We therefore specifically examine a rehabilitation instrument that is small, light, and which can be put on and taken off easily. According to an annual report on *Address correspondence to this author at the School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, 2-1 Gakuen, Sanda, Hyogo, 669-1337, Japan; Tel: +81-79-5657042; E-mail: saga@kwansei.ac.jp the aging society in Japan, a super-aging society is expected to prevail in the near future [1] . Simultaneous increase of patients and decreasing of medical workers are feared. In addition to aging, the number of handicapped people is expected to increase because of illness and injury, and for other reasons. Because of many people's physical handicaps, activities of daily life (ADL) will become difficult. Moreover, the burdens on those giving treatment are expected to increase.

According to an annual report on *Address correspondence to this author at the School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, 2-1 Gakuen, Sanda, Hyogo, 669-1337, Japan; Tel: +81-79-5657042; E-mail: saga@kwansei.ac.jp the aging society in Japan, a super-aging society is expected to prevail in the near future.


HRQoL assessment as part of the clinical management of AF will allow the practitioner to identify those aspects often overlooked in clinical practice regarding the patient's perception of the disease and its course, which in turn could help improve control over the disease. It has been observed that restoration of sinus rhythm is the best predictor of the disease's impact on the patient's HRQoL [7] . Studies have shown that the correlation between clinical measurements, like time to first AF recurrence, concurrent stroke or symptoms, and subjective measurements like HRQoL, is poor. The use of specific measurements for HRQoL will allow a better assessment of the impact of this disease on patient's daily living while, in addition, other specific aspects of the disease can be identified. These would significantly improve the patient's HRQoL through strategies aimed at minimizing the impact of AF on HRQoL.

It has been observed that restoration of sinus rhythm is the best predictor of the disease's impact on the patient's HRQoL.


Studies have shown that macrophages in the atherosclerotic plaque are highly activated, followed by an increase in the expression of class II molecules of the major histocompatibility complex. This process makes macrophages important antigen-presenting cells for developing a specific immune response. In this case LDLox is the inducing antigen which causes a Th1 response, followed by production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor -alpha and -beta (TNF-α and TNFβ) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) [4] [5] [6] [7] . Thus, IFN-γ has been considered one of the main cytokines released during atherosclerosis which, through an activation process of macrophages, amplifies the actions of these cells but in certain circumstances may lead to apoptosis [8] .

In this case LDLox is the inducing antigen which causes a Th1 response, followed by production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor -alpha and -beta (TNF-α and TNFβ) and interleukin-12 (IL-12).

Thus, IFN-γ has been considered one of the main cytokines released during atherosclerosis which, through an activation process of macrophages, amplifies the actions of these cells but in certain circumstances may lead to apoptosis.


The 2011/12 season of the English Premier League (EPL) marked the twentieth anniversary of the competition following its inception in 1992. The break-up of the old first division and subsequent creation of the EPL as a rebranded competition has been one of the catalysts for significant change to the game. Indeed, since its inaugural season in 1992/93, the EPL has grown into a global phenomenon that is followed by millions of fans around the world. It has recently been described as the "top league in the world" [1] . The success of the EPL has resulted in significant increases in the income generation through TV rights, sponsorship, increased gate receipts and corporate hospitality [2] . Emphasising its global reach, the most recent television rights deal saw a 71% increase in value, to £3bn over three years [3] .

It has recently been described as the "top league in the world".

The success of the EPL has resulted in significant increases in the income generation through TV rights, sponsorship, increased gate receipts and corporate hospitality.

Emphasising its global reach, the most recent television rights deal saw a 71% increase in value, to £3bn over three years.


There are several association coefficients that can be used for summarizing agreement between two observers [1] [2] [3] . In biomedical and behavioral science research the most widely used coefficient for summarizing agreement on a scale with two or more nominal categories is Cohen's kappa [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . The coefficient has been applied in thousand of research studies and is also frequently used for summarizing agreement if we have observers of one type paired with observers of a second type, and each of the 2 observers assigns a subject to one of categories. A closely related coefficient is Scott's pi [9] . The latter coefficient is commonly used in the field of content analysis [2, 10] . The two coefficients have similar formulas and differ in how agreement under chance is defined [3, 11] .

There are several association coefficients that can be used for summarizing agreement between two observers.

In biomedical and behavioral science research the most widely used coefficient for summarizing agreement on a scale with two or more nominal categories is Cohen's kappa.

A closely related coefficient is Scott's pi.

The latter coefficient is commonly used in the field of content analysis.

The two coefficients have similar formulas and differ in how agreement under chance is defined.


Cohen's kappa reduces the ratings of the two observers to a single real number. To provide a proper interpretation of the coefficient one must first understand its meaning. There are two descriptions of kappa in the literature. The observed or raw agreement is the proportion of subjects that is classified into the same nominal categories by both observers. Several authors have argued that the overall observed agreement is artificially high and should be corrected for agreement due to chance [4, 6, 12] . Kappa can be described as a chancecorrected version of the observed agreement. The second interpretation of kappa involves the 2 × 2 tables that are obtained by combining all the categories of the agreement table other than the one of current interest into a single category. If we have categories, there are associated 2 × 2 tables, one for each category. For each 2 × 2 table we may calculate the kappa value. The value of a category kappa is a measure of the agreement between the observers on the particular category [13, 14] . The overall kappa is a weighted average of the category kappas [15] [16] [17] .

Several authors have argued that the overall observed agreement is artificially high and should be corrected for agreement due to chance.

The value of a category kappa is a measure of the agreement between the observers on the particular category.

The overall kappa is a weighted average of the category kappas.


The interpretation of the overall kappa as an average of the category kappas has two consequences. On the one hand, if the category kappas are quite different, for example, high 2 Journal of Mathematics agreement on one category but low agreement on another category, the overall kappa cannot fully reflect the complexity of the agreement between the observers [18] . If a researcher is interested in understanding the patterns of agreement and disagreement, it would be good practice to report (various) category coefficients for the individual categories, since this provides substantially more information than reporting only a single number. Alternatively, one can use log-linear or latent class models for modeling agreement [19] . On the other hand, since the overall kappa is a weighted average, its value lies somewhere between the minimum and maximum of the category kappas. The overall kappa thus in a sense summarizes the agreement on the categories. If one is interested in a single number that roughly summarizes the agreement between the observers, which appears to be the case in many applications of Cohen's kappa, then kappa can be used.

On the one hand, if the category kappas are quite different, for example, high 2 Journal of Mathematics agreement on one category but low agreement on another category, the overall kappa cannot fully reflect the complexity of the agreement between the observers.

Alternatively, one can use log-linear or latent class models for modeling agreement.


In conclusion, the battery of task simulations (TBT1) and surrogate tests (TBT2 and TBT3) proposed would ensure that seagoing RN personnel had the physical capacity commensurate with the performance of critical and generic sea survival duties. However, it should be noted that the standards proposed for TBT2 and TBT3 require validation on an independent sample, which should be the focus of further experimentation. With the exception of TBT1, which should be performed at the recruitment stage, personnel could be trained to achieve the standards given for TBT2 and TBT3. This would be a major step forward in terms of the operational capability of RN personnel, and RN training could also be specifically tailored toward achieving these occupational requirements and improving safety at sea. This may be particularly important, as the younger generation (available for recruitment) appear to be becoming increasingly inactive [22] .

This may be particularly important, as the younger generation (available for recruitment) appear to be becoming increasingly inactive.


Another observation is that RALM performs worse on ClueWeb09-T09B and not statistically significantly better on GOV2 than the keyword based approaches. This indicates that words having high IR utility like or ⋅ scores are often good description terms for the page and used by human being as the anchor text. Removing a long list of stopwords from web page content has also helped the keyword based approaches to effectively select good descrip- tion words from the web content. One plausible reason that RALM performs relatively poorly on ClueWeb09-T09B is that, compared with the high quality GOV2 pages, ClueWeb pages are crawled from the general web, where the inlinks and anchor text may be generated in a more noisy way (e.g. spam), degrading RALM's performance. To better understand the performance of different approaches, in Table 5 and Table 6 we show the top-10 words of the anchor term rank lists discovered by different approaches for one evaluation web page in GOV2 and ClueWeb09-T09B, respectively. Although using keyword information can discover some good anchor terms, the content-generated anchor terms do not help bridging the lexical gap between a web page and varied queries that attempt to search the page. Indeed, human generated anchor text is highly useful for reducing the word mismatch problem because the lexical gap between anchor text and queries is relatively small [14] . Here, we do some lexical gap analysis to show that our approach can also discover anchor terms similar in nature to human-generated ones but different from content-generated ones.

Indeed, human generated anchor text is highly useful for reducing the word mismatch problem because the lexical gap between anchor text and queries is relatively small.


IT migration projects, such as the case of electronic services in an airline, need be adapted to both the company's organizational structure and culture; thus the challenge is to design and apply a series of changes that will allow for a successful outcome. Hence, the selection of the electronic solution must fit adequately to the company, in terms of its technology readiness and cultural profile (McLaughin, 2009) . Another critical factor is, in fact, the change management process itself. A solid, yet flexible, process of designing, supporting, communicating, implementing and promoting the changes that have to be made is of vital importance for the success of these projects. One of the most common phased organizational change methodologies is examined under the prism of a state owned airline electronic services migration project.

Hence, the selection of the electronic solution must fit adequately to the company, in terms of its technology readiness and cultural profile.


