In real world applications, many concepts are defined in an inherently imprecise manner. Such concepts are referred to asflexible concepts (Michalski, 1990) . The imprecision can be due to undefined boundaries (as in prototype representations), boundaries defined only within some range, graded boundaries (as in fuzzy sets), context-dependent boundaries, or a combination of the above. This paper concentrates on the representation of flexible concepts with graded boundaries or graded degrees of membership (Smith & Medin, 1981; Barsalou, 1985) . Such concepts are called graded concepts in the rest of this paper. The basic ideas of our method have a direct link to the original work and existing papers on flexible concepts (Michalski, 1990; Bergadano, Matwin, Michalski, & Zhang, 1992) . This paper presents a new approach and a significant extension of earlier ideas.

Such concepts are referred to asflexible concepts.

This paper concentrates on the representation of flexible concepts with graded boundaries or graded degrees of membership.

The basic ideas of our method have a direct link to the original work and existing papers on flexible concepts.


Eighteen sequences of the PKS genes of the strains 1A and 10A S. fonticola at 80-83% are similar to the genes for the synthesis of cytostatic romidepsin (DepB and DepC). Romidepsin is a bicyclic depsipeptide isolated in 1994 in Japan from a soil bacterium Chromobacterium violaceum. This compound is produced by the Celgene firm as an antitumor drug Istodax for the treatment of T-cell lymphomas and other peripheral T-cell lymphomas. Romidepsin inhibits the activity of the enzyme histone deacetylase and, thus, induces apoptosis of lymphocytes. According to recent studies, romidepsin can be used for reactivation of latent human immunodeficiency virus with the goal of depleting its population [18] .

According to recent studies, romidepsin can be used for reactivation of latent human immunodeficiency virus with the goal of depleting its population.


Another important microbial association is that of mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots. These fungi are present in over 80% of plant species (Azcón et al., 1991) . In contrast with the large diversity of plants, which includes sugarcane, that have their roots colonized by mycorrhizas, only 150 fungi species are responsible for that colonization (Azcón et al., 1991) . A crop whose roots are colonized by mycorrhizal fungi can raise the soil mycorrhizal potential which can benefit plants which are responsive to this fungi association and that are cultivated in sequence. This could be particularly useful for the nutritional management of crops in low nutrient, low input-output systems of production (Panja and Chaudhuri, 2004) .

These fungi are present in over 80% of plant species.

In contrast with the large diversity of plants, which includes sugarcane, that have their roots colonized by mycorrhizas, only 150 fungi species are responsible for that colonization.

This could be particularly useful for the nutritional management of crops in low nutrient, low input-output systems of production.


In this study, OMMT is introduced to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)/polyamide-66 (PPO/PA66) blends. The PPO/PA66 blends inherit the high chemical resistance and processability of PA66 and maintain the dimensional stability and good thermal properties of PPO. However, PPO/PA66 blends are restricted by high immiscibility due to the high interfacial tensions and the large differences in polymer polarities [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] . The properties of PPO/PA66 blends are strongly decided by the morphology and interfacial adhesion. However, the high viscosity ratio and incompatibility endow PPO/PA66 blends with poor mechanical properties with the absence of additives. Reactive compatibilization is an efficient way to strengthen interaction between components and to obtain blends or composites with desirable properties [20, 21] . International Journal of Polymer Science PA66/PPO blends with smaller particle size and better mechanical properties could be prepared with the addition of copolymers containing maleic anhydride (MA) or glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] . Moreover, the rigidity of both components necessitates the introduction of elastomers and rubbers into PPO/PA blends, such as styrene-butylenestyrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene-ethylene-butylenestyrene block copolymer (SEBS), and ethylene-propylenediene terpolymer (EPDM) [27, 28] . Unfortunately, the toughened blends are restricted by low strength and low thermal stability, which are undesirable for engineering application [29] [30] [31] .

However, PPO/PA66 blends are restricted by high immiscibility due to the high interfacial tensions and the large differences in polymer polarities.

Reactive compatibilization is an efficient way to strengthen interaction between components and to obtain blends or composites with desirable properties.

International Journal of Polymer Science PA66/PPO blends with smaller particle size and better mechanical properties could be prepared with the addition of copolymers containing maleic anhydride (MA) or glycidyl methacrylate (GMA).

Moreover, the rigidity of both components necessitates the introduction of elastomers and rubbers into PPO/PA blends, such as styrene-butylenestyrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene-ethylene-butylenestyrene block copolymer (SEBS), and ethylene-propylenediene terpolymer (EPDM).

Unfortunately, the toughened blends are restricted by low strength and low thermal stability, which are undesirable for engineering application.


The performance of Mn x O y catalysts strongly depends on their morphologies, Mn valence state, preparation methods, crystalline phases and structures [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] . Mn x O y has over 30 different crystal structures and variable valences of Mn center in different polymorphs [13] . The different polymorphic forms with different properties include one-dimensional (1D) tunneled types (e.g. a-, b-, and g-MnO 2 ), 2D layered compound (d-MnO 2 ), and 3D spinel structure (l-MnO 2 ).

The performance of Mn x O y catalysts strongly depends on their morphologies, Mn valence state, preparation methods, crystalline phases and structures.

Mn x O y has over 30 different crystal structures and variable valences of Mn center in different polymorphs.


Accordingly, we aimed to understand the healthcare experiences of Syrian refugees residing in Jordan in 2018, with specific attention to personal perspectives about illness, approaches to healthcare decision-making, operational barriers faced when accessing care, reflections on healthcare quality and methods for coping with challenges of health care access. Jordan provided a relevant setting for this study because the country is middle-income and located in MENA, a region that has undergone a demographic transition resulting in high rates of NCD deaths [4, 7] . Jordan also hosts over 650, 000 registered Syrian refugees (some estimates including unregistered persons are as high as 1.4 million) [22] . In the early stages of the crisis, Jordan made select primary care services free for Syrian refugees. However, in January 2018, Jordan increased the cost of services for Syrian refugees to the "foreigner rate," with 80% of fees paid prior to services being rendered [7, 23] . Opportunities exist to better understand the Syrian refugee experience accessing NCD services with the aim of ensuring highquality, continuous, coordinated and comprehensive care.

Jordan provided a relevant setting for this study because the country is middle-income and located in MENA, a region that has undergone a demographic transition resulting in high rates of NCD deaths.

Jordan also hosts over 650, 000 registered Syrian refugees (some estimates including unregistered persons are as high as 1.4 million).

However, in January 2018, Jordan increased the cost of services for Syrian refugees to the "foreigner rate," with 80% of fees paid prior to services being rendered.


Another field of rapid progress is virtual reality (VR), which is -from a technical point of view -the representation and simultaneous perception of reality and its physical attributes in an interactive computer-generated virtual environment. Today, most VR-applications focus just on first-class visual rendering. Other modalities -if added at all -are presented just as effects without any physically based reference to real-world properties. However, it is a well-known fact that the visual perception is significantly augmented by matching sound stimuli (Gazzaniga, Ivry, and Mangun 1998) . Especially in architectural applications such as a virtual walk through a complex of buildings, auditory information helps to assign meaning to visual information. Unfortunately, even simple scenes of interaction, e.g. when a person is leaving a room and closing a door require complex models of room acoustics and sound insulation. Important wave phenomena, such as diffraction at low frequencies, scattering at high frequencies and specular reflections have to be considered to enable a physically based sound field modelling. Otherwise, the colouration, the loudness and timbre of sound within and in-between the rooms will not be represented with sufficient accuracy. Hence, from the physical point of view (not to mention the challenge of implementation), the question of modelling and simulation of a realistic virtual sound is by orders of magnitude more difficult than the task of creating visual images. The main reason is the fact that sound in the full audio range must be simulated for frequencies and wavelengths covering three orders of magnitude (from 20 Hz to 20 kHz). This might be the reason for the delayed implementation of physically based 3D audio real-time rendering engines for virtual environments (Savioja et al. 1999; Funkhouser et al. 2004; Lentz et al. 2007; Schröder et al. 2010; Schröder 2011) .

However, it is a well-known fact that the visual perception is significantly augmented by matching sound stimuli.

This might be the reason for the delayed implementation of physically based 3D audio real-time rendering engines for virtual environments.


Let us describe the structure of the present paper. Section 2 contains basic definitions and facts. Section 3 shows some relationships between K-monotone dominated and cone-to-cone monotone mappings. This section is motivated by results of Veselý and Zajíček [17] . Section 4 contains results about continuity of monotone dominated and cone-to-cone monotone mappings. We prove that every K-monotone function f : X → R, where X is an arbitrary Banach space and K is a convex cone with non-empty interior, is continuous outside of a set which can be covered by countably many Lipschitz hypersurfaces. This sharpens [6, Proposition 6] of Borwein and Wang and seems to be new even in the case X = R n . Then we obtain similar results for K-monotone dominated and cone-to-cone monotone mappings as a consequence. Section 5 contains results about a.e. Gâteaux differentiability of monotone dominated and cone-to-cone monotone maps, and section 6 contains results about metric and w * -differentiability of K-monotone dominated maps with values in metric spaces.

This section is motivated by results of Veselý and Zajíček.

Section 5 contains results about a.e.


The development of a robust methodology that considers the specifics of spare parts can bring important savings and managerial benefits to companies. In addition, concept development for inventory planning and control of spare parts should concentrate more on its applicability in manufacturing companies. At the same time companies should prepare for and be more open to the adoption of spare parts inventory planning systems (Downing et al. 2014; Wagner & Lindemann, 2008) .

At the same time companies should prepare for and be more open to the adoption of spare parts inventory planning systems.


Lack of tools and models that cover the specific nature of spare parts increase the difficulties associated with establishing consistent methodologies and strategies to control spare part inventories. Inventory policies for spare parts are different from those for fast moving items and raw materials. The common demand-forecasting methods are not applicable when used for controlling inventory given intermittent or slow-moving demand patterns of this type (Silver, 1970; Silver et al., 1971; Botter & Fortuin, 2000; Bacchetti & Saccani, 2012) .

The common demand-forecasting methods are not applicable when used for controlling inventory given intermittent or slow-moving demand patterns of this type.


Radiation hardness requirements are typical for all kinds of microelectronic parts for space, avionics, military and nuclear physics applications. Radiation tests have to be performed to qualify each type of IC within its design, manufacturing or application steps [1] , [2] . The infinite number of various radiation test results have been published recently but most of them are concentrated on rather simple devices under test -transistors, digital or analog ICs with rather simple radiation sensitive parameters set and well developed measurement procedures [3] - [5] . In case of modern complex VLSI ICs the same test approach is widely used, based on choosing modes and conditions of IC"s operation under irradiation to be as simple as possible and measuring the simplest electric parameters, for example output voltages and power supply or input currents. At the same time, most of radiation test facilities initially are not adopted for IC radiation tests and have rather long signal cables -about ten meters and more, that excludes the real functional test possibility under irradiation for high-frequency and precision devices.

Radiation tests have to be performed to qualify each type of IC within its design, manufacturing or application steps.

The infinite number of various radiation test results have been published recently but most of them are concentrated on rather simple devices under test -transistors, digital or analog ICs with rather simple radiation sensitive parameters set and well developed measurement procedures.


Sliding-mode (SM) control is well-known for good stability and regulation properties in a wide range of operating conditions. It is also deemed to be a better candidate than other non-linear controllers for its relative ease of implementation [16] . In particular, the fixed frequency PWM-based SM controllers, which amplify control signals obtained from SM control technique, are found to be suited for practical implementation in power converters [17] .

It is also deemed to be a better candidate than other non-linear controllers for its relative ease of implementation.

In particular, the fixed frequency PWM-based SM controllers, which amplify control signals obtained from SM control technique, are found to be suited for practical implementation in power converters.


To solve these problems, in the past decades some researchers have proposed different non-linear control methods such as sliding mode, fuzzy and adaptive control approaches [3] [4] [5] . Among these switching control methods, pulse width modulation (PWM) based on fast switching and duty ratio control may be the most extensively used. It is worthwhile to mention that the converter must be stable and robust against load disturbance, variations in input voltage and uncertainties that usually exist in converter parameters because of magnetic saturation and temperature variation.

To solve these problems, in the past decades some researchers have proposed different non-linear control methods such as sliding mode, fuzzy and adaptive control approaches.


One hypothesis that may explain the worse performance in manic patients in sustained attention tests is related to the typical impulsivity exhibited by these patients. They answer quickly and incorrectly before the stimulus appears, thus impairing their performance. Impairments in sustained attention were observed in the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), which represents a central neuropsychological deficit associated with mania (Murphy et al., 1999) .

Impairments in sustained attention were observed in the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), which represents a central neuropsychological deficit associated with mania.


N. sativa oil or extract has protective and curative actions. Extracts of N. sativa have been used for the treatment of hypertension, asthma, inflammation, diabetes, eczema, bronchitis, fever, headache, dizziness, cough, and influenza [6, 7] . It has been reported in the literature that seed of N. sativa found to be diuretic, carminative, stimulant, galactagogue and emmenagogue, and antipyretic [8] .

Extracts of N. sativa have been used for the treatment of hypertension, asthma, inflammation, diabetes, eczema, bronchitis, fever, headache, dizziness, cough, and influenza.

It has been reported in the literature that seed of N. sativa found to be diuretic, carminative, stimulant, galactagogue and emmenagogue, and antipyretic.


In our previous study, nitric acid was employed for pectin extraction from cacao pod husks following an experimental design in conjunction with response surface methodology (Vriesmann, Teófilo, et al., 2011) . Although the pectin yield obtained in the previous study was significant (11.5 g/100 g dry weight), in this study, we wanted to test an organic acid in an attempt to improve the extraction yield using an environmentally friendly extraction procedure. Apart to environmental benefits, citric acid was chosen based on reports that demonstrated that citric acid was more effective for pectin extraction than mineral acids in terms of yield and physicochemical properties (Klieman et al., 2009; Virk & Sogi, 2004; Yapo, 2009a) .

In our previous study, nitric acid was employed for pectin extraction from cacao pod husks following an experimental design in conjunction with response surface methodology.

Apart to environmental benefits, citric acid was chosen based on reports that demonstrated that citric acid was more effective for pectin extraction than mineral acids in terms of yield and physicochemical properties.


Amphibians and reptiles show higher threat status and have more species at risk when compared to mammals and birds (Gardner et al., 2007) . Both amphibians and reptiles are important components of biodiversity and are good indicators of the environmental quality. In Mexico, reptiles and amphibians are key groups for conservation because of their high level of endemism. Around 60% or amphibian and 50% of reptile species occur only in Mexico (Conabio et al., 2007) . They play significant roles in food webs, as predators, preys, herbivores, and carnivores (Blaustein and Wake, 1995; Urbina-Cardona, 2008) . Moreover amphibians experience both aquatic and terrestrial stages (eggs, larvae and adult) in their lives which make them vulnerable to any stressor in the environment (Blaustein and Kiesecker, 2002) .

Amphibians and reptiles show higher threat status and have more species at risk when compared to mammals and birds.

Around 60% or amphibian and 50% of reptile species occur only in Mexico.

They play significant roles in food webs, as predators, preys, herbivores, and carnivores.

Moreover amphibians experience both aquatic and terrestrial stages (eggs, larvae and adult) in their lives which make them vulnerable to any stressor in the environment.


Plastic materials have diverse applications; however, they are one of the most important pollutants of soils and oceans mainly because of their difficult mineralization (Allsopp et al., 2007) . Given the low percentage of reuse and biological recycling, plastics have an important environmental impact due to their short life cycle and high disposal volume (Stevens, 2002) . As a result, in recent years, technological developments to modify synthetic polymers as well as develop new polymers that can be incorporated into the biological cycle when discarded have been encouraged (Rabell-Contreras et al., 2011) .

Plastic materials have diverse applications; however, they are one of the most important pollutants of soils and oceans mainly because of their difficult mineralization.

Given the low percentage of reuse and biological recycling, plastics have an important environmental impact due to their short life cycle and high disposal volume.

As a result, in recent years, technological developments to modify synthetic polymers as well as develop new polymers that can be incorporated into the biological cycle when discarded have been encouraged.


Some of these models can be directly related to four-dimensional models via F -theory [1] . If X admits an elliptic fibration, that is if there is a holomorphic map X → B with the generic fiber being an elliptic curve, then M -theory on X goes over, in a certain limit, to Type IIB superstring theory on B, which is a four-dimensional theory with N = 1 supersymmetry. Thus, by taking suitable limits of the formulas of section two, one gets, as we discuss in section three, exact superpotentials for this class of four-dimensional N = 1 models.

Some of these models can be directly related to four-dimensional models via F -theory.


Digital signal processing is an area of electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with performing useful operations on signals in discrete time. Digital filters can be considered one of the most important and frequently used elements in digital signal processing applications. According to the length of their impulse responses, they are classified as finite impulse response and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters [1] .

According to the length of their impulse responses, they are classified as finite impulse response and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters.


In section 4, we describe important improvements to the numerical methods which we use to make accurate computations of the CMB bispectrum for all the models surveyed [1] . The most important of these are the flat sky approximation and a cubic interpolation scheme for the tetrahedral domain of allowed multipoles. What was previously regarded as an insurmountable computational problem has now become tractable, irrespective of separability. In section 5, we present the main results detailing the cross-correlations for all the different models, while confirming the different classes of independent shapes previously identified, some of which remain to be fully constrained (even by present data). We compare the results of the shape and CMB bispectra correlators, noting the efficacy of the shape approach in identifying models for which quantitative CMB analysis is required. Finally, in section 6, we propose an alternative normalisation procedure for f N L which brings the constraints into a more consistent pattern, allowing for a model-independent comparison of the true level of non-Gaussianity.

In section 4, we describe important improvements to the numerical methods which we use to make accurate computations of the CMB bispectrum for all the models surveyed.


Despite the extensive studies conducted on localization of sensors in trusted environments, few have considered this process in hostile environments. Since the sensors may be deployed in unsupervised manner they are susceptible to many security threats trying to corrupt the proper function of localization process. Many of these threats are not the conventional security threats and they target the reliability of location information instead [5] . Since localization techniques mainly use different features of radio signals of devices as their input data, e.g. Time of Arrival (TOA) and Received Signal Strength (RSS), an adversary can easily influence the measurements by jamming and replying or modifying the signal strengths. Hence, the performance of location estimation techniques is severely ruined when used in hostile environments.

Many of these threats are not the conventional security threats and they target the reliability of location information instead.


Another reason for mixed results related to 'stakeholder management' is that the research team had variable success in their roles as boundary spanners in this project. Boundary spanners have long been identified as key people who drive dissemination and build more cohesive teams to address change [26, 29, 32, 36, 42] . Researchers had two boundary spanning roles: bringing expertise of psychosocial barriers of change to the acknowledged common goal of increasing referrals for LS, and bringing together the different disciplines involved in the referral process. The second role was only partially successful. Building collaboration between different members of the multidisciplinary team was most successful at the start of the project as pathologists, geneticists, surgeons and oncologists met and pored over the various iterations of the process maps. As the project proceeded and scheduling group meetings became more difficult, rather than not meet at all, researchers compromised and met people face to face to keep up engagement and momentum. This did not assist in building a cohesive team and may have contributed to frustration with the process. Researchers were often put into go-between roles as direct multidisciplinary collaboration could not be achieved, and researchers lacked authority to make changes themselves.

Boundary spanners have long been identified as key people who drive dissemination and build more cohesive teams to address change.


Research findings also show that participants in the unique Academy-Class training program reported using several teaching models in various configurations, as also described in the literature (Bacharach et al., 2010; Cook & Friend, 1995; Graziano & Navarrete, 2012) . No model was found to be significantly more dominant or apparent or to characterize the training process, as we found a wide range and various levels of shared work among the training teachers, the pre-school teachers, and the students. This result correlates with the various models presented in the research literature and presents co-teaching within a structure of various models of experience. Some are more natural for a trainer-trainee relationship, depending on the trainer's work in the past, and some exhibit the start of co-teaching, using the "two-teachers-in-the-classroom" model, on an increasingly synergetic level, as expected from the new program.

Research findings also show that participants in the unique Academy-Class training program reported using several teaching models in various configurations, as also described in the literature.


Despite the high reported levels of co-teaching compared to traditional patterns of teaching, an analysis of the various models that exist in co-teaching still shows that the level of shared work is within the low range. In other words, although the models exemplify a new approach with greater shared work in the classroom, the training teacher still plays a more significant role in leading teaching processes. He or she is the one to direct the student's role and at least for a time works mainly with the students in the class, while the student of education serves as his or her assistant. This finding is naturally clarified in light of the relationship between the training teacher and the student of education -a more experienced veteran by contrast to a new teacher. However, it can also be explained by the traditional pattern of training teachers, which was preserved among trainers who have more experience within the education system (Alian and Daniel-Sa'ad, 2013) .

However, it can also be explained by the traditional pattern of training teachers, which was preserved among trainers who have more experience within the education system.


During the last decades, the design of well-tailored polymers molecules with predetermined number average chain length, high end-group functionality (EGF), controlled topology and low dispersity has been the topic of many research activities [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . These advanced macromolecular architectures are typically acquired via controlled radical polymerization (CRP), which is also known as reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP). In contrast to conventional free radical polymerization (FRP), in CRP, termination reactions are suppressed, due to a dominant role of deactivation reactions, which temporarily transforms radicals in dormant species via inclusion of EGF.

During the last decades, the design of well-tailored polymers molecules with predetermined number average chain length, high end-group functionality (EGF), controlled topology and low dispersity has been the topic of many research activities.


Innovation occurs in the context of the co-evolution of technology and society. As the primary purchasers of literary fiction in industrialized nations, women may be instrumental in mediating the impact of avant-garde literature upon the production of social meanings and ideas (Jordan-Zachery 2009) . However, the differentiated role of women in the evolution of cultural meanings within innovation-based economies has not been described.

As the primary purchasers of literary fiction in industrialized nations, women may be instrumental in mediating the impact of avant-garde literature upon the production of social meanings and ideas.


Activated sludge is comprised of a wide variety of microbial community, containing many types of viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, metazoa and algae. In this complex environment, bacteria, which usually make about 95% of the total microbial population, play a key role in efficiently eliminating the organic material and other pollutants from wastewater under highly oxygenated conditions. Majority of these microbial species were immobilized in EPS or matrices made of polymers of necessary protein, polysaccharides, humic substances, and lipids [4] .

Majority of these microbial species were immobilized in EPS or matrices made of polymers of necessary protein, polysaccharides, humic substances, and lipids.


Eight bacterial strains capable of producing EPS using sterilized sludge as raw material were isolated and identified. The EPS production variation among the strains was revealed. The EPS, produced by isolated bacterial strains were characterized in terms of proteins and carbohydrates. Cloacibacterium normanense produced the highest concentration (11.8 ± 1.2 g/L) of EPS. S-EPS exhibited kaolin flocculation activity of 90% using very low concentrations (2.36 mg of EPS/g Kaolin) following by Brevibacillus parabrevis. The variation of EPS concentration produced could be due to many reasons. The initial information to address the metabolic cause of the low production levels of EPS suggest that increased EPS precursor availability, in combination with elevated enzyme activity levels involved in the specific EPS biosynthesis pathway, might enhance EPS production. Then the recent advances in analysis of physiology and genetics of strain producing EPS allow control of their metabolic activity not only by changing the fermentation conditions but also by applying genetic technique that result in the overexpression of existing or novel genes [31] .

Then the recent advances in analysis of physiology and genetics of strain producing EPS allow control of their metabolic activity not only by changing the fermentation conditions but also by applying genetic technique that result in the overexpression of existing or novel genes.


Activated sludge is the most commonly used biological process for wastewater treatment. Normal practice in wastewater treatment plants is to employ the use of synthetic polymers for enhancement of sludge settling. These synthetic polymers have many disadvantages; they are expensive, toxic and can pollute the environment [1] . Thus, high flocculation potential, low cost, environment friendly and sustainable biopolymers (e.g., chitosan, sodium alginate and microbial flocculants) are being searched by many researchers [2, 3] . Extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) are of considerable importance in the removal of pollutants from wastewater, in bioflocculation and settling and in the dewatering of activated sludge [2] . EPSs are located outside the cell surface and can be subdivided into bound and soluble EPSs. The bound EPS are closely bound with cells, due to many functional groups (carboxyl, phosphoric, sulfhydryl, phenolic and hydroxyl group) and apolar groups (e.g., aromatics, aliphatics in proteins, and hydrophobic regions in carbohydrates and proteins). The soluble EPSs are weakly attached to cells or dissolved into the solution that can be explained by the hydrophilic fraction mainly consisted of carbohydrates.

These synthetic polymers have many disadvantages; they are expensive, toxic and can pollute the environment.

Thus, high flocculation potential, low cost, environment friendly and sustainable biopolymers (e.g., chitosan, sodium alginate and microbial flocculants) are being searched by many researchers.

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) are of considerable importance in the removal of pollutants from wastewater, in bioflocculation and settling and in the dewatering of activated sludge.


In this paper we computed the potential of eleven-dimensional supergravity as it is described in a superspace background of the form R 4|4 ×Y with Y a (not necessarily compact) manifold with G 2 structure. To first order in a gravitino superfield expansion (1.1), the action is the sum of two terms. The first is the superspace Chern-Simons invariant (3.5) of the gauged tensor hierarchy of the eleven-dimensional 3-form. This tensor hierarchy is a g-equivariant superspace chain complex with g the algebra of diffeomorphisms on Y [6, 7] .

This tensor hierarchy is a g-equivariant superspace chain complex with g the algebra of diffeomorphisms on Y.


Other interesting examples of finite groups G such that Out c (G) = 1 are given by F. Szechtman [27] . He constructed a very concrete method to find such example. Interesting thing here is that his method produces examples in a variety of ways arising from different kind of Lie algebras, regular representations of finite fields and linear algebra. We would like to remark that his method produced examples of group having outer n-inner automorphims. An automorphism α of a group G is said to be n-inner, if given any subset S of G with cardinality less than n, there exists an inner automorphism of G agreeing with α on S. Notice that 2-inner automorphisms are class preserving.

Other interesting examples of finite groups G such that Out c (G) = 1 are given by F. Szechtman.


A way to avoid the constraint from having a big effect on the dynamics of any single matter field is to introduce a large number of fields, most of them interacting with each other only gravitationally and of course through the constraint. Since the whole L m enters in the constraint, enlarging the number of fields diminishes the "job" each individual field has to do. In such a way we expect to recover the local symmetry (31)-(33) at long distances, i.e. the triviality of the constraint at long distances. This would be a way to realize the infrared dynamical symmetry restoration of gauge symmetries as it has been discussed in the literature [14] .

This would be a way to realize the infrared dynamical symmetry restoration of gauge symmetries as it has been discussed in the literature.


Contemporary phenomenological research assumes that the disruption in the basic sense of being a 'self' is a fundamental feature in schizophrenia [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . Somato-psychic depersonalisation, loss of ego boundaries and disorders of sense of agency and my-ness are well known clinical features of schizophrenia. It can be assumed that ABP may play a key role in the constitution of an abnormal sense of selfhood in persons with schizophrenia. In schizophrenia, the weakening of the basic sense of self, disturbance of implicit bodily functioning and disruption of body-tobody attunement with others are taken to be manifestations of a fundamental disturbance of the bodily self. These phenomena are not part of the mainstream diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. One of the reasons is their quasi-ineffable nature and the lack of sensitive, specific and reliable methods to assess them. Since disorders of the embodied self may be a conceptual framework to understand the psychopathology of schizophrenia, achievement of detailed characterisation and operationalized definition of ABP is becoming a priority.

Contemporary phenomenological research assumes that the disruption in the basic sense of being a 'self' is a fundamental feature in schizophrenia.


A natural question is whether there is a description of the perturbative string spectrum in terms of black hole thermodynamics. It is reasonable to expect that such a description exists since for El s ≫ 1 the free string entropy is large and a thermodynamic description should be appropriate. Indeed, for some classes of perturbative heterotic string states with mass equal to charge, thermodynamic descriptions in terms of extremal black holes were proposed before [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] .

Indeed, for some classes of perturbative heterotic string states with mass equal to charge, thermodynamic descriptions in terms of extremal black holes were proposed before.


Collaborative consumption can also have negative impacts and has received recent criticism for providing communications platforms with little value-added service and notable a lack of ethics and appropriate government regulation (Slee 2015) . For example, Airbnb has been criticized by virtue of the fact that its business model has led to long-term housing becoming less affordable by the restriction of supply as a result of short-term lettings, and the likelihood that some rentals are illegal and not properly regulated. Indeed, evidence suggests that rental increases of 11% in New York severely outstripped median income rises of 2% from 2005 to 2012 (Ellen and Karfunkel, 2016) . Uber has been criticized in a similar way, as a taxi service, rather than an ecological form of car sharing, that exploits workers with long hours and poor pay.

Collaborative consumption can also have negative impacts and has received recent criticism for providing communications platforms with little value-added service and notable a lack of ethics and appropriate government regulation.

Indeed, evidence suggests that rental increases of 11% in New York severely outstripped median income rises of 2% from 2005 to 2012.


One need not look far to see evidence of charitable acts. Volunteerism and giving in local communities is common. Social media, through campaigns such as #GivingTuesday, highlight giving opportunities online. Giving USA recently reported the highest level of (inflation-adjusted) charitable giving in their 60-year history: $358.38 billion in 2014. Over 70% of this giving comes from individuals, as opposed to foundations, bequests, or corporations. The recipients of giving are also increasingly diversified; while about one-third of donations benefit religious organizations, other popular sources range from education to the environment and animals (Giving USA Foundation, 2015) . Many situations remain, however, where individuals appear reluctant to give.

The recipients of giving are also increasingly diversified; while about one-third of donations benefit religious organizations, other popular sources range from education to the environment and animals.


Depending on the nature and treatment, organic amendments may affect size and activity of soil microflora. Soil microorganisms are essential to agricultural ecosystems, playing a paramount role in cycling C and nutrients and therefore affecting soil fertility (Nannipieri et al. 2002) . Elucidating the intricate interrelationships of microbiota, fluxes of C and nutrients, and crop production in soils amended with municipal wastes is thus of intrinsic importance to better understand the agronomic performance and environmental impact of these wastes.

Soil microorganisms are essential to agricultural ecosystems, playing a paramount role in cycling C and nutrients and therefore affecting soil fertility.


Another important issue for any phenomenological model is proton longevity. In addition to the matter-matterHiggs couplings that are needed to generate the fermion mass spectrum, supersymmetric theories give rise to mattermatter-matter couplings that may yield dimension four and five baryon and lepton number violating operators. This is an intricate problem in Grand Unified Theories in general, and in string theories in particular. The reason being that while proton decay mediating operators must be adequately suppressed, Majorana neutrino masses require lepton number violation. These two key phenomenological constraints can be accommodated simultaneously, either by allowing lepton number, while forbidding baryon number, violating operators, or by using Dirac mass terms to generate the left-handed neutrino masses. However, in Grand Unified Theories that admit SO(10) embedding of the Standard Model matter states only the former is possible due to lepton-quark mass relations that are dictated by the larger gauge symmetry. An appealing proposition to resolve this conundrum is the existence of gauged U (1) symmetries that forbid the baryon number violating operators, while allowing lepton number violation. An example of a well know symmetry that partially does the job is that of gauged U (1) B−L , which resides inside the GUT SO(10). However, while U (1) B−L does forbid the dimension four lepton and baryon number violating operators, it does not forbid such dimension five operators, and is therefore not sufficient. Furthermore, U (1) B−L forbid the Majorana mass terms that are needed to generate light-neutrino masses. Hence, the desired symmetries must extend the U (1) B−L symmetry and reside outside SO (10) . In perturbative heterotic string theories the caveatted symmetries arise from the three generators in the Cartan sub-algebra of the observable E 8 , and the existence of adequate phenomenological combinations has been explored in the literature [14] [15] [16] [17] . In the present work we discuss the absence of proton decay within heterotic F-theory constructions, which naturally contain U (1) symmetries residing outside SO (10) .

Hence, the desired symmetries must extend the U (1) B−L symmetry and reside outside SO.

In perturbative heterotic string theories the caveatted symmetries arise from the three generators in the Cartan sub-algebra of the observable E 8 , and the existence of adequate phenomenological combinations has been explored in the literature.

In the present work we discuss the absence of proton decay within heterotic F-theory constructions, which naturally contain U (1) symmetries residing outside SO.


There are many methods for solving this kind of problems, such as the high frequency asymptotic methods, full-wave numerical methods and the hybrid full-wave and high frequency methods [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . Full-wave numerical methods have been well developed to analyze the slotted-waveguide antenna [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] . However, due to large computation resources required, they usually are applied to analyze radiation by electrically small radome/antenna problems. For the scattering or radiation analysis of electrically large three-dimensional problems in electromagnetic engineering, the high frequency method is usually employed to achieve efficient calculation, such as Ray Tracing (RT), Physical Optics (PO), hybrid full-wave and high frequency methods [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . But when these methods are applied to compute the radiation by a large antenna array with radome on a large aircraft, they usually become inefficient due to multi-scale, multi-regional connectivity and multi-materials problems. More importantly, the computation accuracy of high frequency methods is not promised. Fast and accurate analysis of the large slotted-waveguide arrays with radome on a large aircraft is still a great challenge.

There are many methods for solving this kind of problems, such as the high frequency asymptotic methods, full-wave numerical methods and the hybrid full-wave and high frequency methods.

Full-wave numerical methods have been well developed to analyze the slotted-waveguide antenna.

For the scattering or radiation analysis of electrically large three-dimensional problems in electromagnetic engineering, the high frequency method is usually employed to achieve efficient calculation, such as Ray Tracing (RT), Physical Optics (PO), hybrid full-wave and high frequency methods.


The hard tissue of bone is made up of biological apatite which is a non-stoichiometric hydroxyapatite. Natural bone hydroxyapatite has trace amount of several other ions. The precipitation route of HA has a prominent effect on the morphology, shape, and size of HA. Even small differences in stoichiometry, crystallinity, or morphology are expected to lead to different chemical, biological, and physical behaviours of the material [20] [21] [22] . Previous study by the authors investigated the effect of pH and temperature on the morphology of sol-gel co-precipitated HA [23] . X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the material obtained is mainly HA with trace of brushite (CaHPO 4 ·2H 2 O). Under desirable conditions, a plate-like structure was developed by self-assembly of columnar crystals. This paper is intended to further report on the effect of the addition of gelatine on the morphology and dispersion of HA particles. The biocompatibility of the obtained HA-gelatine composites from this process will also be reported.

Even small differences in stoichiometry, crystallinity, or morphology are expected to lead to different chemical, biological, and physical behaviours of the material.

Previous study by the authors investigated the effect of pH and temperature on the morphology of sol-gel co-precipitated HA.


Natural macromolecules such as gelatine and chitosan are commonly used as binders in biomedical applications. These polymers have been used as binders for HA particles, or HA have been precipitated in their presence using various techniques [16] [17] [18] . Gelatine being a denatured form of collagen has many attractive properties such as biocompatibility, plasticity, and adhesiveness [16, 19] . However, there is still a lack of understanding on the effects of these molecules on HA crystal morphology, its mechanical strength, and biocompatibility.

These polymers have been used as binders for HA particles, or HA have been precipitated in their presence using various techniques.

Gelatine being a denatured form of collagen has many attractive properties such as biocompatibility, plasticity, and adhesiveness.


An extremely specialized supporting framework of the body protecting the vital organs is bone. Natural bone is a composite material composed of hybrid organic and inorganic constituents. It has a varied arrangement of material structures at many length scales which work in concert to perform diverse mechanical, biological, and structural properties. The uninterrupted growth in the life expectancy of population has led to continuous conditions which are prone to injury causing severe damage to the individual. While bone is inherently capable of regeneration, complications such as excessive bone loss impede healing, necessitating the use of bone grafts [1] . Bone is one of the most frequently implanted tissues in human body, second only behind blood. Due to the advances in biomaterial research, it is now possible to artificially fabricate materials that mimic the structure of natural bone to be used as bone replacement.

While bone is inherently capable of regeneration, complications such as excessive bone loss impede healing, necessitating the use of bone grafts.


In the previous decade, many companies made a move from C to C++ in the hope of developing more reliable software. This move may not have resulted in the the expected gains -or worse, may actually have impeded software development and maintenance [8] . We have to ask ourselves whether the move to UML may also be premature.

This move may not have resulted in the the expected gains -or worse, may actually have impeded software development and maintenance.


In this paper, we outline the BON method of Walden and Nerson [21] . We explain how BON satisfies a number of criteria that have been suggested as being essential for a mathematical method to be industrially applicable. Our thesis is that BON provides a superior method for building large-scale, reliable, reusable software systems, and allows emphasis of mathematical or informal development, as the software engineer sees fit. Further, we attempt to suggest why the BON specification language has significant advantages over widely used informal and formal approaches like UML (with its constraint language, OCL), Z, and B.

In this paper, we outline the BON method of Walden and Nerson.


Figures 2 and 3 indicated the surface area and pore distribution of magnetic adsorbent, respectively, whereas The XRD spectra of the prepared adsorbent from watermelon waste are highlighted in Figure 4 , suggesting that Fe 3 O 4 has been deposited in carbon. XRD not only help in the structure determination but also help in particles size measurement [23] . Peaks of diffraction at 2 of 28.35, 30.2, 35.6, 40.55, 50.2, and 58.25 indicate corresponding indices (220, 311, 400, 422, 511, and 440 planes of cubic unite cell) as previously reported for magnetite structure [24, 25] . The diffraction peaks at 2 of 10.45, 13.5, and 20.85 as already reported in literature are related to maghemite and hematite [24] . The size of the prepared adsorbent was calculated by using the equation of Debye-Scherrer.

XRD not only help in the structure determination but also help in particles size measurement.

Peaks of diffraction at 2 of 28.35, 30.2, 35.6, 40.55, 50.2, and 58.25 indicate corresponding indices (220, 311, 400, 422, 511, and 440 planes of cubic unite cell) as previously reported for magnetite structure.

The diffraction peaks at 2 of 10.45, 13.5, and 20.85 as already reported in literature are related to maghemite and hematite.


Regardless of the spinal level or site of origin, patients with spinal lymphoma are at risk for neurological deterioration. The resultant clinical findings from any compressive spinal epidural mass may be pain, motor weakness, sensory deficits, and potential bowel or bladder dysfunction. If left untreated, this may progress to paralysis. The treatment of these lesions is often multifactorial, and includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy [14] . A discussion of the pros and cons of these treatment options is beyond the scope of this report. However, in cases of acute neurological decline, we support early surgical decompression. The management and outcome of this case demonstrates a successful means of managing this clinical presentation.

The treatment of these lesions is often multifactorial, and includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.


Typically, the disintegration of bacterial cells for pDNA production is performed by alkaline treatment described by Birnboim and Doly [8] . The method successfully removes most of the cell walls, organelles, proteins, and gDNA leaving RNA as the main contaminant of the target plasmid together with some proteins [9] . During this procedure, cells are subjected to an alkaline solution such as NaOH containing a detergent as SDS. Under this condition, cell wall structures are solubilized, thereby releasing the plasmid and other cell-related compounds, resulting in a highly viscous solution. While gDNA and proteins are denatured at the resulting pH-value, pDNA stays intact if homogeneous mixing is provided to avoid local pH-extremes that would lead to an irreversible denaturalization of the pDNA and the formation of undesired isoforms and pDNA loss trapped in flocs [7] .

Typically, the disintegration of bacterial cells for pDNA production is performed by alkaline treatment described by Birnboim and Doly.

The method successfully removes most of the cell walls, organelles, proteins, and gDNA leaving RNA as the main contaminant of the target plasmid together with some proteins.

While gDNA and proteins are denatured at the resulting pH-value, pDNA stays intact if homogeneous mixing is provided to avoid local pH-extremes that would lead to an irreversible denaturalization of the pDNA and the formation of undesired isoforms and pDNA loss trapped in flocs.


Given the above reasons, MR studies of wolf spiders cannot be recommended as a regular tool for field ecolo gists, although comparisons with other sampling methods can be useful in interpreting results obtained by these techniques (Greenstone, 1979) . As compared to MR esti mates, suction sampling tended to produce somewhat lower density figures. These density estimations cannot be considered statistically representative, because they were based on very few specimens. Much larger sample sizes would have been required to obtain adequate density estimation by suction sampling. In contrast to the low catches of Lycosidae, suction sampling with the same ef fort (our "usual" sampling effort) produces orders of magnitude higher catches from most other spider families.

Given the above reasons, MR studies of wolf spiders cannot be recommended as a regular tool for field ecolo gists, although comparisons with other sampling methods can be useful in interpreting results obtained by these techniques.


As the demand for remote and even disposable sensors increases, there is an increasing interest in battery-less systems that use energy harvesters [3, 4] . Commercial prototypes are already on offer, for example, piezoelectric harvesters [5] . The main challenges in this field are the need for the harvesters to be of small size and also use of passive and low power components. In this work, the focus is on electromagnetic signal harvesting. A model for an air signal harvester is presented. The main components of the system are explained and the challenges faced are addressed. Finally, the future possibilities and potentials are discussed.

As the demand for remote and even disposable sensors increases, there is an increasing interest in battery-less systems that use energy harvesters.

Commercial prototypes are already on offer, for example, piezoelectric harvesters.


Out-of-equilibrium dynamical properties of physical systems form the subject of intense studies in modern statistical physics [1] . Over the past decades, much progress has been made in fields as various as glassy dynamics, growth processes, persistence phenomena, vortex depinning..., where dynamical aspects play a central role. Among all the questions related to these issues, the existence and characterization of stationary states reached in some asymptotic limit of large times is of central importance. In turn, the notion of asymptotic regime raises the question of relaxation, or transient, behavior: what time do we need to wait for in order to let the system relax? How does this time grow with the size of the system? Such interrogations are not limited to out-of-equilibrium dynamics but a e-mail: monasson@physique.ens.fr also arise in the study of critical slowing down phenomena accompanying second order phase transitions.

Out-of-equilibrium dynamical properties of physical systems form the subject of intense studies in modern statistical physics.


Thus one may conclude that the morphological picture is very mosaic for this dye. It depends on many factors, such as counter ions and dye concentration. It is evident that structural correspondence for the morphologies observed in Figure 2 (a) can't be done unambiguously on the basis of only AFM data and below we consider several alternative ways of structural interpretation. Heights of the leaves and stripes observed by AFM (Figure 2(b) ) agree well with the model of a symmetric monolayer made of monomers in all-trans conformation (Figure  3(b) ). In this model, the long axes of dye molecules are oriented parallel to each other and to mica plain whereas the molecular planes are oriented perpendicular to mica ("edge-on" orientation). To satisfy the AFM height data, the model implies that adjacent stacked molecules have anti-parallel orientation in the up-down direction so that aliphatic chains occupy both sides of the monolayer. The anti-parallel up-down arrangement follows from the fact that monolayer height observed by AFM substantially exceeds the upper border for a vertical molecular dimension which is estimated to be ~1.05 nm (Figure 3(a) ). For the anti-parallel up-down orientation the requirement of the efficient overlapping of π-electron chromophore systems is achieved at the lateral translation (slippage) of two adjacent stacked molecules by ~1.3 nm (see Figure  3(b) ). This translation produces the small slip angle (α) corresponding to the J-aggregate dimer: α = atan(0.4 nm/1.3 nm) ~17 deg. At the estimation of the slip angle, the plane-to-plane intermolecular distance was assumed to be equal ~0.4 nm [15, 17] . The represented in Figure  3 (b) symmetric monolayer height ~1.4 nm is the upper boundary corresponding to the monomer configuration with fully extended aliphatic chains. For tilted chains, the height is smaller. The leaves are assumed to be single symmetric monolayers whereas the stripes consist of two such monolayers. The above consideration implies a small slip angle, thus both the leaves and the stripes are assumed to have the J-aggregates optical properties. The observed rectangular shapes of stripes could be explained by the J-aggregate growth of the ladder type (such as represented in Figure 3(b) ) having intrinsically rectangular geometry in contrast with the alternative inclined staircase packing arrangement in J-aggregates.

At the estimation of the slip angle, the plane-to-plane intermolecular distance was assumed to be equal ~0.4 nm.


The first sign of change in the demographic trend of RGCH showed up in 1984, when the autumn calffemale ratio dropped from 52 calves per 100 cows, the average of the previous decade, to 38. This ratio remained around 40 for the next 2 years, but decreased thereafter (Couturier et al, 1990) . Annual survival rate of adult females was high at the beginning of telemetry studies in 1983, but also progressively declined until 1987 (Hearn et al, 1990) .

This ratio remained around 40 for the next 2 years, but decreased thereafter.

Annual survival rate of adult females was high at the beginning of telemetry studies in 1983, but also progressively declined until 1987.


There are well-cited researches in this regard. Johnson and Moshfegh made an experiment on seven different types of thermal performance of plate fin, strip fin, and pin fin heat sinks in a wind tunnel with turbulent flow. The authors investigated thermal resistance and pressure drop [5] . Kays and London conducted a number of integrated experiments to obtain such factors as friction and heat transfer for different types of plate fin heat exchangers [6] . Velayati and Yaghoubi conducted a numerical study on an array of parallel fins, and calculated the Nusselt number and pressure drop in the turbulent flow by changing the width of the fins and the distance among them. By decreasing the proportion of fins' width to the distance among them, the Nusselt number and friction coefficient increased both [7] . Razelos and Kakatsios obtained the optimal dimensions of the fins with Heat transfer and radiation heat transfer. The authors investigated hyperbolic fins and achieved the results by simplifying the equations [8] .

The authors investigated thermal resistance and pressure drop.

Kays and London conducted a number of integrated experiments to obtain such factors as friction and heat transfer for different types of plate fin heat exchangers.

By decreasing the proportion of fins' width to the distance among them, the Nusselt number and friction coefficient increased both.

The authors investigated hyperbolic fins and achieved the results by simplifying the equations.


Regarding the energy transfer, efficiency of heat exchangers in satisfaction of the requirements for energy standards (based on low cost and environmental impact) is highly important [4] . In this paper, first, the plate fin heat exchangers and their performance has been considered, and then a plate fin heat exchanger in Ansys-Fluent was simulated to analyze the geometry of different fins, heat transfer, and pressure drop in different Reynolds numbers. Finally, the simulation results will be compared with each other to obtain the highest rate of heat transfer among Reynolds numbers.

