LAPR: An experimental aircraft pushbroom scanner

A three band Linear Array Pushbroom Radiometer (LAPR) was built and flown on an experimental basis by NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The functional characteristics of the instrument and the methods used to preprocess the data, including radiometric correction, are described. The radiometric sensitivity of the instrument was tested and compared to that of the Thematic Mapper and the Multispectral Scanner. The radiometric correction procedure was evaluated quantitatively, using laboratory testing, and qualitatively, via visual examination of the LAPR test flight imagery. Although effective radiometric correction could not yet be demonstrated via laboratory testing, radiometric distortion did not preclude the visual interpretation or parallel piped classification of the test imagery

Identifying dynamical modules from genetic regulatory systems: applications to the segment polarity network

BACKGROUND It is widely accepted that genetic regulatory systems are 'modular', in that the whole system is made up of smaller 'subsystems' corresponding to specific biological functions. Most attempts to identify modules in genetic regulatory systems have relied on the topology of the underlying network. However, it is the temporal activity (dynamics) of genes and proteins that corresponds to biological functions, and hence it is dynamics that we focus on here for identifying subsystems. RESULTS Using Boolean network models as an exemplar, we present a new technique to identify subsystems, based on their dynamical properties. The main part of the method depends only on the stable dynamics (attractors) of the system, thus requiring no prior knowledge of the underlying network. However, knowledge of the logical relationships between the network components can be used to describe how each subsystem is regulated. To demonstrate its applicability to genetic regulatory systems, we apply the method to a model of the Drosophila segment polarity network, providing a detailed breakdown of the system. CONCLUSION We have designed a technique for decomposing any set of discrete-state, discrete-time attractors into subsystems. Having a suitable mathematical model also allows us to describe how each subsystem is regulated and how robust each subsystem is against perturbations. However, since the subsystems are found directly from the attractors, a mathematical model or underlying network topology is not necessarily required to identify them, potentially allowing the method to be applied directly to experimental expression data

Landsat Data Continuity Mission Expected Instrument Performance

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled for a December 2012 launch date. LDCM is being managed by an interagency partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In order to provide the necessary spectral coverage of the visible through shortwave-infrared (SWIR) and the thermal-infrared (TIR), the satellite will carry two sensors. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) will collect data for nine visible to shortwave spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 30 m (with a 15 m panchromatic band). The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) will collect coincident image data for two TIR bands with a spatial resolution of 100 m. The OLI is fully assembled and tested and has been shipped by it's manufacturer, Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation, to the Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) facility where it is being integrated onto the LDCM spacecraft. Pre-launch testing indicates that OLI will meet all performance specification with margin. TIRS is in development at the NASA Goddard Space F!ight Center (GSFC) and is in final testing before shipping to the Orbital facility in January, 2012. The presentation will describe the LDCM satellite instrument systems, present pre-launch performance data for OLI and TIRS, and present simulated images to highlight notable features and expected imaging performance

Inhomogeneous magnetism in single crystalline Sr3_3CuIrO6+δ_{6+\delta}: Implications to phase-separation concepts

The single crystalline form of an insulator, Sr$_3$CuIrO$_{6+\delta}$, is shown to exhibit unexpectedly more than one magnetic transition (at 5 and 19 K) with spin-glass-like magnetic susceptibility behaviour. On the basis of this finding, viz., inhomogeneous magnetism in a chemically homogeneous material, we propose that the idea of "phase- separation" described for manganites [1] is more widespread in different ways. The observed experimental features enable us to make a comparison with the predictions of a recent toy model [2] on {\it magnetic} phase separation in an insulating environment.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Determining the need for and making plans for establishing a terminal vocational agricultural program at Hiwassee Junior College

