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At least 397 records · Page 22

Spatial expression of Hox cluster genes in the ontogeny of a sea urchin

The Hox cluster of the sea urchin Strongylocentrous purpuratus contains ten genes in a 500 kb span of the genome. Only two of these genes are expressed during embryogenesis, while all of eight genes tested are expressed during development of the adult body plan in the larval stage. We report the spatial expression during larval development of the five 'posterior' genes of the cluster: SpHox7, SpHox8, SpHox9/10, SpHox11/13a and SpHox11/13b. The five genes exhibit a dynamic, largely mesodermal program of expression. Only SpHox7 displays extensive expression within the pentameral rudiment itself. A spatially sequential and colinear arrangement of expression domains is found in the somatocoels, the paired posterior mesodermal structures that will become the adult perivisceral coeloms. No such sequential expression pattern is observed in endodermal, epidermal or neural tissues of either the larva or the presumptive juvenile sea urchin. The spatial expression patterns of the Hox genes illuminate the evolutionary process by which the pentameral echinoderm body plan emerged from a bilateral ancestor.

Non-NASA Center↗

Two cis elements collaborate to spatially repress transcription from a sea urchin promoter

The expression pattern of many territory-specific genes in metazoan embryos is maintained by an active process of negative spatial regulation. However, the mechanism of this strategy of gene regulation is not well understood in any system. Here we show that reporter constructs containing regulatory sequence for the SM30-alpha gene of Stronglyocentrotus purpuratus are expressed in a pattern congruent with that of the endogenous SM30 gene(s), largely as a result of active transcriptional repression in cell lineages in which the gene is not normally expressed. Chloramphenicol acetyl transferase assays of deletion constructs from the 2600-bp upstream region showed that repressive elements were present in the region from -1628 to -300. In situ hybridization analysis showed that the spatial fidelity of expression was severely compromised when the region from -1628 to -300 was deleted. Two highly repetitive sequence motifs, (G/A/C)CCCCT and (T/C)(T/A/C)CTTTT(T/A/C), are present in the -1628 to -300 region. Representatives of these elements were analyzed by gel mobility shift experiments and were found to interact specifically with protein in crude nuclear extracts. When oligonucleotides containing either sequence element were co-injected with a correctly regulated reporter as potential competitors, the reporter was expressed in inappropriate cells. When composite oligonucleotides, containing both sequence elements, were fused to a misregulated reporter, the expression of the reporter in inappropriate cells was suppressed. Comparison of composite oligonucleotides with oligonucleotides containing single constituent elements show that both sequence elements are required for effective spatial regulation. Thus, both individual elements are required, but only a composite element containing both elements is sufficient to function as a tissue-specific repressive element.

Non-NASA Center↗

Effects of spaceflight on ocular counterrolling and the spatial orientation of the vestibular system

We recorded the horizontal (yaw), vertical (pitch), and torsional (roll) eye movements of two rhesus monkeys with scleral search coils before and after the COSMOS Biosatellite 2229 Flight. The aim was to determine effects of adaptation to microgravity on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The animals flew for 11 days. The first postflight tests were 22 h and 55 h after landing, and testing extended for 11 days after reentry. There were four significant effects of spaceflight on functions related to spatial orientation: (1) Compensatory ocular counterrolling (OCR) was reduced by about 70% for static and dynamic head tilts with regard to gravity. The reduction in OCR persisted in the two animals throughout postflight testing. (2) The gain of the torsional component of the angular VOR (roll VOR) was decreased by 15% and 50% in the two animals over the same period. (3) An up-down asymmetry of nystagmus, present in the two monkeys before flight was reduced after exposure to microgravity. (4) The spatial orientation of velocity storage was shifted in the one monkey that could be tested soon after flight. Before flight, the yaw axis eigenvector of optokinetic afternystagmus was close to gravity when the animal was upright or tilted. After flight, the yaw orientation vector was shifted toward the body yaw axis. By 7 days after recovery, it had reverted to a gravitational orientation. We postulate that spaceflight causes changes in the vestibular system which reflect adaptation of spatial orientation from a gravitational to a body frame of reference. These changes are likely to play a role in the postural, locomotor, and gaze instability demonstrated on reentry after spaceflight.

