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A waterborne platooning concept, i.e. a Vessel Train (VT) it is composed of a fully manned lead vessel that takes over navigational responsibility for the followers. Joining a VT helps improve the competitiveness of smaller vessels and increase their use, as it allows a vessel to sail continuously with a small crew. This paper identifies the challenges created when penetrating urban areas and models the viability of the VT. The influence factors of the implementation hinge on the maximum opening times and on the simultaneous opening of adjacent bridges. The results provide guidelines for a successful integration of the semi-autonomous platooning system in urban areas., Ship Design, Production and Operations

In the version of this article initially published, the label along the right margin of the top row in Fig. 2d (SO1DG93A) was incorrect. The correct label is ‘SOD1G93A’. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article., QC 20220318

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating fatal condition, in which the nerve cells controlling muscles (motor neurons) are lost, followed by the muscles themselves. This results in paralysis and eventually death, usually within 4 years. ALS is the most common motor neuron disease, with a 1:400 risk to be affected at any time during adult life. The first diagnosis of what later would become known as ALS was given about 150 years ago, but it took until the late 20th century to start discovering the disease process and mechanics. Still, ALS is poorly understood, and only two treatments with small effects are currently available. This is likely the result of several issues on different levels, defined here as biological, technical, and structural. These problems especially restrict research progress for complex disorders such as ALS. Solving these might thus bring us closer to effective treatments. First, the biological problems facing ALS research are the complex processes that cause it and the differences between patients. A number of complicated biological processes have been associated with ALS. To make matters worse, they are not all causative, making it difficult to distinguish the ones that can be targeted for therapy. Additionally, not all these processes are shared between patients, with the likelihood and form of ALS dependent on genes, environment, and aging. This makes it hard to find shared factors and processes that cause the disease. Second, technical problems to research include the difficulty checking disease progress and poor design of studies. Disease risk, outlook, treatability, and the effects of treatment are measured with certain markers. However, as we do not understand the disease, making effective and reliable markers is very hard. It is also not possible to diagnose ALS before any symptoms, which causes an average delay between onset and treatment of about a year. Without reliable markers, putting patients into groups is difficult

Cyclostratigraphy is an important tool for understanding astronomical climate forcing and reading geological time in sedimentary sequences, provided that an imprint of insolation variations caused by Earth's orbital eccentricity, obliquity and/or precession is preserved (Milankovitch forcing). Numerous stratigraphic and paleoclimate studies have applied cyclostratigraphy, but the robustness of the methodology and its dependence on the investigator have not been systematically evaluated. We developed the Cyclostratigraphy Intercomparison Project (CIP) to assess the robustness of cyclostratigraphic methods using an experimental design of three artificial cyclostratigraphic case studies with known input parameters. Each case study is designed to address specific challenges that are relevant to cyclostratigraphy. Case 1 represents an offshore research vessel environment, as only a drill-core photo and the approximate position of a late Miocene stage boundary are available for analysis. In Case 2, the Pleistocene proxy record displays clear nonlinear cyclical patterns and the interpretation is complicated by the presence of a hiatus. Case 3 represents a Late Devonian proxy record with a low signal-to-noise ratio with no specific theoretical astronomical solution available for this age. Each case was analyzed by a test group of 17-20 participants, with varying experience levels, methodological preferences and dedicated analysis time. During the CIP 2018 meeting in Brussels, Belgium, the ensuing analyses and discussion demonstrated that most participants did not arrive at a perfect solution, which may be partly explained by the limited amount of time spent on the exercises (∼4.5 hours per case). However, in all three cases, the median solution of all submitted analyses accurately approached the correct result and several participants obtained the exact correct answers. Interestingly, systematically better performances were obtained for cases that represented the data type

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that members of society prefer some QALY gains over others. In this paper, we explore the notion of acceptable health as a reference point in assessing the value of health gains. The value of health benefits may be assessed in terms of their position relative to this reference level, benefits above the level of acceptable health being valued differently from benefits below this level. In this paper we focus on assessing the level of acceptable health at different ages and associations with background variables. Methods: We recruited a sample of the adult population from the Netherlands (n = 1067) to investigate which level of health problems they consider to be acceptable for people aged 40 to 90, using 10-year intervals. We constructed acceptable health curves and associated acceptable health with background characteristics using linear regressions. Results: The results of this study indicate that the level of health problems considered acceptable increases with age. This level was associated with respondents' age, age of death of next of kin, health and health behaviour. Conclusions: Our results suggest that people are capable of indicating acceptable levels of health at different ages, implying that a reference point of acceptable health may exist. While more investigation into the measurement of acceptable health remains necessary, future studies may also focus on how health gains may be valued relative to this reference level. Gains below the reference point may receive higher weight than those above this level since the former improve unacceptable health states while the latter improve acceptable health states.

