Matches in UGent Biblio for { ?s <http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/abstract> ?o. }
- aggregation abstract "Chlorides which penetrate into reinforced concrete can deteriorate structures by corrosion. These chlorides can originate from seawater, de-icing salts or other chloride solutions. In this study, ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete and concrete in which 50 %, 70 % and 85 % of the cement is replaced by BFS are compared at an age of 1, 3, 6 and 12 months with regard to chloride penetration. Therefore, non-steady state migration tests (CTH) were performed and the chloride penetration depth was determined by silver nitrate solution. In addition, rapid chloride tests (RCT) were used to give an indication of the total and free chloride content at different depths. The results indicate that concrete containing BFS is more resistant to chloride penetration in comparison to OPC concrete. To explain the different behaviour of concrete containing BFS in comparison to OPC concrete, the porosity of these mixtures was investigated. To determine the pore structure, vacuum absoption tests and capillary water sorption tests were performed. With increasing BFS content, the total porosity increases slightly, whereas the capillary porosity decreases, indicating a finer pore structure for BFS concrete. However, the capillary sorption in the zone surrounding a moulding surface is higher for concrete containing BFS, while the interior zone gives comparable results for OPC and BFS concrete.".
- aggregation abstract "A large number of studies have been conducted to investigate the pore structure of cement-based materials with the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) method. However, the conventional MIP method has some drawbacks in the measurement of pore size distributions of most porous materials, including cement-based materials. This is mainly because of the lack of direct accessibility of most pore volumes. This paper reports an alternative method to investigate the pore structure with conventional MIP set-up but different testing sequence and different data analysis method. By repeating the intrusion and extrusion cycles in every pressure step, the volume of throat pores and the volume of corresponding ink-bottle pores can be determined at each pore diameter. With the assumption that the size distribution of these ink-bottle pores at each pore diameter is equal to that of the pores larger than the corresponding throat pores, the pore size distribution can be recalculated. The new MIP method is used to investigate the pore structure of Portland cement pastes. The results measured with the new MIP method are compared with those determined with conventional MIP method and backscanning (BSE) image analysis. It is found that the new and conventional MIP measurements give the same total porosity and BSE image analysis gives a relatively lower total porosity. Regardless of the curing age, the result of the new MIP method shows a critial pore diameter smaller than that of the old method and larger than that of the BSE image analysis.".
- aggregation abstract "Due to the high CO2 emissions and scarcity involved in producing cement, ways are sought to reduce the amount of cement needed. In this paper the possibility of using micronized sand as cement replacement is investigated. Material properties are determined and the influence on the cement paste is assessed via workability and strength measurements. It is found that the workability decreases with increasing fineness and higher replacement levels. Strength reduction seems to be slightly more than proportional to the replacement level. Theoretical analysis has been done on the subjects of particle size distribution, specific surface and particle packing. A good correlation is found between the specific surface and the workability indicators. Particle packing models give promising results for optimizing the mix composition. The numerical simulation model HUMPSTRUC3D is used to evaluate the correlation between the simulated contact area of particles in the paste, and strength development measured. Finally discussion is given on economical and environmental aspects.".
- aggregation abstract "The main purpose of Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) added into high performance concrete is to prevent or reduce self-desiccation (or autogenous shrinkage) of concrete. The mechanism behind is free water release from saturated SAP lead to an increase of relative humility and to promote further hydration. Compared to plain cement paste, the added SAPs change hydration process and the development of microstructure in concrete. In this contribution, the degree of hydration of cement in cement composites containing SAP are reviewed. The influence of SAP on the development of microstructure properties, i.e. porosity, pore size distribution, morphology and connectivity of bulk cement paste and interface transition zone between cement paste and SPA, the voids introduced by SAP are discussed. It is concluded that the addition of SAP in the mixture increases the hydration degree of cement particle, this leads to a reduction of capillary porosity in the matrix and increase gel pore in the paste. The additional of SAP meanwhile increase the void in the ITZ between SAP and matrix. Micro-computer tomography image shows that the voids introduced by SAP in the mixture are homogenously distributed with an average diameter of 150 µm.".
- aggregation abstract "Engineerd Cementitious Composites (ECC) is a class of ultra ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composites, characterized by a high ductility and a tight crack width control. In the production of ECC, beside mix design, processing is another crucial factor for both fresh and hardened properties of ECC. The processing influences the fresh properties of ECC, and the fresh properties of ECC mortar have a significant effect on the hardened properties. Therefore, in order to obtain good hardened properties, fresh properties have to be properly controlled, for example, by means of water or chemical admixture adjustments. This paper explores a complementary approach, focusing on ECC processing sequence aimed at producing ECC of both good fresh and hardened properties. For the new processing sequence, a part of liquid materials, normally water and superplasticizer, are first mixed with matrix materials and fibers are then added. After fibers disperse in mortar homogenously, the rest of the liquid materials are added to modify the workability of fresh ECC and the material properties of hardened ECC. In this paper, the influence of different mixing sequences of water was investigated by comparing the experimental results of uniaxial tensile tests. The new mixing sequence was found to increase the tensile strain capacity and the ultimate tensile strength of ECC. This increase is more prominent in the mixtures with a higher water/powder ratio.".
- aggregation abstract "Connexin-assembled gap junctions (GJs) and hemichannels coordinate intercellular signaling processes. Although the regulation of connexins in GJs has been well characterized, the molecular determinants controlling connexin-hemichannel activity are unresolved. Here we investigated the regulation of Cx43-hemichannel activity by actomyosin contractility and intracellular [Ca2+] ([Ca2+](i)) using plasma membrane-permeable TAT peptides (100 mu M) designed to interfere with interactions between the cytoplasmic loop (CL) and carboxy-terminal (CT) in primary bovine corneal endothelial cells and HeLa, C6 glioma, and Xenopus oocytes ectopically expressing Cx43. Peptides corresponding to the last 10 CT aa (TAT-Cx43CT) prevented the inhibition of Cx43-hemichannel activity by contractility/high [Ca2+](i), whereas a reverse peptide (TAT-Cx43CTrev) did not. These effects were independent of zonula occludens-1, a cytoskeletal-associated Cx43-binding protein. In contrast, peptides corresponding to CL (TAT-L2) inhibited Cx43-hemichannel responses, whereas a mutant peptide (TAT-L2(H126K/I130N)) did not inhibit. In these assays, TAT-Cx43CT acted as a scaffold for TAT-L2 and vice versa, a finding supported by surface plasmon resonance measurements. Loop/tail interactions appeared essential for Cx43-hemichannel activity, because TAT-Cx43CT restored the activity of nonfunctional hemichannels, consisting of either Cx43 lacking the C-terminal tail (Cx43(M239)) or intact Cx43 ectopically expressed in Xenopus oocytes. We conclude that intramolecular loop/tail interactions control Cx43-hemichannel activity, laying the basis for developing hemichannel-specific blockers.-Ponsaerts, R., De Vuyst, E., Retamal, M., D'hondt, C., Vermeire, D., Wang, N., De Smedt, H., Zimmermann, P., Himpens, B., Vereecke, J., Leybaert, L., Bultynck, G. Intramolecular loop/tail interactions are essential for connexin 43-hemichannel activity.".
- aggregation abstract "Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify different information flow strategies to enhance integration in strategic alliances and studies these strategies with respect to contextual factors and the impact on performance. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines empirical data gathered from 56 manufacturing companies, describing 112 supply chain relationships. An empirical taxonomy is created based on cluster analysis. Findings - Based on a parsimonious description of inter-firm information flows in the literature and this paper's empirical findings, three types of alliances are identified: Silent; Communicative; and IT intensive. While Silent alliances have the poorest overall performance, substantial similarities are found between Communicative and IT intensive alliances. In particular, the analysis suggests that IT intensive alliances, albeit performing better on operational capabilities, are not performing better on relationship satisfaction compared to Communicative alliances. Additional analyses indicate that partners of an IT intensive alliance are substantially more interdependent and larger in size. Research limitations/implications - This research presents a taxonomy of information flow strategies in a supply chain context. This research is not describing causality, since the data are not longitudinal in nature. Practical implications - Managers need to selectively invest in IT according to an overall supply chain integration strategy, which also takes softer, less technological forms of integration into consideration. Originality/value - This research provides insight into inter-firm information flows from a contingency perspective, recognizing heterogeneity of firms and supply chain practices.".
- aggregation abstract "Several oral "vasoactive" drugs claim to increase walking capacity in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). Naftidrofuryl, cilostazol, buflomedil, and pentoxifylline are the most studied molecules. Although spanning several decades, several studies underlying these claims were not properly designed, underpowered or showed clinically doubtful outcomes. The evidence for these "vasoactive" drugs has always been received with scepticism, creating the need for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This brief review discusses the benefit-risk assessment of vasoactive drugs, by applying a systematic review to evaluate randomized, placebo-controlled trials. Oral naftidrofuryl and cilostazol have an acceptable safety profile as well as sustained evidence (documented by Cochrane analyses) of increased walking capacity. Subsequently, these drugs entered recommendations for peripheral arterial disease (PAD). In contrast, buflomedil and pentoxifylline have limited and/or doubtful evidence to increase walking capacity. Moreover, there were safety concerns about the narrow therapeutic range of buflomedil. Most other "vasoactive" drugs were either inappropriately or insufficiently tested or showed no significant if not negative effects on IC. "Vasoactive" drugs are no substitutes for lifestyle or exercise therapy but are adjuvant treatment to the well-appreciated triad of cardiovascular prevention (antiplatelet agents, statins and ACE-inhibitors), of which statins in their own right have documented claims to significantly increase walking capacity. "Vasoactive" drugs may have a place in the pharmacological management of symptomatic PAD in addition to the basic cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, when revascularization is not indicated, when exercise therapy is not feasible or when there is still insufficient benefit.".
- aggregation abstract "Aim: This paper is a report of a study of the association between educational level and nurses' practices in pharmacotherapeutic activities in three clinical settings. Background: The preparation and administration of medication are at the core of nursing practice, and nurses' involvement in pharmacotherapy is essential to medication safety. Nursing strategies to improve patient adherence to treatment and to identify adverse drug reactions have been described, but nurses' practice patterns in monitoring adherence and adverse drug reactions remain undocumented. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational survey design was used. Data were collected between 2005 and 2007. Each year, the focus was on a different setting. Nurses were selected by convenience sampling: 260 worked in nursing homes, 82 in community care services and 1070 in hospitals. Questions focused on the provision of medication information, observation of patient medication adherence and identification of adverse drug reactions during the preceding month. Results: Involvement in providing drug information varied considerably, from 50% among hospital nurses to 82% among nurses in community care services. Statistically significantly fewer nurses observed non-adherence in hospitals (50%) than in the other settings (about 80%). Between 40% and 49% of the nurses had observed an adverse drug reaction. Nurses' information-seeking behaviour and problem responses also varied according to setting. Bachelor's degree holders were 35% more likely than diploma holders to have observed an adverse drug reaction. Conclusion: Nurses assume considerable pharmacotherapeutic responsibilities. Practice patterns are codetermined by the healthcare setting and nurses' educational level.".
- aggregation abstract "Steel containing a high Si-content is mainly used as electrical steel in flux carrying electrical machines. These materials are divided in the categories: grain oriented and non oriented electrical steels, mainly used in transformers and electrical motors, respectively. Their industrial production is normally limited to silicon contents lower than 3.5 m.-%, due to the generation of brittle ordered structures if the Si content is increased beyond this value. The paper reports on microstructure and texture evolution during processing by rolling of electrical steel in the high Si-range. The materials studied are two industrial electrical steels with a silicon content of 2.4 and 3.2 m.-%, their situation was as-received after hot rolling and industrial annealing. The different processing parameters, as rolling temperatures and cooling conditions have a strong influence on the final microstructures and textures. The importance of hot rolling and intermediate annealing processes is enhanced since above 2 m.-% Si these steels do not experience the usual alpha-gamma-alpha phase transformation, because they present a bcc crystal structure over the entire solidus domain. Consequently, their microstructures and textures are strongly inherited from the earlier processing steps into the final product. The as-received materials were cold rolled with a nominal reduction of 75%. Their microstructures and textures were analysed by EBSD. The results obtained were compared with those of the industrial hot band. The textures were studied by the interpretation of the most important crystallographic fibre textures, extracted from the ODF's of phi(2) = 45 degrees section of the Euler space. Special attention was given to the evolution of the most important magnetic textural components. Although in terms of grain shape, IQ, texture and normalised thickness position or 's'-parameter the microstructures obtained before and after cold rolling are totally different, the overall crystallographic textures seem not to differ very much.".