Non-NASA Center↗

Spatial Information Technology Center at Fulton-Montgomery Community College

The Spatial Information Technology Center (SITC) at Fulton-Montgomery Community College (FMCC) continued to fulfill its mission and charter by successfully completing its fourth year of operations under Congressional funding and NASA sponsorship. Fourth year operations (01 Oct 03 - 30 Sep 04) have been funded and conducted utilizing an authorized Research Grant NAG 13-02053 (via a one-year no-cost extension expiring Sep 04). Drawdown and reporting of fiscal activities for SITC operations passes through the Institute for the Application of Geo-spatial Technology (IAGT) at Cayuga Community College in Auburn, New York. Fiscal activity of the Center is reported quarterly via SF 272 to IAGT, this report contains an overview and expenditures for the remaining funds of NAG 13-02053. NAG 13-02053, slated for operating costs for the fiscal year FY02-03, received a one-year no-cost extension. SITC also received permission to use remaining funds for salaries and benefits through December 31,2004. The IAGT receives no compensation for administrative costs. This report includes addendums for the NAG award as required by federal guidelines. Attached are the signed Report of New Technology/Inventions and a Final Property Report. As an academic, economic, and workforce development program, the Center has made significant strides in bringing the technology, knowledge and applications of the spatial information technology field to the region it serves. Through the mission of the Center, the region's communities have become increasingly aware of the benefits of Geospatial technology, particularly in the region s K-12 arena. SITC continues to positively affect the region's education, employment and economic development, while expanding its services and operations.

Source record↗

Limitation of Liquid Crystal on Silicon Spatial Light Modular for Holographic Three-dimensional Displays

In a 3-D display system based on an opto-electronic reconstruction of a digitally recorded hologram, the field of view of such a system is limited by the spatial resolution of the liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modular (SLM) used to perform the opto-electronic reconstruction. In this article, the special resolution limitation of LCOS SLM associated with the fringe field effect and interpixel coupling is determined by the liquid crystal detector simulation and the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation. The diffraction efficiency loss associated with the imperfection in the phase profile is studied with an example of opto-electronic reconstruction of an amplitude object. A high spatial resolution LCOS SLM with a wide reconstruction angle is proposed.

Wang, Xinghua↗

Spatially Complete Global Surface Albedos Derived from Terra/MODIS Data

Spectral land surface albedo is an important parameter for describing the radiative properties of the Earth. Accordingly it reflects the consequences of natural and human interactions, such as anthropogenic, meteorological, and phenological effects, on global and local climatological trends. Consequently, albedos are integral parts in a variety of research areas, such as general circulation models (GCMs), energy balance studies, modeling of land use and land use change, and biophysical, oceanographic, and meteorological studies. Recent production of land surface anisotropy, diffuse bihemispherical (white-sky) albedo and direct beam directional hemispherical (black-sky) albedo from observations acquired by the MODIS instruments aboard NASA s Terra and Aqua satellite platforms have provided researchers with unprecedented spatial, spectral, and temporal information on the land surface's radiative characteristics. Cloud cover, which cutails retrievals, and the presence of ephemeral and seasonal snow limit the snow-free data to approximately half the global land surfaces on an annual equal-angle basis. This precludes the MOD43B3 albedo products from being used in some remote sensing and ground-based applications, climate models, and global change research projects. An ecosystem-dependent temporal interpolation technique is described that has been developed to fill missing or seasonally snow-covered data in the official MOD43B3 albedo product. The method imposes pixel-level and local regional ecosystem-dependent phenological behavior onto retrieved pixel temporal data in such a way as to maintain pixel-level spatial and spectral detail and integrity. The phenological curves are derived from statistics based on the MODIS MOD12Q1 IGBP land cover classification product geolocated with the MOD43B3 data. The resulting snow-free value-added products provide the scientific community with spatially and temporally complete global white- and black-sky surface albedo maps and statistics. These products are stored on 1'(approximately 10 km) and coarser resolution equal-angle grids, and are computed for the first seven MODIS wavelengths, ranging from 0.47 through 2.1 microns, and for three broadband wavelengths, 0.3-0.7,0.3-5.0 and 0.7-5.0 microns.

