Our research makes several theoretical contributions to the tourism and sharingeconomy literature. First, this study represents one of the first empirical attempts to investigate cue utilization in the sharing economy, particularly in the context of peer-to-peer ridesharing. Specifically, we demonstrate that multiple cues (i.e., product reputation, seller reputation, price, and offer duration) should be incorporated as major determinants of the sales of shared products and services. Second, we find that the effectiveness of a specific cue (e.g., product reputation) depends on its integration with other cue types (e.g., price and offer duration) presented to consumers, a phenomenon labeled cue diagnosticity theory (Purohit and Srivastava 2001) . Finally, we discover that the quality cue mechanism operates differently across sellers in terms of gender (e.g., male or female) and race (e.g., majority or minority). As such, we seek to apply theories of cue utilization and diagnosticity to the sharing economy in the tourism literature.

Second, we find that the effectiveness of a specific cue (e.g., product reputation) depends on its integration with other cue types (e.g., price and offer duration) presented to consumers, a phenomenon labeled cue diagnosticity theory.


To address these gaps, this research considers the roles of specific quality cues in the sharing economy. In particular, we focus on (1) the direct effects of intrinsic cues (reputational factors associated with the product and seller) and extrinsic cues (price and temporal features of an offer), and (2) the interactive effects between extrinsic and intrinsic cues on travelers' demand for peer-to-peer ridesharing services. Furthermore, given the critical importance of demographic characteristics in the sharing economy, this study sheds light on product offer strategies for diverse seller segments in terms of gender and race. This study is particularly important because platform operators receive a substantial proportion of revenue, as they benefit from a fee per transaction, whereas individual microentrepreneurs obtain marginal revenue (Stein 2015) . Similar to firms, microentrepreneurs must increase their profits by improving the quality of their offers to attract demand and gain a competitive advantage (Dervitsiotis 2010) .

This study is particularly important because platform operators receive a substantial proportion of revenue, as they benefit from a fee per transaction, whereas individual microentrepreneurs obtain marginal revenue.

Similar to firms, microentrepreneurs must increase their profits by improving the quality of their offers to attract demand and gain a competitive advantage.


Fish were also fed with 3 g (wet weight) of chironomid larvae every 3 days and the same amount of chironomids was added to the control to avoid biased enrichment of the fish treatment. This amount of chironomids constituted a ration size of approximately 2% of the fish weight per day. We added chironomids because many planktivorous fishes under natural conditions, including the 1+ perch used in our experiment, also eat benthic prey and excrete nutrients from benthic habitats into pelagic habitats, which may have important consequences for planktonic communities (Schindler et al. 1996; Vanni 1996; Schaus and Vanni 2000) .

We added chironomids because many planktivorous fishes under natural conditions, including the 1+ perch used in our experiment, also eat benthic prey and excrete nutrients from benthic habitats into pelagic habitats, which may have important consequences for planktonic communities.


The SEM images taken before and after the hydrogen peroxide treatment are presented in Fig. 1 . While both PG and MG show similar morphologies in low magnification images (Fig. 1a, c) , they show clearly distinctive morphologies in a higher magnification (Fig. 1b, d ). PG shows relatively smooth surfaces over most particles (Fig. 1b) , whereas MG shows sharp edges ( Fig. 1d and Fig. S1 in Electronic Supplementary Material) as in other similar cases that underwent mild oxidation treatments [39, 40] . It is anticipated that the exposure of the sharp edges is associated with the hydrogen peroxide treatment that rearranges the inter-particle structures while etching the edge carbon atoms. The oxidation takes place mainly at the edges because a majority of dangling bonds to be oxidized are located at the edges [41, 42] . The edge-oriented etching of carbon atoms in MG was also supported by Raman spectroscopy results (Fig. S2 in Electronic Supplementary Material). The intensity ratio between D band (*1,350 cm -1 ) and G band (*1,580 cm -1 ) generally reflects the degree of defects in the graphitic array. As compared with PG, MG exhibits a more intensified D band, suggesting that a larger number of defects were generated in MG, which is indeed commensurate with carbon etching at the edges during the hydrogen peroxide treatment.

PG shows relatively smooth surfaces over most particles (Fig. 1b) , whereas MG shows sharp edges ( Fig. 1d and Fig. S1 in Electronic Supplementary Material) as in other similar cases that underwent mild oxidation treatments.

The oxidation takes place mainly at the edges because a majority of dangling bonds to be oxidized are located at the edges.


Energy storage systems (ESSs) are expected to play an important role in resolving various energy and environmental issues because ESSs are essential means for efficient electricity distribution as well as use of renewable energy resources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . Along this direction, supercapacitors have fulfilled critical functions such as 'energy smoothing' and 'momentary energy loading' in grid-scale ESSs by utilizing their high rate capabilities and long cycle lives [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . However, most supercapacitors still suffer from limited energy densities originating from the intrinsic charge/discharge mechanism based on adsorption/desorption of carrier ions, thus restricting the range of applications. As an effort to overcome this limitation, a new class of ESSs, so-called lithium ion capacitors (LICs), has been recently developed and has shown promising electrochemical performance [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] . As the name indicates, LIC is a combined system between Li ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors. In this hybrid system, the cathode works based on the adsorption/desorption of ions as in supercapacitors, whereas the anode operates as a Li ion source by engaging the insertion/desertion processes of Li ions as in LIBs. Typical LICs exhibit energy densities around 30 Wh/ kg, which is more than three times larger than those of electrical double layer capacitors [16, 26] .

Energy storage systems (ESSs) are expected to play an important role in resolving various energy and environmental issues because ESSs are essential means for efficient electricity distribution as well as use of renewable energy resources.

Along this direction, supercapacitors have fulfilled critical functions such as 'energy smoothing' and 'momentary energy loading' in grid-scale ESSs by utilizing their high rate capabilities and long cycle lives.

As an effort to overcome this limitation, a new class of ESSs, so-called lithium ion capacitors (LICs), has been recently developed and has shown promising electrochemical performance.

Typical LICs exhibit energy densities around 30 Wh/ kg, which is more than three times larger than those of electrical double layer capacitors.


Thus we employ simulation to study the transmission expansion pathways of the grid, i.e. its possible development in time. Our novel open-source model conducts myopic optimization in transmission investments [17] . The model is myopic (or short-sighted) because it has a restricted investment horizon of one period, as opposed to a perfect foresight optimization model which considers the whole time horizon. A myopic horizon leads to a non-optimal simulation of the grid expansion, which allows us to explore alternative pathways. This simulation approach allows us to represent the grid path dependence, where the previous state of the grid locks-in or restricts the expansion into certain pathways, unless external influences change the pathway. Therefore, our approach addresses both the non-optimality and the path dependence of grid expansion pathways.

Our novel open-source model conducts myopic optimization in transmission investments.


Globally, G1, G2, G3, and G4 constitute more than 88.5% of globally identified strains [5] . At odds with global scenario, the most frequently reported G types included G12, G1, G2, G9 from Nepal [10] [11] [12] [13] . The first description of G12 rotaviruses dates back to the 1990s from Philippines which were characterized serologically and by nucleotide sequencing as G12P [4] . Beginning in 2002, reports of the detection and increased prevalence of G12 strains have appeared from Asia (Thailand, India, Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia) and the America (the United States, Argentina, and Brazil) [14] .

Globally, G1, G2, G3, and G4 constitute more than 88.5% of globally identified strains.

At odds with global scenario, the most frequently reported G types included G12, G1, G2, G9 from Nepal.

The first description of G12 rotaviruses dates back to the 1990s from Philippines which were characterized serologically and by nucleotide sequencing as G12P.

Beginning in 2002, reports of the detection and increased prevalence of G12 strains have appeared from Asia (Thailand, India, Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia) and the America (the United States, Argentina, and Brazil).


Dimensional stabilization in the presence of water is still an issue with VTC wood. Almost complete stabilization can be achieved using procedures described in the literature without chemical treatment (Inoue et al. 1993) . Chemical treatments have also been proven to be effective to stabilize densified wood. Ongoing research is investigating dimensional stabilization as part of the VTC process. Early results indicate that as little as 2 percent maximum swelling may be achieved using just heat and steam to treat the wood.

Almost complete stabilization can be achieved using procedures described in the literature without chemical treatment.


Another densified wood product created in the United States is Compreg (Stamm and Seborg 1941) . Compreg is resin-treated compressed wood. It is normally made by treating solid wood or veneer with water-soluble phenol formaldehyde resin and compressing it to the desired density and thickness. Compreg is much more dimensionally stable than non-impregnated compressed wood. However, treating resins harden within the cell wall making the treated wood brittle.

Another densified wood product created in the United States is Compreg.


The wood products industry continues to increase its dependence on forest plantations as a source of raw material. There are now more than 124 million hectares of forest plantations throughout the world, of which 95% is classified as industrial use. Worldwide, Pinus species comprise 20% of the total plantation land area (FAO 2001) . In South America plantation forest area has increased by more than 300% since 1980 (Carle et al. 2002) . Historically, plantation management has been directed at producing wood for pulp or lumber. Rapidly grown softwood species are often characterized by wide grown rings and low density. Furthermore, if harvested at an age of less than 20 years, the wood will contain a high percentage of juvenile wood. Consequently, softwood species from short-rotation plantations typically produce wood with low strength and stiffness, which is undesirable for structural applications.

Worldwide, Pinus species comprise 20% of the total plantation land area.

