Interoperability and Standards: The Way for Innovative Design in Networked Working Environments

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityIn today’s networked economy, strategic business partnerships and outsourcing has become the dominant paradigm where companies focus on core competencies and skills, as creative design, manufacturing, or selling. However, achieving seamless interoperability is an ongoing challenge these networks are facing, due to their distributed and heterogeneous nature. Part of the solution relies on adoption of standards for design and product data representation, but for sectors predominantly characterized by SMEs, such as the furniture sector, implementations need to be tailored to reduce costs. This paper recommends a set of best practices for the fast adoption of the ISO funStep standard modules and presents a framework that enables the usage of visualization data as a way to reduce costs in manufacturing and electronic catalogue design.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

Measurement of the 0.511 MeV gamma ray line from the Galactic Center

The detection of the 0.511 MeV electron positron annihilation line coming from the Galactic Center to provide the means to estimate the rate of positron production and to test some theoretical sources of positrons is addressed. The results of the measurements of the 0.511 MeV line flux made with a gamma ray experiment on board a stratospheric balloon are presented. The detector field of view looked at the galactic longitude range -31 deg l(II) +41 deg. The observed flux is 0.0067 (+ or - 0.0005) photons 1/cm(2)5 which is in very good agreement with the expected flux when assuming that the Galactic Center is a line source emitting uniformly

Role of dipolar interactions in a system of Ni nanoparticles studied by magnetic susceptibility measurements

The role of dipolar interactions among Ni nanoparticles (NP) embedded in an amorphous SiO2/C matrix with different concentrations has been studied performing ac magnetic susceptibility Chi_ac measurements. For very diluted samples, with Ni concentrations < 4 wt % Ni or very weak dipolar interactions, the data are well described by the Neel-Arrhenius law. Increasing Ni concentration to values up to 12.8 wt % Ni results in changes in the Neel-Arrhenius behavior, the dipolar interactions become important, and need to be considered to describe the magnetic response of the NPs system. We have found no evidence of a spin-glasslike behavior in our Ni NP systems even when dipolar interactions are clearly present.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 3 table

Uso de herramientas geostadísticas para evaluar diseños de muestreo aplicado a una experiencia

We present a bottom trawl survey (BTS) field experience carried out off the Portuguese Continental shelf to test two sampling designs proposals previously analysed by simulation which implement a hybrid random-systematic and a systematic sampling strategy. We used a common base regular grid covering the survey area and overlapped it with the existent random design to build the hybrid design while the systematic design added a set of regular locations at smaller distances creating four denser sampling areas. We use hake (Merluccius merluccius) abundance and model-based geostatistics to compute measures such as mean abundance, µ, and the 95% percentile, p95, which summarise the areal behaviour; coverage of the prediction confidence interval, ξ, to assess the adequacy of the model; and a modified generalised cross validation index, p, to evaluate prediction precision. The hybrid design showed a lower coefficient of variation for µ (11.89% against 13.25%); a slightly higher coefficient of variation for p95 (11.31% against 11.09%); similar ξ (0.94); and lower π (16.32 against 18.82). We conclude that the hybrid design performs better, our procedure for building it can be used to adjust BTS designs to modern geostatistical techniques, and the statistics used constitute valuable tools for assessing BTS performance.Presentamos una experiencia de campo mediante campañas de arrastre demersal (CAD) llevada a cabo en la plataforma continental portuguesa con el fin de evaluar dos propuestas de diseño de muestreo. Las dos propuestas se analizaron previamente mediante técnicas de simulación implementando dos estrategias de muestreo: estrategia híbrida aleatoria-sistemática y estrategia sistemática. Se utilizó una rejilla de celdas regular común cubriendo el área de estudio y se superpuso con el diseño aleatorio existente para construir el diseño híbrido, mientras que el diseño sistemático añade un conjunto de puntos de muestreo regulares a menor distancia para crear cuatro áreas de muestreo más densas. Se usa la abundancia de merluza (Merluccius merluccius) y técnicas geostadísticas basadas en modelo para calcular medidas como: abundancia media, &micro;, y el percentil 95%, p95, que resumen el comportamiento areal; la cobertura del intervalo de confianza de predicción, &#958;, para evaluar la bondad del modelo; y un índice modificado de validación cruzada generalizada, &#960;, para evaluar la precisión de la predicción. Se obtuvo un coeficiente de variación menor para &micro;con el diseño híbrido (11.89% frente a 13.25%); un coeficiente de variación ligeramente más alto para p95 (11.31% frente a 11.09%); una &#958; similar (0.94); y menor &#960; (16.32 contra 18.82). se concluye que el diseño híbrido funciona mejor y nuestro procedimiento para construirlo puede ser usado para ajustar diseños CAD a técnicas geostadísticas modernas, y que los estadísticos usados constituyen herramientas valiosas para evaluar el rendimiento de CAD

