Calibration of MIDI, the Mid-infrared Interferometer for the VLTI

Das MIDI-Instrument (MID-infrared Interferometric Instrument) wird am VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) stellare Langbasisinterferometrie im N-Band (8...13µm) durchführen. Im Vorfeld des Aufbaus von MIDI waren einige vorbereitende Aufgaben zu lösen, die die Kalibrierung des Instruments im Labor betrafen. Die interne Verzögerungsstrecke, die eine wesentliche Untereinheit von MIDI darstellt, wurde sorgfältig getestet, um Aussagen über deren Güte zu treffen. Lichtquellen für verschiedene Zwecke wurden bereitgestellt und mit geeigneten Optiken versehen. Spektrale Referenzen wurden ebenfalls einbezogen. Die Wechselbeziehung zwischen einer kalibrierten Verzögerungsstrecke und spektraler Kalibration wird aufgezeigt. Zur Kalibration des Instruments während der Beobachtung werden Kalibratorsterne benutzt. Als Teil des Auswahlverfahrens von geeigneten Objekten für eine Datenbank von solchen Sternen wurde eine Auswahl von Kandidaten durch interferometrische Beobachtungen im K'-Band (2.0...2.3µm) überprüft. Besonderes Augenmerk wurde dabei auf unterschiedliches Verhalten in schmalen Teilbändern gelegt. Die Möglichkeiten stellarer Interferometrie werden am Beispiel einiger Sterne späten Types aufgezeigt. Daten mit hoher räumlicher Auflösung wurden benutzt, um Modellparameter der zirkumstellaren Hüllen dieser Objekte einzugrenzen

Dental Identification of Tsunami Victims in Phuket, Thailand

U prosincu godine 2004. podmorski je potres stvorio plimni val koji je uništio velik dio obale Indijskog oceana. U toj je katastrofi poginulo oko 250.000 ljudi. Ispitanici i postupci: U Phuketu, ljetovalištu u Tajlandu, pod nadzorom Interpola u usklađenom postupku identifikacije žrtava katastrofe, sudjelovali su stručnjaci iz 20 zemalja, kako bi identificirali više od 3680 poginulih, pripadnika 39 narodnosti. Na početku su ustanovili postmortalna standardna obilježja (PM). Antemortalni podaci (AM) o stradalima poslani su u Tajland i uneseni u računalni program DVI System International (Plass Data Software, Danska). Upis postmortalnih podataka (PM-a) i primarne identifikacijske karakteristike, odjeća i fizičke oznake (na primjer ožiljci), obavljeni su vrlo standardizirano na mjestu nesreće u Phuketu. Posebna se pozornost posvećivala antemortalnim podacima (AM-u), osobito podacima o stomatološkom liječenju (male rentgenske snimke, ortopantomogrami-OPTG-i i zubni kartoni). Rezultati: Nakon godine dana stopa identifikacije od 55% dokazala je uspješnost te metode. Od 3680 službeno poginulih, 3272 osobe moglo se identificirati. To znači stopu identifikacije od 87,77%, a od toga broja 44% je identificirano na temelju zubnoga statusa. Zaključak: Identificirano je oko 92% turista, te 53% od 1600 Tajlanđana. Dakle, ukupna je stopa identifikacije 22.studenoga 2006. iznosila 70%.In December 2004 a seaquake and its resulting tidal wave devastated large coastal regions in the Indian Ocean and cost about 250,000 human lives. Material and Methods: In order to identify more than 3,680 victims from 39 nations in the area of Phuket/Thailand under Interpol’s coordinated efforts, more than 20 countries participated in the identification process at the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification – Information Management Center (TTVI-IMC). Standard operating protocols of post mortem (PM) procedures were established. The ante mortem (AM) data of the victims were sent to Thailand and entered into the software program DVI System International (Plass Data Software, Denmark). Results: Registration of post mortem data (PM), such as primary identification characteristics, as well as clothing and physical features (e.g. scars), was performed in a highly standardized manner directly at Phuket/Thailand. Ante mortem data (AM), including information about dental treatment (miniature radiographs, OPTG and treatment chart) were given particular attention. Only recent AM data of good quality permitted rapid and reliable identification of the victims. After one year the dental ID rate of about 55% proved the significance of the method. Of the 3680 officially registered victims who had died, 3272 could be identified. This equals an identification rate of 87.77%, of whom 44% were identified by their dental status. Conclusion: Ninety-two per cent of the approximately 2,050 non-Thai victims, and 53% of the 1600 Thai victims, were identified. Thus, the overall ID rate per 22.11.2006 was 70%

