Journal Staff

This thesis is a process oriented case-study. The studied case is a interactiondesignassignment of a databasevisualisation and the process. The goalis to do this according to the ways of a screenwriter.When the computers spread from the military and university's into homes all around the world the computers and the programs had to becomeeasier for the users to understand and use. User interfacedesign became more and more important and companies like Apple put a lot of resources intothe designprocess. This quite new and evolving area of research, interactiondesign, has been forced to search for methods in other areas like lm, gamedesign, psychology and behavioural science. The area still needs to evolve and keep looking for new methods to bring the area forward.In this thesis the methods of a screenwriter is used in a interaction designwork.The main advantage of the screenwritingprocess might be the focuson the users feelings. This aspect was noted by Adam Connor during his speech at the conference InteractionEleven last year. Though Connor hasn't been writing any articles on this domain, it surely is an interesting aspectthat can help bring interaction deign forward. This thesis proves that it is possible to conduct a interaction designwork according to a screenwriters workingprocess with some advantages compared to common interactiondesignprocess

The Activities and Program of the American Association of Law Libraries

Denna rapport kommer att behandla konstruktion och design av ett småskaligt portabelt solvärmesystem. Rapportens första del är en teoretisk referensram som ligger till grund för byggandet av en prototyp av den behandlade solvärmetypen som har testats för att se vilken prestanda som uppnåtts och hur systemet förhåller sig till en given målfunktion. Prototypen togs fram med hjälp av produktutvecklingsmetodik, vilken även finns utförligt förklarad i rapporten. Verkningsgraden för den byggda prototypen beräknades efter tester till 65 % och är dimensionerad för 70 liter vatten. Solvärmesystemet som uppvärmningsalternativ och dess konkurrenskraft bland andra uppvärmningsalternativ har också studerats och slutsatsen dragits att solvärme har många miljömässigt positiva aspekter men lång pay off-tid per utvunnen kWh vilket gör att det kan anses som ett mindre attraktivt alternativ i Sverige jämfört med länder med högre solinstrålning

Transgendered in Alaska: Navigating the Changing Legal Landscape for Change in Gender Petitions

Background: Detecting intracellular bacterial symbionts can be challenging when they persist at very low densities. Wolbachia, a widespread bacterial endosymbiont of invertebrates, is particularly challenging. Although it persists at high titers in many species, in others its densities are far below the detection limit of classic end-point Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). These low-titer infections can be reliably detected by combining PCR with DNA hybridization, but less elaborate strategies based on end-point PCR alone have proven less sensitive or less general. Results: We introduce a multicopy PCR target that allows fast and reliable detection of A-supergroup Wolbachia -even at low infection titers -with standard end-point PCR. The target is a multicopy motif (designated ARM: A-supergroup repeat motif) discovered in the genome of wMel (the Wolbachia in Drosophila melanogaster). ARM is found in at least seven other Wolbachia A-supergroup strains infecting various Drosophila, the wasp Muscidifurax and the tsetse fly Glossina. We demonstrate that end-point PCR targeting ARM can reliably detect both high-and low-titer Wolbachia infections in Drosophila, Glossina and interspecific hybrids. Conclusions: Simple end-point PCR of ARM facilitates detection of low-titer Wolbachia A-supergroup infections. Detecting these infections previously required more elaborate procedures. Our ARM target seems to be a general feature of Wolbachia A-supergroup genomes, unlike other multicopy markers such as insertion sequences (IS)

Possible Sources for Methane and C2-C5 Organics in the Plume of Enceladus

In this paper we consider six possible sources of CH4 and other low-mass (C2 - C5) organics in the plume of Enceladus: initial endowments of cometary organics or Titan- like tholin, in situ production by Fisher-Tropsch type reactions, water-rock reactions, or microbiology, and thermogenesis from heavier organics already present. We report on new laboratory results C2 hydrocarbons released on thermogenesis of laboratory tholin and Fisher-Tropsch type synthesis. Tholin heating produced ratios of CH4/C2H4 and CH4/C2H6 of about 2 for temperatures up to 450 C and about 6 for a temperature of 650 C. Low pressure Fisher-Tropsch type experiments produced CH4/C2H4 of approx 1.5, similar to previous results. No C2H2 was produced by either process. Tests of gas production by four strains of methanogens confirmed the absence of any detectable production of non-methane hydrocarbons. Cometary endowment, Fisher-Tropsch type synthesis, and Titan-like tholin incorporation could be primary inputs of organics and subsequent thermal processing of any of these all are possible sources of low mass organics in the plume. Biological production and water-rock reactions are an alternative source of CH4. Neither water-- ]rock reactions or thermal processing of biomass could be a source C2 . C5 organics due to the low interior pressures. The confirmed detection of CO and C2H2 in the plume of Enceladus would provide an important constraint on sources as we have identified no process . other than the initial volatile component of cometary organics which can supply these gases. Precise determination of the relative concentrations of C1 - C5 hydrocarbons may provide additional constraints on sources but a detailed isotopic analysis of C and H in these organics and a search for amino acids constitute the next important steps in resolving the sources of the organics in Enceladus' plume

