Search results for "ABILITY"

Enhancing Waste Governance through Dynamic Performance Management. An analysis of the Sicilian Waste System.

A Multi objective inventory model for short food supply chains

2017

Over the past 50 years, vertically integrated multinationals dominated global food markets by providing huge product diversity at low prices. Such systems are characterized by long supply chains capable of achieving high cost efficiencies resulting from the use of cheap raw materials, high chemical inputs, industrial shelf-life extension processes, economies of scale and mechanization. This dominant position on the market, however, has been achieved at a heavy cost on the global environment, generated by massive food wastage, and by a steady supply of fossil fuels. For such reasons, global supply chains are considered unsustainable and new food systems are being promoted in order to replace…

CoSAC, un projet pour la conception de stratégies durables de gestion des adventices dans un contexte de changement (climat, pratiques agricoles, bio…

2016

The CoSAC project associates partners from research and development in order to (1) quantify and understand, with experiments, the effects of novel agricultural practices on weeds and the functioning of the agroecosystem, (2) design tools that predict the effect of agricultural techniques et pedoclimate on weed flora, (3) use these tools to design sustainable weed management strategies and to evaluate their performances in contexts of changing agricultural practices, climate, biodiversity, (4) facilitate the adoption of these novel strategies by farmers. We will present the first results of the project, e.g. the effect on weeds of cover crops during fallow or associated to a cash crop, the …

Role of theN*(1535)resonance and theπ−p→KYamplitudes in the OZI forbiddenπN→ϕNreaction

2008

We study the $\ensuremath{\pi}N\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\phi}N$ reaction close to the $\ensuremath{\phi}N$ threshold within the chiral unitary approach, by combining the ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}},{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{0}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{0}$, and ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{0}\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ amplitudes with the coupling of \ensuremath{\phi} to the $K$ components of the final states of these reactions via quantum loops. We obtain good agreement with experiment when the dominant ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{…

Forecasting correlated time series with exponential smoothing models

2011

Abstract This paper presents the Bayesian analysis of a general multivariate exponential smoothing model that allows us to forecast time series jointly, subject to correlated random disturbances. The general multivariate model, which can be formulated as a seemingly unrelated regression model, includes the previously studied homogeneous multivariate Holt-Winters’ model as a special case when all of the univariate series share a common structure. MCMC simulation techniques are required in order to approach the non-analytically tractable posterior distribution of the model parameters. The predictive distribution is then estimated using Monte Carlo integration. A Bayesian model selection crite…

Becton Dickinson Directigen EZ Flu A+B assay in the diagnosis of pandemic influenza A H1N1 2009 virus infection in adult patients

2011

To the editor: The recent emergence and spread of the pandemic influenza A H1N1 2009 virus demands the evaluation of rapid antigen assays for their ability to detect this novel subtype of influenza A virus. Data on the ability of BD Directigen EZ Flu A+B immunochromatographic (IC) assay (Beckton Dickinson and Company, Sparks, MD, USA) to detect the pandemic influenza A virus strain in fresh clinical samples have been recently published. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 In these studies, the majority of specimens were collected from pediatric patients, and the sensitivities reported ranged from 46·8% to 76·6%. As viral shedding in the upper respiratory tract during influenza virus infection is of greater m…

Physical Cross Links in Amorphous PET, Influence of Cooling Rate and Ageing

2003

A Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) procedure can be used to distinguish the initial “state” of the amorphous PET samples produced upon solidification from the melt at different cooling rates. The material frozen at this stage behaves as a rubber when brought above the Tg due to the onset of physical cross links. The rubber is not a stable network, however, since physical cross links may eventually dissolve. Their size distribution, and possibly their number, depend on cooling rate and ageing. Some may be even stable above the glass transition and act as nuclei for further crystallization from the glass. Upon increasing cooling rate, size distribution becomes smaller and stability of …

A solution study of complex formation between iron(III) and oxalate in dimethylsulphoxide

1991

The complex formation between iron(III) and oxalic acid (ethanedioic acid, H2ox) has been studied by potentiometry in dimethylsulphoxide (dmso) solution. H2ox behaves as a weak diprotic acid in such a solvent, with overall association constants: log βj1=8.551(3) and log βj2=14.242(3) at 25°C and 0.1 Mn-Bu4NClO4. A reliable set of overall stability constants for the iron(III)-oxalato complexes, log β11=13.16(4), log β12=23.66(4) and log β13=30.75(4), have been obtained for the first time under identical conditions. The electrochemical behaviour of such complexes was studied in dmso at a platinum electrode. The coordination ability of oxalate towards iron(III) in dmso and water media is compa…

Hyperfine interaction in the Autler-Townes effect: The formation of bright, dark, and chameleon states

2017

This paper is devoted to clarifying the implications of hyperfine (HF) interaction in the formation of adiabatic (i.e., ``laser-dressed'') states and their expression in the Autler-Townes (AT) spectra. We first use the Morris-Shore model [J. R. Morris and B. W. Shore, Phys. Rev. A 27, 906 (1983)] to illustrate how bright and dark states are formed in a simple reference system where closely spaced energy levels are coupled to a single state with a strong laser field with the respective Rabi frequency ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{S}$. We then expand the simulations to realistic hyperfine level systems in Na atoms for a more general case when non-negligible HF interaction can be treated as…

Elektrophysiologische Untersuchung zum Einsatz von Streptolysin O und Natrium-Hyaluronat zur Permeabilitätsmodulation der Membran des runden Fensters…

2003

Background: The round window membrane (RWM) acts like a barrier for topically applied substances into the middle ear preventing diffusion into the perilymphatic fluid compartment. Material and Method: In an animal model, modulation of the permeability of the RWM was attempted using Streptolysin-O (SLO) in various concentrations and sodium hyaluronate. Thereafter, the effect of intratympanically applied Lidocain 2% on hearing threshold measured by auditory brainstem response was tested for Lidocain 2 % and Lidocain 2 % in combination with SLO or sodium hyaluronate. Results: The results show that both, SLO and sodium hyaluronate, influence the effect of Lidocain 2 % on hearing thresholds as a…