In the biplot analysis shown in Fig. 4 , the cosine of the angle between a vector and an axis indicates the contribution of that variable to the axis dimension. Also, the cosine of the angle between the vectors for two environments approximates their correlation. Therefore, when vectors are perpendicular, the cosine of the angles between them equals zero and the variables are independent. But if the vectors for two variables are at very close angles or at a 180°a ngle, they are highly positively or negatively correlated (Gower 1995; Kroonenberg 1997) . The angles between the vectors for sites and genotypes, and the positions of the vectors, permitted us to identify genotypes positively or negatively correlated with particular environments (Table 7) .

But if the vectors for two variables are at very close angles or at a 180°a ngle, they are highly positively or negatively correlated.


Among the adjusted models, model 2 showed fewer discrepant values, did not violate the initial assumptions, and presented significant coefficients, so it was the most suitable model to describe the responses in these data. The cumulative proportion of quasi-deviance of the two first axes relative to the total quasideviance was high (61·3%) ( Table 5) . However, at least 75% of the total variance could be attributed to the first two PC axes (Ferreira 2008) . This indicates that these components could replace the n original variables without excessive loss of information. These axes measured methodological efficiency, but they could also be used to quantify the G × E interaction.

However, at least 75% of the total variance could be attributed to the first two PC axes.


Intermittent sports (e.g., team sports) are characterized by intermittent bursts of high-intensity exercise and require the execution of complex sport-specific skills and cognitive tasks over a prolonged period of time ("1-2 h), with longer breaks at scheduled intervals (e.g., quarters, half time) as well as unscheduled times (e.g., injury or restarting play after scoring in soccer or rugby). Performance of intermittent sports is dependent upon a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, both of which rely on carbohydrate as an important fuel source [1] . Current guidelines for athletes competing in intermittent sports recommend ingesting carbohydrate at a rate of 30-60 g/h during >1 h of training and competition [1] [2] [3] [4] . However, compared with endurance sports, relatively few studies have tested the impact of carbohydrate supplementation during practice or competition on intermittent sport performance. In addition, the complex nature of intermittent sports makes it difficult to accurately and reliably measure performance and the many methodological differences between studies confound the ability to interpret results. Previous reviews of the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on intermittent sport performance have focused on a single sport or category of intermittent sport or discussed only certain aspects of performance [5] [6] [7] . In this paper we discuss the effect of carbohydrate ingestion on individual performance in intermittent sports, with the specific objectives of reviewing: (1) potential biological mechanisms by which carbohydrate impacts intermittent sport performance; (2) the effect of carbohydrate ingestion on several aspects of intermittent sport performance, including intermittent high-intensity exercise capacity, sprinting, jumping, skill, change of direction speed, and cognition; and (3) what recommendations can be derived for carbohydrate intake before/during exercise in intermittent sports based on the available evidence.

Performance of intermittent sports is dependent upon a combination of anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, both of which rely on carbohydrate as an important fuel source.

Current guidelines for athletes competing in intermittent sports recommend ingesting carbohydrate at a rate of 30-60 g/h during >1 h of training and competition.

Previous reviews of the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on intermittent sport performance have focused on a single sport or category of intermittent sport or discussed only certain aspects of performance.


The electromagnetic spectrum is a critical natural resource that has an extensive impact on modern civilization. The spectral resources have been explored intensively from the traditional radio wave to optical frequency. Nowadays, the frequency spectrum become very limited and crowded [1] . However, the terahertz (THz) band with frequency located between the radio and optical wave has yet to be fully developed [2] . The THz is often described as the last frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum because of the relatively low maturity level of components and systems that can operate in this region [3] . The effective generation of terahertz wave has still been a challenge up until now, compared with the situations in radio and optical frequency, in which compact and steady source with customized output power can be obtained in commercial level [2] . The radiation source in terahertz frequency range of 0.3-10 THz with low cost and compact size is still the principal challenge that needs to be overcome urgently. The terahertz generation based on electronic method can provide compact source with high signal-to-noise ratio. However, the resulted frequency is limited, usually lower than 1.3 THz up until now [4] . As a comparison, terahertz generation through optical method can cover nearly the entire THz gap [5] , [6] . The traditional THz sources based on optical method rely on bulky and expensive solid state laser source. For example, THz pulses with wide spectral profile are generated when a photoconductive (PC) antenna is illuminated by a Ti: sapphire laser [7] . In another method, high power and scalable THz radiation can be obtained when ammonia gas is irradiated by a bulky carbon dioxide infrared [8] . These kinds of THz sources are well adapted to the laboratory environment, but the practical applications require the use of a kind of compact and cost-effective terahertz source. Based on this point, the adoption of a cost-effective all-fiber laser pump source for terahertz generation is considered as a true milestone [9] .

Nowadays, the frequency spectrum become very limited and crowded.

However, the terahertz (THz) band with frequency located between the radio and optical wave has yet to be fully developed.

The THz is often described as the last frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum because of the relatively low maturity level of components and systems that can operate in this region.

The effective generation of terahertz wave has still been a challenge up until now, compared with the situations in radio and optical frequency, in which compact and steady source with customized output power can be obtained in commercial level.

However, the resulted frequency is limited, usually lower than 1.3 THz up until now.

As a comparison, terahertz generation through optical method can cover nearly the entire THz gap.

For example, THz pulses with wide spectral profile are generated when a photoconductive (PC) antenna is illuminated by a Ti: sapphire laser.

In another method, high power and scalable THz radiation can be obtained when ammonia gas is irradiated by a bulky carbon dioxide infrared.

Based on this point, the adoption of a cost-effective all-fiber laser pump source for terahertz generation is considered as a true milestone.


Among a variety of optical method, optical difference frequency generation is a promising technique for the realization of widely tunable, narrow-bandwidth terahertz radiation [10] - [15] . The difference frequency process is happened via a nonlinear crystal illuminated by a dualwavelength laser or simply two light beams from two lasers. For example, a GaSe crystal is illuminated by pump lights from two fiber lasers simultaneously Q switched via a single piezo to generate terahertz wave with a linewidth about 35 MHz [11] . In another scheme, a terahertz wave with the linewidth less than 100 kHz is generated based on difference frequency generation with a nonlinear crystal located inside a free-space optical enhancement cavity of verticalexternal-cavity source-emitting lasers [14] . The terahertz range is limited by the gain bandwidth of the gain medium of pump laser via this method. Thus, light source with ultra-wide wavelength tunable range is significative for the wide band tunable terahertz generation with the method of difference frequency generation. Fiber optical parametric amplification (FOPA) has demonstrated ultra-broad gain bandwidth and high gain [16] . The four wave mixing (FWM) process in optical fibers, can produce phase-conjugated signal and idler photons which is correlated in quantum sense [17] . The generated signal and idler photons pair in this process satisfy high coherence and can be used for the perfect seed source for the difference frequency generation. We have investigated the fiber optical parametric amplification and oscillators intensively which demonstrate that it is convenient to obtain phase-conjugated signal and idler light pair with flexible wavelength separation [18] - [21] . In this paper, we propose a terahertz source from the difference frequency generation pumped by an all-fiber parametric light sources based on FOPA.

Among a variety of optical method, optical difference frequency generation is a promising technique for the realization of widely tunable, narrow-bandwidth terahertz radiation.

For example, a GaSe crystal is illuminated by pump lights from two fiber lasers simultaneously Q switched via a single piezo to generate terahertz wave with a linewidth about 35 MHz.

In another scheme, a terahertz wave with the linewidth less than 100 kHz is generated based on difference frequency generation with a nonlinear crystal located inside a free-space optical enhancement cavity of verticalexternal-cavity source-emitting lasers.

Fiber optical parametric amplification (FOPA) has demonstrated ultra-broad gain bandwidth and high gain.

The four wave mixing (FWM) process in optical fibers, can produce phase-conjugated signal and idler photons which is correlated in quantum sense.

We have investigated the fiber optical parametric amplification and oscillators intensively which demonstrate that it is convenient to obtain phase-conjugated signal and idler light pair with flexible wavelength separation.


The next step is that the signal and idler pulse train are separated into two branches via WDM6. The signal and idler are amplified in respective branch and the idler is delayed for synchronization. The signal is amplified to be 16 dBm, while the idler is amplified to be 5 dBm. Then the two branches are combined again via WDM7 and amplified by a high power EDFA. Due to the sufficient input power for the signal, the signal light is amplified by the high power EDFA primarily. The light guided inside the optical fiber is converted into a collimated beam in free space via a collimator. The high power signal and idler are incident on an organic crystal, 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4′-N′-methyl-stilbazolium 2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfonate (DSTMS) from Rainbow Photonics and stimulate the difference frequency process. The pump beam transmits through the DSTMS crystal and simultaneously, the newly generated terahertz wave propagates in the same direction, but with larger angle of divergence. A parabolic mirror with a through hole is placed after DSTMS. The residual pump transmits through the hole and is collected by a beam trap. The reflected terahertz wave is focused by the second parabolic mirror and detected by a Golay cell. Here, a Golay cell with black high density polyethylene (HDPE) filter placed directly behind the terahertz generator (DSTMS) is used for detecting the terahertz. The HDPE plate allows terahertz wave to transmit with low loss and blocks any light beam [23] .

The HDPE plate allows terahertz wave to transmit with low loss and blocks any light beam.


Cloud computing has been revolutionising the IT industry by adding flexibility to the way IT is consumed, enabling organisations to pay only for the resources and services they use. In an effort to reduce IT capital and operational expenditures, organisations of all sizes are using Clouds to provide the resources required to run their applications. Clouds vary significantly in their specific technologies and implementation, but often provide infrastructure, platform, and software resources as services [8, 9] .

