Computer vision for real-time orbital operations. Center directors discretionary fund

Machine vision research is examined as it relates to the NASA Space Station program and its associated Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV). Initial operation of OMV for orbital assembly, docking, and servicing are manually controlled from the ground by means of an on board TV camera. These orbital operations may be accomplished autonomously by machine vision techniques which use the TV camera as a sensing device. Classical machine vision techniques are described. An alternate method is developed and described which employs a syntactic pattern recognition scheme. It has the potential for substantial reduction of computing and data storage requirements in comparison to the Two-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (2D FFT) image analysis. The method embodies powerful heuristic pattern recognition capability by identifying image shapes such as elongation, symmetry, number of appendages, and the relative length of appendages

Sonically-enhanced widgets: comments on Brewster and Clarke, ICAD 1997

This paper presents a review of the research surrounding the paper “The Design and Evaluation of a Sonically Enhanced Tool Palette” by Brewster and Clarke from ICAD 1997. A historical perspective is given followed by a discussion of how this work has fed into current developments in the area

Facilitating Humanitarian Access to Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Innovation

Calls for intellectual property licensing strategies in the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors that promote humanitarian access to product innovations for the benefit of the disadvantaged. Includes profiles of successful and promising strategies

The Geology and Origin of the Sawyer Uranium Prospect, Live Oak County, Texas

The Sawyer uranium prospect is a subsurface uranium occurrence hosted within the basal Oligocene Catahoula Formation of the Texas coastal plain. The host rocks consist of tuff-ball conglomerate, tuffaceous sandstone and tuffaceous claystone whose geometry and lithological characteristics indicate that they are the products of a crevasse-splay depositional environment. Compositionally, these lithologies are feldspar-depleted litharenites, with the feldspar depletion due to the corrosive, ore-forming processes. These sediments display pedogenic to early diagenetic features including diffuse to discrete micrite nodules, clay cutans, fresh to partially argillized glass shards, clay booklets, authigenic zeolites and sulfides, paleosoil horizons and calcite cement. Uranium mineralization occurs throughout the crevasse-splay channel sediments, with the richest accumulations (0.1% to 0.94% U308) concentrated in the tuff-ball conglomerates at the base of the channel sequences. Uranium is correlatable with anomalous concentrations of Pb, As, Rb and Y within the orebodies. Organic carbon content (0.01% to 0.28%) is uniformly low throughout the ore zone and does not display a significant correlation with uranium mineralization. No uranium minerals were detected by X-ray diffraction techniques; however, SEM energy dispersion analysis shows that uranium occurs as scaly encrustions adsorbed onto the surfaces of favorable mineral grains. The uranium-mineralized lithologies also host an appreciable amount of iron-disulfide minerals which provide data useful in the interpretation of ore paragenesis. Textural relationships between framboidal pyrite and ore-stage marcasite overgrowths provide evidence that the host rocks were reduced prior to uranium mineralization. The presence of organic carbon and botryoidal clusters of pyrite frmnboids suggests that the pre-ore reduction was accomplished by sulfate-reducing bacteria. This pre-ore reduction also resulted in the alteration of detrital ilmenite to pyrite and anatase. Following the initial reduction, the host rocks were invaded by oxygenated, uranium-enriched ground waters creating an oxidation-reduction interface along which uranium and associated trace elements were precipitated. The oxidation of pre-ore pyrite in the alteration tongue released Fe2 + and unstable sulfur oxyanions which were then available for further reaction upon entering the redox interface. The Fe2 + and free sulfur recombined under acidic conditions to form ore-stage marcasite as fine to coarse aggregates and as overgrowths surrounding framboidal pyrite. δ34S values of bulk sulfide samples (-9.9 to +8.4 per mil) support the interpretation of biogenic sulfide precipitation. However, the origin of the reductant responsible for post-ore re-reduction of the alteration tongue is uncertain

