T-wave alternans predicts mortality in a population undergoing a clinically indicated exercise test.

Eur Heart J. 2007 Oct;28(19):2332-7. Epub 2007 Jul 25.

Real-time Imaging and Mosaicking of Planar Surfaces

Laajojen pintojen kuvaaminen rajoitetussa työskentelytilassa riittävällä kuvatarkkuudella voi olla vaikeaa. Kuvaaminen on suoritettava osissa ja osat koottava saumattomaksi kokonaisnäkymäksi eli mosaiikkikuvaksi. Kuvauslaitetta käsin siirtelevän käyttäjän on saatava välitöntä palautetta, jotta mosaiikkiin ei jäisi aukkoja ja työ olisi nopeaa. Työn tarkoituksena oli rakentaa pieni, kannettava ja tarkka kuvauslaite paperi- ja painoteollisuuden tarpeisiin sekä kehittää palautteen antamiseen menetelmä, joka koostaaja esittää karkeaa mosaiikkikuvaa tosiajassa. Työssä rakennettiin kaksi kuvauslaitetta: ensimmäinen kuluttajille ja toinen teollisuuteen tarkoitetuista osista. Kuvamateriaali käsiteltiin tavallisella pöytätietokoneella. Videokuvien välinen liike laskettiin yksinkertaisella seurantamenetelmällä ja mosaiikkikuvaa koottiin kameroiden kuvanopeudella. Laskennallista valaistuksenkorjausta tutkittiin ja kehitetty menetelmä otettiin käyttöön. Ensimmäisessä kuvauslaitteessa on ongelmia valaistuksen ja linssivääristymien kanssa tuottaen huonolaatuisia mosaiikkikuvia. Toisessa kuvauslaitteessa nämä ongelmat on korjattu. Seurantamenetelmä toimii hyvin ottaen huomioon sen yksinkertaisuuden ja siihen ehdotetaan monia parannuksia. Työn tulokset osoittavat, että tosiaikainen mosaiikkikuvan koostaminen megapikselin kuvamateriaalista on mahdollista kuluttajille tarkoitetulla tietokonelaitteistolla.

Isentropic Exergy and Pressure of the Shock Wave Caused by the Explosion of a Pressure Vessel

An accidental burst of a pressure vessel is an uncontrollable and explosion-like batch process. In this study it is called an explosion. The destructive effectof a pressure vessel explosion is relative to the amount of energy released in it. However, in the field of pressure vessel safety, a mutual understanding concerning the definition of explosion energy has not yet been achieved. In this study the definition of isentropic exergy is presented. Isentropic exergy is the greatest possible destructive energy which can be obtained from a pressure vessel explosion when its state changes in an isentropic way from the initial to the final state. Finally, after the change process, the gas has similar pressure and flow velocity as the environment. Isentropic exergy differs from common exergy inthat the process is assumed to be isentropic and the final gas temperature usually differs from the ambient temperature. The explosion process is so fast that there is no time for the significant heat exchange needed for the common exergy.Therefore an explosion is better characterized by isentropic exergy. Isentropicexergy is a characteristic of a pressure vessel and it is simple to calculate. Isentropic exergy can be defined also for any thermodynamic system, such as the shock wave system developing around an exploding pressure vessel. At the beginning of the explosion process the shock wave system has the same isentropic exergyas the pressure vessel. When the system expands to the environment, its isentropic exergy decreases because of the increase of entropy in the shock wave. The shock wave system contains the pressure vessel gas and a growing amount of ambient gas. The destructive effect of the shock wave on the ambient structures decreases when its distance from the starting point increases. This arises firstly from the fact that the shock wave system is distributed to a larger space. Secondly, the increase of entropy in the shock waves reduces the amount of isentropic exergy. Equations concerning the change of isentropic exergy in shock waves are derived. By means of isentropic exergy and the known flow theories, equations illustrating the pressure of the shock wave as a function of distance are derived. Amethod is proposed as an application of the equations. The method is applicablefor all shapes of pressure vessels in general use, such as spheres, cylinders and tubes. The results of this method are compared to measurements made by various researchers and to accident reports on pressure vessel explosions. The test measurements are found to be analogous with the proposed method and the findings in the accident reports are not controversial to it.

