Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

MethodsX 2019 28;6:513-526. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Key Laboratory and Innovative Teamwork of Low Dimensional Materials and Application Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, China.

Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) have potential in solving the icing of aircraft, high-voltage overhead transmission lines, and other power network devices exposed to the air. For this reason, we wish to establish the relationship between microstructure and the adhesion work by thermodynamic method, also for analysis of the relationship between the hydrophobicity and icephobicity (or anti-icing). Therefore, respectively considering Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel states, such relationship was theoretically established based on one/two-step surface model, enlightened by natural and artificial SHS. Read More

J Geophys Res Atmos 2019 Jan 3;124(1):387-413. Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and& Modeling (ACOM) Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA.

Global multiconstituent concentration and emission fields obtained from the assimilation of the satellite retrievals of ozone, CO, NO, HNO, and SO from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2, Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere, Microwave Limb Sounder, and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)/OMI are used to understand the processes controlling air pollution during the Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) campaign. Estimated emissions in South Korea were 0.42 Tg N for NO and 1. Read More

Ergonomics 2019 Apr 19:1-11. Epub 2019 Apr 19.

b University of Skövde , Skövde , Sweden.

The execution of teamwork varies widely depending on the domain and task in question. Despite the considerable diversity of teams and their operation, researchers tend to aim for unified theories and models regardless of field. However, we argue that there is a need for translation and adaptation of the theoretical models to each specific domain. Read More

J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2019 Apr 18. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Dr. Kenedi is Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and University of Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Appel is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Education, and Director of Ethics Education in Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York. Dr. Friedman is The Phillip Resnick Professor of Forensic Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and Associate Professor of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Confidentiality, considered a fundamental principle of medical ethics, is potentially at odds with public safety when an airplane pilot is experiencing symptoms of mental illness. Reporting requirements for pilots vary across the world, and pilots can be subject to multiple national regulatory authorities for international flights. Stigma exists about getting treated for depression. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Apr 17;19(8). Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Airbus UK, Broughton CH4 0DR, UK.

In large civil aircraft manufacturing, a time-consuming post-production process is the non-destructive inspection of wing panels. This work aims to address this challenge and improve the defects' detection by performing automated aerial inspection using a small off-the-shelf multirotor. The UAV is equipped with a wide field-of-view camera and an ultraviolet torch for implementing non-invasive imaging inspection. Read More

PLoS One 2019 18;14(4):e0215445. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.

Objectives: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHTS) is a tremendous public health hazard, leading to morbidity and premature mortality worldwide, with racial and ethnic minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status disproportionately affected. Flight attendants were historically exposed to high levels of SHTS in the aircraft cabin. The health effects of active smoking are known to persist for up to a lifetime, but the legacy effects of SHTS exposure have not been well characterized. Read More

Commun Biol 2019 8;2:115. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

5Department of Integrative Physiology and Bio-Nano Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, 359-8513 Japan.

Gout is a common arthritis caused by elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels. Here we investigated loci influencing SUA in a genome-wide meta-analysis with 121,745 Japanese subjects. We identified 8948 variants at 36 genomic loci (<5 × 10) including eight novel loci. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Apr 16;9(1):6109. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA.

Remote sensing data that are efficiently used in ecological research and management are seldom used to study insect pest infestations in agricultural ecosystems. Here, we used multispectral satellite and aircraft data to evaluate the relationship between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) infestation in commercial winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) fields in Kansas, USA. We used visible and near-infrared data from each aerial platform to develop a series of NDVI maps for multiple fields for most of the winter wheat growing season. Read More

J R Army Med Corps 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Introduction: Health professionals working in the dental environment are potentially at risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) due to the use of clinical and laboratory equipment. Workplaces engaging in the practice of dentistry within the UK are subject to legislation from the Control of Noise at Work (CNW) regulations 2005. Clinicians working in the military are at further increased risk of NIHL due to exposure from additional risk factors such as rifles or aircraft engines. Read More

Radiol Case Rep 2019 Jun 1;14(6):714-717. Epub 2019 Apr 1.

