Advances and limitations in the modelling of fabricated photonic bandgap fibers

Copyright © 2006 IEEEWe model fabricated silica photonic bandgap fibers and achieve good agreement between simulated and measured properties. We identify the size of the SEM bitmap image as the ultimate limit to the accurate calculation of surfaces modes within the bandgapF. Poletti, M. N. Petrovich, R. Amezcua-Correa, N. G. Broderick, T. M. Monro and D. J. Richardsonhttp://eprints.soton.ac.uk/47883

A weak-constraint 4DEnsembleVar. Part I: formulation and simple model experiments

4DEnsembleVar is a hybrid data assimilation method which purpose is not only to use ensemble flow-dependent covariance information in a variational setting, but to altogether avoid the computation of tangent linear and adjoint models. This formulation has been explored in the context of perfect models. In this setting, all information from observations has to be brought back to the start of the assimilation window using the space-time covariances of the ensemble. In large models, localisation of these covariances is essential, but the standard time-independent localisation leads to serious problems when advection is strong. This is because observation information is advected out of the localisation area, having no influence on the update. This is part I of a two-part paper in which we develop a weak-constraint formulation in which updates are allowed at observational times. This partially alleviates the time-localisation problem. Furthermore, we provide --for the first time-- a detailed description of strong- and weak-constraint 4DEnVar, including implementation details for the incremental form. The merits of our new weak-constraint formulation are illustrated using the Korteweg-de-Vries equation (propagation of a soliton). The second part of this paper deals with experiments in larger and more complicated models, namely the Lorenz 1996 model and a shallow water equations model with simulated convection

Anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies are associated with aberrant inflammatory circuits in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases

INTRODUCTION: Anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies are markers for several systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD). OBJECTIVE: To assess whether anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies are related to abnormalities in inflammatory circuits. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of consecutive outpatients with SARD. Anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies and serum amyloid A protein were measured by ELISA; panels for 18 cytokines and nine chemokines were analyzed on a Luminex reading platform, while high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and complement were measured by nephelometry. RESULTS: Among 167 included patients, 143 had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 16 had primary Sjögren's syndrome and eight had systemic sclerosis; 41 (24%) were positive for anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies. Patients with anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies had higher serum levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, GM-CSF, IL-21, IL-22, hs-CRP and chemokines CCL4, CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL12, but lower levels of complement C4. Anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibody titers were positively correlated with IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-21, IL-22, CXCL10, and hs-CRP, and negatively with complements C3 and C4. When only SLE patients were included, no association was identified between anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies and disease activity or organ-specific involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-Ro52/TRIM21 antibodies are associated with aberrant cytokine circuits and elevated levels of angiogenic molecules and neutrophil and monocyte chemoattractants, which suggests an active role for these antibodies in SARD.</p

The Virtual Solar Observatory: What Are We Up To Now?

In the nearly ten years of a functional Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO), http://virtualsolar.org/ we have made it possible to query and access sixty-seven distinct solar data products and several event lists from nine spacecraft and fifteen observatories or observing networks. We have used existing VSO technology, and developed new software, for a distributed network of sites caching and serving SDO HMI and/ or AlA data. We have also developed an application programming interface (API) that has enabled VSO search and data access capabilities in IDL, Python, and Java. We also have quite a bit of work yet to do, including completion of the implementation of access to SDO EVE data, and access to some nineteen other data sets from space- and ground-based observatories. In addition, we have been developing a new graphic user interface that will enable the saving of user interface and search preferences. We solicit advice from the community input prioritizing our task list, and adding to i

Remote system for detection of low-levels of methane based on photonic crystal fibres and wavelength modulation spectroscopy

In this work we described an optical fibre sensing system for detecting low levels of methane. The properties of hollow-core photonic crystal fibres are explored to have a sensing head with favourable characteristics for gas sensing, particularly in what concerns intrinsic readout sensitivity and gas diffusion time in the sensing structure. The sensor interrogation was performed applying the Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy technique, and a portable measurement unit was developed with performance suitable for remote detection of low levels of methane. This portable system has the capacity to simultaneously interrogate four remote photonic crystal fibre sensing heads. Copyright © 2009 J. P. Carvalho et al

