Hogere melksnelheid bij langere melkstroomtijd

Wel is bij de intensieve metingen waargenomen dat deze melksnelheidstoename vooral tijdens de eerste anderhalve minuut plaatsvindt. Bij hoogproduktieve koeien houdt de melksnelheidstoename langer aan

Reservecapaciteit van melkleidinginstallaties

Een goed functioneren van de installatie wordt mede bepaald door een stabiel melkvacuüm

Assessment of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using optical spectral transmission measurements, a non-invasive imaging technique

Objectives: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), treat-to-target strategies require instruments for valid detection of joint inflammation. Therefore, imaging modalities are increasingly used in clinical practice. Optical spectral transmission (OST) measurements are non-invasive and fast and may therefore have benefits over existing imaging modalities. We tested whether OST could measure disease activity validly in patients with RA. Methods: In 59 patients with RA and 10 patients with arthralgia, OST, joint counts, Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28 and ultrasonography (US) were performed. Additionally, MRI was performed in patients with DAS28<2.6. We developed and validated within the same cohort an algorithm for detection of joint inflammation by OST with US as reference. Results: At the joint level, OST and US performed similarly inproximal interphalangeal-joints (area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) of 0.79, p<0.0001) andmetacarpophalangeal joints (AUC 0.78, p<0.0001). Performance was less similar in wrists (AUC 0.62, p=0.006). On the patient level, OST correlated moderately with clinical examination (DAS28 r=0.42, p=0.001), and US scores (r=0.64, p<0.0001). Furthermore, in patients with subclinical and low disease activity, there was a correlation between OST and MRI synovitis score (RAMRIS (Rheumatoid Arthritis MRI Scoring) synovitis), r=0.52, p=0.005. Conclusions: In this pilot study, OST performed moderately in the detection of joint inflammation in patients with RA. Further studies are needed to determine the diagnostic performance in a new cohort of patients with RA

Learning from failure

We study decentralized learning in organizations. Decentralization is captured through a symmetry constraint on agents’ strategies. Among such attainable strategies, we solve for optimal and equilibrium strategies. We model the organization as a repeated game with imperfectly observable actions. A fixed but unknown subset of action profiles are successes and all other action profiles are failures. The game is played until either there is a success or the time horizon is reached. For any time horizon, including infinity, we demonstrate existence of optimal attainable strategies and show that they are Nash equilibria. For some time horizons, we can solve explicitly for the optimal attainable strategies and show uniqueness. The solution connects the learning behavior of agents to the fundamentals that characterize the organization: Agents in the organization respond more slowly to failure as the future becomes more important, the size of the organization increases and the probability of success decreases.Game theory

Scattering of Stark-decelerated OH radicals with rare-gas atoms

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the rotationally inelastic scattering of OH (X\,^2\Pi_{3/2}, J=3/2, f) radicals with the collision partners He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and D$_2$ as a function of the collision energy between $\sim 70$ cm$^{-1}$ and 400~cm$^{-1}$. The OH radicals are state selected and velocity tuned prior to the collision using a Stark decelerator, and field-free parity-resolved state-to-state inelastic relative scattering cross sections are measured in a crossed molecular beam configuration. For all OH-rare gas atom systems excellent agreement is obtained with the cross sections predicted by close-coupling scattering calculations based on accurate \emph{ab initio} potential energy surfaces. This series of experiments complements recent studies on the scattering of OH radicals with Xe [Gilijamse \emph{et al.}, Science {\bf 313}, 1617 (2006)], Ar [Scharfenberg \emph{et al.}, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. {\bf 12}, 10660 (2010)], He, and D$_2$ [Kirste \emph{et al.}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 82}, 042717 (2010)]. A comparison of the relative scattering cross sections for this set of collision partners reveals interesting trends in the scattering behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

V-I characteristics in the vicinity of order-disorder transition in vortex matter

The shape of the V-I characteristics leading to a peak in the differential resistance r_d=dV/dI in the vicinity of the order-disorder transition in NbSe2 is investigated. r_d is large when measured by dc current. However, for a small Iac on a dc bias r_d decreases rapidly with frequency, even at a few Hz, and displays a large out-of-phase signal. In contrast, the ac response increases with frequency in the absence of dc bias. These surprisingly opposite phenomena and the peak in r_d are shown to result from a dynamic coexistence of two vortex matter phases rather than from the commonly assumed plastic depinning.Comment: 12 pages 4 figures. Accepted for publication in PRB rapi

Unified order-disorder vortex phase transition in high-Tc superconductors

The diversity of vortex melting and solid-solid transition lines measured in different high-T$_{c}$ superconductors is explained, postulating a unified order-disorder phase transition driven by both thermally- and disorder-induced fluctuations. The temperature dependence of the transition line and the nature of the disordered phase (solid, liquid, or pinned liquid) are determined by the relative contributions of these fluctuations and by the pinning mechanism. By varying the pinning mechanism and the pinning strength one obtains a spectrum of monotonic and non-monotonic transition lines similar to those measured in Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$$, YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$, Nd$_{1.85}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$$, Bi$_{1.6}$Pb$_{0.4}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+\delta}$ and (La$_{0.937}$Sr$_{0.063}$)$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Com

Update of the Preventive Antibiotics in Stroke Study (PASS): Statistical analysis plan

Background: Infections occur in 30% of stroke patients and are associated with unfavorable outcomes. Preventive antibiotic therapy lowers the infection rate after stroke, but the effect of preventive antibiotic treatment on functional outcome in patients with stroke is unknown. The PASS is a multicenter, prospective, phase three, randomized, open-label, blinded end-point (PROBE) trial of preventive antibiotic therapy in acute stroke. Patients are randomly assigned to either ceftriaxone at a dose of 2 g, given every 24 h intravenously for 4 days, in addition to standard stroke-unit care, or standard stroke-unit care without preventive antibiotic therapy. The aim of this study is to assess whether preventive antibiotic treatment improves functional outcome at 3 months by preventing infections. This paper presents in detail the statistical analysis plan (SAP) of the Preventive Antibiotics in Stroke Study (PASS) and was submitted while the investigators were st