Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process in all eukaryotic cells, which is used for recycling cytoplasm to generate macromolecular building blocks and energy under stress conditions, to remove superfluous and damaged proteins and organelles to adapt to changing nutrient conditions and to maintain cellular homeostasis [25, 26] . Autophagy has been recognized as having a complex impact on the initiation, progression, and treatment of lung cancer [27] . Low expression of Beclin1 was significantly associated with tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and poor prognosis in NSCLC [28] . Inactivation of the essential autophagy gene Atg5 causes an acceleration of the early phases of NSCLC oncogenesis [29] . Suppression of basal autophagy leads to inhibition of NSCLC cell proliferation and sensitizes them to cisplatin-induced caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis [30] . The initiation and execution of autophagy is regulated by a number of intracellular molecules, such as autophagy-related (Atg) proteins, mTORC1, AMPK, Beclin1, Bcl-2, and PI3K/AKT pathway [27] . Although the understanding of the regulation of autophagy has substantially advanced, information on the regulation of this complex process is limited.

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process in all eukaryotic cells, which is used for recycling cytoplasm to generate macromolecular building blocks and energy under stress conditions, to remove superfluous and damaged proteins and organelles to adapt to changing nutrient conditions and to maintain cellular homeostasis.

Autophagy has been recognized as having a complex impact on the initiation, progression, and treatment of lung cancer.

Low expression of Beclin1 was significantly associated with tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and poor prognosis in NSCLC.

Inactivation of the essential autophagy gene Atg5 causes an acceleration of the early phases of NSCLC oncogenesis.

Suppression of basal autophagy leads to inhibition of NSCLC cell proliferation and sensitizes them to cisplatin-induced caspase-dependent and caspase-independent apoptosis.

The initiation and execution of autophagy is regulated by a number of intracellular molecules, such as autophagy-related (Atg) proteins, mTORC1, AMPK, Beclin1, Bcl-2, and PI3K/AKT pathway.


Other military interventions have focused on individual dietary education while tackling overweight and obesity. Approaches with dietary education and restriction of energy intake have resulted in reduction of body weight [19, 22] . Also, behavioral internet treatment has been successful in weight loss, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and decreasing snacking [44] . When dietary education was combined with a fitness program, positive results were achieved. The exercise-plus-diet intervention group lost weight and reduced energy intake, the proportion of fat and saturated fat in the diet. Also they increased fiber intake notably by increasing bread, fruit and vegetable consumption [24] .

Approaches with dietary education and restriction of energy intake have resulted in reduction of body weight.

Also, behavioral internet treatment has been successful in weight loss, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and decreasing snacking.

Also they increased fiber intake notably by increasing bread, fruit and vegetable consumption.


Lynch syndrome-associated cancers typically exhibit DNA microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of MMR protein expression. Instability of microsatellite DNA sequences characterized by the presence of random contractions or expansions in the length of simple sequence repeats, can be detected by polymerase chain reactionbased methods [6, 7] . The loss of MMR protein expressions can be detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) [5] . These techniques have been widely used to triage colorectal cancer patients for testing for germline mutations in the MMR genes, and recently cancers at other sites [8] . As a consequence, various MMR-deficient tumors have been identified in organs that are not traditionally recognized as part of the spectrum of Lynch syndrome.

Instability of microsatellite DNA sequences characterized by the presence of random contractions or expansions in the length of simple sequence repeats, can be detected by polymerase chain reactionbased methods.

The loss of MMR protein expressions can be detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

These techniques have been widely used to triage colorectal cancer patients for testing for germline mutations in the MMR genes, and recently cancers at other sites.


Neighborhood density effects in conversational speech yielded a pattern of shortening and vowel centralization in words that are generally found to be challenging targets for word recognition, yet easy production targets. Our findings are consistent with the generalization that pronunciation variation associated with lexical access and retrieval -''early'', automatic processes in language production -are speaker-centric (Bard & Aylett, 2005) . In our view, these results are fully compatible with the notion that variation at some levels of linguistic structure, with different levels of planning and encoding, may reflect speakers' models of their listeners and of their surrounds. Clearly, speakers do take their listeners' needs into account, and this fact is reflected in referential form and other dimensions of linguistic structure (Arnold, 2008; Brennan & Clark, 1996) . More generally, we see no reason to doubt, for example, the pervasiveness of foreigner talk, ''clear speech'', or baby talk or the host of speech phenomena signaling linguistic group affiliation, as revealed in sociophonetic research.

Our findings are consistent with the generalization that pronunciation variation associated with lexical access and retrieval -''early'', automatic processes in language production -are speaker-centric.

Clearly, speakers do take their listeners' needs into account, and this fact is reflected in referential form and other dimensions of linguistic structure.


The analysis of vowel dispersion further excluded words with central (schwa-like) vowels and the diphthongs. Central vowels such as schwa and /e/ are by their nature close to the center of vowel space. Studies of vowel dispersion therefore ordinarily exclude these vowels, along with the diphthongs /aI, oI, au/, whose degree of dispersion cannot straightforwardly be measured in the same way as for monophthongs. These exclusion criteria are the same as in previous studies of phonological neighborhood density and vowel dispersion (Munson & Solomon, 2004; Wright, 2004) . The exclusion of central vowels and diphthongs meant that the set of words in the analysis of vowel dispersion was a subset of the words in the analysis of word durations. The two sets of words were analyzed in two separate models, which we present in turn.

These exclusion criteria are the same as in previous studies of phonological neighborhood density and vowel dispersion.


A diamond/SiC composite possesses many key physical properties such as the high thermal conductivity, exceptional hardness, and excellent wear resistance. The characteristic of high thermal conductivity of the diamond/SiC composite makes it promising for many industrial applications such as heat spreaders and heat transfer rig, as more demanding thermal management issues arise in the microelectronics industry [1] [2] [3] . Such diamond/SiC composites are usually prepared by gaseous/liquid silicon vacuum infiltration of diamond compacts, which inevitably results in the residual silicon. Therefore, to be more exact, the produced compos ite should be denoted as diamond-SiC-Si composite.

The characteristic of high thermal conductivity of the diamond/SiC composite makes it promising for many industrial applications such as heat spreaders and heat transfer rig, as more demanding thermal management issues arise in the microelectronics industry.


The purpose of the present work is to propose a new method to prepare diamond-SiC-Si composite, i.e., gaseous silicon vacuum infiltration [12] [13] [14] . This process does not need high pressure, so it avoids high prep aration costs. Furthermore, gaseous silicon infiltration is a gentle reaction, thus it can avoid self quenching phenomenon occurred in a liquid silicon infiltration by the rapid reaction between liquid Si and C. In this paper, the evolution of phase and microstructure of the composites were analyzed using X ray diffraction tech nique and scanning electron microscopy. Besides, the effects of a particle size and diamond content on prop erties of diamond-SiC-Si composites were studied.

The purpose of the present work is to propose a new method to prepare diamond-SiC-Si composite, i.e., gaseous silicon vacuum infiltration.


It is worth pointing that generating boolean formulas that optimize analysis of underlying SAT solvers is particularly challenging because the performance of SAT solvers cannot be described in any simple terms: it is generally based on heuristics and does not always hold [2] . In the context of Alloy, the problem is even more interesting because of the optimizations that the Alloy Analyzer does internally. We plan to systematically explore these issues.

It is worth pointing that generating boolean formulas that optimize analysis of underlying SAT solvers is particularly challenging because the performance of SAT solvers cannot be described in any simple terms: it is generally based on heuristics and does not always hold.


Great Britain represents a large economy with a lower share of exporters (relative to total firms) than Ireland. We saw earlier how British firms have on average lower export shares (Appendix 1). Additionally we know from others that British exporters are 'better' firms i.e. there is self-selection (Girma et al., 2004a) . Ireland represents a comparatively small and open economy. This is evidenced in the higher export shares of Irish firms.

Additionally we know from others that British exporters are 'better' firms i.e. there is self-selection.


We have presented a systematic approach to the determination of choreographies of the n-vortex problem in the plane, in a disk and on a sphere. Our approach is based on the symmetries of the Lyapunov families of periodic orbits that bifurcate from the polygonal relative equilibrium in a rotating frame. The approach is similar to the one that we have used to find choreographies for the n-body problem [9] . We use highly accurate boundary value continuation techniques with adaptive meshes to compute the Lyapunov orbits, and we presented a small, but representative selection of the infinite number of choreographies that exists along the Lyapunov families. A choreography of the n-polygon in the plane is invariant under scaling, because the equations are homogeneous in that case. However, for a disk and a sphere, the n-vortex problem is not homogeneous. One of the interesting features of our results is therefore that in these cases we can determine a continuum of choreographies with fixed resonance ratio, where the choreographies are not related by scaling.

The approach is similar to the one that we have used to find choreographies for the n-body problem.


Mitochondrial functions and oxidative stress are also involved in various physiological functions of normal cells and biological process [23] . Mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to induce psychiatric disorders [24] . More research on the understanding of the differential dependence in mitochondrial functions between tumors versus normal cells is needed to develop optimized therapeutic regimens. In addition, the direct molecular target(s) of doxycycline in glioblastoma are not clear although our work showed that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage were responsible for the action of doxycycline. Identification of doxycycline's binding partner(s) is important to understand the effectiveness of doxycycline in glioblastoma.

Mitochondrial functions and oxidative stress are also involved in various physiological functions of normal cells and biological process.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to induce psychiatric disorders.


Doxycycline is a FDA-approved antibiotic used in the treatment of a number of types of bacterial and protozoan infections. It kills bacteria by inhibiting protein synthesis via binding to bacterial ribosomes [6] . However, its anti-cancer activities have been recently demonstrated in various studies. Doxycycline has been shown to suppress the growth of cervical cancer, human breast cancer metastasis, and tumor-sphere formation in a panel of cancer cell lines, including lung cancer and prostate cancer cell lines [7] [8] [9] . Besides tumor cells, doxycycline also targets cancer stem cells [10] . The mechanisms of doxycycline's anti-cancer activities might be due to its ability in altering energy metabolism [8, 11] . Nevertheless, the effects of doxycycline in glioblastoma are unknown.

It kills bacteria by inhibiting protein synthesis via binding to bacterial ribosomes.

Doxycycline has been shown to suppress the growth of cervical cancer, human breast cancer metastasis, and tumor-sphere formation in a panel of cancer cell lines, including lung cancer and prostate cancer cell lines.

Besides tumor cells, doxycycline also targets cancer stem cells.

The mechanisms of doxycycline's anti-cancer activities might be due to its ability in altering energy metabolism.


There is little information on the risks for SGA at a population level [20] [21] [22] . A recently published populationbased study from the British Columbia Perinatal Database Registry investigated a limited set of maternal risk factors for SGA (i.e., maternal age, maternal height and weight, smoking in pregnancy, hypertension and placental disorders) as potential targets of intervention to reduce socio-economic SGA inequality by calculating the population attributable fractions for each factor [22] . Other published estimates of population attributable fraction are largely limited to only smoking in pregnancy [23] [24] [25] .

There is little information on the risks for SGA at a population level.

A recently published populationbased study from the British Columbia Perinatal Database Registry investigated a limited set of maternal risk factors for SGA (i.e., maternal age, maternal height and weight, smoking in pregnancy, hypertension and placental disorders) as potential targets of intervention to reduce socio-economic SGA inequality by calculating the population attributable fractions for each factor.

Other published estimates of population attributable fraction are largely limited to only smoking in pregnancy.


Renewable energy is the key to future global sustainability. Two-stage converters are widely used for interfacing renewable energy resources with the utility grid. The first stage is typically a DC-DC converter for photovoltaics (PVs) or an AC-DC rectifier for wind turbines (WTs) [1] . Normally, the first stage performs maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and boosts the input voltage into an appropriate level for the second stage. The main task of the second stage (a DC-AC inverter for most systems) is to ensure that all of the power extracted by the first stage is transferred to the grid stably and smoothly [2, 3] . Figure 1 shows the configuration of a two-stage single-phase grid-connected converter.

The first stage is typically a DC-DC converter for photovoltaics (PVs) or an AC-DC rectifier for wind turbines (WTs).

The main task of the second stage (a DC-AC inverter for most systems) is to ensure that all of the power extracted by the first stage is transferred to the grid stably and smoothly.


Arsenic compounds are ubiquitous in nature and commonly found in environmental samples involved in many different biological-chemical interactions, including arsenite-oxidation [1] [2] [3] . Arsenic compounds naturally occur in marine systems and are concentrated in a variety of ores [2, 4] . Arsenic in marine systems is predominantly in inorganic forms, such as arsenite (As (III)) and arsenate (As (V)), and organic forms, such as methylarsenate (MA), dimethylarsinate (DMA), trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO), teramethylarsonim ion (TMA), arsenocholine (AC) and arsenobetaine (AB). A study of arsenic in an aquatic system was conducted by Atkins and Wilson in 1927, and their results were similar to these reported for generally inconsiderable higher than those in seawater [4] . To date, seawater samples have provided the greatest number of marine arsenic compounds, although recent studies have revealed that terrestrial samples also contain many of these compounds. A significant percentage of the arsenic in surface water from marine environments is oxidized to arsenate, and is then methylated [2] . Previous studies have shown that the arsenic-resistant bacteria isolated from marine environments, are able to accumulate arsenic [6, 7] . Furthermore, arsenic cycling has been shown to respond to biological redox in seawater as well as in the demethylation assay.

Arsenic compounds are ubiquitous in nature and commonly found in environmental samples involved in many different biological-chemical interactions, including arsenite-oxidation.

Arsenic compounds naturally occur in marine systems and are concentrated in a variety of ores.

A study of arsenic in an aquatic system was conducted by Atkins and Wilson in 1927, and their results were similar to these reported for generally inconsiderable higher than those in seawater.

A significant percentage of the arsenic in surface water from marine environments is oxidized to arsenate, and is then methylated.

Previous studies have shown that the arsenic-resistant bacteria isolated from marine environments, are able to accumulate arsenic.


Each participant was tested individually in a quiet room, facing a Macintosh computer with an Azerty keyboard. Presentation of the stimuli and response recording were controlled using PsyScope (Cohen, MacWhinney, Flatt, & Provost, 1993) . Stimuli were delivered through two loudspeakers located in front of the participant, one on the left, the other on the right.

Presentation of the stimuli and response recording were controlled using PsyScope.


It has been reported that music ability facilitates the acquisition of a second language sound structure by improving receptive and productive phonological abilities (Slevc & Miyake, 2006) . Late arrival Japanese adults (living in the United States) who were good at analyzing, discriminating, and remembering music stimuli also were better than their less musically talented peers at accurately perceiving and producing sounds of their second language (English). Yet, Slevc and Miyake only looked at the ability to discriminate segmental contrasts, by asking participants to decide which member of a minimal pair like "playing/praying" was presented in contextually neutral sentences.

It has been reported that music ability facilitates the acquisition of a second language sound structure by improving receptive and productive phonological abilities.


In any case, the fact that musicianship affords an advantage for lexical stress processing may have important educational consequences. For example, we know that learning a new language, especially in the initial phase wherein one needs to segment new words, may largely benefit from the motivational and structuring properties of music in songs (Schön et al., 2008) . Future work should examine whether the effect observed here is an aid for the acquisition of a foreign language.

For example, we know that learning a new language, especially in the initial phase wherein one needs to segment new words, may largely benefit from the motivational and structuring properties of music in songs.


The accuracy of preoperative US in diagnosing GC remains uncertain. Twenty-eight percent of patients with GC had ultrasound reports that failed to show any evidence of acute inflammation as in our patient. This is mainly due to the absence of sonographic Murphy's sign and gallbladder walls of less than 3 mm, both important radiological signs of acute inflammation of the gallbladder [6] . CT scan is more useful in diagnosing acute cholecystitis. However, CT scan may fail to detect gallstones because many stones are isodense with bile. Furthermore, CT scan can be useful when complications of cholecystitis (such as emphysematous cholecystitis, gangrenous cholecystitis, or gallbladder perforation) are suspected or other diagnoses are considered [7] . The CT findings most specific for acute GC are gas in the wall or lumen, intraluminal membranes and irregular wall and pericholecystic abscess. GC is associated with a lack of mural enhancement, pericholecystic fluid, and a greater degree of gallbladder distension and wall thickening [4] .

This is mainly due to the absence of sonographic Murphy's sign and gallbladder walls of less than 3 mm, both important radiological signs of acute inflammation of the gallbladder.

Furthermore, CT scan can be useful when complications of cholecystitis (such as emphysematous cholecystitis, gangrenous cholecystitis, or gallbladder perforation) are suspected or other diagnoses are considered.

GC is associated with a lack of mural enhancement, pericholecystic fluid, and a greater degree of gallbladder distension and wall thickening.


It is well known that the ionising radiation induced gate oxide-trapped charge and interface traps cause the threshold voltage shift, transconductance reduction, leakage current increase, and breakdown voltage reduction in power VDMOSFETs [2] [3] [4] . The negative threshold voltage shift is, undoubtedly, the most serious problem in the commercial devices since it may cause a change of their operation mode from enhancement to depletion, thus leading to a faulty operation of switching power supplies. Even the radiation-hardened devices may fail as a result of reduction in current-drive capability owing to channel carrier mobility degradation and/or positive threshold voltage shift [2] .

It is well known that the ionising radiation induced gate oxide-trapped charge and interface traps cause the threshold voltage shift, transconductance reduction, leakage current increase, and breakdown voltage reduction in power VDMOSFETs.

Even the radiation-hardened devices may fail as a result of reduction in current-drive capability owing to channel carrier mobility degradation and/or positive threshold voltage shift.


Adjustment of design parameters with the objective of ensuring that the contact is enclosed between the entrainment streamlines A and B identi®ed in Fig. 12 can be expected to bene®t the ®lm-forming ability of the worm/wheel contact by eliminating the unentrained region. In principle, other types of worm may have potential for better ®lm formation and these should be investigated in future work. A contact in which entrainment is`across' rather than`along' its main axis would seem to oVer some advantage. This suggests a greater degree of conformity between the gear teeth in the direction perpendicular to that of entrainment, as is the case in gears of special design in which the worm teeth have a conforming, concave pro®le [7] .

This suggests a greater degree of conformity between the gear teeth in the direction perpendicular to that of entrainment, as is the case in gears of special design in which the worm teeth have a conforming, concave pro®le.


In mechanistic-empirical models, deterioration processes are modeled as physical processes that can be described using the characteristics and properties of the materials of the elements and their chemical and physical response/reaction against factors of the environment. Using mechanistic-empirical models, once the values of endogenous and exogenous factors governing the deterioration process are determined, the condition evolution of the bridge element over time can be estimated without the need for inspection data for a minimum of two consecutive time intervals. Unlike Markov models, condition evolution over time is modeled as being continuous (DuraCrete, 1998; Kirkpatricka et al., 2002) . When mechanistic-empirical models are used together with expert opinion, it is usually assumed that an element cannot transition more than one state in one time period.

