The present study focuses on the biometric use of such sensors and applies signal processing (SP) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Biometrics refers to the automatic recognition of individuals based on measurable characteristics. These characteristics can be based on the physiology of a person (e.g., fingerprints, face, and iris). User behavior (e.g., keystroke timing or gait features) can also be used to identify a particular user. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) splits biometric characteristics into physiological and behavioral categories [3] .

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) splits biometric characteristics into physiological and behavioral categories.


The distinctiveness of many of these biosignals among individuals can be due to a number of factors. In the case of the ECG, the electrical currents generated by the heart as it beats spread both within the heart and throughout the user's body. Thus, many unique signal features depend on anatomic features such as the difference in the position and size of the heart and the remaining physical conditions of the body [12] . The same is applicable to other electrical phenomena such as the galvanic skin response (GSR), which is used in the present study along with airflow and the ECG. In addition, the joint use of various biosignals will likely lead to more accurate biometric systems. This paper explores this assumption and reports experimental results for a prototype platform.

Thus, many unique signal features depend on anatomic features such as the difference in the position and size of the heart and the remaining physical conditions of the body.


The objective of the present work is to conduct a comprehensive study of the HLLC approximate Riemann solver within the framework of least-square meshless method (LSMM) for compressible flows. A dimensional non-split meshless HLLC Riemann solver is presented with specific implementation details in this paper. A corresponding step-by-step instructive computing algorithm, which is easy to follow, is also provided in the paper. The main work concentrates on the compressible gas flows, which are very important for computational aerodynamics. Referring the liquid flows in hydrodynamics, they are generally considered to be incompressible due to their small density variations. However, for high pressure and/or high speed problems, simply assuming the liquids as incompressible will encounter difficulties in numerical simulations [41, [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] . Therefore, a tentative study of the compressible liquid flow problems with the meshless HLLC solver is also presented to gauge the capability of the method. Considering the fact that the PG-EOS may be not very suitable for liquids to correlate the state variables, the stiffened gas equation of state (SG-EOS) is adopted in the present work. This enables the presented method to effectively handle the gases and liquids with the appropriate polytropic constants and pressure constants. To the best of our knowledge, the implementation of the HLLC solver for the SG-EOS in meshless methods has not been reported in the literature.

However, for high pressure and/or high speed problems, simply assuming the liquids as incompressible will encounter difficulties in numerical simulations.


For compressible flow problems in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the physical features such as shock waves and/or contact discontinuities, across which the fluid density, velocity and/or pressure vary abruptly, often appear in the solution. They are usually referred as Riemann problems (named after Bernhard Riemann) in mathematics [1] . Based on the characteristics analysis, the exact solutions can be obtained through iterations and they perform well for simple problems [2, 3] . However, exact Riemann solvers are computational expensive for two-and threedimensional problems, for which thousands or millions of mesh elements are used to discretise the whole flow domain [4] . Therefore, great efforts have been made in the past several decades to develop the efficient approximate Riemann solvers.

They are usually referred as Riemann problems (named after Bernhard Riemann) in mathematics.

Based on the characteristics analysis, the exact solutions can be obtained through iterations and they perform well for simple problems.

However, exact Riemann solvers are computational expensive for two-and threedimensional problems, for which thousands or millions of mesh elements are used to discretise the whole flow domain.


These theoretical and experimental findings confirm that the evolution of viscous fingering has a large dependence on the plate separation variation (and hence cell permeability) in both rectilinear and radial Hele-Shaw flows. Although a significant amount of previous work exists on the linear growth and early stages of the tip splitting instability with a variable plate separation, analysis of the long term non-linear evolution is lacking. Research has focused on control of the fingering instability, where linear stability theory can be effectively used to analyse the growth rate and finger morphology if the instabilities are suppressed early in time. However, to fully understand the nonlinear finger interactions and late stage interfacial evolution in radial Hele-Shaw flow subject to a variable plate separation requires extensive numerical simulation [10] .

However, to fully understand the nonlinear finger interactions and late stage interfacial evolution in radial Hele-Shaw flow subject to a variable plate separation requires extensive numerical simulation.


During the immiscible displacement of brine via the injection of supercritical CO 2 , the flow regime depends greatly on the capillary number at the interface between the fluids [2] . The local capillary number, Ca l is defined as µU n /γ, where µ is the dynamic viscosity of the displaced fluid, U n is the normal interfacial velocity and γ is the surface tension. At capillary numbers above roughly 1 × 10 −4 with a mobility ratio greater than one, viscous fingering can occur, where long fingers extend into the porous domain from the injection site [3] .

During the immiscible displacement of brine via the injection of supercritical CO 2 , the flow regime depends greatly on the capillary number at the interface between the fluids.

At capillary numbers above roughly 1 × 10 −4 with a mobility ratio greater than one, viscous fingering can occur, where long fingers extend into the porous domain from the injection site.


Conversely, Ferus could prove that for any extrinsic symmetric space M in a Euclidean space V the following holds. There is an orthogonal splitting V ¼ V 1 l V 2 , M ¼ M 1 Â M 2 such that M 1 ,! V 1 is a compact extrinsic symmetric space, which lies in a round sphere and M 2 ,! V 2 is an a‰ne subspace. We may assume that M 1 ,! V 1 full, i.e. that it is not contained in a proper a‰ne subspace of V 1 . A nice construction due to Ferus shows that M 1 ,! V 1 arises in the above described manner as an orbit of the isotropy representation of a semisimple symmetric space. A classification of extrinsic symmetric spaces in Euclidean spaces now follows from the classification of compact symmetric spaces with a suitable element x due to Kobayashi and Nagano [13] , [14] .

V 2 is an a‰ne subspace.

We may assume that M 1 ,!

A classification of extrinsic symmetric spaces in Euclidean spaces now follows from the classification of compact symmetric spaces with a suitable element x due to Kobayashi and Nagano.


In this paper we will study submanifolds of pseudo-Euclidean spaces. All these submanifolds are assumed to be non-degenerate. This shall mean that the restriction of the pseudo-Euclidean product to any tangent space of the submanifold is non-degenerate. A non-degenerate submanifold M of a pseudo-Euclidean space V is called symmetric submanifold or extrinsic symmetric space if it is invariant under the reflection at each of its a‰ne normal spaces. In particular, each extrinsic symmetric space is a usual (abstract) symmetric space. Similar to usual symmetric spaces extrinsic symmetric spaces can be characterised by curvature. They are exactly those connected complete submanifolds whose second fundamental form is parallel [16] .

They are exactly those connected complete submanifolds whose second fundamental form is parallel.


Tryptophan is an essential amino acid required for biosynthesis of proteins, serotonin, and niacin in the brain and other tissues (Peters, 1991) . Under some pathologic conditions, induction of the initial and rate-limiting enzyme of the kynurenine pathway, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), also leads to a significantly increased metabolism of tryptophan by the kynurenine pathway (Saito et al, 1992) . Recently, interest in tryptophan metabolism via this pathway has grown due to the recognition that induction of IDO by interferon gamma leads to local tryptophan depletion, thus inhibiting cell growth in malignant tumors (Ozaki et al, 1988; Aune and Pogue, 1989; Taylor and Feng, 1991; Burke et al, 1995) . This observation has led to the proposal that pharmacological induction of IDO might be an effective way to slow down tumor cell growth. In contrast, more recent studies have suggested that enhanced IDO activity in and around tumors may actually exert a potent immunosuppressive effect by blocking T-lymphocyte proliferation locally, thus diminishing T-cell-mediated tumor rejection (Mellor and Munn, 1999; Friberg et al, 2002; Uyttenhove et al, 2003; Munn and Mellor, 2004) . Based on this latter mechanism, pharmacological blockade of IDO (e.g., by using the IDO inhibitor 1-methyl-tryptophan) could be clinically useful to reverse local immune suppression (Uyttenhove et al, 2003; Munn and Mellor, 2004; Muller et al, 2005) . It remains unclear how pharmacological manipulation of IDO would affect the behavior of different tumor types in vivo.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid required for biosynthesis of proteins, serotonin, and niacin in the brain and other tissues.

Under some pathologic conditions, induction of the initial and rate-limiting enzyme of the kynurenine pathway, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), also leads to a significantly increased metabolism of tryptophan by the kynurenine pathway.

Recently, interest in tryptophan metabolism via this pathway has grown due to the recognition that induction of IDO by interferon gamma leads to local tryptophan depletion, thus inhibiting cell growth in malignant tumors.

In contrast, more recent studies have suggested that enhanced IDO activity in and around tumors may actually exert a potent immunosuppressive effect by blocking T-lymphocyte proliferation locally, thus diminishing T-cell-mediated tumor rejection.

Based on this latter mechanism, pharmacological blockade of IDO (e.g., by using the IDO inhibitor 1-methyl-tryptophan) could be clinically useful to reverse local immune suppression.


Peruvian pesticide sprayer applicators in Majes, Arequipa, had significantly reduced age-adjusted seminal volume, percentage of motility, percentage of sperm with normal morphology, serum luteinizing hormone, serum testosterone levels, and seminal zinc concentration (a marker of prostate function). They also showed significantly increased time of liquefaction, seminal pH, percentage of immature sperm morphology, and leukocyte concentration. Use of pesticide sprayers were characterized by inadequate practice of safety measures [2] . These findings provided evidence that occupational exposure to OP pesticides adversely affects semen quality and sex hormones [11] .

