American Heart Association Researchers grow human blood vessels in mice from adult progenitor cells

Study highlights:
• For the first time, researchers have grown in mice functioning human blood vessels from cells obtained from adult blood and bone marrow.
• This research could eventually lead to treatments for heart attack, acute injuries, wound healing and may facilitate growing new organs.

DALLAS, July 18 — For the first time, researchers have successfully grown functional human blood vessels in mice using cells from adult human donors — an important step in developing clinical strategies to grow tissue, researchers report in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“What’s really significant about our study is that we are using human cells that can be obtained from blood or bone marrow rather than removing and using fully developed blood vessels,” said Joyce Bischoff, Ph.D., senior author of the study and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston.

The researchers combined two different types of progenitor cells in a culture dish of nutrients and growth factors, then washed off the nutrients and implanted the cells into mice with weakened immune systems. Once implanted, the progenitor cell mixture grew and differentiated into a small ball of healthy blood vessels.

Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells but can only differentiate into specific cells, while stem cells can differentiate into practically any cell in the body.

In the study, researchers used two different kinds of progenitor cells to grow blood vessels: the endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which become cells that line the vessels, and mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs), which differentiate into the cells that surround the lining and provide stability.

The researchers used different combinations of the two types of progenitor cells. They found that a mixture of adult blood- and adult bone marrow-derived progenitor cells or a combination of umbilical cord blood-derived and adult bone marrow-derived cells resulted in the greatest density of new blood vessel formation.

The ability to rapidly grow two-layered blood vessels without using embryonic or umbilical cord blood stem cells could skirt many ethical concerns, Bischoff said. It would also solve a persistent problem in treating several medical conditions that result from ischemia — the inability of oxygen-rich blood to reach an organ or tissue — such as heart attacks, wound healing and many acute injuries.

“What we are most interested in right now is speeding up the vascularization (the formation of blood vessels),” Bischoff said. “We see very good and extensive vasculature in seven days and we’d like to see that in 24 or 48 hours. If you have an ischemic tissue, it’s dying tissue, so the faster you can establish blood flow the better.”

If researchers can develop ways to speed the growth of the vessels, non-surgical cardiac bypass procedures could potentially grow new vessels around those blocked by atherosclerosis.

Bischoff said other findings include:
• The cells created a vigorous network of vessels that connected to one another and to the vessels of the host mouse within seven days and continued to transport blood during the four-week study.
• Once combined and implanted, the two progenitor cells arranged themselves into vessels with minimal outside help, i.e., without any genetic alteration or manipulation to improve their growth. This is important because many growth-promoting genes are the same genes that become activated in cancer.
• Mixtures of EPCs and MPCs from adult donors were as effective at generating vessels as those made from a mixture of cord blood EPCs and adult bone marrow MPCs. That finding increases the likelihood of someday being able to easily find clinically useful amounts of progenitor cells.

The research could also enhance tissue engineering — growing new organs for later implantation into patients, another medical research field that needs good sources of microvascularization to develop, Bischoff said.

Co-authors are Juan M. Melero-Martin, Ph.D., lead author; Maria E. De Obaldia, A.B.; Soo-Young Kang, Ph.D.; Zia A. Khan, Ph.D.; Lei Yuan, Ph.D.; and Peter Oettgen, M.D. Individual author disclosures can be found on the manuscript.

The U.S. Army funded the research.

Army research : Lethality

Lethality
ARL's program in lethality research seeks to provide innovative technologies to enable the development of weapon systems capable of destroying or incapacitating enemy materiel, infrastructure, and personnel across the full spectrum of Joint Operations. Areas of technical endeavor comprising this program include insensitive high-energy propellants and munitions, novel kinetic-energy penetrator concepts, novel multifunctional warhead concepts, affordable precision munitions, and materials and manufacturing science.


