Autonomous Vertical Recovery of Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) prevail in commercial and first responder applications, the need for safer and more consistent recovery methods is growing. Standard aircraft landing manoeuvres are only possible with a suitable runway which is often unavailable outside of military applications. Alternative recovery approaches can be either contained within the aircraft, ie. parachute or be setup on the ground ie. net landing. By integrating the recovery system into the vehicle, the flight preparation can be streamlined due to the fact that setting up recovering devices is no longer required. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the application of an autonomous vertical landing capability for fixed wing UAVs using articulated motors to enter vertical flight. Using an experimental UAV design, the dynamics of the problem were investigated using recorded flight data. Implementing a decoupled control approach, the aircraft was stabilized to maintain a horizontal hover. Through the characterized plant model that defines the vertical descent behaviour, a control topology was developed and tested in simulation using an optimal control approach. The developed controller was tested on the experimental UAV to verify the vertical landing performance. It was determined that this approach was well suited to autonomous vertical recovery of a fixed wing UAV. In employing this approach to UAV recovery, operators can easily operate in theatres where space for conventional landing does not exist

A hegemonia do futebol enquanto esporte em um programa de mídia esportiva e suas relações com o esporte na educação física escolar

O estudo buscou analisar e discutir o esporte divulgado pelo programa Globo Esporte® e suas relações com o conteúdo de esporte na Educação Física escolar. Foi realizado uma análise observacional das edições nacionais do programa Globo Esporte® durante 13 dias, pelas quais constatou-se que em média 78,7% das notícias de cada edição estavam vinculadas ao esporte futebol, enquanto 21,3% se vinculavam aos demais esportes no conjunto. A hegemonia do futebol no programa foi aproximada de elementos implícitos, que discutidos a partir da Educação Física se desdobraram em interesses secundários, dos quais destacou-se o consumismo e o político. Assim, concluiu-se que o esporte divulgado no programa Globo Esporte® resume-se predominantemente em futebol, possibilitando formular relações ambíguas à faceta do esporte pedagógico

Consumo alimentar de adolescentes de diferentes níveis de atividade física

Introdução: Elevadas taxas de alimentação inadequada e baixo nível de atividade física integram o estilo de vida do adolescente. Ademais, há necessidade de estudar esses fatores em cidades com menores dimensões geográficas, bem como analisa-los em forma de contrastes, uma vez que, poucos estudos são encontrados na literatura. Objetivo: Comparar o consumo alimentar e o estado nutricional de adolescentes de diferentes níveis de atividade física. Metodologia: Participaram do estudo 76 adolescentes, com idade média de 12,76±1,67 anos, assim eles responderam questionários de atividade física e alimentação. Utilizou-se os testes U de Mann Whitney, teste t independente e qui-quadrado com ? de 0,05 para analisar os dados. Resultados: De oito grupos da pirâmide alimentar, um ajustou-se às recomendações nutricionais (carnes e ovos; p=0,06) com adequação de 123%, quatro obtiveram consumo insuficiente (verduras e legumes -86,7%, frutas -71%, massas -47,9% e leite e derivados -30,7%) e três revelaram consumo excessivo (feijões +111%, gorduras e óleos +142% e açucares e doces +521%). Além disso, houve prevalência de adolescentes ativos (83,8%) em relação aos pouco ativos (16,2%). Conclusão: Não houve diferença do consumo alimentar e do estado nutricional entre adolescentes pouco ativos e ativos. Entretanto, são necessárias estratégias para aderência à alimentação mais qualificada, uma vez que, apenas um grupo alimentar esteve de acordo com as recomendações nutricionais

Targeted next generation sequencing as a reliable diagnostic assay for the detection of somatic mutations in tumours using minimal DNA amounts from formalin fixed paraffin embedded material

Background Targeted Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) offers a way to implement testing of multiple genetic aberrations in diagnostic pathology practice, which is necessary for personalized cancer treatment. However, no standards regarding input material have been defined. This study therefore aimed to determine the effect of the type of input material (e.g. formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) versus fresh frozen (FF) tissue) on NGS derived results. Moreover, this study aimed to explore a standardized analysis pipeline to support consistent clinical decision-making. Method We used the Ion Torrent PGM sequencing platform in combination with the Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2 to sequence frequently mutated regions in 50 cancer related genes, and validated the NGS detected variants in 250 FFPE samples using standard diagnostic assays. Next, 386 tumour samples were sequenced to explore the effect of input material on variant detection variables. For variant calling, Ion Torrent analysis software was supplemented with additional variant annotation and filtering. Results Both FFPE and FF tissue could be sequenced reliably with a sensitivity of 99.1%. Validation showed a 98.5%concordance between NGS and conventional sequencing techniques, where NGS provided both the advantage of low input DNA concentration and the detectio

The challenges of genome-wide interaction studies: Lessons to learn from the analysis of HDL blood levels

