Substitution-Newton-Raphson method applied to the modeling of a vapour compression refrigeration system using different representations of the thermodynamic properties of R-134a

This paper gives a detailed presentation of the Substitution-Newton-Raphson method, suitable for large sparse non-linear systems. It combines the Successive Substitution method and the Newton-Raphson method in such way as to take the best advantages of both, keeping the convergence features of the Newton-Raphson with the low requirements of memory and time of the Successive Substitution schemes. The large system is solved employing few effective variables, using the greatest possible part of the model equations in substitution fashion to fix the remaining variables, but maintaining the convergence characteristics of the Newton-Raphson. The methodology is exemplified through a simple algebraic system, and applied to a simple thermodynamic, mechanical and heat transfer modeling of a single-stage vapor compression refrigeration system. Three distinct approaches for reproducing the thermodynamic properties of the refrigerant R-134a are compared: the linear interpolation from tabulated data, the use of polynomial fitted curves and the use of functions derived from the Helmholtz free energy.

Quantitative features of Cedrela odorata L. wood (Meliaceae)

Cedrela odorata L. (Meliaceae) occurs in the Atlantic forest, Amazon rain forest, riparian forest of the country, and wetlands, which demand species adapted to their water conditions. Studies in ecological wood anatomy demonstrated that weather factors' variations have direct influence on the wood anatomical structure and that the fragmentation of the natural habitats is a direct cause of the edge effect which alters the abiotic aspects of the location, interfering consequently in its vegetation. A comparative analysis of 20 anatomical quantitative features of the wood structure was performed in populations of Cedrela odorata growing inside and on the edge of the swamp forest and granulometric analysis was made on the soil. The quantitative data were submitted to the Mann-Whitney's nonparametric test, presenting a statistically significant value decrease in the eleven wood features mean for the specimens growing in the edge of swamp forest.

Ultrastructural study of the neovagina following the utilization of human amniotic membrane for treatment of congenital absence of the vagina

We present an ultrastructural study of the utilization of human amniotic membrane in the treatment of congenital absence of the vagina in 10 patients. All patients were surgically treated with application of an amniotic membrane graft using the modified McIndoe and Bannister technique. Sixty days after surgery, samples of the vaginal neo-epithelium were collected for transmission electron microscopy analysis. The ultrastructural findings consisted of a lining of mature squamous epithelium indicating the occurrence of metaplasia of the amniotic epithelium into the vaginal epithelium. The cells were arranged in layers as in the normal vaginal epithelium, i.e., superficial, intermediate and deep layers. There were desmosomes and cytoplasmic intermediate cytokeratin filaments, as well as some remnant features of the previous amniotic epithelium. These findings suggest that human amniotic membrane is able to complete metaplasia into squamous cells but the mechanism of this cellular transformation is unknown

Characterization of the mucosal and systemic immune response induced by Cry1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis HD 73 in mice

The present paper describes important features of the immune response induced by the Cry1Ac protein from Bacillus thuringiensis in mice. The kinetics of induction of serum and mucosal antibodies showed an immediate production of anti-Cry1Ac IgM and IgG antibodies in serum after the first immunization with the protoxin by either the intraperitoneal or intragastric route. The antibody fraction in serum and intestinal fluids consisted mainly of IgG1. In addition, plasma cells producing anti-Cry1Ac IgG antibodies in Peyer's patches were observed using the solid-phase enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT). Cry1Ac toxin administration induced a strong immune response in serum but in the small intestinal fluids only anti-Cry1Ac IgA antibodies were detected. The data obtained in the present study confirm that the Cry1Ac protoxin is a potent immunogen able to induce a specific immune response in the mucosal tissue, which has not been observed in response to most other proteins.

Genome features of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni

We report novel features of the genome sequence of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni, a highly invasive spirochete. Leptospira species colonize a significant proportion of rodent populations worldwide and produce life-threatening infections in mammals. Genomic sequence analysis reveals the presence of a competent transport system with 13 families of genes encoding for major transporters including a three-member component efflux system compatible with the long-term survival of this organism. The leptospiral genome contains a broad array of genes encoding regulatory system, signal transduction and methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, reflecting the organism's ability to respond to diverse environmental stimuli. The identification of a complete set of genes encoding the enzymes for the cobalamin biosynthetic pathway and the novel coding genes related to lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis should bring new light to the study of Leptospira physiology. Genes related to toxins, lipoproteins and several surface-exposed proteins may facilitate a better understanding of the Leptospira pathogenesis and may serve as potential candidates for vaccine.

