262 research outputs found

    Implementing an Agent Trade Server

    Full text link
    An experimental server for stock trading autonomous agents is presented and made available, together with an agent shell for swift development. The server, written in Java, was implemented as proof-of-concept for an agent trade server for a real financial exchange.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, intended for B/W printin

    GeoNotes: A Location-based Information System for Public Spaces

    Get PDF
    The basic idea behind location-based information systems is to connect information pieces to positions in outdoor or indoor space. Through position technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS), GSM positioning, Wireless LAN positioning o

    Serum fatty acid profile does not reflect seafood intake in adolescents with atopic eczema.

    Get PDF
    AIM: Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are immunomodulatory, but their role in allergy development is controversial. We investigated whether proportions of LCPUFAs in serum phospholipids were related to allergic diagnosis, seafood intake and LCPUFA proportions in cord blood.</br></br> METHODS: Serum was obtained from 148 birth cohort children at 13 years of age. Forty had atopic eczema, 53 had respiratory allergy, and 55 were nonallergic. Proportions of LCPUFAs were determined in serum phospholipids; cord blood from 128 of the individuals was previously analysed. Seafood intake was estimated using questionnaires.</br></br> RESULTS: Allergic and nonallergic individuals did not differ significantly regarding individual LCPUFAs. However, arachidonic acid over docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ratio was higher in allergic, compared with nonallergic, adolescents. In nonallergic individuals, LCPUFA proportions in cord serum and adolescent serum correlated weakly. In individuals with atopic eczema and respiratory allergy, these correlations were weak or absent. A moderate correlation between seafood intake and serum DHA was seen in nonallergic individuals and those with respiratory allergy, but not in those with atopic eczema.</br></br> CONCLUSION: Serum LCPUFA pattern was similar in allergic and nonallergic adolescents. Fatty acid metabolism may be altered in atopic eczema subjects, suggested by poor correlations between fatty acid intake and serum levels

    A MUSE map of the central Orion Nebula (M 42)

    Get PDF
    We present a new integral-field spectroscopic dataset of the central part of the Orion Nebula (M 42), observed with the MUSE instrument at the ESO VLT. We reduced the data with the public MUSE pipeline. The output products are two FITS cubes with a spatial size of ~5.9'x4.9' (corresponding to ~0.76 pc x 0.63 pc) and a contiguous wavelength coverage of 4595...9366 Angstrom, spatially sampled at 0.2". We provide two versions with a sampling of 1.25 Angstrom and 0.85 Angstrom in dispersion direction. Together with variance cubes these files have a size of 75 and 110 GiB on disk. They represent one of the largest integral field mosaics to date in terms of information content. We make them available for use in the community. To validate this dataset, we compare world coordinates, reconstructed magnitudes, velocities, and absolute and relative emission line fluxes to the literature and find excellent agreement. We derive a two-dimensional map of extinction and present de-reddened flux maps of several individual emission lines and of diagnostic line ratios. We estimate physical properties of the Orion Nebula, using the emission line ratios [N II] and [S III] (for the electron temperature TeT_e) and [S II] and [Cl III] (for the electron density NeN_e), and show two-dimensional images of the velocity measured from several bright emission lines.Comment: Resubmitted to A&A after incorporating referee comments; access to full dataset via http://muse-vlt.eu/science/data-release

    Nursery production systems and their impact on long term development in urban trees

    Get PDF
    Träd och andra urbana naturresurser spelar en stor roll i skapandet av hållbara städer, och tillhandahåller många viktiga ekosystemtjänster. Många av dessa ekosystemtjänster är kopplade till trädens storlek och vitalitet. Staden som växtplats är dock sällan optimal, och stadsträd utsätts för mycket stress i form av bland annat torka, platsbrist, föroreningar, markkompaktering och fysiska skador. Detta försvårar etableringen av träd i städer, men påverkar även deras långsiktiga utveckling och vitalitet. Att ersätta stadsträd är också kostsamt ekonomiskt såväl som för miljön. I plantskolor används olika metoder för att främja ett välutvecklat rotsystem och därigenom underlätta etablering. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida olika plantskoleproduktionsmetoder påverkar utvecklingen av stadsträd på längre sikt (15 år). Denna studie är en uppföljning på delar av en tidigare studie som undersökte plantskoleproduktionsmetodens påverkan på etablering av träd i urbana miljöer. Träden som undersöks planterades 2008 i ett bostadsområde i Malmö, och är av arterna rödek (Quercus rubra) och sötkörsbär (Prunus avium). Träden behandlades med fem olika produktionsmetoder i plantskolan; barrot, klumpodling med eller utan rotbeskärning, fabric container (root control bag) och depåodling (air pot). I denna studie undersöktes trädens långsiktiga utveckling genom mätningar av skottillväxt och stamomfång. Resultatet visade inga signifikanta skillnader i tillväxt mellan de olika behandlingarna.Trees and other urban natural resources play a major role in the creation of sustainable cities, providing many important ecosystem services. Many of these ecosystem services are linked to tree size and vitality. However, the city as a planting site is rarely optimized, and urban trees are exposed to stress factors such as drought, lack of space, pollution, soil compaction and physical damage. This makes the establishment of trees in cities difficult, but also affects their long-term development and vitality. Replacing urban trees is also costly financially as well as for the environment. In nurseries, different methods are used to promote a well-developed root system and thereby facilitate establishment. The aim of this study is to investigate whether different nursery production systems affect the long term development of urban trees (15 years). This study is a follow-up on parts of a previous study that investigated the impact of the nursery production system on the establishment of trees in urban environments. The trees in this study were planted in 2008 in a residential area in Malmö, and the species used were red oak (Quercus rubra) and sweet cherry (Prunus avium). The trees were treated with five different production systems in the nursery; bare root, balled and burlapped with or without root pruning, fabric container (root control bag) and air pot. In this study, the long-term development of the trees was assessed through measurements of shoot growth and stem girth. The result showed no significant differences in growth between the different treatments

