Many studies have been conducted on OCP formation and the dynamics of OCP in solution. OCP is not directly formed from the ions in the aqueous solution, but rather via several precursor phases, such as amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP; at least six forms) through solid-solid phase conversion instead of a dissolution-precipitation reaction [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] . Therefore, it is suggested that the property of the precursor, in this case the physicality of ACP, strongly affects the formation of OCP.


To our knowledge, this present study is the first to directly compare the effects on locomotion and stereotypy of d-amphetamine injected into the nueleusaccumbens and caudate-putamen. And, although these data must be considered in the context of other recent work suggesting that the control of these two behaviors is complex, the present data do suggest that direct application of d-amphetamine into these two structures produces different behaviors. It is possible that the performance of one set of behaviors versus another during systemic administration of damphetamine may represent a reflection of the predominant site of action of the drug at any given point in time. The data from the present experiment are consistent with this view. These data are also consistent with results showing differential effects of damphetamine microinjections into these two areas on other behaviors (Solomon & Staton, 1982) . Nevertheless, it remains an open question as to exactly how these behaviors are mediated and what roles various anatomical and pharmacological systems play.

These data are also consistent with results showing differential effects of damphetamine microinjections into these two areas on other behaviors.


On the other hand, there is a more established research literature on recommender systems (RS). RS are so ware tools and techniques that provide suggestions for particular items to a user [59] . A RS can help the user nd items that would probably match their preferences among the increasing amount of available information and products. Additionally, a RS relies on people making choices based on what other people recommend [59] . Recommender systems have been o en used to help users select products in e-commerce sites, movies, or music, just to name a few common applications.

RS are so ware tools and techniques that provide suggestions for particular items to a user.

Additionally, a RS relies on people making choices based on what other people recommend.


Results from this study can be explained on the basis of the known potential-temperature dependence on the onset of localized corrosion in active-passive alloys. It is known that localized corrosion can take place if the corrosion potential of steel in a given environment surpasses a critical potential provided a critical temperature is exceeded [13, 56, 57] . The critical potential is usually considered to be the crevice corrosion repassivation potential (E r ). At lower potentials than E r , pit initiation is followed by rapid repassivation, a stage commonly referred to as metastable pitting. Both a critical potential and temperature are required to stabilize pit growth on the alloys surface. In a previous study, critical potentials and critical temperatures for pitting and crevice corrosion of high-resistance alloys in seawater were investigated [13] . It was observed that critical potentials for pitting and crevice corrosion initiation and repassivation decreased with increasing exposure temperature and lowering of temperature similarly ennobled the critical potential. In the same study, UNS S32750 and UNS S31254 exhibited excellent resistance to crevice corrosion in natural seawater at temperatures below 40°C under potentiostatic and potentiodynamic test conditions. This is in agreement with the results from the present study where UNS S32750, UNS S31254 and UNS N06625 remained protected against localized corrosion regardless of the presence and activity of a biofilm on their surfaces. On the other hand, UNS S31603, UNS S31803 and UNS N08825 seem to be prone to initiate localized corrosion at the seawater temperatures attained in our test rig as indicated by previous studies on their crevice corrosion repassivation potentials in seawater [13] .

It is known that localized corrosion can take place if the corrosion potential of steel in a given environment surpasses a critical potential provided a critical temperature is exceeded.

In a previous study, critical potentials and critical temperatures for pitting and crevice corrosion of high-resistance alloys in seawater were investigated.

On the other hand, UNS S31603, UNS S31803 and UNS N08825 seem to be prone to initiate localized corrosion at the seawater temperatures attained in our test rig as indicated by previous studies on their crevice corrosion repassivation potentials in seawater.


The use of preservation treatments for industrial waters is a crucial practice to provide protection of subsea pipelines against MIC. Issues surrounding the use of chemical biocides to control biofilm growth on internal surfaces of offshore structural alloys have led to the interest in alternative seawater treatments for mitigating biofilm growth and preventing MIC. In this work, the influence of filtration-UV irradiation on the control of biofilm growth and activity on several alloys and finally on MIC in seawater was investigated. As it has been demonstrated in previous studies, results from this work indicate that microorganisms can rapidly colonize the steel surfaces immersed in natural seawater and ennoble their E corr . The extent of the ennoblement observed in these experiments was similar to values reported by researchers in other geographical regions [20, 46, 47] . Previous studies on the phenomenon of ennoblement have indicated that the rapid ennoblement of E corr of steels in natural waters is directly associated with the formation of a biofilm on the surface following exposure. Hence, it can be inferred from the present study that filtration-UV radiation was effective in delaying biofilm formation and consequently ennoblement of the alloys corrosion potential for up to 40 days. The drastic E corr ennoblement observed simultaneously on all test alloys after the 40-day exposure to treated seawater could be due to a temporary failure of the UV system likely during off-working hours when the test rig can be unattended. Under these conditions, new seawater microorganisms introduced into the experimental tank can colonize the alloys surface within a few hours of exposure and rapidly form a biofilm matrix. Once a biofilm is established, microbial cells can be sheltered by exopolymeric substances, allowing an apparent increased UV resistance [48] . The above assumption is consistent with the persistence of the ennoblement observed on the alloys exposed to the UV treated seawater from the day 40 until the end of the exposure period. The biofilm formation on alloys exposed to both treated and raw seawater was confirmed by SEM imaging. However, since time-course studies of biofilm formation were not performed (only a single-point measurement was conducted at the end of exposure) it is not possible to determine when exactly a biofilm was formed on the alloys surface.

The extent of the ennoblement observed in these experiments was similar to values reported by researchers in other geographical regions.

Once a biofilm is established, microbial cells can be sheltered by exopolymeric substances, allowing an apparent increased UV resistance.


The use of natural seawater in the hydrotesting of subsea pipelines prior to commissioning is becoming an issue of increasing importance to the oil and gas industry. This practice can contaminate the internal surface with microorganisms, sand and salts, even after the water has been removed, increasing the possibility of internal localized corrosion, particularly MIC [28] [29] [30] . Therefore, hydrotest seawater must be properly treated in order to reduce the possibility of contamination and severe corrosion damage and to prolong pipeline and equipment service life [31, 32] .

This practice can contaminate the internal surface with microorganisms, sand and salts, even after the water has been removed, increasing the possibility of internal localized corrosion, particularly MIC.

Therefore, hydrotest seawater must be properly treated in order to reduce the possibility of contamination and severe corrosion damage and to prolong pipeline and equipment service life.


Ennoblement has also been related to the settlement of living sea diatoms on stainless steels [20] . It was suggested that ennoblement was caused not by the metabolism but by the metabolite of the sea diatoms contained in a thin organic film adhered to the steel. In the present study, sea diatoms were found embedded in the EPS of ennobling biofilms on the different alloys which may suggest they could have played a role in the observed ennoblement. It is probable that all of these mechanisms, either singly or in combination, may contribute to the ennoblement of the alloys. However, the precise mechanisms of ennoblement by biofilms on the selected corrosion resistant alloys were not investigated in this work.

Ennoblement has also been related to the settlement of living sea diatoms on stainless steels.


PCR-DGGE method was used for directly determining the genetic diversity of microbial populations in the complex biofilms developed on the test alloys. PCR-DGGE analysis of biofilms formed on alloys exposed to filtered-UV treated seawater as well as raw untreated seawater indicated that filtration-UV irradiation had an effect on biofilm community composition. Changes in bacterial community in biofilms developed in treated seawater were likely associated with lower concentration of nutrients and organic matter due to filtration and settlement. PCR-DGGE also revealed that bacteria differed in their preference for material type. Different biofilm communities on different alloys have been reported previously [14] . It is likely that microbial adhesion and biofilm formation are affected by the nature of the passive film and the microstructure of alloys. Chemical composition and microstructure have been shown to have a strong influence on the composition and thickness of oxide films, which may contribute to the selective attachment of microorganisms.

Different biofilm communities on different alloys have been reported previously.


Autoradiography of 14 C-acetate labelled bacteria on well-established anodic regions demonstrated that bacteria preferentially bound to sites of active anodic activity such as corrosion products formed over corrosion pits and inactive pits that has initiated and repassivated. It has been suggested that active corroding sites may offer alternative energy sources for bacterial growth on steel surfaces [61] . These studies, however, only measured bacterial density and did not evaluate bacterial diversity.

It has been suggested that active corroding sites may offer alternative energy sources for bacterial growth on steel surfaces.


In this study, several offshore construction alloys were exposed to slowly flowing natural seawater that ensured a constant loading rate of nutrients and promoted the formation of mature and active biofilms in a test rig established in New South Wales, Australia [36] . The particular design of the test rig allowed for the evaluation of the alloys corrosion performance in raw untreated seawater as well as filtered-UV irradiated seawater. The corrosion performance of the alloys was investigated by monitoring corrosion potential over time and conducting surface analyses. Bacterial diversity in biofilms formed on the different alloys in raw and treated seawater was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Molecular characterization of biofilm communities has become crucial to understand the complexity of the interactions of biofilms with substratum surfaces and the surrounding environment [16, [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] . The sensitivity of this technique allowed an assessment of the degree to which exposure conditions and material composition affect the bacterial community and shift the diversity in the biofilms.

In this study, several offshore construction alloys were exposed to slowly flowing natural seawater that ensured a constant loading rate of nutrients and promoted the formation of mature and active biofilms in a test rig established in New South Wales, Australia.

Molecular characterization of biofilm communities has become crucial to understand the complexity of the interactions of biofilms with substratum surfaces and the surrounding environment.