- aggregation abstract "Oxide scales growing during hot rolling of steel represent an industrial and environmental problem. Tertiary oxide, which starts to form before entering the finishing stands, remains on the steel surface until the end of the process, affecting the final surface quality and the response to downstream processing. Characterizing scale layers and the scale/steel interface in terms of phase morphology, texture, grain structure and chemical composition is fundamental for a better understanding of their behaviour and the effect of thermomechanical cycles on the material response to further processing. Thin tertiary scale layers have been grown on ULC steel under controlled conditions in a laboratory device adequately positioned in a compression-testing machine, immediately before plane strain deformation. After heating under a protective atmosphere (nitrogen), the samples have been oxidized in air at 1050 degrees C for a short oxidation time. Immediately after this controlled oxidation, some of the samples were subjected to plane strain compression (PSC) inside the experimental device, in order to simulate the finishing hot rolling process. Direct observations of oxide scale layers are impossible. The EBSD technique has been identified as a powerful tool that can be used to reveal the microstructure within the oxide scale and to distinguish between its constitutive phases, based on their distinct crystal lattices. The texture of the deformed oxide scales, originally grown on ULC steel, was determined in a SEM using the EBSD technique. This will help to achieve a better understanding of their complex deformation behaviour. Because the substrate deformation affects the oxide layer, orientation relationships between scale layer and substrate were measured and the crystallographic orientation between undeformed and deformed areas was determined. Strongly textured wustite grains with a clearly pronounced columnar structure were observed after oxidation at 1050 degrees C. The detailed EBSD study reveals that the oxide layer is able to accommodate a significant amount of deformation.".
- aggregation abstract "A numerical method to predict the migration coefficient of concrete is presented. According to NT BUILD 492, the rapid chloride migration (RCM) test can be described as a process of charge passed through a concrete conductor. The chloride migration coefficient is simulated on the basis of the phenomenological relationships between conductivity and current, current and flux, flux and the migration coefficient. The conductivity of cement paste is defined as the ratio of pore solution conductivity to formation factor. A prediction of the formation factor is outlined from the cement hydration and HYMOSTRUC3D model. Finally, validation and a discussion on the simulated results are presented.".
- aggregation abstract "Due to their porous nature and because they are prone to crack formation, mineral building materials are susceptible to a variety of degradation processes resulting from ingress and/or presence of water. In this research microbial calcium carbonate precipitation is used to protect the surface or heal the cracks of construction materials such as limestone or concrete. It was shown that the water absorption of mortar cubes may be decreased by the use of a bacterial surface treatment. Also the crack healing efficiency of this technique gave positive outcomes. Treatment of cracks with Bacilus sphaericus immobilized in silica gel resulted in a decrease in the water permeability of cracked concrete samples. TGA analysis indicated that CaCO3 crystals were precipitated inside the matrix. Currently the suitability of this biological repair technique to obtain self-healing properties in concrete is investigated.".
- aggregation abstract "Cement-superplasticizer compatibility has become a major area of interest due to the increasing use of high performance and self-compacting concrete mixtures. The interaction between superplasticizer and cement can cause significant retardation effects on the hydration and setting properties of cement. However, not much data have been published to quantify this. In this study, mortar mixtures with three cement types and two different superplasticizers were tested by calorimetric and ultrasonic measurements to investigate the effects on both hydration and setting. Also the strength of the mortar samples was tested. The types of superplasticizers used, were polycondensates of naphtalene sulphonate (PNS) and polycarboxylic ethers (PCE). Based on the ultrasonic measurements, the addition of PCE and PNS caused an initial setting retardation of approximately 1.2 and 3.4 h on the portland cement, 1.9 and 4.8 h on the portland-fly ash cement and 0.5 and 1.6 h on the blast-furnace cement mixtures. This difference decreased after 16 to 20 h when the stiffness development of the samples with PNS or PCE approached the mixtures without superplasticizers. Similar to the setting, the release of the heat of hydration was more postponed by the addition of PNS than by PCE. Contrary to PNS, PCE benefited the strength of the mortar mixtures. Generally, the effect of the superplasticizers clearly differed according to the cement type in the mixture.".
- aggregation abstract "Two children presenting with a rectal prolapse We report two cases of rectal prolapse in approximately 3-year-old boys, who had recently started toilet training. In both children, the clinical examination was normal. There was no history of recent diarrhoea, weight loss or respiratory infections. Both patients were subsequently tested for cystic fibrosis. The first patient tested negative; thus it was concluded to a constipation-induced rectal prolapse. The second child tested positive with a cheek swab test. This case report illustrates the importance of performing a sweat test when young children present with a rectal prolapse, even in the absence of any apparent sign of cystic fibrosis.".
- aggregation abstract "Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of end-of-life decisions and to describe their characteristics and the preceding decision-making process in minors in Belgium. Design: Population-based postmortem anonymous physician survey. Setting: Flanders, Belgium. Participants: All physicians signing the death certificates of all patients (N=250) aged 1 to 17 years who died between June 2007 and November 2008 in Flanders, Belgium. Outcome Measures: Prevalence and characteristics of end-of-life decisions and the preceding decisionmaking process. Results: For 165 of the 250 deaths, a physician questionnaire was returned (70.5%). In 36.4%, death was preceded by an end-of-life decision. Drugs were administered to alleviate pain and symptoms with a possible life-shortening effect in 18.2% of all deaths, nontreatment decisions were made in 10.3%, and lethal drugs without the patient’s explicit request were used in 7.9%. No cases of euthanasia, ie, the use of drugs with the explicit intention to hasten death at the patient’s explicit request, were reported. Poor clinical prospects (84.6%) and low quality of life expectations (61.5%) were important reasons for the physicians to engage in end-of-life decisions. Parents were involved in decision making in 85.2% of these decisions, patients in 15.4%. Conclusions: Medical end-of-life decisions are frequent in minors in Flanders, Belgium. Whereas parents were involved in most end-of-life decisions, the patients themselves were involved much less frequently, even when the ending of their lives was intended. At the time of decision making, patients were often comatose or the physicians deemed them incompetent or too young to be involved.".
- aggregation abstract "Objective: To investigate attitudes towards physician-assisted death in minors among all physicians involved in the treatment of children dying in Flanders, Belgium over an 18-month period, and how these are related to actual medical end-of-life practices. Design: Anonymous population-based postmortem physician survey. Setting: Flanders, Belgium. Participants: Physicians signing death certificates of all patients aged 1-17 years who died between June 2007 and November 2008. Main outcome measures: Attitudes towards physician-assisted death in minors and actual end-of-life practices in the deaths concerned. Results: 124 physicians for 70.5% of eligible cases (N=149) responded. 69% favour an extension of the Belgian law on euthanasia to include minors, 26.6% think this should be done by establishing clear age limits and 61% think parental consent is required before taking life-shortening decisions. Cluster analysis yielded a cluster (67.7% of physicians) accepting of, and a cluster (32.2% of physicians) reluctant towards physician-assisted death in minors. Controlling for physician specialty and patient characteristics, acceptant physicians were more likely to engage in practices with the intention of shortening a patient's life than were reluctant physicians. Conclusion: A majority of surveyed Flemish physicians appear to accept physician-assisted dying in children under certain circumstances and favour an amendment to the euthanasia law to include minors. The approach favoured is one of assessing decision-making capacity rather than setting arbitrary age limits. These stances, and their connection with actual end-of-life practices, may encourage policy-makers to develop guidelines for medical end-of-life practices in minors that address specific challenges arising in this patient group.".
- aggregation abstract "Introducing a WDM dimension on the top of a TDM PON system is a natural evolution to increase the capacity of the network, but this can also offer additional flexibility options. Different WDM/TDM PON flavours are compared to each other in terms of flexibility at the remote node and/or the ONU side. The considered architectures are then evaluated from a techno-economic point of view for a 10G technology, taking into account reasonable target costs for the optical components. In general the increased flexibility at the remote nodes has shown to have a limited influence on the cost, which opens good perspectives for more advanced WDM/TDM PON technologies. However, adding full flexibility in the optical layer at the ONU side will be too costly in the coming years, as the cost-per-user can be doubled or even more, compared to a fully ldquostaticrdquo solution.".
- aggregation abstract "In European countries, Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella Typhimurium) is the serovar most frequently isolated from slaughter pigs1. Porcine carcass contamination with Salmonella Typhimurium can largely be attributed to persistently infected pigs. Even though tonsils are a predilection site for Salmonella persistence in pigs, virulence mechanisms necessary for cell invasion and intracellular survival do not contribute to tonsillar colonization2, suggesting that Salmonella Typhimurium resides mainly extracellularly in porcine tonsils. Biofilm formation is a mechanism used by several bacteria to survive in an extracellular context or in hostile environments3. The role of biofilm formation in Salmonella Typhimurium persistence in pigs is still unknown. It was the aim of the present study to determine whether Salmonella Typhimurium persists intracellularly or extracellularly in tonsils of pigs. Additionally, the role of biofilm formation in persistence of Salmonella Typhimurium in porcine tonsils was determined.".
- aggregation abstract "A large variety of access network technologies and architectures that provide wide service portfolio to the customer are available for the network operators. Each of the potential access network architectures and technologies varies in complexity, network functionality, services supported and overall network costs. A detailed comparison of the economic viability of different access network scenarios is crucial for operators due to the high cost of this network segment. This paper identifies all essential elements of a general framework for the techno-economic analysis of different access network technologies and architectures, as well as describes some specific issues/problems related to the techno-economic evaluation of next generation (NG) access networks. The goal is to have at operator's disposal a methodology allowing the techno-economic comparison of the proposed access network solutions and their introduction/rollout.".
- aggregation abstract "The media processing and distribution industry generally requires considerable resources to be able to execute the various tasks and workflows that constitute their business processes. The latter processes are often tied to critical constraints such as strict deadlines. A key issue herein is how to efficiently use the available computational, storage and network resources to be able to cope with the high work load. Optimizing resource usage is not only vital to scalability, but also to the level of QoS (e.g. responsiveness or prioritization) that can be provided. We designed an autonomous platform for scheduling and workflow-to-resource assignment, taking into account the different requirements and constraints. This paper presents the workflow scheduling algorithms, which consider the state and characteristics of the resources (computational, network and storage). The performance of these algorithms is presented in detail in the context of a European media processing and distribution use-case.".
- aggregation abstract "Salmonellosis is one of the most important bacterial zoonotic diseases and represents a considerable burden to humans in both developing and developed countries1. The consumption of contaminated pork is a major source of Salmonella Typhimurium infections in humans. Porcine carcass contamination is correlated with long-term Salmonella persistence in pigs, resulting in so called asymptomatic ‘carrier pigs’. Since interference of several pathogens with the host’s immune system has already been shown to be of major importance for successful long-term infection2, Salmonella Typhimurium persistence in pigs could be the result of the bacterium being able to circumvent the host’s cellular and/or humoral immune responses. It was the aim of the present study to examine if, how and why Salmonella Typhimurium escapes the porcine humoral immune system.".
- aggregation abstract "The crystallographic orientation relationships that are active during the transformation of austenite to bainite are studied for two TRIP steels by means of Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD). A detailed evaluation of about 360 retained austenite grains and their BCC neighbours was performed. Three relationships were considered, namely Kurdjumov-Sachs, Nishiyama-Wassermann and Pitsch. It was found that the majority of the austenite grains had at least one neighbour that could be related with one of the three orientation relationships. The Kurdjumov-Sachs relationship appeared to be dominant and no strong indication for variant selection could be retrieved from the studied data. It was, however, also demonstrated that some precautions need to be made since a clear distinction between the evaluation of a small region of the microstructure and conclusions made for the complete material is necessary.".
- aggregation abstract "The construction of symmetric and symplectic exponentially-fitted Runge-Kutta methods of Gauss type for the numerical integration of Hamiltonian systems with oscillatory solutions is revisited. In this paper new such two-, three- and four-step integrators are constructed and discussed by making use of the six-step procedure of Ixaru and Vanden Berghe (Exponential fitting, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004). Numerical experiments for some oscillatory problems are presented and compared to the results obtained by previous methods for three-stage methods.".
- aggregation abstract "When observing or describing the damage state in a composite material, often only Young’s modulus or residual deformation are considered. Generally, however, the Poisson’s ratio is more sensitive to damage. Rather than observing the Poisson’s ratio as function of crack density, this article studies the evolution of the Poisson’s ratio as function of the longitudinal strain, which results in a peculiar shape. First, multiple experiments are discussed to determine whether this behaviour is due to the material or to the used sensor. Next, a theoretical explanation, based on the relief of thermal stresses, is presented and validated for the peculiar evolution of the Poisson’s ratio as function of the longitudinal strain. The material used for this study is a carbon fabric-reinforced Polyphenylene Sulphide.".
