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- Thuring, Ann, et al.
(author)
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Operator auditory perception and spectral quantification of umbilical artery Doppler ultrasound signals
- 2013
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: An experienced sonographer can by listening to the Doppler audio signals perceive various timbres that distinguish different types of umbilical artery flow despite an unchanged pulsatility index (PI). Our aim was to develop an objective measure of the Doppler audio signals recorded from fetoplacental circulation in a sheep model.METHODS: Various degrees of pathological flow velocity waveforms in the umbilical artery, similar to those in human complicated pregnancies, were induced by microsphere embolization of the placental bed (embolization model, 7 lamb fetuses, 370 Doppler recordings) or by fetal hemodilution (anemia model, 4 lamb fetuses, 184 recordings). A subjective 11-step operator auditory scale (OAS) was related to conventional Doppler parameters, PI and time average mean velocity (TAM), and to sound frequency analysis of Doppler signals (sound frequency with the maximum energy content [MAXpeak] and frequency band at maximum level minus 15 dB [MAXpeak-15 dB] over several heart cycles).RESULTS: WE FOUND A NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE OAS AND PI: median Rho -0.73 (range -0.35- -0.94) and -0.68 (range -0.57- -0.78) in the two lamb models, respectively. There was a positive correlation between OAS and TAM in both models: median Rho 0.80 (range 0.58-0.95) and 0.90 (range 0.78-0.95), respectively. A strong correlation was found between TAM and the results of sound spectrum analysis; in the embolization model the median r was 0.91 (range 0.88-0.97) for MAXpeak and 0.91 (range 0.82-0.98) for MAXpeak-15 dB. In the anemia model, the corresponding values were 0.92 (range 0.78-0.96) and 0.96 (range 0.89-0.98), respectively.CONCLUSION: Audio-spectrum analysis reflects the subjective perception of Doppler sound signals in the umbilical artery and has a strong correlation to TAM-velocity. This information might be of importance for clinical management of complicated pregnancies as an addition to conventional Doppler parameters.
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- Sotres, Javier, et al.
(author)
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Experimental Investigations of Biological Lubrication at the Nanoscale : The Cases of Synovial Joints and the Oral Cavity
- 2013
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In: Lubricants. - : MDPI. - 2075-4442. ; 1:4, s. 102-131
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Interactions between surfaces are ubiquitous phenomena in living organisms. Nature has developed sophisticated strategies for lubricating these systems, increasing their efficiency and life span. This includes the use of water-based lubricants, such as saliva and synovial fluid. These fluids overcome the limitations of water as a lubricant by the presence of molecules such as proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides. Such molecules may alter surface interactions through different mechanisms. They can increase viscosity enabling fluid-film lubrication. Moreover, molecules adsorb on the surfaces providing mechanisms for boundary lubrication and preventing wear. The mentioned molecules have typical sizes in the nanometer range. Their interaction, as well as the interaction with the entrapping surfaces, takes place through forces in the range of nanonewtons. It is therefore not surprising that the investigation of these systems have been boosted by development of techniques such as scanning probe microscopies and the surface force apparatus which allow studying tribological processes at the nanoscale. Indeed, these approaches have generated an enormous amount of studies over the last years. The aim of this review is to perform a critical analysis of the current stage of this research, with a main focus on studies on synovial joints and the oral cavity.
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- Costa Climent, Ricardo, et al.
(author)
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Business model theory-based prediction of digital technology use : An empirical assessment
- 2021
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In: Technological forecasting & social change. - : Elsevier. - 0040-1625 .- 1873-5509. ; 173
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Firms invest heavily in their future use of digital technology to create and appropriate value and thereby survive and prosper. Such decisions regarding the future are part of a firm's foresight, which is a core element of a firm's dynamic capabilities. The contemporary toolbox for generating foresight is dominated by procedural methods, thus ignoring theory-based predictions of the future uses of digital technology. This paper presents the first empirical assessment of business model theory's ability to predict the future uses of digital technology by a given firm. Predictions for a specific niche of hemophilia firms are investigated. Outcomes related to these predictions are then observed. The results show the power of business model theory for deriving such predictions, implying that the managerial toolbox for foresight generation should be extended to include this theory. This study also provides several directions for further development of business model theory to increase its ability to account for value creation and appropriation from the use of digital technology.
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| 5. |
- Dias, Guilherme, 1989-, et al.
(author)
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Complete mitochondrial genome of the longhorn date palm stem borer Jebusaea hammerschmidtii (Reiche, 1878).
