Exposure of several Belgian consumer groups to pesticide residues through fresh fruit and vegetable consumption

The output of a pesticide surveillance program (detection frequency and number of exceeding measures) can lead to unnecessary concern among consumers since they lack information concerning the actual exposure. In this study, the exposure to pesticide residues through fruit and vegetable consumption is evaluated based on the 2008 surveillance data of the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC).Results (deterministic and probabilistic approach) demonstrate that the chronic exposure of the adult population (>15 years) is generally under control, even at high or frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables. For most of the pesticide residues studied, the exposure is one hundred times lower than the ‘acceptable daily intake’ or ADI. With regard to children (2–5 years) who consume regularly or large amounts of fruit and vegetables, there are however, indications that for some pesticides the ADI can be exceeded. Nevertheless, due to the large uncertainty in these calculations, a more detailed study is required for this vulnerable group of consumers. In addition, it was demonstrated that washing and peeling of fruit and vegetables result in an exposure that is probably five to six times lower.     

Une nouvelle architecture de gestion de réseaux DiffServ basée sur la technologie de réseau actif et la gestion à base de règles

The objective of this work is to propose an architectural solution to the very complex problem of DiffServ network management and control. Despite the fact that DiffServ offers a scalable QoS provisioning solution, it introduces a high complexity in term of its deployment due to the number of complex configurations to perform in the highly distributed and heterogeneous network environment. The proposed solution aims to take benefit from the scalability and flexibility properties of Active Network technology for distributing the control in large scale as well as the autonomic property of Policy Based Management to automate the distribution of these tasks in the operator network. This solution constitutes an alternative to the client/server approach generally used.     

Exploring time series retrieved from cardiac implantable devices for optimizing patient follow-up

Current cardiac implantable devices (IDs) are equipped with a set of sensors that can provide useful information to improve patient follow-up and prevent health deterioration in the postoperative period. In this paper, data obtained from an ID with two such sensors (a transthoracic impedance sensor and an accelerometer) are analyzed in order to evaluate their potential application for the follow-up of patients treated with a cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). A methodology combining spatiotemporal fuzzy coding and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) is applied in order to: 1) reduce the dimensionality of the data and provide new synthetic indexes based on the "factorial axes" obtained from MCA; 2) interpret these factorial axes in physiological terms; and 3) analyze the evolution of the patient's status by projecting the acquired data into the plane formed by the first two factorial axes named "factorial plane." In order to classify the different evolution patterns, a new similarity measure is proposed and validated on the simulated datasets, and then, used to cluster observed data from 41 CRT patients. The obtained clusters are compared with the annotations on each patient's medical record. Two areas on the factorial plane are identified, one being correlated with a health degradation of patients and the other with a stable clinical state.     

继电器触点回跳消除电路

半导体技术的进展已使集成电路(IC)能够取代很多机械式继电器,但在任意极性的高电压大电流电路中,继电器仍然占据主导地位.然而,这类继电器的触点回跳会给下游电路带来麻烦.解决触点回跳的一种办法是把继电器与一个热插拔控制器结合起来.     

Solid/Liquid Separation of Pig Manure by Biological Flotation: Pilot-Scale Study

Many problems are associated with pig manure production like high biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents. Manure produces may be used in land spreading for agricultural purposes. Over application of liquid manure or runoff caused by precipitation contribute notably to surface or overland flow of phosphorus. In this study, the LISOX process is proposed for use in medium size farms, namely a 2,000-head swine farm. The LISOX process uses biological passive flotation, without any gas addition, to enable the flocs to rise to the surface. Results show that this technology is able to considerably reduce the solids content in the final effluent to 1.1±0.3% and reached solids content of 17.9±2.6% in the combined solid manure obtained at the end of the LISOX process. Total phosphorus (Pt) concentrations have been reduced from 1,234±428?mg/L to 146±46?mg/L in the final effluent, while a value of Pt of 20.6±7.9?g/kg has been obtained in the final solid fraction of the treated manure. The initial ammonium ion/total phosphorus ratio of 2.3±1.0 has been increased to respectively 16.4±4.6 and 17.6±5.4 after the primary and the secondary flotation, which is clearly much higher than the target value (NH4/Pt>7).     

Understanding web site redesigns in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): a U.K.-based study on the applicability of e-commerce Stage Models

Despite the efforts of governments and the various support programmes, achievement of advanced stages of e-commerce by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is still very low. There have been some attempts to study the dynamic nature of websites, but there is still little research evidence to explain why and how SMEs evolve their web presence. This paper aims to develop a comprehensive classification of drivers for web site redesign based on interviews with various members of staff from SMEs in the U.K. that have recently redesigned their web sites. A sequential mixed-methodological analysis, involving the use of qualitative and quantitative data analysis, was used to develop the classification. This enabled the development of a framework that classified seven main categories of drivers for web site redesign. The drivers identified were: changing business requirements, evolving internet strategies, addressing user needs, maintenance, changing technology, pressure from peers/competitors, and the influence of developers. However, only the first four were found to be significant in the study. The categorisation and the findings suggest a number of key determinants not explicitly addressed by other work. In addition, the findings provide little support for the staged approach to e-commerce progression as few companies reported the implementation of sophisticated internet technology features as a main reason for their web site redesigns. The contributions of this paper are firstly, to provide an instrument to the academic and practitioner communities interested in the topic of web site evolution. Secondly, the categorisation of drivers for redesign and the individual reasons found in this study are expected to provide assistance to SME managers to justify, plan and strategise internet investments realistically and effectively.     

A Note on the Optical Scattering Characteristics of Whole Blood

The effect of the cell membrane on the scattering and absorption of light by a red blood cell is investigated theoretically using spherical models. It is shown that although the backscattering cross section varies considerably with cell membrane refractive index, cell membrane has very little to do with other scattering and absorption characteristics in general.     

Effect of calendering on paper surface micro-structure: A multi-scale analysis

Paper is a complex composite material. Its structure and surface greatly influence its end use properties. Calendering is a finishing process applied to paper to provide a shiny surface and to improve the smoothness. Hence, the control of the efficiency of calendering and the characterization of the final product necessitate the measure of the surface modification. Furthermore the relationship between the surface and the obtained level of gloss has to be further developed. The main purpose of this study is to describe the modification of the micro-structure at various scales of the paper surface due to the calendering process (under various processing conditions). The characterization of the paper surface was carried out thanks to an optical device allowing the topographic measurement to be taken at various scales. The equipment combines topographical imaging with a high definition camera, allowing measurement on the exact same area of the sample after each pass in the nip. We therefore introduce a new way to perform multi-scale analysis of the paper surface modification based on fractal theory.