The Danish and the British Columbia trials have established the survival advantage following radiotherapy in postmastectomy patients [15, 16] . The Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group meta-analysis has demonstrated that PMRT, besides improving local control rates, confers an OS benefit [17] . On the basis of these studies and others, the role of the indication to PMRT has traditionally been determined by pathologic staging, with surgery as the first treatment modality [18, 19] .

The Danish and the British Columbia trials have established the survival advantage following radiotherapy in postmastectomy patients.

The Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group meta-analysis has demonstrated that PMRT, besides improving local control rates, confers an OS benefit.

On the basis of these studies and others, the role of the indication to PMRT has traditionally been determined by pathologic staging, with surgery as the first treatment modality.


Longitudinal studies conducted over several months show that travel behavior of individuals is largely habitual, identifying fixed activity spaces for individuals (Schoenfelder and Axhausen 2010) . Individual activity space contains 90-95% of all their potential places of interest. This implies that the difference between actual and potential accessibility may not be that great. Accordingly a measure derived from actual activity can be used in understanding this relationship.

Longitudinal studies conducted over several months show that travel behavior of individuals is largely habitual, identifying fixed activity spaces for individuals.


Place rank can be used in cases where only flow data is available. Currently home and work locations are recorded through data collected by labor agencies, (e.g. in the US, the Longitudinal Employment Household Dynamics survey, orchestrated by the US Census), but this data does not include mode or journey time of transport. Several databases are present for market analysis this data include where people shop for certain goods without the knowledge of the mode being used or travel time of the trip. Similarly such data is available through health care providers or health insurance agencies, where the home and place of treatment are known while the mode of transport is also unknown. While other sources can be used to estimate travel time, these estimates are historically not very accurate, and often based on shaky assumptions such as shortest path (Zhu and Levinson 2010) . Unlike utility-based measures of accessibility, place rank does not require the presence of a regional travel demand model to compute.

While other sources can be used to estimate travel time, these estimates are historically not very accurate, and often based on shaky assumptions such as shortest path.


Based on (3), max was calculated for HD-MAC, FD-MAC, and FDT-MAC. In these calculations, it was considered that communications of type 1 and type 2 (defined in Section 3) are equiprobable. Also, it was considered that all the communications have the same payload size. Moreover, the calculation was done for parameters of the IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b standards [7] . The values of some constants related to these standards are available in Table 2 .

Moreover, the calculation was done for parameters of the IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b standards.


The main contribution of this work is to propose a new MAC technique, named Full-Duplex Tone Based MAC (FDT-MAC). FDT-MAC exploits the use of pulse/tone signals to improve channel reservation when the mobile stations are empowered with omnidirectional, full-duplex antennas. Several evaluations in different scenarios are conducted to assess the proposed MAC scheme. Numerical results show that FDT-MAC provides channel reservation in a fraction of the time spent with traditional schemes that rely on control frames. Our results show that FDT-MAC can provide throughput improvements surpassing 156% when compared to FD-MAC [5] . When compared against a traditional halfduplex antenna MAC, the throughput gain surpasses 412%. The above results show that FDT-MAC is able to properly exploit the advantages of full-duplex antennas.

Our results show that FDT-MAC can provide throughput improvements surpassing 156% when compared to FD-MAC.


Consistent with our prediction, we found a significant relationship between CU traits and punishment insensitivity. This association held on the basis of child and teacher report of CU traits, and after controlling for other child adjustment problems including conduct problems, hyperactivity and autism. Qualitative findings were largely consistent with our quantitative results, as teachers reported that few discipline strategies were effective for children high in CU traits in comparison to their peers. Our results are in line with past research linking CU traits with reduced sensitivity to punishment (Byrd et al. 2014) . Qualitative findings also revealed the challenges teachers face implementing discipline strategies, given aggressive, disrespectful and/or uncaring responses from high CU pupils. Teachers recognized the need for calm and consistent discipline, viewing aggressive responses to pupils as merely serving to escalate conflict and damage the teacher-child relationship, regardless of student CU status.

Our results are in line with past research linking CU traits with reduced sensitivity to punishment.


An agar shake dilution series with 0.1% sodium pyruvate as the carbon source was set up by using 1 drop of the enrichment culture. This preparation yielded mainly pale brown colonies of weakly motile fissile oval cells (Rhodobacter sphaeroides TKlA [12] ). In addition, a number of purple-red colonies of a Rhodopseudomonas palustris-like strain were present.

This preparation yielded mainly pale brown colonies of weakly motile fissile oval cells (Rhodobacter sphaeroides TKlA).


Nutritional properties. Strain 941T grows anaerobically in the light on range of organic compounds (Table 1) . It also grows on pyruvate microaerophilically in the light or dark or anaerobically in the dark. Anaerobic dark fermentation of exogenous substrates is well known in the Rhodospirillaceae Growth is not stimulated by fatty acids containing five or more carbon atoms at concentrations of 0.02% (valerate, hexanoate, heptanoate, octanoate, nonanoate) or 0.05% (decanoate, dodecanoate, tetradecanoate, hexadecanoate, heptadecanoate, octadecanoate), indicating that fatty acids cannot be utilized. No growth occurs in the presence of any concentration of heptanoate, a fatty acid that appears to be tolerated up to a concentration of 0.05% by many strains Strain 941T fails to grow (in batch cultures) on medium containing 0.5 mM sulfide plus 0.02% yeast extract in the absence of other electron donors. Growth is completely (21, 22) .

Nutritional properties.

Growth is completely.


In general morphology and color, strain 941T most closely resembles Rhodopseudomonas marina. However, the carbon source utilization patterns and salinity tolerances of these organisms are quite different. Most strains of Rhodopseudomonas marina grow well at NaCl concentrations between 0 and 4% (8) . Strain 941T is totally inhibited by an NaCl concentration of 1%. Rhodopseudomonas marina displays a kind of flagellation described by Imhoff (8) to be intermediate between subpolar and lateral to peritrichous. As far as can be determined, strain 941T has monopolar flagellation. The whole-cell absorption spectrum of strain 941T is also quite different from that published for Rhodopseudomonas marina (8) . In Rhodopseudomonas marina the peak in the 800-nm (803-nm) region is very small, and is similar to that obtained in whole-cell absorption spectra of Rhodospiriflum vubrum (20) . In strain 941T the two longwavelength maxima are similar in size and can be used to differentiate the species. Rhodopseudomonas marina is able to grow photoheterotrophically on short-chain (8) and longchain fatty acids (11) . Thus, there are too many differences between the organisms for strain 941T to be regarded as a freshwater strain of Rhodopseudomonas marina.

Most strains of Rhodopseudomonas marina grow well at NaCl concentrations between 0 and 4%.

The whole-cell absorption spectrum of strain 941T is also quite different from that published for Rhodopseudomonas marina.

In Rhodopseudomonas marina the peak in the 800-nm (803-nm) region is very small, and is similar to that obtained in whole-cell absorption spectra of Rhodospiriflum vubrum.

Rhodopseudomonas marina is able to grow photoheterotrophically on short-chain (8) and longchain fatty acids.


The different contribution of these will affect the type of variation observed at different location per time. In the basement complex area, there is a strong relationship between topographic position and soil genesis [2] . The differences in the rate of hydrologic and geomorphic process in various landform position causes differences in the types and intensity of pedogenic processes. This typically results in a non-random distribution of soil classes and properties on the landscape.

In the basement complex area, there is a strong relationship between topographic position and soil genesis.


Since the family and household often serve as children's first teachers, the home environment plays a critical role in the developing a children's emerging literacy and attitudes towards learning. In this study, we found that Latino parents are providing a literacy environment for their children in the home setting, despite the lack of resources. Despite the low access to books, Latino parents (both mothers and fathers) reported reading to their children once a week. To help support Latino parents, educators and community organizations can provide materials in the native language (e.g. bilingual books, comic books in Spanish, children's books) to parents so that they may assist their children in language and literacy development. We must support parents in such efforts since we know that maintaining a child's first language is an important in facilitating their learning literacy in English, their second language (Burns et al. 1999) .

We must support parents in such efforts since we know that maintaining a child's first language is an important in facilitating their learning literacy in English, their second language.


In most WSDNs, in order to save energy, a node alternates between dormant and active states, this method is developed and applied to WSNs for energy conservation [20] [21] [22] [23] . In broadcast, due to this mechanism that a node is required to transmit broadcast message multiple times to all its neighbor nodes at different moments. As a result, the MTB problem in duty cycled networks (MTB-DC problem) needs to be investigated for solutions in which both the set of forwarding nodes and their broadcast schedules are identified.

In most WSDNs, in order to save energy, a node alternates between dormant and active states, this method is developed and applied to WSNs for energy conservation.


Khiati and Djenouri demonstrated that epidemic theory is suitable for data dissemination by using broadcasting protocols in wireless sensor networks [27] . Khiati and Djenouri found that if the number of selected active nodes is large, the energy consumption is higher, the speed of data dissemination is fast, and converge time is lower. Conversely, if the number of selected active nodes is small, the energy Scientific Programming 3 consumption is less; thus, network lifetime is high. Previous schemes adopt fixed parameters to ensure network obtains desired level of performance under dynamic environments. Thus, Khiati and Djenouri proposed an epidemic-based algorithm by dynamically adjusting the number of selected active nodes to meet delay requirements while minimizing energy consumption.

Khiati and Djenouri demonstrated that epidemic theory is suitable for data dissemination by using broadcasting protocols in wireless sensor networks.