Use of pesticide sprayers were characterized by inadequate practice of safety measures.

These findings provided evidence that occupational exposure to OP pesticides adversely affects semen quality and sex hormones.


The idea of overcoming GNSS POD weakness due to small number of ground stations, poor distribution of ground stations, and poor geometry condition using LEOs onboard tracking data has been assessed previously (Geng et al. 2011; Zoulida et al. 2016) . When onboard GPS data of GRACE A are combined with data from 43 ground stations, the 1D GPS orbit differences with respect to the IGS final orbit decreased to 5.5 from 8.0 cm (Geng et al. 2011) . Also, when more LEOs are used, less ground stations are needed to achieve similar orbit accuracy as obtained without LEOs onboard data (Geng et al. 2011) . The LEO onboard GPS data can also be used to estimate phase center corrections or to improve the reference frame (Haines et al. 2015) . Previous research has focused on LEO onboard GPS data since there were no onboard data available for other GNSS systems. Thanks to the FengYun-3C (FY3C) satellite, onboard BeiDou data are collected and can be used for these investigations.

The idea of overcoming GNSS POD weakness due to small number of ground stations, poor distribution of ground stations, and poor geometry condition using LEOs onboard tracking data has been assessed previously.

When onboard GPS data of GRACE A are combined with data from 43 ground stations, the 1D GPS orbit differences with respect to the IGS final orbit decreased to 5.5 from 8.0 cm.

Also, when more LEOs are used, less ground stations are needed to achieve similar orbit accuracy as obtained without LEOs onboard data.

The LEO onboard GPS data can also be used to estimate phase center corrections or to improve the reference frame.


The tensile mechanical properties of a composite propellant depend mainly on the tensile properties of the binder. The ultimate mechanical properties of the binder can be tailored by varying the R-value (equivalents of NCO groups/equivalents of OH groups). Increasing the tensile strength should not be done at the expense of the ultimate elongation, as occurs when the crosslinks density in HTPB is increased by increasing isocyanate/hydroxyl (NCO/OH) equivalent ratio. The ammount of urethane bonds can be increased by adding low molecular weight diols to the polymer. These types of diols are called ''chain extenders''. The most common aliphatic diol for this purpose is 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD) [10] . The tensile mechanical characteristics of HTPB have been modified by increasing the hard segment content, while 1,4-BD is used as a chain extender. The materials were crosslinked with either 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate or dicyclohexylmethane 4,4'-C diisocyanate. The results showed that the tensile strength strongly increases with the addition of up to two moles of diol per mole HTPB [11] .

The most common aliphatic diol for this purpose is 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD).

The results showed that the tensile strength strongly increases with the addition of up to two moles of diol per mole HTPB.


In accordance with a prior study, the posterior approach to dorsal and dorso-lumbar fusion in children accounted for two thirds of the cases of spinal fusion procedures [9] . In a series of 191 patients who were treated with posterior instrumentation and fusion in children, the overall incidence of deep wound infection was 6.2% [9] . Similarly, in a large series of pediatric patients who underwent posterior spinal fusion, the mean annual risk of surgical site infection was comparable, at 4.4% [10] . Risk factors associated with increased risk included as ASA score greater than 2, obesity (body mass index [BMI] greater than 95 th percentile, antibiotic prophylaxis with clindamycin). Hypothermia during the surgery appeared to provide protection against surgical site infection in this population [10] . Other studies reported the risk of surgical site mean annual infection rate as ranging from 1.3 to 6.3% [11] [12] [13] [14] . The low overall prevalence of any of the never events found in this study could be attributed to the elective nature of the procedure which accounted for the majority of the cases (82%), optimal postoperative care, as well as favorable patient or hospital characteristics. Another factor that could be contributing to the low rates is under-reporting of never events. However, this needs further empirical support. The lower risk (OR = 0.66) of developing never events exhibited in patients undergoing elective procedures may be attributed to careful pre-operative risk assessment, including comorbidity identification and potential risk modification to reduce or eliminate infectious events.

In accordance with a prior study, the posterior approach to dorsal and dorso-lumbar fusion in children accounted for two thirds of the cases of spinal fusion procedures.

In a series of 191 patients who were treated with posterior instrumentation and fusion in children, the overall incidence of deep wound infection was 6.2%.

Similarly, in a large series of pediatric patients who underwent posterior spinal fusion, the mean annual risk of surgical site infection was comparable, at 4.4%.

Hypothermia during the surgery appeared to provide protection against surgical site infection in this population.

Other studies reported the risk of surgical site mean annual infection rate as ranging from 1.3 to 6.3%.


Numerous case studies have devised constitutional complexity of the organizational learning construct comprehensively (Hult and Ferrell, 1997; Leonard-Barton, 1992) . Developing quantitative instruments and empirically testing organizational learning scales may contribute to the study field and help to make more generalizable conclusions easily. For this reason, researchers need to take into consideration the multidimensionality of the organizational learning construct which recognized in various studies (Chiva, Alegre and Lapiedra, 2007; Goh and Richards, 1997; Jerez-Gomez et al., 2005; Tohidi, Seyedaliakbar and Mandegari, 2012) .

Numerous case studies have devised constitutional complexity of the organizational learning construct comprehensively.

For this reason, researchers need to take into consideration the multidimensionality of the organizational learning construct which recognized in various studies.


Innovation is considered as an individual and collective learning process that tends to find new ways of solving problems. The precipitously changing business environment has induced managers and researchers search for new ways to improve organizational capability of predicting the need for change and the capability of continuous adaptation. Organizational learning promotes continuous adaptation and improvement of firms. Thereby, organizational learning has contained the imagination of managers seeking to survive the current complex operating environment (Goh and Richards, 1997) . As a result, innovation seems to rely upon the company's capability to learn through which new knowledge is developed, distributed and used (Alegre and Chiva, 2008:315) .

Thereby, organizational learning has contained the imagination of managers seeking to survive the current complex operating environment.


In the field of millimetre-wave astronomy it is often required to continuously rotate the weak incoming linearly polarised signals in order to modulate and extract them from huge unpolarised backgrounds. This is normally achieved by means of rotating HalfWave Plates (HWPs) that are devices equivalent to arbitrary rotation polarisation rotators. More specifically, in the field of experimental cosmology, the detection of the polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) requires extremely sensitive broadband instruments with very low-loss and low cross-polarisation HWPs in front of these instruments. In the past these devices were realised using combinations of birefringent plates following the well-known Pancharatnam recipes [5] [6] [7] [8] . However, nowadays CMB experiments aiming to the detection of the very faint polarisation B-modes require very large arrays and modulating devices with diameters that cannot be achieved using commercially available birefringent materials. Moreover, the final application in this field will be a satellite mission were these HWPs will be required to be robust, able to work in cryogenic environments and obviously to be space qualified.

In the past these devices were realised using combinations of birefringent plates following the well-known Pancharatnam recipes.


In communication systems polarisation rotators are devices used to rotate the orientation of linearly polarised signals from initial to final specific directions. For example the polarisation direction can be changed from horizontal to vertical and viceversa without rotating any part of the antenna system. These devices can be realised cascading different wire-grid polariser rotated at different angles from each other [1] [2] [3] . However, the orientation of the incoming and outgoing polarisation are fixed and related to the device orientation. More flexible devices, based on meander-lines geometries have been realised to obtain arbitrary rotationat microwave frequencies [4] .

These devices can be realised cascading different wire-grid polariser rotated at different angles from each other.

More flexible devices, based on meander-lines geometries have been realised to obtain arbitrary rotationat microwave frequencies.


On the other hand, long distance power transmission of large scale wind farms has attracted much attention in the wind power industry. Wind farms that are connected to the grid through VSC-HVDC transmission systems will not be limited by distance and have remarkable economic efficiency. Meanwhile, VSC-HVDC connected wind farms are isolated from the power grid, so they are much less sensitive to grid faults [8] . VSC-HVDC transmission systems can also greatly promote the LVRT capacity of wind farms thanks to their reactive power regulation ability during grid faults.

Meanwhile, VSC-HVDC connected wind farms are isolated from the power grid, so they are much less sensitive to grid faults.


The dynamics of multi-DOF vibrating microsystems have received very little attention, possibly because limited motion often prevents the observation of spurious modes in surface micromachined devices. In this paper, we examine the design of x-y stages with the layout of figure 1(b), using a combination of analytic theory, finiteelement (FE) modelling and experiment [42] . The fabrication and measurement of the bulk micromachined devices with a single-flexure suspension are described in section 2. In section 3, we use a coupled-mode model to demonstrate the origin of spurious in-plane modes, and show that good agreement may be obtained with experiment, provided that the intrinsic stresses are taken into account. The results obtained from this model are compared with finite-element analysis in section 5, and an improved design is presented.

In this paper, we examine the design of x-y stages with the layout of figure 1(b), using a combination of analytic theory, finiteelement (FE) modelling and experiment.


We embed Lévy-valued random measures and, due to the aforementioned correspondence, independently scattered cylindrical Lévy processes, in the space of distributions and tempered distributions. Although the embedding in the former case is possible for all Lévy-valued random measures, Lévy-valued random measures are tempered distributions if and only if they satisfy a certain integrability condition. In both cases, we show that the embedded cylindrical Lévy process induces a genuine Lévy process in the space of general or tempered distributions, i.e. a regularisation in the sense of Itô and Nawata [17] .

