Horticulture in Argentina: a productive alternative with great potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Maria Castagnino

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Horticulture in Argentina is an activity with great potential whose history has mainly been driven by Italian immigrants who arrived during the last two centuries. It is a valuable complement for traditional primary productions on which the country is focused with more than 30 millions of cultivated hectares and different agro-climatic conditions that characterize the different horticultural regions distributed throughout the country. The aim of this article is to give a panorama of the history, reality and perspectives in Argentina of an activity that is an opportunity for producers and entrepreneurs interested in it. Due to its characteristics, horticulture generates and dynamizes employment with great importance for regional economies. The proportion between vegetables and fruit produced and commercialized in Argentina is 63 and 34% respectively. Horticultural products for exportation largely are garlic, onion and beans. Concerning the most commercialized vegetables in Argentina, potato, tomato, onion, squash, lettuce, pepper, marrow and sweet potato stand out, whereas orange, tangerine, apple, banana, lemon, pear, grape and grapefruit may be highlighted among fruit. At present, the main challenge of the Argentinian horticultural sector is given not only by the possibilities of productive diversification and the expansion of the productive area but also of the technological level optimization, the application of quality norms and the agro-industry growth.

Estimating energy conservation potential in China's commercial sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Boqiang; Wang, Ailun

2015-01-01

With low energy intensity and great potential for growth, the commercial sector has become one of the key sectors for energy conservation and emission reduction in the context of China's rapid urbanization process. Based on the EIA (Energy Information Administration) statistical methods, this paper calculates the energy consumption of China's commercial sector from 1981 to 2012, specifies the determinants of commercial energy demand, forecasts future energy consumption and estimates the energy conservation potentials using the Johansen co-integration methodology. The results indicate: (i) GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and urbanization have positive effects on the energy consumption of the commercial sector while labor productivity and energy price contribute to reduction in the sector's energy consumption. (ii) Under the basic scenario, energy consumption of the commercial sector will be 317.34 and 469.84 Mtce (million tons of coal equivalent) in 2015 and 2020 respectively. (iii) Under the moderate and advanced scenario, about 187.00 and 531.45 Mtce respectively of the energy consumption of the commercial sector can be conserved from 2013 to 2020. The findings have important implications for policy-makers to enact energy-saving policies. - Highlights: • Calculation of China's commercial energy consumption and saving potential. • Co-integration model is applied to estimate commercial energy efficiency. • Decomposition of driving forces of energy consumption. • Future policies for commercial energy efficiency are discussed

Great Tits (Parus major) reduce caterpillar damage in commercial apple orchards

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mols, C.M.M.; Visser, M.E.

2007-01-01

Alternative ways to control caterpillar pests and reduce the use of pesticides in apple orchards are in the interest of the environment, farmers and the public. Great tits have already been shown to reduce damage under high caterpillar density when breeding in nest boxes in an experimental apple

Volatile constituents of commercial imported and domestic black-ripe table olives (Olea europaea).

Science.gov (United States)

Sansone-Land, Angelina; Takeoka, Gary R; Shoemaker, Charles F

2014-04-15

Volatile constituents of commercial black-ripe table olives (Olea europaea) from the United States, Spain, Egypt and Morocco were analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Dynamic headspace sampling was used to isolate a variety of aldehydes, alcohols, esters, ketones, phenols, terpenes, norisoprenoids, and pyridines. Odour unit values, calculated from concentration and odour threshold data, indicate that the following compounds are major contributors to black-ripe table olive aroma: β-damascenone, nonanal, (E)-dec-2-enal, 3-methylbutanal, ethyl benzoate, octanal, 2-methoxyphenol, 2-methylbutanal and 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol. Imported olives contained a variety of fermentation derived volatiles that were not detected in domestic olives. Constituents such as ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, 3-methylbutyl acetate, oct-1-en-3-one, ethyl hexanoate, (Z)-hex-3-enyl acetate, hexyl acetate, ethyl cyclohexanecarboxylate, benzyl acetate and 4-ethylphenol contributed to the odour of imported olives but were not detected in domestic olives. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Great Lakes Science Center

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Since 1927, Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) research has provided critical information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important...

Energy and exergy utilization efficiencies in the Japanese residential/commercial sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondo, Kumiko

2009-01-01

Unlike the manufacturing sector, the residential/commercial sectors of Japan struggle to meet their environmental requirements. For instance, their CO 2 emission levels have increased tremendously since 1990. This research estimates energy and 'exergy (available energy)' efficiencies in Japan's residential/commercial sectors during the period 1990-2006. Since an exergy analysis reveals 'available energy losses', it is an effective tool to achieve sustainable societies. The primary objective of this paper is to examine the potential for advancing the 'true' energy efficiency in Japan's residential/commercial sectors-by observing energy and exergy efficiency disparities. The results show large differences between the overall energy and exergy efficiencies in the residential (60.12%, 6.33%)/commercial sectors (51.78%, 5.74%) in 2006. This implies great potential for energy savings in both sectors. Furthermore, this research suggests that the residential sector may face more difficulties than the commercial sector, although the latter appears to be less energy-efficient, according to recent statistics. This is because the disparity between energy and exergy efficiencies has expanded in the residential sector since 2000. This study illustrates the importance of exergy analyses in promoting sustainable energy policies and new adaptation strategies.

DECLINE AND EXTINCTION OF LAKE TROUT IN THE GREAT LAKES: CAN BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS HELP DIAGNOSE CAUSES, IDENTIFY REMEDIAL ACTIONS, AND PREDICT FUTURE CONDITIONS?

Science.gov (United States)

The lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, is the predominant top predator native fish species of the Great Lakes. Lake trout are valued for commercial and recreational use in addition to their ecological importance. In the last half of the 20th century, population declines lead to vi...

Assessing the Efficiency of commercial Tunisian Banks using Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houssine Tlig

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The banking sector is of great importance to Tunisian's economy. Major commercial banks continue to spend high proportion of their budgets on new technologies and innovation in order to satisfy their customers and enhance their competitiveness. Consequently, performance analysis has become part of their management practices.This paper aims to evaluate the efficiency of commercial Tunisian banks in terms of several crisp and imprecise data. Two approaches of fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA, the possibility approach and the approach based on relations between fuzzy numbers (BRONF, are used to obtain the efficiency score of each bank. The results show that, in a competitive environment, no-financial inputs and outputs should be taken into account in order to obtain credible and realistic efficiency scores.

Characterization of Satellite DNA Sequences from the Commercially Important Marine Rotifers Brachionus rotundiformis and Brachionus plicatilis.

Science.gov (United States)

Boehm; Gibson; Lubzens

2000-01-01

This study was initiated to search for species-specific and strain-specific satellite DNA sequences for which oligonucleotide primers could be designed to differentiate between various commercially important strains of the marine monogonont rotifers Brachionus rotundiformis and Brachionus plicatilis. Two unrelated, highly reiterated satellite sequences were cloned and characterized. The eight sequenced monomers from B. rotundiformis and six from B. plicatilis had low intrarepeat variability and were similar in their overall lengths, A + T compositions, and high degrees of repeated motif substructure. However, hybridizations to 19 representative strains, sequence characterizations, and GenBank searches indicated that these two satellites are morphotype-specific and population-specific, respectively, and share little homology to each other or to other characterized sequences in the database. Primer pairs designed for the B. rotundiformis satellite confirmed hybridization specificities on polymerase chain reaction and could serve as a useful molecular diagnostic tool to identify strains belonging to the SS morphotype, which are gaining widespread usage as first feeds for marine fish in commercial production.

Direct evidence of an efficient energy transfer pathway from jellyfish carcasses to a commercially important deep-water species.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Kathy M; Jones, Daniel O B; Sweetman, Andrew K

2017-12-12

Here we provide empirical evidence of the presence of an energetic pathway between jellyfish and a commercially important invertebrate species. Evidence of scavenging on jellyfish carcasses by the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) was captured during two deployments of an underwater camera system to 250-287 m depth in Sognefjorden, western Norway. The camera system was baited with two Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa) carcasses to simulate the transport of jellyfish detritus to the seafloor, hereby known as jelly-falls. N. norveigus rapidly located and consumed a large proportion (>50%) of the bait. We estimate that the energy input from jelly-falls may represent a significant contribution to N. norvegicus energy demand (0.21 to 10.7 times the energy required for the population of N. norvegicus in Sognefjorden). This potentially high energetic contribution from jelly-falls highlights a possible role of gelatinous material in the support of commercial fisheries. Such an energetic pathway between jelly-falls and N. norvegicus could become more important with increases in jellyfish blooms in some regions.

Investment feasibility tracking: the importance of measuring and tracking the success level of the project during commercialization phase

Science.gov (United States)

Saputra, Y. A.; Setyaningtyas, V. E. D.; Latiffianti, E.; Wijaya, S. H.; Ladamay, O. S. A.

2018-04-01

Measuring project success level is a challenging activity. This area of works has attracted many researchers to look deeper into the method of measurement, success factor identification, risk management, and many others relevant topics. However, the project management scope is limited until the project handover stage. After a project handover, the control of a project management changes from Project Management Team to the project owner/commercialization team. From an investor’s point of view, the success of a project delivery needs to be followed by the success of commercialization phase. This paper aims to present an approach on how we track and measure the progress and success level of a project investment in the commercialization phase. This is an interesting topic which probably often being forgotten in many practical case. Our proposed concept modify Freeman and Beale concept by estimating the variance between the Planned Net Present Value / Annual Worth (as it is in the Feasibility Study Document) and the Actual Net Present Value / Annual Worth (until the point time of evaluation). The gap will lead us to the next analysis and give us some important information, especially exposing whether our project investment performs better than the planning or underperformed. Some corrective actions can be suggested based on the provided information. Practical cases to exercise the concept is also provided and discussed; one case in a property sector in the middle of commercialization phase, and another case in a Power Plant investment approaching the end of commercialization phase.

Commercial Banking Industry Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bright Horizons Children's Centers, Cambridge, MA.

Work and family programs are becoming increasingly important in the commercial banking industry. The objective of this survey was to collect information and prepare a commercial banking industry profile on work and family programs. Fifty-nine top American commercial banks from the Fortune 500 list were invited to participate. Twenty-two…

Judicial Reform and Commercial Justice : The Experience of Tanzania's Commercial Court

OpenAIRE

Finnegan, David Louis

2004-01-01

Policymakers in developing and transition economies recognize the important role played by judiciaries in creating an institutional environment conducive to robust private sector activity. In the case of Tanzania, the government, with the support of local business groups, international investors, and the donor community, created a specialized court dedicated to considering and resolving commercial and financial cases. The Commercial Division of the High Court of Tanzania (the "Commercial Cour...

Effects of storage on microbial loads of two commercially important shellfish species, Crassostrea virginica and Mercenaria campechiensis.

OpenAIRE

Hood, M A; Ness, G E; Rodrick, G E; Blake, N J

1983-01-01

The effects of storage on the microbial load in two commercially important species of shellfish were examined. Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were stored as shellstock, shucked meats, and fully processed meats at four temperatures for up to 21 days, and clams (Mercenaria campechiensis) were stored only as shellstock. The concentrations of most microbiological groups of organisms increased with the duration and temperature of storage in both shellfish species, although the increases were sign...

Beneficial use of dredged materials in Great Lakes commercial ports for transportation projects.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-01

This report describes an effort to facilitate beneficial use of dredged materials (DM) from Great Lakes ports and harbors as an alternative construction : material in transportation-related earthwork applications. The overall objective is to link tog...

The Price-Anderson Act: A Linchpin in the Development of Commercial Nuclear Power in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quattrocchi, J. L.

2006-01-01

The dawn of the atomic age brought with it both the hope of great benefit and the fear of great disaster. By the mid-1950's, the United States recognized that it was in the national interest to promote commercial development of nuclear energy in medicine and industry, particularly in the generation of electric power. The uncertainties of the technology and the potential for severe accidents were clear obstacles to commercial development. Exposure to potentially serious uninsured liabilities inhibited the private sector. These impediments led Congress to enact the Price-Anderson Act in 1957. Its three-fold purpose was to encourage private development of nuclear power, establish a framework for handling liability claims and provide a ready source of funds to compensate accident victims. The law was originally enacted for ten years but has now been extended four times. The major provisions of the Act and its importance to the public and to insurers are described in this paper.(author)

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: the Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander; Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: The Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander and Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

The importance of coastal altimetry retracking and detiding: A case study around the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Idris, Nurul H.; Deng, Xiaoli; Andersen, Ole Baltazar

2014-01-01

, fuzzy-retracked SLAs become available within 5 km of the coast; meanwhile it becomes more important to use pointwise tide modelling rather than state-of-the-art global tidal models, as the latter leave residual ocean tide signals in retracked SLAs. These improvements are demonstrated for Jason-2...... waveforms in the area of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Comparing the retrieved SLAs with in situ tide gauge data from Townsville and Bundaberg stations showed that the SLAs from this study generally outperform those from conventional methods, demonstrating that adequate waveform retracking and detiding...

Photovoltaic electricity generation: Value for residential and commercial sectors

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharjee, Ujjwal

The photovoltaic (PV) industry in the US has seen an upsurge in recent years, and PV holds great promise as a renewable technology with no greenhouse gas emissions with its use. We aim to assess the value of PV based electricity for users in the residential and commercial sectors focusing on the financial impacts it has, which may not be greatly recognized. Specifically, we pursue two goals. First, the emerging 'renewable portfolio standard (RPS)' adopted in several states in the country has been a driving force for large scale PV deployment, but financial incentives offered to PV in different RPS states differ considerably. We use life cycle cost model to estimate the cost of PV based electricity for thirty-two RPS states in the country. Results indicate that the levelized cost of PV electricity is high (40 to 60 Cents/kWh). When the contribution of the financial incentives (along with the cost of energy saved) is taken into account, the cost of PV based electricity is negative in some RPS states such as California, New Jersey, New York, while for most of the RPS states the cost of PV electricity continues to remain high. In addition, the states with negative or low cost of PV electricity have been driving the PV diffusion in the residential sector. Therefore, a need to adjust the financial incentive structure in different RPS states is recommended for homogenous development of the residential PV market in the country. Second, we assess the value of the PV in reducing the highest peak load demand in commercial buildings and hence the high value demand charge. The Time-of-Use (TOU) based electricity tariff is widely used by electric utilities in the commercial sector. Energy and peak load are two important facets of the TOU tariff regime. Tools are well established to estimate the energy contribution from a PV system (installed in a commercial building), but not power output on a short time interval. A joint conditional probability model has been developed that

Long-Term Variability of Satellite Lake Surface Water Temperatures in the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Gierach, M. M.; Matsumoto, K.; Holt, B.; McKinney, P. J.; Tokos, K.

2014-12-01

The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth that approximately 37 million people depend upon for fresh drinking water, food, flood and drought mitigation, and natural resources that support industry, jobs, shipping and tourism. Recent reports have stated (e.g., the National Climate Assessment) that climate change can impact and exacerbate a range of risks to the Great Lakes, including changes in the range and distribution of certain fish species, increased invasive species and harmful algal blooms, declining beach health, and lengthened commercial navigation season. In this study, we will examine the impact of climate change on the Laurentian Great Lakes through investigation of long-term lake surface water temperatures (LSWT). We will use the ATSR Reprocessing for Climate: Lake Surface Water Temperature & Ice Cover (ARC-Lake) product over the period 1995-2012 to investigate individual and interlake variability. Specifically, we will quantify the seasonal amplitude of LSWTs, the first and last appearances of the 4°C isotherm (i.e., an important identifier of the seasonal evolution of the lakes denoting winter and summer stratification), and interpret these quantities in the context of global interannual climate variability such as ENSO.

Fundamentals and commercial aspects of nanobiosensors in point-of-care clinical diagnostics.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahato, Kuldeep; Maurya, Pawan Kumar; Chandra, Pranjal

2018-03-01

Among various problems faced by mankind, health-related concerns are prevailing since long which are commonly found in the form of infectious diseases and different metabolic disorders. The clinical cure and management of such abnormalities are greatly dependent on the availability of their diagnoses. The conventional diagnostics used for such purposes are extremely powerful; however, most of these are limited by time-consuming protocols and require higher volume of test sample, etc. A new evolving technology called "biosensor" in this context shows an enormous potential for an alternative diagnostic device, which constantly compliments the conventional diagnoses. In this review, we have summarized different kinds of biosensors and their fundamental understanding with various state-of-the-art examples. A critical examination of different types of biosensing mechanisms is also reported highlighting the advantages of electrochemical biosensors for its great potentials in next-generation commercially viable modules. In recent years, a number of nanomaterials are extensively used to enhance not only the performance of biosensing mechanism, but also obtain robust, cheap, and fabrication-friendly durable mechanism. Herein, we have summarized the importance of nanomaterials in biosensing mechanism, their syntheses as well as characterization techniques. Subsequently, we have discussed the probe fabrication processes along with various techniques for assessing its analytical performances and potentials for commercial viability.

Great Lakes Literacy Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Fortner, Rosanne W.; Manzo, Lyndsey

2011-03-01

Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie together form North America's Great Lakes, a region that contains 20% of the world's fresh surface water and is home to roughly one quarter of the U.S. population (Figure 1). Supporting a $4 billion sport fishing industry, plus $16 billion annually in boating, 1.5 million U.S. jobs, and $62 billion in annual wages directly, the Great Lakes form the backbone of a regional economy that is vital to the United States as a whole (see http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/economy/11-708-Great-Lakes-Jobs.pdf). Yet the grandeur and importance of this freshwater resource are little understood, not only by people in the rest of the country but also by many in the region itself. To help address this lack of knowledge, the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, developed literacy principles for the Great Lakes to serve as a guide for education of students and the public. These “Great Lakes Literacy Principles” represent an understanding of the Great Lakes' influences on society and society's influences on the Great Lakes.

The most important parameters of life quality of the Great Patriotic War veterans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanov A.A.

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the study was to estimate current state of quality of life of Great Patriotic War veterans. Materials and methods. The study included 368 veterans of the Great Patriotic War according to Federal State "Concerning veterans" #5, 1995. Protocol of the study included adapted fragments of WHOQOL, WHOQOL-Old, SF-36, SIP questioners as well as visually-analog scale of self-assessment of quality of life with further going quality of life index calculations. Re-sults. In the studied sample of the Great Patriotic War (GPW veterans including long-livers comparably was detected high level of quality of life (QOL by physical criteria and independence level. It was revealed that QOL by self-service criteria in the GPW veterans was low and extremely variable by other criteria groups. Both ageing and gender influenced upon physical activity, self-service and QOL self-assessment. Women were outstanding by psychological criteria and independence with no association with age group. Conclusion. QOL indication in the GPW veterans of studied sample elucidated a satisfactory level of healthcare in the region, which allows veterans in certain way preserve both physical and psychological health, as well as grounds positive self-assessment of personal position in society and values system according to their life-goals and expectations.

Garbage Management: An Important Risk Factor for HPAI-Virus Infection in Commercial Poultry Flocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Walz, Emily; Linskens, Eric; Umber, Jamie; Culhane, Marie Rene; Halvorson, David; Contadini, Francesca; Cardona, Carol

2018-01-01

Garbage management represents a potential pathway of HPAI-virus infection for commercial poultry operations as multiple poultry premises may share a common trash collection service provider, trash collection site (e.g., shared dumpster for multiple premises) or disposal site (e.g., landfill). The types of potentially infectious or contaminated material disposed of in the garbage has not been previously described but is suspected to vary by poultry industry sector. A survey of representatives from the broiler, turkey, and layer sectors in the United States revealed that many potentially contaminated or infectious items are routinely disposed of in the trash on commercial poultry premises. On-farm garbage management practices, along with trash hauling and disposal practices are thus key components that must be considered to evaluate the risk of commercial poultry becoming infected with HPAI virus.

Solar power tower commercialization in the Southwest: A market and technical assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradley, J.; DeGroat, K.; Tanner, S.

1995-01-01

This market and technical assessment illustrates that the Southwestern power market can support the commercialization needs of Solar Power Tower (SPT) technology over the next 10 to 15 years. Realizing full commercial development during this time is contingent on successful completion of Solar Two and development of an initial follow-on plant around 2000. After 2002, the power market will become increasingly robust, presenting new opportunities for SPT development. The important conclusion of this analysis is that SPT projects can reach a cost level that puts them at or below the expected norm of costs for their main competitor, combined cycle natural gas. This means that with the same competitive focus on minimizing costs and finding opportunities to be more competitive that characterize combined cycle project developers, SPT has a realistic chance of competing and winning market share. The ability of SPT technology to compete in this market will be greatly affected by the rate of cost-reductions and technological improvements, but perhaps as importantly, by the environmental and regulatory climate which will unfold over the next decade and the availability of low cost financing options

Predicting the distribution of commercially important invertebrate stocks under future climate.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bayden D Russell

Full Text Available The future management of commercially exploited species is challenging because techniques used to predict the future distribution of stocks under climate change are currently inadequate. We projected the future distribution and abundance of two commercially harvested abalone species (blacklip abalone, Haliotis rubra and greenlip abalone, H. laevigata inhabiting coastal South Australia, using multiple species distribution models (SDM and for decadal time slices through to 2100. Projections are based on two contrasting global greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. The SDMs identified August (winter Sea Surface Temperature (SST as the best descriptor of abundance and forecast that warming of winter temperatures under both scenarios may be beneficial to both species by allowing increased abundance and expansion into previously uninhabited coasts. This range expansion is unlikely to be realised, however, as projected warming of March SST is projected to exceed temperatures which cause up to 10-fold increases in juvenile mortality. By linking fine-resolution forecasts of sea surface temperature under different climate change scenarios to SDMs and physiological experiments, we provide a practical first approximation of the potential impact of climate-induced change on two species of marine invertebrates in the same fishery.

Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louisa S. Evans

2014-08-01

Full Text Available As part of an international collaboration to compare large-scale commons, we used the Social-Ecological Systems Meta-Analysis Database (SESMAD to systematically map out attributes of and changes in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP in Australia. We focus on eight design principles from common-pool resource (CPR theory and other key social-ecological systems governance variables, and explore to what extent they help explain the social and ecological outcomes of park management through time. Our analysis showed that commercial fisheries management and the re-zoning of the GBRMP in 2004 led to improvements in ecological condition of the reef, particularly fisheries. These boundary and rights changes were supported by effective monitoring, sanctioning and conflict resolution. Moderate biophysical connectivity was also important for improved outcomes. However, our analysis also highlighted that continued challenges to improved ecological health in terms of coral cover and biodiversity can be explained by fuzzy boundaries between land and sea, and the significance of external drivers to even large-scale social-ecological systems (SES. While ecological and institutional fit in the marine SES was high, this was not the case when considering the coastal SES. Nested governance arrangements become even more important at this larger scale. To our knowledge, our paper provides the first analysis linking the re-zoning of the GBRMP to CPR and SES theory. We discuss important challenges to coding large-scale systems for meta-analysis.

Commercial compact cyclotrons in the 90's

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milton, B.F.

1995-09-01

Cyclotrons continue to be efficient accelerators for radio-isotope production. In recent years, developments in the accelerator technology have greatly increased the practical beam current in these machines while also improving the overall system reliability. These developments combined with the development of new isotopes for medicine and industry, and a retiring of older machines indicate a strong future for commercial cyclotrons. In this paper we will survey recent developments in the areas of cyclotron technology, as they relate to the new generation of commercial cyclotrons. Design criteria for the different types of commercial cyclotrons will be presented, with reference to those demands that differ from those in a research oriented cyclotron project. We will also discuss the possibility of systems designed for higher energies and capable of extracted beam currents of up to 2.0 mA. (author)

Commercial compact cyclotrons in the 90's

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milton, B.F.

1995-09-01

Cyclotrons continue to be efficient accelerators for radio-isotope production. In recent years, developments in the accelerator technology have greatly increased the practical beam current in these machines while also improving the overall system reliability. These developments combined with the development of new isotopes for medicine and industry, and a retiring of older machines indicate a strong future for commercial cyclotrons. In this paper the authors will survey recent developments in the areas of cyclotron technology, as they relate to the new generation of commercial cyclotrons. Design criteria for the different types of commercial cyclotrons will be presented, with reference to those demands that differ from those in a research oriented cyclotron project. The authors also discuss the possibility of systems designed for higher energies and capable of extracted beam currents of up to 2.0 mA

Importance of creativity development for Commercial Engineering career students from the teaching-learning process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicenta Rocío Piguave Pérez

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work is to place the importance of creativity development for students into university contexts, therefore a diagnosis of the issue is presented in the students who aspire to reach higher levels of personal development and emotional health in social environments increasingly complex and competitive, to the demands of the entrepreneurial sector towards professionals in order to solve in an original and independent way, the decision-making processes, products and innovative services generation that solve problems on the field as a way to improvetheir quality of life. This study was conducted with students from «Universidad Laica Eloy Alfarode Manabí» in the career of Commercial Engineering, through a survey and additionally interviews were conducted to professors to supplement the information gathered by the survey. The synthesis of the results and recommendations are presented for routing teaching tasks placing the professor as the main promoter ofcreativity from the learning process.

Agricultural waste from the tequila industry as substrate for the production of commercially important enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Huitron, C; Perez, R; Sanchez, A E; Lappe, P; Rocha Zavaleta, L

2008-01-01

Approximately 1 million tons of Agave tequilana plants are processed annually by the Mexican Tequila industry generating vast amounts of agricultural waste. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of Agave tequilana waste as substrate for the production of commercially important enzymes. Two strains of Aspergillus niger (CH-A-2010 and CH-A-2016), isolated from agave fields, were found to grow and propagate in submerged cultures using Agave tequilana waste as substrate. Isolates showed simultaneous extracellular inulinase, xylanase, pectinase, and cellulase activities. Aspergillus CH-A-2010 showed the highest production of inulinase activity (1.48 U/ml), whereas Aspergillus niger CH-A-2016 produced the highest xylanase (1.52 U/ml) and endo-pectinase (2.7U/ml) activities. In both cases production of enzyme activities was significantly higher on Agave tequilana waste than that observed on lemon peel and specific polymeric carbohydrates. Enzymatic hydrolysis of raw A. tequilana stems and leaves, by enzymes secreted by the isolates yielded maximum concentrations of reducing sugars of 28.2 g/l, and 9.9 g/l respectively. In conclusion, Agave tequilana waste can be utilized as substrate for the production of important biotechnological enzymes.

Importance of court practice review in Russian arbitration (commercial) court proceedings

OpenAIRE

Solovyev, A.

2013-01-01

The article concerns the matters of court practice review in terms of participation in arbitration (commercial) court proceedings. The author gives general description of the system of the arbitration courts administering business and economic justice in the Russian Federation, covered the key areas and worked out the practical recommendations concerning the focal points of arranging the appropriate work in respect of review of law enforcement practice of such courts.

The importance of subcutaneous abscess infection by Pasteurella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus as a cause of meat condemnation in slaughtered commercial rabbits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ferreira

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Subcutaneous abscesses are lesions frequently reported in commercial rabbits. Both at farm and slaughterhouse level, these lesions are responsible for economic losses and a potential decrease in meat quality. The present study was devised to identify the main causes of meat condemnation in slaughtered commercial rabbits and assess the importance of abscess lesions in this domain. For these purposes, 281423 rabbits were evaluated during meat inspection at the slaughterhouse. The results achieved showed that subcutaneous abscesses were the major cause of condemnation, being responsible for the rejection of 1355 (0.48% rabbit carcasses. The main affected area was the hind limbs (31.37%, followed by the cervical area (23.10%. Microbiological analyses of 27 abscess samples indicated Pasteurella spp. as the bacteria mostly isolated (59.3%, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (25.9%. These results enable us to advise the industry on the significance of abscesses as an important cause of economic losses, due to meat condemnation during post mortem inspection, and highlight the importance of implementing monitoring plans as a way to control this pathological problem.

["Great jobs"-also in psychiatry?].

Science.gov (United States)

Spiessl, H; Hübner-Liebermann, B

2003-09-01

Against the background of a beginning shortage of psychiatrists, results from interviews with 112 employees of an automotive company with the topic "Great Job" are presented to discuss their relevance to psychiatry. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Most employees assigned importance to great pay, constructive collaboration with colleagues, and work appealing to personal interests. Further statements particularly relevant to psychiatry were: successful career, flexible working hours, manageable job, work-life balance, well-founded training, no bureaucracy within the company, and personal status in society. The well-known economic restrictions in health care and the still negative attitude towards psychiatry currently reduce the attraction of psychiatry as a profession. From the viewpoint of personnel management, the attractors of a great job revealed in this study are proposed as important clues for the recruitment of medical students for psychiatry and the development of psychiatric staff.

Radiolytic stabilization of poly(methyl methacrylate) using commercial additives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquino, Katia Aparecida da Silva

2000-04-01

Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, Acrigel, a Brazilian polymer, is used in the manufacture of medical supplies sterelizable by ionizing radiation. However, when PMMA is gamma-irradiated it undergoes main chain scissions, which promote molecular degradation causing reduction in its mechanical properties. Therefore, radiolytic of PMMA is important for it to become commercially radiosterizable. In this work some commercial additives, originally used in photo-and thermo-oxidate stabilization of polymers, were tested. Only two additives, type HALS (Hindered Amine Light Stabilizer), denoted Scavenger, showed a good protective quality. The investigation of radiation-induced main scissions was carried out by viscosimetric method. The most effective additive, added to the polymer system at 0.3 w/w%, promotes a great molecular radioprotection of 93%. That means a reduction of G-value (scissions/100 eV) from 0.611 to 0.053. In addition, the glassy transition temperature (T g ) of PMMA (no additive) significantly changed by radiation does not change when PMMA (with additive) is irradiated. The spectroscopy analysis, FT-IR and NMR ( 1 H), showed that the radioprotector added to the system does not change the PMMA structure. (author)

Implementation Report for Great II Study, Upper Mississippi River (Guttenberg, Iowa to Saverton, Missouri).

Science.gov (United States)

1981-06-01

Districts completed Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) in accordance with the National Enviromental Policy Act of 1969. The EIS described the...the GREAT site as the primary site, but will evaluate alternative sites to determine if the GREAT site is justified, recognizing environmental, social ...the recommendation was to ease the conflicts between commercial navigation and recreational boaters. In essence, the program suggested by RID is the no

Biosafety management and commercial use of genetically modified crops in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yunhe; Peng, Yufa; Hallerman, Eric M; Wu, Kongming

2014-04-01

As a developing country with relatively limited arable land, China is making great efforts for development and use of genetically modified (GM) crops to boost agricultural productivity. Many GM crop varieties have been developed in China in recent years; in particular, China is playing a leading role in development of insect-resistant GM rice lines. To ensure the safe use of GM crops, biosafety risk assessments are required as an important part of the regulatory oversight of such products. With over 20 years of nationwide promotion of agricultural biotechnology, a relatively well-developed regulatory system for risk assessment and management of GM plants has been developed that establishes a firm basis for safe use of GM crops. So far, a total of seven GM crops involving ten events have been approved for commercial planting, and 5 GM crops with a total of 37 events have been approved for import as processing material in China. However, currently only insect-resistant Bt cotton and disease-resistant papaya have been commercially planted on a large scale. The planting of Bt cotton and disease-resistant papaya have provided efficient protection against cotton bollworms and Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV), respectively. As a consequence, chemical application to these crops has been significantly reduced, enhancing farm income while reducing human and non-target organism exposure to toxic chemicals. This article provides useful information for the colleagues, in particular for them whose mother tongue is not Chinese, to clearly understand the biosafety regulation and commercial use of genetically modified crops in China.

Gill monogenean communities on three commercially important sparid fish in Omani waters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilha Yoon

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The prevalence and intensity of polyopisthocotylean monogeneans on the gills of three commercially important species of sparid caught in Omani coastal waters close to the city port of Muscat were determined and compared. Throughout May 2012 to April 2013, infections on bi-weekly samples of the soldier seabream, Argyrops filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1830, the king soldier seabream, Argyrops spinifer (Forsskål, 1775, and, the silver seabream, Rhabdosargus sabra were evaluated. From a total of 200 specimens (standard length of 26–52 cm, caught by line angling or by traps, at least three species of gill monogenean, namely Omanicotyle [Bivagina] heterospina, Heteromicrocotyla sp. and Microcotyle sp., were commonly encountered. Silver bream, which was infected by all three monogeneans, bore the highest infections (100% prevalence; mean intensity of 20.14 ± 0.92 parasites fish-1, whilst the soldier bream, which was infected only by O. heterospina had the lowest levels of infection (of the three sparids with 63.8% prevalence; mean intensity 5.8 ± 0.17 parasites fish-1. Comments on the distribution of monogeneans on each host are provided but to what extent this is influenced by water current speeds passing through the buccal and opercular cavities, gill morphology, parasite size, and / or the morphology and efficiency of the parasite’s attachment apparatus requires establishing and forms the basis of ongoing investigations.

Commercialization of nanotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hobson, David W

2009-01-01

The emerging and potential commercial applications of nanotechnologies clearly have great potential to significantly advance and even potentially revolutionize various aspects of medical practice and medical product development. Nanotechnology is already touching upon many aspects of medicine, including drug delivery, diagnostic imaging, clinical diagnostics, nanomedicines, and the use of nanomaterials in medical devices. This technology is already having an impact; many products are on the market and a growing number is in the pipeline. Momentum is steadily building for the successful development of additional nanotech products to diagnose and treat disease; the most active areas of product development are drug delivery and in vivo imaging. Nanotechnology is also addressing many unmet needs in the pharmaceutical industry, including the reformulation of drugs to improve their bioavailability or toxicity profiles. The advancement of medical nanotechnology is expected to advance over at least three different generations or phases, beginning with the introduction of simple nanoparticulate and nanostructural improvements to current product and process types, then eventually moving on to nanoproducts and nanodevices that are limited only by the imagination and limits of the technology itself. This review looks at some recent developments in the commercialization of nanotechnology for various medical applications as well as general trends in the industry, and explores the nanotechnology industry that is involved in developing medical products and procedures with a view toward technology commercialization. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Novel Commercial Aquaporin Flat-Sheet Membrane for Forward Osmosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xia, Lingling; Andersen, Mads Friis; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus

2017-01-01

Aquaporin proteins are of great interest to the membrane science community because of their unique characteristics of high water permeability and perfect molecular selectivity. Although these characteristics make aquaporins particularly valuable for desalination applications, none of these aquapo...... was found to exhibit water and reverse solute flux performances similar to those of other commercially available varieties, although this membrane represents one of the few TFC membranes that is available to the academic community for FO testing at the time of this writing.......Aquaporin proteins are of great interest to the membrane science community because of their unique characteristics of high water permeability and perfect molecular selectivity. Although these characteristics make aquaporins particularly valuable for desalination applications, none...... of these aquaporin-based membrane designs has been produced at a large scale. In this work, we report on the recently designed and commercially available Aquaporin Inside flat-sheet membrane designed for forward osmosis (FO) by Aquaporin A/S, Lyngby, Denmark. The Aquaporin Inside flat-sheet membrane is the first...

Commercial Banks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas Asosheh

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Information systems outsourcing issues has been attracted in recent years because many information systems projects in organizations are done in this case. On the other hand, failure rate of this kind of projects is also high. The aim of this article is to find success factors in risk management of information systems outsourcing in commercial banks using these factors leads to increase the success rate of risk management of information systems outsourcing projects. Research methods in the present article based on purpose are applied and descriptive- survey. In addition, research tool is questionnaire which was used among commercial bank experts. For this purpose, First information systems outsourcing risks were identified and then ranked. In the next step, the information systems outsourcing reasons were surveyed and the most important reasons were identified. Then the risks which have not any relationship with the most important reasons were removed and success factors in managing residual risks were extracted.

Measurement of some radiologically and nutritionally important trace elements in human milk and commercially available milk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, Suma; Sathyapriya, R.S.; Nair, M.G.; Ravi, Prabhat; Bhati, Sharda

2011-01-01

Milk is considered to be a complete food and an almost indispensable part of the diets of infants and children. In this paper we present the concentration of some radiologically and nutritionally important trace elements such as Th, Cs, Co, Rb, Fe, Ca and Zn present in human milk and commercially available milk. The trace elements in human and other milk samples were determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis technique. The results show that higher concentrations of Th, Cs, Ca and Rb were found in ordinary milk samples in comparison with the human milk samples. Whereas, a higher concentrations of Fe and Co were observed in human milk samples. These data will be useful for the nutritional and biokinetic studies of these elements in infants and children of different age groups. (author)

The commercialization of migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrera-mangahas, M A

1989-01-01

International migration is not new to the Philippines. In the recent outflow of contract workers to the Middle East, there is a shift from individual and family initiated migrations to the more organized, highly commercial variety. While profit-taking intermediaries have played some role in the past, the increase in the number and influence of these intermediaries has altered the story of migration decision-making. In 1975, the signing of the bilateral labor agreement between the governments of Iran and the Philippines signalled the rising demand for Filipino contract workers. From 1970 to 1975, the number of Asian migrant workers in the Gulf countries rose from about 120,000 to 370,000. These figures rose dramatically to 3.3 million in 1985. The growing share of organized and commercialized migration has altered migration decision making. Primarily, intermediaries are able to broaden access to foreign job and high wage opportunities. Commercialization effectively raises the transaction costs for contract migration. Studies on recruitment costs and fees show that self-solicited foreign employment costs less than employment obtained through recruitment agents and intermediaries. The difference in the 2 prices is due, not only to overhead costs of intermediation, but more importantly to the rent exacted by agents from having job information and placement rights. In the Philippines in October 1987 the average placement fee was P8000, greatly exceeding the mandated maximum fee level of P5000. This average is understated because the computation includes the 17% who do not pay any fees. The widespread and popular view of recruitment intermediaries is negative, dominated by images of abuses and victims. Private intermediaries and the government bureaucracy need each other. Intermediaries need government; their consistent demand for incentives and protection is indicative. On the other hand, government expands its supervision of control of overseas employment via the

Occurrence and Intensity of Anisakid Nematode Larvae in Some Commercially Important Fish Species in Persian Gulf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam DADAR

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Anisakid nematodes are common parasites of fish, mammals, fish-eating birds, and reptiles with a worldwide distribution, causing diseases in human, fish and important economic losses.Methods: A preliminary epidemiological study was carried out on Anisakid nematodes larvae in some commercially important fish species to evaluate the anisakid nematode larvae from greater lizardfish, (Saurida tumbil, Japanese thread fin bream (Nemipterus japonicus, crocodile longtom (Tylosurus crocodilus crocodiles and longfin trevally (Carangoides armatus from the Persian Gulf of Iran.Result: The collected larvae were identified mainly as the third larval stage (L3 of Hysterothylacium larval type A, B and C, Anisakis sp., Raphidascaris sp., Pseudoterranova sp. and Philometra sp. (Nematoda: Philometridae. The prevalence of Anisakid larvae infection of examined fishes was 97.2% in N. japonicus, 90.3% in S. tumbil, 20.5% in crocodile longtom and 5.5% in longfin trevally. Anisakis type III for the first time was different from Anisakis type I and Anisakis type II.Discussion: Zoonotic anisakids by high prevalence in edible fish could be a health hazard for people. So health practices should be considered in these areas.

The Power of Eloquence: Moderation of Style in Puritan Great Awakening Sermons.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelms, Gerald

The latter part of the twentieth century has brought explicit emotional appeals; some by advertisers for commercial goods and others from political and religious leaders. The religious appeals to feelings can be traced back in history to the revivals in the mid-eighteenth century where the "Great Awakening" opened up religious…

Commercializing fuel cells: managing risks

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Peter B.

Commercialization of fuel cells, like any other product, entails both financial and technical risks. Most of the fuel cell literature has focussed upon technical risks, however, the most significant risks during commercialization may well be associated with the financial funding requirements of this process. Successful commercialization requires an integrated management of these risks. Like any developing technology, fuel cells face the typical 'Catch-22' of commercialization: "to enter the market, the production costs must come down, however, to lower these costs, the cumulative production must be greatly increased, i.e. significant market penetration must occur". Unless explicit steps are taken to address this dilemma, fuel cell commercialization will remain slow and require large subsidies for market entry. To successfully address this commercialization dilemma, it is necessary to follow a market-driven commercialization strategy that identifies high-value entry markets while minimizing the financial and technical risks of market entry. The financial and technical risks of fuel cell commercialization are minimized, both for vendors and end-users, with the initial market entry of small-scale systems into high-value stationary applications. Small-scale systems, in the order of 1-40 kW, benefit from economies of production — as opposed to economies to scale — to attain rapid cost reductions from production learning and continuous technological innovation. These capital costs reductions will accelerate their commercialization through market pull as the fuel cell systems become progressively more viable, starting with various high-value stationary and, eventually, for high-volume mobile applications. To facilitate market penetration via market pull, fuel cell systems must meet market-derived economic and technical specifications and be compatible with existing market and fuels infrastructures. Compatibility with the fuels infrastructure is facilitated by a

Prevalence of zoonotic important parasites in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, G C; Gangadharan, B; Taylor, Z; Laurenson, M K; Bradshaw, H; Hide, G; Hughes, J M; Dinkel, A; Romig, T; Craig, P S

2003-12-01

A national necropsy survey of red foxes was carried out across Great Britain to record Echinococcus, Trichinella and Toxoplasma. The survey did not record directly, or indirectly using coproantigen/PCR tests, evidence for the presence of Echinococcus multilocularis in 588 animals, although E. granulosus was suspected in six animals. Parasitological evidence for Trichinella spp. could not be found in 587 fox muscle digests, and a specific PCR test also failed to detect Toxoplasma in a sub-set of 61 random fox tongue biopsies. The upper 95% confidence interval for the above parasites was 0.60% (E. multilocularis), 0.60% (Trichinella spp.) and 5.6% (Toxoplasma). The commonest gut parasites were the hookworm Uncinaria stenocephala (41.3%) and the ascarid Toxocara canis (61.6%). This study also reports the second occurrence of Trichuris vulpis in Great Britain.

Cellulose Nanomaterials — A Path Towards Commercialization Workshop Report

Science.gov (United States)

Fred Hansen; Victoria Brun; Emily Keller; World Nieh; Theodore Wegner; Michael Meador; Lisa Friedersdorf

2014-01-01

Cellulose nanomaterials are primarily isolated from trees and other organisms; are naturally occurring polymeric materials that have demonstrated great promise for commercial applications across an array of industrial sectors; are renewable and environmentally sustainable; and have the potential to be produced in large volumes (i.e., millions of tons per year). The...

Antifoulant (butyltin and copper) concentrations in sediments from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haynes, David; Loong, Dominica

2002-01-01

Antifoulant concentrations are generally low in the Great Barrier Reef, although ship grounding sites present a previously unidentified significant source of antifoulant pollutants in the Great Barrier Reef. - Antifoulant concentrations were determined in marine sediments collected from commercial harbours, marinas, mooring locations on mid-shelf continental islands, and outer reef sites in four regions within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area in 1999. Highest copper concentrations were present in sediments collected from commercial harbour sampling sites (28-233 μg Cu g -1 dry wt.). In contrast, copper concentrations in sediments collected from boat mooring sites on mid-shelf continental islands and outer reef sites were at background concentrations (i.e. -1 dry wt.). Butyltin was only detectable in four of the 42 sediments sampled for analysis, and was only present in sediments collected from commercial harbours (18-1275 ng Sn g -1 dry wt.) and from marinas (4-5 ng Sn g -1 dry wt.). The detection of tributyltin at marina sites implies that this antifoulant may continue to be used illegally on the hulls of smaller recreational vessels. Sediment samples were also collected opportunistically from the site of a 22,000 t cargo ship grounding in May 1999 at Heath Reef, in the far northern Great Barrier Reef. Butyltin concentrations were grossly elevated (660-340,000 ng Sn g -1 dry wt.) at the grounding site. The impact of residual antifoulants at large ship grounding sites should be recognised as a significant, long-term environmental problem unless antfoulant clean-up strategies are undertaken

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: USING PRIVATE COMMERCIAL DATA TO ANALYZE EAST AFRICAN IMPORTED SOAP CONSUMPTION, 1870-1914

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laird Jones

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Social historians identify soap as a “new need,” and argue its consumption indicates changing notions of bodily cleanliness, beauty and status. Relying largely on qualitative evidence such as traveler and missionary accounts, print advertising and oral interviews, they contend African soap use was influenced by Christian missions, colonial education and branding in the marketplace. Quantitative evidence – limited customs data – neither confirms nor challenges this position. More detailed commercial records, however, paint a somewhat different picture. The East African correspondence of William O’Swald & Co. indicates that soap marketing predated both Christian missions and colonial influence. Further, general purpose laundry soap was the overwhelming best seller. Personal toilette soaps lagged far behind. Laundering imported cotton textiles appeared the motive for initial soap purchases, and perhaps also the first step toward later personal soap use.

The Development of Tourist Relations during the Economic Crisis through the Example of the Southern Great Plain Region and Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PÉTER GULYÁS

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Since the beginning of the economic crisis, nearby feeder markets have become increasingly important for Hungary’s tourism sector with cross-border cooperation schemes playing an ever increasing role. This also holds true for Hungary’s Southern Great Plain Region when viewed in its relationship with neighbouring Serbia. This paper examines tourism flow changes in the Southern Hungarian Great Plain Region during the period of the economic crisis especially as far as tourism flows from Serbia are concerned. The analysis is based on official statistical data available in respect of commercial accommodation facilities, analyses on tourism trends carried out at the European level, and regional development documents drawn up for the Hungarian–Serbian cross border region. The economic crisis caused a significant downturn in tourism flows in the Southern Great Plain Region. However, the number of tourists arriving from Serbia to the Southern Great Plain and the number of nights they spent there increased even during the crisis partly because of the favourable geographical location of the region, partly because of the intensive cooperation schemes implemented in the tourism sector, and partly because of organised marketing campaigns.

Interest Rate Fluctuation Effect on Commercial Bank's Fixed Fund Deposit in Nigeria

OpenAIRE

Okolo Chimaobi Valentine

2015-01-01

Commercial banks in Nigeria adopted many strategies to attract fresh deposits including the use of high deposit rate. However, pricing of banking services moved in favor of the banks at the expense of customers, resulting in their seeking other investment alternatives rather than saving their money in the bank. Both deposit and lending rates were greatly influenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decision on interest rate. Therefore, commercial bank effort to attract...

Fatty Acid Composition and Levels of Selected Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Four Commercial Important Freshwater Fish Species from Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnes Robert

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Fatty acids (FAs particularly ω3 and ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs play important role in human health. This study aimed to investigate the composition and levels of selected ω3 PUFAs in four commercial fish species, Nile perch (Lates niloticus, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Tilapia zillii, and dagaa (Rastrineobola argentea from Mwanza Gulf in Lake Victoria. The results indicated that 36 types of FAs with different saturation levels were detected. These FAs were dominated by docosahexaenoic (DHA, eicosapentaenoic (EPA, docosapentaenoic (DPA, and eicosatetraenoic acids. O. niloticus had the highest composition of FAs (34 compared to L. niloticus (27, T. zillii (26, and R. argentea (21. The levels of EPA differed significantly among the four commercial fish species (F=6.19,  P=0.001. The highest EPA levels were found in R. argentea followed by L. niloticus and O. niloticus and the lowest in T. zillii. The DPA levels showed no significant difference among the four fish species studied (F=0.652,  P=0.583. The study concluded that all four commercial species collected from Mwanza Gulf are good for human health, but R. argentea is the best for consumption because it contains higher levels of ω3 FAs, mainly EPA.

The importance of interpreting the commercial contract in scheduling the production of a Romanian business operator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura MUREŞAN (POŢINCU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Part of scheduling the production is complying with the conditions of the commercial contract, which is the foundation of the relation between the client and the business operator that performs its activity in the area of the industrial production. In case the compliance with the contractual obligations raises issues, it is required to interpret the commercial contract according to the provisions of the Romanian Civil Code. This work aims at presenting and analyzing these rules of interpreting the commercial contract, which are not provided in the special stipulations of the law applied to the business field, so that one shall consider the rules common to the private law, i.e. the juridical norms provided by the legislation of the civil law.

microRNA biosensors: Opportunities and challenges among conventional and commercially available techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilic, Tugba; Erdem, Arzum; Ozsoz, Mehmet; Carrara, Sandro

2018-01-15

As being the most extensively studied, non-coding, evolutionary conserved, post-transcriptional gene regulators of genome, microRNAs (miRNAs) have taken great attention among various disciplines due to their important roles in biological processes and link with cancer. Due to their diagnostic value, there have been many conventional methods used in detection of miRNAs including northern blotting, quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) and microarray technology besides novel techniques based on various nanotechnology approaches and molecular biology tools including miRNA biosensors. The aim of this review is to explain the importance of miRNAs in biomedical field with an emphasis on early cancer diagnosis by overviewing both research based and commercially available miRNA detection methods in the last decade considering their strengths and weakness with an emphasis on miRNA biosensors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The French TV Commercial as a Pedagogical Tool in the Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Katherine

1987-01-01

Use of French television commercials as a pedagogical tool has a great advantage over "two-dimensional" advertisements because they provide authentic and current spoken language which is often reinforced by repetitions and musical tunes as well as visual slogans on the screen. (CB)

Pharmacological importance of sulphated polysaccharide carrageenan from red seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii in comparison with commercial carrageenan.

Science.gov (United States)

Suganya, Arumugampillai Manimehalai; Sanjivkumar, Muthusamy; Chandran, Manohar Navin; Palavesam, Arunachalam; Immanuel, Grasian

2016-12-01

Pharmacological properties of native carrageenan (κ) extracted from Kappaphycus alvarezii and commercial carrageenan (Sigma-Aldrich) were evaluated using in vitro antioxidant, anticancer and antidiabetic studies. Phytochemical analysis of native and commercial carrageenans showed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, steroids, gums & mucilages and carbohydrate. Both native and commercial carrageenans exhibited better antioxidant activities such as total antioxidant capacity (87±0.47 and 82.6±0.47μg A.A/g), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (61.4±0.27 and 58.66±0.31μg/ml), nitric oxide radical scavenging activity (80.42±0.22 and 73.66±0.22μg/ml), DPPH radical scavenging activity (56.26±0.20 and 53.67±0.082μg/ml) and reducing power assay (46.57±0.32 and 42.54±0.27μg/ml) at the maximum concentration of 100μg/ml carrageenans. These results indicated that native carrageenan from K. alvarezii possessed better antioxidant potential in comparison with commercial carrageenan. Anticancer activities of both carrageenans showed excellent inhibition on the growth of breast, colon, liver and osteosarcoma cell lines at the maximum concentration of 150μg/ml. Native carrageenan exhibited an excellent anticancer activity on colon carcinoma cell lines (67.66±0.168%) with the IC 50 value of 73.87μg/ml and commercial carrageenan possessed a potent inhibition on the growth of breast cancer cell lines (67.33±0.077%) with the IC 50 value of 123.8μg/ml. These results clearly indicated the beneficial effect of native and commercial carrageenans as anticancer agents being a free radical scavenger. Anti-diabetic property of both carrageenans showed inhibition effect on α- glucosidase enzyme. The inhibitory effect depends on concentration of carrageenans and it was recorded that maximum (74.49±1.05 and 67.42±0.63) inhibitory effect of α- glucosidase enzyme at 500μg/ml concentration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

MAIN TENDENCIES IN DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL INSURANCE MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. I. Poplyko

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Insurance market plays an important role in the economic development and has a special significance in the countries with economy of the transition period. In spite of its positive influence exerted on the development of national economy the level of  insurance service spreading is still rather low.  The paper considers main results of the activity of the Belarusian insurance organizations. Usage of statistic evaluation methods makes it possible to break them in separate groups. The conducted analysis of organizations’ financial flows (receipts, payments and profits for the period of 2005–2007 testifies to their dynamic development. Economic management subjects of non-state ownership take leading positions in this matter.Further growth of commercial insurance market greatly depends on the government efficiency to regulate the given sphere of activity. Removal of existing negative factors including creation of equal competitive conditions for all participants of the market, its demonopolization, will favor its development. 

The School Marketplace: Has Commercialization Gone Too Far?

Science.gov (United States)

Wohl, Alexander

2001-01-01

Discusses the pros and cons of commercial activity in the schools, explaining that while schools always need the added support, the result is that students are bombarded with commercial messages. Commercial activity includes direct advertising, product sales/incentive programs, and indirect advertising. Discusses the importance of ensuring that…

ANALYSIS OF INTERCOMMUNICATION OF FINANCIAL RESULTS OF ACTIVITY AND INDEXES OF ESTIMATION OF THE FINANCIAL STATE OF A COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION

OpenAIRE

Prudnikov A. G.; Zhurova O. I.

2016-01-01

The system of indicators characterizing the financial condition of a commercial organization, the major thing is profitability of its operations as the ratio of profit on sales and revenues, the ratio of profit before tax and the average annual value of total assets, the ratio of net profit and the average value of all assets, net income and average equity. Great practical importance for the efficient management of resources economic entity is marginal analysis, but it requires, in our opinio...

Accounting and Tax Issues Concerning Commercial Discounts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sava Raluca

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Commercial discounts accounting presents a particular importance because, on the one hand, of their widely spread on a large scale in the commercial activity and on the second hand, due to the influence of the accounting and reporting method over the value added tax. The paper theoretically addresses commercial reductions and also their reflection in the accounting according with the latest regulations in force.

Enabling Sustainable Exploration through the Commercial Development of Space

Science.gov (United States)

Nall, Mark; Casas, Joseph

2003-01-01

The commercial development of space offers enabling benefits to space exploration. This paper examines how those benefits can be realized, and how the Space Product Development Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is taking the first steps towards opening the space frontier through vital and sustainable industrial development. The Space Product Development Office manages 15 Commercial Space Centers that partner with US industry to develop opportunities for commerce in space. This partnership directly benefits NASA exploration in four primary ways. First, by actively involving traditional and non-traditional companies in commercial space activities, it seeks and encourages to the maximum extent possible the fullest commercial use of space, as directed by NASA's charter. Second, the commercial research and technologies pursued and developed in the program often have direct applicability to NASA priority mission areas. This dual use strategy for research and technology has the potential to greatly expand what the NASA scientific community can do. Third, the commercial experiment hardware developed by the Commercial Space Centers and their industrial partners is available for use by NASA researchers in support of priority NASA research. By utilizing low cost and existing commercial hardware, essential NASA research can be more readily accomplished. Fourth, by assisting industry in understanding the use of the environment of space and in helping industry enhance the tools and technologies for NASA and commercial space systems, the market for commercial space utilization and the capability for meeting the future growing market needs is being developed. These two activities taken together form the beginning of a new space economy that will enable sustainable NASA exploration of the universe.

Deactivation and Regeneration of Commercial Type Fischer-Tropsch Co-Catalysts—A Mini-Review

OpenAIRE

Erling Rytter; Anders Holmen

2015-01-01

Deactivation of commercially relevant cobalt catalysts for Low Temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT) synthesis is discussed with a focus on the two main long-term deactivation mechanisms proposed: Carbon deposits covering the catalytic surface and re-oxidation of the cobalt metal. There is a great variety in commercial, demonstration or pilot LTFT operations in terms of reactor systems employed, catalyst formulations and process conditions. Lack of sufficient data makes it difficult to correlat...

The Great Recession was not so Great

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ours, J.C.

2015-01-01

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a

Total petroleum hydrocarbon in the tissues of some commercially important fishes of the Bay of Bengal.

Science.gov (United States)

Ansari, Zakir A; Desilva, Classy; Badesab, Shahin

2012-11-01

The present study reports the level of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) in 27 commercially important fish, crustaceans and cephalopods from Orissa coast, Bay of Bengal to provide the baseline data for oil contamination in marine biota. The results showed significant differences in the TPH concentration in different species. Of all fish, Carangoides malabaricus showed the maximum TPH level (av. 13.70 μg g(-1)). In cephalopods, Loligo recorded the maximum TPH (av. 14.87 μg g(-1)) while Metapenaeus dobsoni recorded the maximum TPH (av. 13.18 μg g(-1)) among crustaceans. The concentration of TPH recorded in the present study were higher than the reported values from other studies in Bay of Bengal but were comparable with those of other Indian coast and Gulf water. The species recording maximum concentration and giving significant correlation coefficient may be of interest in oil pollution monitoring and can be used as indicator of hydrocarbon pollution in the region. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Commercial and Institutional Waste

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Fruergaard, Thilde

2011-01-01

Commercial and institutional waste is primarily from retail (stores), hotels, restaurants, health care (except health risk waste), banks, insurance companies, education, retirement homes, public services and transport. Within some of these sectors, e.g. retail and restaurants, large variations...... are found in terms of which products and services are offered. Available data on unit generation rates and material composition as well as determining factors are discussed in this chapter. The characterizing of commercial and institutional waste is faced with the problem that often only a part of the waste...... is handled in the municipal waste system, where information is easily accessible. An important part of commercial and institutional waste is packaging waste, and enterprises with large quantities of clean paper, cardboard and plastic waste may have their own facilities for baling and storing their waste...

Atlas of ecologically and commercially important areas in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-10-01

This atlas provides useful baseline information for the environmental assessment of petroleum project proposals relative to sensitive areas and critical periods of fisheries resources in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The southern boundary of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is bounded by the shores of western Cape Breton, southeastern New Brunswick and northern Nova Scotia. It is characterized as a coastal marine ecosystem because of the predominating effects of the rivers, but deeper areas have more in common with the Scotian Shelf and Slope and many common species move seasonally between the Gulf and the open Atlantic Ocean. This report is intended mostly for use by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NSOPB), and to a lesser degree the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board. The maps illustrate the known distribution of certain ecosystem components and known harvesting areas. The first part of the report describes the environmental setting of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The report describes commercially important resources such as benthic, pelagic and shellfish species and other minor species, as well as aquaculture leases. It also discuses seals, whales, raptors, shorebirds and coastal waterfowl. The report identifies tourist areas, recreational parks and protected areas. Seasonality and sensitive timing of the resources are also summarized. refs., tabs., figs.

Challenges of Sustainable and Commercial Aquaponics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Goddek

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The world is facing a number of serious problems of which population rise, climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity and food security are among the most important. Aquaponics, as a closed loop system consisting of hydroponics and aquaculture elements, could contribute to addressing these problems. However, there is a lack of quantitative research to support the development of economically feasible aquaponics systems. Although many studies have addressed some scientific aspects, there has been limited focus on commercial implementation. In this review paper, opportunities that have the potential to fill the gap between research and implementation of commercial aquaponic systems have been identified. The analysis shows that aquaponics is capable of being an important driver for the development of integrated food production systems. Arid regions suffering from water stress will particularly benefit from this technology being operated in a commercial environment.

University of Utah, Energy Commercialization Center

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, James [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2014-01-17

During the Energy Commercialization Center’s (ECC) three years in operation, the only thing constant was change. The world of commercialization and cleantech evolved significantly during the time the ECC was formed and operating, including: the availability of cleantech funding lessoned, the growth of incubators and accelerators skyrocketed, the State of Utah created an office dedicated to energy development, the University of Utah was both praised and criticized for its success in commercialization, and the Federal government temporarily shut down. During the three-year grant there were three principle investigators on the grant, as well as three directors for the University’s Commercialization Office. Change can be hard for an organization,but as we instruct the companies we support, “Fail fast and fail often, because it is the fastest path to success.” Although there were some unanticipated challenges along the way, the local ecosystem is stronger because of the ECC’s efforts. Perhaps the greatest lesson learned was the importance of aligned incentives between key stakeholders in the commercialization process and the need for resources at the company and individual entrepreneur levels. The universities have systems and incentives to commercialize technologies, but creating value and companies generally rest with the individuals and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately the ECC was unable to create a viable mechanism to transfer the commercialization process that successfully aligned incentives and achieve a more effective ecosystem within the Rocky Mountain West. However, the ECC was successful in adding value to the individual ecosystems, and connecting national resources to regional and local needs. Regarding the ECC’s effectiveness in developing a cleantech commercialization ecosystem, initial inroads and relationships were established with key stakeholders. However, incentives, perceived or real competition, differences in commercialization processes, and

A simple and cost effective liquid culture system for the micropropagation of two commercially important apple rootstocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Mohina; Ram, Raja; Bhattacharya, Amita

2014-07-01

The two commercially important apple rootstocks i.e., MM106 and B9 were micropropagated using a liquid culture system. Three different strengths of 0.8% agar solidified PGR free basal MS medium were first tested to optimize the culture media for both the rootstocks. Full strength medium (MS0) supported maximum in vitro growth, multiplication, rooting and survival under field conditions as opposed to quarter and half strength media. When three different volumes of liquid MS0 were tested, highest in vitro growth, multiplication, rooting and also survival under field conditions were achieved in 20 mL liquid MS0. The cost of one litre of liquid medium was also reduced by 8 times to Rs. 6.29 as compared to solid medium. The cost of 20 mL medium was further reduced to Rs. 0.125.

Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...

THE ANALYSIS OF TOURIST CONSUMER'S PERCEPTION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMERCIAL IN TOURISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen, IORDACHE

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The demarcation of perceptions with regard to ad's role in tourism means a typical process for contouring the positioning of tourism's product promoted in consumer's mind. For this reason, the construction of tourist commercials as a function of consumers' perceptions, but also the relationship which they have, reported to experience sensations that make up tourist, is essential in building a positive tourist images. In this respect, it has been carried out a quantitative marketing research, on a sample of 63 respondents, with the aim of knowing the perception against the main sources of information in the purchasing tourist product, the degree of involvement in the search for information on the tourist's product, the commercial influence on the promotion of tourist destinations, the main supports of the ad where they take over the information, the degree of involvement by type of advertising, sufficient information presented in a report, the relationship between the quality of ad's decision and the inspection, the elements which help to distinguish better the information on a tourist destination and the impact of provided informations by advertising about a tourist destination.

ERAST: Scientific Applications and Technology Commercialization

Science.gov (United States)

Hunley, John D. (Compiler); Kellogg, Yvonne (Compiler)

2000-01-01

This is a conference publication for an event designed to inform potential contractors and appropriate personnel in various scientific disciplines that the ERAST (Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology) vehicles have reached a certain level of maturity and are available to perform a variety of missions ranging from data gathering to telecommunications. There are multiple applications of the technology and a great many potential commercial and governmental markets. As high altitude platforms, the ERAST vehicles can gather data at higher resolution than satellites and can do so continuously, whereas satellites pass over a particular area only once each orbit. Formal addresses are given by Rich Christiansen, (Director of Programs, NASA Aerospace Technology Ent.), Larry Roeder, (Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Dept. of State), and Dr. Marianne McCarthy, (DFRC Education Dept.). The Commercialization Workshop is chaired by Dale Tietz (President, New Vista International) and the Science Workshop is chaired by Steve Wegener, (Deputy Manager of NASA ERAST, NASA Ames Research Center.

Trace Metal Concentrations in Commercially Important Fishes from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

komla

Some trace metals such as zinc and copper are important in small quantities for ...... Cameroon: Institut de recherches meddicales et d'etudes des plantes edicinales, ... Determination of Total Cadmium, Zinc, Lead, Copper in Selected Marine ...

Genetic and morphological analyses of Gracilaria firma and G. changii (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta), the commercially important agarophytes in western Pacific.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Poh-Kheng; Lin, Showe-Mei; Lim, Phaik-Eem; Hurtado, Anicia Q; Phang, Siew-Moi; Yow, Yoon-Yen; Sun, Zhongmin

2017-01-01

Many studies classifying Gracilaria species for the exploitation of agarophytes and the development of the agar industry were conducted before the prevalence of molecular tools, resulting in the description of many species based solely on their morphology. Gracilaria firma and G. changii are among the commercially important agarophytes from the western Pacific; both feature branches with basal constrictions that taper toward acute apices. In this study, we contrasted the morpho-anatomical circumscriptions of the two traditionally described species with molecular data from samples that included representatives of G. changii collected from its type locality. Concerted molecular analyses using the rbcL and cox1 gene sequences, coupled with morphological observations of the collections from the western Pacific, revealed no inherent differences to support the treatment of the two entities as distinct taxa. We propose merging G. changii (a later synonym) into G. firma and recognize G. firma based on thallus branches with abrupt basal constrictions that gradually taper toward acute (or sometimes broken) apices, cystocarps consisting of small gonimoblast cells and inconspicuous multinucleate tubular nutritive cells issuing from gonimoblasts extending into the inner pericarp at the cystocarp floor, as well as deep spermatangial conceptacles of the verrucosa-type. The validation of specimens under different names as a single genetic species is useful to allow communication and knowledge transfer among groups from different fields. This study also revealed considerably low number of haplotypes and nucleotide diversity with apparent phylogeographic patterns for G. firma in the region. Populations from the Philippines and Taiwan were divergent from each other as well as from the populations from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Establishment of baseline data on the genetic diversity of this commercially important agarophyte is relevant in the context of cultivation

The status of coral reefs and associated fishes and invertebrates of commercial importance in Pedro Bank, Jamaica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew W. Bruckner

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The coral reefs located off the north coast of the Jamaican mainland are some of the best and most studied reefs in the world. Coral reefs of Pedro Bank, Jamaica were assessed in March, 2012 as part of the KSLOF Global Reef Expedition using a modified Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA protocol. The main objectives were to: 1 characterize the distribution, structure and health of coral reefs; and 2 evaluate the population status of commercially important reef fishes and invertebrates. This work was conducted to assist in characterizing coral reef habitats within and outside a proposed fishery reserve, and identify other possible conservation zones. Within 20 reefs, live coral cover ranged from 4.9% to 19.2%. Coral communities were dominated by small corals (esp. Agaricia, Porites and Siderastrea although many sites had high abundances of large colonies of Montastraea annularis and M. faveolata, and these were generally in good condition. A single area, within the proposed fishery reserve, had extensive Acropora cervicornis thickets, and several shallow locations had small, but recovering A. palmata stands. Macroalgal cover at all sites was relatively low, with only three sites having greater than 30% cover; crustose coralline algae (CCA was high, with eight sites exceeding 20% cover. Fish biomass at all sites near the Cays was low, with a dominance of herbivores (parrotfish and surgeonfish and a near absence of groupers, snappers and other commercially important species. While parrotfish were the most abundant fish, these were all extremely small (mean size= 12cm; <4% over 29cm, and they were dominated by red band parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum followed by striped parrotfish (Scarus iseri. While coral communities remain in better condition than most coastal reefs in Jamaica, intense fishing pressure using fish traps (main target species: surgeonfish and hookah/spear fishing (main target: parrotfish is of grave concern to the

19 CFR 181.62 - Commercial samples of negligible value.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Commercial samples of negligible value. 181.62... Returned After Repair or Alteration § 181.62 Commercial samples of negligible value. (a) General. Commercial samples of negligible value imported from Canada or Mexico may qualify for duty-free entry under...

BANKING SYSTEM STABILITY: COMMERCIAL AND CO-OPERATIVE BANKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitru-Cristian OANEA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Commercial banks and co-operative banks are credit institutions, but there are some differences between the main operations proceeded by each of them. Based on these specific characteristics, we want to identify the manner in which financial crisis affected their activity. As we all know, the financial crisis had a major impact in the United States, the “natal” country of the crisis, because great banks such as Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch have bankrupted. Even if the Romanian banking system was not affected by such catastrophic situations, surely the financial crisis had a significant impact on it. This topic is worth to be analysed, because we would be able to identify the risk differences between these two types of business: commercial banks versus co-operative banks.

Technical and economic assessments commercial success for IGCC technology in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiong, T.

1998-01-01

The experiences gained from several Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) demonstration plants operating in the US and Europe facilitate commercial success of this advanced coal-based power generation technology. However, commercialization of coal-based IGCC technology in the West, particularly in the US, is restricted due to the low price of natural gas. On the contrary, in China--the largest coal producer and consumer in the world--a lack of natural gas supply, strong demand for air pollution control and relatively low costs of manufacturing and construction provide tremendous opportunities for IGCC applications. The first Chinese IGCC demonstration project was initiated in 1994, and other potential IGCC projects are in planning. IGCC applications in re-powering, fuel switching and multi-generation also show a great market potential in China. However, questions for IGCC development in China remain; where are realistic opportunities for IGCC projects and how can these opportunities be converted into commercial success? The answers to these questions should focus on the Chinese market needs and emphasize economic benefits, not just clean, or power. High price of imported equipment, high financing costs, and the technical risk of first-of-a-kind installation barricade IGCC development in China. This paper presents preliminary technical and economic assessments for four typical IGCC applications in the Chinese marketplace: central power station, fuel switching, re-powering, and multi-generation. The major factors affecting project economics--such as plant cost, financing, prices of fuel and electricity and operating capacity factor--are analyzed. The results indicate that well-proven technology for versatile applications, preferred financing, reduction of the plant cost, environmental superiority and appropriate project structure are the key for commercial success of IGCC in China

The importance of Northern Dobrogea in the migration of Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SÁNDOR D. Attila

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The Great Cormorants breeding and migrating through Dobrogea belong to the Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis subspecies. It is the subspecies with the most migratory populations out of the 12 subspecies ofGreat Cormorant. The species is in expansion in most regions of Europe, the P. c. sinensis subspecies’ range is expanding the most. In Romania both the number of colonies and their size have increased since 1990. The observed increase was too fast to be based only on the reproduction rate of the original local population. We suspect that a certain degree of the increase is fuelled by cormorants originating from other populations. Out of 667 cormorants ringedduring their nesting period in the Danube Delta 11 (1.64 % were recovered, while there are 15 recoveries of this speciesringed in other countries and recaptured in Dobrogea. Most of the birds ringed in the Danube Delta migrate South, being recovered in Bulgaria (in late summer or autumn and Turkey (in winter, with one out of the range record of a bird observed in the UK. The recoveries from abroad originated from either countries around the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Estonia or from Southern Ukraine and Russia. These recoveries date from autumn (mostly October and November and spring months, with one record in December and January each. As a conclusion, we state that there is a possibility that the population increase is fuelled by immigrant birds, but this assumption should be tested by a large scale capture-recapture study, based on colorringing.

Spatially-Resolved Influence of Temperature and Salinity on Stock and Recruitment Variability of Commercially Important Fishes in the North Sea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Akimova

Full Text Available Understanding of the processes affecting recruitment of commercially important fish species is one of the major challenges in fisheries science. Towards this aim, we investigated the relation between North Sea hydrography (temperature and salinity and fish stock variables (recruitment, spawning stock biomass and pre-recruitment survival index for 9 commercially important fishes using spatially-resolved cross-correlation analysis. We used high-resolution (0.2° × 0.2° hydrographic data fields matching the maximal temporal extent of the fish population assessments (1948-2013. Our approach allowed for the identification of regions in the North Sea where environmental variables seem to be more influential on the fish stocks, as well as the regions of a lesser or nil influence. Our results confirmed previously demonstrated negative correlations between temperature and recruitment of cod and plaice and identified regions of the strongest correlations (German Bight for plaice and north-western North Sea for cod. We also revealed a positive correlation between herring spawning stock biomass and temperature in the Orkney-Shetland area, as well as a negative correlation between sole pre-recruitment survival index and temperature in the German Bight. A strong positive correlation between sprat stock variables and salinity in the central North Sea was also found. To our knowledge the results concerning correlations between North Sea hydrography and stocks' dynamics of herring, sole and sprat are novel. The new information about spatial distribution of the correlation provides an additional help to identify mechanisms underlying these correlations. As an illustration of the utility of these results for fishery management, an example is provided that incorporates the identified environmental covariates in stock-recruitment models.

The commercial role for centrifuge enrichment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Readle, P.H.; Wilcox, P.

1987-01-01

The enrichment market is extremely competitive and capacity greatly exceeds demand. BNFL [British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.] is in a unique position in having commercial experience of the two enrichment technologies currently used industrially: diffusion, and centrifuge enrichment through its associate company Urenco. In addition, BNFL is developing laser enrichment techniques as part of a UK development programme. The paper describes the enrichment market, briefly discusses the relative merits of the various methods of uranium enrichment and concludes that the gas centrifuge will be best able to respond to market needs for at least the remainder of the century. (author)

Pilot and pilot-commercial plants for reprocessing spent fuels of FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaldaev, V.S.; Sokolova, I.D.

1988-01-01

A review of modern state of investigations on the FBR mixed oxide uranium-plutonium fuel reprocessing abroad is given. Great Britain and France occupy the leading place in this field, operating pilot plants of 5 tons a year capacity. Technology of spent fuel reprocessing and specific features of certain stages of the technological process are considered. Projects of pilot and pilot-commercial plants of Great Britain, France, Japan, USA are described. Economic problems of the FBR fuel reprocessing are touched upon

The commercial application prospect of HTGR plant in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yingsu

2008-01-01

With an introduction of the features and current situation of the HTGR power generation as well as the development of HTGR demonstration project in China, the article analyzes the necessity of developing HTGR power plants. The article proposes to exercise the advantages of HTGR to full extent so as to further develop HTGR power plants. It is believed that HTGR is of great commercial promotion value under appropriate circumstances. (authors)

Commercialization of Innovations and Firm Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Erik Strøjer; Smith, Valdemar

The decision on investment in R&D is very important and highly risky for firms' performance and survival in their business. This paper focuses on the commercialization of firms' investment in innovation and how these decisions affect their performance. The study uses a large innovation survey...... of Danish firms holding information on their R&D investment as well as their expenses on marketing which gives knowledge of the commercialization of their innovations. The results suggest a highly significant commercialization of innovation, which means that firms' follows a strategy of investment both...... in innovation and marketing making R&D and marketing complements in their investment decision. However, there is only week evidence for the hypothesis that commercialization of innovations also creates more value for the firms in the short run....

Advantage of using a home-made ELISA kit for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection over commercially imported kits.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi, M; Talebkhan, Y; Khalili, G; Mahboudi, F; Massarrat, S; Zamaninia, L; Oghalaei, A

2008-01-01

To evaluate a home-made ELISA kit for detection of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and comparison of its immunologic criteria with those of foreign commercial kits. A home-made IgG ELISA kit was developed using soluble antigenic fractions of Hp proteins. Confirmed sera were tested and serological criteria were evaluated through assessment of 199 serum samples. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity values of home-made kit were 92, 92 and 90.4%, respectively. These immunologic criteria for Trinity kit were 95.2, 95.2 and 95% in comparison with IBL kit (91.3, 92.2 and 88.5%), BIOHIT kit (72.4, 41.6 and 94.1%) and HelicoBlot2.1 (94.2, 93.4 and 100%). Kappa agreement assessment demonstrated that two of the imported ELISA kits had fair to moderate agreement with the home-made kit while the other one had a poor agreement value. Apart from comparable values between the home-made kit and the most efficient imported kit (Trinity) there was significant cost benefit. Therefore, we recommend the home-made kit as a suitable substitution for detection of Hp infection in the Iranian population.

Advantage of using a home-made elisa kit for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection over commercially imported kits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammadi M

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To evaluate a home-made ELISA kit for detection of Helicobacter pylori (Hp infection and comparison of its immunologic criteria with those of foreign commercial kits. Methods: A home-made IgG ELISA kit was developed using soluble antigenic fractions of Hp proteins. Confirmed sera were tested and serological criteria were evaluated through assessment of 199 serum samples. Results: The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity values of home-made kit were 92, 92 and 90.4%, respectively. These immunologic criteria for Trinity kit were 95.2, 95.2 and 95% in comparison with IBL kit (91.3, 92.2 and 88.5%, BIOHIT kit (72.4, 41.6 and 94.1% and HelicoBlot2.1 (94.2, 93.4 and 100%. Kappa agreement assessment demonstrated that two of the imported ELISA kits had fair to moderate agreement with the home-made kit while the other one had a poor agreement value. Conclusions: Apart from comparable values between the home-made kit and the most efficient imported kit (Trinity there was significant cost benefit. Therefore, we recommend the home-made kit as a suitable substitution for detection of Hp infection in the Iranian population.

Indicators and Determinants of Small-Scale Bamboo Commercialization in Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André Lindner

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Bamboo is an abundant resource in Ethiopia and has a great potential for commercialization, which can drive rural development. In view of these realities, this study analyzed the state and determinants of small-scale bamboo commercialization in Ethiopia. Data were collected from three major bamboo-growing districts (Awi, Sidama, and Sheka and four urban centers (Masha, Hawassa, Bahir Dar, and Addis Ababa via semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and questionnaire surveys with key actors along the value chain. Results revealed distinctive differences in proportion of cash income, value chain structure, and management engagement among the districts. Percentages of cash income were 60.15, 42.60, and 9.48 at Awi, Sidam, and Sheka, respectively. Differences were statistically significant between Sheka and both other districts (p = 0.05, but not between Awi and Sidama. The value chain structure showed that compared with Sheka, Awi and Sidama have a relatively large number of actors involved. The major factors explaining commercialization differences among regions were distance to market and presence of alternative forest products. Within Sheka, households with larger family size, higher education attainment, and access to training reportedly engaged more in commercial extraction. Therefore, we conclude that development of infrastructure for linking resource and consumer centers and expansion of extension education among producers may enhance the commercial engagement of producers and improve the accessibility of bamboo resources for commercial production.

Electronic evaluation for video commercials by impression index.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Wanzeng; Zhao, Xinxin; Hu, Sanqing; Vecchiato, Giovanni; Babiloni, Fabio

2013-12-01

How to evaluate the effect of commercials is significantly important in neuromarketing. In this paper, we proposed an electronic way to evaluate the influence of video commercials on consumers by impression index. The impression index combines both the memorization and attention index during consumers observing video commercials by tracking the EEG activity. It extracts features from scalp EEG to evaluate the effectiveness of video commercials in terms of time-frequency-space domain. And, the general global field power was used as an impression index for evaluation of video commercial scenes as time series. Results of experiment demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to track variations of the cerebral activity related to cognitive task such as observing video commercials, and help to judge whether the scene in video commercials is impressive or not by EEG signals.

Commercially important species associated with horse mussel (Modiolus modiolus) biogenic reefs: A priority habitat for nature conservation and fisheries benefits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kent, Flora E.A.; Mair, James M.; Newton, Jason; Lindenbaum, Charles; Porter, Joanne S.; Sanderson, William G.

2017-01-01

Horse mussel reefs (Modiolus modiolus) are biodiversity hotspots afforded protection by Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the NE Atlantic. In this study, horse mussel reefs, cobble habitats and sandy habitats were assessed using underwater visual census and drop-down video techniques in three UK regions. Megafauna were enumerated, differences in community composition and individual species abundances were analysed. Samples of conspicuous megafauna were also collected from horse mussel reefs in Orkney for stable isotope analysis. Communities of conspicuous megafauna were different between horse mussel habitats and other habitats throughout their range. Three commercially important species: whelks (Buccinum undatum), queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) and spider crabs (Maja brachydactyla) were significantly more abundant (by as much as 20 times) on horse mussel reefs than elsewhere. Isotopic analysis provided insights into their trophic relationship with the horse mussel reef. Protection of M. modiolus habitat can achieve biodiversity conservation objectives whilst benefiting fisheries also. - Highlights: • Communities of conspicuous megafauna were assessed on Modiolus modiolus reefs, sand and cobble habitats. • Tissue samples from reef fauna were subject to stable isotope analysis to investigate trophic structure. • Reef associated species included Aequipecten opercularis, Buccinum undatum and Maja brachydactyla. • Evidence of the commercial value of M. modiolus reefs in the UK.

Great lakes prey fish populations: a cross-basin overview of status and trends based on bottom trawl surveys, 1978-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Gorman, Owen T.

2012-01-01

The assessment of prey fish stocks in the Great Lakes have been conducted annually with bottom trawls since the 1970s by the Great Lakes Science Center, sometimes assisted by partner agencies. These stock assessments provide data on the status and trends of prey fish that are consumed by important commercial and recreational fishes. Although all these annual surveys are conducted using bottom trawls, they differ among the lakes in the proportion of the lake covered, seasonal timing, bottom trawl gear used, and the manner in which the trawl is towed (across or along bottom contours). Because each assessment is unique in one or more important aspects, direct comparison of prey fish catches among lakes is not straightforward. However, all of the assessments produce indices of abundance or biomass that can be standardized to facilitate comparisons of status and trends across all the Great Lakes. In this report, population indices were standardized to the highest value for a time series within each lake for the following principal prey species: cisco (Coregonus artedi), bloater (C. hoyi), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Indices were also provided for round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), an invasive fish that has proliferated throughout the basin over the past 18 years. These standardized indices represent the best available long-term indices of relative abundance for these fishes across all of the Great Lakes. In this report, standardized indices are presented in graphical form along with synopses to provide a short, informal cross-basin summary of the status and trends of principal prey fishes. In keeping with this intent, tables, references, and a detailed discussion were omitted.

Deposition of thin ultrafiltration membranes on commercial SiC microfiltration tubes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Facciotti, Marco; Boffa, Vittorio; Magnacca, Giuliana

2014-01-01

Porous SiC based materials present high mechanical, chemical and thermal robustness, and thus have been largely applied to water-filtration technologies. In this study, commercial SiC microfiltration tubes with nominal pore size of 0.04 m were used as carrier for depositing thin aluminium oxide....... After 5 times coating, a 5.6 µm thick γ-Al2O3 layer was obtained. This membrane shows retention of ~75% for polyethylene glycol molecules with Mn of 8 and 35 kDa, indicating that, despite their intrinsic surface roughness, commercial SiC microfiltration tubes can be applied as carrier for thin...... ultrafiltration membranes. This work also indicates that an improvement of the commercial SiC support surface smoothness may greatly enhance permeance and selectivity of Υ-Al2O3 ultrafiltration membranes by allowing the deposition of thinner defect-free layers....

Business Partners, Financing, and the Commercialization of Inventions

OpenAIRE

Thomas Åstebro; Carlos J. Serrano

2011-01-01

This paper studies the effect of business partners on the commercialization of nvention based ventures, and it assesses the relative importance of partners' human and social capital on commercialization outcomes. Projects run by partnerships were five times more likely to reach commercialization, and they had mean revenues approximately ten times greater than projects run by solo-entrepreneurs. These gross differences may be due both to business partners' value added and to selection. After c...

ACCOUNTING TREATMENTS SPECIFIC TO COUNTERPART COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucia PALIU - POPA

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Given the lack of availability of funds in foreign currency, felt in many countries, especially in the developing and developed countries and the economic or financial crisis in the global foreign exchange, counterpart commercial transactions were imposed as a “disarming” condition of the international trade. In the counterpart a purchase transaction is combined with a sale transaction, an import with an export in order to ensure balanced trade between the partners, trade that involves eliminating or reducing the currency as a payment source and its replacement with trade of goods and services. Thus, in the context of an acute need to export of greatly industrialized countries, where the overproduction phenomenon tends to have a chronic character, the counterpart has become a highly complex and sustainable phenomenon, which has seen a steady increase in the volume of amounts, with a geographical area and large variety of forms and mechanisms of implementation. Based on the characteristics and structure of counterpart transactions, we shall describe in this paper the accounting models specific to international trade, as part of the combined foreign trade transactions without neglecting the tax treatments that influence the entry in the accounts

Commercialization of NESSUS: Status

Science.gov (United States)

Thacker, Ben H.; Millwater, Harry R.

1991-01-01

A plan was initiated in 1988 to commercialize the Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress (NESSUS) probabilistic structural analysis software. The goal of the on-going commercialization effort is to begin the transfer of Probabilistic Structural Analysis Method (PSAM) developed technology into industry and to develop additional funding resources in the general area of structural reliability. The commercialization effort is summarized. The SwRI NESSUS Software System is a general purpose probabilistic finite element computer program using state of the art methods for predicting stochastic structural response due to random loads, material properties, part geometry, and boundary conditions. NESSUS can be used to assess structural reliability, to compute probability of failure, to rank the input random variables by importance, and to provide a more cost effective design than traditional methods. The goal is to develop a general probabilistic structural analysis methodology to assist in the certification of critical components in the next generation Space Shuttle Main Engine.

Impacts of climate change on freshwater fisheries of the Great Plains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regier, H.A.; Holmes, J.A.

1991-01-01

The diversity and habitats of fish in Great Plains hydrologic systems are described. Fisheries on the Great Plains consist of commercial, subsistence, and recreational. Direct effects of climate change on Great Plains fisheries will involve temperature and hydrology. Increased temperature could expand suitable habitat for fish with preferred temperatures between 10 and 27.5 degree C by 2.5 times base conditions. Reductions in precipitation will reduce river flows and lake levels, and an overall reduction in habitat for the most preferred species is expected. Indirect effects stem from human responses to climate change, and streams, wetlands and coastal zones will likely bear the brunt of such activity. More river systems may be damned or channelized, which could lead to increases in eutrophication or pollution, most severely affecting the preferred white fishes. Geographical shifts of species in response to climate change will likely favour black fish over grey fish over white fish, and when longitudinal or lateral movement is blocked, local extinctions may occur. 22 refs., 1 tab

The Great Depression and the Great Recession: A Comparative Analysis of their Analogies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Peicuti

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The decades preceding the Great Depression and the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis have close similarities. Both decades were characterized by rapid growth without major contractions, by an increase in liquidity, a lack of inflation, and a generalized decrease in risk premiums. Additional similarities included significant changes in the financing of real estate by commercial banks along with a consolidation of the banking sector and high hopes that the efficiency of monetary policy would prevent financial crises. These decades were also characterized by the consolidation of the powers of young central banks (the Federal Reserve System in the 1920s and the European Central Bank in the 2000s, by unsuccessful attempts to control market speculation, by their international dimensions, and by the eruption of crises after the failure of a major American financial institution that could have been avoided. Understanding these analogies help us better identify the causes of the subprime mortgage crisis and prevent history from repeating itself to the extentof such large-scale devastating consequences.

Techno-economic feasibility study of the integration of a commercial small-scale ORC in a real case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavazzini, G.; Dal Toso, P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The integration of a small-scale commercial ORC in a real case study was analyzed. • The possibility of recovering the waste heat produced by an ICE was considered. • A semi-empirical steady-state model of the commercial small scale ORC was created. • Both direct and indirect costs was considered in the business model. • The ORC integration was not economically feasible due to increased indirect costs. - Abstract: The ORC certainly represents a promising solution for recovering low-grade waste heat in industries. However, the efficiency of commercial small-scale ORC solutions is still too low in comparison with the high initial costs of the machine and the lack of simulation models specifically developed for commercial ORC systems prevents industries from defining an accurate business model to correctly evaluate the ORC integration in real industrial processes. This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis of the integration of a small-scale commercial ORC in a real case study, represented by a highly-efficient industrial distillery. The integration is aimed at maximizing the electricity auto-production by exploiting the heat produced by an internal combustion engine, already partially recovered in internal thermal processes. To analyze the influence of the ORC integration on the industrial processes, a semi-empirical steady-state model of the commercial small scale ORC was created. The model made it possible to simulate the performance of the commercial ORC within a hypothetical scenario involving the use of the heat from the cooling water and from the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine. A detailed thermo-dynamic analysis has been carried out to study the effects of the ORC integration on the plant’s energy system with particular focus on the two processes directly affected by ORC integration, namely vapor production and the drying process of the grape marc. The analysis highlighted the great importance in the

Great apes prefer cooked food.

Science.gov (United States)

Wobber, Victoria; Hare, Brian; Wrangham, Richard

2008-08-01

The cooking hypothesis proposes that a diet of cooked food was responsible for diverse morphological and behavioral changes in human evolution. However, it does not predict whether a preference for cooked food evolved before or after the control of fire. This question is important because the greater the preference shown by a raw-food-eating hominid for the properties present in cooked food, the more easily cooking should have been adopted following the control of fire. Here we use great apes to model food preferences by Paleolithic hominids. We conducted preference tests with various plant and animal foods to determine whether great apes prefer food items raw or cooked. We found that several populations of captive apes tended to prefer their food cooked, though with important exceptions. These results suggest that Paleolithic hominids would likewise have spontaneously preferred cooked food to raw, exapting a pre-existing preference for high-quality, easily chewed foods onto these cooked items. The results, therefore, challenge the hypothesis that the control of fire preceded cooking by a significant period.

Commercial activities and the promotion of health in schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Raine, Gary

2013-11-01

Many companies nowadays consider schools to be an important setting for marketing to children. However, important concerns can be raised from a health promotion perspective about the potential negative impact of commercial activities on the health and well-being of pupils. As this discussion paper will demonstrate, some commercial activities raise concerns in relation to physical health and obesity, not only by potentially undermining formal curriculum messages, but also through the active promotion of specific products, particularly those high in fat, sugar or salt. Nonetheless, the issues raised by commercial activities are not solely limited to effects on physical health. By allowing commercial activities, schools risk instilling in pupils consumer-orientated values. This is significant as such values have been linked to the development of poor health and well-being. Furthermore, the presence in schools of commercial activities will also militate against informed decision-making and be disempowering. There is also evidence that business-sponsored teaching materials can contain biased and misleading information. The potential negative impacts of commercial activities are inconsistent with goals in relation to the promotion of health and the principles of health-promoting schools.

7 CFR 944.28 - Avocado Import Grade Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., seed, or commercial processing into products; prior to or after reconditioning may be exported or..., distribution by relief agencies, seed, or commercial processing into products, but shall be subject to the... importation means release from custody of the United States Customs Service. The term commercial processing...

Making a Great First Impression

Science.gov (United States)

Evenson, Renee

2007-01-01

Managers and business owners often base hiring decisions on first impressions. That is why it is so important to teach students to make a great first impression--before they go on that first job interview. Managers do not have unrealistic expectations, they just want to hire people who they believe can develop into valuable employees. A nice…

The diverse impacts of the great recession

OpenAIRE

Makoto Nakajima

2013-01-01

The Great Recession had a large negative impact on the U.S. economy. Asset prices, most notably stock and house prices, declined substantially, resulting in a loss in wealth for many American households. In this article, Makoto Nakajima documents how diverse households were affected in a variety of dimensions during the Great Recession, in particular between 2007 and 2009, using newly available data from the 2007-2009 Survey of Consumer Finances. He discusses why it is important to look at th...

Deactivation and Regeneration of Commercial Type Fischer-Tropsch Co-Catalysts—A Mini-Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erling Rytter

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Deactivation of commercially relevant cobalt catalysts for Low Temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT synthesis is discussed with a focus on the two main long-term deactivation mechanisms proposed: Carbon deposits covering the catalytic surface and re-oxidation of the cobalt metal. There is a great variety in commercial, demonstration or pilot LTFT operations in terms of reactor systems employed, catalyst formulations and process conditions. Lack of sufficient data makes it difficult to correlate the deactivation mechanism with the actual process and catalyst design. It is well known that long term catalyst deactivation is sensitive to the conditions the actual catalyst experiences in the reactor. Therefore, great care should be taken during start-up, shutdown and upsets to monitor and control process variables such as reactant concentrations, pressure and temperature which greatly affect deactivation mechanism and rate. Nevertheless, evidence so far shows that carbon deposition is the main long-term deactivation mechanism for most LTFT operations. It is intriguing that some reports indicate a low deactivation rate for multi-channel micro-reactors. In situ rejuvenation and regeneration of Co catalysts are economically necessary for extending their life to several years. The review covers information from open sources, but with a particular focus on patent literature.

Benchmarking Commercial Conformer Ensemble Generators.

Science.gov (United States)

Friedrich, Nils-Ole; de Bruyn Kops, Christina; Flachsenberg, Florian; Sommer, Kai; Rarey, Matthias; Kirchmair, Johannes

2017-11-27

We assess and compare the performance of eight commercial conformer ensemble generators (ConfGen, ConfGenX, cxcalc, iCon, MOE LowModeMD, MOE Stochastic, MOE Conformation Import, and OMEGA) and one leading free algorithm, the distance geometry algorithm implemented in RDKit. The comparative study is based on a new version of the Platinum Diverse Dataset, a high-quality benchmarking dataset of 2859 protein-bound ligand conformations extracted from the PDB. Differences in the performance of commercial algorithms are much smaller than those observed for free algorithms in our previous study (J. Chem. Inf. 2017, 57, 529-539). For commercial algorithms, the median minimum root-mean-square deviations measured between protein-bound ligand conformations and ensembles of a maximum of 250 conformers are between 0.46 and 0.61 Å. Commercial conformer ensemble generators are characterized by their high robustness, with at least 99% of all input molecules successfully processed and few or even no substantial geometrical errors detectable in their output conformations. The RDKit distance geometry algorithm (with minimization enabled) appears to be a good free alternative since its performance is comparable to that of the midranked commercial algorithms. Based on a statistical analysis, we elaborate on which algorithms to use and how to parametrize them for best performance in different application scenarios.

16 CFR 1211.25 - Product certification and labeling by importers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Product certification and labeling by importers. 1211.25 Section 1211.25 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT... § 1211.25 Product certification and labeling by importers. (a) General. The importer of any automatic...

Imperatives for using plutonium in commercial power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandquist, G.M.; Kunze, J.F.

1995-01-01

The use of reprocessed or newly produced plutonium as a fissile fuel in commercial nuclear reactors in the US has been actively suppressed by the current US Administration. Yet, many other advanced nations have already adopted mixed oxide fuels which are manufactured from a mixture of plutonium and natural uranium compounds. These nations have successfully proven the use of such nuclear fuel in their commercial power reactors for many years. The full consequence of the restrictive nuclear policy in the US will greatly limit the lifetime of the nuclear fuel resources in the US from a nominal potential of 100 centuries or more of potential energy supply to about 50 years or less at economical prices for uranium. This paper addresses both the imperatives and the potential and the perceived hazards of plutonium utilization and examines the consequences of government policy regarding utilization of nuclear power

Ernst Chain: a great man of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Kardos, Nelson; Demain, Arnold L

2013-08-01

This paper is a tribute to the scientific accomplishments of Ernst Chain and the influence he exerted over the fields of industrial microbiology and biotechnology. Chain is the father of the modern antibiotic era and all the benefits that these therapeutic agents have brought, i.e., longer life spans, greater levels of public health, widespread modern surgery, and control of debilitating infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, etc. Penicillin was the first antibiotic to become commercially available, and its use ushered in the age of antibiotics. The discovery of penicillin's bactericidal action had been made by Alexander Fleming in London in 1928. After publishing his observations in 1929, no further progress was made until the work was picked up in 1939 by scientists at Oxford University. The group was headed by Howard Florey, and Chain was the group's lead scientist. Chain was born and educated in Germany, and he fled in 1933 as a Jewish refugee from Nazism to England. Other important members of the Oxford research team were Norman Heatley and Edward Abraham. The team was able to produce and isolate penicillin under conditions of scarce resources and many technical challenges. Sufficient material was collected and tested on mice to successfully demonstrate penicillin's bactericidal action on pathogens, while being nontoxic to mammals. Chain directed the microbiological methods for producing penicillin and the chemical engineering methods to extract the material. This technology was transferred to US government facilities in 1941 for commercial production of penicillin, becoming an important element in the Allied war effort. In 1945, the Nobel Prize for medicine was shared by Fleming, Florey, and Chain in recognition of their work in developing penicillin as a therapeutic agent. After World War II, Chain tried to persuade the British government to fund a new national antibiotic industry with both research and production facilities. As

COMMERCIAL FUND, RECOGNITION AND ASSESSMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIOREL TRIF

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The importance of the immaterial investments within companies nowadays urges the specialists in accounting to find the ways to present more in the elements. In their studies researchers face the controversy reinvestments, as an asset in the balance sheet or an expense in the profit or loss account. The main goal of this paper is to analyze the difficulties in commercial fund. In the first part we will analyze various definitions of the problems concerning the commercial fund’s recognition and assessment. The paper also suggests that investments are really social and economic problems.

How valid are commercially available medical simulators?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stunt, J.J.; Wulms, P.H.; Kerkhoffs, G.M.; Dankelman, J.; Van Dijk, C.N.; Tuijthof, G.J.M.

2014-01-01

Background: Since simulators offer important advantages, they are increasingly used in medical education and medical skills training that require physical actions. A wide variety of simulators have become commercially available. It is of high importance that evidence is provided that training on

Linking economic water use, freshwater ecosystem impacts, and virtual water trade in a Great Lakes watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Mubako, S. T.; Ruddell, B. L.; Mayer, A. S.

2013-12-01

The impact of human water uses and economic pressures on freshwater ecosystems is of growing interest for water resource management worldwide. This case study for a water-rich watershed in the Great Lakes region links the economic pressures on water resources as revealed by virtual water trade balances to the nature of the economic water use and the associated impacts on the freshwater ecosystem. A water accounting framework that combines water consumption data and economic data from input output tables is applied to quantify localized virtual water imports and exports in the Kalamazoo watershed which comprises ten counties. Water using economic activities at the county level are conformed to watershed boundaries through land use-water use relationships. The counties are part of a region implementing the Michigan Water Withdrawal Assessment Process, including new regulatory approaches for adaptive water resources management under a riparian water rights framework. The results show that at local level, there exists considerable water use intensity and virtual water trade balance disparity among the counties and between water use sectors in this watershed. The watershed is a net virtual water importer, with some counties outsourcing nearly half of their water resource impacts, and some outsourcing nearly all water resource impacts. The largest virtual water imports are associated with agriculture, thermoelectric power generation and industry, while the bulk of the exports are associated with thermoelectric power generation and commercial activities. The methodology is applicable to various spatial levels ranging from the micro sub-watershed level to the macro Great Lakes watershed region, subject to the availability of reliable water use and economic data.

High Performance Commercial Fenestration Framing Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mike Manteghi; Sneh Kumar; Joshua Early; Bhaskar Adusumalli

2010-01-31

A major objective of the U.S. Department of Energy is to have a zero energy commercial building by the year 2025. Windows have a major influence on the energy performance of the building envelope as they control over 55% of building energy load, and represent one important area where technologies can be developed to save energy. Aluminum framing systems are used in over 80% of commercial fenestration products (i.e. windows, curtain walls, store fronts, etc.). Aluminum framing systems are often required in commercial buildings because of their inherent good structural properties and long service life, which is required from commercial and architectural frames. At the same time, they are lightweight and durable, requiring very little maintenance, and offer design flexibility. An additional benefit of aluminum framing systems is their relatively low cost and easy manufacturability. Aluminum, being an easily recyclable material, also offers sustainable features. However, from energy efficiency point of view, aluminum frames have lower thermal performance due to the very high thermal conductivity of aluminum. Fenestration systems constructed of aluminum alloys therefore have lower performance in terms of being effective barrier to energy transfer (heat loss or gain). Despite the lower energy performance, aluminum is the choice material for commercial framing systems and dominates the commercial/architectural fenestration market because of the reasons mentioned above. In addition, there is no other cost effective and energy efficient replacement material available to take place of aluminum in the commercial/architectural market. Hence it is imperative to improve the performance of aluminum framing system to improve the energy performance of commercial fenestration system and in turn reduce the energy consumption of commercial building and achieve zero energy building by 2025. The objective of this project was to develop high performance, energy efficient commercial

Biology and status of the shortnose cisco Coregonus reighardi Koelz in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Shane A.; Todd, Thomas N.

1995-01-01

The shortnose cisco, Coregonus reighardi, a member of the endemic species assemblage of Coregoninae in the Laurentian Great Lakes, was commercially important until overfishing and competition pressures from induced planktivores extirpated the species in Lakes Michigan and Ontario. Spawning shortnose ciscoes have been collected from Lake Huron and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron since 1956, however, no individuals have been collected from these habitats since 1985. Shortnose ciscoes were not collected during surveys of the cisco fishery of Georgian Bay during the summer of 1992 and spring of 1993. The lack of captures in the last eight years coupled with captures of only lone individuals in the last 16 years suggests the species may be extinct in all of the Laurentian system. The life history traits examined for Lake Huron shortnose ciscoes were similar to the conditions recorded for Lake Michigan and Ontario shortnose ciscoes, although Lake Huron fish were smaller.

Increasing ocean temperatures reduce activity patterns of a large commercially important coral reef fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Johansen, J L; Messmer, V; Coker, D J; Hoey, A S; Pratchett, M S

2014-04-01

Large-bodied fish are critical for sustaining coral reef fisheries, but little is known about the vulnerability of these fish to global warming. This study examined the effects of elevated temperatures on the movement and activity patterns of the common coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Serranidae), which is an important fishery species in tropical Australia and throughout the Indo West-Pacific. Adult fish were collected from two locations on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (23°S and 14°S) and maintained at one of four temperatures (24, 27, 30, 33 °C). Following >4 weeks acclimation, the spontaneous swimming speeds and activity patterns of individuals were recorded over a period of 12 days. At 24-27 °C, spontaneous swimming speeds of common coral trout were 0.43-0.45 body lengths per second (bls(-1)), but dropped sharply to 0.29 bls(-1) at 30 °C and 0.25 bls(-1) at 33 °C. Concurrently, individuals spent 9.3-10.6% of their time resting motionless on the bottom at 24-27 °C, but this behaviour increased to 14.0% at 30 °C and 20.0% of the time at 33 °C (mean ± SE). The impact of temperature was greatest for smaller individuals (55 cm TL) were first affected by 30 °C and 33 °C, respectively. Importantly, there was some indication that populations can adapt to elevated temperature if presented with adequate time, as the high-latitude population decreased significantly in swimming speeds at both 30 °C and 33 °C, while the low-latitude population only showed significant reductions at 33 °C. Given that movement and activity patterns of large mobile species are directly related to prey encounter rates, ability to capture prey and avoid predators, any reductions in activity patterns are likely to reduce overall foraging and energy intake, limit the energy available for growth and reproduction, and affect the fitness and survival of individuals and populations. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Advancement in shampoo (a dermal care product): preparation methods, patents and commercial utility.