Since significant amount of the web contents are in English 1 , it is very important to have a Machine Translation (MT) system for monolingual speakers of different languages. Bangla is the native language of around 230 million speakers worldwide, mostly from Bangladesh and West Bengal of India. To improve the information access to those Bangla speaking monolingual people, it is important to have good English to Bangla Machine Translation (MT) system. However, Bangla is a low-resource language due to the lack of language resources like Bangla WordNet and authorized parallel corpus, which makes the development of the MT system very challenging. More specifically, we are concerned about translating Out-Of-Vocabulary (OOV) words. Because MT systems for low-resource language has high probability of handling OOV words. English has rich language resources like automated parser, tokenizer and WordNet. WordNet is a large lexical database of English (Miller, 1995) . On the other hand Bangla is a lowresource language due to the lack of language resources like Bangla WordNet and authorized parallel corpus. In this situation, to utilize the available language resources for English, we consider using English as source language (SL) and Bangla as target language (TL).

WordNet is a large lexical database of English.


While the amount and diversification of computing devices is increasing the boundaries between the systems that can be accessed with them is blurring. Users expect to have access to the same applications and services with a multitude of devices and expect that this process is highly optimized to support the capabilities of the device at hand. In addition to this optimization, applications are expected to support efficient flow of interaction and coherence across the different user interfaces [10] . Today's products are becoming increasingly ubiquitous systems, hybrids of hardware, software and services [2] . It is not yet very clear what design and evaluation techniques should be used to design these products.

In addition to this optimization, applications are expected to support efficient flow of interaction and coherence across the different user interfaces.

Today's products are becoming increasingly ubiquitous systems, hybrids of hardware, software and services.


Many factors can affect the safety of an aircraft during its lifetime and thus expose the aircraft and its passengers to risks. The landing and take-off operations are the most critical phases: the high speed, the sometimes violent impact of landing gear during the touch-down phase, fast braking, ground irregularities, poor weather conditions (wind, snow, etc.) and other parameters can make the steerage perilous. Information about the contact forces at the tire/ground interface makes it possible to understand and master the * E-mail: lebon@lma.cnrs-mrs.fr behavior of the tires and provides aircraft designers and airlines companies with flight mechanics models giving ground reaction data which can be used throughout the development phases and during the operations of aircraft. Experimental data obtained on real tires, at low and moderate speeds, are used here to draw up a data base. However, some physical limitations (such as the power of engines, the tarmac run length, etc.), the large non-linearities occurring in these applications make it difficult to reach high speeds in these models and to extrapolate from the results obtained. The large non-linearities are due mainly to the components of pneumatic tires, and their geometry, since they undergo large transformations and to the loading conditions (inflated pressure, vertical load), as well as to some [39] .

The large non-linearities are due mainly to the components of pneumatic tires, and their geometry, since they undergo large transformations and to the loading conditions (inflated pressure, vertical load), as well as to some.


A product line is a long-living system that must continuously evolve to satisfy the new needs of customers. The evolution of an SPL impacts both the domain model of the product line and the application models of derived products. These changes can be the source of several defects addressed in many papers in the literature [4, 5] . Since the requirements related to SPL evolutions are most of the time expressed in the form of natural language specifications, the verification of the model becomes more complex. To solve this problem, it is necessary to transform the natural language specifications into a more formal representation in order to simplify the detection of defects. In this paper, we focus on a specific model defect, i.e., feature duplication [6] . We consider duplication the fact of adding to the domain or the application model features with the same semantics, which means that they satisfy the same functionality.

These changes can be the source of several defects addressed in many papers in the literature.

In this paper, we focus on a specific model defect, i.e., feature duplication.


In this work, enhanced independent component analysis (EICA) is applied first in order to extract prominent features from the silhouettes. EICA is a higher-order statistical technique that extracts prominent local features from depth silhouettes when compared to Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which produces global features based on second-order statistics [12] . Next, upon proving the depth features in HAR, the silhouette features are augmented with the optical flow features.

EICA is a higher-order statistical technique that extracts prominent local features from depth silhouettes when compared to Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which produces global features based on second-order statistics.


One specific prosthetic design that was associated with the highest incidence of tibial post fracture was identified. This prosthesis had a hole in the post for screw fixation of the polyethylene liner to the tibial tray [4, 27] . Revision for catastrophic failure of the tibial post was necessary in 12.4% of knees at a mean of 40 months postoperatively [4] . These patients were different from patients in the other group with fractures of the tibial post, in that they were predominantly male, and they were younger and heavier than the patients without fractures of the post. The presenting complaint with this prosthesis after the post fracture included patella clunking in most knees, which was not seen in the other group with tibial post fractures. These findings likely indicate some unique design flaw with this PS prosthesis and its tibial post. The treatment of these failed knees was also different than that of the other group, with the use of a deep dish congruent liner in all patients, with successful results at short-term followup.

This prosthesis had a hole in the post for screw fixation of the polyethylene liner to the tibial tray.

Revision for catastrophic failure of the tibial post was necessary in 12.4% of knees at a mean of 40 months postoperatively.


Evaluation is the activity of argumentation supported by information developed through prior knowledge, analysis, experimentation, or information gathering (e.g. expert advice) [23] . Respondents in general acknowledge the use of unstructured decision methods (Figure 7 ) but on the other hand emphasize the lack of structured decision methods. Among structured methods, expert support is most commonly used today. This method is also the most preferred together with checklists. The system owner role correlates strongly with preferred structured methods (formal design review meeting 0.59, checklist 0.55, expert support 0.66; rating however, is not correlated). Expert support is provided by the technical career, which is an acknowledged career alternative within the company for those who has chosen to become experts in their field of work. The career starts as engineer and an experienced engineer can then be promoted to senior engineer. The highest level of the career is technical manager and senior technical manager which are positions. The analysis has shown a need for support in methods and technology, especially for the recently employed engineers. According to the role description a senior engineer should be able to educate and coach other engineers.

Evaluation is the activity of argumentation supported by information developed through prior knowledge, analysis, experimentation, or information gathering (e.g. expert advice).


Existing positioning technologies such as the global positioning system (GPS) are not useful in indoor applications, especially in underground mining environments. This is because the signal is easily blocked by most construction materials and the mobile terminal cannot process the beacons sent from the satellites [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] . Therefore, other wireless technologies such as Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), and Zigbee have been preferred to provide indoor localization/positioning [5] .

This is because the signal is easily blocked by most construction materials and the mobile terminal cannot process the beacons sent from the satellites.

Therefore, other wireless technologies such as Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), and Zigbee have been preferred to provide indoor localization/positioning.


Of particular interest is the synthesis of these systems to control a biologically inspired robot. Iwasaki has shown, using multivariable harmonic balance, that a CPG can be synthesized, with desired amplitude, phase, and frequency relationships between each neuron [6] . It has also been show that sensory feedback is sufficient for entrainment of the neural controls to the mechanical resonance. The objective of this study is to synthesize a CPG in this manner, using it to control a morphing tensegrity structure.

Iwasaki has shown, using multivariable harmonic balance, that a CPG can be synthesized, with desired amplitude, phase, and frequency relationships between each neuron.


Rhythmic motion in animals is ultimately controlled by central pattern generators [1] . CPGs are system of neurons connected in such a way that their outputs autonomously oscillate with particular phase relationships between individual neurons. The output is used to control the muscles responsible of the rhythmic motion of an animal's appendages. This motion then rectifies with the environment to produce a biased locomotion. Feedback from the muscles provides the necessary signal to modify the oscillation in response to forces from the environment, allowing the neural network to achieve a high level of autonomy from a central nervous system.

Rhythmic motion in animals is ultimately controlled by central pattern generators.


Neural oscillators have been studied extensively in biology. Brown proposed the reciprocal inhibition neuron model as a oscillator, where neurons are connected by inhibitory synapses, resulting in out of phase oscillations [1] . He later included synaptic fatigue and post inhibitory rebound in his models. Friesen discussed reciprocal inhibition in multiple biological systems, including oscillatory control of leech and lamprey swimming [2] . It has been shown in leeches that CPGs are a fundamental control mechanism, and further, sensory feedback from the muscles has the ability to coordinate the control for efficient locomotion [3] [4] [5] . These biological studies have been used to validate mathematical and dynamical models.

Brown proposed the reciprocal inhibition neuron model as a oscillator, where neurons are connected by inhibitory synapses, resulting in out of phase oscillations.

Friesen discussed reciprocal inhibition in multiple biological systems, including oscillatory control of leech and lamprey swimming.

It has been shown in leeches that CPGs are a fundamental control mechanism, and further, sensory feedback from the muscles has the ability to coordinate the control for efficient locomotion.


In modern communication systems, a digital step attenuator is an essential part of the transceiver modules of phased array antenna and beamforming systems [1] [2] [3] . In phased-array systems, typically, attenuators are developed with low insertion phase variations over different attenuation states. In addition, the incoming signal arriving at the attenuators is usually very large, and the attenuator must have high enough linearity to handle the large signal, as well as a low insertion phase variation. For the systems to provide low insertion phase and get the desired amplitude, the phase and amplitude of the incoming signal must be accurately set. Particularly, in the case where several Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules are integrated, the exact phase and amplitude values are required [4] [5] [6] [7] .

In modern communication systems, a digital step attenuator is an essential part of the transceiver modules of phased array antenna and beamforming systems.

Particularly, in the case where several Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules are integrated, the exact phase and amplitude values are required.


