Development of a Telemetry System for a Meteorologically Instrumented Small Unmanned Aerial System

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are now being realized as an important instrument in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) research where they fill an important gap between ground-based instruments and the altitudes that manned aircraft can safely operate at. They also provide a way to obtain high spatial resolution near-surface measurements between fixed meteorological infrastructure. While there have been several sUAS sensor suites developed for the measurement of scalar atmospheric parameters such as temperature, humidity, and pressure, only a small subset of these sensor suites are capable of measuring wind velocity. Most of these wind measurement solutions have been developed for fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. This work details the implementation of a telemetry system for a recently developed multirotor hosted meteorological instrumentation suite that measures both scalar atmospheric parameters and 3-dimensional wind components. Data is now successfully collected, transmitted and received in real time for the ground-based operations crew and scientific team

Development of a Meteorologically Instrumented Small Transition Unmanned Aerial System For Urban Boundary Layer Investigations

It is estimated that more than 55% of the world’s population is currently living in urban areas and this number is expected to grow to 70% by 2050. The environment that houses this population is the urban boundary layer (UBL). The UBL is the portion of the atmospheric boundary layer whose characteristics are modified by the presence of a city and is regarded as one of the most complex and least understood environments. In order to investigate this region, an electric hybrid (transition) unmanned aerial system (UAS) was meteorologically instrumented. A hybrid UAS allows the meteorological sensor suite to be protected during vertical launch and recovery, allows for more deployment options in an urban environment, and capitalizes on the efficiency of forward flight. This work, under mentoring by Dr. Kevin Adkins, details the design, assembly and integration of the sensor suite that consists of a multi-hole pressure probe along with a temperature and humidity sensor. Each sensor’s data is time and geo-stamped and subsequently post-processed. The instrumented platform is planned to be fielded during the summer of 2020 and beyond

Development of a Telemetry System for a Meteorologically Instrumented Small Unmanned Aerial System

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) are now being realized as an important instrument in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) research where they fill an important gap between ground-based instruments and the altitudes that manned aircraft can safely operate at. They also provide a way to obtain high spatial resolution near-surface measurements between fixed meteorological infrastructure. While there have been several sUAS sensor suites developed for the measurement of scalar atmospheric parameters such as temperature, humidity, and pressure, only a small subset of these sensor suites are capable of measuring wind velocity. Most of these wind measurement solutions have been developed for fixed-wing unmanned aircraft. This work details the implementation of a telemetry system for a recently developed multirotor hosted meteorological instrumentation suite that measures both scalar atmospheric parameters and 3-dimensional wind components. Data is now successfully collected, transmitted and received in real time for the ground-based operations crew and scientific team

Elevated expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome in neutrophilic asthma

Asthma is a heterogeneous inflammatory airways disorder where interleukin (IL)-1β is thought to be a key mediator, especially in the neutrophilic subtype of asthma. The generation of active IL-1β requires proteolytic cleavage typically mediated through the formation of a caspase-1-containing inflammasome. This study hypothesised that an IL-1β endotype associated with the nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat-containing family protein (NLRP)3/apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase-recruitment domain (ASC)/caspase-1 inflammasome is characteristic of patients with the neutrophilic subtype of asthma. Participants with asthma (n=85) and healthy controls (n=27) underwent clinical assessment, spirometry and sputum induction. Sputum was processed for differential cell count, gene expression and protein mediators. NLRP3 and caspase-1 expression was also determined by immunocytochemistry. Sputum macrophages were isolated (n=8) and gene expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β determined. There was significantly elevated gene expression of NLRP3, caspase-1, caspase-4, caspase-5 and IL-1β in participants with neutrophilic asthma. Protein levels of IL-1β were significantly higher in those with neutrophilic asthma and correlated with sputum IL-8 levels. Sputum macrophages, as well as sputum neutrophils in neutrophilic asthma, expressed NLRP3 and caspase-1 protein. NLRP3 inflammasome is upregulated in neutrophilic asthma and may regulate the inflammation process observed in this asthma phenotype through production of IL-1β

Toll/IL-1 signaling is critical for house dust mite-specific Th1 and Th2 responses

Rationale: One of the immunopathological features of allergic inflammation is the infiltration of helper T type 2 (Th2) cells to the site of disease. Activation of innate pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) plays a critical role in helper T type 1 cell differentiation, yet their contribution to the generation of Th2 responses to clinically relevant aeroallergens remains poorly defined. Objectives: To determine the requirement for TLR2, TLR4, and the Toll/ IL-1 receptor domain adaptor protein MyD88 in a murine model of allergic asthma. Methods: Wild-type and factor-deficient (⁻/⁻) mice were sensitized intranasally to the common allergen house dust mite (HDM) and challenged 2 weeks later on four consecutive days. Measurements of allergic airway inflammation, T-cell cytokine production, and airway hyperreactivity were performed 24 hours later. Measurements and Main Results: Mice deficient in MyD88 were protected from the cardinal features of allergic asthma, including granulocytic inflammation, Th2 cytokine production and airway hyperreactivity. Although HDM activated NF-kB in TLR2- or TLR4-expressing HEκ cells, only in TLR4⁻/⁻ mice was the magnitude of allergic airway inflammation and hyperreactivity attenuated. The diminished Th2 response present in MyD88⁻/⁻ and TLR4⁻/⁻ mice was associated with fewer OX40 ligand–expressing myeloid dendritic cells in the draininglymph nodes during allergic sensitization. Finally, HDM-specific IL-17 production and airway neutrophilia were attenuated in MyD88⁻/⁻ but not TLR4⁻/⁻ mice. Conclusions: Together, these data suggest that Th2-andTh17-mediated inflammation generated on inhalational HDM exposure is differentially regulated by the presence of microbial products and the activation of distinct MyD88-dependent pattern recognition receptors