Department of General and Oncological Surgery, Szpital w Szczecinku, Szczecinek, Poland.

Post-traumatic aortic injuries are more common in victims of aircraft accidents than in motor vehicle accidents, and are a leading cause of on-site and delayed mortality, regardless of cause. In this case report, we present a history of a nearly isolated aortic post-traumatic injury in a victim of a paragliding accident. The rarity of this case lies in 2 factors, that is, the lack of the other life-threatening injuries usually present in high-energy accidents, and an unusual, exfoliative type of injury not matching more closely the typical classifications made use of currently in clinical practice. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Apr 3;19(7). Epub 2019 Apr 3.

Engineering Mechanics Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.

The transport of material through the atmosphere is an issue with wide ranging implications for fields as diverse as agriculture, aviation, and human health. Due to the unsteady nature of the atmosphere, predicting how material will be transported via the Earth's wind field is challenging. Lagrangian diagnostics, such as Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs), have been used to discover the most significant regions of material collection or dispersion. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2019 Apr 2;12(7). Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Novel Aerospace Materials group, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands.

Studies on porous trailing edges, manufactured with open-cell Ni-Cr-Al foams with sub-millimeter pore sizes, have shown encouraging results for the mitigation of turbulent boundary-layer trailing-edge noise. However, the achieved noise mitigation is typically dependent upon the pore geometry, which is fixed after manufacturing. In this study, a step to control the aeroacoustics effect of such porous trailing edges is taken, by applying a polymeric coating onto the internal foam structure. Read More

J Geophys Res Atmos 2019 Feb 16;124(4):2318-2335. Epub 2019 Feb 16.

Norwegian Institute for Air Research Kjeller Norway.

Very short-lived substances (VSLS), including dichloromethane (CHCl), chloroform (CHCl), perchloroethylene (CCl), and 1,2-dichloroethane (CHCl), are a stratospheric chlorine source and therefore contribute to ozone depletion. We quantify stratospheric chlorine trends from these VSLS (VSLCl) using a chemical transport model and atmospheric measurements, including novel high-altitude aircraft data from the NASA VIRGAS (2015) and POSIDON (2016) missions. We estimate VSLCl increased from 69 (±14) parts per trillion (ppt) Cl in 2000 to 111 (±22) ppt Cl in 2017, with >80% delivered to the stratosphere through source gas injection, and the remainder from product gases. Read More

Measurement ( Mahwah N J) 2019 ;134

Dimensional Metrology Group, Engineering Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA.

Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLSs) are used in a variety of large scale scanning applications such as reverse engineering, assembly of aircraft or ships and surveying. Contrast targets are used with such instruments for enabling scene registration or to establish a scale when used on a scale bar. Currently, the algorithms to calculate the centers of contrast targets (CCT) are either proprietary to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or not precise and accurate. Read More

Transfusion 2019 Apr;59(S2):1459-1466

French Military Health Service, Val de Grâce Military Academy, Paris, Paris, France.

Background: French military operations in the Sahel conducted since 2013 over more than 5 million square kilometers have challenged the French Military Health Service with specific problems in prolonged field care.

Study Design And Methods: To describe these challenges, we retrospectively analyzed the prehospital data from the first 5 years of these operations within a delimited area.

Results: One hundred eighty-three servicemen of different nationalities were evacuated, mainly as a result of explosions (73. Read More

PLoS One 2019 12;14(4):e0214993. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Holzhofer Flight Service, Boxberg, Germany.

Effective preventive strategies are available to control Echinococcus multilocularis in foxes in order to reduce the human infection risk. Reduction of E. multilocularis prevalence in foxes was achieved in various studies by distributing praziquantel-containing bait by hand or by aircraft in either rural or settlement areas. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2019 Apr 10;12(7). Epub 2019 Apr 10.

College of Aircraft Engineering, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China.

Laser repairing and plasma arc repairing experiments on the single-crystal Ni-based superalloy DD407(Ni-7.82Cr-5.34Co-2. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2019 Apr 10;12(7). Epub 2019 Apr 10.

