The other common method which is applied to produce biofuel from vegetable oil is thermal cracking and hydrogenation of vegetable oil in different reaction conditions and catalysts [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] . Based on our knowledge, hydroconversion of vegetable oil using Mo-based catalyst in the homogeneous aqueous phase is not reported in the previous researches. This article provides the production of biofuels from palm oil using a hydrogenation process in the presence of an emulsion homogeneous catalyst complex comprising an aqueous mixture of ammonium molybdate.

The other common method which is applied to produce biofuel from vegetable oil is thermal cracking and hydrogenation of vegetable oil in different reaction conditions and catalysts.


A batch of previous supervised classification experiments using SVMs were the starting point for these [9] . Such experiments involved an iterative 5 cross-validation (CV) process, splitting the dataset into 5 randomly stratified folds where 4 folds were used for the construction of the model and the remaining one to evaluate the classification results. This process was repeated 100 times and in these experiments, different sequences from each of the seven GPCR subtypes were consistently misclassified (see summary information in Table 2 In previous preliminary research for the current paper, the 16 misclassified mGlu transformed sequences were analyzed in some detail [23] . We now extend these experiments to the rest of GPCR subtypes and their most consistently 163 misclassified sequences. Tables 3 to 6 list in detail all the misclassified sequences from mGlu, CaS, GABA-B and Ta subtypes. For the sake of brevity, the characteristics of the far more abundant Vn, Ph and Od subtypes misclassifications are summarily reported in Table 7 and reported in full as Supplementary File 2.

A batch of previous supervised classification experiments using SVMs were the starting point for these.

This process was repeated 100 times and in these experiments, different sequences from each of the seven GPCR subtypes were consistently misclassified (see summary information in Table 2 In previous preliminary research for the current paper, the 16 misclassified mGlu transformed sequences were analyzed in some detail.


Recently, various image processing methods have been reported to be effective in assessing vegetative coverage, nutrient status, and vegetation indices in many agronomic and horticultural plants (Campillo et al., 2008; Li et al., 2010; Stewart et al., 2007) . Digital images were obtained with various types of equipment. An inexpensive, consumerbased digital camera captured wide bands of reflected light primarily in the red, green, and blue regions, and various software-based image analysis methods were used. Similar to the cameras, the image analysis software systems included both commercially available and projectspecific programs (Bumgarner et al., 2012) . Digital images are commonly used in ecology to monitor plant-or landscapelevel changes; as a result, the image analysis method has proven useful in describing and identifying green leaves (Ide and Oguma, 2010; Casadesus et al., 2007; Neeser et al., 2009) . Image assessment and other remote sensing-based methods have been used in horticultural crop applications, although further investment in techniques and applications were necessary (Lee et al., 2010) .

Recently, various image processing methods have been reported to be effective in assessing vegetative coverage, nutrient status, and vegetation indices in many agronomic and horticultural plants.

Similar to the cameras, the image analysis software systems included both commercially available and projectspecific programs.

Digital images are commonly used in ecology to monitor plant-or landscapelevel changes; as a result, the image analysis method has proven useful in describing and identifying green leaves.

Image assessment and other remote sensing-based methods have been used in horticultural crop applications, although further investment in techniques and applications were necessary.


A shortcoming of the study reported here is the relatively low number of patients included. Unfortunately, no additional samples are available from the IRMA2 trial, hence this cannot be improved upon. However, the results were very consistent within each group. Even more relevant, we demonstrate on a very low number of only 11 treated and 11 untreated subjects, that ARB treatment does have a statistically significant positive effect, based on the proteomic CKD biomarker pattern, hence we feel that the report is in agreement with the recently published guidelines for proteomic biomarkers [54] . While we cannot exclude the presence of other confounders or underlying bias, we have no indication that confounders like e.g. drugs or infectious diseases at the time of sampling had a significance impact.

Even more relevant, we demonstrate on a very low number of only 11 treated and 11 untreated subjects, that ARB treatment does have a statistically significant positive effect, based on the proteomic CKD biomarker pattern, hence we feel that the report is in agreement with the recently published guidelines for proteomic biomarkers.


There are controversial results on the efficacy of the nowadays still abandoned, intrathecal steroid application predominantly due to a missing detailed evaluation of patients' characteristics, careful monitoring and standardized outcome measurements in multiple sclerosis (MS) [1] . Initially, case reports of intrathecal methylprednisolon and ACTH administration described beneficial effects in MS patients, but the following studies showed disappointing results in particular in comparison to systemic steroid application [1] . Earlier intrathecal treatment trials in MS patients suffered from small sample sizes, low number of injections, low steroid dosages, short half life of the administered steroid and an increasing number of reports on side-effects, i.e. adhesive arachnoiditis and various forms of meninigitis probably due to neurotoxic solvents and bacteriostatic additives [4] . Moreover a retarded release steroid preparation was not available for many years [1, 5] . Then administration of triamcinolone acetonide crystal suspensions (TCA), dissolved at bedside in sterile saline, was introduced in the intrathecal steroid treatment of MS. However, studies again lacked of detailed evaluation and clinical characterization of MS patients, small sample sizes and a low number of intrathecal application of this retarded release steroid compound [1, 4, 5] .

There are controversial results on the efficacy of the nowadays still abandoned, intrathecal steroid application predominantly due to a missing detailed evaluation of patients' characteristics, careful monitoring and standardized outcome measurements in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Initially, case reports of intrathecal methylprednisolon and ACTH administration described beneficial effects in MS patients, but the following studies showed disappointing results in particular in comparison to systemic steroid application.

Earlier intrathecal treatment trials in MS patients suffered from small sample sizes, low number of injections, low steroid dosages, short half life of the administered steroid and an increasing number of reports on side-effects, i.e. adhesive arachnoiditis and various forms of meninigitis probably due to neurotoxic solvents and bacteriostatic additives.

Moreover a retarded release steroid preparation was not available for many years.

However, studies again lacked of detailed evaluation and clinical characterization of MS patients, small sample sizes and a low number of intrathecal application of this retarded release steroid compound.


As the process of industrialization and urbanization is speeding up in China, the ever-growing demand for buildings has inevitably led to a series of issues associated with resources and the environment, particularly with a rapid growth in CO 2 emissions because of the huge energy consumption [3] . Due to the increasing awareness on environmental issues and pressure from various government bodies and environmental activists, many attempts have been made to assess building carbon emissions and to reduce building energy consumption [4] . However, most prior research into building carbon emissions focused on the situations at the national level or provincial level whereas research at the city level was often neglected due to the limited data samples. Therefore, it is important to pay much attention to the carbon emissions assessment at the city level, which may be beneficial to accurately calculate the total carbon emissions.

As the process of industrialization and urbanization is speeding up in China, the ever-growing demand for buildings has inevitably led to a series of issues associated with resources and the environment, particularly with a rapid growth in CO 2 emissions because of the huge energy consumption.

Due to the increasing awareness on environmental issues and pressure from various government bodies and environmental activists, many attempts have been made to assess building carbon emissions and to reduce building energy consumption.


Our deployment experience centers on the Extensible Sensing System (ESS), which gathers environmental data for user analysis [8] . ESS-Sympathy deployments are intended for 10 to 100 distributed sensor nodes routing data through a multihop tree back to a sink. During one deployment, Sympathy discovered data disruption due to excessive flux in the routing table. Intuitively, this is most likely due to poor link quality, due either to a bad radio or an ill-defined beacon period; Sympathy's analysis determined that transmissions from most nodes to a shared next-hop neighbor were resulting in many CRC errors, and thus pinpointed congestion as the cause of data disruption. Since errors happened on multiple nodes, a bad radio was unlikely. We thus added jitter to query response transmissions, which, as expected, solved the problem.

Our deployment experience centers on the Extensible Sensing System (ESS), which gathers environmental data for user analysis.


The standard dynamical dark energy model invokes an additional minimally coupled scalar field, possibly with a non-canonical kinetic term. An important feature of this class of models is that the scalar field does not support any anisotropic stress in linear theory, i.e. the space-space part of its energy-momentum tensor has only a trace contribution. So-called modified-gravity models, which include scalar-tensor, f (R), brane-world and similar models, generically have a non-zero (effective) contribution to the anisotropic stress. As a non-zero anisotropic stress manifests itself through a gravitational slip, φ = ψ, the effective anisotropic stress provides a crucial observational test for the nature of the dark energy [17, 18] .

As a non-zero anisotropic stress manifests itself through a gravitational slip, φ = ψ, the effective anisotropic stress provides a crucial observational test for the nature of the dark energy.


Unlike the resonance effect that enlarges the bridge response, the cancellation effect may suppress the vibration of the bridge, which is favorable for train running safety and bridge service. Therefore, a further investigation of the cancellation effect is of significant importance. However, up to now, only a few papers on this subject have been published (Yang et al. 1997 (Yang et al. , 2004a Pesterev et al. 2003; Savin 2001) .

However, up to now, only a few papers on this subject have been published.


In the UK, the proportion of students graduating with a first degree (undergraduate) has increased by 27% in the last 10 years (Universities UK, 2013) . This increase, combined with a downturn in the economy, has contributed to enhanced competition for graduate-level employment. A first degree (undergraduate) once considered an important differentiator in the employment market, is now considered a 'basic minimum' for many jobs. Consequently, graduates are engaging in strategies to enhance their employability outcomes through undertaking work placements, participating in extra-curricular activities and pursuing a postgraduate qualification (Morgan, 2012; Brooks & Everett, 2009) .

In the UK, the proportion of students graduating with a first degree (undergraduate) has increased by 27% in the last 10 years.

Consequently, graduates are engaging in strategies to enhance their employability outcomes through undertaking work placements, participating in extra-curricular activities and pursuing a postgraduate qualification.


Contemporary apprehension procedures, which perform full packet data analysis, also called deep packet inspection (DPI) are rendered inadequate by the sheer volume of traffic at speeds of multiple Gigabits per second. This problem is only going to be amplified by the arrival of massive environments like cloud computing. Furthermore, the storage of full packet data constitutes a risk to users' privacy, as it could contain sensitive information. NetFlow, often abbreviated to simply flow, is a derivative of a data stream shared between two systems. NetFlow records comprise a statistic of traffic between the same IP addresses, same source and destination ports, IP protocols, and IP types of service. For that reason, NetFlow is significantly more efficient and does not infringe on users' privacy [2, 3] .

For that reason, NetFlow is significantly more efficient and does not infringe on users' privacy.


One of the well-known schemes for investigating hysteresis is the first-order reversal curves (FORC) [6, 7] . Recently, the FORC studies gain success in presenting influences of experimental factors to the hysteresis phenomena. For instance, the effect of grain-size variation in BaTiO 3 ceramics was encoded on the FORC distribution, where two narrow and strong peaks on the distribution represent pinching in large-grained samples [8] .

One of the well-known schemes for investigating hysteresis is the first-order reversal curves (FORC).

For instance, the effect of grain-size variation in BaTiO 3 ceramics was encoded on the FORC distribution, where two narrow and strong peaks on the distribution represent pinching in large-grained samples.


Although the compatibility between the FORC distribution and the classical PM is still ambiguous, the HL modeling based on the conventional PM concept can help shading more light on macroscopic properties of the FORC. Recently, there were attempts to reveal the fundamental principles behind the FORC distributions by studying ferromagnetic nanowire arrays [9, 10] . For instance, the hysteresis characteristic was investigated where different roles between the classical PM and the FORC distribution on describing magnetic switching were pointed out [10] . Specifically, the FORC concentrates on the evolution of the hysteresis switching of domains over time via two important field components, that is, the interaction field distribution and the coercive field distribution. On the other hand, the classical PM focuses on the global hysteresis behavior at steady state. Therefore, with different origins, to directly represent/relate the FORC in terms of classical hysteron is not trivial. Consequently, there are still areas for enhancing fundamental hysteresis understanding by merging main features of FORC distribution with classical PM principle to explain switching phenomena in major fractions of complex inhomogeneous materials with dynamic signatures. Therefore, with a concentration on the Preisach density (PD) in classical PM, this work aims to illustrate the relationships between the features of the PD and the reversal behavior of hysteresis signals. The Gaussian distribution was chosen to model the PD. This is as the Gaussian function can be fine tuning using only a few parameters, that is, the position of the peak and the peak height and width (the standard deviation). These distribution functions can then shape the PD and the associated HL. Further, with the established correlations between the main characteristic between the PDs and the HLs, one can model or reconstruct the experimental hysteresis loops with further understanding in structureproperty relationship as well as providing relevant supports for experiments.

Recently, there were attempts to reveal the fundamental principles behind the FORC distributions by studying ferromagnetic nanowire arrays.

For instance, the hysteresis characteristic was investigated where different roles between the classical PM and the FORC distribution on describing magnetic switching were pointed out.


The New Zealand grass grub, Costelytra zealandica (White) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), is a serious pasture pest. The larvae can also have a detrimental effect on the establishment of autumn sown cereals by feeding on the roots of emerging seedlings. Third instar larvae actively feed in the top 2 cm of soil during late summer to mid winter when autumn cereal crops are germinating (Chapman 1984) . Cereal crops that follow pastures with high grass grub populations are particularly at risk (Burnett 1984) .

Third instar larvae actively feed in the top 2 cm of soil during late summer to mid winter when autumn cereal crops are germinating.

Cereal crops that follow pastures with high grass grub populations are particularly at risk.


Nowadays, photopolymers are used in holographic applications due to their properties: higher diffraction efficiency with an acceptable energetic sensitivity. They are easily made at a reduced cost and have great flexibility as holographic recording materials [1] [2] [3] [4] . The incorporation of liquid crystals adds a special characteristic-the capacity to vary the electrooptical properties by means of an electric field. The liquid crystal molecules add optical anisotropy to the photopolymer, and therefore it is possible to change the photopolymer response modifying the electric field applied [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] .

They are easily made at a reduced cost and have great flexibility as holographic recording materials.

The liquid crystal molecules add optical anisotropy to the photopolymer, and therefore it is possible to change the photopolymer response modifying the electric field applied.


Holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystals are known as H-PDLC. They are made by holographic recording in a photopolymerization induced phase separation process (PIPS) in which the liquid crystal molecules diffuse to dark zones in the diffraction grating where they can be oriented by means of an electric field. The orientation of the liquid crystal produces a refractive index variation which changes the diffraction efficiency. Therefore, the grating develops a dynamic behavior that may be modified by means of an electronic device. In this manner, it is possible to make dynamic devices such as tunable-focus lenses, sensors, phase modulators, or prism gratings [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] .

In this manner, it is possible to make dynamic devices such as tunable-focus lenses, sensors, phase modulators, or prism gratings.


An extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass is an important revascularisation technique for treatment of complex cerebrovascular cases, such as intracranial aneurysm surgery with planned parent artery sacrifice or stenoocclusive disease, like moyamoya disease [1] . Recent literature showed that EC-IC bypass for symptomatic atherosclerotic internal carotid artery occlusion and haemodynamic cerebral ischaemia does not reduce ischaemic stroke [5, 14] . However, there is still a subset of patients who benefit from flow augmentation surgery, although those patients have to be selected carefully [2] .

An extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass is an important revascularisation technique for treatment of complex cerebrovascular cases, such as intracranial aneurysm surgery with planned parent artery sacrifice or stenoocclusive disease, like moyamoya disease.

Recent literature showed that EC-IC bypass for symptomatic atherosclerotic internal carotid artery occlusion and haemodynamic cerebral ischaemia does not reduce ischaemic stroke.

However, there is still a subset of patients who benefit from flow augmentation surgery, although those patients have to be selected carefully.


Heat shock protein expressions in D. melanogaster are increase through time after the temperature exposure and peak at 4 hours after heat stress (Nishinokubi et al., 2006) . But is unclear how heat shock protein expressions lead to effect life history traits. Besides, heat shock protein levels after the heat shock and after the relaxation period were not studied. Further studies should be focused on the effects of heat shock exposure time variying 0 to 12 hours to explain the possible effects of heat shock protein expression on fitness components.

Heat shock protein expressions in D. melanogaster are increase through time after the temperature exposure and peak at 4 hours after heat stress.


Finally, the environmental impact of transportation is not confined to travel mode choice for commuting purposes. Within the organizational context, relatively little research has examined the determinants of other work-related travel behavior such as business trip frequency, and more sustainable behavioral alternatives to traveling like teleworking and teleconferencing (Aguilera, 2008; Kearney and De Young, 1995-1996; Moos et al., 2006; Toffel and Horvath, 2004) . For instance, a review of telework research concluded that employees' motivations for teleworking remained unclear, and research on organizational level influences was called for (Bailey and Kurland, 2002) . In order to maximize the effectiveness of organizational interventions, it can be insightful to study the whole array of work-related travel behaviors. One benefit of examining various behaviors in one study is that their relative potential for change can be compared while keeping organizational context constant.

Within the organizational context, relatively little research has examined the determinants of other work-related travel behavior such as business trip frequency, and more sustainable behavioral alternatives to traveling like teleworking and teleconferencing.

For instance, a review of telework research concluded that employees' motivations for teleworking remained unclear, and research on organizational level influences was called for.


We conducted a qualitative exploratory study in four Dutch organizations as part of a wider research project on energy-related behavior of office workers (Lo et al., 2012a) . Ethical approval was obtained from the faculty's standing ethical committee before data collection. Interviews were conducted in Dutch by the first author between December 2008 and November 2009. We primarily conducted semi-structured interviews. In addition, we had at least one focus group in each participating organization for the purposes of observing group members commenting on each other's assertions. It was an opportunity for relevant issues to be raised or (critical) questions to be posed that the interviewer -as an outsider to the organization -had not foreseen.

We conducted a qualitative exploratory study in four Dutch organizations as part of a wider research project on energy-related behavior of office workers.


Furthermore, little is known about the role of organizations because many commuting behavior studies almost exclusively focus on individual-level influences (Domarchi et al., 2008; Mann and Abraham, 2006) . In fact, compared to household contexts and private individuals, few studies have examined (other) proenvironmental behavior in organizations at the individual, behavioral level of analysis (Abrahamse et al., 2005; Bamberg and Moser, 2007; Bansal and Gao, 2006) . Previous research on organizations and the environment has mainly investigated the effects of external determinants and organizational characteristics on organizational engagement with environmental sustainability (Etzion, 2007) . In a recent review, a systematic analysis of interactions between the individual employee and the organization was found to be lacking in empirical research (Lo et al., 2012b) . This is in sharp contrast with the substantial proportion of soft policy measures that have been initiated through the workplace (Cairns et al., 2008; Kearney and De Young, 1995-1996) . More behavioral travel research in workplace intervention contexts is needed to ensure a better application of theory in policy and practice.