Unlike Markov models, condition evolution over time is modeled as being continuous.


The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification system was introduced in 1941 by Meyer Saklad, Emery Rovenstine, and Ivan Taylor as a grading system for the surgical patients' preoperative health [5, 6] . In 1963, the ASA suggested a revised classification regarding the physical status of preoperative patients reducing the number of classes from seven to five [7] . The correlation between the ASA scores and the rate of postoperative complications has been reported in the literature [8, 9] . Several studies indicate the close relation of the ASA score not only to morbidity and mortality but also to the operating time, the hospitalization duration, the surgery duration, the postoperative infections, the health care costs, and many more variables [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] . Specifically, it is known that the ASA classification is a good predictor of morbidity, mortality, complications, and medical problems both in the perioperative 2 Scientifica and in the postoperative period that follows hip fracture surgery in elderly patients. However, whether and how the ASA classification is related to the functionality and the postoperative restoration of mobility are unclear and need further investigation [4, 9, 12, 13, 16] .

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification system was introduced in 1941 by Meyer Saklad, Emery Rovenstine, and Ivan Taylor as a grading system for the surgical patients' preoperative health.

In 1963, the ASA suggested a revised classification regarding the physical status of preoperative patients reducing the number of classes from seven to five.

The correlation between the ASA scores and the rate of postoperative complications has been reported in the literature.

Several studies indicate the close relation of the ASA score not only to morbidity and mortality but also to the operating time, the hospitalization duration, the surgery duration, the postoperative infections, the health care costs, and many more variables.

However, whether and how the ASA classification is related to the functionality and the postoperative restoration of mobility are unclear and need further investigation.


The three main factors affecting the leakage current are the operating voltage, contamination, and the operating environment (temperature, humidity and air pressure) [11, 12] . Because of the complexity involved in monitoring the on-site environment and severe climate change, the leakage current signal usually contains a significant amount of interference, noise and other unwanted signals. Thus, directly using the leakage current as an indicator of contamination flashover will lead to significant inaccuracies. To address this issue, active research has been focused on extracting the characteristics hidden in the waveform that best distinguish different degrees of contamination. For instance, recent studies extracted characteristics from time and frequency domain analysis of the waveform [13] [14] [15] . However, none of the characteristics can perfectly separate different degrees of contamination, since each characteristic can only reveal a certain aspect of the information in the waveform. The contamination degree forecast by a single characteristic is not satisfactory. A joint use of different characteristics can potentially boost prediction performance. This paper proposes a novel characteristic of the waveform based on fractal theory.

The three main factors affecting the leakage current are the operating voltage, contamination, and the operating environment (temperature, humidity and air pressure).

For instance, recent studies extracted characteristics from time and frequency domain analysis of the waveform.


Clearly, for systems having a very large number of context or features, the number of rules to write may increase drastically, which makes it very difficult (i) to list all the rules and (ii) to ensure that a valid configuration exists for every possible context. To mitigate this problem, different context extensions have been proposed within the SPL field [2, 11, 14, 20] . Usually these approaches represent the contextual information with additional data structures (e.g., trees, FM, ontologies) and relate the context with the features using external or cross-tree constraints. On the one hand, this allows a solution that is flexible, modular, and expressive. On the other hand, these approaches are not maintainable for medium/big SPLs as they require developers to have a simultaneous global overview and deep knowledge of (i) the FM, (ii) the complex model of the context, and (iii) of the interactions between the FM and context.

To mitigate this problem, different context extensions have been proposed within the SPL field.


In this paper we will show that in the framework of the BLSSM, due the decoupling between left-handed and right-handed sectors, if the LSP is emerged from the right-handed sector and the NLSP (neutral or charged) is coming from the left-handed sector, then the decay of NLSP to the LSP is extremely suppressed and the NLSP becomes naturally an LLP, even if its mass is not degenerate with the LSP. In fact, sometimes, as we will show in the next section, the mass difference should be larger than or equal to the mass of W (for charged NLSP) or Z (for neutral NLSP) gauge bosons, to open a channel of decay, otherwise the NLSP becomes not only LLP but also an almost stable particle. In particular, we will show that a notable feature of the BLSSM is that the lightest right-handed sneutrino can be naturally the LSP and stable, so that it is a viable candidate for cold DM [19] [20] [21] . We will emphasize that the BLSSM has a wide range of parameter space allows to probe the signature of both the lightest left-handed sneutrino and the left-handed stau as neutral and charged LLPs, respectively. This paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we discuss the possibility of having one or more LLP in the BLSSM model. In section 3 we provide the basic inputs required for searching for the neutral and charged BLSSM LLPs at the CMS. Section 4 is dedicated for analyzing the signature of the lightest left-handed sneutrino and the left-handed stau, which are our neutral and charged LLPs, respectively. Finally, our conclusions are given in section 5.

In particular, we will show that a notable feature of the BLSSM is that the lightest right-handed sneutrino can be naturally the LSP and stable, so that it is a viable candidate for cold DM.

This paper is organized as follows.


Various scenarios for the SM extensions, in particularly supersymmetric models, predict the existence of heavy LLPs with lifetime greater than few nanoseconds and macroscopic decay length. In the MSSM, the LSP is usually the lightest neutralino and the following particles are possible candidates for the NLSP, with quite close mass to the mass of the LSP: Next-to-the lightest neutralino, the lightest chargino, the lightest stau, and the lightest stop. However, all these particles couple to the LSP with either gauge or Yukawa couplings, which are not very suppressed. Also their associated mixing matrices are not externally small, so one can easily verify that their decay rates are not very suppressed (larger than 10 −10 GeV), hence their lifetimes are rather short (larger than nanosecond) unless one assumes a very fine tuning mass degeneracy between the LSP and the NLSP [1] [2] [3] . Furthermore, this type of degeneracy implies a large co-annihilation between the LSP, which is a Dark Matter (DM) candidate, and the NLSP, hence, the LSP relic abundance becomes much smaller than the measured lower limit. Thus, one can conclude that it is not natural to have an LLP in the MSSM.

Also their associated mixing matrices are not externally small, so one can easily verify that their decay rates are not very suppressed (larger than 10 −10 GeV), hence their lifetimes are rather short (larger than nanosecond) unless one assumes a very fine tuning mass degeneracy between the LSP and the NLSP.


System performance is calculated assuming that a bit rate 100MHz, R L = 1 kΩ, RIN = -150 dB/Hz, P d = Pc = 1.42 mW and employing a 2-D carrier-hopping prime code (CHPC) of weight w = 7 and length N = 101 [2] . For CHPC, h av = w / N. The bit error rate (BER) is plotted as a function of number of simultaneous users with and without BN and compared to the traditional receiver (Fig. 2) . It is clear that the results emphasize the superior performance of WAR over the traditional receiver for the MAI limited case is evident. However, with BN, the performance of WAR is worse than the traditional receiver; 2dB at 5 users. Furthermore, as the number of users' increases this penalty becomes smaller. The main source of the limits in WAR or the traditional receiver is the error due to receiving a bit "1". For WAR, if any chip is corrupted by BN according to a specific interference pattern, then the decision is false, independent of other chips. The traditional receiver decides whether the receiving bit is "1" or not based on the accumulative effect of BN on all chips. So, for the same interference pattern, if one chip is affected, BN does not necessarily affect the overall decision. The situation for the MAI case is reversed where the only limiting factor is due to transmission of bit "0". If all chips in WAR are simultaneously corrupted, an error occurs. This probability is very low when compared to the traditional receiver where, if sufficiently high levels of beat noise occur at any chip, then an error may result. However, increasing the code length results in slightly improved performance since the probability of a hit is reduced whereas the performance is worsens with increasing code weight (Fig. 3) .

System performance is calculated assuming that a bit rate 100MHz, R L = 1 kΩ, RIN = -150 dB/Hz, P d = Pc = 1.42 mW and employing a 2-D carrier-hopping prime code (CHPC) of weight w = 7 and length N = 101.


Studying events on social media has gained considerable interest in the last five years. In particular, catastrophes and emergency situations have attracted lots of attention [9] . The resulting works can be classified in four categories: event detection, event summarization, information extraction and visualization (note that these areas overlap). We describe these works below. There is to our knowledge no previous work on quantitative data extraction from Twitter.

In particular, catastrophes and emergency situations have attracted lots of attention.

We describe these works below.


Experimental tests were conducted to determine the critical mode I and II strain energy release rate, G Ic and G IIc , of the composite and adhesive in accordance with the standards [38, 39] . The double cantilever beam (DCB) and three-point bend end notched flexure (ENF) tests were used for mode I and II, respectively. Each specimen had a width of 25 mm, and five specimens were used for each test. To determine the properties of the composite, specimens were manufactured using 16 plies of unidirectional lamina, with fibres being along the length of the specimen. For each specimen, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) insert was embedded at the mid-plane of composite laminar or directly adjacent to the adhesive layer, to create an initial flaw. Some typical load-displacement curves for DCB and ENF tests are shown in Error! Reference source not found.. The critical mode I and II strain energy release rate of the composite material and the adhesive were calculated in accordance with the standards [38, 39] . The values of mode I and mode II strain energy release rates for the composite and the adhesive are summarised in Table 3 . Also included in this table are the interlaminar tensile and shear strength of the composite, and the tensile and shear strength of the film adhesive, both provided by the manufacturer [36, 37] . In Table 3 , the parameter  T refers to the through-thickness tensile strength for the composite, and the tension strength of the adhesive, and  f refers to the transverse shear strength of the composite, and the shear strength of the adhesive.

