The evolution of past global ice sheets is highly uncertain. One example is the missing ice problem during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 26 000-19 000 years before present) – an apparent 8-28 m discrepancy between far-field sea level indicators and modelled sea level from ice sheet reconstructions. In the absence of ice sheet reconstructions, researchers often use marine δ18O proxy records to infer ice volume prior to the LGM. We present a global ice sheet reconstruction for the past 80 000 years, called PaleoMIST 1.0, constructed independently of far-field sea level and δ18O proxy records. Our reconstruction is compatible with LGM far-field sea-level records without requiring extra ice volume, thus solving the missing ice problem. However, for Marine Isotope Stage 3 (57 000-29 000 years before present) - a pre-LGM period - our reconstruction does not match proxy-based sea level reconstructions, indicating the relationship between marine δ18O and sea level may be more complex than assumed.

A robust closed-loop system can provide effective propofol administration during induction and maintenance of anesthesia in children. Wide variation in the calculated Ce highlights the limitation of open-loop regimes based on pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models.

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Closed-loop control of anesthesia is expected to decrease drug dosage and wake up time while increasing patient safety and decreasing the work load of the anesthesiologist. The potential of closed-loop control in anesthesia has been demonstrated in several clinical studies. One of the challenges in the development of a closed-loop system that can be widely accepted by clinicians and regulatory authorities is the effect of interpatient variability in drug sensitivity. This system uncertainty may lead to unacceptable performance, or even instability of the closed-loop system for some individuals. The development of reliable models of the effect of anesthetic drugs and characterization of the uncertainty is, therefore, an important step in the development of a closed-loop system. Model identification from clinical data is challenging due to limited excitation and the lack of validation data. In this paper, approximate models are validated for controller design by evaluating the predictive accuracy of the closed-loop behavior. A set of 47 validated models that describe the interpatient variability in the response to propofol in children is presented. This model set can be used for robust linear controller design provided that the experimental conditions are similar to the conditions during data collection.

Plant proteins, such as wheat gluten, constitute attractive raw materials for sustainable wood adhesives. In this study, alkaline water dispersions of the protein classes of wheat gluten, glutenin, and gliadin were used as adhesives to bond together wood substrates of beech. The aim of the study is to measure the tensile shear strength of the wood substrates to compare the adhesive performance of glutenin and gliadin and to investigate the influence of application method and penetration of the dispersions into the wood material. A sodium hydroxide solution (0.1M) was used as dispersing and denaturing agent. Dispersions with different protein concentrations and viscosities were used, employing wheat gluten dispersions as references. Two different application methods, a press temperature of 110 C and a press time of 15 min, were employed. The tensile shear strength and water resistance of the wood substrates were compared, using a slightly modified version of the European Standard EN 204. The bond lines of the substrates were examined by optical microscopy to study the penetration and bond-line thickness. The results reveal that the adhesive properties of gliadin are inferior to that of both glutenin and wheat gluten, especially in terms of water resistance. However, the tensile shear strength and the water resistance of gliadin are significantly improved when over-penetration of the protein into the wood material is avoided, rendering the adhesive performance of gliadin equal to that of glutenin and wheat gluten. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl

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