Useful applications of earth-oriented satellites - Systems for remote-sensing information and distribution, panel 8

Problems and potential use of data gathered by remote sensing from satellites or aircraf

Evaluation of Two Implant Strategies, Revalor- XH or a Combination Revalor- IH/Revalor- 200 on Heifer Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics

A commercial feedlot trial examined effects of two implant strategies (Revalor- IH on d 1 and re- implanted with Revalor- 200 on d 101 or Revalor- XH on d 1) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of heifers fed 183 days. Th ere were no differences between implant strategies for final body weight, dry matter intake, and average daily gain. Heifers implanted with the combination IH/200 treatment had improved carcassadjusted feed conversion, greater LM area, and lower calculated yield grade compared to heifers implanted with XH. Th e response in growth performance between the two implant strategies suggests that the partiallycoated Revalor- XH implant can be used in place of a more aggressive implant strategy when heifers are fed to similar days

Discovering Valuable Items from Massive Data

Suppose there is a large collection of items, each with an associated cost and an inherent utility that is revealed only once we commit to selecting it. Given a budget on the cumulative cost of the selected items, how can we pick a subset of maximal value? This task generalizes several important problems such as multi-arm bandits, active search and the knapsack problem. We present an algorithm, GP-Select, which utilizes prior knowledge about similarity be- tween items, expressed as a kernel function. GP-Select uses Gaussian process prediction to balance exploration (estimating the unknown value of items) and exploitation (selecting items of high value). We extend GP-Select to be able to discover sets that simultaneously have high utility and are diverse. Our preference for diversity can be specified as an arbitrary monotone submodular function that quantifies the diminishing returns obtained when selecting similar items. Furthermore, we exploit the structure of the model updates to achieve an order of magnitude (up to 40X) speedup in our experiments without resorting to approximations. We provide strong guarantees on the performance of GP-Select and apply it to three real-world case studies of industrial relevance: (1) Refreshing a repository of prices in a Global Distribution System for the travel industry, (2) Identifying diverse, binding-affine peptides in a vaccine de- sign task and (3) Maximizing clicks in a web-scale recommender system by recommending items to users

CD25 expression distinguishes functionally distinct alloreactive CD4+ CD134+ (OX40+) T-cell subsets in acute graft-versus-host disease

AbstractCD134 (OX40) is expressed on activated CD4+ donor T cells in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients with acute graft-versus-host disease. The data presented here reveal that differential expression of CD25 by CD4+ CD134+ T cells allows separation of these activated cells into 2 phenotypically and functionally distinct alloreactive T-cell subsets. These subsets exhibit distinct tissue associations, with CD4+ CD134+ CD25− T cells preferentially found in lymphoid tissues and CD4+ CD134+ CD25+ T cells located in lymphoid tissues and inflamed extralymphoid tissues. The CD25− T-cell subset exhibited potent proliferative responses to both concanavalin A and allogeneic host leukocytes. By contrast, the CD25+ T-cell subset proliferated minimally in response to either treatment and inhibited alloantigen-induced proliferation of the CD25− subset. Proliferative unresponsiveness associated with the CD25+ T-cell subset did not extend to cytokine secretion. When stimulated with alloantigen, both CD4+ CD134+ T-cell subsets responded by secreting interferon-γ and interleukin (IL)-10, and neither T-cell subset produced detectable levels of IL-2 or IL-4. Three-day treatment of the CD25+ T-cell subset with IL-2 restored the proliferative responsiveness of these cells to host alloantigens, suggesting that the proliferative unresponsiveness associated with this T-cell subset reflected a requirement for IL-2. The preferential tissue associations and distinct functional properties associated with these separable alloreactive CD4+ CD134+ T-cell subsets suggest that they participate differentially in clinical graft-versus-host disease

Effect of Three Initial Implant Programs with a Common Terminal Revalor®- 200 on Feedlot Performance and Carcass Traits of Weaned Steers

A commercial feedlot study utilizing 1,350 calf- fed steers (initial BW = 623 lb; ±23 lb) compared three initial implant strategies: Revalor®- IS (day 1), Revalor®- IS (day 1) and Revalor®- 200 (day 67), or Revalor®- XS (day 1). Each initial implant strategy was followed by a terminal Revalor®- 200 implant (day 133) to determine effects on performance and carcass traits. No differences in final body weight, intake, gain, or feed conversion were observed on either a live, or carcass adjusted basis. Th ere were also no differences in hot carcass weight, USDA quality grade, or USDA yield grade. Results from this study suggest initial implant strategy has minimal impact on feedlot and carcass performance when following with a terminal Revalor®- 200 implant

Bright X-ray radiation from plasma bubbles in an evolving laser wakefield accelerator

We show that the properties of the electron beam and bright x-rays produced by a laser wakefield accelerator can be predicted if the distance over which the laser self-focuses and compresses prior to self-injection is taken into account. A model based on oscillations of the beam inside a plasma bubble shows that performance is optimised when the plasma length is matched to the laser depletion length. With a 200~TW laser pulse this results in an x-ray beam with median photon energy of \unit[20]{keV}, $> 6\times 10^{8}$ photons above \unit[1]{keV} per shot and a peak brightness of \unit[3 \times 10^{22}]{photons~s^{-1}mrad^{-2}mm^{-2} (0.1\% BW)^{-1}}.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure