1,721,462 research outputs found

    VESPA-22: A ground-based microwave spectrometer for long-term measurements of polar stratospheric water vapor

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    The new ground-based 22 GHz spectrometer, VESPA-22 (water Vapor Emission Spectrometer for Polar Atmosphere at 22 GHz) measures the 22.23 GHz water vapor emission line with a bandwidth of 500 MHz and a frequency resolution of 31 kHz. The integration time for a measurement ranges from 6 to 24 h, depending on season and weather conditions. Water vapor spectra are collected using the beam-switching technique. VESPA-22 is designed to operate automatically with little maintenance; it employs an uncooled front-end characterized by a receiver temperature of about 180 K and its quasi-optical system presents a full width at half maximum of 3.5°. Every 30 min VESPA-22 measures also the sky opacity using the tipping curve technique. The instrument calibration is performed automatically by a noise diode; the emission temperature of this element is estimated twice an hour by observing alternatively a black body at ambient temperature and the sky at an elevation of 60°. The retrieved profiles obtained inverting 24 h integration spectra present a sensitivity larger than 0.8 from about 25 to 75 km of altitude during winter and from about 30 to 65 km during summer, a vertical resolution from about 12 to 23 km (depending on altitude), and an overall 1σ uncertainty lower than 7 % up to 60 km altitude and rapidly increasing to 20 % at 75 km. In July 2016, VESPA-22 was installed at the Thule High Arctic Atmospheric Observatory located at Thule Air Base (76.5° N, 68.8° W), Greenland, and it has been operating almost continuously since then. The VESPA-22 water vapor mixing ratio vertical profiles discussed in this work are obtained from 24 h averaged spectra and are compared with version 4.2 of concurrent Aura/Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) water vapor vertical profiles. In the sensitivity range of VESPA-22 retrievals, the intercomparison from July 2016 to July 2017 between VESPA-22 dataset and Aura/MLS dataset convolved with VESPA-22 averaging kernels shows an average difference within 1.4 % up to 60 km altitude and increasing to about 6 % (0.2 ppmv) at 72 km. © Author(s) 2018

    A data assimilation experiment of temperature and humidity profiles from an international network of ground-based microwave radiometers

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    Temperature and humidity retrievals from an international network of ground-based microwave radiometers (MWR) have been collected to exploit the potential for data assimilation into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) modeling. This activity is carried on in the framework of the Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX). The domain under analysis is the HyMeX West Mediterranean (WMed) target area, using data assimilation tools developed for the Météo-France Arome-WMed NWP system. In this paper we introduce the data set, discuss results concerning the observation-background statistics, and present preliminary results on the impact of MWR data assimilation into NWP. © 2014 IEEE

    Female Sexual Function Evaluation of the Tension-Free Vaginal Tape (TVT) and Transobturator Suburethral Tape (TOT) Incontinence Surgery: Results of a Prospective Study Editorial Comment

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    Introduction: Significantly more women reporting stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or low urinary tract symptoms complained of sexual dysfunction than a general healthy female population. The use of a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), placed transvaginally under the mid-urethra, ensures to reacquire continence but could affect sexual function. Aim: This study aimed to determine if a suburethral tape for the correction of SUI could interfere with sexual activity. Methods: Of 108 patients, 37 underwent positioning of a tension free vaginal tape through a retropubic approach (TVT), and 71 through a transobturator approach from outside to inside (TOT). Main Outcome Measures: All patients enrolled had a complete urodynamic study and were invited to answer the Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire and our personal questionnaire, before surgery, after 1 month, and then at 3-month intervals. Results: Of the 108 patients, 67% of the women experienced incontinence during intercourse, 96% during penetration, and 4% on orgasm. The cure rate for SUI was 97.1%. Sixty-two women (87%) with TOT placement and 31 (84%) with TVT were satisfied with the operation as regards sexual function, 68 (96%) and 29 (78%), respectively, with TOT and TVT had an improvement of urinary symptoms with resolution of urinary leakage during intercourse, after a 12.3-month follow-up. Just one patient treated with a TOT approach and two with the TVT complained of low grade of leakage. Of the 101 sexually active women, 90.1% reported a significant improvement in their sexual life, 9.9% referred a poor sexual activity not due to surgical intervention. Conclusions: In the surgical treatment of SUI, it is important to think about the patients' future sexual life and inform them that the great part of women can expect to improve their quality of life

    L' area dello Stretto. Messina e Reggio Calabria nelle prospettive dell'economia mediterranea

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    Per troppo tempo l'area di Messina è stata associata al suo Stretto e studiata solo in funzione della realizzazione o meno di un collegamento stabile tra la Sicilia e il Continente. I progetti, i piani e tutto il dibattito, raramente hanno tentato di dare una soluzione pianificata alle reali difficoltà che travagliano l'area. Questo volume, nato dal Progetto Speciale CNR "Innovazione e ambiente antropizzato: l'impatto territoriale dei grandi interventi", non vuole offrire soluzioni definitive e globali ma intende contribuire ad un riesame della realtà dello Stretto ed a prospettare una caratterizzazione dell'area che potrebbe affiancare al ponte "materiale" un altro ponte, stavolta "immateriale" tra Europa e Paesi del Mediterraneo

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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