We found that abundant year classes caught successively year after year were more readily identified in z values of catch-at-age data computed by ALKs than by ACT (Fig. 10) . In ACT, all individuals within a certain range of length classes were considered an age group (Table 2) . Therefore, the number of individuals in the abundant age class was underestimated because individuals outside of a designated length class were counted in successive age classes on both sides. On the other hand, the number of individuals in less common age classes was overestimated; in particular, adjacent age classes would influence each other. In ALKs, age compositions in length classes that overlapped were estimated by fitting normal distributions, which largely reduced the bias affected by abundant age classes. In 2009 and 2010, catch number of age 6 estimated by ALKs was smaller than by ACT, because of the replacement of abundant age classes by year classes of 2000 and 2001 (Fig. 9) . Consequently, using ALKs computed by multiple length frequency analyses would improve catch-at-age, both practically and theoretically. It is generally recognized that ALKs generate a bias in computing catch-at-age from length frequency [6, 7] . In particular, Westrheim and Ricker examined the factors that introduce bias when catch-at-age is computed from length frequency using ALKs [6] . They reported that the age composition of a parental sample in the ALK influences that of a filial sample in the ALK. The bias becomes larger when length distributions are much more overlapped between successive age groups. Consequently, they concluded that a parental sample for ALK should be collected from the same population at the same time to compute catch-at-age irrespective of fishing gear. In our study, catch-at-age was computed using ALKs estimated every year to prevent introducing a bias caused by annual growth variation. Thus, the computed catch-at-age should not be affected by bias corresponding to sampling year. If it is necessary to estimate catch-at-age even more precisely, then the ageing problem must be solved. Technical developments are expected for the direct determination of age in crustaceans, including routinely examining lipofuscin accumulation or growth bands of the eyestalk [29] [30] [31] .

It is generally recognized that ALKs generate a bias in computing catch-at-age from length frequency.

In particular, Westrheim and Ricker examined the factors that introduce bias when catch-at-age is computed from length frequency using ALKs.

Technical developments are expected for the direct determination of age in crustaceans, including routinely examining lipofuscin accumulation or growth bands of the eyestalk.


We were able to construct an age-structured model by estimating catch-at-age. Subsequently, the causal relationship between the decrease in length-at-age in a population and fishing impacts or population density can be discussed. Moreover, we propose the effective utilization of recruitment, e.g., yield per recruit (YPR) and spawning per recruit (SPR) analyses. Particularly for northern shrimp in the Sea of Japan, off western Hokkaido, most landings are caught by the shrimp-pot fishery, which can readily control the size of the harvested shrimp by changing the mesh size without bycatch of small northern shrimp [32] . Based on YPR and SPR analyses, it would be possible to propose an optimal mesh size of the shrimp-pots that is compatible both for the sustainable utilization of the resource and for increased production value.

Particularly for northern shrimp in the Sea of Japan, off western Hokkaido, most landings are caught by the shrimp-pot fishery, which can readily control the size of the harvested shrimp by changing the mesh size without bycatch of small northern shrimp.


Annual growth variation was detected in multiple length frequency analyses comparing AIC values between cases where the von Bertalanffy parameters were common or variable of all survey years (Table 4) . Moreover, lengthsat-age in several age classes showed significantly decreasing trends (Table 4 ). This size decrease could be caused by fishing and/or environmental factors. Environmental factors may be involved, because the decreasing transition size and commercial landings of the related northern shrimp P. borealis in the North Atlantic Ocean were reported to be caused by environmental factors [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] . According to these studies, the size decrease could be caused by increasing metabolic demands as direct factors and by density-dependent effects as indirect factors due to bottom-temperature increase [15, 16] . It follows from these previous studies that annual growth variation could be caused by bottom temperatures as direct or indirect factors.

Environmental factors may be involved, because the decreasing transition size and commercial landings of the related northern shrimp P. borealis in the North Atlantic Ocean were reported to be caused by environmental factors.

According to these studies, the size decrease could be caused by increasing metabolic demands as direct factors and by density-dependent effects as indirect factors due to bottom-temperature increase.


Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) can present as an acute or even an alarmingly fulminant hepatitis or conversely be asymptomatic and recognized only incidentally by routine biochemical tests of liver function. The critical and readily measurable indices reflecting the essence of AIH are a lack of evidence of current viral infection, transferases greater than twice upper normal limit, and immunoglobulin G greater than 1.1 times upper normal limit, interface hepatitis with plasma cell prominence, and positivity to an acceptable titer for SMA, ANA, anti-SLA/LP, or anti-LKM [1] . Our case is noteworthy due to the apparently innocuous presentation and the presence of anticentromere antibody (ACA), which is commonly associated with the limited form of systemic sclerosis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and sometimes with diffuse form of systemic sclerosis.

The critical and readily measurable indices reflecting the essence of AIH are a lack of evidence of current viral infection, transferases greater than twice upper normal limit, and immunoglobulin G greater than 1.1 times upper normal limit, interface hepatitis with plasma cell prominence, and positivity to an acceptable titer for SMA, ANA, anti-SLA/LP, or anti-LKM.


Earlier the case |ϕ| = 2 was settled by Shumyatsky [33] . We produce examples showing that Theorem 1 cannot be extended to infinite nilpotent groups, even for |ϕ| = 2. Nevertheless, such extensions can be proved for some classes of (locally) nilpotent groups, in particular, giving a positive solution to Problem 13.58 in the Kourovka Notebook [28] .

Earlier the case |ϕ| = 2 was settled by Shumyatsky.

Nevertheless, such extensions can be proved for some classes of (locally) nilpotent groups, in particular, giving a positive solution to Problem 13.58 in the Kourovka Notebook.


In this paper, we will explore the connection between the near-horizon geometry and the energy-momentum tensor. We study the back reaction from the vacuum energy-momentum tensor of quantum fields on the near-horizon geometry, and consider how the vacuum energymomentum tensor modifies the geometry. The motivation comes from the studies with selfconsistent treatment of the Hawking radiation in geometries of the black hole evaporation. Recently it was shown that no horizon forms during the gravitational collapse if the back reaction from the Hawking radiation is taken into account [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] .

Recently it was shown that no horizon forms during the gravitational collapse if the back reaction from the Hawking radiation is taken into account.


Since it was discovered that a black hole finally evaporates by the Hawking radiation, the information loss paradox has been a longstanding problem in black hole physics. The event horizon plays an important role in this problem, and it is assumed in many studies on the information loss paradox that the event horizon still exists even when the quantum effects are taken into account. On the other hand, there are many arguments from the viewpoint of string theory, most noticeably via the AdS/CFT duality, that the information cannot be lost by the black hole evaporation. There are also many studies that argue the absence of the horizon [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] .

There are also many studies that argue the absence of the horizon.


In the study of black holes, Hawking radiation is associated with a conserved energymomentum tensor, which can be computed as the vacuum expectation value of the energymomentum operator of quantum fields outside the horizon. Naively, this quantum correction to the energy-momentum tensor, being extremely small, should have very little effect on the black-hole horizon, which exists at a macroscopic scale. On the other hand, the formation of horizons in gravitational collapses is known to be a critical phenomenon [18] . Infinitesimal modifications to the initial condition around the critical value can make a significant difference in the final states. Indeed, we will show that in some sense the existence of horizon is very sensitive to the variation of the energy-momentum tensor.

On the other hand, the formation of horizons in gravitational collapses is known to be a critical phenomenon.


This study found that internally directed beliefs -those about people, events and processes within the congregationwere filled with more bias, and were held with higher certainty (RQ1). Existing literature suggests that bias for internal information closes an organisation off to information outside of it [24] . Existing literature also suggests that increased certainty and narcissism closes an organisation off to information outside of it [36, 37] . The study also uncovered belief specificity as an additional variable characteristic of beliefs that are open or closed. Thus, it is possible to conclude that internally directed religious beliefs are more likely to be closed off to external information.

Existing literature suggests that bias for internal information closes an organisation off to information outside of it.

Existing literature also suggests that increased certainty and narcissism closes an organisation off to information outside of it.


According to research in economic psychology, high levels of financial stress are often associated with increased levels of psychological and physical stress (Lyons & Yilmazer, 2005; MacFadyen, MacFadyen, & Prince, 1996) . Along this same line of thinking, studies have documented the high levels of indebtedness of students, who sometimes seek to finance their studies, whether by paying college fees or even buying college material, with funds coming from their credit card (Nellie Mae, 2005) . In 2010, the amount owed on American college student loans overtook credit card debt, and the current amassed student loan debt is approaching one trillion dollars, as reported by print media in the USA (Cauchon, 2011) . Concerns are emerging about the consequences of this debt. For example, recent work in Canada reported that those workers with more student loans were less likely to own their own homes or to have savings or investments (Luong, 2010) . The net result of this is a panorama of high indebtedness, which in some cases even leads students to committing suicide. In the United States government and school managers have introduced restrictions on requests for credit cards on college campuses (Norvilitis & Santa Maria, 2002) . A significant portion of the Brazilian higher education system consists of public (federal and state) universities, which are tuition free. This results in types of school-related expenditures that are quite different (college material for example) from those in the USA; and the credit card industry and credit reporting system are also highly disparate. We realize that most of the relevant literature on this topic comes from beyond Brazil, and even though this article mostly considers students in private universities, it is intended to fill this gap.

According to research in economic psychology, high levels of financial stress are often associated with increased levels of psychological and physical stress.

