THE MARKETING STYLE OF ADVISORY SERVICES FOR CORN AND SOYBEANS IN 1995

The 1995 marketing styles for the 25 market advisory service programs included in the AgMAS Project were developed in two steps. The first step was the construction of a detailed "menu" of the tools and strategies used by each of the advisory programs in marketing corn and soybeans. The menu describes the type of pricing tool, frequency of transactions, and magnitude of transactions. The second step was the development of a daily index of the net amount sold by each market advisory program. To construct such an index, the various futures, options, and cash positions recommended for a program on a given day were weighted by the respective position "delta." When the daily values of the index were plotted for the entire marketing period, the marketing "profile" for a program was generated. The results show that advisory programs made a relatively small number of recommendations that primarily involved cash marketing strategies, not futures and options, non-cash marketing recommendations were typically held open for a short period of time, and the re-harvest amount sold averaged 35 percent for corn and 30 percent for soybeans.advisory services, pricing tools, pricing strategies, assessment of recommendations, D4, C8, D8, M3, Q0, Marketing,

MORPH: A Reference Architecture for Configuration and Behaviour Self-Adaptation

An architectural approach to self-adaptive systems involves runtime change of system configuration (i.e., the system's components, their bindings and operational parameters) and behaviour update (i.e., component orchestration). Thus, dynamic reconfiguration and discrete event control theory are at the heart of architectural adaptation. Although controlling configuration and behaviour at runtime has been discussed and applied to architectural adaptation, architectures for self-adaptive systems often compound these two aspects reducing the potential for adaptability. In this paper we propose a reference architecture that allows for coordinated yet transparent and independent adaptation of system configuration and behaviour

Usos potenciales de la madera de roble europeo y fresno americano cultivados en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

- Spavento, E. Ing. Forestal, Docente-Investigadora, Xilotecnología y Profesional Independiente. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, UNLP. [email protected] - Keil, G. Ing. Forestal M. Sc., Docente-Investigador, Xilotecnología e Industrias de Transformación Mecánica. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, UNLP. [email protected] - Murace, M. Licenciada en Biología, Docente-Investigadora, Protección Forestal. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, UNLP. [email protected] - Luján M . Doctora en Ciencias Naturales, Docente-Investigadora, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, UNLP. CIC, PBA. - Bertoli, B Ingeniero Forestal, Profesional Independiente.Los usos de una madera están estrechamente relacionados a sus características tecnológicas. Para utilizar con fiabilidad la madera de roble europeo (Quercus robur L.) y fresno americano (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) cultivada en la provincia de Buenos Aires (Argentina) es necesario conocer sus propiedades físicomecánicas y su durabilidad. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar, mediante ensayos estandarizados, las características tecnológicas de la madera de roble y fresno, implantados en la provincia de Buenos Aires, con el propósito de definir sus usos. Las propiedades físicas determinadas fueron: contenido de humedad (IRAM 9532), densidades aparentes (IRAM 9544), cambios dimensionales (IRAM 9543). Las propiedades mecánicas determinadas fueron: dureza Janka (IRAM 9570), flexión estática (IRAM 9542), corte paralelo a las fibras (IRAM 9596), compresión perpendicular y paralela a las fibras (IRAM 9547 y 9541 respectivamente). La durabilidad natural se estimó aplicando la norma IRAM 9518. Se estudió además la estructura del leño de ambas especies, a nivel macro y microscópico, con el fin de relacionar estas características con las propiedades tecnológicas. Para ello se cuantificaron los siguientes caracteres: longitud, espesor de pared y diámetro del lumen de fibras y diámetro de vasos mayores. Ambas maderas resultaron medianamente estables, de densidad media alta y durables. De acuerdo con esto las maderas de roble europeo y fresno americano cultivadas en Argentina son aptas para una amplia gama de usos: elementos deportivos, mangos de herramientas, muebles, escaleras, molduras, puertas, solados interiores y exteriores y elementos estructurales como vigas y columnas, entre otros

D-SPACE4Cloud: A Design Tool for Big Data Applications

The last years have seen a steep rise in data generation worldwide, with the development and widespread adoption of several software projects targeting the Big Data paradigm. Many companies currently engage in Big Data analytics as part of their core business activities, nonetheless there are no tools and techniques to support the design of the underlying hardware configuration backing such systems. In particular, the focus in this report is set on Cloud deployed clusters, which represent a cost-effective alternative to on premises installations. We propose a novel tool implementing a battery of optimization and prediction techniques integrated so as to efficiently assess several alternative resource configurations, in order to determine the minimum cost cluster deployment satisfying QoS constraints. Further, the experimental campaign conducted on real systems shows the validity and relevance of the proposed method

Thermal stability and aggregation of sulfolobus solfataricus b-glycosidase are dependent upon the N-e-methylation of specific lysyl residues: critical role of in vivo post-translational modifications.