In this paper, we not only consider the energy consumption of program codes dissemination, but also the energy consumption of other operations in the network, which can take full advantage of energy to improve broadcast performance. WSDNs not only have broadcast operation of program codes, but also data collection operation. Data operation is a regular behavior, but broadcasting and updating program codes are temporary and infrequent operations [14] . For broadcasting program codes, the energy consumption is lower in the area near the sink. But in the process of data collection, the energy consumption in the area far away from the sink is lower, and the energy consumption in the area near the sink is higher. Thus, the FPCD scheme adopts a different strategy, the way is to increase the number of active nodes in the area far away from the sink. Because the transmission delay is related to the number of active nodes, increasing the number of nodes involved in broadcasting can effectively reduce the disseminate delay of program codes.

Data operation is a regular behavior, but broadcasting and updating program codes are temporary and infrequent operations.


Citrus fruits are one of the most important crops with worldwide production, while citrus by-products represent a problem regarding their disposal due to the environmental risk. Traditionally, the waste was either burned, causing an increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, or used for cattle feed, but today more environmentally friendly approach was developed for obtaining the new high-value products. The citrus by-products include pulp, seeds and peels, where seeds present a valuable by-product, as well as the peels, due to their content of natural antioxidants, primarily flavonoids [1] . The peels make the largest amount of total produced citrus by-products, and they can be utilized for different purposes due to their bioactive compounds content [2] .

The citrus by-products include pulp, seeds and peels, where seeds present a valuable by-product, as well as the peels, due to their content of natural antioxidants, primarily flavonoids.

The peels make the largest amount of total produced citrus by-products, and they can be utilized for different purposes due to their bioactive compounds content.


Given the toxic substances and wasted resources within ELVs, China has established ELV treatment enterprises to settle the ELV problems. According to the China National Resources Recycling Association, by the end of 2012 there were 522 qualified recycling and dismantling enterprises in China. The number of collection branches was 2,175, with more than 30,000 employees. However, compared with 337 prefectural e level cities and more than 2000 county-level cities all over the country, the number of qualified recycling and dismantling enterprises was not great enough. Moreover, the "ELV recycling" does not necessarily equal "sustainability", especially when a large number of ELVs flow into the informal enterprises, and subsequently causing adverse effects on the environment and human health (Hu and Wen, 2015) . Therefore, it is of great importance to assess the sustainability of ELV recycling enterprises from a systematic point of view, so that all the direct and indirect expenses connected with both human and natural contributions to the ELV recycling process could be accounted for.

Moreover, the "ELV recycling" does not necessarily equal "sustainability", especially when a large number of ELVs flow into the informal enterprises, and subsequently causing adverse effects on the environment and human health.


In particular, a lot of efforts have been focused on the filtering problem of Markov jump systems because of its importance in theory and practice [13, 22, 23] . The existing results can be broadly classified into two categories: modedependent and mode-independent filtering. With an adaptation sense, the mode-dependent filter design has gained popularity owing to its less conservatism. However, most of the mode-dependent results are based on the critical assumption that the switches of filters are strictly synchronized with those of the system modes. In practical case, it is inevitable that operations related to identifying the system modes and specifying the matched filter will take time, and thus mismatch of the modes between the filter and the system generally exists. Most recently, research results concerning asynchronous filtering problems have been derived [16, 24] . In spite of these developments, the problems of asynchronous filtering for 2D Markov jump systems are not fully resolved.

In particular, a lot of efforts have been focused on the filtering problem of Markov jump systems because of its importance in theory and practice.

Most recently, research results concerning asynchronous filtering problems have been derived.


The ability to manage and conduct business without walls or boundaries is a 21st century paradigm that is gaining momentum [23] . Using global virtual teams to undertake projects without the shackles of geography, time, and physical location is enabling firms to conduct business in regions that were previously thought of as inaccessible. Virtual teams offer the promise of flexibility, responsiveness, lower costs and the improved resource utilization necessary to meet the ever changing task requirements of firms operating in highly turbulent and dynamic global business environment. Finally, this researcher conclude that virtual team are here to stay and can be a competitive edge for organizations today.

The ability to manage and conduct business without walls or boundaries is a 21st century paradigm that is gaining momentum.


As Gen Y employees continue to become a stronger and larger group in the workplace, managers and executives must develop flexible and varied managerial behaviors to effectively motivate and manage this cohort. Thus, conducting research on generational differences, similarities, and needs are essential if managers are going to be equipped "with the knowledge required to make informed decisions and implement strategies for creating environments that people want to become part of and stay in" [5] . Failure to address generational issues may cause misunderstandings and miscommunications [6] .

Thus, conducting research on generational differences, similarities, and needs are essential if managers are going to be equipped "with the knowledge required to make informed decisions and implement strategies for creating environments that people want to become part of and stay in".

Failure to address generational issues may cause misunderstandings and miscommunications.


This researcher explored and described the motivational and management needs of Gen Y members and has selected a qualitative, descriptive research approach to collect the primary data. This study is qualitative and descriptive in nature, as it does not assess causal relationship, but instead, compiles and describes data. Descriptive studies can provide a one-time snapshot or description of a population or a phenomenon at a given point in time [18] .

Descriptive studies can provide a one-time snapshot or description of a population or a phenomenon at a given point in time.


Today's workforce is more diverse than ever. As Gen Y employees continue to become a stronger and larger group in the workplace, managers and executives must develop flexible and varied managerial behaviors to effectively motivate and manage this cohort [23] . The purpose of the qualitative descriptive study was to explore the motivational needs of Gen Y and their impact in the workplace based on Herzberg's two-factor theory model. The objective of this research is to provide managers with tools needed to manage Gen Y and to add to the growing body of knowledge in managing and motivating Gen Y.


The search was conducted via EBSCO, ISI Web of Knowledge, and IEEE Explore databases, in line with the guidelines provided by Webster and Watson [7] . This approach has been adopted in order to capture what are deemed to be all the internationally relevant research contributions, coming from established journals and conferences. The three databases index more than 8,000 journals in the fields of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, including important public administration journals, such as Government Information Quarterly and Public Administration Review, and the top journals in the Information Systems field. Relevant conferences include, among others, the DEXA cluster (including EGOV and ePart conferences), and the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). A separate search was conducted through the AIS Electronic Library (AISeL), in order to include articles from the proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) and the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).

The search was conducted via EBSCO, ISI Web of Knowledge, and IEEE Explore databases, in line with the guidelines provided by Webster and Watson.


In this paper, we present a technique to synthesize straightline machine-code instruction-sequences from a QFBV formula. The synthesized instruction-sequence implements the input QFBV formula (i.e., is equivalent to the QFBV formula). Our technique is parameterized by the ISA of the target instruction-sequence, and is easily adaptable to work on other semantic representations, such as a Universal Assembly Language (UAL) [4] .

Our technique is parameterized by the ISA of the target instruction-sequence, and is easily adaptable to work on other semantic representations, such as a Universal Assembly Language (UAL).


Magnetorheological dampers (MRDs) hold promise for vibration control since their properties can be adjusted in real time, and unlike active devices they do not inject energy into the system being controlled and have relatively low power requirements. The MRDs, using MR fluids that exhibit controllable yield characteristics, produces sizeable damping force for small input current. Being an energy dissipation device that cannot add mechanical energy to the structural system, an MR damper is also very stable and fail safe. MR fluid contains a suspension of iron particles in a carrier fluid such as oil [1] .

MR fluid contains a suspension of iron particles in a carrier fluid such as oil.


Traditionally, airports have been mere transportation bases carrying passengers and cargo. Today, however, airports offer high added value as locations where various services and industrial activities are carried out. In addition, they are recognized as an important means of securing a national competitive advantage, evolving into active service providers that create positive experiences for visitors through diverse experience programs and an efficient use of spaces. An airport terminal also serves as a cultural complex offering a variety of experiences to visitors, including cultural experiences, shopping, and art performances, departing from the traditional concept of a place where passengers simply wait for boarding. By providing these unique, high-end customer experiences, airports are able to cultivate strong images and increase customer satisfaction, differentiating themselves from their competitors [1] . Therefore, enhancing the level of experience can be an important factor in maintaining a competitive advantage and differentiating one airport from neighboring competing airports [2] .

By providing these unique, high-end customer experiences, airports are able to cultivate strong images and increase customer satisfaction, differentiating themselves from their competitors.

Therefore, enhancing the level of experience can be an important factor in maintaining a competitive advantage and differentiating one airport from neighboring competing airports.


Third, we do not explicitly consider learning, but rather control for it by incorporating a consumption effect for new users. While most users in our data are experienced, estimates from Table 5 indicate the few users who are new in segment 2 evidence lower consumption rates. Clearly, uncertainty plays a crucial role for new users in their plan choices and consumption levels (Lambrecht, 2006; Lambrecht et al., 2007; Iyengar et al., 2007) . Accordingly, a more formal characterization of learning that also considers consumers' forward-looking behavior would provide more insights in contexts with a greater number of novice consumers.

Clearly, uncertainty plays a crucial role for new users in their plan choices and consumption levels.


