A PPP Baseline Approach for Bridge Passing

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are increasingly used as the main source of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) information for inland water navigation. In order to enable automated driving and facilitate driver assistant functions, it becomes of crucial importance to ensure high reliability and accuracy of the GNSS-based navigation solution, especially in challenging environments. One challenging phase of inland waterway navigation is bridge passing which leads to non-line-of-sight (NLOS) effects such as multipath and loss of tracking. This work presents a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) based algorithm in a two-antenna system where one antenna is at the bow and the other is at the stern. Additionally, gyroscope data from an IMU is used. In contrast to a separated position calculation of the two antennas, only one antenna position is estimated and the other is derived from the baseline between the antennas. This allows for accurate positioning even if one antenna does not receive any GNSS measurements. The presented scheme is evaluated using real measurement data from an inland water scenario with multiple bridges. In comparison with a standard PPP scheme as well as an RTK algorithm, the presented approach shows clear advantages in challenging scenarios

Development of Precise Point Positioning Algorithm to Support Advanced Driver Assistant Functions for Inland Vessel Navigation

Bridge passing and passing waterway locks are two of the most challenging phases for inland vessel navigation. In order to be able to automate these critical phases very precise and reliable position, navigation and timing (PNT) information are required. Here, the application of code-based positioning using signals of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is not sufficient anymore and phase-based positioning needs to be applied. Due to the larger coverage area and the reduction of the amount of correction data Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has significant advantages compared to the established Real Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning. PPP is seen as the key enabler for highly automatic driving for both road and inland waterway transport. This paper gives an overview of the current status of the developments of the PPP algorithm, which should finally be applied in advanced driver assistant functions. For the final application State Space Representation (SSR) correction data from SAPOS (Satellitenpositionierungsdienst der deutschen Landesvermessung) will be used, which will be transmitted over VDES (VHF Data Exchange System), the next generation AIS

From RTK to PPP‑RTK: towards real‑time kinematic precise point positioning to support autonomous driving of inland waterway vessels

PPP-RTK is Precise Point Positioning (PPP) using corrections from a ground reference network, which enables single receiver users with integer ambiguity resolution thereby improving its performance. However, most of the PPP-RTK studies are investigated and evaluated in a static situation or a post-processing mode because of the complexity of implementation in real-time practical applications. Moreover, although PPP-RTK achieves a faster convergence than PPP, it typically needs 30 s or even longer to derive high-accuracy results. We have implemented a real-time PPP-RTK approach based on undifferenced observations and State-Space Representation corrections with a fast convergence of less than 30 s to support autonomous driving of inland waterway vessels. The PPP-RTK performances and their feasibility to support autonomous driving have been evaluated and validated in a real-time inland waterway navigation. It proves the PPP-RTK approach can realize a precise positioning of less than 10 cm in horizontal with a rapid convergence. The convergence time is within 10 s after a normal bridge passing and less than 30 s after a complicated bridge passing. Moreover, the PPP-RTK approach can be extended to outside of the GNSS station network. Even if the location is 100 km away from the border of the GNSS station network, the PPP-RTK convergence time after a bridge passing is also normally less than 30 s. We have realized the first automated entry into a waterway lock for a vessel supported by PPP-RTK and taken the first step toward autonomous driving of inland vessels based on PPP-RTK

PPP-RTK with Rapid Convergence Based on SSR Corrections and Its Application in Transportation

Real-time Kinematic (RTK) positioning provides centimeter-level positioning accuracy within several seconds, but it has to rely on a nearby base station. Although Precise Point Positioning (PPP) supplies precise positions with one receiver, its convergence time takes several tens of minutes, which makes PPP not well suited for real-time kinematic applications where a rapid convergence is required. PPP-RTK integrates the benefits of PPP and RTK, which actually is PPP augmented by a ground GNSS network. The satellite orbit, clock offsets, signal biases, ionospheric and tropospheric corrections are determined based on this GNSS network, modeled as state space information and transmitted to PPP users. By applying these State Space Representation (SSR) corrections, a real-time kinematic PPP-RTK approach is developed and implemented, which can instantly resolve the ambiguities to integers and realize rapid convergence. In a static scenario, it realized an instant ambiguity resolution and a rapid convergence within 2 s in more than 90% of 120 hourly sessions. The PPP-RTK has been applied and evaluated in a kinematic scenario on the highway. The horizontal positioning errors are almost lower than 0.1 m except for the time of passing through bridges. After passing bridges, the PPP-RTK successfully resolved ambiguities within 2 s in 90.6% of the cases and achieved convergence in horizontal within 5 s in more than 90% of the cases. The PPP-RTK with a precision of 0.1 m and rapid convergence of several seconds benefits the precise navigation of automobile on the highway, which will support the development of autonomous driving in futur

Real-Time Multi-GNSS Precise Point Positioning with Instant Convergence for Inland Waterway Navigation

Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has been highly recommended to be used in the future for precise navigation, and is very suitable for the inland waterway navigation. PPP has great advantages than RTK except for a relatively long convergence time of several minutes or even more than ten minutes without using atmospheric corrections. With the goal of achieving PPP accuracy at centimeters level in horizontal instantly, and supporting by the State Space Representation (SSR) corrections we developed a real time PPP algorithm by fully utilizing GPS and Galileo observations. A measurement campaign was conducted to validate the PPP performance for inland waterway navigation, especially the PPP convergence time and performance when passing a waterway lock or bridges. Finally, the PPP accuracy could be less than 10 cm in horizontal within several seconds or even at the first epoch when the GNSS satellites are evenly distributed in an open sky area. In addition, it can also achieve a fast reinitialization within several seconds after the vessel passing over a waterway lock or a bridge

Precise Point Positioning to support an automatic entering of a waterway lock

Inland waterway transport is the transport mode with the lowest CO2 emission per tonne kilometre. However, there is a substantial potential for modal shift from road and rail to inland vessel transport. The increase of the grade of automation or even autonomous inland vessels could be a key enabler for this modal shift. By far the most challenging phase of inland navigation is the passing of waterway locks. Here, typically a ship with the dimension of 11.4 x 100 m has to enter a 12 m wide lock chamber, leaving just a few dm space on each side of the vessel. In order to support the automation of this manoeuvre, very accurate position, heading, turn rate and velocity information is required. Within the project SCIPPPER (2018-2022) such a driver assistant function has been developed. The idea was using the absolute Precise Point Positioning (PPP) instead of Real Time Kinematic (RTK) to achieve the required 10 cm horizontal accuracy. The reason was an expected reduction in the amount of PPP correction data and a significantly enlarged service area. Both facts would enable the correction data transmission over the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) - the next generation of the Automatic Identification System (AIS). While a stable mobile internet connection is unfortunately not available at all inland waterways, currently AIS Base stations are being operated on all main inland waterways in Germany. By upgrading the AIS base stations to VDES stations, in the future all inland vessels on the main waterways could potentially benefit from the highly accurate positioning service. Besides the high accuracy, the reduction of the convergence time is one of the key challenges for the application of PPP for inland vessels. In order to shorten the PPP convergence time, we were using an SSR (state space representation) correction service from a regional network including not only global corrections like satellite clock, orbit, code and phase biases but also regional ionospheric and tropospheric corrections. These corrections were provided by using the GNSS station network of SAPOS (Satelliten Positionierungsdienst der deutschen Landesvermessung). In cooperation with the Working Committee of the Surveying and Mapping Agencies of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany (AdV) and Geo++, an SSR correction data stream has been prepared and optimised for the inland vessel application. By separating the corrections into high (5s update) and low rate (30s update) corrections, an average data rate of about 0.3 kbits/s was achieved, which is a significant reduction compared to RTK correction (4-5 kbit/s). In the paper the details of our real time PPP positioning solver with ambiguity resolution based on GPS and GALILEO observations will be given. Furthermore, the results of static as well as dynamic measurement campaigns in challenging inland waterway scenarios will be presented. In the final demonstration of the SCIPPPER project an 82 m long vessel automatically entered a waterway lock by using PPP as the main source for global positioning of the vessel. While the paper focuses on the positioning part, also a main overview of the complete driver assistant function will be presented

