Search results for "Standard"
showing 10 items of 3299 documents
Observation of the cosmic ray moon shadowing effect with the ARGO-YBJ experiment
2011
Cosmic rays are hampered by the Moon and a deficit in its direction is expected (the so-called Moon shadow). The Moon shadow is an important tool to determine the performance of an air shower array. Indeed, the westward displacement of the shadow center, due to the bending effect of the geomagnetic field on the propagation of cosmic rays, allows the setting of the absolute rigidity scale of the primary particles inducing the showers recorded by the detector. In addition, the shape of the shadow permits to determine the detector point spread function, while the position of the deficit at high energies allows the evaluation of its absolute pointing accuracy. In this paper we present the obser…
Evaluation of the performance of multifocal intraocular lenses image quality: analysis of the standard methods
2007
Purpose: To analyze the standard methods used to describe intraocular lenses (IOL) and to suggest some improvements to make them applicable for multifocal IOLs. Methods: The EN-ISO standards and the standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the evaluation of the performance of IOLs are tested for multifocal IOLs. The MTF of the one refractive multifocal IOL and two hybrid refractive-diffractive multifocal IOLs is measured for both distance focus and near focus and using different pupil sizes. Results: The average modulation (AM) from 0 to 100 c/mm of multifocal IOLs (for the distance focus) is about 40-50% lower than the AM of monofocal IOLs, for all pupil sizes stud…
Pointwise resolutive significance of data and applications in experimental design and data treatment
1992
Abstract The concept of the resolutive significance of a point in a data set with regard to a number of addressed parameters is introduced, and two algorithms able to measure it are proposed. The algorithms are validated using simulated experiments. The sum of all the pointwise resolutive significances of a data set is also proposed as a measure of the resolution of the data set. This sum correlates well with the reciprocal of the standard deviation of the fitted parameters, indicating the precision that can be expected for each parameters. Applications in experimental design, and a method for establishing the weights in the least-quarters regression analysis are discussed.
An overestimated relationship? Violent political unrest and tourism foreign direct investment in the Middle East
2010
Although the tourism industry is increasingly globalising, empirical research on the accompanying foreign direct investment (FDI) is surprisingly lacking. Furthermore, the nexus of political risk, violent political unrest and tourism FDI has been relatively neglected. Using Egypt as a heuristic case study and adopting a qualitative methodology, this paper explores the question of how political risk and violent political unrest influence tourism FDI. Surprisingly, the results are not able to corroborate a clear relationship between the two. In contrast, these results indicate that the role of stability and security for tourism FDI in developing countries has largely been overestimated in the…
1977: Hopes Fulfilled—Building Democracy in Turbulent Economic Times
2020
This chapter offers an analysis of the main economic and institutional transformations in Spain from 1977 onwards. The severe economic and financial crisis that hit Spain in the mid-1970s coincided with the arrival of democracy after Franco’s death and shaped the nature and scope of the implemented reforms (Pactos de la Moncloa). While the crisis and political instability limited the possibility of making a more radical adjustment, the consensus among different social actors, unions and political parties was fundamental to the reforms. This time hopes were fulfilled and although some reforms were left pending, those that were adopted played a seminal role in putting the Spanish economy and …
“Doing-ethnicity” – Tamil educational organizations as socio-cultural and political actors
2015
The article focuses on Tamil schools abroad that are part of the Tamil Education Development Council (TEDC), and on their construction of ethno-national belongings. By presenting the TEDC geographical, contextual and organizational structures, the article explains how education organizations form a transnational space where the organizations reinforce and recreate ethno-national orientations and belongings, which in turn reconstructs the Tamil diaspora itself through processes of standardization and homogenization.
Groundwater of Sicily (Italy) Close to Landfill Sites: Quality and Human Health Risk Assessment
2021
Groundwater close to three municipal solid waste landfill sites in Sicily (southern Italy) was sampled to determine the presence of contaminants and the risk associated with its possible use as drinking and sanitary water. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and metals were investigated. These target compounds are the most common pollutants present in leachates. Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS, US EPA) was used to assess human health risk. Ingestion, dermal, and total exposure to these xenobiotic contaminants in groundwater were evaluated, and the cancer and non-cancer risk indexes were c…
Emission standards versus immission standards for assessing the impact of urban drainage on ephemeral receiving water bodies
2010
In the past, emission standard indicators have been adopted by environmental regulation authorities in order to preserve the quality of a receiving water body. Such indicators are based on the frequency or magnitude of a polluted discharge that may be continuous or intermittent. In order to properly maintain the quality of receiving waters, the Water Framework Directive, following the basic ideas of British Urban Pollution Manual, has been established. The Directive has overtaken the emission-standard concept, substituting it with the stream-standard concept that fixes discharge limits for each polluting substance depending on the self-depurative characteristics of receiving waters. Stream-…
An aggregate AQI: comparing different standardizations and introducing a variability index
2012
Many studies demonstrate a strong relationship between air pollution and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. For this reason, assessing air pollution, and conveying information about its possible adverse health effects, may encourage population and policy makers to reduce those activities increasing pollution levels. In this paper a relative index of variability, to be associated with the aggregate Air Quality Index (AQI) among pollutants proposed by Ruggieri and Plaia (2011), is developed in order to better investigate air pollution conditions for the whole area of a city/region. The most widely-used and up to date pollution indices, based mainly on AQI computed by the US Environmenta…
Status Mutu Kualitas Air Laut Pantai Maruni Kabupaten Manokwari
2017
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui konsentrasi Amonia, Nitrat dan Ortoposfat serta parameter lainnya yang tertera pada baku mutu air laut untuk biota laut dan mengetahui status mutu kualitas air laut dengan menggunakan metode Indeks Pencemaran (IP). Konsentrasi ammonia dan nitrat dari dua periode pengamatan dalam satu wilayah Pantai Maruni secara konsisten menunjukkan hasil yang melebihi nilai ambang batas baku mutu lingkungan, sedangkan ortofosfat pada semua titik sampling masih dibawah nilai ambang batas baku mutu lingkungan sesuai Keputusan Menteri Lingkungan Hidup No. 51 Tahun 2004 tentang Baku Mutu Air Laut. Status mutu kualitas air laut Pantai Maruni berdasarkan analisis Indeks…