Methylation in vivo is a post-translational modification observed in several organisms belonging to eucarya, bacteria, and archaea. Although important implications of this modification have been demonstrated in several eucaryotes, its biological role in hyperthermophilic archaea is far from being understood. The aim of this work is to clarify some effects of methylation on the properties of β-glycosidase from Sulfolobus solfataricus, by a structural comparison between the native, methylated protein and its unmethylated counterpart, recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli. Analysis by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated similar secondary structure contents for the two forms of the protein. However, the study of temperature perturbation by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and turbidimetry evidenced denaturation and aggregation events more pronounced in recombinant than in native β-glycosidase. Red Nile fluorescence analysis revealed significant differences of surface hydrophobicity between the two forms of the protein. Unlike the native enzyme, which dissociated into SDS-resistant dimers upon exposure to the detergent, the recombinant enzyme partially dissociated into monomers. By electrospray mapping, the methylation sites of the native protein were identified. A computational analysis of β-glycosidase three-dimensional structure and comparisons with other proteins from S. solfataricus revealed analogies in the localization of methylation sites in terms of secondary structural elements and overall topology. These observations suggest a role for the methylation of lysyl residues, located in selected domains, in the thermal stabilization of β-glycosidase from S. solfataricu

Complete genome sequences of two Helicobacter pylori strains from a Canadian Arctic Aboriginal community

We report here the complete genome sequences of two Amerind Helicobacter pylori strains from Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Canada. One strain contains extra iron-cofactored urease genes and ~140 rearrangements in its chromosome relative to other described strains (typically differing from one another by <10 rearrangements), suggesting that it represents a novel lineage of H. pylori

Genome sequences of three hpAfrica2 strains of Helicobacter pylori

We present the genome sequences of three hpAfrica2 strains of Helicobacter pylori, which are postulated to have evolved in isolation for many millennia in people of San ethnicity. Although previously considered to be ancestral to Helicobacter acinonychis, the hpAfrica2 strains differ markedly from H. acinonychis in their gene arrangement. These data provide new insights into Helicobacter evolution

Membrane fluidity and functional organization of the mitochondrial membranes

Fluidity, existence of phase transitions and structural organization of lipoproteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae promitochondria has been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, spin label techniques and freeze-etching. Distinct phase transitions were found with these organelles which were shown to be partly dependent upon the lipid composition of the membranes. X-ray diffraction patterns from these membranes show that two physical states of lipids were distinguished, a crystalline-hexagonal packing characterized by a sharp 4.2Å diffraction band and a fluid (melted) state identified with a broad, diffuse band at 4.6Å. At the growth temperature (30°C) the promitochondria of the anaerobic cells contain lipids which are predominantly in the gel state with ordered lipid chains, whereas the mitochondria of the aerobic cells are in the liquid crystalline or fluid state with "melted” chains. A comparison of the phase transitions of intact membranes and extracted lipids suggests that lipid-protein interaction contributes to the high lipid phase transition temperature of promitochondria. Analysis of the spin probe data indicates a different organization of lipid and protein in such membranes, whilst the greater fluidity in the polar head group and in the lipid core of the differentiated mitochondria reflects the dynamic properties of the membrane lipids on the newly assembled proteins. Discontinuities in the ATPase Arrhenius plots are observed: with the promitochondria the discontinuity occurs near the beginning of the lipid phase transition and the ATPase enzyme may be associated with the most mobile lipid regions within the membrane- With the fully organized mitochondria it occurs well above the phase transition. A significant difference has been found in the magnetic resonance spectra from mitochondrial membranes and purified OS-ATPase. The spin label incorporated in the crude membrane is located in a more fluid region than label in an OS-ATPase system, supporting suggestion of the immobilization of lipid in the immediate vicinity of the protein. These results lend suggestion that fluid lipid regions not interacting with proteins could exist in the differentiated mitochondrial membranes and/or specific phospholipids could be involved as physiological regulators of ATPase activity by inducing a proper conformation in the enzymic activity

Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using √s=8 TeV proton-proton collision data

A search for squarks and gluinos in final states containing high-p T jets, missing transverse momentum and no electrons or muons is presented. The data were recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment in s√=8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, with a total integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Results are interpreted in a variety of simplified and specific supersymmetry-breaking models assuming that R-parity is conserved and that the lightest neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 1330 GeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino. For a simplified model involving the strong production of first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 850 GeV (440 GeV) are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino, assuming mass degenerate (single light-flavour) squarks. In mSUGRA/CMSSM models with tan β = 30, A 0 = −2m 0 and μ > 0, squarks and gluinos of equal mass are excluded for masses below 1700 GeV. Additional limits are set for non-universal Higgs mass models with gaugino mediation and for simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos, each decaying to a top squark and a top quark, with the top squark decaying to a charm quark and a neutralino. These limits extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded by previous searches with the ATLAS detector

Measurement of the top pair production cross section in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions using kinematic information in the lepton plus jets final state with ATLAS

A measurement is presented of the $t\bar{t}$ inclusive production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement was performed in the lepton+jets final state using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The cross-section was obtained using a likelihood discriminant fit and $b$-jet identification was used to improve the signal-to-background ratio. The inclusive $t\bar{t}$ production cross-section was measured to be $260\pm 1{\textrm{(stat.)}} ^{+22}_{-23} {\textrm{(syst.)}}\pm 8{\textrm{(lumi.)}}\pm 4{\mathrm{(beam)}}$ pb assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV, in good agreement with the theoretical prediction of $253^{+13}_{-15}$ pb. The $t\bar{t}\to (e,\mu)+{\mathrm{jets}}$ production cross-section in the fiducial region determined by the detector acceptance is also reported.Comment: Published version, 19 pages plus author list (35 pages total), 3 figures, 2 tables, all figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/TOPQ-2013-06