Furthermore, little is known about the role of organizations because many commuting behavior studies almost exclusively focus on individual-level influences.

In fact, compared to household contexts and private individuals, few studies have examined (other) proenvironmental behavior in organizations at the individual, behavioral level of analysis.

Previous research on organizations and the environment has mainly investigated the effects of external determinants and organizational characteristics on organizational engagement with environmental sustainability.

In a recent review, a systematic analysis of interactions between the individual employee and the organization was found to be lacking in empirical research.

This is in sharp contrast with the substantial proportion of soft policy measures that have been initiated through the workplace.


This paper presents a method for attitude-independent, on-orbit magnetometer calibration that mitigates the effect of time-varying magnetic fields produced by electronics on-board a spacecraft. The calibration significantly increases the accuracy of measurements from magnetometers embedded within a satellite. We are motivated by improved magnetometer-based attitude determination, but this calibration is applicable to magnetometers in general. Three-axis magnetometers are a common sensor on low-Earth orbiting spacecraft because they are reliable, lightweight, have low power requirements, and have no moving parts [4] . Their applications include attitude determination and scientific measurements.

Three-axis magnetometers are a common sensor on low-Earth orbiting spacecraft because they are reliable, lightweight, have low power requirements, and have no moving parts.


In general, three-axis magnetometer measurements are corrupted by hard iron errors, soft iron errors, scale factors, and non-orthogonality errors [9] . Hard iron error is a magnetic field bias that is either constant, which is caused by ferromagnetic (hard iron) materials near the magnetometer, or time-varying, which is caused by current carrying wires near the magnetometer. Soft iron errors result from materials that generate fields in response to externally applied fields (commonly called soft iron materials), resulting in scaling of magnetometer readings. Scale factor errors are inherent to the sensor and result from different sensitivities in each axis of the sensor. Non-orthogonality errors are due to angular deviation from a perfectly orthogonal three-axis configuration, and can be caused by manufacturing errors, thermal stress, or mechanical stress.

In general, three-axis magnetometer measurements are corrupted by hard iron errors, soft iron errors, scale factors, and non-orthogonality errors.


The calibration relies on the magnitude of the true magnetic field. For space applications, the IGRF is an example source for this truth data. The uncertainty of the IGRF is expected to be approximately 10 nT during nor-mal space weather conditions [11] . In general, the accuracy of the calibration is limited by the accuracy of the truth model.

The uncertainty of the IGRF is expected to be approximately 10 nT during nor-mal space weather conditions.


Motion artifact is the major interference during EGG recording. To decrease this effect, Ag/AgCI electrodes were used because of its low-noise characteristic [6] . Furthermore, visual inspection before data analysis was used to discard records with exceptional contamination [7] . To faithfully record the EGG, the corner frequency of the high-pass filter cannot be set too high. However, the recovery time of a large timeconstant filter might be too long to be acceptable [8] . Therefore, the cutoff frequency is determined by tradeoff and set at 0.015 Hz.

To decrease this effect, Ag/AgCI electrodes were used because of its low-noise characteristic.

Furthermore, visual inspection before data analysis was used to discard records with exceptional contamination.

However, the recovery time of a large timeconstant filter might be too long to be acceptable.


The frequency component indicated by the arrow in Figure 6 does not seem to be bradygastria. Previous study suggested that this component is the disturbance of strong contraction [9] . From our data as shown in Figure 6 , we cannot find any strong contraction relating to the 3 cpm frequency. Further studies should be designed to address this problem.

Previous study suggested that this component is the disturbance of strong contraction.


The fisheries industry is a major source of income for various countries worldwide. However, the industrially processed fish that is utilized for human consumption yields more than 3.17 million tons by-products per year [1] . These by-products require proper disposal and hence creates the huge revenue loss to the seafood industry [2] . Therefore, the emphasis was done to find the new uses for these waste byproducts. In recent years, several advancements in biotechnology field utilize the marine by-products and convert them into some product of interest [3] . It includes their conversion in protein isolates and hydrolysates having functional food properties and natural food antioxidants [4] . The protein converts into smaller peptides through enzymatic conversion and their breakdown products yield protein hydrolysates. Many researchers have reported the biological activity and nutritional values of protein hydrolysates through their bioactive peptides [5, 6] .

However, the industrially processed fish that is utilized for human consumption yields more than 3.17 million tons by-products per year.

These by-products require proper disposal and hence creates the huge revenue loss to the seafood industry.

In recent years, several advancements in biotechnology field utilize the marine by-products and convert them into some product of interest.

It includes their conversion in protein isolates and hydrolysates having functional food properties and natural food antioxidants.

Many researchers have reported the biological activity and nutritional values of protein hydrolysates through their bioactive peptides.


The formation of contacts are an indispensable part of numerous applications like clutches, brakes, engines, hinges, gaskets, castings and rail-wheels, to name a few (Popov, 2010) . Understanding the underlying physics of contacts formed when separate bodies are pressed against each other is therefore absolutely essential. Investigations into the mechanics of contacts have garnered the attention of researchers for past several years. Of particular interest is the receding contact problem in which the contact region shrinks when two bodies are pressed against each other (Dundurs, 1975) .

The formation of contacts are an indispensable part of numerous applications like clutches, brakes, engines, hinges, gaskets, castings and rail-wheels, to name a few.

Of particular interest is the receding contact problem in which the contact region shrinks when two bodies are pressed against each other.


There is an abundant amount of work that compares different network technology using identical compute hardware in order to evaluate networks as a whole. The most recent and comprehensive study for MPI and commodity HPC networks is [13] . The work we present here attempts to isolate specific properties of a network -host processing versus NIC offload -in order to evaluate the two strategies.

The most recent and comprehensive study for MPI and commodity HPC networks is.


Typically, EFL students apt to employ English based on their own cultural experiences, which in turn, lead to misinterpretations in communication. They sometimes relatively unconsciously come out impolite, unfriendly or even hostile. Hence, to communicate effectively across cultures, learners are often advised to be attentive to the differences of their own culture and the English culture and get acquainted with the politeness strategies as used in daily conversation of native speakers. It is a momentous part in all social interactions (Cohen, 2004) .

It is a momentous part in all social interactions.


Making a request among other speech acts dictates both pragmatic and linguistic competence. Accordingly, in requesting, the speech act grows to be face threatening and a communication breakdown usually comes about as the result of ignorance of cultural and social boundaries. This is the reason for failure in communication of second language learners (Scollon, Scollon, and Jones ,2011) .

This is the reason for failure in communication of second language learners.


They state that, if the future price of the material is likely to be higher than today's price, the option available to the contractor is to buy the material at today's price. They estimate the value of the option, in crude terms, as being the difference between the future price of the material (market price) and today's price (exercise price). The cost of the option would be the premium the contractor would have to pay the supplier to secure the right to buy or not to buy the material in future at today's prices, depending on what the future price is (Ross et al., 2003) .

The cost of the option would be the premium the contractor would have to pay the supplier to secure the right to buy or not to buy the material in future at today's prices, depending on what the future price is.


A porous material is a material containing voids, which is often considered a solid with defects and empty spaces (organized or nonorganized). The matrix is treated as the solid part of a porous material and the pores are typically filled with a fluid (liquid or gas). In the past, a material with pores was usually considered to be defective. However, nowadays, with improved knowledge, several technological applications have been identified for porous materials [1] . A porous medium is generally characterized by its morphology and porosity. Other properties, such as tensile strength and thermal/ electrical conductivity, are derived from the structural characteristics and properties of the constituents [2] .

However, nowadays, with improved knowledge, several technological applications have been identified for porous materials.

Other properties, such as tensile strength and thermal/ electrical conductivity, are derived from the structural characteristics and properties of the constituents.


Wireless communication systems require a wide bandstop filter to reject the unnecessary frequencies in order to have desired frequency. So, a high performance bandstop filter is necessary to mitigate the problem of extracting the desired signal from the transceiver systems [1] . The Q factor of the resonator plays an important role in the system to achieve a narrow band and to reject the unwanted frequencies, however, in this design; the bandstop filter is built with wideband for the same purpose. The trend of using different types of bandstop filters such as stepped impedance resonators (SIR) bandstop filter, split ring resonators (SRR) filter, bandstop filter with spiral resonators, hairpin resonators, spurline resonator filters, meandered slot line resonator bandstop filters, wideband bandstop filters and so on. These filters can be used for the transmitter and receiver of the wireless communication systems [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . Therefore, many researchers are making an effort to enhance the performance of bandstop filters with different patterns with stable S-parameter responses. We also require a low cost, low power and a simple design with significantly good circuit performance for the system. A multi-spurline with meandered slot line structure is used, which is a good candidate for the bandstop resonator fitler design, because they have good coupling effect and high Q at the same time. Moreover, this simple structure is miniaturized, which gives bandstop characteristics and stability with temperature to some extent. In addition, when we add the multi-spurline with meandered slot line structure, the frequency responses can be improved and the feasibility of fabricating microstrip multi-spurlines with meandered slot lines bandstop filter is verified. Such works can also be feasibly integrated into MMICs with various technologies such as InGaP/GaAs HBT and so on [8] .

So, a high performance bandstop filter is necessary to mitigate the problem of extracting the desired signal from the transceiver systems.

