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[1] A new, unique system has been developed for the automatic detection and analysis of whistlers. The Automatic Whistler Detector and Analyzer (AWDA) system has two purposes: (1) to automatically provide plasmaspheric electron densities extracted from whistlers and (2) to collect statistical data for the investigation of whistler generation and propagation. This paper presents the details of and the first results obtained by the automatic detector segment. The detector algorithm is based on image correlation where the target image is a preprocessed spectrogram of raw VLF signals and the pattern is a model whistler. The first AWDA system has been working in Tihany, Hungary (L = 1.8), and has collected 100,000 whistler traces per year. The overall detection efficiency using a parameter set optimized for purpose 2 is 90% for misdetection and 50-80% for false detection. The statistical analysis over the period February 2002 to February 2008 including 600,000 whistler traces shows high diurnal variations; whistler were mainly, but not only, detected when both the source and receiver regions were unlit. The seasonal occurrence is high during austral summer and low during austral winter. Comparison with Tarcsai et al. 's (1988) statistical study on Tihany whistlers shows differences in both diurnal and seasonal variations, but the latter study was made on 1388 manually identified whistlers only. The L value distributions of both data sets are similar. A global network of AWDA systems (AWDAnet) has been set up to overcome the time and space limitations of a single station; the network consists of 13 nodes, and another 6 are envisaged for the near future.

Abstract. During a routine analysis of whistlers on the wideband VLF recording of the DEMETER satellite, a specific signal structure of numerous fractional-hop whistlers, termed the "Spiky Whistler" (SpW) was identified. These signals appear to be composed of a conventional whistler combined by the compound mode-patterns of guided wave propagation, suggesting a whistler excited by a lightning "tweek" spheric. Rigorous, full-wave modelling of tweeks, formed by the long subionospheric guided spheric propagation and of the impulse propagation across an arbitrarily inhomogeneous ionosphere, gave an accurate description of the SpW signals. The electromagnetic impulses excited by vertical, preferably CG lightning discharge, exhibited the effects of guided behaviour and of the dispersive ionospheric plasma along their paths. This modelling and interpretation provides a consistent way to determine the generation and propagation characteristics of the recorded SpW signals, as well as to describe the traversed medium.

[1] The full potential of whistlers for monitoring plasmaspheric electron density variations has not yet been realized. The primary reason is the vast human effort required for the analysis of whistler traces. Recently, the first part of a complete whistler analysis procedure was successfully automated, i.e., the automatic detection of whistler traces from the raw broadband VLF signal was achieved. This study describes a new algorithm developed to determine plasmaspheric electron density measurements from whistler traces, based on a Virtual (Whistler) Trace Transformation, using a 2-D fast Fourier transform transformation. This algorithm can be automated and can thus form the final step to complete an Automatic Whistler Detector and Analyzer (AWDA) system. In this second AWDA paper, the practical implementation of the Automatic Whistler Analyzer (AWA) algorithm is discussed and a feasible solution is presented. The practical implementation of the algorithm is able to track the variations of plasmasphere in quasi real time on a PC cluster with 100 CPU cores. The electron densities obtained by the AWA method can be used in investigations such as plasmasphere dynamics, ionosphere-plasmasphere coupling, or in space weather models.

Progressive loss of muscle mass and strength is a physiological consequence of aging, and without interventions, it usually deteriorates into sarcopenia. In this study, the hypothesis that combined special nutritional-physiotherapeutical intervention to prevent or reverse this biological deterioration in elderly people was tested. The effects of the regular resistance muscle training (PT, n = 17) alone and the combined exercise + special nutrition therapy containing whey protein and vitamin D (PT + NT, n = 17) were monitored for 3 months in 34 elderly patients (12 men and 22 women; mean age: 66.47 years) randomly distributed into two groups at a long-term care facility. Physical exercise alone did not result in significant improvement in skeletal muscle mass or strength, whereas combined intervention significantly increased the muscle strength (22.51 ± 2.35 vs. 24.54 ± 2.65,x ± SEM, kg, p = 0.027). When therapeutic responses to the intervention were compared, a significant advantage of PT + NT over PT was found. The same trend was found when the non-significant post-therapeutic alterations (χ 2 test) of the distribution of normal vs. pre-sarcopenic + sarcopenic conditions within the two groups were compared. Combined intervention (PT + NT) is necessary for the efficient protection of the musculature in the high-risk elderly patients.