Experimental tests were conducted to determine the critical mode I and II strain energy release rate, G Ic and G IIc , of the composite and adhesive in accordance with the standards.

Reference source not found..

The critical mode I and II strain energy release rate of the composite material and the adhesive were calculated in accordance with the standards.

Also included in this table are the interlaminar tensile and shear strength of the composite, and the tensile and shear strength of the film adhesive, both provided by the manufacturer.


Experimental results showed that the loss of approximately a quarter of the bond length resulted in the loss of more than half the joint strength. In scarf repairs, as the disbond size increases, the stresses in the scarf is transferred to the surrounding adherend to cause disbond growth [13] . The analysis in this paper has been focused on the interfacial fracture propagation along the bondline of the scarf joint using unidirectional composite plies. As scarf joints are designed with scarf angle aspect ratios between 1:20 and 1:40, fracture behaviour in the joints will likely involve interlaminar delaminations and in-plane ply fracture. Further research is needed to address the crack branching phenomenon and the effects of the load-carrying capability of scarf joints containing flaws.

In scarf repairs, as the disbond size increases, the stresses in the scarf is transferred to the surrounding adherend to cause disbond growth.


In a non-premixed coaxial burner, two types of flames could be established: normal diffusive flames (NDFs) and inverse diffusive flames (IDFs). IDF flames are characterized by an inner oxidizer jet surrounded by an outer fuel jet. In presence of high air jet velocity, the fuel of the outer jet is entrained inward and mixes with the air, leading to a partially premixed flame. If not, it burns as a diffusive flame [8] .

If not, it burns as a diffusive flame.


Non-premixed flames have better stability under wide ranges of operating conditions and safety with respect to premixed-flame-based combustion [1] [2] [3] . Several previous investigations have been performed to gain an understanding of the characteristics of the flame [4] [5] [6] . An important limit of the premixed flames is their tendency to blow off operating without external stabilization devices [7] .

Non-premixed flames have better stability under wide ranges of operating conditions and safety with respect to premixed-flame-based combustion.

Several previous investigations have been performed to gain an understanding of the characteristics of the flame.

An important limit of the premixed flames is their tendency to blow off operating without external stabilization devices.


Nevertheless in the 1980s and 1990s the modelling of aggregate investment expenditure has been a much less researched topic than, say, the modelling of aggregate consumer expenditure or the demand for money. This is somewhat surprising given the importance of physical capital accumulation to the process of economic growth, and the massive research effort on new growth theory. However there has been considerable recent theoretical interest in an approach which treats investment as a financial call option. This has led to a burgeoning literature on the effects of irreversibility and uncertainty on investment behaviour (Dixit and Pindyck, 1994) . Some empirical work on this issue has been attempted, but is lagging behind, partly because of the difficulty of taking a theoretical innovation which essentially suggests that there is a greater range of inactivity before investment decisions may be triggered, and turning it into an empirical model of investment expenditure. Much of this empirical work has been concerned with the disaggregated level of the industry or, in particular, the firm. Such aggregate work as has been attempted has been generally concerned with the USA.

This has led to a burgeoning literature on the effects of irreversibility and uncertainty on investment behaviour.


Pastures constitute the basis of beef cattle production in Brazil. Economically, production systems that use this feed source are highly competitive in comparison with systems based on agroindustrial by-products, cereal grains and silage (Hodgson, 1990) . Fertilization is considered the best alternative to increase beef production, since the possibility of increasing pasture area is limited (Balsalobre, 2002) .

Economically, production systems that use this feed source are highly competitive in comparison with systems based on agroindustrial by-products, cereal grains and silage.

Fertilization is considered the best alternative to increase beef production, since the possibility of increasing pasture area is limited.


Spontaneous occurrence of polyploids in the wild population of diploid plants is sometimes observed and the frequency of autotetraploids among the polyploids thus produced is known to be relatively high (Nishiyama 1994) . Polyploids are also seldom produced from interspecific hybrids, i.e. allodiploids. Recently, we have obtained fertile amphidiploids from 2 out of 46 sterile interspecific hybrids between D. × isensis × D. japonicus by natural chromosomedoubling as bud sports (Nimura et al. 2006) . However, no amphidiploids were obtained from sterile interspecific hybrids between carnation × D. japonicus by natural chromosome-doubling. Therefore, to restore the fertility of these interspecific hybrids, it was necessary to induce amphidiploids by artificial chromosome-doubling.

Spontaneous occurrence of polyploids in the wild population of diploid plants is sometimes observed and the frequency of autotetraploids among the polyploids thus produced is known to be relatively high.

Recently, we have obtained fertile amphidiploids from 2 out of 46 sterile interspecific hybrids between D. × isensis × D. japonicus by natural chromosomedoubling as bud sports.


The hepatitis temporal database collecting from 1982 to 2001 at the Chiba university hospital was given recently to challenge the data mining research [14] . This database contains results of 983 laboratory tests of 771 patients. It is a large un-cleansed temporal relational database consisting of six tables of which the biggest has 1.6 million records. Collected during a long period with progress in test equipments, the database also contains inconsistent measurements, many missing values, and a large number of non unified notations. The doctors posed a number of problems on hepatitis that are expected to be investigated by KDD techniques.

The hepatitis temporal database collecting from 1982 to 2001 at the Chiba university hospital was given recently to challenge the data mining research.


At sufficiently low rotation rates, the measured film thickness value is close to the prediction (34) based on Newtonian rheology. However, as the rotation rate increases above Ω ≈ 2 rad/s, shear-thinning effects in the fluid viscosity become significant and the film thickness decreases relative to the prediction for a Newtonian fluid. There is a transition region between rotation rates of 2 and 13 rad/s where the measured film thickness falls between the theoretical predictions in the Newtonian and weakly elastic limits, and then at higher shear rates the data are in good agreement with the predicted film thickness based on the weakly elastic theory. This is to be expected since the shear-thinning in the fluid viscosity is only significant above a certain shear-rate; below this shear rate, the viscosity is constant and is approximately equal to the zero shear rate viscosity (see Figure 6 ). The characteristic shear rate in the dynamic meniscus region can be simply estimated to be of order ΩR/h ∞ . The experimental data shown in Figure 9 thus corresponds to shear rates in the range 280 ≤γ ≤ 1880s −1 . The rheological data in Figure 6 shows that the power-law model provides a good description of the rate-dependent viscosity over this range of shear rates. We attempted to capture the crossover from the power-law to the Newtonian limit quantitatively using theoretical methods by using a numerical program to solve the equation for film thickness based on the Ellis constitutive equation (Ashmore, 2003) . However, we found that the crossover to the Newtonian limit was predicted to occur at significantly lower rotation rates than those observed in the experiments presented here.

We attempted to capture the crossover from the power-law to the Newtonian limit quantitatively using theoretical methods by using a numerical program to solve the equation for film thickness based on the Ellis constitutive equation.


The recent blooming of the gaming industry in Macao has created much concern about its potential threat on the psychological well-being of its residences (van Schalkwyk et al., 2006) . A qualitative study found that the gaming industry was perceived to have negative impact on family functioning. Informants perceived that the younger generation was encouraged to involve in hedonistic spending and a drive toward individual needs and materialism. Informants worried that some young people forfeited further education and opted to work in casinos offering attractive salaries (van Schalkwyk et al., 2006) .

The recent blooming of the gaming industry in Macao has created much concern about its potential threat on the psychological well-being of its residences.

Informants worried that some young people forfeited further education and opted to work in casinos offering attractive salaries.


Materialism among the younger generation has become a hot topic among parents, educators, marketers and policy makers. Because of the enormous purchasing power of the young consumers and their influences in family purchase decisions, the youth market is important to advertisers. One of the perceived undesirable consequences of advertising was the communication of materialistic values to children and youth (John, 1999) . Materialism was considered as a negative value that associated with possessiveness, jealousy, and greed (Belk, 1983) . Materialism also has a negative impact on adolescents' subjective well being (Manolis and Roberts, 2012) . While marketing professionals are keen to promote products and services to the youth, parents, educators and policy makers are concerned with protecting young consumers from obsession with possessions, as well as the risk of over-spending and incurrence of debt.

One of the perceived undesirable consequences of advertising was the communication of materialistic values to children and youth.

Materialism was considered as a negative value that associated with possessiveness, jealousy, and greed.

Materialism also has a negative impact on adolescents' subjective well being.


A television commercial for personal loan service featured a father picking up his son from an elementary school. Because of the father's lowly outfit, the child turned away from him. The commercial suggested that the father borrowed money from the advertiser and dressed up. The boy returned to the father's embrace. This commercial received much public complaints and the advertising regulating authority warned the advertiser for conveying materialistic values to children (Chan, 2010) .

This commercial received much public complaints and the advertising regulating authority warned the advertiser for conveying materialistic values to children.


Log files contain valuable information with regard to the execution of different Business Processes in an organization [1] . By applying different mining techniques on these logs we can extract the workflow, have a better understanding about the resource management, show the differences between departments, . . . . Most Process Mining techniques require a stable state in order to perform well. Business Processes, however, are prone to different kind of changes, both expected, documented changes as well as unexpected changes may occur. These changes can be induced by new company policies, new regulations, new activities, . . . . Concept Drift Detection tries to identify the possible change points (I.e. the points in time where changes to the process happen) and tries to explain what caused the drift. After detecting these points it is possible to split the log in smaller logs that do represent the same execution of a Business Process without changes and use standard process mining techniques to further examine the different processes [2] .

