Exploitation of SAR data for measurement of ocean currents and wave velocities

Methods of extracting information on ocean currents and wave orbital velocities from SAR data by an analysis of the Doppler frequency content of the data are discussed. The theory and data analysis methods are discussed, and results are presented for both aircraft and satellite (SEASAT) data sets. A method of measuring the phase velocity of a gravity wave field is also described. This method uses the shift in position of the wave crests on two images generated from the same data set using two separate Doppler bands. Results of the current measurements are pesented for 11 aircraft data sets and 4 SEASAT data sets

Evaluation of ERIM optically processed SEASAT SAR data

The results of three studies on the radiometric and geometric properties of optically processed SEASAT SAR imagery are summarized. The accuracy with which the image scale can be predicted based upon a knowledge of the SAR platform and recording system parameters and the processor characteristics was evaluated. The considerations involved in making radiometric measurements from image films, the use of point targets for calibrating the effects of Doppler spectrum shifts on the radiometric calibration of the SAR image data over extended swath lengths was evaluate

Using actor networks in decision making during content-packaging development

In order to integrate sustainability in the development of content-packaging combinations, the consequences of decisions for the entire life cycle need to be analyzed in early stages of the development process. To adequately underpin these decisions, several aspects, for example the economic and the environmental impact, need to be assessed. A so-called actor network is developed to support designers in decision making. This publication examines practical use situations of this actor network tool based on information from research partners. Scenarios are written in order to depict requirements for the actor network tool, considering different users and functionalitie

Project-led education in packaging development and management

As an implicit subset of industrial design engineering, packaging development and management thereof has long been a changeling, because product and packaging development are usually regarded in a similar manner. At the same time, there is a clear difference between packaging design and product design. The packaging explicitly serves the content and, therefore, in most cases, packaging is of low economic value. For this reason, new packaging design is all too often subject to standard or existing packaging solutions. Besides this, packaging development has specific requirements, because it has to preserve and protect its content, which gives many technical requirements. Other important requirements are based on legislation, market acceptance, the environmental impact and usability.\ud \ud This implies that education in packaging development cannot be a carbon copy of the education in product development. Often, even more fields of expertise are involved, while having to meet all restrictions related to developing feasible and realistic packages in a shorter time-frame.\ud \ud This publication describes how project-led education is employed in an educational approach that allows students to adequately address the development of content-packaging combinations in a structured, effective and efficient manner. With this, the development efforts spent on product and packaging can become more in balance, not only doing justice to the separate life cycles of the two, but especially to the benefit of the combined life cycle of the content-packaging combination

Traditional health practitioners' perceptions, herbal treatment and management of HIV and related opportunistic infections

Background: In South Africa, traditional health practitioners? (THPs) explanatory frameworks concerning illness aetiologies are much researched. However there is a gap in the literature on how THPs understand HIV-related opportunistic infections (OIs), i.e. tuberculosis, candidiasis and herpes zoster. This study aimed to comprehend THPs? understandings of the aforementioned; to ascertain and better understand the treatment methods used by THPs for HIV and OIs, while also contributing to the documentation of South African medicinal plants for future conservation. Methods: The study was conducted in two locations: Strand, Western Cape where THPs are trained and Mpoza village, Mount Frere, Eastern Cape from where medicinal plants are ordered or collected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 THPs of whom 36 were diviners (amagrirha: isangoma) and 17 herbalists (inyanga). THPs were selected through a non-probability ?snowball? method. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis approach. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted and plants used to manage HIV and OIs were collected. A complete set of voucher specimens was deposited at the University of the Western Cape Herbarium for identification. Plant names were checked and updated with Kew?s online website http://www.theplantlist.org. Results: THPs conceptualise the aetiology of HIV and OIs at two related levels. The first involves the immediate manifestation of the illness/condition because of a viral infection in the blood (HIV), the presence of bacteria in the lungs (tuberculosis), or weakened state of the body making it susceptible to OIs. The presence of OIs is indicative of the probable presence of HIV. The second level of causation affects the first, which includes pollution, changes in cultural sexual norms, witchcraft, environmental factors, and lack of adherence to ancestral rituals. THPs reported using 17 plants belonging to 12 families. Remedies included mixes of up to five plants. Conclusion: This study explored the THPs? perspectives on HIV and commonly associated OIs and their herbal treatment methods. THPs generally rely on biomedical diagnosis before treating a client. They also seek guidance from the ancestors for a particular diagnosis, the plants to use for a specific treatment, when to harvest, and how to administer herbal remedies

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Pedobiologia- International Journal of Soil Biology

jo u rn al homepage: www.elsevier.de/pedobi Impacts of emerald ash borer-induced tree mortality on leaf litter arthropods an

Membrane Lipid Requirements of the Lysine Transporter Lyp1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Membrane lipids act as solvents and functional cofactors for integral membrane proteins. The yeast plasma membrane is unusual in that it may have a high lipid order, which coincides with low passive permeability for small molecules and a slow lateral diffusion of proteins. Yet, membrane proteins whose functions require altered conformation must have flexibility within membranes. We have determined the molecular composition of yeast plasma membrane lipids located within a defined diameter of model proteins, including the APC-superfamily lysine transporter Lyp1. We now use the composition of lipids that naturally surround Lyp1 to guide testing of lipids that support the normal functioning of the transporter, when reconstituted in vesicles of defined lipid composition. We find that phosphatidylserine and ergosterol are essential for Lyp1 function, and the transport activity displays a sigmoidal relationship with the concentration of these lipids. Non-bilayer lipids stimulate transport activity, but different types are interchangeable. Remarkably, Lyp1 requires a relatively high fraction of lipids with one or more unsaturated acyl chains. The transport data and predictions of the periprotein lipidome of Lyp1, support a new model in which a narrow band of lipids immediately surrounding the transmembrane stalk of a model protein allows conformational changes in the protein

Захист від недобросовісної конкуренції у медичній сфері: проблеми правововго регулювання

Кожна людина має право на здорові умови життя, але напевно ще жодному не вдавалось уникнути звернень до лікарень, аптек, та інших організацій медичної сфери. Метою даної статті є дослідження захисту від недобросовісної конкуренції у медичній сфері в Україні та інших країнах та розроблення наукових рекомендацій щодо вдосконалення українського законодавства щодо врегулювання відносин щодо здійснення господарювання в медичній сфері

Block-Diagonalization and f-electron Effects in Tight-Binding Theory

We extend a tight-binding total energy method to include f-electrons, and apply it to the study of the structural and elastic properties of a range of elements from Be to U. We find that the tight-binding parameters are as accurate and transferable for f-electron systems as they are for d-electron systems. In both cases we have found it essential to take great care in constraining the fitting procedure by using a block-diagonalization procedure, which we describe in detail.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Functioneert een meetturbine in een stal met natuurlijke ventilatie?

Om de stookkosten te beperken is het meten en regelen van ventilatiehoeveelheden belangrijk. Ook als niet wordt bijverwarmd is een minimum ventilatie nodig en is meting van de ventilatiehoeveelheid wenselijk