The method Heliosat-2 for deriving shortwave solar radiation from satellite images

This article presents the method Heliosat-2 that converts observations made by geostationary meteorological satellites into estimates of the global irradiation at ground level. This new version integrates the knowledge gained by various exploitations of the original method Heliosat and its varieties in a coherent and thorough way. It is based upon the same physical principles but the inputs to the method are calibrated radiances, instead of the digital counts output from the sensor. This change opens the possibilities of using known models of the physical processes in atmospheric optics, thus removing the need for empirically defined parameters and of pyranometric measurements to tune them. The ESRA models are used for modeling the clear-sky irradiation. The assessment of the ground albedo and the cloud albedo is based upon explicit formulations of the path radiance and the transmittance of the atmosphere. The method Heliosat-2 is applied to Meteosat images of Europe for the months of January 1995, April 1995 and July 1994. Pyranometric measurements performed by thirty-five meteorological stations are used to assess the performances that are close to those of Heliosat-1 found in the literature. Possible improvements are discussed.     

Adaptive Wavelet Methods for Hyperbolic PDEs

We analyze how to solve hyperbolic PDEs with compactly supported orthonormal wavelets adaptively. We use thresholded wavelet expansions of signals and operators. A tree structure is used to represent the signal, and a multidimensional analogue of the fast wavelet transform is used to expand the operators. We solve the advection equation and Burgers' equation on a periodic domain.     

Effect of caffeine on the human small intestine

Methylxanthines produce intracellular accumulation of cyclic 3'5'-AMP (cAMP) by inhibition of phosphodiesterase and mucosal cAMP accumulation. Cyclic AMP is thought to mediate small intestinal secretion caused by some enterotoxins, hormones, and methylxanthines. These studies were designed to evaluate the effect of caffeine on small intestinal net fluid movement and transit times. The administration of caffeine in amounts ordinarily contained in many beverages and medications (75 to 300 mg) resulted in striking net secretion in the jejunum which lasted at least 15 minutes. This occurred in six of seven studies. Baseline net absorption of 0.5 ml per cm per hr was reversed to net secretion of 6.0 +/- 2.2 ml per cm per hr after oral caffeine ingestion (P less than 0.01). Net secretion also occurred in the ileum in seven of eight studies, but the onset of secretion appeared 35 min later than in the jejunum. These patterns of secretion correlated best with the passage of the intestinal bolus of caffeine rather than plasma caffeine levels. In contrast to other net secretory conditions, which increase the speed of transit, small intestinal transit times, as determined by dye dilution methods, were unchanged by caffeine. It is possible that methylxanthine-induced small intestinal secretion may play a role in the symptoms experienced by some patients with functional diarrhea.     

On the photoconductivity of heavily indium doped zinc telluride at elevated temperatures

ZnTe was prepared by solution growth from In solvents at 900°C using the THM method. The crystals resulting contained ～6 × 10¹⁹ atoms of In per cm³ and were of extremely high resistivity ($\text{> 10}{}^{10}\text{Ω-}\text{cm}$. The photoconductivity measurements at elevated temperatures revealed that the peak photosensitivity occurs at 350°C. The spectral dependence of the photoconductivity also shows some unusual features, in particular a subsidiary absorption at 630 nm which persists up to ～300°C.     

A Theoretical Study of Controlled Ventilation

This paper is a theoretical study of controlled ventilation with a respirator. An electric circuit analog of the respiratory system is used with respiratory parameters of the normal adult. Deleterious effects of positive pressure ventilation are considered and related to the model. The effects considered include peak alveolar pressure and its time of occurrence, work, and average alveolar pressure. Different pressure waveforms are used as the driving source for the respirator model. These waveforms are rectangle, ramp, negative ramp, sine, and exponential.     

Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of Argon Atomized Aluminum-Lithium Powder Metallurgy Alloys

Aluminum-lithium and aluminum-copper-lithium alloy powders were prepared by argon gas atomization. The powders were consolidated by hot pressing and extruded into flat bar. Tensile and impact properties were determined on the extrusions. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the extruded microstructures while scanning microscopy was used for the examination of fracture surfaces. The aluminum-lithium alloys showed higher moduli, lower densities, and reduced toughness and elongation compared to conventional aluminum alloys. The loss of toughness was particularly pronounced above 3 pct Li.     

A case of respiratory muscle weakness due to cytochrome c oxidase enzyme deficiency

BACKGROUND: Cytologic evaluation of abnormal nipple secretion is a well-established method for the rapid diagnosis of breast carcinoma in females. However, less attention has been focused on male patients presenting with nipple discharge. CASE: A case of intraductal carcinoma of the male breast was diagnosed by nipple discharge cytology alone. CONCLUSION: This report illustrates the usefulness of nipple discharge cytology in the diagnosis of early breast carcinoma in males.     

In vivo functional connectome of human brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal,autonomic, and motor systems by high spatial resolution 7-Tesla fMRI

Objective

Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.

Materials and methods

We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1.1-mm isotropic nominal resolution) while maintaining a short repetition time (2.5 s).

Results

The delineated Pearson’s correlation-based functional connectivity diagrams (connectomes) of 11 brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, motor, and autonomic systems from 12 controls are presented and discussed in the context of existing histology and animal work.

Conclusion

Considering that the investigated brainstem nuclei play a crucial role in several vital functions, the delineated preliminary connectomes might prove useful for future in vivo research and clinical studies of human brainstem function and pathology, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and other motor disorders.