15 research outputs found
Subdivision Surfaces - Can they be Useful for Geometric Modeling Applications?
No full textThis report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the authors concerning the usefulness of subdivision surfaces for geometric modeling, and in particular for engineering applications. The work described is a result of a three-month collaboration of the authors during the visit of the second author to Boeing in the Summer of 2001
Anastasiya Verbitskaya's emancipation persuing the "keys to happiness"
No full textreservedLA PRESENTE TESI DI LAUREA ANALIZZA LE PROTAGONISTE PRINCIPALI DEI TRE ROMANZI DI MAGGIOR SUCCESSO – "DUCH VREMENI", "KLJUČI SČAST’JA", "IGO LJUBVI" - DELLA PROSATRICE ANASTASIJA VERBICKAJA, A CAVALLO TRA L’OTTOCENTO E IL NOVECENTO RUSSO. LA RICERCA VIENE INCENTRATA SULLA RAPPRESENTAZIONE FEMMINILE ATTRAVERSO UN APPROCCIO DIACRONICO E UN’ANALISI STILISTICO-LESSICALE, IN MODO DA DIMOSTRARE COME L'AUTRICE FEMINISTA SIA RIUSCITA A INFONDERE LE SUE IDEE PROGRESSISTE AL CONSISTENTE PUBBLICO IN MODO ALTAMENTE LEGGIBILE. IL SUO MODELLO DI “DONNA NUOVA” INCARNAVA UNA DONNA EMANCIPATA, LIBERA DA QUALSIASI COSTRIZIONE ECONOMICA, SOCIALE E CULTURALE, CHE ATTRAVERSO L’EDUCAZIONE, L’IMPEGNO E LA DEDIZIONE RIUSCIVA A CONSEGUIRE LE “CHIAVI DELLA FELICITÀ” CHE APRIVANO LE PORTE DELL’INDIPENDENZA, DELLA LIBERTÀ E DELLA CREATIVITÀ. I RISULTATI DELL’ANALISI POTREBBERO RIVELARSI UTILI AGLI STUDI LETTERARI, IN QUANTO ANASTASIJA VERBICKAJA MERITEREBBE DI ESSERE RISCOPERTA PER AVER MOSTRATO UNA PROFONDA CONOSCENZA DEL MONDO INTERIORE FEMMINILE.THE DISSERTATION ANALYSES THE MAIN HEROINES OF THREE INFLUENTIAL NOVELS – "THE SPIRIT OF TIME", "THE KEYS TO HAPPINESS", "THE YOKE OF LOVE" – OF THE BESTSELLING RUSSIAN PROSE WRITER ANASTASIIA VERBITSKAIA, AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE STUDY INVOLVES EXPLORING HOW THE AUTHOR OF POPULAR LITERATURE, BY MEANS OF LEXICAL, STYLISTIC AND NARRATIVE DEVICES, SUCCEEDED TO CONVEY HER PROGRESSIVE FEMINIST IDEAS OF EMANCIPATED WOMEN TO THE MYRIAD READERS IN A HIGHLY COMPREHENSIBLE MANNER. VERBITSKAIA’S “NEW WOMEN” WERE LEADING THEIR LIVES WITHOUT ANY ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS DEMONSTRATING THAT EDUCATION, COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION COULD EMPOWER THE WOMEN TO FIND THE “KEYS TO HAPPINESS” – THE WAY TO THEIR COMPLETE INDIPENDENCE, FREEDOM AND CREATIVITY. THE FINDINGS MAY BE APPLIED TO LITERARY STUDIES, SINCE ANASTASIIA VERBITSKAIA DESERVES TO BE RECONSIDERED FOR HER VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO WOMEN’S INTERIOR WORLD
Approaches to maintaining provenance throughout the additive manufacturing process
No full textThe development of 3D printers has resulted in significant Intellectual Property Right issues. This work presents a model for signing printable 3D objects. The paper initially reviews the security principles of signing of objects in both digital or physical form, and the metrics for assessing signatures. 3D designs are not just a file, but actual physical objects and should be treated identically, to digital documents that have associated intellectual property rights and copyright protection. In this paper we propose a signing methodology intended to resolve issues with the adaptation of rapid prototyping and 3D printing by users both in engineering and the humanities. The proposed digital signing methodology is based on physical signing principles that follow archival principles to maintain accurate records. The new model allows the transition of provenance between digital and physical form
Tendencias lingüísticas en los medios de comunicación locales en línea de Rumanía
No full textThis paper examines the characteristics of online language in Romania\u27s local and regional press, focusing on the period from 2018 to 2023. Specifically, we analyzed three online publications from Arad: Jurnal arădean (Aradon), Special Arad, and Critic Arad. The study offers a comparative investigation of the regional press in Arad, my hometown, which also providing broader insights into trends within the Romanian local and regional press.
