The purported mechanism by which androgens increase AGD in females is by inducing "labioscrotal fusion" (in normal males fusion begins caudally and proceeds ventrally, presumably androgens in females act the same way) [24] . This mechanism, however, does not account for why males who are not fully androgenized would have a decreased AGD, unless AGD in males is defined as being from tip of penis to the center of the anus. A set of formal AGD measures on subjects with selected congenital endocrinopathies or birth defects could be useful in evaluating whether this outcome is uniformly responsive to gross stimuli, and may help discern details of normal embryology and the consequences of disrupting it.

The purported mechanism by which androgens increase AGD in females is by inducing "labioscrotal fusion" (in normal males fusion begins caudally and proceeds ventrally, presumably androgens in females act the same way).


Zeolites are good adsorbents and eco-friendly materials possessing high surface area and high thermal stability. Additionally, these materials possess amphoteric properties such as Lewis acidity (denotes electron-accepting ability) and Lewis basicity (describes their electron-donating property) [12, 13] . The nature of modification depends mainly on the specific zeolite structure, framework composition, nature of cation, and pore structure. The behavior of the catalyst and its practical applications will be influenced by the properties of the zeolites such as particle size, surface area, pore diameter, mechanical strength, microbial resistance, thermal stability, chemical durability, hydrophobic/hydrophilic character, ease of regeneration, loading capacity, and cost [14] .

Additionally, these materials possess amphoteric properties such as Lewis acidity (denotes electron-accepting ability) and Lewis basicity (describes their electron-donating property).

The behavior of the catalyst and its practical applications will be influenced by the properties of the zeolites such as particle size, surface area, pore diameter, mechanical strength, microbial resistance, thermal stability, chemical durability, hydrophobic/hydrophilic character, ease of regeneration, loading capacity, and cost.


We investigate discrete and continuous-time models characterized by the same parameters. The discrete model is slightly extended version of that of Tyrcha [37] . In our model the growth of maturity in both phases is described by different functions. We include the derivation of this model to have the paper self-contained. A cell can move from the resting phase to the proliferating phase with the rate which depends on its maturity. Then it spends a fixed time τ in the second phase and divides into two cells which have the same maturity. The maturity of a daughter cell is determined by the maturity of the mother cell at the moment of division. The mathematical model is given by a stochastic operator P which describes the relation between densities of maturity of new born cells in consecutive generations.

The discrete model is slightly extended version of that of Tyrcha.


PDMPs are nowadays widely used in modeling of biological phenomena [26, 34] . Some PDMPs were applied to describe statistical dynamics of recurrent biological events and could be used in cell cycle models [15, 20] . The main problem with application of PDMPs to a two-phase model is to construct a stochastic process which has the Markov property. In the first phase the state of a cell depends on its maturity, but the second phase has a constant length, so the state of the cell depends on time of visit this phase.

PDMPs are nowadays widely used in modeling of biological phenomena.

Some PDMPs were applied to describe statistical dynamics of recurrent biological events and could be used in cell cycle models.


The fatty acid composition of foodstuffs is of great importance to healthy human nutrition. Pork contains high quantities of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and cholesterol. An excessive intake of these components through meat consumption may lead to arteriosclerosis-related illnesses (Grys, 1995) . Nutritionists recommend a reduction in total fat intake, particularly of SFA and trans fatty acids, which are associated with an increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases and some cancers (Burlingame et al., 2009; Brouwer et al., 2010; USDA & HHS, 2010; Mapiye et al., 2011) . Besides reducing fat intake, nutritionists urge consumers to increase their intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly the n-3 PUFA, at the expense of n-6 PUFA (Simopoulos, 2004; Griffin, 2008; Harris et al., 2009; Mapiye et al., 2011) . Therefore, PUFA/SFA and n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios have become important parameters in evaluating the nutritional value and healthiness of foods (Aldai et al., 2005; Alfaia et al., 2007; Riediger et al., 2009; Mapiye et al., 2011) . Nevertheless, in recent years, red meat consumption has been discredited because of causal relations established between red meat consumption and coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer (Forman, 1999) .

An excessive intake of these components through meat consumption may lead to arteriosclerosis-related illnesses.

Nutritionists recommend a reduction in total fat intake, particularly of SFA and trans fatty acids, which are associated with an increased risk of cardio-vascular diseases and some cancers.

Besides reducing fat intake, nutritionists urge consumers to increase their intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), particularly the n-3 PUFA, at the expense of n-6 PUFA.

Therefore, PUFA/SFA and n-6/n-3 PUFA ratios have become important parameters in evaluating the nutritional value and healthiness of foods.

Nevertheless, in recent years, red meat consumption has been discredited because of causal relations established between red meat consumption and coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancer.


The future of the Mangalitsa is dependent largely on whether products derived from it can be utilized effectively, and whether long-term market opportunities can be secured. The Mangalitsa pig is currently enjoying a renaissance, owing to endeavours aimed at restoring the presence of traditional breeds. Its meat is of outstanding quality; it has a high dry matter content, and its red colour corresponds to current requirements. The distinct palatable flavour is derived from the fat surrounding the muscle tissue (Csapó et al., 2002) .

The distinct palatable flavour is derived from the fat surrounding the muscle tissue.


Since the 1980s, gangue cementation backfilling method has been developed and utilized, which could build self-sustaining backfilling medium body and provide excellent support strength. However, this method consumes a huge amount of cement, up to 240 kg per backfilling m 3 , which has greatly limited its utilization. The underground transportation of cementation material through extremely long distances was also difficult. In the 1990s, paste backfilling and full gangue cementation methods were developed. In paste backfilling material, the concentration of aggregate material (gangue, sand) can be 50%, and the cementing agent (cement or speed coagulation material) concentration is about 20% [2, [8] [9] [10] [11] . Recently, paste cement backfilling technology has been developed with pilot facility applied in Chinese coal mines, which has achieved control of goaf roof caving and surface subsidence [2, 5, [30] [31] [32] [33] . Cementing material could build backfilling medium body rapidly after working face advance within 12-24 h and prevent the strata above the goaf space from movement and fracture. However, the problems which were caused by material long distance transport and equipment complexity were still unresolved. The cementation backfilling process was especially difficult to implement simultaneously with working face advancement, since the working face facilities needed to be held to wait for the solidification of cementation material, which had significantly reduced the working efficiency of coal production. Meanwhile, relevant research has also shown that the cemented backfilling body contained coal, clay minerals, mudstone, and pyrite. These materials could interact with moisture, oxygen, and water in coal mines, further causing volume expansion and potentially leading to disintegration of the backfilling medium body. Hence relevant attempts and studies had pointed out that non-cemented gangue aggregates, together with fine filler materials, could have adequate mechanical strength and stiffness for a more appropriate solution of coal mine goaf stowing material.

In paste backfilling material, the concentration of aggregate material (gangue, sand) can be 50%, and the cementing agent (cement or speed coagulation material) concentration is about 20%.

Recently, paste cement backfilling technology has been developed with pilot facility applied in Chinese coal mines, which has achieved control of goaf roof caving and surface subsidence.


In Germany, two backfilling methods have been primary utilized over the last 30 years, they are pneumatic backfilling and hydraulic backfilling. The operational experience in coal mine Friedrich-Heinrich in Germany had shown that the backfilling rate could only achieve 0.7. Meanwhile the implementation of facilities, operation, and maintenance of material transport infrastructure had become a big challenge because of the limitations of operating space in goaf, thus these methods are no longer utilized in German underground coal mines [2, 8, 24, 29] .

Meanwhile the implementation of facilities, operation, and maintenance of material transport infrastructure had become a big challenge because of the limitations of operating space in goaf, thus these methods are no longer utilized in German underground coal mines.


Since the 1960s water-sand backfilling technology has been implemented in European countries for coal mining under buildings [2] . In the 1970s, Fushun and Xinwen coal mines in China also used this method in pilot mining processes under buildings, and found that with sand-water backfilling, the surface subsidence coefficient could be controlled within a certain range of 0.12-0.16; with high quality sand (soil content in sand lower than 20%; compaction rate 5%-6%), surface subsidence rate could be limited to be only 0.06. Sand-water backfilling could achieve high quality of subsidence control. However, this method could not be commonly utilized, since there were not enough sand resources for backfilling at a large scale and the cost was too high [5, [30] [31] [32] .

Since the 1960s water-sand backfilling technology has been implemented in European countries for coal mining under buildings.

However, this method could not be commonly utilized, since there were not enough sand resources for backfilling at a large scale and the cost was too high.


For efficient use of geological coal resources, as well as coordination development between coal mining and environment protection, land resource conservation, sustainable development of coal mine areas, and realization of "green mining", a novel method of working-face goaf area roof management is needed [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] . Existing roof management methods are caving, simple backfilling, pillar supporting, slow caving, etc. Among them, caving and slow caving methods could not control the goaf roof; pillar supporting method results in massive wasting of coal resource; and traditional simple backfilling methods could only control the subsidence with satisfactory effects, but it has low efficiency and high costs, since the operation is non-mechanized [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] . Thus, for development of a fully mechanized, goaf roof well-controlled stowing technologies and stowing material are necessary, which could have significant positive influence on the sustainable development of Chinese coal industry.

For efficient use of geological coal resources, as well as coordination development between coal mining and environment protection, land resource conservation, sustainable development of coal mine areas, and realization of "green mining", a novel method of working-face goaf area roof management is needed.