Log files contain valuable information with regard to the execution of different Business Processes in an organization.

After detecting these points it is possible to split the log in smaller logs that do represent the same execution of a Business Process without changes and use standard process mining techniques to further examine the different processes.


WMNs provide greater flexibility, reliability, and performance when compared to traditional wireless networks, since they are able to extend network coverage without any additional infrastructure by using multi-hop communication, where nodes can relay traffic by traversing multiple hops to reach a destination [2] . Packet forwarding in WMNs may be implemented at layer 3 or layer 2. In the former, which is the most common WMN implementation, packet forwarding is performed at network layer by means of internet protocol (IP). In the latter, frame forwarding is performed at data link layer, being the MAC addresses used to deliver frames through the WMN backbone [3] . The IEEE 802.11s standard specifies a layer 2 WMN aiming to extend the coverage of traditional 802.11 WLANs and to allow the support of a larger diversity of wireless technologies [4] .

WMNs provide greater flexibility, reliability, and performance when compared to traditional wireless networks, since they are able to extend network coverage without any additional infrastructure by using multi-hop communication, where nodes can relay traffic by traversing multiple hops to reach a destination.

In the latter, frame forwarding is performed at data link layer, being the MAC addresses used to deliver frames through the WMN backbone.

The IEEE 802.11s standard specifies a layer 2 WMN aiming to extend the coverage of traditional 802.11 WLANs and to allow the support of a larger diversity of wireless technologies.


The defect fields over the crack for the crack width from 10 µm to 2 mm with the 2.8 cm and the 0.3 cm excitation coils were shown in figures 3(a) and (b) respectively. With the 2.8 cm excitation coil, it was found that neither of the inphase or the quadrature components of the defect field overlap when the crack width was varied from 10 µm up to 2 mm. Namely, both the phase and magnitude of the defect field were independent of the crack width below 2 mm. This observation confirms the result reported previously for the millimetre crack [6] . The reason that the defect fields are insensitive to the crack width was attributed to the broad region of the eddy-current distribution as the size of the excitation coil was much greater than the width of the crack. Hence, the change in width does not affect the eddy-current distribution effectively. When the diameter of the excitation coil, e.g. 0.3 cm, was not much greater than the crack width, the defect field altered slightly as the crack width was changed as shown in figure 3(b) .

This observation confirms the result reported previously for the millimetre crack.


Human beings behave similarly when interacting with each other (Levelt, 1989; Clark, 1996) . They understand each other gradually when they speak, they can interrupt each other and the listener is able to predict the end of an utterance before it is fully pronounced by the speaker (Tanenhaus et al., 1995; Brown-Schmidt and Hanna, 2011; DeVault et al., 2011) . Reading is also a task that we perform incrementally (Ilkin and Sturt, 2011) .

Human beings behave similarly when interacting with each other.

They understand each other gradually when they speak, they can interrupt each other and the listener is able to predict the end of an utterance before it is fully pronounced by the speaker.

Reading is also a task that we perform incrementally.


Histological studies and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out to describe the gonodendron, tentacle, tentacle with dactylozooid and gastrozooid of colonies of two distant sites, São Sebastião (SP) and Paripuera (AL). Colonies for SEM were fixed in a 10% formalin solution and post-fixed in 1% OsO 4 , de-hydrated in an ethanol series, dried in their critical point and sputtered with gold (MIGOTTO & MARQUES, 1999) . Histological studies used routine methods of Mallory trichromic (BEHMER et al., 1976) .

Colonies for SEM were fixed in a 10% formalin solution and post-fixed in 1% OsO 4 , de-hydrated in an ethanol series, dried in their critical point and sputtered with gold.

Histological studies used routine methods of Mallory trichromic.


These changes in soil structure are often reflected independently by the different properties, but when the variables are treated and analyzed separately, the classical statistical models often lose sensitivity in the assessment process, especially in a non-randomized experiment design. In this case, multivariate analysis can identify the interaction between the different properties allowing for a simultaneous analysis of their relationships. CDA describes the differences between treatments, deepening the understanding of the relationships between all properties studied in each treatment and can thus select the soil quality indicators (Cruz-Castillo et al., 1994) .

CDA describes the differences between treatments, deepening the understanding of the relationships between all properties studied in each treatment and can thus select the soil quality indicators.


Although correlation between somatic and psychiatric symptoms was not found in either group, we demonstrated that physically asymptomatic HN patients score lower than their groups on the BDI and GSI, but not physically asymptomatic MT patients. It was also presented that the physically and psychiatrically asymptomatic subgroups of the MT cohort had little overlap. According to these results, psychiatric and somatic symptoms do not necessarily co-occur in the MT group implying that psychiatric symptoms might be independent manifestations of mitochondrial dysfunction and not the consequence of the chronic somatic disease. Psychiatric symptoms of these patients tend not to have a classic course [19] . They are frequently treatmentresistant and may even get worse when treated with psychotropic medications. Valproic acid, for instance, is known to interfere with beta-oxidation and is considered to be a mitochondrial toxin [44] . Drug-naivity of our patients could not be achieved due to ethical reasons. Despite diverse medication -also psychotropic medication -we depicted many psychiatric symptoms possibly due to treatment resistance, the complex metabolic alteration in the background.

Psychiatric symptoms of these patients tend not to have a classic course.

Valproic acid, for instance, is known to interfere with beta-oxidation and is considered to be a mitochondrial toxin.


However, it has been reported that the increased degree of conversion associated with preheating would result in increased polymerization shrinkage [5] . One study has shown that temperature has a significant effect on polymerization shrinkage of microfilled composites. Preheating composites to relatively high temperatures (54˚C or 68˚C) causes a significant increase in volumetric shrinkage, but preheating composites to a body temperature causes similar shrinkage to that at room temperature [6] . Advantages of preheating the resin are to make more durable, highly filled, highly viscous conventional composite resin, to reduce the viscosity, to provide flow values that are similar to those of less filled, flowable resin composites, without undermining the mechanical properties. However, more investigation is necessary to determine the side effects of preheating procedures such as an increase of the polymerization shrinkage which causes stress at the tooth/restoration interface and may cause microleakage of the restorations. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of preheating on polymerization contraction stress of composites and the in vitro marginal microleakage. It was hypothesized that increasing the preheating temperature would increase the polymerization stress and increase the microleakage at resin composites/tooth interfaces.

However, it has been reported that the increased degree of conversion associated with preheating would result in increased polymerization shrinkage.

Preheating composites to relatively high temperatures (54˚C or 68˚C) causes a significant increase in volumetric shrinkage, but preheating composites to a body temperature causes similar shrinkage to that at room temperature.


The objective of this experimental study was to evaluate the effect of preheating temperatures on polymerization contraction stress of composites and to investigate the extent of in vitro marginal microleakage of Class V resin composite restoration restored with preheated composites as compare to the cavity restored with room temperature composites. The extent of leakage after thermal cycling is relevant to clinical practice since microleakage of saliva, oral fluids and bacteria at the tooth-restoration interface has been linked causally to a range of problems, including marginal staining, postoperative sensitivity, and secondary caries. The integrity and durability of the marginal seal is an important factor in the longevity of adhesive dental restorative materials, particularly for composite resins. The absence of a seal at restoration margins permits the entry of oral bacteria and fluids, which can result in postoperative sensitivity, adverse pulpal responses and recurrent caries [7] . In the present study, standardized methods were used to minimize confounding factors. The dye penetration test is the most widely used laboratory method for assessing leakage, and for the purposes of this study a simple grading system was used [8] . The apical extent of the test cavities was intentionally placed into the root surface because leakage at this site is known to be a clinical concern when Class II and Class V cavities are restored with composite resin materials.

The absence of a seal at restoration margins permits the entry of oral bacteria and fluids, which can result in postoperative sensitivity, adverse pulpal responses and recurrent caries.

The dye penetration test is the most widely used laboratory method for assessing leakage, and for the purposes of this study a simple grading system was used.


To assess performance, training and test sets were created by randomly splitting the data set into 3 equal subsets. The only constraint on otherwise random partitioning was that a class was represented equally in each subset. A 3-fold crossvalidation method was used, i.e. 3 sets composed of twothirds of the data were created and used as training sets for feature selection and the remaining one-third of the data as the test set using the selected features for classification. Thus no training example used for feature selection was used as a test example in the same experiment. Three experiments were conducted independently and performance reported as mean and standard deviation over the three experiments. Classification results when varying the value of K of the K-NN classifiers have been evaluated [11] . Experiments also showed that is reasonable to use 10 features [11] .

Classification results when varying the value of K of the K-NN classifiers have been evaluated.

Experiments also showed that is reasonable to use 10 features.


Due to the advantageous features of SPPCM over conventional storage, SPPCM has recently received tremendous attention from researchers worldwide. However, the majority of research efforts have been dedicated to realizing resistance switching experimentally [5] [6] [7] . As a result, a detailed theoretical framework that can account for the electrothermal and phase-transition phenomena occurring inside SPPCM remains unfulfilled. To the best of our knowledge, a theoretical model of SPPCM processes has been reported only by a single group of researchers (Wright's group at the University of Exeter) [2] . In Wright's model, the physical mechanism of SPPCM was regarded as a combination of electrical, thermal, and phase transformation processes. However, some relatively simple assumptions were introduced into the descriptions of the electrical and thermal conductivities of GST, which severely limited the accuracy of the established model. Furthermore, the phase transformation phenomenon in Wright's model was governed by the Johnson-MehlAvrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) law which exhibits an Arrhenius crystallization mode that is contradictory to recent experimental findings clearly indicating a non-Arrhenius behavior [8] . Therefore, it is necessary to develop a more physically realistic model representative of all the physical processes of SPPCM to aid researchers in obtaining a better understanding of the resulting SPPCM performances and, ultimately, to achieve optimal system design.

