Satellite material contaminant optical properties

The Air Force Wright Research and Development Center and the Arnold Engineering Development Center are continuing a program for measuring optical effects of satellite material outgassing products on cryo-optic surfaces. Presented here are infrared (4000 to 700 cm(-1)) transmittance data for contaminant films condensed on a 77 K geranium window. From the transmittance data, the contaminant film refractive and absorptive indices (n, k) were derived using an analytical thin-film interference model with a nonlinear least-squares algorithm. To date 19 materials have been studied with the optical contents determined for 13 of those. The materials include adhesives, paints, composites, films, and lubricants. This program is continuing and properties for other materials will be available in the future

Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults.

BACKGROUND: Underweight, overweight, and obesity in childhood and adolescence are associated with adverse health consequences throughout the life-course. Our aim was to estimate worldwide trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) and a comprehensive set of BMI categories that cover underweight to obesity in children and adolescents, and to compare trends with those of adults. METHODS: We pooled 2416 population-based studies with measurements of height and weight on 128·9 million participants aged 5 years and older, including 31·5 million aged 5-19 years. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1975 to 2016 in 200 countries for mean BMI and for prevalence of BMI in the following categories for children and adolescents aged 5-19 years: more than 2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference for children and adolescents (referred to as moderate and severe underweight hereafter), 2 SD to more than 1 SD below the median (mild underweight), 1 SD below the median to 1 SD above the median (healthy weight), more than 1 SD to 2 SD above the median (overweight but not obese), and more than 2 SD above the median (obesity). FINDINGS: Regional change in age-standardised mean BMI in girls from 1975 to 2016 ranged from virtually no change (-0·01 kg/m2 per decade; 95% credible interval -0·42 to 0·39, posterior probability [PP] of the observed decrease being a true decrease=0·5098) in eastern Europe to an increase of 1·00 kg/m2 per decade (0·69-1·35, PP>0·9999) in central Latin America and an increase of 0·95 kg/m2 per decade (0·64-1·25, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. The range for boys was from a non-significant increase of 0·09 kg/m2 per decade (-0·33 to 0·49, PP=0·6926) in eastern Europe to an increase of 0·77 kg/m2 per decade (0·50-1·06, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. Trends in mean BMI have recently flattened in northwestern Europe and the high-income English-speaking and Asia-Pacific regions for both sexes, southwestern Europe for boys, and central and Andean Latin America for girls. By contrast, the rise in BMI has accelerated in east and south Asia for both sexes, and southeast Asia for boys. Global age-standardised prevalence of obesity increased from 0·7% (0·4-1·2) in 1975 to 5·6% (4·8-6·5) in 2016 in girls, and from 0·9% (0·5-1·3) in 1975 to 7·8% (6·7-9·1) in 2016 in boys; the prevalence of moderate and severe underweight decreased from 9·2% (6·0-12·9) in 1975 to 8·4% (6·8-10·1) in 2016 in girls and from 14·8% (10·4-19·5) in 1975 to 12·4% (10·3-14·5) in 2016 in boys. Prevalence of moderate and severe underweight was highest in India, at 22·7% (16·7-29·6) among girls and 30·7% (23·5-38·0) among boys. Prevalence of obesity was more than 30% in girls in Nauru, the Cook Islands, and Palau; and boys in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Palau, Niue, and American Samoa in 2016. Prevalence of obesity was about 20% or more in several countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Middle East and north Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA. In 2016, 75 (44-117) million girls and 117 (70-178) million boys worldwide were moderately or severely underweight. In the same year, 50 (24-89) million girls and 74 (39-125) million boys worldwide were obese. INTERPRETATION: The rising trends in children's and adolescents' BMI have plateaued in many high-income countries, albeit at high levels, but have accelerated in parts of Asia, with trends no longer correlated with those of adults. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust, AstraZeneca Young Health Programme

Działania innowacyjne na rzecz rozwoju województwa mazowieckiego

In the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, Poland came in 21st among 80 countries. In Poland, the five most innovative regions have been the same for three years. According to the Millennium Index 2018 – Innovative Potential of Regions these are regions with business and academic centres, characterised by developed scientific and R&D foundations, which support the development of the region. The leading regions include Mazovia, Małopolskie, Pomorskie, Dolnośląskie and Lubuskie because that is where the best universities and research and scientific centres are located, which influences the development of human capital. If we think about the ecosystem of innovation, the triple helix model is worth mentioning, as it covers the mutual, complex relations which appear in the process of creating knowledge between three kinds of entities. The model includes scientific institutions (universities, R&D centres, supporting institutions), industrial institutions (companies) and the public administration. In recent years, it has been posited that the model should also include the society, the institutions which represent it, such as non-governmental institutions, and final innovation recipients, i.e. citizens. This expanded version, called the quadruple helix model, advocates that the society be included in the innovation system, thus leading to new forms and models of organization, as well as a network of relationships between different stakeholders of the innovation process. The Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) for Mazovia is a document which reflects the quadruple helix approach in the Mazovia region. The actions undertaken by the Mazovian regional authorities for the region’s development in terms of innovation are in accordance with the strategic objectives included in RIS Mazovia. The document states that innovations can and should have the chance to appear and develop everywhere where there are innovative and enterprising people. The strategy’s objectives tree also adopts a broad understanding of the environment for innovation, both in terms of the subjective and procedural aspect.W rankingu Bloomberg Innovation Index w 2018 r. Polska uplasowała się na 21. miejscu na 80 krajów. Z kolei w „Indeksie Millennium 2018 – Potencjał Innowacyjności Regionów” pierwsza piątka najbardziej innowacyjnych województw w Polsce pozostaje niezmienna od trzech lat. Stanowią ją regiony skupiające duże ośrodki akademickie i biznesowe, dla których cechą wspólną jest rozbudowana baza naukowa oraz badawczo-rozwojowa, która wspiera rozwój innowacyjności regionów. W gronie liderów mamy województwa: mazowieckie, małopolskie, pomorskie, dolnośląskie oraz lubelskie. Myśląc o ekosystemie innowacji warto wspomnieć o Modelu Potrójnej Helisy (Triple Helix), który obejmuje wzajemne złożone relacje zachodzące w procesie tworzenia wiedzy pomiędzy trzema rodzajami podmiotów. W ramach modelu wyłoniono ośrodki naukowe (uniwersytety, ośrodki badawczo-naukowe, instytucje wspierające), przemysł (przedsiębiorstwa) i administrację publiczną. W ostatnich latach zaproponowano uwzględnienie w tych relacjach społeczeństwa i instytucji go reprezentujących, jak np. organizacje pozarządowe oraz końcowych użytkowników innowacji, tj. obywateli. Mówimy wówczas o Modelu Poczwórnej Helisy, który sprzyja włączeniu społeczeństwa w system innowacji, co prowadzi do pojawienia się ich nowych form i nowego sposobu organizacji, sieci powiązań między różnymi interesariuszami procesów innowacji. Dokumentem odzwierciedlającym poniekąd podejście Modelu Poczwórnej Helisy w województwie mazowieckim jest Regionalna Strategia Innowacji dla Mazowsza. Podejmowane działania przez władze regionalne na Mazowszu na rzecz rozwoju regionu w obszarze innowacji, co do zasady wpisują się w cele strategiczne ujęte w RIS Mazovia, która zakłada, że innowacje mogą i powinny mieć szanse powstawać oraz rozwijać się wszędzie tam, gdzie są przedsiębiorczy i innowacyjni ludzie. Drzewo celów strategii uwzględnia też rozumienie środowiska dla innowacji możliwie szeroko, zarówno pod względem podmiotowym, jak i procesowym