NIMBUS-7 ERB DELMAT operators guide and maintenance manual

Described in detail are the ERB DELMAT algorithms used to correct the wide field-of-view channels (11, 12, 13 and 14) radiometer data. The computer software and the required operational environment are also delineated. The information and procedures required to maintain the DELMAT program are also described

Development of a surface isolation estimation technique suitable for application of polar orbiting satellite data

A technique is developed for the estimation of total daily insolation on the basis of data derivable from operational polar-orbiting satellites. Although surface insolation and meteorological observations are used in the development, the algorithm is constrained in application by the infrequent daytime polar-orbiter coverage

Prevalence of emotional, physical and sexual abuse of women in three South African provinces.

INTRODUCTION: There is growing recognition in the ranks of the South African government that violence against women is a serious problem facing us all. Until now data on the epidemiology of violence against women in South Africa have been scanty. This report presents the findings of the first major community-based prevalence study. OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse of women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in the Eastern Cape (EC), Mpumalanga (MP) and the Northern Province (NP). The sample included one randomly selected woman aged 18-49 years living in each of 2,232 households. The sample was drawn using stratified, multistage, random methods, and 1,306 questionnaires were completed, giving a 90.3% response rate after adjusting for households without an eligible woman. RESULTS: The prevalences of ever having been physically abused by a current or ex-partner were 26.8% (EC), 28.4% (MP) and 19.1% (NP). The prevalences of abuse in the last year were 10.9% (EC), 11.9% (MP) and 4.5% (NP). The prevalences of rape were 4.5% (EC), 7.2% (MP) and 4.8% (NP). Considerable emotional and financial abuse was also reported, e.g. the prevalences of a partner having boasted about or brought home girlfriends in the previous year were 5.0% (EC), 10.4% (MP) and 7.0% (NP): The prevalences of physical abuse during a pregnancy were 9.1% (EC), 6.7% (MP) and 4.7% (NP). The proportions of abused women who were injured in the year before the survey were 34.5% (EC), 48.0% (MP) and 60.0% (NP). CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first large-scale, community-based prevalence study to be undertaken in South Africa

Effects of seawater and deionized water at 0 to 80 deg C on the flexural properties of a glass/epoxy composite

The effect on the flexural properties of a glass/epoxy composite of immersion in deionized water or seawater at 0, 25, and 80 C for 451 hr was examined. The percent weight gain at 0 and 25 C was low (0.06 to 0.17 percent) and there was no significant change in the flexural properties for these environmental conditions. At 80 C there was a decrease in the flexural strength of 17 and 20 percent in seawater and deionized water, respectively. This is a comparison to control samples exposed to 80 C heat alone. These decreases were found to be nearly reversible once the samples were dried. Optical microscopy did not reveal cracking of the matrix. The flexural modulus was essentially unaffected by exposure to deionized water and seawater at 80 C

Charge collection and trapping in low‐temperature silicon detectors

Charge collection efficiency measurements in silicon detectors at low temperature (T \u3c 0.5 K) and low applied electric field (E=0.1–100 V/cm) were performed using a variety of high‐purity, p‐type silicon samples with room‐temperature resistivity in the range 2–40 kΩ cm. Good charge collection under these conditions of low temperature and low electric field is necessary for background suppression, through the simultaneous measurement of phonons and ionization, in a very low event rate dark matter search or neutrino physics experiment. Charge loss due to trapping during drift is present in some samples, but the data suggest that another charge–loss mechanism is also important. We present results which indicate that, for 60 keV energy depositions, a significant fraction of the total charge loss by trapping occurs in the initial electron‐hole cloud near the event location which may briefly act as a shielded, field‐free region. In addition, measurements of the lateral size, transverse to the applied electric field, of the initial electron‐hole cloud indicate large transverse diffusion lengths. At the lowest fields a lateral diameter on the order of 1 mm is found in a detector ∼5 mm thick

Social cognition in schizophrenia: factor structure, clinical and functional correlates

Social cognition is consistently impaired in people with schizophrenia, separable from general neurocognition, predictive of real-world functioning, and amenable to psychosocial treatment. Few studies have empirically examined its underlying factor structure

Structural Invariance of Sunspot Umbrae Over the Solar Cycle: 1993-2004

Measurements of maximum magnetic flux, minimum intensity, and size are presented for 12 967 sunspot umbrae detected on the NASA/NSO spectromagnetograms between 1993 and 2004 to study umbral structure and strength during the solar cycle. The umbrae are selected using an automated thresholding technique. Measured umbral intensities are first corrected for a confirming observation of umbral limb-darkening. Log-normal fits to the observed size distribution confirm that the size spectrum shape does not vary with time. The intensity-magnetic flux relationship is found to be steady over the solar cycle. The dependence of umbral size on the magnetic flux and minimum intensity are also independent of cycle phase and give linear and quadratic relations, respectively. While the large sample size does show a low amplitude oscillation in the mean minimum intensity and maximum magnetic flux correlated with the solar cycle, this can be explained in terms of variations in the mean umbral size. These size variations, however, are small and do not substantiate a meaningful change in the size spectrum of the umbrae generated by the Sun. Thus, in contrast to previous reports, the observations suggest the equilibrium structure, as testified by the invariant size-magnetic field relationship, as well as the mean size (i.e. strength) of sunspot umbrae do not significantly depend on solar cycle phase.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures. Published in Solar Physic

Effect of heat treatment on mechanical dissipation in Ta2_2O5_5 coatings

Thermal noise arising from mechanical dissipation in dielectric reflective coatings is expected to critically limit the sensitivity of precision measurement systems such as high-resolution optical spectroscopy, optical frequency standards and future generations of interferometric gravitational wave detectors. We present measurements of the effect of post-deposition heat treatment on the temperature dependence of the mechanical dissipation in ion-beam sputtered tantalum pentoxide between 11\,K and 300\,K. We find the temperature dependence of the dissipation is strongly dependent on the temperature at which the heat treatment was carried out, and we have identified three dissipation peaks occurring at different heat treatment temperatures. At temperatures below 200\,K, the magnitude of the loss was found to increase with higher heat treatment temperatures, indicating that heat treatment is a significant factor in determining the level of coating thermal noise.Comment: accepted Classical and Quantum Gravity 201

Understanding Social Situations (USS): A proof-of-concept social–cognitive intervention targeting theory of mind and attributional bias in individuals with psychosis.

In this proof-of-concept trial, we examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Understanding Social Situations (USS), a new social cognitive intervention that targets higher-level social cognitive skills using methods common to neurocognitive remediation, including drill and practice and hierarchically structured training, which may compensate for the negative effects of cognitive impairment on learning