Advances in laser technology have allowed for selective photocoagulation for the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer via the subthreshold micropulse laser photocoagulation system. This reduces thermal effect on the sensory retina and choroid. Recent understanding of the modification of gene expression mediated by the healing response of the RPE to thermal injury, suggests that useful therapeutic cellular cascade is activated, not by laser-killed RPE cells, but by the still-viable RPE cells surrounding the burned areas that are reached by the heat diffusion at sublethal thermal elevation [16] . According to Vujosevic and Lavinsky, micropulse laser photocoagulation treatment was effective in stabilizing visual acuity and reducing macular edema, [17, 18] .

Recent understanding of the modification of gene expression mediated by the healing response of the RPE to thermal injury, suggests that useful therapeutic cellular cascade is activated, not by laser-killed RPE cells, but by the still-viable RPE cells surrounding the burned areas that are reached by the heat diffusion at sublethal thermal elevation.

According to Vujosevic and Lavinsky, micropulse laser photocoagulation treatment was effective in stabilizing visual acuity and reducing macular edema.


A number of landmark vehicular bridges have been constructed in recent years, primarily in continental Europe, wherein the main support structure has consisted of large steel tubes welded together to form truss girders [1] [2] [3] . The merits of this bridge type are discussed in a number of references (i.e.: [2] [3] [4] ). One of the often cited weaknesses is the characteristically low fatigue performance of their joints.

A number of landmark vehicular bridges have been constructed in recent years, primarily in continental Europe, wherein the main support structure has consisted of large steel tubes welded together to form truss girders.

The merits of this bridge type are discussed in a number of references (i.e.:).


The work presented herein focuses on the post-weld treatment by needle peening of tubular truss bridges comprised of CHS members joined by welded, non-overlapping single Kjoints (see Fig. 1 ). However, it is believed that the employed approach is applicable to tubular structures treated using any of the above-mentioned residual stress-based methods. Needle peening is considered to be relatively mild, compared to the other common residual stress-based methods. Non-overlapping K -joints are a common joint type for tubular truss bridges. This is thought to be primarily due to the complexities involved with cutting the diagonals for overlapping K -joints, in particular for bridges consisting of space trusses joined with double K -or "K K -" joints (i.e.: [1] [2] [3] ).

This is thought to be primarily due to the complexities involved with cutting the diagonals for overlapping K -joints, in particular for bridges consisting of space trusses joined with double K -or "K K -" joints (i.e.:).


In the fatigue design of tubular truss bridges, civil engineers have tended to rely heavily on tubular joint research conducted for the offshore industry. Concerns about the validity of this approach, in view of the significant differences in loading, scale, and geometry that exist between offshore structures and bridges, have led to recent specialized research on tubular bridge joints. This research has including a number of largescale fatigue tests on circular hollow section (CHS) K -joints with dimensions commonly found in bridge structures (i.e. γ = D/(2 · T ) ≤ 12-see Fig. 1 ) [4, 5] .

This research has including a number of largescale fatigue tests on circular hollow section (CHS) K -joints with dimensions commonly found in bridge structures (i.e. γ = D/(2 · T ) ≤ 12-see Fig. 1 ).


Because of the complexity of bridge deck sections, both flutter derivatives and aerodynamic coefficients need to be measured in wind tunnels. Emphasis is generally put on the estimation of the former one only. Indeed flutter derivatives, resulting from a complex dynamic wind-structure coupling, require dedicated identification procedures [5, 6] . However the aerodynamic coefficients are obtained by a simple measurement of the stationary force applied by the wind flow on the bridge deck, for different values of the wind incidence [7] . The variations of the identified aerodynamic coefficients with respect to the wind incidence are typically non-linear irregular functions. The main scope of this paper is to present how to transform the gross measurement results into a format useable for the design.

Indeed flutter derivatives, resulting from a complex dynamic wind-structure coupling, require dedicated identification procedures.

However the aerodynamic coefficients are obtained by a simple measurement of the stationary force applied by the wind flow on the bridge deck, for different values of the wind incidence.


Since 2003, shoes with a soft sole, rounded in the anterior-posterior direction underneath the heel area, providing an unstable base of support with a rocker bottom, have been popular among patients with different foot, leg, or back problems in Korea. They alter movement patterns, particularly at the ankle, increasing the angle of dorsiflexion at initial contact and causing continuous plantarflexion until the end of the stance phase. Rocker bottom shoes (RBS) have been designed as a training method to strengthen the lower leg muscles. However, it has been noted that they should be used with caution in patients with knee problems, since these subjects walked with slightly increased flexion during the stance phase accompanied by increased activity in the vastus medialis and lateralis muscles. Activity of the rectus femoris muscle was also reduced during the stance-to-swing transition period [1] .

Activity of the rectus femoris muscle was also reduced during the stance-to-swing transition period.


Since the varistor has its proper parasitic capacitance, it absorbs Figure 10 and Figure 11 when the peak value of the input EMP is 1,100 V. The output EMP signal is 400 V. The two visitor models are the same except capacitance. The varistor operates its proper protection at low frequency or slow rise time of impulse as lightning strike. If the capacitance of the varistor is lower, the varistor can absorb higher frequency signal. The two varistors cut the EMP signal down to about 60% and the protection of the varistors becomes better than TVS devices. It means that capacitance difference of the two models does not give any visible effects because they are slightly different, 180 pF and 300 pF, respectively. Figure 12 is the PPR (Pulse Pass Ratio) of each device. Eq. (1) shows the PPR. V in and V out are the peak voltages of the pulses. As shown in Figure 12 , the order of protection ability is clearly varistor > TVS > GDT. The GDT could not show its entire protection ability because the time is not enough to discharge the GDT electrodes [13] .

Eq. (1) shows the PPR.

The GDT could not show its entire protection ability because the time is not enough to discharge the GDT electrodes.


While the conventional EMI/EMC designs have been developed for decades, we have neglected very high intensity of external electromagnetic environments. The 'very high intensity of external electromagnetic environments' is known as HEMP (High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse), UWB (Ultra Wide Band), HPM (High Power Microwaves). All of them are called HPEM (High Power Electromagnetism), and it is defined as 'all of electromagnetic environments of electric field above 100 V/m' [9] [10] [11] . Especially EMP, UWB and HPM are regarded as the intentional electromagnetic environments for the specific purposes.

All of them are called HPEM (High Power Electromagnetism), and it is defined as 'all of electromagnetic environments of electric field above 100 V/m'.


However, GDT (Gas Discharge Tube), Varistor, and TVS (Transient Voltage Suppressor) are developed for the protection of lightning surge or ESD (Electro Static Discharge) [12, 13] . They cannot protect very fast surge or high frequency noise signal. The effective frequency range of the lighting surge is the order of ten kHz. While that of EMP is from a few hundred MHz to a few hundred GHz, the lightening surge is very slow and has low frequencies.

However, GDT (Gas Discharge Tube), Varistor, and TVS (Transient Voltage Suppressor) are developed for the protection of lightning surge or ESD (Electro Static Discharge).


In the case of varistor, the capacitance of the varistor absorbs and dissipates the over voltage signals [13] . The higher capacitance of varistor can absorb high frequency signals. But the capacitances of the used varistors are too large in the case of EMP signal so that the varistors absorb only 40% of the EMP signal.

In the case of varistor, the capacitance of the varistor absorbs and dissipates the over voltage signals.


We have presented a theoretical foundation for the qua- ternion-valued WL estimation method. It was proved that the estimation error obtained using the quaternion-valued WL estimation method is smaller than that obtained using the usual quaternion-valued linear estimation method, except in rare cases. In our future studies, we will proceed with analyses of the WL estimation based on the Clifford algebra [13] .

In our future studies, we will proceed with analyses of the WL estimation based on the Clifford algebra.


How can we assist students to cognitively strategize their learning process for better learning performance and creativity development? Students evidently should be engaged in learning experiences and process which entail them to think and use their cognitive abilities (Black & Deci, 2000) . Students should also be cognizant of the importance of creativity and their own creative values. We therefore investigate the question by developing a creative strategy learning model. This model looks at how students can cognitively strategize their learning through a process-oriented learning experience and a continuous creativity check.

Students evidently should be engaged in learning experiences and process which entail them to think and use their cognitive abilities.


Deliberating on this evidence and taking into account the importance of creativity today, we put together strategic thinking and creative thinking theoretical framework to develop a Creative Strategy Learning Model (CSLM). Previous studies have presented the evidence of their capacities (i.e. strategic and creative thinking skills) and importance to help students construct knowledge, solve problems, perform in real-world scenario and keep adept with the changing of technology (Kozbelt, Beghetto & Runco, 2010; Torrance, 1993; Simonton, 2000) . This paper therefore introduces the new model, and presents the analysis of a pilot study which was conducted to assess the model by looking at students' performance in a public speaking course.

Previous studies have presented the evidence of their capacities (i.e. strategic and creative thinking skills) and importance to help students construct knowledge, solve problems, perform in real-world scenario and keep adept with the changing of technology.


Seed inoculation is crucial for N 2 fixation in the early stages of soybean crop de- [9] . The ideal soybean inoculant could be applied to seeds in the early winter, when seed companies clean and bag seed for the coming growing season. It would contain high numbers of living cells at planting time. Such an inoculant would add value to the seeds and would remove the need for crop producers to manually add and mix inoculants into seed immediately prior to seeding. Past attempts to develop such an inoculant have resulted in insufficient cell counts by seeding time. There are reasons to believe that biochar will be a much more effective carrier due to its chemical and physicals properties.

Seed inoculation is crucial for N 2 fixation in the early stages of soybean crop de.