Among them, caving and slow caving methods could not control the goaf roof; pillar supporting method results in massive wasting of coal resource; and traditional simple backfilling methods could only control the subsidence with satisfactory effects, but it has low efficiency and high costs, since the operation is non-mechanized.


In association with engagement in sport, dietary patterns are a key factor with a strong influence on the state of the health of school children [16] . Currently, the dietary habits of school children are often characterized by an elevated consumption of processed sugars and saturated fats, alongside a deficiency of fruit, vegetables, fish, and healthy fats [17] . In contrast, the Mediterranean diet, hailing from countries such as Italy and Spain, exerts a positive impact on the health of individuals [18] . This type of diet is characterized by a high content of legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish, and natural antioxidants such as olive oil, as well as moderate consumption of fats, eggs, and meat [19] . Various studies have shown that high adherence to this dietary model has positive repercussions on the health of defined populations [20, 21] .

In association with engagement in sport, dietary patterns are a key factor with a strong influence on the state of the health of school children.

Currently, the dietary habits of school children are often characterized by an elevated consumption of processed sugars and saturated fats, alongside a deficiency of fruit, vegetables, fish, and healthy fats.

In contrast, the Mediterranean diet, hailing from countries such as Italy and Spain, exerts a positive impact on the health of individuals.

This type of diet is characterized by a high content of legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish, and natural antioxidants such as olive oil, as well as moderate consumption of fats, eggs, and meat.

Various studies have shown that high adherence to this dietary model has positive repercussions on the health of defined populations.


Finally, when the relationship between body mass index and self-concept is considered, a negative and indirect relationship is seen, with a slightly stronger relation amongst girls. The association between body mass index and self-concept can be largely explained by the strong impact of body image on the physical dimension of self-concept, which, in turn, has a strong impact on the social dimension of self-concept [59, 60] . The differences presented between sexes, in which males showed a stronger relation, can be explained by the fact that boys of the age examined in the present study tend to engage in physical activity competitively against their peers. In this context, the maintenance of a good state of health and lower body mass index will result in a better perception of their physical self-concept, which will improve the development of physical activities or sports at the same time [61] . On the other hand, girls focus less on the development of competition, which explains the weaker relation discussed here [62] .

The association between body mass index and self-concept can be largely explained by the strong impact of body image on the physical dimension of self-concept, which, in turn, has a strong impact on the social dimension of self-concept.

In this context, the maintenance of a good state of health and lower body mass index will result in a better perception of their physical self-concept, which will improve the development of physical activities or sports at the same time.

On the other hand, girls focus less on the development of competition, which explains the weaker relation discussed here.


This research aims to analyze the constructs mentioned in the previous paragraphs, due to the importance of these factors in the psychosocial health of school children. These subjects in school-age children have certain characteristics that distinguish them from those in adolescents and adults, due to a change from childhood to preadolescence occurring at this age [25] . During this stage, the physical development of school children has reached maturity and harmony, preparing the body for the pubertal developments characteristic of adolescence [26] . In addition, there are several changes in cognition that occur, such as the development of the capacity for abstraction and the development of more complex logical processes [27] . Regarding the emotional field, school children begin to suffer from affective alterations due to the onset of sexuality, as well as changes in their self-concept, their emotional perception, and the way they socialize with others. At a social level, the main socializing agent ceases being the family, to the detriment of the peer groups which obtain greater autonomy [28] . Due to these characteristics, the population of school children from 10 to 12 years old is coined as a focus of interest in the present research.

These subjects in school-age children have certain characteristics that distinguish them from those in adolescents and adults, due to a change from childhood to preadolescence occurring at this age.

During this stage, the physical development of school children has reached maturity and harmony, preparing the body for the pubertal developments characteristic of adolescence.

In addition, there are several changes in cognition that occur, such as the development of the capacity for abstraction and the development of more complex logical processes.

At a social level, the main socializing agent ceases being the family, to the detriment of the peer groups which obtain greater autonomy.


The path model developed by examining variables measured from school children as a function of their sex demonstrates a good fit for all of the evaluation indices. Chi-squared analysis produced a significant p-value (χ2 = 228.179; DF = 40; p < 0.001). However, it must be highlighted that this index cannot be interpreted in a standardized manner, given its susceptibility to the influence of sample size [34] . To address this, other indices of standardized fit were used, which are less sensitive to sample size. The comparative fit index (CFI) analysis obtained a value of 0.965, which describes an excellent fit. The normalized fit index (NFI) analysis produced a value of 0.958 and the incremental fit index (IFI) value was 0.968, both of which are excellent. The root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) analysis obtained an excellent value of 0.048.

However, it must be highlighted that this index cannot be interpreted in a standardized manner, given its susceptibility to the influence of sample size.


In consideration of the contribution of the categories of the task climate, the indicator showing the greatest relation strength, in both males and females, was effort/improvement, with a low strength in the regression weights for all of the indicators of the task and ego climate except member rivalry in both sexes. The indicator exercising the least influence for females was an important role and cooperative learning in the case of males. With regards to the ego climate, outcomes relating to the influence of indicators showed a similar pattern, with unequal recognition being the indicator exercising the greatest influence within both males and females, followed by the punishment of mistakes and rivalry between members. Effort/improvement represents the factor most strongly characterized by high levels of intrinsic motivation, as the individual is driven by personal progress and leaves aside the attainment of extrinsic goals [45] . Boys attributed less importance to cooperative learning, with an important role being the least important factor for girls. From this, it can be concluded that girls value the process of learning and collaborating with other group members to a greater extent, while boys value the attainment of an important role and standing out from others due to their own personal abilities more highly [46, 47] .

Effort/improvement represents the factor most strongly characterized by high levels of intrinsic motivation, as the individual is driven by personal progress and leaves aside the attainment of extrinsic goals.

From this, it can be concluded that girls value the process of learning and collaborating with other group members to a greater extent, while boys value the attainment of an important role and standing out from others due to their own personal abilities more highly.


In terms of the motivational climate, the path model showed a significant and negative relationship between the ego and the task-oriented climate in both sexes, with the association being stronger and more differentiated amongst girls. The present theoretical model confirmed the presence of an inverse association between the task-oriented climate and the ego-oriented climate, with a low strength in the regression weights for the boys and girls. This reveals that school children who report an elevated task-oriented motivation, enabling them to focus on effort and overcoming personal challenges, tend to display low levels of ego orientation, promoting intergroup rivalry, and vice versa [40] [41] [42] . The inverse relationship between both dimensions of the motivational climate was stronger amongst females, with males reporting higher scores for the ego-oriented climate and lower scores for the task-oriented climate. This may be explained by the finding that females tend to focus on intrinsic goals, whereas males tend to favor extrinsic goals [43, 44] .

This reveals that school children who report an elevated task-oriented motivation, enabling them to focus on effort and overcoming personal challenges, tend to display low levels of ego orientation, promoting intergroup rivalry, and vice versa.

This may be explained by the finding that females tend to focus on intrinsic goals, whereas males tend to favor extrinsic goals.


An analysis of the relationship between the task climate and self-concept of these school children found a positive direct association in both groups, with a stronger relation identified amongst girls. Furthermore, the association between the ego-oriented climate and self-concept was negative and indirect, with a stronger association amongst boys. Motivational orientations towards the task are allied to the intrinsic motivations which encourage overcoming personal challenges, effort, and the belief that improvement is possible, while orientation towards the ego relates with factors connected to the pure demonstration of ability and overcoming the opponent. Individuals who concentrate on personal improvement through training will also have higher levels of self-concept, as they are less likely than ego-oriented individuals to experience a fear of failure. In contrast, those who are driven purely to demonstrate their ability as a mechanism of gaining external rewards, risk suffering from a fear of failure and a diminished self-concept [54] . The perception held by an individual about themselves is, in turn, affected by their response to different situations arising during daily life. Individuals who are more task-oriented present better levels of self-concept than those who are more ego-oriented, due to their need to stand out and the concomitant fear of failure [47] . With regards to differences according to sex, the present study suggests that females are more inclined to focus on overcoming personal challenges and, as a result, report a better self-concept. Males give greater importance to competitive factors, which produces a self-concept that is more dependent on concrete achievements and failures [55] .

In contrast, those who are driven purely to demonstrate their ability as a mechanism of gaining external rewards, risk suffering from a fear of failure and a diminished self-concept.

Individuals who are more task-oriented present better levels of self-concept than those who are more ego-oriented, due to their need to stand out and the concomitant fear of failure.

Males give greater importance to competitive factors, which produces a self-concept that is more dependent on concrete achievements and failures.


The path model developed by examining variables measured from school children as a function of their sex demonstrates a good fit for all of the evaluation indices. Chi-squared analysis produced a significant p-value (χ2 = 228.179; DF = 40; p < 0.001). However, it must be highlighted that this index cannot be interpreted in a standardized manner, given its susceptibility to the influence of sample size [34] . To address this, other indices of standardized fit were used, which are less sensitive to sample size. The comparative fit index (CFI) analysis obtained a value of 0.965, which describes an excellent fit. The normalized fit index (NFI) analysis produced a value of 0.958 and the incremental fit index (IFI) value was 0.968, both of which are excellent. The root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) analysis obtained an excellent value of 0.048. The model fit was examined in order to verify the compatibility between the developed model and the empirical data obtained. The reliability of the model fit was examined according to the goodness of the fit criteria described by Marsh [34] . In the case of the chi-squared analysis, values associated with a non-significant p-value indicate a good model fit. The comparative fit index (CFI) values will be deemed to be acceptable when they are higher than 0.90 and excellent when they are higher than 0.95. The normative fit index (NFI) values should be greater than 0.90. The incremental fit index (IFI) values will be deemed acceptable when they are higher than 0.90 and excellent when they are higher than 0.95. Finally, the values for the root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) will be deemed to be excellent if they are lower than 0.05 and acceptable if they are lower than 0.08.

