Studies of solar and stellar flares using multi-instrument data

Solar flares were first observed by plain eye in white light by William Carrington in England in 1859. Since then these eruptions in the solar corona have intrigued scientists. It is known that flares influence the space weather experienced by the planets in a multitude of ways, for example by causing aurora borealis. Understanding flares is at the epicentre of human survival in space, as astronauts cannot survive the highly energetic particles associated with large flares in high doses without contracting serious radiation disease symptoms, unless they shield themselves effectively during space missions. Flares may be at the epicentre of man s survival in the past as well: it has been suggested that giant flares might have played a role in exterminating many of the large species on Earth, including dinosaurs. Having said that prebiotic synthesis studies have shown lightning to be a decisive requirement for amino acid synthesis on the primordial Earth. Increased lightning activity could be attributed to space weather, and flares. This thesis studies flares in two ways: in the spectral and the spatial domain. We have extracted solar spectra using three different instruments, namely GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite), RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) and XSM (X-ray Solar Monitor) for the same flares. The GOES spectra are low resolution obtained with a gas proportional counter, the RHESSI spectra are higher resolution obtained with Germanium detectors and the XSM spectra are very high resolution observed with a silicon detector. It turns out that the detector technology and response influence the spectra we see substantially, and are important to understanding what conclusions to draw from the data. With imaging data, there was not such a luxury of choice available. We used RHESSI imaging data to observe the spatial size of solar flares. In the present work the focus was primarily on current solar flares. However, we did make use of our improved understanding of solar flares to observe young suns in NGC 2547. The same techniques used with solar monitors were applied with XMM-Newton, a stellar X-ray monitor, and coupled with ground based Halpha observations these techniques yielded estimates for flare parameters in young suns. The material in this thesis is therefore structured from technology to application, covering the full processing path from raw data and detector responses to concrete physical parameter results, such as the first measurement of the length of plasma flare loops in young suns.

Coding for Two-User Gaussian MAC with PSK and PAM Signal Sets

Constellation Constrained (CC) capacity regions of a two-user Gaussian Multiple Access Channel(GMAC) have been recently reported. For such a channel, code pairs based on trellis coded modulation are proposed in this paper with MPSK and M-PAM alphabet pairs, for arbitrary values of M,toachieve sum rates close to the CC sum capacity of the GMAC. In particular, the structure of the sum alphabets of M-PSK and M-PAMmalphabet pairs are exploited to prove that, for certain angles of rotation between the alphabets, Ungerboeck labelling on the trellis of each user maximizes the guaranteed squared Euclidean distance of the sum trellis. Hence, such a labelling scheme can be used systematically,to construct trellis code pairs to achieve sum rates close to the CC sum capacity. More importantly, it is shown for the first time that ML decoding complexity at the destination is significantly reduced when M-PAM alphabet pairs are employed with almost no loss in the sum capacity.

Pragmatismi poliittisena filosofiana. Yksilö ja yhteisö John Deweyn ajttelussa

John Dewey (1859-1952) oli yhdysvaltalainen filosofi, pedagogi ja julkinen keskustelija, jonka ajattelu on merkittävästi vaikuttanut pragmatismina tunnetun filosofisen suuntauksen kehittymiseen. Tässä Pro gradu -tutkielmassa tarkastellaan Devveyn poliittista filosofiaa ja ajattelua. Tarkoituksena on selvitellä, millaista on Devveyn poliittinen filosofia ja voiko hänen pragmatistinen poliittinen filosofiansa tarjota jotain mielenkiintoista myös tämän päivän poliittisen filosofian kentälle. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan Devveyn esittämää kritiikkiä klassista liberalismia ja individualismia kohtaan, Devveyn omaa poliittisen filosofian projektia sekä sen kohtaama kritiikkiä ja arvioidaan Devveyn poliittista filosofiaa yleisesti. Tarkastelun kohteena ovat muun muassa Devveyn käsitykset yksilöstä, valtiosta, demokratiasta, vallasta ja tiedosta. Ensisijaisena lähteenä tutkielmassa on Devveyn koottujen teosten sarja vuosilta 1882-1953, ennen kaikkea 1920-30-lukujen tuotanto. Lisäksi lähteenä on useita tuoreita artikkeleita sekä kommentaareja. Keskeisin löytö tutkielmassa on, että Devveyn poliittisen filosofian oleellinen piirre on "anti-essentialismi", eli huomion siirtäminen pois jostain oletetuista yksilöiden ja ryhmien olemuksista tai sisäisestä luonnosta niiden välisiin suhteisiin ja näiden ilmauksiin. Tähän liittyen Devveyn poliittisen filosofian keskeiseksi lähtökohdaksi osoittautuu perinteisen yksilö-yhteisö jaottelun kyseenalaistaminen. Tutkielma tarjoaa laajan katsauksen Devveyn poliittiseen ajatteluun sekä pragmatistiseen poliittiseen filosofiaan.

