imaging capabilities of ground penetrating radar for the detection of buries anti-personnel landmines

Subsurface Radar, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Anti-Personnel Landmine, Antenna Desing, Field Simulation, Focusing, Dielectric Lens, Geophysics, Soil Properties

3-D surface reconstruction using spatial frequency-based approaches under influence of perspective distortion

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Diss., 2008

Acute Coronary Syndrome Treatment Costs from the Perspective of the Supplementary Health System

AbstractBackground:Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is defined as a “group of clinical symptoms compatible with acute myocardial ischemia”, representing the leading cause of death worldwide, with a high clinical and financial impact. In this sense, the development of economic studies assessing the costs related to the treatment of ACS should be considered.Objective:To evaluate costs and length of hospital stay between groups of patients treated for ACS undergoing angioplasty with or without stent implantation (stent+ / stent-), coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and treated only clinically (Clinical) from the perspective of the Brazilian Supplementary Health System (SHS).Methods:A retrospective analysis of medical claims of beneficiaries of health plans was performed considering hospitalization costs and length of hospital stay for management of patients undergoing different types of treatment for ACS, between Jan/2010 and Jun/2012.Results:The average costs per patient were R$ 18,261.77, R$ 30,611.07, R$ 37,454.94 and R$ 40,883.37 in the following groups: Clinical, stent-, stent+ and CABG, respectively. The average costs per day of hospitalization were R$ 1,987.03, R$ 4,024.72, R$ 6,033.40 and R$ 2,663.82, respectively. The average results for length of stay were 9.19 days, 7.61 days, 6.19 days and 15.20 days in these same groups. The differences were significant between all groups except Clinical and stent- and between stent + and CABG groups for cost analysis.Conclusion:Hospitalization costs of SCA are high in the Brazilian SHS, being significantly higher when interventional procedures are required.

The Benefits of Prone SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Reducing Both Artifact Defects and Patient Radiation Exposure

AbstractBackground:Prone imaging has been demonstrated to minimize diaphragmatic and breast tissue attenuation.Objectives:To determine the role of prone imaging on the reduction of unnecessary rest perfusion studies and coronary angiographies performed, thus decreasing investigation time and radiation exposure.Methods:We examined 139 patients, 120 with an inferior wall and 19 with an anterior wall perfusion defect that might represented attenuation artifact. Post-stress images were acquired in both the supine and prone position. Coronary angiography was used as the “gold standard” for evaluating coronary artery patency. The study was terminated and rest imaging was obviated in the presence of complete improvement of the defect in the prone position. Quantitative interpretation was performed. Results were compared with clinical data and coronary angiographic findings.Results:Prone acquisition correctly revealed defect improvement in 89 patients (89/120) with inferior wall and 12 patients (12/19) with anterior wall attenuation artifact. Quantitative analysis demonstrated statistically significant difference in the mean summed stress scores (SSS) of supine and mean SSS of prone studies in patients with disappearing inferior wall defect in the prone position and patent right coronary artery (true negative results). The mean difference between SSS in supine and in prone position was higher with disappearing than with remaining defects.Conclusion:Technetium-99m (Tc-99m) tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion imaging with the patient in the prone position overcomes soft tissue attenuation; moreover it provides an inexpensive, accurate approach to limit the number of unnecessary rest perfusion studies and coronary angiographies performed.

Imaging beyond structure : novel noninvasive tools for neuroimaging of stem cell function and differentiation

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Naturwiss., Diss., 2013

Green jobs and climate change : the Saxony Anhalt Region - renewable energies in the perspective of the economy and vocational education and training

Fabienne-Agnes Baumann, Klaus Jenewein, Axel Müller

The status (quo) of VET in Brazil : an empirical study about its function, meaning and impingements from the perspective of former dual system apprentices

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Humanwiss., Diss., 2015

Improved cardiac gating and patient monitoring in high field magnetic resonance imaging by means of electrocardiogram signal processing

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Diss., 2015

Ultra-high resolution imaging of the functional anatomy and plasticity of the human hippocampal-entorhinal circuitry

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Naturwiss., Diss., 2015

Collaboration strategies and technological innovation: a contractual perspective of the relationship between firms and techonological centers

