pods was seen in December 2012, 4 months after the introduction of opaque outer packaging (from 1.03 to 0.36 cases/day and from 1.88 to 0.86 cases/million units sold). The odds of clinical effects was higher for exposure to pods than for traditional detergents (OR=10.8; 95% CI 9.0 to 12.9). Among patients exposed to pods, the odds of moderate/high severity outcomes was four times higher for children aged <1 years than for the other age groups (OR=3.9; 95% CI 2.2 to 7.0). Ten children exposed to laundry detergent pods had high severity outcomes while no children exposed to traditional laundry detergents developed high severity effects. Conclusions The study confirms that exposure to laundry detergent pods is more dangerous than exposure to traditional detergents. In Italy, 4 months after the introduction of opaque outer packaging by a major company, product-specific exposure rates decreased sharply, suggesting that reducing visibility of laundry detergent pods may be an effective preventive measure. Further efforts are needed to improve safety. PMID:28188147

Krylov-Subspace Recycling via the POD-Augmented Conjugate-Gradient Method

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

Carlberg, Kevin; Forstall, Virginia; Tuminaro, Ray

This paper presents a new Krylov-subspace-recycling method for efficiently solving sequences of linear systems of equations characterized by varying right-hand sides and symmetric-positive-definite matrices. As opposed to typical truncation strategies used in recycling such as deflation, we propose a truncation method inspired by goal-oriented proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) from model reduction. This idea is based on the observation that model reduction aims to compute a low-dimensional subspace that contains an accurate solution; as such, we expect the proposed method to generate a low-dimensional subspace that is well suited for computing solutions that can satisfy inexact tolerances. In particular, we proposemore » specific goal-oriented POD `ingredients' that align the optimality properties of POD with the objective of Krylov-subspace recycling. To compute solutions in the resulting 'augmented' POD subspace, we propose a hybrid direct/iterative three-stage method that leverages 1) the optimal ordering of POD basis vectors, and 2) well-conditioned reduced matrices. Numerical experiments performed on solid-mechanics problems highlight the benefits of the proposed method over existing approaches for Krylov-subspace recycling.« less

Krylov-Subspace Recycling via the POD-Augmented Conjugate-Gradient Method

DOE PAGES

Carlberg, Kevin; Forstall, Virginia; Tuminaro, Ray

2016-01-01

This paper presents a new Krylov-subspace-recycling method for efficiently solving sequences of linear systems of equations characterized by varying right-hand sides and symmetric-positive-definite matrices. As opposed to typical truncation strategies used in recycling such as deflation, we propose a truncation method inspired by goal-oriented proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) from model reduction. This idea is based on the observation that model reduction aims to compute a low-dimensional subspace that contains an accurate solution; as such, we expect the proposed method to generate a low-dimensional subspace that is well suited for computing solutions that can satisfy inexact tolerances. In particular, we proposemore » specific goal-oriented POD `ingredients' that align the optimality properties of POD with the objective of Krylov-subspace recycling. To compute solutions in the resulting 'augmented' POD subspace, we propose a hybrid direct/iterative three-stage method that leverages 1) the optimal ordering of POD basis vectors, and 2) well-conditioned reduced matrices. Numerical experiments performed on solid-mechanics problems highlight the benefits of the proposed method over existing approaches for Krylov-subspace recycling.« less

Geometry and Mechanics in the Opening of Chiral Seed Pods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armon, Shahaf; Efrati, Efi; Kupferman, Raz; Sharon, Eran

2011-09-01

We studied the mechanical process of seed pods opening in Bauhinia variegate and found a chirality-creating mechanism, which turns an initially flat pod valve into a helix. We studied configurations of strips cut from pod valve tissue and from composite elastic materials that mimic its structure. The experiments reveal various helical configurations with sharp morphological transitions between them. Using the mathematical framework of “incompatible elasticity,” we modeled the pod as a thin strip with a flat intrinsic metric and a saddle-like intrinsic curvature. Our theoretical analysis quantitatively predicts all observed configurations, thus linking the pod’s microscopic structure and macroscopic conformation. We suggest that this type of incompatible strip is likely to play a role in the self-assembly of chiral macromolecules and could be used for the engineering of synthetic self-shaping devices.

Potential Application of Airborne Passive Microwave Observations for Monitoring Inland Flooding Caused by Tropical Cyclones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hood, Robbie E.; Radley, C.D.; LaFontaine, F.J.

2008-01-01

Inland flooding from tropical cyclones can be a significant factor in storm-related deaths in the United States and other countries. Information collected during NASA tropical cyclone field studies suggest surface water and flooding induced by tropical cyclone precipitation can be detected and therefore monitored using passive microwave airborne radiometers. In particular, the 10.7 GHz frequency of the NASA Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) flown on the NASA ER-2 has demonstrated high resolution detection of anomalous surface water and flooding in numerous situations. This presentation will highlight the analysis of three cases utilizing primarily satellite and airborne radiometer data. Radiometer data from the 1998 Third Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-3) are utilized to detect surface water during landfalling Hurricane Georges in both the Dominican Republic and Louisiana. A third case is landfalling Tropical Storm Gert in Eastern Mexico during the Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) experiment in 2005. AMPR data are compared to topographic data and vegetation indices to evaluate the significance of the surface water signature visible in the 10.7 GHz information. The results of this study suggest the benefit of an aircraft 10 GHz radiometer to provide real-time observations of surface water conditions as part of a multi-sensor flood monitoring network.

Analysis of Airborne Radar Altimetry Measurements of the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferraro, Ellen J.

1994-01-01

This dissertation presents an analysis of airborne altimetry measurements taken over the Greenland ice sheet with the 13.9 GHz Advanced Application Flight Experiment (AAFE) pulse compression radar altimeter. This Ku-band instrument was refurbished in 1990 by the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts to obtain high-resolution altitude measurements and to improve the tracking, speed, storage and display capabilities of the radar. In 1991 and 1993, the AAFE altimeter took part in the NASA Multisensor Airborne Altimetry Experiments over Greenland, along with two NASA laser altimeters. Altitude results from both experiments are presented along with comparisons to the laser altimeter and calibration passes over the Sondrestroem runway in Greenland. Although it is too early to make a conclusion about the growth or decay of the ice sheet, these results show that the instrument is capable of measuring small-scale surface changes to within 14 centimeters. In addition, results from these experiments reveal that the radar is sensitive to the different diagenetic regions of the ice sheet. Return waveforms from the wet- snow, percolation and dry-snow zones show varying effects of both surface scattering and sub-surface or volume scattering. Models of each of the diagenetic regions of Greenland are presented along with parameters such as rms surface roughness, rms surface slope and attenuation coefficient of the snow pack obtained by fitting the models to actual return waveforms.

A comparison of Probability Of Detection (POD) data determined using different statistical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahr, A.; Forsyth, D.; Bullock, M.

1993-12-01

Different statistical methods have been suggested for determining probability of detection (POD) data for nondestructive inspection (NDI) techniques. A comparative assessment of various methods of determining POD was conducted using results of three NDI methods obtained by inspecting actual aircraft engine compressor disks which contained service induced cracks. The study found that the POD and 95 percent confidence curves as a function of crack size as well as the 90/95 percent crack length vary depending on the statistical method used and the type of data. The distribution function as well as the parameter estimation procedure used for determining POD and the confidence bound must be included when referencing information such as the 90/95 percent crack length. The POD curves and confidence bounds determined using the range interval method are very dependent on information that is not from the inspection data. The maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) method does not require such information and the POD results are more reasonable. The log-logistic function appears to model POD of hit/miss data relatively well and is easy to implement. The log-normal distribution using MLE provides more realistic POD results and is the preferred method. Although it is more complicated and slower to calculate, it can be implemented on a common spreadsheet program.

Satellite Data Simulator Unit: A Multisensor, Multispectral Satellite Simulator Package

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masunaga, Hirohiko; Matsui, Toshihisa; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Hou, Arthur Y.; Kummerow, Christian D.; Nakajima, Teruyuki; Bauer, Peter; Olson, William S.; Sekiguchi, Miho; Nakajima, Teruyuki

2010-01-01

Several multisensor simulator packages are being developed by different research groups across the world. Such simulator packages [e.g., COSP , CRTM, ECSIM, RTTO, ISSARS (under development), and SDSU (this article), among others] share overall aims, although some are targeted more on particular satellite programs or specific applications (for research purposes or for operational use) than others. The SDSU or Satellite Data Simulator Unit is a general-purpose simulator composed of Fortran 90 codes and applicable to spaceborne microwave radiometer, radar, and visible/infrared imagers including, but not limited to, the sensors listed in a table. That shows satellite programs particularly suitable for multisensor data analysis: some are single satellite missions carrying two or more instruments, while others are constellations of satellites flying in formation. The TRMM and A-Train are ongoing satellite missions carrying diverse sensors that observe clouds and precipitation, and will be continued or augmented within the decade to come by future multisensor missions such as the GPM and Earth-CARE. The ultimate goals of these present and proposed satellite programs are not restricted to clouds and precipitation but are to better understand their interactions with atmospheric dynamics/chemistry and feedback to climate. The SDSU's applicability is not technically limited to hydrometeor measurements either, but may be extended to air temperature and humidity observations by tuning the SDSU to sounding channels. As such, the SDSU and other multisensor simulators would potentially contribute to a broad area of climate and atmospheric sciences. The SDSU is not optimized to any particular orbital geometry of satellites. The SDSU is applicable not only to low-Earth orbiting platforms as listed in Table 1, but also to geostationary meteorological satellites. Although no geosynchronous satellite carries microwave instruments at present or in the near future, the SDSU would be

Molecular genetic basis of pod corn (Tunicate maize)

PubMed Central

Wingen, Luzie U.; Münster, Thomas; Faigl, Wolfram; Deleu, Wim; Sommer, Hans; Saedler, Heinz; Theißen, Günter

2012-01-01

Pod corn is a classic morphological mutant of maize in which the mature kernels of the cob are covered by glumes, in contrast to generally grown maize varieties in which kernels are naked. Pod corn, known since pre-Columbian times, is the result of a dominant gain-of-function mutation at the Tunicate (Tu) locus. Some classic articles of 20th century maize genetics reported that the mutant Tu locus is complex, but molecular details remained elusive. Here, we show that pod corn is caused by a cis-regulatory mutation and duplication of the ZMM19 MADS-box gene. Although the WT locus contains a single-copy gene that is expressed in vegetative organs only, mutation and duplication of ZMM19 in Tu lead to ectopic expression of the gene in the inflorescences, thus conferring vegetative traits to reproductive organs. PMID:22517751

Multisensor signal denoising based on matching synchrosqueezing wavelet transform for mechanical fault condition assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Cancan; Lv, Yong; Xiao, Han; Huang, Tao; You, Guanghui

2018-04-01

Since it is difficult to obtain the accurate running status of mechanical equipment with only one sensor, multisensor measurement technology has attracted extensive attention. In the field of mechanical fault diagnosis and condition assessment based on vibration signal analysis, multisensor signal denoising has emerged as an important tool to improve the reliability of the measurement result. A reassignment technique termed the synchrosqueezing wavelet transform (SWT) has obvious superiority in slow time-varying signal representation and denoising for fault diagnosis applications. The SWT uses the time-frequency reassignment scheme, which can provide signal properties in 2D domains (time and frequency). However, when the measured signal contains strong noise components and fast varying instantaneous frequency, the performance of SWT-based analysis still depends on the accuracy of instantaneous frequency estimation. In this paper, a matching synchrosqueezing wavelet transform (MSWT) is investigated as a potential candidate to replace the conventional synchrosqueezing transform for the applications of denoising and fault feature extraction. The improved technology utilizes the comprehensive instantaneous frequency estimation by chirp rate estimation to achieve a highly concentrated time-frequency representation so that the signal resolution can be significantly improved. To exploit inter-channel dependencies, the multisensor denoising strategy is performed by using a modulated multivariate oscillation model to partition the time-frequency domain; then, the common characteristics of the multivariate data can be effectively identified. Furthermore, a modified universal threshold is utilized to remove noise components, while the signal components of interest can be retained. Thus, a novel MSWT-based multisensor signal denoising algorithm is proposed in this paper. The validity of this method is verified by numerical simulation, and experiments including a rolling

JPSS-1 P-Pod Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-31

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, container is installed on the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, spacecraft. P-PODS are auxiliary payloads launched aboard NASA expendable launch vehicles carrying up to three small CubeSats. The small cube-shaped satellites are part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, missions. The small payloads are designed and built by students from high school-level classes up to college and university students. JPSS is the first in a series of four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between the NOAA and NASA. Liftoff from Vandenberg's Space Launch Compex-2 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for 1:47 a.m. PST (4:47 a.m. EST), on Nov. 14, 2017.

JPSS-1 P-Pod Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-31

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers prepare to install a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, container on the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, spacecraft. P-PODS are auxiliary payloads launched aboard NASA expendable launch vehicles carrying up to three small CubeSats. The small cube-shaped satellites are part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, missions. The small payloads are designed and built by students from high school-level classes up to college and university students. JPSS is the first in a series of four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between the NOAA and NASA. Liftoff from Vandenberg's Space Launch Compex-2 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for 1:47 a.m. PST (4:47 a.m. EST), on Nov. 14, 2017.

JPSS-1 P-Pod Installation

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-31

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers prepare a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, or P-POD, container for installation on the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, or JPSS-1, spacecraft. P-PODS are auxiliary payloads launched aboard NASA expendable launch vehicles carrying up to three small CubeSats. The small cube-shaped satellites are part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, missions. The small payloads are designed and built by students from high school-level classes up to college and university students. JPSS is the first in a series of four next-generation environmental satellites in a collaborative program between the NOAA and NASA. Liftoff from Vandenberg's Space Launch Compex-2 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for 1:47 a.m. PST (4:47 a.m. EST), on Nov. 14, 2017.

An iPod treatment of amblyopia: an updated binocular approach.

PubMed

Hess, Robert F; Thompson, B; Black, J M; Machara, G; Zhang, P; Bobier, W R; Cooperstock, J

2012-02-15

We describe the successful translation of computerized and space-consuming laboratory equipment for the treatment of suppression to a small handheld iPod device (Apple iPod; Apple Inc., Cupertino, California). A portable and easily obtainable Apple iPod display, using current video technology offers an ideal solution for the clinical treatment of suppression. The following is a description of the iPod device and illustrates how a video game has been adapted to provide the appropriate stimulation to implement our recent antisuppression treatment protocol. One to 2 hours per day of video game playing under controlled conditions for 1 to 3 weeks can improve acuity and restore binocular function, including stereopsis in adults, well beyond the age at which traditional patching is used. This handheld platform provides a convenient and effective platform for implementing the newly proposed binocular treatment of amblyopia in the clinic, home, or elsewhere. American Optometric Association.

Anthocyanins and flavonols are responsible for purple color of Lablab purpureus (L.) sweet pods.

PubMed

Cui, Baolu; Hu, Zongli; Zhang, Yanjie; Hu, Jingtao; Yin, Wencheng; Feng, Ye; Xie, Qiaoli; Chen, Guoping

2016-06-01

Lablab pods, as dietary vegetable, have high nutritional values similar to most of edible legumes. Moreover, our studies confirmed that purple lablab pods contain the natural pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols. Compared to green pods, five kinds of anthocyanins (malvidin, delphinidin and petunidin derivatives) were found in purple pods by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and the major contents were delphinidin derivatives. Besides, nine kinds of polyphenol derivatives (quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol and apigenin derivatives) were detected by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS and the major components were quercetin and myricetin derivatives. In order to discover their molecular mechanism, expression patterns of biosynthesis and regulatory gens of anthocyanins and flavonols were investigated. Experimental results showed that LpPAL, LpF3H, LpF3'H, LpDFR, LpANS and LpPAP1 expressions were significantly induced in purple pods compared to green ones. Meanwhile, transcripts of LpFLS were more abundant in purple pods than green or yellow ones, suggestind that co-pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols are accumulated in purple pods. Under continuously dark condition, no anthocyanin accumulation was detected in purple pods and transcripts of LpCHS, LpANS, LpFLS and LpPAP1 were remarkably repressed, indicating that anthocyanins and flavonols biosynthesis in purple pods was regulated in light-dependent manner. These results indicate that co-pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols contribute to purple pigmentations of pods. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Multisensor Fusion for Change Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schenk, T.; Csatho, B.

2005-12-01

Combining sensors that record different properties of a 3-D scene leads to complementary and redundant information. If fused properly, a more robust and complete scene description becomes available. Moreover, fusion facilitates automatic procedures for object reconstruction and modeling. For example, aerial imaging sensors, hyperspectral scanning systems, and airborne laser scanning systems generate complementary data. We describe how data from these sensors can be fused for such diverse applications as mapping surface erosion and landslides, reconstructing urban scenes, monitoring urban land use and urban sprawl, and deriving velocities and surface changes of glaciers and ice sheets. An absolute prerequisite for successful fusion is a rigorous co-registration of the sensors involved. We establish a common 3-D reference frame by using sensor invariant features. Such features are caused by the same object space phenomena and are extracted in multiple steps from the individual sensors. After extracting, segmenting and grouping the features into more abstract entities, we discuss ways on how to automatically establish correspondences. This is followed by a brief description of rigorous mathematical models suitable to deal with linear and area features. In contrast to traditional, point-based registration methods, lineal and areal features lend themselves to a more robust and more accurate registration. More important, the chances to automate the registration process increases significantly. The result of the co-registration of the sensors is a unique transformation between the individual sensors and the object space. This makes spatial reasoning of extracted information more versatile; reasoning can be performed in sensor space or in 3-D space where domain knowledge about features and objects constrains reasoning processes, reduces the search space, and helps to make the problem well-posed. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed multisensor fusion approach

Multi-Sensor Optimal Data Fusion Based on the Adaptive Fading Unscented Kalman Filter

PubMed Central

Gao, Bingbing; Hu, Gaoge; Gao, Shesheng; Gu, Chengfan

2018-01-01

This paper presents a new optimal data fusion methodology based on the adaptive fading unscented Kalman filter for multi-sensor nonlinear stochastic systems. This methodology has a two-level fusion structure: at the bottom level, an adaptive fading unscented Kalman filter based on the Mahalanobis distance is developed and serves as local filters to improve the adaptability and robustness of local state estimations against process-modeling error; at the top level, an unscented transformation-based multi-sensor optimal data fusion for the case of N local filters is established according to the principle of linear minimum variance to calculate globally optimal state estimation by fusion of local estimations. The proposed methodology effectively refrains from the influence of process-modeling error on the fusion solution, leading to improved adaptability and robustness of data fusion for multi-sensor nonlinear stochastic systems. It also achieves globally optimal fusion results based on the principle of linear minimum variance. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology for INS/GNSS/CNS (inertial navigation system/global navigation satellite system/celestial navigation system) integrated navigation. PMID:29415509

Multi-Sensor Optimal Data Fusion Based on the Adaptive Fading Unscented Kalman Filter.

PubMed

Gao, Bingbing; Hu, Gaoge; Gao, Shesheng; Zhong, Yongmin; Gu, Chengfan

2018-02-06

This paper presents a new optimal data fusion methodology based on the adaptive fading unscented Kalman filter for multi-sensor nonlinear stochastic systems. This methodology has a two-level fusion structure: at the bottom level, an adaptive fading unscented Kalman filter based on the Mahalanobis distance is developed and serves as local filters to improve the adaptability and robustness of local state estimations against process-modeling error; at the top level, an unscented transformation-based multi-sensor optimal data fusion for the case of N local filters is established according to the principle of linear minimum variance to calculate globally optimal state estimation by fusion of local estimations. The proposed methodology effectively refrains from the influence of process-modeling error on the fusion solution, leading to improved adaptability and robustness of data fusion for multi-sensor nonlinear stochastic systems. It also achieves globally optimal fusion results based on the principle of linear minimum variance. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology for INS/GNSS/CNS (inertial navigation system/global navigation satellite system/celestial navigation system) integrated navigation.

Mutant Transcriptome Sequencing Provides Insights into Pod Development in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

PubMed Central

Wan, Liyun; Li, Bei; Lei, Yong; Yan, Liying; Ren, Xiaoping; Chen, Yuning; Dai, Xiaofeng; Jiang, Huifang; Zhang, Juncheng; Guo, Wei; Chen, Ao; Liao, Boshou

2017-01-01

Pod size is the major yield component and a key target trait that is selected for in peanut breeding. However, although numerous quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for peanut pod size have been described, the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of this characteristic remain elusive. A peanut mutant with a narrower pod was developed in this study using ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis and designated as the “pod width” mutant line (pw). The fresh pod weight of pw was only about 40% of that seen in the wild-type (WT) Zhonghua16, while the hull and seed filling of the mutant both also developed at earlier stages. Pods from both pw and WT lines were sampled 20, 40, and 60 days after flowering (DAF) and used for RNA-Seq analysis; the results revealed highly differentially expressed lignin metabolic pathway genes at all three stages, but especially at DAF 20 and DAF 40. At the same time, expression of genes related to auxin signal transduction was found to be significantly repressed during the pw early pod developmental stage. A genome-wide comparative analysis of expression profiles revealed 260 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) across all three stages, and two candidate genes, c26901_g1 (CAD) and c37339_g1 (ACS), responsible for pod width were identified by integrating expression patterns and function annotation of the common DEGs within the three stages. Taken together, the information provided in this study illuminates the processes underlying peanut pod development, and will facilitate further identification of causal genes and the development of improved peanut varieties with higher yields. PMID:29170673

Effective World Modeling: Multisensor Data Fusion Methodology for Automated Driving

PubMed Central

Elfring, Jos; Appeldoorn, Rein; van den Dries, Sjoerd; Kwakkernaat, Maurice

2016-01-01

The number of perception sensors on automated vehicles increases due to the increasing number of advanced driver assistance system functions and their increasing complexity. Furthermore, fail-safe systems require redundancy, thereby increasing the number of sensors even further. A one-size-fits-all multisensor data fusion architecture is not realistic due to the enormous diversity in vehicles, sensors and applications. As an alternative, this work presents a methodology that can be used to effectively come up with an implementation to build a consistent model of a vehicle’s surroundings. The methodology is accompanied by a software architecture. This combination minimizes the effort required to update the multisensor data fusion system whenever sensors or applications are added or replaced. A series of real-world experiments involving different sensors and algorithms demonstrates the methodology and the software architecture. PMID:27727171

Assessing of the contributions of pod photosynthesis to carbon acquisition of seed in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

PubMed

Zhang, Wenxu; Mao, Peisheng; Li, Yuan; Wang, Mingya; Xia, Fangshan; Wang, Hui

2017-02-07

The distribution of carbon from a branch setting pod in alfalfa was investigated during the seed development of seeds to determine the relative contribution of pod and leaf photoassimilates to the total C balance and to investigate the partitioning of these photoassimilates to other plant organs. A 13 Clabeling procedure was used to label C photoassimilates of pods and leaves in alfalfa, and the Δ 13 C values of a pod, leaves, a section of stem and roots were measured during seed development on day 10, 15, 20 and 25 after labeling of the pod. The results showed that the alfalfa pod had photosynthetic capacity early in the development of seeds, and that pod photosynthesis could provide carbon to alfalfa organs including seeds, pods, leaves, stems and roots, in addition to leaf photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in the pod affected the total C balance of the alfalfa branch with the redistribution of a portion of pod assimilates to other plant organs. The assimilated 13 C of the pod was used for the growth requirements of plant seeds and pods. The requirements for assimilated C came primarily from the young pod in early seed development, with later requirements provided primarily from the leaf.

Reduced-Order Models Based on POD-Tpwl for Compositional Subsurface Flow Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durlofsky, L. J.; He, J.; Jin, L. Z.

2014-12-01

A reduced-order modeling procedure applicable for compositional subsurface flow simulation will be described and applied. The technique combines trajectory piecewise linearization (TPWL) and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to provide highly efficient surrogate models. The method is based on a molar formulation (which uses pressure and overall component mole fractions as the primary variables) and is applicable for two-phase, multicomponent systems. The POD-TPWL procedure expresses new solutions in terms of linearizations around solution states generated and saved during previously simulated 'training' runs. High-dimensional states are projected into a low-dimensional subspace using POD. Thus, at each time step, only a low-dimensional linear system needs to be solved. Results will be presented for heterogeneous three-dimensional simulation models involving CO2 injection. Both enhanced oil recovery and carbon storage applications (with horizontal CO2 injectors) will be considered. Reasonably close agreement between full-order reference solutions and compositional POD-TPWL simulations will be demonstrated for 'test' runs in which the well controls differ from those used for training. Construction of the POD-TPWL model requires preprocessing overhead computations equivalent to about 3-4 full-order runs. Runtime speedups using POD-TPWL are, however, very significant - typically O(100-1000). The use of POD-TPWL for well control optimization will also be illustrated. For this application, some amount of retraining during the course of the optimization is required, which leads to smaller, but still significant, speedup factors.

On a framework for generating PoD curves assisted by numerical simulations

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

Subair, S. Mohamed, E-mail: prajagopal@iitm.ac.in; Agrawal, Shweta, E-mail: prajagopal@iitm.ac.in; Balasubramaniam, Krishnan, E-mail: prajagopal@iitm.ac.in

2015-03-31

The Probability of Detection (PoD) curve method has emerged as an important tool for the assessment of the performance of NDE techniques, a topic of particular interest to the nuclear industry where inspection qualification is very important. The conventional experimental means of generating PoD curves though, can be expensive, requiring large data sets (covering defects and test conditions), and equipment and operator time. Several methods of achieving faster estimates for PoD curves using physics-based modelling have been developed to address this problem. Numerical modelling techniques are also attractive, especially given the ever-increasing computational power available to scientists today. Here wemore » develop procedures for obtaining PoD curves, assisted by numerical simulation and based on Bayesian statistics. Numerical simulations are performed using Finite Element analysis for factors that are assumed to be independent, random and normally distributed. PoD curves so generated are compared with experiments on austenitic stainless steel (SS) plates with artificially created notches. We examine issues affecting the PoD curve generation process including codes, standards, distribution of defect parameters and the choice of the noise threshold. We also study the assumption of normal distribution for signal response parameters and consider strategies for dealing with data that may be more complex or sparse to justify this. These topics are addressed and illustrated through the example case of generation of PoD curves for pulse-echo ultrasonic inspection of vertical surface-breaking cracks in SS plates.« less

On a framework for generating PoD curves assisted by numerical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subair, S. Mohamed; Agrawal, Shweta; Balasubramaniam, Krishnan; Rajagopal, Prabhu; Kumar, Anish; Rao, Purnachandra B.; Tamanna, Jayakumar

2015-03-01

The Probability of Detection (PoD) curve method has emerged as an important tool for the assessment of the performance of NDE techniques, a topic of particular interest to the nuclear industry where inspection qualification is very important. The conventional experimental means of generating PoD curves though, can be expensive, requiring large data sets (covering defects and test conditions), and equipment and operator time. Several methods of achieving faster estimates for PoD curves using physics-based modelling have been developed to address this problem. Numerical modelling techniques are also attractive, especially given the ever-increasing computational power available to scientists today. Here we develop procedures for obtaining PoD curves, assisted by numerical simulation and based on Bayesian statistics. Numerical simulations are performed using Finite Element analysis for factors that are assumed to be independent, random and normally distributed. PoD curves so generated are compared with experiments on austenitic stainless steel (SS) plates with artificially created notches. We examine issues affecting the PoD curve generation process including codes, standards, distribution of defect parameters and the choice of the noise threshold. We also study the assumption of normal distribution for signal response parameters and consider strategies for dealing with data that may be more complex or sparse to justify this. These topics are addressed and illustrated through the example case of generation of PoD curves for pulse-echo ultrasonic inspection of vertical surface-breaking cracks in SS plates.

Boeing 747 aircraft with large external pod for transporting outsize cargo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, J. E.; Quartero, C. B.; Smith, P. M.; Washburn, G. F.

1979-01-01

The effect on structural arrangement, system weight, and range performance of the cargo pod payload carrying capability was determined to include either the bridge launcher or a spacelab module on a Boeing 747 aircraft. Modifications to the carrier aircraft and the installation time required to attach the external pod to the 747 were minimized. Results indicate that the increase in pod size was minimal, and that the basic 747 structure was adequate to safely absorb the load induced by ground or air operation while transporting either payload.

Assessment of Closed Point-of-Dispensing (POD) Preparedness in St. Louis County, Missouri, 2012-2016.

PubMed

Rebmann, Terri; Anthony, John; Loux, Travis M; Mulroy, Julia; Sitzes, Rikki

Little is known about closed point-of-dispensing (POD) site preparedness-especially how these entities progress in their preparedness efforts over time. The purpose of this study was to assess the preparedness of a closed POD network. Between 2012 and 2016, 30% to 50% of POD entities in the St. Louis County region were assessed each year, for a total of 138 site evaluations from 62 entities. The assessment tool included 41 components of closed POD preparedness, each scored either 0 = not met or 1 = met. POD preparedness scores could range from 0 to 41. Chi-square tests were conducted to compare the percentage of entities that had each preparedness indicator. A multilevel linear model with a random intercept for each agency was used to model longitudinal changes in closed POD preparedness. POD preparedness scores were higher in 2016 than in 2012 (31.5 vs. 26.5, t = 14.3, p < .001); however, there was a negative yearly trend in preparedness, and, on average, entities met only 65.4% of the preparedness indicators. Only a third of entities reported hosting a POD exercise at least once every 2 years (32.3%, n = 20). From the multilevel regression, determinants of better POD preparedness include having been assessed more often, employing a business continuity expert, and not being a long-term care agency. Closed POD entities should continue to work toward better preparedness, to better ensure successful deployment. Findings from this study indicate that more frequent assessments likely enhance preparedness at closed POD entities.

Effect of climate variables on cocoa black pod incidence in Sabah using ARIMAX model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling Sheng Chang, Albert; Ramba, Haya; Mohd. Jaaffar, Ahmad Kamil; Kim Phin, Chong; Chong Mun, Ho

2016-06-01

Cocoa black pod disease is one of the major diseases affecting the cocoa production in Malaysia and also around the world. Studies have shown that the climate variables have influenced the cocoa black pod disease incidence and it is important to quantify the black pod disease variation due to the effect of climate variables. Application of time series analysis especially auto-regressive moving average (ARIMA) model has been widely used in economics study and can be used to quantify the effect of climate variables on black pod incidence to forecast the right time to control the incidence. However, ARIMA model does not capture some turning points in cocoa black pod incidence. In order to improve forecasting performance, other explanatory variables such as climate variables should be included into ARIMA model as ARIMAX model. Therefore, this paper is to study the effect of climate variables on the cocoa black pod disease incidence using ARIMAX model. The findings of the study showed ARIMAX model using MA(1) and relative humidity at lag 7 days, RHt - 7 gave better R square value compared to ARIMA model using MA(1) which could be used to forecast the black pod incidence to assist the farmers determine timely application of fungicide spraying and culture practices to control the black pod incidence.

Evaluation of accelerometer based multi-sensor versus single-sensor activity recognition systems.

PubMed

Gao, Lei; Bourke, A K; Nelson, John

2014-06-01

Physical activity has a positive impact on people's well-being and it had been shown to decrease the occurrence of chronic diseases in the older adult population. To date, a substantial amount of research studies exist, which focus on activity recognition using inertial sensors. Many of these studies adopt a single sensor approach and focus on proposing novel features combined with complex classifiers to improve the overall recognition accuracy. In addition, the implementation of the advanced feature extraction algorithms and the complex classifiers exceed the computing ability of most current wearable sensor platforms. This paper proposes a method to adopt multiple sensors on distributed body locations to overcome this problem. The objective of the proposed system is to achieve higher recognition accuracy with "light-weight" signal processing algorithms, which run on a distributed computing based sensor system comprised of computationally efficient nodes. For analysing and evaluating the multi-sensor system, eight subjects were recruited to perform eight normal scripted activities in different life scenarios, each repeated three times. Thus a total of 192 activities were recorded resulting in 864 separate annotated activity states. The methods for designing such a multi-sensor system required consideration of the following: signal pre-processing algorithms, sampling rate, feature selection and classifier selection. Each has been investigated and the most appropriate approach is selected to achieve a trade-off between recognition accuracy and computing execution time. A comparison of six different systems, which employ single or multiple sensors, is presented. The experimental results illustrate that the proposed multi-sensor system can achieve an overall recognition accuracy of 96.4% by adopting the mean and variance features, using the Decision Tree classifier. The results demonstrate that elaborate classifiers and feature sets are not required to achieve high

Multi-sensor analysis of urban ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gallo, Kevin P.; Ji, Lei

2004-01-01

This study examines the synthesis of multiple space-based sensors to characterize the urban environment Single scene data (e.g., ASTER visible and near-IR surface reflectance, and land surface temperature data), multi-temporal data (e.g., one year of 16-day MODIS and AVHRR vegetation index data), and DMSP-OLS nighttime light data acquired in the early 1990s and 2000 were evaluated for urban ecosystem analysis. The advantages of a multi-sensor approach for the analysis of urban ecosystem processes are discussed.

Black pod: diverse pathogens with a global impact on cocoa yield.

PubMed

Guest, David

2007-12-01

ABSTRACT Pathogens of the Straminipile genus Phytophthora cause significant disease losses to global cocoa production. P. megakarya causes significant pod rot and losses due to canker in West Africa, whereas P. capsici and P. citrophthora cause pod rots in Central and South America. The global and highly damaging P. palmivora attacks all parts of the cocoa tree at all stages of the growing cycle. This pathogen causes 20 to 30% pod losses through black pod rot, and kills up to 10% of trees annually through stem cankers. P. palmivora has a complex disease cycle involving several sources of primary inoculum and several modes of dissemination of secondary inoculum. This results in explosive epidemics during favorable environmental conditions. The spread of regional pathogens must be prevented by effective quarantine barriers. Resistance to all these Phytophthora species is typically low in commercial cocoa genotypes. Disease losses can be reduced through integrated management practices that include pruning and shade management, leaf mulching, regular and complete harvesting, sanitation and pod case disposal, appropriate fertilizer application and targeted fungicide use. Packaging these options to improve uptake by smallholders presents a major challenge for the industry.

Model-based POD study of manual ultrasound inspection and sensitivity analysis using metamodel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribay, Guillemette; Artusi, Xavier; Jenson, Frédéric; Reece, Christopher; Lhuillier, Pierre-Emile

2016-02-01

The reliability of NDE can be quantified by using the Probability of Detection (POD) approach. Former studies have shown the potential of the model-assisted POD (MAPOD) approach to replace expensive experimental determination of POD curves. In this paper, we make use of CIVA software to determine POD curves for a manual ultrasonic inspection of a heavy component, for which a whole experimental POD campaign was not available. The influential parameters were determined by expert analysis. The semi-analytical models used in CIVA for wave propagation and beam-defect interaction have been validated in the range of variation of the influential parameters by comparison with finite element modelling (Athena). The POD curves are computed for « hit/miss » and « â versus a » analysis. The verification of Berens hypothesis is evaluated by statistical tools. A sensitivity study is performed to measure the relative influence of parameters on the defect response amplitude variance, using the Sobol sensitivity index. A meta-model is also built to reduce computing cost and enhance the precision of estimated index.

Feedback stabilization of an oscillating vertical cylinder by POD Reduced-Order Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tissot, Gilles; Cordier, Laurent; Noack, Bernd R.

2015-01-01

The objective is to demonstrate the use of reduced-order models (ROM) based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to stabilize the flow over a vertically oscillating circular cylinder in the laminar regime (Reynolds number equal to 60). The 2D Navier-Stokes equations are first solved with a finite element method, in which the moving cylinder is introduced via an ALE method. Since in fluid-structure interaction, the POD algorithm cannot be applied directly, we implemented the fictitious domain method of Glowinski et al. [1] where the solid domain is treated as a fluid undergoing an additional constraint. The POD-ROM is classically obtained by projecting the Navier-Stokes equations onto the first POD modes. At this level, the cylinder displacement is enforced in the POD-ROM through the introduction of Lagrange multipliers. For determining the optimal vertical velocity of the cylinder, a linear quadratic regulator framework is employed. After linearization of the POD-ROM around the steady flow state, the optimal linear feedback gain is obtained as solution of a generalized algebraic Riccati equation. Finally, when the optimal feedback control is applied, it is shown that the flow converges rapidly to the steady state. In addition, a vanishing control is obtained proving the efficiency of the control approach.

Seed abortion in wind-dispersed pods of Dalbergia sissoo: maternal regulation or sibling rivalry?

PubMed

Ganeshaiah, K N; Shaanker, R Uma

1988-10-01

Dalbergia sissoo, a wind-dispersed tropical tree, shows a positively skewed distribution of seeds per pod. This is attributed to the enhanced dispersal advantage of few-seeded pods due to their reduced wing loading (ratio of weight to pod surface area) and low settling velocity. The proximate mechanisms causing the positively skewed distribution were investigated. The distribution could not be attributed to the distribution pattern of ovule number per ovary, pollen grain limitation, lack of ovule fertilization, or post-fertilization elimination of many-seeded pods. Rather, it was caused by the post-fertilization abortion of seeds within a pod 2 weeks after fertilization. This intra-pod seed abortion (IPSA) is due to a dominance hierarchy of fertilized ovules from the distal (near stigma) to the basal end, generated by the temporal differences in fertilization. The dominant developing seeds at the distal end cause the abortion of others through the production and diffusion of an aborting agent. When the dominance hierarchy of the siblings is not intense, pods are formed with more than one seed. We argue that the positively skewed distribution of seeds per pod is not due to maternal regulation but is a result of sibling rivalry. We propose that this sibling rivalry is generated by genetic differences in pollen grain fitness and disucss the results in the context of parent-offspring conflict.

POD evaluation using simulation: A phased array UT case on a complex geometry part

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dominguez, Nicolas; Reverdy, Frederic; Jenson, Frederic

2014-02-01

The use of Probability of Detection (POD) for NDT performances demonstration is a key link in products lifecycle management. The POD approach is to apply the given NDT procedure on a series of known flaws to estimate the probability to detect with respect to the flaw size. A POD is relevant if and only if NDT operations are carried out within the range of variability authorized by the procedure. Such experimental campaigns require collection of large enough datasets to cover the range of variability with sufficient occurrences to build a reliable POD statistics, leading to expensive costs to get POD curves. In the last decade research activities have been led in the USA with the MAPOD group and later in Europe with the SISTAE and PICASSO projects based on the idea to use models and simulation tools to feed POD estimations. This paper proposes an example of application of POD using simulation on the inspection procedure of a complex -full 3D- geometry part using phased arrays ultrasonic testing. It illustrates the methodology and the associated tools developed in the CIVA software. The paper finally provides elements of further progress in the domain.

MATSurv: multisensor air traffic surveillance system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeddanapudi, Murali; Bar-Shalom, Yaakov; Pattipati, Krishna R.; Gassner, Richard R.

1995-09-01

This paper deals with the design and implementation of MATSurv 1--an experimental Multisensor Air Traffic Surveillance system. The proposed system consists of a Kalman filter based state estimator used in conjunction with a 2D sliding window assignment algorithm. Real data from two FAA radars is used to evaluate the performance of this algorithm. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm provides a superior classification of the measurements into tracks (i.e., the most likely aircraft trajectories) when compared to the aircraft trajectories obtained using the measurement IDs (squawk or IFF code).

iPod touch-assisted instrumentation of the spine: a technical report.

PubMed

Jost, Gregory F; Bisson, Erica F; Schmidt, Meic H

2013-12-01

Instrumentation of the spine depends on choosing the correct insertion angles to implant screws. Although modern image guidance facilitates precise instrumentation of the spine, the equipment is costly and availability is limited. Although most surgeons use lateral fluoroscopy to guide instrumentation in the sagittal plane, the lateromedial angulation is often chosen by estimation. To overcome the associated uncertainty, iPod touch-based applications for measuring angles can be used to assist with screw implantation. To evaluate the use of the iPod touch to adjust instruments to the optimal axial insertion angle for placement of pedicle screws in the lumbar spine. Twenty lumbar pedicle screws in 5 consecutive patients were implanted using the iPod touch. The lateromedial angulation was measured on preoperative images and reproduced in the operative field with the iPod touch. The instruments to implant the screws were aligned with the side of the iPod for screw insertion. Actual screw angles were remeasured on postoperative imaging. We collected demographic, clinical, and operative data for each patient. In 16 of 20 screws, the accuracy of implantation was within 3 degrees of the ideal trajectory. The 4 screws with an angle mismatch of 7 to 13 degrees were all implanted at the caudal end of the exposure, where maintaining the planned angulation was impeded by strong muscles pushing medially. iPod touch-assisted instrumentation of the spine is a very simple technique, which, in combination with a lateral fluoroscopy, may guide placement of pedicle screws in the lumbar spine.

Improved resistivity imaging of groundwater solute plumes using POD-based inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oware, E. K.; Moysey, S. M.; Khan, T.

2012-12-01

We propose a new approach for enforcing physics-based regularization in electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) problems. The approach utilizes a basis-constrained inversion where an optimal set of basis vectors is extracted from training data by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). The key aspect of the approach is that Monte Carlo simulation of flow and transport is used to generate a training dataset, thereby intrinsically capturing the physics of the underlying flow and transport models in a non-parametric form. POD allows for these training data to be projected onto a subspace of the original domain, resulting in the extraction of a basis for the inversion that captures characteristics of the groundwater flow and transport system, while simultaneously allowing for dimensionality reduction of the original problem in the projected space We use two different synthetic transport scenarios in heterogeneous media to illustrate how the POD-based inversion compares with standard Tikhonov and coupled inversion. The first scenario had a single source zone leading to a unimodal solute plume (synthetic #1), whereas, the second scenario had two source zones that produced a bimodal plume (synthetic #2). For both coupled inversion and the POD approach, the conceptual flow and transport model used considered only a single source zone for both scenarios. Results were compared based on multiple metrics (concentration root-mean square error (RMSE), peak concentration, and total solute mass). In addition, results for POD inversion based on 3 different data densities (120, 300, and 560 data points) and varying number of selected basis images (100, 300, and 500) were compared. For synthetic #1, we found that all three methods provided qualitatively reasonable reproduction of the true plume. Quantitatively, the POD inversion performed best overall for each metric considered. Moreover, since synthetic #1 was consistent with the conceptual transport model, a small number of basis

Limited Scope Design Study for Multi-Sensor Towbody

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

FINAL REPORT Limited Scope Design Study for Multi-Sensor Towbody SERDP Project MR-2501 JUNE 2016 Dr. Kevin Williams Tim McGinnis...prepared under contract to the Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). The publication of this...Left Blank REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 The public

Copernicus POD Service: Orbit Determination of the Sentinel Satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, Heike; Fernández, Jaime; Ayuga, Francisco; Féménias, Pierre

2016-04-01

The Copernicus POD (Precise Orbit Determination) Service is part of the Copernicus Processing Data Ground Segment (PDGS) of the Sentinel-1, -2 and -3 missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS. Sentinel-1A was launched in April 2014 while Sentinel-2A was on June 2015 and both are routinely operated since then. Sentinel-3A is expected to be launched in February 2016 and Sentinel-1B is planned for spring 2016. Thus the CPOD Service will be operating three to four satellites simultaneously in spring 2016. The satellites of the Sentinel-1, -2, and -3 missions are all equipped with dual frequency high precision GPS receivers delivering the main observables for POD. Sentinel-3 satellites will additionally be equipped with a laser retro reflector for Satellite Laser Ranging and a receiver for DORIS tracking. All three types of observables (GPS, SLR and DORIS) will be used routinely for POD. The POD core of the CPOD Service is NAPEOS (Navigation Package for Earth Orbiting Satellites) the leading ESA/ESOC software for precise orbit determination. The careful selection of models and inputs is important to achieve the different but very demanding requirements in terms of orbital accuracy and timeliness for the Sentinel -1, -2 & -3 missions. The three missions require orbital products with various latencies from 30 minutes up to 20-30 days. The accuracy requirements are also different and partly very challenging, targeting 5 cm in 3D for Sentinel-1 and 2-3 cm in radial direction for Sentinel-3. Although the characteristics and the requirements are different for the three missions the same core POD setup is used to the largest extent possible. This strategy facilitates maintenance of the complex system of the CPOD Service. Updates in the dynamical modelling of the satellite orbits, e

Simulation assisted pod of a phased array ultrasonic inspection in manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dominguez, N.; Feuillard, V.; Jenson, F.; Willaume, P.

2012-05-01

The concept of Probability of Detection (POD) is generally used to quantitatively assess performances and reliability of NDT operations for in-service operations related to damage tolerant designs. Application of the POD approach as a metric for manufacturing NDT assessment would also be relevant but the very expensive cost of such campaigns generally prevents us from doing so. However the increase in NDT simulation capability and maturity opens the field for POD demonstrations for manufacturing NDT with the help of simulation. This paper presents the example of an automated phased array ultrasonic testing procedure of Electron Beam Welding on rotative parts, as part of the PICASSO European project. POD is calculated by using the uncertainty propagation approach in CIVA. The peculiarity of uncertainties in automated NDT compared to in-service manual operations is discussed and raises questions on appropriate statistics to be used for this kind of data. Alternative estimation techniques like Box-Cox transform or quantile regression are proposed and evaluated.

FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC POD Data Processing and Initial Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, C.

2006-12-01

The six satellites of the collaborative Taiwan-U.S. FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) space program were successfully launched from Vandenberg, U.S.A. on April 15, 2006. As of September 7, 2006, one satellite (FM5) has already been transferred to the 800-km final orbit, while the other five satellites (FM1-4 and FM6) are currently waiting in the ~520-km parking orbit for subsequent orbit raising deployment. There are two GPS antennas with different orientation onboard each satellite whose measurements are used specifically for precise orbit determination (POD). The received GPS signals by the POD antennas were rather sparse and unstable in the initial 5 weeks. Since then, the available GPS measurements have gradually increased from 10-20% in the early stage to almost 90% in 11 weeks after the launch. For the two POD antennas (POD+X and POD-X), one antenna can perform normally and record observations from up to 9 GPS satellites in view; however, the other antenna is programmed to track up to 4 GPS satellites due to onboard memory limitation. For this reason, we first performed orbit computation using zero-difference GPS phases collected by the normal antenna. For each day's orbit computation, we designed a 6-hr (25%) overlap for inner orbital accuracy assessment, and overlap analysis shows that the achievable 3D RMS was around 19 cm, or 11 cm per axis. In a separate effort, orbit computation based on the lesser antenna was also performed. The orbital difference between the results obtained from the two antennas was significant, with a 3D RMS value of 64 cm. The early results indicate that more work is needed in order to incorporate GPS data from both antennas into a unified solution.

Advances in Multi-Sensor Information Fusion: Theory and Applications 2017.

PubMed

Jin, Xue-Bo; Sun, Shuli; Wei, Hong; Yang, Feng-Bao

2018-04-11

The information fusion technique can integrate a large amount of data and knowledge representing the same real-world object and obtain a consistent, accurate, and useful representation of that object. The data may be independent or redundant, and can be obtained by different sensors at the same time or at different times. A suitable combination of investigative methods can substantially increase the profit of information in comparison with that from a single sensor. Multi-sensor information fusion has been a key issue in sensor research since the 1970s, and it has been applied in many fields. For example, manufacturing and process control industries can generate a lot of data, which have real, actionable business value. The fusion of these data can greatly improve productivity through digitization. The goal of this special issue is to report innovative ideas and solutions for multi-sensor information fusion in the emerging applications era, focusing on development, adoption, and applications.

