Efficient object tracking in WAAS data streams

Wide area airborne surveillance (WAAS) systems are a new class of remote sensing imagers which have many military and civilian applications. These systems are characterized by long loiter times (extended imaging time over fixed target areas) and large footprint target areas. These characteristics complicate moving object detection and tracking due to the large image size and high number of moving objects. This thesis evaluates existing object detection and tracking algorithms with WAAS data and provides enhancements to the processing chain which decrease processing time and increase tracking accuracy. Decreases in processing time are needed to perform real-time or near real-time tracking either on the WAAS sensor platform or in ground station processing centers. Increased tracking accuracy benefits real-time users and forensic (off-line) users. The original contribution of this thesis increases tracking efficiency and accuracy by breaking a WAAS scene into hierarchical areas of interest (AOIs) and through the use of hyperspectral cueing

The study of newer methods for the oxidation of organic compounds

Methods for the oxidation of aralkyl compounds have been examined with special reference to the oxidation of toluene and O-toluenesulphonamide. Catalytic aerial oxidations have been investigated as possible procedures with an industrial application. The stability of O-toluenesulphonamide towards oxidation is accounted for and the mechanism of oxidation of toluene by both homolytic and heterolytic bond fission is discussed. The preparation of saccharin by oxidation of O-toluenesulphonamide with manganese dioxide in acid solution is reported. [Continues.

The kynurenine pathway: towards metabolic equilibrium

No abstract available

X-57 Power and Command System Design

This paper describes the power and command system architecture of the X-57 Maxwell flight demonstrator aircraft. The X-57 is an experimental aircraft designed to demonstrate radically improved aircraft efficiency with a 3.5 times aero-propulsive efficiency gain at a "high-speed cruise" flight condition for comparable general aviation aircraft. These gains are enabled by integrating the design of a new, optimized wing and a new electric propulsion system. As a result, the X-57 vehicle takes advantage of the new capabilities afforded by electric motors as primary propulsors. Integrating new technologies into critical systems in experimental aircraft poses unique challenges that require careful design considerations across the entire vehicle system, such as qualification of new propulsors (motors, in the case of the X-57 aircraft), compatibility of existing systems with a new electric power distribution bus, and instrumentation and monitoring of newly qualified propulsion system devices

A physical activity program to mobilize older people: A practical and sustainable approach

Purpose: Despite the documented benefits of physical activity, it remains difficult to motivate older adults to start and maintain regular physical activity. This study tested an innovative intervention for mobilizing older adults into a neighborhood-based walking program. Design and Methods: Researchers recruited a total of 260 healthy but insufficiently active adults aged 65 to 74 years and randomly selected from the Australian electoral roll from 30 Perth metropolitan neighborhoods. Social cognitive theory guided the design of the program. Researchers collected both qualitative and quantitative data to inform the development, together with ongoing process evaluation. Results: A total of 65% of participants completed the program. Their mean weekly walking time for recreation increased by about 100 min, and 80% of participants reported that they would continue to walk twice per week upon program completion. Implications: This practical program is potentially effective and sustainable with respect to mobilizing physically inactive older people

On the correlation between dye coverage and photoelectrochemical performance in dye-sensitized solar cells

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)Concentration depth profiles of the ruthenium based dyes Z907 and N719 adsorbed onto titania are measured directly and used for determining the adsorption isotherm of the dyes. Dye layers formed by both grow in islands on the titania which do not cover the entire titania surface even at the maximum coverage. Impedance spectroscopy in conjunction with the adsorption isotherms shows that recombination losses mainly appear between the dye and the electrolyte solution. The short circuit current and the efficiency increase linearly with the dye coverage. The open circuit voltage slightly increases with increasing dye coverage which is interpreted as most likely to be a consequence of the higher charge in the particles upon higher dye loading on the TiO2 surface

3D UK? 3D History and the Absent British Pioneers

The recent television ‘rediscovery’ of a small cohort of 1950s British 3D films (and the producers who made them) has offered a new route into considering how the historical stories told about 3D film have focused almost exclusively on the American experience, eliding other national contexts. This article challenges both the partiality of existing academic histories of 3D, and the specific popular media narratives that have been constructed around the British 3D pioneers. Offering a rebuttal of those narratives and an expansion of them based around primary archival research, the article considers how the British 3D company Stereo Techniques created a different business and production model based around non-fiction short 3D films that stand in contrast to the accepted view of 3D as an American feature film novelty. Through an exploration of the depiction (and absence) of these 3D pioneers from existing media histories, the article argues for a revision to both 3D studies and British cinema history

Mechanisms of cell uptake and toxicity of the anticancer drug cisplatin

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Two major issues which hamper the use of the anticancer drug cisplatin are the development of cancer cell resistance and its nephrotoxicity. One possible mechanism by which resistance is reported to develop is a reduction in drug uptake across the cell membrane. While the passive uptake of cisplatin has long been cited as an important contribution, far greater attention has been given to active modes of uptake, particularly in recent research. Using unilamellar lipid vesicles together with the stopped-flow kinetic method we show here that the permeability coefficient of cisplatin increases significantly with the chloride concentration of the medium. This supports the hypothesis that cisplatin can enter cells via passive permeation through the lipid phase of the membrane, but becomes trapped within the cytoplasm because dissociation of chloride ligands yields a membrane-impermeant positively-charged aqua derivative. This is important evidence for a major role of passive membrane diffusion in the uptake of cisplatin, and suggests that reduced cell uptake is unlikely to be a significant mechanism leading to the development of drug resistance. Studies of rubidium ion uptake into the cytoplasm of Xenopus oocytes via the Na+,K+-ATPase show significant inhibition of this ion pump when cisplatin is present in the cytoplasm. Because Na+,K+-ATPase activity is essential to the survival of all animal cells, e.g. via maintenance of cell volume, and the Na+,K+-ATPase is expressed at particularly high levels within the membranes of kidney tubules where it plays a crucial role in nutrient reabsorption, these results suggest that cisplatin-induced inhibition of the Na+,K+-ATPase is a likely contributing cause for the nephrotoxicity of cisplatin.DFG, EXC 314, Unifying Concepts in Catalysi