Assessment of ocean prediction model for Naval Operations using acoustic preset

OCEANS2005, MTS/IEEE Conference Proceedings, DVD-ROMThe outcome of a battlefield engagement is often determined by the advantages and disadvantages held by each adversary. On the modern battlefield, the possessor of the best technology often has the upper hand, but only if that advanced technology is used properly and efficiently. In order to exploit this advantage and optimize the effectiveness of high technology sensor and weapon systems, it is essential to understand the impact on them by the environment. In the arena of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), the ocean environment determines the performance of the acoustic sensors employed and the success of any associated weapon systems. Since acoustic sensors detect underwater sound waves, understanding how those waves propagate is crucial to knowing how the sensors will perform and being able to optimize their performance in a given situation. To gain this understanding, an accurate depiction of the ocean environment is necessary. How acoustic waves propagate from one location to another under water is determined by many factors, some of which are described by the sound speed profile (SSP). If the environmental properties of temperature and salinity are known over the entire depth range, the SSP can be compiled by using them in an empirical formula to calculate the expected sound speed in a vertical column of water. One way to determine these environmental properties is to measure them in situ, such as by conductivity-temperature-depth or expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts. This method is not always tactically feasible and only gives the vertical profile at one location producing a very limited picture of the regional ocean structure. Another method is to estimate the ocean conditions using numerical models. The valued-aided ocean prediction models to ASW is assessed in this study. Such quantitative analyses offer a means to optimize the ASW requirements and technical capabilities of new weapon systems. We use observed and modeled 3-D fields of temperature, salinity, and sound speed. Compare model profiles to observed profiles. Do ocean models predict the vertical features of the observational data? Run representative modeled and observed SSP profiles through Navy’s acoustic models to see if there is an acoustic difference in propagation and weapon preset

Methylene Blue Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging in Breast Cancer Sentinel Node Biopsy

Introduction: Fluorescence-based navigation for breast cancer sentinel node biopsy is a novel method that uses indocyanine green as a fluorophore. However, methylene blue (MB) also has some fluorescent properties. This study is the first in a clinical series presenting the possible use of MB as a fluorescent dye for the identification of sentinel nodes in breast sentinel node biopsy. Material and methods: Forty-nine patients with breast cancer who underwent sentinel node biopsy procedures were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent standard simultaneous injection of nanocolloid and MB. We visualized and assessed the sentinel nodes and the lymphatic channels transcutaneously, with and without fluorescence, and calculated the signal-to-background ratio (SBR). We also analyzed the corresponding fluorescence intensity of various dilutions of MB. Results: In twenty-three patients (46.9%), the location of the sentinel node, or the end of the lymphatic path, was visible transcutaneously. The median SBR for transcutaneous sentinel node location was 1.69 (range 1.66–4.35). Lymphatic channels were visible under fluorescence in 14 patients (28.6%) prior to visualization by the naked eye, with an average SBR of 2.01 (range 1.14–5.6). The sentinel node was visible under fluorescence in 25 patients (51%). The median SBR for sentinel node visualization with MB fluorescence was 2.54 (range 1.34–6.86). Sentinel nodes were visualized faster under fluorescence during sentinel node preparation. Factors associated with the rate of visualization included diabetes (p = 0.001), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.003), and multifocality (p = 0.004). The best fluorescence was obtained using 40 µM (0.0128 mg/mL) MB, but we also observed a clinically relevant dilution range between 20 µM (0.0064 mg/mL) and 100 µM (0.032 mg/mL). Conclusions: For the first time, we propose the clinical usage of MB as a fluorophore for fluorescence-guided sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer patients. The quenching effect of the dye may be the reason for its poor detection rate. Our analysis of different concentrations of MB suggests a need for a detailed clinical analysis to highlight the practical usefulness of the dye

