What Can a Wiki Do? Exploring History, Identity and Literacy in a Digital World

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THE MATERIAL FLOW ON AGRICULTURAL FARMS

Prestože význam logistiky v prumyslu, obchodu a dalších oborech je všeobecne uznáván, v zemedelství není tato problematika systematicky zkoumána. Predpokladem podrobných analýz je znalost objemu a struktury materiálového toku. Autori k tomuto úcelu navrhli vlastní metodiku, která vychází z technologických ukazatelu, publikovaných Ministerstvem zemedelství CR pro jednotlivé plodiny a kategorie zvírat. Tyto publikované normativní hodnoty Ministerstva pak slouží jako základní kameny, jejichž kombinací lze zjistit objem materiálového toku a jeho strukturu v podniku behem jednoho roku. Výhodou metodiky je rychlé zjištení potrebných dat a možnost zohlednení nekterých specifických podmínek ve zkoumaných podnicích.In spite that the great importance of logistics in industry, business and other branches is generally acknowledged, this problem is not systematically investigated in agriculture. As a presumption of detailed analysis, the knowledge of the volume and structure of the material flow is necessary. The authors have proposed their own methodical procedure which issues from technological indicators, published by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture for individual plants and categories of animals and which makes possible further classification of these data for enterprises with different level of farming. These published standards of the Ministry serve as basic stones and by means of their combination, the volume of material flow and its structure is possible to calculate during one year\u27s periods. The advantage of proposed method is a fast finding out of necessary data and possibility of taking into account some specific conditions in investigated enterprises

Provision and Quality Assurance of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis in Europe

Background Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is now a well-established treatment and provided in many European countries. However, regulations, professional standards and accreditation requirements are often notably different. Furthermore, no comprehensive independent data exist about the practice and provision of PGD in Europe. Consequently, a European study was launched and aimed to obtain a currently lacking knowledge of the provision of PGD services and cross-border activities in Europe. Methods An online questionnaire was developed and sent to PGD providers and IVF professionals identified through ESHRE and EuroGentest. Additionally, expert opinions were obtained through interviews conducted with professionals in specific countries. Findings The survey identified 53 centres offering PGD from 17 European countries. There is a diversity of tests available and a general tendency towards the availability of custom-made tests, most commonly for extremely rare disorders. While half of the centres have a designated quality manager, just 33% have achieved or are preparing for accreditation or certification. About 66% of all centres responded that they did not participate in external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, the problem being exacerbated by the current lack of existing PGD-specific schemes. Approximately 19% of the centres do not keep data on accuracy and 9% of centres do not even follow up until birth. Interpretation PGD is an expanding activity in Europe with increasing social implications (e.g. trans-border flow of couples). The survey highlighted a potential need for improvement in the overall quality system of PGD centres. In this respect, development of PGD-specific quality assessment schemes is gaining increasing importance. There is also a need to support monitoring of PGD treatment, especially systematic long-term follow-up, with increased public funding and international co-operation.JRC.J.4 - Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Induction accelerators for the phase rotator system

The principle of magnetic induction has been applied to the acceleration of high current beams in betatrons and a variety of induction accelerators. The linear induction accelerator (LIA) consists of a simple nonresonant structure where the drive voltage is applied to an axially symmetric gap that encloses a toroidal ferromagnetic material. The change in flux in the magnetic core induces an axial electric field that provides particle acceleration. This simple nonresonant (low Q) structure acts as a single turn transformer that can accelerate from hundreds of amperes to tens of kiloamperes, basically only limited by the drive impedance. The LIA is typically a low gradient structure that can provide acceleration fields of varying shapes and time durations from tens of nanoseconds to several microseconds. The efficiency of the LIA depends on the beam current and can exceed 50% if the beam current exceeds the magnetization current required by the ferromagnetic material. The acceleration voltage available is simply given by the expression V=A dB/dt. Hence, for a given cross section of material, the beam pulse duration influences the energy gain. Furthermore, a premium is put on minimizing the diameter, which impacts the total weight or cost of the magnetic material. The diameter doubly impacts the cost of the LIA since the power (cost) to drive the cores is proportional to the volume as well. The waveform requirements during the beam pulse makes it necessary to make provisions in the pulsing system to maintain the desired dB/dt during the useful part of the acceleration cycle. This is typically done two ways, by using the final stage of the pulse forming network (PFN) and by the pulse compensation network usually in close proximity of the acceleration cell. The choice of magnetic materials will be made by testing various materials both ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic. These materials will include the nickel-iron, silicon steel amorphous and various types of ferrites not only to determine the properties that are essential in this application but the energy losses in the magnetization process which directly impact the cost