Along this same line of thinking, studies have documented the high levels of indebtedness of students, who sometimes seek to finance their studies, whether by paying college fees or even buying college material, with funds coming from their credit card.

In 2010, the amount owed on American college student loans overtook credit card debt, and the current amassed student loan debt is approaching one trillion dollars, as reported by print media in the USA.

For example, recent work in Canada reported that those workers with more student loans were less likely to own their own homes or to have savings or investments.

In the United States government and school managers have introduced restrictions on requests for credit cards on college campuses.


On the communication side, a rich literature has been developed over the years to characterize and model wireless channels, with the cellular industry as one of the key motivations [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . However, the knowledge available on link modeling is spread out over a large body of literature. This makes finding simple yet realistic link models for networked robotic applications challenging. Furthermore, the height of the antennas used in robotic applications is typically considerably shorter than those used in most of the traditional wireless communication literature. As such, the applicability of the older models may need further validations. Finally, in robotics, the control of motion as well as location awareness presents new possibilities in terms of improving both the communication quality and channel measurement process, which differentiate these applications from cellular systems or Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). For instance, the process of channel measurement can be fully automated. Furthermore, a robot can plan its motion intelligently in order to ensure maintaining connectivity or smart adaptive directional antennas can be utilized in order to reduce the impact of multipath fading.

On the communication side, a rich literature has been developed over the years to characterize and model wireless channels, with the cellular industry as one of the key motivations.


Psychological well being is affected by many of psychiatric problems. Depression and anxiety have been associated with chronic disease such as diabetes. Anxiety and depression are common emotion in reaction to stressful issues, such as family and social problems. Moreover, some of factors such as illness may trigger anxiety. Symptoms of depression and anxiety may be fluctuating [5] . Depression and anxiety is associated with severe reduction of person`s function and disease comorbidities [10] .

Symptoms of depression and anxiety may be fluctuating.

Depression and anxiety is associated with severe reduction of person`s function and disease comorbidities.


Many elements must come together for a prevention program to be replicated and to produce behavior change in a different environment. In replicating their programs, investigators encountered both structural and cultural challenges. Some changes made to the original programs were theory-driven, to bring the examples closer to home, such as in vignettes selecting names of youth from the local community or making references to single-as well as 2-parent families. Some changes were driven by local constraints and realities, within the theoretical bounds of the intervention. Some were driven by the discovery of unmet needs in the target population. All investigators, even those who had originally developed the program being replicated, struggled with the process of adaptation. There is some suggestion in the literature on program innovation that "additions" to a program do not eviscerate its effectiveness, but that "adaptations" or "alterations" may [31] .

There is some suggestion in the literature on program innovation that "additions" to a program do not eviscerate its effectiveness, but that "adaptations" or "alterations" may.


All patients with transverse myelitis had hyper-reflexia, indicating a central (white matter dysfunction) rather than a peripheral cause of muscle weakness [67, 68] . The presence of a defined thoracic sensory level was observed in all the patients, as has been reported. Autonomic signs were observed, including arrhythmia Table 4 General characteristics of patients with GBS associated with ZIKV (cases) and patients with only ZIKV infection (controls).

All patients with transverse myelitis had hyper-reflexia, indicating a central (white matter dysfunction) rather than a peripheral cause of muscle weakness.


A review of the urological literature demonstrates no consistent pattern regarding the potential etiologies of PTT. Possible theories include difficult labor, breech presentation, high birth weight, an over reactive cremasteric reflex and multiparity [5, 6] . Despite the type or mechanism of torsion, PTT is an unexpected finding for neonatologists and parents. Antenatal ultrasound is not sensitive in detecting this abnormality; thus, it is commonly diagnosed during the routine postnatal physical examination. The pediatric urologist or pediatric surgeon is usually consulted in the first few hours of life and is faced with formulating a management plan. There is much controversy regarding the optimal management.

Possible theories include difficult labor, breech presentation, high birth weight, an over reactive cremasteric reflex and multiparity.


Among different materials, polymer has been proven to be an ideal material option for integrated photonic devices [4] , [5] . The cost of the material itself is very low, which makes it attractive where the economic factor needs to be taken into account. The tunable properties of the polymer give the design and fabrication of the photonic devices much more flexibility. Compared to inorganic materials, biocompatiblity is another important and unique feature of polymers. Moreover, the biochemical surface treatment of the polymer photonic devices can be greatly simplified. Also, besides the traditional mature semiconductor processing methods, many novel fabrication techniques, nanoimprint lithography for example, can be applied to process the polymer [6] , [7] . The latter method has lots of merits such as high resolution, minimal requirements for complicated equipment, simple fabrication processes involved, and a huge potential for high throughput. Based on the advantages mentioned above, this platform provides us an opportunity to develop an extremely low cost thus disposable label-free optical biosensor.

Among different materials, polymer has been proven to be an ideal material option for integrated photonic devices.

Also, besides the traditional mature semiconductor processing methods, many novel fabrication techniques, nanoimprint lithography for example, can be applied to process the polymer.


Predation risk is the result of predator behavior, and predators respond to the distribution and abundance of their prey. Exactly how prey respond to predators, however, depends on their own life-history constraints. For example, if a prey species is near the end of its only reproductive season, habitat selection may be relatively unaffected by increased predation risk. In contrast, an iteroparous prey species in which additional growth has little effect on fecundity may be very sensitive to patterns of predation risk. It is clear that interactions between individuals within and between species will affect the habitat selection, growth, reproduction, and survival of individuals and thus their distribution and abundance. A modeling approach that considers the lifetime fitness consequences of dynamic state-dependent behaviors is necessary, while concurrently focusing on interactions within and between species in space and time. We use an approach that is based on multiple linked dynamic programming equations, thus allowing the inclusion of realistic environmental conditions, temporal effects on behavior, behavioral plasticity, and interactions within and between species (Alonzo 2002) .

We use an approach that is based on multiple linked dynamic programming equations, thus allowing the inclusion of realistic environmental conditions, temporal effects on behavior, behavioral plasticity, and interactions within and between species.


Our automated technique follows three main steps. In the first step, multiple sequence diagrams are automatically transformed into Alloy models. For each sequence diagram a unique Alloy model is produced which if solved has as many solutions as there are possible traces of execution in the original sequence diagram. These traces have a direct correspondence to the ones obtained in the underlying semantics of sequence diagrams used, namely labelled event structures (LES) [5, 6] . In the second step, the Alloy models are merged to produce a single Alloy model, which contains elements from the individual Alloy models of each sequence diagram in addition to syntactic logical constraints specifying how the elements are matched and the diagrams should be composed. The logical constraints used for the matching are syntactic and considered in our true-concurrent semantics of composition. In the third step, we use the composed model obtained, that is the conjunction of the overall logical constraints, to formally check if the sequence diagrams can be composed and obtain the composition of the diagrams automatically. These steps are fully automated in our tool SD2Alloy which was implemented using Model Driven Architecture (MDA) techniques [7] . Later in the paper, we justify further our choice of Alloy as a target language.

These traces have a direct correspondence to the ones obtained in the underlying semantics of sequence diagrams used, namely labelled event structures (LES).

These steps are fully automated in our tool SD2Alloy which was implemented using Model Driven Architecture (MDA) techniques.


Although administrative data such as insurance claims records can provide large amounts of data at comparatively low cost to investigators, we acknowledge several limitations in these data. First, our cohort represents giardiasis patients who were commercially insured for >6 months and might have different clinical experiences from the uninsured or briefly insured, or persons with Medicaid coverage. In particular, the uninsured might seek to minimize visits and diagnostic testing. Second, the structure of the medical and prescription claims databases did not allow us to precisely assign prescriptions to the disease or symptom for which they were prescribed. To restrict our analyses to prescriptions associated with giardiasis, we only included prescriptions filled from 7 days preceding to 30 days following a visit for giardiasis, abdominal pain, or diarrhea [22] . Finally, giardiasis diagnoses could not be validated with medical records, and while the database contains insurance claims for diagnostic tests, it is unknown whether separate tests involve separately collected specimens or what proportion of tests had Distance between bars is equivalent to median time in days between any 2 events. Three Giardia-specific event types are shown: Giardia-specific tests (black), antiparasitic prescriptions (dark gray), and antibiotic prescriptions (light gray). Most but not all cohort patients had at least 1 of these 3 events. Therefore, plots show pediatric (n = 782; 86%) and adult (n = 1808; 87%) sequences containing any of the 3 events. Time from first event (horizontal axis) is truncated to 60 days for clarity; 72% of all sequences had total elapsed time of ≤60 days. Starting from the left of the panels, we saw that more pediatric vs adult sequences started with a Giardia-specific test (black bars) and included multiple consecutive tests, whereas adult sequences were more likely to begin with an antiparasitic drug (dark gray bars).

To restrict our analyses to prescriptions associated with giardiasis, we only included prescriptions filled from 7 days preceding to 30 days following a visit for giardiasis, abdominal pain, or diarrhea.


We focus on multi-domain learning, which combines properties of domain adaptation and multi-task learning in a flexible way. Like domain adaptation, we allow that different domains may be drawn from different underlying distributions (Blitzer et al. 2007b; Jiang and Zhai 2007a) . For example, one user may receive emails about engineering while another about art, differing in their distribution over features. Like multi-task learning, we also allow that the prediction function itself may change from domain to domain (Evgeniou and Pontil 2004; Dekel et al. 2006) . For example, one user may enjoy some emails that another user considers spam. Multi-domain learning unifies these two approaches by learning across both distributions and behaviors.