Science.gov (United States)

Deeksha; Malviya, Rishabha; Sharma, Pramod K

2014-01-01

Shampoo is a cleaning aid for hair and is the most evolving beauty products in the present scenario. Today's shampoo products are of great importance as they provide cleaning of hair with the benefits of conditioning, smoothing and good health of hair i.e. dandruff, dirt, grease and lice free hair. Various types of shampoos depending upon function, nature of ingredient, and their special effects are elaborated in this study. Generally shampoos are evaluated in terms of physical appearance, detergency, surface tension, foam quality, pH, viscosity, and percent of solid content, flow property, dirt dispersion, cleaning action, stability and wetting time. The attention should be paid at its patent portion which attracts towards itself as it provides wide knowledge related to shampoo. This article reviews the various aspects of shampoo in terms of preparation methods, various patents and commercial value.

The economic impacts of a submarine HVDC interconnection between Norway and Great Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doorman, Gerard L.; Frøystad, Dag Martin

2013-01-01

In the present paper we analyze the profitability of different HVDC interconnection alternatives between Norway and Great Britain for present and future scenarios. The analysis is done from a merchant and a social welfare perspective. The analyses include interconnections between Norway and Scotland and Southern Great Britain, respectively, as well as an alternative link to a future offshore wind farm. From a social welfare perspective the northern interconnection alternative is profitable under all sets of assumptions. The southern alternative is profitable under present conditions, but less than the northern alternative. The alternative link to the offshore wind park is not profitable, but this result is highly dependent on market conditions. From a merchant perspective none of the alternatives is profitable, clearly illustrating that leaving investments to commercial parties does not realize all projects that increase social welfare. - Highlights: • Profitability of interconnection between Norway and GB is analyzed using simulation. • The Northern alternative increases social welfare under all assumptions. • None of the alternatives is profitable from a merchant perspective. • A link to a prospective wind farm 200 km from the GB coast is not profitable. • Social welfare increasing infrastructure may not be built on commercial conditions

Commercialization Development of Crop Straw Gasification Technologies in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengfeng Zhang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Crop straw gasification technologies are the most promising biomass gasification technologies and have great potential to be further developed in China. However, the commercialization development of gasification technology in China is slow. In this paper, the technical reliability and practicability of crop straw gasification technologies, the economic feasibility of gas supply stations, the economic feasibility of crop straw gasification equipment manufacture enterprises and the social acceptability of crop straw gasification technologies are analyzed. The results show that presently both the atmospheric oxidation gasification technology and the carbonization pyrolysis gasification technology in China are mature and practical, and can provide fuel gas for households. However, there are still a series of problems associated with these technologies that need to be solved for the commercialization development, such as the high tar and CO content of the fuel gas. The economic feasibility of the gas supply stations is different in China. Parts of gas supply stations are unprofitable due to high initial investment, the low fuel gas price and the small numbers of consumers. In addition, the commercialization development of crop straw gasification equipment manufacture enterprises is hindered for the low market demand for gasification equipment which is related to the fund support from the government. The acceptance of the crop straw gasification technologies from both the government and the farmers in China may be a driving force of further commercialization development of the gasification technologies. Then, the crop straw gasification technologies in China have reached at the stage of pre-commercialization. At this stage, the gasification technologies are basically mature and have met many requirements of commercialization, however, some incentives are needed to encourage their further development.

Insect-resistant genetically modified rice in China: from research to commercialization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Mao; Shelton, Anthony; Ye, Gong-yin

2011-01-01

From the first insect-resistant genetically modified (IRGM) rice transformation in 1989 in China to October 2009 when the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued biosafety certificates for commercial production of two cry1Ab/Ac Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) lines, China made a great leap forward from IRGM rice basic research to potential commercialization of the world's first IRGM rice. Research has been conducted on developing IRGM rice, assessing its environmental and food safety impacts, and evaluating its socioeconomic consequences. Laboratory and field tests have confirmed that these two Bt rice lines can provide effective and economic control of the lepidopteran complex on rice with less risk to the environment than present practices. Commercializing these Bt plants, while developing other GM plants that address the broader complex of insects and other pests, will need to be done within a comprehensive integrated pest management program to ensure the food security of China and the world.

Succinic Acid: Technology Development and Commercialization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nhuan P. Nghiem

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Succinic acid is a precursor of many important, large-volume industrial chemicals and consumer products. It was once common knowledge that many ruminant microorganisms accumulated succinic acid under anaerobic conditions. However, it was not until the discovery of Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens at the Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI, which was capable of producing succinic acid up to about 50 g/L under optimum conditions, that the commercial feasibility of producing the compound by biological processes was realized. Other microbial strains capable of producing succinic acid to high final concentrations subsequently were isolated and engineered, followed by development of fermentation processes for their uses. Processes for recovery and purification of succinic acid from fermentation broths were simultaneously established along with new applications of succinic acid, e.g., production of biodegradable deicing compounds and solvents. Several technologies for the fermentation-based production of succinic acid and the subsequent conversion to useful products are currently commercialized. This review gives a summary of the development of microbial strains, their fermentation, and the importance of the down-stream recovery and purification efforts to suit various applications in the context of their current commercialization status for biologically derived succinic acid.

The use of stereolithographic hand held models for evaluation of congenital anomalies of the great arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Vranicar, Mark; Gregory, William; Douglas, William I; Di Sessa, Peter; Di Sessa, Thomas G

2008-01-01

Imaging anomalies of the great vessels has traditionally been accomplished using conventional biplane modalities as well as three-dimensional (3D) video displays. Our aim was to review the use of stereolithography to create 3D models to assess coarctation of the aorta and vascular rings. Twelve patients had high-resolution CT scans to evaluate anomalies of the great arteries (coarctation: 9, vascular ring: 3). Ages were 19 days to 29 years and weights were 3.3 to 139 kg. Digital dicom data from each scan were converted by a commercially available software package into a 3D digital image. The area of interest was selected and the image was exported to a 3D stereolithographic printer to create a 3D model. The models were then evaluated and the results compared to catheterization and surgical findings. All models accurately displayed the pathology investigated. All 3 of the vascular ring models correlated with surgical findings (double arch: 2, pulmonary sling: 1). Models of aortic coarctation allowed clear depictions of discrete narrowing as well as arch hypoplasia and tortuosity. Stereolithography can create realistic 3D models that accurately display aortic pathology and add important additional information, which may have implications regarding surgical and transcatheter interventions and may also be useful teaching tools for parents and students.

Mercury contamination in the Laurentian Great Lakes region: Introduction and overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiener, James G.; Evers, David C.; Gay, David A.; Morrison, Heather A.; Williams, Kathryn A.

2012-01-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes region of North America contains substantial aquatic resources and mercury-contaminated landscapes, fish, and wildlife. This special issue emanated from a bi-national synthesis of data from monitoring programs and case studies of mercury in the region, here defined as including the Great Lakes, the eight U.S. states bordering the Great Lakes, the province of Ontario, and Lake Champlain. We provide a retrospective overview of the regional mercury problem and summarize new findings from the synthesis papers and case studies that follow. Papers in this issue examine the chronology of mercury accumulation in lakes, the importance of wet and dry atmospheric deposition and evasion to regional mercury budgets, the influence of land–water linkages on mercury contamination of surface waters, the bioaccumulation of methylmercury in aquatic foods webs; and ecological and health risks associated with methylmercury in a regionally important prey fish. - Highlights: ► We describe a bi-national synthesis of Hg data from the Great Lakes region. ► Emission controls have reduced Hg inputs to inland lakes about 20% since the 1980s. ► Wet and dry deposition and evasion are regionally important atmospheric Hg fluxes. ► Land use affects Hg inputs to surface waters and bioaccumulation of methylmercury. ► In some waters, Hg levels in yellow perch pose risks to fish, wildlife, and humans. - A synthesis of Hg data from the Great Lakes region reveals the chronology of contamination; the importance of wet and dry deposition and evasion to Hg budgets; the influence of land–water linkages; bioaccumulation in aquatic foods webs; and risks associated with Hg in an important prey fish.

Import-Export Business Plan

OpenAIRE

Asad, Muhammad

2014-01-01

Import export businesses, also known as international trading, are one of the hottest commercial trends of this decade. Since the owner of an import export enterprise, can work as a distributor by focusing on exporting and importing goods and services that cannot be obtained on national soil. With a rapidly growing population of about 150 million, Pakistan is a major country, recognized by the international community, and is one of the most important actors in the Islamic world. Based on its ...

Adaptation of commercial microscopes for advanced imaging applications

Science.gov (United States)

Brideau, Craig; Poon, Kelvin; Stys, Peter

2015-03-01

Today's commercially available microscopes offer a wide array of options to accommodate common imaging experiments. Occasionally, an experimental goal will require an unusual light source, filter, or even irregular sample that is not compatible with existing equipment. In these situations the ability to modify an existing microscopy platform with custom accessories can greatly extend its utility and allow for experiments not possible with stock equipment. Light source conditioning/manipulation such as polarization, beam diameter or even custom source filtering can easily be added with bulk components. Custom and after-market detectors can be added to external ports using optical construction hardware and adapters. This paper will present various examples of modifications carried out on commercial microscopes to address both atypical imaging modalities and research needs. Violet and near-ultraviolet source adaptation, custom detection filtering, and laser beam conditioning and control modifications will be demonstrated. The availability of basic `building block' parts will be discussed with respect to user safety, construction strategies, and ease of use.

Survey of quality indicators in commercial dehydrated fruits.

Science.gov (United States)

Megías-Pérez, Roberto; Gamboa-Santos, Juliana; Soria, Ana Cristina; Villamiel, Mar; Montilla, Antonia

2014-05-01

Physical and chemical quality parameters (dry matter, aw, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin C, 2-furoylmethyl amino acids, rehydration ratio and leaching loss) have been determined in 30 commercial dehydrated fruits (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, apple, grapefruit, mango, kiwifruit, pineapple, melon, coconut, banana and papaya). For comparison purposes, strawberry samples processed in the laboratory by freeze-drying and by convective drying were used as control samples. Overall quality of dehydrated fruits seemed to be greatly dependent on processing conditions and, in a cluster analysis, samples which were presumably subjected to osmotic dehydration were separated from the rest of fruits. These samples presented the lowest concentration of vitamin C and the highest evolution of Maillard reaction, as evidenced by its high concentration of 2-furoylmethyl amino acids. This is the first study on the usefulness of this combination of chemical and physical indicators to assess the overall quality of commercial dehydrated fruits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Commercial Aspect of Research Reactor Fuel Element Production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susanto, B.G; Suripto, A

1998-01-01

Several aspects affecting the commercialization of the Research Reactor Fuel Element Production Installation (RR FEPI) under a BUMN (state-owned company)have been studied. The break event point (BEP) value based on total production cost used is greatly depending upon the unit selling price of the fuel element. At a selling price of USD 43,500/fuel element, the results of analysis shows that the BEP will be reached at 51% of minimum available capacity. At a selling price of US$ 43.500/fuel element the total income (after tax) for 7 years ahead is US $ 4.620.191,- The net present value in this study has a positive value is equal to US $ 2.827.527,- the internal rate of return will be 18% which is higher than normal the bank interest rare (in US dollar) at this time. It is concluded therefore that the nuclear research reactor fuel element produced by state-owned company BUMN has a good prospect to be sold commercially

Exchange Rate Effects on International Commercial Trade Competitiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel Bostan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study is meant to be an evaluation sustained by theoretical and empirical considerations of the exchange rate impact on international commercial trade competitiveness. In this respect, the study aims to find how the exchange rate influences Romanian competitiveness through assessing the effects generated on exports and imports. The main purpose of the study is to assess the complex action of the exchange rate on international commercial trade competitiveness in contemporaneity and the connections between these variables. The empirical part contains a regression analysis where exports and imports are dependent variables influenced by a series of determinants.

Commercial lumber

Science.gov (United States)

Kent A. McDonald; David E. Kretschmann

1999-01-01

In a broad sense, commercial lumber is any lumber that is bought or sold in the normal channels of commerce. Commercial lumber may be found in a variety of forms, species, and types, and in various commercial establishments, both wholesale and retail. Most commercial lumber is graded by standardized rules that make purchasing more or less uniform throughout the country...

Convective Performance of Nanofluids in Commercial Electronics Cooling Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, N.A.; Walker, D.G.

2010-01-01

Nanofluids are stable engineered colloidal suspensions of a small fraction of nanoparticles in a base fluid. Nanofluids have shown great promise as heat transfer fluids over typically used base fluids and fluids with micron sized particles. Suspensions with micron sized particles are known to settle rapidly and cause clogging and damage to the surfaces of pumping and flow equipment. These problems are dramatically reduced in nanofluids. In the current work we investigate the performance of different volume loadings of water-based alumina nanofluids in a commercially available electronics cooling system. The commercially available system is a water block used for liquid cooling of a computational processing unit. The size of the nanoparticles in the study is 20-30 nm. Results show an enhancement in convective heat transfer due to the addition of nanoparticles in the commercial cooling system with volume loadings of nanoparticles up to 1.5% by volume. The enhancement in the convective performance observed is similar to what has been reported in well controlled and understood systems and is commensurate with bulk models. The current nanoparticle suspensions showed visible signs of settling which varied from hours to weeks depending on the size of the particles used.

19 CFR 113.67 - Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond... SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY CUSTOMS BONDS Customs Bond Conditions § 113.67 Commercial gauger and commercial laboratory bond conditions. Commercial Gauger Bond Conditions (a) Commercial gauger bond...

New Phenomenon of Commercial Corruption

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Nowakowski

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This article is about increase corruption in private sector as commercial corruption. This establishes a wide understanding of that phenomenon in social science and law. Corruption and bribery are types of fraud and are linked with the private sector too. Although certain types of corruption will decline as the private sector grows and consolidates, other new types involving private sector firms may increase. The commercial corruption can be described as relation inside of an organization and as relation between firms. Corruption in private sector in Poland is connected with social distrust and specific organizational culture, too. Commercial corruption is a familiar feature of their societies and has been the focus of law enforcement and institutional reform. Many others problems do not change the fact that such corruption is a new important problem and causes lost of competitiveness and creates a substitute for fair market and competition in Polish economy and abroad.

Advances in commercial application of gamma radiation in tropical fruits at Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Sabato, S. F.; Silva, J. M.; Cruz, J. N.; Broisler, P. O.; Rela, P. R.; Salmieri, S.; Lacroix, M.

2009-07-01

All regions of Brazil are potential areas for growing tropical fruits. As this country is already a great producer and exporter of tropical fruits, ionizing radiation has been the subject of studies in many commodities. An important project has been carried out to increase the commercial use of gamma radiation in our country. Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN)-CNEN/SP together with field producers in northeast region and partners like International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), CIC, Empresa Brasileira Pesquisa na Agricultura (EMBRAPA) joined to demonstrate this technology, its application and commercial feasibility. The objective of this study is to show advances in feasibility demonstrate the quality of the irradiated fruits in an international consignment from Brazil to Canada. In this work, Tommy Atkins mangoes harvested in northeast region of Brazil were sent to Canada. The fruits were treated in a gamma irradiation facility at doses 0.4 and 1.0 kGy. The control group was submitted to hydrothermal treatment (46 °C for 110 min). The fruits were stored at 11 °C for 10 days until the international transportation and kept at an environmental condition (22 °C) for 12 days, where their physical-chemical and sensorial properties were evaluated. The financial part of the feasibility study covers the scope of the investment, including the net working capital and production costs.

Advances in commercial application of gamma radiation in tropical fruits at Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabato, S.F.; Silva, J.M.; Cruz, J.N.; Broisler, P.O.; Rela, P.R.; Salmieri, S.; Lacroix, M.

2009-01-01

All regions of Brazil are potential areas for growing tropical fruits. As this country is already a great producer and exporter of tropical fruits, ionizing radiation has been the subject of studies in many commodities. An important project has been carried out to increase the commercial use of gamma radiation in our country. Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN)-CNEN/SP together with field producers in northeast region and partners like International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), CIC, Empresa Brasileira Pesquisa na Agricultura (EMBRAPA) joined to demonstrate this technology, its application and commercial feasibility. The objective of this study is to show advances in feasibility demonstrate the quality of the irradiated fruits in an international consignment from Brazil to Canada. In this work, Tommy Atkins mangoes harvested in northeast region of Brazil were sent to Canada. The fruits were treated in a gamma irradiation facility at doses 0.4 and 1.0 kGy. The control group was submitted to hydrothermal treatment (46 o C for 110 min). The fruits were stored at 11 o C for 10 days until the international transportation and kept at an environmental condition (22 o C) for 12 days, where their physical-chemical and sensorial properties were evaluated. The financial part of the feasibility study covers the scope of the investment, including the net working capital and production costs.

Bonneville Power Administration`s Commercial Sector Conservation Market.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gordan, Frederick M. [Pacific Energy Associates, Inc. (United States)

1992-11-10

Bonneville has, as part of its resource plan, accepted targets for commercial conservation which are quite ambitious. To meet these targets, Bonneville will need to acquire as much cost-effective conservation as possible over the next twelve years. With this in mind, this document explores the relative importance of different commercial market segments and the types of assistance each market needs to install as many cost-effective conservation measures in as many buildings as possible. This document reviews Bonneville`s marketing environment and position, and suggests goals for commercial sector conservation marketing at Bonneville. Then it presents a broad market segmentation and series of additional demographic analyses. These analyses assess what groups of consumers Bonneville must reach to achieve most of the commercial conservation potential and what is needed to reach them. A final section reviews the success of Bonneville programs at reaching various markets. The market segmentation identifies different types of consumers and opportunities which would require distinct program approaches. Four large market segments are identified that have distinct program needs. Then four ``building life-cycle events`` are identified which provide important conservation opportunities and also require distinct program services. This creates a matrix of 16 cells which delineate distinct needs for program marketing. Each of the four key market segments manages at least 20% of the Region`s commercial floorspace.

Commercial negotiations in the foundry engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Wojtynek

2008-10-01

Full Text Available The article presents the process of commercial negotiations paying attention to the negotiation itself as well as to its basic elements. The specificity of the Polish foundries’ main negotiation partners from The European Union, who are the deliverers of diverse casting range, was specified. The most important cultural factors, which determine the process of negotiations conducted by the representatives of various cultural groups, were analysed. The understanding of cultural differences and adapting to them while negotiating are important factors which constitute the parties’ negotiation process. The meaning of price in the commercial negotiation process was described. The elements of sale process and the factors which influence the casts price were enumerated. What is more, the main methods of determining price were characterized. The essential problems connected with conducting the price negotiations in foundries were indicated.

Implementation of a low-cost, commercial orbit determination system

Science.gov (United States)

Corrigan, Jim

1994-01-01

Traditional satellite and launch control systems have consisted of custom solutions requiring significant development and maintenance costs. These systems have typically been designed to support specific program requirements and are expensive to modify and augment after delivery. The expanding role of space in today's marketplace combined with the increased sophistication and capabilities of modern satellites has created a need for more efficient, lower cost solutions to complete command and control systems. Recent technical advances have resulted in commercial-off-the-shelf products which greatly reduce the complete life-cycle costs associated with satellite launch and control system procurements. System integrators and spacecraft operators have, however, been slow to integrate these commercial based solutions into a comprehensive command and control system. This is due, in part, to a resistance to change and the fact that many available products are unable to effectively communicate with other commercial products. The United States Air Force, responsible for the health and safety of over 84 satellites via its Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), has embarked on an initiative to prove that commercial products can be used effectively to form a comprehensive command and control system. The initial version of this system is being installed at the Air Force's Center for Research Support (CERES) located at the National Test Facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The first stage of this initiative involved the identification of commercial products capable of satisfying each functional element of a command and control system. A significant requirement in this product selection criteria was flexibility and ability to integrate with other available commercial products. This paper discusses the functions and capabilities of the product selected to provide orbit determination functions for this comprehensive command and control system.

Commercial Diplomats as corporate entrepreneurs: explaining role behavior from an institutional perspective.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruel, Hubertus Johannes Maria; Visser, R.

2012-01-01

This article presents the results of an empirical study on the roles of commercial diplomats at foreign posts. As commercial diplomacy is just starting to grow in importance in a globalising world, the actual work and activities of commercial diplomats at foreign posts have hardly been researched.

Biomass availability and commercialization trend analysis in China. A marketing study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-10-01

Among the different energy sources utilized in China, biomass energy takes a very important part. The importance of the biomass energy can be proved particularly in the rural area. In the period 1991 to 1995 the average consumption of bio-energy represented about 40% of the total rural energy consumption and about 70% of rural household energy consumption. The annual bio-energy consumption is more than 220 Mtce. According to prediction, all kinds of biomass fuels produced by new technology will take 40% of the total energy consumption all over the world at the middle of next century. In future decades, R and D for new technologies of producing all kinds of biomass energies as substitute fuels will be extremely important to China. The biomass energy resources in China mainly come from 4 sources: (1)The residues from agriculture and forestry processing such us straw, stalk, wood residues, high concentrated organic effluents from the agriculture products processing, etc.; (2) Firewood; (3) Human and animal excreta; and (4) Urban household solid wastes. The utilization technology of biomass energy can be generally classified as (a) The direct burn technology, which refers the method and equipment using crop straws and firewood as fuels through direct burning; (b) Physical conversion technology, which includes gasification technology by physical method - mainly heating and relevant equipment; (c) Biological conversion technology, which refers technology and equipment converting and gasifying the biomass through biological method - mainly anaerobic biodegradation; (d) Liquefaction technology; and (e) Conversion technology for solid waste. Chinese government has been giving great attention to the development and utilization of biomass energy. However, at present the bio-energy as one of the most important energy resources, its development and commercialized utilization are just at beginning stage. The basic conditions composing a market and commercialization environment

TechTracS: NASA's commercial technology management system

Science.gov (United States)

Barquinero, Kevin; Cannon, Douglas

1996-03-01

The Commercial Technology Mission is a primary NASA mission, comparable in importance to those in aeronautics and space. This paper will discuss TechTracS, NASA Commercial Technology Management System that has been put into place in FY 1995 to implement this mission. This system is designed to identify and capture the NASA technologies which have commercial potential into an off-the-shelf database application, and then track the technologies' progress in realizing the commercial potential through collaborations with industry. The management system consists of four stages. The first is to develop an inventory database of the agency's entire technology portfolio and assess it for relevance to the commercial marketplace. Those technologies that are identified as having commercial potential will then be actively marketed to appropriate industries—this is the second stage. The third stage is when a NASA-industry partnership is entered into for the purposes of commercializing the technology. The final stage is to track the technology's success or failure in the marketplace. The collection of this information in TechTracS enables metrics evaluation and can accelerate the establishment on direct contacts between and NASA technologist and an industry technologist. This connection is the beginning of the technology commercialization process.

Great plains regional climate assessment technical report

Science.gov (United States)

The Great Plains region (GP) plays important role in providing food and energy to the economy of the United States. Multiple climatic and non-climatic stressors put multiple sectors, livelihoods and communities at risk, including agriculture, water, ecosystems and rural and tribal communities. The G...

Development of seismic analysis model for HTGR core on commercial FEM code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuji, Nobumasa; Ohashi, Kazutaka

2015-01-01

The aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake prods to revise the design basis earthquake intensity severely. In aseismic design of block-type HTGR, the securement of structural integrity of core blocks and other structures which are made of graphite become more important. For the aseismic design of block-type HTGR, it is necessary to predict the motion of core blocks which are collided with adjacent blocks. Some seismic analysis codes have been developed in 1970s, but these codes are special purpose-built codes and have poor collaboration with other structural analysis code. We develop the vertical 2 dimensional analytical model on multi-purpose commercial FEM code, which take into account the multiple impacts and friction between block interfaces and rocking motion on contact with dowel pins of the HTGR core by using contact elements. This model is verified by comparison with the experimental results of 12 column vertical slice vibration test. (author)

Organophilization and characterization of commercial bentonite clays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunha, B.B. da; Lima, J.C.C.; Alves, A.M.; Araujo, E.M.; Melo, T.J.A. de

2012-01-01

Bentonite clay is a plastic changes resulting from volcanic ash, consisting mostly of montmorillonite. The state of Paraiba is a major source of bentonite clay from Brazil, where the main oil fields are located in Boa Vista and represents the largest national production of raw and beneficiated bentonite. Aimed at the commercial value of this type of clay and its high applicability in the polls, this article aims to make a comparison between two kinds of clay, a national (Brasgel) and other imported (Cloisite) from organophilization of two commercial bentonite, ionic surfactant with Praepagem WB, and characterize them by XRD, FTIR and TG / DTG. We observe that despite getting inferior properties, the clay presents national values very similar to those presented by imported clay. (author)

How valid are commercially available medical simulators?

Science.gov (United States)

Stunt, JJ; Wulms, PH; Kerkhoffs, GM; Dankelman, J; van Dijk, CN; Tuijthof, GJM

2014-01-01

Background Since simulators offer important advantages, they are increasingly used in medical education and medical skills training that require physical actions. A wide variety of simulators have become commercially available. It is of high importance that evidence is provided that training on these simulators can actually improve clinical performance on live patients. Therefore, the aim of this review is to determine the availability of different types of simulators and the evidence of their validation, to offer insight regarding which simulators are suitable to use in the clinical setting as a training modality. Summary Four hundred and thirty-three commercially available simulators were found, from which 405 (94%) were physical models. One hundred and thirty validation studies evaluated 35 (8%) commercially available medical simulators for levels of validity ranging from face to predictive validity. Solely simulators that are used for surgical skills training were validated for the highest validity level (predictive validity). Twenty-four (37%) simulators that give objective feedback had been validated. Studies that tested more powerful levels of validity (concurrent and predictive validity) were methodologically stronger than studies that tested more elementary levels of validity (face, content, and construct validity). Conclusion Ninety-three point five percent of the commercially available simulators are not known to be tested for validity. Although the importance of (a high level of) validation depends on the difficulty level of skills training and possible consequences when skills are insufficient, it is advisable for medical professionals, trainees, medical educators, and companies who manufacture medical simulators to critically judge the available medical simulators for proper validation. This way adequate, safe, and affordable medical psychomotor skills training can be achieved. PMID:25342926

Affymetrix SNP array data for wild Dutch great tits (Parus major)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Silva, Da Vinicius; Laine, Veronika N.; Bosse, M.; Oers, C.H.J.; Dibbits, B.W.; Visser, M.E.; Crooijmans, R.P.M.A.; Groenen, M.

2018-01-01

The great tit is a widely studied passerine bird species in ecology that, in the past decades, has provided important insights into speciation, phenology, behavior and microevolution. After completion of the great tit genome sequence, a customized high density 650k SNP array was developed enabling

Energy and water in the Great Lakes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll

2011-11-01

The nexus between thermoelectric power production and water use is not uniform across the U.S., but rather differs according to regional physiography, demography, power plant fleet composition, and the transmission network. That is, in some regions water demand for thermoelectric production is relatively small while in other regions it represents the dominate use. The later is the case for the Great Lakes region, which has important implications for the water resources and aquatic ecology of the Great Lakes watershed. This is today, but what about the future? Projected demographic trends, shifting lifestyles, and economic growth coupled with the threat of global climate change and mounting pressure for greater U.S. energy security could have profound effects on the region's energy future. Planning for such an uncertain future is further complicated by the fact that energy and environmental planning and regulatory decisionmaking is largely bifurcated in the region, with environmental and water resource concerns generally taken into account after new energy facilities and technologies have been proposed, or practices are already in place. Based on these confounding needs, the objective of this effort is to develop Great Lakes-specific methods and tools to integrate energy and water resource planning and thereby support the dual goals of smarter energy planning and development, and protection of Great Lakes water resources. Guiding policies for this planning are the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The desired outcome of integrated energy-water-aquatic resource planning is a more sustainable regional energy mix for the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.

Occurrence of infectious laryngotracheitis outbreaks in commercial layer hens detected by ELISA.

Science.gov (United States)

Aras, Zeki; Yavuz, Orhan; Sanioğlu Gölen, Gökçenur

2018-02-09

Infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) is an acute respiratory disease of chickens and a cause of great economic loss in commercial layers. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of ILT in the field outbreaks and to compare the characteristics of ILT-infected and free flocks of commercial layers. A total of 625 blood serum samples were collected from 25 different layer flocks. The presence of antibodies against infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) in each sample was determined by ELISA. Of the 625 serum samples, 266 (42.56%) were found to be positive for ILTV antibodies. A total of 16 (64%) flocks were detected ILT positive by ELISA method. The mortality of infected flocks was statistically higher (P  0.05) than hens in free flocks. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated a high prevalence of ILT infection in the commercial layer flocks in Konya region, Turkey. In outbreaks, ILT significantly increased the mortality rate and decreased the average live weight in layer hens.

Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Claramunt, Randall M.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Clapp, David; Taylor, William W.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Léonard, Nancy J.

2012-01-01

Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) are a valuable resource, both within their native range in the North Pacific rim and in the Great Lakes basin. Understanding their value from a biological and economic perspective in the Great Lakes, however, requires an understanding of changes in the ecosystem and of management actions that have been taken to promote system stability, integrity, and sustainable fisheries. Pacific salmonine introductions to the Great Lakes are comprised mainly of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead and have accounted for 421, 177, and 247 million fish, respectively, stocked during 1966-2007. Stocking of Pacific salmonines has been effective in substantially reducing exotic prey fish abundances in several of the Great Lakes (e.g., lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario). The goal of our evaluation was to highlight differences in management strategies and perspectives across the basin, and to evaluate policies for Pacific salmonine management in the Great Lakes. Currently, a potential conflict exists between Pacific salmonine management and native fish rehabilitation goals because of the desire to sustain recreational fisheries and to develop self-sustaining populations of stocked Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes. We provide evidence that suggests Pacific salmonines have not only become naturalized to the food webs of the Great Lakes, but that their populations (specifically Chinook salmon) may be fluctuating in concert with specific prey (i.e., alewives) whose populations are changing relative to environmental conditions and ecosystem disturbances. Remaining questions, however, are whether or not “natural” fluctuations in predator and prey provide enough “stability” in the Great Lakes food webs, and even more importantly, would a choice by managers to attempt to reduce the severity of predator-prey oscillations be antagonistic to native fish restoration efforts. We argue that, on each of the Great Lakes, managers are pursuing

Classification and coding of commercial fishing injuries by work processes: an experience in the Danish fresh market fishing industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Olaf Chresten; Stage, Søren; Noer, Preben

2005-01-01

BACKGROUND: Work-related injuries in commercial fishing are of concern internationally. To better identify the causes of injury, this study coded occupational injuries by working processes in commercial fishing for fresh market fish. METHODS: A classification system of the work processes was deve......BACKGROUND: Work-related injuries in commercial fishing are of concern internationally. To better identify the causes of injury, this study coded occupational injuries by working processes in commercial fishing for fresh market fish. METHODS: A classification system of the work processes...... to working with the gear and nets vary greatly in the different fishing methods. Coding of the injuries to the specific working processes allows for targeted prevention efforts....

Commercialization of JPL Virtual Reality calibration and redundant manipulator control technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Won S.; Seraji, Homayoun; Fiorini, Paolo; Brown, Robert; Christensen, Brian; Beale, Chris; Karlen, James; Eismann, Paul

1994-01-01

Within NASA's recent thrust for industrial collaboration, JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) has recently established two technology cooperation agreements in the robotics area: one on virtual reality (VR) calibration with Deneb Robotics, Inc., and the other on redundant manipulator control with Robotics Research Corporation (RRC). These technology transfer cooperation tasks will enable both Deneb and RRC to commercialize enhanced versions of their products that will greatly benefit both space and terrestrial telerobotic applications.

Space Commercialization

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Gary L.

2011-01-01

A robust and competitive commercial space sector is vital to continued progress in space. The United States is committed to encouraging and facilitating the growth of a U.S. commercial space sector that supports U.S. needs, is globally competitive, and advances U.S. leadership in the generation of new markets and innovation-driven entrepreneurship. Energize competitive domestic industries to participate in global markets and advance the development of: satellite manufacturing; satellite-based services; space launch; terrestrial applications; and increased entrepreneurship. Purchase and use commercial space capabilities and services to the maximum practical extent Actively explore the use of inventive, nontraditional arrangements for acquiring commercial space goods and services to meet United States Government requirements, including measures such as public-private partnerships, . Refrain from conducting United States Government space activities that preclude, discourage, or compete with U.S. commercial space activities. Pursue potential opportunities for transferring routine, operational space functions to the commercial space sector where beneficial and cost-effective.

Natural radionuclide distribution in Brazilian commercial granites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anjos, R.M.; Veiga, R.; Soares, T.; Santos, A.M.A.; Aguiar, J.G.; Frasca, M.H.B.O.; Brage, J.A.P.; Uzeda, D.; Mangia, L.; Facure, A.; Mosquera, B.; Carvalho, C.; Gomes, P.R.S.

2005-01-01

The dimension stones sector in Brazil produces several varieties of granites, marbles, slates and basalts. More than half of this production corresponds to around 200 different commercial types of granites with specific names, geographical and geological origins and mineral compositions. The well-known natural radioactivity present in rocks, where high radiation levels are associated with igneous rocks such as granite, can be used to determine their general petrologic features. This subject is important in environmental radiological protection, since granites are widely used as building and ornamental stones. In this paper, it is applied to correlate the petrographic characteristics of commercial granites with their corresponding dose rates for natural radioactivity. Amounts of thorium, uranium and potassium concentrations have been reported in several Brazilian commercial granite samples

Great gray owls (Strix nebulosa) in Yosemite National Park: on the importance of food, forest structure, and human disturbance

Science.gov (United States)

van Riper, Charles; Fontaine, Joseph J.; van Wagtendonk, Jan W.

2013-01-01

We studied great gray owls (Strix nebulosa Forster) in Yosemite National Park, California, measuring variables that could potentially influence patterns of occurrence and conservation of this stateendangered species. We found that owl presence was closely tied to habitat (red fir (Abies magnified A. Murray) and the abundance of meadows), prey, and snags across the landscape. We also found that indicators of human recreational activities negatively influenced owl distribution and habitat use. Great gray owls appear to prefer mid-elevation red fir forest with meadows that are drier and more productive in terms of small mammal populations. That these areas also have the highest human activity presents a paradox, both for individual owls and for the future conservation and management of this California endangered species. The extent to which human recreation in natural areas affects animal behavior, species distribution, and productivity is a growing issue in natural area management. We present information that will allow land managers to better understand how existing natural resources, coupled with human recreation, influence the distribution and habitat use of the great gray owl.

Commercializing research: the leadership challenges for the 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardner, P.L.; Verma, V.

2000-06-01

R and D today is a large industry that consumes vast amounts of public and private funds in most countries. It is becoming increasingly evident that technology transfer and the commercialization of research done at universities and government funded research laboratories must be a key element of their comprehensive strategic plan. It involves using a verified and organized knowledge and research to develop commercially viable products. It requires a visionary leader with effective project management skills to manage and motivate a team of scientists and engineers, otherwise even a top rated researcher will enervate and wither within the walls of research laboratories. This paper will highlight the importance, challenges and techniques of commercializing technology from accelerator research laboratories. It will provide an overview of the requirements of scientific leadership for both commercialization of research and technology, together with some case studies based on the experience at TRIUMF - Canada's national sub-atomic research facility in Vancouver. TRIUMF's experience with both research and commercial developments involving innovative technologies, along with some of the important leadership and management factors that lead to successful projects will be described. (author)

Commercializing research: the leadership challenges for the 21st century

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gardner, P.L.; Verma, V

2000-06-01

R and D today is a large industry that consumes vast amounts of public and private funds in most countries. It is becoming increasingly evident that technology transfer and the commercialization of research done at universities and government funded research laboratories must be a key element of their comprehensive strategic plan. It involves using a verified and organized knowledge and research to develop commercially viable products. It requires a visionary leader with effective project management skills to manage and motivate a team of scientists and engineers, otherwise even a top rated researcher will enervate and wither within the walls of research laboratories. This paper will highlight the importance, challenges and techniques of commercializing technology from accelerator research laboratories. It will provide an overview of the requirements of scientific leadership for both commercialization of research and technology, together with some case studies based on the experience at TRIUMF - Canada's national sub-atomic research facility in Vancouver. TRIUMF's experience with both research and commercial developments involving innovative technologies, along with some of the important leadership and management factors that lead to successful projects will be described. (author)

Impact of post-event avoidance behavior on commercial facilities sector venues-literature review.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samsa, M. E.; Baldwin, T. E.; Berry, M. S.; Guzowski, L. B.; Martinez-Moyano, I.; Nieves, A. L.; Ramarasad, A. (Decision and Information Sciences)

2011-03-24

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), focused a great deal of interest and concern on how individual and social perceptions of risk change behavior and subsequently affect commercial sector venues. Argonne conducted a review of the literature to identify studies that quantify the direct and indirect economic consequences of avoidance behaviors that result from terrorist attacks. Despite a growing amount of literature addressing terrorism impacts, relatively little is known about the causal relationships between risk perception, human avoidance behaviors, and the economic effects on commercial venues. Nevertheless, the technical and academic literature does provide some evidence, both directly and by inference, of the level and duration of post-event avoidance behaviors on commercial venues. Key findings are summarized in this Executive Summary. Also included as an appendix is a more detailed summary table of literature findings reproduced from the full report.

Commercialization is Required for Sustainable Space Exploration and Development

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Gary L.; Olson, John M.

2009-01-01

The U.S. Space Exploration policy outlines an exciting new direction in space for human and robotic exploration and development beyond low Earth orbit. Pressed by this new visionary guidance, human civilization will be able to methodically build capabilities to move off Earth and into the solar system in a step-by-step manner, gradually increasing the capability for humans to stay longer in space and move further away from Earth. The new plans call for an implementation that would create an affordable and sustainable program in order to span over generations of explorers, each new generation pushing back the boundaries and building on the foundations laid by the earlier. To create a sustainable program it is important to enable and encourage the development of a selfsupporting commercial space industry leveraging both traditional and non-traditional segments of the industrial base. Governments will not be able to open the space frontier on their own because their goals change over relatively short timescales and because the large costs associated with human spaceflight cannot be sustained. A strong space development industrial sector is needed that can one day support the needs of commercial space enterprises as well as provide capabilities that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other national space agencies can buy to achieve their exploration goals. This new industrial space sector will someday provide fundamental capabilities like communications, power, logistics, and even cargo and human space transportation, just as commercial companies are able to provide these services on Earth today. To help develop and bolster this new space industrial sector, NASA and other national space agencies can enable and facilitate it in many ways, including reducing risk by developing important technologies necessary for commercialization of space, and as a paying customer, partner, or anchor tenant. This transition from all or mostly government

Research on Memetic Phenomena in Commercial Advertisements

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张丽

2015-01-01

Meme plays an important role in the development of advertisement as a unit of culture.Its replication and transmission provide an effective means for creating advertisements and a new way for us to analyze advertising language.Two ways including memetic genotype and memetic phenotype for memes to be replicated and transmitted in the advertising language are analyzed.Then,how to successfully create commercial advertisements is explored.Finally,it is concluded that the concise,familiar,popular and original memes can contribute to successful commercial advertisements.

CAE Analysis of Secondary Shaft Systems in Great Five-axis Turning-Milling Complex CNC Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Chiang Hong

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The commercial computer aided engineering (CAE software is used to analyze the linear-static construction, stress and deformation for the secondary shaft systems in great five-axis turning-milling complex computer numerical control (CNC machine. It is convenient and always only three dimensional (3D graphic parts needed firstly prepared and further more detail used for the commercial CAE. It is desirable to predict a deformed position for the cut tool under external pressure loads in the working process of CNC machine. The linear results for static analysis of stresses, displacements in corresponding to the screw shaft locates at top, medium and bottom positions of the secondary shaft systems are obtained by using the simulation module of SOLIDWORKS®.

Regression Tree-Based Methodology for Customizing Building Energy Benchmarks to Individual Commercial Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Kaskhedikar, Apoorva Prakash

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, commercial buildings represent about 40% of the United State's energy consumption of which office buildings consume a major portion. Gauging the extent to which an individual building consumes energy in excess of its peers is the first step in initiating energy efficiency improvement. Energy Benchmarking offers initial building energy performance assessment without rigorous evaluation. Energy benchmarking tools based on the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) database are investigated in this thesis. This study proposes a new benchmarking methodology based on decision trees, where a relationship between the energy use intensities (EUI) and building parameters (continuous and categorical) is developed for different building types. This methodology was applied to medium office and school building types contained in the CBECS database. The Random Forest technique was used to find the most influential parameters that impact building energy use intensities. Subsequently, correlations which were significant were identified between EUIs and CBECS variables. Other than floor area, some of the important variables were number of workers, location, number of PCs and main cooling equipment. The coefficient of variation was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the new model. The customization technique proposed in this thesis was compared with another benchmarking model that is widely used by building owners and designers namely, the ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager. This tool relies on the standard Linear Regression methods which is only able to handle continuous variables. The model proposed uses data mining technique and was found to perform slightly better than the Portfolio Manager. The broader impacts of the new benchmarking methodology proposed is that it allows for identifying important categorical variables, and then incorporating them in a local, as against a global, model framework for EUI

Southern Great Plains Safety Orientation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schatz, John

2014-05-01

Welcome to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site is managed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). It is very important that all visitors comply with all DOE and ANL safety requirements, as well as those of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Fire Protection Association, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and with other requirements as applicable.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Great Lakes Mussel Watch(2009-2014)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Following the inception of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to address the significant environmental issues plaguing the Great Lakes region, the...

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP): watch the great toes!

Science.gov (United States)

Kartal-Kaess, Mutlu; Shore, Eileen M; Xu, Meiqi; Schwering, Ludwig; Uhl, Markus; Korinthenberg, Rudolf; Niemeyer, Charlotte; Kaplan, Frederick S; Lauten, Melchior

2010-11-01

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disorder and the most disabling condition of heterotopic (extraskeletal) ossification in humans. Extraskeletal bone formation associated with inflammation preceding the osseous conversion usually begins in the first decade, predominantly in the head, neck, and shoulders. All patients have malformed great toes. Most patients have a spontaneous mutation of the ACVR1 gene. We report a 17-year-old girl with malformed great toes who had her first episode of heterotopic ossification and impaired mobility of the left hip at the age of 13 years. No inflammatory fibroproliferative masses preceded the onset of heterotopic ossification. Radiographic studies demonstrated myositis ossificans, but failure to associate the great toe malformation with heterotopic ossification led to a failure to diagnose FOP. She underwent repeated and unnecessary operative procedures to remove a recurrent lesion. FOP was finally suspected when the great toe malformation was correlated with the trauma-induced heterotopic ossification. Genetic analysis confirmed the presence of the classic FOP mutation (ACVR1 c.617G>A; R206H). This case highlights the importance of examining the great toes in anyone with heterotopic ossification. The association of malformations of the great toe with heterotopic ossification in all cases of classic FOP will lead to prompt clinical diagnosis and the prevention of iatrogenic harm.

PRELIMINARY CONTRIBUTION TO THE CHARACTERIZATION OF COMMERCIAL UNIFLORAL HONEY SAMPLES BY MELISSOPALYNOLOGY ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta IANOVICI

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Melissopalynology (pollen analysis of honey is an indispensable method to authenticate honey origin and characteristics. It is very effective to determine and control the geographical origin of honeys and it also provides information about other important quality aspects. Melissopalynologists are challenged not only to identify the pollen found in honey but also decide what to do with the presence of pollen grains that are represented in the honey spectra. Pollen analyses of honey can also determine important information about honeybees such as foraging ecology, habitat and vegetation visited, changes in food sources and habitat composition. The advantages of a pollen analysis is that all, or most, nectar sources involved are recognised, and if quantitative data are available, their relationship to each component, or to the dominant source, can be determined. Pollen spectra gave consistent results for the same type of honey from different areas. The large variety of meliferous sources (223 enable in Romania to produce characteristic type of honeys. The interest in the production of unifloral honeys is a higher consumer preference for some honey varieties leading to a commercial interest of the beekeepers. In six sample of commercial unifloral honey, 16 pollen types were identified. These honeys are not especially rich in pollen types and compares with many honeys characteristic of Europe. Plantago pollen grains are irregularly found in these honeys, as elsewhere, although their numbers in any one sample are insignificant. The presence of this pollen type is considered accidental, especially as numbers are always low. Comparison of results from samples extracted by different methods is impossible, for absolute pollen content may vary greatly.

An economic comparison of the commercial and recreational ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The most important Namibian linefish species, the silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus, is currently heavily exploited, and in order to ensure its survival catch restrictions are being introduced. However, kob are exploited both by recreational anglers and by commercial vessels, and it is important to examine the economics of ...

Strategies for removal of indicator pathogenic bacteria from commercial harvested shellfish

OpenAIRE

Jones, S; Howell, T; O'Neill, K; Langan, R

1992-01-01

The Great Bay/Piscataqua River Estuary in New Hampshire and Maine has an abundant oyster resource in sewage-contaminated water. The only approved area in the Maine portion of the Estuary is Spinney Creek, where fecal indicator bacteria are present at reduced levels and Vibrio vulnificus is absent. Spinney Creek Oyster Company (SCOC) of Eliot, Maine, operates relay lagoons and a depuration facility for oysters harvested commercially from restricted areas of the Salmon Falls River in Maine. Oys...

77 FR 30919 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-24

..., and 385 [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's... published a final rule titled ``Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit... additional drivers, primarily those transporting certain tanks temporarily attached to the commercial motor...

Commercial refining in the Mediterranean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Packer, P.

1999-01-01

About 9% of the world's oil refining capacity is on the Mediterranean: some of the world's biggest and most advanced refineries are on Sicily and Sardinia. The Mediterranean refineries are important suppliers to southern Europe and N. Africa. The article discusses commercial refining in the Mediterranean under the headings of (i) historic development, (ii) product demand, (iii) refinery configurations, (iv) refined product trade, (v) financial performance and (vi) future outlook. Although some difficulties are foreseen, refining in the Mediterranean is likely to continue to be important well into the 21st century. (UK)

ECOPHARMACOVIGILANCE: ITS IMPORTANCE AND CHALLENGES

OpenAIRE

Dr. Bhavana Srivastava

2014-01-01

Active pharmaceutical ingredients represent a group of emerging environmental contamination. Even in trace amounts, they are of great concern due to then continuous introduction into the environment, their impact an ecosystem and human and vetenery health is of great importance. This has given birth to the science of Ecopharmacovigilance (EPV). It aims to ensure that significant environmental issues associated with pharmaceuticals in the environment are identified and managed appropriately. ...

Commercial integration and partnering at Savannah River Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steele, J.R. [Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States); Babione, R.A.; Shikashio, L.A.; Wacaster, A.J.; Paterson, A.D. [SCIENTECH, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

1994-06-01

Savannah River Site (SRS), particularly the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) with the experience from the first successful Integrated Technology Demonstration, can provide an excellent foundation for meeting DOE-EM`s objectives with the new DOE-EM five focus area approach. With this in mind, SRTC established an activity to pursue full commercialization of environmental technologies. This report is an assessment of the status of commercialization at SRS and provides recommendations for enhancement as well as some tools critical to implementation. A review was made of the current situation at SRS with regards to taking technology development to commercial fruition. This was done from the perspective of comparing it to known commercialization models and processes. It was found that SRTC already works through many of the steps in these processes. With integration and action-oriented efforts of the inclusion of business and market factors, SRTC could become an aggressive, successful developer of commercialized technologies. Commercial success criteria tools were developed with regards to integrating them with SRTC selection criteria to ensure that all critical factors are covered in technology commercialization project evaluations. Private investors are very clear that their interest lies in funding commercial enterprises, not merely technologies. Mobilizing private capital is critical to real job growth and long-term economic development. Also, potential industry partners were identified that are willing to be involved with SRS` technology applications and regional development efforts. As another important component to success, regional support organizations were reviewed and evaluated.

Mentorship by commercial farmers in the land reform programme in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study evaluates commercial farmers' views of their role as mentors in the land reform programme in two regions of the Free State Province. It reveals that the majority of commercial farmers in the study area are willing to act as mentors. The farmers overwhelmingly agreed that their role as mentors is very important.

ESSENCE AND VALUE OF FINANCIAL RESULTS OF COMMERCIAL BANK ACTIVITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kushnarova Anna

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Financial results of the banking institution activity are one of the most important indicators of its functioning. They characterize the stability and reliability of a commercial bank, which is necessary to create reserve funds, to encourage staff and offer guidance to develop and improve operations on the market, reduce costs and improve the quality of services provided. Purpose. The purpose of the study is to determine the composition and significance of financial results for the functioning of the banking institution in the existing competitive environment. Results. The article considers the concept of financial results of a commercial bank as an important element of its activity for achieving competitive advantages in the banking services market. The composition and structure of financial results, factors of possible impact on them are determined. The source of the mapping and recording of the results of the activity is indicated. Attention is paid to the significance of profit as a positive financial result of a commercial bank activity and the priority directions of its distribution are formed. The importance of the relative indicator of the effective activity of a commercial bank as one of the elements of the formation of financial results is substantiated. Conclusions. Thus, in today’s market conditions, one can talk about the expediency of determining the composition of financial results and their significance to ensure the main directions of the functioning of a commercial bank. First of all, in order to increase the level of profitability it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive analysis of income and expenditure, to identify the factors of influence on them, to increase the reserves of activity. Receiving a positive or negative value of financial performance depends primarily on the effectiveness of the interaction of each component of the organization of a modern commercial bank. The ability to correctly identify

Climate‐induced response of commercially important flatfish species during the 20th century

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparrevohn, Claus Reedtz; Lindegren, Martin; Mackenzie, Brian R.

2013-01-01

plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and (ii) whether two related warm‐water species (turbot, Psetta maxima and brill, Scophthalmus rhombus) show similar responses to increasing temperature or, alternatively, whether turbot (which has a broader juvenile diet) has been favored. Since the early 1980s, both sole...... was closely related and explained 43% of the observed variation in sole survey catches relative to the plaice catches and almost 38% of the observed variation in the sole landings relative to the plaice landings. For the less common species, turbot and brill, none of the global change indicators explained...... and turbot have constituted an increasing part of the commercial landings and survey catches, as compared with plaice and brill, respectively. These changes in species composition were linked to sea surface temperatures, Northern Hemisphere temperature anomalies (NHA) and the North Atlantic Oscillation. NHA...

Synfuels from low-rank coals at the Great Plains Gasification Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollock, D.

1992-01-01

This presentation focuses on the use of low rank coals to form synfuels. A worldwide abundance of low rank coals exists. Large deposits in the United States are located in Texas and North Dakota. Low rank coal deposits are also found in Europe, India and Australia. Because of the high moisture content of lignite ranging from 30% to 60% or higher, it is usually utilized in mine mouth applications. Lignite is generally very reactive and contains varying amounts of ash and sulfur. Typical uses for lignite are listed. A commercial application using lignite as feedstock to a synfuels plant, Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Gasification Plant, is discussed

Bioactivity evaluation of commercial calcium phosphate-based bioceramics for bone regeneration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borrós, S.; Mas, A.