A Vision for an International Multi-Sensor Snow Observing Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Edward

2015-01-01

Discussions within the international snow remote sensing community over the past two years have led to encouraging consensus regarding the broad outlines of a dedicated snow observing mission. The primary consensus - that since no single sensor type is satisfactory across all snow types and across all confounding factors, a multi-sensor approach is required - naturally leads to questions about the exact mix of sensors, required accuracies, and so on. In short, the natural next step is to collect such multi-sensor snow observations (with detailed ground truth) to enable trade studies of various possible mission concepts. Such trade studies must assess the strengths and limitations of heritage as well as newer measurement techniques with an eye toward natural sensitivity to desired parameters such as snow depth and/or snow water equivalent (SWE) in spite of confounding factors like clouds, lack of solar illumination, forest cover, and topography, measurement accuracy, temporal and spatial coverage, technological maturity, and cost.

Phytophthora megakarya and P. palmivora, Causal Agents of Black Pod Rot, Induce Similar Plant Defense Responses Late during Infection of Susceptible Cacao Pods

PubMed Central

Ali, Shahin S.; Shao, Jonathan; Lary, David J.; Strem, Mary D.; Meinhardt, Lyndel W.; Bailey, Bryan A.

2017-01-01

Phytophthora megakarya (Pmeg) and Phytophthora palmivora (Ppal) cause black pod rot of Theobroma cacao L. (cacao). Of these two clade 4 species, Pmeg is more virulent and is displacing Ppal in many cacao production areas in Africa. Symptoms and species specific sporangia production were compared when the two species were co-inoculated onto pod pieces in staggered 24 h time intervals. Pmeg sporangia were predominantly recovered from pod pieces with unwounded surfaces even when inoculated 24 h after Ppal. On wounded surfaces, sporangia of Ppal were predominantly recovered if the two species were simultaneously applied or Ppal was applied first but not if Pmeg was applied first. Pmeg demonstrated an advantage over Ppal when infecting un-wounded surfaces while Ppal had the advantage when infecting wounded surfaces. RNA-Seq was carried out on RNA isolated from control and Pmeg and Ppal infected pod pieces 3 days post inoculation to assess their abilities to alter/suppress cacao defense. Expression of 4,482 and 5,264 cacao genes was altered after Pmeg and Ppal infection, respectively, with most genes responding to both species. Neural network self-organizing map analyses separated the cacao RNA-Seq gene expression profiles into 24 classes, 6 of which were largely induced in response to infection. Using KEGG analysis, subsets of genes composing interrelated pathways leading to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, ethylene and jasmonic acid biosynthesis and action, plant defense signal transduction, and endocytosis showed induction in response to infection. A large subset of genes encoding putative Pr-proteins also showed differential expression in response to infection. A subset of 36 cacao genes was used to validate the RNA-Seq expression data and compare infection induced gene expression patterns in leaves and wounded and unwounded pod husks. Expression patterns between RNA-Seq and RT-qPCR were generally reproducible. The level and timing of altered gene expression was

Comparing and improving proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to reduce the complexity of groundwater models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosses, Moritz; Nowak, Wolfgang; Wöhling, Thomas

2017-04-01

Physically-based modeling is a wide-spread tool in understanding and management of natural systems. With the high complexity of many such models and the huge amount of model runs necessary for parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis, overall run times can be prohibitively long even on modern computer systems. An encouraging strategy to tackle this problem are model reduction methods. In this contribution, we compare different proper orthogonal decomposition (POD, Siade et al. (2010)) methods and their potential applications to groundwater models. The POD method performs a singular value decomposition on system states as simulated by the complex (e.g., PDE-based) groundwater model taken at several time-steps, so-called snapshots. The singular vectors with the highest information content resulting from this decomposition are then used as a basis for projection of the system of model equations onto a subspace of much lower dimensionality than the original complex model, thereby greatly reducing complexity and accelerating run times. In its original form, this method is only applicable to linear problems. Many real-world groundwater models are non-linear, tough. These non-linearities are introduced either through model structure (unconfined aquifers) or boundary conditions (certain Cauchy boundaries, like rivers with variable connection to the groundwater table). To date, applications of POD focused on groundwater models simulating pumping tests in confined aquifers with constant head boundaries. In contrast, POD model reduction either greatly looses accuracy or does not significantly reduce model run time if the above-mentioned non-linearities are introduced. We have also found that variable Dirichlet boundaries are problematic for POD model reduction. An extension to the POD method, called POD-DEIM, has been developed for non-linear groundwater models by Stanko et al. (2016). This method uses spatial interpolation points to build the equation system in the

FaPOD27 functions in the metabolism of polyphenols in strawberry fruit (Fragaria sp.)

PubMed Central

Yeh, Su-Ying; Huang, Fong-Chin; Hoffmann, Thomas; Mayershofer, Mechthild; Schwab, Wilfried

2014-01-01

The strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is one of the most preferred fresh fruit worldwide, accumulates numerous flavonoids but has limited shelf life due to excessive tissue softening caused by cell wall degradation. Since lignin is one of the polymers that strengthen plant cell walls and might contribute to some extent to fruit firmness monolignol biosynthesis was studied in strawberry fruit. Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), and a peroxidase (POD27) gene were strongly expressed in red, ripe fruit whereas a second POD gene was primarily expressed in green, immature fruit. Moreover, FaPOD27 transcripts were strongly and constitutively induced in fruits exposed to Agrobacterium infection. Gene expression levels and enzymatic activities of FaCCR and FaCAD were efficiently suppressed through RNAi in FaCCR- and FaCAD-silenced strawberries. Besides, significantly elevated FaPOD transcript levels were detected after agroinfiltration of pBI-FaPOD constructs in fruits. At the same time, levels of G-monomers were considerably reduced in FaCCR-silenced fruits whereas the proportion of both G- and S-monomers decisively decreased in FaCAD-silenced and pBI-FaPOD fruits. Development, firmness, and lignin level of the treated fruits were similar to pBI-intron control fruits, presumably attributed to increased expression levels of FaPOD27 upon agroinfiltration. Additionally, enhanced firmness, accompanied with elevated lignin levels, was revealed in chalcone synthase-deficient fruits (CHS−), independent of down- or up-regulation of individual and combined FaCCR. FaCAD, and FaPOD genes by agroinfiltration, when compared to CHS−/pBI-intron control fruits. These approaches provide further insight into the genetic control of flavonoid and lignin synthesis in strawberries. The results suggest that FaPOD27 is a key gene for lignin biosynthesis in strawberry fruit and thus to improving the firmness of strawberries. PMID:25346738

Explicit treatment for Dirichlet, Neumann and Cauchy boundary conditions in POD-based reduction of groundwater models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gosses, Moritz; Nowak, Wolfgang; Wöhling, Thomas

2018-05-01

In recent years, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) has become a popular model reduction method in the field of groundwater modeling. It is used to mitigate the problem of long run times that are often associated with physically-based modeling of natural systems, especially for parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis. POD-based techniques reproduce groundwater head fields sufficiently accurate for a variety of applications. However, no study has investigated how POD techniques affect the accuracy of different boundary conditions found in groundwater models. We show that the current treatment of boundary conditions in POD causes inaccuracies for these boundaries in the reduced models. We provide an improved method that splits the POD projection space into a subspace orthogonal to the boundary conditions and a separate subspace that enforces the boundary conditions. To test the method for Dirichlet, Neumann and Cauchy boundary conditions, four simple transient 1D-groundwater models, as well as a more complex 3D model, are set up and reduced both by standard POD and POD with the new extension. We show that, in contrast to standard POD, the new method satisfies both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. It can also be applied to Cauchy boundaries, where the flux error of standard POD is reduced by its head-independent contribution. The extension essentially shifts the focus of the projection towards the boundary conditions. Therefore, we see a slight trade-off between errors at model boundaries and overall accuracy of the reduced model. The proposed POD extension is recommended where exact treatment of boundary conditions is required.

An enhanced data visualization method for diesel engine malfunction classification using multi-sensor signals.

PubMed

Li, Yiqing; Wang, Yu; Zi, Yanyang; Zhang, Mingquan

2015-10-21

The various multi-sensor signal features from a diesel engine constitute a complex high-dimensional dataset. The non-linear dimensionality reduction method, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), provides an effective way to implement data visualization for complex high-dimensional data. However, irrelevant features can deteriorate the performance of data visualization, and thus, should be eliminated a priori. This paper proposes a feature subset score based t-SNE (FSS-t-SNE) data visualization method to deal with the high-dimensional data that are collected from multi-sensor signals. In this method, the optimal feature subset is constructed by a feature subset score criterion. Then the high-dimensional data are visualized in 2-dimension space. According to the UCI dataset test, FSS-t-SNE can effectively improve the classification accuracy. An experiment was performed with a large power marine diesel engine to validate the proposed method for diesel engine malfunction classification. Multi-sensor signals were collected by a cylinder vibration sensor and a cylinder pressure sensor. Compared with other conventional data visualization methods, the proposed method shows good visualization performance and high classification accuracy in multi-malfunction classification of a diesel engine.

An Enhanced Data Visualization Method for Diesel Engine Malfunction Classification Using Multi-Sensor Signals

PubMed Central

Li, Yiqing; Wang, Yu; Zi, Yanyang; Zhang, Mingquan

2015-01-01

The various multi-sensor signal features from a diesel engine constitute a complex high-dimensional dataset. The non-linear dimensionality reduction method, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), provides an effective way to implement data visualization for complex high-dimensional data. However, irrelevant features can deteriorate the performance of data visualization, and thus, should be eliminated a priori. This paper proposes a feature subset score based t-SNE (FSS-t-SNE) data visualization method to deal with the high-dimensional data that are collected from multi-sensor signals. In this method, the optimal feature subset is constructed by a feature subset score criterion. Then the high-dimensional data are visualized in 2-dimension space. According to the UCI dataset test, FSS-t-SNE can effectively improve the classification accuracy. An experiment was performed with a large power marine diesel engine to validate the proposed method for diesel engine malfunction classification. Multi-sensor signals were collected by a cylinder vibration sensor and a cylinder pressure sensor. Compared with other conventional data visualization methods, the proposed method shows good visualization performance and high classification accuracy in multi-malfunction classification of a diesel engine. PMID:26506347

Improving quality and digestibility of cocoa pod with white rot fungi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustabi, J.; Wedawati; Armayanti, A. K.

2018-05-01

White rot fungi is a type of fungus that is able to degrade lignin in the feed material from waste, so it can be used to increase the added value of cocoa pod as alternative feed ingredients to meet the nutritional needs of cattle. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of white rot fungi in improving the quality and digestibility cocoa pod as feed. The study consisted of two phases, namely fermentation using three isolates of white rot fungi (Coprinus comatus, Corilopsis polyzona and Lentinus torulosus) on pod husks and quality testing in vitro digestibility of fermented. Results of analysis of variance show that the treatment was highly significant on the content of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose pod husks. Fermented cocoa husks with white rot fungi can degrade lignin content of 1.42% - 12.28% and highly significant improved on in vitro digestibility of dry matter and organic matter. The conclusion, isolates of white rot fungi most active in degrading lignin was Lentinus torulosus isolates and less ability to degrade cellulose and hemicellulose.

A Passive Wireless Multi-Sensor SAW Technology Device and System Perspectives

PubMed Central

Malocha, Donald C.; Gallagher, Mark; Fisher, Brian; Humphries, James; Gallagher, Daniel; Kozlovski, Nikolai

2013-01-01

This paper will discuss a SAW passive, wireless multi-sensor system under development by our group for the past several years. The device focus is on orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW sensors, which use both frequency diversity and pulse position reflectors to encode the device ID and will be briefly contrasted to other embodiments. A synchronous correlator transceiver is used for the hardware and post processing and correlation techniques of the received signal to extract the sensor information will be presented. Critical device and system parameters addressed include encoding, operational range, SAW device parameters, post-processing, and antenna-SAW device integration. A fully developed 915 MHz OFC SAW multi-sensor system is used to show experimental results. The system is based on a software radio approach that provides great flexibility for future enhancements and diverse sensor applications. Several different sensor types using the OFC SAW platform are shown. PMID:23666124

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications.

PubMed

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-11-04

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA-0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C-1.79 mV/°C in the range 20-300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(V excit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min) -0.1 in the tested range of 0-4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries.

Fourth Airborne Geoscience Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The focus of the workshop was on how the airborne community can assist in achieving the goals of the Global Change Research Program. The many activities that employ airborne platforms and sensors were discussed: platforms and instrument development; airborne oceanography; lidar research; SAR measurements; Doppler radar; laser measurements; cloud physics; airborne experiments; airborne microwave measurements; and airborne data collection.

The mitogenome of the brown pod-sucking bug Clavigralla tomentosicollis (Hemiptera: Coreidae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Brown pod-sucking bug, Clavigralla tomentosicollis Stäl (Hemiptera: Coreidae), causes significant damage to cultivated cowpea, Vigna unguiculata Walp, a staple crop in sub-Saharan Africa. C. tomentosicollis pierce and suck sap from cowpea pods, resulting in reduced grain yield and quality. The compl...

Effects of light quality on pod elongation in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.).

PubMed

Tanaka, Seiya; Ario, Nobuyuki; Nakagawa, Andressa Camila Seiko; Tomita, Yuki; Murayama, Naoki; Taniguchi, Takatoshi; Hamaoka, Norimitsu; Iwaya-Inoue, Mari; Ishibashi, Yushi

2017-06-03

Soybean pods are located at the nodes, where they are in the shadow, whereas cowpea pods are located outside of the leaves and are exposed to sunlight. To compare the effects of light quality on pod growth in soybean and cowpea, we measured the length of pods treated with white, blue, red or far-red light. In both species, pods elongated faster during the dark period than during the light period in all light treatments except red light treatment in cowpea. Red light significantly suppressed pod elongation in soybean during the dark and light periods. On the other hand, the elongation of cowpea pods treated with red light markedly promoted during the light period. These results suggested that the difference in the pod set sites between soybean and cowpea might account for the difference in their red light responses for pod growth.

Replacement of Atlantis', OV-104's, right orbital maneuvering system pod

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

Atlantis', Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104's, right orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod (RP01) is placed in a checkout cell at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC's) Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF). Technicians steady OMS mounted on ground handling cart as third technician, standing on ladder, secures support frame. At the HMF, a group of specially-equipped buildings in the KSC Industrial Area, the OMS pods are undergoing extensive processing, including removal of certain components that will undergo modification at vendor facilities prior to the Shuttle's return to flight. The OMS pods are bolted to the aft fuselage of the orbiter and contain the engines and thrusters used to maneuver the spaceship in orbit. View provided by KSC with alternate number KSC-87PC-93.

14 CFR 25.1182 - Nacelle areas behind firewalls, and engine pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid lines. 25.1182 Section 25.1182 Aeronautics and..., and engine pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid lines. (a) Each nacelle area immediately behind the firewall, and each portion of any engine pod attaching structure containing flammable...

14 CFR 25.1182 - Nacelle areas behind firewalls, and engine pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid lines. 25.1182 Section 25.1182 Aeronautics and..., and engine pod attaching structures containing flammable fluid lines. (a) Each nacelle area immediately behind the firewall, and each portion of any engine pod attaching structure containing flammable...

A Novel Multi-Sensor Environmental Perception Method Using Low-Rank Representation and a Particle Filter for Vehicle Reversing Safety

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zutao; Li, Yanjun; Wang, Fubing; Meng, Guanjun; Salman, Waleed; Saleem, Layth; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Wang, Chunbai; Hu, Guangdi; Liu, Yugang

2016-01-01

Environmental perception and information processing are two key steps of active safety for vehicle reversing. Single-sensor environmental perception cannot meet the need for vehicle reversing safety due to its low reliability. In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. The proposed system consists of four main steps, namely multi-sensor environmental perception, information fusion, target recognition and tracking using low-rank representation and a particle filter, and vehicle reversing speed control modules. First of all, the multi-sensor environmental perception module, based on a binocular-camera system and ultrasonic range finders, obtains the distance data for obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing. Secondly, the information fusion algorithm using an adaptive Kalman filter is used to process the data obtained with the multi-sensor environmental perception module, which greatly improves the robustness of the sensors. Then the framework of a particle filter and low-rank representation is used to track the main obstacles. The low-rank representation is used to optimize an objective particle template that has the smallest L-1 norm. Finally, the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking is under control of the proposed vehicle reversing control strategy prior to any potential collisions, making the reversing control safer and more reliable. The final system simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. PMID:27294931

A Novel Multi-Sensor Environmental Perception Method Using Low-Rank Representation and a Particle Filter for Vehicle Reversing Safety.

PubMed

Zhang, Zutao; Li, Yanjun; Wang, Fubing; Meng, Guanjun; Salman, Waleed; Saleem, Layth; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Wang, Chunbai; Hu, Guangdi; Liu, Yugang

2016-06-09

Environmental perception and information processing are two key steps of active safety for vehicle reversing. Single-sensor environmental perception cannot meet the need for vehicle reversing safety due to its low reliability. In this paper, we present a novel multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety. The proposed system consists of four main steps, namely multi-sensor environmental perception, information fusion, target recognition and tracking using low-rank representation and a particle filter, and vehicle reversing speed control modules. First of all, the multi-sensor environmental perception module, based on a binocular-camera system and ultrasonic range finders, obtains the distance data for obstacles behind the vehicle when the vehicle is reversing. Secondly, the information fusion algorithm using an adaptive Kalman filter is used to process the data obtained with the multi-sensor environmental perception module, which greatly improves the robustness of the sensors. Then the framework of a particle filter and low-rank representation is used to track the main obstacles. The low-rank representation is used to optimize an objective particle template that has the smallest L-1 norm. Finally, the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking is under control of the proposed vehicle reversing control strategy prior to any potential collisions, making the reversing control safer and more reliable. The final system simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the validity of the proposed multi-sensor environmental perception method using low-rank representation and a particle filter for vehicle reversing safety.

Effect of urea treatment of cocoa pod on rumen fermentation characteristics in vitro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anggraeni, A. S.; Herdian, H.; Sakti, A. A.; Sofyan, A.; Ekaningrum, M.

2017-12-01

Indonesia is a third largest country in the world for cocoa production. A cocoa pod could be utilized as alternative feeds due to their sufficient quantity and availability throughout the year. On the other hand, low nutritional quality such as highly fibrous materials and low protein content usually characterized in agricultural and plantation by-products as it appears on cocoa pod. Ammoniation treatment using urea improve the nutritional quality of feedstuff. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ammoniation treatments on a cocoa pod on in vitro feed fermentation and gas production on ruminal fluid. KA treatment gave highest gas production than other treatment. Total gas production during 48 hours of the cocoa pod was significantly affected by treatments (P<0.05). Total volatile acid (VFA), acetate (C2), propionate (C3), butyrate (C4) total VFA and A/P ratio indicated no significant difference among treatments. KA and KD treatments have tendency effect on IVDMD than control (KS) treatment. In this study ammoniation treatment using 5% of urea had a positive and effect on the best degradability and ruminal fermentation of cocoa pod.

Contribution of pod borer pests to soybean crop production (case in Pondidaha, Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahayu, M.; Bande, LOS; Hasan, A.; Yuswana, A.; Rinambo, F.

2018-02-01

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is one of the most important crops which production continues to be improved in all areas of soybean cultivation centers in an effort to maintain the availability of soybean foods, including Southeast Sulawesi. The purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of pod borer pests to soybean crop production. Methods of direct observation were made on observed variables, including species and population of pest pod borer, intensity, and crop production. The result that found four types of pod borer pests are Nezara viridula, Riptortus linearis, Etiella zinckenella, and Leptocorisa acuta, each with a different population and contribution to the intensity of pod damage. The result of path analysis showed that directly population of N. viridula (61.14) and E. zinckenella (66.44) gave positive contribution in increasing pod damage, by 0.332 and 0.502 respectively, while the negative contribution was shown by population of R. linearis and L. acuta. Damage of the pod causes increased production of low soybean is only about 0.202, therefore required appropriate control techniques to control pod borer pests populations in soybean crops.

Size variation of Acacia caven (leguminosae) pods along a climatic gradient in Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutiérrez, J. R.; Armesto, J. J.

1981-06-01

A southward tendency of increment in pod-length is shown for 11 populations of Acacia caven (Mol.) Hook et Arn. localized along a climatic gradient of increasing annual rainfall in Chile. This fact would suggest that A. caven populations occurring in the south are in better conditions for reproduction than northern populations, since pod-length is related to the amount of seeds inside the pods. The possible bearing of this southward tendency of increasing seed production upon the expansion of A. caven toward the more humid zones in southern Chile is discussed.

A POD reduced order model for resolving angular direction in neutron/photon transport problems

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

Buchan, A.G., E-mail: andrew.buchan@imperial.ac.uk; Calloo, A.A.; Goffin, M.G.

2015-09-01

This article presents the first Reduced Order Model (ROM) that efficiently resolves the angular dimension of the time independent, mono-energetic Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE). It is based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and uses the method of snapshots to form optimal basis functions for resolving the direction of particle travel in neutron/photon transport problems. A unique element of this work is that the snapshots are formed from the vector of angular coefficients relating to a high resolution expansion of the BTE's angular dimension. In addition, the individual snapshots are not recorded through time, as in standard POD, but instead theymore » are recorded through space. In essence this work swaps the roles of the dimensions space and time in standard POD methods, with angle and space respectively. It is shown here how the POD model can be formed from the POD basis functions in a highly efficient manner. The model is then applied to two radiation problems; one involving the transport of radiation through a shield and the other through an infinite array of pins. Both problems are selected for their complex angular flux solutions in order to provide an appropriate demonstration of the model's capabilities. It is shown that the POD model can resolve these fluxes efficiently and accurately. In comparison to high resolution models this POD model can reduce the size of a problem by up to two orders of magnitude without compromising accuracy. Solving times are also reduced by similar factors.« less

Multisensor System for Isotemporal Measurements to Assess Indoor Climatic Conditions in Poultry Farms

PubMed Central

Bustamante, Eliseo; Guijarro, Enrique; García-Diego, Fernando-Juan; Balasch, Sebastián; Hospitaler, Antonio; Torres, Antonio G.

2012-01-01

The rearing of poultry for meat production (broilers) is an agricultural food industry with high relevance to the economy and development of some countries. Periodic episodes of extreme climatic conditions during the summer season can cause high mortality among birds, resulting in economic losses. In this context, ventilation systems within poultry houses play a critical role to ensure appropriate indoor climatic conditions. The objective of this study was to develop a multisensor system to evaluate the design of the ventilation system in broiler houses. A measurement system equipped with three types of sensors: air velocity, temperature and differential pressure was designed and built. The system consisted in a laptop, a data acquisition card, a multiplexor module and a set of 24 air temperature, 24 air velocity and two differential pressure sensors. The system was able to acquire up to a maximum of 128 signals simultaneously at 5 second intervals. The multisensor system was calibrated under laboratory conditions and it was then tested in field tests. Field tests were conducted in a commercial broiler farm under four different pressure and ventilation scenarios in two sections within the building. The calibration curves obtained under laboratory conditions showed similar regression coefficients among temperature, air velocity and pressure sensors and a high goodness fit (R2 = 0.99) with the reference. Under field test conditions, the multisensor system showed a high number of input signals from different locations with minimum internal delay in acquiring signals. The variation among air velocity sensors was not significant. The developed multisensor system was able to integrate calibrated sensors of temperature, air velocity and differential pressure and operated succesfully under different conditions in a mechanically-ventilated broiler farm. This system can be used to obtain quasi-instantaneous fields of the air velocity and temperature, as well as differential

Teaching Adults with Moderate Intellectual Disability ATM Use via the "iPod"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Renee; Collins, Belva; Knight, Victoria; Kleinert, Harold

2013-01-01

Money management can increase independence and access to communities for individuals with disabilities. Although research on computer-based instruction for teaching banking skills to students with intellectual disability is established, the use of portable electronic devices (e.g., iPod) has not been evaluated. iPods may be an effective, portable,…

Multisensor multiresolution data fusion for improvement in classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubeena, V.; Tiwari, K. C.

2016-04-01

The rapid advancements in technology have facilitated easy availability of multisensor and multiresolution remote sensing data. Multisensor, multiresolution data contain complementary information and fusion of such data may result in application dependent significant information which may otherwise remain trapped within. The present work aims at improving classification by fusing features of coarse resolution hyperspectral (1 m) LWIR and fine resolution (20 cm) RGB data. The classification map comprises of eight classes. The class names are Road, Trees, Red Roof, Grey Roof, Concrete Roof, Vegetation, bare Soil and Unclassified. The processing methodology for hyperspectral LWIR data comprises of dimensionality reduction, resampling of data by interpolation technique for registering the two images at same spatial resolution, extraction of the spatial features to improve classification accuracy. In the case of fine resolution RGB data, the vegetation index is computed for classifying the vegetation class and the morphological building index is calculated for buildings. In order to extract the textural features, occurrence and co-occurence statistics is considered and the features will be extracted from all the three bands of RGB data. After extracting the features, Support Vector Machine (SVMs) has been used for training and classification. To increase the classification accuracy, post processing steps like removal of any spurious noise such as salt and pepper noise is done which is followed by filtering process by majority voting within the objects for better object classification.

Hypothesis Testing Using Spatially Dependent Heavy Tailed Multisensor Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

Office of Research 113 Bowne Hall Syracuse, NY 13244 -1200 ABSTRACT HYPOTHESIS TESTING USING SPATIALLY DEPENDENT HEAVY-TAILED MULTISENSOR DATA Report...consistent with the null hypothesis of linearity and can be used to estimate the distribution of a test statistic that can discrimi- nate between the null... Test for nonlinearity. Histogram is generated using the surrogate data. The statistic of the original time series is represented by the solid line

Molecular Diversity Analysis and Genetic Mapping of Pod Shatter Resistance Loci in Brassica carinata L.

PubMed Central

Raman, Rosy; Qiu, Yu; Coombes, Neil; Song, Jie; Kilian, Andrzej; Raman, Harsh

2017-01-01

Seed lost due to easy pod dehiscence at maturity (pod shatter) is a major problem in several members of Brassicaceae family. We investigated the level of pod shatter resistance in Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) and identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for targeted introgression of this trait in Ethiopian mustard and its close relatives of the genus Brassica. A set of 83 accessions of B. carinata, collected from the Australian Grains Genebank, was evaluated for pod shatter resistance based on pod rupture energy (RE). In comparison to B. napus (RE = 2.16 mJ), B. carinata accessions had higher RE values (2.53 to 20.82 mJ). A genetic linkage map of an F2 population from two contrasting B. carinata selections, BC73526 (shatter resistant with high RE) and BC73524 (shatter prone with low RE) comprising 300 individuals, was constructed using a set of 6,464 high quality DArTseq markers and subsequently used for QTL analysis. Genetic analysis of the F2 and F2:3 derived lines revealed five statistically significant QTL (LOD ≥ 3) that are linked with pod shatter resistance on chromosomes B1, B3, B8, and C5. Herein, we report for the first time, identification of genetic loci associated with pod shatter resistance in B. carinata. These characterized accessions would be useful in Brassica breeding programs for introgression of pod shatter resistance alleles in to elite breeding lines. Molecular markers would assist marker-assisted selection for tracing the introgression of resistant alleles. Our results suggest that the value of the germplasm collections can be harnessed through genetic and genomics tools. PMID:29250080

Joint FACET: the Canada-Netherlands initiative to study multisensor data fusion systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosse, Eloi; Theil, Arne; Roy, Jean; Huizing, Albert G.; van Aartsen, Simon

1998-09-01

This paper presents the progress of a collaborative effort between Canada and The Netherlands in analyzing multi-sensor data fusion systems, e.g. for potential application to their respective frigates. In view of the overlapping interest in studying and comparing applicability and performance and advanced state-of-the-art Multi-Sensor Data FUsion (MSDF) techniques, the two research establishments involved have decided to join their efforts in the development of MSDF testbeds. This resulted in the so-called Joint-FACET, a highly modular and flexible series of applications that is capable of processing both real and synthetic input data. Joint-FACET allows the user to create and edit test scenarios with multiple ships, sensor and targets, generate realistic sensor outputs, and to process these outputs with a variety of MSDF algorithms. These MSDF algorithms can also be tested using typical experimental data collected during live military exercises.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is lowered toward a transporter. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is lowered toward a transporter. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Technicians in the Orbiter Processing Facility oversee removal of one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods from Endeavour. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Technicians in the Orbiter Processing Facility oversee removal of one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods from Endeavour. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Orbiter Processing Facility prepare to remove one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods from Endeavour. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers in the Orbiter Processing Facility prepare to remove one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods from Endeavour. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is suspended overhead. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is suspended overhead. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is lowered onto a transporter. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-09-05

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods removed from Endeavour is lowered onto a transporter. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts. OMS pods are removed during Orbiter Major Modifications. Once removed, the OMS pods undergo in-depth structural inspections, system checks and the thrusters are changed out.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, workers discuss the next step in moving the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod behind them. The OMS pod will be installed on Atlantis. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, workers discuss the next step in moving the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod behind them. The OMS pod will be installed on Atlantis. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

Efficacy of cocoa pod extract as antiwrinkle gel on human skin surface.

PubMed

Abdul Karim, Azila; Azlan, Azrina; Ismail, Amin; Hashim, Puziah; Abd Gani, Siti Salwa; Zainudin, Badrul Hisyam; Abdullah, Nur Azilah

2016-09-01

Cocoa pods are abundant waste materials of cocoa plantation, which are usually discarded onto plantation floors. However, due to poor plantation management, the discarded cocoa pods can create suitable breeding ground for Phytophthora palmivora, which is regarded as the causal agent of the black pod disease. On the other hand, cocoa pods potentially contain antioxidant compounds. Antioxidant compounds are related to the protection of skin from wrinkles and can be used as functional cosmetic ingredients. Therefore, in this study, cocoa pods were extracted and to be used as active ingredients for antiwrinkles. The active compounds in cocoa pod extracts (CPE) were screened using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Fibroblast cells were used to determine the effective concentration of CPE to maintain the viability for at least 50% of the cells (EC50 ). The gel was tested by 12 panelists to determine the efficacy of CPE in gel form using Visioscan to reduce skin wrinkles and improve skin condition. CPE was detected to contain malic acid, procyanidin B1, rosmarinic acid, procyanidin C1, apigenin, and ellagic acid, all of which may contribute to functional cosmetic properties of CPE. The EC50 value of cocoa pod extracts was used to calculate the amount of CPE to be incorporated into gel so that the formulated product could reach an effective concentration of extract while being nonintoxicant to the skin cell. The results showed that CPE is potential ingredient to reduce wrinkles. Skin wrinkles reduced at 6.38 ± 1.23% with the application of the CPE gel within 3 weeks and significantly improved further (12.39 ± 1.59%) after 5 weeks. The skin hydration increased (3.181 ± 1.06%) after 3 weeks of the CPE gel application. Flavonoid compounds in CPE contributed to the functional cosmetic properties of CPE. The CPE which is nontoxic to skin cells help to reduce wrinkles on skin after 3 weeks of application. CPE can be used as the active ingredients in antiwrinkle

An SOI CMOS-Based Multi-Sensor MEMS Chip for Fluidic Applications †

PubMed Central

Mansoor, Mohtashim; Haneef, Ibraheem; Akhtar, Suhail; Rafiq, Muhammad Aftab; De Luca, Andrea; Ali, Syed Zeeshan; Udrea, Florin

2016-01-01

An SOI CMOS multi-sensor MEMS chip, which can simultaneously measure temperature, pressure and flow rate, has been reported. The multi-sensor chip has been designed keeping in view the requirements of researchers interested in experimental fluid dynamics. The chip contains ten thermodiodes (temperature sensors), a piezoresistive-type pressure sensor and nine hot film-based flow rate sensors fabricated within the oxide layer of the SOI wafers. The silicon dioxide layers with embedded sensors are relieved from the substrate as membranes with the help of a single DRIE step after chip fabrication from a commercial CMOS foundry. Very dense sensor packing per unit area of the chip has been enabled by using technologies/processes like SOI, CMOS and DRIE. Independent apparatuses were used for the characterization of each sensor. With a drive current of 10 µA–0.1 µA, the thermodiodes exhibited sensitivities of 1.41 mV/°C–1.79 mV/°C in the range 20–300 °C. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor was 0.0686 mV/(Vexcit kPa) with a non-linearity of 0.25% between 0 and 69 kPa above ambient pressure. Packaged in a micro-channel, the flow rate sensor has a linearized sensitivity of 17.3 mV/(L/min)−0.1 in the tested range of 0–4.7 L/min. The multi-sensor chip can be used for simultaneous measurement of fluid pressure, temperature and flow rate in fluidic experiments and aerospace/automotive/biomedical/process industries. PMID:27827904

Measuring short-term post-fire forest recovery across a burn severity gradient in a mixed pine-oak forest using multi-sensor remote sensing techniques

DOE PAGES

Meng, Ran; Wu, Jin; Zhao, Feng; ...

2018-06-01

Understanding post-fire forest recovery is pivotal to the study of forest dynamics and global carbon cycle. Field-based studies indicated a convex response of forest recovery rate to burn severity at the individual tree level, related with fire-induced tree mortality; however, these findings were constrained in spatial/temporal extents, while not detectable by traditional optical remote sensing studies, largely attributing to the contaminated effect from understory recovery. For this work, we examined whether the combined use of multi-sensor remote sensing techniques (i.e., 1m simultaneous airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR and 2m satellite multi-spectral imagery) to separate canopy recovery from understory recovery wouldmore » enable to quantify post-fire forest recovery rate spanning a large gradient in burn severity over large-scales. Our study was conducted in a mixed pine-oak forest in Long Island, NY, three years after a top-killing fire. Our studies remotely detected an initial increase and then decline of forest recovery rate to burn severity across the burned area, with a maximum canopy area-based recovery rate of 10% per year at moderate forest burn severity class. More intriguingly, such remotely detected convex relationships also held at species level, with pine trees being more resilient to high burn severity and having a higher maximum recovery rate (12% per year) than oak trees (4% per year). These results are one of the first quantitative evidences showing the effects of fire adaptive strategies on post-fire forest recovery, derived from relatively large spatial-temporal domains. Our study thus provides the methodological advance to link multi-sensor remote sensing techniques to monitor forest dynamics in a spatially explicit manner over large-scales, with important implications for fire-related forest management, and for constraining/benchmarking fire effect schemes in ecological process models.« less

Measuring short-term post-fire forest recovery across a burn severity gradient in a mixed pine-oak forest using multi-sensor remote sensing techniques

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

Meng, Ran; Wu, Jin; Zhao, Feng

Understanding post-fire forest recovery is pivotal to the study of forest dynamics and global carbon cycle. Field-based studies indicated a convex response of forest recovery rate to burn severity at the individual tree level, related with fire-induced tree mortality; however, these findings were constrained in spatial/temporal extents, while not detectable by traditional optical remote sensing studies, largely attributing to the contaminated effect from understory recovery. For this work, we examined whether the combined use of multi-sensor remote sensing techniques (i.e., 1m simultaneous airborne imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR and 2m satellite multi-spectral imagery) to separate canopy recovery from understory recovery wouldmore » enable to quantify post-fire forest recovery rate spanning a large gradient in burn severity over large-scales. Our study was conducted in a mixed pine-oak forest in Long Island, NY, three years after a top-killing fire. Our studies remotely detected an initial increase and then decline of forest recovery rate to burn severity across the burned area, with a maximum canopy area-based recovery rate of 10% per year at moderate forest burn severity class. More intriguingly, such remotely detected convex relationships also held at species level, with pine trees being more resilient to high burn severity and having a higher maximum recovery rate (12% per year) than oak trees (4% per year). These results are one of the first quantitative evidences showing the effects of fire adaptive strategies on post-fire forest recovery, derived from relatively large spatial-temporal domains. Our study thus provides the methodological advance to link multi-sensor remote sensing techniques to monitor forest dynamics in a spatially explicit manner over large-scales, with important implications for fire-related forest management, and for constraining/benchmarking fire effect schemes in ecological process models.« less

Calibrating a novel multi-sensor physical activity measurement system.

PubMed

John, D; Liu, S; Sasaki, J E; Howe, C A; Staudenmayer, J; Gao, R X; Freedson, P S

2011-09-01

Advancing the field of physical activity (PA) monitoring requires the development of innovative multi-sensor measurement systems that are feasible in the free-living environment. The use of novel analytical techniques to combine and process these multiple sensor signals is equally important. This paper describes a novel multi-sensor 'integrated PA measurement system' (IMS), the lab-based methodology used to calibrate the IMS, techniques used to predict multiple variables from the sensor signals, and proposes design changes to improve the feasibility of deploying the IMS in the free-living environment. The IMS consists of hip and wrist acceleration sensors, two piezoelectric respiration sensors on the torso, and an ultraviolet radiation sensor to obtain contextual information (indoors versus outdoors) of PA. During lab-based calibration of the IMS, data were collected on participants performing a PA routine consisting of seven different ambulatory and free-living activities while wearing a portable metabolic unit (criterion measure) and the IMS. Data analyses on the first 50 adult participants are presented. These analyses were used to determine if the IMS can be used to predict the variables of interest. Finally, physical modifications for the IMS that could enhance the feasibility of free-living use are proposed and refinement of the prediction techniques is discussed.

Autonomous collection of dynamically-cued multi-sensor imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniel, Brian; Wilson, Michael L.; Edelberg, Jason; Jensen, Mark; Johnson, Troy; Anderson, Scott

2011-05-01

The availability of imagery simultaneously collected from sensors of disparate modalities enhances an image analyst's situational awareness and expands the overall detection capability to a larger array of target classes. Dynamic cooperation between sensors is increasingly important for the collection of coincident data from multiple sensors either on the same or on different platforms suitable for UAV deployment. Of particular interest is autonomous collaboration between wide area survey detection, high-resolution inspection, and RF sensors that span large segments of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in conjunction with the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) is building sensors with such networked communications capability and is conducting field tests to demonstrate the feasibility of collaborative sensor data collection and exploitation. Example survey / detection sensors include: NuSAR (NRL Unmanned SAR), a UAV compatible synthetic aperture radar system; microHSI, an NRL developed lightweight hyper-spectral imager; RASAR (Real-time Autonomous SAR), a lightweight podded synthetic aperture radar; and N-WAPSS-16 (Nighttime Wide-Area Persistent Surveillance Sensor-16Mpix), a MWIR large array gimbaled system. From these sensors, detected target cues are automatically sent to the NRL/SDL developed EyePod, a high-resolution, narrow FOV EO/IR sensor, for target inspection. In addition to this cooperative data collection, EyePod's real-time, autonomous target tracking capabilities will be demonstrated. Preliminary results and target analysis will be presented.

System Identification and POD Method Applied to Unsteady Aerodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tang, Deman; Kholodar, Denis; Juang, Jer-Nan; Dowell, Earl H.

2001-01-01

The representation of unsteady aerodynamic flow fields in terms of global aerodynamic modes has proven to be a useful method for reducing the size of the aerodynamic model over those representations that use local variables at discrete grid points in the flow field. Eigenmodes and Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) modes have been used for this purpose with good effect. This suggests that system identification models may also be used to represent the aerodynamic flow field. Implicit in the use of a systems identification technique is the notion that a relative small state space model can be useful in describing a dynamical system. The POD model is first used to show that indeed a reduced order model can be obtained from a much larger numerical aerodynamical model (the vortex lattice method is used for illustrative purposes) and the results from the POD and the system identification methods are then compared. For the example considered, the two methods are shown to give comparable results in terms of accuracy and reduced model size. The advantages and limitations of each approach are briefly discussed. Both appear promising and complementary in their characteristics.

The effects of iPod and text-messaging use on driver distraction: a bio-behavioral analysis.

PubMed

Mouloua, M; Ahern, A; Quevedo, A; Jaramillo, D; Rinalducci, E; Smither, J; Alberti, P; Brill, C

2012-01-01

This study was designed to empirically examine the effects of iPod device and text-messaging activities on driver distraction. Sixty participants were asked to perform a driving simulation task while searching for songs using an iPod device or text messaging. Driving errors as measured by lane deviations were recorded and analyzed as a function of the distracters. Physiological measures (EEG) were also recorded during the driving phases in order to measure participant levels of cortical arousal. It was hypothesized that iPod use and text messaging would result in a profound effect on driving ability. The results showed a significant effect of iPod use and text-messaging on driving performance. Increased numbers of driving errors were recorded during the iPod and text-messaging phases than the pre- and post-allocation phases. Higher levels of Theta activity were also observed during the iPod and Text-messaging phase than the pre- and post-allocation phases. Implications for in-vehicle systems design, training, and safety are also discussed.

The Attack of the Pod People

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Robert

2006-01-01

In an article in the "Northern Star," a university student newspaper, reporter Lauren Stott began a lyrical note: "It's every student's dream: Wake up for school, stumble over to the computer, and download the day's class lectures ... then crawl back into bed--iPod in one hand, notebook in the other." The object of the student journalist's…

Hypersonic shock tunnel heat transfer tests of the Space Shuttle SILTS pod configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wittliff, C. E.

1983-01-01

Heat transfer measurements have been made on a 0.0175-scale NASA Space Shuttle orbiter model having a simulated SILTS (Shuttle Infrared Leeside Temperature Sensor) pod on top of the vertical tail. Heat transfer distributions were measured both on the pod and on the vertical tail. The test program covered Mach numbers of 8, 11 and 16 in air, at Reynolds numbers from 100,000 to 18 million, based on model length. The angle of attack ranged from 30 deg to 40 deg at sideslip angles from -2 to +2 deg. Data were obtained with 92 thin film assistance thermometers located on the SILTS pod and on the upper 30 percent of the vertical tail. Heat transfer rates measured on the vertical tail show good agreement with flight data obtained from missions STS-1, -2 and -3. The variation of heat transfer to the pod with Reynolds number, Mach number and angle of attack is discussed.

POD Model Reconstruction for Gray-Box Fault Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Han; Zak, Michail

2007-01-01

Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is the mathematical basis of a method of constructing low-order mathematical models for the "gray-box" fault-detection algorithm that is a component of a diagnostic system known as beacon-based exception analysis for multi-missions (BEAM). POD has been successfully applied in reducing computational complexity by generating simple models that can be used for control and simulation for complex systems such as fluid flows. In the present application to BEAM, POD brings the same benefits to automated diagnosis. BEAM is a method of real-time or offline, automated diagnosis of a complex dynamic system.The gray-box approach makes it possible to utilize incomplete or approximate knowledge of the dynamics of the system that one seeks to diagnose. In the gray-box approach, a deterministic model of the system is used to filter a time series of system sensor data to remove the deterministic components of the time series from further examination. What is left after the filtering operation is a time series of residual quantities that represent the unknown (or at least unmodeled) aspects of the behavior of the system. Stochastic modeling techniques are then applied to the residual time series. The procedure for detecting abnormal behavior of the system then becomes one of looking for statistical differences between the residual time series and the predictions of the stochastic model.

Medical decision-making inspired from aerospace multisensor data fusion concepts.

PubMed

Pombo, Nuno; Bousson, Kouamana; Araújo, Pedro; Viana, Joaquim

2015-01-01

In recent years, Internet-delivered treatments have been largely used for pain monitoring, offering healthcare professionals and patients the ability to interact anywhere and at any time. Electronic diaries have been increasingly adopted as the preferred methodology to collect data related to pain intensity and symptoms, replacing traditional pen-and-paper diaries. This article presents a multisensor data fusion methodology based on the capabilities provided by aerospace systems to evaluate the effects of electronic and pen-and-paper diaries on pain. We examined English-language studies of randomized controlled trials that use computerized systems and the Internet to collect data about chronic pain complaints. These studies were obtained from three data sources: BioMed Central, PubMed Central and ScienceDirect from the year 2000 until 30 June 2012. Based on comparisons of the reported pain intensity collected during pre- and post-treatment in both the control and intervention groups, the proposed multisensor data fusion model revealed that the benefits of technology and pen-and-paper are qualitatively equivalent [Formula: see text]. We conclude that the proposed model is suitable, intelligible, easy to implement, time efficient and resource efficient.

Airborne wireless communication systems, airborne communication methods, and communication methods

DOEpatents

Deaton, Juan D [Menan, ID; Schmitt, Michael J [Idaho Falls, ID; Jones, Warren F [Idaho Falls, ID

2011-12-13

An airborne wireless communication system includes circuitry configured to access information describing a configuration of a terrestrial wireless communication base station that has become disabled. The terrestrial base station is configured to implement wireless communication between wireless devices located within a geographical area and a network when the terrestrial base station is not disabled. The circuitry is further configured, based on the information, to configure the airborne station to have the configuration of the terrestrial base station. An airborne communication method includes answering a 911 call from a terrestrial cellular wireless phone using an airborne wireless communication system.

MyPOD: an EMR-Based Tool that Facilitates Quality Improvement and Maintenance of Certification.

PubMed

Berman, Loren; Duffy, Brian; Randall Brenn, B; Vinocur, Charles

2017-03-01

Maintenance of Certification (MOC) was designed to assess physician competencies including operative case volume and outcomes. This information, if collected consistently and systematically, can be used to facilitate quality improvement. Information automatically extracted from the electronic medical record (EMR) can be used as a prompt to compile these data. We developed an EMR-based program called MyPOD (My Personal Outcomes Data) to track surgical outcomes at our institution. We compared occurrences reported in the first 18 months to those captured in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (ACS NSQIP-P) over the same time period. During the first 18 months of using MyPOD, 691 cases were captured in both MyPOD and NSQIP-P. There were 48 cases with occurrences in NSQIP-P (6.9% occurrence rate). MyPOD captured 33% of the occurrences and 83% of the deaths reported in NSQIP-P. Use of the MyPOD program helped to identify series of complications and facilitated systematic change to improve outcomes. MyPOD provides comparative data that is essential in performance evaluation and facilitates quality improvement in surgery. This program and similar EMR-driven tools are becoming essential components of the MOC process. Our initial review has revealed opportunities for improvement in self-reporting which we can continue to measure by comparison to NSQIP-P. In addition, it has identified systems issues that have led to hospital-wide improvements.

Genomic regions, cellular components and gene regulatory basis underlying pod length variations in cowpea (V. unguiculata L. Walp).

PubMed

Xu, Pei; Wu, Xinyi; Muñoz-Amatriaín, María; Wang, Baogen; Wu, Xiaohua; Hu, Yaowen; Huynh, Bao-Lam; Close, Timothy J; Roberts, Philip A; Zhou, Wen; Lu, Zhongfu; Li, Guojing

2017-05-01

Cowpea (V. unguiculata L. Walp) is a climate resilient legume crop important for food security. Cultivated cowpea (V. unguiculata L) generally comprises the bushy, short-podded grain cowpea dominant in Africa and the climbing, long-podded vegetable cowpea popular in Asia. How selection has contributed to the diversification of the two types of cowpea remains largely unknown. In the current study, a novel genotyping assay for over 50 000 SNPs was employed to delineate genomic regions governing pod length. Major, minor and epistatic QTLs were identified through QTL mapping. Seventy-two SNPs associated with pod length were detected by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Population stratification analysis revealed subdivision among a cowpea germplasm collection consisting of 299 accessions, which is consistent with pod length groups. Genomic scan for selective signals suggested that domestication of vegetable cowpea was accompanied by selection of multiple traits including pod length, while the further improvement process was featured by selection of pod length primarily. Pod growth kinetics assay demonstrated that more durable cell proliferation rather than cell elongation or enlargement was the main reason for longer pods. Transcriptomic analysis suggested the involvement of sugar, gibberellin and nutritional signalling in regulation of pod length. This study establishes the basis for map-based cloning of pod length genes in cowpea and for marker-assisted selection of this trait in breeding programmes. © 2016 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

SVM-based multi-sensor fusion for free-living physical activity assessment.

PubMed

Liu, Shaopeng; Gao, Robert X; John, Dinesh; Staudenmayer, John; Freedson, Patty S

2011-01-01

This paper presents a sensor fusion method for assessing physical activity (PA) of human subjects, based on the support vector machines (SVMs). Specifically, acceleration and ventilation measured by a wearable multi-sensor device on 50 test subjects performing 13 types of activities of varying intensities are analyzed, from which the activity types and related energy expenditures are derived. The result shows that the method correctly recognized the 13 activity types 84.7% of the time, which is 26% higher than using a hip accelerometer alone. Also, the method predicted the associated energy expenditure with a root mean square error of 0.43 METs, 43% lower than using a hip accelerometer alone. Furthermore, the fusion method was effective in reducing the subject-to-subject variability (standard deviation of recognition accuracies across subjects) in activity recognition, especially when data from the ventilation sensor was added to the fusion model. These results demonstrate that the multi-sensor fusion technique presented is more effective in assessing activities of varying intensities than the traditional accelerometer-alone based methods.

