Wearable biosensing: signal processing and communication architectures issues, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 4

Long-term monitoring of human vital signs is becoming one of the most important fields of research of biomedical engineering. In order to achieve weeks to months of monitoring, new strategies for sensing, conditioning, processing and communication have to be developed. Several strategies are emerging and show different possible architectures. This paper essentially focuses on issues in wearable biosignal processing and communication architecture currently running at the Swiss Center for Electronics andMicrotechnology (CSEM) in the framework of several European projects

Evaluation of Autogenous Engineered Septal Cartilage Grafts in Rabbits: A Minimally Invasive Preclinical Model

Objectives. (1) Evaluate safety of autogenous engineered septal neocartilage grafts and (2) compare properties of implanted grafts versus controls. Study Design. Prospective, basic science. Setting. Research laboratory. Methods. Constructs were fabricated from septal cartilage and then cultured in vitro or implanted on the nasal dorsum as autogenous grafts for 30 or 60 days. Rabbits were monitored for local and systemic complications. Histological, biochemical, and biomechanical properties of constructs were evaluated. Results. No serious complications were observed. Implanted constructs contained more DNA (P<0.01) and less sGAG perDNA (P<0.05) when compared with in vitro controls. Confined compressive aggregate moduli were also higher in implanted constructs (P<0.05) and increased with longer in vivo incubation time (P<0.01). Implanted constructs displayed resorption rates of 20–45 percent. Calcium deposition in implanted constructs was observe. Conclusion. Autogenous engineered septal cartilage grafts were well tolerated. As seen in experiments with athymic mice, implanted constructs accumulated more DNA and less sGAG when compared with in vitro controls. Confined compressive aggregate moduli were higher in implanted constructs. Implanted constructs displayed resorption rates similar to previously published studies using autogenous implants of native cartilage

Chromatin Fiber Dynamics under Tension and Torsion

Genetic and epigenetic information in eukaryotic cells is carried on chromosomes, basically consisting of large compact supercoiled chromatin fibers. Micromanipulations have recently led to great advances in the knowledge of the complex mechanisms underlying the regulation of DNA transaction events by nucleosome and chromatin structural changes. Indeed, magnetic and optical tweezers have allowed opportunities to handle single nucleosomal particles or nucleosomal arrays and measure their response to forces and torques, mimicking the molecular constraints imposed in vivo by various molecular motors acting on the DNA. These challenging technical approaches provide us with deeper understanding of the way chromatin dynamically packages our genome and participates in the regulation of cellular metabolism

Psychological allegory in the Scarlet letter

In Hawthorne criticism there is a tendency to categorize The Scarlet Letter as allegory and then fail to distinguish it carefully from traditional forms of this literary mode. Hawthorne is not, in this work, an allegorist of the same ilk as Bunyan or Spenser because his allegory is not a didactic strategy imposed from without but an emblematic structure that evolves from and is governed by internal necessities of the tale. A failure to understand the nature of these necessities leads us to an overly theologized view of Hawthorne’s purposes and achievement in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne's own moralizing editorials tend to complement the brazenly emblematic function of characters such as Pearl and Chillingworth and create the appearance of traditional religious allegory. Pearl and Chillingworth are punitive, avenging figures and resemble the stock allegorical images of guilt and penitence that afflict Hester and Dimmesdale in the aftermath of their crime. Their distinction lies in that they are not everyman's guilt, as a Bunyan of Spenser might depict them, but they specifically incarnate the self-torment Hester and Dimmesdale are prey to. Their roles fulfill primarily a psycho-allegorical scheme rather than any patently Christian parable of sin and expiation. The clues to this psychological priority Hawthorne gives his allegory are contained in the author's frequent allusions to the "mutability" of the substantial world and the extent to which the perturbed perceiver may "extend his egotism over the whole expanse of nature", creating events and omens which reflect his internal disorder. There is evidence that Dimmesdale himself inflicts Chillingworth on his person just as he, miraculously or otherwise, carves an "A" upon his bosom. It is Dimmesdale who consents to being attended by the leech by reason of his "fascination" for this man of science with his probing intellectuality. Dimmesdale's culpability in creating the presence of Chillingworth is further underlined by Hawthorne's observation that the minister's only "real existence on this earth, was the anguish in his inmost soul." Chillingworth's appearance and the increasingly demonic nature of his character is thus an inevitable byproduct of Dimmesdale's increasing introversion into the turmoil of his mind. Similarly Pearl's emblematic being usurps the humanity of her character as a result of her direct relation to Hester's psyche. Hester dresses Pearl in lavish finery with "morbid purpose" just as she embellishes the appearance of the letter on her dress. These are the superficial clues to the extent to which Hester creates the punishing role Pearl's personality fulfills. Hester's sense of guilt, like Dimmesdale's is sufficiently severe to re-create the realities of the external world and create the embodied phantoms of her inward strife. Hawthorne's psychological allegory creates a state of surreality in the world of The Scarlet Letter; a dream state where "the Actual and the Imaginary" do meet and the meeting ground is the interior of the human heart. Our insight into the minds of Hester and Dimmesdale derives from our participation in their anguished distortion of experience and their projected allegory.Arts, Faculty ofEnglish, Department ofGraduat

The Mechanical Properties of Structural Adhesives

Three of the mechanical properties of elastomeric structural adhesives were investigated. Creep, impact, and the effect of strain rate were measured for eight adhesives. The rupture energy at impact ranged from 5.3 to 19.0 ft. pounds per square inch of bond for different adhesives at ambient temperature. The rupture energy ranged from 2.7 to 4.5 ft. pounds per square inch of bond for adhesives at -40 degrees F. Higher strain rates decreased the energy necessary to rupture the adhesive bond. Strain-rate had no effect on failure stress. The adhesives were tested at 90 psi nominal shear stress. The twenty-eight day test was at ambient temperature while the seven day creep test was at 158 degrees F. At ambient temperature, four adhesives failed and the rest showed total deformations of less than five mils. At 158 degrees F, adhesive 7 deformed less than four mils but the other adhesives failed. More research is needed on these adhesives to fully understand their properties and to determine which applications they are suited for

Eufonía : didáctica de la música

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónSe presentan los conciertos didácticos cómo los recurso más idóneo para acercar la música y, en particular la música en vivo, a niños y jóvenes, en tanto que se planteen determinados objetivos y tengan ciertas características. Los conciertos didácticos llevados a cabo en el ámbito educativo deben ser programados y entendidos como actividades curriculares complementarias, ya sean escolares o extraescolares, constituyendo la culminación de un proceso minucioso de musicalización del alumnado y un estímulo para la realización de acciones musicales posteriores.Biblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Profesorado : revista de curriculum y formación del profesorado

Monográfico con el título: 'Didácticas específicas'. Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónSe presenta una experiencia de formación del profesorado realizada en el área de la Educación Musical y en un contexto poco habitual: una orquesta y la labor educativa llevada a cabo por su Departamento Educativo, a través de conciertos didácticos programados para niños y jóvenes escolarizados y cursos de formación para los docentes participantes. Se describen las características generales de los Conciertos Didácticos de la Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (OCG), del trabajo interdisciplinar realizado para su preparación, y de la formación previa y posterior llevada a cabo con el profesorado asistente. Asimismo, se proporcionan datos significativos de asistencia y participación del profesorado en las actividades educativas de la OCG, se comenta la valoración que realiza el profesorado acerca de la formación recibida. Finalmente, se plantean algunas conclusiones de la labor de formación llevada a cabo por la Orquesta.AndalucíaES