User's guide to image processing applications of the NOAA satellite HRPT/AVHRR data. Part 1: Introduction to the satellite system and its applications. Part 2: Processing and analysis of AVHRR imagery

The use of NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radar/High Resolution Picture Transmission (AVHRR/HRPT) imagery for earth resource applications is provided for the applications scientist for use within the various Earth science, resource, and agricultural disciplines. A guide to processing NOAA AVHRR data using the hardware and software systems integrated for this NASA project is provided. The processing steps from raw data on computer compatible tapes (1B data format) through usable qualitative and quantitative products for applications are given. The manual is divided into two parts. The first section describes the NOAA satellite system, its sensors, and the theoretical basis for using these data for environmental applications. Part 2 is a hands-on description of how to use a specific image processing system, the International Imaging Systems, Inc. (I2S) Model 75 Array Processor and S575 software, to process these data

No Right to Remain Silent: Isolating Malicious Mixes

Mix networks are a key technology to achieve network anonymity and private messaging, voting and database lookups. However, simple mix network designs are vulnerable to malicious mixes, which may drop or delay packets to facilitate traffic analysis attacks. Mix networks with provable robustness address this drawback through complex and expensive proofs of correct shuffling but come at a great cost and make limiting or unrealistic systems assumptions. We present Miranda, an efficient mix-net design, which mitigates active attacks by malicious mixes. Miranda uses both the detection of corrupt mixes, as well as detection of faults related to a pair of mixes, without detection of the faulty one among the two. Each active attack -- including dropping packets -- leads to reduced connectivity for corrupt mixes and reduces their ability to attack, and, eventually, to detection of corrupt mixes. We show, through experiments, the effectiveness of Miranda, by demonstrating how malicious mixes are detected and that attacks are neutralized early

The Pattern and Process of Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana: A Landscape Ecological Analysis.

The goals of this research were: to develop a methodology for the study of landscape process and pattern; to determine the spatial pattern of land loss in coastal Louisiana and relate it to causal processes; and to assess the relative importance of natural versus human-induced processes in causing land loss. Land loss was analyzed for a 22 year period at three sites, using a Geographic Information System composed of digital habitat maps. The most significant finding of this research was that land loss is not a simple, spatially homogeneous phenomenon, that occurs uniformly. Instead, large clumps of high loss, or hot spots, were observed. Hot spots comprised 9-18% of the original study area, but contained 50-73% of all loss. There is evidence that hot spots occur coastwide, and are not limited to these three study sites. The cause of the hot spots could not be determined from the current study. Simple models containing factors such as site, habitat type, salinity change, and proximity to canal and spoil or natural channel could not account for all the land loss in these areas, although higher order interactions were not included. Mechanisms with a short response time may be responsible, since those areas examined were not enlarging. Analyses were also performed to assess the impact of saltwater intrusion and canals and associated spoil banks on land loss. The conclusion of this study is that saltwater intrusion is not a major cause of loss at the three sites, although this could not be discounted for some of the loss at the Cameron site. Dredging of new canals accounts for a significant percentage of loss at the Terrebonne and Lafourche study sites (14 and 15%, respectively), but is not a major factor at Cameron (3%). More difficult to assess are indirect effects, due to possible impacts on hydrology and sedimentation. Analyses of patch size, patch abundance, and results from statistical models indicate that the indirect effects of canal and spoil may be less than has been suggested by previous research, possibly because these studies were too spatially aggregated

Deep infrared observations of the puzzling central X-ray source in RCW103

1E 161348-5055 (1E 1613) is a point-like, soft X-ray source originally identified as a radio-quiet, isolated neutron star, shining at the center of the 2000 yr old supernova remnant RCW103. 1E 1613 features a puzzling 6.67 hour periodicity as well as a dramatic variability over a time scale of few years. Such a temporal behavior, coupled to the young age and to the lack of an obvious optical counterpart, makes 1E 1613 a unique source among all compact objects associated to SNRs. It could either be the first low-mass X-ray binary system discovered inside a SNR, or a peculiar isolated magnetar with an extremely slow spin period. Analysis of archival IR observations, performed in 2001 with the VLT/ISAAC instrument, and in 2002 with the NICMOS camera onboard HST unveils a very crowded field. A few sources are positionally consistent with the refined X-ray error region that we derived from the analysis of 13 Chandra observations. To shed light on the nature of 1E 1613, we have performed deep IR observations of the field with the NACO instrument at the ESO/VLT, searching for variability. We find no compelling reasons to associate any of the candidates to 1E 1613. On one side, within the frame of the binary system model for the X-ray source, it is very unlikely that one of the candidates be a low-mass companion star to 1E 1613. On the other side, if the X-ray source is an isolated magnetar surrounded by a fallback disc, we cannot exclude that the IR counterpart be hidden among the candidates. If none of the potential counterparts is linked to the X-ray source, 1E 1613 would remain undetected in the IR down to Ks>22.1. Such an upper limit is consistent only with an extremely low-mass star (an M6-M8 dwarf) at the position of 1E 1613, and makes rather problematic the interpretation of 1E 1613 as an accreting binary system.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

