Binding of homologs of certain carcinogenic azo dyes with proteins

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1957 B38Master of Scienc

A decidable policy language for history-based transaction monitoring

Online trading invariably involves dealings between strangers, so it is important for one party to be able to judge objectively the trustworthiness of the other. In such a setting, the decision to trust a user may sensibly be based on that user's past behaviour. We introduce a specification language based on linear temporal logic for expressing a policy for categorising the behaviour patterns of a user depending on its transaction history. We also present an algorithm for checking whether the transaction history obeys the stated policy. To be useful in a real setting, such a language should allow one to express realistic policies which may involve parameter quantification and quantitative or statistical patterns. We introduce several extensions of linear temporal logic to cater for such needs: a restricted form of universal and existential quantification; arbitrary computable functions and relations in the term language; and a "counting" quantifier for counting how many times a formula holds in the past. We then show that model checking a transaction history against a policy, which we call the history-based transaction monitoring problem, is PSPACE-complete in the size of the policy formula and the length of the history. The problem becomes decidable in polynomial time when the policies are fixed. We also consider the problem of transaction monitoring in the case where not all the parameters of actions are observable. We formulate two such "partial observability" monitoring problems, and show their decidability under certain restrictions

Assessment of a newly designed double-barreled bullet-shooting stunner for adequate stunning of water buffaloes

To ensure animal welfare at slaughter, rapid stunning is required to render the animal deeply unconscious. In cattle, captive-bolt stunners are typically used for this purpose. However, with regard to their impact force and maximum length of approximately 120 mm, such captive-bolt stunners are not suitable for stunning water buffaloes due to anatomical characteristics of the skull. In water buffaloes the bone layer is thicker and the distance from the point of attachment of the captive-bolt stunner to the relevant brain region is longer. For this reason, a special bullet-shooting stunner was developed, which is similar in size and handling to a standard captive-bolt stunner, but instead of a bolt, it fires a bullet. Actually, even two bullets can be loaded so that a follow-up shot can be fired immediately if necessary. In this study, the bullet-shooting stunner was tested using two different types of hunting ammunition for stunning water buffaloes during regular slaughter

BigBovid- Evaluation of a Newly Developed 9 mm Bullet-Shooting Stunner for Adequate Stunning of Heavy Cattle

The stunning of heavy cattle and water buffalo is an animal welfare problem, as conventional cartridge fired captive-bolt stunners are not suitable due to the thicker skull bones and the greater depth of penetration required to reach and damage the relevant brain regions for deep unconsciousness. This current animal welfare problem requires a suitable and feasible as well as commercially available and legally approved stunning device to ensure deep unconsciousness of these animals. In this study, the use of a newly developed bullet-shooting stunner, the BigBovid, with two different types of hunting ammunition, namely .38 SPL FMJ-TC and .357 MAG FTX ® bullets, was evaluated on 22 heavy cattle (mean weight: 1062.27 kg, standard deviation: 124.09 kg). In ballistic experiments, the BigBovid reached a mean energy density of 8.18 J/mm2 (mean error: 0.45 J/mm2) for the .38 SPL FMJ-TC and 17.56 J/mm2 (mean error: 2.67 J/mm2) for the .357 MAG FTX ®. In in vivo experiments, the use of the .38 SPL FMJ-TC resulted in overpenetration three times. The .357 MAG FTX ® bullets showed to be more advantageous, because on the one hand no overpenetration occurred and on the other hand the bullets fragmented into small parts after penetration into the skull. The fragments were scattered in the brain tissue, such as the thalamus and the brain stem, and thus there is a high probability to damage the brain regions relevant for deep unconsciousness. Based on the results of this study, the use of the BigBovid in combination with the .357 MAG FTX ® bullet is found to be suitable for stunning heavy cattle. Keywords: animal welfare; concussion; desensitization; heavy bulls; slaughterin

Environmental Economics and Uncertainty: Review and a Machine Learning Outlook

Economic assessment in environmental science concerns the measurement or valuation of environmental impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Integrated assessment modeling is a unifying framework of environmental economics, which attempts to combine key elements of physical, ecological, and socioeconomic systems. Uncertainty characterization in integrated assessment varies by component models: uncertainties associated with mechanistic physical models are often assessed with an ensemble of simulations or Monte Carlo sampling, while uncertainties associated with impact models are evaluated by conjecture or econometric analysis. Manifold sampling is a machine learning technique that constructs a joint probability model of all relevant variables which may be concentrated on a low-dimensional geometric structure. Compared with traditional density estimation methods, manifold sampling is more efficient especially when the data is generated by a few latent variables. The manifold-constrained joint probability model helps answer policy-making questions from prediction, to response, and prevention. Manifold sampling is applied to assess risk of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Oxford University Pres

Dataset for Response of the Invasive Alliaria Petiolata to Extreme Temperatures and Drought

Alliaria petiolata, a strict biennial in North America, can have annual alternating high abundance of rosettes and flowering plants. We monitored changes in abundance of rosettes and flowering plants in permanent plots (2004 to 2014). Three times during our study the alternating yearly cycle was not observed (2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2013-2014). We concluded stochastic Extreme Climate Events (ECEs), deviating from long-term climatic data norms (10th or 90th. percentile), likely caused negative organism responses. Long-term data from a local NOAA station located 25 km from our study site included monthly data (1) total precipitation, (2) number of days with \u3e 0.13 cm precipitation, and (3) mean and minimum temperatures. September 2007 met criteria for ECEs for all monthly variables. We first observed A. petiolata on our study site in 1988 and by the early 1990’s it was abundant. To determine if September 2007 significantly differed from other Septembers (1984-2014) we used six variables related to drought: (1) total precipitation, (2) number of days with precipitation, (3) number of contiguous days without precipitation, (4) mean monthly temperature, (5) mean maximum daily temperature, and (6) the number of days with temperatures \u3e 30 o C. The first two variables likely increase plant stress as they decrease, whereas stress declines as the remaining variables decrease. We used the six variables to generate a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) biplot. Axes 1 and 2 accounted for 74.3% of the variance. Record-breaking minimum temperatures (ECEs) for January (2009) and February-March (2014) likely reduced rosette abundance and disrupted reestablishment of alternating high abundance of rosettes and flowering plants. Our data suggest that a single ECE variable, minimum temperature, and multiple ECE variables related to drought likely had negative effects on A. petiolata

FIRE Spectroscopy of Five Late-type T Dwarfs Discovered with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

We present the discovery of five late-type T dwarfs identified with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Low-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan Folded-port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) reveal strong water and methane absorption in all five sources, and spectral indices and comparison to spectral templates indicate classifications ranging from T5.5 to T8.5:. The spectrum of the latest-type source, WISE J1812+2721, is an excellent match to that of the T8.5 companion brown dwarf Wolf 940B. WISE-based spectrophotometric distance estimates place these T dwarfs at 12-13 pc from the Sun, assuming they are single. Preliminary fits of the spectral data to the atmosphere models of Saumon & Marley indicate effective temperatures ranging from 600 K to 930 K, both cloudy and cloud-free atmospheres, and a broad range of ages and masses. In particular, two sources show evidence of both low surface gravity and cloudy atmospheres, tentatively supporting a trend noted in other young brown dwarfs and exoplanets. In contrast, the high proper motion T dwarf WISE J2018-7423 exhibits a suppressed K-band peak and blue spectrophotometric J-K colors indicative of an old, massive brown dwarf; however, it lacks the broadened Y-band peak seen in metal-poor counterparts. These results illustrate the broad diversity of low-temperature brown dwarfs that will be uncovered with WISE.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication to Ap