ECEF Position Accuracy and Reliability: Inertial Navigation with GNSS Precise Point Positioning (PPP)

This report presents experimental results for a moving platform using GPS PPP data for state estimation. Results from two PPP GPS state estimation approaches are presented: point-wise least squares (LS) and aided inertial navigation (INS). The point-wise LS results provide information about the accuracy and reliability of PPP GPS information at each measurement epoch, independent of other epochs. The INS results show the performance that can be achieved by combining information across measurement epochs. INS results are included for two different grades of IMU: navigation grade and consumer grade.The report cites publications that contain more detailed expla- nations of the GNSS error sources, computation of PPP wide area correction, and the LS and aided INS estimation algorithms

Poland’s Syndrome: A case report

Poland’s Syndrome is a rare congenital condition. It is classically characterized by absence of unilateral chest wall muscles and sometimes ipsilateral symbrachydactyly (abnormally short and webbed fingers). The condition typically presents with unilateral absence of the sternal or breastbone portion of the pectoralis major muscle which may or may not be associated with the absence of nearby musculoskeletal structures. We report a 12-year-old boy patient with typical features of Poland syndrome. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of a patient with Poland syndrome reported from Rwanda

Activités antifongiques in vitro des huiles essentielles de Mentha pulegium, Eugenia aromatica et Cedrus atlantica sur Fusarium culmorum et Bipolaris sorokiniana.

L’activité antifongique des huiles essentielles (HE) extraites de trois plantes aromatiques et médicinales: Mentha pulegium L., Eugenia aromatica L. et Cedrus atlantica (Manetti ex Endl.).a été testée in vitro sur deux champignons pathogènes des céréales : Fusarium culmorum ((Wm.G.Sm.) Sacc. 1892) et Bipolaris sorokiniana ((Sacc.) Shoemaker, 1959). Les milieux de culture utilisés pour ces deux pathogènes sont respectivement : le milieu PDA et le milieu V8. Partant des concentrations mères de 1,25 ml d’huile essentielle par litre du milieu de culture, pour chaque champignon, les concentrations minimales inhibitrices (CMI) de ces huiles essentielles ont été déterminées par dilutions successives des solutions mères, et les effets fongicide et/ou fongistatique de ces dilutions ont été mis en évidence. Ainsi pour Fusarium culmorum, l’HE d’Eugenia aromatica s’est avérée la meilleure avec la concentration minimale fongicide de 0,624 ml/L, vient ensuite celle de Mentha pulegium dont la concentration mère est de 1,25 ml/L a été minimale fongicide, mais cette même concentration de Cedrus atlantica a seulement ralenti le développement de ce champignon. Pour Bipolaris sorokiniana, la concentration de 0,156 ml/L de HE d’Eugenia aromatica est la CMI, et elle est fongistatique. Les concentrations utilisées pour les HE de Mentha pulegium et Cedrus atlantica ont toutes ralenti le développement du champignon sans pour autant l’arrêter complètement

Limb body wall complex, amniotic band sequence, or new syndrome caused by mutation in IQ Motif containing K (IQCK)?

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Evaluation of cataract formation in fish exposed to environmental radiation at Chernobyl and Fukushima

Recent studies apparently finding deleterious effects of radiation exposure on cataract formation in birds and voles living near Chernobyl represent a major challenge to current radiation protection regulations. This study conducted an integrated assessment of radiation exposure on cataractogenesis using the most advanced technologies available to assess the cataract status of lenses extracted from fish caught at both Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan. It was hypothesised that these novel data would reveal positive correlations between radiation dose and early indicators of cataract formation.The structure, function and optical properties of lenses were analysed from atomic to millimetre length scales. We measured the short-range order of the lens crystallin proteins using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) at both the SPring-8 and DIAMOND synchrotrons, the profile of the graded refractive index generated by these proteins, the epithelial cell density and organisation and finally the focal length of each lens.The results showed no evidence of a difference between the focal length, the epithelial cell densities, the refractive indices, the interference functions and the short-range order of crystallin proteins (X-ray diffraction patterns) in lens from fish exposed to different radiation doses. It could be argued that animals in the natural environment which developed cataract would be more likely, for example, to suffer predation leading to survivor bias. But the cross-length scale study presented here, by evaluating small scale molecular and cellular changes in the lens (pre-cataract formation) significantly mitigates against this issue

