A Low Cost Remote Sensing System Using PC and Stereo Equipment

A system using a personal computer, speaker, and a microphone is used to detect objects, and make crude measurements using a carrier modulated by a pseudorandom noise (PN) code. This system can be constructed using a personal computer and audio equipment commonly found in the laboratory or at home, or more sophisticated equipment that can be purchased at reasonable cost. We demonstrate its value as an instructional tool for teaching concepts of remote sensing and digital signal processing.Comment: Accepted for publication in American Journal of Physic

Pseudorandom Noise Code-Based Technique for Thin Cloud Discrimination with CO2 and O2 Absorption Measurements

NASA Langley Research Center is working on a continuous wave (CW) laser based remote sensing scheme for the detection of CO2 and O2 from space based platforms suitable for ACTIVE SENSING OF CO2 EMISSIONS OVER NIGHTS, DAYS, AND SEASONS (ASCENDS) mission. ASCENDS is a future space-based mission to determine the global distribution of sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). A unique, multi-frequency, intensity modulated CW (IMCW) laser absorption spectrometer (LAS) operating at 1.57 micron for CO2 sensing has been developed. Effective aerosol and cloud discrimination techniques are being investigated in order to determine concentration values with accuracies less than 0.3%. In this paper, we discuss the demonstration of a pseudo noise (PN) code based technique for cloud and aerosol discrimination applications. The possibility of using maximum length (ML)-sequences for range and absorption measurements is investigated. A simple model for accomplishing this objective is formulated, Proof-of-concept experiments carried out using SONAR based LIDAR simulator that was built using simple audio hardware provided promising results for extension into optical wavelengths

Top team trust, knowledge sharing and innovation

In the present research, we developed a causal model of organizational innovation incorporating the literature on top management teams (TMT) and knowledge-sharing in organizations. We hypothesized that top team composition and trust would predict organizational innovation through the mediating variables of task reflexivity and knowledge-sharing. We tested the model using data collected from thirty-five knowledge intensive firms in Ireland operating in the software industry. Results indicated that top team trust, knowledge-sharing and task reflexivity have both direct and indirect relationships with organizational innovation. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Pseudorandom Noise Code-Based Technique for Cloud and Aerosol Discrimination Applications

NASA Langley Research Center is working on a continuous wave (CW) laser based remote sensing scheme for the detection of CO2 and O2 from space based platforms suitable for ACTIVE SENSING OF CO2 EMISSIONS OVER NIGHTS, DAYS, AND SEASONS (ASCENDS) mission. ASCENDS is a future space-based mission to determine the global distribution of sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). A unique, multi-frequency, intensity modulated CW (IMCW) laser absorption spectrometer (LAS) operating at 1.57 micron for CO2 sensing has been developed. Effective aerosol and cloud discrimination techniques are being investigated in order to determine concentration values with accuracies less than 0.3%. In this paper, we discuss the demonstration of a PN code based technique for cloud and aerosol discrimination applications. The possibility of using maximum length (ML)-sequences for range and absorption measurements is investigated. A simple model for accomplishing this objective is formulated, Proof-of-concept experiments carried out using SONAR based LIDAR simulator that was built using simple audio hardware provided promising results for extension into optical wavelengths. Keywords: ASCENDS, CO2 sensing, O2 sensing, PN codes, CW lida

Time Shifted PN Codes for CW Lidar, Radar, and Sonar

A continuous wave Light Detection and Ranging (CW LiDAR) system utilizes two or more laser frequencies and time or range shifted pseudorandom noise (PN) codes to discriminate between the laser frequencies. The performance of these codes can be improved by subtracting out the bias before processing. The CW LiDAR system may be mounted to an artificial satellite orbiting the earth, and the relative strength of the return signal for each frequency can be utilized to determine the concentration of selected gases or other substances in the atmosphere

Evaluation of Load-To-Strength Ratios in Metastatic Vertebrae and Comparison With Age- and Sex-Matched Healthy Individuals.

