Search results for "MAC"

When Investment in Basic Skills Gives Negative Returns

2017

In recent years, the Norwegian government has invested heavily in improving basic skills in the adult population. Initiatives have included legislation, the introduction of work-based adult education programs, and reforms in schooling. In light of this investment, we explore trends in adult literacy and numeracy, by comparing data from two international surveys of adult skills, conducted in 2003 and 2012. Paradoxically, the proportion of low-performing adults appears to have increased, most significantly in the 16- to 24-year age group and in the foreign-born population. The profile of the lowest performing group has changed in the intervening years. These findings suggest that adult educa…

A Note on the Mechanics of Ancient Gear Systems

2011

This paper deals with the mechanical behavior of the gearwheels of the antiquity, which were generally characterized by triangular shaping of the teeth. The engagement of the conjugate profiles is analyzed in detail, calculating the temporal variation of the speed ratio due to the back and forth shifting of the relative instant center. The admissibility of the points of the theoretical contact path is carefully checked, estimating also the magnitude of the successive tooth collisions and ascertaining the energy losses arising from the particular nature of the coupling. Some very interesting results are that only one couple of teeth turns out to be active at each time instant and that the re…

Synthesis and biological evaluation of the antioxidant properties of new analogues of natural products with piperidine based structure and evaluation…

A Novel Pathophysiological Mechanism Contributing to Trigeminal Neuralgia

2016

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a form of neuropathic pain that affects the fifth cranial nerve, the most widely distributed nerve in the head. Although TN has been associated with a variety of pathological conditions, neurovascular compression on the trigeminal nerve, as it exits the brain stem, is the most frequent reported cause. This compression provides a progressive demyelination of the nerve and a subsequent aberrant neural transmission. Although several studies have clarified some physiopathological mechanisms underlying TN, the molecular basis remains vague. Very recently the substitution of methionine 136 by valine (MET126Val) in sodium channel Nav1.6 in a case study of typical TN ha…

Benthic foodweb structure in a large shallow lake studied by stable isotope analysis

2014

The benthic foodweb structure of Lake Võrtsjärv, a large (270 km2), shallow, and turbid Estonian lake, was evaluated based on C and N stable-isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N). Variation in δ13C between sampling sites was not related to site proximity to the littoral zone or the more vegetated southern part of the lake, but rather appeared to be influenced by in-situ site peculiarities. δ13C was stable temporally and between functional feeding groups, a result implying that the whole benthic food web of the lake relies largely on the same C source admixture, essentially particulate organic matter (POM). Thus, the foodweb composition of Lake Võrtsjärv is remarkably homogeneous given the lake’s …

Land surface temperature and evapotranspiration estimation in the Amazon evergreen forests using remote sensing data

2019

Amazonian tropical forests play a significant role in global water, carbon and energy cycles. Considering the relevance of this biome and the climate change projections which predict a hotter and drier climate for the region, the monitoring of the vegetation status of these forests becomes of significant importance. In this context, vegetation temperature and evapotranspiration (ET) can be considered as key variables. Vegetation temperature is directly linked with plant physiology. In addition, some studies have shown the existing relationship between this variable and the CO2 absorption capacity and biomass loss of these forests. Evapotranspiration resulting from the combined processes of …

Design, fabrication and evaluation of an online Intelligent machine for trout beheading and gutting

2021

La clasificación y procesado de pescado empleando máquinas automáticas reduce costes e incrementa el volumen de procesado. Después de su llegada a los mercados de distribución mayorista y minorista, el tamaño de los ejemplares suele ser muy variado para la mayoría de las especies (trucha, caballa, dorada, lubina, etc.). Debido a ello, la limpieza y corte de pescado se realiza habitualmente de forma manual. Este proceso involucra diferentes pasos y a menudo se corta en función de la demanda del usuario: sin cabeza, sin vísceras, sin cabeza ni vísceras, fileteado, etc. Combinando diferentes elementos tecnológicos, hoy en día es posible el desarrollo de sistemas automáticos capaces de mejorar …

Dipeptidyl Enoates As Potent Rhodesain Inhibitors That Display a Dual Mode of Action

2015

Dipeptidyl enoates were prepared through a high-yielding two-step synthetic route. They have a dipeptidic structure with a 4-oxoenoate moiety as a warhead with multiple reactive sites. Dipeptidyl enoates were screened against rhodesain and human cathepsins B and L, and were found to be potent and selective inhibitors of rhodesain. Among them (S,E)-ethyl 5-((S)-2-{[(benzyloxy)carbonyl]amino}-3-phenylpropanamido)-7-methyl-4-oxooct-2-enoate (6) was the most potent, with an IC50 value of 16.4 nm and kinact/Ki=1.6×106 m−1 s−1 against rhodesain. These dipeptidyl enoates display a reversible mode of inhibition at very low concentrations and an irreversible mode at higher concentrations. Inhibition…

The Effects of the Value-Added Tax on Revenue and Inequality

2019

This paper examines the impact of the introduction of the value-added tax on inequality and government revenues using newly released macro data. We present both conventional country fixed effect regressions and instrumental variable analyses, where VAT adoption is instrumented using the previous values of neighbouring countries’ VAT systems as an instrument. The results reveal – in contrast to earlier work – that the revenue consequences of the VAT have not been positive. The results indicate that income-based inequality has increased due to the VAT adoption, whereas consumption inequality has remained unaffected. Peer reviewed

Unsupervised network intrusion detection systems for zero-day fast-spreading network attacks and botnets

2015

Today, the occurrence of zero-day and complex attacks in high-speed networks is increasingly common due to the high number vulnerabilities in the cyber world. As a result, intrusions become more sophisticated and fast to detrimental the networks and hosts. Due to these reasons real-time monitoring, processing and intrusion detection are now among the key features of NIDS. Traditional types of intrusion detection systems such as signature base IDS are not able detect intrusions with new and complex strategies. Now days, automatic traffic analysis and anomaly intrusion detection became more efficient in field of network security however they suffer from high number of false alarms. Among all …