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The Latin American and Caribbean regions have one of the biggest cultivable areas in the world, calculated at around 576 million hectares. Nevertheless, 16% of this land its affected by a kind of soil degradation. Previous studies have shown that the vesicular- arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) can fix phosphorus and other elements to plants, is an important micronutrients transporter, increases the water potential of plants, can bioremediate the lands affected and prevents lixivation. These effects are very convenient and can replace the chemical fertilizers which produce collateral damage to the environment. For the reasons mentioned above, this prototype for the production of vesiculararbuscular mycorrhizae, denominated as a biofertilizer, is presented. The prototype consists of an aeroponic system which disperses, in aerial form, nutrients to the host/trap plant roots where the fungus produces its mycelium web. The fungus propagation consists of an artificial union of isolated and identified spores of the mycobiont ,which we want to propagate, with the trap plant roots. The specimen identification consisted in a staining and clarification method (Phillips- Hayman), and a taxonomical identification. In order to prove the (VAM) benefits, two experiments using Sorghum spp. were carried out. One consisted of a comparison between the plants with VAM and a control without VAM. The second one consisted of a chemical comparison between control/fertilizer/ VAM plants. These two experiments were subjected to a water stress test for 10 days. The prototype achieved a production of roots mycorrhizae between 50-65% of colonization. The taxonomic identification corroborated that the mycobionts propagated and the controls were the same species. Experiment One demonstrated that the mycorrhizae treatment has more height, stem diameter, fresh/dry weight than the control which doesn't have VAM. We also conducted the Student’s t Test to check the previously mentioned hypothesis. In Experiment Two, the control and fertilizer treatments had a similar percentage of Nitrogen and Potassium, and the mycorrhizae treatment significantly increased these two elements; nevertheless, the fertilizer and mycorrhizae treatment obtained a similar percentage of Phosphorous. The water stress test was for 10 days - one month after planting. The results were: the fertilizer and mycorrhizae treatment had the same resistance to the stress, the mycorrhizae recovered faster from the stress and the control specimens presented a lower shrivel percentage than the other plants. One of the principal gains which this prototype has is that the trap plant doesn't die after collection, and the plant only needs to be inoculated once in the plant’s life because we only prune the roots. In nature 90% of plant species present some type of mycorrhizae association, hence the feasibility of this prototype for introduction, use and application of the fungus as a biofertilizer. 1 Centro de Bachillerato Tecnologico Industrial y de servicios N°24 2 Instituto Tecnologico de Ciudad Victoria

One of the anthropogenic influences on the permafrost landscapes is deforestation and breach of the surface cover at the road constructions. On these areas a development of various cryogenic and postcryogenic processes and features (thermosubsidence, knobs (bilars, baydjarakhs), ravines, small lakes - djyodje) is being observed. Such features can be observed on the territory of Megino- Kangalassky Region, which is situated in the Central Yakutia, as well. During the period from 1998 to 2003 the author carried out monitoring studies of cryogenic features along three roads. Ten areas measuring twenty square metres were put in all. During 6 years of research about 1520 measurements of cryogenic formations parameters were made. Based on the results, it is concluded that elimination of the shadowing effect by trees and removal of the surface cover along the roads have caused thawing of shallow-lying ice wedges, as well as development of various cryogenic processes and features. In this paper, the author presents the basic technologies which are used in road construction in permafrost areas and, based on the research results, proposes a set of measures for rehabilitation of the roadside areas.

Successful calving is measured by the safe delivery of a healthy calf. Any factors that\r cause dystocia (difficult calving) are undesirable; as it will result in weak or dead calves, stress\r dams and a decrease in profit to the rancher. The most often identified reason for dystocia are\r calves that are too large at birth. Ranchers frequently use sires that will result in calves with\r small birth weights that will be born easy. This is especially true when breeding first calving\r heifers. The selection for small calves at birth results not only in less growth in the uterus but\r also less growth after birth, which means less beef to sell. This means ranchers try to balance\r reasonable growth and reasonable calf size when selecting their sires. Much data has been\r published on birth weight and its selection.

The purpose: is to protect the building against the fires\r The main idea: is an Automatic emergency exit.\r When fires happen, the smoking detector works, giving sound and light.(signals)\r Then the emergency Exist opens automatically.

To contribute to the feeding of the popular sector using a product of the basic basket of\r consumption and in simultaneous form to operate a natural resource, that when being combined\r will derive in a rich product in nutrients. With this project we try to offer to the population an\r innovating product, based on a food of daily but added consumption with all the nutrients of the\r nopal, of this form will be a better nutrition in the tortilla consumers. In Mexico, like in some\r countries of Central America, the maize products, like the tortilla, are the base of the popular\r feeding, its consumption is related closely to the obtaining of energy, calcium, fiber, iron and zinc,\r which usually display deficit levels in the population of the region. The contributions of the nopal\r are diverse, because it counts with some different nutritional and medicinal properties.

