Application of a fuzzy controller in a warm water plant

In many cases a human operator is far more successful in controlling a complex industrial process than a controller designed by modern control techniques. The method of expressing the strategy of a human operator using fuzzy set theory has already been proposed elsewhere. In this study this ethod is applied to the control of a warm water plant. Fuzzy algorithms based on linguistic rules describing the operator's control strategy are applied to control this plant. Several types of such algorithms are implmented and compared.     

Selective disruption of neuregulin-1 function in vertebrate embryos using ribozyme-tRNA transgenes

The products of the neuregulin-1 gene constitute a set of polypeptide growth factors whose signalling through the ErbB receptors is essential to the growth and differentiation of many cell types in culture. Although studies with neuregulin-1 mutant mice have demonstrated that these growth factors are also essential regulators of cellular differentiation in vivo, the mid-embryonic death of these mutants precludes an analysis of hypothesized neuregulin-1 roles in later aspects of development. To circumvent this early lethality, we have pursued a ribozyme-based strategy for the perturbation of neuregulin-1 function in developing chick embryos. Early administration of a retrovirus carrying neuregulin-1 hammerhead-type ribozymes to blastoderm-stage embryos leads to an embryonic lethal phenotype that results from the failure of ventricular trabeculation in the developing heart, a faithful phenocopy of the mouse neuregulin-1 mutations. Later, more localized delivery of the ribozyme to the developing retina inhibits both the differentiation of retinal ganglion cell neurons and the proliferation of the neuroepithelial cells from which they derive. These results suggest that neuregulin-1 promotes both muscle cell differentiation in the heart and neuronal differentiation in the central nervous system. In addition, they demonstrate the utility of hammerhead ribozymes as a simple, effective and easily adaptable method of conditional gene inactivation in vertebrates.     

Cooling machine with integrated cold storage

The use of thermal solar energy systems in combination with thermal driven sorption chillers for climatisation gains increasing influence. For solar assisted cooling a backup system is necessary for times when no solar energy is available. Absorption chillers driven by a combination of thermal collectors and conventional furnaces, which supply the driving heat in times of no insolation, suffer from an abrupt drop of the system efficiency (COP) during the operation change. This drop in COP can be avoided by installing a combined heat buffer and storage feature. Various possibilities of heat storage features are compared. An experimental setup of a high-efficient absorption chiller which facilitates the supply of a constant load of coldness at constantly high COP in spite of periodically available driving heat is presented.     

Characterization of human orbital fat and connective tissue

This study was designed to evaluate the characteristics of human orbital fat and connective tissue. Two exenteration specimens were studied by light microscopy with special stains. Four distinct regions were identified on the basis of their connective tissue septa, which contained blood vessels and were composed of elastin and collagen types I, III, and IV. Transmission electron microscopy was performed on the opposite orbits. The fibroblasts and adipocytes appeared metabolically inactive and showed no regional differences. The fat was phase extracted from the connective tissue and subjected to biochemical analysis. No regional differences were found in the content of fatty acids and protein. The fatty acids included palmitic acid (22-24.6%), oleic acid (45-51.5%), and linoleic acid (15-18.6%). Despite demarcation of the orbital fat into distinct regions by the connective tissue septa, ultrastructural and biochemical analysis revealed no regional variations in the fat. The diagnostic and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.     

Safety and use of gadobutrol in patients with brain tumors (phase III trial)

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the use and safety of Gadobutrol, a new low-osmolar, non-ionic contrast agent for MRI using a total dose of 0.3 mmol/kg b.w. on the basis of a clinical phase 3 study. METHODS: 30 patients with primary brain tumours (n = 15) or cerebral metastases (n = 15) were examined via MRI before and after application of a total of 0.3 mmol/kg b.w. given in two fractions (0.1 and 0.2 mmol/kg b.w.). T2-weighted images were performed before, T1-weighted images before, between and after application of contrast material. RESULTS: In this study one-molar Gadobutrol showed a good tolerance. In half of the cases the contrast between lesion and brain was improved comparing single and triple dose, but this means only a slightly improvement of information for the primary brain tumours compared with single dose. The detected metastatic lesions increased in 40% of the patients after the single dose and in 53% of the patients after cumulative triple dose. There was a consecutive change in therapy in 20% of the patients. CONCLUSION: For the differentiation of primary brain tumours the single dose was sufficient, in metastatic lesions triple dose was essential for the detection or exclusion of multifocality.     

