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Dolj County is an administrative territorial unit representative for the South-West, at least in terms of agricultural production, given its potential (agricultural land and arable land - 585,363 and 488, 715 ha). In this context, it is interesting to realize an overview of what it means agricultural equipment of Dolj with major mechanical components of the park (tractors, tractor plows, seeders and combine aerial) over the period 2011-2013. Unfortunately the work could not also capture the qualitative aspects of the mechanical park side, given that many of the machines are outdated. In this situation there is a need to modernize the mechanical park, operation down menus difficult to de-capitalization conditions of the greater part of farmers. Attracting European funds constitutes a viable alternative for only a part of manufacturers, unfortunately, those with favorable financial conditions. This paper seeks to anchor Dolj County, in terms of endowment with mechanical, in regional and national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum and Moringa oleifera at various concentrations (S, S/2, S/4) and in combinations was tested on the reproduction, egg hatching and juvenile mortality of Meloidogyne javanica on eggplant. The evaluation was done in vitro as well as in vivo in green house. Both alone and combined application of T. harzianum and M. oleifera caused significant (P = 0.05) reduction in egg hatching and juvenile mortality at all time intervals (24, 48 and 72 h). Reproduction of M. javanica was evaluated on eggplant in green house. Most effective concentration from in vitro experiment was used in further protective and curative experiment. There were three treatments and five replications. The plant growth parameters including shoot length, shoot weight, root length, root weight and number of leaves and nematode parameters including number of galls, egg masses, number of females, number of juveniles per root system and no. of juveniles/100ml³ soil were recorded after 60 days of growth. Nematode population was significantly reduced when biocontrol agent was applied before the inoculation of nematodes as protective application. So, T. harzianum and M. oleifera might be successfully used in field conditions against M. javanica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stata users often need to combine text, tables, and figures. The author's command, lpdf, generates reports and other PDF documents. lpdf compiles text stored in global macros, tables stored as dataset tables or LATEX table input files, and figures stored as Stata graphs or PDF figure files. LATEX must be installed, but familiarity with LATEX is not necessary. lpdf performs every step through Stata and with Stata syntax. It generates documents in report or article style and portrait or landscape orientation. The default author name, document title, and date can be modified. Further format options include the font and margin sizes. For each table and figure, the width and layout can be adapted. Stata users with LATEX skills may benefit from additional possibilities. The lpdf adofile includes two other useful commands called latexize and latext. latexize processes the content of string variables to properly type special characters and symbols in LATEX input files. latext modifies text stored in global macros in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A large subset of patients who enter treatment for alcohol dependence report nonabstinent drinking goals (e.g., reduction in drinking) rather than abstinence, and this pretreatment goal choice may be associated with drinking outcomes and alcohol-related problems. Methods An analysis of the 16-week Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions ( COMBINE) study was conducted to determine the association between self-reported pretreatment drinking goal and drinking outcomes and alcohol-related problems. Participants who reported a nonabstinent drinking goal ( n = 340) were matched with participants who reported an abstinent drinking goal ( n = 340) on 3 variables believed to contribute to treatment outcomes: COMBINE experimental group, gender, and number of prebaseline heavy drinking days. Results Analyses revealed no interaction between the COMBINE experimental group and drinking goal on outcome measures, so results were collapsed and examined as a function of drinking goal group. Participants who chose an abstinent drinking goal had significantly more weeks with no drinking or no heavy drinking, reported fewer heavy drinking days, reported fewer days with >1 drink, and were more likely to have a ≥50% decrease in drinks per day between baseline and week 16 of the intervention. However, both groups reported reductions over time in percent drinking days, mean drinks per day, number of heavy drinking days, and number of drinking days per week, and participants in both groups experienced significant reductions in alcohol-related problems and improvements in psychosocial functioning. Conclusions Results replicate and expand upon previous