The declining wage share, rising inequality and increased cost of living observed across the developed world has recently shifted attention to "decent" income levels beyond minimum subsistence or market-clearing rates (Werner and Lim, 2016) . This broader notion relates to quality-of-life and the ILO's conception of "decent work", which is also linked to work intensification and insecurity (Fleurbaey, 2015) . In this context, a "living wage" (LW) is usually defined in terms of enabling meaningful participation in society beyond mere survival through, for example, recreation, supporting a family and saving against future risks (Clary, 2009; Ryan, 1996) . Implicit in this notion of a LW is that not only is there an income level below which people risk further deprivation; above a certain threshold, there should be a qualitative upward shift in human freedom and capability . This broader perspective of a LW also recognises the impact of work-related factors on workers' well-being (Waltman, 2004) . Perceptions of workplace equity and justice, job satisfaction and life satisfaction generally can be regarded as indicators of human "thriving" that are theoretically enabled by a LW (Carr, Parker, Arrowsmith, Watters and Jones, 2016) .

The declining wage share, rising inequality and increased cost of living observed across the developed world has recently shifted attention to "decent" income levels beyond minimum subsistence or market-clearing rates.

This broader notion relates to quality-of-life and the ILO's conception of "decent work", which is also linked to work intensification and insecurity.

In this context, a "living wage" (LW) is usually defined in terms of enabling meaningful participation in society beyond mere survival through, for example, recreation, supporting a family and saving against future risks.

This broader perspective of a LW also recognises the impact of work-related factors on workers' well-being.

Perceptions of workplace equity and justice, job satisfaction and life satisfaction generally can be regarded as indicators of human "thriving" that are theoretically enabled by a LW.


This is the first study showing that the DTI and the OTT for radiotherapy in Indonesia are extended compared to international standards. This can be an explanation for the poor treatment outcome of NPC in Yogyakarta. At present, the answer to locally advanced NPC, which is one of the most common cancers in Indonesia, is concurrent chemo-radiation. Chemotherapy can be administered in most well equipped hospitals within Indonesia, whereas radiotherapy for most patients is limited. In several centres radiotherapy can be administered according to international standards, but the scarcity makes this only available for a very limited number of patients. In 2008 there were 25 units (accelerator and cobalt) available in Indonesia with a population of 229 million, whereas 6 were under commission, resulting in 0.13 units per million inhabitants [14] . This is in stark contrast with Europe, where in high-resource countries 5.5 accelerators are available per million inhabitants, 3.5 in medium-resource countries, and 2 per million in low resource countries [15] . The recommended number of treatment units per population differs widely; European guidelines recommend on average 5.9 units per million inhabitants [16, 17] .

In 2008 there were 25 units (accelerator and cobalt) available in Indonesia with a population of 229 million, whereas 6 were under commission, resulting in 0.13 units per million inhabitants.

This is in stark contrast with Europe, where in high-resource countries 5.5 accelerators are available per million inhabitants, 3.5 in medium-resource countries, and 2 per million in low resource countries.

The recommended number of treatment units per population differs widely; European guidelines recommend on average 5.9 units per million inhabitants.


Literature and theoretical framework Theory of planned behaviour Past literature showed; intentions have been recognized as the best forecaster for planned behaviors. This is found highly true if behaviors are infrequent, hard to recognize and scarce (Krueger et al., 2000) . These attributes are also one of the characteristics of entrepreneurship, which is considered as an intended and deliberated behavior (Bird, 1988) .

This is found highly true if behaviors are infrequent, hard to recognize and scarce.

These attributes are also one of the characteristics of entrepreneurship, which is considered as an intended and deliberated behavior.


The early researches have indicated personality attributes as the only determinants for EI. Prior research mainly focused on predating EI with the help of certain personality traits; however, later on, the inclusion of individual difference (such as achievement motivation) came forth to investigate the EI through cognitive and social psychological models such as theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Fayolle et al., 2014; Krueger, 2017) . This has initiated the debate that prediction of EI through personality trait is subject to some mediating variable such as perceptional and motivational factors (Baum et al., 2001) . However, the role of mediating factors for entrepreneurship has remained undisclosed in the literature (Rauch and Frese, 2007) .

Prior research mainly focused on predating EI with the help of certain personality traits; however, later on, the inclusion of individual difference (such as achievement motivation) came forth to investigate the EI through cognitive and social psychological models such as theory of planned behavior (TPB).

This has initiated the debate that prediction of EI through personality trait is subject to some mediating variable such as perceptional and motivational factors.

However, the role of mediating factors for entrepreneurship has remained undisclosed in the literature.


Organic materials exhibit poor contrast in TEM due to their low Z number and fairly uniform densities [2] . Energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) is an increasingly common method for enhancing contrast in organic materials. This is accomplished by introducing a post-specimen energy window that only allows electrons having a specific range of energies form the image [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] . The motivation behind the use of this technique is that the different materials within the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) have plasmon losses at different energies. For example, in the P3HT/PCBM system, positioning the energy window at 19 eV will cause the P3HT to brighten and the PCBM to darken. Positioning an energy window at 30 eV will cause the PCBM to brighten and the P3HT to darken [6] . Hence, an artificially colored composite of these two images provides a clear contrast between the components.

Organic materials exhibit poor contrast in TEM due to their low Z number and fairly uniform densities.

This is accomplished by introducing a post-specimen energy window that only allows electrons having a specific range of energies form the image.

Positioning an energy window at 30 eV will cause the PCBM to brighten and the P3HT to darken.


In geophysical fluid mechanics, there have been many attempts to describe the rheological behavior of natural materials [22, 125] . However, since rheometrical experiments are no way easy, scientists have to use proxy procedures to characterize the rheological behavior of natural materials. Interpreting the traces of past events (e.g., shape of deposits), running small-scale experiments with materials mimicking the behavior of natural materials, and making analogies with idealized materials are common approaches to this issue. Because of a lack of experimental validation, there are many points of contention within the different communities working on geophysical flows.

In geophysical fluid mechanics, there have been many attempts to describe the rheological behavior of natural materials.


It is worth noting that in fluid rheology, the question of plasticity boils down to the definition of yield stress and most viscoplastic laws are given in a scalar form and are valid for simpleshear flows. Since Prager's and Oldroy's derivation, little work has been done on the tensorial formulation of constitutive equations for viscoplastic materials and the notion of yield surface (i.e., the three-dimensional generalization of the yield stress in a stress space) [96] . To a large extent, this can be explained by how difficult it is with fluids to properly run experiments in flow geometries other than simple-shear flows. The other reason is that it was not until the 1980s that it was possible to carry out experiments at very low shear rates and thus to explore the solid/fluid transition [29] .

Since Prager's and Oldroy's derivation, little work has been done on the tensorial formulation of constitutive equations for viscoplastic materials and the notion of yield surface (i.e., the three-dimensional generalization of the yield stress in a stress space).

The other reason is that it was not until the 1980s that it was possible to carry out experiments at very low shear rates and thus to explore the solid/fluid transition.


To return to our hypotheses, we find considerable evidence that fit is important: strategic, organizational and in the form of line manager perceptions. Our findings support the idea that a contingent, as against a best practice, approach to management development systems confers competitive advantage through enhanced organizational performance. As such a properly aligned, and therefore distinctive and idiosyncratic, management development system represents a core capability (Becker and Gerhart, 1996) . The fact that these findings take into account the various institutional, cultural and macroeconomic influences of six national settings, as well as the impact of sector, firm size and sales turnover of the firms in our sample, underlines not only the robustness of our findings, but also their broad applicability. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that investing in properly configured management development represents a worthwhile investment for European firms in general. However, we do not underestimate the challenge of creating a consistent, longer term and strategic approach to fitting management development. Indeed one should construe our findings as a warning to managers that there are no off-the-shelf 'quickfixes'.

As such a properly aligned, and therefore distinctive and idiosyncratic, management development system represents a core capability.


Moving to the next level of the model, it is no surprise to find that having management development systems or 'best practices' in place significantly enhances the likelihood of Organizational Fit. This is presumably because the setting up of MD systems stimulates reflection on how such investment might be deployed in order to yield strategic impact and it would be difficult to mobilize a progressive and sustained approach to management development without them. However, this relationship is not reciprocated: the presence of organizational fit does not necessarily or significantly lead to the formal installation of management development systems. We also find a positive causal path from Organizational Fit to Perceived Importance, and then from this to Organizational Performance. Noticeable is the absence of a link between MD systems and Perceived Importance. This is a striking result, which exposes the critical links in the chain between a firm's HR investment in managers and its performance. In short, management development systems appear to be necessary but not sufficient. Indeed, it is conceivable that too much management development activity could actually be construed as counter-productive by various organizational stakeholders. For example, line managers may feel encumbered, poorly equipped and/or rewarded for devoting time to appraising, planning and assessing the development of their team (Shipton and Shackleton, 1998) . For their part, top managers may form the view that such activities are costly and diverting time and effort away from immediate business concerns; and HR specialists may lament the frequent changes in strategic priorities, which undermine successive attempts to embed learning into organizational routines as a way of life (Ashton et al., 1975; Mueller, 1996) .

For example, line managers may feel encumbered, poorly equipped and/or rewarded for devoting time to appraising, planning and assessing the development of their team.

For their part, top managers may form the view that such activities are costly and diverting time and effort away from immediate business concerns; and HR specialists may lament the frequent changes in strategic priorities, which undermine successive attempts to embed learning into organizational routines as a way of life.


