The Time-to-Build Tradition in Business Cycle Modelling

An important frontier of business cycle theorising is the 'time-to-build' tradition that lies at the heart of Real Business Cycle theory. Kydland and Prescott (1982) did not acknowledge the rich tradition of 'time-to-build' business cycle theorising - except in a passing, non-scholarly, non-specific, reference to Böhm-Bawerk's classic on Capital Theory (Böhm-Bawerk [1899]), which did not, in any case, address cycle theoretic issues. The notion of ‘time-to-build’ is intrinsic to any process oriented production theory which is incorporated in a macrodynamic model. We provide an overview of this tradition, focusing on some of the central business cycle classics, and suggest that the Neo-Austrian revival should be placed in this class of dynamic macroeconomics, albeit ‘traverse dynamics’ is itself to be considered as a fluctuating path from one equilibrium to another.

Marine invertebrate tissue culture techniques and its application in pearl production

Tissue culture, in general, is being carried out in various fields of medical and agricultural research. The study has been commenced since long back to understand the cell type, cell behaviour, cell structure, cell multiplication, cell reaction to drugs etc. It has become a vital tool in miCro pathological and immunological studies aiming at finding solutions to certain diseases. Plant tissue culture has reached an advanced stage of achieving an entire plant from a single cell. All these studies are concerned with plants/animals which are related to freshwater species

Transformative Learning versus Informative Learning in Facilitating Mission Studies

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/firstfruitspapers/1036/thumbnail.jp

Automated freeform assembly of threaded fasteners

Over the past two decades, a major part of the manufacturing and assembly market has been driven by its customer requirements. Increasing customer demand for personalised products create the demand for smaller batch sizes, shorter production times, lower costs, and the flexibility to produce families of products - or different parts - with the same sets of equipment. Consequently, manufacturing companies have deployed various automation systems and production strategies to improve their resource efficiency and move towards right-first-time production. However, many of these automated systems, which are involved with robot-based, repeatable assembly automation, require component- specific fixtures for accurate positioning and extensive robot programming, to achieve flexibility in their production. Threaded fastening operations are widely used in assembly. In high-volume production, the fastening processes are commonly automated using jigs, fixtures, and semi-automated tools. This form of automation delivers reliable assembly results at the expense of flexibility and requires component variability to be adequately controlled. On the other hand, in low- volume, high- value manufacturing, fastening processes are typically carried out manually by skilled workers. This research is aimed at addressing the aforementioned issues by developing a freeform automated threaded fastener assembly system that uses 3D visual guidance. The proof-of-concept system developed focuses on picking up fasteners from clutter, identifying a hole feature in an imprecisely positioned target component and carry out torque-controlled fastening. This approach has achieved flexibility and adaptability without the use of dedicated fixtures and robot programming. This research also investigates and evaluates different 3D imaging technology to identify the suitable technology required for fastener assembly in a non-structured industrial environment. The proposed solution utilises the commercially available technologies to enhance the precision and speed of identification of components for assembly processes, thereby improving and validating the possibility of reliably implementing this solution for industrial applications. As a part of this research, a number of novel algorithms are developed to robustly identify assembly components located in a random environment by enhancing the existing methods and technologies within the domain of the fastening processes. A bolt identification algorithm was developed to identify bolts located in a random clutter by enhancing the existing surface-based matching algorithm. A novel hole feature identification algorithm was developed to detect threaded holes and identify its size and location in 3D. The developed bolt and feature identification algorithms are robust and has sub-millimetre accuracy required to perform successful fastener assembly in industrial conditions. In addition, the processing time required for these identification algorithms - to identify and localise bolts and hole features - is less than a second, thereby increasing the speed of fastener assembly

INFLUENCE OF MACROMOLECULAR CROWDING ON WATER AND MODEL REACTION EQUILIBRIA

Macromolecular crowding refers to the excluded volume in the cell by macromolecules (proteins, DNA, etc.). Crowding in the cell is relevant to the free motion of each macromolecule and may influence biological equilibria in general. The surface hydration of the crowding agents is expected to alter the average properties of water in the solution, which in turn may also affect molecular interactions. Because the living cell contains a concentration of 300-400 g/L of macromolecules, it is crucial to study the properties of crowded solutions to understand the environment of a cell. The focus was to study the thermodynamic properties of water in solutions containing model crowding agents such as Ficoll, Dextran, PEG (polyethylene glycol), and PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone). Crowding effects on water were measured by comparing the thermodynamic properties of reactions in dilute solution versus crowded solutions and/or by direct calorimetric methods. The results obtained from the calorimetric method were not consistent with the thermodynamic properties observed in the non-crowded solutions, but the enthalpy and solubility results indicated that crowding has a negligible effect on small molecule interactions. Future studies that adjust the sample preparation and experimental parameters for calorimetry should provide a better indication of the thermodynamic properties of water in the crowded solutions

