Frank Basa, Thomas J. Allen, Ralph Katz. / "August 1990." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-32). / Research supported by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation through Lehigh University Center for Innovation Management Studies.

Inertial measurement units, or IMUs, serve as effective tracking devices when used in sophisticated aerospace control and navigational systems. This tracking potential, coupled with ever advancing technology that permits IMUs to become smaller and more compact, is allowing IMUs to gain popularity in a many areas of research beyond the areas of aerospace. Using an IMU based on microelectromechanical (MEMS) technology, this document investigates an IMU’s ability to track complex, short range motions such as golf swings. To prepare the IMU, an accurate, yet quick, calibration procedure is proposed and illustrated to show the tools and equipment necessary for this approach. Once calibrated, experimental results from static and dynamic tests are compared to corresponding analytical results to help comprehend and confirm the IMU readings. The IMU is then applied to a series of short range motions for reliability and performance testing.

The aim of this work was to write a java program that can read the data of OpenStreetMap and automatically finds the information to create the traffic network out of those data. As well, the program should be able to read other information from the data like attractions for shopping, working, leisure time acitivities and some more. With the given data, the program will calculate how much inhabitants are statistically living in every residential building. The information that were read from the data, should be pointed to the closest traffic nodes. To do that, we tested several algorithms for example to find the shortest routes in the traffic network. In the end, we took the algorithm of Floyd and Warshall to find the shortest routes. With the given data, the traffic should be calculated with different methodes. After all the calculations, the traffic network and the traffic on the traffic network was visualized. The program was written so, that you can cut out an area of the OpenStreetMap data and the program will then do all the steps to calculate everything.

Das Streben nach Wissen drückt sich im Begriff der "empirischen Wissenschaft" aus, indem es in diesem als Teilbegriff enthalten ist. Eine starke objektiv-normative Abgrenzung des Wissenschaftsbegriffs mit Bezug auf den traditionellen Begriff des Wissens als gerechtfertigten wahren Glauben - GWG scheitert am Humeschen Induktionsproblem. Wissenschaftsphilosophen reagierten in der näheren Vergangenheit verschieden auf dieses Problem: Reine Instrumentalisten lehnen jeglichen Bezug auf Wahrheit ab, laufen aber Gefahr, damit die Ununterscheidbarkeit von Religion oder Wissenschaft oder von Disziplinen wie Astrologie oder Astronomie bezüglich der Erlangung von Wissen eingestehen zu müssen. Der konstruktive Empirist Bas van Fraassen versucht die Möglichkeit einer Unterscheidung aufrecht zu erhalten, indem er für jenen Bereich von empirisch-wissenschaftlichen Theorien, welche Aussagen über Beobachtbares treffen, einen Wahrheitsbezug zulässt. Demgegenüber ermöglichen kritische Rationalisten durch die Einführung eines konjekturalen Wissensbegriffs eine schwache, objektiv-normative Abgrenzung. Es wird argumentiert, dass eine wissenschaftstheoretische Haltung in der Tradition Sir Karl Poppers, der unter Wissenschaftlern einen viel besseren Ruf zu haben scheint, als unter modernen Wissenschaftsphilosophen, auch im 21. Jahrhundert vertreten werden kann. Erweitert wird diese um eine Sichtweise bezüglich Regelmäßigkeit und Indeterminismus - durch einen Perspektivenwechsel hin zu den Bedingungen der Möglichkeit empirischer Wissenschaft - als Alternative zur problematischen "Observable/Unobservable"-Unterscheidung van Fraassens. (Autorenref.)