Reconstruction of 3D Planar Objects with Partial Occlusion

Kolmiulotteisten kappaleiden rekonstruktio on yksi konenäön haastavimmista ongelmista, koska kappaleiden kolmiulotteisia etäisyyksiä ei voida selvittää yhdestä kaksiulotteisesta kuvasta. Ongelma voidaan ratkaista stereonäön avulla, jossa näkymän kolmiulotteinen rakenne päätellään usean kuvan perusteella. Tämä lähestymistapa mahdollistaa kuitenkin vain rekonstruktion niille kappaleiden osille, jotka näkyvät vähintään kahdessa kuvassa. Piilossa olevien osien rekonstruktio ei ole mahdollista pelkästään stereonäön avulla. Tässä työssä on kehitetty uusi menetelmä osittain piilossa olevien kolmiulotteisten tasomaisten kappaleiden rekonstruktioon. Menetelmän avulla voidaan selvittää hyvällä tarkkuudella tasomaisista pinnoista koostuvan kappaleen muoto ja paikka käyttäen kahta kuvaa kappaleesta. Menetelmä perustuu epipolaarigeometriaan, jonka avulla selvitetään molemmissa kuvissa näkyvät kappaleiden osat. Osittain piilossa olevien piirteiden rekonstruointi suoritetaan käyttämäen stereonäköä sekä tietoa kappaleen rakenteesta. Esitettyä ratkaisua voitaisiin käyttää esimerkiksi kolmiulotteisten kappaleiden visualisointiin, robotin navigointiin tai esineentunnistukseen.

Method and arrangement for collecting wave energy

US-patentti nro: US 7,908,854 B2

Factors predicting mortality in type 2 diabetes. With special reference to physical exercise, blood pressure, proteinuria, inflammation and P wave duration

Background: Type 2 diabetes patients have a 2-4 fold risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to the general population. In type 2 diabetes, several CVD risk factors have been identified, including obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, proteinuria, sedentary lifestyle and dyslipidemia. Although much of the excess CVD risk can be attributed to these risk factors, a significant proportion is still unknown. Aims: To assess in middle-aged type 2 diabetic subjects the joint relations of several conventional and non-conventional CVD risk factors with respect to cardiovascular and total mortality. Subjects and methods: This thesis is part of a large prospective, population based East-West type 2 diabetes study that was launched in 1982-1984. It includes 1,059 middle-aged (45-64 years old) participants. At baseline, a thorough clinical examination and laboratory measurements were performed and an ECG was recorded. The latest follow-up study was performed 18 years later in January 2001 (when the subjects were 63-81 years old). The study endpoints were total mortality and mortality due to CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Results: Physically more active patients had significantly reduced total, CVD and CHD mortality independent of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels unless proteinuria was present. Among physically active patients with a hs-CRP level >3 mg/L, the prognosis of CVD mortality was similar to patients with hs-CRP levels ≤3 mg/L. The worst prognosis was among physically inactive patients with hs-CRP levels >3 mg/L. Physically active patients with proteinuria had significantly increased total and CVD mortality by multivariate analyses. After adjustment for confounding factors, patients with proteinuria and a systolic BP <130 mmHg had a significant increase in total and CVD mortality compared to those with a systolic BP between 130 and 160 mmHg. The prognosis was similar in patients with a systolic BP <130 mmHg and ≥160 mmHg. Among patients without proteinuria, a systolic BP <130 mmHg was associated with a non-significant reduction in mortality. A P wave duration ≥114 ms was associated with a 2.5-fold increase in stroke mortality among patients with prevalent CHD or claudication. This finding persisted in multivariable analyses. Among patients with no comorbidities, there was no relationship between P wave duration and stroke mortality. Conclusions: Physical activity reduces total and CVD mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes without proteinuria or with elevated levels of hs-CRP, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory effect of physical activity can counteract increased CVD morbidity and mortality associated with a high CRP level. In patients with proteinuria the protective effect was not, however, present. Among patients with proteinuria, systolic BP <130 mmHg may increase mortality due to CVD. These results demonstrate the importance of early intervention to prevent CVD and to control all-cause mortality among patients with type 2 diabetes. The presence of proteinuria should be taken into account when defining the target systolic BP level for prevention of CVD deaths. A prolongation of the duration of the P wave was associated with increased stroke mortality among high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes. P wave duration is easy to measure and merits further examination to evaluate its importance for estimation of the risk of stroke among patients with type 2 diabetes.

