Time misalignments in fault detection and diagnosis

El desalineamiento temporal es la incorrespondencia de dos señales debido a una distorsión en el eje temporal. La Detección y Diagnóstico de Fallas (Fault Detection and Diagnosis-FDD) permite la detección, el diagnóstico y la corrección de fallos en un proceso. La metodología usada en FDD está dividida en dos categorías: técnicas basadas en modelos y no basadas en modelos. Esta tesis doctoral trata sobre el estudio del efecto del desalineamiento temporal en FDD. Nuestra atención se enfoca en el análisis y el diseño de sistemas FDD en caso de problemas de comunicación de datos, como retardos y pérdidas. Se proponen dos técnicas para reducir estos problemas: una basada en programación dinámica y la otra en optimización. Los métodos propuestos han sido validados sobre diferentes sistemas dinámicos: control de posición de un motor de corriente continua, una planta de laboratorio y un problema de sistemas eléctricos conocido como hueco de tensión.

Development of a social studies unit on westward expansion in the United States at a beginning 3rd grade level

This paper is a curriculum packet for teaching of the westward expansion in the United States for a third grade level.

Haunted by History: Myths in International Relations

A series of studies on interpretations of history and their use in political debates. Includes: Beatrice Heuser & Cyril Buffet: ‘Michel and Marianne’ Beatrice Heuser & Cyril Buffet: ‘Of Myths and Men’, Beatrice Heuser & Cyril Buffet: ‘Historical Myths and the Denial of Change’, Beatrice Heuser: ‘Dunkirk, Dien Bien Phu, and Suez, or why France doesn't trust allies and has learned to love the bomb’.

Dietary factors impact on the association between CTSS variants and obesity related traits

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cathepsin S, a protein coded by the CTSS gene, is implicated in adipose tissue biology--this protein enhances adipose tissue development. Our hypothesis is that common variants in CTSS play a role in body weight regulation and in the development of obesity and that these effects are influenced by dietary factors--increased by high protein, glycemic index and energy diets. METHODS: Four tag SNPs (rs7511673, rs11576175, rs10888390 and rs1136774) were selected to capture all common variation in the CTSS region. Association between these four SNPs and several adiposity measurements (BMI, waist circumference, waist for given BMI and being a weight gainer-experiencing the greatest degree of unexplained annual weight gain during follow-up or not) given, where applicable, both as baseline values and gain during the study period (6-8 years) were tested in 11,091 European individuals (linear or logistic regression models). We also examined the interaction between the CTSS variants and dietary factors--energy density, protein content (in grams or in % of total energy intake) and glycemic index--on these four adiposity phenotypes. RESULTS: We found several associations between CTSS polymorphisms and anthropometric traits including baseline BMI (rs11576175 (SNP N°2), p = 0.02, β = -0.2446), and waist change over time (rs7511673 (SNP N°1), p = 0.01, β = -0.0433 and rs10888390 (SNP N°3), p = 0.04, β = -0.0342). In interaction with the percentage of proteins contained in the diet, rs11576175 (SNP N°2) was also associated with the risk of being a weight gainer (p(interaction) = 0.01, OR = 1.0526)--the risk of being a weight gainer increased with the percentage of proteins contained in the diet. CONCLUSION: CTSS variants seem to be nominally associated to obesity related traits and this association may be modified by dietary protein intake.

Association between FTO variant and change in body weight and its interaction with dietary factors: the DiOGenes study

Although FTO is an established obesity-susceptibility locus, it remains unknown whether it influences weight change in adult life and whether diet attenuates this association. Therefore, we investigated the association of FTO-rs9939609 with changes in weight and waist circumference (WC) during 6.8 years follow-up in a large-scale prospective study and examined whether these associations were modified by dietary energy percentage from fat, protein, carbohydrate, or glycemic index (GI). This study comprised data from five countries of European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and was designed as a case-cohort study for weight gain. Analyses included 11,091 individuals, of whom 5,584 were cases (age (SD), 47.6 (7.5) years), defined as those with the greatest unexplained annual weight gain during follow-up and 5,507 were noncases (48.0 (7.3) years), who were compared in our case-noncase (CNC) analyses. Furthermore, 6,566 individuals (47.9 (7.3) years) selected from the total sample (all noncases and 1,059 cases) formed the random subcohort (RSC), used for continuous trait analyses. Interactions were tested by including interaction terms in the models. In the RSC-analyses, FTO-rs9939609 was associated with BMI (β (SE), 0.17 (0.08) kg·m(-2)/allele; P = 0.034) and WC (0.47 (0.21) cm/allele; P = 0.026) at baseline, but not with weight change (5.55 (12.5) g·year(-1)/allele; P = 0.66) during follow up. In the CNC-analysis, FTO-rs9939609 was associated with increased risk of being a weight-gainer (OR: 1.1; P = 0.045). We observed no interaction between FTO-rs9939609 and dietary fat, protein and carbohydrate, and GI on BMI and WC at baseline or on change in weight and WC. FTO-rs9939609 is associated with BMI and WC at baseline, but association with weight gain is weak and only observed for extreme gain. Dietary factors did not influence the associations.

