Semi-automated user agents in distributed change management

Flexible integration of distributed design and manufacturing activities is one of the key issues in applying just-in-time principles along the logistics chain. The potential of AI based approaches in this field is clear, but the inherent asynchrony, concurrency, and inconsistency of distributed operations has reduced enthusiasm so far.This paper discusses coordination in the context of geographically distributed manufacturing of one-of-a-kind products. Cooperation of partners is based on semi-automated user agents which operate as an integrative layer between more dedicated tools and systems. The management of order changes in elevator manufacture is used as a case example.The work reported here is part of the DIMUN project (DIMUN, 1989) in the RACE program.     

The ortho-to-para conversion in solid hydrogen,catalyzed by hydrogen atoms

The combined techniques of ESR and NMR were used to investigate the process of ortho-para conversion in solid molecular hydrogen, containing small amounts ( 500 ppm) of hydrogen atoms as impurity. Although the impurity atoms catalyze the effective conversion of the neighboring ortho-H₂, the total catalyzed conversion rate at temperatures from 2.2 K to 4.4 K is much less than expected from the rate of the H atoms recombination. A possible explanation is given in terms of the diffusion of H atoms, which is confined to some defects in the crystal.     

Practical model for the calculation of multiply scattered lidar returns

An equation to predict the intensity of the multiply scattered lidar return is presented. Both the scattering cross section and the scattering phase function can be specified as a function of range. This equation applies when the cloud particles are larger than the lidar wavelength. This approximation considers photon trajectories with multiple small-angle forward-scattering events and one large-angle scattering that directs the photon back toward the receiver. Comparisons with Monte Carlo simulations, exact double-scatter calculations, and lidar data demonstrate that this model provides accurate results.     

A Parametric Texture Model Based on Joint Statistics of Complex Wavelet Coefficients

We present a universal statistical model for texture images in the context of an overcomplete complex wavelet transform. The model is parameterized by a set of statistics computed on pairs of coefficients corresponding to basis functions at adjacent spatial locations, orientations, and scales. We develop an efficient algorithm for synthesizing random images subject to these constraints, by iteratively projecting onto the set of images satisfying each constraint, and we use this to test the perceptual validity of the model. In particular, we demonstrate the necessity of subgroups of the parameter set by showing examples of texture synthesis that fail when those parameters are removed from the set. We also demonstrate the power of our model by successfully synthesizing examples drawn from a diverse collection of artificial and natural textures.     

Computer program for automated sleep depth estimation

In this article, we present a new implementation of an amplitude-independent method for continuous-scale sleep depth estimation. Having been implemented as an add-on analysis module under commercially available biosignal recording and analysis software, it can be easily applied in clinical routine. The software gives the user full freedom to change all the analysis parameters inside theoretical limits. Computational sleep depth profiles produced by the presented software compare favourably with visual classifications. Future work will concentrate on systematic optimization of analysis parameters, further evaluation of the method with disturbed sleep and application of the method for automated adaptive sleep analysis.     

Cross-Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children

Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition is known to be an indicator of dietary fat quality, but the associations of other dietary factors with plasma FA composition remain unknown in children. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of food consumption with the proportions of FA and estimated desaturase activities in plasma cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids (PL) among children. The subjects were a population sample of 423 children aged 6–8 years examined at baseline of The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study. We assessed food consumption by food records and plasma FA composition by gas chromatography. We used linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, physical activity and total energy intake to analyze the associations. A higher consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine (fat 60–80 %) was associated with a higher proportion of linoleic and α-linolenic acids in plasma CE and PL. A higher consumption of high-fiber grain products was related to a lower proportion of oleic acid in CE and PL. The consumption of candy was directly associated with the proportion of palmitoleic and oleic acid in plasma CE. The consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine was inversely associated with estimated stearoyl-CoA-desaturase activity in plasma CE and PL and the consumption of candy was directly related to it in plasma CE. The results of our study suggest that plasma FA composition is not only a biomarker for dietary fat quality but also reflects the consumption of high-fiber grain products and foods high in sugar among children.     