The survival advantage for hormone receptor-negative cancers is greater for screening detection due to downstaging than for hormone receptor-positive cancers [14] . A current study regarding breast cancer mortality from the USA shows that both screening as well as treatment influence the decrease in breast cancerspecific mortality with variations for the subtypes. The relative influence of screening compared to treatment is higher for triple-negative cancers than for other subtypes [14] . In certain high-risk groups for aggressive cancers such as gene mutation carriers, a shorter time interval between early detection examinations of less than two years has become established [5] .

The survival advantage for hormone receptor-negative cancers is greater for screening detection due to downstaging than for hormone receptor-positive cancers.

The relative influence of screening compared to treatment is higher for triple-negative cancers than for other subtypes.

In certain high-risk groups for aggressive cancers such as gene mutation carriers, a shorter time interval between early detection examinations of less than two years has become established.


The adverse effects of hypoglycemic drugs and insulin and the excessive cost of these medications can be mentioned as some disadvantages regarding the diabetes treatment, which stimulate the search for new therapeutic agents that present safety, effectiveness and low cost. Nowadays, there is growing trend towards using herbal preparations and/or derivatives in traditional and complementary medicine to treat diabetes symptoms (Yeh et al., 2003) . In this way, it has been crescent the interest of current ethnopharmacological research to investigate the plants species with antihyperglycemic effect, focusing in the evaluation of the effi cacy and safety of plant preparations for diabetes treatment, as well as the mechanisms of action that explain their antidiabetic activities (Kawashita & Baviera, 2010; Prabhakar & Doble, 2011) .

Nowadays, there is growing trend towards using herbal preparations and/or derivatives in traditional and complementary medicine to treat diabetes symptoms.

In this way, it has been crescent the interest of current ethnopharmacological research to investigate the plants species with antihyperglycemic effect, focusing in the evaluation of the effi cacy and safety of plant preparations for diabetes treatment, as well as the mechanisms of action that explain their antidiabetic activities.


ONCRETE properties are considerably dependent of temperature and humidity especially during the curing period. The objectives of curing are to keep concrete saturated or nearly saturated to get the products of hydration of cement. The temperature of curing and the duration of moist curing are the key factors for proper curing [1] .

The temperature of curing and the duration of moist curing are the key factors for proper curing.


Generally, concrete properties and durability are influenced by curing condition which greatly affects the hydration of cement. The hydration of cement virtually ceases when the relative humidity within capillaries drops below 80% [2] . Under an efficient curing method such as water curing, the relative humidity is above 80%, enabling the hydration of cement to continue [3] . Conversely, the concrete specimens lose water or moisture through evaporation and become dry in the absence of proper curing. When hydration stops, sufficient calcium silicate hydrate cannot develop from the reaction of cement compounds and water. Calcium silicate hydrate is the major strengthproviding reaction product of cement hydration [3] . It also acts as a porosity reducer and thereby results in a dense microstructure in concrete. Therefore, an efficient curing is inevitable to prevent the moisture movement or evaporation of water from concrete surface. This can be accomplished by keeping the concrete element completely saturated or as much saturated as possible until the water-filled spaces are substantially reduced by hydration products [4] . As the reactions proceed, the products of the cement hydration process gradually bond together the individual sand and gravel particles, and other components of the concrete, to form a solid mass. The chemical reaction that occurs is as follows: Cement chemist notation: C 3 S + H→ C-S-H + CH The hydration process begins in the mixer and continues throughout the time the concrete reaches its ultimate strength. The rate of hydration is controlled by the quality and quantities of the cementitious materials present in the mix as well as by the environmental temperature and the availability of moisture in the mix [1] . Ultimately the concrete can achieve higher strength and greater resistance to physical or chemical attacks in aggressive environments. Therefore, a suitable curing method is essential in order to produce strong and durable concrete [5] .

The hydration of cement virtually ceases when the relative humidity within capillaries drops below 80%.

Under an efficient curing method such as water curing, the relative humidity is above 80%, enabling the hydration of cement to continue.

Calcium silicate hydrate is the major strengthproviding reaction product of cement hydration.

This can be accomplished by keeping the concrete element completely saturated or as much saturated as possible until the water-filled spaces are substantially reduced by hydration products.

The rate of hydration is controlled by the quality and quantities of the cementitious materials present in the mix as well as by the environmental temperature and the availability of moisture in the mix.

Therefore, a suitable curing method is essential in order to produce strong and durable concrete.


Selenomethionine has been found to represent over 50% of the total Se in plants (Olson et al., 1970) . Se-enriched yeast contains Se-containing amino acids and analogues and selenomethionine was proved to contain over 40% of the total selenium (Kelly and Power, 1995) . Transport of inorganic forms of Se across the intestinal brush border occurs by passive processes, and inorganic Se competes with inorganic sulphur compounds for absorption (Oldfield, 1992) . In contrast, absorption of selenomethionine occurs as an active process using the same enzyme system as methionine, competition for uptake occurred with methionine and its seleno analogues (McConnell and Cho, 1965) .

Selenomethionine has been found to represent over 50% of the total Se in plants.

Se-enriched yeast contains Se-containing amino acids and analogues and selenomethionine was proved to contain over 40% of the total selenium.

Transport of inorganic forms of Se across the intestinal brush border occurs by passive processes, and inorganic Se competes with inorganic sulphur compounds for absorption.

In contrast, absorption of selenomethionine occurs as an active process using the same enzyme system as methionine, competition for uptake occurred with methionine and its seleno analogues.


The ultimate goal of teacher preparation is for teacher candidates to conduct quality instruction in the classroom. While it is crucial for teacher candidates to develop a solid understanding of educational theories and other knowledge about teaching in the college classroom, they must be capable of applying what they have learned to demonstrate competence as a practitioner in an authentic instructional setting. As a result, field based student teaching is an important component that allows teacher candidates to make a transition from a learner on university campus to an instructional designer and deliverer on a school site. The quality of student teaching is essential in a teacher preparation program (Cobb, 1999) .

The quality of student teaching is essential in a teacher preparation program.


On the basis of this analysis, decisions could be made at both strategic and operational levels to change the crime environment (Birrer, 2010; Rossy et al., 2013) . Observing repetition in cybercrimes can help digital investigators to uncover previously unobserved linkages between a series of related offenses, to study patterns and trends in criminal phenomena, to detect specific vulnerabilities of victims, and to recognize a virtual convergence setting of similar crimes (e.g., increasing use of a new technology or online platform to commit various kinds of crime) (Rossy and D ecary-H etu, 2018) . At an operational level, having a group of cases can be more interesting to investigate, in terms of total prejudice, information and resources, in contrary to small cyber cases that may not be worth. In addition, finding nearly similar cases can help digital investigators to solve a new case by directing them to analysis methods that were effective in past cases and can be adapted to the new case (Casey, 2013) . The process aims to focus attention and resources on the most prolific offenders and the most problematic offenses.

On the basis of this analysis, decisions could be made at both strategic and operational levels to change the crime environment.

Observing repetition in cybercrimes can help digital investigators to uncover previously unobserved linkages between a series of related offenses, to study patterns and trends in criminal phenomena, to detect specific vulnerabilities of victims, and to recognize a virtual convergence setting of similar crimes (e.g., increasing use of a new technology or online platform to commit various kinds of crime).

In addition, finding nearly similar cases can help digital investigators to solve a new case by directing them to analysis methods that were effective in past cases and can be adapted to the new case.


Moreover, there is a natural relation between Rota-Baxter operators and solutions of the classical Yang-Baxter equation (CYBE) [13] . Namely, if L is a Lie algebra equipped with an symmetric invariant bilinear form ·, · (not necessarily non-degenerate) then there is a natural map L → L * , a → a, · , and thus we have a map Φ : L ⊗ L → End(L). If X ∈ L ⊗ L is a skew-symmetric solution of CYBE satisfying the identity [R(x), R(y)] = 0. We also note that the same statement is true in the varieties As and Com of associative and commutative algebras.

Moreover, there is a natural relation between Rota-Baxter operators and solutions of the classical Yang-Baxter equation (CYBE).


Global warming is a major environmental problem faced by mankind, especially in the last century. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 reported that the average temperature of earth's surface has increased by 0.74 ± 0.18ºC in the 20th century and such fact is the largest temperature rise within the last few thousand years. Furthermore, modeling scenarios developed by IPCC also suggest that the earth's surface temperature could increase by 2.4 to 6.4ºC by the year of 2090 to 2099. If this is the case in the future, it will greatly impact on various aspects of human life. Main causes of global warming have been known to be associated with avery high rate of accumulation of greenhouse gases in theupper atmosphere such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and chlorofluoro carbon (CFC) as a result of the increasing intensity of various human activity (Thorpe, 2009) . Methane is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas (16% of total) after CO 2 , but, its ability to retain heat (global warming potential) is 21 times higher than that of CO 2 (Iqbal, 2008) .

Main causes of global warming have been known to be associated with avery high rate of accumulation of greenhouse gases in theupper atmosphere such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and chlorofluoro carbon (CFC) as a result of the increasing intensity of various human activity.

Methane is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas (16% of total) after CO 2 , but, its ability to retain heat (global warming potential) is 21 times higher than that of CO 2.


