A two-warehouse inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with interval-valued inventory costs and stock-dependent demand under inflationary conditions

Neural Computing and Applications - This research work develops a two-warehouse inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with interval-valued inventory costs and stock-dependent...     

Queen Volatiles as a Modulator of <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Tetragonisca angustula</Emphasis> Drone Behavior

Tetragonisca angustula mating occurs during the virgin queen nuptial flight, usually in the presence of a drone congregation area (DCA). The presence of virgin queen pheromone is considered the trigger for DCA establishment, although this has not been demonstrated experimentally. We established meliponaries, in different habitats, with T. angustula virgin queens during the main drone reproduction period. Eight DCAs were observed in urban areas, and all established outside or near colonies containing at least one virgin queen. The accumulation of drones in the DCAs occurred from 08:00 to 18:00 h and over 3–35 days. The number of drones in DCAs ranged from 60 to 2,000. In field trials, drones were attracted to virgin queens and also, unexpectedly, to physogastric queens. Volatiles collected from both virgin and physogastric queens elicited strong electoantennogram (EAG) responses from drones. Virgin and physogastric queen volatiles were qualitatively similar, but quantitatively different, in chemical composition. The queen’s abdomen was the principal source of these compounds. Isopropyl hexanoate (IPH), the most abundant compound in virgin queen volatiles and one of the most abundant in physogastric queen volatiles, was identified as one of the compounds that elicited EAG responses and was demonstrated to attract drones in a field test.     

Lectins of Lablab purpureus seeds

A column of chitin was utilized to separate four lectins (hemagglutinating activity) from the seeds of (Lablab purpureus L) Sweet. Two of these activities, which were bound by chitin and were also strongly inhibited by N-aeetyl-D -glucosamine, were differentiated according to their ionic properties: one is a basic (C2-S1) and the other is an acidic (C2-S2) lectin. A third N-acetyl-D -glucosamine binding lectin (Cl-2) is also acidic in nature but showed a lower binding capacity towards this sugar than C2-S2. A fourth lectin (C1-1S2) was strongly inhibited by galactose and has an acidic character. The lectin is formed by subunits of 39000 and 44000 kDa.     

Central international visibility of Brazilian psychiatric publications from 1981 to 1995

In this study, we examine the scientific output of Brazilian psychiatry, based on the databaseof the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), publications in the 10 most important psychiatricjournals, and publications in major Brazilian journals. The number of Brazilian publications (i.e.,those carrying at least one Brazilian address) in psychiatry in the ISI database increased by 168%during the 15-year period under study (1981-1995) . Despite this growth, the relative contributionof publications in psychiatry to the country's publications in medical sciences did not change overthe 15-year period. This fraction, around 2%, remained at less than one-third of the averagecontribution of psychiatry journals to publications in medicine worldwide. The impact inferredfrom number of citations (1981-1992) shows that Brazilian articles in psychiatry were cited lessthan the world average in this field. In the 10 psychiatry journals with the highest impact,Brazilian authors published only 48 articles in the 1981-1995 period, representing only 0.2% ofthe articles in those journals. Like their American and British counterparts, Brazilian psychiatristsalso published primarily in domestic journals: 87.1% of the publications by Brazilians appeared inthe two major Brazilian psychiatric journals, compared with only 12.9% in foreign journals.Among publications in psychiatry in the ISI database, the number of articles co-authored byBrazilians with scientists from other countries increased 12.3 fold from 1981-1985 to 1991-1995,representing at the end 50% of all publications by Brazilian psychiatrists in international journals.Despite all cuts in funding for Brazilian science during the last decades, all of the articles in oursample originated in public universities, and only 10 universities were responsible for 70% of thepublications by Brazilian psychiatrists in our survey period. We conclude that Brazilianpsychiatric research is a subject worthy of particular concern, especially if we take into accountthe country's modest scientific performance and the socio-economic consequences of mentaldisorders in the Brazilian population.     

Chemical investigation of aggregation behavior ofTriatoma bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Nymphs ofTriatoma infestans andTriatoma mazzottii are weakly attracted to their feces and to extracts of feces in polar solvents, but not to nonpolar solvent extracts. The major volatile compounds identified in feces by solvent extraction and thermal desorption wereo-aminoacetophenone, 4-methylquinazoline, and 2,4-dimethylquinazoline, but these showed no attractant activity at a range of concentrations. Choice tests with a moving current of air gave no positive reaction to feces, extracts, or pure compounds.     

Active sound quality control of engine induced cavity noise

Active control solutions appear to be a feasible approach to cope with the steadily increasing requirements for noise reduction in the transportation industry. Active controllers tend to be designed with a target on the sound pressure level reduction. However, the perceived control efficiency for the occupants can be more accurately assessed if psychoacoustic metrics can be taken into account. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate, numerically and experimentally, the effect of a feedback controller on the sound quality of a vehicle mockup excited with engine noise. The proposed simulation scheme is described and experimentally validated. The engine excitation is provided by a sound quality equivalent engine simulator, running on a real-time platform that delivers harmonic excitation in function of the driving condition. The controller performance is evaluated in terms of specific loudness and roughness. It is shown that the use of a quite simple control strategy, such as a velocity feedback, can result in satisfactory loudness reduction with slightly spread roughness, improving the overall perception of the engine sound.