Affordable Precision Munitions

This facet of the lethality program utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to munition system design through the coupling of research efforts in interior ballistics, launch dynamics, flight mechanics, and high-G guidance/navigation/control (GNC) technologies. The goal is to enable the development of smaller, cheaper, and lighter precision-engagement munitions for future asymmetric operations in urban terrain where low collateral damage is essential.

Electromagnetic (EM) Gun Technologies

The Electromagnetic (EM) gun program couples basic and applied research in railgun launchers, pulsed-power materials and systems, integrated launch packages, and hypervelocity utility of lethal mechanisms. ARL's EM gun research supports the Army's EM Gun Program Office at the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Energetic Materials and Propulsion

This effort is aimed at developing and maturing technologies that will enhance the lethality of compact weapon systems while reducing their vulnerability to attack by unplanned stimuli. Research areas include insensitive high-energy materials (propellants and explosives) and their application in tactical munition systems, including gun, rocket and missile systems.

Projectiles and Multifunctional Warheads

This effort is aimed at developing and maturing technologies to provide scalable and adaptive multipurpose capabilities against a full spectrum of threat targets including armor, bunkers, rotorcraft, unmanned systems, and personnel, for revolutionary effectiveness across the range of operating environments.

Materials and Manufacturing Science

This effort applies state-of-the-art materials and structures and processing technologies to ordnance systems in order to achieve enhanced performance, durability, weight reduction, affordability, and environmental impact such as depleted uranium replacement in munitions

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Army research : Survivability / Lethality Analysis

Survivability/Lethality/Vulnerability (SLV) Methodologies to Support Technology for Current and Future Force

Survivability/Lethality Analysis Directorate (SLAD) will continue to enhance and improve the System of Systems Survivability Simulation (S4) Model in conjunction with their Physical Science Lab/New Mexico State University (PSL/NMSU) partners. SLAD will continue development of MUVES 3 to improve capabilities and improve the SLV modeling environment.

SLV Analyses to Support Ballistic Missile and Short Range Air Defense Systems

Air Defense and Missile Defense survivability/ lethality analyses: SLAD provides analysis and recommendations to improve battlefield survivability, working with the Army Program Manager /Program Executive Officer (PM/PEO) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to direct weapon system development efforts and structure product improvement programs; provide the independent evaluator support to milestone decisions and system evaluations; and provide technical analyses to decision makers to formulate program/productions decisions.
Survivability and Lethality Analyses in Support of Future Combat Systems (FCS)
This mission area supports the FCS Brigade Combat Team. SLAD will investigate survivability and vulnerabilities of Army ground and aerial manned and unmanned combat systems against battlefield threats. Analyses will consist of pre-shot predictions and post-shot ballistic damage assessments; behind armor debris analyses; information warfare and electronic jamming assessments; and support to major milestone decisions.

SLV Analysis to Support Information Operations Survivability

This mission area analyzes command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems against the field threat environments of information and electronic warfare. Investigations are conducted in both laboratory and field environments at both the individual asset level and at the network level to include system of systems analysis. Results of these analyses, which include mitigation techniques, are provided to the CIO G6, PEOs/PMs, and AEC.

SLV Analysis to Support Combat Systems

This mission area supports Aviation, Ground/Soldier and Munition combat systems. SLAD will investigate survivability, vulnerability and lethality of Army combat systems against battlefield threats, recommending fixes to improve battlefield survivability while reducing vulnerability and providing analyses to Army Program Managers/Program Executive Officers (PMs/PEOs) and other Services to support Milestone Decisions and system evaluations. Analyses will consist of pre-shot predictions, post-shot analysis, pre-shot and post-shot damage assessments of vehicles, personnel and structures, behind armor debris analyses, Hardware-in-the Loop (HWIL) simulations, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) analyses, information operations analyses, etc.

Army research : Survivability

Survivability

ARL's program in survivability couples innovative materials and protection technologies to enable a lightweight and survivable force. This program actively supports the National Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Initiative, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protective (MRAP) Program, the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Long-Term Armoring Strategy, the Future Combat Systems Program and Future Force combat and tactical platforms. Major facets of the Survivability Research Program include vehicle ballistic and landmine protection, kinetic-energy active protection, individual warfighter protection, and materials and manufacturing science.

