1,352 research outputs found
Service Thinking in Design of Complex Sustainment Solutions
No full textDecision Engineering SeriesDelivering contracted performance levels for service based on the sustainment of complex engineering systems is a necessary but not sufficient condition for user satisfaction. Service is received in a context that is shaped by the state of mind of the customer—perceptions, biases, memories, intentions and patterns of thinking. Service teams need to understand the “mind of the customer“, complementing the “voice of the customer” used in requirements development. The chapter considers how service solutions are designed and suggests that the state of mind of the customer needs greater consideration during solution development. The service team functions in the social dimension to understand the customer’s mind and harmonises the service solution. The dominant thinking style in social space is characterised as “service thinking“, complementing the system thinking style which dominates in the conceptual space of product-service systems.L.A. Wood and P.H. Taske
Cytochrome oxidase subunit VI of Trypanosoma brucei is imported without a cleaved presequence and is developmentally regulated at both RNA and protein levels
Get PDFMitochondrial respiration in the African trypanosome undergoes dramatic developmental stage regulation. This requires co-ordinated control of components encoded by both the nuclear genome and the kinetoplast, the unusual mitochondrial genome of these parasites. As a model for understanding the co-ordination of these genomes, we have examined the regulation and mitochondrial import of a nuclear-encoded component of the cytochrome oxidase complex, cytochrome oxidase subunit VI (COXVI). By generating transgenic trypanosomes expressing intact or mutant forms of this protein, we demonstrate that COXVI is not imported using a conventional cleaved presequence and show that sequences at the N-terminus of the protein are necessary for correct mitochondrial sorting. Analyses of endogenous and transgenic COXVI mRNA and protein expression in parasites undergoing developmental stage differentiation demonstrates a temporal order of control involving regulation in the abundance of, first, mRNA and then protein. This represents the first dissection of the regulation and import of a nuclear-encoded protein into the cytochrome oxidase complex in these organisms, which were among the earliest eukaryotes to possess a mitochondrion
Linking [M-3(III)] triangles with "double-headed" phenolic oximes
Get PDFStrapping two salicylaldoxime units together with aliphatic alpha,Omega-aminomethyl links in the 3-position gives ligands which allow the assembly of the polynuclear complexes [Fe7O2(OH)(6)(H(2)L1)(3)(py)(6)] (BF4)(5)center dot 6H(2)O center dot 14MeOH (1 center dot 6H(2)O center dot 14MeOH), [Fe6O(OH)(7)(H2L2)(3)](BF4)(3)center dot 4H(2)O center dot 9MeOH (2 center dot 4H(2)O center dot 9MeOH) and [Mn6O2(OH)(2)(H(2)L1)(3)(py)(4)(MeCN)(2)](BF4)(5)(NO3)center dot 3MeCN center dot H2O center dot 5py (3 center dot 3MeCN center dot H2O center dot 5py). In each case the metallic skeleton of the cluster is based on a trigonal prism in which two [(M3O)-O-III] triangles are tethered together via three helically twisted double-headed oximes. The latter are present as H2L2- in which the oximic and phenolic O-atoms are deprotonated and the amino N-atoms protonated, with the oxime moieties bridging across the edges of the metal triangles. Both the identity of the metal ion and the length of the straps connecting the salicylaldoxime units have a major impact on the nuclearity and topology of the resultant cluster, with, perhaps counter-intuitively, the longer straps producing the "smallest" molecules.</p
3–20 GHz GaN MMIC Power Amplifier Design Through a COUT Compensation Strategy
Get PDFThis paper presents the design approach for a compact, single-stage, wideband MMIC power amplifier. A method is proposed to compensate the output capacitance of the active device over a frequency range as wide as possible, with minimum impact on the achievable output power, that leads to a 2- element compensating network. A 3- section transformer is then adopted for a real-to-real transformation. The CW characterization shows output power higher than 32dBm and drain efficiency between 35% and 45%, over a fractional bandwidth of 148%, from 3 GHz to 20 GHz
Focus : Thailand : Trade and investment. by Rodney Tasker
No full textVarious articles. p.33 Voters' second chance. p.38 Economy: Off the boil but still hot. p.40 Investment: A nap after gorging. p.42 The missing link. p.44 Exports: Looking to value-added. p.46 Environment: Cleaning up their act. p.48 Rural Poverty. p.49 Financial reforms
METAL NON-METAL AND OTHER INTERFACES - THE ROLE OF IMAGE INTERACTIONS
No full textThe authors argue that many phenomena associated with metal/nonmetal interfaces and similar situations with a large dielectric constant mismatch can be understood in terms of the image interactions due to charges in the nonmetal. The effects are additional to the traditional interactions, and are especially significant when no reactions between the phases occur. The image-charge concept allows one to rationalise much apparently unrelated information concerning: (a) the systematics of wetting and nonwetting of oxides by liquid metals; (b) the systematics of strong metal-support interaction in catalysis; (c) the spatial variation of stoichiometry in oxides grown on metals; (d) the dependence on thickness of the observed changes in the wetting by water of oxide grown on silicon; (e) some features of radiation-enhanced adhesion; and (f) a number of correlations of behaviour with nonmetal properties in which the precise choice of metal is not critical
Fracture toughness and compressive properties of cancellous bone at the head of the femur and relationships to non-invasive skeletal assessment measurements
No full textOsteoporosis defines a causal relationship between reduced bone density, reduced mechanical competence of the bone tissue of the sufferers and concomitantly an increased risk of fracture in life. The aims of the present study is: (1) to provide further evidence to support the use of Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) results from peripheral sites to provide a prediction of the density of the proximal femur; and (2) to provide rational evidence for the well-proven ability of QUS to predict directly ‘risk of fracture’. 20 femoral heads were obtained from 15 Caucasian females and 5 Caucasian males undergoing emergency surgery for a fractured neck of femur. QUS investigations of the calcaneus, proximal phalanx, distal radius and mid-shaft tibia were undertaken on the donors with 72 h of surgery. 128 fracture toughness samples and 20 compression cores were manufactured and tested. Significant relationships were found between QUS parameters determined in vivo and the apparent density (g/cm3) of the tissue at the proximal femur and both the fracture toughness and strength determined in vitro from the same donor individual. In this study we relate QUS results obtained in vivo to the actual apparent density of bone tissue from the proximal femur, donated by the same individual, and the fracture toughness and compressive strength. The study demonstrates the ability of QUS investigations at peripheral sites to accurately predict the density of bone from the proximal femur and provides evidence to support the use of QUS to predict the ‘risk of fracture’ directly.<br/
Which paediatric head injured patients might benefit from decompression? Thresholds of ICP and CPP in the first six hours.