Like domain adaptation, we allow that different domains may be drawn from different underlying distributions.

Like multi-task learning, we also allow that the prediction function itself may change from domain to domain.


Concerning the MSSM, at LO squark loop effects have to be taken into account. Due to supersymmetry (SUSY), their couplings to the Higgs bosons are typically suppressed by powers of M q /M q , which is why they only contribute significantly to the cross section if the squark massM q is not too large. In that case, however, there are certain regions of the SUSY parameter space where a quite drastic cancellation among the quark and the squark induced amplitudes may occur [29, 30] .

In that case, however, there are certain regions of the SUSY parameter space where a quite drastic cancellation among the quark and the squark induced amplitudes may occur.


Companies are increasingly looking at creating new markets for their products in low-income markets in emerging economies (Prahalad and Hart, 2002) . However, serving these markets pose new challenges to MNCs from developing affordable, "good enough" products to commercializing these innovations. This article explores GE Healthcare's ventures into serving low-income markets in India with disruptive innovations. In particular, we explore organizational conditions that have enabled this incumbent to successfully and systematically develop and commercialize potentially disruptive innovations to serve BOP markets.

Companies are increasingly looking at creating new markets for their products in low-income markets in emerging economies.


The attosecond lighthouse also requires a broad bandwidth pulse, but it differs from most temporal gating techniques as it is based on a macroscopic property-the wavefront rotation of a laser pulse-for separating attosecond pulses generated in each half optical cycle of the laser pulse [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] . Although the harmonic radiations form an attosecond pulse train when generated in the medium, separate pulses form distinct beamlets that propagate in different directions due to the wavefront rotation of the laser pulse. Because of this unique approach, the attosecond lighthouse offers two advantageous aspects. First, it provides multiple isolated attosecond pulses, which can be used in attosecond pump and attosecond probe experiments [16, 17] . Second, it provides a direct experimental access to the ultrafast temporal dynamics in successive half-cycles [18] . To take these advantages in practice, a clean angular separation of the attosecond pulses is an essential prerequisite.

The attosecond lighthouse also requires a broad bandwidth pulse, but it differs from most temporal gating techniques as it is based on a macroscopic property-the wavefront rotation of a laser pulse-for separating attosecond pulses generated in each half optical cycle of the laser pulse.

First, it provides multiple isolated attosecond pulses, which can be used in attosecond pump and attosecond probe experiments.

Second, it provides a direct experimental access to the ultrafast temporal dynamics in successive half-cycles.


To obtain a clean isolated attosecond pulse, the angular separation δ 1∕2 between two consecutive attosecond pulses has to be larger than their divergence δ XUV (i.e., δ 1∕2 > δ XUV ). The angular separation is related to the spatial chirp as δ 1∕2 Δλy∕2Δy [where Δλy denotes the wavelength variation over the beam size Δy along the y direction shown in Fig. 1 ] [18] . When the wavefronts of the attosecond pulse are optimized to be flat, which may be achieved by properly choosing the position of the gas jet with respect to the focus, the divergence of the attosecond pulses is inversely proportional to the laser beam size (i.e., δ XUV ∝1∕Δy). Consequently, using the linear diffraction theory, the ratio of angular separation and attosecond pulse divergence (δ 1∕2 ∕δ XUV ) should be limited by the bandwidth of the laser pulse.

The angular separation is related to the spatial chirp as δ 1∕2 Δλy∕2Δy [where Δλy denotes the wavelength variation over the beam size Δy along the y direction shown in Fig. 1 ].


In the implementation of the attosecond lighthouse, angular dispersion (and pulse front tilt) is introduced into the laser beam. After focusing, this is converted into a spatial chirp, which produces a rotating wavefront in the focal plane. Around the focus, a combination of pulse front tilt and spatial and temporal chirps appears, as shown in Fig. 1 . High-order harmonic generation is known to inherit the coherence properties of the driving laser pulse [25] . As a result, harmonics generated with this spatially chirped pulse contain a series of attosecond pulses, one from each half-cycle of the laser pulse, each propagating in the direction perpendicular to the wavefront of the driving field at the moment of generation [17] . This creates the angular separation of attosecond pulses and makes possible the mapping of the far-field spatial profile of the harmonic beam to the near-field temporal structure of the attosecond pulse train [18] . The isolation of a single attosecond pulses can be, then, achieved by simple spatial filtering.

High-order harmonic generation is known to inherit the coherence properties of the driving laser pulse.

As a result, harmonics generated with this spatially chirped pulse contain a series of attosecond pulses, one from each half-cycle of the laser pulse, each propagating in the direction perpendicular to the wavefront of the driving field at the moment of generation.

This creates the angular separation of attosecond pulses and makes possible the mapping of the far-field spatial profile of the harmonic beam to the near-field temporal structure of the attosecond pulse train.


Nevertheless, in the south-eastern parts, an area of 18,200 ha of mangrove (Chakaria Sundarbans) has almost completely been destroyed to find the land for shrimp aquaculture (Akhtaruzzaman, 2000) . Prawn culture in Bangladesh relies on the supply of artificially formulated feed application of agrochemicals, antibiotics and disinfectants (Paul and Vogl, 2011) . Shrimp farmers apply different types of chemicals and drugs to protect their farms (locally called gher in Bengali) from various diseases. The farmers are not aware of the impacts of the use of those chemicals on farms' environment. A survey conducted by CARE International showed that about 21% farmers used potassium permanganate, 18% used aqua-nourish, 17% used capsule and 14% agro-fish and almost all chemicals were used mainly for improving water quality and preventing diseases. Indiscriminate and overuse of the chemicals and drugs might be the cause of death of many living organisms (Rahman et al., 2013) . The long-term use of different chemicals and drugs in the shrimp and prawn farming has long term negative impacts on the environment as well as the human being. Therefore, this sector has been highly criticized by the seafood importing countries in terms of negative social and environmental issues. In 2009, EU which is the largest importer got nitrofuran in prawn and Bangladesh had to adopt self-imposed ban on seafood export. As a result, this shrimp and prawn farming and trade became vulnerable in the export market. Therefore, it is now a critical issue to identify the major sources of the contaminants in the shrimp and prawn farms.

Nevertheless, in the south-eastern parts, an area of 18,200 ha of mangrove (Chakaria Sundarbans) has almost completely been destroyed to find the land for shrimp aquaculture.

Prawn culture in Bangladesh relies on the supply of artificially formulated feed application of agrochemicals, antibiotics and disinfectants.

Indiscriminate and overuse of the chemicals and drugs might be the cause of death of many living organisms.


These considerations have been confirmed by recent research which showed that later-generation FBs produce fewer patent citations and innovations with lower economic and technological importance than founder-led firms (Block et al., 2013) . Thus, this conceptual paper develops propositions on the relationship between family involvement and the level of OA in latergeneration FBs. It does so by drawing on the central tenets of agency theory and combining these with insights from the FB and the OA literature.

These considerations have been confirmed by recent research which showed that later-generation FBs produce fewer patent citations and innovations with lower economic and technological importance than founder-led firms.


While the propositions developed in this paper may generally hold, they are, of course, contingent on some assumptions in the current literature. One of them is the notion that FBsand especially later-generation FBs -are very risk-averse. This assumption has mostly been evidenced by the lower debt and R&D levels of FBs (De Massis et al., 2013a; Hiebl, 2013) .

This assumption has mostly been evidenced by the lower debt and R&D levels of FBs.


Our findings help to explain the role of both FS and HR slack together on firm performance and to restructure the slack resources of SOEs in China. International firms that must interact, compete, and collaborate with Chinese firms should benefit from better understandings of China's economic growth (Child & Tse, 2001; Luo & Peng, 1999; Tan, 2002; Yan & Gray, 1994) . Many top managers of Chinese firms need to understand how both FS and HR slack together affect firm performance, whether the interaction inhibits or constrains firm performance, whether HR slack abandon or keep with the firm and FS deployed.

International firms that must interact, compete, and collaborate with Chinese firms should benefit from better understandings of China's economic growth.


W. Thurston proved that if K is a non-torus, non-satellite knot, then its complement S 3 \ K admits a complete hyperbolic metric [16] . This metric is unique up to isometry by the Mostow-Prasad rigidity theorem [12, 15] . Therefore, the hyperbolic volume of a knot complement is a knot invariant. This paper studies the hyperbolic volume of Montesinos links.

W. Thurston proved that if K is a non-torus, non-satellite knot, then its complement S 3 \ K admits a complete hyperbolic metric.

This metric is unique up to isometry by the Mostow-Prasad rigidity theorem.


Grape is the most economically important perennial fruit crop worldwide, but cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is susceptible to many pathogens, such as downy mildew, powdery mildew and anthracnose. Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Elsinoe ampelina (de Bary) Shear, is a very destructive wet weather fungal disease of grapes (Kang et al., 2008) . Although, control of anthracnose on grapevine is currently achieved by the widespread of chemicals, however, the development of resistant grape cultivars against anthracnose will reduce labor costs associated with chemical spraying and the undesirable impacts of chemicals on environment. Introducing disease resistance gene(s) from resistant species into susceptible species is an important way to develop novel cultivars resistant to pathogen attacks (Bisson et al., 2002) .

Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Elsinoe ampelina (de Bary) Shear, is a very destructive wet weather fungal disease of grapes.

Introducing disease resistance gene(s) from resistant species into susceptible species is an important way to develop novel cultivars resistant to pathogen attacks.


Alternatively, a high degree of solidarity may be an indicator of insularity and closedmindedness (Suttles, 1972) . In such circumstances, a community characterised by high levels of trust may be extremely resistant or even hostile to the work of public organizations. Efforts to build trust in those organizations may therefore play a key role in determining the prospects of co-production success (Bryk & Schneider, 2002) .

Alternatively, a high degree of solidarity may be an indicator of insularity and closedmindedness.

Efforts to build trust in those organizations may therefore play a key role in determining the prospects of co-production success.


For instance, in the presence of a negative cosmological constant, there exists the famous BTZ black-hole solution [2, 3] . Those black-holes possess the same characteristics as their higher dimensional cousins like temperature or entropy. One hopes that understanding the BTZ black-holes thermodynamical properties in this simpler setup would help us in the more physically relevant cases.

For instance, in the presence of a negative cosmological constant, there exists the famous BTZ black-hole solution.


With increased global competition, attention has been shifted from increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization to meeting market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality (Yamashina, 1995) . The changes in the current business environment are characterized by intense competition on the supply side and heightened volatility in customer requirements on the demand side. These changes have left their unmistakable marks on the different facets of the manufacturing organizations (Gomes et al., 2006) . To meet the challenges posed by the contemporary competitive environment, the manufacturing organizations must infuse quality and performance improvement initiatives in all aspects of their operations to improve their competitiveness (Ben-Daya and Duffuaa, 1995; Pintelon et al., 2006) . In an increasing global economy, cost effective manufacturing has become a necessity to stay competitive.

With increased global competition, attention has been shifted from increasing efficiency by means of economies of scale and internal specialization to meeting market conditions in terms of flexibility, delivery performance and quality.

These changes have left their unmistakable marks on the different facets of the manufacturing organizations.

To meet the challenges posed by the contemporary competitive environment, the manufacturing organizations must infuse quality and performance improvement initiatives in all aspects of their operations to improve their competitiveness.


Regarding arsenic species, multivariate analysis revealed associations with the city of residence and the consumption of crustaceans 48-72 h before urine collection [61] . There were significant differences between people who drank tap water and those who habitually drank bottled mineral water. Indeed, the contamination of the main water supply remains a major source of exposure to inorganic As in many parts of the world. However, Apulia aqueduct water has total As values lower than 1 µg/L, while recently, five water brands were determined to have total As values higher than 10 µg/L [62, 63] . Interestingly, a statistical association was found between arsenic urinary excretion and residence, but no association was detected with pesticides. According to this finding, particulate matter could be an important route of exposure to arsenic and its metabolites. Indeed, steel plant furnaces melt iron scraps, releasing arsenic-rich dusts into the atmosphere: these dusts can also pollute proximal lands for many years after plant closure [64] .

Regarding arsenic species, multivariate analysis revealed associations with the city of residence and the consumption of crustaceans 48-72 h before urine collection.

However, Apulia aqueduct water has total As values lower than 1 µg/L, while recently, five water brands were determined to have total As values higher than 10 µg/L.

Indeed, steel plant furnaces melt iron scraps, releasing arsenic-rich dusts into the atmosphere: these dusts can also pollute proximal lands for many years after plant closure.


On the smooth disc, grooves are formed. These grooves are surrounded by shoulders. Their height depends on the depth and shape of the groove shown in Fig. 5 (a) and a zoom (b). This demonstrates that material flow occurs during contact. A literature survey was carried out, to decide on the number of cycles, necessary to reach an elastic shakedown state. Once the elastic limit is exceeded, plastic deformation takes place and generates residual stresses. These are essentially protective, as the material strain-hardens and thus increases its effective yield stress [6, 44] . After a few cycles, the residual stresses have reached such values that subsequent load passes result in entirely elastic deformation. Hence, a purely elastic cyclic steady state is reached.

On the smooth disc, grooves are formed.

These are essentially protective, as the material strain-hardens and thus increases its effective yield stress.


With progress in science, technology and land intensification, agricultural development resulted in both vast achievements and numerous ecological and environmental problems [1] [2] [3] . Further, some traditional agricultural systems of scientific, social, and cultural value are rapidly disappearing. Thus, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization initiated the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) dynamic conservation and adaptive management program to protect systems under threat [4, 5] . To date there are 49 GIAHS across 19 countries.

With progress in science, technology and land intensification, agricultural development resulted in both vast achievements and numerous ecological and environmental problems.

Thus, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization initiated the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) dynamic conservation and adaptive management program to protect systems under threat.


Statistical analyses Means, SD and percentages with frequency were used to report continuous and discrete variables. The relationship between serum magnesium levels and prediabetes was modelled using restricted cubic splines, using three knots, and was found to be linear. Therefore, we used serum magnesium as a continuous variable in multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models to examine the relationship of serum magnesium levels with incident diabetes and prediabetes. Additionally, we studied the relationship between hypomagnesaemia (defined as serum magnesium ≤0.72 mmol/l) and incident diabetes and prediabetes. Follow-up time was calculated from the date that blood was drawn until the date of death, loss to follow-up or end of the study. The proportional hazards assumption was tested by plotting the log 10 minus log 10 survival curve and visually examining the curves, with no evidence that the assumption was violated [25] .

The proportional hazards assumption was tested by plotting the log 10 minus log 10 survival curve and visually examining the curves, with no evidence that the assumption was violated.


Study design, setting and population This study was embedded within the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based cohort study, ongoing since 1990 in a suburb of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The rationale and design of this study have been described elsewhere [15] . In summary, the original cohort was extended with a second cohort in 2000 and a third cohort in 2006, resulting in a total study population of 14,926 participants, aged 45 years and older. Participants are asked to participate in follow-up examinations every 4-5 years. The Rotterdam Study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center and by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, implementing the Wet Bevolkingsonderzoek: ERGO (Population Study Act: Rotterdam Study). All participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study and to obtain information from their physicians.

The rationale and design of this study have been described elsewhere.


In this work, we try to explore the stringy understanding of the thermodynamics of non-extremal black holes or branes by dropping in probe branes, since a large black hole can be formed by swallowing material repeatedly starting from a small one. The study of the infalling process of material is directly relevant to the information loss problem [6] . Moreover, probe matter branes are also widely adopted in holographic models of QCD, condensed matter and other topics at finite temperature.

The study of the infalling process of material is directly relevant to the information loss problem.


Another more general theoretical problem of performance-based regulatory mechanisms is their inconsistency with timing issues of transmission networks. A framework based on the distinction of ultra-short periods, short periods and long periods would then be especially useful in future applications (Vogelsang, 2006) . These timing frameworks are especially relevant for the application of regulatory PBR mechanisms -such as the HRV model -to electricity systems characterized by short and varying time resolution dispatching such as those systems based on renewable (wind, PV, CSP, etc.) energy. There exists a gap in the literature on such analysis that future research would like to fill out.

A framework based on the distinction of ultra-short periods, short periods and long periods would then be especially useful in future applications.


For the mining industry, the large fracture databases can be used to optimize the many costly and energy-consuming rock breaking steps, including cutting, crushing and grinding. For the mining industry, the large fracture databases allow probabilistic engineering design to be carried out on a regular basis on projects where such a detailed analysis was not cost effective previously. Also, by imaging rock faces from a distance, both safety and access problems are eliminated (Kemeny et al., 2002) .

Also, by imaging rock faces from a distance, both safety and access problems are eliminated.


The calculation of higher-order corrections for tt total cross sections, top-quark transverse momentum (p T ) and rapidity distributions, and the top forward-backward asymmetry (A FB ) is an important part of top-quark physics. QCD corrections are very significant for top-antitop pair production. Soft-gluon corrections, calculated appropriately, are the dominant part of these corrections at LHC and Tevatron energies. The soft corrections are currently known through N 3 LO [1] [2] [3] .

The soft corrections are currently known through N 3 LO.


The superresolution reconstruction (SRR) is a technique that constructs one high-resolution image from low-resolution degraded images [1] . SRR plays a preprocessing role in image engineering, and it is important to provide accurate data for the subsequent image analysis, testing, understanding, and application [2, 3] . Many algorithms for SRR have been proposed and can be categorized into frequency domain methods and spatial domain methods. Frequency domain methods rely on the property of space-frequency transformation and the aliasing on low-resolution images [4, 5] . However, due to motion restriction and lack of prior, the frequency domain methods are not developed widely and spatial domain methods are preferred.

The superresolution reconstruction (SRR) is a technique that constructs one high-resolution image from low-resolution degraded images.

SRR plays a preprocessing role in image engineering, and it is important to provide accurate data for the subsequent image analysis, testing, understanding, and application.

Frequency domain methods rely on the property of space-frequency transformation and the aliasing on low-resolution images.


Owing to its notorious chemical recalcitrance and structural complexity, processing of lignin has proven quite challenging indeed. The primary difficulty lies in selectively breaking down the main bonds between the basic chemical building blocks, required to defunctionalize the lignin and obtain the target products. Lignin is a natural amorphous three-dimensional polymer consisting of p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G) and syringyl (S) units cross-linked by C-O-C (β-Ο-4, α-Ο-4, 4-Ο-5) and C-C (β-1, β-β, bonds [3] . Ether bonds are easier to cleave than C-C bonds in particular due to the lower bond dissociation energy (BDE). The β-Ο-4 ether bond is the most common bond in native lignin and has a BDE of 226-290 kJ/mol relative to 524-532 kJ/mol for a typical C-C bond [4] .

