10 research outputs found
Pilot Aquaponic Growing System of Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) and Basil (Ocimum Basilicum)
No full textAbstractThe aquaponic recirculating systems are integrated systems that combine fish and plant culture. These systems consist of two components: aquaculture and hydroponics components. In these systems the nutrients necessary for plant growth are resulted from the metabolism of food by the fish. This was obtained by recirculation of water, with a pump, from the fish tank to the hydroponic component and back to the fish tank. The experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry of University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest for 6 months. The system developed here, is a 1 m2 area of plant growth and 0.45 m3 of water in aquaculture component. In the hydroponic component river gravel was selected to support the plants and offer support for the growth and developing of nitrifying bacteria. The species cultivated were cultured carp (Cyprinus carpio) and basil (Ocimum basilicum). On average, there was obtained a quantity of about 1kg basil leaves in a period of 60 days of growth. It has been found that the species of plants grown in this system, namely basil (Ocimum basilicum) grown with carp (Cyprinus carpio), has a faster and better development compared to conventional growth. Use of basil as a purifying plant, resulted in the removal of nitrates, being not necessary to add additional water, as in classical recirculating systems, where is necessary to replace daily approx. 10% of the volume of the culture water being necessary to add into the system only water lost through evaporation. According to the results the basil is suitable for aquaponic system with carp culture. The basil was grown much better than the conventional cultivation
A sparse superlinearly convergent SQP with applications to two-dimensional shape optimization
No full textDiscretization of optimal shape design problems leads to very large nonlinear optimization problems. For attaining maximum computational efficiency, a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm should achieve superlinear convergence while preserving sparsity and convexity of the resulting quadratic programs. Most classical SQP approaches violate at least one of the requirements. We show that, for a very large class of optimization problems, one can design SQP algorithms that satisfy all these three requirements. The improvements in computational efficiency are demonstrated for a cam design problem. ∗ Address all correspondence to this author
Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Evaluating the Decision of Moving to a Manufacturing Process Based Upon Continuous 5 Axes CNC Machine-tools
No full textAbstractThis paper represents the second part of the work described in the paper with the title “Decision-making tool for moving from 3-axes to 5-axes CNC machine-tool”. The problem of using either 3 axes CNC machine-tools or 5 axes CNC machine tools was presented in the first part, together with a fuzzy logic based decision support tool. This time, an AHP approach is used in order to evaluate the decision of moving to a manufacturing process based upon 5 axes machine tools. Three variants were taken into consideration and analysed. The consistency of the proposed approach was evaluated and a sensitivity analysis was also introduced
Cloud computing and public administration: approaches in several European countries
No full textAbstract
The Digital Agenda for Europe 2020 has more objectives from increasing the participation of its citizens and consumers in the digital society to creating a fully interconnected society. These objectives can be supported through a high degree of digitization achieved at public administration level and an increased performance in delivering public services. Cloud computing is one of the ICT areas with a fast growth in the last years that presents a big promise for achieving the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe 2020. This paper aims to present what cloud computing is and how it can help the public administration to increase its performance. From Infrastructure as a Service continuing with Platform as a Service and moving up to Software as a Service each level of cloud computing is presented in here with its strong and weak points and how it is suitable for a given use case in public administration. The challenges and the risks of moving to cloud and the differences between public, private and hybrid cloud are also presented in the paper. The research done by the author is both theoretical and literature review and combines knowledge from different areas. An analysis and examples of cloud computing approach and implementation in several European Union countries are presented in this paper to facilitate the understanding of the subject. Cloud computing can help public administration to decrease costs, standardize services in different locations, integrate public resources and provide a higher transparency in the government act.</jats:p