The inclusion frequency in this study of 52% might be considered somewhat low. A complete data set was available in no more than 36% (170 out of 477 invited children). A separate study of anthropometric data, from school nurses, for all children that received an invitation to participate in the study (n = 477) showed no significant differences in height, body mass or BMI between the children that chose to participate (n = 248) and those who did not [24] . Moreover, there were no major differences (except an age difference) in baseline measurements between those who accepted blood sampling and those who participated in the followup versus those who did not. We, however, acknowledge that the dropout is a not fully quantifiable limitation of the study. There is also the problem with potential confounders. In the regression analysis we adjusted for sex, age, school location and change in Tanner stage at follow-up as these factors varied. Statistical adjustment may not necessarily compensate completely for biological differences. The fact that we had non-fasting blood samples has not biased the analysis as it has been shown that cystatin B, cathepsin D or cathepsin L levels are not altered by food intake [25] .

A separate study of anthropometric data, from school nurses, for all children that received an invitation to participate in the study (n = 477) showed no significant differences in height, body mass or BMI between the children that chose to participate (n = 248) and those who did not.

The fact that we had non-fasting blood samples has not biased the analysis as it has been shown that cystatin B, cathepsin D or cathepsin L levels are not altered by food intake.


Plagiarism, which is a prolific problem, especially in the academic world, is getting worse, since the volume of on-line publications has been increasing during the past decades. Common plagiarism methods either simply duplicate material from a (non-)electronic source, or copy material from a given source and intentionally modify its wordings or sentence structures without affecting its content [7] . The latter is more difficult to identify due to its complexity.

Common plagiarism methods either simply duplicate material from a (non-)electronic source, or copy material from a given source and intentionally modify its wordings or sentence structures without affecting its content.


Security and Dependability (S&D) are critical aspects in the development of IT systems (Anderson 2001) . The usual approach towards the inclusion of S&D concerns within a system is to identify security requirements after system design. Unfortunately, this makes the process inefficient and error-prone, mainly because security mechanisms have to be fitted into a preexisting design which may not be able to accommodate them.

Security and Dependability (S&D) are critical aspects in the development of IT systems.


The objective of the present paper was to derive the stress fields and the torque-twist relationship for a hollow circular tube made of a rigid-plastic material with any of the adopted gradientenhanced effective plastic strain measures from a wide class of these measures defined by (2) . The microstress q z ϕ is specified by (32) , the moment-stress τ z ϕr by (33) , and the Cauchy stress σ z ϕ by (36) . The line forces are also evaluated and discussed from the standpoint of the basic equilibrium considerations and the principle of virtual work, derived in the appendix of the paper. For the two most commonly used measures, defined as a linear and harmonic sum of the effective plastic strain and its gradient ( s = 1 and s = 2 ), the stress fields are given by (37) - (39) and (40) - (42) . The results are plotted in Figs. 4 and 5 for the selected material properties and the chosen material length parameter. In Section 6 we derive a general expression for the torque-twist relationship, given by (49) . This is used in Section 7 to obtain the closed-form expressions corresponding to two aforementioned measures of the gradient-enhanced effective plastic strain ( s = 1 and s = 2 ). Three appealing expressions are adopted to model the stress-strain response in uniaxial tension, listed in (52) . The results for selected values of the material length parameter are shown in Fig. 8 for a solid rod, and in Fig. 9 for a thin-walled tube. The torque required to produce a given amount of twist is significantly more increased by the increase of the material length parameter in the case s = 1 than in the case s = 2 . An approximate expression for the torque is derived for a thin-walled tube, given by (51) , which applies for any s ≥ 1. The corresponding yield threshold value is specified by (71) . The results are compared with the related results from the literature. They can be potentially useful for the further studies of the size effect in torsion and the relationship between analytical predictions and experimental observations. The extension of the presented analysis to bending of thin beams is presented in a separate paper ( Lubarda, 2016b ) .

The extension of the presented analysis to bending of thin beams is presented in a separate paper.


After successful extraction of both the donor and fluorophore into the cyclodextrin-containing aqueous layers, energy transfer between the two small molecules can then occur. This energy transfer was most efficient for b- cyclodextrin and c-cyclodextrin solutions that had been extracted from oil spill oil, with 56 and 51 % energy transfer efficiencies observed (Table 3 ; Fig. 5 ). Interestingly, such energy transfer was less efficient in the methylb-cyclodextrin solutions, despite the fact that methyl-bcyclodextrin was most efficient at extracting the two energy transfer partners into the aqueous environment. This result means that energy transfer efficiencies do not depend strictly on the concentration of the energy transfer partners (because the Me-b-cyclodextrin solution contains the highest amount of both donor and acceptor), a result that is in line with ample literature precedent [29, 30] . There is also a strong possibility that the binding of one analyte affects the binding of a second analyte, either by promoting or disrupting that binding. This interaction between analytes may be one reason why the results obtained using methyl-b-cyclodextrin (which is known to bind both the donor and acceptor strongly) are lower than those obtained with b-cyclodextrin and c-cyclodextrin. Oil-water mixtures that were doped with small amounts of analytes 1-3 demonstrated qualitatively similar behaviors in analyte extraction and fluorophore extraction compared to the undoped mixtures, likely a result of the fact that the large quantities of innate toxicants found in these crude mixtures dominates the amount of added aromatic analyte. Summary tables of results for all doped solutions are found in the ESI. Figure 6 highlights results obtained for energy transfer investigations in analyte-doped aqueous extracts, and indicates that the energy transfer peak is more clearly defined in the cyclodextrin containing solutions as a result of the known propensity of cyclodextrin to promote the desired intermolecular interactions.

This result means that energy transfer efficiencies do not depend strictly on the concentration of the energy transfer partners (because the Me-b-cyclodextrin solution contains the highest amount of both donor and acceptor), a result that is in line with ample literature precedent.


Carbonaceous aerosols are a dominant component of fine particles contributing up to 10-70% of their total mass with concentration ranging from a few pg m −3 to hundreds ng m −3 and are comprised of myriad of individual species with vastly different chemical and thermodynamic properties (Tsapakis et al., 2002) . These aerosol originating from anthropogenic sources like fossil fuel (coal, diesel and gasoline) combustion from mobile and stationary sources, biomass burning and wood are known to contain high amount of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as well as light absorbing carbon compounds (black carbon), which significantly influence the aerosol radiative forcing and the atmospheric photochemistry. They consist of elemental carbon (EC) and a complex mixture of numerous organic compounds. EC is derived from combustion processes while organic carbon (OC) is produced by both primary and secondary sources . Water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) also contributes significantly to carbonaceous aerosol and may potentially act as cloud condensation nuclei (Wang et al., 2005) . It contribute significantly to aerosol total carbon (TC, up to 30%) and organic mass (more than 50%) (Kiss et al., 2002; Mader et al., 2004) .

Carbonaceous aerosols are a dominant component of fine particles contributing up to 10-70% of their total mass with concentration ranging from a few pg m −3 to hundreds ng m −3 and are comprised of myriad of individual species with vastly different chemical and thermodynamic properties.

Water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) also contributes significantly to carbonaceous aerosol and may potentially act as cloud condensation nuclei.

It contribute significantly to aerosol total carbon (TC, up to 30%) and organic mass (more than 50%).


Most of the applications of the weak solutions method for partial differential equations are based on the Lax-Milgram Theorem which refers to a bilinear form that is bounded away from zero, e.g. see L.C. Evans [16] . Our point of view is that, at least when talking about weak solutions, this technical condition can be weakened once the more general concept of triplets of closely embedded Hilbert spaces is used instead. We illustrate this idea in Section 6, by an application of the abstract theory of triplets of closely embedded Hilbert spaces in this article to the method of weak solutions for Dirichlet problems associated to degenerate elliptic operators.

Most of the applications of the weak solutions method for partial differential equations are based on the Lax-Milgram Theorem which refers to a bilinear form that is bounded away from zero, e.g. see L.C. Evans.


Support vector machine, with the foundation of structural risk minimization principle, has advantages that the others, with the foundation of empirical risk minimizetion principle, have not [11] . The relationship of the dependent and independent variable can't be learned. The complex mapping relationship can be learned from the sample. At the same time, model can be built with fewer samples. Some research is given on the surrounding rock deformation prediction with support vector machine (SVM) [12, 13] . The accuracy of the models is not very good. In this paper, Least Square Support Vector machine (LSSVM) is improved with the method of Genetic Algorithm (GA), markov forecast method. The method is used to give research on surrounding rock deformation prediction of command protection engineering.

Support vector machine, with the foundation of structural risk minimization principle, has advantages that the others, with the foundation of empirical risk minimizetion principle, have not.

Some research is given on the surrounding rock deformation prediction with support vector machine (SVM).


The algebraic model (Vibron model) was originally developed for diatomic and tri-atomic molecules [5] [6] [7] [8] . It is to be pointed out that the U (4) model becomes complicated when the number of atoms in a molecule increases more than four. The Vibron model was applied successfully in describing the overtone frequencies of linear and bent X 2 Y molecules. Later, it was extended to linear and quasi-linear tetratomic molecules and could prove itself to be a competitive one to the traditional analysis. The main features and basic applications of these methods have been described by Iachello and Levine and Oss [9] . The brief review of the research work done in this field up to 2000 and its perspectives in the first part of 21st century was presented by Iachello and Oss [10] . Lie algebraic approach was found to be successful in our study of vibrational frequencies of HCN, HCCF, HCCD, tetrahedral and Porphyrins molecules [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] .