Albeit the increasingly ubiquitous use of structural models to study dynamic consumption behavior due to their appealing theoretical foundation, the identification of these models are problematic (Rust, 1994) . In particular, to identify consumer utility functions, it is often necessary to i) assume or fix the discount factor at a given value (normally between 0.90 and 0.9999), and ii) assume that this rate is common across individuals. For example, an annual discount factor of 0.95 is often justified via the argument that this value is consistent with an annual interest rate of about 5%. While this rate might be suitable for analyzing the decisions of firms who are subject to capital constraints in the financial market, it is not clear whether this interest rate applies across consumption contexts where individuals have different degrees of access to capital and credit rates. Moreover, it would be desirable to relax the assumption of homogeneous discount rates. Those with low discount rates are more likely to defer consumption. As a result, targeting policies predicated on low discount rates, such as low introductory rates or trial promotions, might be misplaced if the future is not so material to less forward looking consumers.

Albeit the increasingly ubiquitous use of structural models to study dynamic consumption behavior due to their appealing theoretical foundation, the identification of these models are problematic.


To ensure high conductivity of connections between pins and exposed pads on the board, the latter are silver-plated by immersion during manufacturing. To avoid smearing of solder under the chip body and between pins during soldering, the chip body is sealed in position prior to soldering, using a suitable printed circuit board non-conductive epoxy resin. As an additional precaution, the conductivity between electrode connections and chip pins is verified prior to soldering, using a multimeter. Each pin of the INA116 is then manually soldered to the pad using lead-free silver-based paste with a 0.2 mm diameter hot iron tip. To further minimize parasitic capacitance at board level, the guard ring pattern is repeated on each layer of the board and aside from the chips' necessary connections, no other traces are routed in the area under each INA116. As a last precaution, as recommended in the existing literature, wire connections to the chip are directly soldered to the board on the top layer (no thru-hole connections) [10, [21] [22] [23] . Finally, the assembled board is coated with conformal coating to protect it from moisture that could contaminate the board due to its use in the hospital environment (frequent cleaning and wiping of the enclosure/cables with disinfectant).

As a last precaution, as recommended in the existing literature, wire connections to the chip are directly soldered to the board on the top layer (no thru-hole connections).


Synchronization of chaos in nonlinear dynamical systems with different dynamical structures and orders, called reduced order or increased order synchronization, has not been adequately explored despite its occurrence in biological science and social sciences [25] [26] [27] . For instance, synchronous activity is inevitable in the thalamic and hippocampal neurons network though the network consists of neurons of different dynamical structures and orders [26] . Furthermore, synchronization between the circulatory system and respiratory system may involve dynamical organs with different structures and orders [11] . In fact, synchronization of systems of different dynamical structures and orders can also be observed between the heart and the lung [28] . The main characteristic of reduced order synchronization is that the order of the master is higher than that of the slave and all the state variables of the slave system are synchronized with those of the master. The synchronization of dynamical systems with different structures and orders or reduced order synchronization is very challenging and very important from the perspective of real life applications.

Synchronization of chaos in nonlinear dynamical systems with different dynamical structures and orders, called reduced order or increased order synchronization, has not been adequately explored despite its occurrence in biological science and social sciences.

For instance, synchronous activity is inevitable in the thalamic and hippocampal neurons network though the network consists of neurons of different dynamical structures and orders.

Furthermore, synchronization between the circulatory system and respiratory system may involve dynamical organs with different structures and orders.

In fact, synchronization of systems of different dynamical structures and orders can also be observed between the heart and the lung.


The projective and hybrid projective combinationcombination synchronization scheme presented in this paper has more flexibility and applicability to real life system; for example, in secure communication scheme information signal can be divided into several parts; then each part is loaded in each of the different drive systems and after synchronization the original information signal is retrieved by combining the received signals from different response systems correctly [31] . The case for the projective combination-combination synchronization can be used to achieve fast communication due to the proportionality between the synchronized dynamical states, while the case for projective hybrid synchronization can offer the opportunity of transforming digital signals through the continuous transformation between synchronization and antisynchronization which will further enhance security in communication and chaotic encryption schemes [33] . Moreover, combinationcombination synchronization of different orders gives better insight into the synchronization of biological systems wherein synchronization of different organs of different dynamical structures and orders is involved. Reduced order combination-combination synchronization gives a better understanding of synchronization phenomenon in complex biological systems since synchronization in real life system is complex. The aim of this work is to present projective and hybrid projective reduced order combination-combination synchronization of four chaotic Josephson junctions. This problem of projective and hybrid projective reduced order combination-combination synchronization is reported here for the first time to the best of our knowledge.

The projective and hybrid projective combinationcombination synchronization scheme presented in this paper has more flexibility and applicability to real life system; for example, in secure communication scheme information signal can be divided into several parts; then each part is loaded in each of the different drive systems and after synchronization the original information signal is retrieved by combining the received signals from different response systems correctly.

The case for the projective combination-combination synchronization can be used to achieve fast communication due to the proportionality between the synchronized dynamical states, while the case for projective hybrid synchronization can offer the opportunity of transforming digital signals through the continuous transformation between synchronization and antisynchronization which will further enhance security in communication and chaotic encryption schemes.


Tea factories also emit gaseous, liquid as well as particulate pollutants. The main sources of pollution are waste water from factory processes and exhaust fumes from boilers, standby generator sets and factory trucks that carry green leaf to the factory. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are also sources of pollution. The environmental impacts of these pollutants vary. Waste water discharged from tea processing factories cause high levels of colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) [7] , [8] . Pesticides and chemical fertilizers affect water quality and aquatic ecosystems. Exhaust fumes release carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides which are greenhouse gases that cause global warming, sulphur dioxide which is responsible for acid rain and particulate matter which affect human health. Tea factories are also energy intensive.

Waste water discharged from tea processing factories cause high levels of colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).


Material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) has been widely recognized as one important and necessary step for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment [9] , [10] , [11] . MEFA utilises process material and energy input-output data to characterise the use and emission of materials within and between processes. All flows and indicators are measured in mass units, giving a physical quantification of the system's material requirements. Furthermore, it can be used to reduce the consumption of energy, raw material, water and discharge of effluents by pursuing systematically internal flows of energy and mass in production processes. MEFA is increasingly applied in the fields of industrial ecology, environmental management and protection, resource management, and waste management. It is also used as a basis for life cycle assessment, eco-balance, environmental impacts strategies [12] . Recently the methodology has been applied to optimise material flows and waste streams in production processes in different countries [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] . However, to the best of the author's knowledge, there is surprisingly lack of published data and research on material and energy analysis of the tea industry.

Material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) has been widely recognized as one important and necessary step for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment.

It is also used as a basis for life cycle assessment, eco-balance, environmental impacts strategies.

Recently the methodology has been applied to optimise material flows and waste streams in production processes in different countries.


It was recently discovered that Type IIB superstring theory admits a maximally supersymmetric plane-wave background [1] . Moreover, the string theory in this background is tractable, despite the fact that the background contains a nonvanishing RR field, in the light-cone GS formalism [2] . In that approach the world-sheet theory consists of free massive bosons and fermions. Subsequently, there was a proposal to relate the string states and their interactions to holographically dual calculations in terms of certain limiting operators and their correlation functions in N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory [3] .

It was recently discovered that Type IIB superstring theory admits a maximally supersymmetric plane-wave background.

Moreover, the string theory in this background is tractable, despite the fact that the background contains a nonvanishing RR field, in the light-cone GS formalism.

Subsequently, there was a proposal to relate the string states and their interactions to holographically dual calculations in terms of certain limiting operators and their correlation functions in N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory.


Presently, one of the most efficient air treatment methods is biological air treatment using certain cultures of microorganisms. The application of this method is promising when spontaneous cultures of microorganisms are cultivated in a charge. In this case biological air treatment is cheap, efficient and does not produce secondary pollutants (Baltrėnas et al. 2004) .

In this case biological air treatment is cheap, efficient and does not produce secondary pollutants.


Branches of industry, such as chemical, varnishes and paints production, oil refinement or food industries, use a lot of organic substances which in different ways access the atmosphere. The most widely spread organic compounds include acetone, butanol, toluene, xylene and others. Volatile organic compounds, evolved into the atmosphere as a result of human activities, contribute to the formation of photochemical oxidising agents a high concentration of which does harm to human health, flora and, in general, to the environment (Baltrėnas et al. 2004; Jeong et al. 2006; Laškova et al. 2007) .

Volatile organic compounds, evolved into the atmosphere as a result of human activities, contribute to the formation of photochemical oxidising agents a high concentration of which does harm to human health, flora and, in general, to the environment.


Pseudomonas culture, actively participating in the destruction processes of organic compounds, is the most common in nature. The pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria are present in water and on the surface of plants. The bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens of the Pseudomonas genus, evolved from the substrates of water and wood, accounted for 55 and 67%, respectively (Tekorienė and Lugauskas 2001) .

The bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens of the Pseudomonas genus, evolved from the substrates of water and wood, accounted for 55 and 67%, respectively.


Presently, the application of biofilters to remove volatile organic compounds from the air is growing. Biofilters, differently from biotrickling filters, can be charged only with charges composed of organic or organic and inorganic mixtures. The charge-humidifying control has to be ensured in the devices of such a type. The charge humidity of presently used biofilters is maintained by supplying the device with prehumidified air from a humidifying chamber installed before the filter or by spraying the charge with the help of sprayers installed over it (Kennes and Thalasso 1998) .

The charge humidity of presently used biofilters is maintained by supplying the device with prehumidified air from a humidifying chamber installed before the filter or by spraying the charge with the help of sprayers installed over it.


