Microwave Spectroscopy

Contains research objectives, reports on work completed and one research project.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E

SHARDS: Constraints on the dust attenuation law of star-forming galaxies at z~2

We make use of SHARDS, an ultra-deep (<26.5AB) galaxy survey that provides optical photo-spectra at resolution R~50, via medium band filters (FWHM~150A). This dataset is combined with ancillary optical and NIR fluxes to constrain the dust attenuation law in the rest-frame NUV region of star-forming galaxies within the redshift window 1.5<z<3. We focus on the NUV bump strength (B) and the total-to-selective extinction ratio (Rv), targeting a sample of 1,753 galaxies. By comparing the data with a set of population synthesis models coupled to a parametric dust attenuation law, we constrain Rv and B, as well as the colour excess, E(B-V). We find a correlation between Rv and B, that can be interpreted either as a result of the grain size distribution, or a variation of the dust geometry among galaxies. According to the former, small dust grains are associated with a stronger NUV bump. The latter would lead to a range of clumpiness in the distribution of dust within the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies. The observed wide range of NUV bump strengths can lead to a systematic in the interpretation of the UV slope ($\beta$) typically used to characterize the dust content. In this study we quantify these variations, concluding that the effects are $\Delta\beta$~0.4.Comment: 13 pages, 11+2 figures, 3 tables. MNRAS, in pres

Stability of liquid bridges between an elliptical and a circular supporting disk

A numerical method has been developed to determine the stability limits for liquid bridges held between noncircular supporting disks and the application to a configuration with a circular and an elliptical disk subjected to axial acceleration has been made. The numerical method led to results very different from the available analytical solution which has been revisited and a better approximation has been obtained. It has been found that just retaining one more term in the asymptotic analysis the solution reproduces the real behavior of the configuration and the numerical results

Republic Act No. 7877 as Applied: Unpacking the Legal Definition of Sexual Harassment From Decided Landmark Cases

Republic Act No. 7877 or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 was passed supposedly to fill a wide policy gap in addressing a form of gender-based violence prevalent in the workplace. By defining what constitutes its violation, the law lays down the legal framework for sexual harassment in Philippine jurisdiction. Since its passage 26 years ago, the judicial system has produced a number of landmark decisions interpreting this legal definition through its application to actual cases. In light of criticisms about the insufficiency of the law itself, specifically about its failure to treat sexual harassment as sex-based discrimination, how has the Judiciary unpacked the legal definition in the exercise of its exclusive mandate to interpret the law? This article reviews several landmark cases that lay down precedence as far as mapping out what is - and what is not - sexual harassment. In totality, despite general leniency and accommodations afforded to victims of sexual harassment, the case law shows that judicial perspective regards sexual harassment as predominantly a moral wrong, rather than an act of inequality

An experimental study of the breakage of liquid bridges at stability limit of minimum volume

An experimental apparatus to study the breaking process of axisymmetric liquid bridges has been developed, and the breaking sequences of a large number of liquid bridge configurations at minimum-volume stability limit have been analyzed. Experimental results show that very close to the breaking moment the neck radius of the liquid bridge varies as t1/3, where t is the time to breakage, irrespective of the value of the distance between the solid disks that support the liquid column

Association of Over-The-Counter Pharmaceutical Sales with Influenza-Like-Illnesses to Patient Volume in an Urgent Care Setting

We studied the association between OTC pharmaceutical sales and volume of patients with influenza-like-illnesses (ILI) at an urgent care center over one year. OTC pharmaceutical sales explain 36% of the variance in the patient volume, and each standard deviation increase is associated with 4.7 more patient visits to the urgent care center (p<0.0001). Cross-correlation function analysis demonstrated that OTC pharmaceutical sales are significantly associated with patient volume during non-flu season (p<0.0001), but only the sales of cough and cold (p<0.0001) and thermometer (p<0.0001) categories were significant during flu season with a lag of two and one days, respectively. Our study is the first study to demonstrate and measure the relationship between OTC pharmaceutical sales and urgent care center patient volume, and presents strong evidence that OTC sales predict urgent care center patient volume year round. © 2013 Liu et al

Multimodality of rich clusters from the SDSS DR8 within the supercluster-void network

We study the relations between the multimodality of galaxy clusters drawn from the SDSS DR8 and the environment where they reside. As cluster environment we consider the global luminosity density field, supercluster membership, and supercluster morphology. We use 3D normal mixture modelling, the Dressler-Shectman test, and the peculiar velocity of cluster main galaxies as signatures of multimodality of clusters. We calculate the luminosity density field to study the environmental densities around clusters, and to find superclusters where clusters reside. We determine the morphology of superclusters with the Minkowski functionals and compare the properties of clusters in superclusters of different morphology. We apply principal component analysis to study the relations between the multimodality parametres of clusters and their environment simultaneously. We find that multimodal clusters reside in higher density environment than unimodal clusters. Clusters in superclusters have higher probability to have substructure than isolated clusters. The superclusters can be divided into two main morphological types, spiders and filaments. Clusters in superclusters of spider morphology have higher probabilities to have substructure and larger peculiar velocities of their main galaxies than clusters in superclusters of filament morphology. The most luminous clusters are located in the high-density cores of rich superclusters. Five of seven most luminous clusters, and five of seven most multimodal clusters reside in spider-type superclusters; four of seven most unimodal clusters reside in filament-type superclusters. Our study shows the importance of the role of superclusters as high density environment which affects the properties of galaxy systems in them.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 2 online tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Higher levels of physical fitness are associated with a reduced risk of suffering sarcopenic obesity and better perceived health among elderly. The EXERNET multi-center study

Objective: To evaluate the associations between physical fitness levels, health related quality of life (HRQoL) and sarcopenic obesity (SO) and to analyze the usefulness of several physical fitness tests as a screening tool for detecting elderly people with an increased risk of suffering SO. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a population-based sample. Setting: Non-institutionalized Spanish elderly participating in the EXERNET multi-centre study. Participants: 2747 elderly subjects aged 65 and older. Measurements: Body weight, height and body mass index were evaluated in each subject. Body composition was measured by bioelectrical impedance. Four SO groups were created based on percentage of body fat and relative muscle mass; 1) normal group, 2) sarcopenic group, 3) obesity group and 4) SO group. Physical fitness was evaluated using 8 tests (balance, lower and upper body strength, lower and upper body flexibility, agility, walking speed and aerobic capacity). Three tertiles were created for each test based on the calculated scores. HRQoL was assessed using the EuroQol visual analogue scale. Results: Participants with SO showed lower physical fitness levels compared with normal subjects. Better balance, agility, and aerobic capacity were associated to a lower risk of suffering SO in the fittest men (odds ratio < 0.30). In women, better balance, walking speed, and aerobic capacity were associated to a lower risk of suffering SO in the fittest women (odds ratio < 0.21) Superior perceived health was associated with better physical fitness performance. Conclusions: Higher levels of physical fitness were associated with a reduced risk of suffering SO and better perceived health among elderly. SO elderly people have lower physical functional levels than healthy counterparts