The algebraic model (Vibron model) was originally developed for diatomic and tri-atomic molecules.

The main features and basic applications of these methods have been described by Iachello and Levine and Oss.

The brief review of the research work done in this field up to 2000 and its perspectives in the first part of 21st century was presented by Iachello and Oss.

Lie algebraic approach was found to be successful in our study of vibrational frequencies of HCN, HCCF, HCCD, tetrahedral and Porphyrins molecules.


To maintain resonance with the rapid development of sophisticated experimental approaches, theoretical physics has been constantly tested to provide a collection of satisfactory models that can account for the experimental observations [1] [2] [3] [4] . Characterizing these experimental data is equally important for understanding the dynamics of chemical reactions and structure of these molecules. The model is based on the idea of dynamical symmetry, which is expressed through the language of Lie algebras. Applying algebraic techniques, we obtain an effective Hamiltonian operator that conveniently describes the rotational vibrational degrees of freedom of the physical system.

To maintain resonance with the rapid development of sophisticated experimental approaches, theoretical physics has been constantly tested to provide a collection of satisfactory models that can account for the experimental observations.


The synthesized products were identified by using chemical analysis of synthesized samples of LDHs after dissolution of adsorbents in diluted (1 : 1) hydrochloric acid and adding deionized water (free of CO 2 ) to solutions obtained. Zn and Al contents in an adsorbent sample were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and total organic carbon (contents of chelating agents) by chromatography [15] . Empirical chemical formulas of LDHs were determined on basis of the results of analysis of molecular ratio of Zn(II) and Al(III) and chelating agents. The content of OH − ions was determined accounting for the neutrality of adsorbents, and the quantity of molecules of crystallization water was determined on the basis of both thermal and thermogravimetric analyses and by calculating the difference between total weight of adsorbent and its individual components. Values matched in a good way.

Zn and Al contents in an adsorbent sample were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and total organic carbon (contents of chelating agents) by chromatography.

Values matched in a good way.


The combination of experimental and theoretical results presented above yield some useful insights into the actions of negative air ionizers in indoor air. It is clear from both the experimental evidence and the theoretical results presented in Figures 8 and 9 that the concentration of ions in a room depends on factors that are governed by the rate at which ions are generated within the space. In the absence of an ionizer within the room space, ion generation is typically low and as shown by Equations (3) and (4) the primary source of ions is infiltration from outdoors via the ventilation supply air. Under such conditions, the concentration of ions in the room will be dominated by the ventilation rate, with additional removal due to ion-ion interactions, while electrically enhanced wall deposition will be minimal. This is demonstrated in the decay experiments where the ion concentration in the absence of ion generation eventually reaches a steadystate value between 450 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 and 700 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 , similar to outdoor concentrations of the order 500-1000 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 quoted by a number of authors [6, 8, 12] . However at higher ion generation rates, for example when an ionizer is located in a room, as the results in Figures 8 and 9 suggest, the electrodynamic effects due to the ions become increasingly more important. The ion-ion recombination rate increases with both negative and positive ion concentrations resulting in enhanced ion removal at high concentrations. Wall deposition has a quadratic relationship with the ion concentration, and rapidly becomes the dominant ion removal mechanism as the ion generation is increased. As seen in both the actual and the simulated experimental results, the ventilation rate has little impact on the room ion concentration under normal operation of an ionizer, for either positive or negative ions. Due to technical limitations we were unable to measure the effect of the air ions on aerosol particles with mean diameters 50.3 mm. Particles of this size are small enough to pass through the HEPA filters serving the chamber and therefore would have entered the room space. In the chamber it is likely these small particles played an important role because they would have been the first aerosol particles to collide with the ions in the air forming highly mobile small cluster ions [8] . Although the theoretical study included the effect of these sub-micron particles, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about their significance in the absence of experimental data.

This is demonstrated in the decay experiments where the ion concentration in the absence of ion generation eventually reaches a steadystate value between 450 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 and 700 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 , similar to outdoor concentrations of the order 500-1000 Â 10 6 ions Á m À3 quoted by a number of authors.

In the chamber it is likely these small particles played an important role because they would have been the first aerosol particles to collide with the ions in the air forming highly mobile small cluster ions.


The term 'air ion' is a generic term used to describe charged molecules or clusters of molecules in the air. Most ionizers utilize a corona discharge method to generate air ions. This is an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of the air surrounding an electrode when the potential gradient exceeds a critical value, with the result that a plasma is created around the electrode. Positive and negative coronas both involve an electron avalanche in the ionization process. Such avalanches occur when strong electric fields act on free electrons in the air. The electric field accelerates the electrons so that they gain sufficient kinetic energy to cause ionization when they collide with neutral gas molecules in their path. However, although often lumped together in the general category 'air ions', negative and positive air ions are profoundly different from each other. In a positive corona discharge the electron avalanche accelerates toward the electrode, with the result that fully formed primary positive ions are repelled into the atmosphere. By contrast, in a negative corona the electrons are generated at the electrode by the photoelectric action of photons striking its surface. These electrons are then repelled from the negative electrode into the atmosphere where they combine with neutral gas molecules to form primary negative ions, which have a structure based around O À 2 [6] . Further, negative ions are then produced including the hydrate O [3] . The principle positive ion found in air is the hydronium ion H þ (H 2 O) n [6, 7] .

These electrons are then repelled from the negative electrode into the atmosphere where they combine with neutral gas molecules to form primary negative ions, which have a structure based around O À 2.

Further, negative ions are then produced including the hydrate O.

The principle positive ion found in air is the hydronium ion H þ (H 2 O) n.


In our study we used a simple classification based on one year infection as the definition of recent infection. Further investigation is warranted to determine if the mean duration of recent infection (MDRI) and the false recent rate (FRR) are influenced by the source (plasma vs. DBS) of the sample, as these are the true performance metrics of a cross-sectional incidence assay or algorithm [19] . These studies require larger sample sizes to accurately determine if there are significant differences in MDRI and FRR.

Further investigation is warranted to determine if the mean duration of recent infection (MDRI) and the false recent rate (FRR) are influenced by the source (plasma vs. DBS) of the sample, as these are the true performance metrics of a cross-sectional incidence assay or algorithm.


As HLIUs are designed for single imported cases or small clusters in the beginning of an outbreak, only, they do not compensate for surge capacity planning in major biological events [1] . Besides infrastructure and equipment, additional features which support effective functioning of such specialised centres were addressed in this survey and recently published [22] [23] [24] [25] . Access to a transportation system for HID patients plays an important role in distribution of isolation facilities and is reflected by the overall amount isolation facilities per country. Balancing the necessary access to a focus of expertise with available transport logistics leads to either a centralised or a de-centralised approach to the location of specific facilities, and ambulance dispatch recording can be of use in early warning systems for outbreak detection [26] .

As HLIUs are designed for single imported cases or small clusters in the beginning of an outbreak, only, they do not compensate for surge capacity planning in major biological events.

Besides infrastructure and equipment, additional features which support effective functioning of such specialised centres were addressed in this survey and recently published.

Balancing the necessary access to a focus of expertise with available transport logistics leads to either a centralised or a de-centralised approach to the location of specific facilities, and ambulance dispatch recording can be of use in early warning systems for outbreak detection.


Of particular interest for this study is the likely detection of M31 by Fermi [40, 55] . A measurement of the M31 gamma-ray flux will significantly narrow the range of plausible point source luminosities and provide stronger constraints on the properties of new Galactic gamma-ray emitting populations. Furthermore, Fermi may be able to provide detailed spatial and spectral information about the gamma-ray emission of the Milky Way and M31, which would test the assumption of similarity underlying this work. A determination of the M31 flux would also test the validity of the predicted diffuse gamma-ray emission.

Of particular interest for this study is the likely detection of M31 by Fermi.


News stories typically describe real-world events. Topic detection and tracking (TDT) aims to detect stories that discuss identical or directly related events, and track these stories as they evolve over time (Allan, 2002) . Being able to identify the stories that describe the same real-world event is essential for TDT, and event-based information retrieval in general.

Topic detection and tracking (TDT) aims to detect stories that discuss identical or directly related events, and track these stories as they evolve over time.


Based on Forchheimer Equation (4), both linear and nonlinear coefficients a and b of all test cases can be calculated, and plotted as a function of P c in Figure 6 . It indicates that coefficients a and b present a similar variation trend with P c . In the range of P c from 5 to 20 MPa, both coefficients increase by approximately 2-3 orders of magnitude. The increase in coefficient a is mainly as a result of fracture closure caused by the applied confining pressure. In the light of Equation (5), coefficient a can be used to reveal the changes in intrinsic permeability k and hydraulic aperture e h of the fractures. A larger value of linear coefficient a reflects a smaller e h value. Figure 7a displays the variations in e h as a function of P c . It can be clearly observed that the hydraulic aperture undergoes a decrease in a hyperbolic form as the confining pressure increases. The variation trend of e h versus P c has been widely reported in some other literature [5, 18] . As P c increases from 5 to 20 MPa, e h shows a decrease of 87.41-92.81% for all nine of the fractures. In addition, e h plots an ascending variation with the decreasing JRC values from model #Fr1 to #Fr9, indicating an increase of 1.52-2.96 times.

The variation trend of e h versus P c has been widely reported in some other literature.