Lignin is a natural amorphous three-dimensional polymer consisting of p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G) and syringyl (S) units cross-linked by C-O-C (β-Ο-4, α-Ο-4, 4-Ο-5) and C-C (β-1, β-β, bonds.

The β-Ο-4 ether bond is the most common bond in native lignin and has a BDE of 226-290 kJ/mol relative to 524-532 kJ/mol for a typical C-C bond.


The results of this meta-analysis need to be interpreted in light of a number of limitations. First, the samples of the five clinical trials showed heterogeneity in terms of cultural diversity, history of stimulant medication, and comorbidity. For example, the patients were from five different countries, where both public opinion on ADHD and approaches to treatment by physicians vary considerably. Such differences in terms of cultural diversity could have had an impact on the evaluation both of core symptoms as measured with the ADHD-RS, and health-related quality of life as measured with the CHIP-CE. Moreover, the pooled sample size of the adolescent treatment group from the three placebo-controlled trials was rather small, and thus, effect size estimations have to be interpreted with caution. Second, drug history of the patients was mostly unknown (with the exception of Studies 2 and 4, where one of the inclusion criteria was that the patients had to be treatment-naïve): this could have introduced some variability in the evaluation of treatment efficacy. It has been already suggested in the literature that medicationnaïve patients show better improvement [19] . However, in Study 4, authors reported a lack of interaction between the treatment group (atomoxetine or standard care) and whether patients had been previously treated with medication for their ADHD, indicating that the treatment effect was similar for both groups of patients (treatment-naïve or not) in terms of improving CHIP-CE total score [23] . Unfortunately, power to detect such interactions is generally low and further research is needed to obtain more information on treatment effect modifiers to ultimately tailor the medication to the individual patient.

It has been already suggested in the literature that medicationnaïve patients show better improvement.

However, in Study 4, authors reported a lack of interaction between the treatment group (atomoxetine or standard care) and whether patients had been previously treated with medication for their ADHD, indicating that the treatment effect was similar for both groups of patients (treatment-naïve or not) in terms of improving CHIP-CE total score.


In terms of the above analysis, the construction of the FTA and RBD helped to understand the overall system and to identify the gaps where the organisational members need to focus in order to avoid any similar incidents in the future. However, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" (Santayana, 1998) . It is very important to note that both crashes had similar root causes with the top event the fire in the aircraft. Therefore, it can be noticed that the lessons have not been learnt as the Flight SR 111 crashed two years after the crash of Flight 592. This can be proved by the above analysis as after the accident of Flight 592 it is not clear whether the authorities and the airlines have proceeded to any changes in order to avoid similar future incidents. These changes could be 1) the better design and safety of the airplanes as smoke detection and fire suppression systems could alert the flight crew immediately and extinguish the fire, 2) more effective maintenance supervision and communication, 3) better training in terms of events of fire, emergencies and hazardous and flammable materials and 4) the authorities must require standards, policies and regulations related to the above incidents.

However, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".


Mating processes in two-sex insect populations are species specific and generally involve vast complexity (Bonduriansky, 2001; Choe & Crespi, 1997) . This necessitates an approximated description of the non-linear process for mating encounters. Mass action has been continuously used for this end, even in cases with convoluted mating mechanisms (Courchamp et al., 2008) . The multiplicative constant for the mating encounter rate might be difficult to estimate in many real applications. The novelty in this note is that, under general assumptions, we have approximated the value of that constant with the use of dimensional reduction and simulated data. Before now, this constant has not been computed by such analytical arguments. The dimensional reduction approach also offers a way to examine the effects of correlation in the movement. The simulations suggest that in general, the variances of the values of K are small and similar when compared among results obtained with different degrees of correlation. Thus, the valueK can be used as the multiplicative constant in the expression for the encounter rate,KvRAxy, independently of movement correlation. Relative larger variance values observed for highly correlated movement (θ close to zero) are attributed to the boundary conditions in the simulations. We remark that the programme used to produce the data only counts ephemeral encounters and does not consider further association between paired individuals, as well as other complexities involved in mating mechanisms.

Mating processes in two-sex insect populations are species specific and generally involve vast complexity.

Mass action has been continuously used for this end, even in cases with convoluted mating mechanisms.


Moreover, it is recommended that an overhaul in the neo-liberal ideology is necessary for the artisanal small-scale communities to re-institute their image within a pro-efficient climate, rather than just becoming (in)conveniently redirected into the recreational sector. Plausible short-term mitigations would include policy restrictions on the transferability of capacity between the artisanal and large-scale industrial fleets in a way that controls the neoliberal expansion of large-scale operations to engender the prolongation of the small-scale fleets. On the long-term, it is advisable to enhance collective action at the local level and introduce co-management mechanisms to address the situation of commons' governance through a more decentralized and effective system (Cinner et al., 2013) .

On the long-term, it is advisable to enhance collective action at the local level and introduce co-management mechanisms to address the situation of commons' governance through a more decentralized and effective system.


In aqueous systems the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) occur on the same electrode during the discharge and charge cycles, respectively. This requires a special bifunctional catalyst. Ideally, this catalyst should be able to facilitate both reactions close to the equilibrium potential. One of the main challenges of designing a bifunctional oxygen electrode is producing an electrochemically stable catalyst which is highly active towards both the ORR and OER, and is supported within a stable high surface area catalyst layer. Carbon is a popular choice for a catalyst support but it has proven a challenge to maintain its mechanical and electrochemical stability during repeated charge-discharge cycles [11, 12] . Therefore, even if the catalyst is highly effective, the catalyst layer of the electrode may degrade or disintegrate during oxygen evolution. This can be minimised by using highly graphitised carbons that are more corrosion resistant. Since the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions occur at the point of contact between the electrolyte and the catalyst, the catalyst support requires a highly porous structure in order to allow the oxygen gas to enter and exit the structure easily. It is also desirable that the morphology of the electrode surface is designed in such a way that facilitates the rapid formation and removal of the gas bubbles. However, a compromise should be made to provide the highly porous structure required with the mechanical stability of the electrode.

Carbon is a popular choice for a catalyst support but it has proven a challenge to maintain its mechanical and electrochemical stability during repeated charge-discharge cycles.


The κ parameter in Eq. (12) is set to 0.0001 for k-median and in Eq. (13) is set to ∞ (no spread constraint in the second phase). The simulation runs on 10 random sets of candidate server locations and, for each set, 5 random choices for the initial assignment. The results are averaged over these 50 runs and plotted with 100% confidence interval. Figure 2 shows the results for the synthetic case in which geography is no factor in workload demand. In terms of cost (Figure 2(a) ), KMED is almost identical to RAND, both incurring a high backhaul cost of almost 0.9 (i.e., 90% of the total workload), even when the server capacity increases. This is not surprising because KMED is cost-blind and so when workload has no relationship with geography, minimizing spread results in a cost as bad as that of a random assignment. Perhaps for the same reason, the other two methods, KMED/FM/HUNG and FM/HUNG, also incur almost the same cost. In other words, whether we start with a RAND assignment or a KMED assignment, an application of FM+HUNG would result in similar costs. It is important to note that the FM step is effective, especially as the server capacity increases. With a server capacity of 0.08, applying FM reduces the backhaul cost to 0.73, a 20% improvement from the initial assignment. In terms of spread (Figure 2(b) ), KMED is the best (expected) and RAND the worst (understandable because it is spread-blind). Between the other two, more in- terestingly, FM/HUNG has a similar spread (only slightly larger) compared to that of KMED/FM/HUNG. This study suggests that, for a workload input that has no relationship with geography, (1) we can do better than a random assignment, (2) the 3-phase algorithm can run without Phase 1 (KMED) which has almost zero benefit, and (3) there is no clear winner between FM/HUNG and KMED; which one should be chosen depends on whether we prefer minimizing cost or spread. Figure 3 shows the results for the real-world dataset (Milano625), in which the workload has a strong correlation with geography; specifically, higher between cells of shorter distance [9] . Similar to the above study, and, expectedly, RAND is worse than all the other algorithms in both objectives and KMED has the best spread. There are, however, key differences.

Figure 3 shows the results for the real-world dataset (Milano625), in which the workload has a strong correlation with geography; specifically, higher between cells of shorter distance.

There are, however, key differences.


A possible answer to this problem can be obtained by using the so called principle of general covariance, an active version of the strong equivalence principle [8] . According to this principle, in order to make an equation generally covariant, a connection is always necessary, which is in principle concerned only with the inertial properties of the coordinate system under consideration. Then, by using the equivalence between inertial and gravitational effects, instead of representing inertial properties, this connection can equivalently be assumed to represent a true gravitational field. In this way, equations valid in the presence of gravitation are obtained from the corresponding special relativity equations. It is important to remark that general covariance by itself is empty of physical content as any equation can be made generally covariant. Only when use is made of the strong equivalence principle, and the inertial compensating term is interpreted as representing a true gravitational field, the principle of general covariance can be seen as an alternative version of the strong equivalence principle. Now, when the purely inertial connection is replaced by a connection representing a true gravitational field, the principle of general covariance naturally defines a covariant derivative, and consequently also a gravitational coupling prescription. The purpose of the present work will be to use this principle to determine the form of the gravitational coupling prescription in the presence of both curvature and torsion.

