Radioaktiivisten aineiden sotilaallisesta merkityksestä

Artikkelin ensimmäisessä osassa selvitetään radioaktiivisuutta yleisesti, käsitellen radioaktiiviset aineet sekä radioaktiivisen aineen määrän ja säteilyvoimakkuuden ajallista riippuvuutta matemaattisten laskelmien avulla. Toisessa luvussa, "Sotilaalliseen käyttöön kysymykseen tulevat radioaktiiviset aineet", asetetaan perusvaatimuksiksi riittävän suuri tuotanto, riittävän hyvät varastointimahdollisuudet ja riittävän suuri teho. Luvussa tarkastellaan tarkemmin näitä vaatimuksia eri näkökulmista. Kolmas luku käsittelee yleisiä saastuttamisperiaatteita, ottaen ensiksi esille saastutuksen tarkoituksen ja siihen käytettäviä aineita sekä levittämistekniikkaa. Viimeisessä luvussa tarkastellaan suojatoimenpiteitä, joita ovat säteilytiedustelu ja varsinaiset suojatoimet

A comparison of smartphone and paper data collection tools in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study in Gezira state, Sudan

Introduction: Data collection using paper-based questionnaires can be time consuming and return errors affect data accuracy, completeness, and information quality in health surveys. We compared smartphone and paper-based data collection systems in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study in rural Sudan. Methods: This exploratory pilot study was designed to run in parallel with the cross-sectional household survey. The Open Data Kit was used to programme questionnaires in Arabic into smartphones. We included 100 study participants (83% women; median age = 41.5 ± 16.4 years) from the BOLD study from 3 rural villages in East-Gezira and Kamleen localities of Gezira state, Sudan. Questionnaire data were collected using smartphone and paper-based technologies simultaneously. We used Kappa statistics and inter-rater class coefficient to test agreement between the two methods. Results: Symptoms reported included cough (24%), phlegm (15%), wheezing (17%), and shortness of breath (18%). One in five were or had been cigarette smokers. The two data collection methods varied between perfect to slight agreement across the 204 variables evaluated (Kappa varied between 1.00 and 0.02 and inter-rater coefficient between 1.00 and -0.12). Errors were most commonly seen with paper questionnaires (83% of errors seen) vs smartphones (17% of errors seen) administered questionnaires with questions with complex skip-patterns being a major source of errors in paper questionnaires. Automated checks and validations in smartphone-administered questionnaires avoided skip-pattern related errors. Incomplete and inconsistent records were more likely seen on paper questionnaires. Conclusion: Compared to paper-based data collection, smartphone technology worked well for data collection in the study, which was conducted in a challenging rural environment in Sudan. This approach provided timely, quality data with fewer errors and inconsistencies compared to paper-based data collection. We recommend this method for future BOLD studies and other population-based studies in similar settings

Ilmamaalin ampumaopillista tarkastelua nykyhetkellä

Artikkelin johdannossa todetaan, että ilmamaalin tuhoaminen on käynyt erittäin ajankohtaiseksi. "Yhä kasvavan ydintaisteluvälineistön käyttömahdollisuuksiin liittyvän vaaran takia joudutaan torjunnalle asettamaan olennaisesti uusia vaatimuksia..torjunnalle on asetettava kategorinen maalin tuhoamisen vaatimus." Artikkelissa tarkastellaan lentokonetta maalianalyysinä. Toisessa luvussa tarkastellaan lentokonemaalin karakterististen ominaisuuksien ja niiden seurauksia yleisesti. Osin yksityiskohtaisessa teknisessä tarkastelussa ovat suuri nopeus, kolmiulotteinen liikkumiskyky, suhteellisen pieni koko ja tuhoamisvaikeus. Kolmannessa luvussa tarkastellaan kehitysnäkökohtia ampumaopin kannalta, todeten, että kehityksen hallitsevimmaksi tekijäksi on tullut nopeus. Viimeisessä luvussa, "Ammunnan mahdollisuuksien yleistä arviointia", tuodaan esille muun muassa niitä tekijöitä, joihin voidaan vaikuttaa sekä tarkan etäisyyden määrittämisen merkitystä ja eräitä laskennallisia vertailuja eri sytyttimien välillä. Artikkelin liitteinä on matemaattisessa tarkastelussa käytettyjä perusteita

Mapping regional livelihood benefits from local ecosystem services assessments in rural Sahel

