The receding angle is the contact state when the droplet resting on a rough surface is about to move with the volume of droplet decreasing. The advancing angle is always larger than the receding angle. CAH is the difference between the two angles. The magnitude of the CAH represents the degree of difficulty for a droplet to separate from the surface. As the CAH increases, it becomes more difficult for the droplet to separate from the surface. When the CAH is small to a certain level, it is easy for the droplet to separate from the surface, and in this case the surface has the properties of self-cleaning [23] [24] . In this paper, two different micro-bump structures including micro-channel and micro-pillar structures are fabricated and analyzed. This paper proposes a 3-dimensional channel and a 3-dimensional pillar structure illustrated in Fig. 3 (a) and Fig. 3 (b) , respectively. These structures can be simplified into a 2-dimensional system by analyzing the system along specific planes, e.g. at y=0, as illustrated in Fig.   3 (c).

When the CAH is small to a certain level, it is easy for the droplet to separate from the surface, and in this case the surface has the properties of self-cleaning.


Contact angle hysteresis (CAH) is considered to be the difference between the advancing angle and the receding angle. The CAH reveals the contact angle spectrum, within which drops are inhibited of motions. The advancing angle reflects the property of hydrophobicity, while the receding angle indicates the property of hydrophilicity [5] .

The advancing angle reflects the property of hydrophobicity, while the receding angle indicates the property of hydrophilicity.


Introduction of optical tweezers for immobilizing individual dielectric microparticles by a tightly focused laser beam can greatly simplify precise light-scattering measurements with such particles [13, 14] . With optical trapping, studied particles are held away from interfering obstacles so that they can be observed for long time [2] . Micrometer-sized liquid droplets can be easily produced using aerosol generators in air or as emulsions by simple mechanical agitation and subsequently introduced into an optical trap. In this article, we report resonantly enhanced elastic light scattering from WGMs of individual liquid droplets optically trapped in an immiscible liquid inside a microfluidic channel. Droplet WGMs are excited by free-space coupling of light to the trapped droplet with a single-mode optical fiber. For different cases, we show either a steady spectral drift of WGMs to the blue end of the spectrum or fluctuating spectral shifts to both blue and red ends of the spectrum, attributed to the droplet dissolution and the presence of diffusing particulate contaminants in the droplet liquid, respectively. We also study the dependence of the measured Q-factors on the size of the cavity and demonstrate smaller Q-factors with decreasing droplet size as a result of higher radiative losses.

Introduction of optical tweezers for immobilizing individual dielectric microparticles by a tightly focused laser beam can greatly simplify precise light-scattering measurements with such particles.

With optical trapping, studied particles are held away from interfering obstacles so that they can be observed for long time.


Losses due to absorption, scattering from particulate contaminants present in the droplet and host liquids, or perturbations in the size and shape of the droplet generally lead to shifts in the spectral position of WGMs and degradation of their Q-factor [29] . An illustration of this phenomenon is provided in Fig. 4 where fluctuating spectral shifts of WGMs to both blue and red ends of the spectrum are observed in consecutive spectra recorded from a single trapped droplet. Unlike the monotonic spectral drift observed in slowly dissolving droplets (see Fig. 2 ), spectral fluctuations shown in Fig. 4 are bi-directional, and their magnitude is significantly smaller.

Losses due to absorption, scattering from particulate contaminants present in the droplet and host liquids, or perturbations in the size and shape of the droplet generally lead to shifts in the spectral position of WGMs and degradation of their Q-factor.


Chemical and biological detection based on Q-factor change has been shown before with solid microcavities [15, 16] . In a recent report, Q-factor change was used as a contamination detector for relatively large liquid droplets with diameters of 0.5-1.5 mm suspended in air from the tip of a needle [17] . In contrast to this work where free-space coupling was used to observe WGMs of millimetric oil droplets suspended in air, our droplets are comparatively small (diameters ranging between 12 and 54 μm), immersed in deionized (DI) water, and controlled by optical tweezers within a microfluidic channel. Recently, optical tweezing was also used to achieve optical coupling between emulsion microdroplets of paraffin oil in DI water and tapered optical fiber waveguides in order to record droplet WGM spectra [18] . However, fluctuations of WGM spectral positions were not studied for extended times in this recent work. Besides, our experimental geometry is simpler, more robust, and better suited for microfluidic integration because it does not require the use of a tapered optical fiber.

Chemical and biological detection based on Q-factor change has been shown before with solid microcavities.

In a recent report, Q-factor change was used as a contamination detector for relatively large liquid droplets with diameters of 0.5-1.5 mm suspended in air from the tip of a needle.

Recently, optical tweezing was also used to achieve optical coupling between emulsion microdroplets of paraffin oil in DI water and tapered optical fiber waveguides in order to record droplet WGM spectra.


Enhancing the osteogenic capabilities of bone matrix for the treatment of fractures and segmental bone defects is an active area of research. It is well-known that the use of oligopeptides or growth factors promotes osteogenic cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro and in vivo [1] [2] [3] [4] . There are many different pathways in research to address the acceleration of fracture healing.

It is well-known that the use of oligopeptides or growth factors promotes osteogenic cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro and in vivo.


Electrochemical deposition is an attractive method for the synthesis of thin films. It offers the advantages of low processing temperature, high purity of deposition, and controlled thickness of the film. Cathodic electrodeposition (i.e., base generation electrochemical methods) was first introduced for the plating of cerium oxide films [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] . However, producing CeO 2 films with the base generation method is limited since the as-produced films tend to be powdery and loosely adherent.

Cathodic electrodeposition (i.e., base generation electrochemical methods) was first introduced for the plating of cerium oxide films.


It is possible to obtain thin films of cerium oxide by stabilizing Ce 3+ in solution with a weakly bound ligand [18] [19] [20] . With a high enough oxidation potential at the electrode surface, an equilibrium can be established where Ce(ΙΙΙ)-L has a slow release of Ce 3+ from the complex for available oxidation. This mechanism has been described previously in greater detail [19] . These films can be electrodeposited under potentiostatic control and produce polycrystalline films of random orientation [18] [19] [20] [21] . XANE study on electrodeposited cerium-related thin films revealed that anodic deposition preferred the Ce(ΙV) compounds, while cathodic base generation method led to the formation of high percentage of Ce(ΙΙΙ) species in the composition [22] .

It is possible to obtain thin films of cerium oxide by stabilizing Ce 3+ in solution with a weakly bound ligand.

This mechanism has been described previously in greater detail.

These films can be electrodeposited under potentiostatic control and produce polycrystalline films of random orientation.

XANE study on electrodeposited cerium-related thin films revealed that anodic deposition preferred the Ce(ΙV) compounds, while cathodic base generation method led to the formation of high percentage of Ce(ΙΙΙ) species in the composition.


However, after long-term PWR plant operation, a few instances of SCC have been reported in locations exposed to free-flowing, nominally good quality primary water chemistry. All these instances appear to be associated with relatively high levels of surface and/or bulk cold work [5] . Stainless steels are generally used in the solution annealed and quenched condition and there are restrictions on the amount of deformation allowed during component manufacture and assembly. Nevertheless, deformation cannot always be totally avoided, and can be introduced by processes such as machining, local grinding, weld-induced shrinkage, and bending or straightening during installation.

All these instances appear to be associated with relatively high levels of surface and/or bulk cold work.


Slow strain rate tests on both heats of 20% cold or warm worked Type 304 and 304L stainless steel have shown that intergranular stress corrosion crack initiation can occur in good quality PWR primary water under the dynamic straining conditions in these tests, which involved slow straining above yield at rates in the range 1-2.5x10 -8 s -1 . The extent of cracking was closely related to the level of plastic strain introduced before testing was terminated, with the density, surface length, and depth of cracking all increasing with the level of strain. For the cold-worked heat A, IGSCC initiation was quite widespread for strains above about 3%, whereas SCC was much more localised at lower strains (down to 1.7%), extending for only 1-2 grains or around 50m. In the lowest strain test A4, only one crack was found within the OPS polished and EBSD scanned area, although IGSCC was somewhat more widespread elsewhere on the specimen where the surface was 2500 grit abraded. The microstructure of the cold-worked material contained a high density of planar deformation bands, imaged using electron channelling contrast imaging in the SEM, Figure 15a . Cracking appeared to initiate preferentially on grain boundaries, with significant differences between the deformation structures in adjacent grains, especially boundaries at a high angle to the loading direction, Figure 7 . This has been attributed to localization of strain in these locations [10] . At higher strains, limited shallow cracking was also found on these deformation bands, as shown in Figure 8a , but did not appear to contribute significantly to subsequent IGSCC. Similarly, for heat B, a significant influence of applied strain on SCC susceptibility was observed. In this case, crack depths for 3% strain were significantly smaller than for heat A, with the largest crack detected on the OPS surface (18m) being twice that for 600 grit. The majority of cracks were significantly smaller than this, however. At 5% strain, cracks ranged up to about 90m on both surfaces, although the numbers of cracks were much greater for the OPS polished surface in almost all depth ranges.

This has been attributed to localization of strain in these locations.


