The aim of the master thesis is to sum up theoretical information about beamforming methods of microphone arrays and to verify their functionality. At the beginning of this work there are simulated different varietes of linear uniform and nonuniform microphone arrays and circular arrays. The results are verificated by a practical measurement in ideal conditions. Then I will focuse on implementation of the DAS(Delay And Sum), SAB(Sub Array Beamforming), CDB(Constant Directivity Beamforming), CDB-CA(CDB-Circular Arrays) beamformer including theoretical and practical verification of the functionality in ideal conditions. At the end of this thesis are all beamforming methods compared with each other at SNR(signal to Noise Ratio) and directivity parameters.

Beroende klassas som en familjesjukdom som bär med sig negativa konsekvenser för alla inblandade. De anhöriga riskerar även att själva utveckla ett medberoendetillstånd där deras tanke- känslo- och beteendemönster blir självdestruktivt. Inom medberoendelitteraturen råder det dock ingen enighet om hur medberoendet bör förstås eller förklaras och undersökningar av det offentliga anhörigstödet har visat på en hel del brister bland annat genom att inte vara tillräckligt flexibelt och individanpassat. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur medberoendetillståndet förklaras och förstås av de anhöriga själva och hur anhörigstödet kan formas för att möta de anhörigas behov. Studien har genomförts genom en mikro-etnografisk metod som bestått dels av observationer i olika självhjälpsgrupper som alla härstammar från Anonyma Alkoholister (AA) och 12-stegsprogrammet, dels av kvalitativa intervjuer med medlemmar från de olika grupperna. Observationerna har genomförts vid totalt 9 olika tillfällen, 8 observationer vid fysiska öppna möten på Al-Anon, AA och ACA och en observation vid ett digitalt zoom-konvent, som hölls av Co-Anon. Intervjuerna var semistrukturerade och med Grounded Theory (GT) som analysmetod använde jag mig av ett teoretiskt målinriktat urval, och efter 9 observationer och 3 intervjuer hade jag nått en teoretisk mättnad. Analysen bestod av kodning i tre steg, enligt GT, och utmynnade i kärnkategorier som hjälpte till att besvara studiens frågeställningar. Resultaten av studien visar att medberoende kan förstås som ett verkligt problem som berör många olika delar av personernas liv där bristen på en känsla för identitet kan ses som kärnproblematiken som de andra delarna härstammar ifrån. Här samlas teman som dysfunktionella relationer, flykt och ärvda mönster. Medberoendet har gett en artificiell känsla av ett jag, som inte varit på riktigt. Medberoendet kan förklaras av de anhörigas dysfunktionella barndom som präglats av negativa känslomässiga konsekvenser, ej tillgodosedda behov och trauman. Stödet via självhjälpsgrupperna berör dels gruppens kultur där viktiga teman är tillhörighet och igenkänning dels handlingsprogram och nya strategier, med teman som personlig inventering och känslohantering. Insikten om medberoendet har varit smärtsam men samtidigt en förutsättning för tillfrisknande och genom gruppen skapas förutsättningar för att hjälpa andra genom att hjälpa sig själva.

Epidemiological, experimental, and clinical observations provide support for a colorectal cancer chemopreventive role for aspirin. We have evaluated the effects of aspirin on proliferation biomarkers in normal-risk and high-risk human subjects for colorectal cancer. Colorectal biopsies were obtained at baseline and at 24h after 28 daily doses of 81mg of aspirin from 13 high-risk and 15 normal-risk subjects for colorectal cancer. We evaluated aspirin's effects on proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemistry and epithelial mucin histochemistry using the lectin, Amaranthus caudatus agglutinin (ACA) in crypt sections from rectal biopsies. The baseline whole crypt PCNA LIs differed significantly between normal-risk and high-risk subjects. PCNA LIs are not affected by 28 days of aspirin at 81mg daily. ACA LIs are decreased by 28 days of aspirin at 81mg daily in both normal-risk and high-risk subjects. Aspirin's effects on ACA LIs may have mechanistic and biological implications that deserve further attention. PCNA and ACA LIs are not useful as proliferation biomarkers for aspirin's chemopreventive activity in morphologically normal human colorectal mucosa.