This study experimentally explores the flow nonlinearity through real rock fractures. First, nine 3D rough-walled fractures were artificially produced from a great variety of rock types with different lithologies including granite, marble, limestone and sandstone. Then, a series of hydromechanical laboratory experiments using the rough fractures were carried out with respect to various hydraulic pressures (0.4-6.0 MPa) and various confining pressures (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) . The nonlinear flow behaviors, hydraulic aperture, critical Reynolds number and transmissivity were systematically estimated.

Then, a series of hydromechanical laboratory experiments using the rough fractures were carried out with respect to various hydraulic pressures (0.4-6.0 MPa) and various confining pressures.


Game theory is the study of the ways in which strategic interactions among rational players produce outcomes with respect to the preferences (or utilities) of those players. A game is defined by: players with conflict interests, preferences (benefit, cost) as a result of the game, and a set of strategies (alternatives, moves). Theorists define broad categories of games across a spectrum from pure competition to pure cooperation. A crucial aspect of the specification of a game involves the information that players have when they choose strategies. And a specific question in game theory is: should a player be rational and to cooperate in order to provide maximum mutual benefit or to be aggressive. Cooperative game theory (Pareto Game) assumes that each player is a member of a team willing to compromise his own objective to improve the solution as a whole [5] . In the cooperative solution, the team would reallocate the resources with the intent that all the players should be as optimal as possible, in other words, a Pareto optimal solution. It should be emphasized that cooperativeness is necessary for compromising.

Cooperative game theory (Pareto Game) assumes that each player is a member of a team willing to compromise his own objective to improve the solution as a whole.


Conflict is often considered as disagreement, opposition, or struggle between two or more people or groups, and an antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to thwart the intentions or goals of another, or process in which people disagree over significant issues, thereby creating friction between parties, or a situation when people oppose views trying to prevent each other from accomplishing goals [4] . Conflict exists when there is goals conflict, or goal is not within capabilities. In this paper, values and needs based conflict is considered, as a situation different than violence. Conflict over the management of a shared resource arises because of differing objectives among different interest groups. Beside many disadvantages of a conflict situation, a conflict can S., Opricović / Compromise In Cooperative Games 226 be good if based on issues, enhances constructive problem solving and creativity, and challenging complacency, status quo and stagnation.

Conflict is often considered as disagreement, opposition, or struggle between two or more people or groups, and an antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to thwart the intentions or goals of another, or process in which people disagree over significant issues, thereby creating friction between parties, or a situation when people oppose views trying to prevent each other from accomplishing goals.


Silicon carbide (SiC) has many attractive, application-specific mechanical properties such as high Young's modulus ($450 GPa), high hardness, good flexural strength, good hightemperature creep resistance, low density, and good wear resistance. These are all attributable to the material's intrinsic strong covalent bonding. Because SiC is also less costly compared to other high-hardness materials, it has become a popular material for a variety of automotive, aerospace, and high-temperature applications, as well as for use in microelectromechanical systems [1] [2] [3] .

Because SiC is also less costly compared to other high-hardness materials, it has become a popular material for a variety of automotive, aerospace, and high-temperature applications, as well as for use in microelectromechanical systems.


The earliest discussion of this new phase that we are aware of is by van Baal [2, 3] . He was interested in QCD with all three spatial dimensions taken to be small. In this case there are 2 3 degenerate vacua, two per small dimension. While he suggested that numerical simulations of QCD with compact dimensions might be interesting, we are aware of no follow-up studies.

The earliest discussion of this new phase that we are aware of is by van Baal.


Our interest in this problem was initiated from a quite different source: a discussion of the validity of the "orientifold QCD" programme of Armoni, Shifman, and Veneziano [4] [5] [6] . These authors proposed a large-N c equivalence between N = 1 super Yang-Mills and QCD with a single fermion flavor in the symmetric or antisymmetric tensor representation. The latter theory is equivalent to one-flavor QCD for N c = 3. The authors used this connection to make a successful prediction of the value of the condensate of one-flavor QCD [6, 7] .

Our interest in this problem was initiated from a quite different source: a discussion of the validity of the "orientifold QCD" programme of Armoni, Shifman, and Veneziano.

The authors used this connection to make a successful prediction of the value of the condensate of one-flavor QCD.


The combined affect of ACE I/D and CYP11B2 -344C/T polymorphism was also examined in T2DM patients. The relationship of CC genotype with T2DM was not affected by DD genotypes and the risk of T2DM was reduced further in the subjects with a combination of CC/ID genotypes (Table 4) . However, surprisingly we found combination CC/II associated with increased risk of T2DM instead of expected decreased risk (Table 3 ). The larger odds ratios in this group might be due the smaller sample sizes in the subgroups with CC and II, because of which we were unable to evaluate this interaction with sufficient statistical power. Studies with smaller sample sizes tend to report larger odds ratios (Keavney et al., 2000) . Apart from sample size, another limitation of the study is that the control and healthy groups were unmatched with respect to age and male/female ratio. Although we additionally analyzed affect of gender and age on the relation of CC genotype with T2DM and found the relationship was unaffected by age and gender (Table 5 ). However, we also recognized that older age is a risk factor for T2DM (Table 5 ). Therefore our findings should be reconfirmed and the joint effects of CC and ACE I/D genotypes should be evaluated by future population-based studies with larger sample sizes collected ideally in a prospective fashion. If we could use hyper-normal controls, such as older people known to be free of the disease of interest, it would be expected to improve the power of detecting the susceptibility variant between controls and cases.

Studies with smaller sample sizes tend to report larger odds ratios.


Rwandan agricultural policy, in which cooperatives play a key role, has been subject to the same mixed reviews as those given to overall government economic policy. On the one hand, it is clear that there have been substantial gains in the agricultural sector and that agricultural policy is viewed as an essential feature of economic development. The Government of Rwanda holds considerable influence in the organization of the agricultural sector, including land ownership, the purchase of agricultural inputs and decisions on what crops to grow. This high level of control is found in nearly all levels of the agriculture supply chain, and it is clearly moving the country towards a more modern agricultural sector in which land and farms are privatized (Gready 2010) .

This high level of control is found in nearly all levels of the agriculture supply chain, and it is clearly moving the country towards a more modern agricultural sector in which land and farms are privatized.


Indeed, growth in Rwanda's agriculture sector has been impressive. In 2007 the Government of Rwanda implemented the Crop Intensification Program (CIP), and, following positive market growth, the government has pushed for further intensification practices, a flagship of which is the implementation of agriculture cooperatives in the country (Kathiresan 2011) . Figure 1 illustrates the cumulative growth of new cooperatives in Rwanda. Since 2009 -the earliest year with reliable data -there has been a substantial growth of cooperatives. As of 2018 there are just under 8000 cooperatives listed in the Rwanda Cooperative Agency cooperative directory database. On average, 790 (sd = 226.0) new cooperatives are added each year. Cooperatives were added at similar rates across provinces at first, but since 2013 cooperatives in the West Province have been created at higher rates than in other provinces. As of 2018, the West Province has 2010 cooperatives. Kigali, the capital, comprised of mostly urban areas, has the lowest number of cooperatives registered in the dataset at 1,156.

In 2007 the Government of Rwanda implemented the Crop Intensification Program (CIP), and, following positive market growth, the government has pushed for further intensification practices, a flagship of which is the implementation of agriculture cooperatives in the country.


One goal of cooperative development projects in SubSaharan Africa is to provide countervailing power for farmer-members vis-à-vis input suppliers and processorssomething they share with cooperatives in the developed world. Countervailing power eventually provides for vertical integration into the value chain, whereby cooperatives begin to operate processing facilities themselves (Meador et al. 2016; O'Brien et al. 2013) . These emerging cooperatives also share the need to develop and maintain social capital among their members to induce them to adopt new agricultural technologies as well as invest in long-term capitalization projects. The latter is especially difficult because it implies foregoing some immediate gains for some future benefit that is by no means guaranteed. Moreover, such long-term investments require accessing information and working with organizations and individuals with whom village-level cooperative members are not familiar. In short, this requires emerging cooperative members to trust the management as they pursue objectives that involve building bridging social capital.

Countervailing power eventually provides for vertical integration into the value chain, whereby cooperatives begin to operate processing facilities themselves.


Agriculture cooperatives emerged in the nineteenth century in Western countries to provide collective, countervailing power for small farmers in the marketplace. In the United States, for example, cooperatives historically provided leverage vis-à-vis railroads that shipped farmers' grain, as well as silo operators who purchased that grain and input suppliers, who provided seeds, fuel and fertilizer at lowered costs. A critical element in the formation of these cooperatives was their ability to maintain the loyalty of their members through high levels of trust that was generated through long-term cooperation in small-town schools, churches and farms (Schneiberg et al. 2008) .

A critical element in the formation of these cooperatives was their ability to maintain the loyalty of their members through high levels of trust that was generated through long-term cooperation in small-town schools, churches and farms.


The predicted anisotropic ratio (k r /k z ) is as high as 125 at 300 K, displayed in Fig. 3c , in reasonable agreement with measurements. We note that the difference in measured k r /k z between monoisotopic and isotopically disordered samples is large (>40 for T < 200 K) despite the presence of point defects reducing k r at low temperatures. This demonstrates that isotope engineering makes tuning of the thermal conductivity anisotropy possible in h-BN over a large range. Recently, tuning thermal anisotropy in materials has been demonstrated to allow precise manipulation of heat flux including for heat shielding, heat concentrators, macroscopic diodes, chip heat management, and energy harvesting [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] . Traditional thermal metamaterials used for these applications are designed from two or more constituent materials with large thermal conductivity contrast, to realize the required anisotropic and inhomogenous conductivity profiles by spatially adjusting their volume filling ratios. Coefficient of thermal expansion contrast can then result in challenges including mechanical instability and complicated fabrication processes 35 . Clearly, engineering materials via isotope concentration alone is more straightforward, and the resulting product is a single phase material with negligible differences of heat capacity (see Supplementary Fig. 7 ), density 23 , and temperature-dependent lattice constant 23 (leading to similar thermal expansion), providing a promising route to enhanced thermal metamaterials and metadevices.