2016-11-01

Calcium phosphate-based bioceramics constitute a great promise for bone tissue engineering as they chemically resemble to mammalian bone and teeth. Their use is a viable alternative for bone regeneration as it avoids the use of autografts and allografts, which usually involves immunogenic reactions and patient’s discomfort. This work evolves around the study of the bioactivity potential of different commercially available bone substitutes based in calcium phosphate through the characterization of their ionic exchangeability when immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). (Author)

The study of Forest Hara Biosphere Reserve in coast of Persian Gulf and the importance of heavy metal accumulation; Case study: feathers of great cormorant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIR MEHRDAD MIRSANJARI

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Mirsanjari MM, Sheybanifar F, Arjmand F. 2014. The study of forest Hara Biosphere Reserve in coast of Persian Gulf and the importance of heavy metal accumulation; Case study: feathers of great cormorant. Nusantara Bioscience 6: 159-164. In recent years, concerns about the long term effects of heavy metals as environmental polluters have arisen, since considerable quantities of heavy metals have been released into the environment as a result of extensive human activities. Heavy metal has been determined as a serious threat to the stability of ecosystems. In this study, we examined the levels of zinc‚ copper‚ lead, and cadmium in the feathers of twenty great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo, collected from Hara Biosphere Reserve during November and December in 2012. The results revealed that the mean concentration of heavy metals in the feathers of males is significantly higher than females (P < 0.05. In addition‚ no significant difference was observed in heavy metal concentration between juvenile and adult birds. Moreover, according to the results, the high concentration of heavy metals in some samples indicated this fact that birds are potentially exposed to the risk of heavy metals in their habitat.

Great Lakes rivermouths: a primer for managers

Science.gov (United States)

Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul; Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul

2013-01-01

by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Table1). Collectively, this primer synthesizes existing information in a new way that aims to support management of rivermouths as distinct and important ecosystems. The development and management decisions made around rivermouths today will shape the future of these ecosystems, and the human communities within them, well into the future. 1 The information presented in this paper was derived from discussions and draft documents of the Great Lakes Rivermouth Collaboratory. The Great Lakes Rivermouth Collaboratory was established by the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center (USGS-GLSC) in collaboration with the Great Lakes Commission to engage the Great Lakes scientific community in sharing and documenting knowledge about freshwater rivermouth ecosystems. For more information, see http://www.glc.org/habitat/Rivermouth-Collaboratory.html.

The elements of a commercial human spaceflight safety reporting system

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Ian

2017-10-01

In its report on the SpaceShipTwo accident the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) included in its recommendations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ;in collaboration with the commercial spaceflight industry, continue work to implement a database of lessons learned from commercial space mishap investigations and encourage commercial space industry members to voluntarily submit lessons learned.; In its official response to the NTSB the FAA supported this recommendation and indicated it has initiated an iterative process to put into place a framework for a cooperative safety data sharing process including the sharing of lessons learned, and trends analysis. Such a framework is an important element of an overall commercial human spaceflight safety system.

The Great Work of the New Millennium

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Thomas

2013-01-01

Thomas Berry explores the meaning of work from the standpoint of human civilization responding to the call of the universe, replacing use and exploitation of nature with the wonder, rapport, and intimacy so important to the psychic balance of the developing human and natural harmony of life on Earth. The Great Work is defined as the work of…

FIRST STEP towards ICF commercialization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saylor, W.W.; Pendergrass, J.H.; Dudziak, D.J.

1984-01-01

Production of tritium for weapons and fusion R and D programs and successful development of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) technologies are important national goals. A conceptual design for an ICF facility to meet these goals is presented. FIRST STEP (Fusion, Inertial, Reduced-Requirements Systems Test for Special Nuclear Material, Tritium, and Energy Production) is a concept for a plant to produce SNM, tritium, and energy while serving as a test bed for ICF technology development. A credible conceptual design for an ICF SNM and tritium production facility that competes favorably with fission technology on the bases of cost, production quality, and safety was sought. FIRST STEP is also designed to be an engineering test facility that integrates systems required for an ICF power plant and that is intermediate in scale between proof-of-principle experiment and commercial power plant. FIRST STEP driver and pellet performance requirements are moderate and represent reasonable intermediate goals in an R and D plan for ICF commercialization. Repetition rate requirements for FIRST STEP are similar to those of commercial size plants and FIRST STEP can be used to integrate systems under realistic ICF conditions

Mechanisms driving recruitment variability in fish: comparisons between the Laurentian Great Lakes and marine systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pritt, Jeremy J.; Roseman, Edward F.; O'Brien, Timothy P.

2014-01-01

In his seminal work, Hjort (in Fluctuations in the great fisheries of Northern Europe. Conseil Parmanent International Pour L'Exploration De La Mar. Rapports et Proces-Verbaux, 20: 1–228, 1914) observed that fish population levels fluctuated widely, year-class strength was set early in life, and egg production by adults could not alone explain variability in year-class strength. These observations laid the foundation for hypotheses on mechanisms driving recruitment variability in marine systems. More recently, researchers have sought to explain year-class strength of important fish in the Laurentian Great Lakes and some of the hypotheses developed for marine fisheries have been transferred to Great Lakes fish. We conducted a literature review to determine the applicability of marine recruitment hypotheses to Great Lakes fish. We found that temperature, interspecific interactions, and spawner effects (abundance, age, and condition of adults) were the most important factors in explaining recruitment variability in Great Lakes fish, whereas relatively fewer studies identified bottom-up trophodynamic factors or hydrodynamic factors as important. Next, we compared recruitment between Great Lakes and Baltic Sea fish populations and found no statistical difference in factors driving recruitment between the two systems, indicating that recruitment hypotheses may often be transferable between Great Lakes and marine systems. Many recruitment hypotheses developed for marine fish have yet to be applied to Great Lakes fish. We suggest that future research on recruitment in the Great Lakes should focus on forecasting the effects of climate change and invasive species. Further, because the Great Lakes are smaller and more enclosed than marine systems, and have abundant fishery-independent data, they are excellent candidates for future hypothesis testing on recruitment in fish.

Penetrating the markets: biomass and commercial distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidl, J.

1999-01-01

Although biomass accounts for a significant proportion of renewable energy in Europe, its market penetration could be increased if certain barriers can be surmounted. Some of those barriers are identified and suggestions made as to how they may be overcome through improved 'distribution' in various sectors. To integrate biomass into the electricity distribution system, the commercial distribution of liquid biofuels, and in the commercial distribution of biomass in the heat sector, certain rewards and penalties could be introduced and these are discussed. The low temperature heat market is seen as very important for the further development of bioenergy in Europe. (UK)

Characterization of commercial building appliances. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patel, R.F.; Teagan, P.W.; Dieckmann, J.T.

1993-08-01

This study focuses on ``other`` end-uses category. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of energy end-use functions other than HVAC and lighting for commercial buildings, and to identify general avenues and approaches for energy use reduction. Specific energy consuming technologies addressed include non-HVAC and lighting technologies in commercial buildings with significant energy use to warrant detailed analyses. The end-uses include office equipment, refrigeration, water heating, cooking, vending machines, water coolers, laundry equipment and electronics other than office equipment. The building types include offices, retail, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels/motels, grocery stores, and warehouses.

Nanotoxicity of dolomite mineral of commercial importance in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, Govil; Khan, Mohd Imran; Akhtar, Mohd Javed; Ashquin, Mohd; Sultana, Sarwat; Ahmad, Iqbal

2011-02-01

The risk of occupational exposure to dolomite, an important mineral exists both in organized as well as unorganized sectors. Toxicological profiles of bulk dolomite are meagerly known in general and its nanotoxicity in particular. Effects of micro- and nano particles on cell viability, LDH leakage and markers of oxidative stress were observed. The study indicated that cytotoxicity of dolomite nanoparticles is significantly higher than the microparticles. The study thus suggests for the prescription of exposure limit for nanodolomite in the best interest of health of workers at risk of exposure under mining, milling and industrial environment.

Commercial Buildings Characteristics, 1992

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-29

Commercial Buildings Characteristics 1992 presents statistics about the number, type, and size of commercial buildings in the United States as well as their energy-related characteristics. These data are collected in the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a national survey of buildings in the commercial sector. The 1992 CBECS is the fifth in a series conducted since 1979 by the Energy Information Administration. Approximately 6,600 commercial buildings were surveyed, representing the characteristics and energy consumption of 4.8 million commercial buildings and 67.9 billion square feet of commercial floorspace nationwide. Overall, the amount of commercial floorspace in the United States increased an average of 2.4 percent annually between 1989 and 1992, while the number of commercial buildings increased an average of 2.0 percent annually.

Emergency lighting for industrial, commercial and residential premises

CERN Document Server

Lyons, X

2013-01-01

Emergency Lighting: For Industrial, Commercial and Residential Premises concerns itself with the provision of emergency lighting to facilitate exit routes for people in industrial, commercial, and residential areas. The book covers important topics such as the objectives of emergency lighting systems; the identification of safe routes under low lighting in different areas; and related devices such as luminaires, emergency signs, and way-guidance. Also discussed are the applications of emergency lighting; factors to consider in the design of emergency lighting; electrical installations; and tes

The current status and future of commercial embryo transfer in cattle.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasler, John F

2003-12-15

A commercially viable cattle embryo transfer (ET) industry was established in North America during the early 1970s, approximately 80 years after the first successful embryo transfer was reported in a mammal. Initially, techniques for recovering and transferring cattle embryos were exclusively surgical. However, by the late 1970s, most embryos were recovered and transferred nonsurgically. Successful cryopreservation of embryos was widespread by the early 1980s, followed by the introduction of embryo splitting, in vitro procedures, direct transfer of frozen embryos and sexing of embryos. The wide spread adoption of ethylene glycol as a cryoprotectant has simplified the thaw-transfer procedures for frozen embryos. The number of embryos recovered annually has not grown appreciably over the last 10 years in North America and Europe; however, there has been significant growth of commercial ET in South America. Within North America, ET activity has been relatively constant in Holstein cattle, whereas there has been a large ET increase in the Angus breed and a concomitant ET decrease in some other beef breeds. Although a number of new technologies have been adopted within the ET industry in the last decade, the basic procedure of superovulation of donor cattle has undergone little improvement over the last 20 years. The export-import of frozen cattle embryos has become a well-established industry, governed by specific health regulations. The international movement of embryos is subject to sudden and dramatic disturbances, as exemplified by the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Great Britain. It is probable that there will be an increased influence of animal rights issues on the ET industry in the future. Several companies in North America are currently commercially producing cloned cattle. The sexing of bovine semen with the use of flow cytometry is extremely accurate and moderate pregnancy rates in heifers have been achieved in field trials, but sexed semen

The impact of credit risk assessment on credit activity of commercial banks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljubić Marijana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available As banks have great social responsibility and are a subject to a specific and extensive regulations, one of the being Basel, the authors of this paper focus on the impact of credit risk assessment on credit activity of commercial banks. The authors of this paper provide a standard for risk management and an insight into directions on how to manage credit risk in the most efficient way and how to assess credit rating of a borrower.

78 FR 17875 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-25

... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB59 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's.... The 2011 final rule amended the commercial driver's license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards and established new minimum Federal standards for States to issue the commercial learner's permit...

How valid are commercially available medical simulators?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stunt JJ

2014-10-01

Full Text Available JJ Stunt,1 PH Wulms,2 GM Kerkhoffs,1 J Dankelman,2 CN van Dijk,1 GJM Tuijthof1,2 1Orthopedic Research Center Amsterdam, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 2Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical, Materials and Maritime Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands Background: Since simulators offer important advantages, they are increasingly used in medical education and medical skills training that require physical actions. A wide variety of simulators have become commercially available. It is of high importance that evidence is provided that training on these simulators can actually improve clinical performance on live patients. Therefore, the aim of this review is to determine the availability of different types of simulators and the evidence of their validation, to offer insight regarding which simulators are suitable to use in the clinical setting as a training modality. Summary: Four hundred and thirty-three commercially available simulators were found, from which 405 (94% were physical models. One hundred and thirty validation studies evaluated 35 (8% commercially available medical simulators for levels of validity ranging from face to predictive validity. Solely simulators that are used for surgical skills training were validated for the highest validity level (predictive validity. Twenty-four (37% simulators that give objective feedback had been validated. Studies that tested more powerful levels of validity (concurrent and predictive validity were methodologically stronger than studies that tested more elementary levels of validity (face, content, and construct validity. Conclusion: Ninety-three point five percent of the commercially available simulators are not known to be tested for validity. Although the importance of (a high level of validation depends on the difficulty level of skills training and possible consequences when skills are

77 FR 26989 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-08

... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB02 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's... effective on July 8, 2011. That final rule amended the commercial driver's license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards and established new minimum Federal standards for States to issue the commercial...

The physiology of Agaricus bisporus in semi-commercial compost cultivation appears to be highly conserved among unrelated isolates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pontes, María Victoria Aguilar; Patyshakuliyeva, Aleksandrina; Post, Harm; Jurak, Edita; Hildén, Kristiina; Altelaar, Maarten; Heck, Albert; Kabel, Mirjam A; de Vries, Ronald P; Mäkelä, Miia R

2017-01-01

The white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus is one of the most widely produced edible fungus with a great economical value. Its commercial cultivation process is often performed on wheat straw and animal manure based compost that mainly contains lignocellulosic material as a source of carbon and

The physiology of Agaricus bisporus in semi-commercial compost cultivation appears to be highly conserved among unrelated isolates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pontes, María Victoria Aguilar; Patyshakuliyeva, Aleksandrina; Post, Harm; Jurak, Edita; Hildén, Kristiina; Altelaar, Maarten; Heck, Albert; Kabel, Mirjam A.; Vries, de Ronald P.; Mäkelä, Miia R.

2018-01-01

The white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus is one of the most widely produced edible fungus with a great economical value. Its commercial cultivation process is often performed on wheat straw and animal manure based compost that mainly contains lignocellulosic material as a source of carbon and

Radiolytic stabilization of poly(methyl methacrylate) using commercial additives; Estabilizacao radiolitica do poli(metacrilato de metila) usando aditivos comerciais

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aquino, Katia Aparecida da Silva

2000-04-01

Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, Acrigel, a Brazilian polymer, is used in the manufacture of medical supplies sterelizable by ionizing radiation. However, when PMMA is gamma-irradiated it undergoes main chain scissions, which promote molecular degradation causing reduction in its mechanical properties. Therefore, radiolytic of PMMA is important for it to become commercially radiosterizable. In this work some commercial additives, originally used in photo-and thermo-oxidate stabilization of polymers, were tested. Only two additives, type HALS (Hindered Amine Light Stabilizer), denoted Scavenger, showed a good protective quality. The investigation of radiation-induced main scissions was carried out by viscosimetric method. The most effective additive, added to the polymer system at 0.3 w/w%, promotes a great molecular radioprotection of 93%. That means a reduction of G-value (scissions/100 eV) from 0.611 to 0.053. In addition, the glassy transition temperature (T{sub g}) of PMMA (no additive) significantly changed by radiation does not change when PMMA (with additive) is irradiated. The spectroscopy analysis, FT-IR and NMR ({sup 1}H), showed that the radioprotector added to the system does not change the PMMA structure. (author)

Predicting Great Lakes fish yields: tools and constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, C.A.; Schupp, D.H.; Taylor, W.W.; Collins, J.J.; Hatch, Richard W.

1987-01-01

Prediction of yield is a critical component of fisheries management. The development of sound yield prediction methodology and the application of the results of yield prediction are central to the evolution of strategies to achieve stated goals for Great Lakes fisheries and to the measurement of progress toward those goals. Despite general availability of species yield models, yield prediction for many Great Lakes fisheries has been poor due to the instability of the fish communities and the inadequacy of available data. A host of biological, institutional, and societal factors constrain both the development of sound predictions and their application to management. Improved predictive capability requires increased stability of Great Lakes fisheries through rehabilitation of well-integrated communities, improvement of data collection, data standardization and information-sharing mechanisms, and further development of the methodology for yield prediction. Most important is the creation of a better-informed public that will in turn establish the political will to do what is required.

78 FR 22895 - Test To Allow Customs Brokers To Pre-Certify Importers for Participation in the Importer Self...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-17

... role in the success of various CBP commercial initiatives, automation efforts, and security programs... communication with importers, the ISA pre-certifiers will provide information on the ISA program and work to... import data that CBP possesses, as well as help to focus the ISA pre-certifier's efforts on the areas for...

DNA barcoding commercially important aquatic invertebrates of Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Keskin, Emre; Atar, Hasan Hüseyin

2013-08-01

DNA barcoding was used in order to identify aquatic invertebrates sampled from fisheries bycatch and discards. A total of 440 unique cytochrome c oxidase sub unit I (COI) barcodes were generated for 22 species from three important phyla (Arthropoda, Cnidaria, and Mollusca). All the species were sequenced and submitted to GenBank and Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) databases using 654 bp-long fragment of mitochondrial COI gene. Two of them (Pontastacus leptodactylus and Rapana bezoar) were first records of the species for the BOLD database and six of them (Carcinus aestuarii, Loligo vulgaris, Melicertus kerathurus, Nephrops norvegicus, Scyllarides latus, and Scyllarus arctus) were first standard (>648 bp) COI barcode records for the GenBank database. COI barcodes were analyzed for nucleotide composition, nucleotide pair frequencies, and Kimura's two-parameter genetic distance. Mean genetic distance among species was found increasing at higher taxonomic levels. Neighbor-joining trees generated were congruent with morphometric-based taxonomic classification. Findings of this study clearly demonstrate that DNA barcodes could be used as an efficient molecular tool in identification of not only target species from fisheries but also bycatch and discard species, and so it could provide us leverage for a better understanding in monitoring and management of fisheries and biodiversity.

Application of text mining for customer evaluations in commercial banking

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jing; Du, Xiaojiang; Hao, Pengpeng; Wang, Yanbo J.

2015-07-01

Nowadays customer attrition is increasingly serious in commercial banks. To combat this problem roundly, mining customer evaluation texts is as important as mining customer structured data. In order to extract hidden information from customer evaluations, Textual Feature Selection, Classification and Association Rule Mining are necessary techniques. This paper presents all three techniques by using Chinese Word Segmentation, C5.0 and Apriori, and a set of experiments were run based on a collection of real textual data that includes 823 customer evaluations taken from a Chinese commercial bank. Results, consequent solutions, some advice for the commercial bank are given in this paper.

PROFILE ANALYSIS OF THE EMPLOYEES OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tudor NISTORESCU

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we tried to deliver a profile analysis of the employees from the commercial banks. The banking sector is especially important because it has to finance the entire economy, and therefore it needs competent and well-motivated people. As methodology we realized a survey on a representative number of employees of commercial banks. We used questionnaires measuring motivational factors, the orientation to tasks vs. people questionnaire, the potential leadership questionnaire, the Belbin self-knowledge questionnaire. The results showed that the employee from the Romanian commercial banks has a strong work-ethic and is highly motivated.

Rules of Origin as Commercial Policy Instruments.

OpenAIRE

Falvey, Rod; Reed, Geoff

1997-01-01

This article examines the role of rules of origin as a commercial policy instrument that targets the input composition of imports. Using a three-country, partial equilibrium structure, we demonstrate conditions under which the imposition of a binding rule will be welfare improving for an importer facing competitive export suppliers. We further show that employing rules of origin in this way would be complementary to, rather than a substitute for, conventional optimal tariffs. Copyright Econom...

Grooming behaviors and gill fouling in the commercially important blue crab (Callinectes sapidus and stone crab (Menippe mercenaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jen L. Wortham

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Grooming behaviors reduce fouling of body regions. In decapods, grooming time budgets, body regions groomed, and grooming appendages are known in several species; however, little data exists on brachyuran crabs. In this study, grooming behaviors of two commercially important crabs were documented (blue crabs: Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896; stone crabs: Menippe mercenaria Say, 1818. These crabs are harvested by fishermen and knowing their grooming behaviors is valuable, as clean crabs are preferred by consumers and the stone crab fishery consequence of removing one cheliped to grooming behaviors is unknown. Crabs were observed individually and agonistically to determine how grooming behaviors vary in the presence of another conspecific. Both species frequently use their maxillipeds and groom, with the gills being cleaned by epipods. Respiratory and sensory structures were groomed frequently in both species. Removal of a grooming appendage resulted in higher fouling levels in the gills, indicating that grooming behaviors do remove fouling. Overall, stone crabs had a larger individual time budget for grooming, but agonistic grooming time budgets were similar. Stone crab chelipeds are used in grooming, especially cleaning the other cheliped. The chelipeds are not the main grooming appendage; however, implications of losing one cheliped may have large impacts.

Vocal neighbour-mate discrimination in female great tits despite high song similarity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blumenrath, Sandra H.; Dabelsteen, Torben; Pedersen, Simon Boel

2007-01-01

Discrimination between conspecifics is important in mediating social interactions between several individuals in a network environment. In great tits, Parus major, females readily distinguish between the songs of their mate and those of a stranger. The high degree of song sharing among neighbouring...... males, however, raises the question of whether females are also able to perceive differences between songs shared by their mate and a neighbour. The great tit is a socially monogamous, hole-nesting species with biparental care. Pair bond maintenance and coordination of the pair's reproductive efforts...... are important, and the female's ability to recognize her mate's song should therefore be adaptive. In a neighbour-mate discrimination playback experiment, we presented 13 incubating great tit females situated inside nestboxes with a song of their mate and the same song type from a neighbour. Each female...

Thiosemicarbazones: preparation methods, synthetic applications and biological importance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tenorio, Romulo P.; Goes, Alexandre J.S.; Lima, Jose G. de; Faria, Antonio R. de; Alves, Antonio J.; Aquino, Thiago M. de

2005-01-01

Thiosemicarbazones are a class of compounds known by their chemical and biological properties, such as antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral and antiprotozoal activity. Their ability to form chelates with metals has great importance in their biological activities. Their synthesis is very simple, versatile and clean, usually giving high yields. They are largely employed as intermediates, in the synthesis of others compounds. This article is a survey of some of these characteristics showing their great importance to organic and medicinal chemistry. (author)

American undergraduate students' value development during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Heejung; Twenge, Jean M; Greenfield, Patricia M

2017-02-01

The Great Recession's influence on American undergraduate students' values was examined, testing Greenfield's and Kasser's theories concerning value development during economic downturns. Study 1 utilised aggregate-level data to investigate (a) population-level value changes between the pre-recession (2004-2006: n = 824,603) and recession freshman cohort (2008-2010: n = 662,262) and (b) overall associations of population-level values with national economic climates over long-term periods by correlating unemployment rates and concurrent aggregate-level values across 1966-2015 (n = 10 million). Study 2 examined individual-level longitudinal value development from freshman to senior year, and whether the developmental trajectories differed between those who completed undergraduate education before the Great Recession (freshmen in 2002, n = 12,792) versus those who encountered the Great Recession during undergraduate years (freshmen in 2006, n = 13,358). Results suggest American undergraduate students' increased communitarianism (supporting Greenfield) and materialism (supporting Kasser) during the Great Recession. The recession also appears to have slowed university students' development of positive self-views. Results contribute to the limited literature on the Great Recession's influence on young people's values. They also offer theoretical and practical implications, as values of this privileged group of young adults are important shapers of societal values, decisions, and policies. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

The twenty-first century commercial space imperative

CERN Document Server

Young, Anthony

2015-01-01

Young addresses the impressive expansion across existing and developing commercial space business markets, with multiple private companies competing in the payload launch services sector. The author pinpoints the new markets, technologies, and players in the industry, as well as highlighting the overall reasons why it is important for us to develop space. NASA now relies on commercial partners to supply cargo and crew spacecraft and services to and from the International Space Station. The sizes of satellites are diminishing and their capabilities expanding, while costs to orbit are decreasing. Suborbital space tourism holds the potential of new industries and jobs. Commercial space exploration of the Moon and the planets also holds promise. All this activity is a catalyst for anyone interested in joining the developing space industry, from students and researchers to engineers and entrepreneurs. As more and more satellites and rockets are launched and the business of space is expanding at a signifi...

Place of great extinctions in the new ecological paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. Я. Кипоренко

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The paper demonstrates importance of the knowledge of the causes and consequences of the Great extinctions that occurred before the origin of man, in the formation of a new environmental paradigm. Were described methodological foundations of paleoecological studies. Were analyzed the fossilized remains found directly by the authors on the territory of Ukraine. In the development of new environmental paradigm is necessary to consider knowledge of the great extinction (the knowledge of the past, because it is an event, that can be used not only to study past, as well as predicting the same events in the future

Steam reforming of commercial ultra-low sulphur diesel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boon, J.; Van Dijk, E.; De Munck, S.; Van den Brink, R. [Energy research Centre of The Netherlands, ECN Hydrogen and Clean Fossil Fuels, P.O. Box 1, NL1755ZG Petten (Netherlands)

2011-03-11

Two main routes for small-scale diesel steam reforming exist: low-temperature pre-reforming followed by well-established methane steam reforming on the one hand and direct steam reforming on the other hand. Tests with commercial catalysts and commercially obtained diesel fuels are presented for both processes. The fuels contained up to 6.5 ppmw sulphur and up to 4.5 vol.% of biomass-derived fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Pre-reforming sulphur-free diesel at around 475C has been tested with a commercial nickel catalyst for 118 h without observing catalyst deactivation, at steam-to-carbon ratios as low as 2.6. Direct steam reforming at temperatures up to 800C has been tested with a commercial precious metal catalyst for a total of 1190 h with two catalyst batches at steam-to-carbon ratios as low as 2.5. Deactivation was neither observed with lower steam-to-carbon ratios nor for increasing sulphur concentration. The importance of good fuel evaporation and mixing for correct testing of catalysts is illustrated. Diesel containing biodiesel components resulted in poor spray quality, hence poor mixing and evaporation upstream, eventually causing decreasing catalyst performance. The feasibility of direct high temperature steam reforming of commercial low-sulphur diesel has been demonstrated.

Steam reforming of commercial ultra-low sulphur diesel

Science.gov (United States)

Boon, Jurriaan; van Dijk, Eric; de Munck, Sander; van den Brink, Ruud

Two main routes for small-scale diesel steam reforming exist: low-temperature pre-reforming followed by well-established methane steam reforming on the one hand and direct steam reforming on the other hand. Tests with commercial catalysts and commercially obtained diesel fuels are presented for both processes. The fuels contained up to 6.5 ppmw sulphur and up to 4.5 vol.% of biomass-derived fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Pre-reforming sulphur-free diesel at around 475 °C has been tested with a commercial nickel catalyst for 118 h without observing catalyst deactivation, at steam-to-carbon ratios as low as 2.6. Direct steam reforming at temperatures up to 800 °C has been tested with a commercial precious metal catalyst for a total of 1190 h with two catalyst batches at steam-to-carbon ratios as low as 2.5. Deactivation was neither observed with lower steam-to-carbon ratios nor for increasing sulphur concentration. The importance of good fuel evaporation and mixing for correct testing of catalysts is illustrated. Diesel containing biodiesel components resulted in poor spray quality, hence poor mixing and evaporation upstream, eventually causing decreasing catalyst performance. The feasibility of direct high temperature steam reforming of commercial low-sulphur diesel has been demonstrated.

Identification and quantification of gases emitted during abuse tests by overcharge of a commercial Li-ion battery

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Y.; Bry, A.; de Persis, S.

2018-06-01

As hazardous situations can occur during the life of a Li-ion battery, it is of great importance to understand its behavior under abusive conditions (mechanical, thermal or electrical). In particular, the study of overcharge, which consists of forcing a current through the cell, can be very helpful in improving battery safety. Very few studies in the literature have focused on the chemical reaction mechanism responsible for failure during overcharge. This is, however, of great interest because a Li-ion battery can produce reactions in a sealed container and is thus a highly reactive system. Here, experimental approaches are employed to understand the reaction mechanisms that occur during overcharge testing. Experiments consist of studying the overcharge kinetics of a commercial battery at an initial state of charge of 100%. The battery is maintained in a known volume and gaseous samples are withdrawn both at the end of the test and continuously during the test. The main gaseous species are then identified and quantified by gas phase chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and FTIR spectroscopy. This experimental study is completed by a numerical investigation to determine the combustion parameters of the exhaust gases using a detailed reaction mechanism associated with a numerical code.

Determination of volatile compounds in four commercial samples of Japanese green algae using solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Masayoshi; Baldermann, Susanne; Yoshikawa, Keisuke; Fujita, Akira; Mase, Nobuyuki; Watanabe, Naoharu

2014-01-01

Green algae are of great economic importance. Seaweed is consumed fresh or as seasoning in Japan. The commercial value is determined by quality, color, and flavor and is also strongly influenced by the production area. Our research, based on solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS), has revealed that volatile compounds differ intensely in the four varieties of commercial green algae. Accordingly, 41 major volatile compounds were identified. Heptadecene was the most abundant compound from Okayama (Ulva prolifera), Tokushima (Ulva prolifera), and Ehime prefecture (Ulva linza). Apocarotenoids, such as ionones, and their derivatives were prominent volatiles in algae from Okayama (Ulva prolifera) and Tokushima prefecture (Ulva prolifera). Volatile, short chained apocarotenoids are among the most potent flavor components and contribute to the flavor of fresh, processed algae, and algae-based products. Benzaldehyde was predominant in seaweed from Shizuoka prefecture (Monostroma nitidum). Multivariant statistical analysis (PCA) enabled simple discrimination of the samples based on their volatile profiles. This work shows the potential of SPME-GC-MS coupled with multivariant analysis to discriminate between samples of different geographical and botanical origins and form the basis for development of authentication methods of green algae products, including seasonings.

ROMANIAN CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS TV COMMERCIALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca BĂBUŢ (COMIATI

2012-01-01

Full Text Available As advertisements are broadcast on a daily basis, Romanian consumers are subject to an intensive media bombardment designed to influence them, trigger certain emotions, and make them develop an attitude to a particular brand or product. When designing the advertisement, great care must be taken so that it conveys positive feelings and emotions and fosters favourable attitudes to a brand. The object of the current research is to determine how consumers are able to assess the advertisement phenomenon in general and the TV commercials in particular. Based on a representative sample of 550 Romanian consumers from the urban population, the study highlights the Romanian consumers’ attitude to various types of advertisements, endorsers and creative strategies used to design and execute the advertisements. The managerial as well as the scientific implications are considered by means of the correlations made according to the respondents’ social and demographic characteristics.

The Influence of Televised Food Commercials on Children's Food Choices: Evidence from Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Activations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, Amanda S; Pruitt, Stephen W; Ha, Oh-Ryeong; Cherry, J Bradley C; Smith, Timothy R; Bruce, Jared M; Lim, Seung-Lark

2016-10-01

To investigate how food commercials influence children's food choices. Twenty-three children ages 8-14 years provided taste and health ratings for 60 food items. Subsequently, these children were scanned with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging while making food choices (ie, "eat" or "not eat") after watching food and nonfood television commercials. Our results show that watching food commercials changes the way children consider the importance of taste when making food choices. Children did not use health values for their food choices, indicating children's decisions were largely driven by hedonic, immediate rewards (ie, "tastiness"); however, children placed significantly more importance on taste after watching food commercials compared with nonfood commercials. This change was accompanied by faster decision times during food commercial trials. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a reward valuation brain region, showed increased activity during food choices after watching food commercials compared with after watching nonfood commercials. Overall, our results suggest watching food commercials before making food choices may bias children's decisions based solely on taste, and that food marketing may systematically alter the psychological and neurobiologic mechanisms of children's food decisions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LIFE: The Case for Early Commercialization of Fusion Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anklam, T.; Simon, A.J.; Powers, S.; Meier, W.R.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the case for early commercialization of laser inertial fusion energy (LIFE). Results taken from systems modeling of the US electrical generating enterprise quantify the benefits of fusion energy in terms of carbon emission, nuclear waste and plutonium production avoidance. Sensitivity of benefits-gained to timing of market-entry is presented. These results show the importance of achieving market entry in the 2030 time frame. Economic modeling results show that fusion energy can be competitive with other low-carbon energy sources. The paper concludes with a description of the LIFE commercialization path. It proposes constructing a demonstration facility capable of continuous fusion operations within 10 to 15 years. This facility will qualify the processes and materials needed for a commercial fusion power plant.

16 CFR 1205.36 - Product certification and labeling by importers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Product certification and labeling by importers. 1205.36 Section 1205.36 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS SAFETY STANDARD FOR WALK-BEHIND POWER LAWN MOWERS Certification § 1205.36 Product...

Insect Larvae: A New Platform to Produce Commercial Recombinant Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Targovnik, Alexandra M; Arregui, Mariana B; Bracco, Lautaro F; Urtasun, Nicolas; Baieli, Maria F; Segura, Maria M; Simonella, Maria A; Fogar, Mariela; Wolman, Federico J; Cascone, Osvaldo; Miranda, Maria V

2016-01-01

In Biotechnology, the expression of recombinant proteins is a constantly growing field and different hosts are used for this purpose. Some valuable proteins cannot be produced using traditional systems. Insects from the order Lepidoptera infected with recombinant baculovirus have appeared as a good choice to express high levels of proteins, especially those with post-translational modifications. Lepidopteran insects, which are extensively distributed in the world, can be used as small protein factories, the new biofactories. Species like Bombyx mori (silkworm) have been analyzed in Asian countries to produce a great number of recombinant proteins for use in basic and applied science and industry. Many proteins expressed in this larva have been commercialized. Several recombinant proteins produced in silkworms have already been commercialized. On the other hand, species like Spodoptera frugiperda, Heliothis virescens, Rachiplusia nu, Helicoverpa zea and Trichoplusia ni are widely distributed in both the occidental world and Europe. The expression of recombinant proteins in larvae has the advantage of its low cost in comparison with insect cell cultures. A wide variety of recombinant proteins, including enzymes, hormones and vaccines, have been efficiently expressed with intact biological activity. The expression of pharmaceutically proteins, using insect larvae or cocoons, has become very attractive. This review describes the use of insect larvae as an alternative to produce commercial recombinant proteins.

76 FR 39018 - Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's Permit Standards; Corrections

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-05

... [Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27659] RIN 2126-AB02 Commercial Driver's License Testing and Commercial Learner's..., 2011, that will be effective on July 8, 2011. This final rule amends the commercial driver's license... to issue the commercial learner's permit (CLP). Since the final rule was published, FMCSA identified...

Genetic aspects of the commercially used sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Hamid A. Toha

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Tripneustes gratilla is economically important, supports small-scale, commercially important, ecological values, a prospect as a biological control agent and also considered as the commercially traded sea urchin. We review genetic aspects of T. gratilla for understanding the status to the sustainable use in the future. In GenBank, there are 267 nucleotide sequences related with T. gratilla. Most of the sequences (189 sequences are COI gene of T. gratilla from Indo-Pacific Ocean. Study on molecular genetics mentioned that there is no genetic structure for T. gratilla distribution in Indo-Pacific Ocean including in Indonesia waters. Key words: T. gratilla, sea urchin, Indo-Pacific Ocean, genetic, COI gene.

Open Access Intellectual Property Systems: A Comparison to Commercial Solutions in Competitive Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Cerny

2016-07-01

Full Text Available ICT/IS management plays an important role within the framework of innovation management, and one of the key elements of this role is the support of Competitive Intelligence in the context of innovation processes. The strategic information needs of innovation management are also directed towards different kinds of intellectual property (IP information entities and commercialization. The purpose of this paper is to define these entities and IP information systems as an important part of a company’s Competitive Intelligence Unit for competitor analysis and technology trends. The open access IP information systems will be analysed together with commercial solutions.. The aim of this paper is to underline the importance of open access IP systems compared to added value commercial solutions for competitive intelligence purposes for SMEs. The comparison will be carried out using examples of patent searches within a concrete dataset.

Saline lakes of the glaciated Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Mushet, David M.

2011-01-01

Unless you have flown over the region or seen aerial photographs, it is hard to grasp the scale of the millions of lakes and wetlands that dot the prairie landscape of the glaciated Northern Great Plains (Figure 1). This region of abundant aquatic habitats within a grassland matrix provides for the needs of a wide diversity of wildlife species and has appropriately been deemed the "duck factory of North America." While the sheer number of lakes and wetlands within this area of the Northern Great Plains can be truly awe-inspiring, their diversity in terms of the chemical composition of their water adds an equally important component supporting biotic diversity and productivity. Water within these lakes and wetlands can range from extremely fresh with salinities approaching that of rainwater to hypersaline with salinity ten times greater than that of seawater. Additionally, while variation in salinity among these water bodies can be great, the ionic composition of lakes and wetlands with similar salinities can vary markedly, influencing the overall spatial and temporal diversity of the region's biota.

An Assessment of SMEs’ Financing by Commercial Banks in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanley Sachikonye

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs play a key role in the world economy and contribute significantly to an economy’s output, income and employment. This paper seeks to assess the extent to which Zimbabwe’s commercial banks finance SMEs. Document analysis and an extensive review of the literature was undertaken to contextualize and draw a framework of analysis for the study. The literature shows that SMEs are of great socio-economic importance in developing countries but access to financial services for SMEs in Zimbabwe remains low. Zimbabwe’s economic challenges since 2000 to dollarization in 2009, the informalization of the SME sector, customers’ financial illiteracy and lack of training, lack of collateral security for loans, a high non-performing loans ratio, the lack of understanding of SMEs’ needs by banks, the inaccessibility of banks and the general lack of financial innovation are some of the major reasons for the low level of SME financing. A harmonised approach to policy suggestions for SMEs, lending institutions, the central bank and government to ensure the viability and growth of the SME sector are required and outlined. The research helps to formalize the SME sector considering its attendant benefits to the relevant players in the economy.

"As I deeply understand the importance and greatly admire the poetry of experiment..." (on the eve of P N Lebedev's anniversary)

Science.gov (United States)

Shcherbakov, R. N.

2016-02-01

Whatever we think of the eminent Russian physicist P N Lebedev, whatever our understanding of how his work was affected by circumstances in and outside of Russia, whatever value is placed on the basic elements of his twenty-year career and personal life and of his great successes and, happily, not so great failures, and whatever the stories of his happy times and his countless misfortunes, one thing remains clear — P N Lebedev's skill and talent served well to foster the development of global science and to improve the reputation of Russia as a scientific nation.

Assessing potential impacts of climate change and variability on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin: A binational approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinn, F.H.; Mortsch, L.D.

1997-01-01

The potential impacts of climate change and variability on the Great Lakes environment are serious and complex. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin is home to 42.5 million US and Canadian citizens and is the industrial and commercial heartland of both nations. The region is rich in human and natural resources, with diverse economic activities and substantial infrastructure which would be affected by major shifts in climate. For example, water level changes could affect wetland distribution and functioning; reductions in streamflow would alter assimilative capacities while warmer water temperatures would influence spring and fall turnover and incidence of anoxia. A binational program has been initiated to conduct interdisciplinary, integrated impact assessments for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. The goal of this program is to undertake interdisciplinary, integrated studies to improve the understanding of the complex interactions between climate, the environment, and socioeconomic systems in order to develop informed regional adaptation responses

Development of ZIF-8 membranes: opportunities and challenges for commercial applications

KAUST Repository

Lai, Zhiping

2018-03-24

Metal organic framework (MOF) membranes have attracted significant attentions in recent years because of their potentials in gas and liquid separations and other applications such as catalysis and chemical sensors, etc. More than half of the MOF membrane publications up to date are related to ZIF-8 system, because of its easy synthesis, relatively high stability, and excellent gas separation performance, which allows many novel ideas to be easily implemented. Extensive studies have shown that ZIF-8 membranes hold great potentials in gas separations, but may face great challenges in liquid separations mainly because of their poor stability. This is also a common observation for other MOF membranes. As such, in this article we use ZIF-8 membrane as a prototype and focus on its development in gas separations for the discussions of the most concerned issues related to membrane commercialization including membrane synthesis, separation performance, stability, process reproducibility, and finally on the opportunities and challenges that MOF membranes may face in industrial applications.

Development of ZIF-8 membranes: opportunities and challenges for commercial applications

KAUST Repository

Lai, Zhiping

2018-01-01

Metal organic framework (MOF) membranes have attracted significant attentions in recent years because of their potentials in gas and liquid separations and other applications such as catalysis and chemical sensors, etc. More than half of the MOF membrane publications up to date are related to ZIF-8 system, because of its easy synthesis, relatively high stability, and excellent gas separation performance, which allows many novel ideas to be easily implemented. Extensive studies have shown that ZIF-8 membranes hold great potentials in gas separations, but may face great challenges in liquid separations mainly because of their poor stability. This is also a common observation for other MOF membranes. As such, in this article we use ZIF-8 membrane as a prototype and focus on its development in gas separations for the discussions of the most concerned issues related to membrane commercialization including membrane synthesis, separation performance, stability, process reproducibility, and finally on the opportunities and challenges that MOF membranes may face in industrial applications.

Virale commercials: de consument als marketeer. Onderzoek naar de redenen waarom consumenten virale commercials doorsturen: hun motieven, de inhoudskenmerken van viral commercials en de mediumcontext waarin virale commercials verschijnen

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaar, P.E.; Lucassen, P.; Kregting, G.H.J.

2010-01-01

Research into the reasons why consumers pass along viral commercials: their motives, the content characteristics of viral commercials and the medium context in which viral commercials appear. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective this study has determined which motives of consumers,

The use of semiochemical-based devices and formulations in area-wide programmes - A commercial perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Owen T.; Casagrande, Enzo D.

2000-01-01

It is now almost 40 years since the first insect pheromone was isolated and identified and many authors have referred over the years to their commercial potential. Although much progress has been made during those years in terms of scientific and technological advances related to semiochemicals, the 'progress' that has actually been made in the commercial exploitation of pheromones and other semiochemicals has been rather limited when viewed in terms of their share of the agrochemical market. Based on published data and unpublished information which has been made available to the authors, semiochemical-based products are estimated to have world-wide sales in the US$70-80 million range at the manufacturers' level. This compares with a world-wide insecticide market of nearly US$8 billion in 1995 so that it therefore constitutes less than 1% of that market. In terms of the biopesticide market (bacteria, viruses, botanical insecticides, entomopathogenic nematodes and beneficial insects) on the other hand, semiochemicals constitute a much higher percentage (ca. 30%) and probably are third in importance after bacterial and botanical products. The industry has taken over 20 years to achieve its current size and has been pioneered mostly by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several technical and biological factors have played a part in determining the rate at which semiochemical-based technology has been adopted commercially in the field but one factor in particular has greatly influenced this technology transfer process, namely, area-wide programmes. These have often been government-backed programmes that have demonstrated the effectiveness of the semiochemical-based technique being implemented and have convinced the farmers and growers of the benefits that these novel techniques can bring. Several strategies have been developed where semiochemicals have been used either alone or in combination with other control technologies but three in particular stands out

Estimating Spring Condensation on the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, A.; Welp, L.

2017-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes region provides opportunities for shipping, recreation, and consumptive water use to a large part of the United States and Canada. Water levels in the lakes fluctuate yearly, but attempts to model the system are inadequate because the water and energy budgets are still not fully understood. For example, water levels in the Great Lakes experienced a 15-year low period ending in 2013, the recovery of which has been attributed partially to decreased evaporation and increased precipitation and runoff. Unlike precipitation, the exchange of water vapor between the lake and the atmosphere through evaporation or condensation is difficult to measure directly. However, estimates have been constructed using off-shore eddy covariance direct measurements of latent heat fluxes, remote sensing observations, and a small network of monitoring buoys. When the lake surface temperature is colder than air temperature as it is in spring, condensation is larger than evaporation. This is a relatively small component of the net annual water budget of the lakes, but the total amount of condensation may be important for seasonal energy fluxes and atmospheric deposition of pollutants and nutrients to the lakes. Seasonal energy fluxes determine, and are influenced by, ice cover, water and air temperatures, and evaporation in the Great Lakes. We aim to quantify the amount of spring condensation on the Great Lakes using the National Center for Atmospheric Prediction North American Regional Reanalysis (NCEP NARR) Data for Winter 2013 to Spring 2017 and compare the condensation values of spring seasons following high volume, high duration and low volume, low duration ice cover.

A Law and Economics Approach to Norms in Transnational Commercial Transactions: Incorporation and Internalisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. Yuan (Bo)

2016-01-01

textabstractIn today’s global economy, a noticeable trend is that the traditional state-law-centred legal framework is increasingly challenged by self-regulatory private orders. Commercial norms, commercial arbitration and social sanctions at the international level have become important

GEOMORPHIC CONTROLS ON MEADOW ECOSYSTEMS IN THE CENTRAL GREAT BASIN

Science.gov (United States)

Wet meadows, riparian corridor phreatophyte assemblages, and high-altitude spring-fed aspen meadows comprise a very small percentage of the total landscape of the mountain ranges in the central Great Basin however, they represent important ecological environments. We have used s...

Ultrasound assessment of great saphenous vein insufficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chander RK

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Rajiv K Chander,1 Thomas S Monahan1,2 1Section of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2Department of Surgery, Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA Abstract: Duplex ultrasonography is the ideal modality to assess great saphenous vein insufficiency. Duplex ultrasonography incorporates both gray scale images to delineate anatomy and color-Doppler imaging that visualizes the flow of blood in a structure. Assessment of great saphenous vein requires definition of the anatomy, augmentation of flow, evaluation for both superficial and deep vein thrombosis, and determining the presence of reflux. Currently, evolution in the treatment of reflux also relies on ultrasound for the treatment of the disease. Understanding the utilization of the ultrasound for the diagnosis and treatment of greater saphenous vein reflux is important for practitioners treating reflux disease. Keywords: duplex ultrasonography, small saphenous vein 

Effects of storage on microbial loads of two commercially important shellfish species, Crassostrea virginica and Mercenaria campechiensis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hood, M A; Ness, G E; Rodrick, G E; Blake, N J

1983-04-01

The effects of storage on the microbial load in two commercially important species of shellfish were examined. Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were stored as shellstock, shucked meats, and fully processed meats at four temperatures for up to 21 days, and clams (Mercenaria campechiensis) were stored only as shellstock. The concentrations of most microbiological groups of organisms increased with the duration and temperature of storage in both shellfish species, although the increases were significantly lower in claims. Concentrations of Vibrio cholerae rose by approximately 1 log in oysters stored as shellstock after 7 days at 2 degrees C, and Lac+ vibrios increased 2 logs at 8 degrees C. Total counts of bacteria, fungi, coliforms, fecal streptococci, Aeromonas hydrophila, and clostridia were significantly higher in shucked oysters than in those stored as shellstock. Fecal coliforms were statistically the same, but V. cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and the Lac+ vibrios were higher in oysters stored as shellstock. The concentrations of all microbial groups were higher in fully processed oysters than in shucked meats, with the exception of the vibrios, which showed no significant difference among the treatments. The results showed that although traditional methods of storing shellfish resulted in an overall increase in the microbial load, vibrio levels increased only in oysters stored as shellstock. Although fecal coliform and total bacterial counts did not correlate with those for vibrios in fresh oysters, strong correlations were observed in oysters stored for 7 days, suggesting that these indicators may be useful in monitoring oyster quality when meats are stored for a limited time as shellstock.

Eliminating malaria in Malaysia: the role of partnerships between the public and commercial sectors in Sabah

OpenAIRE

Sanders, Kelly C; Rundi, Christina; Jelip, Jenarun; Rashman, Yusof; Smith Gueye, Cara; Gosling, Roly D

2014-01-01

Background Countries in the Asia Pacific region have made great progress in the fight against malaria; several are rapidly approaching elimination. However, malaria control programmes operating in elimination settings face substantial challenges, particularly around mobile migrant populations, access to remote areas and the diversity of vectors with varying biting and breeding behaviours. These challenges can be addressed through subnational collaborations with commercial partners, such as mi...

New trends in safety approach for commercial LMFBRS after SPX1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergeonneau, P.; Moreau, J.; Cowking, C.B.; Friedel, G.; Pezzxilli, M.

1988-01-01

The experience gained from SPX1 project safety studies shows the trends for the definition of the new safety approach for the next generation of commercial LMFBR's. New trends in safety criteria, as seen in Europe, are presented in the first part of this paper. It is shown that they greatly emphasize the prevention actions even for minor events which can, in certain cases, lead to severe accidents. In the second part, an attempt is made to compare these new trends in Europe with the ones developed in the USA that put forward the inherent safety approach

Sponsored Schools and Commercialized Classrooms: Schoolhouse Commercializing Trends in the 1990's.

Science.gov (United States)

Molnar, Alex

This report analyzes commercializing trends in America's schools and classrooms, using data from database searches in seven categories of schoolhouse commercialism in the period 1990-97. The number of citations relating to commercializing activities can provide only a rough approximation of the scope and development of the phenomenon. The number…

Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Edsall, Thomas A.; Mac, Michael J.; Opler, Paul A.; Puckett Haecker, Catherine E.; Doran, Peter D.

1998-01-01

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a).The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human

NASA commercial programs

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

Highlights of NASA-sponsored and assisted commercial space activities of 1989 are presented. Industrial R and D in space, centers for the commercial development of space, and new cooperative agreements are addressed in the U.S. private sector in space section. In the building U.S. competitiveness through technology section, the following topics are presented: (1) technology utilization as a national priority; (2) an exploration of benefits; and (3) honoring Apollo-Era spinoffs. International and domestic R and D trends, and the space sector are discussed in the section on selected economic indicators. Other subjects included in this report are: (1) small business innovation; (2) budget highlights and trends; (3) commercial programs management; and (4) the commercial programs advisory committee.

pattern of alcohol use among drivers of commercial vehicles

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-03-01

Mar 1, 2011 ... interest because commercial road transport is the major means of .... This finding has important implication in alcohol control as these types of ... has been announced by the Federal Road Safety Corps. ( FRSC) of Nigeria (8).

comparative study of fluoride in alcornea cordifolia and commercial

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Quantum

2013-07-31

Jul 31, 2013 ... fluoride than the tender stem. Hence, the hard stem is a cheap source of fluoride when compared to commercial ... The importance of addition of 10% zinc .... 1st edition, Prentice Hall, Education Limited, Publisher, Edinburgh.

