Danube University Krems

About: Danube University Krems is a education organization based out in Krems, Niederösterreich, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Stroke & Population. The organization has 498 authors who have published 1572 publications receiving 68797 citations.

Accurate analytical model for air damping in lateral MEMS/MOEMS oscillators

Abstract: We report on an analytical model for the air damping of laterally oscillating MEMS and MOEMS following up on our recent paper [1] . It can be used to more efficiently design micromechanical devices with tailor-made Q -factors for specific applications. The surface force responsible for the air damping was divided into contributions which were investigated separately. These include squeeze-film damping and the viscous forces responsible for shear wave emission and Couette type flow. Since the squeezing part is mostly underestimated in the current models, we applied more appropriate boundary conditions during the solution of Reynold's lubrication equation. The viscous contributions were investigated with respect to how holes – due to fabrication process or readout – in the moving plate affect the damping. We tested this model against FVM computations (OpenFOAM) and measurements of MOEMS test devices. It was in good agreement with both.

Identification in E-Participation: Between Quality of Identification Data and Participation Threshold

Abstract: E-participation projects have to consider a low participation threshold while maintaining security and data quality standards. While users often perceive complex regulations and logins as hurdles for participation, providers of solutions want to avoid misuse and in some cases have identified the participants uniquely. Not all levels of e-participation require the same quality of identification and authentication to produce reliable outcomes. Based on the first results of an Austrian e-participation project, the paper presents a model that tries to match these complex relations and examines which identification methods are seen as appropriate on which levels of e-participation based on the dimensions of quality of identification data and low participation threshold.

General change mechanisms in the early treatment phase and their associations with the outcome of cognitive behavioural therapy in patients with different levels of motivational incongruence.

Abstract: Early general change mechanisms (GCMs) have been shown to be associated with psychotherapy outcome but it remains unclear which specific patients benefit from which GCM. This study explored whether the patients' characteristic motivational incongruence moderates the effect of GCMs in the early treatment phase on the outcome. Three early GCMs (interpersonal experiences, intrapersonal experiences, and problem actuation) were evaluated after five therapy-preparing sessions by patients and therapists. On the basis of previous work, we assumed that the association between intrapersonal experiences and outcome is moderated by incongruence. A total of 524 patients completing outpatient cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) were investigated. The patient-reported outcome measure was psychological symptom severity. The patients' motivational incongruence was assessed with the incongruence questionnaire short form at baseline. Results showed that therapists' ratings of all three early GCMs and patients' ratings of early problem actuation were not associated with CBT outcome. By contrast, positive patients' ratings of early interpersonal and early intrapersonal experiences were beneficial for CBT outcome (both p < .05). Only the association between patients' ratings of early intrapersonal experiences and CBT outcome was moderated by incongruence (p < .05). The higher the patients' baseline incongruence was, the more beneficial early intrapersonal experiences in the patients' perspective were for a good outcome. These findings entail that increasing early intrapersonal experiences from the patients' perspective is particularly important in patients with motivational incongruence but working on early interpersonal experiences in the patients' perspective is important in patients with all levels of incongruence to reach a good CBT outcome.

Towards distributed enthalpy measurement in large-scale air conditioning systems

Abstract: Air conditioning systems are among the major energy consumers in buildings. Energy-efficient operation of AC systems is an important step towards better energy management in building automation, but requires efficient monitoring of the energy or enthalpy flows within the AC installation, which is currently still difficult because of the lack of appropriate equipment. This paper introduces a distributed data acquisition system for large-scale AC systems based on low-cost flow sensors implemented by means of standard printed circuit board technology and interconnected via a wireless sensor network. A critical issue for the system installation is the placement of the sensors in the air ducts to obtain representative measurements of the air flow. To this end, extensive aerodynamical simulations are carried out to analyze the flow distributions in typical building blocks for air ducts, particularly with respect to turbulences. The simulation results are compared with experimental data from the literature and are shown to be reliable.

Paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosed in Europe-A systematic literature review

Abstract: Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis that is endemic in geographical regions of Central and South America. Cases that occur in nonendemic regions of the world are imported through migration and travel. Due to the limited number of cases in Europe, most physicians are not familiar with paracoccidioidomycosis and its close clinical and histopathological resemblance to other infectious and noninfectious disease. To increase awareness of this insidious mycosis, we conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence on cases diagnosed and reported in Europe. We searched PubMed and Embase to identify cases of paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosed in European countries. In addition, we used Scopus for citation tracking and manually screened bibliographies of relevant articles. We conducted dual abstract and full-text screening of references yielded by our searches. To identify publications published prior to 1985, we used the previously published review by Ajello et al. Overall, we identified 83 cases of paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosed in 11 European countries, published in 68 articles. Age of patients ranged from 24 to 77 years; the majority were male. Time from leaving the endemic region and first occurrence of symptoms considerably varied. Our review illustrates the challenges of considering systemic mycosis in the differential diagnosis of people returning or immigrating to Europe from endemic areas. Travel history is important for diagnostic-workup, though it might be difficult to obtain due to possible long latency period of the disease.