Change in the solar constant between 1968 and 1978

Solar irradiance measurements made from a balloon on January 27, 1978 and February 10, 1980 show a change of 0.4% over similar measurements made in 1968. This change is greater than the uncertainty of the measurement and is felt to be the result of a change in the solar constant

Stratospheric constituent measurements using UV solar occultation technique

The photochemistry of the stratospheric ozone layer was studied as the result of predictions that trace amounts of pollutants can significantly affect the layer. One of the key species in the determination of the effects of these pollutants is the OH radical. A balloon flight was made to determine whether data on atmospheric OH could be obtained from lower resolution solar spectra obtained from high altitude during sunset

Soundscape Optimization in Nursing Homes Through Raising Awareness in Nursing Staff With MoSART+

Introduction: Soundscapes in nursing homes are often suboptimal for residents. This can cause them feeling anxious and unsafe, or develop behavioral and psychological problems. Residents with dementia cannot adapt nursing home environments to their needs due to cognitive and physical limitations. It is up to the staff of psycho-geriatric wards to improve the soundscape. We evaluated the effect of the sound awareness intervention Mobile Soundscape Appraisal and Recording Technology (MoSART+) on soundscapes in nursing homes. Methods: The MoSART+ intervention was carried out in four nursing homes and took three months in each home. The MoSART+ intervention involved training ambassadors, assessing the soundscape with the MoSART application by the nursing staff to raise their sound awareness on random time points, discussing the measurements, and implementing micro-interventions. Soundscapes were assessed from 0 to 100 on four attributes: pleasantness, eventfulness, complexity, and range of affordances. Based on these scores, soundscapes were classified in four dimensions: calm, lively, boring, and chaotic. Nursing staff graded the environment on a scale of 0 to 10. T-test and Z-tests were used to analyze data. Results: Staff recorded 1882 measurements with the MoSART app. "People," "music, TV, and radio," and "machines and appliances" were the most prevalent sound sources before and after the implementation of micro-interventions. Post-implementation of micro-interventions, soundscapes were pleasant (median 69.0; IQR 54.0-81.0), of low complexity (33.0; 18.0-47.0), uneventful (27.0; 14.0-46.5), and gave moderate affordances (50.0; 35.0-67.0). Changes in attributes were statistically significant (p < 0.01). The proportion of the dimension calm increased (z = 12.7, p < 0.01), the proportion of chaotic decreased (z = 15.0, p < 0.01), and the proportion of lively decreased not statically significant (z = 0.68, p = 0.79). The proportion of boring was unchanged. The proportion of grades ≥6 increased after implementation of the micro-interventions (z = 15.3, p < 0.01). The micro-interventions focused on removing or reducing disturbing sounds and were unique for each nursing home. Discussion: The MoSART+ intervention resulted in a statistically significantly improvement of soundscapes, and more favorable evaluations of the nursing staff. The intervention empowered staff to adapt soundscapes. Nursing homes can improve soundscapes by raising sound awareness among staff. Trial Registration: Netherlands National Trial Register (NL6831)

Sounds in nursing homes and their effect on health in dementia:A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: Nursing home residents with dementia are sensitive to detrimental auditory environments. This paper presents the first literature review of empirical research investigating (1) the (perceived) intensity and sources of sounds in nursing homes, and (2) the influence of sounds on health of residents with dementia and staff. DESIGN: A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Study quality was assessed with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We used a narrative approach to present the results. RESULTS: We included 35 studies. Nine studies investigated sound intensity and reported high noise intensity with an average of 55-68 dB(A) (during daytime). In four studies about sound sources, human voices and electronic devices were the most dominant sources. Five cross-sectional studies focused on music interventions and reported positives effects on agitated behaviors. Four randomized controlled trials tested noise reduction as part of an intervention. In two studies, high-intensity sounds were associated with decreased nighttime sleep and increased agitation. The third study found an association between music and less agitation compared to other stimuli. The fourth study did not find an effect of noise on agitation. Two studies reported that a noisy environment had negative effects on staff. CONCLUSIONS: The need for appropriate auditory environments that are responsive to residents' cognitive abilities and functioning is not yet recognized widely. Future research needs to place greater emphasis on intervention-based and longitudinal study design

Enhancing secure Tropos to effectively deal with security requirements in the development of multiagent systems

The consideration of security requirements in the development of multi-agent systems is a very difficult task. However, only few approaches have been proposed that try to integrate security issues as internal part of the development process. Amongst them, secure Tropos has been proposed as a structured approach towards the consideration of security issues in the development of multiagent systems. In this paper we enhance secure Tropos by integrating to its stages: (i) a process for selecting amongst alternative architectural styles using as criteria the security requirements of the system; (ii) a pattern-based approach to transform security requirements to design, and (iii) a security attack scenarios approach to test the developed solution. The electronic single assessment process (eSAP) case study is used to illustrate our approach

Micromagnetic Tomography for Paleomagnetism and Rock-Magnetism.

Our understanding of the past behavior of the geomagnetic field arises from magnetic signals stored in geological materials, e.g., (volcanic) rocks. Bulk rock samples, however, often contain magnetic grains that differ in chemistry, size, and shape; some of them record the Earth's magnetic field well, others are unreliable. The presence of a small amount of adverse behaved magnetic grains in a sample may already obscure important information on the past state of the geomagnetic field. Recently it was shown that it is possible to determine magnetizations of individual grains in a sample by combining X-ray computed tomography and magnetic surface scanning measurements. Here we establish this new Micromagnetic Tomography (MMT) technique and make it suitable for use with different magnetic scanning techniques, and for both synthetic and natural samples. We acquired reliable magnetic directions by selecting subsets of grains in a synthetic sample, and we obtained rock-magnetic information of individual grains in a volcanic sample. This illustrates that MMT opens up entirely new venues of paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic research. MMT's unique ability to determine the magnetization of individual grains in a nondestructive way allows for a systematic analysis of how geological materials record and retain information on the past state of the Earth's magnetic field. Moreover, by interpreting only the contributions of known magnetically well-behaved grains in a sample, MMT has the potential to unlock paleomagnetic information from even the most complex, crucial, or valuable recorders that current methods are unable to recover