Metalle, die zyklischen Beanspruchungen ausgesetzt sind, zeigen bereits vor der Anrissbildung typische Veränderungen des Gefüges. Bei austenitischen Stählen verursacht Ermüdungsbelastung die Bildung charakteristischer Versetzungsanordnungen. Unter bestimmten Umständen tritt die Bildung von Verformungsmartensit auf, die von einer starken Veränderung der magnetischen Werkstoffeigenschaften begleitet wird. Zwischen der aufgebrachten Ermüdungsbelastung und den beschriebenen Gefüge- und Eigenschaftsveränderungen einerseits und Restlebensdauer eines Bauteils andererseits sollten Zusammenhänge systematisch untersucht werden. Hierfür wurden verschiedene zerstörungsfreie Methoden eingesetzt und ihre Empfindlichkeit verglichen. Die Gefüge der ermüdeten Zustände wurden auch mit metallographischen, elektronenoptischen und röntgenographischen Methoden charakterisiert. Zwischen den Ermüdungsparametern und den Gefügeveränderungen wird ein Zusammenhang hergestellt, insbesondere zwischen der Restlebensdauer und dem Volumenanteil an Martensit. Der Einfluss der chargenabhängigen Werkstoffeigenschaften und der Belastungsbedingungen auf das martensitische Umwandlungsverhalten wurde in statischen und zyklischen Experimenten untersucht. Anhand der Entwicklung des Martensitgehaltes im Verlauf der Ermüdung wird ein Bewertungsschema für die Abschätzung der Restlebensdauer vorgeschlagen.

Background: Findings are inconsistent regarding the degree to which depression may exert a negative impact on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. We therefore aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship between depression, behavioral factors, and glycemic control. Methods: In a prospective component of a nationally representative sample, 866 patients with type 2 diabetes aged ≧18 years completed a standardized assessment including a laboratory screening, questionnaires, and diagnostic measures. Subsequent to baseline (t0), patients were tracked over a period of 12 months (t1). Depression was assessed according to DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria. Glycemic control was determined by levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c); a level of ≧7% was judged as unsatisfactory. Regression analyses were performed to analyze the prospective relationship between depression, medication adherence, diabetes-related health behavior, and HbA1c. Results: Patients with depression at t0 revealed increased rates of medication nonadherence (adjusted OR: 2.67; CI: 1.38–5.15) at t1. Depression (adjusted regression coefficient: β = 0.96; p = 0.001) and subthreshold depression (β = 1.01; p < 0.001) at t0 also predicted increased problems with diabetes-related health behavior at t1. Adjusted ORs for poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≧7%) at t1 were also increased for patients with baseline depression (2.01; CI: 1.10–3.69). However, problems with medication adherence as well as problems with diabetes-related health behavior at t0 did not predict poor glycemic control at t1. Conclusions: In a prospective representative study of patients with type 2 diabetes, baseline depression predicted problems with medication adherence, problems with health-related behaviors, and unsatisfactory glycemic control at follow-up.

Auf epidemiologischer Grundlage (n= 5131) wird der Einfluß verschiedener Patientenvariablen auf die ärztliche Erkennens- und Behandlungsrate bei Personen mit einer Depression untersucht und geprüft, inwieweit das Vorliegen "untypischer" Depressionsmerkmale im Sinne des sog. "Sisi-Syndroms" mit einer besonders niedrigen Behandlungsquote assoziiert ist. Diagnosen und Patientenvariablen wurden mittels des um entsprechende Fragebögen erweiterten Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interviews (M-CIDI) auf der Grundlage der DSM-IV-Algorithmen computerisert gestellt. Ergebnisse: Die Behandlungsquote steigt mit dem Alter an, ist bei Frauen durchgängig höher als bei Männern und bei chronischen und häufig rezidivierenden Depressionen am höchsten. Ferner ergaben sich geschlechts- und altersspezifische Assoziationen hinsichtlich Komorbidität, Schweregrad sowie Nutzung alternativer Therapieangebote. Bei Kontrolle dieser Faktoren ergaben sich für die Patientenvariablen des "Sisi-Typus" besonders niedrige Behandlungsquoten. Auch clusteranalytisch konnte, prototypisch für Frauen, weniger gut für Männer, ein homogener "Sisi-Typus" abgeleitet werden, der im Verleich mit typischen Depressionen mit besonders niedriger Behandlungsrate assoziiert ist; fast ein Drittel aller Frauen konnte diesem Typus zugeordnet werden. Die Ergebnisse lassen erkennen, daß das Nichterkennen depressiver Erkrankungen wesentlich vom Patientenverhalten abhängt. Patienten, die nicht offen über Niedergeschlagenheit sowie über scheinbar depressionsuntypische Symptome klagen, werden selten erkannt und behandelt. Als praktische Konsequenz für die Allgemeinpraxis wird, neben der Beachtung von untypischen Merkmalen der Depression vom "Sisi-Typus", der Einsatz von zeitökonomischen Depressions-Screening-Fragebögen empfohlen.

