Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up the largest share of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming and climate change. Emissions of CO2 come from burning oil, coal, and gas for energy use, burning wood and waste materials, and from industrial processes such as cement production. Data for carbon dioxide emissions include gases from fossil fuel combustion and cement manufacture, but exclude emissions from land use, such as deforestation. The burning of carbon-based fuels since the industrial revolution has rapidly increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increasing the rate of global warming and causing anthropogenic climate change. It is also a major source of ocean acidification, since it dissolves in water to form carbonic acid. This phenomenon leads to an increase in the Earth's surface temperature and to related effects on the climate and rises in sea level [4] .

This phenomenon leads to an increase in the Earth's surface temperature and to related effects on the climate and rises in sea level.


The first case that we study in this paper in section 3 is ERE in the recently proposed Einsteinian cubic gravity [28] . To this end, we first note that most of the higher derivative theories of gravity that exist in the literature have the characteristic that the coupling constants associated with different terms in the Lagrangian are dimension dependent. In Einsteinian cubic gravity on the other hand, the coupling constants are dimension independent. Unlike, say, GaussBonnet gravity, the extra terms in the Lagrangian are not topological in four spacetime dimensions. Motivated by the holographic studies of higher derivative gravity theories, in the first part of this work, we undertake an investigation of the entanglement Rényi entropy of the CFT dual to Einsteinian cubic gravity, after constructing a black hole solution perturbatively, for a particular choice of parameters in the theory. We also compute the scaling dimensions of the twist operators (to be elaborated upon in the next section) and verify the central charges of the dual CFT via a computation of the Weyl anomaly.

The first case that we study in this paper in section 3 is ERE in the recently proposed Einsteinian cubic gravity.


The second reason is that in presence of non-linear effects, we can have various instruments to reach the same target, and they may have very different opportunity costs. For instance, in Europe -we refer to the Europe 2020 3 agenda -the chosen target is the three percent ratio of R&D on GDP. Empirically, it is well documented that the typical firm in the industry tends to define its strategy in terms of some routines such as "spend × percent of the turnover" (Dosi, 1988) . As a result, one may conceptualize the three percent rule as a simple generalization from micro to macro. However, this reasoning is based on a fallacy of composition. The denominator of the target (the product of productivity for employment) is endogenous, in the very spirit of the agenda, since the aim to increase R&D expenditure is motivated by its impact of productivity and employment. In other words, not only the quantitative increase in spending matters, but also the qualitative composition of it, since the impact on productivity and employment can be very different across firms: in practice, the same gross amount of R&D spending may end up into a different R&D/GDP ratio.

Empirically, it is well documented that the typical firm in the industry tends to define its strategy in terms of some routines such as "spend × percent of the turnover".


H.264/AVC supports two entropy coding techniques: context-based adaptive variable-length coding (CAVLC) and context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC). CABAC provides a coding gain of approximately 10%~15%, compared with CAVLC. However, it has high computational complexity and requires a large number of serial operations. With software-based implementations, it is difficult to achieve real-time decoding for CABAC for such high bitrate ranges [6] [7] [8] . The CAVLC mode is also widely used, not only for mobile devices, but also for many other high-quality applications through baseline and main profiles. Although context-based adaptive variable-length decoding (CAVLD) has less computational complexity than context-based adaptive binary arithmetic decoding (CABAD), the CAVLD is also considered to be one of the most complex variable-length decoding (VLD)-based entropy decoders in the market. We can state that a platform capable of implementing CAVLD in real time can also decode other VLD-based entropy decoders. In this paper, a fast CAVLD implementation is presented with a developed bitstream processing unit (BsPU) based on a table mapping algorithm. Note that the BsPU has multiple designated instructions for entropy decoding. The new table mapping algorithm is applied to several syntax elements such as coeff_token, level, and run_before. In addition, certain designated BsPU instructions are efficiently used to reduce the number of branches in arithmetic computations.

With software-based implementations, it is difficult to achieve real-time decoding for CABAC for such high bitrate ranges.


A validated, confidential, self-administered, semistructured questionnaire was used as the data collection tool. The questionnaire has been used in a previous study at Moi University, Kenya [18] . Permission to use the questionnaire was obtained through e-mail. The questionnaire contained 42 questions, with 36 close-ended questions and 5 open-ended questions.

The questionnaire has been used in a previous study at Moi University, Kenya.


Pale, soft and exudative (PSE) and dark, fi rm and dry (DFD) meat are the two main defects with regard to meat quality in pigs [4] . The fi rst occurs after exposing animals to acute stress just prior to slaughter, when the pigs still have suffi cient reserves of muscle glycogen to cause a rapid increase in lactic acid content early post-mortem. This brings the muscle pH to values below 6.0 prior to the fi rst hour after slaughter [5] . On the other hand, high pH values appear when animals suffer chronic stress and the muscle glycogen is used up rapidly during the pre-slaughter period and after slaughter, there is little lactic acid production which results in DFD meat [6] .

Pale, soft and exudative (PSE) and dark, fi rm and dry (DFD) meat are the two main defects with regard to meat quality in pigs.

This brings the muscle pH to values below 6.0 prior to the fi rst hour after slaughter.

On the other hand, high pH values appear when animals suffer chronic stress and the muscle glycogen is used up rapidly during the pre-slaughter period and after slaughter, there is little lactic acid production which results in DFD meat.


We accomplish (i) with the aid of Theorem 4.4, reducing the problem to a standard Monge-Ampère equation on the base, which can then be solved by an established theorem of the second author [15] . This is based on the existence of a potential for the holomorphic syplectic structure, which is not surprising given that the relevant fibration is analogous to a moment mapping. The approach makes the solutions (or at least, the method of solution) more explicit, and this is our aim in the other cases.

We accomplish (i) with the aid of Theorem 4.4, reducing the problem to a standard Monge-Ampère equation on the base, which can then be solved by an established theorem of the second author.


This section reviews the principal results obtained by numerical simulation for conversions system in early phase of the gas engine study and illustrates the influences of the combustion chamber geometry affecting the air-fuel mixture in suction stroke. From the view of the fundamental turbulence physics, the major parameter required to characterise the turbulence characteristics is TKE [14] . The production of TKE is also useful to capture the locations where turbulence is being created so that the small scale mixing for the air-fuel mixture can be enhanced. The TKE during suction stroke can be found out from the simulations to verify the generation of air-fuel structure inside the cylinder, as From the analysis, uniform distributions are predicted for all combustion chamber geometries, especially around the intake valve, due to jet effect. This phenomenon occurred near the valve gap region due to very small area of combustion chamber [13] . As seen in design C, the distribution of jet flow extends to the bottom part of combustion chamber and the maximum value of TKE is slightly higher as compared to other variance of combustion chamber design. It will contribute in enhancement of air-fuel mixing process until the end of suction stroke. The enhancement of mixing inside the engine cylinder can be observed through the velocity vector shown in Fig 3. From the Fig, it is observed that the velocity vortex is almost the same in all configurations. This will create the swirl-squish interactions and expected to penetrate more towards the center of chamber, due to the re-entrance profile and smallest entry diameters. In case of combustion chamber C configuration, the re-entrance cause the three largest and strong vortices inside the chamber, which provide better air-fuel mixture enhancement compared to other designs.

From the view of the fundamental turbulence physics, the major parameter required to characterise the turbulence characteristics is TKE.

This phenomenon occurred near the valve gap region due to very small area of combustion chamber.


In Malaysia, most of the logistics and haulage companies are using diesel fuel and compression ignition (C.I.) engines to propel their small-duty until up to prime mover vehicles. Therefore, for those companies to gain additional economic will benefits, retrofitting their fleets with mono-gas CNG system will be the best option to take. Through retrofitting, the C.I engines run using CNG, will still provide beneficial option of still operating their existing C.I. engines fleet. However, modification of the combustion chamber geometry is required to reduce compression ratio to value that suits combustion of CNG [6] .

However, modification of the combustion chamber geometry is required to reduce compression ratio to value that suits combustion of CNG.


Although the use of additive-added blends improves some performance or emission aspects, these blends affect other parameters adversely. In addition, they are associated with high production costs. This study mainly aims to improve engine performance and emission by using biodiesel from a particular feedstock by blending with biodiesel from another feedstock, which has better properties in some aspects compared with the previous ones and thereby forming a binary mixture with improved properties. Although some research previously studied binary biodiesel mixture, they used common mixture ratios [26, 27] . However, in this study an optimized ratio of binary biodiesel mixture, which improves overall fuel properties has been used. The ratio was obtained using MATLAB optimization tool, a method which has not been adopted by earlier studies. Palm and coconut biodiesel were chosen because of their superior characteristics, such as a high CN, high oxygen content, good ignition and combustion characteristics, and low pollutant emission [28, 29] . In addition, Malaysia is one of the largest palm producers in the world, and its government has decided to use 40% (approximately 6 million tons) of the total palm produced annually as biodiesel. Later, experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of 20% blend of optimum binary biodiesel mixture with diesel on engine combustion, performance, and emissions.

Although some research previously studied binary biodiesel mixture, they used common mixture ratios.

Palm and coconut biodiesel were chosen because of their superior characteristics, such as a high CN, high oxygen content, good ignition and combustion characteristics, and low pollutant emission.