As removing attribute values from the training data is clearly removing information, we expect the resulting learned classifier to make more mistakes. This does, however, make the various base classifiers more diverse; existing research in ensemble methods has shown that this diversity is critical (Kuncheva and Whitaker, 2003) . Moreover, our experimental results suggest that the predictive accuracy of each base classifier, trained from an incomplete dataset produced by removing a small number of attribute values, is often close to, or even occasionally better than, the classifiers trained from the original dataset. The ensemble classifier, formed from these classifiers, is often more accurate than just applying a standard learner to the original data .

This does, however, make the various base classifiers more diverse; existing research in ensemble methods has shown that this diversity is critical.


In addition to meeting "absolute" performance requirements on point-to-point networks, "statistical" performance requirements have also been investigated by several researchers [18] , [20] , [30] . However, most of them focused on the problem of defining/computing quality-of-service or grade-of-service and the strategy of multiplexing packets. They do not aggressively reserve resources to guarantee the performance requirements or lack of methods to make sufficient and efficient reservation of resources. Basically, most of them are still best-effort schemes.

In addition to meeting "absolute" performance requirements on point-to-point networks, "statistical" performance requirements have also been investigated by several researchers.


All these scholars make significant contributions to the IPA methodology. However, the traditional IPA model has potential problems: statistical analyses and scale-based data collected usually do not meet its assumption of normal distributions [13] [16] . Garver also believes that the assumption of normal distributions is seldom realistic [26] . As a result, the use of arithmetic means of skewed data as a benchmark makes it difficult to correctly identify the priority for service quality improvements [16] . This paper proposes an IPA methodology modified with Box-Cox Transformation and illustrates its applications and benefits by examining the service quality of standard hotels.

However, the traditional IPA model has potential problems: statistical analyses and scale-based data collected usually do not meet its assumption of normal distributions.

Garver also believes that the assumption of normal distributions is seldom realistic.

As a result, the use of arithmetic means of skewed data as a benchmark makes it difficult to correctly identify the priority for service quality improvements.


Previous studies have used varied methodologies and analyses, while the forecasting timeline includes short-term (1-5 years), mid-term (6-10 years), and long-term (11-20 years) . From this point of view, only few studies have been conducted for long-term forecasting, accounting for about 28% out of the reviewed research. Moreover, the long-term forecasting studies are very limited, and that limitation may result in lower quality when compared to short-term and mid-term studies. From the study of related research on prediction models, we have found some shortcomings in long-term forecasting including a lack of true variable selection for a causality based on context and study interest, a lack of co-integration test and the error correction mechanism test, and a lack of a spurious test. In addition, those models did not identify the problems of heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, and autocorrelation. In the context of Thailand, in the past, most energy consumption forecasting models used were of those models adapted from traditional approaches such as the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model, the Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) model, the ARIMA model, and the ANN model. In fact, the above models were for forecasting with potentially high errors. They did not consider the causal variables in the real context of Thailand. Therefore, the influence of the factors towards dependent variables were unknown. When the output was used in national policy-making, this would negatively affect the country at large. However, the models are for short-term forecasting [5] . These models cannot be used for national long-term policy-making. As a result, the country has failed to head in the right direction for achieving the reduction goal and sustainable development.

However, the models are for short-term forecasting.


In this paper, based on the considerations discussed above, we experimentally investigated the influence of wet compression with a suction side cooled compressor through the EEV control on the performance of a 3.5 kW heat pump system, with a focus on the heating application at different outdoor temperatures. The effects of wet compression on the performance of the heat pump system were investigated and discussed, with respect to the refrigerant quality at the compressor inlet. In addition, the superheat at the discharge line was discussed as a controlling parameter for adjusting the quality at the suction line, by varying the opening of the expansion valve during wet compression. Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of a heat pump system with a rated heating capacity of 3500 W and a power input of 1270 W, in accordance with the ISO 13256-2 [14] . The working fluid adopted was R32 (Sanowart, Zibo, China), which is a potential substitute for R410A. The system consists of a hermetic rotary compressor (LG, Seoul, Korea), two plate heat exchangers (Danfoss, Nordborgvej, Denmark) working as the condenser and the evaporator, respectively, and an electronic expansion valve (Sanhua, Hangzhou, China) with a step motor. Detailed specifications of the major components of the tested heat pump system are provided in Table 1 .

Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of a heat pump system with a rated heating capacity of 3500 W and a power input of 1270 W, in accordance with the ISO 13256-2.


Graphene as a single atom thickness of hexagonal sp 2 hybridized carbon atoms, has been the focus of a considerable amount research in recent years because of its extraordinary properties, such as high charge carrier mobility, high mechanical strength and flexibility, and optical transparency [1] . Strain sensors have been widely studied by researchers; a material that exhibits a high sensitivity with a large change in the mechanical strength in response to a small applied strain is required to fabricate an efficient strain sensor. Its two-dimensionality as well as high flexibility, conductivity, and excellent mechanical properties make graphene a promising candidate for strain sensors and flexible electronics [2] .

Graphene as a single atom thickness of hexagonal sp 2 hybridized carbon atoms, has been the focus of a considerable amount research in recent years because of its extraordinary properties, such as high charge carrier mobility, high mechanical strength and flexibility, and optical transparency.

Its two-dimensionality as well as high flexibility, conductivity, and excellent mechanical properties make graphene a promising candidate for strain sensors and flexible electronics.


Transcription factors are controlled by plant hormones and small proteins (Figure 4) : The expression of soybean miRNAs was investigated in response to water deficit and infection with soybean rust fungus, where all miRNAs were differentially regulated by each stress, usually in an opposite direction [36] . It has been shown that soybeans are able to affect stress response in other species too, like tomato plants as well as tobacco plants [37] . There are numerous studies showing that soy can alter the genome in human cancer cells [38] . This paper therefore systematically investigates the effect of fermented soy bean formulation on cancer cells in vitro, as was shown by others also, in vivo in CTC extracted from blood from cancer patients, which has not been shown before. We detected and reported earlier that the effectiveness of chemotherapy was increased by fermented soy formulation, side effects were reduced, and survival increased [39, 40] . This study investigates in vitro whether a combination of the classic cytotoxic compound doxorubicin may be combined with fermented soy bean and counterbalance some of the side effects of classical chemotherapy on the genetic level. For the first time ever stress DNA repair genes are investigated in blood circulating tumor cells (CTC) in vivo altered by a processed plant.

Transcription factors are controlled by plant hormones and small proteins (Figure 4) : The expression of soybean miRNAs was investigated in response to water deficit and infection with soybean rust fungus, where all miRNAs were differentially regulated by each stress, usually in an opposite direction.

It has been shown that soybeans are able to affect stress response in other species too, like tomato plants as well as tobacco plants.

There are numerous studies showing that soy can alter the genome in human cancer cells.

We detected and reported earlier that the effectiveness of chemotherapy was increased by fermented soy formulation, side effects were reduced, and survival increased.


Typical solid-oxide fuel-cells (SOFCs) operate at high temperatures (>800℃), as a result, their lifetimes are limited by thermal degradation via coarsening of particles in the electrodes and chemical interactions between the electrolyte and electrodes, etc. Numerous approaches have been investigated to reduce the operating temperature of SOFCs for increased long-term stability and cost-efficiency [1] . Many efforts have focused on developing new electrode materials that are suitable for low temperatures (<700℃), as well as minimizing the resistivity of conventional electrode materials by optimizing their microstructures and compositions. Conventional anode-supported SOFCs comprise ∼5-10 μm thick YSZ electrolyte with an optimized LaSr-Mn-O 3 (LSM)/YSZ composite cathode. However, the electrochemical performance (i.e., the catalytic activity) of the LSM/YSZ cathode is not sufficient for lowtemperature operation. Therefore, in recent years, new cathode materials with higher electrocatalytic activities have been intensively investigated for low-temperature SOFCs. Recent studies have shown that SOFCs with a La-Sr-Co-Fe-O 3 (LSCF) cathode delivered about twice the power density of an LSM/YSZ composite cathode [2] [3] [4] . However, the LSCF cathode cannot be in direct contact with the YSZ electrolyte because the LSCF cathode readily reacts with the YSZ electrolyte at typ-ical SOFC operating conditions, generating an insulating SrZrO 3 phase [5, 6] . Thus, a buffer layer is required between the YSZ electrolyte and the LSCF layer in order to prevent this chemical reaction.

Numerous approaches have been investigated to reduce the operating temperature of SOFCs for increased long-term stability and cost-efficiency.

Recent studies have shown that SOFCs with a La-Sr-Co-Fe-O 3 (LSCF) cathode delivered about twice the power density of an LSM/YSZ composite cathode.

However, the LSCF cathode cannot be in direct contact with the YSZ electrolyte because the LSCF cathode readily reacts with the YSZ electrolyte at typ-ical SOFC operating conditions, generating an insulating SrZrO 3 phase.


Historical drivers of agroecosystem fund transformation: farmland, livestock and farming community Cropland area decreased from mid-nineteenth century to 1956. During the second half of the nineteenth century, vineyard specialization colonized the territory to an extent that did not continue later on. The growing American and European demand for wine, and from 1867 onwards the arrival of the phylloxera plague in France, fostered vineyard expansion until the 1880s. When the Phylloxera insect destroyed all of the vines in the Vallès area, only a fraction was replanted with resistant American strains. After the plague, higher vintages obtained in the newly planted vineyards, increasingly cultivated with industrial inputs combined with the spread of winegrowing in Algerian and Greek areas, resulted in worldwide overproduction in wine markets (Pujol 1984; Planas 2007) . Instead of undertaking a risky replantation of vines in poor, sloping lands, many poor winegrowing tenants of the Vallès County searched for industrial jobs in the nearby textile towns (Fig. 1) .

