Disseny i control d'un robot equilibrista sobre dues rodes

Dissenyar un robot equilibrista i construir-lo. A més implementar les funcions per poder fer que s'aguanti dret. El robot ens permetrà transportar documents i ens detectarà obstacles mentres fa el transport. Estarà controlat per una aplicació java construida especialment per poder fer el control per bluetooth i també podrem monitoritzar informació i fer canvis en la configuració.

An Architectural and Historical Survey of Public Libraries in Iowa 1870-1940, 1980

The public library movement f the early twentieth century was a national phenomenon, in which Iowa, along with its neighboring states, played a prominent role. In 1900, the Iowa Library Commission noted 48 free public libraries in the state. Today there are approximately 500, in towns ranging in size from Beaman, with a population of 222, the Des Moines, the state capitol. Iowans took enthusiastic advantage of Andre Carnegie's library philanthropy. In 1919, the Carnegie Corporation stopped funding libraries, 101 building has been erected in Iowa with Carnegie funds. Iowa place fourth among the states in terms of the number of communities obtaining Carnegie buildings, fifth in dollar appropriation per one hundred population and eighth in the total amount of money given by Carnegie to a state. These figures provide some measure by which interest in popular education among Iowans of the period can be judged. Today these early libraries, often the most distinctive public libraries in small or medium-sized towns, are physical foci in the townscapes of their communities and centers for a variety of educational and social activities. This survey was initiated by the Division of Historic Preservation in 1977. It grew out of the need to provide a framework within which libraries could be evaluated for National Register action. Several libraries (Des Moines, Grinnell, Eagle Grove, Carroll) has been recent candidates for the Register. There was every indication that enthusiasm for old library buildings was increasing and that more nominations could be expected in the future. The attrition rate among early library buildings was (and is) growing. Most libraries were built on limited budgets (Carnegie did not squander his money) and, despite the fact that future expansion was usually a conscious consideration in their design, they are rapidly becoming obsolete, due to expanding collections and changing styles of librarianship. If the protection of the threatened with demolition or alteration, action needed to be taken.

Can we disentangle predator-prey interactions from species distributions at a macro-scale? A case study with a raptor species.

There is a debate on whether an influence of biotic interactions on species distributions can be reflected at macro-scale levels. Whereas the influence of biotic interactions on spatial arrangements is beginning to be studied at local scales, similar studies at macro-scale levels are scarce. There is no example disentangling, from other similarities with related species, the influence of predator-prey interactions on species distributions at macro-scale levels. In this study we aimed to disentangle predator-prey interactions from species distribution data following an experimental approach including a factorial design. As a case of study we selected the short-toed eagle because of its known specialization on certain prey reptiles. We used presence-absence data at a 100 Km2 spatial resolution to extract the explanatory capacity of different environmental predictors (five abiotic and two biotic predictors) on the short-toed eagle species distribution in Peninsular Spain. Abiotic predictors were relevant climatic and topographic variables, and relevant biotic predictors were prey richness and forest density. In addition to the short-toed eagle, we also obtained the predictor's explanatory capacities for i) species of the same family Accipitridae (as a reference), ii) for other birds of different families (as controls) and iii) species with randomly selected presences (as null models). We run 650 models to test for similarities of the short-toed eagle, controls and null models with reference species, assessed by regressions of explanatory capacities. We found higher similarities between the short-toed eagle and other species of the family Accipitridae than for the other two groups. Once corrected by the family effect, our analyses revealed a signal of predator-prey interaction embedded in species distribution data. This result was corroborated with additional analyses testing for differences in the concordance between the distributions of different bird categories and the distributions of either prey or non-prey species of the short-toed eagle. Our analyses were useful to disentangle a signal of predator-prey interactions from species distribution data at a macro-scale. This study highlights the importance of disentangling specific features from the variation shared with a given taxonomic level.