A possible answer to this problem can be obtained by using the so called principle of general covariance, an active version of the strong equivalence principle.


The SES of the individual influenced their preferences. The finding that the preference for public hospital was highest for the least poor SES (Q4) compared to others may be because the better-off quartiles are usually more educated, and thus have more information about the advantages of having treatment in a public hospital where there is usually a presence of qualified personnel. Herbalists must have been viewed as inferior goods, where preferences fall as SES increases as was alluded to by their low preference as SES increased. The finding that the use of PMDs was ranked higher by poorer quartiles compared to the least poor quartile for improving malaria treatment is most likely due to the fact that it might be cheaper and easier for the poorer SES to visit PMDs. This corroborates the findings of some studies which showed that the poorer households were more likely to seek treatment from low level and informal providers rather than use the hospitals [12, 24] .

This corroborates the findings of some studies which showed that the poorer households were more likely to seek treatment from low level and informal providers rather than use the hospitals.


For marine invertebrates, factors influencing larval survival are predation, starvation, and oceanographic conditions that may transport larvae into unfavorable environments by advection (Sewell et al., 2004) . During planktonic period, larvae acquire their food from seawater to get energy for growth and development, and starvation has long been considered to be an important source of mortality of marine invertebrate larvae (Thorson, 1950; Manahan, 1990; Wehrtmann, 1991) . Newly hatched planktotrophic larvae have very little nutrient reserves, so the availability of food in the first few days after hatching is critical for their survival (Pawlik, 1992) . The amount of phytoplankton in the ocean is rarely present at concentrations necessary to sustain maximum larval growth, which indicates planktonic larvae have the potential to be food-limited in nature and experience high mortality when encountering adverse feeding conditions (Olson & Olson, 1989; Fenaux et al., 1994) . In order to better understand the effects of starvation or food limitation on larval growth, survival and development in marine invertebrates, laboratory experiments were widely performed in a variety of species (His & Seaman, 1992; Pedrotti & Fenaux, 1993; Fenaux et al., 1994; McEdward & Qian, 2001; Moran & Manahan, 2004; Yang et al., 2008) .

For marine invertebrates, factors influencing larval survival are predation, starvation, and oceanographic conditions that may transport larvae into unfavorable environments by advection.

During planktonic period, larvae acquire their food from seawater to get energy for growth and development, and starvation has long been considered to be an important source of mortality of marine invertebrate larvae.

Newly hatched planktotrophic larvae have very little nutrient reserves, so the availability of food in the first few days after hatching is critical for their survival.

The amount of phytoplankton in the ocean is rarely present at concentrations necessary to sustain maximum larval growth, which indicates planktonic larvae have the potential to be food-limited in nature and experience high mortality when encountering adverse feeding conditions.

In order to better understand the effects of starvation or food limitation on larval growth, survival and development in marine invertebrates, laboratory experiments were widely performed in a variety of species.


Spatial data mining is the process to discover interesting and previous unknown, but potential useful patterns from spatial datasets [1] [2] [3] . Extracting interesting patterns from spatial datasets is more difficult than extracting the corresponding patterns from transaction datasets due to the complexity of spatial data types, spatial relationships and spatial autocorrelation [4] . A spatial co-location pattern represents a subset of spatial features whose instances are frequently located in a spatial neighborhood. For example, botanists have found that there are orchids in 80% of the area where the middle-wetness green-broad-leaf forest grows. Spatial colocation patterns may yield important insights for many applications. For example, a mobile service provider may be interested in mobile service patterns frequently requested by geographical neighboring users. The locations which are gotten together by people can be used for providing attractive location-sensitive advertisements, etc. Other application domains include Earth science, public health, biology, transportation, etc.

Spatial data mining is the process to discover interesting and previous unknown, but potential useful patterns from spatial datasets.

Extracting interesting patterns from spatial datasets is more difficult than extracting the corresponding patterns from transaction datasets due to the complexity of spatial data types, spatial relationships and spatial autocorrelation.


Characterizing acoustic signal propagation through water is essential for many applications, including underwater acoustic communications, active and passive sonar, underwater navigation and tracking, and ocean acoustic tomography. The highly time-varying nature of the underwater environment can cause many undesirable distortions to the propagating signal. Time-varying multipath distortions may be the result of dense reflections from rough surfaces, fluctuations in sound speed due to inhomogeneous mediums, relative motion between transmitters and receivers, or changes in the propagating medium [13] . Depending on the transmission frequency and ocean depth, the time-dependent spectral changes in the signal can be Doppler scaling (compression or expansion) or dispersive (nonlinear) transformations [3, 6, 14] . In particular, medium-to-high frequency (0.3-20 kHz) underwater acoustic signals are characterized by spreading caused by multiple time-delay paths and multiple Doppler-scaling 2 EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing paths [15] [16] [17] . As the narrowband LTV model is no longer suitable to describe these signal transformations, the matched wideband LTV model should be used for more effective processing [1, 8, [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] .

Time-varying multipath distortions may be the result of dense reflections from rough surfaces, fluctuations in sound speed due to inhomogeneous mediums, relative motion between transmitters and receivers, or changes in the propagating medium.

Depending on the transmission frequency and ocean depth, the time-dependent spectral changes in the signal can be Doppler scaling (compression or expansion) or dispersive (nonlinear) transformations.

In particular, medium-to-high frequency (0.3-20 kHz) underwater acoustic signals are characterized by spreading caused by multiple time-delay paths and multiple Doppler-scaling 2 EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing paths.

As the narrowband LTV model is no longer suitable to describe these signal transformations, the matched wideband LTV model should be used for more effective processing.


Various literary sources suggest that ICT can be a basis for competition by reducing information problems and increasing knowledge acquisition in markets (Bedia, 1999; Eggleston et al., 2002; Nooteboom, 1992; Porter, 2001; Porter and Millar, 1985) . The basic premise of the argument is that the advent and successful adoption of ICT is said to simplify accessibility of commercial and political information that was previously unavailable or restricted by economic actors (Gholami et al., 2006) . Based on this view, ICT can adequately offer opportunities for public and private information accessibility, which can ultimately reduce the liability of foreignness (de la Torre and Moxon, 2001) . By recognizing the need and importance of information accessibility on FDI locations, many countries have continually embarked on heavy investment in ICT for the efficient and timely supply of necessary information to investors, regardless of their geographical locations. Various government agencies are increasingly embracing e-government as an innovative and necessary form of public service and administration (Koh and Prybutok, 2003) . The Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) are one example of a government agency employing rapid adoption and utilization of the Internet in delivering necessary information on host country businesses to potential investors. Although, these agencies may have varieties of promotional goals, one of the most vital roles of the investment promotion activities is the dissemination of necessary information to the respective investors in an attempt to create a positive image of the host country"s investment location (Wells and Wint, 2000) .

Various literary sources suggest that ICT can be a basis for competition by reducing information problems and increasing knowledge acquisition in markets.

The basic premise of the argument is that the advent and successful adoption of ICT is said to simplify accessibility of commercial and political information that was previously unavailable or restricted by economic actors.

Based on this view, ICT can adequately offer opportunities for public and private information accessibility, which can ultimately reduce the liability of foreignness.

Various government agencies are increasingly embracing e-government as an innovative and necessary form of public service and administration.

Although, these agencies may have varieties of promotional goals, one of the most vital roles of the investment promotion activities is the dissemination of necessary information to the respective investors in an attempt to create a positive image of the host country"s investment location.


Foreign investors make decisions on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) locations under conditions of uncertainty. A lack of proximity between home and host countries in terms of political, cultural, economic and institutional environments increases the cost of doing business abroad (Zaheer, 1995) . Because of this, the concept "liability of foreign" has continuously been used in International Business literature to depict disadvantages or additional costs incurred by foreign firms, but are not *Corresponding author. E-mail: muhajir.a.kachwamba@uia.no or makachwamba@mzumbe.ac.tz. Tel: +255 712 938577. Fax: +255 23 2604382.

A lack of proximity between home and host countries in terms of political, cultural, economic and institutional environments increases the cost of doing business abroad.

Tel: +255 712 938577.

Fax: +255 23 2604382.


In languages that feature a separate compilation step, there's the issue of how to specify dependencies between modules, and how to instruct the compiler to nd them. Some languages take care of this matter internally, such as the management of units in Pascal or classes in Java. Others, like C, relegate it to external tools in the case of C, the preprocessor is used to forward-declare prototypes and tools like Make are used to handle dependencies between objects during build. In contrast, the Java compiler extracts the classes and interfaces a source le references, nds the les where they are dened, and compiles them on demand. Still, building complex projects usually involves more than sources (including, for instance, generation and conversion of icons, interface description les and other assets, as well as inter-language dependencies), leading to the creation of external tools such as Apache Ant [13] .

Still, building complex projects usually involves more than sources (including, for instance, generation and conversion of icons, interface description les and other assets, as well as inter-language dependencies), leading to the creation of external tools such as Apache Ant.