After the plague, higher vintages obtained in the newly planted vineyards, increasingly cultivated with industrial inputs combined with the spread of winegrowing in Algerian and Greek areas, resulted in worldwide overproduction in wine markets.


A variety of matching relationships have been defined, which can be used in various situations. For example, the matching relationship exact match succeeds when the corresponding pre-and post-conditions of Q and S are logically equivalent. This matching technique can be used to locate a library component that can replace the corresponding query component. Relaxations of exact matching are also defined; for example plug-in match succeeds when the pre-condition of S is weaker than that of Q and the post-condition of S is stronger than that of Q. Such a technique can be used to find a component S that can implement the requirements of Q (as opposed to replacing Q). Another matching technique, plug-in post, succeeds when the post-condition of S is stronger than that of Q. Such a matching technique can be used to find a partial solution for the query Q [11] .

Another matching technique, plug-in post, succeeds when the post-condition of S is stronger than that of Q. Such a matching technique can be used to find a partial solution for the query Q.


Color-protein interaction plays a very important role in food chain system, particularly in food processing. Natural colors are sensitive to heat, pH and pressure that's why synthetic dyes used to compensate the color loss [16] . In commercial food production, proteins are widely used as emulsifier due to presence of polar and nonpolar amino acids along their polypeptide backbone which provides simultaneous affininty to aquous (polar) and oil (nonpolar) phases. Protein molecules also provide a combination of electrostatic and stereo chemical interaction [17] . Colors are generally anionic in nature, that's why protein interacts with color strongly.

Natural colors are sensitive to heat, pH and pressure that's why synthetic dyes used to compensate the color loss.

Protein molecules also provide a combination of electrostatic and stereo chemical interaction.


Synthetic food dyes are classified into the azo, triarylmethane, chinophthalon (quinoline yellow E 104), xanthene (erythrosine E 127), and indigo (E 132) [5] . Azo compounds are the most widely used as the synthetic food colorants [6] . Azo colors are characterized by at least one group N=N in the molecule with two or three aromatic rings.

Synthetic food dyes are classified into the azo, triarylmethane, chinophthalon (quinoline yellow E 104), xanthene (erythrosine E 127), and indigo (E 132).

Azo compounds are the most widely used as the synthetic food colorants.


The electric fields of a patch vary along its surface and introducing non-homogeneity in the substrate at different locations perturbs the behavior of the patch differently. The electric fields are generally highest at the radiating edges for the resonant frequency of the patch, thus changing the permittivity locally, in this region affects the performance of the patch the most [7] . A larger change in the permittivity of the introduced dielectric loading at the same location produces a larger effect hence just like the location of non-homogeneity, the dielectric properties of this newly introduced material are also very important and need to be taken into account while tailoring the response of the radiator, in order to get the desired results. By carefully controlling the permittivity and location of the introduced dielectric inside the substrate, the first and second resonances of a rectangular microstrip antenna are combined leading to an increase in the overall bandwidth of the structure.

The electric fields are generally highest at the radiating edges for the resonant frequency of the patch, thus changing the permittivity locally, in this region affects the performance of the patch the most.


While bone is also a mechanically responsive tissue, if subjected to the same large strains as tendon, it tends to form fibrocartilagenous tissue instead of bone [14] . To engineer tendon that mimics the bone-tendon enthesis, it would be ideal to be able to use large mechanical stretch to stimulate tendon formation on one end of the scaffold while minimizing tensile stretch on the other end to favor bone formation. Therefore, this study aimed to design a bioreactor capable of providing spatially differential strain conditions to be able to support the engineering of scaffolds with differentiated osseous and fibroblastic attachment zones.

While bone is also a mechanically responsive tissue, if subjected to the same large strains as tendon, it tends to form fibrocartilagenous tissue instead of bone.


Minor variations of less than 10% of the desired strain magnitude were noticed between stretch cycles, which were attributed mostly to the process of the marking for the video analysis. The method used to mark the scaffolds for analysis was sufficient for initial validation purposes, but lacked fine resolution. Many methods were used to mark the scaffolds and measure the distance between marks-graphite providing the most accurate method. The camera used also had a limited resolution. For more exact values, a camera or microscope with higher resolution would give decreased error to the measurements taken. However, the system did prove that it could consistently stretch as low as 1% and at least as high as 10% for a 1-inch scaffold (data not shown). Unfortunately, over a 14-day period, there was some laxity noticed in the scaffolds likely due to viscoelastic properties of the PET material. This laxity may have decreased strain on the cells and thereby altered the cellular response over the time period studied. Based on a study on single PET fibers with a creep rate at 0.15% strain per decade of time at 50% relative humidity and 20 °C, an approximate 0.7% strain may be anticipated over the 14 days of culture at 1 hour per day loading [19] . Since the woven membranes are not single fibers and the membranes were not subjected to constant loads and were submerged in a saline environment at 37 °C, we cannot say more than that we estimate a possible decrease of peak strain in the scaffolds from 5% to 4%. It is unclear at this time if cells in these types of studies are able to distinguish and, hence, respond differently to a 1% change in strain. Additional studies will be needed to determine the effects, if any, of this laxity of the scaffold on the cells.

Based on a study on single PET fibers with a creep rate at 0.15% strain per decade of time at 50% relative humidity and 20 °C, an approximate 0.7% strain may be anticipated over the 14 days of culture at 1 hour per day loading.


In this bioreactor design, the effects of paracrine signaling between mechanically strained and unstrained sections of the constructs were not explored separately from mechanical factors. This is because in vivo, the bone-tendon interface shares similar environments and may participate in paracrine signaling that is important to tissue development. However, a simple barrier and a second medium reservoir-pump system may be added to the chamber to separate the strained and unstrained compartments to prevent medium exchange and to enable exploration of applied mechanical forces separate from signaling phenomena. The bioreactor design also did not separate out the effects of fluid flow in the chamber from that of scaffold mechanical strain. This is a challenge for most bioreactor designs intended for load bearing tissues like bones and tendons [29] . Nevertheless, study designs involving comparing scaffolds subjected only to medium flow in the chamber to those subjected to both medium flow and mechanical strain are planned in order to better explore their contributions to the engineered tissue.

This is a challenge for most bioreactor designs intended for load bearing tissues like bones and tendons.


In this study, medium was supplemented with ascorbic acid, an important factor for both stimulating proliferation and extracellular matrix production [16, 32] . Since ascorbic acid degrades overtime, the medium used in the bioreactor was supplemented in-between medium exchanges in an attempt to keep ascorbic acid levels similar to the control cultures. It has been reported that ascorbic acid in conjunction with cyclic strain had a synergistic effect on both fibroblast proliferation and gene expression of extracellular matrix proteins such as elastin and collagen as compared to static conditions [33] . Additional studies are warranted to further explore the synergistic effects of ascorbic acid and mechanical forces.

In this study, medium was supplemented with ascorbic acid, an important factor for both stimulating proliferation and extracellular matrix production.

It has been reported that ascorbic acid in conjunction with cyclic strain had a synergistic effect on both fibroblast proliferation and gene expression of extracellular matrix proteins such as elastin and collagen as compared to static conditions.


Being sessile organisms, plants live in soils for growth, development, and completing the life cycle. A variety of soil-borne microorganisms naturally occur in the plant rhizosphere, many of which can assist with plant growth and adaptation to adverse conditions, especially nutrient limitation [1] [2] [3] . Beneficial soil microbes are usually called plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). It has previously been indicated that plant roots can secrete several organic compounds that are utilized by soil bacteria as an important nutrient source [4] . Root exudates can also inhibit soil-borne plant pathogens, and shape the composition and diversity of local soil microbiota [5] . Certain PGPR strains can release some important substances such as non-volatile (phytohormones, related to soil Se levels, and a low availability of Se in soils has been reported in many countries such as China, Korea, Japan, the USA, and Australia [39] . Thus, it is imperative to develop efficient strategies to improve plant Se absorption. It has increasingly been recognized that several Bacillus strains such as B. cereus YAP6, B. licheniformis YAP7, and B. pichinotyi YAM2 exhibit great potential to increase Se uptake in wheat plants [40, 41] . Nevertheless, whether mVOCs affect plant Se assimilation and its underlying mechanisms has not been determined to date.

A variety of soil-borne microorganisms naturally occur in the plant rhizosphere, many of which can assist with plant growth and adaptation to adverse conditions, especially nutrient limitation.

It has previously been indicated that plant roots can secrete several organic compounds that are utilized by soil bacteria as an important nutrient source.

Root exudates can also inhibit soil-borne plant pathogens, and shape the composition and diversity of local soil microbiota.

Certain PGPR strains can release some important substances such as non-volatile (phytohormones, related to soil Se levels, and a low availability of Se in soils has been reported in many countries such as China, Korea, Japan, the USA, and Australia.

It has increasingly been recognized that several Bacillus strains such as B. cereus YAP6, B. licheniformis YAP7, and B. pichinotyi YAM2 exhibit great potential to increase Se uptake in wheat plants.