Valid and efficient manual estimates of intracranial volume from magnetic resonance images

Background: Manual segmentations of the whole intracranial vault in high-resolution magnetic resonance images are often regarded as very time-consuming. Therefore it is common to only segment a few linearly spaced intracranial areas to estimate the whole volume. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how the validity of intracranial volume estimates is affected by the chosen interpolation method, orientation of the intracranial areas and the linear spacing between them. Methods: Intracranial volumes were manually segmented on 62 participants from the Gothenburg MCI study using 1.5 T, T-1-weighted magnetic resonance images. Estimates of the intracranial volumes were then derived using subsamples of linearly spaced coronal, sagittal or transversal intracranial areas from the same volumes. The subsamples of intracranial areas were interpolated into volume estimates by three different interpolation methods. The linear spacing between the intracranial areas ranged from 2 to 50 mm and the validity of the estimates was determined by comparison with the entire intracranial volumes. Results: A progressive decrease in intra-class correlation and an increase in percentage error could be seen with increased linear spacing between intracranial areas. With small linear spacing (<= 15 mm), orientation of the intracranial areas and interpolation method had negligible effects on the validity. With larger linear spacing, the best validity was achieved using cubic spline interpolation with either coronal or sagittal intracranial areas. Even at a linear spacing of 50 mm, cubic spline interpolation on either coronal or sagittal intracranial areas had a mean absolute agreement intra-class correlation with the entire intracranial volumes above 0.97. Conclusion: Cubic spline interpolation in combination with linearly spaced sagittal or coronal intracranial areas overall resulted in the most valid and robust estimates of intracranial volume. Using this method, valid ICV estimates could be obtained in less than five minutes per patient

Biological conversion of carbon monoxide: rich syngas or waste gases to bioethanol

Bioconversion of syngas/waste gas components to produce ethanol appears to be a promising alternative compared to the existing chemical techniques. Recently, several laboratory-scale studies have demonstrated the use of acetogens that have the ability to convert various syngas components (CO, CO2, and H2) to multicarbon compounds, such as acetate, butyrate, butanol, lactate, and ethanol, in which ethanol is often produced as a minor end-product. This bioconversion process has several advantages, such as its high specificity, the fact that it does not require a highly specific H2/CO ratio, and that biocatalysts are less susceptible to metal poisoning. Furthermore, this process occurs under mild temperature and pressure and does not require any costly pre-treatment of the feed gas or costly metal catalysts, making the process superior over the conventional chemical catalytic conversion process. The main challenge faced for commercializing this technology is the poor aqueous solubility of the gaseous substrates (mainly CO and H2). In this paper, a critical review of CO-rich gas fermentation to produce ethanol has been analyzed systematically and published results have been compared. Special emphasis has been given to understand the microbial aspects of the conversion process, by highlighting the role of different micro-organisms used, pathways, and parameters affecting the bioconversion. An analysis of the process fundamentals of various bioreactors used for the biological conversion of CO-rich gases, mainly syngas to ethanol, has been made and reported in this paper. Various challenges faced by the syngas fermentation process for commercialization and future research requirements are also discussed

Development of a Fully Automated Fused Deposition Modeling System

This thesis starts by introducing Agile Product Development before it investigates how an automated 3D printing system can be used as a part of Agile Product Development to improve the result of a product development process. Some aspects of how such a system can be implemented to improve Agile Product Development are given before additive manufacturing technologies are presented with focus on FDM type 3D printing. The aim of this thesis is to develop a proof-of-concept solution for fully automated FDM 3D printing, based on guidelines compiled by research staff at NTNU. The goal is to build what is necessary to automate the current 3D printing process, focusing on electro-mechanical solutions and disregarding aspects easily solved by software. To identify and understand the criteria for automated printing, a research-driven development phase is initiated. Investigations are performed into adhesive properties of 3D printing, measuring how several print parameters affect adhesion between the print platform and the printed part. Based on the results, several concepts are developed using TRIZ before a solution space is chosen for further development. This results in a final concept, which is detailed and finalized using CAD and simulations before a prototype is built, tested and verified. In the end, suggestions and recommendations are provided for future research on Agile Product Development, adhesion in FDM 3D printing, and lastly recommendations for further development of an automated 3D printing system. The ultimate aim of the thesis is that the research can be used as a resource in the analysis of adhesive properties in FDM printing and that it will benefit the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at NTNU. The aim for the final 3D printing concept is that it either can be used as inspiration for further conceptualization and development or that it can be refined into a commercial product