Assessing risk of reoffending in Romanian prisons

Modern prisons around the world have been using risk assessment tools for more than half a century. These tools have evolved alongside prison systems and are now considered to be an essential part of classification and decision making processes of any modern prison. In Romania, the prison administration has gone through several reforms after the 1989 Revolution, and has been using until recently first generation risk assessment tools for its classification committees. In October 2013, the Romanian prison administration in partnership with GRADO, the Romanian Group for Human Rights Defence, started the process of developing a prison risk assessment tool considered to be of forth generation. The paper presents the validation results of this tool, based on data collected at national level in 2015-2016, and discusses current implementation issues as well as further steps. The two presenters act as experts in this project, which was funded by the Open Society Foundation via GRADO

Materiales activados alcalinamente a base de residuos de vidrio y escoria para aislamiento térmico y acústico

Porous alkali activated materials (AAM), can be obtained from waste glass powder and slag mixtures by alkali activation with NaOH solution. To obtain an adequate porous microstructure, the hardened AAM pastes were thermally treated at temperatures ranging between 900°C and 1000°C, for 60 or 30 minutes. Due to the intumescent behaviour specific for this type of materials, an important increase of the volume and porosity occurs during the thermal treatment. The partial substitution of waste glass powder with slag, determines the increase of compressive strength assessed before (up to 37 MPa) and after (around 10 MPa) thermal treatment; the increase of slag dosage also determines the increase of the activation temperature of the intumescent process (above 950°C). The high porosity and the specific microstructure (closed pores with various shapes and sizes) of these materials recommend them to be utilised as thermal and acoustical insulation materials.Los materiales activados alcalinamente porosos (AAM) se pueden obtener a base de polvo de residuos de vidrio y mezclas de escoria mediante activación alcalina con una solución de hidróxido de sodio (NaOH). Para obtener una microestructura porosa adecuada, las pastas de AAM endurecidas se trataron térmicamente a temperaturas que oscilan entre 900°C y 1000°C durante 60 o 30 minutos. Debido al comportamiento intumescente específico de este tipo de material, se produce un aumento significativo en el volumen y la porosidad durante el tratamiento térmico. La sustitución parcial del polvo de residuos de vidrio por escoria conlleva un aumento en las resistencias a compresión previamente evaluadas (hasta 37 MPa) y después (aproximadamente 10 MPa) del tratamiento térmico; el aumento de la dosis de escoria también determina el aumento de la temperatura de activación del proceso intumescente (por encima de 950°C). La alta porosidad y la microestructura específica de estos materiales recomiendan que se utilicen como materiales de aislamiento térmico y acústico

Influence of sorghum inclusion in fattening steers diets on health and fatty acids profile of Longissimus dorsi muscle

The study was conducted using 21 Romanian Black Spotted fattening steers to determine the effects of sorghum grains on health and fatty acid profile of Longissimus dorsi muscle. The animals were assigned uniformly to 3 groups of 7 steers each, which received different treatments: control (C) received a compound feed without sorghum grains, experimental group (E1) received 15% sorghum grains in the compound feed, while next experimental group (E2) received 25% sorghum grains in the compound feed. To determine the biochemical parameters, blood samples were collected from animals at the end of experimental period. The laboratory analyses conducted on samples of Longissimus dorsi muscle collected from the 3 experimental groups, showed changes in the fatty acid composition. The proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFA) decreased in favour of the unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) with 1.04% in group E2, while the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids increased from 53.00% in the control group to 54.19% in group E2

Progress in hydroxyapatite-starch based sustainable biomaterials for biomedical bone substitution applications

Hydroxyapatite is a calcium phosphate intensively proposed as a bone substitution material because of its resemblance to the constituents of minerals present in natural bone. Since hydroxyapatite’s properties are mainly adequate for nonload bearing applications, different solutions are being tested for improving these properties and upgrading them near the target values of natural bone. On the other hand, starch (a natural and biodegradable polymer) and its blends with other polymers have been proposed as constituents in hydroxyapatite mixtures due to the adhesive, gelling, and swelling abilities of starch particles, useful in preparing well dispersed suspensions and consolidated ceramic bodies. This article presents the perspectives of incorporating starch and starch blends in hydroxyapatite materials. Based on the role of starch within the materials, the review covers its use as (i) a polymeric matrix in hydroxyapatite composites used as adhesives, bone cements, bone waxes, drug delivery devices or scaffolds and (ii) a sacrificial binder for fabrication of porous hydroxyapatite scaffolds. The suitability of these materials for bone reconstruction has becomes a reachable aim considering the recent advancements in ceramic fabrication and the current possibilities of controlling the processing parameters

