Oil industry has undergone many evolutionary stages and paradigm shifts in going from a low production (according to demand and the production itself) to mass production (due to increasing in market demands and/or to increase revenue); then to lean production (to decrease and/or control oil prices), to recommended next stage (agile oil production). Business are restructuring and reengineering themselves in response to the challenges and demands of the twenty-first century [1] . The petroleum companies of the twenty first century will have to overcome the challenges of demanding customers who will seek crude oil quantity with stable oil prices. Petroleum companies competing primarily based on exploration and production zones although oil prices actually competed in the global marketplace. The oil consumption is growing day after day. The average local and international consumption of oil grew by high percentage comparing with past consumption.

Business are restructuring and reengineering themselves in response to the challenges and demands of the twenty-first century.


An empirical study was conducted to identify the relationship and differences between models of competitive manufacturing and business performance outcomes [27] . Three models of competitive manufacturing; flexible, lean and agile were analyzed for attaining competitive objectives such as cost, quality, speed, custom production, volume flexibility and leadership. The exploitation of 20 criteria agile model was suggested to quantify and analyze the level of agility of prevailing companies [28] . This model was adopted from literature and was proposed after refinement. An empirical research was presented to investigate results of profile of agile companies and the practical tools adopted by the companies to achieve agility by Bottani [29] . A questionnaire was designed to explore agility drivers by surveying more than 180 companies, about 65% of which were small and medium enterprises related with different fields (i.e. plant manufacturing, health care, food industries, utilities and commercial firms). The result suggested the employee role and response to unpredictable change as the main characteristics of agile companies. Analysis and measuring the agility level in petroleum companies is considered as a new evaluation and is still an ill-structured problem , and until now, the concepts of agility level is still unclear and unknown not only in most petroleum companies but also in almost all oil industry. The contribution of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the petroleum companies considering agility concepts (issues) for oil industry modernization. These issues can be presented as a framework for analysis and evaluation of petroleum companies considering agility.

An empirical study was conducted to identify the relationship and differences between models of competitive manufacturing and business performance outcomes.

The exploitation of 20 criteria agile model was suggested to quantify and analyze the level of agility of prevailing companies.

An empirical research was presented to investigate results of profile of agile companies and the practical tools adopted by the companies to achieve agility by Bottani.


A novel model to measure agility level of the manufacturing firms based on existing technologies, level of qualifying people, manufacturing strategies, and management systems and the business process was presented [13] . A suggested analysis for evaluation of industrial enterprises based on new performance criteria complexity and agility was introduced by Garbie [14] . A framework for research and development of agile manufacturing system by describing the issues related with agility was discussed [15, 16] . The adoption of key strategies, usage of technology organizational issues and human resource development factors were identified as enablers of agility. The phase of management by concentrating on team-based work (team attributes) necessary to facilitate agile manufacturing by the help of framework to balance the work system was highlighted by Yauch [17] . An agility index was measured by an approximate reasoning analogous method taking into account the knowledge included in fuzzy IF-THEN rules [18] . The methodology was based on group of quantitative metrics which uses operational characteristics such as changeover time, product variety, and number of manufacturing routes by focusing on four infrastructures to formulate mathematical model. These were production infrastructure, market infrastructure, people and information infrastructure. A comprehensive questionnaire was presented for monitoring various agility factors.

A novel model to measure agility level of the manufacturing firms based on existing technologies, level of qualifying people, manufacturing strategies, and management systems and the business process was presented.

A suggested analysis for evaluation of industrial enterprises based on new performance criteria complexity and agility was introduced by Garbie.

A framework for research and development of agile manufacturing system by describing the issues related with agility was discussed.

The phase of management by concentrating on team-based work (team attributes) necessary to facilitate agile manufacturing by the help of framework to balance the work system was highlighted by Yauch.

An agility index was measured by an approximate reasoning analogous method taking into account the knowledge included in fuzzy IF-THEN rules.


The two NHI-phenotypes were cultured in RPMI 1640 Glutamax (GibcoBRL Life Technologies, Paisley, Scotland, UK) supplemented with 10% FCS (GibcoBRL) and 1% penicillin/streptomycin (GibcoBRL) at 37 °C in a 5% CO 2 atmosphere. For total RNA isolation used in the GeneChip array analyses four independent experiments were set up with 3×10 6 cells/well cultured in 6-well plates with or without 1500 pg/ml IL-1β for 24 h before lysis in a guanidinium thiocyanate/phenol buffer according to the manufacturer's instructions (RNAzol, Campro Scientific, Veenendaal, The Netherlands). The chosen concentration of IL-1β was based on our previous studies [18] .

The chosen concentration of IL-1β was based on our previous studies.


The present study represents, to our knowledge, the first comparison of the effect of IL-1β on the gene expression profile between a pre-beta-cell phenotype, not sensitive to the toxic effect of IL-1β, and the matured beta cell phenotype, which is highly sensitive to the deleterious properties of IL-1β. Previous array analyses have focused on cytokine sensitivity exclusively in isolated beta cells or beta cell lines (RIN or INS-1E) [23, 24, 25] . All changes reflecting beta cell maturation and the influence of IL-1β on these transcripts are presented in Table 1 . Since space does not allow a full list of all IL-1β-induced changes in the two phenotypes, mRNAs presented and discussed in the manuscript reflect our hypothesis that changes in the mRNA expression profile that lead to susceptibility to IL-1β damage are consequences of beta cell maturation. These transcripts are presented in group A (changes during beta cell maturation) and group X, Y and Z (expressions influenced by both beta cell maturation and IL-1β exposure). Transcripts independent of beta cell maturation (group B, C and Q) are presented and discussed in the web section. They may, in part, reflect the increased sensitivity to IL-1β of the beta cell phenotype (group C), or protective effects induced in the pre-beta-cell phenotype in response to IL-1β (group B), effects that may be lost during beta cell maturation.

Previous array analyses have focused on cytokine sensitivity exclusively in isolated beta cells or beta cell lines (RIN or INS-1E).


One of the significant impacts of corruption is on the economic sector; the basic measurement on the negative effect of corruption is its impact on the economic growth of countries. In this terms, most scholars concluded that corruption impede the country's GDP growth. From the cross countries studies, it is found that high level of corruption will negatively affect the gross domestic product per capita of nations (Bentzen, 2012; Swaleheen, 2011) .

From the cross countries studies, it is found that high level of corruption will negatively affect the gross domestic product per capita of nations.


Nowadays corruption is seen as the major problem that should be eradicated in order to create a better condition. Corruption is harmful for the politic, social and economic life; it has destructive effect which lowers the quality of policies taken by the government. Some governments make sure that corruption will be eliminated by creating an anti-corruption agency which focus on efforts to fight against corruption (de Sousa, 2010) . In Indonesia, the awareness to counter the corruption rose after the reformation era and after that the real action is gradually taken including establishing anti-corruption agency.

Some governments make sure that corruption will be eliminated by creating an anti-corruption agency which focus on efforts to fight against corruption.


Knowledge of active principle-protein interactions contributes to insights into a drug's pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Only the free-form drug can diffuse through cell membrane and exert biological activity (Max and Petra, 2011) . Conventional PK sampling obtains both unbound and protein-bound drugs that are loosely bound to plasma proteins and form an equilibrium between bound and unbound drugs. When the free drug is absorbed by cells or removed from circulation, some bound drug can be separated from binding sites to compensate for the loss of free drug. Plasma proteins that combine with drugs mainly include albumin, α1-acid glycoproteins, and lipoproteins. Of these, plasma albumin is prominent and always combines with organic acidic drugs, while α1-acid glycoprotein always combines with basic drugs. Presently, RHY, a basic alkali substance, was injected as a hydrochloride salt, and binding to α1-acid glycoprotein may be the main major drug-protein complex. Using a microdialysis technique, the plasma protein binding ratio of RHY was found to be 88.62% (± 0.40) and 89.63% (± 0.50) from the concentrations of 10 and 100 μg/ml, respectively, indicating a high level of plasma protein binding that was unaffected by RHY concentration.