Optimalna lokacija i parametri za FACT uređaj za kompenzaciju reaktivne snage koristeći algoritam harmonijskog pretraživanja

Reactive Power Compensation (RPC) is an important issue in the operation and control of power system. In this paper, two FACTS controller like Static Var Compensator (SVC) and Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) are considered for RPC. RPC is a multi-objective nonlinear optimization problem that minimizes the bus voltage deviation and real power loss. In this work, Harmony Search Algorithm (HSA) is used to determine the optimal location and setting of SVC and TCSC respectively. The efficacy of HSA is demonstrated on modified IEEE 30 bus power system for two operating conditions. A comparison of simulation results reveals the effectiveness of proposed algorithm over other well established population based optimization technique like Simple Genetic Algorithm (SGA),Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE).Kompenzacija reaktivne snage (RPC) važan je zadatak pri radu i upravljanju energetskim sustavima. U ovome radu razmatra se FACT regulator kao što su statički kompenzator (SVC) i tiristorski serijski kondenzator (TCSC). RPC je više kriterijski nelinearni optimizacijski problem gdje se minimizira odstupanje napona sabirnice i gubitci snage. Korišten je HSA algoritam (engl. Harmony Search Algorithm) za određivanje položaja i parametara SVC i TCSC. Efikasnost sustava demonstrirana je na modificiranom energetskom sustavu IEEE 30 za dva različita uvjeta. Usporedbna simulacijskih rezultata prikazuje efikasnost predloženog algoritma u odnosu na ostale metode kao što su genetski algoritmi (SGA), čestična optimizacija roja (PSO) i diferencijalna evolucija (DE)

An awareness program on dengue fever among adults residing in an urban slum area, Coimbatore

Background: Dengue fever is a mosquito borne disease transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. This disease is known to be worldwide problem, affecting the tropical and sub-tropical regions. One third of the world’s population is at risk of transmission of disease. So, creating awareness is an effective way of preventing Dengue Fever. The objective of the study was to create awareness on Dengue Fever among adults residing in an Urban Slum area in Coimbatore.Methods: The study was conducted among 150 adults residing in an urban slum area in Coimbatore. After informed consent, pre-test questionnaire was administered to assess their awareness on Dengue Fever. Health education programme was conducted and after one month their improvement in the knowledge on dengue fever was recorded using post-test questionnaire.Results: After the awareness program the improvement in knowledge on Dengue Fever among the study participants was assessed and found to have improved significantly (p< 0.001).Conclusions: Health education on Awareness of Dengue Fever among adults aged 20 to 30 years in urban slum at Coimbatore has produced an improvement in knowledge by 48 percent

Surgeon Modified Fenestrated Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Repair (F-EVAR) for Subacute Multifocal Mycotic Abdominal and Iliac Artery Saccular Aneurysms

IntroductionEndovascular repair of suprarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) requires customized fenestrated stent grafts when they involve visceral vessels such as the renal (clinically ignored here in this specific scenario), celiac, and superior mesenteric arteries.ReportOn table fenestrated endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (F-EVAR), using a parallel endograft approach, was performed for enlarging saccular subacute mycotic suprarenal and left common iliac artery aneurysms in a 58 year old man with recent methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteremia, who was high risk for open surgical repair. Fenestrations were performed for the coeliac artery (CA) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) using a Bovie® (Clearwater, FL, USA) cautery device. The initial procedure was complicated by a type II endoleak that resolved spontaneously within 6 months of surgery. The patient remained well on follow up a year post surgery.ConclusionOn table surgeon modified F-EVAR is a safe and viable option for patients with subacute suprarenal mycotic abdominal aneurysms

Effect of Actinobacteria as a single cell protein on growth performance of Xiphophorus helleri

The potential of Marine Actinobacteria particularly Streptomyces as a single cell protein (SCP) feed for the growth of ornamental fish, Xiphophorus helleri has been investigated. The Streptomyces strains used as SCP were isolated from the marine sponges, namely Callyspongia diffusa, Mycale mytilorum, Tedania anhelans and Dysidea fragilis. Six SCP feeds were prepared and their effects were compared with those of control diet. After 30 days of feeding trials, the growth parameters including absolute growth rate, specific growth rate and feed conversion efficiency were found to be significantly (P<0.001) higher in groups that received SCP feed than those of control one, whereas feed conversion ratio was lower. Thus it was found that in addition to being effective antibiotic agents against harmful pathogens, Streptomyces could also promote the growth of fish effectively. Marine Actinobacteria, particularly Streptomyces, could play an important role as a single cell protein (SCP) in aquaculture nutrition and is a promising microbe for the development of marine biotechnology