Probability of Detection (POD) as a statistical model for the validation of qualitative methods.

PubMed

Wehling, Paul; LaBudde, Robert A; Brunelle, Sharon L; Nelson, Maria T

2011-01-01

A statistical model is presented for use in validation of qualitative methods. This model, termed Probability of Detection (POD), harmonizes the statistical concepts and parameters between quantitative and qualitative method validation. POD characterizes method response with respect to concentration as a continuous variable. The POD model provides a tool for graphical representation of response curves for qualitative methods. In addition, the model allows comparisons between candidate and reference methods, and provides calculations of repeatability, reproducibility, and laboratory effects from collaborative study data. Single laboratory study and collaborative study examples are given.

Multisensor Fire Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boquist, C.

2004-01-01

This DVD includes animations of multisensor fire observations from the following satellite sources: Landsat, GOES, TOMS, Terra, QuikSCAT, and TRMM. Some of the animations are included in multiple versions of a short video presentation on the DVD which focuses on the Hayman, Rodeo-Chediski, and Biscuit fires during the 2002 North American fire season. In one version of the presentation, MODIS, TRMM, GOES, and QuikSCAT data are incorporated into the animations of these wildfires. These data products provided rain, wind, cloud, and aerosol data on the fires, and monitored the smoke and destruction created by them. Another presentation on the DVD consists of a panel discussion, in which experts from academia, NASA, and the U.S. Forest Service answer questions on the role of NASA in fighting forest fires, the role of the Terra satellite and its instruments, including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), in fire fighting decision making, and the role of fire in the Earth's climate. The third section of the DVD features several animations of fires over the years 2001-2003, including animations of global and North American fires, and specific fires from 2003 in California, Washington, Montana, and Arizona.

Laundry detergent "pod" ingestions: a case series and discussion of recent literature.

PubMed

Beuhler, Michael C; Gala, Payal K; Wolfe, Heather A; Meaney, Peter A; Henretig, Fred M

2013-06-01

The objectives of this study were to present and explore the clinical presentation of the increasingly common pediatric exposure to the widely available single-use laundry packets or "laundry pods." This is a case report of 4 pediatric patients with significant toxicity due to laundry pod detergent exposure and a review of the available literature including abstract-only publications. An unexpectedly severe clinical pattern was noted; 3 of the 4 children required intubation for management, airway injury was noted in 1 of them, and 2 of them had hospital courses of at least 1 week. The literature suggests that laundry pod exposures are associated with increased morbidity compared to traditional laundry detergent exposures. To date, no specific contaminant or component has been identified as being responsible for the injury, although some evidence points to the surfactant component. A different approach to the triage and management of pediatric exposures to laundry detergent pod ingestions is required compared with nonpod ingestions. Although the exact cause is not known, practitioners should be vigilant for rapid onset of neurological impairment and inability to protect the airway in addition to its caustic effects.

A Predeployment Limited Technical Assessment of the iPod Touch to Aid the United States Marine Corps

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES "Safari," " iTunes ," "iPod," "iPod touch," and "iPhone" are registered trademarks...Marine Corps unit and assessed during the EUE.1 1 “Safari,” “ iTunes ,” “iPod,” “iPod touch,” and “iPhone...application store, YouTube, the Apple Safari Web browser, maps, weather, and Apple iTunes . Participants then arranged a paper prototype home screen

Phenotypic diversity and evaluation of fresh pods of cowpea landraces from Southern Europe.

PubMed

Lazaridi, Efstathia; Ntatsi, Georgia; Fernández, Juan A; Karapanos, Ioannis; Carnide, Valdemar; Savvas, Dimitrios; Bebeli, Penelope J

2017-10-01

Cowpea fresh pods are consumed as green vegetables in many countries in Southern Europe. Among cowpea cultivated material, a relatively large number of landraces can be found, maintaining species genetic diversity. To assess the value of these landraces in breeding programs, the characterization and estimation of diversity levels is therefore required. In the present study, an estimation of the diversity and evaluation of cowpea landraces originating from Portugal, Spain and Greece, in terms of their fresh pod traits, was performed, aiming to assist with the problem of low cowpea production in Southern Europe. A notable mean total phenotypic diversity (H T = 0.57) was observed in the whole collection. The Spanish cv. - gr. unguiculata collection exhibited the highest value of total phenotypic diversity (0.56). Landraces did not differ significantly from each other regarding the three countries of origin. Landraces such as Cp4906, Vg60 and BGE038478 presenting higher values of some traits studied could contribute to the breeding of new cowpea varieties for fresh pod production. Positive correlations were observed, indicating the feasibility of breeding for preferable traits regarding fresh pod consumption. The present study has revealed a wide diversity among and within cowpea landraces that could enhance fresh pod production in South European countries. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

POD and PPP with multi-frequency processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roldán, Pedro; Navarro, Pedro; Rodríguez, Daniel; Rodríguez, Irma

2017-04-01

Precise Orbit Determination (POD) and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) are methods for estimating the orbits and clocks of GNSS satellites and the precise positions and clocks of user receivers. These methods are traditionally based on processing the ionosphere-free combination. With this combination, the delay introduced in the signal when passing through the ionosphere is removed, taking advantage of the dependency of this delay with the square of the frequency. It is also possible to process the individual frequencies, but in this case it is needed to properly model the ionospheric delay. This modelling is usually very challenging, as the electron content in the ionosphere experiences important temporal and spatial variations. These two options define the two main kinds of processing: the dual-frequency ionosphere-free processing, typically used in the POD and in certain applications of PPP, and the single-frequency processing with estimation or modelisation of the ionosphere, mostly used in the PPP processing. In magicGNSS, a software tool developed by GMV for POD and PPP, a hybrid approach has been implemented. This approach combines observations from any number of individual frequencies and any number of ionosphere-free combinations of these frequencies. In such a way, the observations of ionosphere-free combination allow a better estimation of positions and orbits, while the inclusion of observations from individual frequencies allows to estimate the ionospheric delay and to reduce the noise of the solution. It is also possible to include other kind of combinations, such as geometry-free combination, instead of processing individual frequencies. The joint processing of all the frequencies for all the constellations requires both the estimation or modelisation of ionospheric delay and the estimation of inter-frequency biases. The ionospheric delay can be estimated from the single-frequency or dual-frequency geometry-free observations, but it is also possible

SenseCube--A Novel Inexpensive Wireless Multisensor for Physics Lab Experimentations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehta, Vedant; Lane, Charles D.

2018-01-01

SenseCube is a multisensor capable of measuring many different real-time events and changes in environment. Most conventional sensors used in introductory-physics labs use their own software and have wires that must be attached to a computer or an alternate device to analyze the data. This makes the standard sensors time consuming, tedious, and…

7 CFR 319.56-62 - Fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan. 319.56... Vegetables § 319.56-62 Fresh beans, shelled or in pods, from Jordan. Fresh beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L... Spodoptera littoralis. (a) Packinghouse requirements. The beans must be packed in packing facilities that are...

Utilization of Mucuna pruriens whole pods to feed lactating hair ewes.

PubMed

Peniche-Gonzalez, Irina Nadieska; Sarmiento-Franco, Luis Armando; Santos-Ricalde, Ronald Herve

2018-03-27

Twenty nine Pelibuey × Katahdin hair ewes rearing single lamb were used during 42 days of lactation to evaluate the effect of including the Mucuna pruriens whole pods in the diets of lactating ewes on milk production and offspring performance. Animals were distributed at random into three experimental diets: a control diet without Mucuna (M0), and two more diets with the inclusion of 13 (M13) and 26% (M26), of milled pods of Mucuna pruriens, respectively. Dry matter intake, was not significantly different (P > 0.05) among diets. Milk yield (P > 0.05) was 734, 786, and 694 g/day for diets M0, M13, and M26, respectively. Milk fat (P > 0.05), milk protein (P > 0.05), and milk lactose (P > 0.05) did not differ between treatments. Lambs had similar daily weight gain (P > 0.05) among diets (180, 174, and 171 g/day for diets M0, M13, and M26, respectively). Diets with Mucuna whole pods were 5.6 and 12.9% more profitable (M13 and M26, respectively) than control diet. Under the conditions of this work, Mucuna pruriens whole pods can be included up to 26% in the diets of lactating crossbred hair ewes without negatively affecting their productive performance during the first 6 weeks of lactation.

The iPod Experiments: Michael Stephens Investigates Ways that Librarians Are Using This Popular Consumer Device

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Michael

2005-01-01

No other consumer electronic device has created such an impact on popular culture in recent years as the Apple iPod. Since iPod's release in November 2001, music fans have been able to carry upwards of 15,000 song files on those sleek devices with their trendy white headphones. Over ten million iPods have been sold--nearly half of them in the last…

Multisensor/multimission surveillance aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jobe, John T.

1994-10-01

The realignment of international powers, and the formation of new nations has resulted in increasing worldwide concern over border security, an expanding refugee problem, protection of fishery and mineral areas, and smuggling of all types. The focus on military services, to protect or defend against these threats of vital, national interest, is shifting to other government agencies and even commercial contractors to apply innovative and cost effective solutions. Previously, airborne surveillance and reconnaissance platforms have been large, mission dedicated military aircraft. The time has arrived for a smaller, more efficient, and more effective airborne capability. This paper briefly outlines a system of systems approach that smaller nations can afford to incorporate in their budgets, while greatly expanding their surveillance capability. The characteristics of specific cameras and sensors are purposely not addressed, so the emphasis can be placed on the integration of multiple sensors and capabilities.

Multi-Sensor Integration to Map Odor Distribution for the Detection of Chemical Sources.

PubMed

Gao, Xiang; Acar, Levent

2016-07-04

This paper addresses the problem of mapping odor distribution derived from a chemical source using multi-sensor integration and reasoning system design. Odor localization is the problem of finding the source of an odor or other volatile chemical. Most localization methods require a mobile vehicle to follow an odor plume along its entire path, which is time consuming and may be especially difficult in a cluttered environment. To solve both of the above challenges, this paper proposes a novel algorithm that combines data from odor and anemometer sensors, and combine sensors' data at different positions. Initially, a multi-sensor integration method, together with the path of airflow was used to map the pattern of odor particle movement. Then, more sensors are introduced at specific regions to determine the probable location of the odor source. Finally, the results of odor source location simulation and a real experiment are presented.

Earth Observations taken with ESA NightPod hardware

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-12-08

ISS034-E-005935 (8 Dec. 2012) --- A nighttime view of Liege, Belgium is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 34 crew member on the International Space Station. To paraphrase the old expression, “all roads lead to Liege” – or at least one could get that impression from this nighttime photograph. The brightly lit core of the Liege urban area appears to lie at the center of a network of roadways—traceable by continuous orange lighting—extending outwards into the rural, and relatively dark, Belgium countryside. For a sense of scale the distance from left to right is approximately 70 kilometers. The region at upper left to the southeast of Verviers includes agricultural fields and forest; hence it appears almost uniformly dark at night. The image was taken using the European Space Agency’s Nodding mechanism, also known as the NightPod. NightPod is an electro-mechanical mount system designed to compensate digital cameras for the motion of the space station relative to Earth. The primary mission goal was to take high-resolution, long exposure digital imagery of Earth from the station’s Cupola, particularly cities at night. While the official NightPod mission has been completed, the mechanism remains onboard for crew members to use. Liege is the third most populous metropolitan region in Belgium (after Brussels and Antwerp); it includes 52 municipalities, including the nearby city of Seraing.

Structure analysis of turbulent liquid phase by POD and LSE techniques

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

Munir, S., E-mail: shahzad-munir@comsats.edu.pk; Muthuvalu, M. S.; Siddiqui, M. I.

2014-10-24

In this paper, vortical structures and turbulence characteristics of liquid phase in both single liquid phase and two-phase slug flow in pipes were studied. Two dimensional velocity vector fields of liquid phase were obtained by Particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two cases were considered one single phase liquid flow at 80 l/m and second slug flow by introducing gas at 60 l/m while keeping liquid flow rate same. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and Linear stochastic estimation techniques were used for the extraction of coherent structures and analysis of turbulence in liquid phase for both cases. POD has successfully revealed large energymore » containing structures. The time dependent POD spatial mode coefficients oscillate with high frequency for high mode numbers. The energy distribution of spatial modes was also achieved. LSE has pointed out the coherent structured for both cases and the reconstructed velocity fields are in well agreement with the instantaneous velocity fields.« less

[Pediatric exposures to laundry pods or capsules: more toxic than traditional laundry products?].

PubMed

Claudet, I; Honorat, R; Casasoprana, A; Grouteau, E; Franchitto, N

2014-06-01

New concentrated laundry pods, available on the European market for approximately 10 years, are associated with more severe intoxications compared to classic laundry detergents. To compare symptoms and severity after exposure to classic laundry detergents and new laundry pods in a pediatric population. Retrospective study conducted between 1st January 2002 and 30th June 2013 including all laundry detergent exposure patients admitted to our tertiary level pediatric emergency unit. Collected data were age, sex, date, time and location of exposure, type of product (powder, liquid, tablets, pods), estimated ingested quantity, time of admission, clinical symptoms, severity, complications, and progression. Descriptive analysis: eighty-nine children were included. The mean age was 2.1 ± 1.5 years (range, 36 days to 10 years), 65% of patients were aged less than 2 years. The male:female ratio was 1.5 (males, 60%). After exposure, 57% of children were symptomatic and most frequently developed digestive symptoms (75%). Comparative analysis: compared to classic laundry detergent, children exposed to laundry pods were more symptomatic (96% versus 51%, P<0.0001), had more digestive signs (P=0.003), more frequently had bronchospasm (P=0.02), had a higher risk of ocular lesions (P=0.04), and exposure was more severe (poisoning severity score grade 2, 92% versus 59%, P<0.0001). Laundry pod toxicity is more severe. The chemical composition of laundry pods has a higher concentration of surfactants and ethoxylated alcohols; they have a higher viscosity and hydrotropic power. The addition of water seems to modify the alkalinity, which explains the severity of ENT, gastric, and corneal lesions. The declaration to national poison centers of these intoxications should be pursued by emergency pediatricians, physicians, and pediatric intensivists. Family physicians can encourage parents to declare adverse effects to the National Consumer Product Safety Commission. Parents need to be

Improving multisensor estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation via conditional bias-penalized optimal estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Beomgeun; Seo, Dong-Jun; Noh, Seong Jin; Prat, Olivier P.; Nelson, Brian R.

2018-01-01

A new technique for merging radar precipitation estimates and rain gauge data is developed and evaluated to improve multisensor quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), in particular, of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. Unlike the conventional cokriging methods which are susceptible to conditional bias (CB), the proposed technique, referred to herein as conditional bias-penalized cokriging (CBPCK), explicitly minimizes Type-II CB for improved quantitative estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation. CBPCK is a bivariate version of extended conditional bias-penalized kriging (ECBPK) developed for gauge-only analysis. To evaluate CBPCK, cross validation and visual examination are carried out using multi-year hourly radar and gauge data in the North Central Texas region in which CBPCK is compared with the variant of the ordinary cokriging (OCK) algorithm used operationally in the National Weather Service Multisensor Precipitation Estimator. The results show that CBPCK significantly reduces Type-II CB for estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation, and that the margin of improvement over OCK is larger in areas of higher fractional coverage (FC) of precipitation. When FC > 0.9 and hourly gauge precipitation is > 60 mm, the reduction in root mean squared error (RMSE) by CBPCK over radar-only (RO) is about 12 mm while the reduction in RMSE by OCK over RO is about 7 mm. CBPCK may be used in real-time analysis or in reanalysis of multisensor precipitation for which accurate estimation of heavy-to-extreme precipitation is of particular importance.

Nutrient Digestibility and Metabolizable Energy Content of Mucuna pruriens Whole Pods Fed to Growing Pelibuey Lambs.

PubMed

Loyra-Tzab, Enrique; Sarmiento-Franco, Luis Armando; Sandoval-Castro, Carlos Alfredo; Santos-Ricalde, Ronald Herve

2013-07-01

The nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and in vivo metabolizable energy supply of Mucuna pruriens whole pods fed to growing Pelibuey lambs was investigated. Eight Pelibuey sheep housed in metabolic crates were fed increasing levels of Mucuna pruriens pods: 0 (control), 100 (Mucuna100), 200 (Mucuna200) and 300 (Mucuna300) g/kg dry matter. A quadratic (p<0.002) effect was observed for dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (aNDF), nitrogen (N) and gross energy (GE) intakes with higher intakes in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Increasing M. pruriens in the diets had no effect (p>0.05) on DM and GE apparent digestibility (p<0.05). A linear reduction in N digestibility and N retention was observed with increasing mucuna pod level. This effect was accompanied by a quadratic effect (p<0.05) on fecal-N and N-balance which were higher in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Urine-N excretion, GE retention and dietary estimated nutrient supply (metabolizable protein and metabolizable energy) were not affected (p>0.05). DM, N and GE apparent digestibility coefficient of M. pruriens whole pods obtained through multiple regression equations were 0.692, 0.457, 0.654 respectively. In vivo DE and ME content of mucuna whole pod were estimated in 11.0 and 9.7 MJ/kg DM. It was concluded that whole pods from M. pruriens did not affect nutrient utilization when included in an mixed diet up to 200 g/kg DM. This is the first in vivo estimation of mucuna whole pod ME value for ruminants.

Design of Lander Pods for Near Earth Asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frampton, R. V.; Peltz, L.; Ball, J. M.

2015-01-01

The SBAG has developed a set of “Strategic Knowledge Gaps” (SKGs) to address goals for investigation prior to crewed missions toNEAs or moons of Mars. These may be addressed by small landing Pods placed on the NEAs for in situ investigation.

Stochastic model for threat assessment in multi-sensor defense system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yongcheng; Wang, Hongfei; Jiang, Changsheng

2007-11-01

This paper puts forward a stochastic model for target detecting and tracking in multi-sensor defense systems and applies the Lanchester differential equations to threat assessment in combat. The two different modes of targets tracking and their respective Lanchester differential equations are analyzed and established. By use of these equations, we could briefly estimate the loss of each combat side and accordingly get the threat estimation results, given the situation analysis is accomplished.

NASA DOE POD NDE Capabilities Data Book

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Generazio, Edward R.

2015-01-01

This data book contains the Directed Design of Experiments for Validating Probability of Detection (POD) Capability of NDE Systems (DOEPOD) analyses of the nondestructive inspection data presented in the NTIAC, Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Capabilities Data Book, 3rd ed., NTIAC DB-97-02. DOEPOD is designed as a decision support system to validate inspection system, personnel, and protocol demonstrating 0.90 POD with 95% confidence at critical flaw sizes, a90/95. The test methodology used in DOEPOD is based on the field of statistical sequential analysis founded by Abraham Wald. Sequential analysis is a method of statistical inference whose characteristic feature is that the number of observations required by the procedure is not determined in advance of the experiment. The decision to terminate the experiment depends, at each stage, on the results of the observations previously made. A merit of the sequential method, as applied to testing statistical hypotheses, is that test procedures can be constructed which require, on average, a substantially smaller number of observations than equally reliable test procedures based on a predetermined number of observations.

An Improved Multi-Sensor Fusion Navigation Algorithm Based on the Factor Graph.

PubMed

Zeng, Qinghua; Chen, Weina; Liu, Jianye; Wang, Huizhe

2017-03-21

An integrated navigation system coupled with additional sensors can be used in the Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) applications because the multi-sensor information is redundant and complementary, which can markedly improve the system accuracy. How to deal with the information gathered from different sensors efficiently is an important problem. The fact that different sensors provide measurements asynchronously may complicate the processing of these measurements. In addition, the output signals of some sensors appear to have a non-linear character. In order to incorporate these measurements and calculate a navigation solution in real time, the multi-sensor fusion algorithm based on factor graph is proposed. The global optimum solution is factorized according to the chain structure of the factor graph, which allows for a more general form of the conditional probability density. It can convert the fusion matter into connecting factors defined by these measurements to the graph without considering the relationship between the sensor update frequency and the fusion period. An experimental MUAV system has been built and some experiments have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Modeling the X-Ray Process, and X-Ray Flaw Size Parameter for POD Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khoshti, Ajay

2014-01-01

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method reliability can be determined by a statistical flaw detection study called probability of detection (POD) study. In many instances the NDE flaw detectability is given as a flaw size such as crack length. The flaw is either a crack or behaving like a crack in terms of affecting the structural integrity of the material. An alternate approach is to use a more complex flaw size parameter. The X-ray flaw size parameter, given here, takes into account many setup and geometric factors. The flaw size parameter relates to X-ray image contrast and is intended to have a monotonic correlation with the POD. Some factors such as set-up parameters including X-ray energy, exposure, detector sensitivity, and material type that are not accounted for in the flaw size parameter may be accounted for in the technique calibration and controlled to meet certain quality requirements. The proposed flaw size parameter and the computer application described here give an alternate approach to conduct the POD studies. Results of the POD study can be applied to reliably detect small flaws through better assessment of effect of interaction between various geometric parameters on the flaw detectability. Moreover, a contrast simulation algorithm for a simple part-source-detector geometry using calibration data is also provided for the POD estimation.

Modeling the X-ray Process, and X-ray Flaw Size Parameter for POD Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshti, Ajay M.

2014-01-01

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method reliability can be determined by a statistical flaw detection study called probability of detection (POD) study. In many instances, the NDE flaw detectability is given as a flaw size such as crack length. The flaw is either a crack or behaving like a crack in terms of affecting the structural integrity of the material. An alternate approach is to use a more complex flaw size parameter. The X-ray flaw size parameter, given here, takes into account many setup and geometric factors. The flaw size parameter relates to X-ray image contrast and is intended to have a monotonic correlation with the POD. Some factors such as set-up parameters, including X-ray energy, exposure, detector sensitivity, and material type that are not accounted for in the flaw size parameter may be accounted for in the technique calibration and controlled to meet certain quality requirements. The proposed flaw size parameter and the computer application described here give an alternate approach to conduct the POD studies. Results of the POD study can be applied to reliably detect small flaws through better assessment of effect of interaction between various geometric parameters on the flaw detectability. Moreover, a contrast simulation algorithm for a simple part-source-detector geometry using calibration data is also provided for the POD estimation.

Validation of the BOD POD with hydrostatic weighing: influence of body clothing.

PubMed

Fields, D A; Hunter, G R; Goran, M I

2000-02-01

Whole body air-displacement plethysmography (BOD POD), a new body composition technique, was validated against hydrodensitometry (UWW) in 67 women wearing a one-piece swimsuit (OP) who represent a wide range of body fatness and age. Additionally, the effect of trapped isothermic air in clothing while in the BOD POD was examined by comparing different clothing schemes (a one-piece swimsuit (OP), two-piece swimsuit (TP), a hospital gown (HG), and a hospital gown previously included in a volume calibration (GC)) in a subset of 25 women. Cross-sectional data analysis. 67 healthy Caucasian females. Body density g/cm3 (Db) by BOD POD and UWW. In 67 females UWW Db (1.030+/-0.020 g/cm3) was higher (P<0.01) than BOD POD Db (1. 028+/-0.020 g/cm3). This is a difference of 1.0% fat. The R2 was 0. 94, SEE was 0.005 g/cm3 and the regression between Db by UWW and BOD POB did not significantly deviate from the line of identity. In the subset group of 25 subjects, OP Db (1.040+/-0.014 g/cm3) and TP Db (1.040+/-0.014 g/cm3) were significantly lower (P<0.01) than UWW Db (1.044+/-0.014 g/cm3) or a difference of 1.9% fat. The R2 was 0.86 and the SEE was 0.005 g/cm3 and the regression between Db by UWW and both OP and TP did not significantly deviate from the line of identity. HG Db (1.056+/-0.016 g/cm3) and GC Db (1.037+/-0.016 g/cm3) were significantly different (P<0.01) from UWW Db (1.044+/-0. 014 g/cm3). This difference in density translates to a difference of 5.5% and 3.2% fat respectively. The regression between Db by UWW and both HG and GC significantly deviated from the line of identity. This study supports the use of the BOD POD as a substitute for UWW. However, caution should be made in using the BOD POD if subjects are clothed in anything other than a tight fitting swimsuit.

Process design and economic analysis of a hypothetical bioethanol production plant using carob pod as feedstock.

PubMed

Sánchez-Segado, S; Lozano, L J; de Los Ríos, A P; Hernández-Fernández, F J; Godínez, C; Juan, D

2012-01-01

A process for the production of ethanol from carob (Ceratonia siliqua) pods was designed and an economic analysis was carried out for a hypothetical plant. The plant was assumed to perform an aqueous extraction of sugars from the pods followed by fermentation and distillation to produce ethanol. The total fixed capital investment for a base case process with a capacity to transform 68,000 t/year carob pod was calculated as 39.61 millon euros (€) with a minimum bioethanol production cost of 0.51 €/L and an internal rate of return of 7%. The plant was found to be profitable at carob pod prices lower than 0.188 €/kg. An increase in the transformation capacity of the plant from 33,880 to 135,450 t/year was calculated to result in an increase in the internal rate of return from 5.50% to 13.61%. The obtained results show that carob pod is a promising alternative source for bioethanol production. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BiPOD Arthroscopic Acromioclavicular Repair Restores Bidirectional Stability.

PubMed

De Beer, Joe; Schaer, Michael; Latendresse, Kim; Raniga, Sumit; Moor, Beat K; Zumstein, Matthias A

2017-01-01

Stabilizing the acromioclavicular joint in the vertical and horizontal planes is challenging, and most current techniques do not reliably achieve this goal. The BiPOD repair is an arthroscopically assisted procedure performed with image intensifier guidance that reconstructs the coracoclavicular ligaments as well as the acromioclavicular ligaments to achieve bidirectional stability. Repair is achieved with a combination of 2-mm FiberTape (Arthrex, Naples, Florida) and 20-mm Poly-Tape (Neoligaments, Leeds, England) to achieve rigid repair, prevent bone abrasion, and promote tissue ingrowth. This study is a prospective review of the first 6 patients treated for high-grade acute acromioclavicular injury with the BiPOD technique. The study included 6 men who were 21 to 36 years old (mean, 27 years). At 6-month follow-up, complications were recorded and radiographic analysis was used to determine the coracoclavicular distance for vertical reduction and the amount of acromioclavicular translation on the Alexander axillary view was used to determine horizontal reduction. One patient had a superficial infection over the tape knot. The difference in coracoclavicular distance between the operated side and the uninvolved side was 9±2 mm preoperatively and 0.3±2 mm at 6-month follow-up. On Alexander axillary view, all 6 patients showed stable reduction, which is defined as a clavicle that is in line with the acromion. The findings show that BiPOD acromioclavicular reconstruction restores bidirectional stability of the acromioclavicular joint at 6 months. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e35-e43.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Design of Landing PODS for Near Earth Asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frampton, R. V.; Ball, J. M.; Pellz, L.

2014-06-01

Boeing has been developing design for a set of small landing PODS that could be deployed from a spacecraft bus orbiting a NEA to address the set of SKGs for investigation prior to crewed missions to Near Earth Asteroids or the moons of Mars.

Nutrient Digestibility and Metabolizable Energy Content of Mucuna pruriens Whole Pods Fed to Growing Pelibuey Lambs

PubMed Central

Loyra-Tzab, Enrique; Sarmiento-Franco, Luis Armando; Sandoval-Castro, Carlos Alfredo; Santos-Ricalde, Ronald Herve

2013-01-01

The nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and in vivo metabolizable energy supply of Mucuna pruriens whole pods fed to growing Pelibuey lambs was investigated. Eight Pelibuey sheep housed in metabolic crates were fed increasing levels of Mucuna pruriens pods: 0 (control), 100 (Mucuna100), 200 (Mucuna200) and 300 (Mucuna300) g/kg dry matter. A quadratic (p<0.002) effect was observed for dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (aNDF), nitrogen (N) and gross energy (GE) intakes with higher intakes in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Increasing M. pruriens in the diets had no effect (p>0.05) on DM and GE apparent digestibility (p<0.05). A linear reduction in N digestibility and N retention was observed with increasing mucuna pod level. This effect was accompanied by a quadratic effect (p<0.05) on fecal-N and N-balance which were higher in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Urine-N excretion, GE retention and dietary estimated nutrient supply (metabolizable protein and metabolizable energy) were not affected (p>0.05). DM, N and GE apparent digestibility coefficient of M. pruriens whole pods obtained through multiple regression equations were 0.692, 0.457, 0.654 respectively. In vivo DE and ME content of mucuna whole pod were estimated in 11.0 and 9.7 MJ/kg DM. It was concluded that whole pods from M. pruriens did not affect nutrient utilization when included in an mixed diet up to 200 g/kg DM. This is the first in vivo estimation of mucuna whole pod ME value for ruminants. PMID:25049876

The eyes of LITENING

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moser, Eric K.

2016-05-01

LITENING is an airborne system-of-systems providing long-range imaging, targeting, situational awareness, target tracking, weapon guidance, and damage assessment, incorporating a laser designator and laser range finders, as well as non-thermal and thermal imaging systems, with multi-sensor boresight. Robust operation is at a premium, and subsystems are partitioned to modular, swappable line-replaceable-units (LRUs) and shop-replaceable-units (SRUs). This presentation will explore design concepts for sensing, data storage, and presentation of imagery associated with the LITENING targeting pod. The "eyes" of LITENING are the electro-optic sensors. Since the initial LITENING II introduction to the US market in the late 90s, as the program has evolved and matured, a series of spiral functional improvements and sensor upgrades have been incorporated. These include laser-illuminated imaging, and more recently, color sensing. While aircraft displays are outside of the LITENING system, updates to the available viewing modules have also driven change, and resulted in increasingly effective ways of utilizing the targeting system. One of the latest LITENING spiral upgrades adds a new capability to display and capture visible-band color imagery, using new sensors. This is an augmentation to the system's existing capabilities, which operate over a growing set of visible and invisible colors, infrared bands, and laser line wavelengths. A COTS visible-band camera solution using a CMOS sensor has been adapted to meet the particular needs associated with the airborne targeting use case.

Continuous 30-day measurements utilizing the monkey metabolism pod. [study of weightlessness effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pace, N.; Kodama, A. M.; Mains, R. C.; Rahlmann, D. F.; Grunbaum, B. W.

1977-01-01

A fiberglass system was previously described, using which quantitative physiological measurements could be made to study the effects of weightlessness on 10 to 14 kg adult monkeys maintained in comfortable restraint under space flight conditions. Recent improvements in the system have made it possible to obtain continuous measurements of respiratory gas exchange, cardiovascular function, and mineral balance for periods of up to 30 days on pig-tailed monkeys. It has also been possible to operate two pods which share one set of instrumentation, thereby permitting simultaneous measurements to be made on two animals by commutating signal outputs from the pods. In principle, more than two pods could be operated in this fashion. The system is compatible with Spacelab design. Representative physiological data from ground tests of the system are presented.

Laboratory evaluation of dual-frequency multisensor capacitance probes to monitor soil water and salinity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Real-time information on salinity levels and transport of fertilizers are generally missing from soil profile knowledge bases. A dual-frequency multisensor capacitance probe (MCP) is now commercially available for sandy soils that simultaneously monitor volumetric soil water content (VWC, ') and sa...

Loss of PodJ in Agrobacterium tumefaciens Leads to Ectopic Polar Growth, Branching, and Reduced Cell Division

PubMed Central

Anderson-Furgeson, James C.; Zupan, John R.; Grangeon, Romain

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a rod-shaped Gram-negative bacterium that elongates by unipolar addition of new cell envelope material. Approaching cell division, the growth pole transitions to a nongrowing old pole, and the division site creates new growth poles in sibling cells. The A. tumefaciens homolog of the Caulobacter crescentus polar organizing protein PopZ localizes specifically to growth poles. In contrast, the A. tumefaciens homolog of the C. crescentus polar organelle development protein PodJ localizes to the old pole early in the cell cycle and accumulates at the growth pole as the cell cycle proceeds. FtsA and FtsZ also localize to the growth pole for most of the cell cycle prior to Z-ring formation. To further characterize the function of polar localizing proteins, we created a deletion of A. tumefaciens podJ (podJAt). ΔpodJAt cells display ectopic growth poles (branching), growth poles that fail to transition to an old pole, and elongated cells that fail to divide. In ΔpodJAt cells, A. tumefaciens PopZ-green fluorescent protein (PopZAt-GFP) persists at nontransitioning growth poles postdivision and also localizes to ectopic growth poles, as expected for a growth-pole-specific factor. Even though GFP-PodJAt does not localize to the midcell in the wild type, deletion of podJAt impacts localization, stability, and function of Z-rings as assayed by localization of FtsA-GFP and FtsZ-GFP. Z-ring defects are further evidenced by minicell production. Together, these data indicate that PodJAt is a critical factor for polar growth and that ΔpodJAt cells display a cell division phenotype, likely because the growth pole cannot transition to an old pole. IMPORTANCE How rod-shaped prokaryotes develop and maintain shape is complicated by the fact that at least two distinct species-specific growth modes exist: uniform sidewall insertion of cell envelope material, characterized in model organisms such as Escherichia coli, and unipolar growth, which occurs

An Evaluation of the Pea Pod System for Assessing Body Composition of Moderately Premature Infants.

PubMed

Forsum, Elisabet; Olhager, Elisabeth; Törnqvist, Caroline

2016-04-22

(1) BACKGROUND: Assessing the quality of growth in premature infants is important in order to be able to provide them with optimal nutrition. The Pea Pod device, based on air displacement plethysmography, is able to assess body composition of infants. However, this method has not been sufficiently evaluated in premature infants; (2) METHODS: In 14 infants in an age range of 3-7 days, born after 32-35 completed weeks of gestation, body weight, body volume, fat-free mass density (predicted by the Pea Pod software), and total body water (isotope dilution) were assessed. Reference estimates of fat-free mass density and body composition were obtained using a three-component model; (3) RESULTS: Fat-free mass density values, predicted using Pea Pod, were biased but not significantly (p > 0.05) different from reference estimates. Body fat (%), assessed using Pea Pod, was not significantly different from reference estimates. The biological variability of fat-free mass density was 0.55% of the average value (1.0627 g/mL); (4) CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the Pea Pod system is accurate for groups of newborn, moderately premature infants. However, more studies where this system is used for premature infants are needed, and we provide suggestions regarding how to develop this area.

Exercising with an iPod, Friend, or Neither: Which Is Better for Psychological Benefits?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plante, Thomas G.; Gustafson, Carissa; Brecht, Carrie; Imberi, Jenny; Sanchez, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

Objective: To examine the role of music and social contact on exercise benefits. Methods: Two hundred twenty-nine (n229) students were randomly assigned to one of 6 conditions: biking alone with iPod or friend in a laboratory, walking alone with iPod or friend outdoors, or biking or walking alone in control conditions. All participants completed…

Fine phenotyping of pod and seed traits in Arachis germplasm accessions using digital image analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Reliable and objective phenotyping of peanut pod and seed traits is important for cultivar selection and genetic mapping of yield components. To develop useful and efficient methods to quantitatively define peanut pod and seed traits, a group of peanut germplasm with high levels of phenotypic varia...

The use of multisensor images for Earth Science applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, D.; Stromberg, B.

1983-01-01

The use of more than one remote sensing technique is particularly important for Earth Science applications because of the compositional and textural information derivable from the images. The ability to simultaneously analyze images acquired by different sensors requires coregistration of the multisensor image data sets. In order to insure pixel to pixel registration in areas of high relief, images must be rectified to eliminate topographic distortions. Coregistered images can be analyzed using a variety of multidimensional techniques and the acquired knowledge of topographic effects in the images can be used in photogeologic interpretations.

Carob pod water extracts as feedstock for succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z.

PubMed

Carvalho, Margarida; Roca, Christophe; Reis, Maria A M

2014-10-01

Carob pods are a by-product of locust bean gum industry containing more than 50% (w/w) sucrose, glucose and fructose. In this work, carob pod water extracts were used, for the first time, for succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z. Kinetic studies of glucose, fructose and sucrose consumption as individual carbon sources till 30g/L showed no inhibition on cell growth, sugar consumption and SA production rates. Sugar extraction from carob pods was optimized varying solid/liquid ratio and extraction time, maximizing sugar recovery while minimizing the extraction of polyphenols. Batch fermentations containing 10-15g/L total sugars resulted in a maximum specific SA production rate of 0.61Cmol/Cmol X.h, with a yield of 0.55Cmol SA/Cmol sugar and a volumetric productivity of 1.61g SA/L.h. Results demonstrate that carob pods can be a promising low cost feedstock for bio-based SA production. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PodNet, a protein-protein interaction network of the podocyte.

PubMed

Warsow, Gregor; Endlich, Nicole; Schordan, Eric; Schordan, Sandra; Chilukoti, Ravi K; Homuth, Georg; Moeller, Marcus J; Fuellen, Georg; Endlich, Karlhans

2013-07-01

Interactions between proteins crucially determine cellular structure and function. Differential analysis of the interactome may help elucidate molecular mechanisms during disease development; however, this analysis necessitates mapping of expression data on protein-protein interaction networks. These networks do not exist for the podocyte; therefore, we built PodNet, a literature-based mouse podocyte network in Cytoscape format. Using database protein-protein interactions, we expanded PodNet to XPodNet with enhanced connectivity. In order to test the performance of XPodNet in differential interactome analysis, we examined podocyte developmental differentiation and the effect of cell culture. Transcriptomes of podocytes in 10 different states were mapped on XPodNet and analyzed with the Cytoscape plugin ExprEssence, based on the law of mass action. Interactions between slit diaphragm proteins are most significantly upregulated during podocyte development and most significantly downregulated in culture. On the other hand, our analysis revealed that interactions lost during podocyte differentiation are not regained in culture, suggesting a loss rather than a reversal of differentiation for podocytes in culture. Thus, we have developed PodNet as a valuable tool for differential interactome analysis in podocytes, and we have identified established and unexplored regulated interactions in developing and cultured podocytes.

Poster - 11: Radiation barrier thickness calculations for the GammaPod

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

La Russa, Daniel; Vandervoort, Eric; Wilkins, Davi

A consortium of radiotherapy centers in North America is in the process of evaluating a novel new {sup 60}Co teletherapy device, called the GammaPod™ (Xcision Medical Systems, Columbia Maryland), designed specifically for breast SBRT. The GammaPod consists of 36 collimated {sup 60}Co sources with a total activity of 4320 Ci. The sources are housed in a hemispherical source carrier that rotates during treatment to produce a cylindrically symmetric cone of primary beam spanning 16° – 54° degrees from the horizontal. This unique beam geometry presents challenges when designing or evaluating room shielding for the purposes of meeting regulatory requirements, andmore » for ensuring the safety of staff and the public in surrounding areas. Conventional methods for calculating radiation barrier thicknesses have been adapted so that barrier transmission factors for the GammaPod can be determined from a few relevant distances and characteristics of the primary beam. Simple formalisms have been determined for estimating shielding requirements for primary radiation (with a rotating and non-rotating source carrier), patient-scattered radiation, and leakage radiation. When making worst case assumptions, it was found that conventional barrier thicknesses associated with linac treatment suites are sufficient for shielding all sources of radiation from the GammaPod.« less

Development of a Multi-Sensor Cancer Detection Probe Final Report CRADA No. TC-2026-01

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

Marion, J.; Hular, R.

This collaboration continued work started under a previous CRADA (TSB-2023-00) to take a detailed concept specification for a multi-sensor needle/probe suitable for breast cancer analysis and produce a prototype system suitable for human FDA trials.

Emergent, Self-Directed, and Self-Organized Learning: Literacy, Numeracy, and the iPod Touch

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricci, Carlo

2011-01-01

This paper uses narrative and storying to retell how two girls ages 5 and 7 continue to make use of an iPod touch to expand their literacy and numeracy. The paper explores the stopwatch and alarm features within the clock application, as well as the weather application, and the Internet browsing capability of the iPod touch. It also explores some…

Model reconstruction using POD method for gray-box fault detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, H. G.; Zak, M.

2003-01-01

This paper describes using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method to create low-order dynamical models for the Model Filter component of Beacon-based Exception Analysis for Multi-missions (BEAM).

Breath analysis system for early detection of lung diseases based on multi-sensor array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeon, Jin-Young; Yu, Joon-Boo; Shin, Jeong-Suk; Byun, Hyung-Gi; Lim, Jeong-Ok

2013-05-01

Expiratory breath contains various VOCs(Volatile Organic Compounds) produced from the human. When a certain disease exists, the exhalation has specific VOCs which may be generated from diseases. Many researchers have been actively working to find different types of biomarkers which are characteristic for particular diseases. Research regarding the identification of specific diseases from exhalation is still in progress. The aim of this research is to implement early detection of lung disease such as lung cancer and COPD(Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), which was nominated on the 6th of domestic death rate in 2010, based on multi-sensor array system. The system has been used to acquire sampled expiratory gases data and PCA(Principle Component Analysis) technique was applied to analyze signals from multi-sensor array. Throughout the experimental trials, a clearly distinguishable difference between lung disease patients and healthy controls was found from the measurement and analysis of their respective expiratory gases.

Allergic contact dermatitis caused by isobornyl acrylate in OmniPod, an innovative tubeless insulin pump.

PubMed

Raison-Peyron, Nadia; Mowitz, Martin; Bonardel, Nathalie; Aerts, Olivier; Bruze, Magnus

2018-04-10

The frequency of allergic contact dermatitis caused by (meth)acrylates is increasing worldwide, and isobornyl acrylate (IBOA) has been identified as a culprit sensitizer in FreeStyle Libre, a medical device used by diabetic patients. To report on 4 patients sensitized to IBOA contained in OmniPod, a new, tubeless insulin pump, and to describe the clinical and chemical analytical work-up. Four patients with eczematous skin eruptions after using OmniPod, including 2 with previous adverse skin reactions to FreeStyle Libre, were patch tested with a baseline series and additional (meth)acrylates, including IBOA in several concentrations and/or vehicles. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify the presence of IBOA in OmniPod. All patients were shown to be sensitized to IBOA. GC-MS identified IBOA in OmniPod, with the highest concentrations being found in the unit itself and not in the adhesive patch. The OmniPod tubeless insulin pump is another source of IBOA, and its use may lead to primary sensitization to this acrylate, or may provoke elicitation of allergic contact dermatitis in previously sensitized patients. Our cases highlight the need to obtain satisfactory cooperation from pharmaceutical companies involved in the manufacture of these widely used medical devices. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Multisensor data fusion for enhanced respiratory rate estimation in thermal videos.

PubMed

Pereira, Carina B; Xinchi Yu; Blazek, Vladimir; Venema, Boudewijn; Leonhardt, Steffen

2016-08-01

Scientific studies have demonstrated that an atypical respiratory rate (RR) is frequently one of the earliest and major indicators of physiological distress. However, it is also described in the literature as "the neglected vital parameter", mainly due to shortcomings of clinical available monitoring techniques, which require attachment of sensors to the patient's body. The current paper introduces a novel approach that uses multisensor data fusion for an enhanced RR estimation in thermal videos. It considers not only the temperature variation around nostrils and mouth, but the upward and downward movement of both shoulders. In order to analyze the performance of our approach, two experiments were carried out on five healthy candidates. While during phase A, the subjects breathed normally, during phase B they simulated different breathing patterns. Thoracic effort was the gold standard elected to validate our algorithm. Our results show an excellent agreement between infrared thermography (IRT) and ground truth. While in phase A a mean correlation of 0.983 and a root-mean-square error of 0.240 bpm (breaths per minute) was obtained, in phase B they hovered around 0.995 and 0.890 bpm, respectively. In sum, IRT may be a promising clinical alternative to conventional sensors. Additionally, multisensor data fusion contributes to an enhancement of RR estimation and robustness.

Antifertility effects of methanolic pod extract of Albizzia lebbeck (L.) Benth in male rats.

PubMed

Gupta, R S; Kachhawa, J B S; Chaudhary, R

2004-06-01

To evaluate the antifertility activity of the methanolic pod extract of Albizzia lebbeck (L.) Benth in male albino rats. The methanolic pod extract of Albizzia lebbeck was administrated orally for 60 days at 50, 100 and 200 mg.kg(-1).day(-1) to male albino rats. Sperm motility and density in cauda epididymides were assessed. Biochemical and histological analysis were performed in blood samples and reproductive organs. Albizzia lebbeck pod extract brought about a significant decrease in the weights of testis, seminal vesicles, epdidymis and ventral prostate. The sperm motility and density were significantly reduced. There was a marked reduction in the numbers of primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes and spermatids. The Sertoli cell count as well as its cross sectional surface area were significantly decreased. The Leydig cell nuclear area and the number of mature Leydig cells were also significantly decreased. The protein, glycogen and cholesterol content of the testis, the fructose in the seminal vesicles and protein in the epididymis were significantly decreased. The RBC and WBC counts, haemoglobin, haematocrit and blood sugar were within the normal range. The methanolic extract of A. lebbeck pods causes spermatogenic arrest in male albino rats.

Airborne imaging spectrometers developed in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianyu; Xue, Yongqi

1998-08-01

Airborne imaging spectral technology, principle means in airborne remote sensing, has been developed rapidly both in the world and in China recently. This paper describes Modular Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (MAIS), Operational Modular Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (OMAIS) and Pushbroom Hyperspectral Imagery (PHI) that have been developed or are being developed in Airborne Remote Sensing Lab of Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, CAS.

Effect of Tara (Caesalpinia spinosa) Pod Powder on the Oxidation and Colour Stability of Pork Meat Batter During Chilled Storage

PubMed Central

Skowyra, Monika; Janiewicz, Urszula; Salejda, Anna Marietta; Krasnowska, Grażyna

2015-01-01

Summary The effect of dried pods of Caesalpinia spinosa, known as tara, on pH, cooking loss, lipid oxidation, colour stability and texture of model meat systems stored at 4 °C for 21 days was investigated. Tara pod powder showing a potential antioxidant activity was added at 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08% (by mass) directly to the pork batter and compared with a synthetic antioxidant, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and control (no added antioxidants). The addition of tara pod powder at 0.02% was as effective as BHA (0.02%) in retarding lipid oxidation in pork products during storage. Results showed that redness increased after the addition of tara pod powder. Specifically, 0.02% of tara pod powder was effective in keeping the red colour of meat batter stored under illumination at 4 °C for 48 h. Hardness of pork products was the lowest in samples manufactured with tara pod powder compared with control. Results highlight the potential of using tara pod powder as natural functional ingredient in the development of pork products with enhanced quality and shelf life. PMID:27904376

GEMINI RENDEZVOUS EVALUATION POD (REP) - ARTIST CONCEPT

NASA Image and Video Library

1965-08-01

S65-28653 (August 1965) --- Rendezvous Evaluation Pod (REP) in orbit is approached by Gemini spacecraft as seen in this artist's concept using an actual photograph taken on the Gemini-4 mission. The REP is superimposed over a Gemini-4 Earth-sky picture of cloud formations over an ocean. The REP will be used by the crew of the Gemini-5 spacecraft to practice rendezvous techniques.

Multi-Sensor Based Online Attitude Estimation and Stability Measurement of Articulated Heavy Vehicles.