"They should have this in every court." Evaluation of the NSW Women’s Refuge Movement Women's Family Law Support Service (WFLSS)

This is an evaluation of the first support service in Australia for women attending the Family Courts. The WFLSS is a partnership between the NSW Women's Refuge Movement and the Family Court of Australia. This evaluation provides the views of women and court staff about the service

Pharmacologically blocking p53-dependent apoptosis protects intestinal stem cells and mice from radiation.

Exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation (IR) leads to debilitating and dose-limiting gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. Using three-dimensional mouse crypt culture, we demonstrated that p53 target PUMA mediates radiation-induced apoptosis via a cell-intrinsic mechanism, and identified the GSK-3 inhibitor CHIR99021 as a potent radioprotector. CHIR99021 treatment improved Lgr5+ cell survival and crypt regeneration after radiation in culture and mice. CHIR99021 treatment specifically blocked apoptosis and PUMA induction and K120 acetylation of p53 mediated by acetyl-transferase Tip60, while it had no effect on p53 stabilization, phosphorylation or p21 induction. CHIR99021 also protected human intestinal cultures from radiation by PUMA but not p21 suppression. These results demonstrate that p53 posttranslational modifications play a key role in the pathological and apoptotic response of the intestinal stem cells to radiation and can be targeted pharmacologically

Older adults respond better to psychological therapy than working-age adults: evidence from a large sample of mental health service attendees.

BACKGROUND: Older adults commonly experience depression and anxiety, yet are under-represented in psychological treatment services. There is uncertainty about the outcomes from psychological therapies for older adults relative to working-age adults. This study explored: pre-treatment differences between older and working-age patients with depression or anxiety disorders; whether outcomes from psychological therapy differ between groups controlling for pre-treatment clinical severity, functioning, and socio-demographics; and whether the impact of a long-term condition (LTC) on outcome differs by age. METHODS: Data on >100,000 patients treated with psychological therapies in eight Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services were analyzed. We compared pre-treatment characteristics and therapy outcomes for older (≥65 years) and working-age (18-64 years) patients, and investigated associations between age and outcomes. RESULTS: Older adults had less severe clinical presentations pre-treatment. In adjusted models older adults were more likely to reliably recover (OR=1.33(95%CI=1.24-1.43)), reliably improve (OR=1.34(95%CI =1.24-1.45)), and attrition was less likely (OR=0.48(95%CI =0.43-0.53)). Effects were more pronounced in patients with anxiety disorders compared to depression. Having an LTC was associated with a much lower likelihood of reliable recovery for working-age patients but had only a modest effect for older adults. LIMITATIONS: There are potential selection biases affecting the characteristics of older people attending these services. Residual confounding cannot be ruled out due to limits on data available. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults experienced better outcomes from psychological treatments than working-age adults. Given the deleterious effects if mental health conditions go untreated, increasing access to psychological therapies for older people should be an international priority

Anisotropic crack propagation and deformation in dentin observed by four-dimensional X-ray nano-computed tomography

Understanding the cracking behaviour of biological composite materials is of practical importance. This paper presents the first study to track the interplay between crack initiation, microfracture and plastic deformation in three dimensions (3D) as a function of tubule and collagen fibril arrangement in elephant dentin using in situ X-ray nano-computed tomography (nano-CT). A nano-indenter with a conical tip has been used to incrementally indent three test-pieces oriented at 0°, 45° and 70° to the long axis of the tubules (i.e. radial to the tusk). For the 0° sample two significant cracks formed, one of which linked up with microcracks in the axial-radial plane of the tusk originating from the tubules and the other one occurred as a consequence of shear deformation at the tubules. The 70° test-piece was able to bear the greatest loads despite many small cracks forming around the indenter. These were diverted by the microstructure and did not propagate significantly. The 45° test-piece showed intermediate behaviour. In all cases strains obtained by digital volume correlation were well in excess of the yield strain (0.9%), indeed some plastic deformation could even be seen through bending of the tubules. The hoop strains around the conical indenter were anisotropic with the smallest strains correlating with the primary collagen orientation (axial to the tusk) and the largest strains aligned with the hoop direction of the tusk