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This paper presents a survey of the autopilot systems for small or micro unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The objective is to provide a summary of the current commercial, open source and research autopilot systems for convenience of potential small UAV users. The UAV flight control basics are introduced first. The radio control system and autopilot control system are then explained from both the hardware and software viewpoints. Several typical off-the-shelf autopilot packages are compared in terms of sensor packages, observation approaches and controller strengths. Afterwards some open source autopilot systems are introduced. Conclusion is made with a summary of the current autopilot market and a remark on the future development.

This paper offers a set of novel navigation techniques that rely on the use of inertial sensors and wide-field optical flow information. The aircraft ground velocity and attitude states are estimated with an Unscented Information Filter (UIF) and are evaluated with respect to two sets of experimental flight data collected from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Two different formulations are proposed, a full state formulation including velocity and attitude and a simplified formulation which assumes that the lateral and vertical velocity of the aircraft are negligible. An additional state is also considered within each formulation to recover the image distance which can be measured using a laser rangefinder. The results demonstrate that the full state formulation is able to estimate the aircraft ground velocity to within 1.3 m/s of a GPS receiver solution used as reference “truth” and regulate attitude angles within 1.4 degrees standard deviation of error for both sets of flight data.

Optical flow has been widely used by insects and birds to support navigation functions. Such information has appealing capabilities for application to ground and aerial robots, especially for navigation and collision avoidance in urban or indoor areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of existing optical flow techniques for robotics navigation applications. Detailed comparisons are made among different optical-flow-aided navigation solutions with emphasis on the sensor hardware as well as optical flow motion models. A summary of current research status and future research directions are further discussed.

Autonomous formation flight is a key approach for reducing energy cost and managing traffic in future high density airspace. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has allowed low-budget and low-risk validation of autonomous formation flight concepts. This paper discusses the implementation and flight testing of nonlinear dynamic inversion (NLDI) controllers for close formation flight (CFF) using two distinct UAV platforms: a set of fixed wing aircraft named “Phastball” and a set of quadrotors named “NEO.” Experimental results show that autonomous CFF with approximately 5-wingspan separation is achievable with a pair of low-cost unmanned Phastball research aircraft. Simulations of the quadrotor flight also validate the design of the NLDI controller for the NEO quadrotors.

Hexamethylenediamine（HMDA） is an important reagent for the synthesis of Nylon-6,6, and it is usually produced by the hydrogenation of adiponitrile using a toxic reagent of hydrocyanic acid. Herein, we developed an environmental friendly route to produce HMDA via catalytic reductive amination of 1,6-hexanediol（HDO） in the presence of hydrogen. The activities of several heterogeneous metal catalysts such as supported Ni, Co, Ru, Pt, Pd catalysts were screened for the present reaction in supercritical ammonia without any additives. Among the catalysts examined, Ru/Al2O3 presented a high catalytic activity and highest selectivity for the desired product of HMDA. The high performance of Ru/Al2O3 was discussed based on the Ru dispersion and the surface properties like the acid-basicity. In addition, the reaction parameters such as reaction temperature,time, H2 and NH3 pressure were examined, and the reaction processes were discussed in detail.

The Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation（ca. 635–551 Ma） deposited immediately after the last Neoproterozoic glaciations and recorded the most prominent negative excursions of carbonate carbon isotopic composition（δ^（13）C（carb））. These excursions have been interpreted as a result of widespread remineralization of a large dissolved organic carbon（DOC） reservoir in the Ediacaran deep oceans. However, there is no direct evidence so far found in rocks for the proposed DOC reservoir, which devalues such an interpretation. Here, we conducted a detailed study on the glow-curves characteristics and signal origins of spurious thermoluminescence（TL） of the Doushantuo Formation at Jiulongwan in Yangtze Gorges area, South China, through sequential tests under CO2, N2 and air. Spurious TL intensities for test samples before and after removing soluble organic matter via accelerated solvent extraction（ASE） are nearly identical. Further, significant positive correlation between the spurious TL intensity and total inorganic carbon（TIC） content（R^2=0.7） indicate that the Doushantuo spurious TL with the characteristic peak at 393.5 °C from the sequential test is chemiluminescence（CL） which is derived from the oxidation of a type of non-volatile organic matter strongly associated with carbonate mineral lattice（termed as “X-OM”）. A most likely explanation is that the X-OM is a type of dissolved organic matter which co-precipitated with carbonate minerals into sediments in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Ocean. Furthermore, a significant exponential negative correlation（R^2=0.55） is observed between the CL data and the isotopic difference between carbonate and coexisting bulk organic matter（i.e., Δ^（13）C（carb-org）, a proxy for remineralization degree of DOC reservoir in proposed DOC hypothesis）, suggesting that the X-OM was derived from the oxidation of the DOC reservoir in the Ediacaran Ocean. We thus propose that the X-OM and its CL detected in our study may have recorded the evolution of the possible DOC reservoir in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Ocean. If this is correct, the stratigraphic variations of the CL intensity in the Doushantuo Formation at Jiulongwan support the pulsed oxidation of the DOC reservoir in the Ediacaran Ocean. Our findings indicate that the CL derived from the oxidation of non-volatile organic matter which is strongly associated with carbonate mineral lattices in rocks may provide a feasible approach for probing the evolution of DOC reservoir in the ancient oceans, thus likely provide direct geological evidence for the development of oceanic DOC reservoir in geological times.