However, it must be highlighted that this index cannot be interpreted in a standardized manner, given its susceptibility to the influence of sample size.

The reliability of the model fit was examined according to the goodness of the fit criteria described by Marsh.


When the relationship between the task climate and the Mediterranean diet is examined, a positive direct association is identified in both boys and girls, with a stronger relation being ascertained in girls. In contrast, the ego-oriented climate is negatively associated with Mediterranean diet adherence in both groups, with stronger relations found amongst boys. From this data, it can be concluded that a direct relationship exists between the task climate and Mediterranean diet adherence, while an inverse relationship exists in the case of the ego climate. In line with comments in the previous paragraph, intrinsic motivations are related to the development of healthy habits and optimal nutritional patterns, while the ego climate encourages less healthy habits, which will also affect the nutritional profile of individuals [51, 52] . During this life stage of school children, dietary patterns depend, to a large degree, on parental influence, though a decrease in this influence begins to emerge [53] . Differences relating to Mediterranean diet adherence between the sexes can be explained by the greater task-oriented motivation reported by girls and the greater ego-orientation reported by boys, as was the case with regards to the body mass index.

In line with comments in the previous paragraph, intrinsic motivations are related to the development of healthy habits and optimal nutritional patterns, while the ego climate encourages less healthy habits, which will also affect the nutritional profile of individuals.

During this life stage of school children, dietary patterns depend, to a large degree, on parental influence, though a decrease in this influence begins to emerge.


Motivation is a crucial element of any learning process. This is true as much in the context of sport as it is in education, given that individuals are more effective in achieving difficult learning outcomes when they set defined objectives and work towards the achievement of personal goals. This, in turn, translates into greater motivation [10] . Accordingly, the motivational climate constitutes the social environment and is defined by implicit and explicit processes that predispose individuals to the attainment of success [11] . Depending on how these implicit and explicit processes are used (design of tasks, use of rewards, working with others, and evaluation), motivational climates oriented towards mastery (task) or performance (ego) are developed [12] .

This, in turn, translates into greater motivation.

Accordingly, the motivational climate constitutes the social environment and is defined by implicit and explicit processes that predispose individuals to the attainment of success.

Depending on how these implicit and explicit processes are used (design of tasks, use of rewards, working with others, and evaluation), motivational climates oriented towards mastery (task) or performance (ego) are developed.


The interpretation of success and failure is personal and depends on whether the individual is oriented towards their ego (they desire to demonstrate their superiority over others), or towards the task (they desire personal improvement) [8] . The orientation assumed by an individual is influenced by several dispositional factors, all acting at the same time. These include the individual's tendency towards one orientation over another and environmental influences, such as the motivational climate, which promotes the emphasis of certain processes over others in the context of physical activity and healthy habits [9] .

The interpretation of success and failure is personal and depends on whether the individual is oriented towards their ego (they desire to demonstrate their superiority over others), or towards the task (they desire personal improvement).

These include the individual's tendency towards one orientation over another and environmental influences, such as the motivational climate, which promotes the emphasis of certain processes over others in the context of physical activity and healthy habits.


In this study, we included 85 patients of whom 41 patients (48.2%) were classified as sarcopenic. This number is in accordance with recent medical literature which estimated the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly patients diagnosed with different types of cancer between 14 and 78.7% [22] . The prevalence estimates of sarcopenia in the elderly noncancer patients are lower, ranging between 5 and 50%. Sarcopenia is prevailing in elderly cancer patients because of the frequent weight loss caused by low food intake, increased catabolic pathways, increased inflammation, increased lipolysis, and increased proteolysis associated with both old age and malignancy [22] .

This number is in accordance with recent medical literature which estimated the prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly patients diagnosed with different types of cancer between 14 and 78.7%.

Sarcopenia is prevailing in elderly cancer patients because of the frequent weight loss caused by low food intake, increased catabolic pathways, increased inflammation, increased lipolysis, and increased proteolysis associated with both old age and malignancy.


In short, our approach is a first step to evaluate quantitatively and objectively triples generated by an unsupervised text miner. It does not aim directly at selecting relevant compounds terms and providing their semantic compositional interpretation. Although it would be interesting to see whether for our VAT corpus sensible interpretations could be generated using the structural semantic interconnections algorithm of Velardi and colleagues [18] . Also, their domain relevance measure, when applied to two texts, is equivalent to the corpus linguistic statistical formulas presented in section 3.3. could be an alternative metric to be taken into account for our evaluation purposes.

Although it would be interesting to see whether for our VAT corpus sensible interpretations could be generated using the structural semantic interconnections algorithm of Velardi and colleagues.


The microbial biomass is considered to be an important and labile fraction of soil organic matter that is involved in energy and nutrient cycling (Li et al., 2009) . Soil biota size and activity are directly related to the amount and quality of carbon and other nutrients that are available from plant residues and organic amendments (Okur et al., 2008) . Some criteria for estimating overall microbial activity in soil have been proposed. Direct cell counting, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content, dehydrogenase and catalase activity, soil respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis activity and adenosine triphosphate content have become those studied most often (Benedetti, Dilly, 2006; Green et al., 2006) . Dehydrogenase and catalase are intracellular enzymes that are involved in the microbial, oxidoreductase metabolism (Gianfreda, Ruggiero, 2006) . Dehydrogenase activity (EC 1.1.) is known to oxidize soil organic matter by transferring protons and electrons from substrates to acceptors. Since dehydrogenase activity reflects the total range of oxidative activity of soil microflora, it can be used as a good indicator of total microbiological activity (Kızılkaya, Hepşen, 2007) . Catalase (hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.6.) is found mainly in all aerobic bacteria and most facultative anaerobes, although it remains active outside of a cell due to its association with organic matter and/ or sorption on clay minerals (Nannipieri et al., 2002) . Catalase activity is considered to be an indicator of aerobic microbial activity and soil fertility (Włodarczyk et al., 2001) . The soil global hydrolase activity is evaluated by measuring the hydrolysis rate of fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDAH). This method is considered to be a suitable index of the overall enzyme and microbial activity in soil because the hydrolysis of FDA is carried out by active cells with a variety of enzymes, including proteases, lipases and esterases (Green et al., 2006) . It has been stated that the properties related to microbial biomass size and activity are more dynamic and respond more quickly to changes in crop management practices or environmental conditions than do properties such as total soil organic matter. Therefore, they are often used as sensitive indicators of organic matter turnover (Tejada et al., 2008) .

The microbial biomass is considered to be an important and labile fraction of soil organic matter that is involved in energy and nutrient cycling.

Soil biota size and activity are directly related to the amount and quality of carbon and other nutrients that are available from plant residues and organic amendments.

Direct cell counting, soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content, dehydrogenase and catalase activity, soil respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis activity and adenosine triphosphate content have become those studied most often.

Dehydrogenase and catalase are intracellular enzymes that are involved in the microbial, oxidoreductase metabolism.

Since dehydrogenase activity reflects the total range of oxidative activity of soil microflora, it can be used as a good indicator of total microbiological activity.

Catalase (hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.6.) is found mainly in all aerobic bacteria and most facultative anaerobes, although it remains active outside of a cell due to its association with organic matter and/ or sorption on clay minerals.

Catalase activity is considered to be an indicator of aerobic microbial activity and soil fertility.

This method is considered to be a suitable index of the overall enzyme and microbial activity in soil because the hydrolysis of FDA is carried out by active cells with a variety of enzymes, including proteases, lipases and esterases.

Therefore, they are often used as sensitive indicators of organic matter turnover.


A randomised controlled trial of an approach to improve the health outcomes of patients with long-term conditions through improving the self-management support they received from primary care showed no effect (Kennedy et al., 2013) . The trial was one of the largest ever to be conducted of self-management support, recruiting 5599 patients. This paper uses qualitative methods to explore the work of self-management support and explain why the implementation of a systemised evidence-based approach failed to engage the nurses tasked with supporting patients to self-manage.

A randomised controlled trial of an approach to improve the health outcomes of patients with long-term conditions through improving the self-management support they received from primary care showed no effect.


In Table 1 results of modal analysis of spruce wood samples are presented, i.e. number of mode, modal fre-quencies f , percentage of critical modal damping d and the width of the resonance maximum D. Results were obtained by the impact excitation of the resonance spruce wood from Istebna and Mazoče and nonresonance wood from the vicinity of Olsztyn. Table 1 gathers the most distinct and characteristic modes obtained in the studied frequency range, with small damping values, i.e., less than 10% of critical damping. Systems or materials with the percentage of critical damping lower than 10% can be classified as linear (Ewins, 1995; Skrodzka et al., 2009; 2013) . Only linear materials can be subjected to modal analysis, i.e. those which obey the principle of mode superposition. The modes with critical damping higher than 10% were marked by italic fonts in Table 1 .

Systems or materials with the percentage of critical damping lower than 10% can be classified as linear.


