Stratospheric pollutant transports by planetary waves and tropical circulations

Radiosonde and U-2 aircraft data from the Intertropical Convergence Zone experiment of July, 1977 were analyzed. The radiosonde data above 15 km was plotted in the form of time-height sections so that wave motions in the meteorological variables (temperature, zonal wind, and meridional wind) could be easily delineated. The results showed the presence of a planetary 16 day Kelvin wave. More significantly, large amplitude gravity waves with vertical wavelengths on the order of 3-6 km were found. Spectral analysis of frequencies showed peaks in meridional wind variance at 2-3 days and 5 days, with the shorter periods stronger at higher altitudes. In the time domain, two instances of organized wave groups propagating upward into the stratosphere were isolated. Associated with one of these wave groups was a region of very large vertical shear in which either turbulence or small scale (10 km wavelength or less) gravity wave activity had been found by the U-2 aircraft

On Fast Linear Gravitational Dragging

A new formula is given for the fast linear gravitational dragging of the inertial frame within a rapidly accelerated spherical shell of deep potential. The shell is charged and is electrically accelerated by an electric field whose sources are included in the solution.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Bright tripartite entanglement in triply concurrent parametric oscillation

We show that a novel optical parametric oscillator, based on concurrent $\chi^{(2)}$ nonlinearities, can produce, above threshold, bright output beams of macroscopic intensities which exhibit strong tripartite continuous-variable entanglement. We also show that there are {\em two} ways that the system can exhibit a new three-mode form of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, and calculate the extra-cavity fluctuation spectra that may be measured to verify our predictions.Comment: title change, expanded intro and discussion of experimental aspects, 1 new figure. Conclusions unaltere

The metaphysics of Machian frame-dragging

The paper investigates the kind of dependence relation that best portrays Machian frame-dragging in general relativity. The question is tricky because frame-dragging relates local inertial frames to distant distributions of matter in a time-independent way, thus establishing some sort of non-local link between the two. For this reason, a plain causal interpretation of frame-dragging faces huge challenges. The paper will shed light on the issue by using a generalized structural equation model analysis in terms of manipulationist counterfactuals recently applied in the context of metaphysical enquiry by Schaffer (2016) and Wilson (2017). The verdict of the analysis will be that frame-dragging is best understood in terms of a novel type of dependence relation that is half-way between causation and grounding

Quantifying Equivocation for Finite Blocklength Wiretap Codes

This paper presents a new technique for providing the analysis and comparison of wiretap codes in the small blocklength regime over the binary erasure wiretap channel. A major result is the development of Monte Carlo strategies for quantifying a code's equivocation, which mirrors techniques used to analyze normal error correcting codes. For this paper, we limit our analysis to coset-based wiretap codes, and make several comparisons of different code families at small and medium blocklengths. Our results indicate that there are security advantages to using specific codes when using small to medium blocklengths.Comment: Submitted to ICC 201

The Influence of Cement/Wood Ratio and Cement Type on Bending Strength and Dimensional Stability of Wood-Cement Composite Panels

This study examined the influence of decreasing cement/wood ratios from 3.0 to 1.5 at 0.5 increments on flexural and dimensional stability properties of cement-bonded composite panels. In addition, two types of Portland cement (I and III) were employed to assess if a difference exists in properties over time between the two types. Cure periods were reduced from 28 to 14 days to investigate whether significant reductions occur in these properties.Results indicate that modulus of rupture increases as the cement/wood proportion is lowered. A cement/wood ratio of 2.0 was found to demonstrate optimum bending strength. Modulus of elasticity, however, increased linearly with greater cement/wood ratios. Generally, wood-cement panels made in this study exhibited high dimensional stability when exposed to a 24-hour water soak. No significant differences were observed between the Lehigh cement types used in this study believed to be due to compound composition similarities. In most cases, reducing cure periods from 28 to 14 days had little influence on board properties