Recent Decisions

INCOME TAX--LIQUIDATION OF FOREIGN CORPORATIONS--SHAREHOLDERS IN A LIQUIDATING FOREIGN CORPORATION MUST INCLUDE IN THE CORPORATION\u27S EARNINGS AND PROFITS ACCOUNT THE AMOUNT OF RECAPTURED EXCESS DEPRECIATION REALIZED UPON THE SALE OF ITS ASSETS William W. Allen CUSTOMS DUTIES--ANTIDUMPING ACT OF 1921--THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY HAS No AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE A WITH-HOLDING OF APPRAISEMENT PRIOR TO THE PUBLICATION OF A DUMPING FINDING BASED ON A LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY DETERMINATION BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION Alexander A. Hassani INTERNATIONAL BANKING--BANKRUPTCY-FOREIGN BANKS NEITHER REGULATED BY NOR LICENSED To Do BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES MAY FILE FOR VOLUNTARY BANKRUPTCY UNDER THE NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY ACT Peter Appleton Schulle

Der Wahlsieg von Enrique Bolanos in Nikaragua: "Continuismo" statt "Rückkehr zur Revolution"

"Enrique Bolaños vom Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC), ehemals Vizepräsident der Regierung von Arnoldo Aleman, hat mit weitem Vorsprung vor dem sandinistischen Ex-Präsidenten Daniel Ortega die nikaraguanischen Präsidentschaftswahlen am 4. November 2001 gewonnen. In den Parlamentswahlen hat der PLC die absolute Mehrheit erreicht. Die von den Liberalen im Wahlkampf geschürte Angst vor einem Rückfall in die Politik der 80er Jahre hat offensichtlich die Mehrheit der Wähler abgeschreckt, dem FSLN nach elf Jahren in der Opposition wieder Regierungsverantwortung zu übertragen. Ein radikaler Politikwechsel oder gar die befürchtete "Rückkehr der Revolution" wäre auch nach einem Sieg Ortegas unwahrscheinlich gewesen." (Brennpkt. Lat.am/DÜI

Vocalisation repertoire at the end of the first year of life: an exploratory comparison of Rett syndrome and typical development

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare, late detected developmental disorder associated with severe deficits in the speech-language domain. Despite a few reports about atypicalities in the speech-language development of infants and toddlers with RTT, a detailed analysis of the pre-linguistic vocalisation repertoire of infants with RTT is yet missing. Based on home video recordings, we analysed the vocalisations between 9 and 11 months of age of three female infants with typical RTT and compared them to three age-matched typically developing (TD) female controls. The video material of the infants had a total duration of 424 min with 1655 infant vocalisations. For each month, we (1) calculated the infants’ canonical babbling ratios with CBR(UTTER), i.e., the ratio of number of utterances containing canonical syllables to total number of utterances, and (2) classified their pre-linguistic vocalisations in three non-canonical and four canonical vocalisation subtypes. All infants achieved the milestone of canonical babbling at 9 months of age according to their canonical babbling ratios, i.e. CBR(UTTER) ≥ 0.15. We revealed overall lower CBRs(UTTER) and a lower proportion of canonical pre-linguistic vocalisations consisting of well-formed sounds that could serve as parts of target-language words for the RTT group compared to the TD group. Further studies with more data from individuals with RTT are needed to study the atypicalities in the pre-linguistic vocalisation repertoire which may portend the later deficits in spoken language that are characteristic features of RTT

Tests of achromatic phase shifters performed on the SYNAPSE test bench: a progress report

The achromatic phase shifter (APS) is a component of the Bracewell nulling interferometer studied in preparation for future space missions (viz. Darwin/TPF-I) focusing on spectroscopic study of Earth-like exo-planets. Several possible designs of such an optical subsystem exist. Four approaches were selected for further study. Thales Alenia Space developed a dielectric prism APS. A focus crossing APS prototype was developed by the OCA, Nice, France. A field reversal APS prototype was prepared by the MPIA in Heidelberg, Germany. Centre Spatial de Li\`ege develops a concept based on Fresnel's rhombs. This paper presents a progress report on the current work aiming at evaluating these prototypes on the SYNAPSE test bench at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France

Automatic vocalisation-based detection of fragile X syndrome and Rett syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Rett syndrome (RTT) are developmental disorders currently not diagnosed before toddlerhood. Even though speech-language deficits are among the key symptoms of both conditions, little is known about infant vocalisation acoustics for an automatic earlier identification of affected individuals. To bridge this gap, we applied intelligent audio analysis methodology to a compact dataset of 4454 home-recorded vocalisations of 3 individuals with FXS and 3 individuals with RTT aged 6 to 11 months, as well as 6 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls (TD). On the basis of a standardised set of 88 acoustic features, we trained linear kernel support vector machines to evaluate the feasibility of automatic classification of (a) FXS vs TD, (b) RTT vs TD, (c) atypical development (FXS+RTT) vs TD, and (d) FXS vs RTT vs TD. In paradigms (a)–(c), all infants were correctly classified; in paradigm (d), 9 of 12 were so. Spectral/cepstral and energy-related features were most relevant for classification across all paradigms. Despite the small sample size, this study reveals new insights into early vocalisation characteristics in FXS and RTT, and provides technical underpinnings for a future earlier identification of affected individuals, enabling earlier intervention and family counselling