A Computer Simulation Game of the Locational Decision Process

A method of representing the locational-decision processes of home and workplace for a household as a game has been developed on a microcomputer. A ten-year period is represented, and each year rail fares, house values and incomes rise by a different amount. The player is able to request information on the houses and jobs available, and can then make decisions to meet a pre-defined objective and to avoid bankruptcy and, if desired, to accumulate capital or savings. On some occasions the player is forced to find a new job because of redundancy or a new home because of demolition. Furthermore, each year a proportion of savings is spent on furnishings and house repairs. These events of redundancy and house demolition, as well as the fares, income and house values are all generated by the computer using stochastic functions. The game is being used to increase understanding of the processes at work as the cost of travel increases and to demonstrate the complexities of the decisions. Extension of the methodology into simulation of the transport and location interaction orocess is discussed

A construction scheme for linear and non-linear codes

AbstractA scheme for construcing linear and non-linear codes is presented. It constructs a code of block length 2n from two constituent codes of block length n. Codes so constructed can be either linear or non-linear even when the constituent codes are linear. The construction of many known linear and non-linear codes using this scheme will be shown

Review of food toxicological issues associated in rubber products

Over the centuries, rubber latex gained its popularity in machinery application due to its unique thermal properties, high elasticity and excellent impact resistance. It is widely accepted in food industry as rubber has good resistance to chemicals, including acids, alkalis and salts. For instance, rubber components comprise of couplings, shields, dust covers, gaskets and seals exist as group or standalone component in food manufacturing equipments or machinery. Even though most of the rubber based products in food industry fulfil the requirements of Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, the presence of trace amount of chemicals upon the preceding processing of rubber might accidentally contaminate to the food products. The contamination that happened might caused changes in food quality in term of taste, smell or even visual appearance. Therefore, this paper aims to review some of the manufacturing process of natural rubber products and to understand the possibility of extractable and leachable contaminated food products. An overview of potential toxicological problems will be discussed and the finding will be summarized in this paper

Volumetric modulated arc therapy for stereotactic body radiotherapy: Planning considerations, delivery accuracy and efficiency

Senan, S. [Promotor]Slotman, B.J. [Promotor]Verbakel, W.F.A.R. [Copromotor

A Measurement of the Cosmic Ray Spectrum and Composition at the Knee

The energy spectrum and primary composition of cosmic rays with energy between $3\times 10^{14}$ and 3\times10^{16}\unit{eV} have been studied using the CASA-BLANCA detector. CASA measured the charged particle distribution of air showers, while BLANCA measured the lateral distribution of Cherenkov light. The data are interpreted using the predictions of the CORSIKA air shower simulation coupled with four different hadronic interaction codes. The differential flux of cosmic rays measured by BLANCA exhibits a knee in the range of 2--3 PeV with a width of approximately 0.5 decades in primary energy. The power law indices of the differential flux below and above the knee are $-2.72\pm0.02$ and $-2.95\pm0.02$. We present our data both as a mean depth of shower maximum and as a mean nuclear mass. A multi-component fit using four elemental species shows the same composition trends given by the mean quantities, and also indicates that QGSJET and VENUS are the preferred hadronic interaction models. We find that an initially mixed composition turns lighter between 1 and 3 PeV, and then becomes heavier with increasing energy above 3 PeV.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Systematic Study of Fermion Masses and Mixing Angles in Horizontal SU(2) Gauge Theory

Despite its great success in explaining the basic interactions of nature, the standard model suffers from an inability to explain the observed masses of the fundamental particles and the weak mixing angles between them. We shall survey a set of possible extensions to the standard model, employing an SU(2) ``horizontal'' gauge symmetry between the particle generations, to see what light they can shed on this problem.Comment: 43 pages, 4 figures (available by postal mail on request), OZ-92/0

Highlights from the 2016 North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference

The 30th annual North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC) was held in Orlando, FL, on October 27-29, 2016. Abstracts were published in a supplement to Pediatric Pulmonology. This review summarizes several major topic areas addressed at the conference: the pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, clinical trials, clinical management issues, and quality improvement. We sought to provide an overview of emerging concepts in several areas of CF research and care, rather than a comprehensive review of the conference. Citations from the conference are by first author and abstract number or symposium number, as designated in the supplement

First evidence of concurrent enzootic and endemic transmission of Ross River virus in the absence of marsupial reservoirs in Fiji

BACKGROUND:Ross River virus (RRV) is a zoonotic alphavirus transmitted by several mosquito species. Until recently, endemic transmission was only considered possible in the presence of marsupial reservoirs. METHODS:We investigated RRV seroprevalence in placental mammals, including horses, cows, goats, pigs, dogs, rats, and mice in Fiji, where there are no marsupials. A total of 302 vertebrate serum samples were collected from 86 households from 10 communities in Western Fiji. FINDINGS:Neutralizing antibodies against RRV were detected in 28 to 100% of sera depending on species, and neutralization was strong even at high dilutions. SIGNIFICANCE:Our results are unlikely to be due to cross reactions; Chikungunya is the only other alphavirus known to be present in the Pacific Islands, but it rarely spills over into non-humans, even during epidemics. Our findings, together with recent report of high RRV seroprevalence in humans, strongly suggest that RRV is circulating in Fiji in the absence of marsupial reservoirs. Considering that all non-human vertebrates present in Fiji are panglobal in distribution, RRV has the potential to further expand its geographic range. Further surveillance and access to diagnostics of RRV is critical for the early detection of emergence and outbreaks.Eri Togami, Narayan Gyawali, Oselyne Ong, Mike Kama, Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau ... Philip Weinsteini ... et al