In both cases, we show that the embedded cylindrical Lévy process induces a genuine Lévy process in the space of general or tempered distributions, i.e. a regularisation in the sense of Itô and Nawata.


Several examples in library literature describe IL initiatives with preservice teachers (Asselin & Lee, 2002; Floyd, Colvin, & Dodur, 2008) . Earp describes a successful grant project that reached a large number of education students through IL classes that evolved into workshops and finally, into online modules and illustrated a true collaboration with education faculty (Earp, 2009) . A Canadian study found that outgoing teacher candidates did not understand the concept of information literacy and were not prepared to teach IL skills when leaving the program. These findings led to the development of a program aimed to help preservice teachers expand these skills (Laverty & Reed, 2006) . Such examples illustrate the recognized need for preservice education students to learn IL skills, with the assumption that those skills might be carried into the classroom as the students become professional teachers. In addition to targeting preservice teachers, one article described an example of a graduate-level instruction for teacher practitioners to help them master skills and build tools to improve the IL skills of their students (Bushong & Buff, 2008) . However, there does not seem to be longitudinal or empirical evidence available in the literature documenting evidence that these skills transfer to the classroom.

Several examples in library literature describe IL initiatives with preservice teachers.

Earp describes a successful grant project that reached a large number of education students through IL classes that evolved into workshops and finally, into online modules and illustrated a true collaboration with education faculty.

These findings led to the development of a program aimed to help preservice teachers expand these skills.

In addition to targeting preservice teachers, one article described an example of a graduate-level instruction for teacher practitioners to help them master skills and build tools to improve the IL skills of their students.


Academic librarians realize that not all college students understand IL concepts and this observation is supported in the literature. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on an Educational Testing Service (ETS) study that found "college students and high-school students preparing to enter college are sorely lacking in the skills needed to retrieve, analyze, and communicate information available online" (Foster, 2006) . ETS representatives stressed that the findings were "neither authoritative nor thorough" but did indicate that students can use more training in information literacy. Another study attempting to gauge undergraduate perceptions of information literacy determined that the study group viewed information seeking as focused on product outcome rather than the underlying knowledge base and skills. This group also assumed that everyone has these skills, partially as a result of growing up with computers, and that information seeking skills can be self-taught. They reported having very little information literacy training and the term itself did not resonate with them (Gross & Latham, 2009) . Clearly, there is work to be done in order to help many students develop these important skills.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on an Educational Testing Service (ETS) study that found "college students and high-school students preparing to enter college are sorely lacking in the skills needed to retrieve, analyze, and communicate information available online".

They reported having very little information literacy training and the term itself did not resonate with them.


In this study we investigated the relationship between T2DM and CTS. Although T2DM was more frequently diagnosed among patients with CTS, it could not be identified as a risk factor after adjusting for BMI, gender and age. However, BMI, gender and age remained having a relationship with CTS. No associations were found between the duration of DM or microvascular complications and CTS. In addition, as demonstrated previously, we were unable to find a relationship between glycaemic control and CTS development [11] . This is the first study to investigate the relation between CTS and T2DM in a secondary care setting. Strengths of this study include the use of different data sources to overcome limitations of the retrospective design (i.e. misclassification of CTS diagnosis and missing data). In addition, the use of different data sources enabled us to make a certain diagnosis of CTS and T2DM.

In addition, as demonstrated previously, we were unable to find a relationship between glycaemic control and CTS development.


The urea concentration in serum or urine is an indicator of kidney diseases, as well as diabetes, and analysis in clinical laboratories is frequently used. In a urea biosensor the enzyme urease, which catalyses the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbonate can be immobilized into different transducers, such as conducting polymers. Various conducting polymers, like polyaniline (PANi), polypyrrole (PPy) and poly ortho-phenylenediamine, have been used for the fabrication of biosensors. Among them, polypyrrole is one of the most extensively used conducting polymers in the fabrication of urease biosensors [1] . The versatility of this polymer is determined by its biocompatibility, capability to transduce energy arising from the interaction of analytes and analyte recognizing sites into electrical signals that are easily monitored, capability to protect electrodes from interfering material, and easy way for electro-chemical deposition on the surface of any type of electrode.

Among them, polypyrrole is one of the most extensively used conducting polymers in the fabrication of urease biosensors.


The stimuli evoking other phase characteristics are poorly understood. Changes in features such as color pattern in nymphs and morphometry, occur more slowly than behavioral gregarization and need not be evoked by the same stimuli, nor involve the same physiological mechanisms as behavioral phase change. For example, the smell alone of other locusts induces the development of black patterning in solitarious nymphs, yet it does not cause the production of yellow-background coloration or behavioral phase change (Lester et al. 2005) . The combination of the sight and smell of other locusts is behaviorally gregarizing, but still fails to evoke yellowing, which requires rearing among a crowd of conspecific nymphs, presumably indicating the presence of a contact chemical cue (Lester et al. 2005) .

For example, the smell alone of other locusts induces the development of black patterning in solitarious nymphs, yet it does not cause the production of yellow-background coloration or behavioral phase change.

The combination of the sight and smell of other locusts is behaviorally gregarizing, but still fails to evoke yellowing, which requires rearing among a crowd of conspecific nymphs, presumably indicating the presence of a contact chemical cue.


The Venda chicken breed is an important component of the unique South African gene pool diversity. It has its origins in a former homeland, the Venda region of the Limpopo Province in South Africa and is known to survive under harsh conditions [3] . The establishment of a cryo-bank is vital for the future poultry breeding programs. Moreover, the disappearance of a breed leads to the loss of its distinctive adaptive genes [4] . The development of a successful cryopreservation protocol for the cryopreservation of Venda cockerel's sperm should contribute significantly to the sustainable management of genetic resources and provide alternative preservation methods to be used in parallel with in situ conservation.

It has its origins in a former homeland, the Venda region of the Limpopo Province in South Africa and is known to survive under harsh conditions.

Moreover, the disappearance of a breed leads to the loss of its distinctive adaptive genes.


Over the past decades, many computational prediction algorithms have been developed for various proteomic studies. They have evolved from simple linear statistics to complex machine learners. However, the most significant breakthroughs were the incorporation of new biological information into an efficient prediction model and the development of new models which can efficiently exploit suitable information from its primary sequence. For example, the exploitation of evolutionary information that is available from protein families has brought significant improvements in the prediction of protein secondary structure (about 6-8%) [ [32] . The behind theory of using sequence profile is based on the fact that the sequence alignment of homologous proteins accords with their structural alignment and aligned residues usually have similar structures. Thus, the sequence profile can provide more information about structure than single sequence to its learner.

For example, the exploitation of evolutionary information that is available from protein families has brought significant improvements in the prediction of protein secondary structure (about 6-8%) [.


Each of the entire above two systems was individually minimized using the steepest descent of 1000 steps followed by conjugate gradients of 9000 steps without imposing any constraint. In order to obtain equilibrium geometry at 300 K and 1 atm, the system was heated at a weak temperature ( = 0.1 ps) and pressure ( = 0.5 ps) coupling by taking advantage of the Berendesen algorithms [16] . Heating time for molecular dynamics simulations at 100 K, 200 K and 300 K was 100 ps. All above simulations were performed at constant temperature and pressure with a non-bonded cutoff of 14 Å. A molecular dynamics simulation was performed for 5 ns at 300 K. Ultimately, another molecular dynamics simulation was further carried out for 10 ns at 300 K, followed by structural minimization calculation. The latter minimization was performed at the steepest descent of 1000 steps followed by conjugate gradients of 9000 steps. This way, a minimum geometry was obtained for ADH at moderately concentrated erythritol solution. As far as variations in total energy versus time is concerned, for 10ns of the MD simulations is about less than 1 part in 1000 and it is quite apparent that the kinetics and potential energy components would be expected to fluctuate in equal and opposite direction for MD simulation of ADH in absence and presence of erythritol molecules. Latter facts show that law of energy conservation is fulfilled in MD simulations [29] . Thus, the simulation has been done accurately and the extracted equilibrium structures were obtained by benefitting accurate algorithms and parameters in solving motion equations and under energy stability conditions. In addition, temperature fluctuation for the simulation at 300 K for each of the systems was less than 0.5K. Therefore, the final equilibrium structure at 300K belonging to every system was obtained under temperature stability conditions.

In order to obtain equilibrium geometry at 300 K and 1 atm, the system was heated at a weak temperature ( = 0.1 ps) and pressure ( = 0.5 ps) coupling by taking advantage of the Berendesen algorithms.

Latter facts show that law of energy conservation is fulfilled in MD simulations.