Comparative Analysis of the Representations of the Great Patriotic War: Generational Aspects (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Михайлович Филиппов

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples` (who has been considered fraternal for a long time representations of the modern world currently due to many factors are subjected to complex processes of transformation. So the importance of the historical period of the Great Patriotic War in the life of all three peoples, the memory of which has an important means of confrontation western propaganda, is certainly true. The article presents the results of the study of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian students’ and their parents’ representations of the Great Patriotic War. The study was being held in Peoples’ friendship University of Russia, immediately after the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Time for commercializing non-food biofuel in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Qiang

2011-01-01

The booming automobile in China has added additional pressure on the country that needs to import almost 50% of its oil. Non-food-based biofuel is a viable fuel alternative for cars. China already has the required-foundation to commercialize non-food-based biofuel. Chinese crop straw and stock, energy crop, and woody biomass that could potentially be converted into energy are projected to be 700 million toe (ton of oil equivalent) in the near future. Meanwhile, Chinese food-based ethanol fuel industry ranks as the world's third after United States and Brazil. Several non-food-based ethanol plants are constructed or under constructed, one of which has been licensed. However, more efforts should be directed to commercializing non-food-based biofuel, including industrialized feedstock, strengthening key technology research, supporting private enterprise, and E10 upgrading to E20. The enormous increase in private ownership of car must compel China to commercialize biofuel. (author)

Public Good or Commercial Opportunity: Case Studies in Remote Sensing Commercialization

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Shaida; Cordes, Joseph

2002-01-01

The U.S. Government is once again attempting to commercialize the Landsat program and is asking the private sector to develop a next generation mid-resolution remote sensing system that will provide continuity with the thirty-year data archive of Landsat data. Much of the case for commercializing the Landsat program rests on the apparently successful commercialization of high-resolution remote sensing activities coupled with the belief that conditions have changed since the failed attempt to commercialize Landsat in the 1980s. This paper analyzes the economic, political and technical conditions that prevailed in the 1980s as well as conditions that might account for the apparent success of the emerging high-resolution remote sensing industry today. Lessons are gleaned for the future of the Landsat program.

The analysis of energy consumption of a commercial building in Tianjin, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jing; Zhu Neng; Wu Yong

2009-01-01

According to statistics and field investigation, the energy consumption situation and reality of commercial building is described in this paper. As the first step of large-scale public building energy efficiency supervision system encouraged by central government of China, the energy consumption of several typical commercial buildings and public buildings was analyzed in detail. The main contents of investigation are as follows: basic information of building, operational record of energy consumption equipment, energy consumption of indoor equipments, energy-efficiency assessment of energy consumption systems and equipments, investigation of behavior energy saving, etc. On this basis further analysis and diagnosis including indoor thermal and humid environment, operation state of air-conditioning water system, operation state of air-conditioning duct system and operation management of air-conditioning system were implemented. The results show that the most energy consumption of buildings in this city is commercial buildings, which can reach to about 240 W/m 2 per year. Further analysis tells that air conditioning systems play the major role of building energy consumption, and building energy saving has great potential in this city. In this paper, the ways of diagnosis work for building energy consumption are also described and discussed. Reasonable test, diagnosis and analysis are meaningful for building energy efficiency retrofit and management.

Quantifying phenology metrics from Great Basin plant communities and their relationship to seasonal water availability

Science.gov (United States)

Background/Question/Methods Sagebrush steppe is critical habitat in the Great Basin for wildlife and provides important ecosystem goods and services. Expansion of pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) in the Great Basin has reduced the extent of sagebrush steppe causing habitat, fire, and...

Commercial strategy for a competitive market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yepes, Luis Augusto

1997-01-01

Coming years will not be easy for the world oil market. Colombia knows this and is preparing to face a surplus of light crude when large volumes of Cusiana production are available for export, particularly in 1998 and 1999. Ecopetrol considers this out look will give rise to a very competitive setting for Cusiana crude. It advises committing this crude as of now with an important refining group for whom petroleum is essential for their refinery diet. On the foreign scene, Ecopetrol's commercial policy is to sell petroleum by-products, as well as import shortfalls in motor fuel. Domestic policy is directed at making the natural gas market a reality

The importance of fats in food of persons physically active

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Włodarczyk

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A diet program of physically active individuals accounts for about 50% of the success in attaining the desired physical form. Patterns that include resting metabolism, physical activity, and daily energy expenditure, as needed: reduction, stabilization, weight gain, are used. Among those who practice sports for whom nutrition is of great importance in achieving their goal, recently, there has been a great deal of interest in ketogenic diets, low carbohydrates commonly called "fatty". Therefore, it is important to explain the importance, types and role of fats in the nutrition of physically active persons.

Optimization of self-consumption and techno-economic analysis of PV-battery systems in commercial applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merei, Ghada; Moshövel, Janina; Magnor, Dirk; Sauer, Dirk Uwe

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Optimization of self-consumption and the degree of self-sufficiency in commercial applications. • Technical and economic analyses for a PV-battery system. • Sensitivity analysis considering different sizes and prices of PV and battery systems. • Investigation of batteries to increase self-consumption today is not economic in the considered applications. - Abstract: Increasing costs of electricity supply from the local grid, the decreasing photovoltaic (PV) technology costs and the decreasing PV feed-in-tariff according to the current German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) will in the future raise the monetary incentives to increase the self-consumption of PV energy. This is of great interest in commercial buildings as there mostly is sufficient place to install high capacities of photovoltaic panels on their own roofs. Furthermore, the electricity purchase price from the local grid for commercial consumers nowadays is about 20 €ct/kW h, which is higher than the cost of generation of electricity from solar panels (about 8–12 €ct/kW h). Additionally, the load profiles in commercial applications have a high correlation with the generated solar energy. Hence, there is a great opportunity for economic savings. This paper presents optimization results with respect to self-consumption and degree of self-sufficiency for a supermarket in Aachen, Germany. The optimization is achieved using real measurement data of load profile and solar radiation. Besides, techno-economic analyses and sensitivity analyses have been carried out to demonstrate the influence of different PV system sizes, PV system costs and interest rates. Moreover, to raise self-consumption different battery sizes with different battery system costs have been investigated and analysed for 2015 and 2025 scenarios as well. The results show that the installation of a PV system can reduce the electricity costs through self-consumption of self-generated PV energy. Also, applying

Commercial Radio as Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothenbuhler, Eric W.

1996-01-01

Compares the day-to-day work routines of commercial radio with the principles of a theoretical communication model. Illuminates peculiarities of the conduct of communication by commercial radio. Discusses the application of theoretical models to the evaluation of practicing institutions. Offers assessments of commercial radio deriving from…

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal.

Hospital Capital Investment During the Great Recession

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Sung

2017-01-01

Hospital capital investment is important for acquiring and maintaining technology and equipment needed to provide health care. Reduction in capital investment by a hospital has negative implications for patient outcomes. Most hospitals rely on debt and internal cash flow to fund capital investment. The great recession may have made it difficult for hospitals to borrow, thus reducing their capital investment. I investigated the impact of the great recession on capital investment made by California hospitals. Modeling how hospital capital investment may have been liquidity constrained during the recession is a novel contribution to the literature. I estimated the model with California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development data and system generalized method of moments. Findings suggest that not-for-profit and public hospitals were liquidity constrained during the recession. Comparing the changes in hospital capital investment between 2006 and 2009 showed that hospitals used cash flow to increase capital investment by $2.45 million, other things equal. PMID:28617202

Profile of Clean Technology Commercialization in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, Manish

2010-04-01

In 2009, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) performed it third successive study of the growth and transition of nanotechnology into commercial products, under award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Nanotechnology is a recently recognized cross-disciplinary field of a variety of potentially disruptive technologies that involves the creation and operation of objects at the nanoscale, up to 100 nanometers in size. Nanomanufacturing is the large-scale manipulation of matter at the nanoscale, to produce value-added components. Because of the economically significant new markets and breadth of applications that can benefit from the exploitation of these size-driven aspects, much international research and commercial effort is being expended to create revolutionary value-added products using the many capabilities and tools enabled by nanotechnology. In the context of Michigan and many other US states, startup and commercialization activity is especially important in market diversification and job growth initiatives. This trend has accelerated new applications of nanotechnology in industrial and consumer markets related to energy efficiency and environmentally conscious manufacturing, known as ``cleantech." Dr. Mehta’s presentation will illustrate the industry’s major trends, concerns and barriers across key strategic indicators, as well as highlight the characteristics of startup businesses and established players in this important field.

Clean Energy Innovation: Sources of Technical and Commercial Breakthroughs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perry, T. D., IV; Miller, M.; Fleming, L.; Younge, K.; Newcomb, J.

2011-03-01

Low-carbon energy innovation is essential to combat climate change, promote economic competitiveness, and achieve energy security. Using U.S. patent data and additional patent-relevant data collected from the Internet, we map the landscape of low-carbon energy innovation in the United States since 1975. We isolate 10,603 renewable and 10,442 traditional energy patents and develop a database that characterizes proxy measures for technical and commercial impact, as measured by patent citations and Web presence, respectively. Regression models and multivariate simulations are used to compare the social, institutional, and geographic drivers of breakthrough clean energy innovation. Results indicate statistically significant effects of social, institutional, and geographic variables on technical and commercial impacts of patents and unique innovation trends between different energy technologies. We observe important differences between patent citations and Web presence of licensed and unlicensed patents, indicating the potential utility of using screened Web hits as a measure of commercial importance. We offer hypotheses for these revealed differences and suggest a research agenda with which to test these hypotheses. These preliminary findings indicate that leveraging empirical insights to better target research expenditures would augment the speed and scale of innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies.

Cell Phone Carriers, TV-Commercials & Branding : A study of cell phone carriers TV- commercials, branding and its affect on young people

OpenAIRE

Sköld, Robin; Nilsson, Magnus

2009-01-01

Problem: As almost everyone has a cell phone today, keeping your customers is very important. An important group for cell phone carriers is young people. This is a group that uses cell phones more and more. However, attracting these people could be hard. One of the most common strategies to attract customers today is promotion through TV-commercials. Another strategy that has gained popularity is branding. We therefore asked ourselves how these strategies could affect each other and eventuall...

The distribution and abundance of reef-associated predatory fishes on the Great Barrier Reef

Science.gov (United States)

Emslie, Michael J.; Cheal, Alistair J.; Logan, Murray

2017-09-01

Predatory fishes are important components of coral-reef ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through both the ecological functions they perform and their high value to recreational and commercial fisheries, estimated at 30 million in 2014. However, management of GBR predatory fish populations is hampered by a lack of knowledge of their distribution and abundance, aside from that of the highly targeted coral trout ( Plectropomus spp. and Variola spp.). Furthermore, there is little information on how these fishes respond to environmental stressors such as coral bleaching, outbreaks of coral-feeding starfishes ( Acanthaster planci) and storms, which limits adaptive management of their populations as the frequency or severity of such natural disturbances increases under climate change. Here, we document the distribution and abundance of 48 species of reef-associated predatory fishes and assess their vulnerability to a range of natural disturbances. There were clear differences in predatory fish assemblages across the continental shelf, but many species were widespread, with few species restricted to either inshore or offshore waters. There was weak latitudinal structure with only a few species restricted to either the northern or southern GBR. On the whole, predatory fishes were surprisingly resistant to the effects of disturbance, with few clear changes in abundance or species richness following 66 documented disturbances of varying magnitudes.

Treatment of DOE mixed wastes using commercial facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kramer, J.F.; Ross, M.A.; Dilday, D.R.

1992-02-01

In a demonstration program, Department of Energy (DOE) solid mixed wastes generated during uranium processing operations are characterized to define the unit operations required for treatment. The objectives included the implementation of these treatment operations utilizing a commercial Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF). In contracting for commercial hazardous and mixed waste treatment, it is important to characterize the waste beyond the identification of toxicity characteristic (TC) and radiological content. Performing treatability studies and verification of all the unit operations required for treatment is critical. The stream selected for this program was TC hazardous for barium (D005) and contaminated with both depleted and low enriched uranium. The program resulted in the generation of characterization data and treatment strategies. The characterization and treatability studies indicated that although a common unit operation was required to remove the toxic characteristic, multiple pretreatment operations were needed. Many of these operations do not exist at available TSDF's, rendering some portions of the stream untreatable using existing commercial TSDF's. For this project the need for pretreatment operations resulted in only a portion of the waste originally targeted for treatment being accepted for treatment at a commercial TSDF. The majority of the targeted stream could not be successfully treated due to lack of an off-site commercial treatment facility having the available equipment and capacity or with the correct combination of RCRA permits and radioactive material handling licenses. This paper presents a case study documenting the results of the project

The relative importance of real-time in-cab and external feedback in managing fatigue in real-world commercial transport operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzharris, Michael; Liu, Sara; Stephens, Amanda N; Lenné, Michael G

2017-05-29

Real-time driver monitoring systems represent a solution to address key behavioral risks as they occur, particularly distraction and fatigue. The efficacy of these systems in real-world settings is largely unknown. This article has three objectives: (1) to document the incidence and duration of fatigue in real-world commercial truck-driving operations, (2) to determine the reduction, if any, in the incidence of fatigue episodes associated with providing feedback, and (3) to tease apart the relative contribution of in-cab warnings from 24/7 monitoring and feedback to employers. Data collected from a commercially available in-vehicle camera-based driver monitoring system installed in a commercial truck fleet operating in Australia were analyzed. The real-time driver monitoring system makes continuous assessments of driver drowsiness based on eyelid position and other factors. Data were collected in a baseline period where no feedback was provided to drivers. Real-time feedback to drivers then occurred via in-cab auditory and haptic warnings, which were further enhanced by direct feedback by company management when fatigue events were detected by external 24/7 monitors. Fatigue incidence rates and their timing of occurrence across the three time periods were compared. Relative to no feedback being provided to drivers when fatigue events were detected, in-cab warnings resulted in a 66% reduction in fatigue events, with a 95% reduction achieved by the real-time provision of direct feedback in addition to in-cab warnings (p safety culture of the company in terms of how the information is used. Data were analysed on a per-truck trip basis, and the findings are indicative of fatigue events in a large-scale commercial transport fleet. Future research ought to account for individual driver performance, which was not possible with the available data in this retrospective analysis. Evidence that real-time driver monitoring feedback is effective in reducing fatigue events is

Commercialization of DOE isotope production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laflin, S.

1997-01-01

This paper describes the business structure and operations of MAC Isotopes (MACI) L.L.C., a newly created business resulting from the commercialization of a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) mission at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). MACI began its commercial operations on October 1, 1996, and is the first U.S. commercial isotope production business to result from the commercialization of DOE facilities or programs. The commercialization was the culmination of an -2-yr competitive procurement process by the DOE and Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company (LMITCO). MACI was selected from this competitive process as the commercial business of choice on the basis of providing the best value to the DOE/LMITCO and having the greatest potential for commercial success

Commercial Consolidation Model Applied to Transport Infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guilherme de Aragão, J.J.; Santos Fontes Pereira, L. dos; Yamashita, Y.

2016-07-01

Since the 1990s, transport concessions, including public-private partnerships (PPPs), have been increasingly adopted by governments as an alternative for financing and operations in public investments, especially in transport infrastructure. The advantage pointed out by proponents of these models lies in merging the expertise and capital of the private sector to the public interest. Several arrangements are possible and have been employed in different cases. After the duration of the first PPP contracts in transportation, many authors have analyzed the success and failure factors of partnerships. The occurrence of failures in some stages of the process can greatly encumber the public administration, incurring losses to the fiscal responsibility of the competent bodies. This article aims to propose a new commercial consolidation model applied to transport infrastructure to ensure fiscal sustainability and overcome the weaknesses of current models. Initially, a systematic review of the literature covering studies on transport concessions between 1990 and 2015 is offered, where the different approaches between various countries are compared and the critical success factors indicated in the studies are identified. In the subsequent part of the paper, an approach for the commercial consolidation of the infrastructure concessions is presented, where the concessionary is paid following a finalistic performance model, which includes the overall fiscal balance of regional growth. Finally, the papers analyses the usefulness of the model in coping with the critical success factors explained before. (Author)

76 FR 126 - Requirement for Commercial Users To Use Commercial Public Key Information (PKI) Certificate

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-03

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army Requirement for Commercial Users To Use Commercial..., SDDC will require all commercial accounts accessing transportation systems and applications to use a commercial PKI certificate or Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC). This requirement will...

7 CFR 944.312 - Orange import regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FRUITS; IMPORT REGULATIONS § 944... preserved by any commercial process, including canning, freezing, dehydrating, drying, and the addition of... Federal or Federal-State Inspection Service, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Service...

Determination of Volatile Compounds in Four Commercial Samples of Japanese Green Algae Using Solid Phase Microextraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masayoshi Yamamoto

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Green algae are of great economic importance. Seaweed is consumed fresh or as seasoning in Japan. The commercial value is determined by quality, color, and flavor and is also strongly influenced by the production area. Our research, based on solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS, has revealed that volatile compounds differ intensely in the four varieties of commercial green algae. Accordingly, 41 major volatile compounds were identified. Heptadecene was the most abundant compound from Okayama (Ulva prolifera, Tokushima (Ulva prolifera, and Ehime prefecture (Ulva linza. Apocarotenoids, such as ionones, and their derivatives were prominent volatiles in algae from Okayama (Ulva prolifera and Tokushima prefecture (Ulva prolifera. Volatile, short chained apocarotenoids are among the most potent flavor components and contribute to the flavor of fresh, processed algae, and algae-based products. Benzaldehyde was predominant in seaweed from Shizuoka prefecture (Monostroma nitidum. Multivariant statistical analysis (PCA enabled simple discrimination of the samples based on their volatile profiles. This work shows the potential of SPME-GC-MS coupled with multivariant analysis to discriminate between samples of different geographical and botanical origins and form the basis for development of authentication methods of green algae products, including seasonings.

HIV/AIDS-related sexual behaviour among commercial motorcyclists ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Commercial motorcyclists in Nigeria are predominantly young males with high risk behaviour for HIV/AIDS. They may have become a reservoir for the continued transmission of HIV but they are often neglected in efforts to control the disease. It is important to pay special attention to this group. Aim: To assess ...

Microbiological and Physicochemical Quality Characterization of Commercial Red Pepper Powders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, M.S.; Ahn, J.J.; Kashig, A.; Kim, G.R.; Kwon, J.H.; Im, J.G.

2013-01-01

Ten commercially available red pepper powders were investigated for their hygienic quality (total aerobic count, yeasts and molds, and coliforms) and physicochemical properties (moisture content, pH, Hunters color values, American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) color and particle size). Microbial analysis resulted in 10 3 -10 6 CFU/g of total aerobic count and same of yeasts and molds, where 2 samples were positive (103 CFU/g) for coliforms. The moisture contents (7.25% to 12.73%) were with in the range as described in the Korean Food Standards Codex. Noteworthy variations were observed in pH (4.97 to 5.15), Hunters E values (47.19 to 58.04) and ASTA color values (89.31 to 98.61). Although the color differences were evident among the samples, but the Hunter values were not in good correlations with ASTA color values. The average particle sizes of the all samples were comparable ranging from 605 μm to 1251 μm with few exceptions. There was a great variation in the key quality attributes of commercially available red pepper powders that should be considered for their various uses in food products. (author)

ESSENCE OF ACTIVE OPERATIONS OF COMMERCIAL BANKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malinovskaya Irina

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Constant changes in the economic situation in the country and in the world give rise to new problems in asset management of commercial banks. This, in turn, requires the timely development and introduction of new and improved mechanisms for active operations of banking institutions. Only the implementation of such adequate mechanisms will allow, on the one hand, to satisfy the needs of consumers of banking services, and on the other – for banking institutions, to obtain the necessary level of profit for the acceptable risk to them. Purpose. Substantiation of theoretical foundations of organization and management of assets of banking institutions and determination of perspective directions of development of active operations in commercial banks. Results. The article provides a list of operations carried out by commercial banks of Ukraine. The essence of the concept of active operations of a banking institution as an important element of its activity for profit is considered. Possible variants of classification of active operations are analyzed, depending on the criterion underlying (risk level, liquidity and term of putting. The definition of a bank loan and its basic principles are given. The purposes and advantages of investment activity of banking institutions are specified, the classification of such activity is carried out. Proposed directions of development of active operations of banking institutions through the use of intermediary operations and unconventional banking services are offered. Conclusions. Currently, banking institutions carry out a large number of different banking operations. Mobilized by carrying out passive operations cash funds of the banking institution are placed through active operations in different directions. The basis of active operations of a commercial bank is its credit and investment operations. A commercial bank’s profits in the future are dependent on their effective conduct. The conduct of

What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael); L. Oxley (Les)

2010-01-01

textabstractThe paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that

Maize transformation technology development for commercial event generation

Science.gov (United States)

Que, Qiudeng; Elumalai, Sivamani; Li, Xianggan; Zhong, Heng; Nalapalli, Samson; Schweiner, Michael; Fei, Xiaoyin; Nuccio, Michael; Kelliher, Timothy; Gu, Weining; Chen, Zhongying; Chilton, Mary-Dell M.

2014-01-01

Maize is an important food and feed crop in many countries. It is also one of the most important target crops for the application of biotechnology. Currently, there are more biotech traits available on the market in maize than in any other crop. Generation of transgenic events is a crucial step in the development of biotech traits. For commercial applications, a high throughput transformation system producing a large number of high quality events in an elite genetic background is highly desirable. There has been tremendous progress in Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation since the publication of the Ishida et al. (1996) paper and the technology has been widely adopted for transgenic event production by many labs around the world. We will review general efforts in establishing efficient maize transformation technologies useful for transgenic event production in trait research and development. The review will also discuss transformation systems used for generating commercial maize trait events currently on the market. As the number of traits is increasing steadily and two or more modes of action are used to control key pests, new tools are needed to efficiently transform vectors containing multiple trait genes. We will review general guidelines for assembling binary vectors for commercial transformation. Approaches to increase transformation efficiency and gene expression of large gene stack vectors will be discussed. Finally, recent studies of targeted genome modification and transgene insertion using different site-directed nuclease technologies will be reviewed. PMID:25140170

Maize transformation technology development for commercial event generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Que, Qiudeng; Elumalai, Sivamani; Li, Xianggan; Zhong, Heng; Nalapalli, Samson; Schweiner, Michael; Fei, Xiaoyin; Nuccio, Michael; Kelliher, Timothy; Gu, Weining; Chen, Zhongying; Chilton, Mary-Dell M

2014-01-01

Maize is an important food and feed crop in many countries. It is also one of the most important target crops for the application of biotechnology. Currently, there are more biotech traits available on the market in maize than in any other crop. Generation of transgenic events is a crucial step in the development of biotech traits. For commercial applications, a high throughput transformation system producing a large number of high quality events in an elite genetic background is highly desirable. There has been tremendous progress in Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation since the publication of the Ishida et al. (1996) paper and the technology has been widely adopted for transgenic event production by many labs around the world. We will review general efforts in establishing efficient maize transformation technologies useful for transgenic event production in trait research and development. The review will also discuss transformation systems used for generating commercial maize trait events currently on the market. As the number of traits is increasing steadily and two or more modes of action are used to control key pests, new tools are needed to efficiently transform vectors containing multiple trait genes. We will review general guidelines for assembling binary vectors for commercial transformation. Approaches to increase transformation efficiency and gene expression of large gene stack vectors will be discussed. Finally, recent studies of targeted genome modification and transgene insertion using different site-directed nuclease technologies will be reviewed.

Germination phenology of some Great Basin native annual forb species

Science.gov (United States)

Tara A. Forbis

2010-01-01

Great Basin native plant communities are being replaced by the annual invasive cheatgrass Bromus tectorum. Cheatgrass exhibits a germination syndrome that is characteristic of facultative winter annuals. Although perennials dominate these communities, native annuals are present at many sites. Germination timing is often an important predictor of competitive...

Issues and prospects vis a vis Indian PV commercialization programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deambi, Suneel

1994-01-01

Following a large scale demonstration of photovoltaic systems attending to the important requirements of lighting, water pumping, television and battery charging etc. in the remote surroundings of India, serious efforts are being made to promote the commercial use of these systems. A recently launched World Bank-supported project on PV market development has provided the much needed boost to the Indian PV programme. This paper tries to analyse the issues and prospects with respect to the National PV Commercialization Programme in view of the changing PV scenario in the country. (author)

Great Basin Experimental Range: Annotated bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

E. Durant McArthur; Bryce A. Richardson; Stanley G. Kitchen

2013-01-01

This annotated bibliography documents the research that has been conducted on the Great Basin Experimental Range (GBER, also known as the Utah Experiment Station, Great Basin Station, the Great Basin Branch Experiment Station, Great Basin Experimental Center, and other similar name variants) over the 102 years of its existence. Entries were drawn from the original...

[Use of painkillers by Polish secondary school students and the influence of TV commercials].

Science.gov (United States)

Buczak, A; Lukasik, I M; Witek, A

2010-11-01

This article refers to the results of research conducted in 2008 with financial support (as a grant) of UMCS vice-chancellor. The topic was: Environmental and personal circumstances of taking painkillers available without prescription by secondary school students. 276 high school pupils in Lublin (equivalent of higher grammar-school level in Germany) were examined with a copyright questionnaire to check, among other things, how TV commercials affect taking painkillers. 40.6% of participants take analgesics very often, almost half of them (47.1%) reach for drugs which they know from commercials. 75% of students can indicate at least four examples of specific commercials advertising painkillers. In their depiction of these analgesics by metaphors a great number of analogies with TV advertisements can be found. Those who claim frequent intake of painkillers describe them as 'necessary, essential' (31.3%) or as 'convenient (giving comfort)' (19.6%). At the same time the majority of students (94.6%) is convinced that reaching for painkillers is socially accepted. Such attitude is probably reinforced by ubiquitous advertising of those drugs in Polish media. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The GREAT3 challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, H; Mandelbaum, R; Rowe, B

2014-01-01

The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 3 (GREAT3) challenge is an image analysis competition that aims to test algorithms to measure weak gravitational lensing from astronomical images. The challenge started in October 2013 and ends 30 April 2014. The challenge focuses on testing the impact on weak lensing measurements of realistically complex galaxy morphologies, realistic point spread function, and combination of multiple different exposures. It includes simulated ground- and space-based data. The details of the challenge are described in [1], and the challenge website and its leader board can be found at http://great3challenge.info and http://great3.projects.phys.ucl.ac.uk/leaderboard/, respectively

GOOD TO GREAT: WHY SOME COMPANIES MAKE THE LEAP…AND SOME OTHERS DON’T

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jim Collins

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The book consists of nine chapters explaining the concept of Good to Great. Starting from emphasizing that “good is the enemy of great”, Jim Collins provides great explanations as well as arguments of why his concept is very important for leaders who want to be successful in their efforts of building “enduring results” of their companies, organizations, or institutions. He in detail explains four principles underlining the framework of good to great. There are disciplined people (level 5 leadership and first who, then what concepts, disciplined thought (confront the brutal facts and the Hedgehog concepts, disciplined action (culture of discipline and the flywheel concepts, and building greatness to last (clock building, not the time telling and preserve the core/stimulate progress concepts. For further analysis of the Good to Great, I will shortly summarize the concept of how to make something good to be great explained in the book in the following section. I will also conclude this paper by commenting on the concept as my critique toward the theory of Good to Great.

A comparison of safety belt use between commercial and noncommercial light-vehicle occupants.

Science.gov (United States)

Eby, David W; Fordyce, Tiffani A; Vivoda, Jonathon M

2002-05-01

The purpose of this study was to conduct an observational survey of safety belt use to determine the use rate of commercial versus noncommercial light-vehicle occupants. Observations were conducted on front-outboard vehicle occupants in eligible commercial and noncommercial vehicles in Michigan (i.e.. passenger cars, vans/minivans, sport-utility vehicles, and pickup trucks). Commercial vehicles that did not fit into one of the four vehicle type categories, such as tractor-trailers, buses, or heavy trucks, were not included in the survey. The study found that the restraint use rate for commercial light-vehicle occupants was 55.8% statewide. The statewide safety belt use rate for commercial light-vehicles was significantly lower than the rate of 71.2% for noncommercial light-vehicles. The safety belt use rate for commercial vehicles was also significantly different as a function of region, vehicle type, seating position, age group, and road type. The results provide important preliminary data about safety belt use in commercial versus noncommercial light-vehicles and indicate that further effort is needed to promote safety belt use in the commercial light-vehicle occupant population. The study also suggests that additional research is required in order to develop effective programs that address low safety belt use in the commercial light-vehicle occupant population.

Network Interactions in the Great Altai Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lev Aleksandrovich Korshunov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available To improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the regional economy, an effective interaction between educational institutions in the Great Altai region is needed. The innovation growth can enhancing this interaction. The article explores the state of network structures in the economy and higher education in the border territories of the countries of Great Altai. The authors propose an updated approach to the three-level classification of network interaction. We analyze growing influence of the countries with emerging economies. We define the factors that impede the more stable and multifaceted regional development of these countries. Further, the authors determine indicators of the higher education systems and cooperation systems at the university level between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries (SCO and BRICS countries, showing the international rankings of the universities in these countries. The teaching language is important to overcome the obstacles in the interregional cooperation. The authors specify the problems of the development of the universities of the SCO and BRICS countries as global educational networks. The research applies basic scientific logical methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as the SWOT analysis method. We have indentified and analyzed the existing economic and educational relations. To promote the economic innovation development of the border territories of the Great Altai, we propose a model of regional network university. Modern universities function in a new economic environment. Thus, in a great extent, they form the technological and social aspects of this environment. Innovative network structures contribute to the formation of a new network institutional environment of the regional economy, which impacts the macro- and microeconomic performance of the region as a whole. The results of the research can help to optimize the regional economies of the border

Haematological status of wintering great tits (Parus major) along a metal pollution gradient

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geens, Ann, E-mail: ann.geens@ua.ac.be [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium); Dauwe, Tom [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium); VITO, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol (Belgium); Bervoets, Lieven; Blust, Ronny [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Eens, Marcel [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium)

2010-02-01

In the long-term biomonitoring of wild populations inhabiting polluted areas, the use of non-destructive biomarkers as markers of condition is very important. We examined the possible effects of metal pollution on the haematological status of adult great tits (Parus major) along a well-established pollution gradient near a non-ferrous smelter in Belgium. We measured blood and feather metal concentrations and assessed the haematological status (amount of red blood cells, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin) of adult great tits during winter at four study sites. Metal concentrations in blood and feathers indicated that cadmium and lead were the most important metals in the pollution gradient under study. Measurements of haematological parameters revealed that haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were lower in great tits from the more polluted sites. These parameters were significantly negatively correlated with blood lead concentration. The amount of red blood cells, however, did not significantly differ among study sites. Our results indicate that the haematological status of great tits is negatively affected by metal pollution and may therefore be used as a successful biomarker for monitoring the negative impact of metal exposure in the wild.

Great Lakes rivermouth ecosystems: scientific synthesis and management implications

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, James H.; Trebitz, Anett S.; Steinman, Alan D.; Wiley, Michael J.; Carlson Mazur, Martha; Pebbles, Victoria; Braun, Heather A.; Seelbach, Paul W.

2013-01-01

At the interface of the Great Lakes and their tributary rivers lies the rivermouths, a class of aquatic ecosystem where lake and lotic processes mix and distinct features emerge. Many rivermouths are the focal point of both human interaction with the Great Lakes and human impacts to the lakes; many cities, ports, and beaches are located in rivermouth ecosystems, and these human pressures often degrade key ecological functions that rivermouths provide. Despite their ecological uniqueness and apparent economic importance, there has been relatively little research on these ecosystems as a class relative to studies on upstream rivers or the open-lake waters. Here we present a synthesis of current knowledge about ecosystem structure and function in Great Lakes rivermouths based on studies in both Laurentian rivermouths, coastal wetlands, and marine estuarine systems. A conceptual model is presented that establishes a common semantic framework for discussing the characteristic spatial features of rivermouths. This model then is used to conceptually link ecosystem structure and function to ecological services provided by rivermouths. This synthesis helps identify the critical gaps in understanding rivermouth ecology. Specifically, additional information is needed on how rivermouths collectively influence the Great Lakes ecosystem, how human alterations influence rivermouth functions, and how ecosystem services provided by rivermouths can be managed to benefit the surrounding socioeconomic networks.

Procurement Engineering Process for Commercial Grade Item Dedication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jong-Hyuck; Park, Jong-Eun; Kwak, Tack-Hun; Yoo, Keun-Bae; Lee, Sang-Guk; Hong, Sung-Yull

2006-01-01

Procurement Engineering Process for commercial grade item dedication plays an increasingly important role in operation management of Korea Nuclear Power Plants. The purpose of the Procurement Engineering Process is the provision and assurance of a high quality and quantity of spare, replacement, retrofit and new parts and equipment while maximizing plant availability, minimizing downtime due to parts unavailability and providing reasonable overall program and inventory cost. In this paper, we will review the overview requirements, responsibilities and the process for demonstrating with reasonable assurance that a procured item for potential nuclear safety related services or other essential plant service is adequate with reasonable assurance for its application. This paper does not cover the details of technical evaluation, selecting critical characteristics, selecting acceptance methods, performing failure modes and effects analysis, performing source surveillance, performing quality surveys, performing special tests and inspections, and the other aspects of effective Procurement Engineering and Commercial Grade Item Dedication. The main contribution of this paper is to provide the provision of an overview of Procurement Engineering Process for commercial grade item

Comparative Analysis of Lipid Content and Fatty Acid Composition of Commercially Important Fish and Shellfish from Sri Lanka and Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Devadason, Chandravathany; Jayasinghe, Chamila; Sivakanesan, Ramiah; Senarath, Samanthika; Beppu, Fumiaki; Gotoh, Naohiro

2016-01-01

Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, allowing plenty of fishes to be caught. Moreover, these fishes represent one of the undocumented fish resources in the world and their detailed lipid profiles have not been previously examined. In this study, the lipid content and fatty acid composition of 50 commercially important fishes from the Indian Ocean (Sri Lanka) and the Pacific Ocean (Japan) were compared. The total lipid content and fatty acid composition, including eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3, DHA), differed significantly among species. Fish from the Pacific Ocean had higher proportions of fatty acids, including EPA and DHA. Herrings and mackerels from both oceanic areas demonstrated high levels of EPA and DHA, and n-3/n-6 ratio. Brackish and freshwater fishes from both groups showed low levels of PUFAs. Fish from the Indian Ocean were high in n-6 fatty acids. Monounsaturated fatty acid levels were high in omnivorous fish from the Pacific Ocean, and saturated fatty acid levels were high in fish from the Indian Ocean. The results of this study will be of value in determining the dietary usefulness of fish caught in Sri Lanka.

Cephalopods are becoming increasingly important in world fisheries ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

spamer

the commercial importance of the cephalopod species exploited by Spanish and .... made in the Sicilian Channel by Jereb and Ragonese. (1990) and Ragonese and .... Preliminary data on the bathymetric distribution of cephalopods in the ...

75 FR 6354 - NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes Restoration...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

...-04] RIN 0648-ZC10 NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes... Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of funding availability; Date... on January 19, 2010. That notice announced the NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project...

Recycling Sounds in Commercials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Charlotte Rørdam

2012-01-01

Commercials offer the opportunity for intergenerational memory and impinge on cultural memory. TV commercials for foodstuffs often make reference to past times as a way of authenticating products. This is frequently achieved using visual cues, but in this paper I would like to demonstrate how...... such references to the past and ‘the good old days’ can be achieved through sounds. In particular, I will look at commercials for Danish non-dairy spreads, especially for OMA margarine. These commercials are notable in that they contain a melody and a slogan – ‘Say the name: OMA margarine’ – that have basically...... remained the same for 70 years. Together these identifiers make OMA an interesting Danish case to study. With reference to Ann Rigney’s memorial practices or mechanisms, the study aims to demonstrate how the auditory aspects of Danish margarine commercials for frying tend to be limited in variety...

The Cultural Heritage of the Great Prespa Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ema Muslli

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The Great Prespa region is situated in the Balkan Peninsula and is divided between Albania, Macedonia and Greece. It includes the Great Prespa Lake and the surrounding beach and meadow, areas designated for agricultural use and the towns of Pusteci (formerly known as Liqenas and Resen. This region is now part of the Trans-Boundary Biosphere Reserve ‘Ohrid-Prespa Watershed. Great and Small Prespa lakes plus Ohrid Lake are included in this newly-approved UNESCO world Heritage Site, but for this paper, we are looking only at the area surrounding the Great Prespa Lake. It is critical for this area to be protected immediately, because of the overuse it has undergone in recent years. While current levels of fauna are dangerously declining due to recent over-harvesting, this area has been known historically for its diverse natural and cultural features. Thus it is important to take drastic measures to reclaim the natural beauty immediately, including those areas currently covered by Prespa National Parks in Albania and Greece and Galichica and Pelisteri National Parks in Macedonia. Due to many wars over the centuries, it exists a mixture of Albanian and Macedonian culture. The historical and architectural remaining, religious structures and artifacts testify the richness and uniqueness of the communities of Pustec and Resen have. The cultural heritage is now a key element designated for the development of the region’s sustainable tourism development. This study was enhanced via the Geographic Info System (GIS digital presentation showing the opportunities for natural and cultural tourism in both countries (Albania and Macedonia.

Reproductive behavior of the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis).

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlowski, Corinne P; Bauman, Karen L; Asa, Cheryl S

2015-01-01

Great hornbills (Buceros bicornis) are a long-lived, monogamous species that forms strong pair-bonds, and mate compatibility is thought to be important for successful reproduction. Within AZA, great hornbills are listed as a red SSP. The population consists of a limited number of individuals that do not breed reliably, and improving reproduction is a top priority for the Coraciiformes TAG. To better understand mating behavior and evaluate mate compatibility, this study documented the behavior of pairs of great hornbills during and immediately after courtship. Using live observations, the study followed one female, an experienced and successful breeder, as she was paired with four successive males over 11 breeding seasons. Initially, males frequently vocalized, investigated the nest, and approached the female. As the female spent more time in the nest, these behaviors were replaced by regurgitation and food offering. The female was most often observed plastering and vocalizing. Behavioral differences between successful and unsuccessful pairs, possibly indicative of pair compatibility, included rates of approaching, billing, and biting. Numerous behaviors occurred more frequently during years that a chick hatched, including pseudoregurgitation, regurgitation, offering food items, and nest investigation. Males also spent more time in proximity to both the female and the nest during years that a chick hatched. Together, these results suggest that the amount of time pairs spend in proximity, the amount of time a male spends near the nest, and the frequency of certain behaviors may help evaluate compatibility and the likelihood of successful reproduction for pairs of great hornbills. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Investigation of Subject perceptions of the Environment in Commercial kitchens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simone, Angela; Olesen, Bjarne W.

2012-01-01

In a country such as the United States, the largest employee sector is in the restaurant industry. This makes the commercial kitchens an important space that needs to be evaluated and consequently improved in terms of thermal comfort and indoor air quality conditions, for the wellbeing of the emp......In a country such as the United States, the largest employee sector is in the restaurant industry. This makes the commercial kitchens an important space that needs to be evaluated and consequently improved in terms of thermal comfort and indoor air quality conditions, for the wellbeing....... Today, no study on subjective feedback from kitchen employees has been reported. In the present paper, two types of survey were developed and tested in the field. The questions are based on the ISO 10551 standard and adapted to the kitchen environment. Answers dealing with the working conditions...

The Next Great Generation?

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Andrew

2000-01-01

Discusses ideas from a new book, "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation," (by Neil Howe and William Strauss) suggesting that youth culture is on the cusp of a radical shift with the generation beginning with this year's college freshmen who are typically team oriented, optimistic, and poised for greatness on a global scale. Includes a…

Scenario for commercialization of fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumaoka, Yoshio; Sato, Morihiko

1989-01-01

To realize the commercialization of fast breeder reactors (FBRs), it is essential to reduce construction costs to the same level as those for the current light water reactors. For this target to be attained, a highly important factor is to reduce to the lowest-levels possible the quantities of materials and volume of the buildings required for the primary and secondary sodium loops of the FBR. In this direction, an innovative compact FBR plant concept which holds promise for commercialization has been developed by introducing the pooltype reactor concept with the shortest possible secondary sodium loops, realized by coupling electromagnetic pumps with the steam generators. In comparison with the French Super Phenix reactor, for example, the construction of this 1,300-MWe FBR plant could be achieved with half the material quantities and plant volume required by the former type. (author)

Sustainable commercialization of new crops for the agricultural bioeconomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.R. Jordan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Diversification of agroecological systems to enhance agrobiodiversity is likely to be critical to advancing environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture. Temperate-zone agroecological systems that are currently organized for production of summer-annual crops can be diversified by integration of fallow-season and perennial crops. Integration of such crops can improve sustainability of these agroecological systems, with minimal interference with current agricultural production. Importantly, these crops can provide feedstocks for a wide range of new bio-products that are forming a new agricultural bioeconomy, potentially providing greatly increased economic incentives for diversification. However, while there are many fallow-season and perennial crops that might be used in such a “bioeconomic” strategy for diversification, most are not yet well adapted and highly-marketable. Efforts are underway to enhance adaptation and marketability of many such crops. Critically, these efforts require a strategic approach that addresses the inherent complexity of these projects. We outline a suitable approach, which we term “sustainable commercialization”: a coordinated innovation process that integrates a new crop into the agriculture of a region, while intentionally addressing economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges via multi-stakeholder governance. This approach centers on a concerted effort to coordinate and govern innovation in three critical areas: germplasm development, multifunctional agroecosystem design and management, and development of end uses, supply chains, and markets. To exemplify the approach, we describe an ongoing effort to commercialize a new fallow-season crop, field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L..

MANAGING AND RESTORING UPLAND RIPARIAN MEADOWS IN THE CENTRAL GREAT BASIN

Science.gov (United States)

Riparian meadow ecosystems in upland watersheds are of local and regional importance in the Great Basin. Covering only 1-3% of the total land area, these ecosystems contain a disproportionally large percentage of the region's biodiversity. Stream incision, due to natural and anth...

Precarious Slopes? The Great Recession, Federal Stimulus, and New Jersey Schools. Working Paper #02-12

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarti, Rajashri; Sutherland, Sarah

2012-01-01

While sparse literature exists investigating the impact of the Great Recession on various sectors of the economy, there is virtually no research that studies the effect of the Great Recession, or past recessions, on schools. This paper starts to fill the void. Studying school funding during the recession is of paramount importance because schools…

Determinants of Commercial Banks' Interest Rate Spread in Namibia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

reduces net interest margin whilst the liquidity levels of a commercial bank increases ... and the capital ratio are not important determinants of the net interest margin. .... profitable and resilient to shocks including the recent financial crisis .... affects its business operations including its decision of what interest rate to charge.

GLOBALIZATION’S ASPECTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION COMMERCIALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Zhylinska

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to higher education current trends in the context of commercialization under globalization. The paper analyzes dynamics of the global education market, identifies factors that influence the choice of university and educational programs abroad. The importance of world universities rankings as information products that reflect the quality of education is shown. The study characterizes Ukrainian realities of globalization’s activation in higher education.

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Clint R.; Roth, Cali; Carlson, Benjamin; Smart, Matthew

2016-01-01

Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ∼18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014. We then developed habitat selection models to identify remotely sensed land-cover and land-use features that influence apiary site selection by Dakota beekeepers. Our study demonstrates a continual increase in biofuel crops, totaling 1.2 Mha, around registered apiary locations in North and South Dakota. Such crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in this region. Furthermore, our analysis reveals how grasslands that beekeepers target when selecting commercial apiary locations are becoming less common in eastern North and South Dakota, changes that may have lasting impact on pollinator conservation efforts. Our study highlights how land-use change in the NGP is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping. Our models can be used to guide future conservation efforts highlighted in the US national pollinator health strategy by identifying areas that support high densities of commercial apiaries and that have exhibited significant land-use changes.

36 CFR 5.6 - Commercial vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial vehicles. 5.6... COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 5.6 Commercial vehicles. (a) The term “Commercial vehicle” as used in... used in connection with any business. (b) The use of government roads within park areas by commercial...

[The perception of values in food commercials on the part of young people with and without eating disorders].

Science.gov (United States)

Mas-Manchón, Lluís; Rodríguez-Bravo, Ángel; Montoya-Vilar, Norminanda; Morales-Morante, Fernando; Lopes, Elaine; Añaños, Elena; Peres, Rafaella; Martínez, María Eugenia; Grau, Antoni

2015-09-01

Advertising uses stereotyped body images to promote physical ideals and unhealthy eating habits related to food products which are targeted especially at young people. The purpose of this study, carried out in Barcelona (Spain) in May 2013, was to test the perception of 139 young people of university age - with and without eating disorders - regarding 25 values in seven food commercials that did and did not use body image strategies. Results show that only the group of young people with eating disorders considered commercials using body image strategies to have a very negative influence on values such as health, well-being, family and effort. In contrast, the assessment of the two groups regarding the rest of the commercials greatly coincided. These results show that today’s university youth have accepted as normal a beauty canon based on the prevailing social and economic order, while young people in treatment for eating disorders have learned to denaturalize such messages.

Alien invasive species and biological pollution of the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem[Great Lakes Water Quality Board : Report to the International Joint Commission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-05-01

The displacement of important native species in the Great Lakes is a result of an invasion by a succession of non indigenous aquatic species. These invasion also resulted in interference with the proper human water uses and cost billions of dollars. The problem was considered serious enough that the International Joint Commission asked the Great Lakes Water Quality Board in 1999 to review the regulations in place and make recommendations, if necessary, for the implementation of additional measures that could be considered to keep control over the introduction of alien invasive species. Escapes from aquaria, aquaculture, research and educational facilities, canal and diversion water flows, and release of live bait are all sources of this invasion. The effectiveness of alternative technologies to control the invasion was to be examined by the Board. Other efforts taking place to address the situation in the basin are being complemented by the publication of this report. It is considered that the most important source of alien invasive species (AIS) to the Great Lakes is the discharge of ballast water from shipping vessels coming from outside the United States and Canada. A major concern is the role played by vessels reporting no ballast on board (NOBOB) upon entering the basin. A number of recommendations were made concerning: (1) implementation and enforcement of the ballast water discharge standards agreed upon by both countries, (2) the evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative technologies to achieve ballast water discharge standards over the long term, combined with the use of chemical treatment while the evaluation is being performed, (3) the implementation of optimal management practices to control sediments in shipping vessels, (4) modifications to the design of shipping vessels, and (5) the monitoring and contingency plans in the event of a repeat scenario in the future. Composed of an equal number representatives from the United States and Canada, at

Green commercial building insurance in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yu Xin Ou; Chew, Boon Cheong; Loo, Heoy Shin; Tan, Lay Hong

2017-03-01

Green building construction is growing tremendously globally even in Malaysia. Currently, there are approximate 636 buildings have registered and to be certified with Green Building Index. Among these buildings, 45 buildings have already fulfilled the requirements and fully certified. The other buildings still under provisional certification stage. Malaysia had adopted Green Building Index in 2009 to support a move to promote green building concept. Malaysia starts to move towards green building because Malaysian construction and building industry realizes that both energy consumed and waste produced are reduced without irreversible impacts to ecosystems. Consequently, insurance companies such as Fireman's Fund from America has started the green building insurance policies for their green building in the year of 2006, while Malaysia still remain the coverage for green buildings using conventional property insurance. There are lacks of efforts to be seen from insurance companies to propose green building insurance for these green buildings. There are a few factors which can take into consideration for insurance companies to start the very first green building insurance in Malaysia. Although there are challenges, some efficient strategies have been identified to overcome the problems. The methods used in this research topic is qualitative research. The results obtained shows that green commercial building insurance has a huge business opportunity in Malaysia because the number of green commercial buildings are increasing tremendously in Malaysia. It is a favor to implement green building insurance in Malaysia. Furthermore, insurance companies can consider to add in extra coverage in standard building policy to provide extra protection for non-certified green buildings which have the intention to rebuilt in green when damage happens. Generally, it is very important to introduce green commercial buildings insurance into Malaysia so that all of the green commercial

Constraints to commercialization of algal fuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Chisti, Yusuf

2013-09-10

Production of algal crude oil has been achieved in various pilot scale facilities, but whether algal fuels can be produced in sufficient quantity to meaningfully displace petroleum fuels, has been largely overlooked. Limitations to commercialization of algal fuels need to be understood and addressed for any future commercialization. This review identifies the major constraints to commercialization of transport fuels from microalgae. Algae derived fuels are expensive compared to petroleum derived fuels, but this could change. Unfortunately, improved economics of production are not sufficient for an environmentally sustainable production, or its large scale feasibility. A low-cost point supply of concentrated carbon dioxide colocated with the other essential resources is necessary for producing algal fuels. An insufficiency of concentrated carbon dioxide is actually a major impediment to any substantial production of algal fuels. Sustainability of production requires the development of an ability to almost fully recycle the phosphorous and nitrogen nutrients that are necessary for algae culture. Development of a nitrogen biofixation ability to support production of algal fuels ought to be an important long term objective. At sufficiently large scale, a limited supply of freshwater will pose a significant limitation to production even if marine algae are used. Processes for recovering energy from the algal biomass left after the extraction of oil, are required for achieving a net positive energy balance in the algal fuel oil. The near term outlook for widespread use of algal fuels appears bleak, but fuels for niche applications such as in aviation may be likely in the medium term. Genetic and metabolic engineering of microalgae to boost production of fuel oil and ease its recovery, are essential for commercialization of algal fuels. Algae will need to be genetically modified for improved photosynthetic efficiency in the long term. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All

Evaluating Susceptibility to Commercial Fungicide of Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Roses (Rosa hybrida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Carolina Corredor Perilla

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Fungal endophytes have shown their potential as biocontrol agents; however, their application in commercial fields remains limited. Continuously applying fungicides to crops (specifically to roses may have harmful effects on endophyte growth. Endophytic fungi were isolated from R. hybrida and their susceptibility to fungicides regularly used for controlling important pathogens was analysed. This was performed in vitro, mixing several fungicide concentrations with standard medium for fungal endophytes; growth inhibition was then measured. The susceptibility of Botrytis cinerea (3015 strain, one of the most important pathogens affecting roses in Colombia, was also assessed using the same protocols. Active ingredients, such as boscalid, captan, iprodione and pyrimethanyl, showed susceptibility ranging from not sensitive (³73.75% to regularly sensitive (³48.75% - <61.25% for 45.45% of the fungal endophytes assessed. Endophytic fungi were highly susceptible to fungicides such as pyrimethanyl, carboxin plus thiram, fludioxonyl plus ciprodinyl and prochloraz. B. cinerea (3015 strain presented high susceptibility (<23.75% to fungicides such as pyrimethanyl, carboxin and thiram, fludioxonil and ciprodinyl, prochloraz. Although B. cinerea showed the greatest growth in controls, the endophytic fungi being assessed grew better in different media with fungicides. The results revealed some of these fungal endophytes’ potential for integrated pest management (IPM in roses in Colombia (3002, 3003, 3004, 3005 and 3006 strains, taking into account correct application time, application frequency and both fungal endophyte and fungicide dosage which may greatly limit fungal endophyte growth.