Recently, tuning thermal anisotropy in materials has been demonstrated to allow precise manipulation of heat flux including for heat shielding, heat concentrators, macroscopic diodes, chip heat management, and energy harvesting.


One technique for developing individuals is through the social and motivational aspects of appraisal or review processes (Fletcher, 2001) . The terms are often used interchangeably, although it seems to be conventional to use the term appraisal in relation to the formal rating of performance in the literature, whereas the term review is used widely in human resource practice, and tends to also encompass the developmental aspects of appraisal. In this paper, the terms 'review' and 'employee development' are going to be employed and will refer to a range of processes. It is proposed here that employee development could succinctly be classified as methodologies that have the aim of promoting both the professional and personal growth of individuals in the workplace, encompassing techniques such as formal performance ratings, multi-source feedback techniques, career discussions with managers and the agreement of personal development plans.

One technique for developing individuals is through the social and motivational aspects of appraisal or review processes.


In general organizational contexts have undergone fundamental changes. The prevalence of long-term relational psychological contracts, based on a 'job for life' in return for loyalty, is diminishing (Rousseau, 1995) . Instead, the prevalence of a growing number of short-term contracts and portfolio workers, combined with increasing employee mobility, has been observed. At the same time, the value of human capital has increasingly been recognised and it has been suggested that 'organizations should become platforms for individuals, as opposed to individuals becoming resources for organizations' (Patterson, 2001, p.384) .

The prevalence of long-term relational psychological contracts, based on a 'job for life' in return for loyalty, is diminishing.


Hematite is ubiquitous in all soils but is predominant in soils of the tropical and subtropical regions. Due to large surface area and high reactivity, hematite influences several physical and chemical properties. Modelling the reactivity of hematite surfaces is, therefore, based on its bulk crystal structure and particularly on the surface arrangement of atoms. Hematite, -Fe 2 O 3 , belongs to the space group 167 R-3c with either two or six formula units in the primitive rhombohedral and in the conventional hexagonal unit cells, respectively. Hexagonal close-packed layers of O atoms are present, with Fe atoms filling 2/3rd of the octahedral holes, which are all in a high-spin d 5 electronic configuration [1] . The stable phase is antiferromagnetic (AFM) below the Neel temperature, at 955 K [2] .

Hexagonal close-packed layers of O atoms are present, with Fe atoms filling 2/3rd of the octahedral holes, which are all in a high-spin d 5 electronic configuration.

The stable phase is antiferromagnetic (AFM) below the Neel temperature, at 955 K.


Studies on adsorption of small molecules by hematite surfaces using DFT methods are now being increasingly used and have been reported to be quite reliable [9] . DFT supercell calculations revealed that, regardless of nature of surface terminations, the adsorption of methyl radical was strong in all cases. Fe vacancy in hematite showed increased reactivity towards H 2 O [10] .

Studies on adsorption of small molecules by hematite surfaces using DFT methods are now being increasingly used and have been reported to be quite reliable.

Fe vacancy in hematite showed increased reactivity towards H 2 O.


Different alkaline pine pulps were studied. The bleachability as well as yield and carbohydrate composition of three alkaline pine pulps -a conventional kraft pulp (PCK), a polysulfide/anthraquinone pulp (PPSAQ) and a soda/anthraquinone pulp (PSoAQ) -cooked to the same kappa number level were studied recently (Hortling et al. 2000) . The bleachability of the pulps decreased in the order PCK, PPSAQ and PSoAQ. A study on the structure of the residual lignin did not reveal a clear correlation with the different bleachabilities . One possibility is that the carbohydrate structures linked to the residual lignin differed between the pulps. RLCCs were studied before and after oxygen-delignification. To our knowledge, comparison of carbohydrate structures connected to residual lignin in different unbleached pulps and, in general, in oxygen-delignified pulp has not been performed before.

The bleachability as well as yield and carbohydrate composition of three alkaline pine pulps -a conventional kraft pulp (PCK), a polysulfide/anthraquinone pulp (PPSAQ) and a soda/anthraquinone pulp (PSoAQ) -cooked to the same kappa number level were studied recently.


An insufficient activity of 1,4-b-D-galactanase in enzyme preparations from fungal sources has been suggested to cause the enrichment of galactose-containing residues in enzymatically-isolated lignin (Iversen et al. 1987) . Despite this possibly overly large proportion of galactose in the isolated lignin, the linkage between galactans and lignin is proved by the very presence of galactose in the samples. The galactan-lignin linkages have been further supported by the enrichment of galactose in high molar mass residual kraft lignin obtained by preparative gel permeation chromatography . The authors also showed that there were linkages between lignin and the other carbohydrate residues.

An insufficient activity of 1,4-b-D-galactanase in enzyme preparations from fungal sources has been suggested to cause the enrichment of galactose-containing residues in enzymatically-isolated lignin.


In recent years, although the production capacity sharing problem in manufacturing enterprises has received increasing attention, it is still in its early stage. Firstly, most of the existing literature assumes that the manufacturing enterprises participating in production capacity sharing are completely rational [13] [14] [15] [16] . That is, they choose their own strategies for the purpose of maximizing profits. Nevertheless, practical cases indicate the behaviors of these manufacturing enterprises are always the bounded rational, which needs to be studied in depth. Secondly, most of the researchers only concentrate on the economic aspect with regard to the production capacity sharing problem [17] [18] [19] [20] . The achievement concerning production capacity sharing taking environmental sustainability into consideration is relatively limited. In other words, they are keen on investigating OPC sharing problem. Thirdly, the existing literature indicates the researchers pay more attention to the two-player evolutionary game mechanism with respect to production capacity sharing problem. How to investigate three-player evolutionary game problems concerning LCPC sharing is an interesting and promising topic and need to be further studied.

Firstly, most of the existing literature assumes that the manufacturing enterprises participating in production capacity sharing are completely rational.

Secondly, most of the researchers only concentrate on the economic aspect with regard to the production capacity sharing problem.


Our second finding indicates that prerelease WOM is associated with a critical value around which the relationship between prerelease WOM and adoption changes. Prerelease WOM had a smaller effect on adoption until a critical value was reached, after which point increases in the level of WOM were associated with , which provides "strong" evidence that the piecewise model is a better fit than the baseline linear model (Long and Freese 2001) . The BIC statistic indicates that the best fit is the 65 th percentile; beyond the 65 th percentile, there are no additional increases in fit.

Prerelease WOM had a smaller effect on adoption until a critical value was reached, after which point increases in the level of WOM were associated with , which provides "strong" evidence that the piecewise model is a better fit than the baseline linear model.


Formal tests bore out these results. We took the mean and the variance of the empirical data at 10 percent intervals of WOM and compared those observed values with the values generated by each alternative model specification. Specifically, we evaluated the fit of all models using the χ 2 test, which measures the sum of squared errors between the model and observed values for each of the bins, both for the means and the variances. We fitted the data to a Landau distribution, which accounts for the long tail of box-office returns that skew toward lower levels in each bin (Landau 1944) . Table 3 displays the results of these robustness checks. The hypothesized model fits the prerelease data with a χ 2 of p = 96 percent and postrelease of p = 88 percent. The model that uses a constant degree of 4 also agrees well with prerelease data χ 2 of p = 94 percent but poorly in postrelease of p = 23 percent. These alternative models further support a prerelease individual threshold for adoption of hearing WOM from two or more contacts. The next best fit for a postrelease alternative model was alternative C (random distribution of individual thresholds with mean threshold of 1) with p = 55 percent, which suggests that in postrelease there may be more variation in individual thresholds, with some individuals still wanting to hear from two or more individuals before adopting, but this does not represent the adoption behavior as well as our hypothesized model. These findings indicate that the mechanisms outlined in our framework offer a plausible explanation for how micro behaviors of spreading and hearing preand postrelease social influence within networks can generate the observed macro patterns of adoption.

Formal tests bore out these results.

We fitted the data to a Landau distribution, which accounts for the long tail of box-office returns that skew toward lower levels in each bin.


The importance of prerelease social influence has a number of potential implications for management research. Consumer trends highlight continued growth in social influence as processes for generating and sharing information about products continue to expand via interpersonal and social media (Aral and Walker 2011) . The present work suggests that managers should move beyond questions of how social influence spreads and seek to understand how influence patterns differ based on the life cycle of an innovation or product: pre-versus postrelease stages. Indeed, were managers to rely only on relationships or observations of postrelease social influence, they may be poorly equipped to make decisions that involve prerelease marketing efforts. Improvement in practice may further occur if future research investigates a broader range of products to identify how critical values vary across product categories and how sensitive the critical value is to change in the level of prerelease social influence before and after the critical value.

Consumer trends highlight continued growth in social influence as processes for generating and sharing information about products continue to expand via interpersonal and social media.


We also advanced theory by emphasizing the importance of studying interactions between individual and network thresholds. Prior models have investigated the implications of different individual thresholds on adoption (Dodds and Watts 2004; Granovetter 1978) . By contrast, we emphasized the predictive value of a global network-level threshold. Unless this global network reaches a certain threshold of prerelease social influence, negligible changes exist in adoption behavior by consumers. Furthermore, we found a key link: a global network threshold occurred when individual thresholds for adoption were responsive to exposures or greater WOM. Future research might turn to examine how individual-level thresholds influence this global threshold.

