Jitter and Decision-level Noise Separation in A/D Converters

Gaussian aperture jitter leads to a reduced SNR of A/D converters. Also other noise sources, faults and nonlinearities affect the digital output signal. A measurement setup for a new off-chip diagnosis method, which systematically separates the jitter-induced errors from the errors caused by these other factors, is described. Deterministic errors are removed via a subtracting technique. High-level ADC simulations and measurements have been carried out to determine relations between the size of the jitter or decision-level noise and the remaining random errors. By carrying out two tests at two different input frequencies and using the simulation results, errors induced by decision-level noise can be remove

Environmental parameters of the Tennessee River in Alabama. 1: Thermal stratification

Thermal stratification data of a transect across Wheeler Reservoir are correlated with the climatological data at the time of sampling. This portion of the Tennessee River is used as a heat sink for the effluent from the three reactor Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. The transect sampling line is 1.3 miles below this point of effluence. Data are presented by weekly samplings for one year prior to plant operations. Post-operational data are presented with one reactor in operation and with two reactors in partial operation. Data gathering was terminated when the plant ceased operations. The results indicate that the effluent for partial plant operation were inconclusive. As a result, recommendations include continuing the sampling when the plant resumes operation at full capacity. Recommendations also include developing math models with the presented thermal and climatological data to be used for predicting the effluent impact in the river with varying climatological conditions and also to predict the effectiveness of the cooling towers

Academic detailing in oral healthcare - results of the ADVOCATE Field Studies

Background: Academic detailing (AD) is a defined form of educational outreach that can be used to influence decision making and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare delivery. This paper describes the results of the proof of concept phase of the ADVOCATE Field Studies. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability and usefulness of AD reinforced with feedback data, to promote prevention-oriented, patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare delivery by general dental practitioners (GDPs). Methods: In the Field Studies, six groups of GDPs (n = 39) were recruited in The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Each group had four meetings reinforced with feedback data for open discussions on dental practice and healthcare delivery. Conventional and directed content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data collected from focus group interviews, debriefing interviews, field notes and evaluation forms. Results: A total of nine themes were identified. Seven themes related to the process of the Field Studies and covered experiences, barriers and facilitators to AD group meetings, data collection and the use of an electronic dashboard for data presentation and storage. Two themes related to the outcomes of the study, describing how GDPs perceived they made changes to their clinical practice as a result of the Field Studies. Conclusions: The ADVOCATE Field Studies approach offers a novel way of collecting and providing feedback to care providers which has the potential to reduce variation oral healthcare delivery. AD plus feedback data is a useful, feasible approach which creates awareness and gives insight into care delivery processes. Some logistic and technical barriers to adoption were identified, which if resolved would further improve the approach and likely increase the acceptability amongst GDPs

A dynamic perspective on affect and creativity

10.5465/amj.2010.0894Academy of Management Journal562432-45

Atlantic water variability on the SE Greenland continental shelf and its relationship to SST and bathymetry

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 118 (2013): 847–855, doi:10.1029/2012JC008354.Interaction of warm, Atlantic-origin water (AW) and colder, polar origin water (PW) advecting southward in the East Greenland Current (EGC) influences the heat content of water entering Greenland's outlet glacial fjords. Here we use depth and temperature data derived from deep-diving seals to map out water mass variability across the continental shelf and to augment existing bathymetric products. We compare depths derived from the seal dives with the IBCAO Version 3 bathymetric database over the shelf and find differences up to 300 m near several large submarine canyons. In the vertical temperature structure, we find two dominant modes: a cold mode, with the typical AW/PW layering observed in the EGC, and a warm mode, where AW is present throughout the water column. The prevalence of these modes varies seasonally and spatially across the continental shelf, implying distinct AW pathways. In addition, we find that satellite sea surface temperatures (SST) correlate significantly with temperatures in the upper 50 m (R = 0.54), but this correlation decreases with depth (R = 0.22 at 200 m), and becomes insignificant below 250 m. Thus, care must be taken in using SST as a proxy for heat content, as AW mainly resides in these deeper layers.Funding for this work came from National Science Foundation OPP grant 0909373 and OCE grant 1130008, plus the WHOI Arctic Research Initiative. The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, supported the seal tagging logistics.2013-08-2

Structural Transition of Actin Filament in a Cell-Sized Water Droplet with a Phospholipid Membrane