PubMed

Zhu, Qingyuan; Xiao, Chunsheng; Hu, Huosheng; Liu, Yuanhui; Wu, Jinjin

2018-01-13

Articulated wheel loaders used in the construction industry are heavy vehicles and have poor stability and a high rate of accidents because of the unpredictable changes of their body posture, mass and centroid position in complex operation environments. This paper presents a novel distributed multi-sensor system for real-time attitude estimation and stability measurement of articulated wheel loaders to improve their safety and stability. Four attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) are constructed using micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensors, and installed on the front body, rear body, rear axis and boom of an articulated wheel loader to detect its attitude. A complementary filtering algorithm is deployed for sensor data fusion in the system so that steady state margin angle (SSMA) can be measured in real time and used as the judge index of rollover stability. Experiments are conducted on a prototype wheel loader, and results show that the proposed multi-sensor system is able to detect potential unstable states of an articulated wheel loader in real-time and with high accuracy.

Multi-Sensor Based Online Attitude Estimation and Stability Measurement of Articulated Heavy Vehicles

PubMed Central

Xiao, Chunsheng; Liu, Yuanhui; Wu, Jinjin

2018-01-01

Articulated wheel loaders used in the construction industry are heavy vehicles and have poor stability and a high rate of accidents because of the unpredictable changes of their body posture, mass and centroid position in complex operation environments. This paper presents a novel distributed multi-sensor system for real-time attitude estimation and stability measurement of articulated wheel loaders to improve their safety and stability. Four attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) are constructed using micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensors, and installed on the front body, rear body, rear axis and boom of an articulated wheel loader to detect its attitude. A complementary filtering algorithm is deployed for sensor data fusion in the system so that steady state margin angle (SSMA) can be measured in real time and used as the judge index of rollover stability. Experiments are conducted on a prototype wheel loader, and results show that the proposed multi-sensor system is able to detect potential unstable states of an articulated wheel loader in real-time and with high accuracy. PMID:29342850

An Improved Multi-Sensor Fusion Navigation Algorithm Based on the Factor Graph

PubMed Central

Zeng, Qinghua; Chen, Weina; Liu, Jianye; Wang, Huizhe

2017-01-01

An integrated navigation system coupled with additional sensors can be used in the Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) applications because the multi-sensor information is redundant and complementary, which can markedly improve the system accuracy. How to deal with the information gathered from different sensors efficiently is an important problem. The fact that different sensors provide measurements asynchronously may complicate the processing of these measurements. In addition, the output signals of some sensors appear to have a non-linear character. In order to incorporate these measurements and calculate a navigation solution in real time, the multi-sensor fusion algorithm based on factor graph is proposed. The global optimum solution is factorized according to the chain structure of the factor graph, which allows for a more general form of the conditional probability density. It can convert the fusion matter into connecting factors defined by these measurements to the graph without considering the relationship between the sensor update frequency and the fusion period. An experimental MUAV system has been built and some experiments have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:28335570

Pod Mildew on Soybeans Can Mitigate the Damage to the Seed Arising from Field Mold at Harvest Time.

PubMed

Liu, Jiang; Deng, Juncai; Zhang, Ke; Wu, Haijun; Yang, Caiqiong; Zhang, Xiaowen; Du, Junbo; Shu, Kai; Yang, Wenyu

2016-12-07

Seedpods are the outermost barrier of legume plants encountered by pests and pathogens, but research on this tissue, especially regarding their chemical constituents, is limited. In the present study, a mildew-index-model-based cluster analysis was used to evaluate and identify groups of soybean genotypes with different organ-specific resistance against field mold. The constituents of soybean pods, including proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and isoflavones, were analyzed. Linear regression and correlation analyses were also conducted between these main pod constituents and the organ-specific mildew indexes of seed (MIS) and pod (MIP). With increases in the contents of infection constituents, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fatty acids, the MIP increased and the MIS decreased. The MIS decreased with increases in the contents of glycitein (GLE)-type isoflavonoids, which act as antibiotic constituents. Although the infection constituents in the soybean pods caused pod mildew, they also helped mitigate the corresponding seed mildew to a certain extent.

Airborne Tactical Crossload Planner

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

set out in the Airborne Standard Operating Procedure (ASOP). 14. SUBJECT TERMS crossload, airborne, optimization, integer linear programming ...they land to their respective sub-mission locations. In this thesis, we formulate and implement an integer linear program called the Tactical...to meet any desired crossload objectives. xiv We demonstrate TCP with two real-world tactical problems from recent airborne operations: one by the

Status report on the land processes aircraft science management operations working group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawless, James G.; Mann, Lisa J.

1991-01-01

Since its inception three years ago, the Land Processes Aircraft Science Management Operations Working Group (MOWG) provided recommendations on the optimal use of the Agency's aircraft in support of the Land Processes Science Program. Recommendations covered topics such as aircraft and sensor usage, development of long-range plans, Multisensor Airborne Campaigns (MAC), program balance, aircraft sensor databases, new technology and sensor development, and increased University scientist participation in the program. Impacts of these recommendations improved the efficiency of various procedures including the flight request process, tracking of flight hours, and aircraft usage. The group also created a bibliography focused on publications produced by Land Processes scientists from the use of the aircraft program, surveyed NASA funded PI's on their participation in the aircraft program, and developed a planning template for multi-sensor airborne campaigns. Benefits from these activities are summarized.

Reliability of BOD POD Measurements Remains High After a Short-Duration Low-Carbohydrate Diet.

PubMed

Greer, Beau Kjerulf; Edsall, Kathleen M; Greer, Anna E

2016-04-01

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether expected changes in body weight via a 3-day low-carbohydrate (LC) diet will disrupt the reliability of air displacement plethysmography measurements via BOD POD. Twenty-four subjects recorded their typical diets for 3 days before BOD POD and 7-site skinfold analyses. Subjects were matched for lean body mass and divided into low-CHO (LC) and control (CON) groups. The LC group was given instruction intended to prevent more than 50 grams/day of carbohydrate consumption for 3 consecutive days, and the CON group replicated their previously recorded diet. Body composition measurements were repeated after dietary intervention. Test-retest reliability measures were significant (p < .01) and high for body fat percentage in both the LC and the CON groups (rs = .993 and .965, respectively). Likewise, skinfold analysis for body fat percentage reliability was high in both groups (rs = .996 and .997, respectively). There were significant differences between 1st and 2nd BOD POD measurements for body mass (72.9 ± 13.3 vs. 72.1 ± 13.0 kg [M ± SD]) and body volume (69.0 ± 12.7-68.1 ± 12.2 L) in the LC group (p < .05). However, there were no differences (p > .05) in BOD POD-determined body fat percentage, lean body mass, or fat mass between the 1st and 2nd trial in either group. Body composition measures via BOD POD and 7-site skinfolds remain reliable after 3 days of an LC diet despite significant decreases in body mass.

SR-71 wind tunnel scale model with LASRE pod

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

This is a photo of the SR-71 scale wind tunnel model showing the Linear Aerospike SR Experiment (LASRE) pod attachment location. The model was on display for the LASRE fit-check at the Lockheed Martin Skunkworks on Feb. 15, 1996, in Palmdale, California. The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle. The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus (pod) on the back of the SR-71. Five later flights focused on the experiment itself. Two were used to cycle gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen through the experiment to check its plumbing system for leaks and to test engine operational characteristics. During the other three flights, liquid oxygen was cycled through the engine. Two engine hot-firings were also completed on the ground. A final hot-fire test flight was canceled because of liquid oxygen leaks in the test apparatus. The LASRE experiment itself was a 20-percent-scale, half-span model of a lifting body shape (X-33) without the fins. It was rotated 90 degrees and equipped with eight thrust cells of an aerospike engine and was mounted on a housing known as the 'canoe,' which contained the gaseous hydrogen, helium, and instrumentation gear. The model, engine, and canoe together were called a 'pod.' The experiment focused on determining how a reusable launch vehicle's engine flume would affect the aerodynamics of its lifting-body shape at specific altitudes and speeds. The

Toward The identification Of candidate genes involved in black pod disease resistance in Theobroma cacao L.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Increasing yield, quality and disease resistance are important objectives for cacao breeding programs. Some of the diseases, such as black pod rot (Phytophtora spp), frosty pod (Moniliophthora roreri) and witches’ broom (M. perniciosa), produce significant losses in all or in some of the various pro...

LASRE pod being mated to SR-71

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment is mounted on a NASA SR-71 aircraft Aug. 26, at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in preparation for the experiment's first flight, which took place on 31 October 1997. The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle. The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus (pod) on the back of the SR-71. Five later flights focused on the experiment itself. Two were used to cycle gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen through the experiment to check its plumbing system for leaks and to test engine operational characteristics. During the other three flights, liquid oxygen was cycled through the engine. Two engine hot-firings were also completed on the ground. A final hot-fire test flight was canceled because of liquid oxygen leaks in the test apparatus. The LASRE experiment itself was a 20-percent-scale, half-span model of a lifting body shape (X-33) without the fins. It was rotated 90 degrees and equipped with eight thrust cells of an aerospike engine and was mounted on a housing known as the 'canoe,' which contained the gaseous hydrogen, helium, and instrumentation gear. The model, engine, and canoe together were called a 'pod.' The experiment focused on determining how a reusable launch vehicle's engine flume would affect the aerodynamics of its lifting-body shape at specific altitudes and speeds. The interaction of the

Compact survey and inspection day/night image sensor suite for small unmanned aircraft systems (EyePod)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bird, Alan; Anderson, Scott A.; Linne von Berg, Dale; Davidson, Morgan; Holt, Niel; Kruer, Melvin; Wilson, Michael L.

2010-04-01

EyePod is a compact survey and inspection day/night imaging sensor suite for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). EyePod generates georeferenced image products in real-time from visible near infrared (VNIR) and long wave infrared (LWIR) imaging sensors and was developed under the ONR funded FEATHAR (Fusion, Exploitation, Algorithms, and Targeting for High-Altitude Reconnaissance) program. FEATHAR is being directed and executed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in conjunction with the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) and FEATHAR's goal is to develop and test new tactical sensor systems specifically designed for small manned and unmanned platforms (payload weight < 50 lbs). The EyePod suite consists of two VNIR/LWIR (day/night) gimbaled sensors that, combined, provide broad area survey and focused inspection capabilities. Each EyePod sensor pairs an HD visible EO sensor with a LWIR bolometric imager providing precision geo-referenced and fully digital EO/IR NITFS output imagery. The LWIR sensor is mounted to a patent-pending jitter-reduction stage to correct for the high-frequency motion typically found on small aircraft and unmanned systems. Details will be presented on both the wide-area and inspection EyePod sensor systems, their modes of operation, and results from recent flight demonstrations.

Glow phenomenon surrounding the vertical stabilizer and OMS pods

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-03-05

STS062-42-026 (4-18 March 1994) --- This 35mm frame, photographed as the Space Shuttle Columbia was orbiting Earth during a "night" pass, documents the glow phenomenon surrounding the vertical stabilizer and the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods of the spacecraft.

International Symposium on Airborne Geophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mogi, Toru; Ito, Hisatoshi; Kaieda, Hideshi; Kusunoki, Kenichiro; Saltus, Richard W.; Fitterman, David V.; Okuma, Shigeo; Nakatsuka, Tadashi

2006-05-01

Airborne geophysics can be defined as the measurement of Earth properties from sensors in the sky. The airborne measurement platform is usually a traditional fixed-wing airplane or helicopter, but could also include lighter-than-air craft, unmanned drones, or other specialty craft. The earliest history of airborne geophysics includes kite and hot-air balloon experiments. However, modern airborne geophysics dates from the mid-1940s when military submarine-hunting magnetometers were first used to map variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The current gamut of airborne geophysical techniques spans a broad range, including potential fields (both gravity and magnetics), electromagnetics (EM), radiometrics, spectral imaging, and thermal imaging.

Improving succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes from raw industrial carob pods.

PubMed

Carvalho, Margarida; Roca, Christophe; Reis, Maria A M

2016-10-01

Carob pods are an inexpensive by-product of locust bean gum industry that can be used as renewable feedstock for bio-based succinic acid. Here, for the first time, unprocessed raw carob pods were used to extract a highly enriched sugar solution, afterwards used as substrate to produce succinic acid using Actinobacillus succinogenes. Batch fermentations containing 30g/L sugars resulted in a production rate of 1.67gSA/L.h and a yield of 0.39gSA/g sugars. Taking advantage of A. succinogenes' metabolism, uncoupling cell growth from succinic acid production, a fed-batch mode was implemented to increase succinic acid yield and reduce by-products formation. This strategy resulted in a succinic acid yield of 0.94gSA/g sugars, the highest yield reported in the literature for fed-batch and continuous experiments, while maintaining by-products at residual values. Results demonstrate that raw carob pods are a highly efficient feedstock for bio-based succinic acid production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A method for creating interactive content for the iPod, and its potential use as a learning tool: Technical Advances

PubMed Central

Palmer, Edward J; Devitt, Peter G

2007-01-01

Background Podcasting is currently a popular means of delivery of information with a large number of podcasts specifically tailored for educational purposes. It can be argued that the passive nature of this teaching methodology limits the educational benefit that can be derived from podcasts. This paper describes the development and construction of interactive material for the iPod, and a survey of student attitudes towards this type of learning material. Methods The development of interactive material for an iPod is described in detail. This material was developed and demonstrated to 50 medical students. These students completed a paper-based survey on the potential uses of this technology, before and after a 20 minute presentation in class of an interactive case-study on an iPod. Results A technical description of how to develop interactive content for the iPod was created. The results of the student survey indicate a favourable shift in student attitudes after viewing the interactive case. Despite only 15% of the students owning an iPod, 57% of the students were positive about having access to interactive iPod content and 59% believed they would use it whilst travelling. The percentage of students who felt podcasting was a useful means of learning increased from 9% to 41%. Conclusion The development of interactive content for the iPod is feasible. There are indications that students view interactive iPod cases as having value as an additional learning resource. PMID:17888168

Investigation of the Stability of POD-Galerkin Techniques for Reduced Order Model Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-09

symmetrizing the higher- order PDE with a preconditioning matrix. Rowley et al. also pointed out that defining a proper inner product can be important when...equations. The ROM is obtained by employing Galerkin’s method to reduce the high-order PDEs to a lower-order ODE system by means of POD eigen-bases...employing Galerkin’s method to reduce the high-order PDEs to a lower-order ODE system by means of POD eigen-bases. Possible solutions of the ROM stability

Seasonal and pod-specific differences in core use areas by resident killer whales in the Northern Gulf of Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, Daniel W.; Matkin, Craig O.; Andrews, Russel D.; Atkinson, Shannon

2018-01-01

The resident killer whale is a genetically and behaviorally distinct ecotype of killer whale (Orcinus orca) found in the North Pacific that feeds primarily on Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp .). Details regarding core use areas have been inferred by boat surveys, but are subject to effort bias and weather limitations. To investigate core use areas, 37 satellite tags were deployed from 2006 to 2014 on resident killer whales representing 12 pods in the Northern Gulf of Alaska, and transmissions were received during the months of June to January. Core use areas were identified through utilization distributions using a biased Brownian Bridge movement model. Distinct differences in these core use areas were revealed, and were highly specific to season and pod. In June, July, and August, the waters of Hinchinbrook Entrance and west of Kayak Island were primary areas used, mainly by 3 separate pods. These same pods shifted their focus to Montague Strait in August, September, and October. Port Gravina was a focal area for 2 other pods in June, July, and August, but this was not the case in later months. These pods were responsible for seven of eight documented trips into the deeper fjords of Prince William Sound, yet these fjords were not a focus for most groups of killer whales. The seasonal differences in core use may be a response to the seasonal returns of salmon, though details on specific migration routes and timing for the salmon are limited. We found strong seasonal and pod-specific shifts in patterns between core use areas. Future research should investigate pod differences in diet composition and relationships between core area use and bathymetry.

Regional Drought Monitoring Based on Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhee, Jinyoung; Im, Jungho; Park, Seonyoung

2014-05-01

Drought originates from the deficit of precipitation and impacts environment including agriculture and hydrological resources as it persists. The assessment and monitoring of drought has traditionally been performed using a variety of drought indices based on meteorological data, and recently the use of remote sensing data is gaining much attention due to its vast spatial coverage and cost-effectiveness. Drought information has been successfully derived from remotely sensed data related to some biophysical and meteorological variables and drought monitoring is advancing with the development of remote sensing-based indices such as the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Vegetation Health Index (VHI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) to name a few. The Scaled Drought Condition Index (SDCI) has also been proposed to be used for humid regions proving the performance of multi-sensor data for agricultural drought monitoring. In this study, remote sensing-based hydro-meteorological variables related to drought including precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture were examined and the SDCI was improved by providing multiple blends of the multi-sensor indices for different types of drought. Multiple indices were examined together since the coupling and feedback between variables are intertwined and it is not appropriate to investigate only limited variables to monitor each type of drought. The purpose of this study is to verify the significance of each variable to monitor each type of drought and to examine the combination of multi-sensor indices for more accurate and timely drought monitoring. The weights for the blends of multiple indicators were obtained from the importance of variables calculated by non-linear optimization using a Machine Learning technique called Random Forest. The case study was performed in the Republic of Korea, which has four distinct seasons over the course of the year and contains complex topography with a variety

ASPECT (Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology) Fact Sheet

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This multi-sensor screening tool provides infrared and photographic images with geospatial, chemical, and radiological data within minutes to support emergency responses, home-land security missions, environmental surveys, and climate monitoring missions.

Advanced Airborne Defensive Laser for Incorporation on Strike Fighter Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-09-01

Systems within the Pod The Cyclops pod contains several systems working together to perform the high - level functions. The status of these systems must be...by the aircraft is limited, and Cyclops power requirements are high . commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Ram Air Turbines are available and are...Supply Subsystem The Cyclops pod must generate its own power due to lack of available power from the aircraft; therefore, the Power supply has high

An adaptive Hidden Markov Model for activity recognition based on a wearable multi-sensor device

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Human activity recognition is important in the study of personal health, wellness and lifestyle. In order to acquire human activity information from the personal space, many wearable multi-sensor devices have been developed. In this paper, a novel technique for automatic activity recognition based o...

Results from the EPL monkey-pod flight experiments conducted aboard the NASA/Ames CV-990, May 1976

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rahlmann, D. F.; Kodama, A. M.; Mains, R. C.; Pace, N.

1976-01-01

The participation of the Environmental Physiology Laboratory (EPL) in the general purpose laboratory concept verification test 3 is documented. The EPL Monkey-Pod Experiment was designed to incorporate a 10-12 kg, pig tailed monkey, Macaca nemestrina, into the pod and measure the physiological responses of the animal continously. Four major elements comprise the EPL Monkey-Pod Experiment System: (1) a fiberglass pod containing the instrumented monkey plus feeder and watering devices, (2) an inner console containing the SKYLAB mass spectrometer with its associated valving and electronic controls, sensing, control and monitoring units for lower body negative pressure, feeder activity, waterer activity, temperatures, and gas metabolism calibration, (3) an umbilical complex comprising gas flow lines and electrical cabling between the inner and outer console and (4) an outer console in principle representing the experiment support to be provided from general space craft sources.

Large-Scale, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Hybrid Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2015-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, MODIS, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. HySDS is a Hybrid-Cloud Science Data System that has been developed and applied under NASA AIST, MEaSUREs, and ACCESS grants. HySDS uses the SciFlow workflow engine to partition analysis workflows into parallel tasks (e.g. segmenting by time or space) that are pushed into a durable job queue. The tasks are "pulled" from the queue by worker Virtual Machines (VM's) and executed in an on-premise Cloud (Eucalyptus or OpenStack) or at Amazon in the public Cloud or govCloud. In this way, years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the transferred data. We are using HySDS to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of HySDS, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing datasets on our own nodes and in the Amazon Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. Our system demonstrates how one can pull A-Train variables (Levels 2 & 3) on-demand into the Amazon Cloud, and cache only those variables that are heavily used, so that any number of compute jobs can be

Improving Nutritional Quality of Cocoa Pod (Theobroma cacao) through Chemical and Biological Treatments for Ruminant Feeding: In vitro and In vivo Evaluation.

PubMed

Laconi, Erika B; Jayanegara, Anuraga

2015-03-01

Cocoa pod is among the by-products of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) plantations. The aim of this study was to apply a number of treatments in order to improve nutritional quality of cocoa pod for feeding of ruminants. Cocoa pod was subjected to different treatments, i.e. C (cocoa pod without any treatment or control), CAm (cocoa pod+1.5% urea), CMo (cocoa pod+3% molasses), CRu (cocoa pod+3% rumen content) and CPh (cocoa pod+3% molasses+Phanerochaete chrysosporium inoculum). Analysis of proximate and Van Soest's fiber fraction were performed on the respective treatments. The pods were then subjected to an in vitro digestibility evaluation by incubation in rumen fluid-buffer medium, employing a randomized complete block design (n = 3 replicates). Further, an in vivo evaluation of the pods (35% inclusion level in total mixed ration) was conducted by feeding to young Holstein steers (average body weight of 145±3.6 kg) with a 5×5 latin square design arrangement (n = 5 replicates). Each experimental period lasted for 30 d; the first 20 d was for feed adaptation, the next 3 d was for sampling of rumen liquid, and the last 7 d was for measurements of digestibility and N balance. Results revealed that lignin content was reduced significantly when cocoa pod was treated with urea, molasses, rumen content or P. chrysosporium (p<0.01) with the following order of effectiveness: CPh>CAm>CRu>CMo. Among all treatments, CAm and CPh treatments significantly improved the in vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility (p<0.05) of cocoa pod. Average daily gain of steers receiving CAm or CPh treatment was significantly higher than that of control (p<0.01) with an increase of 105% and 92%, respectively. Such higher daily gain was concomitant with higher N retention and proportion of N retention to N intake in CAm and CPh treatments than those of control (p<0.05). It can be concluded from this study that treatment with either urea or P. chrysosporium is effective in improving the

Drying of vanilla pods using a greenhouse effect solar dryer

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

Abdullah, K.; Mursalim

This paper describes the basic design of the GHE solar dryer and evaluates the performance of the dryer when used to dry vanilla pods. From laboratory test results it was indicted that the average drying time for vanilla pods was between 49 to 53.5 hrs. For the case of heating augmentation using coal briquette stoves. The total amount of coal briquettes used to produce drying air temperature between 33 C to 65 C and RH of about 34% during day time was 61 kg equivalent to 6.1 kW heating rate and the average electric energy usage of 36.5 kWh, respectively.more » Quality test results indicated that the dried products were of grade IA of the export quality standard with vaniline content of 2.36%.« less

Podagogy: The iPod as a Learning Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dale, Crispin; Pymm, John M.

2009-01-01

With the growing influence of social media on contemporary society, educators have to adapt to new ways of engaging students in the learning process. The use of iPod technologies, as part of this new breed of social media and associated gadgetry, offers fresh opportunities to enhance the student learning experience. As part of a research project…

Preliminary Orbit Determination System (PODS) for Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)-tracked target Spacecraft using the homotopy continuation method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschner, S. M.; Samii, M. V.; Broaddus, S. R.; Doll, C. E.

1988-01-01

The Preliminary Orbit Determination System (PODS) provides early orbit determination capability in the Trajectory Computation and Orbital Products System (TCOPS) for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)-tracked spacecraft. PODS computes a set of orbit states from an a priori estimate and six tracking measurements, consisting of any combination of TDRSS range and Doppler tracking measurements. PODS uses the homotopy continuation method to solve a set of nonlinear equations, and it is particularly effective for the case when the a priori estimate is not well known. Since range and Doppler measurements produce multiple states in PODS, a screening technique selects the desired state. PODS is executed in the TCOPS environment and can directly access all operational data sets. At the completion of the preliminary orbit determination, the PODS-generated state, along with additional tracking measurements, can be directly input to the differential correction (DC) process to generate an improved state. To validate the computational and operational capabilities of PODS, tests were performed using simulated TDRSS tracking measurements for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite and using real TDRSS measurements for the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) spacecraft. The effects of various measurement combinations, varying arc lengths, and levels of degradation of the a priori state vector on the PODS solutions were considered.

Automatic parameter selection for feature-based multi-sensor image registration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DelMarco, Stephen; Tom, Victor; Webb, Helen; Chao, Alan

2006-05-01

Accurate image registration is critical for applications such as precision targeting, geo-location, change-detection, surveillance, and remote sensing. However, the increasing volume of image data is exceeding the current capacity of human analysts to perform manual registration. This image data glut necessitates the development of automated approaches to image registration, including algorithm parameter value selection. Proper parameter value selection is crucial to the success of registration techniques. The appropriate algorithm parameters can be highly scene and sensor dependent. Therefore, robust algorithm parameter value selection approaches are a critical component of an end-to-end image registration algorithm. In previous work, we developed a general framework for multisensor image registration which includes feature-based registration approaches. In this work we examine the problem of automated parameter selection. We apply the automated parameter selection approach of Yitzhaky and Peli to select parameters for feature-based registration of multisensor image data. The approach consists of generating multiple feature-detected images by sweeping over parameter combinations and using these images to generate estimated ground truth. The feature-detected images are compared to the estimated ground truth images to generate ROC points associated with each parameter combination. We develop a strategy for selecting the optimal parameter set by choosing the parameter combination corresponding to the optimal ROC point. We present numerical results showing the effectiveness of the approach using registration of collected SAR data to reference EO data.

Multisensor data fusion for IED threat detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mees, Wim; Heremans, Roel

2012-10-01

In this paper we present the multi-sensor registration and fusion algorithms that were developed for a force protection research project in order to detect threats against military patrol vehicles. The fusion is performed at object level, using a hierarchical evidence aggregation approach. It first uses expert domain knowledge about the features used to characterize the detected threats, that is implemented in the form of a fuzzy expert system. The next level consists in fusing intra-sensor and inter-sensor information. Here an ordered weighted averaging operator is used. The object level fusion between candidate threats that are detected asynchronously on a moving vehicle by sensors with different imaging geometries, requires an accurate sensor to world coordinate transformation. This image registration will also be discussed in this paper.

Multigenic Control of Pod Shattering Resistance in Chinese Rapeseed Germplasm Revealed by Genome-Wide Association and Linkage Analyses

PubMed Central

Liu, Jia; Wang, Jun; Wang, Hui; Wang, Wenxiang; Zhou, Rijin; Mei, Desheng; Cheng, Hongtao; Yang, Juan; Raman, Harsh; Hu, Qiong

2016-01-01

The majority of rapeseed cultivars shatter seeds upon maturity especially under hot-dry and windy conditions, reducing yield and gross margin return to growers. Here, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to pod shatter in an unstructured diverse panel of 143 rapeseed accessions, and two structured populations derived from bi-parental doubled haploid (DH) and inter-mated (IF2) crosses derived from R1 (resistant to pod shattering) and R2 (prone to pod shattering) accessions. Genome-wide association analysis identified six significant QTL for resistance to pod shatter located on chromosomes A01, A06, A07, A09, C02, and C05. Two of the QTL, qSRI.A09 delimited with the SNP marker Bn-A09-p30171993 (A09) and qSRI.A06 delimited with the SNP marker Bn-A06-p115948 (A06) could be repeatedly detected across environments in a diversity panel, DH and IF2 populations, suggesting that at least two loci on chromosomes A06 and A09 were the main contributors to pod shatter resistance in Chinese germplasm. Significant SNP markers identified in this study especially those that appeared repeatedly across environments provide a cost-effective and an efficient method for introgression and pyramiding of favorable alleles for pod shatter resistance via marker-assisted selection in rapeseed improvement programs. PMID:27493651

Tracking POD's Engagement with Diversity: A Content Analysis of "To Improve the Academy" and POD Network Conference Programs from 1977 to 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grooters, Stacy E.

2014-01-01

This study examines the degree to which sessions from the annual Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Conference and articles from "To Improve the Academy" engage questions of diversity. The titles and abstracts of 3,946 conference sessions and 560 journal articles were coded for presence and type of diversity. A…

Control of a HexaPOD treatment couch for robot-assisted radiotherapy.

PubMed

Hermann, Christian; Ma, Lei; Wilbert, Jürgen; Baier, Kurt; Schilling, Klaus

2012-10-01

Moving tumors, for example in the vicinity of the lungs, pose a challenging problem in radiotherapy, as healthy tissue should not be irradiated. Apart from gating approaches, one standard method is to irradiate the complete volume within which a tumor moves plus a safety margin containing a considerable volume of healthy tissue. This work deals with a system for tumor motion compensation using the HexaPOD® robotic treatment couch (Medical Intelligence GmbH, Schwabmünchen, Germany). The HexaPOD, carrying the patient during treatment, is instructed to perform translational movements such that the tumor motion, from the beams-eye view of the linear accelerator, is eliminated. The dynamics of the HexaPOD are characterized by time delays, saturations, and other non-linearities that make the design of control a challenging task. The focus of this work lies on two control methods for the HexaPOD that can be used for reference tracking. The first method uses a model predictive controller based on a model gained through system identification methods, and the second method uses a position control scheme useful for reference tracking. We compared the tracking performance of both methods in various experiments with real hardware using ideal reference trajectories, prerecorded patient trajectories, and human volunteers whose breathing motion was compensated by the system.

ARC - A source of multisensor satellite data for polar science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Van Woert, Michael L.; Whritner, Robert H.; Waliser, Duane E.; Bromwich, David H.; Comiso, J. C.

1992-01-01

The NSF's Antarctic Research Center (ARC) has been established to furnish real-time polar-orbiting satellite data in support of Antarctic field studies, as well as to maintain a multisensor satellite data (MSD) archive for retrospective data analysis. An account is presently given of the ways in which the complementary nature of an MSD set can deepen understanding of Antarctic physical processes. An active microwave SAR with 30-m resolution and a radar altimeter will be added to the ARC resources later in this decade, as will the Earth Observing System.

Small RNA profiling and degradome analysis reveal regulation of microRNA in peanut embryogenesis and early pod development.

PubMed

Gao, Chao; Wang, Pengfei; Zhao, Shuzhen; Zhao, Chuanzhi; Xia, Han; Hou, Lei; Ju, Zheng; Zhang, Ye; Li, Changsheng; Wang, Xingjun

2017-03-02

As a typical geocarpic plant, peanut embryogenesis and pod development are complex processes involving many gene regulatory pathways and controlled by appropriate hormone level. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play indispensable roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Recently, identification and characterization of peanut miRNAs has been described. However, whether miRNAs participate in the regulation of peanut embryogenesis and pod development has yet to be explored. In this study, small RNA and degradome libraries from peanut early pod of different developmental stages were constructed and sequenced. A total of 70 known and 24 novel miRNA families were discovered. Among them, 16 miRNA families were legume-specific and 12 families were peanut-specific. 30 known and 10 novel miRNA families were differentially expressed during pod development. In addition, 115 target genes were identified for 47 miRNA families by degradome sequencing. Several new targets that might be specific to peanut were found and further validated by RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of 5' cDNA ends (RLM 5'-RACE). Furthermore, we performed profiling analysis of intact and total transcripts of several target genes, demonstrating that SPL (miR156/157), NAC (miR164), PPRP (miR167 and miR1088), AP2 (miR172) and GRF (miR396) are actively modulated during early pod development, respectively. Large numbers of miRNAs and their related target genes were identified through deep sequencing. These findings provided new information on miRNA-mediated regulatory pathways in peanut pod, which will contribute to the comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms that governing peanut embryo and early pod development.

Toxicity following laundry detergent pod ingestion.

PubMed

Schneir, Aaron B; Rentmeester, Landen; Clark, Richard F; Cantrell, F Lee

2013-06-01

Laundry detergent pods (LDPs) have only recently become available in the United States, and there has been increasing concern regarding pediatric ingestions of them. We describe a 15-month-old female infant who ingested an LDP and had a depressed level of consciousness, metabolic acidosis, pulmonary toxicity, and swallowing difficulties. It is currently unclear what the exact etiologic agent(s) is responsible for the toxicity associated with LDPs. The case demonstrates the potential for significant toxicity following the ingestion of an LDP. Clearly, measures should be taken to avoid ingestions of these products.

A deep transcriptomic analysis of pod development in the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia).

PubMed

Rao, Xiaolan; Krom, Nick; Tang, Yuhong; Widiez, Thomas; Havkin-Frenkel, Daphna; Belanger, Faith C; Dixon, Richard A; Chen, Fang

2014-11-07

Pods of the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) accumulate large amounts of the flavor compound vanillin (3-methoxy, 4-hydroxy-benzaldehyde) as a glucoside during the later stages of their development. At earlier stages, the developing seeds within the pod synthesize a novel lignin polymer, catechyl (C) lignin, in their coats. Genomic resources for determining the biosynthetic routes to these compounds and other flavor components in V. planifolia are currently limited. Using next-generation sequencing technologies, we have generated very large gene sequence datasets from vanilla pods at different times of development, and representing different tissue types, including the seeds, hairs, placental and mesocarp tissues. This developmental series was chosen as being the most informative for interrogation of pathways of vanillin and C-lignin biosynthesis in the pod and seed, respectively. The combined 454/Illumina RNA-seq platforms provide both deep sequence coverage and high quality de novo transcriptome assembly for this non-model crop species. The annotated sequence data provide a foundation for understanding multiple aspects of the biochemistry and development of the vanilla bean, as exemplified by the identification of candidate genes involved in lignin biosynthesis. Our transcriptome data indicate that C-lignin formation in the seed coat involves coordinate expression of monolignol biosynthetic genes with the exception of those encoding the caffeoyl coenzyme A 3-O-methyltransferase for conversion of caffeoyl to feruloyl moieties. This database provides a general resource for further studies on this important flavor species.

Dynamic changes in pod and fungal physiology associated with the shift from biotrophy to necrotrophy during the infection of Theobroma cacao by Moniliophthora roreri

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Where it occurs in South and Central America, M. roreri (Mr) causes a destructive pod disease (frosty pod rot) on Theobroma cacao (cacao). Hand pollinated cacao pods were inoculated with Mr spores in the field and assessed for disease symptoms over a 90 day period. On average, pods showed symptoms o...

Evaluation of meteorological airborne Doppler radar

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hildebrand, P. H.; Mueller, C. K.

1984-01-01

This paper will discuss the capabilities of airborne Doppler radar for atmospheric sciences research. The evaluation is based on airborne and ground based Doppler radar observations of convective storms. The capability of airborne Doppler radar to measure horizontal and vertical air motions is evaluated. Airborne Doppler radar is shown to be a viable tool for atmospheric sciences research.

Webinar: Airborne Data Discovery and Analysis with Toolsets for Airborne Data (TAD)

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2016-10-18

Webinar: Airborne Data Discovery and Analysis with Toolsets for Airborne Data (TAD) Wednesday, October 26, 2016 Join us on ... and flight data ranges are available. Registration is now open.  Access the full announcement   For TAD Information, ...

Observability considerations for multi-sensor and product fusion: Bias, information content, and validation (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, J. S.; Zhang, J.; Hyer, E. J.; Campbell, J. R.; Christopher, S. A.; Ferrare, R. A.; Leptoukh, G. G.; Stackhouse, P. W.

2009-12-01

With the successful development of many aerosol products from the NASA A-train as well as new operational geostationary and polar orbiting sensors, the scientific community now has a host of new parameters to use in their analyses. The variety and quality of products has reached a point where the community has moved from basic observation-based science to sophisticated multi-component research that addresses the complex atmospheric environment. In order for these satellite data contribute to the science their uncertainty levels must move from semi-quantitative to quantitative. Initial attempts to quantify uncertainties have led to some recent debate in the community as to the efficacy of aerosol products from current and future NASA satellite sensors. In an effort to understand the state of satellite product fidelity, the Naval Research Laboratory and a newly reformed Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) aerosol panel have both initiated assessments of the nature of aerosol remote sensing uncertainty and bias. In this talk we go over areas of specific concern based on the authors’ experiences with the data, emphasizing the multi-sensor problem. We first enumerate potential biases, including retrieval, sampling/contextual, and cognitive bias. We show examples of how these biases can subsequently lead to the pitfalls of correlated/compensating errors, tautology, and confounding. The nature of bias is closely related to the information content of the sensor signal and its subsequent application to the derived aerosol quantity of interest (e.g., optical depth, flux, index of refraction, etc.). Consequently, purpose-specific validation methods must be employed, especially when generating multi-sensor products. Indeed, cloud and lower boundary condition biases in particular complicate the more typical methods of regressional bias elimination and histogram matching. We close with a discussion of sequestration of uncertainty in multi-sensor applications of

Inflammatory markers in postoperative delirium (POD) and cognitive dysfunction (POCD): A meta-analysis of observational studies

PubMed Central

Liu, Xuling; Yu, Yang

2018-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to summarize and discuss the similarities and differences in inflammatory biomarkers in postoperative delirium (POD) and cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Methods A systematic retrieval of literature up to June 2017 in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, and the Wanfang database was conducted. Extracted data were analyzed with STATA (version 14). The standardized mean difference (SMD) and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of each indicator were calculated using a random effect model. We also performed tests of heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, assessments of bias, and meta-regression in this meta-analysis. Results A total of 54 observational studies were included. By meta-analysis we found significantly increased C-reactive protein (CRP) (9 studies, SMD 0.883, 95% CI 0.130 to 1.637, P = 0.022 in POD; 10 studies, SMD -0.133, 95% CI -0.512 to 0.246, P = 0.429 in POCD) and interleukin (IL)-6 (7 studies, SMD 0.386, 95% CI 0.054 to 0.717, P = 0.022 in POD; 16 studies, SMD 0.089, 95% CI -0.133 to 0.311, P = 0.433 in POCD) concentrations in both POD and POCD patients. We also found that the SMDs of CRP and IL-6 from POCD patients were positively correlated with surgery type in the meta-regression (CRP: Coefficient = 1.555365, P = 0.001, 10 studies; IL-6: Coefficient = -0.6455521, P = 0.086, 16 studies). Conclusion Available evidence from medium-to-high quality observational studies suggests that POD and POCD are indeed correlated with the concentration of peripheral and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory markers. Some of these markers, such as CRP and IL-6, play roles in both POD and POCD, while others are specific to either one of them. PMID:29641605

Measuring Geophysical Parameters of the Greenland Ice Sheet using Airborne Radar Altimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferraro, Ellen J.; Swift. Calvin T.

1995-01-01

This paper presents radar-altimeter scattering models for each of the diagenetic zones of the Greenland ice sheet. AAFE radar- altimeter waveforms obtained during the 1991 and 1993 NASA multi-sensor airborne altimetry experiments over Greenland reveal that the Ku-band return pulse changes significantly with the different diagenetic zones. These changes are due to varying amounts of surface and volume scattering in the return waveform. In the ablation and soaked zones, where surface scattering dominates the AAFE return, geophysical parameters such as rms surface height and rms surface slope are obtained by fitting the waveforms to a surface-scattering model. Waveforms from the percolation zone show that the sub-surface ice features have a much more significant effect on the return pulse than the surrounding snowpack. Model percolation waveforms, created using a combined surface- and volume-scattering model and an ice-feature distribution obtained during the 1993 field season, agree well with actual AAFE waveforms taken in the same time period. Using a combined surface- and volume-scattering model for the dry-snow-zone return waveforms, the rms surface height and slope and the attenuation coefficient of the snowpack are obtained. These scattering models not only allow geophysical parameters of the ice sheet to be measured but also help in the understanding of satellite radar-altimeter data.

UAVSAR - A New Airborne L-Band Radar for Repeat Pass Interferometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mace, Thomas H.; Lou, Yunling

2009-01-01

NASA/JPL has developed a new airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which has become available for use by the scientific community in January, 2009. Pod mounted, the UAVSAR was designed to be portable among a variety of aircraft, including unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The instrument operates in the L-Band, has a resolution under 2m from a GPS altitude of 12Km and a swath width of approximately 20Km. UAVSAR currently flies on a modified Gulfstream-III aircraft, operated by NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California. The G-III platform enables repeat-pass interferometric measurements, by using a modified autopilot and precise kinematic differential GPS to repeatedly fly the aircraft within a specified 10m tube. The antenna is electronically steered along track to assure that the antenna beam can be directed independently, regardless of speed and wind direction. The instrument can be controlled remotely, AS AN OPTION, using the Research Environment for Vehicle Embedded Analysis on Linux (REVEAL). This allows simulation of the telepresence environment necessary for flight on UAS. Potential earth science research and applications include surface deformation, volcano studies, ice sheet dynamics, and vegetation structure.

POD/DEIM reduced-order strategies for efficient four dimensional variational data assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ştefănescu, R.; Sandu, A.; Navon, I. M.

2015-08-01

This work studies reduced order modeling (ROM) approaches to speed up the solution of variational data assimilation problems with large scale nonlinear dynamical models. It is shown that a key requirement for a successful reduced order solution is that reduced order Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions accurately represent their full order counterparts. In particular, accurate reduced order approximations are needed for the forward and adjoint dynamical models, as well as for the reduced gradient. New strategies to construct reduced order based are developed for proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) ROM data assimilation using both Galerkin and Petrov-Galerkin projections. For the first time POD, tensorial POD, and discrete empirical interpolation method (DEIM) are employed to develop reduced data assimilation systems for a geophysical flow model, namely, the two dimensional shallow water equations. Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical framework for Galerkin projection. In the case of Petrov-Galerkin projection, stabilization strategies must be considered for the reduced order models. The new reduced order shallow water data assimilation system provides analyses similar to those produced by the full resolution data assimilation system in one tenth of the computational time.

POD/DEIM reduced-order strategies for efficient four dimensional variational data assimilation

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

Ştefănescu, R., E-mail: rstefane@vt.edu; Sandu, A., E-mail: sandu@cs.vt.edu; Navon, I.M., E-mail: inavon@fsu.edu

2015-08-15

This work studies reduced order modeling (ROM) approaches to speed up the solution of variational data assimilation problems with large scale nonlinear dynamical models. It is shown that a key requirement for a successful reduced order solution is that reduced order Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions accurately represent their full order counterparts. In particular, accurate reduced order approximations are needed for the forward and adjoint dynamical models, as well as for the reduced gradient. New strategies to construct reduced order based are developed for proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) ROM data assimilation using both Galerkin and Petrov–Galerkin projections. For the first time POD, tensorialmore » POD, and discrete empirical interpolation method (DEIM) are employed to develop reduced data assimilation systems for a geophysical flow model, namely, the two dimensional shallow water equations. Numerical experiments confirm the theoretical framework for Galerkin projection. In the case of Petrov–Galerkin projection, stabilization strategies must be considered for the reduced order models. The new reduced order shallow water data assimilation system provides analyses similar to those produced by the full resolution data assimilation system in one tenth of the computational time.« less

Processor architecture for airborne SAR systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glass, C. M.

1983-01-01

Digital processors for spaceborne imaging radars and application of the technology developed for airborne SAR systems are considered. Transferring algorithms and implementation techniques from airborne to spaceborne SAR processors offers obvious advantages. The following topics are discussed: (1) a quantification of the differences in processing algorithms for airborne and spaceborne SARs; and (2) an overview of three processors for airborne SAR systems.

Response of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to terminal drought: leaf stomatal conductance, pod abscisic acid concentration, and seed set.

PubMed

Pang, Jiayin; Turner, Neil C; Khan, Tanveer; Du, Yan-Lei; Xiong, Jun-Lan; Colmer, Timothy D; Devilla, Rosangela; Stefanova, Katia; Siddique, Kadambot H M

2017-04-01

Flower and pod production and seed set of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) are sensitive to drought stress. A 2-fold range in seed yield was found among a large number of chickpea genotypes grown at three dryland field sites in south-western Australia. Leaf water potential, photosynthetic characteristics, and reproductive development of two chickpea genotypes with contrasting yields in the field were compared when subjected to terminal drought in 106kg containers of soil in a glasshouse. The terminal drought imposed from early podding reduced biomass, reproductive growth, harvest index, and seed yield of both genotypes. Terminal drought at least doubled the percentage of flower abortion, pod abscission, and number of empty pods. Pollen viability and germination decreased when the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) decreased below 0.18 (82% of the plant-available soil water had been transpired); however, at least one pollen tube in each flower reached the ovary. The young pods which developed from flowers produced when the FTSW was 0.50 had viable embryos, but contained higher abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations than those of the well-watered plants; all pods ultimately aborted in the drought treatment. Cessation of seed set at the same soil water content at which stomata began to close and ABA increased strongly suggested a role for ABA signalling in the failure to set seed either directly through abscission of developing pods or seeds or indirectly through the reduction of photosynthesis and assimilate supply to the seeds. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is moved into place on Atlantis. It is one of two OMS pods attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is moved into place on Atlantis. It is one of two OMS pods attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is moved closer to Atlantis for installation. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is moved closer to Atlantis for installation. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods is being moved for installation on Atlantis. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods is being moved for installation on Atlantis. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

Airborne relay-based regional positioning system.

PubMed

Lee, Kyuman; Noh, Hongjun; Lim, Jaesung

2015-05-28

Ground-based pseudolite systems have some limitations, such as low vertical accuracy, multipath effects and near-far problems. These problems are not significant in airborne-based pseudolite systems. However, the monitoring of pseudolite positions is required because of the mobility of the platforms on which the pseudolites are mounted, and this causes performance degradation. To address these pseudolite system limitations, we propose an airborne relay-based regional positioning system that consists of a master station, reference stations, airborne relays and a user. In the proposed system, navigation signals are generated from the reference stations located on the ground and are relayed via the airborne relays. Unlike in conventional airborne-based systems, the user in the proposed system sequentially estimates both the locations of airborne relays and his/her own position. Therefore, a delay due to monitoring does not occur, and the accuracy is not affected by the movement of airborne relays. We conducted several simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. Based on the simulation results, we demonstrated that the proposed system guarantees a higher accuracy than airborne-based pseudolite systems, and it is feasible despite the existence of clock offsets among reference stations.

Airborne Relay-Based Regional Positioning System

PubMed Central

Lee, Kyuman; Noh, Hongjun; Lim, Jaesung

2015-01-01

Ground-based pseudolite systems have some limitations, such as low vertical accuracy, multipath effects and near-far problems. These problems are not significant in airborne-based pseudolite systems. However, the monitoring of pseudolite positions is required because of the mobility of the platforms on which the pseudolites are mounted, and this causes performance degradation. To address these pseudolite system limitations, we propose an airborne relay-based regional positioning system that consists of a master station, reference stations, airborne relays and a user. In the proposed system, navigation signals are generated from the reference stations located on the ground and are relayed via the airborne relays. Unlike in conventional airborne-based systems, the user in the proposed system sequentially estimates both the locations of airborne relays and his/her own position. Therefore, a delay due to monitoring does not occur, and the accuracy is not affected by the movement of airborne relays. We conducted several simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. Based on the simulation results, we demonstrated that the proposed system guarantees a higher accuracy than airborne-based pseudolite systems, and it is feasible despite the existence of clock offsets among reference stations. PMID:26029953

Teaching Students with Developmental Disabilities to Operate an iPod Touch[R] to Listen to Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kagohara, Debora M.; Sigafoos, Jeff; Achmadi, Donna; van der Meer, Larah; O'Reilly, Mark F.; Lancioni, Giulio E.

2011-01-01

We evaluated an intervention procedure for teaching three students with developmental disabilities to independently operate a portable multimedia device (i.e., an iPod Touch[R]) to listen to music. The intervention procedure included the use of video modeling, which was presented on the same iPod Touch[R] that the students were taught to operate…

mQTL-seq delineates functionally relevant candidate gene harbouring a major QTL regulating pod number in chickpea

PubMed Central

Das, Shouvik; Singh, Mohar; Srivastava, Rishi; Bajaj, Deepak; Saxena, Maneesha S.; Rana, Jai C.; Bansal, Kailash C.; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Parida, Swarup K.