SDN next generation integrated architecture for HEP and global science

I describe a software-defined global system under development by Caltech and partner network teams in support of the LHC and other major science programs that coordinates workflows among hundreds of multi-petabyte data stores and petascale computing facilities interlinked by 100 Gbps networks, and the Exascale systems needed by the next decade

Cellulose acetate membranes functionalized with resveratrol by covalent immobilization for improved osseointegration

Covalent immobilization of resveratrol onto cellulose acetate polymeric membranes used as coating on a Mg-1Ca-0.2Mn-0.6Zr alloy is presented for potential application in the improvement of osseointegration processes. For this purpose, cellulose acetate membrane is hydrolysed in the presence of potassium hydroxide, followed by covalent immobilization of aminopropyl triethoxy silane. Resveratrol was immobilized onto membranes using glutaraldehyde as linker. The newly synthesised functional membranes were thoroughly characterized for their structural characteristics determination employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Subsequently, in vitro cellular tests were performed for evaluating the cytotoxicity biocompatibility of synthesized materials and also the osseointegration potential of obtained derivatised membrane material. It was demonstrated that both polymeric membranes support viability and proliferation of the pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells, thus providing a good protection against the potential harmful effects of the compounds released from coated alloys. Furthermore, cellulose acetate membrane functionalized with resveratrol exhibits a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity and extracellular matrix mineralization, suggesting its suitability to function as an implant surface coating for guided bone regeneration

Influenţa cultivarului asupra principalilor indici biochimici în seminţele de mazăre

The main biochemical quality indices of seeds for the cultivated plants are influenced by a series of factors, such as: gentic, technological, abiotic or biotic factors. The storage period, the germination capacity and seed vigor are in direct correclation with the seeds’ biochemical indices, which vary depending on the cultivar. The present work presents a study regarding the influence of the cultivar and storage period on the main biochemical indices of the garden pea seeds. The ash content varied in the case of pea seeds between 1.4%for the Skinado cultivar and 2.4% for the Television cultivar. The crude protein varied in the case of the cultivar selection understudy between 20.20% forthe Television cultivar and 27.40% for the Skinado cultivar, and the total lipids varied between 5.10% (Ambrosia cultivar) and 6.50% (Ran 1 round-seedand Kelvedon Wonder cultivars). The reducing sugars varied between quite large limits, from 10.20% in the case of the Television cultivar, up to 18.30% in the case of the Ran 1 wrinkled-seed cultivar

Effect of MWCNT Filler on Properties and Flux of Chitosan/ PEG based Nanocomposites Membranes

Biopolymer are expected to be environmentally compatible and to have great potential application as membranes material. The chitosan-poly (ethylene glycol)/PEG based composite membranes was successfully synthesized via inversed phase method. The effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as nanofiller on properties and performances of composite membranes were intensively evaluated. The membrane was prepared by mixing of chitosan and PEG solutions at the same composition ratio while MWCNT amount in the mixture was varied. The synthesized membrane was characterized by means of FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, and tensile strength measurement. The performance of composite membrane on filtration was evaluated in term of flux (permeability) and rejection (rejection) tests. The results showed that the optimum volume ratio of composite membrane solution was found at 30:10:7.5 for chitosan/ PEG/ MWCNT, respectively, as indicated by the largest flux. Insertion of MWCNT nanofiller notably enhanced hydrophilicity, porosity, and mechanical properties of composites membranes that are confirmed by contact angle, SEM images and elongation forces value, respectively. The MWCNT nanofiller remarkably increased both of flux and rejection of composite membranes up to 60 Lm2h-1 and 96%, respectively. The remarkable enhancement of composite membrane performance is attributed to the effective interaction of MWCNT with polymeric matrix

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SEED SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY BY AERODYNAMIC PROPERTIES

The article is aimed at agricultural entrepreneurs interested in the implementation of organic seed production technologies in their own units with the help of the Seed Cleaning Installation - ICS.In order to store, process or capitalise the agricultural products resulting from the harvesting process, they must undergo a pre-cleaning process that can be done depending on the aerodynamic properties of the seeds

Efectul mulciului şi densităţii asupra producţiei de revent

The aim of the present workhas been to study the influence of technological factors(density and methods of mulching), on the total yield of rhubarb, in the case of Victoria and Glaskin’s perpetual cultivars and the local population “De Moldova”. Applying differential cultivation technology, the rhubarb yield varies according to the mulching system and crop density. The highest total production was obtained at strawmulching and density of 13.330 plants·ha-1.Statistically assured yields were also obtained at the same density but without mulching. The total yield varied within wide limits according to the two technological factors, ranging from26.37t·ha-1to43.72 t·ha-1