An advantage of characterizing solute transfer using the Abraham model is that once the equation coefficients have been calculated one can readily estimate further values of log 10 P and log 10 K for any additional solute for which descriptors are known. To date, we have reported IL-specific equation coefficients for 30 different ILs (Eqs. 1, 2), and 21 cationspecific and 14 anion-specific coefficients (Eqs. 3, 4), based on measured infinite dilution activity coefficient data, gas chromatographic retention factors and solubilities of solutes dissolved in anhydrous IL solvents [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] . The afore-mentioned properties are thermodynamically related to the solute's gas-to-IL and water-to-IL partition coefficients. The water-to-anhydrous IL correlations describe ''hypothetical'' partitions, in which the partition coefficient is calculated as the molar solubility ratio for the solute dissolved in both neat solvents. Practical partition coefficients, on the other hand, represent true equilibrium partitioning between a water-saturated organic phase and an aqueous phase that is likewise saturated with the organic solvent. Correlations derived from the Abraham model, Eqs. 1 and 2, describe the log 10 K and log 10 P data for 30 different ILs to within 0.105 log 10 units and 0.135 log 10 units, respectively, the quoted values representing the average standard deviations of the individual correlations. Expressions based on Eqs. 3 and 4, and using our calculated ion-specific equation coefficients, predict the 3218 experimental log 10 K (at 298 K) values, 3046 experimental log 10 K (at 323 K) values and 3177 experimental log 10 P (at 298 K) values in our large unpublished ion-specific partition coefficient databases to within 0.128, 0.119 and 0.151 log 10 units, respectively. Equations 1-4 are expected to provide reasonably accurate log 10 P and log 10 K predictions for solutes dissolved in ILs at a given temperature (e.g., 298 or 323 K), provided that one stays within the predictive area of chemical space defined by the solute descriptors of the compounds used in determining the equation coefficients. The area of predictive chemical space would be: E = 0.000 to 1.500, S = 0.000 to 1.720, A = 0.000 to 1.040, B = 0.000 to 1.280, V = 0.109 to 1.799, and L = -1.200 to 7.833. A few of the IL-specific and ion-specific data sets spanned a slightly smaller range of solute descriptors.

To date, we have reported IL-specific equation coefficients for 30 different ILs (Eqs. 1, 2), and 21 cationspecific and 14 anion-specific coefficients (Eqs. 3, 4), based on measured infinite dilution activity coefficient data, gas chromatographic retention factors and solubilities of solutes dissolved in anhydrous IL solvents.


The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. First, we begin in Section 2 with some definitions and notations we need to specify the modeling formalism we use and to describe MDDs and MDs. Then, in Section 3, we present a symbolic state-space exploration algorithm. Section 4 discusses how to obtain an MD for the generator matrix of the lumped CTMC and how to operate on that structure for numerical analysis. The proposed approach has been implemented and used for the numerical state-space analysis of a highly redundant faulttolerant parallel computer system [21, 25] . We also consider a well-known performance model of a communication protocol [29] . Results for these models are presented in Section 5. We conclude in Section 6.

The proposed approach has been implemented and used for the numerical state-space analysis of a highly redundant faulttolerant parallel computer system.

We also consider a well-known performance model of a communication protocol.

We conclude in Section 6.


Cayley's factorization has important applications. Recently, it has been shown how it allows converting a rigid-body transformation in homogeneous coordinates to its corresponding dual quaternion representation in a very straightforward way [8] . This leads to a two-fold matrix and dual quaternion formalism for the representation of rigid-body transformations that permits a better understanding of dual quaternions and how they can be advantageously used in Kinematics. In this paper, it is shown how the application of the derived closed-form formula leads to a neat way of obtaining the dual quaternion representation of rigid-body transformation, thus providing a simple alternative to the standard approach based on the computation of screw parameters [9, p. 100]. Screw parameters can actually be seen as a by-product of Cayley's factorization. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 summarizes some basic facts about 4D rotations that are used in Section 3 to derive a spectral decomposition of isoclinic rotations. Then, a closed-form formula for the computation of Cayley's factorization is presented in Section 4. Section 5 gives details on a mapping between general displacements in 3D and some 4D rotations which is used in Section 6, together with the the derived closed-form formula, to obtain the dual quaternion representation of rigid-body transformation and, as a by-product, their screw parameters. Some conclusions are finally drawn in Section 7.

Recently, it has been shown how it allows converting a rigid-body transformation in homogeneous coordinates to its corresponding dual quaternion representation in a very straightforward way.

This paper is organized as follows.


As one application of record linkage, linking of historical census records across time can greatly enhanced their values by, for example, enabling tracking of households and providing new insights into the dynamic character of social, economic and demographic changes. In recent years, researchers have tried to link records between census datasets using automatic or semi-automatic methods [3, 15, 19, 21] . Unfortunately, these attempts have not been not very successful in linking records that correspond to individuals in a household [20] .

In recent years, researchers have tried to link records between census datasets using automatic or semi-automatic methods.

Unfortunately, these attempts have not been not very successful in linking records that correspond to individuals in a household.


Since the beginning of the 21st century, the oil and gas industry in China has been developing rapidly. In 2017, natural gas consumption per capita in China increased to 169.7 cubic meters, while oil consumption per capita increased to 0.43 tons [1] . If such a large oil and gas demand is to be satisfied, safe and reliable pipeline transportation is necessary [2] . However, during the installation of pipelines and their prolonged use, pipeline accidents happen frequently. Every year, about 20-40% of pipeline accidents are related to mechanical damage, most commonly in the form of dents [3] . Under the loads of internal pressure, an unconstrained dent located 240 • from the topmost point of the pipe circumferential direction (8-4 points clockwise) will spring back, which can affect the prediction of the fatigue life of the pipeline [4, 5] . The stress concentration coefficient of the dented pipeline depends on the dent depth, which is affected by the springback behavior of the dent [6, 7] .

In 2017, natural gas consumption per capita in China increased to 169.7 cubic meters, while oil consumption per capita increased to 0.43 tons.

If such a large oil and gas demand is to be satisfied, safe and reliable pipeline transportation is necessary.

Every year, about 20-40% of pipeline accidents are related to mechanical damage, most commonly in the form of dents.

Under the loads of internal pressure, an unconstrained dent located 240 • from the topmost point of the pipe circumferential direction (8-4 points clockwise) will spring back, which can affect the prediction of the fatigue life of the pipeline.

The stress concentration coefficient of the dented pipeline depends on the dent depth, which is affected by the springback behavior of the dent.


The fusion procedure combines two steps of processing. Firstly, the multispectral image is transformed into an intensity, hue, and saturation (IHS) space, then the intensity component is further transformed into a frequency domain by using a Fast Fourier transform (FFT). Later, the Intensity component is low-pass * Corresponding author filtered while the pan image is high-pass filtered. The ideal way is to remove the high frequency part from the intensity component and replace it with the high frequency part from the pan image. At the end, the new intensity component together with the original hue and saturation are transformed back to Red Green and Blue (RGB) space (Klonus and Ehlers, 2007) . This algorithm needs to be adjusted to fuse hyperspectral images. The procedure will be illustrated in section 4 in detail. Briefly, it involves two aspects: filtering in the frequency domain and intensity transform. This study analyses and modifies each aspect separately, aiming at an optimised hyperspectral image sharpening technique.

At the end, the new intensity component together with the original hue and saturation are transformed back to Red Green and Blue (RGB) space.


According to the statistics, it is reported that more than 160 thousand people lose their lives and more than 6 million people have been injured because of car accidents all over the world annually [1] . Nowadays, lots of researchers working for automotive application have been trying to develop the radar sensors for reducing human casualties from those collision accidents [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . As the result of this market demand, various radar systems, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC), stop-and-go, blind spot detection (BSD), lane change assist (LCA), and rear crash warning (RCW), have been widely applied to vehicles. Particularly, an ACC stop-and-go system that has not only ACC function but also stop-and-go function to mitigate or prevent collision accidents in the emergency situation of frontal target vehicles, is an important safety application. Figure 1 (a) shows a typical ACC stop-and-go system that requires three radar sensors: two short range radars with a range coverage of 60 m and an angle coverage up to ±30 • to detect cut-in or cutout targets in an adjacent lane, and one more long range radar with a coverage of 150 m and ±10 • to detect vehicles in the center lane [8] . To implement such an ACC stop-and-go system, radar suppliers have developed various radar sensors. A 77 GHz radar of DENSO corporation presents a switching array structure with DBF technology. This radar has a range detection capability of 150 m and an angle detection capability of ±10 • [9] . The company BOSCH also has developed a 77 GHz ACC radar with a range detection capability up to 250 m and an angle detection capability of ±15 • . HELLA and M/A-COM present 24 GHz short-range radars with a simple mono-pulse structure. These short range radars have a range detection capability of 70 m and an angle detection capability of more than 30 • [10, 11] . However, these bulky radar sensors have a spatial limitation in the aspect of frontal bumper installation and make the cost of an ACC stop-and-go system high. In order to reduce the size and cost of these bulky radar systems, a single sensor based 24 GHz radar with a one-channel transmitter and four-channel receiver was developed [12] . However, the single beam radar with only one-channel transmitter is difficult to discriminate a primary vehicle in the center lane and vehicles in an adjacent lane in dense traffic situation.

According to the statistics, it is reported that more than 160 thousand people lose their lives and more than 6 million people have been injured because of car accidents all over the world annually.

Nowadays, lots of researchers working for automotive application have been trying to develop the radar sensors for reducing human casualties from those collision accidents.