Experimental murine mycobacteriosis: evaluation of the functional activity of alveolar macrophages in thalidomide- treated mice

Thalidomide is a selective inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a cytokine involved in mycobacterial death mechanisms. We investigated the role of this drug in the functional activity of alveolar macrophages in the presence of infection induced by intranasal inoculation of Mycobacterium avium in thalidomide-treated and untreated adult Swiss mice. Sixty animals were inoculated with 5 x 10(6) M. avium by the respiratory route. Thirty animals received daily thalidomide (30 mg/kg mouse) and 30 received water by gavage up to sacrifice. Ten non-inoculated mice were used as a control group. Lots of animals from each group were evaluated until 6 weeks after inoculation. Infection resulted in an increased total number of inflammatory cells as well as increased activity of pulmonary macrophages. Histologically, intranasal inoculation of bacilli resulted in small mononuclear infiltrates located at the periphery of the organ. Culture of lung fragments revealed the presence of bacilli only at the beginning and at the end of the experimental period. Thalidomide administration did not affect the microbiological or histological features of the infection. Thalidomide-treated and untreated animals showed the same amount of M. avium colonies 3 weeks after infection. Although it did not affect bacillary clearance, thalidomide administration resulted in a decreased percent of spread cells and release of hydrogen peroxide, suggesting that factors other than TNF-alpha play a role in the killing of mycobacteria by alveolar macrophages. Thalidomide administration also reduced the number of spread cells among resident macrophages, suggesting a direct effect of the drug on this phenomenon.

Spatiotemporal Features of Coastal Waters in Southwest Finland

In coastal waters, physico-chemical and biological properties and constituents vary at different time scales. In the study area of this thesis, within the Archipelago Sea in the northern Baltic Sea, seasonal cycles of light and temperature set preconditions for intra-annual variations, but developments at other temporal scales occur as well. Weather-induced runoffs and currents may alter water properties over the short term, and the consequences over time of eutrophication and global changes are to a degree unpredictable. The dynamic characteristics of northern Baltic Sea waters are further diversified at the archipelago coasts. Water properties may differ in adjacent basins, which are separated by island and underwater thresholds limiting water exchange, making the area not only a mosaic of islands but also one of water masses. Long-term monitoring and in situ observations provide an essential data reserve for coastal management and research. Since the seasonal amplitudes of water properties are so high, inter-annual comparisons of water-quality variables have to be based on observations sampled at the same time each year. In this thesis I compare areas by their temporal characteristics, using both inter-annual and seasonal data. After comparing spatial differences in seasonal cycles, I conclude that spatial comparisons and temporal generalizations have to be made with caution. In classifying areas by the state of their waters, the results may be biased even if the sampling is annually simultaneous, since the dynamics of water properties may vary according to the area. The most comprehensive view of the spatiotemporal dynamics of water properties would be achieved by means of comparisons with data consisting of multiple annual samples. For practical reasons, this cannot be achieved with conventional in situ sampling. A holistic understanding of the spatiotemporal features of the water properties of the Archipelago Sea will have to be based on the application of multiple methods, complementing each other’s spatial and temporal coverage. The integration of multi-source observational data and time-series analysis may be methodologically challenging, but it will yield new information as to the spatiotemporal regime of the Archipelago Sea.

Restoration of the rabbit corneal surface after total epithelial debridement and complete limbal excision

How is the corneal epithelium restored when all of it plus the limbus have been eliminated? This investigation explored the possibility that this may be achieved through the conjunctival epithelium. The corneal epithelium of the right eye of 12 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was totally scraped followed by surgical excision of the limbus plus 1.0-1.5 mm of the adjacent conjunctiva. Antibiotics and corticosteroids were applied for 1 week after surgery. Histological and immunohistochemical techniques were used to monitor the events taking place on the eye surface 2 weeks and 1, 3 and 6 months thereafter. Initially, the corneal surface was covered by conjunctival-like epithelium. After 1 month and more prominently at 3 and 6 months an epithelium displaying the morphological features of the cornea and reacting with the AE5 antibody was covering the central region. It is likely that the corneal epithelium originated from undifferentiated cells of the conjunctiva interacting with the corneal stroma.

Protectionism and industrialization: a critical assessment of the Latin American industrialization period

Protectionist policies were considered one of the pivotal features of the import industrialization process in Latin America. In this paper the effects of protectionist policies are assessed in terms of the principal macroeconomic variables, productive structure and external trade composition; also, ECLAC's perspective on the import substitution process is discussed. The main conclusions are that regional protectionist policies were spontaneous, and their effects were limited due to the generalized protection that took place and the government's commitment to price stability.

International Transmission of the Business Cycle in a Multi-Sector Model.

Multi-country models have not been very successful in replicating important features of the international transmission of business cycles. Standard models predict cross-country correlations of output and consumption which are respectively too low and too high. In this paper, we build a multi-country model of the business cycle with multiple sectors in order to analyze the role of sectoral shocks in the international transmission of the business cycle. We find that a model with multiple sectors generates a higher cross-country correlation of output than standard one-sector models, and a lower cross-country correlation of consumption. In addition, it predicts cross-country correlations of employment and investment that are closer to the data than the standard model. We also analyze the relative effects of multiple sectors, trade in intermediate goods, imperfect substitution between domestic and foreign goods, home preference, capital adjustment costs, and capital depreciation on the international transmission of the business cycle.

Studies on the planktonic copepods calanoida scolecithricidae of the Indian Ocean

The main purpose of the Study is to outline the main distributional features of the species of the calonoid copepod family seolecithricidae in the Indian Ocean Expedition collections and to distinguish and describe their niches. In the present thesis 27 species belonging to 7 genera were identified of which 2 were new records from the Indian Ocean and one was described as a new species. In addition to the general treatment of the taxonomy, zoogeography and species diversity in relation to various environmental parameters are also attempted

"A Study Of The Performance Of The "Jeevan Saathi" And "Jeevan Mitra” Policies Offered By The L.I.C."

