On estimating scale invariance in stratocumulus cloud fields

Examination of cloud radiance fields derived from satellite observations sometimes indicates the existence of a range of scales over which the statistics of the field are scale invariant. Many methods were developed to quantify this scaling behavior in geophysics. The usefulness of such techniques depends both on the physics of the process being robust over a wide range of scales and on the availability of high resolution, low noise observations over these scales. These techniques (area perimeter relation, distribution of areas, estimation of the capacity, d0, through box counting, correlation exponent) are applied to the high resolution satellite data taken during the FIRE experiment and provides initial estimates of the quality of data required by analyzing simple sets. The results of the observed fields are contrasted with those of images of objects with known characteristics (e.g., dimension) where the details of the constructed image simulate current observational limits. Throughout when cloud elements and cloud boundaries are mentioned; it should be clearly understood that by this structures in the radiance field are meant: all the boundaries considered are defined by simple threshold arguments

Structures observed on the spot radiance fields during the FIRE experiment

Three Spot images taken during the FIRE experiment on stratocumulus are analyzed. From this high resolution data detailed observations of the true cloud radiance field may be made. The structure and inhomogeneity of these radiance fields hold important implications for the radiation budget, while the fine scale structure in radiance field provides information on cloud dynamics. Wieliki and Welsh, and Parker et al., have quantified the inhomogeneities of the cumulus clouds through a careful examination of the distribution of cloud (and hole) size as functions of an effective cloud diameter and radiance threshold. Cahalan (1988) has compared for different cloud types of (stratocumulus, fair weather cumulus, convective clouds in the ITCZ) the distributions of clouds (and holes) sizes, the relation between the size and the perimeter of these clouds (and holes), and examining the possibility of scale invariance. These results are extended from LANDSAT resolution (57 m and 30 m) to the Spot resolution (10 m) resolution in the case of boundary layer clouds. Particular emphasis is placed on the statistics of zones of high and low reflectivity as a function of a threshold reflectivity

The comparison of the wearing qualities of similar brands of silk and nylon hosiery

Typescript, etc.Digitized by Kansas State University Librarie

Brief of Amici Curiae, Information Society Project at Yale Law School Scholars in Support of the Petition

Brief of Amici Curiae ("friend of the court") submitted by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School in support of petitioners, on petition for a Writ of Certiorari (No. 11-725

A Graph Description Language for Blind Programmers

Sighted people often overestimate the usefulness of tactile diagrams for blind people who need to perceive and comprehend entities and relationships in visual structural graphs. Sighted software developers can acquire an overview of the structure of a Unified Modeling Language (UML) design diagram after a quick visual scan. Blind developers using tactile diagrams are impeded by the serial nature of scanning these diagrams with their fingers. However, blind programmers are experts at using text-to-speech screen readers to verbalize lines of existing code at a very rapid rate. Comprehending and debugging code with a screen reader happens extremely quickly because blind developers have a lot of practice using such tools. This paper reports on using a block-structured diagram description language with syntax and keywords similar to modern programming languages to capture and communicate entities and relationships in standard UML diagram types. Prototype software tools include utilities for verifying textual UML models, for converting between textual representations useful to blind versus sighted programmers, and for generating visual diagrams for communications with colleagues. Creating this language in support of a blind student in an object oriented design course helped to accelerate acquisition and communication of design concepts among students and the instructor

The influence of anaerobic conditions and redox on phosphorus loss from waterlogged soils : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

