Polarimetric clutter modeling: Theory and application

The two-layer anisotropic random medium model is used to investigate fully polarimetric scattering properties of earth terrain media. The polarization covariance matrices for the untilted and tilted uniaxial random medium are evaluated using the strong fluctuation theory and distorted Born approximation. In order to account for the azimuthal randomness in the growth direction of leaves in tree and grass fields, an averaging scheme over the azimuthal direction is also applied. It is found that characteristics of terrain clutter can be identified through the analysis of each element of the covariance matrix. Theoretical results are illustrated by the comparison with experimental data provided by MIT Lincoln Laboratory for tree and grass fields

Novel targets for immune-checkpoint inhibition in cancer.

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer therapy, yet many patients either do not derive any benefit from treatment or develop a resistance to checkpoint inhibitors. Intrinsic resistance can result from neoantigen depletion, defective antigen presentation, PD-L1 downregulation, immune-checkpoint ligand upregulation, immunosuppression, and tumor cell phenotypic changes. On the other hand, extrinsic resistance involves acquired upregulation of inhibitory immune-checkpoints, leading to T-cell exhaustion. Current data suggest that PD-1, CTLA-4, and LAG-3 upregulation limits the efficacy of single-agent immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Ongoing clinical trials are investigating novel immune-checkpoint targets to avoid or overcome resistance. This review provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving landscape of potentially targetable immune-checkpoints in cancer. We highlight their biology, emphasizing the current understanding of resistance mechanisms and focusing on promising strategies that are under investigation. We also summarize current results and ongoing clinical trials in this crucial field that could once again revolutionize outcomes for cancer patients

Probing the size of proteins with glass nanopores

Single molecule studies using nanopores have gained attention due to the ability to sense single molecules in aqueous solution without the need to label them. In this study, short DNA molecules and proteins were detected with glass nanopores, whose sensitivity was enhanced by electron reshaping which decreased the nanopore diameter and created geometries with a reduced sensing length. Further, proteins having molecular weights (MW) ranging from 12 kDa to 480 kDa were detected, which showed that their corresponding current peak amplitude changes according to their MW. In the case of the 12 kDa ComEA protein, its DNA-binding properties to an 800 bp long DNA molecule was investigated. Moreover, the influence of the pH on the charge of the protein was demonstrated by showing a change in the translocation direction. This work emphasizes the wide spectrum of detectable molecules using nanopores from glass nanocapillaries, which stand out because of their inexpensive, lithography-free, and rapid manufacturing proces

Microwave and Quantum Magnetics

Contains research objectives and reports on five research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 P01 CA3 1303-01

Microwave and Quantum Magnetics

Contains research objectives and reports on five research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 P01 CA3 1303-01

Challenge of teaching complex, end-to-end space system design and development process: Earth Observation Satellite System Design training course

The Earth Observation Satellite System Design training course was first offered in 2018 at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility at ESA’s ESEC Galaxia site in Belgium, and again in 2021 in an online format under the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The course covers the end-to-end design and development process of satellite Earth observation systems. Two major challenges were faced by the teaching experts, consisting of the active and retired ESA staff, as well as ESA Academy’s instructional designers for its development: (1) Condensing such a vast subject domain, associated with a complex, multi-disciplinary engineering undertaking, into a compact format (e.g. 4.5 days in 2018) without sacrificing the quality of the essential technical knowledge, engineering practices and logic as taught; (2) Presenting the course materials in a comprehensive form to a group of 30 M.S. and Ph.D. students with their backgrounds generally not covering all of the technical disciplines associated with the course subject domain. The 2021 online edition of the training course, which drew on lessons learnt from 2018, consisted of 18 lectures, plus 5 group project sessions where the students put their acquired knowledge into practice and learned to work in a project team environment. This paper concentrates on the approach and logic adopted by the instructional team to address the above 2 challenges. Difficulties encountered in some of the areas, e.g. remote sensing instrumentation designs, are discusse

Spatial proteomics defines the content of trafficking vesicles captured by golgin tethers.

Intracellular traffic between compartments of the secretory and endocytic pathways is mediated by vesicle-based carriers. The proteomes of carriers destined for many organelles are ill-defined because the vesicular intermediates are transient, low-abundance and difficult to purify. Here, we combine vesicle relocalisation with organelle proteomics and Bayesian analysis to define the content of different endosome-derived vesicles destined for the trans-Golgi network (TGN). The golgin coiled-coil proteins golgin-97 and GCC88, shown previously to capture endosome-derived vesicles at the TGN, were individually relocalised to mitochondria and the content of the subsequently re-routed vesicles was determined by organelle proteomics. Our findings reveal 45 integral and 51 peripheral membrane proteins re-routed by golgin-97, evidence for a distinct class of vesicles shared by golgin-97 and GCC88, and various cargoes specific to individual golgins. These results illustrate a general strategy for analysing intracellular sub-proteomes by combining acute cellular re-wiring with high-resolution spatial proteomics

Probing the size of proteins with glass nanopores

Single molecule studies using nanopores have gained attention due to the ability to sense single molecules in aqueous solution without the need to label them. In this study, short DNA molecules and proteins were detected with glass nanopores, whose sensitivity was enhanced by electron reshaping which decreased the nanopore diameter and created geometries with a reduced sensing length. Further, proteins having molecular weights (MW) ranging from 12 kDa to 480 kDa were detected, which showed that their corresponding current peak amplitude changes according to their MW. In the case of the 12 kDa ComEA protein, its DNA-binding properties to an 800 bp long DNA molecule was investigated. Moreover, the influence of the pH on the charge of the protein was demonstrated by showing a change in the translocation direction. This work emphasizes the wide spectrum of detectable molecules using nanopores from glass nanocapillaries, which stand out because of their inexpensive, lithography-free, and rapid manufacturing process

Electromagnetic Wave Theory and Remote Sensing

Contains reports on eight research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)National Science Foundation (Grant ECS82-03390)Schlumberger-Doll Research CenterNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAG5-141)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAS5-26861)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAG5-270)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-83-K-0258)International Business Machines, Inc