studies examining the association between drinking goal and treatment outcome. These data also provide support for the standard inclusion of drinking treatment goal as a stratification variable in study interventions or as a covariate in outcome analyses and highlight several areas that warrant additional research regarding patients who enter alcohol treatment with a nonabstinent drinking goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to speed up Precise Point Positioning (PPP)’s convergence, a combined PPP method with GPS and GLONASS which is based on using raw observations is proposed, and the positioning results and convergence time have been compared with that of single system. The ionospheric delays and receiver’s Differential Code Bias (DCB) corrections are estimated as unknown parameters in this method. The numerical results show that the combined PPP has not caused significant impacts on the final solutions, but it greatly improved Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) and convergence speed and enhanced the reliability of the solution. Meanwhile, the convergence speed is greatly influenced by the receiver’s DCB, positioning results in horizontal which are better than 10cm can be realized within 10min. In addition, the ionosphere and DCB products can be provided with high precision. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One of the main characteristics of combine harvesters is to harvest out crops in one pass, while collecting grains from the field and separating from impurities and straw (material other than grain - MOG), which are being taken back to the field, while the quality of the work varies. The content of impurities, a plain and broken kernels, is not desirable in seed neither in the mercantile grains using in further processing, because it significantly complicates cleaning and storing of grains, and significantly reducing the quality of the product and it's market value. Harvesting device of combines with the traditional scheme of threshing TTO (drum cross-transversal, grain mass flow goes tangentially and straw-shakers oscillatory separate grains), is limiting factor in the combines work, with increasing speed increases the flow of grain mass, increasing losses and impurities in the mass after harvest. The quality of the work is influenced by numerous factors: moisture content, grain-straw ratio, yield levels, compliance of the peripheral speed of underdrum-drum and it' spacing, setting sieves, fan speed, mode of working speed. In cases where these parameters are not properly aligned, performance is significantly distorts, so that a high content of impurities in harvested mass.This paper presents the results of exploitation research of the working quality of harvesting devices of combines ZMAJ 133 and CLAAS D48 in harvesting of rye and triticale in agroecological conditions of Kosovo and Metohia. The objective of our study was to determine the quality of the separation devices of the combines, the contents of the whole healthy, broken, a plain grains and other impurities. Quality threshed mass was determined by taking samples of threshed mass from the combine's bunker, and percentage of healthy, full, broken kernels and impurities have been determined later in the laboratory. It has been applied standard methodology, which refers to the field and laboratory testing, as well as exploitation testing of the combines. Based on these results, it was concluded higher quality work of the threshing device CLAAS D48 in relation to the harvester ZMAJ 133B. In the harvested mass at the combine CLAAS D48, it has been measured the highest content of the whole grains and the average was 97.10%, the lowest has been measured in the combine ZMAJ 133B to 92.19%. The contents of broken grains varied in the range of 0.91% (CLAAS D48 ) to 2.53% (ZMAJ 133B) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-pass corn grain and stover harvester was produced by coupling a combine harvester and a towed large-round baler. An accumulation hopper and metering system were added to the baler to allow for continuous collection of stover through the bale wrapping and ejection cycles. Both the accumulation metering system and the baler were powered hydraulically by the combine. When harvesting with an ear-snapper header at an average rate of 5.6 ha h-1 and stover collection rate of 1.4 Mg ha-1, combine fuel use was increased by an average of 11% over baseline operation without the baler. Bale dry densities of 164 to 206 kg m-3 were achieved with this configuration. The accumulator and feed system capacity were more than sufficient to handle the mass flow collected with the ear-snapper header, so while harvesting grain the baler was only operated for 38% of the total harvest time. When using a whole-plant header to achieve average stover collection rates of 4.5 Mg ha-1, combine area capacity was reduced by more than 50% and the accumulator feed system was less effective at unloading the long stalks collected. Increasing the aggressiveness of the combine residue chopper reduced the hopper unloading time by 69%, but