Frequency-dependence of myocardial energetics in failing human myocardium as quantified by a new method for the measurement of oxygen consumption in muscle strip preparations

Diastolic dysfunction at high heart rates may be associated with increased myocardial energy consumption. Frequency-dependent changes of isometric force and oxygen consumption (MVO2) were investigated in strip preparations from endstage failing human hearts exhibiting various degrees of diastolic dysfunction. MVO2 was determined by a new method which was validated. When stimulation rate was increased from 40 to 200 min-1 (n=7), developed force decreased from 16.5+/-4.3 to 7.9+/-2.9 mN/mm2 (P<0.01), diastolic force increased from 15.9+/-3.2 to 22.0+/-3.0 mN/mm2 (P<0.01), and total MVO2 increased from 2.6+/-0.6 to 4.7+/-0.9 ml/min/100 g (P<0.025). Resting MVO2 and resting force were 1.8+/-0.4 ml/min/100 g and 15.9+/-3.0 mN/mm2, respectively. After addition of 30 mm 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM) to inhibit crossbridges, resting MVO2 and resting force decreased by 46% (P<0.05) and 15% (P<0.01), respectively, indicating the presence of active force generation in unstimulated failing human myocardium. In each muscle preparation, there was a significant correlation between force-time integral (FTI) and total MVO2 (r=0.96+/-0.01). The strength of these correlations did not vary with the contribution of diastolic FTI to total FTI. The ratio of activity related MVO2 to developed FTI, an inverse index of the economy of contraction, increased depending on the rise of diastolic FTI at higher stimulation rates. In conclusion, in failing human myocardium, diastolic force development is occurring at the same energy expenditure as systolic force generation. Therefore, in muscle preparations with disturbed diastolic function economy of contraction decreases with higher stimulation rates, depending on the rise of diastolic force.     

X-SAR interferometry: first results

Repeat-pass interferometry data were acquired during the first and second SIR-C/X-SAR missions in April and October 1994. This paper presents the first results from X-SAR interferometry at four different sites. The temporal separations were one day and six months. At two sites the coherence requirements were met, resulting in high quality interferograms. A digital elevation model in ground range geometry has been derived. The limitations of the X-SAR interferometry are discussed     

The impact of tangled code changes on defect prediction models

When interacting with source control management system, developers often commit unrelated or loosely related code changes in a single transaction. When analyzing version histories, such tangled changes will make all changes to all modules appear related, possibly compromising the resulting analyses through noise and bias. In an investigation of five open-source Java projects, we found between 7 % and 20 % of all bug fixes to consist of multiple tangled changes. Using a multi-predictor approach to untangle changes, we show that on average at least 16.6 % of all source files are incorrectly associated with bug reports. These incorrect bug file associations seem to not significantly impact models classifying source files to have at least one bug or no bugs. But our experiments show that untangling tangled code changes can result in more accurate regression bug prediction models when compared to models trained and tested on tangled bug datasets—in our experiments, the statistically significant accuracy improvements lies between 5 % and 200 %. We recommend better change organization to limit the impact of tangled changes.     

Multi-Stage Phase-Segregation of Mixed Halide Perovskites under Illumination: A Quantitative Comparison of Experimental Observations and Thermodynamic Models

Photo- and charge-carrier-induced ion migration is a major challenge when utilizing metal halide perovskite semiconductors for optoelectronic applications. For mixed iodide/bromide perovskites, the compositional instability due to light- or electrical bias induced phase-segregation restricts the exploitation of the entire bandgap range. Previous experimental and theoretical work suggests that excited states or charge carriers trigger the process, but the exact mechanism is still under debate. To identify the mechanism and cause of light-induced phase-segregation phenomena, the full compositional range of methylammonium lead bromide/iodide samples are investigated, MAPb(Br_xI_1-x)₃ with x = 0…1, by simultaneous in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy during illumination. The quantitative comparison of composition-dependent in situ XRD and PL shows that at excitation densities of 1 sun, only the initial stage of photo-segregation is rationalized with the previously established thermodynamic models. However, a progression of the phase segregation is observed that is rationalized by considering long-lived accumulative photo-induced material alterations. It is suggested that (additional) photo-induced defects, possibly halide vacancies and interstitials, need to be considered to fully rationalize light-induced phase segregation and anticipate the findings to provide crucial insight for the development of more sophisticated models.     

