Despite substantial success with practical applications using the IB method, it still has some drawbacks from the numerical point of view. Firstly, the method is only first-order accurate, whereas second-order accurate fluid solvers are used. The immersed elastic structure is usually represented one-dimensionally lower than the fluid space so that the exerted force is singular (delta function like), and smoothing the delta function in a regular finite difference scheme causes the method to be first-order accurate only. Although there have been several attempts to improve accuracy, even some including adaptive local mesh refinements near the immersed boundary, formally those methods still remain to be made second-order accurate [6, 7, 17, 22, 28] .

Although there have been several attempts to improve accuracy, even some including adaptive local mesh refinements near the immersed boundary, formally those methods still remain to be made second-order accurate.


In this paper we will continue our investigation of multifield α-attractors following the earlier work [1] . Cosmological α-attractors form a broad recently discovered class of inflationary models [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] . These models give nearly model-independent cosmological predictions n s ≈ 1 − 2 N , r ≈ 12α N 2 , providing a very good match to the recent observational data [12, 13] .

In this paper we will continue our investigation of multifield α-attractors following the earlier work.

Cosmological α-attractors form a broad recently discovered class of inflationary models.

These models give nearly model-independent cosmological predictions n s ≈ 1 − 2 N , r ≈ 12α N 2 , providing a very good match to the recent observational data.


Natural inflation is already in tension with the latest CMB data, except possibly for super-Planckian values of the axion decay constant, which are difficult (if not impossible) to achieve in string theory [26, 27] . A number of extensions of natural inflation have tried to address this problem in different ways [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] . Here, the hyperbolic field metric results in an effective axion decay constant that is very different from the naive one. Our construction is embedded in N = 1 supergravity, but whether it admits an embedding in string theory remains an open question here as much as for other extensions of natural inflation. We will not discuss this question in our paper, trying to solve one problem at a time.

Natural inflation is already in tension with the latest CMB data, except possibly for super-Planckian values of the axion decay constant, which are difficult (if not impossible) to achieve in string theory.

A number of extensions of natural inflation have tried to address this problem in different ways.


The new class of models discussed in this paper allow various generalizations. In particular, in Section 8 we described a new class of models, where the potentials contain small terms which become singular at the boundary of the moduli space. Such models allow to describe α-attractors with potentials having a plateau of a finite size. We found that in certain cases the exponentially rising potentials at asymptotically large values of the field ϕ can support inflation all the way up to the Planck density, which provides a simple solution to the problem of initial conditions for inflation in such models [50] .

We found that in certain cases the exponentially rising potentials at asymptotically large values of the field ϕ can support inflation all the way up to the Planck density, which provides a simple solution to the problem of initial conditions for inflation in such models.


However, as we will discuss in the end of the paper, embedding of natural inflation in the theory of α-attractors does not remove the tension between natural inflation and the latest observational data. Moreover, adding a stage of natural inflation after the stage of inflation driven by α-attractors tends to decrease the predicted value of n s . From this perspective, inflationary models where the last 60 e-foldings of inflation are driven by α-attractors, without an additional stage of natural inflation, seem to provide a better fit to the existing observational data [12, 13] .

From this perspective, inflationary models where the last 60 e-foldings of inflation are driven by α-attractors, without an additional stage of natural inflation, seem to provide a better fit to the existing observational data.


With the continuous advance of the urbanization process, the deterioration of the urban thermal environment has become a big issue, especially in megacities like Guangzhou, in subtropical hot-humid climate zones. To cool these cities, the use of urban trees as an efficient way to regulate urban climate conditions and has received increasing attention [1] [2] [3] . According to previous studies, urban trees can control incident solar radiation, modify air temperature, and increase air humidity by providing shade and converting solar radiation to latent heat flux through transpiration [2, 4, 5] .

To cool these cities, the use of urban trees as an efficient way to regulate urban climate conditions and has received increasing attention.

According to previous studies, urban trees can control incident solar radiation, modify air temperature, and increase air humidity by providing shade and converting solar radiation to latent heat flux through transpiration.


The main contribution of this paper is the application of proposed pole-shifting controller based CSC-STATCOM for improvement of power system stability in terms of transient stability by injecting (or absorbing) reactive power. In this paper, the proposed scheme is used in the multimachine power transmission system with dynamic loads under a grievous disturbance condition (three-phase fault or heavy loading) to enhancement of power system transient stability studies and to observe the impact of the CSC based STAT-COM on electromechanical oscillations and transmission capacity. Furthermore, the obtained outcomes from the proposed algorithm based CSC-STATCOM are compared to the obtained outcomes from the other shunt FACTS devices (SVC and VSC-STATCOM) which are used in previous works [23, 24] .

Furthermore, the obtained outcomes from the proposed algorithm based CSC-STATCOM are compared to the obtained outcomes from the other shunt FACTS devices (SVC and VSC-STATCOM) which are used in previous works.


Many previous studies on a local voltage control method by distributed generation have adopted droop concepts to control the bus voltage in a DC microgrid [9, 10] . The author proposed a control method for the grid inverter and battery energy-storage to control DC grid voltage independently using droop control. The author reported that the method brings high reliability, high-flexibility and maintenance-free operation to the system [9] . However, the control method has difficulty in being applied to a large DC microgrid because the DC distributed system in the paper is a one bus system. A voltage control method in a DC power system that combines fuzzy control and droop was presented to manage energy storage. The methods based on the droop concepts introduced in these studies provide stable voltage control. Voltage control with DC/DC converters for energy storage focused on energy balance with energy storage [10] .

Many previous studies on a local voltage control method by distributed generation have adopted droop concepts to control the bus voltage in a DC microgrid.

The author reported that the method brings high reliability, high-flexibility and maintenance-free operation to the system.

Voltage control with DC/DC converters for energy storage focused on energy balance with energy storage.


Recently, with the development of Internet of Things, WSN (wireless sensor network) which worked as a hot field in the inter-discipline subjects study, has already acquired more and more attention world wide. Even though WSN is widely used in target identification, collecting, calculation, tracking and controlling, the message without location information is meaningless [1] . However, different from traditional communication network, the nodes of WSN are self-organized and randomly distributed, so the energy, volume and communication distance are always limited in their working condition.

Even though WSN is widely used in target identification, collecting, calculation, tracking and controlling, the message without location information is meaningless.


To our knowledge, only one other study has examined the detection rate of relapse by imaging after nephrectomy [12] . Similar to our study, the authors found a high rate of relapses beyond 3 years. In contrast to our findings, these authors found that current guidelines will miss a large number of relapses, particularly for low-risk patients and patients with abdominal relapses. Unfortunately, this study did not examine whether relapses could have been detected by symptoms or whether relapse detection would have affected clinical decision-making. This study is also notable for a higher rate of relapse than would be expected for low-risk disease, perhaps due to inclusion of patients dating back to 1970 [1] . We cannot necessarily assume that earlier detection of asymptomatic relapse portends a better outcome [13] . In fact, a substantial proportion of patients with relapse will have an indolent clinical course, although a relapse detected within the first year after surgery is a poor prognostic variable [14] . Distinguishing patients at risk for early relapse following surgery could further direct the use of imaging, as well as adjuvant and salvage therapies.

To our knowledge, only one other study has examined the detection rate of relapse by imaging after nephrectomy.

This study is also notable for a higher rate of relapse than would be expected for low-risk disease, perhaps due to inclusion of patients dating back to 1970.

We cannot necessarily assume that earlier detection of asymptomatic relapse portends a better outcome.

In fact, a substantial proportion of patients with relapse will have an indolent clinical course, although a relapse detected within the first year after surgery is a poor prognostic variable.


In addition to home based factors, another limiting factor in the extent to which schools and school-based initiatives can directly promote student achievement success is the time that students spend outside of the scholastic environment (Downey, von Hippel, & Broh, 2004; Downey, von Hippel, & Hughes, 2008) . Particularly salient for schools on traditional academic calendars is the 3-month respite from schooling that students experience each summer. The long summer break provides an additional burden for as summer learning slows (relative to school-year learning) for students of advantage and causes setbacks for disadvantaged or at-risk students. On average, students lose approximately 1 month of grade-equivalent skills over the summer (Zvoch & Stevens, 2011) .

In addition to home based factors, another limiting factor in the extent to which schools and school-based initiatives can directly promote student achievement success is the time that students spend outside of the scholastic environment.

On average, students lose approximately 1 month of grade-equivalent skills over the summer.


This study represents a preliminary step towards the systematic and longitudinal evaluation of intervention programs for at-risk readers. However, there are important limitations associated with this study. We only looked at reading performance by looking at the development of word-level skills over time. The two word-level efficiency tasks used in this study examined word-level accuracy (SWE) and the automaticity of real words and phonemes. This is a fair assessment because word-level reading is very predictive of reading fluency (Lyon, 2001) . However, this is just one of multiple levels that are necessary for fluent reading. It is also important to note that the TOWRE is a timed measure, assessing both automaticity and accuracy simultaneously, without generating separate subscores. Future longitudinal studies should look at other components of reading in both timed and untimed tasks: namely, connected text, and naming speed, as they are also indicative of long-term reading performance.

This is a fair assessment because word-level reading is very predictive of reading fluency.


Soil, deficient in Mo, produces poor and ineffectively nodulated legumes. Extremes of pH affect nodulation by reducing the colonization of the legume rhizosphere by rhizobia. Highly acidic soils (pH<4.0) frequently have low levels of phosphorous, calcium and molybdenum and high aluminium and manganese, are often toxic for both partners; nodulation is more affected than host growth and nitrogen fixation (Bordeleau and Pervost, 1994) .

