Electronic services, new public sector structures, and knowledge (mis)management

Session 5: Knowledge societ

Using design-of-experiments techniques for an efficient finite element study of the influence of changed parameters in design

All designs are marred by uncertainties and tolerances in dimen- sions, load levels etc. Traditionally, one has often over-dimensioned to take these uncertainties into account. The demand for optimized designs with high quality and reliability increases, which means that more sophisticated methods have been developed, see e.g. Lochner and Matar (1990). By describing the fluctuations in design parame- ters in terms of distributions with expectation and variance, the design can be examined with statistical methods, which results in a more op-timized design. This treatment of the design often demands several experiments, and to plan these experiments Design Of Experiments (DOE) techniques, see e.g. Montgomery (1991), are often used. By using DOE methods the design variables are systematically altered, which minimizes the number of experiments needed. The output of the experiments is the results of a specified response function, giving an indication of the influence of design variable fluctuations. A FEM system is a suitable tool when performing repeated, similar analyses. Examples exist where the DOE process has been performed external- ly and then transferred to the FEM system in the form of parameter sets defining the analysis cases that are to be solved, see e.g. Summers et al. (1996) and Billings (1996). This paper describes a statistical DOE module based on Taguchi’s method that works within ANSYS. The module plans the FEM anal-ysis and calculates the standard statistical moments of the FEM result. This module serves as a powerful tool for the engineering designer or analysts when examining the influence of variance and mean value of different design variables. It also serves as an exploration of where to concentrate an optimization process

Timing of spring migration in birds: long-term trends, North Atlantic Oscillation and the significance of different migration routes

We studied long-term trends and the yearly variation in mean spring passage time in 36 passerine bird species trapped at Ottenby Bird Observatory in south-eastern Sweden. Between the years 1952-2002, data were available for 22-45 years depending on species. Most long-distance migrant species passed progressively earlier over the study period (range: 2.5 days earlier to 0.7 days later per 10 years, with an average of 0.9 days earlier per 10 years). The annual variation in timing of migration in most species, regardless of migration distance, correlated negatively with the winter index of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a large-scale climate phenomenon influencing the climate in the North Atlantic region. Birds passed earlier after mild and humid winters., corresponding to the high phase of the NAO. This corroborates the pattern round at a nearby migration site with a comparable dataset (Helgoland, 600 km WSW of Ottenby). However, short/medium-distance migrant species at Otterby, in contrast to the situation at Helgoland, have shown no general trend of earlier passage in recent years. This was probably a consequence of the shorter study period at Ottenby, which included only the last 22-32 years (41 years at Helgoland), when the NAO showed no significant trend. At the species-specific level, the long-term trends in passage time were similar at the two sites, and there was some congruence to the extent that a given species was affected by NAO. Long-distance migrants wintering south and south-east of the breeding grounds showed some of the strongest changes in long-term trends (passing progressively earlier) at Ottenby, and for some of these species passage time varied negatively with NAO. Obviously, and contrary to previous suggestions, variations in NAO also influence birds migrating through eastern Europe, although the direct or indirect mechanisms through which this is achieved are unknown

Экономическая эффективность ранней диагностики и реабилитации при заболеваниях желчевыводящей системы у детей в Республике Беларусь

экономика медицинскаяжелчных путей болезниздравоохранение Республики Беларус

Levels of 17β-Estradiol Receptors Expressed in Embryonic and Adult Zebrafish Following In Vivo Treatment of Natural or Synthetic Ligands

The nuclear receptors encompass a group of regulatory proteins involved in a number of physiological processes. The estrogen receptors (ERs), of which one alpha and one beta form exist in mammals function as transcription factors in response to 17β-estradiol (E2). In zebrafish there are three gene products of estrogen receptors and they are denoted esr1 (ERalpha), esr2a (ERbeta2) and esr2b (ERbeta1). Total RNA of zebrafish early life stages (<3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours post fertilization) and of adult fish (liver, intestine, eye, heart, brain, ovary, testis, gill, swim bladder and kidney) were isolated following in vivo exposures. Using specific primers for each of the three zebrafish ERs the expression levels were quantified using real time PCR methodology. It was shown that in absence of exposure all three estrogen receptors were expressed in adult fish. The levels of expression of two of these three ER genes, the esr1 and esr2a were altered in organs such as liver, intestine, brain and testis in response to ligand (E2, diethylstilbestrol or 4-nonylphenol). During embryogenesis two of the three receptor genes, esr1 and esr2b were expressed, and in presence of ligand the mRNA levels of these two genes increased. The conclusions are i) estrogen receptor genes are expressed during early development ii) altered expression of esr genes in response to ligand is dependent on the cellular context; iii) the estrogenic ligand 4-nonylphenol, a manufactured compound commonly found in sewage of water treatment plants, acts as an agonist of the estrogen receptor during development and has both agonist and antagonist properties in tissues of adult fish. This knowledge of esr gene function in development and in adult life will help to understand mechanisms of interfering mimicking endocrine chemicals in vivo

Nonlinearity in social dynamics – order versus chaos

This paper discusses the significance of applying nonlinear theory to examine the complexity of social and economic evolution. First, we generally examine possible implications of nonlinear theory for analyzing the complexity of human societies. Second, we select two socio-economic models to illustrate our viewpoints

The epidemiology of upper respiratory tract disorders in a population of insured Swedish dogs (2011-2014), and its association to brachycephaly

Upper respiratory tract (URT) disorders are common in dogs but neither general nor breed-related epidemiological data are widely reported. This study ' s aims were to describe the epidemiology of URT disorders in a Swedish population of dogs and to investigate whether brachycephalic breeds were overrepresented among high-risk breeds. A cohort of dogs insured by Agria Djurforsakring in Sweden (2011-2014) was used to calculate overall and breed-specific incidence rate (IR), age at first URT diagnosis and relative risk (RR) for URT disorders. For breeds with high RR for URT disorders, co-morbidities throughout the dog's insurance period and age at death were investigated. The cohort included approximately 450,000 dogs. URT disorders had an overall IR of 50.56 (95% CI; 49.14-52.01) per 10,000 dog years at risk. Among 327 breeds, the English bulldog, Japanese chin, Pomeranian, Norwich terrier and pug had highest RR of URT disorders. Eight of 13 breeds with high RR for URT disorders were brachycephalic. The median age at first URT diagnosis was 6.00 years (interquartile range 2.59-9.78). French bulldogs with URT diagnoses had a significantly shorter life span (median = 3.61 years) than other breeds with URT diagnosis (median = 7.81 years). Dogs with high risk for URT disorders had more co-morbidities than average

Multiple Genetic Loci Associated with Pug Dog Thoracolumbar Myelopathy

Pug dogs with thoracolumbar myelopathy (PDM) present with a specific clinical phenotype that includes progressive pelvic limb ataxia and paresis, commonly accompanied by incontinence. Vertebral column malformations and lesions, excessive scar tissue of the meninges, and central nervous system inflammation have been described. PDM has a late onset and affects more male than female dogs. The breed-specific presentation of the disorder suggests that genetic risk factors are involved in the disease development. To perform a genome-wide search for PDM-associated loci, we applied a Bayesian model adapted for mapping complex traits (BayesR) and a cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity test (XP-EHH) in 51 affected and 38 control pugs. Nineteen associated loci (harboring 67 genes in total, including 34 potential candidate genes) and three candidate regions under selection (with four genes within or next to the signal) were identified. The multiple candidate genes identified have implicated functions in bone homeostasis, fibrotic scar tissue, inflammatory responses, or the formation, regulation, and differentiation of cartilage, suggesting the potential relevance of these processes to the pathogenesis of PDM