These filters can be used for the transmitter and receiver of the wireless communication systems.

Such works can also be feasibly integrated into MMICs with various technologies such as InGaP/GaAs HBT and so on.


Enzyme stabilization is essential for efficient biotechnological application of biocatalysts in a number of research and development fields. Among many methodologies developed for stabilization of enzymes, cross-linked enzyme crystal (CLEC) technology has recently received great attention. CLEC preparation includes crystallization of enzymes into microcrystals and subsequent cross-linking with homobifunctional or heterobifunctional reagents (Margolin and Navia 2001) . Due to stabilization of the enzyme's active conformation in three-dimensional crystal structure, the microcrystalline enzymes offer many advantages, including improved thermostability, physical stability and tolerance to organic solvents, with an increase on volumetric activity (Roy and Abraham 2004) . CLEC is thus considered a simple and cost-effective approach for preparation of enzymes for a range of biocatalytic applications, including organic synthesis, starch saccharification, and biosensors.

CLEC preparation includes crystallization of enzymes into microcrystals and subsequent cross-linking with homobifunctional or heterobifunctional reagents.

Due to stabilization of the enzyme's active conformation in three-dimensional crystal structure, the microcrystalline enzymes offer many advantages, including improved thermostability, physical stability and tolerance to organic solvents, with an increase on volumetric activity.


A non-invasive and totally passive imaging technique, based on the operation principle of microwave radiometry at low microwave frequencies, has been introduced by the Microwave and Fiber Optics Lab of the National Technical University of Athens. A Microwave Radiometry Imaging System (MiRaIS) has been developed and it mainly consists of an ellipsoidal conductive cavity which ensures the focusing on the brain areas of interest and a multifrequency sensitive radiometric receiver [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] (Fig. 1) . Various experimental data provide promising results concerning the system's ability of detecting temperature and/or conductivity variation distributions in phantoms and biological tissues [3] [4] [5] .

A Microwave Radiometry Imaging System (MiRaIS) has been developed and it mainly consists of an ellipsoidal conductive cavity which ensures the focusing on the brain areas of interest and a multifrequency sensitive radiometric receiver(Fig. 1).

Various experimental data provide promising results concerning the system's ability of detecting temperature and/or conductivity variation distributions in phantoms and biological tissues.


The beneficial effect of shaking may be due to the even distribution of the isolate throughout the broth medium or due to added aeration. The sponge pieces definitely provide more surface area and promote biofilm formation (Brindle et al., 1998) . They also enhance the production of the bioactive protein (Jamal et al., 2006) .

The sponge pieces definitely provide more surface area and promote biofilm formation.

They also enhance the production of the bioactive protein.


The results of the TTL measurements above Teresina indicate a significant contribution from brominated VSLS to the stratospheric bromine. Based on the budget of organic bromine near the LZRH (at 14.8 km) we estimate the amount of bromine transported by VSLS in this region at the time of the flight to be 2.25 ppt. This would make up 13 % of total organic bromine (17.82 ppt), with CH 2 Br 2 (1.45 ppt) and CHBr 3 (0.56 ppt) accounting for 90 % of the VSLS budget. These values are near the lower end of the range of about 3-7 ppt derived from stratospheric BrO measurements (Dorf et al., 2006) . The comparison with former measurements in the same TTL region and with the findings from other studies indicates a relatively high variability of the VSLS mixing ratios in the TTL. Measurements with higher spatial and temporal resolution are needed to obtain a more precise picture of the global contribution of brominated VSLS to stratospheric bromine, especially in the West Pacific region -an area identified to be of major importance for the global transport into the stratosphere.

These values are near the lower end of the range of about 3-7 ppt derived from stratospheric BrO measurements.


In eukaryote cells, the 26S proteasome is the main machinery for the degradation of short-lived proteins [1] [2] . The 26S proteasome is the result of the association of the 20S core particule (CP) with a regulatory particle (RP) PA700 (19S) at each of its extremity [3] [4] . The CP, site of the enzymatic activity, is a hollow cylindrical structure formed by four stacked α and β rings, arranged in a sequence αββα. Each of these rings is composed of 7 subunits (α1 -α7, β1 -β7) [5] [6] . The PA700 consists of a base subcomplex and a lid subcomplex. It pos-sesses the ability to bind, deubiquitylate and unfold targeted proteins prior to their degradation by the CP [7] - [11] . The CP can also bind to other RPs such as PA200, PA28α/β hetero-heptamer and PA28γ homo-heptamer. This will result in the formation of hybrid proteasomes with specific functions. For example, PA28α/β hetero-heptamer can associate with the CP and is involved in the immune response [12] - [15] . The absence of PA28γ homoheptamer leads to a retardation in cell proliferation [16] [17] . PA200 binding to the proteasome is necessary for a normal spermatogenesis [18] - [21] . Finally ECM29, a conserved HEAT-like repeat protein has been reported to bind to the CP and/or PA700 to maintain the 26S proteasome structure [22] - [25] . In addition to those particles, many other proteins are known to bind and possibly assist the function of the proteasome [26] - [28] .

In eukaryote cells, the 26S proteasome is the main machinery for the degradation of short-lived proteins.

The 26S proteasome is the result of the association of the 20S core particule (CP) with a regulatory particle (RP) PA700 (19S) at each of its extremity.

Each of these rings is composed of 7 subunits (α1 -α7, β1 -β7).

It pos-sesses the ability to bind, deubiquitylate and unfold targeted proteins prior to their degradation by the CP.

For example, PA28α/β hetero-heptamer can associate with the CP and is involved in the immune response.

The absence of PA28γ homoheptamer leads to a retardation in cell proliferation.

PA200 binding to the proteasome is necessary for a normal spermatogenesis.

Finally ECM29, a conserved HEAT-like repeat protein has been reported to bind to the CP and/or PA700 to maintain the 26S proteasome structure.

In addition to those particles, many other proteins are known to bind and possibly assist the function of the proteasome.


The molecular chaperone Hsp90, one of the most abundant intracellular proteins (1% -2% of total cellular proteins), helps the final maturation of specific client proteins [29] . Its importance has been shown in various cellular processes such as signal transduction, intracellular transport and the response to oxidative stress [30] - [34] . In mammals, Hsp90α and Hsp90β are the two main isoforms of Hsp90. Hsp90α is inducible under stress conditions, while Hsp90β is constitutively expressed. Recent studies mainly in yeast also implied that Hsp90 is involved in the maintenance of the 26S structure of the proteasome [35] - [37] .

The molecular chaperone Hsp90, one of the most abundant intracellular proteins (1% -2% of total cellular proteins), helps the final maturation of specific client proteins.

Its importance has been shown in various cellular processes such as signal transduction, intracellular transport and the response to oxidative stress.

Recent studies mainly in yeast also implied that Hsp90 is involved in the maintenance of the 26S structure of the proteasome.


GA treatment of cells causes a disruption of Hsp90 protein clients and an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) level leading to the cell death [45] . Previous studies imply that an increase in CP and hybrid proteasomes helps the cells to eliminate the ROS more efficiently [46] - [48] . We have shown that, upon GA treatment, a partial dissociation of the 26S occurs in the absence of ECM29. This means that in ECM29 deficient cells, the formation of CP and hybrid proteasomes is facilitated, ensuring a better elimination of ROS and thus a better viability (Figure 6) .

GA treatment of cells causes a disruption of Hsp90 protein clients and an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) level leading to the cell death.

Previous studies imply that an increase in CP and hybrid proteasomes helps the cells to eliminate the ROS more efficiently.


The situation with impulsively excited instruments is very different. The sound produced by a plucked or struck string is not exactly harmonic, and allowance for this must be made in the tuning of pianos, which have a scale that is stretched by nearly half a semitone across their compass (Schuck and Young 1943) . Bells, gongs and cymbals, of course, have very inharmonic mode frequencies, and this provides their characteristic sounds. All this is very nearly linear, albeit inharmonic, behaviour, and these instruments are appropriately described as 'incidentally nonlinear'. This incidental nonlinearity can, however, have very striking effects when the level of impulsive excitation is large.

The sound produced by a plucked or struck string is not exactly harmonic, and allowance for this must be made in the tuning of pianos, which have a scale that is stretched by nearly half a semitone across their compass.


The new frontier for improvement in weather forecasts and climate models from the point of view of defining the model initial state is the full use of avaliable satellite and ground-based data including cloud and precipitation-affected observations. Current satellite-based observations are rich in global cloud-related information. New sensors such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board of the Terra and Aqua satellites, the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) on board of CloudSat and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on board of CALIPSO, are revealing the complex two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures of clouds (Stephens et al., 2002) . The challenge is now to extract the highest amount of information about the cloudy atmosphere from this wealth of data by using state-of-art modelling and assimilation systems.

New sensors such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board of the Terra and Aqua satellites, the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) on board of CloudSat and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on board of CALIPSO, are revealing the complex two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures of clouds.