In South America plantation forest area has increased by more than 300% since 1980.


Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) is perhaps the most widely planted Pinus species in the Southern Hemisphere. Rapid growth and desirable lumber and pulp qualities have caused it to be introduced to commercial forestry in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Kenya, and the Republic of South Africa. Radiata pine is also a rapidly emerging plantation species in China. In many of these countries, radiata pine is a mainstay of the forest economy, both for internal markets and export, and reducing cutting pressure on native forests. In Chile there are 1.4 million hectares of radiata pine plantations, which represent approximately 75% of Chile's forest plantation area (FAO 2001) .

In Chile there are 1.4 million hectares of radiata pine plantations, which represent approximately 75% of Chile's forest plantation area.


The mentioned limitations stress that bias reduction remains a temporary solution while model improvement is undertaken. In the meanwhile, further steps may include the correction of other variables such as radiation and multivariate correction (Hoffmann and Rath 2012; Piani and Haerter 2012) . For this purpose, reliable reference datasets including radiation data would be needed (E-OBS and Spain02 do not include it).

In the meanwhile, further steps may include the correction of other variables such as radiation and multivariate correction.


Brachystegia eurycoma belongs to the family caesalpiniaceae, phylum spermatophyte and other fabaceae. It is a dicotyledonous plant, classified as legume and grows commonly along river banks. The seed flour of Brachystegia eurycoma have gelation properties and imparts a gummy texture when used in soups, which is one of the desirable functional quality necessary for the eating of garri, pounded yam, etc., (Ikegwu and Okoli, 2011) .

The seed flour of Brachystegia eurycoma have gelation properties and imparts a gummy texture when used in soups, which is one of the desirable functional quality necessary for the eating of garri, pounded yam, etc..


The functional properties of food additives and thickners are factors to consider before their choice. These properties are often affected by the conditions under which the ingredient is applied or processed. Traditionally, Brachystegia eurycoma is either processed by boiling it in water or by toasting it; after which it is grinded into flour to thicken and flavour soups. Brachystegia eurycoma seed needs to be toasted under conditions that will not have 1 any adverse effect on the functional properties as that could lead to impaired functionality. These functional properties include the water absorption capacity, gelatinisation temperature, swelling power and solubility and paste viscosity. In order to control and establish the toasting conditions for Brachystegia eurycoma seed that will yield the functional property needed for a particular application, there is the need to determine the response of the properties to toasting time. Previous processing, such as heating time, temperature, alkali processing, disulphide linking, etc. have been reported to influence the functional and rheological properties (Iwe, 2003; Visser and Thomas, 1987) .

Previous processing, such as heating time, temperature, alkali processing, disulphide linking, etc. have been reported to influence the functional and rheological properties.


How to achieve a meaningful key frame is an important problem in various communities. The focus of the work is to represent the video content adequately and fast [7, 8] . In this paper, an active detection method is proposed. First, the key frame is defined for video copyright protection. And then, a key frame extraction algorithm based on two-step method with low level features is proposed.

The focus of the work is to represent the video content adequately and fast.


Thus, the industry has started to explore another opportunity in order to produce an alternative binder to minimize the dependencies on petroleum-based asphalt. For decades, the findings from research industry have succeeded to prove the biomass or biowaste products as a great potential source to produce bio-asphalt [1] [2] [3] . As a result, the recyclability of bio waste product can minimize the landfill areas for waste dumping and emission of greenhouse gases by substituting this bio waste into conventional binder to produce bio-asphalt [1] [2] . Therefore, the production of bio-binder from Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) is proposed to response with the issues that the industry currently facing which includes, the high cost of binder price based on the world market and reduction rate of crude oil production. Previous researches findings have explored the variety application of WCO as the complete replacement, partial replacement, or modifiers for neat asphalt binder [4] .

For decades, the findings from research industry have succeeded to prove the biomass or biowaste products as a great potential source to produce bio-asphalt.

As a result, the recyclability of bio waste product can minimize the landfill areas for waste dumping and emission of greenhouse gases by substituting this bio waste into conventional binder to produce bio-asphalt.

Previous researches findings have explored the variety application of WCO as the complete replacement, partial replacement, or modifiers for neat asphalt binder.


The only known constructions of negative Latin square type abelian amorphic group schemes of 3 or more classes in non-elementary abelian groups are for some abelian 2-groups or 3-groups [14, 32] . In this paper we construct new negative Latin square type partial difference sets and abelian amorphic group schemes in nonelementary abelian p-groups for all primes p. Our method is to use what we call pseudo-quadratic bent functions as substitutes for quadratic forms, which is derived from a character theory-based idea.

The only known constructions of negative Latin square type abelian amorphic group schemes of 3 or more classes in non-elementary abelian groups are for some abelian 2-groups or 3-groups.


Intelligent systems in nature are closely coupled to physics. Through bottom-up exploration and exploitation of physical processes, evolution has found ways to achieve selforganized computation. Such natural computation ultimately results in intelligent behavior (Mainzer, 2007) . Furthermore, natural computation is extremely efficient: Our brain contains billions of processing elements (neurons) but consumes only 20W.

Such natural computation ultimately results in intelligent behavior.


All experiments were conducted using the MuMax3 micromagnetic simulator (Vansteenkiste et al., 2014) . Key material parameters used are M sat = 860 × 10 3 A/m, A ex = 13 × 10 −12 J/m and α = 0.01. A lateral cell size of 5x5 nm 2 was used throughout, which is less than the exchange length (L ex = 5.3 nm).

All experiments were conducted using the MuMax3 micromagnetic simulator.


Material computation places physics back in the front seat and views computation as an inherently physical process. Within a physical system (the material) lies an inherent capacity for computation. The goal is to find ways to exploit this inherent computing power. If accomplished, we can build extremely efficient computing devices based on principles found in biological systems: vast parallelism, selforganization, robustness and adaptation (Stepney, 2008) .

If accomplished, we can build extremely efficient computing devices based on principles found in biological systems: vast parallelism, selforganization, robustness and adaptation.


Tissue engineering combines biological, physical, and engineering knowledge to provide artificially developed substitutes for tissues and organs linked to repair and replacement therapies. A key element involved in tissue engineering processes is the extracellular matrix or scaffold which serves as substrate or framework for cell growth, aggregation, and tissue development [1] . These scaffolds must be porous so as to allow cell migration during the colonization process as well as the transport of nutrients and waste to and from cells, and they have to be also resistant enough to withstand possible mechanical demands, especially if final scaffold (or device) implantation is desired. Additionally, as cells are able to feel their microenvironment and substrate texture upon which they lie by changing their morphology, cytoskeleton configuration, and intra-and extracellular signaling, increasing efforts are continuously being focused on advanced design and manufacturing technologies, so as to generate and modify the structures and surfaces of biomaterials. Aspects such as porosity, pore size, and surface microtexture promote cell adherence, migration, and proliferation within the scaffold, for subsequent differentiation into relevant cell types. Thus, tissue progenitor cells and the scaffold play a fundamental role in most tissue engineering strategies as their properties can deeply influence the global success of new tissue formation and the controlled fabrication of the scaffold structures is becoming increasingly important for novel approaches within regenerative medicine [2] [3] [4] .

A key element involved in tissue engineering processes is the extracellular matrix or scaffold which serves as substrate or framework for cell growth, aggregation, and tissue development.

Thus, tissue progenitor cells and the scaffold play a fundamental role in most tissue engineering strategies as their properties can deeply influence the global success of new tissue formation and the controlled fabrication of the scaffold structures is becoming increasingly important for novel approaches within regenerative medicine.


By subtracting unspiked samples from corresponding spiked samples and dividing by the expected value of 10 pg/mL, we obtained a spike recovery percentage. If the spike was correctly delivered and the assay is accurate and precise, we would expect 100% recovery consistently. If the extraction step filtered out biologically active oxytocin, we would expect recovery values below 100%. Recovery for all conditions is plotted in Fig. 2 . In order to test for systematic error (consistent deviation from the expected 100%), sign tests were conducted for each condition based on positive or negative difference from 100%. Statistical significance with this test implies that the sample mean is significantly different from the expected value. The sign test was chosen in order to minimize assumptions and simply test if the distribution of recovery percentages was centered on the expected 100%. For the ELISA, extracted samples were significantly different from the expected recovery, with 10 of 13 participants less than 100%, p50.044 (Bonferroni corrected for four comparisons); however as may be seen in Fig. 2 , the values were very close to 100%. For the RIA, recovery in extracted samples was close to 100%, with 9 of 13 participants greater than 100%, p50.184. Without extraction, the ELISA produced highly variable results; the sign test indicated that the mean recovery was less than 100%, with 10 of 13 participants assayed less than 100%, p50.044. Lastly, the RIA without extraction produced uniform recovery values below 100%, p,0.001. All of the recovery values in this condition were well below 100%, indicating consistent underreporting of the spike. To quantify the impact of assay variance on research protocols, a power analysis was conducted using G*Power 3 [27] . To maximize power, the analysis was conducted for a paired t-test, with the observed sample variance used as the population variance for each assay with and without extraction. For the ELISA without extraction, this procedure estimated that a minimum of 28 participants would be required to detect a 10 pg/mL effect at p,0.05. Similar analyses for either assay with extraction suggest that as few as three participants are sufficient to achieve results statistically significantly different from zero given a constant effect.

To quantify the impact of assay variance on research protocols, a power analysis was conducted using G*Power 3.


