Millimeter Wave Cloud Radar (MMCR) Handbook

The millimeter cloud radar (MMCR) systems probe the extent and composition of clouds at millimeter wavelengths. The MMCR is a zenith-pointing radar that operates at a frequency of 35 GHz. The main purpose of this radar is to determine cloud boundaries (e.g., cloud bottoms and tops). This radar will also report radar reflectivity (dBZ) of the atmosphere up to 20 km. The radar possesses a doppler capability that will allow the measurement of cloud constituent vertical velocities

Caractérisation physique de sables silteux au Togo

Le sable est l’un des matériaux les plus utilisés dans la réalisation des ouvrages de génie civil au Togo, notamment dans la confection du béton ainsi que du mortier. La présente étude est destinée à analyser certains gisements de sables silteux du Togo dans le but de déterminer leurs propriétés granulaires. 72 échantillons de sables silteux ont été prélevés dans 16 sites d’extraction et soumis aux essais en laboratoire. Il ressort des résultats que les sables silteux étudiés sont globalement très fins (Mf~1,966), de catégorie « f3 », de classe granulaire 0/1 (d~0,08mm), mal gradués (SP), de granulométrie serrée, très mal classés (Si~9,119), de forte asymétrie vers les petites tailles (Sk~0,451) et légèrement argileux (ES~66,32). Globalement inadaptés comme granulats pour bétons classiques, les carrières prises individuellement regorgent de sables silteux dont les qualités sont adaptées soit aux bétons classiques dont la résistance est exigée, soit aux bétons dont la facilité de mise en oeuvre est plus recherchée.Mots-clés : sables silteux, Togo, propriétés granulaires, propreté

Veränderungen der Ertragsmodelle durch digitale Produkt-Service- Systeme am Beispiel dormakaba

Dormakaba ist ein globaler Anbieter von smarten und sicheren Zutrittslösungen und ein Beispiel für Digitalisierung von produzierenden Unternehmen. Die Digitalisierung betrifft nicht nur dormakaba selber, sondern verändert Abläufe und Geschäftsmodelle in der gesamten Gebäude- & Sicherheitsbranche. Zum einen werden Räume flexibler genutzt. Zum anderen kommen digitale Lösungen bereits bei der Planung und Realisierung sowie bei der Verwaltung von Gebäuden zum Einsatz. Mit der digitalen Plattform „dormakaba exivo“ ermöglicht dormakaba die elektronische Verwaltung von Zutrittsberechtigungen. Dies ist die Grundlage für vielfältige neue Geschäftsmodelle rund um den Zugang zu und die Nutzung von Räumen. Im Business Model Profit Schema wird für einige dieser neuen Geschäftsmodelle dargestellt, welche physischen Komponenten oder Dienstleistungen kostenfrei oder zu sehr niedrigen Kosten zur Verfügung gestellt werden und mit welchen Dienstleistungen Deckungsbeiträge erwirtschaftet werden

Directional emission of light from a nano-optical Yagi-Uda antenna

The plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles can enhance and direct light from optical emitters in much the same way that radio frequency (RF) antennas enhance and direct the emission from electrical circuits. In the RF regime, a typical antenna design for high directivity is the Yagi-Uda antenna, which basically consists of a one-dimensional array of antenna elements driven by a single feed element. Here, we present the experimental demonstration of directional light emission from a nano-optical Yagi-Uda antenna composed of an array of appropriately tuned gold nanorods. Our results indicate that nano-optical antenna arrays are a simple but efficient tool for the spatial control of light emission.Comment: 4 pages, including 4 figure

Population-Level Benefits from Providing Effective HIV Prevention Means to Pregnant Women in High Prevalence Settings

Background:HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Southern Africa is extremely high. Epidemiological studies suggest that pregnancy increases the risk of HIV sexual acquisition and that HIV infections acquired during pregnancy carry higher risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). We analyze the potential benefits from extending the availability of effective microbicide to pregnant women (in addition to non-pregnant women) in a wide-scale intervention.Methods and Findings:A transmission dynamic model was designed to assess the impact of microbicide use in high HIV prevalence settings and to estimate proportions of new HIV infections, infections acquired during pregnancy, and MTCT prevented over 10 years. Our analysis suggests that consistent use of microbicide with 70% efficacy by 60% of non-pregnant women may prevent approximately 40% and 15% of new infections in women and men respectively over 10 years, assuming no additional increase in HIV risk to either partner during pregnancy (RRHIV/preg = 1). It may also prevent 8-15% MTCT depending on the increase in MTCT risk when HIV is acquired during pregnancy compared to before pregnancy (RRMTCT/preg). Extending the microbicides use during pregnancy may improve the effectiveness of the intervention by 10% (RRHIV/preg = 1) to 25% (RRHIV/preg = 2) and reduce the number of HIV infections acquired during pregnancy by 40% to 70% in different scenarios. It may add between 6% (RRHIV/preg = 1, RRMTCT/preg = 1) and 25% (RRHIV/preg = 2, RRMTCT/preg = 4) to the reduction in the residual MTCT.Conclusion:Providing safe and effective microbicide to pregnant women in the context of wide-scale interventions would be desirable as it would increase the effectiveness of the intervention and significantly reduce the number of HIV infections acquired during pregnancy. The projected benefits from covering pregnant women by the HIV prevention programs is more substantial in communities in which the sexual risk during pregnancy is elevated. © 2013 Dimitrov et al

Liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals - enhanced light-matter interactions for lab-on-a-chip applications

Optical techniques are finding widespread use in analytical chemistry for chemical and bio-chemical analysis. During the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on miniaturization of chemical analysis systems and naturally this has stimulated a large effort in integrating microfluidics and optics in lab-on-a-chip microsystems. This development is partly defining the emerging field of optofluidics. Scaling analysis and experiments have demonstrated the advantage of micro-scale devices over their macroscopic counterparts for a number of chemical applications. However, from an optical point of view, miniaturized devices suffer dramatically from the reduced optical path compared to macroscale experiments, e.g. in a cuvette. Obviously, the reduced optical path complicates the application of optical techniques in lab-on-a-chip systems. In this paper we theoretically discuss how a strongly dispersive photonic crystal environment may be used to enhance the light-matter interactions, thus potentially compensating for the reduced optical path in lab-on-a-chip systems. Combining electromagnetic perturbation theory with full-wave electromagnetic simulations we address the prospects for achieving slow-light enhancement of Beer-Lambert-Bouguer absorption, photonic band-gap based refractometry, and high-Q cavity sensing.Comment: Invited paper accepted for the "Optofluidics" special issue to appear in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics (ed. Prof. David Erickson). 11 pages including 8 figure

Profiles of physical, emotional and psychosocial wellbeing in the Lothian birth cohort 1936

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical, emotional, and psychosocial wellbeing are important domains of function. The aims of this study were to explore the existence of separable groups among 70-year olds with scores representing physical function, perceived quality of life, and emotional wellbeing, and to characterise any resulting groups using demographic, personality, cognition, health and lifestyle variables.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify possible groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results suggested there were 5 groups. These included High (n = 515, 47.2% of the sample), Average (n = 417, 38.3%), and Poor Wellbeing (n = 37, 3.4%) groups. The two other groups had contrasting patterns of wellbeing: one group scored relatively well on physical function, but low on emotional wellbeing (Good Fitness/ Low Spirits,n = 60, 5.5%), whereas the other group showed low physical function but relatively well emotional wellbeing (Low Fitness/Good Spirits, n = 62, 5.7%). Salient characteristics that distinguished all the groups included smoking and drinking behaviours, personality, and illness.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite there being some evidence of these groups, the results also support a largely one-dimensional construct of wellbeing in old age—for the domains assessed here—though with some evidence that some individuals have uneven profiles.</p

Antibodies to Henipavirus or Henipa-Like Viruses in Domestic Pigs in Ghana, West Africa

Henipaviruses, Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV), have Pteropid bats as their known natural reservoirs. Antibodies against henipaviruses have been found in Eidolon helvum, an old world fruit bat species, and henipavirus-like nucleic acid has been detected in faecal samples from E. helvum in Ghana. The initial outbreak of NiV in Malaysia led to over 265 human encephalitis cases, including 105 deaths, with infected pigs acting as amplifier hosts for NiV during the outbreak. We detected non-neutralizing antibodies against viruses of the genus Henipavirus in approximately 5% of pig sera (N = 97) tested in Ghana, but not in a small sample of other domestic species sampled under a E. helvum roost. Although we did not detect neutralizing antibody, our results suggest prior exposure of the Ghana pig population to henipavirus(es). Because a wide diversity of henipavirus-like nucleic acid sequences have been found in Ghanaian E. helvum, we hypothesise that these pigs might have been infected by henipavirus(es) sufficiently divergent enough from HeVor NiV to produce cross-reactive, but not cross-neutralizing antibodies to HeV or NiV

Determinants of response to a parent questionnaire about development and behaviour in 3 year olds: European multicentre study of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Background: We aimed to determine how response to a parent-completed postal questionnaire measuring development, behaviour, impairment, and parental concerns and anxiety, varies in different European centres. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 3 year old children, with and without congenital toxoplasmosis, who were identified by prenatal or neonatal screening for toxoplasmosis in 11 centres in 7 countries. Parents were mailed a questionnaire that comprised all or part of existing validated tools. We determined the effect of characteristics of the centre and child on response, age at questionnaire completion, and response to child drawing tasks. Results: The questionnaire took 21 minutes to complete on average. 67% (714/1058) of parents responded. Few parents (60/1058) refused to participate. The strongest determinants of response were the score for organisational attributes of the study centre (such as direct involvement in follow up and access to an address register), and infection with congenital toxoplasmosis. Age at completion was associated with study centre, presence of neurological abnormalities in early infancy, and duration of prenatal treatment. Completion rates for individual questions exceeded 92% except for child completed drawings of a man (70%), which were completed more by girls, older children, and in certain centres. Conclusion: Differences in response across European centres were predominantly related to the organisation of follow up and access to correct addresses. The questionnaire was acceptable in all six countries and offers a low cost tool for assessing development, behaviour, and parental concerns and anxiety, in multinational studies

Hospital mortality among major trauma victims admitted on weekends and evenings: a cohort study

Article deposited according to publisher policy posted on SHERPA/RoMEO, 14/09/2010.YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund