Superior Levels Research Articles

Can higher education admission be more equitable? Evidence supporting the inclusion of relative ranking in the process

Many higher education systems require students to take admission exams, which are considered good predictors of academic performance. However, in Latin America, their use has been criticised for promoting socioeconomic segregation and favouring students of higher socioeconomic levels. This research complements the higher education admission process by using alternative measures of relative performance that promote greater equity in the system and allow access to higher education for more vulnerable sectors. A longitudinal study of students in Chile taking the University Selection Test (P.S.U.) and estimations of ordinary least squares (O.L.S.) in two stages were conducted. We found that the use of new measures of performance allows those more vulnerable students from public schools to reach equal and/or superior levels of relative performance than their peers from private schools. The practical implications of this research relate to recognising that good students can also attend public schools and that those students who have the capability can enter higher education, independent of their economic situations.

Hazard Recognition Patterns Demonstrated by Construction Workers.

Construction workers fail to recognize a large number of safety hazards. These unrecognized safety hazards can lead to unintended hazard exposure and tragic safety incidents. Unfortunately, traditional hazard recognition interventions (e.g., job hazard analyses and safety training) have been unable to tackle the industry-wide problem of poor hazard recognition levels. In fact, emerging evidence has demonstrated that traditional hazard recognition interventions have been designed without a proper understanding of the challenges workers experience during hazard recognition efforts. Interventions and industry-wide efforts designed based on a more thorough understanding of these challenges can yield substantial benefits—including superior hazard recognition levels and lower injury rates. Towards achieving this goal, the current investigation focused on identifying hazard categories that workers are more proficient in recognizing and others that they are less proficient in recognizing (i.e., hazard recognition patterns). For the purpose of the current study, hazards were classified on the basis of the energy source per Haddon’s energy release theory (e.g., gravity, motion, electrical, chemical, etc.). As part of the study, 287 workers representing 57 construction workplaces in the United States were engaged in a hazard recognition activity. Apart from confirming previous research findings that workers fail to recognize a disproportionate number of safety hazards, the results demonstrate that the workers are more proficient in recognizing certain hazard types. More specifically, the workers on average recognized roughly 47% of the safety hazards in the gravity, electrical, motion, and temperature hazard categories while only recognizing less than 10% of the hazards in the pressure, chemical, and radiation hazard categories. These findings can inform the development of more robust interventions and industry-wide initiatives to tackle the issue of poor hazard recognition levels in the construction industry.

The Current Status of COVID-19 Vaccines.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has substantially accelerated the demands for efficient vaccines. A wide spectrum of approaches includes live attenuated and inactivated viruses, protein subunits and peptides, viral vector-based delivery, DNA plasmids, and synthetic mRNA. Preclinical studies have demonstrated robust immune responses, reduced viral loads and protection against challenges with SARS-CoV-2 in rodents and primates. Vaccine candidates based on all delivery systems mentioned above have been subjected to clinical trials in healthy volunteers. Phase I clinical trials have demonstrated in preliminary findings good safety and tolerability. Evaluation of immune responses in a small number of individuals has demonstrated similar or superior levels of neutralizing antibodies in comparison to immunogenicity detected in COVID-19 patients. Both adenovirus- and mRNA-based vaccines have entered phase II and study protocols for phase III trials with 30,000 participants have been finalized.

Local and systemic immune mediators of Morada Nova lambs with divergent Haemonchus contortus resistance phenotypes.

Local and systemic immune mediators of Morada Nova lambs with divergent Haemonchus contortus resistance phenotypes were evaluated. Lambs were ranked through faecal egg counts (FEC) after two parasitic challenges with 4,000 H.contortus L3 . After the second challenge, the lambs underwent a third artificial infection and were euthanized 7days later. Immune-related genes were quantified locally in abomasal mucosa and lymph nodes (CD4, IFNγ, IL4, IL5, IL13, IL2RA and MS4A2) and systemically in the whole blood (IL4 and IL13). Anti-H. contortus IgG and IgA antibodies and eosinophils and mast cells counts were also investigated. Resistant animals presented higher systemic IgG and IgA titres, both negatively correlated with FEC. Susceptible animals had higher blood levels of IL4 transcripts. At the local level, resistant lambs had higher eosinophils counts and superior MS4A2 levels in abomasal fundic mucosa, besides higher IgA levels in abomasal mucus, while susceptible lamb had superior IL4 expression in abomasal lymph nodes. These data indicate that resistant lambs had an immune response mediated by antibody-mediated cytotoxicity. Also, the systemic humoral profile, particularly IgA isotype, seems to be a good resistance marker for Morada Nova sheep, as we found differences between groups even when FEC did not differ.

59. Does attachment of the dorsolumbar fascia to a spinous process prosthesis affect kinematics at the operative and adjacent levels? An in vitro human cadaveric model

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Postlaminectomy kyphosis, disc herniations, and/or spondylolisthesis are documented complications following multilevel laminectomy. Removal of the spinous processes and ligaments in multilevel laminectomy disrupts the normal kinematics of the spine, increase segmental motion and risk of “hypermobility-related” complications. The current study utilized a novel testing methodology, where specimens retained all local paraspinal muscle, dorsolumbar fascia and skin layers, to quantify multidirectional flexibility properties of the lumbar spine following destabilization, reconstruction of the posterior arch and reattachment of the posterior fascia to a spinous process prosthesis (SP-P). PURPOSE The purpose of the current investigation was to quantify changes in multidirectional flexibility at the operative and adjacent lumbar motion segments following multilevel laminectomy and implantation of a spinous process prosthesis. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING In vitro human cadaveric model and multidirectional flexibility testing. PATIENT SAMPLE Not applicable. OUTCOME MEASURES Not applicable. METHODS Eight lumbopelvic spines (T9-sacrum) were utilized in this investigation. Specimens retained all paraspinal musculature, ligaments, fascia and skin layers. Multidirectional flexibility testing included pure moment loading at ±10Nm in flexion-extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation. Following analysis of the intact spine, treatment groups included: (1) L2-L4 laminectomy without fascia closure, (2) L2-L4 laminectomy with fascia closure, and (3) L2-L4 SP-P (n=3 prostheses) attached to pedicle screws with fascia closure to the prostheses with suture. Range of motion (ROM) at the superior adjacent (T12-L2), operative (L2-L5), and inferior adjacent (L5-S1) levels was compared using a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance and Bonferroni post hoc test. Significance was indicated at p≤0.05. RESULTS There were no significant changes in ROM at the superior or inferior adjacent levels between reconstructions under any loading modality. For the operative L2-L5 levels, flexion-extension motion was significantly greater for the laminectomy (156.57±38.89%) and laminectomy with fascia closure (147.11±35.93%) reconstructions compared to intact. The laminectomy reconstruction also demonstrated significantly greater lateral bending motion (110.65±6.43%) compared to intact. In axial rotation, the laminectomy (157.95±18.27%), laminectomy with fascia closure (160.54±21.39%), and SP-P (159.36±18.38%) reconstructions observed greater motion when compared to intact (p CONCLUSIONS Re-establishing the posterior arch and attachment to a spinous process prosthesis restored flexion-extension motion at the operative levels following multilevel laminectomy. The results add value to the concept of robust closure of posterior dorsolumbar layers and stress the importance of preserving or replacing the posterior arch to decrease operative level motion. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS Crosslink (Approved for this indication).

Radiologic evaluation of the mastoid segment of the facial nerve tract in the intact temporal bone.

To localize the facial nerve course in the mastoid segment and to measure its distances relative to the tympanic membrane. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. During 2019 in a tertiary hospital, 129 non-contrast and non-pathologic temporal CT images were studied in a tertiary hospital. Facial nerve distances were measured from the planes passing through the annulus in the axial cross-sections at superior, umbo, and inferior levels of the tympanic membrane. It was done in two different dimensions which are anteroposterior (toward the plane of the ear canal wall) and mediolateral (toward the plane of the tympanic membrane). The least mean anteroposterior distance between the facial nerve and the posterior ear canal wall was at the level of umbo (3.66 ± 0.76mm). The nearest point of the nerve toward the tympanic membrane was the inferior level (-0.03 ± 0.81mm). Overall external ear canal lengths were statistically significantly lower in women rather than men. There was a reverse correlation between the age and the ear canal length. Posterior canalplasty seems to be safe unless dissection does not cross the plane of annulus. In this study, the safe margin was 1.4mm in posterior canal wall drilling. It also should be performed carefully if it extends to the inferior side of the canal. Measuring the mediolateral dimension of the nerve toward the annulus in the axial CT images seems to be practically beneficial, especially in the inferior where the ear canal wall turns and might not act as a good landmark. Paying attention to this plane may reduce the risks of nerve injury in any procedures with transcanal approaches, particularly in inferior canaloplasty.