Highly acidic soils (pH<4.0) frequently have low levels of phosphorous, calcium and molybdenum and high aluminium and manganese, are often toxic for both partners; nodulation is more affected than host growth and nitrogen fixation.


Visualization of manufacturing system layouts is normally done using 2D computer aided design (CAD) data or simplified 3D CAD representations [1] . However, due in part to the time consuming task of modeling, the level of visual detail and accuracy of those representations are lacking in comparison to the real world systems. A potential problem with this lack is the ability to effectively communicate solutions between persons with different areas of expertise to create a common understanding of the future system inside the organization [5] . An improved level of visualization support could reduce the gap in understanding between persons and detect potential problems early in the development process.

Visualization of manufacturing system layouts is normally done using 2D computer aided design (CAD) data or simplified 3D CAD representations.

A potential problem with this lack is the ability to effectively communicate solutions between persons with different areas of expertise to create a common understanding of the future system inside the organization.


Manufacturing companies in prosperous countries are continuously struggling against competitors on the global market, which requires manufacturing systems with high margins on profitability [1] . The time-tomarket needs to be reduced to fulfill this request by highly time effective development projects f f [2] . Those projects are normally under tight budget and time schedule, which leaves no room for mistakes and misunderstandings [3] . As a tool, to detect and prevent mistakes and misunderstandings early in the process, companies use virtual representations of products and manufacturing systems [4] . One critical type of project, often initiated by external pressure and changes, is redesign of existing manufacturing systems.

Manufacturing companies in prosperous countries are continuously struggling against competitors on the global market, which requires manufacturing systems with high margins on profitability.

The time-tomarket needs to be reduced to fulfill this request by highly time effective development projects f f.

Those projects are normally under tight budget and time schedule, which leaves no room for mistakes and misunderstandings.

As a tool, to detect and prevent mistakes and misunderstandings early in the process, companies use virtual representations of products and manufacturing systems.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the interrelation of PET acquisition time, attenuation correction, halo artefacts, and resulting lesion detectability in whole-body 68 Ga-PSMA PET-MRI. Results from this study show that halo artefacts around the kidneys and the urinary bladder, organs with high radiotracer activity, are indeed a relevant issue in 68 Ga-PSMA PET-MRI acquired with the clinical Siemens mMR hybrid PET-MRI system, potentially hampering lesion detectability and quantification. Halo artefacts were found in approximately 40 to 90% of attenuation-and scatter-corrected images, depending on [9] . However, since image acquisition was performed after completion of PET-CT and therefore much later than in our study, results are not comparable head-to-head.

Halo artefacts were found in approximately 40 to 90% of attenuation-and scatter-corrected images, depending on.


The theory of practical stability has developed into a branch of the theory of motion stability [9] . Its notion is very useful, since it only needs to stabilize a system into a region of phase space. Based on this method, the desired state of a system can be unstable only if it oscillates sufficiently near this state. Recently, there has been a significant development in the theory of practical stability [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] . Moreover, impulses and time delays exist in many processes of dynamic systems, for example, physics, chemical technology, population dynamics, and neural networks, and they may impact systems seriously [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] . Therefore, it is necessary and important to analyze the practical stability of impulsive discrete systems with time delays.

The theory of practical stability has developed into a branch of the theory of motion stability.

Recently, there has been a significant development in the theory of practical stability.

Moreover, impulses and time delays exist in many processes of dynamic systems, for example, physics, chemical technology, population dynamics, and neural networks, and they may impact systems seriously.


On the other hand, time delays especially time varying delays are frequently imposed in diverse real-world engineering systems, which would lead to performance deterioration and, in some cases, it may lead to system malfunction and instability. Consequently, wide efforts have been devoted to address the challenge of switched systems with time varying delays [10, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] . In addition, from the practical standpoint, it is important to tackle uncertain 2 Mathematical Problems in Engineering switched systems [18, 19, 23, 25, 26] . Thus, in this investigation, uncertain switched nonlinear systems with time varying delays with polytopic uncertainties type are considered to give a strong practical aspect for this work.

Consequently, wide efforts have been devoted to address the challenge of switched systems with time varying delays.

In addition, from the practical standpoint, it is important to tackle uncertain 2 Mathematical Problems in Engineering switched systems.


Alpha-tocopherol contents obtained are shown in Figure 6 . The values were within range reported for different fish species (Piclet, 1987; Ruff et al., 2002; Aubourg et al., 2004) . Farmed fish showed an inhomogeneous distribution for this endogenous antioxidant.

The values were within range reported for different fish species.


In even dimensions the boundary prescription is given by the maximal Chern form. This is the structure appearing in the Euler theorem as the correction to the Euler characteristic of the manifold due to the boundary. In odd dimensions, the regularizing terms are linked to the existence of extensions of Chern-Simons densities called transgression forms [37] .

In odd dimensions, the regularizing terms are linked to the existence of extensions of Chern-Simons densities called transgression forms.


The results obtained in this work for the Mg2NiH4 and the Mg2NiH4-LiBH4 (MgNiLi) system are in good agreement with previous studies reported in the literature [3, 7, 27] . Mg2NiH4 releases hydrogen under 2.7 bar of H2 at relatively high temperature (Tpeak = 372 °C) and it is partially hydrogenated to Mg2NiH0.3 on cooling. However, this temperature can be lowered by the addition of All the systems investigated in this work present the decomposition of borohydrides from the liquid state, which appears to play a role on the temperature of decomposition of the RHC mixtures. When only LiBH 4 is present, the decomposition peak is at a slightly higher temperature with respect to RHC mixtures containing eutectic borohydrides mixtures, though it does not change significantly in all different systems. When a highly stable borohydride (i.e., NaBH 4 and KBH 4 ) is present in the eutectic mixture, only LiBH 4 plays and active role in the mixture and the RHC mixture does not decompose completely, so that the stable borohydride is still present in the decomposition products after thermal cycling. On the other hand, if an alkali-earth borohydride (i.e., Mg(BH 4 ) 2 and Ca(BH 4 ) 2 ) is mixed with LiBH 4 to form a eutectic, the liquid phase fully decomposes, namely at lower temperatures compared to the pure eutectic mixture alone but complex multi-step reactions are taking place.

The results obtained in this work for the Mg2NiH4 and the Mg2NiH4-LiBH4 (MgNiLi) system are in good agreement with previous studies reported in the literature.


No differences in individual seed mass was found by defoliation treatments in both radiation level (Rn and Rs) when compared to C, particularly in pods developed later. This would be explained by two ways. First, in the most source: sink restrictive combination (Rs-D), 10% reductions in the number of seeds per pod was produced (Table  1) , in turn; fewer seeds in the upper pods were exposed to more assimilate with respect to the C. An opposite situation was observed for seeds from branches (data not shown). The slight, but significant, increase in the number of seeds per pod, originated by the pod removal treatment produced in the three genotypes, can be related to assimilate and/or phytohormone stimulation. In oilseed rape, the flowering period is sequential and proceeds from basal to upper positions in main raceme. Therefore, by the time of treatment application upper pods were at an early stage of development and thereby were probably more susceptible to abortion than the peripheral ones (Keiller and Morgan, 1988; Leterme, 1988) . The strong overlap of pod formation, seed set and seed filling periods allowed Rs or PR from the beginning of seed filling to have a strong impact on the number of seeds per pod.

This would be explained by two ways.

Therefore, by the time of treatment application upper pods were at an early stage of development and thereby were probably more susceptible to abortion than the peripheral ones.


In summary, we have observed the ion characteristics of ions within the LLBL that cannot be explained by the reconnection of the magnetosheath and the magnetospheric field lines at one location. We argue that reconnection at two or more locations, leading to the formation of the flux ropes at the magnetopause, can explain observed velocity distributions. We consider these observations as evidence for multiple reconnections between magnetosheath and magnetospheric flux tubes with the formation of spiral magnetic flux tubes (Lee and Fu, 1985) . This implies that the multiple reconnections are at times an important factor in the formation of the LLBL.

We consider these observations as evidence for multiple reconnections between magnetosheath and magnetospheric flux tubes with the formation of spiral magnetic flux tubes.


From the cross-cultural and psycholinguistic standpoint, an interesting research question arises pertaining to the relationship between bilingual proficiency and the formation of bicultural identity. In this research project, the authors are asking whether language proficiency is related to cultural identity formation. For the purpose of the present study, cultural identity is theoretically conceived of as the distance (similarity) between one's endorsement of cultural values and one's perception of their importance in cultures (Boski, 2006) .

For the purpose of the present study, cultural identity is theoretically conceived of as the distance (similarity) between one's endorsement of cultural values and one's perception of their importance in cultures.


Augmented reality as a technology combines two-dimensional and three-dimensional virtual objects into a real three-dimensional environment. Then, these virtual objects are projected in real time. Unlike virtual reality that completely replaces reality, augmented reality complements reality. This makes augmented reality appropriate as a tool to help the user's perception and interaction with the real world. Information displayed by virtual objects helps users carry out activities in the real world. Augmented reality itself as the work of the development of human thinking in creating a new technology, it can also give a positive influence in its use (Nazaruddin, 2016) . In addition, augmented reality can be accessed and modified in such a way that can be enjoyed by the general public. However, in reality there are still many people who do not understand and know what augmented reality is. Whereas augmented reality is a technology that can bridge between people with objects, so it looks more interactive and help human life with innovations that are always there.