In natural environments, diverse microbial communities colonize in the rhizosphere of plants, and affect plant growth and fitness [1] [2] [3] . PGPR form mutually beneficial associations with plants by a complicated exchange of chemical metabolites [4] [5] [6] . Depending on bacterial relationships with plants, PGPR can be classified into two groups: symbiotic and free-living bacteria species. PGPR can regulate multiple physiological processes in plants by different mechanisms, such as Figure 11 . Effects of BF06 VOCs on the expression of some sulfate transporter genes, and Se accumulation in Arabidopsis plants. Seven-day-old seedlings were treated with or without exposure to BF06 VOCs for 10 days, then these plants were sampled to analyze the expression of sulfate transporter genes including SULRT1;1, SULRT1;2, SULRT2;1, SULRT2;2, and SULRT3;5 (A); Furthermore, the content of Se was examined in shoots and roots of both the WT and sulrt1;2 mutants after 10 days of exposure to BF06 VOCs, respectively (B). Different letters represent the significant difference of the comparisons at p < 0.05.

In natural environments, diverse microbial communities colonize in the rhizosphere of plants, and affect plant growth and fitness.

PGPR form mutually beneficial associations with plants by a complicated exchange of chemical metabolites.


Climate Change (CC) is the greatest challenge mankind faces today. Its impacts like rising sea levels, melting of glaciers, droughts, floods, loss of biodiversity, spread of diseases, continue to increase at rates far steeper than the rate of social change [1] . Scientists, climatologists and governments world-over are striving to find ways to combat this phenomenon. Among its most worrying aspects is the effect on agriculture.

Its impacts like rising sea levels, melting of glaciers, droughts, floods, loss of biodiversity, spread of diseases, continue to increase at rates far steeper than the rate of social change.


Since the first commercial cultivation of transgenic Tomato in 1996, nearly 170 million hectares (mha) of global land is under GMCs cultivation, with USA, Brazil and Argentina as the top three countries (Figure 1(a) ). Soya, Maize, Cotton and Canola (Figure 1(b) ) are the top four crops [3] . Herbicide tolerance and insect resistance, the two most widely transgenically induced traits (Figure 1(c) ), are expected to decrease pesticide usage and increase crop yields.

Soya, Maize, Cotton and Canola (Figure 1(b) ) are the top four crops.


Providing food for all, remains at the heart of the entire problem. But research and development have lost focus from this important need and wandered in different directions. Providing food to all not only requires producing more but also maintaining, storing and transporting it hygienically with minimum wastage. According to Food Corporation of India, food worth Rs.500 billion ($120 bn) is wasted every year. These post-harvest losses are about 25 -30 percent of total agricultural produce [27] . Grain saved is grain produced. So the need is to save the existing food than producing more by altering genetic path and disturbing ecology.

These post-harvest losses are about 25 -30 percent of total agricultural produce.

Grain saved is grain produced.


Flywheels that are used in spacecraft are known as reaction wheels and that is the area of focus in this research. A spacecraft in orbit faces a variety of harsh conditions which occasionally requires readjustment of their attitude [2] . This is where reaction wheels are crucial -they help in adjusting the attitude and pointing accuracy of spacecraft. The absence of a reaction wheel could lead to the loss of the spacecraft mission. Hence, it is vital that reaction wheels are not only present, but are also in optimal condition for the entirety of the spacecraft mission. The Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) is usually a mechanical one and as with all mechanical systems, vibrations do occur. These vibrations which are known as microvibrations have a low amplitude and usually occur in frequencies ranging from a few Hz to about a thousand Hz in the microgravity environment, and they could linger for a while [3] .

A spacecraft in orbit faces a variety of harsh conditions which occasionally requires readjustment of their attitude.

These vibrations which are known as microvibrations have a low amplitude and usually occur in frequencies ranging from a few Hz to about a thousand Hz in the microgravity environment, and they could linger for a while.


Due to the ever growing threat posed to the environment as a consequence of the use of non-renewable sources of energy, there is presently plenty of ongoing research and investment in renewable energy technologies. Without a doubt, flywheels are an essential part of majority of platforms for sustainable energy. This is as a result of their high efficiency, high energy density and power, wide operating temperature range and long life cycle [1] . Flywheels work by storing kinetic energy and releasing it when it is needed. In addition, flywheels have a wide range of applications. These include but are not limited to spacecraft, vehicles and power supply. Flywheels are needed to maintain the orientation of spacecraft payloads while in motor vehicles, they sustain the crankshaft angular velocity. Some research has recently been done on the potential of flywheels to be used as a means to charge electric buses with the overall goal of reducing pollution. When it comes to electricity, flywheels have proven to be a valuable asset for constant power supply. In spite of all these advantages, safety remains a vital issue. With a flywheel rotating at very high speed, if the stability of the rotating part suddenly degenerates, there could be a large release of energy (sometimes known as an explosion) which can be quite fatal. For this reason, it is essential that proper care and various considerations are taken into account during the design of flywheel systems to ensure that they remain in optimal condition for the duration of their work.

This is as a result of their high efficiency, high energy density and power, wide operating temperature range and long life cycle.


In last few decades, the modal parameters identification is gradually becoming more important, because it has provided innovative tools for understanding and controlling the optimization of design and assessment of structural health [14] . During the past few years the stochastic subspace identification (SSI) had been successfully applied on the structures for output-only system identification. There are basically two important numerical tools for subspace methods in linear algebra, first; Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and secondly; the QR decomposition [15] .

In last few decades, the modal parameters identification is gradually becoming more important, because it has provided innovative tools for understanding and controlling the optimization of design and assessment of structural health.

There are basically two important numerical tools for subspace methods in linear algebra, first; Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and secondly; the QR decomposition.


In Tanzania, ANC and EPI distributions have a further level of decision-making required, as nets are not distributed directly to recipients at the health clinic. Instead, under the TNVS, health care providers issue pregnant women with vouchers (at ANC visits) and infant vouchers (at EPI visits), which the women or caretakers can then redeem at a nearby retail point for nets at a significantly reduced price, a process which is described in detail elsewhere [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] . At the time of the survey, the top-up amount for TNVS was 500 TZS [25] . For mass campaigns, household decision-making can affect participation in the registration activities, where campaign workers visit households, household members are counted, and the number of nets the household needs is recorded. Households can choose whether or not to allow the registration teams into their home, or to ensure that someone is home to meet them when the family may be otherwise working or away from home. However, because over 90% of households were registered during the Tanzania UCC either by being present at home, by visiting a registration centre, or by visiting an executive office if no one was present, the proportion missing registration was limited [27] . Once registered, the household could then decide to participate or not in the issuing of the ITNs at the nearest distribution point. Once the net arrives at home, household decision-making around net care will influence the maintenance and use of nets in useable condition.

Instead, under the TNVS, health care providers issue pregnant women with vouchers (at ANC visits) and infant vouchers (at EPI visits), which the women or caretakers can then redeem at a nearby retail point for nets at a significantly reduced price, a process which is described in detail elsewhere.

At the time of the survey, the top-up amount for TNVS was 500 TZS.

However, because over 90% of households were registered during the Tanzania UCC either by being present at home, by visiting a registration centre, or by visiting an executive office if no one was present, the proportion missing registration was limited.


There are no histologic findings proven to predict biologic behavior in KA [13] . Acantholysis can occur in SCC and when identified, has been stated to exclude keratoacanthoma [14] . Various biochemical markers have not been found to provide a pathognomonic distinction between KA and SCC.

There are no histologic findings proven to predict biologic behavior in KA.

Acantholysis can occur in SCC and when identified, has been stated to exclude keratoacanthoma.


Delegation approach has been used in ad-hoc collaborative information sharing and Grid environment [11] . In this approach, a resource owner defines rules that other parties can make authorization on behalf of the owner. Similar to our approach, policies are developed with role-based models. However, our work is based on an extended RBAC model instead of delegation rules such that decentralized authorization scheme is easier to develop and deploy with our model.

Delegation approach has been used in ad-hoc collaborative information sharing and Grid environment.


This paper studies the dynamics of an important instability phenomenon that arises in the Landau-de Gennes theory of nematic liquid crystals [2] [3] [4] . Mathematically our results address global well-posedness of the L 2 gradient flow generated by an energy functional that is unbounded from below in its natural energy space. This turns out to be related to quantifying how the flow affects the convex hull of the initial data.

This paper studies the dynamics of an important instability phenomenon that arises in the Landau-de Gennes theory of nematic liquid crystals.


VLIW processors are well-suited for high performance embedded applications, which are characterized by mathematically oriented loop kernels and abundant ILP. In contrast to superscalar processors, which have dedicated hardware to dynamically find ILP at run-time, VLIW architectures rely completely on the compiler to find ILP before program execution. The compiler can, in many cases, exploit ILP better than hardware, and the saved silicon space can be used to reduce cost, save power, or add more functional units [1] . Therefore, it is critical that a VLIW processor be a good compiler target.

The compiler can, in many cases, exploit ILP better than hardware, and the saved silicon space can be used to reduce cost, save power, or add more functional units.


The section summarizes, for each generation of C6X processors, the progressive code size reduction and performance impact of software-pipelined loop collapsing, NOP compression, variable length instructions, and the modulo loop buffer. The 84 benchmarks used for this analysis are organized into the groups enumerated below. The EEMBC telecom, automotive, and networking groups are taken directly from the EEMBC-v1 embedded benchmark suite [22] .

The EEMBC telecom, automotive, and networking groups are taken directly from the EEMBC-v1 embedded benchmark suite.


Hexavalent chromium Cr (VI)), the most toxic and carcinogenic form of chromium, exists in most aquatic environments as water soluble oxyanions, HCrO 4 1-or CrO 4 2-. Pulmonary congestion, liver damage, vomiting, and severe diarrhoea are some of the known health problems associated with Cr (VI) (Raji and Anirudhan, 1998) . Chromium is mostly present in the +3 oxidation state in chromite, but can also exist in other oxidation states, ranging from -2 to +6 in different samples. Of these various oxidation states that chromium can exhibit, only the hexavalent and trivalent forms are known to have environmental importance (Goyal et al., 2003) .