However, the majority of research efforts have been dedicated to realizing resistance switching experimentally.

To the best of our knowledge, a theoretical model of SPPCM processes has been reported only by a single group of researchers (Wright's group at the University of Exeter).

Furthermore, the phase transformation phenomenon in Wright's model was governed by the Johnson-MehlAvrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) law which exhibits an Arrhenius crystallization mode that is contradictory to recent experimental findings clearly indicating a non-Arrhenius behavior.


Digital data is ubiquitous in the modern world and is intimately linked to nearly all facets of the daily lives of citizens. The advancing prevalence of digital data has caused the amount of global data created and copied in digital form to double every two years and is expected to reach 44 Zettabytes by 2020 [1] . To avoid a corresponding increase in the actual physical volume required to meet this unprecedented growth rate a significant increase in the storage capacity of memory devices is required. Unfortunately, the marginal opportunities remaining for improving the capacity of conventional storage devices are severely restricted by their inherent physical limits [2] . For this reason, various emerging storage technologies have been proposed. From these, scanning probe phase-change memory (SPPCM), as illustrated in Figure 1 , has been considered to be one of the most promising contenders.

The advancing prevalence of digital data has caused the amount of global data created and copied in digital form to double every two years and is expected to reach 44 Zettabytes by 2020.

Unfortunately, the marginal opportunities remaining for improving the capacity of conventional storage devices are severely restricted by their inherent physical limits.


An optical beam with phase singularity also called optical vortex or a screw dislocation is a helical phase ramp which focuses to a ring-like intensity pattern [1] . An optical vortex is characterized by azimuthal phase dependence of the type exp(imθ) where m is the topological charge. The magnitude of topological charge represents the total phase accumulated by the helical wave in one complete revolution around the vortex point. The sign of topological charge represents left-or right-handed helicity. When the topological charge has a noninteger value, it results in the formation of a fractional vortex. Wavefront containing fractional charge vortex exhibits a half-cut (low-intensity radial opening in the doughnut structure), corresponding to a mixed edge-screw dislocation [2] . Such vortices, on propagation, transform into several opposite-sign screw dislocations which disappear on the beam periphery [3] .

An optical beam with phase singularity also called optical vortex or a screw dislocation is a helical phase ramp which focuses to a ring-like intensity pattern.

Wavefront containing fractional charge vortex exhibits a half-cut (low-intensity radial opening in the doughnut structure), corresponding to a mixed edge-screw dislocation.

Such vortices, on propagation, transform into several opposite-sign screw dislocations which disappear on the beam periphery.


This article is devoted to the study of singular traces beyond the dual of the Macaev ideal. The theory of singular traces has been intensively developed recently, especially after Alain Connes' application of that theory to noncommutative geometry and physics [10] . In particular, singular traces now have a broad application to several fields of mathematics and theoretical physics, including noncommutative symmetric spaces, geometry of Banach spaces, pseudo-differential operators, index theory and geometric analysis, fractal geometry, noncommutative integration theory, renormalization and quantum field theory. So far, known results and applications concentrate around singular traces arising from the logarithmic divergence of a normal trace. But the importance of singular traces is also seen from the fundamental fact that an arbitrary tracial weight on a semifinite von Neumann algebra is uniquely decomposed into the sum of a normal trace and a singular trace. Hence the understanding of the structure of singular traces contributes to the understanding of the structure of general non-normal traces. Also, we strongly believe that singular traces associated with more general divergences should have natural applications in all the above mentioned areas. In this paper, we demonstrate such application to the theory of Hörmander-Weyl pseudo-diffrential calculus on R n . More specifically, the main motivation of the present article is to characterize the class of noncommutative Lorentz spaces of τ -compact operators within a semifinite von Neumann algebra, for which one can generalize the 'classical' relationships between: 1) Dixmier traces, 2) residues of ζ-functions and 3) asymptotics of traces of heat semigroups.

The theory of singular traces has been intensively developed recently, especially after Alain Connes' application of that theory to noncommutative geometry and physics.


Plants resistance to drought is really complex and its expression depends on the action and interaction of different morphological characters (reduced leaf area, winding leaf, wax content, efficient root system and stability of production); physiological characters (transpiration reduction, high efficiency of water use, stomata closure and osmotic adjustment) and biochemists characters (accumulation of proline, polyamines, diamine, increase in nitrate reductase activity, besides increase in carbohydrate storage). However, the knowledge of genetic mechanisms that condition these characters is limited (Mitra, 2001; Fumis and Pedras, 2002) . Obtaining genotypes tolerant to abiotical stresses by classical breeding methods is difficult, mainly due to low heritability and high interaction between genotype × environments. In addition, selection processes usually occur in non-uniform conditions (Smith et al., 1990) . Therefore, plants transformation has demonstrated its capabilities as an excellent option for developing wheat genotypes tolerant to drought and more productive (Sahrawat et al., 2003; Jones, 2005) .

However, the knowledge of genetic mechanisms that condition these characters is limited.

In addition, selection processes usually occur in non-uniform conditions.

Therefore, plants transformation has demonstrated its capabilities as an excellent option for developing wheat genotypes tolerant to drought and more productive.


Ice slurries consist of aqueous solutions in which small ice crystals are present. Compared to commonly used brines, the application of ice slurries in indirect refrigeration systems shows interesting advantages, such as (i) the possibility of enhanced thermal storage and (ii) the reduction of transport friction losses due to the higher volumetric heat capacity. However, a widespread utilization of ice slurry systems has not taken place yet which is mainly attributed to the high investment costs of commercially available ice slurry generators [1] .

However, a widespread utilization of ice slurry systems has not taken place yet which is mainly attributed to the high investment costs of commercially available ice slurry generators.


Efficiency is a very important factor of productivity growth, especially in developing agricultural economies where resources are meager and opportunities for developing and adopting better technologies are dwindling (Bifarin et al., 2010) . In fact, the presence of shortfalls in technical efficiency means that output can be increased without requiring additional conventional inputs or introduction of new technologies. If this is the case, then empirical measures of technical efficiency are necessary in order to determine the magnitude of the gain that could be obtained by improving performance in production with a given technology. Given the foregoing scenario, the study intends to determine technical efficiency differentials between traditional and improved technologies applied in processing oil palm; and identify its determinants.

Efficiency is a very important factor of productivity growth, especially in developing agricultural economies where resources are meager and opportunities for developing and adopting better technologies are dwindling.


The use of lightweight aggregate concrete has many advantages including dead load reduction, high thermal insulation, and enhanced fire resistance [1] . The principal hydraulic binder of the lightweight aggregate concrete adopted was typically Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). However, OPC was not an environment-friendly product and also has many disadvantages, for example, it is not only energy intensive, but is also responsible for large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 )-a greenhouse gas [2] . Inorganic polymer cement is a new class of green ecological cementitious materials which has better performance than OPC, including good mechanical properties, chemical resistance and temperature resistance, rapid setting property, low-energy consumption, and greenhouse emissions [3] [4] [5] . It has been attracting more and more attention of materials researchers in recent years [6] [7] [8] . High-performance lightweight aggregate concrete with inorganic polymers based on multiple mineralss has the advantages of light weight, high strength, high-dimensional stability, excellent durability, and good workability. Obviously, combination of inorganic polymer with lightweight aggregate concrete can reduce alkali aggregate reaction effectively and exhibit lower hydration heat, excellent corrosion resistance, good permeability, and frost resistance comparing with the OPC [9, 10] . There is few literature works reported on this new material.

The use of lightweight aggregate concrete has many advantages including dead load reduction, high thermal insulation, and enhanced fire resistance.

However, OPC was not an environment-friendly product and also has many disadvantages, for example, it is not only energy intensive, but is also responsible for large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 )-a greenhouse gas.

Inorganic polymer cement is a new class of green ecological cementitious materials which has better performance than OPC, including good mechanical properties, chemical resistance and temperature resistance, rapid setting property, low-energy consumption, and greenhouse emissions.

It has been attracting more and more attention of materials researchers in recent years.

Obviously, combination of inorganic polymer with lightweight aggregate concrete can reduce alkali aggregate reaction effectively and exhibit lower hydration heat, excellent corrosion resistance, good permeability, and frost resistance comparing with the OPC.


In our previous study, we showed size-dependent penetration of silica nanoparticles with a BBB model in vitro. Moreover, 300 nm large silica particles did not cross and not deliver the placental-maternal barrier [14] [15] . We also showed that the apparent permeability coefficient in the model for the 30 nm silica particles was higher than those of the larger silica particles (100 and 400 nm) and was higher than those of the smaller silica particles (22 nm) [14] [15] . Therefore, we used 30 nm silica nanoparticles in this study.

Moreover, 300 nm large silica particles did not cross and not deliver the placental-maternal barrier.

We also showed that the apparent permeability coefficient in the model for the 30 nm silica particles was higher than those of the larger silica particles (100 and 400 nm) and was higher than those of the smaller silica particles (22 nm).


In our experiments, no coarse pattern has a length larger than 3 under meaningful settings of σ and ρt. In case there exist very long frequent coarse patterns, the effectiveness of the weighted snippet shift procedure could be affected by the high dimensionality of the transformed space. However, this limitation can be remedied using dimension reduction techniques or methods developed for mean shift in high-dimensional space [4] .

