The Sentinel-1A SAR mission was launched in April 2014, followed by the Sentinel-1B Spacecraft in April 2016. Since then, several sets of in-orbit data have been evaluated to correlate the thermal ...model for being able to provide more detailed in-flight predictions. The need for detailed in-flight predictions is justified by the fact that the imaging performance of a SAR instrument depends mainly on the thermal performance of its high dissipative units. Components reaching their temperature limits during operational time define the end of the imaging phase, and thus the timespan during which and how often imaging operations can take place. An STM (Structural/Thermal Model) test correlation is standard throughout all missions, which usually delivers a very reliable model for further in-flight predictions. Nevertheless, this correlation does not give information about thermo-optical property degradation or environmental influences, because the effects in space on the thermally active surfaces are very hard to predict. For this reason, thermal engineers use relatively conservative values for in-flight predictions and End-of-Life thermal performance assessments. This might lead to mission performance limitations which predict a too short feasible imaging time of the Radar instrument. For this reason, the first approach was to evaluate the early acquired in-orbit data and to correlate the thermal model with the thermal configuration at Begin-of-Life to assess the maximum possible high dissipative imaging time possible for the Begin-of-Life situation. Then the flight data over a longer timespan were evaluated to determine potential temperature trends which could be caused by thermo-optical property degradation as well as seasonal-related influences. These two assessments combined, allow a thermal performance prediction for Mission End-of-Life, and thus a reliable determination of potential SAR imaging performance over the full mission time. The paper will present the correlation results of the initially measured in-flight data, the determined long-term in-orbit data over 3 years, and the combination of both assessments including its impact on SAR imaging performance over the full mission.
Spatial and temporal distributions and relative concentrations of the pheromone of the European grape vine moth Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) were measured in mating disruption trials ...with electroantennograms. Measurements were carried out over several years during the flight season of the two generations of this pest insect. In three consecutive years significantly higher mean relative pheromone concentrations were measured in summer during the flight of the second generation of L. botrana than in spring during the flight of the first generation (P 0.001). The relative pheromone concentrations in 1989 reached a maximum between late July and early August, when the highest mean daily temperatures were registered. In addition to the differences in mean relative pheromone concentrations, the spatial and temporal distributions of the pheromone differed significantly between spring and summer. EAG recordings taken in summer showed high, uniform pheromone concentrations in the treated plots, whereas in spring strong temporal and spatial fluctuations were recorded. In a vineyard defoliated by a hailstorm, the mean relative pheromone concentrations measured in summer were not significantly different from those measured in spring (P 0.05), but were significantly lower than those of a nearby intact vineyard (P 0.001). The results provided additional evidence that foliage is an important parameter determining mean pheromone concentrations and temporal and spatial distribution of pheromone in mating disruption trials
Airborne pheromone concentration in a field is one of the most important variables for the successful application of mating disruption in pest control. In the present paper, we estimated the ...pheromone concentration with field EAG recordings in vineyards and investigated parameters affecting concentration. Pheromone concentration showed a positive correlation with number of dispensers per hectare (= number of point sources). A twofold increase in the absolute number of dispensers per hectare with a constant number of point sources (two dispensers at the same location) did not significantly affect relative pheromone concentration. Measurements carried out in plots where dispensers had been applied at different heights showed highest relative pheromone concentrations in plots with dispensers at 0.1 m and 1.4 m above the ground. Those concentrations were not significantly different from each other, but were significantly higher than in plots where dispensers had been placed at a height of 2 m. Foliage of grape vines substantially affected the development of high pheromone concentrations. In summer, in vineyards with fully developed leaf canopy, significantly higher pheromone concentrations could be measured shortly after application of the dispensers compared to vineyards in spring with sparse vegetation. The decline of pheromone concentrations after removal of dispensers is significantly prolonged in full vegetation, showing the impact of plant canopy on pheromone concentrations. In contrast, ground cover between the grapevine rows did not significantly affect mean pheromone concentrations.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) is one of the four focal plane instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope which was launched on Dec. 25, 2021. We present an overview of the as-run NIRSpec ...commissioning campaign, with particular emphasis on the sequence of activities that led to the verification of all hardware components of NIRSpec. We also discuss the mechanical, thermal, and operational performance of NIRSpec, as well as the readiness of all NIRSpec observing modes for use in the upcoming JWST science program.
The spatial distribution of the pheromone of the grape vine moth, Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), was measured in vineyards treated for mating disruption by using an electroantennogram ...technique (EAG). Five hundred dispensers per hectare, each containing 0.1 g of the main component of the sex pheromone (E,Z)-7,9-dodecadienyl acetate (E7,Z9-12:Ac) were evenly distributed in the experimental vineyards. The EAG amplitudes measured in the experimental plots were transformed into relative pheromone concentrations by means of a calibration curve. Mean relative pheromone concentrations in the center of a treated plot reached 2.31 X 10(-4) relative units. No significant differences in the mean relative pheromone concentrations were found between replicate plots (P 0.01). The mean relative pheromone concentrations measured within one plot along a transect at 5-m intervals also showed no significant differences between the sites. These results indicate that inside the borders of treated areas the pheromone was evenly distributed. No sites with significantly lower pheromone concentrations, frequently assumed to be the cause for higher trap catches in some areas, were found. However, the mean relative pheromone concentration rapidly declined more than 100-fold outside the border of the treated plot. At 10 m from the treated area, the EAGs showed no significant difference compared to the EAGs recorded in an untreated area. A rapid drop in the mean relative pheromone concentration was also found on a vertical transect through the canopy of the vineyard. Measurements in an untreated control block gave a mean antennal response approximately 1000-fold lower than in a nearby pheromone treated plot. The significance of the variation in the pheromone distribution for the success of the mating-disruption method is discussed
Computational protein design of an ensemble of conformations for one protein-i.e., multi-state design-determines the side chain identity by optimizing the energetic contributions of that side chain ...in each of the backbone conformations. Sampling the resulting large sequence-structure search space limits the number of conformations and the size of proteins in multi-state design algorithms. Here, we demonstrated that the REstrained CONvergence (RECON) algorithm can simultaneously evaluate the sequence of large proteins that undergo substantial conformational changes. Simultaneous optimization of side chain conformations across all conformations increased sequence conservation when compared to single-state designs in all cases. More importantly, the sequence space sampled by RECON MSD resembled the evolutionary sequence space of flexible proteins, particularly when confined to predicting the mutational preferences of limited common ancestral descent, such as in the case of influenza type A hemagglutinin. Additionally, we found that sequence positions which require substantial changes in their local environment across an ensemble of conformations are more likely to be conserved. These increased conservation rates are better captured by RECON MSD over multiple conformations and thus multiple local residue environments during design. To quantify this rewiring of contacts at a certain position in sequence and structure, we introduced a new metric designated 'contact proximity deviation' that enumerates contact map changes. This measure allows mapping of global conformational changes into local side chain proximity adjustments, a property not captured by traditional global similarity metrics such as RMSD or local similarity metrics such as changes in φ and ψ angles.
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