Total and partial cloud amount detection during summer 2005 at Westerland (Sylt, Germany)

The detection of cloudiness is investigated by means of partial and total cloud amount estimations from pyrgeometer radiation measurements and visible all-sky imager observations. The measurements have been performed in Westerland, a seaside resort on the North Sea island of Sylt, Germany, during summer 2005. An improvement to previous studies on this subject resulting in the first time partial cloud amounts (PCAs), defined as cloud amounts without high clouds calculated from longwave downward radiation (LDR) according to the APCADA algorithm (Dürr and Philipona, 2004), are validated against both human observations from the National Meteorological Servive DWD at the nearby airport of Sylt and digital all-sky imaging. The aim is to establish the APCADA scheme at a coastal midlatitude site for longterm observations of cloud cover and to quantify errors resulting from the different methods of detecting cloudiness. Differences between the resulting total cloud amounts (TCAs), defined as cloud amount for all-cloud situations, derived from the camera images and from human observations are within ±1 octa in 72% and within ±2 octa in 85% of the cases. Compared to human observations, PCA measurements, according to APCADA, underestimate the observed cloud cover in 47% of all cases and the differences are within ±1 octa in 60% and ±2 octa in 74% of all cases. Since high cirrus clouds can not be derived from LDR, separate comparisons for all cases without high clouds have been performed showing an agreement within ±1(2) octa in 73(90)% for PCA and also for camera-derived TCA. For this coastal mid-latitude site under investigation, we find similar though slightly smaller agreements to human observations as reported by Dürr and Philipona (2004). Though limited to daytime, the cloud cover retrievals from the sky imager are not really affected by cirrus clouds and provide a more reliable cloud climatology for all-cloud conditions than APCADA

Book Review: Harm to Self. by Joel Feinberg.

Book review: Harm to Self. By Joel Feinberg. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. 1986. Pp. xxiii, 420. Reviewed by: John Stick

Book Review: Harm to Self. by Joel Feinberg.

Book review: Harm to Self. By Joel Feinberg. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. 1986. Pp. xxiii, 420. Reviewed by: John Stick

Publicly Funded Transportation for Parochial School Students: New Issues

America is one nation under God. Yet, running contrary to this strain is our equally firm commitment to the concept of separation of church and state. This heritage reflects our founding fathers\u27 fear of the dangers presented by church interference with state affairs and of the inhibiting effect state involvement would have on religious freedom. The first amendment to the Federal Constitution was written to afford protection from both of these evils, and the judiciary has staunchly upheld the concepts embodied in it. One manifestation of this had been the reluctance of the United States Supreme Court to permit the use of public funds to support nonpublic education, regardless of the form of such aid. In a landmark decision, Everson v. Board of Education, the Court departed from this position and held that a state could furnish bus transportation to children attending nonpublic schools without violating the first amendment. Despite this approbation, subsequent state legislation of a similar nature has still been subjected to judicial scrutiny. The results have been inconsistent, as the constitutionality of these statutes has been questioned on the basis of potential violations of the Federal Constitution and of the more restrictive provisions of some state constitutions. During the last session of the Nebraska Legislature, such a statute was passed. L.B. 522 requires that under delineated circumstances, the state must furnish bus transportation to children attending nonprofit, nonpublic schools. The constitutionality of this statute may soon be challenged in the Nebraska courts as violating the state and federal constitutions. Such litigation will raise several new issues

Publicly Funded Transportation for Parochial School Students: New Issues

America is one nation under God. Yet, running contrary to this strain is our equally firm commitment to the concept of separation of church and state. This heritage reflects our founding fathers\u27 fear of the dangers presented by church interference with state affairs and of the inhibiting effect state involvement would have on religious freedom. The first amendment to the Federal Constitution was written to afford protection from both of these evils, and the judiciary has staunchly upheld the concepts embodied in it. One manifestation of this had been the reluctance of the United States Supreme Court to permit the use of public funds to support nonpublic education, regardless of the form of such aid. In a landmark decision, Everson v. Board of Education, the Court departed from this position and held that a state could furnish bus transportation to children attending nonpublic schools without violating the first amendment. Despite this approbation, subsequent state legislation of a similar nature has still been subjected to judicial scrutiny. The results have been inconsistent, as the constitutionality of these statutes has been questioned on the basis of potential violations of the Federal Constitution and of the more restrictive provisions of some state constitutions. During the last session of the Nebraska Legislature, such a statute was passed. L.B. 522 requires that under delineated circumstances, the state must furnish bus transportation to children attending nonprofit, nonpublic schools. The constitutionality of this statute may soon be challenged in the Nebraska courts as violating the state and federal constitutions. Such litigation will raise several new issues

Abortion: An Unresolved Issue—Are Parental Consent Statutes Unconstitutional?