Chemicals of emerging concern in the Great Lakes Basin: an analysis of environmental exposures.

Science.gov (United States)

Klecka, Gary; Persoon, Carolyn; Currie, Rebecca

2010-01-01

stewardship as well as government risk assessment and risk management programs have been implemented over the past years for many of these compounds. Because risk management strategies for some of these contaminants have been implemented only recently, their impact on environmental concentrations, to date, remains unclear. Current evidence suggests that the concentrations of some brominated flame retardants are trending downward, while the concentrations of others appear to be increasing. Regulatory criteria are not available for many of the chemicals of emerging concern that were detected in the Great Lakes Basin. When criteria do exist, it is important to recognize that they were developed based on the best available science at the time. As the science evolves, regulatory criteria must be reassessed in light of new findings (e.g., consideration of new endpoints and mechanisms of action). Further, there are significant scientific gaps in our ability to interpret environmental monitoring data, including the need for: (a) improving the understanding of the effects of mixtures, (b) information on use of, and the commercial life cycle of chemicals and products that contain them, (c) information on source contributions and exposure pathways, and (d) the need for thoughtful additional regulatory,environmental, and health criteria. Discharges from wastewater treatment plants were identified as an important source of contaminants to surface waters in the Great Lakes Basin. Combined sewer overflows and agricultural operations were also found to be important contributors to concentrations in surface waters. Concentrations of many of the chemicals were generally the highest in the vicinity of these sources, decline with increasing distance from sources, and were generally low or non-detectable in the open waters of the Great Lakes.

Mass Spectrometer Sounding of the Turbopause Region on Commercial Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Thurairajah, B.; Bailey, S. M.; Syrstad, E. A.; Fish, C. S.; Siskind, D. E.; Russell, J. M.

2013-12-01

The turbopause region near 100 km remains one of the most poorly explored yet crucial regions of the upper atmosphere. In the vicinity of this altitude, the atmosphere reaches its lowest temperature and changes from being well mixed to being in diffusive equilibrium. Dynamical energy in the form of tides as well as gravity and planetary waves propagate from the lower atmosphere up to the ionosphere and thermosphere. Some energy and reactive chemical species are transported down across the turbopause to lower altitudes where the impact is significant. There is a significant dearth of composition observations near the turbopause. Few measurement techniques work well at this altitude, and it is too low for satellite orbits. Amazingly, major species with relatively large abundances such as O2, O, and CO2 are all poorly understood at these attitudes. While there are several experiments that measure temperature, the uncertainties in the temperature measurements are large because the techniques that are used rely on knowledge of CO2 or sometimes of O2. The lack of composition information thus hinders those observations that do occur near the turbopause and mesopause and leaves us with an overall poor understanding of this altitude region. We are soon to enter a new era in space exploration. Routine visits to the 100km region by commercial vehicles are on the verge of becoming a reality. The relevant organizations have expressed a willingness and even enthusiasm for including scientific instrumentation with their tourism and related commercial goals. We propose a major step forward in understanding the turbopause region by developing a mass spectrometer capable of being manifested on these commercial vehicles. Such an implantation could ultimately result in daily sounding of the turbopause region and greatly expand the database of measurements there. Our suggested instrument is a cryogenic time-of-flight mass Spectrometer. This technique has heritage, and our

Commercial off-the-shelf software dedication process based on the commercial grade survey of supplier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J. Y.; Lee, J. S.; Chon, S. W.; Lee, G. Y.; Park, J. K.

2000-01-01

Commercial Off-The-Shelf(COTS) software dedication process can apply to a combination of methods like the hardware commercial grade item dedication process. In general, these methods are : methods 1(special test and inspection), method 2(commercial grade survey of supplier), method 3(source verification), and method 4(acceptance supplier/item performance record). In this paper, the suggested procedure-oriented dedication process on the basis of method 2 for COTS software is consistent with EPRI/TR-106439 and NUREG/CR-6421 requirements. Additional tailoring policy based on code and standards related to COTS software may be also founded in the suggested commercial software dedication process. Suggested commercial software dedication process has been developed for a commercial I and C software dedication who performs COTS qualification according to the dedication procedure

Nike's "Find Your Greatness Campaign" a Discourse Analysis

OpenAIRE

Maržić, Dea

2016-01-01

The purpose of this B.A. thesis is the discourse analysis of Nikes Find Your Greatness advertising campaign, released at the time of the 2012 Olympics in London. The analysis is preceded by a brief overview of important theories, findings and terminology in the fields of discourse analysis, visual analysis, and advertising. Of a total of twenty individual adverts, the first and last released advertisements were chosen as representative of the main approaches and methods used throughout the ca...

Regional Personality Differences in Great Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Rentfrow, Peter J.; Jokela, Markus; Lamb, Michael E.

2015-01-01

Recent investigations indicate that personality traits are unevenly distributed geographically, with some traits being more prevalent in certain places than in others. The geographical distributions of personality traits are associated with a range of important political, economic, social, and health outcomes. The majority of research on this subject has focused on the geographical distributions and macro-level correlates of personality across nations or regions of the United States. The aim of the present investigation was to replicate and extend that past work by examining regional personality differences in Great Britain. Using a sample of nearly 400,000 British residents, we mapped the geographical distributions of the Big Five Personality traits across 380 Local Authority Districts and examined the associations with important political, economic, social, and health outcomes. The results revealed distinct geographical clusters, with neighboring regions displaying similar personality characteristics, and robust associations with the macro-level outcome variables. Overall, the patterns of results were similar to findings from past research. PMID:25803819

Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA) houses environmental data on a wide variety of constituents in water, biota, sediment, and air in the Great Lakes area.

Commercialization channels of organic products in Brazil: analysis at the first level of the production chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andréa Rossi Scalco

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Specialized literature on organic production highlights the presence and concentration of retail, especially supermarkets, in the organic enhancement chain. This presents enormous obstacles for the entrance of small farmers in the production of organic products due to administrative barriers, in addition to pressure for lower prices by the supermarket retail network. This paper investigates the commercialization channels of organic production in Brazil. The survey was undertaken in 2013; questionnaires were sent to 900 out of approximately 11.200 farmers producing organic products; 216 answers were received. Analysis showed that approximately 90% of farmers provided for the internal market and 60% of the products were fresh fruits and vegetables. The distribution of organic products in Brazil is highly fragmented at the local, regional and national levels. The presence of supermarkets and intermediaries in the commercialization of fruits and vegetables is relevant, regardless of the size of the farm. There is a great dispersion of channels in the case of small farmers, although supermarkets rank second. However, direct commercialization (farmers markets is the main form of commercialization of the produce. Commercialization triggered by social programs has guaranteed a considerable part of the income on small production units or small farms. It seems that high involvement of retail networks and agents in the agribusiness segment causes low development rates in small agricultural units and in local development due to the latter’s low profit margins.

The impact of innovative commercial technologies on students’ behaviour of an economic university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurentiu-Dan Anghel

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In a dynamic business environment, implementing innovative commercial technologies facilitates the winning of new competitive advantages in the retail industry, given the manifested influence on consumer buying behaviour towards commercial units, as well as the significant contribution to the development of modern shops image. This paper presents the attitude of students from the Bucharest University of Economic Studies towards the adoption of innovative retail technologies within hypermarkets in Romania, based on a selective marketing research, conducted on a sample of 359 students from undergraduate and master cycles. The main objectives focused on identifying: the image of certain instruments belonging to the innovative commercial technologies in terms of usefulness in the process of buying; the intention to use innovative commercial technologies; the perception of the main advantages and disadvantages of using innovative commercial technologies in the buying process; the importance of commercial technologies in relation to other attributes underlying the development of a hypermarket image. Research results show a relatively low level of awareness among buyers, due to a reduced exposure to innovative commercial technologies, but a relatively high availability of acceptance in the purchasing process. Thus, there is a favourable assessment of the utility of commercial instruments in the buying process and a relatively high intention of use. The paper also highlights the influence of innovative commercial technologies on store image and loyalty of buyers.

Commercial milk distribution profiles and production locations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deonigi, D.E.; Anderson, D.M.; Wilfert, G.L.

1994-04-01

The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project was established to estimate radiation doses that people could have received from nuclear operations at the Hanford Site since 1944. For this period iodine-131 is the most important offsite contributor to radiation doses from Hanford operations. Consumption of milk from cows that ate vegetation contaminated by iodine-131 is the dominant radiation pathway for individuals who drank milk (Napier 1992). Information has been developed on commercial milk cow locations and commercial milk distribution during 1945 and 1951. The year 1945 was selected because during 1945 the largest amount of iodine-131 was released from Hanford facilities in a calendar year (Heeb 1993); therefore, 1945 was the year in which an individual was likely to have received the highest dose. The year 1951 was selected to provide data for comparing the changes that occurred in commercial milk flows (i.e., sources, processing locations, and market areas) between World War II and the post-war period. To estimate the doses people could have received from this milk flow, it is necessary to estimate the amount of milk people consumed, the source of the milk, the specific feeding regime used for milk cows, and the amount of iodine-131 contamination deposited on feed

Misidentification of Vibrio cholerae O155 isolated from imported shrimp as O serogroup O139 due to cross-agglutination with commercial O139 antisera

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalsgaard, A.; Mazur, J.; Dalsgaard, Inger

2002-01-01

. The strain contained two plasmids, in contrast to other O139 strains, which normally do not contain plasmids. The characteristics of the strain led to further agglutination testing with other antisera that are not commercially available, and the strain was found to agglutinate O155 antiserum in repeated...... was isolated from imported raw frozen shrimp. The toxigenicity of the strain was analyzed, and the results of a polymerase chain reaction showed that the V. cholerae strain did not contain the virulence genes ctx, tcp9, and zot, which are normally found in V. cholerae O1 and O139. The strain was resistant...... to colistin and spectinomycin. The high susceptibility of the strain to antimicrobial agents was confirmed by the lack of an SXT element, a self-transmissible, chromosomal genetic element that is normally present in O139 strains and encodes resistance to sulfonamides, trimethoprim, and streptomycin...

Sanctuaries for lake trout in the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, Jon G.; Eshenroder, Randy L.; Hartman, Wilbur L.

1987-01-01

Populations of lake trout, severely depleted in Lake Superior and virtually extirpated from the other Great Lakes because of sea lamprey predation and intense fishing, are now maintained by annual plantings of hatchery-reared fish in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario and parts of Lake Superior. The extensive coastal areas of the Great Lakes and proximity to large populations resulted in fishing pressure on planted lake trout heavy enough to push annual mortality associated with sport and commercial fisheries well above the critical level needed to reestablish self-sustaining stocks. The interagency, international program for rehabilitating lake trout includes controlling sea lamprey abundance, stocking hatchery-reared lake trout, managing the catch, and establishing sanctuaries where harvest is prohibited. Three lake trout sanctuaries have been established in Lake Michigan: the Fox Island Sanctuary of 121, 500 ha, in the Chippewa-Ottawa Treaty fishing zone in the northern region of the lake; the Milwaukee Reef Sanctuary of 160, 000 ha in midlake, in boundary waters of Michigan and Wisconsin; and Julian's Reef Sanctuary of 6, 500 ha, in Illinois waters. In northern Lake Huron, Drummond Island Sanctuary of 55, 000 ha is two thirds in Indian treaty-ceded waters in Michigan and one third in Ontario waters of Canada. A second sanctuary, Six Fathom Bank-Yankee Reef Sanctuary, in central Lake Huron contains 168, 000 ha. Sanctuary status for the Canadian areas remains to be approved by the Provincial government. In Lake Superior, sanctuaries protect the spawning grounds of Gull Island Shoal (70, 000 ha) and Devils Island Shoal (44, 000 ha) in Wisconsin's Apostle Island area. These seven sanctuaries, established by the several States and agreed upon by the States, Indian tribes, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Province of Ontario, contribute toward solving an interjurisdictional fishery problem.

Final technical report: Commercialization of the Biofine technology for levulinic acid production from paper sludge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fitzpatrick, Stephen W.

2002-04-23

This project involved a three-year program managed by BioMetics, Inc. (Waltham, MA) to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of Biofine thermochemical process technology for conversion of cellulose-containing wastes or renewable materials into levulinic acid, a versatile platform chemical. The program, commencing in October 1995, involved the design, procurement, construction and operation of a plant utilizing the Biofine process to convert 1 dry ton per day of paper sludge waste. The plant was successfully designed, constructed, and commissioned in 1997. It was operated for a period of one year on paper sludge from a variety of source paper mills to collect data to verify the design for a commercial scale plant. Operational results were obtained for four different feedstock varieties. Stable, continuous operation was achieved for two of the feedstocks. Continuous operation of the plant at demonstration scale provided the opportunity for process optimization, development of operational protocols, operator training and identification of suitable materials of construction for scale up to commercial operation . Separated fiber from municipal waster was also successfully processed. The project team consisted of BioMetics Inc., Great Lakes Chemical Corporation (West Lafayette, IN), and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Albany, NY).

Applications of commercial biosensors in clinical, food, environmental, and biothreat/biowarfare analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahadır, Elif Burcu; Sezgintürk, Mustafa Kemal

2015-06-01

The lack of specific, low-cost, rapid, sensitive, and easy detection of biomolecules has resulted in the development of biosensor technology. Innovations in biosensor technology have enabled many biosensors to be commercialized and have enabled biomolecules to be detected onsite. Moreover, the emerging technologies of lab-on-a-chip microdevices and nanosensors offer opportunities for the development of new biosensors with much better performance. Biosensors were first introduced into the laboratory by Clark and Lyons. They developed the first glucose biosensor for laboratory conditions. Then in 1973, a glucose biosensor was commercialized by Yellow Springs Instruments. The commercial biosensors have small size and simple construction and they are ideal for point-of-care biosensing. In addition to glucose, a wide variety of metabolites such as lactate, cholesterol, and creatinine can be detected by using commercial biosensors. Like the glucose biosensors (tests) other commercial tests such as for pregnancy (hCG), Escherichia coli O157, influenza A and B viruses, Helicobacter pylori, human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis, and malaria have achieved success. Apart from their use in clinical analysis, commercial tests are also used in environmental (such as biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate, pesticide), food (such as glutamate, glutamine, sucrose, lactose, alcohol, ascorbic acid), and biothreat/biowarfare (Bacillus anthracis, Salmonella, Botulinum toxin) analysis. In this review, commercial biosensors in clinical, environmental, food, and biowarfare analysis are summarized and the commercial biosensors are compared in terms of their important characteristics. This is the first review in which all the commercially available tests are compiled together. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

33 CFR 100.124 - Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York. 100.124 Section 100.124 Navigation and Navigable... NAVIGABLE WATERS § 100.124 Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York...

Finite-difference modeling of commercial aircraft using TSAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pennock, S.T.; Poggio, A.J.

1994-11-15

Future aircraft may have systems controlled by fiber optic cables, to reduce susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. However, the digital systems associated with the fiber optic network could still experience upset due to powerful radio stations, radars, and other electromagnetic sources, with potentially serious consequences. We are modeling the electromagnetic behavior of commercial transport aircraft in support of the NASA Fly-by-Light/Power-by-Wire program, using the TSAR finite-difference time-domain code initially developed for the military. By comparing results obtained from TSAR with data taken on a Boeing 757 at the Air Force Phillips Lab., we hope to show that FDTD codes can serve as an important tool in the design and certification of U.S. commercial aircraft, helping American companies to produce safe, reliable air transportation.

Strengthening Children's Advertising Defenses: The Effects of Forewarning of Commercial and Manipulative Intent.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozendaal, Esther; Buijs, Laura; van Reijmersdal, Eva A

2016-01-01

This study investigated whether a forewarning of advertising's intent can increase children's (N = 159, 8-10 years old) defenses against television commercials to lower their desire for advertised products. Two different forewarnings were tested, one for advertising's commercial intent or warning for the promotional nature, and one for advertising's manipulative intent or warning for the deceptive nature. Results showed that only the warning of manipulative intent prior to advertising exposure was successful in increasing children's advertising defenses. This forewarning activated children's attitudinal advertising literacy (i.e., skepticism toward the commercial), which in turn led to lower advertised product desire. The forewarning of commercial intent was not effective in strengthening children's advertising defenses. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to lower children's desire for (unhealthy) advertised products by activating their advertising literacy.

Levels of essential and non-essential elements in commercially ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The focus of this study was to assess the quality of commercially packaged moringa tea brands available in the retail markets in Nigerian cities on the basis of the essential and nonessential elemental content in their tissues. Four different brands of moringa tea comprising two locally processed teas and two imported teas ...

Willet M. Hays, great benefactor to plant breeding and the founder of our association.

Science.gov (United States)

Troyer, A F; Stoehr, H

2003-01-01

Willet M. Hays was a great benefactor to plant breeding and the founder of the American Genetic Association (AGA). We commemorate the AGA's centennial. We mined university archives, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) yearbooks, plant breeding textbooks, scientific periodicals, and descendants for information. Willet Hays first recognized the individual plant as the unit of selection and started systematic pure-line selection and progeny tests in 1888. He developed useful plant breeding methods. He selected superior flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), wheat (Triticum vulgare L.), corn (Zea mays L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and oat (Avena sativa L.) varieties, and discovered Grimm alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.); all became commercially important. He initiated branch stations for better performance testing. Willet Hays befriended colleagues in other universities, in federal stations, in a London conference, and in Europe. He gathered and spread the scientific plant breeding gospel. He also improved rural roads and initiated animal breeding records and agricultural economics records. He started the AGA in 1903, serving as secretary for 10 years. He became assistant secretary of agriculture in 1904. He introduced the project system for agricultural research. He authored or coauthored the Nelson Amendment, the Smith-Lever Act, the Smith-Hughes Act, and the protocol leading to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization-all involved teaching agricultural practices that improved the world.

Commercialization of animal-derived remedies as complementary medicine in the semi-arid region of Northeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Rômulo R N; Léo Neto, Nivaldo A; Brooks, Sharon E; Albuquerque, Ulysses P

2009-07-30

In this study, we aim to document the use of animal species in traditional medicine and healing practices in the semi-arid region of Northeastern Brazil. While widespread and of great importance to large population that has limited access to contemporary medicine, such practices are poorly understood and the potential value of medicinal animal species largely unknown. Based on interviews with the merchants of medicinal animals, we calculated the informant consensus factor (ICF) to determine the consensus over which species are effective for particular ailments, as well as the species relative importance to determine the extent of potential utilization of each species. We describe the therapeutic effects of 36 animal species used medicinally. The zootherapeutical products sold commercially are used to treat 40 health problems that were classified into 10 broad categories. We also highlight those species valued for their effectiveness against a range of ailments. The highest ICF value (0.91) was cited for diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, which include relief of symptoms such as acne and furuncles. This study demonstrates that many animal species play an important role in healing practices. Animals provide the raw materials for remedies prescribed clinically and are also used in the form of amulets and charms in magic-religious rituals and ceremonies. The medicinal value of animal species depends on the local knowledge that exists within user communities, and therefore, the conservation of animal species is imperative to the preservation of local medicinal knowledge and culture.

MEDIATION CLAUSE IN COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS (THE ADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION CLAUSE IN COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudiu Florinel Augustin Ignat

2013-11-01

Full Text Available It often happens that the end of the contracts to be existing commercial relationships and a new contract has already intuitu personae character. But not always the case, that those who enter into legal commercial forcing consideration to the benefits and under commercial contracts, know the dealer or individual that established commercial relations. These traders resort to contractual conditions which states precisely the extent of the obligations assumed by each party, setting rules, deadlines, penalties and even ways of interpretation of contracts. Contracting Parties, namely traders aware that the law is the contract parties by special caluze invest ( to settle disputes concerning the interpretation or punishment for failure and even termination obligations tribunalule arbitration courts or the territorial and material .

The "Cantankerous Old People" Next Door : How Old Age Is Represented in Serbian Television Commercials

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Ljubica Milosavljević

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper is the result of a three-month monitoring of Serbian television commercials which aimed to study the way elderly people are represented in the media. Elderly people appear in only six commercials, more often as a functional part of a series than as protagonists. Yet in spite of the small number of commercials in which they appear, it is easy to identify the stereotypes which are translated from a social paradigm into the sphere of the media. The stereotypes on which commercials are based belong for the most part to the corpus of negative stereotypes of elderly people as hopelessly behind the times, feeble, lonely, irritating, cantankerous, etc. Some positive stereotypes are also evident, but they are mostly limited to a perception of elderly people as kindly givers of useful advice. It is interesting to note that the "cantankerous people next door" are as a rule anonymous elderly people, as are those "lost in time and space", who are mostly elderly women. In contrast, those who let their careers and images be associated with a certain product, in order to pass on their great experience and knowledge, are as a rule famous persons. Just as it is possible to make a distinction between commercials depending on whether or not the products advertised are targeted at the elderly – which they rarely are – and whether elderly people appear in leading or supporting roles, in order to make viewers laugh or annoy them, so it is possible to distinguish between the "real-life principle", which involves the translation of the society’s dominant attitudes into commercials, and "commercial reality", which either makes old age invisible or "masks" it so that it is pleasant to the eye. The reason that old people are absent from television commercials or are mostly represented in a negative light is to be found in the low purchasing power of this age group, but also in the fact that advertising in Serbia developed practically overnight, and

The Great British Music Hall: Its Importance to British Culture and ‘The Trivial’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven Gerrard

2013-12-01

Full Text Available By 1960, Britain’s once-thriving Music Hall industry was virtually dead. Theatres with their faded notions of Empire gave way to Cinema and the threat of Television. Where thousands once linked arms singing popular songs, watch acrobatics, see feats of strength, and listen to risqué jokes, now the echoes of those acts lay as whispers amongst the stalls’ threadbare seats. The Halls flourished in the 19th Century, but had their origins in the taverns of the 16th and 17th Centuries. Minstrels plied their trade egged on by drunken crowds. As time passed, the notoriety of the Music Hall acts and camaraderie produced grew. Entrepreneurial businessman tapped into this commerciality and had purpose-built status symbol theatres to provide a ‘home’ for acts and punters. With names like The Apollo giving gravitas approaching Olympian ideals, so the owners basked in wealth and glory. The Music Hall became the mass populist entertainment for the population. Every town had one, where everyone could be entertained by variety acts showing off the performers’ skills. The acts varied from singers, joke-tellers, comics, acrobats, to dancers. They all aimed to entertain. They enabled audiences to share a symbiotic relationship with one another; became recruitment officers for the Army; inspired War Poets; showed short films; and they and the halls reflected both the ideals and foibles of their era. By using Raymond Williams’ structures of feeling as its cornerstone, the article will give a brief history of the halls, whilst providing analysis into how they grew into mass populist entertainment that represented British culture. Case studies of famous artistes are given, plus an insight into how Music Hall segued into radio, film and television.

Determination of essential elements in commercial infant foods by instrumental neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vallinoto, Priscila; Maihara, Vera A.

2013-01-01

Eating habits are important determinants of health conditions during childhood. Commercial infant food is an important part of the diet for many babies. As such it is necessary that such food contain sufficient amounts of essential elements. Inadequate complementary feeding is a major cause of high rates of malnutrition throughout the world. Commercial infant food is classified into four different stages: Stages 1 and 2 are adequate for babies older than 6 months, but new flavors and food are introduced in stage 2; Stage 3 is offered to 8 month old babies; Junior Stage is recommended to children over 1 year old. In this study, essential elements: Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Fe K, Mg, Mn, Na, Se and Zn were determined in commercial infant food samples by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Twenty-seven infant food samples were bought in stores around Sao Paulo city during 2011. These samples were freeze-dried and homogenized before analysis. The powdered samples were irradiated in the IEA-R1 nuclear research reactor of IPEN-CNEN/SP. For validation of the methodology, INCT MPH-2 Mixed Polish Herbs and NIST-SRM 1577b Bovine Liver reference materials were analyzed. Most of the concentration results were below the World Health Organization's recommended daily intake for infants from 6 to 12 months old. These low essential element concentration results in commercial infant foods obtained in our study indicate that infants should not only be fed with commercial baby foods. (author)

Determination of essential elements in commercial infant foods by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vallinoto, Priscila; Maihara, Vera A., E-mail: pvallinoto@ipen.br, E-mail: vmaihara@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2013-07-01

Eating habits are important determinants of health conditions during childhood. Commercial infant food is an important part of the diet for many babies. As such it is necessary that such food contain sufficient amounts of essential elements. Inadequate complementary feeding is a major cause of high rates of malnutrition throughout the world. Commercial infant food is classified into four different stages: Stages 1 and 2 are adequate for babies older than 6 months, but new flavors and food are introduced in stage 2; Stage 3 is offered to 8 month old babies; Junior Stage is recommended to children over 1 year old. In this study, essential elements: Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, Fe K, Mg, Mn, Na, Se and Zn were determined in commercial infant food samples by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Twenty-seven infant food samples were bought in stores around Sao Paulo city during 2011. These samples were freeze-dried and homogenized before analysis. The powdered samples were irradiated in the IEA-R1 nuclear research reactor of IPEN-CNEN/SP. For validation of the methodology, INCT MPH-2 Mixed Polish Herbs and NIST-SRM 1577b Bovine Liver reference materials were analyzed. Most of the concentration results were below the World Health Organization's recommended daily intake for infants from 6 to 12 months old. These low essential element concentration results in commercial infant foods obtained in our study indicate that infants should not only be fed with commercial baby foods. (author)

Prospect of commercialization of food irradiation in Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hilmy, N.

1990-01-01

As a tropical country, the ambient temperature and humidity are high in Indonesia, accordingly foods are apt to be spoiled. Although the production of some important food crops increased from 1986 to 1988, the level of postharvest loss of the crops was also high. The loss was caused mostly by the lack of technological improvement in preservation, processing and distribution system. The export of Indonesian typical tropical commodities increased from 1986 to 1988, but sometimes a part of the commodities was detained by the importing countries since the quality did not meet the requirement. The development of new technologies such as radiation technology is necessary. The limited volume of spices and herbal tea has been irradiated for commercial purpose since 1987. Indonesia has approved the food irradiation technology for commercial purpose in December, 1987. But due to the limited capacity of the existing irradiation facility, the volume of irradiation cannot be increased. At present, there are two irradiation facilities available, the batch type irradiator for foods and latex irradiator. The information transfer for facilitating public acceptance and the barriers and constraints are discussed. (K.I.)

Between Iskar and Morava Rivers: Mediterranean Dacia and Roman Serdica Fefore Constabtine the Great [In Bulgarian

OpenAIRE

V. Vatchkova

2011-01-01

The paper focuses on some little known facts from the history of Mediterranean Dacia and Serdica in the period between the 60s of the 3rd century AD to the establishment of the town as central residence of Constantine the Great, called by him “Mea Roma” (316 -January 330). The attention is drawn especially on the great importance of the city under Galerius who issued (April 30th, 311) the First Edict of Tolerance. An attempt has also been made to present, in retrospect, the most important eve...

Signatures of Selection in the Genomes of Commercial and Non-Commercial Chicken Breeds

Science.gov (United States)

Elferink, Martin G.; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Vereijken, Addie; Hu, Xiaoxiang; Crooijmans, Richard P. M. A.; Groenen, Martien A. M.

2012-01-01

Identifying genomics regions that are affected by selection is important to understand the domestication and selection history of the domesticated chicken, as well as understanding molecular pathways underlying phenotypic traits and breeding goals. While whole-genome approaches, either high-density SNP chips or massively parallel sequencing, have been successfully applied to identify evidence for selective sweeps in chicken, it has been difficult to distinguish patterns of selection and stochastic and breed specific effects. Here we present a study to identify selective sweeps in a large number of chicken breeds (67 in total) using a high-density (58 K) SNP chip. We analyzed commercial chickens representing all major breeding goals. In addition, we analyzed non-commercial chicken diversity for almost all recognized traditional Dutch breeds and a selection of representative breeds from China. Based on their shared history or breeding goal we in silico grouped the breeds into 14 breed groups. We identified 396 chromosomal regions that show suggestive evidence of selection in at least one breed group with 26 of these regions showing strong evidence of selection. Of these 26 regions, 13 were previously described and 13 yield new candidate genes for performance traits in chicken. Our approach demonstrates the strength of including many different populations with similar, and breed groups with different selection histories to reduce stochastic effects based on single populations. PMID:22384281

Methylparaben concentration in commercial Brazilian local anesthetics solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gustavo Henrique Rodriguez da Silva

2012-08-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To detect the presence and concentration of methylparaben in cartridges of commercial Brazilian local anesthetics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twelve commercial brands (4 in glass and 8 in plastic cartridges of local anesthetic solutions for use in dentistry were purchased from the Brazilian market and analyzed. Different lots of the commercial brands were obtained in different Brazilian cities (Piracicaba, Campinas and São Paulo. Separation was performed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC with UV-Vis detector. The mobile phase used was acetonitrile:water (75:25 - v/v, pH 4.5, adjusted with acetic acid at a flow rate of 1.0 ml.min-1. RESULTS: When detected in the solutions, the methylparaben concentration ranged from 0.01% (m/v to 0.16% (m/v. One glass and all plastic cartridges presented methylparaben. CONCLUSION: 1. Methylparaben concentration varied among solutions from different manufacturers, and it was not indicated in the drug package inserts; 2. Since the presence of methylparaben in dental anesthetics is not regulated by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA and this substance could cause allergic reactions, it is important to alert dentists about its possible presence.

PCR-RFLP Method to Identify Salmonid Species of Economic Importance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Dudu

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The identification of different fish species by molecular methods has become necessary to avoid both the incorrect labelling of individuals involved in repopulation programmes and the commercial frauds on the fish market. Different fish species of great economical importance, like the salmonids, which are very much requested for their meat, can be identified using molecular techniques such as PCR-RFLP. The method is based on the amplification of a target region from the genome by PCR reaction followed by endonucleases digestion to detect the polymorphism of restriction fragments. In our study we analysed the following salmonid species from Romania: Salmo trutta fario, Salmo labrax, Salvelinus fontinalis, Onchorhynchus mykiss, Thymallus thymallus and Hucho hucho. In order to discriminate between the analysed species we amplified a fragment of mitochondrial genome comprising tRNAGlu/ cytochrome b/ tRNAThr/ tRNAPro/ D-loop/ tRNAPhe, followed by digestion with a specific restriction enzyme. The direct digestion of unpurified PCR products generated species-specific restriction patterns and proved to be a simple, reliable, inexpensive and fast method. Thus, it may be successfully utilized in specialized laboratories for the correct identification of the fish species for multiple purposes, including the traceability of fish food products.

Great Expectations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dickens, Charles

2005-01-01

One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which Pip

Theoretical and Practical Aspects Regarding the Nulity of Commercial Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Lefter

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The absence of a Romanian legal definition of the concept of nullity of commercial companies arouses a lot of questions. The delimitation of this concept is very important for a correct establishment of its field of application. In other words, are the cases of nullity of commercial companies regulated only by Law no. 31/1990 or by the provisions of common law as well?Started from the fact that the nullity is not considered by the legislator a simple sanction applicable to the juridical acts but it affects directly the existence of the company and becomes a means to sanction the creation of a legal person by disregarding the imperative legal provisions, we analyzed firstly the Romanian (II and the EU legal provisions regarding the nullity of commercial companies. The elements of this analyze helped us to qualify the nullity of commercial companies and its effect (III. Finally, through the conclusion formulated we hope to call the attention on the fact that a company, even created through the non-observance of the legal rules, can be viable from economic point of view and it is senseless to make it disappearance.

Commercialization of the global nuclear energy partnership (GNEP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loewen Eric P.; Boaz, Jeffery; Saito, Earl; Boardman, Chuck

2007-01-01

deploy the necessary domestic infrastructure to achieve the goals of GNEP. It is recognized that there are many types of public private partnerships that could demonstrate the technologies to close the fuel cycle. It is important to acknowledge the realities in the marketplace when developing an approach to advance nuclear technologies that can gain widespread commercial acceptance. (author)

36 CFR 271.4 - Commercial license.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial license. 271.4... BEARâ SYMBOL § 271.4 Commercial license. (a) The Chief may authorize the commercial manufacture... a use or royalty charge which is reasonably related to the commercial enterprise has been...

27 CFR 10.21 - Commercial bribery.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Commercial bribery. 10.21 Section 10.21 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS COMMERCIAL BRIBERY Commercial Bribery § 10.21 Commercial bribery. It is...

Commercially available molecular tests for human papillomaviruses (HPV): 2015 update.

Science.gov (United States)

Poljak, Mario; Kocjan, Boštjan J; Oštrbenk, Anja; Seme, Katja

2016-03-01

Commercial molecular tests for human papillomaviruses (HPV) are invaluable diagnostic tools in cervical carcinoma screening and management of women with cervical precancerous lesions as well as important research tools for epidemiological studies, vaccine development, and implementation and monitoring of vaccination programs. In this third inventory of commercial HPV tests, we identified 193 distinct commercial HPV tests and at least 127 test variants available on the market in 2015, which represents a 54% and 79% increase in the number of distinct HPV tests and variants, respectively, in comparison to our last inventory performed in 2012. Identified HPV tests were provisionally divided into eight main groups and several subgroups. Among the 193 commercial HPV tests, all but two target alpha-HPV types only. Although the number of commercial HPV tests with at least one published study in peer-reviewed literature has increased significantly in the last three years, several published performance evaluations are still not in line with agreed-upon standards in the HPV community. Manufacturers should invest greater effort into evaluating their products and publishing validation/evaluation results in peer-reviewed journals. To achieve this, more clinically oriented external quality-control panels and initiatives are required. For evaluating the analytical performance of the entire range of HPV tests currently on the market, more diverse and reliable external quality-control programs based on international standards for all important HPV types are indispensable. The performance of a wider range of HPV tests must be promptly evaluated on a variety of alternative clinical specimens. In addition, more complete HPV assays containing validated sample-extraction protocols and appropriate internal controls are urgently needed. Provision of a broader range of automated systems allowing large-scale HPV testing as well as the development of reliable, rapid, and affordable molecular

COMMERCIAL FISH HARVEST IN INLAND WATER BODIES OF GERMANY (A REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. Didenko

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To analyze scientific and statistical sources on commercial fishery in inland water bodies of Germany. To summarize German experience and identify specific features of this sector. Findings. Commercial fishery in Germany is carried out on 30% (≈250 000 hectares of inland water bodies of Germany. The main fishing regions are prealpine lakes in Bavaria, Lake Constance, lakes in Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania federal states as well as lakes and rivers of Brandenburg and Berlin. Commercial fishing on rivers usually has a local importance and is practiced in regions with poorly developed industry. There were 670 commercial fishing organizations in 2014, where 932 people were employed. Each fishing license owner is allowed deploying simultaneously a clearly defined number of fishing gears depending on season. In addition, fishing nets are regulated not only based on their mesh size and length, but also height and the minimum thread diameter. The cardinal difference of German inland fishing is the absence of the periods of total ban on commercial fishing. There are only ban periods for fishing on certain fish species during their spawning seasons. These periods differ for federal states and are listed in the relevant regional fishing rules. The total fish catch in inland waters of Germany by commercial fishermen in 2014 was 3132 tons, much lower than the catches of anglers who caught 18 450 tons at the same year. Most of fish were caught by fishing organizations in the Brandenburg Federal State. Average fish productivity in 2014 was approx. 13 kg/ha (ranging from 10 to 20 kg/ha. Whitefish was the dominant species in catches in the Lake Constance and prealpine lakes of Bavaria, while cyprinids (roach, bream, silver bream, blue bream, etc. dominated in Northern Germany. The profit of commercial fish catch in 2014 was about 12.5 million euros. Among numerous activities aimed at preserving commercial fish populations, Germans

Selected constituents in the smokes of foreign commercial cigaretts: tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jenkins, R.A.; Quincy, R.B.; Guerin, M.R.

1979-05-01

The tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide contents of the smokes of 220 brands of foreign commercial cigarettes are reported. In some instances, filter cigarettes of certain brands were found to deliver as much or more smoke constituents than their nonfilter counterparts. Also, data indicated that there can be a great variation in the tar, nicotine, or carbon monoxide content of the smoke of samples of a given brand of cigarettes, depending on the nation in which they are purchased. 24 tables.

Characterization of commercial MOSFETS electron dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvajal, M. A.; Simancas, F.; Guirado, D.; Banqueri, J.; Vilches, M.; Lallena, A. M.; Palma, A. J.

2011-01-01

In recent years there have been commercial dosimetry devices based on transistors Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOSFET) having a number of advantages over traditional systems for dosimetry in medical applications. These include the portability of the sensor element and a reading process quick and relatively simple dose, linearity, and so on. The use of electron beams is important in modern radiotherapy include its use in intra-operative radiotherapy (RIO). This paper presents an initial characterization of different business models MOSFET, not specific for radiation detection, to demonstrate their potential as sensors for electron beam dosimetry. (Author)

The great intimidators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Roderick M

2006-02-01

After Disney's Michael Eisner, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, and Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina fell from their heights of power, the business media quickly proclaimed thatthe reign of abrasive, intimidating leaders was over. However, it's premature to proclaim their extinction. Many great intimidators have done fine for a long time and continue to thrive. Their modus operandi runs counter to a lot of preconceptions about what it takes to be a good leader. They're rough, loud, and in your face. Their tactics include invading others' personal space, staging tantrums, keeping people guessing, and possessing an indisputable command of facts. But make no mistake--great intimidators are not your typical bullies. They're driven by vision, not by sheer ego or malice. Beneath their tough exteriors and sharp edges are some genuine, deep insights into human motivation and organizational behavior. Indeed, these leaders possess political intelligence, which can make the difference between paralysis and successful--if sometimes wrenching--organizational change. Like socially intelligent leaders, politically intelligent leaders are adept at sizing up others, but they notice different things. Those with social intelligence assess people's strengths and figure out how to leverage them; those with political intelligence exploit people's weaknesses and insecurities. Despite all the obvious drawbacks of working under them, great intimidators often attract the best and brightest. And their appeal goes beyond their ability to inspire high performance. Many accomplished professionals who gravitate toward these leaders want to cultivate a little "inner intimidator" of their own. In the author's research, quite a few individuals reported having positive relationships with intimidating leaders. In fact, some described these relationships as profoundly educational and even transformational. So before we throw out all the great intimidators, the author argues, we should stop to consider what

36 CFR 1005.6 - Commercial vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial vehicles. 1005.6 Section 1005.6 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PRESIDIO TRUST COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 1005.6 Commercial vehicles. (a) The term “Commercial vehicle” as used in this section shall include, but...

50 CFR 404.10 - Commercial fishing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial fishing. 404.10 Section 404.10... MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT § 404.10 Commercial fishing. (a) Lobster fishing. Any commercial lobster fishing... species. (1) Notwithstanding the prohibitions in § 404.7(a) and (h), commercial fishing for bottomfish and...

Commercial, environmental and legislative factors that influence the implementation of fuel cells

Science.gov (United States)

Serfass, Jeffrey A.; Bergman, Michael K.; Rodenhiser, Wendy

1994-04-01

Fuel cells and other advanced electric-generation technologies have not experienced a record of successful commercialization efforts. To lower costs for these technologies, it requires substantial production volumes with a significant investment in manufacturing facilities, all dependent on developer confidence in the ultimate market. Yet, market acceptance by buyers requires an adequate demonstration of technical performance and an assurance that these lower costs can be reached. In addition to this fundamental commercialization challenge, there are significant external factors that are greatly influencing the market's (utility's) future implementation of new alternative energy-generating technologies. The factor that has possibly the greatest impact today is the public demand for environmentally benign and renewable resource technologies. There is a growing trend of involvement by consumers, regulators and intervenors in the business and utility industry that is shifting the economic playing field by which industries make resource decisions. Concerns over air pollution, global warming, acid precipitation, depletion of the ozone layer and the hazards of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from power lines, have all led to more stringent regulations and environmental mandates. The utility business environment itself is rapidly changing. Higher public expectations from energy providers and increasing competition are leading to major changes in the American utility sector. Competitive requirements to reduce the cost of utility service is leading to business decisions that provide both opportunities and problems for increased use of alternative energy-generating technologies, like fuel cells, and/or renewables, such as wind and solar photovoltaics. Bringing new energy technologies to market is very expensive and this financial burden cannot be shouldered by the market, manufacturers or federal government alone. Further, for the market to assume a key position in early

Sociological and communication-theoretical perspectives on the commercialization of the sciences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leydesdorff, L.

2013-01-01

Both self-organization and organization are important for the further development of the sciences: the two dynamics condition and enable each other. Commercial and public considerations can interact and "interpenetrate" in historical organization; different codes of communication are then

Commercialization in Innovation Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sløk-Madsen, Stefan Kirkegaard; Ritter, Thomas; Sornn-Friese, Henrik

For any firm, the ultimate purpose of new product development is the commercialization of the new offerings. Despite its regular use in the product innovation and general management science literature, commercialization is only loosely defined and applied. This lack of conceptual clarity about...... the processes at the interface between product development and customer application is noteworthy as it hinders the theoretical development of the field. In this paper, we explore how research has advanced our understanding of commercialization in product innovation over a 30 year period by mapping different...

Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Barreiro Megino, Fernando H.; Jones, Robert; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna; Medrano Llamas, Ramón; van der Ster, Daniel

2014-06-01

The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in "Big Data" in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R&D investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula - the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain the cloud marketplace for years to come. This contribution will summarize the participation of CERN in Helix Nebula. We will explain CERN's flagship use-case and the model used to integrate several cloud providers with an LHC experiment's workload management system. During the first proof of concept, this project contributed over 40.000 CPU-days of Monte Carlo production throughput to the ATLAS experiment with marginal manpower required. CERN's experience, together with that of ESA and EMBL, is providing a great insight into the cloud computing industry and highlighted several challenges that are being tackled in order to ease the export of the scientific workloads to the cloud environments.

Maintenance and Safety Practices of Escalator in Commercial Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Afida Isnaini Janipha, Nurul; Nur Aina Syed Alwee, Sharifah; Ariff, Raihan Mohd; Ismail, Faridah

2018-02-01

The escalator is very crucial to transport a person from one place to another. Nevertheless, there are many cases recorded the accidents in relation to escalator. These may occur due to lack of maintenance which leads to systems breakdown, poor safety practices, wear and tear, users’ negligence and others. Thus, proper maintenance systems need to be improvised to prevent and reduce escalator accident in future. This research was aimed to determine the escalator maintenance activities and safety practices in a commercial building. Three case studies were selected within Selangor area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for collecting data from these three case studies. To achieve the aim of this research, the study was carried out on the maintenance activities, safety practices and cost related to escalator maintenance. As one of the important means of access in building, it is very crucial to increase effectiveness of escalator particularly in commercial building. It is expected that readers will get clear information on the maintenance activities and safety practices of escalator in commercial building.

Tritium issues in commercial pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, G.

2008-01-01

Tritium has become an important radionuclide in commercial Pressurized Water Reactors because of its mobility and tendency to concentrate in plant systems as tritiated water during the recycling of reactor coolant. Small quantities of tritium are released in routine regulated effluents as liquid water and as water vapor. Tritium has become a focus of attention at commercial nuclear power plants in recent years due to inadvertent, low-level, chronic releases arising from routine maintenance operations and from component failures. Tritium has been observed in groundwater in the vicinity of stations. The nuclear industry has undertaken strong proactive corrective measures to prevent recurrence, and continues to eliminate emission sources through its singular focus on public safety and environmental stewardship. This paper will discuss: production mechanisms for tritium, transport mechanisms from the reactor through plant, systems to the environment, examples of routine effluent releases, offsite doses, basic groundwater transport and geological issues, and recent nuclear industry environmental and legal ramifications. (authors)

36 CFR 272.4 - Commercial use.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial use. 272.4 Section... OWLâ SYMBOL § 272.4 Commercial use. (a) General. The Chief may authorize the Commercial manufacture... charge, royalty charge, or payment in kind which is reasonably related to the commercial value has been...

The Role of Energy Storage in Commercial Building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kintner-Meyer, Michael CW; Subbarao, Krishnappa; Prakash Kumar, Nirupama; Bandyopadhyay, Gopal K.; Finley, C.; Koritarov, V. S.; Molburg, J. C.; Wang, J.; Zhao, Fuli; Brackney, L.; Florita, A. R.

2010-09-30

Motivation and Background of Study This project was motivated by the need to understand the full value of energy storage (thermal and electric energy storage) in commercial buildings, the opportunity of benefits for building operations and the potential interactions between a building and a smart grid infrastructure. On-site or local energy storage systems are not new to the commercial building sector; they have been in place in US buildings for decades. Most building-scale storage technologies are based on thermal or electrochemical storage mechanisms. Energy storage technologies are not designed to conserve energy, and losses associated with energy conversion are inevitable. Instead, storage provides flexibility to manage load in a building or to balance load and generation in the power grid. From the building owner's perspective, storage enables load shifting to optimize energy costs while maintaining comfort. From a grid operations perspective, building storage at scale could provide additional flexibility to grid operators in managing the generation variability from intermittent renewable energy resources (wind and solar). To characterize the set of benefits, technical opportunities and challenges, and potential economic values of storage in a commercial building from both the building operation's and the grid operation's view-points is the key point of this project. The research effort was initiated in early 2010 involving Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to quantify these opportunities from a commercial buildings perspective. This report summarizes the early discussions, literature reviews, stakeholder engagements, and initial results of analyses related to the overall role of energy storage in commercial buildings. Beyond the summary of roughly eight months of effort by the laboratories, the report attempts to substantiate the importance of

PBDD/F impurities in some commercial deca-BDE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Man; Peng Ping'an; Cai Ying; Chen Deyi; Zhou Lin; Chen Pei; Hu Jianfang

2011-01-01

The study presented the concentrations and distributions of polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polybrominated dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs) as impurities in some commercial decabromodiphenyl ether (DBDE) mixtures that were produced by several manufacturers. The total concentrations of 12 2,3,7,8-substituted tetra- to octa-BDD/F congeners were found to be in the range of 3.4-13.6 (mean 7.8) μg/g, averagely accounting for 99% of total PBDD/Fs. OBDF was the prevailing congener, followed by 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpBDF. In addition, OBDD and 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxBDF were also obviously detectable. The total concentrations of PBDD/Fs varied both between the manufacturers and between the lots. On the basis of the global demand for the commercial DBDE in 2001, the annual potential emissions of PBDD/Fs were calculated coarsely to be 0.43 (range: 0.21-0.78) tons. The major dioxin congeners, OBDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpBDF, presenting in DBDE, were estimated to be formed from BDE-209, BDE-206, and/or BDE-207 via an intra-molecular elimination of Br 2 /HBr. - Highlights: → A new analytical method for separating trace PBDD/F impurities from DBDE. → Original data of tetra- to octa-BDD/Fs in commercial DBDE. → OBDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpBDF are the major dioxin congeners. → OBDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpBDF are formed from BDE-209, BDE-206, and/or BDE-207. → Commercial DBDE is an important source for PBDD/Fs. - PBDD/Fs can be formed as contaminants in the commercial DBDE production.

Industry's Commercial Initiatives on ISS

Science.gov (United States)

Shields, C. E.; Kessler, C.; Lavitola, M. S.

2002-01-01

For more than ten years, private industry has worked to develop a commercial human space market and to create a sustainable ISS commercial utilization customer base. Before ISS assembly was underway - and long before NASA and the international space agencies began to craft ISS commercial business terms and conditions - industry planted and nurtured the seeds of interest in exploiting human space utilization for commerce. These early initiatives have yielded the impetus and framework for industry approaches to ISS commercial utilization today and for NASA's and the International Partners' planned accommodation of private sector interests and desires on the ISS. This paper chronicles major industry initiatives for commercial ISS utilization, emphasizing successful marketing and business approaches and why these approaches have a higher likelihood of success than others. It provides an overview of individual companies' initiatives, as well as collaborative efforts that cross company lines and country borders; and it assesses the relative success of each. Rather than emphasize negative issues and barriers, this paper characterizes and prioritizes actionable success factors for industry and government to make ISS commercial utilization a sustainable reality.

Energy Flexibility of The Commercial Greenhouse Growers, The Potential and Benefits of Participating in The Electricity Market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Zheng; Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard

2018-01-01

Commercial greenhouses can provide energy flexibility with artificial lighting usage and information and communications technology support. Therefore, commercial greenhouse growers can potentially play an important role in the electricity market as a flexibility service provider....... With the application of a climate control software- DynaLight NG, this paper takes Danish commercial growers and the Nordic electricity regulating market as an example, to investigate the market potential with two business models: 1) commercial greenhouse growers directly participate in the regulating market, 2......) to reduce balance responsible parties’ imbalance errors. Two calculations are formulated to evaluate the monetary benefits for the commercial greenhouse growers’ participation in the two business models. The results show that: 1) one big commercial greenhouse grower might get around 55,000 DKK...

The impact of waterborne LPG imports on US markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindsey, L.

1994-01-01

After a winter like most of the US has gone through this year it is certainly apropos to discuss the effect of waterborne LPG imports on the market. Due to time constraints this paper will be limited to global LPG activity as it relates to the US. To provide some credibility to the following comments, it should be stated that Commercial Services Company tracks every large LPG carrier in the world from the LPG lifting point to it's discharge destination and the commercial activity involved in the delivery

What great managers do.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckingham, Marcus

2005-03-01

Much has been written about the qualities that make a great manager, but most of the literature overlooks a fundamental question: What does a great manager actually do? While there are countless management styles, one thing underpins the behavior of all great managers. Above all, an exceptional manager comes to know and value the particular quirks and abilities of her employees. She figures out how to capitalize on her staffers' strengths and tweaks her environment to meet her larger goals. Such a specialized approach may seem like a lot of work. But in fact, capitalizing on each person's uniqueness can save time. Rather than encourage employees to conform to strict job descriptions that may include tasks they don't enjoy and aren't good at, a manager who develops positions for his staff members based on their unique abilities will be rewarded with behaviors that are far more efficient and effective than they would be otherwise. This focus on individuals also makes employees more accountable. Because staffers are evaluated on their particular strengths and weaknesses, they are challenged to take responsibility for their abilities and to hone them. Capitalizing on a person's uniqueness also builds a stronger sense of team. By taking the time to understand what makes each employee tick, a great manager shows that he sees his people for who they are. This personal investment not only motivates individuals but also galvanizes the entire team. Finally, this approach shakes up existing hierarchies, which leads to more creative thinking. To take great managing from theory to practice, the author says, you must know three things about a person: her strengths, the triggers that activate those strengths, and how she learns. By asking the right questions, squeezing the right triggers, and becoming aware of your employees' learning styles, you will discover what motivates each person to excel.

Wages, Productivity and Work Intensity in the Great Depression

OpenAIRE

Julia Darby; Robert A Hart

2002-01-01

We show that U.S. manufacturing wages during the Great Depression were importantly determined by forces on firms' intensive margins. Short-run changes in work intensity and the longer-term goal of restoring full potential productivity combined to influence real wage growth. By contrast, the external effects of unemployment and replacement rates had much less impact. Empirical work is undertaken against the background of an efficient bargaining model that embraces employment, hours of work and...

