The well-being of women who are late deafened.

The main purpose of this study was to examine potential within-group differences in well-being in individuals who experienced postlingual, late deafness between the ages of 13 and 65 years old. Two related issues were also examined: (a) the psychometric qualities of 2 popular measures of well-being when used with this sample and (b) the well-being of individuals who are late deafened compared to normative data on well-being. A sample of 138 women who were late deafened completed an online survey. The results indicated internal consistency and validity (convergent and partial discriminant) of the 2 well-being measures with this sample. Well-being in this sample was significantly lower than that in samples from the general population. Investigation of within-group differences indicated that individuals from lower socioeconomic groups reported lower levels of well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of the EEC four-plate test and Premi test for screening antibiotic residues in trout (Salmo trutta)

The four‐plate test (FPT) method was used for the determination of sulfadiazine/trimethoprim residues in trout in the European Community (EC). This microbiological inhibition test used three media seeded with Bacillus subtilis at different pH values (6, 7.2 or 8.0) and a fourth medium seeded with Micrococcus luteus. The Premi test was also used for the determination of sulfadiazine/trimethoprim residues in trout. The effects of a trout muscle supernatant on detection limits of antibiotics with microbiological inhibition tests were measured. The supernatant was applied directly on top of the paper disks impregnated with aqueous antibiotic solutions. Inhibition zones were compared with those obtained by the same standard solution of sulfadiazine/trimethoprim without the trout supernatant. The detection limit of penicillin, sulfadimidine, streptomycin groups of antibiotics were determined for checking the test plates. For supernatant from fish fed with pellets containing antibiotics (sulfadiazine/trimethoprim), the inhibition zones increased according to the duration of the feed application. In the control group, no inhibition zones were detected. The concentration of the residues accumulated and reached a plateau after 5 days. The antibiotics were detectable in the same concentration as on day 7, but three days later (on day 10) they were no longer detectable in the fish samples. In contrast to the ‘FPT’, 3 days after discontinuing the medicated diet, there were still residues detectable by ‘Premi test’ on day 10. Data is presented that shows that the FPT and the Premi test methods are very useful for the determination of sulfadiazine/trimethoprim residues in trout.     

Relaxations of semiring constraint satisfaction problems

The Semiring Constraint Satisfaction Problem (SCSP) framework is a popular approach for the representation of partial constraint satisfaction problems. In this framework preferences can be associated with tuples of values of the variable domains. Bistarelli et al. [S. Bistarelli, U. Montanari, F. Rossi, Semiring-based constraint solving and optimization, Journal of the ACM 44 (2) (1997) 201-236] defines a maximal solution to a SCSP as the best set of solution tuples for the variables in the problem. Sometimes this maximal solution may not be good enough, and in this case we want to change the constraints so that we solve a problem that is slightly different from the original problem but has an acceptable solution. We propose a relaxation of a SCSP, and use a semiring to give a measure of the difference between the original SCSP and the relaxed SCSP. We introduce a relaxation scheme but do not address the computational aspects.     

Simulation of workpiece forming and centre displacement in plunge centreless grinding

By reducing the set-up time of centreless grinding system, higher process flexibility and productivity can be obtained. This goal is approached by developing a simulation model that assists in efficient centreless grinding system set-up. In this paper, an analytical modelling of plunge centreless grinding is described. The developed model incorporates the workpiece forming mechanism along with workpiece dynamics and facilitates the simulation of workpiece form and its centre displacement. The prototype simulation model has been embedded within a spreadsheet environment and experimentally verified.     

Influence of the chemical composition of 20MoCrS4 and low‐alloyed TRIP steel on the intensity of high temperature corrosion

Material behaviour in a corroding medium varies depending on its properties. These properties are affected by the treatment, alloy elements and last but not least its surface condition. The sensitivity of a material to iron scale formation and decarburisation limits some technological processes, especially those where materials are exposed to a corroding medium at high temperatures for a very long time. A typical example is the heating of semi‐products to forming temperature. Considering that similar materials can react differently under the same heating conditions, it is important to know the characteristic behaviour of a material in certain production processes. A comparison of two kinds of steels during model treatment was carried out in order to be able to determine the influence of different heating parameters. The model treatment consisted of three different heating temperatures at three different time durations. The intensity of the oxidation process was analysed by means of mass increments and the thickness of the oxide layer was detected via metallography. The depth and intensity of the surface layer decarburisation was evaluated from the profile of the microhardness change curve.