Such infimum gaps may actually occur, as shown by simple examples. In the present paper we aim to explore the connection between 'normality' of a minimizer of problem (P e ) and the occurrence of an infimum gap. In this case, normality means that if (p 0 , p, π, λ) is an arbitrary set of 'multipliers' ( i.e., an adjoint path) appearing in the Maximum Principle 3 , then λ > 0. Omitting some details concerning the precise hypotheses we impose on the data, our main result (see Theorem 4.1) may be summarized as follows: Theorem 1.1. Consider the optimal control problem (1) and its extended sense formulation (2) . Assume that some minimizer for (P e ) is a normal extremal. Then there is no infimum gap.

Consider the optimal control problem (1) and its extended sense formulation.

Then there is no infimum gap.


Compared with the stages of fruits maturation, the seeds from the harvested green, yellow and dried on the plant fruits showed higher value of the vigor test (count of germination after 5 days of sowed) and the fruits dried on the ground reached the low values of vigor test ( Table 5 ). The fruits harvested green, yellow and dried on the plant were in a complete process of maturation, this way it was possible to show the best result in vigor test. The physiological maturation of Jatropha curcas L. seeds occur when the fruits are dried [20] .

The physiological maturation of Jatropha curcas L. seeds occur when the fruits are dried.


The vigor test is also used to assess the seed, physiologically being more aware than germination test [7] . Because of the objectivity and swiftness, the electrical conductivity is considered the main vigor test by International Seed Testing Association [6] . Nevertheless, it is necessary to take care of the electrical conductivity test, because many factors can affect its results. The quality of water, temperature, soaking time, water content, the amount of seed tested and genotypes are some factors capable to damage the results of the electrical conductivity test [8] - [11] .

The vigor test is also used to assess the seed, physiologically being more aware than germination test.

Because of the objectivity and swiftness, the electrical conductivity is considered the main vigor test by International Seed Testing Association.

The quality of water, temperature, soaking time, water content, the amount of seed tested and genotypes are some factors capable to damage the results of the electrical conductivity test.


The seeds from the yellow, ripe and dried on the plant fruits obtained higher germination than the other seeds from the other stages of fruit maturation. In these results, the seeds from the green fruits and fruits dried on the ground showed the low value of germination ( Table 7 ). In the physiological maturation of the seeds it is reached the highest dry biomass accumulation, in this experiment the maturation stage was reached when the fruits were dried on the plant. The higher accumulation of dry biomass is attained to the physiological maturation and it can reach the higher vigor of the seed, however it depends on the species and genotype [22] .

The higher accumulation of dry biomass is attained to the physiological maturation and it can reach the higher vigor of the seed, however it depends on the species and genotype.


In recent years, marine resources have attracted attention in the search for bioactive compounds to develop new drugs and healthy foods (Qi, Zhao, Zhang, Li, & Zhao, 2005) . In particular, seaweeds are a very important and commercially valuable resource for food, fodder, soil conditioners and pharmaceuticals (Yang et al., 2006) . Moreover, sulfated polysaccharides from marine algae are known to exhibit many biological and physiological activities including anticoagulant, antiviral, antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant (Becker, Guimarães, Mourão, & Verli, 2007; F-Tischer, Talarico, Noseda, Guimarães, & Duarte, 2006; Souza et al., 2007; Ye, Wang, Zhou, Liu, & Zeng, 2008) .

In recent years, marine resources have attracted attention in the search for bioactive compounds to develop new drugs and healthy foods.

In particular, seaweeds are a very important and commercially valuable resource for food, fodder, soil conditioners and pharmaceuticals.

Moreover, sulfated polysaccharides from marine algae are known to exhibit many biological and physiological activities including anticoagulant, antiviral, antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.


Red seaweeds synthesize a great variety of sulfated galactans, which are the major components of the extracellular matrix. Polysaccharides from the Gracilaria genus are composed mainly of the alternating 3-linked-b-D-galactopyranose unit (Gal) and the 4-linked-3,6-anhydro-a-L-galactopyranose unit (AnGal). The Gal unit can be substituted by either a methyl or a sulfate ester groups (Rees, 1961) .

The Gal unit can be substituted by either a methyl or a sulfate ester groups.


When the natural defenses of an organism (of enzymatic, non-enzymatic, or dietary origin) are overwhelmed by an excessive generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), a situation of 'oxidative stress' occurs. Consequently, cellular and extracellular macromolecules (proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) can suffer oxidative damage, causing tissue injury (Halliwell & Auroma, 1991; Halliwell & Gutteridge, 1989) . Most organisms are able to defend themselves from oxidations and repair oxidative damages. However, the innate defense in the human body may not be enough for severe oxidative stress. Antioxidants are substances that can delay or prevent oxidation of cellular oxidizable substrates (Wang, Zhang, Zhang, Zhang, & Li, 2009) . Hence, certain amounts of exogenous antioxidants are constantly required to maintain an adequate level of antioxidants in order to balance the amount of ROS (Li, 2007) .

Consequently, cellular and extracellular macromolecules (proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) can suffer oxidative damage, causing tissue injury.

Antioxidants are substances that can delay or prevent oxidation of cellular oxidizable substrates.

Hence, certain amounts of exogenous antioxidants are constantly required to maintain an adequate level of antioxidants in order to balance the amount of ROS.


Metabolic models are quantitative frameworks for studying the metabolism of wild type and mutant organisms. Several metabolic modeling techniques exist in literature. Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) is a simple and yet a very important metabolic modeling strategy for wild type organisms. It is based on the assumption that physicochemical principles such as the laws of conservation of mass and energy hold true for metabolic networks (Kauffman et al., 2003) . Further, in FBA, it is assumed that organisms have evolved over millennia to maximize growth (Varma and Palsson, 1993) . However, this assumption of maximal growth may not hold true for mutant organisms. Studying the metabolism of mutant organisms is important since, in such organisms fluxes can get redirected towards some desired metabolite due to the genetic modifications. For example, a gene deletion will cause the flux of the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme coded by the gene to become zero, thereby potentially perturbing the fluxes in the entire metabolic network.

It is based on the assumption that physicochemical principles such as the laws of conservation of mass and energy hold true for metabolic networks.

Further, in FBA, it is assumed that organisms have evolved over millennia to maximize growth.


The basic premise in the ROOM approach is that the aim of the mutant is to minimize the number of significant flux changes compared to the wild type organism. This hypothesis is reasonable since there is evidence to suggest that the final metabolic steady state after a mutation is quite close to that in the wild type with major flux changes occurring in only a few reactions (Shlomi et al., 2005) . Identification of the flux profiles of a mutant using ROOM thus involves solving an optimization problem where the number of significant flux changes compared to the wild type fluxes are minimized in the mutant, subject to the fluxes satisfying the conservation laws. This then results in an integer programming optimization problem. The number of integer decision variables in this problem is the same as number of fluxes in the metabolic network and can easily vary from a few hundreds to a few tens of thousands. The resulting optimization problem can then be a large scale integer programming problem and will have the inherent difficulties associated with solving large scale integer programming problems.

This hypothesis is reasonable since there is evidence to suggest that the final metabolic steady state after a mutation is quite close to that in the wild type with major flux changes occurring in only a few reactions.


There are a number of limitations of the current study. The sample size of for the speaking task is very small and only a handful of learners from what we have termed 'related languages' participated in the oral speaking assessment. It is therefore hard to generalize from the findings about the larger learner population. It should also be noted that data drawn for the current study is from a limited number of schools across the country and that the conditions under which the study was undertaken did not allow us to explore differences between schools. It is generally known that students with Chinese and Korean language backgrounds are better represented in higher ranking than in lower ranking schools. Thus, it is possible that performance differences between related and non-related language groups were not only a function of L1 background, but also attributable to the nature of the instruction and/or the resources available in the relevant schools. Finally, it is worth mentioning that all related language group students are bilingual in their first language and English or indeed multilingual. Thus is it possible that these learners' broader multilingual experiences and capabilities, as mentioned by Scarino (this issue) rather than simply crosslinguistic influence from their mother tongue, were responsible for their superior performance in Japanese. Other variables including length of study, in-country experience (though limited) were not taken into account in the analysis of this particular set of test results, and therefore the extent to which these variables might have affected the results is unknown. The interaction of language transfer with any or all of these variables with the language transfer phenomenon is worthy of further investigation. Furthermore, due to space constraints this study has not investigated any task effect on test-taker performances (as did Kim, this issue). The language characteristics of each group's performance might differ across tasks and indeed in relation to other tasks beyond those that were used for the SAALE study. Lastly, space constraints have precluded our inclusion of data on learners' attitudes to Japanese and the extent of their familiarity with Japanese culture, which were collected for the larger study (Scarino et al., 2011) . Therefore, the extent to which these aspects had an impact on their performance remains as speculation.

Lastly, space constraints have precluded our inclusion of data on learners' attitudes to Japanese and the extent of their familiarity with Japanese culture, which were collected for the larger study.


On balance, and incorporating the above limitations of ensuring that the HADS remains an easy to use clinical screening instrument, it is suggested that HADS remains a useful screening instrument in the clinical oncology environment and may be scored and interpreted in the recommended manner [10, 36] . However, further clinical research work is recommended in this area to determine if scoring the instrument as a three-factor measure offers any worthwhile benefits in case detection that may offset a more complicated scoring procedure. No evidence at all was forthcoming to suggest that the HADS should be used as a one-dimensional model of global psychological distress, the single factor model providing a very poor fit to the data. Based on this observation it is suggested that a total HADS score should not be used in this clinical context.

