Longevity and Persistence of Triploid Grass Carp Stocked into the Santee Cooper Reservoirs of South Carolina

This study evaluated longevity and population persistence of 768,500 triploid grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella Valenciennes) stocked in the 70,000-ha Santee Cooper system in South Carolina from 1989 through 1996 to control hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle)

A Toy Model of Flying Snake's Glide

We have developed a toy model of flying snake's glide [J.J. Socha, Nature vol. 418 (2002) 603.] by modifying a model for a falling paper. We have found that asymmetric oscillation is a key about why snake can glide. Further investigation for snake's glide will provide us details about how it can glide without a wing.Comment: 6 pages, to be submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Revised Version submitted to the abov

BIOFEEDBACK AS A NEUROBIOMECHANICAL ASPECT OF POSTURAL FUNCTION

The aim of the work is to elucidate if there is a significant difference between the ability to maintain balance with or without the biofeedback while standing and identify specific segments that takes place of motion solutions of postural problems. We measured postural parameters using 6 tri-axial accelerometers placed in 6 places: 2× lower leg, 2× thigh, processus spinosus vertebrae L5 and C7. Probands absolved 3 postural tasks and 3 dynamic tasks. Postural: quiet standing with feet apart with eyes open, quiet standing with feet together with eye closed, quiet standing with feet apart with eyes open and with visual biofeedback. We used system Homebalance - interactive system for providing of balance training with visual biofeedback. Results show no significant difference between C7 and L5 for task without VBF (visual biofeedback) and with VBF, but SD VPG (sum of scatter of the acceleration) for thigh and ankle show significant difference between each task on every level. We detected that in open eyes majority of probands used ankle-strategy for maintaining balance. In eyes closed they preferred knee and hip strategy. The biggest accelerations were detected in C7 in eyes closed. Due to visual biofeedback patients are more motivated and they improve their skills faster than without visual biofeedback exercise. Strategy of maintaining balance during tasks with open eyes and eyes closed is different

The impacts of crystalline structure and different surface functional groups on drug release and the osseointegration process of nanostructured TiO2TiO_2

In implantable materials, surface topography and chemistry are the most important in the effective osseointegration and interaction with drug molecules. Therefore, structural and surface modifications of nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO2) layers are reported in the present work. In particular, the modification of annealed TiO2 samples with —OH groups and silane derivatives, confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, is shown. Moreover, the ibuprofen release process was studied regarding the desorption-desorption-diffusion (DDD) kinetic model. The results proved that the most significant impact on the release profile is annealing, and further surface modifications did not change its kinetics. Additionally, the cell adhesion and proliferation were examined based on the MTS test and immunofluorescent staining. The obtained data showed that the proposed changes in the surface chemistry enhance the samples’ hydrophilicity. Moreover, improvements in the adhesion and proliferation of the MG-63 cells were observed

GENETIC AND PHENOTYPIC PARAMETERS ESTIMATED FROM NEBRASKA SPECI FIC-PATHOGEN-FREE SWINE FIELD RECORDS

Records collected during 1971 through 1979 from 101,606 hogs raised in 18 Nebraska Specific Pathogen Free herds were analyzed. Traits considered were backfat at 100 kg (BF), weight at 140 d of age (WT) and, in some analyses, number of live pigs/litter at birth (NBA). The phenotypic correlation of BF and WT, averaged across herds, was -.07. The correlations between BF and NBA and between WT and NBA were .04 and -.05, respectively. Average phenotypic standard deviations for BF, WT and NBA were 2.6 mm, 8.8 kg and 2.0 pigs. Estimates of the heritability of BF and WT were lower than most estimates reported from university research herds. Within breed, herd and sex estimates of heritability ranged from -.22.and .51 (unweighted Χ̅ = .16 ± .025) for BF and ranged from -.28 to .49 (Χ̅ = .16 ± .016) for WT. Estimates of the genetic correlation between BF and WT were extremely variable (Χ̅ = -.62 ± 14.3, range = -9.42 to 1.30) among breed-herd-sex subclasses

Prediction of qualitative parameters of slab steel ingot using numerical modelling

The paper describes the verification of casting and solidification of heavy slab ingot weighing 40 t from tool steel by means of numerical modelling with use of a finite element method. The pre-processing, processing and post-processing phases of numerical modelling are outlined. Also, the problems with determination of the thermodynamic properties of materials and with determination of the heat transfer between the individual parts of the casting system are discussed. The final porosity, macrosegregation and the risk of cracks were predicted. The results allowed us to use the slab ingot instead of the conventional heavy steel ingot and to improve the ratio, the chamfer and the external shape of the wall of the new design of the slab ingot

Deposition of Thin Electroconductive Layers of Tin (II) Sulfide on the Copper Surface Using the Hydrometallurgical Method: Electrical and Optical Studies

Thin films of tin (II) sulfide (SnS) were deposited onto a 500 µm thick copper substrate by a chemical bath method. The effect of sodium (Na) doping in these films was studied. The synthesis of the films was performed at temperatures of 60, 70, and 80 °C for 5 min. The microstructure of the SnS films analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a compact morphology of the films deposited at 80 °C. The edges of the SnS grains were rounded off with the addition of a commercial surfactant. The thickness of different SnS layers deposited on the copper substrate was found to be 230 nm from spectroscopic ellipsometry and cross-section analysis using SEM. The deposition parameters such as temperature, surfactant addition, and sodium doping time did not affect the thickness of the layers. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the size of the SnS crystallites was found to be around 44 nm. Depending on the process conditions, Na doping affects the size of the crystallites in different ways. A study of the conductivity of SnS films provides a specific conductivity value of 0.3 S. The energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) equipped with the SEM revealed the Sn:S stoichiometry of the film to be 1:1, which was confirmed by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The determined band-gap of SnS is equal to 1.27 eV and is in good agreement with the literature data