It is important to conduct an inter-rater comparison of assessments using weighted Kappa analysis at least once annually in order to ensure sufficient reliability. One important basic requirement that must be fulfilled to ensure reliability is that all users must accept the procedures of TIC-n assessment. It must be possible to monitor the assessment process and compliance with the manual. The system does not permit each user or group of users to add or change items. This precludes the ability to compare the information between various wards. It is therefore important that thorough instruction be provided both during implementation and at regular follow-up intervals. The internal consistency of the TIC-n instrument was determined by means of Cronbach' s alpha. An internal consistency greater than the required value of 0.90 means that the scale may be applied on an individual level [20] . The alpha coefficients (range 0.89 -0.94) showed that TIC-n has high homogeneity, supporting the internal consistency reliability of the scale.

An internal consistency greater than the required value of 0.90 means that the scale may be applied on an individual level.


Discrete models have been applied most readily to groups such as an insect population where there is a rather natural division of time into discrete generations. A model which has received considerable attention from experimental and theoretical biologists is the host-parasitoid system [1] . In mathematical biology, the host-parasitoid interactions are very popular subjects since they are important to address the natural enemy of an insect pest. Parasitoids are insect species of which larvae develop as parasites on other insect species. Parasitoid larvae usually kill their host (sometimes the host is paralyzed by the ovipositing parasitoid female) whereas adult parasitoids are free-living insects. Parasitoids and their hosts often have synchronized life-cycles, e.g., both have one generation per year (monovoltinous).

A model which has received considerable attention from experimental and theoretical biologists is the host-parasitoid system.


The vessel mimicking C-flex and latex tubing produced high intensity specular reflection from the smooth surface. This contrasts with the low intensity, random Rayleigh scattering from the moving BMF, and the diffuse/Rayleigh scattering from the TMM, causing phase aberrations of the backscattered ultrasound. This explains in part, the poor performance of TDIAWM using the wall-less phantom, as TDIAWM is based on RF cross-correlation signal processing techniques to extract phase shift information, rather than the greyscale signal intensity based method of PROBAL. The lower dilation in the wall-less TMM phantom is a confounding factor although additional experiments (not shown) and the results of Figure 3 substantiated these initial observations. These results demonstrate the need to match important acoustical and physical properties of the test phantom to the actual in-vivo characteristics. Although data on these vessel properties are scarce, the in-vivo ultrasound/vessel interaction lies between the idealized walled phantom and the wall-less TMM phantom. Other materials such as of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel, urethane rubber, alternative agar and gelatin based TMMs may also offer some advantages [13] .

Other materials such as of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel, urethane rubber, alternative agar and gelatin based TMMs may also offer some advantages.


There is widespread clinical interest in assessing the mechanical properties of tissues and vessel walls as these are important to the onset, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Vessels that have been studied include the common carotid artery, femoral artery, brachial artery, cerebral arteries and the aorta [1] . Recent clinical studies have benefited from ongoing improvements in ultrasound image quality, new imaging techniques and signal processing algorithms. Our own clinical research has focused on the possibility of identifying the vulnerable carotid plaque based on the mechanical wall motion behavior [2] .

Vessels that have been studied include the common carotid artery, femoral artery, brachial artery, cerebral arteries and the aorta.

Our own clinical research has focused on the possibility of identifying the vulnerable carotid plaque based on the mechanical wall motion behavior.


Why is it less likely for a street robber to reoffend in an area where they have been arrested in the act before? According to the characteristics of the street robbery and the Chinese context, the three main reasons are listed as follows. First, offenders are fearful of being arrested in the act in a prior robbery spot. Street robbers may also be avenged by victims and their relatives or friends. The shadow of "once bitten, twice shy" may linger for a long time. Second, police often use the "patting shoulder," "door-to-door ward rounds," and "greeting and summoning" approaches to remind prior offenders that they are under constant watch. Such interventions, coupled with the facial recognition capabilities of surveillance cameras, inevitably force offenders to commit subsequent crimes far away from the past site. Third, the high level of social cohesion in the Chinese society exerts an influence on repeat offenders. Social cohesion is conducive to the formation of collective efficiency among residents to prevent crime [40, 42] .

Social cohesion is conducive to the formation of collective efficiency among residents to prevent crime.


The spun-up TC is used as the initial condition for the experiments investigating the impact of rolls (sensitivity of the model results to the choice of the initial TC vortex is discussed in appendix B). The elapsed time is reset to 0 h in the experiments. Summary of the experiments is provided in Table 1 . In these experiments, we set the asymptotic mixing length l in (8) to a constant value of 40 m. It should be noted that l is a critical parameter affecting the overall magnitude of the turbulent diffusivity, and it can vary substantially under the TC condition according to observations (Zhang and Drennan 2012) . In our idealized process-oriented numerical experiments, we set l to a constant for simplicity. The sensitivity of the model results to the choice of l is discussed in appendix A.

In these experiments, we set the asymptotic mixing length l in (8) to a constant value of 40 m. It should be noted that l is a critical parameter affecting the overall magnitude of the turbulent diffusivity, and it can vary substantially under the TC condition according to observations.


As we have mentioned, textual similarity detection is a challenging task that nowadays is being inves tigated by several authors. Since some years ago, there has conducted an international competition on semantic textual similarity (see, for example, the last one: "SEM 2013 shared task: Semantic Textual Similarity" [1] ). Most of the systems that have been developed for detecting and measur ing semantic textual similarity use text pairs to be compared as feature vectors where each feature is a score related to a specific type of similarity. In this section, we do not pretend to list all the work related to semantic textual similarity, but to point out the newest contributions in the field.

Since some years ago, there has conducted an international competition on semantic textual similarity (see, for example, the last one: "SEM 2013 shared task: Semantic Textual Similarity").


Five roe-deer (3 males and 2 females) obtained from the wild state at the age of 1 to 7 days were used for the studies. The fawns were artificially fed on full cow's milk and powdered milk. Both the daily doses of milk and length of the whole feeding period depended on the animals' individual requirements (Kossak, 1981) . The fawns were not given any additional food apart from milk. The course of individual development was examined by means of periodical measurements of weight and body dimensions.

Both the daily doses of milk and length of the whole feeding period depended on the animals' individual requirements.


The most recent development of relevance to our paper has seen the emerging branch of cognitive neuroscience that brings together social psychology with neuroscience -social cognitive neuroscienceand its application to organizations (Senior & Butler, 2007) . At its core is an understanding of the relationship between the brain and social interaction, in this case to the study of human behaviour in, and in response to, organizations -what has been termed "organizational cognitive neuroscience" (Butler & Senior, 2007) . Here the focus is on the neuroscience of social interactions at the social level and the need to understand the motivational and other social factors that drive behaviour and experience in the real organizational world rather than on organizational performance per se.

The most recent development of relevance to our paper has seen the emerging branch of cognitive neuroscience that brings together social psychology with neuroscience -social cognitive neuroscienceand its application to organizations.

At its core is an understanding of the relationship between the brain and social interaction, in this case to the study of human behaviour in, and in response to, organizations -what has been termed "organizational cognitive neuroscience".


Membrane bioreactor, an integrated process of fermentation and separation, as a compact process has the valuable advantages in order to increase lactic acid productivity. This process is expected to reduce product inhibition, reuse unconverted substrate, obtain high cell density culture, and decrease separation load of the next separation process (Tejayadi and Cheryan, 1995) . By the optimization of these advantages, it is expected to reduce cost production of PLA in on-site cell plant.

This process is expected to reduce product inhibition, reuse unconverted substrate, obtain high cell density culture, and decrease separation load of the next separation process.


There have been numerous proposals for dealing with increasing mobile data traffic by taking advantage of ubiquitous availability of mobile devices and access to different types networks [2] , [13] , [25] , [40] . Majority of the proposals for using mobile devices exploit the possibility of using shortrange communication to communicate with each other when they are in close proximity, i.e., opportunistic communication [2] , [13] . The proposals that exploit the availability of different type of networks, transfer data through the least congested and/or cheapest network whenever possible, i.e., offloading. In doing so, both solutions attempt to lower the congestion in any given network and minimize the cost.

There have been numerous proposals for dealing with increasing mobile data traffic by taking advantage of ubiquitous availability of mobile devices and access to different types networks.

Majority of the proposals for using mobile devices exploit the possibility of using shortrange communication to communicate with each other when they are in close proximity, i.e., opportunistic communication.


Moreover, since local test suites are unlikely to be exhaustive, the above interoperability testing will not be exhaustive either. For instance, vendors typically test control plane software using manually-composed test cases, refined over time. Evidence shows that critical interoperability bugs survive this process. For example, in two recent episodes, 100% protocol-compliant BGP messages caused significant connectivity problems [6, 7] . These examples strongly confirm that local test cases are incomplete even for well-established router software.

For example, in two recent episodes, 100% protocol-compliant BGP messages caused significant connectivity problems.


The driver and the passengers are always in contact with different parts of the vehicle chassis during the operation of the vehicle. Therefore, it is expected that reducing the acceleration response of the vehicle body will improve ride comfort and harshness. Some previous studies have shown that the ride comfort and harshness performance of the vehicle can be improved by optimizing the characteristics of the suspension system components [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] .

Some previous studies have shown that the ride comfort and harshness performance of the vehicle can be improved by optimizing the characteristics of the suspension system components.


In many developing cities, the motorcycle is a vital mode of transportation for low-income workers and students traveling to work and study due to its high door-to-door accessibility and economic cost [1] . Also, the motorcycle becomes an attractive paratransit with a high accessibility for short travel distances in congested developing cities [2] . In contrast, the motorcycle brings with its several problems, including high involvement in traffic accidents, high violation of traffic rules and especially high air pollution emission in congested developing cities. There are several main research directions to reduce the emissions from motorcycles, including development of innovative engine technology, development of alternative cleaner energy and planning policy of transportation and energy usage for the motorcycle.