Genetic polymorphisms in the hypothalamic pathway in relation to subsequent weight change--the DiOGenes study

BACKGROUND: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding the components involved in the hypothalamic pathway may influence weight gain and dietary factors may modify their effects. AIM: We conducted a case-cohort study to investigate the associations of SNPs in candidate genes with weight change during an average of 6.8 years of follow-up and to examine the potential effect modification by glycemic index (GI) and protein intake. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Participants, aged 20-60 years at baseline, came from five European countries. Cases ('weight gainers') were selected from the total eligible cohort (n = 50,293) as those with the greatest unexplained annual weight gain (n = 5,584). A random subcohort (n = 6,566) was drawn with the intention to obtain an equal number of cases and noncases (n = 5,507). We genotyped 134 SNPs that captured all common genetic variation across the 15 candidate genes; 123 met the quality control criteria. Each SNP was tested for association with the risk of being a 'weight gainer' (logistic regression models) in the case-noncase data and with weight gain (linear regression models) in the random subcohort data. After accounting for multiple testing, none of the SNPs was significantly associated with weight change. Furthermore, we observed no significant effect modification by dietary factors, except for SNP rs7180849 in the neuromedin β gene (NMB). Carriers of the minor allele had a more pronounced weight gain at a higher GI (P = 2 x 10⁻⁷). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence of association between SNPs in the studied hypothalamic genes with weight change. The interaction between GI and NMB SNP rs7180849 needs further confirmation.

Forecasters priorities for improving probabilistic flood forecasts.

Hydrological ensemble prediction systems (HEPS) have in recent years been increasingly used for the operational forecasting of floods by European hydrometeorological agencies. The most obvious advantage of HEPS is that more of the uncertainty in the modelling system can be assessed. In addition, ensemble prediction systems generally have better skill than deterministic systems both in the terms of the mean forecast performance and the potential forecasting of extreme events. Research efforts have so far mostly been devoted to the improvement of the physical and technical aspects of the model systems, such as increased resolution in time and space and better description of physical processes. Developments like these are certainly needed; however, in this paper we argue that there are other areas of HEPS that need urgent attention. This was also the result from a group exercise and a survey conducted to operational forecasters within the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) to identify the top priorities of improvement regarding their own system. They turned out to span a range of areas, the most popular being to include verification of an assessment of past forecast performance, a multi-model approach for hydrological modelling, to increase the forecast skill on the medium range (>3 days) and more focus on education and training on the interpretation of forecasts. In light of limited resources, we suggest a simple model to classify the identified priorities in terms of their cost and complexity to decide in which order to tackle them. This model is then used to create an action plan of short-, medium- and long-term research priorities with the ultimate goal of an optimal improvement of EFAS in particular and to spur the development of operational HEPS in general.

Impact of geographical region on urinary metabolomic and plasma fatty acid profiles in subjects with the metabolic syndrome across Europe: the LIPGENE study

The application of metabolomics in multi-centre studies is increasing. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of geographical location on the metabolic profiles of individuals with the metabolic syndrome. Blood and urine samples were collected from 219 adults from seven European centres participating in the LIPGENE project (Diet, genomics and the metabolic syndrome: an integrated nutrition, agro-food, social and economic analysis). Nutrient intakes, BMI, waist:hip ratio, blood pressure, and plasma glucose, insulin and blood lipid levels were assessed. Plasma fatty acid levels and urine were assessed using a metabolomic technique. The separation of three European geographical groups (NW, northwest; NE, northeast; SW, southwest) was identified using partial least-squares discriminant analysis models for urine (R 2 X: 0•33, Q 2: 0•39) and plasma fatty acid (R 2 X: 0•32, Q 2: 0•60) data. The NW group was characterised by higher levels of urinary hippurate and N-methylnicotinate. The NE group was characterised by higher levels of urinary creatine and citrate and plasma EPA (20 : 5 n-3). The SW group was characterised by higher levels of urinary trimethylamine oxide and lower levels of plasma EPA. The indicators of metabolic health appeared to be consistent across the groups. The SW group had higher intakes of total fat and MUFA compared with both the NW and NE groups (P≤ 0•001). The NE group had higher intakes of fibre and n-3 and n-6 fatty acids compared with both the NW and SW groups (all P< 0•001). It is likely that differences in dietary intakes contributed to the separation of the three groups. Evaluation of geographical factors including diet should be considered in the interpretation of metabolomic data from multi-centre studies.

Online dietary intake estimation: The Food4Me food frequency questionnaire

Background: Dietary assessment methods are important tools for nutrition research. Online dietary assessment tools have the potential to become invaluable methods of assessing dietary intake because, compared with traditional methods, they have many advantages including the automatic storage of input data and the immediate generation of nutritional outputs. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop an online food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for dietary data collection in the “Food4Me” study and to compare this with the validated European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk printed FFQ. Methods: The Food4Me FFQ used in this analysis was developed to consist of 157 food items. Standardized color photographs were incorporated in the development of the Food4Me FFQ to facilitate accurate quantification of the portion size of each food item. Participants were recruited in two centers (Dublin, Ireland and Reading, United Kingdom) and each received the online Food4Me FFQ and the printed EPIC-Norfolk FFQ in random order. Participants completed the Food4Me FFQ online and, for most food items, participants were requested to choose their usual serving size among seven possibilities from a range of portion size pictures. The level of agreement between the two methods was evaluated for both nutrient and food group intakes using the Bland and Altman method and classification into quartiles of daily intake. Correlations were calculated for nutrient and food group intakes. Results: A total of 113 participants were recruited with a mean age of 30 (SD 10) years (40.7% male, 46/113; 59.3%, 67/113 female). Cross-classification into exact plus adjacent quartiles ranged from 77% to 97% at the nutrient level and 77% to 99% at the food group level. Agreement at the nutrient level was highest for alcohol (97%) and lowest for percent energy from polyunsaturated fatty acids (77%). Crude unadjusted correlations for nutrients ranged between .43 and .86. Agreement at the food group level was highest for “other fruits” (eg, apples, pears, oranges) and lowest for “cakes, pastries, and buns”. For food groups, correlations ranged between .41 and .90. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the online Food4Me FFQ has good agreement with the validated printed EPIC-Norfolk FFQ for assessing both nutrient and food group intakes, rendering it a useful tool for ranking individuals based on nutrient and food group intakes.