Multi-scale effects of nestling diet on breeding performance in a terrestrial top predator inferred from stable isotope analysis

Inter-individual diet variation within populations is likely to have important ecological and evolutionary implications. The diet-fitness relationships at the individual level and the emerging population processes are, however, poorly understood for most avian predators inhabiting complex terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we use an isotopic approach to assess the trophic ecology of nestlings in a long-lived raptor, the Bonelli"s eagle Aquila fasciata, and investigate whether nestling dietary breath and main prey consumption can affect the species" reproductive performance at two spatial scales: territories within populations and populations over a large geographic area. At the territory level, those breeding pairs whose nestlings consumed similar diets to the overall population (i.e. moderate consumption of preferred prey, but complemented by alternative prey categories) or those disproportionally consuming preferred prey were more likely to fledge two chicks. An increase in the diet diversity, however, related negatively with productivity. The age and replacements of breeding pair members had also an influence on productivity, with more fledglings associated to adult pairs with few replacements, as expected in long-lived species. At the population level, mean productivity was higher in those population-years with lower dietary breadth and higher diet similarity among territories, which was related to an overall higher consumption of preferred prey. Thus, we revealed a correspondence in diet-fitness relationships at two spatial scales: territories and populations. We suggest that stable isotope analyses may be a powerful tool to monitor the diet of terrestrial avian predators on large spatio-temporal scales, which could serve to detect potential changes in the availability of those prey on which predators depend for breeding. We encourage ecologists and evolutionary and conservation biologists concerned with the multi-scale fitness consequences of inter-individual variation in resource use to employ similar stable isotope-based approaches, which can be successfully applied to complex ecosystems such as the Mediterranean.

Nutrient enrichment and water depth modify consumer control in rocky shore macroalgal communities

The objective of my thesis is to assess mechanisms of ecological community control in macroalgal communities in the Baltic Sea. In the top-down model, predatory fish feed on invertebrate mesograzers, releasing algae partly from grazing pressure. Such a reciprocal relationship is called trophic cascade. In the bottom-up model, nutrients increase biomass in the food chain. The nutrients are first assimilated by algae and, via food chain, increase also abundance of grazers and predators. Previous studies on oceanic shores have described these two regulative mechanisms in the grazer - alga link, but how they interact in the trophic cascades from fish to algae is still inadequately known. Because the top-down and bottom-up mechanisms are predicted to depend on environmental disturbances, such as wave stress and light, I have studied these models at two distinct water depths. There are five factorial field experiments behind the thesis, which were all conducted in the Finnish Archipelago Sea. In all the experiments, I studied macroalgal colonization - either density, filament length or biomass - on submerged colonization substrates. By excluding predatory fish and mesograzers from the algal communities, the studies compared the strength of the top-down control to natural algal communities. A part of the experimental units were, in addition, exposed to enriched nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, which enabled testing of bottom-up control. These two models of community control were further investigated in shallow (<1 m) and deep (ca. 3 m) water. Moreover, the control mechanisms were also expected to depend on grazer species. Therefore different grazer species were enclosed into experimental units and their impacts on macroalgal communities were followed specifically. The community control in the Baltic rocky shores was found to follow theoretical predictions, which have not been confirmed by field studies before. Predatory fish limited grazing impact, which was seen as denser algal communities and longer algal filaments. Nutrient enrichment increased density and filament length of annual algae and, thus, changed the species composition of the algal community. The perennial alga Fucus vesiculosusA and the red alga Ceramium tenuicorne suffered from the increased nutrient availabilities. The enriched nutrient conditions led to denser grazer fauna, thereby causing strong top-down control over both the annual and perennial macroalgae. The strength of the top-down control seemed to depend on the density and diversity of grazers and predators as well as on the species composition of macroalgal assemblages. The nutrient enrichment led to, however, weaker limiting impact of predatory fish on grazer fauna, because fish stocks did not respond as quickly to enhanced resources in the environment as the invertebrate fauna. According to environmental stress model, environmental disturbances weaken the top-down control. For example, on a wave-exposed shore, wave stress causes more stress to animals close to the surface than deeper on the shore. Mesograzers were efficient consumers at both the depths, while predation by fish was weaker in shallow water. Thus, the results supported the environmental stress model, which predicts that environmental disturbance affects stronger the higher a species is in the food chain. This thesis assessed the mechanisms of community control in three-level food chains and did not take into account higher predators. Such predators in the Baltic Sea are, for example, cormorant, seals, white-tailed sea eagle, cod and salmon. All these predatory species were recently or are currently under intensive fishing, hunting and persecution, and their stocks have only recently increased in the region. Therefore, it is possible that future densities of top predators may yet alter the strengths of the controlling mechanisms in the Baltic littoral zone.