Several studies in this context of databases partitioning have been developed to identify individuals by their fingerprints [3, 4, 5] . In fact, fingerprints possess a global morphological structure that helps to discriminate and separate them into well defined classes. Global ridge and furrow structure forms special patterns in the central region of the fingerprint. These patterns are learned and supervised methods of classification are used to separate them into the five well defined classes, namely, left loop, right loop, whorl, arch and tented arch. The identification of a query fingerprint is performed in a subset of the gallery, which corresponds to its membership class.

Several studies in this context of databases partitioning have been developed to identify individuals by their fingerprints.


If the elemental composition (Table 1) is converted into mmol·g −1 of humic acid, the value of 18.2 and 0.8 mmol·g −1 for oxygen and nitrogen can be obtained, respectively. Comparing oxygen content to total acidity (5 mmol·g −1 ), it can be stated that there is a sufficient amount of oxygen for "other" binding sites. The nitrogen content is relatively low but its presence can be important mainly at low copper concentrations [27] .

The nitrogen content is relatively low but its presence can be important mainly at low copper concentrations.


A relatively important role in the stoichiometry of the formed complexes is in the pH value. At the beginning of the experiment the pH of humic sols is ∼7. This value gradually decreased with the titration of humic sol by copper(II) ions. The white columns in Figure 2 show the value of pH at equilibrium of the reaction between copper and humic acid. While the pH decreases only slightly for the lowest concentration of humic acid, more concentrated humic sols (>0.5 g·dm −3 ) maintained a pH level approximately equal to 5 at equilibrium. Experiments with ion exchange resins of different types showed that the maximum content of labile copper complexes (∼30%) is at a pH bellow 5 and the portion of soluble nonlabile complexes increases with increasing pH [31] . The lower pH values in equilibrium support the decrease in amount of bonded copper for concentrated humic sols.

Experiments with ion exchange resins of different types showed that the maximum content of labile copper complexes (∼30%) is at a pH bellow 5 and the portion of soluble nonlabile complexes increases with increasing pH.


There is still much to be learned about fluorescence and about the details of applying feature classifications to highresolution multispectral fluorescence images of the reef before this imaging approach can be applied as a general tool. Observations indicate that in the case of coral fluorescence, for example, there can be variation in the fluorescence spectra and efficiencies within species both at a single site and from one site to another. Bleaching was not a factor at the FILLS study sites described here, but there may be significant fluorescence changes associated with that phenomenon (Hardy et al. 1992) . Even at the current state of knowledge, though, repeated surveys of a single site could provide valuable data on changes in bottom cover type over time.

Bleaching was not a factor at the FILLS study sites described here, but there may be significant fluorescence changes associated with that phenomenon.


To test whether this approach was effective in differentiating core and accessory divergences, we performed forward-time simulations of bacterial populations diversifying through base substitutions, large insertions and deletions (indels) and recombination using BacMeta (Sipola et al. 2018) . Those simulations in which sequences diverged only through base substitutions all correctly identified a < 5x10 -3 , whereas π increased according to the set substitution rate over multiple orders of magnitude, even in the presence of recombination (Fig 2A and S1) . To test the accuracy with which a can be estimated, the substitution rate was fixed at 5x10 -6 bp -1 generation -1 , and indels of a fixed size of 250 bp occured at varying rates relative to base substitutions to emulate changes of gene content. The calculated a co-varied with the indel rate, without substantially affecting the inferred distribution of π ( Fig 2B and S1 ). With the indel rate was fixed at 0.05, the distributions of both a and π converged towards a single mode as the rate of exchange through recombination was increased ( Fig 2C) , consistent with changes in the analogous core and accessory genetic distances observed in a study using a different framework to study the effects of sequence exchange (Marttinen et al. 2015) . Hence PopPUNK's use of variable length k -mers can resolve variation in the genome content and sequence to generate a pairwise distance distribution that accurately reflects the population-wide distribution of genetic diversity.

To test whether this approach was effective in differentiating core and accessory divergences, we performed forward-time simulations of bacterial populations diversifying through base substitutions, large insertions and deletions (indels) and recombination using BacMeta.

With the indel rate was fixed at 0.05, the distributions of both a and π converged towards a single mode as the rate of exchange through recombination was increased ( Fig 2C) , consistent with changes in the analogous core and accessory genetic distances observed in a study using a different framework to study the effects of sequence exchange.


Poly oxyethylene (POE) is a freely obtainable polymer in an array of molecular weights. A variety of POEs exhibit solubility in water and some of the organic solvents. The other name is PEG (poly ethylene glycol) when its molecular weight is less than one lakh. PEGs (having a molecular weight less than a thousand) are colorless and viscous liquids (Bailey and Koleske, 1976) . Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are well-known excipients (Debotton and Dahan, 2017) . In controlled drug delivery, PEG copolymers with polylactic acid (PLA) are used (Xu et al., 2019) . Protein-based medications accumulate the protein deposits in the blood, which can be reduced by opting PEG surface coating on them (Antwerp et al., 2002) . Osmotic action of PEG supports its usage as a laxative (Savino et al., 2012) . Liquid PEGs (200 -600) are used in pharmaceutical preparations of oral and intravenous administration (D'souza and Shegokar, 2016) . As antidotes, they remove the toxic substances from the surface of burned skin (Cartotto et al., 1996) .

PEGs (having a molecular weight less than a thousand) are colorless and viscous liquids.

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are well-known excipients.

In controlled drug delivery, PEG copolymers with polylactic acid (PLA) are used.

Protein-based medications accumulate the protein deposits in the blood, which can be reduced by opting PEG surface coating on them.

Osmotic action of PEG supports its usage as a laxative.

Liquid PEGs (200 -600) are used in pharmaceutical preparations of oral and intravenous administration.

As antidotes, they remove the toxic substances from the surface of burned skin.


Strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum systems have attracted major attention in recent years [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . When confined to one dimension the fermionic system exhibits a spin-charge separation, and for very strong interactions the charge degrees of freedom are frozen, making it possible to write an effective spin chain Hamiltonian for the system [2] [3] [4] . Methods have been developed to solve numerically for the exchange coefficients of this spin chain for any given confining potential [3, 6] .

Strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum systems have attracted major attention in recent years.

When confined to one dimension the fermionic system exhibits a spin-charge separation, and for very strong interactions the charge degrees of freedom are frozen, making it possible to write an effective spin chain Hamiltonian for the system.

Methods have been developed to solve numerically for the exchange coefficients of this spin chain for any given confining potential.


In addition, the techniques used involve a Poisson mixture representation and Laplace's method. They enable one to obtain an upper estimate for the accuracy of the local approximation of scaled Pólya-Aeppli distributions by means of a Poisson-exponential law. Herewith, Theorem 2.9.i refines Theorem 3.2 and Corollary 3.1 of Vinogradov [31] . The author elected to include a review of the properties of the limiting Poisson-exponential distributions in Section 2. This exposition can be useful to those readers who want to familiarize themselves with this class of mixed probability laws. Its members emerge in numerous areas of the theory of stochastic processes, and their systematic studies are thus long overdue.

Herewith, Theorem 2.9.i refines Theorem 3.2 and Corollary 3.1 of Vinogradov.


Both the text and structure information of graphs need to be utilized in the process of influence discovery because both graph nodes and edges carry informative knowledge. The proposed solution should scale on large data sets in the real world. To address the above challenges, we first propose a new semi-supervised method to automatically extract context labels, which act as influence aspects, from graph connections. Then, we propose two novel aspect influence models to capture the influence aspects and the influence degrees at the aspect level by utilizing both the text and structure information in a graph. In particular, we model the text information of graph nodes using latent topic states, which are introduced in topic models [4] . We model the graph edges (structure) by associating them with influence aspects (which can be observed, or extracted, or latent) and aspect-level degrees.

In particular, we model the text information of graph nodes using latent topic states, which are introduced in topic models.


In addition, projectile effects account for 10% of MRI-related accidents; therefore, MRI safety regulations mandate the exclusion of many essential tools from the MR environment, including surgical robots [8] . Projectile effects are not the only reason that conventional robots are banned from MR environments; unwanted movements of robot components also limit the accuracy of surgical operations. However, the precise operation of robots depends on accurate motion of actuators and the end effector. Only three types of actuators are MRI-compatible: hydraulic, pneumatic, and ultrasonic actuators.

In addition, projectile effects account for 10% of MRI-related accidents; therefore, MRI safety regulations mandate the exclusion of many essential tools from the MR environment, including surgical robots.


USMs led to unsatisfactory results when they were first used in MRI. For example, USMs interacted with the MRI scanner, inducing noise in the images and generating heat. Lack of MRI compatibility led researchers to shift their focus from USMs to pneumatic actuators in the development of surgical robots for compatibility issues. Although pneumatic and hydraulic systems address a few of the compatibility issues, they cannot provide the numerous advantages of USMs. USMs are highly advantageous because they have a high degree of precision, small size and a non-magnetic mode of operation [9] .

USMs are highly advantageous because they have a high degree of precision, small size and a non-magnetic mode of operation.


The displacement force should be measured to adjust the force errors caused by external forces (MRI) on the actuators. These errors can be used to adjust and control the force for tactile feedback systems. Displacement force information is also necessary to calibrate a tactile sensor [14] .

Displacement force information is also necessary to calibrate a tactile sensor.


However, unwanted motion of USMs limits their accuracy and increases the safety risk for patients [10] . The effects of MRI force fields on motor performance are not fully known. For example, the applied force and torque have not been fully quantified for high-field (≥3 T) MRI systems. The risk of accidental dislodgement must be minimized because it can lead to morbidity or mortality. Although the actuators may not physically contact a patient's organs, the actuators are connected via links that can move the end effector inside the patient's body. Therefore, unwanted dislodgement of the actuators can cause unpredictable dislodgment of other links and, consequently, the end effector.

However, unwanted motion of USMs limits their accuracy and increases the safety risk for patients.


Robots that are compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-compatible) will revolutionize the safety and efficiency of surgical operations by enhancing dexterity in a digitized imaging environment and providing precise positioning tools. By exploiting MRI, which is a versatile and indispensable imaging modality, these robots can enhance a surgeon's dexterity and stamina by allowing superior spatial resolution and geometric accuracy [1] . The excellent ability of MRI for localizing and robots for targeting pathologies will provide additional avenues for developing computational methods and MRI-guided interventions. Surgical instruments can be tracked in real-time while overcoming the deformation of tissues and the spatial constraints of high-resolution closed-bore MRI systems [2] . However, to perform surgery safely with high precision and full controllability, robots must have accurate actuators operating inside the MR environment [3, 4] .

By exploiting MRI, which is a versatile and indispensable imaging modality, these robots can enhance a surgeon's dexterity and stamina by allowing superior spatial resolution and geometric accuracy.

Surgical instruments can be tracked in real-time while overcoming the deformation of tissues and the spatial constraints of high-resolution closed-bore MRI systems.

However, to perform surgery safely with high precision and full controllability, robots must have accurate actuators operating inside the MR environment.


The estimation phase and the prediction phase are computed using interval analysis [11] . Our deployment area is of rectangular field so two-dimensional intervals are used to find the estimation and prediction phases. ACO algorithms have been applied to many combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from routing vehicles, stochastic problems, multitargets, travelling salesman problem and parallel implementations [12] .

The estimation phase and the prediction phase are computed using interval analysis.

ACO algorithms have been applied to many combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from routing vehicles, stochastic problems, multitargets, travelling salesman problem and parallel implementations.


Mobile sensor networks (MSN) have significant impact upon the efficiency of military and civil applications such as environment monitoring, target surveillance, industrial process observation, tactical systems, etc, [1] . In these scenarios, target tracking is one of the most important applications of mobile sensor networks [2] . MSN contains element like processor, sensor, transceiver, battery and movement capabilities. Mobility may be of active or passive. In the active type, sensors are moved in a controlled manner. Passive mobility will not have any control, it will move in some random manner. It is very difficult to manage passive mobility, so in this proposed method, controlled mobility is used.

Mobile sensor networks (MSN) have significant impact upon the efficiency of military and civil applications such as environment monitoring, target surveillance, industrial process observation, tactical systems, etc.

In these scenarios, target tracking is one of the most important applications of mobile sensor networks.

Mobility may be of active or passive.


Lysozyme is considered as one of the important bactericidal enzymes and an indispensable tool of fish to fight infectious agents. Saccharomyces yeast is found to trigger the serum lysozyme level in teleost. Our research showed that the use of such biotic forms have a significant increase on the lysozyme activity in all treated fish [18, 52] . Lysozyme is constitutively expressed, synthesized and secreted by neutrophils, monocytes and macrophages. The greatest concentration of lysozyme was directly proportional to the leukocytic count. In the current research, the addition of S. cerevisiae in fish diet has remarkably increased the leukocytic count, which in turn elevated lysozyme concentration and activity [57] .

Our research showed that the use of such biotic forms have a significant increase on the lysozyme activity in all treated fish.

In the current research, the addition of S. cerevisiae in fish diet has remarkably increased the leukocytic count, which in turn elevated lysozyme concentration and activity.


Following the end of nucleation, the available dissolved gas for each bubble is fixed as the IV stops growing. This period is characterized by a decreasing bubble growth rate and is called the "Limited Expansion Phase" (Mao et al., 2006) . Bubble growth continues till either the pressure inside the bubble reaches ambient pressure or the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the polymer-dissolved gas mixture increases above the local temperature.

This period is characterized by a decreasing bubble growth rate and is called the "Limited Expansion Phase".


P. capsici is a soil-borne fungal pathogen that significantly hampers agricultural production of certain species of peppers (Biles et al.,1992) . P. capsici has an extensive host range, including but not limited to eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, cocoa, macadamia plants, and peppers (Zhiwei et al., 2006) . Phytophthora blight on peppers can manifest as spotting and wilting of the roots, stems, leaves, and fruit (Biles et al., 1993) . The pathogen can survive in unfavorable soil conditions by forming thick-walled oospores, whereas dissemination and infection are accomplished through the production of motile zoospores from the zoosporangia. The zoospores swim via water present in the soil and are drawn to exudates, which are released by the roots of the potential host plant (Morris et al., 1998) . After the zoospores have adhered to the root surface, they encyst and produce a germ tube precisely oriented so that it grows into adjacent host plant tissue.

P. capsici is a soil-borne fungal pathogen that significantly hampers agricultural production of certain species of peppers.

P. capsici has an extensive host range, including but not limited to eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, cocoa, macadamia plants, and peppers.

Phytophthora blight on peppers can manifest as spotting and wilting of the roots, stems, leaves, and fruit.

The zoospores swim via water present in the soil and are drawn to exudates, which are released by the roots of the potential host plant.


The progression from zoospores to germlings is triggered by environmental signals, some of which are produced by the plant root. Receptors on the surfaces of the zoospores, cysts, and germtubes detect the environmental signals that trigger or orient each developmental event. Because of its highly destructive effect on infected plants, strategies to detect P. capsici and prevent infection by this pathogen have been extensively investigated. This infection can be readily found in pepper and tomato plants in southern Korea (Rajkumar et al., 2005) .

This infection can be readily found in pepper and tomato plants in southern Korea.


The weight at slaughter is an important factor for cattle, once it has a direct effect on the animal response, affecting feed intake and animal performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality. Thus, determining the ideal slaughter weight for animals that meets the requirements of the commercialization and distribution systems is essential, once slaughterhouses prefer heavier animals and those with adequate fat degree, which is not interesting to the farmer, who needs more time for animals to stay in confinement, which may have a direct effect on productive and economic efficiency (Costa et al., 2002a; Restle et al., 2007) . When slaughterhouses adopt bonus programs, the uniformity of the animals; sex; age; fat cover; and weight at slaughter are criteria utilized for a differentiated remuneration. Among these, one of the main factors is carcass weights, because this characteristic is correlated to boneless yield and standardization of the meat cuts.

Thus, determining the ideal slaughter weight for animals that meets the requirements of the commercialization and distribution systems is essential, once slaughterhouses prefer heavier animals and those with adequate fat degree, which is not interesting to the farmer, who needs more time for animals to stay in confinement, which may have a direct effect on productive and economic efficiency.


Information-Centric Network (ICN) has motived the development of future Internet architectures instead of the current Internet of host-to-host communication model [1] [2] [3] . The common goal of ICN is to achieve efficient and reliable content distribution by providing a general platform for communication services that are today only available in dedicated system such as peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays and proprietary content distribution networks [1, 2] . ICN leverages in-network caching to provide a better-performing and more robust transport service. In-network caching has emerged as a distinct research field in the context of ICN [4] .

Information-Centric Network (ICN) has motived the development of future Internet architectures instead of the current Internet of host-to-host communication model.

The common goal of ICN is to achieve efficient and reliable content distribution by providing a general platform for communication services that are today only available in dedicated system such as peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays and proprietary content distribution networks.

In-network caching has emerged as a distinct research field in the context of ICN.


Corresponding to the above viewpoint, there are few researches considering the disruption factor under dualchannel supply chain framework. Sometimes some disruptive events in a supply chain will significantly affect the performance of the supply chain, such as machine breakdown, raw material shortage, and workers strike. One disruption may cause serious direct or indirect losses. It is reported that publicly trade firms experiencing disruptive events received negative stock market reactions with the magnitude of decline in market capitalization being as large as 10% [18, 19] . Generally, suppliers have a realization about the disruption probability as they have the information of inventory, resources, and Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 3 production equipment. However, the downstream retailers are often unaware of disruptions until their orders cannot be fulfilled. The unaware causes the operation distortion and the performance loss of the supply chain, especially for the downstream retailers.

It is reported that publicly trade firms experiencing disruptive events received negative stock market reactions with the magnitude of decline in market capitalization being as large as 10%.


With the rapid development of the Internet, customers are becoming more and more accustomed to online shopping. By means of an online channel, firms can deal with customers' order and get the logistic information timely. Therefore, those firms, such as Amazon, Dell, Jingdong, Alibaba, and Taobao, can be closer to customers and have a better understanding of customers' preference [1] . Thus, many manufacturers face the decision whether to add one direct channel in addition to the existing traditional channel. In order to improve competitiveness, many traditional manufacturers have begun or are beginning to set up their online direct sales channels. Therefore, the phenomenon that the traditional channel and direct sales channel coexisting is more common. Generally, it is called the dual-channel supply chain, which refers to the fact that the supply chain has the online (direct sales) and off-line (traditional retail) channels. In a dual-channel supply chain, the unreasonable pricing decisions may lead to the conflict between two channels, so one of the key issues in the dual-channel supply chain is the pricing problem.

Therefore, those firms, such as Amazon, Dell, Jingdong, Alibaba, and Taobao, can be closer to customers and have a better understanding of customers' preference.


Some images in the horizonless case (naked rotating wormhole) have also been computed. They display a central faint region with hyper-lensed contours whose shape depends on the value of the parameter b. The simulations with Gyoto allow distinguishing very well these contours from the shadows associated with the standard Kerr case or with the rotating Hayward black hole, as can be seen by comparing Fig. 9 & 10 to Fig. 7a & 7b . Without any good resolution data, we must stress that distinguishing these contours from the lensing ring delineating the shadow of a Kerr black hole could be extremely challenging, as in the case of boson stars [35] .

Without any good resolution data, we must stress that distinguishing these contours from the lensing ring delineating the shadow of a Kerr black hole could be extremely challenging, as in the case of boson stars.


The methodology proposed in this paper is based on the analysis of PV system operation as a function of time, portrayed as a series of climatic cycles (Lorenzo et al., 1994) . The relevant climatic cycles are considered as independent, as confirmed by a more detailed analysis (Fragaki, 2005) . Thus, only the most significant cycles need be brought into the analysis, and the result taken as their linear superposition. Which cycles are ''significant'' is determined by modelling, as already mentioned above. With some experience, however, an inspection of the time series may well be sufficient to pinpoint the likely periods which can then be subjected to a closer scrutiny based on a relatively simple mathematical analysis.

The methodology proposed in this paper is based on the analysis of PV system operation as a function of time, portrayed as a series of climatic cycles.

The relevant climatic cycles are considered as independent, as confirmed by a more detailed analysis.


The Best Reference Document (BREF) are the reference documents on Best Available Techniques. They are elaborated by the European IPPC Bureau. A BREF represents the tools to meet requirements of the IED [10] . Most of the BREF apply to a specific industrial sector and they contain information on techniques and processes of that sector, emission levels and techniques to consider for determining Best Available Techniques (BAT) and emerging techniques [11] .

A BREF represents the tools to meet requirements of the IED.

Most of the BREF apply to a specific industrial sector and they contain information on techniques and processes of that sector, emission levels and techniques to consider for determining Best Available Techniques (BAT) and emerging techniques.


For diagnostic studies, we may not want to use constraints (Caracena 1987) . Verification studies of forecast fields of a certain numerical prediction model by an analysis based on the first guess of the same model will not really allow an independent judgment (Lu and Browning 1998a) . Even the detection of observational errors and the characterization of the representativity of observing stations may be done advantageously with a model-independent procedure by cross validation of the dataset itself.

For diagnostic studies, we may not want to use constraints.

Verification studies of forecast fields of a certain numerical prediction model by an analysis based on the first guess of the same model will not really allow an independent judgment.


During 1992-2001, we determined the annual age ratio of grey partridge at harvest by examination of wings obtained from hunter-killed birds. Harvested birds were classified as juveniles or adults based on the shape of their primary flight feathers (Birkan 1977) . The total sample was 1,169 wings ranging from 30 in 1996 to 200 in 1993 (mean per year was 106.6 wings). Between-year differences in the number of wings collected were directly related to annual variation in hunting quotas. We did not suspect any bias in the ratio of young to adult birds within the shooting bag since hunting with pointing dogs does not select for a particular age class (Kobriger & Schulz 1992) . However, we explored this hypothesis by testing whether the age ratio changes in the shooting bags over the course of the hunting season (see results).

Harvested birds were classified as juveniles or adults based on the shape of their primary flight feathers.

We did not suspect any bias in the ratio of young to adult birds within the shooting bag since hunting with pointing dogs does not select for a particular age class.


The use of radio-transmitters allowed us to recover three birds that were shot, but not recovered by hunters. Our estimate of hunting mortality is thus not restricted to individuals recovered and includes crippling losses. The sample size (three out of 11) is too small to provide a reliable estimate of crippling loss, but this result suggests that hunter harvest is underestimated when only hunted bag censuses are used. This result is close to the 26% of crippling losses estimated for black grouse Tetrao tetrix in France (Watson 2007) . Shooting quotas should thus be estimated by taking potential wounding loss into account (Birkan & Jacob 1988) .

This result is close to the 26% of crippling losses estimated for black grouse Tetrao tetrix in France.

Shooting quotas should thus be estimated by taking potential wounding loss into account.


The analysis of the effective dimension of the space-time and its dependence on the probe scale is studied using a diffusion process [5] . In this approach, one investigate the behaviour of a non-relativistic particle undergoing diffusion in the space whose dimension is under study. This equation is solved by imposing the delta function initial condition which takes into account of the point particle nature of the probe.

The analysis of the effective dimension of the space-time and its dependence on the probe scale is studied using a diffusion process.


The spectral dimension of κ-space-time using the κ-deformed diffusion equation was studied in our earlier work [16] . Using a mapping of non-commutative coordinates to commutative coordinates and their derivatives, we constructed the diffusion equation in κ-space-time from the Casimir of the undeformed κ-Poincare algebra [17] . Keeping terms upto second order in the deformation parameter a, we solved the diffusion equation perturbatively. The spectral dimension derived from this solution showed a length scale dependence. For a 4-dimensional space-time, we found that the spectral dimension decrease and become negative as we probe at higher energies.

The spectral dimension of κ-space-time using the κ-deformed diffusion equation was studied in our earlier work.

Using a mapping of non-commutative coordinates to commutative coordinates and their derivatives, we constructed the diffusion equation in κ-space-time from the Casimir of the undeformed κ-Poincare algebra.


An LVDT is a common type of electromechanical transducer that can convert the rectilinear motion of an object, which is coupled mechanically, into an electrical signal. It is a position transducer that is noncontact, absolute reading, and has essentially infinite resolution [1] . It is known that this infinite resolution capability is limited only by the noise in the LVDT's signal conditioner and the output display's resolution [2] . The main advantage of the LVDT transducer over other types of displacement transducers is the high degree of robustness, high sensitivity, long operation range, high linearity and contactless sensing. Because there is no physical contact across the sensing element, there is no wear in such element [3] . The linear displacement sensors are deployed in a great number of applications such as position feedback in servomechanisms, pneumatic valves, and many other industrial purposes like manufacturing and process controls and scientific applications [4] . As technology advances, traditional and new displacement sensors are required; they also need to be constantly revised and improved in order to satisfy the requirements of the new promising technologies. Applications of finite element modeling aided analysis have allowed a deeper investigation regarding physical magnitudes, difficult to be measured directly, such as magnetic fields, in order to derive the transfer characteristic of an LVDT design [5] [6] . More recently developed displacement sensors involve a magnetic interference effect [7] [8] . Exploration to replace the core material by an encapsulated ferrofluid has been done [4] .

It is a position transducer that is noncontact, absolute reading, and has essentially infinite resolution.

It is known that this infinite resolution capability is limited only by the noise in the LVDT's signal conditioner and the output display's resolution.

Because there is no physical contact across the sensing element, there is no wear in such element.

The linear displacement sensors are deployed in a great number of applications such as position feedback in servomechanisms, pneumatic valves, and many other industrial purposes like manufacturing and process controls and scientific applications.

Applications of finite element modeling aided analysis have allowed a deeper investigation regarding physical magnitudes, difficult to be measured directly, such as magnetic fields, in order to derive the transfer characteristic of an LVDT design.

More recently developed displacement sensors involve a magnetic interference effect.

Exploration to replace the core material by an encapsulated ferrofluid has been done.


In regards to economic and social criteria, Turkey has important differences between the regions. These differences among regions have lead into serious problems. For the industrial sector, the western provinces of the country are more effective than the middle and eastern provinces. Turkey has the world's 18th largest nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 17th largest GDP by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The country is a founding member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G-20 major economies . Despite economic crises Turkey had, Turkey's economy has taken big steps towards being a reliable economy in the last decade. In 2010, the agricultural sector accounts for 9% of GDP, while the industrial sector accounts for 26% and the services sector accounts for 65% (CIA 2010) .

In 2010, the agricultural sector accounts for 9% of GDP, while the industrial sector accounts for 26% and the services sector accounts for 65%.


Usually, tracking radars are used in the terminal phase of a weapon system and are given high priority in electronic attack (EA) threats. When the radar locks onto a target, it implies that the weapon is directed at the target. The EA system in the target platform is employed to cause the tracking radar to break-lock, so that the guidance information being used by the weapon is diluted and the weapon is diverted from the target, which is saved [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . In this study, we analyzed the break-lock condition of the phase locked loop (PLL) in a monopulse radar receiver through computer simulation and experimental measurements in the presence of sinusoidal continuous wave (CW) and linear frequency modulated (LFM) repeater jamming signals.

The EA system in the target platform is employed to cause the tracking radar to break-lock, so that the guidance information being used by the weapon is diluted and the weapon is diverted from the target, which is saved.


ISM systems have significantly reduced initial burst release and viscosity (which is primarily controlled by the external phase). Thus, easier injectability and reduced pain has been achieved, compared to use of the polymer solutions (in situ implant systems). Additionally ISMs are multiparticulates, and thus minimize variations in implant morphology (after solidification) and provide more consistent and reproducible drug release profile [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] .

Additionally ISMs are multiparticulates, and thus minimize variations in implant morphology (after solidification) and provide more consistent and reproducible drug release profile.


The development of on-line talk or chat has become increasingly pervasive within emerging social networks proliferating in every country and every educational level of students. The issue for educational technologists as well as teachers who are teaching ESL utilizing on-line chat apps is whether these applications can support and encourage students to learn English (Gonzalez, 2003) . What is also significant in these studies on the effectiveness of using chat to increase conversation skills is that when students' styles of learning are better understood, the chances of their conversation skills becoming better are increased (Hsieh, 2011; Hsu, 2007) . Nowadays, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have a great impact on the process of students' participation in a course (Greenhow & Robelia, 2009) . Apart from formal technical systems like syllabi, course management systems (e.g., Moodle, Blackboard), or university-owned email distribution lists that universities use to support courses, informal systems such as the Facebook and LINE applications seem to play a significant role in the teaching and learning processes. Although these social networking sites are usually used for social interaction, they can also be looked at as potential communication channels where students collaborate for academic purposes. They enable learners to discuss course content and cooperate with each other easily (Palloff & Pratt, 2007; Gabarre & Gabarre, 2013) .

The issue for educational technologists as well as teachers who are teaching ESL utilizing on-line chat apps is whether these applications can support and encourage students to learn English.

What is also significant in these studies on the effectiveness of using chat to increase conversation skills is that when students' styles of learning are better understood, the chances of their conversation skills becoming better are increased.

Nowadays, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have a great impact on the process of students' participation in a course.

They enable learners to discuss course content and cooperate with each other easily.


Electrochromics (EC) are glazings whose optical transmittance can be controlled via a small applied electric potential. This is potentially useful in managing the admission of daylight into buildings, since they can be darkened when too much of it causes glare and be made lighter when more is needed to illuminate the interior space. Without the aid of shading devices, however, electrochromics on their own cannot provide visual comfort in extreme glare situations such as when the sun is visible through the window. The deployment of these shading devices can cause significant increases in lighting energy use since occupants tend to leave shades down long after the period of visual discomfort has passed [1] . It appears then that the maximization of the lighting energy saving potential of EC windows would require them to be controlled for visual comfort first and only then for providing daylight to the space, thus minimizing shading deployment. A field study had been conducted with large-area EC windows, but the control algorithm provided less than optimal visual comfort control [2] . The study presented here was conducted to explore the potential of this strategy. Given the difficulty of implementing experimentally the chosen optimization algorithm for control of electrochromic glass and Venetian blinds based on visual comfort, a computer simulation approach was in order. To maximize the admission of daylight to the space without decreasing visual comfort, the electrochromic window here considered had two independently-controlled panes, the bottom one for view and the top one for daylight. The effect of adding an overhang to the façade is also studied, in order to determine if this very common type of exterior shading reduces the need for interior shading device deployment.

The deployment of these shading devices can cause significant increases in lighting energy use since occupants tend to leave shades down long after the period of visual discomfort has passed.

A field study had been conducted with large-area EC windows, but the control algorithm provided less than optimal visual comfort control.


Instruments Data for this study was collected via a questionnaire by the instructors. A review of the IS literature was used to identify existing measures for constructs, which had been used in previous IS research. The scales for PU, PEU, AT, BI and AU were adapted from literature studies (Adams, Nelson, & Todd, 1992; Chin & Todd, 1995; Corwin, 1998; F. D. Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989; Szajna, 1996; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000; Wallace, 1998) . Items were rewritten as necessary to fit the context of this study. A five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used to measure the items. The instrument in this study was divided into two sections in the questionnaire. The first section contains items used to measure all the independent variables assumed to affect smart phone acceptance and adoption. Multi-items were used to measure each. The second section contains five questions relating to demographic data about the respondent. The questionnaire is enclosed in the appendix.

The scales for PU, PEU, AT, BI and AU were adapted from literature studies.

Multi-items were used to measure each.


With the increased use of more advanced mobile communication devices which tend to merge portability and connectivity features to allow broader applications and opportunities for real life learning, education is now being transformed by the use of wireless mobile technologies for mobile learning (Kassop, 2003) . This scenario has made user perception and acceptance an increasingly critical issue, as the end users are crucial for the effective use of the information technologies (Cheney & Dickson, 1982) . Although user acceptance has received fairly extensive attention in prior research, the majority of these studies have validated the user acceptance other than education by using specific information systems in Management Information Science (MIS) field.

With the increased use of more advanced mobile communication devices which tend to merge portability and connectivity features to allow broader applications and opportunities for real life learning, education is now being transformed by the use of wireless mobile technologies for mobile learning.

This scenario has made user perception and acceptance an increasingly critical issue, as the end users are crucial for the effective use of the information technologies.


Authors are continuously interested in improving and developing learning and education. They utilize advanced and effective educational strategies and means that focus on the learners and effectively organize their reception of information and knowledge. Therefore, graphic organizers, such as Mind Maps invented by Tony Buzan, assist memory improvement and retrieval of information in the same way the human mind works. Buzan believes that they are used as schemas to represent, organize, generate, and classify words, ideas, and tasks. They also help study, read, solve problems, and make decisions. They depend on the sequence of neural cells where brain cells spread and articulated (Abdulbaset, 2016) . Buzan was motivated by recognizing that the educational systems largely focus on operating only one hemisphere of the brain, i.e. the left hemisphere (Elabady & Jradat, 2015) .

They depend on the sequence of neural cells where brain cells spread and articulated.

Buzan was motivated by recognizing that the educational systems largely focus on operating only one hemisphere of the brain, i.e. the left hemisphere.


Additionally, learners considered the main aim of education where developing their scientific thinking abilities and utilizing their human mind power in organizing ideas are amongst its most significant objectives. E-Mind Maps can be utilized to define the overlapping relationships among the various items and details of the subject. Accordingly, information saving and retrieval can be facilitated through using I Mind Maps software to create relations among information, connect old and new knowledge, and correct errors without duplication saving the time and effort of the learner. E-Mind Maps are an active learning strategy that participates in improving memory, generating creative ideas, using both brain hemispheres, and organizing information in a way that helps read, retrieve information, and connect concepts through lines or arrows that represent the relation of concepts by words or phrases that are written on the lines that connect two concepts. They can be used as methodological or educational means as well as an evaluation style (Elsaeed, 2012) .

They can be used as methodological or educational means as well as an evaluation style.


It has been demonstrated that the thermal conductivity of single crystal silicon can be effectively engineered using lithographically patterned phononic crystals. By introducing sub-micron diameter periodic through holes, the electrical conductivities of the phononic crystal membranes were changed only by the amount of the volume reduction effect, while their thermal conductivities were reduced much further due to the enhanced phonon scattering. This work also elucidates that not only incoherent scattering but also coherent scattering of phonons impact the single crystal silicon thermal conductivity, which has been vague in previous works [10] . These phononic crystals were constructed using only conventional lithography techniques, which not only opens direct applications to many micromachined devices without much modification to their original fabrication process but also allows for their repeatable mass production.

This work also elucidates that not only incoherent scattering but also coherent scattering of phonons impact the single crystal silicon thermal conductivity, which has been vague in previous works.


The importance of heat management is rapidly growing in many micro/nano-mechanical devices. For instance, thermal actuation is one of the most widely used transducer mechanisms in MEMS devices, where large actuation forces or large displacement are needed [2] . Recently demonstrated ovenized micromechanical resonators use localized heating to address temperature induced frequency drift [3] . Micromachined thermoelectric converters are promising for next generation energy harvesters, generating electrical power from waste heat [4] . In such applications, effective heat management is critical to guarantee optimized performance.

For instance, thermal actuation is one of the most widely used transducer mechanisms in MEMS devices, where large actuation forces or large displacement are needed.

Recently demonstrated ovenized micromechanical resonators use localized heating to address temperature induced frequency drift.

Micromachined thermoelectric converters are promising for next generation energy harvesters, generating electrical power from waste heat.


Given the large number of sustained operational hours required for industrial turbines, two important demands placed on such engines are component life and overall engine performance. These demands are somewhat conflicting because high temperatures are required at turbine combustor in order to achieve high performance; however, increasing combustor outlet temperature in turn reduced component life, high repair costs, and downtime costs. Impingement cooling is an enhanced heat transfer method capable of cooling a transition piece (TP) without injecting cool air directly into the gas chamber. Cooling the transition piece from the gas inlet enables engineers to dissipate the heat load and maintains more uniform temperatures in the turbine region needed for efficient turbine [1] .

Cooling the transition piece from the gas inlet enables engineers to dissipate the heat load and maintains more uniform temperatures in the turbine region needed for efficient turbine.


The objective of the present study is to investigate the laminar boundary layer flow and heat transfer of an Eyring-Powell non-Newtonian fluid from a nonisothermal wedge. Such a study has not appeared in the literature to the knowledge of the authors. The nondimensional equations with associated dimensionless boundary conditions are solved with the Keller implicit finite difference "Box" scheme [33] . The effects of the emerging thermophysical parameters, namely, the rheological parameters ( , ), Biot number ( ), mixed convection parameter ( ), pressure gradient parameter ( ), magnetic parameter ( ), and Prandtl number (Pr), on the velocity, temperature, local skin friction, and heat transfer rate (local Nusselt number) characteristics are studied. The present problem is relevant to the simulation of magnetized polymer materials fabrication processes.

The nondimensional equations with associated dimensionless boundary conditions are solved with the Keller implicit finite difference "Box" scheme.


