Neighbours or Enemies? Competing Variants Causing Differences in Transitional Dialects

The aim of this study is to show how clusteranalysis can shed light on very complexvariation in a transitional dialect zone ineastern Finland. In the course of history thisarea has been on the border between Sweden andRussia and the population has clearly been oftwo kinds: the Savo people and the Karelians.It is a well-known fact that there is variationamong these dialects, but the spread and extentof the variation has not been demonstrated previously.The idiolects of the area were studied in thelight of ten phonological and morphologicalfeatures. The material consisted of recordingsof 198 idiolects, totalling around 195 hoursand representing 19 parishes. The variation wasanalysed using hierarchical cluster analysis.While the analysis showed the extent of thevariation between idiolects and parishes, italso demonstrated how the effects of the oldparishes, borders and settlements are stillvisible in the dialects. On the parish level,the data formed clear clusters that correspondwith the main dialects in the area and itssurroundings. On the idiolect level, however,the speakers from the surrounding areas formedfairly homogenous clusters but the idiolectsfrom the Savonlinna area were spread acrossalmost all clusters.     

Stakeholder-Beteiligung in der klinischen Forschung: eine ethische Analyse

Definition of the problem

Concepts of stakeholder engagement are well established in business ethics and medical ethics. However, current approaches tend to see it as an end in itself. Thereby, two important aspects are often neglected: first, the general normative presuppositions of stakeholder engagement; second, moral implications concerning different modes of communication.

Arguments

The present article argues that normative presuppositions of stakeholder engagement can be understood by reconstructing existing approaches. Here, three ethical theories are relevant: deontology, contractualism, and discourse ethics. Furthermore, stakeholder involvement is related to modes of communication that range from information to empowerment. Drawing upon the example of clinical research, we argue that these modes have different normative weight in relation to the respective stakeholder’s form of affectedness.

Conclusion

We show why it is important for bioethics to reflect on the particular relation of affectedness and modes of participation, and how this can be realized in practice.

     

PAVED: Pareto Front Visualization for Engineering Design

Design problems in engineering typically involve a large solution space and several potentially conflicting criteria. Selecting a compromise solution is often supported by optimization algorithms that compute hundreds of Pareto-optimal solutions, thus informing a decision by the engineer. However, the complexity of evaluating and comparing alternatives increases with the number of criteria that need to be considered at the same time. We present a design study on Pareto front visualization to support engineers in applying their expertise and subjective preferences for selection of the most-preferred solution. We provide a characterization of data and tasks from the parametric design of electric motors. The requirements identified were the basis for our development of PAVED, an interactive parallel coordinates visualization for exploration of multi-criteria alternatives. We reflect on our user-centered design process that included iterative refinement with real data in close collaboration with a domain expert as well as a summative evaluation in the field. The results suggest a high usability of our visualization as part of a real-world engineering design workflow. Our lessons learned can serve as guidance to future visualization developers targeting multi-criteria optimization problems in engineering design or alternative domains.     

Challenges and opportunities in renovating public sector information by enabling linked data and analytics

Linked Data has become the current W3C recommended approach for publishing data on the World Wide Web as it is sharable, extensible, and easily re-usable. An ecosystem of linked data hubs in the Public Sector has the potential to offer significant benefits to its consumers (other public offices and ministries, as well as researchers, citizens and SMEs), such as increased accessibility and re-use value of their data through the use of web-scale identifiers and easy interlinking with datasets of other public data providers. The power and flexibility of the schema-defying Linked Data, however, is counterbalanced by inborn factors that diminish the potential for cost-effective and efficient adoption by the Public Sector. The paper analyzes these challenges in view of the current state-of-the-art in linked data technologies and proposes a technical framework that aims to hide the underlying complexity of linked data while maintaining and promoting the interlinking capabilities enabled by the Linked Data Paradigm. The paper presents the innovations behind our proposed solutions as well as their advantages, especially for the non-expert users.     