The chemokine CXCL13 in acute neuroborreliosis

Objective Recent studies have suggested an important role of the B cell chemoattractant CXCL13 in acute neuroborreliosis (NB). Our aim was to confirm the diagnostic role of CXCL13 and to evaluate its relevance as a therapy response and disease activity marker in NB. Methods CXCL13 was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of patients with NB (n = 28), systemic borreliosis (SB, n = 9), Guillaine-Barre syndrome (GBS, n = 11), Bell's palsy (BP, n = 19), other cranial nerve palsies (CNP, n = 5), cephalgia (C, n = 20), bacterial CNS infections (B-CNS-I, n = 16) and viral CNS infections (V-CNS-I, n = 18). For follow-up studies, serial sample pairs were evaluated from 25 patients with NB (n = 56), 11 with B-CNS-I (n = 25) and 14 with V-CNS-I (n = 36). Results CSF-CXCL13 was significantly elevated in NB compared with other neurological diseases (p<0.001). Using receiver operating characteristic analysis, 337 ng/g was determined as a cut-off with a sensitivity of 96.4% and a specificity of 96.9%. Of all the parameters investigated, CSF CXCL13 showed the fastest response to antibiotic therapy, decreasing significantly (p = 0.008) within 1 week. In untreated patients, CSF CXCL13 was elevated in patients with a short duration of disease. Borrelia burgdorferi antibody index showed no significant (p = 0.356) change over follow-up. Conclusions The study confirms the relevance of CXCL13 as a diagnostic biomarker of NB and suggests that CSF CXCL13 in NB is linked to duration of disease and could be a marker of disease activity and response to antibiotic therapy

The analyticity region of the hard sphere gas. Improved bounds

We find an improved estimate of the radius of analyticity of the pressure of the hard-sphere gas in $d$ dimensions. The estimates are determined by the volume of multidimensional regions that can be numerically computed. For $d=2$, for instance, our estimate is about 40% larger than the classical one.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in Journal of Statistical Physic

Centrifugal Force and Ellipticity behaviour of a slowly rotating ultra compact object

Using the optical reference geometry approach, we have derived in the following, a general expression for the ellipticity of a slowly rotating fluid configuration using Newtonian force balance equation in the conformally projected absolute 3-space, in the realm of general relativity. Further with the help of Hartle-Thorne (H-T) metric for a slowly rotating compact object, we have evaluated the centrifugal force acting on a fluid element and also evaluated the ellipticity and found that the centrifugal reversal occurs at around $R/R_s \approx 1.45$, and the ellipticity maximum at around $R/R_s \approx 2.75$. The result has been compared with that of Chandrasekhar and Miller which was obtained in the full 4-spacetime formalism

A preliminary checklist of fungi at the Boston Harbor Islands

Between December 2012 and May 2017, we conducted a fungal inventory at the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (BHI) in Massachusetts. We extensively sampled 4 sites (Grape Island, Peddocks Island, Thompson Island, and World's End peninsula) and occasionally visited 4 others for sampling (Calf Island, Great Brewster Island, Slate Island, and Webb Memorial State Park). We made over 900 collections, of which 313 have been identified. The survey yielded 172 species in 123 genera, 62 families, 24 orders, 11 classes, and 2 phyla. We report 4 species as new, but not formally described, in the genera Orbilia, Resupinatus, and Xylaria. Another collection in the genus Lactarius may be new to science, but further morphological and molecular work is needed to confirm this conclusion. Additionally, Orbilia aprilis is a new report for North America, Proliferodiscus earoleucus represents only the second report for the US, and Chrysosporium sulfureum, a common fungus of some cheeses, was discovered on woodlice (Crustacea: Malacostraca: Isopoda: Oniscidea). We discuss our findings in the light of DNA-based identifications using the ITS ribosomal DNA region, including the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, and stress the need for biodiversity studies in urbanized areas during all seasons