Diffuse phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural land contributes to surface water quality degradation. To mitigate losses and protect waterways it is important to describe all the ways that P can be mobilised and transported from land. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate P loss associated with the reductive dissolution of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) oxides in the soil, due to waterlogging and reducing conditions. The overall hypothesis was that anaerobic and reducing conditions in soils contribute significantly to potential annual P losses. A combination of laboratory analysis and field work was conducted in New Zealand and Ireland. The first objective was to quantify the potentially reducible phosphorus (P) component in the lab for a range of stored soil samples, and the distribution of reducible P pools relative to known soil maps. In New Zealand, eight stored soils were tested in the laboratory (Andisol, Cambisol, Vitric andisol, Ferrasol, Luvisol, Gleysol, Arenosol/Fluvisol, and Acrisol), and five stored soils were tested in the laboratory from Ireland (Cambisol, Gleysol, Luvisol, Phaeozem, and Podzol). Current models use oxic soil tests, which may not represent anaerobic conditions. Anoxic water extractable P (anoxic WEP) and sodium-bicarbonate-dithionite extractable P (dithionite-P) tests were developed to predict soil P vulnerable to reductive dissolution and potential loss under anaerobic conditions. In New Zealand and Ireland, anoxic WEP and dithionite-P varied by soil order and land use, and anoxic WEP was greater than oxic WEP¬, which showed the short-term impact of soil anoxia on P release. Models predicting anoxic WEP and dithionite-P at the 1:50,000 scale in New Zealand found relatively small proportions of agricultural land were enriched in dithionite-P (31% >85 mg kg-1) or anoxic WEP (3% >0-0.291 mg L-1). The second objective was to determine if redox reflects changes in P and redox-sensitive components, with attention to the length of time that the soil is saturated, P fertiliser treatment, and temperature. The second laboratory experiment was an incubation comparing the rate and extent of P release across contrasting soil textures (clay loam, silt loam, sandy loam), three long-term P fertiliser levels, at two temperatures (3oC v.s. 18oC), and two oxygen levels (oxygen 7 mg L-1). The mean dissolved reactive P (DRP) concentration and its rate of release increased with fertiliser application, temperature, and in two soils, anoxic conditions - commensurate with the depletion of nitrate (NO3-) and the reductive dissolution of Fe and Mn. The release of P was complete within 24 hours, which showed that the reaction, and potential for enhanced P loss, could occur within a day of saturation. The third objective was to observe trends in the release of P and other redox-sensitive species into soil solution under saturated conditions, during the drainage season. A field experiment monitored a New Zealand soil profile with 16 unsaturated zone samplers installed down to 20 and 80 cm below ground level, from May to September of 2017 and 2019. They were installed to observe P and Fe release as the profile wets up or dries out. Events that saturated soil caused reducing conditions that released up to 77% and 96% greater P and Fe, respectively, than average over the rest of the sample period. Artificial saturation experiments in the laboratory and in the field used the same soil as the field experiment and showed that soils treated with NO3- released up to 86% less DRP and 98% less Fe than the soil that received no N. This showed that the reduction reaction was buffered by the presence of NO3-. The fourth objective was to determine the role of redox processes in the release of P and other redox species within and across drainage and runoff events. Flow-weighted artificial drainage and runoff samples were collected from four hydrologically-isolated plots on the same slope in Ireland in 2009, 2018 and 2019. They were analysed for P and redox sensitive components and assessed throughout seasons and storm events. At the site used, dissolution of P and Fe dissolution had a stronger relationship in reducing conditions. Additionally, the reaction was not season specific. The main drivers of Fe and P release were the extent of waterlogging in the soil, and levels of NO3-. In conclusion, an area that is prone to saturation excess could have increased P loss due to reductive dissolution. The research presents two updated soil test methods and predictive equations that could be used to improve estimations of P loss from poorly drained areas and specific soil types. Laboratory data gives evidence that soil texture, P fertility levels, temperature and oxygen conditions affect the amount and rate of WEP released within 24 hours of waterlogging. Field data shows that the relationship between P and Fe can be seen in soil solution as well as at the drainage output. The present work also shows that waterlogging and NO3- levels are key drivers in the occurrence of P and Fe dissolution from soil. Therefore, the research highlights periods where warm temperatures and high moisture conditions coincide as high risk. Having a high P/low NO3- system, particularly in sites that are prone to saturation events may exacerbate P release into waterways in the future. The influence of waterlogging and anaerobic conditions on Fe and P should be integrated into current critical source area models and used to inform potential mitigation strategies

Shelter Medicine: a Broad Discipline for Diverse Teaching

No abstract available

Model-based hemodynamic management of critically ill patients.