Item does not contain fulltext, The aims of this study were (1) to examine relations between baseline levels of loneliness and momentary affect and perceptions of company, and (2) to test responses to perceived social threat and lowered reward response to positive stimuli in relation to loneliness in adolescents. Data were collected among 278 adolescents (Mage = 14.19, 59% girls) by using the experience sampling method. Baseline loneliness was related to affect and appraisals of company. Findings revealed greater responses to social threat, in that adolescents with higher levels of baseline loneliness were more negatively affected by negative company. For the lowered reward response, we found opposite effects: adolescents high on loneliness were more positively affected by positive company.

Large negative magnetoconductance (MC) of similar to 12% is observed in electrochemically doped polymer light-emitting diodes at sub-band-gap bias voltages (V-bias). Simultaneously, a positive magnetoefficiency (M eta) of 9% is observed at V-bias = 2 V. At higher bias voltages, both the MC and M eta diminish while a negative magnetoelectroluminescence (MEL) appears. The negative MEL effect is rationalized by triplet-triplet annihilation that leads to delayed fluorescence, whereas the positive M eta effect is related to competition between spin mixing and exciton formation leading to an enhanced singlet: triplet ratio at nonzero magnetic field. The resultant reduction in triplet exciton density is argued to reduce detrapping of polarons in the recombination zone at low-bias voltages, explaining the observed negative MC. Regarding organic magnetoresistance, this study provides experimental data to verify existing models describing magnetic field effects in organic semiconductors, which contribute to better understanding hereof. Furthermore, we present indications of strong magnetic field effects related to interactions between trapped carriers and excitons, which specifically can be studied in electrochemically doped organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Regarding light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), this work shows that delayed fluorescence from triplet-triplet annihilation substantially contributes to the electroluminescence and the device efficiency., Funding Agencies|Dutch Technology Foundation STW via the NWO VICI [06628]; NWO NANO [11424]; Dutch program NanoNextNL

In order to explain the surprisingly large, low field organic magnetoresistance (OMAR), several microscopic mechanisms have been proposed recently, but their effect on the polaron transport through a realistic device is relatively unknown. Here we study the effect of device physics on all proposed mechanisms, using a numerical drift-diffusion simulation method. We implement the local magnetic field dependent reactions via a magnetic field dependent recombination, mobility and triplet formation rate. Furthermore, a novel approach is used where we keep track of the subsequent particles formed from these reactions, including excitons and trions. We find that even in the most straightforward device structure sign changes can occur due to device physics. Especially the transition from a diffusion dominated to a drift dominated current near the built-in voltage plays a crucial role for understanding organic magnetoresistance. Finally, we conclude that the shape of the magnetocurrent as a function of voltage can be used as a fingerprint for the underlying dominant microscopic mechanism governing OMAR in a device. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Funding Agencies|Dutch Technology Foundation (STW), which is part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientic Research (NWO)

Harnessing the spin degree of freedom in semiconductors is generally a challenging, yet rewarding task. In recent years, the large effect of a small magnetic field on the current in organic semiconductors has puzzled the young field of organic spintronics. Although the microscopic interaction mechanisms between spin-carrying particles in organic materials are well understood nowadays, there is no consensus as to which pairs of spin-carrying particles are actually influencing the current in such a drastic manner. Here we demonstrate that the spin-based particle reactions can be tuned in a blend of organic materials, and microscopic mechanisms are identified using magnetoresistance lineshapes and voltage dependencies as fingerprints. We find that different mechanisms can dominate, depending on the exact materials choice, morphology and operating conditions. Our improved understanding will contribute to the future control of magnetic field effects in organic semiconductors., Funding Agencies|Dutch Technology Foundation STW via the NWO VICI-grant Spin Engineering in Molecular Devices [06628]; NWO-NANO grant Chasing the spin in organic spintronics [11424]