In many developing cities, the motorcycle is a vital mode of transportation for low-income workers and students traveling to work and study due to its high door-to-door accessibility and economic cost.

Also, the motorcycle becomes an attractive paratransit with a high accessibility for short travel distances in congested developing cities.


It is interesting to ask whether Arctic strong ozone loss will form in future boreal winters (Baldwin et al., 2007; Shaw and Shepherd, 2008) . It is possible that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations could alter the atmosphere in such a way as to enhance the probability of future Arctic ozone holes. We will not speculate on whether this is likely to occur. But we emphasize that the ability to predict future ozone holes rests on one's ability to predict stratospheric winds. Both the winter stratospheric cooling that leads to formation of polar ozone holes and the maintenance of ozone holes during the spring are intimately linked to the presence of a stratospheric polar jet capable of sustaining a KAM-like LCS. So the relevant question relating climate change and possible future Arctic ozone holes is might increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases enhance the probability of a strong and persistent boreal jet?

It is interesting to ask whether Arctic strong ozone loss will form in future boreal winters.


In this paper estimation of KAM-like LCSs will be based on the calculation of continuous fields of finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLEs) in both backward and forward time relative to some reference time. FTLEs are a measure of the rate at which neighboring fluid parcel trajectories diverge from one another. A KAM-like LCS can be identified as the locus of points where trenches (elongated regions of low values) in forward-time FTLE fields overlay trenches in backward-time FTLE fields, and where these overlying structures form a closed loop (Beron-Vera et al., 2010a) .

A KAM-like LCS can be identified as the locus of points where trenches (elongated regions of low values) in forward-time FTLE fields overlay trenches in backward-time FTLE fields, and where these overlying structures form a closed loop.


Several mycoherbicidal products applied to the soil before or during planting, or to emerging plants, have shown efficacy towards various species of weeds [25] - [28] . In order to effectively control weeds with a bioherbicide, the biological agent must be highly active and stable during storage. A long shelf-life resulted when C. truncatum microsclerotia were encapsulated in granules made with wheat flour and kaolin clay ("Pesta") [29] . High stability was achieved after one year storage at 25˚C when a minimum of 7 microsclerotia ml −1 were en-capsulated in this matrix. C. truncatum microsclerotia formulated in "Pesta" stored at 4˚C for 10 years remained highly viable and virulent [28] . Traditionally, the use of various cereal grains has been used as solid substrates for propagation of plant pathogenic fungi. Previous research in our laboratory demonstrated that several bioherbicidal fungi (Fusarium, Alternaria and Myrothecium isolates), cultured on cereal grains such as rice and corn, produced efficacious fungal-grain bioherbicidal products with relatively long shelf-life [30] - [32] . This inexpensive and minimalist process prompted us to examine the feasibility of applying this to the bioherbicidal fungus, C. truncatum. The objectives of the present study were to produce and test pre-and post-emergence applications of a C. truncatum-rice microsclerotial formulation for hemp sesbania control under greenhouse and field conditions and to evaluate efficacy under several environmental conditions.

Several mycoherbicidal products applied to the soil before or during planting, or to emerging plants, have shown efficacy towards various species of weeds.

A long shelf-life resulted when C. truncatum microsclerotia were encapsulated in granules made with wheat flour and kaolin clay ("Pesta").

C. truncatum microsclerotia formulated in "Pesta" stored at 4˚C for 10 years remained highly viable and virulent.

Previous research in our laboratory demonstrated that several bioherbicidal fungi (Fusarium, Alternaria and Myrothecium isolates), cultured on cereal grains such as rice and corn, produced efficacious fungal-grain bioherbicidal products with relatively long shelf-life.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic and persistent infection and is an important etiologic factor of advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [1] . Eradication of HCV could reduce the risk of the occurrence of HCC and liver-related deaths as well as liver-unrelated deaths, although it is difficult to eliminate HCV [2] . Interferon-free treatment can achieve higher sustained virological response (SVR) rates, even in patients in whom HCV could not be eradicated in the interferon treatment era [3] .

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic and persistent infection and is an important etiologic factor of advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Eradication of HCV could reduce the risk of the occurrence of HCC and liver-related deaths as well as liver-unrelated deaths, although it is difficult to eliminate HCV.

Interferon-free treatment can achieve higher sustained virological response (SVR) rates, even in patients in whom HCV could not be eradicated in the interferon treatment era.


Among all M possible events leaving current state, the probability p j for event j is p j ¼ a j =a 0 where a 0 ¼ P M i¼1 a i . Because the time between two transition events of type j, T j , is exponentially distributed as T j $ exponentialða j Þ, and the probability that the inter-arrival time of event j is the minimum among M independent events is P½T j ¼ minðT 1 ; …; T M Þ ¼ a j =a 0 . Therefore random event selection is based on the uniform sampling with the selection ratio of a j =a 0 . Once event j is fired with the probability p j , the time of the system is advanced by another random value Dt $ exponentialða 0 Þ, which is the earliest occurring time for any one out of the M independent events that are exponentially distributed. That is, the clock advances by Dt ¼ ÀlnðuÞ=a 0 where u $ Uð0; 1Þ is a random number uniformly distributed between 0 and 1. Notice that the propensity functions a j 's (thus the total propensity a 0 ) and the number of available events M are time-dependent. This event selection and clock advancement algorithm is the most used one and often referred as the direct method [21] . In addition, new data structures and algorithms have been developed to improve the efficiency in searching the events [22] [23] [24] .

This event selection and clock advancement algorithm is the most used one and often referred as the direct method.

In addition, new data structures and algorithms have been developed to improve the efficiency in searching the events.


Computationally more efficient numerical methods, including dynamically adaptive grids and sub-grid parameterization techniques, have also been widely developed to improve computational efficiency. Adaptive grids can adapt to the moving wet-dry interface and other flow and topographic features, thus facilitate accurate prediction of the flood front and routing processes. By creating a refined mesh only in areas of interest, dynamic grid adaption provides an effective means to relax the computational burden inherent in full dynamic inundation models [8] [9] . However, since the time step of a simulation is controlled by the cells with highest level of refinement, which is concentrated on the most complex flow dynamics and highest velocities or free-surface gradients, the speedup achieved through adaptive grid simulation is generally limited, typically up to ~3 times for practical applications.

By creating a refined mesh only in areas of interest, dynamic grid adaption provides an effective means to relax the computational burden inherent in full dynamic inundation models.


LABs have traditionally been used as natural biopreservatives in food and animal feed, sauerkraut, and silage. Their preserving effect relates mainly to the formation of organic acids and H 2 O 2 , competition for nutrients and production of antimicrobial substances (Voulgari et al. 2010) . The acidic condition and the reduced pH of the fermented dairy products, as well as the antimicrobial activity of the undissociated lactic acid molecules, prevent the growth or survival of many spoilage and pathogenic bacteria and moulds (Carminati et al. 2010; León Peláez et al. 2012) .

Their preserving effect relates mainly to the formation of organic acids and H 2 O 2 , competition for nutrients and production of antimicrobial substances.

The acidic condition and the reduced pH of the fermented dairy products, as well as the antimicrobial activity of the undissociated lactic acid molecules, prevent the growth or survival of many spoilage and pathogenic bacteria and moulds.


Otherwise, one of recently proposed and automatically annotated spoken language resource built from TED talks is the SI TEDx-UM speech database [4] . It contains 242 talks in the Slovenian language in total duration of about 54 hours. The efficiency of unsupervised transcription was evaluated using the UMB Broadcast News speech recognition system and reached 50.70% WER in average.

Otherwise, one of recently proposed and automatically annotated spoken language resource built from TED talks is the SI TEDx-UM speech database.


Given the nature of the Tsai-Wu failure criterion, determination of F12 through experimental means proves to be difficult as applying biaxial loads up to the failure of the material at a representative stress ratio has always been a challenge. The way F12 was obtained in the Tsai-Wu criterion is empirical supported by limited justifications. Various attempts of determining it have been summarised and presented in Table 1 [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] . Although the Tsai-Wu criterion has been a wellknown theory in the composites community, favoured by some while objected by others, it is the authors' view that users' judgements had been made largely without the full facts. The objective of this paper is to offer one missing facet associated with the determination of the interactive coefficient, F12, on a rational basis to eliminate the empiricism, as far as its applications to UD composites are concerned. For this reason, the aim of this paper is neither to promote the use of the criterion in engineering nor to undermine it, but to develop the criterion as a theory to its full maturity for UD composites such that those who favour the theory will have a better reason to continue their practices with likely improved level confidence while those objecting it will have the full facts in front of them to support their views. Equally true, having the full facts established, some of the users might change their views either way. It is not for this paper to dictate the readers' views and users still have to come to their own assessments objectively and intellectually. For this reason, no efforts will be made to compare with experimental results to justify or disapprove the criterion. Ultimately, experimental data will serve as the proof but such data are unavailable. There is therefore a desperate need for them to be made available in order to address the failure of composites.

Various attempts of determining it have been summarised and presented in Table 1.


The change point algorithms can be dichotomized to fall under either Bayesian or non-Bayesian (frequentist) paradigms. Under the Bayesian paradigm, a prior distribution is assumed on the location of change points as well as on the parameters and then based on the observations appropriate posterior update is carried out for the location of change points [16] . However, one has to appropriately choose the prior distributions and if required, approximate the posterior computation. Under the non-Bayesian paradigm, the likelihood of the observations coming from one process is compared against its alternative piecewise segmented processes. A test statistic is computed based on some cost criterion like likelihood ratio (see Section 2) and by comparing the test statistic with respect to a suitable threshold the better of the two process is chosen. Note that choosing an appropriate threshold is still a open research problem [1] .