Simulador de negocios en la industria de sensores: estrategia de diferenciación ampliada

Este documento contiene el planteamiento, desarrollo, decisiones y conclusiones de negocio ejecutadas en el simulador Capsim el cual integra los aprendizajes obtenidos durante la maestría en administración. Lo anterior, construyendo decisiones directivas para la empresa de manufactura en la industria de sensores, Chester. Dichas decisiones se documentaron por años, acompañadas de un conjunto de marcos teóricos que fueron aplicados durante la simulación. El capítulo uno contiene referencias sobre las bases del planteamiento estratégico, así como del análisis de la industria, comprende a su vez los recursos y capacidades dinámicas, la comprensión de estrategias de crecimiento, la construcción de modelos de negocio y los diferentes tipos de estrategias genéricas que aplican a las diversas industrias. Transversalmente se contempla la influencia del liderazgo en el ejercicio directivo. El capítulo dos, da vida a los elementos del marco teórico, aplicados al contexto de la industria, por lo que se aborda en específico el espectro estratégico y operativo de la empresa para competir y crear valor. Aquí se crea la misión, visión, definición de la estrategia a seguir, el modelo de negocio y la definición de los objetivos estratégicos. Es un acercamiento para comprender la dinámica de la industria, los segmentos, y un plan de acción para crear valor para los clientes a los que se sirve Chester en los próximos ocho años. El capítulo tres al seis, se componen de radiografías del desempeño de la empresa en cortes bianuales, se dota, además, de detalles que permiten comprender las decisiones de Chester y la competencia. Finalmente, el capítulo siete integra las conclusiones individuales y en equipo del proceso ejercido en la construcción de decisiones, así como un cierre del proceso de aprendizaje y la valoración de la experiencia adquirida.ITESO, A.C

Examining the Connections within the Startup Ecosystem: A Case Study of St. Louis

This paper documents the resurgence of entrepreneurial activity in St. Louis by reporting on the collaboration and local learning within the startup community. This activity is happening both between entrepreneurs and between organizations that provide support, such as mentoring and funding, to entrepreneurs. As these connections deepen, the strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem grows. Another finding from the research is that activity-based events, where entrepreneurs have the chance to use and practice the skills needed to grow their businesses, are most useful. St. Louis provides a multitude of these activities, such as Startup Weekend, 1 Million Cups, Code Until Dawn, StartLouis, and GlobalHack. Some of these are St. Louis specific, but others have nationwide or global operations, providing important implications for other cities

Analyzing the turbulent planetary boundary layer by remote sensing systems: the Doppler wind lidar, aerosol elastic lidar and microwave radiometer

he planetary boundary layer (PBL) is the lowermost region of troposphere and is endowed with turbulent characteristics, which can have mechanical and/or thermodynamic origins. This behavior gives this layer great importance, mainly in studies about pollutant dispersion and weather forecasting. However, the instruments usually applied in studies of turbulence in the PBL have limitations in spatial resolution (anemometer towers) or temporal resolution (instrumentation aboard an aircraft). Ground-based remote sensing, both active and passive, offers an alternative for studying the PBL. In this study we show the capabilities of combining different remote sensing systems (microwave radiometer – MWR, Doppler lidar – DL – and elastic lidar – EL) for retrieving a detailed picture on the PBL turbulent features. The statistical moments of the high frequency distributions of the vertical wind velocity, derived from DL, and of the backscattered coefficient, derived from EL, are corrected by two methodologies, namely first lag correction and -2=3 law correction. The corrected profiles, obtained from DL data, present small differences when compared with the uncorrected profiles, showing the low influence of noise and the viability of the proposed methodology. Concerning EL, in addition to analyzing the influence of noise, we explore the use of different wavelengths that usually include EL systems operated in extended networks, like the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET),This work was supported by the Andalusia Regional Government through project P12-RNM-2409 and by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) through projects CGL2016-81092-R and CGL2017-90884-REDT. We acknowledge the financial support by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through project ACTRIS-2 (grant agreement no. 654109)