The 600 grit surface was found to possess a modified fine-grained outer layer up to 2m thick which results in significant enhancement of surface oxidation compared to the OPS surface. When cracks initiate in this layer they are of transgranular morphology and appear to develop by enhanced oxidation of deformation bands which subsequently crack. The crack so created must intersect an underlying grain before crack extension by IGSCC can occur, which is a random process. In contrast, the exposed grain boundaries at the OPS surface can undergo SCC more readily. It is likely that the 2500 grit surface has a thinner modified outer layer although, in this case, it is less obvious why this should enhance SCC relative to the OPS surface. A possible explanation is that the pre-characterisation by EBSD of the OPS region on the heat A specimens resulted in a thin carbon contamination layer. There is evidence of this occurring in locally pre-characterised areas on the OPS face of heat B specimens and this has been observed to retard SCC initiation, as discussed in another paper at this conference [13] .

There is evidence of this occurring in locally pre-characterised areas on the OPS face of heat B specimens and this has been observed to retard SCC initiation, as discussed in another paper at this conference.


There were interesting regional patterns of change though: forest decreased during the K.u.K. Monarchy in the Romanian, Ukrainian, and Slovakian Carpathians, while it increased in the Polish Carpathians, and was stable in the Czech Republic (± 0.1% annual change). During the Interwar period the majority of the forest change case-studies (48%) reported stable or increasing (44%) forest cover (>0.1% annual change) but most of them were in Slovakia, and Poland, while cases of forest loss occurred in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Thus, across the region, forest transition occurred during the Interwar period, though we caution that patterns at elevations over 1000 m in Ukraine and Romania were different (Shandra et al., 2013) . The most rapid forest increase during the Socialist period occurred in the border region between Poland, Ukraine, and Slovakia (Fig. 4) , while deforestation occurred in lowland areas (e.g., Hungary) as well as in the mining district of central Slovakia. After 1990, forest cover increased across Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary, but there were still cases of forest loss in the Eastern Romanian Carpathians and southwestern Slovakia.

Thus, across the region, forest transition occurred during the Interwar period, though we caution that patterns at elevations over 1000 m in Ukraine and Romania were different.


Agricultural change varied regionally: during the K.u.K. Monarchy, agriculture expanded mostly in the lowlands of Hungary, Czech Republic, and Ukraine, concurrent with forest loss, while agriculture decreased in the mountains of Slovakia and Poland. In the Interwar period agricultural land use peaked in parts of Hungary and southwest Slovakia, while agriculture declined in parts of the Polish Carpathians and northern Slovakia. During the Socialist time period, low but positive annual rates of agricultural expansion occurred in Romania and southeast of Hungary. In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, agriculture decreased slowly, whereas in Poland, agricultural land decreased by up to 5% per year (Woś, 2005) . Since 1990s, agricultural decrease was least pronounced in the lowlands of Hungary, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. In mountain areas, lower abandonment rates were reported in Ukraine, contrasting with higher rates for Romania and Slovakia (Fig. 5) . Since 2000 agriculture declined in 69% of the studies, but we caution that there are only few studies for this period.

In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, agriculture decreased slowly, whereas in Poland, agricultural land decreased by up to 5% per year.


Our analysis of the main drivers of land change examined the number of times at least one of the selected drivers of change (institutional, economic, socio-demographic, cultural, and climatic) was deemed important by the case-study authors and collaborators for each of the change processes. We found that institutional and economic factors were the most important drivers of agricultural expansion and deforestation, jointly accounting for more than 75% and 65% respectively of the case studies. This class of drivers also included the technological developments that led to agricultural intensification and support forest transition, but our focus on land-cover areas did not allow to examine technological drivers in detail. In contrast, socio-demographic factors like migration or sector employment were more important for agricultural abandonment (42% of cases) and forest succession (36% of cases, Fig. 6 ). Physical factors were also mentioned as drivers of change, for example climate supported forest succession on abandoned mountain pastures, where the timberline shifted to higher altitudes (Mihai et al., 2006; Shandra et al., 2013) . Overall, abandonment of agriculture was largely driven by socio-demographic (42%) and institutional (31%) factors, with the economy playing a less important role (24%) (Fig. 6 ).

Physical factors were also mentioned as drivers of change, for example climate supported forest succession on abandoned mountain pastures, where the timberline shifted to higher altitudes.


Interactions among plants, soil and bacterial community regulate nutrient cycling in ecosystems and determine the spatial and temporal patterns of N transformations (Bohlen et al. 2001) . These interactions determine the quality and quantity of resources available to microbes. Environmental conditions and plant diversity have been found to shape soil bacterial communities by altering their abundance and composition (Hossain et al. 2010) . These studies investigated the influence of soil bacterial diversity and the effects of soil bacterial community structure on nutrient cycling. Nonetheless, interactions vary spatially and temporally, given the complexity and variation of ecosystems.

Interactions among plants, soil and bacterial community regulate nutrient cycling in ecosystems and determine the spatial and temporal patterns of N transformations.

Environmental conditions and plant diversity have been found to shape soil bacterial communities by altering their abundance and composition.


Information Communication Technology (ICT) as one of the technology innovation has been integrated in schools to help students, especially school students, getting better understanding of teaching materials. ICT has provided students with completely different ways of practicing and developing individual and social activities (Somekh, 2008) . Technology can assist teachers in the classroom during teaching and the learning process. Among the technologies that can be used in during the classroom is multimedia courseware. As one of ICT productions and innovations, computer courseware can improve the students' performances (Hall, 1998) . Computers in English Language Learning have been viewed through Computer Assisted Language learning or Computer Assisted Instruction because students use the computers to develop and practice their English. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is related to the use of computers technology for language teaching and learning. In language learning, CALL carries two important features, which are interactive learning and individual learning (Schwienhorst, 2008) . CALL materials are used in teaching to facilitate the language learning process. CALL can also act as remedial practices to help learners with different language proficiency (Wang, 2001) . Meanwhile, multimedia language courseware provides digital interactive environment that allows students to practice their language skills based on their needs and interest. This flexible space allows individual learning through whereby students can control their learning anywhere and anytime (Chen, Hsieh, & Kinshuk, 2008) .

ICT has provided students with completely different ways of practicing and developing individual and social activities.

As one of ICT productions and innovations, computer courseware can improve the students' performances.

In language learning, CALL carries two important features, which are interactive learning and individual learning.

CALL can also act as remedial practices to help learners with different language proficiency.

This flexible space allows individual learning through whereby students can control their learning anywhere and anytime.


The findings of this study also showed that the RSELC features were useful for the students in understanding the components of a sentence. The courseware provides a real life situation for the students to use grammar rules in real world activities The RSELC engaged the learners interactively because they can hear, write, pronounce words, and match them to images, and then review of exercises helps them to learn in long-term memory. In this study, students who used the language courseware were able to manipulate the answers in order to understand the content. Immediate feedback from the courseware gives them an opportunity to interaction more effectively based on the lesson objectives. The computer displayed their mistake and this would help students to correct them by considering time doing them. This is an important element because every individual was capable to construct his/her own knowledge by interacting with the tasks without spending too much time and fear of failing (Greany, 2007) . By our observation during the experiment, the students in the experimental group were more independent from their teacher and they more centered in interacting with the learning environment. Students in this groups seems to focus practicing using the multimedia language courseware by integrating words, sound, and pictures rich to meaningful learning. In fact, they were able to further practice to achieve authentic learning based on their needs, interests, and chances to choose different type of activities. The language courseware changes the process of learning and shifts it to less boring and more attractive comparing with the mere text book.

This is an important element because every individual was capable to construct his/her own knowledge by interacting with the tasks without spending too much time and fear of failing.


In educational systems, assessment is an inevitable ingredient because it may influence learning, and when made authentic it provides feedback and revision to improve learning. Furthermore, through meaningful engagement of students in the learning process, assessment can affect motivation. Assessment would also enhance instruction by helping the teacher recognize students' weaknesses and strengths. Assessments can also be made valid, fair, ethical, feasible, and efficient tools for learning using multiple measures (Mousavi, 2012) .

Assessments can also be made valid, fair, ethical, feasible, and efficient tools for learning using multiple measures.


Nitrogen is artificially fixed with hydrogen through the Haber-Bosch process producing ammonia. This process sustains 40 % of today's population and its role will only grow along with the rapidly growing global population [1, [4] [5] [6] [7] . However, the Haber-Bosch process developed at the beginning of the 20 th century is notoriously energy-inefficient. It consumes almost 2 % of world's total energy production and emits 300 million metric tons of CO2 [8, 9] . Modern technological and ecological standards require a considerable reduction in its environmental footprint and an increase in its energy efficiency.

This process sustains 40 % of today's population and its role will only grow along with the rapidly growing global population.

It consumes almost 2 % of world's total energy production and emits 300 million metric tons of CO2.


Nitrogen, being an important constituent of amino acids, is essential for life on earth [1] [2] [3] . However, this abundant element of atmosphere is hardly accessible to most living beings, because of the extremely stable N-N triple bond, which demands unusually high activation energy barrier. To become accessible, nitrogen must be chemically bonded to oxygen or hydrogen through the process of nitrogen fixation [1] .

Nitrogen, being an important constituent of amino acids, is essential for life on earth.

To become accessible, nitrogen must be chemically bonded to oxygen or hydrogen through the process of nitrogen fixation.


SMEs have limited internal resources, including personnel and financial resources (Josefy et al., 2015; Lai et al., 2016) . Turnover of high performing employees can be costly to organisations (Allen et al., 2010) . When strategically valuable employees exit, substantial direct costs (e.g. recruitment, newcomer induction and training, general administration) and indirect costs (e.g. loss of tacit knowledge, decreased labour productivity) are incurred.

SMEs have limited internal resources, including personnel and financial resources.

Turnover of high performing employees can be costly to organisations.


In brief, links include the formal and informal connections that employees have to other people in their organisations and to their family and friends in the communities where they live. Fit includes employees' perceived compatibility with their work organisations and the communities in which they reside. Sacrifice includes employees' perceived psychological, social or material costs associated with leaving their organisations or communities. Narrative and quantitative reviews have concluded that JE predicts staying across a variety of contexts (Jiang et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2014) . However, there is an absence of research that examines JE specifically within the context of SMEs.

Narrative and quantitative reviews have concluded that JE predicts staying across a variety of contexts.


Food is the basic and compulsory human requirement. It is expected that limited land and inadequate water resources will negatively impact the expected increase in demand for food crops during the next fifty years [1] [2] [3] . Subject to scenarios used, and assumptions and models employed, different forecasts have been made for food and agricultural production and related irrigation water needs. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projections indicated a growth rate of world consumption of agricultural products of 1.1% per year for the period from 2005 to 2050. In order to meet this projected global demand, agricultural production would have to increase by 60% from 2005 to 2050 [4, 5] .

It is expected that limited land and inadequate water resources will negatively impact the expected increase in demand for food crops during the next fifty years.

In order to meet this projected global demand, agricultural production would have to increase by 60% from 2005 to 2050.


The level of the target speech was fixed throughout the 10-minute block at 70 dB. The level of the masking noise was adjusted adaptively during the block to create different target-to-masker ratios (TMRs). At the start of the block the masking noise was presented at a TMR of 0 dB. A best-of-five adaptive procedure was used targeting 50% of substitutions (Bode & Carhart, 1974) . At the offset of each masking noise (i.e. after each 20-second substitution window) the number of substitutions correctly identified during that window was calculated. If three or more of the designated substitutions had been correctly identified the TMR of the next presented noise masker was decreased, but if two or fewer of the substitutions had been correctly identified the TMR of the next presented noise masker was increased. The step size was initially 4 dB but this was reduced to 2 dB after three reversals. Each individual step was randomly varied by +/-1 dB to generate some variability in the levels visited by the adaptive track. At the end of the 10-minute block SRT was calculated by average the level at all reversals excepting the first. To give a reference measure of listeners' ability to complete the monitoring aspect of the task listeners also carried out the task with no masking noise. Different audio stimuli were used in the quiet and noise conditions.

At the start of the block the masking noise was presented at a TMR of 0 dB. A best-of-five adaptive procedure was used targeting 50% of substitutions.


It is important to add a cautionary note. Even when we created the context for relational motivations to impact information propagation, the SSRIF effect only propagated two degrees away from the originating source. On the one hand, this suggests that SSRIF might only minimally impact the emergence of collective memories in networks in which the average degree of separation exceeds 2. On the other hand, the influence one person exerts over another in real-world social networks is rarely isolated to one conversation. Similarly, two individuals could be connected through multiple (conversational) routes, therefore strengthening the inter-personal influence one individual could have over another. An important contribution of the current study is, thus, to provide an empirically tractable framework to investigate the impact of socio-cognitive processes on large-scale mnemonic convergence (Coman et al., 2016) . Research delving into the interaction between socio-cognitive phenomena and social network structure, composition, and size, has the potential to bridge between individual level mnemonic micro-processes and large-scale macro dynamics in ways heretofore underappreciated in the cognitive and social sciences (Sun, 2012) .

An important contribution of the current study is, thus, to provide an empirically tractable framework to investigate the impact of socio-cognitive processes on large-scale mnemonic convergence.

Research delving into the interaction between socio-cognitive phenomena and social network structure, composition, and size, has the potential to bridge between individual level mnemonic micro-processes and large-scale macro dynamics in ways heretofore underappreciated in the cognitive and social sciences.


In order to integrate the specific knowledge of each domain, model-based systems engineering (MBSE) was introduced. It describes the application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout the development and later lifecycle phases (INCOSE, 2007) . The vision implies the usage of a single model, rather than several documents, for capturing requirements, analyzing problems and designing systems. The overall objective is to replace a document-centric working style through a model-centric one.

It describes the application of modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification and validation activities beginning in the conceptual design phase and continuing throughout the development and later lifecycle phases.


Due to these existing problems, we show in this paper a SysML modeling architecture and design pattern in order to build models that enhance traceability of the information, facilitating the analysis of change influences in later lifecycle phases of the system and reuse for future projects. In this way, we show a major benefit of the MBSE application, provide a narrative example and deduce guidelines for the modeling of mechatronic systems focusing particularly on model re-usability. We illustrate the proposed approach at the example of an existing system through reverse engineering to compare the results. A development from scratch can be conducted accordingly, both in the application of the design pattern for the design of brand-new components, and the reuse of parts developed in previous projects and documented in the proposed architecture. Furthermore, most of the organizations that are using MBSE have focused on the system designing features of MBSE more than on other aspects (Motamedian, 2013) . For this reason, we built the model simulating a design from scratch process of a production plant, following a general system engineering design methodology. Eventually, we demonstrated the traceability of information when changes are implemented in the model. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: in section 2 related works are described. Section 3 illustrates the utilized design process and the use case example, while section 4 describes our proposed model architecture and design pattern. In section 5, the traceability of information in the model in case of a change is shown. Eventually, conclusions and future work are presented in section 6.

Furthermore, most of the organizations that are using MBSE have focused on the system designing features of MBSE more than on other aspects.


In the present work, the steady MHD laminar flow and heat transfer of a viscous, electrically conducting, incompressible and non-Newtonian Reiner-Rivlin fluid due to the uniform rotation of a disk of infinite extent is studied taking the Hall effect into consideration. An external uniform magnetic field is directed perpendicular to the disk and the induced magnetic field is neglected by assuming that the magnetic Reynolds number R em 1 [9, 19] . The temperature of the disk is impulsively changed and then maintained at a constant value. The governing nonlinear differential equations are solved numerically using finite differences. The effects of the applied uniform magnetic field, the Hall current, and the characteristics of the non-Newtonian fluid on the unsteady flow and heat transfer are presented and discussed.

An external uniform magnetic field is directed perpendicular to the disk and the induced magnetic field is neglected by assuming that the magnetic Reynolds number R em 1.


Gaining some understanding of the short term memory problems of children with Down syndrome and producing effective remediation of these problems are important goals. Restricted short term memory not only results in practical everyday problems in the classroom or at home, but also may have serious implications for the development of other language and cognitive abilities. For example, research suggests there may be links between working memory skills and children's acquisition of vocabulary (Gathercole, Willis, Emslie and Baddeley, 1992) . Children with poor working memory skills may find learning new words more difficult.

For example, research suggests there may be links between working memory skills and children's acquisition of vocabulary.


The children were reassessed some eight months after completing the training programme and had maintained the increases in performance (Broadley, MacDonald and Buckley, 1994) . However, the skills were not maintained in the longer term. A sample of fourteen of the original group of twenty-five trained children was revisited three years after completing the programme. By this time, performance on the memory tasks had fallen below the level of their posttraining performance. Although this was still better than their pre-training scores it was no different to that achieved by children with similar ages and language abilities who had not been trained . This was not surprising since no plans had been made for the children to continue to practise the trained skills in the longer term.

The children were reassessed some eight months after completing the training programme and had maintained the increases in performance.


Second, eudaimonia and hedonia has a synergistic effect such that eudaimonia had stronger relationships with commitment, turnover intentions, interpersonal helping and taking charge when hedonia was higher. Such results extend evidence from other settings that eudaimonia and hedonia have both a main effect and a synergistic effect on outcomes (Huta and Ryan, 2010; Peterson et al., 2005) . More broadly, our results suggest the importance of both eudaimonic and hedonic well-being for scholars and practitioners.

Such results extend evidence from other settings that eudaimonia and hedonia have both a main effect and a synergistic effect on outcomes.


The doping of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) with a small amount (<1%) of ferroelectric nanoparticles (nps) can cause significant changes in their properties such as clearing temperature, threshold voltage, elastic constants, dielectric anisotropy and birefringence in visible range [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . The alternative method for improving or changing such LCs properties is by using chemical synthesis, which is time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, the synthesis of a material with desired physical properties typically requires to use of more than ten components; the more components are included, the more difficult it is to predict final material properties. The ferroelectric nanoparticles can improve the LC materials properties without chemical synthesis and the properties can be varied by changing the type and the amount of nanoparticles mixed with LC [2, 7, 8] . The improved properties of liquid crystals doped with ferroelectric nps are likely to be caused by a strong dipole-dipole interaction between the ferroelectric nanoparticles and the surrounding liquid crystal molecules. This dipole-dipole interaction may provide to an increase of the order parameter of LC and thus the dielectric anisotropy and birefringence of the ferroelectric LC suspension. However, the nature of interactions are clearly more complex, as for example, the nps are likely to be charged as well, as recently demonstrated [9] .

The doping of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) with a small amount (<1%) of ferroelectric nanoparticles (nps) can cause significant changes in their properties such as clearing temperature, threshold voltage, elastic constants, dielectric anisotropy and birefringence in visible range.

The ferroelectric nanoparticles can improve the LC materials properties without chemical synthesis and the properties can be varied by changing the type and the amount of nanoparticles mixed with LC.

However, the nature of interactions are clearly more complex, as for example, the nps are likely to be charged as well, as recently demonstrated.


Short solenoidal lenses are used as focusing elements in electron microscopes and other electron beam devices. In particle accelerators, the beam-emittance growth is reduced by axially-symmetric magnetic elements arranged in lattices of short periods. This arrangement often works better than sequential pairs of quadrupoles, which give rise to significant halo formation [1] . Particles moving exactly along the magnetic axis of the solenoids are not deflected. Conversely, off-axis particles are azimuthally accelerated by the radial field component in the end regions of the magnet. The resulting helical motion in the longitudinal field region of the magnet yields a focusing effect due to the radial Lorentz force.

This arrangement often works better than sequential pairs of quadrupoles, which give rise to significant halo formation.


Rolling element bearings are one of the most important and common components in rotating machinery. Their carrying capacity and reliability are essential for the overall machine performance. Therefore the fault diagnosis of rolling element bearing has been studied intensively for the security of mechanical systems [1] . When a fault in one surface of a bearing strikes another surface, a force impulse is generated which excites some vibration response in the bearing and machine system. The vibration response can be obtained and converted into vibration signal. As most information concerning the fault feature is contained in vibration signal, the vibration-based bearing fault diagnosis method has attracted extensive interests from both academia and industry [2, 3] . The vibration signals, usually indirect and nonlinear, are additionally masked by noise. Therefore an accurate signal processing and final diagnosis largely depend on the extraction of feature information from vibration signals.

Therefore the fault diagnosis of rolling element bearing has been studied intensively for the security of mechanical systems.

As most information concerning the fault feature is contained in vibration signal, the vibration-based bearing fault diagnosis method has attracted extensive interests from both academia and industry.


Structuring element (SE), defined by an array of elements with specific values, is a key component in MM analysis, and its geometry has a decisive effect on analysis results [24] . Generally, more feature information can only be extracted when the geometry of a SE is similar to that of a signal. The SE geometry is characterized by three properties: shape, length (number of elements in SE), and height (value of elements in SE). SE applied on a 1D signal can be in various shapes, such as flat, triangular, semicircular, sine, curve, and other polygons. The flat, triangular, and semicircular SEs are good candidates for vibration signal analysis, with triangular SE being the best one among all candidates [2, 18, 24] . In addition to the shape, the length and height of SE should also be considered in practice. Usually more impulse features can be extracted by shorter SE. When a longer SE is used, more noise may be suppressed, while more peaks and impulse information will be lost. Furthermore, the longer and more complex the SE is, the more the computation time to conduct the MM process is [25] .

Structuring element (SE), defined by an array of elements with specific values, is a key component in MM analysis, and its geometry has a decisive effect on analysis results.

The flat, triangular, and semicircular SEs are good candidates for vibration signal analysis, with triangular SE being the best one among all candidates.

Furthermore, the longer and more complex the SE is, the more the computation time to conduct the MM process is.


In bearing system, faults usually occur in inner race, outer race, or rolling elements. When a running roller passes over the surfaces with defects, impulses will be generated. Those impulses are almost periodical and their characteristics depend on the location of defect. Thus, defect information is contained in the spacing of impulses rather than in their frequency content [31] . So if the feature of each fault can be extracted successfully, a proper classification of bearing faults can be achieved [29] .

Thus, defect information is contained in the spacing of impulses rather than in their frequency content.

So if the feature of each fault can be extracted successfully, a proper classification of bearing faults can be achieved.


The hierarchical regression analysis, to be used to test the hypothesized relations will give some insight into the effects of the different clusters in explaining the predominance of sin among those who suffer from narcissistic woundedness, unhappiness, and a feeling of alienation and a lack of meaning in life. If significant changes in R square can be attributed to the addition of such clusters entered as separate blocks to the regression equation, individual variables constituting those clusters may also be deemed, if significant, of relevance in explaining the criterion (Cohen and Cohen 1975; Nauta 1982) . Table 2 shows, as expected, that narcissism however is more important than (a lack of personal) well-being in explaining variance in the two factors structuring the deadly sins. The test of the model requires that the addition of the narcissism cluster leads to a significant and larger amount of variance explained in either Resentment or Desire than is already explained by the cluster of well-being variables. On the other hand the addition of well-being variables to an equation already containing the narcissism cluster should either be not significant or explain a smaller amount of variance than is explained by the narcissism variables. Table 2 shows that this is the case, both conditions prevail. The narcissism cluster explains a larger portion of the variance in each of the two sin factors when entered first in the regression equation: Resentment-R square narcissism=0.426 vs. R square well-being=0.317; Desire-R square narcissism=0.151 vs. R square well-being= 0.035. Also narcissism, when entered after the well-being variables are taken into the equation, explains a larger portion of the variance than the well-being variables do: Resentment-R square change narcissism=0.155 vs. R square change well-being=0.046; Desire-R square change narcissism=0.142 vs. R square change well-being=0.026.

If significant changes in R square can be attributed to the addition of such clusters entered as separate blocks to the regression equation, individual variables constituting those clusters may also be deemed, if significant, of relevance in explaining the criterion.


We used sera from women with localized (n = 5) or metastatic (n = 5) cervical SCC to drive transcription in healthy PBMC "reporters" and read the responses using genome-wide expression profiling. The transcriptional responses induced by the 11 (10 cancer and 1 healthy control) experimental samples were normalized using Robust Multi-Array Analysis (RMA) to obtain summary scores of expression for each profile set on each array [13] . We then used EBarrays to identify genes whose expression differed when comparing PBMCs stimulated by serum from women with localized versus metastatic disease. A total of 557 differentially expressed probe sets that mapped to 382 genes (of which 323 were unique) exhibited DE with a FDR of <5%. In the unique gene set, 184 were upregulated and 139 were downregulated in serum from women with metastatic disease. The most significant upregulated and downregulated genes from the patients with metastatic cervical cancer are shown in Table 3 .

The transcriptional responses induced by the 11 (10 cancer and 1 healthy control) experimental samples were normalized using Robust Multi-Array Analysis (RMA) to obtain summary scores of expression for each profile set on each array.


One particular example of a shrinking target property can be found in a paper by Maucourant [12] . He considered nested balls in hyperbolic manifolds (quotients of the n-dimensional hyperbolic space H n ) of finite volume, and proved the following theorem: Theorem 1.1. Let V be a finite volume hyperbolic manifold of real dimension n, T 1 V the unit tangent bundle of V , π : T 1 V → V the canonical projection, (φ t ) t∈R the geodesic flow on T 1 V , µ the Liouville measure on T 1 V , and d the Riemannian distance on V . Let (B t ) t≥0 be a decreasing family of closed balls in V (with respect to the metric d) of radius (r t ) t ≥ 0.

One particular example of a shrinking target property can be found in a paper by Maucourant.


In Central America, seed dispersal by bats has been studied in forests with marked seasonality (Heithaus et al., 1975; Morrison, 1978; Bonaccorso, 1979; Fleming et al., 1985; Fleming, 1988) . At LSBS, bats are an important group of frugivores; however, the literature on their role in seed dispersal is scarce (Levey et al., 1994) . The objective of the present study was to evaluate the role frugivorous bats play in seed dispersal between habitat types in the tropical rain forest at LSBS. Specifically, we wanted to know the viability of seeds passed by bats, regurgitated or dropped while feeding.

In Central America, seed dispersal by bats has been studied in forests with marked seasonality.

At LSBS, bats are an important group of frugivores; however, the literature on their role in seed dispersal is scarce.


In many ways, Diamond's methodological approach suffers from a manifest lack of scientific scrutiny. Instead of carefully weighing up and critically assessing the quality, authenticity and reliability of the data he employs to support his arguments, he consistently selects only the data and interpretations that seem to confirm his conviction that Easter Island self-destructed. Within science, this method is generally known as Confirmation Bias, an often inadvertent mental process among researchers "which refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one's beliefs" (Carroll, 2003) .

Within science, this method is generally known as Confirmation Bias, an often inadvertent mental process among researchers "which refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one's beliefs".


From a political and psychological point of view, this imagery of a complex civilisation self-destructing is overwhelming. It portrays an impression of utter failure that elicits shock and trepidation. It is in form of a shock-tactic when Diamond employs Rapa Nui's tragic end as a dire warning and a moral lesson for humanity today: "Easter [Island's] isolation makes it the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by overexploiting its own resources. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 2005) .

Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future".


There can be little doubt that on a number of occasions indigenous populations have destroyed animal species and seriously degraded parts of their habitats. Thus, my criticism of Diamond's eco-pessimism does not rest on an unjustifiable belief in what he calls the "Rousseau-esque fantasy" of the 'ecological noble Savage' (Ellingson, 2001) . The fundamental flaw in his treatment of Easter Island is that he approaches the problems of its evolution and history with the zeal of an environmental campaigner, and not with the dispassionate detachment of a scientist. He is too much inclined to employ his historical reconstructions as a tool for the environmental agenda and subordinates much of his analysis to moralistic and preconceived intentions.

Thus, my criticism of Diamond's eco-pessimism does not rest on an unjustifiable belief in what he calls the "Rousseau-esque fantasy" of the 'ecological noble Savage'.


The model is clearly not very compelling as the Lagrangian of the φ field seems really ad hoc. This is the result of the fact that it is difficult to construct a non-pathological system which induces a bounce. The stress energy tensor must violate the null energy condition and this usually leads to catasthrophic instabilities [16] . Maybe there are much simpler systems leading to a bounce, either at the level of effective field theory or in which quantum gravity is relevant. Notice however that predictions depend only on the isocurvature scalar ψ and therefore are not sensitive to the explicit realization of the contracting phase and of the bounce.

The stress energy tensor must violate the null energy condition and this usually leads to catasthrophic instabilities.


Besides giving an existence proof of a smooth bounce, our results allow to study the evolution of perturbations across this phase. Nothing exotic happens in these models, so that the general conclusions of [11] apply. Therefore the simple mechanism for producing a scale invariant spectrum of perturbations proposed in the ekpyrotic/cyclic scenarios does not work. The fluctuations in the field leading the contracting phase have a very blue spectrum, which is completely negligible on the scales of cosmological interest. This motivates us to look for an additional source of perturbations.

Nothing exotic happens in these models, so that the general conclusions of apply.


The worn surface and wear debris of the nanocomposite samples are shown in Fig. 10 . As seen, the grooves of different sizes and shallow craters are evident in the worn surface. In addition, examination of the wear debris for this sample revealed a plate or sheet-like also as described by Alpas and Embury [14] . Fig. 11 shows the SEM micrographs of worn surface for hybrid nanocomposite reinforced with 4 wt% (Al 2 O 3 + TiO 2 ) nanoparticles under a normal load (12. 5 N) at various magnifications, it can be seen no longer stay on the worn surface. The hard nanoparticles of (Alumina + Titania) exist between the pin (sample) and disk surfaces. Therefore, the wear mechanism for this sample is a combination of delamination and abrasion. The effect of sliding time on wear rate for base alloy and hybrid nanocomposites with various percentages of (Al 2 O 3 + TiO 2 ) nanoparticles is shown in Fig. 13 at constant load of 7.5 N, and sliding distance of 7 cm.

In addition, examination of the wear debris for this sample revealed a plate or sheet-like also as described by Alpas and Embury.


Meat consumption has increased during the last decades although different trends can be observed in different countries in this way. In developing countries the meat consumption has been documented to rise (+1.5%) while in developed countries a decrease (−0.5%) has been observed [1] . At the same time, consumers' habits have changed; the current consumption trend is towards lean meat, nevertheless a higher consumption of meat products as convenience products has also been reported (processed meat +4%) [2] . Meat products like Bologna type cooked sausage are very popular in Europe. Because of their appeal to the consumer and affordable cost, they constitute an important product in the diet of many families, therefore alternatives to improve the nutritional composition of the fat fraction in Bologna type cooked sausage can render in effective strategies for better fat ingestion of the population.

In developing countries the meat consumption has been documented to rise (+1.5%) while in developed countries a decrease (−0.5%) has been observed.

At the same time, consumers' habits have changed; the current consumption trend is towards lean meat, nevertheless a higher consumption of meat products as convenience products has also been reported (processed meat +4%).


Anthracnose (ANT), caused by hemibiotrophic fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. and Magnus) Briosi and Cavara, is one important fungal pathogen affecting the sustainability of bean production worldwide. Mild temperatures and high humidity favor disease development that can lead to a complete crop failure (Trabanco et al., 2015) . The pathogen can attack all aerial parts of bean plants and damage can reach up to 100 % yield loss in extreme cases (Singh and Schwartz, 2010) .

Mild temperatures and high humidity favor disease development that can lead to a complete crop failure.

The pathogen can attack all aerial parts of bean plants and damage can reach up to 100 % yield loss in extreme cases.


Another very related work is PointGuard [14] . The PointGuard system exclusive-or's all function pointers with a random value chosen at startup. In a way this can be thought of like pointer encryption except it assumes that attackers will only read or modify a single pointer. Once an attacker has read several pointers the secret exclusive-or value can be computed. Cryptographically secure encryption (or MAC'ing) by itself provides little as functions can be swapped. CCFI improvement over PointGuard is realizing the connection between inputs to a MAC and CFI. Another problem is that modifying pointers in-place meant that a lot more program/library changes are required. Pointers had to be manually decrypted/encrypted when issuing system calls.

Another very related work is PointGuard.


Forward edge CFI is a new system that enforces finegrain classification for function pointer only [26] . Like CCFI, forward edge CFI offers fine grain classification of function pointers, but does nothing for return addresses. Return addresses are left unprotected falling back to existing mechanisms that are known to be weak. As with previous CFI systems, forward edge CFI does not have the runtime benefits that CCFI does.

Forward edge CFI is a new system that enforces finegrain classification for function pointer only.


The town of Yaounde has a high level of urbanization, and the access to good quality water still remains an expectation for the inhabitants. This water deficit imposes on the population to reuse water flowing through the marshy areas in agriculture (Kengne et al. 2002) . This has the advantage of enriching the irrigated soils and plants with nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. The issuing wastewater is a potential source of viral, bacterial and parasitic contamination (Youssef and Driss 2007) . The present aims of this study are isolating and identifying the various forms of resistance of intestinal helminths that are present in the marshy areas in Yaounde and assessing the role played by environmental factors for their dissemination.

This water deficit imposes on the population to reuse water flowing through the marshy areas in agriculture.

The issuing wastewater is a potential source of viral, bacterial and parasitic contamination.


Measuring page walk latency. As a primary evaluation metric for ASAP, we use page walk latency. We functionally model memory hierarchy of an Intel Broadwell-like processor using a simulator based on DynamoRIO [36] . The parameters of the simulated CPU are shown in Table 5 .

Measuring page walk latency.

We functionally model memory hierarchy of an Intel Broadwell-like processor using a simulator based on DynamoRIO.


A second element to further the product knowledge mapping method is work to gather more detailed bills of attributes. It is typical for bills of attributes to specify materials and components in general terms and it is likely that the resulting range from knowledge-based bounds will, in many cases, be large. In contrast with process material flows, bills of attributes in LCA have received almost no attention in research and data development (Kahhat et al., 2011; Kasulaitis et al., 2015) . It is worth distinguishing between extrinsic (e.g. country of origin) and intrinsic (quality attributes). While quality can in principle be determined from a sample of the product, in general, extrinsic attributes require knowledge of its history available only to manufacturers. Depending on the material, there are opportunities to improve product knowledge. Considering steel, for example, recent trends and technologies contribute to better product knowledge. Materials documentation required for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification leads to better information on product origin. The type of steel used in a structural design is typically specified by the steel code and/or the design (in the US), and handheld XRF analyzers allow simple measurement of steel type.

In contrast with process material flows, bills of attributes in LCA have received almost no attention in research and data development.


Electric vehicles (EVs) are propelled by an electric motor that is supplied with power from a rechargeable battery [1] [2] [3] . Performance characteristics required for many EV specifications far exceed the capabilities of conventional battery systems: cost, weight, driving range and reliability of the vehicle are strongly influenced by the characteristics of the battery. However, as battery technology improves, the charging of these batteries becomes very complicated due to the high voltages and currents involved in the system and also by the sophisticated charging algorithms [4, 5] .

Electric vehicles (EVs) are propelled by an electric motor that is supplied with power from a rechargeable battery.

However, as battery technology improves, the charging of these batteries becomes very complicated due to the high voltages and currents involved in the system and also by the sophisticated charging algorithms.


This study found that the drive stroke was the most frequent type of shot performed during elite women's squash rallies. From a tactical perspective, the drive stroke is an indication of a defensive game strategy. Previous studies also report a similar finding with drive stroke as the most preferred stroke performed during rallies (Murray & Hughes, 2001; Vučković et al., 2006; Vucković et al., 2013) . By playing a drive stroke to the back of the court, a player can move their opponent away from the optimum position (i.e., at the centre of court) and plan their next shot. This playing style has been called the defensive game plan as it is associated with the lowest percentage of winner shots (Vučković et al., 2006) . A good drive stroke is played when the ball is performed tight to the side and end walls of the court. Players then have time to regain control on rally and plan other shots to win point, while their opponent's opportunity to respond with a winning or offensive shot is limited.

Previous studies also report a similar finding with drive stroke as the most preferred stroke performed during rallies.

This playing style has been called the defensive game plan as it is associated with the lowest percentage of winner shots.


Recently, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), in which oxygen-based radicals (•OH, HO 2 •, and 2 O − •) are generated in situ from water and O 2 , have been applied to dye degradation. These species take part in different reactions to degrade dye molecules completely. The processes are cleaner because dyes totally decompose to low-molecular-weight compounds (e.g., small aldehydes, carboxylic acids or small inorganic compounds), CO 2 , and H 2 O, and no significant or solid secondary pollution is generated. Most applied techniques in AOPs are UV photolytic technique, Fenton process, photo-Fenton process, ozonation, sonolysis, photocatalysis, biodegradation and radiation-induced degradation of dyes as it is depicted in Figure 1 [6] .

Most applied techniques in AOPs are UV photolytic technique, Fenton process, photo-Fenton process, ozonation, sonolysis, photocatalysis, biodegradation and radiation-induced degradation of dyes as it is depicted in Figure 1.


Electricity has been regarded as a unique commodity in the energy market under the reformation of the energy economy because it is hard to store and it is closely related to peoples' livelihood. Electricity price plays an important role in the power market because it balances market demand and market supply [1] . The future price of electricity is the indicator of the market demand for electricity generators as well as for the performance of the profitability of the electricity market. In addition, the nonstorable nature of electricity requires maintaining a constant balance between demand and supply. Therefore, an accurate electricity price forecasting method plays an important role in the electricity industry because not only can it help the generators and decision-makers to generate more profit, but it can also help to reduce waste of the electricity. However, the price of electricity is affected by many factors, including the demand of the market, electricity net transport, weather, and many other uncertain factors [2] .

Electricity price plays an important role in the power market because it balances market demand and market supply.

However, the price of electricity is affected by many factors, including the demand of the market, electricity net transport, weather, and many other uncertain factors.


It is widely accepted that combination forecasts can achieve desirable results [8, 9] . In several research studies, combination forecasts have generally been shown to have outstanding performance in comparison to single forecasts [10] . Because the main idea of a combination forecast is assigning weights to the combined forecasts according to the contribution of the combined forecasts, it is an important task to select a reasonable combination method. Traditional combination methods have restrictions on weight: assigning negative values is not allowed and the sum of the weights must be 1. In this way, traditional combination methods have low forecasting accuracies. The CPSO weight-determined combination method allows weights of combined models to take values of [−1, 1], which overcomes the shortage of traditional combination models caused by the no negative constraint on weight. Furthermore, the CPSO weight-determined combination method has inherited several advantages of an artificial intelligence algorithm to flexibly search for the best solutions. Several combination models are compared, and their forecasting results are analyzed carefully in this paper. The results indicate that CPSO weight-determined combination models outperform traditional combination models.

It is widely accepted that combination forecasts can achieve desirable results.

In several research studies, combination forecasts have generally been shown to have outstanding performance in comparison to single forecasts.


There were no significant differences on any of the major pretest measures, including multiple text comprehension, passage comprehension, strategy composite, and motivation (see Table 4 ). To analyze posttest data, we conducted analyses of covariance on each of these variables with the reading outcome as the dependent variable, instructional condition as the independent variable, and the quality of program implementation as the covariate (see Table  5 ). Effect sizes were computed using the pooled sample standard deviation of the posttests because that was the time of comparison (Hedges & Olkin, 1985) . On the posttest of multiple text comprehension, CORI (M ϭ 3.65) was significantly higher than SI (M ϭ 2.87), with an effect size of 1.01. On the posttest of passage comprehension, CORI (M ϭ 0.56) was significantly higher than SI (M ϭ 0.31), with an effect size of 1.32. When the contribution of implementation quality to multiple text comprehension was controlled, CORI had a significant advantage over SI. It is noteworthy that the standard error of measurement of the CORI group in In the analysis of covariance on the posttest measure of the comprehension strategy composite, CORI (M ϭ 7.72) was significantly higher than SI (M ϭ 1.80), with an effect size of 1.23. In the analysis of covariance on the posttest measure of reading motivation composite, CORI (M ϭ 14.50) was significantly higher than SI (M ϭ 13.71), with an effect size of 0.98. On the posttests of activating background knowledge, questioning, and searching, the analysis of covariance showed no significant differences between instructional conditions. In sum, CORI was higher at posttest than SI on multiple text comprehension, passage comprehension, the reading strategy composite, and the reading motivation composite, although CORI and SI were not significantly different on these variables on the pretests.

Effect sizes were computed using the pooled sample standard deviation of the posttests because that was the time of comparison.


This investigation has limitations that should be mentioned. The number of classrooms included in these studies provided sufficient power to conduct our analyses at the classroom level, but a larger number of classrooms would have been preferable. The studies were done with third graders, and so, we do not know how or whether the findings might generalize to other age groups. We believe it is a strength of the study that different kinds of motivation measures (self-reporting and teacher ratings) were used, but acknowledge that each of these types of measures provides a limited sense of students' motivation. Other kinds of motivational measures and measures of engagement, such as classroom observations, should be included in future studies. Many of the reading comprehension measures focused on science, which was appropriate given that all classrooms studied this content area and the particular topics in it. However, we do not know if CORI's effects extend to other content areas, although results of a previous study on CORI suggest that they do (Guthrie et al., 1999) . Finally, the research design did not permit us to determine precisely which aspects of the CORI treatment produced the effects favoring CORI students. As noted earlier, we do not think it would be meaningful to isolate each individual aspect of the CORI program, but perhaps different combinations of the motivation support and strategyinstructional practices could be examined.

However, we do not know if CORI's effects extend to other content areas, although results of a previous study on CORI suggest that they do.


Interesting texts also provide mutual cognitive and motivational benefits (Schiefele, 1999) . When students are interested in what they read, they process the material more deeply, gain richer conceptual understandings, and engage more fully with the text. CORI teachers were provided numerous texts that were tied to the conceptual theme of the CORI units and that were selected because of text features thought to be interesting to students. However, our analyses of implementation quality did not find differences favoring CORI in the use of interesting texts. CORI teachers viewed their texts as less interesting than SI or TI teachers. Therefore, we are cautious about attributing effects to this variable. Finally, collaboration with other students has been shown to have both cognitive and motivational benefits for students (Webb & Palincsar, 1996) .

Interesting texts also provide mutual cognitive and motivational benefits.

Finally, collaboration with other students has been shown to have both cognitive and motivational benefits for students.


Several works have been reported using scalable permutation logic with variable number of points and folding factors. A major drawback of these approaches is the large amount of consumed hardware resources [4] [5] [6] . Addressing schemes were introduced by Johnson as an alternative able to significantly reduce the amount of consumed hardware resources [7] . Many FFT implementations have been reported to follow the concept of addressing schemes. Some have used a non-scalable approach targeted to specific applications [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] . Others provide scalable implementations in terms the number of FFT points [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] .

A major drawback of these approaches is the large amount of consumed hardware resources.

Addressing schemes were introduced by Johnson as an alternative able to significantly reduce the amount of consumed hardware resources.

Some have used a non-scalable approach targeted to specific applications.

Others provide scalable implementations in terms the number of FFT points.


The counterflow diffusion flame model, describing a fundamental combustion configuration, can be applied for solving combustion problems [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] . The mathematical model of the heat and mass transport processes must take numbers of chemical reactions, gas-phase multi-component viscosities, thermal conductivities, diffusion coefficients, thermal diffusion coefficients, thermodynamics and chemical rates into consideration [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] . However, the combination of counterflow diffusion flame and surface ablation of charring materials has never been reported. In this paper, the problem of the protection of pyrolysis gases combustion against charring materials' surface ablation is solved by numerical methods on the basis of the counterflow diffusion flame.

The counterflow diffusion flame model, describing a fundamental combustion configuration, can be applied for solving combustion problems.

The mathematical model of the heat and mass transport processes must take numbers of chemical reactions, gas-phase multi-component viscosities, thermal conductivities, diffusion coefficients, thermal diffusion coefficients, thermodynamics and chemical rates into consideration.


Charring ablation material is the first choice for the thermal protection system of a vehicle subjected to severe aerodynamic environment during hypersonic reentry [1] [2] [3] . The pyrolysis of charring ablation materials and the flow of pyrolysis gases in the material can bring off amounts of heat [4] [5] [6] [7] . Meanwhile, the char on the material surface usually ablates because it reacts with the oxygen in the boundary layer behind the shock wave. Based on the thermal protection mechanism of charring materials, researchers developed three types of physical and mathematical models for the materials [5, [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] . A heat conduction equation combining with the Arrhenius law was widely used to estimate the pyrolysis of a charring material avoiding seeking moving interfaces in the material. The other two models -the pyrolysis interface model and the pyrolysis layer model -were built well, reflecting the materials' multilayer phenomenon. Regrettably, there are still deficiencies in the three types of models above, especially the surface ablation rate considered in them as a function of surface temperature without pyrolysis gases reacting with oxygen. Actually, this surface ablation rate depends not only on the surface temperature, but also on the combustion of pyrolysis gases.

Charring ablation material is the first choice for the thermal protection system of a vehicle subjected to severe aerodynamic environment during hypersonic reentry.

The pyrolysis of charring ablation materials and the flow of pyrolysis gases in the material can bring off amounts of heat.

Based on the thermal protection mechanism of charring materials, researchers developed three types of physical and mathematical models for the materials.


Signal integrity is emerging as an important issue as VLSI technology advances to nanoscale regime. Of particular importance among the signal integrity issues is the power supply noise. In today's deep submicron CMOS technology, devices are of smaller feature size, faster switching speed, and higher integration density. Large current spikes due to a large number of "simultaneous" switching events in the circuit within a short period of time can cause considerable IR drop and Ldi dt noise over the power supply network [2] .

Large current spikes due to a large number of "simultaneous" switching events in the circuit within a short period of time can cause considerable IR drop and Ldi dt noise over the power supply network.


Thus, the sliding wear of the wheel-rail contact can be catastrophic. This can result in that the accompanying emitted airborne particles will increase the PM levels in subway stations. On the other hand, the relevant wear test data are limited. Specifically, experimental tests have been conducted to simulate the sliding wheel-rail contacts in terms of the identification of the wear mode and the characteristics of generated airborne wear particles [5] [6] [7] . A relative narrow selection of contact conditions has been considered in all these studies. However, the field operation conditions can be more complex and beyond the reported region in some cases, such as for a heavy braking or acceleration in a sharp curved track [8] . Also, it can be expected that a high sliding velocity can yield a large amount of frictional heat. This, in turn, will elevate the contact temperature at the wheel-rail contact interface. Such temperature variations could trigger a thermal or chemical process and therefore result in an increased generation of sub-micrometer (\1 lm) particles [9] . Also, a high contact temperature enables the formation of oxide layers in the wheel rail contact and influences the wear performance [10, 11] . However, few test data are known to verify that statement. In the view of the human health, there is evidence that some potential adverse health effects can be caused by an inhalation of submicron particles during a longer period [12] [13] [14] . Thus, it is of importance to investigate the generation mechanism of airborne particles, and in particular submicron particles, from the wear process of a sliding wheel-rail contact for different sliding velocities.

Specifically, experimental tests have been conducted to simulate the sliding wheel-rail contacts in terms of the identification of the wear mode and the characteristics of generated airborne wear particles.

However, the field operation conditions can be more complex and beyond the reported region in some cases, such as for a heavy braking or acceleration in a sharp curved track.

Such temperature variations could trigger a thermal or chemical process and therefore result in an increased generation of sub-micrometer (\1 lm) particles.

Also, a high contact temperature enables the formation of oxide layers in the wheel rail contact and influences the wear performance.

In the view of the human health, there is evidence that some potential adverse health effects can be caused by an inhalation of submicron particles during a longer period.


Mortars have been used since ancient times as wall finishing materials and their composition varied according to the nature of the binder, but the majority of historical mortars in Europe are lime-based (Elsen, 2006) . Historical building finishings are usually based on mortar renders, plasterwork and paintings. Renders perform a protective function for masonry and define the aesthetic appearance of buildings (Faria, et al., 2010) .

Mortars have been used since ancient times as wall finishing materials and their composition varied according to the nature of the binder, but the majority of historical mortars in Europe are lime-based.

Renders perform a protective function for masonry and define the aesthetic appearance of buildings.


In process control, the internal model control (IMC) scheme has gained high popularity due to the good disturbance rejection capabilities and the robustness properties of IMC structure. Furthermore, the controller design is simple and straightforward such that the controller can easily be tuned on line [1] . For the linear process, the IMC controller design is theoretically well explored because there are many effective methods for the development of linear models from input output data. In practice, however, almost every process exhibits significant nonlinear behavior. Especially if a nonlinear process is driven in a wide operating range, the nonlinear characteristic is more obvious. Hence, aiming at the features of nonlinear process, more and more IMC controller design methods have been proposed. In the implementation of nonlinear internal model control (NIMC), the determination of a process model represents an important stage of the development. Furthermore, the inversion of the nonlinear model is shown to play a crucial role [2] . Because neural networks (NNs) are capable of approximating any nonlinear dynamics with an arbitrary degree of accuracy, the neural networks based nonlinear internal model control (NN IMC) has attracted much attention [3] [4] [5] . The core idea of NN IMC is that NN model and NN inverse model are utilized as the internal model and the IMC controller, respectively. However, it is considerably difficult to obtain an inverse model of the nonlinear process by using NNs. Furthermore, most neural networks use gradient-based training method like back-propagation and often suffer from the existence of local minima, over-fitting. In addition, it is also lack of theoretical guidance to choose a suitable neural networks structure such as the number of hidden layer and neurons.

Furthermore, the controller design is simple and straightforward such that the controller can easily be tuned on line.

Furthermore, the inversion of the nonlinear model is shown to play a crucial role.

Because neural networks (NNs) are capable of approximating any nonlinear dynamics with an arbitrary degree of accuracy, the neural networks based nonlinear internal model control (NN IMC) has attracted much attention.


As a novel machine learning algorithm, support vector machines (SVM) has been proved to be a powerful replacement for NNs in many areas. So far, several theoretical and experimental studies on model identification and control using SVM have been reported in the paper [2] [6] [7] [8] . Compared with NNs, SVM has many advantages, such as nonexistence of local minima solutions, automatic choice of model complexity, good generalization performance and so on. As an interesting modification of the standard support vector machines, least squares support vector machines (LS-SVMs) have been proposed by Suykens and Vandewalle for solving pattern recognition and nonlinear function estimation problems. LS-SVM takes equality instead of inequality constraints of SVM in the problem formulation. As the result, LS-SVM is easier to training and the global optimal solution can be uniquely obtained by solving a set of linear equations. In this paper, an IMC based on LS-SVM for a class of nonlinear process is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of NN IMC. The simulation results show that the nonlinear process identification based on LS-SVM has higher precision and better generalization than RBF NN method, and IMC based on LS-SVM could achieve a good dynamic performance and robustness.

So far, several theoretical and experimental studies on model identification and control using SVM have been reported in the paper.


The focus of requirements-based testing is to design a necessary and sufficient set of tests from the requirement specifications to ensure that the design and code fully meet the requirements. The cause-effect graph formulates the requirements specification in terms of logical between inputs and outputs of a software system [1] . Recently, the use of Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solving for pairwise test generation from the cause-effect graph has been proposed [2, 3] .

The cause-effect graph formulates the requirements specification in terms of logical between inputs and outputs of a software system.

Recently, the use of Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solving for pairwise test generation from the cause-effect graph has been proposed.


Pairwise testing is a combinatorial technique to reduce the total number of tests while still achieving the desired quality. Given a set of input parameters, a pairwise test set consists of tests which capture all possible combinations of pairs of input parameter values. Pairwise testing is based on the premise that most software faults can be captured by either single-value inputs or by an interaction between pairs of input values. Studies have shown pairwise testing to be a very practical and effective software testing criterion even though the size of test sets is dramatically reduced [4] [5] [6] [7] .

Studies have shown pairwise testing to be a very practical and effective software testing criterion even though the size of test sets is dramatically reduced.


The use of SAT solving for pairwise test generation from the cause-effect graph has been shown to be effective in dealing with constraints on inputs and exploiting the structural information of the cause-effect graph [3] . In the previous study, we developed a tool named "CEGPairGen" that automates the whole process of generating pairwise tests from cause-effect graphs [2] . It produces a test generator written in Java KodKod that generates pairwise tests from a given cause-effect graph. Kodkod is an efficient SAT-based constraint solver for first order logic with relations [8] . It is designed as a plugin component that can be easily incorporated into other tools and provides a clean Java programming interface that can efficiently construct, manipulate, and solve constraints.

The use of SAT solving for pairwise test generation from the cause-effect graph has been shown to be effective in dealing with constraints on inputs and exploiting the structural information of the cause-effect graph.

In the previous study, we developed a tool named "CEGPairGen" that automates the whole process of generating pairwise tests from cause-effect graphs.

Kodkod is an efficient SAT-based constraint solver for first order logic with relations.


Barycenters in the Wasserstein space are an interesting topic in their own right. Barycenters of probability measures on general length spaces have attracted quite a bit of attention recently, in large part because of their relationship to curvature. In spaces with Alexandrov curvature bounded above, the behaviour of barycenters is fairly well understood; see the work of Sturm [28] . The study of barycenters on spaces with curvature bounded below has recently been initiated by Ohta, and remains in its infancy [21] . It is, however, already apparent that barycenters on spaces with lower curvature bounds are not as well behaved as their counterparts on spaces with upper curvature bounds. In particular, on spaces with non-positive curvature, each measure admits a unique barycenter, whereas on spaces with non-negative curvature, barycenters may be non-unique. As an elementary example, every point on the equator is a barycenter of the north and south pole on the unit sphere.

In spaces with Alexandrov curvature bounded above, the behaviour of barycenters is fairly well understood; see the work of Sturm.

The study of barycenters on spaces with curvature bounded below has recently been initiated by Ohta, and remains in its infancy.


It is well known that the Wasserstein space over R n does not have nonpositive Alexandrov curvature [2] . The work of Agueh and Carlier provides uniqueness and regularity results, as well as a characterization of the barycenter of finitely many points in the Wasserstein space, under certain regularity conditions. Our first contribution is to extend their uniqueness and regularity result to a continuous curve µ t of measures. It is also worth noting that our techniques here can be used to extend some of the results of Agueh and Carlier to other underlying spaces; in particular, we prove uniqueness of barycenters in the Wasserstein space over a Riemannian manifold.

It is well known that the Wasserstein space over R n does not have nonpositive Alexandrov curvature.


Several paper models were constructed for rolling-contact mechanisms using developable surfaces. These were constructed by designing the mechanism in the flat state where the construction bands are straight lines and then increasing the ruling curvature of the surface while holding the ruling line positions fixed to make the formed 3D shape. One interesting paper rolling-contact mechanism was created from a convex hull of two disks, similar to an oloid. The width of the developed (flat) pattern of this shape is 4R where R is the radius of the semicircle caps, and the height 3.535R as shown in Fig. 11 . This shape is a general developable (using two or more types of the four fundamental developable surfaces) and a rolling developable as it develops its entire surface on a plane as it rolls [48] . Figure 11 also shows a folded paper prototype of this oloid-like rolling-contact mechanism.

This shape is a general developable (using two or more types of the four fundamental developable surfaces) and a rolling developable as it develops its entire surface on a plane as it rolls.


Building energy conservation from whole-of-life perspective did not receive adequate attention. Legal measures are taken to keep the sustainable development of countries, including sustainable building [81] . However, the assessment of the energy demand for residential buildings mainly concentrates on the energy consumption of operation, especially the thermal energy. In contrast, the embodied energy and the transportation energy consumption of buildings are usually ignored [82] . The key issues of the building energy assessment are energy calculation and life cycle analysis, although they are mainly overlooked in regulations and certification recommendations [83] . It is crucial to examine the building energy conservation by a whole-of-life approach [84, 85] . These include the embodied, operational and user-transport energy reduction measures for the building sector [86] . These three kinds of energy consumption are almost equally important [83] . It is necessary to introduce comprehensive policies related to building energy conservation so that the energy demand in the whole life cycle of buildings can be reduced [87] .

Legal measures are taken to keep the sustainable development of countries, including sustainable building.

In contrast, the embodied energy and the transportation energy consumption of buildings are usually ignored.

The key issues of the building energy assessment are energy calculation and life cycle analysis, although they are mainly overlooked in regulations and certification recommendations.

It is crucial to examine the building energy conservation by a whole-of-life approach.

These include the embodied, operational and user-transport energy reduction measures for the building sector.

These three kinds of energy consumption are almost equally important.

It is necessary to introduce comprehensive policies related to building energy conservation so that the energy demand in the whole life cycle of buildings can be reduced.


The institutional functions of energy conservation management need to be clearly clarified. NDRC is the competent authority of energy conservation. MOHURD is the competent authority of building industry. MIIT is the competent authority of building materials industry. MOHURD is responsible for energy conservation of civil buildings. NGOA is in charge of energy conservation of public institutions. The management institutions and policies of building energy conservation are different in different countries. There is no specialized energy management department in Germany. The Ministry of traffic, construction and urban supervises the building energy conservation and other issues [76] . In Japan, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is in charge of energy management, and the functional departments are in charge of specific building energy conservation affairs [77] . The U.S. Energy Policy Act was published in 1978. It authorizes the Department of Energy to make policies and manage the energy sector [78, 79] . The "Energy Star", promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, is the most typical building energy-efficiency labeling standard in U.S. [80] . Compared with the building energy conservation effort in the developed countries, the mixed management system has led to the overlapped duties of different government authorities. This also results in the decentralized building energy management across different sectors. Furthermore, there is lack of balance between the different stages of building energy conservation. For instance, the design inspection of building energy conservation is strictly implemented. However, the management of the construction, supervision, completion acceptance, energy conservation test and certification are still underdeveloped in some regions. These have shown negative impacts on the building energy conservation.

The Ministry of traffic, construction and urban supervises the building energy conservation and other issues.

In Japan, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is in charge of energy management, and the functional departments are in charge of specific building energy conservation affairs.

It authorizes the Department of Energy to make policies and manage the energy sector.

The "Energy Star", promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, is the most typical building energy-efficiency labeling standard in U.S..


Calculations have shown that different FSW zones demonstrate distinct deformation response to loading due to peculiar combinations of the grain geometry and crystallographic texture. Both grain shape and texture were found to affect the plastic strain localization patterns to a lesser or greater extent. In all cases, however, the presence of texture gave rise to earlier plastic strain localization on a larger scale. The highest stresses were found to develop in a non-textured specimen with equiaxed grains where the grain boundaries served as a barrier to dislocation motion. On the early deformation stage, the plastic strains in the equiaxed polycrystal mainly localized along grain boundaries, while the larger-scale strain localization in the form of shear bands involving whole groups of grains developed on a later deformation stage. In both equiaxed and extended grain structures with a strong cubic texture no pronounced strain localization was seen on the grain scale but mesoscale shear bands appeared early in the deformation process. Regardless of the grain structure, the mesoscale shear bands run through the whole specimens across the tensile axes, that is, in agreement with experimental evidence for aluminum alloys [19] .

Regardless of the grain structure, the mesoscale shear bands run through the whole specimens across the tensile axes, that is, in agreement with experimental evidence for aluminum alloys.


The cochannel interference and multipath effects of wireless communication systems can be reduced by using directional antennas [1] [2] [3] [4] . Some of the current point-to-multipoint systems are using horn antennas for this reason, but the horn antennas are too bulky to be integrated with the rest of the wireless packages and suffer high cost of fabrication. Tapered slot antennas (notch antenna, Vivaldi antenna) have been widely used in phased and active arrays for radar systems for many years [5, 6] . They are good candidates for multifunction communication applications because of their stable directional patterns and consistent impedance matching over a very broad operating frequency range without any tuning elements as well as low profile and unobtrusive planar structures. Therefore, they have been proposed for emerging UWB wireless communications and radar applications [7] [8] [9] [10] .

The cochannel interference and multipath effects of wireless communication systems can be reduced by using directional antennas.

Tapered slot antennas (notch antenna, Vivaldi antenna) have been widely used in phased and active arrays for radar systems for many years.

Therefore, they have been proposed for emerging UWB wireless communications and radar applications.


Increased levels of the amino-acid asparagine may have occurred as a consequence of the increase in protein degradation that induces ammonium accumulation [50] . Under these conditions, increased asparagine synthesis prevents ammonium toxicity in the cells and regulates nitrogen levels, as reported in sunflower plants exposed to several abiotic stresses [51] . Therefore, the results of this study suggest that increased levels of these amino acids maintain metabolic processes and prevent damage to cells through thermal stress, including loss of membrane integrity and denaturation of enzymes and proteins.

Increased levels of the amino-acid asparagine may have occurred as a consequence of the increase in protein degradation that induces ammonium accumulation.

Under these conditions, increased asparagine synthesis prevents ammonium toxicity in the cells and regulates nitrogen levels, as reported in sunflower plants exposed to several abiotic stresses.


Women have, characteristically, reported more sleep problems than men [11, 12] . However, using data from the American's Use of Time Project, Hale found that men were significantly more likely than women to be ''short sleepers''-defined as sleeping less than 6.5 h per night [9] . Results obtained by other investigators corroborate these findings [13, 14] . Thus, the sleep problems reported by women would seem not to be related to total sleep time, but attributable to other factors. Arber, Bote, and Meadows found that while women reported significantly more sleep problems than men, this appeared to be largely attributable to the relative socioeconomically disadvantaged status of women relative to men [11] .

Women have, characteristically, reported more sleep problems than men.

However, using data from the American's Use of Time Project, Hale found that men were significantly more likely than women to be ''short sleepers''-defined as sleeping less than 6.5 h per night.

Results obtained by other investigators corroborate these findings.

Arber, Bote, and Meadows found that while women reported significantly more sleep problems than men, this appeared to be largely attributable to the relative socioeconomically disadvantaged status of women relative to men.


Convergence diagnostics are also sometimes used to terminate the simulation (Cowles and Carlin 1996) . Some convergence diagnostics are available in software (e.g., the R package boa) and hence may be considered automated. However, none of the diagnostics of which we are aware explicitly addresses how wellḡ n estimates E π g; this is discussed again in Section 4.1.1.

Convergence diagnostics are also sometimes used to terminate the simulation.


A quick and efficient maize kernel-screening assay (KSA) for evaluating resistance to aflatoxin production in a large number of genotypes was developed at the SRRC [2, 3] . Laboratory-based KSA can be used as a pre-screening tool in a resistance-breeding program [3] . The SRRC also has the state-of-the-art proteomics technology that has been employed to identify and characterize kernel resistance-associated proteins (RAPs) [4, 5] . In 1998, these mutually beneficial strengths of the two institutions prompted a formal research collaboration that brought together complementary research efforts on elimination of aflatoxin contamination in maize [1] .

A quick and efficient maize kernel-screening assay (KSA) for evaluating resistance to aflatoxin production in a large number of genotypes was developed at the SRRC.

Laboratory-based KSA can be used as a pre-screening tool in a resistance-breeding program.

The SRRC also has the state-of-the-art proteomics technology that has been employed to identify and characterize kernel resistance-associated proteins (RAPs).

In 1998, these mutually beneficial strengths of the two institutions prompted a formal research collaboration that brought together complementary research efforts on elimination of aflatoxin contamination in maize.


As a variant of FSW, friction stir spot welding (FSSW) has been proposed to realise a spot weld. It shows great potential to be a replacement of single-point joining processes like resistance spot welding and riveting, and it has wider applications in aerospace, aviation, and automobile fields [7] . Up to now, there are many reports about FSSW, which mainly focus on the process, microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties, and numerical simulations. This review will summarise these aspects about FSSW.

It shows great potential to be a replacement of single-point joining processes like resistance spot welding and riveting, and it has wider applications in aerospace, aviation, and automobile fields.


Friction stir welding (FSW) was developed by TWI in 1991 [3, 4] . It offers various advantages such as small thermal deformation, sound mechanical properties, fine and uniform weld microstructure, high welding efficiency, and green welding process, which has received considerable attention in welding aluminium alloys [5] [6] [7] . As FSW is developed, studies on FSW of other advanced materials, such as magnesium alloys, copper alloys, titanium alloys, steels, and superalloys, have been reported.

Friction stir welding (FSW) was developed by TWI in 1991.

It offers various advantages such as small thermal deformation, sound mechanical properties, fine and uniform weld microstructure, high welding efficiency, and green welding process, which has received considerable attention in welding aluminium alloys.