King, Michael D.↗

Introduction to the Sub-pixel Spatial Resolution Interferometry Process

In this paper we describe a method called "Sub-Pixel Spatial Resolution Interferometry" used to increase the spatial resolution of interferometric measurements of precision optical surfaces. In this process, multiple interferometric measurements are made as the optic under test (or the CCD array)in shifted at sub-pixel increments. The measurements are then combined to construct a measurement with higher spatial resolution than the original measurements. The process will be described and initial results obtained using this process with a commercially available Fizeau interferometer will be presented.

Mooney, James T.↗

Novel Image Processing Interface to Relate DSB Spatial Distribution from Immunofluorescence Foci Experiments to the State-of-the-Art Models of DNA Breakage

A recently developed software (NASARadiationTrackImage) allows a quick and automatic segmentation of foci that indicate spatial localization of specific proteins that are visualized by immunofluorescence. Of interest are the spatial and temporal distribution of foci such as gammaH2AX, a signal of the phosphorylation of a variant of the histone H2A that has been shown to correspond to DSBs, or proteins involved in DSB processing, such as ATM, Rad51, and p53, following exposures of human cells to high charge and energy (HZE) ion irradiation. Experimental data are recorded as sets of two-dimensional images in color with cells and foci of gammaH2AX, ATM, Rad51 or others shown. Different cells, levels of radiation and timing after radiation were recorded. The software allows us to calculate the number of foci per cell, overall intensity of light in foci and their spatial organization. A simple statistical model allows for testing of foci overlap (eclipse). A more complex statistical model previously known as DNAbreak simulates track structure and random chromosome geometry. It has one adjustable parameter corresponding to an average intensity of DSB creation in cubic micrometers of DNA volume per particle track or unit dose. Its limitation is the low-resolution limit both in physical space and DSB's along DNA. It works adequately on the scale of a cell and provides further insights on how the geometry of tracks and DNA affects genomic damage of the cell and subsequent repair. Future developments of the model for the description of the time evolution of DNA damage response proteins, and more robust track structure models will be discussed.

Ponomarev, A. L.↗

High Spatial Resolution Commercial Satellite Imaging Product Characterization

NASA Stennis Space Center's Remote Sensing group has been characterizing privately owned high spatial resolution multispectral imaging systems, such as IKONOS, QuickBird, and OrbView-3. Natural and man made targets were used for spatial resolution, radiometric, and geopositional characterizations. Higher spatial resolution also presents significant adjacency effects for accurate reliable radiometry.

Ryan, Robert E.↗

Spatially Complete Global Surface Albedos Derived from Terra/MODIS Data

Spectral land surface albedo is an important parameter for describing the radiative properties of the Earth. Accordingly it reflects the consequences of natural and human interactions, such as anthropogenic, meteorological, and phenological effects, on global and local climatological trends. Consequently, albedos are integral parts in a variety of research areas, such as general circulation models (GCMs), energy balance studies, modeling of land use and land use change, and biophysical, oceanographic, and meteorological studies. , Over five years of land surface anisotropy, diffuse bihemispherical (white-sky) albedo and direct beam directional hemispherical (black-sky) albedo from observations acquired by the MODIS instruments aboard NASA s Terra and Aqua satellite platforms have provided researchers with unprecedented spatial, spectral, and temporal information on the land surface s radiative characteristics. However, roughly 30% of the global land surface, on an annual equal-angle basis, is obscured due to persistent and transient cloud cover, while another 207% is obscured due to ephemeral and seasonal snow effects. This precludes the MOD43B3 albedo products from being directly used in some remote sensing and ground-based applications, climate models, and global change research projects. To provide researchers with the requisite spatially complete global snow-free land surface albedo dataset, an ecosystem-dependent temporal interpolation technique was developed to fill missing or lower quality data and snow covered values from the official MOD43B3 dataset with geophysically realistic values. The method imposes pixel-level and local regional ecosystem-dependent phenological behavior onto retrieved pixel temporal data in such a way as to maintain pixel-level spatial and spectral detail and integrity. The phenological curves are derived from statistics based on the MODIS MOD12Q1 IGBP land cover classification product geolocated with the MOD43B3 data.

