Recommendations Report

The project European Airport Movement Management by A-SMGCS (EMMA), an Integrated Project launched by the European Commission in its sixth framework programme, was executed between March 2004 and April 2006. The aim of the EMMA project was to mature and validate the A-SMGCS concept levels 1 and 2 by setting de facto standards for A-SMGCS systems and their operational usage and by the streamlining of existing products. The EMMA project brought A-SMGCS one further step towards the harmonised European implementation of A-SMGCS. In close cooperation with EUROCONTROL, the advanced operational concept for A-SMGCS levels 1 and 2 has been proven and strengthened by the implementation of levels 1 and 2 A-SMGCS and extensive validation and verification activities at three different European airports: Milano-Malpensa, Prague-Ruzyne, and Toulouse-Blagnac. In Prague-Ruzyne, controllers went as far as to work with the system in low visibility conditions, although this was not expected within the time-frame of the EMMA project. Measurement indicators and test procedures were defined and a significant amount of data was collected during the functional and operational tests. Controllers and pilots actively participated and contributed to the results. The analysis resulted in detailed recommendations covering: • the concept of an A-SMGCS levels 1 and 2, • the technical and operational requirements, • procedures, • implementation issues (e.g. safety assessment, training and licensing), and • detailed recommendations for a harmonised A-SMGCS V and V methodology. Further on, this document provides detailed recommendations to the respective stakeholders (i.e. users, research institutions, industry, and the European Commission as the contractor). In an additional innovative study, a preliminary concept and an implementation roadmap for a complete A-SMGCS, considering higher-level services like routing, planning, and the air-ground integration, has been proposed to prepare the successor project EMMA2

3D head model fitting evaluation protocol on synthetic databases for acquisition system comparison

International audience<p>Automatic face recognition has been integrated in many systems thanks to the improvement of face comparisonalgorithms. One of the main applications using facial biometry is the identity authentication at border control,which has already been adopted by a lot of airports. In order to proceed to a fast identity control, gates havebeen developed, to extract the ID document information on the one hand, and to acquire the facial informationof the user on the other hand. The design of such gates, and in particular their camera configuration, has a highimpact on the output acquisitions and therefore on the quality of the extracted facial features. Since it is verydifficult to validate such gates by testing different configurations on real data in exactly the same conditions,we propose a validation protocol based on simulated passages. This method relies on synthetic sequences,which can be generated using any camera configuration with fixed parameters of identities and poses, andcan also integrate different lighting conditions. We detail this methodology and present results in terms ofgeometrical error obtained with different camera configurations, illustrating the impact of the gate design onthe 3D head fitting accuracy, and hence on facial authentication performances.</p

How can a future safety net successfully detect conflicting ATC clearances – yet remain inconspicuous to the Tower Runway Controller? First results from a SESAR exercise at Hamburg Airport

To increase runway safety a new safety net for Tower Runway Controllers was developed which detects if controllers give a clearance to an aircraft or vehicle contradictory to another clearance already given to another mobile. In a shadow mode validation exercise with eleven controllers at the operational environment of the airport Hamburg (Germany) operational feasibility was tested in order to clarify if operational requirements in terms of usability are fulfilled. At the same time operational improvements regarding safety were studied e.g. if the new safety net detects all conflicts and if nuisance alerts are suppressed

A-SMGCS Services, Procedures, and Operational Requirements (SPOR)

The 2-D1.1.1 ’A-SMGCS Services, Procedures, and Operational Requirements (SPOR)’ document is one of four main conceptual documents of the EMMA2 subproject 1 (SP1). The SPOR document is the central concept document within the EMMA2 project. It expresses an extensive and innovative operational concept in the field of A-SMGCS in terms of a description of: - A-SMGCS Services (§2) - related Procedures, and (§3) - Operational Requirements (§4)

Identification of conserved residues in hepatitis C virus envelope glycoprotein E2 that modulate virus dependence on CD81 and SRB1 entry factors.

Affiliations ECOFECTInternational audienc

Use of whole-genome sequencing in the molecular investigation of care-associated HCoV-OC43 infections in a hematopoietic stem cell transplant unit

International audienceBACKGROUND: While respiratory viral infections are recognized as a frequent cause of illness in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients, HCoV-OC43 infections have rarely been investigated as healthcare-associated infections in this population.OBJECTIVES: In this report, HCoV-OC43 isolates collected from HSCT patients were retrospectively characterized to identify potential clusters of infection that may stand for a hospital transmission.STUDY DESIGN: Whole-genome and S gene sequences were obtained from nasal swabs using next-generation sequencing and phylogenetic trees were constructed. Similar identity matrix and determination of the most common ancestor were used to compare clusters of patient's sequences. Amino acids substitutions were analysed.RESULTS: Genotypes B, E, F and G were identified. Two clusters of patients were defined from chronological data and phylogenetic trees. Analyses of amino acids substitutions of the S protein sequences identified substitutions specific for genotype F strains circulating among European people.CONCLUSIONS: HCoV-OC43 may be implicated in healthcare-associated infections