Abstract 4571: Development of glycoconjugate based anticancer immunotherapy

Abstract Tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) are attractive targets for the development of anticancer immunotherapy. Mucin-1 (MUC1) is a representative member of the TACA family. Naturally existing MUC1 can contain multiple types of O-linked glycans, including the Thomsen-Friedenreich (Tf) antigen and the Sialyl Thomsen-nouveau (STn) antigen. In order to target these antigens as potential anti-cancer vaccines, MUC1 glycopeptides SAPDT*RPAP (T* is the glycosylation site) bearing the Tf and the STn antigen respectively have been synthesized. Bacteriophage Qβ carrier is a powerful carrier for antigen delivery. The conjugates of MUC1-Tf and -STn glycopeptides with Qβ were utilized to immunize the immune-tolerant human MUC1 transgenic (MUC1.Tg) mice, which elicited superior levels of anti-MUC1 IgG antibodies with titers reaching over 2 million units. The IgG antibodies recognized a wide range of MUC1 glycopeptides bearing diverse glycans. Antibodies induced by Qβ-MUC1-Tf showed strongest binding with MUC1 expressing melanoma B16-MUC1 cells and effectively killed these cells in vitro. Vaccination with Qβ-MUC1-Tf first followed by tumor challenge in a lung metastasis model showed significant reductions of the number of tumor foci in the lungs of immunized mice as compared to those in control mice. This was the first time that MUC1-Tf based vaccine has shown in vivo efficacy in a tumor model. As such, Qβ-MUC1 glycopeptide conjugates have great potentials as anti-cancer vaccines. Citation Format: Xuefei Huang. Development of glycoconjugate based anticancer immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 4571.

A Novel Clinical Consideration to Conserve Parenteral Fentanyl During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A Novel Clinical Consideration to Conserve Parenteral Fentanyl During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The smoking economic control across the primary health services

Background: Primary health services play a decisive role for the social policy about health attention. This Public Health level attends the largest patient’s numbers. The economy resources are always limited. Smoking carries to higher spend from the Public Health agree with the tobacco consumption and the smokers’ number. Then, the economic smoking control since the primary health services must be a priority for the health policy. Objective: To describe the primary public health server in the economic smoking control. Materials and methods: Theoric methods: comparative, inductive – deductive. Empiric methods: bibliographic research. Results: The primary public health server must be agree with capability and limitations from the public health level where works. Thus should be possible optimizate the patiens number applying for health services in superior levels. Conclusions: The smoking economic control across the primary public health services carries to reduce the smoking economic impact over the financial management for the Public Health.

Using Self-Nanoemulsifying System to Improve Oral Bioavailability of a Pediatric Antiepileptic Agent Stiripentol: Formulation and Pharmacokinetics Studies

This study aimed to develop a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for poorly water-soluble drug stiripentol (STP) with enhanced oral bioavailability. Optimal excipients were selected by constructing pseudo-ternary phase diagrams using determined solubilities of STP, and then the proper composition of SNEDDS was investigated by employing a central composite design method. The optimized SNEDDS was composed of oil (ethyl oleate 39.61%), surfactant (Cremophor® RH 40 43.18%), co-surfactant (1,2-propanediol 17.21%), and STP of 50mg/mL. The hydrodynamic size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index (PDI) were found to be 45.52 ± 1.99nm, - 21.67 ± 0.24mV, and 0.076 ± 0.011, respectively. The optimized STP-SNEDDS showed good stability in accelerated and dilution stability studies. It was also helpful to suppress STP degradation in acidic solution. Compared with STP suspension, STP-SNEDDS presented much faster dissolution rate. STP-SNEDDS successfully resulted in superior levels of Cmax and AUC0 → 6 h (4048.38 ± 704.54μg/L and 7754.58 ± 1489.37hμg/L, respectively) to STP suspension (1894.09 ± 1077.64μg/L and 3556.93 ± 2470.01hμg/L, respectively). The relative oral bioavailability of STP was 218.01%. The brain biodistribution studies showed that STP-SNEDDS presented significantly higher STP concentrations in the brain at 0.5h and 1h than that of STP suspension after administration. These findings indicated that a SNEDDS-based oral formulation of STP would be helpful for increasing its therapeutic potential.

Damming reduced the functional richness and caused the shift to a new functional state of the phytoplankton in a subtropical region

We analyzed the effect of damming on the temporal patterns of the composition and richness of phytoplankton Reynolds functional groups (RFG) from a subtropical floodplain, together with its drivers. We obtained data of environmental factors and presence–absence of RFG from sites at both a dammed and a non-dammed region, sampled at least twice a year for 19 years. Since damming decreases the effect of flooding in floodplains, as it isolates adjacent environments, changes environmental conditions, and decreases its temporal variation, we tested if, over time, damming could (i) decrease the richness, (ii) shift the functional structure, (iii) increase the spatial turnover, and (iv) decrease the within-year turnover. Only the dammed region showed changes over time, with a decrease in the richness and the shift to a new functional state, represented by flagellates. The low influence of flooding seemed to be the main driver of these changes by allowing the increase in nutrients (with negative effect on richness) and limiting the arrival of organisms from distant sites. By shifting the functional structure and causing the loss of RFGs, damming could trigger changes in the ecological interactions of floodplains and negatively affect the energy flux from the phytoplankton to superior trophic levels.

Derivation of clinical-grade mesenchymal stromal cells from umbilical cord under chemically defined culture condition – platform for future clinical application

The use of animal serum in culture medium brings safety concerns and batch-to-batch variability, and thus may restrict the clinical use of ex vivo expanded mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). Clinically compliant MSCs should be developed in adherence to serum-free, xeno-free and chemically defined medium (S&XFM-CD). In this study, we develop a S&XFM-CD by replacing all serum components with synthetic alternatives for the derivation of clinical-grade umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCMSCs). The critical aspects including characterization, safety concerns, potency and exogenous factors contamination risk of UCMSCs in S&XFM-CD are compared with serum-containing medium (SCM). UCMSCs in S&XFM-CD retain fibroblastic-like morphology and immunophenotype of MSCs, and exhibit superior clone efficiency, proliferation capacity, and osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation potential compared with SCM. Moreover, UCMSCs in S&XFM-CD retain similar immunosuppressive potential, and exhibit superior secretion levels of bFGF, PDGF-BB and IGF-1 compared with SCM. In addition, UCMSCs in S&XFM-CD do not undergo transformation, preserve the normal karyotypes and genomic stability, and are less prone to senescence process after long-term in vitro culture, which conforms to the current guidance of international and national evaluation standard. The S&XFM-CD developed here may serve as a GMP-grade production platform of UCMSCs for future clinical application.

Biomarkers predicting oncological outcomes of high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and the Spanish Urological Club for Oncological Treatment (CUETO) scoring systems show limited accuracy for the prediction of disease recurrence and progression of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This aspect is even more relevant in the category of HR NMIBC. Biomarkers might potentially help to further categorize the outcomes of these patients. Therefore, we sought to review the evidence available on tissue-based, urinary, and serum biomarkers for the prediction of recurrence, progression, and survival in HR NMIBC. A systematic literature review without time restrictions was performed using PubMed/EMBASE, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Libraries. The search was filtered for articles in the English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish languages, involving patients with more than 18 years of age. Relevant papers on tissue-based, serum and urinary biomarkers related to the prediction of oncological outcomes for high-risk bladder cancer patients were included in the analyses. Overall, 71 studies were eligible for inclusion in this review. The majority of the investigations performed so far focused on immunohistochemical analyses on tumoral tissue. Overall, p53 was the most studied biomarker, but results regarding its prognostic and predictive role were contradictory. Ki67 seems to be a promising biomarker in the prediction of recurrence. Recently, PD-L1 has been associated with the prediction of recurrence free survival and of treatment-refractory disease. Markers developed un urine samples are focused on commercially available kits, which currently do not unequivocally show strongly superior levels of accuracy to cytology. However, they have demonstrated to be potentially helpful in the prediction of recurrence. Blood-based biomarkers represent an emerging reality with promising future applications. Despite a long history of attempts to discover accurate biomarkers predicting oncological outcomes for HR NMIBC, contradictory or uncertain findings render the adoption of this ancillary techniques in clinical practice still unlikely. Future attempts should be directed to the development of prospective trials and the definition of standardized cut-off levels to render findings worthy of comparison.