History and current status of commercial pulsed laser deposition equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greer, James A

2014-01-01

This paper will review the history of the scale-up of the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) process from small areas ∼1 cm 2 up to 10 m 2 starting in about 1987. It also documents the history of commercialization of PLD as various companies become involved in selling fully integrated laser deposition tools starting in 1989. The paper will highlight the current state of the art of commercial PLD equipment for R and D that is available on the market today from mainstream vendors as well as production-oriented applications directed at piezo-electric materials for microelectromechanical systems and high-temperature superconductors for coated-conductor applications. The paper clearly demonstrates that considerable improvements have been made to scaling this unique physical vapour deposition process to useful substrate sizes, and that commercial deposition equipment is readily available from a variety of vendors to address a wide variety of technologically important thin-film applications. (paper)

Transition of Japanese commercial space: What has been lost from the commercial space?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fujioka Tatsuma

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper compares the types of two commercial spaces in modern Japan, shopping mall and “traditional” shopping district called Shotengai, from the viewpoint of commercial space as the third space in the city. Particularly in the discourse of commercial spaces in Japan, "shopping district" has been portrayed tied to nostalgia. Therefore, the transition of commercial space is always accompanied by a discourse of the" Lost." However, there is no unified opinion about what's been lost in the process of this transition in fact. In this paper, we extract the social category by considering focus on discourse for both places. As a specific object I use to target the research papers and journal articles in Japan. Because these documents are discussed by distinct main thesis and based on specific data, I adopt these materials. After extraction of social category, through the comparison of the two discourses, I reveal what kind of nature is the "Lost" at the commercial spaces as the third place in the city. I also discuss how this change is related the changes in Japanese social relationship and community.

Radon investigations - Soil and commercial projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodwin, R.W.

1987-01-01

The liability issues of radon exposure have prompted potential purchasers of vacant land for commercial/industrial development, and commercial landlords, renting large commercial buildings, to determine the radon gas levels at such sites. This paper deals with both pre-construction sites subject to freezing conditions and to large commercial structures. A correlation of radon gas levels within a commercial building and a sister pre-construction site confirms the validity of using activated charcoal canisters as a cost effective means to combating radon in large structures

Incorporating regional growth into forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions from project-level residential and commercial development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowangould, Dana; Eldridge, Melody; Niemeier, Deb

2013-01-01

To better understand the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of land use planning decisions, regional planning organizations have developed tools to forecast the emissions from project-level residential and commercial development. This paper reviews the state of GHG emissions forecasting methods for project-level development. We argue that when forecasting changes in regional emissions it is important to make explicit what is assumed about a project′s effect on the population of residents and businesses in the region. We present five regional growth assumptions capturing the range of ways that project-level development might influence (i) construction and occupancy of similar developments elsewhere in a region and (ii) relocation of the initial activities that occur on-site before the project is built. We show that current forecasting tools inconsistently address the latter when they are interpreted as forecasted changes in regional emissions. Using a case study in Yolo County, California we demonstrate that forecasted changes in regional emissions are greatly affected by the regional growth assumption. In the absence of information about which regional growth assumption is accurate, we provide guidelines for selection of a conservative regional growth assumption. - Highlights: • Current tools inconsistently forecast GHG emissions from project-level development. • We outline five assumptions about how projects may affect regional growth. • Our assumptions capture a range of economic and population effects of projects. • Our case study shows that growth assumptions greatly affect regional GHG estimates. • We provide guidelines for selecting a conservative regional growth assumption

Application of commercial exploration techniques to site selection and characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brewer, W.A.

1987-01-01

Since 1976 the U.S Department of Energy has conducted intensive geologic studies of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in south-central Washington. With passage of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 the process of search for a geologically suitable waste repository site became more structured, and it has been subject to outside review by the state, affected Indian tribes and other federal agencies, notably the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S Geological Survey. This paper contrasts the USDOE approach with that of the mining and petroleum industries, highlighting fundamental differences in philosophy and techniques. It is proposed that the principle of ''condemnation,'' which is fundamental in commercial exploration methods, could greatly benefit the USDOE siting program, which by comparison has been slow, costly and not very productive

Revival of the Moral Traditions in Red Army During the Great Patriotic War

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugene G. Guzhva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, it is important to analyze the moral factors that contributed to the uplift in the Red Army and the manifestation of mass heroism to defend the Fatherland. During the ordeal, when the fate of the country hung in the balance, the Soviet leadership was forced to revert to the heroic pages of national history and raise the patriotic spirit and the offensive of the armed forces on the front and high productivity at home. Since the 40s of the 19th century in the Russian army it was considered a holy tradition to start the evening roll call from the heroes. During the Great Patriotic War, the tradition was revived. Thus, according to the order of People's Commissar of Defense of the September 8,1943 the hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matrosov was enlisted in the lists of the 1st company of 254-th Guards Rifle Regiment. Thus, the traditions of the Russian army, revived during the Great Patriotic War, testifies to their eternal spiritual values in matters of moral and patriotic education of servicemen of the Russian armed forces. This historical and pedagogical analysis is of great importance for the spiritual, moral and patriotic education of youth and soldiers of the Russian army at the present stage of development of society.

Semi-commercialization of PVP-carrageenan hydrogel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Relleve, Lorna S.; Abad, Lucille V.; Aranilla, Charito T.; Dela Rosa, A.M.

2008-01-01

The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) has developed the PVP-Carrageenan hydrogel wound dressing by radiation processing. The PVP-Carrageenan hydrogel has undergone clinical testing for burn and bedsores. It has already a pending patent application (No. 1-2000-02471) at the Philippine Patent Office. The techno-economic feasibility study has also been completed. In order to commercialize this product, a project on semi-commercialization in partnership with the investor was proposed to Technology Incubation for Commercialization (TECHNICOM), a technology transfer program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). TECHNICOM was established in 2003 under the National Science and Technology Plan (2002-2020) as a strategic technology transfer program. The program aims to identify key technological breakthroughs especially those generated by R and D institutes. It can intervene through the following: technology assessment/commercial prototype development; business plan/feasibility study preparation; intellectual property rights protection; technology valuation negotiation and licensing; semi-commercial production assistance and training/consultancy services. High technology applications with commercial potentials are given priority. Under semi-commercialization stage, government funds will be provided to match private sector investment in the commercial application of a particular technology innovation. This will lessen the risk of commercialization and ensure commitment from the investors. Commercial success in the shortest time is ensured since scientist can then work closely with the private sector at the production floor while testing the gaps in the technology. (author)

Evaluation of the ability of commercial wine yeasts to form biofilms (mats) and adhere to plastic: implications for the microbiota of the winery environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Tek, Ee Lin; Sundstrom, Joanna F; Gardner, Jennifer M; Oliver, Stephen G; Jiranek, Vladimir

2018-02-01

Commercially available active dried wine yeasts are regularly used by winemakers worldwide to achieve reliable fermentations and obtain quality wine. This practice has led to increased evidence of traces of commercial wine yeast in the vineyard, winery and uninoculated musts. The mechanism(s) that enables commercial wine yeast to persist in the winery environment and the influence to native microbial communities on this persistence is poorly understood. This study has investigated the ability of commercial wine yeasts to form biofilms and adhere to plastic. The results indicate that the biofilms formed by commercial yeasts consist of cells with a combination of different lifestyles (replicative and non-replicative) and growth modes including invasive growth, bud elongation, sporulation and a mat sectoring-like phenotype. Invasive growth was greatly enhanced on grape pulp regardless of strain, while adhesion on plastic varied between strains. The findings suggest a possible mechanism that allows commercial yeast to colonise and survive in the winery environment, which may have implications for the indigenous microbiota profile as well as the population profile in uninoculated fermentations if their dissemination is not controlled. © FEMS 2018. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Energy conservation and the residential and commercial sector

Science.gov (United States)

1975-01-01

A detailed analysis of energy conservation actions relevant to the residential and commercial sector has led to the conclusion that the potential for savings is great. The task will not be easy, however, since many of the actions require significant life style changes that are difficult to accomplish. Furthermore, many of the conservation actions cited as instant solutions to the energy crisis are those with only mid to long term potential, such as solar energy or heat pumps. Three significant conservation approaches are viable: adjusting price structure, mandating actions, and educating consumers. The first two appear to be the most feasible. But they are not without a price. Higher utility bills adversely affect the poor and the elderly on fixed incomes. Likewise, strict mandatory measures can be quite distasteful. But the effect of alternatives, such as voluntary savings accomplished through education processes, is minimal in a nation without a true conservation ethic.

Campylobacter jejuni in commercial eggs.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Belchiolina Beatriz; Beletti, Marcelo Emílio; de Melo, Roberta Torres; Mendonça, Eliane Pereira; Coelho, Letícia Ríspoli; Nalevaiko, Priscila Christen; Rossi, Daise Aparecida

2014-01-01

This study evaluated the ability of Campylobacter jejuni to penetrate through the pores of the shells of commercial eggs and colonize the interior of these eggs, which may become a risk factor for human infection. Furthermore, this study assessed the survival and viability of the bacteria in commercial eggs. The eggs were placed in contact with wood shavings infected with C. jejuni to check the passage of the bacteria. In parallel, the bacteria were inoculated directly into the air chamber to assess the viability in the egg yolk. To determine whether the albumen and egg fertility interferes with the entry and survival of bacteria, we used varying concentrations of albumen and SPF and commercial eggs. C. jejuni was recovered in SPF eggs (fertile) after three hours in contact with contaminated wood shavings but not in infertile commercial eggs. The colonies isolated in the SPF eggs were identified by multiplex PCR and the similarity between strains verified by RAPD-PCR. The bacteria grew in different concentrations of albumen in commercial and SPF eggs. We did not find C. jejuni in commercial eggs inoculated directly into the air chamber, but the bacteria were viable during all periods tested in the wood shavings. This study shows that consumption of commercial eggs infected with C. jejuni does not represent a potential risk to human health.

POTENTIAL FOR GREAT EGRETS (ARDEA ALBA) TO TRANSMIT A VIRULENT STRAIN OF AEROMONAS HYDROPHILA AMONG CHANNEL CATFISH (ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS) CULTURE PONDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Jubirt, Madison M; Hanson, Larry A; Hanson-Dorr, Katie C; Ford, Lorelei; Lemmons, Scott; Fioranelli, Paul; Cunningham, Fred L

2015-07-01

Aeromonas hydrophila is a gram-negative, rod-shaped, facultative, anaerobic bacterium that is ubiquitous in freshwater and slightly brackish aquatic environments and infects fish, humans, reptiles, and birds. Recent severe outbreaks of disease in commercial channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture ponds have been associated with a highly virulent A. hydrophila strain (VAH), which is genetically distinct from less-virulent strains. The epidemiology of this disease has not been determined. Given that A. hydrophila infects birds, we hypothesized that fish-eating birds may serve as a reservoir for VAH and spread the pathogen by flying to uninfected ponds. Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were used in this transmission model because these wading birds frequently prey on farmed catfish. Great Egrets that were fed VAH-infected catfish shed VAH in feces demonstrating their potential to spread VAH.

48 CFR 12.213 - Other commercial practices.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Other commercial practices... ACQUISITION PLANNING ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS Special Requirements for the Acquisition of Commercial Items 12.213 Other commercial practices. It is a common practice in the commercial marketplace for both...

International Regulations Dealing with Alternative Dispute Resolution for International Commercial Disputes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Rosu

2009-06-01

Full Text Available At present, no generally applied international ADR rules exist. However, manylegislative initiatives registered in time. The United Nations Commission on International TradeLaw adopted, thus, a Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation in 2002. The EuropeanUnion has also been active in the area of ADR presenting in May 2008 a Directive on CertainAspects of Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters that represents its most important initiativesin this field. There are also various international conventions that deal with dispute resolution suchas the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The many legislativeinitiatives are useful, even necessary.

Plans and progress for building a Great Lakes fauna DNA barcode reference library

Science.gov (United States)

DNA reference libraries provide researchers with an important tool for assessing regional biodiversity by allowing unknown genetic sequences to be assigned identities, while also providing a means for taxonomists to validate identifications. Expanding the representation of Great...

Great Ellipse Route Planning Based on Space Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Wenchao

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Aiming at the problem of navigation error caused by unified earth model in great circle route planning using sphere model and modern navigation equipment using ellipsoid mode, a method of great ellipse route planning based on space vector is studied. By using space vector algebra method, the vertex of great ellipse is solved directly, and description of great ellipse based on major-axis vector and minor-axis vector is presented. Then calculation formulas of great ellipse azimuth and distance are deduced using two basic vectors. Finally, algorithms of great ellipse route planning are studied, especially equal distance route planning algorithm based on Newton-Raphson(N-R method. Comparative examples show that the difference of route planning between great circle and great ellipse is significant, using algorithms of great ellipse route planning can eliminate the navigation error caused by the great circle route planning, and effectively improve the accuracy of navigation calculation.

Quantification of prebiotics in commercial infant formulas.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabater, Carlos; Prodanov, Marin; Olano, Agustín; Corzo, Nieves; Montilla, Antonia

2016-03-01

Since breastfeeding is not always possible, infant formulas (IFs) are supplemented with prebiotic oligosaccharides, such as galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and/or fructooligosaccharides (FOS) to exert similar effects to those of the breast milk. Nowadays, a great number of infant formulas enriched with prebiotics are disposal in the market, however there are scarce data about their composition. In this study, the combined use of two chromatographic methods (GC-FID and HPLC-RID) for the quantification of carbohydrates present in commercial infant formulas have been used. According to the results obtained by GC-FID for products containing prebiotics, the content of FOS, GOS and GOS/FOS was in the ranges of 1.6-5.0, 1.7-3.2, and 0.08-0.25/2.3-3.8g/100g of product, respectively. HPLC-RID analysis allowed quantification of maltodextrins with degree of polymerization (DP) up to 19. The methodology proposed here may be used for routine quality control of infant formula and other food ingredients containing prebiotics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sociological and Communication-Theoretical Perspectives on the Commercialization of the Sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Leydesdorff, Loet

2013-01-01

Both self-organization and organization are important for the further development of the sciences: the two dynamics condition and enable each other. Commercial and public considerations can interact and "interpenetrate" in historical organization; different codes of communication are then "recombined". However,…

Liquidity of Czech and Slovak commercial banks

OpenAIRE

Pavla Vodová

2012-01-01

As liquidity problems of some banks during global financial crisis re-emphasized, liquidity is very important for functioning of financial markets and the banking sector. The aim of this paper is therefore to evaluate comprehensively the liquidity positions of Czech and Slovak commercial banks via different liquidity ratios in the period of 2001–2010 and to find out whether the strategy for liquidity management differs by the size of the bank. We used unconsolidated balance sheet data over th...

Consumer Travel Behaviors and Transport Carbon Emissions: A Comparative Study of Commercial Centers in Shenyang, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Li

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Current literature highlights the role of commercial centers in cities in generating shopping trips and transport carbon emissions. However, the influence of the characteristics of commercial centers on consumer travel behavior and transport carbon emissions is not well understood. This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining shopping trips to eight commercial centers in Shenyang, China, and the CO2 emissions of these trips. We found that the locations and types of commercial centers strongly influence CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions per trip to commercial centers in the suburbs of Shenyang were on average 6.94% and 26.92% higher than those to commercial centers in the urban core and the inner city, respectively. CO2 emissions induced by wholesale centers were nearly three times higher than the lowest CO2 emissions of commercial centers in the inner city. These empirical results enhance our understanding of shopping-related transport carbon emissions and highlight the importance of optimizing urban space structure, in particular, the layout of commercial centers.

Sponsorship in non-commercial clinical trials: definitions, challenges and the role of Good Clinical Practices guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravinetto, Raffaella; De Nys, Katelijne; Boelaert, Marleen; Diro, Ermias; Meintjes, Graeme; Adoke, Yeka; Tagbor, Harry; Casteels, Minne

2015-12-30

Non-commercial clinical research plays an increasingly essential role for global health. Multiple partners join in international consortia that operate under the limited timeframe of a specific funding period. One organisation (the sponsor) designs and carries out the trial in collaboration with research partners, and is ultimately responsible for the trial's scientific, ethical, regulatory and legal aspects, while another organization, generally in the North (the funder), provides the external funding and sets funding conditions. Even if external funding mechanisms are key for most non-commercial research, the dependence on an external funder's policies may heavily influence the choices of a sponsor. In addition, the competition for accessing the available external funds is great, and non-commercial sponsors may not be in a position to discuss or refuse standard conditions set by a funder. To see whether the current definitions adequately address the intricacies of sponsorship in externally-funded trials, we looked at how a "sponsor" of clinical trials is defined in selected international guidelines, with particular focus on international Good Clinical Practices codes, and in selected European and African regulations/legislations. Our limited analysis suggests that the sponsors definition from the 1995 WHO Good Clinical Practices code has been integrated as such into many legislations, guidelines and regulations, and that it is not adequate to cover today's reality of funding arrangements in global health, where the legal responsibility and the funding source are de facto split. In agreement with other groups, we suggest that the international Good Clinical Practices codes should be updated to reflect the reality of non-commercial clinical research. In particular, they should explicitly include the distinction between commercial and non-commercial sponsors, and provide guidance to non-commercial sponsors for negotiating with external funding agencies and other

Demonstration of immunogenic keratan sulphate in commercial chondroitin 6-sulphate from shark cartilage. Implications for ELISA assays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, H J; Møller-Pedersen, T; Damsgaard, T E

1995-01-01

The prototype monoclonal keratan sulphate (KS) antibody 5D4 that is widely used for detection of KS in tissues and biological fluids reacts strongly with commercial low grade shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate. Characterization of the immunogenic material by chondroitinase ABC digestion, ELISA...... inhibition studies, immunoblotting and HPLC analyses confirmed the presence of substantial amounts of KS, probably as a large proteoglycan (> 120 kDa). Commercial and heterogenic glycosaminoglycan preparations therefore must be used with great caution in immunological analyses. On the other hand the shark...... cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate is an easy accessible source of immunogenic KS that can be used as a reference standard and as coating antigen in KS-ELISAs. The concentration of immunogenic KS in synovial fluid measured with an ELISA based solely on reagents of shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate...

Nutritionism, Commercialization and Food; Comment on “Buying Health: The Costs of Commercialism and an Alternative Philosophy”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Barnhill

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In “Buying Health: the Costs of Commercialization and an Alternative Philosophy”, Larry R. Churchill and Shelley C. Churchill discuss the commercialization of health and, in particular, the commercialization of nutrition. In this commentary on their article, I draw a connection between Churchill and Churchill’s account of the commercialization of nutrition and Michael Pollan’s critique of “nutritionism”. I also offer a friendly amendment to Churchill and Churchill’s account, suggesting that the commercialization of nutrition is not a monolithic experience but it is rather widely challenged.

40 CFR 725.190 - Notice of commencement of manufacture or import.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Notice of commencement of manufacture... Microbial Commercial Activities Notification Requirements § 725.190 Notice of commencement of manufacture or import. (a) Applicability. Any person who commences the manufacture or import of a new microorganism for...

Marine cargo imports and forest pest introductions

Science.gov (United States)

Frank H. Koch

2009-01-01

A major pathway for the introduction of nonindigenous forest pests is accidental transport on cargo imported from overseas. Diseases may be brought into the United States via commercial trade of nursery stock or other live plant material, as has been suggested for Phytophthora ramorum, the pathogen that causes sudden oak death (Ivors and others 2006). Insects may...

Neutronic characteristics simulation of LMFBR of great size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Y.C.

1987-09-01

The CONRAD experimental program to be executed on the critical mockup MASURCA in Cadarache and use all the european plutonium stock. The objectives of this program are to reduce the uncertainties on important project parameters such as the reactivity value of control rods, the flux distribution to valid calcul methods and data to use for new LMFBR conception (heterogeneous axial core by example) and to resolve the neutronic control problems for a LMFBR of great size. The present study has permitted to define this program and its physical characteristics [fr

Nothing Great Is Easy

OpenAIRE

Stansbie, Lisa

2014-01-01

A solo exhibition of 13 pieces of art work.\\ud \\ud Nothing Great is Easy is an exhibition of sculpture, film, drawing and photography that proposes reconstructed narratives using the sport of swimming and in particular the collective interaction and identity of the channel swimmer. The work utilises the processes, rituals/rules, language and the apparatus of sport.\\ud \\ud “Nothing great is easy” are the words on the memorial to Captain Matthew Webb who was the first man to swim the English ch...

Commercial Conspiracy Theories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian eFurnham

2013-06-01

Full Text Available There are many ways to categorise conspiracy theories. In the present study, we examined individual and demographic predictors of beliefs in commercial conspiracy theories among a British sample of over 300 women and men. Results showed people were cynical and sceptical with regard to advertising tricks, as well as the tactics of organisations like banks and alcohol, drug and tobacco companies. Beliefs sorted into four identifiable clusters, labelled sneakiness, manipulative, change-the-rules and suppression/prevention. The high alpha for the overall scale suggested general beliefs in commercial conspiracy. Regressions suggested that those people who were less religious, more left-wing, more pessimistic, less (self-defined as wealthy, less Neurotic and less Open-to-Experience believed there was more commercial conspiracy. Overall the individual difference variables explained relatively little of the variance in these beliefs.The implications of these findings for the literature on conspiracy theories are discussed.

Target Costing as a Strategic Tool to Commercialize the Product and Service Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Liping; Hansen, Carsten Ørts

What is the issue? Innovation is an important key to success in today's competitive marketplace. Firms therefore have strived hard to innovate and stay ahead. However, they have to face the brutal fact that firms often fail to obtain the commercial success of innovation. Why is it important......? With keen international competition and accelerating pace of technology change, the ability to introduce innovations into the market and capture the profits generated by an innovation is of strategic importance. It can put a firm at a competitive advantage and build a firm’s sustainable financial benefits....... What can be done? The implementation of target costing will increase the odds of commercial success of an innovation. It aims at fulfilling the economic potential of an innovation by focusing on the market and customers during the design and price setting stages. This price will, on one hand, impose...

Energy Efficiency Potential in Existing Commercial Buildings: Review of Selected Recent Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belzer, David B.

2009-04-03

This report reviews six recent studies (from 2002 through 2006) by states and utilities to assess the energy saving potential in existing commercial buildings. The studies cover all or portions of California, Connecticut, Vermont, Colorado, Illinois, and the Pacific Northwest. The studies clearly reveal that lighting remains the single largest and most cost effective end use that can be reduced to save energy. Overall the study indicated that with existing technologies and costs, a reasonable range of economic savings potential in existing commercial buildings is between 10 and 20 percent of current energy use. While not a focus of the study, an additional conclusion is that implementation of commercial building monitoring and controls would also play an important role in the nation’s efforts to improve energy efficiency of existing buildings.

Climate variability and Great Plains agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, N.J.; Katz, L.A.

1991-01-01

The ways in which inhabitants of the Great Plains, including Indians, early settlers, and 20th century farmers, have adapted to climate changes on the Great Plains are explored. The climate of the Great Plains, because of its variability and extremes, can be very stressful to plants, animals and people. It is suggested that agriculture and society on the Great Plains have, during the last century, become less vulnerable to the stresses imposed by climate. Opinions as to the sustainability of agriculture on the Great Plains vary substantially. Lockeretz (1981) suggests that large scale, high cost technologies have stressed farmers by creating surpluses and by requiring large investments. Opie (1989) sees irrigation as a climate substitute, however he stresses that the Ogallala aquifer must inevitably become depleted. Deborah and Frank Popper (1987) believe that farming on the Plains is unsustainable, and destruction of shelterbelts, out-migration of the rural population and environmental problems will lead to total collapse. With global warming, water in the Great Plains is expected to become scarcer, and although improvements in irrigation efficiency may slow depletion of the Ogallala aquifer, ultimately the acreage under irrigation must decrease to levels that can be sustained by natural recharge and reliable surface flows. 23 refs., 2 figs

THE IMPACT OF THE EXCHANGE RATE ON THE COMMERCIALS FLOWS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela IAVORSCHI

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The liberalization of capital movements between states and of the trade of goods and services, are one of the most important phenomena in the current world economy. The purpose of the present study, in the case of Romania, is to answer the question whether the interventions by means of the exchange rate of the national currency contributes to the fluidization and improvement of the commercial trades. The study demonstrates that the leu devaluation does not lead to a substantial increase of the exports. As a mechanism of influence of the commercials flows, the exchange rate has a short-term influence and the economy requires structural reforms, meant to stimulate the growth of the economic competitiveness.

The council of the employees in the Albanian Commercial Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Biba

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Law No. 9901/2008 on “Entrepreneurs and Commercial Companies”, marked a milestone in the reform of the commercial law in Albanian. Among other novelties, the Law introduced a new approach in regard to the employees and their participation in co determination. Actually, the involvement of the employees were not that unfamiliar in the former Albanian Commercial Legislation thought the social responsibility was. The Law brought in a new approach which was widely inspired from the EU Law, by establishing the Council of the Employees for any commercial company having more than 50 employees. It is true that unlike the trade unions, it is the company that bears the costs of the establishment and functioning of these councils, but besides the costs, it would mean to grant importance to the employees, as stakeholders of the corporate, by being part of the decision making process with regard to the use of special funds or actives of the company or to the allocation of the divided that the General Assembly resolves to allocate to the employees. This article will explore the legal provisions of the Law in regard to the Council of the Employees, its establishment, functioning and entitlement and how these provisions are enforced in practice from the companies in Albania.

The role of values in public beliefs and attitudes towards commercial wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bidwell, David

2013-01-01

Mandates for renewable energy lead to siting disputes, because meeting the mandates requires the development of renewable energy production facilities. Proposals for one common form of renewable energy, commercial wind farms, are frequently met with forceful local opposition. Dissatisfied with simplistic explanations for this opposition (i.e., NIMBY), social scientists have urged a more nuanced understanding of public attitudes towards wind energy and other renewables. Based on a survey of residents of coastal Michigan, this article explores the role of general values and beliefs in shaping attitudes towards the potential development of commercial wind energy projects in or near respondents’ communities. Structural equation modeling reveals that support of commercial wind energy depends largely on a belief that wind farms will provide economic benefits to the community. Underlying values have substantial and important indirect effects on beliefs regarding the likely economic outcomes of wind farm development. Altruistic values buoy wind energy attitudes, while values of traditionalism diminish wind energy support. The pivotal role of values in attitudes towards renewables lends support for more participatory development processes. - Highlights: ► Predictors of attitudes towards commercial wind energy development are examined. ► Support is influenced by beliefs in community economic benefit. ► Underlying values have substantial and important indirect effects on beliefs. ► Altruistic values buoy attitudes towards wind energy. ► Values associated with traditionalism diminish wind energy support

Morphological and molecular identification of four Brazilian commercial isolates of Pleurotus spp. and cultivation on corncob

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Menolli Junior

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The species of Pleurotus have great commercial importance and adaptability for growth and fructification within a wide variety of agro-industrial lignocellulosic wastes. In this study, two substrates prepared from ground corncobs supplemented with rice bran and charcoal were tested for mycelium growth kinetics in test tubes and for the cultivation of four Pleurotus commercial isolates in polypropylene bags. The identification of the isolates was based on the morphology of the basidiomata obtained and on sequencing of the LSU rDNA gene. Three isolates were identified as P. ostreatus, and one was identified as P. djamor. All isolates had better in-depth mycelium development in the charcoal-supplemented substrate. In the cultivation experiment, the isolates reacted differently to the two substrates. One isolate showed particularly high growth on the substrate containing charcoal.Espécies de Pleurotus têm grande importância comercial e adaptabilidade para crescimento e frutificação em uma ampla variedade de resíduos agro-industriais lignocelulósicos. Neste trabalho foram testados dois substratos à base de sabugo de milho triturado, suplementados com farelo de arroz e carvão vegetal, para avaliação da cinética de crescimento micelial em tubos de ensaio e produção em sacos de polipropileno, utilizando quatro isolados comerciais. O estudo taxonômico foi realizado com a análise da morfologia dos basidiomas obtidos em cultivo e pelo seqüenciamento do gene nLSU do DNAr, para certificar a identificação taxonômica. Os isolados tiveram melhor desenvolvimento micelial em profundidade no substrato suplementado com carvão vegetal. Em relação à produção, os isolados reagiram de formas distintas em função dos substratos, sendo significativamente melhor o substrato contendo carvão. Três isolados foram identificados como P. ostreatus e o outro foi identificado como P. djamor.

An investigation of selected chemical contaminants in commercial pet foods in Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Abd-Elhakim, Yasmina M; El Sharkawy, Nabela I; Moustafa, Gihan G

2016-01-01

Our study aimed to identify the levels of various contaminants in both wet and dry commercial pet foods in Egypt. A total of 20 local and imported pet food products (3 samples each) were screened for heavy metals by atomic absorption spectroscopy, for mycotoxins by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and for nitrate and nitrite levels by nitrate-nitrite spectrophotometry. Cat food, on average, had greater concentrations of the metals cadmium, chromium, lead, and tin than dog food. Of the investigated metals, only tin concentration exceeded the safe level compared with the standards of the National Research Council and the European Commission for the dog and cat. According to the guidelines of the Association of American Feed Control Officials for canned pet foods, the nitrate and nitrite contents of examined foods greatly exceeded the recommended level. No total aflatoxins were detected in the surveyed samples. None of the samples analyzed had levels above international limits established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for ochratoxin, and only 1 sample exceeded the level for aflatoxin B1. Of the 20 samples analyzed for zearalenone, 4 samples had higher levels than the FAO maximum tolerable levels. These results indicate that pet foods marketed in Egypt, especially cat foods, occasionally contain contaminants that could result in adverse effects in pets. © 2016 The Author(s).

The impact of retail rate structures on the economics of commercial photovoltaic systems in California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Andrew; Wiser, Ryan; Barbose, Galen; Golove, William

2008-01-01

This article examines the impact of retail electricity rate design on the economic value of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, focusing on commercial customers in California. Using 15-min interval building load and PV production data from a sample of 24 actual commercial PV installations, we compare the value of the bill savings across 20 commercial-customer retail electricity rates currently offered in the state. Across all combinations of customers and rates, we find that the annual bill savings from PV, per kWh generated, ranges from 0.05 to 0.24/kWh. This sizable range in rate-reduction value reflects differences in rate structures, revenue requirements, the size of the PV system relative to building load, and customer load shape. The most significant rate design issue for the value of commercial PV is found to be the percentage of total utility bills recovered through demand charges, though a variety of other factors are also found to be of importance. The value of net metering is found to be substantial, but only when energy from commercial PV systems represents a sizable portion of annual customer load. Though the analysis presented here is specific to California, our general results demonstrate the fundamental importance of retail rate design for the customer-economics of grid-connected, customer-sited PV. (author)

Commercialization of sustainable energy technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balachandra, P.; Kristle Nathan, Hippu Salk; Reddy, B. Sudhakara

2010-01-01

Commercialization efforts to diffuse sustainable energy technologies (SETs) have so far remained as the biggest challenge in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Limited success of diffusion through government driven pathways urges the need for market based approaches. This paper reviews the existing state of commercialization of SETs in the backdrop of the basic theory of technology diffusion. The different SETs in India are positioned in the technology diffusion map to reflect their slow state of commercialization. The dynamics of SET market is analysed to identify the issues, barriers and stakeholders in the process of SET commercialization. By upgrading the 'potential adopters' to 'techno-entrepreneurs', the study presents the mechanisms for adopting a private sector driven 'business model' approach for successful diffusion of SETs. This is expected to integrate the processes of market transformation and entrepreneurship development with innovative regulatory, marketing, financing, incentive and delivery mechanisms leading to SET commercialization. (author)

Commercialism in Intercollegiate Athletics.

Science.gov (United States)

Delany, James E.

1997-01-01

Outlines the history of intercollegiate athletics and the evolution of commercialization in college sports, particularly through television. Argues that few Division I programs could be self-sufficient; the issue is the degree to which sports are commercialized for revenue, and the challenge to balance schools' needs, private sector interests, and…

Commercialization of fuel-cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penner, S.S.; Appleby, A.J.; Baker, B.S.; Bates, J.L.; Buss, L.B.; Dollard, W.J.; Farris, P.J.; Gillis, E.A.; Gunsher, J.A.; Khandkar, A.; Krumpelt, M.; O' Sullivan, J.B.; Runte, G.; Savinell, R.F.; Selman, J.R.; Shores, D.A.; Tarman, P.

1995-03-01

This report is an abbreviated version of the ''Report of the DOE Advanced Fuel Cell Commercialization Working Group (AFC2WG),'' released January 1995. We describe fuel-cell commercialization for stationary power applications of phosphoric acid, molten carbonate, solid oxide, and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

Will oil palm's homecoming spell doom for Africa's great apes?

Science.gov (United States)

Wich, Serge A; Garcia-Ulloa, John; Kühl, Hjalmar S; Humle, Tatanya; Lee, Janice S H; Koh, Lian Pin

2014-07-21

Expansion of oil palm plantations has led to extensive wildlife habitat conversion in Southeast Asia [1]. This expansion is driven by a global demand for palm oil for products ranging from foods to detergents [2], and more recently for biofuels [3]. The negative impacts of oil palm development on biodiversity [1, 4, 5], and on orangutans (Pongo spp.) in particular, have been well documented [6, 7] and publicized [8, 9]. Although the oil palm is of African origin, Africa's production historically lags behind that of Southeast Asia. Recently, significant investments have been made that will likely drive the expansion of Africa's oil palm industry [10]. There is concern that this will lead to biodiversity losses similar to those in Southeast Asia. Here, we analyze the potential impact of oil palm development on Africa's great apes. Current great ape distribution in Africa substantially overlaps with current oil palm concessions (by 58.7%) and areas suitable for oil palm production (by 42.3%). More importantly, 39.9% of the distribution of great ape species on unprotected lands overlaps with suitable oil palm areas. There is an urgent need to develop guidelines for the expansion of oil palm in Africa to minimize the negative effects on apes and other wildlife. There is also a need for research to support land use decisions to reconcile economic development, great ape conservation, and avoiding carbon emissions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Problems of intangible assets commercialization accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.F. Legenchyk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The growing role of intangible assets in conditions of global economy postindustrialization is grounded. The problems of intangible assets accounting are singled out. The basic tasks of the intangible assets accounting commercialization process are determined. The difference between the commercialization of intellectual property and intangible assets is considered. The basic approaches to understanding the essence of the intangible assets commercialization are singled out and grounded. The basic forms and methods of intangible assets commercialization researched by the author are analyzed. The order of accounting reflection of licensee royalties is considered. The factors of influence on the accounting process of intangible assets commercialization are determined. The necessity of solving the problem of accounting of lease payments for computer program by providing access to SaaS environment is grounded. The prospects of further studies of intangible assets accounting commercialization are determined.

Technical and commercial aspects of the connection of wind turbines to electricity supply networks in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gardner, P. [Garrad Hassan & Partners Ltd., Glasgow (United Kingdom)

1996-12-31

This paper reviews some technical and commercial issues now topical for wind energy developments in Europe. The technical issues are important because of the weak nature of the existing electricity systems in rural or upland areas. Several commercial issues are considered which may improve the economics of wind energy as market incentives are gradually withdrawn. 9 refs.

Der Einfluss von personeller Einkommensverteilung auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“

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Stefan Trappl

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Der Einfluss gestiegener Einkommensungleichheit auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“ wurde mehrfach postuliert (Galbraith 1954/2009; Eccles 1951; Rajan 2010; Stiglitz 2012; Piketty 2014. Konkrete empirische Arbeiten zum Zusammenhang zwischen Einkommensverteilung und dem Entstehen von Wirtschaftskrisen gibt es aber bislang wenige. Kumhof/Ranciere (2010 überprüften die von Rajan (2010 aufgestellte Hypothese, die einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang postuliert, mittels Modellrechnung. Bordo/Meissner (2012 und darauf aufbauend Gu/Huang (2014 verwendeten unterschiedliche Regressionsmodelle in Bezug auf einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang, ohne jedoch eindeutige Ergebnisse zu liefern. Die vorliegende Arbeit schließt an diese Arbeiten an, beschränkt die Untersuchung allerdings auf Staaten, für die Daten für die letzten hundert Jahre verfügbar sind, und untersucht zudem explizit die Zeiträume um die beiden größten Krisen der letzten hundert Jahre, die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“. Die Auswertungen zeigen, dass die personelle Einkommensverteilung ein guter Prädiktor für die Kriseneintrittswahrscheinlichkeit ist.

Incidental oligotrophication of North American Great Lakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Mary Anne; Fahnenstiel, Gary; Scavia, Donald

2011-04-15

Phytoplankton production is an important factor in determining both ecosystem stability and the provision of ecosystem goods and services. The expansive and economically important North American Great Lakes are subjected to multiple stressors and understanding their responses to those stresses is important for understanding system-wide ecological controls. Here we show gradual increases in spring silica concentration (an indicator of decreasing growth of the dominant diatoms) in all basins of Lakes Michigan and Huron (USA and Canadian waters) between 1983 and 2008. These changes indicate the lakes have undergone gradual oligotrophication coincident with and anticipated by nutrient management implementation. Slow declines in seasonal drawdown of silica (proxy for seasonal phytoplankton production) also occurred, until recent years, when lake-wide responses were punctuated by abrupt decreases, putting them in the range of oligotrophic Lake Superior. The timing of these dramatic production drops is coincident with expansion of populations of invasive dreissenid mussels, particularly quagga mussels, in each basin. The combined effect of nutrient mitigation and invasive species expansion demonstrates the challenges facing large-scale ecosystems and suggest the need for new management regimes for large ecosystems.

Toward Integrated Resource Management: Lessons About the EcosystemApproach from the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

MACKENZIE

1997-03-01

/ The ecosystem approach is an innovative tool for integratedresource management. Its goal is to restore, enhance, and protect ecosystemintegrity through a holistic and integrated mode of planning. Under thisapproach, the ecosystem itself becomes the unit of analysis and organizingprinciple for environmental management. Utilizing the ecosystem approachchallenges the prevailing structure and function of contemporary resourcemanagement agencies. This paper explores a number of important policy andmanagement issues in the context of a ten-year initiative to remediate theLaurentian Great Lakes using the ecosystem approach. The lessons gleaned fromthe Great Lakes experience are relevant to other areas in North America andabroad where resource management responsibilities are held by multiple andsometimes overlapping jurisdictions.KEY WORDS: Integrated resource management; Ecosystem approach; Watershedmanagement; Great Lakes

Great war, ethics of Vidovdan, memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šijaković Bogoljub

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Beginning with a characterization of contemporaneity (dominance of the financial sector and high technology, politicization of economy, ideological use of culture and control of the capacity for thought and a brief analysis of expansionism (political, economic, cultural on the eve of the Great War, the author embarks on a more detailed description of the spiritual situation in the wake of the Great War: in philosophy, literature, art, as well as the national-political programmatic texts and war propaganda publications of German intellectuals of the time. The continuity of the Austro-Hungarian colonial policy towards the Balkans and Serbia culminates in instigating a preventive war against Serbia by the elites in Berlin and Vienna, which is of importance with regard to the question of responsibility for the war, guided by concrete aims of war in which causes for war are reflected. These war elites wanted to declare the assassination in Sarajevo as the cause of war, which in fact was a political assassination and tyrannicide. The freedom movement of democratic youth, Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia, needs to be viewed in the European context as inspired by the Serbian tradition of the cult of Kosovo and the ethics of Vidovdan (St Vitus' Day which speaks both about the victim's sacrifice as sublimation of history and about just suffering as elements of identity. Historical memory suggests that historical responsibility is transgenerational. The epic proportions of Serbian suffering in the Great War have additionally encouraged the positing of the theme of St Vitus' Day Temple (Vidovdanski Hram as envisaged by Ivan Meštrović. The foundations of this idea were shaken by Miloš Crnjanski who, in his 'Lyrics of Ithaca', succeeds in returning to Vidovdan (St Vitus' Day the inexhaustible national power of validity. Because of enormous Serbian military and civilian casualties in recent history, the need to establish a Victim's Sacrifice Memorial, in our day

Commercial speech in crisis: Crisis Pregnancy Center regulations and definitions of commercial speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Kathryn E

2013-02-01

Recent attempts to regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers, pseudoclinics that surreptitiously aim to dissuade pregnant women from choosing abortion, have confronted the thorny problem of how to define commercial speech. The Supreme Court has offered three potential answers to this definitional quandary. This Note uses the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases to demonstrate that courts should use one of these solutions, the factor-based approach of Bolger v. Youngs Drugs Products Corp., to define commercial speech in the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases and elsewhere. In principle and in application, the Bolger factor-based approach succeeds in structuring commercial speech analysis at the margins of the doctrine.

Proximate and fatty acid composition of some commercially important fish species from the Sinop region of the Black Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kocatepe, Demet; Turan, Hülya

2012-06-01

The proximate and fatty acid compositions of the commercially important fish species (Engraulis encrasicolus, Alosa alosa, Belone belone, Scorpaena porcus, Pomatomus saltatrix, Mullus barbatus) from the Sinop region of the Black Sea were examined. The fat contents ranged from 1.26% (for scorpion fish) to 18.12% (for shad). The protein contents were min 14.54% (for red mullet) and maximum 20.26% (for belone). The fatty acid compositions of the fish ranged from 27.83 to 35.91% for saturated fatty acids, 19.50-33.80% for monounsaturated fatty acids and 15.25-40.02% for polyunsaturated fatty acids. Among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid (16:0) (17.75-22.20%) was the dominant fatty acid for all the fish species. As a second saturated fatty acid, myristic acid (14:0) was observed in four of the fish species and its content ranged from 4.72 to 7.31%. Whereas, for the other two fish species, the second saturated fatty acid was stearic acid (18:0) ranging between 4.54 and 10.64%. Among the monounsaturated fatty acids, those occurring in the highest proportions were oleic acid (18:1n-9c) (11.67-22.45%) and palmitoleic acid (16:1) (4.50-9.40%). Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) (5.41-28.52%), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) (4.68-11.06) and linoleic acid (18:2n-6) (1.38-3.49%) were dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. All the species, in particular the belone, the anchovy and the shad had high levels of the n-3 series.

Great Lakes Bathymetry

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Bathymetry of Lakes Michigan, Erie, Saint Clair, Ontario and Huron has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and...

Helix Nebula and CERN: A Symbiotic approach to exploiting commercial clouds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Megino, Fernando H Barreiro; Jones, Robert; Llamas, Ramón Medrano; Ster, Daniel van der; Kucharczyk, Katarzyna

2014-01-01

The recent paradigm shift toward cloud computing in IT, and general interest in 'Big Data' in particular, have demonstrated that the computing requirements of HEP are no longer globally unique. Indeed, the CERN IT department and LHC experiments have already made significant R and D investments in delivering and exploiting cloud computing resources. While a number of technical evaluations of interesting commercial offerings from global IT enterprises have been performed by various physics labs, further technical, security, sociological, and legal issues need to be address before their large-scale adoption by the research community can be envisaged. Helix Nebula – the Science Cloud is an initiative that explores these questions by joining the forces of three European research institutes (CERN, ESA and EMBL) with leading European commercial IT enterprises. The goals of Helix Nebula are to establish a cloud platform federating multiple commercial cloud providers, along with new business models, which can sustain the cloud marketplace for years to come. This contribution will summarize the participation of CERN in Helix Nebula. We will explain CERN's flagship use-case and the model used to integrate several cloud providers with an LHC experiment's workload management system. During the first proof of concept, this project contributed over 40.000 CPU-days of Monte Carlo production throughput to the ATLAS experiment with marginal manpower required. CERN's experience, together with that of ESA and EMBL, is providing a great insight into the cloud computing industry and highlighted several challenges that are being tackled in order to ease the export of the scientific workloads to the cloud environments.

Viral commercials: the consumer as marketeer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaar, P.E.; Lucassen, P.; Kregting, G.H.J.

2010-01-01

Research into the reasons why consumers pass along viral commercials: their motives, the content characteristics of viral commercials and the medium context in which viral commercials appear. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective this study has determined which motives of consumers,

Between Iskar and Morava Rivers: Mediterranean Dacia and Roman Serdica Fefore Constabtine the Great [In Bulgarian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Vatchkova

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on some little known facts from the history of Mediterranean Dacia and Serdica in the period between the 60s of the 3rd century AD to the establishment of the town as central residence of Constantine the Great, called by him “Mea Roma” (316 -January 330. The attention is drawn especially on the great importance of the city under Galerius who issued (April 30th, 311 the First Edict of Tolerance. An attempt has also been made to present, in retrospect, the most important events, whose scene was Serdica under the emperors Aurelianus, Gallienus and Probus.

Technology data characterizing water heating in commercial buildings: Application to end-use forecasting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sezgen, O.; Koomey, J.G.

1995-12-01

Commercial-sector conservation analyses have traditionally focused on lighting and space conditioning because of their relatively-large shares of electricity and fuel consumption in commercial buildings. In this report we focus on water heating, which is one of the neglected end uses in the commercial sector. The share of the water-heating end use in commercial-sector electricity consumption is 3%, which corresponds to 0.3 quadrillion Btu (quads) of primary energy consumption. Water heating accounts for 15% of commercial-sector fuel use, which corresponds to 1.6 quads of primary energy consumption. Although smaller in absolute size than the savings associated with lighting and space conditioning, the potential cost-effective energy savings from water heaters are large enough in percentage terms to warrant closer attention. In addition, water heating is much more important in particular building types than in the commercial sector as a whole. Fuel consumption for water heating is highest in lodging establishments, hospitals, and restaurants (0.27, 0.22, and 0.19 quads, respectively); water heating`s share of fuel consumption for these building types is 35%, 18% and 32%, respectively. At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, we have developed and refined a base-year data set characterizing water heating technologies in commercial buildings as well as a modeling framework. We present the data and modeling framework in this report. The present commercial floorstock is characterized in terms of water heating requirements and technology saturations. Cost-efficiency data for water heating technologies are also developed. These data are intended to support models used for forecasting energy use of water heating in the commercial sector.

Direct Importance Estimation with Gaussian Mixture Models

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Makoto; Sugiyama, Masashi

The ratio of two probability densities is called the importance and its estimation has gathered a great deal of attention these days since the importance can be used for various data processing purposes. In this paper, we propose a new importance estimation method using Gaussian mixture models (GMMs). Our method is an extention of the Kullback-Leibler importance estimation procedure (KLIEP), an importance estimation method using linear or kernel models. An advantage of GMMs is that covariance matrices can also be learned through an expectation-maximization procedure, so the proposed method — which we call the Gaussian mixture KLIEP (GM-KLIEP) — is expected to work well when the true importance function has high correlation. Through experiments, we show the validity of the proposed approach.

NASA's commercial research plans and opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Ray J.

One of the primary goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) commercial space development plan is to encourage the development of space-based products and markets, along with the infrastructure and transportation that will support those products and markets. A three phased program has been instituted to carry out this program. The first phase utilizes government grants through the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) for space-related, industry driven research; the development of a technology data base; and the development of commercial space transportation and infrastructure. The second phase includes the development of these technologies by industry for new commercial markets, and features unique industry/government collaborations such as Joint Endeavor Agreements. The final phase will feature technical applications actually brought to the marketplace. The government's role will be to support industry required infrastructure to encourage start-up markets and industries through follow-on development agreements such as the Space Systems Development Agreement. The Office of Commercial Programs has an aggressive flight program underway on the Space Shuttle, suborbital rockets, orbital expendable launch vehicles, and the Commercial Middeck Accommodation Module with SPACEHAB Inc. The Office of Commercial Program's has been allocated 35 percent of the U.S. share of the Space Station Freedom resources for 1997 utilization. A utilization plan has been developed with the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space and has identified eleven materials processing and biotechnology payloads occupying 5 double racks in the pressurized module as well as two payloads external to the module in materials exposure and environment monitoring. The Office of Commercial Programs will rely on the Space Station Freedom to provide the long duration laboratory component for space-based commercial research.

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, Oliver R.; Munday, Dawn K.; Whelan, Mick J.; Holt, Martin S.; Fox, Katharine K.; Morris, Gerard; Young, Andrew R.

2009-01-01

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price, Oliver R., E-mail: oliver.price@unilever.co [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Munday, Dawn K. [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Whelan, Mick J. [Department of Natural Resources, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, College Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL (United Kingdom); Holt, Martin S. [ECETOC, Ave van Nieuwenhuyse 4, Box 6, B-1160 Brussels (Belgium); Fox, Katharine K. [85 Park Road West, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH43 8SQ (United Kingdom); Morris, Gerard [Environment Agency, Phoenix House, Global Avenue, Leeds LS11 8PG (United Kingdom); Young, Andrew R. [Wallingford HydroSolutions Ltd, Maclean building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)

2009-10-15

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

What Caused the Great Depression?

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Jean; O'Driscoll, Timothy G.

2007-01-01

Economists and historians have struggled for almost 80 years to account for the American Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early years of World War II. In this article, the authors discuss three major schools of thought on the causes of the Great Depression and the long failure of the American economy to return to full…

The Sixth Great Mass Extinction

Science.gov (United States)

Wagler, Ron

2012-01-01

Five past great mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history. Humanity is currently in the midst of a sixth, human-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life (e.g., Alroy 2008; Jackson 2008; Lewis 2006; McDaniel and Borton 2002; Rockstrom et al. 2009; Rohr et al. 2008; Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007; Thomas et al. 2004;…

Commercialization of higher education: characteristics and trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. V. Klyov

2014-04-01

Much attention is given to the variety of approaches to the study of higher education. Today, sociological discourses used to analyze modern innovation in the education sphere, such as multiculturalism, diversification, confessionalization, regionalization, cosmopolitan atmosphere in the modern world, including the global information technology to the higher education. In the course of innovation and modernization of higher education, commercialization becomes significantly prevalent a phenomenon and a social process of educational institutions, which requires considerable research. The review of the US and European models of higher education makes it possible to understand the essence of appearance in the literature of such concepts as «academic capitalism», «university of market­type» and «entrepreneurial University», analyze relation to the appearance of private education and income and define the priority of commercialization. Indisputably, with both positive and negative, as a result of the reform of higher education appeared the peculiar environment of business education, which requires the existence of new rules of interaction, status­role relationships, values and norms . In some extent, commercialization is a transformation of knowledge into a commodity (speaking in the context of consumer society; however, it is the growing influence of market relations on the purpose and objectives of higher education, the growth of the importance of knowledge as a resource for economic development that focuses on  the concept of an economy based on knowledge.

Three near term commercial markets in space and their potential role in space exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Gavert, Raymond B.