Decision-making Tool for Moving from 3-axes to 5-axes CNC Machine-tool
No full textAbstractNowadays most of the parts within machine-building industry are machines on CNC machine-tools. According to their mechanical and kinematic structure, CNC machine-tools can be divided into 3-axes and 5-axes ones. Each type has its advantages and drawbacks and choosing between them could be a very difficult process. This paper presents a decision support tool for aiding the process of selecting between using and/or buying either a 3-axes CNC milling machine or a 5-axes milling machine, based upon fuzzy logic. The tool was built using the Fuzzy Logic Toolbox and the fuzzy graphical user interface (GUI) within Matlab software package
Approaches Regarding the Application of ISQC1 and ISA 220 in the Audit Activity
No full textIn the context of global change, the financial crisis is highlighting how financial systems are connected. This interconnection brings more prosperity but at the same time a greater concentration of systemic risk. Policy makers are also responsible for the economic impact of the crisis and for legislative changes at the request of the user audience. In this paper the authors proposed to express a point of view on the importance of creating audit reports in order to ensure access to the structural funds, but especially the importance of including in the prepared reports of other information about the entities that access these funds and not just financial information. The author believes that this information would outline a more complete overview of the entity and ease the evaluations for reimbursement by the contracting authority
Prediction of Material Failure Time for a Bucket Wheel Excavator Boom Using Computer Simulation
No full textBreakdown of stackers and excavators in opencast mines is possible because of operating, manufacturing and structural causes, and it produces high financial losses. These can be prevented by using various measures, including analyses and strength tests, with computerized modeling and simulation using FEA or other techniques being implemented in the recent years. In this paper a fatigue study is conducted on the boom of a BWE. Based on a computer model of the boom previously developed in SOLIDWORKS by our author team, first the modal analysis is conducted for three positions of the boom by studying the frequency response during the excavation process. This is followed by the time response determination corresponding to the maximum displacement frequency, in order to assess the stress during the excavation process, which causes the material fatigue in the boom structure. It was found that the maximum displacements appear when the BWE boom operates in a horizontal position. The aim was to estimate the period of time to failure in order to prevent unwanted accidents, and to develop a method that is applicable to any surface mining or industrial machine with similar structure
Genetic Relationships and Reproductive Traits of Romanian Populations of Silver Fir (Abies alba): Implications for the Sustainable Management of Local Populations
No full text[EN] Assessment of the diversity of reproductive traits and genetic variation is of great relevance to the conservation of genetic resources and management of silver fir (Abies alba) populations. We have evaluated reproductive characteristics associated with female cones and seed morphology, as well as seed germination after subjecting seeds to five storage methods, in nine Romanian populations of A. alba. The genetic diversity of the populations was assessed with 12 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. We detected significant differences between populations for all reproductive traits and considerable differences in seed germination and storage methods; seed storage in wet sand was the method resulting in the highest germination in all populations. Genomic SSRs (gSSRs) were more informative on average than expressed sequence tag SSRs (EST-SSRs) in the populations studied. The nine populations were genetically diverse, with an average number of alleles (N) per SSR locus between 3.50 and 4.83. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) in the nine populations was always lower than the expected heterozygosity (He), which resulted in values of the inbreeding coefficient (Fis) between 0.261 and 0.709. Genetic distances between populations ranged between 0.077 and 0.410. The cluster analysis based on genetic distances did not group accessions according to their geographical proximity, and despite a positive trend, the correlation between geographic and genetic distances was non-significant. The results of an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that only 9.1% of the total molecular variance is attributable to differences between populations. This low degree of genetic differentiation between populations is confirmed by the intermingling of individuals of different populations in a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). We found evidence of a positive relationship between He and germination, as well as a negative one between Fis and germination, suggesting that populations with low diversity and high consanguinity may have a reduced fitness and long-term viability. The results are relevant for the conservation and management of local genetic resources and populations, as well as for reforestation programmes of silver fir.The publication was supported by funds from the National Research Development Projects to Finance Excellence (PFE)-37/2018-2020 granted by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation. The first author (I.M.T.M.) is thankful to UPV (Valencia) and the Erasmus+ mobility programme, financed by the European Commission, for her scholarship in UPV. The research was partially supported by the Advanced Horticultural Research Institute of Transylvania (ICHAT), University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca (USAMVCN), and Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). Mariola Plazas is grateful to Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Social Europeo for a post-doctoral grant (APOSTD/2018/014).Todea Morar, IM.; Rensen, S.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Boscaiu, M.; Holonec, L.; Sestras, AF.; Vicente, O.... (2020). Genetic Relationships and Reproductive Traits of Romanian Populations of Silver Fir (Abies alba): Implications for the Sustainable Management of Local Populations. Sustainability. 12(10):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104199S1151210Dering, M., Sękiewicz, K., Boratyńska, K., Litkowiec, M., Iszkuło, G., Romo, A., & Boratyński, A. (2014). Genetic diversity and inter-specific relations of western Mediterranean relic Abies taxa as compared to the Iberian A. alba. Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 209(7), 367-374. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2014.03.011Tinner, W., Colombaroli, D., Heiri, O., Henne, P. D., Steinacher, M., Untenecker, J., … Valsecchi, V. (2013). The past ecology ofAbies albaprovides new perspectives on future responses of silver fir forests to global warming. Ecological Monographs, 83(4), 419-439. doi:10.1890/12-2231.1Dobrowolska, D., Bončina, A., & Klumpp, R. (2017). Ecology and silviculture of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.): a review. Journal of Forest Research, 22(6), 326-335. doi:10.1080/13416979.2017.1386021Todea (Morar), I. M., González-Orenga, S., Boscaiu, M., Plazas, M., Sestras, A. F., Prohens, J., … Sestras, R. E. (2020). Responses to Water Deficit and Salt Stress in Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.) Seedlings. Forests, 11(4), 395. doi:10.3390/f11040395TODEA (MORAR), I. M., GONZÁLEZ-ORENGA, S., PLAZAS, M., SESTRAS, A. F., PROHENS, J., VICENTE, O., … BOSCAIU, M. (2019). Screening for Salt and Water Stress Tolerance in Fir (Abies alba) Populations. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 47(4), 1063-1072. doi:10.15835/nbha47411348Schutz, J.-P. (2002). Silvicultural tools to develop irregular and diverse forest structures. Forestry, 75(4), 329-337. doi:10.1093/forestry/75.4.329PLESA, I., DAN, C., TRUȚA, A., HOLONEC, L., SESTRAS, A. F., BOSCAIU, M., & SESTRAS, R. E. (2017). Spruce Trees Growth and Forest Landscape Depending on Microstational Factors and Ecological Conditions. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 9(4), 582-588. doi:10.15835/nsb9410217SESTRAS, P., BONDREA, M. V., CETEAN, H., SĂLĂGEAN, T., BILAŞCO, Ş., NAȘ, S., … CÎMPEANU, S. M. (2018). Ameliorative, Ecological and Landscape Roles of Făget Forest, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and Possibilities of Avoiding Risks Based on GIS Landslide Susceptibility Map. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 46(1), 292-300. doi:10.15835/nbha46110866Bončina, A., Simončič, T., & Rosset, C. (2019). Assessment of the concept of forest functions in Central European forestry. Environmental Science & Policy, 99, 123-135. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2019.05.009Skrzyszewska, K., & Chłanda, J. (2009). A study on the variation of morphological characteristics of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) seeds and their internal structure determined by X-ray radiography in the Beskid Sądecki and Beskid Niski mountain ranges of the Carpathians (southern Poland). Journal of Forest Science, 55(No. 9), 403-414. doi:10.17221/48/2008-jfsGradečki-Poštenjak, M. (2016). The influence of crown defoliation on the variability of some physiological and morphological properties of silver fir (Abies alba) seeds in the seed zone of Dinaric beech-fir forests in Croatia. Periodicum Biologorum, 117(4), 479-492. doi:10.18054/pb.2015.117.4.3428Gömöry, D., Paule, L., Krajmerová, D., Romšáková, I., & Longauer, R. (2012). Admixture of genetic lineages of different glacial origin: a case study of Abies alba Mill. in the Carpathians. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 298(4), 703-712. doi:10.1007/s00606-011-0580-6Postolache, D., Leonarduzzi, C., Piotti, A., Spanu, I., Roig, A., Fady, B., … Vendramin, G. G. (2013). Transcriptome versus Genomic Microsatellite Markers: Highly Informative Multiplexes for Genotyping Abies alba Mill. and Congeneric Species. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, 32(3), 750-760. doi:10.1007/s11105-013-0688-7De Luca, D., Menale, B., Caputo, P., & Cennamo, P. (2016). Population genetics analysis in a relic population of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) in southern Italy: A comparison with microsatellites and reference data. Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 151(4), 567-573. doi:10.1080/11263504.2016.1186124Belletti, P., Ferrazzini, D., Ducci, F., De Rogatis, A., & Mucciarelli, M. (2017). Genetic diversity of Italian populationsof Abies alba. Dendrobiology, 77, 147-159. doi:10.12657/denbio.077.012Popovic, V., Lucic, A., Rakonjac, L., Milovanovic, J., Mladenovic-Drinic, S., & Ristic, D. (2019). Application of SSR markers for assessment of genetic differentiation of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) originating from Javor mountain. ABI Genetika, 51(3), 1103-1112. doi:10.2298/gensr1903103pPopovic, V., Lucic, A., Rakonjac, L., Cvjetkovic, B., Mladenovic-Drinic, S., & Ristic, D. (2017). Assessment of genetic diversity of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) in Serbia using SSR markers. ABI Genetika, 49(3), 979-988. doi:10.2298/gensr1703979pDonohue, K., Rubio de Casas, R., Burghardt, L., Kovach, K., & Willis, C. G. (2010). Germination, Postgermination Adaptation, and Species Ecological Ranges. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 41(1), 293-319. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144715Slate, J., David, P., Dodds, K. G., Veenvliet, B. A., Glass, B. C., Broad, T. E., & McEwan, J. C. (2004). Understanding the relationship between the inbreeding coefficient and multilocus heterozygosity: theoretical expectations and empirical data. Heredity, 93(3), 255-265. doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800485Caudullo, G., Welk, E., & San-Miguel-Ayanz, J. (2017). Chorological maps for the main European woody species. Data in Brief, 12, 662-666. doi:10.1016/j.dib.2017.05.007HANSEN, O. K., VENDRAMIN, G. G., SEBASTIANI, F., & EDWARDS, K. J. (2005). Development of microsatellite markers in Abies nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach and cross-species amplification in the Abies genus. Molecular Ecology Notes, 5(4), 784-787. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8286.2005.01062.xCREMER, E., LIEPELT, S., SEBASTIANI, F., BUONAMICI, A., MICHALCZYK, I. M., ZIEGENHAGEN, B., & VENDRAMIN, G. G. (2006). Identification and characterization of nuclear microsatellite loci in Abies alba Mill. Molecular Ecology Notes, 6(2), 374-376. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8286.2005.01238.xPeakall, R., & Smouse, P. E. (2012). GenAlEx 6.5: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and research--an update. Bioinformatics, 28(19), 2537-2539. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/bts460Jombart, T., & Ahmed, I. (2011). adegenet 1.3-1: new tools for the analysis of genome-wide SNP data. Bioinformatics, 27(21), 3070-3071. doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btr521Kamvar, Z. N., Tabima, J. F., & Grünwald, N. J. (2014). Poppr: an R package for genetic analysis of populations with clonal, partially clonal, and/or sexual reproduction. PeerJ, 2, e281. doi:10.7717/peerj.281Schliep, K., Potts, A. J., Morrison, D. A., & Grimm, G. W. (2017). Intertwining phylogenetic trees and networks. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 8(10), 1212-1220. doi:10.1111/2041-210x.12760Nei, M. (1972). Genetic Distance between Populations. The American Naturalist, 106(949), 283-292. doi:10.1086/282771Excoffier, L., Smouse, P. E., & Quattro, J. M. (1992). Analysis of molecular variance inferred from metric distances among DNA haplotypes: application to human mitochondrial DNA restriction data. Genetics, 131(2), 479-491. doi:10.1093/genetics/131.2.479Verdú, M., & Traveset, A. (2005). EARLY EMERGENCE ENHANCES PLANT FITNESS: A PHYLOGENETICALLY CONTROLLED META-ANALYSIS. Ecology, 86(6), 1385-1394. doi:10.1890/04-1647Sorensen, F. C. (1999). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-FERTILITY, ALLOCATION OF GROWTH, AND INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN THREE CONIFEROUS SPECIES. Evolution, 53(2), 417-425. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb03777.xRajora, O. P., & Mosseler, A. (2001). Euphytica, 118(2), 197-212. doi:10.1023/a:1004150525384Kaliniewicz, Z., Markowski, P., Anders, A., Jadwisieńczak, K., Żuk, Z., & Krzysiak, Z. (2019). Physical Properties of Seeds of Eleven Fir Species. Forests, 10(2), 142. doi:10.3390/f10020142Cremer, E., Ziegenhagen, B., Schulerowitz, K., Mengel, C., Donges, K., Bialozyt, R., … Liepelt, S. (2012). Local seed dispersal in European silver fir (Abies alba Mill.): lessons learned from a seed trap experiment. Trees, 26(3), 987-996. doi:10.1007/s00468-012-0676-9Carles, S., Lamhamedi, M. S., Beaulieu, J., Stowe, D. C., Colas, F., & Margolis, H. A. (2009). Genetic Variation in Seed Size and Germination Patterns and their Effect on White Spruce Seedling Characteristics. Silvae Genetica, 58(1-6), 152-161. doi:10.1515/sg-2009-0020Bussotti, F., Pollastrini, M., Holland, V., & Brüggemann, W. (2015). Functional traits and adaptive capacity of European forests to climate change. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 111, 91-113. doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2014.11.006Teodosiu, M., Mihai, G., Fussi, B., & Ciocîrlan, E. (2019). Genetic diversity and structure of Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) at the south-eastern limit of its distribution range. Annals of Forest Research, 62(2), 139. doi:10.15287/afr.2019.1436Pandey, M. K., Gautami, B., Jayakumar, T., Sriswathi, M., Upadhyaya, H. D., Gowda, M. V. C., … Varshney, R. K. (2011). Highly informative genic and genomic SSR markers to facilitate molecular breeding in cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea). Plant Breeding, 131(1), 139-147. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0523.2011.01911.xMartin, M. A., Mattioni, C., Cherubini, M., Taurchini, D., & Villani, F. (2010). Genetic diversity in European chestnut populations by means of genomic and genic microsatellite markers. Tree Genetics & Genomes, 6(5), 735-744. doi:10.1007/s11295-010-0287-9Muñoz-Falcón, J. E., Vilanova, S., Plazas, M., & Prohens, J. (2011). Diversity, relationships, and genetic fingerprinting of the Listada de Gandía eggplant landrace using genomic SSRs and EST-SSRs. Scientia Horticulturae, 129(2), 238-246. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2011.03.034Nandha, P. S., & Singh, J. (2013). Comparative assessment of genetic diversity between wild and cultivated barley using gSSR and EST-SSR markers. Plant Breeding, 133(1), 28-35. doi:10.1111/pbr.12118VILCAN (TRUTA), A., MIHALTE (CRISAN), L., SESTRAS, A. F., HOLONEC, L., & SESTRAS, R. E. (2017). Genetic variation and potential genetic resources of several Romanian larch populations. TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, 41, 82-91. doi:10.3906/tar-1610-57GRAMAZIO, P., PLESA, I. M., TRUTA, A. M., SESTRAS, A. F., VILANOVA, S., PLAZAS, M., … SESTRAS, R. E. (2018). Highly informative SSR genotyping reveals large genetic diversity and limited differentiation in European larch (Larixdecidua) populations from Romania. TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, 42(3), 165-175. doi:10.3906/tar-1801-4
Targeted axillary dissection: worldwide variations in clinical practice
No full textPurpose: Targeted axillary dissection (TAD) for the axillary staging of clinically node-positive (cN +) breast cancer patients converting to clinically node negative post neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), has gained popularity due to its minimal false negative rate and low arm morbidity. The aim of this study is to shed more light on the variation in the clinical practice globally in terms of indications and perceived limitations of TAD. Methods: A panel of expert breast surgeons constructed a structured questionnaire comprising of 18 questions and asked surgeons worldwide for their opinions and routine practice on TAD. The questionnaire was electronically distributed and answers were collected between May 1st and August 1st 2022. Results: Responses included 137 entries from 36 countries. Of them, 73.7% consider TAD for cN + patients planned to receive NAC. Among them, the greatest number of respondents (45%) perform the procedure for tumours up to T3, whereas 27% regardless of T-stage. The majority (42%) perform TAD on patients with 1–3 positive nodes and only 30% consider TAD when matted nodes are present. HER2 positive and Triple Negative subtypes are more likely to undergo TAD than Luminal A and B (86%, 79.1%, 39.5%, and 62.8%, respectively). Maximum acceptable lymph node burden is median 3 nodes for any subtype with a tendency to accept more positive nodes for Triple Negative. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the differences in current practice regarding TAD as well as the fact that the biology of the tumour heavily affects the method of axillary staging. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