2016-01-01

The present study used a whole-genome, NGS resequencing-based mQTL-seq (multiple QTL-seq) strategy in two inter-specific mapping populations (Pusa 1103 × ILWC 46 and Pusa 256 × ILWC 46) to scan the major genomic region(s) underlying QTL(s) governing pod number trait in chickpea. Essentially, the whole-genome resequencing of low and high pod number-containing parental accessions and homozygous individuals (constituting bulks) from each of these two mapping populations discovered >8 million high-quality homozygous SNPs with respect to the reference kabuli chickpea. The functional significance of the physically mapped SNPs was apparent from the identified 2,264 non-synonymous and 23,550 regulatory SNPs, with 8–10% of these SNPs-carrying genes corresponding to transcription factors and disease resistance-related proteins. The utilization of these mined SNPs in Δ (SNP index)-led QTL-seq analysis and their correlation between two mapping populations based on mQTL-seq, narrowed down two (CaqaPN4.1: 867.8 kb and CaqaPN4.2: 1.8 Mb) major genomic regions harbouring robust pod number QTLs into the high-resolution short QTL intervals (CaqbPN4.1: 637.5 kb and CaqbPN4.2: 1.28 Mb) on chickpea chromosome 4. The integration of mQTL-seq-derived one novel robust QTL with QTL region-specific association analysis delineated the regulatory (C/T) and coding (C/A) SNPs-containing one pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) gene at a major QTL region regulating pod number in chickpea. This target gene exhibited anther, mature pollen and pod-specific expression, including pronounced higher up-regulated (∼3.5-folds) transcript expression in high pod number-containing parental accessions and homozygous individuals of two mapping populations especially during pollen and pod development. The proposed mQTL-seq-driven combinatorial strategy has profound efficacy in rapid genome-wide scanning of potential candidate gene(s) underlying trait-associated high-resolution robust QTL(s), thereby expediting

Spectrophotometric versus NIR-MIR assessments of cowpea pods for discriminating the impact of freezing.

PubMed

Machado, Nelson; Domínguez-Perles, Raúl; Ramos, Ana; Rosa, Eduardo As; Barros, Ana Irna

2017-10-01

Freezing represents an important storage method for vegetal foodstuffs, such as cowpea pods, and thus the impact of this process on the chemical composition of these matrices arises as a prominent issue. In this sense, the phytochemical contents in frozen cowpea pods (i.e. at 6 and 9 months) have been compared with fresh cowpea pods material, with the samples being concomitantly assessed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), both mid-infrared (MIR) and near infrared (NIR), aiming to evaluate the potential of these techniques as a rapid tool for the traceability of these matrices. A decrease in phytochemical contents during freezing was observed, allowing the classification of samples according to the freezing period based on such variations. Also, MIR and NIR allowed discrimination of samples: the use of the first derivative demonstrated a better performance for this purpose, whereas the use of the normalized spectra gave the best correlations between the spectra and specific contents. In both cases, NIR displayed the best performance. Freezing of cowpea pods leads to a decrease of phytochemical contents, which can be monitored by FTIR spectroscopy, both within the MIR and NIR ranges, whereas the use of this technique, in tandem with chemometrics, constitutes a suitable methodology for the traceability of these matrices. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Results from the EPL monkey-pod experiment conducted as part of the 1974 NASA/Ames shuttle CVT-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rahlmann, D. F.; Kodama, A. M.; Mains, R. C.; Pace, N.

1974-01-01

The participation of the Environmental Physiology Laboratory (EPL) in the general purpose laboratory concept verification test 3 is documented. The EPL Monkey-Pod Experiment was designed to incorporate a 10-12 kg, pig tailed monkey, Macaca nemestrina, into the pod and measure the physiological responses of the animal continuously. Four major elements comprise the EPL Monkey-Pod Experiment System: (1) a fiberglass pod containing the instrumented monkey plus feeder and watering devices, (2) an inner console containing the SKYLAB mass spectrometer with its associated valving and electronic controls, sensing, control and monitoring units for lower body negative pressure, feeder activity, waterer activity, temperatures, and gas metabolism calibration, (3) an umbilical complex comprising gas flow lines and electrical cabling between the inner and outer console and (4) an outer console in principle representing the experiment support to be provided from general spacecraft sources.

The Intracellular Localization of the Vanillin Biosynthetic Machinery in Pods of Vanilla planifolia.

PubMed

Gallage, Nethaji J; Jørgensen, Kirsten; Janfelt, Christian; Nielsen, Agnieszka J Z; Naake, Thomas; Dunski, Eryk; Dalsten, Lene; Grisoni, Michel; Møller, Birger Lindberg

2018-02-01

Vanillin is the most important flavor compound in the vanilla pod. Vanilla planifolia vanillin synthase (VpVAN) catalyzes the conversion of ferulic acid and ferulic acid glucoside into vanillin and vanillin glucoside, respectively. Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) of vanilla pod sections demonstrates that vanillin glucoside is preferentially localized within the mesocarp and placental laminae whereas vanillin is preferentially localized within the mesocarp. VpVAN is present as the mature form (25 kDa) but, depending on the tissue and isolation procedure, small amounts of the immature unprocessed form (40 kDa) and putative oligomers (50, 75 and 100 kDa) may be observed by immunoblotting using an antibody specific to the C-terminal sequence of VpVAN. The VpVAN protein is localized within chloroplasts and re-differentiated chloroplasts termed phenyloplasts, as monitored during the process of pod development. Isolated chloroplasts were shown to convert [14C]phenylalanine and [14C]cinnamic acid into [14C]vanillin glucoside, indicating that the entire vanillin de novo biosynthetic machinery converting phenylalanine to vanillin glucoside is present in the chloroplast.

Ecology of the cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), a major pest for the cocoa industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Conopomorpha cramerella, the cocoa pod borer (CPB), has been known to damage cocoa pods for more than 100 years, but information on the ecology of this species is scant in the scientific literature. That which does exist is scattered in obscure local journals, not readily accessible, and often unve...

Exploration of POD-Galerkin Techniques for Developing Reduced Order Models of the Euler Equations

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

modes [1]. Barone et al [15, 16] proposed to stabilize the reduced system by symmetrizing the higher-order PDE with a preconditioning matrix. Rowley et...advection scalar equation. The ROM is obtained by employing Galerkin’s method to reduce the high-order PDEs to a lower- order ODE system by means of POD...high-order PDEs to a lower-order ODE system by means of POD eigen-bases. For purposes of this study, a linearized version of the Euler equations is

Parameterizing Coefficients of a POD-Based Dynamical System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalb, Virginia L.

2010-01-01

A method of parameterizing the coefficients of a dynamical system based of a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) representing the flow dynamics of a viscous fluid has been introduced. (A brief description of POD is presented in the immediately preceding article.) The present parameterization method is intended to enable construction of the dynamical system to accurately represent the temporal evolution of the flow dynamics over a range of Reynolds numbers. The need for this or a similar method arises as follows: A procedure that includes direct numerical simulation followed by POD, followed by Galerkin projection to a dynamical system has been proven to enable representation of flow dynamics by a low-dimensional model at the Reynolds number of the simulation. However, a more difficult task is to obtain models that are valid over a range of Reynolds numbers. Extrapolation of low-dimensional models by use of straightforward Reynolds-number-based parameter continuation has proven to be inadequate for successful prediction of flows. A key part of the problem of constructing a dynamical system to accurately represent the temporal evolution of the flow dynamics over a range of Reynolds numbers is the problem of understanding and providing for the variation of the coefficients of the dynamical system with the Reynolds number. Prior methods do not enable capture of temporal dynamics over ranges of Reynolds numbers in low-dimensional models, and are not even satisfactory when large numbers of modes are used. The basic idea of the present method is to solve the problem through a suitable parameterization of the coefficients of the dynamical system. The parameterization computations involve utilization of the transfer of kinetic energy between modes as a function of Reynolds number. The thus-parameterized dynamical system accurately predicts the flow dynamics and is applicable to a range of flow problems in the dynamical regime around the Hopf bifurcation. Parameter

Airborne SAR systems for infrastructures monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perna, Stefano; Berardino, Paolo; Esposito, Carmen; Natale, Antonio

2017-04-01

The present contribution is aimed at showing the capabilities of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems mounted onboard airborne platforms for the monitoring of infrastructures. As well known, airborne SAR systems guarantee narrower spatial coverage than satellite sensors [1]. On the other side, airborne SAR products are characterized by geometric resolution typically higher than that achievable in the satellite case, where larger antennas must be necessarily exploited. More important, airborne SAR platforms guarantee operational flexibility significantly higher than that achievable with satellite systems. Indeed, the revisit time between repeated SAR acquisitions in the satellite case cannot be freely decided, whereas in the airborne case it can be kept very short. This renders the airborne platforms of key interest for the monitoring of infrastructures, especially in case of emergencies. However, due to the platform deviations from a rectilinear, reference flight track, the generation of airborne SAR products is not a turn of the crank procedure as in the satellite case. Notwithstanding proper algorithms exist in order to circumvent this kind of limitations. In this work, we show how the exploitation of airborne SAR sensors, coupled to the use of such algorithms, allows obtaining high resolution monitoring of infrastructures in urban areas. [1] G. Franceschetti, and R.Lanari, Synthetic Aperture Radar Processing, CRC PRESS, New York, 1999.

POD/MAC-Based Modal Basis Selection for a Reduced Order Nonlinear Response Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rizzi, Stephen A.; Przekop, Adam

2007-01-01

A feasibility study was conducted to explore the applicability of a POD/MAC basis selection technique to a nonlinear structural response analysis. For the case studied the application of the POD/MAC technique resulted in a substantial improvement of the reduced order simulation when compared to a classic approach utilizing only low frequency modes present in the excitation bandwidth. Further studies are aimed to expand application of the presented technique to more complex structures including non-planar and two-dimensional configurations. For non-planar structures the separation of different displacement components may not be necessary or desirable.

Laundry detergent pod ingestions: is there a need for endoscopy?

PubMed

Smith, Erika; Liebelt, Erica; Nogueira, Jan

2014-09-01

Laundry detergent pod (LDP) exposures in children have resulted in several referrals to the emergency department. Signs and symptoms can include gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, drooling), neurological symptoms (depressed sensorium), or metabolic changes (lactic acidosis). There is limited literature on esophageal injury following LDP ingestions. We reviewed three cases of pediatric LDP ingestions that underwent an upper endoscopy in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. All of our patients were younger than 3 years old. The upper endoscopies revealed superficial esophageal erosions in two patients and erythema in the other. None of the patients had oral burns. Two of them developed swallowing dysfunction. Follow-up upper GI studies were normal. Our three patients ingested laundry detergent pods and all of them developed some degree of esophageal injury despite the absence of oral erythema, ulcers, or swelling. A review of literature suggests LDP exposures are more severe than non-pod detergents. Reasons as to why this may be remain unclear, although investigation into the ingredients and mode of delivery may help us to better understand. In a literature review, no esophageal strictures have been reported after LDP ingestion. We reviewed esophageal injury classification systems in an attempt to predict who may be at greatest risk for stricture based on initial findings. Our case series demonstrates it is hard to predict esophageal injury based on signs and symptoms. Based on a literature review, long-term esophageal stricture is unlikely, but if gastrointestinal symptoms persist, it is reasonable to evaluate with an upper endoscopy. Larger studies are needed.

Integrated multisensor perimeter detection systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kent, P. J.; Fretwell, P.; Barrett, D. J.; Faulkner, D. A.

2007-10-01

The report describes the results of a multi-year programme of research aimed at the development of an integrated multi-sensor perimeter detection system capable of being deployed at an operational site. The research was driven by end user requirements in protective security, particularly in threat detection and assessment, where effective capability was either not available or prohibitively expensive. Novel video analytics have been designed to provide robust detection of pedestrians in clutter while new radar detection and tracking algorithms provide wide area day/night surveillance. A modular integrated architecture based on commercially available components has been developed. A graphical user interface allows intuitive interaction and visualisation with the sensors. The fusion of video, radar and other sensor data provides the basis of a threat detection capability for real life conditions. The system was designed to be modular and extendable in order to accommodate future and legacy surveillance sensors. The current sensor mix includes stereoscopic video cameras, mmWave ground movement radar, CCTV and a commercially available perimeter detection cable. The paper outlines the development of the system and describes the lessons learnt after deployment in a pilot trial.

Introducing Multisensor Satellite Radiance-Based Evaluation for Regional Earth System Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsui, T.; Santanello, J.; Shi, J. J.; Tao, W.-K.; Wu, D.; Peters-Lidard, C.; Kemp, E.; Chin, M.; Starr, D.; Sekiguchi, M.;

Phytophthora megakarya and P. palmivora, closely related causal agents of cacao black pod induce similar reactions when infecting pods of a susceptible cacao genotype

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Phytophthora megakarya (Pmeg) and Phytophthora palmivora (Ppal) cause black pod rot of Theobroma cacao. Of these two clade 4 species; Pmeg is more virulent and is displacing Ppal on cacao in many cacao production areas in Africa. To understand the advantages Pmeg has over Ppal, we compared symptom...

Oil spill characterization thanks to optical airborne imagery during the NOFO campaign 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viallefont-Robinet, F.; Ceamanos, X.; Angelliaume, S.; Miegebielle, V.

2017-10-01

One of the objectives of the NAOMI (New Advanced Observation Method Integration) research project, fruit of a partnership between Total and ONERA, is to work on the detection, the quantification and the characterization of offshore hydrocarbon at the sea surface using airborne remote sensing. In this framework, work has been done to characterize the spectral signature of hydrocarbons in lab in order to build a database of oil spectral signatures. The main objective of this database is to provide spectral libraries for data processing algorithms to be applied to airborne VNIRSWIR hyperspectral images. A campaign run by the NOFO institute (Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies) took place in 2015 to test anti-pollution equipment. During this campaign, several hydrocarbon products, including an oil emulsion, were released into the sea, off the Norwegian coast. The NOFO team allowed the NAOMI project to acquire data over the resulting oil slicks using the SETHI system, which is an airborne remote sensing imaging system developed by ONERA. SETHI integrates a new generation of optoelectronic and radar payloads and can operate over a wide range of frequency bands. SETHI is a pod-based system operating onboard a Falcon 20 Dassault aircraft, which is owned by AvDEF. For these experiments, imaging sensors were constituted by 2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR), working at X and L bands in a full polarimetric mode (HH, HV, VH, VV) and 2 HySpex hyperspectral cameras working in the VNIR (0,4 to 1 μm) and SWIR (1 to 2,5 μm) spectral ranges. A sample of the oil emulsion that was used during the campaign was sent to our laboratory for analysis. Measurements of its transmission and of its reflectance in the VNIR and SWIR spectral domains have been performed at ONERA with a Perkin Elmer spectroradiometer and a spectrogoniometer. Several samples of the oil emulsion were prepared in order to measure spectral variations according to oil thickness, illumination angle

Genetic control of number of flowers and pod set in common bean.

PubMed

Martins, E S; Pinto Júnior, R A; Abreu, A F B; Ramalho, M A P

2017-09-21

This article aimed to study the genetic control of some flowers and pod set of common bean and to verify if its estimate varies with environmental conditions and gene pool. A complete diallel was used among six lines, but no reciprocal ones. The treatments were evaluated in three harvests/generations - F 2 , F 3 , and F 4 - in 2015/2016, in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The plot consisted of 3 lines with 4 m. In the center line, a receptacle to collect the aborted flowers/pods was placed. The traits considered were the number of flowers/plant (N), the percentage of pod set (V), and the production of grain/plant (W). A joint diallel analysis was performed, and the correlations between N, V, ​​and W were estimated. N was 31.9 on average, and V was 40.4%. The average of Mesoamerican parents, for N and V, was higher than for Andean. Specific combining ability explained most of the variation for N, evidencing predominance of dominance effect. For V, specific combining ability was slightly lower than general combining ability, indicating additive loci and also dominance effects. These two traits were very influenced by environment and should be considered a strategy for greater grain yield stability of common bean.

Using Reconstructed POD Modes as Turbulent Inflow for LES Wind Turbine Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielson, Jordan; Bhaganagar, Kiran; Juttijudata, Vejapong; Sirisup, Sirod

2016-11-01

Currently, in order to get realistic atmospheric effects of turbulence, wind turbine LES simulations require computationally expensive precursor simulations. At times, the precursor simulation is more computationally expensive than the wind turbine simulation. The precursor simulations are important because they capture turbulence in the atmosphere and as stated above, turbulence impacts the power production estimation. On the other hand, POD analysis has been shown to be capable of capturing turbulent structures. The current study was performed to determine the plausibility of using lower dimension models from POD analysis of LES simulations as turbulent inflow to wind turbine LES simulations. The study will aid the wind energy community by lowering the computational cost of full scale wind turbine LES simulations, while maintaining a high level of turbulent information and being able to quickly apply the turbulent inflow to multi turbine wind farms. This will be done by comparing a pure LES precursor wind turbine simulation with simulations that use reduced POD mod inflow conditions. The study shows the feasibility of using lower dimension models as turbulent inflow of LES wind turbine simulations. Overall the power production estimation and velocity field of the wind turbine wake are well captured with small errors.

The effects of Psychotropic drugs On Developing brain (ePOD) study: methods and design.

PubMed

Bottelier, Marco A; Schouw, Marieke L J; Klomp, Anne; Tamminga, Hyke G H; Schrantee, Anouk G M; Bouziane, Cheima; de Ruiter, Michiel B; Boer, Frits; Ruhé, Henricus G; Denys, Damiaan; Rijsman, Roselyne; Lindauer, Ramon J L; Reitsma, Hans B; Geurts, Hilde M; Reneman, Liesbeth

2014-02-19

Animal studies have shown that methylphenidate (MPH) and fluoxetine (FLX) have different effects on dopaminergic and serotonergic system in the developing brain compared to the developed brain. The effects of Psychotropic drugs On the Developing brain (ePOD) study is a combination of different approaches to determine whether there are related findings in humans. Animal studies were carried out to investigate age-related effects of psychotropic drugs and to validate new neuroimaging techniques. In addition, we set up two double-blind placebo controlled clinical trials with MPH in 50 boys (10-12 years) and 50 young men (23-40 years) suffering from ADHD (ePOD-MPH) and with FLX in 40 girls (12-14 years) and 40 young women (23-40 years) suffering from depression and anxiety disorders (ePOD-SSRI). Trial registration numbers are: Nederlands Trial Register NTR3103 and NTR2111. A cross-sectional cohort study on age-related effects of these psychotropic medications in patients who have been treated previously with MPH or FLX (ePOD-Pharmo) is also ongoing. The effects of psychotropic drugs on the developing brain are studied using neuroimaging techniques together with neuropsychological and psychiatric assessments of cognition, behavior and emotion. All assessments take place before, during (only in case of MPH) and after chronic treatment. The combined results of these approaches will provide new insight into the modulating effect of MPH and FLX on brain development.

Using the iPod to Teach Freedom and Independence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmitz, Mike

2010-01-01

Technology is making it easier for people with disabilities to function independently in their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities. Things that were once thought impossible are now possible with the aid of new tools available to assist in the transition toward independent living. None have had as big an impact as the iPod Touch. When most…

Effects of a military cargo pod and tail fins on the aerodynamic characteristics of a large wide-body transport model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jernell, L. S.; Croom, D. R.

1979-01-01

Wind tunnel tests were conducted on a 0.03 scale model of a large wide-body commercial aircraft to determine the effects on the static aerodynamic characteristics resulting from the attachment of a belly pod for the long-range deployment of outsize military equipment. The effectiveness of horizontal-tip fins in augmenting directional stability was investigated. At a test Reynolds number of 1.08 x 1,000,000, the addition of the pod results in an increase in total drag of approximately 20 percent. Trim drag due to the pod is very small. Although the pod produces a significant decrease in directional stability, the addition of the tip fins restores some of the stability, particularly at the lower angles of attack.

Marker-Based Multi-Sensor Fusion Indoor Localization System for Micro Air Vehicles.

PubMed

Xing, Boyang; Zhu, Quanmin; Pan, Feng; Feng, Xiaoxue

2018-05-25

A novel multi-sensor fusion indoor localization algorithm based on ArUco marker is designed in this paper. The proposed ArUco mapping algorithm can build and correct the map of markers online with Grubbs criterion and K-mean clustering, which avoids the map distortion due to lack of correction. Based on the conception of multi-sensor information fusion, the federated Kalman filter is utilized to synthesize the multi-source information from markers, optical flow, ultrasonic and the inertial sensor, which can obtain a continuous localization result and effectively reduce the position drift due to the long-term loss of markers in pure marker localization. The proposed algorithm can be easily implemented in a hardware of one Raspberry Pi Zero and two STM32 micro controllers produced by STMicroelectronics (Geneva, Switzerland). Thus, a small-size and low-cost marker-based localization system is presented. The experimental results show that the speed estimation result of the proposed system is better than Px4flow, and it has the centimeter accuracy of mapping and positioning. The presented system not only gives satisfying localization precision, but also has the potential to expand other sensors (such as visual odometry, ultra wideband (UWB) beacon and lidar) to further improve the localization performance. The proposed system can be reliably employed in Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) visual localization and robotics control.

Proximate, mineral, and antinutrient compositions of indigenous Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) pod accessions: implications for mineral bioavailability.

PubMed

Gemede, Habtamu Fekadu; Haki, Gulelat Desse; Beyene, Fekadu; Woldegiorgis, Ashagrie Z; Rakshit, Sudip Kumar

2016-03-01

The promotion and consumption of indigenous vegetables could help to mitigate food insecurity and alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. Nutrient and antinutrient compositions of eight accessions of Okra Pods were investigated. Molar ratios and mineral bioavailability of Okra pod accessions were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the implications for mineral bioavailability. Proximate and mineral composition of Okra pod accessions were determined using standard methods of Association of Official Analytical Chemists. The result of the study revealed that the proximate composition (g/100 g) in dry weight basis was significantly (P < 0.05) varied and ranged: moisture/dry matter 9.69-13.33, crude protein 10.25-26.16, crude fat 0.56-2.49, crude fiber 11.97-29.93, crude ash 5.37-11.30, utilizable carbohydrate 36.66-50.97, and gross energy 197.26-245.55 kcal/100 g. The mineral concentrations (mg/100 g) were also significantly (P < 0.05) varied and ranged: calcium (111.11-311.95), Iron (18.30-36.68), potassium (122.59-318.20), zinc (3.83-6.31), phosphorus (25.62-59.72), and sodium (3.33-8.31) on dry weight bases. The Okra Pods of "OPA#6" accession contained significantly higher amounts of crude protein, total ash, crude fat, calcium, iron, and zinc than all other accessions evaluated in this study. The results of antinutrients analysis showed that, except phytate, tannin, and oxalate contents of all the accessions were significantly (P < 0.05) varied. The range of phytate, tannin, and oxalate contents (mg/100 g) for Okra pod accessions studied were as follows: 0.83-0.87, 4.93-9.90, and 0.04-0.53, respectively. The calculated molar ratios of phytate: calcium, phytate: iron, phytate: zinc, oxalate: calcium and [Phytate][Calcium]/[Zinc] were below the critical value and this indicate that the bioavailability of calcium, iron, and zinc in these accessions could be high. The results of the study revealed that Okra pod contain

Development of kairomone based control programs for cocoa pod borer

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Cocoa Pod Borer moth presents a unique opportunity to develop host volatile attractants for control strategies for the following reasons. First, knowing what volatiles are critical for host finding by females will allow for development of mass trapping and/or attract and kill strategies to cont...

Performance estimates of a Boeing 747-100 transport mated with an outsize cargo pod

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jernell, L. S.

1980-01-01

The design mission performance of a Boeing 747-100 aircraft mated with an outsize cargo pod was studied. The basic design requirement was the rapid deployment of a combat loaded mobile bridge launcher from a United States east coast staging base to Europe. Weight was minimized by stripping the aircraft of unneeded, quick removal items and by utilizing graphite-epoxy composite materials for most pod components. The mission analysis was based on wind tunnel data and full scale carrier aircraft and engine data. The results are presented in tabular and graphic form.

EUVL mask dual pods to be used for mask shipping and handling in exposure tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomei, Yoshio; Ota, Kazuya; Lystad, John; Halbmair, Dave; He, Long

2007-03-01

The concept of Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography (EUVL) mask dual pods is proposed for use in both mask shipping and handling in exposure tools. The inner pod was specially designed to protect masks from particle contamination during shipping from mask houses to wafer factories. It can be installed in a load-lock chamber of exposure tools and evacuated while holding the mask inside. The inner pod upper cover is removed just before the mask is installed to a mask stage. Prototypes were manufactured and tested for shipping and for vacuum cycling. We counted particle adders through these actions with a detectable level of 54 nm and up. The adder count was close to zero, or we can say that the obtained result is within the noise level of our present evaluation environment. This indicates that the present concept is highly feasible for EUVL mask shipping and handling in exposure tools.

Novel Multisensor Probe for Monitoring Bladder Temperature During Locoregional Chemohyperthermia for Nonmuscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Technical Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Geijsen, Debby E.; Zum Vörde Sive Vörding, Paul J.; Schooneveldt, Gerben; Sijbrands, Jan; Hulshof, Maarten C.; de la Rosette, Jean; de Reijke, Theo M.; Crezee, Hans

2013-01-01

Abstract Background and Purpose: The effectiveness of locoregional hyperthermia combined with intravesical instillation of mitomycin C to reduce the risk of recurrence and progression of intermediate- and high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer is currently investigated in clinical trials. Clinically effective locoregional hyperthermia delivery necessitates adequate thermal dosimetry; thus, optimal thermometry methods are needed to monitor accurately the temperature distribution throughout the bladder wall. The aim of the study was to evaluate the technical feasibility of a novel intravesical device (multi-sensor probe) developed to monitor the local bladder wall temperatures during loco-regional C-HT. Materials and Methods: A multisensor thermocouple probe was designed for deployment in the human bladder, using special sensors to cover the bladder wall in different directions. The deployment of the thermocouples against the bladder wall was evaluated with visual, endoscopic, and CT imaging in bladder phantoms, porcine models, and human bladders obtained from obduction for bladder volumes and different deployment sizes of the probe. Finally, porcine bladders were embedded in a phantom and subjected to locoregional heating to compare probe temperatures with additional thermometry inside and outside the bladder wall. Results: The 7.5 cm thermocouple probe yielded optimal bladder wall contact, adapting to different bladder volumes. Temperature monitoring was shown to be accurate and representative for the actual bladder wall temperature. Conclusions: Use of this novel multisensor probe could yield a more accurate monitoring of the bladder wall temperature during locoregional chemohyperthermia. PMID:24112045

Phenolic composition, antioxidant, anti-wrinkles and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of cocoa pod extract.

PubMed

Karim, Azila Abdul; Azlan, Azrina; Ismail, Amin; Hashim, Puziah; Abd Gani, Siti Salwa; Zainudin, Badrul Hisyam; Abdullah, Nur Azilah

2014-10-07

Cocoa pod is an outer part of cocoa fruits being discarded during cocoa bean processing. Authors found out that data on its usage in literature as cosmetic materials was not recorded in vast. In this study, cocoa pod extract was investigated for its potential as a cosmetic ingredient. Cocoa pod extract (CPE) composition was accomplished using UHPLC. The antioxidant capacity were measured using scavenging assay of 1,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), β-carotene bleaching assay (BCB) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Inhibiting effect on skin degradation enzymes was carried out using elastase and collagenase assays. The skin whitening effect of CPE was determined based on mushroom tyrosinase assay and sun screening effect (UV-absorbance at 200-400 nm wavelength). LC-MS/MS data showed the presence of carboxylic acid, phenolic acid, fatty acid, flavonoids (flavonol and flavones), stilbenoids and terpenoids in CPE. Results for antioxidant activity exhibited that CPE possessed good antioxidant activity, based on the mechanism of the assays compared with ascorbic acid (AA) and standardized pine bark extract (PBE); DPPH: AA > CPE > PBE; FRAP: PBE > CPE > AA; and BCB: BHT > CPE > PBE. Cocoa pod extract showed better action against elastase and collagenase enzymes in comparison with PBE and AA. Higher inhibition towards tyrosinase enzyme was exhibited by CPE than kojic acid and AA, although lower than PBE. CPE induced proliferation when tested on human fibroblast cell at low concentration. CPE also exhibited a potential as UVB sunscreen despite its low performance as a UVA sunscreen agent. Therefore, the CPE has high potential as a cosmetic ingredient due to its anti-wrinkle, skin whitening, and sunscreen effects.

Nutritive evaluation and effect of Moringa oleifera pod on clastogenic potential in the mouse.

PubMed

Promkum, Chadamas; Kupradinun, Piengchai; Tuntipopipat, Siriporn; Butryee, Chaniphun

2010-01-01

Moringa oleifera Lam (horseradish tree; tender pod or fruits) has been consumed as a vegetable and utilized as a major ingredient of healthy Thai cuisine. Previous studies have shown that M. oleifera pod extracts act as bifunctional inducers along with displaying antioxidant properties and also inhibiting skin papillomagenesis in mice. This study was aimed to determine the nutritive value, and clastogenic and anticlastogenic potentials of M. oleifera pod. The nutritive value was determined according to AOAC methods. The clastogenic and anticlastogenic potentials were determined using the in vivo erythrocyte micronucleus assay in the mouse. Eighty male mice were fed semi-purified diets containing 1.5%, 3.0% and 6.0% of ground freeze-dried boiled M. oleifera pod (bMO) for 2 weeks prior to administration of both direct-acting (mitomycin C, MMC) and indirect-acting (7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, DMBA), clastogens. Blood samples were collected at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h, dropped on acridine orange-coated slides, and then counted for reticulocytes both with and without micronuclei by fluorescence microscopy. The nutritive value of 100 g bMO consisted of: moisture content, 8.2 g; protein, 19.2 g; fat, 3.9 g; carbohydrate (dietary fiber included), 60.5 g; dietary fiber, 37.5 g; ash, 8.1 g and energy, 354 kcal. Freeze-dried boiled M. oleifera had no clastogenic activity in the mouse while it possessed anticlastogenic activity against both direct and indirect-acting clastogens. Freeze-dried boiled M. oleifera pod at 1.5%, 3.0% and 6.0% in the diets decreased the number of micronucleated peripheral reticulocytes (MNRETs) induced by both MMC and DMBA. However, the effect was statistically significant in the dose dependent manner only in the MMC-treated group. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that bMO has no clastogenicity and possesses anticlastogenic potential against clastogens, and particularly a direct-acting clastogen in the mouse.

Pod of Ultrasonic Detection of Synthetic Hard Alpha Inclusions in Titanium Aircraft Engine Forgings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, R. B.; Meeker, W. Q.; Brasche, L. J. H.

2011-06-01

The probability of detection (POD) of inspection techniques is a key input to estimating the lives of structural components such as aircraft engines. This paper describes work conducted as a part of the development of POD curves for the ultrasonic detection of synthetic hard alpha (SHA) inclusions in titanium aircraft engine forgings. The sample upon which the POD curves are to be based contains four types of right circular SHAs that have been embedded in a representative titanium forging, as well as a number of flat bottomed holes (FBHs). The SHAs were of two sizes, ♯3 and ♯5, with each size including seeds with nominal nitrogen concentrations of both 3 and 17 wt. %. The FBHs included sizes of ♯1, ♯3, and ♯5. This discreteness of the data poses a number of challenges to standard processes for determining POD. For example, at each concentration of nitrogen, there are only two sizes, with 10 inspection opportunities each. Fully empirical, standard methodologies such as â versus a provide less than an ideal framework for such an analysis. For example, there is no way to describe the beam limiting effect whereby the signal no longer increases the flaw grows larger than the beam, one can only determine POD at the two concentration levels present in the block, and confidence bounds tend to be broad because of the limited data available for each case. In this paper, we will describe strategies involving the use of physics-based models to overcome these difficulties by allowing the data from all reflectors to be analyzed by a single statistical model. Included will be a discussion of the development of the physics-based model, its comparison to the experimental data (obtained at multiple sites with multiple operators) and its implications regarding the statistical analysis, whose details will be given in a separate article by Li et al. in this volume.

The Intracellular Localization of the Vanillin Biosynthetic Machinery in Pods of Vanilla planifolia

PubMed Central

Gallage, Nethaji J; JØrgensen, Kirsten; Janfelt, Christian; Nielsen, Agnieszka J Z; Naake, Thomas; Duński, Eryk; Dalsten, Lene; Grisoni, Michel; MØller, Birger Lindberg

2018-01-01

Abstract Vanillin is the most important flavor compound in the vanilla pod. Vanilla planifolia vanillin synthase (VpVAN) catalyzes the conversion of ferulic acid and ferulic acid glucoside into vanillin and vanillin glucoside, respectively. Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) of vanilla pod sections demonstrates that vanillin glucoside is preferentially localized within the mesocarp and placental laminae whereas vanillin is preferentially localized within the mesocarp. VpVAN is present as the mature form (25 kDa) but, depending on the tissue and isolation procedure, small amounts of the immature unprocessed form (40 kDa) and putative oligomers (50, 75 and 100 kDa) may be observed by immunoblotting using an antibody specific to the C-terminal sequence of VpVAN. The VpVAN protein is localized within chloroplasts and re-differentiated chloroplasts termed phenyloplasts, as monitored during the process of pod development. Isolated chloroplasts were shown to convert [14C]phenylalanine and [14C]cinnamic acid into [14C]vanillin glucoside, indicating that the entire vanillin de novo biosynthetic machinery converting phenylalanine to vanillin glucoside is present in the chloroplast. PMID:29186560

Isolation and characterisation of a pod dehiscence zone-specific polygalacturonase from Brassica napus.

PubMed

Petersen, M; Sander, L; Child, R; van Onckelen, H; Ulvskov, P; Borkhardt, B

1996-06-01

Seven distinct partial cDNAs, similar in sequence to previously described polygalacturonases (PGs), were amplified from cDNA derived from rape pod wall, dehiscence zone and leaves by the polymerase chain reaction. Northern analysis showed that one clone, PG35-8, was expressed at low levels in the dehiscence zone during the first five weeks after anthesis but was very abundantly expressed at week 6. In contrast, no PG35-8-related RNA was detected in the pod wall. Our data suggest that there are temporal and spatial correlations between the breakdown of the middle lamella, of the dehiscence zone cells and the pattern of synthesis of PG35-8 transcripts which may indicate a role for this particular PG in rape pod dehiscence. PG35-8 was used to isolate five cDNA clones from a rape dehiscence zone cDNA library. Restriction enzyme analysis and partial sequencing revealed that they were derived from four highly homologous transcripts which are probably allelic forms of a single gene. One full-length clone, RDPG1, was completely sequenced. The predicted protein of RDPG1 showed its highest identity with PG from apple fruit with an identity of 52%.

POD Analysis of Jet-Plume/Afterbody-Wake Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, Nathan E.; Seiner, John M.; Jansen, Bernard J.; Gui, Lichuan; Sockwell, Shuan; Joachim, Matthew

2009-11-01

The understanding of the flow physics in the base region of a powered rocket is one of the keys to designing the next generation of reusable launchers. The base flow features affect the aerodynamics and the heat loading at the base of the vehicle. Recent efforts at the National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi have refurbished two models for studying jet-plume/afterbody-wake interactions in the NCPA's 1-foot Tri-Sonic Wind Tunnel Facility. Both models have a 2.5 inch outer diameter with a nominally 0.5 inch diameter centered exhaust nozzle. One of the models is capable of being powered with gaseous H2 and O2 to study the base flow in a fully combusting senario. The second model uses hi-pressure air to drive the exhaust providing an unheated representative flow field. This unheated model was used to acquire PIV data of the base flow. Subsequently, a POD analysis was performed to provide a first look at the large-scale structures present for the interaction between an axisymmetric jet and an axisymmetric afterbody wake. PIV and Schlieren data are presented for a single jet-exhaust to free-stream flow velocity along with the POD analysis of the base flow field.

Formulating an image matching strategy for terrestrial stem data collection using a multisensor video system

Treesearch

Neil A. Clark

2001-01-01

A multisensor video system has been developed incorporating a CCD video camera, a 3-axis magnetometer, and a laser-rangefinding device, for the purpose of measuring individual tree stems. While preliminary results show promise, some changes are needed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the system. Image matching is needed to improve the accuracy of length...

Routing architecture and security for airborne networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongmei; Xie, Peng; Li, Jason; Xu, Roger; Levy, Renato

2009-05-01

Airborne networks are envisioned to provide interconnectivity for terrestial and space networks by interconnecting highly mobile airborne platforms. A number of military applications are expected to be used by the operator, and all these applications require proper routing security support to establish correct route between communicating platforms in a timely manner. As airborne networks somewhat different from traditional wired and wireless networks (e.g., Internet, LAN, WLAN, MANET, etc), security aspects valid in these networks are not fully applicable to airborne networks. Designing an efficient security scheme to protect airborne networks is confronted with new requirements. In this paper, we first identify a candidate routing architecture, which works as an underlying structure for our proposed security scheme. And then we investigate the vulnerabilities and attack models against routing protocols in airborne networks. Based on these studies, we propose an integrated security solution to address routing security issues in airborne networks.

Bean Pod Mottle Virus Spread in Insect Feeding Resistant Soybeans

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) reduces yield and seed quality in soybeans. No qualitative resistance to this virus has been found in soybean, although some tolerance is known. To test the hypothesis that virus incidence and movement would be reduced in soybeans with resistance to feeding by the viru...

Relation of Topography to Airborne Gravity in Afghanistan and the Tectonic Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, W.; Brozena, J. M.; Peters, M. F.

2012-12-01

As part of a multi-sensor, multi-disciplinary aerogeophysical survey, the US Naval Research Laboratory collected airborne gravity over most of Afghanistan in 2006 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1089/Afghan_grv.html). The data were measured using a pair of ZLS Corporation air-sea gravimeters 7 km altitude above mean sea level aboard an NP-3D Orion aircraft operated by the US Navy's Scientific Development Squadron One (VXS-1). Aircraft positions were determined from kinematic GPS measurements in the aircraft relative to five base stations using differential interferometric techniques. Track spacing was set to 4 km over much of Afghanistan, but was increased to 8 km in the northern block of the survey area. Aircraft ground speed averaged between 300 and 380 knots, faster than ideal for high resolution gravity, but enabled approximately 113,000-km of data tracks to be flown in 220 flight hours, covering more than 330000 km2. In this presentation, we investigate the implications of the airborne gravity data for the tectonic development history of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is described as comprising three different platforms (Wheeler et al., 2005): 1) the north Afghanistan platform north of the Hari-Rud fault (HRF), a part of the Eurasian plate for 250-350 my; 2) the accreted terranes south of the HRF including low flats, formed as island arcs and fragments of continental and oceanic crust collided with the Eurasian plate during the closure of the Tethys Ocean in the past 250 my; and 3) the transpressional plate in the east, formed as the Indian plate moves northward since Cretaceous. The Bouguer anomaly map reveals elongated negative values along the east-west striking HRF, which seems to manifest different tectonic developmental histories across the boundary. Over the southern flats in the accreted terranes platform, the Bouguer anomaly map appears to show a continuation of alternating southwest-northeast trending highs and lows like those over the northern high

Reverse Kinematic Analysis and Uncertainty Analysis of the Space Shuttle AFT Propulsion System (APS) POD Lifting Fixture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brink, Jeffrey S.

2005-01-01

The space shuttle Aft Propulsion System (APS) pod requires precision alignment to be installed onto the orbiter deck. The Ground Support Equipment (GSE) used to perform this task cannot be manipulated along a single Cartesian axis without causing motion along the other Cartesian axes. As a result, manipulations required to achieve a desired motion are not intuitive. My study calculated the joint angles required to align the APS pod, using reverse kinematic analysis techniques. Knowledge of these joint angles will allow the ground support team to align the APS pod more safely and efficiently. An uncertainty analysis was also performed to estimate the accuracy associated with this approach and to determine whether any inexpensive modifications can be made to further improve accuracy.

Integrated LTCC pressure/flow/temperature multisensor for compressed air diagnostics.

PubMed

Fournier, Yannick; Maeder, Thomas; Boutinard-Rouelle, Grégoire; Barras, Aurélie; Craquelin, Nicolas; Ryser, Peter

2010-01-01

We present a multisensor designed for industrial compressed air diagnostics and combining the measurement of pressure, flow, and temperature, integrated with the corresponding signal conditioning electronics in a single low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) package. The developed sensor may be soldered onto an integrated electro-fluidic platform by using standard surface mount device (SMD) technology, e.g., as a standard electronic component would be on a printed circuit board, obviating the need for both wires and tubes and thus paving the road towards low-cost integrated electro-fluidic systems. Several performance aspects of this device are presented and discussed, together with electronics design issues.

Integrated LTCC Pressure/Flow/Temperature Multisensor for Compressed Air Diagnostics†

PubMed Central

Fournier, Yannick; Maeder, Thomas; Boutinard-Rouelle, Grégoire; Barras, Aurélie; Craquelin, Nicolas; Ryser, Peter

2010-01-01

We present a multisensor designed for industrial compressed air diagnostics and combining the measurement of pressure, flow, and temperature, integrated with the corresponding signal conditioning electronics in a single low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) package. The developed sensor may be soldered onto an integrated electro-fluidic platform by using standard surface mount device (SMD) technology, e.g., as a standard electronic component would be on a printed circuit board, obviating the need for both wires and tubes and thus paving the road towards low-cost integrated electro-fluidic systems. Several performance aspects of this device are presented and discussed, together with electronics design issues. PMID:22163518

The effects of Psychotropic drugs On Developing brain (ePOD) study: methods and design

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Animal studies have shown that methylphenidate (MPH) and fluoxetine (FLX) have different effects on dopaminergic and serotonergic system in the developing brain compared to the developed brain. The effects of Psychotropic drugs On the Developing brain (ePOD) study is a combination of different approaches to determine whether there are related findings in humans. Methods/Design Animal studies were carried out to investigate age-related effects of psychotropic drugs and to validate new neuroimaging techniques. In addition, we set up two double-blind placebo controlled clinical trials with MPH in 50 boys (10–12 years) and 50 young men (23–40 years) suffering from ADHD (ePOD-MPH) and with FLX in 40 girls (12–14 years) and 40 young women (23–40 years) suffering from depression and anxiety disorders (ePOD-SSRI). Trial registration numbers are: Nederlands Trial Register NTR3103 and NTR2111. A cross-sectional cohort study on age-related effects of these psychotropic medications in patients who have been treated previously with MPH or FLX (ePOD-Pharmo) is also ongoing. The effects of psychotropic drugs on the developing brain are studied using neuroimaging techniques together with neuropsychological and psychiatric assessments of cognition, behavior and emotion. All assessments take place before, during (only in case of MPH) and after chronic treatment. Discussion The combined results of these approaches will provide new insight into the modulating effect of MPH and FLX on brain development. PMID:24552282

Analysis of remote sensing data collected for detection and mapping of oil spills: Reduction and analysis of multi-sensor airborne data of the NASA Wallops oil spill exercise of November 1978

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Airborne, remotely sensed data of the NASA Wallops controlled oil spill were corrected, reduced and analysed. Sensor performance comparisons were made by registering data sets from different sensors, which were near-coincident in time and location. Multispectral scanner images were, in turn, overlayed with profiles of correlation between airborne and laboratory-acquired fluorosensor spectra of oil; oil-thickness contours derived (by NASA) from a scanning fluorosensor and also from a two-channel scanning microwave radiometer; and synthetic aperture radar X-HH images. Microwave scatterometer data were correlated with dual-channel (UV and TIR) line scanner images of the oil slick.

The importance of nodule CO2 fixation for the efficiency of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in pea at vegetative growth and during pod formation.

PubMed

Fischinger, Stephanie Anastasia; Schulze, Joachim

2010-05-01

Nodule CO2 fixation is of pivotal importance for N2 fixation. The process provides malate for bacteroids and oxaloacetate for nitrogen assimilation. The hypothesis of the present paper was that grain legume nodules would adapt to higher plant N demand and more restricted carbon availability at pod formation through increased nodule CO2 fixation and a more efficient N2 fixation. Growth, N2 fixation, and nodule composition during vegetative growth and at pod formation were studied in pea plants (Pisum sativum L.). In parallel experiments, 15N2 and 13CO2 uptake, as well as nodule hydrogen and CO2 release, was measured. Plants at pod formation showed higher growth rates and N2 fixation per plant when compared with vegetative growth. The specific activity of active nodules was about 25% higher at pod formation. The higher nodule activity was accompanied by higher amino acid concentration in nodules and xylem sap with a higher share of asparagine. Nodule 13CO2 fixation was increased at pod formation, both per plant and per 15N2 fixed unit. However, malate concentration in nodules was only 40% of that during vegetative growth and succinate was no longer detectable. The data indicate that increased N2 fixation at pod formation is connected with strongly increased nodule CO2 fixation. While the sugar concentration in nodules at pod formation was not altered, the concentration of organic acids, namely malate and succinate, was significantly lower. It is concluded that strategies to improve the capability of nodules to fix CO2 and form organic acids might prolong intensive N2 fixation into the later stages of pod formation and pod filling in grain legumes.

Fish Pectoral Fin Hydrodynamics; Part III: Low Dimensional Models via POD Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozkurttas, M.; Madden, P.

2005-11-01

The highly complex kinematics of the pectoral fin and the resulting hydrodynamics does not lend itself easily to analysis based on simple notions of pitching/heaving/paddling kinematics or lift/drag based propulsive mechanisms. A more inventive approach is needed to dissect the fin gait and gain insight into the hydrodynamic performance of the pectoral fin. The focus of the current work is on the hydrodynamics of the pectoral fin of a bluegill sunfish in steady forward motion. The 3D, time-dependent fin kinematics is obtained via a stereo-videographic technique. We employ proper orthogonal decomposition to extract the essential features of the fin gait and then use CFD to examine the hydrodynamics of simplified gaits synthesized from the POD modes. The POD spectrum shows that the first two, three and five POD modes capture 55%, 67%, and 80% of the motion respectively. The first three modes are in particular highly distinct: Mode-1 is a ``cupping'' motion where the fin cups forward as it is abducted; Mode-2 is an ``expansion'' motion where the fin expands to present a larger area during adduction and finally Mode-3 involves a ``spanwise flick'' of the dorsal edge of the fin. Numerical simulation of flow past fin gaits synthesized from these modes lead to insights into the mechanisms of thrust production; these are discussed in detail.

Airborne Cloud Computing Environment (ACCE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hardman, Sean; Freeborn, Dana; Crichton, Dan; Law, Emily; Kay-Im, Liz

2011-01-01

Airborne Cloud Computing Environment (ACCE) is JPL's internal investment to improve the return on airborne missions. Improve development performance of the data system. Improve return on the captured science data. The investment is to develop a common science data system capability for airborne instruments that encompasses the end-to-end lifecycle covering planning, provisioning of data system capabilities, and support for scientific analysis in order to improve the quality, cost effectiveness, and capabilities to enable new scientific discovery and research in earth observation.

Anomaly Detection and Comparative Analysis of Hydrothermal Alteration Materials Trough Hyperspectral Multisensor Data in the Turrialba Volcano

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rejas, J. G.; Martínez-Frías, J.; Bonatti, J.; Martínez, R.; Marchamalo, M.

2012-07-01

The aim of this work is the comparative study of the presence of hydrothermal alteration materials in the Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica) in relation with computed spectral anomalies from multitemporal and multisensor data adquired in spectral ranges of the visible (VIS), short wave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared (TIR). We used for this purposes hyperspectral and multispectral images from the HyMAP and MASTER airborne sensors, and ASTER and Hyperion scenes in a period between 2002 and 2010. Field radiometry was applied in order to remove the atmospheric contribution in an empirical line method. HyMAP and MASTER images were georeferenced directly thanks to positioning and orientation data that were measured at the same time in the acquisition campaign from an inertial system based on GPS/IMU. These two important steps were allowed the identification of spectral diagnostic bands of hydrothermal alteration minerals and the accuracy spatial correlation. Enviromental impact of the volcano activity has been studied through different vegetation indexes and soil patterns. Have been mapped hydrothermal materials in the crater of the volcano, in fact currently active, and their surrounding carrying out a principal components analysis differentiated for a high and low absorption bands to characterize accumulations of kaolinite, illite, alunite and kaolinite+smectite, delimitating zones with the presence of these minerals. Spectral anomalies have been calculated on a comparative study of methods pixel and subpixel focused in thermal bands fused with high-resolution images. Results are presented as an approach based on expert whose main interest lies in the automated identification of patterns of hydrothermal altered materials without prior knowledge or poor information on the area.

