[1] In the context of climate feedback associated with temperature change, there exist two potential mechanisms that affect the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and the downward longwave radiation (DLR). One is the ‘‘Planck’’ effect that determines the blackbody thermal emission at a considered temperature. The other is the ‘‘absorptivity’’ effect, in which a temperature change causes a change...

This paper presents heat stress Standard ISO 7243, which is based upon the wet bulb globe temperature index (WBGT), and considers its suitability for use worldwide. The origins of the WBGT index are considered and how it is used in ISO 7243 and across the world as a simple index for monitoring and assessing hot environments. The standard (and index) has validity, reliability and usability. It i...

A stable stock solution of bilirubin in chloroform may be used to standardize quantitative determination of bilirubin in serum as “azobilirubin.” The molar absorptivity of azobilirubin (560 mj, 1 cm.) is 70,300 ± 280 (mean ± I S.D.) when determined from chloroform-methanol standards treated with a modified van den Bergh reagent in the Malloy and Evelyn procedure for total bilirubin. The absorpt...

As part of the Materials on The International Space Station Experiment (MISSE), aromatic polymers containing phenylphosphine oxide groups were exposed to low Earth orbit (LEO) for approximately 4 years. All of the aromatic polymers containing phenylphosphine oxide groups survived the exposure despite the high fluence of atomic oxygen that completely eroded other polymer films such as Kapton and...

With the widespread utilization of solar photovoltaics (PV), it is becoming increasingly important to understand its performance using various configurations harvest energy at most suitable efficiency, specifically in hot climates. Therefore, this paper compares mono-facial and bi-facial PV cells under high-temperature desert climate Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). The optimally tilted vertical...

Molecular surface contaminants can cause degradation of optical systems, especially if the contaminants exhibit strong absorption bands in the region of interest. Different strategies for estimation of spectral degradation responses due to uniform films for various types of systems are reviewed. One tool for calculating the effects of contaminant film thickness on signal degradation in the mid ...

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have great potential in photonic and optoelectronic devices. However, the relatively weak light absorption in 2D materials hinders their application in practical devices. Here, we propose a general approach to achieve angleselective perfect light absorption in 2D materials. As a demonstration of the concept, we experimentally show giant light absorption by placing...