Correlation between eeg and driver's actions during prolonged driving under monotonous conditions

Prolonged driving under monotonous conditions decreases the vigilance of the human controller and his performance of the driving task. Variations of his control activity (vehicle related signals) were measured with the goal of receiving criteria for a warning device, which could improve the active safety of today's traffic. The investigations were performed on a rural circuit and on a driving simulator: the control variable for decreasing vigilance was the electro-encephalogram of the test subjects. Factor analysis and canonical correlation were used to investigate the relation between both data sets. The EEG parameters showed a frontal displacement under prolonged driving: thus a decreasing vigilance could be confirmed. Simultaneously the subjects' control activity in the tracking task became coarser. The accelerator pedal activity—which is a relatively free control variable—decreased with the test duration despite constant driving speed. This was explained with increased risk-acceptance at decreased performance or decreased vigilance.     

Verteilte RC Nullnetzwerke: Vergleich mit RC Doppel-T-Filtern und Anwendung in selektive Verstärkern

Übersicht Ein RC Doppel-T-Filter (i. allg. unsymmetrisch) wird mit einem verteilten RC Null-Filter (mit exponentieller RC-Leitung) hinsichtlich Form und Steilheit der Spannungsübertragungsfunktion verglichen. Der Einfluß der Belastung mit Wirkwiderständen wird untersucht.Bei der Anwendung verteilter RC Nullnetzwerke im Gegenkopplungszweig eines Verstärkers zur Realisierung eines einfachen Bandpasses ergeben sich Mittenfrequenzen des Durchlaßbandes, die von den Nullfrequenzen der passiven Netzwerke verschieden sind. Die Differenz kann auf Netzwerk-und Verstärkerparameter zurückgeführt werden. Zur Berechnung werden die Ortskurven der Nullnetzwerke angenähert.

---

Contents A parallel-T RC filter (asymmetrical in general) is compared with a distributed RC null-filter (exponentially tapered) with regard to form and steepness of the voltage transfer function. The influence of resistive load is investigated.Distributed RC null networks can be connected into the feedback loop of an amplifier in order to realize a simple band pass. The difference between the centre frequency of the pass band and the null frequency of a passive network can be related to the parameters of the network and the amplifier. The transfer loci of null networks are approximated for the calculations.

     

Brain Metastasis in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is a fatal disease with a 5-year survival rate below 5%. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced tumor stage and existence of distant metastases. However, involvement of the central nervous system is rare in pancreatic cancer. We retrospectively analyzed all cases of brain metastases in pancreatic cancer reported to date focusing on patient characteristics, clinical appearance, therapy and survival. Including our own, 12 cases of brain metastases originating from pancreatic cancer were identified. In three patients brain metastases were the first manifestation of pancreatic cancer. All other patients developed brain metastases during their clinical course. In most cases, the disease progressed rapidly and the patients died within weeks or months. However, two patients showed long-term survival. Of note, both patients received resection of the pancreatic cancer as well as curative resection of the metachronous brain metastases. Brain metastases in pancreatic cancer are a rare condition and usually predict a very poor prognosis. However, there is evidence that resection of brain metastases of pancreatic cancer can be immensely beneficial to patient’s survival, even with the chance for cure. Therefore, a surgical approach in metastatic pancreatic cancer should be considered in selective cases.     

Inducible Genetic Code Expansion in Eukaryotes

Genetic code expansion (GCE) is a versatile tool to site-specifically incorporate a noncanonical amino acid (ncAA) into a protein, for example, to perform fluorescent labeling inside living cells. To this end, an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetase/tRNA (RS/tRNA) pair is used to insert the ncAA in response to an amber stop codon in the protein of interest. One of the drawbacks of this system is that, in order to achieve maximum efficiency, high levels of the orthogonal tRNA are required, and this could interfere with host cell functionality. To minimize the adverse effects on the host, we have developed an inducible GCE system that enables us to switch on tRNA or RS expression when needed. In particular, we tested different promotors in the context of the T-REx or Tet-On systems to control expression of the desired orthogonal tRNA and/or RS. We discuss our result with respect to the control of GCE components as well as efficiency. We found that only the T-REx system enables simultaneous control of tRNA and RS expression.