Prior models have investigated the implications of different individual thresholds on adoption.


In this manner, most studies in the field of ocean engineering have determined the thrust and the azimuth direction of the thrusters to be design variables for an optimization problem. In fact, the thrust can be expressed as a function of the speed of rotation, the diameter, and the thrust coefficient of a thruster. In order to reflect the specifications of the given thruster and to more easily control the thruster, the speed of rotation can be used as a design variable instead of the thrust. Meanwhile, a local optimization algorithm can be used as the optimization algorithm, such as the SQP algorithm, to derive an accurate optimum. However, this method is very sensitive to a starting point for optimization and sometimes finds a local optimum. On the other hand, a global optimization algorithm, such as the GA, does not need a starting point for the optimization but can only find a rough optimum [10] .

On the other hand, a global optimization algorithm, such as the GA, does not need a starting point for the optimization but can only find a rough optimum.


Despite the simplicity and elegance of Waddington's concept, it lacks quantitative mechanistic details. Given the significance of a quantitative understanding of cell phenotypic transitions, many efforts have been made to develop predictive mathematical frameworks [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] . Although some advances have been made for low dimensional systems, the application of these mathematical frameworks to higher dimensional models remains a theoretical challenge.

Given the significance of a quantitative understanding of cell phenotypic transitions, many efforts have been made to develop predictive mathematical frameworks.


Artificial intelligence techniques have also been applied to the STHS problem [12] [13] [14] [15] . However, a significant computational effort is necessary to solve the problem for cascaded hydro systems. Also, due to the heuristics used in the search process only sub-optimal solutions can be reached.

Artificial intelligence techniques have also been applied to the STHS problem.


In this paper, the short-term hydro scheduling (STHS) problem of head-dependent cascaded hydro systems is considered. In hydro plants with a large storage capacity available, head variation has negligible influence on operating efficiency in the short-term [1] . In hydro plants with a small storage capacity available, also known as run-of-the-river hydro plants, operating efficiency is sensitive to the head: head change effect [2] . For instance, in the Portuguese system there are several cascaded hydro systems formed by several but small reservoirs. Hence, it is necessary to consider head-dependency on STHS. In a cascaded hydraulic configuration, where hydro plants can be connected in both series and parallel, the release of an upstream plant contributes to the inflow of the next downstream plants, implying spatial-temporal coupling among reservoirs. Head-dependency coupled with the cascaded hydraulic configuration augments the problem complexity and dimension.

In hydro plants with a large storage capacity available, head variation has negligible influence on operating efficiency in the short-term.

In hydro plants with a small storage capacity available, also known as run-of-the-river hydro plants, operating efficiency is sensitive to the head: head change effect.


One of the main differences between gas turbine blades and rocket nozzles is the wall curvature. Turbine blade walls are curved in the stream-wise direction, while rocket nozzles walls can be curved in both streamwise and spanswise directions. Most film cooling studies have only focused on flat plates or surfaces with stream-wise curvature. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of lateral curvature on film cooling effectiveness through a single row of cylindrical holes with different spanwise injection angles at various blowing ratios using a shear stress transport model (SST). The predicted results are compared with the experimental results of H. Nasir and al [20] .

The predicted results are compared with the experimental results of H. Nasir and al.


Thermal protection of rocket engines of spacetransportation systems is one of the most challenging issues. The heat loads and temperatures in combustion chambers and rocket nozzles are significantly above the material failure limit of recent available materials. Efficient cooling methods are necessary in order to reduce thermal loads and insure reliability of rocket engines. Cooling techniques such as regenerative cooling, radiation cooling, film cooling, transpiration cooling and ablation have led to improvements in nozzles thermal protection [1] . Film cooling technology is one of the favorable cooling methods. In this technique, a secondary fluid is injected through holes on the surface to be cooled. The injected coolant from holes forms a thin thermal insulation layer on the surface to protect the wall from being overheated by the hot flow.

Cooling techniques such as regenerative cooling, radiation cooling, film cooling, transpiration cooling and ablation have led to improvements in nozzles thermal protection.


Water is an irreplaceable resource that is vital to human life and is rapidly becoming one of the scarcest and most sought-after resources worldwide. In 2009, the global use of water by sector was 70% by agriculture, 20% by industry, and 10% for domestic use [1] . What makes the water scarcity problem more complex is that it is often not clear as to who is accountable and to what extent. The responsibilities of both consumers and companies go well beyond their own direct water consumption and pollution. This is why it is important for companies to look further than the water use in company operations, by considering, for instance, water use in their supply chains [2] .

In 2009, the global use of water by sector was 70% by agriculture, 20% by industry, and 10% for domestic use.

This is why it is important for companies to look further than the water use in company operations, by considering, for instance, water use in their supply chains.


A considerable number of South Africa's key economic activities occur in areas where water availability is limited and the declining of water quality which includes AMD, is an additional concern. Poor municipal management and deteriorating infrastructure increases the risk of unreliable water supply and inadequate quality. These challenges have potential supply and financial impacts on business [5] . As much as 30% of South Africa' water source areas overlap with coalfields. Even more concerning is that more than 50% of Mpumalanga (a province in the northeast of South Africa) is under either a prospecting or mining licence for coal. Arguably, this state of affairs could result in widespread AMD pollution [17] .

These challenges have potential supply and financial impacts on business.

Arguably, this state of affairs could result in widespread AMD pollution.


The factors leading to the difference of nitrate contents in different vegetables are complex and a number of studies on the mechanism of nitrate accumulation have been done, mainly on the nitrate uptake rate, nitrate reductase activity, and growth rate, which are closely related to carbon metabolism. Besides the genetic factor, growth conditions also play a decisive role in the nitrate accumulation of plants: nitrogen fertilizers, variety and crop protection strategies, soil moisture, light intensity and temperature (Hmelak Gorenjak, & Cencič, 2013) . However, the fundamental factor of nitrate content in vegetables should be the imbalance between nitrate uptake and reduction (Du, Zhang, & Lin, 2007) .

Besides the genetic factor, growth conditions also play a decisive role in the nitrate accumulation of plants: nitrogen fertilizers, variety and crop protection strategies, soil moisture, light intensity and temperature.

However, the fundamental factor of nitrate content in vegetables should be the imbalance between nitrate uptake and reduction.


Meaningful ecological studies on insect communities require sampling protocols that take into consideration temporal fluctuations in abundance and species composition to avoid misleading results. The effects of sampling effort or seasonality on ecological patterns are only documented for a few insect groups. Sampling effort accounted for a large proportion of the variance in alphadiversity in two of three guilds of a phytophagous insect community on Brassicaceae (Frenzel & Brandl, 1998) . Furthermore, seasonal patterns depended on the level of specialization and the feeding habits of Auchenorrhyncha in a rain forest (Novotny & Basset, 1998) .

Sampling effort accounted for a large proportion of the variance in alphadiversity in two of three guilds of a phytophagous insect community on Brassicaceae.

Furthermore, seasonal patterns depended on the level of specialization and the feeding habits of Auchenorrhyncha in a rain forest.


The lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce/subalpine, and subalpine fir forest types pose potential targets for management that seeks to enhance the recruitment or survival of whitebark pine. The lodgepole pine forest type contains more whitebark pine seedlings ( Table 2 ; Figure 4a ), and the portion of this type with whitebark pine present covers more forest area (Table 1 ) than any other forest type with whitebark pines present. However, the steep decline in the whitebark pine size-class distribution in the lodgepole pine forest type (Figure 4) suggests that either (a) recent recruitment of whitebark pine seedlings into larger size-classes was lower in the lodgepole pine forest type than in other types, or (b) recent disturbance in lodgepole pine stands has resulted in a relatively large amount of seedling germination and establishment. The first explanation implies that while conditions are favorable for seed germination and seedling growth, they are not favorable for the growth of larger whitebark pines, possibly due to site factors such as soil texture or light availability, or due to frequent disturbance. The second explanation could result in the future recruitment of more mature whitebark pines; however, young whitebark pines may be subjected to mortality agents such as white pine blister rust that will prevent any increase in recruitment. Although overstory mortality creates canopy gaps that increase light availability and thus likely enhance the growth of young whitebark pine trees, it remains to be seen whether the recruitment of whitebark pines into the sapling size-class will increase following the recent widespread mortality of lodgepole pine due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic [6] . Future research and adaptive management might investigate whether silvicultural prescriptions such as shelterwood or patch cuts of lodgepole pine, where whitebark pine seedlings occur in the understory, could increase the recruitment of saplings.

Although overstory mortality creates canopy gaps that increase light availability and thus likely enhance the growth of young whitebark pine trees, it remains to be seen whether the recruitment of whitebark pines into the sapling size-class will increase following the recent widespread mortality of lodgepole pine due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic.


First study on the multiobjective evolutionary optimization, called Vector Evaluated Genetic Algorithm (VEGA) was performed by use of GA's principle [1] . VEGA employs a number of subpopulations to search the solution space considering a modified selection mechanism. Following the emergence of VEGA, two featured approaches, linear aggregating and lexicographic ordering of objective functions were developed [2, 3] . They transformed all objective functions into a single objective function by way of optimizing each objective function without decreasing their solution qualities.

First study on the multiobjective evolutionary optimization, called Vector Evaluated Genetic Algorithm (VEGA) was performed by use of GA's principle.