Vehicle Ballistic and Landmine Protection

This research is aimed at developing and optimizing advanced armor, blast protection, ballistic shock mitigation, and crew protection technologies to enable the survivability of combat and tactical vehicles against the full range of ballistic and explosive weapon threats.

Kinetic-Energy Active Protection

Active protection research is aimed at developing revolutionary vehicle protection systems capable of defeating or neutralizing anti-armor threats outside the "skin" of the vehicle. ARL is focused on developing and integrating technologies to enable a vehicle-based system capable of tracking a kinetic-energy penetrator threat and then defeating or deflecting that threat with an explosive countermunition launched from the vehicle.

Individual Warfighter Protection

This research is aimed at developing advanced armor materials and anti-personnel defeat mechanisms to enable their integration into current and future personnel protection systems. A primary supporting effort is continuum mechanics research to improve the understanding of soft-tissue impact physics.

Materials and Manufacturing Science

This effort applies state-of-the-art materials, structures and processing technologies to vehicle-protection platforms, personnel protection systems, and combat-support equipment in order to achieve enhanced performance, durability, weight reduction, and affordability.

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Army research : Sensors

Electro-Optic Sensors

Lasers/Sources:
Develop high performance solid state lasers and sources in the infrared (IR) (that are scalable to high energy) for use in display devices and that are suitable for photonic devices through the exploitation of quantum engineering, advanced thermal management, novel architectures, organics, and beam combining.
Detectors:
Develop high performance imaging and first alert detectors and detector arrays from the ultraviolet to the IR spectral regions to detect and identify environmental features, targets, and hazardous materials. Development of these detectors is carried out through the use of molecular beam epitaxial growth techniques.
Photonic Devices:
Develop high performance, low-cost photonic devices that interface electronics and electro-optics on integrated platforms for radio frequency control and high speed data communications. In addition, optical solutions for protection from agile laser threats on the battlefield are being developed.
Imaging Integration:
Improve the Army’s capability to detect, identify, and engage targets, especially those that are difficult to detect, through the integration of electro-optic components. Research efforts include passive multi- and hyper-spectral IR target and background phenomenology; low-cost, compact, staring, high-resolution laser radars; and low-cost, lightweight, compact, rugged, flexible displays for in-the-field image display.
Advanced Concepts/Nanotechnology:
Includes investigation of biotechnology for soldier applications. In particular, nanotechnology for sensor and electronic applications is being explored.

Advanced Radio Frequency (RF) Technologies

Materials and Structures:
Harness the fundamental science and technology of materials and devices in the micro- and nanoscale to enable and enhance emerging critical electronics and sensor devices for Army applications.
Remote Sensing Research:
Develop and exercise a suite of electromagnetic models and synthetic aperture radar simulation tools to characterize and explain underlying target and clutter scattering behavior in the context of future RF systems and architectures.
RF Sensors:
Utilize core strengths in modeling, simulation, testbed development, field test expertise, and algorithm development to conceive of and prove out new battlefield capabilities (e.g., mine detection, concealed object detection, rapid and reliable MTI, active protection, etc.). Utilize modeling/simulations and precision testbeds to gain insight (at low cost) into what capability is achievable at what cost.
RF Devices and Components:
Provide RF components with improved performance to enhance situational awareness and develop embedded, conformal low frequency radiators. Reduce aperture and array losses by exploiting designs that reduce conduction currents and utilize unique dielectric materials. Work closely with customers and industry to provide transition opportunities. Prognostics and Diagnostics: Develop embedded diagnostics sensors and on-board prognostics capabilities to monitor system health with a modular design for an extensible solution. Provide remote system access to query system health for estimations to commanders and logisticians. Transition to Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) Spiral 2, Mid Range Munition (MRM), Precision Guided Mortar Munitions (PGMM), and Excalibur.

