Study of long term atmospheric trace contaminant monitoring and control Final report

Environmental control and life support subsystem for monitoring and controlling trace contaminants in spacecraft cabin atmospher

Synthetic aperture radar/LANDSAT MSS image registration

Algorithms and procedures necessary to merge aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) imagery were determined. The design of a SAR/LANDSAT data merging system was developed. Aircraft SAR images were registered to the corresponding LANDSAT MSS scenes and were the subject of experimental investigations. Results indicate that the registration of SAR imagery with LANDSAT MSS imagery is feasible from a technical viewpoint, and useful from an information-content viewpoint

Investigating the Effect of Withania somnifera, Selenium and Hydrocortisone on Blood Count and Bronchial Lavage of Experimental Asthmatic BALB/c Mice

The murine asthmatic Balb/c mouse model was used to investigate the effect of W. somnifera L., the  antioxidant selenium, W. somnifera and selenium in combination and hydrocortisone as positive control  on the number of white blood cells in blood smears and bronchial lavage smears as well as the platelet  distribution of asthmatic Balb/c mice. The mice were sensitised, nebulized and treated over a period of  43 days and blood smears were made of each individual animal and bronchial lavage was performed by  injecting 0.3ml of saline into the trachea of the mice, both on the day of termination. Light microscopy  analysis of the bronchial lavage revealed a significant decrease in the number of eosinophils counted in the  asthmatic and the different treatment groups. In the asthmatic group, numerous platelet clumps were found  distributed between white blood cells. Platelets were also found in the other treatment groups but are not  as prevalent as in the asthmatic group. Results from the blood smears showed the same trends, where cell  counts in control and hydrocortisone blood smears were decreased compared to that of the asthma group. It  is concluded that W. somnifera and W. somnifera combined with selenium significantly decreased the white  blood cells in both bronchial lavage as well as blood smears, suggesting that W. somnifera indeed has an  anti-inflammatory potential and it, in combination with an anti-oxidant like selenium, might successfully  be used in the treatment of asthma.

COMPUTER-CONTROLLED GAS CHROMATOGRAPH CAPABLE OF ''REAL-TIME'' READOUT OF HIGH-PRECISION DATA.

A gas chromatograph has been assembled which provides computer control of sample injection, column temperature, and flow rate, plus direct computer readout of inlet pressure, mass flow rate, and detector response. Data processing yields, in real-time, a standard deviation of less than 0.05% in retention time, which is comparable to previous results obtained using an off-line computer. However, corrected retention volumes determined in real-time had a standard deviation of about 0.4% which reflected primarily the uncertainty in flow measurement

How do distracted and normal driving differ: an analysis of the ACAS naturalistic driving data

SAfety VEhicles using adaptive Interface Technology (SAVE-IT Project)To determine how distracted and normal driving differ, this report re-examines driving performance data from the advanced collision avoidance system (ACAS) field operational test (FOT), a naturalistic driving study (96 drivers, 136,792 miles). In terms of overall driving performance statistics, distraction (defined as 4 successive video frames where the driver’s head was not oriented to the forward scene) had almost no effect, except for decreasing mean throttle opening by 36% and mean speed by 6%. No consistent normal/distracted differences were found in the parameters that fit the distributions of steering wheel angle, heading, and speed (all double exponential) and throttle opening (gamma) for each road type by driver age combination. In contrast, logistic regression identified other statistics and factors that discriminated between normal and distracted driving. They included (a) turn signal use and age group for expressways, (b) gender and if the lead vehicle range exceeded 60 m for major roads, and (c) lane width, lane offset, and lead vehicle velocity for minor roads. Finally, in a supplemental analysis, throttle holds (1 - 4 s periods of essentially no throttle change suggesting the driver may not be attending to driving) were actually more common for normal driving when a single time window (1 s) by threshold change combination (4 %) was selected. However, when settings (time windows of 1 – 4 s, thresholds of 1 – 4 %) were tailored for each age group by road class combination, throttle holds could identify when the driver was distracted.Delphi Delco Electronic Systemshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64458/1/102430.pd

The influence of DNA repair on neurological degeneration, cachexia, skin cancer and internal neoplasms: autopsy report of four xeroderma pigmentosum patients (XP-A, XP-C and XP-D)

BACKGROUND: To investigate the association of DNA nucleotide excision repair (NER) defects with neurological degeneration, cachexia and cancer, we performed autopsies on 4 adult xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients with different clinical features and defects in NER complementation groups XP-A, XP-C or XP-D. RESULTS: The XP-A (XP12BE) and XP-D (XP18BE) patients exhibited progressive neurological deterioration with sensorineural hearing loss. The clinical spectrum encompassed severe cachexia in the XP-A (XP12BE) patient, numerous skin cancers in the XP-A and two XP-C (XP24BE and XP1BE) patients and only few skin cancers in the XP-D patient. Two XP-C patients developed internal neoplasms including glioblastoma in XP24BE and uterine adenocarcinoma in XP1BE. At autopsy, the brains of the 44 yr XP-A and the 45 yr XP-D patients were profoundly atrophic and characterized microscopically by diffuse neuronal loss, myelin pallor and gliosis. Unlike the XP-A patient, the XP-D patient had a thickened calvarium, and the brain showed vacuolization of the neuropil in the cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem, and patchy Purkinje cell loss. Axonal neuropathy and chronic denervation atrophy of the skeletal muscles were observed in the XP-A patient, but not in the XP-D patient. CONCLUSIONS: These clinical manifestations and autopsy findings indicate advanced involvement of the central and peripheral nervous system. Despite similar defects in DNA repair, different clinicopathological phenotypes are seen in the four cases, and therefore distinct patterns of neurodegeneration characterize XP-D, XP-A and XP-C patients