URBAN TERRAIN CLIMATOLOGY AND REMOTE SENSING *

. Urban areas have been conceived of as monolithic heat islands because traditional ground observation techniques do not lend themselves to more specific analyses. Observations of urban energy-exchange obtained from calibrated electro-optical scanners combined with energy budget simulation techniques provide tools to relate the urban land use mosaic to the heat island phenomenon. Maps of surface energy-related phenomena were made from airborne scanner outputs for selected flightpaths across the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Conditions for the flight time were simulated according to the various types of land use using an energy budget simulation model which lends itself to extrapolation of simulated grid-point conditions into a map form. Maps made by simulation compare sufficiently well with those made by aerial observation to encourage further refinement of the simulation approach.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72392/1/j.1467-8306.1976.tb01110.x.pd

The climatonomy of a needle ice event: An experiment in simulation climatology

Soil surface temperature, net radiation and surface heave are used to evaluate a computer simulation of a needle ice event at Vancouver, Canada. The simulation which includes fusion and soil water flow effects, provides a working example of a simulation-sensitivity experiment in climatology and therefore has implications which transcend the rather restricted subject of diurnal soil frost effects. Die Temperatur der Bodenoberfläche, die Strahlungsbilanz und die Bodenbewegung werden in einem Rechenmodell benützt, das die Eisnadelbildung in Vancouver, Kanada, simuliert. Das Modell, welches den Gefriervorgang und den Effekt der Wasserströmung im Boden einbezieht, stellt ein Beispiel eines Simulations- und Sensitivitätsexperiments in der Klimatologie dar, welches über die Belange des beschränkten Sachgebietes der Bodenfrosteffekte hinausgeht.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41665/1/704_2005_Article_BF02253559.pd

Impact of diabetes duration and cardiovascular risk factors on mortality in type 2 diabetes: the Hoorn Study

Background. Several studies have reported differences in the mortality risk between diabetic subjects detected by screening and known diabetic patients. We studied mortality in relation to diabetes duration, and the contribution of other cardiovascular risk factors to the elevated risk. Materials and methods. Participants were type 2 diabetic subjects (n = 174) of a population-based cohort study. Of these, 95 were diagnosed by screening. Known diabetic subjects were grouped into two categories of diabetes duration, with a median duration of 2.4 and 11.2 years, respectively. We assessed the contribution of classical cardiovascular risk factors (dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and prior myocardial infarction), and of new cardiovascular risk factors (microalbuminuria, von Willebrand factor, sVCAM-1 and C-reactive protein) to the mortality risk during nearly 10 years of follow up. Cox's proportional hazards model was used to study the association of diabetes duration and mortality. Results. The age- and sex-adjusted relative risks of mortality were 2.06 (95% C.I. 1.04-4.10) and 3.19 (1.64-6.20) for the patients with short- and long-term diabetes compared with the screening-detected diabetic subjects, respectively. Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors resulted in a reduction of mortality risk in both groups: 1.13 (0.51-2.50) and 2.39 (1.18-4.83), respectively. Mortality risk significantly increased with increasing diabetes duration, even after multiple adjustment (P-value for trend ranged from < 0.001-0.018). Conclusions. Mortality risk increased with increasing diabetes duration. In subjects with short diabetes duration the mortality risk could largely be attributed to other risk factors. In subjects with a longer diabetes duration, however, the elevated mortality risk was independent of these cardiovascular risk factors

Characterization of anticoagulant heparinoids by immunoprofiling

Heparinoids are used in the clinic as anticoagulants. A specific pentasaccharide in heparinoids activates antithrombin III, resulting in inactivation of factor Xa and–when additional saccharides are present–inactivation of factor IIa. Structural and functional analysis of the heterogeneous heparinoids generally requires advanced equipment, is time consuming, and needs (extensive) sample preparation. In this study, a novel and fast method for the characterization of heparinoids is introduced based on reactivity with nine unique anti-heparin antibodies. Eight heparinoids were biochemically analyzed by electrophoresis and their reactivity with domain-specific anti-heparin antibodies was established by ELISA. Each heparinoid displayed a distinct immunoprofile matching its structural characteristics. The immunoprofile could also be linked to biological characteristics, such as the anti-Xa/anti-IIa ratio, which was reflected by reactivity of the heparinoids with antibodies HS4C3 (indicative for 3-O-sulfates) and HS4E4 (indicative for domains allowing anti-factor IIa activity). In addition, the immunoprofile could be indicative for heparinoid-induced side-effects, such as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, as illustrated by reactivity with antibody NS4F5, which defines a very high sulfated domain. In conclusion, immunoprofiling provides a novel, fast, and simple methodology for the characterization of heparinoids, and allows high-throughput screening of (new) heparinoids for defined structural and biological characteristics

A cybernetic perspective on methods and process models in collaborative designing

Cybernetic thinking provides a framework to understand the issues in creating and using methods and process models during collaborative designing. It can help understand what takes place while the creation and use is unfolding. This viewpoint allows methods and process models to be framed as aiding human decision-making, and as supporting the organisation of design activities. It casts light on how a team acts and what are they doing to solve design problems, by considering that they react to changes in the perceived solution state or goal state. Cybernetics thus provides an articulation of mechanisms for doing design. By identifying virtues that support creation and use of methods and process models during designing, cybernetics could thus help teams to design more effectively. This article considers the creation and use of process models and methods in design from a cybernetic perspective. We suggest that a process model and method are similar in nature, in that they both give guidance for progressing the design according to the circumstances encountered. Cybernetic principles are interpreted to help understand the role of modelling and method use in design process evolution