Hemodynamic monitoring and therapy aims to ensure adequate circulatory function, and thus organ perfusion. However, achieving this goal is challenging due to the inability to directly monitor organ perfusion, difficulty and ambiguity in ascertaining the most appropriate treatment strategy, and highly variable and complex patient response to therapy. Hence, effective measurements and protocols to clarify hemodynamic management and optimise outcomes are urgently needed to meet growing demand for intensive care arising from aging populations and rising rates of chronic disease. This thesis explores model-based solutions to provide real-time, non-additionally-invasive hemodynamic assessment for critical care. These models have the advantage of directly accounting for intra- and inter- patient variability by identifying patient-specific parameters from time-varying data, and monitoring their evolution over time and care. Model validation is performed using data from experimental pig trials, which provide high-fidelity / invasive monitoring not feasible in humans. Further validation is from two clinical databases: VitalDB, from surgical patients; and BedMasterDB, from Christchurch Hospital Intensive Care Unit. This personalised model-based approach is used to provide insight and objective assessments not possible from current measurements. Several clinically-applicable, non-additionally-invasive hemodynamic models are developed and validated in this thesis. Two beat-to-beat cardiac stroke volume estimation methods, the constant-Z windkessel and tube-load models, are shown to outperform existing methods for pig trial and clinical validation. Next, a model is presented to estimate preload changes, Frank-Starling curves, and contractility. The model performed well for the pig trial and for the VitalDB data had reasonable contractility estimation, but poor preload estimation accuracy, providing proof-of-concept. Finally, a model is developed for predicting stroke volume changes in response to fluid therapy. This model had good performance for the pig trial, and a proposed clinical trial design for further validation is presented. All these models together address key elements and insight required to simplify, personalise, and optimise hemodynamic management. This thesis also delivers the design and validation of a low-cost, open-source data acquisition system enabling direct recording of patient arterial pressure waveforms at the same time as a clinical monitor, and measurement of fluid infusion rate. The system is a useful tool for hemodynamic monitoring research, and reduces the high cost barrier of acquiring waveform data from medical monitoring systems, which stifles innovation. Overall, clinically-applicable model-based methods are developed in this thesis to deliver non-additionally-invasive stroke volume monitoring, assessment of cardiac preload responsiveness / contractility, and fluid responsiveness prediction in real-time at the patient bedside. Together, these outputs can provide patient-specific assessment of hemodynamic state and response to therapy. These outputs greatly enrich the information available to clinicians and potentially enable a smarter, more personalised approach to hemodynamic management to improve patient outcomes

Variation in Flight Morphology in a Damselfly with Female-Limited Polymorphism

Background: Female-limited colour polymorphisms occur in many species of dragonflies and damselflies. Often one female morph appears male-like in coloration (androchromes) whereas one or more others are distinct from males (gynochromes). These androchromes are hypothesized to be male-mimics, thereby avoiding the harassment of excessive male mating attempts. Organism: The damselfly Ischnura ramburii, Rambur’s forktail, is a widespread New World species with androchrome and gynochrome females. It was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-1970s and females were thought to be exclusively gynochromatic there. Questions: How do males and females differ in their flight apparatus? Do females with different colour morphologies also differ in flight morphology? Hypothesis: Because male-like coloration is sometimes associated with male-like flight behaviours, androchrome females should have more male-like wings than gynochrome females. Methods: We caught individuals of I. ramburii in the field from seven populations on three of the Hawaiian Islands and three populations in Texas (part of its native range). Using digitized wing and body images, we compared body size, wing size, and wing shape between sexes, between female morphs, and among geographic regions. Results: Male I. ramburii are smaller than females and have smaller, more slender wings. Although androchromes are absent from the Big Island of Hawaii, both androchrome and gynochrome females are common on Oahu and Kauai. Androchrome females are indistinguishable from gynochrome females in all aspects of their flight apparatus except for forewing size, which is smaller than that of gynochromes and thus more-male like. Wing shape and size vary geographically. Body- and wing-size differences between males and females are consistent across regions, although the degree and direction of sexual dimorphism in wing shape are not

Cross-sectional examination of sluggish cognitive tempo, ADHD-inattentive symptoms, and mental health diagnoses in college students

This cross-sectional study examines the association between sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), ADHD inattentive symptoms, depression, trauma, and anxiety in college students. To date, limited research has examined SCT and internalizing constructs in college students. We expect to collect self-report data from 100 participants. Data will include SCT, ADHD inattention, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), depression, and anxiety. Bivariate correlations will be examined. All significantly associated variables at the bivariate level will be entered into a regression analysis to examine how SCT is associated with these constructs together. Significant associations would suggest a need to re-evaluate the assessment of SCT