Most current approaches to landscape scale ecosystem service assessments rely on detailed secondary data. This type of data is seldom available in regions with high levels of poverty and strong local dependence on provisioning ecosystem services for livelihoods. We develop a method to extrapolate results from a previously published village scale ecosystem services assessment to a higher administrative level, relevant for land use decision making. The method combines remote sensing (using a hybrid classification method) and interviews with community members. The resulting landscape scale maps show the spatial distribution of five different livelihood benefits (nutritional diversity, income, insurance/saving, material assets and energy, and crops for consumption) that illustrate the strong multifunctionality of the Sahelian landscapes. The maps highlight the importance of a diverse set of sub-units of the landscape in supporting Sahelian livelihoods. We see a large potential in using the resulting type of livelihood benefit maps for guiding future land use decisions in the Sahel

Report on the main activities undertaken and preliminary findings emerging from research on the CGIAR Targeting Agricultural Innovations and Ecosystem Services in the northern Volta basin (TAI) project

The CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems research project on Targeting Agricultural Innovations and Ecosystem Services in the northern Volta basin (TAI) is a two year project (2014-2016) led by Bioversity International in collaboration with 11 institutes: CIAT, CIRAD, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), King’s College London (KCL), SNV World Burkina Faso (SNV), Stanford University, Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), University of Development Studies Ghana (UDS), University of Minnesota, University of Washington, and the World Agroforestry Institute. We are working with communities across Centre-Est Burkina Faso and Upper-East Ghana to gather empirical data, test research methodologies and co-develop knowledge on solutions to ecosystem service management challenges. Results from the project are still emerging and will continue to do so into 2017 as the team finish analysing the data and writing up their findings. This report presents the main activities accomplished and preliminary headline messages from the first 18 months of the project. Final results from the project will be made available in 2017 on the WLE website

Systematic effects on a Compton polarimeter at the focus of an X-ray mirror

XL-Calibur is a balloon-borne Compton polarimeter for X-rays in the $\sim$15-80 keV range. Using an X-ray mirror with a 12 m focal length for collecting photons onto a beryllium scattering rod surrounded by CZT detectors, a minimum-detectable polarization as low as $\sim$3% is expected during a 24-hour on-target observation of a 1 Crab source at 45$^{\circ}$ elevation. Systematic effects alter the reconstructed polarization as the mirror focal spot moves across the beryllium scatterer, due to pointing offsets, mechanical misalignment or deformation of the carbon-fiber truss supporting the mirror and the polarimeter. Unaddressed, this can give rise to a spurious polarization signal for an unpolarized flux, or a change in reconstructed polarization fraction and angle for a polarized flux. Using bench-marked Monte-Carlo simulations and an accurate mirror point-spread function characterized at synchrotron beam-lines, systematic effects are quantified, and mitigation strategies discussed. By recalculating the scattering site for a shifted beam, systematic errors can be reduced from several tens of percent to the few-percent level for any shift within the scattering element. The treatment of these systematic effects will be important for any polarimetric instrument where a focused X-ray beam is impinging on a scattering element surrounded by counting detectors.Comment: Submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Differential Role for CD80 and CD86 in the Regulation of the Innate Immune Response in Murine Polymicrobial Sepsis

Inflammation in the early stages of sepsis is governed by the innate immune response. Costimulatory molecules are a receptor/ligand class of molecules capable of regulation of inflammation in innate immunity via macrophage/neutrophil contact. We recently described that CD80/86 ligation is required for maximal macrophage activation and CD80/86(-/-) mice display reduced mortality and inflammatory cytokine production after cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). However, these data also demonstrate differential regulation of CD80 and CD86 expression in sepsis, suggesting a divergent role for these receptors. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the individual contribution of CD80/86 family members in regulating inflammation in sepsis.CD80(-/-) mice had improved survival after CLP when compared to WT or CD86(-/-) mice. This was associated with preferential attenuation of inflammatory cytokine production in CD80(-/-) mice. Results were confirmed with pharmacologic blockade, with anti-CD80 mAb rescuing mice when administered before or after CLP. In vitro, activation of macrophages with neutrophil lipid rafts caused selective disassociation of IRAK-M, a negative regulator of NF-kappaB signaling from CD80; providing a mechanism for preferential regulation of cytokine production by CD80. Finally, in humans, upregulation of CD80 and loss of constitutive CD86 expression on monocytes was associated with higher severity of illness and inflammation confirming the findings in our mouse model.In conclusion, our data describe a differential role for CD80 and CD86 in regulation of inflammation in the innate immune response to sepsis. Future therapeutic strategies for blockade of the CD80/86 system in sepsis should focus on direct inhibition of CD80