Amid the global pandemic, it becomes more apparent that diabetes is a pressing health concern because racial/ethnic minorities with underlying diabetes conditions have been disproportionately affected. The study proposes a multiyear examination to document the role of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes health. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2011 to 2019, the study with a pre-post design investigated changes in access to care and diabetes health among non-White minorities compared with Whites before and after the ACA by conducting multivariable linear regression, with state-fixed effects and robust standard errors. Compared with Whites, racial/ethnic minorities showed significant improvements in health insurance coverage, having a personal doctor, and not seeing a doctor because of cost. Blacks (3.2% points,  ≤ 0.000), Hispanics (1.6% points,  = 0.001), and "other" racial/ethnic group (1.5% points,  = 0.003) experienced a greater increase in diagnosed prediabetes than Whites, whereas no and small differences were found in diagnosed diabetes and obesity, respectively. The yearly comparisons of changes in diagnosed prediabetes showed that Blacks compared with Whites had a growing increase from 1.2% points ( = 0.001) in 2014 to 3.3% points ( = 0.001) in 2019. Insurance coverage has declined after 2016, and obesity had an increasing trend across race/ethnicity. The ACA had a positive role in improving access to care and identifying those at risk for diabetes to a larger extent among racial/ethnic minorities. However, the policy impacts have been diminishing in recent years. Continued efforts are needed for sustained policy effects.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:16:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ThaiseLA.pdf: 779453 bytes, checksum: fe87c118f2c753bc8ffd4a32cb6a1146 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-22 / Background: The myotonic dystrophy (MD) is a multisystem neuromuscular disease that can affect the respiratory muscles and heart function, and cause impairment in quality of life. Objectives: Investigate the changes in respiratory muscle strength, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and autonomic modulation heart rate (HR) in patients with MD. Methods: Twenty-three patients performed assessment of pulmonary function, sniff nasal inspiratory pressure (SNIP), the maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressure, and of HRQoL (SF-36 questionnaire). Of these patients, 17 underwent assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) at rest, in the supine and seated positions. Results: The values of respiratory muscle strength were 64, 70 and 80% of predicted for MEP, MIP, and SNIP, respectively. Significant differences were found in the SF-36 domains of physical functioning (58.7 ? 31,4 vs. 84.5 ? 23, p<0.01) and physical problems (43.4 ? 35.2 vs. 81.2 ? 34, p<0.001) when patients were compared with the reference values. Single linear regression analysis demonstrated that MIP explains 29% of the variance in physical functioning, 18% of physical problems and 20% of vitality. The HRV showed that from supine position to seated, HF decreased (0.43 x 0.30), and LF (0.57 x 0.70) and the LF/HF ratio (1.28 x 2.22) increased (p< 0.05). Compared to healthy persons, LF was lower in both male patients (2.68 x 2.99) and women (2.31 x 2.79) (p< 0.05). LF / HF ratio and LF were higher in men (5.52 x 1.5 and 0.8 x 0.6, p <0.05) and AF in women (0.43 x 0.21) (p< 0.05). There was positive correlation between the time of diagnosis and LF / HF ratio (r = 0.7, p <0.01). Conclusions: The expiratory muscle strength was reduced. The HRQoL was more impaired on the physical aspects and partly influenced by changes in inspiratory muscle strength. The HRV showed that may be sympathetic dysfunction in autonomic modulation of HR, although with normal adjustment of autonomic modulation during the change of posture. The parasympathetic modulation is higher in female patients and sympathetic tends to increase in patients with longer diagnosis / Introdu??o: A distrofia miot?nica (DM) ? uma doen?a neuromuscular multissist?mica que pode afetar a musculatura respirat?ria e a fun??o card?aca, e ocasionar preju?zos na qualidade de vida. Objetivos: Investigar as altera??es na for?a muscular respirat?ria, qualidade de vida relacionada ? sa?de (QVRS), e modula??o auton?mica da freq??ncia card?aca (FC) em pacientes com DM. M?todos: Foram avaliados 23 pacientes quanto ? fun??o pulmonar, press?o inspirat?ria nasal sniff (SNIP), press?es respirat?rias m?ximas (PIm?x e PEm?x), e QVRS (question?rio SF-36). Destes, 17 realizaram avalia??o da variabilidade da frequ?ncia card?aca (VFC) em repouso, nas posturas supina e sentada. Resultados: Os valores da for?a muscular respirat?ria foram de 64, 70 e 80%predito para PEm?x, PIm?x, e SNIP, respectivamente. Foi encontrada diminui??o significativa nos dom?nios do SF-36 capacidade funcional (58.7 ? 