Under the Bayesian paradigm, a prior distribution is assumed on the location of change points as well as on the parameters and then based on the observations appropriate posterior update is carried out for the location of change points.

Note that choosing an appropriate threshold is still a open research problem.


All the information was collected through a questionnaire proposed to the parents of children admitted to these hospitals as out-patient or as in-patients. The definition of CAM is not homogeneous. In this survey only the CAM accepted by FNOMCEO were considered: homeopathy, phytotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, antroposohycal medicine [33] .

In this survey only the CAM accepted by FNOMCEO were considered: homeopathy, phytotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, antroposohycal medicine.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer death in males and the sixth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide [1] [2] [3] [4] . Because of the high postoperative recurrence rate and high cancer mortality, the prognosis of HCC patients is discouraging. Thus, identifying the optimal therapy for HCC patients plays a significant role in maximizing their long-term survival.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer death in males and the sixth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide.


To our best knowledge no researcher has yet considered the behaviour of a nanofluid between two orthogonally moving porous disks. Therefore, in this paper, we consider the unsteady, laminar, incompressible, and two-dimensional flow of a nanofluid between two orthogonally moving porous coaxial disks, with an external magnetic field acting normally. We use a similarity transformation to reduce the governing partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations in the dimensionless form, which are numerically solved by employing an algorithm based on the quasi-linearization and finite difference discretization. The ease in obtaining the numerical solution using this technique makes it superior than the shooting like approach used in our earlier investigations (Ashraf et al., 2009; Ashraf and Wehgal (2012) . The effects of the governing parameters on the flow and heat transfer aspects of the problem are discussed.

The ease in obtaining the numerical solution using this technique makes it superior than the shooting like approach used in our earlier investigations.


Similarly, the closed squares indicate calculations using the parallel model to give E c as a summation of the contributions of particle fractions of varying n. The lines connecting the closed points are purely guides to the eye. Table 1 Compositional data for the composite samples determined from TGA and ashing [11] .

Table 1 Compositional data for the composite samples determined from TGA and ashing.


Note that a class of models that substitute the interaction between the DM and the gravity called Dark Matter emulators have been criticized on the basis of the observation of gravitational wave GW170817 signal from a merger of a binary neutron star by LIGOVirgo in the NGC 4993 galaxy [33] . This observation correlated with the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma frequencies seems to rule out the models characterized by: i) the coupling between the baryonic matter with the metric perturbed by the presence of the DM and ii) the coupling between the gravitational waves with the metric in the absence of the DM, thus questioning the necessity of DM at all. However, the simplified models discuss here do not fall within the DM emulators class since there is an explicit DM component. Moreover, the coupling between the baryonic matter with the metric is done in the same unperturbed background to which the DM as well as the gravitational waves couple, too.

Note that a class of models that substitute the interaction between the DM and the gravity called Dark Matter emulators have been criticized on the basis of the observation of gravitational wave GW170817 signal from a merger of a binary neutron star by LIGOVirgo in the NGC 4993 galaxy.


The charges of mesonic operators in N = 2 CSM theories are protected, but of course, the R-symmetry in the infrared cannot easily be guessed in the UV theory, thus their exact dimensions are unknown without additional input. The perturbative (non)-renormalization of these N = 2 is analogous to N = 1 theories in four dimensions: the coefficients of terms in the superpotential scale by the difference of the R-charge of the operator from 2. Thus the chiral ring relations for mesonic operators can be determined in the usual way from the superpotential. Monopole operators, on the other hand, present a new ingredient. Their charges can receive quantum corrections, and, intriguingly, for the monopoles of interest to us, these corrections are proportional to what would be anomalies of the theory with the same quiver in four dimensions [9] . Again, our techniques are not powerful enough to determine the dimensions of these operators in general, except order by order in perturbation theory, but I will be able to find the exact form of their OPE's. That is sufficient to determine the chiral ring, and thus the moduli space at the level of algebraic geometry. This allows me to match it with the geometry, finding complete agreement.

Their charges can receive quantum corrections, and, intriguingly, for the monopoles of interest to us, these corrections are proportional to what would be anomalies of the theory with the same quiver in four dimensions.


Today, nanotechnology plays an important role in the most of research fields such as medicine, biology, and so on. One of the most crucial issues is drug delivery systems. In these systems, drugs have been delivered by a carrier with out any interaction between drug and capsule. These carriers are new vehicles which can cause deliver encapsulant to their right and appropriate place. Also, these systems allow protection of sensitive ingredient from unwanted reaction that lead to structural changes and emerging unpleasant taste or odor (Zohri et al. 2010) . Another benefit of these systems is the control release property that can increases functional properties of food. Among different drug delivery systems, polymeric nanoparticles are good candidate for drug delivery due to their unique properties such as good stability, suitable size, and appropriately drug release (Slütter et al. 2010) . Also between various carriers proposed, biodegradable nanoparticles poly(lactide-co-glycolide) are well established to have high delivery potential of manifold drugs such as alginate and chitosan that are two worthwhile polymeric materials in this area due to low cost and compatibility for vast board of materials. Also they are certified by FDA and are safe (Fathi et al. 2012) . One of the most studied polymers for drug delivery is undoubtedly the poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and alginate (derivatives). These polymers have some features such as safety, biodegradability, and compact ability. PLGA has been used for controlled drug release purposes since many years ago, and it is also a suitable choice for encapsulation of antimicrobial compounds (Manca et al. 2008) . Furthermore, PLGA particles are prepared by various methods; oil-in-water emulsification or solvent evaporation techniques, generally resulting in negatively charged, smooth surfaced, and spherical particles (Witschi and Doelker 1998) .

Also, these systems allow protection of sensitive ingredient from unwanted reaction that lead to structural changes and emerging unpleasant taste or odor.

Among different drug delivery systems, polymeric nanoparticles are good candidate for drug delivery due to their unique properties such as good stability, suitable size, and appropriately drug release.

Also they are certified by FDA and are safe.

PLGA has been used for controlled drug release purposes since many years ago, and it is also a suitable choice for encapsulation of antimicrobial compounds.

Furthermore, PLGA particles are prepared by various methods; oil-in-water emulsification or solvent evaporation techniques, generally resulting in negatively charged, smooth surfaced, and spherical particles.


Interaction between streptomycin sulfate and PLGA in aqueous solutions led to the formation of good stability nanoparticles. The structure of the nanoparticles is compact and their stability/solubility is greatly dependent on the pH. Release of streptomycin is a pH-dependent factor with attention to the in vitro release results, about 90-95 % release, in the medium with pH of 7.4 (because this pH leads to the more positive charge of nisin and consequently, more partitioning of streptomycin into the release medium) (Zohri et al. 2010) . It was shown that the nanoparticles have the same level of antimicrobial activity as the free drug. The information obtained in the present work can be used for the design of new drug delivery systems and can be also taken into account for the prediction of drug interactions within pharmaceutical formulations.

The structure of the nanoparticles is compact and their stability/solubility is greatly dependent on the pH. Release of streptomycin is a pH-dependent factor with attention to the in vitro release results, about 90-95 % release, in the medium with pH of 7.4 (because this pH leads to the more positive charge of nisin and consequently, more partitioning of streptomycin into the release medium).


A closely related situation is encountered when one considers a product of a manifold with a Lie structure at infinity M 0 by a Lie group G and operators G invariant on M 0 × G. We obtain in this way an algebra Ψ ∞ 1,0,V (M 0 ; G) of Ginvariant pseudodifferential operators on M 0 × G with similar properties. The algebra Ψ ∞ 1,0,V (M 0 ; G) arises in the study of the analytic properties of differential geometric operators on some higher dimensional manifolds with a Lie structure at infinity. When G = R q , this algebra is slightly smaller than one of Melrose's suspended algebras and plays the same role, namely, it appears as a quotient of an algebra of the form Ψ A convenient approach to indicial maps is provided by groupoids [17] .

When G = R q , this algebra is slightly smaller than one of Melrose's suspended algebras and plays the same role, namely, it appears as a quotient of an algebra of the form Ψ A convenient approach to indicial maps is provided by groupoids.


Problem-based learning emerged as a reform in education in 1970s. As mentioned by Savery (2006, p. 9) , "it stood against the intensive lecture-based courses followed by exhausting sessions in the field of medicine at McMaster University in Canada in 1969". The underlying assumption of PBL was "to stay away from the standard building-block structure, where a lot of content is shoved down the throats of the students, which they do not retain anyway and adopt a system where students are actively involved in the learning process" (Robert & Kwan, 1997, p. 149) . This strong underlying assumption led PBL to be widely used within medicine and business, PBL soon gained popularity in other academic disciplines such as biology and physics and to a lesser degree in history and geography (Larsson, 2001) .

This strong underlying assumption led PBL to be widely used within medicine and business, PBL soon gained popularity in other academic disciplines such as biology and physics and to a lesser degree in history and geography.


Generally, populations tend to exhibit a normal distribution of size, i.e., there is a greater abundance in the intermediate classes and a lower frequency of individuals in the more extreme size classes, following a bell-shaped (Gaussian) curve. The size distribution of the captured shrimps followed this expected pattern, indicating that the complete life cycle of A. americanus occurs in the region of Ubatuba. The scarcity of individuals in the smaller and larger size classes is most likely the result of higher rates of natural mortality (Rodrigues and D'Incao, 2008) . The variation in the abundance of smaller individuals may be related to the entry of the juvenile population that occurred throughout the study period.

