Sample records for tag interrogation systems

  1. Multi-level RF identification system

    DOEpatents

    Steele, Kerry D.; Anderson, Gordon A.; Gilbert, Ronald W.

    2004-07-20

    A radio frequency identification system having a radio frequency transceiver for generating a continuous wave RF interrogation signal that impinges upon an RF identification tag. An oscillation circuit in the RF identification tag modulates the interrogation signal with a subcarrier of a predetermined frequency and modulates the frequency-modulated signal back to the transmitting interrogator. The interrogator recovers and analyzes the subcarrier signal and determines its frequency. The interrogator generates an output indicative of the frequency of the subcarrier frequency, thereby identifying the responding RFID tag as one of a "class" of RFID tags configured to respond with a subcarrier signal of a predetermined frequency.

  2. Individually Identifiable Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors, Tags and Systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hines, Jacqueline H. (Inventor); Solie, Leland P. (Inventor); Tucker, Dana Y. G. (Inventor); Hines, Andrew T. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    A surface-launched acoustic wave sensor tag system for remotely sensing and/or providing identification information using sets of surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor tag devices is characterized by acoustic wave device embodiments that include coding and other diversity techniques to produce groups of sensors that interact minimally, reducing or alleviating code collision problems typical of prior art coded SAW sensors and tags, and specific device embodiments of said coded SAW sensor tags and systems. These sensor/tag devices operate in a system which consists of one or more uniquely identifiable sensor/tag devices and a wireless interrogator. The sensor device incorporates an antenna for receiving incident RF energy and re-radiating the tag identification information and the sensor measured parameter(s). Since there is no power source in or connected to the sensor, it is a passive sensor. The device is wirelessly interrogated by the interrogator.

  3. Dynamic optical tags

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Griggs, Steven P.; Mark, Martin B.; Feldman, Barry J.

    2004-07-01

    The goal of the DARPA Dynamic Optical Tags (DOTs) program is to develop a small, robust, persistent, 2-way tagging, tracking and locating device that also supports communications at data rates greater than 100 kbps and can be interrogated at significant range. These tags will allow for two-way data exchange and tagging operations in friendly and denied areas. The DOTs will be passive and non-RF. To accomplish this, the DOTs program will develop small, thin, retro-reflecting modulators. The tags will operate for long periods of time (greater than two months) in real-world environmental conditions (-40° to +70° C) and allow for a wide interrogation angle (+/-60°). The tags will be passive (in the sleep mode) for most of the time and only become active when interrogated by a laser with the correct code. Once correctly interrogated, the tags will begin to modulate and retro-reflect the incoming beam. The program will also develop two tag specific transceiver systems that are eye-safe, employ automated scanning algorithms, and are capable of short search and interrogate times.

  4. Surface Acoustic Wave Tag-Based Coherence Multiplexing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Youngquist, Robert C. (Inventor); Malocha, Donald (Inventor); Saldanha, Nancy (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    A surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based coherence multiplexing system includes SAW tags each including a SAW transducer, a first SAW reflector positioned a first distance from the SAW transducer and a second SAW reflector positioned a second distance from the SAW transducer. A transceiver including a wireless transmitter has a signal source providing a source signal and circuitry for transmitting interrogation pulses including a first and a second interrogation pulse toward the SAW tags, and a wireless receiver for receiving and processing response signals from the SAW tags. The receiver receives scrambled signals including a convolution of the wideband interrogation pulses with response signals from the SAW tags and includes a computing device which implements an algorithm that correlates the interrogation pulses or the source signal before transmitting against the scrambled signals to generate tag responses for each of the SAW tags.

  5. Guidelines to indirectly measure and enhance detection efficiency of stationary PIT tag interrogation systems in streams

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Connolly, Patrick J.; Wolf, Keith; O'Neal, Jennifer S.

    2010-01-01

    With increasing use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and reliance on stationary PIT tag interrogation systems to monitor fish populations, guidelines are offered to inform users how best to use limited funding and human resources to create functional systems that maximize a desired level of detection and precision. The estimators of detection efficiency and their variability as described by Connolly et al. (2008) are explored over a span of likely performance metrics. These estimators were developed to estimate detection efficiency without relying on a known number of fish passing the system. I present graphical displays of the results derived from these estimators to show the potential efficiency and precision to be gained by adding an array or by increasing the number of PIT-tagged fish expected to move past an interrogation system.

  6. Guidelines for calculating and enhancing detection efficiency of PIT tag interrogation systems

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Connolly, Patrick J.

    2010-01-01

    With increasing use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and reliance on stationary PIT tag interrogation systems to monitor fish populations, guidelines are offered to inform users how best to use limited funding and human resources to create functional systems that maximize a desired level of detection and precision. The estimators of detection efficiency and their variability as described by Connolly et al. (2008) are explored over a span of likely performance metrics. These estimators were developed to estimate detection efficiency without relying on a known number of fish passing the system. I present graphical displays of the results derived from these estimators to show the potential efficiency and precision to be gained by adding an array or by increasing the number of PIT-tagged fish expected to move past an interrogation system.

  7. Systems, Apparatuses and Methods for Beamforming RFID Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    A radio frequency identification (RFID) system includes an RFID interrogator and an RFID tag having a plurality of information sources and a beamforming network. The tag receives electromagnetic radiation from the interrogator. The beamforming network directs the received electromagnetic radiation to a subset of the plurality of information sources. The RFID tag transmits a response to the received electromagnetic radiation, based on the subset of the plurality of information sources to which the received electromagnetic radiation was directed. Method and other embodiments are also disclosed.

  8. Communication methods, systems, apparatus, and devices involving RF tag registration

    DOEpatents

    Burghard, Brion J [W. Richland, WA; Skorpik, James R [Kennewick, WA

    2008-04-22

    One technique of the present invention includes a number of Radio Frequency (RF) tags that each have a different identifier. Information is broadcast to the tags from an RF tag interrogator. This information corresponds to a maximum quantity of tag response time slots that are available. This maximum quantity may be less than the total number of tags. The tags each select one of the time slots as a function of the information and a random number provided by each respective tag. The different identifiers are transmitted to the interrogator from at least a subset of the RF tags.

  9. Phase modulation in RF tag

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curtis Lee; Gilbert, Ronald W.

    2007-02-20

    A radio frequency (RF) communication system employs phase-modulated backscatter signals for RF communication from an RF tag to an interrogator. The interrogator transmits a continuous wave interrogation signal to the RF tag, which based on an information code stored in a memory, phase-modulates the interrogation signal to produce a backscatter response signal that is transmitted back to the interrogator. A phase modulator structure in the RF tag may include a switch coupled between an antenna and a quarter-wavelength stub; and a driver coupled between the memory and a control terminal of the switch. The driver is structured to produce a modulating signal corresponding to the information code, the modulating signal alternately opening and closing the switch to respectively decrease and increase the transmission path taken by the interrogation signal and thereby modulate the phase of the response signal. Alternatively, the phase modulator may include a diode coupled between the antenna and driver. The modulating signal from the driver modulates the capacitance of the diode, which modulates the phase of the response signal reflected by the diode and antenna.

  10. In-field tests of the EURITRACK tagged neutron inspection system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carasco, C.; Perot, B.; Bernard, S.; Mariani, A.; Szabo, J.-L.; Sannie, G.; Roll, Th.; Valkovic, V.; Sudac, D.; Viesti, G.; Lunardon, M.; Bottosso, C.; Fabris, D.; Nebbia, G.; Pesente, S.; Moretto, S.; Zenoni, A.; Donzella, A.; Moszynski, M.; Gierlik, M.; Batsch, T.; Wolski, D.; Klamra, W.; Le Tourneur, P.; Lhuissier, M.; Colonna, A.; Tintori, C.; Peerani, P.; Sequeira, V.; Salvato, M.

    2008-04-01

    The EURopean Illicit TRAfficking Countermeasures Kit (EURITRACK) inspection system has been designed to complement X-ray scanners in the detection of explosives and other illicit materials hidden in cargo containers. The containers are interrogated by a 14-MeV tagged neutron beam at any suspect position in the X-ray image. Interrogation of a specific volume element with tagged neutrons yields information about the chemical composition of the material. Implementation and performance tests of the EURITRACK system in the Port of Rijeka in Croatia are described. Cargo container inspection results are reported and discussed.

  11. Notes on SAW Tag Interrogation Techniques

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton, Richard J.

    2010-01-01

    We consider the problem of interrogating a single SAW RFID tag with a known ID and known range in the presence of multiple interfering tags under the following assumptions: (1) The RF propagation environment is well approximated as a simple delay channel with geometric power-decay constant alpha >/= 2. (2) The interfering tag IDs are unknown but well approximated as independent, identically distributed random samples from a probability distribution of tag ID waveforms with known second-order properties, and the tag of interest is drawn independently from the same distribution. (3) The ranges of the interfering tags are unknown but well approximated as independent, identically distributed realizations of a random variable rho with a known probability distribution f(sub rho) , and the tag ranges are independent of the tag ID waveforms. In particular, we model the tag waveforms as random impulse responses from a wide-sense-stationary, uncorrelated-scattering (WSSUS) fading channel with known bandwidth and scattering function. A brief discussion of the properties of such channels and the notation used to describe them in this document is given in the Appendix. Under these assumptions, we derive the expression for the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for an arbitrary combination of transmitted interrogation signal and linear receiver filter. Based on this expression, we derive the optimal interrogator configuration (i.e., transmitted signal/receiver filter combination) in the two extreme noise/interference regimes, i.e., noise-limited and interference-limited, under the additional assumption that the coherence bandwidth of the tags is much smaller than the total tag bandwidth. Finally, we evaluate the performance of both optimal interrogators over a broad range of operating scenarios using both numerical simulation based on the assumed model and Monte Carlo simulation based on a small sample of measured tag waveforms. The performance evaluation results not only provide guidelines for proper interrogator design, but also provide some insight on the validity of the assumed signal model. It should be noted that the assumption that the impulse response of the tag of interest is known precisely implies that the temperature and range of the tag are also known precisely, which is generally not the case in practice. However, analyzing interrogator performance under this simplifying assumption is much more straightforward and still provides a great deal of insight into the nature of the problem.

  12. Non-contact tamper sensing by electronic means

    DOEpatents

    Gritton, Dale G.

    1993-01-01

    A tamper-sensing system for an electronic tag 10 which is to be fixed to a surface 11 of an article 12, the tamper-sensing system comprising a capacitor having two non-contacting, capacitively-coupled elements 16, 19. Fixing of the body to the article will establish a precise location of the capacitor elements 16 and 19 relative to each other. When interrogated, the tag will generate a tamper-sensing signal having a value which is a function of the amount of capacity of the capacitor elements. The precise relative location of the capacitor elements cannot be duplicated if the tag is removed and affixed to a surrogate article having a fiducial capacitor element 19 fixed thereto. A very small displacement, in the order of 2-10 microns, of the capacitor elements relative to each other if the tag body is removed and fixed to a surrogate article will result in the tamper-sensing signal having a different, and detectable, value when the tag is interrogated.

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

    Scott, Jeffrey Wayne

    An RFID backscatter interrogator for transmitting data to an RFID tag, generating a carrier for the tag, and receiving data from the tag modulated onto the carrier, the interrogator including a single grounded-coplanar wave-guide circuit board and at least one surface mount integrated circuit supported by the circuit board.

  14. RFID Torque Sensing Tag System for Fasteners

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    The present invention provides an RFID-based torque sensor that can be used to quickly monitor off the shelf fasteners including fasteners that are used in expensive satellites or other uses where fastener failure can be very costly. In one embodiment, an antenna, RFID ring and spring comprise a sensor tag that can be interrogated with an interrogation signal produced by an interrogator device. When sufficient torque is applied to the fastener, an RFID circuit is connected, and produces a radio frequency (RF) signal that can be read by the interrogator. In one embodiment, the RFID circuit does not transmit when the spring member is not compressed, thereby indicating insufficient tensioning of the fastener. The present invention offers the ability to remotely, quickly, and inexpensively verify that any number of fasteners are torqued properly upon initial installation. Where applicable, the present invention allows low cost monitoring over the life of the fastener.

  15. Measuring the performance of two stationary interrogation systems for detecting downstream and upstream movement of PIT-tagged salmonids

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Connolly, P.J.; Jezorek, I.G.; Martens, K.D.; Prentice, E.F.

    2008-01-01

    We tested the performance of two stationary interrogation systems designed for detecting the movement of fish with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. These systems allowed us to determine the direction of fish movement with high detection efficiency and high precision in a dynamic stream environment. We describe an indirect method for deriving an estimate for detection efficiency and the associated variance that does not rely on a known number of fish passing the system. By using six antennas arranged in a longitudinal series of three arrays, we attained detection efficiencies for downstream- and upstream-moving fish exceeding 96% during high-flow periods and approached 100% during low-flow periods for the two interrogation systems we tested. Because these systems did not rely on structural components, such as bridges or culverts, they were readily adaptable to remote, natural stream sites. Because of built-in redundancy, these systems were able to perform even with a loss of one or more antennas owing to dislodgement or electrical failure. However, the reduction in redundancy resulted in decreased efficiency and precision and the potential loss of ability to determine the direction of fish movement. What we learned about these systems should be applicable to a wide variety of other antenna configurations and to other types of PIT tags and transceivers.

  16. Method of remote powering and detecting multiple UWB passive tags in an RFID system

    DOEpatents

    Dowla, Farid U [Castro Valley, CA; Nekoogar, Faranak [San Ramon, CA; Benzel, David M [Livermore, CA; Dallum, Gregory E [Livermore, CA; Spiridon, Alex [Palo Alto, CA

    2012-05-29

    A new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), tracking, powering apparatus/system and method using coded Ultra-wideband (UWB) signaling is introduced. The proposed hardware and techniques disclosed herein utilize a plurality of passive UWB transponders in a field of an RFID-radar system. The radar system itself enables multiple passive tags to be remotely powered (activated) at about the same time frame via predetermined frequency UWB pulsed formats. Once such tags are in an activated state, an UWB radar transmits specific "interrogating codes" to put predetermined tags in an awakened status. Such predetermined tags can then communicate by a unique "response code" so as to be detected by an UWB system using radar methods.

  17. Performance of an optical identification and interrogation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venugopalan, A.; Ghosh, A. K.; Verma, P.; Cheng, S.

    2008-04-01

    A free space optics based identification and interrogation system has been designed. The applications of the proposed system lie primarily in areas which require a secure means of mutual identification and information exchange between optical readers and tags. Conventional RFIDs raise issues regarding security threats, electromagnetic interference and health safety. The security of RF-ID chips is low due to the wide spatial spread of radio waves. Malicious nodes can read data being transmitted on the network, if they are in the receiving range. The proposed system provides an alternative which utilizes the narrow paraxial beams of lasers and an RSA-based authentication scheme. These provide enhanced security to communication between a tag and the base station or reader. The optical reader can also perform remote identification and the tag can be read from a far off distance, given line of sight. The free space optical identification and interrogation system can be used for inventory management, security systems at airports, port security, communication with high security systems, etc. to name a few. The proposed system was implemented with low-cost, off-the-shelf components and its performance in terms of throughput and bit error rate has been measured and analyzed. The range of operation with a bit-error-rate lower than 10-9 was measured to be about 4.5 m. The security of the system is based on the strengths of the RSA encryption scheme implemented using more than 1024 bits.

  18. Multi-frequency communication system and method

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curtis Lee; Gilbert, Ronald W.

    2004-06-01

    A multi-frequency RFID remote communication system is provided that includes a plurality of RFID tags configured to receive a first signal and to return a second signal, the second signal having a first frequency component and a second frequency component, the second frequency component including data unique to each remote RFID tag. The system further includes a reader configured to transmit an interrogation signal and to receive remote signals from the tags. A first signal processor, preferably a mixer, removes an intermediate frequency component from the received signal, and a second processor, preferably a second mixer, analyzes the IF frequency component to output data that is unique to each remote tag.

  19. Achievable Performance and Effective Interrogator Design for SAW RFID Sensor Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton, Richard J.

    2011-01-01

    For many NASA missions, remote sensing is a critical application that supports activities such as environmental monitoring, planetary science, structural shape and health monitoring, non-destructive evaluation, etc. The utility of the remote sensing devices themselves is greatly increased if they are passive that is, they do not require any on-board power supply such as batteries and if they can be identified uniquely during the sensor interrogation process. Additional passive sensor characteristics that enable greater utilization in space applications are small size and weight, long read ranges with low interrogator power, ruggedness, and operability in extreme environments (vacuum, extreme high/low temperature, high radiation, etc.) In this paper, we consider one very promising passive sensor technology, called surface acoustic wave (SAW) radio-frequency identification (RFID), that satisfies all of these criteria. Although SAW RFID tags have great potential for use in numerous space-based remote sensing applications, the limited collision resolution capability of current generation tags limits the performance in a cluttered sensing environment. That is, as more SAW-based sensors are added to the environment, numerous tag responses are superimposed at the receiver and decoding all or even a subset of the telemetry becomes increasingly difficult. Background clutter generated by reflectors other than the sensors themselves is also a problem, as is multipath interference and signal distortion, but the limiting factor in many remote sensing applications can be expected to be tag mutual interference. This problem may be greatly mitigated by proper design of the SAW tag waveform, but that remains an open research problem, and in the meantime, several other related questions remain to be answered including: What are the fundamental relationships between tag parameters such as bit-rate, time-bandwidth-product, SNR, and achievable collision resolution? What are the differences in optimal or near-optimal interrogator designs between noise-limited environments and interference-limited environments? What are the performance characteristics of different interrogator designs in term of parameters such as transmitter power level, range, and number of interfering tags? In this paper, we present the results of a research effort aimed at providing at least partial answers to all of these questions.

  20. Achievable Performance and Effective Interrogator Design for SAW RFID Sensor Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton Richard J.

    2012-01-01

    For many NASA missions, remote sensing is a critical application that supports activities such as environmental monitoring, planetary science, structural shape and health monitoring, non-destructive evaluation, etc. The utility of the remote sensing devices themselves is greatly increased if they are passive V that is, they do not require any on-board power supply such as batteries V and if they can be identified uniquely during the sensor interrogation process. Additional passive sensor characteristics that enable greater utilization in space applications are small size and weight, long read ranges with low interrogator power, ruggedness, and operability in extreme environments (vacuum, extreme high/low temperature, high radiation, etc.) In this paper, we consider one very promising passive sensor technology, called surface acoustic wave (SAW) radio-frequency identification (RFID), that satisfies all of these criteria. In general, RFID is a method of identifying items using radio waves to interrogate tags encoded with a unique identifier that are affixed to the items of interest. In the case of passive tags, only the interrogator, which transmits power to the tags in the form of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation, requires access to a power supply. Passive RFID technologies are used today in many applications, including asset tracking and management, security and access control, and remote sensing. To date, most of the development and application in RFID technology has focused on either asset/inventory tracking and control or security and access control because these are the largest commercial application areas. Recently however, there has been growing interest in using passive RFID technology for remote sensing applications, and SAW devices are at the forefront of RFID sensing technology development. Although SAW RFID tags have great potential for use in numerous space-based remote sensing applications, the limited collision resolution capability of current generation tags limits the performance in a cluttered sensing environment. That is, as more SAW-based sensors are added to the environment, numerous tag responses are superimposed at the receiver and decoding all or even a subset of the telemetry becomes increasingly difficult. Background clutter generated by reflectors other than the sensors themselves is also a problem, as is multipath interference and signal distortion, but the limiting factor in many remote sensing applications can be expected to be tag mutual interference. This problem may be greatly mitigated by proper design of the SAW tag waveform, but that remains an open research problem, and in the meantime, several other related questions remain to be answered including: (1) What are the fundamental relationships between tag parameters such as bit-rate, time-bandwidth-product, SNR, and achievable collision resolution? (2) What are the differences in optimal or near-optimal interrogator designs between noise-limited environments and interference-limited environments? (3) What are the performance characteristics of different interrogator designs in term of parameters such as transmitter power level, range, and number of interfering tags? In this paper, we will present the results of a research effort aimed at providing at least partial answers to all of these questions.

  1. Hood River PIT-tag interrogation system efficiency study. Annual report of U.S. Geological Survey activities: November 2010-October 2011

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jezorek, Ian G.; Connolly, Patrick J.

    2012-01-01

    An additional USGS-CRRL task, under contract number 50150, was to build three antennas for use with Destron-Fearing 2001F-ISO PIT tag readers. These antennas would be 5 used at the East Fork Hood River Acclimation site. They would be placed in the outflow channel to inform managers about the number of PIT tagged steelhead smolts released to the Hood River after a period of acclimation when some mortality and predation might occur. 

  2. Detection, Identification, Location, and Remote Sensing Using SAW RFID Sensor Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton, Richard J.; Kennedy, Timothy F.; Williams, Robert M.; Fink, Patrick W.; Ngo, Phong H.

    2009-01-01

    The Electromagnetic Systems Branch (EV4) of the Avionic Systems Division at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX is studying the utility of surface acoustic wave (SAW) radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags for multiple wireless applications including detection, identification, tracking, and remote sensing of objects on the lunar surface, monitoring of environmental test facilities, structural shape and health monitoring, and nondestructive test and evaluation of assets. For all of these applications, it is anticipated that the system utilized to interrogate the SAW RFID tags may need to operate at fairly long range and in the presence of considerable multipath and multiple-access interference. Towards that end, EV4 is developing a prototype SAW RFID wireless interrogation system for use in such environments called the Passive Adaptive RFID Sensor Equipment (PARSED) system. The system utilizes a digitally beam-formed planar receiving antenna array to extend range and provide direction-of-arrival information coupled with an approximate maximum-likelihood signal processing algorithm to provide near-optimal estimation of both range and temperature. The system is capable of forming a large number of beams within the field of view and resolving the information from several tags within each beam. The combination of both spatial and waveform discrimination provides the capability to track and monitor telemetry from a large number of objects appearing simultaneously within the field of view of the receiving array. In this paper, we will consider the application of the PARSEQ system to the problem of simultaneous detection, identification, localization, and temperature estimation for multiple objects. We will summarize the overall design of the PARSEQ system and present a detailed description of the design and performance of the signal detection and estimation algorithms incorporated in the system. The system is currently configured only to measure temperature (jointly with range and tag ID), but future versions will be revised to measure parameters other than temperature as SAW tags capable of interfacing with external sensors become available. It is anticipated that the estimation of arbitrary parameters measured using SAW-based sensors will be based on techniques very similar to the joint range and temperature estimation techniques described in this paper.

  3. RFID Transponders' Radio Frequency Emissions in Aircraft Communication and Navigation Radio Bands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nguyen, Truong X.; Ely, Jay J.; Williams, Reuben A.; Koppen, Sandra V.; Salud, Maria Theresa P.

    2006-01-01

    Radiated emissions in aircraft communication and navigation bands are measured from several active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The individual tags are different in design and operations. They may also operate in different frequency bands. The process for measuring the emissions is discussed, and includes tag interrogation, reverberation chamber testing, and instrument settings selection. The measurement results are described and compared against aircraft emission limits. In addition, interference path loss for the cargo bays of passenger aircraft is measured. Cargo bay path loss is more appropriate for RFID tags than passenger cabin path loss. The path loss data are reported for several aircraft radio systems on a Boeing 747 and an Airbus A320.

  4. Associated Particle Tagging (APT) in Magnetic Spectrometers

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

    Jordan, David V.; Baciak, James E.; Stave, Sean C.

    2012-10-16

    Summary In Brief The Associated Particle Tagging (APT) project, a collaboration of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Idaho State University (ISU)/Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC), has completed an exploratory study to assess the role of magnetic spectrometers as the linchpin technology in next-generation tagged-neutron and tagged-photon active interrogation (AI). The computational study considered two principle concepts: (1) the application of a solenoidal alpha-particle spectrometer to a next-generation, large-emittance neutron generator for use in the associated particle imaging technique, and (2) the application of tagged photon beams to the detection of fissile material via active interrogation.more » In both cases, a magnetic spectrometer momentum-analyzes charged particles (in the neutron case, alpha particles accompanying neutron generation in the D-T reaction; in the tagged photon case, post-bremsstrahlung electrons) to define kinematic properties of the relevant neutral interrogation probe particle (i.e. neutron or photon). The main conclusions of the study can be briefly summarized as follows: Neutron generator: • For the solenoidal spectrometer concept, magnetic field strengths of order 1 Tesla or greater are required to keep the transverse size of the spectrometer smaller than 1 meter. The notional magnetic spectrometer design evaluated in this feasibility study uses a 5-T magnetic field and a borehole radius of 18 cm. • The design shows a potential for 4.5 Sr tagged neutron solid angle, a factor of 4.5 larger than achievable with current API neutron-generator designs. • The potential angular resolution for such a tagged neutron beam can be less than 0.5o for modest Si-detector position resolution (3 mm). Further improvement in angular resolution can be made by using Si-detectors with better position resolution. • The report documents several features of a notional generator design incorporating the alpha-particle spectrometer concept, and outlines challenges involved in the magnetic field design. Tagged photon interrogation: • We investigated a method for discriminating fissile from benign cargo-material response to an energy-tagged photon beam. The method relies upon coincident detection of the tagged photon and a photoneutron or photofission neutron produced in the target material. The method exploits differences in the shape of the neutron production cross section as a function of incident photon energy in order to discriminate photofission yield from photoneutrons emitted by non-fissile materials. Computational tests of the interrogation method as applied to material composition assay of a simple, multi-layer target suggest that the tagged-photon information facilitates precise (order 1% thickness uncertainty) reconstruction of the constituent thicknesses of fissile (uranium) and high-Z (Pb) constituents of the test targets in a few minutes of photon-beam exposure. We assumed an 18-MeV endpoint tagged photon beam for these simulations. • The report addresses several candidate design and data analysis issues for beamline infrastructure required to produce a tagged photon beam in a notional AI-dedicated facility, including the accelerator and tagging spectrometer.« less

  5. Some Fundamental Limits on SAW RFID Tag Information Capacity and Collision Resolution

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton, Richard J.

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we apply results from multi-user information theory to study the limits of information capacity and collision resolution for SAW RFID tags. In particular, we derive bounds on the achievable data rate per tag as a function of fundamental parameters such as tag time-bandwidth product, tag signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and number of tags in the environment. We also discuss the implications of these bounds for tag waveform design and tag interrogation efficiency

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

    Walker, Randy M; Kopsick, Deborah A; Warren, Tracy A

    One of the main components of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Materials Program is to prevent the loss of radioactive materials through the use of tracking technologies. If a source is inadvertently lost or purposely abandoned or stolen, it is critical that the source be recovered before harm to the public or the environment occurs. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging on radioactive sources is a technology that can be operated in the active or passive mode, has a variety of frequencies available allowing for flexibility in use, is able to transmit detailed data and is discreet. The purpose ofmore » the joint DOE and EPA Radiological Source Tracking and Monitoring (RadSTraM) project is to evaluate the viability, effectiveness and scalability of RFID technology under a variety of transportation scenarios. The goal of the Phase II was to continue testing integrated RFID tag systems from various vendors for feasibility in tracking radioactive sealed sources which included the following performance objectives: 1. Validate the performance of RFID intelligent systems to monitor express air shipments of medical radioisotopes in the nationwide supply chain, 2. Quantify the reliability of these tracking systems with regards to probability of tag detection and operational reliability, 3. Determine if the implementation of these systems improves manpower effectiveness, and 4. Demonstrate that RFID tracking and monitoring of radioactive materials is ready for large scale deployment at the National level. For purposes of analysis, the test scenario employed in this study utilized the real world commerce supply chain process for radioactive medical isotopes to validate the performance of intelligent RFID tags. Three different RFID systems were assessed from a shipping and packaging perspective, included varied environmental conditions, varied commodities on board vehicles, temporary staging in shipping terminals using various commodities and normal transportation handling. We tracked 32 air express (AE) shipments from a medical radioisotope (MR) production facility in Boston, MA to ORNL in Oak Ridge, TN. Each RFID system was individually tested in Type A modified packaging with differing quantities of Phosphorus-32 (1,000 μci, 500 μci and 250 μci) for 16 shipments per system. Three of these shipments per system contained dry ice (9 total). An additional 16 shipments were tested that contained one tag from each system using Type A packaging without Phosphorus-32. Twelve of these shipments contained dry ice. RFID interrogators for each system were installed at four waypoints along the 1,000 mile shipping route from source to designation via air and surface. Each package was expected to be detected by its corresponding interrogator(s) at each way point. System A's overall probability of detection was 77 percent, System B's overall probability of detection was 20 percent and System C's overall probability was 75 percent. The presence of more than one RFID system in a shipment did not appear to have an effect on any of the three systems tested. However, no tests of significance could be performed because group sample sizes did not satisfy the standard binomial test-of-significance between independent samples. Preliminary analysis of the data using pair-wise comparison (in process) is expected to show some (possibly significant) differences due to packaging and the effects of dry ice on the tags. Phase II of the RadSTraM project verified that RFID tagging can be applied to the tracking and monitoring of medical radioisotope air express shipments. This study demonstrated that active RFID tagging systems can be feasibly integrated and scaled into the nation-wide supply chain to track and monitor medical radioisotopes.« less

  7. Extended-Range Passive RFID and Sensor Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W.; Kennedy, Timothy F.; Lin, Gregory Y.; Barton, Richard

    2012-01-01

    Extended-range passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and related sensor tags are undergoing development. A tag of this type incorporates a retroreflective antenna array, so that it reflects significantly more signal power back toward an interrogating radio transceiver than does a comparable passive RFID tag of prior design, which does not incorporate a retroreflective antenna array. Therefore, for a given amount of power radiated by the transmitter in the interrogating transceiver, a tag of this type can be interrogated at a distance greater than that of the comparable passive RFID or sensor tag of prior design. The retroreflective antenna array is, more specifically, a Van Atta array, named after its inventor and first published in a patent issued in 1959. In its simplest form, a Van Atta array comprises two antenna elements connected by a transmission line so that the signal received by each antenna element is reradiated by the other antenna element (see Figure 1). The phase relationships among the received and reradiated signals are such as to produce constructive interference of the reradiated signals; that is, to concentrate the reradiated signal power in a direction back toward the source. Hence, an RFID tag equipped with a Van Atta antenna array automatically tracks the interrogating transceiver. The effective gain of a Van Atta array is the same as that of a traditional phased antenna array having the same number of antenna elements. Additional pairs of antenna elements connected by equal-length transmission lines can be incorporated into a Van Atta array to increase its directionality. Like some RFID tags here-to-fore commercially available, an RFID or sensor tag of the present developmental type includes one-port surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) devices. In simplified terms, the mode of operation of a basic one-port SAW device as used heretofore in an RFID device is the following: An interrogating radio signal is converted, at an input end, from an electrical signal to an acoustic wave that propagates along a surface and encounters multiple reflectors suitably positioned along the surface. Upon returning to the input end, the reflected acoustic wave is re-converted to an electrical signal, which, in turn, is reradiated from an antenna. The distances between the reflectors in the SAW device and the corresponding times between reflections encode the identifying or sensory information onto the reradiated signal. The fundamental problem in the present development is how to combine a Van Atta antenna array (which is inherently a multiple-port device) and one or more one-port SAW device(s) into a single, compact, passive unit that can function as a retroreflective RFID tag. The solution is to use one or more hybrid, half-power 90 couplers. A basic unit of this type, shown in Figure 2, includes a half-power 90 hybrid coupler; two identical SAW devices (SAW1 and SAW2) connected to ports 3 and 4 of the coupler, respectively; and antenna elements connected to ports 1 and 2 of the coupler. Necessarily omitting details for the sake of brevity, it must suffice to report that the phase relationships among the coupler inputs and outputs are such as to couple the incident signal from the antenna elements to the SAW devices and couple the reflected signals from the SAW devices back to the antenna elements in the phase relationships required for a Van Atta array. Hence, the reradiated signal is automatically directed back toward the interrogating transceiver and contains identifying and/or sensory information encoded in time intervals between reflections.

  8. Directional Radio-Frequency Identification Tag Reader

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Medelius, Pedro J.; Taylor, John D.; Henderson, John J.

    2004-01-01

    A directional radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader has been designed to facilitate finding a specific object among many objects in a crowded room. The device could be an adjunct to an electronic inventory system that tracks RFID-tagged objects as they move through reader-equipped doorways. Whereas commercial RFID-tag readers do not measure directions to tagged objects, the device is equipped with a phased-array antenna and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) circuit for measuring direction. At the beginning of operation, it is set to address only the RFID tag of interest. It then continuously transmits a signal to interrogate that tag while varying the radiation pattern of the antenna. It identifies the direction to the tag as the radiation pattern direction of peak strength of the signal returned by the tag. An approximate distance to the tag is calculated from the peak signal strength. The direction and distance can be displayed on a screen. A prototype containing a Yagi antenna was found to be capable of detecting a 915.5-MHz tag at a distance of approximately equal to 15 ft (approximately equal to 4.6 m).

  9. RFID Transponders' RF Emissions in Aircraft Communication and Navigation Radio Bands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nguyen, Truong X.; Ely, Jay J.; Koppen Sandra V.; Fersch, Mariatheresa S.

    2008-01-01

    Radiated emission data in aircraft communication and navigation bands are presented for several active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The individual tags are different in design, operation and transmitting frequencies. The process for measuring the tags emissions in a reverberation chamber is discussed. Measurement issues dealing with tag interrogation, low level measurement in the presence of strong transmissions, and tags low duty factors are discussed. The results show strong emissions, far exceeding aircraft emission limits and can be of potential interference risks.

  10. Tag-to-Tag Interference Suppression Technique Based on Time Division for RFID.

    PubMed

    Khadka, Grishma; Hwang, Suk-Seung

    2017-01-01

    Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a tracking technology that enables immediate automatic object identification and rapid data sharing for a wide variety of modern applications using radio waves for data transmission from a tag to a reader. RFID is already well established in technical areas, and many companies have developed corresponding standards and measurement techniques. In the construction industry, effective monitoring of materials and equipment is an important task, and RFID helps to improve monitoring and controlling capabilities, in addition to enabling automation for construction projects. However, on construction sites, there are many tagged objects and multiple RFID tags that may interfere with each other's communications. This reduces the reliability and efficiency of the RFID system. In this paper, we propose an anti-collision algorithm for communication between multiple tags and a reader. In order to suppress interference signals from multiple neighboring tags, the proposed algorithm employs the time-division (TD) technique, where tags in the interrogation zone are assigned a specific time slot so that at every instance in time, a reader communicates with tags using the specific time slot. We present representative computer simulation examples to illustrate the performance of the proposed anti-collision technique for multiple RFID tags.

  11. Terminating Devices in Spoken French.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andrews, Barry J.

    1989-01-01

    A study examines the way in which one group of discourse connectors, terminators, function in contemporary spoken French. Three types of terminators, elements used at the end of an utterance or section to indicate its completion, are investigated, including utterance terminators, interrogative tags, and terminal tags. (Author/MSE)

  12. Geometric Distribution-Based Readers Scheduling Optimization Algorithm Using Artificial Immune System.

    PubMed

    Duan, Litian; Wang, Zizhong John; Duan, Fu

    2016-11-16

    In the multiple-reader environment (MRE) of radio frequency identification (RFID) system, multiple readers are often scheduled to interrogate the randomized tags via operating at different time slots or frequency channels to decrease the signal interferences. Based on this, a Geometric Distribution-based Multiple-reader Scheduling Optimization Algorithm using Artificial Immune System (GD-MRSOA-AIS) is proposed to fairly and optimally schedule the readers operating from the viewpoint of resource allocations. GD-MRSOA-AIS is composed of two parts, where a geometric distribution function combined with the fairness consideration is first introduced to generate the feasible scheduling schemes for reader operation. After that, artificial immune system (including immune clone, immune mutation and immune suppression) quickly optimize these feasible ones as the optimal scheduling scheme to ensure that readers are fairly operating with larger effective interrogation range and lower interferences. Compared with the state-of-the-art algorithm, the simulation results indicate that GD-MRSOA-AIS could efficiently schedules the multiple readers operating with a fairer resource allocation scheme, performing in larger effective interrogation range.

  13. Geometric Distribution-Based Readers Scheduling Optimization Algorithm Using Artificial Immune System

    PubMed Central

    Duan, Litian; Wang, Zizhong John; Duan, Fu

    2016-01-01

    In the multiple-reader environment (MRE) of radio frequency identification (RFID) system, multiple readers are often scheduled to interrogate the randomized tags via operating at different time slots or frequency channels to decrease the signal interferences. Based on this, a Geometric Distribution-based Multiple-reader Scheduling Optimization Algorithm using Artificial Immune System (GD-MRSOA-AIS) is proposed to fairly and optimally schedule the readers operating from the viewpoint of resource allocations. GD-MRSOA-AIS is composed of two parts, where a geometric distribution function combined with the fairness consideration is first introduced to generate the feasible scheduling schemes for reader operation. After that, artificial immune system (including immune clone, immune mutation and immune suppression) quickly optimize these feasible ones as the optimal scheduling scheme to ensure that readers are fairly operating with larger effective interrogation range and lower interferences. Compared with the state-of-the-art algorithm, the simulation results indicate that GD-MRSOA-AIS could efficiently schedules the multiple readers operating with a fairer resource allocation scheme, performing in larger effective interrogation range. PMID:27854342

  14. Imaging mass spectrometer with mass tags

    DOEpatents

    Felton, James S.; Wu, Kuang Jen; Knize, Mark G.; Kulp, Kristen S.; Gray, Joe W.

    2010-06-01

    A method of analyzing biological material by exposing the biological material to a recognition element, that is coupled to a mass tag element, directing an ion beam of a mass spectrometer to the biological material, interrogating at least one region of interest area from the biological material and producing data, and distributing the data in plots.

  15. Extended Range Passive Wireless Tag System and Method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor)

    2013-01-01

    A passive wireless tag assembly comprises a plurality of antennas and transmission lines interconnected with circuitry and constructed and arranged in a Van Atta array or configuration to reflect an interrogator signal in the direction from where it came. The circuitry may comprise at least one surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based circuit that functions as a signal reflector and is operatively connected with an information circuit. In another embodiment, at least one delay circuit and/or at least one passive modulation circuit(s) are utilized. In yet another embodiment, antennas connected to SAW-based devices are mounted to at least one of the orthogonal surfaces of a corner reflector.

  16. Comparing the Properties of Electrochemical-Based DNA Sensors Employing Different Redox Tags

    PubMed Central

    Kang, Di; Zuo, Xiaolei; Yang, Renqiang; Xia, Fan; Plaxco, Kevin W.; White, Ryan J.

    2009-01-01

    Many electrochemical biosensor approaches developed in recent years utilize redox labeled (most commonly methylene blue or ferrocene) oligonucleotide probes site-specifically attached to an interrogating electrode. Sensors in this class have been reported employing a range of probe architectures, including single- and double-stranded DNA, more complex DNA structures, DNA and RNA aptamers and, most recently, DNA-small molecule chimeras. Signaling in this class of sensors is generally predicated on binding-induced changes in the efficiency with which the covalently attached redox label transfers electrons with the interrogating electrode. Here we have investigated how the properties of the redox tag affect the performance of such sensors. Specifically, we compare the differences in signaling and stability of electrochemical DNA sensors (E-DNA sensors) fabricated using either ferrocene or methylene blue as the signaling redox moiety. We find that while both tags support efficient E-DNA signaling, ferrocene produces slightly improved signal gain and target affinity. These small advantages, however, come at a potentially significant price: the ferrocene-based sensors are far less stable than their methylene blue counterparts, particularly with regards to stability to long-term storage, repeated electrochemical interrogations, repeated sensing/regeneration iterations, and employment in complex sample matrices such as blood serum. PMID:19810694

  17. A review of tags anti-collision and localization protocols in RFID networks.

    PubMed

    Ullah, S; Alsalih, W; Alsehaim, A; Alsadhan, N

    2012-12-01

    Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has allowed the realization of ubiquitous tracking and monitoring of physical objects wirelessly with minimum human interactions. It plays a key role in a wide range of applications including asset tracking, contactless payment, access control, transportation and logistics, and other industrial applications. On the other side, RFID systems face several technical challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve their potential benefits; tags collisions and localization of tagged objects are two important challenges. Numerous anti-collision and localization protocols have been proposed to address these challenges. This paper reviews the state-of-art tags' anti-collision and localization protocols, and provides a deep insight into technical issues of these protocols. The probabilistic and deterministic anti-collision protocols are critically studied and compared in terms of different parameters. We further review distance estimation, scene analysis, and proximity localization schemes and provide useful suggestions. We also introduce a new hybrid direction that utilizes power control to spatially partition the interrogation range of a reader for more efficient anti-collision and localization. Finally, we present the applications of RFID systems in healthcare sectors.

  18. System and method for simultaneously collecting serial number information from numerous identity tags

    DOEpatents

    Doty, Michael A.

    1997-01-01

    A system and method for simultaneously collecting serial number information reports from numerous colliding coded-radio-frequency identity tags. Each tag has a unique multi-digit serial number that is stored in non-volatile RAM. A reader transmits an ASCII coded "D" character on a carrier of about 900 MHz and a power illumination field having a frequency of about 1.6 Ghz. A one MHz tone is modulated on the 1.6 Ghz carrier as a timing clock for a microprocessor in each of the identity tags. Over a thousand such tags may be in the vicinity and each is powered-up and clocked by the 1.6 Ghz power illumination field. Each identity tag looks for the "D" interrogator modulated on the 900 MHz carrier, and each uses a digit of its serial number to time a response. Clear responses received by the reader are repeated for verification. If no verification or a wrong number is received by any identity tag, it uses a second digital together with the first to time out a more extended period for response. Ultimately, the entire serial number will be used in the worst case collision environments; and since the serial numbers are defined as being unique, the final possibility will be successful because a clear time-slot channel will be available.

  19. System and method for simultaneously collecting serial number information from numerous identity tags

    DOEpatents

    Doty, M.A.

    1997-01-07

    A system and method are disclosed for simultaneously collecting serial number information reports from numerous colliding coded-radio-frequency identity tags. Each tag has a unique multi-digit serial number that is stored in non-volatile RAM. A reader transmits an ASCII coded ``D`` character on a carrier of about 900 MHz and a power illumination field having a frequency of about 1.6 Ghz. A one MHz tone is modulated on the 1.6 Ghz carrier as a timing clock for a microprocessor in each of the identity tags. Over a thousand such tags may be in the vicinity and each is powered-up and clocked by the 1.6 Ghz power illumination field. Each identity tag looks for the ``D`` interrogator modulated on the 900 MHz carrier, and each uses a digit of its serial number to time a response. Clear responses received by the reader are repeated for verification. If no verification or a wrong number is received by any identity tag, it uses a second digital together with the first to time out a more extended period for response. Ultimately, the entire serial number will be used in the worst case collision environments; and since the serial numbers are defined as being unique, the final possibility will be successful because a clear time-slot channel will be available. 5 figs.

  20. Development of an instrument for non-destructive identification of Unexploded Ordnance using tagged neutrons - a proof of concept study

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

    Mitra, S.; Dioszegi, I.

    2011-10-23

    Range clearance operations at munitions testing grounds must discriminate Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) from clutter items and distinguish UXO filled with High Explosives (HE) from those with inert fillers. Non-destructive technologies are thus necessary for the cost-effective disposal of UXO during remediation of such sites. The only technique showing promise so far for the non-destructive elemental characterization of UXO fillers utilizes neutron interactions with the material to detect carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) which have unique ratios in HE. However, several unresolved issues hinder the wide application of this potentially very suitable technique. The most important one is thatmore » neutrons interact with all surrounding matter in addition to the interrogated material, leading to a very high gamma-ray background in the detector. Systems requiring bulky shielding and having poor signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for measuring elements are unsuitable for field deployment. The inadequacies of conventional neutron interrogation methods are overcome by using the tagged-neutron approach, and the availability of compact sealed neutron generators exploiting this technique offers field deployment of non-intrusive measurement systems for detecting threat materials, like explosives and drugs. By accelerating deuterium ions into a tritium target, the subsequent fusion reaction generates nearly back-to-back emissions of neutrons and alpha particles of energy 14.1 and 3.5 MeV respectively. A position-sensitive detector recognizes the associated alpha particle, thus furnishing the direction of the neutron. The tagged neutrons interact with the nuclei of the interrogated object, producing element-specific prompt gamma-rays that the gamma detectors recognize. Measuring the delay between the detections of the alpha particle and the gamma-ray determines where the reaction occurred along the axis of the neutron beam (14.1 MeV neutrons travel at 5 cm/nanosecond, while gamma rays cover 30 cm/nanosecond). The main advantage of the technique is its ability to simultaneously provide 2D and 3D imaging of objects and their elemental composition. This work reports on the efficacy of using 14 MeV neutrons tagged by the associated particle neutron time-of-flight technique (APnTOF) to extract neutron induced characteristic gamma-rays from an object-of-interest with high SNR and without interference from nearby clutter.« less

  1. Quantitative NO{sub 2} molecular tagging velocimetry at 500 kHz frame rate

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

    Jiang, Naibo; Nishihara, Munetake; Lempert, Walter R.

    2010-11-29

    NO{sub 2} molecular tagging velocimetry (MTV) is demonstrated at repetition rates as high as 500 kHz in a laboratory scale Mach 5 wind tunnel. A pulse burst laser and a home built optical parametric oscillator system were used to simultaneously generate the required 355 and 226 nm wavelengths for NO{sub 2} photodissociation (tagging) and NO planar laser induced fluorescence imaging (interrogation), respectively. NO{sub 2} MTV images were obtained both in front and behind the characteristic bow shock from a 5 mm diameter cylinder. From Gaussian curve fitting, an average free stream flow velocity of 719 m/s was obtained. Absolute statisticalmore » precision in velocity of {approx}11.5 m/s was determined, corresponding to relative precision of 1.6%-5%, depending upon the region of the flow probed.« less

  2. Interoperation of an UHF RFID Reader and a TCP/IP Device via Wired and Wireless Links

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Sang Hoon; Jin, Ik Soo

    2011-01-01

    A main application in radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor networks is the function that processes real-time tag information after gathering the required data from multiple RFID tags. The component technologies that contain an RFID reader, called the interrogator, which has a tag chip, processors, coupling antenna, and a power management system have advanced significantly over the last decade. This paper presents a system implementation for interoperation between an UHF RFID reader and a TCP/IP device that is used as a gateway. The proposed system consists of an UHF RFID tag, an UHF RFID reader, an RF end-device, an RF coordinator, and a TCP/IP I/F. The UHF RFID reader, operating at 915 MHz, is compatible with EPC Class-0/Gen1, Class-1/Gen1 and 2, and ISO18000-6B. In particular, the UHF RFID reader can be combined with the RF end-device/coordinator for a ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) interface, which is a low-power wireless standard. The TCP/IP device communicates with the RFID reader via wired links. On the other hand, it is connected to the ZigBee end-device via wireless links. The web based test results show that the developed system can remotely recognize information of multiple tags through the interoperation between the RFID reader and the TCP/IP device. PMID:22346665

  3. Interoperation of an UHF RFID reader and a TCP/IP device via wired and wireless links.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sang Hoon; Jin, Ik Soo

    2011-01-01

    A main application in radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor networks is the function that processes real-time tag information after gathering the required data from multiple RFID tags. The component technologies that contain an RFID reader, called the interrogator, which has a tag chip, processors, coupling antenna, and a power management system have advanced significantly over the last decade. This paper presents a system implementation for interoperation between an UHF RFID reader and a TCP/IP device that is used as a gateway. The proposed system consists of an UHF RFID tag, an UHF RFID reader, an RF end-device, an RF coordinator, and a TCP/IP I/F. The UHF RFID reader, operating at 915 MHz, is compatible with EPC Class-0/Gen1, Class-1/Gen1 and 2, and ISO18000-6B. In particular, the UHF RFID reader can be combined with the RF end-device/coordinator for a ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) interface, which is a low-power wireless standard. The TCP/IP device communicates with the RFID reader via wired links. On the other hand, it is connected to the ZigBee end-device via wireless links. The web based test results show that the developed system can remotely recognize information of multiple tags through the interoperation between the RFID reader and the TCP/IP device.

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

    Rowe, Nathan C; Younkin, James R; Pickett, Chris A

    Radio-Frequency (RF) devices have revolutionized many aspects of modern industrial processes. RF technology can enable wireless communication for tag identification, sensor communication, and asset tracking. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that utilizes wireless communication to interrogate and identify an electronic tag attached to an item in order to identify the item. The technology can come in many forms: passive or active tags, low to ultra-wideband frequencies, small paper-thin tags to brick-sized units, and simple tags or highly integrated sensor packages. RF technology, and specifically RFID, has been applied widely in commercial markets for inventory, supply chain management, and assetmore » tracking. Several recent studies have demonstrated the safeguards benefits of utilizing RFID versus conventional inventory tagging methods for tracking nuclear material. These studies have indicated that the RF requirements for safeguards functions are more stringent than the RF requirements for other inventory tracking and accounting applications. Additionally, other requirements must be addressed, including environmental and operating conditions, authentication, and tag location and attachment. Facility restrictions on radio spectrum, method of tag attachment, and sensitivity of the data collected impact the tag selection and system design. More important, the intended use of the system must be considered. The requirements for using RF to simply replace or supplement container identifiers such as bar codes that facilitate the inventory function will differ greatly from the requirements for deploying RF for unattended monitoring applications. Several studies have investigated these considerations to advance commercial RF devices for safeguards use, and a number of system concepts have been developed. This paper will provide an overview of past studies and current technologies, and will investigate the requirements, existing gaps, and several potential next steps for advancing RF techniques for safeguards use.« less

  5. Surface acoustic wave coding for orthogonal frequency coded devices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Malocha, Donald (Inventor); Kozlovski, Nikolai (Inventor)

    2011-01-01

    Methods and systems for coding SAW OFC devices to mitigate code collisions in a wireless multi-tag system. Each device producing plural stepped frequencies as an OFC signal with a chip offset delay to increase code diversity. A method for assigning a different OCF to each device includes using a matrix based on the number of OFCs needed and the number chips per code, populating each matrix cell with OFC chip, and assigning the codes from the matrix to the devices. The asynchronous passive multi-tag system includes plural surface acoustic wave devices each producing a different OFC signal having the same number of chips and including a chip offset time delay, an algorithm for assigning OFCs to each device, and a transceiver to transmit an interrogation signal and receive OFC signals in response with minimal code collisions during transmission.

  6. Methow and Columbia Rivers studies: summary of data collection, comparison of database structure and habitat protocols, and impact of additional PIT tag interrogation systems to survival estimates, 2008-2012

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Martens, Kyle D.; Tibbits, Wesley T.; Watson, Grace A.; Newsom, Michael A.; Connolly, Patrick J.

    2014-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) received funding from the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to provide monitoring and evaluation on the effectiveness of stream restoration efforts by Reclamation in the Methow River watershed. This monitoring and evaluation program is designed to partially fulfill Reclamation’s part of the 2008 Biological Opinion for the Federal Columbia River Power System that includes a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) to protect listed salmon and steelhead across their life cycle. The target species in the Methow River for the restoration effort include Upper Columbia River (UCR) spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), UCR steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), which are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Since 2004, the USGS has completed two projects of monitoring and evaluation in the Methow River watershed. The first project focused on the evaluation of barrier removal and steelhead recolonization in Beaver Creek with Libby and Gold Creeks acting as controls. The majority of this work was completed by 2008, although some monitoring continued through 2012. The second project (2008–2012) evaluated the use and productivity of the middle Methow River reach (rkm 65–80) before the onset of multiple off-channel restoration projects planned by the Reclamation and Yakama Nation. The upper Methow River (upstream of rkm 80) and Chewuch River serve as reference reaches and the Methow River downstream of the Twisp River (downstream of rkm 65) serves as a control reach. Restoration of the M2 reach was initiated in 2012 and will be followed by a multi-year, intensive post-evaluation period. This report is comprised of three chapters covering different aspects of the work completed by the USGS. The first chapter is a review of data collection that documents the methods used and summarizes the work done by the USGS from 2008 through 2012. This data summary was designed to show some initial analysis and to disseminate summary information that could potentially be used in ongoing modeling efforts by USGS, Reclamation, and University of Idaho. The second chapter documents the database of fish and habitat data collected by USGS from 2004 through 2012 and compares USGS habitat protocols to the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP) protocol. The third chapter is a survival analysis of fish moving through Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag interrogation systems in the Methow and Columbia Rivers. It examines the effects of adding PIT tags and/or PIT tag interrogation systems on survival estimates of juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon.

  7. Electronic Escape Trails for Firefighters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jorgensen, Charles; Schipper, John; Betts, Bradley

    2008-01-01

    A proposed wireless-communication and data-processing system would exploit recent advances in radio-frequency identification devices (RFIDs) and software to establish information lifelines between firefighters in a burning building and a fire chief at a control station near but outside the building. The system would enable identification of trails that firefighters and others could follow to escape from the building, including identification of new trails should previously established trails become blocked. The system would include a transceiver unit and a computer at the control station, portable transceiver units carried by the firefighters in the building, and RFID tags that the firefighters would place at multiple locations as they move into and through the building (see figure). Each RFID tag, having a size of the order of a few centimeters, would include at least standard RFID circuitry and possibly sensors for measuring such other relevant environmental parameters as temperature, levels of light and sound, concentration of oxygen, concentrations of hazardous chemicals in smoke, and/or levels of nuclear radiation. The RFID tags would be activated and interrogated by the firefighters and control-station transceivers. Preferably, RFID tags would be configured to communicate with each other and with the firefighters units and the control station in an ordered sequence, with built-in redundancy. In a typical scenario, as firefighters moved through a building, they would scatter many RFID tags into smoke-obscured areas by use of a compressed-air gun. Alternatively or in addition, they would mark escape trails by dropping RFID tags at such points of interest as mantraps, hot spots, and trail waypoints. The RFID tags could be of different types, operating at different frequencies to identify their functions, and possibly responding by emitting audible beeps when activated by signals transmitted by transceiver units carried by nearby firefighters.

  8. Near-Field Chipless Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Sensing and Identification System with Switching Reading.

    PubMed

    Paredes, Ferran; Herrojo, Cristian; Mata-Contreras, Javier; Moras, Miquel; Núñez, Alba; Ramon, Eloi; Martín, Ferran

    2018-04-09

    A chipless radio-frequency identification (chipless-RFID) and sensing system, where tags are read by proximity (near-field) through a switch, is presented. The tags consist of a set of identical resonant elements (split-ring resonators or SRRs), printed or etched at predefined and equidistant positions, forming a linear chain, each SRR providing a bit of information. The logic state ('1' or '0') associated with each resonator depends on whether it is present or not in the predefined position. The reader is an array of power splitters used to feed a set of SRR-loaded transmission lines (in equal number to the number of resonant elements, or bits, of the tag). The feeding (interrogation) signal is a harmonic (single-tone) signal tuned to a frequency in the vicinity of the fundamental resonance of the SRRs. The set of SRR-loaded lines must be designed so that the corresponding SRRs are in perfect alignment with the SRRs of the tag, provided the tag is positioned on top of the reader. Thus, in a reading operation, as long as the tag is very close to the reader, the SRRs of the tag modify (decrease) the transmission coefficient of the corresponding reader line (through electromagnetic coupling between both SRRs), and the amplitude of the output signal is severely reduced. Therefore, the identification (ID) code of the tag is contained in the amplitudes of the output signals of the SRR-loaded lines, which can be inferred sequentially by means of a switching system. Unlike previous chipless-RFID systems based on near-field and sequential bit reading, the tags in the proposed system can be merely positioned on top of the reader, conveniently aligned, without the need to mechanically place them across the reader. Since tag reading is only possible if the tag is very close to the reader, this system can be also used as a proximity sensor with applications such as target identification. The proposed chipless-RFID and sensing approach is validated by reading a designed 4-bit tag. For identification purposes, this system is of special interest in applications where a low number of bits suffice, and tag reading by proximity is acceptable (or even convenient). Applications mostly related to secure paper, particularly involving a limited number of items (e.g., exams, ballots, etc.), in order to provide authenticity and avoid counterfeiting, are envisaged. As a proximity sensor, the system may be of use in detecting and distinguishing different targets in applications such as smart packaging.

  9. Near-Field Chipless Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Sensing and Identification System with Switching Reading

    PubMed Central

    Mata-Contreras, Javier; Moras, Miquel; Ramon, Eloi; Martín, Ferran

    2018-01-01

    A chipless radio-frequency identification (chipless-RFID) and sensing system, where tags are read by proximity (near-field) through a switch, is presented. The tags consist of a set of identical resonant elements (split-ring resonators or SRRs), printed or etched at predefined and equidistant positions, forming a linear chain, each SRR providing a bit of information. The logic state (‘1’ or ‘0’) associated with each resonator depends on whether it is present or not in the predefined position. The reader is an array of power splitters used to feed a set of SRR-loaded transmission lines (in equal number to the number of resonant elements, or bits, of the tag). The feeding (interrogation) signal is a harmonic (single-tone) signal tuned to a frequency in the vicinity of the fundamental resonance of the SRRs. The set of SRR-loaded lines must be designed so that the corresponding SRRs are in perfect alignment with the SRRs of the tag, provided the tag is positioned on top of the reader. Thus, in a reading operation, as long as the tag is very close to the reader, the SRRs of the tag modify (decrease) the transmission coefficient of the corresponding reader line (through electromagnetic coupling between both SRRs), and the amplitude of the output signal is severely reduced. Therefore, the identification (ID) code of the tag is contained in the amplitudes of the output signals of the SRR-loaded lines, which can be inferred sequentially by means of a switching system. Unlike previous chipless-RFID systems based on near-field and sequential bit reading, the tags in the proposed system can be merely positioned on top of the reader, conveniently aligned, without the need to mechanically place them across the reader. Since tag reading is only possible if the tag is very close to the reader, this system can be also used as a proximity sensor with applications such as target identification. The proposed chipless-RFID and sensing approach is validated by reading a designed 4-bit tag. For identification purposes, this system is of special interest in applications where a low number of bits suffice, and tag reading by proximity is acceptable (or even convenient). Applications mostly related to secure paper, particularly involving a limited number of items (e.g., exams, ballots, etc.), in order to provide authenticity and avoid counterfeiting, are envisaged. As a proximity sensor, the system may be of use in detecting and distinguishing different targets in applications such as smart packaging. PMID:29642560

  10. Modeling the tagged-neutron UXO identification technique using the Geant4 toolkit

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

    Zhou Y.; Mitra S.; Zhu X.

    2011-10-16

    It is proposed to use 14 MeV neutrons tagged by the associated particle neutron time-of-flight technique (APnTOF) to identify the fillers of unexploded ordnances (UXO) by characterizing their carbon, nitrogen and oxygen contents. To facilitate the design and construction of a prototype system, a preliminary simulation model was developed, using the Geant4 toolkit. This work established the toolkit environment for (a) generating tagged neutrons, (b) their transport and interactions within a sample to induce emission and detection of characteristic gamma-rays, and (c) 2D and 3D-image reconstruction of the interrogated object using the neutron and gamma-ray time-of-flight information. Using the modeling,more » this article demonstrates the novelty of the tagged-neutron approach for extracting useful signals with high signal-to-background discrimination of an object-of-interest from that of its environment. Simulations indicated that an UXO filled with the RDX explosive, hexogen (C{sub 3}H{sub 6}O{sub 6}N{sub 6}), can be identified to a depth of 20 cm when buried in soil.« less

  11. Enhanced optical discrimination system based on switchable retroreflective films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schultz, Phillip; Heikenfeld, Jason

    2016-04-01

    Reported herein is the design, characterization, and demonstration of a laser interrogation and response optical discrimination system based on large-area corner-cube retroreflective films. The switchable retroreflective films use light-scattering liquid crystal to modulate retroreflected intensity. The system can operate with multiple wavelengths (visible to infrared) and includes variable divergence optics for irradiance adjustments and ease of system alignment. The electronic receiver and switchable retroreflector offer low-power operation (<4 mW standby) on coin cell batteries with rapid interrogation to retroreflected signal reception response times (<15 ms). The entire switchable retroreflector film is <1 mm thick and is flexible for optimal placement and increased angular response. The system was demonstrated in high ambient lighting conditions (daylight, 18k lux) with a visible 10-mW output 635-nm source out to a distance of 400 m (naked eye detection). Nighttime demonstrations were performed using a 1.5-mW, 850-nm infrared laser diode out to a distance of 400 m using a night vision camera. This system could have tagging and conspicuity applications in commercial or military settings.

  12. Evaluation of Fish Movements, Migration Patterns, and Population Abundance with Streamwidth PIT Tag Interrogation Systems, Final Report 2002.

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

    Zydlewski, Gayle; Winter, Christiane; McClanahan, Dee

    2003-02-01

    Two remote Streamwidth PIT tag Interrogation systems (SPIs) were operated continuously for over one year to test the feasibility of these systems for generating movement, migration, survival and smolt production estimates for salmonids. A total of 1,588 juvenile (< 100 mm FL) naturally produced salmonids (7 coho salmon, 482 cutthroat trout, and 1,099 steelhead) were PIT tagged above the upstream-most SPI (9 sites approximately 1 linear km each) in Fall 2001. Age at tagging for wild caught cutthroat and steelhead was 1 year. SPIs were operating before any PIT tagged fish were released in the creek. Over 390,000 detections weremore » recorded from October 2001 to 31 July 2002. Efficiencies were site dependent, but overall detection efficiency for the creek was 97% with 95% confidence intervals of 91-100%. PIT tag detection efficiency ranged from 55-100% depending on the SPI and varied throughout the year with average efficiencies of 73% and 89%. SPI efficiency of PIT tag detection was not completely dependent on electronics noise levels or environmental conditions. Fish from all tagging locations were detected at the SPIs. Steelhead and cutthroat trout were primarily detected moving in the Spring (April-June) coincident with the anticipated smolt migration. Steelhead were also detected moving past SPIs at lower numbers in the Fall and Winter. Travel time between SPIs (downstream movement) was highly dependent on time of year. Travel time in the Spring was significantly faster (34.4 {+-} 7.0 hours) for all species than during any other time of year (763.1 {+-} 267.0 hours). Steelhead and cutthroat migrating in the Spring were the same age as those that did not migrate in the Spring. Peak of steelhead migration recorded at the two SPIs was 5/11 and 5/12 and the peak in the screw trap was recorded on 5/17. Steelhead smolt production estimates using SPIs (3,802 with 95% confidence intervals of 3,440 - 4,245) was similar to those using more standard screw trap methods (approximately 5,400). All species used the faster moving/deeper section of the creek at both SPIs. A backpack PIT tag detector was also developed and used as another remote 'recapture' for additional accuracy in estimating population survival and recapture probability. This unit was used at an approximate efficiency of 24% to survey the creek after the Spring migration. Twenty-five individual fish were re-located. All PIT tag data were used to calculate survival and recapture probabilities using the Cormack-Jolly-Seber population model. Survival for steelhead was high and recapture probability depended greatly on season. Probability of recapture was highest in Spring (29.5%) and relatively low in all other seasons (< 7% in Fall, Winter, and Summer). Wild steelhead PIT tagged in the field and returned to the laboratory had a tag retention rate of 97.6%. A laboratory study was designed to determine the effects of 3-sized PIT tags (12 mm, 20 mm, and 23 mm) on survival and growth of individuals. Survival from surgical implantation of 23 mm PIT tags was > 98% for fish (coho salmon and steelhead). Retention of 23 mm PIT tags was 100% for coho salmon and 89% for steelhead. For both coho and steelhead, growth rates during the first month were affected by tagging, but by the end of 2 months growth effects equalized for all tag sizes. Life history characteristics quantified with SPI techniques are comparable to standard techniques. For example, peaks of Spring migration for steelhead and cutthroat were amazingly similar to those reported from the screw trap. These techniques will enable application of less laborious methods which are more accurate at estimating life history parameters.« less

  13. Evaluation of Fish Movements, Migration Patterns and Populations Abundance with Streamwidth PIT Tag Interrogation Systems, Final Report 2002.

