Leaf Scattering Polarimetry and Chlorophyll Fluorescence

© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).A number of spectropolarimetry measurements on leaves using white light and narrow band illumination have been reported in recent years because of interest in signatures for remote sensing of exoplanet life. Chlorophyll fluorescence occurs in white light illuminated experiments and is known to be polarised and so might contaminate surface scattering measurements. A displacing filter experiment was performed on the leaves of two common plants, Ficus benjamina and Chamaedorea elegans, to estimate the contribution of chlorophyll fluorescence in the spectropolarimetry of leaf scattering and transmission. Chlorophyll fluorescence is present as a measurable polarised component of up to 15% of scattered and transmitted light for the leaf samples. Other effects emerged which indicate that in vivo measurements on leaves are subject to the responsive nature of the leaves to changes in colour and intensity of the incident light.Peer reviewe

Resurrecting the UK Historic Sector National Accounts

The UK national accounts do not provide a full long-run set of historic data describing the behaviour of the UK's private sector. Although comprehensive figures are available from 1987, the pre-1987 historic sector national accounts are marred by discontinuities, gaps and error. A partial solution is described that enables the compilation of consistent historic figures for sectors' income and expenditure flows, albeit at a high level of sector aggregation. Particular attention is paid to transfer incomes and associated inter-sector flows. To our knowledge, our dataset is the only one freely available that provides a basis, albeit an incomplete one, for a serious examination of Britain's post-war macroeconomic history. Coherent financial flow, balance sheet and volume data and further sector disaggregation are required to complete the picture. An annual dataset is provided as a supplement to the articleUK national accounts, European System of Accounts, data corruption, private sector, Statistics Commission

"The New Old Economy"

Consensus opinion sees the U.S. economy growing by around 3 percent per year over the next few years, a high enough rate to keep unemployment low and outpace Europe. One problem with the consensus view is that it pays little heed to the very unusual nature of the American expansion. A minor downturn prompted by a bit of inflation and higher interest rates is one thing, and easily fixed by conventional means. But America's boom was unique and so, alas, will be its bust.

Incorporating Problem-Based Learning Strategies to Develop Learner Autonomy and Employability Skills in Sports Science Undergraduates

This study investigated the impact of a 12-week problem-based learning (PBL) intervention on three psychological constructs (motivation, locus of control and self-esteem) linked to learner autonomy. Results indicated that there was a significant increase in the students’ intrinsic motivation (P<0.05) and a non-significant shift towards an internal locus of control after the intervention period. Students perceived the benefits of PBL to be the opportunity to work in teams and to consider a wider knowledge base. A short course of PBL was successful in developing learner autonomy and other key employability skills alongside the application of content knowledge

South Africa first: State initiatives towards the creation of regional economic networks in the interwar period

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 13 October 1986SANCTIONS! COUNTER-SANCTIONS! Behind the screaming headlines of local papers stands the stark reality of economic interdependence. On the one hand South Africa's dependent position vis-a-vis core areas is sharply etched, notwithstanding the state's bravado. On the other hand, and more pertinent for us here, lie the relationships that tie together economic activity from the Copperbelt to Cape Agulhas. In relation to the latter it is not, of course, simply the burgeoning weight of South African productive activity that underpins the struggle over the resources and wealth of southern Africa. For as is all too apparent to even the casual observer, highly unequal exchanges within production labour, capital, and transport networks pivot on the South African heartland of southern Africa. Even as South African capital and the South African state stand in a subordinate relationship to core areas of the world-economy, South African domination of southern Africa remains no less evident and no less powerful. ... This paper represents a modest attempt to redress this state of affairs. In the following pages an examination is made of what is claimed to have been a critical epoch in the emergence of southern Africa as a region of the capitalist world-economy, namely the interwar period. Clearly this period marked out the beginning of South Africa's industrial drive. Yet to construe this as the natural creation of a national economy misses both the driving forces that succeeded in effecting this transformation as well as its meaning for southern Africa as a whole. In this latter area our basic claim may be simply stated: it was during this phase of world-economic depression and rivalry in the interstate system that initiatives by the South African state succeeded in breaking the relationships that bound South Africa within the peripheral zone of the world-economy. Out of this process would emerge the basis for unequal exchange within southern Africa itself. Paradoxically this process entailed a lessening of ties with surrounding territories, a pattern to be reversed in the expansionary post-World War II years

Evaluation of the Trajectory Operations Applications Software Task (TOAST). Volume 2: Interview transcripts

The Trajectory Operations Applications Software Task (TOAST) is a software development project whose purpose is to provide trajectory operation pre-mission and real-time support for the Space Shuttle. The purpose of the evaluation was to evaluate TOAST as an Application Manager - to assess current and planned capabilities, compare capabilities to commercially-available off the shelf (COTS) software, and analyze requirements of MCC and Flight Analysis Design System (FADS) for TOAST implementation. As a major part of the data gathering for the evaluation, interviews were conducted with NASA and contractor personnel. Real-time and flight design users, orbit navigation users, the TOAST developers, and management were interviewed. Code reviews and demonstrations were also held. Each of these interviews was videotaped and transcribed as appropriate. Transcripts were edited and are presented chronologically

"How Negative Can U.S. Saving Get?"

In 1998 the volume of U.S. private spending rose by almost twice the increase in disposable income. The impact of this excess private spending financed by increased net borrowing has been profound; without it, the economy would have stagnated. Can this pattern of demand growth continue? The answer is a resounding no.

Implications of the Method of Construction of UK Number Plates for Infrared Reflectance and Camera Settings on ANPR System

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.This paper considers the implications of two aspects of number plates firstly the varied manufacturing process in the physical construction of vehicle number plates that might affect the reflectance characteristics and secondly the ANPR camera settings that affect the night time capture performance. These parameters have an effect on the overall performance of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system. A set of controlled experiments on number plates is carried out to establish variation in the retroreflective response to illumination as well as field analysis on real world number plates

EXOhSPEC folded design optimization and performance estimation

The EXOplanet high resolution SPECtrograph (EXOhSPEC) instrument is an echelle spectrograph dedicated to the detection of exoplanets by using the radial velocity method using 2m class telescopes. This spectrograph is specified to provide spectra with a spectral resolution R < 70, 000 over the spectral range from 400 to 700 nm and to reach a shortterm radial velocity precision of 3 m/s. To achieve this the separation between two adjacent spectral orders is specified to be greater than 30 pixels and to enable a wide range of targets the throughput of the instrument is specified to be higher than 4%. We present the results of the optimization of the spectrograph collimator performed and initial tests of its optical performance. First, we consider the spectrograph design and we estimate its theoretical performance. We show that the theoretical image quality is close to the diffraction limit. Second, we describe the method used to perform the tolerancing analyzes using ZEMAX software to estimate the optical performance of the instrument after manufacturing, assembly and alignment. We present the results of the performance budget and we show that the estimated image quality performance of EXOhSPEC are in line with the specifications. Third, we present the results of the stray light analysis and we show that the minimum ratio between the scientific signal and the stray light halo signal is higher than 1,000. Finally, we provide a status on the progress of the EXOhSPEC project and we show the first results obtained with a preliminary version of the prototype.Final Accepted Versio