HE ESTIMATION of a ball's 3D motion, such as position and velocity, is an interesting question in sport event analysis. There have been many researches on this issue. The approach based on image sequence always requires quite costly vision systems to make the ball visible in multiple synchronized cameras [1] . In recent years, several techniques have been developed to deal with the motion of a flying ball using a single image [2] [3] [4] [5] . Most of these studies focus on the motion blur induced by the moving ball's position change during the exposure time. Algorithms of image deblurring or ellipse extraction are introduced to obtain the motion extent, which always lead to complex image processing and feature extraction. Additionally, the motion details in depth direction are difficult obtain by these methods. It is noted that all these methods are based on images collected by area array sensors.

The approach based on image sequence always requires quite costly vision systems to make the ball visible in multiple synchronized cameras.

In recent years, several techniques have been developed to deal with the motion of a flying ball using a single image.


Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are caused by complex interactions between environmental and genetic factors. A putative genetic risk factor for asthma and COPD is the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene [1] [2] [3] . This gene encodes a cAMP-regulated channel with chloride activity in pulmonary epithelia. When channel activities are absent, cystic fibrosis with life-threatening airways obstruction due to thickened secretions and secondary pulmonary infection develop [4] . The most common cause of cystic fibrosis is homozygosity for the phenylalanine-508 deletion (F508del), explaining about 70% of cystic fibrosis worldwide [4, 5] .

A putative genetic risk factor for asthma and COPD is the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.

When channel activities are absent, cystic fibrosis with life-threatening airways obstruction due to thickened secretions and secondary pulmonary infection develop.

The most common cause of cystic fibrosis is homozygosity for the phenylalanine-508 deletion (F508del), explaining about 70% of cystic fibrosis worldwide.


Motivated by the network perspective, a more formal and visualized representation, usually offered by mathematical graph theory, seems to be more appropriate to describe the biological phenomena. Among these, Bayesian networks provide a systematic method for structuring probabilistic information about a network, which have been receiving considerable attention over the last few decades in a number of research fields [24] [25] [26] . Bayesian networks are easily understood since they represent knowledge through a directed acyclic graph (DAG) with nodes and arrows. The network structure can be either generated from data by structural learning or elicited from experts. It could not only avoid statistical assumptions, but also handle the relationship between a larger numbers of predictors with their interactions.

Among these, Bayesian networks provide a systematic method for structuring probabilistic information about a network, which have been receiving considerable attention over the last few decades in a number of research fields.


The Market Operator (LAGIE) is authorized to operate the support and funding mechanism for the remuneration of the generated energy from RES power stations, through a dedicated account (Special Account for RES) [9] . Although the revenues of this account come from different sources, there are namely two primary sources. The first one is a charge calculated upon the consumed energy that all consumers pay through their electricity bills (hereinafter referred to as ETMEAR). The second refers to the amount resulting from the day-ahead electricity market dispatch (hereinafter referred to as HEP), using the hourly system marginal price (SMP), which reflects the electricity wholesale cost and is being paid by the suppliers. The combination of the rapid deployment of PV stations (i.e., 2.3 GW within four years), with the inability to find additional revenues for the Special Account resulted in a small deficit in 2011 which continued to increase until 2013 when the installation of PV stations practically stopped. To address this growing deficit the Greek government took emergent regulatory measures such as the solidarity surcharge and the consecutive sharp reduction of the FiTs without yet imposing a retroactive effect. The tipping point of the efforts to rationalize the RES support framework was reached when the government voted for the retroactive reduction of the tariffs for the already existing PV stations (also known as "haircut"), as well as the imposition of issuance of a credit invoice by the owners of PV stations, pursuant to Law 4254/2014 [10] .

The Market Operator (LAGIE) is authorized to operate the support and funding mechanism for the remuneration of the generated energy from RES power stations, through a dedicated account (Special Account for RES).

The tipping point of the efforts to rationalize the RES support framework was reached when the government voted for the retroactive reduction of the tariffs for the already existing PV stations (also known as "haircut"), as well as the imposition of issuance of a credit invoice by the owners of PV stations, pursuant to Law 4254/2014.


Acute acetaminophen treatment in group 2 significantly (P<0.05) lowered TEC, Hb and PCV levels as compared to all other groups at respective time intervals from day 4-15. It might be due to acetaminophen-treated hepatic damage [28] . Further, significant (P<0.05) rise in TLC in acetaminophen-treated control group could possibly be due to the stimulation of immune system against the invading antigens and also to an IL-1β-mediated rise in the respective colony stimulating factors [29] . Treatment with NAC and GTE reversed these alterations in haematological parameters, which could be attributed to the protective effects on tissue repair and deceleration of disease progression.

It might be due to acetaminophen-treated hepatic damage.

Further, significant (P<0.05) rise in TLC in acetaminophen-treated control group could possibly be due to the stimulation of immune system against the invading antigens and also to an IL-1β-mediated rise in the respective colony stimulating factors.


The microscale obstacle-resolving transport and stream model MITRAS is part of the M-SYS model system (Trukenmuller et al., 2004; Schatzmann et al., 2006) . This model system is designed to investigate pollution transport, chemical reactions, and atmospheric phenomena in the atmospheric boundary layer. The obstacle-resolving MITRAS model calculates wind, temperature, humidity fields, cloud, and rainwater, as well as tracer transport within the obstacle layer. The model has been applied for more than 10 years; however, an overall description of the model theory has not been published in a refereed journal. This is timely because computers now allow for time-dependent long-term integration of the temperature and humidity equations in high resolution. In addition, MITRAS in its version 2 was extended and optimized for more realistic applications in urban areas (Salim et al., 2011; Röber et al., 2013) . Specifically, more surface cover classes were added to better describe surface characteristics: fine tuning the code structure for maximum parallelization to make it faster and able to simulate larger domains and parameterizing the additional radiation, turbulence production and dissipation due to wind turbines, and urban vegetation.

The microscale obstacle-resolving transport and stream model MITRAS is part of the M-SYS model system.

In addition, MITRAS in its version 2 was extended and optimized for more realistic applications in urban areas.


Externalities could be considered as side effects of an activity, whereby the costs are not part of the price paid by producers or consumers. Examples are human health or well-being issues, long-term effects of pollution, or landscape value deterioration. When such externalities are not included in prices, they distort the market by encouraging activities that leads to substantial private benefits, even if strongly onerous to society [24] .

When such externalities are not included in prices, they distort the market by encouraging activities that leads to substantial private benefits, even if strongly onerous to society.


On large designs, however, it is not always possible to do the detailed transistor-level analysis due to capacity and run-time constraints. Thus, cell-based tools have been developed for further speed and capacity enhancement [1, 2, 3] . Some of these tools perform cell-specific transistor-level simulations to detect failures [1, 3] . Others may rely on rough abstracts of noise immunity to describe a cell's tolerance to injected noise; the load-specific abstracts are generated by transistor-level pre-simulations. Once a failure is detected, nets with highest dynamic gain or injected noise are identified. This, together with information about the ratio between propagated noise and coupled noise, can help circuit designers correct the noise problem on a failed path.

Thus, cell-based tools have been developed for further speed and capacity enhancement.

Some of these tools perform cell-specific transistor-level simulations to detect failures.


Under the assumption of known motion of the robot, environmental maps of real scenes are successfully generated by monitoring azimuth changes in the image. Yagi used this property for robot navigation with an [4] . Delahoche et a1 have proposed the incremental map building method based on the exploitation of the azimuth data given by omnidirectional vision and by an odometer [5] . The robot position estimation and map updating are based on the use of an Extended Kalman Filter. However, it is difficult to observe the exact motion parameters of the robot because of encoder measurement error. Observational errors in the generated environmental map accumulate in long movements of the robot. To generate a large environmental map, it is desirable not to assume known robot motion.

Yagi used this property for robot navigation with an.

Delahoche et a1 have proposed the incremental map building method based on the exploitation of the azimuth data given by omnidirectional vision and by an odometer.


Computer simulations used to predict energy performance of cold chambers when new efficiency measures are applied have gained a growing popularity in experimental tests, because they are faster and may even provide results with an acceptable accuracy. In many situations, these simulations replace the use of prototype modeling with a large number of benefits. Currently the stakes are centered in the optimization of internal air distribution systems by employing a technology called computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This visual and mathematic modeling technique divides space in small finite elements (discretization) and, for each one, applies fundamental equations of thermodynamics, mass and energy conservation to calculate several variables like temperature, air speed and air flow orientation. It is a method to obtain estimates in the local and global domains of the chamber, and there are some studies that predict temperatures with errors of around 3 % [5, 6] . However, it is worthwhile to say that CFD is suitable to estimate physical phenomena occurring inside the chamber and never within refrigerant fluid or in any of the four components of the refrigeration cycle; its use is therefore not convenient to predict accurately global electric energy consumption.

It is a method to obtain estimates in the local and global domains of the chamber, and there are some studies that predict temperatures with errors of around 3 %.


The general concept of complex system and subsystem modeling was initially addressed by Kolmogorov's theorem [1] . Complex problems and systems are either sub-or superadditive and therefore they are difficult to model and describe at a single level of analysis. To solve a complex problem, the system needs to be divided into subcomponents at various hierarchical levels (based on their individual complexities) in order to understand the system clearly and describe the relationships with lesser ambiguity.

The general concept of complex system and subsystem modeling was initially addressed by Kolmogorov's theorem.