The ‘doing’ and ‘undoing’ of male household decision-making and economic authority in Rwanda and its implications for gender transformative programming

This paper explores two key norms that can underpin intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda: men’s role as economic provider and decision-making authority in the household. It describes the political, legal and socio-economic factors affecting these norms and how they create opportunities and barriers to ‘undoing’ restrictive gender norms. The findings are drawn from an evaluation of Inadshyikirwa, an IPV prevention programme operating in Rwanda. Across 3 intervention sectors, 24 focus groups were conducted with unmarried and married men and women residing in intervention communities. 30 interviews with couples and 9 interviews with opinion leaders were conducted before they completed programme trainings designed to shift gender norms underlying IPV. The data indicates a strong awareness of and accountability to Rwandan laws and policies supporting women’s economic empowerment and decision-making, yet also persisting traditional notions of men as household heads and primary breadwinners. Transgression of these norms could be accommodated in some circumstances, especially those involving economic necessity. The data also identified an increasing recognition of the value of a more equitable partnership model. This paper highlights the importance of carefully assessing cracks in the existing gender order that can be exploited to support gender equality and non-violence

Home Browse Latest Additions Policies In-Between Spaces, Intermediaries and the International Criminal Court: Uncovering New Sites for Opportunity and Challenge

Approaches to the practice of international criminal justice have largely focused on the relationship between institutions, states and communities. This has overlooked the role of other actors, such as intermediaries, in justice processes. This thesis examines the place of intermediaries in international criminal justice with a particular focus on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Through this examination it is argued that international criminal justice also takes place in in-between spaces. The central insight of the thesis is that in-between spaces are productive of particular forms of international criminal law practices. These in-between spaces are not captured in dominant international criminal law literature and they are hardly capable of regulation. Furthermore, much of the literature on intermediaries overlooks the existence of these practices because it tends to study the relationship between intermediaries and the ICC through global/local lenses. The thesis develops the concept of in-between spaces, both analytically and empirically, to illuminate these practices of international criminal justice to which intermediaries give rise. To that end, the thesis conceives intermediaries as mediators of the Court's work in in-between spaces and that opens up new conversations about the way in which knowledge is produced, subjects are represented and power is exerted in these in-between spaces. Next, the thesis discusses the question of security. I argue that the Court is unable to fully protect intermediaries in in-between spaces. Therefore, it should partner with other stakeholders. Lastly, this research discusses the issue of accountability. I argue that intermediaries' accountability is complex because in-between spaces produce different accountability registers. While the Court captures a small fraction of intermediaries' accountability, intermediaries are accountable to other actors such as donors and states. What is more, the current framework of accountability does not provide for the Court's accountability toward intermediaries. The thesis concludes that the ICC should enhance its partnership with intermediaries and change some of the ways in which it currently relates to them because in-between spaces are productive of a new kind of practice of international criminal justice which is not captured by existing literature and law. Despite the challenges that such engagement may bring, intermediaries are indispensable to the Court's work on the ground

RAIM and Failure Mode Slope: Effects of Increased Number of Measurements and Number of Faults

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the increasing number of measurements and the possible increase in the number of faults in multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). Residual-based fault detection and integrity monitoring techniques are ubiquitous in linear over-determined sensing systems. An important application is RAIM, as used in multi-constellation GNSS-based positioning. This is a field in which the number of measurements, m, available per epoch is rapidly increasing due to new satellite systems and modernization. Spoofing, multipath, and non-line of sight signals could potentially affect a large number of these signals. This article fully characterizes the impact of measurement faults on the estimation (i.e., position) error, the residual, and their ratio (i.e., the failure mode slope) by analyzing the range space of the measurement matrix and its orthogonal complement. For any fault scenario affecting h measurements, the eigenvalue problem that defines the worst-case fault is expressed and analyzed in terms of these orthogonal subspaces, which enables further analysis. For h>(m-n), where n is the number of estimated variables, it is known that there always exist faults that are undetectable from the residual vector, yielding an infinite value for the failure mode slope. This article uses the range space and its complement to explain: (1) why, for fixed h and n, the failure mode slope decreases with m; (2) why, for a fixed n and m, the failure mode slope increases toward infinity as h increases; (3) why a failure mode slope can become infinite for h≤(m-n). A set of examples demonstrate the results of the paper