Internal Migration and Regional Population Dynamics in Europe: Switzerland Case Study

This paper reports on internal migration and regional population dynamics in Switzerland. It examines briefly the main population trends in the last century and then turns to more detailed examination of internal migration patterns and trends in three years, 1984, 1994 and 1996 and compares them. First, inter-cantonal migration is investigated in the context of the life course. On the communal level population change patterns and underlying in-, out- and net migration are examined. An attempt is made to link migration with such variables as population density, level of unemployment, prevailing language and with a functional classification of the urban system. The methodology used is the same as in a number of other studies, making the results as comparable as possible with the results of other studies of migration in European states (Rees and Kupiszewski 1999)

Fertility Considerations in Prescribing Hormonal Contraceptives in Individuals with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a highly prevalent endocrine disorder and the most common cause of infertility among females of reproductive age.1 While the name “polycystic ovary syndrome” implies people diagnosed with PCOS have numerous cysts on their ovaries, this is not always the case. Clinicians currently use the Rotterdam criteria to diagnose PCOS.2 These criteria include: irregular periods/anovulatory cycles, clinical or biochemical signs of androgen excess (acne, hirsutism, androgenic alopecia, etc.), and numerous ovarian cysts seen on imaging.2 A diagnosis of PCOS can be made when at least two of three criteria are met.2 As this has become a much broader diagnoses, between 4-20% women of reproductive age worldwide are diagnosed with PCOS, with an increase of prevalence in the last 10 years.2 This disorder causes a multitude of aesthetic and physiologic changes including weight gain, hair loss, dyslipidemia, and one of the most distressing, infertility.1,3 Treatment is symptom management with insulin sensitizing actions (lifestyle changes and metformin) and hormonal contraceptives (oral, intrauterine, or implantable).3,4 Systemic insulin resistance is thought to be a large contributing factor in the development of local insulin resistance of the ovaries, commonly believed to be the cause of PCOS and its sequalae. Treatment focuses more on androgen regulation with hormonal contraceptives rather than insulin sensitization. Sadly, focus on regulating androgens only masks some symptoms of PCOS rather than addressing the root cause of insulin resistance. It is well understood that improving insulin sensitivity helps to increase fecundity in infertile PCOS women,5 but the role prior use of hormonal contraceptives have in improving fertility is less clear. By evaluating the effects of hormonal contraceptives on various aspect of fertility, this review aims to address infertility in women with PCOS with respect to insulin sensitivity

Gas filter correlation radiometry: Report of panel

To measure the concentration of a gas in the troposphere, the gas filter radiometer correlates the pattern of the spectral lines of a sample of gas contained within the instrument with the pattern of the spectral lines in the upwelling radiation. A schematic diagram of a generalized gas filter radiometer is shown. Three instruments (the Gas Filter Radiometer, GFR; the Halogen Occultation Experiment, HALOE; and the Gas Filter Correlation Spectrometer, GASCOFIL) that have application to remotely measuring tropospheric constituents are described. A set of preliminary calculations to determine the feasibility of performing a multiple-layer, tropospheric carbon monoxide measurement experiment was performed. It can be seen that a three-layer measurement in the troposphere is possible

Inferring Land Surface Model Parameters for the Assimilation of Satellite-Based L-Band Brightness Temperature Observations into a Soil Moisture Analysis System