Cancer patients, who are often immunocompromised, are more susceptible to CRBSI while receiving total parenteral nutrition [16] . The major causes of CRBSI are migration of the skin organisms at the insertion site into the catheter tract and contamination of the catheter hub [17] . This incidence of CRBSI ranges from 0.05 to 6.8 infections per 1000 catheter days [17, 18] . Success rates of 60% to 91% have been reported using antimicrobial therapy to treat CRBSIs, although often the device has to be removed [19] . The organisms most commonly cultured are gram-positive (70%; Coagulase negative Staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococci], gramnegative (15%; Escherichia coli), fungal (8%; Candida), and anaerobic bacteria (7%) [20] .

Cancer patients, who are often immunocompromised, are more susceptible to CRBSI while receiving total parenteral nutrition.

The major causes of CRBSI are migration of the skin organisms at the insertion site into the catheter tract and contamination of the catheter hub.

This incidence of CRBSI ranges from 0.05 to 6.8 infections per 1000 catheter days.

Success rates of 60% to 91% have been reported using antimicrobial therapy to treat CRBSIs, although often the device has to be removed.

The organisms most commonly cultured are gram-positive (70%; Coagulase negative Staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococci], gramnegative (15%; Escherichia coli), fungal (8%; Candida), and anaerobic bacteria (7%).


Brown seaweed sulphated polysaccharides (fucans) are molecules mainly composed of fucose and sulphate groups, but which may also contain minor amounts of other sugars (including galactose, xylose, glucose, among others) in their composition. Such molecules represent significant economic importance, and several studies have demonstrated their potential as freeradical scavengers and antioxidants for the prevention of oxidative damage in living organisms (Rupérez et al., 2002; Bhakuni & Rawat, 2005; Costa et al., 2010) . Moreover, fucans as antioxidants have been classified as non-toxic and water-soluble macromolecules, playing an important role in assisting their water insoluble counterparts in the removal of reactive oxygen species from the body (Rupérez et al., 2002; Sokolova et al., 2011) . However, fucans' structure and biological properties, including antioxidant capacity, vary according to algal species, environmental conditions, life-stage of the seaweed and extraction procedure (Wijesinghe & Jeon, 2012) .

Such molecules represent significant economic importance, and several studies have demonstrated their potential as freeradical scavengers and antioxidants for the prevention of oxidative damage in living organisms.

Moreover, fucans as antioxidants have been classified as non-toxic and water-soluble macromolecules, playing an important role in assisting their water insoluble counterparts in the removal of reactive oxygen species from the body.

However, fucans' structure and biological properties, including antioxidant capacity, vary according to algal species, environmental conditions, life-stage of the seaweed and extraction procedure.


Owing to the introduction of new multimedia services, such as cloud computing, big data, video streaming, and social networks, scientists and engineers have spent much effort in recent years improving the system overall capacity and channel spectral efficiency (SE) for supporting the dramatically increased traffic [1] - [3] . Various techniques, including coherent detection, digital signal processing (DSP), polarization-division-multiplexing (PDM), and advanced modulation formats are widely deployed [4] - [6] . Among them, PDM systems with two orthogonal states of polarization (SOPs) can double the spectral efficiency directly. During the past few years, some scientific communities have been exploring actively new dimensions (e.g., orbital angular momentum (OAM), space-division multiplexing (SDM), etc.) to achieve capacity beyond conventional multiplexing. Certainly, it is true that these new techniques which transmit multiple data streams (e.g., SDM with 114 space channels) increase potentially the system capacity to a great extent. However, there are some challenges need to be overcome in cost, footprint and compatibility. For example, the OAM technique needs additional spatial light modulators to achieve the multiplexing and demultiplexing [7] . Currently, the demonstrated communication systems with OAM multiplexing are bulky and expensive [8] . The other technique, SDM, needs special mode-division multiplexer (e.g., spot-based multiplexer) and demultiplexer with relatively high insertion loss. In addition, SDM system needs few-mode or multimode fibers with special materials and fabrication, which would be another challenge in cost [9] .

Owing to the introduction of new multimedia services, such as cloud computing, big data, video streaming, and social networks, scientists and engineers have spent much effort in recent years improving the system overall capacity and channel spectral efficiency (SE) for supporting the dramatically increased traffic.

Various techniques, including coherent detection, digital signal processing (DSP), polarization-division-multiplexing (PDM), and advanced modulation formats are widely deployed.

For example, the OAM technique needs additional spatial light modulators to achieve the multiplexing and demultiplexing.

Currently, the demonstrated communication systems with OAM multiplexing are bulky and expensive.

In addition, SDM system needs few-mode or multimode fibers with special materials and fabrication, which would be another challenge in cost.


The drying of particulate materials can be carried out in three different regimes: batch, continuous and intermittent. Intermittence in the operating conditions is determined by a periodic stop in the air supply to the bed or in the fluid-dynamic regime. Thus, it is possible to smooth out the process by decreasing losses due to mechanical attrition (Jumah and Mujumdar, 1996) .

Thus, it is possible to smooth out the process by decreasing losses due to mechanical attrition.


Despite the widely recognized importance of tacit knowledge as a vital source of competitive advantage, there are comparatively less studies that have been able to establish a causal relationship between tacit knowledge and organizational performance (Marques and Simon, 2006) . To reveal the dimensions of tacit knowledge remains as a challenging issue in understanding tacit knowledge well and exploring tacit knowledge effect in organizations for future studies. This paper aims to constitute a framework that reflects the main dimensions of tacit knowledge based on data collected from companies operating in service sector in Turkey. The rest of this paper is structured as follows: the second section briefly presents an overview of the tacit knowledge literature. In the third section research methodology is presented. Data analysis and results are discussed in the fourth section. Conclusions are provided at the end.

Despite the widely recognized importance of tacit knowledge as a vital source of competitive advantage, there are comparatively less studies that have been able to establish a causal relationship between tacit knowledge and organizational performance.

Conclusions are provided at the end.


The detrimental effect of seismic noise has been known to be a key limiting factor to the sensitivity of GW detectors at low frequencies (below a hundred Hz [9] ). However it is also a common cause of glitches at higher frequencies due to non-linear coupling of lowfrequency seismic noise into the gravitational wave readout. Previous methods to generate veto segments for times of high seismic noise have proven ineffective. In this paper, we introduce a new method of constructing vetoes for the specific case of seismic noise that has proven highly effective when used in the latest searches for transient GW signals. We find a large statistical correlation between triggers (events produced by a GW search algorithm) from the low-latency compact binary coalescence (CBC) search and seismic noise, vetoing 60% of all triggers in 6% of time for H1 and 6% of triggers in 0.6% of time for L1.

The detrimental effect of seismic noise has been known to be a key limiting factor to the sensitivity of GW detectors at low frequencies (below a hundred Hz).


The output of each LIGO detector is a single data stream that in general contains some combination of a GW signal and detector noise. Transient noise events (glitches) can mask or mimic astrophysical signals, thus limiting the sensitivity of any search that can be performed over these data [5, 6, 7] . In the searches for short-duration GW signals the noise background is dominated by glitches, requiring intense effort from analysis groups and detector scientists to understand the physical origins and eliminate them. Throughout the lifetime of LIGO up to and including S6, search sensitivity has been improved by careful use of vetoes (time segments indicating poor data quality (DQ) which are removed from an analysis). Vetoes allow analysts to tune and operate search pipelines using a subset of cleaner data, increasing the chance of extracting a signal from the noise [8] .

Transient noise events (glitches) can mask or mimic astrophysical signals, thus limiting the sensitivity of any search that can be performed over these data.

Vetoes allow analysts to tune and operate search pipelines using a subset of cleaner data, increasing the chance of extracting a signal from the noise.


Several routes have been proposed to convert methane in more useful chemicals which include oxygen in the process: the oxidative coupling of methane by co-feeding of methane and oxygen has been investigated in numerous studies (Lane & Wolf, 1988) . Here, a competition between the coupling products, such as ethylene, and the undesired complete oxidation products, such as CO 2 and H 2 O, occurs. Therefore, appropriate temperature and residence time have to be chosen to achieve high selectivities of the desired products and a high conversion of methane. Catalytic materials are often used to improve the process. Partial oxidation of methane in monolithic catalysts at very short contact times has recently been shown to offer a promising route to convert natural gas into syngas which can be converted to higher alkanes or methanol (Hickman & Schmidt, 1993; Deutschmann & Schmidt, 1998) .

Several routes have been proposed to convert methane in more useful chemicals which include oxygen in the process: the oxidative coupling of methane by co-feeding of methane and oxygen has been investigated in numerous studies.

Partial oxidation of methane in monolithic catalysts at very short contact times has recently been shown to offer a promising route to convert natural gas into syngas which can be converted to higher alkanes or methanol.


Laboratory, clinical and pathological findings of the last decades proved that atherosclerosis is a process beginning in early childhood and progressing into adulthood [17] . Its main result is a great risk of coronary heart disease. It is obvious that high serum cholesterol level in childhood increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis in adults. Young patients with INS are more endangered with cardiovascular disease because of hyper-and dyslipidemia. However, it is considered that the risk of fast progression of atherosclerosis in nephrotic patients with good response to GCS therapy seems to be minimal, because the state of hypercholesterolemia is of short duration and intermittent. The most endangered group of patients with NS are those with unremitting proteinuria, frequent relapses and/or poor response to GCS and long standing hypoalbuminemia [18] .

Laboratory, clinical and pathological findings of the last decades proved that atherosclerosis is a process beginning in early childhood and progressing into adulthood.

