Markov and Neural Network Models for Prediction of Structural Deterioration of Stormwater Pipe Assets

Storm-water pipe networks in Australia are designed to convey water from rainfall and surface runoff. They do not transport sewerage. Their structural deterioration is progressive with aging and will eventually cause pipe collapse with consequences of service interruption. Predicting structural condition of pipes provides vital information for asset management to prevent unexpected failures and to extend service life. This study focused on predicting the structural condition of storm-water pipes with two objectives. The first objective is the prediction of structural condition changes of the whole network of storm-water pipes by a Markov model at different times during their service life. This information can be used for planning annual budget and estimating the useful life of pipe assets. The second objective is the prediction of structural condition of any particular pipe by a neural network model. This knowledge is valuable in identifying pipes that are in poor condition for repair actions. A case study with closed circuit television inspection snapshot data was used to demonstrate the applicability of these two models

Caldas e biofertilizantes.

bitstream/item/44156/1/caldas.pd

Disaster Resilience Education and Research Roadmap for Europe 2030 : ANDROID Report

A disaster resilience education and research roadmap for Europe 2030 has been launched. This roadmap represents an important output of the ANDROID disaster resilience network, bringing together existing literature in the field, as well as the results of various analysis and study projects undertaken by project partners.The roadmap sets out five key challenges and opportunities in moving from 2015 to 2030 and aimed at addressing the challenges of the recently announced Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. This roadmap was developed as part of the ANDROID Disaster Resilience Network, led by Professor Richard Haigh of the Global Disaster Resilience Centre (www.hud.ac.uk/gdrc ) at the School of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Huddersfield, UK. The ANDROID consortium of applied, human, social and natural scientists, supported by international organisations and a stakeholder board, worked together to map the field in disaster resilience education, pool their results and findings, develop interdisciplinary explanations, develop capacity, move forward innovative education agendas, discuss methods, and inform policy development. Further information on ANDROID Disaster Resilience network is available at: http://www.disaster-resilience.netAn ANDROID Disaster Resilience Network ReportANDROI

Exploring the interplay between Buddhism and career development : a study of highly skilled women workers in Sri Lanka

This article adopts a socio cultural lens to examine the role of Buddhism in highly skilled women workers’ careers in Sri Lanka. While Buddhism enabled women’s career development by giving them strength to cope with difficult situations in work, it also seemed to restrict their agency and constrain their career advancement. Based on our findings, we argue that being perceived as a good Buddhist woman worked as a powerful form of career capital for the respondents in our sample, who used their faith to combat gender disadvantage in their work settings

Optimizing CIGB-300 intralesional delivery in locally advanced cervical cancer

Background:We conducted a phase 1 trial in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer by injecting 0.5 ml of the CK2-antagonist CIGB-300 in two different sites on tumours to assess tumour uptake, safety, pharmacodynamic activity and identify the recommended dose.Methods:Fourteen patients were treated with intralesional injections containing 35 or 70 mg of CIGB-300 in three alternate cycles of three consecutive days each before standard chemoradiotherapy. Tumour uptake was determined using 99 Tc-radiolabelled peptide. In situ B23/nucleophosmin was determined by immunohistochemistry.Results:Maximum tumour uptake for CIGB-300 70-mg dose was significantly higher than the one observed for 35 mg: 16.1±8.9 vs 31.3±12.9 mg (P=0.01). Both, AUC 24h and biological half-life were also significantly higher using 70 mg of CIGB-300 (P<0.001). Unincorporated CIGB-300 diffused rapidly to blood and was mainly distributed towards kidneys, and marginally in liver, lungs, heart and spleen. There was no DLT and moderate allergic-like reactions were the most common systemic side effect with strong correlation between unincorporated CIGB-300 and histamine levels in blood. CIGB-300, 70 mg, downregulated B23/nucleophosmin (P=0.03) in tumour specimens.Conclusion:Intralesional injections of 70 mg CIGB-300 in two sites (0.5 ml per injection) and this treatment plan are recommended to be evaluated in phase 2 studies.Fil: Sarduy, M. R.. Medical-surgical Research Center; CubaFil: García, I.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Coca, M. A.. Clinical Investigation Center; CubaFil: Perera, A.. Clinical Investigation Center; CubaFil: Torres, L. A.. Clinical Investigation Center; CubaFil: Valenzuela, C. M.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Baladrón, I.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Solares, M.. Hospital Materno Ramón González Coro; CubaFil: Reyes, V.. Center For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology Havana; CubaFil: Hernández, I.. Isotope Center; CubaFil: Perera, Y.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Martínez, Y. M.. Medical-surgical Research Center; CubaFil: Molina, L.. Medical-surgical Research Center; CubaFil: González, Y. M.. Medical-surgical Research Center; CubaFil: Ancízar, J. A.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Prats, A.. Clinical Investigation Center; CubaFil: González, L.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Casacó, C. A.. Clinical Investigation Center; CubaFil: Acevedo, B. E.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: López Saura, P. A.. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; CubaFil: Alonso, Daniel Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Gómez, R.. Elea Laboratories; ArgentinaFil: Perea Rodríguez, S. E.. Center For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology Havana; Cuba. Centro de Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología; Cub

A Review on the Comparative Analysis of Synthetic Insect Repellents and Essential Oil Based Sustained-release Insect Repellent Formulations

