FSOS: a tool for recommending suitable operating systems to computer users

© 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Operating system is essential to operate computers. Normally, computers come with preloaded operating systems. However, often the preloaded operating systems are not able to fulfill all requirements of users. The users sometimes need to change the operating system based on their needs. Although some comparative studies and tools are available on operating systems, there is still a lack of tools that provide independent and objective review and recommendation to help the users understand and select from all major operating systems. This paper propose a tool called FSOS, which analyses well-known operating systems used at domestic, commercial and industrial level and suggest suitable operating systems to the users as per their requirements

A precise measurement of the left-right cross section asymmetry in Z boson production

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1995.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-178).by Amitabh Lath.Ph.D

Development and evaluation of graphene-based adsorbents for remediation of soil contaminants

Contaminated soils contain a mix of different contaminant-types; efficient simultaneous in situ remediation is challenging as a single process may not suffice. Adsorption is a favourable in situ technique. While graphene-based materials (GBMs) have recently been developed as adsorbents for contaminant-removal from water due to their unique functional properties, virtually no studies have investigated their potential in soil. This thesis investigates two prepared GBMs – graphene oxide (GO), and an iron-oxide-modified reduced-GO composite (FeG) – for simultaneous adsorption of 4 model contaminants – arsenate (As; an anionic metalloid), cadmium (Cd; a cationic metal), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS). A ‘mixed’ mineral and carbon-based adsorbent, RemBindTM (RemB) was also tested for comparison. Positively-charged FeG showed a strong affinity for binding anionic As, whereas negatively-charged GO showed a strong affinity for binding cationic Cd. An increase in pH promoted Cd sorption and decreased As sorption. Arsenate sorption by FeG was comparable to that by RemB. GO displayed excellent Cd sorption even in acidic conditions, outperforming RemB. Competition by phosphate did not affect As sorption, whereas competition by Ca strongly suppressed Cd sorption. In the case of FeG and RemB, As binding was attributed to ligand-exchange mechanisms with hydroxyl groups on the mineral phases (goethite and alumina, respectively) of the adsorbents. Electrostatic interactions were identified as the main mechanism for Cd sorption by GO and RemB. A mixture of GO and FeG was successful in simultaneous sorption of Cd and As from co-contaminated solutions; amounts sorbed by this mixture were greater than that sorbed by RemB. Sorption of PFOA by FeG and RemB was much greater than GO. While sorption by GO was hindered at increased pH due to increased repulsion of the PFOA anion, sorption by FeG and RemB were unaffected by variations in pH and ionic strength. In addition to hydrophobic interactions with the carbonaceous phases, the role of combined Fe- and Al-mineral phases in FeG and RemB proved strategic in binding PFOA via multiple mechanisms. From an environmental partitioning perspective, precipitation from rainfall events is unlikely to desorb PFOA bound by FeG and RemB. However, leaching of bound PFOA is likely in the presence of polar organic solvent waste at waste disposal or landfill sites. The ‘mixed’ adsorbents, FeG and RemB, successfully sorbed a range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from a contaminated field sample, demonstrating great potential for use in soil. During experimental work with 14C-PFOA, sorption losses of the analyte onto common laboratory ware were observed. Losses observed on polypropylene tubes were remarkably higher than on glass, contradictory to the published literature. Filtration was also determined to be a major source of error, leading to an underestimation of dissolved concentrations. These losses drew attention towards potential analytical bias related to PFASs during routine procedures. Finally, to test the remediation efficiency of GBMs in situ in a soil matrix, using singly-contaminated soils and a ‘cocktail’-contaminated soil containing As, Cd, PFOA and PFOS, impacts on contaminant bioaccessibility and microbial soil nitrification were measured. FeG and RemB greatly reduced bioaccessibility of As, PFOA and PFOS (but not Cd) by 89 – 100%, compared to GO (36 – 86%). The mixed-mineral and carbonaceous nature of FeG and RemB offered multiple binding pathways – i.e. hydrophobic interactions with the graphitic plane (for PFOA and PFOS), and ligand-exchange with the goethite or alumina phase (for As, PFOA and PFOS), for FeG and RemB, respectively. Despite the widely-demonstrated success of GO for Cd-removal from water, GO did not bind Cd in the soils. In fact, GO increased Cd-bioaccessibility by 2 fold compared to the unremediated control due to lowered pH (3.5) and concurrent release of calcium ions (Ca2+), which competed with Cd2+ for GO’s binding sites. Addition of GBMs severely impaired microbial-driven soil nitrification processes (55 – 99% inhibition) due to soil-acidification. While GBMs (particularly FeG) show great promise for reducing bioaccessibility of contaminant-mixtures, their potential to be used for effective in situ soil remediation requires that the acidity generated by the materials is neutralised. In summary, adsorbents (particularly, FeG and RemB) that provided multiple pathways for binding contaminants showed great potential for use as in situ soil adsorbents for simultaneous remediation of multiple contaminant-types. For GBMs to be applied efficiently in situ, the risk of soil acidification will require management.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, 201

