VIGRAM : a program understanding and complexity metric analysis tool for Pascal programs

This report describes "VIGRAM" (Visual Programming) which is a program understanding and complexity metric analysis tool for Pascal programs. VIGRAM is implemented on the Macintosh as one part of the "O.S.U." (Qregon Speedcode Universe) project. With VIGRAM, the source code of a Pascal procedure can be displayed as a visual program; program slicing on variables and control & I/O statements is permitted, and Berry-Meekings, Halstead, Weight of Difficulty, McCabe complexity metrics as well as a variety of counts i.e. the number of comment words, number of comment lines in initial block, number of tabs per line, percentage of indentation tabs, number of simple type variables and number of structure type variables are computed, automatically

Optimization of lipid production in the oleaginous bacterium Rhodococcus erythropolis growing on glycerol as the sole carbon source

The growth of an oleaginous bacteria strain Rhodococcus erythropolis on glycerol was studied. Lipid accumulation was influenced by the glycerol concentration, nitrogen source, nitrogen concentration, pH medium, incubation time and aeration rate. Under the best optimized flask culture medium; 30 g/L glycerol plus 0.75 g/L urea, incubation temperature at 30°C, agitation rate of 150 rpm and 96 h of cultivation time, 3.93 g/L of dry biomass, 1.84 g/L cellular lipid accumulation and 45.8% accumulated lipid of total dry biomass were produced. The scaling up of R. erythropolis in bioreactors yielded the biomass and lipid content of 11.74 g/L and 14.1% of total dry biomass, respectively. The lipid composition of oleaginous microorganisms contained a high proportion of C16 and C18 fatty acids. The extracted lipids were mainly 16.48% C14:1, 16.69% C16:1, 20.16% C16:0, 18.90% C18:1. R. erythropolis could be directed to using raw glycerol obtained from biodiesel by-product as substrate, in order to accumulate lipids for biodiesel production.Key words: Rhodococcus eryhropolis, glycerol, lipid accumulation, biodiesel, fatty acid composition

Ultrastructural changes of the digestive tract of Pomacea canaliculata exposed to copper at lethal concentration

The present study was undertaken to elucidate the basis of cellular reactions and to verify the suitability of Pomacea canaliculata digestive tract ultrastructure as a biomarker for assessing the Cu pollution in freshwater environments. Two-month-old P. canaliculata were exposed to 96-h lethal concentration of Cu (0.15 mg L-1) for 96 h. Electron microscope investigations showed different alterations of organelles in the epithelial cells lining the esophagus and intestine. The most striking changes were damages to the mitochondria, RER, and nucleus typified by loss of cristae and degeneration of mitochondria; degranulation and fragmentation of RER. In nucleus, karyolysis and rupture of nuclear envelope were observed. These changes were attributed to membrane destabilization and increased membrane permeability to ions under the influence of toxicants or heavy metals. These findings indicate the possibility of using the P. canaliculata as biomonitor for Cu contamination in the freshwater environment

Effect of fulvic acids on lead-induced oxidative stress to metal sensitive Vicia faba L. plant

Lead (Pb) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant capable to induce various morphological, physiological, and biochemical functions in plants. Only few publications focus on the influence of Pb speciation both on its phytoavailability and phytotoxicity. Therefore, Pb toxicity (in terms of lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide induction, and photosynthetic pigments contents) was studied in Vicia faba plants in relation with Pb uptake and speciation. V. faba seedlings were exposed to Pb supplied as Pb(NO3)2 or complexed by two fulvic acids (FAs), i.e. Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) and Elliott Soil fulvic acid (ESFA), for 1, 12, and 24 h under controlled hydroponic conditions. For both FAs, Pb uptake and translocation by Vicia faba increased at low level (5 mg l−1), whereas decreased at high level of application (25 mg l−1). Despite the increased Pb uptake with FAs at low concentrations, there was no influence on the Pb toxicity to the plants. However, at high concentrations, FAs reduced Pb toxicity by reducing its uptake. These results highlighted the role of the dilution factor for FAs reactivity in relation with structure; SRFA was more effective than ESFA in reducing Pb uptake and alleviating Pb toxicity to V. faba due to comparatively strong binding affinity for the heavy metal

Standardized Interpretation of Chest Radiographs in Cases of Pediatric Pneumonia From the PERCH Study.

BACKGROUND.: Chest radiographs (CXRs) are a valuable diagnostic tool in epidemiologic studies of pneumonia. The World Health Organization (WHO) methodology for the interpretation of pediatric CXRs has not been evaluated beyond its intended application as an endpoint measure for bacterial vaccine trials. METHODS.: The Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study enrolled children aged 1-59 months hospitalized with WHO-defined severe and very severe pneumonia from 7 low- and middle-income countries. An interpretation process categorized each CXR into 1 of 5 conclusions: consolidation, other infiltrate, both consolidation and other infiltrate, normal, or uninterpretable. Two members of a 14-person reading panel, who had undertaken training and standardization in CXR interpretation, interpreted each CXR. Two members of an arbitration panel provided additional independent reviews of CXRs with discordant interpretations at the primary reading, blinded to previous reports. Further discordance was resolved with consensus discussion. RESULTS.: A total of 4172 CXRs were obtained from 4232 cases. Observed agreement for detecting consolidation (with or without other infiltrate) between primary readers was 78% (κ = 0.50) and between arbitrators was 84% (κ = 0.61); agreement for primary readers and arbitrators across 5 conclusion categories was 43.5% (κ = 0.25) and 48.5% (κ = 0.32), respectively. Disagreement was most frequent between conclusions of other infiltrate and normal for both the reading panel and the arbitration panel (32% and 30% of discordant CXRs, respectively). CONCLUSIONS.: Agreement was similar to that of previous evaluations using the WHO methodology for detecting consolidation, but poor for other infiltrates despite attempts at a rigorous standardization process

The Perceptions of Thai Students in Thailand of the Study of English as a Foreign Language

The subject of the study was the perceptions of Thai students, in four different teacher education colleges in Thailand, of the study of English as a foreign language. The study had four purposes: To determine the attitudes of the students toward, and their recommendations for, instruction in the study of English? To determine students' perceptions about the importance of learning English; To determine the relationship between the above attitudes and the students' achievement; To analyze the data and conclusions reached and to make appropriate recommendations based on them