107 research outputs found
Parents’ psychological stress over time may affect children’s cortisol at age 8
No full textObjective: To study possible relations between parents’ psychological stress, children’s selfesteem and children’s saliva cortisol levels with regard to a mild stressor (drawing a blood sample). Method: Parenting stress and serious life events at birth, age 1, age 2, age 5 and age 8, and children’s self-esteem at age 8 were assessed. 82 paired saliva samples just before and 30 minutes after a children’s blood was drawn were analyzed. Results: Repeated measure general linear models indicated a relation between higher parenting stress at age 1 (p=0.03) and at age 8 (p<0.01), and elevated cortisol levels. No relation was found for serious life events. Lack of self-esteem in the domain of mental well-being was related to elevated cortisol levels (p=0.02). Conclusion: Parenting stress related to elevated cortisol levels of their children cross-sectionally and longitudinally and may be used as an indicator for children’s psychological stress in epidemiological studies.This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Pediatric Psychology following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: Felix-Sebastian Koch, Johnny Ludvigsson and Anneli Sepa, Parents’ psychological stress over time may affect children’s cortisol at age 8, 2010, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, (35), 9, 950-959.is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsp132Copyright: Oxford University Presshttp://www.oxfordjournals.org
Correction to: Therapeutic options for patients with refractory status epilepticus in palliative settings or with a Limitation of life‑sustaining therapies: a systematic review
No full textThe article Therapeutic Options for Patients with Refractory Status Epilepticus in Palliative Settings or with a Limitation of Life‑Sustaining Therapies: A Systematic Review, written by Laurent M. Willems, Sebastian Bauer, Kolja Jahnke, Martin Voss, Felix Rosenow, Adam Strzelczyk, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume 34, issue 8, pages 801–826 the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. Post-publication open access was funded by Projekt DEAL. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed to © The Author(s) 2021 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. The original article has been corrected
Public finance, trade, and development : the Chilean experience
No full textThis paper analyzes the role of public finance and trade policies in the adjustment experience of Chile over the past 15 years. The purpose is to first review the Chilean public sector and trade reforms, and then to examine their role in the economic development of Chile. The paper is divided into six sections. After the Introduction, Section II presents a brief summary of the conditions in 1973 on the eve of the shift in Chilean policy. Section III focuses on the main policy reforms introduced by the military government over the 1973-82 period. Section IV takes a detailed look at Chile's public finance and trade reforms. The effect of the reforms on aggregate incentives and on the macroeconomic adjustment is the subject of Section V. Lastly, Section VI presents the following main conclusions. First, liberalization and stabilization reforms succeeded until late 1978 in slowing down inflation. Second, the reduction of a large public sector deficit required strong action. Third, the elimination of a large public sector deficit is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the control of inflation. Finally, once the macroeconomic mistakes of the late 1970's and early 1980's were corrected, Chile recovered its growth and reduced inflation.Economic Stabilization,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Sector Economics&Finance
Cello techniques and performing practices in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
No full textThis thesis comprises a study of cello performance practices throughout the nineteenth century and into the early decades of the twentieth. It is organised in terms of the increasing complexity of the concepts which it examines, as they are to be found in printed and manuscript music, instrumental methods and larger treatises, early recordings, concert reviews and pictures. Basic posture is considered along with different ways of holding the
bow. The development of the tail-pin shows that even when it was widely used, the older posture was still referred to as a model. Some implications for tone quality and tonal
projection are considered in the light of the shape of the arms. Some connections between the cellist's posture and that recommended by etiquette books are explored. The
functionality of the left hand and arm, and the development of modem scale fingerings, show that there was a considerable period of overlap between newer and older practices, with modern scale fingerings evolving over a long period of time. Similarly, views on the function of the right wrist in bowing are shown to change gradually, moving towards a more active upper arm movement with less extreme flexibility of the wrist. Two central expressive techniques especially associated with string playing arc considered in the context of the cello, namely vibrato and portamento. These topics are examined in the light of written indications in music, recommendations in cello treatises, and the practices evidenced in early recordings. The sources for this study can be brought into an overall
framework of a constant dialogue between `theory', as expressed in verbal instructions to the learner, or general a priori reflections about the cello, and `practice', manifested in performing editions and early recordings, or in individual acts of reception. A wide divergence is noted, both between theory and practice in general, and in terms of different styles of playing observable at any one time. It is suggested that tensions between practice