However, this limitation can be remedied using dimension reduction techniques or methods developed for mean shift in high-dimensional space.


Two different kinds of BPA analysis were performed. In the first, 'missing taxa' were coded as true absence; in the second they were coded as unknown data. The data matrix for Assumption 0 and with 'missing taxa' coded as missing data is given in Appendix 1. To retrieve the true absence-coded matrix, the question marks must be replaced by zeroes. The data matrices were analysed using the program Hennig86 (Farris 1988) . The large number of areas precluded an exhaustive search for most parsimonious trees; therefore heuristic searches were carried out, with the commands mh* followed by bb*.

The data matrices were analysed using the program Hennig86.


The results obtained so far, though consistent in the relationship between the eastern Australian areas, are all rather unsatisfactory when it comes to the clarification of the relationships between eastern Australia and the surrounding areas. The COMPONENT results give the best resolution, but this analysis was rejected, as mentioned above. The BPA results are less resolved, in particular the result for the data matrix with missing taxa scored as unknown. The result for coding them as true absence also seems to be flawed, in particular with respect to the position of Arnhem Land and the Kimberley Plateau. The main reason for these poor results, assuming a real signal is indeed present in the data, is probably the same as for COMPONENT, namely that presumably a number of dispersals have occurred. If this is so, then the relationships of such areas which have received taxa are blurred because their biotas are reflecting two different patterns, one part a vicariance pattern, the other a dispersal pattern. By splitting such areas into two separate areas of endemism, these two components can be disentangled (Brooks 1990) . One of the problems with this is that in the reconstruction of a generalised areagram from the areagrams of a number of clades, as in the present case, it becomes difficult to decide which occurrences of a particular area belong to which pattern. Nevertheless, an attempt was made to unravel at least a number of these patterns.

By splitting such areas into two separate areas of endemism, these two components can be disentangled.


Parents serve a vital role during cancer diagnosis and treatment, providing both emotional support and information to their child [12] . However, the components of parentadolescent communication that impact youth PTSS have not been clearly identified, and research has been limited by two methodological factors. First, longitudinal studies are needed to examine mechanisms through which parent symptoms may impact adolescent symptoms over time.

Parents serve a vital role during cancer diagnosis and treatment, providing both emotional support and information to their child.


The mothers and grandmothers were approached after birth in the maternity clinic or at home through the obstetricians and pediatricians who offered the researchers access to birth and pediatric records. After mothers and grandmothers agreed to participate in the study, an introductory discussion took place at the infants' homes. The first visit was arranged at a time when the infant was likely to be fed, relaxed and alert, and at a time usually amenable to social games (Kugiumutzakis, 1993) . If the infant was unwell or became distressed, or the mothers felt that the visit should be postponed for some reason, or the grandmothers were taken ill, the visit was rescheduled to a later date soon thereafter. Videorecordings were made at 15-day intervals, starting when the infant was 2 months old until she/he was 10 months old. The recording with each partner lasted 10 minutes. In Group 2, the recording with the first partner (mother/grandmother) was followed as soon as possible by the recording with the other partner so that a change in the infant's mood would be less likely. The order of videorecordings with the mother and the grandmother was counterbalanced, beginning in the course of the first visit, for 3 girls and 5 boys, with the mother and then with the grandmother; for the remaining infants (4 girls and 4 boys) the first videorecording was made with the grandmother and then with the mother. During the second visit, the order of interaction was switched, and this continued in the next visits.

The first visit was arranged at a time when the infant was likely to be fed, relaxed and alert, and at a time usually amenable to social games.


Most research examining the grandmother-grandchild relationship focuses on high-risk, multigenerational adolescent-mother and maternal grandmother families (Oberlander, Black, & Starr, 2007) . There is a surprisingly little research on the way in which grandmothers' involvement is related to the child socio-emotional development in less-risky contexts. The limited number of three generation familial studies focuses on 1-to 4-year old grandchildren and examines the relationship between grandmothers' involvement and infant attachment behavior (Myers, Jarvis, sites) was greater when infants observed an action that matched their own most recently executed action. This effect was stronger when the infant had just carried out the same action than when he or she had just carried out a different action. This is consistent with recent ideas about the predictive processes activated by temporal patterns of brain activity during action observation.

Most research examining the grandmother-grandchild relationship focuses on high-risk, multigenerational adolescent-mother and maternal grandmother families.


Visual-motion related activity in area hV5/MT+ has been associated with subconscious visual perception in patients with V1 lesions, a phenomenon called "blindsight". Studies in humans and animal models suggest that blindsight is mediated by subcortical pathways, which effectively bypass area V1 and transmit information from the retina to extrastriate visual cortex (Weiskrantz et al., 1977; Weiskrantz, 1996; Stoerig and Cowey, 1997) . Another possible explanation, for some cases, is that there are spared functional V1 "islands" that may mediate residual vision (Gazzaniga et al., 1994; Morland et al., 2004; Radoeva et al., 2008) . Our patients have not been tested for blindsight performance, but their performance within the scotoma in a motion direction discrimination task was at chance for 3 patients examined (P1, P2, P5). It would be interesting in future research to investigate whether the different patterns of activation observed in hV5/MT+ are associated with blindsight performance.

Studies in humans and animal models suggest that blindsight is mediated by subcortical pathways, which effectively bypass area V1 and transmit information from the retina to extrastriate visual cortex.

Another possible explanation, for some cases, is that there are spared functional V1 "islands" that may mediate residual vision.


Reorganization of hV5/MT+ following V1 injury. We found increased pRF sizes in hV5/MT+ of the lesioned hemisphere for three out of five patients (P1, P3, P5) compared with AS controls, suggesting reorganization. The increase in pRF size may occur because subcortical inputs from LGN or the pulvinar reorganize via sprouting of cortical axons and contribute to hV5/MT+ activation. Interestingly, the same patients had increased pRF size in hV5/MT+ of the contra-lesional (healthy) hemisphere. It is therefore possible that the pRF size increase occurs as a result of reorganization of callosal connections between the two hV5/MT+ complexes (Silvanto et al., 2007; Bridge et al., 2008) . Patients P2 and P4 had a similar pRF size in hV5/MT+ of the lesioned hemisphere as the AS controls. These patients had decreased representation in hV5/MT+ of the contra-lesional hemisphere and particularly patient P2 had significantly smaller pRF sizes, suggesting that the pathways to hV5/MT+ of the healthy hemisphere in these patients are affected by the lesion. The differences between patients may arise by the fact that each patient has a unique lesion. Patient P2 for example has an optic radiation lesion and patient P4 has a larger V1 lesion compared to the other patients that may have affected the capacity for reorganization in hV5/MT+ of these patients. More studies with a larger number of patients will be needed in the future to improve our understanding of visual processing in the context of injury.

It is therefore possible that the pRF size increase occurs as a result of reorganization of callosal connections between the two hV5/MT+ complexes.


The criterion followed in this work is the minimization of the total assembly time (makespan) in the execution of the plan. To meet this objective, the algorithm takes into account the information about each assembly task (robot and tool needed and estimation of assembly time) [11] . This approach allows applying the results to different stages of the process planning, from the design of the product and of the manufacturing system, to the final execution of the assembly plan.

To meet this objective, the algorithm takes into account the information about each assembly task (robot and tool needed and estimation of assembly time).


Incurred costs by implementation of the emergency V2G program include investment and operating costs minus the obtained revenues. On the other hand, implementation of such programs results in reliability worth, which is re ected in reduced Customer Interruption Costs (CIC). Therefore, procedures are introduced for estimation of di erent cost terms. Moreover, an appropriate analytical method is presented for the calculation of CIC. This method addresses di erent probabilistic factors that a ect the interruption cost of customers, while trying to reduce the associated computational burden. It estimates the available energy of batteries considering random behavior of EV users as well as their charging/discharging patterns. Moreover, variability of demand and output power of Distributed Generation (DG) units is considered in the estimation of the incurred interruption costs. It should be noted that identi cation of the optimal V2G program through reliability cost/worth evaluation imposes a high computational burden and the analytical nature of the proposed CIC estimation framework facilitates its application. Moreover, note that the introduced analytical framework is intended for rough analysis and comparison of di erent V2G programs, and the nal decision can be made using more accurate methods such as Monte Carlo simulation [7, 19] .

Moreover, note that the introduced analytical framework is intended for rough analysis and comparison of di erent V2G programs, and the nal decision can be made using more accurate methods such as Monte Carlo simulation.


Once all cost/revenue terms have been evaluated, they are annualized and the optimal emergency V2G program is determined based on the annualized cost/worth comparison. Note that although the proposed framework in this paper is designed for general purposes, the focus is on implementation of the emergency V2G programs in a distribution system containing multiple microgrids, i.e., multi-microgrid (MMG) systems [20, 21] . However, as will be explained, this framework can be readily applied to any distribution grid.

Note that although the proposed framework in this paper is designed for general purposes, the focus is on implementation of the emergency V2G programs in a distribution system containing multiple microgrids, i.e., multi-microgrid (MMG) systems.


Implementing reliability enhancement plans in distribution systems usually increases DSO costs and, on the other hand, reduces CIC. This concept is schematically illustrated in Figure 1 . The gure depicts the general variation pattern of di erent cost terms as a function of reliability level. In reliability cost/worth method, the optimal level of reliability is determined such that social costs of the system are minimized [22] . Such a level is speci ed in Figure 1 using a dotted line. As can be observed, if this reliability level is maintained, social cost of distribution system, which is composed of DSO and CIC, is at its minimum value.

