Study on cycle-slip detection and repair methods for a single dual-frequency global positioning system (GPS) receiver

In this work, we assessed the performance of the cycle-slip detection methods: Turbo Edit (TE), Melbourne-Wübbena wide-lane ambiguity (MWWL) and forward and backward moving window averaging (FBMWA). The TE and MWWL methods were combined with ionospheric total electron content rate (TECR), and the FBMWA with second-order time-difference phase ionosphere residual (STPIR) and TECR. Under different scenarios, 10 Global Positioning System (GPS) datasets were used to assess the performance of the methods for cycle-slip detection. The MWWL-TECR delivered the best performance in detecting cycle-slips for 1 s data. The relative comparisons show that the FBMWA-TECR method performed slightly better than its original version, FBMWA-STPIR, detecting 100% and 73%, respectively. For data with a sample rate of 5 s, the FBMWA-TECR performed better than MWWL-TECR. However, the FBMWA is suitable only for post-processing, which refers to applications where the data are processed after the fact

ASHTABULA SUCCESSES--MACRO NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PIECES!

As facility demolition and remediation continued at the DOE Ashtabula Environmental Management Project (AEMP), a DOE closure site located in Ashtabula, OH, the quantity of mixed waste increased by approximately twenty-fold from the original Site Treatment Plan estimates to over 567 m3 (20,000 cubic feet). Also, a greater variety of low-level mixed waste (MW) was identified that was suitable for alternate debris treatment like macroencapsulation (MACRO) instead of traditional shredding, stabilization, and solidification to improve the overall safety and cost-effectiveness. Macroencapsulation is required for lead and authorized for hazardous debris under the alternate debris treatment standards per 40 CFR 268.45. Several polymer encapsulation processes were being explored, developed, and deployed in the mid-1990's by various groups including the DOE Mixed Waste Focus Area, DOE EM-50 Office of Science and Technology, Brookhaven National Laboratory, DOE Macro Working Group, DOE-Albuquerque Mixed Waste/Mobile Treatment Unit, and Envirocare of Utah, Inc. As a result, technically-proven macroencapsulation and microencapsulation processes using extruded polyethylene beads were verified as being technically acceptable for waste treatment to RCRA standards. The AEMP had a variety of waste forms where technically-proven systems were needed to perform on-site treatment of challenging mixed wastes (MW) from production operations (i.e. HEPA filters, barium salt contaminated steel) containing high concentrations of enriched uranium, graphite, salts, and RCRA metals. The AEMP continued with a technology development and deployment process to license, permit, install, and safely operate two proven polymer encapsulation systems for both RCRA microencapsulation and RCRA macroencapsulation using surplus DOE equipment from Rocky Flats to establish cost-effective mobile treatment capability. The AEMP treated approximately 16 m3 (= 579 cf) of challenging mixed wastes onsite at approximately 50 wt% waste loading using polymer microencapsulation and macroencapsulation systems to isolate the hazards from the general public. These wastes were then profiled and buried in fifty-seven (57) containers containing approximately 33 m3 (1,194 cf) of LDR-compliant wastes at NTS and Envirocare of Utah, Inc. However, this paper summarizes only the MACRO technology approval, waste inspection/treatment/certification process, and technology transfer as deployed at AEMP and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). It describes only the sequences associated with optimizing the process for the polymer MACRO system to meet overall DOE waste management needs. AEMP performed MACRO on 4 m3 (139 cf) of RCRA debris before the system was shut down. The shut down occurred due to new project direction, funding availability, and alternate offsite treatment capabilities at TSCAI and/or commercial facilities for the balance of the mixed wastes

The use of skin substrates deficient in basement membrane molecules for the diagnosis of subepidermal autoimmune bullous disease

A case is presented of subepidermal, autoimmune bullous disease in which the initial examinations suggested the combination of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita and bullous pemphigoid. The diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita was made by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy: the patient's serum bound to normal skin substrate but not to type VII collagen-deficient skin substrate derived from a patient with mutilating dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. The use of skin substrates deficient in basement membrane molecules also excluded the presence of concomitant, circulating bullous pemphigoid autoantibodies in our patient. The diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita was confirmed by split mapping, fluorescence overlay antigen mapping and Western blot

The use of skin substrates deficient in basement membrane molecules for the diagnosis of subepidermal autoimmune bullous disease

A case is presented of subepidermal, autoimmune bullous disease in which the initial examinations suggested the combination of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita and bullous pemphigoid. The diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita was made by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy: the patient's serum bound to normal skin substrate but not to type VII collagen-deficient skin substrate derived from a patient with mutilating dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. The use of skin substrates deficient in basement membrane molecules also excluded the presence of concomitant, circulating bullous pemphigoid autoantibodies in our patient. The diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita was confirmed by split mapping, fluorescence overlay antigen mapping and Western blot

Supplementary Material for: Successful Treatment of Autoimmune Urticaria with Low-Dose Prednisolone Therapy Administered for a Few Months: A Case Series of 42 Patients

<p><b><i>Background:</i></b> Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is defined as symptoms of urticaria persisting for 6 weeks or more without obvious cause. Autologous serum skin test (ASST) positivity in patients with CSU is considered to be associated with autoimmune urticaria (AIU). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> In this retrospective study we retrieved the medical records of 1,073 urticaria patients seen at the Department of Dermatology and Allergology of Szeged University between January 2005 and February 2014. Forty-two patients (36 female and 6 male) met the study criteria by having CSU and giving positive results in the ASST. Our aim was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of low-dose oral prednisolone therapy administered to patients with antihistamine-refractory ASST-positive CSU for a few months. Patients were given an initial dose (40 mg/day) of prednisolone until the complete resolution of the symptoms, usually 7-10 days, and then the dose was gradually decreased, as in other autoimmune diseases. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Prednisolone therapy lasted for an average of 3.6 months and a complete long-lasting response was achieved in 35 of 42 AIU patients (83.3%). The follow-up period was at least 36 months (3 years) for each AIU patient; the longest follow-up time was 139 months (11.5 years). None of the patients reported any considerable side effects. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Based on our results, we suggest that the use of this treatment could be an alternative for the treatment of AIU. Our present results also highlight the need for other therapies in a small percentage of AIU patients. Our results suggest that AIU represents a transient autoimmunity that can be successfully treated with low-dose steroid therapy administered for a few months.</p

Local asymptotic properties for Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process with discrete observations

62 pagesIn this paper, we consider a one-dimensional Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) process whose drift coefficient depends on unknown parameters. Considering the process discretely observed at high frequency, we prove the local asymptotic normality property in the subcritical case, the local asymptotic quadraticity in the critical case, and the local asymptotic mixed normality property in the supercritical case. To obtain these results, we use the Malliavin calculus techniques developed recently for CIR process by Al\`os et {\it al.} \cite{AE08} and Altmayer et {\it al.} \cite{AN14} together with the $L^p$-norm estimation for positive and negative moments of the CIR process obtained by Bossy et {\it al.} \cite{BD07} and Ben Alaya et {\it al.} \cite{BK12,BK13}. In this study, we require the same conditions of high frequency $\Delta_n\rightarrow 0$ and infinite horizon $n\Delta_n\rightarrow\infty$ as in the case of ergodic diffusions with globally Lipschitz coefficients studied earlier by Gobet \cite{G02}. However, in the non-ergodic cases, additional assumptions on the decreasing rate of $\Delta_n$ are required due to the fact that the square root diffusion coefficient of the CIR process is not regular enough. Indeed, we assume $n\Delta_n^{3}\to 0$ for the critical case and $\Delta_n^{2}e^{-b_0n\Delta_n}\to 0$ for the supercritical case