Law,liability and expert systems

This paper examines some of the possible legal implications of the production, marketing and use of expert systems. The relevance of a legally useful definition of expert systems, comprising systems designed for use both by laymen and professionals, is related to the distinctions inherent in the legal doctrine underlying provision of goods and provision of services. The liability of the sellers and users of, and contributors to, expert systems are examined in terms of professional malpractice as well as product liability. A recurring theme indicates that legislators may be inclined to restrict possibilities of liability suits in order to avoid disincentives to the creation of expert systems.     

External heat transfer in infiltrated granular beds. Experimental study

Experimental data was obtained on external heat transfer in infiltrated granular beds of coarse particles. It was determined that calcualtions with the proposed model agree satisfactorily with the experimental results.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 53, No. 6, pp. 919–923, December, 1988.     

Use of a 5-caffeoylquinic Acid/Caffeine Ratio to Monitor the Coffee Roasting Process

The extent of alteration in the chemical composition of coffee beans roasted to develop the flavor and aroma associated with coffee beverage was reliably monitored by observing the decomposition of naturally occurring 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) and ratioing this concentration to that of the relatively heat stable caffeine. An HPLC method was developed by which simultaneous quantification of 5-CQA and caffeine could be used to monitor degree of roast.     

Comment on "Exceptions to Hick's law: Explorations with a response duration measure" (Longstreth, El-Zahhar, & Alcorn, 1985).

Longstreth, El-Zahhar, and Alcorn's (1985) rejection of Hick's law is critically examined and alternative explanations of the available data are considered. An elaboration of Hick's law to include task-dependent search strategies seems able to account for a broader range of data than the Longstreth et al. model. Further study the determinants of such stategies would be useful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of feeding whole cottonseed to lactating dairy cows on glucose and palmitate metabolism

Eight lactating Holstein dairy cows were fed corn silage-based diets with or without whole cottonseed at 18.5% of the dietary dry matter. At 42 days postpartum, a pulse injection of 100 mg glucose/kg body weight was given intravenously and plasma glucose concentration was monitored for 45 min. At 50 d postpartum, biopsies of adipose tissue and mammary tissue were taken and tissue slices were incubated in vitro with either uniform carbon-14 glucose or 1-carbon-14 palmitate. Basal concentration of plasma glucose was not affected by diet, although apparent distribution volume of glucose did seem to decrease due to feeding whole cottonseed. Feeding whole cottonseed decreased uptake of glucose and palmitate in both adipose tissue and mammary tissue and also decreased oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide in both tissues. Palmitate oxidation was not affected by diet. Incorporation of carbon-14 from glucose into adipose tissue lipids was decreased in cows fed whole cottonseed. Results indicate that fat supplementation in the form of whole cottonseed may decrease palmitate incorporation and glucose utilization for glycerol and reducing equivalent synthesis in both adipose tissue and mammary tissue of lactating dairy cows.     

A note on the use of conductimetry in brewery microbiological control

The growth in beer of 15 brewery strains of Lactobacillus was detected using the automatic conductance measuring technique afforded by the Malthus 8 Growth Analyser. 0·15% ammonium chloride was added to the beer as an electrolyte and sodium acetate was used to raise the pH from ca 4·0 to 4·2 or above. No measurable responses were obtained using unmodified beer. The value of the method for development in routine brewery microbiological control is briefly discussed.     

Visualization of the entire surface of a protein by cartographic projection

A minicomputer based system for the determination and schematic representation of protein surfaces is described. The algorithms are based on the atomic coordinates of globular protein molecules of the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank. Using a cartographic projection a normalized graphic representation is obtained of the amino acid residues located on the surface of the considered protein. The programs are written in FORTRAN IV (surface determination) and BASIC (graphic representation).     

Maximization of Good Chips Per Wafer by Optimization of Memory Redundancy

In the optimization of the number of good chips per wafer, yield is obviously one key factor. It plays the major role in the manufacturing phase, as at this time circuit design and chip area cannot be modified. In the design phase, however, chip area as the second factor defining good chips per wafer can still be influenced. If there are no strong relationships between yield and chip area, both can be optimized independently. In some cases, however, there are such strong relationships, and an optimum of yield gain versus area growth has to be found. Maybe the most important example where strong relationships between area and yield have to be considered is the estimation of optimum memory redundancy. In this paper, we will review and discuss relationships between yield and area and present methods for optimization of good chips per wafer, with special focus on the optimization of memory redundancy     

Characterization of an ASIC for CPG sensors with grid-only depth of interaction sensing

A new version of the front-end application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for co-planar-grid (CPG) sensors is presented. Compared to the first version, the ASIC is optimized for signal/noise performance, modified in peaking time, and it implements timing signals to measure the depth of interaction using the grids signals only. Experimental results using state-of the-art CPG sensors and different approaches for reducing the error due to electron trapping are reported. A new technique that makes use of the sum and difference of the grids signals is also presented.