Regarding the energy transfer, efficiency of heat exchangers in satisfaction of the requirements for energy standards (based on low cost and environmental impact) is highly important.


Smaller size of a heat exchanger is a measurement of industrial growth at present [1] . Regarding the increasing growth of cryogenics, plate fin heat exchangers are usually appropriate for implementation in a wide range of industries. The plate fin units are usually used in counter flow 1 3 heat exchangers. This type of heat exchangers have thin corrugated fins or corrugated heat transfer surface of the plates [2] . The density of small heat exchangers' surface is very high, and it can be as much as 1800 m 2 m 3 . Due to its high heat transfer rate, plate fin heat exchangers are highly important now, and are widely used [3] .

Smaller size of a heat exchanger is a measurement of industrial growth at present.

This type of heat exchangers have thin corrugated fins or corrugated heat transfer surface of the plates.

Due to its high heat transfer rate, plate fin heat exchangers are highly important now, and are widely used.


The study adopted a thematic analysis methodology (Ritchie & Spencer, 2002) . Data collection and analysis took place in three phases: the 'raw data', student experiences, and tutors' experiences. The starting point was to assess if, and how, students used BlikBook. Although BlikBook's analytic function had not been purchased, it was possible to analyse the number and variety of postings, and thus identify key issues. Coding was used to summarise themes and trends. Students' viewpoints were initially obtained via in-class discussions during tutorials, and these were supplemented by three focus groups. Tutors' viewpoints were primarily identified via informal discussions, and these were supplemented with two semistructured interviews with the current and future module leaders.

The study adopted a thematic analysis methodology.


BlikBook usage was broadly consistent up to Week 15, when there was a significant rise, which then exponentially increased in Week 17. This was directly attributable to the fact that the assignment was submitted in Week 17. Such findings are perhaps unsurprising, and reflect previous research which indicates that students only really begin to use their VLE fully when it becomes particularly relevant to them (McGill & Hobbs, 2007) .

Such findings are perhaps unsurprising, and reflect previous research which indicates that students only really begin to use their VLE fully when it becomes particularly relevant to them.


Coding was used to break apart the data, compare it to other data, and then organise it into categories so that themes and patterns could be identified (Charmaz, 2006) . Coding therefore goes considerably beyond mere categorisation of data (Thomas, 2006) . For example, the initial codes 'VRIO help' and 'value chain help' were subsequently merged into a new code, 'internal analysis help'. This code was itself later merged with the codes 'external analysis help' and 'evaluation help' to form the overall category 'subject-specific help'. In this way, information could be obtained about how many questions were asked about which topics, and whether there was any pattern to this (Charmaz, 2006) .

Coding was used to break apart the data, compare it to other data, and then organise it into categories so that themes and patterns could be identified.

Coding therefore goes considerably beyond mere categorisation of data.

In this way, information could be obtained about how many questions were asked about which topics, and whether there was any pattern to this.


Subject-specific support was, by a large margin, the most discussed topic, which confirms the importance of specific and detailed feedback (Stiggins, Chappuis, & Arter, 2014) . Consistency of feedback was repeatedly stressed by all parties as crucial (Ferguson, 2011) . However, although tutors accepted the benefits of BlikBook, they were critical of student usage, felt that it made students lazy, and argued that it created more work for themselves.

Subject-specific support was, by a large margin, the most discussed topic, which confirms the importance of specific and detailed feedback.

Consistency of feedback was repeatedly stressed by all parties as crucial.


Conventional wisdom concludes that FDI promotes growth through technological spillovers and provides scarce resources to host countries' firms. This is the reason why most countries have given incentives to attract FDI. In recent years, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) particularly Ghana have seen notable increases in net in-flow of FDI [1] . Interestingly, almost all of those SSA countries that have been a popular destination for FDI have provided enormous incentives to attract FDI's. In Ghana, for instance, the Free Zones Act gives foreign firms which export at least 70% of their products tax holidays initially and lower taxes after the grace period. In addition, under the Free Zones Act, the Ghana Free Zones board has established a freezone enclave where infrastructure is fully developed for firms to cite. The general belief is that, because FDIs are able to provide scarce capital and generate technological spillovers for domestic firms, providing these incentives to attract them can benefit the host country.

In recent years, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) particularly Ghana have seen notable increases in net in-flow of FDI.


In fact, quantum homogeneous vector bundles provide the foundations for developing a geometrical representation theory of quantum groups. There has long been an important interplay between geometry and representation theory in the context of classical Lie groups, e.g., the interaction between representation theory and the Penrose transforms of twistor theory [9] . We expect a similar interaction between representation theory and geometry to carry over to the quantum case.

There has long been an important interplay between geometry and representation theory in the context of classical Lie groups, e.g., the interaction between representation theory and the Penrose transforms of twistor theory.


The main new results of the paper are contained in Sections 3 and 4 where we define quantum homogeneous vector bundles and study their properties and applications. In particular theorem 4 is a key result. In subsection 3.2, we introduce quantum homogeneous vector bundles by a direct description of their sections. These are defined in terms of Woronowicz type compact quantum groups and their associated quantum homogeneous spaces. Our definition of quantum homogeneous vector bundles is consistent with the general definition of noncommutative vector bundles adopted in Connes' theory [8] . There a noncommutative vector bundle is defined by its space of sections, which is required to be a projective module of finite type over the algebra of functions on the noncommutative (virtual) base space. These noncommutative geometrical structures carry natural topologies inherited from those of the quantum groups. The latter is discussed in subsection 3.1. Projectivity of the space E k q (V ) of sections of a quantum homogeneous bundle induced from a U q (l)-module V is established in Theorem 3 of subsection 3.3. In this subsection, it is also shown that E k q (V ) forms an induced module over U q (g), and a co-module over the associated quantum group, in analogy with the classical situation. Several other classical results are shown to admit quantum analogues. In particular a quantum version of Frobenius reciprocity is established in section 3.4, while proposition 3 asserts that if the inducing U q (l)-module is, in fact, the restriction of a U q (g)-module, then the space of sections E k q (V ) is freely generated as a module over the algebra of functions of the quantum homogeneous space, and this means that the quantum homogeneous bundle determined by E k q (V ) is trivial. Finally, in section 4 a notion of 'quantum holomorphic' sections is established and an analogue of the Borel-Weil theorem is established. The reader may note that the approach to the proof there is easily adapted to yield a new proof of the classical Borel-Weil theorem via representative functions and the Peter-Weyl theorem.

Our definition of quantum homogeneous vector bundles is consistent with the general definition of noncommutative vector bundles adopted in Connes' theory.


The examples also illustrate the many benefits that could arise from wetland ecologists and palaeoecologists working more closely together to combine their respective understandings of wetland dynamics in response to variable hydroclimates and human impacts, and addressing the gaps in guidance being made available to wetland managers through the Ramsar Convention and other mechanisms. This is especially opportune given a renewed interest in understanding the causes and trajectory of ecological change as the realities of global environmental change, including changes in the climate, and appropriate management responses in adapting to climate change, are considered (Finlayson 2013; Finlayson et al. 2015) . Palaeoecological approaches provide a useful way of assessing the trajectories of change and the nature and drivers of change over time, and so can assist in qualifying established ecological descriptions, help understand the timing and nature of any departure from natural conditions, and provide early warnings of future change, especially when they are integrated with contemporary monitoring and modelling.

This is especially opportune given a renewed interest in understanding the causes and trajectory of ecological change as the realities of global environmental change, including changes in the climate, and appropriate management responses in adapting to climate change, are considered.


Today, various techniques contribute to the effort of monitoring the atmosphere's chemical composition. Among these techniques, high-resolution ground-based FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed) spectrometers significantly contribute with accurate long-term measurements of total columns and mixing ratio profiles as function of altitude for various chemical species. The direct result of the solar FTIR measurement is a transmission spectrum of the terrestrial atmosphere. The desired target quantities are determined by adjusting the input parameters of a calculated synthetic spectrum in order to reproduce appropriate spectral sections of the observed spectrum (Hase et al., 2004) . The FTIR technique allows the recording of solar spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio and achieves both wide spectral coverage and high spectral resolution. The wide spectral coverage permits the monitoring of many different species, and the high spectral resolution allows the shapes of individual spectral lines to be resolved. Thereby, due the altitude-dependent pressure broadening, not only the total column of a trace gas can be determined; in addition a retrieval of mixing ratio profiles (with moderate vertical resolution) can be achieved for many trace gases. Accurate knowledge of the instrumental line shape (ILS) is required to interpret the observed line shapes in a correct manner, and the ILS can be a significant error source in the overall error budget .

The desired target quantities are determined by adjusting the input parameters of a calculated synthetic spectrum in order to reproduce appropriate spectral sections of the observed spectrum.


The nylon bags were defrosted, washed gently with cold water in a washing machine for about 15 minutes (Macheboeuf et al., 2003) . Then, bags were oven-dried (55 ºC, 48 h). After that, each bag was weighed to estimate dry matter loss. A composite sample of each feed with the same animal was made from the collected bags. The bags without samples were used to determine impregnations and correction of nutrients digestibility estimative.

The nylon bags were defrosted, washed gently with cold water in a washing machine for about 15 minutes.


In a sustainable approach, buildings should be designed to ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants throughout the year, with minimum auxiliary energy for heating and cooling. In nonsustainable approaches, buildings are increasingly dependent on heating and cooling systems to ensure thermal comfort inside, resulting in the increase in energy consumption and greenhouse gases emissions. Consequently, there is also an increase in building utilization costs, caused by the impact of HVAC systems operation [2, 4] .

Consequently, there is also an increase in building utilization costs, caused by the impact of HVAC systems operation.


Mortars with Phase Change Materials (PCM) incorporation for interior coating can be seen as a key for solving or at minimizing, the massive energetic consumption related to buildings. These materials have the ability to reduce temperature variations due to its capability to alter its own state depending on the environmental temperature, absorbing and releasing energy into the environment. Thus, mortars doped with PCM bring social, economic and environmental benefits, demonstrating a significant contribution to a more sustainable construction. The social benefits are directly connected with the increase in thermal comfort. The environmental aspect concerns to the reduction of fossil fuels depletion related with the decrease on air conditioning equipment usage. The economic benefits are related with the reduction of energy consumption and lag time for lower demand hours [6] .

The economic benefits are related with the reduction of energy consumption and lag time for lower demand hours.


Every year the energy powered by the sun that reaches the entire land surface is about 10,000 times higher than the actual energy consumption per year worldwide [5] . Taking into account that the European building sector is responsible for high energetic consumptions, it is important to find a way to take advantage of the solar energy. Thus, it becomes imperative to http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.06.114 0950-0618/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Every year the energy powered by the sun that reaches the entire land surface is about 10,000 times higher than the actual energy consumption per year worldwide.


The economic growth of the countries in the last years has caused rapid increase in energy consumption, which affects the population and the environment [1] . The energy efficiency of buildings is now one of the main objectives of regional, national and international energy management [2] . The buildings are one of the leading sectors in energy consumption at developed countries. In the European Union the buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 40% of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission to the atmosphere. Currently, the European Union has the 2020 energy strategy that proposes the reduction of 20% in primary energy consumption and CO 2 emissions and the increase of 20% in energy consumption coming from renewable sources [3] .

The economic growth of the countries in the last years has caused rapid increase in energy consumption, which affects the population and the environment.

The energy efficiency of buildings is now one of the main objectives of regional, national and international energy management.

Currently, the European Union has the 2020 energy strategy that proposes the reduction of 20% in primary energy consumption and CO 2 emissions and the increase of 20% in energy consumption coming from renewable sources.


In the lower bidder system, the bid price (or cost) is the only criterion for determining the successful bidder (the future contractor), namely, the lowest bidder is awarded to the project. Although this traditional system protects the public from extravagance, corruption, other improper practice by public officials, and the bidding process independent from any of pressure (political, social and economic) because of the sole criterion for evaluating bids, it has certain disadvantage, such as often resulting in unreasonably low bids either accidentally or deliberately submitted and unqualified contractors which may cause extensive delays in the planed schedule, cost overrun, very serious problems in quality, the increased number of claims, disputes, litigation, and so on (Herbsman and Ellis, 1992; Ioannou and Leu, 1993) . Over the years, some modifications to the lower bidder system were made. For example, "responsible bidder" and "public interest" has been added to the statutes to control the authority to let and award the projects. Other modifications created the concept of prequalified bidder lists, and so on.

Although this traditional system protects the public from extravagance, corruption, other improper practice by public officials, and the bidding process independent from any of pressure (political, social and economic) because of the sole criterion for evaluating bids, it has certain disadvantage, such as often resulting in unreasonably low bids either accidentally or deliberately submitted and unqualified contractors which may cause extensive delays in the planed schedule, cost overrun, very serious problems in quality, the increased number of claims, disputes, litigation, and so on.


Palm biodiesel has lucrative potentials and advantages to offer as it has similar characteristics with diesel fuels and is environmental-friendly [2, [25] [26] [27] [28] . However, fuel physical factors that have been identified are higher viscosity, lower heating value, low volatility, poor atomization and higher oxygen content beside polyunsaturated characteristics [29, 30] . The major problem of methyl or ethyl esters is its higher viscosity compared to fossilized fuel that requires more time to ignite. Different fuel properties and injection delay provide stimulating studies for the combustion cycle-to-cycle variations of diesel engines [31, 32] . Several cycle-to-cycle pressure variation studies on different fuels; diesel, biodiesel, and gasoline operating with diesel engines were conducted to determine the definite combustion characteristics [33] . These arguments are based on the different types of fuel that reflected most of the assorted combustion characteristics to the similar diesel engine at the same operating condition. In addition, several identified parameters contribute to the cylinder pressure variations including the various total amount of air and fuel charge to the cylinder in each cycle, mixture motion variations within the cylinder and air charge content variations. In this study, palm biodiesel and conventional diesel as the reference fuels were tested in a diesel engine with a constant speed of 2500 rpm at different engine loads; 20, 40, and 60%. Combustion results were recorded for 200 consecutive cycles. The aim of this experimental study is to determine the coefficient of variation, frequency distributions for indicated mean effective pressure and frequency distributions for maximum pressure for the test fuels.

Palm biodiesel has lucrative potentials and advantages to offer as it has similar characteristics with diesel fuels and is environmental-friendly.

However, fuel physical factors that have been identified are higher viscosity, lower heating value, low volatility, poor atomization and higher oxygen content beside polyunsaturated characteristics.

Different fuel properties and injection delay provide stimulating studies for the combustion cycle-to-cycle variations of diesel engines.

Several cycle-to-cycle pressure variation studies on different fuels; diesel, biodiesel, and gasoline operating with diesel engines were conducted to determine the definite combustion characteristics.


Future work will be dedicated to investigate the resulting thermal comfort as a result of the obtained heat pump planning. For this we will perform 'inverse' simulations, using the heat pump schedules as input for the thermal network model used in this paper. Also part of future work is to investigate methods of reaching a social fairness in heat pump planning and integrating this work into the TRIANA smart grid control method [15] .

Also part of future work is to investigate methods of reaching a social fairness in heat pump planning and integrating this work into the TRIANA smart grid control method.


As shown in Figure 5(a) , closely packed fine grains are formed near the bonding interface resulting from strain hardening due to accumulation of dislocations after plastic deformation of the Al wire bonds. The recovery and subsequent recrystallisation of the grains within the deformed area are promoted by the high temperature bonding process, as shown in Figure 5 (b) and 5(c), leading to relaxation of residual stress along with rearrangement/reduction in the density of dislocations near the bonding interface [10] . As mentioned in section 4, crack propagation is found to be much slower for samples bonded at high temperature which can be attributed to the grain structure changes at the interface. The presence of coarser grains along the bonding interface not only reduces the residual stress and dislocation density but also may give rise to much greater resistance to crack propagation. Consequently, it may be concluded that strong and reliable bonds can be achieved by high temperature bonding.

The recovery and subsequent recrystallisation of the grains within the deformed area are promoted by the high temperature bonding process, as shown in Figure 5 (b) and 5(c), leading to relaxation of residual stress along with rearrangement/reduction in the density of dislocations near the bonding interface.


This study demonstrates how an innovative blend of community reconnaissance and network analysis methods can help researchers and CBO partners enhance the effectiveness of community health assessments, especially in communities where health inequalities are prevalent and improved dialogue seems essential. Specifically, we have shown how these methods can help research partners get a fairly quick read on community power, including who has it, how these people can be reached, and how they might be mobilized for change. By asking questions about community leadership and local health issues, our research team developed a solid, organic picture of community power and the ways in which influential leaders think about public health. This is important, as community leaders often act as gatekeepers in the formation of the overall public agenda by legitimizing certain issues, minimizing others and allocating resources to address the issues they consider most important [14] .

This is important, as community leaders often act as gatekeepers in the formation of the overall public agenda by legitimizing certain issues, minimizing others and allocating resources to address the issues they consider most important.


In general, testing and debugging are essential for ensuring reliability; they account for a significant fraction of any software development process. Debugging consists of two steps. The first is to locate the fault in order to find where the bug exists. The second is to correct the fault in order to fix the located bug [11] . Much time is spent finding the locations of faults in such a process. Therefore, it is important to reduce this time in order to save costs used in software development and maintenance [12] . Fault localization has mainly been developed based on the source code written by the developer [4] . However, the tester executes black-box tests without the source code. Research described below has been conducted in this regard to localize the faults.

Debugging consists of two steps.

The second is to correct the fault in order to fix the located bug.

Therefore, it is important to reduce this time in order to save costs used in software development and maintenance.

Fault localization has mainly been developed based on the source code written by the developer.


In order to reduce the extent of potential fault locations in the data section, we partition it using a memory map and the stack. Unlike a general memory map, the one used in automotive software includes information about the memory range to be used for each object file. This makes it possible to use the memory map to divide the data sections into object-file units. It is also possible to use the stack to divide the data section by predicting the information in a memory map. This is because the stack works by being divided into each functional unit while the automotive software is running. It is then possible to divide the data section by subjecting it to the unit information defined by the stack. The stack information is useful for dividing the data section because it is possible to apply the call relationships to the partitioned stack section, in much the same way as the call relationships that exist between functions in the source code. Meanwhile, there is the constraint that a developer has to transmit a memory map to a tester in the method by memory map. Therefore, we propose memory-map and stack methods that use only the memory information. The memory information can be used in such an environment to provide fault-location information to developers [7] . This is because memory information is of the same type for each ECU, regardless of its interface. For example, a binary file is executed independently in each ECU in the associated environment that was developed based on AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) or multiple ECUs. Therefore, a trace of the software that is independently executed with the platform is left in the ECU memory. Accordingly, this information can be used for each ECU in the same way. Also, memory use is independent between modules because each ECU developer determines the range of memory use before developing a module.