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed 74 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) blood levels. This study is, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide interaction study (GWIS) to identify SNP6SNP interactions associated with HDL levels. We performed a GWIS in the Rotterdam Study (RS) cohort I (RS-I) using the GLIDE tool which leverages the massively parallel computing power of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to perform linear regression on all genome-wide pairs of SNPs. By performing a meta-analysis together with Rotterdam Study cohorts II and III (RS-II and RS-III), we were able to filter 181 interaction terms with a p-value, 1 · 1028 that replicated in the two independent cohorts. We were not able to replicate any of these interaction term in the AGES, ARIC, CHS, ERF, FHS and NFBC-66 cohorts (Ntotal = 30, 011) when adjusting for multiple testing. Our GWIS resulted in the consistent finding of a possible interaction between rs774801 in ARMC8 (ENSG00000114098) and rs12442098 in SPATA8 (ENSG00000185594) being associated with HDL levels. However, p-values do not reach the preset Bonferroni correction of the p-values. Our study suggest that even for highly genetically determined traits such as HDL the sample sizes needed to detect SNP6SNP interactions are large and the 2-step filtering approaches do not yield a solution. Here we present our analysis plan and our reservations concerning GWIS

The Challenges of Genome-Wide Interaction Studies : Lessons to Learn from the Analysis of HDL Blood Levels

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed 74 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) blood levels. This study is, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide interaction study (GWIS) to identify SNP×SNP interactions associated with HDL levels. We performed a GWIS in the Rotterdam Study (RS) cohort I (RS-I) using the GLIDE tool which leverages the massively parallel computing power of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to perform linear regression on all genome-wide pairs of SNPs. By performing a meta-analysis together with Rotterdam Study cohorts II and III (RS-II and RS-III), we were able to filter 181 interaction terms with a p-value<1 · 10-8 that replicated in the two independent cohorts. We were not able to replicate any of these interaction term in the AGES, ARIC, CHS, ERF, FHS and NFBC-66 cohorts (Ntotal = 30,011) when adjusting for multiple testing. Our GWIS resulted in the consistent finding of a possible interaction between rs774801 in ARMC8 (ENSG00000114098) and rs12442098 in SPATA8 (ENSG00000185594) being associated with HDL levels. However, p-values do not reach the preset Bonferroni correction of the p-values. Our study suggest that even for highly genetically determined traits such as HDL the sample sizes needed to detect SNP×SNP interactions are large and the 2-step filtering approaches do not yield a solution. Here we present our analysis plan and our reservations concerning GWIS.Peer reviewe

Thermal deformation in High Temperature ATES systems

High Temperature Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (HT-ATES) is a technique for storing large amounts of residual heat in the subsurface. In this report, the thermal deformation resulting from the temperature change in the subsurface is investigated and the resulting risks for buildings are assessed. To do this a case study is done on the TU Delft campus subsurface. It has been determined that the thermal deformation due to HT-ATES systems is small with a maximal deformation of 14 cm. It has also been determined that the stability risks for buildings that are constructed in the vicinity of a HT-ATES system are very low.AESB341

Bridging the policy implementation gap: a draft design method for assessment frameworks: Applied to the case of urban geothermal energy development

To deal with the pressure on urban energy infrastructures, renewable urban planning is on the rise and ambitious sustainability targets have been set to transform cities. Although these targets have resulted in many sustainable policies, the implementation of sustainability policies is lagging, hindering the energy transition. One such case, is the geothermal energy sector of the Netherlands, specifically in the urban environment. To overcome this implementation gap, this study investigates the role that assessment frameworks (afwegingskaders) might be able to play. To explore both the design of assessment frameworks and the key issues of urban geothermal energy development, the main research question investigates how assessment frameworks can support local policy making in dealing with the complexity of urban geothermal energy development in the Netherlands. The aim of this research is to develop a draft design method for assessment frameworks and to create a basis from which local assessment frameworks on urban GE can be designed. The draft design method for assessment frameworks has been developed by researching existing assessment frameworks and by studying literature on public decision-making. The case of urban geothermal energy has been investigated by conducting multiple rounds of interviews with several diverse representatives of the urban geothermal energy sector. The draft design method takes a 4 step process to design an assessment framework along the lines of a value hierarchy: gathering norms by analyzing the public debate; deriving values from these norms; specifying the values and norms into final intervention specifications; and lastly justifying each final specification, making the trade-offs between the different values and norms explicit and traceable, and hereby reflecting on the balance between long and short term values and ambitions of the municipality.For the case of urban geothermal energy development, four key issues have been identified. These are: collective action, which concerns the directing of the different actors involved; effective citizens communication, which addresses the challenge of social acceptance; lead times, which concerns the long and still inefficient processes of permit procedures; and financing, which addresses the challenges of investment in a relatively new and inherently uncertain industry.The following recommendations can be made. The design method for assessment frameworks needs refinement. The next step in developing this draft is to work out all four steps extensively. For the development of local assessment frameworks for urban geothermal energy, it is advised to help municipalities in creating an assessment framework by doing preliminary work to make the four-step process accessible. It is advised to generate a general list of values, norms, and suggested final specifications. Also, a draft can be created for the context chapter, detailing the national context of the heat transition. In doing so, municipalities only need to: 1) connect the drafted context chapter to their local energy transition policies; 2) evaluate with their citizens if the list of values and norms is adequate; 3) design intervention requirements based the suggested interventions; and then 4) consult with their citizens if the political choices made are clear and just.Complex Systems Engineering and Management (CoSEM