Molecular beam studies of fullerenes

A number of molecular beam experiments with the fullerenes are described. Such experiments allow a detailed probing of the interactions between fullerenes and other species and among the fullerenes themselves. Emphasis is placed on work involving photophysics and collisional interactions of the fullerenes.     

Interventions for long-term software security: Creating a lightweight program of assurance techniques for developers

Though some software development teams are highly effective at delivering security, others either do not care or do not have access to security experts to teach them how. Unfortunately, these latter teams are still responsible for the security of the systems they build: systems that are ever more important to ever more people. We propose that a series of lightweight interventions, six hours of facilitated workshops delivered over three months, can improve a team's motivation to consider security and awareness of assurance techniques, changing its security culture even when no security experts are involved. The interventions were developed after an Appreciative Inquiry and Grounded Theory survey of security professionals to find out what approaches work best. We tested the interventions in a participatory action research field study where we delivered the workshops to three software development organizations and evaluated their effectiveness through interviews beforehand, immediately afterwards, and after twelve months. We found that the interventions can be effective with teams with limited or no security experience and that improvement is long-lasting. This approach and the learning points arising from the work here have the potential to be applied in many development teams, improving the security of software worldwide.     

On-machine wire electrical discharge dressing (WEDD) of metal-bonded grinding wheels

Traditional multivariate control charts such as Hotelling’s χ ² and T ² control charts are designed to monitor vectors of variable quality characteristics. However, in certain situations, data are expressed in linguistic terms and, under these circumstances, variable or attribute multivariate control charts are not suitable choices for monitoring purposes. Fuzzy multivariate control charts such as fuzzy Hotelling’s T ² could be considered as efficient tools to overcome the problems of linguistic observations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (F-MEWMA) control chart. In this paper, multivariate statistical quality control and fuzzy set theory are combined to develop the proposed method. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic are powerful mathematical tools for modeling uncertain systems in industry, nature, and humanity. Through a numerical example, the performance of the proposed control chart was compared to the fuzzy Hotelling’s T ² control chart. Results indicate uniformly superior performance of the F-MEWMA control chart over Hotelling’s T ² control chart.     

Studying physiochemical changes in a new pasta product containing beef heart by vibrational spectroscopy

A new pasta product was developed by partially replacing durum wheat flour with beef heart to enhance its nutritional value. Physiochemical changes of the pasta were investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, namely Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Relationships between pasta texture and the intensity of vibrational spectra were established. Lipid-protein complex formation, β-sheet arrangement, degree of polysaccharide polymerization, and cysteine thiol group were related to hardness and chewiness of pasta. The lipid portion and β-sheet structure were two significant parameters for explaining pasta adhesiveness, while pasta firmness might be related to β-sheet alignment and the polysaccharide network. Pasta cohesiveness might involve the α-helical structures and hydrogen bonding formation in the gluten network. However, no variable met the p < 0.1 significance level for inclusion into the model to explain pasta springiness. These results reveal that FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy could be employed to evaluate the physical chemistry of pasta and showed a potential use for quality assessment in pasta products.     

Amoxicillin and its excretion into bronchial secretion (author's transl)

Various dates on amoxicillin (resorption, distribution, elimination, tissue passage, urinary excretion) are presented. The bacterial spectrum is more fully discussed. Amoxicillin is compared with ampicillin. Dosage and therapeutical results are presented. Within repeated bronchoscopic examinations necessary on account of bronchopulmonary affections determination of germs were done in 88 children. At the same time examination of ampicillin levels in bronchial secretions were performed after amoxicillin therapy with different high doses (3 x 125 mg to 3 x 750 mg) for 7 days. It could be shown that good antibiotic levels could be found in secretion specimens above all obtained 2 to 4 hours after the last amoxicillin administration. They could be found too, if there did not exist any purulent secretion or stronger inflammation. There are relations between the amount of dosage, the level in secretion as well as the influence on germs.     

Large-Scale CFD Data Handling in a VR-Based Otorhinolaryngological CAS-System using a Linux-Cluster

Many of the operations to eliminate complaints concerning respiration impairments fail. In order to improve the success rate, it is important to recognize the responsiveness of the flow field within the nasal cavities. Therefore, we are developing a computer assisted surgery (CAS) system that combines computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and virtual reality (VR) technology. However, the primary prerequisite for VR-based applications is real-time interaction. A single graphics workstation is not capable of satisfying this condition and of simultaneously calculating flow features employing the huge CFD data set. In this paper, we will present our approach of a distributed system that relieves the load on the graphics workstation and makes use of an off-the-shelf parallel Linux cluster calculating streamlines. Moreover, we introduce first results and discuss remaining difficulties.     

Simplified gravimetric determination of total fat in food composites after chloroform-methanol extraction

A modification of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) method 983.23 for the quantitative determination of total lipid in food composites was evaluated for the measurement of total fat. The procedure is based on the Bligh and Dyer chloroform/methanol total lipid extraction. Relative to AOAC 983.23, the proposed method is less labor-intensive and is applicable to batch analysis of a larger number of samples, thus reducing the cost of analysis and increasing sample throughput. Total lipid values from the proposed method are comparable to those from AOAC 983.23 and slightly higher than total fat determined by acid hydrolysis (AOAC 954.02, 945.44, or 922.06). Recoveries of standard additions of different food-grade oils from a mixed food composite were essentially quantitative, ranging from 96 to 101%. Total lipid measured in Total Diet Standard Reference Material 1548 (SRM 1548, National Institute of Standards and Technology) was 101% of the certified mean total fat content and within the certified range. The method is to be suitable for analysis of food composites with between 0.15 and 1.5 g total fat (3 to 30% by weight). More than 600 samples of a variety of total diet composites were collected and assayed as diet quality control samples for two National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute-sponsored multicenter clinical feeding trials: DELTA (Dietary Effects on Lipoproteins and Thrombogenic Activity) and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). The mean coefficient of variation was 1.2% for duplicate assays of these samples over the course of two years and multiple analysts. In addition, total lipid values for more than 200 samples of a diet composite quality control material, used in this laboratory over a two-year period, had a 3.99% coefficient of variation. Although the accuracy of all gravimetric total fat methods with respect to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Nutritional Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) definition of total fat as the sum of triglycerides remains to be determined, the reported modification of AOAC 983.23 yields a total fat content of acceptable accuracy relative to other gravimetric methods, and with proper quality control the method has excellent precision.