Mandible, which is a pivotal part of oral and maxillofacial region, plays an important role in the maintenance of facial feature, chewing, speaking, swallowing, facial expressions, and other functions [1] . Mandible defects not only influence the appearance of patients but also result in structural damage or loss of the surrounding important tissues and organs, which has serious effects on facial feature. In general, the complex surgical procedures of mandible reconstruction surgery, including drilling, bone positioning and orienting, bone graft, and fixing bones with screws and plates, have been already implemented manually by surgeons [2] [3] [4] .

Mandible, which is a pivotal part of oral and maxillofacial region, plays an important role in the maintenance of facial feature, chewing, speaking, swallowing, facial expressions, and other functions.

In general, the complex surgical procedures of mandible reconstruction surgery, including drilling, bone positioning and orienting, bone graft, and fixing bones with screws and plates, have been already implemented manually by surgeons.


The AUV control of recovery mission is working with each linked coordinate; it will decrease the regulating quality of the control system if the objects have coupling. The system even cannot operate in the condition of serious coupling. Therefore, the discussion of the decoupling problem is very meaningful work for both the control theory and engineering practice [3] . In spite of the theoretical research which has gained substantial achievements, it is not satisfactory when we compare the decoupling theory in engineering application with other branches such as the optimal control and the adaptive control in engineering application [6, 7] .

Therefore, the discussion of the decoupling problem is very meaningful work for both the control theory and engineering practice.

In spite of the theoretical research which has gained substantial achievements, it is not satisfactory when we compare the decoupling theory in engineering application with other branches such as the optimal control and the adaptive control in engineering application.


Cavity flow driven by moving boundaries is not only technically important, but also of great scientific interest. Although the problem seems simple, it reveals the complex phenomena of vortex dynamics, hydrodynamic stability, flow bifurcation, etc. Cavity flow was often found in certain engineering applications, such as shortdwell coating, removal of species from structured surfaces and mixing and flow in drying devices, and was studied in academic research as well. Classic cavity flows are usually driven by either one-sided or twosided facing lids moving in tangential directions. One-sided lid-driven cavity flow has been extensively studied in literature [1] [2] [3] [4] .

One-sided lid-driven cavity flow has been extensively studied in literature.


In a systematic study on the respective instabilities and nonlinear pattern formations, the basic twodimensional flow solutions' dependence on the critical Reynolds number and the aspect ratio proved difficult to determine. In this study, the nonlinear steady Navier-Stokes equations were solved by following the socalled continuation method [17] . This approach was often applied to search for possible stable and unstable steady-state solutions and to construct bifurcation diagrams for different aspect ratios. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to systematically illustrate the stability of the two-dimensional solution manifold of such flows with different Reynolds numbers and aspect ratios. The evolution of the bifurcation diagrams, in terms of Reynolds numbers with aspect ratios, is presented and the regions of the stable flows in the aspect ratios and Reynolds numbers, distinguished. Figure 1 presents the geometric model and corresponding boundaries of a cavity whose height and width are signified by H and L, respectively, and with an incompressible Newtonian fluid filled within the cavity. In the study, the aspect ratio (AR) of the cavity is defined as H/L. The upper and lower walls move at the same velocity of U b in the right direction. The stationary vertical walls are considered to be solid and adiabatic.

In this study, the nonlinear steady Navier-Stokes equations were solved by following the socalled continuation method.


Electrospun nanofibers from polyamide (PA) already found a number of applications [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] . PA has a superior fiber forming ability. It is a biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic polymer with good mechanical properties, which are further enhanced by hydrogen bonds. Unlike other polymers, such as polyethylene oxide and polyvinyl alcohol, PA is resistant to both water and humidity. PA can be dissolved in the solutions of formic or formic/acetic acids; this ensures environment-friendly processes in comparison with other solvents such as dimethylformamide (DMF), which is toxic, according to the EU directive 67/548/EEC. PA 6 and PA 6/6 are the most studied polyamide species, but the discussion of their applications for filtration purposes is rather limited [11, 22, 23] . Recent reports on the properties of electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers showed PA as a particularly attractive material for filtration applications [21] .

Electrospun nanofibers from polyamide (PA) already found a number of applications.

PA 6 and PA 6/6 are the most studied polyamide species, but the discussion of their applications for filtration purposes is rather limited.

Recent reports on the properties of electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers showed PA as a particularly attractive material for filtration applications.


Maintenance function is known to be subordinate to production function. All of its objectives are concentrated toward keeping production systems in their best possible operating condition. Maintenance as a function is very important for any type of manufacturing industries. It keeps the continuation of manufacturing cycle and it is vital for supporting the overall production strategy while making the most economical use of total resources [1] [2] [3] [4] .

It keeps the continuation of manufacturing cycle and it is vital for supporting the overall production strategy while making the most economical use of total resources.


Camera traps are devices to capture animal images in the wild. These devices consist of a digital camera and a motion detector. They are triggered when the motion sensor detects movement and dependent on the temperature of the source in relation to the environment temperature. Biologist can monitor wildlife with camera traps for detecting rare species, delineating species distributions, monitoring animal behavior, and measuring other biological rates [1] . Camera traps generate large volumes of information, for example a camera trapping study can generate until 200000 images, where 1% of the information is valuable [2] . As a consequence, biologists have to analyze thousands of photographs in a manual way. Nowadays, software solutions cannot handle the increment of the number of images in camera trapping [3] . Accordingly, it is important to develop algorithms to assist the post-processing of camera-trap images.

Biologist can monitor wildlife with camera traps for detecting rare species, delineating species distributions, monitoring animal behavior, and measuring other biological rates.

Camera traps generate large volumes of information, for example a camera trapping study can generate until 200000 images, where 1% of the information is valuable.

Nowadays, software solutions cannot handle the increment of the number of images in camera trapping.


Enabling mainstream programming to take advantage of heterogeneous parallel hardware is difficult. In fact it has been identified as a grand challenge problem (PPP: "Popular Parallel Programming") by the computer architecture community [25] . In this paper we have proposed an embedded domain specific approach based on language virtualization to address this challenge.

In fact it has been identified as a grand challenge problem (PPP: "Popular Parallel Programming") by the computer architecture community.


The purpose of this paper is to study finite-time blow-up of solutions for a class of quasilinear dispersive equations. These equations include the DP equation, the Novikov equation, and the generalized modified Camass-Holm (gmCH) equation, all of which exhibit nonlocal nonlinearities and nonlinear dispersion. A distinctive feature, which is also a primary reason for the interest in these equations is that they are integrable models for the breakdown of regularity. Moreover, these equations admit a remarkable variety of the so-called "peakon" solutions -peaked traveling wave solutions with a discontinuous derivative at crest [15, 20, 26] . Physically, due to the relevance of many of the preceding equations to water waves, those peakons reveal some similarity to the well-known Stokes waves of greatest height -the traveling waves of maximum possible amplitude that are solutions to the governing equations for irrotational water waves [7, 29] .

Moreover, these equations admit a remarkable variety of the so-called "peakon" solutions -peaked traveling wave solutions with a discontinuous derivative at crest.

Physically, due to the relevance of many of the preceding equations to water waves, those peakons reveal some similarity to the well-known Stokes waves of greatest height -the traveling waves of maximum possible amplitude that are solutions to the governing equations for irrotational water waves.


In general, sensations of fatigue and exhaustion are raised sooner or later by an emptying of energy stocks or due to other physiological mechanisms during physical exercise [11] . A single intense training session or training period may cause acute feelings of fatigue and decrease in performance [4] . An increase in training load and high duration of training are therefore associated with elevated levels of stress and simultaneously lowered levels of recovery [14] . Therefore, the morning recovery scores were expected to be higher and the stress scores to be lower than the evening scores.

In general, sensations of fatigue and exhaustion are raised sooner or later by an emptying of energy stocks or due to other physiological mechanisms during physical exercise.

A single intense training session or training period may cause acute feelings of fatigue and decrease in performance.

An increase in training load and high duration of training are therefore associated with elevated levels of stress and simultaneously lowered levels of recovery.


The non-training-related aspects of preparation camps have the potential to adversely affect the recovery-stress state of the athletes, for instance additional travel, sleeping in an unaccustomed environment, pressure to perform, or negative or lack of positive social factors [9] . This might explain why Emotional Balance decreased significantly by the end of the camp. However, regarding the other measurements, Emotional Balance and Emotional Imbalance displayed least variability. Probably, an influence on emotional perceptions was not intended during the short period, as no selection decisions were discussed.

The non-training-related aspects of preparation camps have the potential to adversely affect the recovery-stress state of the athletes, for instance additional travel, sleeping in an unaccustomed environment, pressure to perform, or negative or lack of positive social factors.


Individual variability in responses to training plays an important role in relation to the development of perceived overtraining [5] . Athletes of similar performance standard may display differential responses to a given training stimulus [6] . In other words, an appropriate training load for one athlete over a prolonged period may cause the overtraining syndrome in another [7] . Such inter-individual differences in responses under identical conditions can be explained by variations in the recovery potential, endurance capacities, stress tolerance or non-training related stressors, genetics, training background, or current health status [4, 8] .

Individual variability in responses to training plays an important role in relation to the development of perceived overtraining.

Athletes of similar performance standard may display differential responses to a given training stimulus.

In other words, an appropriate training load for one athlete over a prolonged period may cause the overtraining syndrome in another.

Such inter-individual differences in responses under identical conditions can be explained by variations in the recovery potential, endurance capacities, stress tolerance or non-training related stressors, genetics, training background, or current health status.


The early detection of an imbalance between stress and recovery is necessary to minimize potential decrements in performance [12] . Regular monitoring of an athlete's current condition using diagnostic tools can help to identify early signs and symptoms of overtraining. However, since many physiological parameters change in the response to intense training, it appears difficult to distinguish normal from abnormal changes [13] . Diagnostic tools, such as psychometric scales are useful complements to provide helpful psychological information of an athlete's recovery-stress state in an efficient way [14] .

The early detection of an imbalance between stress and recovery is necessary to minimize potential decrements in performance.

However, since many physiological parameters change in the response to intense training, it appears difficult to distinguish normal from abnormal changes.

Diagnostic tools, such as psychometric scales are useful complements to provide helpful psychological information of an athlete's recovery-stress state in an efficient way.


However, a general problem of questionnaires is the response distortion by means of either faking good or bad [4] . Athletes might be worried about the consequences of not reporting 'desirable' results that are not truly reflective of their recovery-stress state. Alternatively, in order to avoid another strenuous training session, athletes might exaggerate the stress and understate the recovery dimensions. Therefore, it might be advisable to feed back to the coach anonymous mean scores rather than identifying the athlete. Nevertheless, there is significant merit in athletes using the ARSS to get individual feedback and to manage their personalized training schedule independently.

However, a general problem of questionnaires is the response distortion by means of either faking good or bad.


In the effective use of technology in subject teaching a special type of teachers' competence has to be developed, that is teacher technological-pedagogical-content competence, which include a common area of the three elements [9] . The curriculum integration in a broad community of practice may enhance its development. Teachers are still at different stages of technology adoption, their attitudes to technology interrelates with their pedagogical use of it [10] . Thus, participation in the community of practice by influencing their attitudes contribute to their professional development.

In the effective use of technology in subject teaching a special type of teachers' competence has to be developed, that is teacher technological-pedagogical-content competence, which include a common area of the three elements.

Teachers are still at different stages of technology adoption, their attitudes to technology interrelates with their pedagogical use of it.


The role of technology in curriculum integration shifts from delivery systems to mediation channels. Technologies serve as slaves to students not masters [11] . Meskill and Ranglova perceive learning with tools as "teacher-orchestrated and student-centred with technology tools stimulating and supporting off-line thinking, discourse and learning" [12] (p. 23). Thus, the role of technology is a tool, resource and catalyst for socially constructed knowledge and understanding [13] [14] [15] . Thus, technologies enable to introduce into curriculum integration meaningful learning activities.

Technologies serve as slaves to students not masters.

Meskill and Ranglova perceive learning with tools as "teacher-orchestrated and student-centred with technology tools stimulating and supporting off-line thinking, discourse and learning"(p. 23).

Thus, the role of technology is a tool, resource and catalyst for socially constructed knowledge and understanding.


The concept of "'integration' incorporates the idea of unity between forms of knowledge and the respective disciplines" [1] (p. 135). This implies application of methodology and language from various disciplines to deal with a topic or problem [2] . Results of studies show that an integrated curriculum increases intellectual curiosity, improves attitude towards schooling, enhances problem-solving skills and higher achievement in college [3, 4] . Barab and Landa indicated that when students focus on problems worth solving, motivation and learning increase [5] .

The concept of "'integration' incorporates the idea of unity between forms of knowledge and the respective disciplines"(p. 135).

This implies application of methodology and language from various disciplines to deal with a topic or problem.

Results of studies show that an integrated curriculum increases intellectual curiosity, improves attitude towards schooling, enhances problem-solving skills and higher achievement in college.

Barab and Landa indicated that when students focus on problems worth solving, motivation and learning increase.


Intercultural competence as defined by Byram involves a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes [19] . These factors contribute to curriculum integration through telecollaboration. In this way students and teachers develop intercultural pragmatics [20] . The implementation of telecollaboration projects for curriculum integration is especially important in Poland, a country, where the citizens are not interested in implementation of science and technological achievements in their lives [21, 22] . This importance is reflected in the Ministry of Education policy document [23] .

Intercultural competence as defined by Byram involves a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

In this way students and teachers develop intercultural pragmatics.

The implementation of telecollaboration projects for curriculum integration is especially important in Poland, a country, where the citizens are not interested in implementation of science and technological achievements in their lives.

This importance is reflected in the Ministry of Education policy document.


There are some studies which demonstrate the impact of eTwinning on learners, teachers and schools [24] [25] [26] [27] . As far as curriculum integration is referred the Authors of the final report state that "It appears that curricular integration of project activities is the norm, even when project work per se is not integrated into lesson time. Typically, eTwinning projects might combine elements of language learning and literacy, ICT (as a curriculum subject or skill set), sciences and mathematics and various social science subjects" [24] (p. 8). Another study investigates the impact of eTwinning projects on teachers' practice and training in Romania. Although the teachers' respondents confirm that eTwinning activities enrich the Romanian curriculum by adding interesting and motivating activities. However, they find it difficult to integrate the activities in the curriculum. Half of them identify "a big discrepancy between what the Romanian curriculum allows (contents, expected results, standards and evaluation methods) and what eTwinning proposes" [25] (p. 25). In the comparative study, Nawrot shows that in England half of the teachers claim that the curriculum does not fit in eTwinning activities and there is a big discrepancy between what the English curriculum allows and what eTwinning proposes. On the contrary, 83% of the teachers' respondents in Poland disagree with the statement that the curriculum does not fit in eTwinning activities but similarly to their Romanian and English colleagues, half of them partially agree with the statement there is a big discrepancy between what the English curriculum allows and what eTwinning proposes. However, the other half partially disagree (33%) or strongly disagree (17%) [26] . In a study conducted in Poland majority of 620 language teachers-participants of eTwinning programme confirm that they are able to integrate technology into the curriculum to the extent needed to participate in international projects [27] . Thus, further studies both theoretical and ethnographic are needed to explain the issue of curriculum integration of eTwinning practices in various educational systems. The text demonstrates the premises of an eTwinning project and the analysis of curriculum integration factors in the projects implemented on the basis of Polish schools participating in the programme. It is worth noticing, that the policy introduced to Polish educational system in September 2017 specifies the participation in international projects as one of the conditions for achievement the curricular aims at primary and secondary school levels [23] . Thus, curricular integration, which is one of the premises of the eTwinning programme, has been part of the educational policy.

There are some studies which demonstrate the impact of eTwinning on learners, teachers and schools.

Typically, eTwinning projects might combine elements of language learning and literacy, ICT (as a curriculum subject or skill set), sciences and mathematics and various social science subjects"(p. 8).

Half of them identify "a big discrepancy between what the Romanian curriculum allows (contents, expected results, standards and evaluation methods) and what eTwinning proposes"(p. 25).

However, the other half partially disagree (33%) or strongly disagree (17%).

In a study conducted in Poland majority of 620 language teachers-participants of eTwinning programme confirm that they are able to integrate technology into the curriculum to the extent needed to participate in international projects.

It is worth noticing, that the policy introduced to Polish educational system in September 2017 specifies the participation in international projects as one of the conditions for achievement the curricular aims at primary and secondary school levels.


Construction of knowledge in international communities of practice refers to Vygotskian social constructivism [16] . According to Crook, cross-cultural collaboration "makes sense of 'learning' by reference to the social structure of activity" [17] . Chapelle also perceives the Vygotskyan concepts as grounds for collaborative net-based language teaching and learning [18] .

Construction of knowledge in international communities of practice refers to Vygotskian social constructivism.

According to Crook, cross-cultural collaboration "makes sense of 'learning' by reference to the social structure of activity".

Chapelle also perceives the Vygotskyan concepts as grounds for collaborative net-based language teaching and learning.


Time-delay has attracted a lot of interests because it is widely encountered in communication systems, neural networks, economic systems, biological systems, and networked control systems [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . Since time-delay will cause serious degradation of system performance, a lot of researchers are making considerable effort for stability analysis of time-delay systems in the last few decades. The LKF approach and LMI method are the efficient instrument to get the delay-dependent stability criterion. However, only a sufficient condition we can get by utilizing these methods. Therefore, we focus on cutting down the conservatism of stability criterion. As we know, the maximum allowable delay bound (MADB) of the time-delay can measure the conservatism of stability criterion. We can get the larger MADB of time-varying delay according to the stability criterion with less conservatism.

Time-delay has attracted a lot of interests because it is widely encountered in communication systems, neural networks, economic systems, biological systems, and networked control systems.


While we used the median of PM 10 (66 μg/m 3 ) as a cut-off, those exposed to PM 10 higher than 66 μg/m 3 were more likely to have higher severity scores than those exposed to PM 10 lower than 66 μg/m 3 (OR = 1.74; 95 % CI, 1.13 -2.70). In other words, if the ambient PM 10 concentrations were reduced to less than 66 μg/m 3 , an estimation of 30 % of asthmatics' disease severity would have been decreased. Both in western and eastern countries, the incidences of adult-onset asthma have been reported to be increasing [41, 42] . In addition, a recent study showed that the prevalence of aOR adjusted odds ratio; BMI body mass index; CI confidence interval The odds ratios were adjusted with age, sex, BMI, education level and family income level. Those exposed to the pollutant concentrations lower than medians were used as reference groups. Numbers did not total 703 because of missing data. P values were for interaction terms between "air pollutant level by median" and "age at onset by 12 years" non-atopic asthma has been on the rise in adults [43] . Therefore, it would be important in the future to decrease severity of late-onset asthma by measures to reduce PM levels. In our study, 34 % of participants was excluded due to missing demographics or the answer to the key question. However, among those with age and sex data, the distributions of age and sex were not statistically different between those included and those excluded in the final analysis. Thus the results would not have been distorted much.