Figure 1 (a) shows a typical ACC stop-and-go system that requires three radar sensors: two short range radars with a range coverage of 60 m and an angle coverage up to ±30 • to detect cut-in or cutout targets in an adjacent lane, and one more long range radar with a coverage of 150 m and ±10 • to detect vehicles in the center lane.

This radar has a range detection capability of 150 m and an angle detection capability of ±10 •.

These short range radars have a range detection capability of 70 m and an angle detection capability of more than 30 •.

In order to reduce the size and cost of these bulky radar systems, a single sensor based 24 GHz radar with a one-channel transmitter and four-channel receiver was developed.


There is another serious dilemma. Even if shareholders were endowed with real power to affect corporate decisions, attempts to paint the company's prospects as rosier than they truly are might persist. Inevitably, some shareholders, possibly with increasing number and intensity since the beginning of the Internet boom, apply a short-horizon orientation to decisions on buying, holding, or selling stock. They are the day-traders, the speculators whose interest is mainly to buy cheap and sell dear, and to exit the corporation as early as they can make a profit. If these hold sway over the corporation's executives and directors, they induce the kind of accounting obfuscation and deceit that we have witnessed during the last 2 years (Ronen and Yaari, 2002) . A reformer is hampered by the inability to distinguish, ex ante, between such short-horizon shareholders and those with a longer horizon, who would be interested in maximizing the longterm, fundamental value of the company. Hence, empowering shareholders in not a panacea: one must know which shareholders to empower! Addressing this particular conundrum is beyond the scope of this paper. But even without injecting short-run-profit-maximizing shareholders, we face the knotty problem of aligning management's interests with those of shareholders. Nowhere is this task more daunting than when attempting to induce managers to tell the truth.

There is another serious dilemma.

If these hold sway over the corporation's executives and directors, they induce the kind of accounting obfuscation and deceit that we have witnessed during the last 2 years.


In the present paper we develop a model that considers perishability and deterioration of medical goods under deterministic demand. The model further incorporates aspects of outsourcing. Specifically, we propose a single-product capacitated lot sizing model of perishable medical inventory (e.g., a drug or other pharmaceutical product), over a finite planning horizon. The expiry dates of the products in the inventory are known, and the "ages" of the products are tracked as time passes. The supply chain we model consists of three echelons: multiple suppliers (a regular supplier and an outsource supplier), a centralized distribution center (DC) where medical products are processed and stored, and the end user (several hospitals). The demand of the hospitals in each period is deterministic but time-varying and is fulfilled by the inventory stock in the DC. The regular supplier and the outsource supplier are assumed to charge different prices for the product and to supply products with different expiry dates. In general, outsource suppliers usually charge more per product compared with regular suppliers, but outsourcing can lower overall costs, as the supplier bears the holding costs [4] [5] [6] [7] . Perishability adds an extra dimension to the problem: Inventory managers do not want to have excessive quantities of perishable products in stock, so they are likely to order fewer products than they would in the case of non-perishable products. In addition to provide efficient turn-over of the inventory stored at the DC, inventory managers prefer to send products with a short expiry date from the DC to the hospitals so that these products will not perished while stocked. Also, the price of a product may depend on the expiry date of the product provided by suppliers. The problem consists of determining, in each period, the quantities of items to be purchased from the regular supplier and from the outsourced supplier such that all demand is satisfied and the total cost of purchasing, shipping and inventory holding is minimized.

In general, outsource suppliers usually charge more per product compared with regular suppliers, but outsourcing can lower overall costs, as the supplier bears the holding costs.


Inventory management of medical products raises particular challenges, as medical inventory is highly sensitive to storage conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) and to quality of service. Early perishable medical inventory models were formulated to address problems related to blood bank inventory control [2] . Since then, a variety of models have been developed to address medical inventory management problems of substantial social and economic importance [3] .

Early perishable medical inventory models were formulated to address problems related to blood bank inventory control.

Since then, a variety of models have been developed to address medical inventory management problems of substantial social and economic importance.


The present paper aims to introduce a combined model for supporting consensual decision making concerning sustainability in urban transport development. The current research is a follow-up project of the previous, already published work, [36] . In the last case, consensus creation could be gained by an automated computational process (IAHP) considering the lowest and highest evaluation values of the three different stakeholder group respondents. Thus, the extreme interest of one group or another could distort the final, consensual results.

The current research is a follow-up project of the previous, already published work.


A schematic of the thermoacoustic heat engine is shown in Fig 1. It is made of a 50-mm diameter stainless steel alloy 304 with a total length of 42 cm filled with air at atmospheric pressure. Although studies have shown that better efficiency has been obtained at high operating pressure (6-10 bars) with Helium or a mixture of the rare gases, this study focused on the practical application within a rural community. The objective is to model a heat source from a combustion process (i.e. biomass) to run a thermoacoustic heat engine generating power for local use. The stack is made from Celcor ceramic with 100 cells/in 2 , cut into a diameter of 50 mm, shown in Fig 2a. A 2-cm and 3-cm stack length has been studied to look at the acoustics generated from a heat source generated by a propane torch. The source is placed before the opening of the hot-side duct of Fig 1. No hot heat exchanger is used with the heat being directed straight to the stack [13] . The ambient heat exchanger was fabricated from thin copper plates, the dimensions of which are 10 mm by 50 mm with a thickness of 1mm (Fig 2b) . The heat exchanger was cut into a 50-mm diameter and positioned next to the Celcor stack within the duct. Four K-type thermocouples are used to measure the temperatures at the mouth of the resonator (T 1 ), before (T 2 ) and after the stack (T 3 ), and the end of the resonator (T 4 ). A type 26AH microphone amplifier is located at the closed end for measuring the local pressure deviation from the ambient.

No hot heat exchanger is used with the heat being directed straight to the stack.


Many technologies were performed to remove these pollutants using low costs and non-toxic materials as adsorption, coagulation, flocculation, reverse osmosis, biological and photocatalytic methods [4] . Unfortunately, the photocatalysts are expensive and may lead to transfer the primary pollutants to secondary one that requires further treatment. Biotechnology methods use microbes and other low cost naturally occurring materials are costly, energy demanding and generating large quantities of sludge. Adsorption was revealed as the most promising and widely used method for the removal of both inorganic and organic pollutants from contaminated water [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] . Activated carbon of higher surface area and adsorption capacity was involved extensively in removal of various toxic organic pollutants [12] . However, high cost of activated carbon limits its application on a large industrial scale. Many researches are concerned with development of novel adsorbents with high adsorptive capacity and low cost. Great attention has been paid to nanotechnology [13, 14] . This is due to nanomaterials have large surface areas that can attract large number of dyes molecules to be adsorbed on its surface.

Many technologies were performed to remove these pollutants using low costs and non-toxic materials as adsorption, coagulation, flocculation, reverse osmosis, biological and photocatalytic methods.

Adsorption was revealed as the most promising and widely used method for the removal of both inorganic and organic pollutants from contaminated water.

Activated carbon of higher surface area and adsorption capacity was involved extensively in removal of various toxic organic pollutants.

Great attention has been paid to nanotechnology.


The discharge of dyes and colored organic particles comes from textiles, plastics, paper, leather, food and cosmetic industries which are considered one of the major sources of water pollution [1] [2] [3] . These organic dyes with deeply color are very stable and difficult to decompose by various techniques. The toxicity and the carcinogenic effect of these dyes are considered an obstacle for reusing the wastewater for various purposes [3, 4] . Therefore, the removal of these organic pollutants is considered one of the main environmental challenges during the recent years.

The discharge of dyes and colored organic particles comes from textiles, plastics, paper, leather, food and cosmetic industries which are considered one of the major sources of water pollution.

The toxicity and the carcinogenic effect of these dyes are considered an obstacle for reusing the wastewater for various purposes.


The vertex coloring problem (VCP) consists of identifying the lowest number of colors required to color a graph. Let G = (V, E) be an undirected graph, where V is a set of vertices and E is a set of edges. A function F: V¨is defined, where is a finite set of colors such that if u and v [V and (u,v) [E, then F (u)=F (V ) Vu,v. The objective is to find the chromatic number, x(G), corresponding to the minimum number of colors needed to color G [1] .

The objective is to find the chromatic number, x(G), corresponding to the minimum number of colors needed to color G.


The various algorithms demonstrate the presence of common structures with characteristics similar to the existing heuristics for the VCP. Figure 8 shows two such structures. The first one (8a) corresponds to a greedy coloring of a vertex selected using the criterion of neighboring vertices with different colors, which is similar to the DSATUR heuristic algorithm; the second (8b) corresponds to a greedy coloring of the vertex with the highest degree, as in the Largest First algorithm [31] .

Figure 8 shows two such structures.

The first one (8a) corresponds to a greedy coloring of a vertex selected using the criterion of neighboring vertices with different colors, which is similar to the DSATUR heuristic algorithm; the second (8b) corresponds to a greedy coloring of the vertex with the highest degree, as in the Largest First algorithm.


In this paper, we suggest that a combination of heuristics for VCP can be performed using evolutionary computation, which allows new algorithms to be produced that use already existing techniques constructed from elementary heuristic components and control structures typical of any algorithm type, producing procedures that can compete with existing heuristics. The participation of the elementary heuristics and control structures are coded using binary strings that are subjected to selection, crossover and mutation operations at each stage [26, 27] . Using some control parameters, we detected that the new algorithms have characteristics common to existing heuristics.

The participation of the elementary heuristics and control structures are coded using binary strings that are subjected to selection, crossover and mutation operations at each stage.