Evaluation of the diffusion equation for modeling reverberant electromagnetic fields

Determination of the distribution of electromagnetic energy inside electrically large enclosed spaces is important in many electromagnetic compatibility applications, such as certification of aircraft and equipment shielding enclosures. The field inside such enclosed environments contains a dominant diffuse component due to multiple randomizing reflections from the enclosing surfaces. The power balance technique has been widely applied to the analysis of such problems; however, it is unable to account for the inhomogeneities in the field that arise when the absorption in the walls and contents of the enclosure is significant. In this paper we show how a diffusion equation approach can be applied to modeling diffuse electromagnetic fields and evaluate its potential for use in electromagnetic compatibility applications. Two canonical examples were investigated: A loaded cavity and two cavities coupled by a large aperture. The predictions of the diffusion model were compared to measurement data and found to be in good agreement. The diffusion model has a very low computational cost compared to other applicable techniques, such as full-wave simulation and ray-tracing, offering the potential for a radical increase in the efficiency of the solution high frequency electromagnetic shielding problems with complex topologies

Witness and Worship in Pluralistic America

American society in the twenty- first century poses a myriad of challenges for the church as it seeks to be an effective witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Among these challenges is an increasingly pluralistic cultural and religious context.https://scholar.csl.edu/ebooks/1040/thumbnail.jp

Representative Contents Design for Shielding Enclosure Qualification from 2 to 20 GHz

The electromagnetic environment inside a shielding enclosure is affected by the absorption characteristics of the contents, which should therefore be represented in shielding measurements and simulations. At frequencies up to a few gigahertz, lossy dielectric materials have previously been used as surrogates for printed circuit boards in enclosure shielding assessment, both experimentally and in simulations. However, no systematic methodology for the design of these surrogates and their calibration against real hardware at high frequencies has been elucidated. In this paper we show how both lossy dielectric material and microstrip transmission line based “representative contents” can be designed and calibrated against real printed circuit boards over the frequency range 2-20 GHz using power balance concepts. The calibration is made by matching the average absorption cross-section of the surrogate to an average value for a class of real contents measured in a reverberation chamber. The surrogates are designed using efficient power balance models for layered media and field-excited microstrip lines and verified using full-wave simulation. The fabricated surrogates are validated by shielding measurements. The methodology presented could form an important part of future standards for enclosure qualification measurements that more accurately represent the internal environment of real equipment

A multi-center, open-labeled, cluster-randomized study of the safety of double and triple drug community mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis

BackgroundThe Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) provides antifilarial medications to hundreds of millions of people annually to treat filarial infections and prevent elephantiasis. Recent trials have shown that a single-dose, triple-drug treatment (ivermectin with diethylcarbamazine and albendazole [IDA]) is superior to a two-drug combination (diethylcarbamazine plus albendazole [DA]) that is widely used in LF elimination programs. This study was performed to assess the safety of IDA and DA in a variety of endemic settings.Methods and findingsLarge community studies were conducted in five countries between October 2016 and November 2017. Two studies were performed in areas with no prior mass drug administration (MDA) for filariasis (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia), and three studies were performed in areas with persistent LF despite extensive prior MDA (India, Haiti, and Fiji). Participants were treated with a single oral dose of IDA (ivermectin, 200 μg/kg; diethylcarbamazine, 6 mg/kg; plus albendazole, a fixed dose of 400 mg) or with DA alone. Treatment assignment in each study site was randomized by locality of residence. Treatment was offered to residents who were ≥5 years of age and not pregnant. Adverse events (AEs) were assessed by medical teams with active follow-up for 2 days and passive follow-up for an additional 5 days. A total of 26,836 persons were enrolled (13,535 females and 13,300 males). A total of 12,280 participants were treated with DA, and 14,556 were treated with IDA. On day 1 or 2 after treatment, 97.4% of participants were assessed for AEs. The frequency of all AEs was similar after IDA and DA treatment (12% versus 12.1%, adjusted odds ratio for IDA versus DA 1.15, 95% CI 0.87-1.52, P = 0.316); 10.9% of participants experienced mild (grade 1) AEs, 1% experienced moderate (grade 2) AEs, and 0.1% experienced severe (grade 3) AEs. Rates of serious AEs after DA and IDA treatment were 0.04% (95% CI 0.01%-0.1%) and 0.01% (95% CI 0.00%-0.04%), respectively. Severity of AEs was not significantly different after IDA or DA. Five of six serious AEs reported occurred after DA treatment. The most common AEs reported were headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and fatigue. AE frequencies varied by country and were higher in adults and in females. AEs were more common in study participants with microfilaremia (33.4% versus 11.1%, P ConclusionsIn this study, we observed that IDA was well tolerated in LF-endemic populations. Posttreatment AE rates and severity did not differ significantly after IDA or DA treatment. Thus, results of this study suggest that IDA should be as safe as DA for use as a MDA regimen for LF elimination in areas that currently receive DA.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov registration number: NCT02899936