- aggregation abstract "Water wave slamming can be considered as the most critical load that marine structures experience. Elastic deformability of these structures can have a significant influence on the slamming behaviour. Comparison of a rigid and deformable cylinder with the same dimensions can result in very relevant information in this field. In this paper, the first steps towards this comparison are undertaken: an experimental test set-up is presented, the test objects are defined, sensors are chosen and tested, and numerical models are proposed. Finally, first results from experimental tests and numerical simulations on a rigid cylindrical body are presented.".
- aggregation abstract "Satin woven composites can be seen as a series of connected unit cells with a definite length and width. Over the length and width of one unit cell, local strain fields can vary significantly due to the yarn interlacing pattern. By using fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensors one can measure both surface and internal local composite strain variations. However, it is not possible to directly specify the exact spatial position of the minimum and maximum strain over the gauge length of the FBG. In this paper, the strain concentrations acting on the sensor are located with the help of experimental DIC (Digital Image Correlation) technique and meso-FE simulations for surface and the inside of the test coupons, respectively. Coated high strength FBGs are used to study the deformation of thermo-plastic 5-harness satin weave composite test specimens. Maximum and minimum strain envelopes from spectral analysis of the FBG sensors, DIC strain readings and FE-modelling are presented and compared for test coupons stretched quasi statically till 0.5% strain. It is found that minimum and maximum strain values for the different methods match well. Additionally during cyclic loading the Bragg sensors accurately measure global strain states, moreover, they tend to be very feasible for detecting permanent deformations caused by local cracking.".
- aggregation abstract "Background/Aims : A large multicenter trial to compare the efficacy of peginterferon alfa-2a with interferon alfa-2a, in combination with ribavirin, in chronic hepatitis C patients. Efficacy data for prior relapsers are reported because treatment recommendations for this patient population are not well defined. Patients and methods : This study was a multicenter, prospective, randomized clinical trial. The primary efficacy endpoint was sustained virologic response in naive patients (n = 348) and relapsers (n = 95). Results : Sustained virologic response rates were similar in naive patients and relapsers, both for non-pegylated and pegylated interferon (respectively 27 and 26% and 54 and 43%). Pegylated interferon given for 48 weeks did not improved the relapse rate : 15.9 and 27.3% for non-pegylated and 16.7 and 30.4% for pegylated interferon, naive vs relapsers respectively. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between slow response (detectable HCV RNA at week 12 and undetectable at week 24) and relapse in patients with an end-of-treatment response (55% versus 13% respectively; p = 0.02; odds ratio = 6.07). Conclusions : This trial confirms the value of using peginterferon alfa-2a in both naive and relapsed patients and provides support for a more tailored approach to treatment for relapsers and particulary for patients with a slow viral response.".
- aggregation abstract "P>Sperm lipids are important for sperm viability, maturity and function. This study aimed to identify cholesterol and desmosterol composition of human spermatozoa of two sperm populations separated on Sil-Select gradient. Forty-eight males were divided into four groups namely healthy men (n = 13), asthenozoospermia (n = 11), asthenoteratozoospermia (n = 10) and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (n = 14). Sperm cholesterol and desmosterol were estimated in two human sperm population separated by centrifugation in a discontinuous Sil-Select gradient. The results showed that cholesterol and desmosterol were the major sterols in human spermatozoa. Spermatozoa recovered from upper/lower layer interface (fraction I) had low fertilization potential, while those from the base (fraction II) had high fertilization potential. Median values of cholesterol and desmosterol in fraction I were 2.55 mu mol and 0.77 mu mol/109 spermatozoa and in fraction II were 1.16 mu mol and 0.27 mu mol/109 spermatozoa. Cholesterol/desmosterol ratio was significantly higher in fraction II than I (4.8 vs. 3.2, p < 0.01). Cholesterol, desmosterol, total phospholipids and sterols/phospholipids were negatively correlated with sperm concentrations, sperm motility, linear velocity, normal sperm morphology and acrosome reaction percentage whereas cholesterol/desmosterol ratio was positively correlated with these parameters. It is concluded that the difference in sterol composition of sperm subpopulations separated on Sil-Select gradient suggests that composition of sterols is related to sperm functions.".
- aggregation abstract "The increasing presence of single-phase distributed generators and unbalanced loads in the electric power system may lead to unbalance of the three phase voltages, resulting in increased losses and heating. Distribution network operators are seeking to install larger DG units (viz. $>5$kVA in Belgium) by means of three-phase connections instead of single-phase to reduce voltage unbalance. There are several possible topologies to connect the DG units to the three-phase distribution network. These topologies can be divided into three groups: the three-phase three-wire inverters, the three-phase four-wire inverters and the multilevel inverters. In this paper, an overview of the aforementioned topologies is given.".
- aggregation abstract "This study explores whether ethnic differences in formal and informal networks also result in differences in social capital resources. The study fits into a broader research project that focuses on the role of individual social capital in explaining ethnic inequalities in labour market outcomes. Following the social capital theory, ethnic differences in labour market outcomes can be explained to some extent by differences in the access to and the mobilization of social capital. In previous research, the ethnic inequality in the access to social capital has been measured by social network measures, like the ethnic composition of the social contacts and the active membership of voluntary organizations. However, these social network measures are just proxies for the access to social capital, because there are not directly measuring the resources embedded in the social networks. Moreover, these studies state that ethnic bridging ties are better than ethnic bonding ties, because there are bridging into a network rich of resources. This is, however, not yet explicitly tested. Therefore, the aims of this study are to examine whether (1) there is ethnic inequality in the access to social capital and (2) the widely used social network measures (e.g. ethnic composition of the friendship network and membership of voluntary associations) assess adequately social capital resources. For these purposes, we use the position generator methodology. The position generator asks whether the respondent “knows” anyone having an occupation from a systematic list of 10-30 different occupations. Subsequently, different social capital measures can be calculated (e.g. volume of social capital and the composition of social capital). For this study, we use the first wave of the first cohort of the ASK-dataset. This data contains information about 1296 last-year vocational high school students in two multi-ethnic cities in Belgium. Belgium is an interesting case because of its high socio-economic ethno-stratification, and its old and new waves of labour migrants. The population of last-year high school students is chosen for two reasons. First, data collection in high schools is an efficient way to get representative data about this young age category. Second, measuring the access to social capital before the labour market entrance is the best moment in the life course to assess the social inequality, because having a job is also a source of social capital. The results show that the ethnic minorities have a lower volume of social capital and have less access to high and middle class social capital than the male natives. This ethnic inequality in social capital can be explained by the socio-economic inequality. Moreover, it appears that there are clear gender differences in the access to social capital among the natives. With respect to the social network measures, the results show that (1) ethnic bridging friendship ties are bridging into resource rich networks among the male ethnic minorities, but not among the female ethnic minorities, and (2) active membership in voluntary organizations is increasing the access to social capital for female ethnic minorities, but not for male ethnic minorities.".
- aggregation abstract "In this study we examine both theoretically and empirically whether social support can be considered as a form of social capital. Theoretically, the social support concept satisfies the conditions of the social capital conceptualisation and the main objections do not stand fire after a critical inquiry. Empirically, two well-established social capital propositions are tested with social support conceptualized as a form of social capital, using data about the attained holiday job of first year university student. For this purpose, a specific application of the resource generator with job search support items has been designed. The results confirm both the social resource proposition and the strength of ties proposition. The perceived availability of job search support seems to have a positive effect on the income and the quality of the attained holiday job. Especially instrumental job search support appears to be useful with respect to the income. In addition, it appears that job search support from the immediate and extended family (strong ties) is more effective that the support from friends (middle ties) and acquaintances (weak ties).".
- aggregation abstract "Dealing with missing information in databases, either because the information is unknown or inapplicable, is a widely addressed topic in research. Most of the time, null values are used to model this missing information. This paper deals with querying such null values, and more specifically null values representing inapplicable information, and tries to come up with semantically richer, but still correct, query answers in the presence of mill values. The presented approach is based on the observation that, when used in the context of a query, an inapplicable value can be treated semantically equivalent to some other regular domain value, resulting in a query criteria satisfaction being either 'true', 'false' or 'unknown'. So, the data itself can be inapplicable, but the criteria (and query) satisfaction is not inapplicable.".
- aggregation abstract "In the nineteenth century the first Friends of Museums organizations were established in several European countries. This article deals with the Belgian Friends of Museums organizations before 1914. These organizations, of which the administrators and members mostly belonged to the upper middle classes, in the first place seem to have wished to enlarge the museum collections. Because museums lacked the money to make important acquisitions, many national works of art ended up abroad, most often in the United States. To stop this humiliating exodus, private patronage had to come to the museums' aid. However, as this article demonstrates, from before World War I the Friends of Museums also played an important role in the changing relationship between museums and the public. Organizing all kinds of activities for visitors, they tried to direct museums towards their new function of popular education.".
- aggregation abstract "Aim: This study investigates attitudes towards physician-assisted death in minor patients of all physicians involved in the treatment of dying minor patients in Flanders, Belgium, and how these attitudes are related to physicians’ and patients’ characteristics and actual medical end-of-life practices. Method : Physicians signing death certificates of all 250 patients aged 1-17 years who died between June 2007 and November 2008 in Flanders, Belgium, were sent an anonymous questionnaire on their attitudes and end-of-life practices in the death concerned. Results : Response was obtained from 124 physicians for 71% of eligible cases (N=149). Sixty-nine percent of physicians favors an extension of the Belgian law on euthanasia to include minors, 27% thinks this should be done by setting clear age limits. Sixty-one percent thought parental consent is required before taking life-shortening decisions and 52% found the administration of a lethal drug to a non competent minor on parental request was acceptable. Cluster-analysis yielded a cluster acceptant of (68% of physicians) and a cluster (32% of physicians) reluctant towards physician-assisted death in minors. Controlling for physician specialty and patient characteristics, acceptant physicians were more likely to engage in various practices with a (co-)intention of shortening the patient’s life than reluctant physicians. Conclusion : A majority of Flemish physicians involved in the care of dying children seems to accept physician-assisted dying in children under certain circumstances and favors an amendment to the euthanasia law to include minor patients. The approach favored is assessing competency rather than setting an arbitrary age-limit. These stances may encourage policy-makers to develop guidelines for medical end-of-life practices in minors that address specific challenges arising in this patient group, including how children and parents should be involved in the decision-making process.".
- aggregation abstract "Aim: After two large scale studies on medical end-of-life practices in Belgium in 1998 and 2001, we conducted a follow-up study in 2007 to investigate trends in frequency and characteristics of these practices and differences before and after the enactment of the laws on palliative care and on euthanasia in 2002. Methods: We drew a stratified at random sample of 6927 cases from all deaths that occurred between June and November 2007 in Flanders, Belgium and mailed questionnaires about medical end-of-life practices to the certifying physicians. Results: Response rate was 58.4%. In 2007, the rate of intensified pain alleviation in Flanders increased from 18.4% of all deaths in 1998 and 22.0% in 2001 to 26.7% in 2007, and that of non-treatment decisions from 14.6 % in 2001 to 17.4% in 2007. In 1.9% of all deaths physicians reported euthanasia, a rate that was higher than that in 1998 (1.1%) and 2001 (0.3%). The rate of lethal drug use without the patient’s explicit request was lower in 2007 (1.8% of all deaths) than that in 1998 (3.2%), but similar to that in 2001 (1.5%). No shift in characteristics of patients whose death was the result of using these drugs was found. In 14.5% of all deaths in 2007, physicians reported continuous and deep sedation until death, which was substantially more often than in 2001 (8.2%). In 2007, physicians discussed medical end-of-life practices more often with competent patients, relatives and colleagues than in 1998. Conclusion: The enactment of the Belgian laws on palliative care and on euthanasia was followed by an increase in all types of medical end-of-life practices, with the exception of the use of lethal drugs without patient’s explicit request. No shift toward the use of life-ending drugs in vulnerable patient groups was observed. The substantial increase in the frequency of deep sedation demands more in-depth research. Funding: Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology - Flanders.".
- aggregation abstract "Background and study aims : Large international clinical trials conducted in the past 5 years rapidly improved the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; however, it is unclear whether the advances seen in clinical trials are being paralleled by similar improvements in routine clinical practice. PegIntrust is a Belgian community-based trial evaluating the sustained virological response. Patients and Methods : Observational study of 219 patients receiving pegylated interferon alfa-2b (1.5 mu g/kg/wk) and weight. based ribavirin (800-1200 mg/day) for 48 weeks. Primary study end point was sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable HCV RNA 6 months after the completion of treatment. Results : In total, 108 patients (49.3 %) had undetectable HCV RNA at the end of therapy, 91(41.6%) attaining SVR. Of the 111 patients without an end-of-treatment response, 28 were non-responders, and 21 had virological breakthrough. In total, 134 patients attained early virological response (EVR); 88 (65.7%) of those patients attained SVR. In contrast, 82 (96.5 %) of the 85 patients who did not attain EVR also did not attain SVR. Age, fibrosis score and baseline viral load were identified as important predictors of treatment outcome. The most frequently reported serious adverse events resulting in treatment discontinuation were anemia (n = 10), fatigue/asthenia/malaise (n = 6) and fever (n = 3). Conclusion : Our data indicate that treatment of chronic hepatitis C with PEG-IFN alfa-2b plus weight-based ribavirin results in favourable treatment outcomes in a Belgian cohort of patients treated in community-based clinical practice. (Ada gastroenterol. belg., 2010, 73, 5-11).".
