Temporal Shape Changes and Future Trends in European Automotive Design

Evolution produces genuine novelty in morphology through the selection of competing designs as phenotypes. When applied to human creativity, the evolutionary paradigm can provide insight into the ways that our technology and its design are modified through time. The shape of European utilitarian cars in the past 60 years was analyzed in order to determine whether changes occur in a gradual fashion or through saltation, clarifying which are the more conserved and more variable parts of the designs. We also attempted to predict the future appearances of the cars within the next decade, discussing all results within the framework of relevant evolutionary-like equivalences. Here, we analyzed the modification in the shape of European utilitarian cars in the past 60 years by three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to test whether these changes occurred in a gradual or more saltatory fashion. The geometric morphometric shape analysis showed that even though car brands have always been preserving distinct shapes, all followed a gradual pattern of evolution which is now converging toward a more similar fusiform and compact asset. This process was described using Darwinian evolution as a metaphor to quantify and interpret changes over time and the societal pressures promoting them.This research was funded by project RITFIM (ref. CTM2010-16274, of the Spanish national RTD program. J. Aguzzi is a postdoctoral Fellow of the Spanish Ramón y Cajal Program (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

How Wood Fuels\u2019 Quality Relates to the Standards: A Class-Modelling Approach

The quality requirements of wood biofuels are regulated by a series of harmonized international standards. These standards define the technical parameter limits that influence the quality of solid biomass as a fuel. In 2014 the European reference standard for solid biofuel was replaced by the International ISO standard. In the case of wood chips, the main difference between the European and International standards is the definition of particle size distribution classes. In this context, this study analyses the quality of wood chips and its variation over the years according to the \u201cformer\u201d (EN 14691-4) and \u201cin force\u201d (ISO 17225-4) standards. A Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) model was built to predict the best quality of wood chips and to clarify the relationship between quality and standard parameters, time and changes in the standard regulations. The results show that, compared to the EN standards, classification with the ISO standards increases the samples belonging to the best quality classes and decreases the not classified samples. Furthermore, all the SIMCA models have a high sensitivity (>90%), reflect the differences introduced to the quality standards and are therefore suitable for monitoring the quality of wood chips and their changes

Evidence-Based Practice in Rehabilitation of Myasthenia Gravis. A Systematic Review of the Literature

Myasthenia gravis is a rare neuromuscular disorder characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue. This review analyzes the most recent evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of different rehabilitative approaches to the disease. The review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 365 articles were found in the main scientific databases. Applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 11 studies were admitted to the final phase of the review. Three different rehabilitative approaches were identified: physical training, respiratory training, and balance training. All rehabilitative modalities contributed to enhancing functional outcomes, reducing fatigue, and improving quality of life, but currently none can be recommended over another for the lack of cross-comparative studies. The included studies showed methodological quality from low to fair. Despite the range of rehabilitative interventions available, there is a lack of high-quality evidence. However, this review suggests that a multidisciplinary rehabilitation approach should be recommended to people with myasthenia gravis, and above all, for those with mild to moderate symptomatology

Use of multivariate approaches in biomass energy plantation harvesting: logistics advantages