The necessity of developing insect repellents with highly effective sustained release properties has attracted more attention due to the vast spread of arthropod-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, which must be controlled with proper measures, and also due to the devastating damage caused by severe infestation of insect pests on crops and stored food. Natural and synthetic insect repellents are used against insect vectors and insect pests. Topical insect repellent formulations should be less toxic, less irritant, and less skin permeable. Irrespective of the type and form of the repellent, the mechanism of action depends on the formation of a vapour barrier/ odour barrier, that would deviate the insect from reaching the host. Synthetic insect repellents are highly efficient but due to their high toxicity, degradation resistance, and bio accumulation, they raise environmental and ecological issues. Due to the adverse effects caused by synthetic insect repellents, more attention is given to insect repellents consisting of natural products.Essential oils are among the widely used natural insect repellents available due to their biocompatibility and non-toxicity. High volatility of essential oils is the major problem that hampers the application of essential oils as insect repellent agents. The high volatility that reduces the length of application, and its activity can be successfully addressed by the formulation of slow-release insect repellent composites by incorporating essential oils into adsorbing or encapsulating matrices. Zeolites, montmorillonite, β-cyclodextrin, polymeric materials, and electrospun nanomaterials are commonly used to develop slow-release formulations with essential oils. Among these, polymeric microcapsules are the most extensively studied and developed slow-release insect repellent systems that are based on natural and synthetic active compounds. Key words: Formulation, Insects, Microcapsules, Repellents, Zeolit

Olax zeylanica: AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE BIO-PESTICIDE FOR THE CONTROLOF THE MAIZE WEEVIL SITOPHILUS ZEAMAIS MOTS. (CURCULIONIDAE)

Leaf powders of Ocimum graticimum, Morinda citrifolia, Aegle marmelos, Annona squamosa, Annonareticulata, Olax zeylanica and Ricinus communis were screened for their insecticidal activity underlaboratory conditions (30±1 ºC and 84 - 86% RH) against Sitophilus zeamais. The powders at the rate of15g/50g of maize grains were tested and adult mortality was recorded after 24 hours. O. zeylanica washighly effective against S. zeamais eliciting 100% mortality. Mortality for other six plants was significantlylower ranging from 5.28 to 21.24%. O. zeylanica was tested at five dose rates (1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0g) andmortality of adult weevils was recorded after 6, 12 and 24 hours. Mortality of weevils increased with theincrease of the dose as well as the exposure time. Also, weevil mortality was 100% at the dose of 10g justafter 12 hours. Results of this study indicated that leaf powder of O. zeylanica was extremely toxic to S.zeamaize weevils. LD50 and LD99 values after 6,12and 24 hours of exposure were 5.84, 2.47, 1.84g and38.55, 8.33 and 6.51g respectively. The present study revealed that Olax zeylanica has high potential as abio-pesticide which can compete effectively with hazardous insecticides in managing S. zeamaisinfestations.Keywords: Olax zeylanica, Sitophilus zeamais, Insecticidal activit

Experience in the application of IEC/TR 61000-3-6 to harmonic allocation in transmission systems

Technical report IEC/TR 61000-3-6 is widely used as a guide to harmonic management in HV and MV networks, assisting in coordination of harmonic levels between utility and customer. In 2001, Australia and New Zealand adopted the harmonic standard AS/NZS 61000.3.6, which closely follows the above IEC technical report. As a result, transmission utilities and connected loads are required by government regulations to abide by the harmonic allocations set by the standard. The technical report contains some useful general principles which can be applied to the harmonic management of power systems. However, unexpected difficulties can be found when attempts are made to apply them to large power systems. The formal procedure recommended by the standard for calculation of harmonic emission levels limits the voltage at the point of connection. There can be situations where the highest harmonic voltages are remote from the PCC. This can be accounted for by taking into account interactions between each injecting load and all other busbars in one single step. This leads to the development of a harmonic allocation constant , which will apply to the entire transmission network, as a measure of the ability of the network to absorb harmonics without violating a set planning limit. At present, the allocation procedure given in the standard implies consideration of only a single network operation scenario. However, substantial variations have been identified in the harmonic behaviour of transmission networks, including harmonic absorption capacity, with changes in generator commitment and switching configuration. The proposed approach accounts for variations by taking data from multiple network scenarios. For the specification of an easily-measurable harmonic current emission level - rather than a harmonic voltage level - for a particular customer, the network harmonic impedance is necessary. This quantity can vary substantially at the one busbar in a transmission network. The application of a standardised hth harmonic impedance is proposed which is based on the fundamental frequency fault level at the PCC. IEC/TR 61000-3-6 gives no guidance as to methods of treating harmonic resonances in transmission systems. Resonances will occur in any transmission system with sufficient line lengths, and will impose substantial constraints on harmonic allocation if computer calculations are accepted without modification. It is unclear if these resonances are of practical importance, and it is proposed that resonance amplifications be limited to allow useful allocations until their importance has been established by field results

The AzTEC mm-Wavelength Camera

AzTEC is a mm-wavelength bolometric camera utilizing 144 silicon nitride micromesh detectors. Herein we describe the AzTEC instrument architecture and its use as an astronomical instrument. We report on several performance metrics measured during a three month observing campaign at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, and conclude with our plans for AzTEC as a facility instrument on the Large Millimeter Telescope.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notice