Actin filament, F-actin, is a semiflexible polymer with a negative charge, and is one of the main constituents on cell membranes. To clarify the effect of cross-talk between a phospholipid membrane and actin filaments in cells, we conducted microscopic observations on the structural changes in actin filaments in a cell-sized (several tens of micrometers in diameter) water droplet coated with a phospholipid membrane such as phosphatidylserine (PS; negatively-charged head group) or phosphatidylethanolamine (PE; neutral head group) as a simple model of a living cell membrane. With PS, actin filaments are distributed uniformly in the water phase without adsorption onto the membrane surface between 2 and 6 mM Mg2+, while between 6 and 12 mM Mg2+, actin filaments are adsorbed onto the inner membrane surface. With PE, actin filaments are uniformly adsorbed onto the inner membrane surface between 2 and 12 mM Mg2+. With both PS and PE membranes, at Mg2+ concentrations higher than 12 mM, thick bundles are formed in the bulk water droplet accompanied by the dissolution of actin filaments from the membrane surface. The attraction between actin filaments and membrane is attributable to an increase in the translational entropy of counterions accompanied by the adsorption of actin filaments onto the membrane surface. These results suggest that a microscopic water droplet coated with phospholipid can serve as an easy-to-handle model of cell membranes

Active Semantic Relations in Layered Enterprise Architecture Development

Enterprise Architecture (EA) metamodels align an organisation’s business, information and technology resources so that these assets best meet the organisation’s purpose. The Layered EA Development (LEAD) Ontology enhances EA practices by a metamodel with layered metaobjects as its building blocks interconnected by semantic relations. Each metaobject connects to another metaobject by two semantic relations in opposing directions, thus highlighting how each metaobject views other metaobjects from its perspective. While the resulting two directed graphs reveal all the multiple pathways in the metamodel, more desirable would be to have one directed graph that focusses on the dependencies in the pathways. Towards this aim, using CG-FCA (where CG refers to Conceptual Graph and FCA to Formal Concept Analysis) and a LEAD case study, we determine an algorithm that elicits the active as opposed to the passive semantic relations between the metaobjects resulting in one directed graph metamodel. We also identified the general applicability of our algorithm to any metamodel that consists of triples of objects with active and passive relations

Co-administration of GF120918 significantly increases the systemic exposure to oral paclitaxel in cancer patients

Oral bioavailability of paclitaxel is very low, which is due to efficient transport of the drug by the intestinal drug efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp). We have recently demonstrated that the oral bioavailability of paclitaxel can be increased at least 7-fold by co-administration of the P-gp blocker cyclosporin A (CsA). Now we tested the potent alternative orally applicable non-immunosuppressive P-gp blocker GF120918. Six patients received one course of oral paclitaxel of 120 mg/m2 in combination with 1000 mg oral GF120918 (GG918, GW0918). Patients received intravenous (i.v.) paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 as a 3-hour infusion during subsequent courses. The mean area under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC) of paclitaxel after oral drug administration in combination with GF120918 was 3.27 ± 1.67 μM.h. In our previously performed study of 120 mg/m2 oral paclitaxel in combination with CsA the mean AUC of paclitaxel was 2.55 ± 2.29 μM.h. After i.v. administration of paclitaxel the mean AUC was 15.92 ± 2.46 μM.h. The oral combination of paclitaxel with GF120918 was well tolerated. The increase in systemic exposure to paclitaxel in combination with GF120918 is of the same magnitude as in combination with CsA. GF120918 is a good and safe alternative for CsA and may enable chronic oral therapy with paclitaxel. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Enhancing layered enterprise architecture development through conceptual structures

Enterprise Architecture (EA) enables organisations to align their information technology with their business needs. Layered EA Development (LEAD) enhances EA by using meta-models made up of layered meta-objects, interconnected by semantic relations. Organisations can use these meta-models to benefit from a novel, ontology-based, object-oriented way of EA thinking and working. Furthermore, the meta-models are directed graphs that can be read linearly from a Top Down View (TDV) or a Bottom Up View (BUV) perspective. Conceptual Structures through CG-FCA (where CG refers to Conceptual Graph and FCA to Formal Concept Analysis) is thus used to traverse the TDV and BUV directions using the LEAD Industry 4.0 meta-model as an illustration. The motivation for CG-FCA is stated. It is discovered that CG-FCA: (a) identifies any unwanted cycles in the ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’ directions, and (b) conveniently arranges the many pathways by which the meta-models can be traversed and understood in a Formal Concept Lattice. Through the LEAD meta-model exemplar, the wider appeal of CG-FCA and directed graphs are also identified