Clinical psychologists in the primary health care system in the Netherlands.

Discusses the Dutch health system, focusing on the increasing number of clinical psychologists who are offering their services to the public as private practitioners. This move toward primary health care given by the "first-line psychologist" results from a generalistic frame of reference in which a wide range of psychic, psychosocial, and psychosomatic difficulties are treated with a time-limited framework. In this way, the clinical psychologist contributes to changing the habits and lifestyles of a broad population. Responses to the system are encouraging, and the government has begun to respond positively to the system. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Numerical investigation of the error on flow measurements due to exhaust gas heating and cooling in the SBI‐configuration

The possible flow measurement error due to heating or cooling of exhaust gases in the Single‐Burning‐Item (SBI) test is estimated from numerical experiments. It is illustrated that there is no one‐to‐one correspondence between the velocity profile shape and the instantaneous Reynolds number, due to the time‐dependent temperature and density profile evolution in the exhaust gas pipe. A non‐ambiguous relation is found between the velocity profile shape and an ‘effective’ Reynolds number, based on the turbulent viscosity. Maximum variations of the velocity correction factors, relating the mean velocity to the velocity on the pipe axis, are found to be in the order of 2% for limiting circumstances for the SBI test. The primary effect is caused by instantaneous Reynolds number variations. The effect of heating or cooling of the flow by the hot or cold pipe is noticeable, too. The statements are proved to be valid independent of the computational grid, the turbulence model and the time steps taken to obtain the numerical solutions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method to find all solutions of a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities in the max algebra

In this paper we show that finding solutions of a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities in the max algebra is equivalent to solving an Extended Linear Complementarity Problem. This allows us to find all solutions of such a system of multivariate polynomial equalities and inequalities and provides a geometrical insight in the structure of the solution set. We also demonstrate that this enables us to solve many important problems in the max algebra and the max-min-plus algebra such as matrix decompositions, construction of matrices with a given characteristic polynomial, state space transformations and the (minimal) state space realization problem.Research assistant with the N.F.W.O. (Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research).Senior research associate with the N.F.W.O.     

Real-time detection of colored objects in multiple camera streams with off-the-shelf hardware components

We describe RTblob, a high speed vision system that detects objects in cluttered scenes based on their color and shape at a speed of over 800 frames/s. Because the system is available as open-source software and relies only on off-the-shelf PC hardware components, it can provide the basis for multiple application scenarios. As an illustrative example, we show how RTblob can be used in a robotic table tennis scenario to estimate ball trajectories through 3D space simultaneously from four cameras images at a speed of 200 Hz.     

On security arguments of the second round SHA-3 candidates

In 2007, the US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a call for the design of a new cryptographic hash algorithm in response to vulnerabilities like differential attacks identified in existing hash functions, such as MD5 and SHA-1. NIST received many submissions, 51 of which got accepted to the first round. 14 candidates were left in the second round, out of which five candidates have been recently chosen for the final round. An important criterion in the selection process is the SHA-3 hash function security. We identify two important classes of security arguments for the new designs: (1) the possible reductions of the hash function security to the security of its underlying building blocks and (2) arguments against differential attack on building blocks. In this paper, we compare the state of the art provable security reductions for the second round candidates and review arguments and bounds against classes of differential attacks. We discuss all the SHA-3 candidates at a high functional level, analyze, and summarize the security reduction results and bounds against differential attacks. Additionally, we generalize the well-known proof of collision resistance preservation, such that all SHA-3 candidates with a suffix-free padding are covered.     

On mesh-free valley surface extraction with application to low frequency sound simulation

Crease surfaces describe extremal structures of 3D scalar fields. We present a new region-growing-based approach to the meshless extraction of adaptive nonmanifold valley and ridge surfaces that overcomes limitations of previous approaches by decoupling point seeding and triangulation of the surface. Our method is capable of extracting valley surface skeletons as connected minimum structures. As our algorithm is inherently mesh-free and curvature adaptive, it is suitable for surface construction in fields with an arbitrary neighborhood structure. As an application for insightful visualization with valley surfaces, we choose a low frequency acoustics simulation. We use our valley surface construction approach to visualize the resulting complex-valued scalar pressure field for arbitrary frequencies to identify regions of sound cancellation. This provides an expressive visualization of the topology of wave node and antinode structures in simulated acoustics.     