The ADH folding via H-bond interactions involved in the absence and presence of erythritol molecules has been analyzed. Table 1 lists the total number of inter-molecular and intra-molecular H-bonds for final geometries of ADH which were obtained from MD simulations of 15ns in the absence and presence of erythritol molecules. It has been known that backbone H-bonds increase during the folding [33] . The backbone H-bonds are closely connected during the peptide desolvation, because H-bond between water and the amidogen and carboxyl groups must be broken before the backbone H-bond can be formed. In fact peptide desolvation is a deriving force in peptide folding [34] . Data of Table 1 show that intra-molecular H-bonds belonging to ADH as well as inter-molecular H-bonds between ADH and water molecules are decreased in presence of erythritol molecules about 4 and 19 , respectively. Also, some H-bonds are formed between ADH and erythritol molecules. Thus, it can be concluded that erythritol molecules accumulate around the protein and exclude water. Besides, forming H-bonds between protein and erythritol has an effect on the formation of the protein backbone H-bonds. Thus, although erythritol molecules can dissolve protein, but formation of more H-bond between erythritol and ADH can act a factor for inhibition of folding protein, while backbone H-bonds is also changed. Ultimately, the protein cannot fold into its native state in moderately concentrated erythritol solution due to the direct interaction between osmolyte molecules and the protected biostructure through hydrogen bonds (water-replacing hypotheses). Nevertheless, at a moderate concentration of erythritol, more erythritol-erythritol interaction occurs ( Table  1) . This is because of clustering of most of the erythritol molecules in the simulation system. Nevertheless, the num- In the absence of erythritol molecules (a) ber of hydrogen bonds between ADH and water molecules as well as the number of hydrogen bonds between erythritol and water molecules is decreased during simulation, respectively and number of hydrogen bonds between ADH and erythritol molecules is increased during simulation (Table 1) . Consequently, more H-bonds can form between the protein and erythritol molecules when protein folds in the presence of moderately concentrated solution of erythritol. Also, the average distances of the water and erythritol molecules with the center of geometry of the protein are displayed in Fig. (3) for simulation including erythritol molecules.

It has been known that backbone H-bonds increase during the folding.

In fact peptide desolvation is a deriving force in peptide folding.


As mentioned above, a minimum geometry of solution involving erythritol and water molecules was obtained using MD simulation as well as simulated annealing. In order to investigate erythritol's effect on ADH stability, performing two simulations are required, namely simulation of ADH in a box including water molecules and ions in the absence as well as in the presence of erythritol molecules. The X-ray structure of ADH (HLADH, EC 1.1.1.1) was extracted from protein data bank. The latter structure was placed in a solvent box with 60683 spc216 water molecules being equal to a 1.8 Å distance for ADH to the box edges. Then, same Xray structure was placed in a cubic box. The size of the cubic box was 110Å, 110Å, 160Å. The latter box is filled with erythritol and water molecules belonging to minimum solution which had been obtained from previous step. In this way, two systems were thus prepared: one including ADH and 60683 SPC water molecules, while another involving ADH and 45272 SPC water molecules as well as 689 erythritol molecules. Neutralization of each system required addition of eight Cl -ions. It is worth mentioning that use of cubic box in the study of effect of osmolytes on protein is benefited in previous works [18, 19] .

It is worth mentioning that use of cubic box in the study of effect of osmolytes on protein is benefited in previous works.


Elevated blood viscosity, especially at low shear, could significantly impede flow through the Fontan circulation by increasing energy losses via wall shear stress [17] . Consistent with this, our data demonstrated that elevated low-shear blood viscosity was associated with negative hemodynamic perturbations in Glenn and Fontan patients, but not in ASD patients. Most notably, elevated viscosity was associated with decreased PBF. While this increased viscous drag could theoretically stimulate nitric oxide production in the pulmonary arteries, the absence of pulmonary artery growth in this population again highlights their inherent endothelial dysfunction.

Elevated blood viscosity, especially at low shear, could significantly impede flow through the Fontan circulation by increasing energy losses via wall shear stress.


To address the above issues, we have incorporated failure detection and recovery scheme into GridSim [2, 25] . We opted to work on GridSim because it has a complete set of features for simulating realistic Grid testbeds. Such features are modeling heterogeneous computational resources of variable performance, scheduling jobs based on time-or spaced-shared policy, differentiated network service, and workload trace-based simulation from real supercomputers [25] . More importantly, GridSim allows the flexibility and extensibility to incorporate new components into its existing infrastructure.

To address the above issues, we have incorporated failure detection and recovery scheme into GridSim.

Such features are modeling heterogeneous computational resources of variable performance, scheduling jobs based on time-or spaced-shared policy, differentiated network service, and workload trace-based simulation from real supercomputers.


The submission of the person as a primary goal of GPA also distinguishes it from simple psychological aggression and other forms of influence. Its ultimate goal is not to cause damage or simply obtain conformity with the group rules, acceptance of direct requests, or obedience to specific orders; instead it is used as an instrument to obtain broad dominance over the lives of the group members (Singer & Lalich, 1995) . Furthermore, this objective of submission makes GPA similar to the abuse inflicted in intimate partner violence, and distinguishes it from the abuse applied in other settings, such as bullying at school or in the workplace, where the main purpose is the exclusion of the person (Rodríguez-Carballeira et al., 2013) .

Its ultimate goal is not to cause damage or simply obtain conformity with the group rules, acceptance of direct requests, or obedience to specific orders; instead it is used as an instrument to obtain broad dominance over the lives of the group members.

Furthermore, this objective of submission makes GPA similar to the abuse inflicted in intimate partner violence, and distinguishes it from the abuse applied in other settings, such as bullying at school or in the workplace, where the main purpose is the exclusion of the person.


The majority of today's practically realized metamaterials operate in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, while there is a great interest and effort to extend their operation regime to higher frequencies, from THz to the optical regime [15, 24, 25] . The extension of metamaterial operation in the THz and far-infrared (IR) regime and the realization of metamaterial-based THz components is a task of undeniable technological importance. This is due to the fact that natural materials do not show strong response to the THz radiation; thus they are not offered for the realization of THz manipulation components, although the technological importance of the THz radiation, especially in domains like imaging, security and sensing is well recognized.

The majority of today's practically realized metamaterials operate in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, while there is a great interest and effort to extend their operation regime to higher frequencies, from THz to the optical regime.


The current work demonstrates the polarization control capabilities offered by different THz and far-IR chiral designs both isotropic and anisotropic. Regarding isotropic designs we Figure 8 . Simulated optical activity, h (blue solid line), and ellipticity, g, (red dashed line) for the wave transmitted through the 3D SCR metamaterials under consideration, when the metamaterial is excited by a x-polarized incident wave (see Fig. 6a ) propagating along the forward z-direction [34] .

Simulated optical activity, h (blue solid line), and ellipticity, g, (red dashed line) for the wave transmitted through the 3D SCR metamaterials under consideration, when the metamaterial is excited by a x-polarized incident wave (see Fig. 6a ) propagating along the forward z-direction.


Although early kinesitherapy improves time to functional recovery of the Achilles tendon, the mechanisms underlying these improvements compared with immobilization remain poorly understood [14] [15] . Tendon repair is a complex and lengthy process that involves cell mobilization and proliferation, matrix secretion and collagen deposition, with changes in gene expression playing critical roles in these steps. However, few studies have attempted to determine the changes in gene expression during healing of a ruptured Achilles tendon. One study in rats showed that immobilization suppressed the expression of genes associated with tissue repair, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, cyclooxygenase-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α [13] . However, less is known about the expression of ultrastructural proteins. Therefore, in an effort to better understand the processes involved in tendon repair following rupture, we conducted the following study using New Zealand White rabbits, which underwent tenotomy followed by cast immobilization or early joint movement. Tendon tissue was subjected to proteomics analysis using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and western blotting to identify the effects of cast immobilization and early joint movement therapy on protein expression and identify the possible proteins that could be used as biomarkers for postoperative tissue repair as well as investigate the effects of active tendon kinesitherapy on neural regeneration of the Achilles tendon.

Although early kinesitherapy improves time to functional recovery of the Achilles tendon, the mechanisms underlying these improvements compared with immobilization remain poorly understood.

One study in rats showed that immobilization suppressed the expression of genes associated with tissue repair, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, cyclooxygenase-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.


In Brazil, cattle production systems based on pastures are mainly located in the central-western, northern and north-eastern regions of the country (Ferraz & Felício, 2010) . In the south-eastern and southern regions, a relative percentage of the cattle are finished in feedlots due to the high grain production in these regions. However, Zebu cattle finished in feedlots are less interesting for the consumer market than crossbred cattle (Zebu and Europeans) due to their lower feed efficiency. In addition, crossbreeding among Bos taurus taurus and Bos taurus indicus significantly reduces slaughter age and improves feed efficiency and meat quality.

In Brazil, cattle production systems based on pastures are mainly located in the central-western, northern and north-eastern regions of the country.


The time of eruption of molars, particularly the first permanent molars, is considered as a time of high caries risk for decaying [2] [3] [4] . It has been reported that intensive dental care at eruption time has resulted in reduction in the amount of visible plaque, need for sealants and fillings, and consequently, amount of frequent recalls. An example of an excellent outcome of oral health promotion comes from Nexø, Denmark. In Nexø, a community-based program was designed and launched during period 1987-1988 to improve oral health by focusing on nonoperative caries treatment of children and adolescents aged 0-18 years and improving their self-care, that is, tooth brushing, especially at times of tooth eruption [4] . DMFT values in the Nexø community have sunk well below the national average during the past decades, that is, after the intervention started [5, 6] . The total costs of the dental services decreased approximately by 15% during the 2 International Journal of Dentistry period from 1987 to 1999 [6] . In Finland, after a communitybased oral health intervention on schoolchildren, a survey revealed that tooth brushing frequency, knowledge, and attitudes of schoolchildren in terms of oral health improved. However, it was concluded that to have an optimum outcome, oral health promotion should be a continuous process rather than a short-term intervention [7] .

The time of eruption of molars, particularly the first permanent molars, is considered as a time of high caries risk for decaying.

In Nexø, a community-based program was designed and launched during period 1987-1988 to improve oral health by focusing on nonoperative caries treatment of children and adolescents aged 0-18 years and improving their self-care, that is, tooth brushing, especially at times of tooth eruption.