Resisted Sprint Velocity in Female Soccer Players: Influence of Physical Capacities

This study aimed to examine the effects of different sled overloads on maximum sprint velocity achieved by female soccer players with different strength, speed, and power levels. Twenty elite female soccer players from the same club participated. On the same day, athletes performed: linear and resisted-sprint tests with 30 and 60 % of body-mass over 5-, 10-, and 20-m; half-squat maximum bar-power output, and half-squat one-repetition maximum assessment. A median split analysis was used to divide players into two groups according to their velocity, half-squat one-repetition maximum, and half-squat power. Differences in percentage decreases between unresisted- and resisted-sprints comparing higher and lower groups were analyzed using magnitude-based inferences. Overall, the stronger, faster, and more powerful players were less affected by both loads, as demonstrated by their lower decreases in velocity over the different distances. However, half-squat power appeared to be more sensitive for indicating impairments in resisted-sprint performance, due to meaningful differences in percentage decreases observed between higher and lower power groups. Notably, overloads of 30 and 60% of body-mass provoked substantial reductions in resisted-sprint velocity (~22.9% for 30% and ~51.4% for 60% of body-mass, relative to unresisted-sprint velocity). Athletes with superior power levels are less affected by the progressive sled overloading.

Tackling Weaknesses in Students’ Financial Analysis Capabilities: A Value-Based Exercise for Strategic Management Courses

Appraising firm performance is an important aspect of the strategic management process. Unfortunately, many students in strategic management courses do not have adequate financial analysis skills to do this task. This deficiency affects their ability to learn and perform the full scope of the strategic management process. This article presents an exercise designed to address this challenge. The exercise emphasizes the central objective of strategic management, that is, the achievement of superior levels of creating and capturing value. The brief lesson and exercise enable students to use simple accounting metrics to appraise the quality of a firm’s current strategy, execution capabilities, and resulting competitive position. Primarily for undergraduate courses in which numerous students are challenged by quantitative analysis tasks, this exercise alleviates the need for instructors to invest an inordinate amount of time reteaching financial analysis.

Developing construction hazard recognition skill: leveraging safety climate and social network safety communication patterns

Poor hazard recognition skill is a widespread issue in the construction industry. Therefore, an understanding of factors that influence the development of hazard recognition skill among workers is fundamental to effective safety management. Based on social learning theory which suggests that individuals learn efficiently by observing, interacting, and emulating others in workplaces, the current article reports findings from a larger study that examined the effect of safety climate and social-network safety communication patterns on the hazard recognition skill demonstrated by workers. More specifically, building upon previously reported findings presented in Pandit et al. which suggests that maintaining a more positive safety climate can lead to superior hazard recognition levels, the current article presents additional results examining the effect of safety climate and social-network safety communication patterns—maintained by workers—on the demonstrated hazard recognition skill. The study involved recruiting construction crews from 57 projects in the United States where safety climate and social-network safety communication data were gathered using questionnaire surveys—which was then followed by a hazard recognition activity. The results suggest that, apart from the safety climate, social-network safety communication patterns are positively related to the demonstrated hazard recognition skill. In addition, evidence of an interaction effect was found—suggesting that establishing a positive safety climate and maintaining higher levels of safety communication can yield synergistic benefits.

Creative Communication Safe Ethical Artificial Intelligence in the Era of Technological Development

God created the universe by images. Man also carries out creative activity by imagined and descriptive images. Creative artificial intelligence can already create paintings, compose poems and prose. That is, he can imagine and depict virtual animated and inanimate images. Creative artificial intelligence can also endow virtual images with information and process active communications that are safe for their environment. That is, make them active. Intelligent communicative-associative artificial intelligence combines information and active communications. Digital doubles and robots with artificial intelligence can embody virtual images with information, process active and safe communications in real participants in the social life of a technocratic civilization by self-organizing ensembles of intellectual agents with collective synergistic interaction. An ensemble of intelligent virtual agents can simultaneously interact with several external environments, conduct several dialogues and perform many skills, that is, can have collective knowledge and skill and behavior. The author, in this article, proposes a synergistic approach to the formation of technological ensembles of intelligent virtual agents. The synergistic approach created reference positions for the development of a new promising area of informatics. A synergistic approach establishes the relationships and from the image of conjugated system phenomena. It uses tools, approaches, and methodology to reasonably transfer the results of subsystem research, parts, and sections to their integral integrated and hierarchically superior system levels. The synergy approach shows the most important role of resonant phenomena of the states of information systems. The synergistic principle provides a single basis for self-organization. The stage of self-organization occurs only in the case of positive feedback. A synergistic approach allows you to implement the self-organization of intelligent virtual agents of the technological ensemble. Technological self-organizing collective ensembles are able to interact with production teams, replace them for some time and even completely release them in various fields of professional activity. Technological collective ensembles can manage industries, make decisions in difficult changing circumstances and ensure safety in extreme conditions.