Exercising with an iPod, friend, or neither: which is better for psychological benefits?

PubMed

Plante, Thomas G; Gustafson, Carissa; Brecht, Carrie; Imberi, Jenny; Sanchez, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

To examine the role of music and social contact on exercise benefits. Two hundred twenty-nine (n = 229) students were randomly assigned to one of 6 conditions: biking alone with iPod or friend in a laboratory, walking alone with iPod or friend outdoors, or biking or walking alone in control conditions. All participants completed 20 minutes of exercise at 70% of their maximum target heart rate. Exercising in control conditions indoors resulted in a more relaxed and calm response. Exercising outdoors was more enjoyable and resulted in less tension and stress. Exercise environment impacts psychological benefits of exercise.

Airborne UV photon-counting radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Marc C.; Wilcher, George; Banks, Calvin R.; Wood, Ronald L.

2000-11-01

The radiometric measurements group at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) has developed new solar-blind radiometers for the SENSOR TALON flight test. These radiometers will be flown in an instrument pod by the 46th Test Wing at Eglin AFB. The radiometers are required to fit into a single quadrant of a 22-in.-diam sphere turret of the instrument pod. Because of minimal space requirements and photon-counting sensitivity needs, the radiometric measurements group used image intensifiers instead of the standard photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The new design concept improved the photon-counting sensitivity, dynamic range, and uniformity of the field of view as compared to standard PMTs. A custom data acquisition system was required to miniaturize the electronics and generate a pulse code-modulated (PCM) data stream to the standard tape recording system.

POD- Mapping and analysis of hydroturbine exit flow dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kjeldsen, Morten; Finstad, Pal Henrik

2012-11-01

Pairwise radial dynamic measurements of the swirling draft tube flow have been made at the 25 MW Svorka power plant in Surnadal operating at 48% load at 6 radial and 7 angular positions. The data is analyzed with traditional methods as well as with POD. The measurements were made in the turbine draft tube/exit flow in an axial measurement plane about 1200mm downstream the turbine runner. The draft tube diameter in the measurement plane is about 1300mm. The flow rate during measurements was close to 5.8m3/s. Two probes were used; both of length Le=700 mm and made of stainless steel with an outer diameter of Do=20 mm and inner diameter Di=4mm. At the end of each probe a full bridge cylindrical KULITE xcl152, 0-3.5, was mounted. 90 seconds samples at 10 kS/s were taken. The POD analysis largely follows that of Tutkun et al. (see e.g. AIAA J., 45,5,2008). The analysis shows that 26% of the pressure pulsation energy can be addressed to azimuthal mode 1. The work has been supported by Energy Norway.

78 FR 69285 - Importation of Fresh Beans, Shelled or in Pods, From Jordan Into the Continental United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-19

.... APHIS-2012-0042] RIN 0579-AD69 Importation of Fresh Beans, Shelled or in Pods, From Jordan Into the... shipments of fresh beans, shelled or in pods (French, green, snap, and string), from Jordan into the continental United States. As a condition of entry, the beans must be produced in accordance with a systems...

Influence of Peanut Cultivars and Environmental Conditions on the Diversity and Community Composition of Pod Rot Soil Fungi in China.

PubMed

Wang, Mian; Chen, Mingna; Yang, Zhen; Chen, Na; Chi, Xiaoyuan; Pan, Lijuan; Wang, Tong; Yu, Shanlin; Guo, Xingqi

2017-12-01

Peanut yield and quality are seriously affected by pod rot pathogens worldwide, especially in China in recent years. The goals of this study are to analyze the structure of fungal communities of peanut pod rot in soil in three peanut cultivars and the correlation of pod rot with environmental variables using 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 46,723 internal transcribed spacer high-quality sequences were obtained and grouped into 1,706 operational taxonomic units at the 97% similarity cut-off level. The coverage, rank abundance, and the Chao 1 and Shannon diversity indices of the operational taxonomic units were analyzed. Members of the phylum Ascomycota were dominant, such as Fusarium , Chaetomium , Alternaria , and Sordariomycetes , followed by Basidiomycota. The results of the heatmap and redundancy analysis revealed significant variation in the composition of the fungal community among the three cultivar samples. The environmental conditions in different peanut cultivars may also influence on the structure of the fungal community. The results of this study suggest that the causal agent of peanut pod rot may be more complex, and cultivars and environmental conditions are both important contributors to the community structure of peanut pod rot fungi.

A Method for Improving the Pose Accuracy of a Robot Manipulator Based on Multi-Sensor Combined Measurement and Data Fusion

PubMed Central

Liu, Bailing; Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua

2015-01-01

An improvement method for the pose accuracy of a robot manipulator by using a multiple-sensor combination measuring system (MCMS) is presented. It is composed of a visual sensor, an angle sensor and a series robot. The visual sensor is utilized to measure the position of the manipulator in real time, and the angle sensor is rigidly attached to the manipulator to obtain its orientation. Due to the higher accuracy of the multi-sensor, two efficient data fusion approaches, the Kalman filter (KF) and multi-sensor optimal information fusion algorithm (MOIFA), are used to fuse the position and orientation of the manipulator. The simulation and experimental results show that the pose accuracy of the robot manipulator is improved dramatically by 38%∼78% with the multi-sensor data fusion. Comparing with reported pose accuracy improvement methods, the primary advantage of this method is that it does not require the complex solution of the kinematics parameter equations, increase of the motion constraints and the complicated procedures of the traditional vision-based methods. It makes the robot processing more autonomous and accurate. To improve the reliability and accuracy of the pose measurements of MCMS, the visual sensor repeatability is experimentally studied. An optimal range of 1 × 0.8 × 1 ∼ 2 × 0.8 × 1 m in the field of view (FOV) is indicated by the experimental results. PMID:25850067

Performance evaluation of an asynchronous multisensor track fusion filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alouani, Ali T.; Gray, John E.; McCabe, D. H.

2003-08-01

Recently the authors developed a new filter that uses data generated by asynchronous sensors to produce a state estimate that is optimal in the minimum mean square sense. The solution accounts for communications delay between sensors platform and fusion center. It also deals with out of sequence data as well as latent data by processing the information in a batch-like manner. This paper compares, using simulated targets and Monte Carlo simulations, the performance of the filter to the optimal sequential processing approach. It was found that the new asynchronous Multisensor track fusion filter (AMSTFF) performance is identical to that of the extended sequential Kalman filter (SEKF), while the new filter updates its track at a much lower rate than the SEKF.

Reticle inspection equipment productivity increase using SEMI specification for reticle and pod management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Ron; Downey, Jack; Wood, Jeffrey; Lin, Yen-Hung; Bugata, Bharathi; Fan, Dongsheng; Hess, Carl; Wylie, Mark

2016-10-01

In this work, the SEMI specification for reticle and pod management (E109) with internal reticle library support has been integrated for the first time on KLA-Tencor's TeronTM and TeraScanTM reticle inspection tools. Manufacturing Execution System scheduling reticle jobs and Automated Material Handling System scheduling to transfer pods simultaneously have also been integrated and tested. GLOBALFOUNDRIES collaboratively worked with KLA-Tencor to successfully implement these capabilities. Both library and non-library scenarios have been demonstrated for comparison in a real production environment resulting in productivity increase of approximately 29% by making use of the library. Reticle re-qualification test cases were used for the comparison in this work.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is suspended in air as it is moved toward Atlantis for installation. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod is suspended in air as it is moved toward Atlantis for installation. Two OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians make adjustments to the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod being installed on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians make adjustments to the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod being installed on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians move an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod into the correct position on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians move an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod into the correct position on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians make final adjustments to the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod being installed on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians make final adjustments to the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod being installed on Atlantis. The OMS pod is one of two that are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods is lifted off its stand to move it toward Atlantis for installation. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-10-30

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Orbiter Processing Facility, one of two orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods is lifted off its stand to move it toward Atlantis for installation. The OMS pods are attached to the upper aft fuselage left and right sides. Fabricated primarily of graphite epoxy composite and aluminum, each pod is 21.8 feet long and 11.37 feet wide at its aft end and 8.41 feet wide at its forward end, with a surface area of approximately 435 square feet. Each pod houses the Reaction Control System propulsion components used for inflight maneuvering and is attached to the aft fuselage with 11 bolts.

The Effect of a Global, Subject, and Device-Specific Model on a Noninvasive Glucose Monitoring Multisensor System.

PubMed

Caduff, Andreas; Zanon, Mattia; Mueller, Martin; Zakharov, Pavel; Feldman, Yuri; De Feo, Oscar; Donath, Marc; Stahel, Werner A; Talary, Mark S

2015-07-01

We study here the influence of different patients and the influence of different devices with the same patients on the signals and modeling of data from measurements from a noninvasive Multisensor glucose monitoring system in patients with type 1 diabetes. The Multisensor includes several sensors for biophysical monitoring of skin and underlying tissue integrated on a single substrate. Two Multisensors were worn simultaneously, 1 on the upper left and 1 on the upper right arm by 4 patients during 16 study visits. Glucose was administered orally to induce 2 consecutive hyperglycemic excursions. For the analysis, global (valid for a population of patients), personal (tailored to a specific patient), and device-specific multiple linear regression models were derived. We find that adjustments of the model to the patients improves the performance of the glucose estimation with an MARD of 17.8% for personalized model versus a MARD of 21.1% for the global model. At the same time the effect of the measurement side is negligible. The device can equally well measure on the left or right arm. We also see that devices are equal in the linear modeling. Thus hardware calibration of the sensors is seen to be sufficient to eliminate interdevice differences in the measured signals. We demonstrate that the hardware of the 2 devices worn on the left and right arms are consistent yielding similar measured signals and thus glucose estimation results with a global model. The 2 devices also return similar values of glucose errors. These errors are mainly due to nonstationarities in the measured signals that are not solved by the linear model, thus suggesting for more sophisticated modeling approaches. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

Large-Scale, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Hybrid Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Brian; Manipon, Gerald; Hua, Hook; Fetzer, Eric

2014-05-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map-reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in a hybrid Cloud (private eucalyptus & public Amazon). Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Multi-year datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E.

2013-05-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2013-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the 'A-Train' platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (MERRA), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the 'cloud scenes' from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically 'sharded' by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will

A view of the Columbia's OMS engine pods during a burn

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-11-18

STS093-347-031 (22-27 July 1999) --- Black space forms the backdrop for this scene of the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engine pods during a thruster burn photographed by one of the astronauts on the aft flight deck of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

[Effects of two phenolic acids on root zone soil nutrients, soil enzyme activities and pod yield of peanut].

PubMed

Li, Qing Kai; Liu, Ping; Tang, Zhao Hui; Zhao, Hai Jun; Wang, Jiang Tao; Song, Xiao Zong; Yang, Li; Wan, Shu Bo

2016-04-22

In order to investigate the relationship between the accumulation of phenolic acids in peanut continuous cropping soil and the continuous cropping obstacle of peanut, the effects of p-hydroxy benzoic acid and cinnamic acid on peanut root zone soil nutrients, soil enzyme activities and yield of peanut were studied by pot experiment at three stages of peanut, i.e. the pegging stage of peanut (45 days after seedling), the early podding (75 days after seedling) and the end of podding (105 days after seedling) stages. The results showed that the peanut root zone soil nutrients and enzyme activities changed obviously under the two phenolic acids treatment, especially at the pegging stage of peanut. The soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and soil enzyme activities (urease, sucrose, neutral phosphatase) were decreased significantly. At the early and end of podding stages of peanut, the effects of the two phenolic acids on peanut root zone soil nutrients and soil enzyme activities were under a weakening trend. The allelopathy of cinnamic acid was stronger than that of p-hydroxy benzoic acid at the same initial content. The pod yield per pot was reduced by 45.9% and 52.8%, while the pod number of per plant was reduced by 46.2% and 48.9% at higher concentration (80 mg·kg -1 dry soil) of p-hydroxy benzoic acid and cinnamic acid treatments, respectively.

Algorithm for Stabilizing a POD-Based Dynamical System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalb, Virginia L.

2010-01-01

This algorithm provides a new way to improve the accuracy and asymptotic behavior of a low-dimensional system based on the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Given a data set representing the evolution of a system of partial differential equations (PDEs), such as the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow, one may obtain a low-dimensional model in the form of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that should model the dynamics of the flow. Temporal sampling of the direct numerical simulation of the PDEs produces a spatial time series. The POD extracts the temporal and spatial eigenfunctions of this data set. Truncated to retain only the most energetic modes followed by Galerkin projection of these modes onto the PDEs obtains a dynamical system of ordinary differential equations for the time-dependent behavior of the flow. In practice, the steps leading to this system of ODEs entail numerically computing first-order derivatives of the mean data field and the eigenfunctions, and the computation of many inner products. This is far from a perfect process, and often results in the lack of long-term stability of the system and incorrect asymptotic behavior of the model. This algorithm describes a new stabilization method that utilizes the temporal eigenfunctions to derive correction terms for the coefficients of the dynamical system to significantly reduce these errors.

Urban structure analysis of mega city Mexico City using multisensoral remote sensing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taubenböck, H.; Esch, T.; Wurm, M.; Thiel, M.; Ullmann, T.; Roth, A.; Schmidt, M.; Mehl, H.; Dech, S.

2008-10-01

Mega city Mexico City is ranked the third largest urban agglomeration to date around the globe. The large extension as well as dynamic urban transformation and sprawl processes lead to a lack of up-to-date and area-wide data and information to measure, monitor, and understand the urban situation. This paper focuses on the capabilities of multisensoral remotely sensed data to provide a broad range of products derived from one scientific field - remote sensing - to support urban managing and planning. Therefore optical data sets from the Landsat and Quickbird sensors as well as radar data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and the TerraSAR-X sensor are utilised. Using the multi-sensoral data sets the analysis are scale-dependent. On the one hand change detection on city level utilising the derived urban footprints enables to monitor and to assess spatiotemporal urban transformation, areal dimension of urban sprawl, its direction, and the built-up density distribution over time. On the other hand, structural characteristics of an urban landscape - the alignment and types of buildings, streets and open spaces - provide insight in the very detailed physical pattern of urban morphology on higher scale. The results show high accuracies of the derived multi-scale products. The multi-scale analysis allows quantifying urban processes and thus leading to an assessment and interpretation of urban trends.

Data Analysis of Airborne Electromagnetic Bathymetry.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-04-01

7 AD-R 58 889 DATA ANALYSIS OF AIRBORNE ELECTROMAGNETIC BRTHYMETRY i/i (U) NAVAL OCEAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY NSTL STRTION MS R ZOLLINGER...Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity NSTL, Mississippi 39529 NORDA Report 93 April 1985 AD-A158 809 - Data Analysis of Airborne Electromagnetic ...8217 - Foreword CI Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) systems have traditionally been used for detecting anomalous conductors in the

A Low Power, Parallel Wearable Multi-Sensor System for Human Activity Evaluation.

PubMed

Li, Yuecheng; Jia, Wenyan; Yu, Tianjian; Luan, Bo; Mao, Zhi-Hong; Zhang, Hong; Sun, Mingui

2015-04-01

In this paper, the design of a low power heterogeneous wearable multi-sensor system, built with Zynq System-on-Chip (SoC), for human activity evaluation is presented. The powerful data processing capability and flexibility of this SoC represent significant improvements over our previous ARM based system designs. The new system captures and compresses multiple color images and sensor data simultaneously. Several strategies are adopted to minimize power consumption. Our wearable system provides a new tool for the evaluation of human activity, including diet, physical activity and lifestyle.

Transcriptome and Differential Expression Profiling Analysis of the Mechanism of Ca2+ Regulation in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Pod Development

PubMed Central

Yang, Sha; Li, Lin; Zhang, Jialei; Geng, Yun; Guo, Feng; Wang, Jianguo; Meng, Jingjing; Sui, Na; Wan, Shubo; Li, Xinguo

2017-01-01

Calcium not only serves as a necessary nutrient for plant growth but also acts as a ubiquitous central hub in a large number of signaling pathways. Free Ca2+ deficiency in the soil may cause early embryo abortion, which eventually led to abnormal development of peanut pod during the harvest season. To understand the mechanisms of Ca2+ regulation in pod development, transcriptome analysis of peanut gynophores and pods was performed by comparing the treatments between free Ca2+ sufficiency and free Ca2+ deficiency using Illumina HiSeq™ 2000. 9,903,082,800 nt bases are generated totally. After assembly, the average length of 102,819 unigenes is 999 nt, N50 is 1,782 nt. RNA-seq based gene expression profilings showed a large number of genes at the transcriptional level changed significantly between the aerial pegs and underground swelling pods under free Ca2+ sufficienct or deficiency treatments, respectively. Genes encoding key members of Ca2+ signaling transduction pathway, enzymes for hormone metabolism, cell division and growth, transcriptional factor as well as embryo development were highlighted. This information provides useful information for our further study. The results of digital gene expression (DGE) indicated that exogenous calcium might contribute to the development of peanut pod through its signal transduction pathway, meanwhile, promote the normal transition of the gynophores to the reproductive development. PMID:29033956

InstrumentationPod (IPOD) User Guide

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

Parker, Robert F.

2014-06-12

This document describes the Instrumentation Pod (IPOD) and its operation and use. The IPOD is a low-power detector system comprising a 3He tube with preamp for neutron detection, a microcontroller-based data acquisition system, a GPS receiver for locationdetermination and time-synchronization, and power filtering and protection. The IPOD is intended to be bolted to the top of Dual-Use Casks stored at Baikal-1 in Kazakhstan in order to maintain continuity of knowledge of the materials stored within the cask. The data acquisition system receives pulses from the neutron-detection preamp, combines this information with other sensor data, and stores the result on twomore » SD cards that are part of the data acquisition system. Firmware in the data acquisition system controls collection and storing of the data and enables configuration of the acquisition parameters.« less

Peanut peg strength and associated pod yield and loss by cultivar

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) peg strength and associated pod yield and digging loss were documented for nine cultivars and two breeding genotypes across three harvest dates at two Southwest Georgia locations during 2010 and 2011. Cultivars selected were Georgia Green, Georgia Greener, Georgia-02C, G...

Survey view of damage to the STS-117 OMS Pod taken by an Expedition 15 Crewmember

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-06-13

ISS015E11804 (13 June 2007) --- A digital still camera recorded this image of a gap caused by an uplifted area on the thermal blanket protecting Atlantis' portside orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The STS-117 Mission Management Team (MMT) has decided the best course of action to take in regard to the uplifted thermal blanket on the post side Orbital Maneuvering System Pod was to add the repair task on EVA 3 with astronauts Jim Reilly and John (Danny) Olivas.

User evaluations offer promise for pod-intravaginal ring as a drug delivery platform: A mixed methods study of acceptability and use experiences.

PubMed

Guthrie, Kate M; Rosen, Rochelle K; Vargas, Sara E; Getz, Melissa L; Dawson, Lauren; Guillen, Melissa; Ramirez, Jaime J; Baum, Marc M; Vincent, Kathleen L

2018-01-01

Effective HIV prevention requires efficient delivery of safe and efficacious drugs and optimization of user adherence. The user's experiences with the drug, delivery system, and use parameters are critical to product acceptability and adherence. Prevention product developers have the opportunity to directly control a drug delivery system and its impact on acceptability and adherence, as well as product efficacy. Involvement of potential users during preclinical design and development can facilitate this process. We embedded a mixed methods user evaluation study into a safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) trial of a pod-intravaginal ring delivering antiretroviral agents. Women enrolled in two cohorts, ultimately evaluating the safety/PK of a pod-IVRs delivering TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, and/or TDF-FTC-MVC. A 7-day use period was targeted for each pod-IVR, regardless of drug or drug combination. During the clinical study, participants provided both quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative (i.e., in-depth interview) data capturing acceptability, perceptibility, and adherence behaviors. Initial sexual and reproductive health history surveys, daily diaries, a final acceptability and willingness to use survey, and a qualitative in-depth interview comprised the user evaluation data for each pod-IVR experienced by the participants. Overall, the majority of participants (N = 10) reported being willing to use the pod-IVR platform for HIV prevention should it advance to market. Confidence to use the pod-IVR (e.g., insertion, removal) was high. There were no differences noted in the user experience of the pod-IVR platform; that is, whether the ring delivered TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, or TDF-FTC-MVC, users' experiences of the ring were similar and acceptable. Participants did report specific experiences, both sensory and behavioral, that impacted their use behaviors with respect to the ring, and which could ultimately impact acceptability and adherence. These experiences, and user

User evaluations offer promise for pod-intravaginal ring as a drug delivery platform: A mixed methods study of acceptability and use experiences

PubMed Central

Rosen, Rochelle K.; Getz, Melissa L.; Dawson, Lauren; Guillen, Melissa; Ramirez, Jaime J.

2018-01-01

Background Effective HIV prevention requires efficient delivery of safe and efficacious drugs and optimization of user adherence. The user’s experiences with the drug, delivery system, and use parameters are critical to product acceptability and adherence. Prevention product developers have the opportunity to directly control a drug delivery system and its impact on acceptability and adherence, as well as product efficacy. Involvement of potential users during preclinical design and development can facilitate this process. We embedded a mixed methods user evaluation study into a safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) trial of a pod-intravaginal ring delivering antiretroviral agents. Methodology Women enrolled in two cohorts, ultimately evaluating the safety/PK of a pod-IVRs delivering TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, and/or TDF-FTC-MVC. A 7-day use period was targeted for each pod-IVR, regardless of drug or drug combination. During the clinical study, participants provided both quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative (i.e., in-depth interview) data capturing acceptability, perceptibility, and adherence behaviors. Initial sexual and reproductive health history surveys, daily diaries, a final acceptability and willingness to use survey, and a qualitative in-depth interview comprised the user evaluation data for each pod-IVR experienced by the participants. Findings Overall, the majority of participants (N = 10) reported being willing to use the pod-IVR platform for HIV prevention should it advance to market. Confidence to use the pod-IVR (e.g., insertion, removal) was high. There were no differences noted in the user experience of the pod-IVR platform; that is, whether the ring delivered TDF-alone, TDF-FTC, or TDF-FTC-MVC, users’ experiences of the ring were similar and acceptable. Participants did report specific experiences, both sensory and behavioral, that impacted their use behaviors with respect to the ring, and which could ultimately impact acceptability and adherence

Reliability measurement during software development. [for a multisensor tracking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hecht, H.; Sturm, W. A.; Trattner, S.

1977-01-01

During the development of data base software for a multi-sensor tracking system, reliability was measured. The failure ratio and failure rate were found to be consistent measures. Trend lines were established from these measurements that provided good visualization of the progress on the job as a whole as well as on individual modules. Over one-half of the observed failures were due to factors associated with the individual run submission rather than with the code proper. Possible application of these findings for line management, project managers, functional management, and regulatory agencies is discussed. Steps for simplifying the measurement process and for use of these data in predicting operational software reliability are outlined.

Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors.

PubMed

Chowdhury, Enhad A; Western, Max J; Nightingale, Thomas E; Peacock, Oliver J; Thompson, Dylan

2017-01-01

Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices

Assessment of laboratory and daily energy expenditure estimates from consumer multi-sensor physical activity monitors

PubMed Central

Chowdhury, Enhad A.; Western, Max J.; Nightingale, Thomas E.; Peacock, Oliver J.; Thompson, Dylan

2017-01-01

Wearable physical activity monitors are growing in popularity and provide the opportunity for large numbers of the public to self-monitor physical activity behaviours. The latest generation of these devices feature multiple sensors, ostensibly similar or even superior to advanced research instruments. However, little is known about the accuracy of their energy expenditure estimates. Here, we assessed their performance against criterion measurements in both controlled laboratory conditions (simulated activities of daily living and structured exercise) and over a 24 hour period in free-living conditions. Thirty men (n = 15) and women (n = 15) wore three multi-sensor consumer monitors (Microsoft Band, Apple Watch and Fitbit Charge HR), an accelerometry-only device as a comparison (Jawbone UP24) and validated research-grade multi-sensor devices (BodyMedia Core and individually calibrated Actiheart™). During discrete laboratory activities when compared against indirect calorimetry, the Apple Watch performed similarly to criterion measures. The Fitbit Charge HR was less consistent at measurement of discrete activities, but produced similar free-living estimates to the Apple Watch. Both these devices underestimated free-living energy expenditure (-394 kcal/d and -405 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). The multi-sensor Microsoft Band and accelerometry-only Jawbone UP24 devices underestimated most laboratory activities and substantially underestimated free-living expenditure (-1128 kcal/d and -998 kcal/d, respectively; P<0.01). None of the consumer devices were deemed equivalent to the reference method for daily energy expenditure. For all devices, there was a tendency for negative bias with greater daily energy expenditure. No consumer monitors performed as well as the research-grade devices although in some (but not all) cases, estimates were close to criterion measurements. Thus, whilst industry-led innovation has improved the accuracy of consumer monitors, these devices

Establishment of Stereo Multi-sensor Network for Giant Landslide Monitoring and its Deploy in Xishan landslide, Sichuan, China.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.; Lu, P.; WU, H.

2015-12-01

Landslide is one of the most destructive natural disasters, which severely affects human lives as well as the safety of personal properties and public infrastructures. Monitoring and predicting landslide movements can keep an adequate safety level for human beings in those situations. This paper indicated a newly developed Stereo Multi-sensor Landslide Monitoring Network (SMSLMN) based on a uniform temporal geo-reference. Actually, early in 2003, SAMOA (Surveillance et Auscultation des Mouvements de Terrain Alpins, French) project was put forwarded as a plan for landslide movements monitoring. However, SAMOA project did not establish a stereo observation network to fully cover the surface and internal part of landslide. SMSLMN integrated various sensors, including space-borne, airborne, in-situ and underground sensors, which can quantitatively monitor the slide-body and obtain portent information of movement in high frequency with high resolution. The whole network has been deployed at the Xishan landslide, Sichuan, P.R.China. According to various characteristic of stereo monitoring sensors, observation capabilities indicators for different sensors were proposed in order to obtain the optimal sensors combination groups and observation strategy. Meanwhile, adaptive networking and reliable data communication methods were developed to apply intelligent observation and sensor data transmission. Some key technologies, such as signal amplification and intelligence extraction technology, data access frequency adaptive adjustment technology, different sensor synchronization control technology were developed to overcome the problems in complex observation environment. The collaboratively observation data have been transferred to the remote data center where is thousands miles away from the giant landslide spot. These data were introduced into the landslide stability analysis model, and some primary conclusion will be achieved at the end of paper.

Phytophthora megakarya, a causal agent of black pod rot in Africa

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In most parts of the world where Theobroma cacao is grown, Phytophthora palmivora is the major concern for causing black pod rot (BPR). Phytophthora megakarya, on the other hand, occurs only in Africa, but represents a major threat to cacao production, the countries of West Africa being the largest ...

Land cover/use classification of Cairns, Queensland, Australia: A remote sensing study involving the conjunctive use of the airborne imaging spectrometer, the large format camera and the thematic mapper simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heric, Matthew; Cox, William; Gordon, Daniel K.

1987-01-01

In an attempt to improve the land cover/use classification accuracy obtainable from remotely sensed multispectral imagery, Airborne Imaging Spectrometer-1 (AIS-1) images were analyzed in conjunction with Thematic Mapper Simulator (NS001) Large Format Camera color infrared photography and black and white aerial photography. Specific portions of the combined data set were registered and used for classification. Following this procedure, the resulting derived data was tested using an overall accuracy assessment method. Precise photogrammetric 2D-3D-2D geometric modeling techniques is not the basis for this study. Instead, the discussion exposes resultant spectral findings from the image-to-image registrations. Problems associated with the AIS-1 TMS integration are considered, and useful applications of the imagery combination are presented. More advanced methodologies for imagery integration are needed if multisystem data sets are to be utilized fully. Nevertheless, research, described herein, provides a formulation for future Earth Observation Station related multisensor studies.

Computationally efficient simulation of unsteady aerodynamics using POD on the fly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno-Ramos, Ruben; Vega, José M.; Varas, Fernando

2016-12-01

Modern industrial aircraft design requires a large amount of sufficiently accurate aerodynamic and aeroelastic simulations. Current computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers with aeroelastic capabilities, such as the NASA URANS unstructured solver FUN3D, require very large computational resources. Since a very large amount of simulation is necessary, the CFD cost is just unaffordable in an industrial production environment and must be significantly reduced. Thus, a more inexpensive, yet sufficiently precise solver is strongly needed. An opportunity to approach this goal could follow some recent results (Terragni and Vega 2014 SIAM J. Appl. Dyn. Syst. 13 330-65 Rapun et al 2015 Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 104 844-68) on an adaptive reduced order model that combines ‘on the fly’ a standard numerical solver (to compute some representative snapshots), proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) (to extract modes from the snapshots), Galerkin projection (onto the set of POD modes), and several additional ingredients such as projecting the equations using a limited amount of points and fairly generic mode libraries. When applied to the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, the method produces acceleration factors (comparing with standard numerical solvers) of the order of 20 and 300 in one and two space dimensions, respectively. Unfortunately, the extension of the method to unsteady, compressible flows around deformable geometries requires new approaches to deal with deformable meshes, high-Reynolds numbers, and compressibility. A first step in this direction is presented considering the unsteady compressible, two-dimensional flow around an oscillating airfoil using a CFD solver in a rigidly moving mesh. POD on the Fly gives results whose accuracy is comparable to that of the CFD solver used to compute the snapshots.

Airborne Submillimeter Spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zmuidzinas, J.

1998-01-01

This is the final technical report for NASA-Ames grant NAG2-1068 to Caltech, entitled "Airborne Submillimeter Spectroscopy", which extended over the period May 1, 1996 through January 31, 1998. The grant was funded by the NASA airborne astronomy program, during a period of time after the Kuiper Airborne Observatory was no longer operational. Instead. this funding program was intended to help develop instrument concepts and technology for the upcoming SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) project. SOFIA, which is funded by NASA and is now being carried out by a consortium lead by USRA (Universities Space Research Association), will be a 747 aircraft carrying a 2.5 meter diameter telescope. The purpose of our grant was to fund the ongoing development of sensitive heterodyne receivers for the submillimeter band (500-1200 GHz), using sensitive superconducting (SIS) detectors. In 1997 July we submitted a proposal to USRA to construct a heterodyne instrument for SOFIA. Our proposal was successful [1], and we are now continuing our airborne astronomy effort with funding from USRA. A secondary purpose of the NAG2-1068 grant was to continue the anaIN'sis of astronomical data collected with an earlier instrument which was flown on the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). The KAO instrument and the astronomical studies which were carried out with it were supported primarily under another grant, NAG2-744, which extended over October 1, 1991 through Januarv 31, 1997. For a complete description of the astronomical data and its anailysis, we refer the reader to the final technical report for NAG2-744, which was submitted to NASA on December 1. 1997. Here we report on the SIS detector development effort for SOFIA carried out under NAG2-1068. The main result of this effort has been the demonstration of SIS mixers using a new superconducting material niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), which promises to deliver dramatic improvements in sensitivity in the 700

Development of a multi-sensor elevation time series pole-ward of 86°S in support of altimetry validation and ice sheet mass balance studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Studinger, M.; Brunt, K. M.; Casey, K.; Medley, B.; Neumann, T.; Manizade, S.; Linkswiler, M. A.

2015-12-01

In order to produce a cross-calibrated long-term record of ice-surface elevation change for input into ice sheet models and mass balance studies it is necessary to "link the measurements made by airborne laser altimeters, satellite measurements of ICESat, ICESat-2, and CryoSat-2" [IceBridge Level 1 Science Requirements, 2012] and determine the biases and the spatial variations between radar altimeters and laser altimeters using different wavelengths. The convergence zones of all ICESat tracks (86°S) and all ICESat-2 and CryoSat-2 tracks (88°S) are in regions of relatively low accumulation, making them ideal for satellite altimetry calibration. In preparation for ICESat-2 validation, the IceBridge and ICESat-2 science teams have designed IceBridge data acquisitions around 86°S and 88°S. Several aspects need to be considered when comparing and combining elevation measurements from different radar and laser altimeters, including: a) foot print size and spatial sampling pattern; b) accuracy and precision of each data sets; c) varying signal penetration into the snow; and d) changes in geodetic reference frames over time, such as the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). The presentation will focus on the analysis of several IceBridge flights around 86 and 88°S with the LVIS and ATM airborne laser altimeters and will evaluate the accuracy and precision of these data sets. To properly interpret the observed elevation change (dh/dt) as mass change, however, the various processes that control surface elevation fluctuations must be quantified and therefore future work will quantify the spatial variability in snow accumulation rates pole-ward of 86°S and in particular around 88°S. Our goal is to develop a cross-validated multi-sensor time series of surface elevation change pole-ward of 86°S that, in combination with measured accumulation rates, will support ICESat-2 calibration and validation and ice sheet mass balance studies.

Evaluation of the BOD POD for estimating percent body fat in collegiate track and field female athletes: a comparison of four methods.

PubMed

Bentzur, Keren M; Kravitz, Len; Lockner, Donna W

2008-11-01

This investigation examined the accuracy of the BOD POD on a group of Division I collegiate track and field female athletes (N = 30). Hydrostatic weighing (HW) was used as the gold standard method. Body density (Db) values obtained from the BOD POD (Db BP) were compared with those determined by HW (Db HW). Both Db values were converted to percent body fat (%BF) using the Siri equation for comparison. Percent body fat values obtained from the BOD POD (BF BP) were also compared with those obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, BF DXA) and skinfold (SF, BF SF). The validity of the BOD POD was assessed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the relationship between the methods was examined through Pearson correlation. Average Db BP was 0.00890 g x cm(-3) lower (p < 0.05) than Db HW, resulting in a significant overestimation of %BF (p < 0.05) by the BOD POD. Values for BFDXA and BFBP also differed significantly (p < 0.05). On the other hand, BFSF and BF BP were not significantly different. The correlation between percent body fat values obtained from HW (BFHW) and BF BP was good (r = 0.88, SEE = 2.30) as well as between BF SF and BF BP (r = 0.85, SEE = 2.05). Conversely, the correlation between BFDXA and BF BP was poor (r = 0.25, SEE = 5.73). The strong correlation between BF BP and BF HW presented here suggests that the BOD POD has the potential to be used as a body composition analysis tool for female athletes. The advantages of the BOD POD over HW encourage further investigation of this instrument. However, the fact that the BOD POD and SF results did not differ significantly might suggest that the SF could be used in its place until a better rate of accuracy for this instrument is established.

Beyond Survival: Educational Development and the Maturing of the POD Network

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortquist-Ahrens, Leslie

2016-01-01

Scholarship about the growth of educational development has charted major shifts in developers' focuses and roles through time and, especially in recent years, has explored the professionalization of the field around the globe. This essay uses a lifecycle analogy to consider the development of one organization, the POD Network (The Professional…

PopZ identifies the new pole, and PodJ identifies the old pole during polar growth in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

PubMed Central

Grangeon, Romain; Zupan, John R.; Anderson-Furgeson, James; Zambryski, Patricia C.

2015-01-01

Agrobacterium tumefaciens elongates by addition of peptidoglycan (PG) only at the pole created by cell division, the growth pole, whereas the opposite pole, the old pole, is inactive for PG synthesis. How Agrobacterium assigns and maintains pole asymmetry is not understood. Here, we investigated whether polar growth is correlated with novel pole-specific localization of proteins implicated in a variety of growth and cell division pathways. The cell cycle of A. tumefaciens was monitored by time-lapse and superresolution microscopy to image the localization of A. tumefaciens homologs of proteins involved in cell division, PG synthesis and pole identity. FtsZ and FtsA accumulate at the growth pole during elongation, and improved imaging reveals FtsZ disappears from the growth pole and accumulates at the midcell before FtsA. The L,D-transpeptidase Atu0845 was detected mainly at the growth pole. A. tumefaciens specific pole-organizing protein (Pop) PopZAt and polar organelle development (Pod) protein PodJAt exhibited dynamic yet distinct behavior. PopZAt was found exclusively at the growing pole and quickly switches to the new growth poles of both siblings immediately after septation. PodJAt is initially at the old pole but then also accumulates at the growth pole as the cell cycle progresses suggesting that PodJAt may mediate the transition of the growth pole to an old pole. Thus, PopZAt is a marker for growth pole identity, whereas PodJAt identifies the old pole. PMID:26324921

Airborne laser-diode-array illuminator assessment for the night vision's airborne mine-detection arid test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stetson, Suzanne; Weber, Hadley; Crosby, Frank J.; Tinsley, Kenneth; Kloess, Edmund; Nevis, Andrew J.; Holloway, John H., Jr.; Witherspoon, Ned H.

2004-09-01

The Airborne Littoral Reconnaissance Technologies (ALRT) project has developed and tested a nighttime operational minefield detection capability using commercial off-the-shelf high-power Laser Diode Arrays (LDAs). The Coastal System Station"s ALRT project, under funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), has been designing, developing, integrating, and testing commercial arrays using a Cessna airborne platform over the last several years. This has led to the development of the Airborne Laser Diode Array Illuminator wide field-of-view (ALDAI-W) imaging test bed system. The ALRT project tested ALDAI-W at the Army"s Night Vision Lab"s Airborne Mine Detection Arid Test. By participating in Night Vision"s test, ALRT was able to collect initial prototype nighttime operational data using ALDAI-W, showing impressive results and pioneering the way for final test bed demonstration conducted in September 2003. This paper describes the ALDAI-W Arid Test and results, along with processing steps used to generate imagery.

An improved algorithm for balanced POD through an analytic treatment of impulse response tails

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tu, Jonathan H.; Rowley, Clarence W.

2012-06-01

We present a modification of the balanced proper orthogonal decomposition (balanced POD) algorithm for systems with simple impulse response tails. In this new method, we use dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) to estimate the slowly decaying eigenvectors that dominate the long-time behavior of the direct and adjoint impulse responses. This is done using a new, low-memory variant of the DMD algorithm, appropriate for large datasets. We then formulate analytic expressions for the contribution of these eigenvectors to the controllability and observability Gramians. These contributions can be accounted for in the balanced POD algorithm by simply appending the impulse response snapshot matrices (direct and adjoint, respectively) with particular linear combinations of the slow eigenvectors. Aside from these additions to the snapshot matrices, the algorithm remains unchanged. By treating the tails analytically, we eliminate the need to run long impulse response simulations, lowering storage requirements and speeding up ensuing computations. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we apply this method to two examples: the linearized, complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, and the two-dimensional fluid flow past a cylinder. As expected, reduced-order models computed using an analytic tail match or exceed the accuracy of those computed using the standard balanced POD procedure, at a fraction of the cost.

Cowpea fresh pods - a new legume for the market: assessment of their quality and dietary characteristics of 37 cowpea accessions grown in southern Europe.

PubMed

Karapanos, Ioannis; Papandreou, Anastasia; Skouloudi, Marianna; Makrogianni, Despoina; Fernández, Juan A; Rosa, Eduardo; Ntatsi, Georgia; Bebeli, Penelope J; Savvas, Dimitrios

2017-10-01

Cowpea is traditionally cultivated in some regions of southern Europe for its dried seeds; however, there is a scarcity of information on the quality and dietary characteristics of fresh pods, which are occasionally used in folk diets. This paper aims at covering this gap in knowledge, thereby contributing to the dissemination of fresh cowpea pods as a novel product for the market. The quality and dietary characteristics of pods from 37 accessions (Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata and ssp. sesquipedalis) grown in southern Europe were assessed in an attempt to provide information on pod quality and nutritional properties and to identify relationships between quality traits and accession origin. Pods from the sesquipedalis accessions were heavier and larger, and reached commercial maturity 2 days later, than those from the unguiculata accessions. There were also large differences in the quality and dietary characteristics of the accessions. The pods of most accessions were rich in proteins, chlorophylls, carotenoids and phenolics, and showed high antioxidant activity and low concentrations of nitrates and raffinose-family oligosaccharides. Cluster analysis based on quality, dietary or antinutritional traits did not reveal any apparent grouping among the accessions. All the quality characteristics were independent of accession origin and subspecies. Most of the accessions produced fresh pods of good quality and high dietary value, suitable for introduction in the market and/or for use as valuable genetic material for the development of new improved varieties. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Examining iPod Use by Texas Agricultural Science and Technology Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphrey, Theresa Pesl; Miller, Kimberly A.; Roberts, T. Grady

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to establish baseline data regarding the adoption of iPods and similar technologies by agricultural science and technology teachers. The population consisted of all agricultural science and technology teachers in Texas. A sample of 310 was randomly drawn from the population. Study findings reveal that while…

Isolation and identification of mycoparasitic isolates of Trichoderma asperellum with potential for suppression of black pod disease of cacao in Cameroon

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Alternative measures to chemical fungicides are needed to control Phytophthora megakarya, the main causal agent of black pod diseasein Central and West Africa. Precolonized plate and detached cacao pod assays were used to screen fungal isolates for mycoparasitismon P. megakarya. Of over 200 isolates...

Landcover classification in MRF context using Dempster-Shafer fusion for multisensor imagery.

PubMed

Sarkar, Anjan; Banerjee, Anjan; Banerjee, Nilanjan; Brahma, Siddhartha; Kartikeyan, B; Chakraborty, Manab; Majumder, K L

2005-05-01

This work deals with multisensor data fusion to obtain landcover classification. The role of feature-level fusion using the Dempster-Shafer rule and that of data-level fusion in the MRF context is studied in this paper to obtain an optimally segmented image. Subsequently, segments are validated and classification accuracy for the test data is evaluated. Two examples of data fusion of optical images and a synthetic aperture radar image are presented, each set having been acquired on different dates. Classification accuracies of the technique proposed are compared with those of some recent techniques in literature for the same image data.

Modified behaviour in nucleopolyhedro virus infected field bean pod borer, Adisura atkinsoni and its impact on assessing the field efficacy of NPV.

PubMed

Narayanan, K

2003-04-01

When nucleopolyhedro virus of A. atkinsoni was applied at 250 LE/ha, there was no significant difference between the viruses treated and control plots with regard to the total number of live larvae feeding outside the pod. However, due to changes in behaviour in NPV infected A. atkinsoni by way of coming out of the pod, there was a significant difference when counts were taken with regard to total number of larvae found feeding inside the pod. Both endosulfan at (0.07%) and virus (125 LE/ha) in combination with endosulfan (0.035%) significantly reduced the larval population of A. atkinsoni and Sphaenarches anisodactylus. There was no significant difference between the virus and control plots with regard to percentage of pod damage. However, when the yield was assessed based on the seed weight, there was significant difference.

An update on airborne contact dermatitis.

PubMed

Huygens, S; Goossens, A

2001-01-01

This review is an update of 2 previously published articles on airborne contact dermatoses. Because reports in the literature often omit the term 'airborne', 18 volumes of Contact Dermatitis (April 1991-June 2000), 8 volumes of the American Journal of Contact Dermatitis (1992 1999) and 4 volumes of La Lettre du Gerda (1996-1999) were screened, and the cases cited were classified as to history, lesion locations, sensitization sources, and other factors. Reports on airborne dermatitis are increasingly being published, sometimes in relation to specific occupational areas.

Deep sequencing analysis of the transcriptomes of peanut aerial and subterranean young pods identifies candidate genes related to early embryo abortion.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaoping; Zhu, Wei; Azam, Sarwar; Li, Heying; Zhu, Fanghe; Li, Haifen; Hong, Yanbin; Liu, Haiyan; Zhang, Erhua; Wu, Hong; Yu, Shanlin; Zhou, Guiyuan; Li, Shaoxiong; Zhong, Ni; Wen, Shijie; Li, Xingyu; Knapp, Steve J; Ozias-Akins, Peggy; Varshney, Rajeev K; Liang, Xuanqiang

2013-01-01

The failure of peg penetration into the soil leads to seed abortion in peanut. Knowledge of genes involved in these processes is comparatively deficient. Here, we used RNA-seq to gain insights into transcriptomes of aerial and subterranean pods. More than 2 million transcript reads with an average length of 396 bp were generated from one aerial (AP) and two subterranean (SP1 and SP2) pod libraries using pyrosequencing technology. After assembly, sets of 49 632, 49 952 and 50 494 from a total of 74 974 transcript assembly contigs (TACs) were identified in AP, SP1 and SP2, respectively. A clear linear relationship in the gene expression level was observed between these data sets. In brief, 2194 differentially expressed TACs with a 99.0% true-positive rate were identified, among which 859 and 1068 TACs were up-regulated in aerial and subterranean pods, respectively. Functional analysis showed that putative function based on similarity with proteins catalogued in UniProt and gene ontology term classification could be determined for 59 342 (79.2%) and 42 955 (57.3%) TACs, respectively. A total of 2968 TACs were mapped to 174 KEGG pathways, of which 168 were shared by aerial and subterranean transcriptomes. TACs involved in photosynthesis were significantly up-regulated and enriched in the aerial pod. In addition, two senescence-associated genes were identified as significantly up-regulated in the aerial pod, which potentially contribute to embryo abortion in aerial pods, and in turn, to cessation of swelling. The data set generated in this study provides evidence for some functional genes as robust candidates underlying aerial and subterranean pod development and contributes to an elucidation of the evolutionary implications resulting from fruit development under light and dark conditions. © 2012 The Authors Plant Biotechnology Journal © 2012 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Localised burst reconstruction from space-time PODs in a turbulent channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Gutierrez, Adrian; Jimenez, Javier

2017-11-01

The traditional proper orthogonal decomposition of the turbulent velocity fluctuations in a channel is extended to time under the assumption that the attractor is statistically stationary and can be treated as periodic for long-enough times. The objective is to extract space- and time-localised eddies that optimally represent the kinetic energy (and two-event correlation) of the flow. Using time-resolved data of a small-box simulation at Reτ = 1880 , minimal for y / h 0.25 , PODs are computed from the two-point spectral-density tensor Φ(kx ,kz , y ,y' , ω) . They are Fourier components in x, z and time, and depend on y and on the temporal frequency ω, or, equivalently, on the convection velocity c = ω /kx . Although the latter depends on y, a spatially and temporally localised `burst' can be synthesised by adding a range of PODs with specific phases. The results are localised bursts that are amplified and tilted, in a time-periodic version of Orr-like behaviour. Funded by the ERC COTURB project.

SR-71 being towed to hangar with LASRE pod installed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

NASA's SR-71 is being towed to its hangar with the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment installed. The experiment was mounted on the SR-71 on Aug. 26, at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in preparation for its first flight. The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle. The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus (pod) on the back of the SR-71. Five later flights focused on the experiment itself. Two were used to cycle gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen through the experiment to check its plumbing system for leaks and to test engine operational characteristics. During the other three flights, liquid oxygen was cycled through the engine. Two engine hot-firings were also completed on the ground. A final hot-fire test flight was canceled because of liquid oxygen leaks in the test apparatus. The LASRE experiment itself was a 20-percent-scale, half-span model of a lifting body shape (X-33) without the fins. It was rotated 90 degrees and equipped with eight thrust cells of an aerospike engine and was mounted on a housing known as the 'canoe,' which contained the gaseous hydrogen, helium, and instrumentation gear. The model, engine, and canoe together were called a 'pod.' The experiment focused on determining how a reusable launch vehicle's engine flume would affect the aerodynamics of its lifting-body shape at specific altitudes and speeds. The

Quick response airborne command post communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blaisdell, Randy L.

1988-08-01

National emergencies and strategic crises come in all forms and sizes ranging from natural disasters at one end of the scale up to and including global nuclear warfare at the other. Since the early 1960s the U.S. Government has spent billions of dollars fielding airborne command posts to ensure continuity of government and the command and control function during times of theater conventional, theater nuclear, and global nuclear warfare. Unfortunately, cost has prevented the extension of the airborne command post technology developed for these relatively unlikely events to the lower level, though much more likely to occur, crises such as natural disasters, terrorist acts, political insurgencies, etc. This thesis proposes the implementation of an economical airborne command post concept to address the wide variety of crises ignored by existing military airborne command posts. The system is known as the Quick Response Airborne Command Post (QRAC Post) and is based on the exclusive use of commercially owned and operated aircraft, and commercially available automated data processing and communications resources. The thesis addresses the QRAC Post concept at a systems level and is primarily intended to demonstrate how current technology can be exploited to economically achieve a national objective.

