Production of membrane histidine kinases and structural studies on Thiosulfate dehydrogenase

This thesis is organized in three chapters. Chapter 1 comprises a brief introduction on the methodology used throughout the work herein presented. Chapter 2 describes the production of membrane histidine kinases from Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile and chapter 3 the structural studies of a thiosulfate dehydrogenase from Campylobacter jejuni. The experimental work was performed in the Membrane Protein Crystallography Laboratory at Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, and also included a visit to SOLEIL synchrotron, Paris, France, to collect X-ray diffraction data

Understanding counterfactuality:A review of experimental evidence for the dual meaning of counterfactuals

Cognitive and linguistic theories of counterfactual language comprehension assume that counterfactuals convey a dual meaning. Subjunctive-counterfactual conditionals (e.g., ‘If Tom had studied hard, he would have passed the test’) express a supposition while implying the factual state of affairs (Tom has not studied hard and failed). The question of how counterfactual dual meaning plays out during language processing is currently gaining interest in psycholinguistics. Whereas numerous studies using offline measures of language processing consistently support counterfactual dual meaning, evidence coming from online studies is less conclusive. Here, we review the available studies that examine online counterfactual language comprehension through behavioural measurement (self-paced reading times, eye-tracking) and neuroimaging (electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging). While we argue that these studies do not offer direct evidence for the online computation of counterfactual dual meaning, they provide valuable information about the way counterfactual meaning unfolds in time and influences successive information processing. Further advances in research on counterfactual comprehension require more specific predictions about how counterfactual dual meaning impacts incremental sentence processing

Застосування моделі європейського фонду управління якістю праці підприємствами України (Application of the model of the european fund managing the quality of labor by ukrainian enterprises)

The essence and the main tasks of a self-assessment of activity of the enterprise as an important component of a cycle of management in a control system of quality (TQM) is opened in article, is investigated the model of perfection of EFQM − the main system of improvement of the enterprise and achievement of competitiveness on internal and the world markets

PERSPEKTYWY WYKORZYSTANIA SYSTEMÓW INTELIGENTNYCH W ZARZĄDZANIU PROCESAMI WZBOGACANIA METODĄ GRAWITACYJNĄ

Intelligent control systems are actively developing and can significantly reduce financial costs and improve the environmental performanceof ore-dressing processes. Usage of intelligent control systems for gravitational enrichment allows to minimize costs and negative influence of ore tailson the environment, exclude losses of concentrate and energy resources in the ore-dressing process. The paper discusses the problems and prospectsfor the application of intelligent control systems of gravity concentration equipment. A structure of the control system and an intelligent modelfor determining the frequency of pulsation jigging machine based on fuzzy logic are proposed. The model is based on data obtained from experts,it is researched. The obtained results allow to judge about the prospects for the implementation of intelligent systems in the management of ore enrichment.Zastosowanie inteligentnych systemów zarządzania wzbogacaniem grawitacyjnym zminimalizuje koszty i negatywny wpływ odpadów przeróbczych na środowisko, wyeliminuje straty koncentratu i zasobów energetycznych w procesie zagęszczania rudy. W artykule omówiono problemyi perspektywy zastosowania inteligentnych systemów sterowania urządzeń do wzbogacania metodą grawitacyjną. Zaproponowano strukturę systemu sterowania i model inteligentny do określania częstotliwości maszyny sedymentacyjnej na bazie logiki rozmytej. Model opiera się na danych otrzymanych od ekspertów. Uzyskane wyniki pozwalają nam ocenić perspektywy wdrożenia inteligentnych systemów w procesach kontroli przerobu rudy

Marking the counterfactual: ERP evidence for pragmatic processing of German subjunctives

Counterfactual conditionals are frequently used in language to express potentially valid reasoning from factually false suppositions. Counterfactuals provide two pieces of information: their literal meaning expresses a suppositional dependency between an antecedent (If the dice had been rigged…) and a consequent (… then the game would have been unfair). Their second, backgrounded meaning refers to the opposite state of affairs and suggests that, in fact, the dice were not rigged and the game was fair. Counterfactual antecedents are particularly intriguing because they set up a counterfactual world which is known to be false, but which is nevertheless kept to when evaluating the conditional's consequent. In the last years several event-related potential (ERP) studies have targeted the processing of counterfactual consequents, yet counterfactual antecedents have remained unstudied. We present an EEG/ERP investigation which employed German conditionals to compare subjunctive mood (which marks counterfactuality) with indicative mood at the critical point of mood disambiguation via auxiliary introduction in the conditional's antecedent. Conditional sentences were presented visually one word at a time. Participants completed an acceptability judgment and probe detection task which was not related to the critical manipulation of linguistic mood. ERPs at the point of mood disambiguation in the antecedent were compared between indicative and subjunctive. Our main finding is a transient negative deflection in frontal regions for subjunctive compared to indicative mood in a time-window of 450–600 ms. We discuss this novel finding in respect to working memory requirements for rule application and increased referential processing demands for the representation of counterfactuals' dual meaning. Our result suggests that the counterfactually implied dual meaning is processed without any delay at the earliest point where counterfactuality is marked by subjunctive mood

GRINDING WHEEL MONITORING SYSTEM

It has been hypothesized that the change in the micro and macro geometry of the grinding wheel can be determined by a non-contact way by supplying jet of air through the nozzle of a pneumatic-electric-contact converter to the surface of the tool during operation. To confirm this hypothesis an experiment was did on a surface grinding machine. Various samples were machined, that led to self-sharpening of the tool. Grinding wheel monitoring system was developed for the experiments. System includes a device that provides the setting of the necessary working gap between the nozzle and the controlled wheel. A justification is proposed for determining the frequency of grinding wheel grinding during operation by accurately accounting for changes in the state of its surface without stopping the machining process