Making Ordnance Identification Available to Everyone

The continued focus on the use of mobile technology in support of humanitarian demining operations has not only highlighted how these technologies can be adapted and used but has also resulted in tangible tools that can be put to use now. Despite these advances, the cost and availability of these capabilities remains a challenge when resources are limited. Together, the U.S. Army’s Unexploded Ordnance Center of Excellence (UXOCOE), the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) at James Madison University, and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) have solved a key part of that problem by providing resources and access to make a critical set of information available to a wide audience at no cost: the Collaborative ORDnance Data Repository (CORD). CORD provides access to over 5,000 ordnance items that assist demining organizations in the proper identification of explosive remnants of war (ERW), including data on over 700 landmines. Unfortunately, until recently, this information was only available when connected to the internet or when using specific demining toolsets that included the CORD information

Maximizing the Effectiveness of Mobile Technology

Mobile technology has transformed the way we live our lives and has the potential to dramatically assist in demining. However, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems coupled with explosive remnants of war (ERW) related applications leave capability gaps and create potential risks that must be closed. A more tailored and deliberate ecosystem approach when employing mobile technology will yield greater benefits and avoid the problems encountered when Alexa, Cortana, Google Now or Siri do not provide the necessary information. It seems that at the times when you need information the most, the smart personal assistants provided by Google, Apple and Microsoft either provide you with information that isn’t relevant or they don’t provide any information because you do not have a strong enough cell signal to ask them a question

Transaminases for the synthesis of enantiopure beta-amino acids

Optically pure β-amino acids constitute interesting building blocks for peptidomimetics and a great variety of pharmaceutically important compounds. Their efficient synthesis still poses a major challenge. Transaminases (also known as aminotransferases) possess a great potential for the synthesis of optically pure β-amino acids. These pyridoxal 5'-dependent enzymes catalyze the transfer of an amino group from a donor substrate to an acceptor, thus enabling the synthesis of a wide variety of chiral amines and amino acids. Transaminases can be applied either for the kinetic resolution of racemic compounds or the asymmetric synthesis starting from a prochiral substrate. This review gives an overview over microbial transaminases with activity towards β-amino acids and their substrate spectra. It also outlines current strategies for the screening of new biocatalysts. Particular emphasis is placed on activity assays which are applicable to high-throughput screening

Mobilization and differentiation of epicardial cells in murine development

[no abstract

A model of the determinants of expenditure on children's personal social services

Every year the United Kingdom central government assesses the relative spending needs of English local authorities in respect of the services for which is it responsible. This is done by estimating a Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) for each service, which is intended to indicate the spending requirements of an authority if it were to adopt a standard level of services, given the circumstances in its area. In practice, statistical methods are used to develop SSAs for most services. This report describes the findings of a study designed to review the methods for setting SSAs for a single service: personal social services (PSS) for children, which in 1995/96 accounting for about £1.8 billion of expenditure (4.4% of total local government expenditure). The study was commissioned by the Department of Health and undertaken by a consortium which comprised The University of York, MORI and the National Children’s Bureau. The study was guided by a technical advisory group, comprising representatives from the local authority associations and the Department of Health. In seeking to limit the length of the report, the authors have necessarily omitted a great deal of the technical material produced in the course of the study. We understand that the Department of Health is willing to make this material and the data used in the study available to interested parties, subject to certain confidentiality restrictions. Existing methodology for constructing SSAs had been the subject of some criticism, both in general and specifically in respect of children’s PSS. This document reports the results of a study designed to apply a radically new statistical approach to estimating the SSA for children’s PSS. Previous methods were based on statistical analysis of local authority aggregate data. In contrast, this study is based on an analysis of PSS spending in 1,036 small areas (with populations of about 10,000) within 25 local authorities. A relatively new statistical method known as multilevel modelling, which was originally developed in the educational sector, was used for this purpose.children, SSA, social services

Is the porcine RN locus a pleiotropic QTL? A Bayesian marker assisted segregation analysis

International audienc

Mapping the porcine RN gene to chromosome 15

International audienc

Fertigungsstrategie einer Turbinenblisk aus oxidischer Faserverbundkeramik mittels Infusionsverfahren unter Berücksichtigung materialtechnischer Einflussfaktoren

In dieser Arbeit wird im Rahmen von FFE+, einem internen Projekt des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt, eine entscheidungsbasierte Fertigungsstrategie für die Herstellung einer Mikrogasturbinenblisk aus oxidkeramischem Faserverbundwerkstoff entwickelt. Hierfür soll das vakuumbasierte Infusionsverfahren der Abteilung Struktur- und Funktionskeramik des Instituts für Werksstoffforschung verwendet werden. Zunächst wird der theoretische Hintergrund des Materials und die davon etablierte Verarbeitung betrachtet. Aus Basis dieser Grundlage können das System und Funktionen der oxidkeramischen Blisk im Sinne der methodischen Prozessentwicklung bestimmt werden. Die darin formulierten Anforderungen und Bewertungskriterien lassen eine aufwandsreduzierte Entwurfsphase von Konzepten oder Lösungsprinzipien zu. Hierbei ist die Faserstruktur der maßgeblicher Einflussfaktor in der Lösungsfindung. Nach der Bewertung, Validierung und Anpassung der Ergebnisse wird die Fertigungsstrategie auf dem best-bewerteten Konzept und den bisherigen Projekten der Abteilung entworfen. Zusätzlich ist in dieser Arbeit eine Machbarkeitsstudie am Institut für Flugzeugbau der Universität Stuttgart von einem bislang unbekannten Verfahren zur Herstellung oxidkeramischer Faserpreforms durchgeführt worden. Da eine Aussage über die Materialkennwerte für eine sichere Funktionsgewährleistung notwendig ist, sind Materialversuche bei Raum- und Hochtemperatur geplant. Das abschließende Ziel einer Prozessketten-Grundlage von Projekten mit dem vakuumbasierten Infusionsverfahren des Instituts für Werkstoffforschung fasst die Ergebnisse von dieser Arbeit und anderen Erfahrungsberichten zusammen