DMFT values in the Nexø community have sunk well below the national average during the past decades, that is, after the intervention started.

The total costs of the dental services decreased approximately by 15% during the 2 International Journal of Dentistry period from 1987 to 1999.

However, it was concluded that to have an optimum outcome, oral health promotion should be a continuous process rather than a short-term intervention.


In this paper, a meander shorted stub loaded resonator (SSLR) is designed to realize a miniaturized dual-mode BPF. The SSLR structures have been improved. Properties of the proposed resonator are analyzed theoretically and confirmed by full-wave simulation. A 4th-order dual-mode BPF has been designed based on the proposed structure, which is much more compact than the conventional dual-mode filters [10, 11] . The fabricated sample has been tested. Experiment result shows very good agreement with simulation.

The SSLR structures have been improved.

A 4th-order dual-mode BPF has been designed based on the proposed structure, which is much more compact than the conventional dual-mode filters.

The fabricated sample has been tested.


Prepapillary vascular loop formations are uncommon congenital vascular malformations and the majority is of arterial origin [1] . They are usually detected incidentally on routine fundus examination but have been associated with retinal vascular occlusive disease and recurrent vitreous bleeding [2] . Prepapillary vascular loops are quite rare, with the incidence ranging from approximately one in 2000 to one in 9000 patients. Bilaterality occurs in 9-17% of these cases [3] .

Prepapillary vascular loop formations are uncommon congenital vascular malformations and the majority is of arterial origin.

They are usually detected incidentally on routine fundus examination but have been associated with retinal vascular occlusive disease and recurrent vitreous bleeding.

Bilaterality occurs in 9-17% of these cases.


As it is a powerful tool in solving realistic problems, we thought of developing a feature selection model for any one of the modalities. In this regard, we have chosen with an interval valued data, due its strong nature in preserving the continuous streaming data in discrete form [2] . In this regard, we built a feature selection model for interval valued data in this work.

In this regard, we have chosen with an interval valued data, due its strong nature in preserving the continuous streaming data in discrete form.


New Zealand is a key player in world dairy production. Its climate and soils are ideally suited to milk production and mean that milk can be produced at much lower cost compared with other countries in the world (Sankaran and Luxton, 2003) . While most countries consume most of their dairy produce and export only a small portion of it, New Zealand exports over 90% of its production and is the world's largest exporter (Evans, 2008) . New Zealand is the second largest international dairy trader (despite being almost tariff and subsidy-free) and only the European Union has a greater share of the international market (Stukenberg et al., 2006) .

Its climate and soils are ideally suited to milk production and mean that milk can be produced at much lower cost compared with other countries in the world.

While most countries consume most of their dairy produce and export only a small portion of it, New Zealand exports over 90% of its production and is the world's largest exporter.

New Zealand is the second largest international dairy trader (despite being almost tariff and subsidy-free) and only the European Union has a greater share of the international market.


The pleasant rating of sweet and umami stimuli was associated with an increase in eyelid skin blood flow. This increase is an important cue to remind us of the essential macronutrients that provide the energy we need to survive. The increase in eyelid skin blood flow in response to sweet and umami stimuli may help to inform peers of the utility of this food. The eyelid or face could reflect the hedonic valence better than other areas of the body. A previous study found that sweet stimuli associated with different hedonic scores and taste intensities were not related to changes in vascular resistance in finger skin [12] . The differences between the results of the present and previous studies may be attributable to the different target areas studied-it has been shown previously that facial skin area reflects emotion more effectively than does finger skin [13] .

A previous study found that sweet stimuli associated with different hedonic scores and taste intensities were not related to changes in vascular resistance in finger skin.

The differences between the results of the present and previous studies may be attributable to the different target areas studied-it has been shown previously that facial skin area reflects emotion more effectively than does finger skin.


The task of Dialect Identification (DID) is a special case of the more general problem of Language Identification (LID). LID refers to the process of automatically identifying the language class for given speech segment or text document. DID is arguably a more challenging problem than LID, since it consists of identifying the different dialects within the same language class. The importance of addressing DID can be gauged from its growing interest in the Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) community [1] . A good DID system can facilitate the identification of dialectal segments from an untranscribed mixed-speech dataset. This process can help reduce the ASR word error rate (WER) for dialectal data by training ASR systems for each dialect, or by adapting the ASR models to a particular dialect.

The importance of addressing DID can be gauged from its growing interest in the Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) community.


The most extended technique for analysing collaborations is co-authorship analysis (Liu et al., 2005) . Much of the previous work in this area has used co-authorship analysis to assess collaboration among researchers or the structure of scientific collaborations (Farkas et al., 2002; Rodriguez and Pepe, 2008) . In this paper, we propose the use of co-authorship analysis to assess the collaboration among research institutions in a certain geographical environment using social network analysis techniques. As a case study, academic institutions of England are considered, and thus, the extracted results have been analysed using social network analysis techniques. The remainder of this paper is presented as follows: section 2 details previous research in the field of co-authorship analysis and social network analysis. Section 3 describes the methodology, including the set of considered data, retrieval of information and the analysis of this information. Obtained results are presented in section 4 while their discussion and implications are included in section 5. Finally, the conclusions can be found in section 6.

The most extended technique for analysing collaborations is co-authorship analysis.

Much of the previous work in this area has used co-authorship analysis to assess collaboration among researchers or the structure of scientific collaborations.


As we know, inflammation is an innate immune response to infection and supposed to be protective. However, nonresolving inflammation is a major trigger of disease and turns destructive [15] . Hence multiple mechanisms are evolved to resolve inflammation. Effector cells normally undergo apoptosis or differentiate to other phenotypes. Cells like macrophages could polarize from M1 towards M2 [16] . M1 macrophages play key roles in triggering inflammation via secreting pro-inflammatory factors, while M2 macrophages involve in immunosuppression and tissue repair by releasing series of anti-inflammatory mediators [17] . Discordance of those resolution mechanisms might result in excessive inflammation and detrimental outcomes. In this study, the expression profile of several important inflammation mediators, including TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1, IFN-γ and IL-10, was investigated in dengue patients at different time points. Our results showed that there are significant differences between mild and severe patients. Those results provided solid evidence that inflammation played a pivotal role in determining the severity of dengue disease.

However, nonresolving inflammation is a major trigger of disease and turns destructive.

Cells like macrophages could polarize from M1 towards M2.

M1 macrophages play key roles in triggering inflammation via secreting pro-inflammatory factors, while M2 macrophages involve in immunosuppression and tissue repair by releasing series of anti-inflammatory mediators.


There is increasing interest in using cereal grains to produce ethanol for use in motor fuel. In order to produce ethanol, grain is milled, mixed with water and cooked (Shurson et al., 2004) . Enzymes are added to the mixture to convert starch to sugar and the sugar is fermented by the addition of yeast (Ingledew, 1993) . After complete fermentation, the ethanol is removed by distillation and the remaining fermentation residues are dried and used for livestock feed (Shurson et al., 2004) . Historically, two residual products have been produced during ethanol production, namely distiller's dried grains and distiller's dried solubles. However, most ethanol plants now blend these two residues in order to produce distiller's dried grains with solubles and they are the most common byproduct available from the ethanol industry.

In order to produce ethanol, grain is milled, mixed with water and cooked.

Enzymes are added to the mixture to convert starch to sugar and the sugar is fermented by the addition of yeast.

After complete fermentation, the ethanol is removed by distillation and the remaining fermentation residues are dried and used for livestock feed.


This study contributes to the debate by examining the military spending-growth nexus in South Africa. It uses Granger non-causality tests for this purpose for two reasons. First, because they allow the complexity of the underlying theoretical arguments to be avoided, by simply considering bivariate relations between military spending and economic growth (Dunne and Smith, 2010) . Secondly, because they allow the use of recently developed tools to investigate structural stability. Granger non-causality testing is usually done in the context of a vector autoregression (VAR), and have been criticised because the test results are sensitive to the variables and deterministic terms included in the VAR, the lag order, sample or observation window used, treatment of integration and cointegration of the variables and level of significance. In addition, since the parameters are not structural, the test results may not be stable over different time periods (Dunne and Smith, 2010) . These issues can be dealt with to some extent by the approach taken in this paper, using bootstrap tests and a rolling window estimation approach, with subsample rolling bootstrap tests to account for subsample variability (time variation) of the Granger causality tests.

First, because they allow the complexity of the underlying theoretical arguments to be avoided, by simply considering bivariate relations between military spending and economic growth.

In addition, since the parameters are not structural, the test results may not be stable over different time periods.


Injection moulding of components from thermoplastic polymers is a preferable and established industrial production method because of its considerable advantages in cost and time. However, the involved parameters in this process can notably influence the properties of polymeric composites. Nanocomposites reinforced with Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) are considerably influenced by the defined state of the polymer and nanofillers during both melt and cooling states. In fact, the properties of the nanocomposites are highly influenced by the distribution, dispersion, alignment, and the interfacial properties of MWCNTs in the polymer system. In other words, parameters such as injection speed, injection pressure, melting temperature and mould temperature define the quality of the nanocomposites [6, 9, 10] . Moreover, it should be noted that based on the specific targeted properties, the state of MWCNTs in the nanocomposites should be tailored differently. However, despite their soaring applications in different industries, only a few papers have focused on the sensitivity of the final behaviors as a result of the different manufacturing processes.

In other words, parameters such as injection speed, injection pressure, melting temperature and mould temperature define the quality of the nanocomposites.


