Summary of DSN (Deep Space Network) reimbursable launch support

The Deep Space Network is providing ground support to space agencies of foreign governments as well as to NASA and other agencies of the Federal government which are involved in space activities. DSN funding for support of missions other than NASA are on either a cooperative or a reimbursable basis. Cooperative funding and support are accomplished in the same manner as NASA sponsored missions. Reimbursable launch funding and support methods are described

ICE Second Halley radial: TDA mission support and DSN operations

The article documents the operations encompassing the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) second Halley radial experiment centered around March 28, 1986. The support was provided by the Deep Space Network (DSN) 64-meter subnetwork. Near continuous support was provided the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April to insure the collection of adequate background data for the Halley radial experiment. During the last week of March, plasma wave measurements indicate that ICE was within the Halley heavy ion pick-up region

Intrinsic noise and discrete-time processes

A general formalism is developed to construct a Markov chain model that converges to a one-dimensional map in the infinite population limit. Stochastic fluctuations are therefore internal to the system and not externally specified. For finite populations an approximate Gaussian scheme is devised to describe the stochastic fluctuations in the non-chaotic regime. More generally, the stochastic dynamics can be captured using a stochastic difference equation, derived through an approximation to the Markov chain. The scheme is demonstrated using the logistic map as a case study.Comment: Modified version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E Rapid Communications. New figures adde

Stochastic Turing patterns in the Brusselator model

A stochastic version of the Brusselator model is proposed and studied via the system size expansion. The mean-field equations are derived and shown to yield to organized Turing patterns within a specific parameters region. When determining the Turing condition for instability, we pay particular attention to the role of cross diffusive terms, often neglected in the heuristic derivation of reaction diffusion schemes. Stochastic fluctuations are shown to give rise to spatially ordered solutions, sharing the same quantitative characteristic of the mean-field based Turing scenario, in term of excited wavelengths. Interestingly, the region of parameter yielding to the stochastic self-organization is wider than that determined via the conventional Turing approach, suggesting that the condition for spatial order to appear can be less stringent than customarily believed.Comment: modified version submitted to Phys Rev. E. 5. 3 Figures (5 panels) adde

Vascular Patterns in Cutaneous Ulcerated Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Retrospective Blinded Study Including Dermoscopy.

Abstract The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the type and prevalence of vascular patterns in the ulcerated and non-ulcerated portions of histologically proven basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and correlate them with other dermoscopic and clinical features, including the clinically supposed diagnosis. Three authors retrospectively collected 156 clinical and 156 dermoscopic digital images of ulcerated BCCs (histologically confirmed); each image was blindly evaluated by 2 other authors, who did not know the histological diagnosis. Seventeen lesions were completely ulcerated, while 139 lesions presented ulcerated and non-ulcerated portions. Correct clinical diagnosis was associated with the type of lesion, in particular 90.6% of partially ulcerated lesions were correctly diagnosed with clinical-dermoscopic examination, compared with 11.8% of totally ulcerated lesions (χ2 = 64.00, p = 0.000). Presence of arborizing pattern in the ulcerated portion was associated with a correct diagnosis (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.015). Correct diagnosis was also associated with absence of dotted pattern in the non-ulcerated area (χ2 = 16.18, p = 0.000); the absence of hairpin (χ2 = 6.08, p = 0.000) and glomerular patterns were associated with correct diagnosis in the ulcerated areas (χ2 = 18.64, p = 0.000). In case of completely ulcerated BCC the clinician lacks the means to correctly identify the correct nature of the lesion, and is driven towards an incorrect diagnostic conclusion

An IMU and USBL-aided buoy for underwater localization

Autonomous underwater navigation remains, as of today, a challenging task. The marine environment limits the number of sensors available for precise localization, hence Au- tonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) usually rely on inertial and velocity sensors to obtain an estimate of their position either through dead reckoning or by means of more sophisticated navigation filters (such as Kalman filters and its extensions [1]). On the other hand, acoustic localization makes possible the determination of a reliable vehicles pose estimate exploiting suit- able acoustic modems [3]; such estimate can even be integrated within the navigation filter of the vehicle in order to increase its accuracy. In this paper, the authors discuss the development and the performance of an Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL)-aided buoy to improve the localization of underwater vehicles. At first, the components and the physical realization of the buoy will be discussed; then, the procedure to compute the position of the target will be analyzed. The following part of the paper will be focused on the development of a recursive state estimation algorithm to process the measurements computed by the buoy; specifically, Extended Kalman Filter [4] has been adopted to deal with the nonlinearities of the sensors housed on the buoy. A validation of the measurement filtering through experimental tests is also proposed

