Respiratory mechanics of the horse during the first year of life

This study investigated the developmental changes in the mechanical properties of the respiratory system in growing horses. Pulmonary mechanics and lung volumes were serially measured in anesthetized foals during the first year of life. Quasi-static pressure-volume curves were generated, and functional residual capacity (FRC) was measured using a closed nitrogen equilibration technique. At birth, chest wall compliance normalized to body weight was substantially less than that reported in other less precocious newborn species, while lung compliance normalized to body weight was similar to values reported for other species. Characteristics of the transition from the neonatal to adult respiratory system in the foal included a decrease in the ratios of chest wall to lung compliance (Cw/CL) and the unstressed volume of the chest wall to TLC, and a constant FRC/TLC throughout most of the study period. The somatic growth of the foal and its respiratory system were uneven processes, with increases in lung volume lagging increases in overall body size.     

Development of the heating and forming strategy in compound forging of hybrid steel‐aluminum parts

In times of increasing energy costs automotive light weight construction is gaining more importance. The production of hybrid compounds by forging is a promising method for manufacturing functional parts by applying resource‐saving process steps. The mechanical properties of these parts can be specifically adapted to the requirements. In compound forging of steel‐aluminum parts the two materials need to be heated to different forming temperatures. In this paper, the challenges and their methods for the development of a heating and forming strategy based on different material characteristics are presented.     

Semantic Based Prefetching in News-on-Demand Video Servers

In video databases, a video document has two abstractions. The high level abstraction corresponds to the view in which the contents of that video document are seen by end users, and the low level abstraction corresponds to the physical organization of that video document. Due to the huge size of continuous data, reducing I/O has become a key issue. The latter has been mostly addressed by developing appropriate buffering techniques. In addition, prefetching techniques play a major role to meet the video data requirements. In this paper, we propose a novel prefetching strategy based not only on run-time information (objects access frequencies for example) but also on knowledge about clips structures. The proposed technique merges the two views of a video document to trigger prefetching at the video server level. Simulation experiments for a News-on-Demand application performed on different request scenarios show an improvement of about 18% in the buffer hit-rate with respect, first to the available buffer size and second to the request arrival rate.     

Breast disease: Etiology, prevention, and rehabilitation.

A theoretical model is presented that takes etiological factors into account in describing behavioral and constitutional factors associated with fibrocystic disease and breast cancer. The model identifies 5 variables: genetic background and familial history; life cycle events; dietary habits; use of exogenous estrogens; and psychological factors, including life stresses, anxiety or tension, and depression. Most of the variables are hypothesized to increase the risk of breast pathology by inducing physiological changes—specifically, by fostering endocrinopathy or immunosuppression. Supportive research is cited, and the relationship between fibrocystic disease and breast cancer is detailed. Implications for prevention and for rehabilitation of women with breast disease are described. (91 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Topics in automotive networking

Significant research efforts in industry and academia have been underway to accelerate the development of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for safe, efficient, and convenient driving. Much of the research effort has been devoted to meet the challenges of effectively integrating wireless communications, computing, and advanced sensor technologies into vehicular and transportation systems. To date, the Automotive Networking Series has published articles that address such challenges, including characterization of vehicular communication channels and development of wireless system technologies; design of protocols for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) networking that adapt to changes of roadway conditions to provide fast, reliable communications; simulation tools to validate designs in realistic roadway scenarios; technologies to achieve security and privacy; and standardization, among others.     

Production of Strong Steel‐Aluminum Composites by Formation of Intermetallic Phases in Compound Forging

In times of increasing energy costs automotive light weight construction is gaining more importance. The production of hybrid compounds by forging is a promising method to successfully manufacture functional parts by applying resource‐saving process steps. However, in compound forging of steel‐aluminum parts shrinking gaps may form because of the different thermal expansion coefficients. To avoid these unwanted gaps, it is necessary to achieve a firmly bonded joint e.g. by intermetallic phases. This paper deals with the investigation of the influences of different sample preparations, process parameters and true strains on the formation of intermetallic phases. Thus, the optimum production parameters for compound forging of steel‐aluminum parts will be determined.     

Development of a maturity model for electronic invoice processes

The digitalization of invoice processes provides a good opportunity for companies to pare down expenses, optimize administrative tasks, and increase efficiency and competitiveness. But the digitalization is limited by a variety of software solutions, legal uncertainties, heterogeneous demands, lack of know-how, and information system infrastructure incompatibilities. A holistic map of electronic invoice processes is mandatory, especially to demonstrate different levels of process integration and optimization. A maturity model puts this into practice and provides companies with a tool to identify their current situation and to derive recommendations to optimize that situation. In this paper, a maturity model for electronic invoice processes will be developed using exploratory data from focus groups. A theoretical approach that is based on a procedure-model for developing maturity models is applied. Four categories (strategy, acceptance, processes & organization, and technology) are identified and enriched by sub-categories. Future research requires the development of detailed maturity metrics.     

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Vorschl?ge an Prof. Dr. Frank Puppe <puppe@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de> oder DieterSteinbauer <dieter.steinbauer@schufa.de>.

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Alle “Aktuellen Schlagw?rter” seit 1988 finden Sie unter www.ai-wuerzburg.de/as

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Correspondence to: H. Kosch