King, Michael D.↗

Combining S-space and image spatial information for characterization of land-cover elements using AVIRIS data

Imaging spectroscopy data provides information that is both spatially and spectrally rich. However,hyperspectral classification and identification procedures are generally based solely on the spectral data. The S-space concept treats the spectrum as a 'spatial' dimension thereby facilitating the exploration of a relationship between the spectral and spatial image domains. This paper presents the ideas that will be researched as well as some preliminary results.

AVIRIS image spectroscopy↗

The ENSO Effect on the Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Global Lightning Activity

The recently reprocessed (1997-2006) OTD/LIS database is used to investigate the global lightning climatology in response to the ENSO cycle. A linear correlation map between lightning anomalies and ENSO (NINO3.4) identifies areas that generally follow patterns similar to precipitation anomalies. We also observed areas where significant lightning/ENSO correlations are found and are not accompanied of significant precipitation/ENSO correlations. An extreme case of the strong decoupling between lightning and precipitation is observed over the Indonesian peninsula (Sumatra) where positive lightning/NINO3.4 correlations are collocated with negative precipitation/NINO3.4 correlations. Evidence of linear relationships between the spatial extent of thunderstorm distribution and the respective NINO3.4 magnitude are presented for different regions on the Earth. Strong coupling is found over areas remote to the main ENSO axis of influence and both during warm and cold ENSO phases. Most of the resulted relationships agree with the tendencies of precipitation related to ENSO empirical maps or documented teleconnection patterns. Over the Australian continent, opposite behavior in terms of thunderstorm activity is noted for warm ENSO phases with NINO3.4 magnitudes with NINO3.4>+l.08 and 0<NqNO3.4<I.08. Finally, we investigate the spatial distribution of areas that consistently portrayed enhanced lightning activity during the main warm/cold (El Nino/La Nina) ENSO episodes of the past decade. The observed patterns show no spatial overlapping and identify areas that in their majority are in agreement with empirical precipitation/ENSO maps. The areas that appear during the warm ENSO phase are found over regions that have been identified as anomalous Hadley circulation ENSO-related patterns. The areas that appear during the cold ENSO phase are found predominantly around the west hemisphere equatorial belt and are in their majority identified by anomalous Walker circulation.

Chronis, Themis G.↗

Spatial Resolution Characterization for QuickBird Image Products 2003-2004 Season

This presentation focuses on spatial resolution characterization for QuickBird panochromatic images in 2003-2004 and presents data measurements and analysis of SSC edge target deployment and edge response extraction and modeling. The results of the characterization are shown as values of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) at the Nyquist spatial frequency and as the Relative Edge Response (RER) components. The results show that RER is much less sensitive to accuracy of the curve fitting than the value of MTF at Nyquist frequency. Therefore, the RER/edge response slope is a more robust estimator of the digital image spatial resolution than the MTF. For the QuickBird panochromatic images, the RER is consistently equal to 0.5 for images processed with the Cubic Convolution resampling and to 0.8 for the MTF resampling.

