Spectral Characterization of Suspected Acid Deposition Damage in Red Spruce (picea Rubens) Stands from Vermont

In an attempt to demonstrate the utility of remote sensing systems to monitor sites of suspected acid rain deposition damage, intensive field activities, coupled with aircraft overflights, were centered on red spruce stands in Vermont during August and September of 1984. Remote sensing data were acquired using the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer, Thematic Mapper Simulator, Barnes Model 12 to 1000 Modular Multiband Radiometer and Spectron Engineering Spectrometer (the former two flown on the NASA C-130; the latter two on A Bell UH-1B Iroquois Helicopter). Field spectral data were acquired during the week of the August overflights using a high spectral resolution spectrometer and two broad-band radiometers. Preliminary analyses of these data indicate a number of spectral differences in vegetation between high and low damage sites. Some of these differences are subtle, and are observable only with high spectral resolution sensors; others are less subtle and are observable using broad-band sensors

TCMS operations and maintenance philosophy

The purpose is to describe the basic philosophies of operating and maintaining the Test, Control, and Monitor System (TCMS) equipment. TCMS is a complex and sophisticated checkout system. Operations and maintenance processes developed to support it will be based upon current experience, but will be focused on the specific needs of TCMS in support of Space Station Freedom Program (SSFP) and related activities. An overview of the operations and maintenance goals and philosophies are presented. The assumptions, roles and responsibilities, concepts and interfaces for operation, on-line maintenance, off-line support, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) personnel training on all TCMS equipment located at KSC are described

Effect of Conditioned Medium on the Recovery of Dormant Mycobacteria in Culture

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Mpt) is the etiologic agent of Johne’s disease, a chronic intestinal disease in cattle that threatens the economic viability of dairy farming. Diagnostic culture is typically unrewarding until several years after infection when clinical signs can be observed. This leads to widespread infection within the herd. Difficulty in culturing Mpt may be a result of oxidative damage due to the increased metabolic rate when dormant organisms are recovered in a nutrient rich medium. In order to improve recovery it is believed that some organisms secrete a growth factor in times of environmental stress which enables them to grow more quickly when conditions improve. The purpose of the project was to test conditioned medium (CM) and its components as a method of improving the recovery of Mpt. The conditioned medium from Mpt was separated into 4 fractions based on molecular weight using centrifuge filters. Unsupplemented media (Middlebrook 7H9C or Luria-Bertani broth) and those containing serial dilutions of fractionated or unfractionated Mpt-conditioned medium were inoculated with Mpt or Mycobacterium smegatis (MS); a non-pathogenic species. Growth was monitored by measuring the optical density of the cultures for up to 30 days. Unfractionated Mpt-conditioned medium promoted a two fold or greater enhancement of Mpt growth, but had no effect on that of MS. Results of treatment with conditioned medium fractions are pending. Recovery of dormant Mpt was increased by the use of conditioned medium

Monetary Awards for Public Law Wrongs: Australia's Resistant Legal Landscape

The idea of introducing a monetary remedy for harm arising out of the misdirected exercise of public power has waxed and waned in popularity in Australia over the years. Though few would dispute the intuitive appeal of the sentiment that wrongs should not go unremedied, the question of how harm arising from maladministration could, or should, be repaired remains unresolved. This article canvasses a number of the potential justifications for the creation of such a remedy, before noting the various avenues the Australian courts have considered, and closed down, which might otherwise have led in that direction. These rejected opportunities have included the expansion of existing tort actions, the creation of new causes of action in tort, and the interpretation of statutory remedial powers. Whatever the merit of a remedy on this front, it is clear that it will need to be a matter of legislative, rather than judicial, intervention

Sensor failure detection system

Advanced concepts for detecting, isolating, and accommodating sensor failures were studied to determine their applicability to the gas turbine control problem. Five concepts were formulated based upon such techniques as Kalman filters and a screening process led to the selection of one advanced concept for further evaluation. The selected advanced concept uses a Kalman filter to generate residuals, a weighted sum square residuals technique to detect soft failures, likelihood ratio testing of a bank of Kalman filters for isolation, and reconfiguring of the normal mode Kalman filter by eliminating the failed input to accommodate the failure. The advanced concept was compared to a baseline parameter synthesis technique. The advanced concept was shown to be a viable concept for detecting, isolating, and accommodating sensor failures for the gas turbine applications