CFAA, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing for Aeronautics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48013 Bilbao, Spain.

Blind fasteners are of special interest for aircraft construction since they allow working on joints where only one side is accessible, as is the case in many common aerospace box-type structures, such as stabilizers and flaps. This paper aims to deliver an online monitoring method for the detection of incorrect installed blind fasteners. In this type of fastener, the back side of the assembly is not accessible, so monitoring the process installation is suitable as a system to assess the formed head at the back side with no access. Read More

Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 2019 Jan 29;89(1). Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Emergency Department, Local Health Unit "Umbria 1".

A sailor for forty-two years, in military service on the Italian aircraft carrier, while on a mission in sub-Saharan Africa, came to a physician due to fatigue with a fever, flu-like illness and headache for 6 days. The temperature was 38.8°C, BP 80/145 mmHg and RR 30/min. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Apr 9;9(1):5809. Epub 2019 Apr 9.

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.

The Internet of Things (IoT), as a cutting-edge integrated cross-technology, promises to informationize people's daily lives, while being threatened by continuous challenges of eavesdropping and tampering. The emerging quantum cryptography, harnessing the random nature of quantum mechanics, may also enable unconditionally secure control network, beyond the applications in secure communications. Here, we present a quantum-enhanced cryptographic remote control scheme that combines quantum randomness and one-time pad algorithm for delivering commands remotely. Read More

Nat Commun 2019 04 9;10(1):1555. Epub 2019 Apr 9.

Center for Sustainable Systems, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA.

Interest and investment in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOLs), commonly known as flying cars, have grown significantly. However, their sustainability implications are unclear. We report a physics-based analysis of primary energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of VTOLs vs. Read More

Polymers (Basel) 2018 Nov 28;10(12). Epub 2018 Nov 28.

School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia.

Natural fiber composites have been widely used for various applications such as automotive components, aircraft components and sports equipment. Among the natural fibers have gained considerable attention to replace synthetic fibers due to their unique nature. The untreated and alkali-treated fibers treated in different durations were dried under the sun for 4 h prior to the fabrication of fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Read More

Polymers (Basel) 2018 Oct 6;10(10). Epub 2018 Oct 6.

Enhanced Composites & Structures Centre, School of Aerospace, Transport & Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Milton Keynes MK9 2BS, UK.

Mechanical failure in epoxy polymer and composites leads them to commonly be referred to as inherently brittle due to the presence of polymerization-induced microcrack and microvoids, which are barriers to high-performance applications, e.g., in aerospace structures. Read More

Polymers (Basel) 2019 Feb 13;11(2). Epub 2019 Feb 13.

School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Korea.

Water-based drilling mud (WBM) is a non-Newtonian fluid that has a variety of applications such as in transporting cuttings during drilling, protecting the borehole, and cooling the drill bit. With the development of nano-technology, various nanoparticles have been synthesized and have been added to WBM to improve its performance. Shear thinning is the most important factor in drilling mud and this attribute can be improved when two-dimensional particles are added. Read More

Audiol Neurootol 2019 Apr 5;24(1):32-37. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil.

In this study, we tested whether the speech recognition, through radio communications, of cochlear implant (CI) users inside a noisy helicopter cockpit is adequate for safe flight.

Method: Speech recognition tests (sentences, numbers and disyllables) through a very-high-frequency radio were administered to 12 CI users in a soundproof booth, inside a helicopter with the engine turned off and turned on.

Results: In quiet environments, radio communications were impacted only for disyllable intelligibility, but in noisy situations, all tests were affected. Read More

Nanoscale 2019 Apr;11(16):7667-7673

Dept. of Aircraft Technology, Technological Educational Institution of Sterea Ellada, 34400 Psachna, Greece.