Blonski, Slawomir↗

Spatial and Temporal Inter-Relationship between Anomalies and Trends of Temperature, Moisture, Cloud Cover and OLR as Observed by AIRS/AMSU on Aqua

AIRS/AMSU is the advanced IR/MW atmospheric sounding system launched on EOS Aqua in May 2002. Products derived from AIRS/AMSU by the AIRS Science Team include surface skin temperature and atmospheric temperature profiled; atmospheric humidity profiles, fractional cloud clover and cloud top pressure, and OLR. Products covering the period September 2002 through the present have been derived from AIRS/AMSU using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. In this paper, we will show results covering the time period September 2006 - November 2008. This time period is marked by a substantial warming trend of Northern Hemisphere Extra-tropical land surface skin temperatures, as well as pronounced El Nino - La Nina episodes. These both influence the spatial and temporal anomaly patterns of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, as well as of cloud cover and Clear Sky and All Sky OLR. The relationships between temporal and spatial anomalies of these parameters over this time period, as determined from AIRS/AMSU observations, will be shown with particular emphasis on which contribute significantly to OLR anomalies in each of the tropics and extra-tropics. Results will also be shown to evaluate the anomalies and trends of temperature profiles and OLR as determined from analysis of AIRS/AMSU data. Global and regional trends during the 6 1/3 year time period are not necessarily indicative of what has happened in the past, or what may happen in the future. Nevertheless, the inter-relationships of spatial and temporal anomalies of atmospheric geophysical parameters with those of surface skin temperature are indicative of climate processes, and can be used to test the performance of climate models when driven by changes in surface temperatures.

Susskind, Joel↗

Spatial Aspects of Multi-Sensor Data Fusion: Aerosol Optical Thickness

The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) investigated the applicability and limitations of combining multi-sensor data through data fusion, to increase the usefulness of the multitude of NASA remote sensing data sets, and as part of a larger effort to integrate this capability in the GES-DISC Interactive Online Visualization and Analysis Infrastructure (Giovanni). This initial study focused on merging daily mean Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), as measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites, to increase spatial coverage and produce complete fields to facilitate comparison with models and station data. The fusion algorithm used the maximum likelihood technique to merge the pixel values where available. The algorithm was applied to two regional AOT subsets (with mostly regular and irregular gaps, respectively) and a set of AOT fields that differed only in the size and location of artificially created gaps. The Cumulative Semivariogram (CSV) was found to be sensitive to the spatial distribution of gap areas and, thus, useful for assessing the sensitivity of the fused data to spatial gaps.

Leptoukh, Gregory↗

Spatial and Temporal Inter-Relationships between Anomalies and Trends of Temperature, Moisture, Cloud Cover, and OLR as Observed by AIRS/AMSU on Aqua

AIRS/AMSU is the advanced IR/MW atmospheric sounding system launched on EOS Aqua in May 2002. Products derived from AIRS/AMSU by the AIRS Science Team include surface skin temperature and atmospheric temperature profiles; atmospheric humidity profiles, fractional cloud cover and cloud top pressure, and OLR. Products covering the period September 2002 through the present have been derived from AIRS/AMSU using the AIRS Science Team Version 5 retrieval algorithm. In this paper, we will show results covering the time period September 2006 - November 2008. This time period is marked by a substantial warming trend of Northern Hemisphere Extratropical land surface skin temperatures, as well as pronounced El Nino - La Nina episodes. These both influence the spatial and temporal anomaly patterns of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, as well as of cloud cover and Clear sky and All Sky OLR. The relationships between temporal and spatial anomalies of these parameters over this time period, as determined from AIRS/AMSU observations, will be shown, with particular emphasis on which contribute significantly to OLR anomalies in each of the tropics and extra-tropics. Results will also be shown to validate the anomalies and trends of temperature profiles and OLR as determined from analysis of AIRS/AMSU data. Global and regional trends during the 6 1/3 year period are not necessarily indicative of what has happened in the past, or what may happen in the future. Nevertheless, the inter-relationships of spatial and temporal anomalies of atmospheric geophysical parameters with those of surface skin temperature are indicative of climate processes, and can be used to test the performance of climate models when driven by changes in surface temperatures.