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

    Zydlewski, Gayle B.; Casey, Sean

    2003-02-01

    Two remote Streamwidth PIT tag Interrogation systems (SPIs) were operated continuously for over one year to test the feasibility of these systems for generating movement, migration, survival and smolt production estimates for salmonids. A total of 1,588 juvenile (< 100 mm FL) naturally produced salmonids (7 coho salmon, 482 cutthroat trout, and 1,099 steelhead) were PIT tagged above the upstream-most SPI (9 sites approximately 1 linear km each) in Fall 2001. Age at tagging for wild caught cutthroat and steelhead was 1 year. SPIs were operating before any PIT tagged fish were released in the creek. Over 390,000 detections weremore » recorded from October 2001 to 31 July 2002. Efficiencies were site dependent, but overall detection efficiency for the creek was 97% with 95% confidence intervals of 91-100%. PIT tag detection efficiency ranged from 55-100% depending on the SPI and varied throughout the year with average efficiencies of 73% and 89%. SPI efficiency of PIT tag detection was not completely dependent on electronics noise levels or environmental conditions. Fish from all tagging locations were detected at the SPIs. Steelhead and cutthroat trout were primarily detected moving in the Spring (April-June) coincident with the anticipated smolt migration. Steelhead were also detected moving past SPIs at lower numbers in the Fall and Winter. Travel time between SPIs (downstream movement) was highly dependent on time of year. Travel time in the Spring was significantly faster (34.4 {+-} 7.0 hours) for all species than during any other time of year (763.1 {+-} 267.0 hours). Steelhead and cutthroat migrating in the Spring were the same age as those that did not migrate in the Spring. Peak of steelhead migration recorded at the two SPIs was 5/11 and 5/12 and the peak in the screw trap was recorded on 5/17. Steelhead smolt production estimates using SPIs (3,802 with 95% confidence intervals of 3,440-4,245) was similar to those using more standard screw trap methods (approximately 5,400). All species used the faster moving/deeper section of the creek at both SPIs. A backpack PIT tag detector was also developed and used as another remote ''recapture'' for additional accuracy in estimating population survival and recapture probability. This unit was used at an approximate efficiency of 24% to survey the creek after the Spring migration. Twenty-five individual fish were re-located. All PIT tag data were used to calculate survival and recapture probabilities using the Cormack-Jolly-Seber population model. Survival for steelhead was high and recapture probability depended greatly on season. Probability of recapture was highest in Spring (29.5%) and relatively low in all other seasons (< 7% in Fall, Winter, and Summer). Wild steelhead PIT tagged in the field and returned to the laboratory had a tag retention rate of 97.6%. A laboratory study was designed to determine the effects of 3-sized PIT tags (12 mm, 20 mm, and 23 mm) on survival and growth of individuals. Survival from surgical implantation of 23 mm PIT tags was > 98% for fish (coho salmon and steelhead). Retention of 23 mm PIT tags was 100% for coho salmon and 89% for steelhead. For both coho and steelhead, growth rates during the first month were affected by tagging, but by the end of 2 months growth effects equalized for all tag sizes. Life history characteristics quantified with SPI techniques are comparable to standard techniques. For example, peaks of Spring migration for steelhead and cutthroat were amazingly similar to those reported from the screw trap. These techniques will enable application of less laborious methods which are more accurate at estimating life history parameters.« less

  14. Report A: Fish distribution and population dynamics in Rock Creek, Klickitat County, Washington

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Allen, Brady; Munz, Carrie S.; Harvey, Elaine

    2013-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with the Yakama Nation starting in fall of 2009 to study the fish populations in Rock Creek, a Washington State tributary of the Columbia River 21 kilometers upstream of John Day Dam. Prior to this study, very little was known about the ESA-listed (threatened) Mid-Columbia River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population in this arid watershed with intermittent stream flow. The objectives of the study were to quantify fish habitat, document fish distribution, abundance, and movement, and identify areas of high salmonid productivity. To accomplish these objectives, we electrofished in the spring and fall, documenting the distribution and relative abundance of all fish species to evaluate the influence of biotic factors on salmonid productivity and survival. We surveyed the distribution of perennial pools and established a network of automated temperature recording devices from river kilometer (rkm) 2 to 23 in Rock Creek and rkm 0 to 8 in Squaw Creek, a major tributary entering Rock Creek at rkm 13, to better understand the abiotic factors influencing the salmonid populations. Salmonid abundance estimates were conducted using a mark-recapture method in a systematic subsample of the perennial pools. The proportion and timing of salmonids migrating from these pools were assessed by building, installing, and operating two passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag interrogation systems at rkm 5 and at the confluence with Squaw Creek (rkm 13). From fall 2009 to fall 2012, we PIT-tagged 3,088 O. mykiss and 151 coho salmon (O. kisutch) during electrofishing efforts. In the lowest flow periods of 2010 to 2012, we found that an average of 36% of the surveyed streambed length was dry, and 17% remained as perennial pools. The maximum temperature recorded in those pools was 24.4°C, but most pools had a maximum temperature that was less than 21°C. O. mykiss were present in most pools, and non-native fish species, such as smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), were typically found downstream of rkm 5. Coho salmon were present in nearly every pool that was sampled in 2011, but were rare in 2009, 2010, and 2012. About 27% of the PIT-tagged O. mykiss and 38% of the PIT-tagged coho were detected outmigrating to the Columbia River. Of those fish, 92% (n=695) were detected leaving Rock Creek as smolts in April and May. As of November 2013, 9 O. mykiss and 4 coho that we tagged in Rock Creek as juveniles have returned as adults to Bonneville Dam. Also, an additional 34 PIT-tagged adult steelhead, and 6 PIT-tagged coho that were tagged by other groups have been detected in Rock Creek, of which, 22 were of known origin (tagged as juveniles). Of these, 85% were tagged or released in the Snake River. The PIT-tag interrogation systems will be operated for several more years to allow time for the fish tagged as juveniles to return as adults and complete their life cycles. The Yakama Nation will use the information collected from this study to prioritize and gauge the effectiveness of ongoing and future restoration actions.

  15. Fluorescence lifetime endoscopy using TCSPC for the measurement of FRET in live cells

    PubMed Central

    Fruhwirth, Gilbert O.; Ameer-Beg, Simon; Cook, Richard; Watson, Timothy; Ng, Tony; Festy, Frederic

    2010-01-01

    Development of remote imaging for diagnostic purposes has progressed dramatically since endoscopy began in the 1960’s. The recent advent of a clinically licensed intensity-based fluorescence micro-endoscopic instrument has offered the prospect of real-time cellular resolution imaging. However, interrogating protein-protein interactions deep inside living tissue requires precise fluorescence lifetime measurements to derive the Förster resonance energy transfer between two tagged fluorescent markers. We developed a new instrument combining remote fiber endoscopic cellular-resolution imaging with TCSPC-FLIM technology to interrogate and discriminate mixed fluorochrome labeled beads and expressible GFP/TagRFP tags within live cells. Endoscopic-FLIM (e-FLIM) data was validated by comparison with data acquired via conventional FLIM and e-FLIM was found to be accurate for both bright bead and dim live cell samples. The fiber based micro-endoscope allowed remote imaging of 4 µm and 10 µm beads within a thick Matrigel matrix with confident fluorophore discrimination using lifetime information. More importantly, this new technique enabled us to reliably measure protein-protein interactions in live cells embedded in a 3D matrix, as demonstrated by the dimerization of the fluorescent protein-tagged membrane receptor CXCR4. This cell-based application successfully demonstrated the suitability and great potential of this new technique for in vivo pre-clinical biomedical and possibly human clinical applications. PMID:20588974

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

    Twogood, Richard E

    This is the Final Report for the DOE Phase II SBIR project “Ultra-secure RF Tags for Safeguards and Security.” The topics covered herein include technical progress made, progress against the planned milestones and deliverables, project outcomes (results, collaborations, intellectual property, etc.), and a discussion on future expectations of deployment and impacts of the results of this work. In brief, all planned work for the project was successfully completed, on or ahead of schedule and on budget. The major accomplishment was the successful development of a very advanced passive ultra-secure RFID tag system with combined security features unmatched by any commerciallymore » available ones. These tags have high-level dynamic encrypted authentication, a novel tamper-proofing mechanism, system software including graphical user interfaces and networking, and integration with a fiber-optic seal mechanism. This is all accomplished passively (with no battery) by incorporating sophisticated hardware in the tag which harvests the energy from the RFID readers that are interrogating the tag. Based on initial feedback (and deployments) at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), it is anticipated these tags and their offspring will meet DOE and international community needs for highly secure RFID systems. Beyond the accomplishment of those original objectives for the ultra-secure RF tags, major new spin-off thrusts from the original work were identified and successfully pursued with the cognizance of the DOE sponsor office. In particular, new classes of less sophisticated RFID tags were developed whose lineage derives from the core R&D thrusts of this SBIR. These RF “tag variants” have some, but not necessarily all, of the advanced characteristics described above and can therefore be less expensive and meet far wider markets. With customer pull from the DOE and its national laboratories, new RFID tags and systems (including custom readers and software) for government needs in asset management and tracking were developed. These were tested at a national laboratory and other government facilities, and resulted in immediate procurement actions by the government and deployment of these new systems. Thus, commercialization of the results of this Phase II DOE SBIR was already underway before the end of the SBIR itself. More importantly, operations involving asset management at selected DoE and government sites are already being impacted favorably and could have much broader impacts in the near future.« less

  17. Investigating passage of ESA-listed juvenile fall Chinook salmon at Lower Granite Dam during winter when the fish bypass system is not operated

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kock, Tobias J.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Connor, William P.

    2007-01-01

    During the winter of 2006-07, we radio and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagged, and released 99 juvenile fall Chinook salmon to evaluate over-wintering behavior and dam passage in the lower Snake River, Washington. All fish were released 10 km upstream of Lower Granite Dam at Granite Point in early November, 2006. Fixed radio telemetry detection sites located in the forebay and tailrace areas of Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, Bonneville dams, and at Lyle, Washington were used to monitor fish movements and dam passage through early-May 2007. Of the 99 fish released during our study, 80 passed Lower Granite Dam and were detected at downstream detection sites, 37 passed Little Goose Dam, 41 passed Lower Monumental Dam, 31 passed Ice Harbor Dam, 18 passed Lyle, WA, and 13 passed Bonneville Dam. Of the fish that passed Lower Granite Dam in the fall, 63 fish did so during the extended bypass period from November 1 through December 16. Of these fish, 53 were also detected by the PIT-tag interrogation system. Fifteen of the fish that passed Lower Granite Dam in the fall continued to pass lower Snake River dams and exit the system by the end of January. The remaining fish either died, their tags failed, or they resided in Little Goose Reservoir until spring when relatively few continued their seaward migration. Passage of tagged fish past lower Snake River dams generally declined during the winter as temperatures decreased, but increased again in the spring as temperatures and flows increased. Fish residence times in reservoirs and forebays was lengthy during the winter (up to 160 d), and varied by reservoir and time of year. We observed no diel trends in fish passage. Very few fish were detected at PIT-tag interrogation sites in the spring compared to detection by radio telemetry detection sites indicating that fish may have passed via spill. We believe that passage of overwintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon during winter is due more to chance than directed downstream movement. Since the primary route of passage during the winter is through powerhouse turbines, the potential exists for increased mortality for over-wintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River. Our findings that some fish can pass undetected during the winter likely bias traditional smolt-to-adult return rate calculations that are typically used to measure the success of juvenile transportation studies.

  18. PIT tags increase effectiveness of freshwater mussel recaptures

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kurth, J.; Loftin, C.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.; Rhymer, Judith

    2007-01-01

    Translocations are used increasingly to conserve populations of rare freshwater mussels. Recovery of translocated mussels is essential to accurate assessment of translocation success. We designed an experiment to evaluate the use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to mark and track individual freshwater mussels. We used eastern lampmussels (Lampsilis radiata radiata) as a surrogate for 2 rare mussel species. We assessed internal and external PIT-tag retention in the laboratory and field. Internal tag retention was high (75-100%), and tag rejection occurred primarily during the first 3 wk after tagging. A thin layer of nacre coated internal tags 3 to 4 mo after insertion, suggesting that long-term retention is likely. We released mussels with external PIT tags at 3 field study sites and recaptured them with a PIT pack (mobile interrogation unit) 8 to 10 mo and 21 to 23 mo after release. Numbers of recaptured mussels differed among study sites; however, we found more tagged mussels with the PIT-pack searches with visual confirmation (72-80%) than with visual searches alone (30-47%) at all sites. PIT tags offer improved recapture of translocated mussels and increased accuracy of posttranslocation monitoring. ?? 2007 by The North American Benthological Society.

  19. Simulation of a tagged neutron inspection system prototype

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Donzella, A.; Boghen, G.; Bonomi, G.; Fontana, A.; Formisano, P.; Pesente, S.; Sudac, D.; Valkovic, V.; Zenoni, A.

    2006-05-01

    The illicit trafficking of explosive materials in cargo containers has become, in recent years, a serious problem. Currently used X-ray or γ-ray based systems provide only limited information about the elemental composition of the inspected cargo items. During the last years, a new neutron interrogation technique, named TNIS (Tagged Neutron Inspection System), has been developed, which should permit to determine the chemical composition of the suspect item by coincidence measurements between alpha particles and photons produced. A prototype of such a system for container inspection has been built, at the Institute Ruder Boskovic (IRB) in Zagreb, Croatia, for the European Union 6FP EURITRACK project. We present the results of a detailed simulation of the IRB prototype performed with the MCNP Monte Carlo program and a comparison with beam attenuation calculations performed with GEANT3/MICAP. Detector signals, rates and signal over background ratios have been calculated for 100 kg of TNT explosive located inside a cargo container filled with a metallic matrix of density 0.2 g/cm3. The case of an organic filling material is discussed too.

  20. Design and Analysis of Salmonid Tagging Studies in the Columbia Basin, Volume XIII; Appraisal of System-Wide Survival Estimation of Snake River Yearling Chinook Salmon Released in 1997 and 1988, Using PIT-Tags Recovered from Caspian Tern and Double-Crested Cormorant Breeding Colonies on Rice Island, 1997-1998 Technical Report.

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

    Skalski, John R.; Perez-Comas, Jose A.

    2000-05-01

    PIT-tags recovered from tern and cormorant breeding colonies at Rice Island and observations from the interrogation systems at John Day and Bonneville Dams were incorporated into survival analyses. Whether the estimates for the upper reaches of the system, between Lower Granite and McNary Dams were as expected (with weighted averages S{sub LGR-LGS} = 0.996, S{sub LGS-LMN} = 0.837, and S{sub LMN-McN} = 0.941), those for the lower reaches, between John Day and Bonneville Dams, appeared positively biased with survival estimates typically greater than 1. Their weighted averages were S{sub McN-JDA} = 0.707 and S{sub JDA-BON} = 1.792 for 1997 releases.more » For the 1998 releases, they were S{sub McN-JDA} = 0.795 and S{sub JDA-BON} = 1.312. If the estimates for the lower reaches were biased, the estimates for the whole project would also be biased (S{sub LGR-BON} = 0.819). We determined that bias could have arisen if the terns and cormorants of Rice Island fished for salmon yearlings in waters of the BON-Rice reach at low rates (M{sub BON-Rice} {le} 0.2), and the rates of tag-deposition and tag-detection were low (R{sub D} x R{sub R} {le} 0.4). Moreover, unknown levels of uncensored post-detection mortality and scavenging of previously dead salmon yearlings may have also added to the bias.« less

  1. Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam; Smolt Monitoring by Federal and Non-Federal Entities, 2001-2002 Annual Report.

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

    Buettner, Edwin W.; Putnam, Scott A.

    This project monitored the daily passage of chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon smolts O. nerka during the 2001 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2001 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 11% of the 2000 numbers. The wild chinookmore » catch was 3% of the previous year's catch. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 49% of 2000 numbers. Wild steelhead trout catch was 69% of 2000 numbers. The Snake River trap collected 28 age-0 chinook salmon. During 2001 the Snake River trap captured zero hatchery and zero wild/natural sockeye salmon and six hatchery coho salmon O. kisutch. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. The significant reduction in catch during 2001 was due to a reduction in hatchery chinook production (60% of 2000 release) and due to extreme low flows. Trap operations began on March 11 and were terminated on June 29. The trap was out of operation for a total of two days due to mechanical failure or debris. Hatchery chinook salmon catch at the Salmon River trap was 47% and wild chinook salmon catch was 67% of 2000 numbers. The hatchery steelhead trout collection in 2001 was 178% of the 2000 numbers. Wild steelhead trout collection in 2001 was 145% of the previous year's catch. Trap operations began on March 11 and were terminated on June 8 due to the end of the smolt monitoring season. There were no days where the trap was out of operation due to high flow or debris. The decrease in hatchery chinook catch in 2001 was due to a reduction in hatchery production (39% of 2000 releases). The increase in hatchery and wild steelhead trap catch is due to the ability to operate the trap in the thalweg for a longer period of time because of the extreme low flow condition in 2001. Travel time (d) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for PIT-tagged chinook salmon and steelhead trout marked at the head of the reservoir were affected by discharge. There were not enough hatchery and wild chinook salmon tagged at the Snake River trap in 2001 to allow migration rate/discharge analysis. For steelhead trout tagged at the Snake River trap, statistical analysis of 2001 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge. For hatchery and wild steelhead trout, there was a 2.2-fold and a 1.5-fold increase in migration rate in, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. Travel time and migration rate to Lower Granite Dam for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were calculated. Statistical analysis of the 2001 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge for hatchery and wild chinook salmon and hatchery and wild steelhead trout. Migration rate increased 3.7-fold for hatchery chinook salmon and 2.5-fold for wild chinook salmon between 50 and 100 kcfs. For hatchery steelhead there was a 1.6-fold increase in migration rate, and for wild steelhead trout there was a 2.2-fold increase between 50 kcfs and 100 kcfs. Fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at the Snake River trap were interrogated at four dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and McNary dams). Because of the addition of the fourth interrogation site (Lower Monumental) in 1993, cumulative interrogation data is not comparable with the prior five years (1988-1992). Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap were 86% for hatchery chinook, 70% for wild chinook, 71% for hatchery steelhead, and 89% for wild steelhead. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were 74% for hatchery chinook, 83% for wild chinook salmon, 75% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 81% for wild steelhead trout.« less

  2. Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam, 2005 Annual Report.

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

    Buettner, Edwin W.; Putnam, Scott A.

    This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon O. nerka smolts during the 2005 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2005 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, the age-1 and older fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Age-0 Chinook salmon are more difficult to distinguish between wild and non-adclipped hatchery fish and therefore classifiedmore » as unknown rearing. The total annual hatchery spring/summer Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 0.34 times greater in 2005 than in 2004. The wild spring/summer Chinook catch was 0.34 times less than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 0.67 times less than in 2004. Wild steelhead trout catch was 0.72 times less than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 1,152 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2005, the Snake River trap captured 219 hatchery and 44 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 110 coho salmon O. kisutch of unknown rearing. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. Trap operations began on March 6 and were terminated on June 3. The trap was out of operation for a total of one day due to heavy debris. FPC requested that the trap be restarted on June 15 through June 22 to collect and PIT tag age-0 Chinook salmon. Hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Salmon River trap was 1.06 times greater and wild Chinook salmon catch was 1.26 times greater than in 2004. The hatchery steelhead trout collection in 2005 was 1.41 times greater and wild steelhead trout collection was 1.27 times greater than the previous year. Trap operations began on March 6 and were terminated on May 17 due to high flows. There were two days when the trap was taken out of service because of mechanical failure. Travel time (d) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagged Chinook salmon and steelhead trout marked at the Snake River trap were affected by discharge. Statistical analysis of 2005 data detected a relation between migration rate and discharge for hatchery Chinook but was unable to detect a relation for wild Chinook. The inability to detect a migration rate discharge relation for wild Chinook salmon was caused by a lack of data. For hatchery Chinook salmon there was a 1.8-fold increase in migration rate between 50 and 100 kcfs. For steelhead trout tagged at the Snake River trap, statistical analysis detected a significant relation between migration rate and lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge. For hatchery and wild steelhead trout, there was a 2.2-fold and a 2.2-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. Travel time and migration rate to Lower Granite Dam for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were calculated. Statistical analysis of the 2005 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge for hatchery Chinook salmon, wild Chinook salmon, hatchery steelhead trout, and wild steelhead trout. Migration rate increased 4.2-fold for hatchery Chinook salmon, 2.9-fold for wild Chinook salmon and 2.5-fold for hatchery steelhead, and 1.7-fold for wild steelhead as discharge increased between 50 kcfs and 100 kcfs. Fish tagged with PIT tags at the Snake River and Salmon River traps were interrogated at four dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and McNary dams). Because of the addition of the fourth interrogation site (Lower Monumental) in 1993 and the installation of the Removable Spillway Weir at Lower Granite Dam in 2001, caution must be used in comparing cumulative interrogation data. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap were 84% for hatchery Chinook, 89% for wild Chinook, 94% for hatchery steelhead, and 93% for wild steelhead. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were 71% for hatchery Chinook, 78% for wild Chinook salmon, 80% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 81% for wild steelhead trout.« less

  3. Wind River watershed restoration, annual report November 2009 to October 2010.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Connolly, P.J.; Jezorek, I.G.

    2011-01-01

    This report summarizes work completed by U.S. Geological Survey’s Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) in the Wind River subbasin during the period November 2009 through October 2010 under Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) contract 46102. Long term research in the Wind River has focused on assessments of steelhead/rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss populations, interactions with introduced populations of spring Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, and influences of habitat variables and habitat restoration on fish productivity. During the period covered by this report, we collected water temperature data to characterize variation within and among tributaries and mainstem sections in the Trout Creek watershed, and assisted Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with smolt trapping and tagging of smolt and parr steelhead with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We also continued to maintain and test efficacy of a passive integrated transponder tag interrogation system (PTIS) in Trout Creek for assessing the adult steelhead runsize. A statement of work (SOW) was submitted to BPA in October 2009 that outlined work to be performed by USGS-CRRL. The SOW was organized by work elements, with each describing a research task. This report summarizes the progress completed under each work element.

  4. Detection, Identification, Location, and Remote Sensing using SAW RFID Sensor Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barton, Richard J.

    2009-01-01

    In this presentation, we will consider the problem of simultaneous detection, identification, location estimation, and remote sensing for multiple objects. In particular, we will describe the design and testing of a wireless system capable of simultaneously detecting the presence of multiple objects, identifying each object, and acquiring both a low-resolution estimate of location and a high-resolution estimate of temperature for each object based on wireless interrogation of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) radiofrequency identification (RFID) sensor tags affixed to each object. The system is being studied for application on the lunar surface as well as for terrestrial remote sensing applications such as pre-launch monitoring and testing of spacecraft on the launch pad and monitoring of test facilities. The system utilizes a digitally beam-formed planar receiving antenna array to extend range and provide direction-of-arrival information coupled with an approximate maximum-likelihood signal processing algorithm to provide near-optimal estimation of both range and temperature. The system is capable of forming a large number of beams within the field of view and resolving the information from several tags within each beam. The combination of both spatial and waveform discrimination provides the capability to track and monitor telemetry from a large number of objects appearing simultaneously within the field of view of the receiving array. In the presentation, we will summarize the system design and illustrate several aspects of the operational characteristics and signal structure. We will examine the theoretical performance characteristics of the system and compare the theoretical results with results obtained from experiments in both controlled laboratory environments and in the field.

  5. Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam, 2002 Annual Report.

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

    Buettner, Edwin W.; Putnam, Scott A.

    This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon smolts O. nerka during the 2002 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2002 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 11.4 times greater in 2002 than in 2001.more » The wild Chinook catch was 15.5 times greater than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 2.9 times greater than in 2001. Wild steelhead trout catch was 2.8 times greater than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 3,996 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2002, the Snake River trap captured 69 hatchery and 235 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 114 hatchery coho salmon O. kisutch. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. The significant increase in catch in 2002 was due to a 3.1 fold increase in hatchery Chinook production and a more normal spring runoff. Trap operations began on March 10 and were terminated on June 7. The trap was out of operation for a total of four days due to mechanical failure or debris. Hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Salmon River trap was 4.2 times greater and wild Chinook salmon catch was 2.4 times greater than in 2001. The hatchery steelhead trout collection in 2002 was 81% of the 2001 numbers. Wild steelhead trout collection in 2002 was 81% of the previous year's catch. Trap operations began on March 10 and were terminated on May 29 due to high flows. The trap was out of operation for four days due to high flow or debris. The increase in hatchery Chinook catch in 2002 was due to a 3.1 fold increase in hatchery production and differences in flow between years. Changes in hatchery and wild steelhead catch are probably due to differences in flow between years. Travel time (d) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for PIT-tagged Chinook salmon and steelhead trout marked at the Snake River trap were affected by discharge. Statistical analysis of 2002 data detected a relation between migration rate and discharge for hatchery and wild Chinook salmon. For hatchery and wild Chinook salmon there was a 4.7-fold and a 3.7-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. For steelhead trout tagged at the Snake River trap, statistical analysis detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge. For hatchery and wild steelhead trout, there was a 1.8-fold and a 1.7-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. Travel time and migration rate to Lower Granite Dam for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were calculated. Statistical analysis of the 2002 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge for wild Chinook salmon and hatchery steelhead trout. The analysis was unable to detect a relation between migration rate and discharge for hatchery Chinook salmon. The lack of a detectable relation was probably a result of the migration rate data being spread over a very narrow range of discharge. Not enough data were available to perform the analysis for wild steelhead trout. Migration rate increased 4.3-fold for wild Chinook salmon and 2.2-fold for hatchery steelhead between 50 kcfs and 100 kcfs. Fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at the Snake River trap were interrogated at four dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and McNary dams). Because of the addition of the fourth interrogation site (Lower Monumental) in 1993 and the installation of the Removable Spillway Weir at Lower Granite Dam in 2000, caution must be used in comparing cumulative interrogation data. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap were 61% for hatchery Chinook, 68% for wild Chinook, 58% for hatchery steelhead, and 62% for wild steelhead. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were 51% for hatchery Chinook, 59% for wild Chinook salmon, 45% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 54% for wild steelhead trout. Cumulative interrogations were significantly lower in 2002 than in previous years with similar flow.« less

  6. Sequence tagging reveals unexpected modifications in toxicoproteomics

    PubMed Central

    Dasari, Surendra; Chambers, Matthew C.; Codreanu, Simona G.; Liebler, Daniel C.; Collins, Ben C.; Pennington, Stephen R.; Gallagher, William M.; Tabb, David L.

    2010-01-01

    Toxicoproteomic samples are rich in posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of proteins. Identifying these modifications via standard database searching can incur significant performance penalties. Here we describe the latest developments in TagRecon, an algorithm that leverages inferred sequence tags to identify modified peptides in toxicoproteomic data sets. TagRecon identifies known modifications more effectively than the MyriMatch database search engine. TagRecon outperformed state of the art software in recognizing unanticipated modifications from LTQ, Orbitrap, and QTOF data sets. We developed user-friendly software for detecting persistent mass shifts from samples. We follow a three-step strategy for detecting unanticipated PTMs in samples. First, we identify the proteins present in the sample with a standard database search. Next, identified proteins are interrogated for unexpected PTMs with a sequence tag-based search. Finally, additional evidence is gathered for the detected mass shifts with a refinement search. Application of this technology on toxicoproteomic data sets revealed unintended cross-reactions between proteins and sample processing reagents. Twenty five proteins in rat liver showed signs of oxidative stress when exposed to potentially toxic drugs. These results demonstrate the value of mining toxicoproteomic data sets for modifications. PMID:21214251

  7. Chemical Biology Probes from Advanced DNA-encoded Libraries.

    PubMed

    Salamon, Hazem; Klika Škopić, Mateja; Jung, Kathrin; Bugain, Olivia; Brunschweiger, Andreas

    2016-02-19

    The identification of bioactive compounds is a crucial step toward development of probes for chemical biology studies. Screening of DNA-encoded small molecule libraries (DELs) has emerged as a validated technology to interrogate vast chemical space. DELs consist of chimeric molecules composed of a low-molecular weight compound that is conjugated to a DNA identifier tag. They are screened as pooled libraries using selection to identify "hits." Screening of DELs has identified numerous bioactive compounds. Some of these molecules were instrumental in gaining a deeper understanding of biological systems. One of the main challenges in the field is the development of synthesis methodology for DELs.

  8. Monitoring of stream restoration habitat on the main stem of the Methow River, Washington, during the pre-treatment phase (October 2008-May 2012) with a progress report for activities from March 2011 to November 2011

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tibbits, Wesley T.; Martens, Kyle D.; Connolly, Patrick J.

    2012-01-01

    The approach and actions taken or planned by Reclamation to modify off-channel habitat are largely untested as to their effectiveness to improve target fish species’ productivity and survival needs. Those documented strategies that identify both physical parameters and biological relationships and benefits have been identified (Reclamation, 2008). To assess biological performance, we plan to compare age structure, growth, and age at smolting between those fish that stay in natal areas versus those fish that move. To assess retention in, and movement from or into, the restoration reach, we have used a combination of within-reach and out-of-reach sampling. We are using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, a network of instream PIT tag interrogation systems, and smolt traps to assess differences in biological performance and the magnitude of retention in, and movement from and into, the restoration reach.

  9. An organelle-specific protein landscape identifies novel diseases and molecular mechanisms

    PubMed Central

    Boldt, Karsten; van Reeuwijk, Jeroen; Lu, Qianhao; Koutroumpas, Konstantinos; Nguyen, Thanh-Minh T.; Texier, Yves; van Beersum, Sylvia E. C.; Horn, Nicola; Willer, Jason R.; Mans, Dorus A.; Dougherty, Gerard; Lamers, Ideke J. C.; Coene, Karlien L. M.; Arts, Heleen H.; Betts, Matthew J.; Beyer, Tina; Bolat, Emine; Gloeckner, Christian Johannes; Haidari, Khatera; Hetterschijt, Lisette; Iaconis, Daniela; Jenkins, Dagan; Klose, Franziska; Knapp, Barbara; Latour, Brooke; Letteboer, Stef J. F.; Marcelis, Carlo L.; Mitic, Dragana; Morleo, Manuela; Oud, Machteld M.; Riemersma, Moniek; Rix, Susan; Terhal, Paulien A.; Toedt, Grischa; van Dam, Teunis J. P.; de Vrieze, Erik; Wissinger, Yasmin; Wu, Ka Man; Apic, Gordana; Beales, Philip L.; Blacque, Oliver E.; Gibson, Toby J.; Huynen, Martijn A.; Katsanis, Nicholas; Kremer, Hannie; Omran, Heymut; van Wijk, Erwin; Wolfrum, Uwe; Kepes, François; Davis, Erica E.; Franco, Brunella; Giles, Rachel H.; Ueffing, Marius; Russell, Robert B.; Roepman, Ronald; Al-Turki, Saeed; Anderson, Carl; Antony, Dinu; Barroso, Inês; Bentham, Jamie; Bhattacharya, Shoumo; Carss, Keren; Chatterjee, Krishna; Cirak, Sebahattin; Cosgrove, Catherine; Danecek, Petr; Durbin, Richard; Fitzpatrick, David; Floyd, Jamie; Reghan Foley, A.; Franklin, Chris; Futema, Marta; Humphries, Steve E.; Hurles, Matt; Joyce, Chris; McCarthy, Shane; Mitchison, Hannah M.; Muddyman, Dawn; Muntoni, Francesco; O'Rahilly, Stephen; Onoufriadis, Alexandros; Payne, Felicity; Plagnol, Vincent; Raymond, Lucy; Savage, David B.; Scambler, Peter; Schmidts, Miriam; Schoenmakers, Nadia; Semple, Robert; Serra, Eva; Stalker, Jim; van Kogelenberg, Margriet; Vijayarangakannan, Parthiban; Walter, Klaudia; Whittall, Ros; Williamson, Kathy

    2016-01-01

    Cellular organelles provide opportunities to relate biological mechanisms to disease. Here we use affinity proteomics, genetics and cell biology to interrogate cilia: poorly understood organelles, where defects cause genetic diseases. Two hundred and seventeen tagged human ciliary proteins create a final landscape of 1,319 proteins, 4,905 interactions and 52 complexes. Reverse tagging, repetition of purifications and statistical analyses, produce a high-resolution network that reveals organelle-specific interactions and complexes not apparent in larger studies, and links vesicle transport, the cytoskeleton, signalling and ubiquitination to ciliary signalling and proteostasis. We observe sub-complexes in exocyst and intraflagellar transport complexes, which we validate biochemically, and by probing structurally predicted, disruptive, genetic variants from ciliary disease patients. The landscape suggests other genetic diseases could be ciliary including 3M syndrome. We show that 3M genes are involved in ciliogenesis, and that patient fibroblasts lack cilia. Overall, this organelle-specific targeting strategy shows considerable promise for Systems Medicine. PMID:27173435

  10. Detection of special nuclear materials with the associate particle technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carasco, Cédric; Deyglun, Clément; Pérot, Bertrand; Eléon, Cyrille; Normand, Stéphane; Sannié, Guillaume; Boudergui, Karim; Corre, Gwenolé; Konzdrasovs, Vladimir; Pras, Philippe

    2013-04-01

    In the frame of the French trans-governmental R&D program against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRN-E) threats, CEA is studying the detection of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) by neutron interrogation with fast neutrons produced by an associated particle sealed tube neutron generator. The deuterium-tritium fusion reaction produces an alpha particle and a 14 MeV neutron almost back to back, allowing tagging neutron emission both in time and direction with an alpha particle position-sensitive sensor embedded in the generator. Fission prompt neutrons and gamma rays induced by tagged neutrons which are tagged by an alpha particle are detected in coincidence with plastic scintillators. This paper presents numerical simulations performed with the MCNP-PoliMi Monte Carlo computer code and with post processing software developed with the ROOT data analysis package. False coincidences due to neutron and photon scattering between adjacent detectors (cross talk) are filtered out to increase the selectivity between nuclear and benign materials. Accidental coincidences, which are not correlated to an alpha particle, are also taken into account in the numerical model, as well as counting statistics, and the time-energy resolution of the data acquisition system. Such realistic calculations show that relevant quantities of SNM (few kg) can be distinguished from cargo and shielding materials in 10 min acquisitions. First laboratory tests of the system under development in CEA laboratories are also presented.

  11. SPlinted Ligation Adapter Tagging (SPLAT), a novel library preparation method for whole genome bisulphite sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Manlig, Erika; Wahlberg, Per

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Sodium bisulphite treatment of DNA combined with next generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful combination for the interrogation of genome-wide DNA methylation profiles. Library preparation for whole genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS) is challenging due to side effects of the bisulphite treatment, which leads to extensive DNA damage. Recently, a new generation of methods for bisulphite sequencing library preparation have been devised. They are based on initial bisulphite treatment of the DNA, followed by adaptor tagging of single stranded DNA fragments, and enable WGBS using low quantities of input DNA. In this study, we present a novel approach for quick and cost effective WGBS library preparation that is based on splinted adaptor tagging (SPLAT) of bisulphite-converted single-stranded DNA. Moreover, we validate SPLAT against three commercially available WGBS library preparation techniques, two of which are based on bisulphite treatment prior to adaptor tagging and one is a conventional WGBS method. PMID:27899585

  12. Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam, 2004 Annual Report.

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

    Buettner, Edwin W.; Putnam, Scott A.

    This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon O. nerka smolts during the 2004 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2004 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 1.1 times greater in 2004 than in 2003.more » The wild Chinook catch was 1.1 times greater than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 1.2 times greater than in 2003. Wild steelhead trout catch was 1.6 times greater than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 978 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2004, the Snake River trap captured 23 hatchery and 18 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 60 coho salmon O. kisutch of unknown rearing. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. Trap operations began on March 7 and were terminated on June 4. The trap was out of operation for a total of zero days due to mechanical failure or debris. Hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Salmon River trap was 10.8% less and wild Chinook salmon catch was 19.0% less than in 2003. The hatchery steelhead trout collection in 2004 was 20.0% less and wild steelhead trout collection was 22.3% less than the previous year. Trap operations began on March 7 and were terminated on May 28 due to high flows. There were two days when the trap was taken out of service because wild Chinook catch was very low, hatchery Chinook catch was very high, and the weekly quota of PIT tagged hatchery Chinook had been met. Travel time (d) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for PIT-tagged Chinook salmon and steelhead trout marked at the Snake River trap were affected by discharge. Statistical analysis of 2004 data detected a relation between migration rate and discharge for wild Chinook salmon but was unable to detect a relation for hatchery Chinook. The inability to detect a migration rate discharge relation for hatchery Chinook salmon was caused by age-0 fall Chinook being mixed in with the age 1 Chinook. Age-0 fall Chinook migrate much slower than age-1 Chinook, which would confuse the ability to detect the migration rate discharge relation. When several groups, which consisted of significant numbers of age-0 Chinook salmon, were removed from the analysis a relation was detected. For hatchery and wild Chinook salmon there was a 2.8-fold and a 2.4-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. For steelhead trout tagged at the Snake River trap, statistical analysis detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge. For hatchery and wild steelhead trout, there was a 2.3-fold and a 2.0-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. Travel time and migration rate to Lower Granite Dam for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were calculated. Statistical analysis of the 2004 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge for hatchery Chinook salmon, wild Chinook salmon and hatchery steelhead trout. Not enough data were available to perform the analysis for wild steelhead trout. Migration rate increased 7.0-fold for hatchery Chinook salmon, 4.7-fold for wild Chinook salmon and 3.8-fold for hatchery steelhead as discharge increased between 50 kcfs and 100 kcfs. Fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at the Snake River and Salmon River traps were interrogated at four dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and McNary dams). Because of the addition of the fourth interrogation site (Lower Monumental) in 1993 and the installation of the Removable Spillway Weir at Lower Granite Dam in 2001, caution must be used in comparing cumulative interrogation data. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap were 82% for hatchery Chinook, 77% for wild Chinook, 90% for hatchery steelhead, and 90% for wild steelhead. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were 68% for hatchery Chinook, 70% for wild Chinook salmon, 80% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 79% for wild steelhead trout.« less

  13. An MILP-based cross-layer optimization for a multi-reader arbitration in the UHF RFID system.

    PubMed

    Choi, Jinchul; Lee, Chaewoo

    2011-01-01

    In RFID systems, the performance of each reader such as interrogation range and tag recognition rate may suffer from interferences from other readers. Since the reader interference can be mitigated by output signal power control, spectral and/or temporal separation among readers, the system performance depends on how to adapt the various reader arbitration metrics such as time, frequency, and output power to the system environment. However, complexity and difficulty of the optimization problem increase with respect to the variety of the arbitration metrics. Thus, most proposals in previous study have been suggested to primarily prevent the reader collision with consideration of one or two arbitration metrics. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-layer optimization design based on the concept of combining time division, frequency division, and power control not only to solve the reader interference problem, but also to achieve the multiple objectives such as minimum interrogation delay, maximum reader utilization, and energy efficiency. Based on the priority of the multiple objectives, our cross-layer design optimizes the system sequentially by means of the mixed-integer linear programming. In spite of the multi-stage optimization, the optimization design is formulated as a concise single mathematical form by properly assigning a weight to each objective. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization design.

  14. An MILP-Based Cross-Layer Optimization for a Multi-Reader Arbitration in the UHF RFID System

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Jinchul; Lee, Chaewoo

    2011-01-01

    In RFID systems, the performance of each reader such as interrogation range and tag recognition rate may suffer from interferences from other readers. Since the reader interference can be mitigated by output signal power control, spectral and/or temporal separation among readers, the system performance depends on how to adapt the various reader arbitration metrics such as time, frequency, and output power to the system environment. However, complexity and difficulty of the optimization problem increase with respect to the variety of the arbitration metrics. Thus, most proposals in previous study have been suggested to primarily prevent the reader collision with consideration of one or two arbitration metrics. In this paper, we propose a novel cross-layer optimization design based on the concept of combining time division, frequency division, and power control not only to solve the reader interference problem, but also to achieve the multiple objectives such as minimum interrogation delay, maximum reader utilization, and energy efficiency. Based on the priority of the multiple objectives, our cross-layer design optimizes the system sequentially by means of the mixed-integer linear programming. In spite of the multi-stage optimization, the optimization design is formulated as a concise single mathematical form by properly assigning a weight to each objective. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization design. PMID:22163743

  15. Monte Carlo parametric studies of neutron interrogation with the Associated Particle Technique for cargo container inspections

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deyglun, Clément; Carasco, Cédric; Pérot, Bertrand

    2014-06-01

    The detection of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) by neutron interrogation is extensively studied by Monte Carlo simulation at the Nuclear Measurement Laboratory of CEA Cadarache (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission). The active inspection system is based on the Associated Particle Technique (APT). Fissions induced by tagged neutrons (i.e. correlated to an alpha particle in the DT neutron generator) in SNM produce high multiplicity coincidences which are detected with fast plastic scintillators. At least three particles are detected in a short time window following the alpha detection, whereas nonnuclear materials mainly produce single events, or pairs due to (n,2n) and (n,n'γ) reactions. To study the performances of an industrial cargo container inspection system, Monte Carlo simulations are performed with the MCNP-PoliMi transport code, which records for each neutron history the relevant information: reaction types, position and time of interactions, energy deposits, secondary particles, etc. The output files are post-processed with a specific tool developed with ROOT data analysis software. Particles not correlated with an alpha particle (random background), counting statistics, and time-energy resolutions of the data acquisition system are taken into account in the numerical model. Various matrix compositions, suspicious items, SNM shielding and positions inside the container, are simulated to assess the performances and limitations of an industrial system.

  16. Patterns of migration and residency in coastal cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii from two tributaries of the lower Columbia River

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zydlewski, G.B.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.; Johnson, J.

    2009-01-01

    Coastal cutthroat trout Onchorhynchus clarkii clarkii life-history variants, migration and freshwater residency were monitored using stationary passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag arrays in two tributaries of the Columbia River from 2001 to 2005 (Abernathy Creek, river kilometre, rkm 76) and from 2002 to 2005 (Chinook River, rkm 6). In 2001-2003 and 2002-2003 (Abernathy and Chinook, respectively), 300-500 coastal O. c. clarkii were captured in each tributary by electrofishing and implanted with 23 mm PIT tags. PIT arrays monitored movements from the initiation of tagging through the spring of 2005. Rotary screw traps were also operated on both tributaries. In Abernathy Creek, 28% of tagged individuals were observed through either active capture or passive interrogation. Of these, 32% were identified as migrants and 68% were identified as residents. In the Chinook River, 48% of tagged fish were observed subsequent to tagging; 92% of these fish were migrants and only 8% were resident. In both tributaries, a greater proportion of resident fish were in the upper reaches. The majority of migrants (78-93%) moved the spring following tagging. Migrants leaving at age 2+ years tended to grow faster than those that migrated at age 3+ years or residents. Patterns of growth or growth opportunities may influence both patterns of life-history expression and the timing of migration. ?? 2009 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  17. 'Tagger' - a Mac OS X Interactive Graphical Application for Data Inference and Analysis of N-Dimensional Datasets in the Natural Physical Sciences.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morse, P. E.; Reading, A. M.; Lueg, C.

    2014-12-01

    Pattern-recognition in scientific data is not only a computational problem but a human-observer problem as well. Human observation of - and interaction with - data visualization software can augment, select, interrupt and modify computational routines and facilitate processes of pattern and significant feature recognition for subsequent human analysis, machine learning, expert and artificial intelligence systems.'Tagger' is a Mac OS X interactive data visualisation tool that facilitates Human-Computer interaction for the recognition of patterns and significant structures. It is a graphical application developed using the Quartz Composer framework. 'Tagger' follows a Model-View-Controller (MVC) software architecture: the application problem domain (the model) is to facilitate novel ways of abstractly representing data to a human interlocutor, presenting these via different viewer modalities (e.g. chart representations, particle systems, parametric geometry) to the user (View) and enabling interaction with the data (Controller) via a variety of Human Interface Devices (HID). The software enables the user to create an arbitrary array of tags that may be appended to the visualised data, which are then saved into output files as forms of semantic metadata. Three fundamental problems that are not strongly supported by conventional scientific visualisation software are addressed:1] How to visually animate data over time, 2] How to rapidly deploy unconventional parametrically driven data visualisations, 3] How to construct and explore novel interaction models that capture the activity of the end-user as semantic metadata that can be used to computationally enhance subsequent interrogation. Saved tagged data files may be loaded into Tagger, so that tags may be tagged, if desired. Recursion opens up the possibility of refining or overlapping different types of tags, tagging a variety of different POIs or types of events, and of capturing different types of specialist observations of important or noticeable events. Other visualisations and modes of interaction will also be demonstrated, with the aim of discovering knowledge in large datasets in the natural, physical sciences. Fig.1 Wave height data from an oceanographic Wave Rider Buoy. Colors/radii are driven by wave height data.

  18. Survival Estimates for the Passage of Spring-Migrating Juvenile Salmonids through Snake and Columbia River Dams and Reservoirs, 2008.

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

    Faulkner, James R.; Smith, Steven G.; Muir, William D.

    2009-06-23

    In 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service completed the sixteenth year of a study to estimate survival and travel time of juvenile salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. passing through dams and reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. All estimates were derived from detections of fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We PIT tagged and released a total of 18,565 hatchery steelhead O. mykiss, 15,991 wild steelhead, and 9,714 wild yearling Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha at Lower Granite Dam in the Snake River. In addition, we utilized fish PIT tagged by other agencies at traps and hatcheries upstream from themore » hydropower system and at sites within the hydropower system in both the Snake and Columbia Rivers. These included 122,061 yearling Chinook salmon tagged at Lower Granite Dam for evaluation of latent mortality related to passage through Snake River dams. PIT-tagged smolts were detected at interrogation facilities at Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, McNary, John Day, and Bonneville Dams and in the PIT-tag detector trawl operated in the Columbia River estuary. Survival estimates were calculated using a statistical model for tag-recapture data from single release groups (the single-release model). Primary research objectives in 2008 were to: (1) estimate reach survival and travel time in the Snake and Columbia Rivers throughout the migration period of yearling Chinook salmon and steelhead, (2) evaluate relationships between survival estimates and migration conditions, and (3) evaluate the survival estimation models under prevailing conditions. This report provides reach survival and travel time estimates for 2008 for PIT-tagged yearling Chinook salmon (hatchery and wild), hatchery sockeye salmon O. nerka, hatchery coho salmon O. kisutch, and steelhead (hatchery and wild) in the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Additional details on the methodology and statistical models used are provided in previous reports cited here. Survival and detection probabilities were estimated precisely for most of the 2008 yearling Chinook salmon and steelhead migrations. Hatchery and wild fish were combined in some of the analyses. For yearling Chinook salmon, overall percentages for combined release groups used in survival analyses in the Snake River were 80% hatchery-reared and 20% wild. For steelhead, the overall percentages were 65% hatchery-reared and 35% wild. Estimated survival from the tailrace of Lower Granite Dam to the tailrace of Little Goose Dam averaged 0.939 for yearling Chinook salmon and 0.935 for steelhead.« less

  19. A Point Kinetics Model for Estimating Neutron Multiplication of Bare Uranium Metal in Tagged Neutron Measurements

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

    Tweardy, Matthew C.; McConchie, Seth; Hayward, Jason P.

    An extension of the point kinetics model is developed in this paper to describe the neutron multiplicity response of a bare uranium object under interrogation by an associated particle imaging deuterium-tritium (D-T) measurement system. This extended model is used to estimate the total neutron multiplication of the uranium. Both MCNPX-PoliMi simulations and data from active interrogation measurements of highly enriched and depleted uranium geometries are used to evaluate the potential of this method and to identify the sources of systematic error. The detection efficiency correction for measured coincidence response is identified as a large source of systematic error. If themore » detection process is not considered, results suggest that the method can estimate total multiplication to within 13% of the simulated value. Values for multiplicity constants in the point kinetics equations are sensitive to enrichment due to (n, xn) interactions by D-T neutrons and can introduce another significant source of systematic bias. This can theoretically be corrected if isotopic composition is known a priori. Finally, the spatial dependence of multiplication is also suspected of introducing further systematic bias for high multiplication uranium objects.« less

  20. A Point Kinetics Model for Estimating Neutron Multiplication of Bare Uranium Metal in Tagged Neutron Measurements

    DOE PAGES

    Tweardy, Matthew C.; McConchie, Seth; Hayward, Jason P.

    2017-06-13

    An extension of the point kinetics model is developed in this paper to describe the neutron multiplicity response of a bare uranium object under interrogation by an associated particle imaging deuterium-tritium (D-T) measurement system. This extended model is used to estimate the total neutron multiplication of the uranium. Both MCNPX-PoliMi simulations and data from active interrogation measurements of highly enriched and depleted uranium geometries are used to evaluate the potential of this method and to identify the sources of systematic error. The detection efficiency correction for measured coincidence response is identified as a large source of systematic error. If themore » detection process is not considered, results suggest that the method can estimate total multiplication to within 13% of the simulated value. Values for multiplicity constants in the point kinetics equations are sensitive to enrichment due to (n, xn) interactions by D-T neutrons and can introduce another significant source of systematic bias. This can theoretically be corrected if isotopic composition is known a priori. Finally, the spatial dependence of multiplication is also suspected of introducing further systematic bias for high multiplication uranium objects.« less

  1. Wind River water restoration, Annual report November 2008 to October 2009.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Connolly, P.J.; Jezorek, I.G.; Munz, C.S.

    2010-01-01

    This report summarizes work completed by U.S. Geological Survey’s Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) in the Wind River subbasin during the period November 2008 through October 2009 under Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) contract 41038. Long term research in the Wind River has focused on assessments of steelhead/rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss populations, interactions with introduced populations of spring Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, and influences of habitat variables on fish productivity. During this period, we collected water temperature data to characterize variation within and among tributaries and mainstem sections in the Trout Creek watershed, and assisted Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with smolt trapping and tagging of smolt and parr steelhead with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We also continued to maintain and test efficacy of a passive integrated transponder tag interrogation system (PTIS) in Trout Creek for assessing the adult steelhead runsize. We continued to maintain and download PTIS setups in the fish ladder at Hemlock Dam. These PTISs contributed information on movement and rearing of steelhead parr and smolts. A statement of work (SOW) was submitted to BPA in October 2009 that outlined work to be performed by USGS-CRRL. The SOW was organized by work elements, with each describing a research task. This report summarizes the progress completed under each work element.

  2. Determining composition of micron-scale protein deposits in neurodegenerative disease by spatially targeted optical microproteomics.

    PubMed

    Hadley, Kevin C; Rakhit, Rishi; Guo, Hongbo; Sun, Yulong; Jonkman, James E N; McLaurin, Joanne; Hazrati, Lili-Naz; Emili, Andrew; Chakrabartty, Avijit

    2015-09-29

    Spatially targeted optical microproteomics (STOMP) is a novel proteomics technique for interrogating micron-scale regions of interest (ROIs) in mammalian tissue, with no requirement for genetic manipulation. Methanol or formalin-fixed specimens are stained with fluorescent dyes or antibodies to visualize ROIs, then soaked in solutions containing the photo-tag: 4-benzoylbenzyl-glycyl-hexahistidine. Confocal imaging along with two photon excitation are used to covalently couple photo-tags to all proteins within each ROI, to a resolution of 0.67 µm in the xy-plane and 1.48 µm axially. After tissue solubilization, photo-tagged proteins are isolated and identified by mass spectrometry. As a test case, we examined amyloid plaques in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) mouse model and a post-mortem AD case, confirming known plaque constituents and discovering new ones. STOMP can be applied to various biological samples including cell lines, primary cell cultures, ex vivo specimens, biopsy samples, and fixed post-mortem tissue.

  3. Movement of bull trout in the upper Jarbidge River watershed, Idaho and Nevada, 2008-09--A supplement to Open-File Report 2010-1033

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Munz, Carrie S.; Allen, M. Brady; Connolly, Patrick J.

    2011-01-01

    We monitored bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in 2008 and 2009 as a continuation of our work in 2006 and 2007, which involved the tagging of 1,536 bull trout with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in the East Fork Jarbidge River and West Fork Jarbidge River and their tributaries in northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho. We installed PIT tag interrogation systems (PTISs) at established locations soon after ice-out, and maintained the PTISs in order to collect information on bull trout movements through December of each year. We observed a marked increase of movement in 2008 and 2009. Bull trout tagged in the uppermost portions of the East Fork Jarbidge River at altitudes greater than 2,100 meters moved to the confluence of the East Fork Jarbidge River and West Fork Jarbidge River in summer and autumn. Ten bull trout tagged upstream of the confluence of Pine Creek and the West Fork Jarbidge River moved downstream and then upstream in the East Fork Jarbidge River, and then past the PTIS at Murphy Hot Springs (river kilometer [rkm] 4.1). Two of these fish ascended Dave Creek, a tributary of the East Fork Jarbidge River, past the PTIS at rkm 0.4. One bull trout that was tagged at rkm 11 in Dave Creek on June 28, 2007 moved downstream to the confluence of the East Fork Jarbidge River and West Fork Jarbidge River (rkm 0) on July 28, 2007, and it was then detected in the West Fork Jarbidge River moving past our PTIS at rkm 15 on May 4, 2008. Combined, the extent and types of bull trout movements observed indicated that the primarily age-1 and age-2 bull trout that we tagged in 2006 and 2007 showed increased movement with age and evidence of a substantial amount of fluvial life history. The movements suggest strong connectivity between spawning areas and downstream mainstem areas, as well as between the East Fork Jarbidge River and West Fork Jarbidge River.

  4. Smolt Monitoring at the Head of Lower Granite Reservoir and Lower Granite Dam, 2003 Annual Report.

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

    Buettner, Edwin W.; Putnam, Scott A.

    This project monitored the daily passage of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, steelhead trout O. mykiss, and sockeye salmon O. nerka smolts during the 2003 spring out-migration at migrant traps on the Snake River and Salmon River. In 2003 fish management agencies released significant numbers of hatchery Chinook salmon and steelhead trout above Lower Granite Dam that were not marked with a fin clip or coded-wire tag. Generally, these fish were distinguishable from wild fish by the occurrence of fin erosion. Total annual hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Snake River trap was 2.1 times less in 2003 than in 2002.more » The wild Chinook catch was 1.1 times less than the previous year. Hatchery steelhead trout catch was 1.7 times less than in 2002. Wild steelhead trout catch was 2.1 times less than the previous year. The Snake River trap collected 579 age-0 Chinook salmon of unknown rearing. During 2003, the Snake River trap captured five hatchery and 13 wild/natural sockeye salmon and 36 coho salmon O. kisutch of unknown rearing. Differences in trap catch between years are due to fluctuations not only in smolt production, but also differences in trap efficiency and duration of trap operation associated with flow. The significant differences in catch between 2003 and the previous year were due mainly to low flows during much of the trapping season and then very high flows at the end of the season, which terminated the trapping season 12 days earlier than in 2002. Trap operations began on March 9 and were terminated on May 27. The trap was out of operation for a total of zero days due to mechanical failure or debris. Hatchery Chinook salmon catch at the Salmon River trap was 16.8% less and wild Chinook salmon catch was 1.7 times greater than in 2002. The hatchery steelhead trout collection in 2003 was 5.6% less than in 2002. Wild steelhead trout collection was 19.2% less than the previous year. Trap operations began on March 9 and were terminated on May 24 due to high flows. There were zero days when the trap was out of operation due to high flow or debris. The decrease in hatchery Chinook catch in 2003 was partially due to differences in flow between years because there was a 5.9% increase in hatchery production in the Salmon River drainage in 2003. The decrease in hatchery steelhead catch may be partially due to a 13% decrease in hatchery production in the Salmon River drainage in 2003. Travel time (d) and migration rate (km/d) through Lower Granite Reservoir for PIT-tagged Chinook salmon and steelhead trout marked at the Snake River trap were affected by discharge. Statistical analysis of 2003 data detected a relation between migration rate and discharge for wild Chinook salmon but was unable to detect a relation for hatchery Chinook. The inability to detect a migration rate discharge relation for hatchery Chinook was probably caused by age 0 fall Chinook being mixed in with the age 1 Chinook. Age 0 fall Chinook migrate much slower than age 1 Chinook, which would confuse the ability to detect the migration rate discharge relation. For wild Chinook salmon there was a 1.4-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. For steelhead trout tagged at the Snake River trap, statistical analysis detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge. For hatchery and wild steelhead trout, there was a 1.7-fold and a 1.9-fold increase in migration rate, respectively, between 50 and 100 kcfs. Travel time and migration rate to Lower Granite Dam for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were calculated. Statistical analysis of the 2003 data detected a significant relation between migration rate and Lower Granite Reservoir inflow discharge for hatchery Chinook salmon, wild Chinook salmon and hatchery steelhead trout. Not enough data were available to perform the analysis for wild steelhead trout. Migration rate increased 14-fold for hatchery Chinook salmon, 8.3-fold for wild Chinook salmon and 2.4-fold for hatchery steelhead as discharge increased between 50 kcfs and 100 kcfs. Fish tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at the Snake River and Salmon River traps were interrogated at four dams with PIT tag detection systems (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and McNary dams). Because of the addition of the fourth interrogation site (Lower Monumental) in 1993 and the installation of the Removable Spillway Weir at Lower Granite Dam in 2001, caution must be used in comparing cumulative interrogation data. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Snake River trap were 65% for hatchery Chinook, 72% for wild Chinook, 66% for hatchery steelhead, and 67% for wild steelhead. Cumulative interrogations at the four dams for fish marked at the Salmon River trap were 48% for hatchery Chinook, 61% for wild Chinook salmon, 57% for hatchery steelhead trout, and 56% for wild steelhead trout.« less

  5. Altered Lipid Composition and Enhanced Nutritional Value of Arabidopsis Leaves following Introduction of an Algal Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase 2[C][W

    PubMed Central

    Sanjaya; Miller, Rachel; Durrett, Timothy P.; Kosma, Dylan K.; Lydic, Todd A.; Muthan, Bagyalakshmi; Koo, Abraham J.K.; Bukhman, Yury V.; Reid, Gavin E.; Howe, Gregg A.; Ohlrogge, John; Benning, Christoph

    2013-01-01

    Enhancement of acyl-CoA–dependent triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis in vegetative tissues is widely discussed as a potential avenue to increase the energy density of crops. Here, we report the identification and characterization of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii diacylglycerol acyltransferase type two (DGTT) enzymes and use DGTT2 to alter acyl carbon partitioning in plant vegetative tissues. This enzyme can accept a broad range of acyl-CoA substrates, allowing us to interrogate different acyl pools in transgenic plants. Expression of DGTT2 in Arabidopsis thaliana increased leaf TAG content, with some molecular species containing very-long-chain fatty acids. The acyl compositions of sphingolipids and surface waxes were altered, and cutin was decreased. The increased carbon partitioning into TAGs in the leaves of DGTT2-expressing lines had little effect on transcripts of the sphingolipid/wax/cutin pathway, suggesting that the supply of acyl groups for the assembly of these lipids is not transcriptionally adjusted. Caterpillars of the generalist herbivore Spodoptera exigua reared on transgenic plants gained more weight. Thus, the nutritional value and/or energy density of the transgenic lines was increased by ectopic expression of DGTT2 and acyl groups were diverted from different pools into TAGs, demonstrating the interconnectivity of acyl metabolism in leaves. PMID:23417035

  6. Helium Tagging Infrared Photodissociation Spectroscopy of Reactive Ions.

    PubMed

    Roithová, Jana; Gray, Andrew; Andris, Erik; Jašík, Juraj; Gerlich, Dieter

    2016-02-16

    The interrogation of reaction intermediates is key for understanding chemical reactions; however their direct observation and study remains a considerable challenge. Mass spectrometry is one of the most sensitive analytical techniques, and its use to study reaction mixtures is now an established practice. However, the information that can be obtained is limited to elemental analysis and possibly to fragmentation behavior, which is often challenging to analyze. In order to extend the available experimental information, different types of spectroscopy in the infrared and visible region have been combined with mass spectrometry. Spectroscopy of mass selected ions usually utilizes the powerful sensitivity of mass spectrometers, and the absorption of photons is not detected as such but rather translated to mass changes. One approach to accomplish such spectroscopy involves loosely binding a tag to an ion that will be removed by absorption of one photon. We have constructed an ion trapping instrument capable of reaching temperatures that are sufficiently low to enable tagging by helium atoms in situ, thus permitting infrared photodissociation spectroscopy (IRPD) to be carried out. While tagging by larger rare gas atoms, such as neon or argon is also possible, these may cause significant structural changes to small and reactive species, making the use of helium highly beneficial. We discuss the "innocence" of helium as a tag in ion spectroscopy using several case studies. It is shown that helium tagging is effectively innocent when used with benzene dications, not interfering with their structure or IRPD spectrum. We have also provided a case study where we can see that despite its minimal size there are systems where He has a huge effect. A strong influence of the He tagging was shown in the IRPD spectra of HCCl(2+) where large spectral shifts were observed. While the presented systems are rather small, they involve the formation of mixtures of isomers. We have therefore implemented two-color experiments where one laser is employed to selectively deplete a mixture by one (or more) isomer allowing helium tagging IRPD spectra of the remaining isomer(s) to be recorded via the second laser. Our experimental setup, based on a linear wire quadrupole ion trap, allows us to deplete almost 100% of all helium tagged ions in the trap. Using this special feature, we have developed attenuation experiments for determination of absolute photofragmentation cross sections. At the same time, this approach can be used to estimate the representation of isomers in a mixture. The ultimate aim is the routine use of this instrument and technique to study a wide range of reaction intermediates in catalysis. To this end, we present a study of hypervalent iron(IV)-oxo complexes ([(L)Fe(O)(NO3)](+)). We show that we can spectroscopically differentiate iron complexes with S = 1 and S = 2 according to the stretching vibrations of a nitrate counterion.

  7. Use of signature-tagged mutagenesis to identify virulence determinants in Haemophilus ducreyi responsible for ulcer formation.

    PubMed

    Yeung, Angela; Cameron, D William; Desjardins, Marc; Lee, B Craig

    2011-02-01

    Elucidating the molecular mechanisms responsible for chancroid, a genital ulcer disease caused by Haemophilus ducreyi, has been hampered in part by the relative genetic intractability of the organism. A whole genome screen using signature-tagged mutagenesis in the temperature-dependent rabbit model (TDRM) of H. ducreyi infection uncovered 26 mutants with a presumptive attenuated phenotype. Insertions in two previously recognized virulence determinants, hgbA and lspA1, validated this genome scanning technique. Database interrogation allowed assignment of 24 mutants to several functional classes, including transport, metabolism, DNA repair, stress response and gene regulation. The attenuated virulence for a 3 strain with a mutation in hicB was confirmed by individual infection in the TDRM. The results from this preliminary study indicate that this high throughput strategy will further the understanding of the pathogenesis of H. ducreyi infection. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Wireless Strain Measurement with a Micromachined Magnetoelastic Resonator Using Ringdown Frequency Locking

    PubMed Central

    Green, Scott R.; Gianchandani, Yogesh B.

    2017-01-01

    Resonant magnetoelastic devices are widely used as anti-theft tags and are also being investigated for a range of sensing applications. The vast majority of magnetoelastic devices are operated at resonance, and rely upon an external interface to wirelessly detect the resonant frequency, and other characteristics. For micromachined devices, this detection method must accommodate diminished signal strength and elevated resonant frequencies. Feedthrough of the interrogating stimulus to the detector also presents a significant challenge. This paper describes a method of interrogating wireless magnetoelastic strain sensors using a new frequency-lock approach. Following a brief excitation pulse, the sensor ring-down is analyzed and a feedback loop is used to match the excitation frequency and the resonant frequency. Data acquisition hardware is used in conjunction with custom software to implement the frequency-lock loop. Advantages of the method include temporal isolation of interrogating stimulus from the sensor response and near real-time tracking of resonant frequencies. The method was investigated using a family of wireless strain sensors with resonant frequencies ranging from 120 to 240 kHz. Strain levels extending to 3.5 mstrain and sensitivities up to 14300 ppm/mstrain were measured with response times faster than 0.5 s. The standard deviation of the locked frequency did not exceed 0.1%. PMID:28713873

  9. Detection Of Special Nuclear Materials Tagged Neutrons

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

    Deyglun, Clement; Perot, Bertrand; Carasco, Cedric

    In order to detect Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) in unattended luggage or cargo containers in the field of homeland security, fissions are induced by 14 MeV neutrons produced by an associated particle DT neutron generator, and prompt fission particles correlated with tagged neutron are detected by plastic scintillators. SMN produce high multiplicity events due to induced fissions, whereas nonnuclear materials produce low multiplicity events due to cross-talk, (n,2n) or (n,n'γ) reactions. The data acquisition electronics is made of compact FPGA boards. The coincidence window is triggered by the alpha particle detection, allowing to tag the emission date and direction ofmore » the 14 MeV interrogating neutron. The first part of the paper presents experiment vs. calculation comparisons to validate MCNP-PoliMi simulations and the post-processing tools developed with the data analysis framework ROOT. Measurements have been performed using different targets (iron, lead, graphite), first with small plastic scintillators (10 x 10 x 10 cm{sup 3}) and then with large detectors (10 x 10 x 100 cm{sup 3}) to demonstrate that nuclear materials can be differentiated from nonnuclear dense materials (iron, lead) in iron and wood matrixes. A special attention is paid on SNM detection in abandoned luggage. In the second part of the paper, the performances of a cargo container inspection system are studied by numerical simulation, following previous work reported in. Detectors dimensions and shielding against the neutron generator background are optimized for container inspection. Events not correlated to an alpha particle (uncorrelated background), counting statistics, time and energy resolutions of the data acquisition system are all taken into account in a realistic numerical model. The impact of the container matrix (iron, ceramic, wood) has been investigated by studying the system capability to detect a few kilograms of SNM in different positions in the cargo container, within 10 min acquisitions. (authors)« less

  10. Real time interrogation technique for fiber Bragg grating enhanced fiber loop ringdown sensors array.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yunlong; Li, Ruoming; Shi, Yuechun; Zhang, Jintao; Chen, Xiangfei; Liu, Shengchun

    2015-06-01

    A novel fiber Bragg grating aided fiber loop ringdown (FLRD) sensor array and the wavelength-time multiplexing based interrogation technique for the FLRD sensors array are proposed. The interrogation frequency of the system is formulated and the interrelationships among the parameters of the system are analyzed. To validate the performance of the proposed system, a five elements array is experimentally demonstrated, and the system shows the capability of real time monitoring every FLRD element with interrogation frequency of 125.5 Hz.

  11. Effectiveness of a redesigned water diversion using rock vortex weirs to enhance longitudinal connectivity for small Salmonids

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Martens, Kyle D.; Connolly, Patrick J.

    2010-01-01

    For nearly 100 years, water diversions have affected fish passage in Beaver Creek, a tributary of the lower Methow River in north-central Washington State. From 2000 to 2004, four dam-style water diversions were replaced with a series of rock vortex weirs (RVWs). The weirs were designed to allow fish passage while maintaining the ability to divert water into irrigation canals. We observed the new appearance of three species (juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, juvenile coho salmon O. kisutch, and mountain whitefish Prosopium williamsoni) upstream of the RVWs, indicating successful restoration of longitudinal connectivity. We used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and instream PIT tag interrogation systems during 2004–2007 to evaluate upstream passage of small salmonids (<240 mm fork length) through one series of RVWs. We documented 109 upstream passage events by small salmonids through the series of RVWs; most of the events (81%) involved passage of rainbow trout O. mykiss or juvenile steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout). Small rainbow trout or steelhead ranging from 86 to 238 mm (adjusted fork length) were able to pass upstream through the RVWs, although a delay in fish passage at discharges below 0.32 m3/s was detected in comparison with nearby control sections.

  12. Fluid pipeline leak detection and location with miniature RF tags

    DOEpatents

    McIntyre, Timothy J.

    2017-05-16

    Sensors locate troublesome leaks in pipes or conduits that carry a flowing medium. These sensors, through tailored physical and geometric properties, preferentially seek conduit leaks or breaches due to flow streaming. The sensors can be queried via transceivers outside the conduit or located and interrogated inside by submersible unmanned vehicle to identify and characterize the nature of a leak. The sensors can be functionalized with other capabilities for additional leak and pipeline characterization if needed. Sensors can be recovered from a conduit flow stream and reused for future leak detection activities.

  13. Methods and systems using encapsulated tracers and chemicals for reservoir interrogation and manipulation

    DOEpatents

    Roberts, Jeffery; Aines, Roger D; Duoss, Eric B; Spadaccini, Christopher M

    2014-11-04

    An apparatus, method, and system of reservoir interrogation. A tracer is encapsulating in a receptacle. The receptacle containing the tracer is injected into the reservoir. The tracer is analyzed for reservoir interrogation.

