Unmanned aerial vehicles as mobile multi - sensor platforms

Abstract. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with multiple sensors publish data in unpre-dictable manner using considerable bandwidth and missing spatial reference. Additionally, the availa-ble approaches only provide proprietary access to the data. Integrating sensors from UAVs into a synchronized data stream is required for publishing the transmitted data on the Web. This article describes a software framework, which simplifies such integration. In particular, it synchronizes registered sensor data streams and attaches a spatial reference through a geotagging mechanism. Moreover, the resulting data is published on the Web and made accessible in an interoperable way using Sensor Web technology. The presented framework is applied to a multi-sensor equipped UAV for a real-world scenario exploring the surface-near atmosphere of the earth.

Fibrational induction rules for initial algebras

This paper provides an induction rule that can be used to prove properties of data structures whose types are inductive, i.e., are carriers of initial algebras of functors. Our results are semantic in nature and are inspired by Hermida and Jacobs’ elegant algebraic formulation of induction for polynomial data types. Our contribution is to derive, under slightly different assumptions, an induction rule that is generic over all inductive types, polynomial or not. Our induction rule is generic over the kinds of properties to be proved as well: like Hermida and Jacobs, we work in a general fibrational setting and so can accommodate very general notions of properties on inductive types rather than just those of particular syntactic forms. We establish the correctness of our generic induction rule by reducing induction to iteration. We show how our rule can be instantiated to give induction rules for the data types of rose trees, finite hereditary sets, and hyperfunctions. The former lies outside the scope of Hermida and Jacobs’ work because it is not polynomial; as far as we are aware, no induction rules have been known to exist for the latter two in a general fibrational framework. Our instantiation for hyperfunctions underscores the value of working in the general fibrational setting since this data type cannot be interpreted as a set

The Role of Grass Feeding in Improving Oxidative Stability and Increasing Vitamin B\u3csub\u3e12\u3c/sub\u3e Content of Beef and Veal

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of grass feeding of cattle on the decontamination capacity against free radical (DCAFR) and vitamin B12 content of beef and veal. The meat samples from intensively (26 cattle, final weight 485±9 kg, concentrate feeding) and ecologically (25 heifers, final weight 472±32 kg, and 28 calves, final weight 260±24 kg, pasture grazing) managed cattle groups were investigated. The DCAFR was colorimetric assessed by examining damage to 1.4 benzoquinone. Vitamin B12 was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Data indicate that the oxidative stability of meat samples from ecological management were significant (p \u3c 0.05) higher (1.39 mg/ ml sec) compared to samples from intensive management (1.09 mg/ ml sec). Meat from pasture grazed animals proves to be an especially good source of vitamin B12, which was present in the high amount in beef (3.24 mg/100g) and veal (3.32 mg/100g). This paper establishes the importance of grass feeding at the levels of the relevant essential nutrients supplied by meat

UTLS temperature validation of MPI-ESM decadal hindcast experiments with GPS radio occultations

Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) temperature data are used to validate MPI-ESM (Max Planck Institute – Earth System Model) decadal hindcast experiments in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region between 300 hPa and 10 hPa (8 km and 32 km) for the time period between 2002 and 2011. The GPSRO dataset is unique since it is very precise, calibration independent and covers the globe better than the usual radiosonde dataset. In addition it is vertically finer resolved than any of the existing satellite temperature measurements available for the UTLS and provides now a unique one decade long temperature validation dataset. The initialization of the MPI-ESM decadal hindcast runs mostly increases the skill of the atmospheric temperatures when compared to uninitialized climate projections with very high skill scores for lead-year one, and gradually decreases for the later lead-years. A comparison between two different initialization sets (b0, b1) of the low-resolution (LR) MPI-ESM shows increased skills in b1-LR in most parts of the UTLS in particular in the tropics. The medium resolution (MR) MPI-ESM initializations are characterized by reduced temperature biases in the uninitialized runs as compared to observations and a better capturing of the high latitude northern hemisphere interannual polar vortex variability as compared to the LR model version. Negative skills are found for the b1-MR hindcasts however in the regions around the mid-latitude tropospheric jets on both hemispheres and in the vicinity of the tropical tropopause in comparison to the b1-LR variant. It is interesting to highlight that none of the model experiments can reproduce the observed positive temperature trend in the tropical tropopause region since 2001 as seen by GPSRO data