Autonomous Sensing

Image Understanding:
Provide basic and applied image processing algorithms for target detection, anomaly detection, moving target detection, etc. The primary focus is on basic image understanding.
Acoustic Sensing:
Develop acoustic sensor arrays and sensor networks to detect, classify, localize, and track continuous and impulsive sources. Demonstrate “real” value of acoustic sensors as robust stand-alone and complementary sensors.
Magnetic Sensing:
Provide very low-cost sensing modalities, orthogonal with other sensors, to provide the warfighter with the ability to detect and identify targets in a variety of conditions and environments through the development of low-cost, small, magnetic and e-field devices and capabilities to detect targets of military significance.
Sensor Integration:
Seek implement the full range of sensing modalities in sensor systems and provide transition opportunities for ARL sensing technologies. There is a strong focus on transitioning technologies. In particular, the capability of rapid implementation of sensor concepts into demonstrable prototypes is being pursued.

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Community Relations: (301) 394-4456email: Public_Affairs@arl.army.mil

Army research : Power & Energy

Power Components for Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Pulse Power
Provide compact, high density power component technologies for Future and Current Force Hybrid Electric Vehicle Propulsion, Pulse Power (survivability/lethality), and related applications. Investigate and mature technologies to provide high-temperature, high-frequency power converters and generators; high-power batteries operating over a large temperature range; high-temperature, high energy density fast/medium current rise time storage capacitors; and Micro-Electronic Mechanical Systems (MEMS) for improved efficiency and reliability (miniature portable generators, miniature engines, and fuel cells).

Power Sources for Soldier Power and Auxiliary Power
Provide materials, technology, subcomponents, and components for soldier power, smart munitions, and Future/Current Force vehicles. Explore high energy electrode materials and high stability electrolytes. Develop primary batteries, alternate chemistries, and battery designs for smart munitions and materials/technology for strategic fuel (JP-8) reformation, fuel cells, and high density fast-rise capacitors.

Directed Energy (DE)
Develop advanced DE technology for lethal and non-lethal applications to enhance survivability and lethality. Investigate radio frequency (RF) energy effects on electro-optic/infrared sensors. Develop and exploit effects data for target sets of interest. Provide RF Energy Assessment Model (DREAM) results to customers and support Department of Defense (DoD) Vehicle Stopper initiatives.

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For more information about ARL, please contact the Public Affairs Office:
U.S. Army Research LaboratoryATTN: AMSRD-ARL-O-PA2800 Powder Mill RdAdelphi, MD 20783-1197
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Community Relations: (301) 394-4456email: Public_Affairs@arl.army.mil

Army research : Mobility

Semi-Autonomous Robotics

Semi-Autonomous Robotics for FCS:

This Army Technology Objective will develop autonomous mobility technology critical for Army Future Force systems, including unmanned elements of Future Combat Systems (FCS), Land Warrior (LW), and crew aids for manned systems. The principal focus is toward robotic elements that maneuver in high hazard environments forward of manned systems. It will combine robotic functionality with human capabilities to provide flexible, semi-autonomous control modes for FCS elements, and will provide future land combat forces with significant new operational capabilities permitting paradigm shifts in the conduct of ground warfare, thus enabling significantly greater survivability and deployability. The effort supports and complements the joint Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center/U.S. Army Research Laboratory (TARDEC/ARL) Robotic Follower Advanced Technology Demonstration, Crew-Integration and Automation Testbed Advanced Technology Demonstration, and Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) Robotics Technology Army Technology Objective. A key element of this Army Technology Objective is the research being conducted by the Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA), which is a consortium of industrial and academic institutions working collaboratively with ARL and Army Research, Development & Engineering Centers (RDECs) to advance robotics technology. Technical efforts are focused upon the continuous advancement of perception for autonomous ground mobility; intelligent vehicle control and behaviors; and human supervision of unmanned ground systems, including the specialized sensor and network developments required to achieve robust semi-autonomous performance. Research is closely connected with experiments evaluating new technology in statistically rigorous field experiments that integrate ground truth with robot and operator performance.
Robotics Basic Research Collaborative Technology Alliance:

This project conducts basic research in key scientific areas that will expand the capabilities of intelligent mobile robotic systems for military applications. Research will be conducted in perception, including the exploration of sensor phenomenology and the maturation of basic machine vision algorithms, intelligent control, including maturation of artificial intelligence techniques for robot behaviors that will permit adaptation to unknown and/or dynamic environments, and broadening understanding of the interaction of humans with machines. The program will conduct both analytic and experimental studies.

Advanced Propulsion and Transmission Technologies

Advanced Propulsion and Transmission Fundamentals:

This basic technology program is aimed at developing a fundamental understanding of new, advanced aerodynamic engine component concepts; advanced mechanical component concepts to enable major advances in rotorcraft mechanical power transmission; and high temperature materials and structures to enable substantial increases in efficiency, power density, and affordability of small gas turbine engines.
Small Heavy Fuel Engine:

ARL is providing engine component level technology and high temperature materials and structures concepts to enable a small, lightweight, efficient heavy fuel propulsion capability supporting A160 and other class 4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Our technologies directly contribute to the target goals of reducing specific fuel consumption by 20%, increasing horsepower-to-weight ratio by 50%, and reducing the operating and support cost by 35%. It also provides a technology base/tools for application to Future Force ground vehicle and manned/unmanned rotorcraft engine development.
Drive System Technology:

ARL contributes component level power transmission technology and advanced power transmission concepts to enable at least a 40% increase in the vehicle drive-system power-to-weight ratio without sacrificing life, reliability, or acoustic characteristics. These technologies are applicable to future manned and unmanned aircraft of the Future Force.

Vehicle Structural Mechanics and Dynamics Technologies

Vehicle Structural Mechanics and Dynamics Fundamentals:

This basic technology program is aimed at developing a fundamental understanding of structural mechanics and aeromechanics science and technology to enable revolutionary improvements in vehicle performance, reliability, weight, and cost to achieve Future Force operational capabilities.
Survivable, Affordable, Repairable, Airframe Program (SARAP): ARL will develop and validate structural analysis and design tools that address the weight, manufacturing, production, and operations requirements for structural concepts that are applicable for Department of Defense (DoD) Future Transport Rotorcraft (FTR), legacy vehicle upgrades, and UAVs. The focus of this technology development will support the characterization and validation of static and fatigue strength, damage tolerance, crashworthiness, and inspectibility/repairability characteristics of composite and hybrid vehicle structures.
Advanced Rotor Technologies:

ARL is providing advanced concepts and improved rotorcraft loads analysis models specifically for addressing the ultimate goal of developing a "no-swashplate" rotor concept. The payoff for a "no-swashplate" rotor will be reduced manufacturing, operating, and support costs through integral blade control concepts while eliminating conventional rotor hardware. The advances made by ARL in “on-blade” active twist will be extended from vibration control technology to full authority flight control capability.

Army research : Human Dimension

Situational Understanding as an Enabler:

The purpose of the ARL Situational Understanding as an Enabler for Unit of Action Maneuver Teams Army Technology Objective is to develop, demonstrate, and transition UoA soldier information system interface solutions that address differences in the way soldiers gain situational understanding and enable planning and acting within the adversary's decision cycle.

Technology for Human Robot Interaction (HRI) in Soldier-Robot Teaming:

The purpose of the Technology for HRI in Soldier Robot Teaming Army Technology Objective is to reduce workload and improve combat performance for the soldier-robot team through a better understanding of the human dimension, resulting in improved interface and adaptive soldier support technologies scalable to FFW FCS multi-mission environments.

Soldier Centered Design Tools for the Future Force:

The purpose of this program is to augment ARL human performance modeling tools to represent system level human performance tradeoffs at the system of systems level for command, control, and communications (C3); level of automation; interface modality; and workload.