Only the free-form drug can diffuse through cell membrane and exert biological activity.


One important consideration when developing ERP systems (which are process-oriented information systems), is to enable and promote active user participation since users are required to think of their tasks as constituents of business processes and, hence, to instill their knowledge and expertise in the definition and automation of business processes. Indeed, user participation has been strongly advocated by several studies as a way for ensuring that genuine user needs are satisfied and for gaining user acceptance of a new system [8] [9] [10] . The basic contention of these studies is that users who participate in the system development process will likely influence design and implementation decisions in accordance with their needs and desires, resulting in a system they perceive useful and usable and an implementation strategy they perceive suitable for the particular situation. Thus, users are expected to develop positive attitudes toward the new system, increasing the likelihood of system success.

Indeed, user participation has been strongly advocated by several studies as a way for ensuring that genuine user needs are satisfied and for gaining user acceptance of a new system.


After this work was completed, the author was informed by Jeffrey Case and Yuya Takeuchi that they had also constructed generalizations of the I ′ -curvature by a different method; they first generalize the CR invariant tensor X α and construct the corresponding I ′ -type curvature. The curvatures thus obtained are exactly same as ours. The detail of the construction and the relation to Hirachi's conjecture will appear in their forthcoming paper [7] . This paper is organized as follows: In §2, we review some materials in CR geometry such as the Tanaka-Webster connection and the CR tractor calculus. In §3, we define the Cheng-Yau metric and the ambient metric via Fefferman's approximate solution to the Monge-Ampère equation, and recall the Graham-Lee connection, which plays an important role in relating the Cheng-Yau metric to CR geometry on the boundary. In §4, we introduce the renormalized connection for the Cheng-Yau metric and the renormalized characteristic forms by following Burns-Epstein. Its relation to the ambient metric and the Graham-Lee connection will be discussed. Then we construct the CR invariants associated with each invariant polynomial Φ and prove Theorem 1.1. We also deal with the case of the exact Cheng-Yau metric. The I ′ Φ -curvatures are defined in §5. We clarify its relation to characteristic classes on the CR manifold and prove the CR invariance of the integral. Then, in §6, we show that the total I ′ Φ -curvature agrees with the CR invariant constructed in Theorem 1.1; the most part will be devoted to the preparation of the proof, where we establish the correspondence between the ambient construction and the CR tractor calculus in the Graham-Lee setting. Finally, we compute the total I ′ Φ -curvatures for a circle bundle over a compact Kähler-Einstein manifold.

The detail of the construction and the relation to Hirachi's conjecture will appear in their forthcoming paper.


In order to infer sentiment orientation of reviews in different domains, one of the commonly-used methods is to build a general sentiment lexicon. However, it is an impossible task to build a general sentiment lexicon that could perform well in every domain, because sentiment expression often behaves with strong domain-specific nature [2] . In other words, in each different domain, the sentiments are apt to be expressed by their own domain-specific features. For example, "rise" and "rebound" are often used to express positive sentiment for stock review; while "luxury" and "classical" are often employed to convey positive sentiment for house review. This so-called domain-specific nature makes it an important job to design an automated approach that could build a sentiment lexicon for each new domain.

However, it is an impossible task to build a general sentiment lexicon that could perform well in every domain, because sentiment expression often behaves with strong domain-specific nature.


Multicomponent systems are ubiquitous in nature; examples are as various as gas mixtures, bacterial colonies, lithium-ion battery cells, and animal crowds. On the diffusive level, these systems can be described by cross-diffusion equations taking into account multicomponent diffusion and reaction [14] . When the mass transport occurs in a domain with periodic microstructure or in a porous medium, macroscopic models can be derived from the microscopic description of the processes by homogenization techniques. In this paper, we consider cross-diffusion systems defined in a heterogeneous medium, where the heterogeneity is reflected in spatially periodic diffusion coefficients or by the perforated domain. The corresponding macroscopic equations are derived by combining, for the first time, two-scale convergence techniques and entropy methods.