- aggregation abstract "Despite claims to the contrary, the evolutionary origin of teeth has not been definitely established. The classical 'outside in' theory stating that teeth derive from odontodes that invaded the oral cavity in conjunction with the origin of jaws has been challenged by an alternative, 'inside out', hypothesis suggesting that teeth evolved from pharyngeal denticles, as endodermal derivatives, prior to the origin of jaws. We propose a third scenario, a revised 'outside in' hypothesis (Huysseune et al., 2009). Our hypothesis is consistent with the current data and avoids speculations about convergent tooth evolution. We suggest that teeth may indeed have arisen before the origin of jaws, a pillar of the 'inside out' hypothesis, but not from the endodermally lined posterior pharynx. Rather, teeth would have been the result of competent, odontode-forming ectoderm invading the oropharyngeal cavity through the mouth as well as through the gill slits, interacting with neural-crest derived mesenchyme. Arguments in support of this hypothesis are: (i) the observation that pharyngeal teeth are present only in species known to possess gill slits, and disappear from the pharyngeal region in early tetrapods concomitant with the closure of gill slits; (ii) the assumption that endoderm alone, together with neural crest, cannot form teeth; (iii) observations on pharyngeal tooth and gill slit formation in extant species; (iv) the observation that the dental lamina (sensu Reif, 1982) is not a prerequisite for tooth formation; (v) evidence that patterning does not distinguish pharyngeal from skin denticles, and (vi) the observation on zebrafish mutants affected in the dermal skeleton. This 'modified outside in' hypothesis can be tested both on paleontological data (it predicts a correlation of the presence of pharyngeal teeth and of gill slits), and on developmental data in extant species (it predicts the necessity of an ectodermal signal to make [pharyngeal] teeth).".
- aggregation abstract "The canonical view of a mammalian (usually shown as human) bone resorbing cell is that of a giant macrophage-like cell (osteoclast) that dissolves bone minerals and digests bone matrix proteins. The cells' presence and activity is easily recognised based on three distinct morphological features: (i) multinuclearity, (ii) a multiply folded apical cell membrane (ruffled border), and (iii) deep lacunae (Howship's lacunae) that the cells eroded into the bone surface. Mononucleated osteoclasts without these features are considered to be inactive precursors. We challenge the view that bone resorbing cells must be multinucleated giant cells, based on our comparative studies on the teleost skeleton, on what is currently known - but often disregarded - about mononucleated mammalian osteoclasts, and on what is know about osteocytic osteolysis.".
- aggregation abstract "Impairment of segmentation during embryonic development leads to congenital fusion of vertebrae. Nevertheless, vertebral fusion can also occur during post-embryonic life. Fusion can cause reduction in mobility and may be pathological, but it can also be part of normal development and mechanically required, such as in the teleost caudal skeleton, or in the tetrapod sacrum. Using a series of closely spaced ontogenetic stages of zebrafish, stained for mineralized (Alizarin red) and cartilaginous (Alcian blue) structures, we have characterized all fusions occurring during the formation of the caudal skeleton. The urostyle results from the vertebral fusion of the compound centrum preural1-ural1 [PU1++U1] and ural2 [U2+]. Based on developmental and morphological characters: (i) number of vestigial haemal arches, (ii) occasional presence of a haemal arch rudiment, (iii) occasional individuals with separate centra rudiments or distinct mineralization time points, and (iv) evidence for internal separation, we propose that the urostyle forms as a fusion product of five, and not three vertebral centra, as previously described. The last fusion to occur in development, between the compound centrum [PU1++U1] and U2+, is a relatively slow process that typically occurs in Cypriniformes and Salmoniformes and is therefore considered reliable to monitor the fusion process. The vertebrae adjacent to the urostyle, preurals 2 and 3, are highly susceptible to fusion, and thus inadequate as a negative control to fusion, in contrast to trunk vertebrae, where fusion is never observed. With this we have established the basis for a new model to study vertebral fusion and to unravel cellular and molecular events underlying this process.".
- aggregation abstract "A classification of teleostean cartilages is essentially an impossible task because of an intergrading of tissues along an almost continuous spectrum of skeletal tissue types. Teleost fish display a spectrum that ranges from cartilage-like connective tissue to bone-like cartilage. In addition, many teleost cartilages cannot be equated with mammalian hyaline cartilage. Existing classifications of teleost cartilage are often disregarded due to the necessarily cumbersome terminology that is used to describe the astounding array of tissue types, a neglect that hampers enhancing our knowledge of the origin and function of teleost cartilage.".
- aggregation abstract "Chloride induced reinforcement corrosion is the main durability problem for concrete structures in a marine environment. If the chlorides reach the reinforcement steel, the latter will depassivate and start to corrode in presence of air and water. Since the corrosion products have a larger volume than the initial products, concrete stresses are induced, leading to spalling and degradation of the concrete structures. If cracks are present in concrete, the penetration of chlorides is much faster than in uncracked concrete. In this way, the corrosion process is initiated earlier and the service life is decreasing drastically. In order to investigate the effect of cracks on the chloride penetration, a testing program was carried out. Firstly, a method was developed to create cracks in concrete. Afterwards, chloride penetration tests with the non-steady state migration test described in NT BUILD 492 were carried out. From the penetration profiles, the influence of the crack width on the maximum penetration depth and the extent of the crack influencing zone were investigated. This leads to the conclusion that for increasing crack width, the maximum penetration depth is increasing and that the extent of the crack influencing zone is depending on the crack width.".
- aggregation abstract "Context: Short stature has an incidence of three in 100 in children. Reliable molecular genetic testing may be crucial in the context of beneficial disease management. Deletions spanning or surrounding the SHOX gene account for a significant proportion of patients with idiopathic short stature (ISS) and allied disorders, such as Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis. Objective: Several shortcomings of current strategies for copy number profiling of the SHOX region prompted us to develop an improved test for molecular diagnostics of the SHOX region. Design and Results: We introduced a quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based copy number profiling test, consisting of 11 amplicons targeting clinically relevant regions, i.e. the SHOX gene and regulatory regions. To ensure an optimal sensitivity and specificity, this test was validated in 32 controls and 18 probands with previously identified copy number changes. In addition, 152 probands with SHOX-associated phenotypes were screened, revealing 10 novel copy number changes. Conclusion: This highly validated qPCR test supersedes other approaches for copy number screening of the SHOX region in terms of reliability, accuracy, and cost efficiency. In addition, another strong point is the fact that it can be easily implemented in any standard equipped molecular laboratory. Our qPCR-based test is highly recommended for molecular diagnostics of idiopathic short stature and allied disorders. (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 95: 3010-3018, 2010)".
- aggregation abstract "Background: The somatic mutation in the FOXL2 gene c.402C>G (p.Cys134Trp) has recently been identified in the vast majority of adult ovarian granulosa cell tumors (OGCTs) studied. In addition, this mutation seems to be specific to adult OGCTs and is likely to be a driver of malignant transformation. However, its pathogenic mechanisms remain elusive. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have sequenced the FOXL2 open reading frame in a panel of tumor cell lines (NCI-60, colorectal carcinoma cell lines, JEG-3, and KGN cells). We found the FOXL2 c.402C>G mutation in the adult OGCT-derived KGN cell line. All other cell lines analyzed were negative for the mutation. In order to gain insights into the pathogenic mechanism of the p.Cys134Trp mutation, the subcellular localization and mobility of the mutant protein were studied and found to be no different from those of the wild type (WT). Furthermore, its transactivation ability was in most cases similar to that of the WT protein, including in conditions of oxidative stress. A notable exception was an artificial promoter known to be coregulated by FOXL2 and Smad3, suggesting a potential modification of their interaction. We generated a 3D structural model of the p.Cys134Trp variant and our analysis suggests that homodimer formation might also be disturbed by the mutation. Conclusions/Significance: Here, we confirm the specificity of the FOXL2 c.402C>G mutation in adult OGCTs and begin the exploration of its molecular significance. This is the first study demonstrating that the p.Cys134Trp mutant does not have a strong impact on FOXL2 localization, solubility, and transactivation abilities on a panel of proven target promoters, behaving neither as a dominant-negative nor as a loss-of-function mutation. Further studies are required to understand the specific molecular effects of this outstanding FOXL2 mutation.".
- aggregation abstract "FOXL2 mutations cause the autosomal dominant Blepharophimosis-ptosis-epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES) that may be associated with premature ovarian failure (POF). However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of FOXL2 actions in the human ovary. We conducted an extensive clinical, hormonal and ovarian histological study in two patients carrying a FOXL2 mutation associated with the typical eyelid malformations and infertility. This observational study was conducted at referral centres for POF. Histological and immunohistological studies were conducted on ovarian biopsies from two women with POF carrying a FOXL2 mutation resulting in putative polyalanine expansions of the protein. Abnormalities similar to those observed in mice with FOXL2 gene inactivation were present in the first patient's ovary, although the ovarian histology of the second patient was apparently normal. Different ovarian phenotypes, follicular defects and distribution of FOXL2 protein were observed in two patients carrying a FOXL2 mutation.".
- aggregation abstract "The properties and functions of (bio)molecules are closely related to their molecular conformations. A variety of methods are available to sample the conformational space at a relatively low level of theory. If a higher level of theory is required, the computational cost can be reduced by selecting a uniformly distributed set of conformations from the ensemble of conformations generated at a low level of theory and by optimizing this selected set at a higher level. The generation of conformers is performed using molecular dynamics runs which are analyzed using the MD-Tracks code [J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2008, 48, 2414]. This article presents a Kennard Stone-based algorithm, with a distance measure based on the distance matrix, for the selection of the most diverse set of conformations. The method has been successfully applied to macrocyclic alkenes. The correct thermodynamic stability of the double-bond isomers of a flexible macrocyclic alkene containing two chiral centers is reproduced. The double-bond configuration has a limited effect on the conformation of the whole macrocycle. The chirality of the stereocenters has a larger effect on the molecular conformations.".
- aggregation abstract "In dit artikel worden de echtscheidingsrisico’s binnen de Turkse en Marokkaanse minderheidsgroepen in België vergeleken naar huwelijkstype. De gangbare dichotomie tussen etnisch homogame en etnisch heterogame huwelijken wordt getest door het onderscheiden van een derde type huwelijken, met name etnisch homogame huwelijken van individuen uit een etnische minderheidsgroep met een partner uit het land van herkomst. De hypothese luidt dat deze huwelijken zich differentiëren in termen van echtscheidingsrisico’s als gevolg van een unieke combinatie van zowel mogelijke culturele verschillen als sociale steun. Op basis van de analyse van gekoppelde gegevens van de Belgische Volkstelling van 1991 en het Register van natuurlijke personen wordt het unieke karakter van dit type huwelijken bevestigd: in beide minderheidsgroepen ligt het echtscheidingsrisico voor deze huwelijken boven dat van de andere etnisch homogame huwelijken. Anderzijds wijzen de specifieke echtscheidingsrisico’s naar huwelijkstype ook op het belang van verschillen in transnationalisme en gemeenschapsvorming tussen de Turkse en Marokkaanse minderheidsgroepen.".
- aggregation abstract "Background: The development of teeth is the result of interactions between competent mesenchyme and epithelium, both of which undergo extensive morphogenesis. The importance of cell adhesion molecules in morphogenesis has long been acknowledged but remarkably few studies have focused on the distribution and function of these molecules in tooth development. Results: We analyzed the expression pattern of an important epithelial cadherin, E-cadherin, during the formation of first-generation teeth as well as replacement teeth in the zebrafish, using in situ hybridization and whole mount immunostaining to reveal mRNA expression and protein distribution. E-cadherin was detected in every layer of the enamel organ during the different stages of tooth development, but there were slight differences between first-generation and replacement teeth in the strength and distribution of the signal. The dental papilla, which is derived from the mesenchyme, did not show any expression. Remarkably, the crypts surrounding the functional teeth showed an uneven distribution of E-cadherin throughout the pharyngeal region. Conclusions: The slight differences between E-cadherin expression in zebrafish teeth and developing mouse and human teeth are discussed in the light of fundamental differences in structural and developmental features of the dentition between zebrafish and mammals. Importantly, the uninterrupted expression of E-cadherin indicates that down-regulation of E-cadherin is not required for formation of an epithelial tooth bud. Further research is needed to understand the role of other cell adhesion systems during the development of teeth and the formation of replacement teeth.".