Hämeenlinnan lääkäripiirin koulutetut kätilöt vallan rakenteissa 1879 - 1920

Tässä pro gradu -tutkimuksessa tutkin kätilötyön rakentumista Suomessa vuosina 1879 - 1920 Hämeenlinnan lääkäripiirin näkökulmasta. Analysoin vuoden 1879 kätilöohjesäännön tuomien muutosten sekä valtion organisaatioiden, lääkäreiden ja kunnallistason määräysten merkitystä kätilötoiminnalle ja kätilöille. Tutkimuksen ajallinen rajaus, 1879 - 1920, juontuu Keisarillisen Majesteetin vuonna 1879 antamasta kätilöohjesäännöstä, joka oli toimintaa ohjaavana lainsäädäntönä voimassa vuoteen 1920. Tutkin tässä työssä kätilötyötä kahdessa tasossa, mikrohistoriallisesti ja yleisellä tasolla. Tutkimusmenetelmänä sovellan kvalitatiivista ja kvantitatiivista menetelmää. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena kehyksenä toimii soveltavin osin Michel Foucault'n teoria biovallasta. Kätilöiden puutteeseen maalaiskunnissa oli pyritty vaikuttamaan vuoden 1859 kätilöohjesäännöllä. Käytännön muutoksia ei tapahtunut ja vuonna 1879 hyväksyttiin uusi kätilöohjesääntö. Uusi ohjesääntö oli valtion hallinnon ja lääkäreiden yhteistoiminnan tulos. Sen sanoma oli ohjaavaa, mutta ei pakottavaa. Lakiuudistuksella pyrittiin vaikuttamaan kuntiin ja kuntien kautta kansalaisten toimintaan. Haluttiin muokata ihmisten käyttäytymistapoja normalisoimalla kätilöhoitoinen synnytys. Kätilöohjesäännön voimaantulo ja vuodet 1879 - 1920 voidaan nähdä käännekohtana kätilötyössä. Tutkimusperiodin aikana kätilötyö alkoi saada itsenäisen ammattikunnan piirteitä selvemmin. Rahan rooli oli monessa suhteessa merkittävä, sillä elatuksen lisäksi raha vaikutti kätilön asemaan ja arvostukseen. Kunnan päättäjät olivat merkittävässä valtaapitävässä asemassa, koska heillä oli päätösvalta kätilön palkkaamisessa ja työn ehdoissa. Kunnissa, joissa kätilöä arvostettiin, maksettiin paremmin ja kuntalaiset tukeutuivat koulutettuun apuun enemmän. Tutkimusaikana kätilöiden olosuhteet kunnissa olivat haasteelliset eikä laki rajoittanut synnytyksen avustajaa, joten kätilöhoitoisissa synnytyksissä tapahtunut kasvu oli kätilöiden melko pyytettömän työn tulosta. Haluttiin muutakin kun käyttää valtaa.