This dissertation focuses on how to design and employ networked unmanned vehicles for remote sensing and distributed control purposes in the current information-rich world. The target scenarios are environmental or agricultural applications such as river/reservoir surveillance, wind profiling measurement, and monitoring/control of chemical leaks, etc. AggieAir, a small and low-cost unmanned aircraft system, is designed based on the remote sensing requirements from environmental monitoring missions. The state estimation problem and the advanced lateral flight controller design problem are further attacked focusing on the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. Then the UAV-based remote sensing problem is focused with further flight test results. Given the measurements from unmanned vehicles, the actuation algorithms are needed for missions like the diffusion control. A consensus-based central Voronoi tessellation (CVT) algorithm is proposed for better control of the diffusion process. Finally, the dissertation conclusion and some new research suggestions are presented.

Non-small cell lung cancer is one of the most common types of malignances worldwide and the main cause of cancer-related deaths. Current treatment for NSCLC is based on surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy, with poor therapeutic effectiveness. In recent years, immune checkpoint inhibitors have applied in NSCLC treatment. A large number of experimental studies have shown that immune checkpoint inhibitors are safer and more effective than traditional therapeutic modalities and have allowed for the development of better guidance in the clinical treatment of advanced NSCLC patients. In this review, we describe clinical trials using ICI immunotherapies for NSCLC treatment, the available data on clinical efficacy, and the emerging evidence regarding biomarkers.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignancies and the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite many therapeutic advances in the past decade, NSCLC remains an incurable disease for the majority of patients. Molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapies have significantly improved the prognosis of NSCLC. However, the vast majority of advanced NSCLC develop resistance to current therapies and eventually progress. In this review, we discuss current and potential therapies for NSCLC, focusing on targeted therapies and immunotherapies. We highlight the future role of metabolic therapies and combination therapies in NSCLC.

Background Soybean ( Glycine max ) is an economically important oil and protein crop. Plant height is a key trait that significantly impacts the yield of soybean; however, research on the molecular mechanisms associated with soybean plant height is lacking. The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated system 9) system is a recently developed technology for gene editing that has been utilized to edit the genomes of crop plants. Results Here, we designed four gRNAs to mutate four LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL ( LHY ) genes in soybean. In order to test whether the gRNAs could perform properly in transgenic soybean plants, we first tested the CRISPR construct in transgenic soybean hairy roots using Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain K599. Once confirmed, we performed stable soybean transformation and obtained 19 independent transgenic soybean plants. Subsequently, we obtained one T 1 transgene-free homozygous quadruple mutant of GmLHY by self-crossing. The phenotypes of the T 2 -generation transgene-free quadruple mutant plants were observed, and the results showed that the quadruple mutant of GmLHY displayed reduced plant height and shortened internodes. The levels of endogenous gibberellic acid (GA3) in Gmlhy1a1b2a2b was lower than in the wild type (WT), and the shortened internode phenotype could be rescued by treatment with exogenous GA3. In addition, the relative expression levels of GA metabolic pathway genes in the quadruple mutant of GmLHY were significantly decreased in comparison to the WT. These results suggest that GmLHY encodes an MYB transcription factor that affects plant height through mediating the GA pathway in soybean. We also developed genetic markers for identifying mutants for application in breeding studies. Conclusions Our results indicate that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted mutagenesis of four GmLHY genes reduces soybean plant height and shortens internodes from 20 to 35 days after emergence (DAE). These findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying plant height regulatory networks in soybean.