A fully instrumented slice of the ATLAS detector was exposed to test beams from the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) at CERN in 2004. In this paper, the results of the measurements of the response of ...the barrel calorimeter to hadrons with energies in the range 20–350
GeV and beam impact points and angles corresponding to pseudo-rapidity values in the range 0.2–0.65 are reported. The results are compared to the predictions of a simulation program using the Geant 4 toolkit.
Common denominator of many philosophic approaches to the problem of using human embryos in medicine is the statement that it is "a full-value human subject that deserves respect as an adult human ...being". It has a defined identity in which it starts its own coordinated gradual development. Therefore, it is not just a simple cluster of cells. Integrity or holistic properties of a new quality of cells that, as a whole, represent an early embryo, and in fact are not a cluster of pre-embryonic "structural" parts or a sum of cells etc. They have theirs own evolution, previously inherently encoded, but not precisely predestined. In other words, only autointegrity alone in evolution, inherence as a part of predetermination in evolution of embryo, is not able to exist as a unit "alone". Human foetus since the first moments of its existence goes through many qualitative (externally or internally determined) transformations before it becomes a respectable human being. It is possible to say that medicine, as many times before, is now coming to a stage when axiologic values, ethical directives or moral feelings of its subjects and human objects proved in the past, are no more relevant at present. Therefore, medicine has no other alternative than an active approach to study this problem from all philosophical, biological and medical aspects to evolutionize itself in this new dimension. In this paper some of these questions are discussed and some ways of forming the ethics in therapeutic use of stem cells are presented.
Hitherto unobserved long-lived massive particles with electric and/or colour charge are predicted by a range of theories which extend the Standard Model. In this Letter a search is performed at the ...ATLAS experiment for slow-moving charged particles produced in proton–proton collisions at 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy at the LHC, using a data-set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb −1 . No deviations from Standard Model expectations are found. This result is interpreted in a framework of supersymmetry models in which coloured sparticles can hadronise into long-lived bound hadronic states, termed R -hadrons, and 95% CL limits are set on the production cross-sections of squarks and gluinos. The influence of R -hadron interactions in matter was studied using a number of different models, and lower mass limits for stable sbottoms and stops are found to be 294 and 309 GeV respectively. The lower mass limit for a stable gluino lies in the range from 562 to 586 GeV depending on the model assumed. Each of these constraints is the most stringent to date.
For their unique properties stem cells promise to be of universal use in clinical medicine, especially in regeneration of many organs and tissues in the human body. This attractive subject receives ...an ever growing attention of specialists from different branches of science and, no doubt, will present one of the most studied trends in medicine in the new millennium. In this communication, the authors discuss two main sources of human stem cells potentially suitable for cell-based therapy. The first are the cells obtained from embryonic tissues--embryonic stem cells, the second are the cells derived from adult tissues--adult stem cells. Presently, harvesting and therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells are associated with many problems both methodical and ethical. Utilization of adult stem cells in cell-based therapy is a certain solution in the current state of replacement therapy. Still, we have to be aware that this is not a compromise but one of the most prospective ways to treat a variety of serious diseases. To date, it is not yet clear which way would be more suitable and it is up to us which way we choose for the benefit of millions of patients. Considering the current state of knowledge, it is impossible yet to predict which stem cells--embryonic or adult--or therapeutic approaches would yield the best results. Much research is to be done and verified in practice and, at the same time, ethical problems must be resolved.
A series of experiments was conducted to determine the effects of various factors on Warner-Bratzler shear force measurement of cooked beef. As the extent of thawing of frozen steaks before cooking ...for shear force evaluation increases (-2 vs 12 degrees C), shear force decreases (P < 0.05; 7.34 vs 5.99 kg). Location within the longissimus thoracis et lumborum from which steaks were obtained (caudal, medial, or cranial) did not affect (P > 0.05) shear force (5.21, 6.15, or 5.26 kg, respectively) or any sensory trait. Mean shear force of longissimus steaks cooked to either a constant temperature of 70 degrees C (6.97 kg) or for a constant time of 30 min (6.38 kg) was not different (P = 0.06) but shear force repeatability was higher for steaks cooked to constant temperature (.79 vs 0.53). Mean shear force (6.20 vs 6.33 kg) and shear force repeatability (.74 vs 0.68) of longissimus steaks cooked by either electric broiler or convection oven broiler, respectively, were not different (P > 0.05). Meat cores obtained perpendicular to the steak surface, from one location within the muscle, had lower (P < 0.05) mean shear force (3.41 vs 4.17 kg) and much less repeatable shear force (.12 vs 0.66) than cores obtained parallel to muscle fiber orientation. Use of more than five cores per animal did not significantly increase repeatability of mean shear force. Numerous factors must be carefully controlled to ensure measurement of shear force is as accurate and repeatable as possible.
Expert networks are event-driven, acyclic networks of neural objects derived from expert systems. The neural objects process information through a nonlinear combining function that is different from, ...and more complex than, typical neural network node processors. The authors develop back-propagation learning for acyclic, event-driven networks in general and derive a specific algorithm for learning in EMYCIN-derived expert networks. The algorithm combines back-propagation learning with other features of expert networks, including calculation of gradients of the nonlinear combining functions and the hypercube nature of the knowledge space. It offers automation of the knowledge acquisition task for certainty factors, often the most difficult part of knowledge extraction. Results of testing the learning algorithm with a medium-scale (97-node) expert network are presented.< >
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