the additional size reduction also increased combine fuel use by 7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Clinical trials for alcoholism have historically regarded alcohol consumption as the primary outcome. In a subset of trials, quality of life ( QOL) has been considered as a secondary outcome. Joint latent-variable modeling techniques may provide a more accurate and powerful simultaneous analysis of primary and secondary outcomes in clinical trials. The goal of this study was to evaluate longitudinal associations between treatment status, alcohol consumption, and QOL in the Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence ( COMBINE) study. Methods A total of 1,383 alcohol-dependent patients were randomized to 9 treatment groups. Percent heavy drinking days ( PHDD) and health-related QOL from the 30 days preceding baseline, week 16, and week 52 were calculated using the Form 90 and the Medical Outcomes Study Health Survey Short Form-12 ( SF-12), respectively. Latent profile analysis ( LPA) was conducted to determine an appropriate number of latent states to represent PHDD and QOL. Subsequently, univariate and coupled hidden Markov models (for PHDD and SF-12 mental health, and PHDD and SF-12 physical) were fit to the data. Results LPA suggested that PHDD should be represented by 3 latent states and that each SF-12 scale should be represented by 2 states. Joint modeling results suggested that (i) naltrexone significantly predicted decreased PHDD ( p < 0.05), and marginally predicted improved mental health QOL via decreased PHDD ( p < 0.10), and (ii) that the combinations of naltrexone and combined behavioral intervention ( CBI), and acamprosate and CBI, each predicted significantly improved physical QOL ( p < 0.05), and marginally predicted decreased PHDD via improved physical QOL ( p < 0.10). Conclusions This study illustrates a powerful and novel statistical approach for simultaneously evaluating the impact of treatments on primary and secondary outcomes in clinical trials. This study also suggests that behavioral interventions may impact drinking behavior through their ameliorative effects on QOL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant amount of research has supported the efficacy of couple versus individual treatment for alcohol use disorders, yet little is known about whether involving a significant other during the course of individual treatment can improve outcomes. Likewise, several barriers to couple treatment exist and a more flexible approach to significant other involvement may be warranted. Methods: This study constituted secondary analyses of the COMBINE data, a randomized clinical trial that combined pharmacotherapy and behavioral intervention for alcohol dependence. Data were drawn from the 16-week individual combined behavioral intervention ( CBI), which had 776 participants, 31% of which were female, and 23% were non-white. The current study examined whether attendance by a supportive significant other ( SSO) during CBI sessions would predict better outcomes. It was further hypothesized that active SSO involvement, defined by attendance during drink refusal or communication skills training sessions, would predict better outcomes. Results: SSOs attended at least 1 session for 26.9% of clients. Clients with SSOs who attended at least 1 session had significantly fewer drinking days and fewer drinking-related problems at the end of treatment. The presence of an SSO during a drink refusal training session predicted significantly better outcomes, as compared to SSO attendance at other sessions and drink refusal training without an SSO present. SSO attendance at a communication training session did not predict better outcomes. Conclusions: These results suggest that specific types of active involvement may be important for SSO-involved treatment to have greater efficacy than individual treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study evaluated the energy balance and economic analysis between inputs and output of seed corn production in different harvesting systems in Iran. Data were collected from seed corn farms in Alborz province. The results indicated the total average energy input and output of 51.1 and 243.9GJha−1, respectively. The highest share in energy consumption belonged to chemical fertilizers (43%) followed by water for irrigation (19%) and diesel fuel (19%). The highest total energy input and output belonged to two stage harvesting system (using picker-husker) in comparison with other harvesting systems (combine and plot-harvester harvesting). The average energy use efficiency and productivity were calculated 4.78 and 0.05kgMJ−1, respectively. Combine harvesting had the highest energy ratio value (5.15) and followed by two stage harvesting system (4.78) and then plot harvester (4.40). Direct, indirect, renewable and non-renewable energies were 43%, 57%, 6%and 94% of total energy, respectively. Cost analysis revealed that total average cost of production and benefit–cost ratio were 3477 $ha−1 and 1.46, respectively. The benefit–cost ratio values for picker-husker, combine