Consumers’ adoption of information services

This paper reports on a design science research study that seeks to investigate how information service components affect consumers’ potential adoption of such services. More specifically, the paper develops a conceptual model that uses the theory of organizational information services (TOIS) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as a basis. The results indicate that individual constructs can be linked to service components. In turn, this result can potentially be instrumental in progress toward a deeper understanding of consumers’ adoption of information services and how this affects the development of such services and systems that support them.     

Ion-implanted capacitively coupled silicon strip detectors with integrated polysilicon bias resistors processed on a 100 mm wafer

Double-sided silicon strip detectors with integrated coupling capacitors and polysilicon resistors have been processed on a 100 mm wafer. A detector with an active area of 19 × 19 mm² was connected to LSI readout electronics and tested. The strip pitch of the detector is 25 μm on the p-side and 50 μm on the n-side. The readout pitch is 50 μm on both sides. The number of readout strips is 774 and the total number of strips is 1161. On the p-side a signal-to-noise of 35 has been measured using a ⁹⁰Sr β-source. The n-side has been studied using a laser.     

Hippocampal damage after injection of kainic acid into the rat entorhinal cortex

This study analyses the anticipatory postural adjustments during the gait initiation process in children aged 2.5, 4, 6 and 8 years. In adults, anticipation during gait initiation includes a shift in the centre of foot pressure (CP) both backwards and towards the stepping foot. Backward displacement and the duration of the anticipation phase covary with the gait progression velocity reached by the subject at the end of the first step. In the present study, the children walked on a force plate that allowed us to calculate the acceleration of the centre of mass and the displacements of the CP. The results showed three main characteristics of the development of anticipatory behaviour: (1) The occurrence of anticipatory displacements of the CP increased progressively with age. Systematic backward anticipation was found for all children except one of the youngest, whereas the lateral displacement was systematically observed later, in the 6-year group; (2) the amplitude of the spatial parameters showed a significant increase with age; (3) contrary to the adult, the amplitude of the backward shift did not covary with the forthcoming velocity in the youngest groups. This covariation became significant at 6 years and remained significant at 8 years. The results showed that even if anticipatory behaviour was present in 2.5-year-old children it is only later that the child is able of more accurate tuning of feedforward control, probably due to better control of the overall postural adjustments.     

Determination of physical stress in agricultural work

The aim of this study was to find a method or combination of methods appropriate for defining the physical stress imposed by jobs carried out in the farm environment. Besides charting research methods, various other methods were applied to three sample jobs (making a load of bales, lowering of tomatoes and mechanised loading and transportation of timber). The sample jobs were selected to represent dynamic loading, static stress and work posture stress. The methods chosen were: oxygen consumption, pulse-blood pressure measurement, electromyography, the OWAS work posture observation method, and the Borg RPE scale for recording the test person's subjective stress estimate. The experiments were conducted using four test persons in real working environments. According to this study different methods for determining the physical stress of work are needed.The stress of dynamic work can best be investigated by means of oxygen consumption or heartbeat frequency. Furthermore, with these methods it is possible to classify jobs. The static stress can be determinated by means of the stress felt by the test person and electromyographic recordings of changes in muscle tension, although these are quite person-sensitive methods. Static stress also affects heartbeat frequency and blood pressure. The OWAS method is probably the best method available when studying the work postures in agricultural work - at least when involved in whole body work requiring moving about on the part of the person doing the job.     

Analyses of PACTEL passive safety injection experiments GDE-21 through GDE-25

In advanced light water reactors (ALWR), gravity-driven passive safety injection systems (PSIS) replace pump-driven emergency core cooling systems. PSISs often rely on small density differences and driving forces for natural circulation. In a typical loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), interactions between different parts of the emergency core cooling system also take place. VTT Energy in Finland, in co-operation with the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), performed five experiments in the PACTEL loop to study PSIS performance during SBLOCAs. The purpose of the PSIS, a passive core make-up tank (CMT), was to provide high-pressure safety injection water to the primary circuit. The purpose of these experiments was to produce data to validate the current thermal-hydraulic safety codes, and to study the effects of break size on the PSIS behaviour. In all experiments the CMT ran as planned. No problems with rapid condensation in the CMT, as seen in earlier passive safety injection experiments in PACTEL. The main reason was the new CMT arrangement, with a flow distributor (sparger) installed. The analyses of the test data supported the use of McAdams correlation for calculating the heat transfer from the hot liquid layer to the CMT wall. The use of Nusselt film condensation correlation for condensation at the CMT walls seems correct. The APROS code simulated successfully the overall primary system behaviour in the GDE-24 experiment, such as timing of the core heat-up at the end of the experiment. The code had some problems, in the simulation of thermal stratification in the CMT.     

Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) Is Involved in Upregulating Interleukin-6 Expression in Osteoarthritic Chondrocyte Models

Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a membrane-bound ion channel found in neurons, where it mediates nociception and neurogenic inflammation. Recently, we have discovered that TRPA1 is also expressed in human osteoarthritic (OA) chondrocytes and downregulated by the anti-inflammatory drugs aurothiomalate and dexamethasone. We have also shown TRPA1 to mediate inflammation, pain, and cartilage degeneration in experimental osteoarthritis. In this study, we investigated the role of TRPA1 in joint inflammation, focusing on the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). We utilized cartilage/chondrocytes from wild-type (WT) and TRPA1 knockout (KO) mice, along with primary chondrocytes from OA patients. The results show that TRPA1 regulates the synthesis of the OA-driving inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in chondrocytes. IL-6 was highly expressed in WT chondrocytes, and its expression, along with the expression of IL-6 family cytokines leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and IL-11, were significantly downregulated by TRPA1 deficiency. Furthermore, treatment with the TRPA1 antagonist significantly downregulated the expression of IL-6 in chondrocytes from WT mice and OA patients. The results suggest that TRPA1 is involved in the upregulation of IL-6 production in chondrocytes. These findings together with previous results on the expression and functions of TRPA1 in cellular and animal models point to the role of TRPA1 as a potential mediator and novel drug target in osteoarthritis.     

Experimental and analytical studies of boric acid concentrations in a VVER-440 reactor during the long-term cooling period of loss-of-coolant accidents

Concentrating and mixing of boric acid (H₃BO₃) during the long-term cooling period of loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs) in the Loviisa VVER-440 reactors has been studied with the REWET-II and VEERA facilities. To get more detailed information on boric acid mass transfer, a specific facility was built to simulate boron mixing in the lower plenum of the reactor. The experiments with the VEERA facility showed that in the VVER-440 reactor fuel bundles the mixing is complete due to boiling and U-tube oscillations and, hence, concentration distribution of boric acid in the bundles is uniform. The U-tube oscillations proved to be an important mechanism in transferring concentrated boric acid from the core to the lower plenum. The experiments demonstrated that crystallization of boric acid in the reactor core simulator is possible, if a stable long-term cooling situation with water boiling in the core continues long enough. In the experiments the crystallization of boric acid in the core simulator led to a flow blockage of the fuel rod bundle and overheating of the rod simulators when the flow through the core ceased.Experimental results were used to develop a computational model for calculations of boric acid concentrations in the reactor during LOCAs. The development work was supported with a series of RELAP5/MOD3 small-break LOCA analyses. The results of the RELAP5/MOD3 calculations were used to determine the boundary conditions under which concentrating of boric acid might occur. Reactor analysis showed that the crystallization of boric acid in the reactor is not possible during the long-term cooling period of LOCAs. This is mainly due to the fact that the ice-condenser in the Loviisa plant contains sodium tetraborate Na₂B₄O₇10H₂O (borax), which enters the reactor when emergency core cooling water is taken from the sump. Borax increases greatly the solubility of boric acid in water and, hence, decreases the risk of crystallization.     

No difference in symptoms during challenges with homogenized and unhomogenized cow's milk in subjects with subjective hypersensitivity to homogenized milk

It has been hypothesized that certain consumers tolerate untreated cow's milk, but react to processed (i.e. homogenized and pasteurized) cow's milk although they do not suffer from IgE-mediated cow's milk allergy or lactose intolerance. The aim of the study was to compare the tolerance of unhomogenized and homogenized cow's milk in lactose tolerant adults who had repeatedly experienced better tolerance of unhomogenized than homogenized milk. Forty-four subjects were challenged with homogenized and unhomogenized cow's milk for five days in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study. No differences in the symptoms during the challenges were found. Roughly half the subjects tolerated the homogenized milk better and the other half tolerated the unhomogenized milk better. The results of this study show no difference in the tolerance of homogenized and unhomogenized milk in adults with self-reported symptoms suggestive of hypersensitivity to homogenized milk.     

Analyses of PACTEL passive safety injection experiments with APROS, CATHARE and RELAP5 codes

The European Commission fourth framework programme project ‘Assessment of passive safety injection systems of advanced light water reactors’ involved experiments on the PACTEL test facility and computer simulations of selected experiments. The experiments focused on the performance of passive safety injection systems (PSIS) of advanced light water reactors (ALWRs) in small break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) conditions. The PSIS consisted of a core make-up tank (CMT) and two pipelines. A pressure balancing line (PBL) connected the CMT to one cold leg. The injection line (IL) connected it to the downcomer. The project involved 15 experiments in three series. The experiments provided information about condensation and heat transfer processes in the CMT, thermal stratification of water in the CMT, and natural circulation flow through the PSIS lines. The project included validation of three thermal-hydraulic computer codes (APROS, CATHARE and RELAP5). The analyses showed the codes are capable of simulating the overall behaviour of the transients. The codes predicted accurately the core heatup, which occurred when the primary coolant inventory was reduced so much that the core top became free of water. The detailed analyses of the calculation results showed that some models in the codes still need improvements. Especially, further development of models for thermal stratification, condensation and natural circulation flow with small driving forces would be necessary for accurate simulation of the phenomena in the PSIS.