Both in western and eastern countries, the incidences of adult-onset asthma have been reported to be increasing.

P values were for interaction terms between "air pollutant level by median" and "age at onset by 12 years" non-atopic asthma has been on the rise in adults.


In this context, the current paper provides a new methodology for modeling the response of complex targets in SAR imagery based on the analysis of large stacks of simulated scattering maps [6] . By using an accurate and realistic SAR simulator, the response of each structural part of a target can be described in terms of the threedimensional position, the scattering properties (reflectivity intensity and polarimetric behavior), and the dependence of these properties with respect to key imaging parameters (incidence angle and target orientation, resolution, operating frequency, etc.). All this information can help to predict the expected real SAR response for a given set of observation conditions and, hence, geometrical and physical information may be retrieved by simply inverting the relations established within simulation environments. As a result, a new target International Journal of Navigation and Observation model emerges, which can be exploited in a large number of applications.

In this context, the current paper provides a new methodology for modeling the response of complex targets in SAR imagery based on the analysis of large stacks of simulated scattering maps.


The proliferation of new SAR sensors with improved capabilities in terms of system resolution and information channels (polarimetry and interferometry) has increased the range of products that can be obtained from SAR imagery [1] . Examples are characterization and classification of manmade structures like ships or urban targets [2] [3] [4] [5] . In the past, the limitations of sensors' performance have made it almost impossible to precisely retrieve those physical and geometrical parameters related with the imaged targets. This trend is currently changing with the new generation of airborne and orbital sensors. Now, real data have higher diversity, as polarimetric channels are available, and increased revisiting times. Their adequate interpretation requires the development of new models, where the SAR signatures of complex targets become related with their geometries. The development of such models with real imagery is difficult and arduous because the required amount of data with the related ground-truth is not always available and can be too expensive to generate. A feasible alternative lies in the usage of realistic simulators, where flexibility and reduced cost can overcome previous limitations allowing to rapidly increase the knowledge in target scattering.

The proliferation of new SAR sensors with improved capabilities in terms of system resolution and information channels (polarimetry and interferometry) has increased the range of products that can be obtained from SAR imagery.

Examples are characterization and classification of manmade structures like ships or urban targets.


In Pachydiplax longipennis, for example, larger males are typically the aggressor in intraspecific interactions, forcing smaller males to disperse [9] . In several other species, males holding territories either are larger than "satellite" males without territories (suggesting a size advantage for acquiring territories) or win more intraspecific contests [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . However, because body size differences within a species are often small, other factors like age, fat reserves, or sexual ornamentation can be more important than size to the outcome of a particular competitive battle [15] . Residency itself can provide a competitive advantage; territory owners are more likely to win contests than challengers, perhaps because of the competitive edge that earned them the territory in the first place or their greater familiarity with the site [4, [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] .

In Pachydiplax longipennis, for example, larger males are typically the aggressor in intraspecific interactions, forcing smaller males to disperse.

In several other species, males holding territories either are larger than "satellite" males without territories (suggesting a size advantage for acquiring territories) or win more intraspecific contests.

However, because body size differences within a species are often small, other factors like age, fat reserves, or sexual ornamentation can be more important than size to the outcome of a particular competitive battle.

Residency itself can provide a competitive advantage; territory owners are more likely to win contests than challengers, perhaps because of the competitive edge that earned them the territory in the first place or their greater familiarity with the site.


Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at room temperature. VOCs are numerous, varied and ubiquitous. Among them aromatic compounds are widely distributed in the environment and have been found to be a significant cancer risk factor, and to be implicated in neurological problems in urban children [1] . If inhaled or contacted, toluene can cause dermatitis (dry, red, cracked skin) and damage the nervous system and kidneys. Therefore, toluene emission control has become more stringent.

Among them aromatic compounds are widely distributed in the environment and have been found to be a significant cancer risk factor, and to be implicated in neurological problems in urban children.


Although an increase in ethyl oleate yield would appear to be a difficult task, the investigation of an alternative route to run the reaction is a current trend, specially when the application of the ester that is produced is considered. Besides being widely used as lubricants, ethyl and methyl esters of fatty acids have been increasingly used as biodiesel in order to replace the fossil fuels (Garcia et al., 2008; Lopez et al., 2008; Tapanes et al., 2008) . Much effort has been concentrated on the alkaline transesterification of vegetable oils in order to produce biodiesel (Cervero et al., 2008) . However, this route is technically and economically viable only when the free acid and moisture contents are low. In the case of vegetable oils used in frying processes, for example, the traditional route fails. Therefore, the investigation of an alternative route to decrease the free fatty acid and water contents of oils in the synthesis of biodiesel can make the process feasible and increase biodiesel availability and usability.

Besides being widely used as lubricants, ethyl and methyl esters of fatty acids have been increasingly used as biodiesel in order to replace the fossil fuels.

Much effort has been concentrated on the alkaline transesterification of vegetable oils in order to produce biodiesel.


Pervaporation-assisted lipase-catalyzed esterification of oleic acid has also been investigated (Kwon et al., 1998; Kwon and Rhee, 1998; Dormo et al., 2004) . The enzyme has to be immobilized on an appropriate support that retains the essential hydration shell of the lipase, which is one of the most difficult steps of the process. In addition, water and alcohol content can change the catalyst activity completely since lipase is very sensitive to these chemicals (Koszorz et al., 2004) .

Pervaporation-assisted lipase-catalyzed esterification of oleic acid has also been investigated.

In addition, water and alcohol content can change the catalyst activity completely since lipase is very sensitive to these chemicals.


Phenolic compounds or polyphenols have the ideal structure for scavenging free radicals and are considered more effective antioxidants than vitamins C and E. Flavonoids are the largest group of polyphenols in foods (BRAVO, 1998) . Anthocyanins are fl avonoid pigments particularly abundant in red fruits, such as blackberries (SIRIWOHARN et al., 2004) . Anthocyanins are widely studied because of their antioxidant effects and potential benefi ts for human health (PRIOR, 2003) .

Phenolic compounds or polyphenols have the ideal structure for scavenging free radicals and are considered more effective antioxidants than vitamins C and E. Flavonoids are the largest group of polyphenols in foods.

Anthocyanins are fl avonoid pigments particularly abundant in red fruits, such as blackberries.

Anthocyanins are widely studied because of their antioxidant effects and potential benefi ts for human health.


The quercetin content of phenolic extracts was negatively correlated to the IC 50 values for β-carotene bleaching, indicating that quercetin has a major contribution to this antioxidant activity. Although quercetin is a phenolic compound no relation was found between total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity in the β-carotene bleaching assay, possibly because other phenolic compounds that are quantifi ed in the total phenolic assay, but were not identifi ed in HPLC analysis, have no effect on this assay. The antioxidant activity of fl avonoids is closely linked to its structure, such as the presence of an orto-dihydroxy or catechol group in the B ring, the conjugation of the B-ring to the 4-oxo group via the 2,3-double bond, the 3-and 5-OH groups with the 4-oxo group (SILVA et al., 2002) . Quercetin shows all the structural characteristics mentioned above, which may explain the high antioxidant capacity of extracts of different genotypes of blackberry in the β-carotene bleaching system.

The antioxidant activity of fl avonoids is closely linked to its structure, such as the presence of an orto-dihydroxy or catechol group in the B ring, the conjugation of the B-ring to the 4-oxo group via the 2,3-double bond, the 3-and 5-OH groups with the 4-oxo group.


Polyphenol-rich fruits have a great research interest since high intake of polyphenolic compounds was associated to a reduced risk of oxidative stress-related disorders like cardiovascular diseases and cancer (PRIOR, 2003) . In addition, data on the antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds of different fruit genotypes may be useful for genetic improvement programs to select those varieties with higher nutritional value. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds of extracts from blackberry fruit genotypes produced in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The fruits were from cultivars and selections developed at Embrapa Temperate Climate and have been studied to yield cultivars adapted to the Southern Region of Brazil. For comparison purposes the Cherokee cultivar was also evaluated. Only the Cherokee genotype is not originary from Brazil, but it is widely adapted to the studied region. Each sample lot was a mixture of completely ripe fruits from fi ve plants of the same genotype. Three independent lots were collected (approximately 400 g each one), frozen at -18ºC and transported to the laboratory. The fruits were fully homogenized in a home multiprocessor and stored at -18ºC until analysis.

Polyphenol-rich fruits have a great research interest since high intake of polyphenolic compounds was associated to a reduced risk of oxidative stress-related disorders like cardiovascular diseases and cancer.


The term Agile was first used in the 1990's in many published articles. These articles were based on people looking for new approach to software development process. In 2001, Jim Highsmith, Bob martin and many others, who were involved in agile concept, organized a workshop. They exchanged ideas and came up with the manifesto for Agile Software Development [4] . After the active involvement of many authors who got together to understand each other approaches, Agile alliance was formed. This alliance is a non-profit group intended to search for agile methods and approaches as well as sponsors for annual agile conferences.

They exchanged ideas and came up with the manifesto for Agile Software Development.


