INSURANCE Insurance Regulation: Revise Agent Licensing Requirements

The Act revises license regulations for insurance agents, solicitors, brokers, counselors, and adjusters and provides for fiduciary and record keeping duties for life and accident and sickness insurance agents

Atmospheric water parameters in mid-latitude cyclones observed by microwave radiometry and compared to model calculations

Existing and experimental algorithms for various parameters of atmospheric water content such as integrated water vapor, cloud water, precipitation, are used to examine the distribution of these quantities in mid latitude cyclones. The data was obtained from signals given by the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I) and compared with data from the nimbus scanning multichannel microwave radiometer (SMMR) for North Atlantic cyclones. The potential of microwave remote sensing for enhancing knowledge of the horizontal structure of these storms and to aid the development and testing of the cloud and precipitation aspects of limited area numerical models of cyclonic storms is investigated

DSN G/T(sub op) and telecommunications system performance

Provided here is an intersystem comparison of present and evolving Deep Space Network (DSN) microwave receiving systems. Comparisons of the receiving systems are based on the widely used G/T sub op figure of merit, which is defined as antenna gain divided by operating system noise temperature. In 10 years, it is expected that the DSN 32 GHz microwave receiving system will improve the G/T sub op performance over the current 8.4 GHz system by 8.3 dB. To compare future telecommunications system end-to-end performance, both the receiving systems' G/T sub op and spacecraft transmit parameters are used. Improving the 32 GHz spacecraft transmitter system is shown to increase the end-to-end telecommunications system performance an additional 3.2 dB, for a net improvement of 11.5 dB. These values are without a planet in the field of view (FOV). A Saturn mission is used for an example calculation to indicate the degradation in performance with a planet in the field of view

Single- and dual-carrier microwave noise abatement in the deep space network

The NASA/JPL Deep Space Network (DSN) microwave ground antenna systems are presented which simultaneously uplink very high power S-band signals while receiving very low level S- and X-band downlinks. Tertiary mechanisms associated with elements give rise to self-interference in the forms of broadband noise burst and coherent intermodulation products. A long-term program to reduce or eliminate both forms of interference is described in detail. Two DSN antennas were subjected to extensive interference testing and practical cleanup program; the initial performance, modification details, and final performance achieved at several planned stages are discussed. Test equipment and field procedures found useful in locating interference sources are discussed. Practices deemed necessary for interference-free operations in the DSN are described. Much of the specific information given is expected to be easily generalized for application in a variety of similar installations. Recommendations for future investigations and individual element design are given

''One Passion, One Vision and One World’’- Reflections on the 9th Council of International Neonatal Nurses Conference (COINN) 2016

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Neonatal Nursing following peer review. Subject to 12 months embargo period, embargo end date: 20 October 2017. The version of record [Journal of Neonatal Nursing (December 2016) Vol 22 (6): 258-262. First published online October 20, 2016] is available online at doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2016.09.007This report presents our reflections and feedback of the 9th Council of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN) conference 2016 that took place at the Westin hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from August 13th to 17th 2016. This sophisticated venue overlooking a beautiful harbour captured the welcoming atmosphere and positivity that was to embrace the conference experience for the 4 day duration of ‘COINN 2016’. As you read this short article which describes the highlights and key messages from the conference, we invite the readers to hear the actual words from some of the first-time participants who stated that they will place the next ‘COINN 2019’ on their calendar with high anticipation.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Passive microwave algorithm development and evaluation

The scientific objectives of this grant are: (1) thoroughly evaluate, both theoretically and empirically, all available Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) retrieval algorithms for column water vapor, column liquid water, and surface wind speed; (2) where both appropriate and feasible, develop, validate, and document satellite passive microwave retrieval algorithms that offer significantly improved performance compared with currently available algorithms; and (3) refine and validate a novel physical inversion scheme for retrieving rain rate over the ocean. This report summarizes work accomplished or in progress during the first year of a three year grant. The emphasis during the first year has been on the validation and refinement of the rain rate algorithm published by Petty and on the analysis of independent data sets that can be used to help evaluate the performance of rain rate algorithms over remote areas of the ocean. Two articles in the area of global oceanic precipitation are attached

