Biological evaluation of an infant food based on soybean, rice and banana

An infant food, a mixture of soy, rice and banana was biologically evaluated in three studies carried out in Sprague-Dawley rats. In the first assay, the caloric supplementation and milk protein complementation effect on the nutritive value of the product was studied. Results indicated that an equal nutritive value as that of milk is obtained when 50% of the vegetable protein is replaced by animal protein. The fact that caloric supplementation does not exert any positive effect on the nutritive value of the infant food, under the conditions of the study, was also confirmed. In the second assay, the effect of amino acid (lysine and methionine) supplementation was evaluated. Results revealed a significant improvement of the product quality with lysine supplementation, a finding that implies thermal protein damage caused by industrial processing. In the third study, whole milk supplementation effect at the levels that the product could be offered in school lunch programs and Nutrition and Education Centers was investigated. Such values, as determined, correspond to 343 to 655 ml of fluid milk per 100 g of the cereal product. It was also found that milk complements and improves the nutritive value of the product at equal statistical (P less than 0.05) values as those of milk.     

Path integral study of phase transitions for thermons in macroscopic quantum tunneling

A study of the escape rate for several potentials and thermon periods by means of a path integral approach is presented. The period of the thermons and the escape rate exponent have been characterized for different cases. As the temperature diminishes, the crossing from purely thermal activation to thermally assisted tunneling is characterized by phase transitions, which can be of first or second order. In the quantum regime, first order transitions can be also found. Besides, different periods with adequate behavior for both low and limiting upper temperature shows that escape rate and escape temperature present degeneracies for the same temperature depending on the numbers of maximal points in the thermon periods.     

Stress reactions of children and adolescents in war and siege conditions

OBJECTIVE: This was a study of posttraumatic stress symptoms in children and adolescents during siege conditions in Sarajevo. METHOD: Seven hundred ninety-one students aged 7-15 years were surveyed to assess symptoms of posttraumatic stress and level of deprivation. RESULTS: Girls reported more stress than boys. Loss of family members and deprivation of basic needs were associated with more symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Personal experiences of siege are related to increased stress.     

Intraoral repair of cosmetic restorations

The longevity of porcelain and composite resin restorations can often be prolonged by using sound principles, up-to-date materials, and judicious attention to repair when fracture problems arise. Careful case selection and correct usage of surface treatment agents, followed by the use of a quality bonding system and restorative materials, can result in a repair that exhibits excellent retention and natural color blending. This article outlines procedures and materials to repair both resin composite and porcelain intraorally.     

A tutorial description of an interior point method and itsapplications to security-constrained economic dispatch

The authors deal with the use of successive linear programming (SLP) for the solution of the security-constrained economic dispatch (SCED) problem. They tutorially describe an interior point method (IPM) for the solution of linear programming (LP) problems, discussing important implementation issues that really make this method far superior to the simplex method. A study of the convergence of the SLP technique and a practical criterion to avoid oscillatory behavior in the iteration process are also proposed. A comparison of the proposed method with an efficient simplex code (MINOS) is carried out by solving SCED problems on two standard IEEE systems. The results show that the interior point technique is reliable, accurate, and more than two times as fast as the simplex algorithm     

An Industrial Case Study of Immediate Benefits of Requirements Engineering Process Improvement at the Australian Center for Unisys Software

This paper describes an industrial experience in process improvement at one of the Unisys development labs in Australia. Following a capability maturity model (CMM) mini-assessment, the organization is undertaking significant changes in the requirements management process, which include the introduction of group session approaches to requirements analysis and a structured method for writing requirements. An empirical evaluation which investigated other aspects of the process improvement than the CMM model indicates tangible benefits as well as perceived long-term benefits during design and testing. Findings confirm that a more thorough requirements analysis results in more clearly defined, better understood and specified requirements, and an enhanced ability to address the market needs and product strategy requirements. The catalyst behind these improvements included project management leadership, managing the human dimension, collaboration among stakeholders and senior management support.     

Adhesive composite inlays for the restoration of cracked posterior teeth associated with a tongue bar

While body piercing has become fashionable in contemporary society, numerous health risks are directly related to this trend. Tongue piercing in particular presents several concomitant complications for the attending clinician, including the possibility of soft tissue infection or damage to the natural dentition or existing restorations. Clinicians must be proficient in the selection of the proper materials and techniques utilized to treat affected patients. This article details a comprehensive clinical protocol for the use of adhesive composite inlay restorations for cracked posterior teeth.     

Discrimination of sugarcane varieties in Southeastern Brazil with EO-1 Hyperion data

Hyperspectral data acquired by the Hyperion instrument, on board the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite, were evaluated for the discrimination of five important Brazilian sugarcane varieties (RB72-454, SP80-1816, SP80-1842, SP81-3250, and SP87-365). The radiance values were converted into surface reflectance images by a MODTRAN4-based technique. To discriminate varieties with similar reflectance values, multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) was applied over the data. To obtain an adequate discriminant function, a stepwise method was used to select the best variables among surface reflectance values, ratios of reflectance, and several spectral indices potentially sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content, leaf water, and lignin-cellulose. Results showed that the five Brazilian sugarcane varieties were discriminated using EO-1 Hyperion data. Differences in canopy architecture affected sunlight penetration and reflectance, resulting in a higher reflectance for planophile (e.g., SP81-3250) than erectophile (e.g., SP80-1842) sugarcane plants. The variety SP80-1842 presented lower reflectance values, deeper lignin-cellulose absorption bands at 2103 nm and 2304 nm, shallower leaf liquid water absorption bands at 983 nm and 1205 nm, and lower leaf liquid water content than the other sugarcane varieties. To discriminate this cultivar, a single near-infrared (NIR) band threshold was used. To discriminate the other four sugarcane varieties with similar reflectance values, MDA was used producing a classification accuracy of 87.5% for a hold-out set of pixels. The comparison between the ground truth data and the MDA-derived classification image confirmed the model' capacity to differentiate the varieties accurately. The best results were obtained for the cultivar SP87-365 that presented the lowest spectral variability in the discriminant space. Some misclassified areas were associated with the cultivars SP80-1816 and SP81-3250 that showed the highest spectral variability.