To ensure microorganism growth and energy, a solution of mineral salts is necessary for the microorganisms to receive vital biogenic elements. The soil solution is composed of: K 2 HPO 4 -1 g, KCl -0.5 g, MgSO 4 ⋅7H 2 O -0.5 g, FeSO 4 ⋅7H 2 O -0.1 g, NaNO 3 -0,90 g, water -1,000 g. This solution is poured into a water reservoir and sprayed over each layer of the charge. To ensure microorganism metabolism, the acidity pH = 7.0±0.1 is maintained in the biomedium. Buffer solutions composed of sodium and potassium hydrophosphates are used to ensure the acidity (Baltrėnas and Vaiškūnaitė 2003) . The biomedium acidity is measured with a pH-metre.

Buffer solutions composed of sodium and potassium hydrophosphates are used to ensure the acidity.


Samples of 1-2 g each, taken with a pair of pincers are placed in the weighing bottles which are closed. A working sample is uniformly spread over the weighing bottle's bottom (0.2 g/cm 2 ). After being weighed, the weighing bottle with the sample is placed into the drying cabinet and dried for 3 h at a temperature of 105±2 °C. The dried sample is weighed and its humidity is determined (Baltrėnas and Zagorskis 2007) .

The dried sample is weighed and its humidity is determined.


With the aim of extending the life cycle of the charge and at the same time increasing the treatment efficiency of the device, several treatment techniques, biological and adsorptive ones, can be combined. As zeolite has a regular structure with pores of an equal size and is distinguished by a big internal area of the specific surface as well as thermal stability, it is widely applied in air treatment as an adsorbent. Upon mixing wood chips with zeolite, the life cycle of the charge is extended and the sorbtion properties of the filtering medium are improved (Baltrėnas and Paliulis 2002) . Spontaneous microorganism cultures will be able to develop not only in wood chips but also in zeolite of an inorganic origin (Luo and Lindsey 2006) . Microorganisms that accumulate on a biofilm, forming on the zeolite surface, will decompose organic compounds in zeolite pores. To maintain better sorbtion properties of the charge, wood chips can be mixed with other charges having a bigger sorbtion surface, such as foam. In this case, the charge will be distinguished by better properties of humidity sorbtion, low density, low costs and a big area of the treated surface.

Upon mixing wood chips with zeolite, the life cycle of the charge is extended and the sorbtion properties of the filtering medium are improved.

Spontaneous microorganism cultures will be able to develop not only in wood chips but also in zeolite of an inorganic origin.


Both China and India are not only the two largest coal consumption countries but also two of the largest CO 2 emission countries in the world. For the past decade, China and India experience a steady increase in their energy use, especially coal and oil, such that in aggregate, it is expected that they will consume 45% of the world's coal in 2030 (Jayanthakumaran et al., 2012) . China has per capita CO 2 emissions of 26.31 tonnes and India has per capita CO 2 emissions or 22.39 tonnes during the period of 1969 -2015 (BP, 2014 .

For the past decade, China and India experience a steady increase in their energy use, especially coal and oil, such that in aggregate, it is expected that they will consume 45% of the world's coal in 2030.


We performed commissioning runs with 1 active Micromegas at the center of the charge readout plane and with different gas mixtures. Argon gas mixed with 5% isobutane was used first at 1 bar pressure to demonstrate the basic operation of the Micromegas detector and the data acquisition system. Xenon gas with 1% of trimethylamine (TMA) mixture is the baseline choice for PandaX-III TPC and we tested the detector performance at 5 bar. Attributed to Penning effect, the TMA in xenon improves the detector gain and resolution [16] . A 241 Am calibration source was used and we ran extensive Monte Carlo simulations to help understand the measured low energy spectrum.

Attributed to Penning effect, the TMA in xenon improves the detector gain and resolution.


Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. When uncontrolled, asthma can be a cause of substantial morbidity and mortality; it is also economically burdensome (Croisant, 2014) . In the case of omalizumab prescribed to patients with uncontrolled severe asthma, frequent attendance for injections interferes with their personal and work life and may be associated with indirect expenses such as extra costs for travel or income lost from work to attend an injection clinic. Reducing the frequency of administration of omalizumab to every 4 weeks, where possible, reduces patient burden and costs. This less burdensome treatment regimen for eligible patients may aid persistence with treatment, thereby improving the chance of full clinical benefit from therapy (Cochrane, 1992; Cochrane et al., 1999) . Furthermore, reduced time spent with patients will decrease the burden of healthcare practitioners, with a direct impact on the expense for drug administration.

When uncontrolled, asthma can be a cause of substantial morbidity and mortality; it is also economically burdensome.

This less burdensome treatment regimen for eligible patients may aid persistence with treatment, thereby improving the chance of full clinical benefit from therapy.


The growth of ultra-low-power sensor technologies inspires the use of alternative energies. One of the most ubiquitous sources of energy is ambient mechanical vibration, which can be converted to useful electrical energy. This renewable source of energy can replace batteries, which have short lives and high maintenance costs. Most of the current vibration energy harvesters are linear resonators that have a narrow bandwidth, which causes a significant drop in the output once the excitation frequency differs from the resonant frequency. As ambient vibrations have a wide spectrum at the low-frequency range, that defect defeats attempts to use linear resonators as convenient energy harvesters [1] .

As ambient vibrations have a wide spectrum at the low-frequency range, that defect defeats attempts to use linear resonators as convenient energy harvesters.


To assess the impact of credit accessed by different economic sectors on their economic performance, we employ panel data estimation methodology. The oft-touted power of panel data derives from their theoretical ability to isolate the effects of specific actions, treatments, or more general policies (Hsiao 2003) . Ignoring the time-specific or sector-specific unobserved (omitted) effects that exist among sectors in the conventional time series and cross-sectional studies on financial development and economic growth leads to biased or misleading results. The basic assumption of the fixed and random effects models is that, conditional on the observed explanatory variables, the effects of omitted (excluded) variables are driven by (1) individual time-invariant such as individual-industry management style and ability, efficiency, or other technical differences between sectors; (2) period individual-invariant-variables that are same for all firms at a given time but that vary through time. These are variables that reflect general conditions affecting the productivity of all sectors but that are fluctuating over time (such as weather in agriculture production). The third class is individual time-varying. Ideally, such sector-specific and time-effects variables should be explicitly introduced into the equation or specification.

The oft-touted power of panel data derives from their theoretical ability to isolate the effects of specific actions, treatments, or more general policies.


Perizin consumed by bees is spread by social feeding within honeybee colonies. However, this is a minor part of the distribution, since only about one fourth of the applied coumaphos is ingested by the bees. The main part is distributed externally by contact via comb cleaning and self and nest mate grooming (van Buren et al. 1992a) . Perizin is distributed among the bees in a colony within 3 h of application (van Buren et al. 1993) .

The main part is distributed externally by contact via comb cleaning and self and nest mate grooming.

Perizin is distributed among the bees in a colony within 3 h of application.


This study highlights reinforced the significant role of trust in team formation and organisational identity. Firstly, this study found that the extent to which individuals identify with their organisation is a critical predictor of their perceptions of the trustworthiness of the organisation. This is consistent with the social identity theory which suggests that identification is associated with a number of positive work behaviours and attitudes (Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Friedlander, 1970) . Secondly, when individuals identify with their team, they exert additional efforts in achieving team goals (Han and Harms 2010) . In short, trust perception influences work attitude and behaviour. Thirdly, team identification is associated with their trust perception towards the organisation. This study also suggests that trust in organisation could be shaped by cultivating team members' sense of belongingness and team identification. It is therefore important for management to cultivate trust of their organisation members for greater performance and efficiency.

This is consistent with the social identity theory which suggests that identification is associated with a number of positive work behaviours and attitudes.

Secondly, when individuals identify with their team, they exert additional efforts in achieving team goals.


Many authors have considered this phenomenon to be a model one, and so its investigations can contribute much to developing a theory of structural phase transitions in liquids, especially in those located near singular points [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . Notice that experimental studies of the phenomenon are complicated by the fact that its manifestations strongly depend on the concentration, temperature and 'prehistory' of the solutions. What is important, the solutions achieve their thermodynamic equilibrium very slowly (the relaxation times are sometimes measured by tens of hours), and the equilibrium can be violated even by shaking. This leads to essential discrepancies among different experimental data, or even to their irreproducibility [2] . In this work we propose a new method that facilitates studies of the above phenomenon, a method for monitoring concentration dependences of the light scattering in the gradient solutions prepared by diffusion in the gravitational field. We employ a non-contact, non-invasive laser electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) as a remote-sensing technique for determining the spatial distributions of the solution concentrations.

Many authors have considered this phenomenon to be a model one, and so its investigations can contribute much to developing a theory of structural phase transitions in liquids, especially in those located near singular points.

This leads to essential discrepancies among different experimental data, or even to their irreproducibility.


Image in Fig. 7 Image in Fig. 8 Image in Fig. 9 Image in Fig. 10 Image in Fig. 11 iters http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Research/Projects/CS/ vision/grouping/segbench/) [42] . In this experiment, we initialized cluster centroids with random numbers for FCM and updated membership functions and cluster centroids in turn in each iteration. For other methods, we initialized both cluster centroids and the bias field with random numbers and updated membership functions, cluster centroids, and the bias field in turn in each iteration. Parameter α of BCFCM was set to be 1 and the base number a was set to be 1.02 in this experiment, while ten orthogonal three order Legendre polynomial functions were used to estimate the bias field for MICO. For the first five images used in this experiment, the original image, segmentation result of FCM, noise removed by NLMD, and energy curve of FCM are given in the first column of each figure. From the second to the fifth columns are the estimated bias fields, segmentation results, bias corrected images, and energy curves of BCFCM, MICO, BCEFCM, and NLMDþBCEFCM, respectively.