and critical disapproval can be resolved in terms of Lacanian discourse. Several test cases are used in order to compare several different recordings of the same works. The question of the musical character of the cello is discussed in terms of widespread assumptions about its gendered identity. A wide range of sources suggest that this moved from a straightforwardly `masculine' identity expressed through a controlling, elevated eloquence to a less clearly defined one, incorporating the 'feminine', with a greater stress on uninhibited emotional expression. Some performance implications for this change of view are pursued with respect to specific repertoires. Broad conclusions stress the importance of the diversity of performance practices as opposed to unifying generalisations
Reservoir computing with output feedback
No full textReinhart RF. Reservoir computing with output feedback. Bielefeld: Bielefeld University; 2011.A dynamical system approach to forward and inverse modeling is proposed. Forward and inverse models are trained in associative recurrent neural networks that are based on non-linear random projections. Feedback of estimated outputs into such reservoir networks is a key ingredient in the context of bidirectional association but entails the problem of error amplification. Robust training of reservoir networks with output feedback is achieved by a novel one-shot learning and regularization method for input-driven recurrent neural networks. It is shown that output feedback enables the implementation of ambiguous inverse models by means of multi-stable dynamics. The proposed methodology is applied to movement generation of robotic manipulators in a feedforward-feedback control framework
Design and Implementation of Intelligent Control Software for a Dough Kneader
No full textAbstractIn traditional dough kneading machines the ingredients, e.g. flour, water, salt and yeast are filled into a cylindrical vessel and mixed by means of a rotating spiral. In order to assure consistent dough quality while environmental conditions and flour characteristics vary, an experienced baker needs to 1) manually set the rotational speed as well as the time for kneading and 2) continuously monitor the kneading process. The overall goal of this work is to develop an intelligent kneading machine that autonomously decides how to set the speed and when to stop kneading. This machine assists the bakers work and allows for more efficient use of kneaders as part of autonomous production systems. We describe the design of intelligent information processing algorithms that were implemented in a technology demonstrator and validated with the expertise of professional bakers. While focusing on the control software, the underlying concepts are explained and relevant results are shown. In particular, reliable detection of phase-shifts and model-based prediction of dough properties was achieved
Proceedings from the 2nd European Clinical Consensus Conference for device-based therapies for hypertension. state of the art and considerations for the future
No full textThe interest in RDN for hypertension has fluctuated recently, with a flurry of initial enthusiasm followed by sudden loss of interest by researchers and device manufacturers, with an almost as sudden resurgence in clinical trials activity and device innovation more recently. There is widespread consensus that this therapeutic strategy can be effective, at least for some of the technologies available. Major uncertainties remain as to the clinical role of RDN, and whether any of the emerging technologies such as AV-anastomosis formation, carotid body ablation, carotid bulb expansion, or baroreflex stimulation will have a future as effective treatment options in patients with hypertension. In our first consensus report in 2015, the European Expert Group pointed to the major unmet need of standardization of measurements, trial design and procedural performance.6 With the large number of different technologies currently in the pipeline, this need has even increased. Only through high-quality, collaborative research and openness to new methods for recruitment, patient selection, and assessment of outcomes will it be possible to establish incontrovertibly whether device therapies for hypertension are effective and what are preferred patient populations. Once the proof of concept is established, further studies with a design relevant to clinical reality will be needed to establish the place of new devices in the treatment armoury. The clinical and research community has a large responsibility to prove or disprove the value of new therapies, in order to ensure that antihypertensive devices provide future patients with the greatest benefit and the smallest risk. copy; The Author 2017
CHINA´S TERMS OF TRADE IN MANIFACTURES 1993-2000
No full textRecent years have witnessed the rapid growth of China’s imports and exports of manufactures, as well as critical changes in its terms of trade. This study compares trends in China’s price indices for exports and imports between 1993 and 2000. It also examines the terms of trade for China’s manufactures with respect to (i) different partner countries and country groups, including all developed countries, all developing countries, the European Union, the United States, Japan, the four first-tier East Asian NIEs, the ASEAN Four (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand) and other developing countries, and (ii) different product groups, including total exports and imports as well as various categories of manufactured products. The study attempts to explore and assess the factors that shaped the trends, and, based on the resulting conclusions, to make recommendations for developing countries seeking to improve their terms of trade for manufactures.