Agricultural biomass supply chain consisting of multiple harvesting, storage, pre-processing, and transport operations.  This network operates in space and time coordinates and produces empirical data used for many purposes, including wood-flow planning, harvesting cost calculation and work rate setting.  The aim of this study was to explore and propose the use of a multivariate approach, namely, the Partial Least Squares (PLS) multivariate regression approach and compare its performance with the commonly used Ordinary Linear Regression (OLS).  In particular, the study aimed at comparing the main statistical significance of indicators attributed to models calculated with OLS and PLS regressions from the same original datasets, for the purpose of quantifying the eventual improvement, obtained with the new techniques.  The dataset is composed by a series of measurements (harvesting distance, load carried, plantation production, numbers of plants harvested, and tractor engine power) conducted in a harvesting yard of a poplar plantation, to forecast the demanded working times.  The technical analysis was accompanied by economic scenarios, based on three hypothetical harvesting yards.  The results indicated that the PLS innovative approach is better performing; model error indicators are 5%-6% lower than those estimated with the OLS method.  From an economic point of view the harvesting cost per ton ranges among 8.69-14.59 € t-1, 12.10-16.56 € t-1 and 13.18-16.31 € t-1 referring to the different load capacity of the trailers, using the PLS model.  Based on these results the differences between PLS and OLS varied up to 40 € ha-1.  PLS modeling and more in general the advanced multivariate approach, are getting increasingly popular, because they are very robust and are particularly suitable for modeling complex systems.   Keywords: harvesting, biomass, logistics, machine costs, multivariate statistics, ordinary linear regression, partial least square

Determining wood chip size: image analysis and clustering methods

One of the standard methods for the determination of the size distribution of wood chips is the oscillating screen method (EN 15149- 1:2010). Recent literature demonstrated how image analysis could return highly accurate measure of the dimensions defined for each individual particle, and could promote a new method depending on the geometrical shape to determine the chip size in a more accurate way. A sample of wood chips (8 litres) was sieved through horizontally oscillating sieves, using five different screen hole diameters (3.15, 8, 16, 45, 63 mm); the wood chips were sorted in decreasing size classes and the mass of all fractions was used to determine the size distribution of the particles. Since the chip shape and size influence the sieving results, Wang’s theory, which concerns the geometric forms, was considered. A cluster analysis on the shape descriptors (Fourier descriptors) and size descriptors (area, perimeter, Feret diameters, eccentricity) was applied to observe the chips distribution. The UPGMA algorithm was applied on Euclidean distance. The obtained dendrogram shows a group separation according with the original three sieving fractions. A comparison has been made between the traditional sieve and clustering results. This preliminary result shows how the image analysis-based method has a high potential for the characterization of wood chip size distribution and could be further investigated. Moreover, this method could be implemented in an online detection machine for chips size characterization. An improvement of the results is expected by using supervised multivariate methods that utilize known class memberships. The main objective of the future activities will be to shift the analysis from a 2-dimensional method to a 3- dimensional acquisition process

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma of the parapharyngeal space: A case report and review of the literature

This paper reports a rare case of Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma (LGFMS) that occurred primarily in the parapharyngeal space, in a 57-year-old woman. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of LGFMS arising from the parapharingeal space reported in the literature. Primary sarcomas of the head and neck region are very rare, accounting for approximately 1% of malignancies in this region. LGFMS is a distinctive type of soft-tissue sarcoma that was first described by Evans in 1987. LGFMS may be included in the differential diagnosis of tumors of the parapharyngeal space, and especially among the bland-looking spindle cell lesions. Despite its bland-looking morphology, this sarcoma should be recognized to avoid confusion with other bland-looking benign spindle cell lesions. Radical surgical resection with clear margins, is the treatment of choice of LGFMS. Despite its bland-looking histologic appearance, it is characterized by a malignant behavior with high rates of local recurrence and metastatic spread. For these reasones, all patients with LGFMS are recommended for long-term follow-up

A Semantic Decision Support System to optimize the energy use of public buildings

Cities are expected to play a key role in the implementation of Europe 2020 strategy, leading to relevant actions towards energy-efficient neighbourhoods. Although there are plenty of energy data and other related data sets available at the city level, their appropriate integration to support decision making processes for local authorities, still remains a challenge. To fill this gap, a web-based Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed within the framework of the OPTIMUS project to support the decision making process, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, by optimizing the energy use in their premises, and reducing CO 2 emissions. In this paper, we presents the semantic framework that has been developed to provide the required interoperability, between the DSS and the different data sources, using Semantic Web technologies. In this framework, the OPTIMUS ontology has been designed to capture and model the information from these data sources. Experimental results derived from the adoption of the ontology are discussed in this paper