Feed security and the efficient use of the feed resources are fundamental to maximize productivity from animals. In this context, the priority development of ruminants (buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep) in key agro-ecological zones (AEZs) is an important strategy for the future.The justification for this priority focus rests directly with the potential multifunctional contribution in general, especially their capacity for meat and milk production, and hence the development of the relatively weak ruminant sector in most countries in Asia. The efficient and more intensive use of the available biomass from the forage resources, crop residues in addition to AIBP and other NCFR to the extent possible will be the primary drivers of performance and productivity enhancement. Key development strategies include concerted application of productivity-enhancing technology adoption from the large pool of information already available, and an urgent expansion of scaling up of technologies in the context of farming systems. It is also suggested that the future for animal protein production will be for integrated systems from small to medium -sized farms that are close to both rural and urban markets (Leng, 2009b; Devendra, 2010b) . Plate 4 illustrates the components involved and their linkages.

It is also suggested that the future for animal protein production will be for integrated systems from small to medium -sized farms that are close to both rural and urban markets.


The choice of production systems and the approaches for the efficient use of the feed resources are therefore together implicated, since both these factors will determine enhanced per animal performance. Low productivity is often associated with poor immune system response, resulting in the poor health status and condition of animals, so that improved protein nutrition alone can dramatically influence productivity gains (Leng, 2005) . Currently, the efficiency of use of the feed resource within-and betweencountries are very variable and range from underutilisation, incomplete utilisation, full utilisation to inappropriate utilisation, with concurrent effects on the national outputs of animal products. The reasons for this are associated with three groups of interrelated factors: biological, methodological and institutional.

Low productivity is often associated with poor immune system response, resulting in the poor health status and condition of animals, so that improved protein nutrition alone can dramatically influence productivity gains.


Graph data are prevalent in numerous application domains, such as social, biological, and mobile networks. In these applications, entities are typically modeled as graph nodes, and the relationships among entities are modeled as graph edges. Uncertainties in graph edges are common in this context, due to a variety of reasons such as noisy measurements and inconsistent information sources [33] . Dealing with such uncertainies require efficient and effective methods for querying and mining uncertain graphs. Note that there are different types of uncertainties associated with edges, nodes or attributes. In this paper, we only consider edge uncertainty.

Uncertainties in graph edges are common in this context, due to a variety of reasons such as noisy measurements and inconsistent information sources.


In the case of heartwood, even though a large number of factors were required, the calibration performance was comparatively better (Table 2e ). However, the models obtained using the vibrations over 10,000-7,300 cm -1 and 7,300-6,050 cm -1 were less reliable; this was particularly true in the latter case, where the major bands were assigned to cellulose [19] [20] [21] . This suggested that the cellulose contents were indistinct between P. densiflora and P. thunbergii as well as their crystalline properties.

However, the models obtained using the vibrations over 10,000-7,300 cm -1 and 7,300-6,050 cm -1 were less reliable; this was particularly true in the latter case, where the major bands were assigned to cellulose.


In transdisciplinary computing systems each local or distributed service provider in the collaborative federation performs its services in an orchestrated workflow. Once the collaboration is complete, the federation dissolves and the providers disperse and seek other federations to join. The approach is service centric in which a service provider is defined as an independent self-sustaining entity performing a specific local or network activity. These service providers have to be managed by a relevant service-centric operating system with commands for executing interactions of providers in dynamic virtual federations [1] .

These service providers have to be managed by a relevant service-centric operating system with commands for executing interactions of providers in dynamic virtual federations.


If this is the case, one expects that the lower critical field at zero temperature, H c1 (0), would be zero [10] [11] [12] . Fig. 4 shows the low-temperature isothermal magnetization, M c (H), for Eu(Fe 0.91 Rh 0.09 ) 2 As 2 , in comparison with that of the nonmagnetic superconducting analog, Ba(Fe 0.9 Co 0.1 ) 2 As 2 . The latter shows an essentially linear M c (H) since the applied fields are much lower than the H c1 (0). In contrast, Eu(Fe 0.91 Rh 0.09 ) 2 As 2 displays a non-linear virgin M c (H) curve and an obvious magnetic hysteresis loop. This means that, in addition to the superconducting magnetic shielding effect, the external field always penetrates the sample, even if the field is around zero. In other words, Eu(Fe 0.91 Rh 0.09 ) 2 As 2 is intrinsically in a mixed state below T m .

If this is the case, one expects that the lower critical field at zero temperature, H c1 (0), would be zero.


The formation of spatially isolated disordered and/or amorphous zones by low-energy heavy-ion irradiation in semiconductor materials and their subsequent electron irradiationinduced recovery (annealing) have recently received much attention [1] . Both fundamental and technological insights are gained by investigating the evolution of these zones as they represent the precursor structures from which a continuos amorphous layer is formed in implanted semiconductor devices when the irradiating ion uences reach levels to cause complete amorphization of top layer. Molecular dynamics simulations and other theoretical investigations of the damage caused by energetic heavy ion implanted in semiconductor substrates have revealed that a characteristic feature is the presence of disordered/amorphous zones created by the release of large amount of kinetic energy in local regions [2] . These zones can account for part or most of the produced damage in the irradiated material, the extent of which depends on the crystal structures and bond strengths of target material. Thus, as the ion uences increase, these zones overlap until a continuous amorphous layer is formed.

The formation of spatially isolated disordered and/or amorphous zones by low-energy heavy-ion irradiation in semiconductor materials and their subsequent electron irradiationinduced recovery (annealing) have recently received much attention.

Molecular dynamics simulations and other theoretical investigations of the damage caused by energetic heavy ion implanted in semiconductor substrates have revealed that a characteristic feature is the presence of disordered/amorphous zones created by the release of large amount of kinetic energy in local regions.


In Pakistan, Planococcus citri, a mealy bug causes extensive damage to citrus by sucking out sap and excreting honeydew causing distorted growth, premature leaf drop and disfigure plants by secreting cottony wax. Synthetic pesticides are being used for pest management through which mankind has greatly benefited but determent to peoples' health and environment [22] . Hence, the natural insecticides based on plant essential oils, in addition to a number of plant substances, have long been advertised as attractive alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for pest management. Apart from some natural mosquito repellents, little commercial success has ensued for plant substances for other purposes [23] . In the context of agricultural pest management, botanical insecticides are best suited for use in organic food production in industrialized countries but can play a much greater role in the production and post harvest protection of food in agro based countries like Pakistan. Keeping in view the facts, the study has been designed to screen some cost effective and environment friendly biological active extract from plants to control P. citri.

Synthetic pesticides are being used for pest management through which mankind has greatly benefited but determent to peoples' health and environment.

Apart from some natural mosquito repellents, little commercial success has ensued for plant substances for other purposes.


The present paper is concerned with a further generalization of the Solow model [32] . The generalized model is governed by a delay differential equation with two time delays. Specifically the two time delays refer, respectively, to the time employed in order that the capital is used for production and the necessary time so that the capital is depreciated. The asymptotic analysis performed in this paper shows the existence of a unique nontrivial positive steady state, and sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability are established. Moreover, the existence of a Hopf bifurcation is proved and, by using the normal form theory and center manifold argument, the explicit formulas which determine the stability, direction, and period of bifurcating periodic solutions are obtained. Finally, some numerical simulations to support the analytical conclusions are carried out.

The present paper is concerned with a further generalization of the Solow model.


Comparing the obtained results with those obtained for the cottonseed and jojoba oil extraction, some interesting conclusions could be obtained. In the case of cottonseed oil, temperature was the same as that obtained in the present work for the SBE. But in the case of jojoba oil extraction, the optimum temperature needed for extraction was 240˚C, which is lower than that in the case of cottonseed and SBE. This may be explained based on the oil content. The oil content in cottonseed, SBE, and jo- joba is 15%, 25% and 48%, respectively. The optimum extraction time was the same in all cases [14, 15] .

The optimum extraction time was the same in all cases.


A timber folded plate shell combines the structural advantages of timber panels with the efficiency of folded plates. However, in such discrete element assemblies, a large amount of semi-rigid joints must provide sufficient support for the adjacent plates in oder to ensure an efficient load-bearing system. This remains a challenge with much potential for improvements [5] .

This remains a challenge with much potential for improvements.


Such a formulated thesis is justified by a deep conviction followed in Poland that the administrative reform has contributed to significant changes in the labour market. The prevailing opinion presented in scientific studies and, above all, in the public debate is that the cities which have become the capitals of new voivodships strengthened their position at the expense of the centres which lost such functions. It is emphasized that these changes refer not only to the administrative services' sector and the related migration of elites to the regional government centres. In the Polish model of development (investment) funds' distribution, both political and administrative factors play a relatively large role at the regional level. The comparative advantage, resulting from the regional capital function, can, therefore, be manifested by a greater political power of these centres in competing for such funds. The characteristic feature of the analysed period is the fact that almost half of the investments carried out in cities were based on grants from the European Union funds [7] . The volume of these funds was significant enough to have an extensive impact on the process of cities' modernization and their economic changes. This, in turn, should be reflected in the labour market transformations.

The characteristic feature of the analysed period is the fact that almost half of the investments carried out in cities were based on grants from the European Union funds.


To assess strengths and limitations in occupational participation of the clients, the Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool (MOHOST) was developed (Parkinson, Forsyth, & Kielhofner, 2006) . The MOHOST is based on the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), which is one of the most frequently used occupational therapy conceptual models of practice (Lee, Taylor, Kielhofner, & Fisher, 2008) . Moreover, the model has been applied and empirically tested within various cultures (Lee et al., 2008) .

To assess strengths and limitations in occupational participation of the clients, the Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool (MOHOST) was developed.

The MOHOST is based on the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), which is one of the most frequently used occupational therapy conceptual models of practice.

