Measurements of aerosol properties needed to infer backscatter characteristics in support of the NASA Doppler Lidar program

During the first year two areas of work were emphasized, analysis of aerosol data to provide improved estimates of backscatter over the Pacific ocean and development of a global model for backscatter at different wavelengths and preparation and planning for the aircraft flights of the GLOVE program. Significant progress was made in each of these areas. The analytical work is a continuation of the GAMETAG analysis, and was directed toward the development of a backscatter model for the Pacific Oceanic free troposphere. This has included a further evaluation of relationships between the optical effects at different wavelengths, a comparison of modeled optical effects at differing temporal resolutions, and an investigation of the effects of sampling on the modeled results. An initial investigation of the predictability of 9 to 10 micrometers Beta values from other data sets as well as some preliminary comparisons of the modeling results with experimental data. The comparison of the optical effects was extended to make the comparisons for different sets of time bases between 1 and 20 minutes

Effects of DUT mismatch on the noise figure characterization: A comparative analysis of two Y-factor techniques

Device mismatch seriously degrades accuracy in noise figure characterization. The suitability of corrections to the gain definitions for a more precise noise figure evaluation for mismatched devices is investigated and compared to classical techniques. The effects of device mismatch on the noise figure of the noise-meter receiver and its impact on the final accuracy are analyzed

Stochastic unraveling of Redfield master equations and its application to electron transfer problems

A method for stochastic unraveling of general time-local quantum master equations (QMEs) is proposed. The present kind of jump algorithm allows a numerically efficient treatment of QMEs which are not in Lindblad form, i.e. are not positive semidefinite by definition. The unraveling can be achieved by allowing for trajectories with negative weights. Such a property is necessary, e.g. to unravel the Redfield QME and to treat various related problems with high numerical efficiency. The method is successfully tested on the damped harmonic oscillator and on electron transfer models including one and two reaction coordinates. The obtained results are compared to those from a direct propagation of the reduced density matrix (RDM) as well as from the standard quantum jump method. Comparison of the numerical efficiency is performed considering both the population dynamics and the RDM in the Wigner phase space representation.Comment: accepted in J. Chem. Phys.; 26 pages, 6 figures; the order of authors' names on the title page correcte

Brief Consultation to Families of Treatment Refusers with Symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Does It Impact Family Accommodation and Quality of Life?

Family members are often directly and significantly impacted by the restrictive demands of OCD, a frequently disabling disorder. Family accommodation behaviors (i.e., doing things for or because of the OCD sufferer that a person would not normally do) are associated with dysfunction, including poorer treatment responses in OCD sufferers and greater distress in family members. Although evidence suggests family-based intervention can reduce symptoms in OCD sufferers who participate in treatment, there is a lack of research documenting the impact of interventions designed for the families of OCD treatment refusers (TR). Brief Family Consultation (BFC) was developed by our clinical team to help families refocus their efforts on the things that they can realistically control and change (e.g., participation in compulsions). In this crossover study, twenty families related to an individual who exhibited OCD symptoms but had refused treatment were assigned to five phone sessions of either BFC or a psychoeducation condition. Compared to this credible, attention-placebo control group (Brief Educational Support; BES), BFC (but not BES) resulted in reductions in family accommodation behavior, yet neither BFC nor BES resulted in improved quality of life for family members of treatment refusers. BFC is one of the first interventions to be evaluated for its ability to help families when their loved ones with obsessive compulsive symptoms refuse treatment. This pilot study provides new insights for clinicians and researchers to better address the needs of these neglected families