2001-02-01

Independent market studies related to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) commercialization have identified three near term markets that have return-on-investment potential. These markets are: (1) Entertainment (2) Education (3) Advertising/sponsorship. Commercial activity is presently underway focusing on these areas. A private company is working with the Russians on a commercial module attached to the ISS that will involve entertainment and probably the other two activities as well. A separate corporation has been established to commercialize the Russian Mir Space Station with entertainment and promotional advertising as important revenue sources. A new startup company has signed an agreement with NASA for commercial media activity on the International Space Station (ISS). Profit making education programs are being developed by a private firm to allow students to play the role of an astronaut and work closely with space scientists and astronauts. It is expected that the success of these efforts on the ISS program will extend to exploration missions beyond LEO. The objective of this paper is to extrapolate some of the LEO commercialization experiences to see what might be expected in space exploration missions to Mars, the Moon and beyond. .

Commercializing Government-sponsored Innovations: Twelve Successful Buildings Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, M. A.; Berry, L. G.; Goel, R. K.

1989-01-01

This report examines the commercialization and use of R and D results funded by DOE's Office of Buildings and Community Systems (OBCS), an office that is dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of the nation's buildings. Three goals guided the research described in this report: to improve understanding of the factors that hinder or facilitate the transfer of OBCS R and D results, to determine which technology transfer strategies are most effective and under what circumstances each is appropriate, and to document the market penetration and energy savings achieved by successfully-commercialized innovations that have received OBCS support. Twelve successfully-commercialized innovations are discussed here. The methodology employed involved a review of the literature, interviews with innovation program managers and industry personnel, and data collection from secondary sources. Six generic technology transfer strategies are also described. Of these, contracting R and D to industrial partners is found to be the most commonly used strategy in our case studies. The market penetration achieved to date by the innovations studied ranges from less than 1% to 100%. For the three innovations with the highest predicted levels of energy savings (i.e., the flame retention head oil burner, low-E windows, and solid-state ballasts), combined cumulative savings by the year 2000 are likely to approach 2 quads. To date the energy savings for these three innovations have been about 0.2 quads. Our case studies illustrate the important role federal agencies can play in commercializing new technologies.

Evaluation and optimization of a commercial blocking ELISA for detecting antibodies to influenza A virus for research and surveillance of mallards.

Science.gov (United States)

Shriner, Susan A; VanDalen, Kaci K; Root, J Jeffrey; Sullivan, Heather J

2016-02-01

The availability of a validated commercial assay is an asset for any wildlife investigation. However, commercial products are often developed for use in livestock and are not optimized for wildlife. Consequently, it is incumbent upon researchers and managers to apply commercial products appropriately to optimize program outcomes. We tested more than 800 serum samples from mallards for antibodies to influenza A virus with the IDEXX AI MultiS-Screen Ab test to evaluate assay performance. Applying the test per manufacturer's recommendations resulted in good performance with 84% sensitivity and 100% specificity. However, performance was improved to 98% sensitivity and 98% specificity by increasing the recommended cut-off. Using this alternative threshold for identifying positive and negative samples would greatly improve sample classification, especially for field samples collected months after infection when antibody titers have waned from the initial primary immune response. Furthermore, a threshold that balances sensitivity and specificity reduces estimation bias in seroprevalence estimates. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Commercial SNF Accident Release Fractions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J. Schulz

2004-11-05

The purpose of this analysis is to specify and document the total and respirable fractions for radioactive materials that could be potentially released from an accident at the repository involving commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a dry environment. The total and respirable release fractions are used to support the preclosure licensing basis for the repository. The total release fraction is defined as the fraction of total commercial SNF assembly inventory, typically expressed as an activity inventory (e.g., curies), of a given radionuclide that is released to the environment from a waste form. Radionuclides are released from the inside of breached fuel rods (or pins) and from the detachment of radioactive material (crud) from the outside surfaces of fuel rods and other components of fuel assemblies. The total release fraction accounts for several mechanisms that tend to retain, retard, or diminish the amount of radionuclides that are available for transport to dose receptors or otherwise can be shown to reduce exposure of receptors to radiological releases. The total release fraction includes a fraction of airborne material that is respirable and could result in inhalation doses; this subset of the total release fraction is referred to as the respirable release fraction. Accidents may involve waste forms characterized as: (1) bare unconfined intact fuel assemblies, (2) confined intact fuel assemblies, or (3) canistered failed commercial SNF. Confined intact commercial SNF assemblies at the repository are contained in shipping casks, canisters, or waste packages. Four categories of failed commercial SNF are identified: (1) mechanically and cladding-penetration damaged commercial SNF, (2) consolidated/reconstituted assemblies, (3) fuel rods, pieces, and debris, and (4) nonfuel components. It is assumed that failed commercial SNF is placed into waste packages with a mesh screen at each end (CRWMS M&O 1999). In contrast to bare unconfined fuel assemblies, the

Commercial SNF Accident Release Fractions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulz, J.

2004-01-01

The purpose of this analysis is to specify and document the total and respirable fractions for radioactive materials that could be potentially released from an accident at the repository involving commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a dry environment. The total and respirable release fractions are used to support the preclosure licensing basis for the repository. The total release fraction is defined as the fraction of total commercial SNF assembly inventory, typically expressed as an activity inventory (e.g., curies), of a given radionuclide that is released to the environment from a waste form. Radionuclides are released from the inside of breached fuel rods (or pins) and from the detachment of radioactive material (crud) from the outside surfaces of fuel rods and other components of fuel assemblies. The total release fraction accounts for several mechanisms that tend to retain, retard, or diminish the amount of radionuclides that are available for transport to dose receptors or otherwise can be shown to reduce exposure of receptors to radiological releases. The total release fraction includes a fraction of airborne material that is respirable and could result in inhalation doses; this subset of the total release fraction is referred to as the respirable release fraction. Accidents may involve waste forms characterized as: (1) bare unconfined intact fuel assemblies, (2) confined intact fuel assemblies, or (3) canistered failed commercial SNF. Confined intact commercial SNF assemblies at the repository are contained in shipping casks, canisters, or waste packages. Four categories of failed commercial SNF are identified: (1) mechanically and cladding-penetration damaged commercial SNF, (2) consolidated/reconstituted assemblies, (3) fuel rods, pieces, and debris, and (4) nonfuel components. It is assumed that failed commercial SNF is placed into waste packages with a mesh screen at each end (CRWMS M andO 1999). In contrast to bare unconfined fuel assemblies, the

Commercial Kidney Transplantation: Attitude, Knowledge, Perception, and Experience of Recipients.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Rahbi, Fatma; Al Salmi, Issa

2017-07-01

Kidney transplantation is the gold standard for patients with end-stage kidney disease. In view of shortages of available organs, long wait times for possible transplantation, and strict regulation, many patients opt for commercial transplantation. This study elicits the reasons and motivations for patients with end-stage kidney disease to elect for commercial transplant. A questionnaire-based evaluation was conducted during the period from July 2015 until late December 2015. It consisted of 29 multiple choice questions and was distributed to all patients who underwent commercial kidney transplantation. One hundred and fifty patients were approached to participate and 106 agreed. Of the participants, 60% were male with an average age of 41.5 (SD 14.8) years and ranged from 18 to 83 years. The majority (82%) of our participants were educated ranging from primary to college level. The major reason (71%) for these participants to obtain commercial transplants was stated as the unavailability of a live related donor. Thirteen percent stated that they objected to getting a kidney donated from a family member, and 9% stated that they were worried about taking a kidney from a family member. Finally, 3% of participants stated that they needed prompt transplant and could not wait for a long time for transplant investigations and the workup associated with this program. The study showed that the most common underlying cause for seeking commercial transplantation is the unavailability of a national transplant program, particularly transplantation from deceased sources. All western ethical arguments turn out to become of vital importance in developing countries, because transplantation is the cheapest renal replacement therapy. However, it must be emphasized that commercial transplants should not be an alternative to building a national transplant initiative. The national diseased program must be a priority with full financial and administrative support. All government

76 FR 60474 - Commercial Item Handbook

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System Commercial Item Handbook AGENCY.... SUMMARY: DoD has updated its Commercial Item Handbook. The purpose of the Handbook is to help acquisition personnel develop sound business strategies for procuring commercial items. DoD is seeking industry input on...

32 CFR 37.1250 - Commercial firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial firm. 37.1250 Section 37.1250... REGULATIONS TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS Definitions of Terms Used in This Part § 37.1250 Commercial firm... does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial marketplace. ...

Artificial selection on introduced Asian haplotypes shaped the genetic architecture in European commercial pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosse, Mirte; Lopes, Marcos S; Madsen, Ole; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Crooijmans, Richard P M A; Frantz, Laurent A F; Harlizius, Barbara; Bastiaansen, John W M; Groenen, Martien A M

2015-12-22

Early pig farmers in Europe imported Asian pigs to cross with their local breeds in order to improve traits of commercial interest. Current genomics techniques enabled genome-wide identification of these Asian introgressed haplotypes in modern European pig breeds. We propose that the Asian variants are still present because they affect phenotypes that were important for ancient traditional, as well as recent, commercial pig breeding. Genome-wide introgression levels were only weakly correlated with gene content and recombination frequency. However, regions with an excess or absence of Asian haplotypes (AS) contained genes that were previously identified as phenotypically important such as FASN, ME1, and KIT. Therefore, the Asian alleles are thought to have an effect on phenotypes that were historically under selection. We aimed to estimate the effect of AS in introgressed regions in Large White pigs on the traits of backfat (BF) and litter size. The majority of regions we tested that retained Asian deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) showed significantly increased BF from the Asian alleles. Our results suggest that the introgression in Large White pigs has been strongly determined by the selective pressure acting upon the introgressed AS. We therefore conclude that human-driven hybridization and selection contributed to the genomic architecture of these commercial pigs. © 2015 The Author(s).

Great magnetic storms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsurutani, B.T.; Yen Te Lee; Tang, F.; Gonzalez, W.D.

1992-01-01

The five largest magnetic storms that occurred between 1971 and 1986 are studied to determine their solar and interplanetary causes. All of the events are found to be associated with high speed solar wind streams led by collisionless shocks. The high speed streams are clearly related to identifiable solar flares. It is found that (1) it is the extreme values of the southward interplanetary magnetic fields rather than solar wind speeds that are the primary causes of great magnetic storms, (2) shocked and draped sheath fields preceding the driver gas (magnetic cloud) are at least as effective in causing the onset of great magnetic storms (3 of 5 events ) as the strong fields within the driver gas itself, and (3) precursor southward fields ahead of the high speed streams allow the shock compression mechanism (item 2) to be particularly geoeffective

Great heterogeneity of commercial fruit juices to induce endothelium-dependent relaxations in isolated porcine coronary arteries: role of the phenolic content and composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Auger, Cyril; Pollet, Brigitte; Arnold, Cécile; Marx, Céline; Schini-Kerth, Valérie B

2015-01-01

Since polyphenol-rich products such as red wine, grape juice, and grape extracts have been shown to induce potent endothelium-dependent relaxations, we have evaluated whether commercial fruit juices such as those from berries are also able to induce endothelium-dependent relaxations of isolated coronary arteries and, if so, to determine whether this effect is related to their phenolic content. Among the 51 fruit juices tested, 2/12 grape juices, 3/7 blackcurrant juices, 4/5 cranberry juices, 1/6 apple juices, 0/5 orange juices, 2/6 red fruit and berry juices, 3/6 blends of red fruit juices, and 0/4 non-red fruit juices were able to induce relaxations achieving more than 50% at a volume of 1%. The active fruit juices had phenolic contents ranging from 0.31 to 1.86 g GAE/L, which were similar to those of most of the less active juices with the exception of one active grape juice (2.14 g GAE/L) and one active blend of red fruit juices (3.48 g GAE/L). Altogether, these findings indicate that very few commercial fruit juices have the ability to induce potent endothelium-dependent relaxations, and that this effect is not related to their quantitative phenolic content, but rather to their qualitative phenolic composition.

Impromptu: great impromptu speaking is never just impromptu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramlah A. Nawi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Great impromptu speaking, reciting and singing are never just an isolated impromptu act. It is the result of endless practice to perfect performance that can then be given impromptu. One of the main objectives of learning English as a Second Language (ESL is to be able to speak English impromptu, not just on the stage or in front of an audience but also in a casual meeting, on the street or during a formal meeting in a board-room. In fact to be able to speak “impromptu” should be the Holy Grail of teaching and learning ESL, more important than reading, writing and listening. So how come it is not given the priority it deserves – and how come it seems such a difficult goal? We believe it is because teachers and learners neglect to emphasize and practice the key to learning impromptu speaking. That key we believe is practice, practice and more practice. We can remember songs from our kindergarten years and we can still sing them because we practiced, practiced and practiced them. We believe that the teaching of ESL often overlooks the critical importance of lots of practice to create depth of learning and that creative methods of practicing need to be taught and practiced in ESL courses until such methods become deeply habitual, in fact they become a new personal paradigm. If our students aim to become great at ESL, they, too, must take continuous never-ending practice to heart.

Nanovate commercializing disruptive nanotechnologies

CERN Document Server

Anis, Mohab; Sarhan, Wesam; Elsemary, Mona

2017-01-01

This book introduces readers from diverse backgrounds to the principles underlying nanotechnology, from devices to systems, while also describing in detail how businesses can use nanotechnology to redesign their products and processes, in order to have a clear edge over their competition. The authors include 75 case studies, describing in a highly-accessible manner, real nanotechnology innovations from 15 different industrial sectors. For each case study, the technology or business challenges faced by the company are highlighted, the type of nanotechnology adopted is defined, and the eventual economic and social impact is described. Introduces fundamentals of nanotechnology and its applications in a highly-accessible manner Includes 75 case studies of commercializing nanotechnology from 15 industrial sectors, including Automotive, Consumer Electronics, and Renewable Energy Enables nanotechnology experts to learn simple and important business concepts to facilitate the transfer of science to the market Introdu...

The Brazilian Theory of Habeas Corpus for Great Apes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heron José de Santana Gordilho

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This essay presents a comparison between human evolution and legal developments, trying to demonstrate how darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection has caused changes in the legal world, the bridge of today some lawyers using the recent discoveries about how similar genetic between man and great primates to claim extension of human rights for chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangs. It also that many activists for animal`s rights have considered the dispute an important strategy, whether to set new means for legal institutes such as the Habeas Corpus, hitherto used only to ensure human freedom, whether to increase the movement and increase the conscietization of the general population about the importance of the recognition of animals as holders of basic rights.

Women play larger role in Latin America's commercial urban waste ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

21 juin 2016 ... The research examines the role women play in marketing urban waste as a commercial enterprise and their important contribution to municipal recyclable waste activities. This book ... De courts téléromans pour encourager l'éducation financière et l'inclusion des femmes au Pérou. Le fait de ne pas avoir ...

48 CFR 852.203-70 - Commercial advertising.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Commercial advertising... Commercial advertising. As prescribed in 803.570-2, insert the following clause: Commercial Advertising (JAN... solicitation, he/she will not advertise the award of the contract in his/her commercial advertising in such a...

The Use of Television Format Adaptation in Denmark: Public Service Broadcasters Compared to Commercial Broadcasters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Pia Majbritt

brought about major changes in both production and scheduling. This paper evaluates the impact that format adaptation has had in Denmark on public service broadcasters (PSBs) compared to commercial broadcasters. To illustrate transnational differences, references are made to Germany and Australia. First......, a quantitative analysis of PSB and commercial schedules in Denmark is presented to establish the extent to which PSBs have employed formats between 2000 and 2012, and how this compares with commercial broadcasters. Secondly, a qualitative analysis looks into genre and the nature of the individual formats...... employed to assess any important differences between the formats in the two sectors. Most formats fall within entertainment and is well suited to providing the consumption friendly environment that commercial broadcasters seek to offer their advertising clients (Brennan 2012). Broadcasters also favour...

Contemporary management and outcomes in congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutty, Shelby; Danford, David A; Diller, Gerhard-Paul; Tutarel, Oktay

2018-01-11

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) can occur in isolation, or in combination with other structural cardiac anomalies, most commonly ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis and tricuspid valve disease. Clinical recognition can be challenging, so echocardiography is often the means by which definitive diagnosis is made. The tricuspid valve and right ventricle are on the systemic arterial side of the ccTGA circulation, and are therefore subject to progressive functional deterioration. The natural history of ccTGA is also greatly influenced by the nature and severity of accompanying lesions, some of which require surgical repair. Some management strategies leave the right ventricle as the systemic arterial pump, but carry the risk of worsening heart failure. More complex 'double switch' repairs establish the left ventricle as the systemic pump, and include an atrial baffle to redirect venous return in combination with either arterial switch or Rastelli operation (if a suitable ventricular septal defect permits). Occasionally, the anatomic peculiarities of ccTGA do not allow straightforward biventricular repair, and Fontan palliation is a reasonable option. Regardless of the approach selected, late cardiovascular complications are relatively common, so ongoing outpatient surveillance should be established in an age-appropriate facility with expertise in congenital heart disease care. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Pilot scale test and commercialization of sago hydrogel for face mask and wound dressing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul Zaman Hj. Mohd Dahlan; Kamaruddin Hashim; Zulkafli Ghazali

2008-01-01

Commercialization of sago hydrogel as facial mask could be considered as one of the successful story of the radiation processing of natural polymer. However, the process of bringing the product from laboratory to market is not an easy task. The commercialization of new product through entrepreneur requires tremendous energy and funding if compare through company that is already in the same business. Hence, it would require an entrepreneur that is resilient, has certain quality such as hard working, flexible, persistence etc. In addition, the continuous support and 'follow through' from laboratory to market, by the inventor and government agency are equally important for the success of the commercialization of the product or technology. (author)

The stability and instability of organic expenditures in Denmark, Great Britain, and Italy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Denver, Sigrid; Christensen, Tove; Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård

2012-01-01

This article concerns demand for organic foods in 3 European countries: Denmark, Great Britain, and Italy. Based on extensive sets of household panel data we categorize households into 4 groups according to their levels of organic consumption. Importance of sociodemographics is estimated by apply...

'Great Power Style' in China's Economic Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Yang

2011-01-01

China’s ascendance attracts concern, even though Beijing claims to be a responsible great power and tries to demonstrate its ‘great power style’ in economic diplomacy. This article therefore discusses the following questions: to what extent does the current notion and practice of Chinese ‘great...... power style’ in economic diplomacy comply with, or differ from, the criteria of benign hegemony; and what are the major constraining factors? Conceptually, China’s ‘great power style’ is rooted in ancient Chinese political philosophy and institution, but it highly resembles the Western notion of benign...

Taraxacum officinale and related species-An ethnopharmacological review and its potential as a commercial medicinal plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, M; Poirrier, P; Chamy, R; Prüfer, D; Schulze-Gronover, C; Jorquera, L; Ruiz, G

2015-07-01

been studied (including Taraxacum officinale, Taraxacum coreanum, Taraxacum mongolicum and Taraxacum platycarpum). This is a indication of the little knowledge that we have about this genus so far. Biotechnology (involving genetics, agriculture, and biology) is the most powerful means by which to take advantage of all the medicinal potential of Taraxacum. Great strides have been made in identifying metabolic pathways for synthesizing terpenes, one of the most important compound families in clinical applications. In order to improve yield and performance of the plant in the field, greenhouse cultivation is another aspect taken into account, deriving an increase in recovery of bioactives from Taraxacum organs. Even while considering that only a few species have been studied, their different biochemical and cultivation profiles indicate huge potential for qualitative improvements in composition through genetic engineering, thus directly impacting pharmacological properties. Taraxacum is has been traditionally considered a natural remedy, well-inserted into popular knowledge, but with low commercial applicability. Only once the recovery of pure and highly reactive compounds can be pursued at (a qualitatively and quantitatively attractive) economical scale, human clinical trials would be of interest in order to prove their efficacy and safety, positioning Taraxacum as an important commercial source of natural drugs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Review of Infectious Disease Report in Great Britain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.D. Sorokhan

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The article deals with an analysis of infectious disease report in Great Britain that is a member of the European Union. There are listed the infectious diseases and infectious agents of these diseases. There are described in detail how to fill the notification form and the methods and terms of sending it to Public Health England. Attention is focused on the importance of the analysis of infectious disease report in the European Union in the light of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU after the economic component of the Association Agreement has been signed.

Mexico's commercial relations with asiatic southeast: agreements and social agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aníbal Carlos Zottele Allende

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Mexican state built a complex and thorough system of agreements with the countries that integrate the Pacific Basin. Despite this effort, there is an important and increasing deficit in commercial exchange with the Asian Southeast Nations. The global balance trade compensates this inequity with the sur-plus set up with the United States of America. There are a lot of aspects that contribute to the explanation of these phenomena, but here it will be take into consideration just the important matters, in order to explain why the Mexican exports have the "natural" tendency to satisfy some UsA demands, which is still the mayor world importer.

12 CFR 541.5 - Commercial paper.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial paper. 541.5 Section 541.5 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY DEFINITIONS FOR REGULATIONS AFFECTING FEDERAL SAVINGS ASSOCIATIONS § 541.5 Commercial paper. The term commercial paper means any note, draft, or...

Commercial gasifier for IGCC applications study report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Notestein, J.E.

1990-06-01

This was a scoping-level study to identify and characterize the design features of fixed-bed gasifiers appearing most important for a gasifier that was to be (1) potentially commercially attractive, and (2) specifically intended for us in integrated coal gasification/combined-cycle (IGCC) applications. It also performed comparative analyses on the impact or value of these design features and on performance characteristics options of the whole IGCC system since cost, efficiency, environmental traits, and operability -- on a system basis -- are what is really important. The study also reviewed and evaluated existing gasifier designs, produced a conceptual-level gasifier design, and generated a moderately advanced system configuration that was utilized as the reference framework for the comparative analyses. In addition, technical issues and knowledge gaps were defined. 70 figs., 31 tabs.

Selected Constituent Yield Variation in the Smoke of Commercial Cigarette Brands on the Japanese Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyodo Takatsugu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study focused on the variation in the yields of constituents in smoke from commercial cigarette brands available on the Japanese market. Nineteen commercial cigarette brands were sampled five times every two months from 2009 to 2010. The target constituents were benzo[a]-pyrene, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, N-nitrosonornicotine (NNN, 4-(methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl-1-butanone (NNK, carbon monoxide, “tar”, and nicotine. The results of this study showed that the coefficient of variation (CV values varied greatly by brands, constituents, and smoking regimes. The yields of NNN and NNK in the smoke were strongly correlated to their yields in the tobacco filler blend for most brands. The yields of benzo[a]pyrene under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO and the Health Canada Intense (HCI smoking regimes and 1,3-butadiene under the HCI smoking regime were found to be influenced by the measurement. It was shown that factors for variation were highly varied among constituents. The grand mean of CV values for NNN and formaldehyde associated with cigarette manufacturing over ten months and measurement at the JT laboratory under the HCI smoking regimes were 17.1% and 6.6% respectively. The grand mean of CV values for NNN and formaldehyde associated with both cigarette manufacturing over ten months and measurement at different laboratories under the HCI smoking regimes were 23.7% and 22.9% respectively. This is due to the fact that formaldehyde showed the highest CV values for reproducibility among the constituents. Thus, in order to set realistic and robust confidence intervals, it is very important to take into account the variations associated with cigarette manufacturing and measurement within and between laboratories.

Distribution of an invasive aquatic pathogen (viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus) in the Great Lakes and its relationship to shipping

Science.gov (United States)

Bain, Mark B.; Cornwell, Emily R.; Hope, Kristine M.; Eckerlin, Geofrey E.; Casey, Rufina N.; Groocock, Geoffrey H.; Getchell, Rodman G.; Bowser, Paul R.; Winton, James R.; Batts, William N.; Cangelosi, Allegra; Casey, James W.

2010-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a rhabdovirus found in fish from oceans of the northern hemisphere and freshwaters of Europe. It has caused extensive losses of cultured and wild fish and has become established in the North American Great Lakes. Large die-offs of wild fish in the Great Lakes due to VHSV have alarmed the public and provoked government attention on the introduction and spread of aquatic animal pathogens in freshwaters. We investigated the relations between VHSV dispersion and shipping and boating activity in the Great Lakes by sampling fish and water at sites that were commercial shipping harbors, recreational boating centers, and open shorelines. Fish and water samples were individually analyzed for VHSV using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and cell culture assays. Of 1,221 fish of 17 species, 55 were VHSV positive with highly varied qRT-PCR titers (1 to 5,950,000 N gene copies). The detections of VHSV in fish and water samples were closely associated and the virus was detected in 21 of 30 sites sampled. The occurrence of VHSV was not related to type of site or shipping related invasion hotspots. Our results indicate that VHSV is widely dispersed in the Great Lakes and is both an enzootic and epizootic pathogen. We demonstrate that pathogen distribution information could be developed quickly and is clearly needed for aquatic ecosystem conservation, management of affected populations, and informed regulation of the worldwide trade of aquatic organisms.

Commercialization and Standardization Progress Towards an Optical Communications Earth Relay

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Bernard L.; Israel, David J.

2015-01-01

NASA is planning to launch the next generation of a space based Earth relay in 2025 to join the current Space Network, consisting of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites in space and the corresponding infrastructure on Earth. While the requirements and architecture for that relay satellite are unknown at this time, NASA is investing in communications technologies that could be deployed to provide new communications services. One of those new technologies is optical communications. The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) project, scheduled for launch in 2018 as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite, is a critical pathfinder towards NASA providing optical communications services on the next generation space based relay. This paper will describe NASA efforts in the on-going commercialization of optical communications and the development of inter-operability standards. Both are seen as critical to making optical communications a reality on future NASA science and exploration missions. Commercialization is important because NASA would like to eventually be able to simply purchase an entire optical communications terminal from a commercial provider. Inter-operability standards are needed to ensure that optical communications terminals developed by one vendor are compatible with the terminals of another. International standards in optical communications would also allow the space missions of one nation to use the infrastructure of another.

Strengthening Children’s Advertising Defenses: The Effects of Forewarning of Commercial and Manipulative Intent

Science.gov (United States)

Rozendaal, Esther; Buijs, Laura; van Reijmersdal, Eva A.

2016-01-01

This study investigated whether a forewarning of advertising’s intent can increase children’s (N = 159, 8–10 years old) defenses against television commercials to lower their desire for advertised products. Two different forewarnings were tested, one for advertising’s commercial intent or warning for the promotional nature, and one for advertising’s manipulative intent or warning for the deceptive nature. Results showed that only the warning of manipulative intent prior to advertising exposure was successful in increasing children’s advertising defenses. This forewarning activated children’s attitudinal advertising literacy (i.e., skepticism toward the commercial), which in turn led to lower advertised product desire. The forewarning of commercial intent was not effective in strengthening children’s advertising defenses. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to lower children’s desire for (unhealthy) advertised products by activating their advertising literacy. PMID:27551271

Strengthening Children’s Advertising Defenses: The Effects of Forewarning of Commercial and Manipulative Intent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Rozendaal

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study investigated whether a forewarning of advertising’s intent can increase children’s (N = 159, 8-10 years old defenses against television commercials to lower their desire for advertised products. Two different forewarnings were tested, one for advertising’s commercial intent or warning for the promotional nature, and one for advertising’s manipulative intent or warning for the deceptive nature. Results showed that only the warning of manipulative intent prior to advertising exposure was successful in increasing children’s advertising defenses. This forewarning activated children’s attitudinal advertising literacy (i.e., skepticism towards the commercial, which in turn led to lower advertised product desire. The forewarning of commercial intent was not effective in strengthening children’s advertising defenses. These findings have important implications for interventions that aim to lower children’s desire for (unhealthy advertised products by activating their advertising literacy.

Fuel cell APU for commercial aircraft

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daggett, D.L. [Boeing Commercial Airplane, Seattle, WA (United States); Lowery, N. [Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States); Wittmann, J. [Technische Univ. Muenchen (Germany)

2005-07-01

The Boeing Company has always sought to improve fuel efficiency in commercial aircraft. An opportunity now exists to explore technology that will allow fuel efficiency improvements to be achieved while simultaneously reducing emissions. Replacing the current aircraft gas turbine-powered Auxiliary Power Unit with a hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell is anticipated to greatly improve fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and noise as well as improve airplane performance. However, there are several technology hurdles that need to be overcome. If SOFC technology is to be matured for the betterment of the earth community, the fuel cell industry, aerospace manufacturers and other end users all need to work together to overcome these challenges. Aviation has many of the same needs in fuel cell technology as other sectors, such as reducing cost and improving reliability and fuel efficiency in order to commercialize the technology. However, there are other distinct aerospace needs that will not necessarily be addressed by the industrial sector. These include development of lightweight materials and small-volume fuel cell systems that can reform hydrocarbon fuels. Aviation also has higher levels of safety requirements. Other transportation modes share the same requirement for vibration and shock tolerant fuel cell stacks. Lastly, as fuel cells are anticipated to be operated in flight, they must be capable of operating over a wide range of atmospheric conditions. By itself, the aviation sector does not appear to offer enough of a potential market to justify the investment required by any one manufacturer to develop fuel cells for APU replacements. Therefore, means must be found to modularize components and make SOFC stacks sufficiently similar to industrial units so that manufacturing economy of scales can be brought to bear. Government R and D and industry support are required to advance the technology. Because aerospace fuel cells will be higher performing units, the benefits of

Helminth communities of four commercially important fish species from Chetumal Bay, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre-Macedo, M L; Vidal-Martínez, V M; González-Solís, D; Caballero, P I

2007-03-01

The relative importance of ecology and evolution as factors determining species richness and composition of the helminth communities of fish is a matter of current debate. Theoretical studies use host-parasite lists, but these do not include studies on a temporal or spatial scale. Local environmental conditions and host biological characteristics are shown to influence helminth species richness and composition in four fish species (Eugerres plumieri, Hexanematichthys assimilis, Oligoplites saurus, and Scomberomorus maculatus) in Chetumal Bay, Mexico. With the exception of H. assimilis, the helminth communities had not been previously studied and possible associations between environmental and host biological characteristics as factors determining helminth species richness and composition using redundancy analysis (RDA) are described. Thirty-four helminth species are identified, with the highest number of species (19 total (mean = 6.3 +/- 2.1)) and the lowest (9 (4.0 +/- 1.0)) occurring in H. assimilis and S. maculatus, respectively. The larval nematodes Contracaecum sp. and Pseudoterranova sp. were not only the helminth species shared by all four host species but also were the most prevalent and abundant. Statistical associations between helminth community parameters and local ecological variables such as host habitat use, feeding habits, mobility, and time of residence in coastal lagoons are identified. Phylogeny is important because it clearly separates all four host species by their specialist parasites, although specific habitat and feeding habits also significantly influence the differentiation between the four fish species.

Commercial Toilets

Science.gov (United States)

Whether you are looking to reduce water use in a new facility or replace old, inefficient toilets in commercial restrooms, a WaterSense labeled flushometer-valve toilet is a high-performance, water-efficient option worth considering.

Film forming microbial biopolymers for commercial applications--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vijayendra, S V N; Shamala, T R

2014-12-01

Microorganisms synthesize intracellular, structural and extracellular polymers also referred to as biopolymers for their function and survival. These biopolymers play specific roles as energy reserve materials, protective agents, aid in cell functioning, the establishment of symbiosis, osmotic adaptation and support the microbial genera to function, adapt, multiply and survive efficiently under changing environmental conditions. Viscosifying, gelling and film forming properties of these have been exploited for specific significant applications in food and allied industries. Intensive research activities and recent achievements in relevant and important research fields of global interest regarding film forming microbial biopolymers is the subject of this review. Microbial polymers such as pullulan, kefiran, bacterial cellulose (BC), gellan and levan are placed under the category of exopolysaccharides (EPS) and have several other functional properties including film formation, which can be used for various applications in food and allied industries. In addition to EPS, innumerable bacterial genera are found to synthesis carbon energy reserves in their cells known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), microbial polyesters, which can be extruded into films with excellent moisture and oxygen barrier properties. Blow moldable biopolymers like PHA along with polylactic acid (PLA) synthesized chemically in vitro using lactic acid (LA), which is produced by LA bacteria through fermentation, are projected as biodegradable polymers of the future for packaging applications. Designing and creating of new property based on requirements through controlled synthesis can lead to improvement in properties of existing polysaccharides and create novel biopolymers of great commercial interest and value for wider applications. Incorporation of antimicrobials such as bacteriocins or silver and copper nanoparticles can enhance the functionality of polymer films especially in food packaging

Accounting and tax implications of the creation and use of technical provisions of commercial insurance companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Gláserová

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Entities such as commercial insurance companies are obliged to create technical provisions in order to fulfill their activities. Technical provisions are used to cover liabilities of commercial insurance companies arising from insurance and reinsurance activities. The principal aim of this paper is to determine the impact of the creation and use of technical provisions for some important items of the financial statements, which are liabilities, a balance sheet, profit and an income tax base. A prerequisite to fulfill the objective of the paper is to analyze the accounting legislation for technical provisions in an insurance company. The intention of the presented paper can be divided according to its conception into two parts. The first part of the paper is devoted to methodological aspects in relation to the general definition of the accounting principles and their importance in the accounting of commercial insurance companies. The second part deals with the methodological procedure of the accounting of the creation and use of technical provisions and the specifics of how they are reported in the financial statements of commercial insurers. Conclusions of the paper show contemporary issues in the analyzed area in the context of the financial crisis.

36 CFR 1005.5 - Commercial photography.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial photography. 1005.5 Section 1005.5 Parks, Forests, and Public Property PRESIDIO TRUST COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 1005.5 Commercial photography. (a) Motion pictures, television. Before any motion picture may be filmed or any television production or sound...

36 CFR 5.5 - Commercial photography.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial photography. 5.5 Section 5.5 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE OPERATIONS § 5.5 Commercial photography. (a) Motion pictures, television. Before any motion picture may be filmed or any...

Composition of physiologically important fatty acids in great tits differs between urban and rural populations on a seasonal basis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin N Andersson

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Fatty acids (FA have crucial functions in animals, affecting e.g. inflammatory responses, thermoregulation, and cell membrane fluidity. Diet and ambient temperature affect animals’ FA composition, which, in turn, may influence these physiological processes. Great tits (Parus major −common in both urban and rural habitats− are mainly granivorous during winter and insectivorous during summer. These diets show pronounced differences in FA composition. Such variation has context-dependent effects on physiology, because the thermal environment, food availability, and levels of pro-inflammatory environmental stressors differ between urban and rural areas. Thus, we investigated how great tit plasma FA composition varied between urban and rural habitats and across seasons. Eight FAs differed between urban and rural birds. Among these, arachidonic acid (omega (ω-6 polyunsaturated FA with thermoregulatory and pro-inflammatory properties was more abundant in urban than rural birds in winter, whereas ω-3 FAs with anti-inflammatory properties were more abundant in rural birds. The difference in pro- and anti-inflammatory FAs suggest that the negative health effects that urban birds suffer from being exposed to higher levels of pollutants might be enhanced by an elevated inflammatory response. Eight FAs differed between winter and summer birds. This variation reflected the diet change: FAs common in seeds, e.g. oleic- and linoleic acid, were present in higher amounts in winter birds, whereas ω-3 polyunsaturated FAs that are common in caterpillars were more abundant in summer birds. Overall, a larger seasonal variation was seen among the urban birds. This study is the first to reveal a difference in FA composition between urban and rural populations for all animals studied to date. Future experiments should unravel the physiological implications of this variation, and ultimately, link its effects to fitness of animals with different physiological and

Intitutional constraints to fusion commercialization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-10-01

The major thrust of this report is that the long time frame associated with the development of commercial fusion systems in the context of the commercialization and institutional history of an allied technology, fission-power, suggests that fusion commercialization will not occur without active and broad-based support on the part of the Nation's political leaders. Its key recommendation is that DOE fusion planners devote considerable resources to analytical efforts aimed at determining the need for fusion and the timing of that need, in order to convince policymakers that they need do more than preserve fusion as an option for application at some indefinite point in the future. It is the thesis of the report that, in fact, an act of political vision on the part of the Nation's leaders will be required to accomplish fusion commercialization

Limitations of Commercializing Fuel Cell Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Nordin, Normayati

2010-06-01

Fuel cell is the technology that, nowadays, is deemed having a great potential to be used in supplying energy. Basically, fuel cells can be categorized particularly by the kind of employed electrolyte. Several fuel cells types which are currently identified having huge potential to be utilized, namely, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFC), Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC), Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFC), Polymer Electron Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) and Regenerative Fuel Cells (RFC). In general, each of these fuel cells types has their own characteristics and specifications which assign the capability and suitability of them to be utilized for any particular applications. Stationary power generations and transport applications are the two most significant applications currently aimed for the fuel cell market. It is generally accepted that there are lots of advantages if fuel cells can be excessively commercialized primarily in context of environmental concerns and energy security. Nevertheless, this is a demanding task to be accomplished, as there is some gap in fuel cells technology itself which needs a major enhancement. It can be concluded, from the previous study, cost, durability and performance are identified as the main limitations to be firstly overcome in enabling fuel cells technology become viable for the market.

This is Commercial Titan Inc.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Rensselaer, F. L.; Slovikoski, R. D.; Abels, T. C.

Out of a quarter-century heritage of eminently successful expendable launch vehicle history with the U.S. government, a commercial launch services enterprise which challenges the corporation as well as the competition has been launched within the Martin Marietta Corporation. This paper is an inside look at the philosophy, structure, and success of the new subsidiary, Commercial Titan Inc., which is taking on its U.S. and foreign rocket-making competitors to win a share of the international communication satellite market as well as the U.S. government commercial launch services market.

Commercialization of new biotechnology: a systematic review of 16 commercial case studies in a novel manufacturing sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Matthew J; Thangaraj, Harry; Ma, Julian K-C

2015-10-01

The 1980s and 1990s saw a major expansion of biotechnology into new areas of science including genomics and recombinant technologies. This was coupled to the widespread emergence of academics into the commercial sector as they were encouraged to spin out companies or commercialize their intellectual property. There were many opportunities to raise investment, and extraordinary success stories were prominent across many areas of technology. The field of plant biotechnology for manufacturing recombinant pharmaceuticals (molecular pharming) emerged and was developed in this period. Like other biotechnologies, this was an exciting new development which offered some very obvious benefits and commercial advantages. In particularly, plant molecular pharming represented a highly novel and potentially disruptive manufacturing technology for recombinant proteins. Twenty-five years on, a series of interviews with senior members of sixteen of the most prominent companies involved in the field provides insight into the original drivers for commercialization, strategic thinking and planning behind key commercial decisions and an insider view into the major reasons for commercial success or failure. These observations and recurring themes identified across a number of commercial ventures remain relevant today, as new biotech companies continue to spin out of the world of academia. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Commercial incineration demonstration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vavruska, J.S.; Borduin, L.C.

1982-01-01

Low-level radioactive wastes (LLW) generated by nuclear utilities presently are shipped to commercial burial grounds for disposal. Increasing transportation and disposal costs have caused industry to consider incineration as a cost-effective means of volume reduction of combustible LLW. Repeated inquiries from the nuclear industry regarding the applicability of the Los Alamos controlled air incineration (CAI) design led the DOE to initiate a commercial demonstration program in FY-1980. Development studies and results in support of this program involving ion exchange resin incineration and fission/activation product distributions within the Los Alamos CAI are described

10 CFR 603.1230 - Commercial firm.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Commercial firm. 603.1230 Section 603.1230 Energy... Used in this Part § 603.1230 Commercial firm. A for-profit firm or segment of a for-profit firm (e.g., a division or other business unit) that does a substantial portion of its business in the commercial...

Digital/Commercial (In)visibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leander, Anna

2017-01-01

an argument demonstrating specifically how digital and commercial logics characterize the aesthetic, circulatory, and infrastructuring practices re-producing the regime of (in)visibility. It shows that digital/commercial logics are at the heart of the combinatorial marketing of multiple, contradictory images......This article explores one aspect of digital politics, the politics of videos and more spe- cifically of DAESH recruitment videos. It proposes a practice theoretical approach to the politics of DAESH recruitment videos focused on the re-production of regimes of (in)visibility. The article develops...... on the internet. The theoretical and political cost of overlooking these digital and commercial characteristics of DAESH visibility practices are high. It perpetuates misconceptions of how the videos work and what their politics are and it reinforces the digital Orientalism/Occidentalism in which...

Effects of dietary prebiotic GroBiotic®- A on growth performance, plasma thyroid hormones and mucosal immunity of great sturgeon, Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adel, M.; Nayak, S.; Lazado, Carlo Cabacang

2016-01-01

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Grobiotic®-A, a commercial prebiotics, when administered in feed on the growth performance, plasma thyroid hormones and mucosal immunity of great sturgeon (Huso huso). The commercial prebiotic mixture was supplemented in the diets at four...... changes in growth performance parameters were observed, but only in those groups fed with 1% and 2% prebiotics. Specifically, marked improvements relative to the control group were observed in percentage weight gain, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and specific growth rate in prebiotic-fed fish....... The levels of plasma thyroid hormones, specifically thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormones were significantly elevated in the group receiving 2% prebiotics. Activities of lysozyme and alkaline phosphatase in skin mucus were significantly enhanced in prebiotics-fed groups, particularly at an inclusion...

Early patterns of commercial activity in graphene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapira, Philip; Youtie, Jan; Arora, Sanjay

2012-01-01

Graphene, a novel nanomaterial consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms, has attracted significant attention due to its distinctive properties, including great strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, lightness, and potential benefits for diverse applications. The commercialization of scientific discoveries such as graphene is inherently uncertain, with the lag time between the scientific development of a new technology and its adoption by corporate actors revealing the extent to which firms are able to absorb knowledge and engage in learning to implement applications based on the new technology. From this perspective, we test for the existence of three different corporate learning and activity patterns: (1) a linear process where patenting follows scientific discovery; (2) a double-boom phenomenon where corporate (patenting) activity is first concentrated in technological improvements and then followed by a period of technology productization; and (3) a concurrent model where scientific discovery in publications occurs in parallel with patenting. By analyzing corporate publication and patent activity across country and application lines, we find that, while graphene as a whole is experiencing concurrent scientific development and patenting growth, country- and application-specific trends offer some evidence of the linear and double-boom models.

Commercializing government-sponsored innovations: Twelve successful buildings case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, M.A.; Berry, L.G.; Goel, R.K.

1989-01-01

This report examines the commercialization and use of R and D results funded by DOE's Office of Buildings and Community Systems (OBCS), an office that is dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of the nation's buildings. Three goals guided the research described in this report: to improve understanding of the factors that hinder or facilitate the transfer of OBCS R and D results, to determine which technology transfer strategies are most effective and under what circumstances each is appropriate, and to document the market penetration and energy savings achieved by successfully-commercialized innovations that have received OBCS support. Twelve successfully-commercialized innovations are discussed here. The methodology employed involved a review of the literature, interviews with innovation program managers and industry personnel, and data collection from secondary sources. Six generic technology transfer strategies are also described. Of these, contracting R and D to industrial partners is found to be the most commonly used strategy in our case studies. The market penetration achieved to date by the innovations studied ranges from less than 1% to 100%. For the three innovations with the highest predicted levels of energy savings (i.e., the flame retention head oil burner, low-E windows, and solid-state ballasts), combined cumulative savings by the year 2000 are likely to approach 2 quads. To date the energy savings for these three innovations have been about 0.2 quads. Our case studies illustrate the important role federal agencies can play in commercializing new technologies. 27 refs., 21 figs., 4 tabs.

Astaxanthin-producing green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis: from single cell to high value commercial products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Mahfuzur Rahman Shah

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Many species of microalgae have been used as source of nutrient rich food, feed and health promoting compounds. Among the commercially important microalgae, Haematococcus pluvialis is the richest source of natural astaxanthin which is considered as super anti-oxidant. Natural astaxanthin produced by H. pluvialis has significantly greater antioxidant capacity than the synthetic one. Astaxanthin has important applications in the nutraceuticals, cosmetics, food, and aquaculture industries. Thanks to many researches it is now evident, that astaxanthin can significantly reduce free radicals and oxidative stress and help human body maintain a healthy state. With extraordinary potency and increase in demand, astaxanthin is one of the high-value microalgal products of the future. Thus, this comprehensive review summarizes the most important aspects of the biology, biochemical composition, biosynthesis and astaxanthin accumulation in the cells of H. pluvialis and its wide range of applications for humans and animals. In this paper, important and recent developments ranging from cultivation, harvest and postharvest bio-processing technologies to metabolic control and genetic engineering are reviewed in detail, focusing on biomass and astaxanthin production from this biotechnologically important microalga. Simultaneously, critical bottlenecks and major challenges in commercial scale production; current and prospective global market of H. pluvialis derived astaxanthin are also presented in a critical manner. A new biorefinery concept for H. pluvialis has been also suggested to guide towards economically sustainable approach for microalgae cultivation and processing. This report could serve as a useful guide to present current status of knowledge in the field and highlight key areas for future development of H. pluvialis astaxanthin technology and its large scale commercial implementation.

Recensie "The Great Reset" : Richard Florida

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy van Dalm

2010-01-01

Like the Great Depression and the Long Depression before it, experts have viewed prolonged economic downturns as crises. In The Great Reset , bestselling author Richard Florida argues that we should instead see the recent recession as an opportunity to create entirely new ways of working and living

Commodification and commercial surrogacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Arneson, Richard J

1992-01-01

... In this article I shall argue tentatively for the claim that commercial surrogacy should be legally permissible. I am more strongly convinced that a commitment to feminism should not predispose anyone against surrogacy. At least, no arguments offered so far should persuade anyone who is committed to equal rights for women and men and the dismantling of gender-based hierarchies to favor either legal prohibition or moral condemnation of commercial surrogacy.

Thirty years of great ape gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasello, Michael; Call, Josep

2018-02-21

We and our colleagues have been doing studies of great ape gestural communication for more than 30 years. Here we attempt to spell out what we have learned. Some aspects of the process have been reliably established by multiple researchers, for example, its intentional structure and its sensitivity to the attentional state of the recipient. Other aspects are more controversial. We argue here that it is a mistake to assimilate great ape gestures to the species-typical displays of other mammals by claiming that they are fixed action patterns, as there are many differences, including the use of attention-getters. It is also a mistake, we argue, to assimilate great ape gestures to human gestures by claiming that they are used referentially and declaratively in a human-like manner, as apes' "pointing" gesture has many limitations and they do not gesture iconically. Great ape gestures constitute a unique form of primate communication with their own unique qualities.

Commercial lumber, round timbers, and ties

Science.gov (United States)

David E. Kretschmann

2010-01-01

When sawn, a log yields round timber, ties, or lumber of varying quality. This chapter presents a general discussion of grading, standards, and specifications for these commercial products. In a broad sense, commercial lumber is any lumber that is bought or sold in the normal channels of commerce. Commercial lumber may be found in a variety of forms, species, and types...

Risk management strategies on small-scale commercial farms in three zobatat of Eritrea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MA Mohammed

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In this study the perceptions of small-scale commercial farmers in Eritrea of the importance of various risk responses are ascertained and analysed to gain insight into their risk-management strategies.  Data were elicited through a survey of 186 small-scale commercial farmers conducted in three zobatat (regions of Eritrea. Factor Analysis is used to investigate heterogeneity in sample farmers’ responses.  Results indicate that relatively more important risk responses include the use of internal and external sources of information, on-farm and off-farm diversification, choice of production system and product marketing arrangements. Farmers’ perceptions of risk responses vary according to farm type, geographical location, farm and farmer characteristics, as well as the existence of enterprise specific risk responses (e.g. livestock insurance and differences in the marketing regulations of various agricultural products.

Haphazard commercialization: a potential threat to sustainable commercial development in metropolitan cities? The case of Lahore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nadeem, O.; Hameed, R.

2005-01-01

The demand of urban space for commercial development due to unprecedented population growth has surpassed the planned supply delivered by planning agencies in metropolitan cities of Pakistan. As a corollary to that, conversion of residential land use into various types of commercial activities has sprung up particularly along major roads of planned residential areas and arterial roads of cities. These conversions have proceeded, both with and without official consent, largely in a haphazard manner without following a coherent strategy. This has resulted in acute parking problems, reduction in traffic capacity of roads and resultant increase in congestion, energy use, air and noise pollution, and burden on utility services. Permitting conversion of land use in a haphazard manner seems not only a departure from planning principles but also jeopardizing the spatial structure of cities causing serious environmental repercussions. This paper presents evidence to the above observations through a detailed study of the environmental impact of commercial development in Lahore. The study is based on detailed land use, socio-economic, traffic, and parking surveys in carefully selected sample of three major housing schemes variously located in Lahore. The paper argues that weak development control, out-dated master plan, and inappropriate commercialization policies of the Government have lead to unsustainable pattern of commercial development even in planned residential areas. The findings of the study call for formulation of environmentally friendly commercialization policy. This will also involve redefining basic land use allocation standards and improvements in the design considerations so as to promote sustainable development of commercial areas in metropolitan cities. (author)

Meeting report: batch-to-batch variability in estrogenic activity in commercial animal diets--importance and approaches for laboratory animal research.

Science.gov (United States)

Heindel, Jerrold J; vom Saal, Frederick S

2008-03-01

We report information from two workshops sponsored by the National Institutes of Health that were held to a) assess whether dietary estrogens could significantly impact end points in experimental animals, and b) involve program participants and feed manufacturers to address the problems associated with measuring and eliminating batch-to-batch variability in rodent diets that may lead to conflicting findings in animal experiments within and between laboratories. Data were presented at the workshops showing that there is significant batch-to-batch variability in estrogenic content of commercial animal diets, and that this variability results in differences in experimental outcomes. A combination of methods were proposed to determine levels of total estrogenic activity and levels of specific estrogenic constituents in soy-containing, casein-containing, and other soy-free rodent diets. Workshop participants recommended that researchers pay greater attention to the type of diet being used in animal studies and choose a diet whose estrogenic activity (or lack thereof) is appropriate for the experimental model and end points of interest. Information about levels of specific phytoestrogens, as well as estrogenic activity caused by other contaminants and measured by bioassay, should be disclosed in scientific publications. This will require laboratory animal diet manufacturers to provide investigators with information regarding the phytoestrogen content and other estrogenic compounds in commercial diets used in animal research.

Program Incubation and Commercialization Best Practices Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richardson, Shannon

2018-04-06

As a reminder, the primary task of the 4C Program is to increase the commercialization rate of cleantech companies in California. Commercialization, broadly defined, is the innovation continuum of developing and introducing a new product or service into the market. For measurability, the 4C Program defines commercialization as encompassing a startup’s: (a) preparation, (b) incubation, (c) commercial-scale pilot / demonstration, and (d) first customer.

The Great Firewall of China: A Critical Analysis

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Whiting, Michael D

2008-01-01

Censorship has a great impact on society as we enter the cyber environment. The Chinese "Great Firewall", as it is commonly called, brings great attention to China as they enter into the global economy...