In the present study, nanofibres incorporating the fungicide carboxin-thiram and carbendazim, were applied as a seed coating. The parameters which have been evaluated are germination test and the phytosanitary characteristics of irrigated rice seeds. The vigour is the attribute that gives the seed the ability to germinate, emerge and quickly result in normal seedlings under a wide range of environmental conditions; attributes which are not made manifest by only the germination test, which determines the germination percentage [16] . Along with these determinations, the analysis of the sanitary quality can assist in the selection of the agrochemical to be used in each case. The importance of seed health is in the fact that approximately 90% of crops used for food, both human and animal, are propagated by seeds and the inoculums present in them may result in the increase of disease in the field and its introduction into areas free of pathogens [17] .

The vigour is the attribute that gives the seed the ability to germinate, emerge and quickly result in normal seedlings under a wide range of environmental conditions; attributes which are not made manifest by only the germination test, which determines the germination percentage.

The importance of seed health is in the fact that approximately 90% of crops used for food, both human and animal, are propagated by seeds and the inoculums present in them may result in the increase of disease in the field and its introduction into areas free of pathogens.


Another problem that has not been solved until now by the state-of-the-art in seed treatment is that there is no efficient method for adhering the bacteria, fungicide and insecticide onto the seeds all at once because the bacteria inoculant cannot be protected from being harmed by the fungicides used in the seed treatment. The encapsulation of the active ingredients may be able to reduce this problem. Recently, the authors related the successful encapsulation of rizhobia inoculant into nanofibres using the same technology [22] . These results represent an advance for a better protection of seeds while preserving the symbiotic inoculation bacteria in the seed treatment process.

Recently, the authors related the successful encapsulation of rizhobia inoculant into nanofibres using the same technology.


The solving time of harvest scheduling models is dependent not only on the inherent spatial forest structure, but also on the number of planning periods, the length of each period, other types of constraints related to the planning problem (e.g., a type of harvest flow constraints), the computer employed, the software employed and its settings [21] . The input age structure can affect the model complexity [9] . The evaluation of the effects of all these aspects was not the aim of this study. We focused on the types of adjacency constraints, which are used in the DSS called Optimal [22, 23] . Other mentioned aspects should be analyzed individually in more detail.

The solving time of harvest scheduling models is dependent not only on the inherent spatial forest structure, but also on the number of planning periods, the length of each period, other types of constraints related to the planning problem (e.g., a type of harvest flow constraints), the computer employed, the software employed and its settings.

The input age structure can affect the model complexity.

We focused on the types of adjacency constraints, which are used in the DSS called Optimal.


As we stated before, one aspect of different types of adjacency constraints that has not been studied yet, though it has an impact on real-life scheduling situations, is their consumption of computer random-access memory. The consumption of memory can limit using DSSs aimed at spatial harvest scheduling, for instance Optimal or Heureka [24] . In these cases, adjacency constraints can be created directly from a database, in which the spatial information is saved in the form of pairwise adjacency constraints. However, all spatial information must be uploaded to the computer memory at first, and kept in the memory during the algebraic process when using the presented analytical algorithms. Therefore, the amount of memory used to manage the data may take away memory available to a solver in developing a forest plan. This may have varying effects on the ability and time required to solve a problem, and likely depends on the data, computer, and software at the disposal of the forest planner.

The consumption of memory can limit using DSSs aimed at spatial harvest scheduling, for instance Optimal or Heureka.


At the beginning of the computer-based spatial harvest scheduling in 1990's, it was possible to solve only small scheduling problems (i.e., small number of decision variables and constraints) because of the limitations of personal computers and solvers. However, increasing computing speeds and improved commercial solvers enable us to solve larger and larger problems [8] . It is generally known that the power of computers has been growing exponentially, and solvers have also been dramatically improved. In connection with this, the use of forest harvest scheduling DSSs has also dramatically increased. For this reason, researchers should periodically re-analyze different practical and theoretical aspects of harvest scheduling models. This service to society allows knowledge of the capabilities of forest planning systems to grow and to become adapted within forest management organizations.

However, increasing computing speeds and improved commercial solvers enable us to solve larger and larger problems.


Given a fixed-point free compact holomorphic self-map f on a bounded symmetric domain D, we establish in Theorem 2.4 the existence of convex f -invariant domains {H(ξ, λ)} λ>0 at some boundary point ξ of D. Further, we construct the horoballs at ξ, which generalise Wolff's horodiscs, and show in Theorem 5.12 and Remark 6.5 that in the finite-rank case (including finite dimensions), the invariant domains H(ξ, λ) are exactly the horoballs at ξ and affinely homeomorphic to D. Using this extension of Wolff's theorem to finite-rank bounded symmetric domains, we show in Theorem 6.3 that all limit functions of the iterates (f n ) with weakly closed range must accumulate in one single boundary component in the boundary ∂D. This generalises the Denjoy-Wolff Theorem for rank-one bounded symmetric domains, which are the Hilbert balls. For infinite dimensional domains, however, the result in Theorem 6.3 need not be true without the compactness condition on f , even for Hilbert balls [27] . All holomorphic self-maps f on finite dimensional bounded domains are compact. To achieve these results, we need various topological properties of finiterank bounded symmetric domains, which are shown in Section 4 and Section 5, and may be of some independent interest. We conclude with Example 6.5 to show that, for a Möbius transformation g of a finite-rank domain D, a limit function of the iterates (g n ) can be a constant map or its image is a whole single boundary component of ∂D.

For infinite dimensional domains, however, the result in Theorem 6.3 need not be true without the compactness condition on f , even for Hilbert balls.


This study aimed at achieving a better understanding of the dynamics that sustain multiple standards with almost identical policy aims in the transnational arena. From a technical standards perspective, multiplicity in the absence of market intervention may not be an unexpected outcome (Genschel, 1997) . But when standards organizations claim to pursue 22 collective objectives addressing social issues such as poverty, child labour and ecological destruction, an investment in 'standards wars' rather than a collective, unified solution seems a paradoxical outcome. To resolve this puzzle, we adopted a field-level perspective to focus on how the tension between market competition and shared objectives plays out in the interaction and interrelations among standards organizations.

From a technical standards perspective, multiplicity in the absence of market intervention may not be an unexpected outcome.


In line with the inductive, problem-driven focus of this study, we employ a qualitative case study approach to identify the mechanisms driving the co-existence of partially similar, but competing sustainability standards. Qualitative case studies are suited to analyze empirical phenomena that are multi-faceted and complex. The analytical emphasis is on social processes (Langley, 1999) . Closeness to and immersion in rich data in a focused analysis of a particular sector enables us to 'get much closer to theoretical constructs' (Siggelkow, 2007, p. 22 ).

The analytical emphasis is on social processes.


What we define as quasi-static crack growth occurs when there is a balance between the applied energyrelease rate and the energy dissipated by the growth of the crack and associated plastic deformation. Quasi-static crack growth can occur even when the fracture properties are rate dependent. The only requirement is equilibrium between the driving force for crack propagation and the energy dissipated. In other words, we are defining quasi-static crack growth as requiring the input of work by the applied loads. If the energy available for crack growth exceeds the energy associated with the creation of new crack surfaces and plastic deformation of the adherends, the crack will become unstable, and propagate dynamically, with excess energy being shed to dynamic effects such as stress waves. Dynamic crack growth can occur with no additional work being done on the system by the external loads. The interactions between the loading rate, the geometry, and the toughness-velocity relationship can be fairly complex, and can produce a rich set of crack growth behaviors (Webb and Aifantis, 1995) . For example, crack growth tends to be destabilized when the toughness decreases with an increase in crack velocity. In the absence of rate-dependent values of toughness, crack growth tends to be unstable under load control since the energy-release rate often increased with both applied load and crack length. Many practical applications are loaded under displacement control which tends to be stabilize quasi-static crack growth. However, if there is sufficient elastic energy stored in a body to propagate a crack in the absence of additional work being done by the applied loads, then even displacement-controlled geometries can exhibit unstable behavior (Li et al., 2005) .

The interactions between the loading rate, the geometry, and the toughness-velocity relationship can be fairly complex, and can produce a rich set of crack growth behaviors.

However, if there is sufficient elastic energy stored in a body to propagate a crack in the absence of additional work being done by the applied loads, then even displacement-controlled geometries can exhibit unstable behavior.


In our present work, we assessed the neuroprotective effect of S. chinensis extract in an animal PD model. The results indicated that S. chinensis extract protected against MPTP-induced locomotor dysfunction, dopaminergic neurons damage and oxidative stress in mice. The MPTP-treated experimental mice exhibited symptoms of PD, such as incoordination, tremor and bradykinesia. Locomotor dysfunction is considered a useful indicator of severity in animal models of PD. The rotarod and open field experiments were applied in our research. Open field was used to evaluate neurological deficits in mice. The S. chinensis extract significantly ameliorated MPTP-induced effects in mice with regard to mobility, including range of activity and movement distance. The reduction of TH-positive neurons reflects the severity of PD disease in the MPTP-induced group, and the immunohistochemistry results were in accordance with the behavior experiments. The results of the neurochemical experiments also indicated that S. chinensis blocked the MPTP-induced loss of striatum DA and its metabolism. Many studies have demonstrated that motor dysfunction in MPTP-induced mice can be observed through behavioral testing, including open field and rotarod experiments [31] . Our experimental data demonstrated that the groups pretreated and treated with S. chinensis showed extended time on the rotarod test compared with the MPTP-induced mice. This finding suggests a potential prevention and recovery effect of S. chinensis on the brain injury, which is consistent with the previous reports examining treatments with apigenin and luteolin [32, 33] .

Many studies have demonstrated that motor dysfunction in MPTP-induced mice can be observed through behavioral testing, including open field and rotarod experiments.