We hypothesized the experimental group that read a brochure about suicide would demonstrate greater suicide literacy than the control group that read a brochure about walking. This hypothesis was supported. Passive psychoeducation about suicide was found to have a small but significant effect on suicide literacy; participants in the experimental group scored 5 percentage points higher on a suicide literacy quiz than participants in the control group, controlling for level of educational attainment and baseline literacy. Of note, participants with higher educational attainment not only demonstrated greater literacy at baseline but also were more likely to show an increase in literacy after receiving psychoeducation. This is consistent with previous findings showing psychoeducation is generally more effective for individuals who are already knowledgeable and agree with its message (Devine, 1995) .

This hypothesis was supported.

This is consistent with previous findings showing psychoeducation is generally more effective for individuals who are already knowledgeable and agree with its message.


In spite of the psychological findings on the cultural specificity of facial expressions, from the viewpoint of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) the cultural universality of basic expressions is taken for granted [7] . Thus, automatic facial expression recognition systems (FER) do not consider the cultural differences of facial expressions [8] . Therefore, in order to develop more realistic HCI systems, the differences of facial expressions among cultures have to be taken into account by FER systems. Furthermore, a deep analysis of recognition and representation of those differences is needed. Some of the practical applications of the results of this analysis include the development of highly accurate human-robot interaction systems for social robots and that of culturally specific avatars.

In spite of the psychological findings on the cultural specificity of facial expressions, from the viewpoint of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) the cultural universality of basic expressions is taken for granted.

Thus, automatic facial expression recognition systems (FER) do not consider the cultural differences of facial expressions.


TeV produced a perfect fluid that is initially closer to the ideal hydrodynamic limit, a theoretical scenario in which the viscosity is zero. This result has been confirmed by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, where Pb−Pb collisions at √ s NN = 2.76 TeV have been achieved [8] . ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the only experiment at the LHC designed for this purpose [9] . It has collected data which correspond to an integrated luminosity of ≈10µb −1 and ≈0.1nb −1 during the successful runs of 2010 and 2011, respectively. For the hot nuclear matter effects to be studied, analyses of pp and p-Pb data were also performed. Unexpectedly, these data revealed intriguing effects which are not well understood. In this paper, a review of selected results of ALICE will be presented, this comprises several measurements in different colliding systems, pp, p-Pb and Pb−Pb.

This result has been confirmed by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, where Pb−Pb collisions at √ s NN = 2.76 TeV have been achieved.

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the only experiment at the LHC designed for this purpose.


The first example is a low-pass leapfrog filter [14] . The circuit component values are: R 1 = R 2 = R 3 = R 4 = R 5 = R 6 = R 7 = R 8 = R 9 = R 10 = R 11 = 10k ; C 1 = C 4 = 10nF; C 2 = C 3 = 20nF. The op-amps are assumed to be fault free, in this example. The tolerance is assumed to be 10% around the nominal value of the resistors and the capacitors. In the circuit performance metric space, the 3dB bandwidth of the filter is chosen as the specification of interest. The circuit is fault-free if the cut-off frequency lies within 1.4 kHz 50Hz.

The first example is a low-pass leapfrog filter.


The effects of time preferences on career consequences have been widely examined as the investments in one's career involves a trade-off between immediate costs and later rewards. Notably, the exit rate from unemployment status is affected by the degree of patience, which varies by the assumptions of exponential and hyperbolic discounting (DellaVigna and Paserman, 2005; Paserman, 2008) . Impatient agents with exponential time preferences tend to lower the reservation wage, and this may increase the exit rate from unemployment. Hyperbolic agents, in contrast, are likely to defer job search activities and may not lower the level of reservation wages when they finally search for a job, leading to a longer duration of unemployment. Job-to-job transitions involving internal job promotions and external job mobility are also explained by individual time preferences, although it is yet to be established how exponential and/or hyperbolic discounting affects job mobility (Drago, 2006; van Huizen, 2010) .

Notably, the exit rate from unemployment status is affected by the degree of patience, which varies by the assumptions of exponential and hyperbolic discounting.

Job-to-job transitions involving internal job promotions and external job mobility are also explained by individual time preferences, although it is yet to be established how exponential and/or hyperbolic discounting affects job mobility.


Improvements in the physical properties of the neuromuscular system and in muscle coordination (i.e., activation amplitude and timing) will increase jumping performance. However, it is difficult to quantify how much each neuromuscular parameter (e.g., maximum isometric muscle force, maximum shortening velocity, and maximum muscle activation) contributes to increasing jumping performance. Typically, several neuromuscular parameters change simultaneously throughout a training program (Komi, 1986; Moritani & De Vries, 1979) . Therefore, it is difficult if not impossible to isolate the effect of a single neuromuscular parameter on jumping performance in an experimental setting.

Typically, several neuromuscular parameters change simultaneously throughout a training program.


In several sports (e.g., volleyball), jumping ability is extremely important. Therefore, athletes make substantial efforts to improve their jumping performance. In principal there are two ways to accomplish this: (a) by altering the physical properties of the neuromuscular system, or (b) by optimizing the muscle coordination. Physical strength can be increased primarily by training specific neuromuscular strength characteristics, while muscle coordination can be improved primarily by practicing jumping movements (Bobbert & van Ingen Schenau, 1988) .

Physical strength can be increased primarily by training specific neuromuscular strength characteristics, while muscle coordination can be improved primarily by practicing jumping movements.


Agriculture is a complex phenomenon and exerts both favorable and unfavorable consequences on environment (Ghandi, 2000) . In Pakistan, agriculture is the mainstay of national economy. The sector receives second priority after defense. Its share in GDP is about 24%. It contributes 35 % to the export earnings and employs 51 % of total labor force and play vital role in uplifting the life of 70% of rural population. Besides, major crops of Pakistan, vegetables are grown widely sufficient quantities of some vegetables such as chili, tomato etc. are exported to various countries. In Pakistan, share of vegetable export is about 0.22% (Government of Pakistan 2008-09).

Agriculture is a complex phenomenon and exerts both favorable and unfavorable consequences on environment.

Its share in GDP is about 24%.


Another channel through which a fiscal consolidation may exert expansionary effects is the so-called expectations channel (Blanchard, 1990; Bertola and Drazen, 1993; Sutherland, 1997; Ardagna, 2004) . The intuition goes as follows: If the fiscal position is initially perceived to be unsustainable, then consumers expect a consolidation to occur in the future and build up a stock of savings that can be used to compensate the expected decline in disposable income associated with the consolidation. When the consolidation finally occurs, households respond with an increase in consumption, resulting in higher aggregate demand. If this channel is active, then any contractionary effects induced by the consolidation are counteracted and, if the channel is strong enough, the increase in aggregate demand may translate into expansionary effects at the macroeconomic level.

Another channel through which a fiscal consolidation may exert expansionary effects is the so-called expectations channel.


The size of the ploughing region where the material elastically deforms and recovers to its original position after the tool pass cannot be neglected in micro milling. Consequently, it induces high friction and stress between the cutting tool and the materials which in turn makes the cutting edge the most loaded portion of micro endmills [11] . Therefore the unpredictable tool life and premature failure of micro endmills were recognised as the major barrier in micro milling [12] . Unlike in the conventional machining, wear mechanism in micro milling is diverse and complex. Additionally, tool wear measurement is challenging due to miniaturised size of endmills in micro milling. A literature survey shows that the current state-ofthe-art lacks a generic tool wear criterion and assessment methods in micro milling. Some attempts in investigating tool wear mechanisms in micro milling of engineering materials are summarised below.

Consequently, it induces high friction and stress between the cutting tool and the materials which in turn makes the cutting edge the most loaded portion of micro endmills.

Therefore the unpredictable tool life and premature failure of micro endmills were recognised as the major barrier in micro milling.


The demand for miniaturised components with complex features in micro scale has rapidly increased in many applications such as bioengineering, aerospace, medical and electronics in the last decade. Recently, a number of micro manufacturing technologies such as micro milling, micro electrical discharge machining, and micro laser machining have emerged to satisfy such demands. Micro milling is recognised as one of the most versatile micro manufacturing processes with high accuracy and machining capability of a wide range of engineering materials and hence has received considerable attention in the last decade [1] . In order to produce micro features, micro endmills ranging from 50-1000µm are typically used [1] . Although micro milling is kinematically similar to its conventional counterpart, a number of issues including size effect and minimum chip thickness arisen from the fact that uncut chip thickness is comparable with the cutting edge radius in micro milling [1] . These issues make the material removal mechanism in micro milling different from that in conventional milling. These down size related problems encountered with micro milling also limit its industrial applications.

Micro milling is recognised as one of the most versatile micro manufacturing processes with high accuracy and machining capability of a wide range of engineering materials and hence has received considerable attention in the last decade.

In order to produce micro features, micro endmills ranging from 50-1000µm are typically used.

Although micro milling is kinematically similar to its conventional counterpart, a number of issues including size effect and minimum chip thickness arisen from the fact that uncut chip thickness is comparable with the cutting edge radius in micro milling.


A central problem in the study of statistical properties of one-dimensional piecewise expanding maps is the identification of a natural invariant measure. A standard procedure, which applies to maps with the Markov property, is to establish a correspondence between the iterations of such maps and shifts on semi-infinite sequences of spin variables. This way the study of the invariant state of the map reduces to that of the corresponding lattice gas. One subsequently constructs a time translation invariant state by extending the semi-infinite spin system to one which is infinite in both directions [4] . As far as the one-dimensional (noninvertible) map is concerned, one might interpret this procedure as restoring the symmetry under time reversal. In instances where this procedure can be explicitly carried out at the level of the map, one obtains a new time-reversal symmetric triangular map on the unit square, which reduces to the original one-dimensional map after projecting along the appropriate dimension.

