Electromagnetic focusing through a tilted dielectric interface

Focusing through a tilted dielectric interface is studied, and an explicit expression for the electric field in the focal region is found. In the case of small tilt angles, one obtains a focal shift, and only a simple aberration term remains.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Optics Communication

Qatar's sports strategy: a case of sports diplomacy or sportswashing?

In December 2010 Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the following years Qatar have gained significant influence within global sports. The small desert state has hosted several international sporting events during the last decade and increased its global presence by investing in international sports though sponsorship deals, acquisition of football clubs, acquiring broadcasting rights and the creation of state-of-the-art sporting facilities. This thesis looks at how Qatar utilises sports diplomacy to gain attraction and soft power globally, drawing on document analyses of key Qatari governmental documents. Qatar’s engagement in global sports follows an international development, where autocratic resource rich regimes have become major actors within global sports in the recent years. While Qatar’s sports diplomacy has been very ambitious, the newfound global attention has led to an increased scrutiny regarding Qatar’s internal policies. This have resulted in massive and consistent criticism regarding corruption allegations and several reports about labour abuses facing the migrant workers in the country. This thesis argues that Qatar’s sports diplomacy needs to be looked at in a critical light. The concept of sportswashing is a fitting description of how Qatar’s sports strategy deliberately seeks to alter its global reputation by being associated with the global appeal of sports while unsuccessfully divert the attention away from the internal politics in the country.Em Dezembro de 2010, o Qatar conquistou os direitos para o Campeonato do Mundo FIFA 2020. Nos anos seguintes, o Qatar ganhou uma influência significativa no desporto global. Este pequeno estado desértico tem sido o anfitrião de vários eventos desportivos internacionais durante a última década e aumentou a sua presença global através do investimento em desportos internacionais, do patrocínio de negócios desportivos, da aquisição de clubes de futebol, da aquisição de direitos de transmissão desportiva e da criação de instalações desportivas de última geração. Esta dissertação reflete como o Qatar utiliza a diplomacia desportiva para conquistar espaço globalmente e exerce o seu soft-power. A análise dos documentos chave do governo do Qatar constituem as fontes essenciais desta investigação. O envolvimento do Qatar no desporto global segue uma tendência international, em que os regimes ricos e autocráticos tornaram-se atores destacados no desporto global no anos mais recentes. Enquanto a diplomacia desportiva do Qatar tem sido muito ambiciosa, a recente atenção global sobre estes tópicos levou a um increment do escrutínio das políticas internas do Qatar. Esta situação resultou no massivo e consistente criticism no que concerne às alegações de corrupção e vários relatórios sobre os abusos laborais. Esta dissertação defende que a diplomacia desportiva do Qatar precisa de ser vista de uma perspetiva crítica. O conceito de lavagem desportiva encaixa na estratégia desportiva do Qatar que procura deliberadamente alterar a sua reputação global através da sua associação a despostos de atração global, enquanto desvia sem sucesso a atenção dos seus problemas politicos internos

Geophysical prospection of Iron Age coastal sites in Scandinavia known from metal detecting assemblages – new case studies from the PastCoast-project

Geophysical surveying of sites known from metal detecting shows a varying spatial relationship between the finds material and the geophysical information. The survey results of two case studies indicate that coastal erosion has removed parts of the archaeological site at Langelands gaarde. The Austråt manor case study reveal a large number of archaeological features, and a strong spatial correlation between the geophysical observations and metal detecting objects

Burundi: A Critical Security Perspective

In the last few years Critical Security Studies (CSS) has emerged as a new approach to the academic study of security. This article argues that its genesis is best understood as a reaction to two developments, namely ‘real world’ changes after the end of the Cold War and the far-reaching philosophical debates that have recently been taking place within the social sciences. The authors argue for a conceptualisation of CSS based on an explicit commitment to human emancipation. They then illustrate their preferred understanding of security through a discussion of Burundi. This case study not only illustrates the theoretical claims of CSS but also serves as a contribution to a more comprehensive understanding of the security issues with which this country and its inhabitants are faced

New Treatment of Strongly Anisotropic Scattering Phase Functions: The Delta-M+ Method