The most endangered group of patients with NS are those with unremitting proteinuria, frequent relapses and/or poor response to GCS and long standing hypoalbuminemia.


Every cDNA library contains low levels of chimeric and no-insert clones, and other "contaminating" sequences [7] . The artificial clones are usually not abundant and do not interfere with further analyses. However, while screening the zebra finch brain cDNA libraries for clones representing differentially expressed genes between courting and noncourting males, we frequently identified clones that contained numerous repeats of the switch primer. It also turned out that EST databases ranging from Arabidopsis to humans contain several clones consisting of or containing switch primer repeats (Supplementary file 1). Since the repetitive sequence is not present in any of the genomic libraries, several of the cDNAs must contain artifact sequences.

Every cDNA library contains low levels of chimeric and no-insert clones, and other "contaminating" sequences.


The cDNA library construction methods without a PCR amplification step and adapter ligation do not create repeats. For example, cDNA cloning by the biotinylated CAP trapper technique contains an oligo(dG) tailing step performed by terminal nucleotidyl transferase [9] . The oligo(dC) secondstrand cDNA primer is introduced after the oligo(dG) tailing, thus the cloning site containing primers can anchor to the tailed cDNAs only once.

For example, cDNA cloning by the biotinylated CAP trapper technique contains an oligo(dG) tailing step performed by terminal nucleotidyl transferase.


Natural hazards present a substantial increase in their spatial and temporal distribution over the last decades especially in developed communities with significant impact on infrastructure and livehood. The latter has a direct link with the tremendous increase of population in urban areas where built-up zones extended in prone areas. Individually, landslides and rockfalls constitute abrupt types of geohazards posing disastrous effects when Elements of Risk overlay with the spatial extent of the event resulting in permanent interference with the natural environment (Van Westen et al., 2008) . Significant proportion of resulted landslide damages often can be avoided by the early detection and capacity enhancement of the landslide or rockfall problem. Hence, there is essential requirement for detailed landslide hazard assessment in different spatial and contextual scales for sitespecific case. Remote sensing has played a significant role in the deeper understanding and monitoring of geohazards worldwide (Scaioni et al., 2014) . Landslide detection using remote sensing images has been widely applied for automatic or semiautomatic landslide inventory mapping. Nowadays, UAVs tend to be more flexible and powerful tools for landslide and rockfall investigations due to their low-cost and ease of transportability in harsh environments but also with technology advancements such as maintaining of RTK positioning. An important factor of their usefulness is their capability to offer unprecedented spatial resolution over wide inaccessible areas, maintain a variability of different sensors (optical, laser, thermal, multispectral) and great ability to reach remote areas and acquire data as close as the user defines (Colomina et al., 2014) . UAVs applications are widely used in post-disaster situations for emergency support, in infrastructure monitoring, in natural resources management, in geohazard monitoring etc. Individually, aerial platforms are able to overcome technical issues such as occlusions and unfavorable incidence angles due to their ability to capture imagery from multiple positions and with different angles. Also, concerning landslide application their contribution can be identified in different aspect of applications such as detection, mapping, monitoring and analysis (Giordan et al., 2017) . The latter proves that UAV market has been rapidly growing over the last decade and in future more applications will be introduced in the public.

Individually, landslides and rockfalls constitute abrupt types of geohazards posing disastrous effects when Elements of Risk overlay with the spatial extent of the event resulting in permanent interference with the natural environment.

Remote sensing has played a significant role in the deeper understanding and monitoring of geohazards worldwide.

An important factor of their usefulness is their capability to offer unprecedented spatial resolution over wide inaccessible areas, maintain a variability of different sensors (optical, laser, thermal, multispectral) and great ability to reach remote areas and acquire data as close as the user defines.

Also, concerning landslide application their contribution can be identified in different aspect of applications such as detection, mapping, monitoring and analysis.


Legal age attainment happens in some countries at 14 years [21] [22] [23] . In Portugal, in particular, this age threshold is important in child abuse. Article 172°of the Portuguese Penal Code determines different sentences if victims are younger or older than 14 years of age.

Legal age attainment happens in some countries at 14 years.


Human-induced factors have led to the alteration of global biogeochemical cycles and climate. Increasing uncertainty is predicted regarding future environmental conditions with significant impacts on forests functioning and the range of services provided by forests. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to understand the complex effects of global change drivers on different levels of forests' organization. Studies downscaled to small levels of organization (i.e., organs, individuals) are important to elucidate mechanisms underlying community or landscape level patterns [129] .

Studies downscaled to small levels of organization (i.e., organs, individuals) are important to elucidate mechanisms underlying community or landscape level patterns.


Two recent studies looked at the effect of head-ofbed positioning on IAP in critically ill intubated patients [12, 13] . The authors concluded that the potential contribution of body position in elevating IAP should be considered in patients with moderate to severe IAH or ACS. In the WSACS recommendations, IAP should always be measured in the full supine position. Acute respiratory failure, especially with elevated intrathoracic pressure and diminished abdominal wall compliance is recognised as a risk factor for IAH or ACS. Medical management of patients with IAH and ALI can lead to the decision of mechanical ventilation with PEEP (sometimes at high levels). In the above mentioned, it is difficult to ascertain the real IAP value and the impact on IAH management. Indeed, like increased PEEP, some other conditions such as prone or semi-recumbent positions add an artifactual pressure on IAP that is removed by returning to the reference supine position.

Two recent studies looked at the effect of head-ofbed positioning on IAP in critically ill intubated patients.


The presence of Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in the serum is used as a serological marker that correlates with the presence of viral replication with liver damage occurring. As HBeAg disappears from the serum, antibody to HBeAg (anti-HBe) will become detectable. The appearance of anti-HBe in the blood stream indicates biochemical and histological improvement of the liver injury with decreased viral detection. However, as antiHBe becomes prominent, the wild-type viral population will be replaced by mutants that do not produce or have decreased HBeAg expression. These mutants may be advantageously selected for by the anti-viral activity of the anti-HBe. The fact that HBV genome has a very high mutation rate which is estimated to be 10 4 fold higher than the human genome or at an estimated range of 1-10 x 10 -5 per site per year may also support the occurrence of the mutants [24, 27] .

The fact that HBV genome has a very high mutation rate which is estimated to be 10 4 fold higher than the human genome or at an estimated range of 1-10 x 10 -5 per site per year may also support the occurrence of the mutants.


Recent works have focused on the importance of involving teacher voice in policy-level discussions [23, 155] . Educational policy-making is a political process, which means competing groups must engage in dialogue to decide how to use public resources [156] . While teachers are not the only group involved in this political process, they have a valuable perspective as the instruments of policy-level decisions. Master teachers in particular, have a critical perspective, as they can foresee systemic issues in funding processes for STEM programs, program implementation, and appropriate levels of support for programmatic efficacy [23] . The proposed STEMMaTe framework provides a mechanism for advancing avenues for teacher voice by developing such master teachers in STEM and guiding their (programmatic) development to increase national capacity for K-12 STEM master teachers.

Recent works have focused on the importance of involving teacher voice in policy-level discussions.

Educational policy-making is a political process, which means competing groups must engage in dialogue to decide how to use public resources.

Master teachers in particular, have a critical perspective, as they can foresee systemic issues in funding processes for STEM programs, program implementation, and appropriate levels of support for programmatic efficacy.


CPTED is a different approach in crime prevention. It may be expressed as physical environmental designs that may reduce opportunity for criminal acts and thus reduce fear of crime through natural, mechanical and procedural means. This is based on physical environmental characteristics that influence (Taylor, 1996) . Various studies have found that CPTED involves four main elements namely territoriality, surveillance, maintenance and access control. Territoriality can be defined as a concept that thereby reducing opportunities for offenders by discouraging illegitimate users (Perkins et al., 1992) . However, Surveillance is based on the physical design which enables the capacity to promote informal or natural surveillance opportunities for residents and their agents, thus making surveillance a part of capable guardianship. If offenders perceive that they can be observed, they may be less likely to offend, given the increased potential for intervention, apprehension and prosecution (Boeting, 2006; Cozens et al., 2005) . Maintenance is to promote a positive image and to routinely maintain the built environment to ensure that the physical environment continues to function effectively and transmits positive signals to all users (Cozens et al., 2005; Crowe & Zahm, 1994) . The last element is Access Control which refers to reducing the opportunities for crime by denying access to potential targets as well as creating a heightened perception of risk (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1993) .

This is based on physical environmental characteristics that influence.

Territoriality can be defined as a concept that thereby reducing opportunities for offenders by discouraging illegitimate users.

If offenders perceive that they can be observed, they may be less likely to offend, given the increased potential for intervention, apprehension and prosecution.

Maintenance is to promote a positive image and to routinely maintain the built environment to ensure that the physical environment continues to function effectively and transmits positive signals to all users.

The last element is Access Control which refers to reducing the opportunities for crime by denying access to potential targets as well as creating a heightened perception of risk.


The other study area was Bandar Baru Bangi which is located near Putrajaya at a distance of approximately 15 kilometres (Putrajaya, 2009) . Bandar Baru Bangi was also based on the Garden City concept as a new township located in the District of Kajang under the jurisdiction of Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) and consists of 9,298 hectares of development. Bandar Baru Bangi is also known as a Satellite City and is the second largest city in Malaysia after Shah Alam. The development of Bandar Baru Bangi consists of 16 Sections; of which 10 Sections are developed with residential areas namely Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14 and 15 . The study area in Bandar Baru Bangi is Section 4 Road 4/7, which was purely landed properties in a typical medium-high income housing area with two-storey terrace houses; which is similar with the study area in Putrajaya. The study area in Bandar Baru Bangi consists of 201 dwelling units.

The other study area was Bandar Baru Bangi which is located near Putrajaya at a distance of approximately 15 kilometres.


For a long time, several active and passive methods have been adopted by human beings to improve thermal comfort and reduce temperature fluctuation in buildings. Some of these methods include changes in construction material, its thickness, changes in geometry and changes in the orientation of the building. More common methods these days include the installation of heating and air conditioning systems which result in more energy consumption. It is believed that the building sector currently accounts about 30-40% of total energy use worldwide [1] . Furthermore, the energy consumption of commercial and residential buildings is still increasing with the changes in working style, living standards, and climatic changes. Therefore the design of energy-efficient buildings that result in the reduction of energy consumption has become a highly concerning issue due to the limited reserves of fossil fuel, environmental issues, global warming, and energy crisis.

It is believed that the building sector currently accounts about 30-40% of total energy use worldwide.


However, evidences from field studies and implementation of pressure management strategies all over the world showed that the leakage rate into a WDN can be more sensitive to pressure than what said by the Torricelli law, with exponents for pressure head P in the range 0.5 to 2.95 [8] . This has led to assume that the effective area A E can be pressure-dependent, in relation to the presence of various types of leaks, affecting different elements of the network, with materials of different deformability. Therefore, from the hydraulic modelling perspective, given the complexity of representing physically such a large number of individual leaks within the WDN (i.e., understanding the behavior of leaks individually), it is very important to rely on a model for leakage representation within the hydraulic simulation model, which is efficient for pressure management strategies and network model calibration.

However, evidences from field studies and implementation of pressure management strategies all over the world showed that the leakage rate into a WDN can be more sensitive to pressure than what said by the Torricelli law, with exponents for pressure head P in the range 0.5 to 2.95.


The use of various methods proved productive as this enabled the study object to be observed from different angles. Following this line of thought, the researcher should develop an awareness of the plethora of perspectives that permeate any social environment (Howarth, 2014) . Bearing in mind this idea of mixed methods, we present our reflections on the outcomes of the focus group discussions with secondary school students, with an analysis of the narrative of the film used to stimulate the discussion.

Following this line of thought, the researcher should develop an awareness of the plethora of perspectives that permeate any social environment.


For valuation of (synthetic) CDO and Tranched Index, in practice, a standard approach is to employ the Gaussian copula model of Li [7] . However, this model is limited in that its framework is completely static, failing to capture the dynamic evolution of CDO tranches. In general, the portfolio credit derivatives are subject to two kinds of risks. One is a default event risk where any underlying firm involved in CDO fails to fulfill its obligation. The other is a credit spread risk due to the change of the default intensity over time. In dealing with either type of risks, it is absolutely necessary to develop a dynamic model incorporating the stochastic behavior of the macro economic condition and its influences on the default intensity.

For valuation of (synthetic) CDO and Tranched Index, in practice, a standard approach is to employ the Gaussian copula model of Li.


The traditional approach to material selection is to conduct trial by error experiments. This procedure when used extensively may deviate design engineers from the overall management goal of the firm, thus leading to cost overruns and project delays (Ashby & Cebon, 1993) . Any material selection decision based on intuition without a scientific framework should not be taken as conventional wisdom, thus avoiding engineering failures (Girubha & Vinodh, 2012) .

This procedure when used extensively may deviate design engineers from the overall management goal of the firm, thus leading to cost overruns and project delays.

Any material selection decision based on intuition without a scientific framework should not be taken as conventional wisdom, thus avoiding engineering failures.


Aerosols are of central importance for atmospheric chemistry and physics, the biosphere and climate (Po¨schl, 2005) . Atmospheric aerosol particles in the free troposphere have a strong influence on direct and indirect radiation effects in the Earth's atmosphere (Andreae, 1995) . The primary parameters that determine the environmental effects of aerosol particles are their concentration, size, shape, structure and chemical composition (Po¨schl, 2005) . These parameters, however, are spatially and temporally highly variable due to the aerosol having multiple sources. For example, primary aerosol particles are formed by the disintegration of bulk material on the Earth's surface (e.g. marine biota, sea salt and dust), whereas secondary aerosols are produced by chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Aerosols are of central importance for atmospheric chemistry and physics, the biosphere and climate.

Atmospheric aerosol particles in the free troposphere have a strong influence on direct and indirect radiation effects in the Earth's atmosphere.

The primary parameters that determine the environmental effects of aerosol particles are their concentration, size, shape, structure and chemical composition.


As a baseline code to study SMT-aware optimizations, we have employed a modified version of the well-known SOM-PAK package from the Helsinki University of Technology [18] . This tuned version already includes some code rearrangement that allows for an efficient exploitation of the Intel's SSE and SSE2 media extensions. Experiments have been performed on an Intel Pentium 4 running at 3.2 Ghz (1MB L2 cache, 1Gb DDR400). Thread synchronization has been performed using POSIX Threads.

As a baseline code to study SMT-aware optimizations, we have employed a modified version of the well-known SOM-PAK package from the Helsinki University of Technology.


Whether or not the proposed modification applies to reality, our findings are of some interest and can be rephrased as follows: how much should we modify GR in order to "renormalize" the stress tensor (1.1) from the IR side -with an IR modification -instead than with local gravitational counterterms? How different from GR would the conjectured theory be? We have shown that the required modification is indeed extremely tiny. For a free scalar in a cosmological set-up, Fourier modes of physical momentum p get modified by an amount of order H 2 /p 2 . On cosmological scales, such a modification goes in the direction of an effective acceleration but is still too weak to give full account of supernovae observation [10] . It will also be interesting to modify, along these same lines, a black hole or a stellar solution, also to check the compatibility with constraints coming from the solar system and strongly self gravitating objects. At the level of order of magnitude estimate, however, we do not expect relevant corrections. The proposed modification affects those phenomena whose relevant length scales are of order the inverse curvature. Atomic spectra and and nuclear physics should be untouched, even in the presence of strong gravitational fields. The reason is that the inverse (Ricci) curvature is roughly of order M 2 Pl /ρ, ρ being the energy density, and this typically gives a huge number in atomic size units. For what concerns the solar system, its entire dynamics is well within the average curvature radius. If we try to compare the typical solar system distances to, say, the Weyl curvature, those are always extremely small. An order of magnitude estimate gives (Weyl curvature) −1/2 ≈ r(r/3Km) 1/2 , r being the distance from the sun. This means that, within the solar system, and as opposed to high-redshift cosmology, objects are always at distances much smaller than the inverse curvature.

On cosmological scales, such a modification goes in the direction of an effective acceleration but is still too weak to give full account of supernovae observation.


The cosmological distances derived with equation (1.8) in a matter dominated Einstein-de Sitter Universe are corrected in the direction of an apparent "acceleration" and show some resemblance to those of a ΛCDM Universe (Figs. 1 and 2, Sec. 7). A more quantitative analysis will follow [10] . The paper is organized as follows. The general motivations and the main idea are given in Secs. 1.1 and 2 which are basically taken from the shorter note [2] . In Sec. 3 we review the standard calculation of (1.1) for a free scalar in a flat FRW Universe. In Sec. 4 we modify the Fourier operators in order to get rid of the quadratic divergences there encountered. Modified dispersion relations are introduced in Sec. 5 as an essentially equivalent, but more practical, way to look at the proposed modification. In Sec. 6 we attempt to make sense, globally, of the proposed modification and study its implications on large scales. In Sec. 7 we finally derive some cosmological consequences, such as the modified luminosity distance. Potential problems and future perspective are finally summarized in Sec. 8.

A more quantitative analysis will follow.

The paper is organized as follows.

The general motivations and the main idea are given in Secs. 1.1 and 2 which are basically taken from the shorter note.


Thus, it was the purpose of the work presented herein to explore the relationship between inherent ileal digestibility of amino acids in the notional 'control' diet and the magnitude of the response to bacterial protease. Furthermore, functional patterns of response can give mechanistic insight where, for example, relationships exist between amino acid effect and the amino acid profile of endogenous proteins. These correlations have been shown previously for the amino acid effects of phytases and the relationship with the amino acid profile of pepsin and mucin (Cowieson et al., 2008) . Finally, an overview of the effect of protease on ileal digestibility of amino acids is useful to aid in least cost formulation and for consideration of alignment to the ideal protein concept.

These correlations have been shown previously for the amino acid effects of phytases and the relationship with the amino acid profile of pepsin and mucin.


Vacuum cooling has proven to be a fast way of removing field heat from certain vegetables. For example, a present-day unit can cool a load of up to 800 lettuce cartons (24 heads per carton) fuom27 oC to 1 oC in 30 min. Cooling by this method is a specific application of evaporative cooling (Greiner and Kleis, 1962) . The absolute pressure of the atmosphere surrounding the product is reduced, which results in lowering the boiling temperature of water in the product. If the pressure is lowered enough, water will boil at the temperature of the vegetable. Sensible heat is given up by the product to change liquid water into vapor, and the product cools.

Cooling by this method is a specific application of evaporative cooling.


It has been experimentally observed that simultaneously applying NBI and IRCH heating simultaneously results in more heating than the sum of either of them alone [18] . Our results provide a possible explanation for this phenomenon. ICRH-heated minorities are more affected by the turbulence because they have the opportunity to transport radially before being heated. Therefore, if one heats ions via ICRH that are already at high energy (via, for example, NBI), where turbulence has less effect, then one avoids the strong-transport region of phase space altogether.

It has been experimentally observed that simultaneously applying NBI and IRCH heating simultaneously results in more heating than the sum of either of them alone.


T. A. Ananth and N. Karthikeyan were proposed power-aware on-demand routing protocol called PA-AOMDV, to increase lifetime of Sensor Networks. In the proposed protocol the source is capable to anticipate the traffic of the request, and each node on the route makes energy reservation based on the anticipated traffic. In view of the fact that a node knows not only its physical remaining energy, but also the expected energy possibly to be obsessive in the future, it will report its energy status more perfectly. A new cost utility is used in route selection, which takes both shortest-hop and maximum-lifetime into kindness. Results show that, the energy consumption in PA-AOMDV is more balanced than in the common on-demand protocols, and PA-AOMDV is with much longer system lifetime, along with higher delivery rate [19] .

Results show that, the energy consumption in PA-AOMDV is more balanced than in the common on-demand protocols, and PA-AOMDV is with much longer system lifetime, along with higher delivery rate.


Although many research works have been conducted on the performance and enhancement of the WSCNs, Bio inspired computing provides another dimension for enhancing the energy utilization of WSCNs. Bio inspired computing is used to find the optimal solution for the various problems in different areas of research. Recently the Bio inspired optimization techniques are adopted by different types of network researchers to enhance the life time of their network and proved that the biological species such as ant, bee, swarm as an analogy providing a natural model for combinatorial optimization problems [6] - [9] .

Recently the Bio inspired optimization techniques are adopted by different types of network researchers to enhance the life time of their network and proved that the biological species such as ant, bee, swarm as an analogy providing a natural model for combinatorial optimization problems.


In this paper, we studied the perception of sustainability among tourists and if socio-demographic and/or other factors have significant implications for the propensity to increase expenditures for sustainable holiday offers. Both objectives were addressed using a survey of tourists visiting the mountainous region of South Tyrol. The survey generated data on gender, age, educational levels, accommodation star ratings, average overnight-stay expenditures per person, annual family incomes, as well as the respondent's propensity to increase expenditures sustainable holiday offers. Tourist perceptions of sustainability were analyzed using a best-worst scaling method applied to important aspects of sustainable tourism in a mountain area. To experience nature in an intense and profound way was considered the most important aspect of sustainable tourism whereas to grapple with the culture of the host region was perceived as the least important aspect of sustainable tourism. Hence, it seems that in the mind-sets of tourists, sustainable tourism-related aspects are biased by environmental sustainability [17] .

Hence, it seems that in the mind-sets of tourists, sustainable tourism-related aspects are biased by environmental sustainability.


The LHC will continue to accumulate a large amount of data at unprecedented energies for many years, which will improve on current understanding of Higgs physics. It also faces certain limitations intrinsic to a hadron collider, including the uncertainty of large QCDrelated backgrounds. The LHC can measure particular channels involving specific modes of production and decay in combination, and thus constrain combinations of coupling constants and the unknown width. Unfortunately, because it cannot measure a single coupling independent of the width, it cannot place strong bounds on the absolute values of couplings, nor on the total width unless additional, model-dependent, assumptions are made [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . Interference effects can be used to bound the width at a few times its SM value [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] . A "Higgs factory" such as the International Linear Collider has the potential to make precision measurements of Higgs physics that take advantage of the simple reconstructable kinematics and clean experimental environment. One especially appealing feature of the ILC is the ability to accurately extract the Higgs width in a model-independent manner.

Unfortunately, because it cannot measure a single coupling independent of the width, it cannot place strong bounds on the absolute values of couplings, nor on the total width unless additional, model-dependent, assumptions are made.

Interference effects can be used to bound the width at a few times its SM value.


The frequency of the most common CYP3A5*3 variant alleles differs among populations and races, ranging from 27-50% in the African-American population, 60-70% among Asians, and up to 85-95% in individuals of Caucasian ancestry, in which the expresser variant (CYP3A5*1) is uncommon (Park et al., 2008; Coto et al., 2010; Gebeyehu et al., 2011) . In addition to the diverse CYP3A5*3 frequency across human populations, there are remarkable ethnic-related differences with regard to the frequency of CYP3A5 variants, with an excess of rare variants (Thompson et al., 2004; Sinues et al., 2007; Azarpira et al., 2011) . There has been no detailed allele and diplotype analysis of the most common CYP3A5 genetic variant in the Macedonian population.

The frequency of the most common CYP3A5*3 variant alleles differs among populations and races, ranging from 27-50% in the African-American population, 60-70% among Asians, and up to 85-95% in individuals of Caucasian ancestry, in which the expresser variant (CYP3A5*1) is uncommon.

In addition to the diverse CYP3A5*3 frequency across human populations, there are remarkable ethnic-related differences with regard to the frequency of CYP3A5 variants, with an excess of rare variants.


In the studied population of 174 subjects, 0.011 (n = 2) were homozygous for the *1 allele, 0.856 (n = 149) for the *3 allele, and 0.132 (n = 23) were *1/*3 heterozygotes. Since heterozygotes for CYP3A5*3 may have some CY-P3A5 activity, we estimate that 0.86 of the Macedonian population do not have a CYP3A5 enzymatic activity. This is in agreement with the finding that 10% of the Caucasians were high expressers of CYP3A5 (Van Schaik et al., 2002) .

This is in agreement with the finding that 10% of the Caucasians were high expressers of CYP3A5.


The above atomic-level gazes capture the most general, core and fine-grained gaze communication patterns in human social interactions. We further study the longterm, coarse-grained temporal compositions of the above six atomic-level gaze communication patterns, and generalize them into totally five gaze communication events, i.e., Non-communicative, Mutual Gaze, Gaze Aversion, Gaze Following and Joint Attention, as illustrated in the right part of Fig 1. Typically the temporal order of atomic gazes means different phases of each event. Non-communicative (see Fig. 1 (a) ) and Mutual Gaze (see Fig. 1 (b) ) are onephase events and simply consist of single and mutual re-spectively. Gaze Aversion (see Fig. 1 (c)) starts from mutual, then avert to single, demonstrating the avoidance of mutual eye contact. Gaze Following (see Fig. 1 (d) ) is composed of follow and share, but without mutual, meaning that there is only one-way awareness and observation, no shared attention nor knowledge. Joint Attention (see Fig. 1 (e) ) is the most advanced and appears when two agents have the same intention to share attention on a common stimuli and both know that they are sharing something as common ground. Such event consists of several phases, typically beginning with mutual gaze to establish communication channel, proceeding to refer gaze to draw attention to the target, and follow gaze to check the referred stimuli, and cycling back to mutual gaze to ensure that the experience is shared [39] . Clearly, recognizing and understanding atomic-level gaze communication patterns is necessary and significant first-step for comprehensively understanding human gaze behaviors.

Such event consists of several phases, typically beginning with mutual gaze to establish communication channel, proceeding to refer gaze to draw attention to the target, and follow gaze to check the referred stimuli, and cycling back to mutual gaze to ensure that the experience is shared.


In this work, we introduce the task of understanding human gaze communication in social interactions. Evidence from psychology suggests that eyes are a cognitively special stimulus, with unique "hard-wired" pathways in the brain dedicated to their interpretation and humans have the unique ability to infer others' intentions from eye gazes [15] . Gaze communication is a primitive form of human communication, whose underlying social-cognitive and social-motivational infrastructure acted as a psychological platform on which various linguistic systems could be built [59] . Though verbal communication has become the primary form in social interaction, gaze communication still plays an important role in conveying hidden mental state and augmenting verbal communication [2] . To better understand human communication, we not only need natural language processing (NLP), but also require a systematical study of human gaze communication mechanism.

Evidence from psychology suggests that eyes are a cognitively special stimulus, with unique "hard-wired" pathways in the brain dedicated to their interpretation and humans have the unique ability to infer others' intentions from eye gazes.

Gaze communication is a primitive form of human communication, whose underlying social-cognitive and social-motivational infrastructure acted as a psychological platform on which various linguistic systems could be built.

Though verbal communication has become the primary form in social interaction, gaze communication still plays an important role in conveying hidden mental state and augmenting verbal communication.


Fire behaviour and management research cannot develop fully without better quantification of the various fire behaviour phenomena that occur under moderate and extreme weather conditions. To do so requires comprehensive and accurate data [20] . Experimental research into intense fire behaviour cannot be undertaken as these fires cannot be safely managed; as a result, alternative sources of data are required and the only opportunity to collect information about fires under moderate and extreme conditions is to collect observations at wildfires as they occur. Case-study fires are commonly used in research [2, 21, 22] . However, data is usually collated from various sources post event, hence data availability and quality is highly variable. There is currently no formal procedure for ensuring data collected during and post-fire is appropriate for meeting research requirements (consistent, accurate, correct and complete data). Without new data regarding wildfire behaviour, fire research, the future development of fire simulation tools and the associated decision support systems will be unable to improve significantly.

To do so requires comprehensive and accurate data.

Case-study fires are commonly used in research.


Power cables are subject to electrical, thermal, mechanical, and environmental stresses on a constant basis when in service. These stresses, and occasionally problems resulting from inadequate installation and maintenance practices, lead to insulation degradation or defects [1] [2] . In many instances the deterioration leads to partial discharge (PD) which exacerbates the degradation of the insulation and shortens the cable life [3] . Detection of incipient fault through PD monitoring is therefore of great importance as it allows timely maintenance and replacement of assets to be carried out and unplanned outage to be reduced [4] [5] .

