Early life-history studies of nearshore rockfishes and lingcod off Central California, 1987-92

This study focused on the physical and biological processes that influence the distribution, abundance, growth, and survival of young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfishes and lingcod along the central California coast. The annual somatic and reproductive condition of adult female blue rockfish corresponded to annual upwelling. Resulting larval production may correspond to the reproductive potential of adults; however, ultimate recruitment success of YOY is also effected by oceanographic conditions during their planktonic stage. Within a year, each species of settled YOY was observed concurrently and in relatively similar abundances at all study dive sites along the central coast. Most species of YOY exhibited similar growth patterns among stations and years. We found a high degree of interannual variability in the condition of adults and relative abundances of YOY. We believe a large part of this variability is due to annual oceanographic conditions, specifically upwelling. Marine reserves, which would protect populations of reproductively mature rockfishes and lingcod and insure 1arval production, have been suggested as an alternative to present management strategies for these species. However, a crucial question is whether or not larvae from adult fish in reserves would significantly contribute to replenishing stocks in other areas. This study was undertaken to assist in determining the feasibility of reserves to enhance nearshore rockfish and lingcod populations. (78pp.

Planification de chemins pour robot mobile explorateur de planète

L'intelligence artificielle implantée sur les robots mobiles explorateurs de planète (rovers) a une incidence directe sur la distance que peuvent parcourir ces robots. Dans un futur proche, les rovers devront parcourir de plus longues distances qu'ils ne le font actuellement. Pour cela, une partie de la solution consiste à changer les systèmes de vision stéréo passifs actuels par un système laser (LIDAR) permettant ainsi aux robots de voir plus loin et plus précisément. Cette modification amène en contrepartie une quantité énorme de données topographiques à traiter. Comme les ordinateurs embarqués sur les robots spatiaux sont généralement limités en capacité de calcul et en mémoire, les données obtenues du capteur doivent être compressées. Cette compression peut conduire à une représentation irrégulière de l'environnement qui implique à son tour de nombreuses complications au niveau des algorithmes de génération de chemin. Comme les robots auront une façon différente de comprendre leur environnement, ils devront utiliser une nouvelle approche pour naviguer et planifier des chemins. Ce projet de recherche vise [à] développer une méthode de planification de chemin capable d'opérer dans une représentation irrégulière de l'environnement. L'algorithme développé doit générer des chemins qui atteignent les destinations fixées par un algorithme de navigation de plus haut niveau. Ce chemin doit être : sécuritaire, continu, lisse, court, prendre en compte les contraintes mécaniques du robot et engendrer une faible consommation énergétique. L'algorithme quant à lui doit être rapide, robuste et ne doit pas surcontraindre ce problème d'optimisation. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, le candidat propose l'utilisation d'une approche élégante basée sur une analogie à la mécanique des fluides. L'idée générale est d'utiliser l'environnement du robot comme un bassin de fluide sans viscosité. Dans ce bassin, il entre une quantité constante de fluide à la position initiale du robot et ce même débit ressort à la destination à atteindre. La résolution de l'écoulement stabilisé permet de tracer des lignes de courant qui s'avèrent de bons chemins candidats. Enfin, c'est au moyen de certains critères d'optimisation que le meilleur chemin parmi l'ensemble des lignes de courant est sélectionné. Afin de confronter cette méthode à l'état de l'art, une rigoureuse comparaison a été effectuée avec l'approche de recherche de graphe A*. Cette dernière est largement utilisée depuis des décennies par l'industrie et certaines agences spatiales. Cette comparaison a permis de mettre en lumière les avantages et inconvénients des deux méthodes et a conduit à la fusion des deux afin d'obtenir une approche hybride. Celle-ci permet de faire ressortir les avantages des deux méthodes individuelles et d'atténuer les inconvénients. Afin de valider la performance des méthodes et de confirmer l'atteinte des objectifs, les algorithmes ont été mis à l'épreuve sur une vaste banque de données de terrains réels mesurés. Sur ces centaines de terrains, les algorithmes ont planifié des chemins générant ainsi de nombreux résultats expérimentaux. Une analyse des résultats a permis de conclure à l'atteinte de l'ensemble des objectifs du projet. Les méthodes proposées ont de plus été implantées avec succès sur un banc d'essai robotisé de l'Agence spatiale canadienne. Le résultat ultime du projet est une démonstration d'envergure de l'autonomie du robot et donc par le fait même de la fonctionnalité de l'algorithme de génération de chemin. Dans cette démonstration appelée Avatar Explore, les positions à atteindre par le robot proviennent d'un signal de la Station spatiale internationale. L'expérience a eu lieu au courant de l'été et de l'automne 2009 avec aux commandes l'astronaute canadien Robert Thirsk. Celui-ci a envoyé de nombreuses consignes à un robot qui utilisait le fruit de ce projet de recherche

Comparing bibliometric statistics obtained from the Web of Science and Scopus

For more than 40 years, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI, now part of Thomson Reuters) produced the only available bibliographic databases from which bibliometricians could compile large‐scale bibliometric indicators. ISI's citation indexes, now regrouped under the Web of Science (WoS), were the major sources of bibliometric data until 2004, when Scopus was launched by the publisher Reed Elsevier. For those who perform bibliometric analyses and comparisons of countries or institutions, the existence of these two major databases raises the important question of the comparability and stability of statistics obtained from different data sources. This paper uses macrolevel bibliometric indicators to compare results obtained from the WoS and Scopus. It shows that the correlations between the measures obtained with both databases for the number of papers and the number of citations received by countries, as well as for their ranks, are extremely high (R2 ≈ .99). There is also a very high correlation when countries' papers are broken down by field. The paper thus provides evidence that indicators of scientific production and citations at the country level are stable and largely independent of the database