Adipose triglyceride lipase activity is inhibited by long-chain acyl-coenzyme A

AbstractAdipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) is required for efficient mobilization of triglyceride (TG) stores in adipose tissue and non-adipose tissues. Therefore, ATGL strongly determines the availability of fatty acids for metabolic reactions. ATGL activity is regulated by a complex network of lipolytic and anti-lipolytic hormones. These signals control enzyme expression and the interaction of ATGL with the regulatory proteins CGI-58 and G0S2. Up to date, it was unknown whether ATGL activity is also controlled by lipid intermediates generated during lipolysis. Here we show that ATGL activity is inhibited by long-chain acyl-CoAs in a non-competitive manner, similar as previously shown for hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), the rate-limiting enzyme for diglyceride breakdown in adipose tissue. ATGL activity is only marginally inhibited by medium-chain acyl-CoAs, diglycerides, monoglycerides, and free fatty acids. Immunoprecipitation assays revealed that acyl-CoAs do not disrupt the protein–protein interaction of ATGL and its co-activator CGI-58. Furthermore, inhibition of ATGL is independent of the presence of CGI-58 and occurs directly at the N-terminal patatin-like phospholipase domain of the enzyme. In conclusion, our results suggest that inhibition of the major lipolytic enzymes ATGL and HSL by long-chain acyl-CoAs could represent an effective feedback mechanism controlling lipolysis and protecting cells from lipotoxic concentrations of fatty acids and fatty acid-derived lipid metabolites

Sterol Composition of Clinically Relevant Mucorales and Changes Resulting from Posaconazole Treatment

Mucorales are fungi with increasing importance in the clinics. Infections take a rapidly progressive course resulting in high mortality rates. The ergosterol biosynthesis pathway and sterol composition are of interest, since they are targeted by currently applied antifungal drugs. Nevertheless, Mucorales often exhibit resistance to these drugs, resulting in therapeutic failure. Here, sterol patterns of six clinically relevant Mucorales (Lichtheimia corymbifera, Lichtheimia ramosa, Mucor circinelloides, Rhizomucor pusillus, Rhizopus arrhizus, and Rhizopus microsporus) were analysed in a targeted metabolomics fashion after derivatization by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Additionally, the effect of posaconazole (POS) treatment on the sterol pattern of R. arrhizus was evaluated. Overall, fifteen different sterols were detected with species dependent variations in the total and relative sterol amount. Sterol analysis from R. arrhizus hyphae confronted with sublethal concentrations of posaconazole revealed the accumulation of 14-methylergosta-8,24-diene-3,6-diol, which is a toxic sterol that was previously only detected in yeasts. Sterol content and composition were further compared to the well-characterized pathogenic mold Aspergillus fumigatus. This work contributes to a better understanding of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway of Mucorales, which is essential to improve antifungal efficacy, the identification of targets for novel drug design, and to investigate the combinatorial effects of drugs targeting this pathway

CEACAM6 Gene Variants in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM6) acts as a receptor for adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC) and its ileal expression is increased in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Given its contribution to the pathogenesis of CD, we aimed to investigate the role of genetic variants in the CEACAM6 region in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this study, a total of 2,683 genomic DNA samples (including DNA from 858 CD patients, 475 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 1,350 healthy, unrelated controls) was analyzed for eight CEACAM6 SNPs (rs10415946, rs1805223 = p.Pro42Pro, rs4803507, rs4803508, rs11548735 = p.Gly239Val, rs7246116 = pHis260His, rs2701, rs10416839). In addition, a detailed haplotype analysis and genotype-phenotype analysis were performed. Overall, our genotype analysis did not reveal any significant association of the investigated CEACAM6 SNPs and haplotypes with CD or UC susceptibility, although certain CEACAM6 SNPs modulated CEACAM6 expression in intestinal epithelial cell lines. Despite its function as receptor of AIEC in ileal CD, we found no association of the CEACAM6 SNPs with ileal or ileocolonic CD. Moreover, there was no evidence of epistasis between the analyzed CEACAM6 variants and the main CD-associated NOD2, IL23R and ATG16L1 variants. This study represents the first detailed analysis of CEACAM6 variants in IBD patients. Despite its important role in bacterial attachment in ileal CD, we could not demonstrate a role for CEACAM6 variants in IBD susceptibility or regarding an ileal CD phenotype. Further functional studies are required to analyze if these gene variants modulate ileal bacterial attachment