Study of the antagonistic action of actinomycetes on anthrax bacilli

Capacity for the growth inhibition of the highly virulent causative agent of Siberia plague was studied with respect to actinomycetous strains from soil samples of the Ukraine. It was found that on nutrient media 88.4, 88.9, 88.1 and 93.4% of the isolates inhibited the growth of Bac. anthracis, Bac. cereus, Bac. mycoides and Tsenkovsky vaccine strain respectively. Representatives of very different taxonomic groups were found among the antagonistic actinomycetes. Clearance of the soil from Siberia plague bacilli stable to the outer effect with the help of the active strain L-721 of Act. chromofuscus was observed. The effect was chown in sterilized soil, not sterile soil and soil monolith.     

Purulent infection and sepsis in surgical patients

The problems of pathogenesis, clinic and treatment of general purulent infection and sepsis are discussed. 1045 patients with different purulent diseases were observed by the author. Sepsis was diagnosed in 18 patients, that made 1.7 per cent to a total number of observations. Among these septic patients 8 patients died.     

Distribution of aflatoxins in some samples of peanuts

Naturally occurring G aflatoxins were found at approximately 20 times the level of B aflatoxins in one lot of roasted, blanched peanuts. Official methods, as well as high-pressure liquid chromatography, were used to confirm this finding. Additional routine sample analysis data of raw and roasted peanuts revealed that this finding is not so unusual formerly thought. It was found that 9.8% of the raw peanut samples contained higher levels of G than B aflatoxin; 4.9% containing 2-8 times more G than B aflatoxins. In a smaller sampling of roasted peanuts, 28% of the contaminated peanuts contained more G than B aflatoxins.     

Uncertainty driven service cost estimation for decision support at the bidding stage

Service cost estimation attempts to predict future costs associated to the design and delivery of services that support goods and equipment or the actions of customers. In particular, the bidding stage poses challenges due to the uncertainties that are experienced originating from lack of information and knowledge about service requirements. This research paper presents and analyses the benefits of using the Uncertainty Tool for Assessment and Simulation of Cost (U-TASC). U-TASC offers a methodology to improve service cost estimation during the bidding stage of service contracts through a systematic process to identify, evaluate and integrate uncertainty to cost. A case study is applied with three contracting scenarios within a major multinational aerospace organisation. Lessons learnt from the development and evaluation of the U-TASC methodology are used to discuss applications, generalisation potential, limitations and future research potentials.     

The Prototype Model in Speaker Identification by Human Listeners

Little is known about the perceptual processes of speaker identification and their relationship to the acoustic features of the speaker's voice. A study of speaker perception and identification by psychoacoustic experiments was carried out. Twenty male speakers were recorded and thirty listeners participated in the experiments. Statistical analysis of the results suggests that the prototype model is appropriate for explaining the process of speaker identification. The most important features for speaker identification were the fundamental frequency, the third and fourth formants, and the closing phase of the glottal wave. For different listeners, different sets of features were found to be significant for coding speaker identity.