Search results

The paper presents some preliminaryresults on dynamic scheduling of model predictive controllers (MPCs).In an MPC, the control signal is obtained by on-line optimization of acost function, and the MPC task may experience very large variationsin execution time from sample to sample. Unique to this application,the cost function offers an explicit, on-line quality-of-servicemeasure for the task. Base

BACKGROUND: Subclinical myocardial injury has been reported in newborns with fetal weights < 2 SDs for gestational age. Intrauterine growth restriction might affect cardiac function and coronary flow (CF). METHODS: Seventeen newborns with intrauterine growth restriction and 15 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Blood flow in the umbilical artery and maternal uterine artery wa

Regression testing is the verification that previously functioning software remains after a change. In this paper we report on a systematic review of empirical evaluations of regression test selection techniques, published in major software engineering journals and conferences. Out of 2 923 papers analyzed in this systematic review, we identified 28 papers reporting on empirical comparative evalua

There is a serious need in the automotive industry to predict surface defects in outer panels. Measures to prevent these defects can not be taken until a test part has been manufactured. This costs a lot in time and money. Within the present project stamping tools for a model part resembling the area around the fuel filler lid was developed. This is an area of the outer surface of a car, which is

Abstract--- This paper follows directly from our forthcoming paper in International Journal of Machine Consciousness, where we discuss the requirements for an artefact to be a moral agent and conclude that the artefactual question is ultimately a red herring. As we did in the earlier paper, we take moral agency to be that condition in which an agent can, appropriately, be held responsible for her

PURPOSE: Helicobacter pylori is a human gastroduodenal pathogen associated with type-B gastritis and gastric cancer. Low gastric tissue antioxidant levels are believed to increase the risk of developing gastric cancer. We investigated whether dietary antioxidant levels protect against infection and type-B gastritis in H. pylori-infected guinea pigs. METHODS: Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs infected for

BACKGROUND: Sphingomyelin occurs in modest amounts in the diet, in sloughed mucosal cells, and in bile. It is digested by the mucosal enzymes alkaline sphingomyelinase and ceramidase. In humans, alkaline sphingomyelinase is also secreted in bile. The digestion of sphingomyelin is slow and incomplete, which has been linked to the inhibition of cholesterol absorption and colonic carcinogenesis. OBJE

Activation of the complement system and resulting opsonisation with C3b are key events of the innate immune defense against infections. However, a wide variety of bacterial pathogens subvert complement attack by binding host complement inhibitors such as C4b-binding protein, factor H and vitronectin, which results in diminished opsonophagocytosis and killing of bacteria by lysis. Another widely us

The main mechanisms of immune defense against Neisseria meningitidis are serum bactericidal activity (SBA) and opsonophagocytosis. Many complement deficiencies, among them acquired partial C3 deficiency due to stabilizing autoantibodies against the alternative pathway C3 convertase (C3 nephritic factors, C3 NeF); increase the risk of meningococcal infection. SBA against meningococci in patients wi

The susceptibility to urinary tract infection (UTI) is controlled by the innate immune response and Toll like receptors (TLRs) are the sentinels of this response. If productive, TLR4 signalling may initiate the symptomatic disease process. In the absence of TLR4 signalling the infected host instead develops an asymptomatic carrier state. The activation of mucosal TLR4 is also influenced by the pro

The present response time study investigated the influence Central Swedish word accents have on the interpretation of inflectional morphology. Effects of stem tone match/mismatch on the interpretation of Swedish present and past tense suffixes were tested. Both Accent 1 and Accent 2 were found to influence listeners' response times related to decisions on verb tense. It thus seems that both word a

BACKGROUND: Oct 3/4 (Octamer 3/4), a member of POU family has been considered as an important stem cell marker and essential transcription factor during human embryogenesis. In recent years, there have also been reports on presence of Oct 3/4 in differentiated benign and malignant human cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the transcription and the protein expression of Oct 3/4 is

We studied the A-band photodissociation of bromoiodomethane, CH2BrI, in acetonitrile solution at room temperature by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, Initiated by the 266 nm light, this reaction leads to the CH2Br-I isomer, most likely produced via in-cage recombination of the CH,Br and I photofragments. The isomer is formed vibrationally excited with a time constant of similar to7.5 ps and th

In the outskirts of nearby spiral galaxies, star formation is observed in extremely low gas surface densities. Star formation in these regions, where the interstellar medium is dominated by diffuse atomic hydrogen, is difficult to explain with classic star formation theories. In this letter, we introduce runaway stars as an explanation for this observation. Runaway stars, produced by collisional d

Astrocytes form functionally and morphologically distinct populations of cells with brain-region-specific properties. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) offer possibilities to generate astroglia for studies investigating mechanisms governing the emergence of astrocytic diversity. We established a method to generate human astrocytes from hPSCs with forebrain patterning and final specification wit

The chapter engages with the so-called Swedish Model in the country of its invention: Sweden. First, it examines feminist thought that has supported the implementation of this legislation. Next, it looks at the effects of this law according to 12 key informants and 25 male sex workers. Ultimately, the criminalization of sex work in Sweden is so focused on women selling sex to men that police and p

Parasites exert a strong selection pressure on their hosts as manifested in behavioural antiparasite traits to reduce negative impacts on fitness. The numerous nest-dwelling ecto-parasites residing in avian nests make altricial birds excellent model-systems for investigating the relationship between parasites and their hosts. Here, we experimentally increased natural levels of hen fleas Ceratophyl