These stresses, and occasionally problems resulting from inadequate installation and maintenance practices, lead to insulation degradation or defects.

In many instances the deterioration leads to partial discharge (PD) which exacerbates the degradation of the insulation and shortens the cable life.

Detection of incipient fault through PD monitoring is therefore of great importance as it allows timely maintenance and replacement of assets to be carried out and unplanned outage to be reduced.


We demonstrated similar emerging themes through both quantitative and qualitative methods. One of the most commonly identified barriers was time constraint further affected by short staffing in paediatrics. A need for stronger academic culture in paediatrics was identified by all interviewees and most frequently perceived as a major facilitator by survey respondents. These findings are in keeping with previous studies in paediatric clinicians and emergency medicine doctors outside the UK [17, 18] .

These findings are in keeping with previous studies in paediatric clinicians and emergency medicine doctors outside the UK.


Dental porcelains have esthetic properties, biocompatibility and wear resistance, so they are being used in dentistry [1] . However, porcelain fragile structure is decreased the using for many years. The fracture of on the porcelain surface and the degradation of surface finish, as opposed to the attrition on the teeth as well as increased accumulation of plaque causes. Rough porcelain surfaces significantly reduce the strength of ceramic restorations and make them prone to fracture [2] [3] .

Dental porcelains have esthetic properties, biocompatibility and wear resistance, so they are being used in dentistry.

Rough porcelain surfaces significantly reduce the strength of ceramic restorations and make them prone to fracture.


Recent studies have demonstrate how structural variations in the genome can alter DNA interaction and topologically associating domains (TADs) in the context of pathology and disease (Franke et al., 2016; Hnisz et al., 2016; Lupianez et al., 2015; Nilsson et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2017) . However, the consequences of chromosomal rearrangements during genome evolution have not been extensively explored. In this study, we use a high-resolution map of gibbon-human breaks of synteny (BOS) from the heavily reshuffled gibbon genome and genetic and epigenetic data to thoroughly examine the evolutionary relationship between chromosomal rearrangements and structure of TADs.

Recent studies have demonstrate how structural variations in the genome can alter DNA interaction and topologically associating domains (TADs) in the context of pathology and disease.


Using gibbon Hi-C data, we visualized genome-wide DNA interactions and detected multiple nonreference rearrangements, the most evident of which was experimentally validated and represented a known polymorphic translocation (Figure 2A) (Koehler et al., 1995) . We also identified unusual longdistance "ghost interactions", resulting from a very recent (~2 mya) pericentromeric inversion in NLE7 ( Figure 2C) . Ghost interactions, which to our knowledge have not been described before, indicate that preservation of long-distance DNA interactions in the 3D space may be a transitional solution to maintain the regulatory networks after a large-scale genomic rearrangement has occurred. It is not clear how these ghost interactions are maintained and for how long, but further analysis of recent or polymorphic rearrangements in the human population and other very recent evolutionary rearrangements, may help shed some light on this phenomenon.

Using gibbon Hi-C data, we visualized genome-wide DNA interactions and detected multiple nonreference rearrangements, the most evident of which was experimentally validated and represented a known polymorphic translocation (Figure 2A).


When the plastic strain increases, the elementary plastic strain increases because of dislocation multiplication [58] . Thus, the waiting time and the time between two band formations increases. When the strain rate increases, the waiting time and the time between two band formations decrease, as observed during the experiments.

When the plastic strain increases, the elementary plastic strain increases because of dislocation multiplication.


The Maxwell relation describes, in the reference shape, the equilibrium of an unstructured singular surface as is determined by the adjacent parts of the body; the variations used mimic a virtual motion of the separating surface due to growth of one part at the expenses of the other. When the separating surface is given thermomechanical structure, other terms may enter the equilibrium relation through a variational approach. Yet no variational principle can handle dynamical situations with general forms of dissipation. The Maxwell relation, however generalized, represents the static version of a balance law for configurational forces that cannot be derived as a stationarity condition [9] .

The Maxwell relation, however generalized, represents the static version of a balance law for configurational forces that cannot be derived as a stationarity condition.


The question whether configurational and standard balances are just different forms of statements having the same physical content has been asked ever since configurational forces and their balances where first introduced-in an essentially variational manner-by Eshelby in his pioneering work of the 1950s [3] [4] [5] . Although it is clear today to all knowledgeable researchers in continuum physics and materials science that the answer is generally negative (which makes for the interest in configurational forces both from the foundational point of view and in applications), the question is still often asked. This paper is an updated version of an earlier educational manuscript [15] . In the simplest context of finite elasticity and for a discontinuity in the material organization modelled by an immobile, unstructured singular surface, it is shown that the bulk balances of configurational and standard forces are indeed equivalent, but that there is more to the jump balance of configurational forces than a rephrasing of the jump balance of standard forces: the additional information is carried by the so-called Maxwell relation at the singular surface. The reason for this is to be found in the different types of variations of the energy functional that yield the two sets of balances: while standard balances follow from standard variations of the current shape of the body, leaving the † Email: ppg@uniroma2.it c Oxford University Press 2001 reference shape fixed, configurational balances follow from the stationarity of the energy functional with respect to variations of the reference shape, leaving the current shape fixed.

The question whether configurational and standard balances are just different forms of statements having the same physical content has been asked ever since configurational forces and their balances where first introduced-in an essentially variational manner-by Eshelby in his pioneering work of the 1950s.

This paper is an updated version of an earlier educational manuscript.


Participants were recruited from the WfH participant database. Contact details were obtained through the WfH program. The supplied sampling frame consisted of all individuals involved in WfH group walks who had given consent and provided an email address to be contacted for program evaluation purposes. To capture individuals who had recently participated in WfH, eligibility criteria was limited to individuals who had attended at least one WfH walk 6 months before the start of the study on 1 August 2011 [95] .

To capture individuals who had recently participated in WfH, eligibility criteria was limited to individuals who had attended at least one WfH walk 6 months before the start of the study on 1 August 2011.


There are several direction of exploration concerning means. Definitely the most popular are inequalities among different families of means. It could be seen in the by-now-classical monography [1] .

It could be seen in the by-now-classical monography.


The procedure presented in this paper displays results as precise, as precise are the input parameters used in the thermo-chemo-mechanical model. It is known that the model here used demonstrated its reliability for problems ran in the elastic regime and that it has been used in several real cases with great success [7, 11] . However, it is also well known that the numerical modeling of thermal stresses due to concrete hydration is sensitive to a series of input parameters, no matter which model is used. Depending on the structure analyzed, the input parameters will be more or less accurate (or even available) depending on the regional conditions and on the importance of the construction. This is the reality of practical applications as emphasized by Kuperman [29] . However, when a structure is to be constructed, construction managers must decide which concrete mix, placing temperature, and schedule, will be used to avoid thermal cracking and minimize costs. In this way, parameters that are not available will be estimated in a way that does not compromise the safety of the construction. The more these parameters are reliable, the more the analyses will be precise.

It is known that the model here used demonstrated its reliability for problems ran in the elastic regime and that it has been used in several real cases with great success.

This is the reality of practical applications as emphasized by Kuperman.


When a dam or any other massive concrete structure is designed, most of the characteristics that will determine the mechanical behavior are defined, such as geometry, vertical joints, reinforcement, concrete strengths and zoning [1] . In general, as the construction site is planned and organized, a formwork system is chosen and an ice production unit is implemented in the jobsite. After that, before the beginning of the construction, the construction management team performs studies aiming to define suitable concrete mixes and carrying out tests to determine the main thermo-chemo-mechanical properties of these materials. Depending on the importance of the construction, local standards, and technologies available, these studies will be more or less thorough. In general, the thermal properties (thermal capacity, thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion) and hydration properties (adiabatic or semi-adiabatic temperature evolution) are determined for one or more mix designs in use for the structures at hand.

When a dam or any other massive concrete structure is designed, most of the characteristics that will determine the mechanical behavior are defined, such as geometry, vertical joints, reinforcement, concrete strengths and zoning.


It should be stressed that several other parameters intervene in the development of stresses induced by hydration. Factors that may be mentioned, for example, are the degree of restriction imposed by the foundation, the formwork system and its thermal characteristics, the evolution of the environmental temperature and wind, etc. However, these parameters are not, in real case applications, at the time of the beginning of construction, a choice for the construction management team and they should be considered as fixed given parameters. Another possibility of varying the thermal stresses at the early ages is the use of a post-cooling system using tubes which can be filled with running water or air [3] . In the present paper such systems are not considered as variables of the optimization problem. However, at the present stage of the development of the optimization procedure, they can be considered as given fixed parameters of the structure.

Another possibility of varying the thermal stresses at the early ages is the use of a post-cooling system using tubes which can be filled with running water or air.


Polarity detection techniques fall under the wide umbrella of sentiment analysis [2, 12] . Several approaches have been proposed in the literature for polarity detection. A significant branch rely on lexicon-based features, due to the availability of lexical resources for sentiment analysis, such as, e.g., the lexicons SenticNet and SentiWordNet and a Twitter opinion lexicon, proposed in [13] [14] [15] [16] , respectively. Usually, lexicon-based approaches involve the extraction of term polarities from the sentiment lexicons and the aggregation of the single polarities to predict the overall sentiment of a piece of text.

Polarity detection techniques fall under the wide umbrella of sentiment analysis.

A significant branch rely on lexicon-based features, due to the availability of lexical resources for sentiment analysis, such as, e.g., the lexicons SenticNet and SentiWordNet and a Twitter opinion lexicon, proposed in, respectively.


