Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) site planning and economics

Site planning and economic forecasting for MRI require careful, individualized analysis of several possible sites. Particular attention should be accorded to the magnetic environment. Realistic estimates of financial feasibility will depend heavily on decisions of regulators and third-party payers.     

Multivariate Analysis of Finnish Dialect Data An Overview of Lexical Variation

During the process of writing a comprehensive dictionary ofFinnish dialects, a large set of maps describing the regionaldistribution of the dialect words have been compiled in electronicform. In this article, we set out to analyse this corpus ofdata in order to gain new insight on the variation of Finnishdialects. We use a wide range of multivariate data analysismethods, including principal components analysis, independentcomponents analysis, clustering, and multidimensional scaling.We explain how to preprocess the data to overcome the problemof uneven sampling caused by the way the data has been collected.We discuss the results obtained by these methods and comparethem to the traditional view of Finnish dialect groups.     

A Mathematical Model for Simulation of Sofiwood Drying in Temperatures above Boiling Point of Water with Special Attention to the Boundary Conditions

A mathematical model for simulation of softwood drying also in temperatures exceeding the boiling point of water is presented. The equations are formulated in a conservative form based on the classical volume averaging technique with an addition of a pressure-driven moisture flux in the boundary condition. Numerical results using the control volume method are presented to show that this term missing in existing simulation models may account far the calculated build up of moisture at the very surface of a wood board. The possibility of neglecting the air- phase in the calculation of total gaseous pressure is investigated by means of an example. It shows that the effect of air pressure is only of very litde importance in the case of transversal flow in moderate tempertures.     

Charge transfer resistance of spray deposited and compressed counter electrodes for dye-sensitized nanoparticle solar cells on plastic substrates

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine the effective charge transfer resistances of porous dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes prepared by low-temperature spray deposition and compression of conductive carbon and platinized Sb-doped SnO₂ powders on indium tin oxide-coated plastic substrates. The charge transfer resistances were 0.5–2 and 8–13 Ω cm², respectively, when using 3-methoxypropionitrile as the electrolyte solvent. The manufacturing method used lends itself to produce mechanically stable and even-quality electrodes in an easy and fast manner.     

Human Milk Antibodies against S1 and S2 Subunits from SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-229E in Mothers with a Confirmed COVID-19 PCR,Viral SYMPTOMS,and Unexposed Mothers

Background: Preexisting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 could be related to cross-reactive antibodies to common human-coronaviruses (HCoVs). This study aimed to evaluate whether human milk antibodies against to S1 and S2 subunits SARS-CoV-2 are cross-reactive to S1 and S2 subunits HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E in mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR test, in mothers with previous viral symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic, and in unexposed mothers; Methods: The levels of secretory IgA (SIgA)/IgA, secretory IgM (SIgM)/IgM, and IgG specific to S1 and S2 SARS-CoV-2, and reactive to S1 + S2 HCoV-OC43, and HCoV-229E were measured in milk from 7 mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR test, 20 mothers with viral symptoms, and unexposed mothers (6 Ctl1-2018 and 16 Ctl2-2018) using ELISA; Results: The S2 SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels were higher in the COVID-19 PCR (p = 0.014) and viral symptom (p = 0.040) groups than in the Ctl1-2018 group. We detected a higher number of positive correlations between the antigens and secretory antibodies in the COVID-19 PCR group than in the viral symptom and Ctl-2018 groups. S1 + S2 HCoV-OC43-reactive IgG was higher in the COVID-19 group than in the control group (p = 0.002) but did not differ for the other antibodies; Conclusions: Mothers with a confirmed COVID-19 PCR and mothers with previous viral symptoms had preexisting human milk antibodies against S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2. Human milk IgG were more specific to S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2 than other antibodies, whereas SIgA and SIgM were polyreactive and cross-reactive to S1 or S2 subunit SARS-CoV-2.     

