Wind profiler signal detection improvements

Research is described on potential improvements to the software used with the NASA 49.25 MHz wind profiler located at Kennedy Space Center. In particular, the analysis and results are provided of a study to (1) identify preferred mathematical techniques for the detection of atmospheric signals that provide wind velocities which are obscured by natural and man-made sources, and (2) to analyze one or more preferred techniques to demonstrate proof of the capability to improve the detection of wind velocities

Análise da acurácia dos métodos cinemáticos de posicionamento GPS em aplicações costeiras

O NAVSTAR GPS vem sendo aplicado nas mais diversas áreas entre elas encontram-se o ambiente costeiro. Os levantamentos geodésicos podem ser utilizados para estudar as variações posicionais que ocorrem em sistemas costeiros dinâmicos. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar a acurácia dos métodos cinemáticos de posicionamento GPS em um esporão arenoso localizado na Ilha do Mel, município de Paranaguá, Estado do Paraná, Brasil. Os testes foram realizados com os seguintes métodos de posicionamento geodésico: Absoluto Cinemático (MAC), Relativo Cinemático (MRC) e Diferencial (RTK e DGPS). Uma estação móvel composta por dois receptores GPS foi construída para efetuar simultaneamente a captação de dados e assim analisar os métodos propostos em um único levantamento geodésico. Os resultados mais satisfatórios foram oriundos da solução RTK, apresentando os menores valores para o Erro Médio Quadrático (EMQ), 0,003 m, 0,007 m e 0,149 m nas componentes Norte (N), Este (E) e Altura Geométrica h, respectivamente. Por fim, recomendações da aplicabilidade dos métodos estudados para a área costeira são apresentadas

Magnetism, Spin-Orbit Coupling, and Superconducting Pairing in UGe2_2

A consistent picture on the mean-field level of the magnetic properties and electronic structure of the superconducting itinerant ferromagnet UGe$_2$ is shown to require inclusion of correlation effects beyond the local density approximation (LDA). The "LDA+U" approach reproduces both the magnitude of the observed moment, composed of strongly opposing spin and orbital parts, and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The largest Fermi surface sheet is comprised primarily of spin majority states with orbital projection $m_{\ell}$=0, suggesting a much simpler picture of the pairing than is possible for general strong spin-orbit coupled materials. This occurrence, and the quasi-two-dimensional geometry of the Fermi surface, support the likelihood of magnetically mediated p-wave triplet pairing.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett; URL for better quality image of Fig.3 (2MB) at http://yammer.ucdavis.edu/public/UGe2/fig3.ep

Disease progression in Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is linked to variation in invasion gene family members.

Emerging pathogens undermine initiatives to control the global health impact of infectious diseases. Zoonotic malaria is no exception. Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite of Southeast Asian macaques, has entered the human population. P. knowlesi, like Plasmodium falciparum, can reach high parasitaemia in human infections, and the World Health Organization guidelines for severe malaria list hyperparasitaemia among the measures of severe malaria in both infections. Not all patients with P. knowlesi infections develop hyperparasitaemia, and it is important to determine why. Between isolate variability in erythrocyte invasion, efficiency seems key. Here we investigate the idea that particular alleles of two P. knowlesi erythrocyte invasion genes, P. knowlesi normocyte binding protein Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb, influence parasitaemia and human disease progression. Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb reference DNA sequences were generated from five geographically and temporally distinct P. knowlesi patient isolates. Polymorphic regions of each gene (approximately 800 bp) were identified by haplotyping 147 patient isolates at each locus. Parasitaemia in the study cohort was associated with markers of disease severity including liver and renal dysfunction, haemoglobin, platelets and lactate, (r = ≥ 0.34, p =  <0.0001 for all). Seventy-five and 51 Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb haplotypes were resolved in 138 (94%) and 134 (92%) patient isolates respectively. The haplotypes formed twelve Pknbpxa and two Pknbpxb allelic groups. Patients infected with parasites with particular Pknbpxa and Pknbpxb alleles within the groups had significantly higher parasitaemia and other markers of disease severity. Our study strongly suggests that P. knowlesi invasion gene variants contribute to parasite virulence. We focused on two invasion genes, and we anticipate that additional virulent loci will be identified in pathogen genome-wide studies. The multiple sustained entries of this diverse pathogen into the human population must give cause for concern to malaria elimination strategists in the Southeast Asian region

6li 28si reaction cross sections at sub barrier energies

Total reaction cross sections at near barrier energies (9-13 MeV) were measured for the system 6Li+28Si adopting a new technique. The results will be discussed in terms of the threshold anomaly at barrie

Registration of ‘LCS Compass’ Wheat

‘LCS Compass’ (Reg. No. CV-1149, PI 675458), a hard red winter (HRW) wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), was developed and tested as VA10HRW-13 and co-released by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and Limagrain Cereal Seeds, LLC, in 2015. LCS Compass was derived from the cross ‘Vision 20’ /‘Stanof’ using a modified bulk breeding method. LCS Compass is a widely adapted, high-yielding, awned, semidwarf (Rht1) HRW wheat with early to medium maturity and resistance or moderate resistance to diseases prevalent in the mid-Atlantic and Great Plains regions of the United States. In the 2013 Uniform Bread Wheat Trial conducted over 18 locations in eastern states, LCS Compass produced an average grain yield of 4609 kg ha−1 that was similar to ‘Vision 30’ (4697 kg ha−1). In the northern Great Plains, the average grain yield of LCS Compass (4015 kg ha−1) over 44 locations in 2013 was similar to ‘Jerry’ (4013 kg ha−1). In the South Dakota crop zone 3 variety test, LCS Compass had a 3-yr (2015–2017) yield average of 5575 kg ha−1 and was one of highest-yielding cultivars among the 19 cultivars tested over the 3-yr period. LCS Compass has good end-use quality in both the eastern and Great Plains regions of the United States