Clouds vary significantly in their specific technologies and implementation, but often provide infrastructure, platform, and software resources as services.


Society is becoming increasingly more instrumented and as a result, organisations are producing and storing vast amounts of data. Managing and gaining insights from the produced data is a challenge and key to competitive advantage. Analytics solutions that mine structured and unstructured data are important as they can help organisations gain insights not only from their privately acquired data, but also from large amounts of data publicly available on the Web [1] . The ability to cross-relate private information on consumer preferences and products with information from tweets, blogs, product evaluations, and data from social networks opens a wide range of possibilities for organisations to understand the needs of their customers, predict their wants and demands, and optimise the use of resources. This paradigm is being popularly termed as Big Data.

Analytics solutions that mine structured and unstructured data are important as they can help organisations gain insights not only from their privately acquired data, but also from large amounts of data publicly available on the Web.


In addition to the aforementioned methods, borehole hydraulic mining technology may also be used for extracting underground oil shale and is ideally used for extracting deep and low-grade oil shale deposits [9] [10] [11] [12] . Figure 1 shows the oil shale mining and comprehensive utilization methods. The nozzle is an important executive component in borehole hydraulic mining of oil shale as its jet hydraulic characteristics can directly influence the mining effect. The mining parameters also play crucial roles in the mining process. This study aims to determine the optimal structure of straight cone nozzles and the optimal parameters for borehole hydraulic mining of Huadian oil shale in China.

In addition to the aforementioned methods, borehole hydraulic mining technology may also be used for extracting underground oil shale and is ideally used for extracting deep and low-grade oil shale deposits.


In contrast, polymorphism at one locus, LDH5*, showed significant differentiation between these two major river drainages. Highly significant differences in allele distribution between Rhenanian and Danubian populations of brown trout were observed in most of the 28 possible pairwise comparisons of brooks (P <0.01). This is a difference from intradrainage comparisons of allele frequencies which revealed merely three instances of significant differentiation (P <0.05) between two populations (out of 26 possible comparisons), involving the population pairs KR x BR, SB x E2 and SB X TB. In this context, it is interesting to note that tiny Schorrenbach (SB) harbours the smallest of our Danubian study populations for which a reduced level of heterozygosity has been demonstrated. It is plausible to infer that genetic drift has affected the LDH-5 *105 polymorphism. Trout from Krummenbach (KR) represent one of the most abundant unstocked populations which argues against stochastic influences on a biallelic system with frequencies as we found in LDH5*. Krummenbach is a tributary of Wutach river, a contemporary affluent of the Rhine, although it formed part of the Danubian system during the Pleistocene (Hantke, 1993) . Thus, it is tempting to infer affinity of Krummenbach trout with Danubian stock.

Trout from Krummenbach (KR) represent one of the most abundant unstocked populations which argues against stochastic influences on a biallelic system with frequencies as we found in LDH5*. Krummenbach is a tributary of Wutach river, a contemporary affluent of the Rhine, although it formed part of the Danubian system during the Pleistocene.


When only two constituents are present in the porous composite and these constituents t perfectly to ll the volume, exact formulas are now known for all the moduli in terms of the e ective bulk modulus of the porous frame (Berryman and Milton, 1991) . All three approximations found in the present paper agree in form with these exact results, but they may nevertheless produce di ering values because the estimates of the frame bulk modulus K generally di er in the various approximations. The ATA and CPA are also more versatile than the exact formulas since they provide approximate formulas for problems with two or more types of spherically shaped constituents, whereas the exact results are valid only for composites having two constituents of arbitrary shape.

When only two constituents are present in the porous composite and these constituents t perfectly to ll the volume, exact formulas are now known for all the moduli in terms of the e ective bulk modulus of the porous frame.


Next, standard text preprocessing steps are conducted such as stemming and stopwords removal. We consider words and bi-grams extracted from the changes in the collection as a selected pool of features. Each such a term is scored depending on its distribution in the dynamic parts of collection during interval T. The term scoring method assumes that popular concepts are found in the same type of changes in high number of web page versions which are in close proximity to each other. Therefore terms appearing in changed parts of many documents will have higher scores assigned than the ones that are found in changed sections of only a few web pages (Equation 2). Moreover, a term that appears frequently inside the changes of many versions of a single web page should also have its score increased. However, in the concept of the "popularity", document frequency of the term is more important than its term frequency therefore the equation part concerning document frequency has an exponential character. Document frequency DF is the number of document versions that contain given term. Term frequency j TF is the frequency of the term inside the dynamic part of a single document version j. In Equation 2 term frequency is divided by the number of all terms inside each change, that is the size of a change j S , and averaged over all web page samples N*n where N is the number of different web documents and n the number of versions of each web page. In general, the basic scoring scheme is similar to the well-known TFIDF weighting [13] . As it has been mentioned before there are two possible types of changes: the deleted and the inserted change. Intuitively, deletions should be considered as a kind of out-dated content, which is no longer important and thus can be replaced by a new text. However if many web documents have deleted similar content in the same time then one may expect that some important event, expressed by this content, has been completed. In this case terms occurring in such deletions should have high value of importance assigned. On the other hand terms which are found in many proximate insertions will also have high scores. Finally the overall score of a term will be a combination of both partial scores calculated over deleted and inserted textual contents.

In general, the basic scoring scheme is similar to the well-known TFIDF weighting.


The current account is an important barometer to both policymakers and investors as it represents an indicator of a country's economic performance. Temporary current account deficits present fewer problems as the imbalances represent the natural outcome of reallocating capital to the country that the factor of production tends to receive the highest possible returns (Hakkio, 1995) . However, large and persistent current account deficits tend to pose more difficult problems on the economy and necessitate a policy response.

Temporary current account deficits present fewer problems as the imbalances represent the natural outcome of reallocating capital to the country that the factor of production tends to receive the highest possible returns.


These types of neoplasms are categorized as combined neoplasms of the pancreas in the General Rules for the Study of Pancreatic Cancer in Japan [7] . These tumors have been described by the terms "mixed duct-acinar tumors," "duct-islet tumors," "acinar-islet tumors," and "duct-acinar-islet cell tumors," based on their components. Among them, to the best of our knowledge, only four cases including our case are compatible with MANEC [9] [10] [11] .

These types of neoplasms are categorized as combined neoplasms of the pancreas in the General Rules for the Study of Pancreatic Cancer in Japan.

Among them, to the best of our knowledge, only four cases including our case are compatible with MANEC.


Lung cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer worldwide [1] . Metastatic dissemination of lung cancer occurs in 56% of cases at presentation commonly to contra-lateral lung, liver, bone, adrenals, brain, lymph nodes [2, 3] . We report a unique presentation of a lady with NSCLC with metachronous breast metastasis and cardiac tamponade emphasizing importance of IHC in differentiation of breast primary and breast metastasis.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer worldwide.

Metastatic dissemination of lung cancer occurs in 56% of cases at presentation commonly to contra-lateral lung, liver, bone, adrenals, brain, lymph nodes.


The model described in this paper is designed to form an input to higher-level models of rail wear and fatigue. Wear through loss of material which has undergone ratcheting to the point at which its ductility is exhausted is being investigated by Kapoor and Franklin [2] . The work of Kapoor and Franklin is distinguished from previous ratcheting wear modelling by the inclusion of material property variation on the micron scale. Investigation of crack initiation through ductility exhaustion is also taking place using an image analysis technique to identify cracks (i.e. contiguous regions of exhausted material) in a graphical representation of a deformed material [3] .

Wear through loss of material which has undergone ratcheting to the point at which its ductility is exhausted is being investigated by Kapoor and Franklin.

Investigation of crack initiation through ductility exhaustion is also taking place using an image analysis technique to identify cracks (i.e. contiguous regions of exhausted material) in a graphical representation of a deformed material.


Recently, we also modeled the optical properties of tensile strained Ge structures using a multi-valley effective mass approach in conjunction with full band structure tight binding calculations [15] , [16] . The theoretical predictions were tested against photoluminescence data and a very good agreement was obtained. This allows us to use the optical modeling in a predictive way. After these promising preliminary works, we have conceived a fully integrated laser based on a linear Fabry-Perot cavity formed by tensile strained, highly n-type doped Ge microstrips manufactured by a standard CMOS process [17] .

Recently, we also modeled the optical properties of tensile strained Ge structures using a multi-valley effective mass approach in conjunction with full band structure tight binding calculations.

After these promising preliminary works, we have conceived a fully integrated laser based on a linear Fabry-Perot cavity formed by tensile strained, highly n-type doped Ge microstrips manufactured by a standard CMOS process.


Building on this, wireless sensors networks (WSNs) open the possibility of collecting different information about the environment and offer a constant monitoring adapted to a specific application. WSNs are composed by a high number of autonomous nodes located inside the area of interest [1] . Each node is responsible to collect the sensed information and to transmit it to a sink node or base station [2, 3] . Nodes in the network have to cooperate in order to efficiently gather the relevant information at the end point of the system. Typically, these nodes have a small size and their power supply comes from a small battery. Therefore, when a node drains its battery, it will no longer operate causing system degeneration in terms of information losses, reduced coverage area, and disconnection among nodes. As such, it is of paramount importance to have efficient energy consumption throughout the operation of the system. Clustering has been proposed in order to reduce such energy consumption, for example, the LEACH protocol [4, 5] .

WSNs are composed by a high number of autonomous nodes located inside the area of interest.