The scarcity of individuals in the smaller and larger size classes is most likely the result of higher rates of natural mortality.


The fifth section is devoted entirely to a calculation of the survival probability ( | S 2 | ) for exclusive central diffractive Higgs production at the LHC, and a discussion on the reliability of these calculations. We confirm the tendency in which | S 2 | becomes small (less that 1%), noticed in our previous paper [6] . From a practical point of view, this is the most salient feature of this paper.

We confirm the tendency in which | S 2 | becomes small (less that 1%), noticed in our previous paper.


It should be noted that the inference rules "with trick" such as MTT, AT, MT and IMPT are non-traditional inference rules. However, they are really abstractions of some experience-based reasoning, although few have tried to formalize them. The "with trick" is only an explanation for such models. One can give other explanations for them. For example, one can use fraud or deception to explain them [13] . One can also use inference rules "with exception" to explain them.

For example, one can use fraud or deception to explain them.


Considering plate-bending discretizations, a numerical inf-sup test has also been proposed [4] . The test was used to evaluate the MITC plate bending elements [4, 5] . Since these elements pass the test, we can consider them to provide optimal discretizations, that is, the convergence rate is the maximum possible for the interpolations used and is independent of the plate thickness.

Considering plate-bending discretizations, a numerical inf-sup test has also been proposed.

The test was used to evaluate the MITC plate bending elements.


Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the cornerstone of treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) but ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury may account for up to 50 % of the final infarct size [1] . Adjunctive cardioprotective strategies to limit or prevent IR injury are desperately needed [2] . One strategy is ischemic conditioning (IC) in which repeated episodes of brief ischemia applied to a tissue protect against larger ischemic insults both locally and in distant tissues [3] [4] [5] . IC mediates cardioprotection through the opening of the mitochondrial K-ATP (mK-ATP) channel and closure of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) [6] . Blockade of mK-ATP with the sulfonylurea glibenclamide (glyburide) has been shown to abolish IC in humans [7, 8] . Sulfonylureas are important medications for the treatment of diabetes mellitus but they may cause an increase in cardiovascular mortality, perhaps as a result of interfering with protection from ischemic conditioning [9] .

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the cornerstone of treatment for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) but ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury may account for up to 50 % of the final infarct size.

Adjunctive cardioprotective strategies to limit or prevent IR injury are desperately needed.

One strategy is ischemic conditioning (IC) in which repeated episodes of brief ischemia applied to a tissue protect against larger ischemic insults both locally and in distant tissues.

IC mediates cardioprotection through the opening of the mitochondrial K-ATP (mK-ATP) channel and closure of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP).

Blockade of mK-ATP with the sulfonylurea glibenclamide (glyburide) has been shown to abolish IC in humans.

Sulfonylureas are important medications for the treatment of diabetes mellitus but they may cause an increase in cardiovascular mortality, perhaps as a result of interfering with protection from ischemic conditioning.


In the barely supercritical case, the giant component can be locally approximated by a branching process X n having variance of the order a 3 n /n and the size of the giant component is of the order nρ n , where ρ n is the survival probability of X n [42] . The asymptotic size of the giant component turns out to be Θ(b n |λ n |). Therefore, the fact that the sizes of the maximal components in the critical scaling window are Θ(b n ) for λ n = Θ(1) proves a continuous phase transition property for the configuration model within the whole critical regime.

In the barely supercritical case, the giant component can be locally approximated by a branching process X n having variance of the order a 3 n /n and the size of the giant component is of the order nρ n , where ρ n is the survival probability of X n.


We examined only the impact of circumcising adult males, but modeling studies examining the impact of increased pediatric circumcision are certainly merited. Despite the immediate epidemiological benefits and reduced ethical issues surrounding the circumcision of sexually active adults able to provide informed consent, circumcision of infants and boys would eventually be more practical and provide greater public health benefits [57] . We also did not simulate the impact of circumcision on other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or their effect on HIV transmission. While circumcision may reduce other STIs, which in turn contributes to a reduction in HIV transmission, this effect is likely to be minimal compared with the effect of circumcision on HIV transmission itself [58] . Additionally, our results do not take into account the fact that circumcision programs would involve a one-time intervention while programs to increase condom use require an intervention that must be practiced with every sex act over the life of the individual; therefore the best manner in which to allocate resources between different programs cannot be determined by our analyses. Our model also does not consider the impact of multiple, simultaneous prevention programs such as education on delaying intercourse, partner reduction, promotion of condom use, access to HIV counseling and testing, syringe exchange programs, STI treatment, treatment of HIV-positive individuals to reduce viral load, and eventually, chemoprophylaxis regimens, microbicides, and prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines [59] [60] [61] . Further work on assessing the impact of multiple partially effective prevention programs is merited to allow for relative comparisons between different intervention package combinations.

Despite the immediate epidemiological benefits and reduced ethical issues surrounding the circumcision of sexually active adults able to provide informed consent, circumcision of infants and boys would eventually be more practical and provide greater public health benefits.

While circumcision may reduce other STIs, which in turn contributes to a reduction in HIV transmission, this effect is likely to be minimal compared with the effect of circumcision on HIV transmission itself.

Our model also does not consider the impact of multiple, simultaneous prevention programs such as education on delaying intercourse, partner reduction, promotion of condom use, access to HIV counseling and testing, syringe exchange programs, STI treatment, treatment of HIV-positive individuals to reduce viral load, and eventually, chemoprophylaxis regimens, microbicides, and prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines.


The critical state principle, a unifying concept in geomechanics, holds that dense confined granular materials attain a steady-state condition of flow after extensive slow shearing [1] . A distinctive feature of such flow is the continual micro-scale rearrangement of particles even as bulk characteristics -stress, density, and fabric -remain nearly constant. Micro-scale rearrangements are expressed in three ways: (a) statically (kinetically), as alterations of inter-particle contact forces, (b) geometrically, as changes in the particles' positions or in the local density, and (c) topologically, as changes in the load-bearing contact network among the particles. This Paper addresses the latter form of granular arrangement as expressed in a two-dimensional (2D) setting, focusing on the local coordination number (number of contacts per particle) and the local void valence (number of particles surrounding a void). The analysis applies to the critical state flow of frictional materials of sufficient density to develop a load-bearing network of contacts during slow (quasi-static) shearing.

The critical state principle, a unifying concept in geomechanics, holds that dense confined granular materials attain a steady-state condition of flow after extensive slow shearing.


Our discussion is often guided by the properties of static topological defects in AdS n . The presence of curvature changes the asymptotic behavior of the fields and this is discussed in a forthcoming paper [11] . Here we only use the general assumption that the energy density decays exponentially in directions orthogonal to the submanifold Σ q . What we discover is that, at large distances from the submanifold, the exponentially increasing volume of a tubular region surrounding the submanifold can potentially compensate for the exponentially decreasing energy density and lead to physical manifestations where the curvature of AdS n determines the lower dimensional cosmological constant and Planck mass. An interesting result of our scenario is that the four-dimensional cosmological constant is given by Λ 4 ∼ 1/ρ 2 which is consistent with the currently measured experimental value.

The presence of curvature changes the asymptotic behavior of the fields and this is discussed in a forthcoming paper.


Having these explicit solutions, the next natural question is whether they are dynamically stable against linear perturbations. Start with the Kerr solution in vacuum. Smarr observed that, as the rotation increases, the horizon Gaussian curvature at the poles starts positive, becomes zero at a critical rotation, and then goes negative before the Kerr bound J = GM 2 is reached [44] . He further noticed that a similar behaviour occurs in rotating fluid droplets held by surface tension, where this behaviour signals an instability. However, soon after Smarr made this remark, Teukolsky used the Newman-Penrose formalism to find the master equation that governs the gravitational perturbations of the Kerr black hole, which was used by Whiting to show the mode-by-mode stability of the Kerr black hole [45] .

Start with the Kerr solution in vacuum.

Smarr observed that, as the rotation increases, the horizon Gaussian curvature at the poles starts positive, becomes zero at a critical rotation, and then goes negative before the Kerr bound J = GM 2 is reached.

However, soon after Smarr made this remark, Teukolsky used the Newman-Penrose formalism to find the master equation that governs the gravitational perturbations of the Kerr black hole, which was used by Whiting to show the mode-by-mode stability of the Kerr black hole.


PseudodifTerential operators ('PDO) on modulation spaces defined via polynomial weights are fairly well studied [16, 17, 19, 21, [31] [32] [33] [34] . In this paper we consider 'PDOs on ultra-modulation spaces defined via almost exponential (or subexponential) weights and thus defined on a class ofultradifTerentiable functions. Consequently the results are formulated in the context of a certain Gevrey-Beurling type spaces; appropriate modifications would lead to the corresponding Gevrey-Roumieu class.

PseudodifTerential operators ('PDO) on modulation spaces defined via polynomial weights are fairly well studied.


Where h is the viscosity, γ · the shear rate, K a consistency factor and m a flow exponent. The rep- The Ne/Re plot and the laminar power characteristics constant of the geometry c 1 = 158 was determined in a previous work by Braun [6] . Inserting this value into Eq. 3 yields the representative viscosities at a given rotational speed, n. Similar calculations are part of the RiegerNovak procedure for the scale-up of stirrers.