Transcriptome Analysis of Calcium- and Hormone-Related Gene Expressions during Different Stages of Peanut Pod Development

PubMed Central

Li, Yan; Meng, Jingjing; Yang, Sha; Guo, Feng; Zhang, Jialei; Geng, Yun; Cui, Li; Wan, Shubo; Li, Xinguo

2017-01-01

Peanut is one of the calciphilous plants. Calcium serves as a ubiquitous central hub in a large number of signaling pathways. In the field, free calcium ion (Ca2+)-deficient soil can result in unfilled pods. Four pod stages were analyzed to determine the relationship between Ca2+ excretion and pod development. Peanut shells showed Ca2+ excretion at all four stages; however, both the embryo of Stage 4 (S4) and the red skin of Stage 3 (S3) showed Ca2+ absorbance. These results showed that embryo and red skin of peanut need Ca2+ during development. In order to survey the relationship among calcium, hormone and seed development from gene perspective, we further analyzed the seed transcriptome at Stage 2 (S2), S3, and S4. About 70 million high quality clean reads were generated, which were assembled into 58,147 unigenes. By comparing these three stages, total 4,457 differentially expressed genes were identified. In these genes, 53 Ca2+ related genes, 40 auxin related genes, 15 gibberellin genes, 20 ethylene related genes, 2 abscisic acid related genes, and 7 cytokinin related genes were identified. Additionally, a part of them were validated by qRT-PCR. Most of their expressions changed during the pod development. Since some reports showed that Ca2+ signal transduction pathway is involved in hormone regulation pathway, these results implied that peanut seed development might be regulated by the collaboration of Ca2+ signal transduction pathway and hormone regulation pathway. PMID:28769950

The Copernicus POD Service and beyond: Scientific exploitation of the orbit-related data and products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter, Heike; Fernández, Jaime; Fernández, Carlos; Féménias, Pierre

2017-04-01

The Copernicus POD (Precise Orbit Determination) Service is part of the Copernicus Processing Data Ground Segment (PDGS) of the Sentinel-1, -2 and -3 missions. A GMV-led consortium is operating the Copernicus POD Service being in charge of generating precise orbital products and auxiliary data files for their use as part of the processing chains of the respective Sentinel PDGS. The orbital products are available through the dedicated Copernicus data hub. The Copernicus POD Service is supported by the Copernicus POD Quality Working Group (QWG) for the validation of the orbit product accuracy. The QWG is delivering independent orbit solutions for the satellites. The cross-comparison of all these orbit solutions is essential to monitor and to improve the orbit accuracy because for Sentinel-1 and -2 this is the only possibility to externally assess the quality of the orbits. Each of the Sentinel-1, -2, and -3 satellites carries dual-frequency GPS receivers delivering the necessary measurements for the precise orbit determination of the satellites. The Sentinel-3 satellites are additionally equipped with a DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite) receiver and a Laser Retro Reflector for Satellite Laser Ranging. These two additional observation techniques allow for independent validation of the GPS-derived orbit determination results and for studying biases between the different techniques. The scientific exploitation of the orbit determination and the corresponding input data is manifold. Sophisticated satellite macro models improve the modelling of the non-gravitational forces acting on the satellite. On the other hand, comparisons to orbits based on pure empirical modelling of the non-gravitational forces help to sort out deficiencies in the satellite geometry information. The dual-frequency GPS data delivered by the satellites can give valuable input for ionospheric studies important for Space Weather research. So-called kinematic

Analysis of Pendulum Period with an iPod Touch/iPhone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briggle, Justin

2013-01-01

We describe the use of Apple's iPod touch/iPhone, acting as the pendulum bob, as a means of measuring pendulum period, making use of the device's three-axis digital accelerometer and the freely available SPARKvue app from PASCO scientific. The method can be readily incorporated into an introductory physics laboratory experiment.…

Utilization of Cacao Pod Husk (Theobroma cacao l.) as Activated Carbon and Catalyst in Biodiesel Production Process from Waste Cooking Oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rachmat, Devita; Johar Mawarani, Lizda; Dewi Risanti, Doty

2018-01-01

Cocoa pod husk (Theobroma cacao l.) is a waste from cocoa beans processing. In this research we employ cocoa pod husk as activated carbon to decrease the value of FFA (Free Fatty Acid) in waste cooking oil and as K2CO3 catalyst in biodiesel production process from waste cooking oil. Cocoa pod husk was crusched and grounded into powder that passed thorugh 60 mesh-screen. As activated carbon, cocoa pod husk was firstly carbonized at three variant temperatures i.e 250°C, 300°C and 350°C. The activation process was done using HCl 2M as activator. Based on the results of XRD and FTIR, the carbonization at all variant temperatures does not cause a significant changes in terms of crystallite structure and water content. The pore of activated carbon started to form in sample that was carbonized at 350°C resulting in pore diameter of 5.14644 nm. This result was supported by the fact that the ability of this activated carbon in reducing the FFA of waste cooking oil was the most pronounced one, i.e. up to 86.7% of FFA. It was found that the performance of cocoa pod husk’s activated carbon in reducing FFA is more effective than esterification using H2SO4 which can only decrease 80.8%. On the other hand, the utilization as K2CO3 catalyst was carried out by carbonization at temperature 650°C and extraction using aquadest solvent. The extraction of cocoa pod husk produced 7.067% K2CO3 catalyst. According to RD results the fraction of K2CO3 compound from the green catalysts is the same as the commercial (SAP, 99%) that is ≥ 60%. From the obtained results, the best yield percentage was obtained using K2CO3 catalyst from cacao pod husk extract, i.e. 73-85%. To cope with biodiesel conversion efficiency, a two-step process consisting pretreatment with activated carbon carbonized at 350°C and esterification with K2CO3 from cocoa pod husk catalyst was developed. This two-step process could reach a high conversion of 85%. From the results it was clear that the produced

The Role of Airborne Proteins in Atopic Dermatitis

PubMed Central

Hostetler, Sarah Grim; Kaffenberger, Benjamin; Hostetler, Todd

2010-01-01

Atopic dermatitis is a common, chronic skin condition. A subpopulation of patients may have cutaneous exposure to common airborne proteins exacerbating their disease through direct proteolytic activity, direct activation of proteinase-activated receptor-2 itch receptors, and immunoglobulin E binding. The most common airborne proteins significant in atopic dermatitis include house dust mites, cockroach, pet dander, and multiple pollens. The literature on atopy patch testing, skin-prick testing, and specific IgE is mixed, with greater support for the use of atopy patch test. Patients with airborne proteins contributing to their disease typically have lesions predominately on air-exposed skin surfaces including the face, neck, and arms; a history of exacerbations after exposure to airborne proteins; severe disease resistant to conventional therapies; and concurrent asthma. Treatment strategies include airborne protein avoidance, removal of airborne proteins from the skin, and barrier repair. Further research is needed to establish the benefit of allergen-specific immunotherapy. PMID:20725535

The Need and Requirements for Validating Damage Detection Capability

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Testing of Airborne Equipment [11], 2) Materials / Structure Certification, 3) NDE (POD) Validation Procedures, 4) Failure Mode Effects and Criticality...Analysis (FMECA), and 5) Cost Benefits Analysis [12]. Existing procedures for environmental testing of airborne equipment ensure flight...e.g. ultrasound or eddy current), damage type or failure conditions to detect, criticality of the damage state (e.g. safety of flight), likelihood of

Monitoring of airborne bacteria and aerosols in different wards of hospitals - Particle counting usefulness in investigation of airborne bacteria.

PubMed

Mirhoseini, Seyed Hamed; Nikaeen, Mahnaz; Khanahmd, Hossein; Hatamzadeh, Maryam; Hassanzadeh, Akbar

2015-01-01

The presence of airborne bacteria in hospital environments is of great concern because of their potential role as a source of hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The aim of this study was the determination and comparison of the concentration of airborne bacteria in different wards of four educational hospitals, and evaluation of whether particle counting could be predictive of airborne bacterial concentration in different wards of a hospital. The study was performed in an operating theatre (OT), intensive care unit (ICU), surgery ward (SW) and internal medicine (IM) ward of four educational hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. A total of 80 samples were analyzed for the presence of airborne bacteria and particle levels. The average level of bacteria ranged from 75-1194 CFU/m (3) . Mean particle levels were higher than class 100,000 cleanrooms in all wards. A significant correlation was observed between the numbers of 1-5 µm particles and levels of airborne bacteria in operating theatres and ICUs. The results showed that factors which may influence the airborne bacterial level in hospital environments should be properly managed to minimize the risk of HAIs especially in operating theaters. Microbial air contamination of hospital settings should be performed by the monitoring of airborne bacteria, but particle counting could be considered as a good operative method for the continuous monitoring of air quality in operating theaters and ICUs where higher risks of infection are suspected.

Airborne Transparencies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horne, Lois Thommason

1984-01-01

Starting from a science project on flight, art students discussed and investigated various means of moving in space. Then they made acetate illustrations which could be used as transparencies. The projection phenomenon made the illustrations look airborne. (CS)

Airborne ballistic camera tracking systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redish, W. L.

1976-01-01

An operational airborne ballistic camera tracking system was tested for operational and data reduction feasibility. The acquisition and data processing requirements of the system are discussed. Suggestions for future improvements are also noted. A description of the data reduction mathematics is outlined. Results from a successful reentry test mission are tabulated. The test mission indicated that airborne ballistic camera tracking systems are feasible.

Airborne Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Anthony W.; Krainak, Michael A.; Harding, David J.; Abshire, James B.; Sun, Xiaoli; Cavanaugh, John; Valett, Susan; Ramos-Izquierdo, Luis; Winkert, Tom; Plants, Michael;

The First Four Year's of Orthoimages from NEON's Airborne Observation Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adler, J.; Gallery, W. O.

2016-12-01

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has been collecting orthorectified images in conjunction with lidar and spectrometer data for the past four years. The NEON project breaks up the United States into 20 regional areas from Puerto Rico to the North Slope of Alaska, with each region (Domain) typically having three specific sites of interest. Each site spans between 100km2 - 720km2 in area. Currently there are over 125,000 orthorectified images online from 6 Domains for the public and scientific community to freely download. These images are expected to assist researchers in many areas including vegetation cover, dominant vegetation type, and environmental change detection. In 2016 the NEON Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) group has collected digital imagery at 8.5 cm resolution over approximately 30 sites, for a total of 60,000 orthoimages. This presentation details the current status of the surveys conducted to date, and describes the scientific details of how NEON publishes Level 1 and Level 3 products. In particular, the onboard lidar system's contribution to the orthorectification process is outlined, in addition to the routines utilized for correcting white balance and exposure. Additionally, key flight parameters needed to produce NEON's complementary data of multi-sensor (camera/lidar/spectrometer) instruments are discussed. Problems with validating the orthoimages with the coarser resolution lidar system are addressed, to include the utilization of ground-truth locations. Lastly, methods to access NEON's publically available 10cm resolution orthoimages (in both individual image format, and in 1km by 1km tiles) are presented. A brief overview of the 2017 field season's nine new sites completes the presentation.

The Pēpi-Pod study: Overnight video, oximetry and thermal environment while using an in-bed sleep device for sudden unexpected death in infancy prevention.

PubMed

Tipene-Leach, David; Baddock, Sally A; Williams, Sheila M; Tangiora, Angeline; Jones, Raymond; McElnay, Caroline; Taylor, Barry J

2018-06-01

The aim of this study was to identify the potential risks and benefits of sleeping infants in a Pēpi-Pod distributed to families with high risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy compared to a bassinet. Forty-five mostly indigenous Māori mothers who were referred by local health providers to receive a Pēpi-Pod were surveyed at recruitment, 1 and 3 months. A sleep study at 1 month included infrared video, oximetry and temperature measures. When compared with 89 historical bassinet controls, an intention-to-treat analysis of questionnaires showed no increase in direct bed sharing but demonstrated significantly less sharing of the maternal bedroom at both interviews, with the majority of those not sleeping in the maternal bedroom, actually sleeping in the living room. The 1 month 'as-used' analysis showed poorer maternal sleep quality. The 'as-used' analysis of video data (24 Pēpi-Pod and 113 bassinet infants) also showed no increase in direct bed sharing, head covering or prone/side sleep position. Differences in oxygen saturation were not significant, but heart rate was higher in the Pēpi-Pod infants by 8.37 bpm (95% confidence interval 4.40, 12.14). Time in the thermal comfort zone was not different between groups despite Pēpi-Pod infants being situated in significantly warmer rooms. Overall, we found that most differences in infant risk behaviours in a Pēpi-Pod compared to a bassinet were small, with confidence intervals excluding meaningful differences. We noted poorer maternal sleep quality at 1 month. Higher infant heart rates in the Pēpi-Pod group may be related to higher room temperatures. The Pēpi-Pod appears physiologically safe but is associated with lower reported maternal sleep quality. © 2018 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Challenges and Opportunities of Airborne Metagenomics

PubMed Central

Behzad, Hayedeh; Gojobori, Takashi; Mineta, Katsuhiko

2015-01-01

Recent metagenomic studies of environments, such as marine and soil, have significantly enhanced our understanding of the diverse microbial communities living in these habitats and their essential roles in sustaining vast ecosystems. The increase in the number of publications related to soil and marine metagenomics is in sharp contrast to those of air, yet airborne microbes are thought to have significant impacts on many aspects of our lives from their potential roles in atmospheric events such as cloud formation, precipitation, and atmospheric chemistry to their major impact on human health. In this review, we will discuss the current progress in airborne metagenomics, with a special focus on exploring the challenges and opportunities of undertaking such studies. The main challenges of conducting metagenomic studies of airborne microbes are as follows: 1) Low density of microorganisms in the air, 2) efficient retrieval of microorganisms from the air, 3) variability in airborne microbial community composition, 4) the lack of standardized protocols and methodologies, and 5) DNA sequencing and bioinformatics-related challenges. Overcoming these challenges could provide the groundwork for comprehensive analysis of airborne microbes and their potential impact on the atmosphere, global climate, and our health. Metagenomic studies offer a unique opportunity to examine viral and bacterial diversity in the air and monitor their spread locally or across the globe, including threats from pathogenic microorganisms. Airborne metagenomic studies could also lead to discoveries of novel genes and metabolic pathways relevant to meteorological and industrial applications, environmental bioremediation, and biogeochemical cycles. PMID:25953766

A Radiosonde Using a Humidity Sensor Array with a Platinum Resistance Heater and Multi-Sensor Data Fusion

PubMed Central

Shi, Yunbo; Luo, Yi; Zhao, Wenjie; Shang, Chunxue; Wang, Yadong; Chen, Yinsheng

2013-01-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of a radiosonde which can measure the meteorological temperature, humidity, pressure, and other atmospheric data. The system is composed of a CPU, microwave module, temperature sensor, pressure sensor and humidity sensor array. In order to effectively solve the humidity sensor condensation problem due to the low temperatures in the high altitude environment, a capacitive humidity sensor including four humidity sensors to collect meteorological humidity and a platinum resistance heater was developed using micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) technology. A platinum resistance wire with 99.999% purity and 0.023 mm in diameter was used to obtain the meteorological temperature. A multi-sensor data fusion technique was applied to process the atmospheric data. Static and dynamic experimental results show that the designed humidity sensor with platinum resistance heater can effectively tackle the sensor condensation problem, shorten response times and enhance sensitivity. The humidity sensor array can improve measurement accuracy and obtain a reliable initial meteorological humidity data, while the multi-sensor data fusion technique eliminates the uncertainty in the measurement. The radiosonde can accurately reflect the meteorological changes. PMID:23857263

A radiosonde using a humidity sensor array with a platinum resistance heater and multi-sensor data fusion.

PubMed

Shi, Yunbo; Luo, Yi; Zhao, Wenjie; Shang, Chunxue; Wang, Yadong; Chen, Yinsheng

2013-07-12

This paper describes the design and implementation of a radiosonde which can measure the meteorological temperature, humidity, pressure, and other atmospheric data. The system is composed of a CPU, microwave module, temperature sensor, pressure sensor and humidity sensor array. In order to effectively solve the humidity sensor condensation problem due to the low temperatures in the high altitude environment, a capacitive humidity sensor including four humidity sensors to collect meteorological humidity and a platinum resistance heater was developed using micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) technology. A platinum resistance wire with 99.999% purity and 0.023 mm in diameter was used to obtain the meteorological temperature. A multi-sensor data fusion technique was applied to process the atmospheric data. Static and dynamic experimental results show that the designed humidity sensor with platinum resistance heater can effectively tackle the sensor condensation problem, shorten response times and enhance sensitivity. The humidity sensor array can improve measurement accuracy and obtain a reliable initial meteorological humidity data, while the multi-sensor data fusion technique eliminates the uncertainty in the measurement. The radiosonde can accurately reflect the meteorological changes.

Airborne asbestos in public buildings

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

Chesson, J.; Hatfield, J.; Schultz, B.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sampled air in 49 government-owned buildings (six buildings with no asbestos-containing material, six buildings with asbestos-containing material in generally good condition, and 37 buildings with damaged asbestos-containing material). This is the most comprehensive study to date of airborne asbestos levels in U.S. public buildings during normal building activities. The air outside each building was also sampled. Air samples were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy using a direct transfer preparation technique. The results show an increasing trend in average airborne asbestos levels; outdoor levels are lowest and levels in buildings with damaged asbestos-containing material are highest.more » However, the measured levels and the differences between indoors and outdoors and between building categories are small in absolute magnitude. Comparable studies from Canada and the UK, although differing in their estimated concentrations, also conclude that while airborne asbestos levels may be elevated in buildings that contain asbestos, levels are generally low. This conclusion does not eliminate the possibility of higher airborne asbestos levels during maintenance or renovation that disturbs the asbestos-containing material.« less

Airborne remote sensing of forest biomes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sader, Steven A.

1987-01-01

Airborne sensor data of forest biomes obtained using an SAR, a laser profiler, an IR MSS, and a TM simulator are presented and examined. The SAR was utilized to investigate forest canopy structures in Mississippi and Costa Rica; the IR MSS measured forest canopy temperatures in Oregon and Puerto Rico; the TM simulator was employed in a tropical forest in Puerto Rico; and the laser profiler studied forest canopy characteristics in Costa Rica. The advantages and disadvantages of airborne systems are discussed. It is noted that the airborne sensors provide measurements applicable to forest monitoring programs.

The iPod binocular home-based treatment for amblyopia in adults: efficacy and compliance.

PubMed

Hess, Robert F; Babu, Raiju Jacob; Clavagnier, Simon; Black, Joanna; Bobier, William; Thompson, Benjamin

2014-09-01

Occlusion therapy for amblyopia is predicated on the idea that amblyopia is primarily a disorder of monocular vision; however, there is growing evidence that patients with amblyopia have a structurally intact binocular visual system that is rendered functionally monocular due to suppression. Furthermore, we have found that a dichoptic treatment intervention designed to directly target suppression can result in clinically significant improvement in both binocular and monocular visual function in adult patients with amblyopia. The fact that monocular improvement occurs in the absence of any fellow eye occlusion suggests that amblyopia is, in part, due to chronic suppression. Previously the treatment has been administered as a psychophysical task and more recently as a video game that can be played on video goggles or an iPod device equipped with a lenticular screen. The aim of this case-series study of 14 amblyopes (six strabismics, six anisometropes and two mixed) ages 13 to 50 years was to investigate: 1. whether the portable video game treatment is suitable for at-home use and 2. whether an anaglyphic version of the iPod-based video game, which is more convenient for at-home use, has comparable effects to the lenticular version. The dichoptic video game treatment was conducted at home and visual functions assessed before and after treatment. We found that at-home use for 10 to 30 hours restored simultaneous binocular perception in 13 of 14 cases along with significant improvements in acuity (0.11 ± 0.08 logMAR) and stereopsis (0.6 ± 0.5 log units). Furthermore, the anaglyph and lenticular platforms were equally effective. In addition, the iPod devices were able to record a complete and accurate picture of treatment compliance. The home-based dichoptic iPod approach represents a viable treatment for adults with amblyopia. © 2014 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Optometry © 2014 Optometrists Association Australia.

In vitro fermentation characteristics and effective utilisable crude protein in leaves and green pods of Moringa stenopetala and Moringa oleifera cultivated at low and mid-altitudes.

PubMed

Melesse, A; Steingass, H; Boguhn, J; Rodehutscord, M

2013-06-01

This study was conducted to assess the in vitro nutrient digestibility and utilisation of leaves and green pods of two Moringa species in supplementing the feed of ruminant animals during the dry season. Samples were analysed for proximate nutrients using official methods. The metabolisable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and effective utilisable crude protein (uCP) were estimated using the Hohenheim in vitro gas test method. Gas volume in Moringa stenopetala leaves and green pods was generally higher than those of Moringa oleifera. Gas volume for leaves was similar between low and mid-altitudes but was higher for green pods at mid-altitude. M. stenopetala leaves contained significantly higher ME (9.8 MJ/kg DM) and OMD (75%) than those of M. oleifera. Similarly, M. stenopetala green pods had higher ME and OMD values than those of M. oleifera. For green pods, the ME and OMD values were significantly higher at mid-altitude than those at low altitude although these values for leaves were similar between both altitudes. Moringa oleifera leaves had higher effective uCP than those of M. stenopetala. Nevertheless, the effective uCP was higher for green pods of M. stenopetala than those of M. oleifera. The effective uCP for leaves cultivated at mid-altitude was slightly higher than those at low altitude. This study suggested that leaves and green pods could be used as alternative energy and protein supplements for tropical ruminants, particularly during dry periods. It was further concluded that leaves were generally better in nutrient compositions and in vitro nutrient digestibility characteristics than green pods. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Application of rape pod sealants to reduce adverse environmental impacts.

PubMed

Bauša, Laimis; Steponavičius, Dainius; Jotautienė, Eglė; Kemzūraitė, Aurelija; Zaleckas, Ernestas

2018-04-01

Rape (Brassica napus L.) is a major global oilseed crop characterized by its high potential as an alimentary oil and in biodiesel production. The two most popular pod sealants (PS) used to reduce rape pod shattering are products in the pinolene range (di-1-p-menthene) and latex polymer products. Reports on the effective preservation of seed yield by these products are fairly contradictory. With this in mind, an experimental PS (PS4) that contained the active agents acrylic and trisiloxane was developed. Comparative experimental trials of the developed PS4 and three other PS (PS1, PS2 and PS3) containing active agents that are generally used for sealant production were conducted. The studies showed that the static and dynamic surface tension of PS4 was the lowest at the same concentration (2.0 g kg -1 ), consequently demonstrating the lowest spray drift. The chemical substances from PS had not penetrated the rape seeds in any of the PSs. The results indicate that treatment with PS4 exerts a beneficial effect in reducing rape seed yield loss (68-104 kg ha -1 in 2014 and 194-305 kg ha -1 in 2015) compared to other investigated PS. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Simulation supported POD for RT test case-concept and modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gollwitzer, C.; Bellon, C.; Deresch, A.; Ewert, U.; Jaenisch, G.-R.; Zscherpel, U.; Mistral, Q.

2012-05-01

Within the framework of the European project PICASSO, the radiographic simulator aRTist (analytical Radiographic Testing inspection simulation tool) developed by BAM has been extended for reliability assessment of film and digital radiography. NDT of safety relevant components of aerospace industry requires the proof of probability of detection (POD) of the inspection. Modeling tools can reduce the expense of such extended, time consuming NDT trials, if the result of simulation fits to the experiment. Our analytic simulation tool consists of three modules for the description of the radiation source, the interaction of radiation with test pieces and flaws, and the detection process with special focus on film and digital industrial radiography. It features high processing speed with near-interactive frame rates and a high level of realism. A concept has been developed as well as a software extension for reliability investigations, completed by a user interface for planning automatic simulations with varying parameters and defects. Furthermore, an automatic image analysis procedure is included to evaluate the defect visibility. The radiographic modeling from 3D CAD of aero engine components and quality test samples are compared as a precondition for real trials. This enables the evaluation and optimization of film replacement for application of modern digital equipment for economical NDT and defined POD.

Deciphering Transcriptional Programming during Pod and Seed Development Using RNA-Seq in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan).

PubMed

Pazhamala, Lekha T; Agarwal, Gaurav; Bajaj, Prasad; Kumar, Vinay; Kulshreshtha, Akanksha; Saxena, Rachit K; Varshney, Rajeev K

2016-01-01

Seed development is an important event in plant life cycle that has interested humankind since ages, especially in crops of economic importance. Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics, used mainly for its protein rich seeds. In order to understand the transcriptional programming during the pod and seed development, RNA-seq data was generated from embryo sac from the day of anthesis (0 DAA), seed and pod wall (5, 10, 20 and 30 DAA) of pigeonpea variety "Asha" (ICPL 87119) using Illumina HiSeq 2500. About 684 million sequencing reads have been generated from nine samples, which resulted in the identification of 27,441 expressed genes after sequence analysis. These genes have been studied for their differentially expression, co-expression, temporal and spatial gene expression. We have also used the RNA-seq data to identify important seed-specific transcription factors, biological processes and associated pathways during seed development process in pigeonpea. The comprehensive gene expression study from flowering to mature pod development in pigeonpea would be crucial in identifying candidate genes involved in seed traits directly or indirectly related to yield and quality. The dataset will serve as an important resource for gene discovery and deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying various seed related traits.

Deciphering Transcriptional Programming during Pod and Seed Development Using RNA-Seq in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan)

PubMed Central

Pazhamala, Lekha T.; Agarwal, Gaurav; Bajaj, Prasad; Kumar, Vinay; Kulshreshtha, Akanksha; Saxena, Rachit K.; Varshney, Rajeev K.

2016-01-01

Seed development is an important event in plant life cycle that has interested humankind since ages, especially in crops of economic importance. Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics, used mainly for its protein rich seeds. In order to understand the transcriptional programming during the pod and seed development, RNA-seq data was generated from embryo sac from the day of anthesis (0 DAA), seed and pod wall (5, 10, 20 and 30 DAA) of pigeonpea variety “Asha” (ICPL 87119) using Illumina HiSeq 2500. About 684 million sequencing reads have been generated from nine samples, which resulted in the identification of 27,441 expressed genes after sequence analysis. These genes have been studied for their differentially expression, co-expression, temporal and spatial gene expression. We have also used the RNA-seq data to identify important seed-specific transcription factors, biological processes and associated pathways during seed development process in pigeonpea. The comprehensive gene expression study from flowering to mature pod development in pigeonpea would be crucial in identifying candidate genes involved in seed traits directly or indirectly related to yield and quality. The dataset will serve as an important resource for gene discovery and deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying various seed related traits. PMID:27760186

Cooperative multisensor system for real-time face detection and tracking in uncontrolled conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchesotti, Luca; Piva, Stefano; Turolla, Andrea; Minetti, Deborah; Regazzoni, Carlo S.

2005-03-01

The presented work describes an innovative architecture for multi-sensor distributed video surveillance applications. The aim of the system is to track moving objects in outdoor environments with a cooperative strategy exploiting two video cameras. The system also exhibits the capacity of focusing its attention on the faces of detected pedestrians collecting snapshot frames of face images, by segmenting and tracking them over time at different resolution. The system is designed to employ two video cameras in a cooperative client/server structure: the first camera monitors the entire area of interest and detects the moving objects using change detection techniques. The detected objects are tracked over time and their position is indicated on a map representing the monitored area. The objects" coordinates are sent to the server sensor in order to point its zooming optics towards the moving object. The second camera tracks the objects at high resolution. As well as the client camera, this sensor is calibrated and the position of the object detected on the image plane reference system is translated in its coordinates referred to the same area map. In the map common reference system, data fusion techniques are applied to achieve a more precise and robust estimation of the objects" track and to perform face detection and tracking. The work novelties and strength reside in the cooperative multi-sensor approach, in the high resolution long distance tracking and in the automatic collection of biometric data such as a person face clip for recognition purposes.

The Mitochondrial Genome of Moniliophthora roreri, the frosty pod rot pathogen of cacao

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Moniliophthora roreri and Moniliophthora perniciosa are closely related basidiomycetes that cause two important diseases in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.): frosty pod rot and the witches' broom disease, respectively. A comparison of the complete mitochondrial genomes of these pathogens shows a high degr...

Transcriptome analysis of Brassica napus pod using RNA-Seq and identification of lipid-related candidate genes.

PubMed

Xu, Hai-Ming; Kong, Xiang-Dong; Chen, Fei; Huang, Ji-Xiang; Lou, Xiang-Yang; Zhao, Jian-Yi

2015-10-24

Brassica napus is an important oilseed crop. Dissection of the genetic architecture underlying oil-related biological processes will greatly facilitates the genetic improvement of rapeseed. The differential gene expression during pod development offers a snapshot on the genes responsible for oil accumulation in. To identify candidate genes in the linkage peaks reported previously, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology to analyze the pod transcriptomes of German cultivar Sollux and Chinese inbred line Gaoyou. The RNA samples were collected for RNA-Seq at 5-7, 15-17 and 25-27 days after flowering (DAF). Bioinformatics analysis was performed to investigate differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene annotation analysis was integrated with QTL mapping and Brassica napus pod transcriptome profiling to detect potential candidate genes in oilseed. Four hundred sixty five and two thousand, one hundred fourteen candidate DEGs were identified, respectively, between two varieties at the same stages and across different periods of each variety. Then, 33 DEGs between Sollux and Gaoyou were identified as the candidate genes affecting seed oil content by combining those DEGs with the quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping results, of which, one was found to be homologous to Arabidopsis thaliana lipid-related genes. Intervarietal DEGs of lipid pathways in QTL regions represent important candidate genes for oil-related traits. Integrated analysis of transcriptome profiling, QTL mapping and comparative genomics with other relative species leads to efficient identification of most plausible functional genes underlying oil-content related characters, offering valuable resources for bettering breeding program of Brassica napus. This study provided a comprehensive overview on the pod transcriptomes of two varieties with different oil-contents at the three developmental stages.

Challenges and opportunities of airborne metagenomics.

PubMed

Behzad, Hayedeh; Gojobori, Takashi; Mineta, Katsuhiko

2015-05-06

Recent metagenomic studies of environments, such as marine and soil, have significantly enhanced our understanding of the diverse microbial communities living in these habitats and their essential roles in sustaining vast ecosystems. The increase in the number of publications related to soil and marine metagenomics is in sharp contrast to those of air, yet airborne microbes are thought to have significant impacts on many aspects of our lives from their potential roles in atmospheric events such as cloud formation, precipitation, and atmospheric chemistry to their major impact on human health. In this review, we will discuss the current progress in airborne metagenomics, with a special focus on exploring the challenges and opportunities of undertaking such studies. The main challenges of conducting metagenomic studies of airborne microbes are as follows: 1) Low density of microorganisms in the air, 2) efficient retrieval of microorganisms from the air, 3) variability in airborne microbial community composition, 4) the lack of standardized protocols and methodologies, and 5) DNA sequencing and bioinformatics-related challenges. Overcoming these challenges could provide the groundwork for comprehensive analysis of airborne microbes and their potential impact on the atmosphere, global climate, and our health. Metagenomic studies offer a unique opportunity to examine viral and bacterial diversity in the air and monitor their spread locally or across the globe, including threats from pathogenic microorganisms. Airborne metagenomic studies could also lead to discoveries of novel genes and metabolic pathways relevant to meteorological and industrial applications, environmental bioremediation, and biogeochemical cycles. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

In vitro antioxidant and antimalarial activities of leaves, pods and bark extracts of Acacia nilotica (L.) Del.

PubMed

Sadiq, Muhammad Bilal; Tharaphan, Pattamon; Chotivanich, Kesinee; Tarning, Joel; Anal, Anil Kumar

2017-07-18

The emergence of drug resistant malaria is threatening our ability to treat and control malaria in the Southeast Asian region. There is an urgent need to develop novel and chemically diverse antimalarial drugs. This study aimed at evaluating the antimalarial and antioxidant potentials of Acacia nilotica plant extracts. The antioxidant activities of leaves, pods and bark extracts were determined by standard antioxidant assays; reducing power capacity, % lipid peroxidation inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. The antimalarial activities of plant extracts against Plasmodium falciparum parasites were determined by the 48 h schizont maturation inhibition assay. Further confirmation of schizonticide activity of extracts was made by extending the incubation period up to 96 h after removing the plant extract residues from parasites culture. Inhibition assays were analyzed by dose-response modelling. In all antioxidant assays, leaves of A. nilotica showed higher antioxidant activity than pods and bark. Antimalarial IC 50 values of leaves, pods and bark extracts were 1.29, 4.16 and 4.28 μg/ml respectively, in the 48 h maturation assay. The IC 50 values determined for leaves, pods and bark extracts were 3.72, 5.41 and 5.32 μg/ml respectively, after 96 h of incubation. All extracts inhibited the development of mature schizont, indicating schizonticide activity against P. falciparum. A. nilotica extracts showed promising antimalarial and antioxidant effects. However, further investigation is needed to isolate and identify the active components responsible for the antimalarial and antioxidant effects.

Effect of ovule position within the pod on the probability of seed production in Bauhinia ungulata (Fabaceae).

PubMed

Mena-Alí, Jorge I; Rocha, Oscar J

2005-02-01

It has been claimed that ovules linearly ordered within a fruit differ in their probabilities of reaching maturity. This was investigated by studying the effect the position of an ovule within the pod has on seed abortion and seed production in Bauhinia ungulata. Fruits collected during the dry seasons of 1999, 2000 and 2001 were opened, and the number, position and status of each ovule within the fruit were recorded. A GLM model was used to assess the effects of population, tree identity and ovule position within the pod on ovule fertilization, seed abortion, seed damage and seed maturation in two populations of B. ungulata. Nearly 30% of the ovules were not fertilized in 1999; this percentage dropped to 5% the following two years. Seed abortion (50%) and seed damage (15%) were the same every year during the study period. Only 15% of the initial ovules developed into mature seeds in 1999; this value increased to 35% in 2000 and 2001. However, seed survivorship was dependent on the position of the ovule within the pod; non-fertilized and early aborted ovules were found more often near the basal end of the ovary. The frequency of seed damage was not affected by position. Mature seeds were found mainly in the stylar half of fruits, where ovules are likely to be fertilized by fast pollen tubes. The pattern of seed production in B. ungulata is non-random but is dependent upon the position of the ovule within the pod. The results suggest that the seeds produced within a fruit might differ in their vigour.

A High Content Screening (HCS) Assay for the Identification of Chemical Inducers of PML Oncogenic Domains (PODs)

PubMed Central

Yip, Kenneth W.; Cuddy, Michael; Pinilla, Clemencia; Giulanotti, Marc; Heynen-Genel, Susanne; Matsuzawa, Shu-ichi; Reed, John C.

2014-01-01

PML is a tumor suppressor that promotes apoptosis through both p53-dependent and - independent mechanisms, participates in Rb-mediated cell cycle arrest, inhibits neoangiogenesis, and contributes to maintenance of genomic stability. PML also plays a role in host defense against viruses, conferring antiviral activity. When active, PML localizes to subnuclear structures named PML oncogenic domains (PODs) or PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), whereas inactive PML is located diffusely throughout the nucleus of cells, thus providing a morphological indicator. Known activators of PML include arsenicals and interferons, however, these agents induce a plethora of toxic effects, limiting their effectiveness. The objective of the current study was to develop a high content screening (HCS) assay for the identification of chemical activators of PML. We describe methods for automated analysis of POD formation using high throughput microscopy (HTM) to localize PML immunofluorescence in conjunction with image analysis software for POD quantification. Using this HCS assay in 384 well format, we performed pilot screens of a small synthetic chemical library and mixture-based combinatorial libraries, demonstrating the robust performance of the assay. HCS counter-screening assays were also developed for hit characterization, based on immunofluorescence analyses of the subcellular location of phosphorylated H2AX or phosphorylated CHK1, which increase in a punctate nuclear pattern in response to DNA damage. Thus, the HCS assay devised here represents a high throughput screen that can be utilized to discover POD-inducing compounds that may restore the tumor suppressor activity of PML in cancers or possibly promote anti-viral states. PMID:21233309

Airborne Particles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ojala, Carl F.; Ojala, Eric J.

1987-01-01

Describes an activity in which students collect airborne particles using a common vacuum cleaner. Suggests ways for the students to convert their data into information related to air pollution and human health. Urges consideration of weather patterns when analyzing the results of the investigation. (TW)

Fuzzy Risk Evaluation in Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Using a D Numbers Based Multi-Sensor Information Fusion Method.

PubMed

Deng, Xinyang; Jiang, Wen

2017-09-12

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a useful tool to define, identify, and eliminate potential failures or errors so as to improve the reliability of systems, designs, and products. Risk evaluation is an important issue in FMEA to determine the risk priorities of failure modes. There are some shortcomings in the traditional risk priority number (RPN) approach for risk evaluation in FMEA, and fuzzy risk evaluation has become an important research direction that attracts increasing attention. In this paper, the fuzzy risk evaluation in FMEA is studied from a perspective of multi-sensor information fusion. By considering the non-exclusiveness between the evaluations of fuzzy linguistic variables to failure modes, a novel model called D numbers is used to model the non-exclusive fuzzy evaluations. A D numbers based multi-sensor information fusion method is proposed to establish a new model for fuzzy risk evaluation in FMEA. An illustrative example is provided and examined using the proposed model and other existing method to show the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Fuzzy Risk Evaluation in Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Using a D Numbers Based Multi-Sensor Information Fusion Method

PubMed Central

Deng, Xinyang

2017-01-01

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a useful tool to define, identify, and eliminate potential failures or errors so as to improve the reliability of systems, designs, and products. Risk evaluation is an important issue in FMEA to determine the risk priorities of failure modes. There are some shortcomings in the traditional risk priority number (RPN) approach for risk evaluation in FMEA, and fuzzy risk evaluation has become an important research direction that attracts increasing attention. In this paper, the fuzzy risk evaluation in FMEA is studied from a perspective of multi-sensor information fusion. By considering the non-exclusiveness between the evaluations of fuzzy linguistic variables to failure modes, a novel model called D numbers is used to model the non-exclusive fuzzy evaluations. A D numbers based multi-sensor information fusion method is proposed to establish a new model for fuzzy risk evaluation in FMEA. An illustrative example is provided and examined using the proposed model and other existing method to show the effectiveness of the proposed model. PMID:28895905

Methods for planning a statistical POD study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koh, Y.-M.; Meeker, W. Q.

2013-01-01

The most common question asked of a statistician is "How large should my sample be?" In NDE applications, the most common questions asked of a statistician are "How many specimens do I need and what should be the distribution of flaw sizes?" Although some useful general guidelines exist (e.g. in MIK-HDBK-1823) it is possible to use statistical tools to provide more definitive guidelines and to allow comparison among different proposed study plans. One can assess the performance of a proposed POD study plan by obtaining computable expressions for estimation precision. This allows for a quick and easy assessment of tradeoffs and comparison of various alternative plans. We use a signal-response dataset obtained from MIK-HDBK-1823 to illustrate the ideas.

The steroidal Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitor 3-[(R)-3-pyrrolidinyl]oxime derivative (3-R-POD) induces potent pro-apoptotic responses in colonic tumor cells.

PubMed

Alkahtani, Saad Hussin

2014-06-01

Recently, potent anticancer actions of the steroidal Na(+)/K(+) ATPase inhibitor 3-[(R)-3-pyrrolidinyl]oxime derivative 3 (3-R-POD) have been reported for multiple cell lines, including prostate and lung cancer cells. In the present study, the anticancer action of 3-R-POD was addressed in colonic tumor cells. Treatment of Caco2 colonic tumor cells with increasing concentrations of 3-R-POD induced potent, dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth as measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. In addition, the APOpercentage apoptosis assay revealed significant pro-apoptotic responses, suggesting that the anticancer activity of this steroidal Na(+)/K(+) ATPase inhibitor in colonic tumors takes places mainly through the induction of strong pro-apoptotic effects. Focussing on the molecular mechanism that may regulate these interactions, 3-R-POD was shown to induce significant early actin re-organization and late Protein Kinase B (AKT) de-phosphorylation. Finally, the 3-R-POD-induced inhibition of cell growth and early actin reorganization in colonic cancer cells remained unchanged when cells were pre-treated with pertussis toxin, thus excluding possible interactions of this inhibitor with G-coupled receptors. These results indicate that 3-R-POD induces potent pro-apoptotic responses in colonic tumor cells governed by actin re-organization and inhibition of AKT pro-survival signaling. Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Library iTour: Introducing the iPod Generation to the Academic Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cairns, Virginia; Dean, Toni C.

2009-01-01

Purpose: For many years, the Lupton Library offered a traditional library introduction class to first year students participating in the Freshman Seminar Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2007, the library applied for and received a campus grant to purchase thirty iPod Touches, along with accompanying hardware and software.…

Predictors of Airborne Endotoxin Concentrations in Inner City Homes

PubMed Central

Mazique, D; Diette, GB; Breysse, PN; Matsui, EC; McCormack, MC; Curtin-Brosnan, J; Williams, D; Peng, RD; Hansel, NN

2011-01-01

Few studies have assessed in-home factors which contribute to airborne endotoxin concentrations. In 85 inner-city Baltimore homes, we found no significant correlation between settled dust and airborne endotoxin concentrations. Certain household activities and characteristics, including frequency of dusting, air conditioner use and type of flooring, explained 36–42% of the variability of airborne concentrations. Measurements of both airborne and settled dust endotoxin concentrations may be needed to fully characterize domestic exposure in epidemiologic investigations. PMID:21429483

Enhanced Army Airborne Forces: A New Joint Operational Capability

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

that are trained to carry out airborne operations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment and Army special forces. Today’s airborne forces lack protected...Operation Just Cause Airborne units were used extensively in Panama, and the 82nd Air- borne’s 1st Brigade and the 75th Ranger Regiment were both...carry out airborne operations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment and Army special forces. The changes made to transition the Army into a force

Effects of acute and 2-hour postphysical activity on the estimation of body fat made by the bod pod.

PubMed

Harrop, Bradley J; Woodruff, Sarah J

2015-06-01

The Bod Pod has been found to be reliable/valid against several criterion methods, including hydrostatic weighing and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and under different conditions, such as clothing, dehydrated states, and body temperature changes. However, questions remain regarding the effects of an acute bout of exercise. Therefore, the purpose was to determine the effects of an acute bout of exercise on the estimations made by the Bod Pod. Participants (15 men and 22 women) were of age 18-27 years and were currently exercising. Baseline Bod Pod measures were completed followed by a 30-minute cycling trial at 75% of maximum heart rate. Bod Pod measures were taken immediately after exercise and 2 hours after exercise. Differences between men and women were found at baseline between height (p < 0.001), weight (p < 0.001), body volume (BV; p < 0.001), and body density (Db; p < 0.001). Among men, body mass (p < 0.001), body fat percentage (%BF; p < 0.001), and BV (p < 0.001) decreased, whereas Db (p < 0.001) and body temperature (p < 0.001) increased directly after exercise; body mass (p < 0.001) and BV (p < 0.001) remained lower after 2 hours. Among women, body mass (p < 0.001) and BV (p < 0.001) decreased, whereas thoracic gas volume (p = 0.014) and temperature (p < 0.001) increased directly after exercise; body mass (p < 0.001) and BV (p < 0.001) remained lower, whereas %BF (p < 0.001) and Db (p = 0.006) remained higher 2 hours after exercise. These results suggest that a single bout of exercise immediately before Bod Pod testing seems to alter the estimate of %BF, and continues to affect the prediction 2 hours after exercise in women.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Is It Time to Rename PCOS to HA-PODS?

PubMed

Khadilkar, Suvarna Satish

2016-04-01

The term polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) came into existence 80 years ago. Pathophysiology of PCOS remains ill understood despite extensive research in this field. It is now accepted that the manifestations of PCOS are not confined to the reproductive dysfunction, and there are endocrine-metabolic implications to PCOS with several consequences to female health. PCOS is a misnomer as ovaries do not contain epithelial cysts, but they are actually antral follicles. Moreover, the name PCOS neither reflects the hyperandrogenism which is essential for diagnosis nor the metabolic derangements. While various authors have expressed the need for change of the name, a suitable new option has not yet been established. This review aims to analyse the current understanding of pathophysiology of PCOS and addresses to the controversies associated with its diagnosis and nomenclature. The name "Hyperandrogenic Persistent Ovulatory Dysfunction Syndrome or HA-PODS" is proposed here to overcome diagnostic pitfalls of previous nomenclature. This new name will help formulate appropriate treatment and promote consistency in research as well. Further categorizations of HA-PODS are also discussed in the article.

Development of subminiature multi-sensor hot-wire probes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Westphal, Russell V.; Ligrani, Phillip M.; Lemos, Fred R.

1988-01-01

Limitations on the spatial resolution of multisensor hot wire probes have precluded accurate measurements of Reynolds stresses very near solid surfaces in wind tunnels and in many practical aerodynamic flows. The fabrication, calibration and qualification testing of very small single horizontal and X-array hot-wire probes which are intended to be used near solid boundaries in turbulent flows where length scales are particularly small, is described. Details of the sensor fabrication procedure are reported, along with information needed to successfully operate the probes. As compared with conventional probes, manufacture of the subminiature probes is more complex, requiring special equipment and careful handling. The subminiature probes tested were more fragile and shorter lived than conventional probes; they obeyed the same calibration laws but with slightly larger experimental uncertainty. In spite of these disadvantages, measurements of mean statistical quantities and spectra demonstrate the ability of the subminiature sensors to provide the measurements in the near wall region of turbulent boundary layers that are more accurate than conventional sized probes.

Geoid determination by airborne gravimetry - principles and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forsberg, R.; Olesen, A. V.

2009-12-01

The operational development of long-range airborne gravimetry has meant that large areas can be covered in a short time frame with high-quality medium-wavelength gravity field data, perfectly matching the needs of geoid determination. Geoid from a combination of surface, airborne and satellite data not only is able to cover the remaining large data voids on the earth, notably Antarctica and tropical jungle regions, but also provide seamless coverage across the coastal zone, and tie in older marine and land gravity data. Airborne gravity can therefore provide essential data for GPS applications both on land and at sea, e.g. for marine construction projects such as bridges, wind mill farms etc. Current operational accuracies with the DTU-Space/UiB airborne system are in the 1-2 mGal range, which translates into geoid accuracies of 5-10 cm, dependent on track spacing. In the paper we will outline the current accuracy of airborne gravity and geoid determination, and show examples from recent international airborne gravity campaigns, aimed at either providing national survey infrastructure, or scientific applications for e.g. oceanography or sea-ice thickness determination.

14 CFR 135.175 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Aircraft and Equipment § 135.175 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate a large, transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather...

14 CFR 135.175 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Aircraft and Equipment § 135.175 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate a large, transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather...

14 CFR 135.175 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Aircraft and Equipment § 135.175 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate a large, transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather...

14 CFR 135.175 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Aircraft and Equipment § 135.175 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate a large, transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather...

14 CFR 135.175 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Aircraft and Equipment § 135.175 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate a large, transport category aircraft in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather...

Airborne lidar experiments at the Savannah River Plant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krabill, William B.; Swift, Robert N.

1985-01-01

The results of remote sensing experiments at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Nuclear Facility utilizing the NASA Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) are presented. The flights were conducted in support of the numerous environmental monitoring requirements associated with the operation of the facility and for the purpose of furthering research and development of airborne lidar technology. Areas of application include airborne laser topographic mapping, hydrologic studies using fluorescent tracer dye, timber volume estimation, baseline characterization of wetlands, and aquatic chlorophyll and photopigment measurements. Conclusions relative to the usability of airborne lidar technology for the DOE for each of these remote sensing applications are discussed.