Generic Fibrational Induction

This paper provides an induction rule that can be used to prove properties of data structures whose types are inductive, i.e., are carriers of initial algebras of functors. Our results are semantic in nature and are inspired by Hermida and Jacobs' elegant algebraic formulation of induction for polynomial data types. Our contribution is to derive, under slightly different assumptions, a sound induction rule that is generic over all inductive types, polynomial or not. Our induction rule is generic over the kinds of properties to be proved as well: like Hermida and Jacobs, we work in a general fibrational setting and so can accommodate very general notions of properties on inductive types rather than just those of a particular syntactic form. We establish the soundness of our generic induction rule by reducing induction to iteration. We then show how our generic induction rule can be instantiated to give induction rules for the data types of rose trees, finite hereditary sets, and hyperfunctions. The first of these lies outside the scope of Hermida and Jacobs' work because it is not polynomial, and as far as we are aware, no induction rules have been known to exist for the second and third in a general fibrational framework. Our instantiation for hyperfunctions underscores the value of working in the general fibrational setting since this data type cannot be interpreted as a set.Comment: For Special Issue from CSL 201

Correlation of cognitive status, MRI- and SPECT-imaging in CADASIL patients

Although there is evidence for correlations between disability and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) total lesion volume in autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), the significance of structural MRI abnormalities for cognitive dysfunction remains controversial. We performed detailed neuropsychological testing, high resolution MRI, and Tc-99m-ethyl cysteinate-dimer SPECT in three CADASIL patients. MR-images were rated independently by two investigators for the presence of white matter lesions, lacunar infarcts, microbleeds, and ventricular enlargement. Cortical atrophy was quantified by the use of automatic morphometric assessment of the cortical thickness. In addition, laboratory and patients' history data were collected in order to assess the individual vascular risk factor profile. The differences in cognitive performance between the three patients are neither explained by structural-, or functional neuroimaging, nor by the patient-specific vascular risk factor profiles. The neuroradiologically least affected patient met criteria for dementia, whereas the most severely affected patient was in the best clinical and cognitive state. Conventional structural and functional neuroimaging is important for the diagnosis of CADASIL, but it is no sufficient surrogate marker for the associated cognitive decline. Detailed neuropsychological assessment seems to be more useful, particularly with respect to the implementation of reliable outcome parameters in possible therapeutic trials

Interpersonal neural synchrony when predicting others’ actions during a game of rock-paper-scissors

As members of a social species, we spend most of our time interacting with others. In interactions, we tend to mutually align our behavior and brain responses to communicate more effectively. In a semi-computerized version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, we investigated whether people show enhanced interpersonal neural synchronization when making explicit predictions about others’ actions. Across four experimental conditions, we measured the dynamic brain activity using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning method. Results showed that interpersonal neural synchrony was enhanced when participants played the game together as they would do in real life in comparison to when they played the game on their own. We found no evidence of increased neural synchrony when participants made explicit predictions about others’ actions. Hence, neural synchrony may depend on mutual natural interaction rather than an explicit prediction strategy. This study is important, as it examines one of the presumed functions of neural synchronization namely facilitating predictions

Adverse Drug Reactions in a Complementary Medicine Hospital: A Prospective, Intensified Surveillance Study

Background. Anthroposophic medicine is one of the widely used approaches of complementary and alternative medicine. However, few prospective studies have generated safety data on its use. Objectives. We aimed to assess adverse drug reactions (ADRs) caused by anthroposophical medicines (AMEDs) in the anthroposophical Community Hospital Havelhoehe, GERMANY. Study Design and Methods. Between May and November 2007, patients of six medical wards were prospectively assessed for ADRs. Suspected ADRs occurring during hospitalization were documented and classified in terms of organ manifestation (WHO SOC-code), causality (according to the Uppsala Monitoring Centre WHO criteria), and severity. Only those ADRs with a severity of grade 2 and higher according to the CTCAE classification system are described here. Results. Of the 3,813 patients hospitalized, 174 patients (4.6%) experienced 211 ADRs (CTCAE grade 2/3 n = 191, 90.5%, CTCAE grade 4/5 n = 20, 9.5%) of which 57 ADRs (27.0%) were serious. The median age of patients with ADRs (62.1% females) was 72.0 (IQR: 61.0; 80.0). Six patients (0.2%) experienced six ADRs (2.8% of ADRs) caused by eight suspected AMEDs, all of which were mild reactions (grade 2). Conclusion. Our data show that ADRs caused by AMEDs occur rarely and are limited to mild symptoms

Translation-invariance of two-dimensional Gibbsian point processes

The conservation of translation as a symmetry in two-dimensional systems with interaction is a classical subject of statistical mechanics. Here we establish such a result for Gibbsian particle systems with two-body interaction, where the interesting cases of singular, hard-core and discontinuous interaction are included. We start with the special case of pure hard core repulsion in order to show how to treat hard cores in general.Comment: 44 pages, 6 figure