Moreover, the model has been applied and empirically tested within various cultures.


As the MOHOST was primarily developed for use in the mental health settings, all participants in the above studies had psychiatric disabilities. However, in Japan, there were five case studies that discussed the application of the MOHOST in the rehabilitation settings for physical disabilities (Asano & Ishii, 2010; Hasegawa & Yamada, 2011; Irobe, Shinohara, & Yamada, 2011; Hayakawa, Minami, Kawatsu, Notoh, & Yamada, 2011; Yabuwaki et al., 2013) . These studies reported that the MOHOST was a useful tool to identify challenges in occupational participation for clients with physical disabilities. However, to date, the psychometric properties of the MOHOST for the physical disabilities in Japan have not been examined. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the MOHOST in the rehabilitation settings for physical disabilities in Japan.

However, in Japan, there were five case studies that discussed the application of the MOHOST in the rehabilitation settings for physical disabilities.


It is ideal to develop a rating scale that generates the average of person ability measure as 0.0 logits (Kobayashi, Yamada, Kawamata, Ishibashi, & Ishii, 2010) . When the 4-point J-MOHOST rating scale divides into two, that is, occupational participation strengths ("F" and "A") and occupational participation difficulties ("I" and "R"), the category probability of "A" and "I" changes at À0.18 logits. The J-MOHOST rating scale was, therefore, able to distinguish the difficulty of occupational participation of the participants close to 0.0 logits. Moreover, it was thought that the rating scale was adapted to the clients who had various ranges of the abilities as the ability measure was widely distributed within the range of À3.0e3.0 from the findings in the category probability curve and the item characteristic curve. It was suggested that the 4-point scale of the J-MOHOST as ordinal was able to discriminate among the clients' problems of ability of occupational participation for clinical use.

It is ideal to develop a rating scale that generates the average of person ability measure as 0.0 logits.


In Japan, the effect of rehabilitation for physical disabilities is often identified by the change in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) indexes from admission to discharge. The most popular tools used to measure the level of ADL include Functional Independence Measure, Barthel Index, and Nishimura's scale for rating of activities of daily living of the elderly (N-ADL). Therefore, ADL training is emphasized in the rehabilitation settings (Watanabe, 2009) . However, from an occupational therapy perspective, it was proposed that evaluating and intervening to support clients' engagement in meaningful occupations was critical (Fujimoto & Yamada, 2009) . Further, the assessment and intervention focused on meaningful occupation is more effective for improving ADL (Shinohara, Yamada, Kobayashi, & Forsyth, 2012) . The engagement in personally and socially meaningful occupations is conceptualized as occupational participation (Kielhofner, 2008) .

Therefore, ADL training is emphasized in the rehabilitation settings.

However, from an occupational therapy perspective, it was proposed that evaluating and intervening to support clients' engagement in meaningful occupations was critical.

Further, the assessment and intervention focused on meaningful occupation is more effective for improving ADL.

The engagement in personally and socially meaningful occupations is conceptualized as occupational participation.


As for the online channels, as long as the consumers input the brand, the model number and the damage and other information of the scrap product on the Internet site, they can obtain quotes from the recycling center. If the two sides agree on the price, the consumer can express the waste product to the recycling center, or the logistics company under the recycling center can go to the consumer's home to pick it up. The online channel will not only improve the responsiveness and efficiency of recycling, but also enhance the quality and conversion rate of recycling to reduce the pollution emissions to the environment through direct contact between the consumers and a professional recycling center [7] . On the other hand, consumer's awareness of sustainability is defined as consumer who constantly buys eco-friendly products and is actively concerned with sustainable issues and solutions to them [8] . Moreover, some scholars pointed out that consumers' awareness of sustainability also involves the choice of recycling behavior [9, 10] . However, according to the report titled Report on Consumer Awareness and Behavior Change in Sustainable Consumption, there are obvious differences in sustainability awareness among the 10 surveyed Chinese cities. It is this phenomenon that has led to the different preferences of consumers in different regions when they choose online or offline channels, especially in China where regional development is imbalanced [11] . This requires recycling centers and TPR to enact different recycling prices in different areas to maximize their own revenue. However, till now, research on "Internet + recycling" in the academic world is still in its initial stage. Most research is in the form of qualitative studies focusing on its connotations, characteristics and mechanism [7, 12] . There are a few quantitative studies on the dual-channel reverse supply chain, but the effect of regional differences on recycling companies are ignored [13] [14] [15] . Therefore, it is of great significance to consider regional differences in the pricing decisions of the dual-channel reverse supply chain.

The online channel will not only improve the responsiveness and efficiency of recycling, but also enhance the quality and conversion rate of recycling to reduce the pollution emissions to the environment through direct contact between the consumers and a professional recycling center.

On the other hand, consumer's awareness of sustainability is defined as consumer who constantly buys eco-friendly products and is actively concerned with sustainable issues and solutions to them.

Moreover, some scholars pointed out that consumers' awareness of sustainability also involves the choice of recycling behavior.

It is this phenomenon that has led to the different preferences of consumers in different regions when they choose online or offline channels, especially in China where regional development is imbalanced.

Most research is in the form of qualitative studies focusing on its connotations, characteristics and mechanism.

There are a few quantitative studies on the dual-channel reverse supply chain, but the effect of regional differences on recycling companies are ignored.


To sum up, scholars have studied in depth the pricing of the reverse supply chain and dual-channel forward supply chain from the perspective of method selection, channel coordination, consumer behavior and regional differences. In addition, they provide references for our new insights and construction on the research on the dual-channel reverse supply chain that both considers online channel and regional differences. Moreover, we find that almost all the research adopts the Stackelberg game to solve the pricing problem. This is because game theory can help them to take their prediction behavior and actual behavior into consideration according to the objectives, interests and possible action plans of different individuals in the supply chain. Through comprehensive consideration of the parties' most reasonable choice of action to the game, game theory can obtain their optimal strategies [27, 40] . All of these have provided an important reference for our research on the dual-channel reverse supply chain. Although there have been some studies on the dual-channel reverse supply chain, our research was different. First, our research goal was the pricing problems of the dual-channel reverse supply chain. In its pricing model, there are both online and offline recycling channels; second, in order to describe the impact of regional differences on pricing strategy, we took the logistical costs and consumers' awareness of the online channel into consideration. We must understand that in the past, research on consumer awareness in the sustainable supply chain was qualitative rather than quantitative [44] [45] [46] . Finally, through the solved model, we drew a number of conclusions, and used the numerical example to verify them and to propose some suggestions for the node enterprises in the dual-channel reverse supply chain.

Through comprehensive consideration of the parties' most reasonable choice of action to the game, game theory can obtain their optimal strategies.

We must understand that in the past, research on consumer awareness in the sustainable supply chain was qualitative rather than quantitative.


In the process of wideband microwave amplifier design, some numerical and computer aided design (CAD) techniques and optimization processes are considerable solutions since there is no well-established analytical solution for amplifier equations which contains many unknown circuit parameters belonging to the input/output matching networks (IMN/OMN) [1] [2] . Real Frequency Techniques (RFTs) are one of the numerical techniques offering excellent solutions in many design problems such as matching networks, amplifiers and many more [1] [2] . The reflectance based version of these techniques is called as "Simplified Real Frequency Technique (SRFT)" which is known with its simplicity and success in the solutions of many wideband microwave amplifier design problems [1] [2] . In the design problems of IMN/OMN (input/output matching networks) encountered in wideband microwave amplifiers, SRFT has been known and become a commonly used technique introduced into the literature with many real-working successful design examples [1] [2] .

In the process of wideband microwave amplifier design, some numerical and computer aided design (CAD) techniques and optimization processes are considerable solutions since there is no well-established analytical solution for amplifier equations which contains many unknown circuit parameters belonging to the input/output matching networks (IMN/OMN).

Real Frequency Techniques (RFTs) are one of the numerical techniques offering excellent solutions in many design problems such as matching networks, amplifiers and many more.

The reflectance based version of these techniques is called as "Simplified Real Frequency Technique (SRFT)" which is known with its simplicity and success in the solutions of many wideband microwave amplifier design problems.

In the design problems of IMN/OMN (input/output matching networks) encountered in wideband microwave amplifiers, SRFT has been known and become a commonly used technique introduced into the literature with many real-working successful design examples.


As an example, in the last network science run formed by the GEO 600 and Virgo interferometers during summer 2011, steps were taken to provide network analysis feedback to the commissioning work. Here parts of the coherent all-sky GW burst search procedure were run manually once a week on the network so that event backgrounds could be calculated. At this time GEO 600 had just finished the first implementation of a squeezed light source in a GW interferometer [23] . The squeezed light source decreased the Gaussian noise of GEO 600 by about 20% for frequencies above 1.5 kHz. Due to improper isolation of the injection path of the squeezed light there were a large amount (a factor of 10 more than nominal) of low amplitude glitches whenever the squeezed light source was operating. Since the science run had already started when this glitch excess was discovered, a simple decision to investigate the source of the glitches and eliminate them could not be made as this would use up a large portion of the science run time. We then turned to the network background events which were produced by the coherent all-sky GW burst search analysis to ask the question of how much this glitch excess is hurting the search. By investigating some data stretches with and without the squeezed light source in operation, we were able to see that the network SNR threshold that would be used by a search was increasing by no more than 10% when the squeezed light source was in operation. This feedback combined with the fact that the squeezed light source decreases the Gaussian noise floor by 20% gave us the confidence to continue running the squeezed light source throughout the science run without spending observational time to investigate the excess glitches.