Potential of microbial growth control in water hydraulic systems by UV‐irradiation and filtration

Water hydraulic systems use water as a pressure medium and, thus, do not pose such adverse environmental impacts as oil hydraulics. Microbial deterioration of the pressure medium and biofouling of the surfaces restrict the applicability of the water‐based technology. The potential of microbial growth control by UV‐irradiation and filtration was studied in a pilot‐scale water hydraulic system. The UV‐irradiation (25 m Ws cm^?2) of the pressure medium reduced the total viable counts of bacteria by 1–2 log₁₀ cfu cm^?3, whereas the total microbial cell numbers and the numbers of surface‐attached microorganisms remained unaffected. Prefiltration (1.2 µm, absolute) of the pressure medium decreased the total microbial cell number in the water phase and retarded the attachment of bacteria. The filtration during the operation (2 µm, absolute) decreased the total numbers of microbial cells and the total viable counts in the pressure medium, and microbial attachment on the surfaces. Microbial attachment was not prevented by filtration. The microbial water quality obtained by pre‐ and on‐line filtration of the pressure medium was sufficient to ensure the long‐term operation of the water hydraulic system assuming that clean work practices are complied with in assembly and during the operation. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

‘Podracing’: experimenting with mobile TV content consumption and delivery methods

Recently, mobile TV has been launched in several countries. While mobile TV integrates television contents into mobile phones, the most personal of communication devices, it becomes interesting to know how this feature will be used throughout the day and in varying contexts of everyday life. This paper presents empirical results on the use of mobile TV with different delivery mechanisms and both quantitative and qualitative results on how end-users prefer to use mobile TV contents in different situations. The data is based on ongoing empirical research in Finland in 2006 and 2007. The mobile TV services under study included both news and entertainment contents, and were tested in 3G, DVB-H and Wi-Fi networks using different delivery paradigms: broadcast, on-demand and download. To explore the use of different delivery methods and content consumption, we have developed a mobile TV service protoype, called Podracing. The analysis shows that users appreciated up-to-date information and information-rich media forms and contents especially for mobile news delivery. There was high demand for only the latest news on mobiles. The real-time property was considered important. Most of the users looked at the headlines or followed the news several times a day – much more often than the traditional TV and news prime times would allow.     

Acute heavy alcohol intake increases silent myocardial ischaemia in patients with stable angina pectoris

PURPOSE: The purpose was to determine tumor neovascularisation via colour-coded Doppler (duplex) sonography and the "power mode", both visually and quantitatively, by means of videodensitometry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 6 VX2 tumours of 4 to 11 mm size were implanted in 4 rabbits at various sites. The colour-coded duplex sonography and the new sonographic power technique were tested before and after having injected a new contrast medium (SH U 616A). RESULTS: If no contrast medium was injected, tumour neovascularisation was identified in only 50% of the cases. Injection of contrast medium increased signal intensity three to fourfold with all examined tumors. Combined use of the sonographic method by the power technique with injection of contrast medium is outstandingly suitable for tumor vessel imaging even of small tumors, as these initial results seem to show. CONCLUSION: If these results are corroborated by further studies, contrast-medium supported sonographic technique may possibly become established as an alternative method to other imaging procedures.     

Knowledge based quality-driven architecture design and evaluation

Modelling and evaluating quality properties of software is of high importance, especially when our every day life depends on the quality of services produced by systems and devices embedded into our surroundings. This paper contributes to the body of research in quality and model driven software engineering. It does so by introducing; (1) a quality aware software architecting approach and (2) a supporting tool chain. The novel approach with supporting tools enables the systematic development of high quality software by merging benefits of knowledge modelling and management, and model driven architecture design enhanced with domain-specific quality attributes. The whole design flow of software engineering is semi-automatic; specifying quality requirements, transforming quality requirements to architecture design, representing quality properties in architectural models, predicting quality fulfilment from architectural models, and finally, measuring quality aspects from implemented source code. The semi-automatic design flow is exemplified by the ongoing development of a secure middleware for peer-to-peer embedded systems.