Keksinnön kaupallistamisprosessi pienyrittäjän tai keksijän näkökulmasta

Yksityisillä keksijöillä on usein ongelmana, miten saada toimiva keksintö kaupallistetuksi. Tässä työssä kartoitetaan keksinnön kaupallistamisprosessia ja siihen liittyviä ongelmia. Työn pääpainotus on keksinnön teollisessa suojaamisessa ja siirtämisessä kaupallistavalle yritykselle joko lisensioimalla tai myymällä keksintö kokonaisuudessaan. Työssä perehdytään keksinnön markkinoiden kartoittamiseen ja erilaisiin kaupallistamisvaiheen rahoitusvaihtoehtoihin. Lisäksi käsitellään liiketoimintasuunnitelmaa ja tuotteistamista. Työn teoriaosuutta peilataan todellisen casetapauksen valossa. Case- yrityksenä on kotkalainen MS Eagle Oy, jolla on hallussaan patentoitu keksintö suodatinlaitteesta. Laitteella pystytään suodattamaan öljypitoisesta nesteestä öljy. Työssä annetaan vaihtoehtoja kyseisen keksinnön kaupallistamisen toteuttamiseen.

L-tyrosine and nitric oxide synergize to prevent cytotoxic effects of superoxide.

We found previously that the nitric oxide donor DEA/NO enhanced lipid peroxidation, DNA fragmentation, and cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) when they were cultured in LHC-8 medium containing the superoxide-generating system hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase (HX/XO). We have now discovered that DEA/NO's prooxidant action can be reversed by raising the L-tyrosine concentration from 30 to 400 microM. DEA/NO also protected the cells when they were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM), whose standard concentration of L-tyrosine is 400 microM. Similar trends were seen with the colon adenoma cell line CaCo-2. Since HPLC analysis of cell-free DMEM or LHC-8 containing 400 microM L-tyrosine, DEA/NO, and HX/XO revealed no evidence of L-tyrosine nitration, our data suggest the existence of an as-yet uncharacterized mechanism by which L-tyrosine can influence the biochemical and toxicological effects of reactive nitrogen species.

American Indians of the Southwest

Recorded in Indian communities by Willard Rhodes, with the cooperation of the United States Office of Indian Affairs.

Kannettavan kaasuilmaisimen suunnittelu ja toteutus

Työn tarkoituksena on suunnitella ja toteuttaa kannettava kaasuilmaisin, joka soveltuu erityisesti tavallisen kuluttajan tarpeisiin. Kaasuilmaisin on herkkä haihtuville palaville kaasuille, sekä orgaanisille kaasuille. Työssä käytetään Atmelin ATMega164P- mikrokontrolleria, piirin ohjelmointiin käytetään AVR-ISP-II, ja kehitystyökaluina AVRStudio 4:ää. Piirilevy on suunniteltu Cadsoftin Eagle- piirieditorilla. Työssä käydään läpi kokonaisvaltainen sulautetun järjestelmän suunnitteluprosessi, tuotteen spesifikaatioiden määrityksistä aina valmiin fyysisen tuotteen valmistuttamiseen asti. Tuote suunnitellaan Environics Oy:lle.