Integrated waveguide and nanostructured sensor platform for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Limitations of current sensors include large dimensions, sometimes limited sensitivity and inherent single-parameter measurement capability. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy can be utilized for environment and pharmaceutical applications with the intensity of the Raman scattering enhanced by a factor of 106. By fabricating and characterizing an integrated optical waveguide beneath a nanostructured precious metal coated surface a new surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensing arrangement can be achieved. Nanostructured sensors can provide both multiparameter and high-resolution sensing. Using the slab waveguide core to interrogate the nanostructures at the base allows for the emission to reach discrete sensing areas effectively and should provide ideal parameters for maximum Raman interactions. Thin slab waveguide films of silicon oxynitride were etched and gold coated to create localized nanostructured sensing areas of various pitch, diameter, and shape. These were interrogated using a Ti:Sapphire laser tuned to 785-nm end coupled into the slab waveguide. The nanostructured sensors vertically projected a Raman signal, which was used to actively detect a thin layer of benzyl mercaptan attached to the sensors

Estimating fugitive bioaerosol releases from static compost windrows: feasibility of portable wind tunnel approach

An assessment of the fugitive release of bioaerosols from static compost piles was conducted at a green waste composting facility in South East England; this representing the initial stage of a programme of research into the influence of process parameters on bioaerosol emission flux. Wind tunnel experiments conducted on the surface of static windrows generated specific bioaerosol emission rates (SBER2s) at ground level of between 13 - 22 x10 3 cfu/m 2 /s for mesophilic actinomycetes and between 8 - 11 x10 3 cfu/m 2 /s for Aspergillus fumigatus. Air dispersion modelling of these emissions using the SCREEN3 air dispersion model in area source term mode was used to generate source depletion curves downwind of the facility for comparative purposes

End states, ladder compounds, and domain wall fermions

A magnetic field applied to a cross linked ladder compound can generate isolated electronic states bound to the ends of the chain. After exploring the interference phenomena responsible, I discuss a connection to the domain wall approach to chiral fermions in lattice gauge theory. The robust nature of the states under small variations of the bond strengths is tied to chiral symmetry and the multiplicative renormalization of fermion masses.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; final version for Phys. Rev. Let

Structural development of laminar flow control aircraft chordwise wing joint designs

For laminar flow to be achieved, any protuberances on the surface must be small enough to avoid transition to turbulent flow. However, the surface must have joints between the structural components to allow assembly or replacement of damaged parts, although large continuous surfaces can be utilized to minimize the number the number of joints. Aircraft structural joints usually have many countersunk bolts or rivets on the outer surface. To maintain no mismatch on outer surfaces, it is desirable to attach the components from the inner surface. It is also desirable for the panels to be interchangeable, without the need for shims at the joint, to avoid surface discontinuities that could cause turbulence. Fabricating components while pressing their outer surfaces against an accurate mold helps to ensure surface smoothness and continuity at joints. These items were considered in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the joint design concepts. After evaluating six design concepts, two of the leading candidates were fabricated and tested using many small test panels. One joint concept was also built and tested using large panels. The small and large test panel deflections for the leading candidate designs at load factors up to +1.5 g's were well within the step and waviness requirements for avoiding transition.The small panels were designed and tested for compression and tension at -65 F, at ambient conditions, and at 160 F. The small panel results for the three-rib and the sliding-joint concepts indicated that they were both acceptable. The three-rib concept, with tapered splice plates, was considered to be the most practical. A modified three-rib joint that combined the best attributes of previous candidates was designed, developed, and tested. This improved joint met all of the structural strength, surface smoothness, and waviness criteria for laminar flow control (LFC). The design eliminated all disadvantages of the initial three-rib concept except for unavoidable eccentricity, which was reduced and reacted satisfactorily by the rib supports. It should also result in a relatively simple low-cost installation, and makes it easy to replace any panels damaged in the field

Audio Features Affected by Music Expressiveness

Within a Music Information Retrieval perspective, the goal of the study presented here is to investigate the impact on sound features of the musician's affective intention, namely when trying to intentionally convey emotional contents via expressiveness. A preliminary experiment has been performed involving $10$ tuba players. The recordings have been analysed by extracting a variety of features, which have been subsequently evaluated by combining both classic and machine learning statistical techniques. Results are reported and discussed.Comment: Submitted to ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval (SIGIR 2016), Pisa, Italy, July 17-21, 201