Breaking the conventional decrease of the Seebeck coefficient with increasing conductivity would be a significant advancement towards large thermoelectric power factor enhancement and high thermoelectric efficiency. We report on a mechanism identified in hyper-doped nanocrystalline Si films that can lead to this task: a transition from dominant ionized impurity scattering to dominant phonon scattering upon thermal annealing at a high annealing temperature Ta that takes place to fulfill charge neutrality. We show that the synergy between charge neutrality and energy filtering activated by thermal annealing of the originally defective nanocrystalline sample leads to high mobility, simultaneous increase of the conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient and large enhancement of the thermoelectric power factor. Read More

J Occup Environ Hyg 2019 Apr 3:1-7. Epub 2019 Apr 3.

a Uniformed Services University, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine , Bethesda , Maryland.

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize noise levels in spaces designated as "effective quiet" areas on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019 Mar 27;16(7). Epub 2019 Mar 27.

Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.

In his recent discussion paper in this journal, Truls Gjestland attempts a "systematic review", as he calls it, of the evidence base for aircraft noise annoyance, consolidated in a meta-analysis by Guski et al. that informed the recommended guideline value of 45 dB in the recently published World Health Organization (WHO) Environmental Noise Guidelines. He questions the validity of the presented evidence, as "some of the referenced studies have not been conducted according to standardized methods, and the selection of respondents is not representative of the general airport population. Read More

Environ Pollut 2019 Mar 25;249:463-471. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Key Laboratory of Beijing on Regional Air Pollution Control, College of Environmental & Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.

Civil aircraft emissions during landing and takeoff (LTO) are important air pollutant sources, but have been given insufficient attention in China. Accurate estimation of these emissions is limited by a lack of important parameters, such as detailed flight information and the dynamic time in climb and approach modes during LTO that are dependent on mixing layer height (MLH). We developed a flight-time/flight-height relationship using real-time height information in Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay data, and then calculated the actual time for each flight in those two modes based on the actual MLH from meteorological observation. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 28;19(7). Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Department of Air Defence, University of Defence, Faculty of Military Technology, Kounicova 65, 662 10 Brno, Czech Republic.

The fight against unmanned vehicles is nothing new; however, especially with the arrival of new technologies that are easily accessible for the wider population, new problems are arising. The deployment of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by paramilitary organizations during conflicts around the world has become a reality, non-lethal "paparazzi" actions have become a common practice, and it is only a matter of time until the population faces lethal attacks. The basic prerequisite for direct defense against attacking UAVs is their detection. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019 Mar 28;16(7). Epub 2019 Mar 28.

SINTEF Digital, 0010 Oslo, Norway.

The European Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) recently dramatically lowered its former (WHO, 2000) recommendations for cumulative aircraft noise exposure levels associated with risks of adverse public health effects. WHO's recommendations, although lacking the force of law, are nonetheless of interest to aviation regulatory bodies and to the public at large. It is therefore important that WHO's recent recommendations receive and withstand careful scrutiny. Read More

Aerosp Med Hum Perform 2019 Apr;90(4):389-395

A flight is composed of many flight performance aspects. However, not all of these aspects are equally important for the success and safety of a flight. When investigating the influence of a stressor on flight performance, it is important to understand not only which flight performance aspects are important for the success and the safety of the flight, but also which of these aspects will most likely be affected by reduced alertness. Read More

Aerosp Med Hum Perform 2019 Apr;90(4):355-361

Of all phases of flight operations, accidents during landings are the most frequent. Of these, poor speed management during landing has ramifications for injury severity since: 1) impact forces increase as a square of forward velocity; and 2) an aerodynamic stall, associated with inadequate landing speed, imparts high vertical G forces. Herein, the proportion of landing accidents involving deficient airspeed control and occupant injury severity was determined. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 26;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 26.

School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 120 David L. Boren Blvd, Ste 5900, Norman, OK 73072, USA.

Obtaining thermodynamic measurements using rotary-wing unmanned aircraft systems (rwUAS) requires several considerations for mitigating biases from the aircraft and its environment. In this study, we focus on how the method of temperature sensor integration can impact the quality of its measurements. To minimize non-environmental heat sources and prevent any contamination coming from the rwUAS body, two configurations with different sensor placements are proposed for comparison. Read More

Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019 Mar 26;16(6). Epub 2019 Mar 26.

Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), 51170 Cologne, Germany.

Objectives: Air, road, and railway traffic, the three major sources of traffic noise, have been reported to differently impact on annoyance. However, these findings may not be transferable to physiological reactions during sleep which are considered to decrease nighttime recovery and might mediate long-term negative health effects. Studies on awakenings from sleep indicate that railway noise, while having the least impact on annoyance, may have the most disturbing properties on sleep compared to aircraft noise. Read More

Environ Technol 2019 Mar 25:1-11. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

b School of Electrical Engineering , Yanshan University , Qinhuangdao , People's Republic of China.

Ozone and its reactants are the main factors of air pollution in cabin environment, their distribution and propagation were influenced by different air supply modes in the cabin. Based the B767 aircraft cabin mode, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of aircraft cabin had been built to study the distribution of ozone and the reaction product in the breathing zone, and the ozone risk under different air supply modes was evaluated. By comparing the three air supply modes, the simulation results show that the aisle air supply mode and personalized air supply mode made a high concentration of ozone and volatile organic compounds and increased absorbing risk in the breathing zone. Read More

ISA Trans 2019 Mar 12. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

College of Automation Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, Jiangsu, China.

In this paper, an anti-windup incremental nonlinear dynamic inversion (INDI) fault-tolerant scheme is proposed for flying wing aircraft with actuator faults, actuator saturation and uncertainties of aerodynamic parameters. An optimal anti-windup compensator based on nonlinear partial differential inequalities is used to compensate the actuator saturation. INDI is used to control the fault system and compensate the uncertainties of the flight dynamics. Read More

Transbound Emerg Dis 2019 Mar 22. Epub 2019 Mar 22.

Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.

The purpose of this risk assessment (RA) was to qualitatively estimate the risk of emergence of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in the United States (US). We followed the framework for RA of emerging vector-borne livestock diseases (de Vos et al. 2011), which consists of a structured questionnaire, whose answers to questions can be delivered in risk categories, descriptive statements, or yes or no type of answers, being supported by the literature. Read More

Air Med J 2019 Mar - Apr;38(2):106-114. Epub 2019 Jan 16.

Department of Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Objective: The air medical transportation industry has seen a steady rise in the use of mechanical circulatory support devices (eg, intra-aortic balloon pumps, ventricular assist devices, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) during transport missions, either for definitive management or repatriation. As these complex devices become more common, the industry will have to adapt to support their use in their clientele. The goal of this narrative review was to assess our current experiences regarding mechanical circulatory support devices in air medical transportation and to identify important factors to ensure successful transport. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Mar 20;9(1):4912. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.

We reported the first aircraft campaign on summer cloud microphysical properties conducted in July of 2014 over the Tibetan Plateau during the third Tibetan Plateau Atmospheric Sciences Experiment (TIPEX-III), and demonstrated that the summer clouds over the Tibetan Plateau were primarily characterized as mixed-phase cumulus clouds induced by strong solar radiation heating. Moreover, the characteristic number concentration of cloud droplets (2~50 μm in diameter) in developing cumuli was around 10 cm, which was about 1~2 orders of magnitudes lower than other continent and ocean regions, and that for large drops (>50 μm in diameter) was around 10 cm, which was also lower than other regions. The droplet spectrum distributions (DSDs) of cloud drops were much wider than other regions, indicating that the cumulus clouds over the plateau could form precipitation easier than that in other regions. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 19;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 19.

School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China.

The unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is widely used to address the nonlinear problems in target tracking. However, this standard UKF shows unstable performance whenever the noise covariance mismatches. Furthermore, in consideration of the deficiencies of the current adaptive UKF algorithm, this paper proposes a new adaptive UKF scheme for the time-varying noise covariance problems. Read More

Environ Sci Technol 2019 Apr 29;53(8):4063-4077. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Center for Sustainable Systems, School for Environment & Sustainability , University of Michigan , 440 Church Street , Ann Arbor , Michigan 48109 , United States.

