Albedo climatology analysis and the determination of fractional cloud cover

Monthly and zonally averaged surface cover climatology data are presented which are used to construct monthly and zonally averaged surface albedos. The albedo transformations are then applied to the surface albedos, using solar zenith angles characteristic of the Nimbus 6 satellite local sampling times, to obtain albedos at the top of clear and totally cloud covered atmospheres. These albedos are then combined with measured albedo data to solve for the monthly and zonally averaged fractional cloud cover. The measured albedo data were obtained from the wide field of view channels of the Nimbus 6 Earth Radiation Budget experiment, and consequently the fractional cloud cover results are representative of the local sampling times. These fractional cloud cover results are compared with recent studies. The cloud cover results not only show peaks near the intertropical convergence zone, but the monthly migration of the position of these peaks follows general predictions of atmospheric circulation studies

Creating and Sustaining Interdisciplinary Guardianship Committees

Over the past two decades, guardians, advocates, and the judiciary have been working at the national level to improve guardianship law and practice. This work was set in motion by a series of more than 200 Associated Press Wire Stories about guardianship abuses that were published in the mid-1980s. Over the next decade, guardians and other interested parties built relationships and established an association dedicated to improving guardianship. In the year 2000, members of the National Guardianship Association (“NGA”) wrote and formally adopted “Standards of Practice” for guardians. In 2001, at the Wingspan Conference held at Stetson University, other national groups such as the National College of Probate Judges and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys recognized the NGA standards as a national model. Making progress on change can be challenging and changes in practice have not kept pace with the many changes in state statutes. Each state is different in personality and procedure. What is common among the states is that courts, social service agencies, and advocates work independently, speak different languages, and may not understand each other. This makes change even more difficult unless the parties involved are willing to develop common language and a dialogue. That dialogue is the goal of teams that adopt an “interdisciplinary” approach. This Article will describe the multiple national conferences since 1988 that have spearheaded the process of guardianship reform, filtering it through to the states. The Article will also describe efforts at the state level to implement reform, focusing on the evolution of the Ohio Interdisciplinary Guardianship Committee (“IGC”), from its precursor, the Guardianship Forum, to a permanent, established subcommittee at the Supreme Court of Ohio. In addition to examining Ohio’s state-level IGC, this Article will review a number of other interdisciplinary groups around the country with similar approaches, though the focus of the groups may be slightly different. These groups may be statewide or may be organized at the county level. All these groups are trying to serve vulnerable adult populations with limited resources, and working as an interdisciplinary team expands the resources for problem resolution. Finally, there will be a discussion of the lessons the Ohio committee has learned through the process, and recommendations will be offered to assist other states interested in implementing and maintaining reform. The goal is to encourage more states to establish IGCs, to provide them with an effective entity to implement reform, and to position states to adopt the recommended standards developed as an outcome of the 2011 Guardianship Summit in Utah. Guardianship is a responsibility of the “state” that removes rights from the individual to protect that person. Encouraging courts, guardians, and the social service community in every state to learn about and implement best practice is the goal of the interdisciplinary dialogue

New Orientia tsutsugamushi strain from scrub typhus in Australia.

In a recent case of scrub typhus in Australia, Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from the patient's blood was tested by sequence analysis of the 16S rDNA gene. The sequence showed a strain of O. tsutsugamushi that was quite different from the classic Karp, Kato, and Gilliam strains. The new strain has been designated Litchfield

Interoperable multimedia metadata through similarity-based semantic web service discovery

The increasing availability of multimedia (MM) resources, Web services as well as content, on the Web raises the need to automatically discover and process resources out of distributed repositories. However, the heterogeneity of applied metadata schemas and vocabularies – ranging from XML-based schemas such as MPEG-7 to formal knowledge representation approaches – raises interoperability problems. To enable MM metadata interoperability by means of automated similarity-computation, we propose a hybrid representation approach which combines symbolic MM metadata representations with a grounding in so-called Conceptual Spaces (CS). In that, we enable automatic computation of similarities across distinct metadata vocabularies and schemas in terms of spatial distances in shared CS. Moreover, such a vector-based approach is particularly well suited to represent MM metadata, given that a majority of MM parameters is provided in terms of quantified metrics. To prove the feasibility of our approach, we provide a prototypical implementation facilitating similarity-based discovery of publicly available MM services, aiming at federated MM content retrieval out of heterogeneous repositories

"As cores da Química": Uma Proposta para Contextualizar e Introduzir Conhecimentos Químicos no Ensino Fundamental

Este trabalho discute os resultados da aplicação de um projeto de ensino intitulado “As cores da Química”, que foi desenvolvido por acadêmicas do curso de licenciatura em Química. O projeto priorizou uma abordagem contextualizada para introduzir conhecimentos químicos no ensino fundamental e configurou-se como um momento oportuno de formação para a docência, no que tange o planejamento e execução de uma proposta alternativa de ensino, que se opõe ao paradigma tradicional e busca dar significado aos conhecimentos científicos por meio de uma temática cotidiana. Os pigmentos e as tintas permitiram abordar diversos conteúdos químicos, tais como substâncias simples e compostas, reações químicas e solubilidade. Os resultados da aplicação denotam o potencial da temática escolhida para a construção de conhecimentos químicos, bem como para o desenvolvimento do interesse e motivação dos alunos em aprender sobre química

Denotative and Connotative Semantics in Hypermedia: Proposal for a Semiotic-Aware Architecture