and plot harvester were 1.54, 1.53 and 1.32, respectively, that indicated harvesting by two stage harvesting system (using picker-husker) had more economic efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The inhibition of the activity of β-secretase (BACE-1) is a potentially important approach for the treatment of Alzheimer disease. To explore the mechanism of inhibition, we describe the use of 46 X-ray crystallographic BACE-1/inhibitor complexes to derive quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. The inhibitors were aligned by superimposing 46 X-ray crystallographic BACE-1/inhibitor complexes, and gCOMBINE software was used to perform COMparative BINding Energy (COMBINE) analysis on these 46 minimized BACE-1/inhibitor complexes. The major advantage of the COMBINE analysis is that it can quantitatively extract key residues involved in binding the ligand and identify the nature of the interactions between the ligand and receptor. Results: By considering the contributions of the protein residues to the electrostatic and van der Waals intermolecular interaction energies, two predictive and robust COMBINE models were developed: (i) the 3-PC distance-dependent dielectric constant model (built from a single X-ray crystal structure) with a q2 value of 0.74 and an SDEC value of 0.521; and (ii) the 5-PC sigmoidal electrostatic model (built from the actual complexes present in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank) with a q2 value of 0.79 and an SDEC value of 0.41. Conclusions: These QSAR models and the information describing the inhibition provide useful insights into the design of novel inhibitors via the optimization of the interactions between ligands and those key residues of BACE-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this work was to evaluate the losses on the cutting platform, the separation and cleaning systems and total losses in mechanical harvesting of soybeans in the municipality of Maripá-PR considering the age of the combines, displacement speed and operator training. 39 machines in 25 farms were evaluated. It was observed that 79% of the machines lost more than 60 kg ha-1. The air humidity, the untrained operators and deficient maintenance and regulations were the most important factors in defining the losses. The machines with longer timer of use presented tendency of more losses in the 2]: harvest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation has been done in experimental field of IAgEng LUA institute when harvesting the buckwheat variety 'Smuglianka' yield using different technologies and machinery: direct combining of desiccated and not desiccated buckwheat, windrow harvesting and stripping-threshing. For this purpose there have been used follow machinery: the mower KS -- 2.1 modular with tractor MTZ -- 80, combine SR 500 with the stripper header and without it. The biometrical buckwheat indexes and technological characteristics were examined. The agritechnical, energetic and economics parameters, the costs of harvesting one hectare, the actual fuel consumption, total energy of buckwheat yield and coefficient of the energetic efficiency were determined while harvesting the crop of buckwheat by all tested technologies. According energy susceptibility of machines, diesel and labour input also coefficient of energetic efficiency criteria the less effective technology of buckwheat harvesting is windrow harvesting method. However, the main qualitative indicators of seeds threshed by windrow harvesting technology are better when compared with direct combining technology of buckwheat. From the energetic point, compared with conventional buckwheat harvesting technology, the stripping-threshing technology has the following advantages (including growing): fuel consumption declines 15 % (only in harvesting fuel consumption declines 40 %), labour input declines 17 % (only in harvesting labour input declines by 1.9 times -- 47.0%), energy efficiency coefficient upwards 9 %. From the economic point the cheapest technology of buckwheat harvesting is stripping-threshing, in conversion for one hectare this indicator is 169.69 LTL what equality 49.15 EUR or 69.15 USD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant indicator of the quality of harvesting by buckwheat combines is amount of an achieved losses and quality of harvested mass of buckwheat grain. The harvest of buckwheat we can perform multiphase, double phase, and single phase. Quality of combines work depends on a numerous of factors: the state of crops, defining the relevant parameters for combine's work, technical soundness, and operator's skills. When the relevant parameters are not well coordinated, impairs the quality of work is significantly, resulting in increased losses of buckwheat grain and a high proportion of impurities in harvested mass of buckwheat in the combines bunker. The aim of our two-year study was to determine the amount of realized losses of buckwheat seeds by harvest device of combines ZMAJ 132 and ZMAJ 143, depending on the interspace underdrum-drum at the entrance, as well as the