Anchoring climate change communications

Verbal probability expressions (VPEs) are frequently used to communicate risk and uncertainty. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change attempts to standardise the use and interpretation of these expressions through a translation scale of numerical ranges to VPEs. A common issue in interpreting VPEs is the tendency for individuals to interpret VPEs around the mid-point of the scale (i.e., around 50%). Previous research has shown that compliance with the IPCC’s standards can be improved if the numerical translation is presented simultaneously with the VPE, reducing the regressiveness of interpretations. We show that an explicit statement of the lower or upper bound implied by the expression (e.g., 0-33%; 66-100%) leads to better differentiated estimates of the probability implied by ‘likely’ and ‘unlikely’ than when the bound is not explicitly identified (e.g., less than 33%; greater than 66%)

Fully broadband vAPP coronagraphs enabling polarimetric high contrast imaging

We present designs for fully achromatic vector Apodizing Phase Plate (vAPP) coronagraphs, that implement low polarization leakage solutions and achromatic beam-splitting, enabling observations in broadband filters. The vAPP is a pupil plane optic, inducing the phase through the inherently achromatic geometric phase. We discuss various implementations of the broadband vAPP and set requirements on all the components of the broadband vAPP coronagraph to ensure that the leakage terms do not limit a raw contrast of 1E-5. Furthermore, we discuss superachromatic QWPs based of liquid crystals or quartz/MgF2 combinations, and several polarizer choices. As the implementation of the (broadband) vAPP coronagraph is fully based on polarization techniques, it can easily be extended to furnish polarimetry by adding another QWP before the coronagraph optic, which further enhances the contrast between the star and a polarized companion in reflected light. We outline several polarimetric vAPP system designs that could be easily implemented in existing instruments, e.g. SPHERE and SCExAO.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201

Effects of Cimetidine and Glucantime on cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Balb/c mice

سالک یکی از بیماری های بومی و شایع در برخی از نقاط کشور ماست. این عارضه پوستی یک بیماری انگلی است که توسط تک یاخته ای به نام لیشمانی (Leishmania) ایجاد و از طریق گزش پشه خاکی منتقل می شود. پس از گزش پشه و طی دوره کمون، زخمی ایجاد می شود که پس از گذشت مدتی، معمولا بهبود یافته و گاهی از خود جوش باقی می گذارد. درمان بیماری سالک به عوامل متعددی مانند تعداد زخم ها، مدت زمان پیدایش و محل زخم ها و همچنین شرایط سنی و جنسی و اجتماعی بستگی دارد. امروزه برای درمان از روش های شیمیایی، فیزیکی و یا بطور توام استفاده می شود. در این مطالعه داروهای سایمتیدین (Cimetidine) و گلوکانتیم (Glucantime) با مقادیر مختلف برای درمان بیماری لیشمانیوز جلدی (سالک) در موش مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. موش های خالص نژاد بالب سی (Balb/c) به صورت زیر جلدی با انگل لیشمانیا در قاعده دم عفونی شده و پس از ظهور زخم، به 11 گروه دهه تایی تقسیم شدند و سپس با مقادیر مختلف سایمتیدین و گلوکانتیم بطور مجزا یا مخلوط، تحت درمان قرار گرفتند. از میان رژیم های متعدد درمانی بکار رفته در این تحقیق، استفاده از رژیم ترکیبی شامل سایمتیدین به میزان 80 میلی گرم و گلوکانتیم به مقدار 20 میلی گرم در روز به ازای هر کیلوگرم از وزن بدن از سایر رژیم های درمانی موثرتر بود

Investigating the characteristics of the density current due to changes in the flow regime

The density current is a relative movement that occurs between two fluid layers, even if they slightly vary in density. The difference in specific mass may be due to temperature, suspended matter, dissolved materials, or a combination of them. These flows are especially important in cases such as the inflow of muddy rivers into the reservoirs of dams or seas and lakes, and can have different effects, such as sedimentation in dams and river estuaries to the sea, the change of the coastal beds and continental shelf areas. Therefore, the study of this type of motion and the effect of changing the regime from the supercritical to the subcritical (the creation of a hydraulic jump) is very influential regarding flow characteristics. The study of fluid flow requires the identification of velocity profiles in the flow path. For this purpose, by applying a physical model and creating a flow with different input characteristics and imposing regime change conditions, the velocity profiles in the flow body were measured and the flow characteristics were analyzed. The results showed that the coefficients of the velocity profiles in the wall and jet areas were 0.82, 0.87 and 2.83 respectively for subcritical flows and 1.174, 1.26 and 2.9 for supercritical currents. Other results include a 14 to 19 percent reduction in speed and a 21 to 32 percent increase in flow depth due to the jump. In addition, in some cases, there were significant difference between the results of the analytical jump relationship and the experimental data

Minimizing the polarization leakage of geometric-phase coronagraphs with multiple grating pattern combinations

The design of liquid-crystal diffractive phase plate coronagraphs for ground-based and space-based high-contrast imaging systems is limited by the trade-off between spectral bandwidth and polarization leakage. We demonstrate that by combining phase patterns with a polarization grating (PG) pattern directly followed by one or several separate PGs, we can suppress the polarization leakage terms by additional orders of magnitude by diffracting them out of the beam. \textcolor{black}{Using two PGs composed of a single-layer liquid crystal structure in the lab, we demonstrate a leakage suppression of more than an order of magnitude over a bandwidth of 133 nm centered around 532 nm. At this center wavelength we measure a leakage suppression of three orders of magnitude.} Furthermore, simulations indicate that a combination of two multi-layered liquid-crystal PGs can suppress leakage to $<10^{-5}$ for 1-2.5 $\mu$m and $<10^{-10}$ for 650-800 nm. We introduce multi-grating solutions with three or more gratings that can be designed to have no separation of the two circular polarization states, and offer even deeper suppression of polarization leakage. We present simulations of a triple-grating solution that has $<10^{-10}$ leakage on the first Airy ring from 450 nm to 800 nm. We apply the double-grating concept to the Vector-Vortex coronagraph of charge 4, and demonstrate in the lab that polarization leakage no longer limits the on-axis suppression for ground-based contrast levels. Lastly, we report on the successful installation and first-light results of a double-grating vector Apodizing Phase Plate pupil-plane coronagraph installed at the Large Binocular Telescope. We discuss the implications of these new coronagraph architectures for high-contrast imaging systems on the ground and in space.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Revision of the genus Tapholeon Wells, 1967 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Laophontidae)

To date, only two species are known in the laophontid genus Tapholeon Wells, 1967 (Copepoda, Harpacticoida). In the present contribution, a redescription of the type species T. ornatus Wells, 1967, based on the type material, is provided. Furthermore, two new species are described from the coast of Kenya, T. inconspicuus sp. nov. and T. tenuis sp. nov. Two species, formerly attributed to Asellopsis Brady and Robertson, 1873 (namely A. arenicola Chappuis, 1954 and A. chappuisius Krishnaswamy, 1957), are allocated to Tapholeon based on the absence of sexual dimorphism in the swimming legs P2-P4. The former of the two species is redescribed based on additional material from the Comoros. An updated generic diagnosis and a key to the six species of Tapholeon are included