  14. Interrogations, confessions, and adolescent offenders' perceptions of the legal system.

    PubMed

    Arndorfer, Andrea; Malloy, Lindsay C; Cauffman, Elizabeth

    2015-10-01

    The potential consequences of interrogations and false confessions have been discussed primarily in terms of the risk for wrongful conviction, especially among adolescents and other vulnerable populations. However, it is possible that such experiences influence adolescents' perceptions of the legal system more generally. In the present study, we examined whether incarcerated male juvenile offenders' (n = 193) perceptions of police and the courts were related to their confession and interrogation experiences. High-pressure interrogation experiences and self-reported false confessions to police were associated with more negative perceptions of police. However, self-reported true confessions were not significantly associated with youths' perceptions of the police. Neither interrogation nor confession experiences (true or false) were related to youths' perceptions of the courts. Results provide additional support for policy reform of interrogation practices with young suspects. A more developmentally appropriate approach to criminal interrogations with youth may simultaneously improve police-youth relations and protect vulnerable suspects in the interrogation room. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Beyond Fluorescent Proteins: Hybrid and Bioluminescent Indicators for Imaging Neural Activities.

    PubMed

    Wang, Anqi; Feng, Jiesi; Li, Yulong; Zou, Peng

    2018-04-18

    Optical biosensors have been invaluable tools in neuroscience research, as they provide the ability to directly visualize neural activity in real time, with high specificity, and with exceptional spatial and temporal resolution. Notably, a majority of these sensors are based on fluorescent protein scaffolds, which offer the ability to target specific cell types or even subcellular compartments. However, fluorescent proteins are intrinsically bulky tags, often insensitive to the environment, and always require excitation light illumination. To address these limitations, there has been a proliferation of alternative sensor scaffolds developed in recent years, including hybrid sensors that combine the advantages of synthetic fluorophores and genetically encoded protein tags, as well as bioluminescent probes. While still in their early stage of development as compared with fluorescent protein-based sensors, these novel probes have offered complementary solutions to interrogate various aspects of neuronal communication, including transmitter release, changes in membrane potential, and the production of second messengers. In this Review, we discuss these important new developments with a particular focus on design strategies.

  16. Time-Resolved Data Acquisition for In Situ Subsurface Planetary Geochemistry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bodnarik, Julia Gates; Burger, Dan M.; Burger, Arnold; Evans, Larry G.; Parsons, Ann M.; Starr, Richard D.; Stassun, Keivan G.

    2012-01-01

    The current gamma-ray/neutron instrumentation development effort at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center aims to extend the use of active pulsed neutron interrogation techniques to probe the subsurface geochemistry of planetary bodies in situ. All previous NASA planetary science missions, that used neutron and/or gamma-ray spectroscopy instruments, have relied on a constant neutron source produced from galactic cosmic rays. One of the distinguishing features of this effort is the inclusion of a high intensity 14.1 MeV pulsed neutron generator synchronized with a custom data acquisition system to time each event relative to the pulse. With usually only one opportunity to collect data, it is difficult to set a priori time-gating windows to obtain the best possible results. Acquiring time-tagged, event-by-event data from nuclear induced reactions provides raw data sets containing channel/energy, and event time for each gamma ray or neutron detected. The resulting data set can be plotted as a function of time or energy using optimized analysis windows after the data are acquired. Time windows can now be chosen to produce energy spectra that yield the most statistically significant and accurate elemental composition results that can be derived from the complete data set. The advantages of post-processing gamma-ray time-tagged event-by-event data in experimental tests using our prototype instrument will be demonstrated.

  17. Time-resolved Neutron-gamma-ray Data Acquisition for in Situ Subsurface Planetary Geochemistry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bodnarik, Julie G.; Burger, Dan Michael; Burger, A.; Evans, L. G.; Parsons, A. M.; Schweitzer, J. S.; Starr R. D.; Stassun, K. G.

    2013-01-01

    The current gamma-ray/neutron instrumentation development effort at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center aims to extend the use of active pulsed neutron interrogation techniques to probe the subsurface elemental composition of planetary bodies in situ. Previous NASA planetary science missions, that used neutron and/or gamma-ray spectroscopy instruments, have relied on neutrons produced from galactic cosmic rays. One of the distinguishing features of this effort is the inclusion of a high intensity 14.1 MeV pulsed neutron generator synchronized with a custom data acquisition system to time each event relative to the pulse. With usually only one opportunity to collect data, it is difficult to set a priori time-gating windows to obtain the best possible results. Acquiring time-tagged, event-by-event data from nuclear induced reactions provides raw data sets containing channel/energy, and event time for each gamma ray or neutron detected. The resulting data set can be plotted as a function of time or energy using optimized analysis windows after the data are acquired. Time windows can now be chosen to produce energy spectra that yield the most statistically significant and accurate elemental composition results that can be derived from the complete data set. The advantages of post-processing gamma-ray time-tagged event-by-event data in experimental tests using our prototype instrument will be demonstrated.

  18. Proteomic Analysis of the Cell Cycle of Procylic Form Trypanosoma brucei.

    PubMed

    Crozier, Thomas W M; Tinti, Michele; Wheeler, Richard J; Ly, Tony; Ferguson, Michael A J; Lamond, Angus I

    2018-06-01

    We describe a single-step centrifugal elutriation method to produce synchronous Gap1 (G1)-phase procyclic trypanosomes at a scale amenable for proteomic analysis of the cell cycle. Using ten-plex tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling and mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics technology, the expression levels of 5325 proteins were quantified across the cell cycle in this parasite. Of these, 384 proteins were classified as cell-cycle regulated and subdivided into nine clusters with distinct temporal regulation. These groups included many known cell cycle regulators in trypanosomes, which validates the approach. In addition, we identify 40 novel cell cycle regulated proteins that are essential for trypanosome survival and thus represent potential future drug targets for the prevention of trypanosomiasis. Through cross-comparison to the TrypTag endogenous tagging microscopy database, we were able to validate the cell-cycle regulated patterns of expression for many of the proteins of unknown function detected in our proteomic analysis. A convenient interface to access and interrogate these data is also presented, providing a useful resource for the scientific community. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD008741 (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/). © 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  19. Characterization of a FBG sensor interrogation system based on a mode-locked laser scheme.

    PubMed

    Madrigal, Javier; Fraile-Peláez, Francisco Javier; Zheng, Di; Barrera, David; Sales, Salvador

    2017-10-02

    This paper is focused on the characterization of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system based on a fiber ring laser with a semiconductor optical amplifier as the gain medium, and an in-loop electro-optical modulator. This system operates as a switchable active (pulsed) mode-locked laser. The operation principle of the system is explained theoretically and validated experimentally. The ability of the system to interrogate an array of different FBGs in wavelength and spatial domain is demonstrated. Simultaneously, the influence of several important parameters on the performance of the interrogation technique has been investigated. Specifically, the effects of the bandwidth and the reflectivity of the FBGs, the SOA gain, and the depth of the intensity modulation have been addressed.

  20. Single transmission line interrogated multiple channel data acquisition system

    DOEpatents

    Fasching, George E.; Keech, Jr., Thomas W.

    1980-01-01

    A single transmission line interrogated multiple channel data acquisition system is provided in which a plurality of remote station/sensor circuits each monitors a specific process variable and each transmits measurement values over a single transmission line to a master interrogating station when addressed by said master interrogating station. Typically, as many as 330 remote stations may be parallel connected to the transmission line which may exceed 7,000 feet. The interrogation rate is typically 330 stations/second. The master interrogating station samples each station according to a shared, charging transmit-receive cycle. All remote station address signals, all data signals from the remote stations/sensors and all power for all of the remote station/sensors are transmitted via a single continuous terminated coaxial cable. A means is provided for periodically and remotely calibrating all remote sensors for zero and span. A provision is available to remotely disconnect any selected sensor station from the main transmission line.

  1. Investigation of magnetic microdiscs for bacterial pathogen detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Castillo-Torres, Keisha Y.; Garraud, Nicolas; Arnold, David P.; McLamore, Eric S.

    2016-05-01

    Despite strict regulations to control the presence of human pathogens in our food supply, recent foodborne outbreaks have heightened public concern about food safety and created urgency to improve methods for pathogen detection. Herein we explore a potentially portable, low-cost system that uses magnetic microdiscs for the detection of bacterial pathogens in liquid samples. The system operates by optically measuring the rotational dynamics of suspended magnetic microdiscs functionalized with pathogen-binding aptamers. The soft ferromagnetic (Ni80Fe20) microdiscs exhibit a closed magnetic spin arrangement (i.e. spin vortex) with zero magnetic stray field, leading to no disc agglomeration when in free suspension. With very high surface area for functionalization and volumes 10,000x larger than commonly used superparamagnetic nanoparticles, these 1.5-μm-diameter microdiscs are well suited for tagging, trapping, actuating, or interrogating bacterial targets. This work reports a wafer-level microfabrication process for fabrication of 600 million magnetic microdiscs per substrate and measurement of their rotational dynamics response. Additionally, the biofunctionalization of the microdiscs with DNA aptamers, subsequent binding to E. coli bacteria, and their magnetic manipulation is reported.

  2. System and method for inventorying multiple remote objects

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curtis L.; Gilbert, Ronald W.

    2007-10-23

    A system and method of inventorying multiple objects utilizing a multi-level or a chained radio frequency identification system. The system includes a master tag and a plurality of upper level tags and lower level tags associated with respective objects. The upper and lower level tags communicate with each other and the master tag so that reading of the master tag reveals the presence and absence of upper and lower level tags. In the chained RF system, the upper and lower level tags communicate locally with each other in a manner so that more remote tags that are out of range of some of the upper and lower level tags have their information relayed through adjacent tags to the master tag and thence to a controller.

  3. System and method for inventorying multiple remote objects

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curtis L [Morgan Hill, CA; Gilbert, Ronald W [Morgan Hill, CA

    2009-12-29

    A system and method of inventorying multiple objects utilizing a multi-level or a chained radio frequency identification system. The system includes a master tag and a plurality of upper level tags and lower level tags associated with respective objects. The upper and lower level tags communicate with each other and the master tag so that reading of the master tag reveals the presence and absence of upper and lower level tags. In the chained RF system, the upper and lower level tags communicate locally with each other in a manner so that more remote tags that are out of range of some of the upper and lower level tags have their information relayed through adjacent tags to the master tag and thence to a controller.

  4. A Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Interrogation System Based on a Linearly Wavelength-Swept Thermo-Optic Laser Chip

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Hyung-Seok; Lee, Hwi Don; Kim, Hyo Jin; Cho, Jae Du; Jeong, Myung Yung; Kim, Chang-Seok

    2014-01-01

    A linearized wavelength-swept thermo-optic laser chip was applied to demonstrate a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation system. A broad tuning range of 11.8 nm was periodically obtained from the laser chip for a sweep rate of 16 Hz. To measure the linear time response of the reflection signal from the FBG sensor, a programmed driving signal was directly applied to the wavelength-swept laser chip. The linear wavelength response of the applied strain was clearly extracted with an R-squared value of 0.99994. To test the feasibility of the system for dynamic measurements, the dynamic strain was successfully interrogated with a repetition rate of 0.2 Hz by using this FBG sensor interrogation system. PMID:25177803

  5. Adaptive CT scanning system

    DOEpatents

    Sampayan, Stephen E.

    2016-11-22

    Apparatus, systems, and methods that provide an X-ray interrogation system having a plurality of stationary X-ray point sources arranged to substantially encircle an area or space to be interrogated. A plurality of stationary detectors are arranged to substantially encircle the area or space to be interrogated, A controller is adapted to control the stationary X-ray point sources to emit X-rays one at a time, and to control the stationary detectors to detect the X-rays emitted by the stationary X-ray point sources.

  6. Performance of a remote interrogation system for the in-hospital evaluation of cardiac implantable electronic devices.

    PubMed

    Mittal, Suneet; Younge, Kevin; King-Ellison, Kelly; Hammill, Eric; Stein, Kenneth

    2016-08-01

    Patients with a cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) often need device interrogation in an in-hospital environment. A diagnosis-only, remote interrogation device and process for CIED interrogation was developed to address this situation. Here, we describe our initial clinical experience with this system. The LATITUDE Consult Communicator is a stand-alone interrogation-only device used to read the patient's implanted CIED. Once retrieved, the data are securely transmitted via an analog phone line to a central server. The clinician can request a review of the transmitted data at any time. Following FDA approval, we determined the usage and performance of the system. Communicators (n = 53) were installed in 42 hospital facilities. The most common location was in the emergency department (n = 32, 60 %). There were 509 discreet transmissions, which were categorized as follows: no arrhythmia episodes in the past 72 h and no out of range measurements (n = 174, 34 %); arrhythmia episodes in past 72 h but no out of range measurements (n = 170, 33 %); and further review recommended (n = 130, 26 %). (In 35 [7 %] instances, interrogation without analysis was requested.) The further review interrogations were then sub-divided into those of a non-urgent and urgent nature. Overall, only 53 (10 %) of the 509 transmissions were classified as urgent. Clinicians had access to full technical consultation in ≤15 min in 89 % of instances. Our data demonstrate the feasibility of a new diagnosis-only, remote interrogation device and remote evaluation process for the interrogation of CIEDs in an in-hospital environment.

  7. System and method for acquisition management of subject position information

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curt

    2005-12-13

    A system and method for acquisition management of subject position information that utilizes radio frequency identification (RF ID) to store position information in position tags. Tag programmers receive position information from external positioning systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), from manual inputs, such as keypads, or other tag programmers. The tag programmers program each position tag with the received position information. Both the tag programmers and the position tags can be portable or fixed. Implementations include portable tag programmers and fixed position tags for subject position guidance, and portable tag programmers for collection sample labeling. Other implementations include fixed tag programmers and portable position tags for subject route recordation. Position tags can contain other associated information such as destination address of an affixed subject for subject routing.

  8. System and method for acquisition management of subject position information

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curt [Morgan Hill, CA

    2007-01-23

    A system and method for acquisition management of subject position information that utilizes radio frequency identification (RF ID) to store position information in position tags. Tag programmers receive position information from external positioning systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), from manual inputs, such as keypads, or other tag programmers. The tag programmers program each position tag with the received position information. Both the tag programmers and the position tags can be portable or fixed. Implementations include portable tag programmers and fixed position tags for subject position guidance, and portable tag programmers for collection sample labeling. Other implementations include fixed tag programmers and portable position tags for subject route recordation. Position tags can contain other associated information such as destination address of an affixed subject for subject routing.

  9. Development of RAP Tag, a Novel Tagging System for Protein Detection and Purification.

    PubMed

    Fujii, Yuki; Kaneko, Mika K; Ogasawara, Satoshi; Yamada, Shinji; Yanaka, Miyuki; Nakamura, Takuro; Saidoh, Noriko; Yoshida, Kanae; Honma, Ryusuke; Kato, Yukinari

    2017-04-01

    Affinity tag systems, possessing high affinity and specificity, are useful for protein detection and purification. The most suitable tag for a particular purpose should be selected from many available affinity tag systems. In this study, we developed a novel affinity tag called the "RAP tag" system, which comprises a mouse antirat podoplanin monoclonal antibody (clone PMab-2) and the RAP tag (DMVNPGLEDRIE). This system is useful not only for protein detection in Western blotting, flow cytometry, and sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, but also for protein purification.

  10. Research on the demodulation techniques of long-period fiber gratings strain sensing with low cost

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Qingwei; Liu, Yueming; Tian, Weijian; Feng, Guilan

    2012-10-01

    The working principle of LPFG(Long-Period Fiber Grating) is based on coupling effect between propagating core-mode and co-propagating cladding-modes. The effective refractive index of cladding-modes could be obviously influenced by the environmental changes resulting in LPFG more sensitive than FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) in sensing areas, such as temperature, strain, concentration, bending and etc. LPFG should have more potential in the field of sensors compared with FBG. One of the challenges in using LPFG for environmental sensing is how to interrogate the signal from the LPFG transmission spectrum, due to the large spectral range of the resonant dip. Nowadays the application of LPFG is normally limited in signal interrogation of FBG as optical edge filter. The signal interrogation of LPFG itself needs further research. Presently research on signal interrogation of fiber grating focuses on wavelength interrogation. The aim of wavelength interrogation is to get the wavelength shift caused by environmental change. To solve these problems, a kind of strain sensing interrogation technique for LPFG with low-cost based on tunable FBGs has been developed. Comparing with the method using Fabry-Perot cavity, tunable FBGs can lower the cost with the guarantee of sensing precision. The cost is further lowered without using expensive optical instruments such as optical switch. The problem of temperature cross-sensitivity was solved by using reference gratings. An experiment was performed to demonstrate the interrogation system. And in the experiment, the sensing signal of LPFG applied 0-1300μɛ was successfully interrogated. The results of the interrogation system and OSA are similar.

  11. Progress in miniaturization of a multichannel optical fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lopatin, Craig M.; Mahmood, Shah; Mendoza, Edgar; Moslehi, Behzad; Black, Richard; Chau, Kelvin; Oblea, Levy

    2007-07-01

    An effort to develop a miniaturized multichannel optical fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator was initiated in 2006 under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The goal was to develop an interrogator that would be sufficiently small and light to be incorporated into a health monitoring system for use on tactical missiles. Two companies, Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems Corporation (IFOS) and Redondo Optics, were funded in Phase I, and this paper describes the prototype interrogators that were developed. The two companies took very different approaches: IFOS focused on developing a unit that would have a high channel count and high resolution, using off-the-shelf components, while Redondo Optics chose to develop a unit that would be very small and lightweight, using custom designed integrated optical chips. It is believed that both approaches will result in interrogators that will be significantly small, lighter, and possibly even more precise than what is currently commercially available. This paper will also briefly describe some of the sensing concepts that may be used to interrogate the health of the solid rocket motors used in many missile systems. The sponsor of this program was NAVAIR PMA 280.

  12. 48 CFR 237.173 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 237.173 Section 237.173 Federal Acquisition Regulations... SERVICE CONTRACTING Service Contracts-General 237.173 Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by...

  13. 48 CFR 237.173 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 237.173 Section 237.173 Federal Acquisition Regulations... SERVICE CONTRACTING Service Contracts-General 237.173 Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by...

  14. 48 CFR 237.173 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 237.173 Section 237.173 Federal Acquisition Regulations... SERVICE CONTRACTING Service Contracts-General 237.173 Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by...

  15. 48 CFR 237.173 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 237.173 Section 237.173 Federal Acquisition Regulations... SERVICE CONTRACTING Service Contracts-General 237.173 Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by...

  16. Fiber-MZI-based FBG sensor interrogation: comparative study with a CCD spectrometer.

    PubMed

    Das, Bhargab; Chandra, Vikash

    2016-10-10

    We present an experimental comparative study of the two most commonly used fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogation techniques: a charge-coupled device (CCD) spectrometer and a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (F-MZI). Although the interferometric interrogation technique is historically known to offer the highest sensitivity measurements, very little information exists regarding how it compares with the current commercially available spectral-characteristics-based interrogation systems. It is experimentally established here that the performance of a modern-day CCD spectrometer interrogator is very close to a F-MZI interrogator with the capability of measuring Bragg wavelength shifts with sub-picometer-level accuracy. The results presented in this research study can further be used as a guideline for choosing between the two FBG sensor interrogator types for small-amplitude dynamic perturbation measurements down to nano-level strain.

  17. Evaluation of fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogation using InGaAs linear detector arrays and Gaussian approximation on embedded hardware.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Saurabh; Amrutur, Bharadwaj; Asokan, Sundarrajan

    2018-02-01

    Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have become popular for applications related to structural health monitoring, biomedical engineering, and robotics. However, for successful large scale adoption, FBG interrogation systems are as important as sensor characteristics. Apart from accuracy, the required number of FBG sensors per fiber and the distance between the device in which the sensors are used and the interrogation system also influence the selection of the interrogation technique. For several measurement devices developed for applications in biomedical engineering and robotics, only a few sensors per fiber are required and the device is close to the interrogation system. For these applications, interrogation systems based on InGaAs linear detector arrays provide a good choice. However, their resolution is dependent on the algorithms used for curve fitting. In this work, a detailed analysis of the choice of algorithm using the Gaussian approximation for the FBG spectrum and the number of pixels used for curve fitting on the errors is provided. The points where the maximum errors occur have been identified. All comparisons for wavelength shift detection have been made against another interrogation system based on the tunable swept laser. It has been shown that maximum errors occur when the wavelength shift is such that one new pixel is included for curve fitting. It has also been shown that an algorithm with lower computation cost compared to the more popular methods using iterative non-linear least squares estimation can be used without leading to the loss of accuracy. The algorithm has been implemented on embedded hardware, and a speed-up of approximately six times has been observed.

  18. Evaluation of fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogation using InGaAs linear detector arrays and Gaussian approximation on embedded hardware

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, Saurabh; Amrutur, Bharadwaj; Asokan, Sundarrajan

    2018-02-01

    Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors have become popular for applications related to structural health monitoring, biomedical engineering, and robotics. However, for successful large scale adoption, FBG interrogation systems are as important as sensor characteristics. Apart from accuracy, the required number of FBG sensors per fiber and the distance between the device in which the sensors are used and the interrogation system also influence the selection of the interrogation technique. For several measurement devices developed for applications in biomedical engineering and robotics, only a few sensors per fiber are required and the device is close to the interrogation system. For these applications, interrogation systems based on InGaAs linear detector arrays provide a good choice. However, their resolution is dependent on the algorithms used for curve fitting. In this work, a detailed analysis of the choice of algorithm using the Gaussian approximation for the FBG spectrum and the number of pixels used for curve fitting on the errors is provided. The points where the maximum errors occur have been identified. All comparisons for wavelength shift detection have been made against another interrogation system based on the tunable swept laser. It has been shown that maximum errors occur when the wavelength shift is such that one new pixel is included for curve fitting. It has also been shown that an algorithm with lower computation cost compared to the more popular methods using iterative non-linear least squares estimation can be used without leading to the loss of accuracy. The algorithm has been implemented on embedded hardware, and a speed-up of approximately six times has been observed.

  19. Discovering Psychological Principles by Mining Naturally Occurring Data Sets.

    PubMed

    Goldstone, Robert L; Lupyan, Gary

    2016-07-01

    The very expertise with which psychologists wield their tools for achieving laboratory control may have had the unwelcome effect of blinding psychologists to the possibilities of discovering principles of behavior without conducting experiments. When creatively interrogated, a diverse range of large, real-world data sets provides powerful diagnostic tools for revealing principles of human judgment, perception, categorization, decision-making, language use, inference, problem solving, and representation. Examples of these data sets include patterns of website links, dictionaries, logs of group interactions, collections of images and image tags, text corpora, history of financial transactions, trends in twitter tag usage and propagation, patents, consumer product sales, performance in high-stakes sporting events, dialect maps, and scientific citations. The goal of this issue is to present some exemplary case studies of mining naturally existing data sets to reveal important principles and phenomena in cognitive science, and to discuss some of the underlying issues involved with conducting traditional experiments, analyses of naturally occurring data, computational modeling, and the synthesis of all three methods. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  20. Mechanical property assessment of tissue-mimicking phantoms using remote palpation and optical read-out for amplitude of vibration and refractive index modulation.

    PubMed

    Usha Devi, C; Bharat Chandran, R S; Vasu, R Mohan; Sood, Ajay K

    2007-01-01

    A coherent light beam is used to interrogate the focal region within a tissue-mimicking phantom insonified by an ultrasound transducer. The ultrasound-tagged photons exiting from the object carry with them information on local optical path length fluctuations caused by refractive index variations and medium vibration. Through estimation of the force distribution in the focal region of the ultrasound transducer, and solving the forward elastography problem for amplitude of vibration of tissue particles, we observe that the amplitude is directed along the axis of the transducer. It is shown that the focal region interrogated by photons launched along the transducer axis carries phase fluctuations owing to both refractive index variations and particle vibration, whereas the photons launched perpendicular to the transducer axis carry phase fluctuations arising mainly from the refractive index variations, with only smaller contribution from vibration of particles. Monte-Carlo simulations and experiments done on tissue-mimicking phantoms prove that as the storage modulus of the phantom is increased, the detected modulation depth in autocorrelation is reduced, significantly for axial photons and only marginally for the transverse-directed photons. It is observed that the depth of modulation is reduced to a significantly lower and constant value as the storage modulus of the medium is increased. This constant value is found to be the same for both axial and transverse optical interrogation. This proves that the residual modulation depth is owing to refractive index fluctuations alone, which can be subtracted from the overall measured modulation depth, paving the way for a possible quantitative reconstruction of storage modulus. Moreover, since the transverse-directed photons are not significantly affected by storage modulus variations, for a quantitatively accurate read-out of absorption coefficient variation, the interrogating light should be perpendicular to the focusing ultrasound transducer axis.

  1. Monitoring the Migrations of Wild Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Juveniles, 2007-2008

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

    Achord, Stephen; Sandford, Benjamin P.; Hockersmith, Eric E.

    2009-07-09

    This report provides results from an ongoing project to monitor the migration behavior and survival of wild juvenile spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. Data reported is from detections of PIT tagged fish during late summer 2007 through mid-2008. Fish were tagged in summer 2007 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Idaho and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in Oregon. Our analyses include migration behavior and estimated survival of fish at instream PIT-tag monitors and arrival timing and estimated survival to Lower Granite Dam. Principal results from tagging and interrogation during 2007-2008more » are: (1) In July and August 2007, we PIT tagged and released 7,390 wild Chinook salmon parr in 12 Idaho streams or sample areas. (2) Overall observed mortality from collection, handling, tagging, and after a 24-hour holding period was 1.4%. (3) Of the 2,524 Chinook salmon parr PIT tagged and released in Valley Creek in summer 2007, 218 (8.6%) were detected at two instream PIT-tag monitoring systems in lower Valley Creek from late summer 2007 to the following spring 2008. Of these, 71.6% were detected in late summer/fall, 11.9% in winter, and 16.5% in spring. Estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam was 15.5% for the late summer/fall group, 48.0% for the winter group, and 58.5% for the spring group. Based on detections at downstream dams, the overall efficiency of VC1 (upper) or VC2 (lower) Valley Creek monitors for detecting these fish was 21.1%. Using this VC1 or VC2 efficiency, an estimated 40.8% of all summer-tagged parr survived to move out of Valley Creek, and their estimated survival from that point to Lower Granite Dam was 26.5%. Overall estimated parr-to-smolt survival for all summer-tagged parr from this stream at the dam was 12.1%. Development and improvement of instream PIT-tag monitoring systems continued throughout 2007 and 2008. (4) Testing of PIT-tag antennas in lower Big Creek during 2007-2008 showed these antennas (and anchoring method) are not adequate to withstand high spring flows in this drainage. Future plans involve removing these antennas before high spring flows. (5) At Little Goose Dam in 2008, length and/or weight were taken on 505 recaptured fish from 12 Idaho stream populations. Fish had grown an average of 40.1 mm in length and 10.6 g in weight over an average of 288 d. Their mean condition factor declined from 1.25 at release (parr) to 1.05 at recapture (smolt). (6) Mean release lengths for detected fish were significantly larger than for fish not detected the following spring and summer (P < 0.0001). (7) Fish that migrated through Lower Granite Dam in April and May were significantly larger at release than fish that migrated after May (P < 0.0001) (only 12 fish migrated after May). (8) In 2008, peak detections at Lower Granite Dam of parr tagged during summer 2007 (from the 12 stream populations in Idaho and 4 streams in Oregon) occurred during moderate flows of 87.5 kcfs on 7 May and high flows of 197.3 kcfs on 20 May. The 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile passage occurred on 30 April, 11 May, and 23 May, respectively. (9) In 2007-2008, estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam for Idaho and Oregon streams (combined) averaged 19.4% (range 6.2-38.4% depending on stream of origin). In Idaho streams the estimated parr-to-smolt survival averaged 21.0%. This survival was the second highest since 1993 for Idaho streams. Relative parr densities were lower in 2007 (2.4 parr/100 m2) than in all previous years since 2000. In 2008, we observed low-to-moderate flows prior to mid-May and relatively cold weather conditions throughout the spring migration season. These conditions moved half of the fish through Lower Granite Dam prior to mid-May; then high flows moved 50 to 90% of the fish through the dam in only 12 days. Clearly, complex interrelationships of several factors drive the annual migrational timing of the stocks.« less

  2. Understanding why users tag: A survey of tagging motivation literature and results from an empirical study.

    PubMed

    Strohmaier, Markus; Körner, Christian; Kern, Roman

    2012-12-01

    While recent progress has been achieved in understanding the structure and dynamics of social tagging systems, we know little about the underlying user motivations for tagging, and how they influence resulting folksonomies and tags. This paper addresses three issues related to this question. (1) What distinctions of user motivations are identified by previous research, and in what ways are the motivations of users amenable to quantitative analysis? (2) To what extent does tagging motivation vary across different social tagging systems? (3) How does variability in user motivation influence resulting tags and folksonomies? In this paper, we present measures to detect whether a tagger is primarily motivated by categorizing or describing resources, and apply these measures to datasets from seven different tagging systems. Our results show that (a) users' motivation for tagging varies not only across, but also within tagging systems, and that (b) tag agreement among users who are motivated by categorizing resources is significantly lower than among users who are motivated by describing resources . Our findings are relevant for (1) the development of tag-based user interfaces, (2) the analysis of tag semantics and (3) the design of search algorithms for social tagging systems.

  3. Understanding why users tag: A survey of tagging motivation literature and results from an empirical study

    PubMed Central

    Strohmaier, Markus; Körner, Christian; Kern, Roman

    2012-01-01

    While recent progress has been achieved in understanding the structure and dynamics of social tagging systems, we know little about the underlying user motivations for tagging, and how they influence resulting folksonomies and tags. This paper addresses three issues related to this question. (1) What distinctions of user motivations are identified by previous research, and in what ways are the motivations of users amenable to quantitative analysis? (2) To what extent does tagging motivation vary across different social tagging systems? (3) How does variability in user motivation influence resulting tags and folksonomies? In this paper, we present measures to detect whether a tagger is primarily motivated by categorizing or describing resources, and apply these measures to datasets from seven different tagging systems. Our results show that (a) users’ motivation for tagging varies not only across, but also within tagging systems, and that (b) tag agreement among users who are motivated by categorizing resources is significantly lower than among users who are motivated by describing resources. Our findings are relevant for (1) the development of tag-based user interfaces, (2) the analysis of tag semantics and (3) the design of search algorithms for social tagging systems. PMID:23471473

  4. Anti-collision radio-frequency identification system using passive SAW tags

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sorokin, A. V.; Shepeta, A. P.

    2017-06-01

    Modern multi sensor systems should have high operating speed and resistance to climate impacts. Radiofrequency systems use passive SAW tags for identification items and vehicles. These tags find application in industry, traffic remote control systems, and railway remote traffic control systems for identification and speed measuring. However, collision of the passive SAW RFID tags hinders development passive RFID SAW technology in Industry. The collision problem for passive SAW tags leads for incorrect identification and encoding each tag. In our researching, we suggest approach for identification of several passive SAW tags in collision case.

  5. Rattling Nucleons: New Developments in Active Interrogation of Special Nuclear Material

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

    Robert C. Runkle; David L. Chichester; Scott J. Thompson

    2012-01-01

    Active interrogation is a vigorous area of research and development due to its promise of offering detection and characterization capabilities of special nuclear material in environments where passive detection fails. The primary value added by active methods is the capability to penetrate shielding - special nuclear material itself, incidental materials, or intentional shielding - and advocates hope that active interrogation will provide a solution to the problem of detecting shielded uranium, which is at present the greatest obstacle to interdiction efforts. The technique also provides a unique benefit for quantifying nuclear material in high background-radiation environments, an area important formore » nuclear material safeguards and material accountancy. Progress has been made in the field of active interrogation on several fronts, most notably in the arenas of source development, systems integration, and the integration and exploitation of multiple fission and non-fission signatures. But penetration of interrogating radiation often comes at a cost, not only in terms of finance and dose but also in terms of induced backgrounds, system complexity, and extended measurement times (including set up and acquisition). These costs make the calculus for deciding to implement active interrogation more subtle than may be apparent. The purpose of this review is thus to examine existing interrogation methods, compare and contrast their attributes and limitations, and identify missions where active interrogation may hold the most promise.« less

  6. Rattling nucleons: New developments in active interrogation of special nuclear material

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Runkle, Robert C.; Chichester, David L.; Thompson, Scott J.

    2012-01-01

    Active interrogation is a vigorous area of research and development due to its promise of offering detection and characterization capabilities of special nuclear material in environments where passive detection fails. The primary value added by active methods is the capability to penetrate shielding—special nuclear material itself, incidental materials, or intentional shielding—and advocates hope that active interrogation will provide a solution to the problem of detecting shielded uranium, which is at present the greatest obstacle to interdiction efforts. The technique also provides a unique benefit for quantifying nuclear material in high background-radiation environments, an area important for nuclear material safeguards and material accountancy. Progress has been made in the field of active interrogation on several fronts, most notably in the arenas of source development, systems integration, and the integration and exploitation of multiple fission and non-fission signatures. But penetration of interrogating radiation often comes at a cost, not only in terms of finance and dose but also in terms of induced backgrounds, system complexity, and extended measurement times (including set up and acquisition). These costs make the calculus for deciding to implement active interrogation more subtle than may be apparent. The purpose of this review is thus to examine existing interrogation methods, compare and contrast their attributes and limitations, and identify missions where active interrogation may hold the most promise.

  7. The phase interrogation method for optical fiber sensor by analyzing the fork interference pattern

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lv, Riqing; Qiu, Liqiang; Hu, Haifeng; Meng, Lu; Zhang, Yong

    2018-02-01

    The phase interrogation method for optical fiber sensor is proposed based on the fork interference pattern between the orbital angular momentum beam and plane wave. The variation of interference pattern with phase difference between the two light beams is investigated to realize the phase interrogation. By employing principal component analysis method, the features of the interference pattern can be extracted. Moreover, the experimental system is designed to verify the theoretical analysis, as well as feasibility of phase interrogation. In this work, the Mach-Zehnder interferometer was employed to convert the strain applied on sensing fiber to the phase difference between the reference and measuring paths. This interrogation method is also applicable for the measurements of other physical parameters, which can produce the phase delay in optical fiber. The performance of the system can be further improved by employing highlysensitive materials and fiber structures.

  8. Neural net controlled tag gas sampling system for nuclear reactors

    DOEpatents

    Gross, Kenneth C.; Laug, Matthew T.; Lambert, John D. B.; Herzog, James P.

    1997-01-01

    A method and system for providing a tag gas identifier to a nuclear fuel rod and analyze escaped tag gas to identify a particular failed nuclear fuel rod. The method and system include disposing a unique tag gas composition into a plenum of a nuclear fuel rod, monitoring gamma ray activity, analyzing gamma ray signals to assess whether a nuclear fuel rod has failed and is emitting tag gas, activating a tag gas sampling and analysis system upon sensing tag gas emission from a failed nuclear rod and evaluating the escaped tag gas to identify the particular failed nuclear fuel rod.

  9. Investigating passage of ESA-listed juvenile fall Chinook salmon at Lower Granite Dam during winter when the fish bypass system is not operated. 2006 Annual Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Kock, Tobias J.; Connor, William P.

    2007-01-01

    During the winter of 2005-06, we radio and PIT tagged and released 48 juvenile fall Chinook salmon to evaluate over-wintering behavior and dam passage in the lower Snake River, Washington. Fish were released at the upstream end of the Lower Granite Dam forebay in November and December 2005. Fixed radio telemetry detection sites located in forebay and tailrace areas of Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams were used to monitor fish movements and dam passage through early-May 2006. Of the 48 fish released during our study, 39 (81 %) passed Lower Granite Dam and were detected at downstream detection sites, 29 (60%) passed Little Goose Dam, 25 (52%) passed Lower Monumental Dam, and 15 (31%) passed Ice Harbor Dam. Thirty-seven (95%), 23 (79%), 16 (64%), and 9 (60%) of the fish that passed Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice Harbor dams respectively, did so when the fish bypass system was not operated. Passage of tagged fish past lower Snake River dams generally declined during the winter, but increased again after bypass began in April. Fish residence times in reservoirs and forebays was lengthy during the winter (up to 118 d), and varied by reservoir and time of year. We observed no diel passage trends. Only 15 of the 48 fish were subsequently detected at a PIT-tag interrogation site the following spring. We believe that passage of overwintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon during winter is due more to chance than directed downstream movement. Since the primary route of passage during the winter is through powerhouse turbines, the potential exists for increased mortality for over-wintering juvenile fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River. Our findings also have implications for transportation studies of subyearling fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River. Specifically, the finding that some fish can pass undetected during the winter may bias smolt-to-adult return rate calculations that are typically used to measure the success of the aforementioned management actions.

  10. Measurement of the ATCRBS Surface Interrogation Environments at Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles International Airports

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1976-07-01

    The Transportation Systems Center is conducting a progrm to develop a surface surveillance sensor that uses replies from ATCRBS tansponders. The operation of this system can be affected by surface interrogations at major airports where such a system ...

  11. Low-Cost Peptide Microarrays for Mapping Continuous Antibody Epitopes.

    PubMed

    McBride, Ryan; Head, Steven R; Ordoukhanian, Phillip; Law, Mansun

    2016-01-01

    With the increasing need for understanding antibody specificity in antibody and vaccine research, pepscan assays provide a rapid method for mapping and profiling antibody responses to continuous epitopes. We have developed a relatively low-cost method to generate peptide microarray slides for studying antibody binding. Using a setup of an IntavisAG MultiPep RS peptide synthesizer, a Digilab MicroGrid II 600 microarray printer robot, and an InnoScan 1100 AL scanner, the method allows the interrogation of up to 1536 overlapping, alanine-scanning, and mutant peptides derived from the target antigens. Each peptide is tagged with a polyethylene glycol aminooxy terminus to improve peptide solubility, orientation, and conjugation efficiency to the slide surface.

  12. Development of fiber optic sensing interrogators for launchers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Plattner, M. P.; Buck, T. C.; Eder, B.; Reutlinger, A.; McKenzie, I.

    2017-11-01

    We present our work about the development of two complementary interrogation schemes based on fiber optic sensing for the use of structural and thermal monitoring of Ariane launchers. The advantages of fiber optic sensing in particular light-weight, immunity to electromagnetic interferences and the possibility of sensor distribution along optical fibers are driving factors for utilization of this technology in space crafts [1]. The edge-filter (EF) and scanning-laser (SL) interrogators for determination of the mean wavelength of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have been implemented as two separate demonstrators. Within this paper we describe the functional principles of both interrogators. Furthermore we present test results where the developed systems have been used for readout of FBG sensors which are implemented in an Ariane structural demonstrator during thermal, thermal-vacuum and vibration tests. Functionality of both systems is demonstrated and their potential for further development towards space qualified systems is shown. Since the performance characteristics of the two systems are different from each other, they are dedicated for different sensing applications on a launcher. The EF sensor interrogator provides a sample rate of 20 kHz at a number of 4 connected sensors and supports parallel readout and aliasing free operation. Therefore it is best suited for high priority measurement. Structural monitoring which requires the acquisition of real time sensor information in order to support control of the launcher is one operation area for a future EF system. The SL interrogator provides an overall measurement rate of 1 kHz at a number of 24 connected sensors distributed on three sensor channels. It can be adapted to any sensors that have design wavelengths lying within the output spectrum of the laser diode. Furthermore the number of overall sensors to be read out with this system can be adapted easily. Thermal mapping of satellite panels is one possible future application for the SL interrogator.

  13. Ask Systems: Interrogative Access to Multiple Ways of Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jonassen, David H.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to familiarize instructional designers and researchers with a useful design and research paradigm known as "Ask Systems." Ask Systems are interrogative interfaces to information and learning environments that model conversations with a skilled, reflective practitioner (Schon, The reflective practitioner, "1983") or…

  14. Neural net controlled tag gas sampling system for nuclear reactors

    DOEpatents

    Gross, K.C.; Laug, M.T.; Lambert, J.B.; Herzog, J.P.

    1997-02-11

    A method and system are disclosed for providing a tag gas identifier to a nuclear fuel rod and analyze escaped tag gas to identify a particular failed nuclear fuel rod. The method and system include disposing a unique tag gas composition into a plenum of a nuclear fuel rod, monitoring gamma ray activity, analyzing gamma ray signals to assess whether a nuclear fuel rod has failed and is emitting tag gas, activating a tag gas sampling and analysis system upon sensing tag gas emission from a failed nuclear rod and evaluating the escaped tag gas to identify the particular failed nuclear fuel rod. 12 figs.

  15. Authenticated, private, and secured smart cards (APS-SC)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szu, Harold; Mehmood, Amir

    2006-04-01

    From historical perspective, the recent advancements in better antenna designs, low power circuitry integrations and inexpensive fabrication materials have made possible a miniature counter-measure against Radar, a clutter behaving like a fake target return called Digital Reflection Frequency Modulation (DRFM). Such a military counter-measure have found its way in the commerce as a near field communication known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a passive or active item tag T attached to every readable-writable Smart Card (SC): Passports ID, medical patient ID, biometric ID, driver licenses, book ID, library ID, etc. These avalanche phenomena may be due to the 3 rd Gen phones seeking much more versatile & inexpensive interfaces, than the line-of-sight bar-code optical scan. Despite of the popularity of RFID, the lacking of Authenticity, Privacy and Security (APS) protection restricted somewhat the wide spread commercial, financial, medical, legal, and militarily applications. Conventional APS approach can obfuscate a private passkey K of SC with the tag number T or the reader number R, or both, i.e. only T*K or R*K or both will appear on them, where * denotes an invertible operation, e.g. EXOR, but not limited to it. Then, only the authentic owner, knowing all, can inverse the operation, e.g. EXOR*EXOR= I to find K. However, such an encryption could be easily compromised by a hacker seeking exhaustively by comparison based on those frequently used words. Nevertheless, knowing biological wetware lesson for power of pairs sensors and Radar hardware counter-measure history, we can counter the counter-measure DRFM, instead using one RFID tag per SD, we follow the Nature adopting two ears/tags, e.g. each one holding portions of the ID or simply two different ID's readable only by different modes of the interrogating reader, followed by brain central processor in terms of nonlinear invertible shufflers mixing two ID bits. We prefer to adopt such a hardware-software combined hybrid approach because of a too limited phase space of a single RFID for any meaningful encryption approach. Furthermore, a useful biological lesson is not to put all eggs in one basket, "if you don't get it all, you can't hack it". According to the Radar physics, we can choose the amplitude, the frequency, the phase, the polarization, and two radiation energy supply principles, the capacitance coupling (~6m) and the inductance coupling (<1m), to code the pair of tags differently. A casual skimmer equipped with single-mode reader can not read all. We consider near-field and mid-field applications each in this paper. The near-field is at check-out counters or the convey-belt inventory involving sensitive and invariant data. The mid-field search & rescue involves not only item/person identification, but also the geo-location. If more RF power becomes cheaper & portable for longer propagation distance in the near future, then a triangulation with pair of secured readers, located at known geo-locations, could interrogate and identify items/persons and their locations in a GPS-blind environment.

  16. AN/UPX-41(C) Digital Interrogator System Compatibility with the National Airspace System: Chesapeake Fixed-Base Test.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-10-31

    In 2012, the Navy requested spectrum certification for the shipboard AN/UPX-41(C) Digital Interrogator System, Software Version 5.5 with Mode 5. Current operating conditions for the Navys AN/UPX-41(C) are the same as restrictions imposed on the AN...

  17. Rodent wearable ultrasound system for wireless neural recording.

    PubMed

    Piech, David K; Kay, Joshua E; Boser, Bernhard E; Maharbiz, Michel M

    2017-07-01

    Advances in minimally-invasive, distributed biological interface nodes enable possibilities for networks of sensors and actuators to connect the brain with external devices. The recent development of the neural dust sensor mote has shown that utilizing ultrasound backscatter communication enables untethered sub-mm neural recording devices. These implanted sensor motes require a wearable external ultrasound interrogation device to enable in-vivo, freely-behaving neural interface experiments. However, minimizing the complexity and size of the implanted sensors shifts the power and processing burden to the external interrogator. In this paper, we present an ultrasound backscatter interrogator that supports real-time backscatter processing in a rodent-wearable, completely wireless device. We demonstrate a generic digital encoding scheme which is intended for transmitting neural information. The system integrates a front-end ultrasonic interface ASIC with off-the-shelf components to enable a highly compact ultrasound interrogation device intended for rodent neural interface experiments but applicable to other model systems.

  18. Methods And System Suppressing Clutter In A Gain-Block, Radar-Responsive Tag System

    DOEpatents

    Ormesher, Richard C.; Axline, Robert M.

    2006-04-18

    Methods and systems reduce clutter interference in a radar-responsive tag system. A radar transmits a series of linear-frequency-modulated pulses and receives echo pulses from nearby terrain and from radar-responsive tags that may be in the imaged scene. Tags in the vicinity of the radar are activated by the radar's pulses. The tags receive and remodulate the radar pulses. Tag processing reverses the direction, in time, of the received waveform's linear frequency modulation. The tag retransmits the remodulated pulses. The radar uses a reversed-chirp de-ramp pulse to process the tag's echo. The invention applies to radar systems compatible with coherent gain-block tags. The invention provides a marked reduction in the strength of residual clutter echoes on each and every echo pulse received by the radar. SAR receiver processing effectively whitens passive-clutter signatures across the range dimension. Clutter suppression of approximately 14 dB is achievable for a typical radar system.

  19. Ultrafast Fiber Bragg Grating Interrogation for Sensing in Detonation and Shock Wave Experiments.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, George; Gilbertson, Steve M

    2017-01-27

    Chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) sensors coupled to high speed interrogation systems are described as robust diagnostic approaches to monitoring shock wave and detonation front propagation tracking events for use in high energy density shock physics applications. Taking advantage of the linear distributed spatial encoding of the spectral band in single-mode CFBGs, embedded fiber systems and associated photonic interrogation methodologies are shown as an effective approach to sensing shock and detonation-driven loading processes along the CFBG length. Two approaches, one that detects spectral changes in the integrated spectrum of the CFBG and another coherent pulse interrogation approach that fully resolves its spectral response, shows that 100-MHz-1-GHz interrogation rates are possible with spatial resolution along the CFBG in the 50 µm to sub-millimeter range depending on the combination of CFBG parameters (i.e., length, chirp rate, spectrum) and interrogator design specifics. Results from several dynamic tests are used to demonstrate the performance of these high speed systems for shock and detonation propagation tracking under strong and weak shock pressure loading: (1) linear detonation front tracking in the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) PBX-9501; (2) tracking of radial decaying shock with crossover to non-destructive CFBG response; (3) shock wave tracking along an aluminum cylinder wall under weak loading accompanied by dynamic strain effects in the CFBG sensor.

  20. Ultrafast Fiber Bragg Grating Interrogation for Sensing in Detonation and Shock Wave Experiments

    PubMed Central

    Rodriguez, George; Gilbertson, Steve M.

    2017-01-01

    Chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) sensors coupled to high speed interrogation systems are described as robust diagnostic approaches to monitoring shock wave and detonation front propagation tracking events for use in high energy density shock physics applications. Taking advantage of the linear distributed spatial encoding of the spectral band in single-mode CFBGs, embedded fiber systems and associated photonic interrogation methodologies are shown as an effective approach to sensing shock and detonation-driven loading processes along the CFBG length. Two approaches, one that detects spectral changes in the integrated spectrum of the CFBG and another coherent pulse interrogation approach that fully resolves its spectral response, shows that 100-MHz–1-GHz interrogation rates are possible with spatial resolution along the CFBG in the 50 μm to sub-millimeter range depending on the combination of CFBG parameters (i.e., length, chirp rate, spectrum) and interrogator design specifics. Results from several dynamic tests are used to demonstrate the performance of these high speed systems for shock and detonation propagation tracking under strong and weak shock pressure loading: (1) linear detonation front tracking in the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) PBX-9501; (2) tracking of radial decaying shock with crossover to non-destructive CFBG response; (3) shock wave tracking along an aluminum cylinder wall under weak loading accompanied by dynamic strain effects in the CFBG sensor. PMID:28134819

  1. Ultrafast Fiber Bragg Grating Interrogation for Sensing in Detonation and Shock Wave Experiments

    DOE PAGES

    Rodriguez, George; Gilbertson, Steve Michael

    2017-01-27

    Chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) sensors coupled to high speed interrogation systems are described as robust diagnostic approaches to monitoring shock wave and detonation front propagation tracking events for use in high energy density shock physics applications. Taking advantage of the linear distributed spatial encoding of the spectral band in single-mode CFBGs, embedded fiber systems and associated photonic interrogation methodologies are shown as an effective approach to sensing shock and detonation-driven loading processes along the CFBG length. Two approaches, one that detects spectral changes in the integrated spectrum of the CFBG and another coherent pulse interrogation approach that fully resolvesmore » its spectral response, shows that 100-MHz–1-GHz interrogation rates are possible with spatial resolution along the CFBG in the 50 µm to sub-millimeter range depending on the combination of CFBG parameters (i.e., length, chirp rate, spectrum) and interrogator design specifics. In conclusion, results from several dynamic tests are used to demonstrate the performance of these high speed systems for shock and detonation propagation tracking under strong and weak shock pressure loading: (1) linear detonation front tracking in the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) PBX-9501; (2) tracking of radial decaying shock with crossover to non-destructive CFBG response; (3) shock wave tracking along an aluminum cylinder wall under weak loading accompanied by dynamic strain effects in the CFBG sensor.« less

  2. Resolution-improved in situ DNA hybridization detection based on microwave photonic interrogation.

    PubMed

    Cao, Yuan; Guo, Tuan; Wang, Xudong; Sun, Dandan; Ran, Yang; Feng, Xinhuan; Guan, Bai-ou

    2015-10-19

    In situ bio-sensing system based on microwave photonics filter (MPF) interrogation method with improved resolution is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A microfiber Bragg grating (mFBG) is used as sensing probe for DNA hybridization detection. Different from the traditional wavelength monitoring technique, we use the frequency interrogation scheme for resolution-improved bio-sensing detection. Experimental results show that the frequency shift of MPF notch presents a linear response to the surrounding refractive index (SRI) change over the range of 1.33 to 1.38, with a SRI resolution up to 2.6 × 10(-5) RIU, which has been increased for almost two orders of magnitude compared with the traditional fundamental mode monitoring technique (~3.6 × 10(-3) RIU). Due to the high Q value (about 27), the whole process of DNA hybridization can be in situ monitored. The proposed MPF-based bio-sensing system provides a new interrogation method over the frequency domain with improved sensing resolution and rapid interrogation rate for biochemical and environmental measurement.

  3. Low-cost and high-resolution interrogation scheme for LPG-based temperature sensor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venkata Reddy, M.; Srimannarayana, K.; Venkatappa Rao, T.; Vengal Rao, P.

    2015-09-01

    A low-cost and high-resolution interrogation scheme for a long-period fiber grating (LPG) temperature sensor with adjustable temperature range has been designed, developed and tested. In general LPGs are widely used as optical sensors and can be used as optical edge filters to interrogate the wavelength encoded signal from sensors such as fiber Bragg grating (FBG) by converting it into intensity modulated signal. But the interrogation of LPG sensors using FBG is a bit novel and it is to be studied experimentally. The sensor works based on measurement of shift in attenuation band of LPG corresponding to the applied temperature. The wavelength shift of LPG attenuation band is monitored using an optical spectrum analyser (OSA). Further the bulk and expensive OSA is replaced with a low-cost interrogation system that employ an FBG, photodiode and a transimpedance amplifier (TIA). The designed interrogation scheme makes the system low-cost, fast in response, and also enhances its resolution up to 0.1°C. The measurable temperature range using the proposed scheme is limited to 120 °C. However this range can be shifted within 15-450 °C by means of adjusting the Bragg wavelength of FBG.

  4. Active-Interrogation Measurements of Fast Neutrons from Induced Fission in Low-Enriched Uranium

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

    J. L. Dolan; M. J. Marcath; M. Flaska

    2014-02-01

    A detection system was designed with MCNPX-PoliMi to measure induced-fission neutrons from U-235 and U-238 using active interrogation. Measurements were then performed with this system at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy on low-enriched uranium samples. Liquid scintillators measured induced fission neutron to characterize the samples in terms of their uranium mass and enrichment. Results are presented to investigate and support the use of organic liquid scintillators with active interrogation techniques to characterize uranium containing materials.

  5. Folksonomies and clustering in the collaborative system CiteULike

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Capocci, Andrea; Caldarelli, Guido

    2008-06-01

    We analyze CiteULike, an online collaborative tagging system where users bookmark and annotate scientific papers. Such a system can be naturally represented as a tri-partite graph whose nodes represent papers, users and tags connected by individual tag assignments. The semantics of tags is studied here, in order to uncover the hidden relationships between tags. We find that the clustering coefficient can be used to analyze the semantical patterns among tags.

  6. T-REX on-demand redox targeting in live cells.

    PubMed

    Parvez, Saba; Long, Marcus J C; Lin, Hong-Yu; Zhao, Yi; Haegele, Joseph A; Pham, Vanha N; Lee, Dustin K; Aye, Yimon

    2016-12-01

    This protocol describes targetable reactive electrophiles and oxidants (T-REX)-a live-cell-based tool designed to (i) interrogate the consequences of specific and time-resolved redox events, and (ii) screen for bona fide redox-sensor targets. A small-molecule toolset comprising photocaged precursors to specific reactive redox signals is constructed such that these inert precursors specifically and irreversibly tag any HaloTag-fused protein of interest (POI) in mammalian and Escherichia coli cells. Syntheses of the alkyne-functionalized endogenous reactive signal 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE(alkyne)) and the HaloTag-targetable photocaged precursor to HNE(alkyne) (also known as Ht-PreHNE or HtPHA) are described. Low-energy light prompts photo-uncaging (t 1/2 <1-2 min) and target-specific modification. The targeted modification of the POI enables precisely timed and spatially controlled redox events with no off-target modification. Two independent pathways are described, along with a simple setup to functionally validate known targets or discover novel sensors. T-REX sidesteps mixed responses caused by uncontrolled whole-cell swamping with reactive signals. Modification and downstream response can be analyzed by in-gel fluorescence, proteomics, qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based and dual-luciferase reporters, or flow cytometry assays. T-REX targeting takes 4 h from initial probe treatment. Analysis of targeted redox responses takes an additional 4-24 h, depending on the nature of the pathway and the type of readouts used.

  7. T-REX on-demand redox targeting in live cells

    PubMed Central

    Parvez, Saba; Long, Marcus J C; Lin, Hong-Yu; Zhao, Yi; Haegele, Joseph A; Pham, Vanha N; Lee, Dustin K; Aye, Yimon

    2017-01-01

    This protocol describes targetable reactive electrophiles and oxidants (T-REX)—a live-cell-based tool designed to (i) interrogate the consequences of specific and time-resolved redox events, and (ii) screen for bona fide redox-sensor targets. A small-molecule toolset comprising photocaged precursors to specific reactive redox signals is constructed such that these inert precursors specifically and irreversibly tag any HaloTag-fused protein of interest (POI) in mammalian and Escherichia coli cells. Syntheses of the alkyne-functionalized endogenous reactive signal 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE (alkyne)) and the HaloTag-targetable photocaged precursor to HNE (alkyne) (also known as Ht-PreHNE or HtPHA) are described. Low-energy light prompts photo-uncaging (t1/2 <1–2 min) and target-specific modification. The targeted modification of the POI enables precisely timed and spatially controlled redox events with no off-target modification. Two independent pathways are described, along with a simple setup to functionally validate known targets or discover novel sensors. T-REX sidesteps mixed responses caused by uncontrolled whole-cell swamping with reactive signals. Modification and downstream response can be analyzed by in-gel fluorescence, proteomics, qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based and dual-luciferase reporters, or flow cytometry assays. T-REX targeting takes 4 h from initial probe treatment. Analysis of targeted redox responses takes an additional 4–24 h, depending on the nature of the pathway and the type of readouts used. PMID:27809314

  8. Enhancing the performance of a tensioned metastable fluid detector based active interrogation system for the detection of SNM in <1 m3 containers using a D-D neutron interrogation source in moderated/reflected geometries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grimes, T. F.; Hagen, A. R.; Archambault, B. C.; Taleyarkhan, R. P.

    2018-03-01

    This paper describes the development of a SNM detection system for interrogating 1m3 cargos via the combination of a D-D neutron interrogation source (with and without reflectors) and tensioned metastable fluid detectors (TMFDs). TMFDs have been previously shown (Taleyarkhan et al., 2008; Grimes et al., 2015; Grimes and Taleyarkhan, 2016; Archambault et al., 2017; Hagen et al., 2016) to be capable of using Threshold Energy Neutron Analysis (TENA) techniques to reject the ∼2.45 MeV D-D interrogating neutrons while still remaining sensitive to >2.45 MeV neutrons resulting from fission in the target (HEU) material. In order to enhance the performance, a paraffin reflector was included around the accelerator head. This reflector was used to direct neutrons into the package to increase the fission signal, lower the energy of the interrogating neutrons to increase the fission cross-section with HEU, and, also to direct interrogating neutrons away from the detectors in order to enhance the required discrimination between interrogating and fission neutrons. Experiments performed with a 239 Pu-Be neutron source and MnO2 indicated that impressive performance gains could be made by placing a parabolic paraffin moderator between the interrogation source and an air-filled cargo container with HEU placed at the center. However, experiments with other cargo fillers (as specified in the well-known ANSI N42.41-2007 report), and with HEU placed in locations other than the center of the package indicated that other reflector geometries might be superior due to over-"focusing" and the increased solid angle effects due to the accommodation of the moderator geometry. The best performance for the worst case of source location and box fill was obtained by placing the reflector only behind the D-D neutron source rather than in front of it. Finally, it was shown that there could be significant gains in the ability to detect concealed SNM by operating the system in multiple geometric configurations. Worst case scenarios were created by filling the box with hydrogenous material and placing the HEU as far away as possible from the neutron source. The performance of the system in the worst-case scenarios were greatly improved by exchanging the location of the accelerator and the opposite TMFD panel half way through interrogation. Using this operation, scenarios with positions of the concealed SNM that were once the most challenging to successfully detect became readily detectable.

  9. Active Neutron-Based Interrogation System with D-D Neutron Source for Detection of Special Nuclear Materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Y.; Misawa, T.; Yagi, T.; Pyeon, C. H.; Kimura, M.; Masuda, K.; Ohgaki, H.

    2015-10-01

    The detection of special nuclear materials (SNM) is an important issue for nuclear security. The interrogation systems used in a sea port and an airport are developed in the world. The active neutron-based interrogation system is the one of the candidates. We are developing the active neutron-based interrogation system with a D-D fusion neutron source for the nuclear security application. The D-D neutron source is a compact discharge-type fusion neutron source called IEC (Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement fusion) device which provides 2.45 MeV neutrons. The nuclear materials emit the highenergy neutrons by fission reaction. High-energy neutrons with energies over 2.45 MeV amount to 30% of all the fission neutrons. By using the D-D neutron source, the detection of SNMs is considered to be possible with the attention of fast neutrons if there is over 2.45 MeV. Ideally, neutrons at En>2.45 MeV do not exist if there is no nuclear materials. The detection of fission neutrons over 2.45 MeV are hopeful prospect for the detection of SNM with a high S/N ratio. In the future, the experiments combined with nuclear materials and a D-D neutron source will be conducted. Furthermore, the interrogation system will be numerically investigated by using nuclear materials, a D-D neutron source, and a steel container.

  10. Near-infrared deep brain stimulation via upconversion nanoparticle–mediated optogenetics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Shuo; Weitemier, Adam Z.; Zeng, Xiao; He, Linmeng; Wang, Xiyu; Tao, Yanqiu; Huang, Arthur J. Y.; Hashimotodani, Yuki; Kano, Masanobu; Iwasaki, Hirohide; Parajuli, Laxmi Kumar; Okabe, Shigeo; Teh, Daniel B. Loong; All, Angelo H.; Tsutsui-Kimura, Iku; Tanaka, Kenji F.; Liu, Xiaogang; McHugh, Thomas J.

    2018-02-01

    Optogenetics has revolutionized the experimental interrogation of neural circuits and holds promise for the treatment of neurological disorders. It is limited, however, because visible light cannot penetrate deep inside brain tissue. Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) absorb tissue-penetrating near-infrared (NIR) light and emit wavelength-specific visible light. Here, we demonstrate that molecularly tailored UCNPs can serve as optogenetic actuators of transcranial NIR light to stimulate deep brain neurons. Transcranial NIR UCNP-mediated optogenetics evoked dopamine release from genetically tagged neurons in the ventral tegmental area, induced brain oscillations through activation of inhibitory neurons in the medial septum, silenced seizure by inhibition of hippocampal excitatory cells, and triggered memory recall. UCNP technology will enable less-invasive optical neuronal activity manipulation with the potential for remote therapy.

  11. Leveraging search and content exploration by exploiting context in folksonomy systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abel, Fabian; Baldoni, Matteo; Baroglio, Cristina; Henze, Nicola; Kawase, Ricardo; Krause, Daniel; Patti, Viviana

    2010-04-01

    With the advent of Web 2.0 tagging became a popular feature in social media systems. People tag diverse kinds of content, e.g. products at Amazon, music at Last.fm, images at Flickr, etc. In the last years several researchers analyzed the impact of tags on information retrieval. Most works focused on tags only and ignored context information. In this article we present context-aware approaches for learning semantics and improve personalized information retrieval in tagging systems. We investigate how explorative search, initialized by clicking on tags, can be enhanced with automatically produced context information so that search results better fit to the actual information needs of the users. We introduce the SocialHITS algorithm and present an experiment where we compare different algorithms for ranking users, tags, and resources in a contextualized way. We showcase our approaches in the domain of images and present the TagMe! system that enables users to explore and tag Flickr pictures. In TagMe! we further demonstrate how advanced context information can easily be generated: TagMe! allows users to attach tag assignments to a specific area within an image and to categorize tag assignments. In our corresponding evaluation we show that those additional facets of tag assignments gain valuable semantics, which can be applied to improve existing search and ranking algorithms significantly.

  12. Demonstration of an ultrasensitive refractive-index plasmonic sensor by enabling its quadrupole resonance in phase interrogation.

    PubMed

    Lee, Hsin-Cheng; Li, Chung-Tien; Chen, How-Foo; Yen, Ta-Jen

    2015-11-15

    We present an ultrasensitive plasmonic sensing system by introducing a nanostructured X-shaped plasmonic sensor (XPS) and measuring its localized optical properties in phase interrogation. Our tailored XPS exhibits two major resonant modes of a low-order dipole and a high-order quadrupole, between which the quadrupole resonance allows an ultrahigh sensitivity, due to its higher quality factor. Furthermore, we design an in-house common-path phase-interrogation system, in contrast to conventional wavelength-interrogation methods, to achieve greater sensing capability. The experimental measurement shows that the sensing resolution of the XPS reaches 1.15×10(-6) RIU, not only two orders of magnitude greater than the result of the controlled extinction measurement (i.e., 9.90×10(-5) RIU), but also superior than current reported plasmonic sensors.

  13. Hidden explosives detector employing pulsed neutron and x-ray interrogation

    DOEpatents

    Schultz, F.J.; Caldwell, J.T.

    1993-04-06

    Methods and systems for the detection of small amounts of modern, highly-explosive nitrogen-based explosives, such as plastic explosives, hidden in airline baggage. Several techniques are employed either individually or combined in a hybrid system. One technique employed in combination is X-ray imaging. Another technique is interrogation with a pulsed neutron source in a two-phase mode of operation to image both nitrogen and oxygen densities. Another technique employed in combination is neutron interrogation to form a hydrogen density image or three-dimensional map. In addition, deliberately-placed neutron-absorbing materials can be detected.

  14. Hidden explosives detector employing pulsed neutron and x-ray interrogation

    DOEpatents

    Schultz, Frederick J.; Caldwell, John T.

    1993-01-01

    Methods and systems for the detection of small amounts of modern, highly-explosive nitrogen-based explosives, such as plastic explosives, hidden in airline baggage. Several techniques are employed either individually or combined in a hybrid system. One technique employed in combination is X-ray imaging. Another technique is interrogation with a pulsed neutron source in a two-phase mode of operation to image both nitrogen and oxygen densities. Another technique employed in combination is neutron interrogation to form a hydrogen density image or three-dimensional map. In addition, deliberately-placed neutron-absorbing materials can be detected.

  15. AN/UPX-41(C) IFF Interrogator Compatibility with the National Airspace System : Top-Level Test Plan Chesapeake Fixed-Base Experiment

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-08-04

    In 2012, the Navy requested spectrum certification for the shipboard AN/UPX-41(C) Digital Interrogator System, Software Version 5.5 with Mode 5. : Current operating conditions for the Navys AN/UPX-41(C) are the same as restrictions imposed on the ...

  16. A Neutron Based Interrogation System For SNM In Cargo

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

    Kane, Steven Z.; Koltick, David S.

    A complete system has been simulated using experimentally obtained input parameters for the detection of special nuclear materials (SNM). A variation of the associated particle imaging (API) technique, referred to as reverse associated particle imaging detection (RAPID), has been developed in the context of detecting 5-kg spherical samples of U-235 in cargo. The RAPID technique allows for the interrogation of containers at neutron production rates between {approx}1x10{sup 8} neutrons/s and {approx}3x10{sup 8} neutrons/s. The merit of performance for the system is the time to detect the threat material with 95% probability of detection and 10{sup -4} false positive rate permore » interrogated voxel of cargo. Detection times of 5 minutes were found for a maximally loaded cargo container uniformly filled with iron and as low as 1 second in containers loaded to 1/4 of full capacity with either iron or wood. The worse case system performance, 30 minutes interrogation time, occurs for a maximally loaded container containing wood at 0.4 g/cm{sup 3}.« less

  17. Monolithic integrated optic fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mendoza, Edgar A.; Esterkin, Yan; Kempen, Cornelia; Sun, Songjian

    2010-04-01

    Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are a mature sensing technology that has gained rapid acceptance in civil, aerospace, chemical and petrochemical, medicine, aviation and automotive industries. Fiber Bragg grating sensors can be use for a variety of measurements including strain, stress, vibration, acoustics, acceleration, pressure, temperature, moisture, and corrosion distributed at multiple locations within the structure using a single fiber element. The most prominent advantages of FBGs are: small size and light weight, multiple FBG transducers on a single fiber, and immunity to radio frequency interference. A major disadvantage of FBG technology is that conventional state-of-the-art fiber Bragg grating interrogation systems are typically bulky, heavy, and costly bench top instruments that are assembled from off-the-shelf fiber optic and optical components integrated with a signal electronics board into an instrument console. Based on the need for a compact FBG interrogation system, this paper describes recent progress towards the development of a miniature fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator (FBG-TransceiverTM) system based on multi-channel monolithic integrated optic sensor microchip technology. The integrated optic microchip technology enables the monolithic integration of all of the functionalities, both passive and active, of conventional bench top FBG sensor interrogators systems, packaged in a miniaturized, low power operation, 2-cm x 5-cm small form factor (SFF) package suitable for the long-term structural health monitoring in applications where size, weight, and power are critical for operation.