quality of harvested mass of buckwheat. The results allow pointing to the shortcomings and advantages of the concept applied various harvest combines. Applied methodology is standard for this issue and relates to the field-testing laboratory and exploitation, during the single-phase harvesting of buckwheat grain. The highest losses on harvesting device were recorded at combine ZMAJ 132 - 9,56 kg ha-1 (1.01%) , and the lowest at combine ZMAJ 143- 4.28 kg ha -1 (0.45%). The highest content of whole buckwheat grains in harvested mass was at ZMAJ 143 and it was 96.32%, and lowest at combine ZMAJ 132 in amount of 92.55%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most applications of response surface analysis based on polynomial regression, complete first- or second-order linear models are used at least initially to represent the functional relationships between independent variables and expected responses. In some settings, however, knowledge of the physical system under study can (and should) be used to modify the model form. One such situation is found in mixture problems, where constraints on the independent proportions mathematically imply a reduction in the number of model terms for polynomials of any order. Another such situation is when some of the experimental factors have a kind of joint symmetric effect on the responses of interest. We describe a real experiment of this type, part of a research program focused on the design of a control system for an agricultural combine, and consider how the statistical model can be simplified and standard second-order composite designs can be modified to take advantage of this structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The National Football League holds an annual combine where individual teams evaluate college football players likely to be drafted for physical skills, review players' medical history and imaging studies, and perform a physical examination. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the effect of specific diagnoses and surgical procedures on the likelihood of playing and length of career in the league by position. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A database for all players reviewed at the annual National Football League Combine by the medical staff of 1 National Football League team from 1987 to 2000 was created, including each player's orthopaedic rating, diagnoses, surgical procedures, number of games played, and number of seasons played in the National Football League. Athletes were grouped by position as follows: offensive backfield, offensive receiver, offensive line, quarterback, tight end, defensive line, defensive secondary, linebacker, and kicker. The percentage of athletes who played in the National Football League was calculated by position for each specific diagnosis and surgery. Results: The effect of injury on the likelihood of playing in the league varied by position. Anterior cruciate ligament injury significantly lowered the likelihood of playing in the league for defensive linemen (P = .03) and linebackers (P = .04). Meniscal injury significantly reduced the probability of playing (P < .05) and length of career (P = .002) for athletes in the defensive secondary. Shoulder instability had a significant effect on playing in the league for offensive (P = .03) and defensive linemen (P = .02), and shortened the length of career for defensive linemen (P = .016). Spondylolisthesis did not significantly reduce the chance of playing in the league for any position, while a history of spondylolysis had a significant effect for running backs (P = .01). Miscellaneous injuries (eg. acromioclavicular joint, knee medial collateral ligament, carpal fractures) had isolated position-specific effects. Conclusion: The significant injuries and diagnoses appear congruent with the position-specific demands placed on the athletes. This information is useful to physicians and athletic trainers caring for college football athletes as well as those assessing these athletes at the National Football League Combine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li Da was dedicated to the research, dissemination and development of Marxism all his life. His special study of Marxist philosophy is to explore the uniquely open, firm and persistent combined road of sinicization and systematization of Marxist philosophy. He made a significant contribution to the sinicization of Marxist philosophy and became a famous philosophyist of Chinese Marxism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Structure-based drug design (SBDD) is a computational technique for designing new drug candidates based on physico-chemical interactions between a protein and a ligand molecule. The most important thing for SBDD is accurate estimation of binding affinity of the ligand molecule against the target protein. Scoring function, which is basically a mathematical equation that approximates the thermodynamics of binding, has to be defined in advance. In this paper, we propose a novel method for building a tailored scoring function using comparative molecular binding