- aggregation abstract "This paper deals with the problem of the exact computation of the autocorrelation function of a real or complex discrete wavelet subband of a signal, when the autocorrelation function (or Power Spectral Density, PSD) of the signal in the time domain (or spatial domain) is either known or estimated using a separate technique. The solution to this problem allows us to couple time domain noise estimation techniques to wavelet domain denoising algorithms, which is crucial for the development of blind wavelet-based denoising techniques. Specifically, we investigate the Dual-Tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT), which has a good directional selectivity in 2-D and 3-D, is approximately shift-invariant, and yields better denoising results than a discrete wavelet transform (DWT). The proposed scheme gives an analytical relationship between the PSD of the input signal/image and the PSD of each individual real/complex wavelet subband which is very useful for future developments. We also show that a more general technique, that relies on Monte-Carlo simulations, requires a large number of input samples for a reliable estimate, while the proposed technique does not suffer from this problem.".
- aggregation abstract "Recently, there has been a huge interest in multiresolution representations that also perform a multidirectional analysis. The Shearlet transform provides both a multiresolution analysis (such as the wavelet transform), and at the same time an optimally sparse image-independent representation for images containing edges. Existing discrete implementations of the Shearlet transform have mainly focused on specific applications, such as edge detection or denoising, and were not designed with a low redundancy in mind (the redundancy factor is typically larger than the number of orientation subbands in the finest scale). In this paper, we present a novel design of a Discrete Shearlet Transform, that can have a redundancy factor of 2.6, independent of the number of orientation subbands, and that has many interesting properties, such as shift-invariance and self-invertability. This transform can be used in a wide range of applications. Experiments are provided to show the improved characteristics of the transform.".
- aggregation abstract "We propose a new statistical model for image restoration in which neighbourhoods of wavelet subbands are modeled by a discrete mixture of linear projected Gaussian Scale Mixtures (MPGSM). In each projection, a lower dimensional approximation of the local neighbourhood is obtained, thereby modeling the strongest correlations in that neighbourhood. The model is a generalization of the recently developed Mixture of GSM (MGSM) model, that offers a significant improvement both in PSNR and visually compared to the current state-of-the-art wavelet techniques. However the computation cost is very high which hampers its use for practical purposes. We present a fast EM algorithm that takes advantage of the projection bases to speed up the algorithm. The results show that, when projecting on a fixed data-independent basis, even computational advantages with a limited loss of PSNR can be obtained with respect to the BLS-GSM denoising method, while data-dependent bases of Principle Components offer a higher denoising performance, both visually and in PSNR compared to the current wavelet-based state-of-the-art denoising methods.".
- aggregation abstract "Images, captured with digital imaging devices, often contain noise. In literature, many algorithms exist for the removal of white uncorrelated noise, but they usually fail when applied to images with correlated noise. In this paper, we design a new denoising method for the removal of correlated noise, by modeling the significance of the noise-free wavelet coefficients in a local window using a new significance measure that defines the "signal of interest" and that is applicable to correlated noise. We combine the intrascale model with a Hidden Markov Tree model to capture the interscale dependencies between the wavelet coefficients. We propose a denoising method based on the combined model and a less redundant wavelet transform. We present results that show that the new method performs as well as the state-of-the-art wavelet-based methods, while having a lower computational complexity.".
- aggregation abstract "In the optimization of medical imaging systems, there is a stringent need to shift from human observer studies to numerical observer studies, because of both cost and time limitations. Numerical models give an objective measure for the quality of displayed images for a given task and can be designed to predict the performance of medical specialists performing the same task. For the task of signal detection, the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) has been successfully used, although several studies indicate an overefficiency of the CHO compared to human observers. One of the main causes of this overefficiency is attributed to the intrinsic uncertainty about the signal (such as its orientation) that a human observer is dealing with. Deeper knowledge of the discrepancies of the CHO and the human observer may provide extra insight in the processing of the human visual system and this knowledge can be utilized to better fine-tune medical imaging systems.".
- aggregation abstract "The dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) uses approximate Hilbert transform pairs of wavelet, which requires that the filters of each tree of the dual-tree structure should be delayed approximately one half sample from each other. However, the filters of the first (finest) scale of the transform do not obey this condition, resulting in a poor directional selectivity for the first scale. In this paper, we describe a design technique for first-scale infinite impulse response (IIR) wavelet filters, that solves this problem. Results demonstrate that a much better directional selectivity is obtained, which indicates a performance improvement for many applications that use the DT-CWT where the preservation of high-frequency information is important.".
- aggregation abstract "In high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, multiple photographs with different exposure times are combined into a radiance map, which reflects the radiance in real-life scenes. This involves recovering the response function of the imaging process. The technique proposed by Debevec and Malik is a well-known HDR image synthesis algorithm, but the computational complexity is relatively high, which limits the possible image size and the reconstruction quality. In this paper we present an improved joint optimization technique for estimating the camera response function (CRF) and the radiance map and a new sequential two-step optimization technique, which first estimates the CRF and then reconstructs the radiance map, resulting in better visual results and a higher SNR in remarkably less computation time.".
- aggregation abstract "In § 87 van de Kritiek van het Oordeelsvermogen ontwikkelt Kant een moreel-teleologisch bewijs voor het bestaan van God om de idee van het hoogste goede, dat wil zeggen, de harmonieuze samenhang van zedelijkheid en geluk, als einddoel van de morele wet verstandelijk kenbaar te maken. Deze voordracht beoogt een analyse van Kants argumentatie ter zake en - daarbij aansluitend - van Kants claim dat atheïsme tot een vorm van morele wanhoop voert: 'We kunnen ons dus een rechtschapen man voorstellen (zoals bijvoorbeeld Spinoza) die er vast van overtuigd is dat er geen god bestaat [...] maar hoe zal hij dan de innerlijke bepaling van zijn doel door de morele wet beoordelen, die hij actief eerbiedigt? [...] Het doel dat deze welgezinde bij de navolging van de morele wetten voor ogen had en ook behoorde te hebben, moet hij dus als onmogelijk opgeven' (p. 355-356 (A452; B427-428)). Hierbij wordt gepeild naar (i) de validiteit van deze claim, (ii) de cognitieve, psychologische en retorische kracht van Kants moreel theïsme, en (iii) de rationele, niet-theïstische alternatieven waarop zowel sceptische als dogmatische atheïsten zich kunnen beroepen om de (logische) mogelijkheid van het hoogste goede niet te hoeven opgeven.".
- aggregation abstract "Thanks to the cosine-sine decomposition of unitary matrices, an arbitrary quantum circuit, acting on w qubits, can be decomposed into 2^w-1 elementary quantum gates, called controlled V gates. Thanks to the Birkhoff decomposition of doubly stochastic matrices, an arbitrary (classical) reversible circuit, acting on w bits, can be decomposed into 2w-1 elementary gates, called controlled NOT gates. The question arises under which conditions these two synthesis methods are applicable for intermediate cases, i.e. computers based on some group, which simultaneously is a subgroup of the unitary group U(2^w) and a supergroup of the symmetric group S_{2^w}. It turns out that many groups either belong to a class that might have a cosine-sine-like decomposition but no Birkhoff-like decomposition and a second class that might have both decompositions. For an arbitrary group, in order to find out to which class it belongs, it suffices to evaluate a function Phi(m), deduced either from its order (in case of a finite group) or from its dimension (in case of a Lie group). Here m=2^w is the degree of the group.".
- aggregation abstract "Background The introduction of molecular karyotyping technologies facilitated the identification of specific genetic disorders associated with imbalances of certain genomic regions. A detailed phenotypic delineation of interstitial 16p13.3 duplications is hampered by the scarcity of such patients. Objectives To delineate the phenotypic spectrum associated with interstitial 16p13.3 duplications, and perform a genotype-phenotype analysis. Results The present report describes the genotypic and phenotypic delineation of nine submicroscopic interstitial 16p13.3 duplications. The critically duplicated region encompasses a single gene, CREBBP, which is mutated or deleted in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. In 10 out of the 12 hitherto described probands, the duplication arose de novo. Conclusions Interstitial 16p13.3 duplications have a recognizable phenotype, characterized by normal to moderately retarded mental development, normal growth, mild arthrogryposis, frequently small and proximally implanted thumbs and characteristic facial features. Occasionally, developmental defects of the heart, genitalia, palate or the eyes are observed. The frequent de novo occurrence of 16p13.3 duplications demonstrates the reduced reproductive fitness associated with this genotype. Inheritance of the duplication from a clinically normal parent in two cases indicates that the associated phenotype is incompletely penetrant.".
- aggregation abstract "Discrete linear transformations form important steps in processing information. Many such transformations are injective and therefore are prime candidates for a physically reversible implementation into hardware. We present here the first steps towards a reversible digital implementation of two different integer transformations on four inputs: The Haar wavelet and the H.264 transform.".
- aggregation abstract "Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs that leads to profound disability and premature death. To identify new SSc susceptibility loci, we conducted the first genome-wide association study in a population of European ancestry including a total of 2,296 individuals with SSc and 5,171 controls. Analysis of 279,621 autosomal SNPs followed by replication testing in an independent case-control set of European ancestry (2,753 individuals with SSc (cases) and 4,569 controls) identified a new susceptibility locus for systemic sclerosis at CD247 (1q22-23, rs2056626, P = 2.09 x 10(-7) in the discovery samples, P = 3.39 x 10(-9) in the combined analysis). Additionally, we confirm and firmly establish the role of the MHC (P = 2.31 x 10(-18)), IRF5 (P = 1.86 x 10(-13)) and STAT4 (P = 3.37 x 10(-9)) gene regions as SSc genetic risk factors.".
- aggregation abstract "Thyreostatic drugs, illegally administrated to livestock for fattening purposes, are banned in the European Union since 1981 (Council Directive 81/602/EC). For monitoring their illegal use, sensitive and specific analytical methods are required. In this study an UHPLC-MS/MS method was described for quantitative analysis of eight thyreostatic drugs in urine, this without a derivatisation step. The sample pretreatment involved a reduction step with dithiothreitol under denaturating conditions at 65 degrees C, followed by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. This analytical procedure was subsequently validated according to the EU criteria (2002/657/EC Decision), resulting in decision limits and detection capabilities ranging between 1.1 and 5.5 mu g L-1 and 1.7 and 7.5 mu g L-1, respectively. The method obtained for all, xenobiotic thyreostats, a precision (relative standard deviation) lower than 15.5%, and the linearity ranged between 0.982 and 0.999. The performance characteristics fulfill not only the requirements of the EU regarding the provisional minimum required performance limit (100 mu g L-1), but also the recommended concentration fixed at 10 mu g L-1 in urine set by the Community of Reference Laboratories. Future experiments applying this method should provide the answer to the alleged endogenous status of thiouracil. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.".
- aggregation abstract "A liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of sulfa drugs in beeswax was developed. When performing residue control on beeswax intended for the fabrication of wax foundations, residues of sulfonamides were found. A migration test was set up to study whether sulfonamide-containing beeswax could lead to the contamination of honey. The higher the concentration of sulfamethazine doped in the wax, the higher was the concentration of sulfamethazine found in the honey. The maximum transfer was 15.6, 56.9, and 29.5% of the initial amount spiked in the wax foundation. In a second experiment, the percentage of sulfamethazine migrating from medicated winter feed to beeswax in relation to the concentration in the syrup and the contact time was studied. The maximum transfer of sulfamethazine from medicated sucrose syrup to beeswax was 3.1%.".
- aggregation abstract "Background: Excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics is considered to be the most important reason for development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. As antibiotic resistance may spread across borders, high prevalence countries may serve as a source of bacterial resistance for countries with a low prevalence. Therefore, bacterial resistance is an important issue with a potential serious impact on all countries. The majority of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are treated in general practice. Most infections are caused by virus and antibiotics are therefore unlikely to have any clinical benefit. Several intervention initiatives have been taken to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics in primary health care, but the effectiveness of these interventions is only modest. Only few studies have been designed to determine the effectiveness of multifaceted strategies in countries with different practice setting. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted intervention targeting general practitioners (GPs) and patients in six countries with different prevalence of antibiotic resistance: Two Nordic countries (Denmark and Sweden), two Baltic Countries (Lithuania and Kaliningrad-Russia) and two Hispano-American countries (Spain and Argentina). Methods/Design: HAPPY AUDIT was initiated in 2008 and the project is still ongoing. The project includes 15 partners from 9 countries. GPs participating in HAPPY AUDIT will be audited by the Audit Project Odense (APO) method. The APO method will be used at a multinational level involving GPs from six countries with different cultural background and different organisation of primary health care. Research on the effect of the intervention will be performed by analysing audit registrations carried out before and after the intervention. The intervention includes training courses on management of RTIs, dissemination of clinical guidelines with recommendations for diagnosis and treatment, posters for the waiting room, brochures to patients and implementation of point of care tests (Strep A and CRP) to be used in the GPs'surgeries. To ensure public awareness of the risk of resistant bacteria, media campaigns targeting both professionals and the public will be developed and the results will be published and widely disseminated at a Working Conference hosted by the World Association of Family Doctors (WONCA-Europe) at the end of the project period. Discussion: HAPPY AUDIT is an EU-financed project with the aim of contributing to the battle against antibiotic resistance through quality improvement of GPs' diagnosis and treatment of RTIs through development of intervention programmes targeting GPs, parents of young children and healthy adults. It is hypothesized that the use of multifaceted strategies combining active intervention by GPs will be effective in reducing prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics for RTIs and improving the use of appropriate antibiotics in suspected bacterial infections.".