Each node is responsible to collect the sensed information and to transmit it to a sink node or base station.

Clustering has been proposed in order to reduce such energy consumption, for example, the LEACH protocol.


In wheelchair sports, athlete and wheelchair could be considered as one functional unit allowing overall performance improvement by athlete training, wheelchair optimization and perfecting the interaction [2] . The ability to perform a sprint as fast as possible is an important factor in most court sports, since it determines the opportunity to take initiative in the next action. But by optimizing for sprint capacity, there often is a trade-off with other performance aspects, such as upward reach or stability. Therefore athletes and wheelchair experts often optimize wheelchair configuration based on athlete capacity in conjunction with specific roles in the team play. Since it is difficult to weigh those demands and their interaction, more insight in the relationship between athlete/wheelchair characteristics to sprint performance could underpin choices in wheelchair adjustment or athlete training.

In wheelchair sports, athlete and wheelchair could be considered as one functional unit allowing overall performance improvement by athlete training, wheelchair optimization and perfecting the interaction.


In Botswana, bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdic) is grown mainly for seeds by small-holder farmers. They are eaten fresh when semi-ripe and pulse when dry and mature. Though the crop is drought tolerant, its performance is low mainly due to poor germination and seedling establishment. Bambara groundnut is often grown as a secondary crop and is planted late after food crops such as maize and other crops have been sown (Linnemann, 1990) . The period during which the crop is produced is often associated with low moisture content. This may be a major contributory factor to the variability in seedling establishment.

Bambara groundnut is often grown as a secondary crop and is planted late after food crops such as maize and other crops have been sown.


The clinical application of ESD, including its application in the treatment of SETs that originate from the muscularis propria layer, has increased in recent years [11] [12] [13] . However, this technique is still in an experimental phase, and no studies have addressed its safety, long-term outcomes, or appropriate indications. Most studies to date on the endoscopic resection of SETs have been conducted on a small scale and have been concerned only with technical feasibility. However, a few recent studies have investigated the factors that are related to complete resection and to complications.

The clinical application of ESD, including its application in the treatment of SETs that originate from the muscularis propria layer, has increased in recent years.


Electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos, and tau neutrinos that can morph into one another. For example, when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere, they create particles called muons that decay much as neutrons do, to produce muon neutrinos [3] . The muon neutrinos can then "oscillate" or "mix" into other flavors before reaching Earth, as observed in 1998 by physicists using a detector SuperKamiokande in Japan. Electron neutrinos from the sun also change flavor, as physicists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada showed in 2001 [4] .

For example, when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere, they create particles called muons that decay much as neutrons do, to produce muon neutrinos.

Electron neutrinos from the sun also change flavor, as physicists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada showed in 2001.


If they are Dirac, the smallness of the neutrino mass scale remains unexplained, for it would be just a product of the smallness of the corresponding Yukawa couplings. In order to provide such an explanation, many models and mechanisms have been proposed: in the so-called see-saw models, the lightness of the neutrino mass scale is a consequence of the heaviness of another scale. For instance, this scale is the lepton-number-violating (LNV) Majorana mass of the extra right-handed neutrinos in type I see-saw [9] . Although some of these proposals do not require right-handed neutrinos, for the sake of generality it is a good idea to consider their possible involvement in the generation of neutrino masses.

For instance, this scale is the lepton-number-violating (LNV) Majorana mass of the extra right-handed neutrinos in type I see-saw.


Over the years, a number of techniques have been developed to improve the dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs, such as inclusion complexation, salt formation, and cogrinding (Anzai et al., 2007; Ki et al., 2007; Barzegar-Jalali et al., 2006) . Among other techniques, solid dispersion (SD) is one of the popular methods to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs (Pouton, 2006) . In SD technique, the particle size of drugs is reduced from crystalline to microcrystalline or molecular state (Wang et al., 2005) . This leads to the enhancement of the solubility.

Over the years, a number of techniques have been developed to improve the dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs, such as inclusion complexation, salt formation, and cogrinding.

Among other techniques, solid dispersion (SD) is one of the popular methods to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs.

In SD technique, the particle size of drugs is reduced from crystalline to microcrystalline or molecular state.


Fexofenadine Hydrochloride, a selective peripheral H 1 receptor antagonist, is a potent antihistamine drug that is indicated for seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria (Vena et al., 2002) . According to British Pharmacopoeia' 2009, it is slightly soluble in water. Its slight solubility makes its absorption, dissolution rate limited and thus delays onset of action. One of the major current challenges of pharmaceutical sciences is to enhancement of the solubility of poorly water soluble drugs.

Fexofenadine Hydrochloride, a selective peripheral H 1 receptor antagonist, is a potent antihistamine drug that is indicated for seasonal allergic rhinitis and chronic idiopathic urticaria.


To prepare SD of drug, there are three major methods as melting method, solvent method and solvent evaporation method. Among these three methods, melting method and solvent method have some drawbacks. Melting method requires high temperature which may result in the decomposition of drug. In solvent method, the issue of difficulty in selection of common volatile solvents arises coupled with chemical instability of drugs (Kim et al., 2006) . In this study, SD was prepared by solvent evaporation method without using any career. After assessing the drug content of the solid dispersion, the products were characterized by Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and in-vitro dissolution study.

In solvent method, the issue of difficulty in selection of common volatile solvents arises coupled with chemical instability of drugs.


The study found that more than 84% of the participants were not well aware of risk factors, symptoms or screening tests for breast cancer, and more than 59% had never taken any screening tests before. This figure is even lower than the one reported in the United States, according to which about 72.6% of women aged 50-74 years have breast cancer mammography screening tests done every two years, though it is still below the target rate [8] . Also, 73% of Caucasian women and 72% of Asian women aged 50-74 years have mammography tests performed on a yearly basis [8] . The results of the present study are consistent with the findings of another study according to which 34% to 65% of Korean women residing in the United States went for breast cancer screening tests [9] [10] [11] [12] .

This figure is even lower than the one reported in the United States, according to which about 72.6% of women aged 50-74 years have breast cancer mammography screening tests done every two years, though it is still below the target rate.

Also, 73% of Caucasian women and 72% of Asian women aged 50-74 years have mammography tests performed on a yearly basis.

The results of the present study are consistent with the findings of another study according to which 34% to 65% of Korean women residing in the United States went for breast cancer screening tests.


In current bibliography, there exist a variety of methods that try to achieve efficient load balancing for such structures. Yet, only two different mechanisms are usually employed: Node Migration (hence MIG) and Neighbor Item Exchange (hence NEIX). These techniques represent two different approaches to handling the problem: MIG utilizes underloaded peers by placing them in overloaded areas of the network (see Figure 2 , where node D is placed between nodes A, B sharing part of their load). NEIX balances load through iterative item exchanges between neighboring nodes (see Figure 1 , where iterative key exchanges between (A,B), (B,C) and (C,D) node pairs produce a balanced load). The majority of proposed approaches utilize a version of these two schemes in order to finally balance load among peers each responsible for a given range of the data [5] [6] [7] . While they both achieve their goal, their effectiveness and cost greatly vary, making a method that utilizes only one of them inefficient for all cases.

The majority of proposed approaches utilize a version of these two schemes in order to finally balance load among peers each responsible for a given range of the data.


Recall that a bornology on a metric space (X, d) is a family B of nonempty subsets of X which is closed under finite unions, hereditary (i.e. closed under taking nonempty subsets) and forms a cover of X [8] , [7] . Throughout the paper we suppose that X does not belong to a bornology B on X. A base for a bornology B on (X, d) is a subfamily B 0 of B which is cofinal in B with respect to the inclusion, i.e. for each B ∈ B there is B 0 ∈ B 0 such that B ⊂ B 0 . A base is called closed (compact ) if all its members are closed (compact) subsets of X.

Recall that a bornology on a metric space (X, d) is a family B of nonempty subsets of X which is closed under finite unions, hereditary (i.e. closed under taking nonempty subsets) and forms a cover of X.


Each robot in the distributed CMDash'07 team uses a world model that maps perceptual data into positioning of all the objects in the domain, namely ball and robots. Robots communicate to improve their assessment of the complete world. Our robots follow an individual and shared world model approach [5] . The individual version contains Gaussian locations of recently seen objects, and therefore smoothes the movement of objects, which removes spurious readings. It also allows objects to continue to be modeled based on previous perceptions and models of one robot's actions, even if they have not been seen for a few frames. The shared world model includes the shared ball and teammate locations communicated between robots on the team. The world model is updated based on the confidence of the information perceived, communicated and its recency [6] . Due to compounded localization and vision errors, teammates do not yet pass position information about the other robots they have seen.

Our robots follow an individual and shared world model approach.

The world model is updated based on the confidence of the information perceived, communicated and its recency.


In the patient group there were also several statistically significant correlations established between various audiological measures. Among other outcomes, it has been found that patients with steeper hearing losses in frequency ranges between 0.5 and 2 kHz found it easier to detect speech (lower SDT scores). This effect of hearing loss configuration on speech perception has already been described by Hornsby and colleagues who argued that patients with ski-sloping sensorineural impairments have better ability to use low-pass filtered speech, when compared to their counterparts with flat hearing loss configurations [21] . Listening experience was indicated as one possible explanation of this effect, with another suggesting an enhancement of cortical representations of low-frequency sounds due to high-frequency cochlear dead regions [33] . Interestingly, the correlations were also found for contralateral outcomes, clearly suggesting that listening to speech is a complex binaural phenomenon. Further large-population investigation is required to elucidate the relationship between slope and speech understanding (word recognition scores) which failed to reach statistical significance in this trial. In addition, in patients with postlingual partial deafness worse speech detection thresholds without aiding were related to a longer duration of hearing loss, as well as a younger age at the onset (first use of hearing aids, as reported by the patient). The authors hypothesize that the effect originates in a prolonged exposure to degraded speech, especially with the old-generation hearing aids, whereas some patients should have been earlier equipped with a cochlear implant. Notably, duration of hearing impairment has been suggested as one possible predictor of auditory performance with a cochlear implant [5, 18] .

This effect of hearing loss configuration on speech perception has already been described by Hornsby and colleagues who argued that patients with ski-sloping sensorineural impairments have better ability to use low-pass filtered speech, when compared to their counterparts with flat hearing loss configurations.

Listening experience was indicated as one possible explanation of this effect, with another suggesting an enhancement of cortical representations of low-frequency sounds due to high-frequency cochlear dead regions.

Notably, duration of hearing impairment has been suggested as one possible predictor of auditory performance with a cochlear implant.


In this paper we have proposed a high-repetition-rate solitontrain source based on self-similar compression in a nonlinear fiber with exponentially decreasing dispersion. We numerically demonstrate the possibility of the generation of a 160 GHz train of ∼100 fs pulses by reshaping a dual-frequency signal into a train of solitary pulses. We also discuss the generation of ultrashort pulse trains at different repetition rates. The proposed pulse train generation scheme requires a nonlinear fiber with an exponentially decreasing second-order dispersion profile. The required exponentially decreasing dispersion fiber might be fabricated by tapering the fiber during the pulling process. The exact fiber diameter variation can be carefully controlled to achieve the desired exponentially decreasing dispersion profile [14] . The exponentially decreasing dispersion profile can also be approximated by using a few pieces of fiber with different constant dispersion [5] . The proposed compression scheme, which is tunable in pulsewidth and repetition rate, also features a compact structure and may find applications in optical communications and modern instrumentation.

The exact fiber diameter variation can be carefully controlled to achieve the desired exponentially decreasing dispersion profile.

The exponentially decreasing dispersion profile can also be approximated by using a few pieces of fiber with different constant dispersion.


The density management diagram (DMD) is a graphical tool for relating stand density, tree size, and stand yield. This represents mean tree volume and stand density. Some of the following relationships have been superimposed in a graph: maximum size-density relationship, imminent competition mortality, crown closure, estimations of diameter and height, and relative density index [27] [28] [29] . The DMDs are used to quickly examine alternative density management regimens and are based upon several ecological and silvicultural concepts [30] .

Some of the following relationships have been superimposed in a graph: maximum size-density relationship, imminent competition mortality, crown closure, estimations of diameter and height, and relative density index.

The DMDs are used to quickly examine alternative density management regimens and are based upon several ecological and silvicultural concepts.


Much of the current debate on education revolves round fundamental differences in the models of learning held by the individuals concerned. Many educationalists argue 223 that a major problem is that at any point in time educational issues tend to be dominated by one particular viewpoint or "frame of reference" so that education becomes monolithic in structure (Joyce, 1972) . Those involved in education often adopt rigidly opposing positions which mitigate against a more constructive and flexible approach.

Many educationalists argue 223 that a major problem is that at any point in time educational issues tend to be dominated by one particular viewpoint or "frame of reference" so that education becomes monolithic in structure.


For optical image processing applications, it is necessary to focus on devices and components that can detect, process, and transmit information with great adaptability and better efficiency [1] . Integration of a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) and a light emitting diode (LED) is an effective method to obtain optoelectronic integrated device that can be used as a pixel sensitive to far or middle infrared radiation with near infrared output [2] . The previous studies focused on fabrication and analysis of the static device performance, however, they did not analyze the transient behavior of the device [3] [4] [5] .

For optical image processing applications, it is necessary to focus on devices and components that can detect, process, and transmit information with great adaptability and better efficiency.

Integration of a quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP) and a light emitting diode (LED) is an effective method to obtain optoelectronic integrated device that can be used as a pixel sensitive to far or middle infrared radiation with near infrared output.

The previous studies focused on fabrication and analysis of the static device performance, however, they did not analyze the transient behavior of the device.


In the last decade, a great deal of work has been focused on the field of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) technology due to their optical properties. An interesting characteristics display by such structure is the selectivity of the electromagnetic field that can propagate along them, in other words the propagation of certain frequency is prohibited [1] . The operational principle of PCF is based on the photonic band gap. Photonic band gap of the fiber depends on the periodic variation of permittivity as a function of position. This periodic variation can occur in one, two or three dimensions and can be manipulated by controlling the magnitude, shape and period of permittivity. Apart from these parameters, photonic band gap of the same fiber also depends on the defect available in the PCF. The photonic band gap of PCF having defect, controls the electric field distribution in the same fiber. As far as the application of PCF is concerned, it is used almost in all fields including ultra low pass transmission sensor, power deliveries and nonlinear optics [2] [3] [4] . Recently, an optical sensor using 2D photonic crystal structure is theoretically designed for measurement of sugar, salt, alcohol and Cygel concentration [5, 6] . In this paper, we have theoretically designed a photonic crystal fiber which is used to measure the concentration of potassium chloride by knowing transmitted intensities. In this case, the principle of concentration measurement is based on linear variation of electric field with concentration. The simulation for electric field distribution is obtained using plane wave expansion method (PWE).

An interesting characteristics display by such structure is the selectivity of the electromagnetic field that can propagate along them, in other words the propagation of certain frequency is prohibited.

As far as the application of PCF is concerned, it is used almost in all fields including ultra low pass transmission sensor, power deliveries and nonlinear optics.

Recently, an optical sensor using 2D photonic crystal structure is theoretically designed for measurement of sugar, salt, alcohol and Cygel concentration.


Headache is a very frequent medical condition and among the top three causes of disability worldwide [1] [2] [3] [4] . Though most headaches are episodic, 2-5 % of the general population experience chronic forms, i.e., headache for ≥15 days per month. Medicationoveruse headache (MOH), i.e., a too-frequent consumption of acute headache medications, develops in approximately 50 % of the patients with chronic headache, although virtually any patient with a primary episodic headache may be at risk of the condition [3-5, 6••, 7] . The estimated world prevalence of MOH is 0.5-7.2 %; women are mainly affected (M/F=1:4) with peak prevalence around 40 years and a decline with age, prevalence reaching 1-1.5 % among people over 65 years. MOH prevalence is also inversely related to socioeconomic position [6••, 8, 9] .

Headache is a very frequent medical condition and among the top three causes of disability worldwide.


With four-point observations one can determine the spatial gradient, assuming a constant gradient (linearity) on the scale of spacecraft separation, the stationarity of the configuration, and a constant uniform relative plasma frame velocity. Local (independent at each spacecraft) variations overlaying the large-scale change in question are neglected. In the magnetotail, plasma sheet observations of the magnetic gradient are usually interpreted in the approximation of a uniform planar current sheet crossing. The sheet's normal direction can then be assigned to the B x gradient direction (assuming that the actual magnetic maximum variance direction most likely is not orthogonal to X). This "magnetic normal" can be computed instantaneously for each set of magnetic field measurements by the four spacecraft. The alternative method is to determine the normal and velocity along the normal, analyzing interspacecraft time delays within the crossing (equivalent to the computation of the "time" gradient dt/dr) (Runov et al., 2005b) . Magnetic gradient normals always point northward, while timing normals are in the direction of motion. Other independent sheet characteristics are the maximum variance direction defining the orientation of the main sheet magnetic component B l , and the electric current direction (computed as ∇×B).

The alternative method is to determine the normal and velocity along the normal, analyzing interspacecraft time delays within the crossing (equivalent to the computation of the "time" gradient dt/dr).


The observed wavy deformation of the plasma sheet has the mesoscale scope in the vertical and azimuthal directions, extending a few Earth radii. Considering the radial direction, this deformation can be alternatively understood as an azimuthally and radially localized dynamic "hump", or as a coherent motion of a "slice" of plasma sheet flux tubes, occupying a significant range of downtail distances. This problem cannot be solved with Cluster spacecraft data only. Double Star TC-1 spacecraft, being about 6 R E closer to Earth, revealed some current sheet motion (seen as B x , B y variations), consistent with the Cluster variations and indicating a possibly significant radial extent of the deformation. However, it is unclear whether the smaller amplitude at the TC-1 position was due to its more distant location from the neutral sheet, or due to a smaller amplitude change closer to Earth. In a number of other observations, comparable amplitude magnetic field variations or simultaneous current sheet crossings were detected by spacecraft 6 and 10, R E apart radially and aligned in local time (Petrukovich et al., 2003; Zhang et al., 2005) . However, for those events, full identification of the deformation mode was not performed.

In a number of other observations, comparable amplitude magnetic field variations or simultaneous current sheet crossings were detected by spacecraft 6 and 10, R E apart radially and aligned in local time.


Moreover, the simultaneous activation of pulsations in the Pc4-5 and Pc2-3 frequency ranges in the magnetosphere is possible (Balasis et al., 2012) . The ground-to-ionosphere amplitude ratio is such a case determined by the dependence of transmission and reflection coefficients on wave frequencies and wavelengths and different combinations of Pc2-3 and Pc4-5 in two locations can be observed. For example, if Pc2-3 amplitudes in the F layer are within several tenths of nT and wavelengths k ≥ 10 −2 km −1 , only Pc2-3 would be recorded by an ionospheric satellite due its high speed, and only Pc4-5 would be seen on the ground surface because of the effective ionospheric attenuation of Pc2-3s. This also means that synchronous recording of a ground Pc5 and an ionospheric Pc2-3 does not necessarily indicate that the ionospheric signal is a Doppler shifted Pc4-5. Thus, further case studies of Pc2-3s recorded simultaneously in several locations are necessary. Also a technique for the automatic detection of coherent pulsations which takes into account the Doppler effect should be developed.

Moreover, the simultaneous activation of pulsations in the Pc4-5 and Pc2-3 frequency ranges in the magnetosphere is possible.


The main morphological features of ground pulsations in the frequency range from 20 mHz to 1 Hz (Pc1-3) were calculated almost fifty years ago (Guglielmi and Troitskaya, 1969) . The most important difference between Pc3s and Pc1s is that Pc3 spectra are controlled mostly by extra-magnetospheric parameters while for Pc1, intramagnetospheric control dominates. A quasi-monochromatic source for both Pc3 and Pc1 is the ion cyclotron instability. The difference in central frequencies results from the different magnitudes of the main magnetic field in the foreshock and in the magnetosphere. Additional maxima in the observed pulsation spectra occur due to Alfven resonances in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. The frequencies of mid-latitude Pc3s correspond to the frequencies of the first harmonics of the magnetospheric Alfven resonator at the corresponding L shells and for Pc1s they coincide with the first harmonics of the ionospheric Alfven resonator (IAR) .

The main morphological features of ground pulsations in the frequency range from 20 mHz to 1 Hz (Pc1-3) were calculated almost fifty years ago.


A lot of teleportation and dense coding schemes, including its applications has been considered by many authors both for discrete and continuous variables. Recently an attempt to classify all schemes has been made by Werner [6] . Generally, this problem is very difficult and the main results have been obtained in the case of so-called tight schemes realized with minimal resources. It has been found a one-to-one correspondence between all tight schemes of teleportation and dense coding. It is worth noting that an EPR pair as a two-particle quantum channel is used in the tight schemes. The obtained result is significant for practice because it tells, that if one can teleport a qubit, then he can perform dense coding using the same experimental arrangement without any additional resources.

Recently an attempt to classify all schemes has been made by Werner.


The present study revealed that high garlic dose administered ip to rats for 1 month induced renal injury. This effect is evidenced by increased lipoperoxidation and carbonylation and depletion of anti-oxidant enzyme activities such as POD and SOD. Kidney toxicity was also reflected by elevated plasma creatinine and urea, high level in renal H2O2 and calcium and a concomitant decrease in free iron. Paradoxically a positive effect of garlic on CAT activity might represent a "pro-oxidative state" in light of the unexpected prooxidant effect of CAT (Heck et al., 2003) . In addition post-translational modifications of anti-oxidant enzymes and the subsequent gain in activity could also be involved (Borchi et al., 2010; Csar et al., 2001) . Organosulfurs, flavonoids and phenolics are the major bioactive compounds of aqueous garlic extract (Shirzad et al., 2011) . The effect of garlic extract on the kidney could likely result from synergism or antagonism between the various bioactive components of the mixture.

Paradoxically a positive effect of garlic on CAT activity might represent a "pro-oxidative state" in light of the unexpected prooxidant effect of CAT.

In addition post-translational modifications of anti-oxidant enzymes and the subsequent gain in activity could also be involved.

Organosulfurs, flavonoids and phenolics are the major bioactive compounds of aqueous garlic extract.


It is well established that elevated intracellular MDA and carbonyl proteins affected the fluidity of the membrane lipid bilayer (Bryszewska et al., 1995) . This increase is correlated to pathological or stress conditions including aging (Rizvi and Maurya, 2007) . Because of the high polyunsaturated fatty acid content of their membrane, renal cells are highly susceptible to oxidative damage. A possible mechanism by which garlic exerts renal toxicity is its ability to increase calcium and H2O2 which in turn decreases free iron. However, calcium has been previously shown to increase iron transport across the hepatocyte plasma membrane by a mechanism dependant on membrane fluidity (Nilsen, 1991) . As in our present case, calcium and H2O2 acted as negative regulators of renal free iron and although the role of calcium channels in free iron uptake by the kidney remains unclear, one can speculate about differential calcium regulation by H2O2 or other ROS via either L-type or T-type calcium channels (Tabet et al., 2004) .

It is well established that elevated intracellular MDA and carbonyl proteins affected the fluidity of the membrane lipid bilayer.

This increase is correlated to pathological or stress conditions including aging.

However, calcium has been previously shown to increase iron transport across the hepatocyte plasma membrane by a mechanism dependant on membrane fluidity.

As in our present case, calcium and H2O2 acted as negative regulators of renal free iron and although the role of calcium channels in free iron uptake by the kidney remains unclear, one can speculate about differential calcium regulation by H2O2 or other ROS via either L-type or T-type calcium channels.


The implementation of the SAS in many countries is mainly driven by three objectives, namely improving the level of voluntary compliance, reducing administrative costs and simplifying the assessment system. The crucial objective of the SAS is to improve voluntary compliance, i.e. compliance with tax requirements in the absence of an enforcement mechanism (Kasipillai and Hanefah, 2000, p. 112) . For example, both Canada and the USA have emphasized voluntary compliance as the most essential part of their tax system since the implementation of SAS (Che Ayub, 1994) .

For example, both Canada and the USA have emphasized voluntary compliance as the most essential part of their tax system since the implementation of SAS.


Double-sided arc welding (DSAW) is a new arc welding process invented and developed at the University of Kentucky [1] [2] [3] . The DSAW system uses two torches on the opposite sides of the workpiece to force the welding current to flow through the thickness of the workpiece disconnected from the power supply ( figure 1(b) ). Through-thickness direction of the welding current and establishment of a keyhole both help enhance the concentration of the arc and the density of the arc energy. The uniqueness of DSAW lies in its strong penetration capability and its symmetric hour-glass-shaped welds. A shipyard's preliminary study indicated that this process has potential use for minimizing distortion while at the same time improving throughput when making butt welds [4] . If shown to be of practical value to the shipbuilding industry, a process could result that would be cheaper to implement and have greater versatility than the laser welding process which is being investigated for ship construction with distortion reduction as a primary goal.

Double-sided arc welding (DSAW) is a new arc welding process invented and developed at the University of Kentucky.

A shipyard's preliminary study indicated that this process has potential use for minimizing distortion while at the same time improving throughput when making butt welds.


Two feature selection models are commonly used: filter and wrapper models [16] . Filter models are used to evaluate feature subsets by calculating a number of defined criteria, while the latter evaluates feature subsets through the assembly of classification models followed by accuracy testing. Filter models are faster but provide lower classification accuracy, while wrapper models tend to be slower but provide high classification accuracy. Advancements in computing speed, however, have largely overcome the disadvantages of wrapper models, which has led to its widespread adoption for feature selection.

Two feature selection models are commonly used: filter and wrapper models.


The above results showed that although soil moisture levels had a distinct effect on the chemical composition of humic acid and humin, the alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratios of the two humic substance fractions were all higher at a high moisture level than at a low soil moisture level. The O-alkyl C was generally considered as an easily bio-decomposable organic component. The greater value of the alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio thereby indicates that soil organic matter was more decomposed (Chavez-Vergara et al. 2014; Panettieri et al. 2014) . In our study, the larger alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio of humic acid and humin at a high moisture level than at a low moisture level can explain their lower carbon contents in the former.

The greater value of the alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio thereby indicates that soil organic matter was more decomposed.


However, among the various functionalizations, the epoxidation of unsaturated -C=C-bond at mild reaction condition is a wonderful synthetic tool for introduction of versatile functionality to the rubber chain. The epoxidation of rubber chain is an excellent synthetic tool to increase the polar character by introduction of oxirane/epoxy ring to the rubber chain. The epoxidation of the rubber and polymer chains can be carried out by both methods: solution and melt-mixing [19, 20] . The epoxidation is carried out to serve dual purpose, to improve the functionality, and also to enhance the polar character of the non-polar rubber and polymer chains. Moreover, a controlled epoxidized rubber would possess both the polar group epoxy ring and nonpolar hydrocarbon chain to interact with polar silica surface and a non-polar rubber chain, respectively. Advantageously, the epoxidized BR can also be co-cured with the main rubber matrix smoothly.

The epoxidation of the rubber and polymer chains can be carried out by both methods: solution and melt-mixing.


The model of interest examined how organizational supports related to life skills as a positive youth development outcome. A mediator model was utilized to test the conceptual framework of this study. Simply stated, a mediator is an influence that accounts for the relation between two variables, a predictor and outcome (Baron & Kenny, 1986; MacKinnon, 2000) . Mediators are considered to be part of the process of "causality" in which a predictor variable influences a mediator and the mediator, in turn, influences the outcome variable. Mediators, similar to third variables, help provide explanation as to how an independent and dependent variable relate. For example, a strong negative relation between a child living in poverty and her school performance can be better explained by the degree to which the child's parents are involved in her schooling. When the mediator, "parents' involvement in schooling," is introduced into the equation and accounted for, the influence of poverty on school performance is reduced to a nonsignificant level.

Simply stated, a mediator is an influence that accounts for the relation between two variables, a predictor and outcome.


The ability of programs to provide safe and secure environments for youth depends upon the involvement and quality of adult staff and volunteers. Supportive relationships happen when young people and adults become engaged together in their communities; they are relationships between youth and adults where there is mutuality in teaching, learning, and action (Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes & Lorens, 2001) . Mutuality is what distinguishes supportive relationships from parent-child, student-teacher, or mentoring relationships (Camino, 2000) . Supportive relationships focus on nurturance; they emphasize youth and their contributions rather than problems. Positive expectations for behavior refer to shared beliefs or expectations in a social group about how people in general or members of the group ought to behave to promote healthy youth behaviors and decrease the chance that youth will engage in risky behaviors (Christensen, Rothgerber, Wood, & Matz, 2004) .

Supportive relationships happen when young people and adults become engaged together in their communities; they are relationships between youth and adults where there is mutuality in teaching, learning, and action.

Mutuality is what distinguishes supportive relationships from parent-child, student-teacher, or mentoring relationships.

Positive expectations for behavior refer to shared beliefs or expectations in a social group about how people in general or members of the group ought to behave to promote healthy youth behaviors and decrease the chance that youth will engage in risky behaviors.


Youth-serving community-based clubs provide one example of long-term positive learning environments for youth in non-formal educational settings. Community-based clubs, facilitated and structured by adult volunteers\youth program staff, are ideal high context learning environments for youth to build life skill competencies and enhance assets at the individual, family, and community levels. For example, fifth through twelfth grade students who participated in community-based clubs for one or more years had higher or increased: educational aspirations; achievement motivation; intentions to help others; self-esteem; levels of interaction and communication with adults; decision-making skills; and ability to make friends (Rodriguez, Hirschl, Mead, & Goggin, 1999) .

For example, fifth through twelfth grade students who participated in community-based clubs for one or more years had higher or increased: educational aspirations; achievement motivation; intentions to help others; self-esteem; levels of interaction and communication with adults; decision-making skills; and ability to make friends.


Reduction to a zero relation (not frequently found in social sciences) when a mediator is introduced indicates total mediation. Reduction in the relation or a nonsignficant relation indicates partial mediation. Understanding intervening variables (mediators) as they explain the relation between an environmental or contextual factor and a youth development outcome, points to where intervention is likely to be most effective (Hansen, 1996) . For example, if parental involvement in a child's school performance explains a negative relation between SES and academic achievement, creating a program that encourages low-income parents to increase their involvement in a child's schooling would be beneficial.

Understanding intervening variables (mediators) as they explain the relation between an environmental or contextual factor and a youth development outcome, points to where intervention is likely to be most effective.


In this paper we focus on one side of the interdependent process of parliamentarisation in the EU's multi-level system: the reactions of national parliaments to the empowerment of the EP. National parliaments are likely to be the drivers of co-evolution. For the EP it is much more difficult to adjust its demands for empowerment to national parliaments: with (by now) 27 member states, the EP will rather rely on generic constitutional arguments such as that majority voting in the Council has to be tied to codecision (Rittberger and Schimmelfennig 2006) . National parliaments, in turn, have only one European level parliament to take into account.

For the EP it is much more difficult to adjust its demands for empowerment to national parliaments: with (by now) 27 member states, the EP will rather rely on generic constitutional arguments such as that majority voting in the Council has to be tied to codecision.


Application of N fertilizers and animal production accounts for about 60% of the global N 2 O emissions from agriculture. Studies showed that emissions from animal waste can be significant [19] [20] [21] . Potential sources of N 2 O emissions from animal production are: animal emissions, emissions from animal waste, waste emissions from closed animals and emissions left on the soil during grazing [22] . Emissions released with the use of manure as a fertilizer (excluding emissions from grazing animals) are considered to be direct N 2 O emissions from agricultural soils [23] . Because of their content and availability of minerals natural fertilizers are an important yielding factor for plants [24] .

Studies showed that emissions from animal waste can be significant.

Potential sources of N 2 O emissions from animal production are: animal emissions, emissions from animal waste, waste emissions from closed animals and emissions left on the soil during grazing.

Emissions released with the use of manure as a fertilizer (excluding emissions from grazing animals) are considered to be direct N 2 O emissions from agricultural soils.

Because of their content and availability of minerals natural fertilizers are an important yielding factor for plants.


As a tropical country the farmers of Bangladesh are cultivating wheat in winter season. But because of their unconsciousness or to adjust other crop in the same field farmers often go for late planting of wheat. In fact, due to variation of sowing date the ambient temperature vary widely which affects the phenology of any crop plant. Temperature is a modifying factor in all stages including germination, tillering, booting, ear emergence, anthesis and maturity since it can influence the rate of water supply and other substrate necessary for growth (Wanjura and Buxtor, 1972) . Under the high temperature, the wheat crop completes its life cycle much faster than under normal temperature 'Bijoy' were used as experimental materials. Performance of these varieties was evaluated under two growing environments; one is normal growing environment (sowing at November 30) and the other is post anthesis heat stressed environment (sowing at 30 December). The temperature data of the experimental site during the study period have been presented in Fig. 1 .

Temperature is a modifying factor in all stages including germination, tillering, booting, ear emergence, anthesis and maturity since it can influence the rate of water supply and other substrate necessary for growth.


High-temperature-induced modifications in plants may be clearly understood from the change in existing physiological processes or from the altering pattern of development. These responses may differ from one phenological stage to another. Vulnerability of species and cultivars to high temperatures may vary with the stage of plant development, but all vegetative and reproductive stages are affected by heat stress to some extent (Wahid et al., 2007) .

Vulnerability of species and cultivars to high temperatures may vary with the stage of plant development, but all vegetative and reproductive stages are affected by heat stress to some extent.


The purpose of this paper is to solve these problems. A class of combinatorial objects that describe the tensor representations of q(n) has been known for more than thirty years -the shifted semistandard Young tableaux. These objects have been extensively studied by Sagan, Stembridge, Worley, and others, leading to important and deep results (in particular, the shifted Littlewood-Richardson rule) [18, 21, 22] . Unfortunately, the set of shifted semistandard Young tableaux of fixed shape does not have a natural crystal structure, and for this reason we use another setting.

These objects have been extensively studied by Sagan, Stembridge, Worley, and others, leading to important and deep results (in particular, the shifted Littlewood-Richardson rule).


Cattle Egrets did not appear to have a large impact on Tricolored Blackbird nest success in our study sites, contrary to previous reports of Cattle Egrets causing complete reproductive failure in colonies in our study area (Meese 2012) . We observed Cattle Egrets preying on Tricolored Blackbird chicks on 4 occasions in a silage-field colony that we monitored in 2012, yet nest survival at this site was the highest in our study (Figure 4) . We also observed Cattle Egrets preying on eggs at another silage field in our study area in 2011, but we did not obtain access to monitor that colony.

Cattle Egrets did not appear to have a large impact on Tricolored Blackbird nest success in our study sites, contrary to previous reports of Cattle Egrets causing complete reproductive failure in colonies in our study area.


Conditions (1.5) and (1.6) together are equivalent to requiring that (1.4) holds whenever at least one of u 1 ; u 2 ; v 1 ; v 2 is equal to 0 or to 1. While every copula is a quasi-copula, there exist proper quasi-copulas, i.e., quasi-copulas which are not copulas. As with copulas, every quasi-copula satisfies the Fre´chet-Hoeffding inequality (1.2). Quasi-copulas first arose in the process of characterizing, within a certain class of operations on distribution functions, those which derive from the corresponding operations on random variables [1, 9] . In the next section, we use quasi-copulas to express the pointwise best-possible bounds on nonempty sets of distribution functions, copulas or quasi-copulas; and in the following section we present an application to sets of copulas (or distribution functions) with some common property such as a common diagonal section or common values at quartiles.

Quasi-copulas first arose in the process of characterizing, within a certain class of operations on distribution functions, those which derive from the corresponding operations on random variables.


Transition elements like Mn, Cr, Zr or Sc are usually added to aluminum alloys so as to form small ordered precipitates which increase the tensile strength and inhibit recrystallization. As these properties directly depend on the density and the size of the particles, an accurate control of the precipitation process is necessary so as to optimize the material. In particular, one can use a combined addition of solute elements so as to change the precipitate distribution and thus improve the alloy properties. Such an example for aluminum alloy is the addition of Zr and Sc elements. Both elements, when added separately, increase the tensile strength and the recrystallization resistance, but the effect is even better for the combined addition as there are more precipitates which are smaller and less sensitive to coarsening [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . So as to better understand the precipitation kinetics in Al-Zr-Sc we develop a multiscale approach combining atomic and mesoscopic simulations.

Both elements, when added separately, increase the tensile strength and the recrystallization resistance, but the effect is even better for the combined addition as there are more precipitates which are smaller and less sensitive to coarsening.


Inconsistent observations between human and rodent studies (in both adult and aged subjects) highlight the importance of the use of non-human primate models. To our knowledge, only one study investigated the impact of ω3 fatty acid supplementation on behavioral and cognitive functions in non-human primate species (Tsukada et al., 2000) . In this study aged monkeys were supplemented with DHA for 1 to 4 weeks (a very short term dietary supplementation), leading to increased regional cerebral blood flow, a parameter closely linked to neuronal activation.

To our knowledge, only one study investigated the impact of ω3 fatty acid supplementation on behavioral and cognitive functions in non-human primate species.


Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are nodes self-organizing and self-managing in a distributed way. The networks consist of mobile nodes that communicate with each other. MANETs have some special characteristics, such as no center and dynamic topology [1] .

MANETs have some special characteristics, such as no center and dynamic topology.


Patients with SLE may present with variable combinations of clinical features and serologic evidence of lupus [11] . Among the Sudanese patients the Ja´alia and Shaigiya were the most commonly affected ethnic groups. Arthritis remains the commonest clinical manifestation followed by constitutional symptoms and renal involvement. Using an immunoblot technique striking associations between specific autoantibodies, and LN class IV and VI were detected. Accordingly, patients´ ANA profile might provide additional diagnostic and prognostic information about LN based on the autoantigens detected [40] . Further epidemiological studies about SLE and its ANA profile remains essential among Sudanese patients; these might help in predicting the clinical patterns of the disease and its prognosis.

Patients with SLE may present with variable combinations of clinical features and serologic evidence of lupus.

Accordingly, patients´ ANA profile might provide additional diagnostic and prognostic information about LN based on the autoantigens detected.


This proof-of-concept demonstration of a hybrid micro-LED with integrated MQW membrane offers a pathway to fast-response and robust color conversion and has potential for VLC applications. The modulation bandwidth of the 540nm hybrid micro-LED was measured to be up to 51 MHz for an intrinsic bandwidth of the MQW membrane and of the underlying micro-LED of 145MHz and 79 MHz, respectively. Higher modulation bandwidths of the hybrid device are expected by reducing the dimensions of the LED. The integration approach of the membrane by liquid-capillary bonding is well-suited to transfer-printing approaches [16] . It could be extended to other wavelengths using for example MQW structures based on III-V AlGaInP and/or InGaN material systems.

The integration approach of the membrane by liquid-capillary bonding is well-suited to transfer-printing approaches.


Here we introduce an alternative approach based on using inorganic MQW semiconductor epi-layer membranes as photo-pumped color converters for the underlying InGaN LEDs. This technology benefits from being based on all-inorganic semiconductors and therefore promises to be robust [4] , [5] . It also leads to extremely compact sources, as the membrane can be integrated (as we show) by techniques such as liquid capillary bonding. There are several options for wavelength coverage across the visible spectrum with available semiconductor alloys for MQW membranes including III-V AlGaInP (yellow to red) and InGaN (green) materials and II-VI CdMgZnSe (green to orange) materials [4] , [6] . As proof-of-principle of a generic approach, the hybrid LED demonstrator discussed here is obtained by capillary-bonding a 540nm-emitting, II-VI CdMgZnSe MQW membrane onto an array of 450nm InGaN micro-size LEDs (micro-LEDs), on the sapphire side, taking advantage of the high modulation bandwidths associated with these small-sized LEDs [7] . Micro-LEDs operate in a size regime where physical characteristics that play a major role for VLC, e.g. current density, differential carrier lifetime and junction capacitance, diverge from those of conventional format broad area LEDs. This size regime firmly applies to devices with dimensions of 100 µm (as used in this work) and below, where devices can handle kA/cm 2 of DC current density and possess significantly higher modulation bandwidths [7] . We chose II-VI materials for converters in this initial study because (i) they are readily wet etched into epitaxial membranes, (ii) they can be designed to offer coverage of the visible spectrum promising white-light generation, and (iii) they permit an alternative approach to green emission at highmodulation-bandwidth, useful for e.g. introducing coarse wavelength division multiplexing (blue and green) into optical wireless and polymer optical fiber communications. In the following, the hybrid device fabrication and characterization methods are described in section 2. Sections 3 and 4 report and discuss, respectively, the continuous-wave (CW) and dynamic characteristics of the hybrid source.

This technology benefits from being based on all-inorganic semiconductors and therefore promises to be robust.

There are several options for wavelength coverage across the visible spectrum with available semiconductor alloys for MQW membranes including III-V AlGaInP (yellow to red) and InGaN (green) materials and II-VI CdMgZnSe (green to orange) materials.

As proof-of-principle of a generic approach, the hybrid LED demonstrator discussed here is obtained by capillary-bonding a 540nm-emitting, II-VI CdMgZnSe MQW membrane onto an array of 450nm InGaN micro-size LEDs (micro-LEDs), on the sapphire side, taking advantage of the high modulation bandwidths associated with these small-sized LEDs.

This size regime firmly applies to devices with dimensions of 100 µm (as used in this work) and below, where devices can handle kA/cm 2 of DC current density and possess significantly higher modulation bandwidths.


Fundamental theorem of asset pricing states that arbitrage-free prices of claims can be computed by expectation with respect to an equivalent martingale measure. However, usually the prices cannot be computed in closed form and one has to use numerical methods. These numerical methods can roughly be divided into three different categories, which all have efficiencies and drawbacks; tree-methods, Monte Carlo-methods and methods based on partial different equations (PDE) or partial integro-differential equations (PIDE). Especially, an upside on tree-methods is that they are relatively easy to implement. As a drawback, it may happen that even if we have weak convergence for processes, the actual prices may not converge. For instance, the convergence of prices in exponential Lévy models is studied in details by Cawston and Vostrikova [2] .

For instance, the convergence of prices in exponential Lévy models is studied in details by Cawston and Vostrikova.


A global trend for biofuels production is focused on sustainability in environmental and economic aspects. To meet the acceptable sustainability criteria, the second generation biofuel technologies manufacture biofuels from non-food biomass. Agricultural residues available for the second generation biofuels include various crop and plant residues, fruit and vegetable waste, grass, forest residues, livestock manure, and many other byproducts of various agricultural processes (Paudel et al. 2017) . The anaerobic digestion (AD) of agricultural residues is an attractive second-generation technology with the potential of environmental and economic benefits (Wei et al. 2015) .

Agricultural residues available for the second generation biofuels include various crop and plant residues, fruit and vegetable waste, grass, forest residues, livestock manure, and many other byproducts of various agricultural processes.

The anaerobic digestion (AD) of agricultural residues is an attractive second-generation technology with the potential of environmental and economic benefits.


The illnesses resulting from consuming faecal contaminated water are mostly treated with antibiotics, but unfortunately, there has been recent development of antimicrobial resistance by many strains of microorganisms which is now making it difficult to treat some infectious diseases (Inyang, 2009) . It has long been established, that multiple drug resistances could be transferred among members of the Enterobacteriaceae, especially Escherichia coli; many strains of E. coli carry resistance factors (R-factors or plasmids) which confer resistance to antibiotics and can be transmitted among themselves and to other bacteria (Oyedeji et al., 2011) . The ability of environmental bacteria to transfer antibiotic resistance genes to human pathogens can have grave *Corresponding author. E-mail: donliberty11@yahoo.com.

The illnesses resulting from consuming faecal contaminated water are mostly treated with antibiotics, but unfortunately, there has been recent development of antimicrobial resistance by many strains of microorganisms which is now making it difficult to treat some infectious diseases.

It has long been established, that multiple drug resistances could be transferred among members of the Enterobacteriaceae, especially Escherichia coli; many strains of E. coli carry resistance factors (R-factors or plasmids) which confer resistance to antibiotics and can be transmitted among themselves and to other bacteria.

E-mail: donliberty11@yahoo.com.


Due to its unique characteristics, LIBS can be used for elemental analysis of almost any type of material. However, the vast majority of LIBS applications deal with compact solid samples and, among them, perhaps the most analyzed sample types were geological materials. LIBS has been successfully applied, both in laboratory setting and in the field, for chemical analysis of rocks, soils, sediments, and other natural materials [2, [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . One of the main problems in quantitative LIBS analysis of complex matrices (such as geological samples) comes from the matrix effects which can reduce the accuracy and precision of the analysis [1, 2, 11] . A number of calibration strategies were proposed for compensation of matrix effects in LIBS, for example, different normalization procedures as well as calibration-free approach [2, 9] .

LIBS has been successfully applied, both in laboratory setting and in the field, for chemical analysis of rocks, soils, sediments, and other natural materials.

One of the main problems in quantitative LIBS analysis of complex matrices (such as geological samples) comes from the matrix effects which can reduce the accuracy and precision of the analysis.

A number of calibration strategies were proposed for compensation of matrix effects in LIBS, for example, different normalization procedures as well as calibration-free approach.


As seen from Table 3 , the estimated electron number densities for the two laser systems are similar. However, these values are not directly comparable, as already discussed for the temperature evaluation. Nevertheless, they provide indication of the excitation conditions in plasma. For both laser systems, spectral data were processed by calculating the integrated peak area of the emission line, the baseline continuum emission intensity, and the root mean square (RMS) noise of the continuum radiation intensity in regions adjacent to the emission line. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated as the integrated peak area A, divided by the width of the peak area , times the absolute value of the RMS noise: SNR = /( × rms) [30] . Signal-tonoise (SNR) ratio for the elements under study, obtained for TEA CO 2 and Nd:YAG laser-induced basalt plasma, is shown in Table 4 . A simplified single-sample method was applied for estimation of the limit of detection (LOD) [15] . LOD was calculated using the formula LOD = (3 × )/SNR, where is a known analyte concentration obtained by ICP measurements ( Table 1) . Comparison of estimated limits of detection obtained for the two laser systems is shown in Figure 6 . As it can be seen, comparable or even better LODs were obtained for TEA CO 2 LIBS system. Also, there is no obvious correlation between the energy of the Nd:YAG laser pulse and the estimated LODs.

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated as the integrated peak area A, divided by the width of the peak area , times the absolute value of the RMS noise: SNR = /( × rms).

A simplified single-sample method was applied for estimation of the limit of detection (LOD).