On balance, and incorporating the above limitations of ensuring that the HADS remains an easy to use clinical screening instrument, it is suggested that HADS remains a useful screening instrument in the clinical oncology environment and may be scored and interpreted in the recommended manner.


The second goal of this paper is to show that in variational form Aleksandrov's problem can be considered as a problem of optimal mass transport on a sphere with appropriate cost function and constraints. As a result of this connection with optimal transport "economics-like" interpretations of some classical geometric concepts such as the Gauss map are obtained. Furthermore, this connection permits, in principle, a numerical determination of a convex polytope by the integral Gauss curvature by methods of linear programming. This should be useful in some applied problems involving numerical determination of convex surfaces by Gauss curvature [20, 19, 37, 28] .

This should be useful in some applied problems involving numerical determination of convex surfaces by Gauss curvature.


ICT was officially introduced as public administration service support in Indonesia through Presidential Directive No. 6/2001 [7] . It states that all Indonesian government levels have to use ICT as a prerequisite for achieving good governance. As of June 2014, Indonesia had 542 local governments, comprising 34 provinces, 415 regencies and 93 cities [8] . Prior studies found that most local governments in the country were still at the lowest stages of egovernment development. Only less than 20% of local governments was at the second stage (interact), while most of them were still at the first stage (publish) [9] .

ICT was officially introduced as public administration service support in Indonesia through Presidential Directive No. 6/2001.

As of June 2014, Indonesia had 542 local governments, comprising 34 provinces, 415 regencies and 93 cities.

Only less than 20% of local governments was at the second stage (interact), while most of them were still at the first stage (publish).


Of the complaints patients may have of neuropathic symptoms, chemotherapy-related ocular toxicities are underreported as the medical team prioritizes cancer treatment (Singh & Singh, 2012) . Complaints of visual side effects range from blurred vision to decreased visual acuity, optic neuropathy, and rarely produced total loss of vision at the early stages (Caraceni, Martini, Spatti, Thomas, & Onofrj, 1997; Singh & Singh, 2012) . Cases of visual disturbances from platinum (cisplatin and carboplatin) chemotherapeutic agents are more prevalent than visual disturbances secondary to paclitaxel; however, previous cases of transient visual disturbance during paclitaxel infusions were reported to affect the retina and optic nerve pathways (Scaioli et al., 2006; Capri et al., 1994) .

Of the complaints patients may have of neuropathic symptoms, chemotherapy-related ocular toxicities are underreported as the medical team prioritizes cancer treatment.

Complaints of visual side effects range from blurred vision to decreased visual acuity, optic neuropathy, and rarely produced total loss of vision at the early stages.

Cases of visual disturbances from platinum (cisplatin and carboplatin) chemotherapeutic agents are more prevalent than visual disturbances secondary to paclitaxel; however, previous cases of transient visual disturbance during paclitaxel infusions were reported to affect the retina and optic nerve pathways.


It has been found that the direct causes of CIPN include the presence of inflammation and the loss of nerve fibers in the affected area (Gannon, 1971) . However, the mechanisms of pain and other neuropathic symptoms, incorporating peripheral receptors, pain pathways, and cortical and subcortical centers where symptoms are perceived, have brought emphasis to the importance of the corticalization of symptoms (Jensen, Greirson, Tracy-Smith, Bacigalupi, & Othmer, 2007) . Since the brain has considerable neuroplastic capabilities, neurofeedback may be of benefit to neuropathy patients presenting with a variety of symptoms.

It has been found that the direct causes of CIPN include the presence of inflammation and the loss of nerve fibers in the affected area.

However, the mechanisms of pain and other neuropathic symptoms, incorporating peripheral receptors, pain pathways, and cortical and subcortical centers where symptoms are perceived, have brought emphasis to the importance of the corticalization of symptoms.


Literature suggests that alpha band changes are associated with improvement of visual field detection, improved temporal processing of visual stimuli, detection performance, and visual acuity, specifically with optic neuropathy patients (Sabel et al., 2011) . Indeed, this case study suggests that alpha increase after neurofeedback training did in fact correlate with improvement in visual symptom report, even though the training protocols used were decided upon to try to maximize improvement in all symptoms, not solely the client's perception of visual problems. In conclusion, neurofeedback treatment of this patient targeted the full range of neuropathic symptoms and not just those related to vision. However, it was discovered that while somewhat transitory, NFB was also effective with the symptoms related to her vision. It is anticipated that as more and more "baby-boomers" age, we can expect an increase in the types of problems experienced by people receiving chemotherapy. The results of this case offer good evidence that further research into the effectiveness of NFB on CIPN would be of great benefit to many.

Literature suggests that alpha band changes are associated with improvement of visual field detection, improved temporal processing of visual stimuli, detection performance, and visual acuity, specifically with optic neuropathy patients.


In this study, we propose using an intensity-weighted centroid of a BB to represent its center on the image. This approach will allow us to determine the theoretical limit of a perfect imaging system. The central principles of this approach were proposed a few years ago and applied to an animal study published in 2008 [13] . These principles are further elaborated in this manuscript, supported by experimental imaging data that demonstrate the practical limit in clinically relevant scenarios.

The central principles of this approach were proposed a few years ago and applied to an animal study published in 2008.


The intensity-weighted centroid method described in this manuscript can achieve subpixel accuracy in detecting the position of an object in digital image. The methodology is straightforward to understand and implement. When applied to a commercial linac-based imaging system, a system with non-uniform background, noise, non-parallel X-rays, scatters, and possible mechanical instabilities, such as the one used in this study, positional measurements can be as precise as a few microns. This represents an improvement over the resolution, 0.1 mm, of the current vendor's detection of circular objects and creates an opportunity to utilize this method for linac mechanical accuracy measurements [17] .

This represents an improvement over the resolution, 0.1 mm, of the current vendor's detection of circular objects and creates an opportunity to utilize this method for linac mechanical accuracy measurements.


Venous leg ulcers (VLUs), defined as open skin lesions on the foot or leg, mostly occur between the ankles and the knees as a consequence of venous hypertension [1] . VLUs are the most common etiology of leg ulcers among the adult population. Globally, the prevalence rate of VLUs is 1% of the adults aged 18-64 years. About 5% of the adults > 65 years of age suffer from venous ulcers, and this number continues to rise due to the global ageing population [2, 3] .

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs), defined as open skin lesions on the foot or leg, mostly occur between the ankles and the knees as a consequence of venous hypertension.

About 5% of the adults > 65 years of age suffer from venous ulcers, and this number continues to rise due to the global ageing population.


In this study, which was carried out on teachers and focused on the relationship between the perceived stress level and psychological needs, the differentiation status in terms of gender, type of institution and type of the school variables was firstly examined. According to the results obtained in terms of the institution type variable, while no significant difference was found between the teachers working in private and public schools in terms of the perceived stress and the needs for success, relationship and autonomy, and that the needs for the dominance of teachers working in private schools were higher compared to teachers working in public schools. When the literature on psychological needs was examined, a study in which working in public and private institutions is directly examined as a variable was not determined. In addition to this, the fact that the dominance needs, meaning to influence, control and manage the others and to influence the tendency of a group, of teachers working in private schools was higher than the dominance needs of teachers working in the public in this research can be explained by the structure of the institution where they work. Namely, teachers working in private schools also have to fulfill the specific tasks arising from the special conditions of the school in addition to duties and responsibilities such as courses, seizures, educational studies and project studies given to them by the regulations (Bozgeyikli & Sat, 2014) . This situation naturally leads to a working environment that requires them to be more dominant, hence it can be said that the dominance needs of teachers working in private institutions are increasing.

Namely, teachers working in private schools also have to fulfill the specific tasks arising from the special conditions of the school in addition to duties and responsibilities such as courses, seizures, educational studies and project studies given to them by the regulations.


The fact that there is not a significant difference between teachers working in public and private institutions in terms of the perceived stress level is also quite noteworthy. Indeed, the fact that private schools create more stress on their employees in terms of working conditions is an expected climate. However, the fact that there is no significant difference in terms of the perceived stress can be explained based on the basic ideas of the transactional model in which stress is addressed as a process based on the relationship between the individual and the environment. According to transactional model, person's perception is effective in the formation of the stress rather than the threats from the environment (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) . When it is viewed from this aspect, these situations, that can be considered significant stress factors for teachers in public institutions as they exist there with a preliminary acceptance regarding the climate created by the institutions for which they work, do not have the same effect for the individual working in private institutions.

According to transactional model, person's perception is effective in the formation of the stress rather than the threats from the environment.


In conclusion, the needs, one of the basic elements necessary for the individual's physiological, social and emotional development and for them to establish balanced relationships with the environment, and their derivatives primarily provide information about what the individual is acting towards. In addition to this, satisfying these needs adequately brings along the well-being and healthy development of the individual, as well. On the other hand, more effective social environments such as parents, teachers and administrators can be created by understanding the functions of these needs (Deci & Ryan, 2011) . Because the social environment and the society in which the people live are effective in satisfying their basic psychological needs. While the support of social environment positively affects the satisfaction of needs, non-support or questioning their decisions negatively affects the need for satisfaction. Satisfaction of the needs also determines the person's well-being level .

On the other hand, more effective social environments such as parents, teachers and administrators can be created by understanding the functions of these needs.