Augmented reality itself as the work of the development of human thinking in creating a new technology, it can also give a positive influence in its use.


Based on the experience, book products with pop-up augmented reality format as an innovation of two-dimensional media that fluctuate into 3-dimensional media, then with the help of digital technology metamorphose into new media with multimedia format. With the continuous development of pop-up and augmented reality media into textbooks, teachers assume that this media will provide a positive value for them in digesting information to learn something new, because that is presented enough to attract the attention of children. Character design and color layouts used in this format book, able to represent visual works that can be enjoyed by children with special needs. For visual in augmented reality itself also has been able to distract children's attention to the book served (Nazaruddin, 2016) .

For visual in augmented reality itself also has been able to distract children's attention to the book served.


According to the World Health Organization (WHO) identification, general behavioral indicators that often appear in autistic children include: (1) language or communication is flat, speech a little bit or even not speech, often repeating words, sentences with weird vowels (2) lack of responsiveness in relationships with others, (3) relation with the environment shows rigid routines, exhibits a very inflexible interest, (4) responses to sensory stimuli often seem deaf, frantic to sound -a particular sound, very sensitive to sound, playing with light or reflection, playing withdrawal when touched, (5) behavioral gaps that are sometimes very good or very late, for example clever reading but not understanding the meaning, clever drawing in detail but not able to button clothes, good at puzzles but very difficult to follow orders. However, in fact, not all of these symptoms are present in autistic individuals, because the symptoms seen in autistic children are so varied that no autistic child is really the same in all of his behavior. Whatever the condition, an attempt to diagnose early childhood is suspected to have autism, is the right step toward the effort to autism children can be handled immediately through the process of learning intervention in an integrated manner. Thus more open opportunities change toward normal behavior. Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies are indicative of anxiety, severe agitapsychomotor, extreme sensitivity to environmental stimuli, but they do not significantly reduce the symptoms of autism (Hasdianah, 2013) . Treatment is usually tailored to the needs of the child. Many psychosocial interventions have some positive evidence. Some forms of treatment are better, but their clinical outcomes are mostly tentative. Specially sustained education programs and early behavioral therapy interventions can help autistic get personal care, social skills, work skills, reduce symptoms severity and maladaptive behavior.

Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies are indicative of anxiety, severe agitapsychomotor, extreme sensitivity to environmental stimuli, but they do not significantly reduce the symptoms of autism.


Some efforts to empower autistic children through education require high cost considering that the autism spectrum varies and requires different educational tools. This condition often presents counterproductive thinking among educational bureaucrats if it touches on the cost of education for children with autism. Because the cost incurred for the empowerment of children with autism or other special needs children is considered not worth the resulting productivity contribution (Efendi, 1999) .

Because the cost incurred for the empowerment of children with autism or other special needs children is considered not worth the resulting productivity contribution.


The world's current energy supplies are mainly based on fossil energy resources. These resources have their origin in organic (and therefore carbon-containing) compounds, which have been converted throughout millions of years. By burning them today, these resources are reintroduced into the natural carbon cycle and increase the CO 2 content of the atmosphere. CO 2 gas increases the world's greenhouse effect, leading to global warming [1] . In Figure 1 it can be seen that, since the industrialization in the 19th century, the atmospheric CO 2 content is continuously rising. Also the evolution of the global temperature is shown in Figure 1 . For the same time period, an overall increasing tendency can be observed, which suggests a relationship between both trends that could be something more than casual.

CO 2 gas increases the world's greenhouse effect, leading to global warming.


Another problem with natural and fossil energy resources is their limited availability. In the case of oil, this fact can be exemplified by the so-called peak oil phenomenon. The term "peak oil" was introduced by Shell-company scientist Hubbert more than 50 years ago, who correctly predicted that the oil production of the USA would have a maximum in the 1970s [2, 3] . Nowadays, this theory is applied to predict the worldwide production of oil. According to the peak oil theory, oil production reaches a maximum at a specific date and then drops by the same rate as its increase, leading to a symmetrical curve. While the main concept of peak oil finds wide acceptance, opinions diverge when it comes to questions of details. Particularly the present and future impacts of peak oil on science, technology, society, politics, business, and so forth are being lively discussed throughout the fields [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] . While some claim that peak oil already occurred, others speculate that this date is still far-off [6] . Indeed, the phenomenon turned out to come true for a number of single countries, and, Global temperature (red) and CO 2 emissions (blue) over the past decades [14] [15] [16] .

The term "peak oil" was introduced by Shell-company scientist Hubbert more than 50 years ago, who correctly predicted that the oil production of the USA would have a maximum in the 1970s.

Particularly the present and future impacts of peak oil on science, technology, society, politics, business, and so forth are being lively discussed throughout the fields.

While some claim that peak oil already occurred, others speculate that this date is still far-off.

Indeed, the phenomenon turned out to come true for a number of single countries, and, Global temperature (red) and CO 2 emissions (blue) over the past decades.


Finally it was apparent in this trial that general practitioners were uncomfortable with challenges to their clinical judgement. It is such attitudes that might hold the key to the implementation of guidelines more than, or in addition to, a technical fix-it or educational exchange. A key concept in the relation to the adoption of complex technologies is that they involve groups and networks of people [21] . Technology both supports and shapes social practices such as sending a patient for a specialist opinion. In such communities, knowledge " rides along the rails laid by shared practice" [22] . Where practices are canonical (agreed, shared) knowledge flows readily; where practices are noncanonical (innovative, challenging), knowledge may 'stick' rather than flow [21] . It was apparent in our data that general practitioners sometimes had very different ideas about what constitutes an 'urgent' referral and that this further cast doubt on the value of the software for them. The result was a rejection of the innovation and by default the guidelines.

A key concept in the relation to the adoption of complex technologies is that they involve groups and networks of people.

In such communities, knowledge " rides along the rails laid by shared practice".

Where practices are canonical (agreed, shared) knowledge flows readily; where practices are noncanonical (innovative, challenging), knowledge may 'stick' rather than flow.


An extra filter has been used to suppress disturbances in the primary path resulting from uncorrelated noise in the secondary path. This method accomplishes faster convergence, but additional filters increase the complexity and noise in the control system [46] . A new LMS algorithm with phase compensation was introduced to deal with signals that include DC components. The traditional LMS may not be effective for such signals, and when a high pass filter is used to eliminate the DC components, it can produce a phase variation [47] .

This method accomplishes faster convergence, but additional filters increase the complexity and noise in the control system.

The traditional LMS may not be effective for such signals, and when a high pass filter is used to eliminate the DC components, it can produce a phase variation.


Many studies have modified the LMS algorithm to address defects such as misadjustment and excessive error with respect to the reference inputs. Hybrid structures were proposed by combining the LMS method with feedback control [37, 38] . The vibration isolation was improved at main frequencies and the speed of the convergence was increased, but the error over a broadband frequency range could not be managed. An alternative feedback structure was suggested with internal model control. This method achieves a better transient response and faster convergence, but an incorrect secondary path model seems to degrade the total control performance [39] . An LMS algorithm with adaptive step size was investigated to increase the convergence rate [40, 41] . Similarly, a variable-step LMS scheme was applied along with a creep model to accomplish rapid convergence and stability and to identify the hysteresis parameters [42] .

Hybrid structures were proposed by combining the LMS method with feedback control.

This method achieves a better transient response and faster convergence, but an incorrect secondary path model seems to degrade the total control performance.

An LMS algorithm with adaptive step size was investigated to increase the convergence rate.

Similarly, a variable-step LMS scheme was applied along with a creep model to accomplish rapid convergence and stability and to identify the hysteresis parameters.


Various techniques have been suggested to improve the impedance matching over a broad frequency spectrum. Among these designs, planar monopole antenna is one of the most promising candidates for UWB applications [1] [2] [3] . With CPW feed line, extra advantages are acquired, such as ease of fabrication and integration in microwave circuits [4, 5] .

Among these designs, planar monopole antenna is one of the most promising candidates for UWB applications.

With CPW feed line, extra advantages are acquired, such as ease of fabrication and integration in microwave circuits.


UWB antennas are also desired to have band-notched function to reject any interference with other existing systems such as WiMAX system operating in the band of 3.25-3.75 GHz and WLAN system operating in the band of 5.15-5.825 GHz. One way to implement a frequency notched UWB antenna is to incorporate a half wave resonant structure in an antenna. According to this principle, an effective method which is largely adopted by antenna designers is etching half wave slots on the monopole plate and there are some similar methods can also be applied, including inserting slots in the ground plane or into the feed line. Some designs based on these methods have been proposed in literature for UWB antennas with band rejection capability [6] [7] [8] .

Some designs based on these methods have been proposed in literature for UWB antennas with band rejection capability.


Over the last two decades, e-learning has become an innovative way of teaching and learning. Therefore, many universities have focused on open and distance learning by offering flexible and high quality online undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Students have the opportunity to attend distance courses in various scientific fields according to their personal needs and requirements studying at their place and at any time. Unfortunately, the successful completion of a distance learning course is influenced by a number of students' characteristics (Lykourentzou et al., 2009) . Demographic characteristics of students (i.e., age, gender and ethnicity), social environment, family obligations, job commitments, pre-university knowledge background and university performance are just a few of the factors affecting students' academic performance (Mashiloane and Mchunu, 2013) . The identification of students at risk of failing is of utmost importance for open universities seeking to improve educational outcomes and provide high quality education. Therefore, it is important for tutors to understand the students' learning behaviour and recognise low performers as soon as possible during the academic year. Thus, developing appropriate learning strategies and supporting them with personalised guidance and additional educational material could reduce students' failure ratios and increase retention rates (Simpson, 2006) .

Unfortunately, the successful completion of a distance learning course is influenced by a number of students' characteristics.

Demographic characteristics of students (i.e., age, gender and ethnicity), social environment, family obligations, job commitments, pre-university knowledge background and university performance are just a few of the factors affecting students' academic performance.

Thus, developing appropriate learning strategies and supporting them with personalised guidance and additional educational material could reduce students' failure ratios and increase retention rates.


Traffic safety depends on road design, road configuration, vehicle performance, traffic regulations, and the effectiveness of implementation. The main means of transport in middle and low income countries include walking, bicycle, motorcycle, and bus, while that of high income countries is automobiles. Therefore, the traffic safety control measures of high income countries are not completely applicable to middle and low income countries and thus should be imported and improved to fit local transportation and road usage conditions [29] . The report of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that about 1.2 million people die from traffic accidents in the world annually; about 3,400 people die from traffic accidents per day; approximately 1,000 people are injured or disabled; children, pedestrians, cyclers, and the elderly are the most vulnerable road users; and 85% of fatalities and 90% of the disabled live in middle and low income countries. The scientific analysis of accident data, as well as the implementation of relevant safety measures, can prevent the occurrence of traffic accidents, thus, reducing the severity of injuries.

Therefore, the traffic safety control measures of high income countries are not completely applicable to middle and low income countries and thus should be imported and improved to fit local transportation and road usage conditions.


Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertner belongs to family Campanulaceae, it is pantropical to India. It is found in swampy areas, along the banks of water courses and in rice fields. It is an erect annual herb, and the inflorescence is a dense, terminal spike with small, greenish yellow flowers. The young plants and tips of older plants are streamed and eaten as vegetable with rice in Java (Usher, 1984) . In the present study, the methanol extract of Sphenoclea zeylanica leaf, stem and flower extracts were evaluated in order to know their antimicrobial activity against clinically important microorganisms.

The young plants and tips of older plants are streamed and eaten as vegetable with rice in Java.


Our framework uses a Monte Carlo approach, though it differs from existing methods in two important ways. First, previous research has emphasized short-term prediction, primarily with the goal of informing collision avoidance systems [31] . Second, whereas existing approaches propose to estimate risk in real-time by executing simulations on-vehicle, our approach amortizes the cost of running this optimization by learning a predictive model that generalizes across scenes.

First, previous research has emphasized short-term prediction, primarily with the goal of informing collision avoidance systems.


In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the study of comorbid disorders in addictive behaviours. This is probably due to the high rate of comorbidity observed in substance abusers and its large influence on therapeutic results. Efforts to improve the success rates of intervention programs for addicted patients have generated a clear interest in the study of variables that interfere with the results, or limit the reach, of these programs (Fernández-Montalvo et al., 2004) .

Efforts to improve the success rates of intervention programs for addicted patients have generated a clear interest in the study of variables that interfere with the results, or limit the reach, of these programs.


Moreover, the risk of developing a substitute dependence in the treatment of the addictive behaviours should be considered. In these cases, the treatment of drug addiction may exacerbate the problems of pathological gambling presented by the patient or precipitate a relapse in drug consumption once abstinence is achieved. Therefore, some authors have suggested the possibility of a combined treatment for drug dependence and pathological gambling for this type of patient, with the aim of preventing the development of an eventual substitute dependence (Daghestani et al. 1996; Fernández-Montalvo et al., 2005; Rodríguez-Martos, 1989) .

Therefore, some authors have suggested the possibility of a combined treatment for drug dependence and pathological gambling for this type of patient, with the aim of preventing the development of an eventual substitute dependence.


In this paper, we call such a phenomenon as node polysemy, where each node could have multiple facets, by making an analogy to a similar property possessed by words in natural language (e.g., "bank" can refer to either financial institutions or land near a river, depending on different contexts) [10, 28] . In this setting, each node has multiple facets, while each facet of a node owns an embedding vector. In this work, we want to develop a polysemous network embedding method in order to discover multiple facets of nodes and learn representations for them.

In this paper, we call such a phenomenon as node polysemy, where each node could have multiple facets, by making an analogy to a similar property possessed by words in natural language (e.g., "bank" can refer to either financial institutions or land near a river, depending on different contexts).


There is a growing interest in models of this type because they describe the evolution of reserves of insurance companies investing in a risky asset with the price process S. In the actuarial context R is interpreted as the relative price process with dR t = dS t /S t− , that is the price process S is the stochastic (Doléans) exponential E(R). The log price process V = ln E(R) is also a Lévy process with the triplet (a V , σ 2 , Π V ). Recall that the behavior of the ruin probability in such models is radically different from that in the classical actuarial models. For instance, if the price of the risky asset follows a geometric Brownian motion, that is, R t = at + σW t , and the risk process P is as in the Lundberg model, then Ψ(u) = O(u 1−2a/σ 2 ), u → ∞, if 2a/σ 2 > 1, and Ψ(u) ≡ 1 otherwise, [11, 31, 18] .

For instance, if the price of the risky asset follows a geometric Brownian motion, that is, R t = at + σW t , and the risk process P is as in the Lundberg model, then Ψ(u) = O(u 1−2a/σ 2 ), u → ∞, if 2a/σ 2 > 1, and Ψ(u) ≡ 1 otherwise.


D-branes also serve as probes that sense spacetime at distances smaller than the string scale [5, 6, 7, 8] . The identification of the new, shorter length scale as the Planck length of 11 dimensional supergravity is particularly interesting in view of the relationship of the string theories to 11 dimensional supergravity and its conjectured quantum description as M-theory [9, 10] . This has led to the proposal that Mtheory in the infinite momentum frame is defined non-perturbatively by M(atrix)-theory, identified as the n → ∞ limit of the SU(n) quantum mechanics describing a collection of n D0-branes [11] . An important test of this proposal is the recovery of the supergravity scattering amplitudes at large impact parameter and small velocities from a description using only light open strings. However, as we shall show in detail, this agreement does not immediately extend to the complicated relativistic velocity dependence.

D-branes also serve as probes that sense spacetime at distances smaller than the string scale.

The identification of the new, shorter length scale as the Planck length of 11 dimensional supergravity is particularly interesting in view of the relationship of the string theories to 11 dimensional supergravity and its conjectured quantum description as M-theory.

This has led to the proposal that Mtheory in the infinite momentum frame is defined non-perturbatively by M(atrix)-theory, identified as the n → ∞ limit of the SU(n) quantum mechanics describing a collection of n D0-branes.


On the other hand, chemical solutions, such as sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), are used to irrigate the canals in endodontic treatment. The use of NaOCl results in debridement and lubrication of the canals, elimination of microorganisms, dissolution of tissue tags, the removal of collagen layer and dehydration of dentin (Ozturk and Ozer, 2004) . Various studies have evaluated the effect of canal irrigation solutions, such as NaOCl, on endodontically treated teeth which have been restored using fifth-and sixth-generation dentin-bonding resins (Ozturk and Ozer, 2004; Nikaido et al., 1999; Morris et al., 2001; Ari et al., 2003; Hayashi et al., 2005) . It has been reported that the use of 5% NaOCl has a negative influence on the bond strength of fifth-and sixthgeneration adhesive resins to the lateral walls of the pulp chamber (Ozturk and Ozer, 2004; Hayashi et al., 2005; Fawzi et al., 2010) . However, little information is available about the effect of NaOCl on the restoration of such teeth with seventh-generation adhesives. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of NaOCl on the shear bond strength of a fifth-and seventh-generation adhesive to coronal dentin.

The use of NaOCl results in debridement and lubrication of the canals, elimination of microorganisms, dissolution of tissue tags, the removal of collagen layer and dehydration of dentin.

Various studies have evaluated the effect of canal irrigation solutions, such as NaOCl, on endodontically treated teeth which have been restored using fifth-and sixth-generation dentin-bonding resins.

It has been reported that the use of 5% NaOCl has a negative influence on the bond strength of fifth-and sixthgeneration adhesive resins to the lateral walls of the pulp chamber.


On the other hand, NaOCl is a non-specific proteolytic material which can remove organic materials and magnesium and carbonate ions (Perdigão et al., 2000) . NaOCl is widely used as an intracanal irrigation solution because of its antimicrobial and tissue dissolving properties. NaOCl destroys phospholipids and disrupts cellular metabolism. It has oxidative properties and deactivates bacterial enzymes and destroys lipids and fatty acids (Estrela et al., 2002) .

On the other hand, NaOCl is a non-specific proteolytic material which can remove organic materials and magnesium and carbonate ions.

It has oxidative properties and deactivates bacterial enzymes and destroys lipids and fatty acids.


Taking the above factors on expatriate adjustment into consideration is important for a number of reasons. First, it has been acknowledged that cross-cultural training is important for successful adjustment of expatriates in new environments (Caligiuri and Tarique 2006; Morris and Robie 2001; Waxin and Panaccio 2005) . However, other scholars argue that training imposes a huge cost on the firm, and in some cases is not effective for expatriates (Black and Mendenhall 1990) . As a result, to reduce the cost or enhance cross-cultural training efficacy, the use of social capital and emotional intelligence may be called into play. At this stage, social capital embodied in expatriates may supplement the function of pre-departure training because expatriates usually do not have enough time to prepare before departing abroad. It may be done through facilitating the flow of knowledge between expatriate candidates and incumbent expatriates as well as host people so that candidates have the opportunity to accumulate a more comprehensive cross-cultural knowledge.

First, it has been acknowledged that cross-cultural training is important for successful adjustment of expatriates in new environments.

However, other scholars argue that training imposes a huge cost on the firm, and in some cases is not effective for expatriates.


Habitat-selection processes and subsequent use patterns by wolves in the Besa-Prophet can be interpreted relative to the likelihood of encountering ungulate prey and the ease of movement on the landscape. As social animals that defend a territory, wolves exhibit both central place and nomadic periods throughout the year. In a multiprey system where access to prey is relatively easy, wolves should routinely visit land-cover classes (e.g., burns and avalanche chutes) that maximize encounters with predictable ungulate prey (e.g., elk herds), taking advantage of alternative prey items randomly (Huggard 1993) . The ability to encounter, detect, and capture prey ultimately depends on habitat and spatial features (Kunkel and Pletscher 2001) . Hence, the movements of ungulates and dispersion of land-cover classes contribute to differences among packs.

In a multiprey system where access to prey is relatively easy, wolves should routinely visit land-cover classes (e.g., burns and avalanche chutes) that maximize encounters with predictable ungulate prey (e.g., elk herds), taking advantage of alternative prey items randomly.

The ability to encounter, detect, and capture prey ultimately depends on habitat and spatial features.


This article has explored some of the forms that the PLE can take in the context of formal education. The product, whether an actual virtual environment or an abstraction in a learner's mind, can benefit learning, teaching and pedagogical development only when it is accompanied by a solid pedagogical structure from goal-setting to assessment. More research is needed on how this approach can benefit learning and teaching in higher education and on what its can contribute to the theory of learning in the digital age. There is a need to balance the structure that traditional approaches to the organisation of learning provide in educational institutions against the freedom that the nearly unlimited resources of the new media afford (Thomas and Seely Brown 2011) . This balance of structure and freedom is, in essence, the promise of PLEs.

There is a need to balance the structure that traditional approaches to the organisation of learning provide in educational institutions against the freedom that the nearly unlimited resources of the new media afford.


Microgels are colloidal gel particles with dimensions in the range from tens to hundreds of micrometers, which are consisted with cross-linked three-dimensional polymeric network [1] . One of the most important characteristics for microgels is their swelling to adsorb and to hold large amounts of aqueous solvents in response to environmental stimuli such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, electric and magnetic fields [2] . Such porous aqueous microenvironment created by microgels is quite useful and beneficial for the encapsulation of bioactive substances including peptides, proteins, enzymes, DNA, drugs and cells, since it provides mimetic in vivo aqueous environment where peptides or enzymes are prevented from drying [3] . Furthermore, polymer materials for making microgels can be modified to be stimuli-responsive. Stimuli-responsive microgels enable the drug release in an on-demanded manner with precise concentration, which is quite desirable in advanced drug delivery [4] . Consequently, microgels have been seen a dramatic rise in therapeutic agents encapsulation and delivery.

Microgels are colloidal gel particles with dimensions in the range from tens to hundreds of micrometers, which are consisted with cross-linked three-dimensional polymeric network.

One of the most important characteristics for microgels is their swelling to adsorb and to hold large amounts of aqueous solvents in response to environmental stimuli such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, electric and magnetic fields.

Such porous aqueous microenvironment created by microgels is quite useful and beneficial for the encapsulation of bioactive substances including peptides, proteins, enzymes, DNA, drugs and cells, since it provides mimetic in vivo aqueous environment where peptides or enzymes are prevented from drying.

Stimuli-responsive microgels enable the drug release in an on-demanded manner with precise concentration, which is quite desirable in advanced drug delivery.


The structured microgels with well defined morphology such as Janus particles, multi-compartment microgels and non-spherical microgels can be conveniently produced with droplet microfluidic, which is quite difficult for bulk emulsion methods [17, 18] . Geometry of the microgels has been demonstrated to have an important impact on the biological processes, such as vasculature, circulation time, targeting efficiency phagocytosis, endocytosis and subsequent intracellular transport for therapeutic delivety [19] . The high degree of control af-forded by droplet microfluidic enables generation of single and multiple emulsion droplets, which can be transformed to non-spherical microparticles through further simple processing steps.

The structured microgels with well defined morphology such as Janus particles, multi-compartment microgels and non-spherical microgels can be conveniently produced with droplet microfluidic, which is quite difficult for bulk emulsion methods.

Geometry of the microgels has been demonstrated to have an important impact on the biological processes, such as vasculature, circulation time, targeting efficiency phagocytosis, endocytosis and subsequent intracellular transport for therapeutic delivety.


That SSA is a good estimator of the varying seasonal signal has been demonstrated by several people (Chen et al. 2013; Klos et al. 2017) . Here, we confirm these findings, but also show its performance for various noise levels in the time series. We found that in the presence of higher noise levels longer window lengths, e.g., 4-year window, produce better results. For a noise level of 25 mm/year 0.25 , a window length of 4 years produces a misfit between the real and estimated varying seasonal signals of 1.61 mm. While for a window length of 3 years, this value is 1.68 mm. For our synthetic time series, SSA with a window length of 3 years can model 49-84% of the variance of the true varying seasonal signal and this for most common noise levels found in real GPS data.

That SSA is a good estimator of the varying seasonal signal has been demonstrated by several people.


Noise or a so-called residuals are created when the deterministic model was removed. For the GPS position time series, the power spectrum of the noise follows a power-law behavior at the low frequencies with spectral indices varying between −2 and 0. This noise has a significant impact on the uncertainty of velocity (Zhang et al. 1997; Williams et al. 2004; Santamaría-Gómez et al. 2011; Bogusz and Kontny 2011) . Moreover, if any seasonal signal or residual periodicity is not properly modeled and removed, it will move the stochastic part to much more correlated noise causing the uncertainties to be artificially overestimated (Bogusz and Klos 2016) .

This noise has a significant impact on the uncertainty of velocity.

Moreover, if any seasonal signal or residual periodicity is not properly modeled and removed, it will move the stochastic part to much more correlated noise causing the uncertainties to be artificially overestimated.


In an effort to improve the product design, a large amount of research has been performed into the design process itself, and more recently, a great deal of focus on concurrent engineering or collaboration. Recent research into multi user computer aided engineering (CAx) tools has provided preliminary prototypes allowing multiple designers to enter and work in the same design space simultaneously [9, 11] . It is the hope of these researchers, that by allowing multiple users to work in parallel on the same model, that design completion time will improve. However, due to the complex nature of CAx tools, design conflicts will likely occur between multiple designers, possibly increasing dramatically with each distinct user in the design session [3] . It is our belief that when advanced multi user software tools are coupled with collaboration focused project management techniques, significant design conflicts will be mitigated, and significant improvement will be found in design completion time, product costs, as well as product performance.

Recent research into multi user computer aided engineering (CAx) tools has provided preliminary prototypes allowing multiple designers to enter and work in the same design space simultaneously.

However, due to the complex nature of CAx tools, design conflicts will likely occur between multiple designers, possibly increasing dramatically with each distinct user in the design session.


Effective collaboration focused project management begins at the early stages of the design process. As design specifications are gathered and defined, independent relationships begin to emerge. Tools such as the House of Quality (HOQ) have been commonly used to help with the specification definition phase. A lesser utilized portion of the HOQ tool is located in the roof of the house, and provides an opportunity to rate specification interdependencies [5] . A similar tool called an interaction matrix, defined by Kotonya and Sommerville, allows project management to define conflicting and overlapping requirements [7] .

A lesser utilized portion of the HOQ tool is located in the roof of the house, and provides an opportunity to rate specification interdependencies.

A similar tool called an interaction matrix, defined by Kotonya and Sommerville, allows project management to define conflicting and overlapping requirements.


To conclude, we show how to measure the energy of an atom in a single experimental realization and thus directly reconstruct its energy distribution. The reduced signal-to-noise due to single-shot measurement does not influence the accuracy of the method since it relies on a sharp non-linear feature of the fluorescence time dynamics. The accuracy of the method relies on the accurate determination and control of the various experimental parameters which determine the cooling dynamics. In return, we can use it as a precision spectroscopy tool, e.g., to measure the trap anharmonicity. Using likelihood analysis, we can determine the distribution of energy between the modes of the trap. This opens the door for a new type of experiments, sensitive to events which re-distribute the energy between the modes without changing the total energy significantly, e.g. glancing collisions. This method is well suited for measuring the energy release in chemical reactions involving single atoms [8, 9, 11, 29] . This work was supported by the Crown Photonics Center, ICore-Israeli excellence center circle of light, the Israeli Science Foundation, the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, and the European Research Council (consolidator grant 616919-Ionology). We thank Eran Ofek and Nir Davidson for their useful remarks.

This method is well suited for measuring the energy release in chemical reactions involving single atoms.


We validate our energy measurement accuracy by comparing it to a different thermometry technique; namely fluorescence imaging of the ion oscillation amplitude in the trap; which relies on extensive averaging and performed in a lower energy regime. We found that both techniques agree to within 5%. As an application of our method, we use it to extract the small non-linearity of the Paul trap potential [18] . Since the anharmonicity of the trap potential is small, its measurement requires the excitation of the ion to very high energies.