31,4 vs. 84.5 ? 23, p<0.01) e disfun??o f?sica (43.4 ? 35.2 vs. 81.2 ? 34, p<0.001) comparado a valores de refer?ncia. A an?lise de regress?o linear mostrou que a PIm?x explica 29% da vari?ncia na capacidade funcional, 18% na disfun??o f?sica e 20% na vitalidade. A VFC mostrou que, da postura supina para a sentada, o espectro AF diminuiu (0.43 x 0.30) e o espectro BF (0.57 x 0.70) e a raz?o BF/AF (1.28 x 2.22) aumentaram, com p<0.05. Comparado a valores de refer?ncia, BF foi inferior (p<0.05) tanto nos pacientes homens (2.68 x 2.99), como nas mulheres (2.31 x 2.79). A raz?o BF/AF e o espectro BF foram maiores nos homens (5.52 x 1.5 e 0.8 x 0.6), e o espectro AF, nas mulheres (0.43 x 0.21), com p<0.05. Houve correla??o significativa positiva entre tempo de diagn?stico e raz?o BF/AF (r= 0.7, p< 0.01). Conclus?es: Indiv?duos com DM t?m for?a muscular expirat?ria diminu?da. A QVRS mostrou-se mais prejudicada em rela??o a aspectos f?sicos e parcialmente influenciada por varia??es na for?a muscular inspirat?ria. Pode haver disfun??o simp?tica na modula??o auton?mica da FC, com ajuste normal da postura supina para a sentada. A modula??o parassimp?tica ? superior em pacientes mulheres e a modula??o simp?tica tende a aumentar nos pacientes com maior tempo de diagn?stico

Ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations are known to have problems in satisfying the solenoidal constraint (i.e. the divergence of magnetic field should be equal to zero, $<p>ablacdotvec{B} = 0$). The simulations become unstable unless specific measures have been taken.<p><p>In this thesis, a solenoidal constraint satisfying technique that allows discrete satisfaction of the solenoidal constraint up to the machine accuracy is presented and validated with a variety of test cases. Due to its inspiration from Chorin's artificial compressibility method developed for incompressible CFD applications, the technique was named as \ / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This diploma thesis deals with design of reconection-less electronically reconfigurable filter structures which have single input and single output using unconventional active elements, which have ability to adjust one of their parameter e.g. gain or transconductance. The first part describes basic parameters of frequency filters, the division of filters by frequency transfer response and used circuit elements, their operational modes, the principle of reconnection-less electronically reconfiguration and the circuit design method MUNV. Second part describes all active elements used in the proposal of filters, their properties and the implementation using existing transistor-level models. The third part contains the design of three reconnection-less electronically reconfigurable filters and the simulations results obtained from simulation programs OrCAD Capture and PSpice. The obtained results were compared with theoretical behaviour. This part also contains results of these analyses: sensitivity, parasitic, Monte Carlo and temperature to determine the behaviour in varied cases.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The study was conducted to examine the communication between the customer and the cashier at the point of purchase in the process of determining the impact of the labeling laws. This study used an inductive qualitative design for data collection and data analysis. Data from this study suggest that calorie counts on menu labels are discussed frequently between the customer and the cashier at the point of sale at fast-casual restaurants. The data found gives us a framework and rationale as to why previous research on the effectiveness of the calorie labeling law in the Affordable Care Act have yet to make a significant impact in reducing consumer’s total daily caloric intake when eating food away from the home and found three specific reasons as to why the calorie labeling law may not be