Human milk is the ideal nutrition source for infants. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continuing frequent, on-demand breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond [1] . The Mexican Norm on Nutrition 043 is consistent with these recommendations, including gradual and progressive introduction of complementary foods from 6 months of age [2] . If a mother cannot or chooses not to breastfeed, fortified infant formula is an appropriate alternative [1] .

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continuing frequent, on-demand breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond.

The Mexican Norm on Nutrition 043 is consistent with these recommendations, including gradual and progressive introduction of complementary foods from 6 months of age.

If a mother cannot or chooses not to breastfeed, fortified infant formula is an appropriate alternative.


People engaged in database know FCA and RS very well, but they are not familiar with factors space when FS was presented by P. Z. Wang at 1982, which was used to do ontology and cognition rather than database. To make mathematical discussion on randomness vs fuzziness, Wang presented FS to represent the basic space in a probability field and represent the discussion universe in fuzzy field respectively, and discovered a dual relationship: A fuzzy set defined on universe U can be represented by a probability field in the power of U ; fuzzy measures can be determined by the falling shadow of a random set. This is the core of falling shadow theory [18] . Wang has proved the existence and uniqueness theorem around the probability distribution in the power P (U ), which lays the foundation for the applications of fuzzy sets and other subjective non-additive measures. FS plays a very important role in the development of fuzzy mathematics in China. Since 2012, Wang has turned his target to data science and finds that by means of the supports of FS, we can unify and deepen the theories of FCA and RS. All subjects in FCA and RS can be briefly and clearly stated, and the mentioned N-hard traps can be resolved by faster algorithms. FS provides natural base for cognation, information and data science. In this paper, we will introduce and develop the theory of FS briefly. We will introduce the historic background of factors space theory in Section 2. What is factors and factors space? We will answer the questions in Section 3. The core idea of background relation of FS will be given in Section 4. In section 5, we will deepen the conceptual generation and its AI applications based on FS. Section 6 will draw a brief conclusion.

This is the core of falling shadow theory.

What is factors and factors space?

Section 6 will draw a brief conclusion.


Teachers who cited preparation to teach ELLs as significant offered particularly compelling accounts of ways they were prepared to work with ELLs in mainstream, ELD, and bilingual classes. These results contrast with recent survey studies in the US. Nearly 3000 New York City teachers of 3 years or less experience reported overall preparation less than adequate to teach ELLs, regardless of pre paration in a credential program or alternative pathway (Darling-Hammond, Chung, & Frelow, 2002) . Hundreds of new teachers in 29 districts in central California reported ELLs' learning needs among the greatest challenges in their work, and many had no credential or little teacher education preparation to meet these needs (Baron, 2006) . Even when teacher education programs incorporate aspects of multicultural education, typically little attention is given to issues of linguistic diversity and ELLs (Zeichner, 2003) . Teacher education efforts in this field also have been impaired by insufficient placements in schools with adequate numbers of ELLs, lack of supervisor knowledge to guide relevant instruction, and a slim research base that has yet to inform educators about which disciplin ary and pedagogical bases best prepare teachers for such work in which kinds of communities (Merino, 1999) . Nonetheless, such preparation is particularly important in a region such as that of our study where many native languages are spoken and, with changing demographics, teachers in especially urban and rural schools throughout the US need to be responsible and prepared for the learning of their ELLs.

Nearly 3000 New York City teachers of 3 years or less experience reported overall preparation less than adequate to teach ELLs, regardless of pre paration in a credential program or alternative pathway.

Hundreds of new teachers in 29 districts in central California reported ELLs' learning needs among the greatest challenges in their work, and many had no credential or little teacher education preparation to meet these needs.

Even when teacher education programs incorporate aspects of multicultural education, typically little attention is given to issues of linguistic diversity and ELLs.

Teacher education efforts in this field also have been impaired by insufficient placements in schools with adequate numbers of ELLs, lack of supervisor knowledge to guide relevant instruction, and a slim research base that has yet to inform educators about which disciplin ary and pedagogical bases best prepare teachers for such work in which kinds of communities.


Teacher education needs longitudinal research, particularly in preparing teachers for urban and poor rural settings (Sleeter, 2001; Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2002) . This study examined the process or delivery of teacher education and graduates' perspectives, providing a longitudinal look at development of teachers particularly equipped to work in poor, traditionally underserved communities. Linking the program's process and the outcome for graduates is a critical element of the study. Further research on observations of graduates' classrooms combined with reports of their students' achievement would provide addi tional insights into program connections and ways graduates take up the program's roles of advocate, reflective practitioner, collaborator and researcher on one's practice. More specifically, this study analyzed graduates' links between their practices and the credential program, in meeting the needs of all learners. They described a range of ways they felt prepared for this work, benefiting from challenging and relevant coursework, theory and practice, instructor modeling, supervisor mentoring, effective student teaching placements, structured reflection, and ongoing cohort discussion. This range of supports suggests critical roles of preservice educa tion in teaching for equity and highlights the serious problem for many new teachers entering the profession underprepared or with no credential at all. Too often, it is the least prepared teacher who is placed in high needs schools. The picture is disturbing. As teachers in our study reported, inequities in such schools are apparent, and strong preparation to address them is valued, memorable, and essential.

Teacher education needs longitudinal research, particularly in preparing teachers for urban and poor rural settings.

The picture is disturbing.


Results of our study raise and reinforce issues in developing cultural competence and sensitivity. The student who felt the community study did not go deep enough raises two issues. She reinforces the notion that teachers benefit from guided immersion in non-school culture-based experiences (Irvine, 2003) . Second, her familiarity with local cultures as a Latina and Chicano studies major suggests a need to diversify projects that tap prior experiences and knowledge of preservice teachers regarding culture, language, class, and region (Au & Blake, 2003) . Also, the varied perspectives on being challenged beyond one's comfort zone in exploring diversity issues marks again a need to develop safe spaces in teacher education where questions and challenges can be raised, as conflict and controversy are part of teacher community (Achinstein, 2002; Grossman, Wineburg, & Woolworth, 2001) . Nearly a third of participants reported the value of cohort discussions of equity teaching as important in preparing them to be advocates for equity. How ever, we can only wish that the teacher who felt judged as intellectually inferior because of her accent had the occasion, support, and courage to raise that issue openly in discussion so that all members of the cohort could have benefited from confronting this concern. As in the past, too often those from historically disenfranchised groups con tinue to have their ideas and knowledge margin alized within the current ''multicultural'' rhetoric. Yet, engaging these voices is particularly important since they provide insights and awareness histori cally not recognized.

She reinforces the notion that teachers benefit from guided immersion in non-school culture-based experiences.

Second, her familiarity with local cultures as a Latina and Chicano studies major suggests a need to diversify projects that tap prior experiences and knowledge of preservice teachers regarding culture, language, class, and region.

Also, the varied perspectives on being challenged beyond one's comfort zone in exploring diversity issues marks again a need to develop safe spaces in teacher education where questions and challenges can be raised, as conflict and controversy are part of teacher community.


Numerous applications in statistics and the machine learning community are fraught with datasets where some data points appear to strongly deviate from the bulk of the remaining. Usually those points are referred to outliers and in many cases the presence of outliers can drastically change the final result of data analysis (Atkinson and Riani, 2000) . It is known that, if the probabilistic model for the data is not robust, in the sense of reducing outlier influence, inference for the probabilistic model parameters can be strongly biased and consequently prediction power is reduced (Finetti, 1961; West, 1984; Atkinson and Riani, 2000) .

Usually those points are referred to outliers and in many cases the presence of outliers can drastically change the final result of data analysis.

It is known that, if the probabilistic model for the data is not robust, in the sense of reducing outlier influence, inference for the probabilistic model parameters can be strongly biased and consequently prediction power is reduced.


In spring, the prior accumulation of free arginine spares energy as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for Table 3 . Size parameters and the responses of free amino acid N and guanidino compounds in the soluble N pool of stem and buds of four-year-old white spruce saplings exposed to natural light and shading under field conditions in mid-October Guanidino compounds are expressed as arginine equivalents based on the colour reaction with the Sakaguchi reagent. F values significant at 1** and 5*%; f wt -fresh weight the de novo synthesis of arginine when ATP is needed for rapid bud growth and cambial development (Durzan 1969; Atkinson 1977) . Arginine provides N for the synthesis of other amino acids some of which are precursors for growth hormones, polyamines, and nitric oxide (NO) (Durzan, Steward 1983; Durzan, Pedroso 2002) . NO maintains metabolic homeostasis and protects against oxidative and nitrosative damage at high light intensities (Durzan 2002; Corpas et al. 2008) . In trees, the cessation of growth and bud set, induced by short days, is regulated by a (CO/FT) regulatory module for two genes, CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) (Böhlenius et al. 2006) . The tracking of hours of sunshine and air temperature (Fig. 2) would comprise an integrated environmental signal for the CO/FT regulatory module to initiate enzymatic changes in N metabolism required for sapling habituation and over-winter survival. Spruce saplings in this study were juvenile and the transition of vegetative buds to male or female cones was not yet a factor for FT expression.

F values significant at 1** and 5*%; f wt -fresh weight the de novo synthesis of arginine when ATP is needed for rapid bud growth and cambial development.

Arginine provides N for the synthesis of other amino acids some of which are precursors for growth hormones, polyamines, and nitric oxide (NO).

NO maintains metabolic homeostasis and protects against oxidative and nitrosative damage at high light intensities.