Fabrication of a biocompatible flexible electroosmosis micropump

In in-vivo microsystems, one of the components is a biocompatible micropump in order to produce the necessary force to deliver the fluid from the inlet to the outlet. In this contribution, a flexible micropump is fabricated which is aimed to be suitable in drug delivery applications. It provides high degree of biocompatibility, since the only employed materials are implantation grade polydimethylsiloxane elastomer and gold for the electrical interconnects. The working principle of the micropump is based on transverse DC electroosmosis which is a new variant of conventionally applied high voltage DC electroosmosis. This new technique is based on topography irregularities introduced in the channel resulting in a non-uniform charge distribution. The advantage is to drive the micropump using a relatively low DC voltage of 10 V while getting an effective flow speed of 60 μm/s. In order to characterize the flow speed, dyed 3 μm beads are dispersed in the working fluid and their speed is measured by the line scanning technique using a confocal microscope. It is also observed that the flow has a helical profile which is an attractive feature for an efficient micro-mixer in active microfluidics and μ-TAS applications.     

Notch sensitivity of thermoset and thermoplastic laminates loaded in tension

Inplane tensile fracture of unnotched and notched thermoset graphite-epoxy and thermoplastic graphite-PEEK composite laminates is examined. Both fibre-dominated quasi-isotropic and matrix dominated ±45 angle-ply layups were investigated.Classical lamination theory predictions of elastic and strength properties of unnotched specimens are compared with experiments. Several notched geometries, i.e. centre-notched, double-edge notched and open-hole specimens subjected to tensile loading to fracture were examined. The notched strength of the quasi-isotropic laminates was analysed by a damage zone model, where damage around the notch is represented by an equivalent crack with cohesive force acting between the crack surfaces.Good agreement between experimental and calculated strength was observed for the graphite-epoxy laminates which failed in a collinear manner. For the graphite-PEEK laminates discrepancies between predicted and experimental strength are related to observed deviations from collinear crack growth. The angle-ply graphite-PEEK laminates showed larger notch sensitivity than the corresponding graphite-epoxy, probably due to less degree of stress relieving damage formation around the notch.     

The effect of hydrothermic treatment on the physicochemical properties of rye grain

Summary The gelatinized, autoclaved and sodiumhydroxide-treated starch preparations were used and their interaction with soluble pentosans and gliadin was analysed. The molecular sieving technique and optical methods were used to detect the complexes formed. The modified starches formed complexes with both soluble pentosans and gliadin in acidic and neutral media (non-ionic molecular forces being involved). The autoclaved starch showed the highest reactivity. The amylose and amylopectin played different roles in the interactions and the aggregates of amylose with gliadin and amylopectin with soluble pentosans were the prevailing forms present in the complexes. Small quantities of other products were also identified.

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Einfluß der hydrothermischen Behandlung auf die physiko-chemischen Eigenschaften des RoggenkornsII. Wechselwirkung der Eiweiß-und Kohlenhydratkomplexe (Modelluntersuchung)

Zusammenfassung Die Wechselwirkungen verkleisterter, autoklavierter und mit Natronlauge behandelter Stärke mit löslichen Pentosanen und Gliadin werden mit Hilfe der Gelpermeation und mit optischen Methoden untersucht. Die modifizierten Stärken bildeten Komplexe mit den Pentosanen und mit Gliadin im sauren und neutralen Medium, autoklavierte Stärke zeigte die hächste Reaktion. Die unterschiedliche Rolle von Amylose und Amylopection zeigte vorherrschend Amylose-Gliadin und Amylopectin-PentosanKomplexe, während andere Komplexe in kleineren Mengen auftraten.