As an application of our method, we use it to extract the small non-linearity of the Paul trap potential.


Here, a i and q i are the Mathieu trap-parameters which determine the magnitude of the Paul trap static and rf quadrupole electric fields respectively [23] . The rf frequency of the oscillating electric fields is Ω rf . The second term in Eq. 2 is the effective cooling force generated by the absorption and spontaneous emission of the cooling and repump lasers photons [19] . The transitions linewidths are Γ 422 /2π = 20.37 MHz and Γ 1092 /2π = 1.18 MHz and k i are the laser k-vector projections on the different trap modes (i = x, y, z). Planck constant is and m is the ion's mass. The excited state population is given by ρ e = ρ 33 + ρ 44 where ρ ij = ψ i |ρ|ψ j and ψ 3|4 = P 1/2 , m = ∓1/2 .

Here, a i and q i are the Mathieu trap-parameters which determine the magnitude of the Paul trap static and rf quadrupole electric fields respectively.

The second term in Eq. 2 is the effective cooling force generated by the absorption and spontaneous emission of the cooling and repump lasers photons.


Thermometry is a fundamental tool in the natural sciences [1] . A single-atom system can be classically assigned with a well-defined energy at any given moment in time. Temperature or, more generally, energy distribution arises when the energy is recorded over many identical experimental realizations [2] . Typically, a reliable measurement of a single atom's energy in a single experimental realization is not possible. Hence, the energy distribution is reconstructed from the average over multiple experimental realizations. The resulting signal is then analyzed using the assumed underlying distribution parameters as free fit parameters [3] [4] [5] .

Thermometry is a fundamental tool in the natural sciences.

Temperature or, more generally, energy distribution arises when the energy is recorded over many identical experimental realizations.

The resulting signal is then analyzed using the assumed underlying distribution parameters as free fit parameters.


According to the forming method, the ISF technology can be classified as SPIF and TPIF, in which the tool moves around a partial or fully fixed die on a programmed path to pull down the sheet. Figure 2 illustrates the TPIF process. Further classification can be made by the types of processes that are applied, such as Negative or Positive. These types of ISF processes can be seen in Fig. 3 . In Negative ISF, the force is applied inside the cavity to be formed and the application of positive force is the outside of the part. The Positive process always happens in TPIF, where it is necessary to have a die that is located inside the part. This is because the tool force is applied on the convex side of the shape, to follow the contour lines. Negative increment sheet forming might be applied to both processes, depending on the component characteristics [13] .

Figure 2 illustrates the TPIF process.

Negative increment sheet forming might be applied to both processes, depending on the component characteristics.


Human behaviours that predispose people to acquiring and transmitting HIV were assessed. The key benefits from this finding that involved both high and low risk groups of population is to fill the gaps of information existing in behavioural survey in Ethiopia in general and emerging regions in particular. Uganda and Thailand used behavioural survey as an evidence to prove the reduction of AIDS prevalence in the past couples of years as a result of change in high-risk human behaviours gained earlier [10, 12, 13] . For effective prevention and handling of the epidemic, definitive and concrete knowledge on means of viral transmission and rejecting prevalent misconception are crucial. Assessment of high-risk behaviours in Ethiopia was initiated as early as 1990s. High score especially in some mode of viral transmission was documented which showed some success especially in Table 6 Odds ratios from logistic regression models predicting intention to use condom among students in Agena preparatory school, Guraghe zone, Ethiopia, 2011 raising awareness both in the general and sub group of population [14] . Adequate knowledge on transmission of HIV by itself is of no use if individuals don't know that they can get infection from asymptomatic carrier who looks well and healthy, had low level of awareness and condom use, which is quite comparable to many studies in Ethiopia and Africa [15] . Furthermore if the respondents had little awareness that asymptomatic healthy carriers could transmit the disease, they may not refrain themselves from engaging in sexual relation with this peoples. Those factors may result in a big challenge in an effort to fight against the disease.

Uganda and Thailand used behavioural survey as an evidence to prove the reduction of AIDS prevalence in the past couples of years as a result of change in high-risk human behaviours gained earlier.

High score especially in some mode of viral transmission was documented which showed some success especially in Table 6 Odds ratios from logistic regression models predicting intention to use condom among students in Agena preparatory school, Guraghe zone, Ethiopia, 2011 raising awareness both in the general and sub group of population.

Adequate knowledge on transmission of HIV by itself is of no use if individuals don't know that they can get infection from asymptomatic carrier who looks well and healthy, had low level of awareness and condom use, which is quite comparable to many studies in Ethiopia and Africa.


Food supply arises numerous challenges in terms of sustainability, such as environmental impacts, social equity and economic development. There are different policy discussions at local and global scales in terms of food supply and distribution, mainly in urban context that involves the coordination of multiple producers, distributors, logistics operators and traders of foods. When the availability of food is ensured, the food supply is made with high economic, social and environmental costs [1] . In order to decrease the transport nuisances and to improve the quality and sustainability of the food supply systems, several cities have started to think on how to outperform their local supply systems by combining proximity producers' supply with advanced city logistics systems.

When the availability of food is ensured, the food supply is made with high economic, social and environmental costs.


We analyzed effect of thyroid statuses on NIS mRNA expression in mouse extrathyroidal tissues, and demonstrated that NIS mRNA in extrathyroidal tissues is regulated in a differential manner from that in thyroid. Our findings agree well with Brown's old remark in 1961 that unlike the thyroid gland, however, these extrathyroidal iodide-concentrating mechanisms have not been shown to respond to such procedures as hypophysectomy and thyroxine or TSH administration not only in rodents but in many vertebrates [18] . More recent paper pointed that iodide accumulation is not regulated by TSH in extrathyroidal tissues in rat [12] .

Our findings agree well with Brown's old remark in 1961 that unlike the thyroid gland, however, these extrathyroidal iodide-concentrating mechanisms have not been shown to respond to such procedures as hypophysectomy and thyroxine or TSH administration not only in rodents but in many vertebrates.

More recent paper pointed that iodide accumulation is not regulated by TSH in extrathyroidal tissues in rat.


However, despite the technological advancements, social computing has not been widely employed to connect casual volunteers [39] . Many eager individuals receive little direction on how to help [34] . Current technologies also do not help activists mobilize people. Activist groups must still spend time figuring out how they will present their campaigns in order to successfully trigger action [38] .

However, despite the technological advancements, social computing has not been widely employed to connect casual volunteers.

Many eager individuals receive little direction on how to help.

Activist groups must still spend time figuring out how they will present their campaigns in order to successfully trigger action.


The simulated results are obtained by using the multiphysics simulation tool based on the finite element method (FEM). In all simulations, the whole system is contained within a cascaded area with scattering boundary condition (SBC). The corresponding values of MSE and R 2 are calculated according to Eqs. (7)- (8) .

The corresponding values of MSE and R 2 are calculated according to Eqs. (7).


The work presented in this paper represents a step in the evolution to develop engineering techniques for the design of large marine aquaculture systems. The techniques typically incorporate the use of numerical and physical models combined with field data sets and experience for validation purposes. Recent work has focused on the development of a fluid-structure interaction model using finite elements with hydrodynamic loading given by a version of Morison equation (Morison et al., 1950) .

Recent work has focused on the development of a fluid-structure interaction model using finite elements with hydrodynamic loading given by a version of Morison equation.


The methodological quality appraisal resulted in one reliable SR, eight with important limitations, and the remaining six were rated as having major limitations [25] [30] . Therefore, we only considered nine SRs for presenting, analyzing and discussing their results. In the following section we present their findings separated by the 3 possible comparisons -PNFP vs PFP, PNFP vs Public, and PFP vs Public-and mixed combinations of ownership types. Table 2 shows a summary of the results of the analyzed SR.

The methodological quality appraisal resulted in one reliable SR, eight with important limitations, and the remaining six were rated as having major limitations.


A crucial technological objective of textile reinforced concrete elements is the development of complex solid preform-structures. These are produced by processing flat structures through appropriate cutting [9] . The softelastic behavior of the 3D-textiles can be influenced to a large extent by modifying parameters such as stiffness, alignment and concentration of pile threads. In this way, it can be adjusted to the defined curvature. Although selectively deformable textile 3D-structures, for instance spacer fabric, for the reinforcement of concrete lightweight elements exist, the corresponding formwork elements are only in an early stage of development. These elements are essential for the realization of concrete shell structures that can be curved in any way.

These are produced by processing flat structures through appropriate cutting.


Nutrient requirements of high producing dairy animals especially during early lactation often exceed the capacity of ruminal fermentation and protein synthesis. Rising milk yield during early lactation presents a feed problem in dairy cows as the peak milk yield occurs at 6 to 8 weeks postpartum whereas the maximum feed intake lags behind peak milk yield by several weeks. This disparity between the timing of maximum daily energy output (milk and its components yield) and maximum feed intake during the first 150 days of lactation usually gives rise to an energy deficit of varying level. Under this condition, animals usually have to draw upon their own body reserves to support the large volume of milk, resulting into weight loss, ketosis and fertility problems (Grummer, 1988) .

Under this condition, animals usually have to draw upon their own body reserves to support the large volume of milk, resulting into weight loss, ketosis and fertility problems.


These findings confirm that the social context is critical to creating social presence when using online media (Tu & McIsaac, 2002) . Students emphasized the importance of connecting with each other and with instructors through social media for communication about class content, group activities and to cultivate social connections. These findings also confirm that interactivity is critical to creating social presence when using online media (Tu & McIsaac, 2002) . Leadership students in these classes noted that information exchange was quick and that they could communicate at all times of day about class projects.