The treatment of strongly anisotropic scattering phase functions is still a challenge for accurate radiance computations. The new delta-M+ method resolves this problem by introducing a reliable, fast, accurate, and easy-to-use Legendre expansion of the scattering phase function with modified moments. Delta-M+ is an upgrade of the widely used delta-M method that truncates the forward scattering peak with a Dirac delta function, where the + symbol indicates that it essentially matches moments beyond the first M terms. Compared with the original delta-M method, delta-M+ has the same computational efficiency, but for radiance computations, the accuracy and stability have been increased dramatically

Comparison of stress levels among 8 different professions : reflections on variance in reported job-related stress: a comparative study based on Norwegian Nursing College teachers’ situation

The aim of this study is (1) to identify the most prominent stressor among teachers, and (2) to examine the stress level in three samples of teachers: Nursing teachers, primary school teachers and preparatory college teachers. Stress is measured using Cooper Stress Inventory. The three-factorial model is based on principal component analysis (N=278) and in-depth qualitative interviews (N=14). Time-pressure and relations between work and private-life play a prominent part in perception of stress in all teacher groups. The global stress level is considerably higher in nursing teachers compared to the other teachers groups. Lacking a common under standing and definition of the stressconcept hinders a meaningful discussion of whether stress levels are high for the group of employees or for teachers in general

A new algorithm for simultaneous retrieval of aerosols and marine parameters

We present an algorithm for simultaneous retrieval of aerosol and marine parameters in coastal waters. The algorithm is based on a radiative transfer forward model for a coupled atmosphere-ocean system, which is used to train a radial basis function neural network (RBF-NN) to obtain a fast and accurate method to compute radiances at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) for given aerosol and marine input parameters. The inverse modelling algorithm employs multidimensional unconstrained non-linear optimization to retrieve three marine parameters (concentrations of chlorophyll and mineral particles, as well as absorption by coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM)), and two aerosol parameters (aerosol fine-mode fraction and aerosol volume fraction). We validated the retrieval algorithm using synthetic data and found it, for both low and high sun, to predict each of the five parameters accurately, both with and without white noise added to the top of the atmosphere (TOA) radiances. When varying the solar zenith angle (SZA) and retraining the RBF-NN without noise added to the TOA radiance, we found the algorithm to predict the CDOM absorption, chlorophyll concentration, mineral concentration, aerosol fine-mode fraction, and aerosol volume fraction with correlation coefficients greater than 0.72, 0.73, 0.93, 0.67, and 0.87, respectively, for 45∘≤∘≤ SZA ≤ 75∘∘. By adding white Gaussian noise to the TOA radiances with varying values of the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), we found the retrieval algorithm to predict CDOM absorption, chlorophyll concentration, mineral concentration, aerosol fine-mode fraction, and aerosol volume fraction well with correlation coefficients greater than 0.77, 0.75, 0.91, 0.81, and 0.86, respectively, for high sun and SNR ≥ 95.publishedVersio

To what extent do therapists in adult psychiatry involve the children of mentally ill patients?

The aim and scope of this study was to examine to what extent the mentally ills’ therapists involve children. Nine therapists from the psychiatric policlinic at the hospital in Namsos, Norway were interviewed. The selection of interviewees was done in order to ensure representation across the complete range of professions involved. An interview guide consisting of 12 pertinent questions was developed and employed. The results show that the informants claimed there were no known procedures for exploring the children’s situation. All of the therapists reported that the sick parent(s) had brought up their personal concerns for their children in the course of treatment. Five of the informants confirmed that they had at times invited the children to participate in conversations with their parents. Only two of these had done this more than once. The explanation for why children are so seldom involved can be stringent environmental control factors, uncertainties, fear of generated increased workload, or of undertaking a more complex treatment process. Perhaps treatment in adult psychiatry is primarily focused on the mentally ill target person alone. It seems that it’s socially unacceptable to examine children’s circumstances in the course of treatment

Children´s Forum: an Interview with Eight Children

Objective. Childrens forum (CF) is a session for information and inquiry for children between the ages of 2 and 18 whose parents are in-patients at the psychiatric ward. The aim and scope of this study was to investigate the usefulness of CF for the children, six to eight months after participating. Method. Eight children, ages 10 – 16 were interviewed. All of the interviews (semi-structured and theme-oriented) were done in the family’s home without the parent (s) being present. Results. The results showed considerable improvement in the areas of communication and relational skills between parent and child. Conclusion. The improvements that have taken place can be directly linked to the CF program content: the acquisition of knowledge, vocabulary, and concepts along with skills in the ability to apply their new insights in communication about taboo-laden topics