Can the Visits of Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) Influence the Mental Health (Anxiety and Depression) of Male Aging Patients Institutionalized with Dementia in Health Care Units? A Pilot Study of Madeira Island, Portugal

Despite the fact that in the last decades, several mental health studies have shown that companion animals contribute to psychological and social well- being in humans (e.g., positive impacts have been observed in the elderly medicated for chronic diseases such as anxiety, dementia, and depression), bonds between humans and other animals continue to be under-estimated. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of an animal’s visits (twice a week, N = 30) in depression and anxiety levels of an institutionalized male population diagnosed with dementia. While some of these patients are being partially medicated with antidepressants and/or anxiolytics, others are not subject to any medication (control group). The GAI and GDS measuring instruments were used and there were differences in anxiety and depression levels between the first and last dog visit, statistically significant in depression levels of nonmedicated patients. Such findings allow us to conclude that the effects of the visits of an animal near nonmedicated patients are greater than near medicated ones. The complementary role of animals in mental health institutions where patients are being treated for psychiatric disorders (in the particular case of dementia) should be considered

Spatiotemporal dynamics of PDGFRβ expression in pericytes and glial scar formation in penetrating brain injuries in adults

Aims: Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of reactive cell types following brain injury is important for future therapeutic interventions. We have previously used penetrating cortical injuries following intracranial recordings as a brain repair model to study scar-forming nestin-expressing cells. We now explore the relationship between nestin-expressing cells, PDGFRβ+ pericytes and Olig2+ glia, including their proliferation and functional maturation. Methods: In 32 cases, ranging from 3 to 461 days post injury (dpi), immunohistochemistry for PDGFRβ, nestin, GFAP, Olig2, MCM2, Aquaporin 4 (Aq4), Glutamine Synthetase (GS), and Connexin 43 (Cx43) were quantified for cell densities, labelling index (LI) and cellular co-expression at the injury site compared to control regions. Results: PDGFRβ labelling highlighted both pericytes and multipolar parenchymal cells. PDGFRβ LI and PDGFRβ+/MCM2+ cells significantly increased in injury zones at 10-13 dpi with migration of pericytes away from vessels with increased co-localisation of PDGRFβ with nestin compared to control regions (p < 0.005). Olig2+/MCM2+ cell populations peaked at 13 dpi with significantly higher cell densities at injury sites than in control regions (p < 0.01) and decreasing with dpi (p < 0.05). Cx43 LI was reduced in acute injuries but increased with dpi (p < 0.05) showing significant cellular co-localisation with nestin and GFAP (p<0.005 and p<0.0001) but not PDGFRβ. Conclusions: These findings indicate that PDGFRβ+ and Olig2+ cells contribute to the proliferative fraction following penetrating brain injuries, with evidence of pericyte migration. Dynamic changes in Cx43 in glial cell types with dpi suggests functional alterations during temporal stages of brain repair

Metal-insulator transition in Nd1−x_{1-x}Eux_{x}NiO3_{3} compounds

Polycrystalline Nd$_{1-x}$Eu$_{x}$NiO$_3$ ($0 \leq x \leq 0.5$) compounds were synthesized in order to investigate the character of the metal-insulator (MI) phase transition in this series. Samples were prepared through the sol-gel route and subjected to heat treatments at $\sim$1000 $^\circ$C under oxygen pressures as high as 80 bar. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Neutron Powder Diffraction (NPD), electrical resistivity $\rho(T)$, and Magnetization $M(T)$ measurements were performed on these compounds. The results of NPD and XRD indicated that the samples crystallize in an orthorhombic distorted perovskite structure, space group $Pbnm$. The analysis of the structural parameters revealed a sudden and small expansion of $\sim$0.2% of the unit cell volume when electronic localization occurs. This expansion was attributed to a small increase of $\sim$0.003 \AA{} of the average Ni-O distance and a simultaneous decrease of $\sim$$- 0.5^\circ$ of the Ni-O-Ni superexchange angle. The $\rho(T)$ measurements revealed a MI transition occurring at temperatures ranging from $T_{\rm MI}\sim 193$ to 336 K for samples with $x = 0$ and 0.50, respectively. These measurements also show a large thermal hysteresis in NdNiO$_{3}$ during heating and cooling processes suggesting a first-order character of the phase transition at $T_{\rm MI}$. The width of this thermal hysteresis was found to decrease appreciably for the sample Nd$_{0.7}$Eu$_{0.3}$NiO$_{3}$. The results indicate that cation disorder associated with increasing substitution of Nd by Eu is responsible for changing the first order character of the transition in NdNiO$_{3}$.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure