Persistence of Antarctic polar stratospheric clouds

The persistence of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs) observed by the Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement (SAM) 2 satellite sensor over a 9-year period is compared and contrasted. Histograms of the SAM 2 1.0 micron extinction ratio data (aerosol extinction normalized by the molecular extinction) at an altitude of 18 km in the Antarctic have been generated for three 10-day periods in the month of September. Statistics for eight different years (1979 to 1982 and 1984 to 1987) are shown in separate panels for each figure. Since the SAM 2 system is a solar occultation experiment, observations are limited to the edge of the polar night and no measurements are made deep within the vortex where temperatures could be colder. For this reason, use is made of the NMC global gridded fields and the known temperature-extinction relationship to infer additional information on the occurrence and areal coverage of PSCs. Calculations of the daily areal coverage of the 195 K isotherm will be presented for this same period of data. This contour level lies in the range of the predicted temperature for onset of the Type 1 particle enhancement mode at 50 mb (Poole and McCormick, 1988b) and should indicate approximately when formation of the binary HNO3-H2O particles begins

Polonistyczna edukacja kulturowa w dziedzinie literatury i kultury polskiej na Wschodzie Niemiec przed i po zjednoczeniu. Korzyści i niekorzyści

Zadanie pt. Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Between Documentary and Provocation. New Tendencies (not only) in Contemporary Polish Holocaust Literature

The Holocaust can be seen as a transnational crime, and a collective trauma of universal extension. Therefore national approaches could be seen only as an example out of many others. The year 2000 was the starting point of a new area, since the transformation of Holocaust memory went global. A sensitive subject is the problem of poetization and aestheticization of the Holocaust between fact and fiction. In the meantime the generation of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren has taken over the responsibility in memorizing the Holocaust. New literary approaches are made in different artistic forms and expressions, expressing the Holocaust in forms of the satire, humor, irony, and grotesque, and we may state a remarkable ‘visual turn’, too. Giving evidence is still very important to prevent collective amnesia, also reacting on forms of Holocaust fatigue. In my paper I am concentrating mainly on Polish literature after two turning points (1989 and 2000). Representatives of the younger generations want to find out more about the former lives of their relatives, searching for traces and lost places. Another important issue is the massacre of Polish Jews in 1941 in Jedwabne as well as the literary anticipation of the Holocaust. Joseph Conrad’s writing deeply affected Arendt’s analysis of imperialism as an element of totalitarianism and the banality of evil. Interesting items of writing about the Holocaust are books written for children. Next to concentration camps and the former Jewish shtetl, also ghettos became a popular place in contemporary Polish Holocaust literature. The power of words, in all likelihood holograms, will become the only way of hearing a testimony in the future, making sure that the Holocaust is not forgotten.17118

Global meteorological data facility for real-time field experiments support and guidance

A Global Meteorological Data Facility (GMDF) has been constructed to provide economical real-time meteorological support to atmospheric field experiments. After collection and analysis of meteorological data sets at a central station, tailored meteorological products are transmitted to experiment field sites using conventional ground link or satellite communication techniques. The GMDF supported the Global Tropospheric Experiment Amazon Boundary Layer Experiment (GTE-ABLE II) based in Manaus, Brazil, during July and August 1985; an arctic airborne lidar survey mission for the Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC) experiment during January 1986; and the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment (GALE) during January, February and March 1986. GMDF structure is similar to the UNIDATA concept, including meteorological data from the Zephyr Weather Transmission Service, a mode AAA GOES downlink, and dedicated processors for image manipulation, transmission and display. The GMDF improved field experiment operations in general, with the greatest benefits arising from the ability to communicate with field personnel in real time

Expanding social identity theory for research in media effects: two international studies and a theoretical model

"In this paper we propose that Tajfel’s (1979) social identity theory (SIT) and self-categorization theory (SCT, Turner, Brown & Tajfel, 1987) is a relevant and helpful theoretical groundwork to explain selective exposure to media content in general and to entertainment media in particular. It is hypothesized that gender and national identity have a significant effect on selective exposure to entertainment series when being salient. Two international quasi-experimental studies have been conducted, the first study in the U.S. and Germany (N = 419) and the second in Great Britain and Germany (N = 154). As expected, participants rated series that feature protagonists of their own sex higher with regard to entertainment and intention to watch than those that featured protagonists of the opposite sex. However, national identity did not have the effects expected. Participants from all three countries gave similar ratings to series produced in their home-country as those produced abroad. The use of SIT is discussed in terms of what processes of the theory are of particular importance to explain media related behavior and how to empirically apply the theory in media effects research to make it work. A two-process model of SIT in media effects research is suggested: the process of social comparison is amended with a much simpler process of searching for similarities."[author´s abstract]"Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden die Theorie der sozialen Identität (Tajfel, 1979) und die Theorie der sozialen Kategorisierung (Turner, Brown & Tajfel, 1979) als theoretische Grundlage zur Erklärung der Medienselektion vorgeschlagen. In zwei Quasi-Experimenten wurde die untersucht, ob die Geschlechtszugehörigkeit beeinfluss, ob Probanden lieber unterhaltende TV Serien mit Protagonisten des eigenen Geschlechts oder des anderen Geschlechts sehen. Des Weiteren wurde untersucht, ob die nationale Identität beeinflusst, ob Probanden lieber unterhaltende TV Serien im TV sehen, die im Heimatland oder im Ausland produziert wurden. Die erste Studie wurde in den Vereinigten Staaten (U.S.A.) und Deutschland durchgeführt (N = 419), die zweite Studien in dem Vereinigten Königreich (U.K.) und Deutschland (N = 154). Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass Probanden Serien mit Protagonisten des eigenen Geschlechts bevorzugen. Die nationale Identität hatte jedoch nicht den gewünschten Effekt. Die Probanden aller drei Länder bewerteten ausländische Produktionen besser als die Serien aus ihrem Heimatland. In der Diskussion und als Ergebnis der zwei Studien wird ein Zweiprozess-Modell der Medienselektion vorgeschlagen, das einerseits Prozesse der sozialen Identität und andererseits Prozesse der Ähnlichkeit als Ursachen der Medienselektion definiert."[Autorenreferat