Currently, the most common LIBS system used for the analysis of geological samples comprises Nd:YAG laser and time-gated detection [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . Compared to it, the main advantage of TEA CO 2 laser-based LIBS is simplification of the instrumentation. The characteristics of TEA CO 2 laser (wavelength and pulse duration) make this laser especially suitable for time-integrated measurements, which precludes the use of delay generators and expensive gated detectors required for time-resolved measurements. Differences in laser wavelength and pulse duration for the two laser sources (10.6 m, 100 ns for TEA CO 2 compared to 1.064 nm, 7 ns for Nd:YAG) inevitably influence the ablation process, the plasma parameters, and plasma expansion dynamics. Excitation wavelength has a strong influence on the lasertarget and laser-plasma interactions. Mass ablation rate per pulse ( ) is higher for shorter wavelengths ( ∼ −4/9 ) [14] . However, when operating with infrared wavelengths, dominant mechanism for laser-plasma interaction is Inverse Bremsstrahlung (IB) absorption. The rate of IB absorption ( IB) increases as the laser wavelength increases ( IB ∼ 3 ) [14] . Thus, for Nd:YAG plasma, a higher ablation efficiency may be expected, while laser-plasma interaction is expected to be much stronger in the case of CO 2 laser. Efficient IB absorption reheats the plasma, causing an additional plasma excitation and expansion. In LIBS, only a fraction of the analyte mass is excited and is capable of producing detectable optical emission. Higher excitation efficiency in CO 2 plasma may compensate the lower ablation efficiency. In addition, the dimensions and lifetime of plasma increase with pulse duration. The plasma takes longer to decay and, hence, the emission lasts longer. With the long-pulse irradiation, the excitation of the plasma is rather gradual, and, hence, it is suitable to obtain highly excited plasma.

Currently, the most common LIBS system used for the analysis of geological samples comprises Nd:YAG laser and time-gated detection.

Mass ablation rate per pulse ( ) is higher for shorter wavelengths ( ∼ −4/9 ).

The rate of IB absorption ( IB) increases as the laser wavelength increases ( IB ∼ 3 ).


The well-established spectrochemical techniques that are mainly used in this field are inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. In recent years, a considerable progress has been made in the development of another spectrochemical technique, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) [1] . LIBS combines capability of providing fast multielemental analysis with no sample pretreatment, potential for in situ and remote analysis, the ability to perform surface and depth profiling, and the ability to provide isotopic ratio information additionally to elemental composition [2] . Regarding the analysis of geomaterials, LIBS has certain advantages compared to ICP and XRF. ICP-OES and ICP-MS have better analytical figures of merit such as accuracy and precision and limits of detection compared to LIBS. However, many geological samples are silicate rocks, and the main benefit of LIBS compared to ICP is that there is no need for solid sample digestion, that is, no need for complex and timeconsuming dissolution procedures. On the other hand, XRF spectrometry is a rapid method for in-field elemental analysis of geological samples and requires simple and minimal sample preparation (e.g., fusion or preparation of pressed pellets) [3] . These characteristics are also common to LIBS. At the same time, compared to XRF, LIBS has higher sensitivity for elements like Mg, Si, Al, Ca, and K and especially for light elements like Li, Be, B, C, F, and Na. Also, unlike ICP and XRF, LIBS may be easily applied for depth profiling by repeated ablation of the same location. In summary, each of the aforementioned analytical techniques is characterized by its own strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of the "best" technique is dictated by the analytical problem that has to be solved. In that sense, LIBS may be considered as spectrochemical technique complemental to ICP and XRF.

In recent years, a considerable progress has been made in the development of another spectrochemical technique, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS).

LIBS combines capability of providing fast multielemental analysis with no sample pretreatment, potential for in situ and remote analysis, the ability to perform surface and depth profiling, and the ability to provide isotopic ratio information additionally to elemental composition.

On the other hand, XRF spectrometry is a rapid method for in-field elemental analysis of geological samples and requires simple and minimal sample preparation (e.g., fusion or preparation of pressed pellets).


The main objective of this paper is to introduce for the first time the notion of resolution in solving the inverse conductivity problem and precisely quantify some important non-intuitive facts in imaging. Since Rayleigh's work, it has been admitted that the resolution measure in wave imaging is of order half the operating wavelength [11] . This is a quite empirical limit on the resolution and is indeed intriguing if stated independently of the signal-to-noise ratio in the data. Moreover, it has been noted that stability of the inversion increases at high frequency, and infinite resolution can be achieved in the near-field [8, 14, 21] . Furthermore, the link between conductivity and wave imaging has stayed quite mysterious. This paper is an attempt to mathematically explain all of these important observations and researchers' beliefs. In doing so, we perform precise resolution estimates in the case of conductivity data, and we contrast them with resolution estimates based on Helmholtz data. In our analysis we moreover make use of asymptotic characterization of the measurements to get explicit results on their resolving power, i.e., their ability to separate small details. It is known that the inverse problems discussed in this paper are exponentially instable in the general case [23] .

Since Rayleigh's work, it has been admitted that the resolution measure in wave imaging is of order half the operating wavelength.

Moreover, it has been noted that stability of the inversion increases at high frequency, and infinite resolution can be achieved in the near-field.

It is known that the inverse problems discussed in this paper are exponentially instable in the general case.


The recent prolonged drought in Melbourne, Australia (1997 Australia ( -2010 has had a deleterious effect on many trees within the urban forest. Within the City of Melbourne (a municipality of 37.7 km 2 around the Melbourne CBD), prolonged drought and resulting mandatory changes to irrigation practices have led to a premature loss of vitality in many mature trees. Climate-related tree decline within the City of Melbourne was particularly evident in exotic deciduous trees, such as Ulmus spp., which are widely planted throughout the City of Melbourne and are recognized as an important element of the city landscape [1] .

Climate-related tree decline within the City of Melbourne was particularly evident in exotic deciduous trees, such as Ulmus spp., which are widely planted throughout the City of Melbourne and are recognized as an important element of the city landscape.


Over the last two decades, different policies have been developed with the purpose of increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the energy mix [1] . In this context, marine energy has attracted a great deal of attention due to its large energy potential [2] . Among the different marine energy modalities, tidal stream energy stands out [3] . Tidal stream power taps the kinetic energy of the currents caused by the tidal height variations [4] . When compared with other sources of renewable energy, tidal stream power presents significant advantages: (i) the resource can be predicted in advance due to the astronomical nature of the driving force; (ii) the load factor is comparatively high due to the properties of the fluid; and (iii) land occupation is minimal [5] .

Over the last two decades, different policies have been developed with the purpose of increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the energy mix.

In this context, marine energy has attracted a great deal of attention due to its large energy potential.

Among the different marine energy modalities, tidal stream energy stands out.

Tidal stream power taps the kinetic energy of the currents caused by the tidal height variations.

When compared with other sources of renewable energy, tidal stream power presents significant advantages: (i) the resource can be predicted in advance due to the astronomical nature of the driving force; (ii) the load factor is comparatively high due to the properties of the fluid; and (iii) land occupation is minimal.


In the past four decades, the application of structural control techniques to mitigation of the dynamic response of civil engineering structures has been extensively studied. However, the potential of adopting structural control techniques in suppressing the excessive response of large offshore wind turbine systems has not been adequately explored. Up to now, only a few papers concerned with the use of external dampers in the vibration suppression of wind turbine towers are available. For instance, Argyriadis & Hille investigated the reduction of fatigue loading on a wind turbine with a pendulum tuned mass damper (TMD) by using a simple two-mass model [3] .

For instance, Argyriadis & Hille investigated the reduction of fatigue loading on a wind turbine with a pendulum tuned mass damper (TMD) by using a simple two-mass model.


The idea of the ball vibration absorber (BVA) emerged for the first time in Czech in 2000. This device has been adopted recently on two TV towers [9] . In this paper, a BVA is introduced for response suppression of offshore wind turbine systems. The focus of this paper is to experimentally investigate the efficacy of a BVA through a series of shake table tests on a 1/13 scaled wind turbine model. It is shown that implementing a BVA will significantly decrease the dynamic response of the wind turbine. Table Experiment 2.1. Shake Table Test A shake The tested wind turbine model is a 9.825 m high steel structure (Figure 1 ) which was designed to be a reduced scale model of a prototype 3. The testing data were recorded by an automatic data acquisition system. To capture the lateral response, uniaxial accelerometers and displacement transducers were installed on the turbine tower and the shake table.

This device has been adopted recently on two TV towers.

Table Experiment 2.1.


The time domain surface impedance boundary conditions in (5) include the first four terms of the expansion (that is, they represent the Rytov SIBCs). Lower order SIBCs may be obtained by neglecting the appropriate terms in the expansions. These SIBCs will now be employed for solution of skin and proximity effect problems in cylindrical conductors for the purpose of comparing the accuracy of the various order SIBCs. The numerical method best suited for use with surface impedance boundary conditions is the boundary element method because in BEM and SIBC the functions are approximated at the same points on the interface between the media. Being applied to an eddy current problem consisting of conducting and non-conducting regions, the boundary element method yields a system of two integral equations over the conductor's surface with respect to two unknowns: the required function and its normal derivative at the conductor/dielectric interface [2] . Under the conditions of the skin effect, the electromagnetic field behaviour in the conductor is known, the surface impedance concept may be applied and the formulation can be reduced to a single integral equation employing the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation. The extra unknown is eliminated using the surface impedance boundary condition(s) relating the function and its normal derivative at the conductor's surface. This approach is almost ideal for solution of time harmonic problems and BEM-SIBC formulations have been widely used for analysis of skin and proximity effect problems of multiconductor systems [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] .

Being applied to an eddy current problem consisting of conducting and non-conducting regions, the boundary element method yields a system of two integral equations over the conductor's surface with respect to two unknowns: the required function and its normal derivative at the conductor/dielectric interface.

This approach is almost ideal for solution of time harmonic problems and BEM-SIBC formulations have been widely used for analysis of skin and proximity effect problems of multiconductor systems.