Copper malabsorption in coeliac disease

Copper uptake during three hours from an oral test dose of copper sulphate solution giving three mg Cu++, close to the recommended daily dietary intake, was significantly reduced in patients with proximal intestinal disease, compared with normal subjects. Three out of ten patients had abnormal and otherwise unexplained blood counts compatible with the known haematological effects of copper deficiency and were restored to normal levels on a gluten-free diet. Copper deficiency and proximal intestinal disease should be suspected in patients with otherwise unexplained anaemia, especially neutropenia.     

Postural and symptomatic improvement after physiotherapy in patients with dizziness of suspected cervical origin

OBJECTIVE: To assess postural performance in patients with dizziness of suspected cervical origin in whom extracervical causes had been excluded, and to assess the effects of physiotherapy on postural performance and subjective complaints of neck pain and dizziness. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: Primary care centers and a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS AND SUBJECTS: Of 65 referrals, 43 patients were excluded because extracervical etiology was suspected. Of the remaining 22 patients, 17 completed the study (15 women, 2 men, x age 37 yr, range 26-49). The controls were 17 healthy subjects (15 women, 2 men, x age 36 yr, range 25-55). INTERVENTION: Physiotherapy based on analysis of symptoms and findings, and aimed to reduce cervical discomfort. Patients were randomized either to receive immediate physiotherapy (n = 9), or to wait 2 months, undergo repeat measurements, and then receive physiotherapy (n = 8). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Posturography, measuring velocity and variance of vibration-induced body sway and variance of galvanically induced body sway. Subjective intensity of neck pain (Visual Analog Scale ratings, 0-100), intensity and frequency of dizziness (subjective score 0-4). RESULTS: The patients manifested significantly poorer postural performance than did healthy subjects (.05 > p > .0001). Physiotherapy significantly reduced neck pain and intensity and the frequency of dizziness (p < .01), and significantly improved postural performance (.05 > p > .0007). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with dizziness of suspected cervical origin are characterized by impaired postural performance. Physiotherapy reduces neck pain and dizziness and improves postural performance. Neck disorders should be considered when assessing patients complaining of dizziness, but alternative diagnoses are common.     

Mycoplasma hyorhinis infection of pigs selectively bred for high and low immune response

Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study glasses of pure carbohydrates and in the cytoplasm of desiccation tolerant plant organs. The position of the OH stretching vibration band (vOH) shifted with temperature. Two linear regression lines were observed in vOH against temperature plots. The temperature at the point of intersection between these two lines coincided with the glass transition temperature (Tg), as determined by other methods. The temperature at the intersection point decreased with increasing water content, which further validates that, indeed, Tg was observed. Tg values that were determined for dry glucose, sucrose, maltose, trehalose and raffinose glasses were 27, 57, 91, 108 and 108 degrees C, respectively. The shift of vOH with temperature, the wavenumber-temperature coefficient (WTC), was higher in sugar glasses having higher Tg. This suggests that glasses are more loosely packed when they have higher Tg. For Typha latifolia pollen and dried Craterostigma plantagineum leaves we obtained similar vOH vs. temperature plots as for carbohydrate glasses, indicating that a glass transition was observed. The Tg in dry pollen was ca. 45 degrees C and in dry plant leaves ca. 65 degrees C, with WTC values comparable to those observed in the carbohydrates. The Tg values in these tissues decreased with increasing water contents. Our data suggest that the carbohydrates that are present in the cytoplasm are primary factors contributing to the glassy state. We conclude that FTIR provides new insights in the structure of glasses in carbohydrates and in biological tissues.     

A method for predicting the probability of business network profitability

In the design phase of business collaboration, it is desirable to be able to predict the profitability of the business-to-be. Therefore, techniques to assess qualities such as costs, revenues, risks, and profitability have been previously proposed. However, they do not allow the modeler to properly manage uncertainty with respect to the design of the considered business collaboration. In many real collaboration projects today, uncertainty regarding the business’ present or future characteristics is so significant that ignoring it becomes problematic. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the predictive, probabilistic architecture modeling framework (P²AMF), capable of advanced and probabilistically sound reasoning about profitability risks. The P²AMF-based approach for profitability risk prediction is also based on the e³-value modeling language and on the object constraint language. The paper introduces the prediction and modeling approach, and a supporting software tool. The use of the approach is illustrated by means of a case study originated from the Stockholm Royal Seaport smart city project.     