Forecasting consumer products using prediction markets

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-106).Prediction Markets hold the promise of improving the forecasting process. Research has shown that Prediction Markets can develop more accurate forecasts than polls or experts. Our research concentrated on analyzing Prediction Markets for business decision-making. We configured a Prediction Market to gather primary data, sent out surveys to gauge participant views and conducted in-depth interviews to explain trader behavior. Our research was conducted with 169 employees from General Mills who participated in Prediction Markets that lasted from two to ten weeks. Our research indicates that short term forecasting Prediction Markets are no more accurate than conventional forecasting methods. It also presents and addresses three interesting contradictions. First, the Sales Organization won the majority of the Prediction Markets, yet the overall performance of Sales as a group was worse than that of other groups. Second, Prediction Markets were able to gain access to more information than General Mills' current process, yet the impact on forecast accuracy was not significant. Third, with a MAPE of 11% for promotional Prediction Markets, it would seem that promotional demand was well understood up-front, yet when we dissected the promotional forecasts we discovered that participants changed their minds over time degrading overall forecast accuracy. We believe that we have extended the current body of work on Prediction Markets in ways that will increase the utilization in business environments.by Kai Trepte and Rajaram Narayanaswamy.M.Eng.in Logistic

Cultural differences in social media use, privacy, and self-disclosure : research report on a multicultural study

This research report presents comparative results from five nations (United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and China) with regard to social media use, self-disclosure, privacy perceptions and attitudes, and privacy behavior in online environments. The data stemmed from an online survey that was conducted from November, 2011, to December, 2011. Across all five nations, N = 1,800 participants completed the survey. The findings suggest that a broad differentiation between Western and Eastern cultures only partly accounted for differences in social media use and privacy behavior. Rather, the results of this report suggest that European countries (United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands) share similar privacy perceptions and show similar behavioral patterns. Non-European cultures (the USA and China) on the other hand, use social media differently. Participants from European countries had generally smaller audiences on social network sites and microblogging platforms, tended to limit the visibility of their postings and profile information more, and used more privacy settings to safeguard their privacy. In particular, German social media users seemed to be guarded, protective, and rather reluctant to participate in online communication. Users from the US, on the other hand, rated privacy-related behavior as less risky and were hence less likely to imply sophisticated privacy strategies. Apart from these findings, the report also shows that there are more commonalities than differences. People from all five countries think that it is important to protect privacy. Most users consciously decides what to share and what not to share. Accordingly, social media users do not always share intimate and detailed information about their lives

Privacy, self-disclosure, social support, and social network site use : research report of a three-year panel study

This research report presents data from a study conducted in Germany based on a 3-year panel design. From October 2009 to April 2012, five waves of data collection were established. N = 327 participants from a convenience sample gave answers to questions regarding media use, privacy behaviors, well-being, social support, authenticity, and specific online experiences with a particular emphasis on social network sites (SNSs). It was found that across the 3 years of the study, people increasingly gained online social capital, developed a greater need for privacy, started to disclose more personal information online, and continually spent more time on SNSs. At the same time, people's willingness to disclose information in offline settings as well as their risk assessment of SNSs significantly decreased over time. Furthermore, frequent users of SNSs had more online social capital than less frequent users, disclosed more personal information online, knew more ways to restrict the access to their profiles, and were more authentic in their online profiles. People who had a higher need for privacy were less satisfied with their lives, less authentic in both their personal relationships and their online profiles, and generally showed more negative effects on different psychological variables. Respondents who had more online social capital also reported having more general positive affect and more offline social support. In the research report, further results are reported: Each variable is presented both individually and in context with other measures. The study is the first longitudinal study on online privacy and as such the first to be able to report mutual causalities between online experiences and privacy behaviors