  18. Monitoring the Migrations of Wild Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon Juveniles, 2007-2008 Report of Research.

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

    Achord, Stephen; Sandford, Benjamin P.; Hockersmith, Eric E.

    2009-05-26

    This report provides results from an ongoing project to monitor the migration behavior and survival of wild juvenile spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. Data reported is from detections of PIT tagged fish during late summer 2007 through mid-2008. Fish were tagged in summer 2007 by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Idaho and by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in Oregon. Our analyses include migration behavior and estimated survival of fish at instream PIT-tag monitors and arrival timing and estimated survival to Lower Granite Dam. Principal results from tagging and interrogation during 2007-2008more » are listed below: (1) In July and August 2007, we PIT tagged and released 7,390 wild Chinook salmon parr in 12 Idaho streams or sample areas. (2) Overall observed mortality from collection, handling, tagging, and after a 24-hour holding period was 1.4%. (3) Of the 2,524 Chinook salmon parr PIT tagged and released in Valley Creek in summer 2007, 218 (8.6%) were detected at two instream PIT-tag monitoring systems in lower Valley Creek from late summer 2007 to the following spring 2008. Of these, 71.6% were detected in late summer/fall, 11.9% in winter, and 16.5% in spring. Estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam was 15.5% for the late summer/fall group, 48.0% for the winter group, and 58.5% for the spring group. Based on detections at downstream dams, the overall efficiency of VC1 (upper) or VC2 (lower) Valley Creek monitors for detecting these fish was 21.1%. Using this VC1 or VC2 efficiency, an estimated 40.8% of all summer-tagged parr survived to move out of Valley Creek, and their estimated survival from that point to Lower Granite Dam was 26.5%. Overall estimated parr-to-smolt survival for all summer-tagged parr from this stream at the dam was 12.1%. Development and improvement of instream PIT-tag monitoring systems continued throughout 2007 and 2008. (4) Testing of PIT-tag antennas in lower Big Creek during 2007-2008 showed these antennas (and anchoring method) are not adequate to withstand high spring flows in this drainage. Future plans involve removing these antennas before high spring flows. (5) At Little Goose Dam in 2008, length and/or weight were taken on 505 recaptured fish from 12 Idaho stream populations. Fish had grown an average of 40.1 mm in length and 10.6 g in weight over an average of 288 d. Their mean condition factor declined from 1.25 at release (parr) to 1.05 at recapture (smolt). (6) Mean release lengths for detected fish were significantly larger than for fish not detected the following spring and summer (P < 0.0001). (7) Fish that migrated through Lower Granite Dam in April and May were significantly larger at release than fish that migrated after May (P < 0.0001) (only 12 fish migrated after May). (8) In 2008, peak detections at Lower Granite Dam of parr tagged during summer 2007 (from the 12 stream populations in Idaho and 4 streams in Oregon) occurred during moderate flows of 87.5 kcfs on 7 May and high flows of 197.3 kcfs on 20 May. The 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile passage occurred on 30 April, 11 May, and 23 May, respectively. (9) In 2007-2008, estimated parr-to-smolt survival to Lower Granite Dam for Idaho and Oregon streams (combined) averaged 19.4% (range 6.2-38.4% depending on stream of origin). In Idaho streams the estimated parr-to-smolt survival averaged 21.0%. This survival was the second highest since 1993 for Idaho streams. Relative parr densities were lower in 2007 (2.4 parr/100 m{sup 2}) than in all previous years since 2000. In 2008, we observed low-to-moderate flows prior to mid-May and relatively cold weather conditions throughout the spring migration season. These conditions moved half of the fish through Lower Granite Dam prior to mid-May; then high flows moved 50 to 90% of the fish through the dam in only 12 days. Clearly, complex interrelationships of several factors drive the annual migrational timing of the stocks.« less

  19. The use of tags in monitoring limits on mobile missiles

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

    Fetter, S.

    1987-03-01

    Three tagging systems were considered in this paper: as a supplement to on-site inspection (OSI), as a supplement to national technical means (NTM), and as a supplement to site surveillance systems. Each system would require a different type of tag, perhaps ranging from microchip tags with infrared transponders to navigation receivers. Use of tags as a supplement to OSIs may be the simplest system to implement because it places the least demands on technology. Tags may make OSI more acceptable by replacing humans with remote sensors, thereby decreasing the perceived potential for espionage. Using tags as a supplement to NTMmore » decreases the necessity for human OSI even further, but places higher demands on technology and may affect the normal operation of deployment areas. Site surveillance systems using tags have the potential for excellent missile verification, but they may be excessively intrusive and expensive, and could have a large effect on the normal operation of declared facilities.« less

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

    Rodriguez, George; Gilbertson, Steve Michael

    Chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG) sensors coupled to high speed interrogation systems are described as robust diagnostic approaches to monitoring shock wave and detonation front propagation tracking events for use in high energy density shock physics applications. Taking advantage of the linear distributed spatial encoding of the spectral band in single-mode CFBGs, embedded fiber systems and associated photonic interrogation methodologies are shown as an effective approach to sensing shock and detonation-driven loading processes along the CFBG length. Two approaches, one that detects spectral changes in the integrated spectrum of the CFBG and another coherent pulse interrogation approach that fully resolvesmore » its spectral response, shows that 100-MHz–1-GHz interrogation rates are possible with spatial resolution along the CFBG in the 50 µm to sub-millimeter range depending on the combination of CFBG parameters (i.e., length, chirp rate, spectrum) and interrogator design specifics. In conclusion, results from several dynamic tests are used to demonstrate the performance of these high speed systems for shock and detonation propagation tracking under strong and weak shock pressure loading: (1) linear detonation front tracking in the plastic bonded explosive (PBX) PBX-9501; (2) tracking of radial decaying shock with crossover to non-destructive CFBG response; (3) shock wave tracking along an aluminum cylinder wall under weak loading accompanied by dynamic strain effects in the CFBG sensor.« less

  1. Fluorescent Labeling of COS-7 Expressing SNAP-tag Fusion Proteins for Live Cell Imaging

    PubMed Central

    Provost, Christopher R.; Sun, Luo

    2010-01-01

    SNAP-tag and CLIP-tag protein labeling systems enable the specific, covalent attachment of molecules, including fluorescent dyes, to a protein of interest in live cells. These systems offer a broad selection of fluorescent substrates optimized for a range of imaging instrumentation. Once cloned and expressed, the tagged protein can be used with a variety of substrates for numerous downstream applications without having to clone again. There are two steps to using this system: cloning and expression of the protein of interest as a SNAP-tag fusion, and labeling of the fusion with the SNAP-tag substrate of choice. The SNAP-tag is a small protein based on human O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (hAGT), a DNA repair protein. SNAP-tag labels are dyes conjugated to guanine or chloropyrimidine leaving groups via a benzyl linker. In the labeling reaction, the substituted benzyl group of the substrate is covalently attached to the SNAP-tag. CLIP-tag is a modified version of SNAP-tag, engineered to react with benzylcytosine rather than benzylguanine derivatives. When used in conjunction with SNAP-tag, CLIP-tag enables the orthogonal and complementary labeling of two proteins simultaneously in the same cells. PMID:20485262

  2. Impact of fiber ring laser configuration on detection capabilities in FBG based sensor systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osuch, Tomasz; Kossek, Tomasz; Markowski, Konrad

    2014-11-01

    In this paper fiber ring lasers (FRL) as interrogation units for distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based sensor networks are studied. In particular, two configurations of the fiber laser with erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as gain medium were analyzed. In the case of EDFA-based fiber interrogation systems, CW as well as active-mode locking operation were taken into account. The influence of spectral overlapping of FBGs spectra on detection capabilities of examined FRLs are presented. Experimental results show that the SOA-based fiber laser interrogation unit can operate as a multi-parametric sensing system. In turn, using an actively mode-locked fiber ring laser with an EDFA, an electronically switchable FBG based sensing system can be realized.

  3. A fiber-Bragg-grating sensor interrogation system using in-fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Ting-ting; Wang, Ming

    2011-11-01

    A fiber-Bragg-grating sensor interrogation system using a in-fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer (IFFPI) is presented. The IFFPI was formed by splicing together a conventional single-mode fiber and a photonic crystal fiber with simple arcdischarge technique. The ellipsoidal air-cavity between the two fibers forms Fabry-Pérot cavity. The diffraction loss can be very low due to the focusing of reentrant and very short cavity length, thus resulting in high visibility and long period. The IFFPI is used as the filter component of the interrogation system. The resolving wavelength can achieve 2pm by using an Er-doped ring FBG laser in the experimental system. The advantages of this system are an all-fiber design, temperature insensitivity, quasistatic and dynamic operation, potential high speed and large range demodulation.

  4. Interrogation of an object for dimensional and topographical information

    DOEpatents

    McMakin, Douglas L.; Severtsen, Ronald H.; Hall, Thomas E.; Sheen, David M.; Kennedy, Mike O.

    2004-03-09

    Disclosed are systems, methods, devices, and apparatus to interrogate a clothed individual with electromagnetic radiation to determine one or more body measurements at least partially covered by the individual's clothing. The invention further includes techniques to interrogate an object with electromagnetic radiation in the millimeter and/or microwave range to provide a volumetric representation of the object. This representation can be used to display images and/or determine dimensional information concerning the object.

  5. Interrogation of an object for dimensional and topographical information

    DOEpatents

    McMakin, Doug L [Richland, WA; Severtsen, Ronald H [Richland, WA; Hall, Thomas E [Richland, WA; Sheen, David M [Richland, WA

    2003-01-14

    Disclosed are systems, methods, devices, and apparatus to interrogate a clothed individual with electromagnetic radiation to determine one or more body measurements at least partially covered by the individual's clothing. The invention further includes techniques to interrogate an object with electromagnetic radiation in the millimeter and/or microwave range to provide a volumetric representation of the object. This representation can be used to display images and/or determine dimensional information concerning the object.

  6. Design of Interrogation Protocols for Radiation Dose Measurements Using Optically-Stimulated Luminescent Dosimeters.

    PubMed

    Abraham, Sara A; Kearfott, Kimberlee J; Jawad, Ali H; Boria, Andrew J; Buth, Tobias J; Dawson, Alexander S; Eng, Sheldon C; Frank, Samuel J; Green, Crystal A; Jacobs, Mitchell L; Liu, Kevin; Miklos, Joseph A; Nguyen, Hien; Rafique, Muhammad; Rucinski, Blake D; Smith, Travis; Tan, Yanliang

    2017-03-01

    Optically-stimulated luminescent dosimeters are capable of being interrogated multiple times post-irradiation. Each interrogation removes a fraction of the signal stored within the optically-stimulated luminescent dosimeter. This signal loss must be corrected to avoid systematic errors in estimating the average signal of a series of optically-stimulated luminescent dosimeter interrogations and requires a minimum number of consecutive readings to determine an average signal that is within a desired accuracy of the true signal with a desired statistical confidence. This paper establishes a technical basis for determining the required number of readings for a particular application of these dosimeters when using certain OSL dosimetry systems.

  7. Innocence and resisting confession during interrogation: effects on physiologic activity.

    PubMed

    Guyll, Max; Madon, Stephanie; Yang, Yueran; Lannin, Daniel G; Scherr, Kyle; Greathouse, Sarah

    2013-10-01

    Innocent suspects may not adequately protect themselves during interrogation because they fail to fully appreciate the danger of the situation. This experiment tested whether innocent suspects experience less stress during interrogation than guilty suspects, and whether refusing to confess expends physiologic resources. After experimentally manipulating innocence and guilt, 132 participants were accused and interrogated for misconduct, and then pressured to confess. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and preejection period (PEP) responses quantified stress reactions. As hypothesized, the innocent evidenced smaller stress responses to interrogation for SBP, DBP, HR, and RSA than did the guilty. Furthermore, innocents who refused to confess exhibited greater sympathetic nervous system activation, as evidenced by shorter PEPs, than did innocent or guilty confessors. These findings suggest that innocent suspects underestimate the threat of interrogation and that resisting pressures to confess can diminish suspects' physiologic resources and lead to false confessions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

  8. Coded acoustic wave sensors and system using time diversity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Solie, Leland P. (Inventor); Hines, Jacqueline H. (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    An apparatus and method for distinguishing between sensors that are to be wirelessly detected is provided. An interrogator device uses different, distinct time delays in the sensing signals when interrogating the sensors. The sensors are provided with different distinct pedestal delays. Sensors that have the same pedestal delay as the delay selected by the interrogator are detected by the interrogator whereas other sensors with different pedestal delays are not sensed. Multiple sensors with a given pedestal delay are provided with different codes so as to be distinguished from one another by the interrogator. The interrogator uses a signal that is transmitted to the sensor and returned by the sensor for combination and integration with the reference signal that has been processed by a function. The sensor may be a surface acoustic wave device having a differential impulse response with a power spectral density consisting of lobes. The power spectral density of the differential response is used to determine the value of the sensed parameter or parameters.

  9. Systems and Methods for RFID-Enabled Pressure Sensing Apparatus

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    Methods, apparatuses and systems for radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled information collection are disclosed, including an enclosure, a collector coupled to the enclosure, an interrogator, a processor, and one or more RFID field sensors, each having an individual identification, disposed within the enclosure. In operation, the interrogator transmits an incident signal to the collector, causing the collector to generate an electromagnetic field within the enclosure. The electromagnetic field is affected by one or more influences. RFID sensors respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting reflected signals containing the individual identifications of the responding RFID sensors to the interrogator. The interrogator receives the reflected signals, measures one or more returned signal strength indications ("RSSI") of the reflected signals and sends the RSSI measurements and identification of the responding RFID sensors to the processor to determine one or more facts about the influences. Other embodiments are also described.

  10. Systems and Methods for RFID-Enabled Dispenser

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Byerly, Diane (Inventor)

    2015-01-01

    Methods, apparatuses and systems for radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled information collection are disclosed, including an enclosure, a collector coupled to the enclosure, an interrogator, a processor, and one or more RFID field sensors, each having an individual identification, disposed within the enclosure. In operation, the interrogator transmits an incident signal to the collector, causing the collector to generate an electromagnetic field within the enclosure. The electromagnetic field is affected by one or more influences. RFID sensors respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting reflected signals containing the individual identifications of the responding RFID sensors to the interrogator. The interrogator receives the reflected signals, measures one or more returned signal strength indications ("RSSI") of the reflected signals and sends the RSSI measurements and identification of the responding RFID sensors to the processor to determine one or more facts about the influences. Other embodiments are also described.

  11. Systems and Methods for RFID-Enabled Pressure Sensing Apparatus

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor); Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    Methods, apparatuses and systems for radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled information collection are disclosed, including an enclosure, a collector coupled to the enclosure, an interrogator, a processor, and one or more RFID field sensors, each having an individual identification, disposed within the enclosure. In operation, the interrogator transmits an incident signal to the collector, causing the collector to generate an electromagnetic field within the enclosure. The electromagnetic field is affected by one or more influences. RFID sensors respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting reflected signals containing the individual identifications of the responding RFID sensors to the interrogator. The interrogator receives the reflected signals, measures one or more returned signal strength indications ("RSSI") of the reflected signals and sends the RSSI measurements and identification of the responding RFID sensors to the processor to determine one or more facts about the influences. Other embodiments are also described.

  12. System and Method for RFID-Enabled Information Collection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fink, Patrick W. (Inventor); Kennedy, Timothy F. (Inventor); Lin, Gregory Y. (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Byerly, Diane (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    Methods, apparatuses and systems for radio frequency identification (RFID)-enabled information collection are disclosed, including an enclosure, a collector coupled to the enclosure, an interrogator, a processor, and one or more RFID field sensors, each having an individual identification, disposed within the enclosure. In operation, the interrogator transmits an incident signal to the collector, causing the collector to generate an electromagnetic field within the enclosure. The electromagnetic field is affected by one or more influences. RFID sensors respond to the electromagnetic field by transmitting reflected signals containing the individual identifications of the responding RFID sensors to the interrogator. The interrogator receives the reflected signals, measures one or more returned signal strength indications ("RSSI") of the reflected signals and sends the RSSI measurements and identification of the responding RFID sensors to the processor to determine one or more facts about the influences. Other embodiments are also described.

  13. Extracting tag hierarchies.

    PubMed

    Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

    2013-01-01

    Tagging items with descriptive annotations or keywords is a very natural way to compress and highlight information about the properties of the given entity. Over the years several methods have been proposed for extracting a hierarchy between the tags for systems with a "flat", egalitarian organization of the tags, which is very common when the tags correspond to free words given by numerous independent people. Here we present a complete framework for automated tag hierarchy extraction based on tag occurrence statistics. Along with proposing new algorithms, we are also introducing different quality measures enabling the detailed comparison of competing approaches from different aspects. Furthermore, we set up a synthetic, computer generated benchmark providing a versatile tool for testing, with a couple of tunable parameters capable of generating a wide range of test beds. Beside the computer generated input we also use real data in our studies, including a biological example with a pre-defined hierarchy between the tags. The encouraging similarity between the pre-defined and reconstructed hierarchy, as well as the seemingly meaningful hierarchies obtained for other real systems indicate that tag hierarchy extraction is a very promising direction for further research with a great potential for practical applications. Tags have become very prevalent nowadays in various online platforms ranging from blogs through scientific publications to protein databases. Furthermore, tagging systems dedicated for voluntary tagging of photos, films, books, etc. with free words are also becoming popular. The emerging large collections of tags associated with different objects are often referred to as folksonomies, highlighting their collaborative origin and the "flat" organization of the tags opposed to traditional hierarchical categorization. Adding a tag hierarchy corresponding to a given folksonomy can very effectively help narrowing or broadening the scope of search. Moreover, recommendation systems could also benefit from a tag hierarchy.

  14. Extracting Tag Hierarchies

    PubMed Central

    Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

    2013-01-01

    Tagging items with descriptive annotations or keywords is a very natural way to compress and highlight information about the properties of the given entity. Over the years several methods have been proposed for extracting a hierarchy between the tags for systems with a "flat", egalitarian organization of the tags, which is very common when the tags correspond to free words given by numerous independent people. Here we present a complete framework for automated tag hierarchy extraction based on tag occurrence statistics. Along with proposing new algorithms, we are also introducing different quality measures enabling the detailed comparison of competing approaches from different aspects. Furthermore, we set up a synthetic, computer generated benchmark providing a versatile tool for testing, with a couple of tunable parameters capable of generating a wide range of test beds. Beside the computer generated input we also use real data in our studies, including a biological example with a pre-defined hierarchy between the tags. The encouraging similarity between the pre-defined and reconstructed hierarchy, as well as the seemingly meaningful hierarchies obtained for other real systems indicate that tag hierarchy extraction is a very promising direction for further research with a great potential for practical applications. Tags have become very prevalent nowadays in various online platforms ranging from blogs through scientific publications to protein databases. Furthermore, tagging systems dedicated for voluntary tagging of photos, films, books, etc. with free words are also becoming popular. The emerging large collections of tags associated with different objects are often referred to as folksonomies, highlighting their collaborative origin and the “flat” organization of the tags opposed to traditional hierarchical categorization. Adding a tag hierarchy corresponding to a given folksonomy can very effectively help narrowing or broadening the scope of search. Moreover, recommendation systems could also benefit from a tag hierarchy. PMID:24391901

  15. The Nimbus 4 data catalog. Volume 4: Data orbits 1957-2775 and Interrogation, Recording and Location System (IRLS) balloon tracking experiment data from launch through 27 March 1971, 1 September - 31 October 1970

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1971-01-01

    Nimbus 4 satellite data for the period September 1 through October 31 1970 are presented. Data are also given on interrogation recording and location system balloon tracking from launch through March 27, 1971.

  16. An Evaluation of "Miranda" Rights and Interrogation in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salseda, Lindsay M.; Dixon, Dennis R.; Fass, Tracy; Miora, Deborah; Leark, Robert A.

    2011-01-01

    The primary deficits present in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may lead to increased susceptibility to involvement in the criminal justice system. The same deficits may also cause individuals with ASD to be more vulnerable to interrogation techniques and other aspects of the legal system. Due to the increased level of vulnerability as well as…

  17. Low-Cost Interrogation Technique for Dynamic Measurements with FBG-Based Devices.

    PubMed

    Díaz, Camilo A R; Leitão, Cátia; Marques, Carlos A; Domingues, M Fátima; Alberto, Nélia; Pontes, Maria José; Frizera, Anselmo; Ribeiro, Moisés R N; André, Paulo S B; Antunes, Paulo F C

    2017-10-23

    Fiber Bragg gratings are widely used optical fiber sensors for measuring temperature and/or mechanical strain. Nevertheless, the high cost of the interrogation systems is the most important drawback for their large commercial application. In this work, an in-line Fabry-Perot interferometer based edge filter is explored in the interrogation of fiber Bragg grating dynamic measurements up to 5 kHz. Two devices an accelerometer and an arterial pulse wave probe were interrogated with the developed approach and the results were compared with a commercial interrogation monitor. The data obtained with the edge filter are in agreement with the commercial device, with a maximum RMSE of 0.05 being able to meet the requirements of the measurements. Resolutions of 3.6 pm and 2.4 pm were obtained, using the optical accelerometer and the arterial pulse wave probe, respectively.

  18. Ontologies and tag-statistics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

    2012-05-01

    Due to the increasing popularity of collaborative tagging systems, the research on tagged networks, hypergraphs, ontologies, folksonomies and other related concepts is becoming an important interdisciplinary area with great potential and relevance for practical applications. In most collaborative tagging systems the tagging by the users is completely ‘flat’, while in some cases they are allowed to define a shallow hierarchy for their own tags. However, usually no overall hierarchical organization of the tags is given, and one of the interesting challenges of this area is to provide an algorithm generating the ontology of the tags from the available data. In contrast, there are also other types of tagged networks available for research, where the tags are already organized into a directed acyclic graph (DAG), encapsulating the ‘is a sub-category of’ type of hierarchy between each other. In this paper, we study how this DAG affects the statistical distribution of tags on the nodes marked by the tags in various real networks. The motivation for this research was the fact that understanding the tagging based on a known hierarchy can help in revealing the hidden hierarchy of tags in collaborative tagging systems. We analyse the relation between the tag-frequency and the position of the tag in the DAG in two large sub-networks of the English Wikipedia and a protein-protein interaction network. We also study the tag co-occurrence statistics by introducing a two-dimensional (2D) tag-distance distribution preserving both the difference in the levels and the absolute distance in the DAG for the co-occurring pairs of tags. Our most interesting finding is that the local relevance of tags in the DAG (i.e. their rank or significance as characterized by, e.g., the length of the branches starting from them) is much more important than their global distance from the root. Furthermore, we also introduce a simple tagging model based on random walks on the DAG, capable of reproducing the main statistical features of tag co-occurrence. This model has high potential for further practical applications, e.g., it can provide the starting point for a benchmark system in ontology retrieval or it may help pinpoint unusual correlations in the co-occurrence of tags.

  19. Detection probability of an in-stream passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag detection system for juvenile salmonids in the Klamath River, northern California, 2011

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Beeman, John W.; Hayes, Brian; Wright, Katrina

    2012-01-01

    A series of in-stream passive integrated transponder (PIT) detection antennas installed across the Klamath River in August 2010 were tested using tagged fish in the summer of 2011. Six pass-by antennas were constructed and anchored to the bottom of the Klamath River at a site between the Shasta and Scott Rivers. Two of the six antennas malfunctioned during the spring of 2011 and two pass-through antennas were installed near the opposite shoreline prior to system testing. The detection probability of the PIT tag detection system was evaluated using yearling coho salmon implanted with a PIT tag and a radio transmitter and then released into the Klamath River slightly downstream of Iron Gate Dam. Cormack-Jolly-Seber capture-recapture methods were used to estimate the detection probability of the PIT tag detection system based on detections of PIT tags there and detections of radio transmitters at radio-telemetry detection systems downstream. One of the 43 PIT- and radio-tagged fish released was detected by the PIT tag detection system and 23 were detected by the radio-telemetry detection systems. The estimated detection probability of the PIT tag detection system was 0.043 (standard error 0.042). Eight PIT-tagged fish from other studies also were detected. Detections at the PIT tag detection system were at the two pass-through antennas and the pass-by antenna adjacent to them. Above average river discharge likely was a factor in the low detection probability of the PIT tag detection system. High discharges dislodged two power cables leaving 12 meters of the river width unsampled for PIT detections and resulted in water depths greater than the read distance of the antennas, which allowed fish to pass over much of the system with little chance of being detected. Improvements in detection probability may be expected under river discharge conditions where water depth over the antennas is within maximum read distance of the antennas. Improvements also may be expected if additional arrays of antennas are used.

  20. Optically powered and interrogated rotary position sensor for aircraft engine control applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spillman, W. B.; Crowne, D. H.; Woodward, D. W.

    A throttle level angle (TLA) sensing system is described that utilizes a capacitance based rotary position transducer that is powered and interrogated via light from a single multimode optical fiber. The system incorporates a unique GaAs device that serves as both a power converter and optical data transmitter. Design considerations are discussed, and the fabrication and performance of the sensor system are detailed.

  1. Automatic translation among spoken languages

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Walter, Sharon M.; Costigan, Kelly

    1994-01-01

    The Machine Aided Voice Translation (MAVT) system was developed in response to the shortage of experienced military field interrogators with both foreign language proficiency and interrogation skills. Combining speech recognition, machine translation, and speech generation technologies, the MAVT accepts an interrogator's spoken English question and translates it into spoken Spanish. The spoken Spanish response of the potential informant can then be translated into spoken English. Potential military and civilian applications for automatic spoken language translation technology are discussed in this paper.

  2. Tunable-optical-filter-based white-light interferometry for sensing.

    PubMed

    Yu, Bing; Wang, Anbo; Pickrell, Gary; Xu, Juncheng

    2005-06-15

    We describe tunable-optical-filter-based white-light interferometry for sensor interrogation. By introducing a tunable optical filter into a white-light interferometry system, one can interrogate an interferometer with either quadrature demodulation or spectral-domain detection at low cost. To demonstrate the feasibility of effectively demodulating various types of interferometric sensor, experiments have been performed using an extrinsic Fabry-Perot tunable filter to interrogate two extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric temperature sensors and a diaphragm-based pressure sensor.

  3. Social tagging in the life sciences: characterizing a new metadata resource for bioinformatics.

    PubMed

    Good, Benjamin M; Tennis, Joseph T; Wilkinson, Mark D

    2009-09-25

    Academic social tagging systems, such as Connotea and CiteULike, provide researchers with a means to organize personal collections of online references with keywords (tags) and to share these collections with others. One of the side-effects of the operation of these systems is the generation of large, publicly accessible metadata repositories describing the resources in the collections. In light of the well-known expansion of information in the life sciences and the need for metadata to enhance its value, these repositories present a potentially valuable new resource for application developers. Here we characterize the current contents of two scientifically relevant metadata repositories created through social tagging. This investigation helps to establish how such socially constructed metadata might be used as it stands currently and to suggest ways that new social tagging systems might be designed that would yield better aggregate products. We assessed the metadata that users of CiteULike and Connotea associated with citations in PubMed with the following metrics: coverage of the document space, density of metadata (tags) per document, rates of inter-annotator agreement, and rates of agreement with MeSH indexing. CiteULike and Connotea were very similar on all of the measurements. In comparison to PubMed, document coverage and per-document metadata density were much lower for the social tagging systems. Inter-annotator agreement within the social tagging systems and the agreement between the aggregated social tagging metadata and MeSH indexing was low though the latter could be increased through voting. The most promising uses of metadata from current academic social tagging repositories will be those that find ways to utilize the novel relationships between users, tags, and documents exposed through these systems. For more traditional kinds of indexing-based applications (such as keyword-based search) to benefit substantially from socially generated metadata in the life sciences, more documents need to be tagged and more tags are needed for each document. These issues may be addressed both by finding ways to attract more users to current systems and by creating new user interfaces that encourage more collectively useful individual tagging behaviour.

  4. A knowledge based application of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glover, Richard D.; Larson, Richard R.

    1991-01-01

    A family of multiple-processor ground support test equipment was used to test digital flight-control systems on high-performance research aircraft. A unit recently built for the F-18 high alpha research vehicle project is the latest model in a series called the extended aircraft interrogation and display system. The primary feature emphasized monitors the aircraft MIL-STD-1553B data buses and provides real-time engineering units displays of flight-control parameters. A customized software package was developed to provide real-time data interpretation based on rules embodied in a highly structured knowledge database. The configuration of this extended aircraft interrogation and display system is briefly described, and the evolution of the rule based package and its application to failure modes and effects testing on the F-18 high alpha research vehicle is discussed.

  5. Design of a fiber-optic interrogator module for telecommunication satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Putzer, Philipp; Koch, Alexander W.; Plattner, Markus; Hurni, Andreas; Manhart, Markus

    2017-11-01

    In this paper we present the results of the radiation tests performed on the optical components of the fiber-optic interrogator module as a part of the Hybrid Sensor Bus (HSB) system. The HSB-system is developed in the frame of an ESAARTES program and will be verified as flight demonstrator onboard the German Heinrich Hertz satellite in 2016. The HSB system is based on a modular concept which includes sensor interrogation modules based on I2C electrical and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) fiber-optical sensor elements. Onboard fiber-optic sensing allows the implementation of novel control and monitoring methods. For read-out of multiple FBG sensors, a design based on a tunable laser diode as well as a design based on a spectrometer is considered. The expected and tested total ionizing dose (TID) applicable to the HSB system is in the range between 100 krad and 300 krad inside the satellite in the geostationary orbit over a life time of 15 years. We present radiation test results carried out on critical optical components to be used in the fiber-optic interrogation module. These components are a modulated grating Y-branch (MGY) tunable laser diode acting as light source for the tuning laser approach, the line detector of a spectrometer, photodetectors and the FBG sensors acting as sensor elements. A detailed literature inquiry of radiation effects on optical fibers and FBG sensors, is also included in the paper. The fiber-optic interrogator module implemented in the HSB system is based on the most suitable technology, which sustains the harsh environment in the geostationary orbit.

  6. A polarization system for persistent chemical detection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Craven-Jones, Julia; Appelhans, Leah; Couphos, Eric; Embree, Todd; Finnegan, Patrick; Goldstein, Dennis; Karelitz, David; LaCasse, Charles; Luk, Ting S.; Mahamat, Adoum; Massey, Lee; Tanbakuchi, Anthony; Washburn, Cody; Vigil, Steven

    2015-09-01

    We report on the development of a prototype polarization tag based system for detecting chemical vapors. The system primarily consists of two components, a chemically sensitive tag that experiences a change in its optical polarization properties when exposed to a specific chemical of interest, and an optical imaging polarimeter that is used to measure the polarization properties of the tags. Although the system concept could be extended to other chemicals, for the initial system prototype presented here the tags were developed to be sensitive to hydrogen fluoride (HF) vapors. HF is used in many industrial processes but is highly toxic and thus monitoring for its presence and concentration is often of interest for personnel and environmental safety. The tags are periodic multilayer structures that are produced using standard photolithographic processes. The polarimetric imager has been designed to measure the degree of linear polarization reflected from the tags in the short wave infrared. By monitoring the change in the reflected polarization signature from the tags, the polarimeter can be used to determine if the tag was exposed to HF gas. In this paper, a review of the system development effort and preliminary test results are presented and discussed, as well as our plan for future work.

  7. Programed asynchronous serial data interrogation in a two-computer system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schneberger, N. A.

    1975-01-01

    Technique permits redundant computers, with one unit in control mode and one in MONITOR mode, to interrogate the same serial data source. Its use for program-controlled serial data transfer results in extremely simple hardware and software mechanization.

  8. Re-engineering adenovirus vector systems to enable high-throughput analyses of gene function.

    PubMed

    Stanton, Richard J; McSharry, Brian P; Armstrong, Melanie; Tomasec, Peter; Wilkinson, Gavin W G

    2008-12-01

    With the enhanced capacity of bioinformatics to interrogate extensive banks of sequence data, more efficient technologies are needed to test gene function predictions. Replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus (Ad) vectors are widely used in expression analysis since they provide for extremely efficient expression of transgenes in a wide range of cell types. To facilitate rapid, high-throughput generation of recombinant viruses, we have re-engineered an adenovirus vector (designated AdZ) to allow single-step, directional gene insertion using recombineering technology. Recombineering allows for direct insertion into the Ad vector of PCR products, synthesized sequences, or oligonucleotides encoding shRNAs without requirement for a transfer vector Vectors were optimized for high-throughput applications by making them "self-excising" through incorporating the I-SceI homing endonuclease into the vector removing the need to linearize vectors prior to transfection into packaging cells. AdZ vectors allow genes to be expressed in their native form or with strep, V5, or GFP tags. Insertion of tetracycline operators downstream of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate early (HCMV MIE) promoter permits silencing of transgenes in helper cells expressing the tet repressor thus making the vector compatible with the cloning of toxic gene products. The AdZ vector system is robust, straightforward, and suited to both sporadic and high-throughput applications.

  9. Wavelength interrogation of fiber Bragg grating sensors using tapered hollow Bragg waveguides.

    PubMed

    Potts, C; Allen, T W; Azar, A; Melnyk, A; Dennison, C R; DeCorby, R G

    2014-10-15

    We describe an integrated system for wavelength interrogation, which uses tapered hollow Bragg waveguides coupled to an image sensor. Spectral shifts are extracted from the wavelength dependence of the light radiated at mode cutoff. Wavelength shifts as small as ~10  pm were resolved by employing a simple peak detection algorithm. Si/SiO₂-based cladding mirrors enable a potential operational range of several hundred nanometers in the 1550 nm wavelength region for a taper length of ~1  mm. Interrogation of a strain-tuned grating was accomplished using a broadband amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source, and potential for single-chip interrogation of multiplexed sensor arrays is demonstrated.

  10. High performance multi-spectral interrogation for surface plasmon resonance imaging sensors.

    PubMed

    Sereda, A; Moreau, J; Canva, M; Maillart, E

    2014-04-15

    Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing has proven to be a valuable tool in the field of surface interactions characterization, especially for biomedical applications where label-free techniques are of particular interest. In order to approach the theoretical resolution limit, most SPR-based systems have turned to either angular or spectral interrogation modes, which both offer very accurate real-time measurements, but at the expense of the 2-dimensional imaging capability, therefore decreasing the data throughput. In this article, we show numerically and experimentally how to combine the multi-spectral interrogation technique with 2D-imaging, while finding an optimum in terms of resolution, accuracy, acquisition speed and reduction in data dispersion with respect to the classical reflectivity interrogation mode. This multi-spectral interrogation methodology is based on a robust five parameter fitting of the spectral reflectivity curve which enables monitoring of the reflectivity spectral shift with a resolution of the order of ten picometers, and using only five wavelength measurements per point. In fine, such multi-spectral based plasmonic imaging system allows biomolecular interaction monitoring in a linear regime independently of variations of buffer optical index, which is illustrated on a DNA-DNA model case. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Detectors for Active Interrogation Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clarke, S. D.; Hamel, M. C.; Bourne, M. M.; Pozzi, S. A.

    Active interrogation creates an environment that is particularly challenging from a radiation-detection standpoint: the elevated background levels from the source can mask the desired signatures from the SNM. Neutron based interrogation experiments have shown that nanosecond-level timing is required to discriminate induced-fission neutrons from the scattered source neutrons. Previous experiments using high-energy bremsstrahlung X-rays have demonstrated the ability to induce and detect prompt photofission neutrons from single target materials; however, a real-world application would require spectroscopic capability to discern between photofission neutrons emitted by SNM and neutrons emitted by other reactions in non-SNM. Using digital pulse-shape discrimination, organic liquid scintillators are capable of reliably detecting neutrons in an intense gamma-ray field. Photon misclassification rates as low as 1 in 106 have been achieved, which is approaching the level of gaseous neutron detectors such as 3He without the need for neutron moderation. These scintillators also possess nanosecond-timing resolution, making them candidates for both neutron-and photon-driven active interrogation systems. We have applied an array of liquid and NaI(Tl) scintillators to successfully image 13.7 kg of HEU interrogated by a DT neutron generator; the system was in the direct presence of the accelerator during the experiment.

  12. InkTag: Secure Applications on an Untrusted Operating System

    PubMed Central

    Hofmann, Owen S.; Kim, Sangman; Dunn, Alan M.; Lee, Michael Z.; Witchel, Emmett

    2014-01-01

    InkTag is a virtualization-based architecture that gives strong safety guarantees to high-assurance processes even in the presence of a malicious operating system. InkTag advances the state of the art in untrusted operating systems in both the design of its hypervisor and in the ability to run useful applications without trusting the operating system. We introduce paraverification, a technique that simplifies the InkTag hypervisor by forcing the untrusted operating system to participate in its own verification. Attribute-based access control allows trusted applications to create decentralized access control policies. InkTag is also the first system of its kind to ensure consistency between secure data and metadata, ensuring recoverability in the face of system crashes. PMID:24429939

  13. InkTag: Secure Applications on an Untrusted Operating System.

    PubMed

    Hofmann, Owen S; Kim, Sangman; Dunn, Alan M; Lee, Michael Z; Witchel, Emmett

    2013-01-01

    InkTag is a virtualization-based architecture that gives strong safety guarantees to high-assurance processes even in the presence of a malicious operating system. InkTag advances the state of the art in untrusted operating systems in both the design of its hypervisor and in the ability to run useful applications without trusting the operating system. We introduce paraverification , a technique that simplifies the InkTag hypervisor by forcing the untrusted operating system to participate in its own verification. Attribute-based access control allows trusted applications to create decentralized access control policies. InkTag is also the first system of its kind to ensure consistency between secure data and metadata, ensuring recoverability in the face of system crashes.

  14. Extending birthday paradox theory to estimate the number of tags in RFID systems.

    PubMed

    Shakiba, Masoud; Singh, Mandeep Jit; Sundararajan, Elankovan; Zavvari, Azam; Islam, Mohammad Tariqul

    2014-01-01

    The main objective of Radio Frequency Identification systems is to provide fast identification for tagged objects. However, there is always a chance of collision, when tags transmit their data to the reader simultaneously. Collision is a time-consuming event that reduces the performance of RFID systems. Consequently, several anti-collision algorithms have been proposed in the literature. Dynamic Framed Slotted ALOHA (DFSA) is one of the most popular of these algorithms. DFSA dynamically modifies the frame size based on the number of tags. Since the real number of tags is unknown, it needs to be estimated. Therefore, an accurate tag estimation method has an important role in increasing the efficiency and overall performance of the tag identification process. In this paper, we propose a novel estimation technique for DFSA anti-collision algorithms that applies birthday paradox theory to estimate the number of tags accurately. The analytical discussion and simulation results prove that the proposed method increases the accuracy of tag estimation and, consequently, outperforms previous schemes.

  15. Extending Birthday Paradox Theory to Estimate the Number of Tags in RFID Systems

    PubMed Central

    Shakiba, Masoud; Singh, Mandeep Jit; Sundararajan, Elankovan; Zavvari, Azam; Islam, Mohammad Tariqul

    2014-01-01

    The main objective of Radio Frequency Identification systems is to provide fast identification for tagged objects. However, there is always a chance of collision, when tags transmit their data to the reader simultaneously. Collision is a time-consuming event that reduces the performance of RFID systems. Consequently, several anti-collision algorithms have been proposed in the literature. Dynamic Framed Slotted ALOHA (DFSA) is one of the most popular of these algorithms. DFSA dynamically modifies the frame size based on the number of tags. Since the real number of tags is unknown, it needs to be estimated. Therefore, an accurate tag estimation method has an important role in increasing the efficiency and overall performance of the tag identification process. In this paper, we propose a novel estimation technique for DFSA anti-collision algorithms that applies birthday paradox theory to estimate the number of tags accurately. The analytical discussion and simulation results prove that the proposed method increases the accuracy of tag estimation and, consequently, outperforms previous schemes. PMID:24752285

  16. Low-Cost Interrogation Technique for Dynamic Measurements with FBG-Based Devices

    PubMed Central

    Domingues, M. Fátima; Alberto, Nélia; Pontes, Maria José; Ribeiro, Moisés R. N.; André, Paulo S. B.; Antunes, Paulo F. C.

    2017-01-01

    Fiber Bragg gratings are widely used optical fiber sensors for measuring temperature and/or mechanical strain. Nevertheless, the high cost of the interrogation systems is the most important drawback for their large commercial application. In this work, an in-line Fabry–Perot interferometer based edge filter is explored in the interrogation of fiber Bragg grating dynamic measurements up to 5 kHz. Two devices an accelerometer and an arterial pulse wave probe were interrogated with the developed approach and the results were compared with a commercial interrogation monitor. The data obtained with the edge filter are in agreement with the commercial device, with a maximum RMSE of 0.05 being able to meet the requirements of the measurements. Resolutions of 3.6 pm and 2.4 pm were obtained, using the optical accelerometer and the arterial pulse wave probe, respectively. PMID:29065518

  17. Direct embryo tagging and identification system by attachment of biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes to the zona pellucida of mouse embryos.

    PubMed

    Novo, Sergi; Penon, Oriol; Barrios, Leonardo; Nogués, Carme; Santaló, Josep; Durán, Sara; Gómez-Matínez, Rodrigo; Samitier, Josep; Plaza, José Antonio; Pérez-García, Luisa; Ibáñez, Elena

    2013-06-01

    Is the attachment of biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes to the outer surface of the zona pellucida an effective approach for the direct tagging and identification of cultured embryos? The results achieved provide a proof of concept for a direct embryo tagging system using biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes, which could help to minimize the risk of mismatching errors (mix-ups) in human assisted reproduction technologies. Even though the occurrence of mix-ups is rare, several cases have been reported in fertility clinics around the world. Measures to prevent the risk of mix-ups in human assisted reproduction technologies are therefore required. Mouse embryos were tagged with 10 barcodes and the effectiveness of the tagging system was tested during fresh in vitro culture (n=140) and after embryo cryopreservation (n = 84). Finally, the full-term development of tagged embryos was evaluated (n =105). Mouse pronuclear embryos were individually rolled over wheat germ agglutinin-biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes to distribute them uniformly around the ZONA PELLUCIDA surface. Embryo viability and retention of barcodes were determined during 96 h of culture. The identification of tagged embryos was performed every 24 h in an inverted microscope and without embryo manipulation to simulate an automatic reading procedure. Full-term development of the tagged embryos was assessed after their transfer to pseudo-pregnant females. To test the validity of the embryo tagging system after a cryopreservation process, tagged embryos were frozen at the 2-cell stage using a slow freezing protocol, and followed in culture for 72 h after thawing. Neither the in vitro or in vivo development of tagged embryos was adversely affected. The tagging system also proved effective during an embryo cryopreservation process. Global identification rates higher than 96 and 92% in fresh and frozen-thawed tagged embryos, respectively, were obtained when simulating an automatic barcode reading system, although these rates could be increased to 100% by simply rotating the embryos during the reading process. The direct embryo tagging developed here has exclusively been tested in mouse embryos. Its effectiveness in other species, such as the human, is currently being tested. The direct embryo tagging system developed here, once tested in human embryos, could provide fertility clinics with a novel tool to reduce the risk of mix-ups in human assisted reproduction technologies.

  18. Probing the potential of CnaB-type domains for the design of tag/catcher systems

    PubMed Central

    Pröschel, Marlene; Kraner, Max E.; Horn, Anselm H. C.; Schäfer, Lena; Sonnewald, Uwe

    2017-01-01

    Building proteins into larger, post-translational assemblies in a defined and stable way is still a challenging task. A promising approach relies on so-called tag/catcher systems that are fused to the proteins of interest and allow a durable linkage via covalent intermolecular bonds. Tags and catchers are generated by splitting protein domains that contain intramolecular isopeptide or ester bonds that form autocatalytically under physiological conditions. There are already numerous biotechnological and medical applications that demonstrate the usefulness of covalent linkages mediated by these systems. Additional covalent tag/catcher systems would allow creating more complex and ultra-stable protein architectures and networks. Two of the presently available tag/catcher systems were derived from closely related CnaB-domains of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus dysgalactiae proteins. However, it is unclear whether domain splitting is generally tolerated within the CnaB-family or only by a small subset of these domains. To address this point, we have selected a set of four CnaB domains of low sequence similarity and characterized the resulting tag/catcher systems by computational and experimental methods. Experimental testing for intermolecular isopeptide bond formation demonstrated two of the four systems to be functional. For these two systems length and sequence variations of the peptide tags were investigated revealing only a relatively small effect on the efficiency of the reaction. Our study suggests that splitting into tag and catcher moieties is tolerated by a significant portion of the naturally occurring CnaB-domains, thus providing a large reservoir for the design of novel tag/catcher systems. PMID:28654665

  19. Characterization of FBG sensor interrogation based on a FDML wavelength swept laser

    PubMed Central

    Jung, Eun Joo; Kim, Chang-Seok; Jeong, Myung Yung; Kim, Moon Ki; Jeon, Min Yong; Jung, Woonggyu; Chen, Zhongping

    2012-01-01

    In this study, we develop an ultra-fast fiber Bragg grating sensor system that is based on the Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) swept laser. A FDML wavelength swept laser has many advantages compared to the conventional wavelength swept laser source, such as high-speed interrogation, narrow spectral sensitivity, and high phase stability. The newly developed FDML wavelength swept laser shows a superior performance of a high scan rate of 31.3 kHz and a broad scan range of over 70 nm simultaneously. The performance of the grating sensor interrogating system using a FDML wavelength swept laser is characterized in both static and dynamic strain responses. PMID:18852764

  20. Measuring and Predicting Tag Importance for Image Retrieval.

    PubMed

    Li, Shangwen; Purushotham, Sanjay; Chen, Chen; Ren, Yuzhuo; Kuo, C-C Jay

    2017-12-01

    Textual data such as tags, sentence descriptions are combined with visual cues to reduce the semantic gap for image retrieval applications in today's Multimodal Image Retrieval (MIR) systems. However, all tags are treated as equally important in these systems, which may result in misalignment between visual and textual modalities during MIR training. This will further lead to degenerated retrieval performance at query time. To address this issue, we investigate the problem of tag importance prediction, where the goal is to automatically predict the tag importance and use it in image retrieval. To achieve this, we first propose a method to measure the relative importance of object and scene tags from image sentence descriptions. Using this as the ground truth, we present a tag importance prediction model to jointly exploit visual, semantic and context cues. The Structural Support Vector Machine (SSVM) formulation is adopted to ensure efficient training of the prediction model. Then, the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is employed to learn the relation between the image visual feature and tag importance to obtain robust retrieval performance. Experimental results on three real-world datasets show a significant performance improvement of the proposed MIR with Tag Importance Prediction (MIR/TIP) system over other MIR systems.

  1. Reliability of an ordinal rating system for assessing the amount of mud and feces (tag) on cattle hides at slaughter.

    PubMed

    Jordan, D; McEwen, S A; Wilson, J B; McNab, W B; Lammerding, A M

    1999-05-01

    A study was conducted to provide a quantitative description of the amount of tag (mud, soil, and bedding) adhered to the hides of feedlot beef cattle and to appraise the statistical reliability of a subjective rating system for assessing this trait. Initially, a single rater obtained baseline data by assessing 2,417 cattle for 1 month at an Ontario beef processing plant. Analysis revealed that there was a strong tendency for animals within sale-lots to have a similar total tag score (intralot correlation = 0.42). Baseline data were summarized by fitting a linear model describing an individual's total tag score as the sum of their lot mean tag score (LMTS) plus an amount representing normal variation within the lot. LMTSs predicted by the linear model were adequately described by a beta distribution with parameters nu = 3.12 and omega = 5.82 scaled to fit on the 0-to-9 interval. Five raters, trained in use of the tag scoring system, made 1,334 tag score observations in a commercial abattoir, allowing reliability to be assessed at the individual level and at the lot level. High values for reliability were obtained for individual total tag score (0.84) and lot total tag score (0.83); these values suggest that the tag scoring system could be used in the marketing and slaughter of Ontario beef cattle to improve the cleanliness of animals presented for slaughter in an effort to control the entry of microbial contamination into abattoirs. Implications for the use of the tag scoring system in research are discussed.

  2. Compact mobile-reader system for two-way wireless communication, tracking and status monitoring for transport safety and security

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

    Tsai, Han-Chung; Liu, Yung Y.; Lee, Hok L.

    A system for monitoring a plurality radio frequency identification tags is described. The system uses at least one set of radio frequency identification tags. Each tag is attached to a container and includes several sensors for detecting physical conditions of said container. The system includes at least one autonomous intermediate reader in wireless communication with the frequency identification tags. The intermediate reader includes external wireless communication system, intermediate reader logic controller, and a self-contained rechargeable power supply. The system uses a central status reporting system in communication the intermediate reader.

  3. Noncontact power/interrogation system for smart structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spillman, William B., Jr.; Durkee, S.

    1994-05-01

    The field of smart structures has been largely driven by the development of new high performance designed materials. Use of these materials has been generally limited due to the fact that they have not been in use long enough for statistical data bases to be developed on their failure modes. Real time health monitoring is therefore required for the benefits of structures using these materials to be realized. In this paper a non-contact method of powering and interrogating embedded electronic and opto-electronic systems is described. The technique utilizes inductive coupling between external and embedded coils etched on thin electronic circuit cards. The technique can be utilized to interrogate embedded sensors and to provide > 250 mW for embedded electronics. The system has been successfully demonstrated with a number of composite and plastic materials through material thicknesses up to 1 cm. An analytical description of the system is provided along with experimental results.

  4. Ultra Small Integrated Optical Fiber Sensing System

    PubMed Central

    Van Hoe, Bram; Lee, Graham; Bosman, Erwin; Missinne, Jeroen; Kalathimekkad, Sandeep; Maskery, Oliver; Webb, David J.; Sugden, Kate; Van Daele, Peter; Van Steenberge, Geert

    2012-01-01

    This paper introduces a revolutionary way to interrogate optical fiber sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and to integrate the necessary driving optoelectronic components with the sensor elements. Low-cost optoelectronic chips are used to interrogate the optical fibers, creating a portable dynamic sensing system as an alternative for the traditionally bulky and expensive fiber sensor interrogation units. The possibility to embed these laser and detector chips is demonstrated resulting in an ultra thin flexible optoelectronic package of only 40 μm, provided with an integrated planar fiber pigtail. The result is a fully embedded flexible sensing system with a thickness of only 1 mm, based on a single Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL), fiber sensor and photodetector chip. Temperature, strain and electrodynamic shaking tests have been performed on our system, not limited to static read-out measurements but dynamically reconstructing full spectral information datasets.

  5. Interrogation of an autofluorescence-based method for protein fingerprinting.

    PubMed

    Siddaramaiah, Manjunath; Rao, Bola Sadashiva S; Joshi, Manjunath B; Datta, Anirbit; Sandya, S; Vishnumurthy, Vasudha; Chandra, Subhash; Nayak, Subramanya G; Satyamoorthy, Kapaettu; Mahato, Krishna K

    2018-03-14

    In the present study, we have designed a laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) based instrumentation and developed a sensitive methodology for the effective separation, visualization, identification and analysis of proteins on a single platform. In this method, intrinsic fluorescence spectra of proteins were detected after separation on 1 or 2 dimensional Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (SDS-TCEP) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and the data were analyzed. The MATLAB assisted software was designed for the development of PAGE fingerprint for the visualization of protein after 1- and 2-dimensional protein separation. These provided objective parameters of intrinsic fluorescence intensity, emission peak, molecular weight and isoelectric point using a single platform. Further, the current architecture could differentiate the overlapping proteins in the PAGE gels which otherwise were not identifiable by conventional staining, imaging and tagging methods. Categorization of the proteins based on the presence or absence of tyrosine or tryptophan residues and assigning the corresponding emission peaks (309-356 nm) with pseudo colors allowed the detection of proportion of proteins within the given spectrum. The present methodology doesn't use stains or tags, hence amenable to couple with mass spectroscopic measurements. This technique may have relevance in the field of proteomics that is used for innumerable applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Genetically-encoded Molecular Probes to Study G Protein-coupled Receptors

    PubMed Central

    Naganathan, Saranga; Grunbeck, Amy; Tian, He; Huber, Thomas; Sakmar, Thomas P.

    2013-01-01

    To facilitate structural and dynamic studies of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling complexes, new approaches are required to introduce informative probes or labels into expressed receptors that do not perturb receptor function. We used amber codon suppression technology to genetically-encode the unnatural amino acid, p-azido-L-phenylalanine (azF) at various targeted positions in GPCRs heterologously expressed in mammalian cells. The versatility of the azido group is illustrated here in different applications to study GPCRs in their native cellular environment or under detergent solubilized conditions. First, we demonstrate a cell-based targeted photocrosslinking technology to identify the residues in the ligand-binding pocket of GPCR where a tritium-labeled small-molecule ligand is crosslinked to a genetically-encoded azido amino acid. We then demonstrate site-specific modification of GPCRs by the bioorthogonal Staudinger-Bertozzi ligation reaction that targets the azido group using phosphine derivatives. We discuss a general strategy for targeted peptide-epitope tagging of expressed membrane proteins in-culture and its detection using a whole-cell-based ELISA approach. Finally, we show that azF-GPCRs can be selectively tagged with fluorescent probes. The methodologies discussed are general, in that they can in principle be applied to any amino acid position in any expressed GPCR to interrogate active signaling complexes. PMID:24056801

  7. Nimbus 4/IRLS Balloon Interrogation Package (BIP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1971-01-01

    The balloon interrogation package (BIP), an integral part of the overall interrogation, recording, and location subsystems (IRLS) for the Nimbus 4 program, is described. The BIP is a self-contained, integrated transponder designed to be carried aloft by a constant altitude, superpressure balloon to an altitude of 67,000 or 78,000 feet. After launch the BIP senses high-altitude balloon overpressure and temperature, and upon receipt of an interrogated command from the IRLS aboard the Nimbus 4 satellite, the BIP enodes the data on a real-time basis into a pulse-code modulation (PCM) format and transmits this data to the satellite. A summary of the program activity to produce 30 BIP systems and to support balloon launches from Ascension Island is presented.

  8. Multiple Object Based RFID System Using Security Level

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Jiyeon; Jung, Jongjin; Ryu, Ukjae; Ko, Hoon; Joe, Susan; Lee, Yongjun; Kim, Boyeon; Chang, Yunseok; Lee, Kyoonha

    2007-12-01

    RFID systems are increasingly applied for operational convenience in wide range of industries and individual life. However, it is uneasy for a person to control many tags because common RFID systems have the restriction that a tag used to identify just a single object. In addition, RFID systems can make some serious problems in violation of privacy and security because of their radio frequency communication. In this paper, we propose a multiple object RFID tag which can keep multiple object identifiers for different applications in a same tag. The proposed tag allows simultaneous access for their pair applications. We also propose an authentication protocol for multiple object tag to prevent serious problems of security and privacy in RFID applications. Especially, we focus on efficiency of the authentication protocol by considering security levels of applications. In the proposed protocol, the applications go through different authentication procedures according to security level of the object identifier stored in the tag. We implemented the proposed RFID scheme and made experimental results about efficiency and stability for the scheme.

  9. IC-tagged proteins are able to interact with each other and perform complex reactions when integrated into muNS-derived inclusions.

    PubMed

    Brandariz-Nuñez, Alberto; Otero-Romero, Iria; Benavente, Javier; Martinez-Costas, Jose M

    2011-09-20

    We have recently developed a versatile tagging system (IC-tagging) that causes relocation of the tagged proteins to ARV muNS-derived intracellular globular inclusions. In the present study we demonstrate (i) that the IC-tag can be successfully fused either to the amino or carboxyl terminus of the protein to be tagged and (ii) that IC-tagged proteins are able to interact between them and perform complex reactions that require such interactions while integrated into muNS inclusions, increasing the versatility of the IC-tagging system. Also, our studies with the DsRed protein add some light on the structure/function relationship of the evolution of DsRed chromophore. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Detectors for Active Interrogation Applications

    DOE PAGES

    Clarke, S. D.; Hamel, M. C.; Bourne, M. M.; ...

    2017-10-26

    Active interrogation creates an environment that is particularly challenging from a radiation-detection standpoint: the elevated background levels from the source can mask the desired signatures from the SNM. Neutron based interrogation experiments have shown that nanosecond-level timing is required to discriminate induced-fission neutrons from the scattered source neutrons. Previous experiments using high-energy bremsstrahlung X-rays have demonstrated the ability to induce and detect prompt photofission neutrons from single target materials; however, a real-world application would require spectroscopic capability to discern between photofission neutrons emitted by SNM and neutrons emitted by other reactions in non-SNM. Using digital pulseshape discrimination, organic liquid scintillatorsmore » are capable of reliably detecting neutrons in an intense gamma-ray field. Photon misclassification rates as low as 1 in 10 6 have been achieved, which is approaching the level of gaseous neutron detectors such as 3He without the need for neutron moderation. These scintillators also possess nanosecond-timing resolution, making them candidates for both neutron-and photon-driven active interrogation systems. Lastly, we have applied an array of liquid and NaI(Tl) scintillators to successfully image 13.7 kg of HEU interrogated by a DT neutron generator; the system was in the direct presence of the accelerator during the experiment.« less

  11. Scalable Faceted Ranking in Tagging Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Orlicki, José I.; Alvarez-Hamelin, J. Ignacio; Fierens, Pablo I.

    Nowadays, web collaborative tagging systems which allow users to upload, comment on and recommend contents, are growing. Such systems can be represented as graphs where nodes correspond to users and tagged-links to recommendations. In this paper we analyze the problem of computing a ranking of users with respect to a facet described as a set of tags. A straightforward solution is to compute a PageRank-like algorithm on a facet-related graph, but it is not feasible for online computation. We propose an alternative: (i) a ranking for each tag is computed offline on the basis of tag-related subgraphs; (ii) a faceted order is generated online by merging rankings corresponding to all the tags in the facet. Based on the graph analysis of YouTube and Flickr, we show that step (i) is scalable. We also present efficient algorithms for step (ii), which are evaluated by comparing their results with two gold standards.

  12. Tag ID Subdivision Scheme for Efficient Authentication and Security-Enhancement of RFID System in USN

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Kijeong; Park, Byungjoo; Park, Gil-Cheol

    Radio frequency identification (RFID) is a generic term that is used to describe a system that transmits the identity (in the form of a unique serial number) of an object or person wirelessly, using radio waves. However, there are security threats in the RFID system related to its technical components. For example, illegal RFID tag readers can read tag ID and recognize most RFID Readers, a security threat that needs in-depth attention. Previous studies show some ideas on how to minimize these security threats like studying the security protocols between tag, reader and Back-end DB. In this research, the team proposes an RFID Tag ID Subdivision Scheme to authenticate the permitted tag only in USN (Ubiquitous Sensor Network). Using the proposed scheme, the Back-end DB authenticates selected tags only to minimize security threats like eavesdropping and decreasing traffic in Back-end DB.

  13. 48 CFR 908.7101-7 - Government license tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Government license tags... Government license tags. (a) Government license tags shall be procured and assignments recorded by DOE... the District of Columbia, official Government tags shall be obtained from the Department of...

  14. On-line structural health and fire monitoring of a composite personal aircraft using an FBG sensing system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chandler, K.; Ferguson, S.; Graver, T.; Csipkes, A.; Mendez, A.

    2008-03-01

    We report in this paper on the design and development of a novel on-line structural health monitoring and fire detection system based on an array of optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors and interrogation system installed on a new, precommercial compact aircraft. A combined total of 17 FBG sensors - strain, temperature and high-temperature - were installed at critical locations in an around the wings, fuselage and engine compartment of a prototype, Comp Air CA 12 all-composite, ten-passenger personal airplane powered by a 1,650 hp turbine engine. The sensors are interrogated online and in real time by a swept laser FBG interrogator (Micron Optics sm125-700) mounted on board the plane. Sensors readings are then combined with the plane's avionics system and displayed on the pilot's aviation control panel. This system represents the first of its kind in commercial, small frame, airplanes and a first for optical fiber sensors.

  15. A Fiber Bragg Grating Interrogation System with Self-Adaption Threshold Peak Detection Algorithm.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Weifang; Li, Yingwu; Jin, Bo; Ren, Feifei; Wang, Hongxun; Dai, Wei

    2018-04-08

    A Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) interrogation system with a self-adaption threshold peak detection algorithm is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this study. This system is composed of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and advanced RISC machine (ARM) platform, tunable Fabry-Perot (F-P) filter and optical switch. To improve system resolution, the F-P filter was employed. As this filter is non-linear, this causes the shifting of central wavelengths with the deviation compensated by the parts of the circuit. Time-division multiplexing (TDM) of FBG sensors is achieved by an optical switch, with the system able to realize the combination of 256 FBG sensors. The wavelength scanning speed of 800 Hz can be achieved by a FPGA+ARM platform. In addition, a peak detection algorithm based on a self-adaption threshold is designed and the peak recognition rate is 100%. Experiments with different temperatures were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. Four FBG sensors were examined in the thermal chamber without stress. When the temperature changed from 0 °C to 100 °C, the degree of linearity between central wavelengths and temperature was about 0.999 with the temperature sensitivity being 10 pm/°C. The static interrogation precision was able to reach 0.5 pm. Through the comparison of different peak detection algorithms and interrogation approaches, the system was verified to have an optimum comprehensive performance in terms of precision, capacity and speed.

  16. A Fiber Bragg Grating Interrogation System with Self-Adaption Threshold Peak Detection Algorithm

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Weifang; Li, Yingwu; Jin, Bo; Ren, Feifei

    2018-01-01

    A Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) interrogation system with a self-adaption threshold peak detection algorithm is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this study. This system is composed of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and advanced RISC machine (ARM) platform, tunable Fabry–Perot (F–P) filter and optical switch. To improve system resolution, the F–P filter was employed. As this filter is non-linear, this causes the shifting of central wavelengths with the deviation compensated by the parts of the circuit. Time-division multiplexing (TDM) of FBG sensors is achieved by an optical switch, with the system able to realize the combination of 256 FBG sensors. The wavelength scanning speed of 800 Hz can be achieved by a FPGA+ARM platform. In addition, a peak detection algorithm based on a self-adaption threshold is designed and the peak recognition rate is 100%. Experiments with different temperatures were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system. Four FBG sensors were examined in the thermal chamber without stress. When the temperature changed from 0 °C to 100 °C, the degree of linearity between central wavelengths and temperature was about 0.999 with the temperature sensitivity being 10 pm/°C. The static interrogation precision was able to reach 0.5 pm. Through the comparison of different peak detection algorithms and interrogation approaches, the system was verified to have an optimum comprehensive performance in terms of precision, capacity and speed. PMID:29642507

  17. A navigation system for the visually impaired using colored navigation lines and RFID tags.

    PubMed

    Seto, First Tatsuya

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we describe about a developed navigation system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. Our developed instrument consists of a navigation system and a map information system. These systems are installed on a white cane. Our navigation system can follow a colored navigation line that is set on the floor. In this system, a color sensor installed on the tip of a white cane senses the colored navigation line, and the system informs the visually impaired that he/she is walking along the navigation line by vibration. The color recognition system is controlled by a one-chip microprocessor and this system can discriminate 6 colored navigation lines. RFID tags and a receiver for these tags are used in the map information system. The RFID tags and the RFID tag receiver are also installed on a white cane. The receiver receives tag information and notifies map information to the user by mp3 formatted pre-recorded voice. Three normal subjects who were blindfolded with an eye mask were tested with this system. All of them were able to walk along the navigation line. The performance of the map information system was good. Therefore, our system will be extremely valuable in supporting the activities of the visually impaired.

  18. X-ray and neutron interrogation of air cargo for mobile applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Liew, Seth

    2015-06-01

    A system for scanning break-bulk cargo for mobile applications is presented. This combines a 140 kV multi-view, multi-energy X-ray system with 2.5 MeV neutrons. The system uses dual energy X-ray radiography with neutron radiography. The X-ray and neutron systems were designed to be collocated in a mobile environment. Various materials were interrogated with the intent of distinguishing threat materials such as explosives from similar benign materials. In particular, the identification of threats and bengins with nearly identical effective atomic numbers has been demonstrated.

  19. 48 CFR 908.7101-7 - Government license tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Government license tags... Government license tags. (a) Government license tags shall be procured and assignments recorded by DOE... local laws, regulations, and procedures. (d) In the District of Columbia, official Government tags shall...

  20. Method for nonlinear optimization for gas tagging and other systems

    DOEpatents

    Chen, Ting; Gross, Kenny C.; Wegerich, Stephan

    1998-01-01

    A method and system for providing nuclear fuel rods with a configuration of isotopic gas tags. The method includes selecting a true location of a first gas tag node, selecting initial locations for the remaining n-1 nodes using target gas tag compositions, generating a set of random gene pools with L nodes, applying a Hopfield network for computing on energy, or cost, for each of the L gene pools and using selected constraints to establish minimum energy states to identify optimal gas tag nodes with each energy compared to a convergence threshold and then upon identifying the gas tag node continuing this procedure until establishing the next gas tag node until all remaining n nodes have been established.

  1. Method for nonlinear optimization for gas tagging and other systems

    DOEpatents

    Chen, T.; Gross, K.C.; Wegerich, S.

    1998-01-06

    A method and system are disclosed for providing nuclear fuel rods with a configuration of isotopic gas tags. The method includes selecting a true location of a first gas tag node, selecting initial locations for the remaining n-1 nodes using target gas tag compositions, generating a set of random gene pools with L nodes, applying a Hopfield network for computing on energy, or cost, for each of the L gene pools and using selected constraints to establish minimum energy states to identify optimal gas tag nodes with each energy compared to a convergence threshold and then upon identifying the gas tag node continuing this procedure until establishing the next gas tag node until all remaining n nodes have been established. 6 figs.