Following the emergence of VEGA, two featured approaches, linear aggregating and lexicographic ordering of objective functions were developed.


The second set of reasons is rooted in various labor market complications, and would muddle estimation even with more complete datasets. For example, the standard rationale for the emergence of compensating differentials presumes vigorous and well-informed job search in a world where labor market frictions and incomplete information are omnipresent (Hwang et al., 1998; Bonhomme and Jolivet, 2009) . Absent evidence on motivation, it can also be difficult to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary job changes (Taber and Vejlin 2011) .

For example, the standard rationale for the emergence of compensating differentials presumes vigorous and well-informed job search in a world where labor market frictions and incomplete information are omnipresent.

Absent evidence on motivation, it can also be difficult to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary job changes.


In the present work, the mechanical properties of β-TCP and BCP scaffolds (containing 50% of HA) were statistically similar. Nonetheless, the use of BCP with different HA to β-TCP ratios allows not only the manipulation of the scaffold's degradation rate but their bioactivity properties [19] . Moreover, it has been shown that BCP improves the formation of new bone inside the implanted scaffold [17] . Calcium phosphatebased bioceramics are widely used in bone repair due to their similarity in composition to the bone mineral [5] .

Nonetheless, the use of BCP with different HA to β-TCP ratios allows not only the manipulation of the scaffold's degradation rate but their bioactivity properties.

Moreover, it has been shown that BCP improves the formation of new bone inside the implanted scaffold.

Calcium phosphatebased bioceramics are widely used in bone repair due to their similarity in composition to the bone mineral.


Additive manufacture techniques as three-dimensional (3D) printing, laser sintering, stereolithography, fused-deposition-modeling and direct-write assembly allow the fabrication of customized scaffolds with complex shapes and high reproducibility from a computer-aided design (CAD) model. Among the additive manufacture methods, direct-write assembly is a technique that uses water-based inks, with minimal organic content (< 1wt %) [4, 5, 6] . By adjusting the ink composition and viscoelasticity, calcium phosphates scaffolds can be built with minimal organic content and without the need for a sacrificial support material [9] . Furthermore, this technique employs an ink delivery system mounted on a z-axis motion-controlled stage onto a moving x-y stage, which allows building scaffolds with accurate size and geometry.

Among the additive manufacture methods, direct-write assembly is a technique that uses water-based inks, with minimal organic content (< 1wt %).

By adjusting the ink composition and viscoelasticity, calcium phosphates scaffolds can be built with minimal organic content and without the need for a sacrificial support material.


During the past years, several techniques had been developed in order to repair extensive bone loss, nevertheless it remains a challenge because each technique has its limitation. Autogenous bone grafts have not just morbidity associated, but restriction in the quality and quantity of bone available for donation to the recipient site. Allografts have a significant incidence of postoperative infection as well as potential for disease transmission [1] . Considering this, using synthetic bone graft materials to control the complications associated with the current techniques seems to be a powerful alternative.

Allografts have a significant incidence of postoperative infection as well as potential for disease transmission.


Parameters as porosity and mechanical strength are considered key factors in determining scaffold performance [13] . Another important feature is the surface free energy, which influences cellular adhesion strength and proliferation. It has been shown that low cell adhesion strength is related to the dispersive component of SFE [21] . Previous works also demonstrated that: the more hydrophilic the material the more cells will adhere on the surface [22, 23] . In this study both groups of scaffolds (β-TCP and BCP) presented a larger polar component compared to the apolar one. Additionally, considering that the colloidal ink production as well as the robotic deposition didn't change the hydrophilic characteristic of CaPs, it may represent a relevant characteristic of this technique.

Parameters as porosity and mechanical strength are considered key factors in determining scaffold performance.

It has been shown that low cell adhesion strength is related to the dispersive component of SFE.

Previous works also demonstrated that: the more hydrophilic the material the more cells will adhere on the surface.


It's known that filling the bone defect with a porous scaffold helps to enhance bone regeneration since the scaffold serves as a template for cell ingrowth and interactions as well as for extracellular bone matrix formation [5] . Conventional methods for scaffold fabrication such as gas foaming, salt leaching, fiber meshing and emulsification are widespread, but they cannot produce a scaffold with full control of geometrical parameters (e.g. pore size and interconnected porosity) [5, 6] . It has been shown that 3D porous scaffolds, reproducing the shape of the patient's bone defect, have a great biocompatibility after the surgical procedure [7, 8] .

It's known that filling the bone defect with a porous scaffold helps to enhance bone regeneration since the scaffold serves as a template for cell ingrowth and interactions as well as for extracellular bone matrix formation.

Conventional methods for scaffold fabrication such as gas foaming, salt leaching, fiber meshing and emulsification are widespread, but they cannot produce a scaffold with full control of geometrical parameters (e.g. pore size and interconnected porosity).

It has been shown that 3D porous scaffolds, reproducing the shape of the patient's bone defect, have a great biocompatibility after the surgical procedure.


In this paper we present a detailed scheme for annotating expressions of opinions, beliefs, emotions, sentiment, speculation and other private states in newspaper articles. Private state is a general term that covers mental and emotional states, which cannot be directly observed or verified (Quirk et al., 1985) . For example, we can observe evidence of someone else being happy, but we cannot directly observe their happiness. In natural language, opinions, emotions and other private states are expressed using subjective language (Banfield, 1982; Wiebe, 1994) .

Private state is a general term that covers mental and emotional states, which cannot be directly observed or verified.

In natural language, opinions, emotions and other private states are expressed using subjective language.


Here T is an arbitrary bounded time scale, where we denote a := min T, b := max T, T • = T \ {a}, and f : T • × R n → R n is a continuous function. Problem (1.1) unifies continuous and discrete problems. We use the notion of tube solution for system (1.1), in the spirit of the works of Gilbert and Frigon [7] [8] [9] . This notion is useful to get existence results for systems of differential equations of first order, as a generalization of lower and upper solutions [3, 6, 10, 11] . Our main result provides existence of solution to the nonlinear nabla boundary value problem (1.1).

We use the notion of tube solution for system (1.1), in the spirit of the works of Gilbert and Frigon.

This notion is useful to get existence results for systems of differential equations of first order, as a generalization of lower and upper solutions.


In Fig. 6 , we show f computed from the liquid bridge energy and normalized half distance for three contact angles Θ = 39°, 50°, and 66°. The result we obtained is analogous to the analytical calculations obtained in the literature for a contact angle θ > 30° [22, 33] . We can notice that the force increases as h decreases, which leads to the collapse of the space between the planes as observed in flexible tubes. We can interpret the calculated force shown in Fig. 6 as the force needed to reopen a collapsed airway. This force is very high for small half distances h and decreases as we increase h. Therefore, once the external force pulling the planes apart becomes larger, the force attaching the planes to the bridge decreases and the bridge loses its stability.

The result we obtained is analogous to the analytical calculations obtained in the literature for a contact angle θ > 30°.


From Fig. 1 we show the free energy difference between the two states, before and just after the liquid bridge formation, ∆F . The abrupt release of this energy causes mechanical instabilities and generates the bursting crackle sound. We can notice from Fig. 1 that ∆F increases as Θ decreases, which may also correspond to the change in the pulmonary crackles strength as the properties of coating fluids change with the progression of the disease. The connection between the surface properties of the fluids in the lung and the crackle sound generated during the liquid bridge rupture or formation is crucial for understanding the pathology of several respiratory diseases and for improving clinical diagnosis [9, 34] . However, our model in its present state cannot be directly applied to lung physiology mainly due the topological differences between our study and the real liquid bridge in the airways. In fact, in our model the liquid bridge forms between two planes, while in real airways the bridges block the cylindrical tubes. We can also notice that the liquid bridge in the airways will form not only due to geometrical contraction of the airways, but also due to pressure fluctuations in airflow. It is known from the Bernoulli theory that the air flow reduces local hydrostatic pressure in proportion to the velocity squared. In a flexible tube, if a given region has a smaller diameter, the local pressure at that point has even lower pressure since the velocity increases inverse proportionally to the cross-section area. The lung airways are not only flexible, but also coated with a liquid layer which can easily move to the lower pressure Fig. 6 . The force between the planes for three different contact angles Θ computed using Eq. (11) . Circle, square and triangle represent Θ equal to 39°, 50°, and 66°, respectively. The continuous, dashed and dotted lines are the analytical calculation force using Eq. (8) for Θ equal to 39°, 50°, and 66°, respectively. We use a lattice size of 60 × 60 × 52 and 10 000 liquid particles.

The connection between the surface properties of the fluids in the lung and the crackle sound generated during the liquid bridge rupture or formation is crucial for understanding the pathology of several respiratory diseases and for improving clinical diagnosis.

The force between the planes for three different contact angles Θ computed using Eq..


The convolution process of the probability density functions of the generating units is simplified in the Fourier domain. Application of the Fourier methods to approximate the probability distribution of outages of generating units was suggested by Schenk and Rau [2] . Reduction in computational time was the principal advantage of using the Fourier transform method. This is also called the method of moments or the cumulant method. The method is fast in computation but approximations are introduced in representing the Fourier transforms of the individual outages, the load duration curve and in fitting the Gram-Charlier series to the convolved distribution. This method provides accurate results when compared to the basic recursive method in systems with large generating units especially when these units have large forced outage rates. However, this method can be quite inaccurate at certain outage levels in systems which have low forced outage rates.

Application of the Fourier methods to approximate the probability distribution of outages of generating units was suggested by Schenk and Rau.