In this article we claim that the linguistic-centered view within hypermedia systems needs refinement through a semiotic-based approach before real interoperation between media can be achieved. We discuss the problems of visual signification for images and video in dynamic systems, in which users can access visual material in a non-linear fashion. We describe how semiotics can help overcome such problems, by allowing descriptions of the material on both denotative and connotative levels. Finally we propose an architecture for a dynamic semiotic-aware hypermedia system

Young women's decisions to accept chlamydia screening: influences of stigma and doctor-patient interactions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An understanding of the factors that encourage young women to accept, and discourage them from accepting, STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing is needed to underpin opportunistic screening programs for the STI <it>Chlamydia trachomatis </it>(opportunistic screening involves healthcare professionals offering chlamydia tests to people while they are attending health services for reasons that are usually unrelated to their sexual health). We conducted a qualitative study to identify and explore: how young women would feel about being offered opportunistic tests for chlamydia?; how young women would like to be offered screening, and who they wanted to be offered screening by?; and what factors would influence young women's partner notification preferences for chlamydia (who they would notify in the event of a positive diagnosis of chlamydia, how they would want to do this).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Semi-structured interviews with 35 young women between eighteen and twenty nine years of age. The study was conducted in the Dublin and Galway regions of the Republic of Ireland. Young adults were recruited from General Practice (GP) practices, Third Level College health services, Family Planning clinics and specialist STI treatment services.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Respondents were worried that their identities would become stigmatised if they accepted screening. Younger respondents and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds had the greatest stigma-related concerns. Most respondents indicated that they would accept screening if it was offered to them, however; accepting screening was seen as a correct, responsible action to engage in. Respondents wanted to be offered screening by younger female healthcare professionals. Respondents were willing to inform their current partners about positive chlamydia diagnoses, but were more ambivalent about informing their previous partners.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>If an effort is not put into reducing young women's stigma-related concerns the population coverage of Chlamydia screening might be reduced.</p

Optical and electrical characteristics of (LiCl)x(P2O5)1-x glass.

Homogeneous (LiCl) x (P2O5)1 − x glasses were synthesised using a melt-quenching method for x = 0.1–0.6 in the interval of 0.05. The amorphous structure of the samples was evident by the X-ray diffraction spectrum. The short range structures of the binary phosphate samples were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, whilst the density of the samples was measured as supportive data for the investigations. The results of refractive indices as measured using an ellipsometer reveal the homogeneity of samples and was found to depend on the glass composition. The electrical properties of the glasses were investigated by ac impedance spectroscopy from 10 mHz to 1 MHz for temperatures ranging from room temperature to 573 K. An estimation of the bulk resistivity was obtained by taking the intercepts on the real axis at low frequencies of the complex impedance plot. The dc conductivities derived from the reciprocal of resistivity values were found to obey the Arrhenius relationship, and its activation energy shows a decreasing trend with the increase in LiCl content in the glass. Lastly, an equivalent circuits consisting of real and complex capacitors is proposed to describe the dielectric response of the glass

The materiality of the intangible: Literary metaphor in multimodal texts

Based on a larger practice-based research project in digital writing, this article examines how the materiality of digital media contributes to a layered metaphor that delivers meaning, reflects on the cognitive processes (the writer’s and the reader’s) of navigation and generates a dynamic narrative structure through multimodality, unnatural narration and user interaction. Many writers and artists engage with their chosen medium through an instinctive understanding of the materials at hand, gained through experience; the explicit study of a medium’s materiality is not always required for artistic success, however, that may be judged. This article offers insights into the creative process of creating digital, multimodal fiction, based on a practice-based research project designed to explore the effects of digital media on author and text, and argues that digital media have a significant effect on the outcome of the artefact itself. Awareness of these effects, their variations according to hardware and software, and the affordances of these various materials offer the digital writer greater insight and capability to craft his/her texts for the desired metaphorical meaning

Triggers of self-conscious emotions in the sexually transmitted infection testing process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-conscious emotions (shame, guilt and embarrassment) are part of many individuals' experiences of seeking STI testing. These emotions can have negative impacts on individuals' interpretations of the STI testing process, their willingness to seek treatment and their willingness to inform sexual partners in light of positive STI diagnoses. Because of these impacts, researchers have called for more work to be completed on the connections between shame, guilt, embarrassment and STI testing. We examine the specific events in the STI testing process that trigger self-conscious emotions in young adults who seek STI testing; and to understand what it is about these events that triggers these emotions.</p> <p>Semi-structured interviews with 30 adults (21 women, 9 men) in the Republic of Ireland.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Seven specific triggers of self-conscious emotions were identified. These were: having unprotected sex, associated with the initial reason for seeking STI testing; talking to partners and peers about the intention to seek STI testing; the experience of accessing STI testing facilities and sitting in clinic waiting rooms; negative interactions with healthcare professionals; receiving a positive diagnosis of an STI; having to notify sexual partners in light of a positive STI diagnosis; and accessing healthcare settings for treatment for an STI. Self-conscious emotions were triggered in each case by a perceived threat to respondents' social identities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There are multiple triggers of self-conscious emotions in the STI testing process, ranging from the initial decision to seek testing, right through to the experience of accessing treatment. The role of self-conscious emotions needs to be considered in each component of service design from health promotion approaches, through facility layout to the training of all professionals involved in the STI testing process.</p