The main benefit of Jeevan Saathi policy is that, it is a joint life policy which covers the life of both husband and wife under a single policy. And they also get double benefit if any one of them dies during the term of the policy. The Jeevan Mitra policy is a single life policy, the main advantage of which is that the dependents get double benefit in case of normal death and triple benefit in case of accidental death during the term of policy. so both the policies have their own attractions but when compared with the annual sales of other policies, the additional increase in the sales of these policies are decreasing. It is a fact finding study concerned with market performance of these two policies by conducting a survey among the Jeevan Saathi and Jeevan Mitra policy holders, and a thorough analysis of the various information or data collected from them. This study is an attempt to present an integrated picture of the main features of the policy holders who have bought these policies, the major factors responsible for making them purchase these policies, the various difficulties faced by them at present and further modification needed in the plans of these policies according to the opinion of policy holders. For increasing accuracy of the conclusions, information is also collected from Agents and Development Officers by using interview schedule. The main purpose of this study is to draw attention of LIC to introduce new plans of policies taking into consideration the drawbacks or defects of the existing policies and present needs of policy holders. It will also help to make new plans in order to suit the needs of more people who want to buy life insurance policies

Content Based Image Retrieval Using Low Level Features of Automatically Extracted Regions of Interest

This paper proposes a region based image retrieval system using the local colour and texture features of image sub regions. The regions of interest (ROI) are roughly identified by segmenting the image into fixed partitions, finding the edge map and applying morphological dilation. The colour and texture features of the ROIs are computed from the histograms of the quantized HSV colour space and Gray Level co- occurrence matrix (GLCM) respectively. Each ROI of the query image is compared with same number of ROIs of the target image that are arranged in the descending order of white pixel density in the regions, using Euclidean distance measure for similarity computation. Preliminary experimental results show that the proposed method provides better retrieving result than retrieval using some of the existing methods.

A computer-algebraic approach to the study of the symmetry properties of molecules and clusters

This thesis work is dedicated to use the computer-algebraic approach for dealing with the group symmetries and studying the symmetry properties of molecules and clusters. The Maple package Bethe, created to extract and manipulate the group-theoretical data and to simplify some of the symmetry applications, is introduced. First of all the advantages of using Bethe to generate the group theoretical data are demonstrated. In the current version, the data of 72 frequently applied point groups can be used, together with the data for all of the corresponding double groups. The emphasize of this work is placed to the applications of this package in physics of molecules and clusters. Apart from the analysis of the spectral activity of molecules with point-group symmetry, it is demonstrated how Bethe can be used to understand the field splitting in crystals or to construct the corresponding wave functions. Several examples are worked out to display (some of) the present features of the Bethe program. While we cannot show all the details explicitly, these examples certainly demonstrate the great potential in applying computer algebraic techniques to study the symmetry properties of molecules and clusters. A special attention is placed in this thesis work on the flexibility of the Bethe package, which makes it possible to implement another applications of symmetry. This implementation is very reasonable, because some of the most complicated steps of the possible future applications are already realized within the Bethe. For instance, the vibrational coordinates in terms of the internal displacement vectors for the Wilson's method and the same coordinates in terms of cartesian displacement vectors as well as the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for the Jahn-Teller problem are generated in the present version of the program. For the Jahn-Teller problem, moreover, use of the computer-algebraic tool seems to be even inevitable, because this problem demands an analytical access to the adiabatic potential and, therefore, can not be realized by the numerical algorithm. However, the ability of the Bethe package is not exhausted by applications, mentioned in this thesis work. There are various directions in which the Bethe program could be developed in the future. Apart from (i) studying of the magnetic properties of materials and (ii) optical transitions, interest can be pointed out for (iii) the vibronic spectroscopy, and many others. Implementation of these applications into the package can make Bethe a much more powerful tool.

Meaning of the λ parameter of skew–normal and log–skew normal distributions in fluid geochemistry

The literature related to skew–normal distributions has grown rapidly in recent years but at the moment few applications concern the description of natural phenomena with this type of probability models, as well as the interpretation of their parameters. The skew–normal distributions family represents an extension of the normal family to which a parameter (λ) has been added to regulate the skewness. The development of this theoretical field has followed the general tendency in Statistics towards more flexible methods to represent features of the data, as adequately as possible, and to reduce unrealistic assumptions as the normality that underlies most methods of univariate and multivariate analysis. In this paper an investigation on the shape of the frequency distribution of the logratio ln(Cl−/Na+) whose components are related to waters composition for 26 wells, has been performed. Samples have been collected around the active center of Vulcano island (Aeolian archipelago, southern Italy) from 1977 up to now at time intervals of about six months. Data of the logratio have been tentatively modeled by evaluating the performance of the skew–normal model for each well. Values of the λ parameter have been compared by considering temperature and spatial position of the sampling points. Preliminary results indicate that changes in λ values can be related to the nature of environmental processes affecting the data