Influence of Oxygen Supply on Growth and Laccases Production by Pleurotus sajor-caju PS-2001 in Submerged Process

(1) Background: Oxygen supply is an important parameter to be considered in submerged cultures. This study evaluated the influence of different conditions for dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration on laccases activities and growth of Pleurotus sajor-caju PS-2001 in submerged process in stirred-tank bioreactor. (2) Methods: Initially, three different conditions were tested: uncontrolled DO and minimum levels of 30% and 80% of saturation, with the pH controlled between 4.5 and 7.0. (3) Results: Best results were observed at 30% DO (26 U mL-1 of laccases at 96 h), whereas higher mycelial biomass was observed at 30% and 80% DO (above 4.5 g L-1). Four different conditions of DO (uncontrolled, 10%, 30% and 50% of saturation) were tested at pH 6.5, with higher laccases activity (80 U mL-1 at 66 h) and lower mycelial growth (1.36 g L-1 at 90 h) being achieved with DO of 30%. In this test, the highest values for volumetric productivity and specific yield factor were determined. Under the different pH conditions tested, the production of laccases is favoured at DO concentration of 30% of saturation, while superior DO levels favours fungal growth. (4) Conclusion: The results indicate that dissolved oxygen concentration is a critical factor for the culture of P. sajor-caju PS-2001 and has important effects not only on laccases production but also on fungal growth.

Technology Self-organizing Ensembles of Intelligent Agents with Collective Synergetic Interaction

Technological collective ensembles are one of the new promising areas of artificial intelligence, which was formed on the basis of research results in the field of distributed computer systems, network technologies for solving problems, agents and systems with artificial intelligence and parallel computing. Ensemble of intelligent virtual agents can simultaneously interact with several external environments, conduct several dialogues and perform many skills, that is, can have collective knowledge and skills and behavior. The author, in this article, proposes a synergistic approach to the formation of technological ensembles of intelligent virtual agents. The synergistic approach created reference positions for the development of a new promising area of informatics. Synergistic approach establishes the relationships and from the image of conjugated system phenomena. It uses tools, approaches, and methodology to reasonably transfer the results of subsystem research, parts, and sections to their integral integrated and hierarchically superior system levels. The synergetic approach shows the most important role of resonant phenomena of the states of information systems. The synergistic principle provides a single basis for self-organization. The stage of self-organization occurs only in the case of positive feedback. Synergistic approach allows you to implement the self-organization of intelligent virtual agents of the technological ensemble. Technological self-organizing collective ensembles are able to interact with production teams, replace them for some time and even completely release them in various fields of professional activity. Technological collective ensembles can manage industries, make decisions in difficult changing circumstances and ensure safety in extreme conditions.

Nutritional Profile of Grains and Dhals of Certain Promising Varieties of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Green Gram (Vigna radiata L.)

Grains of promising varieties of chickpea and green gram were analyzed to depict the relative nutritional status of their whole grains and dhal as affected by processing treatment. No single variety in both the groups was found to possess superior levels of all the nutritional characteristics, however, variety KGD 1168 of chickpea and T44 of green gram were found noticeable in certain characteristics having direct bearing on their nutritional status. Significant varietal differences were observed in oil, protein, methionine and tryptophan content in both chickpea and green gram. Compared to whole grains, dhal samples of both chickpea and green gram varieties possessed superior nutritional status in having considerably higher levels of oil, protein, methionine and tryptophan with significantly lower levels of polyphenols. With the exception of oil content, green gram varieties were found significantly superior to chickpea in all the nutritional characteristics.