The operational semantics of user-defined relationships in object oriented database systems

In semantic data models, abstract relationship (e.g. generalization, aggregation, etc.) semantics are defined, specifying how insertion, deletion and modification operations made at a higher level of abstraction can affect the objects abstracted over and vice versa. These semantics, also known as structural constraints, are expressed through so-called update rules. This perspective has been somewhat lost in most object-oriented systems, where user-defined relationships are supported as simple pointers and their semantics are embedded, distributed and replicated within the operations accessing these pointers. This paper inherits and extends the treatment of relationships found in semantic data models to behavioural object-oriented models by presenting an approach to uniformly capture the update rules for user-defined relationships. The stress is not on supporting relationships as first-class objects, but on describing their update rules (or operational semantics) through a set of constructors namely, reaction, anticipation, delegation and exception. The approach has been borne out by an implementation in an active object-oriented database system.     

Correlation between esophageal motility and 24-hour pH recording in patients with gastroesophageal reflux

The relationship between manometric and pH-metric data was studied in a group of 50 patients with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. Using a multiple regression analysis, we found that the total percentage of reflux was significantly correlated to the infradiaphragmatic length and resting pressure of the lower esophageal sphincter and also to the mean amplitude of the contractile waves of the distal esophagus, thus revealing the important role of these factors in the antireflux mechanism. When the patients were divided into groups according to their manometric characteristics and the values of the various pH-metric parameters between these groups compared using a one-way analysis of variance, we found that the amplitude of the contractile waves and the percentage of deglutitions without response were related not only to the total percentage of reflux but also to the number of reflux episodes of greater than 5 min duration and to the duration of the longest episode. This shows that prolonged exposure of the esophageal mucosa to the refluxed material may be due, in part, to an alteration in the capacity for esophageal clearing.     

Mathematical modelling of the alcoholic fermentation of glucose by Zymomonas mobilis mobilis

The kinetics of alcoholic fermentation of a strain of Zymomonas mobilis, isolated from sugarcane juice, has been studied with the objective of determining the constansts of a non-structured mathematical model that represents the fermentation process. Assays in batch and in continuous culture have been carried out with different initial concentrations of glucose. The final concentrations of glucose, ethanol and biomass were determined. The following kinetic parameters were obtained: μ_max, 0·5 h^?1; K_s, 4·64 g dm^?3; P_max, 106 g dm^?3; Y_x/s, 0·0265 g g^?1; m, 1·4 g g^?1 h^?1; α, 17·38 g g^?1; β, 0·69 g g^?1 h^?1.     

1998 William J. Stickel Bronze Award. Antifungal activity of Melaleuca alternifolia (tea-tree) oil against various pathogenic organisms

Tea-tree oil (oil of Melaleuca alternifolia) has recently received much attention as a natural remedy for bacterial and fungal infections of the skin and mucosa. As with most naturally occurring agents, claims of effectiveness have been only anecdotal; however, several published studies have recently demonstrated tea-tree oil's antibacterial activity. This study was conducted to determine the activity of tea-tree oil against 58 clinical isolates: Candida albicans (n = 10), Trichophyton rubrum (n = 8), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (n = 9), Trichophyton tonsurans (n = 10), Aspergillus niger (n = 9), Penicillium species (n = 9), Epidermophyton floccosum (n = 2), and Microsporum gypsum (n = 1). Tea-tree oil showed inhibitory activity against all isolates tested except one strain of E floccosum. These in vitro results suggest that tea-tree oil may be useful in the treatment of yeast and fungal mucosal and skin infections.     