An exact solution to many current computational problems, such as the famous Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP), require a complete tree traversal in order to determine. This is often unfeasible, as the time complexity of the tree traversal grows exponentially with the size of the input, thus leading to an essentially computationally intractable problem. The branch and bound technique is an approach commonly used to speed this process. It entails dynamically pruning off branches of the tree in which the answer is probably not found in, hence reducing the amount of data that is needed to be traversed and the total time and resources required to perform the computation. In this paper, we introduce a new load-balancing strategy for the execution of such a branch and bound algorithm in parallel, using a three-tiered hierarchical approach, to perform fractal image compression, which is essentially a complete tree traversal problem. This novel heuristic is aimed at achieving optimal load-balancing and minimising unnecessary network traffic and bottlenecking, which functions by predicting the optimum search depth and hence controlling the coarseness of the input that is assigned to each worker node. Our scheme additionally enables us to tailor to the specifications of different clusters, as the heuristic is adjusted based on network speed and processor speed, which vary appreciably from cluster to cluster. We further discuss how to apply our method to other large tree search problems, such as the TSP and other NP-complete problems. We have also enhanced an existing load-balancing strategy outlined in Crivelli et. al. (2004, IBM Journal of Research and Development), by prioritising the reallocation of idle worker nodes such that supervisors who are in need of more help receive a larger share of the free workers.

The purpose of this project is to determine if it is possible to use Ascorbic Acid Sodium- Dependent Vitamin C Transporter Type II, SVCT2, as an effective and safe protein to attach to certain brain tumor treatments to bypass the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). Stemming from this problem, a procedure was created to use in vitro engineering with the aid of a professor at the University of Calgary to combine SVCT2 and three specific tumor treatments; Imatinib Mesylate (STI-571), Temsirolimus (CCI-779), and Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (SAHA). Following this, a metabolic barrier had to be created to simulate the BBB. To do this, the use of three enzymes were mixed and held together using specific bonds. Finally, a special bio-tracer was placed within the barrier to detect any toxic effects that may be produced. Then two trials were made with each treatment on the barrier at 34°C, 37°C, and 39°C. Once this was done observations could be made. When the newly isolated SVCT2 attaches to the three cancer treatments, they would all be able to connect and form bonds with each other. Once the incubation period is over for the first trial at 34°C, 37°C and 39°C, several things would be observed within the data. When counting the number of cells that were able to get into the engineered metabolic barrier, it could be seen that there was a dramatic increase in the number of cells in the 37°C range. SVCT2 can be a powerful tool in combating cancer. Because of its specificity, it may prove to be more advantageous over the currently used drugs which may have unwanted toxic side effects on the CNS. In the near future, SVCT2 could have the potential to be adopted as a promising therapy against cancer and certain tumors. Furthermore, SVCT2 has the potential to be applied to many situations and can be modified to fit a number of situations that deal with getting past the Blood Brain Barrier. Initially, SVCT2 was only modified with three forms of treatment for Glioblastoma Multiforme, STI-571, CCI-779, and SAHA, however there are countless other treatments that have been developed, but that are not in use due to the BBB. This project was successful in determining an appropriate temperature of 37°C for the procedure to be used. The limitations of this experiment include the fact that this experiment was performed in vitro and so complexity among individuals cannot be analyzed. However, this is an early step for the future of SVCT2 as a treatment, and clinical trials to test SVCT2 in vivo may not be too far off.

My project explores the practicality of biodiesel. It researches the argument of food versus fuel, compares the energy efficiencies of petroleum diesel and biodiesel and studies the effect of temperature on biodiesel. To study the effect of temperature on biodiesel, I blended biodiesel with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel blends are represented by the letter B, and the percentage of biodiesel. I used B5, B10, B20, and B50 blends, as well as pure biodiesel. I then observed the reaction of the biodiesel blends with cold weather. My pure biodiesel and B50 blends gelled to an unusable point within 15 minutes outside at -20oC. The B20 blends didn’t gel until about a temperature of -20oC. I have concluded that the B20 blend would be best for the summer, and the B10 or B5 blends would be the best for winter in northern climates, where I live. Although the B10 blends gelled slightly around -30oC, this would only be a problem for northern climates. As I predicted, more energy is produced by biodiesel than is consumed in the production process. The process of making biodiesel uses 0.31 units of energy to get 1 unit of energy out. More energy (1.2 units) is used to produce petroleum diesel than is yielded (1 unit). Although B20 isn’t as energy efficient as B100, the energy factor is still only 0.98 units of energy in for every 1 unit of energy out. When I started this project I thought that Canada would have enough farmland to produce the canola needed to run the country on biodiesel. This is only partly true. Canada would have enough farmland, but only a fraction of that land is actually used to plant canola. By my calculations, Canada has enough canola to generate enough B20 for a year. This may seem like a drawback but realistically, a higher blend would be impractical due to the gelling factor. Also, if a B20 blend was used, land would be available to grow canola for other markets. If B100 was used, there would only be enough diesel for about three months consumption. By using all of the land for biodiesel feedstock, canola would become unavailable for other markets. If canola exports ceased, the countries that depend on our canola will be in a lot of trouble. Canada already produces a lot of canola and vegetable oil. Most of it goes to the fast food industry. The United States produces over three billion gallons of fryer oil yearly. This could provide Canada with a B50 blend for a year. Utilizing used vegetable oil in making biodiesel actually reduces emissions even more. This is accomplished by using a product that would normally go to waste and decompose, producing more carbon dioxide emissions. During this project, I have found that biodiesel is a practical alternative to petroleum diesel, if it is used in a blend. My experiment proves that biodiesel is a fuel alternative that could be implemented immediately, and one that does not require the research needed for other fuel alternatives such as hydrogen or electricity.