    Child rights governance: An introduction

    Full text link
    In this special issue, we explore child rights governance as the intersection between the study of governance and the study of children, childhood, and children’s rights. Our introduction puts forward a set of theoretical points of departure for the study of child rights governance, engaging with scholarship on human rights, international relations, history, and governance. It links the individual contributions to this special issue with four central dimensions of child rights governance, namely: temporality, spatiality, subjectivity, and normativity

    Nio specialpedagogers upplevelser av arbetet med grundsärskolans elever i grundskolan.

    Get PDF
    Det finns få studier om grundsärskolans elever som är integrerade i grundskolan. Aktuell forskning samt statliga granskningar och utredningar visar att grundskolans lärare saknar grundläggande kunskaper om intellektuell funktionsnedsättning (IF) och om grundsärskolans styrdokument och bedömningsstöd. Specialpedagogers uppfattningar är att lärare är i behov av mer hjälp, stöd och resurser för att kunna undervisa elever med IF i grundskolan. Lärare har behov av specialpedagogens stöd i arbetet med integrerade elever. Studiens övergripande syfte är att undersöka nio specialpedagogers upplevelser av arbetet med integrerade elever i grundskolan. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter grundar sig på fenomenologi samt tre perspektiv inom specialpedagogik. Studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie där kärnan i teori och metod är fenomenologi där forskaren studerar specialpedagogernas erfarenheter och upplevel ser. I studien genomförs halvstrukturerade livsvärldsintervjuer med nio specialpedagoger som har erfarenhet av integrerade elever. Följande forskningsfrågor har använts i studien: Hur upplever specialpedagogerna förutsättningarna och organisationen i arbetet med integrerade elever i grundskolan? Hur upplever specialpedagogerna möjligheter och utmaningar med planering och genomförande av undervisningen för integrerade elever i grundskolan? Hur upplever specialpedagogerna handledningen till pedagogisk personal som arbetar med integrerade elever i grundskolan? Resultatet visar att specialpedagogerna upplever att det finns en stödjande funktion centralt i respektive kommun samt stödjande ledning lokalt på respektive skola. Specialpedagogerna och rektor samverkar och är kreativa med de resurser som finns tillgängliga. Dessutom före kommer det samtalsarenor inom verksamheten där handledning genomförs. Vidare beskriver specialpedagogerna behovet av att skolledning skapar tid och förutsättningar för pedagogisk personal till handledning och kompetensutveckling. Specialpedagogerna upplever även vikten av att lyssna både på den integrerade elevens behov och den pedagogiska personalens behov. Slutsatsen i resultatdiskussionen blir att elevhälsan och pedagogisk personal samverkar för att kunna möta elevens mående och behov samt för att kunna erbjuda en tillgänglig lärmiljö

    Cat and dog ownership during/after the first year of life and risk for sensitization and reported allergy symptoms at age 13

    Get PDF
    Background: Avoidance of pets as a strategy for preventing atopic diseases has been questioned. This study aimed to identify the risk of sensitization and allergic symptoms at age 13 in relation to dog- and cat-keeping during and after the first year of life. Methods: The study included all children born at 6stersund Hospital in Northern Sweden between February 1996 and January 1997 (n = 1231). At inclusion, parents were asked to answer questionnaires about lifestyle, including cat- and dog-keeping. Dog allergy, cat allergy, hay fever, and asthma were diagnosed based on parental reported allergic symptoms at 13 years of age (n = 834). The risks of sensitization or allergy in relation to dog- and cat-keeping during and after the first year of life were analyzed with logistic regression. To adjust for reverse causation, all subjects that had reported avoidance of pets due to allergic symptoms of the child or allergy in the family (n = 177) were excluded. Results: Dog- or cat-keeping during the first year of life reduced the risk of sensitization to dog or cat allergens, respectively, and to birch and to at least one of the 10 allergens tested. Cat-keeping, both during and after the first year of life, reduced the risk of cat allergy and hay fever. Having a dog at home during the first year of life reduced the risk of dog and cat allergy, whereas dog-keeping after the first year of life did not affect allergic symptoms. Conclusions: Cat ownership, either during or after the first year of life, may be a strategy for preventing the development of cat allergy and hay fever later in life. Dog ownership reduced the risk of sensitization to dog and birch allergen, and also the risk of cat and dog allergy, but had no effect on hay fever
    corecore