The rep- The Ne/Re plot and the laminar power characteristics constant of the geometry c 1 = 158 was determined in a previous work by Braun.


A considerable amount of scientific work has been dedicated to the stability of emulsions in the presence of solid particles [1] , [2] , [3] . Many food dispersions, like mayonnaise, margarine and butter, contain solid particles in the continuous or disperse phase. Depending on the contact angle between solid particle, continuous and disperse fluid phases, the solids can destroy or stabilize the emulsion [3] . The destructive effect of particles stems from the fact that solids can penetrate the interface of the emulsion due to their contact angle or under mechanical impact. This promotes coalescence. The stabilising effect of solids is based on the buildup of a particle network at the oil-water interface, which results in a particle stabilised emulsion. This phenomenon is called Pickering stabilization.

A considerable amount of scientific work has been dedicated to the stability of emulsions in the presence of solid particles.

Depending on the contact angle between solid particle, continuous and disperse fluid phases, the solids can destroy or stabilize the emulsion.

This promotes coalescence.


Pearls are biominerals secreted in the interior of living mollusks (phylum Mollusca) with or without human intervention. However, not all pearls are desirable but a few species of mollusks have the ability to produce pearls which are iridescent, and represent the typical commercial pearl product (Hänni, 1999) . Pearls are natural or cultured. Natural pearls are secreted accidentally in a mollusk without any human intervention. Cultured pearls are formed in mollusks by human intervention, either in freshwater or saltwater. The vast majority of pearls found today in the market are cultured. Moreover, only a small number of mollusk species are used for large scale commercial cultivation. For cultured saltwater pearls these are the bivalves Pinctada margaritifera, Pinctada fucata (martensii) (producing so-called akoya cultured pearls), Pinctada maxima (producing so-called South Sea cultured pearls), Pteria sterna, and more rarely the gastropod Haliotis iris (producing so-called abalone cultured pearls). For freshwater pearls, the following bivalves are used for cultivation: Hyriopsis schlegeli (H. schlegeli) (still known in the market as Biwa cultured pearls even if they are not all cultured at Lake Biwa in Japan), Hyriopsis cumingi (H. cumingi) and the hybrid Hyriopsis schlegeli x cumingi.

However, not all pearls are desirable but a few species of mollusks have the ability to produce pearls which are iridescent, and represent the typical commercial pearl product.

Pearls are natural or cultured.


In 1963, Witte developed techniques for removing microdiscs of ink on paper for chemical analysis. In 1968, the author of the present paper developed a similar microplug sampling technique at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. This procedure uses a 20-gauge needle and syringe to remove tiny needlepoint-sized microplugs of ink from the document. This sampling procedure, which does not destroy the legibility of the writing, has been accepted by the courts for over 20 years. Considerable interest in the dating of inks is reflected in the literature since this development and since the establishment of a comprehensive Standard Ink Reference Collection at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in 1968 [11] . The following discussion traces the development of ink dating techniques from 1937 to 1990.

Considerable interest in the dating of inks is reflected in the literature since this development and since the establishment of a comprehensive Standard Ink Reference Collection at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in 1968.


In our analysis, TVR-based treatment regimen demonstrated a boost in achieving SVR in both treatmentnaïve and -experienced patients, with the OR value in treatment-naïve patients lower than in treatmentexperienced patients. Moreover, the FLT regimen showed better overall SVR rates and OR results in treatment-naïve patients compared to the RGT regimen. Patients with a FLT duration of 12 weeks triple therapy followed by 12 weeks of Peg-IFN-α and RBV in total showed a SVR rate of 72% despite a shorter treatment duration. The length of treatment duration in RGT in TVR protocols is being discussed. In one open-label study designed to investigate the effects of RGT, patients with eRVR to triple therapy were randomized to 24 or 48 weeks of standard treatment to evaluate whether 48-week therapy can gain further benefits [17] . The results showed no further benefit from the 12-week triple therapy over the 48-week standard therapy in patients with eRVR. Collectively, the TVR 12 and Peg-IFN-α/RBV 24 weeks protocol resulted to be more effective and could shorten the therapy duration compared with standard treatment, thus possibly serving as the treatment of choice for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection. Interestingly, the patients of group E did not achieve significantly higher SVR rates compared to a standard treatment for 48 weeks. Although SVR rates may not be statistically different, it should be acknowledged that the 12 weeks triple regimen is much shorter than the 48 weeks standard treatment and may therefore offer reduction of side effects at equal efficacy. Our data suggest that the chance of treatment failure is likely to be similar despite a longer treatment duration, and that FLT regimen would be a good option if the virus is cleared early. It may be possible to prospectively study this hypothesis in prior partial and null responders; however, the study size and enrollment time for such a trial is likely to be impractical given the rapid pace of HCV drug development. This issue is now a point of interest as the FDA approved a RGT scheme for treatment-naïve and -experienced patients [18] . At the time when the FDA approved this regimen, only three phase 3 studies had evaluated the RGT regimen [10, 13, 17] . The RGT regimen was prospectively evaluated only in two registration trials of treatment-naïve subjects [10, 17] . In these studies, the RGT regimen allowed subjects who achieved eRVR, to stop all treatments at week 24. The RGT regimen was not prospectively evaluated in prior relapsers. Therefore, the FDA used data from cross-study comparison which indicated that SVR rates were 62-77% in prior partial responders and 62-71% in prior null responders who achieved eRVR, irrespective of standard treatment duration (24 or 48 weeks), suggesting that the RGT regimen might also be suitable in prior partial and null responders [18] . Our simulated data for treatment-experienced patients shows that a RGT regimen for 12 weeks triple therapy followed by either 12 or 24 weeks of standard treatment could achieve a SVR of 59% with an OR of 8.2 compared to the control group.

In one open-label study designed to investigate the effects of RGT, patients with eRVR to triple therapy were randomized to 24 or 48 weeks of standard treatment to evaluate whether 48-week therapy can gain further benefits.

This issue is now a point of interest as the FDA approved a RGT scheme for treatment-naïve and -experienced patients.

At the time when the FDA approved this regimen, only three phase 3 studies had evaluated the RGT regimen.

The RGT regimen was prospectively evaluated only in two registration trials of treatment-naïve subjects.

Therefore, the FDA used data from cross-study comparison which indicated that SVR rates were 62-77% in prior partial responders and 62-71% in prior null responders who achieved eRVR, irrespective of standard treatment duration (24 or 48 weeks), suggesting that the RGT regimen might also be suitable in prior partial and null responders.


In this study, a Wiener-Laguerre model is employed to describe the nonlinear behavior of an SBR used for dye wastewater treatment. The proposed method has not been previously used for biological treatment modeling of dye-containing wastewaters. An aerobic bacterium, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, was used for decolorizing of the effluent containing a reactive textile azo dye, Cibacron yellow FN-2R. S. paucimobilis has been shown previously to be efficient for degradation of azo and triphenylmethane dyes [25, 26] .

S. paucimobilis has been shown previously to be efficient for degradation of azo and triphenylmethane dyes.


A combination of orthogonal functions as the linear dynamic part and artificial neural networks as the memoryless nonlinear part of Wiener models was proposed to deal with this problem [22, 23] . Laguerre functions are the most common orthogonal functions used in Wiener model structure. Simple structure and capability to give accurate description of systems with rather small number of tunable parameters are the reasons they have been widely employed for linear and nonlinear system identification [24] .

A combination of orthogonal functions as the linear dynamic part and artificial neural networks as the memoryless nonlinear part of Wiener models was proposed to deal with this problem.

Simple structure and capability to give accurate description of systems with rather small number of tunable parameters are the reasons they have been widely employed for linear and nonlinear system identification.


The reactive dye-containing effluents from dye manufacturing and application industries can cause serious environment pollution due to the toxicity and slow degradation of dyes [1] . In addition, the presence of dyes in water is highly visible and affects water transparency and aesthetics even in low concentrations. Therefore, the effluents must be treated before being released into the environment.

The reactive dye-containing effluents from dye manufacturing and application industries can cause serious environment pollution due to the toxicity and slow degradation of dyes.


In recent years, researchers have shown interests in biological treatment of wastewaters with high concentrations of dyes [2, 3] . Treatment of these polluted wastewaters requires high effectiveness and low cost dye removal processes [4] . Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is a promising biological system for treating dye-containing wastewaters [5, 6] . This system is cost efficient and flexible to handle different feed characteristics. Furthermore, its operation is easier than other biological methods [1] . However, the SBR process, like other biological processes, is highly nonlinear, time varying, and subject to significant disturbances [7] . Modeling the treatment process can provide better understanding, design, operation, and control of the process [8] .

In recent years, researchers have shown interests in biological treatment of wastewaters with high concentrations of dyes.

Treatment of these polluted wastewaters requires high effectiveness and low cost dye removal processes.

Sequencing batch reactor (SBR) is a promising biological system for treating dye-containing wastewaters.

Furthermore, its operation is easier than other biological methods.

However, the SBR process, like other biological processes, is highly nonlinear, time varying, and subject to significant disturbances.

Modeling the treatment process can provide better understanding, design, operation, and control of the process.


Network or system intrusions can cause security incidents. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) are devices used to monitor information systems and networks for these intrusions. When the IDS detects a sign of security violation, it generates an alert and saves them into a log file. A better understanding of intrusions is possible by the analysis of alerts that the IDS triggers. Thereby, a security administrator can have a better situational awareness of the intrusions and efficiently respond to it. However, due to the huge amount of alerts that the IDS generates, the manual analysis of the IDS alerts becomes a time consuming and error prone task [4] .

However, due to the huge amount of alerts that the IDS generates, the manual analysis of the IDS alerts becomes a time consuming and error prone task.


Overall, however, the project progressed our understanding of language learning and cognitive bootstrapping, and how it might be applied in robotics. One important aspect of the methods applied in the field of language and action learning is that the methods themselves can lead to new and interesting insights for further theoretical proposals. One example of this is where the methods outlined in section 2.2, which discuss the use of the epigenetics robotics architecture (ERA), were applied in order to discover whether effects found in psychological experiments on early language learning with children would also occur in similar experiments with the iCub humanoid robot [38, 37] . The results of these experiments led to a revision of the theoretical ideas supporting such proposals and was further analysed using newer variations on such methods. This process, which we label research loops, is an important outcome that fuses together work from the field of robotics and physically embodied studies that includes work on human development. In effect, methods are used to verify theoretical ideas on an experimental robotic platform in a way that would not be possible with human children or adults.

One example of this is where the methods outlined in section 2.2, which discuss the use of the epigenetics robotics architecture (ERA), were applied in order to discover whether effects found in psychological experiments on early language learning with children would also occur in similar experiments with the iCub humanoid robot.


The results of this study suggest that 27.2% of the learners have had penetrative sexual intercourse in their lifetime. This finding is consistent with a prior study among Grades 8-10 learners in South African schools, where 31.6% reported having had sex in their lifetime [21] . Although this rate is slightly higher than our study, the difference might be due to the fact that the study of Mojele and colleagues comprised both urban and rural schools. The possibilities of learners engaging in sexual behavior were much higher in boys, as other studies have equally observed [3, 30, 31] . Understanding the factors that increase adolescent risky sexual behaviors is critical for developing interventions that modify this risk and the resoluteness of health counselors and educators to identify and provide support for young people with heightened risk of HIV [32] . In our study, peer influence was a major predictive factor for learners who were sexually active. Learners who had less resistance to peer influence were more likely to be susceptible to peer pressure and three-times more likely to be sexually experienced compared to those who were less susceptible to peer pressure. This finding is consistent with a study that reported that young people who have sexually-experienced friends are more likely to be sexually active, too [11] .

This finding is consistent with a prior study among Grades 8-10 learners in South African schools, where 31.6% reported having had sex in their lifetime.

The possibilities of learners engaging in sexual behavior were much higher in boys, as other studies have equally observed.

Understanding the factors that increase adolescent risky sexual behaviors is critical for developing interventions that modify this risk and the resoluteness of health counselors and educators to identify and provide support for young people with heightened risk of HIV.

This finding is consistent with a study that reported that young people who have sexually-experienced friends are more likely to be sexually active, too.


This study explored the patterns of four plant diversity indices and the environmental determinants on an extensive temperate elevational gradient in South Korea. Many previous studies have been restricted to the use of only species richness as a surrogate of biodiversity at each elevational band in their analyses without using other valuable diversity indices, such as the mean number of species and beta diversity. This is because these studies used interpolated species richness as modified from distributional records with secondary data sources, such as the literature [32] . Therefore, our study benefited from exploring the elevational patterns and the drivers with additional valuable diversity indices as related to an empirical data source; these data were collected at a regional scale and were analyzed by comparing the results with many previous studies using secondary data from the literature. Moreover, few studies have analyzed the importance of habitat characteristics in relation to patterns of elevational diversity at a regional scale. Below, we discuss plant diversity patterns with elevation as well as the type of variables, such as regional area, topographic variables, topographic heterogeneity, climate, productivity, vegetation structure diversity and vegetation type diversity. We also explain how these variables may influence the patterns of elevational plant diversity along the ridge of the Baekdudaegan.

This is because these studies used interpolated species richness as modified from distributional records with secondary data sources, such as the literature.


To assess influenza-associated risks of hospitalization and death (separately), we used the database of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) trials, which included patients with physician-diagnosed CHF that were followed prospectively for 5 years from 1986-1991 [17] . Data collected for the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) trials were used as the clinical database. SOLVD consisted of two double-blind, placebocontrolled randomized trials that examined the effect of the angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor enalapril on morbidity and mortality in moderately severe CHF patients (12, 13) . Participants with CHF and left ventricular ejection fractions ≤ 35% who were already taking drugs other than an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor were eligible. Participants were ineligible if they were over the age of 80 years or if they had any of the following: hemodynamically serious valvular disease requiring surgery, unstable angina, angina thought to be serious enough to require revascularization procedures, myocardial infarction in the previous month, severe pulmonary disease, serum creatinine higher than 177 umol per litre, or any other disease that might substantially shorten survival or impede participation in a long-term trial. Asymptomatic CHF patients, defined as those with no clinical symptoms of CHF, were enrolled in the SOLVD Prevention trial, while symptomatic CHF patients were enrolled in the SOLVD Treatment trial. Participants were followed prospectively from 1986 to 1991. During this period, 39,924 patients with ejection fractions ≤ 35% were identified. Of these 6.4% or 2,569 were enrolled in the treatment trial and 7.4% or 4,228 were enrolled in the prevention trial. The reasons for exclusion included the following: use of an angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (28%), cardiovascular problems (12%), contraindications to use of an angiotensin-convertingenzyme inhibitor (11%), lack of consent (11%), administrative reasons (21%), cancer or other life-threatening disease (12%), other reasons (5%). There were 24 study sites of which 21 were located throughout the continental US, two in Canada, and one in Belgium (12, 13) . Each was comprised of one to eight hospitals. Only participants from the 21 US sites were included in our analysis, since weekly influenza isolate data were available. A small number (<1%) of the participants were excluded because the exact date of their first hospitalization post-randomization could not be determined, leaving 5,448 people in the study population.

To assess influenza-associated risks of hospitalization and death (separately), we used the database of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) trials, which included patients with physician-diagnosed CHF that were followed prospectively for 5 years from 1986-1991.

SOLVD consisted of two double-blind, placebocontrolled randomized trials that examined the effect of the angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor enalapril on morbidity and mortality in moderately severe CHF patients.

There were 24 study sites of which 21 were located throughout the continental US, two in Canada, and one in Belgium.


Appendix A Table A1 . Technical attributes of technologies in superset [7, 29] . The micro-CHP heat to power ratio is 0.385. The design year is 2016. Off-peak and peak electricity import tariffs are 5.5 and 15.29 p/kWh, and fuel price is 3.48 p/kWh [36] . The average CO2 factor associated with natural gas and electricity was assumed to be 0.185 and 0.519 kg/kWh [36] . Technology lifetime is 15 years and discount rate 5%. CEPCI cost factors were applied to adjust the costs from the year provided to 2016.

Appendix A Table A1 .

Technical attributes of technologies in superset.

The design year is 2016.

Off-peak and peak electricity import tariffs are 5.5 and 15.29 p/kWh, and fuel price is 3.48 p/kWh.

The average CO2 factor associated with natural gas and electricity was assumed to be 0.185 and 0.519 kg/kWh.


Economic benefits in terms of operational savings are made possible by charging an accumulator when electricity is high, and releasing heat during cheap night hours [15, 16] . However, analysis was done on a district scale. An advantage of district heating is that bigger size technologies are required thereby benefitting from economies of scale. This implies, the additional cost of the TES may be less than in an individual home. Even though district heating has been identified as a way of decarbonising domestic heating in the UK, the estimated deployment of district heating in 2030 is 6% of the total heat demand according to the 4th carbon budget [17] . Furthermore, district heating is not economically viable for lower population density areas. There is a need to evaluate the benefits of TES integration in an individual home (considering different dwelling types), as such an analysis has not been done before.

Economic benefits in terms of operational savings are made possible by charging an accumulator when electricity is high, and releasing heat during cheap night hours.

Even though district heating has been identified as a way of decarbonising domestic heating in the UK, the estimated deployment of district heating in 2030 is 6% of the total heat demand according to the 4th carbon budget.


In this paper we have carried out a study of a codimension three bifurcation which arises in a simple homopolar dynamo model (1) when the coefficient of one of the nonlinear cubic order terms vanishes. In the neighbourhood of the codimension three point we have found exact analytical expressions for the cofficients of the fifth order normal form that describes the behaviour of the system: a normal form which has previously only been studied in abstract by Li and Rousseau [4] . We find, however, that it is possible to relate qualitatively, but not quantitatively, the bifurcation set of the abstract normal form to the physical problem (compare figure 2 with figure 3 ). Nevertheless, one aspect of the codimension three analysis is that it provides an explanation of how on one side of the codimension three point, i.e. ǫ 3 < 0, the Hopf bifurcation from the trivial state (Hopf 1 ) is supercritical, whereas on the other, i.e. ǫ 3 > 0, it is subcritical. Our study shows that, in the full equations, the region of subcriticality is small.

In the neighbourhood of the codimension three point we have found exact analytical expressions for the cofficients of the fifth order normal form that describes the behaviour of the system: a normal form which has previously only been studied in abstract by Li and Rousseau.


For statistical analysis of the spacingjudgment data, within-5 comparisons were desired. Therefore, those 5s who failed to contribute at least one score to each of the 12 proportions in the bottom six rows of Table 1 were excluded from the analysis. Of the 56 original 5s, 54 met the criterion for inclusion. For each of these 5s, a mean judgment was computed for each spacing, and these scores were subjected to an analysis using planned comparisons (Grant, 1956) . The analysis indicated a significant linear increase of judged spacing as a function of spacing in the same word conditions, F (1, 53) = 36.0, p < .001, but not in the different word conditions, F (1, 53) = 1.10, p > .10. The Linear Trend Test X Same vs. Different Conditions interaction was significant, F (1, 53) = 14.0, p < .001. An additional test for linear trend, partially redundant with the first, indicated that the continued increase in same word judgments across S = 5, 10, and 20 was reliable, F (1, 53) = 17.6, p < .001. Thus, in the same word conditions, spacing information was encoded and retrieved at long, as well as at short, lags.