Under in vivo conditions both the innate and adaptive immune systems influence homeostasis, in particular the recruitment of immune cells into the tumor-adjacent milieu is active and forms distinct immune contextures, thereby exerting profound impacts on clinical outcome. For example, T cell activation involves both positive and negative checkpoint signals to finely tune responses to prevent excessive pathological changes [17, 18] . The myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) population which encompasses immature dendritic cells, neutrophils, monocytes, and early myeloid progenitors implicates tumor-initiated endocrine signaling to the immune system through multiple chemokines such as granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor [19, 20] . Some immunosuppressive myeloid lineages not only inhibit adaptive immunity, but promote angiogenesis through secretion of soluble molecules like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A, basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) [21] . Independent of T cell activities, B cells are able to facilitate disease progression by fostering pro-tumoral inflammation [22] . Furthermore, type II tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) drastically affect tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and intravasation, and can prevent immune attack by natural killer (NK) and T cells during tumor development and after recovery from chemo-and/or immunotherapy [23] .

For example, T cell activation involves both positive and negative checkpoint signals to finely tune responses to prevent excessive pathological changes.

The myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) population which encompasses immature dendritic cells, neutrophils, monocytes, and early myeloid progenitors implicates tumor-initiated endocrine signaling to the immune system through multiple chemokines such as granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor.

Some immunosuppressive myeloid lineages not only inhibit adaptive immunity, but promote angiogenesis through secretion of soluble molecules like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A, basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β).

Independent of T cell activities, B cells are able to facilitate disease progression by fostering pro-tumoral inflammation.

Furthermore, type II tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) drastically affect tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and intravasation, and can prevent immune attack by natural killer (NK) and T cells during tumor development and after recovery from chemo-and/or immunotherapy.


Better design processes. If we want to build better recommender systems, we need to also be more inclusive of Machine Learning goals during UX and UI design processes, with metrics that tell designers whether and how the ML performance is affected by certain design decisions. This is because similar to the algorithmic standpoint, focusing only on the UX design and being oblivious to the learning algorithms in the back-end has been argued to be myopic [6, 10, 47] . The solution to this is to make Machine Learning also a design material in the UX design process [10] . An obvious challenge is to make Machine Learning effectiveness a graspable concept to UX designers, with the right balance of abstractness as well as technical soundness. Our notions of feedback quality and quantity as surrogate measures to learning effectiveness could offer a starting point, and these can also be easily obtained in the user testing stage. The notion of feedback quality we presented in this paper only allows for a relatively course-grained analysis by looking at the mean user ratings in separate bins, so it would be interesting to explore preferential statements as an alternative that could perhaps produce a more detailed picture -for example by ranking items that users interacted with in their session. It would also be interesting to look at other relevant properties of feedback data, such as how well it covers the entire space of items, to further enhance learning performance. Overall, we are convinced that including factors like feedback quality and quantity into user studies offers new possibilities to improving UX in the long run, going beyond short-term usability and satisfaction.

Better design processes.

This is because similar to the algorithmic standpoint, focusing only on the UX design and being oblivious to the learning algorithms in the back-end has been argued to be myopic.

The solution to this is to make Machine Learning also a design material in the UX design process.


Your task is to choose a movie you would like to watch now. We chose this task prompt because it reflects a common task in the recommender systems literature, called the Find Good Items task [17] . After viewing the instructions, they were assigned randomly to a condition and were presented with a brief information graphic that explained how they could obtain more information about an item (either by hovering or by clicking on the information button). Participants then had to choose a movie using the first interface from the first partition of movies. After that, they were reminded of the task prompt before having to select a movie again using the second interface and the second partition of movies. At the end, participants were asked to fill out a survey about their experiences with the two interfaces. Moreover, participants had to rate some of the movies with which they interacted previously.

We chose this task prompt because it reflects a common task in the recommender systems literature, called the Find Good Items task.


In other work with our study population, we found that scrounging behaviour is modified on the basis of kinship (Ha et al. 2003) . Thus, dominance may be important in the scrounging interactions between nonrelatives, but the occurrence of scrounging between relatives in our population obscured the relationship between dominance and theft. More intensive observations during periods where scrounging is most likely to occur (perhaps when bivalves and fish are available) would help to determine further whether dominance affects the interactions of nonrelatives. For example, subordinates may adjust the time that they spend foraging for certain prey items, depending on their risk of being robbed by dominant animals, or maintain greater interindividual distances, reducing their chances of being scrounged upon, or be scrounged upon as often as dominants because they use different prey items.

In other work with our study population, we found that scrounging behaviour is modified on the basis of kinship.


The absence of any notable influential factor in secondary psychopathic traits in women is interesting considering that previous research clearly implicates the effect of adverse childhood experiences (Krischer & Sevecke, 2008; Hicks et al., 2010) . Women who exhibit secondary psychopathic behavior may have been subjected to other influencing factors not measured in this study. These could include more specific adverse childhood experiences that do not pertain to parental bonding, such as physical abuse and parental conflict (Belsky et al., 1991) . Alternatively, a conglomerate of these factors might be necessary, while individual differences might exacerbate or attenuate certain influences. Furthermore, research shows that the expression of primary and secondary psychopathy in women can vary as a response to cultural factors (Neumann, Schmitt, Carter, Embley, & Hare, 2012) . In this situation also, it might serve one woman to employ an anxious attachment type, or another woman, an avoidant attachment type. Thus a heterogeneous environmental input might result in a heterogeneous output of differently tailored adaptive attachment types, such that no particular one is associated with secondary psychopathy. Overall, these findings support the notion that, although the precise dynamics are less clear, secondary psychopathy in women is more environmentally influenced and as such, may demonstrate adaptive developmental plasticity.

The absence of any notable influential factor in secondary psychopathic traits in women is interesting considering that previous research clearly implicates the effect of adverse childhood experiences.

These could include more specific adverse childhood experiences that do not pertain to parental bonding, such as physical abuse and parental conflict.

Furthermore, research shows that the expression of primary and secondary psychopathy in women can vary as a response to cultural factors.


As a result of the lack of head-to-head clinical trials comparing the efficacy of liraglutide versus dapagliflozin, estimation of the relative treatment effects between the interventions was derived from a network meta-analysis (NMA) [16] . The NMA included 17 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (8784 patients), which were broadly consistent with the NN2211-1860 and LEAD-4 trials in terms of key baseline characteristics such as age and BMI (Table A1 in the online supplementary material); baseline HbA1c in the NN2211-1860 and LEAD-4 studies was at the upper end of trials included in the NMA. The relative treatment effects reported in the NMA were then applied to the estimates for liraglutide on HbA1c, systolic blood pressure, weight, and hypoglycemic events (severe and mild) as reported in the NN2211-1860 and LEAD-4 studies in order to obtain estimates for dapagliflozin.

As a result of the lack of head-to-head clinical trials comparing the efficacy of liraglutide versus dapagliflozin, estimation of the relative treatment effects between the interventions was derived from a network meta-analysis (NMA).


The mating system and the genetic structure of a species are directly related to its ecology and genetics (Loveless et al., 1998) . A species can produce its descendants by different types of mating such as random outcrossing, correlated outcrossing, biparental inbreeding, self-fertilization, apomixes and their combinations. The mating system, together with the mechanism of pollen and seed dispersion, determines part of the genetic structure of populations (Hamrick and Loveless, 1986) . Species resulting from outcrossing maintain most of their genetic variability distributed within populations, in contrast to predominantly selfed species in which most of the genetic variability is distributed between populations (Hamrick, 1983; Hamrick and Godt, 1989) . Studies on the mating system of tropical tree species using genetic markers have shown that most species are allogamous or possess a mixed mating system with a predominance of allogamy (Murawski et al., 1990; Murawski, 1995) .

The mating system and the genetic structure of a species are directly related to its ecology and genetics.

The mating system, together with the mechanism of pollen and seed dispersion, determines part of the genetic structure of populations.

Species resulting from outcrossing maintain most of their genetic variability distributed within populations, in contrast to predominantly selfed species in which most of the genetic variability is distributed between populations.

Studies on the mating system of tropical tree species using genetic markers have shown that most species are allogamous or possess a mixed mating system with a predominance of allogamy.


As well as seeking to prolong survival, maintaining neurocognitive function in these patients is pivotal to their quality of life. The clinically apparent metastases can often be treated locally by neurosurgery and/or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), with the option of postoperative whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The objective of WBRT in this setting is to treat clinically undetectable micrometastases elsewhere in the brain; these are considered likely to be present in many patients and, if not controlled, will later manifest as distant intracranial treatment failure. However the role of WBRT after local treatment is controversial. Proponents say that WBRT to prevent or delay intra-cranial disease recurrence provides worthwhile palliation. Opponents argue against WBRT as a survival benefit has never been demonstrated in this situation and there is a risk of neurotoxicity. These opinions are based on studies in other malignancies, predominantly non small-cell lung cancer and lymphoma, and retrospective analyses [4] [5] [6] [7] . There have been no randomised clinical trials (RCTs) for this specific scenario in patients with metastatic melanoma. A complicating factor is that there exists a strong anecdotal impression among some clinicians that melanoma is a uniformly radioresistant tumour, although there is no level 1 clinical evidence for this. As a result, current clinical practice varies widely, with some units actively encouraging WBRT while others rarely or never offer it.

These opinions are based on studies in other malignancies, predominantly non small-cell lung cancer and lymphoma, and retrospective analyses.