Vertebrae containing osteolytic and osteosclerotic bone metastases undergo pathologic vertebral fracture (PVF) when the lesioned vertebrae fail to carry daily loads. We hypothesize that task-specific spinal loading patterns amplify the risk of PVF, with a higher degree of risk in osteolytic than in osteosclerotic vertebrae. To test this hypothesis, we obtained clinical CT images of 11 cadaveric spines with bone metastases, estimated the individual vertebral strength from the CT data, and created spine-specific musculoskeletal models from the CT data. We established a musculoskeletal model for each spine to compute vertebral loading for natural standing, natural standing + weights, forward flexion + weights, and lateral bending + weights and derived the individual vertebral load-to-strength ratio (LSR). For each activity, we compared the metastatic spines' predicted LSRs with the normative LSRs generated from a population-based sample of 250 men and women of comparable ages. Bone metastases classification significantly affected the CT-estimated vertebral strength (Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.0001). Post-test analysis showed that the estimated vertebral strength of osteosclerotic and mixed metastases vertebrae was significantly higher than that of osteolytic vertebrae (p = 0.0016 and p = 0.0003) or vertebrae without radiographic evidence of bone metastasis (p = 0.0010 and p = 0.0003). Compared with the median (50%) LSRs of the normative dataset, osteolytic vertebrae had higher median (50%) LSRs under natural standing (p = 0.0375), natural standing + weights (p = 0.0118), and lateral bending + weights (p = 0.0111). Surprisingly, vertebrae showing minimal radiographic evidence of bone metastasis presented significantly higher median (50%) LSRs under natural standing (p < 0.0001) and lateral bending + weights (p = 0.0009) than the normative dataset. Osteosclerotic vertebrae had lower median (50%) LSRs under natural standing (p < 0.0001), natural standing + weights (p = 0.0005), forward flexion + weights (p < 0.0001), and lateral bending + weights (p = 0.0002), a trend shared by vertebrae with mixed lesions. This study is the first to apply musculoskeletal modeling to estimate individual vertebral loading in pathologic spines and highlights the role of task-specific loading in augmenting PVF risk associated with specific bone metastatic types. Our finding of high LSRs in vertebrae without radiologically observed bone metastasis highlights that patients with metastatic spine disease could be at an increased risk of vertebral fractures even at levels where lesions have not been identified radiologically

Long-term results and complications using augmentation cystoplasty in reconstructive urology

One hundred and twenty-two augmentation cystoplasties performed over an 8-year period were reviewed. Mean age at surgery was 37 years (range 2–82 years). There were 82 female patients. The primary urodynamic diagnosis was reduced compliance in 92 (77%) pattenls and detrusor hyperreflexia/instability in the remainder. The clinical diagnostic groups were: spinal cord injury/disease in 32 (27%), myelodysplasia in 27 (22%), interstitial cystitis in 21 (17%), idiopathic detrusor instability in 13 (11%), radiation cystitis in 8 (7%). Hinman-Allen syndrome in 5 (4%), and miscellaneous in 11 (9%). A detubularized, ileal augmentation was used in 82 (67%) patients. In 36 (30%) a detubularized ileocecocystoplasty was fashioned and in the remainder detubularized sigmoid was used. In 19 patients augmentation accompanied undiversion. Sixteen patients had a simultaneous fascial sling for urethral incompetence. Mean follow-up was 37 months (range 6–96 months). There was no postoperative mortality. During follow-up 4 patients died from unrelated causes, 11 have been lost to follow-up, and 5 patients await planned transplantation. Bladder capacity was increased from a preoperative mean of 108 ml (range 15–500 ml) to 438 ml (200–1,200 ml) postoperatively. Of the 106 assessable patients, 80 (75%) had an excellent result, 21 (20%) were improved, and 5 (5%) had major ongoing problems. During the period of follow-up, 17 (16%) patients underwent revision of their augmentation. Twenty-four (21%) patients developed bladder stones and 30% of these did so more than once. Urinary incontinence became manifest in 15 (13%) patients but required surgical treatment in only half of these. Pyelonephritis occurred in 13 (11%) patients. Five patients developed small bowel obstruction following discharge from hospital. There were 7 instances of reservoir rupture in 5 (4%) patients. Augmentation cystoplasty has a pivotal role in the treatment of a broad range of lower and upper urinary tract problems. Careful patient selection and close follow-up are essential. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38474/1/1930140402_ftp.pd

Serine-Selective Bioconjugation.

This Communication reports the first general method for rapid, chemoselective, and modular functionalization of serine residues in native polypeptides, which uses a reagent platform based on the P(V) oxidation state. This redox-economical approach can be used to append nearly any kind of cargo onto serine, generating a stable, benign, and hydrophilic phosphorothioate linkage. The method tolerates all other known nucleophilic functional groups of naturally occurring proteinogenic amino acids. A variety of applications can be envisaged by this expansion of the toolbox of site-selective bioconjugation methods

Georgia Abortion Law and Our Commitment to Patients

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153775/1/art41143.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153775/2/art41143_am.pd