This finding suggests a potential prevention and recovery effect of S. chinensis on the brain injury, which is consistent with the previous reports examining treatments with apigenin and luteolin.


Our work provides two significant contributions that further facilitate the overall use of digital micromirror devices for coherent illumination, which is required to utilize structured illumination microscopy to its fullest potential. Our simulations provided specific information on how the blazed grating effect caused by the DMD substructure affects the SIM illumination pattern, how to identify ideal alignment angles for the device, as well as how manufacturing tolerances in the device affect this alignment. Our design of a DMD-SIM system then utilized these findings, and it enabled us to employ a DMD as the light modulator resulting in a very compact and cost-effective SIM system. We showcased its capabilities by providing calibration measurements, as well as conducting fixed and live-cell imaging at sub-second acquisition times. We view this work as a contribution to the growing efforts of democratizing superresolution microscopy. Digital micromirror devices are both cost-effective and readily available in many variations, which makes them an attractive alternative to the specialized SLM devices typically employed for SIM, which require more difficult to implement timing schemes [10, 11] . By providing a thorough characterization of the blazed grating effect in the context of SIM, it should now be easy to employ DMDs in different and more complex variations of novel SIM systems.

Digital micromirror devices are both cost-effective and readily available in many variations, which makes them an attractive alternative to the specialized SLM devices typically employed for SIM, which require more difficult to implement timing schemes.


When harvesting large timber, mechanized logging means are required in order to match tractive power with the logs dimensions. Excepting some cases when final thinning operations are applied and animal logging could be used, timber hauling is done mostly by the use of skidders, forwarders or cable yarders. Skidders are specialized for logs winching (dragging) and loads skidding (semi-dragging), this latter type of machines being classified as winch skidders (Oprea, 2008) . Of course, other skidder types are used around the world in forest harvest operations such as grapple skidders and clam bunk skidders.

Skidders are specialized for logs winching (dragging) and loads skidding (semi-dragging), this latter type of machines being classified as winch skidders.


One of the advantages of the method in this study was that stress on prey was reduced, since the experiments were performed in the field. The prey attraction hypothesis can be (Hauber 1998; Tso 1998b; Herberstein 2000; Bruce et al. 2001; Craig et al. 2001; Bruce et al. 2004) . A negative aspect of field correlations is that the prey capture history of the spiders is unknown, and satiated individuals can construct more decorations (Blackledge 1998; Tso 1999; Seah & Li 2002) . Consequently, decorated webs may just be in sites where prey are abundant.

The prey attraction hypothesis can be.

A negative aspect of field correlations is that the prey capture history of the spiders is unknown, and satiated individuals can construct more decorations.


Unlike MPI, there was no industry standard for accelerator programming models. Early on, each accelerator had its own programming language or methodology: CUDA for NVIDIA GPUs, Brook+ for AMD GPUs, LEO for MICs, and HDL for FPGAs. In order to achieve code portability, the Khronos Group introduced OpenCL as a standard for accelerator programming model. However, OpenCL does not provide ease of programming and performance portability because it exposes low-level hardware architecture to the programmers [41, 45] .

However, OpenCL does not provide ease of programming and performance portability because it exposes low-level hardware architecture to the programmers.


An elaboration of a comprehensive mathematical model describing adsorption phenomena and taking into account localized and other mechanisms is almost virtually impossible [due to chemical and structural diversity of the porous materials (Jagiełło and Olivier 2013) ]. Hence, the mechanism in the abovementioned models is commonly assumed intuitively, based on a presumed picture of pore shape and size. For regular structures (nanotubes, slit-like pores, etc.) mobile adsorption may be more appropriate, while for irregular or random pores localized adsorption mechanism seems to be closer to a physical reality. Nevertheless, even in relatively regular structures there are local irregularities (rows, niches, cones, etc.) . The question is, how far such places affect the adsorbate molecule behavior near the solid surface and in what extent the local shape of the surface affects the particle movement making it closer to the localized adsorption mechanism.

An elaboration of a comprehensive mathematical model describing adsorption phenomena and taking into account localized and other mechanisms is almost virtually impossible [due to chemical and structural diversity of the porous materials].


SWCNT material was designed as a model with relatively small expected energetical heterogeneity (at the nanotube cap), resulting in adsorbate condensation not exceeding the critical volume (Zhao et al. 2001) . Accordingly, the highest minimum value of the potential U m (V mpi ) was obtained for SWCNT (Fig. 5d) , and so the structural diversity produces relatively shallow potential well-depth. Qualitatively, it occurs at the equipotential surface crosssections, where indistinct and connected with each other lines may be observed see Fig. 7d and h. Therefore, identification of the separated volume V ind corresponding to the localized adsorption mechanism is ambiguous (see Fig. 6d ).

SWCNT material was designed as a model with relatively small expected energetical heterogeneity (at the nanotube cap), resulting in adsorbate condensation not exceeding the critical volume.


Our findings, based on an analysis of Golos data, also tentatively suggest that last-digit fraud occurs even in settings where pre-electoral manipulations are widespread. Intuitively, one would expect that election-day fraud would be unnecessary where, for instance, manipulations like vote-buying would have ensured citizen commitment to vote for a particular candidate prior to the day of the election (Magaloni, Diaz-Cayeros et al. 2007; Stokes 2007) . Thus, Susan Stokes, an expert on political clientelism in various national contexts, writes how after "a long day of handing out goods and favours at Children's Day celebrations" one Argentinian party activist boasted: "Votes will come. I don't have to go and look for them .

Intuitively, one would expect that election-day fraud would be unnecessary where, for instance, manipulations like vote-buying would have ensured citizen commitment to vote for a particular candidate prior to the day of the election.

I don't have to go and look for them .


P OWER consumption has become one of the critical roadblocks in the design of electronic computing systems nowadays. High power consumption degrades system reliability, increases the cooling cost for high performance embedded systems, and also reduces the battery service life in portable devices. Dynamic power management (DPM), which refers to the selective shut-off or slow-down of system components that are idle or underutilized, has proven to be an particularly effective technique for reducing system-levelpower dissipations [1] , [2] . An effective DPM policy should maximize power savings while maintaining the performance degradation within an acceptable level. Design of such effective DPM policies has been an active research area in the past decade.

Dynamic power management (DPM), which refers to the selective shut-off or slow-down of system components that are idle or underutilized, has proven to be an particularly effective technique for reducing system-levelpower dissipations.


Foliar phenol composition. In order to obtain fi ngerprinting chromatograms, the HPLC analysis were done with the unhydrolyzed extracts. The HPLC/DAD is considered as a highly effective technique for the separation and for obtaining structural information of phenolic acids and fl avonoids (Markham and Bloor, 1998) .

Foliar phenol composition.

The HPLC/DAD is considered as a highly effective technique for the separation and for obtaining structural information of phenolic acids and fl avonoids.


In the first step of the analysis, the intercept-only model was estimated, i.e. the model that contains no explanatory variables (Hox, 2002) . The second step included gender, tenure, hours employed, job demands, and job resources (including the aggregate measure of support from the supervisor). Mean unit size did not contribute to the explanation of evaluations of organizational change and was not included in the final analysis. In the third step, the six possible two-way job demands x resources interaction terms were added. Because a unit-level variable was used to predict individual-level outcomes, the level 1 variables used in the interaction terms were grand mean centered (Hofmann and Gavin, 1998) . The results of step 3 are only considered when the introduction of the product terms led to significant interaction coefficients; otherwise, we refer to step 2 for the statistics of possible main effects (Cohen and Cohen, 1975) .

In the first step of the analysis, the intercept-only model was estimated, i.e. the model that contains no explanatory variables.

Because a unit-level variable was used to predict individual-level outcomes, the level 1 variables used in the interaction terms were grand mean centered.

The results of step 3 are only considered when the introduction of the product terms led to significant interaction coefficients; otherwise, we refer to step 2 for the statistics of possible main effects.


The first and most important limitation is that we used a cross-sectional design. This means that common-method variance may have influenced the results and that we cannot draw firm conclusions about the directions of the effects. Several previous studies have shown that the demands and resources are predictors of adverse work outcomes rather than outcomes (Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998) . But, due to this cross-sectional design, we are reluctant to suggest causal relationships from the analyses and we caution against any causal interpretation of the results and it is recommended to examine these issues more in depth using longitudinal designs in future studies.

Several previous studies have shown that the demands and resources are predictors of adverse work outcomes rather than outcomes.


In this paper we follow a conceptually different approach. We assume f to be analytical and we calculate moments of F (z) := f (z) · f (z) −1 along a given curve in the complex plane. By Cauchy's residue theorem the moments give us a complete information about the poles of F , i.e., the roots of f inside the curve. This method dates back to the pioneering work of Delves and Lyness [2] . In the method, which is also referred to as the method of Newton's identities, one searches for roots of a polynomial the coefficients of which are unstable. A remedy is proposed by Kravanja, Sakurai and van Barel [5] . They stabilize the method by formal orthogonal polynomials.

This method dates back to the pioneering work of Delves and Lyness.

A remedy is proposed by Kravanja, Sakurai and van Barel.


Recent years, series of advanced mining technologies such as longwall mining with top coal caving, large height mining, and small or none pillar between adjacent work faces have developed considerably in Chinese collieries [1] [2] [3] [4] . With the successful combination of small or none pillar and top coal caving technology, the stress field and spatial structure of overlying strata have become much more complex [5, 6] . During the process of overlying strata fracture both static and dynamic loads will be applied to the seam, inducing roof and rockburst disaster [7] . Overlying strata movement is not only the result of a single work face, but also the interaction of more faces. Microseismic monitoring results show that the rockburst sources are mainly concentrated in the adjacent gobs especially when thick and hard multikey strata exist, which indicates that spatial structure of overlying strata exists in the coal mine and can evolve dynamically with the exploitation scope changes [5, 8] .