Pulmonary congestion, liver damage, vomiting, and severe diarrhoea are some of the known health problems associated with Cr (VI).

Of these various oxidation states that chromium can exhibit, only the hexavalent and trivalent forms are known to have environmental importance.


It turns out that, when the collapsing matter has a smooth density distribution, it completely evaporates without apparent horizon [1] . In contrast, a thin shell with a delta-function energy density does not evaporate completely. Instead, it approaches a classical black hole in the infinite future with an event horizon [1] .

It turns out that, when the collapsing matter has a smooth density distribution, it completely evaporates without apparent horizon.

Instead, it approaches a classical black hole in the infinite future with an event horizon.


Recent trends in the VLSI industry towards higher operating speeds, sharper rise times and smaller devices has made the signal integrity analysis a challenging task. The high-speed interconnect effects such as ringing, delay, distortion, crosstalk, attenuation and reflections, if not predicted accurately at early design stages, can severely degrade the system performance. Interconnects can be found at various levels of design hierarchy, such as on-chip, packaging, MCMs and PCBs. With increasing frequencies, lumped models become inaccurate and distributed quasi-TEM models based on Telegrapher's equations become necessary. At even higher frequencies, distributed lines with frequency dependent RLCG parameters become necessary. Simulation of such models using SPICE-like nonlinear simulators suffers from mixed frequency/time difficulty as well as CPU inefficiency [1] - [3] .

Simulation of such models using SPICE-like nonlinear simulators suffers from mixed frequency/time difficulty as well as CPU inefficiency.


Diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic disorder which is associated with chronic complications such as nephropathy, angiopathy, retinopathy, and peripheral neuropathy. However, as early as 1922 it was recognised that diabetes also can lead to cognitive dysfunction [1] . Since then, studies in experimental models and in patients observed alterations in neurotransmission, electrophysiological and structural abnormalities, and neurobehavioral alterations, in particular cognitive dysfunction and increased risk of depression [2] . Moreover, the observed cerebral manifestations of diabetes appear to develop insidiously, largely independent of diabetes-associated acute metabolic and vascular disturbances (such as severe hypo-and hyperglycemic episodes and stroke). Although the magnitude of these cognitive deficits appears to be mild to moderate, they can significantly hamper daily functioning, adversely affecting quality of life [3] .

However, as early as 1922 it was recognised that diabetes also can lead to cognitive dysfunction.

Since then, studies in experimental models and in patients observed alterations in neurotransmission, electrophysiological and structural abnormalities, and neurobehavioral alterations, in particular cognitive dysfunction and increased risk of depression.

Although the magnitude of these cognitive deficits appears to be mild to moderate, they can significantly hamper daily functioning, adversely affecting quality of life.


The present students will soon become our politicians, teachers, business leaders, engineer or doctors. They need to make decisions regarding developments in technology and all other fields of science (Mattern & Schau, 2002) . Recently, many international studies have shown that school science has become more unpopular and irrelevant among students (Holbrook, 1998 (Holbrook, , 2003 Osborne & Collins, 2001) . Students are motivated to learn if the subjects are interesting, useful for their lives and future developments and connected with their everyday life (Dawson, 2000; Osborne et al., 2003; Teppo and Rannikmäe 2007) . Indeed, when students were asked about the topics they want to study within the content, they listed, popular topics like the formation of the universe, space, stem cell and DNA test.

They need to make decisions regarding developments in technology and all other fields of science.

Recently, many international studies have shown that school science has become more unpopular and irrelevant among students.

Students are motivated to learn if the subjects are interesting, useful for their lives and future developments and connected with their everyday life.


Understanding the processes involved in the mixing of solids is essential for the design of fluidized bed reactors. In 1954, Lacey distinguished three components in a mixing process: 1) convective, 2) diffusive and 3) shear mixing [1] . Generally, these mechanisms are combined in most processes, although in some processes one of them predominates. Convective mixing mechanism involves the transfer of a group of particles from one location to another, diffusive mixing involves the random movement of particles and shear mixing involves the formation of slip planes within the mixture.

In 1954, Lacey distinguished three components in a mixing process: 1) convective, 2) diffusive and 3) shear mixing.


In a country like Bolivia where formal insurance mechanisms are rare, small-scale farmers rely on a variety of strategies to manage risk. Many environmental risks such as frost, hail, or drought can be mitigated through self-insurance techniques. The literature distinguishes between two types of self-insurance: risk coping and risk management (Alderman and Paxson, 1992) . Risk coping refers to strategies that smooth consumption either intertemporally or across households through risk sharing. Intertemporal consumption smoothing can be achieved through saving and borrowing or through asset accumulation and sales. Risk sharing is used to mitigate income shocks at a given time across households within a village. Risk management involves actions to reduce income variability, such as crop, field, and income source diversification.

The literature distinguishes between two types of self-insurance: risk coping and risk management.


The orientation and intensity of the IMF play a central role in the interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. The contribution of the southward component of IMF, whose geoeffectiveness is closely related to the effect of the solar wind electric field, is the most significant among the contributions from all other solar wind parameters such as bulk velocity, density, temperature and magnetic-field strength (Burton et al. 1975; Baker et al. 1981; Akasofu 1983) . Solar wind-magnetosphere interaction is highly evolving with time, and the parameters associated with it often exhibit a variety of transient and periodic fluctuations. The different origins of the solar wind streams and the conditions of their propagation in the interplanetary medium lead to different variations in the solar wind and IMF parameters. Furthermore, variations in the B z component for different types of the solar wind conditions are different from one another regarding the duration of fluctuation periods, as well as their intensities (Tsurutani et al. 1988) .

The contribution of the southward component of IMF, whose geoeffectiveness is closely related to the effect of the solar wind electric field, is the most significant among the contributions from all other solar wind parameters such as bulk velocity, density, temperature and magnetic-field strength.

Furthermore, variations in the B z component for different types of the solar wind conditions are different from one another regarding the duration of fluctuation periods, as well as their intensities.


Sector-specific capital-based instruments create risks from capture and rentseeking (Laffont and Tirole, 1991) . Applying them is therefore challenging: it requires strong institution settings and controls (Rodrik, 2008) . But if a carbon price -possibly complemented with lump-sum transfers for equity reasonsremains impossible to implement and if policy-makers take the climate issue seriously, the question is not whether to implement capital-based instruments or not, but when and how to do it (Hallegatte et al., 2013) .

Sector-specific capital-based instruments create risks from capture and rentseeking.

Applying them is therefore challenging: it requires strong institution settings and controls.

But if a carbon price -possibly complemented with lump-sum transfers for equity reasonsremains impossible to implement and if policy-makers take the climate issue seriously, the question is not whether to implement capital-based instruments or not, but when and how to do it.


There is a trade-off between the inter-temporal optimality of a climate policy and the acceptability of its short-term impacts. In pure economics terms, the carbon tax is the best tool to maximize discounted welfare. But public policy is especially difficult in contexts where costs are immediate, concentrated and visible; and benefits are diffuse over time and over citizens (Olson, 1971) . Capital-based instruments can help spread the cost of climate mitigation over time and across citizens.

But public policy is especially difficult in contexts where costs are immediate, concentrated and visible; and benefits are diffuse over time and over citizens.


We used two types of cells, both of them having two stainlesssteel plane boundaries (the plates) maintained at different temperatures in order to create a temperature gradient in a parallelepiped working space. The stainless-steel is chosen to avoid the oxidation observed with CuSO 4 mixtures. The dimensions of the first cell (Cell 1 ) (Fig. 9) were 38 cm Â 8 cm Â 1.5 cm (A = 25.3) and of the second one (Cell 2 ) 5.8 cm Â 4.4 cm Â 0.4 cm (A = 14.5). Between the plates, a regular gap e was maintained by a brace made of Plexiglas (thickness e = 1.5 cm for Cell 1 and e = 0.4 cm for Cell 2 ). The temperature at each boundary was kept constant by a regulated water bath. The cells were filled with a porous medium consisting of chemically inert zircon beads (315 lm À 400 lm). We carried out two experiments with the two cells. The first experiment was with (Cell 1 ) using an aqueous solution of CuSO 4 whose concentration expressed as mass fraction was 0.0733. This solution has been studied previously [18, 19] . For the presented experiment, we chose an inclination of 75°from the vertical with the cold wall at 10°C and the hot wall at 30°C (Le = 130 ± 8, Ra = 1.500 ± 0.075 and w = 0.40 ± 0.05).

This solution has been studied previously.


Several of the medicines had orphan status. Seventeen medicines involved in large numbers of purchases (313) obtained licenses after their purchase. Agalsidase alfa 1 mg/mL (injectable), cinacalcet 30 mg (capsule), galsulfase 1 mg/mL (injectable), gefitinib 250 mg (tablet), idursulfase 2 mg/mL (injectable), lacosamide 50 mg (tablet), tipranavir 250 mg (capsule) and tirofiban 0.25 mg/mL (injectable) were purchased continuously for three years or more, before obtaining marketing authorization. Increases in unlicensed purchases in light of new flexibilities, might actually result in more rapid licensing and adoption by the health system, perpetuating this cycle [21] . Recurrent purchases of several unlicensed medicines over time may represent one of two situations: either a pressure mechanism for obtaining marketing approval or as purposeful neglect of medicine regulation in the country.