These findings confirm that the social context is critical to creating social presence when using online media.

These findings also confirm that interactivity is critical to creating social presence when using online media.


The notion of relating to and connecting with followers is central to several theories and approaches to leadership such as transformational leadership, situational leadership, and leader member exchange (Bass, 2008) . As leadership educators attempt to model the way for their students, they can model the behavior of attempting to connect with and relate to students through the use of social media. Because social media has become so integral to the lives of students, it seems imperative that leadership educators seek to understand how they can integrate social media into their courses in order to be relevant and relate to their students. Students in two upper-level leadership courses were asked to provide feedback about social media use in the leadership classroom. The collected data were both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data were used to describe the students in terms of their perceived comfort level with social media and frequency of use of social media tools. The qualitative data explored the perceived advantages and disadvantages of social media use in the leadership classroom.

The notion of relating to and connecting with followers is central to several theories and approaches to leadership such as transformational leadership, situational leadership, and leader member exchange.


In conventional pole placement control, a desire performance is set by placing the system poles at a desired locations in s-plane. Application of pole placement strategy has also been reported within the frame work of T-S fuzzy model control. Some works can be seen in references [9, 10] .

Some works can be seen in references.


Fuzzy logic control is a soft computing control method. It employs a number of statements or rules each expressed in IF-THEN format as a basis for implementing a control law. The rules are representation of knowledge collected from an expert concerning step by step control of a given physical system. Two fuzzy modelling approaches are Mamdani and Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) models. While in the Mamdani modelling fuzzy functions are use in the premise (input) and consequence (output) parts of a rule, the T-S fuzzy model has static or dynamic model in the consequence part. Many formulations of the Mamdani fuzzy models used in the context of control are reported in references [1] [2] [3] . The T-S fuzzy model has rule that has static or dynamic equation in the rules' output. The T-S fuzzy model based method has some merits in that wide range of complex non-linear systems can be represented as a set of local linear models in the consequence part of the rule. Numerous works on control and signal processing have used various forms of T-S fuzzy model [4] [5] [6] . Specifically for power system control we found some successful works reported in references [4, 7, 8] .

Many formulations of the Mamdani fuzzy models used in the context of control are reported in references.

Numerous works on control and signal processing have used various forms of T-S fuzzy model.

Specifically for power system control we found some successful works reported in references.


Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has been classically performed on a cycle-ergometer or motorised treadmill using a rapid ramped incremental protocol to the limit of tolerance [1] . Since most activities of daily living are performed in a non-incremental fashion and at submaximal level of exertion, the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) may be more representative of daily-life activities and may reflect the functional capacity of patients more accurately [2] . In addition, because most activities of daily living require repetitive submaximal effort, it may be postulated that analysing the cardiopulmonary responses during a transition from rest to submaximal intensity work may provide important information. Therefore, there is a growing interest in submaximal exercise parameters capable of reflecting the functional capacity of patients.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) has been classically performed on a cycle-ergometer or motorised treadmill using a rapid ramped incremental protocol to the limit of tolerance.

Since most activities of daily living are performed in a non-incremental fashion and at submaximal level of exertion, the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) may be more representative of daily-life activities and may reflect the functional capacity of patients more accurately.


One approach to resolving this mathematical discrepancy in the descriptions is to cast all of the governing equations into an Eulerian framework [4] - [9] . This approach is used when very large structural deformations are expected, as the solid can move freely throughout the domain without changing the topology of the discretization. FSI methods of this type are inherently interface-capturing rather than interface-resolving; that is, the fluidsolid interface is not explicitly part of the discretization. Rather, the interface is captured by solving for its position as part of the numerical solution algorithm. The lack of a sharply defined interface makes the method inherently difficult to use for high Reynolds number flows where boundary layer resolution is an important aspect of the simulation.

One approach to resolving this mathematical discrepancy in the descriptions is to cast all of the governing equations into an Eulerian framework.


Climate change has been a serious challenge and its predictions are associated with high uncertainties in West Africa. With the current global drive for cleaner energy sources, hydropower remains one of the sustainable renewable energy substitutes for fossil fuel. This study evaluated the future impacts of climate change on hydropower production and associated uncertainties based on 8 dynamically downscaled GCMs. Climate change will drive increases in rainfall, PET and hydropower production at the Kainji Lake, thereby adding to untapped hydropower potential in the region. These predictions will help design adaptation strategies for harnessing this important hydropower resource in order to reduce the worsening electricity shortages in the region and enhance socioeconomic developments [3] . Future influence of upstream water abstractions from planned dams and reservoirs on hydropower production in Kainji Lake should be assessed in a following study.

These predictions will help design adaptation strategies for harnessing this important hydropower resource in order to reduce the worsening electricity shortages in the region and enhance socioeconomic developments.


Both the erythrocyte sacs and the erythrocytes do not have selfrenewal capability, which explains why erythrocytes do not overgrow or cause cancer as do leucocytes [15] . Identifying the rich erythrocyte production of each erythrocyte sac also explains why the hematopoiesis is erythrocyte-biased. In conclusion, our current studies provide evidence for a unique process of erythropoiesis and also support the consensus that the HSC compartment contains a mixture of unipotent progenitors. However, we doubt whether the erythrocyte progenitors have standard cellular structures.

Both the erythrocyte sacs and the erythrocytes do not have selfrenewal capability, which explains why erythrocytes do not overgrow or cause cancer as do leucocytes.


A state-of-the-art RL algorithm for efficient state space exploration is E3 [6] . It uses active exploration policy to visit states whose transition dynamics are still inaccurately modeled. Because of this, running E3 directly in the real world might lead to a dangerous exploration behavior.

A state-of-the-art RL algorithm for efficient state space exploration is E3.


Cellulose is one among the most abundant biopolymers present in nature and cellulose based derivatives have several advantages such as biodegradability, recyclability, reproducibility, cost effectiveness and availability in a wide variety of forms. However, the poor solubility of cellulose in water and in most organic solvents and also the poor reactivity make it difficult to fabricate directly to other useful materials. The derivative modification of cellulose can overcome these limitations while keeping the advantageous properties of cellulose. Carboxymethyl cellulose is a cellulose derivative with carboxymethyl groups (-CH 2 -COONa) bonded to some of the hydroxyl groups on cellulose backbone. It is one of the water-soluble cellulose derivatives with methyl group that has immense application in the food, pharmaceutical area owing to its viscosity, nontoxicity and hypoallergenic nature [8] . While making nanoparticles with Carboxymethyl cellulose it provides carboxylic acid functionality to the nanoparticles and often used as a stabilizer for the synthesis of several other nanoparticles. The nanoparticles of carboxymethyl cellulose have several applications in cosmetic and pharmaceutical sector. The Carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles was made specific to cancer cells in our study by conjugating the folate group since folate recaptors are often over expressed in several cancers [9] . The nanoparticle was then loaded with a potent anticancer drug, 5FU to form a semi multifunctional nanoparticle. The nanoparticles were converted to fully multifunctional nanoparticle when an imaging moiety was attached to the nanoparticle [10] . Rather than using an organic dye for imaging; we employed semiconductor quantum dots (QD) for providing luminescence for our nanoparticle. Semiconductor QDs have several advantages than organic dyes such as nonphoto bleaching with narrow, symmetric emission spectra, and have multiple resolvable colors that can be excited simultaneously using a single excitation wavelength [11] [12] [13] [14] .

It is one of the water-soluble cellulose derivatives with methyl group that has immense application in the food, pharmaceutical area owing to its viscosity, nontoxicity and hypoallergenic nature.

The Carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles was made specific to cancer cells in our study by conjugating the folate group since folate recaptors are often over expressed in several cancers.

The nanoparticles were converted to fully multifunctional nanoparticle when an imaging moiety was attached to the nanoparticle.

Semiconductor QDs have several advantages than organic dyes such as nonphoto bleaching with narrow, symmetric emission spectra, and have multiple resolvable colors that can be excited simultaneously using a single excitation wavelength.


The shift towards a sustainable and circular economy requires a constant and radical change in the use of available resources. The implementation of such a paradigm necessitates a complete understanding and description of the environmental consequences of various choices in the policy and planning process. In the re-definition of a sustainable economic model, the allocation and minimization of externalities represents a crucial aspect [1] . According to Pigou's definition, externalities or external costs occur wherever "a transaction between A and B has unwanted, positive or negative, consequences for a third party" [2] . In the evolution of an economic process, negative externalities may be generated whenever a natural resource is depleted, or harmful secondary flows (e.g., pollution) are produced.

In the re-definition of a sustainable economic model, the allocation and minimization of externalities represents a crucial aspect.

According to Pigou's definition, externalities or external costs occur wherever "a transaction between A and B has unwanted, positive or negative, consequences for a third party".