  2. A universal TagModule collection for parallel genetic analysis of microorganisms

    PubMed Central

    Oh, Julia; Fung, Eula; Price, Morgan N.; Dehal, Paramvir S.; Davis, Ronald W.; Giaever, Guri; Nislow, Corey; Arkin, Adam P.; Deutschbauer, Adam

    2010-01-01

    Systems-level analyses of non-model microorganisms are limited by the existence of numerous uncharacterized genes and a corresponding over-reliance on automated computational annotations. One solution to this challenge is to disrupt gene function using DNA tag technology, which has been highly successful in parallelizing reverse genetics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and has led to discoveries in gene function, genetic interactions and drug mechanism of action. To extend the yeast DNA tag methodology to a wide variety of microorganisms and applications, we have created a universal, sequence-verified TagModule collection. A hallmark of the 4280 TagModules is that they are cloned into a Gateway entry vector, thus facilitating rapid transfer to any compatible genetic system. Here, we describe the application of the TagModules to rapidly generate tagged mutants by transposon mutagenesis in the metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. Our results demonstrate the optimal hybridization properties of the TagModule collection, the flexibility in applying the strategy to diverse microorganisms and the biological insights that can be gained from fitness profiling tagged mutant collections. The publicly available TagModule collection is a platform-independent resource for the functional genomics of a wide range of microbial systems in the post-genome era. PMID:20494978

  3. 49 CFR 236.76 - Tagging of wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... INSTRUCTIONS GOVERNING THE INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Rules and Instructions: All Systems Wires and Cables § 236.76 Tagging of...

  4. 49 CFR 236.76 - Tagging of wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... INSTRUCTIONS GOVERNING THE INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Rules and Instructions: All Systems Wires and Cables § 236.76 Tagging of...

  5. 49 CFR 236.76 - Tagging of wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... INSTRUCTIONS GOVERNING THE INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Rules and Instructions: All Systems Wires and Cables § 236.76 Tagging of...

  6. Process control monitoring systems, industrial plants, and process control monitoring methods

    DOEpatents

    Skorpik, James R [Kennewick, WA; Gosselin, Stephen R [Richland, WA; Harris, Joe C [Kennewick, WA

    2010-09-07

    A system comprises a valve; a plurality of RFID sensor assemblies coupled to the valve to monitor a plurality of parameters associated with the valve; a control tag configured to wirelessly communicate with the respective tags that are coupled to the valve, the control tag being further configured to communicate with an RF reader; and an RF reader configured to selectively communicate with the control tag, the reader including an RF receiver. Other systems and methods are also provided.

  7. Soldier Data Tag Study Effort.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-06-10

    interested in protecting it. The tag itself is difficult--though not impossible--to counterfeit . Also, it (’• iii 71 -, potentially improves the data...attacks during the design, manufacture, and distribution processes, counterfeiting , unauthorized access/alteration of tag data, and use of the tag to...45 3.3.2 Hijacking of SOT System Shipments, or Large- Scale Counterfeit of SOT Systems ....................... 46 3.3.3 Unauthorized Alteration

  8. System and technique for ultrasonic characterization of settling suspensions

    DOEpatents

    Greenwood, Margaret S [Richland, WA; Panetta, Paul D [Richland, WA; Bamberger, Judith A [Richland, WA; Pappas, Richard A [Richland, WA

    2006-11-28

    A system for determining properties of settling suspensions includes a settling container, a mixer, and devices for ultrasonic interrogation transverse to the settling direction. A computer system controls operation of the mixer and the interrogation devices and records the response to the interrogating as a function of settling time, which is then used to determine suspension properties. Attenuation versus settling time for dilute suspensions, such as dilute wood pulp suspension, exhibits a peak at different settling times for suspensions having different properties, and the location of this peak is used as one mechanism for characterizing suspensions. Alternatively or in addition, a plurality of ultrasound receivers are arranged at different angles to a common transmitter to receive scattering responses at a variety of angles during particle settling. Angular differences in scattering as a function of settling time are also used to characterize the suspension.

  9. Investigation of active interrogation techniques to detect special nuclear material in maritime environments: Boarded search of a cargo container ship

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grogan, Brandon R.; Henkel, James J.; Johnson, Jeffrey O.; Mihalczo, John T.; Miller, Thomas M.; Patton, Bruce W.

    2013-12-01

    The detonation of a terrorist nuclear weapon in the United States would result in the massive loss of life and grave economic damage. Even if a device was not detonated, its known or suspected presence aboard a cargo container ship in a U.S. port would have major economic and political consequences. One possible means to prevent this threat would be to board a ship at sea and search for the device before it reaches port. The scenario considered here involves a small Coast Guard team with strong intelligence boarding a container ship to search for a nuclear device. Using active interrogation, the team would nonintrusively search a block of shipping containers to locate the fissile material. Potential interrogation source and detector technologies for the team are discussed. The methodology of the scan is presented along with a technique for calculating the required interrogation source strength using computer simulations. MCNPX was used to construct a computer model of a container ship, and several search scenarios were simulated. The results of the simulations are presented in terms of the source strength required for each interrogation scenario. Validation measurements were performed in order to scale these simulation results to expected performance. Interrogations through the short (2.4 m) axis of a standardized shipping container appear to be feasible given the entire range of container loadings tested. Interrogations through several containers at once or a single container through its long (12.2 m) axis do not appear to be viable with a portable interrogation system.

  10. Outdoor Education Support System with Location Awareness Using RFID and Symbology Tags

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osawa, Noritaka; Noda, Katsuji; Tsukagoshi, Satoru; Noma, Yutaka; Ando, Akikazu; Shibuya, Tomoharu; Kondo, Kimio

    2007-01-01

    A support system for outdoor learning using exploratory observation was developed. The system uses radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and two-dimensional (2D) symbology tags to locate positions on a horticultural farm and its surrounding forests. Students were able to get a location-dependent description and an educational hint for…

  11. Comparing the hierarchy of author given tags and repository given tags in a large document archive

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Palla, Gergely

    2016-10-01

    Folksonomies - large databases arising from collaborative tagging of items by independent users - are becoming an increasingly important way of categorizing information. In these systems users can tag items with free words, resulting in a tripartite item-tag-user network. Although there are no prescribed relations between tags, the way users think about the different categories presumably has some built in hierarchy, in which more special concepts are descendants of some more general categories. Several applications would benefit from the knowledge of this hierarchy. Here we apply a recent method to check the differences and similarities of hierarchies resulting from tags given by independent individuals and from tags given by a centrally managed repository system. The results from our method showed substantial differences between the lower part of the hierarchies, and in contrast, a relatively high similarity at the top of the hierarchies.

  12. Multibody Simulation Software Testbed for Small-Body Exploration and Sampling

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Acikmese, Behcet; Blackmore, James C.; Mandic, Milan

    2011-01-01

    G-TAG is a software tool for the multibody simulation of a spacecraft with a robotic arm and a sampling mechanism, which performs a touch-and-go (TAG) maneuver for sampling from the surface of a small celestial body. G-TAG utilizes G-DYN, a multi-body simulation engine described in the previous article, and interfaces to controllers, estimators, and environmental forces that affect the spacecraft. G-TAG can easily be adapted for the analysis of the mission stress cases to support the design of a TAG system, as well as for comprehensive Monte Carlo simulations to analyze and evaluate a particular TAG system design. Any future small-body mission will benefit from using G-TAG, which has already been extensively used in Comet Odyssey and Galahad Asteroid New Frontiers proposals.

  13. Transponder data processing methods and systems

    DOEpatents

    Axline, Robert M.

    2003-06-10

    This invention is a radar/tag system where pulses from a radar cause a tag (or transponder) to respond to the radar. The radar, along with its conventional pulse transmissions, sends a reference signal to the tag. The tag recovers the reference signal and uses it to shift the center frequency of the received radar pulse to a different frequency. This shift causes the frequencies of the tag response pulses to be disjoint from those of the transmit pulse. In this way, radar clutter can be eliminated from the tag responses. The radar predicts, to within a small Doppler offset, the center frequency of tag response pulses. The radar can create synthetic-aperture-radar-like images and moving-target-indicator-radar-like maps containing the signature of the tag against a background of thermal noise and greatly attenuated radar clutter. The radar can geolocate the tag precisely and accurately (to within better than one meter of error). The tag can encode status and environmental data onto its response pulses, and the radar can receive and decode this information.

  14. Dynamic load simulator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Joncas, K. P.

    1972-01-01

    Concepts and techniques for identifying and simulating both the steady state and dynamic characteristics of electrical loads for use during integrated system test and evaluation are discussed. The investigations showed that it is feasible to design and develop interrogation and simulation equipment to perform the desired functions. During the evaluation, actual spacecraft loads were interrogated by stimulating the loads with their normal input voltage and measuring the resultant voltage and current time histories. Elements of the circuits were optimized by an iterative process of selecting element values and comparing the time-domain response of the model with those obtained from the real equipment during interrogation.

  15. Integrated Management and Visualization of Electronic Tag Data with Tagbase

    PubMed Central

    Lam, Chi Hin; Tsontos, Vardis M.

    2011-01-01

    Electronic tags have been used widely for more than a decade in studies of diverse marine species. However, despite significant investment in tagging programs and hardware, data management aspects have received insufficient attention, leaving researchers without a comprehensive toolset to manage their data easily. The growing volume of these data holdings, the large diversity of tag types and data formats, and the general lack of data management resources are not only complicating integration and synthesis of electronic tagging data in support of resource management applications but potentially threatening the integrity and longer-term access to these valuable datasets. To address this critical gap, Tagbase has been developed as a well-rounded, yet accessible data management solution for electronic tagging applications. It is based on a unified relational model that accommodates a suite of manufacturer tag data formats in addition to deployment metadata and reprocessed geopositions. Tagbase includes an integrated set of tools for importing tag datasets into the system effortlessly, and provides reporting utilities to interactively view standard outputs in graphical and tabular form. Data from the system can also be easily exported or dynamically coupled to GIS and other analysis packages. Tagbase is scalable and has been ported to a range of database management systems to support the needs of the tagging community, from individual investigators to large scale tagging programs. Tagbase represents a mature initiative with users at several institutions involved in marine electronic tagging research. PMID:21750734

  16. Novel Dynamic Framed-Slotted ALOHA Using Litmus Slots in RFID Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yim, Soon-Bin; Park, Jongho; Lee, Tae-Jin

    Dynamic Framed Slotted ALOHA (DFSA) is one of the most popular protocols to resolve tag collisions in RFID systems. In DFSA, it is widely known that the optimal performance is achieved when the frame size is equal to the number of tags. So, a reader dynamically adjusts the next frame size according to the current number of tags. Thus it is important to estimate the number of tags exactly. In this paper, we propose a novel tag estimation and identification method using litmus (test) slots for DFSA. We compare the performance of the proposed method with those of existing methods by analysis. We conduct simulations and show that our scheme improves the speed of tag identification.

  17. Coherent pulse interrogation system for fiber Bragg grating sensing of strain and pressure in dynamic extremes of materials.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, George; Jaime, Marcelo; Balakirev, Fedor; Mielke, Chuck H; Azad, Abul; Marshall, Bruce; La Lone, Brandon M; Henson, Bryan; Smilowitz, Laura

    2015-06-01

    A 100 MHz fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system is described and applied to strain and pressure sensing. The approach relies on coherent pulse illumination of the FBG sensor with a broadband short pulse from a femtosecond modelocked erbium fiber laser. After interrogation of the FBG sensor, a long multi-kilometer run of single mode fiber is used for chromatic dispersion to temporally stretch the spectral components of the reflected pulse from the FBG sensor. Dynamic strain or pressure induced spectral shifts in the FBG sensor are detected as a pulsed time domain waveform shift after encoding by the chromatic dispersive line. Signals are recorded using a single 35 GHz photodetector and a 50 G Samples per second, 25 GHz bandwidth, digitizing oscilloscope. Application of this approach to high-speed strain sensing in magnetic materials in pulsed magnetic fields to ~150 T is demonstrated. The FBG wavelength shifts are used to study magnetic field driven magnetostriction effects in LaCoO3. A sub-microsecond temporal shift in the FBG sensor wavelength attached to the sample under first order phase change appears as a fractional length change (strain: ΔL/L<10-4) in the material. A second application used FBG sensing of pressure dynamics to nearly 2 GPa in the thermal ignition of the high explosive PBX-9501 is also demonstrated. Both applications demonstrate the use of this FBG interrogation system in dynamical extreme conditions that would otherwise not be possible using traditional FBG interrogation approaches that are deemed too slow to resolve such events.

  18. Wavelength-switched phase interrogator for EFPI sensors with polarization self-calibrated

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xia, Ji; Wang, Fuyin; Luo, Hong; Xiong, Shuidong

    2017-10-01

    The stability of the demodulation system for extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric(EFPI) sensors is significant to dynamic signal recovery. In the wavelength-switched demodulation system, a phase interrogation with a wavelength-switched structure has been presented. Two reflected peaks were in perpendicular polarization direction and switched in the time-domain. However, the operation point of system affected output of the linearly-polarized beams seriously, and the stability of the system decreased and even failed to work. In order to solve this problem, a polarization control unit is added into the system in this paper. The modified demodulation system has been demonstrated to have a higher stability.

  19. High-Speed Interrogation for Large-Scale Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Chenyuan; Bai, Wei

    2018-01-01

    A high-speed interrogation scheme for large-scale fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing arrays is presented. This technique employs parallel computing and pipeline control to modulate incident light and demodulate the reflected sensing signal. One Electro-optic modulator (EOM) and one semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) were used to generate a phase delay to filter reflected spectrum form multiple candidate FBGs with the same optical path difference (OPD). Experimental results showed that the fastest interrogation delay time for the proposed method was only about 27.2 us for a single FBG interrogation, and the system scanning period was only limited by the optical transmission delay in the sensing fiber owing to the multiple simultaneous central wavelength calculations. Furthermore, the proposed FPGA-based technique had a verified FBG wavelength demodulation stability of ±1 pm without average processing. PMID:29495263

  20. High-Speed Interrogation for Large-Scale Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing.

    PubMed

    Hu, Chenyuan; Bai, Wei

    2018-02-24

    A high-speed interrogation scheme for large-scale fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing arrays is presented. This technique employs parallel computing and pipeline control to modulate incident light and demodulate the reflected sensing signal. One Electro-optic modulator (EOM) and one semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) were used to generate a phase delay to filter reflected spectrum form multiple candidate FBGs with the same optical path difference (OPD). Experimental results showed that the fastest interrogation delay time for the proposed method was only about 27.2 us for a single FBG interrogation, and the system scanning period was only limited by the optical transmission delay in the sensing fiber owing to the multiple simultaneous central wavelength calculations. Furthermore, the proposed FPGA-based technique had a verified FBG wavelength demodulation stability of ±1 pm without average processing.

  1. A UHF RFID system with on-chip-antenna tag for short range communication

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qi, Peng; Chun, Zhang; Xijin, Zhao; Zhihua, Wang

    2015-05-01

    A UHF RF identification system based on the 0.18 μm CMOS process has been developed for short range and harsh size requirement applications, which is composed of a fully integrated tag and a special reader. The whole tag chip with the antenna takes up an area of 0.36 mm2, which is smaller than other reported tags with an on-chip antenna (OCA) using the standard CMOS process. A self-defined protocol is proposed to reduce the power consumption, and minimize the size of the tag. The specialized SOC reader system consists of the RF transceiver, digital baseband, MCU and host interface. Its power consumption is about 500 mW. Measurement results show that the system's reading range is 2 mm with 20 dBm reader output power. With an inductive antenna printed on a paper substrate around the OCA tag, the reading range can be extended from several centimeters to meters, depending on the shape and size of the inductive antenna.

  2. CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Diffusion-Based Recommendation in Collaborative Tagging Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shang, Ming-Sheng; Zhang, Zi-Ke

    2009-11-01

    Recently, collaborative tagging systems have attracted more and more attention and have been widely applied in web systems. Tags provide highly abstracted information about personal preferences and item content, and therefore have the potential to help in improving better personalized recommendations. We propose a diffusion-based recommendation algorithm considering the personal vocabulary and evaluate it in a real-world dataset: Del.icio.us. Experimental results demonstrate that the usage of tag information can significantly improve the accuracy of personalized recommendations.

  3. Radio System for Locating Emergency Workers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Larson, William; Medelius, Pedro; Starr, Stan; Bedette, Guy; Taylor, John; Moerk, Steve

    2003-01-01

    A system based on low-power radio transponders and associated analog and digital electronic circuitry has been developed for locating firefighters and other emergency workers deployed in a building or other structure. The system has obvious potential for saving lives and reducing the risk of injuries. The system includes (1) a central station equipped with a computer and a transceiver; (2) active radio-frequency (RF) identification tags, each placed in a different room or region of the structure; and (3) transponder units worn by the emergency workers. The RF identification tags can be installed in a new building as built-in components of standard fire-detection devices or ground-fault electrical outlets or can be attached to such devices in a previously constructed building, without need for rewiring the building. Each RF identification tag contains information that uniquely identifies it. When each tag is installed, information on its location and identity are reported to, and stored at, the central station. In an emergency, if a building has not been prewired with RF identification tags, leading emergency workers could drop sequentially numbered portable tags in the rooms of the building, reporting the tag numbers and locations by radio to the central station as they proceed.

  4. Hybrid Monte Carlo/Deterministic Methods for Accelerating Active Interrogation Modeling

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

    Peplow, Douglas E.; Miller, Thomas Martin; Patton, Bruce W

    2013-01-01

    The potential for smuggling special nuclear material (SNM) into the United States is a major concern to homeland security, so federal agencies are investigating a variety of preventive measures, including detection and interdiction of SNM during transport. One approach for SNM detection, called active interrogation, uses a radiation source, such as a beam of neutrons or photons, to scan cargo containers and detect the products of induced fissions. In realistic cargo transport scenarios, the process of inducing and detecting fissions in SNM is difficult due to the presence of various and potentially thick materials between the radiation source and themore » SNM, and the practical limitations on radiation source strength and detection capabilities. Therefore, computer simulations are being used, along with experimental measurements, in efforts to design effective active interrogation detection systems. The computer simulations mostly consist of simulating radiation transport from the source to the detector region(s). Although the Monte Carlo method is predominantly used for these simulations, difficulties persist related to calculating statistically meaningful detector responses in practical computing times, thereby limiting their usefulness for design and evaluation of practical active interrogation systems. In previous work, the benefits of hybrid methods that use the results of approximate deterministic transport calculations to accelerate high-fidelity Monte Carlo simulations have been demonstrated for source-detector type problems. In this work, the hybrid methods are applied and evaluated for three example active interrogation problems. Additionally, a new approach is presented that uses multiple goal-based importance functions depending on a particle s relevance to the ultimate goal of the simulation. Results from the examples demonstrate that the application of hybrid methods to active interrogation problems dramatically increases their calculational efficiency.« less

  5. Revisiting the False Confession Problem.

    PubMed

    Alvarez-Toro, Viviana; Lopez-Morales, Cesar A

    2018-03-01

    Despite the existence of important safeguards in our criminal legal system, innocent suspects often succumb to forceful and deceptive interrogation techniques. Among those over-represented members of the false confessor population are minors, people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, and those with psychiatric disorders. Some of the confessions made by these at-risk populations can hardly be considered voluntary or reliable, but they are generally admitted at trial, regardless of their prejudicial effect. Forensic psychiatrists should become more involved in the overall process of evaluating confessions, not only testifying in courts, but also assisting policymakers in reforming the interrogation process and influencing the legal process. Thus, forensic psychiatrists may give their expert opinion by providing proper training to police interrogators and examining videotaped interrogations. In addition, forensic experts can be instrumental in contributing to three legal solutions that we propose to the false confession problem: a constitutional approach, an evidence law approach, and a jury instruction approach. Each of these approaches requires forensic psychiatrists to help judges and jurors understand the coercive nature of the interrogation process and its effect on suspects' behavior. © 2018 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  6. Monitoring system including an electronic sensor platform and an interrogation transceiver

    DOEpatents

    Kinzel, Robert L.; Sheets, Larry R.

    2003-09-23

    A wireless monitoring system suitable for a wide range of remote data collection applications. The system includes at least one Electronic Sensor Platform (ESP), an Interrogator Transceiver (IT) and a general purpose host computer. The ESP functions as a remote data collector from a number of digital and analog sensors located therein. The host computer provides for data logging, testing, demonstration, installation checkout, and troubleshooting of the system. The IT transmits signals from one or more ESP's to the host computer to the ESP's. The IT host computer may be powered by a common power supply, and each ESP is individually powered by a battery. This monitoring system has an extremely low power consumption which allows remote operation of the ESP for long periods; provides authenticated message traffic over a wireless network; utilizes state-of-health and tamper sensors to ensure that the ESP is secure and undamaged; has robust housing of the ESP suitable for use in radiation environments; and is low in cost. With one base station (host computer and interrogator transceiver), multiple ESP's may be controlled at a single monitoring site.

  7. Continuous-Flow Detector for Rapid Pathogen Identification

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

    Barrett, Louise M.; Skulan, Andrew J.; Singh, Anup K.

    2006-09-01

    This report describes the continued development of a low-power, portable detector for the rapid identification of pathogens such as B. anthracis and smallpox. Based on our successful demonstration of the continuous filter/concentrator inlet, we believe strongly that the inlet section will enable differentiation between viable and non-viable populations, between types of cells, and between pathogens and background contamination. Selective, continuous focusing of particles in a microstream enables highly selective and sensitive identification using fluorescently labeled antibodies and other receptors such as peptides, aptamers, or small ligands to minimize false positives. Processes such as mixing and lysing will also benefit frommore » the highly localized particle streams. The concentrator is based on faceted prisms to contract microfluidic flows while maintaining uniform flowfields. The resulting interfaces, capable of high throughput, serve as high-, low-, and band-pass filters to direct selected bioparticles to a rapid, affinity-based detection system. The proposed device is superior to existing array-based detectors as antibody-pathogen binding can be accomplished in seconds rather than tens of minutes or even hours. The system is being designed to interface with aerosol collectors under development by the National Laboratories or commercial systems. The focused stream is designed to be interrogated using diode lasers to differentiate pathogens by light scattering. Identification of particles is done using fluorescently labeled antibodies to tag the particles, followed by multiplexed laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection (achieved by labeling each antibody with a different dye).« less

  8. Design of an HF-Band RFID System with Multiple Readers and Passive Tags for Indoor Mobile Robot Self-Localization

    PubMed Central

    Mi, Jian; Takahashi, Yasutake

    2016-01-01

    Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has already been explored for efficient self-localization of indoor mobile robots. A mobile robot equipped with RFID readers detects passive RFID tags installed on the floor in order to locate itself. The Monte-Carlo localization (MCL) method enables the localization of a mobile robot equipped with an RFID system with reasonable accuracy, sufficient robustness and low computational cost. The arrangements of RFID readers and tags and the size of antennas are important design parameters for realizing accurate and robust self-localization using a low-cost RFID system. The design of a likelihood model of RFID tag detection is also crucial for the accurate self-localization. This paper presents a novel design and arrangement of RFID readers and tags for indoor mobile robot self-localization. First, by considering small-sized and large-sized antennas of an RFID reader, we show how the design of the likelihood model affects the accuracy of self-localization. We also design a novel likelihood model by taking into consideration the characteristics of the communication range of an RFID system with a large antenna. Second, we propose a novel arrangement of RFID tags with eight RFID readers, which results in the RFID system configuration requiring much fewer readers and tags while retaining reasonable accuracy of self-localization. We verify the performances of MCL-based self-localization realized using the high-frequency (HF)-band RFID system with eight RFID readers and a lower density of RFID tags installed on the floor based on MCL in simulated and real environments. The results of simulations and real environment experiments demonstrate that our proposed low-cost HF-band RFID system realizes accurate and robust self-localization of an indoor mobile robot. PMID:27483279

  9. Design of an HF-Band RFID System with Multiple Readers and Passive Tags for Indoor Mobile Robot Self-Localization.

    PubMed

    Mi, Jian; Takahashi, Yasutake

    2016-07-29

    Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has already been explored for efficient self-localization of indoor mobile robots. A mobile robot equipped with RFID readers detects passive RFID tags installed on the floor in order to locate itself. The Monte-Carlo localization (MCL) method enables the localization of a mobile robot equipped with an RFID system with reasonable accuracy, sufficient robustness and low computational cost. The arrangements of RFID readers and tags and the size of antennas are important design parameters for realizing accurate and robust self-localization using a low-cost RFID system. The design of a likelihood model of RFID tag detection is also crucial for the accurate self-localization. This paper presents a novel design and arrangement of RFID readers and tags for indoor mobile robot self-localization. First, by considering small-sized and large-sized antennas of an RFID reader, we show how the design of the likelihood model affects the accuracy of self-localization. We also design a novel likelihood model by taking into consideration the characteristics of the communication range of an RFID system with a large antenna. Second, we propose a novel arrangement of RFID tags with eight RFID readers, which results in the RFID system configuration requiring much fewer readers and tags while retaining reasonable accuracy of self-localization. We verify the performances of MCL-based self-localization realized using the high-frequency (HF)-band RFID system with eight RFID readers and a lower density of RFID tags installed on the floor based on MCL in simulated and real environments. The results of simulations and real environment experiments demonstrate that our proposed low-cost HF-band RFID system realizes accurate and robust self-localization of an indoor mobile robot.

  10. Study of NTA-Nickel (II) Motif Functionalization for Binding of Histidine-Tagged Proteins by a Whispering Gallery Mode Resonator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khuong, Anne Chudolij

    This work demonstrates the viability of the whispering gallery mode (WGM) photonic sensing method for use as a biosensor by demonstrating a surface immobilization strategy for histidine tagged biomolecules to the WGM sensor surface. The WGM resonator is a dielectric spherical microstructure that can sustain high-Q electromagnetic waves confined to the sphere by total internal reflection. Light circumnavigates the periphery of the WGM resonator and when the trapped light constructively superimposes onto itself on the round trip, a resonance condition is achieved. Because of minimal loss due to reflection, these modes can reach unusually high quality factors. When a change occurs in the evanescent field at the boundary of the resonator and surrounding environment, such as when a molecule binds to the resonator surface, a shift results in the resonance wavelength; this enables the WGM resonator to be used as a sensor. WGM optical biosensors offer a powerful alternative to conventional analytical techniques due to their high sensitivity, specificity and their ability to directly detect label-free events in real time. There has been considerable growth in this field over the last decade and potential applications to medical and biotechnological research are numerous; however, there are still obstacles limiting the widespread commercial use of these devices. The obstacle we address in this work relates to a general fundamental difficulty incorporating biomaterial into biosensors. We demonstrate a specific and controlled functionalization strategy intended for subsequent assimilation of biomolecules onto the WGM resonator surface. We have developed a general method which can be used to controllably immobilize recombinant proteins to WGM silica surfaces via their histidine tags. In the work presented herein we monitor by WGM, in real time, a two step functionalization strategy to incorporate an NTA-Ni2+ motif onto the surface of a WGM resonator. We estimated the equilibrium constant and surface the density for each of the two reaction steps. Our NTA-Ni2+ functionalized resonator can be used to immobilize histidine tagged biomolecules for subsequent interrogation of protein-protein or protein-ligand binding events and provides a general platform to immobilize biomolecules to WGM biosensors.

  11. Harvesting Intelligence in Multimedia Social Tagging Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giannakidou, Eirini; Kaklidou, Foteini; Chatzilari, Elisavet; Kompatsiaris, Ioannis; Vakali, Athena

    As more people adopt tagging practices, social tagging systems tend to form rich knowledge repositories that enable the extraction of patterns reflecting the way content semantics is perceived by the web users. This is of particular importance, especially in the case of multimedia content, since the availability of such content in the web is very high and its efficient retrieval using textual annotations or content-based automatically extracted metadata still remains a challenge. It is argued that complementing multimedia analysis techniques with knowledge drawn from web social annotations may facilitate multimedia content management. This chapter focuses on analyzing tagging patterns and combining them with content feature extraction methods, generating, thus, intelligence from multimedia social tagging systems. Emphasis is placed on using all available "tracks" of knowledge, that is tag co-occurrence together with semantic relations among tags and low-level features of the content. Towards this direction, a survey on the theoretical background and the adopted practices for analysis of multimedia social content are presented. A case study from Flickr illustrates the efficiency of the proposed approach.

  12. Clone tag detection in distributed RFID systems.

    PubMed

    Kamaludin, Hazalila; Mahdin, Hairulnizam; Abawajy, Jemal H

    2018-01-01

    Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to displace barcodes, security vulnerabilities pose serious challenges for global adoption of the RFID technology. Specifically, RFID tags are prone to basic cloning and counterfeiting security attacks. A successful cloning of the RFID tags in many commercial applications can lead to many serious problems such as financial losses, brand damage, safety and health of the public. With many industries such as pharmaceutical and businesses deploying RFID technology with a variety of products, it is important to tackle RFID tag cloning problem and improve the resistance of the RFID systems. To this end, we propose an approach for detecting cloned RFID tags in RFID systems with high detection accuracy and minimal overhead thus overcoming practical challenges in existing approaches. The proposed approach is based on consistency of dual hash collisions and modified count-min sketch vector. We evaluated the proposed approach through extensive experiments and compared it with existing baseline approaches in terms of execution time and detection accuracy under varying RFID tag cloning ratio. The results of the experiments show that the proposed approach outperforms the baseline approaches in cloned RFID tag detection accuracy.

  13. Long fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogation using discrete-time microwave photonic filtering techniques.

    PubMed

    Ricchiuti, Amelia Lavinia; Barrera, David; Sales, Salvador; Thevenaz, Luc; Capmany, José

    2013-11-18

    A novel technique for interrogating photonic sensors based on long fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is presented and experimentally demonstrated, dedicated to detect the presence and the precise location of several spot events. The principle of operation is based on a technique used to analyze microwave photonics (MWP) filters. The long FBGs are used as quasi-distributed sensors. Several hot-spots can be detected along the FBG with a spatial accuracy under 0.5 mm using a modulator and a photo-detector (PD) with a modest bandwidth of less than 1 GHz. The proposed interrogation system is intrinsically robust against environmental changes.

  14. Tracking animals in freshwater with electronic tags: past, present and future

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cooke, Steven J.; Midwood, Jonathan D.; Thiem, Jason D.; Klimley, Peter; Lucas, Martyn C.; Thorstad, Eva B.; Eiler, John; Holbrook, Chris; Ebner, Brendan C.

    2013-01-01

    Considerable technical developments over the past half century have enabled widespread application of electronic tags to the study of animals in the wild, including in freshwater environments. We review the constraints associated with freshwater telemetry and biologging and the technical developments relevant to their use. Technical constraints for tracking animals are often influenced by the characteristics of the animals being studied and the environment they inhabit. Collectively, they influence which and how technologies can be used and their relative effectiveness. Although radio telemetry has historically been the most commonly used technology in freshwater, passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology, acoustic telemetry and biologgers are becoming more popular. Most telemetry studies have focused on fish, although an increasing number have focused on other taxa, such as turtles, crustaceans and molluscs. Key technical developments for freshwater systems include: miniaturization of tags for tracking small-size life stages and species, fixed stations and coded tags for tracking large samples of animals over long distances and large temporal scales, inexpensive PIT systems that enable mass tagging to yield population- and community-level relevant sample sizes, incorporation of sensors into electronic tags, validation of tag attachment procedures with a focus on maintaining animal welfare, incorporation of different techniques (for example, genetics, stable isotopes) and peripheral technologies (for example, geographic information systems, hydroacoustics), development of novel analytical techniques, and extensive international collaboration. Innovations are still needed in tag miniaturization, data analysis and visualization, and in tracking animals over larger spatial scales (for example, pelagic areas of lakes) and in challenging environments (for example, large dynamic floodplain systems, under ice). There seems to be a particular need for adapting various global positioning system and satellite tagging approaches to freshwater. Electronic tagging provides a mechanism to collect detailed information from imperilled animals and species that have no direct economic value. Current and future advances will continue to improve our knowledge of the natural history of aquatic animals and ecological processes in freshwater ecosystems while facilitating evidence-based resource management and conservation.

  15. 48 CFR 908.7101-7 - Government license tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Government license tags... ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Acquisition of Special Items 908.7101-7 Government license tags. (a) Government license tags shall be procured and assignments recorded by DOE...

  16. Evaluation and implementation of QR Code Identity Tag system for Healthcare in Turkey.

    PubMed

    Uzun, Vassilya; Bilgin, Sami

    2016-01-01

    For this study, we designed a QR Code Identity Tag system to integrate into the Turkish healthcare system. This system provides QR code-based medical identification alerts and an in-hospital patient identification system. Every member of the medical system is assigned a unique QR Code Tag; to facilitate medical identification alerts, the QR Code Identity Tag can be worn as a bracelet or necklace or carried as an ID card. Patients must always possess the QR Code Identity bracelets within hospital grounds. These QR code bracelets link to the QR Code Identity website, where detailed information is stored; a smartphone or standalone QR code scanner can be used to scan the code. The design of this system allows authorized personnel (e.g., paramedics, firefighters, or police) to access more detailed patient information than the average smartphone user: emergency service professionals are authorized to access patient medical histories to improve the accuracy of medical treatment. In Istanbul, we tested the self-designed system with 174 participants. To analyze the QR Code Identity Tag system's usability, the participants completed the System Usability Scale questionnaire after using the system.

  17. Development and evaluation of a boat-mounted RFID antenna for monitoring freshwater mussels

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fischer, Jesse R.; Neebling, Travis E.; Quist, Michael C.

    2012-01-01

    Development of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags has substantially increased the ability of researchers and managers to monitor populations of aquatic organisms. However, use of transportable RFID antenna systems (i.e., backpack-mounted) is currently limited to wadeable aquatic environments (<1.4 m water depth). We describe the design, construction, and evaluation of a boat-mounted RFID antenna to detect individually PIT-tagged benthic aquatic organisms (mussels). We evaluated the effects of tag orientation on detection distances in water with a 32-mm half-duplex PIT tag. Detection distances up to 50 cm from the antenna coils were obtained, but detection distance was dependent on tag orientation. We also evaluated detection distance of PIT tags beneath the sediment to simulate detection of burrowing mussels with 23- and 32-mm tags. In sand substrate, the maximum detection distance varied from 3.5 cm and 4.5 cm (vertical tag orientation) to 24.7 cm and 39.4 cm (45° tag orientation) for the 23- and 32-mm PIT tags, respectively. Our results suggest a 1.4-m total detection width for tagged mussels on the substrate surface by the boat-mounted antenna system regardless of tag orientation. However, burrowed mussels may require multiple passes to increase detection that would be influenced by depth, tag orientation, and tag size. Construction of the boat-mounted antenna was relatively low in cost (<500 USD) and had several advantages (less labor and time intensive, increased safety) over traditional mussel sampling techniques (diving, snorkeling) in nonwadeable habitats.

  18. Coherent pulse interrogation system for fiber Bragg grating sensing of strain and pressure in dynamic extremes of materials

    DOE PAGES

    Rodriguez, George; Jaime, Marcelo; Balakirev, Fedor; ...

    2015-05-21

    A 100 MHz fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system is described and applied to strain and pressure sensing. The approach relies on coherent pulse illumination of the FBG sensor with a broadband short pulse from a femtosecond modelocked erbium fiber laser. After interrogation of the FBG sensor, a long multi-kilometer run of single mode fiber is used for chromatic dispersion to temporally stretch the spectral components of the reflected pulse from the FBG sensor. Dynamic strain or pressure induced spectral shifts in the FBG sensor are detected as a pulsed time domain waveform shift after encoding by the chromatic dispersivemore » line. Signals are recorded using a single 35 GHz photodetector and a 50 GSamples per second, 25 GHz bandwidth, digitizing oscilloscope. Application of this approach to high-speed strain sensing in magnetic materials in pulsed magnetic fields to ~150 T is demonstrated. The FBG wavelength shifts are used to study magnetic field driven magnetostriction effects in LaCoO₃. A sub-microsecond temporal shift in the FBG sensor wavelength attached to the sample under first order phase change appears as a fractional length change (strain: ΔL/L<10⁻⁴) in the material. A second application used FBG sensing of pressure dynamics to nearly 2 GPa in the thermal ignition of the high explosive PBX-9501 is also demonstrated. In conclusion, both applications demonstrate the use of this FBG interrogation system in dynamical extreme conditions that would otherwise not be possible using traditional FBG interrogation approaches that are deemed too slow to resolve such events.« less

  19. Shortnose sturgeon in the Gulf of Maine: Use of spawning habitat in the Kennebec System and response to dam removal

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wippelhauser, Gail S.; Zydlewski, Gayle B.; Kieffer, Micah; Sulikowski, James; Kinnison, Michael T.

    2015-01-01

    Evidence has become available in this century indicating that populations of the endangered Shortnose Sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum migrate outside their natal river systems, but the full extent and functional basis of these migrations are not well understood. Between 2007 and 2013, 40 Shortnose Sturgeon captured and tagged in four Gulf of Maine river systems migrated long distances in coastal waters to reach the Kennebec System where their movements were logged by an acoustic receiver array. Twenty-one (20%) of 104 Shortnose Sturgeon tagged in the Penobscot River, two (50%) of four tagged in the Kennebec System, one (50%) of two tagged in the Saco River, and 16 (37%) of 43 tagged in the Merrimack River moved to a previously identified spawning site or historical spawning habitat in the Kennebec System in spring. Most (65%) moved in early spring from the tagging location directly to a spawning site in the Kennebec System, whereas the rest moved primarily in the fall from the tagging location to a wintering site in that system and moved to a spawning site the following spring. Spawning was inferred from the location, behavior, and sexual status of the fish and from season, water temperature, and discharge, and was confirmed by the capture of larvae in some years. Tagged fish went to a known spawning area in the upper Kennebec Estuary (16 events) or the Androscoggin Estuary (14 events), an historical spawning habitat in the restored Kennebec River (8 events), or two spawning areas in a single year (7 events). We have provided the first evidence indicating that Shortnose Sturgeon spawn in the restored Kennebec River in an historical habitat that became accessible in 1999 when Edwards Dam was removed, 162 years after it was constructed. These results highlight the importance of the Kennebec System to Shortnose Sturgeon throughout the Gulf of Maine.

  20. First Deminsys (high speed FBG interrogator) flight

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Els, Thomas J.

    2009-03-01

    Deminsys is the world's fastest multi sensor / multi channel FBG interrogator, identifies one till four channels with typically 8 sensors per channel. The system is especially developed for the interrogation of signals up to 19,3 kHz for each sensor and the sample frequency is independent of the number of sensors. By having multiple sensors per fibre you can create a very compact network of sensors. Due to its revolutionary (light weight, compact and solid state) design, Deminsys seems to fit perfectly into (research) programs for aerospace, medic & life science, maritime, industrial, crash test and all other fast detection applications. Technobis Fibre Technologies (TFT) and NLR made a first test flight with the Deminsys optical fibre measurement system using the NLR test aircraft on October 24th 2008. This flight was a first step in the further development of the current system in order to make it suitable for operation on-board an aircraft and bring it from TRL3 towards TRL5, a functional model for aerospace applications.

  1. Detecting concealed objects at a checkpoint

    DOEpatents

    McMakin, Douglas L [Richland, WA; Hall, Thomas E [Kennewick, WA; Sheen, David M [Richland, WA; Severtsen, Ronald H [Richland, WA

    2008-07-29

    Disclosed are systems, methods, devices, and apparatus to interrogate a clothed individual with electromagnetic radiation to determine if a concealed object is being carried. This determination includes establishing data corresponding to an image of the individual with a pair of opposed, semi-cylindrical array panels each configured to interrogate the individual with electromagnetic radiation in the 200 MHz to 1 THz range.

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

    Clarke, S. D.; Hamel, M. C.; Bourne, M. M.

    Active interrogation creates an environment that is particularly challenging from a radiation-detection standpoint: the elevated background levels from the source can mask the desired signatures from the SNM. Neutron based interrogation experiments have shown that nanosecond-level timing is required to discriminate induced-fission neutrons from the scattered source neutrons. Previous experiments using high-energy bremsstrahlung X-rays have demonstrated the ability to induce and detect prompt photofission neutrons from single target materials; however, a real-world application would require spectroscopic capability to discern between photofission neutrons emitted by SNM and neutrons emitted by other reactions in non-SNM. Using digital pulseshape discrimination, organic liquid scintillatorsmore » are capable of reliably detecting neutrons in an intense gamma-ray field. Photon misclassification rates as low as 1 in 10 6 have been achieved, which is approaching the level of gaseous neutron detectors such as 3He without the need for neutron moderation. These scintillators also possess nanosecond-timing resolution, making them candidates for both neutron-and photon-driven active interrogation systems. Lastly, we have applied an array of liquid and NaI(Tl) scintillators to successfully image 13.7 kg of HEU interrogated by a DT neutron generator; the system was in the direct presence of the accelerator during the experiment.« less

  3. A Secure RFID Tag Authentication Protocol with Privacy Preserving in Telecare Medicine Information System.

    PubMed

    Li, Chun-Ta; Weng, Chi-Yao; Lee, Cheng-Chi

    2015-08-01

    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based solutions are widely used for providing many healthcare applications include patient monitoring, object traceability, drug administration system and telecare medicine information system (TMIS) etc. In order to reduce malpractices and ensure patient privacy, in 2015, Srivastava et al. proposed a hash based RFID tag authentication protocol in TMIS. Their protocol uses lightweight hash operation and synchronized secret value shared between back-end server and tag, which is more secure and efficient than other related RFID authentication protocols. Unfortunately, in this paper, we demonstrate that Srivastava et al.'s tag authentication protocol has a serious security problem in that an adversary may use the stolen/lost reader to connect to the medical back-end server that store information associated with tagged objects and this privacy damage causing the adversary could reveal medical data obtained from stolen/lost readers in a malicious way. Therefore, we propose a secure and efficient RFID tag authentication protocol to overcome security flaws and improve the system efficiency. Compared with Srivastava et al.'s protocol, the proposed protocol not only inherits the advantages of Srivastava et al.'s authentication protocol for TMIS but also provides better security with high system efficiency.

  4. 48 CFR 552.211-92 - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) using passive tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Identification (RFID) using passive tags. 552.211-92 Section 552.211-92 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... Provisions and Clauses 552.211-92 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) using passive tags. As prescribed in 511.204(b)(11), insert the following clause: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Using Passive Tags...

  5. 48 CFR 552.211-92 - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) using passive tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Identification (RFID) using passive tags. 552.211-92 Section 552.211-92 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... Provisions and Clauses 552.211-92 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) using passive tags. As prescribed in 511.204(b)(11), insert the following clause: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Using Passive Tags...

  6. 49 CFR 236.76 - Tagging of wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with signal apparatus. 236.76 Section 236.76 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus. Each wire shall be tagged or otherwise so... apparatus. [49 FR 3384, Jan. 26, 1984] Inspections and Tests; All Systems ...

  7. 49 CFR 236.76 - Tagging of wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... with signal apparatus. 236.76 Section 236.76 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... wires and interference of wires or tags with signal apparatus. Each wire shall be tagged or otherwise so... apparatus. [49 FR 3384, Jan. 26, 1984] Inspections and Tests; All Systems ...

  8. Intestinal triacylglycerol synthesis in fat absorption and systemic energy metabolism

    PubMed Central

    Yen, Chi-Liang Eric; Nelson, David W.; Yen, Mei-I

    2015-01-01

    The intestine plays a prominent role in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerol (triglyceride; TAG). Digested dietary TAG is repackaged in the intestine to form the hydrophobic core of chylomicrons, which deliver metabolic fuels, essential fatty acids, and other lipid-soluble nutrients to the peripheral tissues. By controlling the flux of dietary fat into the circulation, intestinal TAG synthesis can greatly impact systemic metabolism. Genes encoding many of the enzymes involved in TAG synthesis have been identified. Among TAG synthesis enzymes, acyl-CoA:monoacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 and acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)1 are highly expressed in the intestine. Their physiological functions have been examined in the context of whole organisms using genetically engineered mice and, in the case of DGAT1, specific inhibitors. An emerging theme from recent findings is that limiting the rate of TAG synthesis in the intestine can modulate gut hormone secretion, lipid metabolism, and systemic energy balance. The underlying mechanisms and their implications for humans are yet to be explored. Pharmacological inhibition of TAG hydrolysis in the intestinal lumen has been employed to combat obesity and associated disorders with modest efficacy and unwanted side effects. The therapeutic potential of inhibiting specific enzymes involved in intestinal TAG synthesis warrants further investigation. PMID:25231105

  9. Intestinal triacylglycerol synthesis in fat absorption and systemic energy metabolism.

    PubMed

    Yen, Chi-Liang Eric; Nelson, David W; Yen, Mei-I

    2015-03-01

    The intestine plays a prominent role in the biosynthesis of triacylglycerol (triglyceride; TAG). Digested dietary TAG is repackaged in the intestine to form the hydrophobic core of chylomicrons, which deliver metabolic fuels, essential fatty acids, and other lipid-soluble nutrients to the peripheral tissues. By controlling the flux of dietary fat into the circulation, intestinal TAG synthesis can greatly impact systemic metabolism. Genes encoding many of the enzymes involved in TAG synthesis have been identified. Among TAG synthesis enzymes, acyl-CoA:monoacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 and acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)1 are highly expressed in the intestine. Their physiological functions have been examined in the context of whole organisms using genetically engineered mice and, in the case of DGAT1, specific inhibitors. An emerging theme from recent findings is that limiting the rate of TAG synthesis in the intestine can modulate gut hormone secretion, lipid metabolism, and systemic energy balance. The underlying mechanisms and their implications for humans are yet to be explored. Pharmacological inhibition of TAG hydrolysis in the intestinal lumen has been employed to combat obesity and associated disorders with modest efficacy and unwanted side effects. The therapeutic potential of inhibiting specific enzymes involved in intestinal TAG synthesis warrants further investigation. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  10. Design of a photonic integrated based optical interrogator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ibrahim, Selwan K.; Farnan, Martin; Karabacak, Devrez M.

    2017-02-01

    Optical sensors based on Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) are used in several applications and industries. In order for fiber optic sensors to compete with electrical sensors, several critical parameters of both the sensors and sensor interrogators need to be in place such as performance, cost, size, reliability relevant to the target application. Here we have developed a tunable laser based optical interrogator which delivers high performance (up to 8kHz sweep-rate and 120dB dynamic range) and precision (<100fm) by optimizing the laser calibration of a telecom tunable laser and incorporating optical periodic wavelength references (e.g. MZI) to correct and compensate for wavelength non-linearity and noise during operation. Scaling up optical sensing systems to deliver high level of performance over a large number of sensors is enabled by synchronizing multiple interrogators. Further improvements can be achieved by using photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology which reduces the footprint, cost, and improves performance. There exists several PIC technology platforms (e.g. InP, Si, TriPlex) that could be used to develop different optical building blocks used in the interrogator. Such building blocks include the tunable laser, couplers, photodiodes, MZIs, etc. are available on the InP platform. Here we have demonstrated the operation of an interrogator using PIC technology to replace many of the discrete optical components. The design and chip manufacturing was carried out as part of an InP multi-project wafer (MPW) run under the EU PARADIGM project. A custom package supporting fiber arrays was designed and manufactured to demonstrate the PIC functionality in an optical interrogator.

  11. Active damage interrogation system for structural health monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lichtenwalner, Peter F.; Dunne, James P.; Becker, Ronald S.; Baumann, Erwin W.

    1997-05-01

    An integrated and automated smart structures approach for in situ damage assessment has been implemented and evaluated in a laboratory environment for health monitoring of a realistic aerospace structural component. This approach, called Active Damage Interrogation (ADI), utilizes an array of piezoelectric transducers attached to or embedded within the structure for both actuation and sensing. The ADI system, which is model independent, actively interrogates the structure through broadband excitation of multiple actuators across the desired frequency range. Statistical analysis of the changes in transfer functions between actuator/sensor pairs is used to detect, localize, and assess the severity of damage in the structure. This paper presents the overall concept of the ADI system and provides experimental results of damage assessment studies conducted for a composite structural component of the MD-900 Explorer helicopter rotor system. The potential advantages of this approach include simplicity (no need for a model), sensitivity, and low cost implementation. The results obtained thus far indicate considerably promise for integrated structural health monitoring of aerospace vehicles, leading to the practice of condition-based maintenance and consequent reduction in life cycle costs.

  12. Method for designing gas tag compositions

    DOEpatents

    Gross, Kenny C.

    1995-01-01

    For use in the manufacture of gas tags such as employed in a nuclear reactor gas tagging failure detection system, a method for designing gas tagging compositions utilizes an analytical approach wherein the final composition of a first canister of tag gas as measured by a mass spectrometer is designated as node #1. Lattice locations of tag nodes in multi-dimensional space are then used in calculating the compositions of a node #2 and each subsequent node so as to maximize the distance of each node from any combination of tag components which might be indistinguishable from another tag composition in a reactor fuel assembly. Alternatively, the measured compositions of tag gas numbers 1 and 2 may be used to fix the locations of nodes 1 and 2, with the locations of nodes 3-N then calculated for optimum tag gas composition. A single sphere defining the lattice locations of the tag nodes may be used to define approximately 20 tag nodes, while concentric spheres can extend the number of tag nodes to several hundred.

  13. Emigration of Natural and Hatchery Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Smolts from the Imnaha River, Oregon, October 20, 1999 to June 15, 2000 : 2000 Annual Report.

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

    Cleary, Peter J.

    2002-12-01

    This report details the smolt performance of natural and hatchery chinook salmon and steelhead from the Imnaha River to the Snake River and Columbia River dams during migration year 2000. Flow conditions in the Imnaha River and Snake River were appreciably lower during May and June in 2000, compared to historic levels at gauging stations, but flow conditions in the Imnaha and Snake River were above average during April. Overall, water conditions for the entire Columbia River were characterized by the Fish Passage Center as below normal levels. Spill occurred continuously at Lower Granite Dam (LGR), Little Goose Dam (LGO),more » and Lower Monumental Dam (LMO) from April 5, April 10, and April 4, respectively, to June 20, and encompassed the periods of migration of Imnaha River juvenile chinook salmon and steelhead, with a few exceptions. Outflow in the tailraces of LGR, LGO, and LMO decreased in May and June while temperatures increased. Chinook salmon and steelhead were captured using rotary screw traps at river kilometer (rkm) 74 and 7 during the fall from October 20 to November 24, 1999, and during the spring period from February 26 to June 15, 2000, at rkm 7. Spring trapping information was reported weekly to the Fish Passage Center's Smolt Monitoring Program. A portion of these fish were tagged weekly with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and were detected migrating past interrogation sites at Snake River and Columbia River dams. Survival of PIT tagged fish was estimated with the Survival Using Proportional Hazards model (SURPH model). Estimated survival of fall tagged natural chinook (with {+-} 95% confidence intervals in parenthesis) from the upper Imnaha (rkm 74) to LGR was 29.6% ({+-} 2.8 ). Natural chinook salmon tagged in the fall in the lower Imnaha River at rkm 7, which over wintered in the Snake River, had an estimated survival of 36.8% ({+-} 2.9%) to LGR. Spring tagged natural chinook salmon from the lower site had an estimated survival of 84.8% ({+-} 2.6%) to LGR. The season wide survival of spring tagged natural chinook salmon smolts from release in the Imnaha River to McNary Dam (MCN) was 67.9% ({+-} 6.3%). Post release survival of hatchery chinook salmon smolts, from release at the Imnaha River acclimation facility to the lower Imnaha River trap, was estimated at 94.7% ({+-} 4.7%). Hatchery chinook salmon, PIT tagged and released at the lower Imnaha River trap, had an estimated survival of 75.0% ({+-} 4.2%) to LGR. Estimated survival of hatchery chinook salmon smolts from the Imnaha River to McNary Dam (MCN) was 54.1% ({+-} 9.7%). Natural steelhead smolts had an estimated survival of 84.4% ({+-} 2.7%) to LGR and a survival estimate of 49.9% ({+-}12.2%) from the lower Imnaha River trap to MCN. The estimated survival of hatchery steelhead smolts to LGR was 85.8 ({+-} 2.4) and the survival from release to MCN was 40.2% ({+-}12.5%).« less

  14. A navigation system for the visually impaired an intelligent white cane.

    PubMed

    Fukasawa, A Jin; Magatani, Kazusihge

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we describe about a developed navigation system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. Our developed instrument consists of a navigation system and a map information system. These systems are installed on a white cane. Our navigation system can follow a colored navigation line that is set on the floor. In this system, a color sensor installed on the tip of a white cane, this sensor senses a color of navigation line and the system informs the visually impaired that he/she is walking along the navigation line by vibration. This color recognition system is controlled by a one-chip microprocessor. RFID tags and a receiver for these tags are used in the map information system. RFID tags are set on the colored navigation line. An antenna for RFID tags and a tag receiver are also installed on a white cane. The receiver receives the area information as a tag-number and notifies map information to the user by mp3 formatted pre-recorded voice. And now, we developed the direction identification technique. Using this technique, we can detect a user's walking direction. A triaxiality acceleration sensor is used in this system. Three normal subjects who were blindfolded with an eye mask were tested with our developed navigation system. All of them were able to walk along the navigation line perfectly. We think that the performance of the system is good. Therefore, our system will be extremely valuable in supporting the activities of the visually impaired.

  15. Active interrogation using low-energy nuclear reactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antolak, Arlyn; Doyle, Barney; Leung, Ka-Ngo; Morse, Daniel; Provencio, Paula

    2005-09-01

    High-energy photons and neutrons can be used to interrogate for heavily shielded fissile materials inside sealed cargo containers by detecting their prompt and/or delayed fission signatures. The FIND (Fissmat Inspection for Nuclear Detection) active interrogation system is based on a dual neutron+gamma source that uses low-energy (< 500 keV) proton- or deuteron-induced nuclear reactions to produce high intensities of mono-energetic gamma rays and/or neutrons. The source can be operated in either pulsed (e.g., to detect delayed photofission neutrons and gammas) or continuous (e.g., detecting prompt fission signatures) modes. For the gamma-rays, the source target can be segmented to incorporate different (p,γ) isotopes for producing gamma-rays at selective energies, thereby improving the probability of detection. The design parameters for the FIND system are discussed and preliminary accelerator-based measurements of gamma and neutron yields, background levels, and fission signals for several target materials under consideration are presented.

  16. The Collective Knowledge of Social Tags: Direct and Indirect Influences on Navigation, Learning, and Information Processing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cress, Ulrike; Held, Christoph; Kimmerle, Joachim

    2013-01-01

    Tag clouds generated in social tagging systems can capture the collective knowledge of communities. Using as a basis spreading activation theories, information foraging theory, and the co-evolution model of cognitive and social systems, we present here a model for an "extended information scent," which proposes that both collective and individual…

  17. 48 CFR 52.208-7 - Tagging of Leased Vehicles.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Tagging of Leased Vehicles....208-7 Tagging of Leased Vehicles. As prescribed in 8.1104(d), insert a clause substantially as follows: Tagging of Leased Vehicles (MAY 1986) While it is the intent that vehicles leased under this contract will...

  18. The Effects of Target Audience on Social Tagging

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alsarhan, Hesham

    2013-01-01

    Online social bookmarking systems allow users to assign tags (i.e., keywords) to represent the content of resources. Research on the effects of target audience on social tagging suggests that taggers select different tags for themselves, their community (e.g., family, friends, colleagues), and the general public (Panke & Gaiser, 2009; Pu &…

  19. Tagging methods for estimating population size and mortality rates of inland striped bass populations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hightower, Joseph E.; Pollock, Kenneth H.

    2013-01-01

    Striped bass Morone saxatilis in inland reservoirs play an important role ecologically and in supporting recreational fishing. To manage these populations, biologists need information about abundance and mortality. Abundance estimates can be used to assess the effectiveness of stocking programs that maintain most reservoir striped bass populations. Mortality estimates can indicate the relative impact of fishing versus natural mortality and the need for harvest regulation. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate tagging studies as a way of obtaining information about abundance and mortality. These approaches can be grouped into three broad categories: tag recapture, tag return, and telemetry. Tag-recapture methods are typically used to estimate population size and other demographic parameters but are often difficult to apply in large systems. A fishing tournament can be an effective way of generating tagging or recapture effort in large systems, compared to using research sampling only. Tag-return methods that rely on angler harvest and catch and release can be used to estimate fishing (F) and natural (M) mortality rates and are a practical approach in large reservoirs. The key to success in tag-return studies is to build in auxiliary studies to estimate short-term tagging mortality, short- and longterm tag loss, reporting rate, and mortality associated with catch and release. F and M can also be estimated using telemetry tags. Advantages of this approach are that angler nonreporting does not bias estimates and fish with transmitters provide useful ecological data. Cost can be a disadvantage of telemetry studies; thus, combining telemetry tags with conventional tag returns in an integrated analysis is often the optimal approach. In summary, tagging methods can be a powerful tool for assessing the effectiveness of inland striped bass stocking programs and the relative impact of fishing versus natural mortality

  20. Improving RF Transmit Power and Received Signal Strength in 2.4 GHz ZigBee Based Active RFID System with Embedded Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Po'ad, F. A.; Ismail, W.; Jusoh, J. F.

    2017-08-01

    This paper describes the experiments and analysis conducted on 2.4 GHz embedded active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) based system that has been developed for the purposes of location tracking and monitoring in indoor and outdoor environments. Several experiments are conducted to test the effectiveness and performance of the developed system and two of them is by measuring the Radio Frequency (RF) transmitting power and Received Signal Strength (RSS) to prove that the embedded active RFID tag is capable to generate higher transmit power during data transmission and able to provide better RSS reading compared to standalone RFID tag. Experiments are carried out on two RFID tags which are active RFID tag embedded with GPS and GSM (ER2G); and standalone RFID tag communicating with the same active RFID reader. The developed ER2G contributes 12.26 % transmit power and 6.47 % RSS reading higher than standalone RFID tag. The results conclude that the ER2G gives better performance compared to standalone RFID tag and can be used as guidelines for future design improvements.

  1. Clone tag detection in distributed RFID systems

    PubMed Central

    Kamaludin, Hazalila; Mahdin, Hairulnizam

    2018-01-01

    Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is poised to displace barcodes, security vulnerabilities pose serious challenges for global adoption of the RFID technology. Specifically, RFID tags are prone to basic cloning and counterfeiting security attacks. A successful cloning of the RFID tags in many commercial applications can lead to many serious problems such as financial losses, brand damage, safety and health of the public. With many industries such as pharmaceutical and businesses deploying RFID technology with a variety of products, it is important to tackle RFID tag cloning problem and improve the resistance of the RFID systems. To this end, we propose an approach for detecting cloned RFID tags in RFID systems with high detection accuracy and minimal overhead thus overcoming practical challenges in existing approaches. The proposed approach is based on consistency of dual hash collisions and modified count-min sketch vector. We evaluated the proposed approach through extensive experiments and compared it with existing baseline approaches in terms of execution time and detection accuracy under varying RFID tag cloning ratio. The results of the experiments show that the proposed approach outperforms the baseline approaches in cloned RFID tag detection accuracy. PMID:29565982

  2. Uncertainty of exploitation estimates made from tag returns

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Miranda, L.E.; Brock, R.E.; Dorr, B.S.

    2002-01-01

    Over 6,000 crappies Pomoxis spp. were tagged in five water bodies to estimate exploitation rates by anglers. Exploitation rates were computed as the percentage of tags returned after adjustment for three sources of uncertainty: postrelease mortality due to the tagging process, tag loss, and the reporting rate of tagged fish. Confidence intervals around exploitation rates were estimated by resampling from the probability distributions of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting rate. Estimates of exploitation rates ranged from 17% to 54% among the five study systems. Uncertainty around estimates of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting resulted in 90% confidence intervals around the median exploitation rate as narrow as 15 percentage points and as broad as 46 percentage points. The greatest source of estimation error was uncertainty about tag reporting. Because the large investments required by tagging and reward operations produce imprecise estimates of the exploitation rate, it may be worth considering other approaches to estimating it or simply circumventing the exploitation question altogether.

  3. Flow cytometer acquisition and detection system

    DOEpatents

    Casstevens, Martin K.; Burzynski, Ryszard; Weibel, John; Kachynski, Alexander

    2010-05-04

    A flow cytometer has a flow cell through which a sample flows and at least one laser emitting an excitation beam for illuminating a corresponding interrogation region in the flow cell. Scattered and fluorescence light from each interrogation region is collected by one or more input fibers for that region, and the input fiber(s) are fed to a dispersion module for that interrogation region that disperses the incoming light into different spectral regions. The dispersed light is conveyed, such as by a plurality of output fibers, to one or more photosensitive detectors. Thus, time multiplexed light signals may be delivered to a detector whereby several unique light signals can be measured by a single detector.

  4. Interrogation of weak Bragg grating sensors based on dual-wavelength differential detection.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Rui; Xia, Li

    2016-11-15

    It is shown that for weak Bragg gratings the logarithmic ratio of reflected intensities at any two wavelengths within the spectrum follows a linear relationship with the Bragg wavelength shift, with a slope proportional to their wavelength spacing. This finding is exploited to develop a flexible, efficient, and cheap interrogation solution of weak fiber Bragg grating (FBGs), especially ultra-short FBGs, in distributed sensing based on dual-wavelength differential detection. The concept is experimentally studied in both single and distributed sensing systems with ultra-short FBG sensors. The work may form the basis of new and promising FBG interrogation techniques based on detecting discrete rather than continuous spectra.

  5. Design of an optical system for interrogation of implanted luminescent sensors and verification with silicone skin phantoms.

    PubMed

    Long, Ruiqi; McShane, Mike

    2012-09-01

    Implantable luminescent sensors are being developed for on-demand monitoring of blood glucose levels. For these sensors to be deployed in vivo, a matched external hardware system is needed. In this paper, we designed a compact, low-cost optical system with highly efficient photon delivery and collection using advanced optical modeling software. Compared to interrogation with a fiber bundle, the new system was predicted to improve interrogation efficiency by a factor of 200 for native sensors; an improvement of 37 times was predicted for sensors implanted at a depth of 1 mm in a skin-simulating phantom. A physical prototype was tested using silicone-based skin phantoms developed specifically to mimic the scattering and absorbing properties of human skin. The experimental evaluations revealed that the prototype device performed in agreement with expectations from simulation results, resulting in an overall improvement of over 2000 times. This efficient system enables use of a low-cost commercial spectrometer for recording sensor emission, which was not possible using only fiber optic delivery and collection, and will be used as a tool for in vivo studies with animal models or human subjects.

  6. Strep-Tagged Protein Purification.

    PubMed

    Maertens, Barbara; Spriestersbach, Anne; Kubicek, Jan; Schäfer, Frank

    2015-01-01

    The Strep-tag system can be used to purify recombinant proteins from any expression system. Here, protocols for lysis and affinity purification of Strep-tagged proteins from E. coli, baculovirus-infected insect cells, and transfected mammalian cells are given. Depending on the amount of Strep-tagged protein in the lysate, a protocol for batch binding and subsequent washing and eluting by gravity flow can be used. Agarose-based matrices with the coupled Strep-Tactin ligand are the resins of choice, with a binding capacity of up to 9 mg ml(-1). For purification of lower amounts of Strep-tagged proteins, the use of Strep-Tactin magnetic beads is suitable. In addition, Strep-tagged protein purification can also be automated using prepacked columns for FPLC or other liquid-handling chromatography instrumentation, but automated purification is not discussed in this protocol. The protocols described here can be regarded as an update of the Strep-Tag Protein Handbook (Qiagen, 2009). © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Juvenile Radio-Tag Study: Lower Granite Dam, 1985 Annual Report.

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

    Stuehrenberg, Lowell C.

    The concept of using mass releases of juvenile radio tags represents a new and potentially powerful research tool that could be effectively applied to juvenile salmonid passage problems at dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. A system of detector antennas, strategically located, would automatically detect and record individually tagged juvenile salmonids as they pass through the spillway, powerhouse, bypass system, or tailrace areas below the dam. Accurate measurements of spill effectiveness, fish guiding efficiency (FGE), collection efficiency (CE), spillway survival, powerhouse survival, and bypass survival would be possible without handling large numbers of unmarked fish. A prototype juvenile radio-tagmore » system was developed and tested by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) at John Day Dam and at Lower Granite Dam. This report summarizes research to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the prototype juvenile radio-tag system in a field situation and (2) to test the basic assumptions inherent in using the juvenile radio tag as a research tool.« less

  8. Method for designing gas tag compositions

    DOEpatents

    Gross, K.C.

    1995-04-11

    For use in the manufacture of gas tags such as employed in a nuclear reactor gas tagging failure detection system, a method for designing gas tagging compositions utilizes an analytical approach wherein the final composition of a first canister of tag gas as measured by a mass spectrometer is designated as node No. 1. Lattice locations of tag nodes in multi-dimensional space are then used in calculating the compositions of a node No. 2 and each subsequent node so as to maximize the distance of each node from any combination of tag components which might be indistinguishable from another tag composition in a reactor fuel assembly. Alternatively, the measured compositions of tag gas numbers 1 and 2 may be used to fix the locations of nodes 1 and 2, with the locations of nodes 3-N then calculated for optimum tag gas composition. A single sphere defining the lattice locations of the tag nodes may be used to define approximately 20 tag nodes, while concentric spheres can extend the number of tag nodes to several hundred. 5 figures.

  9. A novel surgical marking system for small peripheral lung nodules based on radio frequency identification technology: Feasibility study in a canine model.

    PubMed

    Kojima, Fumitsugu; Sato, Toshihiko; Takahata, Hiromi; Okada, Minoru; Sugiura, Tadao; Oshiro, Osamu; Date, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Tatsuo

    2014-04-01

    We investigated the feasibility and accuracy of a novel surgical marking system based on radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology for the localization of small peripheral lung nodules (SPLNs) in a canine model. The system consists of 4 components: (1) micro RFID tags (13.56 MHz, 1.0 × 1.0 × 0.8 mm), (2) a tag delivery system with a bronchoscope, (3) a wand-shaped locating probe (10-mm diameter), and (4) a signal processing unit with audio interface. Before the operation, pseudolesions mimicking SPLNs were prepared in 7 dogs by injecting colored collagen. By use of a computed tomographic (CT) guide, an RFID tag was placed via a bronchoscope close to each target lesion. This was then followed by scanning with the locating probe, and wedge resection was performed when possible. Operators can locate the tag by following the sound emitted by the system, which exhibits tone changes according to the tag-probe distance. The primary outcome measure was the rate of wedge resection with good margins. A total of 10 pseudolesions imitating SPLNs were selected as targets. During thoracoscopic procedures, 9 of 10 tags were detected by the system within a median of 27 seconds. Wedge resections were performed for these 9 lesions with a median margin of 11 mm. The single failure was caused by tag dislocation to the central airway. Successful localization and wedge resection of pseudolesions with appropriate margins were accomplished in an experimental setting. Our RFID marking system has future applications for accurately locating SPLNs in a clinical setting. Copyright © 2014 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Development of high sensitivity eight-element multiplexed fiber laser acoustic pressure hydrophone array and interrogation system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Ming; Sun, Zhihui; Zhang, Xiaolei; Li, Shujuan; Song, Zhiqiang; Wang, Meng; Guo, Jian; Ni, Jiasheng; Wang, Chang; Peng, Gangding; Xu, Xiangang

    2017-09-01

    Fiber laser hydrophones have got widespread concerns due to the unique advantages and broad application prospects. In this paper, the research results of the eight-element multiplexed fiber laser acoustic pressure array and the interrogation system are introduced, containing low-noise distributed feedback fiber laser (DFB-FL) fabrication, sensitivity enhancement packaging, and interferometric signal demodulation. The frequency response range of the system is 10Hz-10kHz, the laser frequency acoustic pressure sensitivity reaches 115 dB re Hz/Pa, and the equivalent noise acoustic pressure is less than 60μPa/Hz1/2. The dynamic range of the system is greater than 120 dB.