In trees, the cessation of growth and bud set, induced by short days, is regulated by a (CO/FT) regulatory module for two genes, CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT).


Several ordinal regression methods (see Tables 9 and 10) can be emphasised according to their error (GPOR, SVOREX, SVORIM, REDSVM and SVMOP) or their computational time (POM, SVORLin or ELMOP). However, there are many factors that can influence the choice of the method, and all of them should be considered. First of all, POM is a linear model and, as such, it is very fast to train (with no associated hyperparameters), but its performance is generally low. This fact is important, given that, excluding the machine learning area, the POM and its variants are the most widely used ordinal regression methods [25] , [80] , [83] , [87] .

This fact is important, given that, excluding the machine learning area, the POM and its variants are the most widely used ordinal regression methods.


In this work, only hard-clustering methods (each word only belongs to a single class) were explored. In the future work, we plan to explore other more accurate methods. It may be useful to allow words to belong to more than one class, which is usually called soft-clustering method. Additionally, we also plan to use part-of-speech tags to get word classes [13] .

Additionally, we also plan to use part-of-speech tags to get word classes.


Aerosol mass spectrometry is a widely used method for measuring atmospheric aerosol composition. The most common implementation of this class of instruments is the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) of which more than 80 instruments are currently in operation worldwide. Due to Correspondence to: R. C. Cohen (cohen@cchem.berkeley.edu) its ubiquitous use in laboratory and field experiments, much of what is known about ambient atmospheric and laboratory aerosol composition relies on the accurate interpretation of AMS data. One of the main advantages of the AMS is it's combination of flash volatilization with electron impact (EI) ionization which results in a relatively uniform sensitivity to all non-refractory (NR) components of aerosols, allowing for a measurement of total particle mass with high time resolution and without requiring detailed prior knowledge of the aerosol chemical composition (Jimenez et al., 2003) .

One of the main advantages of the AMS is it's combination of flash volatilization with electron impact (EI) ionization which results in a relatively uniform sensitivity to all non-refractory (NR) components of aerosols, allowing for a measurement of total particle mass with high time resolution and without requiring detailed prior knowledge of the aerosol chemical composition.


Iris's image is characterized with richness of its texture details such as cornea, crypts, filaments, flecks, radial furrows, stripes, arching ligaments, etc. Therefore, the iris region in the eye image of an individual contains completely independent patterns, and minute details of the iris are so randomly distributed patterns, which make the human iris be one of the most important biometric characteristics [7] . This paper is an attempt to address the biometric security issue through integrating the iris verification system with addition module called liveness detection which composed of two sub-modules (static and dynamic) to protect the iris biometric system from spoof attacks, the system consists of two basic phases: liveness detection phase and iris verification phase and will be implemented successively.

Therefore, the iris region in the eye image of an individual contains completely independent patterns, and minute details of the iris are so randomly distributed patterns, which make the human iris be one of the most important biometric characteristics.


On the other hand, Iris is an important feature of the human body and very stable throughout a lifetime of a person. Iris is used as a biometric trait and offers many advantages over other human biometric features. It is only an internal human body organ that is visible from the outside and is well protected from external modifiers. For example, voice patterns may be altered due to vocal diseases, a fingerprint may suffer transformations due to harm or aging. The iris is a thin circular diaphragm, which lies between the cornea and the lens of the human eye [6] .

The iris is a thin circular diaphragm, which lies between the cornea and the lens of the human eye.


A step in this direction was recently made using a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) model (Larochelle and Hinton 2010) . The system as a whole consists of a third-order classification RBM that combines information from a sequence of fixations into a learned representation of the image, as well as an adaptive controller which makes predictions for the best fixation positions. Unlike many previous recognition systems based on fixation sequences, both the classification and controller components are trained simultaneously and jointly. This is thus a promising direction for future research on fixation-based recognition.

A step in this direction was recently made using a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) model.


Responses to prompts were written. This method was chosen for the interviews because of distance issues. One participant was teaching in England and one was working several hundred miles away from the research site so written responses allowed ease of access to both participants. Written responses also allowed researchers to examine responses separately, then collectively and re-examine them as themes emerged in the coding process (Creswell, 2002) .

Responses to prompts were written.

Written responses also allowed researchers to examine responses separately, then collectively and re-examine them as themes emerged in the coding process.


We have selected a phenomenological research approach for this study. Phenomenology gives primacy to the richness and meaning of individual human experience. According to Welman and Kruger (1999, p. 189) "phenomenologists are concerned with understanding social and psychological phenomena from the perspectives of people involved". Phenomenology allowed us to move from the participants' responses to interview questions to examine the intentionally of their choices, describe them in detail, and reduce them to themes to examine their essence (Alexandersson, 1981) . This approach allowed us to examine semi-structured reflections to uncover their essential structure.

Phenomenology allowed us to move from the participants' responses to interview questions to examine the intentionally of their choices, describe them in detail, and reduce them to themes to examine their essence.


It has been seen that research in this particular area is difficult to conduct because it involves children, though it is most important in situations where childhood obesity is becoming a global epidemic in terms of nutrition rate [85] . Halting this epidemic is possible through combining treatment strategies along with some preventive initiative. However, heterogeneity data from the trials makes it difficult to conclude that one particular strategy or combination is more effective in the treatment of childhood obesity. Improving our understanding and reporting these findings could inform policy and guide public health efforts in the treatment of childhood obesity.

It has been seen that research in this particular area is difficult to conduct because it involves children, though it is most important in situations where childhood obesity is becoming a global epidemic in terms of nutrition rate.


On the other hand, data driven methods were adapted from other field of science to extract structures from turbulent flows. Proper orthogonal decompositions were the first to be introduced to fluid dynamics by Lumley [5] . These patterns however lack dynamics and have problems with convective flows. The first drawback hampers the construction of reduced models of the flow, and in consequence the success was there, but limited. This problem was addressed by the introduction of Dynamical Modes [7] . The difficulties of these methods to describe convective phenomena remained and is what will be discussed and solved in the present paper.

Proper orthogonal decompositions were the first to be introduced to fluid dynamics by Lumley.

This problem was addressed by the introduction of Dynamical Modes.


The efficiency of conversion of biomass to ethanol depends upon feedstock characteristics and composition, pretreatment processes, and the fermentation technologies that are utilized [1, 2, 16] . Feedstock quality for herbaceous energy crops has been extensively studied for use as livestock feed but not for ethanol conversion. Legumes, grasses with the C 3 photosynthesis system, and grasses with the C 4 photosynthesis system differ in plant anatomical characteristics which affect their chemical composition and utilization by ruminant animals [17] . Other important factors that are known to strongly impact chemical composition and digestion by ruminant animals include forage genotype, maturity, and growth environment, as well as, interaction among these factors [18] . This study focused on the influence of plant-type and maturity. The forages selected for this study include a legume (alfalfa), C 3 grass (reed canarygrass), and C 4 grass (switchgrass) each of which was harvested at two or three maturities. Biomass samples were characterized for total chemical composition, including carbohydrates, protein, lipids, Klason lignin, ash, etc. Next, recoverable sugar yields were evaluated by measuring monosaccharides released from the cell-wall matrix following treatment with dilute sulfuric-acid (at 121 and 150 1C) and enzymatic saccharification with a commercial cellulase. Finally, the compositional and yield data were combined to calculate the relative amount of recoverable sugars for each sample. The results showed clear distinctions among the samples based upon both plant-type and harvest maturity.

The efficiency of conversion of biomass to ethanol depends upon feedstock characteristics and composition, pretreatment processes, and the fermentation technologies that are utilized.

Legumes, grasses with the C 3 photosynthesis system, and grasses with the C 4 photosynthesis system differ in plant anatomical characteristics which affect their chemical composition and utilization by ruminant animals.

Other important factors that are known to strongly impact chemical composition and digestion by ruminant animals include forage genotype, maturity, and growth environment, as well as, interaction among these factors.


The main finding of this study was the high reliability of the FRi in this population. Due to this fact, this index could be used to measure changes in balance in physically active old people with an error of measurement of only 11%. Generalizability of the findings from this study is limited due to the small sample size employed. However, the estimated reliability observed for this two measures suggests that at least among elderly people, BBS measures of dynamic balance at a spring resistance in the level eight are reliable. Furthermore, this article may serve as a basis for the evaluation of balance in elderly for futures interventions programs (as could be the actually improving balance program developed by our team), aimed at correcting the deficits found in balance to reduce the incidence of falls in elderly. There is good evidence that appropriate exercise can improve balance and reduce falls in older people (Sturnieks et al., 2008) . This study revealed that fall risk assessment in older people must be incorporated into the evaluation process of the physical functioning in the mentioned exercise programs.

There is good evidence that appropriate exercise can improve balance and reduce falls in older people.


Sustainability is a core concept for forest management organisations today and may involve a multi-criteria perspective on the management of land. Measures of sustainability vary, and management philosophies range from sustainable timber supplies to sustainable multiple-uses and sustainable ecosystems [124] . Prior reviews [e.g. 11] suggested that progress in these areas continue to be made. Based on the variety of research reviewed, particularly at the forest and landscape levels, it seems that these needs continue to be addressed. However, continued efforts to explore measurement and integration of sustainability into forest plans are necessary as society places demands on forest management organisations to demonstrate that the actions prescribed result in sustainable systems.

Measures of sustainability vary, and management philosophies range from sustainable timber supplies to sustainable multiple-uses and sustainable ecosystems.


