Retrieving Decadal Climate Change from Satellite Radiance Observations-A 100-year CO2 Doubling OSSE Demonstration.

Preparing for climate change depends on the observation and prediction of decadal trends of the environmental variables, which have a direct impact on the sustainability of resources affecting the quality of life on our planet. The NASA Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission is proposed to provide climate quality benchmark spectral radiance observations for the purpose of determining the decadal trends of climate variables, and validating and improving the long-range climate model forecasts needed to prepare for the changing climate of the Earth. The CLARREO will serve as an in-orbit, absolute, radiometric standard for the cross-calibration of hyperspectral radiance spectra observed by the international system of polar operational satellite sounding sensors. Here, we demonstrate that the resulting accurately cross-calibrated polar satellite global infrared spectral radiance trends (e.g., from the Metop IASI instrument considered here) can be interpreted in terms of temperature and water vapor profile trends. This demonstration is performed using atmospheric state data generated for a 100-year period from 2000-2099, produced by a numerical climate model prediction that was forced by the doubling of the global average atmospheric CO2 over the 100-year period. The vertical profiles and spatial distribution of temperature decadal trends were successfully diagnosed by applying a linear regression profile retrieval algorithm to the simulated hyperspectral radiance spectra for the 100-year period. These results indicate that it is possible to detect decadal trends in atmospheric climate variables from high accuracy all-sky satellite infrared radiance spectra using the linear regression retrieval technique

Note from the Editor-in-Chief

The 2013–14 editorial board and staff are proud to present the third and final issue in Volume 23. This issue is dedicated to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and is the first significant special issue dedicated to this country produced by a U.S. law review or journal. The dedication is in recognition of the reforms underway in Myanmar and precedes its 2015 general election. On a separate note, this issue will be the final one published under the name Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal. Volume 24 will debut under the Journal’s new title: the Washington International Law Journal. The Journal continues to have a particular interest in the Pacific Rim region and actively collaborates with the University of Washington’s Asian Law Center. In its new form, the Journal will publish global scholarship on foreign, comparative, and international law as well as English-language translations of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean legal materials. We thank all the prior editorial boards for their dedication to the Journal and look back with gratitude at the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal’s many accomplishments

Reproductive Justice Begins with Contraceptive Access in the Philippines

Restrictive Philippine laws and a lack of public funding have limited Filipinos’ access to modern contraception, resulting in high maternal mortality rates, high birth rates, unmet needs for family planning, and health disparities between the lowest-income and wealthier women. Following the 1991 decentralization reforms, Local Government Units plan, administer, and fund most Philippine health services. In the context of reproductive healthcare, decentralization has led to inequality, inadequate financing, successful opposition to contraception by the Catholic Church, and a lack of clear national standards. After a fourteen-year legislative struggle, on December 21, 2012, President Aquino signed “The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012” (“RH Act”). This legislation confirmed Filipinos’ right to contraception and reproductive healthcare and cited the 1987 Philippine Constitution as the source of those rights. On January 2, 2013, a married couple directly petitioned the Supreme Court of the Philippines, asking the Court to declare the RH Act unconstitutional. As a result, the Supreme Court enjoined the law and heard oral arguments in July and August 2013. While the RH Act is likely constitutional, the Philippine Congress did not appropriate the dedicated funding necessary to implement the law’s provisions. With inadequate financing, the RH Act will not increase access to contraception and the Philippines will fail to meet its constitutional obligations and international commitments. Unless the Philippines strengthens the implementing rules and appropriates funds, the lowest-income Filipino women will continue to experience reproductive oppression

Antimicrobial proteins : from old proteins, new tricks

This review describes the main types of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) synthesised by crustaceans, primarily those identified in shrimp, crayfish, crab and lobster. It includes an overview of their range of microbicidal activities and the current landscape of our understanding of their gene expression patterns in different body tissues. It further summarises how their expression might change following various types of immune challenges. Included in the review are proteins or protein fragments that have antimicrobial properties but are more usually associated with other biological functions, or are derived from such proteins. It discusses how these unconventional AMPs might be generated at, or delivered to, sites of infection and how they might contribute to crustacean host defence in vivo. It also highlights recent work that is starting to reveal the extent of multi-functionality displayed by some decapod AMPs, particularly their participation in other aspects of host protection. Examples of such activities include proteinase inhibition, phagocytosis, antiviral activity and haematopoiesis.PostprintPeer reviewe

Method for Using a Laser and Camera to Determine the Turbidity of a Liquid System

The surface of Titan hosts lakes of liquid methane. Evidence suggests the presence of suspended particles in these lakes. A method utilizing a laser and camera to find turbidity is explored. Extinction coefficients were found by measuring the backscatter of light from a laser with a camera. Lasers of various wavelengths were pointed at a specified angle into an aquarium filled with water. Five images are taken of the laser. TiO2 and SiO2 particles were incrementally added to the system. Five more images are taken. Images were analyzed to find the extinction coefficient. The change in extinction coefficients against the number concentration of particles was then plotted. This data was fitted to equations, which showed the number concentration of particles could be determined from the observed extinction coefficient