  11. Enhancement of anti-tumor effect of particulate vaccine delivery system by 'bacteriomimetic' CpG functionalization of poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles.

    PubMed

    Kokate, Rutika A; Thamake, Sanjay I; Chaudhary, Pankaj; Mott, Brittney; Raut, Sangram; Vishwanatha, Jamboor K; Jones, Harlan P

    2015-01-01

    Low immunogenicity remains a major obstacle in realizing the full potential of cancer vaccines. In this study, we evaluated CpG-coated tumor antigen (Tag)-encapsulating 'bacteriomimetic' nanoparticles (CpG-nanoparticle [NP]-Tag NPs) as an approach to enhance anti-tumor immunity. CpG-NP-Tag NPs were synthesized, characterized for their physicochemical properties and tested in vivo. We found CpG predosing followed by intraperitoneal (IP) immunization with CpG-NP-Tag NPs significantly attenuated tumor growth in female BALB/c mice compared with respective controls. Histopathological and Immunofluorescence data revealed CpG-NP-Tag tumors had lower proliferation, higher apoptotic activity, greater CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell infiltration as well as higher IFN-γ levels as compared with control groups. Our findings suggest CpG-NP-Tag NPs can enhance anti-tumor effect of nanoparticulate tumor vaccination system.

  12. Active-Interrogation Measurements of Induced-Fission Neutrons from Low-Enriched Uranium

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

    J. L. Dolan; M. J. Marcath; M. Flaska

    2012-07-01

    Protection and control of nuclear fuels is paramount for nuclear security and safeguards; therefore, it is important to develop fast and robust controlling mechanisms to ensure the safety of nuclear fuels. Through both passive- and active-interrogation methods we can use fast-neutron detection to perform real-time measurements of fission neutrons for process monitoring. Active interrogation allows us to use different ranges of incident neutron energy to probe for different isotopes of uranium. With fast-neutron detectors, such as organic liquid scintillation detectors, we can detect the induced-fission neutrons and photons and work towards quantifying a sample’s mass and enrichment. Using MCNPX-PoliMi, amore » system was designed to measure induced-fission neutrons from U-235 and U-238. Measurements were then performed in the summer of 2010 at the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. Fissions were induced with an associated particle D-T generator and an isotopic Am-Li source. The fission neutrons, as well as neutrons from (n, 2n) and (n, 3n) reactions, were measured with five 5” by 5” EJ-309 organic liquid scintillators. The D-T neutron generator was available as part of a measurement campaign in place by Padova University. The measurement and data-acquisition systems were developed at the University of Michigan utilizing a CAEN V1720 digitizer and pulse-shape discrimination algorithms to differentiate neutron and photon detections. Low-enriched uranium samples of varying mass and enrichment were interrogated. Acquired time-of-flight curves and cross-correlation curves are currently analyzed to draw relationships between detected neutrons and sample mass and enrichment. In the full paper, the promise of active-interrogation measurements and fast-neutron detection will be assessed through the example of this proof-of-concept measurement campaign. Additionally, MCNPX-PoliMi simulation results will be compared to the measured data to validate the MCNPX-PoliMi code when used for active-interrogation simulations.« less

  13. Miniature and low cost fiber Bragg grating interrogator for structural monitoring in nano-satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Toet, P. M.; Hagen, R. A. J.; Hakkesteegt, H. C.; Lugtenburg, J.; Maniscalco, M. P.

    2017-11-01

    In this paper we present a newly developed Fiber Optic measurement system, consisting of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors and an FBG interrogator. The development of the measuring system is part of the PiezoElectric Assisted Smart Satellite Structure (PEASSS) project, which was initiated at the beginning of 2013 and is financed by the Seventh Framework Program (FP7) of the European Commission. Within the PEASSS project, a Nano-Satellite is being designed and manufactured to be equipped with new technology that will help keep Europe on the cutting edge of space research, potentially reducing the cost and development time for more accurate future sensor platforms including synthetic aperture optics, moving target detection and identification, and compact radars. After on ground testing the satellite is planned to be launched at the end of 2015. Within the satellite, different technologies will be demonstrated on orbit to show their capabilities for different in-space applications. For our application the FBG interrogator monitors the structural and thermal behaviour of a so called "smart panel". These panels will enable fine angle control and thermal and vibration compensation in order to improve all types of future Earth observations, such as environmental and planetary mapping, border and regional imaging. The Fiber Optic (FO) system in PEASSS includes four FBG strain sensors and two FBG temperature sensors. The 3 channel interrogator has to have a small footprint (110x50x40mm), is low cost, low in mass and has a low power consumption. In order to meet all these requirements, an interrogator has been designed based on a tunable Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) enabling a wavelength sweep of around 7 nm. To guarantee the absolute and relative performance, two reference methods are included internally in the interrogator. First, stabilized reference FBG sensors are used to obtain absolute wavelength calibrations. This method is used for the temperature sensors in the system, which will be measured with an accuracy of +/-1°C. Second, the strain sensors will be used to monitor deformation of piezo actuators (bimorph plates) in a way that temperature compensation is not required. Using FBGs on top and on the bottom of the plates, relative wavelength differences are measured. In order to have a high accuracy, inside the interrogator a fiber interferometer is used to track the wavelength change. Using this reference technology we are able to measure the (relative) wavelength difference between two FBGs well below 0.1pm.

  14. [Research on symmetrical optical waveguide based surface plasmon resonance sensing with spectral interrogation].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yi-long; Liu, Le; Guo, Jun; Zhang, Peng-fei; Guo, Ji-hua; Ma, Hui; He, Yong-hong

    2015-02-01

    Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors with spectral interrogation can adopt fiber to transmit light signals, thus leaving the sensing part separated, which is very convenient for miniaturization, remote-sensing and on-site analysis. Symmetrical optical waveguide (SOW) SPR has the same refractive index of the-two buffer media layers adjacent to the metal film, resulting in longer propagation distance, deeper penetration depth and better performance compared to conventional SPR In the present paper, we developed a symmetrical optical, waveguide (SOW) SPR sensor with wavelength interrogation. In the system, MgF2-Au-MgF2 film was used as SOW module for glucose sensing, and a fiber based light source and detection was used in the spectral interrogation. In the experiment, a refractive index resolution of 2.8 x 10(-7) RIU in fluid protocol was acquired. This technique provides advantages of high resolution and could have potential use in compact design, on-site analysis and remote sensing.

  15. 29 CFR 1915.162 - Ship's boilers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, blanked, and tagged indicating that... and shutoff valves connecting the dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, locked, and tagged. (2) Drain connections to atmosphere on all of the dead interconnecting systems shall be...

  16. 29 CFR 1915.162 - Ship's boilers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, blanked, and tagged indicating that... and shutoff valves connecting the dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, locked, and tagged. (2) Drain connections to atmosphere on all of the dead interconnecting systems shall be...

  17. Remotely-interrogated high data rate free space laser communications link

    DOEpatents

    Ruggiero, Anthony J [Livermore, CA

    2007-05-29

    A system and method of remotely extracting information from a communications station by interrogation with a low power beam. Nonlinear phase conjugation of the low power beam results in a high power encoded return beam that automatically tracks the input beam and is corrected for atmospheric distortion. Intracavity nondegenerate four wave mixing is used in a broad area semiconductor laser in the communications station to produce the return beam.

  18. Analyse des erreurs et grammaire generative: La syntaxe de l'interrogation en francais (Error Analysis and Generative Grammar: The Syntax of Interrogation in French).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Py, Bernard

    A progress report is presented of a study which applies a system of generative grammar to error analysis. The objective of the study was to reconstruct the grammar of students' interlanguage, using a systematic analysis of errors. (Interlanguage refers to the linguistic competence of a student who possesses a relatively systematic body of rules,…

  19. A Safe, Self-Calibrating, Wireless System for Measuring Volume of Any Fuel at Non-Horizontal Orientation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Woodward, Stanley E.; Taylor, Bryant D.

    2010-01-01

    A system for wirelessly measuring the volume of fluid in tanks at non-horizontal orientation is predicated upon two technologies developed at Langley Research Center. The first is a magnetic field response recorder that powers and interrogates magnetic field response sensors [ Magnetic Field Response Measurement Acquisition System, (LAR-16908), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 30, No. 6 (June 2006), page 28]. Magnetic field response sensors are a class of sensors that are powered via oscillating magnetic fields and when electrically active respond with their own magnetic fields whose attributes are dependent upon the magnitude of the physical quantity being measured. The response recorder facilitates the use of the second technology, which is a magnetic field response fluid-level sensor ["Wireless Fluid- Level Sensors for Harsh Environments," (LAR-17155), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 33, No. 4 (April 2009), page 30]. The method for powering and interrogating the sensors allows them to be completely encased in materials (Fig. 1) that are chemically resilient to the fluid being measured, thereby facilitating measurement of substances (e.g., acids, petroleum, cryogenic, caustic, and the like) that would normally destroy electronic circuitry. When the sensors are encapsulated, no fluid (or fluid vapor) is exposed to any electrical component of the measurement system. There is no direct electrical line from the vehicle or plant power into a fuel container. The means of interrogating and powering the sensors can be completely physically and electrically isolated from the fuel and vapors by placing the sensor on the other side of an electrically non-conductive bulkhead (Fig. 2). These features prevent the interrogation system and its electrical components from becoming an ignition source.

  20. Leveraging tagging and rating for recommendation: RMF meets weighted diffusion on tripartite graphs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Jianguo; Tang, Yong; Chen, Jiemin

    2017-10-01

    Recommender systems (RSs) have been a widely exploited approach to solving the information overload problem. However, the performance is still limited due to the extreme sparsity of the rating data. With the popularity of Web 2.0, the social tagging system provides more external information to improve recommendation accuracy. Although some existing approaches combine the matrix factorization models with the tag co-occurrence and context of tags, they neglect the issue of tag sparsity that would also result in inaccurate recommendations. Consequently, in this paper, we propose a novel hybrid collaborative filtering model named WUDiff_RMF, which improves regularized matrix factorization (RMF) model by integrating Weighted User-Diffusion-based CF algorithm(WUDiff) that obtains the information of similar users from the weighted tripartite user-item-tag graph. This model aims to capture the degree correlation of the user-item-tag tripartite network to enhance the performance of recommendation. Experiments conducted on four real-world datasets demonstrate that our approach significantly performs better than already widely used methods in the accuracy of recommendation. Moreover, results show that WUDiff_RMF can alleviate the data sparsity, especially in the circumstance that users have made few ratings and few tags.

  1. Simulation Of A Photofission-Based Cargo Interrogation System

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

    King, Michael; Gozani, Tsahi; Stevenson, John

    A comprehensive model has been developed to characterize and optimize the detection of Bremsstrahlung x-ray induced fission signatures from nuclear materials hidden in cargo containers. An effective active interrogation system should not only induce a large number of fission events but also efficiently detect their signatures. The proposed scanning system utilizes a 9-MV commercially available linear accelerator and the detection of strong fission signals i.e. delayed gamma rays and prompt neutrons. Because the scanning system is complex and the cargo containers are large and often highly attenuating, the simulation method segments the model into several physical steps, representing each changemore » of radiation particle. Each approximation is carried-out separately, resulting in a major reduction in computational time and a significant improvement in tally statistics. The model investigates the effect on the fission rate and detection rate by various cargo types, densities and distributions. Hydrogenous and metallic cargos, homogeneous and heterogeneous, as well as various locations of the nuclear material inside the cargo container were studied. We will show that for the photofission-based interrogation system simulation, the final results are not only in good agreement with a full, single-step simulation but also with experimental results, further validating the full-system simulation.« less

  2. N-terminal SKIK peptide tag markedly improves expression of difficult-to-express proteins in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

    PubMed

    Ojima-Kato, Teruyo; Nagai, Satomi; Nakano, Hideo

    2017-05-01

    Despite advances in microbial protein expression systems, low production of proteins remains a great concern for some genes. Here we report that the insertion of a short peptide tag, consisting of Ser-Lys-Ile-Lys (SKIK), adjacent to the start codon of genes encoding difficult-to-express proteins can increase protein expression in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Protein expression levels of a mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb), rabbit mAbs obtained from clonal B cells, and an artificially designed peptide were significantly increased simply by the addition of the SKIK tag in E. coli systems. In particular, a ∼30-fold increase in protein production was observed for the mouse mAb, and the artificially designed peptide band became detectable in sodium dodecyl sulfate-poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis after coomassie brilliant blue staining or western blotting on adding the SKIK tag. The tag also increased the expression of tagged proteins in S. cerevisiae and an E. coli cell-free protein synthesis system. Although the mechanism of high protein expression on addition of the tag is unclear, our findings offer great benefits to biotechnology research and industry. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. An efficient tag derived from the common epitope of tospoviral NSs proteins for monitoring recombinant proteins expressed in both bacterial and plant systems.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Hao-Wen; Chen, Kuan-Chun; Raja, Joseph A J; Li, Jian-Xian; Yeh, Shyi-Dong

    2013-04-15

    NSscon (23 aa), a common epitope in the gene silencing suppressor NSs proteins of the members of the Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) serogroup, was previously identified. In this investigation, we expressed different green fluorescent protein (GFP)-fused deletions of NSscon in bacteria and reacted with NSscon monoclonal antibody (MAb). Our results indicated that the core 9 amino acids, "(109)KFTMHNQIF(117)", denoted as "nss", retain the reactivity of NSscon. In bacterial pET system, four different recombinant proteins labeled with nss, either at N- or C-extremes, were readily detectable without position effects, with sensitivity superior to that for the polyhistidine-tag. When the nss-tagged Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) helper component-protease (HC-Pro) and WSMoV nucleocapsid protein were transiently expressed by agroinfiltration in tobacco, they were readily detectable and the tag's possible efficacy for gene silencing suppression was not noticed. Co-immunoprecipitation of nss-tagged and non-tagged proteins expressed from bacteria confirmed the interaction of potyviral HC-Pro and coat protein. Thus, we conclude that this novel nss sequence is highly valuable for tagging recombinant proteins in both bacterial and plant expression systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Emergency Department Real Time Location System Patient and Equipment Tracking

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-10-01

    accomplishments/Reportable Outcomes Patient Tagging: Getting staff to embrace the change in their workflow and apply the RFID tag and band as well as getting...goes on if a patient passes the exit with a RFID tag still on. We have received the device however the vendor is researching how best to utilize the...technology to meet the need. The ability to limit the range for reading an RFID tag to prevent false alerts is presently being worked on. Tag

  5. Improving attachments of remotely-deployed dorsal fin-mounted tags: tissue structure, hydrodynamics, in situ performance, and tagged-animal follow-up

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-30

    and then design and test improved retention systems 4. Conduct follow-up studies of tagged whales to accurately quantify wound healing and the...behavior (e.g., beaked whale versus melon-headed whale). 3. In situ behavior of retention system elements (Key individuals: Andrews, Schorr...Although we have a good idea of how the LIMPET retention system operates when first implanted, we do not fully understand the mechanics in a living fin

  6. Improving Attachments of Remotely-Deployed Dorsal Fin-Mounted Tags: Tissue Structure, Hydrodynamics, in Situ Performance, and Tagged-Animal Follow-up

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-30

    design and test improved retention systems 4. Conduct follow-up studies of tagged whales to accurately quantify wound healing and the effects of...e.g., beaked whale versus melon-headed whale). 3. In situ behavior of retention system elements (Key individuals: Andrews, Schorr, Hanson, Howle...have a good idea of how the LIMPET retention system operates when first implanted, we do not fully understand the mechanics in a living fin. Therefore

  7. Tag-mediated cooperation with non-deterministic genotype-phenotype mapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hong; Chen, Shu

    2016-01-01

    Tag-mediated cooperation provides a helpful framework for resolving evolutionary social dilemmas. However, most of the previous studies have not taken into account genotype-phenotype distinction in tags, which may play an important role in the process of evolution. To take this into consideration, we introduce non-deterministic genotype-phenotype mapping into a tag-based model with spatial prisoner's dilemma. By our definition, the similarity between genotypic tags does not directly imply the similarity between phenotypic tags. We find that the non-deterministic mapping from genotypic tag to phenotypic tag has non-trivial effects on tag-mediated cooperation. Although we observe that high levels of cooperation can be established under a wide variety of conditions especially when the decisiveness is moderate, the uncertainty in the determination of phenotypic tags may have a detrimental effect on the tag mechanism by disturbing the homophilic interaction structure which can explain the promotion of cooperation in tag systems. Furthermore, the non-deterministic mapping may undermine the robustness of the tag mechanism with respect to various factors such as the structure of the tag space and the tag flexibility. This observation warns us about the danger of applying the classical tag-based models to the analysis of empirical phenomena if genotype-phenotype distinction is significant in real world. Non-deterministic genotype-phenotype mapping thus provides a new perspective to the understanding of tag-mediated cooperation.

  8. 29 CFR 1915.162 - Ship's boilers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, blanked, and then locked or tagged, in... the dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, and then locked or tagged, in accordance with § 1915.89. (2) Drain connections to atmosphere on all of the dead interconnecting systems...

  9. 29 CFR 1915.162 - Ship's boilers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, blanked, and then locked or tagged, in... the dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, and then locked or tagged, in accordance with § 1915.89. (2) Drain connections to atmosphere on all of the dead interconnecting systems...

  10. 29 CFR 1915.162 - Ship's boilers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, blanked, and then locked or tagged, in... the dead boiler with the live system or systems shall be secured, and then locked or tagged, in accordance with § 1915.89. (2) Drain connections to atmosphere on all of the dead interconnecting systems...

  11. Development of voice navigation system for the visually impaired by using IC tags.

    PubMed

    Takatori, Norihiko; Nojima, Kengo; Matsumoto, Masashi; Yanashima, Kenji; Magatani, Kazushige

    2006-01-01

    There are about 300,000 visually impaired persons in Japan. Most of them are old persons and, cannot become skillful in using a white cane, even if they make effort to learn how to use a white cane. Therefore, some guiding system that supports the independent activities of the visually impaired are required. In this paper, we will describe about a developed white cane system that supports the independent walking of the visually impaired in the indoor space. This system is composed of colored navigation lines that include IC tags and an intelligent white cane that has a navigation computer. In our system colored navigation lines that are put on the floor of the target space from the start point to the destination and IC tags that are set at the landmark point are used for indication of the route to the destination. The white cane has a color sensor, an IC tag transceiver and a computer system that includes a voice processor. This white cane senses the navigation line that has target color by a color sensor. When a color sensor finds the target color, the white cane informs a white cane user that he/she is on the navigation line by vibration. So, only following this vibration, the user can reach the destination. However, at some landmark points, guidance is necessary. At these points, an IC tag is set under the navigation line. The cane makes communication with the tag and informs the user about the land mark pint by pre recorded voice. Ten normal subjects who were blindfolded were tested with our developed system. All of them could walk along navigation line. And the IC tag information system worked well. Therefore, we have concluded that our system will be a very valuable one to support activities of the visually impaired.

  12. Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor System for Monitoring Smart Composite Aerospace Structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Moslehi, Behzad; Black, Richard J.; Gowayed, Yasser

    2012-01-01

    Lightweight, electromagnetic interference (EMI) immune, fiber-optic, sensor- based structural health monitoring (SHM) will play an increasing role in aerospace structures ranging from aircraft wings to jet engine vanes. Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors for SHM include advanced signal processing, system and damage identification, and location and quantification algorithms. Potentially, the solution could be developed into an autonomous onboard system to inspect and perform non-destructive evaluation and SHM. A novel method has been developed to massively multiplex FBG sensors, supported by a parallel processing interrogator, which enables high sampling rates combined with highly distributed sensing (up to 96 sensors per system). The interrogation system comprises several subsystems. A broadband optical source subsystem (BOSS) and routing and interface module (RIM) send light from the interrogation system to a composite embedded FBG sensor matrix, which returns measurand-dependent wavelengths back to the interrogation system for measurement with subpicometer resolution. In particular, the returned wavelengths are channeled by the RIM to a photonic signal processing subsystem based on powerful optical chips, then passed through an optoelectronic interface to an analog post-detection electronics subsystem, digital post-detection electronics subsystem, and finally via a data interface to a computer. A range of composite structures has been fabricated with FBGs embedded. Stress tensile, bending, and dynamic strain tests were performed. The experimental work proved that the FBG sensors have a good level of accuracy in measuring the static response of the tested composite coupons (down to submicrostrain levels), the capability to detect and monitor dynamic loads, and the ability to detect defects in composites by a variety of methods including monitoring the decay time under different dynamic loading conditions. In addition to quasi-static and dynamic load monitoring, the system can capture acoustic emission events that can be a prelude to structural failure, as well as piezoactuator-induced ultrasonic Lamb-waves-based techniques as a basis for damage detection.

  13. Design and initial application of the extended aircraft interrogation and display system: Multiprocessing ground support equipment for digital flight systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glover, Richard D.

    1987-01-01

    A pipelined, multiprocessor, general-purpose ground support equipment for digital flight systems has been developed and placed in service at the NASA Ames Research Center's Dryden Flight Research Facility. The design is an outgrowth of the earlier aircraft interrogation and display system (AIDS) used in support of several research projects to provide engineering-units display of internal control system parameters during development and qualification testing activities. The new system, incorporating multiple 16-bit processors, is called extended AIDS (XAIDS) and is now supporting the X-29A forward-swept-wing aircraft project. This report describes the design and mechanization of XAIDS and shows the steps whereby a typical user may take advantage of its high throughput and flexible features.

  14. Functional Glycomic Analysis of Human Milk Glycans Reveals the Presence of Virus Receptors and Embryonic Stem Cell Biomarkers*

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Ying; Mishra, Shreya; Song, Xuezheng; Lasanajak, Yi; Bradley, Konrad C.; Tappert, Mary M.; Air, Gillian M.; Steinhauer, David A.; Halder, Sujata; Cotmore, Susan; Tattersall, Peter; Agbandje-McKenna, Mavis; Cummings, Richard D.; Smith, David F.

    2012-01-01

    Human milk contains a large diversity of free glycans beyond lactose, but their functions are not well understood. To explore their functional recognition, here we describe a shotgun glycan microarray prepared from isolated human milk glycans (HMGs), and our studies on their recognition by viruses, antibodies, and glycan-binding proteins (GBPs), including lectins. The total neutral and sialylated HMGs were derivatized with a bifunctional fluorescent tag, separated by multidimensional HPLC, and archived in a tagged glycan library, which was then used to print a shotgun glycan microarray (SGM). This SGM was first interrogated with well defined GBPs and antibodies. These data demonstrated both the utility of the array and provided preliminary structural information (metadata) about this complex glycome. Anti-TRA-1 antibodies that recognize human pluripotent stem cells specifically recognized several HMGs that were then further structurally defined as novel epitopes for these antibodies. Human influenza viruses and Parvovirus Minute Viruses of Mice also specifically recognized several HMGs. For glycan sequencing, we used a novel approach termed metadata-assisted glycan sequencing (MAGS), in which we combine information from analyses of glycans by mass spectrometry with glycan interactions with defined GBPs and antibodies before and after exoglycosidase treatments on the microarray. Together, these results provide novel insights into diverse recognition functions of HMGs and show the utility of the SGM approach and MAGS as resources for defining novel glycan recognition by GBPs, antibodies, and pathogens. PMID:23115247

  15. Wireless SAW passive tag temperature measurement in the collision case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sorokin, A.; Shepeta, A.; Wattimena, M.

    2018-04-01

    This paper describes temperature measurement in the multisensor systems based on the radio-frequency identification SAW passive tags which are currently applied in the electric power systems and the switchgears. Different approaches of temperature measurement in the collision case are shown here. The study is based on the tag model with specific topology, which allows us to determine temperature through the response signal with time-frequency information. This research considers the collision case for several passive tags as the temperature sensors which are placed in the switchgear. This research proposal is to analyze the possibility of using several SAW passive sensors in the collision case. We consider the using of the different typical elements for passive surface acoustic wave tag which applies as an anticollision passive sensor. These wireless sensors based on the surface acoustic waves tags contain specifically coded structures. This topology makes possible the reliability of increasing tag identification and the temperature measurement in the collision case. As the results for this case we illustrate simultaneous measurement of at least six sensors.

  16. Immobilized palladium(II) ion affinity chromatography for recovery of recombinant proteins with peptide tags containing histidine and cysteine.

    PubMed

    Kikot, Pamela; Polat, Aise; Achilli, Estefania; Fernandez Lahore, Marcelo; Grasselli, Mariano

    2014-11-01

    Fusion of peptide-based tags to recombinant proteins is currently one of the most used tools for protein production. Also, immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) has a huge application in protein purification, especially in research labs. The combination of expression systems of recombinant tagged proteins with this robust chromatographic system has become an efficient and rapid tool to produce milligram-range amounts of proteins. IMAC-Ni(II) columns have become the natural partners of 6xHis-tagged proteins. The Ni(II) ion is considered as the best compromise of selectivity and affinity for purification of a recombinant His-tagged protein. The palladium(II) ion is also able to bind to side chains of amino acids and form ternary complexes with iminodiacetic acid and free amino acids and other sulfur-containing molecules. In this work, we evaluated two different cysteine- and histidine-containing six amino acid tags linked to the N-terminal group of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and studied the adsorption and elution conditions using novel eluents. Both cysteine-containing tagged GFPs were able to bind to IMAC-Pd(II) matrices and eluted successfully using a low concentration of thiourea solution. The IMAC-Ni(II) system reaches less than 20% recovery of the cysteine-containing tagged GFP from a crude homogenate of recombinant Escherichia coli, meanwhile the IMAC-Pd(II) yields a recovery of 45% with a purification factor of 13. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Examining the Effectiveness of Hacked, Commercial, Self-Tuning RFID Tags to Passively Sense the Volumetric Water Content of Soil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoddard, B. S.; Udell, C.; Selker, J. S.

    2017-12-01

    Currently available soil volumetric water content (VWC) sensors have several drawbacks that pose certain challenges for implementation on large scale for farms. Such issues include cost, scalability, maintenance, wires running through fields, and single-spot resolution. The development of a passive soil moisture sensing system utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) would allay many of these issues. The type of passive RFID tags discussed in this paper currently cost between 8 to 15 cents retail per tag when purchased in bulk. An incredibly cheap, scalable, low-maintenance, wireless, high-resolution system for sensing soil moisture would be possible if such tags were introduced into the agricultural world. This paper discusses both the use cases as well as examines one implementation of the tags. In 2015, RFID tag manufacturer SmarTrac started selling RFID moisture sensing tags for use in the automotive industry to detect leaks during quality assurance. We place those tags in soil at a depth of 4 inches and compared the moisture levels sensed by the RFID tags with the relative permittivity (ɛr) of the soil as measured by an industry-standard probe. Using an equation derived by Topp et al, we converted to VWC. We tested this over a wide range of moisture conditions and found a statistically significant, correlational relationship between the sensor values from the RFID tags and the probe's measurement of ɛr. We also identified a possible function for mapping vales from the RFID tag to the probe bounded by a reasonable margin of error.

  18. An Estimation for Availability of Battery less LF Band RFID Tag to Identify Patients in Operation Room from Viewpoint of Engineering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hosaka, Ryosuke

    Nowadays, medical accidents increase in Japanese patient environment. Especially, misidentification of the patients occurred in operation room of higher level hospitals. It is considered that the great deals of accidents are due to mistakes by nurse. However, the accidents are prevented by management of patients. If a suitable patient identification system is developed, the accidents are prevented. In this study, new patient identification system using battery less LF band RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) is proposed. In the method, battery less RFID tag is attached to patient. In operation room, patient is identified before operation using the proposed system. However, identification distance of RFID is small. It is important that extension of the distance. In this study, antennas of RFID tag and sensor are designed. Two types of tag are proposed. One of them is set on wristband. An antenna for the tag is designed as a circular shape with 30mm in diameter. The other one is shaped like a necklace. The antenna is also designed 220mm, 240mm and 260mm in diameter. Using necklace type new antenna, sufficient identification distance for detection of the tag in the operation room is realized. The patient identification is realized using the proposed system

  19. Methods and systems for Raman and optical cross-interrogation in flow-through silicon membranes

    DOEpatents

    Bond, Tiziana C.; Letant, Sonia E.

    2014-09-09

    Cross-interrogating photonic detection systems and methods are shown. A flow through photonic crystal membrane with a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate is provided with pores which are distributed along multiple regions. The pores of one region have walls to which a first type of target specific anchor can be attached, while pores of another region have walls to which a second type of target specific anchor can be attached. An optical arrangement out-of-plane to the SERS substrate is also provided for enhanced sensitivity and identification of target organisms.

  20. A system for spacecraft attitude control and energy storage

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shaughnessy, J. D.

    1974-01-01

    A conceptual design for a double-gimbal reaction-wheel energy-wheel device which has three-axis attitude control and electrical energy storage capability is given. A mathematical model for the three-axis gyroscope (TAG) was developed, and a system of multiple units is proposed for attitude control and energy storage for a class of spacecraft. Control laws were derived to provide the required attitude-control torques and energy transfer while minimizing functions of TAG gimbal angles, gimbal rates, reaction-wheel speeds, and energy-wheel speed differences. A control law is also presented for a magnetic torquer desaturation system. A computer simulation of a three-TAG system for an orbiting telescope was used to evaluate the concept. The results of the study indicate that all control and power requirements can be satisfied by using the TAG concept.

  1. Airport surface traffic control TAGS planning alternatives and cost/benefit

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1977-01-01

    The findings of a cost/benefit analysis of the deployment of a new airport ground surveillance system TAGS (Tower Automated Ground Surveillance) are presented. TAGS will provide a plain view display of aircraft on the airports taxiways and runways li...

  2. Group Management Method of RFID Passwords for Privacy Protection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kobayashi, Yuichi; Kuwana, Toshiyuki; Taniguchi, Yoji; Komoda, Norihisa

    When RFID tag is used in the whole item lifecycle including a consumer scene or a recycle scene, we have to protect consumer privacy in the state that RFID tag is stuck on an item. We use the low cost RFID tag that has the access control function using a password, and we propose a method which manages RFID tags by passwords identical to each group of RFID tags. This proposal improves safety of RFID system because the proposal method is able to reduce the traceability for a RFID tag, and hold down the influence for disclosure of RFID passwords in the both scenes.

  3. Array processing for RFID tag localization exploiting multi-frequency signals

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yimin; Li, Xin; Amin, Moeness G.

    2009-05-01

    RFID is an increasingly valuable business and technology tool for electronically identifying, locating, and tracking products, assets, and personnel. As a result, precise positioning and tracking of RFID tags and readers have received considerable attention from both academic and industrial communities. Finding the position of RFID tags is considered an important task in various real-time locating systems (RTLS). As such, numerous RFID localization products have been developed for various applications. The majority of RFID positioning systems is based on the fusion of pieces of relevant information, such as the range and the direction-of-arrival (DOA). For example, trilateration can determine the tag position by using the range information of the tag estimated from three or more spatially separated reader antennas. Triangulation is another method to locate RFID tags that use the direction-of-arrival (DOA) information estimated at multiple spatially separated locations. The RFID tag positions can also be determined through hybrid techniques that combine the range and DOA information. The focus of this paper to study the design and performance of the localization of passive RFID tags using array processing techniques in a multipath environment, and exploiting multi-frequency CW signals. The latter are used to decorrelate the coherent multipath signals for effective DOA estimation and for the purpose of accurate range estimation. Accordingly, the spatial and frequency dimensionalities are fully utilized for robust and accurate positioning of RFID tags.

  4. Serotype determination of Salmonella by xTAG assay.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Zhibei; Zheng, Wei; Wang, Haoqiu; Pan, Jincao; Pu, Xiaoying

    2017-10-01

    Currently, no protocols or commercial kits are available to determine the serotypes of Salmonella by using Luminex MAGPIX®. In this study, an xTAG assay for serotype determination of Salmonella suitable for Luminex MAGPIX® is described and 228 Salmonella isolates were serotype determined by this xTAG assay. The xTAG assay consists of two steps: 1) Multiplex PCR to amplify simultaneously O, H and Vi antigen genes of Salmonella, and 2) Magplex-TAG™ microsphere hybridization to identify accurately the specific PCR products of different antigens. Compared with the serotyping results of traditional serum agglutination test, the sensitivity and specificity of the xTAG assay were 95.1% and 100%, respectively. The agreement rate of these two assays was 95.2%. Compared with Luminex xMAP® Salmonella Serotyping Assay (SSA) kit, the advantages of this xTAG assay are: First, the magnetic beads make it applicable to both the Luminex®100/200™ and MAGPIX® systems. Second, only primers rather than both primers and probes are needed in the xTAG assay, and the process of coupling antigen-specific oligonucleotide probes to beads is circumvented, which make the xTAG assay convenient to be utilized by other laboratories. The xTAG assay may serve as a rapid alternative or complementary method for traditional Salmonella serotyping tests, especially for laboratories that utilize the MAGPIX® systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Energy-balanced algorithm for RFID estimation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Jumin; Wang, Fangyuan; Li, Dengao; Yan, Lijuan

    2016-10-01

    RFID has been widely used in various commercial applications, ranging from inventory control, supply chain management to object tracking. It is necessary for us to estimate the number of RFID tags deployed in a large area periodically and automatically. Most of the prior works use passive tags to estimate and focus on designing time-efficient algorithms that can estimate tens of thousands of tags in seconds. But for a RFID reader to access tags in a large area, active tags are likely to be used due to their longer operational ranges. But these tags use their own battery as energy supplier. Hence, conserving energy for active tags becomes critical. Some prior works have studied how to reduce energy expenditure of a RFID reader when it reads tags IDs. In this paper, we study how to reduce the amount of energy consumed by active tags during the process of estimating the number of tags in a system and make the energy every tag consumed balanced approximately. We design energy-balanced estimation algorithm that can achieve our goal we mentioned above.

  6. Barcode tagging of human oocytes and embryos to prevent mix-ups in assisted reproduction technologies.

    PubMed

    Novo, Sergi; Nogués, Carme; Penon, Oriol; Barrios, Leonardo; Santaló, Josep; Gómez-Martínez, Rodrigo; Esteve, Jaume; Errachid, Abdelhamid; Plaza, José Antonio; Pérez-García, Lluïsa; Ibáñez, Elena

    2014-01-01

    Is the attachment of biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes to the outer surface of the zona pellucida an effective approach for the direct tagging and identification of human oocytes and embryos during assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs)? The direct tagging system based on lectin-biofunctionalized polysilicon barcodes of micrometric dimensions is simple, safe and highly efficient, allowing the identification of human oocytes and embryos during the various procedures typically conducted during an assisted reproduction cycle. Measures to prevent mismatching errors (mix-ups) of the reproductive samples are currently in place in fertility clinics, but none of them are totally effective and several mix-up cases have been reported worldwide. Using a mouse model, our group has previously developed an effective direct embryo tagging system which does not interfere with the in vitro and in vivo development of the tagged embryos. This system has now been tested in human oocytes and embryos. Fresh immature and mature fertilization-failed oocytes (n = 21) and cryopreserved day 1 embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (n = 205) were donated by patients (n = 76) undergoing ARTs. In vitro development rates, embryo quality and post-vitrification survival were compared between tagged (n = 106) and non-tagged (control) embryos (n = 99). Barcode retention and identification rates were also calculated, both for embryos and for oocytes subjected to a simulated ICSI and parthenogenetic activation. Experiments were conducted from January 2012 to January 2013. Barcodes were fabricated in polysilicon and biofunctionalizated with wheat germ agglutinin lectin. Embryos were tagged with 10 barcodes and cultured in vitro until the blastocyst stage, when they were either differentially stained with propidium iodide and Hoechst or vitrified using the Cryotop method. Embryo quality was also analyzed by embryo grading and time-lapse monitoring. Injected oocytes were parthenogenetically activated using ionomycin and 6-dimethylaminopurine. Blastocyst development rates of tagged (27/58) and non-tagged embryos (24/51) were equivalent, and no significant differences in the timing of key morphokinetic parameters and the number of inner cell mass cells were detected between the two groups (tagged: 24.7 ± 2.5; non-tagged: 22.3 ± 1.9), indicating that preimplantation embryo potential and quality are not affected by the barcodes. Similarly, re-expansion rates of vitrified-warmed tagged (19/21) and non-tagged (16/19) blastocysts were similar. Global identification rates of 96.9 and 89.5% were obtained in fresh (mean barcode retention: 9.22 ± 0.13) and vitrified-warmed (mean barcode retention: 7.79 ± 0.35) tagged embryos, respectively, when simulating an automatic barcode reading process, though these rates were increased to 100% just by rotating the embryos during barcode reading. Only one of the oocytes lost one barcode during intracytoplasmic injection (100% identification rate) and all oocytes retained all the barcodes after parthenogenetic activation. Although the direct embryo tagging system developed is effective, it only allows the identification and traceability of oocytes destined for ICSI and embryos. Thus, the traceability of all reproductive samples (oocytes destined for IVF and sperm) is not yet ensured. The direct embryo tagging system developed here provides fertility clinics with a novel tool to reduce the risk of mix-ups in human ARTs. The system can also be useful in research studies that require the individual identification of oocytes or embryos and their individual tracking. This study was supported by the Sociedad Española de Fertilidad, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (TEC2011-29140-C03) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (2009SGR-00282 and 2009SGR-00158). The authors do not have any competing interests.

  7. Technician-Supported Remote Interrogation of CIEDs: Initial Use in US Emergency Departments and Perioperative Areas.

    PubMed

    Ahmed, Imdad; Patel, Amisha S; Balgaard, Timothy J; Rosenfeld, Lynda E

    2016-03-01

    Interrogation/interpretation of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is frequently required in the emergency department (ED) or perioperative areas (OR) where resources to do this are often not available. CareLink Express (CLE; Medtronic, plc, Mounds View, MN, USA) is a technician-supported real-time remote interrogation system for Medtronic CIEDs. Using data from 136 US locations, this retrospective study was designed to assess CLE efficiency compared to traditional device management, and examine its findings. All 7,044 US CLE transmissions from the ED and OR (January 2012-October 2014) were compared to 217 traditional requests where CIED interrogations/interpretations were performed by calling industry representatives to these sites. CLE reduced the time to device interrogation/interpretation by 78%: 100 ± 140-22 ± 14 minutes, P < 0.0001, improving response time and consistency; ED: 82 ± 103-23 ± 18 minutes, P, ≤ 0.01; OR: 127 ± 181-17 ± 10 minutes, P < 0.0001. Actionable events (AE) (arrhythmia, device/lead abnormalities) were infrequent: 9.1% overall (ED: 9.9%; OR: 4.1%). Only 6.5% of patients with syncope/presyncope and 13.6% with a perceived shock had AE. AEs were more common in those with suspected device problems (30.4%) or audible alerts (52.6%). They were more likely in patients not enrolled in long-term remote monitoring (23.9% vs 8.2%, P < 0.0001) and in those with older CIED systems (7.4% in year 1 vs 31.0% after 10 years). The many patients with CIEDs, and the ability to quickly identify the minority with high-risk AE from the no/low-risk majority, strongly support CLE use in the ED and OR, sites which are expensive and prioritize efficiency. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Enantioselective chromatography in analysis of triacylglycerols common in edible fats and oils.

    PubMed

    Kalpio, Marika; Nylund, Matts; Linderborg, Kaisa M; Yang, Baoru; Kristinsson, Björn; Haraldsson, Gudmundur G; Kallio, Heikki

    2015-04-01

    Enantiomers of racemic triacylglycerol (TAG) mixtures were separated using two chiral HPLC columns with a sample recycling system and a UV detector. A closed system without sample derivatisation enabled separation and identification by using enantiopure reference compounds of eleven racemic TAGs with C12-C22 fatty acids with 0-2 double bonds. The prolonged separation time was compensated for by fewer pretreatment steps. Presence of one saturated and one unsaturated fatty acid in the asymmetric TAG favoured the separation. Enantiomeric resolution, at the same time with stronger retention of TAGs, increased with increasing fatty acid chain length in the sn-1(3) position. Triunsaturated TAGs containing oleic, linoleic or palmitoleic acids did not separate. The elution order of enantiomers was determined by chemoenzymatically synthesised enantiopure TAGs with a co-injection method. The method is applicable to many natural fats and oils of low unsaturation level assisting advanced investigation of lipid synthesis and metabolism. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Challenges and opportunities in the purification of recombinant tagged proteins.

    PubMed

    Pina, Ana Sofia; Lowe, Christopher R; Roque, Ana Cecília A

    2014-01-01

    The purification of recombinant proteins by affinity chromatography is one of the most efficient strategies due to the high recovery yields and purity achieved. However, this is dependent on the availability of specific affinity adsorbents for each particular target protein. The diversity of proteins to be purified augments the complexity and number of specific affinity adsorbents needed, and therefore generic platforms for the purification of recombinant proteins are appealing strategies. This justifies why genetically encoded affinity tags became so popular for recombinant protein purification, as these systems only require specific ligands for the capture of the fusion protein through a pre-defined affinity tag tail. There is a wide range of available affinity pairs "tag-ligand" combining biological or structural affinity ligands with the respective binding tags. This review gives a general overview of the well-established "tag-ligand" systems available for fusion protein purification and also explores current unconventional strategies under development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. A combined telemetry - tag return approach to estimate fishing and natural mortality rates of an estuarine fish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bacheler, N.M.; Buckel, J.A.; Hightower, J.E.; Paramore, L.M.; Pollock, K.H.

    2009-01-01

    A joint analysis of tag return and telemetry data should improve estimates of mortality rates for exploited fishes; however, the combined approach has thus far only been tested in terrestrial systems. We tagged subadult red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) with conventional tags and ultrasonic transmitters over 3 years in coastal North Carolina, USA, to test the efficacy of the combined telemetry - tag return approach. There was a strong seasonal pattern to monthly fishing mortality rate (F) estimates from both conventional and telemetry tags; highest F values occurred in fall months and lowest levels occurred during winter. Although monthly F values were similar in pattern and magnitude between conventional tagging and telemetry, information on F in the combined model came primarily from conventional tags. The estimated natural mortality rate (M) in the combined model was low (estimated annual rate ?? standard error: 0.04 ?? 0.04) and was based primarily upon the telemetry approach. Using high-reward tagging, we estimated different tag reporting rates for state agency and university tagging programs. The combined telemetry - tag return approach can be an effective approach for estimating F and M as long as several key assumptions of the model are met.

  11. Detection of hidden explosives by using tagged neutron beams: Status and perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viesti, Giuseppe; Pesente, Silvia; Nebbia, Giancarlo; Lunardon, Marcello; Sudac, Davorin; Nađ, Karlo; Blagus, Sasha; Valković, Vladivoj

    2005-12-01

    Non-destructive inspections have been simulated in laboratory conditions by using our tagged neutron inspection system (TNIS), using YAP:Ce scintillators to tag the neutron beam and an array of BaF2 crystals to detect the γ-rays. The system has been operated up to 2 × 108 neutron/s. Further developments of the TNIS concept are discussed in the light of our current projects for cargo container inspections.

  12. Evaluation of Bull Trout Movements in the Tucannon and Lower Snake Rivers, 2002-2006 Project Completion Summary.

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

    Faler, Michael P.; Mendel, Glen; Fulton, Carl

    2008-11-20

    The Columbia River Distinct Population Segment of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1998. One of the identified major threats to the species is fragmentation resulting from dams on over-wintering habitats of migratory subpopulations. A migratory subgroup in the Tucannon River appeared to utilize the Snake River reservoirs for adult rearing on a seasonal basis. As a result, a radio telemetry study was conducted on this subgroup from 2002-2006, to help meet Reasonable and Prudent Measures, and Conservation Recommendations associated with the lower Snake River dams in the FCRPS Biological Opinion, andmore » to increase understanding of bull trout movements within the Tucannon River drainage. We sampled 1,109 bull trout in the Tucannon River; 124 of these were surgically implanted with radio tags and PIT tagged, and 681 were only PIT tagged. The remaining 304 fish were either recaptures, or released unmarked. Bull trout seasonal movements within the Tucannon River were similar to those described for other migratory bull trout populations. Bull trout migrated upstream in spring and early summer to the spawning areas in upper portions of the Tucannon River watershed. They quickly moved off the spawning areas in the fall, and either held or continued a slower migration downstream through the winter until early the following spring. During late fall and winter, bull trout were distributed in the lower half of the Tucannon River basin, down to and including the mainstem Snake River below Little Goose Dam. We were unable to adequately radio track bull trout in the Snake River and evaluate their movements or interactions with the federal hydroelectric dams for the following reasons: (1) none of our radio-tagged fish were detected attempting to pass a Snake River dam, (2) our radio tags had poor transmission capability at depths greater than 12.2 m, and (3) the sample size of fish that actually entered the Snake River was small (n=6). In spite of this project's shortcomings, bull trout continue to be observed in low numbers at Snake River dam fish facilities. It is highly possible that bull trout observed at the Snake River dam fish facilities are originating from sources other than the Tucannon River. We suggest that these fish might come from upstream sources like the Clearwater or Salmon rivers in Idaho, and are simply following the outmigration of juvenile anadromous fish (a food supply) as they emigrate toward the Pacific Ocean. Based on our study results, we recommend abandoning radio telemetry as a tool to monitor bull trout movements in the mainstem Snake River. We do recommend continuing PIT tagging and tag interrogation activities to help determine the origin of bull trout using the Snake River hydropower facilities. As a complementary approach, we also suggest the use of genetic assignment tests to help determine the origin of these fish. Lastly, several recommendations are included in the report to help manage and recover bull trout in the Tucannon subbasin.« less

  13. Tagging RDT&E. Volume 1. Technology Assessment and Development Reports

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1994-03-01

    weapon system component could have a unique, counterfeit and transfer resistant, and tamper indicating identifier (or tag), inspectors could...the random nature of the reflective surfaces on each particle, the tag is highly resistant to counterfeiting . Sym t, n- BDM Jnvolvement RPT Sandia...layers) that tampering has occurred. A reflective particle (RP) disk was added by PNL to increase the difficulty of counterfeiting the tag and to make

  14. Dynamics of human categorization in a collaborative tagging system: How social processes of semantic stabilization shape individual sensemaking.

    PubMed

    Ley, Tobias; Seitlinger, Paul

    2015-10-01

    We study how categories form and develop over time in a sensemaking task by groups of students employing a collaborative tagging system. In line with distributed cognition theories, we look at both the tags students use and their strength of representation in memory. We hypothesize that categories get more differentiated over time as students learn, and that semantic stabilization on the group level (i.e. the convergence in the use of tags) mediates this relationship. Results of a field experiment that tested the impact of topic study duration on the specificity of tags confirms these hypotheses, although it was not study duration that produced this effect, but rather the effectiveness of the collaborative taxonomy the groups built. In the groups with higher levels of semantic stabilization, we found use of more specific tags and better representation in memory. We discuss these findings with regard to the important role of the information value of tags that would drive both the convergence on the group level as well as a shift to more specific levels of categorization. We also discuss the implication for cognitive science research by highlighting the importance of collaboratively built artefacts in the process of how knowledge is acquired, and implications for educational applications of collaborative tagging environments.

  15. Dynamics of human categorization in a collaborative tagging system: How social processes of semantic stabilization shape individual sensemaking

    PubMed Central

    Ley, Tobias; Seitlinger, Paul

    2015-01-01

    We study how categories form and develop over time in a sensemaking task by groups of students employing a collaborative tagging system. In line with distributed cognition theories, we look at both the tags students use and their strength of representation in memory. We hypothesize that categories get more differentiated over time as students learn, and that semantic stabilization on the group level (i.e. the convergence in the use of tags) mediates this relationship. Results of a field experiment that tested the impact of topic study duration on the specificity of tags confirms these hypotheses, although it was not study duration that produced this effect, but rather the effectiveness of the collaborative taxonomy the groups built. In the groups with higher levels of semantic stabilization, we found use of more specific tags and better representation in memory. We discuss these findings with regard to the important role of the information value of tags that would drive both the convergence on the group level as well as a shift to more specific levels of categorization. We also discuss the implication for cognitive science research by highlighting the importance of collaboratively built artefacts in the process of how knowledge is acquired, and implications for educational applications of collaborative tagging environments. PMID:26566299

  16. Review on SAW RFID tags.

    PubMed

    Plessky, Victor P; Reindl, Leonhard M

    2010-03-01

    SAW tags were invented more than 30 years ago, but only today are the conditions united for mass application of this technology. The devices in the 2.4-GHz ISM band can be routinely produced with optical lithography, high-resolution radar systems can be built up using highly sophisticated, but low-cost RF-chips, and the Internet is available for global access to the tag databases. The "Internet of Things," or I-o-T, will demand trillions of cheap tags and sensors. The SAW tags can overcome semiconductor-based analogs in many aspects: they can be read at a distance of a few meters with readers radiating power levels 2 to 3 orders lower, they are cheap, and they can operate in robust environments. Passive SAW tags are easily combined with sensors. Even the "anti-collision" problem (i.e., the simultaneous reading of many nearby tags) has adequate solutions for many practical applications. In this paper, we discuss the state-of-the-art in the development of SAW tags. The design approaches will be reviewed and optimal tag designs, as well as encoding methods, will be demonstrated. We discuss ways to reduce the size and cost of these devices. A few practical examples of tags using a time-position coding with 10(6) different codes will be demonstrated. Phase-coded devices can additionally increase the number of codes at the expense of a reduction of reading distance. We also discuss new and exciting perspectives of using ultra wide band (UWB) technology for SAW-tag systems. The wide frequency band available for this standard provides a great opportunity for SAW tags to be radically reduced in size to about 1 x 1 mm(2) while keeping a practically infinite number of possible different codes. Finally, the reader technology will be discussed, as well as detailed comparison made between SAW tags and IC-based semiconductor device.

  17. Evaluation of the Medical and Dental Portions of the Soldier Data Tag Systems. Part B

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-12-01

    ttibitI "Appioved fog public i).Gagg .-. L; r’,,,CV) 1ule EVAIIIATION OF THE MEDICAL AND DENTAL PORTIONS OF THE SOLDIER DATA TAG SYSTEM MAJ James fi...NUMBER 2. GOVT ACCESSION No. 3. RECIPIENT’S CATALOG NUMBER 84-003L PardSutleS. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED’~Evaluation of the Medical and Dental...IS. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 19. KEY WORDS (Continue on reverse side if necosomy mid Id.,f*ttby Week ambr) Soldier Data Tag System, Medical , Denta

  18. Intrathecal Pump Exposure to Electromagnetic Interference: A Report of Device Interrogation following Multiple ECT Sessions.

    PubMed

    Bicket, Mark C; Hanna, George M

    2016-02-01

    Intrathecal drug delivery systems represent an increasingly common treatment modality for patients with a variety of conditions, including chronic pain and spasticity. Pumps rely on electronic programming to properly control and administer highly concentrated medications. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a known exposure that may cause a potential patient safety issue stemming from direct patient injury, pump damage, or changes to pump operation or flow rate. The objective of our case report was to describe an approach to evaluating a patient with a pump prior to and following exposure to EMI from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as well as to document findings from device interrogations associated with this event. Case report. Academic university-based pain management center. We present the case of a patient with an intrathecal pump who underwent multiple exposures to EMI in the form of 42 ECT sessions. Interrogation of the intrathecal drug delivery system revealed no safety issues following ECT sessions. At no time were error messages, unintentional changes in event logs, unintentional changes in pump settings, or evidence of pump stall or over-infusion noted. Communication with multiple entities (patient, family, consulting physicians, and device manufacturer) and maintaining vigilance through device interrogation both before and after EMI exposure are appropriate safeguards to mitigate the risk and detect potential adverse events of EMI with intrathecal drug delivery systems. Given the infrequent reports of device exposure to ECT, best practices may be derived from experience with EMI exposure from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although routine EMI exposure to intrathecal drug delivery systems should be avoided, we describe one patient with repeated exposure to ECT without apparent complication.

  19. Tags, wireless communication systems, tag communication methods, and wireless communications methods

    DOEpatents

    Scott,; Jeff W. , Pratt; Richard, M [Richland, WA

    2006-09-12

    Tags, wireless communication systems, tag communication methods, and wireless communications methods are described. In one aspect, a tag includes a plurality of antennas configured to receive a plurality of first wireless communication signals comprising data from a reader, a plurality of rectifying circuits coupled with. respective individual ones of the antennas and configured to provide rectified signals corresponding to the first wireless communication signals, wherein the rectified signals are combined to produce a composite signal, an adaptive reference circuit configured to vary a reference signal responsive to the composite signal, a comparator coupled with the adaptive reference circuit and the rectifying circuits and configured to compare the composite signal with respect to the reference signal and to output the data responsive to the comparison, and processing circuitry configured to receive the data from the comparator and to process the data.

  20. Contributing to shipping container security: can passive sensors bring a solution?

    PubMed

    Janssens-Maenhout, G; De Roo, F; Janssens, W

    2010-02-01

    Illicit trafficking of fissionable material in container cargoes is recognized as a potential weakness in Nuclear Security. Triggered by the attacks of 11 September 2001, measures were undertaken to enhance maritime security in extension to the Safety Of Life At Sea Convention and in line with the US Container Security Initiatives. Effective detection techniques are needed that allow the inspector to intercept illicit trafficking of nuclear weapons components or components of other nuclear explosive devices. Many security measures focus on active interrogation of the container content by X-ray scan, which might be extended with the newly developed tagged neutron inspection system. Both active interrogation techniques can, with the current huge volume of container traffic, only be applied to a limited number of selected containers. The question arises whether a passive detection technique can offer an alternative solution. This study investigates if containers equipped with a small passive detector will register during transport the neutron irradiation by fissionable material such as plutonium in a measurable way. In practice, 4/5 of the containers are about 1/8 filled with hydrogenous material and undergo a typical 2 months route. For this reference case, it was found that the most compatible passive detector would be an activation foil of iridium. Monte-Carlo simulations showed that for the reference case the activity of a 250 microm thin foil with 6 cm(2) cross-section would register 1.2 Bq when it is irradiated by a significant quantity of Reactor-Grade PuO(2). However this activity drops with almost two orders of magnitude for other fillings and other isotopic compositions and forms of the Pu-source. The procedure of selecting the target material for Pu detection is detailed with the theoretical methods, in order to be useful for other applications. Moreover the value of such additional passive sensors for securing maritime container transport is situated within the global framework of the First, Second and Third Line of Defense against illicit trafficking. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Police interviewing and interrogation of juvenile suspects: a descriptive examination of actual cases.

    PubMed

    Cleary, Hayley M D

    2014-06-01

    Although empirical attention to police interrogation has gained traction in recent years, comparatively few studies have examined interrogation of juvenile suspects, and virtually none have examined actual interrogations. Despite a growing literature on youths' interrogation-related capacities, we still know very little about what actually transpires when police question youth. The present study examines electronically recorded police interviews with juveniles to describe the characteristics, processes, and outcomes that occur in actual juvenile interrogations, including interview duration, individuals present, and confessions. Fifty-seven electronic recordings from 17 police departments were analyzed using observational research software. The median juvenile interrogation lasted 46 min, though the range was extensive (6 min to nearly 5 hr). Youth frequently submitted to questioning without a parent or advocate present, and disruptions to the interview process were common. Interrogation outcomes varied and included full confessions, partially incriminating admissions, and denials of guilt. Results from this study provide context for interrogation research using other methods and suggest that youth may frequently consent to interrogation in the absence of important legal protections.

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

    Chen, K.; Tsai, H.; Decision and Information Sciences

    The technical basis for extending the Model 9977 shipping package periodic maintenance beyond the one-year interval to a maximum of five years is based on the performance of the O-ring seals and the environmental conditions. The DOE Packaging Certification Program (PCP) has tasked Argonne National Laboratory to develop a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) temperature monitoring system for use by the facility personnel at DAF/NTS. The RFID temperature monitoring system, depicted in the figure below, consists of the Mk-1 RFId tags, a reader, and a control computer mounted on a mobile platform that can operate as a stand-alone system, or it canmore » be connected to the local IT network. As part of the Conditions of Approval of the CoC, the user must complete the prescribed training to become qualified and be certified for operation of the RFID temperature monitoring system. The training course will be administered by Argonne National Laboratory on behalf of the Headquarters Certifying Official. This is a complete documentation package for the RFID temperature monitoring system of the Model 9977 packagings at NTS. The documentation package will be used for training and certification. The table of contents are: Acceptance Testing Procedure of MK-1 RFID Tags for DOE/EM Nuclear Materials Management Applications; Acceptance Testing Result of MK-1 RFID Tags for DOE/EM Nuclear Materials Management Applications; Performance Test of the Single Bolt Seal Sensor for the Model 9977 Packaging; Calibration of Built-in Thermistors in RFID Tags for Nevada Test Site; Results of Calibration of Built-in Thermistors in RFID Tags; Results of Thermal Calibration of Second Batch of MK-I RFID Tags; Procedure for Installing and Removing MK-1 RFID Tag on Model 9977 Drum; User Guide for RFID Reader and Software for Temperature Monitoring of Model 9977 Drums at NTS; Software Quality Assurance Plan (SQAP) for the ARG-US System; Quality Category for the RFID Temperature Monitoring System; The Documentation Package for the RFID Temperature Monitoring System; Software Test Plan and Results for ARG-US OnSite; Configuration Management Plan (CMP) for the ARG-US System; Requirements Management Plan for the ARG-US System; and Design Management Plan for ARG-US.« less

  3. The development of enabling technologies for producing active interrogation beams.

    PubMed

    Kwan, Thomas J T; Morgado, Richard E; Wang, Tai-Sen F; Vodolaga, B; Terekhin, V; Onischenko, L M; Vorozhtsov, S B; Samsonov, E V; Vorozhtsov, A S; Alenitsky, Yu G; Perpelkin, E E; Glazov, A A; Novikov, D L; Parkhomchuk, V; Reva, V; Vostrikov, V; Mashinin, V A; Fedotov, S N; Minayev, S A

    2010-10-01

    A U.S./Russian collaboration of accelerator scientists was directed to the development of high averaged-current (∼1 mA) and high-quality (emittance ∼15 πmm mrad; energy spread ∼0.1%) 1.75 MeV proton beams to produce active interrogation beams that could be applied to counterterrorism. Several accelerator technologies were investigated. These included an electrostatic tandem accelerator of novel design, a compact cyclotron, and a storage ring with energy compensation and electron cooling. Production targets capable of withstanding the beam power levels were designed, fabricated, and tested. The cyclotron/storage-ring system was theoretically studied and computationally designed, and the electrostatic vacuum tandem accelerator at BINP was demonstrated for its potential in active interrogation of explosives and special nuclear materials.

  4. Design considerations and tradeoffs for passive RFID tags

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hussien, Faisal A.; Turker, Didem Z.; Srinivasan, Rangakrishnan; Mobarak, Mohamed S.; Cortes, Fernando P.; Sanchez-Sinencio, Edgar

    2005-06-01

    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are widely used in a variety of tracking, security and tagging applications. Their operation in non line-of-sight environments makes them superior over similar devices such as barcode and infrared tags. RFID systems span a wide range of applications: medical history storage, dental prosthesis tracking, oil drilling pipe and concrete stress monitoring, toll ways services, animal tracking applications, etc. Passive RFID tags generate their power from the incoming signal; therefore, they do not require a power source. Accordingly, minimizing the power consumption and the implementation area are usually the main design considerations. This paper presents a complete analysis on designing a passive RFID tag. A system design methodology is introduced including the main issues and tradeoffs between different design parameters. The uplink modulation techniques used (ASK, PSK, FSK, and PWM) are illustrated showing how to choose the appropriate signaling scheme for a specific data rate, a certain distance of operation and a limited power consumption budget. An antenna system (transmitter and receiver) is proposed providing the maximum distance of operation with the transmitted power stated by FCC regulations. The backscatter modulation scheme used in the downlink is shown whether to be ASK-BM or PSK-BM and the differences between them are discussed. The key building blocks such as the charge pump, voltage reference, and the regulator used to generate the DC supply voltage from the incoming RF signal are discussed along with their design tradeoffs. A complete architecture for a passive RFID tag is provided as an example to illustrate the proposed RFID tag design methodology.

  5. TDM interrogation of intensity-modulated USFBGs network based on multichannel lasers.

    PubMed

    Rohollahnejad, Jalal; Xia, Li; Cheng, Rui; Ran, Yanli; Rahubadde, Udaya; Zhou, Jiaao; Zhu, Lin

    2017-01-23

    We report a large-scale multi-channel fiber sensing network, where ultra-short FBGs (USFBGs) instead of conventional narrow-band ultra-weak FBGs are used as the sensors. In the time division multiplexing scheme of the network, each grating response is resolved as three adjacent discrete peaks. The central wavelengths of USFBGs are tracked with the differential detection, which is achieved by calculating the peak-to-peak ratio of two maximum peaks. Compared with previous large-scale hybrid multiplexing sensing networks (e.g., WDM/TDM) which typically have relatively low interrogation speed and very high complexity, the proposed system can achieve interrogation of all channel sensors through very fast and simple intensity measurements with a broad dynamic range. A proof-of-concept experiment with twenty USFBGs, at two wavelength channels, was performed and a fast static strain measurements were demonstrated, with a high average sensitivity of ~0.54dB/µƐ and wide dynamic range of over ~3000µƐ. The channel to channel switching time was 10ms and total network interrogation time was 50ms.

  6. Behavioral and Physiological Response of Baleen Whales to Ships and Ship Noise

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-09-30

    student Angela Szesciorka) on tag designs to provide longer term deployments of archival tags especially for work with humpback whales off northern...California. 2. Conduct test deployments of dart-attached archival tags in 2014 on humpback whales in Monterey Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones on... humpback whales to tests different dart attachment configurations and develop a new longer term dart-attached archival tag system. 3. Successfully

  7. Concept and Design of the Hybrid Sensor Bus System for Telecommunication Satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hurni, Andreas; Tiefenbeck, Christoph; Manhart, Markus; Heyer, Heinz-Volker; Plattner, Markus; Putzer, Philipp; Roßner, Max; Koch, Alexander W.; Furano, Gianluca; McKenzie, Iain; Lam, King

    2012-08-01

    The Hybrid Sensor Bus (HSB) is a system for sensor interrogation in telecommunication satellites, which will be developed in the frame of the ESA ARTES program. The main target of the HSB system is the replacement of classical point-to-point wired sensors by sensors connected on bus networks. This will save mass and reduces efforts in assembly, integration and testing (AIT). The HSB system is able to manage an electrical I2C and a fiber-optical sensor network. The system consists of an intelligent power module, an electrical and a fiber-optical interrogator module in cold redundancy. Additional features of the HSB system are its modularity and the adaptability to different satellite platforms. The implementation of a HSB system allows platform manufacturers to build a more cost efficient satellite.This paper presents the concept and the design status of the HSB system.

  8. Computer aided detection of surgical retained foreign object for prevention

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

    Hadjiiski, Lubomir, E-mail: lhadjisk@umich.edu; Marentis, Theodore C.; Rondon, Lucas

    2015-03-15

    Purpose: Surgical retained foreign objects (RFOs) have significant morbidity and mortality. They are associated with approximately $1.5 × 10{sup 9} annually in preventable medical costs. The detection accuracy of radiographs for RFOs is a mediocre 59%. The authors address the RFO problem with two complementary technologies: a three-dimensional (3D) gossypiboma micro tag, the μTag that improves the visibility of RFOs on radiographs, and a computer aided detection (CAD) system that detects the μTag. It is desirable for the CAD system to operate in a high specificity mode in the operating room (OR) and function as a first reader for themore » surgeon. This allows for fast point of care results and seamless workflow integration. The CAD system can also operate in a high sensitivity mode as a second reader for the radiologist to ensure the highest possible detection accuracy. Methods: The 3D geometry of the μTag produces a similar two dimensional (2D) depiction on radiographs regardless of its orientation in the human body and ensures accurate detection by a radiologist and the CAD. The authors created a data set of 1800 cadaver images with the 3D μTag and other common man-made surgical objects positioned randomly. A total of 1061 cadaver images contained a single μTag and the remaining 739 were without μTag. A radiologist marked the location of the μTag using an in-house developed graphical user interface. The data set was partitioned into three independent subsets: a training set, a validation set, and a test set, consisting of 540, 560, and 700 images, respectively. A CAD system with modules that included preprocessing μTag enhancement, labeling, segmentation, feature analysis, classification, and detection was developed. The CAD system was developed using the training and the validation sets. Results: On the training set, the CAD achieved 81.5% sensitivity with 0.014 false positives (FPs) per image in a high specificity mode for the surgeons in the OR and 96.1% sensitivity with 0.81 FPs per image in a high sensitivity mode for the radiologists. On the independent test set, the CAD achieved 79.5% sensitivity with 0.003 FPs per image in a high specificity mode for the surgeons and 90.2% sensitivity with 0.23 FPs per image in a high sensitivity mode for the radiologists. Conclusions: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time a 3D μTag is used to produce a recognizable, substantially similar 2D projection on radiographs regardless of orientation in space. It is the first time a CAD system is used to search for man-made objects over anatomic background. The CAD system for the μTags achieved reasonable performance in both the high specificity and the high sensitivity modes.« less

  9. Simple method to detect triacylglycerol biosynthesis in a yeast-based recombinant system

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Standard methods to quantify the activity of triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesizing enzymes DGAT and PDAT (TAG-SE) require a sensitive but rather arduous laboratory assay based on radio-labeled substrates. Here we describe two straightforward methods to detect TAG production in baker’s yeast Saccharomyc...