A large portion of life cycle transportation impacts occur during vehicle operation, and key improvement strategies include increasing powertrain efficiency, vehicle electrification, and lightweighting vehicles by reducing their mass. The potential energy benefits of vehicle lightweighting are large, given that 29.5 EJ was used in all modes of U. Read More

IEEE Trans Cybern 2019 Mar 15. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

In this paper, for linear leader-follower networks with multiple heterogeneous actuator faults, including partial loss of effectiveness fault and actuator bias fault, a cooperative fault-tolerant control (CFTC) approach is developed. Assume that the interaction network topology among all nodes is a switching directed graph. To address the difficulty of designing the distributed compensation control laws under the time-varying asymmetrical network structure, a novel distributed-reference-observer-based fault-tolerant tracking control approach is established, under which the global tracking errors are proved to be asymptotically convergent in the presence of actuator failures. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019 Apr 18;116(14):6641-6646. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195;

Atmospheric oxidation of natural and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) leads to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which constitutes a major and often dominant component of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM). Recent work demonstrates that rapid autoxidation of organic peroxy radicals (RO) formed during VOC oxidation results in highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOM) that efficiently form SOA. As NO emissions decrease, the chemical regime of the atmosphere changes to one in which RO autoxidation becomes increasingly important, potentially increasing PM, while oxidant availability driving RO formation rates simultaneously declines, possibly slowing regional PM formation. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 16;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 16.

Inria Bordeaux Sud Ouest, LaBRI, University of Bordeaux, Potioc Team, 33400 Talence, France.

Recent technological progress has allowed the development of low-cost and highly portable brain sensors such as pre-amplified dry-electrodes to measure cognitive activity out of the laboratory. This technology opens promising perspectives to monitor the "brain at work" in complex real-life situations such as while operating aircraft. However, there is a need to benchmark these sensors in real operational conditions. Read More

Opt Express 2019 Feb;27(4):5670-5684

Optical distortions caused by turbulent airflow surrounding an aircraft, known as aero-optical phenomena, are a major impediment to applications of airborne laser systems. To better understand the spectral properties of aero-optical distortions, a general expression for the wavenumber spectrum of the refractive index is derived from the ideal-gas law and Gladstone-Dale relation. The derived index-of-refraction spectrum accounts for changes in air density due to both temperature and pressure fluctuations and is used to calculate the phase-distortion spectrum of an optical beam propagating through a weakly compressible, turbulent flow field. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 14;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 14.

Department of Electronics Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.

Wireless avionics intra-communication (WAIC) refers to a wireless communication system among electronic components (e.g., sensors and actuators) that are integrated or installed in an aircraft and it is proposed to replace heavy and expensive wired communication cables. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 14;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 14.

School of Astronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.

In this paper, we focus on developing an algorithm for infrared-imaging guidance that enables the aircraft to be reliably tracked in the event of interference. The key challenge is to track the aircraft with occlusion caused by decoys and drastic appearance changes resulting from a diversity of attacking angles. To address this challenge, an aircraft-tracking algorithm was proposed, which provides robustness in tracking the aircraft against the decoys. Read More

Sensors (Basel) 2019 Mar 14;19(6). Epub 2019 Mar 14.

Politecnico di Milano, Mechanical Engineering Department, via La Masa 1, 20156 Milano, Italy.

Low-velocity impacts represent a major concern for aeronautical structures, sometimes producing barely detectable damage that could severely hamper the aircraft safety, even with regards to metallic structures. For this reason, the development of an automated impact monitoring system is desired. From a passive monitoring perspective, any impact generates a strain wave that can be acquired using sensor networks; signal processing techniques allow for extracting features useful for impact identification, possibly in an automatic way. Read More

Top Curr Chem (Cham) 2019 Mar 14;377(2):10. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

ICS, B.Z.U. Multan, Multan, Punjab, 60000, Pakistan.

A material that can serve in almost every field of human life at very low cost with high results is no other than "graphene". The multifunctional properties of graphene have made it a very interesting topic of research among researchers. Since its discovery in the last decade of the last century, scientists continue to disclose the amazing properties of graphene day by day. Read More