Review on miniaturized paraffin phase change actuators,valves, and pumps

During the last 15 years, miniaturized paraffin actuation has evolved through the need of a simple actuation principle, still able to deliver large strokes and high actuation forces at small scales. This is achieved by the large and rather incompressible volume expansion associated with the solid-to-liquid phase transition of paraffin. The common approach has been to encapsulate the paraffin by a stiff surrounding that directs the volume expansion toward a flexible membrane, which deflects in a directed stroke. However, a number of alternative methods have also been used in the literature. The most common applications to this date have been switches, positioning actuators, and microfluidic valves and pumps. This review will treat the historical background, as well as the fundamentals in paraffin actuation, including material properties of paraffin. Besides reviewing the three major groups of paraffin actuator applications—actuators, valves, and pumps—the modelling done on paraffin actuation will be explored. Furthermore, a section focusing on fabrication of paraffin microactuators is also included. The review ends with conclusions and outlook of the field, identifying unexplored potential of paraffin actuation.     

The catabolic capacity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is preserved to a higher extent during carbon compared to nitrogen starvation.

A comparison of catabolic capacity was made between S. cerevisiae cells subjected to 24 h carbon or nitrogen starvation. The cells were shifted to starvation conditions at the onset of respiratory growth on ethanol in aerobic batch cultures, using glucose as the carbon and energy source. The results showed that the catabolic capacity was preserved to a much larger extent during carbon compared to nitrogen starvation. Nitrogen starvation experiments were made in the presence of ethanol (not glucose) to exclude the effect of glucose transport inactivation (Busturia and Lagunas, 1986). Hence, the difference in catabolic capacity could not be attributed to differences in glucose transport capacity during these conditions. In order to understand the reason for this difference in starvation response, measurement of protein composition, adenine nucleotides, inorganic phosphate, polyphosphate and storage carbohydrates were performed. No clear correlation between any of these variables and catabolic capacity after starvation could be obtained. However, there was a positive correlation between total catabolic activity and intracellular ATP concentration when glucose was added to starved cells. The possible mechanism for this correlation, as well as what determines the ATP level, is discussed.     

Standard kitchens and the physically disabled

A manageable dwelling is the key to a disabled person's integration into the community. This summary is concerned with studies of disabled persons' requirements regarding the planning and fitting of kitchens. The studies were conducted by the Department of Handicap Research at the University of Gothenburg in collaboration with the Department of Housing Planning at Chalmers University of Technology.     

Hygroscopic Behavior of Aerosol Particles Emitted from Biomass Fired Grate Boilers

This study focuses on the hygroscopic properties of submicrometer aerosol particles emitted from two small-scale district heating combustion plants (1 and 1.5 MW) burning two types of biomass fuels (moist forest residue and pellets). The hygroscopic particle diameter growth factor (Gf) was measured when taken from a dehydrated to a humidified state for particle diameters between 30–350 nm (dry size) using a Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (H-TDMA). Particles of a certain dry size all showed similar diameter growth and the Gf at RH = 90% for 110/100 nm particles was 1.68 in the 1 MW boiler, and 1.5 in the 1.5 MW boiler. These growth factors are considerably higher in comparison to other combustion aerosol particles such as diesel exhaust, and are the result of the efficient combustion and the high concentration of alkali species in the fuel. The observed water uptake could be explained using the Zdanovski-Stokes-Robinson (ZSR) mixing rule and a chemical composition of potassium salts only, taken from ion chromatography analysis of filter and impactor samples (KCl, K₂SO₄, and K₂CO₃). Agglomerated particles collapsed and became more spherical when initially exposed to a moderately high relative humidity. When diluted with hot particle-free air, the fractal-like structures remained intact until humidified in the H-TDMA. A method to estimate the fractal dimension of the agglomerated combustion aerosol and to convert the measured mobility diameter hygroscopic growth to the more useful property volume diameter growth is presented. The fractal dimension was estimated to be ～ 2.5.     

A critical discussion of models for conceptualizing the economic logic of construction

The construction industry has developed a certain economic logic that reflects the way in which tasks, parts, and units are organized and related to each other in order to create economic benefits in the construction process. Four different models in the literature portray this logic. We examine how they complement and constitute alternatives to understandings of the economic logic of the construction industry. Along with transaction cost economics, we have identified three more empirically based models: a project-oriented model, a supply-chain-oriented model, and a network-oriented model. Associated with different streams of research, these models are discussed in terms of the typical problems and key interdependencies in the construction process they address, and the type of solutions they suggest, including organizing principles for how construction parties should relate to each other. The findings show how examining different models provides a comprehensive, albeit non-exhaustive overview and an explanation of why the construction process is organized in the way it is. There is a need for increased awareness of the utilization of models (or combinations of models) and the models must also be seen as arguments in a broader discussion of how the construction process could or should function.