Soldier Centered Analyses for the Future Force:

The purpose of this program is to conduct soldier-centered analyses to ensure that manpower requirements, workload, and skill demands are considered collectively and systematically, thus avoiding information and physical task overload and taking maximum advantage of aptitudes, individual and collective training, and numbers of soldiers for an affordable Future Force.

For more information about ARL, please contact the Public Affairs Office:
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Public Affairs Office: (301) 394-3590Media Inquiries: (301) 394-4456
Community Relations: (301) 394-4456email: Public_Affairs@arl.army.mil

The National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office funded Cooperative system could wipe out car alarm noise

The persistent, annoying blare of an ignored car alarm may become a sound of the past if a cooperative, mutable and silent network of monitors proposed by Penn State researchers is deployed in automobiles and parking lots.
"The basis of this system is trust," says Sencun Zhu, assistant professor of computer science and engineering. "You need to trust the entity that distributes the system's sensors, so you can rely on all the monitored cars having the goal of protecting your car and others from theft."
Working with Guohong Cao, associate professor of computer science and engineering, and Hui Song, recent Penn State graduate and now an assistant professor at Frostburg State University, Zhu developed a monitoring system that relies on a network formed by the cars parked in a parking lot. When a car enters a lot and parks, the sensor is alerted – probably when the car door locks -- and it sends out a signal that in essence says, "hello, I am here." Sensors in nearby cars acknowledge the signal and incorporate the new car into their network. Periodically, each car sends out a signal indicating that it is still there. When the driver unlocks the car, the sensor sends out a "goodbye" message and the network removes that car, and it drives away.
If, however, a car leaves the network without issuing a goodbye message, the other cars will notice the absence or the "still here" message. Once the system has confirmed that the car is gone, checking that other cars have not received the "still here" message, the monitoring sensor sends a signal identifying the car to the base unit in the parking lot, which will phone the owner to indicate the car is missing. The owner can then check it out.
"Our thought is that the apartment complex owner could provide the sensors with the parking stickers as an additional free perk," says Zhu, also assistant professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State. "All they need is the base unit, the car owner's phone number and the sensors in the car for the car should be safe in the lot."
If a car is stolen from the lot, it is preferable that the theft be noticed and reported before the car leaves the lot, but if it is not, the Sensor network-based Vehicle Anti-Theft system, SVATS, has another layer of protection.
Although the main or master sensor needs to be connected to the car's power system and so is fairly easily disabled by thieves, other slave sensors would be distributed in the car. These sensors might be activated when the master sensor no longer operates and begin to send out an identification signal. The researchers hope to be able to use existing wireless devices that are at intersections and roadsides, to track the sensors in the stolen car. While these wireless nodes are not on every street, in areas where they are used to sense traffic patterns, stop light timing and other things, they can be used to track stolen cars. Because the slave sensors are very small, they would be very difficult to locate and destroy, while conventional location equipment, such as various G.P.S. systems, can be identified and neutralized.
"Right now the sensors we are testing are about the size of a dollar coin with leads coming off," says Zhu. "We will eventually make them only about a cubic millimeter, small enough to embed in a parking sticker and very inexpensive to manufacture." A cubic millimeter is about the size of an ice cream sprinkle.
The researchers presented information on their system at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineer's Infocom 2008 Conference in Phoenix. Experimental evaluation of the SVATS system used a laptop as a base station and one sensor per vehicle in a Penn State parking lot. The base station transmitted once per second while the vehicle sensors sent live messages every 200 milliseconds. Each sensor could monitor up to seven other nodes but should be monitored by at least three other nodes.
The researchers tested two different detection methods. The signature-based method took four to nine seconds to detect the absence of the stolen vehicle. This method requires that at least three nodes recognize that the stolen car has moved before sending an alert. Because of this requirement, there are no false positives and consequently, no false alarms. The system works in a parking lot and can track stolen vehicles.
According to Zhu, street parking is more difficult to deal with than parking lots, however, he believes that if apartment buildings along the street band together to provide sensors and base stations it might work as well. Because of the trust problem, he does not see the sensors being incorporated into cars from the factory, because identifying who owns which car and sensor would be difficult. Rather, Zhu thinks that perhaps eventually, some government office like a state's department of transportation could provide the sensors and keep track of the vehicles.
While the plan now is to have the base station contact the car owner by phone, eventually the option of having the call go to a protective service or the police for a fee is possible.
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The National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office funded this research.
EDITORS: Dr. Zhu is at 814-865-0995 or at szhu@cse.psu.edu by email.

