Response inhibition deficit is involved in poor decision making under risk in nonamnesic individuals with alcoholism.

Individuals with alcoholism exhibit poor decision making as reflected by their continued alcohol use despite encountering problems and by low performance in laboratory tasks of decision making. Here, the authors investigated the relative contribution of several distinct processes of executive functions in performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) in recently detoxified individuals with alcoholism. Compared to matched healthy participants, individuals with alcoholism showed below-normal scores in the last 20 trials of the IGT as well as on other tasks of executive functions, specifically those assessing the capacity to manipulate information stored in working memory, detect abstract rules, or inhibit prepotent responses. Prepotent response inhibition best predicted performance in the late trials of the IGT, that is, when participants have likely acquired knowledge about the reward/punishment contingencies of the task. These results underline the important role that response inhibition plays in decision making, especially in risky situations, when knowledge of the probability of a given outcome becomes available (i.e. decisions under risk). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A regularized least-squares radial point collocation method (RLS-RPCM) for adaptive analysis

This paper presents a stabilized meshfree method formulated based on the strong formulation and local approximation using radial basis functions (RBFs). The purpose of this paper is two folds. First, a regularization procedure is developed for stabilizing the solution of the radial point collocation method (RPCM). Second, an adaptive scheme using the stabilized RPCM and residual based error indicator is established. It has been shown in this paper that the features of the meshfree strong-form method can facilitated an easier implementation of adaptive analysis. A new error indicator based on the residual is devised and used in this work. As shown in the numerical examples, the new error indicator can reflect the quality of the local approximation and the global accuracy of the solution. A number of examples have been presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the present method for adaptive analysis.     

High pass filter with above IC integrated SrTiO3 high K MIM capacitors

This paper describes realization and characterization of SrTiO₃ (STO) high K MIM capacitors above BiCMOS integrated circuit (IC). These capacitances are connected to IC and are used as coupling capacitors in order to realize a high pass filter. Surface capacitance achieved is 10 nF/mm² with capacitance value of 1.2 nF. The process for STO MIM fabrication does not exceed 400 °C, which is compatible with interconnections. Typical K and dielectric losses values obtained are, respectively 110% and 2%. Yield obtained reaches 83% for capacitors. A functional high pass filter using these STO capacitors was realized in this study. It exhibits a cut-off frequency at 6.5 kHz and a constant gain at higher frequencies of −1.3 dB.     

Multi-level analysis of an interaction network between individuals in a mailing-list

It is well known now that most real-world complex networks have some properties which make them very different from random networks. In the case of interactions between authors of messages in a mailing-list, however, a multi-level structure may be responsible for some of these properties. We propose here a rigorous but simple formalism to investigate this question, and we apply it to an archive of the Debian user mailing-list. This leads to the identification of some properties which may indeed be explained this way, and of some properties which need deeper analysis.     

Oxidative stress complex syndrome: The dark side of the malnutrition‐inflammation complex syndrome

Patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD) have a high prevalence of protein‐energy malnutrition and inflammation. As these 2 conditions often occur concomitantly in HD patients, they have been referred to together as the ‘malnutrition‐inflammation complex syndrome’ (MICS) or ‘malnutrition‐inflammation atherosclerosis’ (MIA) syndrome to emphasize its important association with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Oxidative stress, which results from an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidant defense mechanisms, is well established in HD subjects and could contribute to the poor clinical outcome of these patients. The aim of the present review is to discuss in more detail the common consequences of MICS and oxidative stress and their possible relationships with the long‐term complications of HD patients, leading to the conclusion that a complex syndrome similar to the MICS or MIA is the oxidative stress‐inflammation association, which may be called the “oxidative stress complex syndrome.”     

A first step towards a simple in-line shape compensation routine for the roll forming of high strength steel

The roll forming process is increasingly used in the automotive industry for the manufacture of structural and crash components from Ultra High Strength Steel (UHSS). Due to the high strength of UHSS (<1GPa) even small and commonly observed material property variations from coil to coil can result in significant changes in material yield and through that affect the final shape of the roll formed component. This requires the re-adjustment of tooling to compensate for shape defects and maintain part geometry resulting in costly downtimes of equipment. This paper presents a first step towards an in-line shape compensation method that based on the monitoring of roll load and torque allows for the estimation of shape defects and the subsequent re-adjustment of tooling for compensation. For this the effect of material property variation on common shape defects observed in the roll forming process as well as measurable process parameters such as roll load and torque needs to be understood. The effect of yield strength and material hardening on roll load and torque as well as longitudinal bow is investigated via experimental trials and numerical analysis. A regression analysis combined with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) techniques is employed to establish the relationships between the process and material parameters and to determine their percentage influence on longitudinal bow, roll load and torque. The study will show that the level of longitudinal bow, one of the major shape defects observed in roll forming, can be estimated by variations in roll load and torque.     

DEVS-BASED INTELLIGENT CONTROL: SPACE-ADAPTED MIXING SYSTEM EXAMPLE

This paper reviews a methodology for event-based intelligent control employing the DEVS (discrete event system specification) formalism. In this control paradigm, the controller expects to receive confirming sensor responses to its control commands within definite time windows determined by its DEVS model of the system under control. We apply the DEVS-based intelligent control paradigm to a space-adapted mixing system. The event-based approach is compared with conventional sequential control methods.     

A multi-objective programming approach,integrated into the TOPSIS method,in order to optimize product design; in three-dimensional concurrent engineering

This paper proposes a new method to address a three-dimensional concurrent engineering (3D-CE) approach. It uses a Multi-Objective Linear Programming (MOLP) model integrated to the TOPSIS method in order to determine the best configuration product design, assembly process and suppliers of components. This method is able to involve various supply chain strategies by considering qualitative and quantitative criteria in the early stages of the new product development (NPD) process. It also applies the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method to determine the relative importance of criteria defined to evaluate configurations of design alternatives, assembly processes and suppliers of components. A sensitivity analysis from different parameters in the model that affect the selection of the best design alternative is performed by creating a computer program using visual studio. A numerical example is used to demonstrate method efficacy and finally, the paper suggests some areas for future research.     

THE QSM ALGORITHM AND ITS APPLICATION TO SOFTWARE BEHAVIOR MODEL INDUCTION

This article presents a novel application of grammatical inference techniques to the synthesis of behavior models of software systems. This synthesis is used for the elicitation of software requirements. This problem is formulated as a deterministic finite-state automaton induction problem from positive and negative scenarios provided by an end user of the software-to-be. A query-driven state merging (QSM) algorithm is proposed. It extends the Regular Positive and Negative Inference (RPNI) and blue-fringe algorithms by allowing membership queries to be submitted to the end user. State merging operations can be further constrained by some prior domain knowledge formulated as fluents, goals, domain properties, and models of external software components. The incorporation of domain knowledge both reduces the number of queries and guarantees that the induced model is consistent with such knowledge. The proposed techniques are implemented in the ISIS tool and practical evaluations on standard requirements engineering test cases and synthetic data illustrate the interest of this approach.