Evaluating ITPR-dependence of Apoptotic Signaling from the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Stress within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) can be induced by misfolded proteins accumulating in the lumen of this organelle. Signaling of ER stress to other parts of the cell results in altered gene expression, physiological adaptation, and with sustained stress, apoptosis (cell suicide). ER stress is often studied with highly toxic compounds that create severe ER stress rapidly, and a condition that is likely not physiologically relevant within an organism. In this study, we examine the apoptotic signaling induced by moderate ER stress, and in particular the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (ITPR). The ITPR regulates Ca2+ release from the ER lumen, and can induce apoptosis. We hypothesize that moderate levels of ER stress activate apoptosis via an ITPR-dependent signal. To induce moderate ER stress, we expose cells to 20-30nM concentrations of tunicamycin, an inhibitor of N-linked glycosylation in the ER. In this study, inclusion of an ITPR inhibitor (2-aminoethoxyphenyl borate, 2APB) protected cells from moderate ER stress, but did not protect cells from severe ER stress. A second methodology of assessing ITPR regulation of apoptosis includes overexpression of an ER-localized form of Bcl-2. The B-cell lymphoma 2 protein (Bcl-2has the ability to block the activation of cell suicide (apoptosis) by binding and inhibiting pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax family members). Bcl-2 is a membrane localized protein, found primarily in the mitochondrial outer membrane, and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. In recent years, ER localized Bcl-2 has been shown to interact with the ITPR and inhibit pro-apoptotic Ca2+ signaling from the ER. We transfected cells with plasmids bearing forms of a Bcl-2 fusion protein to assess the capability of ER-Bcl-2 to protect cells from moderate apoptosis. The results of initial experiments did not show protection to either moderate or severe ER stress though some replicates of the experiment seemed to indicate protection. As this result is inconsistent with other results in our lab, we propose additional replicates of the experiment and using a drug-based mimic of this interaction to assess moderate ER stress signaling (Akl et al., 2013)

The Survivin and cIAP1 Anti-apoptotic Proteins are Differentially Downregulated in Response to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle tasked with synthesis and transport of 50% of new cellular proteins. Dysfunction within this organelle creates signals for repair, adaptation, and in severe cases, cellular apoptosis. Multiple human diseases have been associated with ER dysfunction, and the activation of apoptosis in important populations of cells. Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) proteins are cytosolic proteins that play an anti-apoptotic role in the cytosol. The relationship between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the expression/stability of IAPs is not well characterized. The objective of this study was to characterize the affect of ER stress on the expression/stability of five members of the IAP family; XIAP, cIAP1, cIAP2, Survivin, and Livin. We also assessed how inhibition of the PI3kinase/Akt pathway affects expression of these proteins. In model cell lines (BHK21, A549), Survivin and cIAP1 expression was detected by immunoblot. ER stress was shown to induce a reduction of both Survivin and cIAP1 in a time and dose dependent manner, with Survivin displaying a more dynamic response. The phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) pathway has been associated with regulating expression of some IAP proteins. Inhibition of the PI3K decreased Survivin expression in both cell lines. Further research is required to confirm the affects of ER stress upon regulation of IAP expression (PI3K) and upon stability

A toolkit of mechanism and context independent widgets

Most human-computer interfaces are designed to run on a static platform (e.g. a workstation with a monitor) in a static environment (e.g. an office). However, with mobile devices becoming ubiquitous and capable of running applications similar to those found on static devices, it is no longer valid to design static interfaces. This paper describes a user-interface architecture which allows interactors to be flexible about the way they are presented. This flexibility is defined by the different input and output mechanisms used. An interactor may use different mechanisms depending upon their suitability in the current context, user preference and the resources available for presentation using that mechanism

Aircraft Vertical Profile Implementation using Directed-Graph Methods

Aircraft Vertical Profile Simulation is Realized using a Demand-Driven Minimal-Calculation Directed Graph Structure to Reduce Calculation Time and to Force Synchronization of the Performance Measurement Functions with the System State Variables. Performance-Directed Model Adaptation Makes Dynamic Vertical Profile Path Corrections, in the Presence of Fixed Drag Variations, Possible. Drag Variations Ranging from + 10 Percent to - 10 Percent Yielded Fuel Consumption Improvements of Less Than 1 Percent in the Majority of the Cases. Calculation Time Improvement for Path Simulation Ranges from a Factor of 1.19 in the Worst Case to 1.5 in the Best Case. © 1988 IEE

Cardiovascular disease and air pollution in Scotland: no association or insufficient data and study design?

<p><b>Background:</b> Coronary heart disease and stroke are leading causes of mortality and ill health in Scotland, and clear associations have been found in previous studies between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to use routinely available data to examine whether there is any evidence of an association between short-term exposure to particulate matter (measured as PM10, particles less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre) and hospital admissions due to cardiovascular disease, in the two largest cities in Scotland during the years 2000 to 2006.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The study utilised an ecological time series design, and the analysis was based on overdispersed Poisson log-linear models.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> No consistent associations were found between PM10 concentrations and cardiovascular hospital admissions in either of the cities studied, as all of the estimated relative risks were close to one, and all but one of the associated 95% confidence intervals contained the null risk of one.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> This study suggests that in small cities, where air quality is relatively good, then either PM10 concentrations have no effect on cardiovascular ill health, or that the routinely available data and the corresponding study design are not sufficient to detect an association.</p&gt