New camera tube improves ultrasonic inspection system

Electron multiplier, incorporated into the camera tube of an ultrasonic imaging system, improves resolution, effectively shields low level circuits, and provides a high level signal input to the television camera. It is effective for inspection of metallic materials for bonds, voids, and homogeneity

Lidar Development at SRI - The First Decade

On 22 July 1963 the first lidar observations of the lower atmosphere were made at SRI with a pulsed ruby system developed by a team led by the late Myron G. H. Ligda. Since that time SRI has carried out a continuous program of exploration and development of the technique, primarily related to applications in atmospheric research in the troposphere. In this frankly personal retrospective, some of the highlights of this ten years are reviewed, both in terms of progress made and difficulties experienced. Topics discussed will include the technological aspects of the lidar systems used, the range of applications identified and explored and the various forms of information recovery and display that have been developed

Unintended consequences of changes in the regulatory landscape on the statutory audit processNie

We examine the effect of changes in the regulatory environment on the conduct of financial statement audits in a European setting. These changes include the adoption of risk-based auditing, new Audit Risk Standards and increased scrutiny of audit quality by a new, co-ordinated oversight body in each Member State. We investigate this by analysing the audit hours and fees and their determinants for clients of Big N audit firms in Finland in 1996 and 2010. Our results show that audit fees and audit effort by senior auditors were generally higher for high risk clients in 2010 than in 1996. Second, we find that the relationship in 1996 between the client being owner-managed and lower audit hours for both senior and junior auditors is absent in 2010. This supports our argument that the increased auditor scepticism has increased audit effort for owner-managed firms. Third, we find that the average number of junior staff hours increased between 1996 and 2010, but the variance across engagements declined. In contrast, senior auditor hours (and total audit hours) decreased, but the variance across engagements increased. This supports the view that risk-based auditing has increased the efficiency of audits. However, it suggests that the general increase in regulation and the tightening of audit standards, reinforced by the new quality inspections, have led to less emphasis on processes requiring professional judgment and more emphasis on compliance with rules. These unintended consequences should be of interest to the auditing profession and policy makers

The Association Between Work-Related Rumination and Executive Function Using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function

This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.Work-related rumination has been associated with a number of health complaints, however, little is known about the underlying factors associated with rumination. Previous work using proxy measures of executive function showed work-related rumination to be negatively associated with executive function. In this paper, we report two studies that examined the association between work-related rumination and executive function utilizing an ecological valid measure of executive function: the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-A, Roth et al., 2005). In study 1 (N = 63), high, relative to low work-related ruminators, were found to demonstrate lower executive function skills, in eight of the nine subscales of the BRIEF. The aim of study 2 (N = 237) was to identify, the key executive function subscale/s associated with work-related rumination. Controlling for known factors associated with work-related rumination (fatigue and sleep), regression analysis identified the behavioral regulation subscale "shift" as the key predictor within the model. Shift relates to our ability to switch attention, to think about different solutions, and dealing with and accepting change. It was concluded that these findings lend support for future research to develop interventions for enhancing shift ability, as an aid to reduce work-related ruminative thinking

In situ hybridisation and S1 mapping show that the presence of infiltrating plasma cells is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer.

In order to identify potential markers of prognosis in breast cancer, representative cDNA libraries were constructed using RNA isolated from primary breast tumour tissue associated with good and poor prognosis. Cross-screening of these libraries repeatedly identified cloned mRNA species associated with the immune system, in particular B-cells, in libraries derived from tumours of poor prognosis. We have used one of these a kappa IV light chain cDNA probe, in two complementary studies to investigate the relationship between immunoglobin gene expression and prognosis. The results obtained using a combination of S1 mapping, RNA blotting and in situ hybridisation demonstrate that the presence of plasma cells, as defined by infiltrating cells which express high levels of immunoglobulin kappa-chain mRNA, is associated with a poor prognosis

Seismo-acoustic ray model benchmarking against experimental tank data

Acoustic predictions of the recently developed TRACEO ray model, which accounts for bottom shear properties, are benchmarked against tank experimental data from the EPEE-1 and EPEE-2 (Elastic Parabolic Equation Experiment) experiments. Both experiments are representative of signal propagation in a Pekeris-like shallow-water waveguide over a non-flat isotropic elastic bottom, where significant interaction of the signal with the bottom can be expected. The benchmarks show, in particular, that the ray model can be as accurate as a parabolic approximation model benchmarked in similar conditions. The results of benchmarking are important, on one side, as a preliminary experimental validation of the model and, on the other side, demonstrates the reliability of the ray approach for seismo-acoustic applications. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4734236

Review of discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for partial differential equations on complicated domains

The numerical approximation of partial differential equations (PDEs) posed on complicated geometries, which include a large number of small geometrical features or microstructures, represents a challenging computational problem. Indeed, the use of standard mesh generators, employing simplices or tensor product elements, for example, naturally leads to very fine finite element meshes, and hence the computational effort required to numerically approximate the underlying PDE problem may be prohibitively expensive. As an alternative approach, in this article we present a review of composite/agglomerated discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods (DGFEMs) which employ general polytopic elements. Here, the elements are typically constructed as the union of standard element shapes; in this way, the minimal dimension of the underlying composite finite element space is independent of the number of geometrical features. In particular, we provide an overview of hp-version inverse estimates and approximation results for general polytopic elements, which are sharp with respect to element facet degeneration. On the basis of these results, a priori error bounds for the hp-DGFEM approximation of both second-order elliptic and first-order hyperbolic PDEs will be derived. Finally, we present numerical experiments which highlight the practical application of DGFEMs on meshes consisting of general polytopic elements

Inverse Correlation between Promoter Strength and Excision Activity in Class 1 Integrons

Class 1 integrons are widespread genetic elements that allow bacteria to capture and express gene cassettes that are usually promoterless. These integrons play a major role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative bacteria. They typically consist of a gene (intI) encoding an integrase (that catalyzes the gene cassette movement by site-specific recombination), a recombination site (attI1), and a promoter (Pc) responsible for the expression of inserted gene cassettes. The Pc promoter can occasionally be combined with a second promoter designated P2, and several Pc variants with different strengths have been described, although their relative distribution is not known. The Pc promoter in class 1 integrons is located within the intI1 coding sequence. The Pc polymorphism affects the amino acid sequence of IntI1 and the effect of this feature on the integrase recombination activity has not previously been investigated. We therefore conducted an extensive in silico study of class 1 integron sequences in order to assess the distribution of Pc variants. We also measured these promoters' strength by means of transcriptional reporter gene fusion experiments and estimated the excision and integration activities of the different IntI1 variants. We found that there are currently 13 Pc variants, leading to 10 IntI1 variants, that have a highly uneven distribution. There are five main Pc-P2 combinations, corresponding to five promoter strengths, and three main integrases displaying similar integration activity but very different excision efficiency. Promoter strength correlates with integrase excision activity: the weaker the promoter, the stronger the integrase. The tight relationship between the aptitude of class 1 integrons to recombine cassettes and express gene cassettes may be a key to understanding the short-term evolution of integrons. Dissemination of integron-driven drug resistance is therefore more complex than previously thought

The design of an experiment to determine the limitations imposed on a multiple-aperture antenna system by propagation phenomena third quarterly report, 1 dec. 1964 - 28 feb. 1965

Antenna array experiment to determine propagation path limitations on multiple aperture radio antenna