- aggregation abstract "The renewed interest for sustainable transport in Europe is often labelled as mobility management. With this, major attention goes towards the role of employers in the commuting behaviour of their employees. Indeed, employers can encourage a more sustainable commuting by the promotion of alternative modes, like public transport, carpooling and/or cycling, by the designation of an Employee Transport Coordinator, through their location policy, and/or by adapting work schedules and the organisation of telework. An overview of these measures is followed by an analysis of the Belgian situation. The Belgian 2005 questionnaire Home-to-Work-Travel (HTWT) enables us to make an inventory of mobility management in Belgium. The database HTWT contains information on 7460 worksites. Besides having data on modal split, work regimes and accessibility problems, 38 different mobility management measures are checked in the questionnaire. Given that we assume a relationship between accessibility problems and sustainable commuting measures both are incorporated in one analysis. Binary exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to make a classification and to obtain a better insight in the structure of the variables. However, no strong link between accessibility problems on the one hand and sustainable commuting measures on the other hand could be detected. Despite the absence of this link, a classification of mobility management measures and accessibility problems has been made. This indicates that employers regularly choose to implement a set of related sustainable commuting measures.".
- aggregation abstract "The empirical focus of the chapter is pleonastic tet in the Lapscheure dialect. At first sight, tet looks like a third person neuter pronoun which functions as a pronominal doubling element in the subject doubling pattern. The chapter first recapitulates the arguments against treating tet as a subject doubler (Haegeman 1986, 1992, Haegeman and vandeVelde 2006). Distributionally, tet is shown to differ from strong/doubling subject pronouns, from weak subject pronouns, from non-subject clitics and from discourse-related adverbs. Following Grohmann (2000), van Craenenbroeck and Haegeman (2005, 2007) and Haegeman and vandeVelde (2006), it is proposed that tet lexicalizes a functional projection ('FP') which demarcates TP and CR This expressive function of tet is similar to that of discourse-related modal particles (Kratzer 1999) and suggests that FP is a modal or discourse-related projection. On the other hand, given its licensing conditions, tet also seems to share crucial properties of 'subject' elements and on this basis FP might be identified as 'SubjP' (Rizzi 2006), the highest subject projection (see also Cardinaletti and Repetti 2005; Chinellato 2005; Rizzi and Shlonsky 2006). Two issues are further examined: (i) the fact that the intervention of tet between the agreeing complementizer and the subject remains compatible with complementizer agreement. It will be proposed that, thanks to its featural underspecification, tet can mediate the agreement relation between C and the subject. (ii) The fact that pleonastic tet alternates with the form hij, which corresponds to the third person masculine pronoun. Following Rooryck (2001) it is proposed that both tet and hij are featurally underspecified and thus can take up a pleonastic function.".
- aggregation abstract "Background and study aims : In Belgium, 10-15% of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Because of increased incidence of antiretroviral drug-related hepatotoxicity and more rapid clinical evolution towards end-stage liver disease, treatment of chronic hepatitis C becomes a priority. We report the results or a multi-centred Belgian study evaluating efficacy and safety of peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin in HIV-HCV co-infected patients without AIDS and without decompensated liver disease. Patients and methods : Forty-one patients, all genotypes, were screened to participate. Eventually 37 received treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b (1.5 mu g/kg/week) plus daily weight-based ribavirin for 52 weeks. About one third of the patients were genotypes 1, 2/3, and genotype 4, most of the latter being of Central African origin. About 56% of the patients had severe fibrosis (Metavir score >= F3). Results : Sustained viral response (SVR) at 24 weeks of follow-up was observed in 10/37 (27%) of patients. SVR was higher in genotype 2/3 compared to genotype 1/4 (46.7% versus 13.6%; p = 0.06) and in low (F0-F1) versus high (F2-F4) grade fibrosis (p = 0.06). Treatment was withdrawn for side effects in 11/37 patients (30%). One Child A cirrhosis patient at the start of therapy died 7 months after treatment withdrawal as a result of severe haemolytic anaemia. Conclusions : It can be concluded that weight-based peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin can be successful in selected HIV-HCV co-infected patients. Caution should be applied in patients with advanced liver disease. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2009, 72, 389-393).".
- aggregation abstract "More than twenty years ago in a series of amazing discoveries, it was found that a large family of ceramic cuprate materials exhibited superconductivity at temperatures above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. Imaginations were energized by the thought of applications for zero-resistance conductors cooled with a relatively inexpensive and readily available cryogen. Compared with other cuprates, YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) seems to be the most promising material because of the current carrying ability in a magnetic field and a high current density self-field. This thesis describes the synthesis using water-based precursors of the superconducting phase YBCO both in bulk and in the capacity of a thin layer. In addition, the preparation of a CeO2 layer via a water-based sol-gel method is also discussed. The thesis has focused mainly on the influence of complexing agents and pH on the precursor and the homogeneity of the precursor gels. The concentration of different possible species in solution was first modeled using the existing numerical algorithms. On the other hand, an experimental verification of the calculated theoretical situation was pursued by potentiometric titration. A second part of the thesis provides insights into the characterization of the gels and the formed oxide phases, such as chemical composition, morphology and preferred orientation. The aqueous precursor formulations, consisting of inexpensive and environmentally-friendly starting materials, studied in this thesis can be a viable alternative to the TriFluoroAcetic acid (TFA) precursors or physical deposition methods nowadays used in fabrication of coated conductors.".
- aggregation abstract "Proper non-invasive assessment of carotid artery pressure ideally uses waveforms recorded at two anatomical locations: the brachial and the carotid artery. Calibrated diameter distension waveforms could provide a more widely applicable alternative for local arterial pressure assessment than applanation tonometry. This approach might be of particular use at the brachial artery, where the feasibility of a reliable tonometric measurement has been questioned. The aim of this study was to evaluate an approach based on distension waveforms obtained at the brachial and carotid arteries. This approach will be compared to traditional pulse pressures obtained through tonometry at both the carotid and brachial arteries (used as a reference) and the more recently proposed approach of combining tonometric readings at the brachial artery with linearly or exponentially calibrated distension curves at the carotid artery. Local brachial and carotid diameter distension and tonometry waveforms were recorded in 148 subjects (119 women; aged 19-59 years). The morphology of the waveforms was compared by the form factor and the root-mean-squared error. The difference between the reference carotid PP and the PP obtained from brachial and carotid distension waveforms was smaller (0.9 (4.9) mmHg or 2.3%) than the difference between the reference carotid PP and the estimates obtained using a tonometric and a distension waveform (-4.8 (2.5) mmHg for the approach using brachial tonometry and linearly scaled carotid distension, and 2.7 (6.8) mmHg when using exponentially scaled carotid distension waves). We therefore recommend to stick to one technique on both the brachial and the carotid artery, either tonometry or distension, when assessing carotid blood pressure non-invasively.".
- aggregation abstract "Objectives Th17 cells are an effector T-cell population that plays a role in chronic inflammatory conditions and is dependent on IL-23 for their survival and expansion. More recently, a genetic association was discovered between polymorphisms in the gene coding for the IL-23 receptor and spondyloarthritis. This study aimed to evaluate the role of Th17-associated cytokines in spondyloarthritis pathogenesis by measuring their levels in the joints and circulation as well as correlating them with disease activity parameters. Methods Paired synovial fluid (SF), serum and synovial biopsies were obtained from 30 non-PsA (psoriatic arthritis) spondyloarthritis, 22 PsA and 22 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. IL-17, IL-23 and CCL20 were measured by ELISA in the SF and serum of patients and correlated with systemic and local parameters of disease activity. Results Concentrations of CCL20, a major Th17-attracting chemokine, tended to be higher in the joints of RA than in spondyloarthritis patients. Interestingly, levels of CCL20 were markedly higher in SF as opposed to serum. In addition, there was a remarkable association between the expression of the Th17 cytokine system and the presence of intimal lining layer hyperplasia in RA. Also in the serum, there was a tendency for higher IL-23 levels in RA, which correlated strongly with disease activity parameters. Conclusions Th17-related cytokines are expressed in joints of spondyloarthritis as well as RA patients. IL-23 levels, however, correlate with disease activity parameters in RA only. These results point towards a differential regulation of the Th17 cytokine system in spondyloarthritis compared with RA.".
- aggregation abstract "BACKGROUND & AIMS: Few prospective data are available to support the clinical relevance of mucosal healing in patients with Crohn's disease. This study examined whether complete healing, determined by endoscopy, predicts a better outcome in Crohn's disease. METHODS: One-hundred thirty-three newly diagnosed and treatment-naive Crohn's disease patients were given either a combination of immunosuppressive therapy (azathioprine) and 3 infusions of infliximab or treatment with conventional corticosteroids. Patients given azathioprine were given repeated doses of infliximab for relapses, patients given corticosteroids were given azathioprine in cases of corticosteroid dependency and infliximab only if azathioprine failed. A representative subset of 49 patients from the initially randomized cohort underwent ileocolonoscopy after 2 years of therapy. Correlation analysis was performed between different clinical parameters including endoscopic activity (Simple Endoscopic Score) and clinical outcome 2 years after this endoscopic examination. Data were available from 46 patients 3 and 4 years after therapy began. RESULTS: Complete mucosal healing, defined as a simple endoscopic score of 0 after 2 years of therapy, was the only factor that predicted sustained, steroid-free remission 3 and 4 years after therapy was initiated; it was observed in 17 of 24 patients (70.8%) vs 6 of 22 patients with lesions detected by endoscopy (27.3%, Simple Endoscopic Score > 0) (P = .036; odds ratio = 4.352; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-17.220). Fifteen of 17 patients with mucosal healing at year 2 maintained in remission without further infliximab infusions during years 3 and 4 (P = .032; odds ratio = 4.883; 95% confidence interval, 1.144-20.844). CONCLUSIONS: Complete mucosal healing in patients with early-stage Crohn's disease is associated with significantly higher steroid-free remission rates 4 years after therapy began.".
- aggregation abstract "Knowledge of the presence of micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, in coastal areas, is very limited; therefore, the main objective of this study was to optimize and validate a new analytical method for the quantitative analysis of 13 multiclass pharmaceuticals in seawater. Target compounds included antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, beta-blockers, lipid regulators and one psychiatric drug. A combination of solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled with multiple mass spectrometry enabled their detection at the low nanogram per litre level. The limits of quantification varied between 1 and 50 ng L-1, for most components the linearities were more than 0.99 and the recoveries obtained in seawater (95-108%) were satisfactory. This method was applied to seawater and estuarine water samples collected in the Belgian coastal zone, to assess the prevalence of common pharmaceuticals in this marine environment. Seven phar-maceuticals, including compounds of which the presence in marine environments had not been reported earlier, were detected, with salicylic acid and carbamazepine being the most abundant, in concentrations up to 855 ng L-1.".
- aggregation abstract "Reaction of chiral alpha-chloro N-tert-butanesulfinyl ketimines with Grignard reagents afforded new chiral N-sulfinyl 2,2-disubstituted aziridines in good to excellent diastereomeric ratio (dr up to 98:2). The 1,2,2-trisubstituted aziridines were isolated in high overall yield (51-85%) and with excellent enantiomeric excess (> 98% ee). The stereoselectivity obtained in the Grignard addition is rationalized by the coordinating ability of the alpha-chloro atom resulting in the opposite stereochemical outcome as observed for nonfunctionalized N-sulfinyl ketimines".