Theoretical and Experimental Damage Prediction in Cold and Semi‐Hot Bulk Forming of Ductile Steels

Bulk forging is among the most important manufacturing methods in metal forming, due to its wide applicability from some ounces to several tons of steel in a high diversity of shapes and forming conditions. Economical constraints demand for further optimisation and cost‐effective production. This requires the application of suitable finite elements simulation software, in order to support the already digitalised construction processes. Ductile damage is one of the most severe problems to arise during the production sequences, not only in cold but also in semi‐hot forging operations. Mathematical approaches exist for the modelling and simulation of ductile fracture in steel. In this paper some widespread used damage models are introduced and discussed. Their damage prediction quality has been verified by experiments, the tensile test and the collar specimen upsetting with several different steels under cold and semi‐hot forging conditions. The methods for the experimental fracture detection are introduced as well. In cold forging the passive ultrasonic testing with integrated statistical filtering algorithms is used. As this method is not applicable to semi‐hot forging experiments, optical fracture detection by means of a high‐speed camera is used instead. A very interesting material behaviour of the steels tested has been identified in the semi‐hot upsetting of collar specimen. For every steel a distinct temperature crossover interval exists, in which the forging process abruptly changes from damaged to undamaged state. This interval amounts to some degrees Celsius only for each of the seven materials investigated. Among the damage models proposed, the Model of Effective Stresses by Lemaitre is chosen for the application to a cold and a semi‐hot forging operation. These industrial processes of an axle end (cold) and a journal bearing (semi‐hot) are susceptible to damage for reasons to be discussed in this paper. It will be shown that the internal fracture of the axle end (chevrons) and the surface fissures of the journal bearing can be predicted with high accuracy. Moreover, the application of the damage model in the finite element software MSC.SuperForm 2004 offers a promising approach for process optimisation. Several possibilities could be tested for their suitability of reducing the calculated damage: geometry variation of the forming tools, process annealing, different materials. The use of damage models in finite element simulation can be regarded as a further step towards an optimal process design.     

Designing and evaluating challenge-question systems

The author describes a framework for designing user authentication systems with challenge questions that includes privacy, security, and usability criteria for evaluating a candidate challenge-question system. The proposed challenge-question system for recovering user credentials is based on this framework.     

Post‐protection effect of heat‐resistant insulations on timber‐frame members exposed to fire

In lightweight walls and floors, the load‐bearing timber members are protected by cladding on the sides to form a divider between two fire compartments or to provide appropriate fire protection to the load‐bearing members. The spaces between the timber members can be void or filled with insulation materials. Although a huge number of different insulation materials exist, the most commonly used material is mineral wool insulation. The existing design model for glass wool‐insulated timber‐frame constructions, given in European standard 1995‐1‐2, assumes collapse of the glass wool after failure of the cladding. However, a new form of glass wool insulation, suitable for use at high maximum service temperatures, is now available in the market. The charring phase after the cladding's failure is known as the post‐protection phase. The behaviour of the new heat‐resistant glass wool in the post‐protection phase is similar to that of stone wool and considerably better than that of traditional glass wool. The protective properties of stone wool have changed over the last decades. Charring is one of the main parameters needed to calculate the resistance of a structure to fire. Based on experimental investigations, this paper describes the analysis of the effect of the insulation with regard to its ability to protect timber members against charring during the post‐protection phase. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective adsorption of multivalent ions into TiC-derived nanoporous carbon

A TiC-derived carbon (TiC-CDC) was prepared, and the adsorption of large hexacyanocobaltate and tetrabutylammonium ions of approximately same size was examined on this carbon. While selectively absorbing these large ions, it rejects smaller chloride and ammonium ions in mixed electrolyte solutions. The result demonstrates the important role of electrostatic repulsive forces, space-efficient charge packing and hydrophobic ion interactions with the pore walls of TiC-CDC, similar to what is known for a variety of biological membranes.