Limb-darkening functions as derived from along-track operation of the ERBE scanning radiometers for August 1985

During August 1985, the scanning radiometers of the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) and the NOAA-9 satellite were operated in along-track scanning modes. These data were analyzed to produce limb darkening functions for Earth-emitted radiation, which relates the radiance in any given direction to the radiant exitence. Limb darkening functions are presented and shown as figures for day and night for each spacecraft. The scene types were computed using measurements within 10 deg of zenith. The models have values near zenith of 1.02 to 1.09, with values near 1.06 being typical. The typical value of the model is 1.06 for both day and night for ERBS, and for NOAA-9, the typical value at zenith is 1.06 for day and 1.05 for night. Mean models are formed for the ERBS and for the NOAA-9 results and are found to differ less than 1 percent, the ERBS results being the higher. The models vary about 1 percent with latitude near zenith

The Church of England and same sex marriage: beyond a rights-based analysis

Some scholars, faced with the apparent conflict between the Church of England’s teaching on marriage and the idea of equal marriage embraced by the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, have focussed on the implications of that Act for the constitutional relationship between church, state and nation. More frequently, academics have, noting the position of the Church of England under that Act, critiqued the legislation as an exercise in balancing competing human rights. This article by contrast, leaving behind a tendency to treat religion as a monolithic ‘other’, and leaving behind the neat binaries of rights-based analyses, interrogates the internal agonies of the Church of England as it has striven to negotiate an institutional response to the secular legalisation of same sex marriage. It explores the struggles of the Church to do so in a manner which holds in balance a wide array of doctrinal positions and the demands of mission, pastoral care and the continued apostolic identity of the Church of England

Do Children\u27s Advocacy Centers improve families’ experiences of child sexual abuse investigations?

Abstract Objective The Children\u27s Advocacy Center (CAC) model of child abuse investigation is designed to be more child and family-friendly than traditional methods, but there have been no rigorous studies of their effect on children\u27s and caregivers’ experience. Data collected as part of the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children\u27s Advocacy Centers were used to examine whether CACs improve caregivers’ and children\u27s satisfaction with investigations. Methods Nonoffending caregiver and child satisfaction were assessed during research interviews, including the administration of a 14-item Investigation Satisfaction Scale (ISS) for caregivers. Two hundred and twenty-nine sexual abuse cases investigated through a CAC were compared to 55 cases investigated in communities with no CAC. Results Hierarchical linear regression results indicated that caregivers in CAC cases were more satisfied with the investigation than those from comparison sites, even after controlling for a number of relevant variables. There were few differences between CAC and comparison samples on children\u27s satisfaction. Children described moderate to high satisfaction with the investigation, while a minority expressed concerns about their experience. Conclusions The CAC model shows promise for improving families’ experiences, but to build upon this promise, agencies will need to systematize procedures for refining and adapting the model as new research becomes available

Measuring the impact of cancer: a comparison of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and breast cancer survivors

Introduction Self-report instruments such as the Impact of Cancer (IOC) are designed to measure quality of life (QOL) impacts that cancer survivors attribute to their cancer experience. Generalizability of QOL findings across dis-tinct diagnostic categories of survivors is untested. W

The immune gene repertoire encoded in the purple sea urchin genome

Echinoderms occupy a critical and largely unexplored phylogenetic vantage point from which to infer both the early evolution of bilaterian immunity and the underpinnings of the vertebrate adaptive immune system. Here we present an initial survey of the purple sea urchin genome for genes associated with immunity. An elaborate repertoire of potential immune receptors, regulators and effectors is present, including unprecedented expansions of innate pathogen recognition genes. These include a diverse array of 222 Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes and a coordinate expansion of directly associated signaling adaptors. Notably, a subset of sea urchin TLR genes encodes receptors with structural characteristics previously identified only in protostomes. A similarly expanded set of 203 NOD/NALP-like cytoplasmic recognition proteins is present. These genes have previously been identified only in vertebrates where they are represented in much lower numbers. Genes that mediate the alternative and lectin complement pathways are described, while gene homologues of the terminal pathway are not present. We have also identified several homologues of genes that function in jawed vertebrate adaptive immunity. The most striking of these is a gene cluster with similarity to the jawed vertebrate Recombination Activating Genes 1 and 2 (RAG1/2). Sea urchins are long-lived, complex organisms and these findings reveal an innate immune system of unprecedented complexity. Whether the presumably intense selective processes that molded these gene families also gave rise to novel immune mechanisms akin to adaptive systems remains to be seen. The genome sequence provides immediate opportunities to apply the advantages of the sea urchin model toward problems in developmental and evolutionary immunobiology

Quantum Properties of Topological Black Holes

We examine quantum properties of topological black holes which are asymptotically anti--de Sitter. First, massless scalar fields and Weyl spinors which propagate in the background of an anti--de Sitter black hole are considered in an exactly soluble two--dimensional toy model. The Boulware--, Unruh--, and Hartle--Hawking vacua are defined. The latter results to coincide with the Unruh vacuum due to the boundary conditions necessary in asymptotically adS spacetimes. We show that the Hartle--Hawking vacuum represents a thermal equilibrium state with the temperature found in the Euclidean formulation. The renormalized stress tensor for this quantum state is well--defined everywhere, for any genus and for all solutions which do not have an inner Cauchy horizon, whereas in this last case it diverges on the inner horizon. The four--dimensional case is finally considered, the equilibrium states are discussed and a luminosity formula for the black hole of any genus is obtained. Since spacelike infinity in anti--de Sitter space acts like a mirror, it is pointed out how this would imply information loss in gravitational collapse. The black hole's mass spectrum according to Bekenstein's view is discussed and compared to that provided by string theory.Comment: 31 pages, one additional figure, enlarged discussion of the higher genus case, comment on the mass and new references adde

Recruitment and Retention of Patients into Emergency Medicine Clinical Trials

The emergency medicine (EM) and prehospital environments are unlike any other clinical environments and require special consideration to allow the successful implementation of clinical trials. This article reviews the specific issues involved in EM clinical trials and provides strategies from EM and non-EM trials to maximize recruitment and retention. While the evidence supporting some of these strategies is deficient, addressing recruitment and retention issues with specific strategies will help researchers deal with these issues in their funding applications and in turn develop the necessary infrastructure to participate in EM clinical trials.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:1104–1112 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency MedicinePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79223/1/j.1553-2712.2010.00866.x.pd