The research draws heavily on the author\u27s 34 years of experience in Romanian regional journalism. Personal examples are included, not as prescriptive models but as illustrative viewpoints that aim to deepen the understanding of the topics discussed.
Using a qualitative approach - primarily discourse analysis - we sought to identify language and stylistic errors in the journalistic content. Our findings point to a worrying trend: the decline in the quality of journalistic language. Furthermore, we noticed a growing tendency to prioritize pseudo-events and sensational topics related to individuals\u27 private lives, often expressed through casual, everyday language.Este trabajo examina las características del lenguaje en línea en la prensa local y regional de Rumanía, centrándose en el periodo comprendido entre 2018 y 2023. En concreto, analizamos tres publicaciones en línea de Arad: Jurnal arădean (Aradon), Special Arad y Critic Arad. El estudio ofrece un análisis comparativo de la prensa regional en Arad, mi ciudad natal, y también proporciona una visión más amplia de las tendencias dentro de la prensa local y regional rumana.
La investigación se basa en gran medida en los 34 años de experiencia del autor en el periodismo regional rumano. Se incluyen ejemplos personales que no tienen como objetivo ser modelos prescriptivos, sino puntos de vista ilustrativos que pretenden profundizar en la comprensión de los temas tratados.
Para ello, se utilizó un enfoque cualitativo, principalmente el análisis del discurso, con el que se identificaron errores lingüísticos y estilísticos en el contenido periodístico. Nuestros resultados apuntan a una tendencia preocupante: la disminución de la calidad del lenguaje periodístico. Además, observamos una tendencia creciente a dar prioridad a los pseudoacontecimientos y a los temas sensacionalistas relacionados con la vida privada de las personas, que a menudo se expresan mediante un lenguaje informal y cotidiano
Accelerated postoperative rehabilitation: the aeronautic model. Monograph by Adrian Belii
No full text“Fast-track surgery”, called later ”enhanced recovery after surgery”(ERAS) is a relatively new approach to the surgical patient and overall
postoperative period. For the first time, the ERAS concept was elaborated and presented by Henrik Kehlet et al. in 1997 [1]. The essence
of this concept is that a postoperative morbidity, which is not caused by the imperfect surgical technique, must be sought in the pathophysiological mechanism of the surgical stress. ERAS is based on two pylons: 1. Optimization of clinical pathways for surgical patients; 2.
Canceling unnecessary “traditional” treatments and implementation of evidence-based medicine principles instead of them.
So far, the ERAS concept has been tested by many teams from different countries on patients with various comorbidities and of different
age, who received various types of surgery. Quasi-unanimous conclusion was that the benefits of this approach were obvious: a significant
reduction in the length of hospital stay, reduced postoperative morbidity, accelerated patient’s return to homeostasis and cost reduction.
ERAS concept can be easily upgraded, reconfigured and/or adapted according to various parameters: patient’s profile, type of surgery or structure of health care system. In this context, the monograph of Dr. Adrian Belii “Accelerated Postoperative Rehabilitation: the
Aeronautic Model” [2] provides an original approach that improves and optimizes the perioperative management of elective surgical
patients, described by H. Kehlet.