Effects of coxsackievirus B3 infection on the acute-phase protein metallothionein and on cytochrome P-4501A1 involved in the detoxification processes of TCDD in the mouse

During acute infections, the synthesis of acute-phase proteins and other proteins participating in the host defence are stimulated in the liver and kidney. In previous studies of coxsackievirus B3 (CB3) infection in mice, we found that cadmium (Cd) accumulates in the kidney, whereas 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) accumulates in the liver. To study if CB3 infection affects the synthesis of the Cd-binding protein metallothionein (MT) and the TCDD-binding/detoxifying cytochrome P-450 (CYP-450) isozyme CYP1A1, the basal and TCDD-induced levels of serum MT and liver CYP1A1 isozyme were determined in healthy and CB3-infected A/J mice. Furthermore, because interferons affect CYP450 activity, the serum levels of the interferons alpha (IFN-alpha) and -beta (IFN-beta) were measured in CB3-infected mice and in mice treated with the interferon-inducer polyinosinic/polycytidylic acid (poly I/C). Virus or poly I/C was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) on day 0 and 500 ng TCDD/kg bodyweight on day 1. On day 4, CB3 infection had induced MT approximately 10-fold, regardless of TCDD treatment (P < 0.01 in infected mice and P < 0.001 in infected, TCDD-treated mice). TCDD alone induced a 10-fold increase in CYP1A1 activity (P < 0.001), whereas infection alone suppressed the normal CYP1A1 activity by 75% (P < 0.001). Infection also suppressed the TCDD-induced CYP1A1 activity by approximately 30% (n.s.). Poly I/C suppressed CYP1A1 by 20-25% (n.s.) at both basal and TCDD-induced levels. Serum IFN-alpha and IFN-beta levels were undetectable in controls, in TCDD-treated and in the poly I/C-treated groups on day 4, probably because the short IFN peak is detectable only hours after injection. Conversely, on day 4 of the infection, IFN-alpha and IFN-beta were consistently raised in the TCDD-treated infected mice, whereas increased IFNs as a result of infection alone could be detected in only one individual. These results suggest that the normal host responses during acute infections down-regulate detoxifying processes in favour of acute-phase protein synthesis. This may explain the observed changed pattern of accumulation, excretion and toxicity of the environmental pollutants cadmium and TCDD during this common virus infection.     

On the realization of periodic functions

In this article, canonical and spectrally minimal infinite-dimensional state space realizations for periodic functions are considered. It is shown that the periodic functions having ℓ₁ Fourier coefficients are precisely those realizable by a Riesz spectral system (RSS) in which the system operator generates a periodic strongly continuous semigroup and the observation operator is bounded. This realization can easily be converted to a canonical and spectrally minimal form. It is shown how the use of RSS and Cesáro sums of Fourier series allows the construction of a state space realization for a given periodic function merely integrable over its period. Simple finite-dimensional approximations with error bounds are derived for the RSS realization. Regular well-posed linear systems (WPLS) are used to construct a Fuhrmann-type realization for a given periodic function integrable over its period. It is shown that the RSS realizations and WPLS realizations are precisely equally good at coping with the possible ill behavior of a given bounded periodic function integrable over its period, but the WPLS realization is not always spectrally minimal or canonical.     

MuseumFinland—Finnish museums on the semantic web

This article presents the semantic portal MuseumFinland for publishing heterogeneous museum collections on the Semantic Web. It is shown how museums with their semantically rich and interrelated collection content can create a large, consolidated semantic collection portal together on the web. By sharing a set of ontologies, it is possible to make collections semantically interoperable, and provide the museum visitors with intelligent content-based search and browsing services to the global collection base. The architecture underlying MuseumFinland separates generic search and browsing services from the underlying application dependent schemas and metadata by a layer of logical rules. As a result, the portal creation framework and software developed has been applied successfully to other domains as well. MuseumFinland got the Semantic Web Challence Award (second prize) in 2004.