Transport Et Approvisionnement Des Produits Vivriers A Abidjan En Côte d’Ivoire

The population of Abidjan is growing rapidly. This demographic mass creates a food needs. To answer this demand, transport service is essential to reach the production areas. The contribution explains an overview of the transport service in a supply chain of food to Abidjan. The methodology research is based on two facts: the bibliographic research and field surveys. The study shows the meaning of transport which may vary according to the scales and levels of supply. Difficult conditions to access production sites, road traffic harassment and degradation of road infrastructure significant are problems faced by transporters in carrying out their activities

Observation of Target Electron Momentum Effects in Single-Arm M\o ller Polarimetry

In 1992, L.G. Levchuk noted that the asymmetries measured in M\o ller scattering polarimeters could be significantly affected by the intrinsic momenta of the target electrons. This effect is largest in devices with very small acceptance or very high resolution in laboratory scattering angle. We use a high resolution polarimeter in the linac of the polarized SLAC Linear Collider to study this effect. We observe that the inclusion of the effect alters the measured beam polarization by -14% of itself and produces a result that is consistent with measurements from a Compton polarimeter. Additionally, the inclusion of the effect is necessary to correctly simulate the observed shape of the two-body elastic scattering peak.Comment: 29 pages, uuencoded gzip-compressed postscript (351 kb). Uncompressed postscript file (898 kb) available to DECNET users as SLC::USER_DISK_SLC1:[MORRIS]levpre.p

ARQ-197, a small-molecule inhibitor of c-Met, reduces tumour burden and prevents myeloma-induced bone disease in vivo

The receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met, its ligand HGF, and components of the downstream signalling pathway, have all been implicated in the pathogenesis of myeloma, both as modulators of plasma cell proliferation and as agents driving osteoclast differentiation and osteoblast inhibition thus, all these contribute substantially to the bone destruction typically caused by myeloma. Patients with elevated levels of HGF have a poor prognosis, therefore, targeting these entities in such patients may be of substantial benefit. We hypothesized that ARQ-197 (Tivantinib), a small molecule c-Met inhibitor, would reduce myeloma cell growth and prevent myeloma-associated bone disease in a murine model. In vitro we assessed the effects of ARQ-197 on myeloma cell proliferation, cytotoxicity and c-Met protein expression in human myeloma cell lines. In vivo we injected NOD/SCID-γ mice with PBS (non-tumour bearing) or JJN3 cells and treated them with either ARQ-197 or vehicle. In vitro exposure of JJN3, U266 or NCI-H929 cells to ARQ-197 resulted in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation and an induction of cell death by necrosis, probably caused by significantly reduced levels of phosphorylated c-Met. In vivo ARQ-197 treatment of JJN3 tumour-bearing mice resulted in a significant reduction in tumour burden, tumour cell proliferation, bone lesion number, trabecular bone loss and prevented significant decreases in the bone formation rate on the cortico-endosteal bone surface compared to the vehicle group. However, no significant differences on bone parameters were observed in non-tumour mice treated with ARQ-197 compared to vehicle, implying that in tumour-bearing mice the effects of ARQ-197 on bone cells was indirect. In summary, these res ults suggest that ARQ-197 could be a promising therapeutic in myeloma patients, leading to both a reduction in tumour burden and an inhibition of myeloma-induced bone disease

JZL184, a monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor, induces bone loss in a multiple myeloma model of immunocompetent mice

Multiple myeloma (MM) patients develop osteolysis characterised by excessive osteoclastic bone destruction and lack of osteoblast bone formation. Pharmacological manipulation of monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), an enzyme responsible for the degradation of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), reduced skeletal tumour burden and osteolysis associated with osteosarcoma and advanced breast and prostate cancers. MM and hematopoietic, immune and bone marrow cells express high levels of type 2 cannabinoid receptor and osteoblasts secrete 2-AG. However, the effects of MAGL manipulation on MM have not been investigated. Here, we report that treatment of pre-osteoclasts with non-cytotoxic concentrations of JZL184, a verified MAGL inhibitor, enhanced MM- and RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and size in vitro. Exposure of osteoblasts to JZL184 in the presence of MM cell-derived factors reduced osteoblast growth but had no effect on the ability of these cells to mature or form bone nodules. In vivo, administration of JZL184 induced a modest, yet significant, bone loss at both trabecular and cortical compartments of long bones of immunocompetent mice inoculated with the syngeneic 5TGM1-GFP MM cells. Notably, JZL184 failed to inhibit the in vitro growth of a panel of mouse and human MM cell lines, or reduce tumour burden in mice. Thus, MAGL inhibitors such as JZL184 can exacerbate MM-induced bone loss

Utilization of Neutral Zone Technique for Rehabilitation of Atrophic Maxillary and Mandibular Ridges: A Clinical Report

The neutral zone technique is an alternative approach for the construction of the complete dentures. It is most effective for dentures where there is a highly atrophic ridge. The techniqueaims to construct a denture that is shaped by muscle function and is in harmony with the surrounding oral structures. This clinical report describes the fabrication of complete denturesfor a patient with poorly formed both maxillary and mandibular ridges