Uncertainty evaluation of the spectral UV irradiance evaluated by using the UVSPEC radiative transfer model

The radiative transfer models allow calculating the spectral UV irradiance from some set of measured input quantities linked with the surface reflectivity, the solar zenith angle, the ozone column and the characteristics of clouds and aerosols. The spectral irradiance yielded by a model is influenced by errors in the measurement of the input quantities. In this paper, the influences of these errors are characterized and compared with other systematic effects through an uncertainty analysis. We evaluated the uncertainty of the spectral UV irradiance rendered by the UVSPEC model, under cloudless sky conditions. In order to express the uncertainty of the output quantities (the global, direct and diffuse irradiances) in terms of the standard uncertainties of the input quantities, we used a Monte Carlo-based uncertainty propagation technique. We found that the uncertainty of the irradiance in the UV-B part of the spectrum was strongly influenced by the uncertainty attributed to the ozone column datum. Moreover, the uncertainities associated with the aerosol parameters accounted for most of the UV-A global irradiance uncertainty; the latter increased from about 4% under low aerosol conditions, up to about 14% in case of polluted air. We conclude that the UV irradiance evaluation through radiative transfer models requires paying special attention to the assessment of the aerosols properties.     

Phase recovery from fringe patterns using the continuous wavelet transform

Interferometry is well established as an optical technique in which a measurand is encoded as the phase of a periodically varying intensity pattern. In view of the inherent accuracy of interferometry, many methods have been developed to retrieve the phase from images of the fringe pattern. Our focus in this paper is one such technique—the continuous wavelet transform (CWT). We begin by reviewing the CWT and the space–spatial–frequency localisation properties of wavelets. We show that a path which follows the maximum modulus of the CWT (the wavelet ridge) gives the instantaneous fringe frequency as a function of spatial displacement. The phase is automatically and trivially obtained, without discontinuities, by integration. Examples of practical wavelets are given and algorithms to isolate the wavelet ridge reviewed.     

NorTRACK product tracking system—development and implementation

This paper presents the experience gained by developers and users with implementation and operation of NorTRACK^TM, a real-time computerized product tracking system. A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) collects and transfers data in real time to NorTRACK’s Oracle^TM database on a Windows NT^TM server network. After extensive development and Beta testing at MDS Nordion’s Canadian Irradiation Centre in Montreal, Canada, NorTRACK was installed in January 1997 with a new irradiation facility in Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc.’s Albuquerque plant in the United States. NorTRACK communicates with the irradiator control and safety system, the plant's central manufacturing database, an innovative pallet staging and tote loading robot, and an automated dosimetry reading system. This integrated system allows the sterilization facility to monitor the irradiator operation and the flow of many products, through varied processing modes, continuously and reliably. As a result of operating with NorTRACK, both MDS Nordion’s CIC facility and the Endo-Surgery manufacturing site, are beginning to realize unique benefits in their respective operations. MDS Nordion is also initiating several future product enhancements and additional productivity modules. This paper describes the NorTRACK system, the various stages of the development project and Beta tests, and the experience of the users to date in their operations.     

Construction of triangular DP surface and its application

In this paper, a new type of bivariate basis on a triangle is presented, which is constructed by extending the univariate NTP basis proposed by Delgado and Peña. Some algebraic properties and its recursive formulae are given. Then a new type of surfaces that is called triangular DP surface is defined, and its recursive evaluation algorithm is obtained. Also, in the case of low degree, its subdivision algorithm and degree elevation algorithm are derived. It is shown that this type of surfaces is obviously more advantageous than triangular Bézier surface, and hence extremely useful for geometric design, especially for the situation in which the surface needs to be evaluated quickly.     

Molecular modeling, theoretical calculations and property evaluation of three muscarinic agonists. X-ray structures of LU 25-109 and WAL 2014

LU 25-109 (II) and WAL 2014 (talsaclidine, III) are two M1 muscarinic agonists chemically related to the natural substance arecoline (I). All these compounds have beneficial effects on memory and cognition in animals and humans, and they have been proposed in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, but only III will likely find a place in therapy. In this work we have investigated the solid state structures of II and III, and the X-ray structures of the two molecules and of the parent compound I have been used to input a series of computational chemistry efforts.

In particular, the X-ray geometries have been manipulated to model 20 molecular structures (1–20) which have been submitted to ab initio, semiempirical quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics calculations. The conformational space accessible to the 20 structures has been assessed by means of potential energy maps. The reactivities of 1–20 have been estimated by examining at the graphics terminal the composition and the extension of the frontier orbitals (HOMOs and LUMOs) and of the molecular electrostatic potential. The information obtained has been interpreted to explain the different degrees of activity shown by I–III. Our data indicate that III has better in vivo activity for its intermediate size, less polar surface, conformational rigidity and orientation of reactive domains.     

In situ time-resolved optical measurements of a-Si thin films during excimer laser crystallization

An in situ time-resolved optical reflection and transmission (TRORT) monitoring system combining two He-Ne probe lasers, a digital oscilloscope and three fast photodetectors is developed to investigate the crystallization processes of Si thin films during excimer laser crystallization (ELC). The physical meaning of optical spectra obtained by TRORT measurements has been interpreted in detail. The melt duration and transient phase transformation dynamics of Si thin films can be determined and interpreted immediately. A high efficiency and non-destructive evaluation approach is proposed for determining the grain size of polycrystalline Si after ELC directly and immediacy under appropriate experimental conditions.     

评审专家随机抽取过程中的均衡性改善方法

对现有评审专家随机抽取方法存在的问题,分析了专家抽取不均衡的产生原因,提出了一种改进的抽取方法.该新方法在抽取过程中考虑了评审专家前期的抽取次数,在保证随机性的同时,提高了抽取次数较少专家的抽中概率.文中定量分析了该方法对抽取结果均衡性的改善效果.     

Ultrasonic velocity of binary systems at elevated pressures

Various empirical theories of ultrasonic velocity have been applied to three binary liquid mixtures, under pressures up to 200 MPa and their validity have been tested. A pressure dependent study of ultrasonic velocities has been made at 303.15 K. The agreement between theory and experiment is found to be quite satisfactory.