Ainutkertainen kotkamies

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Venäjän rynnäkkökonekaluston kehitykseen vaikuttaneet tekijät toisen maailmansodan jälkeen

Pro Graduni aihe ja samalla päätutkimusongelma on tutkia Venäjän rynnäkkökonekaluston kehitykseen vaikuttaneita tekijöitä toisen maailmansodan jälkeen. Alaongelmina on mitkä seikat ovat olleet keskeisiä tekijöitä koneita suunniteltaessa, ohjasiko kehitystä enemmän lännessä tapahtunut kehitys vai omat innovaatiot ja miten rynnäkkökoneet ovat kehittyneet. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytin kvalitatiivista grouded theory- menetelmää. Venäjä on kehittänyt ilmavoimiaan rajusti toisesta maailmansodasta lähtien. Kuitenkin kaikki suuret tekniset läpimurrot tehtiin muissa maissa ennen Neuvostoliittoa. Heti sodan jälkeen Neuvostoliitto alkoi kuroa lännen etumatkaa kiinni suihkumoottoriteknologiassa. Tässä auttoivat Saksasta ja briteiltä saadut moottorit. Suihkumoottori nosti sotilasilmailun aivan uudelle tasolle kun käytettävissä oleva korkeus- ja nopeusalue kasvoi huomattavasti. Suihkumoottorit toivat mukanaan myös ongelmia. Nopeudet lentoonlähdössä ja laskussa sekä tarvittavat kiitotiepituudet kasvoivat rajusti. Myös koneiden toiminta-ajat olivat varsin vaatimattomia verrattuna potkurikoneisiin. Ratkaisua etsittiin ja se löydettiin kääntyvistä siivistä. Tämäkin läpimurto keksittiin lännessä ennen Neuvostoliittoa. Kääntyvät siivet tulivat kolmannen sukupolven koneisiin ja niiden avulla nopeudet onnistuttiin pitämään alhaisina lennon kriittisissä vaiheissa. Myös neljännen sukupolven koneet tulivat Yhdysvalloissa käyttöön ennen Neuvostoliittoa. Tämän sukupolven koneissa pystyttiin yhdistämään entistä tehokkaammin useita ominaisuuksia ja myös kääntyvistä siivistä voitiin luopua. Vaikka Neuvostoliitto oli sotilasilmailun suurvalta, se kulki kuitenkin toisen maailmansodan jälkeen lähes koko ajan teknisesti vähän länsimaita jäljessä. Länsimaiden, etenkin Yhdysvaltojen, konetyypit ohjasivat jossain määrin Neuvostoliiton tulevia konetyyppejä. Hyvinä esimerkkeinä tästä on A-10 Thuderbolt vs Su-25 frogfoot, F-111 Aardvark vs Su-24 Fencer, F-16 Falcon vs Mig-29 Fullcrum ja F-15 Eagle vs Su-27 Flanker. Vaikka kyseiset Neuvostoliiton koneet eivät olleet mitään suoria kopioita amerikkalaisista vastineista, yhtäläisyyksiäkin on paljon. Pitää ottaa huomioon, että myös Yhdysvallat seurasi Neuvostoliitossa tapahtuvaa konekehitystä ja Neuvostoliiton koneet vaikuttivat Yhdysvaltojen konesuunnitteluun. Hyvä esimerkki tästä oli, kun yhdysvaltalaiset suunnittelivat F-15-koneen vastineeksi MiG-25:lle, jonka suorituskyvyn he yliarvioivat. Neuvostoliittolaiset puolestaan suunnittelivat Su-27-koneen vastaamaan F-15-koneen tuomaa uhkaa vastaan

Kaikki kotkasta

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Yhdysvaltojen Ilmavoimien hävittäjätaktiikka 1980-luvulla