An IMU and USBL-aided buoy for underwater localization

Autonomous underwater navigation remains, as of today, a challenging task. The marine environment limits the number of sensors available for precise localization, hence Au- tonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) usually rely on inertial and velocity sensors to obtain an estimate of their position either through dead reckoning or by means of more sophisticated navigation filters (such as Kalman filters and its extensions [1]). On the other hand, acoustic localization makes possible the determination of a reliable vehicles pose estimate exploiting suit- able acoustic modems [3]; such estimate can even be integrated within the navigation filter of the vehicle in order to increase its accuracy. In this paper, the authors discuss the development and the performance of an Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL)-aided buoy to improve the localization of underwater vehicles. At first, the components and the physical realization of the buoy will be discussed; then, the procedure to compute the position of the target will be analyzed. The following part of the paper will be focused on the development of a recursive state estimation algorithm to process the measurements computed by the buoy; specifically, Extended Kalman Filter [4] has been adopted to deal with the nonlinearities of the sensors housed on the buoy. A validation of the measurement filtering through experimental tests is also proposed

Irreversible dynamics of the phase boundary in U(Ru0.9)Rh0.04)2Si2 and implications for ordering

We report measurements and analysis of the specific heat and magnetocaloric effect at the phase boundary into the single magnetic field-induced phase (phase II) of U(Ru{0.96}Rh{0.04})2Si2, which yield striking similarities to the valence transition of Yb{1-x}YxInCu4. To explain these similarities, we propose a bootstrap mechanism by which a structural distortion causes an electric quadrupolar order parameter within phase II to become coupled to the 5f-electron hybridization, giving rise to a valence change at the transition.Comment: 4 pages including 4 figure

Kondo behavior, ferromagnetic correlations, and crystal fields in the heavy Fermion compounds Ce3X (X=In, Sn)

We report measurements of inelastic neutron scattering, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, and the magnetic field dependence of the specific heat for the heavy Fermion compounds Ce$_3$In and Ce$_3$Sn. The neutron scattering results show that the excited crystal field levels have energies $E_1$ = 13.2 meV, $E_2$ = 44.8 meV for Ce$_3$In and $E_1$ = 18.5 meV, $E_2$ = 36.1 meV for Ce$_3$Sn. The Kondo temperature deduced from the quasielastic linewidth is 17 K for Ce$_3$In and 40 K for Ce$_3$Sn. The low temperature behavior of the specific heat, magnetization, and susceptibility can not be well-described by J=1/2 Kondo physics alone, but require calculations that include contributions from the Kondo effect, broadened crystal fields, and ferromagnetic correlations, all of which are known to be important in these compounds. We find that in Ce$_3$In the ferromagnetic fluctuation makes a 10-15 % contribution to the ground state doublet entropy and magnetization. The large specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ in this heavy fermion system thus arises more from the ferromagnetic correlations than from the Kondo behavior.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Decipher the glioblastoma microenvironment: The first milestone for new groundbreaking therapeutic strategies

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumour in adults. Despite the combination of novel therapeutical approaches, it remains a deadly malignancy with an abysmal prognosis. GBM is a polymorphic tumour from both molecular and histological points of view. It consists of different malignant cells and various stromal cells, contributing to tumour initiation, progression, and treatment response. GBM’s microenvironment is multifaceted and is made up of soluble factors, extracellular matrix components, tissue-resident cell types (e.g., neurons, astrocytes, endothelial cells, pericytes, and fibroblasts) together with resident (e.g., microglia) or recruited (e.g., bone marrow-derived macrophages) immune cells. These latter constitute the so-called immune microenvironment, accounting for a substantial GBM’s tumour volume. Despite the abundance of immune cells, an intense state of tumour immunosuppression is promoted and developed; this represents the significant challenge for cancer cells’ immune-mediated destruction. Though literature data suggest that distinct GBM’s subtypes harbour differences in their microenvironment, its role in treatment response remains obscure. However, an in-depth investigation of GBM’s microenvironment may lead to novel therapeutic opportunities to improve patients’ outcomes. This review will elucidate the GBM’s microenvironment composition, highlighting the current state of the art in immunotherapy approaches. We will focus on novel strategies of active and passive immunotherapies, including vaccination, gene therapy, checkpoint blockade, and adoptive T-cell therapies