- aggregation abstract "Different classes of non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs, have recently been implicated in the process of tumourigenesis. In this study, we examined the expression and putative functions of a novel class of non-coding RNAs known as transcribed ultraconserved regions (T-UCRs) in neuroblastoma. Genome-wide expression pro. ling revealed correlations between specific T-UCR expression levels and important clinicogenetic parameters such as MYCN amplification status. A functional genomics approach based on the integration of multi-level transcriptome data was adapted to gain insights into T-UCR functions. Assignments of T-UCRs to cellular processes such as TP53 response, differentiation and proliferation were verified using various cellular model systems. For the first time, our results de. ne a T-UCR expression landscape in neuroblastoma and suggest widespread T-UCR involvement in diverse cellular processes that are deregulated in the process of tumourigenesis.".
- aggregation abstract "Background: Cancer genomes display characteristic patterns of chromosomal imbalances, often with diagnostic and prognostic relevance. Therefore assays for genome-wide copy number screening and simultaneous detection of copy number alterations in specific chromosomal regions are of increasing importance in the diagnostic work-up of tumors. Results: We tested the performance of Multiplex Amplicon Quantification, a newly developed low-cost, closed-tube and high-throughput PCR-based technique for detection of copy number alterations in regions with prognostic relevance for neuroblastoma. Comparison with array CGH and the established Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification method on 52 neuroblastoma tumors showed that Multiplex Amplicon Quantification can reliably detect the important genomic aberrations. Conclusion: Multiplex Amplicon Quantification is a low-cost and high-throughput PCR-based technique that can reliably detect copy number alterations in regions with prognostic relevance for neuroblastoma.".
- aggregation abstract "Background: Advances in high-throughput technologies and bioinformatics have transformed gene expression profiling methodologies. The results of microarray experiments are often validated using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), which is the most sensitive and reproducible method to quantify gene expression. Appropriate normalisation of RT-qPCR data using stably expressed reference genes is critical to ensure accurate and reliable results. Mi(cro)RNA expression profiles have been shown to be more accurate in disease classification than mRNA expression profiles. However, few reports detailed a robust identification and validation strategy for suitable reference genes for normalisation in miRNA RT-qPCR studies. Methods: We adopt and report a systematic approach to identify the most stable reference genes for miRNA expression studies by RT-qPCR in colorectal cancer (CRC). High-throughput miRNA profiling was performed on ten pairs of CRC and normal tissues. By using the mean expression value of all expressed miRNAs, we identified the most stable candidate reference genes for subsequent validation. As such the stability of a panel of miRNAs was examined on 35 tumour and 39 normal tissues. The effects of normalisers on the relative quantity of established oncogenic (miR-21 and miR-31) and tumour suppressor (miR-143 and miR-145) target miRNAs were assessed. Results: In the array experiment, miR-26a, miR-345, miR-425 and miR-454 were identified as having expression profiles closest to the global mean. From a panel of six miRNAs (let-7a, miR-16, miR-26a, miR-345, miR-425 and miR-454) and two small nucleolar RNA genes (RNU48 and Z30), miR-16 and miR-345 were identified as the most stably expressed reference genes. The combined use of miR-16 and miR-345 to normalise expression data enabled detection of a significant dysregulation of all four target miRNAs between tumour and normal colorectal tissue. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the top six most stably expressed miRNAs (let-7a, miR-16, miR-26a, miR-345, miR-425 and miR-454) described herein should be validated as suitable reference genes in both high-throughput and lower throughput RT-qPCR colorectal miRNA studies.".
- aggregation abstract "MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are increasingly implicated in regulating the malignant progression of cancer. Here we show that miR-9, which is upregulated in breast cancer cells, directly targets CDH1, the E-cadherin-encoding messenger RNA, leading to increased cell motility and invasiveness. miR-9-mediated E-cadherin downregulation results in the activation of beta-catenin signalling, which contributes to upregulated expression of the gene encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); this leads, in turn, to increased tumour angiogenesis. Overexpression of miR-9 in otherwise non-metastatic breast tumour cells enables these cells to form pulmonary micrometastases in mice. Conversely, inhibiting miR-9 by using a 'miRNA sponge' in highly malignant cells inhibits metastasis formation. Expression of miR-9 is activated by MYC and MYCN, both of which directly bind to the mir-9-3 locus. Significantly, in human cancers, miR-9 levels correlate with MYCN amplification, tumour grade and metastatic status. These findings uncover a regulatory and signalling pathway involving a metastasis-promoting miRNA that is predicted to directly target expression of the key metastasis-suppressing protein E-cadherin.".
- aggregation abstract "Diagnostic procedures aimed at in vivo evaluation of brain perfusion as an indirect measure of brain function are becoming available for use in small animal medicine, though in contrast with human medicine, these procedures frequently require anesthesia. Besides the direct influence of anesthetics on cerebral perfusion, anesthesia can also cause changes in blood pressure and in arterial carbon dioxide and oxygen tensions. All these parameters have an influence on cerebral perfusion, so it is crucial to understand cerebral blood supply and its regulation when measuring cerebral blood flow. The requirements of anesthesia when using the different diagnostic techniques, together with the technical properties of these techniques, are highlighted in this paper.".
- aggregation abstract "Sedatives and anesthetics can influence cerebral metabolism and respiratory and cardiovascular dynamics, which results in changes in cerebral perfusion. This is of major importance when functional brain imaging techniques are used to measure cerebral blood flow or to evaluate neurotransmitter systems, and also during neurosurgery. In the present review, the influences on brain perfusion of different sedatives including opioids and anesthetics commonly used in veterinary medicine are summarized.".
- aggregation abstract "This article starts from the narrative turn in the humanities and the social sciences in general and social work in particular to explore the study of fictional narratives in social work education. Rhetoric is presented as an important perspective for social work by focusing on the work of the rhetorician and literary critic Kenneth Burke (1897-1993), specifically on his theory of dramatism. The dramatistic pentad is introduced as an analytical tool to study fictional narratives. In a case study, a play and a film by a Dutch-Flemish theatre collective are jointly analysed by students from the Master of Social Work and Welfare Studies programme at a Flemish university. This rhetorical perspective gives social work students the opportunity not only to study fictional narratives, but also to reflect upon their own practice.".
- aggregation abstract "68d43i49e2s (online) This study discusses the representation of (the) literacy (myth) in popular movies and a teaching and research project on cinematic literacy narratives. It attempts to reveal the existence of a powerful ‘Pygmalion template’ in contemporary movie culture. Focusing on a discourse or culture clash ‘Pygmalion movies’ simultaneously contribute to the discursive construction and deconstruction of the literacy myth. Because of their polysemic character, these films offer fertile grounds for inquiring into the problematic nature of literacy acquisition and discourse or culture clashes. Inviting pre-service teachers to reflect on these issues, the authors created a curriculum as contact zone in which films are used as a primary source of knowledge and insight together with students’ movie analyses and interpretations, personal narratives, and theoretical readings. This exploratory study of on-line discussion groups revealed the students’ contradictory and competing movie readings. Organizing the curriculum as a contact zone deepened the students’ and one’s own understanding of literacy as an ideological site of struggle in (movie) culture.".
- aggregation abstract "This paper examines what can be learnt from 'new rhetoric' (focusing on the work of the American rhetorician Kenneth Burke [1897-1993]) about (national) identity and discusses how nationalism can be taught from such a rhetorical perspective. Despite the 'deconstruction' of nation(alism) as a grand narrative, there is a new tendency towards emphasizing national identity, caused by trends such as globalization and multiculturalism. In the language and literature teaching curriculum, this paradoxical situation often causes frictions for teachers who very often are expected to teach standard language and national literature. The hypothesis is that rhetoric is a tool to deal with these tensions in the curriculum. This paper focuses on Flanders as a case-study. Together with pre-service teachers it analysed the rhetorical construction of Flanders from a dramatistic perspective. It is argued that Burke's concepts are useful tools to make students 'symbol-wise': to understand the way national symbols work, and to develop critical engagement with, as well as on behalf of, those symbols.".
- aggregation abstract "This paper aims to refine existing approaches for classifying nodes in spatial networks. Apart from generally used variables measuring (i) the total connectivity of a node and (ii) the spatial make-up of this total connectivity, we argue that a third indicator should be taken into account when describing the structure of a spatial network, namely, (iii) the degree of 'polarisation' in a node's connectivity configuration. We measure 'polarisation' by applying multiple linkage analysis, a technique that allows determining the number of meaningful connections for each node in the network. In this paper, we illustrate this approach by clustering 65 European cities based on their insertion in European air transport networks in 2005. The number of meaningful flows of a city is hereby considered alongside both traditional measures of connectivity. The results of the cluster analysis suggest that including a measure of polarisation may indeed lead to a more satisfying typology.".
- aggregation abstract "The use of advanced materials such as Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP), for reinforcing (internal reinforcement), prestressing (pre- or post-tensioning) or strengthening (externally bonded, near surface, textile reinforced mortar) of structures, have been gaining increasing interest worldwide. The effectiveness of the FRP techniques have been clearly confirmed by numerous experimental and field applications. This study focuses on the possible use of basalt fibres for FRP rebars or laminates. Basalt is a volcanic igneous rock that because of its high performance in terms of strength, corrosion resistance, temperature range, fire resistance and durability as well as lower potential, cost may effectively replace steel, glass and carbon fibres in many applications. The paper discusses, based on a literature review and some feasibility tests, the possible use of basalt fibres in relation to reinforcing and strengthening of concrete. Herewith, reference is made to (1) basalt fibre composite bars or rods for internal reinforcement, (2) the possibility to use short basalt fibres, and (3) strengthening of concrete members by means of externally bonded reinforcement (EBR), near surface mounted reinforcement (NSM) or textile reinforced mortar reinforcement (TRM). In this paper, the test results in terms of tensile properties of BFRP (basalt FRP) bars and laminates, as well as confinement of plain concrete cylinders with BFRP are presented. This experimental work compares specimens made with BFRP versus GFRP (glass FRP).".
- aggregation abstract "In concrete, cracking is a common phenomenon due to the relatively low tensile strength. Since cracks provide an easy path for the transportation of liquids and gasses, that potentially contain harmful substances, they may lead to concrete deterioration and reinforcement corrosion. Cracks may thus shorten the life span of concrete structures and therefore need to be repaired. However large costs are involved in inspection, monitoring, maintenance and repair of concrete structures. Besides, indirect costs due to traffic jams and loss of productivity are even 10 times higher than the direct costs of maintenance and repair. Therefore the best way to heal cracks is by triggering a healing mechanism upon appearance of the crack, so inspection and monitoring are needed no longer or at a reduced frequency. Moreover, when cracks are healed autonomously, traffic jams and loss of productivity will no longer occur. In this study, the feasibility of autonomous crack healing is investigated. Hollow borosilicate glass tubes with two compartments were used as containers for a 2-component adhesive. Each compartment was filled with one component of the glue. Polyurethane and epoxy resin were used as 2-component healing agents. After filling of the glass tubes, they were embedded in the matrix. When a crack is formed in the concrete matrix, the tubes will break and the glue is released into the crack. When both components of the glue make contact, they start polymerizing and the crack may be healed.".
- aggregation abstract "The phenomenon of autogenous healing of cracks in cementitious materials has already been known for many years. Cracks in old concrete structures, like Roman aqueducts or gothic churches are healed when moisture contacts with unhydrated cement clinker in the crack. Because of this, new CaCO3 crystals are formed which can be seen as white crystalline material at the crack surface. However concrete composition has changed over time and less unhydrated cement is present in current concrete structures. Nevertheless in their research, Aldea et al., also noted some self-healing behaviour while they studied the water flow through cracked concrete. A reduction in water flow was observed after some time, indicating self-healing of the cracks. However this healing effect was restricted to the healing of small cracks. Therefore, in this study, it is tried to stimulate the self healing potential of cementitious materials by varying the mix composition and cement type. Cement is a hydraulic binder that hardens in contact with water. The active component in cement is Portland clinker and for some cement types also blast furnace slag, fly ash or limistone. Clinker has strong hydraulic properties and is produced by sintering calcium carbonate and silicium-, aluminium- and iron oxide. Blast furnace slag is a residue from the steel industry and it has latent hydraulic properties. This means that the hydration reaction needs to be activated by substances such as calcium hydroxide, e.g. from clinker hydration. Fly ash is a waste product from coal combusted power stations. This is a component with pozzolanic properties which means that it binds with the lime that is formed during hydration of the clinker. Limestone however is an inert material, used to improve the concrete workability.".
- aggregation abstract "Research on ultrasonic methods to monitor the setting of concrete has mainly focussed on the wave velocity as a useful quantity. To investigate the application of also the wave energy as a parameter, the ultrasonic wave transmission technique was performed on several concrete and mortar samples in which increasing amounts of the Portland cement was replaced by blast-furnace slag or fly ash. The transmitted ultrasonic wave energy was calculated as the sum of the squared amplitudes of the received signal, divided by the reference energy (E/Eref). The incrase of the energy during setting was retarded if ordinary Portland cement was replaced by blast-furnace slag or fly ash. The final setting determined by the standard penetration resistance test occurred shortly after the peak in the derivative curve of the ultrasonic energy. In addidtion, the values E/Eref = 0.02 and 0.15 are proposed to easily calculate respectively initial and final setting based on the ultrasonic energy measurements. Due to the sensitivity of the energy measurement to the quality of the sensor contact, care should be taken to limit shrinkage of the cementitious samples.".