Reproductive Biology of the Frecklebelly Darter, Percina stictogaster (Teleostei: Percidae)

The reproductive biology of the Frecklebelly Darter, Percina stictogaster, was studied in the Red River, Menifee-Powell counties, Kentucky, from 2009-2012. Males and females mature at Age II. Spawning occurs from late February to early April in water temperatures of 7-16° C in areas with strong current (0.16-0.88 m/sec) and fine gravel substrates. A 52 mm SL female collected in early March had 100 mature ova. Aquarium observations confirm this species buries its eggs in a manner similar to other Percina darters. Fertilized eggs were about 2.5 mm in diameter, clear, demersal, and slightly adhesive. At 10° C eggs hatched in 18-25 days (100% survival) into larvae 7-8 mm TL. Larvae were initially benthic, but became pelagic 2- 3 days later. By about 11 mm TL, the yolk sac was absorbed, and the young returned to the bottom. In early June, young (about 2 months old) were 16-25 mm SL and had acquired diagnostic pigmentation. They occupied areas with Justicia sp. or coarse woody debris in low-velocity habitats, adjacent to riffles

Development, Implementation, and Pilot Evaluation of a Model-Driven Envelope Protection System to Mitigate the Hazard of In-Flight Ice Contamination on a Twin-Engine Commuter Aircraft

Fatal loss-of-control accidents have been directly related to in-flight airframe icing. The prototype system presented in this report directly addresses the need for real-time onboard envelope protection in icing conditions. The combination of prior information and real-time aerodynamic parameter estimations are shown to provide sufficient information for determining safe limits of the flight envelope during inflight icing encounters. The Icing Contamination Envelope Protection (ICEPro) system was designed and implemented to identify degradations in airplane performance and flying qualities resulting from ice contamination and provide safe flight-envelope cues to the pilot. The utility of the ICEPro system for mitigating a potentially hazardous icing condition was evaluated by 29 pilots using the NASA Ice Contamination Effects Flight Training Device. Results showed that real time assessment cues were effective in reducing the number of potentially hazardous upset events and in lessening exposure to loss of control following an incipient upset condition. Pilot workload with the added ICEPro displays was not measurably affected, but pilot opinion surveys showed that real time cueing greatly improved their awareness of a hazardous aircraft state. The performance of ICEPro system was further evaluated by various levels of sensor noise and atmospheric turbulence

A novel therapeutic strategy for pancreatic neoplasia using a novel RNAi platform targeting PDX-1

Bi-functional shRNA (bi-shRNA), a novel RNA interference (RNAi) effector platform targeting PDX-1 utilizing a systemic DOTAP-Cholesterol delivery vehicle, was studied in three mouse models of progressive pancreatic neoplasia. Species-specific bi-functional PDX-1 shRNA (bi-shRNAPDX-1) lipoplexes inhibited insulin expression and secretion while also substantially inhibiting proliferation of mouse and human cell lines via disruption of cell cycle proteins in vitro. Three cycles of either bi-shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> or shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> lipoplexes administered intravenously prevented death from hyperinsulinemia and hypoglycemia in a lethal insulinoma mouse model. Three cycles of shRNA<sup>mousePDX-1</sup> lipoplexes reversed hyperinsulinemia and hypoglycemia in an immune-competent mouse model of pancreatic neoplasia. Moreover, three cycles of the bi-shRNA<sup>humanPDX-1</sup> lipoplexes resulted in near complete ablation of tumor volume and considerably improved survival in a human PANC-1 implanted SCID-mouse model. Human pancreatic neoplasia specimens also stained strongly for PDX-1 expression. Together, these data support the clinical development of a novel therapeutic strategy using systemic bi-shRNA<sup>PDX-1</sup> lipoplexes against pancreatic neoplasia

Development and Implementation of a Model-Driven Envelope Protection System for In-Flight Ice Contamination

Fatal loss-of-control (LOC) accidents have been directly related to in-flight airframe icing. The prototype system presented in this paper directly addresses the need for real-time onboard envelope protection in icing conditions. The combinations of a-priori information and realtime aerodynamic estimations are shown to provide sufficient input for determining safe limits of the flight envelope during in-flight icing encounters. The Icing Contamination Envelope Protection (ICEPro) system has been designed and implemented to identify degradations in airplane performance and flying qualities resulting from ice contamination and provide safe flight-envelope cues to the pilot. Components of ICEPro are described and results from preliminary tests are presented

Envelope Protection for In-Flight Ice Contamination

Fatal loss-of-control (LOC) accidents have been directly related to in-flight airframe icing. The prototype system presented in this paper directly addresses the need for real-time onboard envelope protection in icing conditions. The combinations of a-priori information and realtime aerodynamic estimations are shown to provide sufficient input for determining safe limits of the flight envelope during in-flight icing encounters. The Icing Contamination Envelope Protection (ICEPro) system has been designed and implemented to identify degradations in airplane performance and flying qualities resulting from ice contamination and provide safe flight-envelope cues to the pilot. Components of ICEPro are described and results from preliminary tests are presented

Irreversibility, Mechanical Entanglement and Thermal Melting in Superconducting Vortex Crystals with Point Impurities

We discuss the onset of irreversibility and entanglement of vortex lines in high Tc superconductors due to point disorder and thermal fluctuations using a simplified cage model. A combination of Flory arguments, known results from directed polymers in random media, and a Lindemann criterion are used to estimate the field and temperature dependence of irreversibility, mechanical entanglement and thermal melting. The qualitative features of this dependence, including its nonmonotonicity when disorder is sufficiently strong, are in good agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 7 pages, uses RevTeX, multicol.sty and epsf.sty, 5 EPS figures include

Controller Design Using Adaptive Random Search for Close-Coupled Formation Flight

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76190/1/AIAA-11377-210.pd