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Presents information on a study which described the numerical modeling of the surface recombination of nitrogen atoms on Pyrex. Influence of the vibrationally excited nitrogen... molecules on the loss probability of nitrogen; Kinetic equations for nitrogen atoms; Experimental details; Results and discussion; Conclusions.

Buildings that are rotated with respect to the sensor trajectory could be erroneously classified as vegetated areas in the Pauli basis, and subsequently in many decomposition theorems despite the considerable amount of work done to solve that issue. This misjudgement is linked to the high level of their cross-polarized contribution. Using electromagnetic simulation tools and image analysis, we study the value of these cross-polarization components. We show that forested areas and cities exhibit significantly different cross-polarization levels; indeed, the origin of these components is actually distinct. Based on that, to discriminate between the two environments, we introduce an extension to the Pauli basis where the cross polarization is split into two classes, one for rotated dihedrals and the other for random scatterers. This approach is then tested on two synthetic aperture radar images: the first acquired at C-band using RADARSAT-2 over Downtown San Francisco and the second using RAMSES at X-band over an industrial area near Paris. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present the first large statistical study of extreme geomagnetic storms based on historical data from the time period 1868 - 2010. This article is the first of two companion papers. Here we describe how the storms were selected and focus on their near-Earth characteristics. The second article presents our investigation of the corresponding solar events and their characteristics. The storms were selected based on their intensity in the aa index, which constitutes the longest existing continuous series of geomagnetic activity. They are analyzed statistically in the context of more well-known geomagnetic indices, such as the Kp and Dcx/Dst index. This reveals that neither Kp nor Dcx/Dst provide a comprehensive geomagnetic measure of the extreme storms. We rank the storms by including long series of single magnetic observatory data. The top storms on the rank list are the New York Railroad storm occurring in May 1921 and the Quebec storm from March 1989. We identify key characteristics of the storms by combining several different available data sources, lists of storm sudden commencements (SSCs) signifying occurrence of interplanetary shocks, solar wind in-situ measurements, neutron monitor data, and associated identifications of Forbush decreases as well as satellite measurements of energetic proton fluxes in the near-Earth space environment. From this we find, among other results, that the extreme storms are very strongly correlated with the occurrence of interplanetary shocks (91 - 100 %), Forbush decreases (100 %), and energetic solar proton events (70 %). A quantitative comparison of these associations relative to less intense storms is also presented. Most notably, we find that most often the extreme storms are characterized by a complexity that is associated with multiple, often interacting, solar wind disturbances and that they frequently occur when the geomagnetic activity is already elevated. We also investigate the semiannual variation in storm occurrence and confirm previous findings that geomagnetic storms tend to occur less frequently near solstices and that this tendency increases with storm intensity. However, we find that the semiannual variation depends on both the solar wind source and the storm level. Storms associated with weak SSC do not show any semiannual variation, in contrast to weak storms without SSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter focuses on the analysis of layover effects in interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data of urban areas. In particular, we derive two formulations to express the backscattering coefficient and the interferometric coherence in this case. These equations show that the backscattering coefficient and the interferometric coherence in layover areas can be seen as a combination of the backscattering coefficients and interferometric coherences of the individual scattering mechanisms. These formulations are then tested on interferometric SAR (InSAR) data and analyzed statistically. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: Despite recent advances, antibiotic therapy of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in ICU patients is still challenging. We assessed the impact of imipenem and amikacin pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters on microbiological outcome in these patients. Patients and methods: Patients with Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) VAP were prospectively included. Blood samples for pharmacokinetic analysis were collected after empirical administration of a combination of imipenem three times daily and one single dose of amikacin. MICs were estimated for each GNB obtained from respiratory samples. Microbiological success was defined as a ≥10³ cfu/mL decrease in bacterial count in quantitative cultures between baseline and the third day of treatment. Results Thirty-nine patients [median (min-max) age = 60 years (28-84) and median SAPS2 at inclusion = 40 (19-73)] were included. Median MICs of imipenem and amikacin were 0.25 mg/L (0.094-16) and 2 mg/L (1-32), respectively. Median times over MIC and over 5× MIC for imipenem were 100% (8-100) and 74% (3-100), respectively. The median C1/MIC ratio for amikacin was 23 (1-76); 34 patients (87%) achieved a C1/MIC ≥10. Microbiological success occurred in 29 patients (74%). No imipenem pharmacodynamic parameter was significantly associated with the microbiological success. For amikacin, C1/MIC was significantly higher in the microbiological success group: 26 (1-76) versus 11 (3-26) (P = 0.004). Conclusions: In ICU patients with VAP, classic imipenem pharmacodynamic targets are easily reached with usual dosing regimens. In this context, for amikacin, a higher C1/MIC ratio than previously described might be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the study were to determine the in vitro activity of doripenem, a new carbapenem, against a large number of bacterial pathogens and to propose zone diameter breakpoints for clinical categorization in France according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) breakpoints. The MICs of doripenem were determined by the broth microdilution method against 1,547 clinical isolates from eight French hospitals. The disk diffusion test was performed (10-μg discs) according to the Comité de l'Antibiogramme de la Société Française de Microbiologie (CASFM) method. The MIC (mg/L) values were as follows: methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) (0.03/0.25), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (1/2), methicillin-susceptible coagulase-negative staphylococci (MSCoNS) (0.03/0.12), methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCoNS) (2/8), Streptococcus pneumoniae (0.016/0.25), viridans group streptococci (0.016/2), β-hemolytic streptococci (≤0.008/≤0.008), Enterococcus faecalis (2/4), Enterococcus faecium (128/>128), Enterobacteriaceae (0.06/0.25), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (0.5/8), Acinetobacter baumannii (0.25/2), Haemophilus influenzae (0.12/0.25), and Moraxella catarrhalis (0.03/0.06). According to the regression curve, the zone diameter breakpoints were 24 and 19 mm for MICs of 1 and 4 mg/L, respectively. This study confirms the potent in vitro activity of doripenem against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter, Enterobacteriaceae, MSSA, MSCoNS, and respiratory pathogens. According to the EUCAST MIC breakpoints (mg/L) ≤1/>4 for Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter, and ≤1/>1 for streptococci, pneumococci, and Haemophilus, the zone diameter breakpoints could be (mm) ≥24/<19 and ≥24/<24, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]