The HIV/AIDS epidemics among drug injectors: a study of contact structure through a mathematical model

Numerical results of a model with variable infectivity for the dynamics of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome) have been compared with the data of AIDS cases among intravenous drug users in Italy, especially in the Latium region. We examined several hypotheses about the dynamics of the epidemics; for each we obtained, mainly through a least-square approach but also minimizing a different quantity, a best-fit estimate of the parameters. In the simplest model, the population is assumed to be homogeneous, and we estimate contact rate and year of start of the epidemics, obtaining a good fit up to 1989, less so after. A substantial increase in fit is obtained in assuming either a decrease of the contact rate over time or a heterogeneous population with a smaller active group. We have also compared models with different infectivity curves during the incubation period: the assumption of constant infectivity is untenable, whereas the often suggested hypothesis of a peak in infectivity shortly after infection seems to be in agreement with data.     

Sage and rosemary essential oils versus BHT for the inhibition of lipid oxidative reactions in liver pâté

The antioxidant effect of two plant essential oils (sage and rosemary essential oils) and one synthetic antioxidant (BHT) on refrigerated stored liver pâté (4 °C/90 days) was evaluated. Pâtés with no added antioxidants were used as controls. Liver pâtés were analysed for the amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBA-RS) numbers, and lipid-derived volatiles at days 0, 30, 60 and 90 of refrigerated storage. The amount of PUFA gradually decreased during refrigerated storage of porcine liver pâtés with this decrease being significantly greater (P<0.05) in control and BHT pâtés than in those with added essential oils. Consistently, the increase of TBA-RS numbers during refrigerated storage of liver pâtés was significantly higher in control pâtés than in the treated counterparts. At days 60 and 90, TBA-RS numbers in treated pâtés were significantly smaller (P<0.05) than in the control counterparts. Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) successfully isolated recognized indicators of lipid decomposition (i.e. hexanal, nonanal, hexan-1-ol, oct-1-en-3-ol, deca-(E,Z)-2,4-dienal) from liver pâtés whereas some other volatiles analysed are typical contributors to the overall off-flavour of oxidized liver (i.e. hept-(Z)-4-enal, non-(E)-2-enal, nona-(E,E)-2,4-dienal). The addition of antioxidants significantly (P<0.05) reduced the total amount of lipid-derived volatiles isolated from liver pâtés HS. Plant essential oils inhibited oxidative deterioration of liver pâtés to a higher extent than BHT did.     

Absolute emission quantum yield determination of self-assembled mesoporous titania films grafted with a luminescent zinc complex

A luminescent zinc complex was successfully incorporated to mesostructured porous titania films through a grafting process. The resulting films show an intense blue-emission increasing with functionalization time. The emission quantum yield of these newly synthesized films was quantitatively and accurately determined by measurements carried by an integrating sphere.     

Operational flexibility quantification in a make-to-order assembly system

Manufacturing flexibility is becoming a fundamental production objective, along with cost, quality, and delivery time. Current production systems face quick changes in market conditions and they need to adapt in this environment. The supply chain and industrial globalization give an important role for assembly systems. Placed at the end of the value chain, assembly systems must face those quick changes successfully to reach the expected performance. The key performance indicators are normally based on cost, quality, and delivery time objectives. Reducing costs and improving quality are almost universal goals. Delivery time is typically determined by customer demand in the supply chain, planning from make-to-stock to make-to-order, and aspiring to reach a just-in-time manufacturing system. In this context, flexibility could be the differential advantage to tackle uncertainty. Closely related to the rest of production objectives and the overall performance of the system, flexibility must be integrated in the system for successful decision-making in operations. This work presents this approach of flexibility. A brief review of flexibility concepts and measurements in the literature precedes an introduction to flexibility, defined based on the function of utility. This function represents the expectations of system performance. This approach allows the formulation of the taxonomy of operational flexibility in agreement with the classical types identified in former works. Next, an integer model is programmed to simulate the basic behavior of task planning in a make-to-order assembly system. This first application illustrates flexibility quantification based on utility evolution. The use of common industrial parameters to quantify operational flexibility will finally facilitate an integrated interpretation of system performance trends.     

Effect of the fabrication method on the electrical properties of poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene)/carbon black composites

Poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene) (ABS), an engineering plastic, was combined with carbon black (CB) to increase its conductivity. The ABS/CB composites were prepared using two different methods: dissolution of ABS in Butan-2-one and manual mixing of the constituent materials. These fabrication methods led to different microstructures, which led to vastly different electrical properties. The microstructures were acquired using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy, while the electrical conductivity was obtained using impedance spectroscopy. The percolation threshold of the composites fabricated using the manual mixing method was found to be much lower (0.0054 vol.% CB) than that of the composites fabricated using the dissolution method (2.7 vol.% CB).     

Securing Threshold Cryptosystems against Chosen Ciphertext Attack

For the most compelling applications of threshold cryptosystems, security against chosen cipher text attack is a requirement. However, prior to the results presented here, there appeared to be no practical threshold cryptosystems in the literature that were provably chosen ciphertext secure, even in the idealized random oracle model. The contribution of this paper is to present two very practical threshold cryptosystems, and to prove that they are secure against chosen ciphertext attack in the random oracle model. Not only are these protocols computationally very efficient, but they are also non-interactive, which means they can be easily run over an asynchronous communication network. Received November 2000 and revised September 2001 Online publication 11 March 2002     

Free fatty acids and oxidative changes of a raw goat milk cheese through maturation

Free fatty acids (FFA) and lipid and protein oxidation changes were studied throughout maturation process of a raw goat milk cheese with protected designation of origin. Cheeses were analyzed at 4 different times of maturation, at 1, 30, 60, and 90 d. All FFA significantly increased during maturation and the relative increase was higher for long-chain than medium- or short-chain FFA. At the end of maturation, oleic (C18:1 n9), butyric (C4:0), and palmitic (C16:0) acids were the most abundant. The higher levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) regarding total FFA obtained at the end of Ibores cheese ripening compared with other raw goat milk cheeses, highlight the notable role of SCFA on the flavor of this cheese owing to their low-odor thresholds. Lipid oxidation values significantly increased during maturation process but low levels of malondialdehyde were reported; however, protein oxidation did not significantly change during ripening.     

Development and experimental validation of a simulation model for open joint ventilated façades

The investigation of the thermal and fluid dynamical behaviour of open joint ventilated façades is a challenging task due to the complex airflows generated inside of the naturally ventilated cavity by the existence of open joints. For this reason, the use of advanced fluid measurement and simulation techniques is highly recommended. This paper focuses in the development and experimental validation of a simulation model for these façade systems. More specifically, different turbulence and radiation models available in the commercial computational fluid dynamic codes have been tested on a three-dimensional model and the results have been compared to particle image velocimetry measurements. The correlation between experimental and numerical data has been used in order to select the simulation procedure for this type of façades. Best fittings have been found when using the RNG k-epsilon turbulence model and the Discrete Ordinate radiation model. Using the selected scheme, parametrical simulations have been performed to investigate the effect of increasing the cavity height, and correspondingly, the number of slabs. Results show that ventilation air flow inside the cavity is enhanced by incident radiation as well as by the height of the façade.