Recent years, series of advanced mining technologies such as longwall mining with top coal caving, large height mining, and small or none pillar between adjacent work faces have developed considerably in Chinese collieries.

With the successful combination of small or none pillar and top coal caving technology, the stress field and spatial structure of overlying strata have become much more complex.

During the process of overlying strata fracture both static and dynamic loads will be applied to the seam, inducing roof and rockburst disaster.

Microseismic monitoring results show that the rockburst sources are mainly concentrated in the adjacent gobs especially when thick and hard multikey strata exist, which indicates that spatial structure of overlying strata exists in the coal mine and can evolve dynamically with the exploitation scope changes.


Quality of sleep and anxiety are the most important mental disorders in diabetic patients. More than 80 and 14 % of diabetics suffer from low quality of sleep and anxiety disorders respectively [1] . More than 6 % of adult population is affected by diabetes in developing countries. Today, there are over 230 million diabetics worldwide. The prevalence of diabetes is estimated to be 3 -5 % and more than 90 % of diabetes is Type II [2] . In addition to some complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy, diabetes creates many psychological and behavioral complications which widely affects the quality of life of the patients.

More than 80 and 14 % of diabetics suffer from low quality of sleep and anxiety disorders respectively.

The prevalence of diabetes is estimated to be 3 -5 % and more than 90 % of diabetes is Type II.


Experiments were carried out on the XM2VTS database [22] . The database contains eight frontal images and four non-frontal images (corresponding to poses with head turned left, right, up or down) of 295 different subjects. Among all these images, 225 frontal images and 1177 non-frontal images have been manually annotated with facial landmarks. We also use a database of 567 similarly annotated images of 43 subjects for which additional pose information is available. Ground truth pose (pan and tilt angles) was obtained by placing the subjects on a turntable during image acquisition.

Experiments were carried out on the XM2VTS database.


Sarcomas of the breast are relatively rare neoplasms accounting for less than 1% of breast malignancies [1] . Histological examination shows the majority to be fibrosarcomas, malignant fibrous histiocytomas and undifferentiated high grade sarcomas [2] . Tumors of the breast containing bone and cartilage can be divided into four groups: intraductal papilloma with stromal metaplasia; cystosarcoma phyllodes; stromal sarcoma; and adenocarcinoma with metaplasia [3] . The mechanism of formation of bone and cartilage differs in the above noted groups. In the lesions classified as adenocarcinoma with metaplasia, there is metaplasia of the epithelial cells to cartilage or bone while in the cystosarcoma and intra-ductal papilloma there is metaplasia of the stromal cells [4] . Pathological bone formation in the breast tissue may be the result of intermembranous ossification and the marrow is not observed [5, 6] . Extra-osseous osteosarcomas have also been reported in thyroid gland, kidney, urinary bladder and uterus [7] . Overall, mammary osteosarcomas are biologically aggressive tumors characterized by early recurrences and hematogenous metastasis, frequently to the lungs [8] . Optimal management should include total excision of the neoplasm with an adequate margin for control of local disease. A simple mastectomy may be indicated to ensure complete excision of large tumors with cryptically infiltrative margins [2] . Axillary lymph node dissection is not indicated in the setting of clinically negative nodes. Although the role of adjuvant therapy is unclear, several studies involving a small number of patients suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy may be of value in patient management [8] . Distinguishing metaplastic carcinoma and carcinosarcoma from osteosarcoma of the breast is important, because the former necessitates treatment as primary breast cancer. Finally, although the breast is an unusual site of metastases, it is necessary to exclude the possibility of a metastatic lesion, as well as primary osseous osteosarcoma, before establishing the diagnosis as osteosarcoma of the breast.

Sarcomas of the breast are relatively rare neoplasms accounting for less than 1% of breast malignancies.

Histological examination shows the majority to be fibrosarcomas, malignant fibrous histiocytomas and undifferentiated high grade sarcomas.

Tumors of the breast containing bone and cartilage can be divided into four groups: intraductal papilloma with stromal metaplasia; cystosarcoma phyllodes; stromal sarcoma; and adenocarcinoma with metaplasia.

In the lesions classified as adenocarcinoma with metaplasia, there is metaplasia of the epithelial cells to cartilage or bone while in the cystosarcoma and intra-ductal papilloma there is metaplasia of the stromal cells.

Pathological bone formation in the breast tissue may be the result of intermembranous ossification and the marrow is not observed.

Extra-osseous osteosarcomas have also been reported in thyroid gland, kidney, urinary bladder and uterus.

Overall, mammary osteosarcomas are biologically aggressive tumors characterized by early recurrences and hematogenous metastasis, frequently to the lungs.

A simple mastectomy may be indicated to ensure complete excision of large tumors with cryptically infiltrative margins.

Although the role of adjuvant therapy is unclear, several studies involving a small number of patients suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy may be of value in patient management.


At both presentation rates, the verb in the neutral condition displayed an enhanced negativity relative to the preverbal inte 'not'. This effect might reflect an N400 difference, in line with previous findings that open-class words tend to produce larger N400 components than closed-class words (Münte et al., 2001) . Also, visual inspection suggested a positive peak for inte 'not' in the subordinate clause conditions around 350e400 ms (see Figs. 2 and 3) , which raises the possibility that the sentence adverb elicited a target-related P300 effect.

This effect might reflect an N400 difference, in line with previous findings that open-class words tend to produce larger N400 components than closed-class words.


Time to talk is often seen as unfeasible in busy clinics where the number of clients is rising due to the increasing life expectancy of PLWH and earlier initiation of ART [27] . However, elsewhere, initial evaluation shows the use of peer mentors, expert clients or other trained health workers to alleviate common mental disorders holds promise [28, 29] . This task-shifting approach frees up nurse contact time, whilst maintaining gains in psychological well-being. On the other hand, initial time to talk may be a time saving process, even in a busy clinic, as the benefits might prevent more time-intensive needs in the future. It is interesting that participants receiving usual care in this study also reported improvements in mental health, and attributed this to their interactions with the researcher [30] .

Time to talk is often seen as unfeasible in busy clinics where the number of clients is rising due to the increasing life expectancy of PLWH and earlier initiation of ART.

However, elsewhere, initial evaluation shows the use of peer mentors, expert clients or other trained health workers to alleviate common mental disorders holds promise.

It is interesting that participants receiving usual care in this study also reported improvements in mental health, and attributed this to their interactions with the researcher.


We have observed that when a parallel application is balanced, it often times executes the same code simultaneously. This results in a redundant amount of wasteful activity within the processor. We have devised a scheme, termed thread fusion, that takes advantage of this redundant behaviour in order to reduce total energy consumption in a two-way SMT in-order core [13] . We pull two dynamic instances of the same static instruction from two parallel threads and fuse them dynamically into a single instruction. In the front end of the microprocessor, this fused instruction acts as a single instruction. In the middle and back-end of the core, the fused instruction is cloned into two instructions which are executed in parallel. The result is that power consumption is reduced in the pipeline until the execution stage. We have performed full system simulation, and our simulation results show average energy reduction of 10% with little impact on performance (less than 1%).

We have devised a scheme, termed thread fusion, that takes advantage of this redundant behaviour in order to reduce total energy consumption in a two-way SMT in-order core.


Cu-based shape memory alloys are currently derived from three binary alloy systems i.e., Cu-Zn, Cu-Al and Cu-Sn [3] . Among these martensitic transformations, In Cu-Sn alloys are not perfectly thermo elastic and suffer from a rapid degradation of a shape memory properties during ageing at even moderate temperatures. It is also very brittle and the existence of β-composition range is very narrow. These alloys are therefore of theoretical interest than potential commercial shape memory alloys.

Cu-based shape memory alloys are currently derived from three binary alloy systems i.e., Cu-Zn, Cu-Al and Cu-Sn.


Among many alloy systems which exhibit shape memory effect (SME), Cu-Al-Ni and Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been studied extensively over the years [1] . Most of the copper-based shape memory alloys are easy to fabricate, process and are less expensive when compared to Ni-Ti shape memory alloys. However, Cu-Al-Ni and Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys in the polycrystalline state are brittle and therefore cannot be easily worked due to the high degree of order and high elastic anisotropy of the parent β-phase (austenitic) [2] .

Among many alloy systems which exhibit shape memory effect (SME), Cu-Al-Ni and Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been studied extensively over the years.

However, Cu-Al-Ni and Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys in the polycrystalline state are brittle and therefore cannot be easily worked due to the high degree of order and high elastic anisotropy of the parent β-phase (austenitic).


The practical applications of a shape memory alloy depend on its characteristic transformation temperatures and the extent of shape memory effect and superelasticity. Since the shape memory properties of SMAs are sensitive to the composition of the alloy, they play a vital role in determining their transformation temperatures and shape memory characteristics [8] . The main objective of present study is to determine the influence of alloying elements zinc and nickel on the transformation temperatures, morphology of martensite formed, strain recovery by shape memory effect in a broad range of concentrations of Cu-Zn-Ni alloys.

Since the shape memory properties of SMAs are sensitive to the composition of the alloy, they play a vital role in determining their transformation temperatures and shape memory characteristics.