Increases in unlicensed purchases in light of new flexibilities, might actually result in more rapid licensing and adoption by the health system, perpetuating this cycle.


For the analysis of thermal processes involving rapid, highpower heat release, the validity of conventi onal linear approximation deteriorates . This motivated the developmen t of the probe pulse heating method combined with numerical simulation of heat transfer parameters based on the experimental results. The key feature of our approach is electronic control of the probe heating power against a background of the thermophysical propertie s variation s with the temperature of both probe and substance [9] [10] [11] . An advanced variant of the electroni c control system for quasi-static conditions (with respect to the temperat ure) is described elsewhere [12] .

The key feature of our approach is electronic control of the probe heating power against a background of the thermophysical propertie s variation s with the temperature of both probe and substance.

An advanced variant of the electroni c control system for quasi-static conditions (with respect to the temperat ure) is described elsewhere.


Experimental results provide sufficient information to test and to validate the chosen heat transfer model for the probe-liquid system. The analytica l linear model based on assumption of properties constancy is no longer valid: wide variations of temperature require taking into account properties' temperature dependenci es. Consequentl y, full transient heat transfer problem needs to be solved numerically to describe the system. The predicted T(t) values are obtained from the direct numerical solution of transient heat transfer problem for the system using the finite volume method. Estimation of heat transfer parameters is performed by comparing the numerica l solution of the direct problem and the experimental data. Generally, evaluation of parameters for the model with known structure is provided by various optimization procedures [13] [14] [15] . Complexi ty of the problem required selection of the robust, gradient-free optimization method. Therefore, solution of inverse heat conduction problem (IHCP) based on the genetic algorithm (GA) method was chosen. In this approach, the two-dimensi onal heat transfer problem was considered; the solutions (temperature-dependent thermophysi cal properties) were approximat ed with polynomial functions of the second order. The results for the saturated hydrocarbo ns in the temperature range of 20-350°C are presented as an example.

Generally, evaluation of parameters for the model with known structure is provided by various optimization procedures.


Morphometric divergence among the 3 groups is high as indicated by the squared Mahalanobis distances between groups (18.20 on average). Conversely, sister species of black-eared opossums (D. aurita and D. marsupialis) have Mahalanobis distance slightly higher than 5 (Cerqueira and Lemos 2000) . These findings are consistent with taxonomic recognition at the species level for the 3 groups.

Conversely, sister species of black-eared opossums (D. aurita and D. marsupialis) have Mahalanobis distance slightly higher than 5.


Results after administering the statements that reflects smoking provoking role of media showed that majority of respondents agree upon the view that media promote smoking among adolescents. According to McCool's media interpretation model, attitudes are mediated by exposure to film, which contribute to the perception of smoking prevalence, permissiveness toward smokers and smoking imagery, and enhances smoking intention. Smoking imagery in film may play a role in the development of smoking intentions through inflating the perception of smoking prevalence and presenting socially attractive images [25] .

Smoking imagery in film may play a role in the development of smoking intentions through inflating the perception of smoking prevalence and presenting socially attractive images.


Metaphors, anecdotes, and models are discursive tools with power to overcome boundaries and they can be understood even though the participants come from different occupations, professions and organizations. They are tools participants may use and also create themselves, but they will not necessarily enter into exploring each other's understandings, which was observed in the client-centred network. Instead there is a need to actively create new tools for collaboration and focus on the participants' recognition of boundaries to be crossed in order to enter a new fruitful discursive space (Akkerman, Admiraal, Simons, & Niessen, 2006; R. Engeström, 2014a) . A better understanding of learning in multi-professional intersecting groups can be reached by observing and analysing discursive tools.

Instead there is a need to actively create new tools for collaboration and focus on the participants' recognition of boundaries to be crossed in order to enter a new fruitful discursive space.


The findings of this research could stimulate the development of an action plan for pharmacists to support prescribers to better prevent the occurrence of drug-associated TdP and potentially sudden cardiac death. An education module about QT interval prolongation could be implemented in pharmacy undergraduate and continuing professional education programs. Other authors have also called for more intense training in cardiac safety at pharmacy schools [18] .

Other authors have also called for more intense training in cardiac safety at pharmacy schools.


Our study had limitations that are worth noting. First, although we focused on locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe, we could not be certain about the exact relevant substrate within the placed VOIs because the involvement of surrounding structures could not be avoided. Second, patients with EM were younger than the other two groups, though not statistically significant. However, we did not find any correlations between age and NAA/Cr ratios in our participants. Furthermore, the GLM results showed that, after controlling for the age effect, the migraine diagnostic groups (EM vs. CM) remained a significant predictor of NAA/Cr ratios in the dorsal pons. Third, no patients with migraine with aura were included in the EM group; therefore, our study results cannot be generalizable to this patient group. The reason that we recruited only migraine without aura is for comparison's sake because migraine without aura but not migraine with aura is much more likely to transform to CM according to the ICHD-2 [14] .

The reason that we recruited only migraine without aura is for comparison's sake because migraine without aura but not migraine with aura is much more likely to transform to CM according to the ICHD-2.


Our study showed higher NAA/Cr ratios at bilateral rostral dorsal pons in patients with EM than those in patients with CM and normal controls while the ratios were similar between the latter two groups. Among all migraine patients, the NAA/Cr ratios decreased as the headache frequency or intensity increased, i.e., evolution from EM to CM. Dorsal pons is the anatomical sites of locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe, the main nuclei of noradrenergic and serotonergic systems. Along with the PAG and other structures, they constitute the descending antinociceptive network which modulates ascending pain signals to the brain [23] . Activation of dorsal pons during migraine attacks has been demonstrated in several studies on patients with EM [9] [10] [11] [12] . One MRI study adopting a higher field strength (3 Tesla) showed an increase of gray matter volume at the PAG and dorsal pons in migraine patients with T2-visible hyperintense lesions [13] . Other MRI studies Table 2 Comparisons of the metabolite ratios of 1 H-MR spectroscopy among controls and patients with episodic and chronic migraine with a lower field strength (1.5 Tesla) showed only cortical but not brainstem gray matter decrease [24] . It is debatable that in morphometric MRI studies, the changes of the gray matter could be attributed to the changes of the cell size (neurons or glia), spine density of neurons or even blood flow or interstitial fluid [24] . In contrast, our MRS study results indicate an involvement of the neurons because of the increment of NAA/Cr levels. It is possible that neurons at the dorsal pons become hypertrophic after repetitive activation in patients with EM.

Along with the PAG and other structures, they constitute the descending antinociceptive network which modulates ascending pain signals to the brain.

Activation of dorsal pons during migraine attacks has been demonstrated in several studies on patients with EM.

One MRI study adopting a higher field strength (3 Tesla) showed an increase of gray matter volume at the PAG and dorsal pons in migraine patients with T2-visible hyperintense lesions.

Other MRI studies Table 2 Comparisons of the metabolite ratios of 1 H-MR spectroscopy among controls and patients with episodic and chronic migraine with a lower field strength (1.5 Tesla) showed only cortical but not brainstem gray matter decrease.

It is debatable that in morphometric MRI studies, the changes of the gray matter could be attributed to the changes of the cell size (neurons or glia), spine density of neurons or even blood flow or interstitial fluid.


Sheet cavitation of marine propellers can be predicted accurately with existing methods such as lifting surface, BEM and even more accurately with computational fluid dynamics methods (CFD) due to better modelling of the physics of the flow, thanks to new developments in computational power and technology. However, computational modelling of the cavitating tip vortices of a propeller has its challenges, in particular for extending these vortices from the blades up to a rudder in the wake of a ship hull and interacting with the rudder. Even sheet cavitation predictions sometimes give unstable results due to the lack of accurate tip vortex cavitation modelling [1] .

Even sheet cavitation predictions sometimes give unstable results due to the lack of accurate tip vortex cavitation modelling.


The process of forming new capillary sprouts seems to be associated with a breakdown of periendothelial basal lamina. This may weaken the interactions between endothelial cells and perivascular cells. Endothelial cells no longer associated with pericytes may differ in proliferative activity and sensitivity to VEGF (Hellström et al., 2001) . Moreover, pericytes produce angiopoietins which are also regulated by local oxygen tensions and, together with endothelial cells, produce endostatin, an antiangiogenic factor down-regulated by hypoxia (Wu et al., 2001) . Low tensions transcriptionally activate Ang-2 but degrade Ang-1 and the ratio between these angiopoietin messenger RNAs alters during gestation to favour Ang-1 mRNA and affect vessel stabilisation or maturation. The declining levels of Ang-2 may allow vessels to retain their plasticity and facilitate a transition from branching to non-branching angiogenesis (Geva et al., 2002) .

Endothelial cells no longer associated with pericytes may differ in proliferative activity and sensitivity to VEGF.

Moreover, pericytes produce angiopoietins which are also regulated by local oxygen tensions and, together with endothelial cells, produce endostatin, an antiangiogenic factor down-regulated by hypoxia.

The declining levels of Ang-2 may allow vessels to retain their plasticity and facilitate a transition from branching to non-branching angiogenesis.


Villous development during gestation involves the phased production of different villous types (stem, intermediate, terminal) . Early in gestation, effort is invested in producing the trunks (stem villi) and main branches (immature intermediate villi). Later effort is directed to favour the finer branches (mature intermediate and terminal villi) which are more effective in transplacental transport processes (Castellucci et al., 1990; Kingdom and Kaufmann, 1997; Benirschke and Kaufmann, 2000) . The transition occurs around midgestation and has been linked to changes in oxygen status and fetoplacental angiogenesis.