Evidence from clinical patient populations indicates that affective dysregulation is strongly associated with reality distortion, suggesting that a process of misassignment of emotional salience may underlie this connection. To examine this in more detail without clinical confounds, affective regulation-reality distortion relationships, and their clinical relevance, were examined in a German prospective cohort community study. A cohort of 2524 adolescents and young adults aged 14–24 years at baseline was examined by experienced psychologists. Presence of psychotic experiences and (hypo)manic and depressive symptoms was assessed at 2 time points (3.5 and up to 10 years after baseline) using the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Associations were tested between level of affective dysregulation on the one hand and incidence of psychotic experiences, persistence of these experiences, and psychotic Impairment on the other. Most psychotic experiences occurred in a context of affective dysregulation, and bidirectional dose-response was apparent with greater level of both affective dysregulation and psychotic experiences. Persistence of psychotic experiences was progressively more likely with greater level of (hypo)manic symptoms (odds ratio [OR] trend = 1.51, P < .001) and depressive symptoms (OR trend = 1.15, P = .012). Similarly, psychotic experiences of clinical relevance were progressively more likely to occur with greater level of affective dysregulation (depressive symptoms: OR trend = 1.28, P = .002; (hypo)manic symptoms: OR trend = 1.37, P = .036). Correlated genetic liabilities underlying affective and nonaffective psychotic syndromes may be expressed as correlated dimensions in the general population. Also, affective dysregulation may contribute causally to the persistence and clinical relevance of reality distortion, possibly by facilitating a mechanism of aberrant salience attribution.

Background. This article presents prospective longitudinal findings on prevalence, incidence, patterns of change and stability of depressive disorders in a community sample of 1228 adolescents. Methods. Data were collected at baseline and follow-up (20 months later) in a representative population sample of 1228 adolescents, aged 14–17 at baseline. Diagnostic assessment was based on the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI). Results. The overall cumulative lifetime incidence of any depressive condition was 20·0% (major depressive disorder (MDD), 12·2%; dysthymia, 3·5%; subthreshold MDD, 6·3%), of which about one-third were incident depressions in the period between baseline and follow-up. Depressive disorders rarely started before the age of 13. Females were about twice as likely as males to develop a depressive disorder. Overall, the 20-month outcome of baseline depression was unfavourable. Dysthymia had the poorest outcome of all, with a complete remission rate of only 33% versus 43% for MDD and 54% for subthreshold MDD. Dysthymia also had the highest number of depressive episodes, and most psychosocial impairment and suicidal behavioural during follow-up. Treatment rates were low (8–23%). Subthreshold MDD associated with considerable impairment had an almost identical course and outcome as threshold MDD. Conclusions. DSM-IV MDD and dysthymia are rare before the age of 13, but frequent during adolescence, with an estimated lifetime cumulative incidence of 14%. Only a minority of these disorders in adolescence is treated, and more than half of them persist or remit only partly.

Background. Studies that examined community samples have reported several risk factors for the development of depressive episodes. The few studies that have been performed on primary care samples were mostly cross-sectional. Most samples had originated from highly developed industrial countries. This is the first study that prospectively investigates the risk factors of depressive episodes in an international primary care sample. Methods. A stratified primary care sample of initially non-depressed subjects (N = 2445) from 15 centres from all over the world was examined for the presence or absence of a depressive episode (ICD-10) at the 12 month follow-up assessment. The initial measures addressed sociodemographic variables, psychological/psychiatric problems and social disability. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine their relationship with the development of new depressive episodes. Results. At the 12-month follow-up, 4·4% of primary care patients met ICD-10 criteria for a depressive episode. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the recognition by the general practitioner as a psychiatric case, repeated suicidal thoughts, previous depressive episodes, the number of chronic organic diseases, poor general health, and a full or subthreshold ICD-10 disorder were related to the development of new depressive episodes. Conclusions. Psychological/psychiatric problems were found to play the most important role in the prediction of depressive episodes while sociodemographic variables were of lower importance. Differences compared with other studies might be due to our prospective design and possibly also to our culturally different sample. Applied stratification procedures, which resulted in a sample at high risk of developing depression, might be a limitation of our study.