Image in Fig. 7 Image in Fig. 8 Image in Fig. 9 Image in Fig. 10 Image in Fig. 11 iters http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Research/Projects/CS/ vision/grouping/segbench/).


The main limitation of our study is that follow-up information was collected retrospectively. However, we believe that the characteristics of the study make it unlikely that the results differ considerably from those that would have been obtained in an entirely prospective study. This is because follow-up of the patients was carried out in our institution by the same physicians throughout the course of the disease, with standard clinical and laboratory parameters assessed every 3 to 6 months, as is common practice with HIV-infected patients in Spain [28] . In addition, the management and prevention of complications of cirrhosis was conducted following protocols established by the hepatology unit at our institution, based on current clinical practice guidelines.

This is because follow-up of the patients was carried out in our institution by the same physicians throughout the course of the disease, with standard clinical and laboratory parameters assessed every 3 to 6 months, as is common practice with HIV-infected patients in Spain.


Non-covalent interactions (NCI) are inarguably of a great importance in chemical, catalytic and especially in biological systems. They play a key role in supramolecular chemistry which is defined as ''chemistry beyond the molecule'' and are without doubt the dominant type of interaction in maintaining the three-dimensional structure of large systems such as proteins, nucleic acids and other large molecules [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . In these systems, NCI involving aromatic rings can be distinguished and those are for instance: p-stacking, cation/p, anion-p, C-H/p and N-H/p interactions [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . The understanding of their nature together with their interplaying and dependencies between different types of NCI (for instance p-stacking vs N-H/p) is critical for harnessing their full potential in chemistry, especially when the precise control of the strength and geometry of intermolecular interactions is concerned, e.g. in the material improving processes and drug design strategy. The quantification of the intermolecular interactions in the aromatic ring systems is also extremely significant in understanding the structures of molecular assemblies [15, 16] .

They play a key role in supramolecular chemistry which is defined as ''chemistry beyond the molecule'' and are without doubt the dominant type of interaction in maintaining the three-dimensional structure of large systems such as proteins, nucleic acids and other large molecules.

In these systems, NCI involving aromatic rings can be distinguished and those are for instance: p-stacking, cation/p, anion-p, C-H/p and N-H/p interactions.

The quantification of the intermolecular interactions in the aromatic ring systems is also extremely significant in understanding the structures of molecular assemblies.


With the used resolution, the optimal ring centroid distance was found to be 4 Å and the optimal twist angle (a) is equal to 180°. However, the bonding geometry boundaries are relatively broad, and the stacking interactions can be binding even for ring centroid distances larger than 6 Å , provided that the stacked rings are in an appropriate geometry. Recently, the same has been observed for sixmembered aromatic ring systems [81] [82] [83] .

Recently, the same has been observed for sixmembered aromatic ring systems.


Both B97-D3 and xB97XD density functionals are capable of describing the intermolecular interactions in the studied pyrrole ring systems. However, the B97-D3, at least in this case, is less basis-set-dependent and much faster than xB97XD. The M06-2X with aTZ performed slightly worse, but considering relatively small deviations from the reference CCSD/CBS, its results can be consider as satisfactory. The ''sandwich'' ring system configuration (b = 0°) is not associated with any energy minimum (Figs. 5, 6 ). Hence, this conformation is not energetically favourable and should not be arbitrarily used in studies of pÁÁÁp interactions. This is in accordance with the study made for other systems [17, 81] .

This is in accordance with the study made for other systems.


The transmission electron crystallography community developed CIP to enable the extraction of structure factor amplitudes and phase angles from (parallel illumination) high-resolution phase contrast images of crystalline materials within the weak phase object approximation [8, 9] . It has also been used for the correction of these images for the effects of the phase contrast transfer function, two-fold astigmatism, sample tilt away from lowindexed zone axes, and beam tilt away from the optical axis of the microscope. The central ideas of this kind of 2D crystallographic symmetry averaging have also been applied to scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of Z-contrast imaging [10] .

The transmission electron crystallography community developed CIP to enable the extraction of structure factor amplitudes and phase angles from (parallel illumination) high-resolution phase contrast images of crystalline materials within the weak phase object approximation.

The central ideas of this kind of 2D crystallographic symmetry averaging have also been applied to scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of Z-contrast imaging.


To address this question we need a way to diagnose locality. From at least two viewpoints (gauge invariance, holography) it was expected that the AdS/CFT correspondence would only yield S-matrix elements -not off-shell amplitudes -and direct study has partially confirmed this [7, 8, 5, 6] . Therefore we need a way of inferring from the S-matrix whether -or to what extent -the underlying theory is local. Various bounds exist for S-matrices derived from local theories, or even from generalizations to theories with nonlocal behavior above a definite energy scale. However, derivation of these bounds becomes problematic in the case of theories with massless particles, and particularly for theories with gravity. There is some related information about the high-energy structure of string scattering amplitudes, but at present nothing that serves as a definitive test of locality near the string scale. At macroscopic scales, one important test of locality is that the theory correctly produce semiclassical gravity amplitudes or other coulombic behavior, at long distances or equivalently small momentum transfer.

From at least two viewpoints (gauge invariance, holography) it was expected that the AdS/CFT correspondence would only yield S-matrix elements -not off-shell amplitudes -and direct study has partially confirmed this.


Country-wide reviews of palliative care research have been conducted previously in Ireland, Sweden and Scotland. Following the launch of the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC), Ireland conducted a review of all palliative care research spanning 2002 to 2012 with the aim of describing the research context and setting priorities for the future [4] . Similarly, in Sweden, a review covering the period 2007-2012 examined the type of research conducted, growth over time and changes in foci compared to a previous baseline review [5] . In Scotland, an unpublished review examined all palliative care research conducted between 1990 and 2005, to identify gaps and set priorities [6] . That review identified 44 research publications over a 15-year search period, with key themes relating to models of palliative care provision, symptom control, spiritual issues and education.

Following the launch of the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC), Ireland conducted a review of all palliative care research spanning 2002 to 2012 with the aim of describing the research context and setting priorities for the future.

Similarly, in Sweden, a review covering the period 2007-2012 examined the type of research conducted, growth over time and changes in foci compared to a previous baseline review.

In Scotland, an unpublished review examined all palliative care research conducted between 1990 and 2005, to identify gaps and set priorities.


The higher BC concentration at higher altitudes during summer (or spring) season has great significance on regional and global climate. It can act as a heat pump over the northern Indian and Himalayan foothill locations and modulate the Indian summer monsoon. Our observation is also in line with earlier observations of the existence of aerosol layers extending from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayan region having a vertical extent of ∼ 3 km (Babu et al., 2011a) .

Our observation is also in line with earlier observations of the existence of aerosol layers extending from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayan region having a vertical extent of ∼ 3 km.


It is obvious that programs based only on chemical or biological endpoints do not suffi ciently ensure proper environmental protection. Indeed, a program that incorporates both chemical and biological monitoring strategies, such as the experiences in Canada, Sweden, and Australia, are a step ahead. These approaches have been shown to be widely benefi cial and accepted not only by the government but also by the public and the industry. Even though reproductive effects have been consistently identifi ed in the Canadian program, the chemical compounds causing those effects still need to be identifi ed (Hewitt et al. 2008) . This fact reinforces the idea that good monitoring programs must consider complementary responses in the biota and chemical evaluations.

Even though reproductive effects have been consistently identifi ed in the Canadian program, the chemical compounds causing those effects still need to be identifi ed.


Peritoneal keratin granuloma is included among reactive tumor-like lesions of the peritoneum [1] . It has got an infectious or non-infectious etiology [1] . It is often clinically confused with a malignancy. In male patients the source of keratin can range from squamous metaplasia to multilocular peritoneal inclusion cysts (MPIC), which are inflammatory cysts of the peritoneum [2, 3] . This lesion is purely benign, as no recurrence has been observed so far during the follow-up interval [2] .

Peritoneal keratin granuloma is included among reactive tumor-like lesions of the peritoneum.

It has got an infectious or non-infectious etiology.

In male patients the source of keratin can range from squamous metaplasia to multilocular peritoneal inclusion cysts (MPIC), which are inflammatory cysts of the peritoneum.

This lesion is purely benign, as no recurrence has been observed so far during the follow-up interval.


Despite gloomy conditions in terms of global health, the world will at the same time see rapid growth of cities and income in the near future. In 1900 only 10% of the world's population lived in cities, however, today the proportion has increased to nearly 50% [3] . According to the United Nations estimates, almost all of the world's population growth between 2000 to 2030 will be concentrated in urban areas of developing countries, where, if the present trend continues, it is expected that 60% of the developing countries will be urban by 2030. At the same time it is projected that income per person in developing countries will grow at an annual rate of 3.4% between 2010-2015, which is twice that, was registered in the 1990's (1.7%).

In 1900 only 10% of the world's population lived in cities, however, today the proportion has increased to nearly 50%.


Generically, the construction of the relevant RG flows requires solving a system of partial differential equations since the bulk fields will depend on both the spatial directions of the field theory as well as a holographic radial direction. An interesting exception is provided by the Q-lattice constructions [1] . These constructions require the existence of a global symmetry in the bulk which is then used to develop an ansatz for the bulk fields in which the dependence on the spatial directions is solved exactly. This leads to a system of ordinary differential equations for a set of functions that just depend on the holographic radial coordinate. It is of particular interest to look for Q-lattice constructions in a top-down context.

An interesting exception is provided by the Q-lattice constructions.


The new D = 4 solutions involve two complex scalar fields each of which parametrises SL(2, R)/SO (2) . The Lagrangian has a potential term which breaks the SL(2, R) symmetry down to SO(2) and we use the latter for our Q-lattice construction. When expanded about the AdS 4 vacuum these scalar fields are dual to relevant operators in the dual CFT; this can be contrasted with the type IIB axion-dilaton which is massless and dual to a marginal complex operator (for any choice of X 5 ). Within the ABJM theory the scalar fields are dual to certain scalar and fermion bilinear operators and the RG flows are thus being driven by spatially modulated mass deformations.

The new D = 4 solutions involve two complex scalar fields each of which parametrises SL(2, R)/SO.


In type IIB supergravity there is a rich class of examples associated with the family of AdS 5 × X 5 vacuum solutions, where X 5 is an Einstein space [2] . The solutions can be constructed using a D = 5 theory of gravity which is obtained as a consistent Kaluza-Klein reduction of type IIB supergravity on X 5 . The D = 5 theory couples the metric to a complex scalar field τ , which incorporates the axion and dilaton of type IIB supergravity, and there is a natural global SL(2) symmetry acting on τ .

In type IIB supergravity there is a rich class of examples associated with the family of AdS 5 × X 5 vacuum solutions, where X 5 is an Einstein space.


Similar to the type IIB solutions, the new RG solutions are again boomerang flows, flowing from the AdS 4 vacuum solution in the UV down to the same AdS 4 solution in the IR with renormalised relative length scales. In addition, for large enough values of Γ/k we find that on the way to IR the RG flow exhibits intermediate scaling behaviour, similar to the D = 5 flows in the elliptic class. Interestingly, however, in contrast to the D = 5 flows there are now two distinct intermediate scaling regimes and both exhibit hyperscaling violation [21] [22] [23] . The first regime is Lorentz invariant with dynamical exponent z = 1 and hyperscaling violation exponent θ = −2, while the second has z = 5/2 and hyperscaling violation exponent θ = 1. A schematic picture of the RG flows is presented in figure 1 .

Interestingly, however, in contrast to the D = 5 flows there are now two distinct intermediate scaling regimes and both exhibit hyperscaling violation.


Many important applications require accurate solution of multi-domain, multi-physics coupling of groundwater and surface flows. The Stokes-Darcy fluid flow model is a coupling among surface and subsurface flows, which occurs in many natural and industrial events such as biomedicine, industrial processes, blood flow motion in the arteries, groundwater fluid flow in a karst aquifer, biofluid dynamics, hydrology, contaminant transport in a groundwater geometry through rivers, industrial filtration, petroleum engineering, spontaneous combustion of coal stockpiles, and so on [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . A dynamical fluid model describes the free fluid flow in the conduit and porous medium fluid flow in the matrix separated by a shared interface.

The Stokes-Darcy fluid flow model is a coupling among surface and subsurface flows, which occurs in many natural and industrial events such as biomedicine, industrial processes, blood flow motion in the arteries, groundwater fluid flow in a karst aquifer, biofluid dynamics, hydrology, contaminant transport in a groundwater geometry through rivers, industrial filtration, petroleum engineering, spontaneous combustion of coal stockpiles, and so on.


Muddy pellets, in contrast, are significantly denser than flocs and are formed by mechanical compaction. This compaction commonly occurs during processing by deposit-and suspension-feeding benthic organisms (Taghon et al. 1984; Wheatcroft et al. 2007) . Pellets are also formed by zooplankton, though often with higher organic content (and lower density) than benthic pellets. The sediment surface in moderately turbid (C ≈ O(100) mg/liter) temperate estuaries and shelves with high organic loadings is commonly 10 to 50% or more biogeneic pellets (Zabawa 1978; Andersen 2001; Drake et al. 2002) . Biogenic pellets can have D ranging from 10s to 1000s of μm.

This compaction commonly occurs during processing by deposit-and suspension-feeding benthic organisms.

The sediment surface in moderately turbid (C ≈ O(100) mg/liter) temperate estuaries and shelves with high organic loadings is commonly 10 to 50% or more biogeneic pellets.


We have introduced a dynamic game of information sharing in a fishery with incomplete information about payoffs at competing fishing sites. We contrast first-best and non-cooperative site choice policies under various model parameters and risk preferences. We show that privately optimal investments in information by non-cooperating fishermen diverge from first-best investment over a range of beliefs about true payoffs at competing sites. Our results confirm that non-cooperating fishermen engage in redundant and inefficient search over a subset of the belief space (Costello and Deacon (2007) ). Non-cooperating fishermen under-invest in information relative to the first-best in other regions of the belief space. The simple intuition for the divergence between the Perfect Bayesian Nash Equilibrium policies we study and first-best outcomes is that information, once collected, is a public good that should be made available to all fishermen. When information value is shared among multiple fishermen, as in our first-best scenario, a lower benefit threshold is required before costly information gathering proceeds.

Our results confirm that non-cooperating fishermen engage in redundant and inefficient search over a subset of the belief space).


Biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric particles are widely used as drug carriers [1] [2] [3] [4] . Encapsulation of drug in polymer particles allows for prolonged release of medicines in the target area which means that drugs become available directly in the desired site (so they do not cause side effects) and their activity is extended in time. Typically, drug release is achieved due to polymer swelling or erosion [5] . In addition, the release rate can be "tuned" using the responsive systems; that is, it can be triggered by pH, temperature, radiation, magnetic field, and so forth [6, 7] . In such cases polymerbased carriers become the specialized and effective tool of medical treatment. Simultaneously, the controlled release allows minimizing local toxic effects of potent drugs [4] .

Biocompatible and biodegradable polymeric particles are widely used as drug carriers.

Typically, drug release is achieved due to polymer swelling or erosion.

In addition, the release rate can be "tuned" using the responsive systems; that is, it can be triggered by pH, temperature, radiation, magnetic field, and so forth.

Simultaneously, the controlled release allows minimizing local toxic effects of potent drugs.


At very high drying rates (Exps 3, 5, and 6), powder particles are highly deformed and crumpled. This effect is due to the surface collapse when the outer solid crust (shell) is formed over the liquid content of the inner core of the droplet as suggested by other authors [28] . In such case, water evaporates through the crust leaving empty spaces behind so the crust becomes wrinkled as it collapses to fill these spaces, Figure 5(a) .

This effect is due to the surface collapse when the outer solid crust (shell) is formed over the liquid content of the inner core of the droplet as suggested by other authors.


The common route of delivery of drugs formed as micro-and nanoparticles is intravenous injection; however pulmonary drug delivery by inhalation becomes prospective [10] [11] [12] . It is beneficial particularly in the treatment of disorders localized within the respiratory system where diseased areas can be accessed from the outer side (i.e., via the air). Unfortunately, nanoparticles cannot be efficiently delivered by inhalation due to their poor aerosolization properties and relatively ineffective deposition in the bronchial tree and the alveoli. According to the existing knowledge based simultaneously on in vivo measurements and model calculations, the most suitable aerodynamic size of aerosol particles which 2 International Journal of Polymer Science assures their good penetration to the lower airways of the respiratory system is limited to 1-5 m [12] [13] [14] . Thus, delivery of nanodrugs or nanocarriers into the lungs requires an application of additional vehicles of nanostructures in form of microsized objects which can be inhaled and effectively deposited in the respiratory system [10, 15, 16] .

The common route of delivery of drugs formed as micro-and nanoparticles is intravenous injection; however pulmonary drug delivery by inhalation becomes prospective.

According to the existing knowledge based simultaneously on in vivo measurements and model calculations, the most suitable aerodynamic size of aerosol particles which 2 International Journal of Polymer Science assures their good penetration to the lower airways of the respiratory system is limited to 1-5 m.

Thus, delivery of nanodrugs or nanocarriers into the lungs requires an application of additional vehicles of nanostructures in form of microsized objects which can be inhaled and effectively deposited in the respiratory system.


Nanoparticles gained a lot of interest as potential vehicles of therapeutics because of several unique and beneficial features. Owing to the small area for opsonin binding, they are capable of avoiding the phagocytosis so the drug bioavailability is increased as compared to larger carriers [5] . Simultaneously, the size of nanoparticles makes them suitable to penetrate to the tumors via more leaky walls of the blood vessels (so called, EPR effect) and for this reason they are preferable carriers of anticancer therapeutics [8, 9] .

Owing to the small area for opsonin binding, they are capable of avoiding the phagocytosis so the drug bioavailability is increased as compared to larger carriers.

Simultaneously, the size of nanoparticles makes them suitable to penetrate to the tumors via more leaky walls of the blood vessels (so called, EPR effect) and for this reason they are preferable carriers of anticancer therapeutics.


In MR, a genetic variant acts as an instrumental variable (IV) or proxy for an exposure of interest that is postulated to influence a disease-related outcome. The causal effect of an exposure on a disease outcome is estimated from the association of the genetic instrument with the outcome, taking into account the genetic variant's association with the exposure (see Fig. 1 ). Based on Mendel's laws of inheritance, (i) alleles segregate at conception independent of environment, (ii) genetic variants affecting different traits can sort independently, and associations between genetic instruments and outcomes are not generally confounded by behavioral or environmental exposures at the population level [1, 6] . These provide a framework that mimics an RCT to infer causality between an exposure and a disease outcome.