At this time GEO 600 had just finished the first implementation of a squeezed light source in a GW interferometer.


On one hand, a simple astrophysical search sensitivity can be derived from estimations of the power spectrum of the interferometer output, assuming GWs do not contaminate the estimate appreciably. On the other hand, the ultimate measure of astrophysical sensitivity is carried out by the search itself, often run on a network of interferometers. In figure 1 we show example noise amplitude spectra from the various science runs (period of stable detector operations dedicated to astrophysical observations) of the 4 km LIGO interferometer located in Hanford, Washington. A simple sensitivity characterization, which was the primary figure of merit (FOM) for the detector operation during the running of the first generation network of interferometers, is the binary neutron star (BNS) range FOM [7, 8] . For first generation detectors the main commissioning goal was to improve and tune the instrument to increase that FOM.

A simple sensitivity characterization, which was the primary figure of merit (FOM) for the detector operation during the running of the first generation network of interferometers, is the binary neutron star (BNS) range FOM.


This work has focused on a single interferometer FOM meant to estimate the capability of a single interferometer GW search because GEO 600 is the only GW interferometer currently taking data. However, as construction completes on the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA instruments, the GW detector network will again expand into a worldwide network [24] . It is thus important to further extend the concept described in this work to general networks of interferometers. In its most general form, this is to provide relatively quick and automatic feedback of the GW search capabilities of an interferometer or network of interferometers in the form of a FOM. This FOM could take on many different forms. On the simple end, single interferometer FOMs anticipating network searches could be created as described in section 3.2, however this should not impede the creation of full network FOMs which would most accurately estimate the search capabilities.

However, as construction completes on the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA instruments, the GW detector network will again expand into a worldwide network.


Online support forums. The main implication of these studies is that developing social support networks may help people manage their health conditions. Online health communities can be used to develop large social support networks, to understand and to promote health behavior. People have always tried to answer health related questions by themselves, now the Internet has become an important resource. Previous studies suggest that 30% of U.S. Internet users have participated in medical or health-related groups. Advantages of online communities include access to many peers with the same health concerns, and convenient communication spanning geographic distances. These communities present an interesting contrast to similar offline groups, as they provide an environment where people are more likely to discuss problems that they do not feel comfortable discussing face-to-face . In addition such online health communities are known to foster well-being, a sense of control, self-confidence and social interactions [22] .

Online support forums.

In addition such online health communities are known to foster well-being, a sense of control, self-confidence and social interactions.


Step 2 -Statistical method for covariates selection -Choosing appropriate confounding variables is an important step in matching methods. Ideally, conditional on the observed covariates, there should be no observed differences between the treatment and control groups. To satisfy the assumption of ignorable treatment assignment, it is important to include in the matching procedure all variables known to be related to the treatment assignment. Generally poor performance is found by methods using a relatively small set of "predictors of convenience", such as gender only. Oppositely, including variables that are actually unassociated with the outcome can yield slight increases in variance. Commonly the confoundings' choice is based on previous research and scientific understanding, which can yield researcher discretion and bias [35] .

Commonly the confoundings' choice is based on previous research and scientific understanding, which can yield researcher discretion and bias.


The aldose compositions in the two mesocosms were not very different from the composition found in the upper layer of the oceans (McCarthy et al. 1996) . Mole percentages of mannose and galactose were slightly lower in the ocean, while fucose and glucose were slightly higher. The molecular composition of the aldoses started to differentiate in the two mesocosms at day 17 concomitant with addition of the zooplankton. This alteration in composition of aldoses could indicate that a pool consisting of a different polymeric carbohydrate is produced when zooplankton is present. The results from the decomposition experiments also revealed a difference in lability between the treatments.

The aldose compositions in the two mesocosms were not very different from the composition found in the upper layer of the oceans.


The second class of FWMAVs has a tail and can be passively stable in a single forward flight regime [7] . As will be further detailed in Section 2, the tail dampens rotation rates and also creates a moment correcting attitude disturbances. Tailed FWMAVs are typically controlled by means of actuation surfaces on the tail, such as a rudder and elevator. The flight speed at which the tailed FWMAV's attitude is passively stable depends on a number of factors, but most notably the geometry of the wing and horizontal stabilizer versus the center of gravity.

The second class of FWMAVs has a tail and can be passively stable in a single forward flight regime.


The first class of FWMAVs is 'tailless' and is passively unstable in both flight modes [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] . The FWMAVs in this class require active on board sensing and control to ensure stable flight. A significant obstacle in this class is the design of light, fast and powerful actuation mechanisms of the flapping wing [2, 4] . Moreover, this class of FWMAVs has mostly been designed for use around hover, and little to no attention is paid to the forward flight regime.

The first class of FWMAVs is 'tailless' and is passively unstable in both flight modes.

A significant obstacle in this class is the design of light, fast and powerful actuation mechanisms of the flapping wing.


Delhi is one of the many megacities struggling with rapid urbanization and gigantic levels of pollution from industrial, residential and transportation sources [12] . After independence, when Delhi witnessed a large influx of migrants, within a very short time the population of Delhi was approximately doubled. To house such a large migrating population, city has expanded in a very unplanned and uncontrolled manner [10] . Such types of unplanned expansions have a direct impact on quality of urban environment affecting the efficiency of the people and their productivity in the overall socio-economic development [13] . In the light of its past experiences and current trends of development, emerging future of Delhi is one of the most important issue gaining focus from the authorities to improve the overall quality of life. Land use which is highly dynamic entity in nature is one of the key parameters to quantify development. The dynamic land use database has a vital application to many diverse fields like Environment, Forestry, Hydrology, Agriculture, Geology, Urban sprawl, etc., [14] .

Delhi is one of the many megacities struggling with rapid urbanization and gigantic levels of pollution from industrial, residential and transportation sources.

To house such a large migrating population, city has expanded in a very unplanned and uncontrolled manner.

Such types of unplanned expansions have a direct impact on quality of urban environment affecting the efficiency of the people and their productivity in the overall socio-economic development.

The dynamic land use database has a vital application to many diverse fields like Environment, Forestry, Hydrology, Agriculture, Geology, Urban sprawl, etc..


Liquid crystals have become an important facet of modern technologies. Their numerous applications include displays and E-books, tunable filters and lenses for applied optics and biomedicine (hyper spectral imaging, ophthalmology), polarization control devices (tunable wave-plates, retarders, rotators, polarization generators), and components in optical processing systems (spatial light modulators and optical light valves). They are also used in adaptive optics, lasers, holography, optical communications (beam steering devices and optical waveguides), microwave technologies (tunable delay lines, phase shifters, antennas), and countless other areas [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . Typically, commercial devices based on molecular liquid crystals are driven by an electric field. Liquid crystals used in such devices should exhibit high electrical resistivity (or low electrical conductivity) of the order of 10 S/m) [2] . However, ions are always present in liquid crystals [2, 8] . Their negative impact on the overall performance of liquid crystal devices was reported in many publications [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] . For example, ions in liquid crystals can cause slow response, image sticking, image flickering, the reduction of the voltage holding ratio, and color staining and non-uniformity of the image, to name a few. As a result, an ionic contamination of the liquid crystals is very undesirable and should be minimized.

They are also used in adaptive optics, lasers, holography, optical communications (beam steering devices and optical waveguides), microwave technologies (tunable delay lines, phase shifters, antennas), and countless other areas.

Liquid crystals used in such devices should exhibit high electrical resistivity (or low electrical conductivity) of the order of 10 S/m).

However, ions are always present in liquid crystals.

Their negative impact on the overall performance of liquid crystal devices was reported in many publications.


Cancer causes changes in the tissue phenotype (tissue appearance) that can be observed in histological tissue preparations. Based on the characteristics of the cancer phenotype, patients can be stratified into groups with different expected outcomes (recurrence or survival). Such characteristics identified by pathologists are arranged in grading systems. One such instance is the Bloom-Richardson grading system that is used for estimating the prognosis of breast cancer patients after surgical removal of the tumor. It consists of estimation of three biomarkers: nuclear pleomorhism, nuclear proliferation and tubule formation. Although such grading systems are routinely applied in clinical practice, they are known to suffer from reproducibility issues due to the subjectivity of the assessment. This can result in suboptimal estimation of the prognosis of the patient and in turn poor treatment planning. With the advent of digital pathology, which involves digitization of histological slides in the form of large, gigapixel images, automated quantitative image analysis is being proposed as a solution for this problem [12] .

With the advent of digital pathology, which involves digitization of histological slides in the form of large, gigapixel images, automated quantitative image analysis is being proposed as a solution for this problem.


The solid fraction in the next zone right after impact zone reduces by almost 20 %. This result appears to indicate that the alloy undergoes a remelting process as there is a decrement in the percentage of α-Al. However, there is no heat being discharged on the CS plate while the molten alloy is flowing down it. In fact, a reduction in the molten alloy temperature occurs during its flow down the CS plate [14] . Thus there should be an increase in the solid fraction of a-Al on the CS plate due to solidification. In this regard, the existence of abundant α-Al in the impact zone of up to 70.09% is undeniable because rapid solidification occurs immediately on contact between the molten alloy and CS plate, as shown in Figure 4 . For nucleation to take place, there needs to be contact between molten alloy and CS plate. However, while the molten alloy is being poured onto the impact zone, it could be possible that segregation of solid and liquid occurs. Thus some remaining liquid probably flows down to the other zones causing the percentage of solid fraction in the next zone to decrease. This phenomenon could be described by the analogy of pouring batter to form pancakes on a heated pan where the bottom side of the pancake starts to solidify browns first compared to the upper side which remains in batter form. If the pan is tilted, the remaining liquid batter will flow over the pan's surface and start to solidify.