Army : Battlefield Weather for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR)

Battlefield Weather Research Program - Basic Research: The Army's Transformation Plan will require a greater degree of understanding of the atmospheric processes within the Army's battlespace. This project provides that indepth understanding of the complex atmospheric boundary layer. The continued requirement for military operations in complex and urban terrains requires new approaches to measuring and modeling micro-scale atmospheric phenomena, particularly for fast response in near real time. This includes the detection and tracking of chemical and biological aerosols; the propagation of full-spectrum electro-magnetic signals and acoustic signatures; and the delivery of accurate and timely weather intelligence for battlefield commanders. This project is the research leader in boundary layer meteorology over land and urban terrain. It supports Army objectives through enhanced acoustic modeling techniques for improved target detection and acquisition; the development of objective analysis tools that can assimilate on-scene weather observations and fuse these data with forecasts to provide immediate nowcast products; and the research on novel imaging capabilities to enhance the detection and identification of biowarfare agents.
Battlefield Weather Research Program - Applied Research: The Army's Transformation Plan will require the capabilities for battlefield commanders to make decisions in near real time based on fusion of current tactical weather and forecast products provided from meteorological satellites and from the other services. Data must then be transformed into weather intelligence, including atmospheric effects and weather impacts on friendly and threat systems, and must be made accessible through effective planning tools and intuitive decision aids. These weather intelligence data will not only have to be timely and accurate, but also exchanged on various bandwidth channels between and across all echelons from the continental U.S. (CONUS) home station and strategic operations centers on down to the lowest levels of command in the field, to include the individual soldier. This project focuses on accomplishing this mission through the development and transition of technologies that collect, analyze, and integrate the weather data from a forecast/nowcast model with battlefield observations into a four-dimensional (4D) net centric, distributed meteorological information space. Technologies are developed to automate the knowledge management and optimize bandwidth to meet the goal of providing the best actionable weather intelligence, even while en route, and translate that intelligence into specific weather decision aids for the digital battlefield commander. It is accomplished by applying advanced computing techniques; by incorporating technology in meteorological sensor joint data distribution architectures; by developing data assimilation and information fusion techniques to horizontally integrate disparate sources; by integrating weather and its effects into planning tools; and by enhancing combat power and effectiveness through improved decision aid technologies. Tactical Communications and Networks
Signal Processing for Tactical Communications: In ARL's Signal Processing for Tactical Communications program, we are exploring fundamental aspects in the development of secure, jam-resistant, and adaptive mobile communications that will be effective in noisy, wireless, hostile battlefield environments. The goal of this basic research program is to investigate enhancements to current communications technologies in the areas of anti-jam and spectrally efficient modulation techniques; intelligent interference rejection; secure and jam-resistant multiple-access; robust wideband mobile receivers; adaptive spectrum reuse; laser communications technologies; channel propagation modeling; security and authentication; and jammer detection and mitigations. ARL's Mobile Tactical and Sensor Networks program is focused on providing the Army's fully mobile, fully communicating, agile, and situationally aware force with a highly dynamic, wireless, mobile networking environment for a force consisting of a heterogeneous mixture of individual soldiers, ground vehicles, airborne platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotics, and unattended microsensor networks. This program is developing networking technologies that can operate with full mobility, self-configuration, robustness, survivability, and scalability in the complex and demanding mobile environment of the future battlefield. Mobile ad hoc networks, which can rapidly change with the tactical situation, form the basis of our tactical networking research.