Based on Mendel's laws of inheritance, (i) alleles segregate at conception independent of environment, (ii) genetic variants affecting different traits can sort independently, and associations between genetic instruments and outcomes are not generally confounded by behavioral or environmental exposures at the population level.


There are, however, a number of known limitations [1, [11] [12] [13] [14] . In particular, MR requires that a number of strong assumptions are met. Beyond the genetic variant's association with the exposure trait, there must be no unmeasured common causes of the genetic variant and the outcome. In addition, the outcome must not be associated with the genetic variant except through its association with the exposure variable. Population stratification (i.e., when population subgroups differ both in disease rates and allele frequencies for variants of interest) is the most likely unmeasured common cause of both genetic variation and outcome. In addition, since a single genetic variant generally explains only a small amount of variation in a trait of interest, low statistical power is frequently an issue for an MR study, as its power is positively correlated with the amount of phenotypic variance explained by the genetic variant(s) [1, 15] . Finally, there is also the possibility of confounding being reintroduced through linkage disequilibrium (LD, correlation among SNPs) or pleiotropy (where a genetic variant has multiple functional consequences). This topic has been discussed in more detail elsewhere [16] .

There are, however, a number of known limitations.

In addition, since a single genetic variant generally explains only a small amount of variation in a trait of interest, low statistical power is frequently an issue for an MR study, as its power is positively correlated with the amount of phenotypic variance explained by the genetic variant(s).

This topic has been discussed in more detail elsewhere.


The aim of weighting in MCDA is to quantitatively reflect the relative importance of multiple criteria in order to value healthcare intervention. Earlier research has shown that decision makers choose techniques based on their fit to the decision context, and cognitive and time demands in collecting and analyzing their results [27] . Given the diversity of MCDA methods available the selection of the weighting technique requires insight in the specific strengths and weaknesses of the different methods. The objectives of this study were: to assess the effect of five different weighting techniques on the value of health innovations, to compare their ability to discriminate between criteria, and to test whether these different techniques result in similar weights.

Earlier research has shown that decision makers choose techniques based on their fit to the decision context, and cognitive and time demands in collecting and analyzing their results.


A support system for predicting the end-price of an online auction based on the item description using text mining and boosting algorithm has been proposed [6] . Emphasis is given by the authors on capturing the relevant information for incorporating into the price forecasting models for ongoing online auction [1] . A novel functional K-nearest neighbor (fKNN) forecaster based on functional and non-functional distance has been proposed and has been proved to be effective particularly for heterogeneous auction populations.

A support system for predicting the end-price of an online auction based on the item description using text mining and boosting algorithm has been proposed.

Emphasis is given by the authors on capturing the relevant information for incorporating into the price forecasting models for ongoing online auction.


In various under-developed, developing and developed countries, water quality and sanitation are key public concerns. Especially in the case of developing and under-developed countries, a lack of sewage management is leading to increasingly negative effects on economic growth, social welfare and the world's eco-system. Various centralized waste treatment plants and sewerage systems have been employed in developed countries and a few even in developing and under-developed countries [1] . These centralized systems of collection and treatment are currently perceived to be expensive in terms of cost and energy. Moreover, a centralized system also increases the per capita cost due to expensive sewer line installation, construction and the waste/wastewater collection system. The traditional centralized system of wastewater treatment often reuses/disposes far from the point of generation, which creates difficulty in returning treated wastewater to the watershed of origin [2] . Therefore, to increase the reuse of wastewater, constructions of reliable, simple and cost-effective decentralized treatment systems have to be adopted in developing countries and even in developed countries for newly planned towns and urban modification. Particularly, decentralized systems are preferable for communities with improper zoning, such as scattered low-density populated rural areas [3] . The large capital investments of sewage systems and pumping costs associated with centralized systems can be reduced in decentralized treatment systems. However, the construction and development of numerous decentralized plants in urban areas can be tedious and expensive. Decentralized treatment systems should be targeted in newly developed towns and communities, where the development costs of treatment units could be overcome by valorizing the nutrients and energy extracted. This could assist in an eradication/minimization of the cost of expensive sewer line installation.

Various centralized waste treatment plants and sewerage systems have been employed in developed countries and a few even in developing and under-developed countries.

The traditional centralized system of wastewater treatment often reuses/disposes far from the point of generation, which creates difficulty in returning treated wastewater to the watershed of origin.

Particularly, decentralized systems are preferable for communities with improper zoning, such as scattered low-density populated rural areas.


Among the various advanced and sophisticated technologies available for treatment of waste and wastewater, the bioremediation technique is considered simple and easy for applications in decentralized treatments and thus advantageous for the environment, health, life and the world's economy [5] . Bioprocess technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, photo fermentation and microbial fuel/electrolysis cells, are widely studied and tested in applications [5] . Anaerobic treatment is regarded as a proven and core technology for the recovery of energy and nutrients from waste and wastewater because it converts organic matter to hydrogen and methane, which can be used to produce electricity and heat, while at the same time anaerobic treatment yields low amounts of excess sludge [6] . Organic wastewater is a potential bioenergy source for the anaerobic fermentation technology. Wastewater is perceived as a vast resource as the paradigm shifts from treatment only to treatment along with energy and valuable nutrient recovery. Bioenergy generation in terms of methane or hydrogen from wastewater costs less and can be carried out using local feedstock [7] . Biohydrogen, a high-energy and clean fuel, is perceived as an appealing future energy carrier due to its conversion to energy yielding only pure water. It is a promising substitute for antediluvian energy sources such as fossil fuels because biohydrogen has the potential to obviate problems created due to the extensive use of fossil fuels. Biohydrogen has been deliberated and proposed as an ultimate transport fuel for vehicles and vessels because of its non-polluting aspect, and it also enables the use of highly efficient fuel cells to convert chemical energy to electricity [8] . Several technologies for biohydrogen production have been proposed over the last decade, such as bio-photolysis, photo fermentation, microbial fuel/electrolysis cells (MECs and MFCs) and dark fermentation; the latter appears as the most feasible and pragmatic [9] [10] [11] .

Among the various advanced and sophisticated technologies available for treatment of waste and wastewater, the bioremediation technique is considered simple and easy for applications in decentralized treatments and thus advantageous for the environment, health, life and the world's economy.

Bioprocess technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, photo fermentation and microbial fuel/electrolysis cells, are widely studied and tested in applications.

Anaerobic treatment is regarded as a proven and core technology for the recovery of energy and nutrients from waste and wastewater because it converts organic matter to hydrogen and methane, which can be used to produce electricity and heat, while at the same time anaerobic treatment yields low amounts of excess sludge.

Bioenergy generation in terms of methane or hydrogen from wastewater costs less and can be carried out using local feedstock.

Biohydrogen has been deliberated and proposed as an ultimate transport fuel for vehicles and vessels because of its non-polluting aspect, and it also enables the use of highly efficient fuel cells to convert chemical energy to electricity.

Several technologies for biohydrogen production have been proposed over the last decade, such as bio-photolysis, photo fermentation, microbial fuel/electrolysis cells (MECs and MFCs) and dark fermentation; the latter appears as the most feasible and pragmatic.


Dark fermentation in the acidogenic phase utilizing obligate and facultative anaerobes leads to H2 production. Previous studies depicted four fermentation reactions taking place in anaerobic H2 production systems, i.e., acetic acid fermentation, butyric acid fermentation, propionic acid fermentation and ethanol fermentation. Among these reactions, H2 is generated from acetic, butyric and ethanol fermentations. Operational physical and biochemical environments are crucial factors to be considered for anaerobic hydrogen fermentation. As dark fermentation of hydrogen occurs in the acidogenic phase, the adjustment of pH is important. Factors such as temperature, OLR (Organic Loading Rate) and HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time) are also important [12] . Anaerobic sludge, sewage sludge and soil have been used as mixed inoculum for fermentative hydrogen production. However, hydrogen-consuming bacteria in mixed cultures may consume the hydrogen produced by hydrogen-producing bacteria. Various works have been performed to minimize the hydrogen consumers. Clostridium spp., the main hydrogen-producing bacterium, has been reported to be enriched in this environment [13] .

Factors such as temperature, OLR (Organic Loading Rate) and HRT (Hydraulic Retention Time) are also important.

Clostridium spp., the main hydrogen-producing bacterium, has been reported to be enriched in this environment.


Domestic wastewater is water that has been used by a community and contains all the materials added to the water during its use. It is thus composed of human bodily waste (feces and urine) together with the water used for flushing toilets and also wastewater resulting from personal washing, laundry, food preparation and cleaning of kitchen utensils. Domestic wastewater organic contents usually range from less than 400 to more than 1500 mg COD/L. A high concentration of domestic wastewater discharge occurs when brown water is mixed with food waste via the use of kitchen sink disposers, thus leading to an organic strength of more than 10,000 mg COD/L [4] .

Domestic wastewater organic contents usually range from less than 400 to more than 1500 mg COD/L. A high concentration of domestic wastewater discharge occurs when brown water is mixed with food waste via the use of kitchen sink disposers, thus leading to an organic strength of more than 10,000 mg COD/L.