Susskind, Joel↗

Spatial Scaling of Snow Observations and Microwave Emission Modeling During CLPX and Appropriate Satellite Sensor Resolution

Accurate estimates of snow water equivalent and other properties play an important role in weather, natural hazard, and hydrological forecasting and climate modeling over a range of scales in space and time. Remote sensing-derived estimates have traditionally been of the "snapshot" type, but techniques involving models with assimilation are also being explored. In both cases, forward emission models are useful to understand the observed passive microwave signatures and developing retrieval algorithms. However, mismatches between passive microwave sensor resolutions and the scales of processes controlling subpixel heterogeneity can affect the accuracy of the estimates. Improving the spatial resolution of new passive microwave satellite sensors is a major desire in order to (literally) resolve such subpixel heterogeneity, but limited spacecraft and mission resources impose severe constraints and tradeoffs. In order to maximize science return while mitigating risk for a satellite concept, it is essential to understand the scaling behavior of snow in terms of what the sensor sees (brightness temperature) as well as in terms of the actual variability of snow. NASA's Cold Land Processes Experiment-1 (CLPX-1: Colorado, 2002 and 2003) was designed to provide data to measure these scaling behaviors for varying snow conditions in areas with forested, alpine, and meadow/pasture land cover. We will use observations from CLPX-1 ground, airborne, and satellite passive microwave sensors to examine and evaluate the scaling behavior of observed and modeled brightness temperatures and observed and retrieved snow parameters across scales from meters to 10's of kilometers. The conclusions will provide direct examples of the appropriate spatial sampling scales of new sensors for snow remote sensing. The analyses will also illustrate the effects and spatial scales of the underlying phenomena (e.g., land cover) that control subpixel heterogeneity.

Kim, Edward J.↗

Spatial Burnout in Water Reactors with Nonuniform Startup Distributions of Uranium and Boron

Spatial burnout calculations have been made of two types of water moderated cylindrical reactor using boron as a burnable poison to increase reactor life. Specific reactors studied were a version of the Submarine Advanced Reactor (sAR) and a supercritical water reactor (SCW) . Burnout characteristics such as reactivity excursion, neutron-flux and heat-generation distributions, and uranium and boron distributions have been determined for core lives corresponding to a burnup of approximately 7 kilograms of fully enriched uranium. All reactivity calculations have been based on the actual nonuniform distribution of absorbers existing during intervals of core life. Spatial burnout of uranium and boron and spatial build-up of fission products and equilibrium xenon have been- considered. Calculations were performed on the NACA nuclear reactor simulator using two-group diff'usion theory. The following reactor burnout characteristics have been demonstrated: 1. A significantly lower excursion in reactivity during core life may be obtained by nonuniform rather than uniform startup distribution of uranium. Results for SCW with uranium distributed to provide constant radial heat generation and a core life corresponding to a uranium burnup of 7 kilograms indicated a maximum excursion in reactivity of 2.5 percent. This compared to a maximum excursion of 4.2 percent obtained for the same core life when w'anium was uniformly distributed at startup. Boron was incorporated uniformly in these cores at startup. 2. It is possible to approach constant radial heat generation during the life of a cylindrical core by means of startup nonuniform radial and axial distributions of uranium and boron. Results for SCW with nonuniform radial distribution of uranium to provide constant radial heat generation at startup and with boron for longevity indicate relatively small departures from the initially constant radial heat generation distribution during core life. Results for SAR with a sinusoidal distribution rather than uniform axial distributions of boron indicate significant improvements in axial heat generation distribution during the greater part of core life. 3. Uranium investments for cylindrical reactors with nonuniform radial uranium distributions which provide constant radial heat generation per unit core volume are somewhat higher than for reactors with uniform uranium concentration at startup. On the other hand, uranium investments for reactors with axial boron distributions which approach constant axial heat generation are somewhat smaller than for reactors with uniform boron distributions at startup.

Fox, Thomas A.↗