The traditional form of contractual arrangement within the construction industry is perceived as being poorly suited to the open and transparent working relationship. The acknowledgement of the important role of motivation and its influence on project success has thereby led to the increased use of incentive schemes (Ashley and Workman, 1986) . Many organisations including developers and contractors have been striving to gain hands-on experience with incentive fee-based contracts in solving potential problems facing the construction industry today. This research study, through an extensive review of contemporary literature and an industry-wide questionnaire survey conducted in Hong Kong, has accomplished a comprehensive analysis of the motives and benefits based on a number of GMP/TCC construction projects.

The acknowledgement of the important role of motivation and its influence on project success has thereby led to the increased use of incentive schemes.


By using a threshold to choose a few wavelet domain coefficients, wavelets can represent an approximation of the analyzed signal in a compact form. This makes wavelets an appropriate choice for compression applications [3] . Wavelets have the ability to detect characteristics of nonstationary signals due to their finite nature that describes local features better than say sinusoids. Non-stationary signals are stochastic signals whose statistical properties change with time [1] . Such signals are met in many areas of research including computer network measurements.

This makes wavelets an appropriate choice for compression applications.

Non-stationary signals are stochastic signals whose statistical properties change with time.


Einstein gravity in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter (adS) spacetime sits at the crossroad of the simplicity of lower-dimensional spacetime and the richness of higherdimensional spacetime. There is no propagating massless spinning fields but there are non-trivial Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black holes, be they neutral, charged or rotating [1] . In three-dimensional spacetime, the Einstein gravity also accommodates many interesting extensions including, notably, the higher-spin gravity [2, 3] .

There is no propagating massless spinning fields but there are non-trivial Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black holes, be they neutral, charged or rotating.

In three-dimensional spacetime, the Einstein gravity also accommodates many interesting extensions including, notably, the higher-spin gravity.


In this section, we will firstly show that the segment orientation significantly improves the alignment accuracy and then compare the OMSA to one of the top-leading generated profile-to-profile alignment methods, HHalign [45] . As the outputs of sequence-to-structure alignment, rawscores generated by OMSA negatively relate to the structural similarities. However, only the rawscores derived by the same query protein are comparable; they cannot be directly used as a criterion to evaluate the structure similarity between different alignment pairs. Thus, we transform the rawscores to rawscore correlation (RC), which bridges the rawscores and the structure similarity by normalizing the rawscores to interval (0, 1]. Finally, the RC is applied to OMP discrimination and the OMP fold recognition.

In this section, we will firstly show that the segment orientation significantly improves the alignment accuracy and then compare the OMSA to one of the top-leading generated profile-to-profile alignment methods, HHalign.


Traditional ERP analysis is performed in time domain using the amplitude and latency of the P300s. This analysis reveals only a fraction of the information available in the ERP, however, since ERPs are non-stationary signals, whose spectral content vary in time. Other studies have shown that the ERPs, and the P300 component in particular, consist of the superposition of multiple functional components, where these components extend for different, yet overlapping, time intervals in different frequency bands [6, 7] . This makes the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) an appropriate tool for the analysis of ERPs, as also shown in our earlier studies [8, 9] .

Other studies have shown that the ERPs, and the P300 component in particular, consist of the superposition of multiple functional components, where these components extend for different, yet overlapping, time intervals in different frequency bands.

This makes the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) an appropriate tool for the analysis of ERPs, as also shown in our earlier studies.


While the metabolic pathways of both FGF21 and thyroid hormone remain complex and not fully elucidated, a recent study reported that mice treated with exogenous T3 showed a dose-dependent increase in hepatic FGF21 expression and a decrease in FGF21 expression in white adipose tissue [14] . This finding vanished in gene knockout mice for PPARα, an upstream signal of FGF21 expression, suggesting a PPARα-dependent regulation of FGF21 by thyroid hormone. On the other hand, our study examined changes in circulating FGF21 in patients exposed to chronic the elevation of circulating FGF21 in patients with hypothyroidism might arise from an altered balance between synthesis and clearance. Thyroid hormone promotes metabolism by increasing both processes, and an imbalance between synthesis and clearance accounts for dyslipidemia in patients with hypothyroidism. Although the mechanism of FGF synthesis and clearance is unclear, an altered balance in synthesis and clearance might account for the increased levels of circulating FGF21. Since the mechanism by which plasma FGF21 concentration is elevated is unclear, it may be untimely to draw the implications of increased plasma FGF21 concentrations in hypothyroidism at this point. However, the elevation of FGF21 in subjects with hypothyroidism, independently of measureable parameters of altered metabolism, shows that the pathways of energy metabolism are intermingled at a more fundamental level, and gives us a new insight to how thyroid hormone works for which further researches may focus on to better understand thyroid physiology. Also, this raises the possibility that FGF21 may serve as a more comprehensive target in those patients whose symptoms are not fully improved by thyroid hormone replacement alone or in those who have are either unable to take thyroid hormones or thyroid hormone resistant. Hence, FGF21 may serve as a marker helpful in identifying undetected metabolic derangements other than already known regulators of the FGF21 for those in need of further assessment.

While the metabolic pathways of both FGF21 and thyroid hormone remain complex and not fully elucidated, a recent study reported that mice treated with exogenous T3 showed a dose-dependent increase in hepatic FGF21 expression and a decrease in FGF21 expression in white adipose tissue.


The Louise program outperforms the TheLMA based solver by a factor of up to 1.8, however the performance increase is not proportional to the gains in data transfer. Using the CUDA profiler shows that, because of the synchronisation barrier required after gathering the data at the beginning of the main computation kernel, a large proportion of the load operations are stalled, thus exposing the high latency of the device memory. It is also worth mentioning that the performance of Louise grows with the size of the cavity, which is likely to be caused by an increasing cache reuse. Indeed, since the blocks are dispatched to the SMs in an ordered fashion, a larger computation domain increases the probability to have consecutive blocks processed concurrently, thus improving the data locality. With Louise, performance goes up to nearly 2500 MLUPS which is close to the performance reported for a TheLMA based multi-GPU solver running on a cluster of eight Fermi GPUs [14] .

With Louise, performance goes up to nearly 2500 MLUPS which is close to the performance reported for a TheLMA based multi-GPU solver running on a cluster of eight Fermi GPUs.


Two Hopf algebras are called monoidally Morita-Takeuchi equivalent, if their comodule categories are monoidally equivalent. Bichon obtained that B(E) (for any E ∈ GL n ( ) with n ≥ 2) and O q (SL 2 ) are monoidally Morita-Takeuchi equivalent when q 2 + tr(E t E −1 )q + 1 = 0 [6, Theorem 1.1]. By applying this monoidal equivalence, Bichon obtained a free Yetter-Drinfeld module resolution (Definition 2.3.6) of the trivial Yetter-Drinfeld module over B(E) [7] . This turns out to be the key ingredient to prove the CY property of B(E) [7, 35] . Note that the quantized coordinate ring O q (SL 2 ) is well-known to be twisted CY. Thus it is natural to ask the following question.

By applying this monoidal equivalence, Bichon obtained a free Yetter-Drinfeld module resolution (Definition 2.3.6) of the trivial Yetter-Drinfeld module over B(E).

This turns out to be the key ingredient to prove the CY property of B(E).


Nitrogen use efficiency showed a quadratic variance with increased N rates with a maximum point of 18 kg grain kg -1 N supplied, which was achieved by applying 90 kg N ha -1 ( Figure 4B ). Decreased NUE was also achieved for white oat subjected to N rates by measuring absorption efficiency, remobilization, and fertilization (Kolchinski and Schuch, 2003) . Nitrogen use efficiency reflects the quantity of grains produced per unit of N supplied (Good et al., 2004) . Therefore, the results found in this study suggest that plants do not use this nutrient efficiently under high N rates because plants invest excessively in vegetative structures and do not efficiently remobilize this nutrient to the grains at the filling stage above a certain level of N supply; this phenomenon is known as luxury consumption.

Decreased NUE was also achieved for white oat subjected to N rates by measuring absorption efficiency, remobilization, and fertilization.

Nitrogen use efficiency reflects the quantity of grains produced per unit of N supplied.


Despite our retrospective approach, data collection was complete, with no patients needing to be excluded as a result of missing data. Because of the retrospective nature of this study and the infeasibility of adopting an intentionto-treat analysis as a result of our protocol mandating a primary laparoscopic approach in patients with suspected appendicitis, a certain selection bias with regard to the choice of the primary surgical approach cannot be excluded and may have affected the results. Interestingly, as shown by subgroup analysis of complications occurred after open procedures, secondary conversion had no negative effect on perioperative morbidity. Baseline clinical differences between patients in the laparoscopic and open groups were detected in our series; nevertheless, on univariate analysis, none of the variables was found to be a significant risk factor for the development of organ/space SSI. A further limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size. However, previous studies have indicated that more than 2000 patients with perforated appendicitis would be required in order to achieve statistical significance in analysis of intra-abdominal abscess rate, constituting for a single institution an impractical task [24, 25] .

However, previous studies have indicated that more than 2000 patients with perforated appendicitis would be required in order to achieve statistical significance in analysis of intra-abdominal abscess rate, constituting for a single institution an impractical task.


Versions of it have been used in smart sensor implementations [14] [15] . One drawback is that an array of uniform EMDs will be limited to detection over a very specific range of target speeds and spatial frequency patterns. One way to overcome this is to create an array or several arrays of differently tuned EMDs.

Versions of it have been used in smart sensor implementations.