In this paper, a theoretical framework for analyzing the selection of governance structures for implementing collaboration agreements between firms and Technological Centers is presented and empirically discussed. This framework includes Transaction Costs and Property Rights’ theoretical assumptions, though complemented with several proposals coming from the Transactional Value Theory. This last theory is used for adding some dynamism in the governance structure selection. As empirical evidence of this theoretical explanation, we analyse four real experiences of collaboration between firms and one Technological Center. These experiences are aimed to represent the typology of relationships which Technological Centers usually face. Among others, a key interesting result is obtained: R&D collaboration activities do not need to always be organized through hierarchical solutions. In those cases where future expected benefits and/or reputation issues could play an important role, the traditional more static theories could not fully explain the selected governance structure for managing the R&D relationship. As a consequence, these results justify further research about the adequacy of the theoretical framework presented in this paper in other contexts, for example, R&D collaborations between firms and/or between Universities or Public Research Centers and firms.

Empiricism in ecological economics: a perspective from complex systems theory

Economies are open complex adaptive systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and neo-classical environmental economics seems not to be the best way to describe the behaviour of such systems. Standard econometric analysis (i.e. time series) takes a deterministic and predictive approach, which encourages the search for predictive policy to ‘correct’ environmental problems. Rather, it seems that, because of the characteristics of economic systems, an ex-post analysis is more appropriate, which describes the emergence of such systems’ properties, and which sees policy as a social steering mechanism. With this background, some of the recent empirical work published in the field of ecological economics that follows the approach defended here is presented. Finally, the conclusion is reached that a predictive use of econometrics (i.e. time series analysis) in ecological economics should be limited to cases in which uncertainty decreases, which is not the normal situation when analysing the evolution of economic systems. However, that does not mean we should not use empirical analysis. On the contrary, this is to be encouraged, but from a structural and ex-post point of view.

An input-output analysis of the "key" sectors in CO2 emissions from a production perspective: an application to the spanish economy

Here we present an approach that allows the identification of the "key" productive sectors responsible for CO2 emission. For this purpose, we develop an input–output methodology from a supply perspective. We focus on the impact of an increase in the value-added of the different productive sectors on total CO2 emissions and we identify the productive sectors responsible for the increase in CO2 emissions when there is an increase in the income of the economy. The approach shows the contribution of the various sectors to CO2 emission from a production perspective and allows us to identify the sectors that deserve more consideration for mitigation policies. This analysis is complementary to the input–output analysis from a demand perspective. The methodology is applied to the Spanish economy.

Colombian international trade from a physical perspective: towards an ecologial "Prebisch Thesis"

Prebisch's approach to economic development was based on the notion that there is an international historical division of labour. Peripheral countries are specialized in exporting primary goods while centre countries export industrial goods. The Terms of trade for peripheral countries tend to deteriorate. This approach can be extendend to ecological issues. The international Centre-Periphery division does not only involve the monetary exchange of goods and capital, but also the physical exchange in which Southern countries provide materials and energy so that Northern countries can develop their socioconomic metabolism. This metabolism process is guaranteed through cheap prices for primary goods. This paper aims to apply and extend Prebisch's thought on unequal exchange, both monetary and ecological, in relation to colombian trade in the period 1970-2002, using material flow analysis.

Between specialization and globalization. The marketing of agrarian products and its environmental impacts seen from a historical perspective: the province of Barcelona in the mid-nineteenth century

Ecological economics has five good reasons to consider that economic globalisation, spurred by commercial and financial fluxes, to be one of the main driving forces responsible for causing environmental degradation to our planet. The first, is the energy consumption and the socio-environmental impacts which long-distance haulage entails. The second, is the ever-increasing flow of goods to far-away destinations which renders their recycling practically impossible. This is particularly significant, because it prevents the metabolic lock of the nutrients present in food and other agrarian products from taking place. The third, is that the high degree of specialization attained in agriculture, forestry, cattle, mining and industry in each region, generates deleterious effects not only on the eco-landscape structure of the uses of the soil, but on the capability to provide habitat and environmental functions to maintain biodiversity as well