A modelling framework for the assessment of the impacts of alternative policy and management options on the sustainability of Finnish agrifood systems

Recently, a new project focussing on integrated assessment modelling of agrifood systems (IAM-Tools) has been launched at MTT Agrifood Research Finland to gather, evaluate, refine and develop these component models and to link tem in an IAM framework for Finnish conditions

Cognitive Information Processing

Contains research objectives and summary of research on five research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant SED74-12653-A01)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-76-C-1400)National Science Foundation (Grant ENG74-24344)Associated Press (Grant)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 ROI GM22547-01)National Institutes of Health (Grant 2 PO1 GM19428-04

Aerodynamics of Pitching Wings: Theory and Experiments

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140444/1/6.2014-2881.pd

Effect of the fat composition of a single high-fat meal on inflammatory markers in healthy young women

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of a single high-fat meal with different fat quality on circulating inflammatory markers and gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to elucidate the role of fat quality on postprandial inflammation. A postprandial study with fourteen healthy females consuming three test meals with different fat quality was performed. Test days were separated by 2 weeks. Fasting and postprandial blood samples at 3 and 6 h after intake were analysed. The test meal consisted of three cakes enriched with coconut fat (43 % energy as saturated fat and 1 % energy as a-linolenic acid (ALA)), linseed oil (14 % energy as ALA and 30 % energy as saturated fat) and cod liver oil (5 % energy as EPA and DHA and 5 % energy as ALA in addition to 31 % energy as saturated fat). In addition, ex vivo PBMC experiments were performed in eight healthy subjects investigating the effects of EPA and ALA on release and gene expression of inflammatory markers. The IL-8 mRNA level was significantly increased after intake of the cod liver oil cake at 6 h compared with fasting level, which was significantly different from the effect observed after the intake of linseed cake. In contrast, no effect was seen on circulating level of IL-8. In addition, ALA and EPA were shown to elicit different effects on the release and mRNA expression levels of inflammatory markers in PBMC cultured ex vivo, with EPA having the most prominent proinflammatory potentia

The economic and accounting content of fixed assets

This book presents a mathematical methodology for image analysis tasks at the edge of current research, including anisotropic diffusion filtering of tensor fields. Instead of specific applications, it explores methodological structures on which they are built.DIPLECS, GARNICS, NACI

Estimating travel reduction associated with the use of telemedicine by patients and healthcare professionals: proposal for quantitative synthesis in a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A major benefit offered by telemedicine is the avoidance of travel, by patients, their carers and health care professionals. Unfortunately, there is very little published information about the extent of avoided travel. We propose to undertake a systematic review of literature which reports credible data on the reductions in travel associated with the use of telemedicine.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The conventional approach to quantitative synthesis of the results from multiple studies is to conduct a meta analysis. However, too much heterogeneity exists between available studies to allow a meaningful meta analysis of the avoided travel when telemedicine is used across all possible settings. We propose instead to consider all credible evidence on avoided travel through telemedicine by fitting a linear model which takes into account the relevant factors in the circumstances of the studies performed. We propose the use of stepwise multiple regression to identify which factors are significant.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our proposed approach is illustrated by the example of teledermatology. In a preliminary review of the literature we found 20 studies in which the percentage of avoided travel through telemedicine could be inferred (a total of 5199 patients). The mean percentage avoided travel reported in the 12 store-and-forward studies was 43%. In the 7 real-time studies and in a single study with a hybrid technique, 70% of the patients avoided travel. A simplified model based on the modality of telemedicine employed (i.e. real-time or store and forward) explained 29% of the variance. The use of store and forward teledermatology alone was associated with 43% of avoided travel. The increase in the proportion of patients who avoided travel (25%) when real-time telemedicine was employed was significant (<it>P </it>= 0.014). Service planners can use this information to weigh up the costs and benefits of the two approaches.</p

Experiments and Computations on the Lift of Accelerating Flat Plates at Incidence

This paper discusses the force history and flow topology of accelerating flat-plate wings. The work is a collaborative effort to study fundamental, unsteady low-Reynolds-number flows. The motion kinematics is designed to be relevant to the micro air vehicle flight regime. A combination of experimental and computational techniques is used to obtain data for comparison. There is a striking correlation of lift history data and flow topology from both experimental and computational data sets. It is found that the leading/trailing-edge vortex core separation during the initial part of a surge motion can be reasonably well approximated by c⋅cosα, , and the leading/trailing-edge vortex relative advection velocity is estimated to be 0.5⋅U∞. This leading/trailing-edge vortex relative advection velocity is a useful measure of how quickly the trailing-edge vortex moves away from the leading-edge vortex, which can influence lift for accelerating flat plates at high incidence angles.R. J. Bomphrey and N. Phillips were supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H004025/1 to R. J. Bomphrey). R. J. Bomphrey and T. Nakata were supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J001244/1 to R. J. Bomphrey)