A simulative approach to efficient microstructure optimisation: identifying microstructural influences on the damage properties of dualphase steels
No full textThe optimisation of materials and processes has sped up the development of technologies, production and infrastructure tremendously. Steel is historically one of the most important materials, for the manufacturing of many components, reaching from infrastructure (e.g. railways, bridges), to intricate machinery. Thus, a lot of effort already went into optimizing steel as a material. From these improvements new material classes inside the overarching steel material were created; e.g. structural steels, advanced high strength steels (AHSS), medium manganese steels (MMnS), tool steels, to only name a few. In recent years the optimisation has expanded from simply adapting the mechanical properties for specific application towards including sustainability and ecological factors. For this reason, steels have become more specific towards their application field, as lightweight construction plays a very important role in the reduction of CO2 emission and therefore in the ecological impact components have. The optimisation process accelerated with the implementation of digital tools, such as computer based finite element simulations. They started out as simple elastic/plastic idealised simulations but became more sophisticated as computational power began to increase. This led to material models that describe the flow behaviour as well as the damage induced softening accurately. In recent years the microstructure of materials became a focus of optimisation, as it is extremely influential on mechanical and damage properties of a material. Again, the digitalisation of all processes showed to yield promising results and statistically representative volume elements (sRVE) became a key research topic that aimed at representing the microstructure digitally [1]. Even the 2021 elected German government realised the potential of the utilisation of digital twins or shadows, like the sRVEs are, of the material and has stipulated the promotion of these processes in the coalition agreement [2]. However, for these highly specialised steels, mentioned above, the microstructure has become increasingly complex, utilizing multiple different crystallographic phases, as well as specific heat treatments to reach the desired microstructure of the material and with it the desired usability and mechanical properties. So, to tailor the microstructure further for a specific process, it is imperative to first recreate the microstructure as a digital twin or shadow through the means of sRVE. These sRVEs are not accurate representations of images of the real microstructure, but instead apply statistical descriptions of the material to represent it virtually. Substantial progress was made in the precise recreation of the microstructures from the simple two-dimensional sRVE [3] towards more sophisticated approaches like newer versions of DREAM.3D (e.g. version 6.5.163) [4]. However even with the newer virtual microstructure construction algorithms lack the possibility to incorporate all features, as well as truly realistic grain shapes. Additionally, the input data for these statistically representative models has to be gathered from microstructure images. To then generate the input data necessary for a realistic sRVE, simple distribution functions are usually applied. However, this omits the fact that there are multiple interactions between the microstructure 2 parameters at work. In this work, these missing key components were developed to develop a method for accurate microstructure representation. The focus for this step was more on the input generation, while the microstructure representation was the key focus of a co-author. To allow for an optimization of the microstructure a coherent method must be developed. This is the aim of this work: To provide a method and pathway for efficient microstructure optimisation. Thus, the research hypothesis is as follows: For efficient microstructure optimisation, digital tools have to be applied and a thorough understanding of the microstructure and its effects has to be obtained. To develop and test the methods for microstructure optimisation, a use case was necessary. As the damage properties are of current interest to the field of material science the damage properties of a DP800 steel were examined. DP steel was chosen as this steel class has a complex enough microstructure to provide enough adjustable parameters, while being rather simple in regards of its mechanical properties and the way damage forms. This thesis then aims at filling in the gap of knowledge described before, by developing a method that is capable of quantifying the influence of individual parameters of a microstructure on the damage behaviour. To individually determine the influence of each separate microstructural feature it is mandatory to use a simulative approach. In this way, a method can be developed and tested that is suitable for efficient and effective microstructure design and optimisation. The clear-cut target is to describe the microstructure of the DP800 as accurately as possible and find influencing factors for the damage properties. In this way, the optimisation of steel microstructures for specific loading paths and use cases is supposed to be significantly enhanced and the advantages of the separate microstructures are then easily quantifiable
Research in medical education - chances and challenges : international conference, 20th - 22nd May 2009, Heidelberg ; congress abstracts
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