One subsequently constructs a time translation invariant state by extending the semi-infinite spin system to one which is infinite in both directions.


In particular, the approach relying on conformal mapping techniques is quite elegant and has led to some successful results, both at optical and microwave frequencies [3] - [5] . The main advantage of such cloaking devices is that they are mostly object independent [6] . This is because the approach results eventually in a rerouting of the electromagnetic radiation around the obstacle, effectively reducing the scattering outside the cloaked object. Some issues related to this approach concern the operative bandwidth, the losses, and the complex design of the covers, based on inhomogeneous and anisotropic materials. Such drawbacks limit the valuable cloaking effect to a narrow range of frequencies and to a given polarization.

In particular, the approach relying on conformal mapping techniques is quite elegant and has led to some successful results, both at optical and microwave frequencies.

The main advantage of such cloaking devices is that they are mostly object independent.


An opinion lexicon is considered the most crucial resource for the majority of OM algorithms [5] . It is composed by a list of opinion words and their respective sentiment value (positive, negative, neutral or a sentiment score). The presence of opinion words in text permits discerning a sentiment orientation. For example, the sentence "the computer is good" can be easily classified as positive if the opinion lexicon contains the word "good" as positive. The utilization of lexicons allows the usage of an easy unsupervised classification of text, thus avoiding the often laborious task of manually labeling training data.

An opinion lexicon is considered the most crucial resource for the majority of OM algorithms.


In our study, high-risk sexual exposure was the most frequently reported risk factor for AHB and it was significantly associated with infection by non-D genotypes. An association between infection with non-D genotypes (particularly genotype A) and high-risk sexual exposure was also observed in previous Italian studies [17, 18] . The increasing in prevalence of genotype A over time among AHB patients and its association with high-risk sexual exposure have been well documented by several studies in Japan, where genotype C traditionally predominated [25] [26] [27] . The association between genotype A and highrisk sexual exposure has also been reported in studies conducted in some Northern European countries, where genotype A has always been the most prevalent [28, 29] . The above reported change in the molecular epidemiology pattern of AHB over time, well documented in Italy and Japan, has been mainly attributed to the immigration phenomenon [17, 18, 25, 26] . It has been postulated that genotype A was firstly transmitted from infected immigrants to susceptible natives by sexual contact, and then it also spread among the native population, remaining, however, mainly confined to people with at risk sexual behavior [17, 25, 26] .

An association between infection with non-D genotypes (particularly genotype A) and high-risk sexual exposure was also observed in previous Italian studies.

The increasing in prevalence of genotype A over time among AHB patients and its association with high-risk sexual exposure have been well documented by several studies in Japan, where genotype C traditionally predominated.

The association between genotype A and highrisk sexual exposure has also been reported in studies conducted in some Northern European countries, where genotype A has always been the most prevalent.

The above reported change in the molecular epidemiology pattern of AHB over time, well documented in Italy and Japan, has been mainly attributed to the immigration phenomenon.

It has been postulated that genotype A was firstly transmitted from infected immigrants to susceptible natives by sexual contact, and then it also spread among the native population, remaining, however, mainly confined to people with at risk sexual behavior.


We will assume L so large that all correlations in the process x can be 'explained' by the mixing process, and the source signal vectors are assumed temporally independent: p({s t }) = N t=1 p(s t ). This is motivated by the observation that source signal auto-correlations can not be identified without additional a priori information [1] . This is most apparent in the frequency domain A ω s ω . A nonzero 'filter' h(ω) can be multiplied on a given source if 1/h(ω) is applied to the corresponding column of the set of Fourier transformed mixing matrices A ω .

This is motivated by the observation that source signal auto-correlations can not be identified without additional a priori information.


It is also possible that reporting of certain health behaviors differed by racial group and that some data collection instruments were not ideal for all participants. For example, research has shown that African Americans underreport tobacco use more frequently compared to Whites [58] . Furthermore, some studies used food frequency questionnaires or diet histories that were not modified for local diet and did not incorporate racial differences in dietary habits. Both potential limitations could lead to measurement error, which may be particularly problematic for those studies that relied solely upon selfreported data.

For example, research has shown that African Americans underreport tobacco use more frequently compared to Whites.


The model of action phases can be used to integrate present results with existing research on depression and perceptions of causality for daily events. In the model, the feasibility of wish is part of the predecisional phase, and "A wish's feasibility is determined by reflecting on the chances that it can be realized..." (Gollwitzer, 1996, p. 289) . The perceived ability to control outcomes can be considered a measure of such chances, and considerable research suggests that depressed people perceive less control over their environments than the nondepressed (Weary & Gannon, 1996) . Assuming this, depression effects in the care and fulfillment of plans may reflect depression effects in the predecisional phase.

The perceived ability to control outcomes can be considered a measure of such chances, and considerable research suggests that depressed people perceive less control over their environments than the nondepressed.


Alternatively, this stronger covariation may have been due to the nature of the sample. For young adults, the social aspects of their lives may be relatively more important than achievement domains, whereas for more mature people, differences between importance of the two domains may be smaller, or even reversed. Furthermore, it is possible that the relative strength of the covariation between adjustment and the fulfillment of different types of plans may have varied as a function of people's strivings (Emmons, 1991) . For example, adjustment and achievement plans may have covaried more strongly for people with achievement-focused strivings than for people with interpersonally-focused strivings. Examining such possibilities requires further research.

Furthermore, it is possible that the relative strength of the covariation between adjustment and the fulfillment of different types of plans may have varied as a function of people's strivings.


One of the more comprehensive model of the relationships among plans, goals, and behavior is the model of action phases (Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987; Gollwitzer, 1990) . Differences between depressed and nondepressed individuals in the carefulness and fulfillment of plans may be understood in terms of depression effects at any of the model's four stages. At the predecisional phase, depressed people may believe that they are less likely to succeed than the nondepressed. At the preactional phase, they may feel less confident about their understanding of how and why things happen. At the actional phase, they may persist less. Finally, at the postactional phase, they may evaluate their accomplishments less positively than the nondepressed.

One of the more comprehensive model of the relationships among plans, goals, and behavior is the model of action phases.


Our independence-related questions may be biased by the patients' opinions of their own abilities, behaviors, and/or knowledge. They may over or underestimate their willingness and tendency to perform independently. We recognize that our independence questions only assess self-reported independence in accessing the health system. Further study is needed to determine if these variables actually correlate with increased autonomy and successful transition. A similar study demonstrated that adolescents' attitude toward transition and their level of self-efficacy in managing day-to-day care and hospital visits were strongly associated with selfreported transition readiness [19] .

A similar study demonstrated that adolescents' attitude toward transition and their level of self-efficacy in managing day-to-day care and hospital visits were strongly associated with selfreported transition readiness.


We compare UCT, Nested Search and traditional GP. We provide our code online [8] . We use the version of ECJ from GPBenchmarks.org [7] . We instantiate Ephemeral Random Constants when adding them to a stack. We use four benchmarks from gpbenchmarks.org, given in Table 1 .

We provide our code online.

We use the version of ECJ from GPBenchmarks.org.


Besides the relationship between human intuition and Gaussian assumption, there are also other reasons that make this assumption appealing, like the Central Limit Theorem, which states that the mean of n independent identically distributed random variables, with finite mean and variance, is to the limit n → ∞ Gaussian (Hogg et al., 2004) . Another example is related to the statistical properties of this distribution. These give us the possibility to investigate complex statistical relationships by relatively simple mathematical means, like for example independence relationships considering only moments up to the second order (Bishop, 2009) .

Besides the relationship between human intuition and Gaussian assumption, there are also other reasons that make this assumption appealing, like the Central Limit Theorem, which states that the mean of n independent identically distributed random variables, with finite mean and variance, is to the limit n → ∞ Gaussian.

These give us the possibility to investigate complex statistical relationships by relatively simple mathematical means, like for example independence relationships considering only moments up to the second order.


Even though the intuition of elegant change is correct in many cases it is by far not always correct. It has nevertheless led to the development of a myriad of methods spanning the entire signal-processing and analysis spectrum that are optimal only when this intuition is correct, or equivalently under the Gaussian assumption. These methods are in general characterized as elegant from a mathematical point of view and intuitive, which has contributed strongly to making them ubiquitous, the principal components analysis (PCA) constituting only one of a large number of possible examples and the linear discriminate analysis (LDA) yet another (Gopinath, 1998) .

These methods are in general characterized as elegant from a mathematical point of view and intuitive, which has contributed strongly to making them ubiquitous, the principal components analysis (PCA) constituting only one of a large number of possible examples and the linear discriminate analysis (LDA) yet another.


In a previous study, the degradation performances of Mg2Ag and Mg10Gd alloys in in vitro and in vivo conditions were compared to pure Mg (99.99%) [19] . Within this 3 months' short-term in vivo study, Mg2Ag showed a slow and homogeneous degradation while Mg10Gd disintegrated completely. However, the influence of the degrading materials on the bone morphology and the long-term bone reactions has not been investigated yet.

In a previous study, the degradation performances of Mg2Ag and Mg10Gd alloys in in vitro and in vivo conditions were compared to pure Mg (99.99%).