Remote detection and distinction of ants using nest-site specific LISS-derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

This study in Western Ghats, India, investigates the relation between nesting sites of ants and a single remotely sensed variable: the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We carried out sampling in 60 plots each measuring 30 x 30 m and recorded nest sites of 13 ant species. We found that NDVI values at the nesting sites varied considerably between individual species and also between the six functional groups the ants belong to. The functional groups Cryptic Species, Tropical Climate Specialists and Specialist Predators were present in regions with high NDVI whereas Hot Climate Specialists and Opportunists were found in sites with low NDVI. As expected we found that low NDVI values were associated with scrub jungles and high NDVI values with evergreen forests. Interestingly, we found that Pachycondyla rufipes, an ant species found only in deciduous and evergreen forests, established nests only in sites with low NDVI (range = 0.015 - 0.1779). Our results show that these low NDVI values in deciduous and evergreen forests correspond to canopy gaps in otherwise closed deciduous and evergreen forests. Subsequent fieldwork confirmed the observed high prevalence of P. rufipes in these NDVI-constrained areas. We discuss the value of using NDVI for the remote detection and distinction of ant nest sites.

The effect of particle size on performance of cathode materials of Li-ion batteries

Beginning with the ‘frog-leg experiment’ by Galvani (1786), followed by the demonstrations of Volta pile by Volta (1792) and lead-acid accumulator by Plante´ (1859), several battery chemistries have been developed and realized commercially. The development of lithium-ion rechargeable battery in the early 1990s is a breakthrough in the science and technology of batteries. Owing to its high energy density and high operating voltage, the Li-ion battery has become the battery of choice for various portable applications such as note-book computers, cellular telephones, camcorders, etc. Huge efforts are underway in succeeding the development of large size batteries for electric vehicle applications. The origin of lithium-ion battery lies in the discovery that Li+-ions can reversibly be intercalated into/de-intercalated from the Van der Walls gap between graphene sheets of carbon materials at a potential close to the Li/Li+ electrode. By employing carbon as the negative electrode material in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the problems associated with metallic lithium in rechargeable lithium batteries have been mitigated. Complimentary investigations on intercalation compounds based on transition metals have resulted in establishing LiCoO2 as the promising cathode material. By employing carbon and LiCoO2, respectively, as the negative and positive electrodes in a non-aqueous lithium-salt electrolyte,a Li-ion cell with a voltage value of about 3.5 V has resulted.Subsequent to commercialization of Li-ion batteries, a number of research activities concerning various aspects of the battery components began in several laboratories across the globe. Regarding the positive electrode materials, research priorities have been to develop different kinds of active materials concerning various aspects such as safety, high capacity, low cost, high stability with long cycle-life, environmental compatibility,understanding relationships between crystallographic and electrochemical properties. The present review discusses the published literature on different positive electrode materials of Li-ion batteries, with a focus on the effect of particle size on electrochemical performance.

Self Repair in Circuits-Automating Open Fault Repair in Integrated Circuits Using Field-Induced Aggregation of Carbon Nanotubes

This paper presents studies on the use of carbon nanotubes dispersed in an insulating fluid to serve as an automaton for healing open-circuit interconnect faults in integrated circuits. The physics behind the repair mechanism is the electric-field-induced diffusion limited aggregation. On the occurrence of an open fault, the repair is automatically triggered due to the presence of an electric field across the gap. We perform studies on the repair time as a function of the electric field and dispersion concentrations with the above application in mind.

Dynamic Site Characterization and Correlation of Shear Wave Velocity with Standard Penetration Test `N' Values for the City of Agartala, Tripura State, India