From the beginning, I would like to mention the words “aeronautic model” in the title. In the past decade, hospitals tried to borrow
the organizational patterns of High Reliability Organizations from nonmedical fields, for example, aviation and nuclear industry. Thus,
by analogy the author analyzes functioning of an airport and hospital, where the aircraft is the patient, the crew - the medical team and
the flight from point A to point B – the perioperative management and recovery.
The monograph has 168 pages, contains 21 tables and 58 figures. The monograph consists of two parts: (1) medical and biological
aspects of the aeronautic model of accelerated postoperative rehabilitation and (2) medical management of the aeronautic model.
The first part of the monograph consists of six chapters and describes in terms of recent literature data and Dr. Belii’s personal research
results the most important aspects of an ERAS protocol. Thus, in the author’s opinion, the quality of postoperative pain management
is a particularly important component of “fast-track” surgery, which should rely on the following principles: self-assessment of the pain
intensity, pain anticipation and association of painkillers and analgesic techniques. The author also shows that modernization of anesthetic
practice shifting to computerized technology of drug delivery (target controlled infusion anesthesia) and new anesthetics provides a
better anesthesia management, better adaptation to surgical stress intensity and faster emergence from anesthesia with fewer incidents.
An interesting element of this monograph is the proposed ventilation weaning algorithm for the stage of the emergence from anesthesia.
In the future, this could be integrated in the software of recovery room ventilators. Testing of the weaning algorithm proved the possibility of
reducing the duration of lung ventilation by 40% in the patients that emerge from anesthesia. Other original ideas proposed by the author
are the terms “static” and “dynamic element” related with postoperative management. “Static element” is called a treatment which does not
modify in a fast and significant way biological parameters of a patient and usually has a supportive or preventive role. In contrast, “dynamic
element” is called a treatment that rapidly and significantly influences biological parameters of a patient, hence adequate monitoring of vital
signs is mandatory.
The second part of the monograph refers to cross-cutting issues, indispensable for modern perioperative care. It refers to risk management
modules and healthcare quality assurance, information flow and decision making mechanisms, optimization of the operating suite schedule
in a hospital and last but not least, to economic aspects of ERAS programs.
In conclusion, I would like to mention that Mr. Adrian Belii’s monograph “Accelerated Postoperative Rehabilitation: the Aeronautic
Model” is an original and scientifically valuable paper which I recommend to anyone interested
Bernstein-Type Operators That Reproduce Exponential Functions
No full textCardenas-Morales, Daniel/0000-0003-1038-3116In this paper we recover a generalization of the classical Bernstein operators introduced by Morigi and Neamtu in 2000. Specifically, we focus on a sequence of operators that reproduce the exponential functions exp(mu t) and exp(2 mu t), mu > 0. We study its convergence, this including qualitative and quantitative theorems, an asymptotic formula and saturation results. We also show their shape preserving properties by considering generalized convexity. Finally, a comparison is stated, that shows that in a certain sense and for certain family of illustrative functions the new sequence approximates better than the classical Bernstein polynomials.Research Projects DGA [E-64]; FEDER fundsEuropean Union (EU); Junta de Andalucia Research GroupJunta de Andalucia [FQM-0178]; [MTM2015-67006-P]The second author is partially supported by Research Projects DGA (E-64), MTM2015-67006-P, by FEDER funds, and by Junta de Andalucia Research Group FQM-0178
An analytical parametric study on the impact of adhesive layers on the moisture tightness of a CLT element.
