Sökresultat

Identifying optimal inspection and repair strategies for offshore jacket structures is a challenging task. We present an approach, which is based on recent developments in the field of risk-based operation and maintenance planning at the structural system level. The approach utilizes heuristics to define inspection and repair strategies at the system level and to reduce the search space of possibl

Over the last decade, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used for monitoring construction and operation of civil infrastructure, as well as industrial facilities and power plants. Their operational simplicity along with time-and-cost-related benefits have already rendered them attractive for structural surveying. Nevertheless, the field of UAV research currently lacks a targeted employment

A software prototype is developed for assessing and updating the reliability of single-cell prestressed concrete box girders subjected to chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. The underlying system model consists of two integrated sub-models: a condition model for predicting the deterioration state of the box girder and a structural model for evaluating the overall system reliability. The cond

ObjectivePediatric anxiety disorders can have a chronic course and are considered gateway disorders to adult psychopathology, but no consistent predictors of long-term outcome have been identified. A single latent symptom dimension that reflects features shared by all mental health disorders, the p factor, is thought to reflect mechanisms that cut across mental disorders. Whether p predicts outcom

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a clinically defined, highly pruritic, chronic inflammatory skin disease of children and adults. The diagnosis is made using evaluated clinical criteria. Disease activity is best measured with a composite score assessing both objective signs and subjective symptoms, such as SCORAD. The management of AD must consider the clinical and pathogenic variabilities of the disease

Beside its classical role as a serum effector system of innate immunity, evidence is accumulating that complement has an intracellular repertoire of components that provides not only immune defense, but also functions to maintain cellular homeostasis. While complement proteins, mainly the central component C3, have been detected in B cells, their exact function and source remain largely unexplored

Stellar ages are a crucial component to studying the evolution of the Milky Way. Using Gaia DR2 distance estimates, it is now possible to estimate stellar ages for a larger volume of evolved stars through isochrone matching. This work presents [M/H]-age and [α/M]-age relations derived for different spatial locations in the Milky Way disc. These relations are derived by hierarchically modelling the

Pixel classification of mixed pixels in overlapping regions of remote sensing images is a very challenging task. Efficiency and detection of uncertainty are always the key ingredients for this task. This paper proposes an approach for pixel classification using Shannon's entropy-based fuzzy distance norm. Unsupervised clustering is used to group the objects based on some similarity or dissimilarit

A sensitive and rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for simultaneous quantitation of free and IgA-complexed human protein HC was developed with monoclonal murine antibodies. The total amount of protein HC (free plus IgA-complexed) was measured by a competitive procedure while the protein HC-IgA complex was quantitated by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay. The amount of free protein HC was then obt

When selecting for monoclonal antibodies of a desired affinity, affinity chromatography can be a feasible alternative. This is of particular interest when low affinity monoclonal antibodies (dissociation constant (Kd) > 10(-4) M) are screened, as they are not easily recognised by traditional immunoassay procedures. In this study we have evaluated this approach by monitoring low affinity monoclonal

This paper discusses the results from recent archaeological investigations at the Monastery of St Antony in Egypt, including the remains of a number of building phases predating the current church, locally produced pottery, and manuscript fragments written in Coptic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Ge’ez.

BACKGROUND: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) protects the heart from prolonged ischemic insult and reperfusion injury through a poorly understood mechanism. Post-translational modifications of histone residues can confer rapid and drastic switches in gene expression in response to various stimuli, including ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of histone methylation in the r

Abstract in UndeterminedIn this paper we describe and reflect upon a novel methodology using attention cards to facilitate communication, concentration and creativity in a user requirement workshop with seniors. Previous research indicates that seniors tend to lose focus and start cross talking during workshops, which results in broad and shallow findings. However, our findings indicate that the u

Background: Mechanisms related to the influence of diet on the development of cardiovascular disease are not entirely understood, and protein biomarkers may help to understand these pathways. Studies of biomarkers identified with multiplex proteomic methods and dietary patterns are largely lacking. Methods and Results: Dietary patterns were generated through principal component analysis in 2 popul

Inflammation is a vital response and necessary for maintaining homeostasis. Inflammation protects against tissue damage and pathogens-but is also one of the main driving forces of the atherosclerotic plaque progression. How and why the inflammatory response is initiated in the atherosclerotic disease is not fully known, but evidence suggests modified lipids as potential antigens activating the imm

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the intestine in genetically susceptible individuals caused by loss of tolerance to the storage proteins (gluten) in wheat, rye, and barley. Little is known about CD and associated risk factors in Sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. The main aim of the present thesis was to explore how the incidence of celi

Recent studies demonstrate that Black Carbon (BC) pollution in economically developing megacities remain higher than the values, which the World Health Organization considers to be safe. Despite the scientific evidence of the degrees of BC exposure, there is still a lack of understanding on how the severe levels of BC pollution affect human health in these regions. We consider information on the r