  10. 29 CFR 18.614 - Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge. 18.614... interrogation of witnesses by judge. (a) Calling by the judge. The judge may, on the judge's own motion or at... thus called. (b) Interrogation by the judge. The judge may interrogate witnesses, whether called by the...

  11. 29 CFR 18.614 - Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge. 18.614... interrogation of witnesses by judge. (a) Calling by the judge. The judge may, on the judge's own motion or at... thus called. (b) Interrogation by the judge. The judge may interrogate witnesses, whether called by the...

  12. 29 CFR 18.614 - Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge. 18.614... interrogation of witnesses by judge. (a) Calling by the judge. The judge may, on the judge's own motion or at... thus called. (b) Interrogation by the judge. The judge may interrogate witnesses, whether called by the...

  13. 29 CFR 18.614 - Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge. 18.614... interrogation of witnesses by judge. (a) Calling by the judge. The judge may, on the judge's own motion or at... thus called. (b) Interrogation by the judge. The judge may interrogate witnesses, whether called by the...

  14. 29 CFR 18.614 - Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Calling and interrogation of witnesses by judge. 18.614... interrogation of witnesses by judge. (a) Calling by the judge. The judge may, on the judge's own motion or at... thus called. (b) Interrogation by the judge. The judge may interrogate witnesses, whether called by the...

  15. Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of D-Tagatose-1-Phosphate: The Substrate of the Tagatose-1-Phosphate Kinase in the Phosphotransferase System-Mediated D-Tagatose Catabolic Pathway of Bacillus licheniformis.

    PubMed

    Van der Heiden, Edwige; Delmarcelle, Michaël; Simon, Patricia; Counson, Melody; Galleni, Moreno; Freedberg, Darón I; Thompson, John; Joris, Bernard; Battistel, Marcos D

    2015-01-01

    We report the first enzymatic synthesis of D-tagatose-1-phosphate (Tag-1P) by the multicomponent phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PEP-PTS) present in tagatose-grown cells of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Physicochemical characterization by (31)P and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy reveals that, in solution, this derivative is primarily in the pyranose form. Tag-1P was used to characterize the putative tagatose-1-phosphate kinase (TagK) of the Bacillus licheniformis PTS-mediated D-tagatose catabolic pathway (Bli-TagP). For this purpose, a soluble protein fusion was obtained with the 6 His-tagged trigger factor (TF(His6)) of Escherichia coli. The active fusion enzyme was named TagK-TF(His6). Tag-1P and D-fructose-1-phosphate are substrates for the TagK-TF(His6) enzyme, whereas the isomeric derivatives D-tagatose-6-phosphate and D-fructose-6-phosphate are inhibitors. Studies of catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) reveal that the enzyme specificity is markedly in favor of Tag-1P as the substrate. Importantly, we show in vivo that the transfer of the phosphate moiety from PEP to the B. licheniformis tagatose-specific Enzyme II in E. coli is inefficient. The capability of the PTS general cytoplasmic components of B. subtilis, HPr and Enzyme I to restore the phosphate transfer is demonstrated. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Molecular inversion probe assay for allelic quantitation

    PubMed Central

    Ji, Hanlee; Welch, Katrina

    2010-01-01

    Molecular inversion probe (MIP) technology has been demonstrated to be a robust platform for large-scale dual genotyping and copy number analysis. Applications in human genomic and genetic studies include the possibility of running dual germline genotyping and combined copy number variation ascertainment. MIPs analyze large numbers of specific genetic target sequences in parallel, relying on interrogation of a barcode tag, rather than direct hybridization of genomic DNA to an array. The MIP approach does not replace, but is complementary to many of the copy number technologies being performed today. Some specific advantages of MIP technology include: Less DNA required (37 ng vs. 250 ng), DNA quality less important, more dynamic range (amplifications detected up to copy number 60), allele specific information “cleaner” (less SNP crosstalk/contamination), and quality of markers better (fewer individual MIPs versus SNPs needed to identify copy number changes). MIPs can be considered a candidate gene (targeted whole genome) approach and can find specific areas of interest that otherwise may be missed with other methods. PMID:19488872

  17. Making Waves: New Developments in Toxicology With the Zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Horzmann, Katharine A; Freeman, Jennifer L

    2018-05-01

    The laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio) is now an accepted model in toxicologic research. The zebrafish model fills a niche between in vitro models and mammalian biomedical models. The developmental characteristics of the small fish are strategically being used by scientists to study topics ranging from high-throughput toxicity screens to toxicity in multi- and transgenerational studies. High-throughput technology has increased the utility of zebrafish embryonic toxicity assays in screening of chemicals and drugs for toxicity or effect. Additionally, advances in behavioral characterization and experimental methodology allow for observation of recognizable phenotypic changes after xenobiotic exposure. Future directions in zebrafish research are predicted to take advantage of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing methods in creating models of disease and interrogating mechanisms of action with fluorescent reporters or tagged proteins. Zebrafish can also model developmental origins of health and disease and multi- and transgenerational toxicity. The zebrafish has many advantages as a toxicologic model and new methodologies and areas of study continue to expand the usefulness and application of the zebrafish.

  18. Rare cancer cell analyzer for whole blood applications: microcytometer cell counting and sorting subcircuits.

    PubMed

    Lancaster, C; Kokoris, M; Nabavi, M; Clemmens, J; Maloney, P; Capadanno, J; Gerdes, J; Battrell, C F

    2005-09-01

    We demonstrate sorting of rare cancer cells from blood using a thin ribbon monolayer of cells within a credit-card sized, microfluidic laboratory-on-a-card ("lab card") structure. This enables higher cell throughput per minute thereby speeding up cell interrogation. In this approach, multiple cells are viewed and sorted, not individually, but as a whole cell row or section of the ribbon at a time. Gated selection of only the cell rows containing a tagged rare cell provides enrichment of the rare cell relative to background blood cells. We also designed the cell injector for laminar flow antibody labeling within 20s. The approach combines rapid laminar flow cell labeling with monolayer cell sorting thereby enabling rare cell target detection at sensitivity levels 1000 to 10,000 times that of existing flow cytometers. Using this method, total cell labeling and data acquisition time on card may be reduced to a few minutes compared to 30-60 min for standard flow methods.

  19. Global tracking and inventory of military hardware via LEO satellite: A system approach and likely scenario

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bell, David; Estabrook, Polly; Romer, Richard

    1995-01-01

    A system for global inventory control of electronically tagged military hardware is achievable using a LEO satellite constellation. An equipment Tag can communicate directly to the satellite with a power of 5 watts or less at a data rate of 2400 to 50,000 bps. As examples, two proposed commercial LEO systems, IRIDIUM and ORBCOMM, are both capable of providing global coverage but with dramatically different telecom capacities. Investigation of these two LEO systems as applied to the Tag scenario provides insight into satellite design trade-offs, constellation trade-offs and signal dynamics that effect the performance of a satellite-based global inventory control system.

  20. Nanowire humidity optical sensor system based on fast Fourier transform technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rota-Rodrigo, S.; Pérez-Herrera, R.; Lopez-Aldaba, A.; López Bautista, M. C.; Esteban, O.; López-Amo, M.

    2015-09-01

    In this paper, a new sensor system for relative humidity measurements based on its interaction with the evanescent field of a nanowire is presented. The interrogation of the sensing head is carried out by monitoring the fast Fourier transform phase variations of one of the nanowire interference frequencies. This method is independent of the signal amplitude and also avoids the necessity of tracking the wavelength evolution in the spectrum, which can be a handicap when there are multiple interference frequency components with different sensitivities. The sensor is operated within a wide humidity range (20%-70% relative humidity) with a maximum sensitivity achieved of 0.14rad/% relative humidity. Finally, due to the system uses an optical interrogator as unique active element, the system presents a cost-effective feature.

  1. RFID tags as a direct tracer for water and sediment dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sommerer, Erik; Plate, Simon; Güntner, Andreas

    2014-05-01

    RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a wireless automatic identification system to track objects with widespread application in industrial operations, but also selected applications in ecological research (animal tracking) and for hydro-sedimentological studies (sediment transport with RFID tags embedded in bedload material). In this study, for the first time, we test and apply RFID tags as a direct tracer to track water pathways, erosion patterns and sediment transport on the surface at the hillslope and headwater scale. The RFID system used here consists of tags with a size of 12 x 2 mm and a combination of mobile and stationary antennas. The transport pathways and velocities of the RFID tags can be individually assessed due to their unique identification numbers. The study area is a badland of easily erodible marls and carbonates located in the Villacarli catchment (42 km²) in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. The badlands have been identified as one of the main sediment sources for siltation of the downstream Barasona Reservoir. More than 700 tags were placed in different terrain units using three experimental setups, including lab experiments: (i) intensive feasibility tests ranging from laboratory flume experiments to tracer studies under natural channel and slope conditions to compare the transport of RFID tags relative to colored particles of the natural sediment; (ii) several transects across the badland to investigate sediment transfer characteristics on different morphological units (i.e. channel, rills, slopes); (iii) a raster of 99 RFID tags covering a slope flank with vegetated and unvegetated parts to reveal the influence of vegetation to erosion and transport processes. The detection of transported tags was carried out with a mobile antenna system to map the spatial distribution of tags after selected rainfall events and with two stationary antennas in channel cross-sections for time-continuous observation of tag passage. From the observations, we derived transport distances and velocities for a one year period. The transport behavior of the RFID tags was similar to the micrite limestone material of the badland. These results indicate the important role of terrain position and vegetation patches for erosion patterns, sediment transfer and the associated time scales along the catchment. We assess the potentials and limitations of the RFID technique as a direct tracer for assessing water and sediment connectivity along hillslopes to first order channels.

  2. The Automatic Integration of Folksonomies with Taxonomies Using Non-axiomatic Logic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geldart, Joe; Cummins, Stephen

    Cooperative tagging systems such as folksonomies are powerful tools when used to annotate information resources. The inherent power of folksonomies is in their ability to allow casual users to easily contribute ad hoc, yet meaningful, resource metadata without any specialist training. Older folksonomies have begun to degrade due to the lack of internal structure and from the use of many low quality tags. This chapter describes a remedy for some of the problems associated with folksonomies. We introduce a method of automatic integration and inference of the relationships between tags and resources in a folksonomy using non-axiomatic logic. We test this method on the CiteULike corpus of tags by comparing precision and recall between it and standard keyword search. Our results show that non-axiomatic reasoning is a promising technique for integrating tagging systems with more structured knowledge representations.

  3. Development of a novel marking system for laparoscopic gastrectomy using endoclips with radio frequency identification tags: feasibility study in a canine model.

    PubMed

    Kojima, Fumitsugu; Sato, Toshihiko; Tsunoda, Shigeru; Takahata, Hiromi; Hamaji, Masatsugu; Komatsu, Teruya; Okada, Minoru; Sugiura, Tadao; Oshiro, Osamu; Sakai, Yoshiharu; Date, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Tatsuo

    2014-09-01

    Intraoperative identification of early gastric cancer is difficult to conduct during laparoscopic procedures. In this study, we investigated the feasibility and accuracy of a newly developed marking system using endoclips with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in a canine model. RFID is a wireless near field communication technology. Among the open frequency bands available for medical use, 13.56 MHz is suitable for a surgical marking system because of the similar and linear signal decay both in air and in biological tissues. The proposed system consists of four parts: (a) endoclips with RFID tags, (b) endo-clip applier equipment, (c) laparoscopic locating probe, and (d) signal processing units with audio interface. In the experimental setting using canine models, RFID-tagged endoclips were applied to the mucosa of each dog's stomach. During the subsequent operation, the clips with RFID tags placed in five dogs were located by the detection of the RFID signal from the tag (RFID group), and the conventional clips in the other six dogs were located by finger palpation (FP group). The detected sites were marked by ablation on the serosal surface. Distance between the clips and the metal pin needles indicating ablated sites were measured with X-ray radiographs of the resected specimen. All clips were successfully detected by the marking system in the RFID group (10/10) and by finger palpation in the FP group (17/17). The medians of detection times were 31.5 and 25.0 s, respectively; the distances were 5.63 and 7.62 mm, respectively. The differences were not statistically significant. No adverse event related to the procedures was observed. Endoclips with RFID tags were located by our novel marking system in an experimental laparoscopic setting using canine stomachs with substantial accuracy comparable to conventional endoclips located by finger palpation through an open approach.

  4. High data-rate atom interferometers through high recapture efficiency

    DOEpatents

    Biedermann, Grant; Rakholia, Akash Vrijal; McGuinness, Hayden

    2015-01-27

    An inertial sensing system includes a magneto-optical trap (MOT) that traps atoms within a specified trapping region. The system also includes a cooling laser that cools the trapped atoms so that the atoms remain within the specified region for a specified amount of time. The system further includes a light-pulse atom interferometer (LPAI) that performs an interferometric interrogation of the atoms to determine phase changes in the atoms. The system includes a controller that controls the timing of MOT and cooling laser operations, and controls the timing of interferometric operations to substantially recapture the atoms in the specified trapping region. The system includes a processor that determines the amount inertial movement of the inertial sensing system based on the determined phase changes in the atoms. Also, a method of inertial sensing using this inertial sensing system includes recapture of atoms within the MOT following interferometric interrogation by the LPAI.

  5. Optimal Detection Range of RFID Tag for RFID-based Positioning System Using the k-NN Algorithm.

    PubMed

    Han, Soohee; Kim, Junghwan; Park, Choung-Hwan; Yoon, Hee-Cheon; Heo, Joon

    2009-01-01

    Positioning technology to track a moving object is an important and essential component of ubiquitous computing environments and applications. An RFID-based positioning system using the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) algorithm can determine the position of a moving reader from observed reference data. In this study, the optimal detection range of an RFID-based positioning system was determined on the principle that tag spacing can be derived from the detection range. It was assumed that reference tags without signal strength information are regularly distributed in 1-, 2- and 3-dimensional spaces. The optimal detection range was determined, through analytical and numerical approaches, to be 125% of the tag-spacing distance in 1-dimensional space. Through numerical approaches, the range was 134% in 2-dimensional space, 143% in 3-dimensional space.

  6. In vivo phosphorylation of a peptide tag for protein purification.

    PubMed

    Goux, Marine; Fateh, Amina; Defontaine, Alain; Cinier, Mathieu; Tellier, Charles

    2016-05-01

    To design a new system for the in vivo phosphorylation of proteins in Escherichia coli using the co-expression of the α-subunit of casein kinase II (CKIIα) and a target protein, (Nanofitin) fused with a phosphorylatable tag. The level of the co-expressed CKIIα was controlled by the arabinose promoter and optimal phosphorylation was obtained with 2 % (w/v) arabinose as inductor. The effectiveness of the phosphorylation system was demonstrated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (NUT-PAGE) and staining with a specific phosphoprotein-staining gel. The resulting phosphorylated tag was also used to purify the phosphoprotein by immobilized metal affinity chromatography, which relies on the specific interaction of phosphate moieties with Fe(III). The use of a single tag for both the purification and protein array anchoring provides a simple and straightforward system for protein analysis.

  7. SRNL Tagging and Tracking Video

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

    None

    SRNL generates a next generation satellite base tracking system. The tagging and tracking system can work in remote wilderness areas, inside buildings, underground and other areas not well served by traditional GPS. It’s a perfect response to customer needs and market demand.

  8. A New Aloha Anti-Collision Algorithm Based on CDMA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Enjian; Feng, Zhu

    The tags' collision is a common problem in RFID (radio frequency identification) system. The problem has affected the integrity of the data transmission during the process of communication in the RFID system. Based on analysis of the existing anti-collision algorithm, a novel anti-collision algorithm is presented. The new algorithm combines the group dynamic frame slotted Aloha algorithm with code division multiple access technology. The algorithm can effectively reduce the collision probability between tags. Under the same number of tags, the algorithm is effective in reducing the reader recognition time and improve overall system throughput rate.

  9. Batch affinity adsorption of His-tagged proteins with EDTA-based chitosan.

    PubMed

    Hua, Weiwei; Lou, Yimin; Xu, Weiyuan; Cheng, Zhixian; Gong, Xingwen; Huang, Jianying

    2016-01-01

    Affinity adsorption purification of hexahistidine-tagged (His-tagged) proteins using EDTA-chitosan-based adsorption was designed and carried out. Chitosan was elaborated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and the resulting polymer was characterized by FTIR, TGA, and TEM. Different metals including Ni(2+), Cu(2+), and Zn(2+) were immobilized with EDTA-chitosan, and their capability to the specific adsorption of His-tagged proteins were then investigated. The results showed that Ni(2+)-EDTA-chitosan and Zn(2+)-EDTA-chitosan had high affinity toward the His-tagged proteins, thus isolating them from protein mixture. The target fluorescent-labeled hexahistidine protein remained its fluorescent characteristic throughout the purification procedure when Zn(2+)-EDTA-chitosan was used as a sorbent, wherein the real-time monitor was performed to examine the immigration of fluorescent-labeled His-tagged protein. Comparatively, Zn(2+)-EDTA-chitosan showed more specific binding ability for the target protein, but with less binding capacity. It was further proved that this purification system could be recovered and reused at least for 5 times and could run on large scales. The presented M(2+)-EDTA-chitosan system, with the capability to specifically bind His-tagged proteins, make the purification of His-tagged proteins easy to handle, leaving out fussy preliminary treatment, and with the possibility of continuous processing and a reduction in operational cost in relation to the costs of conventional processes.

  10. Enhanced UHF RFID tags for drug tracing.

    PubMed

    Catarinucci, Luca; Colella, Riccardo; De Blasi, Mario; Patrono, Luigi; Tarricone, Luciano

    2012-12-01

    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is playing a crucial role for item-level tracing systems in healthcare scenarios. The pharmaceutical supply chain is a fascinating application context, where RFID can guarantee transparency in the drug flow, supporting both suppliers and consumers against the growing counterfeiting problem. In such a context, the choice of the most adequate RFID tag, in terms of shape, frequency, size and reading range, is crucial. The potential presence of items containing materials hostile to the electromagnetic propagation exasperates the problem. In addition, the peculiarities of the different RFID-based checkpoints make even more stringent the requirements for the tag. In this work, the performance of several commercial UHF RFID tags in each step of the pharmaceutical supply chain has been evaluated, confirming the expected criticality. On such basis, a guideline for the electromagnetic design of new high-performance tags capable to overcome such criticalities has been defined. Finally, driven by such guidelines, a new enhanced tag has been designed, realized and tested. Due to patent pending issues, the antenna shape is not shown. Nevertheless, the optimal obtained results do not lose their validity. Indeed, on the one hand they demonstrate that high performance item level tracing systems can actually be implemented also in critical operating conditions. On the other hand, they encourage the tag designer to follow the identified guidelines so to realize enhanced UHF tags.

  11. Investigation of Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System for Gear Tooth Crack Detection

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-06-01

    periphery of the gear to form a loop. Power for the tag is transmitted wirelessly via a RFID reader , which also acts as a receiver. Detection occurs... RFID usually refers to a whole system, which consist of three main parts: RFID tag, RFID reader , and a computer. Figure 1 shows a basic schematic...UNCLASSIFIED DSTO-TR-2983 UNCLASSIFIED 2 breaks the modified wire connection, the RFID tag will stop transmitting to the RFID reader and the crack will be

  12. Improving Attachments of Remotely-Deployed Dorsal Fin-Mounted Tags: Tissue Structure, Hydrodynamics, In Situ Performance, and Tagged-Animal Follow-Up

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-09-30

    in situ performance of our current attachment devices and then design and test improved retention systems 4. Conduct follow-up studies of tagged... retention system operates when first implanted, we do not fully understand the mechanics in a living fin. Therefore, we will use non-invasive imaging of...carcass tissue to determine how the retention elements behave in situ. These results, along with those from the analysis of dorsal fin histology

  13. Magneto-Optic Field Coupling in Optical Fiber Bragg Gratings

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Carman, Gregory P. (Inventor); Mohanchandra, Panduranga K. (Inventor); Emmons, Michael C. (Inventor); Richards, William Lance (Inventor)

    2016-01-01

    The invention is a magneto-optic coupled magnetic sensor that comprises a standard optical fiber Bragg grating system. The system includes an optical fiber with at least one Bragg grating therein. The optical fiber has at least an inner core and a cladding that surrounds the inner core. The optical fiber is part of an optical system that includes an interrogation device that provides a light wave through the optical fiber and a system to determine the change in the index of refraction of the optical fiber. The cladding of the optical fiber comprises at least a portion of which is made up of ferromagnetic particles so that the ferromagnetic particles are subject to the light wave provided by the interrogation system. When a magnetic field is present, the ferromagnetic particles change the optical properties of the sensor directly.

  14. Studies with an immobilized metal affinity chromatography cassette system involving binuclear triazacyclononane-derived ligands: automation of batch adsorption measurements with tagged recombinant proteins.

    PubMed

    Petzold, Martin; Coghlan, Campbell J; Hearn, Milton T W

    2014-07-18

    This study describes the determination of the adsorption isotherms and binding kinetics of tagged recombinant proteins using a recently developed IMAC cassette system and employing automated robotic liquid handling procedures for IMAC resin screening. These results confirm that these new IMAC resins, generated from a variety of different metal-charged binuclear 1,4,7-triaza-cyclononane (tacn) ligands, interact with recombinant proteins containing a novel N-terminal metal binding tag, NT1A, with static binding capacities similar to those obtained with conventional hexa-His tagged proteins, but with significantly increased association constants. In addition, higher kinetic binding rates were observed with these new IMAC systems, an attribute that can be positively exploited to increase process productivity. The results from this investigation demonstrate that enhancements in binding capacities and affinities were achieved with these new IMAC resins and chosen NT1A tagged protein. Further, differences in the binding performances of the bis(tacn) xylenyl-bridged ligands were consistent with the distance between the metal binding centres of the two tacn moieties, the flexibility of the ligand and the potential contribution from the aromatic ring of the xylenyl group to undergo π/π stacking interactions with the tagged proteins. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. A Comparison of Neutron-Based Non-Destructive Assessment Methods for Chemical Warfare Materiel and High Explosives

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

    E.H. Seabury; D.L. Chichester; C.J. Wharton

    2008-08-01

    Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) systems employ neutrons as a probe to interrogate items, e.g. chemical warfare materiel-filled munitions. The choice of a neutron source in field-portable systems is determined by its ability to excite nuclei of interest, operational concerns such as radiological safety and ease-of-use, and cost. Idaho National Laboratory’s PINS Chemical Assay System has traditionally used a Cf-252 isotopic neutron source, but recently a Deuterium-Tritium (DT) Electronic Neutron Generator (ENG) has been tested as an alternate neutron source. This paper presents the results of using both of these neutron sources to interrogate chemical warfare materiel (CWM) andmore » high explosive (HE) filled munitions.« less

  16. A Comparison of Neutron-Based Non-Destructive Assessment Methods for Chemical Warfare Material and High Explosives

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

    Seabury, E. H.; Chichester, D. L.; Wharton, C. J.

    2009-03-10

    Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) systems employ neutrons as a probe to interrogate items, e.g. chemical warfare materiel-filled munitions. The choice of a neutron source in field-portable systems is determined by its ability to excite nuclei of interest, operational concerns such as radiological safety and ease-of-use, and cost. Idaho National Laboratory's PINS Chemical Assay System has traditionally used a {sup 252}Cf isotopic neutron source, but recently a deuterium-tritium (DT) electronic neutron generator (ENG) has been tested as an alternate neutron source. This paper presents the results of using both of these neutron sources to interrogate chemical warfare materiel (CWM)more » and high explosive (HE) filled munitions.« less

  17. Interrogating marine virus-host interactions and elemental transfer with BONCAT and nanoSIMS-based methods.

    PubMed

    Pasulka, Alexis L; Thamatrakoln, Kimberlee; Kopf, Sebastian H; Guan, Yunbin; Poulos, Bonnie; Moradian, Annie; Sweredoski, Michael J; Hess, Sonja; Sullivan, Mathew B; Bidle, Kay D; Orphan, Victoria J

    2018-02-01

    While the collective impact of marine viruses has become more apparent over the last decade, a deeper understanding of virus-host dynamics and the role of viruses in nutrient cycling would benefit from direct observations at the single-virus level. We describe two new complementary approaches - stable isotope probing coupled with nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) and fluorescence-based biorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) - for studying the activity and biogeochemical influence of marine viruses. These tools were developed and tested using several ecologically relevant model systems (Emiliania huxleyi/EhV207, Synechococcus sp. WH8101/Syn1 and Escherichia coli/T7). By resolving carbon and nitrogen enrichment in viral particles, we demonstrate the power of nanoSIMS tracer experiments in obtaining quantitative estimates for the total number of viruses produced directly from a particular production pathway (by isotopically labelling host substrates). Additionally, we show through laboratory experiments and a pilot field study that BONCAT can be used to directly quantify viral production (via epifluorescence microscopy) with minor sample manipulation and no dependency on conversion factors. This technique can also be used to detect newly synthesized viral proteins. Together these tools will help fill critical gaps in our understanding of the biogeochemical impact of viruses in the ocean. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. In Planta Single-Molecule Pull-Down Reveals Tetrameric Stoichiometry of HD-ZIPIII:LITTLE ZIPPER Complexes.

    PubMed

    Husbands, Aman Y; Aggarwal, Vasudha; Ha, Taekjip; Timmermans, Marja C P

    2016-08-01

    Deciphering complex biological processes markedly benefits from approaches that directly assess the underlying biomolecular interactions. Most commonly used approaches to monitor protein-protein interactions typically provide nonquantitative readouts that lack statistical power and do not yield information on the heterogeneity or stoichiometry of protein complexes. Single-molecule pull-down (SiMPull) uses single-molecule fluorescence detection to mitigate these disadvantages and can quantitatively interrogate interactions between proteins and other compounds, such as nucleic acids, small molecule ligands, and lipids. Here, we establish SiMPull in plants using the HOMEODOMAIN LEUCINE ZIPPER III (HD-ZIPIII) and LITTLE ZIPPER (ZPR) interaction as proof-of-principle. Colocalization analysis of fluorophore-tagged HD-ZIPIII and ZPR proteins provides strong statistical evidence of complex formation. In addition, we use SiMPull to directly quantify YFP and mCherry maturation probabilities, showing these differ substantially from values obtained in mammalian systems. Leveraging these probabilities, in conjunction with fluorophore photobleaching assays on over 2000 individual complexes, we determined HD-ZIPIII:ZPR stoichiometry. Intriguingly, these complexes appear as heterotetramers, comprising two HD-ZIPIII and two ZPR molecules, rather than heterodimers as described in the current model. This surprising result raises new questions about the regulation of these key developmental factors and is illustrative of the unique contribution SiMPull is poised to make to in planta protein interaction studies. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

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

    Dowla, F

    Long-range, ultra-wideband (UWB), passive radio frequency (RF) tags are key components in Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) system that will revolutionize inventory control and tracking applications. Unlike conventional, battery-operated (active) RFID tags, LLNL's small UWB tags, called 'UTag', operate at long range (up to 20 meters) in harsh, cluttered environments. Because they are battery-less (that is, passive), they have practically infinite lifetimes without human intervention, and they are lower in cost to manufacture and maintain than active RFID tags. These robust, energy-efficient passive tags are remotely powered by UWB radio signals, which are much more difficult to detect, intercept, and jammore » than conventional narrowband frequencies. The features of long range, battery-less, and low cost give UTag significant advantage over other existing RFID tags.« less

  20. LS Channel Estimation and Signal Separation for UHF RFID Tag Collision Recovery on the Physical Layer.

    PubMed

    Duan, Hanjun; Wu, Haifeng; Zeng, Yu; Chen, Yuebin

    2016-03-26

    In a passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) system, tag collision is generally resolved on a medium access control (MAC) layer. However, some of collided tag signals could be recovered on a physical (PHY) layer and, thus, enhance the identification efficiency of the RFID system. For the recovery on the PHY layer, channel estimation is a critical issue. Good channel estimation will help to recover the collided signals. Existing channel estimates work well for two collided tags. When the number of collided tags is beyond two, however, the existing estimates have more estimation errors. In this paper, we propose a novel channel estimate for the UHF RFID system. It adopts an orthogonal matrix based on the information of preambles which is known for a reader and applies a minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) criterion to estimate channels. From the estimated channel, we could accurately separate the collided signals and recover them. By means of numerical results, we show that the proposed estimate has lower estimation errors and higher separation efficiency than the existing estimates.

  1. 48 CFR 952.208-7 - Tagging of leased vehicles.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Tagging of leased vehicles... leased vehicles. As prescribed in 908.1104, insert the following clause when leasing commercial vehicles for periods in excess of 60 days: Tagging of Leased Vehicles (APR 1984) (a) DOE intends to use U.S...

  2. 48 CFR 952.208-7 - Tagging of leased vehicles.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Tagging of leased vehicles... leased vehicles. As prescribed in 908.1104, insert the following clause when leasing commercial vehicles for periods in excess of 60 days: Tagging of Leased Vehicles (APR 1984) (a) DOE intends to use U.S...

  3. Interrogation of patient data delivered to the operating theatre during hepato-pancreatic surgery using high-performance computing.

    PubMed

    John, Nigel W; McCloy, Rory F; Herrman, Simone

    2004-01-01

    The Op3D visualization system allows, for the first time, a surgeon in the operating theatre to interrogate patient-specific medical data sets rendered in three dimensions using high-performance computing. The hypothesis of this research is that the success rate of hepato-pancreatic surgical resections can be improved by replacing the light box with an interactive 3D representation of the medical data in the operating theatre. A laptop serves as the client computer and an easy-to-use interface has been developed for the surgeon to interact with and interrogate the patient data. To date, 16 patients have had 3D reconstructions of their DICOM data sets, including preoperative interrogation and planning of surgery. Interrogation of the 3D images live in theatre and comparison with the surgeons' operative findings (including intraoperative ultrasound) led to the operation being abandoned in 25% of cases, adoption of an alternative surgical approach in 25% of cases, and helpful image guidance for successful resection in 50% of cases. The clinical value of the latest generation of scanners and digital imaging techniques cannot be realized unless appropriate dissemination of the images takes place. This project has succeeded in translating the image technology into a user-friendly form and delivers 3D reconstructions of patient-specific data to the "sharp end"-the surgeon undertaking the tumor resection in theatre, in a manner that allows interaction and interpretation. More time interrogating the 3D data sets preoperatively would help reduce the incidence of abandoned operations-this is part of the surgeons' learning curve. We have developed one of the first practical applications to benefit from remote visualization, and certainly the first medical visualization application of this kind.

  4. Delivery and application of precise timing for a traveling wave powerline fault locator system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Street, Michael A.

    1990-01-01

    The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has successfully operated an in-house developed powerline fault locator system since 1986. The BPA fault locator system consists of remotes installed at cardinal power transmission line system nodes and a central master which polls the remotes for traveling wave time-of-arrival data. A power line fault produces a fast rise-time traveling wave which emanates from the fault point and propagates throughout the power grid. The remotes time-tag the traveling wave leading edge as it passes through the power system cardinal substation nodes. A synchronizing pulse transmitted via the BPA analog microwave system on a wideband channel sychronizes the time-tagging counters in the remote units to a different accuracy of better than one microsecond. The remote units correct the raw time tags for synchronizing pulse propagation delay and return these corrected values to the fault locator master. The master then calculates the power system disturbance source using the collected time tags. The system design objective is a fault location accuracy of 300 meters. BPA's fault locator system operation, error producing phenomena, and method of distributing precise timing are described.

  5. Comparative Performance of Acoustic-tagged and PIT-tagged Juvenile Salmonids

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

    Hockersmith, Eric E.; Brown, Richard S.; Liedtke, Theresa L.

    2008-02-01

    Numerous research tools and technologies are currently being used to evaluate fish passage and survival to determine the impacts of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) on endangered and threatened juvenile salmonids, including PIT tags, balloon tags, hydroacoustic evaluations, radio telemetry, and acoustic telemetry. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but options are restricted in some situations because of limited capabilities of a specific technology, lack of detection capability downstream, or availability of adequate numbers of fish. However, there remains concern about the comparative effects of the tag or the tagging procedure on fish performance. The recently developed Juvenile Salmonidmore » Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) acoustic transmitter is the smallest active acoustic tag currently available. The goal of this study was to determine whether fish tagged with the JSATS acoustic-telemetry tag can provide unbiased estimates of passage behavior and survival within the performance life of the tag. We conducted both field and laboratory studies to assess tag effects. For the field evaluation we released a total of 996 acoustic-tagged fish in conjunction with 21,026 PIT-tagged fish into the tailrace of Lower Granite Dam on 6 and 13 May. Travel times between release and downstream dams were not significantly different for the majority of the reaches between acoustic-tagged and PIT-tagged fish. In addition to the field evaluation, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted to determine if growth and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters is different than untagged or PIT tagged juvenile Chinook salmon. Only yearling fish with integrated and non-integrated transmitters experienced mortalities, and these were low (<4.5%). Mortality among sub-yearling control and PIT-tag treatments ranged up to 7.7% while integrated and non-integrated treatments had slightly higher rates (up to 8.3% and 7.9% respectively). No acoustic transmitters were shed by yearling fish during the course of the 90 day study. Up to 7.8% of subyearling fish expelled transmitters. Tags were expelled from 5 to 63 days post-surgery. The average time to expulsion was 27 days; few fish expelled transmitters within 14 days of implantation or less. Histological results suggest that inflammation associated with implantation of an acoustic transmitter can produce fibrous tissue which can invade and possibly damage internal organs soon after implantation. Reactions severe enough to damage organs however, were limited to only ~20% of subyearling Chinook salmon, all of which were under 101mm and 12g at tagging. The infiltration of the fibrous tissue into organs was observed most often in fish held for 21 days and appeared to decrease in subsequent holding times.« less

  6. Comparison of visual and electronic devices for individual identification of dromedary camels under different farming conditions.

    PubMed

    Caja, G; Díaz-Medina, E; Salama, A A K; Salama, O A E; El-Shafie, M H; El-Metwaly, H A; Ayadi, M; Aljumaah, R S; Alshaikh, M A; Yahyahoui, M H; Seddik, M M; Hammadi, M; Khorchani, T; Amann, O; Cabrera, S

    2016-08-01

    The camel industry uses traditional (i.e., iron brands and ear tags) and modern (i.e., microchips) identification (ID) systems without having performance results of reference. Previously iron-branded ( = 45; 1 yr) and microchipped ( = 59; 7 yr) camels showed problems of healing (8.6% of brands) and reading (only 42.9% of brands and 69.5% of microchips were readable), which made their use inadvisable. With the aim of proposing suitable ID systems for different farming conditions, an on-field study was performed using a total of 528 dromedaries at 4 different locations (Egypt, = 83; Spain, = 304; Saudi Arabia, = 90; and Tunisia, = 51). The ID devices tested were visual (button ear tags, 28.5 mm diameter, = 178; double flag ear tags, 50 by 15 mm, = 83; both made of polyurethane) and electronic (ear tags, = 90, and rumen boluses, = 555). Electronic ear tags were polyurethane-loop type (75 by 9 mm) with a container in which a 22-mm transponder of full-duplex technology was lodged. Electronic boluses of 7 types, varying in dimensions (50 to 76 mm length, 11 to 21 mm width, and 12.7 to 82.1 g weight) and specific gravity (SG; 1.49 to 3.86) and each of them containing a 31-mm transponder of half-duplex technology, were all administered to the dromedaries at the beginning of the study. When a low-SG bolus was lost, a high-SG bolus was readministered. Readability rates of each ID system were evaluated during 1 to 3 yr, according to device and location, and yearly values were estimated for comparison. On a yearly basis, visual ear tag readability was not fully satisfactory; it was lower for rectangular ear tags (66.3%) than for button ear tags (80.9%). Yearly readability of electronic ear tags was 93.7%. Bolus readability dramatically varied according to their SG; the SG < 2.0 boluses were fully lost after 8 mo. In contrast, the SG > 3.0 boluses were efficiently retained (99.6 to 100%) at all locations. In conclusion, according to the expected long lifespan of camels, low ID performances were observed for iron brands, injectable microchips, and ear tags (visual and electronic), making their use inadvisable as unique ID systems in camels. The high readability of dense electronic boluses recommended their use as a permanent ID device of reference in camels.

  7. HPLC separation of triacylglycerol positional isomers on a polymeric ODS column.

    PubMed

    Kuroda, Ikuma; Nagai, Toshiharu; Mizobe, Hoyo; Yoshimura, Nobuhito; Gotoh, Naohiro; Wada, Shun

    2008-07-01

    A polymeric ODS column was applied to the resolution of triacylglycerol positional isomers (TAG-PI), i.e. 1,3-dioleoyl-2-palmitoyl-glycerol (OPO) and 1,2-dioleoyl-3-palmitoyl-rac-glycerol (OOP), with a recycle HPLC system. To investigate the ODS column species and the column temperatures for the resolution of a TAG-PI pair, a mixture of OPO and OOP was subjected to an HPLC system equipped with a non-endcapped polymeric, endcapped monomeric, endcapped intermediate, or non-endcapped monomeric ODS column at three different column temperatures (40, 25, or 10 degrees C). Only the non-endcapped polymeric ODS column achieved the separation of OPO and OOP, and the lowest column temperature (10 degrees C) showed the best resolution for them. The other pair of TAG-PI, a mixture of 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol (POP) and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-oleoyl-rac-glycerol (PPO) was also subjected to the system equipped with a non-endcapped polymeric or monomeric ODS column at five different column temperatures (40, 32, 25, 17, and 10 degrees C). Thus, POP and PPO were also separated on only the non-endcapped polymeric ODS column at 25 degrees C. However, no clear peak appeared at 10 degrees C. These results would indicate that the polymeric ODS stationary phase has an ability to recognize the structural differences between TAG-PI pairs. Also, the column temperature is a very important factor for separating the TAG-PI pair, and the optimal temperature would relate to the solubility of TAG-PI in the mobile phase. Furthermore, the recycle HPLC system provided measurements for the separation and analysis of TAG-PI pairs.

  8. SRNL Tagging and Tracking Video

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2018-01-16

    SRNL generates a next generation satellite base tracking system. The tagging and tracking system can work in remote wilderness areas, inside buildings, underground and other areas not well served by traditional GPS. It’s a perfect response to customer needs and market demand.

  9. Wavelength interrogation of fiber Bragg grating sensors based on crossed optical Gaussian filters.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Rui; Xia, Li; Zhou, Jiaao; Liu, Deming

    2015-04-15

    Conventional intensity-modulated measurements require to be operated in linear range of filter or interferometric response to ensure a linear detection. Here, we present a wavelength interrogation system for fiber Bragg grating sensors where the linear transition is achieved with crossed Gaussian transmissions. This unique filtering characteristic makes the responses of the two branch detections follow Gaussian functions with the same parameters except for a delay. The substraction of these two delayed Gaussian responses (in dB) ultimately leads to a linear behavior, which is exploited for the sensor wavelength determination. Beside its flexibility and inherently power insensitivity, the proposal also shows a potential of a much wider operational range. Interrogation of a strain-tuned grating was accomplished, with a wide sensitivity tuning range from 2.56 to 8.7 dB/nm achieved.

  10. Structural characterization of acylimine-containing blue and red chromophores in mTagBFP and TagRFP fluorescent proteins.

    PubMed

    Subach, Oksana M; Malashkevich, Vladimir N; Zencheck, Wendy D; Morozova, Kateryna S; Piatkevich, Kiryl D; Almo, Steven C; Verkhusha, Vladislav V

    2010-04-23

    We determined the 2.2 A crystal structures of the red fluorescent protein TagRFP and its derivative, the blue fluorescent protein mTagBFP. The crystallographic analysis is consistent with a model in which TagRFP has the trans coplanar anionic chromophore with the conjugated pi-electron system, similar to that of DsRed-like chromophores. Refined conformation of mTagBFP suggests the presence of an N-acylimine functionality in its chromophore and single C(alpha)-C(beta) bond in the Tyr64 side chain. Mass spectrum of mTagBFP chromophore-bearing peptide indicates a loss of 20 Da upon maturation, whereas tandem mass spectrometry reveals that the C(alpha)-N bond in Leu63 is oxidized. These data indicate that mTagBFP has a new type of the chromophore, N-[(5-hydroxy-1H-imidazole-2-yl)methylidene]acetamide. We propose a chemical mechanism in which the DsRed-like chromophore is formed via the mTagBFP-like blue intermediate. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Method and apparatus for manufacturing gas tags

    DOEpatents

    Gross, K.C.; Laug, M.T.

    1996-12-17

    For use in the manufacture of gas tags employed in a gas tagging failure detection system for a nuclear reactor, a plurality of commercial feed gases each having a respective noble gas isotopic composition are blended under computer control to provide various tag gas mixtures having selected isotopic ratios which are optimized for specified defined conditions such as cost. Using a new approach employing a discrete variable structure rather than the known continuous-variable optimization problem, the computer controlled gas tag manufacturing process employs an analytical formalism from condensed matter physics known as stochastic relaxation, which is a special case of simulated annealing, for input feed gas selection. For a tag blending process involving M tag isotopes with N distinct feed gas mixtures commercially available from an enriched gas supplier, the manufacturing process calculates the cost difference between multiple combinations and specifies gas mixtures which approach the optimum defined conditions. The manufacturing process is then used to control tag blending apparatus incorporating tag gas canisters connected by stainless-steel tubing with computer controlled valves, with the canisters automatically filled with metered quantities of the required feed gases. 4 figs.

  12. Method and apparatus for manufacturing gas tags

    DOEpatents

    Gross, Kenny C.; Laug, Matthew T.

    1996-01-01

    For use in the manufacture of gas tags employed in a gas tagging failure detection system for a nuclear reactor, a plurality of commercial feed gases each having a respective noble gas isotopic composition are blended under computer control to provide various tag gas mixtures having selected isotopic ratios which are optimized for specified defined conditions such as cost. Using a new approach employing a discrete variable structure rather than the known continuous-variable optimization problem, the computer controlled gas tag manufacturing process employs an analytical formalism from condensed matter physics known as stochastic relaxation, which is a special case of simulated annealing, for input feed gas selection. For a tag blending process involving M tag isotopes with N distinct feed gas mixtures commercially available from an enriched gas supplier, the manufacturing process calculates the cost difference between multiple combinations and specifies gas mixtures which approach the optimum defined conditions. The manufacturing process is then used to control tag blending apparatus incorporating tag gas canisters connected by stainless-steel tubing with computer controlled valves, with the canisters automatically filled with metered quantities of the required feed gases.

  13. Polymerase chain reaction system

    DOEpatents

    Benett, William J.; Richards, James B.; Stratton, Paul L.; Hadley, Dean R.; Milanovich, Fred P.; Belgrader, Phil; Meyer, Peter L.

    2004-03-02

    A portable polymerase chain reaction DNA amplification and detection system includes one or more chamber modules. Each module supports a duplex assay of a biological sample. Each module has two parallel interrogation ports with a linear optical system. The system is capable of being handheld.

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

    Nekoogar, Faranak; Reynolds, Matthew; Lefton, Scott

    A secure optionally passive RFID tag or sensor system comprises a passive RFID tag having means for receiving radio signals from at least one base station and for transmitting radio signals to at least one base station, where the tag is capable of being powered exclusively by received radio energy, and an external power and data logging device having at least one battery and electronic circuitry including a digital memory configured for storing and recalling data. The external power and data logging device has a means for powering the tag, and also has a means.

  15. Marine asset security and tracking (MAST) system

    DOEpatents

    Hanson, Gregory Richard [Clinton, TN; Smith, Stephen Fulton [Loudon, TN; Moore, Michael Roy [Corryton, TN; Dobson, Eric Lesley [Charleston, SC; Blair, Jeffrey Scott [Charleston, SC; Duncan, Christopher Allen [Marietta, GA; Lenarduzzi, Roberto [Knoxville, TN

    2008-07-01

    Methods and apparatus are described for marine asset security and tracking (MAST). A method includes transmitting identification data, location data and environmental state sensor data from a radio frequency tag. An apparatus includes a radio frequency tag that transmits identification data, location data and environmental state sensor data. Another method includes transmitting identification data and location data from a radio frequency tag using hybrid spread-spectrum modulation. Another apparatus includes a radio frequency tag that transmits both identification data and location data using hybrid spread-spectrum modulation.

  16. Understanding Apex Predator and Pelagic Fish Habitat Utilization in the California Current System by Integrating Animal Tracking with in situ Oceanographic Observations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-01-01

    species studied in our research program, we have chosen to highlight the results of tagging studies on the bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), which has...been extensively tagged and has been found to heavily rely on the CCS. Building on the tracking studies of migrating Pacific bluefin tuna along the...consistently attract large numbers of Pacific bluefin tuna during spring and summer seasons. Integrating track data from archival tags with tag

  17. Digitally controlled chirped pulse laser for sub-terahertz-range fiber structure interrogation.

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhen; Hefferman, Gerald; Wei, Tao

    2017-03-01

    This Letter reports a sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator controlled using a digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) circuit. This design is used for the interrogation of sub-terahertz-range fiber structures for sensing applications that require real-time data collection with millimeter-level spatial resolution. A distributed feedback laser was employed to generate chirped laser pulses via injection current modulation. A DPLL circuit was developed to lock the optical frequency sweep velocity. A high-quality linearly chirped laser pulse with a frequency excursion of 117.69 GHz at an optical communication band was demonstrated. The system was further adopted to interrogate a continuously distributed sub-terahertz-range fiber structure (sub-THz-fs) for sensing applications. A strain test was conducted in which the sub-THz-fs showed a linear response to longitudinal strain change with predicted sensitivity. Additionally, temperature testing was conducted in which a heat source was used to generate a temperature distribution along the fiber structure to demonstrate its distributed sensing capability. A Gaussian temperature profile was measured using the described system and tracked in real time, as the heat source was moved.

  18. Wavelength-switched phase interrogator for extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors.

    PubMed

    Xia, Ji; Xiong, Shuidong; Wang, Fuyin; Luo, Hong

    2016-07-01

    We report on phase interrogation of extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) sensors through a wavelength-switched unit with a polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PMFBG). The measurements at two wavelengths are first achieved in one total-optical path. The reflected peaks of the PMFBG with two natural wavelengths are in mutually perpendicular polarization detection, and they are switched through an electro-optic modulator at a high switching speed of 10 kHz. An ellipse fitting differential cross multiplication (EF-DCM) algorithm is proposed for interrogating the variation of the gap length of the EFPI sensors. The phase demodulation system has been demonstrated to recover a minimum phase of 0.42  μrad/Hz at the test frequency of 100 Hz with a stable intensity fluctuation level of ±0.8  dB. Three EFPI sensors with different cavity lengths are tested at the test frequency of 200 Hz, and the results indicate that the system can achieve the demodulation of EFPI sensors with different cavity lengths stably.

  19. Space Gator: a giant leap for fiber optic sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evenblij, R. S.; Leijtens, J. A. P.

    2017-11-01

    Fibre Optic Sensing is a rapidly growing application field for Photonics Integrated Circuits (PIC) technology. PIC technology is regarded enabling for required performances and miniaturization of next generation fibre optic sensing instrumentation. So far a number of Application Specific Photonics Integrated Circuits (ASPIC) based interrogator systems have been realized as operational system-on-chip devices. These circuits have shown that all basic building blocks are working and complete interrogator on chip solutions can be produced. Within the Saristu (FP7) project several high reliability solutions for fibre optic sensing in Aeronautics are being developed, combining the specifically required performance aspects for the different sensing applications: damage detection, impact detection, load monitoring and shape sensing (including redundancy aspects and time division features). Further developments based on devices and taking into account specific space requirements (like radiation aspects) will lead to the Space Gator, which is a radiation tolerant highly integrated Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) interrogator on chip. Once developed and qualified the Space Gator will be a giant leap for fibre optic sensing in future space applications.

  20. Raft and floating radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna systems for detecting and estimating abundance of PIT-tagged fish in rivers

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fetherman, Eric R.; Avila, Brian W.; Winkelman, Dana L.

    2016-01-01

    Portable radio frequency identification (RFID) PIT tag antenna systems are increasingly being used in studies examining aquatic animal movement, survival, and habitat use, and their design flexibility permits application in a wide variety of settings. We describe the construction, use, and performance of two portable floating RFID PIT tag antenna systems designed to detect fish that were unavailable for recapture using stationary antennas or electrofishing. A raft antenna system was designed to detect and locate PIT-tagged fish in relatively long (i.e., ≥10 km) river reaches, and consisted of two antennas: (1) a horizontal antenna (4 × 1.2 m) installed on the bottom of the raft and used to detect fish in shallower river reaches (<1 m), and (2) a vertical antenna (2.7 × 1.2 m) for detecting fish in deeper pools (≥1 m). Detection distances of the horizontal antenna were between 0.7 and 1.0 m, and detection probability was 0.32 ± 0.02 (mean ± SE) in a field test using rocks marked with 32-mm PIT tags. Detection probability of PIT-tagged fish in the Cache la Poudre River, Colorado, using the raft antenna system, which covered 21% of the wetted area, was 0.14 ± 0.14. A shore-deployed floating antenna (14.6 × 0.6 m), which covered 100% of the wetted area, was designed for use by two operators for detecting and locating PIT-tagged fish in shorter (i.e., <2 km) river reaches. Detection distances of the shore-deployed floating antenna were between 0.7 and 0.8 m, and detection probabilities during field deployment in the St. Vrain River exceeded 0.52. The shore-deployed floating antenna was also used to estimate abundance of PIT-tagged fish. Results suggest that the shore-deployed floating antenna could be used as an alternative to estimating abundance using traditional sampling methods such as electrofishing.

  1. Exploring personalized searches using tag-based user profiles and resource profiles in folksonomy.

    PubMed

    Cai, Yi; Li, Qing; Xie, Haoran; Min, Huaqin

    2014-10-01

    With the increase in resource-sharing websites such as YouTube and Flickr, many shared resources have arisen on the Web. Personalized searches have become more important and challenging since users demand higher retrieval quality. To achieve this goal, personalized searches need to take users' personalized profiles and information needs into consideration. Collaborative tagging (also known as folksonomy) systems allow users to annotate resources with their own tags, which provides a simple but powerful way for organizing, retrieving and sharing different types of social resources. In this article, we examine the limitations of previous tag-based personalized searches. To handle these limitations, we propose a new method to model user profiles and resource profiles in collaborative tagging systems. We use a normalized term frequency to indicate the preference degree of a user on a tag. A novel search method using such profiles of users and resources is proposed to facilitate the desired personalization in resource searches. In our framework, instead of the keyword matching or similarity measurement used in previous works, the relevance measurement between a resource and a user query (termed the query relevance) is treated as a fuzzy satisfaction problem of a user's query requirements. We implement a prototype system called the Folksonomy-based Multimedia Retrieval System (FMRS). Experiments using the FMRS data set and the MovieLens data set show that our proposed method outperforms baseline methods. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Localized conformational interrogation of antibody and antibody-drug conjugates by site-specific carboxyl group footprinting.

    PubMed

    Pan, Lucy Yan; Salas-Solano, Oscar; Valliere-Douglass, John F

    Establishing and maintaining conformational integrity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) during development and manufacturing is critical for ensuring their clinical efficacy. As presented here, we applied site-specific carboxyl group footprinting (CGF) for localized conformational interrogation of mAbs. The approach relies on covalent labeling that introduces glycine ethyl ester tags onto solvent-accessible side chains of protein carboxylates. Peptide mapping is used to monitor the labeling kinetics of carboxyl residues and the labeling kinetics reflects the conformation or solvent-accessibility of side chains. Our results for two case studies are shown here. The first study was aimed at defining the conformational changes of mAbs induced by deglycosylation. We found that two residues in C H 2 domain (D268 and E297) show significantly enhanced side chain accessibility upon deglycosylation. This site-specific result highlighted the advantage of monitoring the labeling kinetics at the amino acid level as opposed to the peptide level, which would result in averaging out of highly localized conformational differences. The second study was designed to assess conformational effects brought on by conjugation of mAbs with drug-linkers. All 59 monitored carboxyl residues displayed similar solvent-accessibility between the ADC and mAb under native conditions, which suggests the ADC and mAb share similar side chain conformation. The findings are well correlated and complementary with results from other assays. This work illustrated that site-specific CGF is capable of pinpointing local conformational changes in mAbs or ADCs that might arise during development and manufacturing. The methodology can be readily implemented within the industry to provide comprehensive conformational assessment of these molecules.

  3. Performance of Encounternet Tags: Field Tests of Miniaturized Proximity Loggers for Use on Small Birds

    PubMed Central

    Levin, Iris I.; Zonana, David M.; Burt, John M.; Safran, Rebecca J.

    2015-01-01

    Proximity logging is a new tool for understanding social behavior as it allows for accurate quantification of social networks. We report results from field calibration and deployment tests of miniaturized proximity tags (Encounternet), digital transceivers that log encounters between tagged individuals. We examined radio signal behavior in relation to tag attachment (tag, tag on bird, tag on saline-filled balloon) to understand how radio signal strength is affected by the tag mounting technique used for calibration tests. We investigated inter-tag and inter-receiver station variability, and in each calibration test we accounted for the effects of antennae orientation. Additionally, we used data from a live deployment on breeding barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster) to analyze the quality of the logs, including reciprocal agreement in dyadic logs. We evaluated the impact (in terms of mass changes) of tag attachment on the birds. We were able to statistically distinguish between RSSI values associated with different close-proximity (<5m) tag-tag distances regardless of antennae orientation. Inter-tag variability was low, but we did find significant inter-receiver station variability. Reciprocal agreement of dyadic logs was high and social networks were constructed from proximity tag logs based on two different RSSI thresholds. There was no evidence of significant mass loss in the time birds were wearing tags. We conclude that proximity loggers are accurate and effective for quantifying social behavior. However, because RSSI and distance cannot be perfectly resolved, data from proximity loggers are most appropriate for comparing networks based on specific RSSI thresholds. The Encounternet system is flexible and customizable, and tags are now light enough for use on small animals (<50g). PMID:26348329

  4. Retention and effects of miniature transmitters in juvenile American eels

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

    Mueller, Robert P.; Janak, Jill; Liss, Stephanie A.

    This study was conducted to assess the effects of a non-functional acoustic micro transmitter (tag) on survival, tag loss, and swimming ability of juvenile American eels (Anguilla rostrata). The transmitter was designed for implantation through a < 3 mm opening into the body cavity of anguilliform fishes without the need for sutures. American eels used for the swimming performance study were 113–175 mm (N = 120). There were two treatment groups (tagged and non-tagged), each treatment was split into six size groups of 10 mm for testing. Potential transmitter effects on swimming performance were examined by comparing critical swimming speedsmore » (Ucrit an index of prolonged swimming performance) for tagged and non-tagged eels. There was no significant difference in Ucrit between tagged and non-tagged eels for all of the size groups tested. Median Ucrits for tagged eels ranged from 50.2 cm/s for the smallest group tested (113–119 mm) to 63.9 cm/s for fish 141–150 mm in length. Non-tagged group median Ucrits ranged from 47.2 cm/s for the smallest group to 66.9 cm/s for the 141–150 mm group. An additional 26 eels (115–208 mm) were tagged and held for 38 d (without undergoing swimming performance tests) to determine the effects on survival and tag loss. There was no mortality during the holding period and the majority of the tag loss occurred after 20 days post-tagging, which is the current projected life of the tag. Our results indicate that micro acoustic tags can be successfully implanted in juvenile American eels with no apparent impacts to swimming ability, and would be a viable option for examining eel movement patterns in river systems and near hydroelectric facilities.« less

  5. Characterization of non-endcapped polymeric ODS column for the separation of triacylglycerol positional isomers.

    PubMed

    Gotoh, Naohiro; Matsumoto, Yumiko; Yuji, Hiromi; Nagai, Toshiharu; Mizobe, Hoyo; Ichioka, Kenji; Kuroda, Ikuma; Noguchi, Noriko; Wada, Shun

    2010-01-01

    The characteristics of a non-endcapped polymeric ODS column for the resolution of triacylglycerol positional isomers (TAG-PI) were examined using a recycle HPLC-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization/mass spectrometry system. A pair of TAG-PI containing saturated fatty acids at least 12 carbons was separated. Except for TAG-PI containing elaidic acid, pairs of TAG-PI containing three unsaturated fatty acids were not separated, even by recycle runs. These results indicate that the resolution of TAG-PI on a non-endcapped polymeric ODS stationary phase is realized by the recognition of the linear structure of the fatty acid and the binding position of the saturated fatty acid in TAG-PI. Chain length was also an important factor for resolution. This method may be a useful and simple for measuring the abundance ratio of TAG-PI containing saturated fatty acids in natural oils.

  6. Crosstalk between Diverse Synthetic Protein Degradation Tags in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Butzin, Nicholas C; Mather, William H

    2018-01-19

    Recently, a synthetic circuit in E. coli demonstrated that two proteins engineered with LAA tags targeted to the native protease ClpXP are susceptible to crosstalk due to competition for degradation between proteins. To understand proteolytic crosstalk beyond the single protease regime, we investigated in E. coli a set of synthetic circuits designed to probe the dynamics of existing and novel degradation tags fused to fluorescent proteins. These circuits were tested using both microplate reader and single-cell assays. We first quantified the degradation rates of each tag in isolation. We then tested if there was crosstalk between two distinguishable fluorescent proteins engineered with identical or different degradation tags. We demonstrated that proteolytic crosstalk was indeed not limited to the LAA degradation tag, but was also apparent between other diverse tags, supporting the complexity of the E. coli protein degradation system.

  7. A pilot study of implantable cardiac device interrogation by emergency department personnel.

    PubMed

    Neuenschwander, James F; Hiestand, Brian C; Peacock, W Frank; Billings, John M; Sondrup, Cole; Hummel, John D; Abraham, William T

    2014-03-01

    Implanted devices (eg, pacemakers and defibrillators) provide valuable information and may be interrogated to obtain diagnostic information and to direct management. During admission to an emergency department (ED), significant time and cost are spent waiting for device manufacturer representatives or cardiologists to access the data. If ED personnel could safely interrogate implanted devices, more rapid disposition could occur, thus leading to potentially better outcomes at a reduced cost. This was a pilot study examining the feasibility of ED device interrogation. This was a prospective convenience sample study of patients presenting to the ED with any chief complaint and who had an implantable device capable of being interrogated by a Medtronic reader. After obtaining informed consent, study patients underwent device interrogation by ED research personnel. After reviewing the device data, the physician documented their opinions of the value of data in aiding care. Patients were followed up at intervals ranging from 30 days out to 1 year to determine adverse events relating to interrogation. Forty-four patients underwent device interrogation. Their mean age was 56 ± 14.7 years (range, 28-83), 75% (33/44) were male and 75% (33/44) were hospitalized from the ED. The interrogations took less than 10 minutes 89% of the time. In 60% of the cases, ED physicians reported the data-assisted patient care. No adverse events were reported relating to the ED interrogations. In this pilot study, we found that ED personnel can safely and quickly interrogate implantable devices to obtain potentially useful clinical data.

  8. High-Assurance System Support through 3-D Integration

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-11-09

    algorithms ), tagging, and in selected systems, offensive mecha- nisms. For example, we can exploit the control plane to tag all traffic traveling...October 2005. [35] D. Page. Theoretical use of cache memory as a cryptanalytic side-channel. Technical Report CSTR - 02-003, Department of Computer

  9. 48 CFR 237.173-3 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... advisors to interrogators, in interrogations of detainees if— (1) Such personnel are subject to the same...); and DoD Directive 3115.09, DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical... and interrogations as those that apply to Government personnel in such positions in such...

  10. 48 CFR 237.173-3 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... advisors to interrogators, in interrogations of detainees if— (1) Such personnel are subject to the same...); and DoD Directive 3115.09, DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical... and interrogations as those that apply to Government personnel in such positions in such...

  11. 48 CFR 237.173-3 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... advisors to interrogators, in interrogations of detainees if— (1) Such personnel are subject to the same...); and DoD Directive 3115.09, DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical... and interrogations as those that apply to Government personnel in such positions in such...

  12. 48 CFR 237.173-3 - Policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... advisors to interrogators, in interrogations of detainees if— (1) Such personnel are subject to the same...); and DoD Directive 3115.09, DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical... and interrogations as those that apply to Government personnel in such positions in such...

  13. Management of surgical instruments with radio frequency identification tags.

    PubMed

    Kusuda, Kaori; Yamashita, Kazuhiko; Ohnishi, Akiko; Tanaka, Kiyohito; Komino, Masaru; Honda, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Shinichi; Okubo, Takashi; Tripette, Julien; Ohta, Yuji

    2016-01-01

    To prevent malpractices, medical staff has adopted inventory time-outs and/or checklists. Accurate inventory and maintenance of surgical instruments decreases the risk of operating room miscounting and malfunction. In our previous study, an individual management of surgical instruments was accomplished using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a new management method of RFID-tagged instruments. The management system of RFID-tagged surgical instruments was used for 27 months in clinical areas. In total, 13 study participants assembled surgical trays in the central sterile supply department. While using the management system, trays were assembled 94 times. During this period, no assembly errors occurred. An instrument malfunction had occurred after the 19th, 56th, and 73 th uses, no malfunction caused by the RFID tags, and usage history had been recorded. Additionally, the time it took to assemble surgical trays was recorded, and the long-term usability of the management system was evaluated. The system could record the number of uses and the defective history of each surgical instrument. In addition, the history of the frequency of instruments being transferred from one tray to another was recorded. The results suggest that our system can be used to manage instruments safely. Additionally, the management system was acquired of the learning effect and the usability on daily maintenance. This finding suggests that the management system examined here ensures surgical instrument and tray assembly quality.

  14. Bioorthogonal Noncanonical Amino Acid Tagging (BONCAT) Enables Time-Resolved Analysis of Protein Synthesis in Native Plant Tissue1[OPEN

    PubMed Central

    Moradian, Annie

    2017-01-01

    Proteomic plasticity undergirds stress responses in plants, and understanding such responses requires accurate measurement of the extent to which proteins levels are adjusted to counter external stimuli. Here, we adapt bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) to interrogate protein synthesis in vegetative Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings. BONCAT relies on the translational incorporation of a noncanonical amino acid probe into cellular proteins. In this study, the probe is the Met surrogate azidohomoalanine (Aha), which carries a reactive azide moiety in its amino acid side chain. The azide handle in Aha can be selectively conjugated to dyes and functionalized beads to enable visualization and enrichment of newly synthesized proteins. We show that BONCAT is sensitive enough to detect Arabidopsis proteins synthesized within a 30-min interval defined by an Aha pulse and that the method can be used to detect proteins made under conditions of light stress, osmotic shock, salt stress, heat stress, and recovery from heat stress. We further establish that BONCAT can be coupled to tandem liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify and quantify proteins synthesized during heat stress and recovery from heat stress. Our results are consistent with a model in which, upon the onset of heat stress, translation is rapidly reprogrammed to enhance the synthesis of stress mitigators and is again altered during recovery. All experiments were carried out with commercially available reagents, highlighting the accessibility of the BONCAT method to researchers interested in stress responses as well as translational and posttranslational regulation in plants. PMID:28104718

  15. Population-genetic nature of copy number variations in the human genome.

    PubMed

    Kato, Mamoru; Kawaguchi, Takahisa; Ishikawa, Shumpei; Umeda, Takayoshi; Nakamichi, Reiichiro; Shapero, Michael H; Jones, Keith W; Nakamura, Yusuke; Aburatani, Hiroyuki; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko

    2010-03-01

    Copy number variations (CNVs) are universal genetic variations, and their association with disease has been increasingly recognized. We designed high-density microarrays for CNVs, and detected 3000-4000 CNVs (4-6% of the genomic sequence) per population that included CNVs previously missed because of smaller sizes and residing in segmental duplications. The patterns of CNVs across individuals were surprisingly simple at the kilo-base scale, suggesting the applicability of a simple genetic analysis for these genetic loci. We utilized the probabilistic theory to determine integer copy numbers of CNVs and employed a recently developed phasing tool to estimate the population frequencies of integer copy number alleles and CNV-SNP haplotypes. The results showed a tendency toward a lower frequency of CNV alleles and that most of our CNVs were explained only by zero-, one- and two-copy alleles. Using the estimated population frequencies, we found several CNV regions with exceptionally high population differentiation. Investigation of CNV-SNP linkage disequilibrium (LD) for 500-900 bi- and multi-allelic CNVs per population revealed that previous conflicting reports on bi-allelic LD were unexpectedly consistent and explained by an LD increase correlated with deletion-allele frequencies. Typically, the bi-allelic LD was lower than SNP-SNP LD, whereas the multi-allelic LD was somewhat stronger than the bi-allelic LD. After further investigation of tag SNPs for CNVs, we conclude that the customary tagging strategy for disease association studies can be applicable for common deletion CNVs, but direct interrogation is needed for other types of CNVs.

  16. Fast Interrogation of Fiber Bragg Gratings with Electro-Optical Dual Optical Frequency Combs

    PubMed Central

    Posada-Roman, Julio E.; Garcia-Souto, Jose A.; Poiana, Dragos A.; Acedo, Pablo

    2016-01-01

    Optical frequency combs (OFC) generated by electro-optic modulation of continuous-wave lasers provide broadband coherent sources with high power per line and independent control of line spacing and the number of lines. In addition to their application in spectroscopy, they offer flexible and optimized sources for the interrogation of other sensors based on wavelength change or wavelength filtering, such as fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. In this paper, a dual-OFC FBG interrogation system based on a single laser and two optical-phase modulators is presented. This architecture allows for the configuration of multimode optical source parameters such as the number of modes and their position within the reflected spectrum of the FBG. A direct read-out is obtained by mapping the optical spectrum onto the radio-frequency spectrum output of the dual-comb. This interrogation scheme is proposed for measuring fast phenomena such as vibrations and ultrasounds. Results are presented for dual-comb operation under optimized control. The optical modes are mapped onto detectable tones that are multiples of 0.5 MHz around a center radiofrequency tone (40 MHz). Measurements of ultrasounds (40 kHz and 120 kHz) are demonstrated with this sensing system. Ultrasounds induce dynamic strain onto the fiber, which generates changes in the reflected Bragg wavelength and, hence, modulates the amplitude of the OFC modes within the reflected spectrum. The amplitude modulation of two counterphase tones is detected to obtain a differential measurement proportional to the ultrasound signal. PMID:27898043

  17. Fast Interrogation of Fiber Bragg Gratings with Electro-Optical Dual Optical Frequency Combs.

    PubMed

    Posada-Roman, Julio E; Garcia-Souto, Jose A; Poiana, Dragos A; Acedo, Pablo

    2016-11-26

    Optical frequency combs (OFC) generated by electro-optic modulation of continuous-wave lasers provide broadband coherent sources with high power per line and independent control of line spacing and the number of lines. In addition to their application in spectroscopy, they offer flexible and optimized sources for the interrogation of other sensors based on wavelength change or wavelength filtering, such as fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. In this paper, a dual-OFC FBG interrogation system based on a single laser and two optical-phase modulators is presented. This architecture allows for the configuration of multimode optical source parameters such as the number of modes and their position within the reflected spectrum of the FBG. A direct read-out is obtained by mapping the optical spectrum onto the radio-frequency spectrum output of the dual-comb. This interrogation scheme is proposed for measuring fast phenomena such as vibrations and ultrasounds. Results are presented for dual-comb operation under optimized control. The optical modes are mapped onto detectable tones that are multiples of 0.5 MHz around a center radiofrequency tone (40 MHz). Measurements of ultrasounds (40 kHz and 120 kHz) are demonstrated with this sensing system. Ultrasounds induce dynamic strain onto the fiber, which generates changes in the reflected Bragg wavelength and, hence, modulates the amplitude of the OFC modes within the reflected spectrum. The amplitude modulation of two counterphase tones is detected to obtain a differential measurement proportional to the ultrasound signal.