No full textByggbranschen står för en betydande del av koldioxidutsläppen och för att nå klimatmålen i Agenda 2030, måste koldioxidutsläppen minska. Träd binder koldioxid och anses därför vara ett mer hållbart alternativ jämfört med byggnadsmaterial som betong och stål. Sverige är ett land med stora skogsarealer och den teknologiska utvecklingen har möjliggjort en storskalig produktion av träprodukter, exempelvis limträ, LVL eller KL-trä som är huvudämnet i denna studie. Korslimmat trä (KL-trä) är en träbaserad konstruktionsprodukt som kännetecknas av hög hållfasthet och goda tekniska egenskaper. Materialet består av flera lager trälameller som limmas samman i korsvis riktning, vilket ger förbättrade mekaniska egenskaper i flera riktningar. Vid tillverkningen används vanligtvis ett polyuretanbaserat lim (PUR-lim), vilket anses vara ett miljövänligt alternativ. Det arbetas ständigt för att göra KL-träelementen ännu effektivare ur miljösynpunkt. Idag används vanligtvis en diffusionsspärr av plast för att skydda byggnaderna mot fukt, men plasten är skadlig för miljön. Studien syftar till att utreda betydelsen av diffusionsspärr i KL-träkonstruktioner och möjligen utesluta den om limfogen uppvisar ett fuktmotstånd i närheten av en diffusionsspärr. Eftersom trä är ett poröst material, suger åt/släpper ifrån sig fukt från/till omgivningen vilket påverkar dess fysiska och mekaniska egenskaper. Genom att tolka Ficks andra lag för masstransport och transformera differentialekvationen med hjälp av Fouriers transform, kunde en analytisk beräkningsmodell utvecklas och implementeras i programvaran Matlab. Modellen simulerar fuktförändringen i ett KL-träelement över tid och position. Genomsläpplighetskoefficienten för PUR-limmet och hur den påverkar fukttransporten genom KL-träelement saknar tillräcklig forskning. Fukttransport är en mycket komplicerad process som påverkas av en rad olika faktorer. Därför har denna studie utvecklad en endimensionell (1D) analytisk modell som kan simulera fukttransporten genom KL-träelement. Denna modell användes i en parameterstudie för att undersöka limfogarnas inverkan på fukttätheten i KL-träelement. I ett försök att anta genomsläpplighetskoefficienten validerades modellen mot en tidigare studie med liknande randvillkor. Därefter kalibrerades modellen mot en parallell experimentell studie som genomfördes i Linnéuniversitetets laboratorium i Växjö. I den experimentella studien användes olika träprover med PUR-lim. Genom att använda denna metod kunde en genomsläpplighetskoefficient för PUR-limmet uppskattas, förutsatt specifika förhållanden och förenklingar, till exempel att genomsläpplighetskoefficienten är oberoende av fuktkvot och att temperaturen är konstant. Resultaten visar att limfogen har en bromsande effekt på fukttransporten i KL-trä och kan bidra till att hålla fuktkvoten under kritiska nivåer under lång tid. Den uppskattade genomsläpplighetskoefficienten för PUR-lim ligger i samma storleksordning som vissa diffusionsspärrar, men varierar beroende på antaganden som är svåra att kontrollera. Det går därför inte att dra slutsatsen att limfogen kan ersätta plastbaserade diffusionsspärrar. Studien visar dock att limmet kan bidra till ett långsammare fukttransport och ett visst skydd mot fuktrisker i konstruktionen.The construction industry accounts for a significant part of carbon dioxide emissions and to reach the climate goals in Agenda 2030, carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced. Trees bind carbon dioxide and are therefore considered a more sustainable alternative compared to building materials such as concrete and steel. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a wood-based construction product characterized by high strength and good technical properties. The study aims to investigate the importance of diffusion barriers in CLT structures and possibly exclude them if the CLT elements show sufficient moisture resistance. Therefore, this study has developed a one-dimensional (1D) numerical model that can simulate moisture transport through CLT elements. The model was then calibrated against a parallel experimental study conducted in the Linnaeus University laboratory in Växjö.The estimated diffusion coefficient for PUR adhesive is in the same order of magnitude as certain diffusion barriers, but it varies depending on assumptions that are difficult to control. It is therefore not possible to conclude that the adhesive joint can replace plastic-based diffusion barriers. However, the study shows that the adhesive can contribute to slower moisture transport and provide some protection against moisture-related risks in the structure
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS IN THE TWO EMERGING COUNTRIES, ROMANIA AND POLAND, IN THE PERIOD 2015-2020