Tutkimus käsittelee Yhdysvaltojen Ilmavoimien 1980-luvun hävittäjätaktiikkaa ja sen tarkoi-tuksena on kuvailla Yhdysvaltojen lentokaluston kehityksen myötä muuttunutta taktiikkaa. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan sekä Vietnamin että Persianlahden sodan aikaisia hävittäjätak-tiikoita, jolloin saadaan kuva taktiikan kehittymisestä. F-15 Eagle ja F-16 Fighting Falcon ovat 1970-luvulla käyttöönotettuja ilmaherruushävittäjiä, jotka korvasivat aikaisemman F-4 Phantom -kaluston. F-117A Nighthawk puolestaan on häiveteknologiaa hyödyntävä lähitulitukikone ja kevyt pommittaja, jonka käyttöönottaminen vuonna 1982 osaltaan vaikutti hävittäjätaktiikan kehittymiseen. Uusien hävittäjien ja ryn-näkkökoneiden lisäksi Yhdysvallat otti 1970-luvun lopulla käyttöönsä AWACS-koneet (Air-borne Warning and Control Systems), jotka toimivat ilmavalvonta- ja taistelunjohtokoneina. AWACS mahdollistaa ilmaoperaatioille välttämättömien elementtien kuten taistelunjohtami-sen ja viestinnän ulottuvuuden moninkertaistamisen. Se on näin ollen erinomainen apuväline ilmaherruuden saavuttamiseen ja säilyttämiseen. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen teoreettinen tutkimus, jonka aineisto koostuu pääasiassa alan artikkeleista ja kirjallisuudesta. Näin ollen työssä pääasiallisesti käytetty tutkimusmenetelmä on asiakirja- ja kirjallisuustutkimus. Päällimmäisenä tiedonhankintamenetelmänä puolestaan on käytetty aiheen historiallisen luonteen vuoksi lähdekritiikkiä, jonka keinoin tutkimuksen rakentaminen on ollut mahdollista luotettaviksi todettujen lähteiden pohjalta.

Effect of conditioned medium of mesenchymal stem cells on the in vitro maturation and subsequent development of mouse oocyte

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete a variety of cytokines and growth factors in addition to self-renewal and multiple forms of differentiation. Some of these secreted bioactive factors could improve meiotic maturation in vitro and subsequent embryo developmental potential. The aim of the present study was to determine whether in vitro maturation (IVM) of mouse oocyte with or without cumulus cells could be improved by contact with conditioned medium (CM) of MSCs as well as the efficiency of CM to support follicular growth and oocyte maturation in the ovarian organ of mice cultured on soft agar. The developmental potential of matured oocyte was assessed by blastocyst formation after in vitro fertilization (IVF). Germinal vesicle stage oocytes with or without cumulus cells were subjected to IVM in either CM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM), α-minimum essential medium (α-MEM) or human tubal fluid (HTF). Approximately 120 oocytes were studied for each medium. CM produced a higher maturation rate (91.2%) than DMEM (54.7%), α-MEM (63.5%) and HTF (27.1%). Moreover, CM improved embryo development to blastocyst stage significantly more than DMEM and HTF (85 vs 7% and 41.7%, respectively) but there was no significant difference compared with α-MEM (85 vs 80.3%). The behavior of cortical granules of IVM oocytes cultured in CM revealed cytoplasmic maturation. Moreover, CM also supported preantral follicles growth well in organotypic culture on soft agar resulting in the maturation of 60% of them to developmentally competent oocytes. The production of estrogen progressively increased approximately 1-fold every other day during organ culture, while a dramatic 10-fold increase in progesterone was observed 17 h after human chorionic gonadotropin stimulus at the end of culture. Thus, CM is an effective medium for preantral follicle growth, oocyte maturation, and sequential embryo development.

Bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

There has been concern regarding the use of controversial paradigms for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to manage treatment-resistant depression (TRD). This meta-analysis assessed the efficacy of bilateral rTMS compared with unilateral and sham rTMS in patients with TRD. PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, EAGLE and NTIS databases were searched to identify relevant studies, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on bilateral rTMS for TRD patients were included. The response was defined as the primary outcome, and remission was the secondary outcome. Ten RCTs that included 634 patients met the eligibility criteria. The risk ratio (RRs) of both the primary and secondary outcomes of bilateral rTMS showed non-significant increases compared to unilateral rTMS (RR=1.01, P=0.93; odds ratio [OR]=0.77, P=0.22). Notably, the RR of the primary bilateral rTMS outcome was significantly increased compared to that for sham rTMS (RR=3.43, P=0.0004). The results of our analysis demonstrated that bilateral rTMS was significantly more effective than sham rTMS but not unilateral rTMS in patients with TRD. Thus, bilateral rTMS may not be a useful paradigm for patients with TRD.