Fibre-optic sensor technologies for humidity and moisture measurement

A review of the use of fibre-optic sensor technologies for humidity sensing is presented. The paper first provides a brief overview on the basic concept of what is meant by humidity and on conventional detection methods. This is followed by an extensive review on the various fibre-optic techniques reported for humidity sensing, covering both intrinsic and extrinsic sensor configurations

UV solar irradiance in observations and the NRLSSI and SATIRE-S models

Total solar irradiance and UV spectral solar irradiance have been monitored since 1978 through a succession of space missions. This is accompanied by the development of models aimed at replicating solar irradiance by relating the variability to solar magnetic activity. The NRLSSI and SATIRE-S models provide the most comprehensive reconstructions of total and spectral solar irradiance over the period of satellite observation currently available. There is persistent controversy between the various measurements and models in terms of the wavelength dependence of the variation over the solar cycle, with repercussions on our understanding of the influence of UV solar irradiance variability on the stratosphere. We review the measurement and modelling of UV solar irradiance variability over the period of satellite observation. The SATIRE-S reconstruction is consistent with spectral solar irradiance observations where they are reliable. It is also supported by an independent, empirical reconstruction of UV spectral solar irradiance based on UARS/SUSIM measurements from an earlier study. The weaker solar cycle variability produced by NRLSSI between 300 and 400 nm is not evident in any available record. We show that although the method employed to construct NRLSSI is principally sound, reconstructed solar cycle variability is detrimentally affected by the uncertainty in the SSI observations it draws upon in the derivation. Based on our findings, we recommend, when choosing between the two models, the use of SATIRE-S for climate studies

Risk Management Capability Maturity and Performance of Complex Product and System (CoPS) Projects with an Asian Perspective

Complex Products and Systems (CoPS) are high value, technology and engineering-intensive capital goods. The motivation of this study is the persistent high failure rate of CoPS projects, Asian CoPS provider’s weak capability and lack of specific research on CoPS risk management. This paper evaluates risk management maturity level of CoPS projects against a general CoPS risk management capability maturity model (RM-CMM) developed by the authors. An Asian based survey was conducted to investigate the value of RM to project performance, and Asian (non-Japanese) CoPS implementers’ perceived application of RM practices, their strengths and weaknesses. The survey result shows that higher RM maturity level leads to higher CoPS project performance. It also shows project complexity and uncertainty moderates the relationship between some RM practices and project performance, which implies that a contingency approach should be adopted to manage CoPS risks effectively. In addition, it shows that Asian CoPS implementers are weak in RM process and there are also rooms for improvement in the softer aspects of organizational capabilities and robustness

Liquid-to-liquid phase transition in pancake vortex systems

We study the thermodynamics of a model of pancake vortices in layered superconductors. The model is based on the effective pair potential for the pancake vortices derived from the London approximation of a version of the Lawrence-Doniach model which is valid for extreme type-II superconductors. Using the hypernetted-chain (HNC) approximation, we find that there is a temperature below which multiple solutions to the HNC equations exist. By explicitly evaluating the free energy for each solution we find that the system undergoes a first-order transition between two vortex liquid phases. The low-temperature phase has larger correlations along the field direction than the high-temperature phase. We discuss the possible relation of this phase transition to the liquid-to-liquid phase transition recently observed in Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductors in high magnetic fields in the presence of disorder.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Fisher profiles and perceptions of sea turtle-fishery interactions: case study of East Coast Peninsular Malaysia

The paper focuses on coastal fisheries, particularly examining sea turtle-fishery interactions and determining the socioeconomic profile and perception of local fishers about sea turtle issues along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.Turtle fisheries, Nature conservation, Coastal fisheries, Man-induced effects, ISEW, Malaysia, Malaya, Pahang, Malaysia, Malaya, Kelantan, Malaysia, Malaya, Terengganu,

Cold heteromolecular dipolar collisions

We present the first experimental observation of cold collisions between two different species of neutral polar molecules, each prepared in a single internal quantum state. Combining for the first time the techniques of Stark deceleration, magnetic trapping, and cryogenic buffer gas cooling allows the enhancement of molecular interaction time by 10$^5$. This has enabled an absolute measurement of the total trap loss cross sections between OH and ND$_3$ at a mean collision energy of 3.6 cm$^{-1}$ (5 K). Due to the dipolar interaction, the total cross section increases upon application of an external polarizing electric field. Cross sections computed from \emph{ab initio} potential energy surfaces are in excellent agreement with the measured value at zero external electric field. The theory presented here represents the first such analysis of collisions between a $^2\Pi$ radical and a closed-shell polyatomic molecule.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure