Quantitative ventilation assessments of idealized urban canopy layers with various urban layouts and the same building packing density

This paper investigates urban canopy layers (UCL) ventilation under neutral atmospheric condition with the same building area density (λp=0.25) and frontal area density (λf=0.25) but various urban sizes, building height variations, overall urban forms and wind directions. Turbulent airflows are first predicted by CFD simulations with standard k-ε model evaluated by wind tunnel data. Then air change rates per hour (ACH) and canopy purging flow rate (PFR) are numerically analyzed to quantify the rate of air exchange and the net ventilation capacity induced by mean flows and turbulence. With a parallel approaching wind (θ=0o), the velocity ratio first decreases in the adjustment region, followed by the fully-developed region where the flow reaches a balance. Although the flow quantities macroscopically keep constant, however ACH decreases and overall UCL ventilation becomes worse if urban size rises from 390m to 5km. Theoretically if urban size is infinite, ACH may reach a minimum value depending on local roof ventilation, and it rises from 1.7 to 7.5 if the standard deviation of building height variations increases (0% to 83.3%). Overall UCL ventilation capacity (PFR) with a square overall urban form (Lx=Ly=390m) is better as θ=0o than oblique winds (θ=15o, 30o, 45o), and it exceeds that of a staggered urban form under all wind directions (θ=0o to 45o), but is less than that of a rectangular urban form (Lx=570m, Ly=270m) under most wind directions (θ=30o to 90o). Further investigations are still required to quantify the net ventilation efficiency induced by mean flows and turbulence.

Automated algorithms for multilayer thin film filter design using metamaterials

Currently, infrared filters for astronomical telescopes and satellite radiometers are based on multilayer thin film stacks of alternating high and low refractive index materials. However, the choice of suitable layer materials is limited and this places limitations on the filter performance that can be achieved. The ability to design materials with arbitrary refractive index allows for filter performance to be greatly increased but also increases the complexity of design. Here a differential algorithm was used as a method for optimised design of filters with arbitrary refractive indices, and then materials are designed to these specifications as mono-materials with sub wavelength structures using Bruggeman’s effective material approximation (EMA).

Drug permeability in 16HBE14o- airway cell layers correlates with absorption from the isolated perfused rat lung

The permeability of the lung is critical in determining the disposition of inhaled drugs and the respiratory epithelium provides the main physical barrier to drug absorption. The 16HBE14o- human bronchial epithelial cell line has been developed recently as a model of the airway epithelium. In this study, the transport of 10 low molecular weight compounds was measured in the 16HBE14o- cell layers, with apical to basolateral (absorptive) apparent permeability coefficients (P(app)) ranging from 0.4 x 10(-6)cms(-1) for Tyr-D-Arg-Phe-Phe-NH(2) to 25.2x10(-6)cms(-1) for metoprolol. Permeability in 16HBE14o- cells was found to correlate with previously reported P(app) in Caco-2 cells and absorption rates in the isolated perfused rat lung (k(a,lung)) and the rat lung in vivo (k(a,in vivo)). Log linear relationships were established between P(app) in 16HBE14o- cells and P(app) in Caco-2 cells (r(2)=0.82), k(a,lung) (r(2)=0.78) and k(a,in vivo) (r(2)=0.68). The findings suggest that permeability in 16HBE14o- cells may be useful to predict the permeability of compounds in the lung, although no advantage of using the organ-specific cell line 16HBE14o- compared to Caco-2 cells was found in this study.

Thin place

This publication is a full colour bi-lingual catalogue for the exhibition Thin Place, curated by Ciara Healy for Oriel Myrddin. It includes artwork by five interdisciplinary artists based in West Wales, the West of Ireland and London. The exhibition, symposium and education programme, funded by the Arts Council of Wales aims to show how the fields of art, literature, science and theology are interconnected, especially when considering the nature of reality, the concept of an otherworld and the prospect of an afterlife. Included in the catalogue are texts especially commissioned for the exhibition by professionals who work in disciplines outside of the art world. It also includes an introductory essay by Ciara Healy.

Meta-morphs: – being a mediator of the ‘thin’ place and ‘thin’ experience in the HE classroom. A paper on the experience of creating transformations in HE teaching and learning

The research which underpins this paper began as a doctoral project exploring archaic beliefs concerning Otherworlds and Thin Places in two particular landscapes - the West Coast of Wales and the West Coast of Ireland. A Thin Place is an ancient Celtic Christian term used to describe a marginal, liminal realm, beyond everyday human experience and perception, where mortals could pass into the Otherworld more readily, or make contact with those in the Otherworld more willingly. To encounter a Thin Place in ancient folklore was significant because it engendered a state of alertness, an awakening to what the theologian John O’ Donohue (2004: 49) called “the primal affection.” These complex notions and terms will be further explored in this paper in relation to Education. Thin Teaching is a pedagogical approach which offers students the space to ruminate on the possibility that their existence can be more and can mean more than the categories they believed they belonged to or felt they should inhabit. Central to the argument then, is that certain places and their inhabitants can become revitalised by sensitively considered teaching methodologies. This raises interesting questions about the role spirituality plays in teaching practice as a tool for healing in the twenty first century.

Detection of nitroaromatic vapours with diketopyrrolopyrrole thin films: exploring the role of structural order and morphology on thin film properties and fluorescence quenching efficiency

Sensitive optical detection of nitroaromatic vapours with diketo-pyrrolopyrrole thin films is reported for the first time and the impact of thin film crystal structure and morphology on fluorescence quenching behaviour demonstrated.

Thin, fine and with sensitivity: a metamethodology of intuitions

Do philosophers use intuitions? Should philosophers use intuitions? Can philosophical methods (where intuitions are concerned) be improved upon? In order to answer these questions we need to have some idea of how we should go about answering them. I defend a way of going about methodology of intuitions: a metamethodology. I claim the following: (i) we should approach methodological questions about intuitions with a thin conception of intuitions in mind; (ii) we should carve intuitions finely; and, (iii) we should carve to a grain to which we are sensitive in our everyday philosophising. The reason is that, unless we do so, we don’t get what we want from philosophical methodology. I argue that what we want is information that will aid us in formulating practical advice concerning how to do philosophy responsibly/well/better.

Determination of the embedded thermo-optical expansion coefficients of PbTe and ZnSe thin film infrared multilayers

This paper reports the first derived thermo-optical properties for vacuum deposited infrared thin films embedded in multilayers. These properties were extracted from the temperature-dependence of manufactured narrow bandpass filters across the 4-17 µm mid-infrared wavelength region. Using a repository of spaceflight multi-cavity bandpass filters, the thermo-optical expansion coefficients of PbTe and ZnSe were determined across an elevated temperature range 20-160 ºC. Embedded ZnSe films showed thermo-optical properties similar to reported bulk values, whilst the embedded PbTe films of lower optical density, deviate from reference literature sources. Detailed knowledge of derived coefficients is essential to the multilayer design of temperature-invariant narrow bandpass filters for use in non-cooled infrared detection systems. We further present manufacture of the first reported temperature-invariant multi-cavity narrow bandpass filter utilizing PbS chalcogenide layer material.

Working through the layers: curriculum implementation in language education

This chapter presents findings on English Language instruction at the lower primary level in the context of policies for curricular innovation at national, school and classroom levels. The focus is on policies which connect national and school levels, and on how they might be interpreted when implemented in multiple schools within Singapore’s educational system. Referring to case studies in two schools and to individual lesson observations in 10 schools, we found much agreement with national policies in terms of curriculum (i.e. lesson content and activity selection),leading to great uniformity in the lessons taught by different teachers in different schools. In addition, we found that schools had an important mediating influence on implementation of national policies. However, adoptions and adaptations of policy innovations at the classroom level were somewhat superficial as they were more related to changes in educational facilities and procedures than in philosophies.

Impact of Laptev Sea flaw polynyas on the atmospheric boundary layer and ice production using idealized mesoscale simulations

The interaction between polynyas and the atmospheric boundary layer is examined in the Laptev Sea using the regional, non-hydrostatic Consortium for Small-scale Modelling (COSMO) atmosphere model. A thermodynamic sea-ice model is used to consider the response of sea-ice surface temperature to idealized atmospheric forcing. The idealized regimes represent atmospheric conditions that are typical for the Laptev Sea region. Cold wintertime conditions are investigated with sea-ice–ocean temperature differences of up to 40 K. The Laptev Sea flaw polynyas strongly modify the atmospheric boundary layer. Convectively mixed layers reach heights of up to 1200 m above the polynyas with temperature anomalies of more than 5 K. Horizontal transport of heat expands to areas more than 500 km downstream of the polynyas. Strong wind regimes lead to a more shallow mixed layer with strong near-surface modifications, while weaker wind regimes show a deeper, well-mixed convective boundary layer. Shallow mesoscale circulations occur in the vicinity of ice-free and thin-ice covered polynyas. They are forced by large turbulent and radiative heat fluxes from the surface of up to 789 W m−2, strong low-level thermally induced convergence and cold air flow from the orographic structure of the Taimyr Peninsula in the western Laptev Sea region. Based on the surface energy balance we derive potential sea-ice production rates between 8 and 25 cm d−1. These production rates are mainly determined by whether the polynyas are ice-free or covered by thin ice and by the wind strength.

Thin place exhibition

Thin Place is an interdisciplinary project which aims to find connections between the fields of art, archaeology, astrophysics, astrology, alternative therapy, poetry and theology. The nature of this project goes beyond the exhibition and incorporates a symposium, catalogue and education programme which will attempt to dissolve the boundaries that separate fields of knowledge and, in so doing, create a thin place at Oriel Myrddin. The five exhibiting artists and the other contributors to this project have produced work that is concerned with or responds to two particular locations: West Wales and the West of Ireland. In ancient times it was believed that the West was where departed souls easily entered Otherworlds. This is because the delineation between worlds was more permeable along these coasts. Archaeological excavations reveal that West Wales and the West of Ireland were thought by some to be ‘thin places.’ In considering the notion of a ‘thin place’, this exhibition addresses the ways in which we value our relationship with Place, particularly in landscapes where human and non-human relationships are well established.

Daily thin-ice thickness maps from modis thermal infrared imagery

Accurate knowledge of ice-production rates within the marginal ice zones of the Arctic Ocean requires monitoring of the thin-ice distribution within polynyas. The thickness of the ice layer controls the heat loss and hence the new-ice formation. An established thinice algorithm using high-resolution MODIS data allows deriving the ice-thickness distribution within polynyas. The average uncertainty is ±4.7 cm for ice thicknesses below 0.2 m. In this study, the ice-thickness distributions within the Laptev Sea polynya for the two winter seasons 2007/08 and 2008/09 are calculated. Then, a new method is applied to determine a daily MODIS thin-ice product.

Inferences about pressures and vertical extension of cloud layers from POLDER3/PARASOL measurements in the oxygen A-band

We present new inferences about cloud vertical structures from multidirectionnal measurements in the oxygen A-band. The analysis of collocated data provided by instruments onboard satellite platforms within the A-Train, as well as simulations have shown that for monolayered clouds, the cloud oxygen pressure PO2PO2 derived from the POLDER3 instrument was sensitive to the cloud vertical structure in two ways: First, PO2PO2 is actually close to the pressure of the geometrical middle of cloud and we propose a method to correct it to get the cloud top pressure (CTP), and then to obtain the cloud geometrical extent. Second, for the liquid water clouds, the angular standard deviation σPO2σPO2 of PO2PO2 is correlated with the geometrical extent of cloud layers, which makes possible a second estimation of the cloud geometrical thickness. The determination of the vertical location of cloud layers from passive measurements, eventually completed from other observations, would be useful in many applications for which cloud macrophysical properties are needed

Improvement and sensitivity analysis of thermal thin-ice thickness retrievals

Considering the sea ice decline in the Arctic during the last decades, polynyas are of high research interest since these features are core areas of new ice formation. The determination of ice formation requires accurate retrieval of polynya area and thin-ice thickness (TIT) distribution within the polynya.We use an established energy balance model to derive TITs with MODIS ice surface temperatures (Ts) and NCEP/DOE Reanalysis II in the Laptev Sea for two winter seasons. Improvements of the algorithm mainly concern the implementation of an iterative approach to calculate the atmospheric flux components taking the atmospheric stratification into account. Furthermore, a sensitivity study is performed to analyze the errors of the ice thickness. The results are the following: 1) 2-m air temperatures (Ta) and Ts have the highest impact on the retrieved ice thickness; 2) an overestimation of Ta yields smaller ice thickness errors as an underestimation of Ta; 3) NCEP Ta shows often a warm bias; and 4) the mean absolute error for ice thicknesses up to 20 cm is ±4.7 cm. Based on these results, we conclude that, despite the shortcomings of the NCEP data (coarse spatial resolution and no polynyas), this data set is appropriate in combination with MODIS Ts for the retrieval of TITs up to 20 cm in the Laptev Sea region. The TIT algorithm can be applied to other polynya regions and to past and future time periods. Our TIT product is a valuable data set for verification of other model and remote sensing ice thickness data.

Multiyear measurements of the oceanic and atmospheric boundary layers at the Brazil-Malvinas confluence region

This study analyzes and discusses data taken from oceanic and atmospheric measurements performed simultaneously at the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC) region in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. This area is one of the most dynamical frontal regions of the world ocean. Data were collected during four research cruises in the region once a year in consecutive years between 2004 and 2007. Very few studies have addressed the importance of studying the air-sea coupling at the BMC region. Lateral temperature gradients at the study region were as high as 0.3 degrees C km(-1) at the surface and subsurface. In the oceanic boundary layer, the vertical temperature gradient reached 0.08 degrees C m(-1) at 500 m depth. Our results show that the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) at the BMC region is modulated by the strong sea surface temperature (SST) gradients present at the sea surface. The mean MABL structure is thicker over the warmside of the BMC where Brazil Current (BC) waters predominate. The opposite occurs over the coldside of the confluence where waters from the Malvinas (Falkland) Current (MC) are found. The warmside of the confluence presented systematically higher MABL top height compared to the coldside. This type of modulation at the synoptic scale is consistent to what happens in other frontal regions of the world ocean, where the MABL adjusts itself to modifications along the SST gradients. Over warm waters at the BMC region, the MABL static instability and turbulence were increased while winds at the lower portion of the MABL were strong. Over the coldside of the BC/MC front an opposite behavior is found: the MABL is thinner and more stable. Our results suggest that the sea-level pressure (SLP) was also modulated locally, together with static stability vertical mixing mechanism, by the surface condition during all cruises. SST gradients at the BMC region modulate the synoptic atmospheric pressure gradient. Postfrontal and prefrontal conditions produce opposite thermal advections in the MABL that lead to different pressure intensification patterns across the confluence.