Later effort is directed to favour the finer branches (mature intermediate and terminal villi) which are more effective in transplacental transport processes.


More specifically, we implement the recursion relations proposed in a companion paper [9] . These relations allow us to write down a formula for the four point function in terms of residues of a rational function, at specific poles. This rational function is obtained through the product of two deformed three point "transition amplitudes" as we explain in more detail in section 4.

More specifically, we implement the recursion relations proposed in a companion paper.


Small heat shock proteins are produced ubiquitously in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells upon heating. Production and accumulation of smHSP in response to environmental stresses and developmental stimuli have been correlated with stress tolerance (Sun et al., 2002) . These proteins are believed to confer tolerance to heat and other stresses by protecting proteins from irreversible denaturation and breakdown also in apple fruits (Wünsche et al., 2004) .

Production and accumulation of smHSP in response to environmental stresses and developmental stimuli have been correlated with stress tolerance.

These proteins are believed to confer tolerance to heat and other stresses by protecting proteins from irreversible denaturation and breakdown also in apple fruits.


If one of the directions is compactified on the circle with the critical radius, the above process is realized by a marginal deformation [14] . Accordingly, we have only to extend the solution on the BPS D-brane to the non-BPS case in order to construct the solution corresponding to the tachyonic lump. In this paper, we will construct an analytical solution of this tachyonic lump.

If one of the directions is compactified on the circle with the critical radius, the above process is realized by a marginal deformation.


Of course, the approach of this paper is by no means an ultimate theory. But following this line of thought, we can actually find similar structures in quantum gravity models. For instance, acting a twist deformation on a D1D5 CFT state results in a squeezed state deformed away from the orbifold point [38] . Since in string theory the D1D5 CFT is the holographic dual of a nearextremal black hole, this deformation makes the original free theory at the orbifold point become an interacting theory with exitations that might be able to describe holographically the dynamical processes of black hole formation and evaporation [39] . In this spirit, one can also take the gravitation as an emergent phenomenon from quantum physics, which, as a new implementation of Wheeler's it from bit proposal, gives a possible way to recover classical gravity from quantum gravity models. At this point, one can further reexamine many celebrated results in gravitational black-hole physics to find more quantum and informational nature of black holes.

For instance, acting a twist deformation on a D1D5 CFT state results in a squeezed state deformed away from the orbifold point.

Since in string theory the D1D5 CFT is the holographic dual of a nearextremal black hole, this deformation makes the original free theory at the orbifold point become an interacting theory with exitations that might be able to describe holographically the dynamical processes of black hole formation and evaporation.


One of the possible ways to extend wavelength range would be a major energy upgrade of FLASH [6, 7] . However, such an extensive energy upgrade is not possible in the next few years. In this paper we propose an alternative way, namely using the present accelerator energy of 1.25 GeV and the 3rd harmonic lasing in a new undulator.

One of the possible ways to extend wavelength range would be a major energy upgrade of FLASH.


The two fisheries are separated by c. 100 n miles (Doonan et al. 1995) . The western fishery (OEO 3A) is a target fishery for black and smooth oreo which are caught in approximately equal quantities, with a minor by-catch of orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus. The eastern fishery (OEO 4) is a target fishery for orange roughy with a bycatch of black and smooth oreo, the former in much smaller quantities. Subsequently, other oreo fisheries have developed on the Puysegur-Snares-Macquarie Ridge (OEO 1) and on the Pukaki and Bounty slopes (OEO 6).

The two fisheries are separated by c. 100 n miles.


The measurements of zeta potential at different pH values showed that the iso-electric-point of iron nanoparticles occurred around 8.1-8.2. This is in line with the value reported earlier by other authors [1] . According to surface area analysis, the BET surface area of iron nanoparticles is 14.2 m 2 /g, and the Langmuir surface area is 51.4 m 2 /g. The same analysis indicated also that the adsorption average pore width (4V/A by BET) is 38.8Å, and that the t-plot micropore volume is 0.01138 cm 3 /g. It is reported that a surface area measured on a dry basis is unlikely to reflect the actual available area in solution because of the tendency of nZVI particles to aggregate inside solution [3] .

This is in line with the value reported earlier by other authors.

It is reported that a surface area measured on a dry basis is unlikely to reflect the actual available area in solution because of the tendency of nZVI particles to aggregate inside solution.


Osteonecrotic changes of the jaw bones can lead to severe functional and aesthetic limitations to the affected patient [1] . In addition to the osteoradionecrosis (ORN) and osteomyelitis (OM), the medication-related necrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy [MRONJ (BP)] is increasing in incidence due to the extending indication spectrum of bisphosphonates (BP) [1] . Nowadays MRONJ (BP) represents the most common type of osteonecrosis of the jaw [2] . The clinical diagnosis of these three different types of destructive, inflammatory jaw bone disorders are made anamnestically, by clinical examination and radiologically. Although the clinical appearance of these diseases can be similar, they represent obligate distinguishable diseases with a different pathogenesis [1, 3, 4] .

Osteonecrotic changes of the jaw bones can lead to severe functional and aesthetic limitations to the affected patient.

In addition to the osteoradionecrosis (ORN) and osteomyelitis (OM), the medication-related necrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy [MRONJ (BP)] is increasing in incidence due to the extending indication spectrum of bisphosphonates (BP).

Nowadays MRONJ (BP) represents the most common type of osteonecrosis of the jaw.

Although the clinical appearance of these diseases can be similar, they represent obligate distinguishable diseases with a different pathogenesis.


EXAFS studies on U(VI)-loaded untreated and hydrothermally treated HCP samples further revealed preservation of the UO 2 2+ moiety in all samples, indicating that the +VI redox state was stable [5, 6] . Samples with U(VI)-sorbed onto hydrothermally altered concrete also suggested cluster formation or surface precipitation as indicated by the presence of U−U backscattering contributions in the EXAFS spectra [6] . The chemical nature of the U(VI) species immobilized in HCP has not yet been identified.

EXAFS studies on U(VI)-loaded untreated and hydrothermally treated HCP samples further revealed preservation of the UO 2 2+ moiety in all samples, indicating that the +VI redox state was stable.

Samples with U(VI)-sorbed onto hydrothermally altered concrete also suggested cluster formation or surface precipitation as indicated by the presence of U−U backscattering contributions in the EXAFS spectra.


Fiber-optic signals make it seem that the signal propagation cannot exist in pure environment. It is always influenced by external environmental perturbations. It seems that chaos may be unavoidable with external perturbations and has been observed in many practical applications such as engineering, biology, industry, and production. Besides, many other systems with external perturbations have been widely investigated by using analytic methods and numerical simulations [2] [3] [4] [5] .

Besides, many other systems with external perturbations have been widely investigated by using analytic methods and numerical simulations.


Fiber-optic signal transmission has a very wide application in the real life, which makes our lives more convenient and quicker. This is known to all. The fiber-optic signal plays an important role in real life. Optical solitary waves have been the subject of intense current research, which is motivated by their important applications in the areas of high-capacity fiber telecommunications and all-optical switches due to their capability of propagating over a long distance without attenuation and changing their shapes [1] .

This is known to all.

Optical solitary waves have been the subject of intense current research, which is motivated by their important applications in the areas of high-capacity fiber telecommunications and all-optical switches due to their capability of propagating over a long distance without attenuation and changing their shapes.


Papillary ependymoma is a rare variant of ependymoma. The differential diagnosis includes choroid plexus papilloma, papillary meningioma and metastatic papillary carcinoma [1] . Ependymomas usually correspond to WHO grade II with a ten-year survival rate of approximately 45% in adults. Anaplastic ependymoma (WHO grade III) is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome [1] . Other ependymoma variants are cellular, clear cell and tanycytic types. Furthermore, ependymomas with lipomatous differentiation, giant cell formation, extensive vacuolation, melanotic differentiation, signet ring cell appearance and ovarian localization have been reported. Supratentorial location has a better outcome than infratentorial location. Spinal location of ependymoma is also associated with a better prognosis [1, 6] .

The differential diagnosis includes choroid plexus papilloma, papillary meningioma and metastatic papillary carcinoma.

Anaplastic ependymoma (WHO grade III) is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome.

Spinal location of ependymoma is also associated with a better prognosis.


International community calls for war against corruption and terrorism. Strategies against money laundering and terrorism financing are implemented as well. However, Western countries contribute in some way to corrupt practices in developing economies as OECD firms operating outside the organization are tempted by corruption (Kaufmann, 2004) . On the other hand, most of governments in developing countries are constantly trying to hamper democratic processes helping corruption and terror flourish.

However, Western countries contribute in some way to corrupt practices in developing economies as OECD firms operating outside the organization are tempted by corruption.


Our results showed that the activities of α-amylase in the midgut of the elm leaf beetle were 3.125-and 4.16-fold higher than that in the foregut and hindgut, respectively (Fig. 1) . Also, high activities of α-and ß-glucosidases and α-and β-galactosidase were observed in the midgut, with completion in other parts of digestive system, of the last larval instar. These data suggested that the midgut is the secreting site of carbohydrases in X. luteola. In Odontotermes formosanus and Coptotermes formosanus, the activities of ß-glucosidase in the midgut were higher than those in the foregut and hindgut. This indicates that the midgut of these two termites also has the function of cellulose secretion (Mo et al., 2004) . In fact, the midgut of C. formosanus could secrete endogenous cellulose (Nakashima et al., 2002) .

This indicates that the midgut of these two termites also has the function of cellulose secretion.

In fact, the midgut of C. formosanus could secrete endogenous cellulose.