Frequencies and Characteristics of Global Oceanic Precipitation from Shipboard Present-Weather Reports

Ship reports of present weather obtained from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set are analyzed for the period 1958-91 in order to elucidate regional and seasonal variations in the climatological frequency, phase, intensity, and character of oceanic precipitation. Specific findings of note include the following: 1) The frequency of thunderstorm reports, relative to all precipitation reports, is a strong function of location, with thunderstorm activity being favored within 1000-3000 km of major tropical and subtropical land masses, while being quite rare at other locations, even within the intertropical convergence zone. 2) The latitudinal frequency of precipitation over the southern oceans increases steadily toward the Antarctic continent and shows relatively little seasonal variation. The frequency of convective activity, however, shows considerable seasonal variability, with sharp winter maxima occurring near 38 deg. latitude in both hemispheres. 3) Drizzle is the preferred form of precipitation in a number of regions, most of which coincide with known regions of persistent marine stratus and stratocumulus in the subtropical highs. Less well documented is the high relative frequency of drizzle in the vicinity of the equatorial sea surface temperature front in the eastern Pacific. 4) Regional differences in the temporal scale of precipitation events (e.g., transient showers versus steady precipitation) are clearly depicted by way of the ratio of the frequency of precipitation at the observation time to the frequency of all precipitation reports, including precipitation during the previous hour. The results of this study suggest that many current satellite rainfall estimation techniques may substantially underestimate the fractional coverage or frequency of precipitation poleward of 50 deg. latitude and in the subtropical dry zones. They also draw attention to the need to carefully account for regional differences in the physical and spatial properties of rainfall when developing calibration relationships for satellite algorithms

Ultralow noise performance of an 8.4-GHz maser-feedhorn system

A total system noise temperature of 6.6 K was demonstrated with an 8.4-GHz traveling wave maser and feedhorn operating in a cryogenic environment. Both the maser and feedhorn were inserted in the helium cryostat, with the maser operating in the 1.6-K liquid bath and the feedhorn cooled in the helium gas, with a temperature gradient along the horn ranging from the liquid bath temperature at its lower end to room temperature at its top. The ruby maser exhibited 43 dB of gain with a bandwidth of 76 MHz(-3 dB) centered at 8400 MHz. Discussions of the maser, cooled feedhorn, and cryostat designs are presented along with a discussion of the noise temperature measurements

Bayesian retrieval of complete posterior PDFs of oceanic rain rate from microwave observations

A new Bayesian algorithm for retrieving surface rain rate from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) over the ocean is presented, along with validations against estimates from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR). The Bayesian approach offers a rigorous basis for optimally combining multichannel observations with prior knowledge. While other rain-rate algorithms have been published that are based at least partly on Bayesian reasoning, this is believed to be the first self-contained algorithm that fully exploits Bayes’s theorem to yield not just a single rain rate, but rather a continuous posterior probability distribution of rain rate. To advance the understanding of theoretical benefits of the Bayesian approach, sensitivity analyses have been conducted based on two synthetic datasets for which the “true” conditional and prior distribution are known. Results demonstrate that even when the prior and conditional likelihoods are specified perfectly, biased retrievals may occur at high rain rates. This bias is not the result of a defect of the Bayesian formalism, but rather represents the expected outcome when the physical constraint imposed by the radiometric observations is weak owing to saturation effects. It is also suggested that both the choice of the estimators and the prior information are crucial to the retrieval. In addition, the performance of the Bayesian algorithm herein is found to be comparable to that of other benchmark algorithms in real-world applications, while having the additional advantage of providing a complete continuous posterior probability distribution of surface rain rate