Mapping the elicitor and necrotic sites of Phytophthora elicitins with synthetic peptides and reporter genes controlled by tobacco defense gene promoters

Elicitins are 10-kDa proteins secreted by Phytophthora and Pythium fungi that elicit a hypersensitive-like necrotic reaction, leading to resistance against fungal and bacterial plant pathogens. Induction of necrosis and resistance were previously shown to be borne by different sites of the molecule. Furthermore, sequence comparison indicated several potential residues necessary for necrosis. The role of one of these residues was previously evidenced with site-directed mutagenesis. In order to locate other necrosis-determining sites and reveal the defense-eliciting sites, we synthesized a series of synthetic peptides. Tests were performed on two types of transgenic tobacco plants, both transformed with a construction containing the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene, in one case controlled by the promoter of the multiple stimulus response gene str 246C and in the other by the promoter of the pathogenesis-related gene PR1a. We report that only certain peptides were found to be active. Whereas PR1a induction was consistently correlated with induction of necrosis, four peptides were observed to induce only str 246C expression without necrosis, which led to differentiate the defense-eliciting sites from the necrotic sites. From the structure-function relationship thus obtained, two different defense pathways were inferred to be independently induced by elicitins.     

Quantitative real-time imaging of myocardium based on ultrasonic integrated backscatter

The integrated backscatter calculation over the full, two-dimensional echocardiographic sector is implemented to produce images from closed-chest dogs. This new real-time integrated backscatter measurement system allows a continuous determination of integrated backscatter from all myocardial regions in the ultrasonic view. By replacing the conventional video processor in a commercial two-dimensional echocardiographic imager with this new real-time backscatter measurement system, it is possible to produce real-time two-dimensional images based on integrated backscatter.     

Thermal evaluation of the use of porous ceramic plates on ventilated façades—part II: Thermal behavior

The effects of porous ceramic plates on the thermal behavior of ventilated façades were evaluated, and the results are presented herein. Thermal behavior in a ventilated façade of specimens containing 40 wt% of lime mud and a firing temperature of 1100°C was evaluated and compared with a commercial porcelain ceramic tile, which was the reference material. An experimental apparatus was designed to evaluate the thermal performance of the studied ventilated façades. The results revealed that the ventilated façade composed of the studied porous ceramic tiles produced a greater reduction in temperature between the external environmental and the interior of a box representing a building (ΔT5) of 65.7°C, compared with the façade composed of the commercial porcelain ceramic tiles (ΔT5 = 56.0°C) and even the traditional façade (ΔT5 = 49.1°C). Thus, porous ceramic tiles based on byproducts are promising candidates for ventilated façade systems.     

Effect of Aluminum Content on the Dynamic Recrystallization of Fe18MnxAl0.74C Steels During Hot-Forging Treatments

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - In the present work, the dynamic recrystallization and microstructural evolution of the family of advanced high-strength steels Fe18MnxAl0.74C are...     

GRAPHICAL PROCEDURE FOR REACTIVE DISTILLATION SYSTEMS

In this paper we analyze a ternary reactive distillation system, where an equilibrium chemical reaction occurs in the liquid phase. By using a set of transformed variables proposed by Barbosa el al. (1988b) and well known graphical procedures for non-reactive systems; the minimum reflux ratio, minimum number of equilibrium stages, mass and energy balances for a reactive column and flash can be easily obtained. The procedures developed in this paper are applied to ISOBUTYLENE-METHANOL-MTBE system.

The main objective in developing this model is to obtain, as much as possible, rigorous information for the analysis of one reactive distillation column in a Process Simulator with capability of handling this type of new operation.     

Comparison of a contactor catalytic membrane reactor with a conventional reactor: example of wet air oxidation

A wet air oxidation reaction was carried out in a gas/liquid catalytic membrane reactor of the contactor type. The oxidation of formic acid was used as a model reaction. The mesoporous top-layer of a ceramic tubular membrane was used as catalyst (Pt) support, and was placed at the interface of the gas (air) and liquid (HCOOH solution) phases.

A similar reaction was carried out in a conventional batch reactor, using a steering rate high enough to avoid gas-diffusion limitations, and exactly identical conditions than for the CMR (amount of catalyst, pressure, etc.). At room temperature, the CMR showed an initial activity three to six times higher than the conventional reactor. This activity increase was attributed to an easier oxygen access to the catalytic sites. Nevertheless, the catalytic membrane gradually deactivated after a few hours of operation. Different deactivation mechanisms are presented.