No full textSevere head injury in childhood continues to be associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. Early surgical decompression may be beneficial and the objective of this study was to examine the relationship between age-related thresholds of mean intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) over the first 6 hours and age outcome in paediatric head injury patients. A total of 209 head injured children admitted to five UK hospitals were studied. Patients aged 2 to 16 years were included if they had a minimum of six hours of invasive pressure monitoring. Mean values of ICP and CPP over this period were calculated and compared to those with independent (good recovery and moderate disability) and poor outcome (severe disability, and death) for different age groups. There were 148 children with independent outcome (92 good recovery, 56 moderately disabled), and 61 with poor outcome (30 severely disabled, 31 deaths). There was a significant difference between those with independent compared to poor outcome in relation to ICP (p < 0.001) and CPP (p < 0.001). Patients were divided into three groups according to age. The sensitivity of ICP and CPP in predicting outcome was similar for all groups but the specificity differed between groups. At a CPP of 50 mmHg the specificity varied between the age groups (2 to 6 years: 0.47, 7 to 10 years: 0.28 and 11 to 16 years: 0.10) and similarly for an ICP of 25 mmHg (2 to 6 years: 0.53, 7 to 10 years: 0.44 and 11 to 16 years: 0.38). Younger children may be able to tolerate lower perfusion pressures and still have an independent outcome. Our threshold values for young children are likely to be important in the identification of patients who might benefit from new treatments such as surgical decompression.</p
Relaxation dynamics in a Fe7 nanomagnet
Get PDFWe investigate the phonon-induced relaxation dynamics in the Fe-7 magnetic molecule, which is made of two Fe3+ triangles bridged together by a central Fe3+ ion. The competition between different antiferromagnetic exchange interactions leads to a low-spin ground state multiplet with a complex pattern of low-lying excited levels. We theoretically investigate the decay of the time correlation function of molecular observables, such as the cluster magnetization, due to the spin-phonon interaction. We find that more than one time contributes to the decay of the molecular magnetization. The relaxation dynamics is probed by measurements of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T-1. The interpretation of these measurements allows the determination of the magnetoelastic coupling strength and to set the scale factor of the relaxation dynamics time scales. In our theoretical interpretation of 1/T-1 data we also take into account the wipeout effect at low temperatures.</p
ATTACHMENT MATCHING AND CO-PARENTAL INTUITIVE INTERACTIONS IN SAME-SEX AND OPPOSITE-SEX COUPLES WHO PROGRAMMING PARENTHOOD
No full textResearch has shown that parents own implicit communicative abilities allow them to care for and stimulate their baby and to cooperate co-parents in order to support infant development. The aim of this study was to explore how partners’ adult attachment styles match in order to ensure a higher quality of intuitive co-parental interaction. Two characteristics of adult attachment style have been investigated in this study: a) the couple average level of security in attachment; b) the difference in attachment security within the couple. One-hundred fifteen unmarried Lesbian Gay Heterosexuals couples were recruited across Italy and Belgium (Belgium N = 128; Italy N = 102; 64 Gay M=29.05, SD=7.22; 62 Lesbians M=25.98, SD=5.15; 96 Heterosexuals M=25.00, SD=4.08). We used the Security Scale of the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ), to operationalize the construct of attachment matching. Two variables for the attachment matching within the couple members have been created-: CAAS (Couple Average Attachment Security) and CDAS (Couple Difference Attachment Security). Co-parental intuitive abilities have been assessed via Prenatal Lausanne Trilogue Play paradigm. We performed a multiple regression analysis to test main effects, as well as the interaction, between CAAS and CDAS in predicting intuitive co-parenting. Results revealed a significant interaction between CAAS and CDAS. The interpretation of the interaction effect showed that CAAS has a negative non-significant effect when CDAS score is high but a positive marginally significant effect when CDAS is low. The mean of security between partners has an effect on co-parental intuitive behaviors only when the two partners have a similar level of attachment security. Results show how a similar pattern of attachment between the partners predict the quality of co-parental interactions irrespective of whether the parenting couple comprised two mothers, two fathers or a heterosexual mother and father
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