For each of these 5s, a mean judgment was computed for each spacing, and these scores were subjected to an analysis using planned comparisons.


However, this MAB model gives an incomplete description of the sequential decision-making problem facing an agent in many real-world scenarios. To this end, a variety of other related models have been studied recently, and, in particular, a number of researchers have focused on MABs with budget constraints, where arm-pulling is costly and is limited by a fixed budget (Antos et al., 2008; Bubeck et al., 2009; Guha and Munagala, 2007) . In these models, the agent's exploration budget limits the number of times it can sample the arms in order to estimate their rewards, which defines an initial exploration phase. In the subsequent cost-free exploitation phase, an agent's policy is then simply to pull the arm with the highest expected reward. However, in many settings, it is not only the exploration phase, but the exploitation phase that is also limited by a cost budget. To address this limitation, a new bandit model, the budget-limited MAB, was introduced (Tran-Thanh et al. 2010) . In this model, pulling an arm is again costly, but crucially both the exploration and exploitation phases are limited by a single budget. This type of limitation is well motivated by several real-world applications. For example, in many wireless sensor network applications, a sensor node's actions, such as sampling or data forwarding, consume energy, and therefore the number of actions is limited by the capacity of the sensor's batteries (Padhy et al. 2010) . Furthermore, many of these scenarios require that sensors learn the optimal sequence of actions that can be performed, with the goal of maximising the long term value of the actions they take (Tran-Thanh et al., 2011) . In such settings, each action can be considered as an arm, with a cost equal to the amount of energy needed to perform that task. Now, because the battery is limited, both the exploration (i.e. learning the rewards tasks) and exploitation (i.e. taking the optimal actions given reward estimates) phases are budget limited.

To this end, a variety of other related models have been studied recently, and, in particular, a number of researchers have focused on MABs with budget constraints, where arm-pulling is costly and is limited by a fixed budget.

To address this limitation, a new bandit model, the budget-limited MAB, was introduced.

For example, in many wireless sensor network applications, a sensor node's actions, such as sampling or data forwarding, consume energy, and therefore the number of actions is limited by the capacity of the sensor's batteries.

Furthermore, many of these scenarios require that sensors learn the optimal sequence of actions that can be performed, with the goal of maximising the long term value of the actions they take.


During the overall study period, few side effects were detected and the raloxifene treatment was well tolerated. In particular, a low rate of uterine bleeding was observed. The rate of uterine bleeding in women was similar to that observed after long-term treatment with GnRH agonist and tibolone. In fact, in post-menopausal women, raloxifene and tibolone have shown no proliferative effect on the endometrium, inducing a high percentage of`not bleeding' cycles (Palomba et al., 1999; Goldstein et al., 2000; Modelska and Cummings, 2002) .

In fact, in post-menopausal women, raloxifene and tibolone have shown no proliferative effect on the endometrium, inducing a high percentage of`not bleeding' cycles.


The specification of the trend component relies on a stochastic formulation that allows the level, µt, and the slope, t, of the trend to vary slowly over time (see equations (2-3)). A time-varying trend might respond to the evolution over time in the general economic conditions, such as income, prices or transportation costs (González and Moral, 1995) . An intervention variable, It, is included in the trend to capture the effect on visitors of the opening of the Guggenheim museum in the last quarter of 1997. This variable takes value 1 for the observation corresponding to the fourth quarter of 1997 and 0 otherwise. Equation (4) specifies the quarterly seasonal component,t, stochastically so that it can reflect the changes undergone by the seasonal pattern of visitors to Bilbao during the sample period.

A time-varying trend might respond to the evolution over time in the general economic conditions, such as income, prices or transportation costs.


Herein, we provide a case for the exploration of 3D printing for drug manufacturing. We first review 3D printing methods and materials that are applicable to drug manufacturing. Then, we elaborate on the benefits of this developing approach in pharmaceuticals, justifying why the FDA has encouraged continued de velopment of 3D printed products [1, 21] . We see the 3D printing of drug products as the next imminent revolution in the medicine and healthcare industries, and aim to demonstrate it as such.

Then, we elaborate on the benefits of this developing approach in pharmaceuticals, justifying why the FDA has encouraged continued de velopment of 3D printed products.


In this study, there are some limitations. One of them is, this study is a cross-sectional study and perhaps this cross-sectional data would not allow us to draw causal inferences concerning various hypothesised relations. The other limitation is, the assessment variables were self-reported in a one survey by combining three scales of this study, namely career commitment, career satisfaction and subjective career success. Because of that reason, common method bias could have inflated correlations between this study's variables. Since a common source bias exists in this study, a longitudinal and a cross-cultural study may provide a better understanding in future studies. Besides, researchers have used career satisfaction as a measure of subjective career success (Heslin, 2003; Ng, Eby, Sorensen, & Feldman, 2005) . A longitudinal research design may be used to bring to light the linkage between subjective career success and career satisfaction.

Besides, researchers have used career satisfaction as a measure of subjective career success.


Nowadays, organizations that want to sustain their compatitive advantage should be aware of the importance of 'careers' in their workforces. For retaining and motivating a competent and satisfied workforce, it is important to understand the factors which may affect the employees' subjective career success. Traditional career types have been disappearing and turning into protean careers. So, understanding and creating new approaches for career commitment is a vital mission for the organizations which want to survive and compete for a long time. Besides, researchers assert that career commitment is becoming an important management concept (Baruch, 1998; Poon, 2004) .

Besides, researchers assert that career commitment is becoming an important management concept.


Hierarchical topologies are rather recommended in such scenarios. The network protocols or algorithms designed for these architectures are generally highly scalable. Moreover, such architecture enables better resources allocation and improves power control over the network [2] .

Moreover, such architecture enables better resources allocation and improves power control over the network.


Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is an adaptive method which is suitable for multiscale decomposition and time-frequency analysis of nonlinear and nonstationary signals. More specifically, it can decompose signals into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) under the local characteristic time scales [5] . The IMFs are amplitude and frequency modulated components and an ultimate monotonic residue signal is obtained. EMD has been successfully utilized in different fields due to its attractive advantage of dyadic filter bank and achieved ideal effects [6, 7] . Nevertheless, there are still some problems existing in the process of EMD, and one of the most serious drawbacks is the mode mixing phenomenon. It means that oscillations of quite disparate scales are produced in one mode or oscillations with similar scales appear in different modes. In order to alleviate the mode mixing or aliasing, a noise assisted signal decomposition method called ensemble EMD (EEMD) is applied in some situations [8, 9] . By using EEMD, different scale oscillations in the signals can be automatically projected onto the appropriate reference framework, which is established by white noise based on the property of uniform distribution of spectrum. However, the influence of added noise on the decomposition effect is not completely offset through limited averaging processing. In a word, residue white noise still exists in the reconstructed components. The computation quantity is larger while reconstruction error can be reduced by increasing the number of ensemble trials.

More specifically, it can decompose signals into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) under the local characteristic time scales.

EMD has been successfully utilized in different fields due to its attractive advantage of dyadic filter bank and achieved ideal effects.

In order to alleviate the mode mixing or aliasing, a noise assisted signal decomposition method called ensemble EMD (EEMD) is applied in some situations.


In recent years, rolling bearing fault diagnosis has become the research focus and received considerable attention from many scholars around the world. At present, the primary means of fault diagnosis is to obtain underlying fault-related information via processing vibration signals [3, 4] . However, rolling bearing vibration signals are usually nonstationary and nonlinear with a large amount of background noise. It is particularly difficult to achieve useful fault information. Thus, an effective signal processing method is demanded urgently.

At present, the primary means of fault diagnosis is to obtain underlying fault-related information via processing vibration signals.


In addition, eigenvalue analysis has been performed availably in the study of vibration behaviors of gradient elastic micro beams and carbon nanotubes [16, 17] . By eigenvalue or modal analysis, the vibration frequencies of mechanical systems can be controlled and some problems which are caused by resonance can also be prevented. Normally, eigenvalues are closely related to the conditions of systems. Hence, it is necessary to extract appropriate fault features for accurately identifying variable rolling bearing fault types. In this paper, vibration signals of rolling bearing are decomposed through improved CEEMDAN. To reveal rolling bearing fault conditions from multiple aspects, the original feature set is obtained including energy values, singular values and envelope sample entropy values. Afterwards, distance evaluation technique is employed for selecting sensitive feature set and discarding irrelevant or redundant features. In the end, the sensitive feature set is as the input of support vector machine (SVM) to automatically identify fault conditions of rolling bearing.

In addition, eigenvalue analysis has been performed availably in the study of vibration behaviors of gradient elastic micro beams and carbon nanotubes.


All data were initially entered into Microsoft Excel and validated by double data entry cross validation in addition to outlier and range checks. Subsequently, all data were analysed by Statistica v6 (Tulsa, OK, USA). In addition, oblique and orthogonal varimax factor analyses were carried out, confirming the factor structure previously given by the main author of the WWBQ [14] .

In addition, oblique and orthogonal varimax factor analyses were carried out, confirming the factor structure previously given by the main author of the WWBQ.