Hygro-elasto-plastic behavior of planar orthotropic material

The mechanical and hygroscopic properties of paper and board are factors affecting the whole lifecycle of a product, including paper/board quality, production, converting, and material and energy savings. The progress of shrinkage profiles, loose edges of web, baggy web causing wrinkling and misregistration in printing are examples of factors affecting runnability and end product quality in the drying section and converting processes, where paper or board is treated as a moving web. The structural properties and internal stresses or plastic strain differences built up during production also cause the end-product defects related to distortion of the shape of the product such as sheet or box. The objective of this work was to construct a model capable of capturing the characteristic behavior of hygroscopic orthotropic material under moisture change, during different external in-plane stretch or stress conditions. Two independent experimental models were constructed: the elasto-plastic material model and the hygroexpansivity-shrinkage model. Both describe the structural properties of the sheet with a fiber orientation probability distribution, and both are functions of the dry solids content and fiber orientation anisotropy index. The anisotropy index, introduced in this work, simplifies the procedure of determining the constitutive parameters of the material model and the hygroexpansion coefficients in different in-plane directions of the orthotropic sheet. The mathematically consistent elasto-plastic material model and the dry solids content dependent hygroexpansivity have been constructed over the entire range from wet to dry. The presented elastoplastic and hygroexpansivity-shrinkage models can be used in an analytical approach to estimate the plastic strain and shrinkage in simple one-dimensional cases. For studies of the combined and more complicated effects of hygro-elasto-plastic behavior, both models were implemented in a finite element program for a numerical solution. The finite element approach also offered possibilities for studying different structural variations of orthotropic planar material, as well as local buckling behavior and internal stress situations of the sheet or web generated by local strain differences. A comparison of the simulation examples presented in this work to results published earlier confirms that the hygro-elasto-plastic model provides at least qualitatively reasonable estimates. The application potential of the hygro-elasto-plastic model is versatile, including several phenomena and defects appearing in the drying, converting and end-use conditions of the paper or board webs and products, or in other corresponding complex planar materials.

“Who is steering the ship and which constellation guides the way? Exploring transparency in the European Central Bank during the time of crisis”

This paper explores transparency in the decision-making of the European Central Bank (ECB). According to ECB´s definition, transparency means that the central bank provides the general public with all relevant information on its strategy, assessments and policy decisions as well as its procedures in an open, clear and timely manner. In this paper, however, the interpretation of transparency is somewhat broader: Information is freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by the decisions. Moreover, the individuals shall be able to master this material. ECB´s negative attitude towards publication of documents has demonstrated central bank´s reluctance to strive towards more extensive transparency. By virtue of the definition adopted by the ECB the bank itself is responsible for determining what is considered as relevant information. On the grounds of EU treaties, this paper assesses ECB`s accountability concentrating especially on transparency by employing principal-agent theory and constitutional approach. Traditionally, the definite mandate and the tenet of central bank independence have been used to justify the limited accountability. The de facto competence of the ECB has, however, considerably expanded as the central bank has decisively resorted to non-standard measures in order to combat the economic turbulences facing Europe. It is alleged that non-standard monetary policy constitutes a grey zone occasionally resembling economic policy or fiscal policy. Notwithstanding, the European Court of Justice has repeatedly approved these measures. This dynamic interpretation of the treaties seems to allow temporarily exceptions from the central bank´s primary objective during extraordinary times. Regardless, the paper suggests that the accountability nexus defined in the treaties is not sufficient in order to guarantee the accountability of the ECB after the adoption of the new, more active role. Enhanced transparency would help the ECB to maintain its credibility. Investing in the quality of monetary dialogue between the Parliament and the ECB appears to constitute the most adequate and practicable method to accomplish this intention. As a result of upgraded transparency the legitimacy of the central bank would not solely rest on its policy outputs.