Existing methods for methane detection rely mostly on vector catalytic combustion, thermal conductivity, optical interferometry, and infrared absorption. Among various available methods, infrared spectroscopy absorption has its unique advantages over the other techniques [5, 6] . The sensing parts of infrared spectroscopy absorption gas detection system include an infrared launch system, a gas chamber, and a photoelectric conversion device. The selection of light source and design of gas chamber structure are two key links to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of detection. Recently, the emergence of the quantum cascade laser provides an alternate solution as infrared light source. However, quantum cascade laser as light source is expensive with complicated designs and structures, making it less desirable for the rising needs on portable, simple, and low-cost infrared gas sensors.

Among various available methods, infrared spectroscopy absorption has its unique advantages over the other techniques.


Methane (CH 4 ) is a flammable and explosive gas. In recent years, great injuries and property losses were caused by frequent gas explosions, which has increasingly attracted the attention of the general public and the government. So, it has become an urgent problem to detect the concentration of methane immediately and accurately. In addition, methane is also a major greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, whose concentration needs to be detected exactly [1] [2] [3] [4] .

In addition, methane is also a major greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, whose concentration needs to be detected exactly.


Double Rotor Machine (DRM) is an electro-mechanical energy converter based on the traditional single rotor machine by increasing the number of rotors. There are two mechanical ports and two electrical ports, which allow the energy transformed between these four ports bidirectionally. When applied in Hybrid Electrical Vehicle (HEV), the DRM can achieve different functionalities such as motoring, generating, as well as continuous variable transmission. The electrical and mechanical energy can be adjusted accordingly to achieve high efficiency and dynamic performance. The clutches, gear transmission and alternator can be replaced by the DSM, which is a novel vehicle transmission system [1] [2] [3] .

The clutches, gear transmission and alternator can be replaced by the DSM, which is a novel vehicle transmission system.


The impact of distortions due to density/refractive-index gradients has not been analyzed for multicamera volumetric PTV experiments, which is the current state of the art in three-dimensional, three-component (3D3C) velocity measurement [8] - [10] . The additional challenges introduced in these experiments are (1) varying depth of particles within the laser sheet and (2) varying angle between the direction of the density gradient field and the viewing direction for the different cameras. Another challenge is the need to use small apertures (large f-numbers) in order to keep a thick laser in focus, which can reduce the illumination across the field of view and increase the effect of image noise on the measurement. Similarly, these issues are of importance for BOS experiments, where the deflections of the light rays and the apparent displacement of the dots now comprise a signal and not an error, and in these cases, the effect of image blur on the centroid estimation is most important.

The impact of distortions due to density/refractive-index gradients has not been analyzed for multicamera volumetric PTV experiments, which is the current state of the art in three-dimensional, three-component (3D3C) velocity measurement.


Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)/Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) and Background Oriented Schlieren (BOS) are widely used flow diagnostic techniques. PIV/PTV are used to measure the local velocity of a fluid flow by tracking the displacement of tracer particles over time. BOS is used to measure density gradients in a fluid by measuring the apparent distortion of a target dot pattern. These techniques have been applied to a wide variety of small and large scale flow fields in both laboratory and industrial facilities [1] - [4] .

These techniques have been applied to a wide variety of small and large scale flow fields in both laboratory and industrial facilities.


In this paper we investigate the behavior of the depth of the associated graded ring gr I (R) of an ideal I in a Noetherian local ring (R, m) in terms of conditions on the j-multiplicity of I. The associated graded ring of I is an algebraic construction whose projective scheme represents the exceptional fiber of the blowup of a variety along a subvariety. Its arithmetical properties, like its depth, provide useful information, for instance, on the cohomology groups of the blowup. For an m-primary ideal I, the interplay between the Hilbert polynomial of I, and more precisely its Hilbert coefficients, and the depth of the associated graded ring has been widely investigated. This line of study has its roots in the pioneering work of Sally. The idea is that extremal values of the Hilbert coefficients, most notably of the multiplicity of I, yield high depth of the associated graded ring and, conversely, good depth properties encode information about all the Hilbert coefficients, such as their positivity. The problem arises when one considers ideals which are not m-primary, because their Hilbert function is not defined, thus there is no numerical information on Hilbert coefficients available to study the Cohen-Macaulayness of gr I (R). To remedy the lack of this tool, in this paper we propose to use the notion of j-multiplicity. The j-multiplicity was developed as a generalization of the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity to arbitrary ideals. It was first introduced by Achilles and Manaresi in 1993 and, since then, it has been frequently used by both algebraists and geometers as an invariant to deal with improper intersections and varieties with non isolated singularities [2] .

It was first introduced by Achilles and Manaresi in 1993 and, since then, it has been frequently used by both algebraists and geometers as an invariant to deal with improper intersections and varieties with non isolated singularities.


As soon as the pump is closed up after a test, the water levels in the well and the piezometers will start to rise. This rise in water level is referred to as residual drawdown, s'. In groundwater studies, this is expressed as the difference between the initial water level prior to the start of pumping and the water level measured at a time t' after the termination of pumping. In a hydraulic test, it is very important to measure the residual drawdown during the recovery period. Recovery test measurements allow the transmissivity of the aquifer under investigation to be determined more accurately. The residual drawdown field data are more reliable than the pumping test data because recovery occurs at a constant rate, whereas in practise, a constant discharge during pumping is often difficult to achieve (Kruseman and Ridder, 1994) . For any well-flow equations, an adequate recovery equation can be mathematically represented (Kruseman and Ridder, 1994) .

The residual drawdown field data are more reliable than the pumping test data because recovery occurs at a constant rate, whereas in practise, a constant discharge during pumping is often difficult to achieve.

For any well-flow equations, an adequate recovery equation can be mathematically represented.


Most studies that investigated the use of HbA 1c values against OGTT as a diagnostic tool for DM have found reduced prevalence by HbA 1c criteria compared with the OGTT criteria. The studies also showed discordance between OGTT and HbA 1c values suggesting that the two methods define different patient categories [14] [15] [16] [17] 20, 21] . Patients with PAD are multimorbid and of high age [13] . It is important to evaluate whether results from studies on general populations and populations at risk of developing DM are applicable on this high-risk population of patients with PAD. No previous studies that have validated the use of HbA 1c values against OGTT in the diagnosis of DM in vascular surgery patients could be found, hence the purpose of the present study.

The studies also showed discordance between OGTT and HbA 1c values suggesting that the two methods define different patient categories.

Patients with PAD are multimorbid and of high age.


Causal knowledge generally involves many interacting concepts that make them difficult to deal with, and for which analytical techniques are inadequate (Park, 1995) . In this case, other techniques, and particularly techniques stemmed from qualitative reasoning, can be used to cope with this kind of knowledge. A cognitive map (CM) is based on those techniques and is adequate for dealing with interacting concepts.

Causal knowledge generally involves many interacting concepts that make them difficult to deal with, and for which analytical techniques are inadequate.


Compared to pyrolysis, significantly fewer studies were published about the kinetic modelling of biomass combustion. Thermal degradation under oxidative atmosphere is indeed more complex. The presence of an oxidizing agent (air, oxygen, etc.) generates homogenous gasphase reactions between oxygen and volatiles compounds released during devolatilization and heterogeneous reactions between oxygen and char [37] .

The presence of an oxidizing agent (air, oxygen, etc.) generates homogenous gasphase reactions between oxygen and volatiles compounds released during devolatilization and heterogeneous reactions between oxygen and char.


Generally, this second type of model is coupled to secondary reactions of tars formed during pyrolysis [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] . Multistep mechanisms are also discussed. In those schemes, an intermediate solid is formed by the first step and continues to decompose into secondary products [23] .

Generally, this second type of model is coupled to secondary reactions of tars formed during pyrolysis.

In those schemes, an intermediate solid is formed by the first step and continues to decompose into secondary products.


In the literature, two simplified approaches are generally proposed to describe biomass thermal degradation: the homogeneous approach, where biomass is considered as a homogeneous solid and the heterogeneous approach which takes into account the contribution of each biomass constituents (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) to the overall mechanism. According to the first approach, one or some global chemical reactions may be sufficient to describe wood devolatilization. A one-step global mechanism is the most simplified kinetic model used by many works in the literature [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] . Biomass decomposes into volatile compounds and a solid residue. This type of mechanism is generally used to model mass loss either by pyrolysis or thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) [8] . It is also used to model coupled chemical kinetics and physical phenomena, using for example a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) approach [15] [17] . The second common type of kinetic models in the homogeneous approach is independent competitive reaction scheme. According to this model, biomass produces competitively tar, gases, and char [2] . By using this reaction scheme, yields of tar, char and permanent gases can be predicted, which is not the case with one-step global mechanism.

A one-step global mechanism is the most simplified kinetic model used by many works in the literature.

This type of mechanism is generally used to model mass loss either by pyrolysis or thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).

It is also used to model coupled chemical kinetics and physical phenomena, using for example a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) approach.

According to this model, biomass produces competitively tar, gases, and char.


By analyzing also the state of the art concerning HBSA methods, it is possible to identify the following that are specific to evaluate healthcare buildings: BREEAM New Construction, LEED for Healthcare, Green Star-Healthcare and CASBEE for New Construction. All these initiatives are important to support and promote major or minor economic, social and environmental decisions, which should be considered when designing sustainable healthcare buildings. By presenting minimum practices or benchmarks for different sustainability indicators, these methods turn the sustainability goals into tangible performance targets [19] .

By presenting minimum practices or benchmarks for different sustainability indicators, these methods turn the sustainability goals into tangible performance targets.