energy (COMBINE) descriptors and support vector regression (SVR). COMBINE descriptors are energy terms between the ligand molecule and each amino acid residue of the target protein. SVR is a promising nonlinear regression method based on the theory of support vector machine (SVM). In these types of regression methodology, variable selection is one of the most important issues to construct a robust and predictive quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) model. We adopted a variable selection method based on sensitivity analysis of each variable. The usefulness of the proposed method has been validated by applying to real QSAR data set, benzamidine derivatives as Trypsin inhibitors. The final SVR model could successfully identify important amino acid residues for explaining inhibitory activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most health science journals, both print and electronic, have representation in the library's OPAC. Even though there is an on-line listing of e-journals holdings (with links), users expressed a need for a single, combined list of print and electronic journal holdings within all of the affiliated libraries. Lack of current information fueled the patron's frustration when trying to locate a journal. Many times the hard copy of the union list was a year old. The best alternative to a hard copy of the journal holdings was a remotely accessible electronic listing on the Norris Medical Library's Web site. This article discusses the planning, technical requirements, development, benefits, and future of the Journal Locator project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 3D-QSAR (three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationships) studies for 88 selective COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors belonging to three chemical classes (triaryl rings, diaryl cycloalkanopyrazoles, and diphenyl hydrazides) were conducted using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA). Partial least squares analysis produced statistically significant models with q2 values of 0.84 and 0.79 for CoMFA and CoMSIA, respectively. The binding energies calculated from flexible docking were correlated with inhibitory activities by the least-squares fit method. The three chemical classes of inhibitors showed reasonable internal predictability (r2=0.51, 0.49, and 0.54), but the sulfonyl-containing inhibitors demonstrated distinctively low binding energy compared to the others. The electrostatic interaction energy between the Arg513 of the COX-2 active site and sulfonyl group of the triaryl rings seemed to have the responsibility for difference in binding energy. Comparative binding energy (COMBINE) analyses gave q2 values of 0.64, 0.63, and 0.50 for triaryl rings, diaryl cycloalkanopyrazoles, and diphenyl hydrazides, respectively. In this COMBINE model, some protein residues were highlighted as particularly important for inhibitory activity. The combination of ligand-based and structure-based models provided an improved understanding in the interaction between the three chemical classes and the COX-2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To maximize economic return from agricultural production units, costs have to be minimized and benefits maximized. For grain, kernel yield and quality have to be maximized while the use of seeds, fertilizer, herbicides and fungicides have to be optimized. The best location to evaluate productivity levels, by measuring yield and quality of grain and straw, is the combine harvester. Moreover, other grain quality characteristics like density or test weight can be determined for use as an evaluation tool. In this paper, an overview is given of the past and current research toward the evaluation of currently available commercial sensors (e.g., for measuring grain yield and grain moisture content) as well as toward the development of new sensors (e.g., grain protein content and straw yield). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many heterocyclic amines (HCA) present in cooked food exert a genotoxic activity when they are metabolised (N-oxidated) by the human cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2h). In order to rationalize the observed differences in activity of this enzyme on a series of 12 HCA, 3D-QSAR methods were applied on the basis of models of HCA–CYP1A2h complexes. The CYP1A2h enzyme model has been previously reported and was built by homology modeling based on cytochrome P450 BM3. The complexes were automatically generated applying the AUTODOCK software and refined using AMBER. A COMBINE analysis on the complexes identified the most important enzyme–ligand interactions that account for the differences in activity within the series. A GRID/GOLPE analysis was then performed on just the ligands, in the conformations and orientations found in the modeled complexes. The results from both methods were concordant and confirmed the advantages of incorporating structural information from series of ligand–receptor complexes into 3D-QSAR methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]