Satellite Data Assimilation for Naval Undersea Capability Improvement

OCEANS 2003, MTS/IEEE Conference Proceedings, DVD-RO

Impact of GFO satellite on naval antisubmarine warfare

NATO RTB-SPSM01 Specialists Meeting on "Emerging and Future Technologies for Space Based Operations Support to NATO Military Operations", DVD-ROMThe purpose of this study is to assess the benefit of assimilating satellite altimeter data especially the US Navy’s GFO into the Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS). To accomplish this, two different MODAS fields are used by the Weapon Acoustic Preset Program (WAPP) to determine suggested presets for a Mk 48 variant torpedo. The MODAS fields differ in that one uses altimeter data assimilated from three satellites while the other uses no altimeter data. The metric used to compare the two sets of outputs is the relative difference in acoustic coverage area generated by WAPP. Output presets are created for five different scenarios, two Anti-Surface Warfare scenarios and three Anti-Submarine Warfare scenarios, in each of three regions: the East China Sea, Sea of Japan, and an area south of Japan that includes the Kuroshio current. Analysis of the output reveals that, in some situations, WAPP output is very sensitive to the inclusion of the altimeter data because of the resulting differences in the subsurface predictions. The change in weapon presets could be so much that the effectiveness of the weapon might be affected

Ocean nowcast/forecast systems for improvement of Naval undersea capabilities

Marine Technology Society Journal, 41 (2), Summer 2007The U.S. Navy is a major investor in ocean model development. The pay-off of such an investment is the value-added ocean nowcast/forecast systems on naval operations and warfare effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value added of the Navy’s nowcast/forecast system to naval antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface warfare (ASUW). The nowcast/forecast versus observational fields were used by the Weapon Acoustic Preset Program (WAPP) to determine the suggested presets for Mk 48 variant torpedo. The metric used to compare the two sets of outputs is the relative difference in acoustic coverage area generated by WAPP. Output presets are created for five different scenarios, two ASUW scenarios and three ASW scenarios in the South China Sea. The same metrics used in the nowcast/forecast case were used to generate and compare the acoustic coverage. Analysis of the output reveals that the ocean forecast system outperformed the nowcast system in most scenarios

Satellite data assimilation for improvement of Naval undersea capability

Marine Technology Society Journal, 38 (1), 11-23.Impact of satellite data assimilation on naval undersea capability is investigated using ocean hydrographic products without and with satellite data assimilation. The former is the Navy’s Global Digital Environmental Model (GDEM), providing a monthly mean; the latter is the Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS) providing synoptic analyses based upon satellite data. The two environmental datasets are taken as the input into the Weapon Acoustic Preset Program to determine the suggested presets for an Mk 48 torpedo. The acoustic coverage area generated by the program will be used as the metric to compare the two sets of outputs. The output presets were created for two different scenarios, an anti-surface warfare (ASUW) and an anti-submarine warfare (ASW); and three different depth bands, shallow, mid, and deep. After analyzing the output, it became clear that there was a great difference in the presets for the shallow depth band, and that as depth increased, the difference between the presets decreased. Therefore, the MODAS product, and in turn the satellite data assimilation, had greatest impact in the shallow depth band. The ASW presets also seemed to be slightly less sensitive to differences than did presets in the ASUW scenario

Sensitivity of satellite altimetry data assimilation on weapon acoustic preset using MODAS

IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, Vol. 32, No. 2, 453-468.The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JOE.2006.888869The purpose of this research is to assess the benefit of assimilating satellite altimeter data for naval undersea warfare. To accomplish this, sensitivity of the weapon acoustic preset program (WAPP) for the Mk 48 variant torpedo to changes in the sound-speed profile (SSP) is analyzed with SSP derived from the modular ocean data assimilation system (MODAS). The MODAS fields differ in that one uses altimeter data assimilated from three satellites while the other uses no altimeter data. The metric used to compare the two sets of outputs is the relative difference in acoustic coverage area generated by WAPP. Output presets are created for five different scenarios, two antisurface warfare (ASUW) scenarios, and three antisubmarine warfare (ASW) scenarios, in each of three regions: the East China Sea, Sea of Japan, and an area south of Japan that includes the Kuroshio currents. Analysis of the output reveals that, in some situations, WAPP output is very sensitive to the inclusion of the altimeter data because of the resulting differences in the subsurface predictions. The change in weapon presets can be so large that the effectiveness of the weapon may be affected

Shane_et_al_Blood_Meal_Induced_Promoters_from_Asaia

This data package includes the files needed to reproduce the quantitative analyses of the following paper:Shane, JL., Grogan, CL., Cwalina, C., and David J. Lampe: Blood meal-induced inhibition of vector-borne disease by transgenic microbiot