working the way the government intended it to. First, consumers at fast-casual restaurants rely on the cashiers as calorie guides because they are not aware or knowledgeable about the recommended daily caloric intake and often underestimate the total calories in their meals. Secondly, the study’s findings indicate that when restaurants offer lower calorie choices and downsizing options like a “small pita” at Pita Pit instead of a “regular pita”, many consumers buy the downsized item or smaller portion but food chains are not downsizing their signature items. Third, the study examined if the cashiers are trained in any way to discuss new regulations and calorie count/nutritional value and not one cashier was trained specifically about the calorie labeling law and why certain foods on the menu have more calories than others even though they are influencing decision making. Conversations at the point of sale have been routinely ignored in research about the calorie labeling law and this research helps to understand the choices consumers are making with the newly implemented calorie labeling regulation. The results from this study helps us further advance our understanding as to why consumers make the food choices they do while eating at restaurants.

Individuals who consider themselves both scholars and fans represent not only a subculture of fandom but also a subculture of academia. These liminal figures seem suspicious to many of their colleagues, yet they are particularly positioned not only to be conduits to engaged learning for students but also to transform the academy by chipping away at the stereotypes that support the symbolic walls of the Ivory Tower. Because they are growing in number and gaining influence in academia, the scholar-fans of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy) and other texts by creator Joss Whedon are one focus of this dissertation. Though Buffy academics or Whedon scholars are not the only ones of their kind (e.g., academic- fan communities have cropped up around The Simpsons, The Matrix Trilogy, and the Harry Potter franchise), they have produced more literature and are more organized than any other academic-fan community. I approach all of my subjects—fandom, academia, fan-scholars, and scholar-fans—from a multidisciplinary perspective, employing various methodologies, including autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Taking several viewpoints and using mixed methods best allows me to begin identifying and articulating a rhetoric of scholar-fandom. Ultimately, I claim that Whedon academic-fans employ a discourse marked by intimacy, community, reciprocity, and transformation. In other words, the rhetoric of Whedon scholar-fandom promotes an epistemology—a way of knowing—that in Parker J. Palmer’s paradigm is personal, communal, reciprocal, and transformational.

Individuals who consider themselves both scholars and fans represent not only a subculture of fandom but also a subculture of academia. These liminal figures seem suspicious to many of their colleagues, yet they are particularly positioned not only to be conduits to engaged learning for students but also to transform the academy by chipping away at the stereotypes that support the symbolic walls of the Ivory Tower. Because they are growing in number and gaining influence in academia, the scholar-fans of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy) and other texts by creator Joss Whedon are one focus of this dissertation. Though Buffy academics or Whedon scholars are not the only ones of their kind (e.g., academic- fan communities have cropped up around The Simpsons, The Matrix Trilogy, and the Harry Potter franchise), they have produced more literature and are more organized than any other academic-fan community. I approach all of my subjects—fandom, academia, fan-scholars, and scholar-fans—from a multidisciplinary perspective, employing various methodologies, including autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Taking several viewpoints and using mixed methods best allows me to begin identifying and articulating a rhetoric of scholar-fandom. Ultimately, I claim that Whedon academic-fans employ a discourse marked by intimacy, community, reciprocity, and transformation. In other words, the rhetoric of Whedon scholar-fandom promotes an epistemology—a way of knowing—that in Parker J. Palmer’s paradigm is personal, communal, reciprocal, and transformational.