The memory information can be used in such an environment to provide fault-location information to developers.


Thus, the most intuitive way to provide the location information of the fault to the developer using the memory update is to provide the pair of the updated addresses for fail test and fault time. By utilizing this information, developers are able to localize faults targeting the list of updated addresses at a particular time [10] . However, a disadvantage of this method is that it requires significant computational time and expense to localize a fault within an excess of memory updates. To overcome this, a method is required that can reduce the extent of potential fault locations by using the memory update information. In this paper, we propose such a method for reducing both time and expense, whose target is the data section of the memory.

By utilizing this information, developers are able to localize faults targeting the list of updated addresses at a particular time.


Fault localization can be divided into two parts. First, suspicious code is identified that may contain a fault. Next, the developer determines whether it actually contains a fault [11] . In this paper, fault localization refers to the task of finding candidates for faulty symbols (symbol name and address) by tracking the memory based on the suit of failed tests (binary source file, test case, and memory) from the HiL simulation.

Next, the developer determines whether it actually contains a fault.


Meanwhile, the fundamental reason that the memory can be used for fault localization is the Def and Use (DU) pair of variables in the source code, which leave "footprints" in the memory during program execution. For example, in the statement "A = B", which consists of variables A and B, A is defined as "Def" and B is defined as "Use" [8] . The memory update occurs in the memory address of the Def variable by combining memory interface commands such as LOAD, STORE, and MOVE when this statement occurs during program execution [9] .

For example, in the statement "A = B", which consists of variables A and B, A is defined as "Def" and B is defined as "Use".

The memory update occurs in the memory address of the Def variable by combining memory interface commands such as LOAD, STORE, and MOVE when this statement occurs during program execution.


Approximately 90% of all recent car innovations are based on the automotive Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and its software. These include active/passive safety systems (e.g., airbags and collision avoidance), driver assistance systems (e.g., lane-departure warning and night vision), and infotainment systems (e.g., telephone, internet, and TV) [1] . However, as the number of ECUs in a car increases, the functional complexity of their software also increases. Accordingly, the likelihood of faults due to systematic ECU problems is increasing [2] . A car malfunction caused by a fault of an automotive ECU can threaten driver safety as well as create potential legal difficulties. In order to solve such problems, systematic testing/debugging techniques are required that ensure software reliability while taking its complexity into account [3] .

These include active/passive safety systems (e.g., airbags and collision avoidance), driver assistance systems (e.g., lane-departure warning and night vision), and infotainment systems (e.g., telephone, internet, and TV).

Accordingly, the likelihood of faults due to systematic ECU problems is increasing.

In order to solve such problems, systematic testing/debugging techniques are required that ensure software reliability while taking its complexity into account.


Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific peermission and/or a fee. An overview of current configurable computing technology can be found in a recent article [26] .

An overview of current configurable computing technology can be found in a recent article.


Equation 1 supported the Ti-H phase diagram where TiH 2 , exists in δ form will transform into β and then α phase. This equation was came out from our previous study. The finding from the static x-ray scan has confirmed our previous work. During the in-situ thermal dehydrogenation, the phase transformation of TiH 2 powder has their transitional phases named δ'-, β'-and α'-phase. Author claimed that these transition phases appeared to be similar in crystal structure but different in terms of lattice parameters. Another research on dehydrogenation of TiH 2 powder under flowing argon has concluded that the the phase transformation sequences are δ δ + α δ + α + β α + β α, during heating [8] . Authors used the energy-dispersive diffraction, where each spectrum takes only 17.4 s, therefore, they identified the transformation temperature of the phases; however, the overlapping phases were not seen. In our work, each high temperature XRD scans took ~17 min which enhanced the precision of our XRD scan data. Furthermore, the duration of in-situ thermal dehydrogenation via isothermal heating at 600°C can be estimated.

Another research on dehydrogenation of TiH 2 powder under flowing argon has concluded that the the phase transformation sequences are δ δ + α δ + α + β α + β α, during heating.


The static x-ray scans of TiH 2 powder is the continuity of the work done earlier in our group on the determination of the phase transformation of TiH 2 powder [9] . Author has provided full crystallographic data of dehydrogenation of that TiH 2 via isothermal and non-isothermal heating. This work has confirmed the observation found by using Rietveld refinement method where the existence of transitional phases named, δ'-, β'-and α'-phase, together with the main phases, δ-, βand α-phase. At the end of the dehydrogenation process, the two α-phases (α-and α'-phase) was obtained due to the different amount of hydrogen content. The c/a ratios and amounts of α'-phase was found to be greater than the amount of α-phase. Another authors observed smaller and larger lattice parameters of each δ, β and α phases, which associated with the kinks occurred on those phases in energy-dispersive diffraction map [8] . The understanding of the mechanisms during insitu thermal dehydrogenation of TiH 2 will help in studying the application of TiH 2 powder.

The static x-ray scans of TiH 2 powder is the continuity of the work done earlier in our group on the determination of the phase transformation of TiH 2 powder.

Another authors observed smaller and larger lattice parameters of each δ, β and α phases, which associated with the kinks occurred on those phases in energy-dispersive diffraction map.


Cassava is an important source of food in the tropics. A large proportion of the population in Mozambique eat cassava as a staple food. Cassava tissues contain in varying degree potent toxins, cyanogenic glucosides (Conn 1980) . Cyanogenic gucosides in cassava consist mainly of linamarin and lotaustralin in a ratio 97:7. Cassava tissues also contain the enzyme linamarase. Cyanogenic glucosides are located inside vacuoles and the enzyme linamarase in the apoplast (Conn 1994) . Disruption of cassava tissues initiates the hydrolysis of cyanogens, which come into the contact with linamarase, a β-glucosidase, to produce acetone cyanohydrin from linamarin and 2-butanone cyanohydrin from lotaustralin (Conn 1994) . These cyanohydrins are unstable and decompose spontaneously to the corresponding ketones and hydrogen cyanide at pH values above 5 and temperatures above 30°C. Cyanohydrin degradation can also be catalysed by α-hydroxynitrile lyase, located in apoplast (White et al. 1994) . The cyanogenic potential is expressed as HCN equivalent. Cassava cyanogens can be reduced to low levels by several cassava processing methods.

Cassava tissues contain in varying degree potent toxins, cyanogenic glucosides.

Cyanogenic glucosides are located inside vacuoles and the enzyme linamarase in the apoplast.

Disruption of cassava tissues initiates the hydrolysis of cyanogens, which come into the contact with linamarase, a β-glucosidase, to produce acetone cyanohydrin from linamarin and 2-butanone cyanohydrin from lotaustralin.

Cyanohydrin degradation can also be catalysed by α-hydroxynitrile lyase, located in apoplast.


Since in the early stage, plants have been used as a source of medicinal compounds and still continued to play a major role in the human health [3] . They are the source of drugs in the traditional and modern medicine, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines and precursors for synthetic drugs [4] . The discoveries of potential new drugs have been led by screening bioactive compounds from plants having efficient activity against various diseases [5] .

Since in the early stage, plants have been used as a source of medicinal compounds and still continued to play a major role in the human health.

They are the source of drugs in the traditional and modern medicine, nutraceuticals, food supplements, folk medicines and precursors for synthetic drugs.

The discoveries of potential new drugs have been led by screening bioactive compounds from plants having efficient activity against various diseases.


The most recognized antioxidants derived from medicinal plants are phenolic compounds and have high antioxidant activity against free radicals. However, the extent of the activity depends on the structure of the molecules [8, 9] . These antioxidant constituents are closely associated to the prevention of degenerative diseases, such as cardiovascular and neurological illnesses, oxidative stress malfunctions and cancer [9, 10] .

However, the extent of the activity depends on the structure of the molecules.

These antioxidant constituents are closely associated to the prevention of degenerative diseases, such as cardiovascular and neurological illnesses, oxidative stress malfunctions and cancer.


Traditional medicine is regarded as a combination of knowledge, skill and practice originated from theories, experiences and attitudes native to various cultures that is utilized to treat and diagnose enormous types of physical and mental complications and maintain health [1] . Many people in the world rely on traditional medicine for their primarily health care needs. It is well understood that several medical techniques and procedures have been discovered from the use and knowledge of traditional medicines. This is because the major part of traditional therapy involves the use of plant extracts or their active principles. As a result, natural products have recently become of immense interest owing to their diverse application [2] .

Traditional medicine is regarded as a combination of knowledge, skill and practice originated from theories, experiences and attitudes native to various cultures that is utilized to treat and diagnose enormous types of physical and mental complications and maintain health.

As a result, natural products have recently become of immense interest owing to their diverse application.


In the manufacturing cycle of microsystems, assembly is a crucial operation in production [1] . The assembly tasks are varied according to the areas and methods of microproducts in manufacturing. There are several methods such as anodic bonding, eutectic bonding, welding bonding and adhesive bonding which can be utilized for micro joining [1, 2] . Anodic bonding, eutectic bonding, and welding bonding usually are achieved under some critical conditions, such as high temperature and pressure. In comparing with other methods, adhesive bonding has the advantages of free heating, cleanness, speediness and no influence on parts.

In the manufacturing cycle of microsystems, assembly is a crucial operation in production.

There are several methods such as anodic bonding, eutectic bonding, welding bonding and adhesive bonding which can be utilized for micro joining.