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission provides global measurements of L-band brightness temperatures at horizontal and vertical polarization and a variety of incidence angles that are sensitive to moisture and temperature conditions in the top few centimeters of the soil. These L-band observations can therefore be assimilated into a land surface model to obtain surface and root zone soil moisture estimates. As part of the observation operator, such an assimilation system requires a radiative transfer model (RTM) that converts geophysical fields (including soil moisture and soil temperature) into modeled L-band brightness temperatures. At the global scale, the RTM parameters and the climatological soil moisture conditions are still poorly known. Using look-up tables from the literature to estimate the RTM parameters usually results in modeled L-band brightness temperatures that are strongly biased against the SMOS observations, with biases varying regionally and seasonally. Such biases must be addressed within the land data assimilation system. In this presentation, the estimation of the RTM parameters is discussed for the NASA GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, which is based on the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the Catchment land surface model. In the GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, soil moisture and brightness temperature biases are addressed in three stages. First, the global soil properties and soil hydraulic parameters that are used in the Catchment model were revised to minimize the bias in the modeled soil moisture, as verified against available in situ soil moisture measurements. Second, key parameters of the "tau-omega" RTM were calibrated prior to data assimilation using an objective function that minimizes the climatological differences between the modeled L-band brightness temperatures and the corresponding SMOS observations. Calibrated parameters include soil roughness parameters, vegetation structure parameters, and the single scattering albedo. After this climatological calibration, the modeling system can provide L-band brightness temperatures with a global mean absolute bias of less than 10K against SMOS observations, across multiple incidence angles and for horizontal and vertical polarization. Third, seasonal and regional variations in the residual biases are addressed by estimating the vegetation optical depth through state augmentation during the assimilation of the L-band brightness temperatures. This strategy, tested here with SMOS data, is part of the baseline approach for the Level 4 Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture data product from the planned Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission

Controlling Second Harmonic Efficiency of Laser Beam Interactions

A method is provided for controlling second harmonic efficiency of laser beam interactions. A laser system generates two laser beams (e.g., a laser beam with two polarizations) for incidence on a nonlinear crystal having a preferred direction of propagation. Prior to incidence on the crystal, the beams are optically processed based on the crystal's beam separation characteristics to thereby control a position in the crystal along the preferred direction of propagation at which the beams interact

Multiple-wavelength tunable laser

A tunable laser includes dispersion optics for separating generated laser pulses into first and second wavelength pulses directed along first and second optical paths. First and second reflective mirrors are disposed in the first and second optical paths, respectively. The laser's output mirror is partially reflective and partially transmissive with respect to the first wavelength and the second wavelength in accordance with provided criteria. A first resonator length is defined between the output mirror and the first mirror, while a second resonator length is defined between the output mirror and the second mirror. The second resonator length is a function of the first resonator length

Assimilation of Terrestrial Water Storage from GRACE in a Snow-Dominated Basin

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) information derived from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) measurements is assimilated into a land surface model over the Mackenzie River basin located in northwest Canada. Assimilation is conducted using an ensemble Kalman smoother (EnKS). Model estimates with and without assimilation are compared against independent observational data sets of snow water equivalent (SWE) and runoff. For SWE, modest improvements in mean difference (MD) and root mean squared difference (RMSD) are achieved as a result of the assimilation. No significant differences in temporal correlations of SWE resulted. Runoff statistics of MD remain relatively unchanged while RMSD statistics, in general, are improved in most of the sub-basins. Temporal correlations are degraded within the most upstream sub-basin, but are, in general, improved at the downstream locations, which are more representative of an integrated basin response. GRACE assimilation using an EnKS offers improvements in hydrologic state/flux estimation, though comparisons with observed runoff would be enhanced by the use of river routing and lake storage routines within the prognostic land surface model. Further, GRACE hydrology products would benefit from the inclusion of better constrained models of post-glacial rebound, which significantly affects GRACE estimates of interannual hydrologic variability in the Mackenzie River basin

Stokes-Doppler coherence imaging for ITER boundary tomography

An optical coherence imaging system is presently being designed for impurity transport studies and other applications on ITER. The wide variation in magnetic field strength and pitch angle (assumed known) across the field of view generates additional Zeeman-polarization-weighting information that can improve the reliability of tomographic reconstructions. Because background reflected light will be somewhat depolarized analysis of only the polarized fraction may be enough to provide a level of background suppression. We present the principles behind these ideas and some simulations that demonstrate how the approach might work on ITER. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ITER Organization