In the companion cases of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the United States Supreme Court acknowledged that a woman has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. This right is fundamental and is encompassed within the constitutional right to privacy. Despite the Court\u27s definitive position, many tangential issues regarding abortion remain unresolved. One such issue which the Court raised but did not decide in Roe concerns the constitutionality of statutes requiring parental consent in addition to the minor\u27s consent before the minor can have an abortion. Of all the decisions handed down by state and federal district courts on this issue, only one, Planned Parenthood v. Danforth, has held that such statutes are constitutional. All others have found them to be unconstitutional. Since certiorari has been granted in Danforth, it is assumed that the Supreme Court will soon speak definitively on whether a parental consent provision in an abortion statute is constitutionally permissible. This Comment analyzes the constitutional question presented by these consent statutes. The analysis requires a multi-tiered approach. Initial focus is on the individual\u27s right to decide to have an abortion, with a concomitant examination of the Roe and Doe decisions and their implications. The next area of consideration is whether a minor enjoys this same constitutional right. If she does have the right to decide to terminate her pregnancy, does the state have an interest in this matter that is sufficiently compelling to justify infringing on this fundamental right? Furthermore, if the state does have such an interest, are such restrictive state statutes necessary to achieve the state\u27s objectives, or can the result be achieved by a less onerous means? This Comment examines the two objectives, which usually are espoused as justifying the consent statutes: preserving parental control over children and thereby solidifying the family unit, and ensuring that the minor\u27s decision is intelligently made. To understand this latter objective better, the Comment discusses the issue of a minor\u27s ability to consent to medical treatment. From the foregoing analysis, the conclusion is that parental consent statutes in the abortion area, as presently drafted, do not pass the constitutional test. The final section of this Comment considers whether a statute can and should be drafted that will satisfy the state\u27s interest and yet not place unconstitutional constraints on a minor seeking an abortion

The History of Post-Secondary Finance in Alberta - An Analysis

Post-secondary systems throughout Canada and the United States have struggled with funding issues during most of the last decade of the 20th Century, and the new millennium did not open with great enthusiasm for change. This article examines the impact of post-secondary education funding changes in Alberta, Canada, by tracing the historical development of funding initiatives. Historically, the province has relied extensively upon federal financial support to maintain programs of higher education, but that support has diminished as the federal government reduced transfer payments for social programs to all provinces. The decrease in federal funding coincided with the Alberta Government’s initiative to reduce the provincial fiscal deficit. Concomitantly, the provincial government sought to impose performance-based funding, and emphasized a business-planning model upon public colleges and universities. The nature of the government actions is analyzed in relation to the concepts of efficiency of teaching, goodness of fit, and value-for-money.

Episode of unusual high solar ultraviolet radiation over central Europe due to dynamical reduced total ozone in May 2005

In late May 2005 unusual high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation were observed over central Europe. In Northern Germany the measured irradiance of erythemally effective radiation exceeded the climatological mean by more than about 20%. An extreme low ozone event for the season coincided with high solar elevation angles and high pressure induced clear sky conditions leading to the highest value of erythemal UV-radiation ever observed over this location in May since 1994. This hereafter called "ozone mini-hole" was caused by an elevation of tropopause height accompanied with a poleward advection of ozone-poor air from the tropics. The resultant increase in UV-radiation is of particular significance for human health. Dynamically induced low ozone episodes that happen in late spring can considerably enhance the solar UV-radiation in mid latitudes and therefore contribute to the UV-burden of people living in these regions

Scaling and Suppression of Anomalous Heating in Ion Traps

We measure and characterize anomalous motional heating of an atomic ion confined in the lowest quantum levels of a novel rf ion trap that features moveable electrodes. The scaling of heating with electrode proximity is measured, and when the electrodes are cooled from 300 to 150 K, the heating rate is suppressed by an order of magnitude. This provides direct evidence that anomalous motional heating of trapped ions stems from microscopic noisy potentials on the electrodes that are thermally driven. These observations are relevant to decoherence in quantum information processing schemes based on trapped ions and perhaps other charge-based quantum systems

Planar Ion Trap Geometry for Microfabrication

We describe a novel high aspect ratio radiofrequency linear ion trap geometry that is amenable to modern microfabrication techniques. The ion trap electrode structure consists of a pair of stacked conducting cantilevers resulting in confining fields that take the form of fringe fields from parallel plate capacitors. The confining potentials are modeled both analytically and numerically. This ion trap geometry may form the basis for large scale quantum computers or parallel quadrupole mass spectrometers. PACS: 39.25.+k, 03.67.Lx, 07.75.+h, 07.10+CmComment: 14 pages, 16 figure