No full textMore than ten years after the global financial crisis, the prospects for a sustained economic recovery remain in jeopardy due to the widespread failure of leaders and policy makers to implement the necessary reforms to support competitiveness and bring the necessary growth in productivity, according to the World Economic Forum. Competitiveness is generated at the macroeconomic level, at the country level and it becomes competitive when it manages to build an efficient development climate for each company, the environment in which they are able to survive and develop in any domestic economic environment, but especially international. The aim of this study is to identify impact factors on the comparative evolution of competitiveness by analyzing the two macroeconomic indicators Gross Domestic Product and Global Competitiveness Index in the two emerging countries - Romania and Poland, in 2015-2020, based on data provided by Eurostat and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, respectively by the global competitiveness reports. Gross Domestic Product is the most complex indicator calculated according to the same methodology in all European Union countries. Based on the National Accounts record system, the gross domestic product expresses an appropriate comparability. Also, calculating the gross domestic product per capita and purchasing power parity, there are obtained some indicators that ensure not only comparability to the size of development, but also express the standard of living, the quality of life in the states under analysis. In this study, the structural comparability of the Gross Domestic Product was performed after assessing the stage of economic evolution in each country. The article is accompanied by significant graphics, which highlight the conclusions drawn by the author. It is also analyzed the evolution of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), a comprehensive tool that measures the microeconomic and macroeconomic fundamentals of competitiveness. The GCI provides a detailed analysis of the productive potential of national economies
Antibody Kinetics of Immunological Memory in SARS-CoV-2-Vaccinated Healthcare Workers—The ORCHESTRA Project
No full textBackground/Objectives: This study examines the longitudinal dynamics of anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) and anti-spike (anti-S) antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA vaccination based on 81,878 serum samples from 23,616 healthcare workers (HCWs) across five European countries. It includes data across four scheduled vaccine doses—predominantly BNT162b2—with 25% of samples originating from individuals with confirmed prior infection, as evidenced by elevated anti-S levels, positive Anti-N antibodies, or PCR results. Methods: The study employed a shifted transformation method for data normalization and utilized the Bass diffusion model to predict antibody titer dynamics influenced by both internal factors—such as immune activation contextualized through sociodemographic issues—and external factors, including infection and vaccination. Despite the absence of direct measurements for some internal variables, the model effectively inferred their impact, enabling a rigorous and nuanced delineation of immune response profiles. Results: The Bass diffusion model rigorously captured variations in antibody titers, analyzed through demographic factors such as gender, age, and job role, while thoroughly accounting for pre-infection status. The results indicate that Anti-N antibodies, exclusively produced post-infection, exhibited a rapid decline, while anti-S antibodies, generated from both infection and vaccination, demonstrated prolonged persistence. A significant decline in anti-S levels was observed 3–5 months post-vaccination, with adaptive immunity—characterized by the dominance of internal factors effects relative to external ones—achieved in most groups after the fourth dose. However, adaptive immunity post second dose was limited to specific demographics. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the significance of the Bass Method in predicting vaccine-induced, hybrid immune responses and detecting adaptive immunity by overcoming limitations in internal factor data, thereby advancing effective vaccination and infection control strategies during public health crises. These findings highlight the Bass Method’s value in predicting vaccine-induced and hybrid immunity, effectively addressing internal factor data gaps to enhance vaccination and infection control strategies
Water and Health: products, materials, chemicals/mixtures and equipment used in contact with drinking water and protection of human health – in accordance with Order No 275/2012
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