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In this paper, we compare three different methods for suppressing sinusoidal perturbation, whose amplitude, frequency and phase are supposed to be unknown and may present changes along time, particularly, for removing power line interference from ECG signal records. The first method is a non-linear adaptive algorithm for extraction of non stationary sinusoids (NAENS), which is considered as a baseline algorithm of comparison. The second and third algorithms are based on Kalman filtering, using two different state space models of discrete-time sinusoidal oscillators. As a result, it was obtained that both Kalman filter algorithms have better performance than NAENS method, considering the presence of amplitude and frequency changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edible coatings have long been known to protect perishable food products from deterioration by retarding dehydration, suppressing respiration, improving textural quality, helping to retain volatile flavor compounds and reducing microbial growth (Mauer et al., 2000; Yang and Paulson, 2000; Peressini et al., 2003; Han et al., 2004). Also, they can be used as a vehicle for incorporating functional ingredients, such as antioxidants, flavor, colors, antimicrobial agents and nutraceuticals (Kester and Fennema, 1989; Guilbert et al., 1997; Bifani et al. 2006). Antimicrobial edible films and coatings are used for improving the shelf life of food products without impairing consumer acceptability (Baker et al., 1994). They are not designed to totally replace traditional packaging, and might be used as a stress factor in minimally processed foods in order to prevent surface contamination while providing a gradual release of the antimicrobial. Another application of edible films or coatings is as barrier to lipid absorption by food during deep fat frying. Oil uptake in fried foods has become a health concern; high consumption of lipids has been related to obesity and other health problems such as coronary heart disease. Reducing the fat content of fried foods by application of coatings is an alternative solution to comply with both health concerns and consumer preferences. Food coatings may become a good alternative to reduce oil uptake during frying. The effectiveness of a coating is determined by its mechanical and barrier properties, which depend on its composition and microstructure, and on the characteristics of the substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently we have been studying the turbulence and dispersion characteristics during meandering (large horizontal oscillations of the atmosphere) associated to low wind speed conditions. It was found that the autocorrelation functions (AE) of the horizontal wind components, computed for the low wind cases, show an oscillating behaviour with the presence of large negative lobes and that these AE can be very well fitted by an analytical relationship that contains two parameters, one associated to the classical integral time scale and the second to the meandering characteristics. Then, a new system of two coupled Langevin equations for the horizontal wind components, able to simulate the dispersion in low wind speed conditions, was derived. In this paper we briefly review these topics and, in particular, we show the results, obtained with these new coupled Langevin equations, of the simulation of the INEL and Graz low wind tracer experiments. The comparison showed very good results and, in particular, put in evidence the advantage of using this new low wind simulation tool with respect to previous classical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical and mechanical properties of natural stones used in buildings and monuments are affected by degradation processes due to weathering agents such as thermal actions. The effect of this degradation on rock results in increasing microcrack density and, consequently, in different strength and deformability features of the rock materials. In order to investigate the influence of different crack densities in calcitic stones several experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out. Both destructive and non destructive test procedures have been adopted to evaluate the capability of different experimental techniques to estimate the rock material integrity. On the basis of experimental data and subsequently of their mathematical simulations through the analytical models this paper proposes an experimental methodology which, by means of non destructive measurements, would give a theoretical prediction of the rock material deformability in relation to the crack density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of binary stars, discovered in a sample of X-ray sources, aimed at a deep characterization of the stellar X-ray population in the solar neighborhood and in Star Forming Regions (SFRs). The sources have been selected from the RasTyc sample, obtained by the cross-correlation between the ROSAT all-sky survey and Tycho catalogues (Guillout et al., 1999). Thanks to the high resolution spectroscopy, we have obtained good radial velocity curves, whose solutions provided us with the mass ratios and minimum masses of the components. We have also obtained an accurate spectral classification with codes specifically developed by us. In addition, we could obtain information on the age of the sources through the LiI-6708 line and on the chromospheric activity level through the Hα line. We show also some results on very young pre-main sequence (PMS) binaries discovered as optical counterparts of X-ray sources in SFRs. The spectroscopic and photometric monitoring has allowed us to determine the orbital and physical parameters and the rotation periods, that are of great importance for testing the models of PMS evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to present an experimental application for the detection of possible breast lesions by means of neural networks in medical digital imaging. This application broadens the scope of research into the creation of different types of topologies with the aim of improving existing networks and creating new architectures which allow for improved detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation of action potential propagation on cardiac