Miniature carbon dioxide sensor

Sensor with no moving parts measures carbon dioxide partial pressures of 0 to 40 mm Hg for total pressures up to 14 psia with a full scale accuracy of 5 percent

Do tax incentives promote development of small medium enterprises that ultimately yield economic growth

A research submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Taxation), Johannesburg, 2017South Africa is young democratic country with just 22 years in democracy underpinned by the South African Constitution Act of 1996. Achievements and strides have been made to address the ills of the past but like any other emerging economy, major challenges remain. These challenges impact on business and the society at large. These challenges include lack of education, high rate of unemployment, high levels of inequality, lack of infrastructure and investment stimulate growth. This has been compounded by the slowdown in the world economy. The culmination of these issues has resulted in slow or very little economic growth. The South African Government remains instrumental in the development of the economy. Much is still required to ensure that there is prosperity for all that live in the country. The Government has come-up with the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 as the economic growth strategy to address these major challenges. There are various programmes and plans set up by the Government to address these challenges. This research discusses some of the initiatives to address these challenges. As mentioned above, one of the critical issues facing South Africa is the lack of infrastructure and investment to boost the South African economy. The focus of this report is on tax incentives to support Small Medium Enterprises and industry at large with a view that development of Small Medium Enterprises will yield economic growth. Reputable institutions such as OECD share a view that development and growth of SMEs is quite critical to the economic growth, SMEs are equally important for South African economic growth. ‘SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) account for 60 to 70 per cent of jobs in most OECD countries, with a particularly large share in Italy and Japan, and a relatively smaller share in the United States. Throughout they also account for a disproportionately large share of new jobs, especially in those countries which have displayed a strong employment record, including the United States and the Netherlands.’ OECD publication, SMALL BUSINESSES, JOB CREATION AND GROWTH: FACTS, OBSTACLES AND BEST PRACTICE. One can argue that with 60 to 70 per cent of jobs for most OECD countries, Small Medium Enterprises are actually the economic drivers for these countries.XL201

What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2650/thumbnail.jp

Dimensional analysis using toric ideals: Primitive invariants

© 2014 Atherton et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Classical dimensional analysis in its original form starts by expressing the units for derived quantities, such as force, in terms of power products of basic units M, L, T etc. This suggests the use of toric ideal theory from algebraic geometry. Within this the Graver basis provides a unique primitive basis in a well-defined sense, which typically has more terms than the standard Buckingham approach. Some textbook examples are revisited and the full set of primitive invariants found. First, a worked example based on convection is introduced to recall the Buckingham method, but using computer algebra to obtain an integer K matrix from the initial integer A matrix holding the exponents for the derived quantities. The K matrix defines the dimensionless variables. But, rather than this integer linear algebra approach it is shown how, by staying with the power product representation, the full set of invariants (dimensionless groups) is obtained directly from the toric ideal defined by A. One candidate for the set of invariants is a simple basis of the toric ideal. This, although larger than the rank of K, is typically not unique. However, the alternative Graver basis is unique and defines a maximal set of invariants, which are primitive in a simple sense. In addition to the running example four examples are taken from: a windmill, convection, electrodynamics and the hydrogen atom. The method reveals some named invariants. A selection of computer algebra packages is used to show the considerable ease with which both a simple basis and a Graver basis can be found.The third author received funding from Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship (1-SST-U445) and United Kingdom EPSRC grant: MUCM EP/D049993/1

Ureterolithiasis after Cohen re-implantation – case report

BACKGROUND: In the past decades, the widespread use of cross-trigonal ureteral reimplants for the treatment of children with vesicoureteral reflux has resulted in a large population of patients with transversely lying ureters. As this population gets older they will consequently be entering an age group at higher risk for stone and urothelial cancer formation. If ureteroscopy becomes necessary, the transverse position of the ureter makes ureteric access often impossible. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a young man who not only suffered from urolithiasis due to hyperparathyroidism, but also further jeopardized his treatment by omitting the fact that as a child he underwent Cohen reimplantation of the right ureter. CONCLUSIONS: This case illustrates the particular difficulties the endoscopist may face in this group of patients. Patients with difficult ureteric access, abnormal anatomy, or those with known cross-trigonal ureteric reimplantations should be managed in a specialised endourology unit

Folate and Vitamin B-12 Status Is Associated With Bone Mineral Density and Hip Strength of Postmenopausal Chinese-Singaporean Women

The role of micronutrients such as folate and vitamin B-12 in bone quality has been widely studied with conflicting results. Ethnicity seems to play a large role on nutrient intake, as diet varies across cultures. In this study, we examined the relationships of BMD, proximal femur strength, and bone resorption with plasma folate and vitamin B-12 in a cohort of 93 healthy postmenopausal women of Chinese-Singaporean descent. The parameters examined were areal (aBMD) and volumetric BMD (vBMD) of the proximal femur and the third lumbar vertebra (L3), total body aBMD, proximal femur bending, compressive and impact strength indices (composite strength indices) and circulating levels of C-telopeptide of type I collagen. Eighteen participants (19.4%) had aBMD in the osteoporotic range (osteoporosis group), 59 (63.4%) in the osteopenic range (osteopenia group), and the remaining 16 (17.2%) in the normal range (normal BMD group). Circulating folate levels were significantly higher in the normal BMD group compared with the osteoporosis group. Using linear regression analysis, we found that overall, aBMD and vBMD are positively associated with folate concentrations, whereas composite strength indices were positively associated with vitamin B-12 concentrations. These findings support the existing literature and suggest a link between levels of circulating folate/vitamin B-12 and BMD/bone strength in the cohort examined. Further investigation is needed to examine if individuals with inadequate circulating levels of these nutrients could decrease their risk for fragility fractures through better nutrition or vitamin supplementation. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Exoplanets and SETI

The discovery of exoplanets has both focused and expanded the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The consideration of Earth as an exoplanet, the knowledge of the orbital parameters of individual exoplanets, and our new understanding of the prevalence of exoplanets throughout the galaxy have all altered the search strategies of communication SETI efforts, by inspiring new "Schelling points" (i.e. optimal search strategies for beacons). Future efforts to characterize individual planets photometrically and spectroscopically, with imaging and via transit, will also allow for searches for a variety of technosignatures on their surfaces, in their atmospheres, and in orbit around them. In the near-term, searches for new planetary systems might even turn up free-floating megastructures.Comment: 9 page invited review. v2 adds some references and v3 has other minor additions and modification