Communications & Networks: The Communications and Networks Collaborative Technology Alliance (C&N CTA) is a partnership between the Army Laboratories and Centers, private industry, and academia that is focused on rapid transition to the warfighter. These collaborative efforts seek to enable large, heterogeneous, wireless communications networks for the Future Force that can operate while on-the-move with a highly mobile network infrastructure; under severe bandwidth, energy, and processing constraints; and while providing secure, jam-resistant communications in noisy hostile battlefield environments. The research focuses on four technical thrusts: 1) survivable wireless mobile networks that ensure that tactical networks are self-configuring and self-maintaining, highly mobile, survivable, scaleable, energy-efficient, performance-optimized, and interoperable with joint and coalition forces; 2) signal processing to support efficient comms-on-the-move that is effective in a noisy, cluttered, and hostile wireless environment; 3) secure jam-resistant communications to ensure reliable communications in environments which include dense, multiple access interference that may be generated from within the network or from hostile interferers; and 4) tactical information protection that provides automated, scaleable, efficient, adaptive security for wireless, multi-hop, self-configuring networks.
Tactical Information Protection: ARL's Tactical Information Protection program is developing adaptive, scalable, efficient, and adaptive information protection in tactical wireless, multi-hop, self-configuring networks. This program includes automated intrusion detection and assessment for tactical networks, security infrastructure for sensor networks, and energy-efficient tamper detection for mobile code. Tactical Battlespace Information Processing
Battlefield Information Processing: ARL is exploring fundamental aspects in the development of a real-time, service-based software infrastructure to facilitate communication and information sharing among ad hoc heterogeneous assets, to include developing the processing, sensor networking, and packaging infrastructure for agents to populate both manned and autonomous platforms. ARL efforts in this area will result in the ability to collaboratively aggregate, fuse, and abstract data to information and information to knowledge in such a way that the military decision maker can easily assimilate knowledge. Providing battlefield decision makers with information in a highly visual and easily assessed form (including multi-lingual computing products) will significantly improve the soldier's ability to absorb information and make better decisions. This effort includes the evaluation of machine translation engines and approaches in order to develop and validate metrics in multi-lingual computing.
Intelligent Optics: In ARL's Intelligent Optics program, we are conducting research in the theoretical and experimental aspects of ground to ground imaging, intelligent, and adaptive optics and the development of algorithms, techniques, and devices for advanced military imaging and image processing systems. Adaptive image processing will provide images of outstanding clarity and unlimited depth of field. Intelligent optics methods and techniques will improve military devices and systems so that real-time images of targets can be obtained and presented to decision makers.
Command and Control (C2) in Complex and Urban Terrain: The joint ARL/ Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC)/ Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Command & Control in Complex & Urban Terrain (C2CUT) Army Technology Objective will develop a service-based software infrastructure to facilitate communication and information sharing among ad hoc heterogeneous assets and C2 decision aids for Future Force dismounted and mounted commanders, leaders, and soldiers to employ during close combat in complex and urban terrain. The decision aids will be used to integrate critical information day and night in any combat situation. This capability will enhance survivability and increase combat effectiveness by providing enhanced collaboration, information reach back, mixed asset management, and seamless situational understanding.
Fusion Based Knowledge for the Future Force: ARL is developing an advanced knowledge generation and explanation capability to answer the warfighting commanders' Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs). This capability will enable the commander to see/understand at a rate supporting the tactical agility concepts of the Future Force Unit of Action (17,000-170,000 reports per hour), and provide the commander with automated enemy course of action and intent analysis with the minimal accuracy of a student analyst.

Advanced Decision Architectures: The purpose of the Advanced Decision Architectures (ADA) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) program is to develop, validate, and transition new knowledge management and decision support technologies to facilitate soldier awareness and understanding of the tactical situation, thereby resulting in more rapid decisions, creating a tempo with which the enemy cannot compete.