tissues represents both a computational and memory intensive task. The use of detailed ionic cellular models, combined with its application into three-dimensional geometries turn simulation into a problem only affordable, in reasonable time, with High Performance Computing techniques. This paper presents a complete and efficient parallel system for the simulation of the action potential propagation on a three-dimensional parallelepiped modelization of a ventricular cardiac tissue. This simulator has been integrated into a Grid Computing system, what allows an increase of productivity in cardiac case studies by performing multiple concurrent parallel executions on distributed computational resources of a Grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter describes the methods for measuring the increase in vascular permeability induced by tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), or other mediators, in vivo in animal models. Mouse liver or kidney are perfused through the portal vein or the renal artery, respectively, by intravascular injection of a blue dye (trypan blue or Evans blue) combined with albumin. When endothelial permeability is increased, the dye extravasates and reaches the subendothelial spaces. Thus, subsequent washing of dye-perfused organs with saline cannot remove the dye. The perfusates are drawn from the suprahepatic inferior vena cava (for the liver) and from the renal vein (for the kidney). After perfusion, the livers and kidneys are removed, homogenized, and centrifuged. Spectrophotometric analysis of supernatants, at 540 nm, is then performed. The increase in optical density values is indicative of the increase in dye retention, hence of vascular leakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) appears to be the main mediator causing the systemic manifestations of sepsis and septic shock associated with edema (1,2). In vitro it augments movement of permeability tracers across endothelial cell monolayers (3,4). Herein we describe a method which permits quantification and assessment of changes in the integrity of endothelial monolayers by measuring transendothelial flux (luminal to subluminal) of tracer macromolecules in the absence of hydrostatic and oncotic pressure gradients. The system consists of two compartments separated by a polycarbonate filter and permits highly controlled conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses criminal type in women and its atavistic origin. A comparison of the criminal skull with the skulls of normal women reveals the fact that female criminals approximate more to males, both criminal and normal, than to normal women, especially in the superciliary arches in the seam of the sutures, in the lower jaw-bones, and in peculiarities of the occipital region. Out of the female delinquents examined 52 were Piedmontese in the prison of Turin, and 234 in the Female House of Correction were natives of different Italian provinces, especially from the South. In these, consequently, author Cesare Lombroso and William Ferrero set aside all special characteristics belonging to the ethnological type of the different regions, such as the brachycephali of the Piedmontese, the dolichocephali of the Sardinians, the oxycephali. The results of the examination may be thus summarized: The rarity of a criminal type in the female as compared with the male delinquent; Prostitutes differ notably from female criminals in that they offer so much more frequently a special and peculiar type.

Microbial proteases play an important role in industrial processes. The proteases of Bacillus spp., Mucor spp., and Aspergillus oryzae account for the bulk of enzyme production and represent aproximately 40% of the total worldwide enzyme sales (1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the electricity industry. The electricity industry performs three primary functions--generation, transmission, and distribution. Some utilities are engage in all three functions, whereas others specialize in one or two functions. Generation is the process of producing electricity. In 1994, the U.S. electric utilities produced 2.9 trillion kWh of electricity. Transmission is the process of conducting the flow of electricity at high voltages from the points of generation to the locations of electricity consumption such as residential, industrial parks, and commercial centers.

Nearby late-B and early-A stars show clear IS absorptions in Mg II, C II and other lines (IUE spectra). Some of them, in the Sco Cen direction, also show absorption features at C IV and Si IV line wavelengths. We discuss the possible formation of these lines in an intermediate temperature gas region between the dense and cold H I wall and the hot ISM, a region that could be the collision interaction between the Local Bubble and the Loop I supershell. Some individual stellar spectra are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is the formulation of a mathematical model for reacting turbulent flows and its validation through comparison with other models and experimental data. The model is based on the Lagrangian statistical description of the turbulent diffusion, developed firstly for the turbulent dispersion of one particle in homogeneous flows and later gradually extended to non homogeneous flows (Van Dop, 1985) and two-particle dispersion (Durbin, 1980, Thomson, 1990, Borgas and Sawford, 1994). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-z quasars are key objects for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, and the physical conditions in the early Universe, since they are the most luminous and distant sources of electromagnetic radiation known. The X-ray emission gives insight into the accretion mechanisms onto super-massive black holes. Current questions are whether quasars exhibit spectral evolution or not and whether absorption in excess of the galactic NH is a general feature of high-z quasars. The X-ray spectral analysis is essential to address these questions. We have performed a spectral analysis of two radio-loud (PKS 2126-158 and PKS 2149-306) and two radio-quiet (Q 0000-263 and Q 1442+2931) z>2 quasars with XMM. For more details see [1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Guild Socialism Revisited, and its Yugoslav Counterpart," by Mario Ferrero is presented.