Mobile system for precise aero delivery with global reach network capability

This paper discusses the current status of the development of the mobile aerial delivery system to be further employed in a variety of different applications. High accuracy of the developed system enables its use in precision troop resupply, precise sensors placement, urban warfare reconnaissance and other similar operations. This paper overviews the overall system architecture and components of the developed aero delivery system itself and then proceeds with describing the current status of integrating it with an advanced deployment platform, unmanned aerial system, to achieve mobility and autonomy of operations. The paper also discusses some other systems in development pursuing similar goals and reviews some novel applications that become possible with the developed aerial delivery system

Concert recording 2016-02-04

[Track 01]. Der Schmetterling / Franz Schubert -- [Track 02]. Moonshine lullaby from Annie get your gun / Irving Berlin -- [Track 03]. Voi, che sapete from Le Nozze di Figaro / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- [Track 04]. Barcarolle from Les contes d\u27Hoffman / Jacques Offenbach -- [Track 05]. A maiden fair to see from H.M.S. Pinafore / Gilbert and Sullivan -- [Track 06]. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai from Dichterliebe / Robert Schumann -- [Track 07]. L\u27heure exquise / Reynaldo Hahn -- [Track 08]. And this is my beloved from Kismet / Wright ; Forest -- [Track 09]. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Gustav Mahler -- [Track 10]. Va! Laisse couler mes larmes from Werther / Jules Massenet -- [Track 11]. Give me Jesus / traditional ; arranged by Moses Hogan -- [Track 12]. Il lacerato spirito from Simon Boccanegra / Giuseppe Verdi -- [Track 13]. Giunse alfin il momento...Deh viene, non tardar from Le nozze di Figaro / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- [Track 14]. St. Ita\u27s vision from Hermit songs / Samuel Barber -- [Track 15]. Adele\u27s audition aria from Die Fledermaus / Johann Strauss -- [Track 16]. A part of that from The last five years / Jason Robert Brown -- [Track 17]. Two for the road / Henry Mancini -- [Track 18]. Nel cor piu non mi sento / Giovanni Paisiello -- [Track 19]. Love\u27s minstrels from The house of life / Ralph Vaughan-Williams -- [Track 20]. Der stürmische Morgen / Franz Schubert -- [Track 21]. Die Lotosblume / Robert Schumann -- [Track 22]. Nothing from A chorus line / Hammlisch ; Kleban -- [Track 23]. Spiel auf deiner Geige / Robert Stolz

Caveolin-1 is Associated with Tumor Progression and Confers a Multi-Modality Resistance Phenotype in Pancreatic Cancer

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is a 21 kDa protein enriched in caveolae, and has been implicated in oncogenic cell transformation, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. We explored roles for Cav-1 in pancreatic cancer (PC) prognostication, tumor progression, resistance to therapy, and whether targeted downregulation could lead to therapeutic sensitization. Cav-1 expression was assessed in cell lines, mouse models, and patient samples, and knocked down in order to compare changes in proliferation, invasion, migration, response to chemotherapy and radiation, and tumor growth. We found Cav-1 is overexpressed in human PC cell lines, mouse models, and human pancreatic tumors, and is associated with worse tumor grade and clinical outcomes. In PC cell lines, disruption/depletion of caveolae/Cav-1 reduces proliferation, colony formation, and invasion. Radiation and chemotherapy up-regulate Cav-1 expression, while Cav-1 depletion induces both chemosensitization and radiosensitization through altered apoptotic and DNA repair signaling. In vivo, Cav-1 depletion significantly attenuates tumor initiation and growth. Finally, Cav-1 depletion leads to altered JAK/STAT, JNK, and Src signaling in PC cells. Together, higher Cav-1 expression is correlated with worse outcomes, is essential for tumor growth and invasion (both in vitro and in vivo), is responsible for promoting resistance to therapies, and may serve as a prognostic/predictive biomarker and target in PC

Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations

Meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies, which dominate genetic discovery, are based on data from diverse historical time periods and populations. Genetic scores derived from genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of the heritability estimates obtained from whole-genome studies on single populations, known as the ‘hidden heritability’ puzzle. Using seven sampling populations (n = 35,062), we test whether hidden heritability is attributed to heterogeneity across sampling populations and time, showing that estimates are substantially smaller across populations compared with within populations. We show that the hidden heritability varies substantially: from zero for height to 20% for body mass index, 37% for education, 40% for age at first birth and up to 75% for number of children. Simulations demonstrate that our results are more likely to reflect heterogeneity in phenotypic measurement or gene–environment interactions than genetic heterogeneity. These findings have substantial implications for genetic discovery, suggesting that large homogenous datasets are required for behavioural phenotypes and that gene–environment interaction may be a central challenge for genetic discovery