In fact, a reduction in the molten alloy temperature occurs during its flow down the CS plate.


As mentioned above, the other main contributory factor to the development of a nearly globular microstructure is that of the flow along the CS plate. The molten alloy flows down the CS plate due to gravitational force and this creates a shearing force between the molten alloy and CS plate. The dendritic growth in the impact zone features include coarse-grained and irregular shaped dendritic arms [15] . The development of the dendritic microstructure illustrated in Figure 2 (a) clearly shows that scattered dendritic branches are attached to the main roots. A nearly globular microstructure is achieved through the melting off of these dendritic branches from the main roots. This fragmentation of the dendritic branches is assisted by shearing force where there is a weak connection at the main root due to heat convection.

The dendritic growth in the impact zone features include coarse-grained and irregular shaped dendritic arms.


Numerical results are in Sections 5 and 6. In Section 5 we take the outliers from the regression model to have a multivariate normal distribution. This provides a very general scenario for outliers that can range from a seemingly random scatter around the regression plane to points virtually on a line. The special case of point contamination is explored in Section 6. Boxplots of the estimates from the five methods as λ varies indeed show that, for wide separations, the methods have similar properties. However, they differ markedly as the two populations converge. In order to summarise this information, we look at cumulative plots, over the range of λ, of the variance and squared bias of the estimators. Another method of comparing robust estimators is by their properties for outlier detection (Cook and Hawkins (1990) ). In Section 5 we calculate power curves as a function of λ for the number of outliers detected. Since the curves indicate that the estimators provide tests of varying sizes, we find the size of the outlier tests in Section 7.

Another method of comparing robust estimators is by their properties for outlier detection).


Low-pass filter (LPF) plays an important role in all frequency mixers [1] . The proposed LPF placed in output port of a microwave down-converter mixer must let pass just generated low-frequency mixing signal (around 1 GHz) and provide good rejection of high-frequency signals (around 11 and 12 GHz). Low cutoff frequency, negligible insertion loss, high selectivity, deeper wide stopband and compact size are the most important filtering characteristics of a required LPF for microwave mixer application.

Low-pass filter (LPF) plays an important role in all frequency mixers.


Following workshop discussions that focused on defining and measuring swimming competency in the context of drowning prevention at the World Water Safety Conference in Oporto, Portugal, 2007, a pilot study was initiated in New Zealand at the University of Auckland (KM) and in Norway at the Norwegian School of Sports Science (RS, DD, P-LK). The intention of the pilot study was to identify key components of swimming competency, establish protocols for their practical assessment, create a questionnaire that reported on self-perceptions of water competency, and provide personal estimates of the risk of drowning. These developments were underpinned by a conceptual model of water competencies based on the causes of drowning (Stallman, Junge, & Blixt, 2008) . Further trials were undertaken at the University of Ballarat (JB, LP, KMcE) in Australia and at three institutions in Japan at Aichi, Naruto, and Chiba (TG, KT, AM, SS). Researchers at each of the participating institutions obtained ethics clearance from their institutional review boards before the commencement of the testing. All institutions had their own swimming pools that varied from 25m-50m in length, were heated (27-28 °C), and had deep water (2 m+) available for testing underwater activities.

These developments were underpinned by a conceptual model of water competencies based on the causes of drowning.


Using standardized and widely-applied census methods to monitor wild bird populations provides information on population trends and demographic rates at a variety of spatial and temporal scales [12] - [14] . In North America, constant-effort mist-netting stations operated during the breeding season often follow protocols established by the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program [15] . Through a cooperative network of bird-banding stations operated throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico (>1200 stations), MAPS applies standardized procedures and analysis methodologies to estimate long-term trends in avian abundance, productivity, and survivorship. Data from all the stations are compared to one another and long-term trends for many bird species are monitored on a continent-wide basis.

Using standardized and widely-applied census methods to monitor wild bird populations provides information on population trends and demographic rates at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.

In North America, constant-effort mist-netting stations operated during the breeding season often follow protocols established by the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program.


Around the same time I. Frenkel and N. Reshetikhin developped a general theory of vertex operators for quantum affine algebras [3] . They derived a qKZ equation of general level as the equation satisfied by the highest-highest matrix element of the vertex operators. This theory was successfully applied to the study of SLMs [4] . Although, in this application to SLM, the building blocks are the vertex operators of positive integer levels, the form factors and the corelation functions are shown to satisfy the level 0 and level −2 × (dual Coxeter number) qKZ equation respectively [4] [8] . Thus the level 0 qKZ equation and their degenerations are of special importance in the context of IMQFT and SLM.

Around the same time I. Frenkel and N. Reshetikhin developped a general theory of vertex operators for quantum affine algebras.

This theory was successfully applied to the study of SLMs.

Although, in this application to SLM, the building blocks are the vertex operators of positive integer levels, the form factors and the corelation functions are shown to satisfy the level 0 and level −2 × (dual Coxeter number) qKZ equation respectively.


Let us discuss remaining problems and related subjects. In N = 2 case it is conjectured that Smirnov type solutions span the singlet solution space [16] . On the other hand the dimension of the vector space spanned by our integral formulae is less than the multiplicity of the trivial representation in V where the second term in the right hand side comes from the Riemann's bilinear identity [16] . This structure of solution space should be same in the qKZ case. To construct remaining solutions for both KZ and qKZ equations is an interesting and important problem. In the qKZ case to study a relation of these missing solutions with form factors is also interesting.

In N = 2 case it is conjectured that Smirnov type solutions span the singlet solution space.

On the other hand the dimension of the vector space spanned by our integral formulae is less than the multiplicity of the trivial representation in V where the second term in the right hand side comes from the Riemann's bilinear identity.


As previously mentioned, the operating mode is a function of power density as well as processing speed. It is therefore unsurprising that line energy is so important to the feature production mechanism. It is particularly interesting that this value is constant and yet the values for power and speed for optimum processing vary depending on the material. It is thought that this is due to the conduction distribution varied by not only the materials used, but also the power and speed. This affects the ratio of heat distribution as well as the size and shape of the keyhole influencing the fluid motion at the surfaces. In particular, if the depth of the melt exceeds the weld pool radius, as is predominant with keyhole welding, then 'volumetric' oscillations can be assumed, rather than capillary waves [24] . The oscillation frequency is also highly sensitive to processing parameters as these influence the initial melt mass [24] . This importance of how energy is applied rather than the quantity of energy has been noted in other forms of laser processing [52] .

In particular, if the depth of the melt exceeds the weld pool radius, as is predominant with keyhole welding, then 'volumetric' oscillations can be assumed, rather than capillary waves.

The oscillation frequency is also highly sensitive to processing parameters as these influence the initial melt mass.

This importance of how energy is applied rather than the quantity of energy has been noted in other forms of laser processing.


The jet behaviour seen in this surface modification technique is in agreement with that described by Kaplan and named as mode II [9] . This behaviour is observed despite operating at a much lower power level in this work, but with a smaller spot size and higher processing speed, suggesting that the operating mode is a function of power density [9] . In contrast, at low speeds, the filament is not stable; it rapidly breaks up and heavy spatter is observed. This behaviour has been called mode III jetting in Kaplans work [8] . It is therefore thought that the operating mode is a function of power density as well as process speed.

The jet behaviour seen in this surface modification technique is in agreement with that described by Kaplan and named as mode II.

This behaviour is observed despite operating at a much lower power level in this work, but with a smaller spot size and higher processing speed, suggesting that the operating mode is a function of power density.

This behaviour has been called mode III jetting in Kaplans work.


Traditionally, this surface modification technique has been thought to have been caused only by the surface tension of the molten material [2, 3] . More recently, other mechanisms have also been considered, such as the fluid dynamics driven by a laserinduced thermo-capillary [4] . In this paper, high-speed imaging has been used to show that a protruding liquid filament (jet) is produced in response to the laser power and translation speed, which in turn solidifies producing a material feature. It is therefore thought that the surface feature production mechanism is dependent on the stability of the liquid filament of molten material. If the filament breaks up, producing spatter, then the material can no longer be utilised for feature production. In this work on the initial laser swipe, it is demonstrated that both the surface tension and the dynamics in a laser induced keyhole in the bulk of the material are responsible for the feature characteristics.

Traditionally, this surface modification technique has been thought to have been caused only by the surface tension of the molten material.

More recently, other mechanisms have also been considered, such as the fluid dynamics driven by a laserinduced thermo-capillary.


To measure execution time of each benchmark invocation (in the steady-state methodology) we have instrumented the applications with code that registers the value of highprecision time counters provided by the Windows operating system. This instrumentation calls the native function QueryPerformanceCounter of the kernel32.dll library. This function returns the execution time measured by the operating system Performance and Reliability Monitor [37] . We measure the difference between the beginning and the end of each benchmark invocation to obtain the execution time of each benchmark run.

This function returns the execution time measured by the operating system Performance and Reliability Monitor.