Non-intentional non-adherence is usually related to poor memory or understanding [7] . The reasons for intentional non-adherence are connected to problems resulted from medications taking (such as side effects of medications), high cost of medications, and disagreement with the need for treatment or other patient-specific factors [8] . Beliefs about medications are supposed to be associated with intentional non-adherence [9] .

Non-intentional non-adherence is usually related to poor memory or understanding.

The reasons for intentional non-adherence are connected to problems resulted from medications taking (such as side effects of medications), high cost of medications, and disagreement with the need for treatment or other patient-specific factors.

Beliefs about medications are supposed to be associated with intentional non-adherence.


In particular, we prove Theorem 1.12 and its corollary 1.13, and Theorem 1.4. In Section 4, we prove Theorem 1.9. In Section 5, we prove Theorem 1.5 and obtain Corollary 1.6. In Section 6, we discuss the construction of smooth Kähler-Einstein metrics using branch covers. In section 7, we prove Corollary 1.2, and prove the general convergence modulo one technical point. This is done by carrying out bifurcation analysis first used by Bando-Mabuchi. After finishing the draft of this paper, we received the paper by Jiang Song and Xiaowei Wang [54] . In the last section 8, we discuss the relation of their work to our paper. Their results have some overlaps with ours. But mostly importantly from our point of view, they proved an existence result in the toric case. The conical Kähler-Einstein spaces they obtained can serve as the degeneration limits of toric Fano manifolds with some smooth pluri-anticanonical divisors. So combining their existence result in the toric case with the strategy in this paper, we show, in the toric case, a version of Donaldson's conjecture which relates the maximal cone angle and the greatest lower bound of Ricci curvature. To state this result, first define Definition 2.1.

In Section 4, we prove Theorem 1.9.

After finishing the draft of this paper, we received the paper by Jiang Song and Xiaowei Wang.


A preferable system is the passively mode-locked fiber laser, since it is easier to operate and avoids the use of bulky active components which increase system complexity and cost. A passively mode-locked fiber laser can be realized by an interesting means involving incorporation of carbon nanotube (CNT) as a broadband SA within the laser cavity, and this addition allows for tunability over a wide wavelength range. Moreover, altering the cavity length provides an easy means of changing the RF free spectral range (FSR). A method is proposed for generating multiple carrier RF with very low phase noise, limited amplitude fluctuations, and identical time jitter along with negligible interference between carriers. The obtained results show that the proposed architecture is a promising scheme for the generation of multiple high purity carriers up to extremely high frequencies (W band) that are far beyond the reach of electronic oscillators [31] .

The obtained results show that the proposed architecture is a promising scheme for the generation of multiple high purity carriers up to extremely high frequencies (W band) that are far beyond the reach of electronic oscillators.


Mode-locked outputs are desired for ultra-fast pulses, although this comes at the cost of lessened pulse power. For true soliton mode-locking, soliton shaping effects play a dominant role and the pulse duration is nearly independent of other parameters [22] , [23] . A saturable absorber (SA) is required for starting and stabilizing the mode-locking. The necessary limitation of nonlinear phase shifts, combined with the fundamental soliton condition, implies particular scaling laws for soliton mode-locked lasers. Fundamental soliton pulses are highly important in particular for long-distance optical fiber communications and in mode-locked lasers (soliton mode-locking) [24] , [25] . In the latter situation, soliton-like pulses can be formed when the typically unavoidable factors of dispersion and nonlinearity in the laser cavity are negligible. Solitons are also applied in various techniques for pulse compression using optical fibers [26] , [27] . An optical soliton pulse is the recommended foundation for the creation of a spectrum of light over a wide range [28] , [29] . Optical solitons are powerful laser pulses that can be employed to generate multi-soliton filter characteristics [30] .

For true soliton mode-locking, soliton shaping effects play a dominant role and the pulse duration is nearly independent of other parameters.

Fundamental soliton pulses are highly important in particular for long-distance optical fiber communications and in mode-locked lasers (soliton mode-locking).

Solitons are also applied in various techniques for pulse compression using optical fibers.

An optical soliton pulse is the recommended foundation for the creation of a spectrum of light over a wide range.

Optical solitons are powerful laser pulses that can be employed to generate multi-soliton filter characteristics.


Another application is in semantic editors generated by AGs [13, 17, 19] . Such systems include a manually implemented bidirectional transformation engine to synchronise the abstract tree and its pretty printed representation displayed to users. This is a complex and specific bidirectional transformation that is implemented as two hand-written unidirectional transformations that must be manually synchronized when one of the transformations changes. This makes maintenance complex and error prone.

Another application is in semantic editors generated by AGs.


Results of the present study show that the JCV genotype profile of the Mamanwa is significantly different from the profiles of two other Philippine populations, the Tagalogs of Luzon island and the Cebuanos of Cebu island, in which up to five genotypes (B1-a, B3-a, B3-b/2E, SC-f/7A, and SC-x) were detected and B3-b/2E had only a low frequency (Miranda et al., 2003) . The JCV genotype patterns in the Tagalogs and the Cebuanos were somewhat consistent with the traditional view about the formation of the modern Philippine population (see Introduction), although it also suggested some previously undescribed migrations to the Philippines, recent as well as ancient (Miranda et al., 2003) . In contrast, the JCV genotype profile of the Mamanwa suggests that this tribe was formed by two major events of colonization, one involving carriers of B3-b/2E and the other, carriers of SC-f/7A.

Results of the present study show that the JCV genotype profile of the Mamanwa is significantly different from the profiles of two other Philippine populations, the Tagalogs of Luzon island and the Cebuanos of Cebu island, in which up to five genotypes (B1-a, B3-a, B3-b/2E, SC-f/7A, and SC-x) were detected and B3-b/2E had only a low frequency.

The JCV genotype patterns in the Tagalogs and the Cebuanos were somewhat consistent with the traditional view about the formation of the modern Philippine population (see Introduction), although it also suggested some previously undescribed migrations to the Philippines, recent as well as ancient.


The proposed work was originally developed for the problem of vehicle class recognition [2, 3] . In those works, the class or type of a vehicle is determined using its 3D structure. For vehicle class recognition, the tracking and reconstruction process must allow wide variety of vehicles under various conditions. Tracking general objects in video is a well-studied problem in the computer vision literature. Applications are ranging from automated surveillance to robot navigation. The approaches can be grouped as either model based or segmentation based. They can also be grouped as either 2D or 3D. A model-based tracker aligns a model of the object to each frame of video and is typically initialised manually. Segmentation method is based on features, such as corners, edges or curves. Both can be accomplished in 2D or 3D.

The proposed work was originally developed for the problem of vehicle class recognition.

Both can be accomplished in 2D or 3D.


Cross-ratio is the only invariance under perspective projection and it plays a major role in the proposed method. It is used for the robust estimation of the object translation and to find corresponding edge elements across the images. As a unique and important invariance under perspective projection, cross-ratio is widely used in computer vision literature [12, 13] . When an object travels in a straight line, cross-ratio invariance can be used to find the relative ratios of object's translations in 3D space among any three frames of video sequences. All of the points on the object move the same distance in 3D, but in the projected image, the 2D translation distances are all different depending on the point's depth and angle from the video camera. When majorities of the edges correspond to the correct ridges or the same feature across the frames, the histogram method determines correct edge or feature correspondence and cross-ratios.

As a unique and important invariance under perspective projection, cross-ratio is widely used in computer vision literature.


An important factor in the OPTIMAL theory is external focus of attention [26] . The purpose of this study was to extend previous findings and further examine the effects of adopting an external focus of attention on motor learning and promoting focus on the task goal by using a sport skill as a to-be-learnt motor task. It was hypothesized that: 1) the participants who adopted an external focus of attention would show better motor learning than those who adopted an internal focus of attention and control condition in performance, retention, and transfer tests, 2) adopting an external focus of attention would lead to focusing on the task goal during the acquisition, retention and transfer tests.

An important factor in the OPTIMAL theory is external focus of attention.


There may be no more direct way to encourage the adoption of sustainable forestry practices among small forest landowners than to enlist the support of the service foresters who provide technical assistance those landowners rely upon. To the extent that service foresters are either dismissive toward sustainable forestry concepts or merely silent about them, there is a reduced chance that the approach will make significant inroads. The importance of this quite traditional diffusion channel has been previously documented [28] . But if service foresters are willing and able to frame sustainable forestry concepts as "the right thing," then the prospects for adoption change significantly (even if the label "sustainable forestry" is never applied to those practices).

The importance of this quite traditional diffusion channel has been previously documented.


The clinical characteristics of our study groups revealed LA enlargement in the obese subjects compared to the nonobese subjects. These data are in agreement with well-recognized observations that obesity may be a cause of LA dilatation [9] . On the other hand, the enlargement of LA may be both a consequence and a substrate to develop and sustain arrhythmia [10] .

These data are in agreement with well-recognized observations that obesity may be a cause of LA dilatation.

On the other hand, the enlargement of LA may be both a consequence and a substrate to develop and sustain arrhythmia.


A source code-based birthmark uses names of variables and functions [4] . This birthmark, however, no longer exists after compilation without special handling. Given only an executable file, we cannot use this birthmark for its original purpose. Because of this limitation, many researchers are studying on API-based or system call-based birthmarks. These birthmarks are intact through compilation and can be used for detecting software theft and computer forensics.

A source code-based birthmark uses names of variables and functions.