[Air-borne disease].

PubMed

Lameiro Vilariño, Carmen; del Campo Pérez, Victor M; Alonso Bürger, Susana; Felpeto Nodar, Irene; Guimarey Pérez, Rosa; Pérez Alvarellos, Alberto

2003-11-01

Respiratory protection is a factor which worries nursing professionals who take care of patients susceptible of transmitting microorganisms through the air more as every day passes. This type of protection covers the use of surgical or hygienic masks against the transmission of infection by airborne drops to the use of highly effective masks or respirators against the transmission of airborne diseases such as tuberculosis or SARS, a recently discovered disease. The adequate choice of this protective device and its correct use are fundamental in order to have an effective protection for exposed personnel. The authors summarize the main protective respiratory devices used by health workers, their characteristics and degree of effectiveness, as well as the circumstances under which each device is indicated for use.

Multi-Sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrenko, M.; Ichoku, C.; Leptoukh, G.

2011-01-01

Global and local properties of atmospheric aerosols have been extensively observed and measured using both spaceborne and ground-based instruments, especially during the last decade. Unique properties retrieved by the different instruments contribute to an unprecedented availability of the most complete set of complimentary aerosol measurements ever acquired. However, some of these measurements remain underutilized, largely due to the complexities involved in analyzing them synergistically. To characterize the inconsistencies and bridge the gap that exists between the sensors, we have established a Multi-sensor Aerosol Products Sampling System (MAPSS), which consistently samples and generates the spatial statistics (mean, standard deviation, direction and rate of spatial variation, and spatial correlation coefficient) of aerosol products from multiple spacebome sensors, including MODIS (on Terra and Aqua), MISR, OMI, POLDER, CALIOP, and SeaWiFS. Samples of satellite aerosol products are extracted over Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) locations as well as over other locations of interest such as those with available ground-based aerosol observations. In this way, MAPSS enables a direct cross-characterization and data integration between Level-2 aerosol observations from multiple sensors. In addition, the available well-characterized co-located ground-based data provides the basis for the integrated validation of these products. This paper explains the sampling methodology and concepts used in MAPSS, and demonstrates specific examples of using MAPSS for an integrated analysis of multiple aerosol products.

Validity and Reliability of Gait and Postural Control Analysis Using the Tri-axial Accelerometer of the iPod Touch.

PubMed

Kosse, Nienke M; Caljouw, Simone; Vervoort, Danique; Vuillerme, Nicolas; Lamoth, Claudine J C

2015-08-01

Accelerometer-based assessments can identify elderly with an increased fall risk and monitor interventions. Smart devices, like the iPod Touch, with built-in accelerometers are promising for clinical gait and posture assessments due to easy use and cost-effectiveness. The aim of the present study was to establish the validity and reliability of the iPod Touch for gait and posture assessment. Sixty healthy participants (aged 18-75 years) were measured with an iPod Touch and stand-alone accelerometer while they walked under single- and dual-task conditions, and while standing in parallel and semi-tandem stance with eyes open, eyes closed and when performing a dual task. Cross-correlation values (CCV) showed high correspondence of anterior-posterior and medio-lateral signal patterns (CCV's ≥ 0.88). Validity of gait parameters (foot contacts, index of harmonicity, and amplitude variability) and standing posture parameters [root mean square of accelerations, median power frequency (MPF) and sway area] as indicated by intra-class correlation (ICC) was high (ICC = 0.85-0.99) and test-retest reliability was good (ICC = 0.81-0.97), except for MPF (ICC = 0.59-0.87). Overall, the iPod Touch obtained valid and reliable measures of gait and postural control in healthy adults of all ages under different conditions. Additionally, smart devices have the potential to be used for clinical gait and posture assessments.

Nepal and Papua Airborne Gravity Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olesen, A. V.; Forsberg, R.; Kasenda, F.; Einarsson, I.; Manandhar, N.

2011-12-01

Airborne gravimetry offers a fast and economic way to cover vast areas and it allows access to otherwise difficult accessible areas like mountains, jungles and the near coastal zone. It has the potential to deliver high resolution and bias free data that may bridge the spectral gap between global satellite gravity models and the high resolution gravity information embedded in digital terrain models. DTU Space has for more than a decade done airborne gravity surveys in many parts of the world. Most surveys were done with a LaCoste & Romberg S-meter updated for airborne use. This instrument has proven to deliver near bias free data when properly processed. A Chekan AM gravimeter was recently added to the airborne gravity mapping system and will potentially enhance the spatial resolution and the robustness of the system. This paper will focus on results from two recent surveys over Nepal, flown in December 2010, and over Papua (eastern Indonesia), flown in May and June 2011. Both surveys were flown with the new double gravimeter setup and initial assessment of system performance indicates improved spatial resolution compared to the single gravimeter system. Comparison to EGM08 and to the most recent GOCE models highlights the impact of the new airborne gravity data in both cases. A newly computed geoid model for Nepal based on the airborne data allows for a more precise definition of the height of Mt. Everest in a global height system. This geoid model suggests that the height of Mt. Everest should be increased by approximately 1 meter. The paper will also briefly discuss system setup and will highlight a few essential processing steps that ensure that bias problems are minimized and spatial resolution enhanced.

Multi-Sensor Information Integration and Automatic Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

also produced a real-time implementation of the tracking and anomalous behavior detection system that runs on real- world data – either using real-time...surveillance and airborne IED detection . 15. SUBJECT TERMS Multi-hypothesis tracking , particle filters, anomalous behavior detection , Bayesian...analyst to support decision making with large data sets. A key feature of the real-time tracking and behavior detection system developed is that the

Molecular Characterization of Resistant Accessions of Cocoa (Theobroma cocoa L.) to Phytophthora Pod Rot Selected on-Farm in Côte-d’Ivoire.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cocoa is (Theobroma cacao L.) is a significant agricultural commodity in Côted’Ivoire which ranks 1st in the world cocoa export. Phytophthora pod rot (Ppr)also call Black pod is the most widespread disease of cocoa. Lost due to this disease depends on the species of the pathogen and vary globally fr...

A hybrid anchored-ANOVA - POD/Kriging method for uncertainty quantification in unsteady high-fidelity CFD simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margheri, Luca; Sagaut, Pierre

2016-11-01

To significantly increase the contribution of numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation for risk assessment and decision making, it is important to quantitatively measure the impact of uncertainties to assess the reliability and robustness of the results. As unsteady high-fidelity CFD simulations are becoming the standard for industrial applications, reducing the number of required samples to perform sensitivity (SA) and uncertainty quantification (UQ) analysis is an actual engineering challenge. The novel approach presented in this paper is based on an efficient hybridization between the anchored-ANOVA and the POD/Kriging methods, which have already been used in CFD-UQ realistic applications, and the definition of best practices to achieve global accuracy. The anchored-ANOVA method is used to efficiently reduce the UQ dimension space, while the POD/Kriging is used to smooth and interpolate each anchored-ANOVA term. The main advantages of the proposed method are illustrated through four applications with increasing complexity, most of them based on Large-Eddy Simulation as a high-fidelity CFD tool: the turbulent channel flow, the flow around an isolated bluff-body, a pedestrian wind comfort study in a full scale urban area and an application to toxic gas dispersion in a full scale city area. The proposed c-APK method (anchored-ANOVA-POD/Kriging) inherits the advantages of each key element: interpolation through POD/Kriging precludes the use of quadrature schemes therefore allowing for a more flexible sampling strategy while the ANOVA decomposition allows for a better domain exploration. A comparison of the three methods is given for each application. In addition, the importance of adding flexibility to the control parameters and the choice of the quantity of interest (QoI) are discussed. As a result, global accuracy can be achieved with a reasonable number of samples allowing computationally expensive CFD-UQ analysis.

14 CFR 121.357 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... § 121.357 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate any transport... December 31, 1964, unless approved airborne weather radar equipment has been installed in the airplane. (b...

14 CFR 121.357 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... § 121.357 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate any transport... December 31, 1964, unless approved airborne weather radar equipment has been installed in the airplane. (b...

14 CFR 125.223 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Equipment Requirements § 125.223 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate an airplane governed by this part in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar...

14 CFR 125.223 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Equipment Requirements § 125.223 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate an airplane governed by this part in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar...

14 CFR 125.223 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Equipment Requirements § 125.223 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate an airplane governed by this part in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar...

14 CFR 121.357 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... § 121.357 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate any transport... December 31, 1964, unless approved airborne weather radar equipment has been installed in the airplane. (b...

14 CFR 121.357 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... § 121.357 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate any transport... December 31, 1964, unless approved airborne weather radar equipment has been installed in the airplane. (b...

14 CFR 125.223 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Equipment Requirements § 125.223 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate an airplane governed by this part in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar...

14 CFR 125.223 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... Equipment Requirements § 125.223 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate an airplane governed by this part in passenger-carrying operations unless approved airborne weather radar...

14 CFR 121.357 - Airborne weather radar equipment requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Airborne weather radar equipment... § 121.357 Airborne weather radar equipment requirements. (a) No person may operate any transport... December 31, 1964, unless approved airborne weather radar equipment has been installed in the airplane. (b...

Integrating the iPod Touch in K-12 Education: Visions and Vices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banister, Savilla

2010-01-01

Advocates of ubiquitous computing have long been documenting classroom benefits of one-to-one ratios of students to handheld or laptop computers. The recent sophisticated capabilities of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad have encouraged further speculation on exactly how K-12 teaching and learning might be energized by such devices. This paper…

A Novel Energy-Efficient Multi-Sensor Fusion Wake-Up Control Strategy Based on a Biomimetic Infectious-Immune Mechanism for Target Tracking.

PubMed

Zhou, Jie; Liang, Yan; Shen, Qiang; Feng, Xiaoxue; Pan, Quan

2018-04-18

A biomimetic distributed infection-immunity model (BDIIM), inspired by the immune mechanism of an infected organism, is proposed in order to achieve a high-efficiency wake-up control strategy based on multi-sensor fusion for target tracking. The resultant BDIIM consists of six sub-processes reflecting the infection-immunity mechanism: occurrence probabilities of direct-infection (DI) and cross-infection (CI), immunity/immune-deficiency of DI and CI, pathogen amount of DI and CI, immune cell production, immune memory, and pathogen accumulation under immunity state. Furthermore, a corresponding relationship between the BDIIM and sensor wake-up control is established to form the collaborative wake-up method. Finally, joint surveillance and target tracking are formulated in the simulation, in which we show that the energy cost and position tracking error are reduced to 50.8% and 78.9%, respectively. Effectiveness of the proposed BDIIM algorithm is shown, and this model is expected to have a significant role in guiding the performance improvement of multi-sensor networks.

NASA Program of Airborne Optical Observations.

PubMed

Bader, M; Wagoner, C B

1970-02-01

NASA's Ames Research Center currently operates a Convair 990 four-engine jet transport as a National Facility for airborne scientific research (astronomy, aurora, airglow, meteorology, earth resources). This aircraft can carry about twelve experiments to 12 km for several hours. A second aircraft, a twin-engine Lear Jet, has been used on a limited basis for airborne science and can carry one experiment to 15 km for 1 h. Mobility and altitude are the principal advantages over ground sites, while large payload and personnel carrying capabilities, combined with ease of operations and relatively low cost, are the main advantages compared to balloons, rockets, or satellites. Typical airborne instrumentation and scientific results are presented.

WESTERN AIRBORNE CONTAMINANTS ASSESSMENT PROJECT RESEARCH PLAN

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project (WACAP) is to assess the deposition of airborne contaminants in Western National Parks, providing regional and local information on exposure, accumulation, impacts, and probable sources. This project is being desig...

Effects of Picture Prompts Delivered by a Video iPod on Pedestrian Navigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Kelly R.; Test, David W.; Cooke, Nancy L.

2013-01-01

Transportation access is a major contributor to independence, productivity, and societal inclusion for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities (IDD). This study examined the effects of pedestrian navigation training using picture prompts displayed through a video iPod on travel route completion with 4 adults and IDD. Results…

An overview of Airborne Data for Assessing Models (ADAM): a web development effort to effectively disseminate airborne data products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangosing, D. C.; Chen, G.; Kusterer, J.; Rinsland, P.; Perez, J.; Sorlie, S.; Parker, L.

2011-12-01

One of the objectives of the NASA Langley Research Center's MEaSURES project, "Creating a Unified Airborne Database for Model Assessment", is the development of airborne Earth System Data Records (ESDR) for the regional and global model assessment and validation activities performed by the tropospheric chemistry and climate modeling communities. The ongoing development of ADAM, a web site designed to access a unified, standardized and relational ESDR database, meets this objective. The ESDR database is derived from publically available data sets, from NASA airborne field studies to airborne and in-situ studies sponsored by NOAA, NSF, and numerous international partners. The ADAM web development activities provide an opportunity to highlight a growing synergy between the Airborne Science Data for Atmospheric Composition (ASD-AC) group at NASA Langley and the NASA Langley's Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC). These teams will collaborate on the ADAM web application by leveraging the state-of-the-art service and message-oriented data distribution architecture developed and implemented by ASDC and using a web-based tool provided by the ASD-AC group whose user interface accommodates the nuanced perspective of science users in the atmospheric chemistry and composition and climate modeling communities.

Non-invasive glucose monitoring in patients with Type 1 diabetes: a Multisensor system combining sensors for dielectric and optical characterisation of skin.

PubMed

Caduff, Andreas; Talary, Mark S; Mueller, Martin; Dewarrat, Francois; Klisic, Jelena; Donath, Marc; Heinemann, Lutz; Stahel, Werner A

2009-05-15

In vivo variations of blood glucose (BG) are affecting the biophysical characteristics (e.g. dielectric and optical) of skin and underlying tissue (SAUT) at various frequencies. However, the skin impedance spectra for instance can also be affected by other factors, perturbing the glucose related information, factors such as temperature, skin moisture and sweat, blood perfusion as well as body movements affecting the sensor-skin contact. In order to be able to correct for such perturbing factors, a Multisensor system was developed including sensors to measure the identified factors. To evaluate the quality of glucose monitoring, the Multisensor was applied in 10 patients with Type 1 diabetes. Glucose was administered orally to induce hyperglycaemic excursions at two different study visits. For analysis of the sensor signals, a global multiple linear regression model was derived. The respective coefficients of the variables were determined from the sensor signals of this first study visit (R(2)=0.74, MARD=18.0%--mean absolute relative difference). The identical set of modelling coefficients of the first study visit was re-applied to the test data of the second study visit to evaluate the predictive power of the model (R(2)=0.68, MARD=27.3%). It appears as if the Multisensor together with the global linear regression model applied, allows for tracking glucose changes non-invasively in patients with diabetes without requiring new model coefficients for each visit. Confirmation of these findings in a larger study group and under less experimentally controlled conditions is required for understanding whether a global parameterisation routine is feasible.

Partly transparent young legume pods: Do they mimic caterpillars for defense and simultaneously enable better photosynthesis?

PubMed Central

Lev-Yadun, Simcha

2015-01-01

Being partly or fully transparent as a defense from predation is mostly known in various groups of aquatic animals and various terrestrial arthropods. Plants, being photosynthetic and having cell walls made of various polymers, cannot be wholly transparent. In spite of these inherent limitations, some succulent plant species of arid zones have partially transparent “windows” in order to perform photosynthesis in their below-ground leaves, as defense from herbivores as well as for protection from harsh environmental conditions. Similarly, transparent “windows” or even wholly transparent leaves are found in certain thick or thin, above-ground organs irrespective of aridity. The young pods of various wild annual Mediterranean legume species belonging to the genera Lathyrus, Pisum and Vicia are partly transparent and may therefore look like caterpillars when viewed with back illumination. I propose that this character serves 2 functions: (1) being a type of defensive caterpillar mimicry that may reduce their consumption by various herbivores in that very sensitive stage, and (2) simultaneously allowing better photosynthesis in the rapidly growing seeds and pods. Unlike animals that are transparent for either defensive or aggressive crypsis, in the case of young legume pods it allows them to visually mimic caterpillars for defense. PMID:26633565

POD analysis of the instability mode of a low-speed streak in a laminar boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Si-Chao; Pan, Chong; Wang, Jin-Jun; Rinoshika, Akira

2017-12-01

The instability of one single low-speed streak in a zero-pressure-gradient laminar boundary layer is investigated experimentally via both hydrogen bubble visualization and planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement. A single low-speed streak is generated and destabilized by the wake of an interference wire positioned normal to the wall and in the upstream. The downstream development of the streak includes secondary instability and self-reproduction process, which leads to the generation of two additional streaks appearing on either side of the primary one. A proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis of PIV measured velocity field is used to identify the components of the streak instability in the POD mode space: for a sinuous/varicose type of POD mode, its basis functions present anti-symmetric/symmetric distributions about the streak centerline in the streamwise component, and the symmetry condition reverses in the spanwise component. It is further shown that sinuous mode dominates the turbulent kinematic energy (TKE) through the whole streak evolution process, the TKE content first increases along the streamwise direction to a saturation value and then decays slowly. In contrast, varicose mode exhibits a sustained growth of the TKE content, suggesting an increasing competition of varicose instability against sinuous instability.

An update on airborne contact dermatitis: 2001-2006.

PubMed

Santos, Raquel; Goossens, An

2007-12-01

Reports on airborne dermatoses are mainly published in the context of occupational settings. Hence, in recent years, dermatologists and also occupational physicians have become increasingly aware of the airborne source of contact dermatitis, resulting mainly from exposure to irritants or allergens. However, their occurrence is still underestimated, because reports often omit the term 'airborne' in relation to dust or volatile allergens. For the present update, we screened the journals 'Contact Dermatitis' (July 2000 to December 2006); 'Dermatitis', formerly named 'American Journal of Contact Dermatitis'; 'La Lettre du Gerda' (January 2000 to December 2006); and also included relevant articles from other journals published during the same period. This resulted in an updated list of airborne dermatitis causes.

Effect of Ovule Position within the Pod on the Probability of Seed Production in Bauhinia ungulata (Fabaceae)

PubMed Central

MENA-ALÍ, JORGE I.; ROCHA, OSCAR J.

2004-01-01

• Background and Aims It has been claimed that ovules linearly ordered within a fruit differ in their probabilities of reaching maturity. This was investigated by studying the effect the position of an ovule within the pod has on seed abortion and seed production in Bauhinia ungulata. • Methods Fruits collected during the dry seasons of 1999, 2000 and 2001 were opened, and the number, position and status of each ovule within the fruit were recorded. A GLM model was used to assess the effects of population, tree identity and ovule position within the pod on ovule fertilization, seed abortion, seed damage and seed maturation in two populations of B. ungulata. • Key Results Nearly 30 % of the ovules were not fertilized in 1999; this percentage dropped to 5 % the following two years. Seed abortion (50 %) and seed damage (15 %) were the same every year during the study period. Only 15 % of the initial ovules developed into mature seeds in 1999; this value increased to 35 % in 2000 and 2001. However, seed survivorship was dependent on the position of the ovule within the pod; non-fertilized and early aborted ovules were found more often near the basal end of the ovary. The frequency of seed damage was not affected by position. Mature seeds were found mainly in the stylar half of fruits, where ovules are likely to be fertilized by fast pollen tubes. • Conclusions The pattern of seed production in B. ungulata is non-random but is dependent upon the position of the ovule within the pod. The results suggest that the seeds produced within a fruit might differ in their vigour. PMID:15596452

Fast detection of peroxidase (POD) activity in tomato leaves which infected with Botrytis cinerea using hyperspectral imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Wenwen; Liu, Fei; Zhang, Chu; Bao, Yidan; Yu, Jiajia; He, Yong

2014-01-01

Tomatoes are cultivated around the world and gray mold is one of its most prominent and destructive diseases. An early disease detection method can decrease losses caused by plant diseases and prevent the spread of diseases. The activity of peroxidase (POD) is very important indicator of disease stress for plants. The objective of this study is to examine the possibility of fast detection of POD activity in tomato leaves which infected with Botrytis cinerea using hyperspectral imaging data. Five pre-treatment methods were investigated. Genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS) was applied to select optimal wavelengths. A new fast learning neural algorithm named extreme learning machine (ELM) was employed as multivariate analytical tool in this study. 21 optimal wavelengths were selected by GA-PLS and used as inputs of three calibration models. The optimal prediction result was achieved by ELM model with selected wavelengths, and the r and RMSEP in validation were 0.8647 and 465.9880 respectively. The results indicated that hyperspectral imaging could be considered as a valuable tool for POD activity prediction. The selected wavelengths could be potential resources for instrument development.

POD experiments using real and simulated time-sharing observations for GEO satellites in C-band transfer ranging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fen, Cao; XuHai, Yang; ZhiGang, Li; ChuGang, Feng

2016-08-01

The normal consecutive observing model in Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) can only supply observations of one GEO satellite in 1 day from one station. However, this can't satisfy the project need for observing many GEO satellites in 1 day. In order to obtain observations of several GEO satellites in 1 day like GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou, the time-sharing observing model for GEO satellites in CAPS needs research. The principle of time-sharing observing model is illuminated with subsequent Precise Orbit Determination (POD) experiments using simulated time-sharing observations in 2005 and the real time-sharing observations in 2015. From time-sharing simulation experiments before 2014, the time-sharing observing 6 GEO satellites every 2 h has nearly the same orbit precision with the consecutive observing model. From POD experiments using the real time-sharing observations, POD precision for ZX12# and Yatai7# are about 3.234 m and 2.570 m, respectively, which indicates the time-sharing observing model is appropriate for CBTR system and can realize observing many GEO satellites in 1 day.

Integration of Multi-sensor Data for Desertification Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, S.; Kim, J.

2010-12-01

The desert area has been rapidly expanding globally due to reasons such as climate change, uninhibited human activities, etc. The continuous desertification has seriously affected in (and near) desert area all over the world. As sand dune activity has been recognised as an essential indicator of desertification (it is the signature and the consequence of desertification), an accurate monitoring of desert dune movement hence becomes crucial for understanding and modelling the progress of desertification. In order to determine dune’s moving speed and tendency, also to understand the propagation occurring in transition region between desert and soil rich area, a monitoring system applying multi-temporal and multi-sensor remote sensed data are proposed and implemented. Remote sensed data involved in the monitoring scheme include space-borne optical image, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, multi- and hyper-spectral image, and terrestrial close range image. In order to determine the movement of dunes, a reference terrain surface is required. To this end, a digital terrain model (DTM) covering the test site is firstly produced using high resolution optical stereo satellite images. Subsequently, ERS-1/2 SAR imagery are employed as another resource for dune field observation. Through the interferometric SAR (InSAR) technique combining with image-based stereo DTM, the surface displacements are obtained. From which the movement and speed of the dunes can be determined. To understand the effect of desertification combating activities, the correlation between dune activities and the landcover change is also an important issue to be covered in the monitoring scheme. The task is accomplished by tracing soil and vegetation canopy variation with the multi and hyper spectral image analysis using Hyperion and Ali imagery derived from Earth Observation Mission 1 (EO-1). As a result, the correlation between the soil restorations, expanding of vegetation canopy and the ceasing of

PCR-based identification of cacao black pod causal agents and identification of biological factors possibly contributing to Phytophthora megakarya's field dominance in West Africa

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Among the Phytophthora species that cause black pod of cacao, P. megakarya is the most virulent, posing a serious threat to cacao production in Africa. Correct identification of the species causing the black pod and understanding the virulence factors involved are important for developing sustainabl...

POD-based constrained sensor placement and field reconstruction from noisy wind measurements: A perturbation study

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Zhongqiang; Yang, Xiu; Lin, Guang

2016-04-14

Sensor placement at the extrema of Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is efficient and leads to accurate reconstruction of the wind field from a limited number of measure- ments. In this paper we extend this approach of sensor placement and take into account measurement errors and detect possible malfunctioning sensors. We use the 48 hourly spa- tial wind field simulation data sets simulated using the Weather Research an Forecasting (WRF) model applied to the Maine Bay to evaluate the performances of our methods. Specifically, we use an exclusion disk strategy to distribute sensors when the extrema of POD modes are close.more » It turns out that this strategy can also reduce the error of recon- struction from noise measurements. Also, by a cross-validation technique, we successfully locate the malfunctioning sensors.« less

Enhanced Flexibility and Reusability through State Machine-Based Architectures for Multisensor Intelligent Robotics.

PubMed

Herrero, Héctor; Outón, Jose Luis; Puerto, Mildred; Sallé, Damien; López de Ipiña, Karmele

2017-05-31

This paper presents a state machine-based architecture, which enhances the flexibility and reusability of industrial robots, more concretely dual-arm multisensor robots. The proposed architecture, in addition to allowing absolute control of the execution, eases the programming of new applications by increasing the reusability of the developed modules. Through an easy-to-use graphical user interface, operators are able to create, modify, reuse and maintain industrial processes, increasing the flexibility of the cell. Moreover, the proposed approach is applied in a real use case in order to demonstrate its capabilities and feasibility in industrial environments. A comparative analysis is presented for evaluating the presented approach versus traditional robot programming techniques.

Replacement/Refurbishment of JSC/NASA POD Specimens

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Castner, Willard L.

2010-01-01

The NASA Special NDE certification process requires demonstration of NDE capability by test per NASA-STD-5009. This test is performed with fatigue cracked specimens containing very small cracks. The certification test results are usually based on binomial statistics and must meet a 90/95 Probability of Detection (POD). The assumption is that fatigue cracks are tightly closed, difficult to detect, and inspectors and processes passing such a test are well qualified for inspecting NASA fracture critical hardware. The JSC NDE laboratory has what may be the largest inventory that exists of such fatigue cracked NDE demonstration specimens. These specimens were produced by the hundreds in the late 1980s and early 1990s. None have been produced since that time and the condition and usability of the specimens are questionable.

Meeting Review: Airborne Aerosol Inlet Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baumgardner, Darrel; Huebert, Barry; Wilson, Chuck

1991-01-01

Proceedings from the Airborne Aerosol Inlet Workshop are presented. The two central topics of discussion were the role of aerosols in atmospheric processes and the difficulties in characterizing aerosols. The following topics were discussed during the working sessions: airborne observations to date; identification of inlet design issues; inlet modeling needs and directions; objectives for aircraft experiments; and future laboratory and wind tunnel studies.

Column Closure Studies of Lower Tropospheric Aerosol and Water Vapor During ACE-Asia Using Airborne Sunphotometer, Airborne In-Situ and Ship-Based Lidar Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmid, B.; Hegg, A.; Wang, J.; Bates, D.; Redemann, J.; Russells, P. B.; Livingston, J. M.; Jonsson, H. H.; Welton, E. J.; Seinfield, J. H.

2003-01-01

We assess the consistency (closure) between solar beam attenuation by aerosols and water vapor measured by airborne sunphotometry and derived from airborne in-situ, and ship-based lidar measurements during the April 2001 Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia). The airborne data presented here were obtained aboard the Twin Otter aircraft. Comparing aerosol extinction o(550 nm) from four different techniques shows good agreement for the vertical distribution of aerosol layers. However, the level of agreement in absolute magnitude of the derived aerosol extinction varied among the aerosol layers sampled. The sigma(550 nm) computed from airborne in-situ size distribution and composition measurements shows good agreement with airborne sunphotometry in the marine boundary layer but is considerably lower in layers dominated by dust if the particles are assumed to be spherical. The sigma(550 nm) from airborne in-situ scattering and absorption measurements are about approx. 13% lower than those obtained from airborne sunphotometry during 14 vertical profiles. Combining lidar and the airborne sunphotometer measurements reveals the prevalence of dust layers at altitudes up to 10 km with layer aerosol optical depth (from 3.5 to 10 km altitude) of approx. 0.1 to 0.2 (500 nm) and extinction-to-backscatter ratios of 59-71 sr (523 nm). The airborne sunphotometer aboard the Twin Otter reveals a relatively dry atmosphere during ACE- Asia with all water vapor columns less than 1.5 cm and water vapor densities w less than 12 g/cu m. Comparing layer water vapor amounts and w from the airborne sunphotometer to the same quantities measured with aircraft in-situ sensors leads to a high correlation (r(sup 3)=0.96) but the sunphotometer tends to underestimate w by 7%.

A parallel implementation of a multisensor feature-based range-estimation method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suorsa, Raymond E.; Sridhar, Banavar

1993-01-01

There are many proposed vision based methods to perform obstacle detection and avoidance for autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles. All methods, however, will require very high processing rates to achieve real time performance. A system capable of supporting autonomous helicopter navigation will need to extract obstacle information from imagery at rates varying from ten frames per second to thirty or more frames per second depending on the vehicle speed. Such a system will need to sustain billions of operations per second. To reach such high processing rates using current technology, a parallel implementation of the obstacle detection/ranging method is required. This paper describes an efficient and flexible parallel implementation of a multisensor feature-based range-estimation algorithm, targeted for helicopter flight, realized on both a distributed-memory and shared-memory parallel computer.

Evaluation of the metabolizable energy value for growing lambs of the Mucuna pruriens seed and the whole pod.

PubMed

García-Galván, Adan; Belmar-Casso, Roberto; Sarmiento-Franco, Luis; Sandoval-Castro, Carlos Alfredo

2012-04-01

Whole pod and seeds of velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) were included in diets for growing sheep used to validate previously estimated ME values of 9.7 MJ and 12.6 MJ for whole pod and seed respectively. Twenty-four lambs, 15 females and nine males of 18.7 ± 2.4 kg average weight, were allocated in three treatments using a completely randomized block design with eight replicates per treatment. Each group was given a diet with a ratio of 60% of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and 40% of a supplement with the addition of 0%, 50% whole pod or 66% of M. pruriens seeds, for TI, TII and TIII respectively. Diets were formulated to meet the requirements for 100-g daily live weight gain (LWG). The total dry matter intake (836 g a(-1) d(-1), forage + supplement), LWG (90 g a(-1) d(-1)) and feed conversion (9.66 kg DM/kg LWG) of lambs from TIII were lower (P < 0.05) compared to 941 g, 121 g, and 7.78 kg DM/kg LWG from TII and 976 g, 132 g and 7.50 kg DM/kg LWG from TI respectively. No difference was found (P > 0.05) between TI and TII in the three evaluated variables. The ME values of whole pod and seeds of M. pruriens used in this work were validated. It was concluded that M. pruriens can be included as a component in diets for growing sheep, as a partial replacement of conventional feedstuffs.

Airborne Nicotine, Secondhand Smoke, and Precursors to Adolescent Smoking.

PubMed

McGrath, Jennifer J; Racicot, Simon; Okoli, Chizimuzo T C; Hammond, S Katharine; O'Loughlin, Jennifer

2018-01-01

Secondhand smoke (SHS) directly increases exposure to airborne nicotine, tobacco's main psychoactive substance. When exposed to SHS, nonsmokers inhale 60% to 80% of airborne nicotine, absorb concentrations similar to those absorbed by smokers, and display high levels of nicotine biomarkers. Social modeling, or observing other smokers, is a well-established predictor of smoking during adolescence. Observing smokers also leads to increased pharmacological exposure to airborne nicotine via SHS. The objective of this study is to investigate whether greater exposure to airborne nicotine via SHS increases the risk for smoking initiation precursors among never-smoking adolescents. Secondary students ( N = 406; never-smokers: n = 338, 53% girls, mean age = 12.9, SD = 0.4) participated in the AdoQuest II longitudinal cohort. They answered questionnaires about social exposure to smoking (parents, siblings, peers) and known smoking precursors (eg, expected benefits and/or costs, SHS aversion, smoking susceptibility, and nicotine dependence symptoms). Saliva and hair samples were collected to derive biomarkers of cotinine and nicotine. Adolescents wore a passive monitor for 1 week to measure airborne nicotine. Higher airborne nicotine was significantly associated with greater expected benefits ( R 2 = 0.024) and lower expected costs ( R 2 = 0.014). Higher social exposure was significantly associated with more temptation to try smoking ( R 2 = 0.025), lower aversion to SHS ( R 2 = 0.038), and greater smoking susceptibility ( R 2 = 0.071). Greater social exposure was significantly associated with more nicotine dependence symptoms; this relation worsened with higher nicotine exposure (cotinine R 2 = 0.096; airborne nicotine R 2 = 0.088). Airborne nicotine exposure via SHS is a plausible risk factor for smoking initiation during adolescence. Public health implications include limiting airborne nicotine through smoking bans in homes and cars, in addition to stringent restrictions

Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) (Global Carbon Cycle)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

This bimonthly contractor progress report covers the operation, maintenance and data management of the Airborne Oceanographic Lidar and the Airborne Topographic Mapper. Monthly activities included: mission planning, sensor operation and calibration, data processing, data analysis, network development and maintenance and instrument maintenance engineering and fabrication.

Optimum Sensors Integration for Multi-Sensor Multi-Target Environment for Ballistic Missile Defense Applications

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

Imam, Neena; Barhen, Jacob; Glover, Charles Wayne

2012-01-01

Multi-sensor networks may face resource limitations in a dynamically evolving multiple target tracking scenario. It is necessary to task the sensors efficiently so that the overall system performance is maximized within the system constraints. The central sensor resource manager may control the sensors to meet objective functions that are formulated to meet system goals such as minimization of track loss, maximization of probability of target detection, and minimization of track error. This paper discusses the variety of techniques that may be utilized to optimize sensor performance for either near term gain or future reward over a longer time horizon.

Airborne oceanographic lidar system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Specifications and preliminary design of an Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL) system, which is to be constructed for installation and used on a NASA Wallops Flight Center (WFC) C-54 research aircraft, are reported. The AOL system is to provide an airborne facility for use by various government agencies to demonstrate the utility and practicality of hardware of this type in the wide area collection of oceanographic data on an operational basis. System measurement and performance requirements are presented, followed by a description of the conceptual system approach and the considerations attendant to its development. System performance calculations are addressed, and the system specifications and preliminary design are presented and discussed.

[Phylogenetic diversity of airborne microbes in Qingdao downtown in autumn].

PubMed

Wang, Lin; Song, Zhi-wen; Xu, Ai-ling; Wu, Deng-deng; Xia, Yan

2015-04-01

To determine the community structure of airborne microbes in Qingdao downtown in autumn, the airborne bacteria and fungi were collected by the KC-6120 air sampler and analyzed using the 16S/18S rDNA gene clone library method. Phylogenetic analysis of airborne bacteria showed that they belonged to six major phylogenetic groups: Proteobacteria (78. 8%), Firmicutes (14.6%), Actinobacteria (4.0%), Planctomycetes (1.3%), Cyanobacteria (0.7%), and Deinococcus-Thermus (0.7%). The dominant genera of airborne bacteria included Acinetobacter (39.7%), Staphylococcus (11.3%), Sphingomonas (8.6%), Paracoccus (6.0%) and Massilia (5.3%). The main types of airborne fungi were Ascomycota (97.5%) and Basidiomycota (2.5%). Dominant genera of airborne fungi included Pyrenophora (76.5%), Xylaria (13.6%) and Exophiala (2.5%). The pathogens or conditioned pathogens, such as Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus, or Sphingomonas were detected in the airborne bacteria, whereas certain kinds of fungi, such as P. graminea, X. hypoxylon and Zasmidium angulare that could cause a variety of crop diseases were also detected.

Infrared airborne spectroradiometer survey results in the western Nevada area

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, W.; Chang, S. H.; Kuo, J. T.

1982-01-01

The Mark II airborne spectroradiometer system was flown over several geologic test sites in western Nevada. The infrared mineral absorption bands were observed and recorded for the first time using an airborne system with high spectral resolution in the 2.0 to 2.5 micron region. The data show that the hydrothermal alteration zone minerals, carbonates, and other minerals are clearly visible in the airborne survey mode. The finer spectral features that distinguish the various minerals with infrared bands are also clearly visible in the airborne survey data. Using specialized computer pattern recognition methods, it is possible to identify mineralogy and map alteration zones and lithologies by airborne spectroradiometer survey techniques.

Enumerating Spore-Forming Bacteria Airborne with Particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Ying; Barengoltz, Jack

2006-01-01

A laboratory method has been conceived to enable the enumeration of (1) Cultivable bacteria and bacterial spores that are, variously, airborne by themselves or carried by, parts of, or otherwise associated with, other airborne particles; and (2) Spore-forming bacteria among all of the aforementioned cultivable microbes.

Impact of Genomics Platform and Statistical Filtering on Transcriptional Benchmark Doses (BMD) and Multiple Approaches for Selection of Chemical Point of Departure (PoD)

PubMed Central

Webster, A. Francina; Chepelev, Nikolai; Gagné, Rémi; Kuo, Byron; Recio, Leslie; Williams, Andrew; Yauk, Carole L.

2015-01-01

Many regulatory agencies are exploring ways to integrate toxicogenomic data into their chemical risk assessments. The major challenge lies in determining how to distill the complex data produced by high-content, multi-dose gene expression studies into quantitative information. It has been proposed that benchmark dose (BMD) values derived from toxicogenomics data be used as point of departure (PoD) values in chemical risk assessments. However, there is limited information regarding which genomics platforms are most suitable and how to select appropriate PoD values. In this study, we compared BMD values modeled from RNA sequencing-, microarray-, and qPCR-derived gene expression data from a single study, and explored multiple approaches for selecting a single PoD from these data. The strategies evaluated include several that do not require prior mechanistic knowledge of the compound for selection of the PoD, thus providing approaches for assessing data-poor chemicals. We used RNA extracted from the livers of female mice exposed to non-carcinogenic (0, 2 mg/kg/day, mkd) and carcinogenic (4, 8 mkd) doses of furan for 21 days. We show that transcriptional BMD values were consistent across technologies and highly predictive of the two-year cancer bioassay-based PoD. We also demonstrate that filtering data based on statistically significant changes in gene expression prior to BMD modeling creates more conservative BMD values. Taken together, this case study on mice exposed to furan demonstrates that high-content toxicogenomics studies produce robust data for BMD modelling that are minimally affected by inter-technology variability and highly predictive of cancer-based PoD doses. PMID:26313361

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Capacities of Polyphenolics from Pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima

PubMed Central

Hsu, Feng-Lin; Huang, Wei-Jan; Wu, Tzu-Hua; Lee, Mei-Hsien; Chen, Lih-Chi; Lu, Hsiao-Jen; Hou, Wen-Chi; Lin, Mei-Hsiang

2012-01-01

Thirteen polyphenolics were isolated from fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima using various methods of column chromatography. The structures of these polyphenolics were elucidated as gallic acid (1), methyl gallate (2), 6-O-galloyl-d-glucoside (3), methyl 6-O-galloyl-β-d-glucoside (4), methyl 3,6-di-O-galloyl-α-d-glucopyranoside (5), gentisic acid 5-O-α-d-(6′-O-galloyl)glucopyranoside (6), guaiacylglycerol 4-O-β-d-(6′-O-galloyl)glucopyranoside (7), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenol 1-O-β-d-(6′-O-galloyl) glucopyranoside (8), (+)-gallocatechin (9), (+)-catechin (10), (+)-gallocatechin 3-O-gallate (11), myricetin 3-rhamnoside (12), and ampelopsin (13). All isolated compounds were tested for their antioxidant activities in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, and peroxynitrite radicals scavenging assays. Among those compounds, 11, 12, and 2 exhibited the best DPPH-, hydroxyl-, and peroxynitrite radical-scavenging activities, respectively. Compound 7 is a new compound, and possesses better scavenging activities towards DPPH but has equivalent hydroxyl radical scavenging activity when compared to BHT. The paper is the first report on free radical scavenging properties of components of the fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima. The results obtained from the current study indicate that the free radical scavenging property of fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima may be one of the mechanisms by which this herbal medicine is effective in several free radical mediated diseases. PMID:22754350

SR-71 #844 with LASRE pod parked on ramp, rear view

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

The Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment is seen here almost ready for its first flight aboard NASA's SR-71 No. 844. The initial test flight took place on 31 October 1997. The experiment was mounted on the SR-71 on Aug. 26, at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle. The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus (pod) on the back of the SR-71. Five later flights focused on the experiment itself. Two were used to cycle gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen through the experiment to check its plumbing system for leaks and to test engine operational characteristics. During the other three flights, liquid oxygen was cycled through the engine. Two engine hot-firings were also completed on the ground. A final hot-fire test flight was canceled because of liquid oxygen leaks in the test apparatus. The LASRE experiment itself was a 20-percent-scale, half-span model of a lifting body shape (X-33) without the fins. It was rotated 90 degrees and equipped with eight thrust cells of an aerospike engine and was mounted on a housing known as the 'canoe,' which contained the gaseous hydrogen, helium, and instrumentation gear. The model, engine, and canoe together were called a 'pod.' The experiment focused on determining how a reusable launch vehicle's engine flume would affect the aerodynamics of its lifting-body shape at specific

A review of flavor, aroma and color enhancement in gluten free and conventional pastries, waffles and dairy desserts with mesquite pod mesocarp flour (abstract)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mesquite is a nitrogen fixing tree whose pods were a major food for indigenous desert peoples. The main mesquite flour of commerce is milled from the pod mesocarp (without seeds) and contains 45% sucrose, 25% dietary fiber, 8 % protein, and 2 % fat. The limiting amino acids are methionine and cystei...

First report of frosty pod rot caused by Moniliophthora roreri on cacao in Bolivia

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Frosty pod rot (FPR) is a devastating cacao disease caused by the basidiomycete Moniliophthora roreri (Aime and Phillips-Mora, 2005). The disease is confined to 13 countries in Central and South America and constitutes a permanent threat for cacao cultivation worldwide. In July 2012, FPR was detect...

Pod Corn Is Caused by Rearrangement at the Tunicate1 Locus[W][OA

PubMed Central

Han, Jong-Jin; Jackson, David; Martienssen, Robert

2012-01-01

Pod corn (Zea mays var tunicata) was once regarded as ancestral to cultivated maize, and was prized by pre-Columbian cultures for its magical properties. Tunicate1 (Tu1) is a dominant pod corn mutation in which kernels are completely enclosed in leaflike glumes. Here we show that Tu1 encodes a MADS box transcription factor expressed in leaves whose 5′ regulatory region is fused by a 1.8-Mb chromosomal inversion to the 3′ region of a gene expressed in the inflorescence. Both genes are further duplicated, accounting for classical derivative alleles isolated by recombination, and Tu1 transgenes interact with these derivative alleles in a dose-dependent manner. In young ear primordia, TU1 proteins are nuclearly localized in specific cells at the base of spikelet pair meristems. Tu1 branch determination defects resemble those in ramosa mutants, which encode regulatory proteins expressed in these same cells, accounting for synergism in double mutants discovered almost 100 years ago. The Tu1 rearrangement is not found in ancestral teosinte and arose after domestication of maize. PMID:22829149

Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Bathymetry, Structural Geology and Ocean Circulation from New IcePod Airborne Geophysical Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siddoway, C. S.; Tinto, K. J.; Bell, R. E.; Padman, L.; Fricker, H. A.; Springer, S. R.

2016-12-01

Rock exposures in the Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land (MBL), on the eastern margin of the Ross Embayment, contain direct evidence of the geological processes that led to formation of West Antarctica's continental lithosphere. Processes include wide regional extension, volcanism, and thermal reequilibration, with creation of crustal structures that are prone to reactivation today. Marie Byrd Land is tectonically active, as is evident from Late Pleistocene to Holocene eruptive centers, englacial volcanic tephra as young as 2200 years, a site of magma propagation inferred from POLEnet seismic records, and the occurrence of a 2012 earthquake cluster of magnitude M4.4 to M5.5 north of Edward VII Peninsula. However, the lithosphere underlying the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS) is poorly known due to the thick cover of shelf ice floating on the ocean, difficult to penetrate by satellite remote sensing or other methods. Airborne geophysical data for the Ford Ranges and the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS) suggest that the rock formations and structures that underlie MBL continue beneath the RIS. Notable features known in outcrop and detected/inferred from potential fields data are Pleistocene or younger mafic volcanic centers and Cretaceous core complexes, both likely associated with wrench faults. The Ford Ranges legacy dataset that now provides a fundamental basis for sub-RIS geological interpretation is a product of research in coastal MBL led by B.P. Luyendyk from 1989 - 2006. To improve our knowledge of lithospheric evolution, identify active faults and prospective zones of volcanism/heat flow, and to determine the sub-RIS bathymetry, the RIS sector is being explored via new Icepod aerogeophysics acquisition during the ROSETTA-Ice project (Ross Ocean and ice Shelf Environment, and Tectonic setting Through Aerogeophysical surveys and modeling), now underway over this vast under-explored sector of the Ross Embayment. ROSETTA-Ice collects and employs new gravity data with magnetics to delineate

76 FR 76333 - Notification for Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-07

...-1279; Notice No. 11-07] Notification for Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... CFR) part 77, ``Safe, Efficient Use and Preservation of the Navigable Airspace,'' to airborne wind energy systems (AWES). In addition, this notice requests information from airborne wind energy system...

Three new species of Horismenus Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) associated with seed pods of Pithecellobium dulce (Fabaceae).

PubMed

Pikart, Tiago G; Costa, Valmir A; Hansson, Christer; Zanuncio, José C; Serrão, José E

2015-08-04

Horismenus abnormicaulis sp. nov., H. patensis sp. nov. and H. zuleidae sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), all authored by Pikart, Costa & Hansson, are described from material obtained from seed pods of Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. (Fabaceae) collected in Northeastern Brazil. The seed pods were infested with larvae of Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae (Bruchinae) and Curculionidae). The associations of the Horismenus species and the beetle larvae have not been established. Morphological similarities between these new species and previously described species with host known suggest that H. patensis and H. zuleidae are primary parasitoids of Bruchinae, whereas H. abnormicaulis may act as a hyperparasitoid on other Horismenus species. The three species are compared with similar species of Horismenus.

Population dynamics of epiphytic mycoparasites of the genera Clonostachys and Fusarium for the biocontrol of black pod (Phytophthora palmivora) and moniliasis (Moniliophthora roreri) on cocoa (Theobroma cacao).

PubMed

Hoopen, G Martijn ten; Rees, Robert; Aisa, Philo; Stirrup, Tim; Krauss, Ulrike

2003-05-01

Mycoparasites collected from aerial parts of the cocoa plant (Theobroma cacao) have shown great promise in the control of black pod, caused by Phytophthora palmivora, and moniliasis, caused by Moniliophthora roreri. However, the ecology of epiphytic mycoparasites is still poorly understood although it has a direct bearing on applied biocontrol practices, ranging from the identification and isolation of promising biocontrol candidates to formulation needs and required application frequency. One objective of this study was to determine the natural abundance of mycoparasites on cocoa flowers and pods in relation to crop development stage and cultivar. For this purpose, native mycoparasites were detected on cocoa flowers and pods using the precolonised plate baiting technique. Furthermore, the survival of an applied Clonostachys rosea isolate on cocoa pods on shaded and non-shaded trees was compared as well as the recolonisation patterns of surface-sterilised pods by native mycoparasites under these conditions. Clonostachys spp. were the most commonly isolated native mycoparasites, followed by Fusarium spp. No differences in the occurrence of native, epiphytic mycoparasites were observed between the three main cocoa cultivars, 'Criollo', 'Forastero' and 'Trinitario', nor between clones within these groups. Thus, a single biocontrol inoculum can be suitable for application to cultivar mixtures of cocoa commonly grown together in a field. Different susceptibility classes of segregating F1 populations of hybrids with resistance against M. roreri and P. palmivora supported similar population levels and taxonomic assemblages of mycoparasites. Therefore, we reject the hypothesis that these antagonists mediate resistance. Mycoparasite abundance and genetic disease resistance to black pod and moniliasis are independent phenomena and should lead to additive effects if employed simultaneously in an integrated disease management programme. The survival of applied C. rosea was not

Recognizing Airborne Hazards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Christian M.

1990-01-01

The heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in older buildings often do not adequately handle air-borne contaminants. Outlines a three-stage Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) assessment and describes a case in point at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, school. (MLF)