EXTENDING GENSTAT CAPABILITY TO ANALYZE RAINFALL DATA USING MARKOV CHAIN MODEL

Rainfall is of critical importance for many people particularly those whose livelihoods are dependent on rain fed agriculture. Methods of analysis of daily rainfall records based on Markov chain models have been available for many years and their value is widely recognized. However they are rarely used because of the complexity of their analysis. This paper describes how these models are being made more accessible through a series of specially written procedures and menus in GenStat, a widely available statistics package

INFLUENCE OF BOILING TEMPERATURE ON THE PANELS LVL (LAMINATED VENEER LUMBER) QUALITY MADE WITH OAK (CANARIENSIS) ALGERIA WOOD

The panels LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) are less used in construction, which are produced by peeling trunk of trees, undergone baking operation which one determined the quality of plating and LVL panels made by gluing. Our study here consist to vary the boiling temperatures ranging from 40C°, 50 C°, 60 C°, to 70 C° (two panels are drawn for each temperature, and 14 specimens (20 * 20 * 336mm) for each panels) that was secure settings peeling, speed of rotation of the lathe, pressure bar, clearance angle of the knife and the thickness of the veneer, as we fix the amount of glue 400g / cm2, the pressure pressing the panels in order to clearly identify the influence of baking temperature logs of Algerian oak wood quality. Our controls are carried out by non-destructive testing after that the specimens are tested with destructive method under four point bending, according to the perpendicular direction and parallel plating, and we took into consideration the calculation of Young's modulus and stress at break for each series of panels

INCLUSIVE STAKEHOLDERS APPROACH: BASIS FOR ACCEPTABLE AND SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA

The paper highlights some of the several reforms put in place by the present Civilian administration. It tagged the administration, reforms regime. It contends that several of reforms have far reaching implications for the practice of industrial relations in Nigeria. It observes that the authors of the reforms assume away the impacts of these reforms on the various stakeholders in industrial relations in Nigeria. It highlights the dangers that are already rearing their ugly head as far as industrial relations practice is concerned. It proposes an inclusive stakeholders approach as way of promoting an acceptable and sustainable industrial relations environment in the reform regime. It contends that with this approach organizations or business firms have to be fair, accountable, responsible and transparent towards all stakeholders of the organizations or firms. It notes that the institutional landscapes from which the reforms were adopted for implementation in Nigeria differ considerably and this calls for some inbuilt strategy for sustainability of acceptable industrial relations practice

Influence of growth parameters on mountain pine wood properties

International audienceMountain pine (Pinus uncinata Ramon ex DC) is an important forest species in the Pyrenean Mountain, both in France and Spain [1]. In a project dealing with its use as timber [2], physical and mechanical tests were performed on clear wood specimen.Wood properties are determined both by genetics (species and provenance) and by growth adaptation to the tree's environnement through variations in ring width (RW), basic density (BD), microfibril angle (MFA) and chemical composition of the cell wall matrix. The square of sound speed called here specific modulus (SM) is a good proxy for MFA [3] and fibre saturation point (FSP) can be a proxy of chemical composition of the cell wall.Shrinkage parameters: total radial (RS), tangential (TS), volumetric (VS) as well as shrinkage anisotropy (SA=TS/RS) are important physical properties for timber use. Longitudinal modulus of elasticity (MOE), resistance to compression (CS) and deformability (strain limit before damage beginning in compression) are key mechanical properties both for tree mechanics and timber technology.All these properties are known to vary, even in a given species, often up to two or threefold, mostly due to adaptation to growth condition, and this is a drawback for timber use. This presentation will focus on the links between variations of growth parameters and wood properties with the objective to build regression models of properties

Feasibility of wood peeling process assisted by radiant energy

International audienc

Measuring green wood thermal properties to simulate veneer production by ir-heating

International audienc

Feasibility of wood peeling process assisted by radiant energy

International audienc

Azathioprine versus mycophenolate mofetil for long-term immunosuppression in lupus nephritis: results from the MAINTAIN Nephritis Trial

Background: Long-term immunosuppressive treatment does not efficiently prevent relapses of lupus nephritis (LN). This investigator-initiated randomised trial tested whether mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) was superior to azathioprine (AZA) as maintenance treatment. Methods: A total of 105 patients with lupus with proliferative LN were included. All received three daily intravenous pulses of 750 mg methylprednisolone, followed by oral glucocorticoids and six fortnightly cyclophosphamide intravenous pulses of 500 mg. Based on randomisation performed at baseline, AZA (target dose: 2 mg/kg/day) or MMF (target dose: 2 g/day) was given at week 12. Analyses were by intent to treat. Time to renal flare was the primary end point. Mean (SD) follow-up of the intent-to-treat population was 48 (14) months. Results: The baseline clinical, biological and pathological characteristics of patients allocated to AZA or MMF did not differ. Renal flares were observed in 13 (25%) AZA-treated and 10 (19%) MMF-treated patients. Time to renal flare, to severe systemic flare, to benign flare and to renal remission did not statistically differ. Over a 3-year period, 24 h proteinuria, serum creatinine, serum albumin, serum C3, haemoglobin and global disease activity scores improved similarly in both groups. Doubling of serum creatinine occurred in four AZA-treated and three MMF-treated patients. Adverse events did not differ between the groups except for haematological cytopenias, which were statistically more frequent in the AZA group (p=0.03) but led only one patient to drop out. Conclusions: Fewer renal flares were observed in patients receiving MMF but the difference did not reach statistical significance.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A proteinuria cut-off level of 0.7 g /day after 12 months of treatment best predicts long-term renal outcome in lupus nephritis: Data from the MAINTAIN Nephritis Trial

Background: Although an early decrease in proteinuria has been correlated with good long-term renal outcome in lupus nephritis (LN), studies aimed at defining a cut-off proteinuria value are missing, except a recent analysis performed on patients randomised in the Euro-Lupus Nephritis Trial, demonstrating that a target value of 0.8 g/day at month 12 optimised sensitivity and specificity for the prediction of good renal outcome. The objective of the current work is to validate this target in another LN study, namely the MAINTAIN Nephritis Trial (MNT). Methods: Long-term (at least 7 years) renal function data were available for 90 patients randomised in the MNT. Receiver operating characteristic curves were built to test the performance of proteinuria measured within the 1st year as short-term predictor of long-term renal outcome. We calculated the positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV). Results: After 12 months of treatment, achievement of a proteinuria <0.7 g/day best predicted good renal outcome, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 71% and 75%, respectively. The PPV was high (94%) but the NPV low (29%). Addition of the requirement of urine red blood cells 645/hpf as response criteria at month 12 reduced sensitivity from 71% to 41%. Conclusions: In this cohort of mainly Caucasian patients suffering from a first episode of LN in most cases, achievement of a proteinuria <0.7 g/day at month 12 best predicts good outcome at 7 years and inclusion of haematuria in the set of criteria at month 12 undermines the sensitivity of early proteinuria decrease for the prediction of good outcome. The robustness of these conclusions stems from the very similar results obtained in two distinct LN cohorts