Multilayer waveguide-grating filters

The properties of guided-mode resonance reflection filters constructed with multiple thin-film layers are addressed. Greatly improved filter characteristics are shown to follow by the incorporation of multiple homogeneous layers with the spatially modulated layer. Calculated results for single-layer, double-layer, and triple-layer filter structures are presented. Whereas good filter characteristics are obtainable with single layers that are half-resonance-wavelength thick, there remains a residual reflection in the sidebands unless the cover and the substrate permittivities are equal. With double-layer and triple-layer designs, extensive wavelength ranges with low sideband-reflectance values are shown to be possible without requiring equal cover and substrate permittivities. The antireflection properties of the layer stack can be understood if the modulated layer is modeled as a homogeneous layer characterized by its average relative permittivity. However, as the grating-modulation index increases, this approximation deteriorates. In particular it is found that, for a given high modulation index, the double-layer antireflection thin-film approximation fails, whereas for the same modulation in a triple-layer system it holds firmly. Multilayer designs can thus have significantly large filter passbands, as they may contain heavily modulated resonant gratings without corruption of the ideal filter characteristics.     

Solidification of SiMo Nodular Cast Iron for High Temperature Applications

During the 1960s and 70s research was aimed at developing a material withstanding the ever higher temperatures in a combustion engine. This work resulted in what have later been named SiMo and D5S. SiMo is a nodular cast iron typically containing 4?C6?% Si and 0.5?C2?% Mo and can be used in temperatures up to 850?C860?°C. D5S is a nickel base material. High silicon and silicon?Cmolybdenum content improves the dimensional stability of ductile iron. Silicon increases the transformation temperature where austenite transforms to ferrite. Molybdenum partly segregates and freezes in intercellular regions, promoting carbides while during the solid state transformation molybdenum particles precipitate around grain boundaries. The solidified material shows a range of interesting structures and phases which will be presented.     

Symmetric Assumptions in the Theory of Disruptive Innovation: Theoretical and Managerial Implications

The literature on disruptive innovation has convincingly explained why many established firms encounter problems under conditions of discontinuous change. Incumbents fail to invest in new technologies that are not demanded by their existing customers. This argument is grounded in resource dependency theory and the associated assumption that existing customers control a firm's internal resource allocation processes. While the problem of disruptive innovation has been convincingly explained, there is still a need for managerial solutions. We argue that a key reason why such solutions are lacking can be found in the asymmetric assumptions made in the original theory of disruptive innovation. Specifically, we identify two related forms of asymmetry. First, the focal (incumbent) firm is treated as a collection of heterogeneous actors with different preferences, incentives and competencies, whereas firms in the surrounding environment are treated as if they contained no such heterogeneity. Second, the theory of disruptive innovation describes incumbents as controlled by their environment, but has failed to recognize that the environment can also be influenced. In this paper we argue that a more symmetric theory of disruptive innovation – i.e. one that treats all similar entities in the same way – opens up for a range of interesting managerial solutions.     

Improving Point Cloud Accuracy Obtained from a Moving Platform for Consistent Pile Attack Pose Estimation

We present a perception system for enabling automated loading with waist-articulated wheel loaders. To enable autonomous loading of piled materials, using either above-ground wheel loaders or underground load-haul-dump vehicles, 3D data of the pile shape is needed. However, using common 3D scanners, the scan data is distorted while the wheel loader is moving towards the pile. Existing methods that make use of 3D scan data (for autonomous loading as well as tasks such as mapping, localisation, and object detection) typically assume that each 3D scan is accurate. For autonomous robots moving over rough terrain, it is often the case that the vehicle moves a substantial amount during the acquisition of one 3D scan, in which case the scan data will be distorted. We present a study of auto-loading methods, and how to locate piles in real-world scenarios with nontrivial ground geometry. We have compared how consistently each method performs for live scans acquired in motion, and also how the methods perform with different view points and scan configurations. The system described in this paper uses a novel method for improving the quality of distorted 3D scans made from a vehicle moving over uneven terrain. The proposed method for improving scan quality is capable of increasing the accuracy of point clouds without assuming any specific features of the environment (such as planar walls), without resorting to a “stop-scan-go” approach, and without relying on specialised and expensive hardware. Each new 3D scan is registered to the preceding using the normal-distributions transform (NDT). After each registration, a mini-loop closure is performed with a local, per-scan, graph-based SLAM method. To verify the impact of the quality improvement, we present data that shows how auto-loading methods benefit from the corrected scans. The presented methods are validated on data from an autonomous wheel loader, as well as with simulated data. The proposed scan-correction method increases the accuracy of both the vehicle trajectory and the point cloud. We also show that it increases the reliability of pile-shape measures used to plan an efficient attack pose when performing autonomous loading.