A new profile shape matching stereovision algorithm that uses simple computations and little computational resources is presented in this paper. The proposed algorithm extracts image intensity values from the same image rows of the stereo image pair and matches the intensity profile shape row by row. This approach reduces the effect of intensity and colour differences caused by lighting variations [3] . The algorithm produces a dense disparity map after it iterates through each row of the images. Once the disparity map is generated, a disparity range can be selected to remove objects and background features that are out of the desired distance range in front of the cameras. In other words, object detection is not based on an object's colour, intensity, or texture, but is determined by its distance from the cameras. Applications such as obstacle detection, human gesture recognition, and motion estimation can all benefit from isolating objects of interest from the background.

This approach reduces the effect of intensity and colour differences caused by lighting variations.


Stereovision has been the focus of computer vision research for several decades. Many new algorithms have been proposed in efforts to obtain better accuracy or higher processing speed. Generally, stereovision algorithms can be classified into sparse and dense algorithms [1] . Algorithms that output a sparse disparity map are usually feature-based methods and can produce accurate 3D information with limited density, which is not suitable for applications requiring dense-disparity information. As computational power has increased, dense-disparity methods have become popular in recent years and benefit more contemporary applications that demand dense output [1] .

Generally, stereovision algorithms can be classified into sparse and dense algorithms.

As computational power has increased, dense-disparity methods have become popular in recent years and benefit more contemporary applications that demand dense output.


In this paper we have presented our approach for providing multi faceted recommendations by extending our implicit feedback recommendation approach [3] . In order to evaluate this approach for providing recommendations and indeed the concept of multi-faceted recommendations for videos search, the recommendation algorithms were integrated into our ViGOR system. The unique organisational features available in ViGOR allow richer and multi-faceted recommendations.

In this paper we have presented our approach for providing multi faceted recommendations by extending our implicit feedback recommendation approach.


This "safe" moisture content is known as the transportable moisture limit (TML) and its inferred definition is "the maximum gross water content that a liquefiable cargo may contain without being at risk of liquefying while being transported in a bulk carrier" [19] . The flow moisture point (FMP) is also determined using two of the three methods stated in the IMSBC Code. The TML is 90% of the FMP [19] . Along with these test methods, other policies and procedures are included to reduce the occurrence of liquefaction incidents and ensure liquefiable cargoes do not get loaded on a bulk carrier if it exceeds its TML.

This "safe" moisture content is known as the transportable moisture limit (TML) and its inferred definition is "the maximum gross water content that a liquefiable cargo may contain without being at risk of liquefying while being transported in a bulk carrier".

The TML is 90% of the FMP.


Liquefaction, in soil mechanics, is a term used to describe the behaviour of a material that flows in a manner resembling a liquid when subjected to monotonic, cyclic, or shock loading. This behaviour is caused by pore pressures changing within the material, which results in the loss of effective stress and therefore shear strength [6, 13, 14] . Liquefaction does not cease until the loading is reduced causing the shear stresses acting on the mass to be as low as the reduced shear resistance [15] . Although further investigation is needed, some incidents attributed to liquefaction may also be more accurately described as cyclic instability, which is a form of unstable behaviour (strain softening) caused by a succession of dynamic load cycles [9, 16, 17] .

This behaviour is caused by pore pressures changing within the material, which results in the loss of effective stress and therefore shear strength.

Liquefaction does not cease until the loading is reduced causing the shear stresses acting on the mass to be as low as the reduced shear resistance.

Although further investigation is needed, some incidents attributed to liquefaction may also be more accurately described as cyclic instability, which is a form of unstable behaviour (strain softening) caused by a succession of dynamic load cycles.


Medium-carbon alloy steels, such as 4340, are austenitized, quenched to form predominantly martensitic microstructures in comparatively thick sections, and tempered to improve toughness while maintaining reasonably high strength and hardness [1] . An important aspect of tempering is the reduction of carbon supersaturation of metastable as-quenched martensite. At low tempering temperatures (e.g., 200°C), precipitates of transition-ironcarbide phases nucleate and grow, thereby removing carbon atoms from interstitial positions of the body-centeredtetragonal martensite lattice. As a result, the strained lattice evolves toward a lower-carbon version of martensite [2] . Oftentimes, a small portion of the high-temperature, parent austenite phase is retained as a metastable component of the martensitic microstructure.

Medium-carbon alloy steels, such as 4340, are austenitized, quenched to form predominantly martensitic microstructures in comparatively thick sections, and tempered to improve toughness while maintaining reasonably high strength and hardness.

As a result, the strained lattice evolves toward a lower-carbon version of martensite.


The design of steels for future applications will require a more detailed understanding of the evolution of microstructure during tempering. Several recent studies of advanced steels have provided keen insights on this topic using advanced characterization and modeling techniques to gain complementary results to those obtained from transmission electron microscopy [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] . However, careful examination of these recent additions to the literature reveals that some of the interpretations seem not to be in full agreement.

Several recent studies of advanced steels have provided keen insights on this topic using advanced characterization and modeling techniques to gain complementary results to those obtained from transmission electron microscopy.


Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial pool of carbon and, at least, three times larger than the pool of atmospheric CO 2 (Jobbágy & Jackson, 2000) . All signatory countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have to implement a national system for reporting carbon stock changes in the agriculture, forests and other land uses sector (Schulp et al., 2008) . As part of such a system, 2 Valles" Region in Northern Spain were considered. On the other hand, in those studies three types of forests were considered (conifer, broadleaf and evergreen broadleaf forests), however, the species composition was not taken account. Finally, litter layers were not included in the mentioned analyses.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial pool of carbon and, at least, three times larger than the pool of atmospheric CO 2.

All signatory countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have to implement a national system for reporting carbon stock changes in the agriculture, forests and other land uses sector.


Knowing the actual C stocks and the dynamics on different forests ecosystems in a region combined with the information on spatial distribution of these ecosystems can be used to improve insight in spatial distribution of SOC stocks under forest land use systems and to estimate the potential capacity of C sequestration of forest soils. Differences in SOC stocks between tree species could give an indication of the effects of future management changes, which can have a strong impact on SOC sequestration. In general, soils reverted to natural ecosystems and under climax vegetation have more soil organic carbon contents than those under managed ecosystems (Lal et al., 1995) . Our hypothesis was that the oak stands would show more soil C content because they constituted the climax vegetation in this region. Additionally, tree species are expected to differ in mitigation potential (Schulp et al., 2008) . This knowledge may help the manager's choice of in case of afforestation /reforestation with the aim of enhancing soil C stock (Lal, 2005) .

In general, soils reverted to natural ecosystems and under climax vegetation have more soil organic carbon contents than those under managed ecosystems.

Additionally, tree species are expected to differ in mitigation potential.

This knowledge may help the manager's choice of in case of afforestation /reforestation with the aim of enhancing soil C stock.


Our approach is based on using image descriptors over RPs instead of applying RQA. Comparing RQA and image descriptors, we can say that RQA measures are usually a single value, which in many cases cannot capture the spatial arrangement of certain texture properties of RPs. Image descriptors, on the other hand, are multidimensional vectors (usually lying on R d with d > 100) and can be very precise in capturing such properties (Penatti et al., 2014) .

Image descriptors, on the other hand, are multidimensional vectors (usually lying on R d with d > 100) and can be very precise in capturing such properties.


Temperature and humidity are important conditions for living, growth and activities of insects generally. For insects Hermetia illucens ideal temperature range is between 27 and 37 °C which guarantees 74-97% survival (Tomberlin et al., 2009) . Larvae Hermetia illucens consume also waste in low temperature conditions but not very quickly because their behaviour is generally slower. The lowest temperature for satisfactory consuming waste was determined on value 21 °C.

For insects Hermetia illucens ideal temperature range is between 27 and 37 °C which guarantees 74-97% survival.


The differences observed in methanol synthesis reactivity between ZnO-containing and ZnO-free catalysts in their active states could be related to a different nature of the surfaces that are exposed to the gas phase. The results demonstrate a step further towards an improved understanding of the synergistic effects in Cu-ZnO based catalyst for methanol synthesis. In the present study reduced catalysts have been studied. The surface may change under reaction conditions [42] . Therefore, DRIFTS investigations of used catalysts transferred to the measurement cell without air contact and DRIFTS studies under operation at 30 bar pressure are currently underway.

The surface may change under reaction conditions.


Step 3 consisted of two researchers evaluating the phrases, categories, and themes, examining each for internal consistency. This included the review and crosschecking of data between the two researchers, establishing consensus on the coded data and emergent themes. Similar to interpretive biographers, phenomenology views verification and standards as largely related to the researchers' interpretation (Moustakas, 1994) . General thematic coding and classification was used on data that was readily quantifiable such as demographics.

Similar to interpretive biographers, phenomenology views verification and standards as largely related to the researchers' interpretation.


In 2005, the American Camp Association reported that between the 12,000 day and resident camps across the United States, the camp experience for some 12 million campers was facilitated by nearly 1.2 million camp counselors. The same ACA benchmark report also noted that each year a 51% turnover rate was experienced among camp counselors. Historically, only moderate research has been focused upon the phenomenon of the retention of camp counselors, with a paucity existing in the knowledge base (McCole, 2005) .

Historically, only moderate research has been focused upon the phenomenon of the retention of camp counselors, with a paucity existing in the knowledge base.


So far, numerous polyphenols have been identified and proposed as the therapeutic agents to counteract oxidative stress-related diseases, which is involved in the balance between the cellular production and elimination of free radicals [22] . CGA, a type of polyphenolic compound formed by esterification of caffeic and quinic acids, is the major active ingredient found in many traditional Chinese medicines such as Flos Lonicerae Japonicae and Eucommia Ulmoides, and it is also abundant in some fruits, dietary vegetables, and daily beverages like coffee, pineapple, beans, strawberries and apples [23] . Previous reports have demonstrated that CGA exhibits a wide range of diverse pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-carcinogenic activities [3, 24, 25] . However, the antioxidant effects and molecular mechanisms of CGA in osteoblasts have not been elucidated yet. Therefore, the present study established an in vitro experimental model of osteoblasts exposed to H 2 O 2 to evaluate the effect of CGA on H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress of the osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells, and investigate whether CGA conferred an antioxidant defense capacity via modulation of PI3K/Akt activity and activation of Nrf2 and HO-1 expressions.

So far, numerous polyphenols have been identified and proposed as the therapeutic agents to counteract oxidative stress-related diseases, which is involved in the balance between the cellular production and elimination of free radicals.

CGA, a type of polyphenolic compound formed by esterification of caffeic and quinic acids, is the major active ingredient found in many traditional Chinese medicines such as Flos Lonicerae Japonicae and Eucommia Ulmoides, and it is also abundant in some fruits, dietary vegetables, and daily beverages like coffee, pineapple, beans, strawberries and apples.

Previous reports have demonstrated that CGA exhibits a wide range of diverse pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-carcinogenic activities.


A further reduction of V π L is still possible, e.g., by increasing graphene-light interaction, which can be done either by placing the graphene directly on top of the waveguide or by inserting the graphene in the middle of the waveguide [30] , [31] . In addition, a capacitor formed by two graphene layers will lead to a reduction of V π L by a factor of 2. However, these improvements come at the cost of complex fabrication steps and an increased absorption, keeping the FOM(V π Lα) unchanged. Another possibility to reduce V π L is to reduce the effective oxide thickness, e.g. a reduction to 1 nm EOT (3.5 μF/cm 2 ) will reduce V π L to 1.2 Vmm, taking also into account the quantum capacitance of graphene. However, as the modulator speed is limited by the RC product, the increase of the capacitance comes at the expense of a reduced operation speed. For insertion loss reduction, the mobility of the graphene is the limiting parameter. Currently, the mobility of our graphene is 700 cm 2 /Vs corresponding to a scattering rate of 2.5 × 10 13 s −1 , at a doping level of 0.47 eV [13] . An increase of the mobility to 10,000 cm 2 /Vs, corresponding to a scattering rate of 1.7 × 10 12 s −1 , has the potential to reduce α and V π L significantly [13] , [23] . Such high mobility is possible by using graphene in conjunction with boron nitride [32] .

A further reduction of V π L is still possible, e.g., by increasing graphene-light interaction, which can be done either by placing the graphene directly on top of the waveguide or by inserting the graphene in the middle of the waveguide.

Currently, the mobility of our graphene is 700 cm 2 /Vs corresponding to a scattering rate of 2.5 × 10 13 s −1 , at a doping level of 0.47 eV.

An increase of the mobility to 10,000 cm 2 /Vs, corresponding to a scattering rate of 1.7 × 10 12 s −1 , has the potential to reduce α and V π L significantly.

Such high mobility is possible by using graphene in conjunction with boron nitride.


The on-chip integration of different optical components is expected to become the next paradigm change in communication technologies in order to meet future demands regarding bandwidth and energy consumption. For such optoelectronic systems, already mature Si-technology can provide an excellent technology platform offering low cost/high-volume production capabilities along with high reproducibility [1] , [2] . In all-Si photonics, phase modulators are usually based on reversebiased pn-junctions (depletion type) [3] . However, their large footprint on the order of millimeters is a serious limitation, as this results in large area consumption on the chip, considerable energy consumption, and high insertion loss.

For such optoelectronic systems, already mature Si-technology can provide an excellent technology platform offering low cost/high-volume production capabilities along with high reproducibility.

In all-Si photonics, phase modulators are usually based on reversebiased pn-junctions (depletion type).


Although good progress has been made in assessing the competence of several inbred and hybrid lines grown in South Africa, there is still much scope for improvement. For example, as many as 6 000 ELS per spike may be produced in some culture systems , and up to 99% of all ELS can regenerate green plantlets (Liu et al., 2002b) . Despite the fact that much of this variation is genetic in origin, optimizing induction and regeneration parameters are still necessary and able to improve the yields of DH plants from wheat (Zheng, 2003) . Integration of these procedures into current breeding programs will not only reduce the time for cultivar development, but can create genetically different lines that are homozygous by releasing the inherent genetic variation contained within the genome.

For example, as many as 6 000 ELS per spike may be produced in some culture systems , and up to 99% of all ELS can regenerate green plantlets.

Despite the fact that much of this variation is genetic in origin, optimizing induction and regeneration parameters are still necessary and able to improve the yields of DH plants from wheat.


Supernumerary teeth are usually asymptomatic and most cases are an incidental finding during a dental visit. Usually if the teeth are asymptomatic, it can be left in place and kept under observation. Surgical removal should be considered based on the pathological sequelae associated with it. And an orthopantomogram should be advised as a part of routine investigation to rule out the presence of multiple supernumerary teeth. In the premolar area, common complications associated with supernumerary teeth are cyst formation (9%) and damage to neighbouring teeth (13%) [8] . Also reports of compression of the supernumerary premolars on the adjacent teeth and their closeness to the mental and inferior dental nerves may lead to pain [2] . Supernumeraries can be associated with other dental anomalies, such as hypodontia, taurodontism, germination, and macrodontia [6] .

In the premolar area, common complications associated with supernumerary teeth are cyst formation (9%) and damage to neighbouring teeth (13%).

Also reports of compression of the supernumerary premolars on the adjacent teeth and their closeness to the mental and inferior dental nerves may lead to pain.

Supernumeraries can be associated with other dental anomalies, such as hypodontia, taurodontism, germination, and macrodontia.


Among the renewable energy technology, wind turbine and concentrated solar power (CSP) plant are reported in 2013 as the world's fastest growing energy resources [1] . US and Spain have made notable investment in CSP, with Spain being the leader in CSP deployment. The increased integration of non-dispatchable renewable wind and solar energy into the power grid poses technical challenges on the forecast due to the intermittency and variability of those resources [2] .

Among the renewable energy technology, wind turbine and concentrated solar power (CSP) plant are reported in 2013 as the world's fastest growing energy resources.

The increased integration of non-dispatchable renewable wind and solar energy into the power grid poses technical challenges on the forecast due to the intermittency and variability of those resources.


In order to eliminate the potential false positive results, we followed a simple rule below: for the pairwise orthologs among the retained mouse and human proteins, they must have at least one consensus SUMO substrate motif at the same position after sequence alignment. So proteins without orthologs were excluded firstly. We aligned the sequences of the remaining o rtholog pairs respectively by ClustalW (Thompson JD et al., 1994) . After the sequence alignment, orthologs sharing no SUMO target motif at the same position were also excluded. Finally we got 2,683 proteins in both mouse and human.

We aligned the sequences of the remaining o rtholog pairs respectively by ClustalW.


Based on the traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, syndrome of blood deficiency is a morbid condition of insufficient blood supply to the visceral organs and channels for their nutrition due to improper feeding, malnutrition, profuse bleeding, chronic hemorrhage, or diminished production of blood on account of hypofunction of the internal organs. The main manifestations are pale tongue, dullness, sparse hair, thready-weak pulse, and so forth [1] . Animal experimental study is an indispensable way to illustrate the etiology and pathogenesis of blood-deficient syndrome. Likewise, animal experiment is a method to study the mechanism of hematinics on treating deficiency of blood. An animal model of blood-deficient syndrome is an important step in the research on the modernization of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine [2] . Angelica Sinensis, known as Danggui in China, is one of the most popular traditional Chinese medicines as blood-enriching drugs. The medicinal part is composed of its dried roots with sweet-acrid taste, warm property, and attribution to the heart, liver and spleen channels. It is commonly used to enrich or nourish blood and activate blood circulation. Angelica Sinensis is contained by more than 80 composite formulae. Modern researches indicate that phthalides, organic acids, and their esters, polysaccharides are the main chemical components related to the bioactivities and pharmacological properties of Danggui [3] [4] [5] . Angelica polysaccharide is water-soluble organic compound extracted from the root of Angelica Sinensis. Angelica polysaccharide, as the effective component of Angelica Sinensis in enriching blood, has the efficacy of purifying blood quality, emmenagogue, acesodyne, lenitive, improving circulation and immunity, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidation, and so forth [6] [7] [8] [9] . It is used frequently in clinics and also frequently appears as the main ingredient in prescriptions for bone injures. Cyclophosphamide is a cytostatic agent that produces systemic toxicity especially on cells with high proliferative capacity, while polysaccharides from Angelica polysaccharide have been shown to increase the turnover of hemopoietic stem cells [10] . In the modern society Angelica polysaccharide has a better potential for drug development [11] . Previous research showed Angelica polysaccharide had effects on enriching blood in mice/human with blood deficiency [10, 12] . However, there's 2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine less reports on its hematopoiesis of Angelica polysaccharide about poultry. In this study, Cyclophosphamide was used to investigate whether the blood-deficient model was successfully made in chickens, at the same time to discuss the mechanisms on enriching and nourishing blood of Angelica polysaccharide [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] .