  18. [A metapsychological reading of questioning by police and during criminal investigations].

    PubMed

    Sztulman, H; Rousseaux, N

    1990-01-01

    The pursuit and reception of a confession during police interrogation and cross examination lead to a dynamic interaction between interrogator and interrogated which can be examined under the light of psychoanalytical concepts. This reference framework enables a reading of the different positions occupied by the interrogator with regard to the interrogated, and allows to understand certain mechanisms in the arrival of a confession as well as some of its effects.

  19. Plasmonic Interrogation of Biomimetic Systems for Enhanced Toxicity Assays

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hinman, Samuel Stuart

    In light of their escalating exposure to possible environmental toxicants, there are many biological systems that need to be evaluated in a resource and time efficient manner. Understanding how toxicants behave in relation to their physicochemical properties and within complex biological media is especially important toward developing a stronger scientific foundation of these systems so that adequate regulatory decisions may be made. While there are many emerging methods available for the detection and characterization of these chemicals, nanotechnology has presented itself as a promising alternative toward creating more efficient assays. In particular, metallic nanoparticles and thin films exhibit unique optical properties that allow for highly sensitive and multiplexed studies to be performed. These plasmonic materials often preclude the use of molecular tags and labels, enabling direct characterizations and enhancing the throughput of biomolecular studies. However, their lack of specificity toward certain targets and potential toxicity has thus far precluded their widespread use in toxicity testing. The cell membrane, a natural signal transducer, represents one of the fundamental structures for biological recognition and communication. These interfaces principally function as a selective barrier to exogenous materials, including ions, signaling molecules, growth factors, and toxins; therefore, understanding interactions at membrane interfaces is a vital step in elucidating how biological responses are effected. Supported lipid bilayers, which may easily be tailored in composition and complexity, are ideal interfaces for coupling to plasmonic assays since they may be supported in close proximity to metallic nanoparticles and thin films, where measurements are most sensitive. This research will focus on the coupling of plasmonic materials and biomimetic interfaces to increase the sensitivity, efficiency, and throughput of conventional toxicity assays. The fabrication of new plasmonic materials for membrane-based assays is presented, as well as method developments in membrane array formation and opportunities for hyphenation with complementary analytical techniques.

  20. Archival Information Management System.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1995-02-01

    management system named Archival Information Management System (AIMS), designed to meet the audit trail requirement for studies completed under the...are to be archived to the extent that future reproducibility and interrogation of results will exist. This report presents a prototype information

  1. Systems Biology of Lipid Body Formation in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

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

    Goodenough, Ursula

    The project aimed to deepen our understanding of alga triacylglycerol (TAG) production to undergird explorations of using algal TAG as a source of biodiesel fuel. Our published contributions included the following: 1) Development of a rapid assay for TAG in algal cultures which was widely distributed to the algal community. 2) A comprehensive transcriptome analysis of the development of the ultra-high-TAG “obese” phenotype In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. 3) A comprehensive biochemical and ultrastructural analysis of the cell wall of Nannochloropsis gaditana, whose walls render it both growth-hardy and difficult to rupture for TAG recovery. A manuscript in preparation considers the autophagymore » response in C. reinhardtii and its entrance into stationary phase, both having an impact on TAG production.« less

  2. An Active RFID Accountability System (RAS) for Constrained Wireless Environments

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

    Barker, Alan M; Hanson, Gregory R; Sexton, Angela Kay

    A team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed an RFID Accountability System (RAS) that allows items with active RFID tags to be tracked in environments where tags may not be able to transmit their location continuously. The system uses activators that transmit a short range signal. Active RFID tags are in a sleep state until they encounter an activator. Then they transmit a signal that is picked up by the antennas installed throughout the building. This paper presents the theory of operation, application areas, lessons learned, and key features developed over the course of seven years of developmentmore » and use.« less

  3. Using passive integrated transponder (PIT) systems for terrestrial detection of blue-spotted salamanders (Ambystoma laterale) in situ

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ryan, Kevin J.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.; Calhoun, Aram J.K.

    2014-01-01

    Pure-diploid Blue-spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma laterale) are the smallest members of the family Ambystomatidae which makes tracking with radio-transmitters difficult because of small battery capacity. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags provide another tracking approach for small fossorial animals such as salamanders. We evaluated the use of portable PIT tag readers (PIT packs) to detect PIT tag-implanted pure-diploid Blue-spotted Salamanders in situ. We also examined the detection probability of salamanders with PIT tags held in enclosures in wetland and terrestrial habitats, as well as the underground detection range of PIT packs by scanning for buried tags not implanted into salamanders. Of the 532 PIT tagged salamanders, we detected 6.84% at least once during scanning surveys. We scanned systematically within a 13.37 ha area surrounding a salamander breeding pool on 34 occasions (~119 hours of survey time) and detected PIT tags 74 times. We detected 55% of PITs in tagged salamanders and 45%were expelled tags. We were able to reliably detect buried PIT tags from 1–22cm below the ground surface. Because nearly half the locations represented expelled tags, our data suggest this technique is inappropriate for future studies of pure-diploid Blue-spotted Salamanders, although it may be suitable for polyploid Blue-spotted Salamanders and other ambystomatid species, which are larger in size and may exhibit higher tag retention rates. It may also be prudent to conduct long-term tag retention studies in captivity before tagging and releasing salamanders for in situ study, and to double-mark individuals.

  4. Distributed gas detection system and method

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

    Challener, William Albert; Palit, Sabarni; Karp, Jason Harris

    A distributed gas detection system includes one or more hollow core fibers disposed in different locations, one or more solid core fibers optically coupled with the one or more hollow core fibers and configured to receive light of one or more wavelengths from a light source, and an interrogator device configured to receive at least some of the light propagating through the one or more solid core fibers and the one or more hollow core fibers. The interrogator device is configured to identify a location of a presence of a gas-of-interest by examining absorption of at least one of themore » wavelengths of the light at least one of the hollow core fibers.« less

  5. 48 CFR 908.7101-7 - Government license tags.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Government license tags. 908.7101-7 Section 908.7101-7 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COMPETITION ACQUISITION PLANNING REQUIRED SOURCES OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES Acquisition of Special Items 908.7101-7...

  6. A method for the automated long-term monitoring of three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus shoal dynamics.

    PubMed

    Kleinhappel, T K; Al-Zoubi, A; Al-Diri, B; Burman, O; Dickinson, P; John, L; Wilkinson, A; Pike, T W

    2014-04-01

    This paper describes and evaluates a flexible, non-invasive tagging system for the automated identification and long-term monitoring of individual three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus. The system is based on barcoded tags, which can be reliably and robustly detected and decoded to provide information on an individual's identity and location. Because large numbers of fish can be individually tagged, it can be used to monitor individual- and group-level dynamics within fish shoals. © 2014 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  7. 32 CFR 637.21 - Recording interviews and interrogations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Recording interviews and interrogations. 637.21 Section 637.21 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW... interviews and interrogations. The recording of interviews and interrogations by military police personnel is...

  8. 32 CFR 637.21 - Recording interviews and interrogations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 4 2012-07-01 2011-07-01 true Recording interviews and interrogations. 637.21 Section 637.21 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW... interviews and interrogations. The recording of interviews and interrogations by military police personnel is...

  9. 32 CFR 637.21 - Recording interviews and interrogations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 4 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Recording interviews and interrogations. 637.21 Section 637.21 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW... interviews and interrogations. The recording of interviews and interrogations by military police personnel is...

  10. 32 CFR 637.21 - Recording interviews and interrogations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 4 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Recording interviews and interrogations. 637.21 Section 637.21 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW... interviews and interrogations. The recording of interviews and interrogations by military police personnel is...

  11. 32 CFR 637.21 - Recording interviews and interrogations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Recording interviews and interrogations. 637.21 Section 637.21 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW... interviews and interrogations. The recording of interviews and interrogations by military police personnel is...

  12. A Novel RFID-Based Sensing Method for Low-Cost Bolt Loosening Monitoring.

    PubMed

    Wu, Jian; Cui, Xingmei; Xu, Yunpeng

    2016-01-28

    In coal mines, bolt loosening in the cage guide is affected by the harsh environmental factors and cage hoist vibration, leading to significant threats to work safety. It is crucial, to this effect, to successfully detect the status of multipoint bolts of guide structures. This paper proposes a system to monitor bolt status in harsh environments established based on the RFID technique. A proof-of-concept model was demonstrated consisting of a bolt gearing system, passive UHF RFID tags, a reader, and monitoring software. A tinfoil metal film is fixed on the retaining plate and an RFID tag bonded to a large gear, with the bolt to be detected fixed in the center of a smaller gear. The radio-frequency signal cannot be received by the reader if the tag is completely obscured by the tinfoil, and if the bolt is loose, the tag's antenna is exposed when the gear revolves. A radio-frequency signal that carries corresponding bolt's information is transmitted by the RFID tag to the RFID reader due to coil coupling, identifying loose bolt location and reporting them in the software. Confirmatory test results revealed that the system indeed successfully detects bolt loosening and comparative test results (based on a reed switch multipoint bolt loosening monitor system) provided valuable information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed system.

  13. Distribution and movement of bull trout in the upper Jarbidge River watershed, Nevada

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Allen, M. Brady; Connolly, Patrick J.; Mesa, Matthew G.; Charrier, Jodi; Dixon, Chris

    2010-01-01

    In 2006 and 2007, we surveyed the occurrence of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), the relative distributions of bull trout and redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and stream habitat conditions in the East and West Forks of the Jarbidge River in northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho. We installed passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag interrogation systems at strategic locations within the watershed, and PIT-tagged bull trout were monitored to evaluate individual fish growth, movement, and the connectivity of bull trout between streams. Robust bull trout populations were found in the upper portions of the East Fork Jarbidge River, the West Fork Jarbidge River, and in the Pine, Jack, Dave, and Fall Creeks. Small numbers of bull trout also were found in Slide and Cougar Creeks. Bull trout were numerically dominant in the upper portions of the East Fork Jarbidge River, and in Fall, Dave, Jack, and Pine Creeks, whereas redband trout were numerically dominant throughout the rest of the watershed. The relative abundance of bull trout was notably higher at altitudes above 2,100 m. This study was successful in documenting bull trout population connectivity within the West Fork Jarbidge River, particularly between West Fork Jarbidge River and Pine Creek. Downstream movement of bull trout to the confluence of the East Fork and West Fork Jarbidge River both from Jack Creek (rkm 16.6) in the West Fork Jarbidge River and from Dave Creek (rkm 7.5) in the East Fork Jarbidge River was detected. Although bull trout exhibited some downstream movement during the spring and summer, much of their emigration occurred in the autumn, concurrent with decreasing water temperatures and slightly increasing flows. The bull trout that emigrated were mostly age-2 or older, but some age-1 fish also emigrated. Upstream movement by bull trout was detected less than downstream movement. The overall mean annual growth rate of bull trout in the East Fork and West Fork Jarbidge River was 36 mm. This growth rate is within the range reported in other river systems and is indicative of good habitat conditions. Mark-recapture methods were used to estimate a population of 147 age-1 or older bull trout in the reach of Jack Creek upstream of Jenny Creek.

  14. MEMS Fabry-Perot sensor interrogated by optical system-on-a-chip for simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing.

    PubMed

    Pang, Cheng; Bae, Hyungdae; Gupta, Ashwani; Bryden, Kenneth; Yu, Miao

    2013-09-23

    We present a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based Fabry-Perot (FP) sensor along with an optical system-on-a-chip (SOC) interrogator for simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing. The sensor employs a simple structure with an air-backed silicon membrane cross-axially bonded to a 45° polished optical fiber. This structure renders two cascaded FP cavities, enabling simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing in close proximity along the optical axis. The optical SOC consists of a broadband source, a MEMS FP tunable filter, a photodetector, and the supporting circuitry, serving as a miniature spectrometer for retrieving the two FP cavity lengths. Within the measured pressure and temperature ranges, experimental results demonstrate that the sensor exhibits a good linear response to external pressure and temperature changes.

  15. System and method for controlling remote devices

    DOEpatents

    Carrender, Curtis Lee [Richland, WA; Gilbert, Ronald W [Benton City, WA; Scott, Jeff W [Pasco, WA; Clark, David A [Kennewick, WA

    2006-02-07

    A system and method for controlling remote devices utilizing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag device having a control circuit adapted to render the tag device, and associated objects, permanently inoperable in response to radio-frequency control signals. The control circuit is configured to receive the control signals that can include an enable signal, and in response thereto enable an associated object, such as a weapon; and in response to a disable signal, to disable the tag itself, or, if desired, to disable the associated weapon or both the device and the weapon. Permanent disabling of the tag can be accomplished by several methods, including, but not limited to, fusing a fusable link, breaking an electrically conductive path, permanently altering the modulation or backscattering characteristics of the antenna circuit, and permanently erasing an associated memory. In this manner, tags in the possession of unauthorized employees can be remotely disabled, and weapons lost on a battlefield can be easily tracked and enabled or disabled automatically or at will.

  16. Immobilization of proteins onto microbeads using a DNA binding tag for enzymatic assays.

    PubMed

    Kojima, Takaaki; Mizoguchi, Takuro; Ota, Eri; Hata, Jumpei; Homma, Keisuke; Zhu, Bo; Hitomi, Kiyotaka; Nakano, Hideo

    2016-02-01

    A novel DNA-binding protein tag, scCro-tag, which is a single-chain derivative of the bacteriophage lambda Cro repressor, has been developed to immobilize proteins of interest (POI) on a solid support through binding OR consensus DNA (ORC) that is tightly bound by the scCro protein. The scCro-tag successfully bound a transglutaminase 2 (TGase 2) substrate and manganese peroxidase (MnP) to microbeads via scaffolding DNA. The resulting protein-coated microbeads can be utilized for functional analysis of the enzymatic activity using flow cytometry. The quantity of bead-bound proteins can be enhanced by increasing the number of ORCs. In addition, proteins with the scCro-tag that were synthesized using a cell-free protein synthesis system were also immobilized onto the beads, thus indicating that this bead-based system would be applicable to high-throughput analysis of various enzymatic activities. Copyright © 2015 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. 29 CFR 18.611 - Mode and order of interrogation and presentation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Mode and order of interrogation and presentation. 18.611... of interrogation and presentation. (a) Control by judge. The judge shall exercise reasonable control... interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth, (2) Avoid needless consumption of...

  18. 48 CFR 252.237-7010 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 252.237-7010 Section 252.237-7010 Federal Acquisition... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. As prescribed in 237.173-5, use the following clause: Prohibition on Interrogation of Detainees by Contractor Personnel ((JUN 2013)) (a) Definitions. As used in...

  19. Interactions among Elaborative Interrogation, Knowledge, and Interest in the Process of Constructing Knowledge from Text

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ozgungor, Sevgi; Guthrie, John T.

    2004-01-01

    The authors examined the impact of elaborative interrogation on knowledge construction during expository text reading, specifically, the interactions among elaborative interrogation, knowledge, and interest. Three measures of learning were taken: recall, inference, and coherence. Elaborative interrogation affected all aspects of learning measured,…

  20. 29 CFR 18.611 - Mode and order of interrogation and presentation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Mode and order of interrogation and presentation. 18.611... of interrogation and presentation. (a) Control by judge. The judge shall exercise reasonable control... interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth, (2) Avoid needless consumption of...

  1. 29 CFR 18.611 - Mode and order of interrogation and presentation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Mode and order of interrogation and presentation. 18.611... of interrogation and presentation. (a) Control by judge. The judge shall exercise reasonable control... interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth, (2) Avoid needless consumption of...

  2. 48 CFR 252.237-7010 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 252.237-7010 Section 252.237-7010 Federal Acquisition... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. As prescribed in 237.173-5, use the following clause: Prohibition on Interrogation of Detainees by Contractor Personnel ((JUN 2013)) (a) Definitions. As used in...

  3. 25 CFR 11.303 - Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation. 11.303 Section 11.303 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAW AND ORDER... to custodial interrogation. Prior to custodial interrogation, the suspect shall be advised of the...

  4. 25 CFR 11.303 - Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation. 11.303 Section 11.303 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAW AND ORDER... to custodial interrogation. Prior to custodial interrogation, the suspect shall be advised of the...

  5. 29 CFR 18.611 - Mode and order of interrogation and presentation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Mode and order of interrogation and presentation. 18.611... of interrogation and presentation. (a) Control by judge. The judge shall exercise reasonable control... interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth, (2) Avoid needless consumption of...

  6. 25 CFR 11.303 - Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation. 11.303 Section 11.303 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAW AND ORDER... to custodial interrogation. Prior to custodial interrogation, the suspect shall be advised of the...

  7. 29 CFR 18.611 - Mode and order of interrogation and presentation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 29 Labor 1 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Mode and order of interrogation and presentation. 18.611... of interrogation and presentation. (a) Control by judge. The judge shall exercise reasonable control... interrogation and presentation effective for the ascertainment of the truth, (2) Avoid needless consumption of...

  8. 25 CFR 11.303 - Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation. 11.303 Section 11.303 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAW AND ORDER... to custodial interrogation. Prior to custodial interrogation, the suspect shall be advised of the...

  9. 25 CFR 11.303 - Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Notification of rights prior to custodial interrogation. 11.303 Section 11.303 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAW AND ORDER... to custodial interrogation. Prior to custodial interrogation, the suspect shall be advised of the...

  10. Improving Reasoning and Recall: The Differential Effects of Elaborative Interrogation and Mnemonic Elaboration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scruggs, Thomas E.; And Others

    1993-01-01

    Fifty-three adolescents with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation were taught reasons for dinosaur extinction. Those taught in a mnemonic elaborative interrogation condition recalled more reasons than did students who received direct teaching. Students in elaborative interrogation and mnemonic elaborative interrogation groups recalled…

  11. Detecting terrorist nuclear weapons at sea: The 10th door problem

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

    Slaughter, D R

    2008-09-15

    While screening commercial cargo containers for the possible presence of WMD is important and necessary smugglers have successfully exploited the many other vehicles transporting cargo into the US including medium and small vessels at sea. These vessels provide a venue that is currently not screened and widely used. Physics limits that make screening of large vessels prohibitive impractical do not prohibit effective screening of the smaller vessels. While passive radiation detection is probably ineffective at sea active interrogation may provide a successful approach. The physics limits of active interrogation of ships at sea from standoff platforms are discussed. Autonomous platformsmore » that could carry interrogation systems at sea, both airborne and submersible, are summarized and their utilization discussed. An R&D program to investigate the limits of this approach to screening ships at sea is indicated and limitations estimated.« less

  12. Wireless Hydrogen Smart Sensor Based on Pt/Graphene-Immobilized Radio-Frequency Identification Tag.

    PubMed

    Lee, Jun Seop; Oh, Jungkyun; Jun, Jaemoon; Jang, Jyongsik

    2015-08-25

    Hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel, is of key importance to various industrial applications, including fuel cells and the aerospace and automotive industries. However, hydrogen gas is odorless, colorless, and highly flammable; thus, appropriate safety protocol implementation and monitoring are essential. Highly sensitive hydrogen-gas leak detection and surveillance systems are needed; additionally, the ability to monitor large areas (e.g., cities) via wireless networks is becoming increasingly important. In this report, we introduce a radio frequency identification (RFID)-based wireless smart-sensor system, composed of a Pt-decorated reduced graphene oxide (Pt_rGO)-immobilized RFID sensor tag and an RFID-reader antenna-connected network analyzer to detect hydrogen gas. The Pt_rGOs, produced using a simple chemical reduction process, were immobilized on an antenna pattern in the sensor tag through spin coating. The resulting Pt_rGO-based RFID sensor tag exhibited a high sensitivity to hydrogen gas at unprecedentedly low concentrations (1 ppm), with wireless communication between the sensor tag and RFID-reader antenna. The wireless sensor tag demonstrated flexibility and a long lifetime due to the strong immobilization of Pt_rGOs on the substrate and battery-independent operation during hydrogen sensing, respectively.

  13. Reliable location-based services from radio navigation systems.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Di; Boneh, Dan; Lo, Sherman; Enge, Per

    2010-01-01

    Loran is a radio-based navigation system originally designed for naval applications. We show that Loran-C's high-power and high repeatable accuracy are fantastic for security applications. First, we show how to derive a precise location tag--with a sensitivity of about 20 meters--that is difficult to project to an exact location. A device can use our location tag to block or allow certain actions, without knowing its precise location. To ensure that our tag is reproducible we make use of fuzzy extractors, a mechanism originally designed for biometric authentication. We build a fuzzy extractor specifically designed for radio-type errors and give experimental evidence to show its effectiveness. Second, we show that our location tag is difficult to predict from a distance. For example, an observer cannot predict the location tag inside a guarded data center from a few hundreds of meters away. As an application, consider a location-aware disk drive that will only work inside the data center. An attacker who steals the device and is capable of spoofing Loran-C signals, still cannot make the device work since he does not know what location tag to spoof. We provide experimental data supporting our unpredictability claim.

  14. The ΔF/Fm'-guided supply of nitrogen in culture medium facilitates sustainable production of TAG in Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1.

    PubMed

    Liu, Jiao; Yao, Changhong; Meng, Yingying; Cao, Xupeng; Wu, Peichun; Xue, Song

    2018-01-01

    Triacylglycerol (TAG) from photosynthetic microalgae is a sustainable feedstock for biodiesel production. Physiological stress triggers microalgal TAG accumulation. However excessive physiological stress will impair the photosynthesis system seriously thus decreasing TAG productivity because of the low biomass production. Hence, it is critical to quantitatively and timely monitor the degree of the stress while the microalgal cells growing so that the optimal TAG productivity can be obtained. The lack of an on-line monitored indicator has limited our ability to gain knowledge of cellular "health status" information regarding high TAG productivity. Therefore, to monitor the degree of nitrogen stress of the cells, we investigated the correlation between the photosynthetic system II (PS II) quantum yield and the degree of stress based on the high relevancy between photosynthetic reduction and nitrogen stress-induced TAG accumulation in microalgal cells. Δ F/F m ', which is the chlorophyll fluorescence parameter that reflects the effective capability of PS II, was identified to be a critical factor to indicate the degree of stress of the cells. In addition, the concept of a nitrogen stress index has been defined to quantify the degree of stress. Based on this index and by monitoring Δ F/F m ' and guiding the supply of nitrogen in culture medium to maintain a stable degree of stress, a stable and efficient semi-continuous process for TAG production has been established. The results indicate that the semi-continuous cultivation process with a controlled degree of stress by monitoring the Δ F/F m ' indicator will have a significant impact on microalgal TAG production, especially for the outdoor controllable cultivation of microalgae on a large scale.

  15. Vehicle Tracking System using Nanotechnology Satellites and Tags

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lorenzini, Dino A.; Tubis, Chris

    1995-01-01

    This paper describes a joint project to design, develop, and deploy a satellite based tracking system incorporating micro-nanotechnology components. The system consists of a constellation of 'nanosats', a satellite command station and data collection sites, and a large number of low-cost electronic 'tags'. Both government and commercial applications are envisioned for the satellite based tracking system. The projected low price for the tracking service is made possible by the lightweight nanosats and inexpensive electronic tags which use high production volume single chip transceivers and microprocessor devices. The nanosat consists of a five inch aluminum cube with body mounted solar panels (GaAs solar cells) on all six faces. A UHF turnstile antenna and a simple, spring release mechanism complete the external configuration of the spacecraft.

  16. Architecture and Protocol of a Semantic System Designed for Video Tagging with Sensor Data in Mobile Devices

    PubMed Central

    Macias, Elsa; Lloret, Jaime; Suarez, Alvaro; Garcia, Miguel

    2012-01-01

    Current mobile phones come with several sensors and powerful video cameras. These video cameras can be used to capture good quality scenes, which can be complemented with the information gathered by the sensors also embedded in the phones. For example, the surroundings of a beach recorded by the camera of the mobile phone, jointly with the temperature of the site can let users know via the Internet if the weather is nice enough to swim. In this paper, we present a system that tags the video frames of the video recorded from mobile phones with the data collected by the embedded sensors. The tagged video is uploaded to a video server, which is placed on the Internet and is accessible by any user. The proposed system uses a semantic approach with the stored information in order to make easy and efficient video searches. Our experimental results show that it is possible to tag video frames in real time and send the tagged video to the server with very low packet delay variations. As far as we know there is not any other application developed as the one presented in this paper. PMID:22438753

  17. Dispersal and dam passage of sonic-tagged juvenile lake sturgeon in the upper Tennessee River

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Collier, William R.; Bettoli, Phillip William; Scholten, George D.

    2011-01-01

    More than 90,000 state-endangered lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have been stocked into the French Broad River, Holston River, and Fort Loudoun Lake in the upper Tennessee River system. Although incidental reports of anglers catching these fish have increased, little is known about their fate after stocking. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate lake sturgeon dispersal throughout the system. Seven submersible ultrasonic receivers were deployed in the upper Tennessee River system and 37 juvenile fish (mean fork length = 660 mm) were surgically implanted with ultrasonic transmitters in the fall of 2007. These fish were stocked at two sites in the headwaters of Fort Loudoun Lake. The receivers logged 1,345 detections of tagged fish and manual tracking located 32 of the 37 tagged lake sturgeon over 21 months. Ten (31%) tagged fish passed through Fort Loudoun Dam and were located downstream in the headwaters of Watts Bar Reservoir; the other tagged fish were still at large above Fort Loudoun Dam when tracking ceased in 2009. Of all fish stocked, three (9%) were last located in the French Broad River and none were located in the Holston River.

  18. Architecture and protocol of a semantic system designed for video tagging with sensor data in mobile devices.

    PubMed

    Macias, Elsa; Lloret, Jaime; Suarez, Alvaro; Garcia, Miguel

    2012-01-01

    Current mobile phones come with several sensors and powerful video cameras. These video cameras can be used to capture good quality scenes, which can be complemented with the information gathered by the sensors also embedded in the phones. For example, the surroundings of a beach recorded by the camera of the mobile phone, jointly with the temperature of the site can let users know via the Internet if the weather is nice enough to swim. In this paper, we present a system that tags the video frames of the video recorded from mobile phones with the data collected by the embedded sensors. The tagged video is uploaded to a video server, which is placed on the Internet and is accessible by any user. The proposed system uses a semantic approach with the stored information in order to make easy and efficient video searches. Our experimental results show that it is possible to tag video frames in real time and send the tagged video to the server with very low packet delay variations. As far as we know there is not any other application developed as the one presented in this paper.

  19. N-terminal processing of affinity-tagged recombinant proteins purified by IMAC procedures.

    PubMed

    Mooney, Jane T; Fredericks, Dale P; Christensen, Thorkild; Bruun Schiødt, Christine; Hearn, Milton T W

    2015-07-01

    The ability of a new class of metal binding tags to facilitate the purification of recombinant proteins, exemplified by the tagged glutathione S-transferase and human growth hormone, from Escherichia coli fermentation broths and lysates has been further investigated. These histidine-containing tags exhibit high affinity for borderline metal ions chelated to the immobilised ligand, 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (tacn). The use of this tag-tacn immobilised metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) system engenders high selectivity with regard to host cell protein removal and permits facile tag removal from the E. coli-expressed recombinant protein. In particular, these tags were specifically designed to enable their efficient removal by the dipeptidyl aminopeptidase 1 (DAP-1), thus capturing the advantages of high substrate specificity and rates of cleavage. MALDI-TOF MS analysis of the cleaved products from the DAP-1 digestion of the recombinant N-terminally tagged proteins confirmed the complete removal of the tag within 4-12 h under mild experimental conditions. Overall, this study demonstrates that the use of tags specifically designed to target tacn-based IMAC resins offers a comprehensive and flexible approach for the purification of E. coli-expressed recombinant proteins, where complete removal of the tag is an essential prerequisite for subsequent application of the purified native proteins in studies aimed at delineating the molecular and cellular basis of specific biological processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  20. Assessing movement and sources of mortality of juvenile catostomids using passive integrated transponder tags, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon - Summary of 2012 effort

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burdick, Summer M.

    2013-01-01

    Survival of juvenile endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers is thought to limit recruitment into the adult populations and ultimately limit the recovery of these species in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Although many hypotheses exist about the sources of mortality, the contribution of each speculated source of mortality has not been examined. To examine causes of mortality, validate estimated age to maturity, and examine movement patterns for juvenile suckers in Upper Klamath Lake, passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and remote tag detection systems were used. Age-1 suckers were opportunistically tagged in 2009 and 2010 during another study on juvenile sucker distribution. After the distribution study concluded in 2010, USGS redirected sampling efforts to target age-1 suckers for tagging. Tags were redetected using an existing infrastructure of remote PIT tag readers and tag scanning surveys at American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri) breeding and loafing areas. Individual fish histories are used to describe the distance, direction, and timing of juvenile sucker movement. Sucker PIT tag detections in the Sprague and Williamson Rivers in mid-summer and in autumn indicate tagged juvenile suckers use these tributaries outside of the known spring spawning season. PIT tags detected in bird habitats indicate predation by birds was a cause of mortality.

  1. A MHz speed wavelength sweeping for ultra-high speed FBG interrogation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Gyeong Hun; Lee, Hwi Don; Eom, Tae Joong; Jeong, Myung Yung; Kim, Chang-Seok

    2015-09-01

    We demonstrated a MHz speed wavelength-swept fiber laser based on the active mode locking (AML) technique and applied to interrogation system of an array of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. MHz speed wavelength sweeping of wavelength-swept fiber laser can be obtained by programmable frequency modulation of the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) without any wavelength tunable filter. Both static and dynamic strain measurement of FBG sensors were successfully characterized with high linearity of an R-square value of 0.9999 at sweeping speed of 50 kHz.

  2. Improved gas tagging and cover gas combination for nuclear reactor

    DOEpatents

    Gross, K.C.; Laug, M.T.

    1983-09-26

    The invention discloses the use of stable isotopes of neon and argon, sealed as tags in different cladding nuclear fuel elements to be used in a liquid metal fast breeder reactor. Cladding failure allows fission gases and these tag isotopes to escape and to combine with the cover gas. The isotopes are Ne/sup 20/, Ne/sup 21/ and Ne/sup 22/ and Ar/sup 36/, Ar/sup 38/ and Ar/sup 40/, and the cover gas is He. Serially connected cryogenically operated charcoal beds are used to clean the cover gas and to separate out the tags. The first or cover gas cleanup bed is held between 0 and -25/sup 0/C to remove the fission gases from the cover gas and tags, and the second or tag recovery system bed between -170 and -185/sup 0/C to isolate the tags from the cover gas. Spectrometric analysis is used to identify the specific tags that are recovered, and thus the specific leaking fuel element. By cataloging the fuel element tags to the location of the fuel elements in the reactor, the location of the leaking fuel element can then be determined.

  3. On the optimal identification of tag sets in time-constrained RFID configurations.

    PubMed

    Vales-Alonso, Javier; Bueno-Delgado, María Victoria; Egea-López, Esteban; Alcaraz, Juan José; Pérez-Mañogil, Juan Manuel

    2011-01-01

    In Radio Frequency Identification facilities the identification delay of a set of tags is mainly caused by the random access nature of the reading protocol, yielding a random identification time of the set of tags. In this paper, the cumulative distribution function of the identification time is evaluated using a discrete time Markov chain for single-set time-constrained passive RFID systems, namely those ones where a single group of tags is assumed to be in the reading area and only for a bounded time (sojourn time) before leaving. In these scenarios some tags in a set may leave the reader coverage area unidentified. The probability of this event is obtained from the cumulative distribution function of the identification time as a function of the sojourn time. This result provides a suitable criterion to minimize the probability of losing tags. Besides, an identification strategy based on splitting the set of tags in smaller subsets is also considered. Results demonstrate that there are optimal splitting configurations that reduce the overall identification time while keeping the same probability of losing tags.

  4. HaloTag Technology: A Versatile Platform for Biomedical Applications

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Exploration of protein function and interaction is critical for discovering links among genomics, proteomics, and disease state; yet, the immense complexity of proteomics found in biological systems currently limits our investigational capacity. Although affinity and autofluorescent tags are widely employed for protein analysis, these methods have been met with limited success because they lack specificity and require multiple fusion tags and genetic constructs. As an alternative approach, the innovative HaloTag protein fusion platform allows protein function and interaction to be comprehensively analyzed using a single genetic construct with multiple capabilities. This is accomplished using a simplified process, in which a variable HaloTag ligand binds rapidly to the HaloTag protein (usually linked to the protein of interest) with high affinity and specificity. In this review, we examine all current applications of the HaloTag technology platform for biomedical applications, such as the study of protein isolation and purification, protein function, protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions, biological assays, in vitro cellular imaging, and in vivo molecular imaging. In addition, novel uses of the HaloTag platform are briefly discussed along with potential future applications. PMID:25974629

  5. The role of taxonomies in social media and the semantic web for health education. A study of SNOMED CT terms in YouTube health video tags.

    PubMed

    Konstantinidis, S; Fernandez-Luque, L; Bamidis, P; Karlsen, R

    2013-01-01

    An increasing amount of health education resources for patients and professionals are distributed via social media channels. For example, thousands of health education videos are disseminated via YouTube. Often, tags are assigned by the disseminator. However, the lack of use of standardized terminologies in those tags and the presence of misleading videos make it particularly hard to retrieve relevant videos. i) Identify the use of standardized medical thesauri (SNOMED CT) in YouTube Health videos tags from preselected YouTube Channels and demonstrate an information technology (IT) architecture for treating the tags of these health (video) resources. ii) Investigate the relative percentage of the tags used that relate to SNOMED CT terms. As such resources may play a key role in educating professionals and patients, the use of standardized vocabularies may facilitate the sharing of such resources. iii) Demonstrate how such resources may be properly exploited within the new generation of semantically enriched content or learning management systems that allow for knowledge expansion through the use of linked medical data and numerous literature resources also described through the same vocabularies. We implemented a video portal integrating videos from 500 US Hospital channels. The portal integrated 4,307 YouTube videos regarding surgery as described by 64,367 tags. BioPortal REST services were used within our portal to match SNOMED CT terms with YouTube tags by both exact match and non-exact match. The whole architecture was complemented with a mechanism to enrich the retrieved video resources with other educational material residing in other repositories by following contemporary semantic web advances, in the form of Linked Open Data (LOD) principles. The average percentage of YouTube tags that were expressed using SNOMED CT terms was about 22.5%, while one third of YouTube tags per video contained a SNOMED CT term in a loose search; this analogy became one tenth in the case of exact match. Retrieved videos were then linked further to other resources by using LOD compliant systems. Such results were exemplified in the case of systems and technologies used in the mEducator EC funded project. YouTube Health videos can be searched for and retrieved using SNOMED CT terms with a high possibility of identifying health videos that users want based on their search criteria. Despite the fact that tagging of this information with SNOMED CT terms may vary, its availability and linked data capacity opens the door to new studies for personalized retrieval of content and linking with other knowledge through linked medical data and semantic advances in (learning) content management systems.

  6. A new approach to tag design in dolphin telemetry: Computer simulations to minimise deleterious effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pavlov, V. V.; Wilson, R. P.; Lucke, K.

    2007-02-01

    Remote-sensors and transmitters are powerful devices for studying cetaceans at sea. However, despite substantial progress in microelectronics and miniaturisation of systems, dolphin tags are imperfectly designed; additional drag from tags increases swim costs, compromises swimming capacity and manoeuvrability, and leads to extra loads on the animal's tissue. We propose a new approach to tag design, elaborating basic principles and incorporating design stages to minimise device effects by using computer-aided design. Initially, the operational conditions of the device are defined by quantifying the shape, hydrodynamics and range of the natural deformation of the dolphin body at the tag attachment site (such as close to the dorsal fin). Then, parametric models of both of the dorsal fin and a tag are created using the derived data. The link between parameters of the fin and a tag model allows redesign of tag models according to expected changes of fin geometry (difference in fin shape related with species, sex, and age peculiarities, simulation of the bend of the fin during manoeuvres). A final virtual modelling stage uses iterative improvement of a tag model in a computer fluid dynamics (CFD) environment to enhance tag performance. This new method is considered as a suitable tool of tag design before creation of the physical model of a tag and testing with conventional wind/water tunnel technique. Ultimately, tag materials are selected to conform to the conditions identified by the modelling process and thus help create a physical model of a tag, which should minimise its impact on the animal carrier and thus increase the reliability and quality of the data obtained.

  7. 48 CFR 252.237-7010 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 252.237-7010 Section 252.237-7010 Federal Acquisition... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. As prescribed in 237.173-5, use the following clause: Prohibition on Interrogation of Detainees by Contractor Personnel (NOV 2010) (a) Definitions. As used in this...

  8. 8 CFR 343b.3 - Interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 8 Aliens and Nationality 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interrogation. 343b.3 Section 343b.3 Aliens... NATURALIZATION FOR RECOGNITION BY A FOREIGN STATE § 343b.3 Interrogation. When Form N-565 presents a prima facie... issuance of the certificate. Interrogation of the applicant shall be conducted before the application is...

  9. 14 CFR 91.215 - ATC transponder and altitude reporting equipment and use.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... interrogations with the code specified by ATC, or a Mode S capability, replying to Mode 3/A interrogations with the code specified by ATC and intermode and Mode S interrogations in accordance with the applicable... equipment having a Mode C capability that automatically replies to Mode C interrogations by transmitting...

  10. 8 CFR 343b.3 - Interrogation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 8 Aliens and Nationality 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Interrogation. 343b.3 Section 343b.3 Aliens... NATURALIZATION FOR RECOGNITION BY A FOREIGN STATE § 343b.3 Interrogation. When Form N-565 presents a prima facie... issuance of the certificate. Interrogation of the applicant shall be conducted before the application is...

  11. 14 CFR 91.215 - ATC transponder and altitude reporting equipment and use.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... interrogations with the code specified by ATC, or a Mode S capability, replying to Mode 3/A interrogations with the code specified by ATC and intermode and Mode S interrogations in accordance with the applicable... equipment having a Mode C capability that automatically replies to Mode C interrogations by transmitting...

  12. 14 CFR 91.215 - ATC transponder and altitude reporting equipment and use.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... interrogations with the code specified by ATC, or a Mode S capability, replying to Mode 3/A interrogations with the code specified by ATC and intermode and Mode S interrogations in accordance with the applicable... equipment having a Mode C capability that automatically replies to Mode C interrogations by transmitting...

  13. 14 CFR 91.215 - ATC transponder and altitude reporting equipment and use.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... interrogations with the code specified by ATC, or a Mode S capability, replying to Mode 3/A interrogations with the code specified by ATC and intermode and Mode S interrogations in accordance with the applicable... equipment having a Mode C capability that automatically replies to Mode C interrogations by transmitting...

  14. 14 CFR 91.215 - ATC transponder and altitude reporting equipment and use.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... interrogations with the code specified by ATC, or a Mode S capability, replying to Mode 3/A interrogations with the code specified by ATC and intermode and Mode S interrogations in accordance with the applicable... equipment having a Mode C capability that automatically replies to Mode C interrogations by transmitting...

  15. 48 CFR 252.237-7010 - Prohibition on interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. 252.237-7010 Section 252.237-7010 Federal Acquisition... interrogation of detainees by contractor personnel. As prescribed in 237.173-5, use the following clause: PROHIBITION ON INTERROGATION OF DETAINEES BY CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL (NOV 2010) (a) Definitions. As used in this...

  16. What do potential jurors know about police interrogation techniques and false confessions?

    PubMed

    Leo, Richard A; Liu, Brittany

    2009-01-01

    Psychological police interrogation methods in America inevitably involve some level of pressure and persuasion to achieve their goal of eliciting confessions of guilt from custodial suspects. In this article, we surveyed potential jurors about their perceptions of a range of psychological interrogation techniques, the likelihood that such techniques would elicit a true confession from guilty suspects, and the likelihood that such techniques could elicit a false confession from innocent suspects. Participants recognized that these interrogation techniques may be psychologically coercive and may elicit true confessions, but believed that psychologically coercive interrogation techniques are not likely to elicit false confessions. The findings from this survey study indicate that potential jurors believe that false confessions are both counter- intuitive and unlikely, even in response to psychologically coercive interrogation techniques that have been shown to lead to false confessions from the innocent. This study provides empirical support for the idea that expert witnesses may helpfully inform jurors about the social science research on psychologically coercive interrogation methods and how and why such interrogation techniques can lead to false confessions. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Police training in interviewing and interrogation methods: A comparison of techniques used with adult and juvenile suspects.

    PubMed

    Cleary, Hayley M D; Warner, Todd C

    2016-06-01

    Despite empirical progress in documenting and classifying various interrogation techniques, very little is known about how police are trained in interrogation methods, how frequently they use various techniques, and whether they employ techniques differentially with adult versus juvenile suspects. This study reports the nature and extent of formal (e.g., Reid Technique, PEACE, HUMINT) and informal interrogation training as well as self-reported technique usage in a diverse national sample (N = 340) of experienced American police officers. Officers were trained in a variety of different techniques ranging from comparatively benign pre-interrogation strategies (e.g., building rapport, observing body language or speech patterns) to more psychologically coercive techniques (e.g., blaming the victim, discouraging denials). Over half the sample reported being trained to use psychologically coercive techniques with both adults and juveniles. The majority (91%) receive informal, "on the job" interrogation training. Technique usage patterns indicate a spectrum of psychological intensity where information-gathering approaches were used most frequently and high-pressure tactics less frequently. Reid-trained officers (56%) were significantly more likely than officers without Reid training to use pre-interrogation and manipulation techniques. Across all analyses and techniques, usage patterns were identical for adult and juvenile suspects, suggesting that police interrogate youth in the same manner as adults. Overall, results suggest that training in specific interrogation methods is strongly associated with usage. Findings underscore the need for more law enforcement interrogation training in general, especially with juvenile suspects, and highlight the value of training as an avenue for reducing interrogation-induced miscarriages of justice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Pseudo-orthogonal frequency coded wireless SAW RFID temperature sensor tags.

    PubMed

    Saldanha, Nancy; Malocha, Donald C

    2012-08-01

    SAW sensors are ideal for various wireless, passive multi-sensor applications because they are small, rugged, radiation hard, and offer a wide range of material choices for operation over broad temperature ranges. The readable distance of a tag in a multi-sensor environment is dependent on the insertion loss of the device and the processing gain of the system. Single-frequency code division multiple access (CDMA) tags that are used in high-volume commercial applications must have universal coding schemes and large numbers of codes. The use of a large number of bits at the common center frequency to achieve sufficient code diversity in CDMA tags necessitates reflector banks with >30 dB loss. Orthogonal frequency coding is a spread-spectrum approach that employs frequency and time diversity to achieve enhanced tag properties. The use of orthogonal frequency coded (OFC) SAW tags reduces adjacent reflector interactions for low insertion loss, increased range, complex coding, and system processing gain. This work describes a SAW tag-sensor platform that reduces device loss by implementing long reflector banks with optimized spectral coding. This new pseudo-OFC (POFC) coding is defined and contrasted with the previously defined OFC coding scheme. Auto- and cross-correlation properties of the chips and their relation to reflectivity per strip and reflector length are discussed. Results at 250 MHz of 8-chip OFC and POFC SAW tags will be compared. The key parameters of insertion loss, cross-correlation, and autocorrelation of the two types of frequency-coded tags will be analyzed, contrasted, and discussed. It is shown that coded reflector banks can be achieved with near-zero loss and still maintain good coding properties. Experimental results and results predicted by the coupling of modes model are presented for varying reflector designs and codes. A prototype 915-MHz POFC sensor tag is used as a wireless temperature sensor and the results are shown.

  19. Application experience with the NASA aircraft interrogation and display system - A ground-support equipment for digital flight systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Glover, R. D.

    1983-01-01

    The NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility has developed a microprocessor-based, user-programmable, general-purpose aircraft interrogation and display system (AIDS). The hardware and software of this ground-support equipment have been designed to permit diverse applications in support of aircraft digital flight-control systems and simulation facilities. AIDS is often employed to provide engineering-units display of internal digital system parameters during development and qualification testing. Such visibility into the system under test has proved to be a key element in the final qualification testing of aircraft digital flight-control systems. Three first-generation 8-bit units are now in service in support of several research aircraft projects, and user acceptance has been high. A second-generation design, extended AIDS (XAIDS), incorporating multiple 16-bit processors, is now being developed to support the forward swept wing aircraft project (X-29A). This paper outlines the AIDS concept, summarizes AIDS operational experience, and describes the planned XAIDS design and mechanization.

  20. Differences in the Triacylglycerol and Fatty Acid Compositions of Human Colostrum and Mature Milk.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Pu; Zhang, Shuwen; Liu, Lu; Pang, Xiaoyang; Yang, Yang; Lu, Jing; Lv, Jiaping

    2018-05-02

    Human colostrum is important for immune system development and plays a protective role for infants. However, the comprehensive exploration of lipids, which account for 3-5% of milk, and their biological functions in human colostrum was limited. In present study, the triacylglycerol (TAG) and fatty acid (FA) compositions of human colostrum and mature milk were analyzed and compared. Variations were observed in both the TAG and FA compositions. The concentrations of 18:1/18:1/16:0 TAG, high-molecular-weight and unsaturated TAGs were significantly higher in colostrum, whereas mature milk contained more low/medium-molecular-weight TAGs and medium-chain FAs. Furthermore, there were also specific TAGs in both colostrum and mature milk. Our data highlighted targets for further investigation to elucidate the biological function of lipids in colostrum milk. In addition, the comprehensive analysis of TAGs in Chinese colostrum might help in designing infant formula for Chinese babies, especially the preterm ones.

  1. Remote file inquiry (RFI) system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1975-01-01

    System interrogates and maintains user-definable data files from remote terminals, using English-like, free-form query language easily learned by persons not proficient in computer programming. System operates in asynchronous mode, allowing any number of inquiries within limitation of available core to be active concurrently.

  2. Spring Outmigration of Wild and Hatchery Chinook Salmonid Steelhead Trout Smolts from the Imnaha River, Oregon; 1995 Annual Report.

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

    Blenden, Michael L.; Kucera, Paul A.; Osborne, Randall S.

    1996-04-01

    For the second consecutive year, the Nez Perce Tribe, in conjunction with the Fish Passage Center, participated in the smolt monitoring program in the Imnaha River. A rotary screw trap was used to collect emigrating wild and hatchery chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) smolts from February 6 to June 20, 1995. We PIT tagged and released 421 wild chinook salmon smolts, 747 hatchery chinook salmon smolts (445 HxW and 302 HxH), 227 wild steelhead trout smolts and 1,296 hatchery steelhead trout smolts. Cumulative interrogation rates at mainstem Snake and Columbia River dams were 78.4% for wildmore » chinook salmon, 58.9% for hatchery chinook salmon (HxW), 56.6% for hatchery chinook salmon (HxH), 76.2% for wild steelhead trout, and 69.2% for hatchery steelhead trout. Peak outmigration of NPT tagged wild Imnaha River chinook salmon smolts occurred from early to mid-May at Lower Granite, Little Goose, and Lower Monumental Dams. Median and 90% passage dates for wild chinook salmon smolts at Lower Granite Dam were May 1 and May 11, respectively. Continuous spill at Lower Granite Dam was initiated on May 3 and lasted for 51 days. The 90% passage date of wild chinook salmon smolts at Lower Granite Dam (May 11) preceded peak Snake River and Lower Granite (June 6) flows by 26 days. Although hatchery chinook salmon exhibited a shorter outmigration period through the Snake River than their wild counterparts, peak arrival for both groups occurred at approximately the same time. Median and 90% passage dates at Lower Granite Dam for other PIT tagged groups were: hatchery chinook salmon (NPT-HxW) - May 2 and May 13; hatchery chinook salmon (FPC-HxH) - May 8 and May 15; wild steelhead trout - May 2 and May 9; and hatchery steelhead trout (NPT and FPC) - May 31 and June 16. Hatchery steelhead trout displayed small peaks in arrival timing at Lower Granite and Little Goose Dams in mid-May to mid-June.« less

  3. Transient Analysis Generator /TAG/ simulates behavior of large class of electrical networks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, W. J.

    1967-01-01

    Transient Analysis Generator program simulates both transient and dc steady-state behavior of a large class of electrical networks. It generates a special analysis program for each circuit described in an easily understood and manipulated programming language. A generator or preprocessor and a simulation system make up the TAG system.

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

    Nekoogar, F; Dowla, F

    An IAEA Technical Meeting on Techniques for IAEA Verification of Enrichment Activities identified 'smart tags' as a technology that should be assessed for tracking and locating UF6 cylinders. Although there is vast commercial industry working on RFID systems, the vulnerabilities of commercial products are only beginning to emerge. Most of the commercially off-the-shelf (COTS) RFID systems operate in very narrow frequency bands, making them vulnerable to detection, jamming and tampering and also presenting difficulties when used around metals (i.e. UF6 cylinders). Commercial passive RFID tags have short range, while active RFID tags that provide long ranges have limited lifetimes. Theremore » are also some concerns with the introduction of strong (narrowband) radio frequency signals around radioactive and nuclear materials. Considering the shortcomings of commercial RFID systems, in their current form, they do not offer a promising solution for continuous monitoring and tracking of UF6 cylinders. In this paper, we identify the key challenges faced by commercial RFID systems for monitoring UF6 cylinders, and introduce an ultra-wideband approach for tag/reader communications that addresses most of the identified challenges for IAEA safeguards applications.« less

  5. Lies and coercion: why psychiatrists should not participate in police and intelligence interrogations.

    PubMed

    Janofsky, Jeffrey S

    2006-01-01

    Police interrogators routinely use deceptive techniques to obtain confessions from criminal suspects. The United States Executive Branch has attempted to justify coercive interrogation techniques in which physical or mental pain and suffering may be used during intelligence interrogations of persons labeled unlawful combatants. It may be appropriate for law enforcement, military, or intelligence personnel who are not physicians to use such techniques. However, forensic psychiatry ethical practice requires honesty, striving for objectivity, and respect for persons. Deceptive and coercive interrogation techniques violate these moral values. When a psychiatrist directly uses, works with others who use, or trains others to use deceptive or coercive techniques to obtain information in police, military, or intelligence interrogations, the psychiatrist breaches basic principles of ethics.

  6. Movements of Atlantic Sturgeon of the Gulf of Maine inside and outside the geographically defined Distinct Population Segment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wippelhauser, Gail S.; Sulikowski, James; Zydlewski, Gayle B.; Altenritter, Megan; Kieffer, Micah; Kinnison, Michael T.

    2017-01-01

    Identification of potential critical habitat, seasonal distributions, and movements within and between river systems is important for protecting the Gulf of Maine (GOM) Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic Sturgeon. To accomplish these objectives, we captured Atlantic Sturgeon in four GOM rivers (Penobscot, Kennebec system, Saco, and Merrimack), and tagged 144 (83.3–217.4 cm TL) internally with uniquely coded acoustic transmitters. Tagged fish were detected between 2006 to 2014 by primary receiver arrays deployed in the four GOM rivers or opportunistically on a secondary group of receivers deployed within the GOM and along the continental shelf. Atlantic Sturgeon tagged in the four rivers were documented at three spawning areas in the Kennebec system in June and July, including one that became accessible in 1999 when the Edwards Dam was removed. After being tagged, the majority (74%) of Atlantic sturgeon were detected in the estuaries of the four GOM rivers, primarily from May through October. Tagged fish spent most of their time in saline water in the Saco River and Merrimack River, moved into brackish water in the Penobscot River, and were found in saline, brackish, and fresh water in the Kennebec system. Approximately 70% of the tagged fish were detected in GOM coastal waters, and aggregated in the Bay of Fundy (May–January), offshore of the Penobscot River (September-February and May), offshore of the Kennebec River (September–February), in Saco Bay and the Scarborough River (July–November), and along the eastern Massachusetts coast between Cape Ann and Cape Cod (April–February). Nine tagged Atlantic sturgeon (7%) left the GOM, three of which moved as far north as Halifax in Canada and six moved as far south as the James River in Virginia. Information from this study will be used to make recommendations to avoid, reduce or mitigate the impacts of in-water projects and on Atlantic sturgeon.

  7. Protein Delivery System Containing a Nickel-Immobilized Polymer for Multimerization of Affinity-Purified His-Tagged Proteins Enhances Cytosolic Transfer.

    PubMed

    Postupalenko, Viktoriia; Desplancq, Dominique; Orlov, Igor; Arntz, Youri; Spehner, Danièle; Mely, Yves; Klaholz, Bruno P; Schultz, Patrick; Weiss, Etienne; Zuber, Guy

    2015-09-01

    Recombinant proteins with cytosolic or nuclear activities are emerging as tools for interfering with cellular functions. Because such tools rely on vehicles for crossing the plasma membrane we developed a protein delivery system consisting in the assembly of pyridylthiourea-grafted polyethylenimine (πPEI) with affinity-purified His-tagged proteins pre-organized onto a nickel-immobilized polymeric guide. The guide was prepared by functionalization of an ornithine polymer with nitrilotriacetic acid groups and shown to bind several His-tagged proteins. Superstructures were visualized by electron and atomic force microscopy using 2 nm His-tagged gold nanoparticles as probes. The whole system efficiently carried the green fluorescent protein, single-chain antibodies or caspase 3, into the cytosol of living cells. Transduction of the protease caspase 3 induced apoptosis in two cancer cell lines, demonstrating that this new protein delivery method could be used to interfere with cellular functions. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Short range spread-spectrum radiolocation system and method

    DOEpatents

    Smith, Stephen F.

    2003-04-29

    A short range radiolocation system and associated methods that allow the location of an item, such as equipment, containers, pallets, vehicles, or personnel, within a defined area. A small, battery powered, self-contained tag is provided to an item to be located. The tag includes a spread-spectrum transmitter that transmits a spread-spectrum code and identification information. A plurality of receivers positioned about the area receive signals from a transmitting tag. The position of the tag, and hence the item, is located by triangulation. The system employs three different ranging techniques for providing coarse, intermediate, and fine spatial position resolution. Coarse positioning information is provided by use of direct-sequence code phase transmitted as a spread-spectrum signal. Intermediate positioning information is provided by the use of a difference signal transmitted with the direct-sequence spread-spectrum code. Fine positioning information is provided by use of carrier phase measurements. An algorithm is employed to combine the three data sets to provide accurate location measurements.

  9. Energy storage management system with distributed wireless sensors

    DOEpatents

    Farmer, Joseph C.; Bandhauer, Todd M.

    2015-12-08

    An energy storage system having a multiple different types of energy storage and conversion devices. Each device is equipped with one or more sensors and RFID tags to communicate sensor information wirelessly to a central electronic management system, which is used to control the operation of each device. Each device can have multiple RFID tags and sensor types. Several energy storage and conversion devices can be combined.

  10. PASTE: patient-centered SMS text tagging in a medication management system.

    PubMed

    Stenner, Shane P; Johnson, Kevin B; Denny, Joshua C

    2012-01-01

    To evaluate the performance of a system that extracts medication information and administration-related actions from patient short message service (SMS) messages. Mobile technologies provide a platform for electronic patient-centered medication management. MyMediHealth (MMH) is a medication management system that includes a medication scheduler, a medication administration record, and a reminder engine that sends text messages to cell phones. The object of this work was to extend MMH to allow two-way interaction using mobile phone-based SMS technology. Unprompted text-message communication with patients using natural language could engage patients in their healthcare, but presents unique natural language processing challenges. The authors developed a new functional component of MMH, the Patient-centered Automated SMS Tagging Engine (PASTE). The PASTE web service uses natural language processing methods, custom lexicons, and existing knowledge sources to extract and tag medication information from patient text messages. A pilot evaluation of PASTE was completed using 130 medication messages anonymously submitted by 16 volunteers via a website. System output was compared with manually tagged messages. Verified medication names, medication terms, and action terms reached high F-measures of 91.3%, 94.7%, and 90.4%, respectively. The overall medication name F-measure was 79.8%, and the medication action term F-measure was 90%. Other studies have demonstrated systems that successfully extract medication information from clinical documents using semantic tagging, regular expression-based approaches, or a combination of both approaches. This evaluation demonstrates the feasibility of extracting medication information from patient-generated medication messages.

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

    Abercrombie, Robert K; Buckner Jr, Dooley; Newton, David D

    The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) system provides a portable and/or semi-portable means of accurately weighing vehicles and its cargo as each vehicle crosses the scales (while in motion), and determining (1) axle weights and (2) axle spacing for vehicles (for determination of Bridge Formula compliance), (3) total vehicle/cargo weight and (4) longitudinal center of gravity (for safety considerations). The WIM system can also weigh the above statically. Because of the automated nature of the WIM system, it eliminates the introduction of human errors caused by manual computations and data entry, adverse weather conditions, and stress. Individual vehiclesmore » can be weighed continuously at low speeds (approximately 3-10 mph) and at intervals of less than one minute. The ORNL WIM system operates and is integrated into the Bethel Jacobs Company Transportation Management and Information System (TMIS, a Radio-Frequency Identification [RFID] enabled information system). The integrated process is as follows: Truck Identification Number and Tare Weight are programmed into a RFID Tag. Handheld RFID devices interact with the RFID Tag, and Electronic Shipping Document is written to the RFID Tag. The RFID tag read by an RFID tower identifies the vehicle and its associated cargo, the specific manifest of radioactive debris for the uniquely identified vehicle. The weight of the cargo (in this case waste debris) is calculated from total vehicle weight information supplied from WIM to TMIS and is further processed into the Information System and kept for historical and archival purposes. The assembled data is the further process in downstream information systems where waste coordination activities at the Y-12 Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF) are written to RFID Tag. All cycle time information is monitored by Transportation Operations and Security personnel.« less

  12. Feasibility of ultra-wideband SAW RFID tags meeting FCC rules.

    PubMed

    Härmä, Sanna; Plessky, Victor P; Li, Xianyi; Hartogh, Paul

    2009-04-01

    We discuss the feasibility of surface acoustic wave (SAW) radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that rely on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. We propose a design of a UWB SAW tag, carry out numerical experiments on the device performance, and study signal processing in the system. We also present experimental results for the proposed device and estimate the potentially achievable reading distance. UWB SAW tags will have an extremely small chip size (<0.5 x 1 mm(2)) and a low cost. They also can provide a large number of different codes. The estimated read range for UWB SAW tags is about 2 m with a reader radiating as low as <0.1 mW power levels with an extremely low duty factor.

  13. ezTag: tagging biomedical concepts via interactive learning.

    PubMed

    Kwon, Dongseop; Kim, Sun; Wei, Chih-Hsuan; Leaman, Robert; Lu, Zhiyong

    2018-05-18

    Recently, advanced text-mining techniques have been shown to speed up manual data curation by providing human annotators with automated pre-annotations generated by rules or machine learning models. Due to the limited training data available, however, current annotation systems primarily focus only on common concept types such as genes or diseases. To support annotating a wide variety of biological concepts with or without pre-existing training data, we developed ezTag, a web-based annotation tool that allows curators to perform annotation and provide training data with humans in the loop. ezTag supports both abstracts in PubMed and full-text articles in PubMed Central. It also provides lexicon-based concept tagging as well as the state-of-the-art pre-trained taggers such as TaggerOne, GNormPlus and tmVar. ezTag is freely available at http://eztag.bioqrator.org.

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

    Nekoogar, Faranak; Reynolds, Matthew; Lefton, Scott

    A secure passive RFID tag system comprises at least one base station and at least one passive RFID tag. The tag includes a fiber optic cable with the cable ends sealed within the tag and the middle portion forming an external loop. The loop may be secured to at least portions of an object. The tag transmits and receives an optical signal through the fiber optic cable, and the cable is configured to be damaged or broken in response to removal or tampering attempts, wherein the optical signal is significantly altered if the cable is damaged or broken. The tagmore » transmits the optical signal in response to receiving a radio signal from the base station and compares the transmitted optical signal to the received optical signal. If the transmitted optical signal and the received optical signal are identical, the tag transmits an affirmative radio signal to the base station.« less

  15. Non-Gaussian precision metrology via driving through quantum phase transitions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Jiahao; Zhuang, Min; Lee, Chaohong

    2018-03-01

    We propose a scheme to realize high-precision quantum interferometry with entangled non-Gaussian states by driving the system through quantum phase transitions. The beam splitting, in which an initial nondegenerate ground state evolves into a highly entangled state, is achieved by adiabatically driving the system from a nondegenerate regime to a degenerate one. Inversely, the beam recombination, in which the output state after interrogation becomes gradually disentangled, is accomplished by adiabatically driving the system from the degenerate regime to the nondegenerate one. The phase shift, which is accumulated in the interrogation process, can then be easily inferred via population measurement. We apply our scheme to Bose condensed atoms and trapped ions and find that Heisenberg-limited precision scalings can be approached. Our proposed scheme does not require single-particle resolved detection and is within the reach of current experiment techniques.

  16. Social Tagging of Mission Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Norris, Jeffrey S.; Wallick, Michael N.; Joswig, Joseph C.; Powell, Mark W.; Torres, Recaredo J.; Mittman, David S.; Abramyan, Lucy; Crockett, Thomas M.; Shams, Khawaja S.; Fox, Jason M.; hide

    2010-01-01

    Mars missions will generate a large amount of data in various forms, such as daily plans, images, and scientific information. Often, there is a semantic linkage between images that cannot be captured automatically. Software is needed that will provide a method for creating arbitrary tags for this mission data so that items with a similar tag can be related to each other. The tags should be visible and searchable for all users. A new routine was written to offer a new and more flexible search option over previous applications. This software allows users of the MSLICE program to apply any number of arbitrary tags to a piece of mission data through a MSLICE search interface. The application of tags creates relationships between data that did not previously exist. These tags can be easily removed and changed, and contain enough flexibility to be specifically configured for any mission. This gives users the ability to quickly recall or draw attention to particular pieces of mission data, for example: Give a semantic and meaningful description to mission data; for example, tag all images with a rock in them with the tag "rock." Rapidly recall specific and useful pieces of data; for example, tag a plan as"driving template." Call specific data to a user s attention; for example, tag a plan as "for:User." This software is part of the MSLICE release, which was written in Java. It will run on any current Windows, Macintosh, or Linux system.

  17. Three-Dimensional, Live-Cell Imaging of Chromatin Dynamics in Plant Nuclei Using Chromatin Tagging Systems.

    PubMed

    Hirakawa, Takeshi; Matsunaga, Sachihiro

    2016-01-01

    In plants, chromatin dynamics spatiotemporally change in response to various environmental stimuli. However, little is known about chromatin dynamics in the nuclei of plants. Here, we introduce a three-dimensional, live-cell imaging method that can monitor chromatin dynamics in nuclei via a chromatin tagging system that can visualize specific genomic loci in living plant cells. The chromatin tagging system is based on a bacterial operator/repressor system in which the repressor is fused to fluorescent proteins. A recent refinement of promoters for the system solved the problem of gene silencing and abnormal pairing frequencies between operators. Using this system, we can detect the spatiotemporal dynamics of two homologous loci as two fluorescent signals within a nucleus and monitor the distance between homologous loci. These live-cell imaging methods will provide new insights into genome organization, development processes, and subnuclear responses to environmental stimuli in plants.

  18. Miniature fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator (FBG-Transceiver) system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mendoza, Edgar A.; Kempen, Cornelia; Lopatin, Craig

    2007-04-01

    This paper describes recent progress conducted towards the development of a miniature fiber Bragg grating sensor interrogator (FBG-Transceiver TM) system based on multi-channel integrated optic sensor (InOSense TM) microchip technology. The hybrid InOSense TM microchip technology enables the integration of all of the functionalities, both passive and active, of conventional bench top FBG sensor interrogator systems, packaged in a miniaturized, low power operation, 2-cm x 5-cm package suitable for the long-term structural health monitoring in applications where size, weight, and power are critical for operation. The FBG-Transceiver system uses active optoelectronic components monolithically integrated to the InOSense TM microchip, a microprocessor controlled signal processing electronics board capable of processing the FBG sensors signals related to stress-strain and temperature as well as vibration and acoustics. The FBG-Transceiver TM system represents a new, reliable, highly robust technology that can be used to accurately monitor the status of an array of distributed fiber optic Bragg grating sensors installed in critical infrastructures. Its miniature package, low power operation, and state-of-the-art data communications architecture, all at a very affordable price makes it a very attractive solution for a large number of SHM/NDI applications in aerospace, naval and maritime industry, civil structures like bridges, buildings and dams, the oil and chemical industry, and for homeland security applications. The miniature, cost-efficient FBG-Transceiver TM system is poised to revolutionize the field of structural health monitoring and nondestructive inspection market. The sponsor of this program is NAVAIR under a DOD SBIR contract.

  19. Simulation of the air traffic control radar beacon system (soar) with application to a discrete address beacon system volume II: appendixes

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1975-04-01

    The report describes a computer simulation of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS). Operating on real air traffic data and actual characteristics of the relevant ground interrogators, the FORTRAN program re-enacts system operation in ...

  20. Simulation of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (SOAR) with application to a Discrete Address Beacon System. Volume 1 : text

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1975-04-01

    The report describes a computer simulation of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS). Operating on real air traffic data and actual characteristics of the relevant ground interrogators, the FORTRAN program re-enacts system operation in ...

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