Investigation of light scattering in highly reflecting pigmented coatings. Volume 3 - Monte Carlo and other statistical investigations Final report, 1 May 1963 - 30 Sep. 1966

Monte Carlo methods, Mie theory, and random walk and screen models for predicting reflective properties of paint film

Investigation of Light Scattering in Highly Reflecting Pigmented Coatings Quarterly Report, Feb. 1 - May 1, 1966

Monte Carlo method applied to pigment particle clusters, and relevance of Mie scattering function to reflected ligh

Investigation of light scattering in highly reflecting pigmented coatings Quarterly report, Nov. 1, 1965 - Feb. 1, 1966

Monte Carlo treatment to find light scattering parameters of metal filled, reflecting pigmented coating

Measurements and comparison of primary biological aerosol above and below a tropical forest canopy using a dual channel fluorescence spectrometer

Original article can be found at: http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/issue10.html Copyright - the authors. Authors grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are identified. The article and any associated published material is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.Aerosol particle size distributions were measured below and above a tropical rainforest canopy in Borneo, Malaysia, in June/July 2008 using the WIBS-3: a single particle dual channel fluorescence spectrometer. Material in the size range 0.8–20 μm was characterized according to optical equivalent diameter (DP), morphology and fluorescence at 310–400 nm and 400–600 nm following excitation at 280 nm and 370 nm respectively. Particles fluorescent after both excitations are likely to be fluorescent primary biological aerosol particles (FBAP). Measured FBAP number concentration (NFBAP) at both sites exhibited clear diurnal cycles. The largest variability was observed in the understorey, where NFBAP reached a minimum of 50–100 L−1 in late morning. In mid afternoon it exhibited strong transient fluctuations as large as 4000 L−1 that were followed by sustained concentrations of 1000–2500 L−1 that reduced steadily between midnight and sunrise. Above the canopy FBAP number ranged from 50–100 L−1 during the daytime to 200–400 L−1 at night but did not exhibit the transient enhancements seen in the understorey. The strong FBAP fluctuations were attributed to the release of fungal spores below the canopy and appeared to be linked to elevated relative humidity. The mean FBAP number fraction in the size range 0.8 μm<DP<20 μm was 55% in the understorey and 28% above canopy. A size mode at 2 μm<DP<4 μm appears at both sites and is primarily FBAP, which dominated the coarse (DP≥2.5 μm) number concentration at both sites, accounting for 75% in the understorey and 57% above the canopy. In contrast, the concentration of non-fluorescent particles (NNON) at both sites was typically 200–500 L−1, the majority of which occupied a size mode at 0.8<DP<1.5 μm. Enhanced understorey NNON was observed daily in mid-afternoon and also at midday on three occasions: the former coincided with the FBAP enhancements and measured approximately 10% of their magnitude; the latter occurred independently of the NFBAP diurnal cycle and comprised particles smaller than 2 μm. Particle diameter of 3–5 μm is consistent with smaller fungal spores, though absolute identification of biological species is not possible with the UV-LIF technique. Based on the measured FBAP and non-fluorescent particle abundances and their observed recovery times following rain showers, FBAP originated beneath the canopy while the non-fluorescent material was transported from further away. It is concluded that these separate sources contributed the majority of the aerosol measured by the WIBS-3 at both sites.Peer reviewe

Quantum information reclaiming after amplitude damping

We investigate the quantum information reclaim from the environment after amplitude damping has occurred. In particular we address the question of optimal measurement on the environment to perform the best possible correction on two and three dimensional quantum systems. Depending on the dimension we show that the entanglement fidelity (the measure quantifying the correction performance) is or is not the same for all possible measurements and uncover the optimal measurement leading to the maximum entanglement fidelity

Tissue Cytokine Responses in Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis

To elucidate the local tissue cytokine response of dogs infected with Leishmania chagasi, cytokine mRNA levels were measured in bone marrow aspirates from 27 naturally infected dogs from Brazil and were compared with those from 5 uninfected control animals. Interferon-γ mRNA accumulation was enhanced in infected dogs and was positively correlated with humoral (IgG1) but not with lymphoproliferative responses to Leishmania antigen in infected dogs. Increased accumulation of mRNA for interleukin (IL)4, IL-10, and IL-18 was not observed in infected dogs, and mRNA for these cytokines did not correlate with antibody or proliferative responses. However, infected dogs with detectable IL-4 mRNA had significantly more severe symptoms. IL-13 mRNA was not detectable in either control or infected dogs. These data suggest that clinical symptoms are not due to a deficiency in interferon-γ production. However, in contrast to its role in human visceral leishmaniasis, IL-10 may not play a key immunosuppressive role in dogs

Investigating the relationship between HIV testing and risk behaviour in Britain: National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 2000.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of, and identify factors associated with, HIV testing in Britain. DESIGN: A large, stratified probability sample survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles. METHODS: A total of 12,110 16-44 year olds completed a computer-assisted face-to-face interview and self-interview. Self-reports of HIV testing, i.e. the timing, reasons for and location of testing, were included. RESULTS: A total of 32.4% of men and 31.7% of women reported ever having had an HIV test, the majority of whom were tested through blood donation. When screening for blood donation and pregnancy were excluded, 9.0% of men and 4.6% of women had had a voluntary confidential HIV test (VCT) in the past 5 years. However, one third of injecting drug users and men who have sex with men had a VCT in the past 5 years. VCT in the past 5 years was significantly associated with age, residence, ethnicity, self-perceived HIV risk, reporting greater numbers of sexual partners, new sexual partners from abroad, previous sexually transmitted infection diagnosis, and injecting non-prescribed drugs for men and women, and same-sex partners (men only). Whereas sexually transmitted disease clinics were important sites for VCT, general practice accounted for almost a quarter of VCT. CONCLUSION: HIV testing is relatively common in Britain; however, it remains largely associated with population-based blood donation and antenatal screening programmes. In contrast, VCT remains highly associated with high-risk (sexual or drug-injecting) behaviours or population sub-groups at high risk. Strategies to reduce undiagnosed prevalent HIV infection will require further normalization and wider uptake of HIV testing

Universal Programmable Quantum Circuit Schemes to Emulate an Operator

Unlike fixed designs, programmable circuit designs support an infinite number of operators. The functionality of a programmable circuit can be altered by simply changing the angle values of the rotation gates in the circuit. Here, we present a new quantum circuit design technique resulting in two general programmable circuit schemes. The circuit schemes can be used to simulate any given operator by setting the angle values in the circuit. This provides a fixed circuit design whose angles are determined from the elements of the given matrix-which can be non-unitary-in an efficient way. We also give both the classical and quantum complexity analysis for these circuits and show that the circuits require a few classical computations. They have almost the same quantum complexities as non-general circuits. Since the presented circuit designs are independent from the matrix decomposition techniques and the global optimization processes used to find quantum circuits for a given operator, high accuracy simulations can be done for the unitary propagators of molecular Hamiltonians on quantum computers. As an example, we show how to build the circuit design for the hydrogen molecule.Comment: combined with former arXiv:1207.174