The Problem The problem is to determine the need for, and make plans for establishing a Terminal Vocational Agricultural Program at Hiwassee Junior College. Importance of the Study The writer has been employed as a teacher in the agricultural program at Hiwassee Junior College since 1949. The agricultural program has been of a general nature with no clear cut objectives that have been accepted by the teacher and the administration. No study had been made to clearly show the need for the program or the kind of program it should be. The problem arose from this situation. Therefore, the writer needed to solve these problems in order to put the program on a sound basis. The administration felt there was a need for a Terminal Vocational Agricultural training program. It encouraged the writer to make the study and was willing to give all the help possible. Definition of Terms Junior College for this study will mean an institution offering the first two years of college work. This is through the sophomore year. Terminal is interpreted to mean the formal coursework ends with completion of the sophomore year. This work is not designed for transfer to a senior college or university. The term vocational pertains to an occupation in this study. It refers to the occupation of farming or employment in related fields of agriculture. Related fields of agriculture are those areas of occupation in jobs not directly in the business of farming but giving service to the business of farming. Terminal vocational agricultural program is a course of work planned to prepare the student for gainful employment in his chosen area. This training combines the classroom work with actual participation on the job. Service area is that area from which students come and the college gives its services. Scope and Limitations This study is limited to a vocational agriculture program at Hiwasaee Junior College. This program is on a two year basis for all day classes. This study is on vocational program not vocational and general. Assumptions The following are some assumptions made by the writer: There is a place for junior college. 2. There is a place for agriculture in junior college. 3. Vocational approach is better than general. 4. This program should be tied in with the college farm. Procedure for the Study The writer made surveys of high school vo-ag seniors in twenty-four counties of east Tennessee to help establish the need for the program at Hiwassee Junior College. This survey was to determine interest in this kind of program. Surveys were made of prospective employers, farmers and men in related fields to determine their Interest in this program. The writer made a study of some related studies in this area to secure additional evidence of need for the program. The college policies and attitudes of the college administration were studied to find if there would be conflicting purpose in the college policy and the purpose of this kind of program. Surveys were made of other junior colleges having this kind of program or similar programs, to find their purposes and objectives, and also their administrative and supervisory procedures. The writer had conferences with the administration of the College to determine its attitude and opinion of a program of this kind. The history and purpose of the College was studied to determine the degree of compatibility between them and a vocational agricultural program. The findings relating to a need for the program are found in Chapter II. Through much reading and study the writer formulated some principles that were believed sound for guiding the planning and establishing of a program of this kind. These principles formed a construct for the program. Chapter III is this construct. The construct served as a guide in making plans for the planning and establishing of a program at the College. This plan is found in Chapter IV. The study and planning of this work revealed a great need for further study in this field of education. Some of these needs are to be found in Chapter V of this study

The acheulean handaxe : More like a bird's song than a beatles' tune?

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. KV is supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. MC is supported by the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, and Simon Fraser UniversityPeer reviewedPublisher PD

An epidemiologic study of early biologic effects of benzene in Chinese workers.

Benzene is a recognized hematotoxin and leukemogen, but its mechanisms of action in humans are still uncertain. To provide insight into these processes, we carried out a cross-sectional study of 44 healthy workers currently exposed to benzene (median 8-hr time-weighted average; 31 ppm), and unexposed controls in Shanghai, China. Here we provide an overview of the study results on peripheral blood cells levels and somatic cell mutation frequency measured by the glycophorin A (GPA) gene loss assay and report on peripheral cytokine levels. All peripheral blood cells levels (i.e., total white blood cells, absolute lymphocyte count, platelets, red blood cells, and hemoglobin) were decreased among exposed workers compared to controls, with the exception of the red blood cell mean corpuscular volume, which was higher among exposed subjects. In contrast, peripheral cytokine levels (interleukin-3, interleukin-6, erythropoietin, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, tissue necrosis factor-alpha) in a subset of the most highly exposed workers (n = 11) were similar to values in controls (n = 11), suggesting that benzene does not affect these growth factor levels in peripheral blood. The GPA assay measures stem cell or precursor erythroid cell mutations expressed in peripheral red blood cells of MN heterozygous subjects, identifying NN variants, which result from loss of the GPA M allele and duplication of the N allele, and N phi variants, which arise from gene inactivation. The NN (but not N phi) GPA variant cell frequency was elevated in the exposed workers compared with controls (mean +/- SD, 13.9 +/- 8.4 mutants per million cells versus 7.4 +/- 5.2 per million cells, (respectively; p = 0.0002), suggesting that benzene produces gene-duplicating but not gene-inactivating mutations at the GPA locus in bone marrow cells of exposed humans. These findings, combined with ongoing analyses of benzene macromolecular adducts and chromosomal aberrations, will provide an opportunity to comprehensively evaluate a wide range of early biologic effects associated with benzene exposure in humans