Free carbide steel exhibits a combination of high strength and good ductility without stress concentration due to carbides. Chromium carbides that can dissolve in the form of nano-size species can contribute to both high strength and good ductility. Addition of Si may cause an ability to dissolve the carbides and can guarantee the uniform distribution of them [1] [2] [3] [4] . It was reported that quadplex or four phase's steel consists of ferrite, pearlite, bainite and chromium carbides in nano-size [5] . Low-temperature bainite (LTB) is a new type of carbide-free bainite containing superfine-bainitic ferrite plate and retained austenite [6] . The ultra-fine bainite with high strength and ductility by isothermal transformation at low temperature first obtained [7, 8] . Low-temperature bainite was obtained and established through isothermal transformation at lowtemperature conditions for several days in some high-carbon high-silicon steels [9, 10] . These studies have attracted amounts of attention due to the brilliant combination of strength, toughness, and ductility. Low-temperature bainite was obtained by adjusting the alloy composition and optimizing heat treatment process in steels with carbon varying from 0.7 to 1.0 wt% [11] . However, high carbon concentration reduces the maximum attainable volume fraction of bainitic ferrite. In contrast, low carbon concentration will increase the minimum transformation temperature for bainite formation caused by increasing martensite start (Ms) temperature, which consequently leads to coarser bainite microstructures and thus losing the superiority of the low temperature bainite [12] [13] [14] [15] . It has been reported by many researchers that; for medium/low carbon steel, bainite microstructure after heat treatment process in low temperature range had the best microstructure and mechanical properties [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] . The goal of this study is to investigate the behavior and properties of hot forged steels containing different aluminum content by studying the microstructure and mechanical properties to obtain high strength and good ductility steel.

Addition of Si may cause an ability to dissolve the carbides and can guarantee the uniform distribution of them.

It was reported that quadplex or four phase's steel consists of ferrite, pearlite, bainite and chromium carbides in nano-size.

Low-temperature bainite (LTB) is a new type of carbide-free bainite containing superfine-bainitic ferrite plate and retained austenite.

The ultra-fine bainite with high strength and ductility by isothermal transformation at low temperature first obtained.

Low-temperature bainite was obtained and established through isothermal transformation at lowtemperature conditions for several days in some high-carbon high-silicon steels.

Low-temperature bainite was obtained by adjusting the alloy composition and optimizing heat treatment process in steels with carbon varying from 0.7 to 1.0 wt%.

In contrast, low carbon concentration will increase the minimum transformation temperature for bainite formation caused by increasing martensite start (Ms) temperature, which consequently leads to coarser bainite microstructures and thus losing the superiority of the low temperature bainite.

It has been reported by many researchers that; for medium/low carbon steel, bainite microstructure after heat treatment process in low temperature range had the best microstructure and mechanical properties.


Today, a major challenge facing humanity is how to achieve sustainable agriculture that provides sufficient food and ecosystem services for both present and future generations. Modern agricultural systems, which are based on high technological inputs and oriented to maximizing profits, have been criticized as often being detrimental and nonviable when considered from social and ecological perspectives [1] [2] [3] . This realization has led experts to reflect on modern agricultural systems and look for help from traditional ones that have been developed and maintained by local farmers for centuries with ingenious practices that often result in both community food security and the conservation of ecosystem services [4] [5] [6] . These traditional agricultural systems are now re-examined and cherished by the modern society and some of them share a new, common name: Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

Modern agricultural systems, which are based on high technological inputs and oriented to maximizing profits, have been criticized as often being detrimental and nonviable when considered from social and ecological perspectives.

This realization has led experts to reflect on modern agricultural systems and look for help from traditional ones that have been developed and maintained by local farmers for centuries with ingenious practices that often result in both community food security and the conservation of ecosystem services.


Although the green industry has grown slowly in recent years, it remains an important contributor to national, state, and local economies. In 2013, it contributed 0.72% of US gross domestic product and 1.11% of total workforce employment (Hodges et al., 2015) . US garden retailers have been facing growing competition from mass merchandisers entering the garden market during the last two decades (IBISWorld, 2015) . Meanwhile, the nursery industry as a whole was confronted with consumers having an increasing number of alternatives for their discretionary spending other than purchasing plants. Additionally, the population aged 50 and over, the industry's largest market, grows slowly (Colby and Ortman, 2015) .

In 2013, it contributed 0.72% of US gross domestic product and 1.11% of total workforce employment.

US garden retailers have been facing growing competition from mass merchandisers entering the garden market during the last two decades.

Additionally, the population aged 50 and over, the industry's largest market, grows slowly.


Notably, Affleck-Dine baryogenesis often leads to a baryon asymmetry much larger than presently observed. Such a large baryon asymmetry must be subsequently diluted, usually through an injection of entropy into the thermal bath and/or strong washout from sphaleron processes during a phase transition. Fortunately such entropy injection events are ubiquitous in UV completions of the Standard Model. In particular string theory typically introduces a large number of gravitationally coupled scalars which decay at late cosmological times, diluting previous particle asymmetries and relic abundances [4] [5] [6] . This motivates serious consideration of the possibility that at some point in cosmological history, there were large dilutions in asymmetries and particle number due to entropy injection. The occurrence of these large entropy dumps can significantly impact what is regarded as a target range for model building when considering the appropriate freeze-out abundance of dark matter or the magnitude of particle-antiparticle asymmetries.

In particular string theory typically introduces a large number of gravitationally coupled scalars which decay at late cosmological times, diluting previous particle asymmetries and relic abundances.


There are two well-motivated possibilities for generating the baryon asymmetry at high temperatures: right-handed neutrino leptogenesis and the Affleck-Dine baryogenesis [1] [2] [3] . The Affleck-Dine mechanism utilises the fact that scalar potentials in supersymmetric (SUSY) models have nearly "flat directions". In the early universe, gauge invariant combinations of scalar fields that carry an approximately conserved global quantum number (such as baryon B or baryon-minus-lepton B − L number) become initially displaced to large field values. Once the Hubble parameter drops below a given mass scale, the associated scalar field will roll towards its minimum. If the initially displaced B-charged scalar fields have baryon number and charge-parity (CP ) violating potentials, the evolution of the field to its minimum leads to the growth of a large baryon asymmetry.

There are two well-motivated possibilities for generating the baryon asymmetry at high temperatures: right-handed neutrino leptogenesis and the Affleck-Dine baryogenesis.


GnRHa is the most used and studied to date. These drugs cause hypoestrinism, which, after several months of use, leads to a slight fibroid volume reduction [15, 26] . The use of GnRHa is unfortunately accompanied with a number of drawbacks, which is why their use in the treatment of fibroids has been limited to three-month pretreatment in selected patients before myomectomy or hysterectomy [27] [28] [29] .

These drugs cause hypoestrinism, which, after several months of use, leads to a slight fibroid volume reduction.

The use of GnRHa is unfortunately accompanied with a number of drawbacks, which is why their use in the treatment of fibroids has been limited to three-month pretreatment in selected patients before myomectomy or hysterectomy.


Selective proapoptotic and antiproliferative effects of SPRM preparations could be the ideal mechanism for suppression of uterine fibroids with a permanent or at least longer effect compared to GnRHa without adverse events of hypoestrinism, concurrently with much safer results than the necrosis caused by the UAE. Their big clinical potential (cessation of excessive uterine bleeding, correction of severe anemia, and volume reduction of the fibroids and the uterus) and safety in women with fibroids have been recently proved by two large randomized trials [11, 43] . On the other hand the necrosis after UAE, which can also occur inside the uterine cavity, can greatly reduce the chances for patients to have a successful pregnancy and that is why UAE is considered to be relatively contraindicated in patients planning pregnancy [44] [45] [46] .

Their big clinical potential (cessation of excessive uterine bleeding, correction of severe anemia, and volume reduction of the fibroids and the uterus) and safety in women with fibroids have been recently proved by two large randomized trials.

On the other hand the necrosis after UAE, which can also occur inside the uterine cavity, can greatly reduce the chances for patients to have a successful pregnancy and that is why UAE is considered to be relatively contraindicated in patients planning pregnancy.


The emerging 3D video technology enables novel applications such as 3D-TV or free-viewpoint video. A free-viewpoint video application provides the ability for users to interactively select a position (viewpoint) for viewing the scene. To render user-selected views of the video scene, various image-synthesis techniques have been developed [1] . The two major techniques use either a geometric model of the scene, or an interpolative model based on the neighboring cameras to generate a new user-selected view.

To render user-selected views of the video scene, various image-synthesis techniques have been developed.


Another way to estimate uncertainty in model predictions is by determining the input parameters to which the model in use is more sensitive. A so-called sensitivity analysis indicates how much of the overall uncertainty in the model predictions is associated with the individual uncertainty in each model input (McRae and Seinfeld, 1983) . Sensitivity studies are not, strictly speaking, uncertainty analysis, since they do not combine the uncertainties of the model inputs to provide a realistic estimate of the uncertainty in the model output. Nevertheless, knowledge of the model's sensitivity to different variables is necessary in order to decide where emphasis should be placed in estimating total uncertainty (Hanna, 1988) .

A so-called sensitivity analysis indicates how much of the overall uncertainty in the model predictions is associated with the individual uncertainty in each model input.

Nevertheless, knowledge of the model's sensitivity to different variables is necessary in order to decide where emphasis should be placed in estimating total uncertainty.


Most of the air quality modelling work has been so far based on the "deterministic" approach of using only one dispersion model for a specific application. The selected model provides estimates of average concentrations using a specific meteorological and emission data set. A serious weakness of this method lies on the fact that many uncertainties, not only related to the calculations and input variables, but also to the very nature of atmospheric processes, are ignored. That might have serious implications for exposure studies, since the area and number of people exposed to a predicted pollution level may be very sensitive to the uncertainties associated with this prediction (Fisher and Ireland, 2001) .

That might have serious implications for exposure studies, since the area and number of people exposed to a predicted pollution level may be very sensitive to the uncertainties associated with this prediction.