- aggregation abstract "The crushability of artificial and natural granular materials has been analyzed using one-dimensional strain-controlled compression tests and standard oedometer tests at high stress levels to study the effect on the breakage of a number of parameters such as: grain mineralogy, grain size, uniformity coefficient, strain rate and loading time. Measuring the breakage factor at different stages of compression, it was demonstrated that the crushing started before reaching the point of maximum curvature (yield point) in the compressibility curve. Beyond yielding the crushing increased abruptly. Among the natural materials analyzed, the lowest yield stress value occurs in the carbonate sand, and the highest in the silica sand. We found that the breakage increases with increasing size of the grains. Coarse uniform samples showed higher breakage than uniform fine samples and well-graded samples. The breakage increased with decreasing strain rate or increasing load application time. For natural soils it is difficult to study separately the influence of isolated parameters on the breakage. The study of homogeneous artificial materials facilitated this analysis.".
- aggregation abstract "Sulfate attack comprises a series of chemical reactions between sulfate ions and the components of hardened concrete. As these reactions may lead to cracking, spalling or strength loss of concrete structures, appropriate test methods are needed to determine the resistance of cncrete under sulfate exposure. Accelerated test methods are most suitable since sulfate attack is a long term process. Current ASTM C1012 test method accelerates the attack mechanism by using a solution with a high sulfate concentration in which the samples are immersed. The SVA procedure uses smaller specimens to obtain results earlier. In the Wittekindt method not only smaller specimens are used but also the W/C-ratio is increased. However these tests still last for several months. Test methods such as ASTM C452 and the Chatelier-Anstett test use a mixture of cement and gypsum, simulating internal sulfate attack. Results are already obtained after two weeks, but the attack mechanism is no longer representing field conditions in a realistic way. Another problem relates to the way to quantify the degree of degradation. SVA, Wittekindt, Duggan, ASTM C1012 and C452 use expansion measurements. Mehta and Gjorv proposed to use decrease in compressive strength and in the rapid electrochemical test current is measured to determine degradation. Depending on the selected degradation measure, different conclusions can be drawn regarding the performance of concrete under sulfate attack. In this paper an overview of the existing test method is given and a critical discussion is performed.".
- aggregation abstract "Blast-furnace slag (BFS) is a by-product of the steel production with latent-hydraulic properties and can therefore be added to the concrete as a cement replacing material. However, the durability behaviour of concrete containing BFS is different from that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete. In this study, the acid resistance of concrete containing BFS is investigated by performing accelerated degradation tests which simulate quite well the deterioration process in animal houses. Cylindrical test specimens were subjected to a cyclic procedure of turning through acetic and lactic acid and drying by air. Every 7 days (1 cycle), the specimens were brushed and the change in radius was measured. The measurements were performed on OPC concrete and concrete with BFS-to-binder ratios of 50 %, 70 % and 85 % at an age of 1 and 6 months. The results show that concrete with BFS is much more resistant to acid attack than the OPC concrete. To explain the different behaviour of concrete containing BFS in comparison with OPC concrete, the porosity and Ca(OH)2 content of these mixtures were investigated. These two parameters are main factors in the degradation process since the porosity influences the extent to which the acids penetrate into the concrete and the Ca(OH)2 content determines the possibility to produce soluble calcium salts. To investigate the pore structure, vacuum saturation tests were performed. With increasing BFS content, the total pososity increases slightly, whereas the capillary porosity decreases. This indicates that BFS concrete shows a finer pore structure. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analyses were performed to determine the Ca(OH)2 content of the concrete samples at different ages. Since Ca(OH)2 is available to a smaller extent in BFS concrete, this contributes towards a better acid resistance.".
- aggregation abstract "The setting of mortar or concrete can be monitored by measuring the velocity of ultrasonic p-waves sent through a fresh sample at regular intervals. However, the wave energy or the frequency spectrum might contain even more information. To investigate their use in the characterization of setting behaviour, ultrasonic measurements were performed on concrete and mortar mixtures with an increasing percentage blast-furnace slag or fly ash and on mixtures with several types of blast-furnace slag cement. The change of the received energy in time was compared to the result of the penetration resistance test and the frequency spectra were collected in a three-way array (sample x frequency x concrete age) and analysed with multi-way techniques (PARAFAC and PARAFAC2) to quantify mutual differences. The change of the energy during setting was similar to that of the ultrasonic velocity. Replacement of Portland cement by blast-furnace slag or fly ash causes retardation in the increase of both quantities. For the energy measurements, the thresholds E/Eref = 0.02 and 0.13 and proposed to easily determine respectively initial and final setting. Regarding the analysis of the received frequency spectrum, the samples could be sorted by the multi-way models in agreement with the expected setting behaviour.".
- aggregation abstract "Early detection of cardiovascular diseases is essential to decrease the associated death toll and health care expenses. The main cause of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, a thickening and hardening of the vessel wall, which may lead to vessel-narrowing plaques. Rupture of such a plaque may block the blood flow to vital organs, like the heart (cardiac infarction) and brains (stroke). To improve the detection of cardiovascular diseases, it is primordial to know how preliminary stages of atherosclerosis reveal themselves. In this context, previous research has shown that atherosclerosis is associated with abnormalities in the blood flow and vessel wall. When screening for such abnormalities, ultrasound imaging may play an important role since it is a non-invasive, radiation-free technique, widely available to the cardiologist. Although cardiac imaging has been an important research and application area of medical ultrasound, vascular applications are lagging behind. However, vascular imaging may have a large potential when searching for improved detection methods. As such, the carotid artery is an ideal screening location, since it is very sensitive to the development of atherosclerosis and easily accessible with ultrasound. Further, this artery provides blood flow to the brains and hence is an interesting location when screening for stroke. Vascular imaging with ultrasound still shows important limitations: blood flow visualization is only possible in 1D and algorithms to quantify the vessel wall mechanics are still in a preliminary research phase. Hence, improved imaging and post-processing methods are needed. However, imaging development based on in-vitro and in-vivo settings does not allow validation of the ultrasound images with the actually imaged velocity field or mechanical properties. Therefore, we developed a simulation environment, which allows comparing the simulated ultrasound data with the true flow field/mechanical deformation behind the image. This requires a multiphysical approach: numerical models for the flow and wall mechanics are integrated with ultrasound simulation models. Using this multiphysical simulation model, we have evaluated commonly applied 1D blood flow visualization but also investigated the potential of multidimensional flow visualization. Further, the feasibility of assessing arterial distension and wall shear rate with ultrasound were analyzed.".
- aggregation abstract "A yes/no question fragment (YNQF) is an incomplete sentence that is nonetheless interpreted as a full yes/ no question. I argue that those YNQF are derived from an underlying syntactic structure through a process of deletion. First, I shall adduce evidence for the claim that ellipsis is involved by looking at connectivity effects (Merchant 2004), such as case-matching, binding and control. Next, I will consider the nature of the process of deletion in these fragments. I claim that the deletion in question is phonological in nature. Evidence comes from cases of nonconstituent deletion and contrasts between Dutch and English YNQFs.".
- aggregation abstract "A dense prehydrated GCL (DPH) was subjected to partial but increasingly severe drying cycles alternated with permeation with a calcium solution. The permeability remained low for desiccation water contents higher than the manufacturing (prehydration) water content. Increasingly long permeation was however necessary to recover low permeability. The permeability increased irreversibly for desiccation water content lower than that of prehydration. Test results indicate the permeability of DPH GCLs subjected to dry/wet cycles coupled with cation exchange strongly depends on the extent of desiccation.".
- aggregation abstract "In this paper, the strength and compressibility of a reference material such as Kaolin clay after treatment with binders was studied with the aim of identifying key behavior features and differences with respect to noncemented Kaolin clay. The water content of the soil was fixed at a high value to represent a very soft consistency. Portland cement was used as binder at dosages varying from 5% to 20%. A number of samples were prepared in the laboratory and were allowed to cure under controlled conditions. The shear and compression behavior of natural and cement-treated kaolin clay samples was assessed by triaxial compression testing and oedometer tests. The results demonstrated that cemented samples show initially much higher stiffness and strength than noncemented samples. But as the stress level increases a yielding state is encountered where interparticle bonding begins to break intensively. Before yielding (at low stresses), the strength is governed by the cement dosage and the one-dimensional compression is almost negligible. Beyond yielding (at high stresses) the strength is governed by the stress level just like for any frictional material. Under onedimensional compression, a clear collapse is observed; the compression lines tend towards the compression line of the noncemented clay with a gradient that lightly steepens with increasing cement dosage.".
- aggregation abstract "This paper examines coalition formation at the local level in Belgian municipalities. Coalition theories are mostly tested at the national level and much less attention is paid to local coalitions. However, the number of coalition governments and the fragmentation of political parties also increased at the local level. Investigating coalition theories at the local level has several advantages. Within one country a large amount of coalitions is created at the same time. Most coalition theories use empirical tests to predict coalition outcomes. These theories vary from very simple to very complicated theories. Including qualitative methods in coalition research might be a solution to limit the shortcomings of quantitative coalition research. In this paper we look at the results of the most recent local elections in Belgium in 2006. We examine several size theories and are able to compare these results with former local election results. The number of possible coalitions predicted by these theories is high. Therefore we also include qualitative research methods, based on the nested analysis approach. Using case studies we scrutinize the coalition formation process in two cities: Mechelen, where the coalition was predicted by the size theories, and Sint-Truiden, where no size theory predicted the coalition outcome. By opting for two completely different cases we can find new explanatory variables for our research.".
- aggregation abstract "The paper presents the laboratory setup and some preliminary results of large strain consolidation testing on several types of dredging and industrial waste sludge. The tests are performed in the framework of a larger research project – funded within the Flemish Environmental Technology Platform (MIP) - investigating the impact of additives, specifically coagulants and flocculants, on the consolidation behaviour of mineral sludges.. Large strain consolidation parameters are determined using an adapted version of the well-known seepage consolidation test setup (Imai 1979). Interpretation of the test results is based on an iterative calculation using large strain consolidation theory as presented by Abu-Heyleh (1992). This procedure should allow an optimisation of type, concentration and application method of additives for a specific material.".
- aggregation abstract "Light emission by excited species that decay via an electrical dipole transition is modeled as an electrical dipole antenna. We examine the various effects that occur when such a dipole is close to a metallic interface: wide-angle interference, coupling to the surface plasmon mode and absorption of the near-field. Analytical expressions for the power coupled to the surface plasmon and near-field absorption are derived. The case of a non-absorbing metal is compared to that of an absorbing metal.".
- aggregation abstract "Texture plays an important role in image processing analysis. It can be defined as the pattern describing a surface due to variations of data at scales smaller than the scale of interest. The study of texture permits to characterize and discriminate regions in images. In some cases objects can be masked by texture and removing the texture facilitates the detection of the object. One of the most important topics of image analysis based on texture is to automate the visual inspection of surface in materials. This type of analysis is commonly performed by human experts offering subjective results and being unhealthy for the inspectors. Therefore an automated inspection system converts traditional subjective inspections into objective ones. Several techniques for two-dimensional texture analysis have been developed, increasing the role of texture analysis in practical industrial applications. Specifically Local Binary Pattern (LBP) techniques have proved to be successful for texture classification and texture characterization in related domains.we extend the LBP technique by describing structures around the given pixel. For this, we propose to evaluate the relationship between the points on the circles with different radii around a central pixel. The connections are binarized and placed into a matrix, which can be evaluated using symmetry to group similar versions of patterns.".
- aggregation abstract "A new approach for wavelet-based demosaicing of color filter array (CFA) images is presented. It is observed that conventional wavelet-based demosaicing results in demosaicing artifacts in high spatial frequency regions of the image. By proposing a framework of locally adaptive demosaicing in the wavelet domain, the presented method proposes computationally simple techniques to avoid these artifacts. In order to reduce computation time and memory requirements even more, we propose the use of the dual tree complex wavelet transform. The results show that wavelet-based demosaicing, using the proposed locally adaptive framework, is visually comparable with state-of-the-art pixel based demosaicing. This result is very promising when considering a low complexity wavelet-based demosaicing and denoising approach.".
- aggregation abstract "This paper presents the results obtained by using a classifier with Support Vector Machines for detecting textile defects in fabrics. In order to obtain the necessary texture features for the detection, four different texture analysis methods were used. The results show the validity of the scheme implemented for the detection of five of the most common types of defects.".