- 2021
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In: Mitochondrial DNA Part B. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2380-2359. ; 6:11, s. 3214-3216
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The 15,619 bp mitochondrial genome of Jebusaea hammerschmidtii was assembled from short reads, annotated, and compared to the genomes of other longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae). Gene content was typical of animal mitochondrial genomes and contained 13 protein-coding, 22 tRNA, and 2 rRNA genes. Gene organization was identical to that of other longhorn beetles. Phylogenetic analysis placed J. hammerschmidtii within the subfamily Cerambycinae, and strongly supported the monophyly of the Cerambycinae, Lamiinae, and Prioninae subfamilies.
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| 7. |
- Diehl, Sebastian
(author)
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Relative consumer sizes and the strengths of direct and indirect interactions in omnivorous feeding relationships
- 1993
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In: Oikos. - 0030-1299 .- 1600-0706. ; 68:1, s. 151-157
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Omnivory (the consumption of resources from more than one trophic level) is widespread in nature and has the potential to produce a richness of indirect effects. Nevertheless, its effects on population dynamics have received very little attention. In its simplest case, omnivory involves a top consumer, an intermediate consumer, and a resource that is common to both consumers. Simple models predict that the intermediate consumer can only coexist with the top consumer if the former is more efficient in exploiting the common resource, which would imply a net positive effect of the top consumer on the equilibrium density of resources (compared to the situation where only the intermediate consumer is present). Among 22 experimental manipulations of omnivorous top consumers I found only 2 studies in which top consumers had significant positive effects on resources. This discrepancy between experimental results and model predictions is, at least partly, related to deviations of the experimental systems from model assumptions. However, considerations of relative body sizes of intermediate and top consumers suggest, that top consumers having negative net effects on the basic resource should be common in nature. I argue that in systems where intermediate consumers and basic resources are relatively similar in size, but both are much smaller than omnivorous top consumers (e.g. vertebrate omnivores feeding on benthos, soil invertebrates, terrestrial insects etc.), the direct negative effect of top consumers on basic resources should not be outweighed by indirect positive effects, and that other mechanisms (e.g. prey refuges) must be invoked to explain the persistence of intermediate consumers in many natural systems. I further argue that a better knowledge of the population dynamical consequences of omnivory and the role of relative consumer sizes is necessary to improve our understanding of the-trophic dynamics of different kinds of communities.
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| 8. |
- Langeveld, M, et al.
(author)
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Etiology of Cleft Lip Lower Lip Deformity: Use of an Objective Analysis to Measure Severity
- 2019
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In: The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. - : SAGE Publications. - 1545-1569. ; 56:10, s. 1333-1339
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Measure lower lip thickness and eversion in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and maxillary hypoplasia. The specific aims were to (1) compare lower lip thickness/eversion in patients with CLP to noncleft controls with maxillary hypoplasia, (2) determine differences between patients with unilateral CLP (UCLP) and bilateral CLP (BCLP), and (3) document changes in the lower lip that occur with Le Fort I advancement. Design: Retrospective case–control study. Setting: Tertiary care center. Patients/Participants: Patients with available pre- and postoperative CT scans and 2D lateral photographs who had a Le Fort I advancement between 2009 and 2017. There were 32 patients with CLP (17 females; mean age 17.7 ± 1.9 years) and 33 noncleft controls (21 females; mean age 18.8 ± 2.6 years). Main Outcome Measures: Lower lip thickness and eversion. Results: Patients with CLP and maxillary hypoplasia have a significantly thicker lower lip ( P = .019) and outward rotation of the vermilion border ( P = .003) compared to noncleft controls. The lower lip was significantly thicker in patients with BCLP than in those with UCLP ( P = .035). Lower lip thickness and rotation did not change after maxillary advancement. Conclusions: Patients with CLP and maxillary hypoplasia have a thicker and more everted lower lip than noncleft controls. Patients with BCLP have a significantly thicker lower lip than those with UCLP. Strain of the lower lip musculature appears to be an important contributor to the development of the cleft lip lower lip deformity.
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| 10. |
- Sabesan, Manivasakan, et al.
(author)
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Adaptive Parallelization of Queries to Data Providing Web Service Operations
- 2012
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In: Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems V. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783642281471 ; , s. 49-69
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A data providing web service operation returns a collection of objects for given parameters without any side effects. The Web Service MEDiator (WSMED) system automatically provides relational views of any data providing web service operations by reading their WSDL documents. These views are queried with SQL. In an execution plan, a call to a data providing web service operation may depend on the results from other web service operation calls. In other cases, different web service calls are independent of each other and can be called in any order. To parallelize and speed up both dependent and independent web service operation calls, WSMED has been extended with the adaptive operator PAP. It incrementally parallelizes calls to web service operations until no significant performance improvement is measured. The performance of PAP is evaluated using publicly available web services. The operator substantially improves the query performance without knowing the cost of calling a web service operation and without extensive memory usage.
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