Spectral reflectances of natural targets for use in remote sensing studies

A collection of spectral reflectances of 156 natural targets is presented in a uniform format. For each target both a graphical plot and a digital tabulation of reflectance is given. The data were taken from the literature and include laboratory, field, and aircraft measurements. A discussion of the different measurements of reflectance is given, along with the changes in apparent reflectance when targets are viewed through the atmosphere. The salient features of the reflectance curves of common target types are presented and discussed

Local adjustment of the background error correlation for surface analyses over complex terrain

The terrain between grid points is used to modify locally the background error correlation matrix in an objective analysis system. This modification helps to reduce the influence across mountain barriers of corrections to the background field that are derived from surface observations. This change to the background error correlation matrix is tested using an analytic case of surface temperature that encapsulates the significant features of nocturnal radiation inversions in mountain basins, which can be difficult to analyze because of locally sharp gradients in temperature. Bratseth successive corrections, optimal interpolation, and three-dimensional variational approaches are shown to yield exactly the same surface temperature analysis. Adding the intervening terrain term to the Bratseth approach led to solutions that match more closely the specified analytic solution. In addition, the convergence of the Bratseth solutions to the best linear unbiased estimation of the analytic solution is faster. The intervening terrain term was evaluated in objective analyses over the western United States derived from a modified version of the Advanced Regional Prediction System Data Assimilation System. Local adjustment of the background error correlation matrix led to improved surface temperature analyses by limiting the influence of observations in mountain valleys that may differ from the weather conditions present in adjacent valleys. © 2005 American Meteorological Society

National Survey of Student Engagement Findings at a Historically Black Institution: Does Student Engagement Impact Persistence?

How can historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) improve student degree completion rates? To the credit of HBCUs, many students who otherwise would not have had an opportunity for college access and success have enrolled and graduated with degrees. In practical numbers, HBCU enrollment increased from 223,000 to 324,000, or by 45%, between 1976 and 2011 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Today, HBCUs enroll 9% of all African American men and women in American higher education, although they continue to enroll diverse populations. In spite of the increase in college-going rates, fall-to-fall retention, and six-year graduation rates, students at HBCUs lag noticeably behind students attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs). This may not be surprising given HBCUs commitment to access and success of underserved populations and students with diverse learning styles, backgrounds, talents, and learning differences

1862-05-09 John D. Myrick writes Governor Washburn concerning Major Stowell

https://digitalmaine.com/cw_me_1st_cav/1267/thumbnail.jp

1861-09-20 John D. Myrick requests a commission in the cavalry

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Operational forecasting of daily summer maximum and minimum temperatures in the Valencia Region

Extreme-temperature events have a great impact on human society. Thus, knowledge of summer temperatures can be very useful both for the general public and for organizations whose workers operate in the open. An accurate forecasting of summer maximum and minimum temperatures could help to predict heatwave conditions and permit the implementation of strategies aimed at minimizing the negative effects that high temperatures have on human health. The objective of this work is to evaluate the skill of the regional atmospheric and modelling system (RAMS) model in determining daily summer maximum and minimum temperatures in the Valencia Region. For this, we have used the real-time configuration of this model currently running at the Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Mediterráneo Foundation. This operational system is run twice a day, and both runs have a 3-day forecast range. To carry out the verification of the model in this work, the information generated by the system has been broken into individual simulation days for a specific daily run of the model. Moreover, we have analysed the summer forecast period from 1 June to 31 August for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. The results indicate good agreement between observed and simulated maximum temperatures, with RMSE in general near 2 °C both for coastal and inland stations. For this parameter, the model shows a negative bias around −1.5 °C in the coast, while the opposite trend is observed inland. In addition, RAMS also shows good results in forecasting minimum temperatures for coastal locations, with bias lower than 1 °C and RMSE below 2 °C. However, the model presents some difficulties for this parameter inland, where bias higher than 3 °C and RMSE of about 4 °C have been found. Besides, there is little difference in both temperatures forecasted within the two daily RAMS cycles and that RAMS is very stable in maintaining the forecast performance at least for three forecast days

Preceptorship and mentorship: not merely a matter of semantics

In academic writing on mentoring and preceptorship there is little consensus on the meaning or characteristics surrounding these terms. The writers of this paper contend that the correct usage of preceptorship and mentorship, which gives credence and respect to the very different concepts embedded in each, is a very important precursor to the evolution of these two concepts in nursing education, both academically and within practical application. Although language is continually changing, lack of clarity robs language of its richness and complexity and interferes with clear thinking about the issues. In professional terms, clarity demands that concepts, around which a body of knowledge is growing, be consistent in their meaning and characteristics. Such clarity between the related educational concepts of mentor(ship) and preceptor(ship) is lacking

New Pharmacological Agents to Aid Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Harm Reduction: What has been Investigated and What is in the Pipeline?

A wide range of support is available to help smokers to quit and aid attempts at harm reduction, including three first-line smoking cessation medications: nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline and bupropion. Despite the efficacy of these, there is a continual need to diversify the range of medications so that the needs of tobacco users are met. This paper compares the first-line smoking cessation medications to: 1) two variants of these existing products: new galenic formulations of varenicline and novel nicotine delivery devices; and 2) twenty-four alternative products: cytisine (novel outside of central and eastern Europe), nortriptyline, other tricyclic antidepressants, electronic cigarettes, clonidine (an anxiolytic), other anxiolytics (e.g. buspirone), selective 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors, supplements (e.g. St John’s wort), silver acetate, nicobrevin, modafinil, venlafaxine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI), opioid antagonist, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) antagonists, glucose tablets, selective cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonists, nicotine vaccines, drugs that affect gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission, drugs that affect N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA), dopamine agonists (e.g. levodopa), pioglitazone (Actos; OMS405), noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, and the weight management drug lorcaserin. Six criteria are used: relative efficacy, relative safety, relative cost, relative use (overall impact of effective medication use), relative scope (ability to serve new groups of patients), and relative ease of use (ESCUSE). Many of these products are in the early stages of clinical trials, however, cytisine looks most promising in having established efficacy and safety and being of low cost. Electronic cigarettes have become very popular, appear to be efficacious and are safer than smoking, but issues of continued dependence and possible harms need to be considered

Evaluation of antibody response to an adjuvanted hapten-protein vaccine as a potential inhibitor of sexual maturation for farmed Atlantic salmon

An experimental contraceptive vaccine was evaluated in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). A peptide derived from the beta subunit of luteinizing hormone (LH) was conjugated to two different carrier proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and formulated with one of four immunostimulants in a water-in-oil emulsion. Specific antibody responses to the peptide and each carrier protein were evaluated. While the antibody response to KLH was stronger than the response to BSA, both carrier proteins stimulated comparable antibody responses to the LH peptide. The immunostimulant proved to be more important for enhancing the LH peptide antibody response than the carrier protein selection; vaccines containing a combination of Aeromonas salmonicida and Vibrio anguillarum stimulated significantly greater LH peptide antibody production than any of the other three immunostimulants evaluated at 12 weeks post-vaccination. This study provides proof-of-concept for specific antibody production against a hapten-carrier protein antigen in Atlantic salmon and reinforces the importance of vaccine immunostimulant selection