In reliability cost/worth method, the optimal level of reliability is determined such that social costs of the system are minimized.


Comparing the results, it can be seen that charging strategy during normal operation signi cantly affects reliability of the system. According to the results, dumb charging causes the highest reliability improvement. It is because in this case, the batteries are charged with maximum allowable power and therefore, their SOC levels will rise more rapidly. As a result, their daily average available energy will be higher than that in the other charging strategies. This argument can be con rmed by looking at Figure 3 . On the other hand, when V2G programs are implemented during normal operation, the reliability improvement level will have the lowest value, since EVs cannot maintain a high daily average SOC level due to discharging in times of high electricity price [7] .

On the other hand, when V2G programs are implemented during normal operation, the reliability improvement level will have the lowest value, since EVs cannot maintain a high daily average SOC level due to discharging in times of high electricity price.


Thermal phase transitions are ubiquitous phenomena in nature, but in fundamental physics they are difficult to study, and very few are known. In the SM there are phase transitions associated with QCD and the EW symmetry. The QCD phase transition can be studied directly in heavy ion collisions, with rapid progress over the last decade [1] . However, the EW phase transition (EWPT) is far out of reach of direct testability. Going beyond the Standard Model (BSM), the nature of the EW phase transition could change, and there could be additional phase transitions unrelated to the EWPT but still screened from us by the CMB. Nevertheless, even without direct measurements of the EWPT in the near future these phenomena can be indirectly studied, with profound consequences for our understanding of the early universe. The EWPT and other phase transitions can have correlated signals detectable at current and future colliders, and in the burgeoning field of gravitational wave astronomy. Therefore, it is important to have as much control of the underlying Finite-Temperature Quantum Field Theory (FTQFT) calculations as possible, so that potential signals are reliably understood and predicted. This is the aim of this paper, and we will introduce new methods in FTQFT to capture the effects of BSM physics on phase transitions. While our results will be general, we single out the EWPT for special study given its possible deep connection to another fundamental question in particle physics.

The QCD phase transition can be studied directly in heavy ion collisions, with rapid progress over the last decade.


We carefully review this calculation in Section 2. Our focus is the resummation of hard thermal loops. The standard procedure, which we call Truncated Full Dressing (TFD), involves a very simple computation of thermal masses Π i ∼ T 2 for particles i in the plasma, to leading order in the hightemperature approximation, and inserting them back into the effective potential [79] [80] [81] .

The standard procedure, which we call Truncated Full Dressing (TFD), involves a very simple computation of thermal masses Π i ∼ T 2 for particles i in the plasma, to leading order in the hightemperature approximation, and inserting them back into the effective potential.


The (O)PD calculation shows two-step phase transitions are more prevalent than previously assumed from TFD calculations. This is encouraging, as strong two-step transitions can generate observable gravity wave signals [102] . They are also more constrained, since runaway bubbles are incompatible with baryon number generation [107] . Further analysis is needed to determine whether this translates to additional constraints on the SM + N S × S benchmark model.

This is encouraging, as strong two-step transitions can generate observable gravity wave signals.

They are also more constrained, since runaway bubbles are incompatible with baryon number generation.


Although crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are a mature technology with competitive energy prices in several markets, efforts toward higher efficiencies, lower costs and lesser environmental impacts continue to lead the photovoltaic community. State of the art technology already allows for low-temperature deposition of dopants (T < 200 °C) in amorphous silicon a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction devices, but thermally-diffused doping (T > 900 °C) is still the industry standard, covering ~12% of the module fabrication energy input [1] . As advanced solar cell architectures become closer to the theoretical efficiency limits for single-junction devices, further cost reduction must then come from ambient-temperature or solution-based processes and materials.

State of the art technology already allows for low-temperature deposition of dopants (T < 200 °C) in amorphous silicon a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction devices, but thermally-diffused doping (T > 900 °C) is still the industry standard, covering ~12% of the module fabrication energy input.


Meanwhile, the European Union carried out the Statistical and Regional dynamical Downscaling of Extremes (STARDEX) project for four years from February 2001 to May 2004 [8] . The goal of the project was to estimate the impact of global warming on climate events with extreme values for the end of the 21st century. To estimate the frequency and intensity of extreme events, Table 1 was formulated. The table is composed of ten extreme weather indices related to precipitation and temperature. In this research, the indices have been applied to the Korean weather data. The extreme indices related to precipitation consist of six items including the heavy rainfall threshold and the greatest 5-day rainfall. Extreme indices related to temperature consist of four items including the hot-day and cold-night thresholds.

Meanwhile, the European Union carried out the Statistical and Regional dynamical Downscaling of Extremes (STARDEX) project for four years from February 2001 to May 2004.


Digital images have become widely available due to the proliferation of web services such as Flickr. Many researchers have developed image retrieval approaches for multimedia databases. The goal of image retrieval is to find the images that semantically match the query image. The key problem in designing a successful image retrieval system is how to rank the images in the database to suit the user's understanding of semantics, i.e., how to establish the correspondence between image content and semantic tags [2] . The 1970's saw the first image retrieval approaches based on keyword annotation [6] . In this paradigm, images in the database are first annotated with keywords, and then retrieved via their keywords. Although this keyword-based approach is still used in many actual image retrieval systems like Google and Yahoo, these systems suffer from problems such as insufficient text information and semantic inconsistency between the texts and images [21] .

The key problem in designing a successful image retrieval system is how to rank the images in the database to suit the user's understanding of semantics, i.e., how to establish the correspondence between image content and semantic tags.

The 1970's saw the first image retrieval approaches based on keyword annotation.

Although this keyword-based approach is still used in many actual image retrieval systems like Google and Yahoo, these systems suffer from problems such as insufficient text information and semantic inconsistency between the texts and images.


Power Line Communications (PLC) is one of the preferred technologies for Smart Metering [4] [5] [6] [7] . This technology uses the electric power lines in order to deploy telecommunications. PLC offers low cost, ease of deployment and scalability. The same grid used for energy distribution provides the basis for smart metering communication, eliminating the need for additional communications infrastructure and allowing the communication network to grow together with the distribution grid.

Power Line Communications (PLC) is one of the preferred technologies for Smart Metering.


Smoking and the use of other tobacco products kill 15,000 people in Nepal each year [1] . A recent study suggested that 3.41% of Nepalese adolescents between 10 and14 years of age and 16.74% between 15 and 19 years of age smoke [2] . Smoking prevalence varies among schools (2%-49%) and districts (7%-29%) [3] . Studies among school-age and college students report that most students begin smoking between 13-16 years of age and that initiation age ranges between 5-18 years [4] [5] [6] . Therefore, preventing tobacco use and smoking initiation in adolescents is a public health concern that aims to reduce many chronic degenerative diseases (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer) [7] . Further, cardiovascular risk factor studies reported that the risk of acute myocardial infarction is 2.61-fold higher (95% CI: 1.99-3.44) in South Asian smokers (Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) compared with individuals outside South Asia and population attributable risk is 43% [8] .

Smoking and the use of other tobacco products kill 15,000 people in Nepal each year.

A recent study suggested that 3.41% of Nepalese adolescents between 10 and14 years of age and 16.74% between 15 and 19 years of age smoke.

Smoking prevalence varies among schools (2%-49%) and districts (7%-29%).

Studies among school-age and college students report that most students begin smoking between 13-16 years of age and that initiation age ranges between 5-18 years.

Therefore, preventing tobacco use and smoking initiation in adolescents is a public health concern that aims to reduce many chronic degenerative diseases (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancer).

Further, cardiovascular risk factor studies reported that the risk of acute myocardial infarction is 2.61-fold higher (95% CI: 1.99-3.44) in South Asian smokers (Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) compared with individuals outside South Asia and population attributable risk is 43%.


Because the present study was cross-sectional, we could not infer the causality of the observed association between perceived risks, benefits, and susceptibility. Additionally, since the interview was conducted in respondents' homes and by local enumerators, information bias might have occurred. Second, due to possible concern about negative social image, we hypothesized that study participants may have underreported their smoking habits, a circumstance that occurs more commonly among females than males [34] . Third, the present study did not include influencing factors related to susceptibility. Finally, we measured perceived risks and benefits only once. These measurements may have affected by the respondents' characteristics and exposure to anti-smoking campaigns, enumerator motivation, interview site, and the physical conditions of respondents at the time of the interview. It would be interesting to know whether perceived risks and benefits change with time and with other factors, and similarly, how changes in perception would influence smoking behavior.

Second, due to possible concern about negative social image, we hypothesized that study participants may have underreported their smoking habits, a circumstance that occurs more commonly among females than males.


The ESTEEM trial also found that on the index day of contact, nurse triage led to a 28% reduction in patient-GP contacts, a 31% reduction in GP face-to-face contacts, and a related reduction of 1.4 minutes in overall GP contact time [6] . This was a redistribution of workload from GPs to nurses which is reflected in the findings reported here, in particular helping to explain nurses' negative perceptions of triage when additional resources were not put in place by practices. However, in contrast to some staff perceptions, nurse triage was found to be cost equivalent with both GP triage and usual care. Implementing nurse triage in a way which is acceptable to practice staff therefore requires careful consideration of the resources required to support nurse triage but also clear communication with practice staff regarding the consequential impact on practice workload and cost.

The ESTEEM trial also found that on the index day of contact, nurse triage led to a 28% reduction in patient-GP contacts, a 31% reduction in GP face-to-face contacts, and a related reduction of 1.4 minutes in overall GP contact time.