The main manifestations are pale tongue, dullness, sparse hair, thready-weak pulse, and so forth.

An animal model of blood-deficient syndrome is an important step in the research on the modernization of traditional Chinese veterinary medicine.

Modern researches indicate that phthalides, organic acids, and their esters, polysaccharides are the main chemical components related to the bioactivities and pharmacological properties of Danggui.

Angelica polysaccharide, as the effective component of Angelica Sinensis in enriching blood, has the efficacy of purifying blood quality, emmenagogue, acesodyne, lenitive, improving circulation and immunity, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidation, and so forth.

Cyclophosphamide is a cytostatic agent that produces systemic toxicity especially on cells with high proliferative capacity, while polysaccharides from Angelica polysaccharide have been shown to increase the turnover of hemopoietic stem cells.

In the modern society Angelica polysaccharide has a better potential for drug development.

Previous research showed Angelica polysaccharide had effects on enriching blood in mice/human with blood deficiency.

In this study, Cyclophosphamide was used to investigate whether the blood-deficient model was successfully made in chickens, at the same time to discuss the mechanisms on enriching and nourishing blood of Angelica polysaccharide.


Unlike other PDP studies that consider selectivity, the SPDP requires that only some, but not necessary all, pickup nodes are visited by the vehicle to gather sufficient commodities for all delivery nodes. Moreover, despite the vehicle capacity constraint for each pickup activity, there is another constraint for the delivery activity to ensure that the vehicle must have enough commodities to satisfy the demand of the delivery customers once the vehicle visits the corresponding nodes (i.e., split or incomplete deliveries are not allowed). These are the two distinguished features of this problem (Ting & Liao, 2013) . The SPDP is related to applications that supply sufficient commodities to the customers using the cost minimizing principle while visiting all pickup nodes is not a requirement. An illustrative example is the single vehicle bicycle repositioning problem, where bikes are picked up from some surplus bike stations and transported to all deficit bike stations by a repositioning vehicle with limited capacity using the shortest route. Given that the total surplus is larger than the total deficit and all bikes are identical, it is not necessary to visit all the surplus bike stations to satisfy the demand of each deficit station. Hence, some surplus stations are not visited in order to lower the transportation cost.

These are the two distinguished features of this problem.


In these cases it is meaningful to speak of obligations, permissions and perhaps other more complex normative relations that may exist between the agents, and to describe agent behaviour as governed by norms, which may be violated, accidentally or on purpose [52] . Among these normative relations, considerable emphasis has been placed on the representation of institutional power [53] . This is a standard feature of any normative system whereby designated agents, when acting in specified roles, are empowered by an institution to create specific relations or states of affairs. Consider, for example, the case in which an agent is empowered by an institution to award a contract and thereby create a bundle of normative relations between the contracting parties.

In these cases it is meaningful to speak of obligations, permissions and perhaps other more complex normative relations that may exist between the agents, and to describe agent behaviour as governed by norms, which may be violated, accidentally or on purpose.

Among these normative relations, considerable emphasis has been placed on the representation of institutional power.


Extracting the source images from the scanned mixtures is a nonlinear blind source separation (BSS) problem. This kind of problem is often approached by assuming that the sources are statistically independent from each other, which then justifies the use of an Independent Component Analysis (ICA) method. Linear ICA is a well understood problem. One of its main properties is the essential uniqueness of the solution [2] . Nonlinear ICA is still much less studied, however, and suffers, in general, from non-uniqueness of the solution. The problem studied in this paper involves reallife nonlinear, noisy mixtures of images, some of which are not independent from each other. This non-independence, together with the nonlinear character of the mixture, affects the quality of the results of ICA-based methods [1] .

One of its main properties is the essential uniqueness of the solution.

This non-independence, together with the nonlinear character of the mixture, affects the quality of the results of ICA-based methods.


Albinos tea plant was observed even in Song dynasty in China; the emperor Songhuizong indicated in his famous book "Da Guan Cha Lun" that albinos tea plant was a rare one; there were only a few of albinos tea plants growing in the hill, but it can be made of a delicious tea if a proper processing method was taken [1, 2, 8] . We don't know why such a great quality tea should disappear in history, fortunately in the 90s of last century this special and rare tea variety was rediscovered in Anji county, Zhejiang province of China again. At first it was only reproduced and grown in Anji county, but no sooner it spread through the most tea product districts in China due to its special quality characters, great economical and important scientific value [1] [2] [3] .

Albinos tea plant was observed even in Song dynasty in China; the emperor Songhuizong indicated in his famous book "Da Guan Cha Lun" that albinos tea plant was a rare one; there were only a few of albinos tea plants growing in the hill, but it can be made of a delicious tea if a proper processing method was taken.

At first it was only reproduced and grown in Anji county, but no sooner it spread through the most tea product districts in China due to its special quality characters, great economical and important scientific value.


Chemical or biochemical diversity of albinos tea which derived of the tea biodiversity not only can meet people's extensive demand on taste and health via abundant tea specifications. It also affords diverse enjoyment of tea, and makes tea drinking full of more temperament and interest. Albinos tea with its leaves looks like "jade" that can express beauty to most extent when soaking in glass cup. Rich and colorful tea leaves show us various color, as well as fume, flavor and fine shapes by which a wonderful tea culture can be created [1] [2] [3] . Besides in the tea plantation field, the beauty color of tea leaves can be used to set up a touring tea garden [29, 30] .

Rich and colorful tea leaves show us various color, as well as fume, flavor and fine shapes by which a wonderful tea culture can be created.

Besides in the tea plantation field, the beauty color of tea leaves can be used to set up a touring tea garden.


Tea as a special drink is viewed as a healthy drink since ancient time [20] [21] [22] . It not only contains all kinds of mineral elements which can provide a supplement for every day nutritional need, but also contains a high level of polyphenols which can protect the cardiovascular system from attack by clearing the free radicals. It should be specially indicated that albinos tea with its chloroplastid degeneration at infinite conditions usually contains a high level of amino acids and relatively lower of polyphenols [1] [2] [3] . In our present study, the high content of amino acid was confirmed again, yet it is not expected that among the 4 albinos varieties two of them contain both of amino acid and polyphenols in a high level, and tests demonstrated its high content of polyphenols has a positive correlation to the ability of scanning free radicals, which is really valuable and rare. In this way, we will say that drinking a cup of albinos tea is enjoying a really healthy drink [23, 24] .

Tea as a special drink is viewed as a healthy drink since ancient time.

It should be specially indicated that albinos tea with its chloroplastid degeneration at infinite conditions usually contains a high level of amino acids and relatively lower of polyphenols.

In this way, we will say that drinking a cup of albinos tea is enjoying a really healthy drink.


In recent years, a special kind of tea product called albinos tea is becoming favorite in tea market in China. The basic characters of tea are that the fresh leaves appear pale green or bright yellow i.e, the so called albinos [1] [2] [3] . Albinos phenomenon is widely present at high plants. The most ordinary albinos phenomenon is the leaf color metamorphosis of ornamental plants whose pie-baldness leaves are regarded as a character to admire [4] . Albinos may occur in lots of crops, but it is usually treated as a physiology disease [5, 6] . However, an important fact is, though albinos in tea plant is also a disease or a leaf metamorphosis, it has created a great market value, so it is worth paying much attention [1, 2, 7, 8] .

The basic characters of tea are that the fresh leaves appear pale green or bright yellow i.e, the so called albinos.

The most ordinary albinos phenomenon is the leaf color metamorphosis of ornamental plants whose pie-baldness leaves are regarded as a character to admire.

Albinos may occur in lots of crops, but it is usually treated as a physiology disease.

However, an important fact is, though albinos in tea plant is also a disease or a leaf metamorphosis, it has created a great market value, so it is worth paying much attention.


These elements all represent aspects of identity for the local stakeholders/community and the place/region to which they are linked. This relationship between local community identity and the culture of the place contributes to authenticity [79] . Authenticity emerges from the link between a geographical component (unique food stems from unique natural conditions of territory) and a cultural component, the latter involving the cultural values and expertise shared by the members of the local community [97] .

This relationship between local community identity and the culture of the place contributes to authenticity.

Authenticity emerges from the link between a geographical component (unique food stems from unique natural conditions of territory) and a cultural component, the latter involving the cultural values and expertise shared by the members of the local community.


The investigated research areas were agriculture and rural studies, place branding and place marketing and food tourism. These areas have been analysed to identify common, recurrent and significative local F&G resources. Significance in this context indicates that the identified local F&G resources emerged as meaningful at both the local and global levels, that is, they are not only embedded in the place (spatially and culturally) but are also able to identify and differentiate the place in global competition. When these three areas were analysed through the lens of sustainable local development, they revealed some common features. In particular, to be sustainable, all local F&G resources that have the ability to support place distinctiveness and attractiveness should also address and strengthen the link between the place (territorial/geographical dimensions) and the people (cultural dimensions) [3] . Therefore, this article aims to identify recurrent local F&G resources, which are understood as a potential competitive advantage for sustainable growth; to understand how they interrelate; and to apply common dimensions that appear to give significance to these resources, namely, geographical embeddedness (place) and the meaning with which local culture imbues them (people).

In particular, to be sustainable, all local F&G resources that have the ability to support place distinctiveness and attractiveness should also address and strengthen the link between the place (territorial/geographical dimensions) and the people (cultural dimensions).