Seismic site characterization is the basic requirement for seismic microzonation and site response studies of an area. Site characterization helps to gauge the average dynamic properties of soil deposits and thus helps to evaluate the surface level response. This paper presents a seismic site characterization of Agartala city, the capital of Tripura state, in the northeast of India. Seismically, Agartala city is situated in the Bengal Basin zone which is classified as a highly active seismic zone, assigned by Indian seismic code BIS-1893, Indian Standard Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures, Part-1 General Provisions and Buildings. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi (2002), it is the highest seismic level (zone-V) in the country. The city is very close to the Sylhet fault (Bangladesh) where two major earthquakes (M (w) > 7) have occurred in the past and affected severely this city and the whole of northeast India. In order to perform site response evaluation, a series of geophysical tests at 27 locations were conducted using the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) technique, which is an advanced method for obtaining shear wave velocity (V (s)) profiles from in situ measurements. Similarly, standard penetration test (SPT-N) bore log data sets have been obtained from the Urban Development Department, Govt. of Tripura. In the collected data sets, out of 50 bore logs, 27 were selected which are close to the MASW test locations and used for further study. Both the data sets (V (s) profiles with depth and SPT-N bore log profiles) have been used to calculate the average shear wave velocity (V (s)30) and average SPT-N values for the upper 30 m depth of the subsurface soil profiles. These were used for site classification of the study area recommended by the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP) manual. The average V (s)30 and SPT-N classified the study area as seismic site class D and E categories, indicating that the city is susceptible to site effects and liquefaction. Further, the different data set combinations between V (s) and SPT-N (corrected and uncorrected) values have been used to develop site-specific correlation equations by statistical regression, as `V (s)' is a function of SPT-N value (corrected and uncorrected), considered with or without depth. However, after considering the data set pairs, a probabilistic approach has also been presented to develop a correlation using a quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plot. A comparison has also been made with the well known published correlations (for all soils) available in the literature. The present correlations closely agree with the other equations, but, comparatively, the correlation of shear wave velocity with the variation of depth and uncorrected SPT-N values provides a more suitable predicting model. Also the Q-Q plot agrees with all the other equations. In the absence of in situ measurements, the present correlations could be used to measure V (s) profiles of the study area for site response studies.

Robust Whisper Activity Detection Using Long-Term Log Energy Variation of Sub-Band Signal

The goal in the whisper activity detection (WAD) is to find the whispered speech segments in a given noisy recording of whispered speech. Since whispering lacks the periodic glottal excitation, it resembles an unvoiced speech. This noise-like nature of the whispered speech makes WAD a more challenging task compared to a typical voice activity detection (VAD) problem. In this paper, we propose a feature based on the long term variation of the logarithm of the short-time sub-band signal energy for WAD. We also propose an automatic sub-band selection algorithm to maximally discriminate noisy whisper from noise. Experiments with eight noise types in four different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions show that, for most of the noises, the performance of the proposed WAD scheme is significantly better than that of the existing VAD schemes and whisper detection schemes when used for WAD.

An overview of air-sea interface process studies

Recent progress in the study of air-sea interface processes for momentum, heat, moisture and mass transfer are reviewed in the present article. Except for turbulent structure, we have analysed the other physical mechanisms occurring in the wave boundary layer, such as the roles of the sea surface state, droplets and bubbles due to wave breaking, which at least partly account for the existing discrepancies between theory and observations. The experiments, both over the ocean and in the laboratory, are described briefly. In conclusion, a few perspective trends in this area are suggested for further investigation.

Efecto de diferentes arreglos topológicos de maiz (Zea mays L.) y frijol (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), sobre el crecimiento, desarrollo y rendimiento de los cultivos y uso equivalente de la tierra

El presente estudio se estableció en la localidad de Cofradía, departamento de Masaya, en la propiedad del agricultor, Ernesto Sequeira, durante la época de postrera, comprendida entre los meses de Agosto a Diciembre de 1997, con el objetivo de determinar el efecto de diferentes arreglos de siembra de maíz (Zea mays L) como cultivo principal, en asocio con frijol común (Phaseolus vulgaris L), sobre el crecinúento desarrollo y rendimiento de los cultivos. El diseño utilizado fue un diseño unifactorial, en arreglos de Bloque Completo al Azar (BCA), con cuatro repeticiones y cinco tratamientos. Los tratamientos en estudio fueron: Tratamiento uno, Maíz cultivo puro a 80cm entre surco, Tratamiento dos Frijol cultivo puro a 40cm entre surco Tratamiento tres un surco de Maíz a 80 centímetros y un surco de Frijol en la calle (M1: Fl). Tratamiento cuatro; Maíz doble surco, a 20 cm entre surco, calle ancha a 140 cm con dos surcos de leguminosa a 50 cm entre hilera (M: 20); Tratamiento, Maíz a doble surco a 40 cm entre surco, calle ancha a 120 cm con dos surco de leguminosa a 40 cm entre sí. Los componentes tanto del crecimiento, como del rendimiento del cultivo del maíz no fueron afectados por los tratamientos evaluados. Los rendimientos en granos de maíz, no presentaron diferencias significativas, sin embargo los mayores resultados. los presento el cultivo puro con 4575.5 Kg/ha, seguido por el asocio M1:Fl con 4089.0 Kg/ha. En el cultivo del frijol los asocios no afectaron significativamente el número de vainas por planta y el número de granos por vaina, no así el peso del grano que se afecta cuando el cultivo se establece en asocio. El tratamiento MI : Fl , presentó la mejor eficiencia en relación al Uso Equivalente de la Tierra y supero ligeramente en rentabilidad al cultivo puro de maíz.

Actitud natural y actitud fenomenológica

Resumen: La fenomenología de Husserl toma como punto de partida el problema del conocimiento con el fin de reformular la idea de una filosofía como ciencia estricta que aspira en última instancia a establecer una vida éticamente buena sobre bases racionales. Tiene que enfrentarse para ello con las cuestiones del comienzo de la filosofía y de su método. Ambas exigen tener en cuenta la distinción entre la actitud natural y la actitud propiamente filosófica porque la epojé que abre el camino a la reducción fenomenológica requiere advertir, tematizar y suspender la validez de la actitud natural. En la primera sección del artículo se deslindan los rasgos esenciales de las actitudes y se distinguen tipos generales de actitudes. A continuación se muestra, en la segunda sección, a la actitud natural como el fondo o suelo de todas las actitudes especiales y se delinean sus caracteres más sobresalientes. En la tercera sección, por último, se contrasta esta actitud natural básica con la actitud fenomenológica en conexión con el modo como Descartes comprende las cuestiones del comienzo y del método. Con ello se retorna al planteo de la filosofía como conocimiento en vistas a una renovación ética de la vida espiritual a fin de precisar por qué el paso de la actitud natural a la actitud fenomenológica es la condición necesaria para poder abandonar la instalación ingenua sobre el suelo incuestionado del mundo.

Evaluación agronómica de veinticuatro lineas de sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) en el municipio de Zambrano

El presente estudio se realizó en la finca EL PLANTEL, localizada en el kilómetro 40 carretera Típitapa-Masaya, ubicada a 200 msnm, 12 o 03' latitud norte y 86° 06' longitud oeste, en la época de postrera comprendido de Septiembre a diciembre del 2002. Los factores evaluados fueron 24 líneas de sorgo y un testigo local (Pinolero 1) con aplicación de fondo de 193.6 kg de completo 12-30-10, y dos niveles de Nitrógeno 0 y 112 Kg. de Nitrógeno / ha fraccionado en dos aplicaciones. El diseño experimental utilizado fue un bifactorial en arreglos de bloques completamente al azar (BCA), con cuatro repeticiones. Los resultados reflejan que la mayoría de las variables evaluadas presentan diferencias altamente significativas para ambos factores en estudio (A y B), exceptuando la variable número de hojas a los 63 y 73 dds, diámetro a los 73 dds, longitud del ráquis y no significativa para la mayoría de las variables en las interacciones. Los mayores rendimientos se presentaron cuando se aplicó el nivel 112 Kg de Nitrógeno /ha al suelo, sobresaliendo la línea ICSVLM-93074 con 5971.12 Kg /ha de grano. No obstante 10 de las 24 líneas evaluadas, presentaron rendimientos entre 1500 y 3000 kg de grano/ha sin aplicación de urea.