On the diffusive level, these systems can be described by cross-diffusion equations taking into account multicomponent diffusion and reaction.


In this paper, we investigate strongly coupled parabolic cross-diffusion systems with a formal gradient-flow or entropy structure by combining two-scale convergence and the boundedness-by-entropy method [13] . The difficulty is the handling of the degenerate structure of the equations. We investigate two classes of degeneracies: a local one of porous-medium type and a nonlocal one; see Section 2 for details.

In this paper, we investigate strongly coupled parabolic cross-diffusion systems with a formal gradient-flow or entropy structure by combining two-scale convergence and the boundedness-by-entropy method.


Li and Halfond investigated the impact of energy-saving programming practices on Android [23] . In particular, they measured the impact of implementing some performance tips on energy consumption by comparing a method with and without the tips. IGS and MIM were considered in this study and improved the energy consumption by about 33% and 15%, respectively. Moreover, they discovered that higher memory usage slightly increases the energy consumption.

Li and Halfond investigated the impact of energy-saving programming practices on Android.


The designed controller not only can guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system but also has the adaptive ability to uncertain parameters [7] . Moreover, the excitation control in combination with the coordination control with TCSC can achieve better transient response [8] . Power system is disturbed not only by the internal parameters, but also by external disturbances. How to attenuate the influences of external disturbances must be taken into consideration in power system. An adaptive robust excitation controller with disturbance suppression not only is applied to solve the internal uncertain parameters and short circuit problems but also can ensure the system stability when subjected to external disturbances [9, 10] . Sliding mode control theory can be used to tackle external disturbances of the system, by virtue of which a system switching hyperplane is constructed based on the desired dynamic characteristics. Sliding mode controller makes the state of system converge to the switching hyperplane from outside of the hyperplane. Once the system reaches the switching hyperplane, the controller will enable the system to arrive at origin point along the switching hyperplane. Therefore, this control method has its advantages of fast response speed and strong robustness to various interferences. Excitation controller with sliding mode surface designed in literatures can switch to the ideal control law with the variation of parameters, which greatly enhances the robustness of the system [11, 12] . With the introduction of integral term into the adaptive integral sliding mode controller in the design process, the performance of static and dynamic response will be improved dramatically [13] . The class-function is added to adaptive variable structure excitation controller in literatures, which can further accelerate the convergence speed in multimachine power systems [14] . However, the constraints in power system are not considered in deriving the controller design. In fact, the constraints in the system cannot be avoided [15] [16] [17] .

The designed controller not only can guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system but also has the adaptive ability to uncertain parameters.

Moreover, the excitation control in combination with the coordination control with TCSC can achieve better transient response.

An adaptive robust excitation controller with disturbance suppression not only is applied to solve the internal uncertain parameters and short circuit problems but also can ensure the system stability when subjected to external disturbances.

Excitation controller with sliding mode surface designed in literatures can switch to the ideal control law with the variation of parameters, which greatly enhances the robustness of the system.

With the introduction of integral term into the adaptive integral sliding mode controller in the design process, the performance of static and dynamic response will be improved dramatically.

The class-function is added to adaptive variable structure excitation controller in literatures, which can further accelerate the convergence speed in multimachine power systems.

In fact, the constraints in the system cannot be avoided.


With the scale of modern power systems getting larger and larger, more and more types of equipment are applied. Given different operation range of each device, the range of parameter constraints must be considered in the process of designing the controller. For a large class of nonlinear systems, Tee proposed a method, by means of which he designed the constrained nonlinear controller to keep the system output limits to a certain range [18, 19] . By using this method, the authors designed a constrained excitation controller to realize output constraint of turbo generator unit's power angle [20, 21] . Variable structure excitation controller designed in literatures can keep the terminal voltage of generator within its limits. But the effects caused by the uncertain parameters of the system are not considered [22] . In this paper, for the generator excitation control system with output constraints, an adaptive sliding mode excitation controller is designed based on the backstepping method and under the conditions that the system has uncertain parameters and external disturbances. The system not only has good adaptive ability to the uncertain parameters and strong robustness to external interferences but also ensures the amplitude constraint of the power angle output of excitation system.

For a large class of nonlinear systems, Tee proposed a method, by means of which he designed the constrained nonlinear controller to keep the system output limits to a certain range.

By using this method, the authors designed a constrained excitation controller to realize output constraint of turbo generator unit's power angle.

But the effects caused by the uncertain parameters of the system are not considered.


The effect of extreme cold on blood vessels is to cause the propagation of large ice crystals inside the vessels leading to water entering the vessel which expands. At around 2 208C showers of micro-cryoemboli appear and are gradually deposited on the vessel walls reducing blood¯ow and ®nally blockage causing local tissue ischaemia and eventual necrosis. These effects are more pronounced in the venules than arterioles and have a bene®cial effect in controlling surface bleeding from the tumour [8] .

These effects are more pronounced in the venules than arterioles and have a bene®cial effect in controlling surface bleeding from the tumour.


The present study has several limitations. Firstly, our study is a retrospective study and the data was obtained from a single center. Secondly, our study did not consider the impact of the HBV genotypes, although the HBV genotypes of Asian are usually B or C [46] . Thirdly, since the parameters of serum HBV marker was insufficient, we did not consider the impact of these markers in liver fibrosis, and these factors should be considered in future studies. Fourthly, we did not compare the performance of APRG with TE for diagnosing liver fibrosis in CHB patients due to the absence of available data. Thus, whether the APRG is superior to TE for diagnosing liver fibrosis in CHB patients deserves further investigation.

Secondly, our study did not consider the impact of the HBV genotypes, although the HBV genotypes of Asian are usually B or C.


More work needs to be done on developing effective interventions, ones that address both proximal and more distal determinants of problem substance use. Nevertheless, a number of points for intervention can be identified, based on interventions that have been developed in non-displaced populations. The minimum interventions have already been described [24] . They should include screening and brief intervention for high risk alcohol use, for which there is good evidence of effectiveness in other settings [21] . Identification and treatment of severe mental illness (as both a cause and consequence of substance use) should also be instituted. In addition, targeted provision of condoms and needles and syringes may be indicated. Primary health services should be capable of managing withdrawal and other acute problems.

The minimum interventions have already been described.

They should include screening and brief intervention for high risk alcohol use, for which there is good evidence of effectiveness in other settings.


Although these results provide insight into the practice behaviors of physicians regarding provision of FP educational materials, our study has limitations. The self-report nature of this study may have elicited socially desirable responses rather than an accurate representation of physician practice behaviors. Yet, the anonymity of the survey likely reduced the potential for social response bias. A second and related consideration of this study is the discrepancy in provision of educational material reports dependent on how the question was presented. When asked directly about the rate of provision of educational materials, about 39% (n = 199) reported 'never' providing educational materials; however, when asked to disclose the source of educational materials, 47% (n = 244) report that 'they do not provide educational materials on a regular basis' and thus, could not provide a source of educational materials. Further, 45% (n = 222) of physicians reported they 'do not provide educational materials' in a question pertaining to physicians' opinion on relevance of educational materials. Wording of questions is an important consideration for future research on physician practice behavior. Another consideration of this study is the low response rate, even though our 32% return in this study is comparable with previous studies with physician respondents [22, 23] . Moreover, it is possible that physicians with particular interest in the topic of FP may have been inclined to reply to the survey, thereby limiting the generalizability of our results. Although these associations are important additions to the knowledge of FP practice behaviors, a temporal relationship between variables cannot be determined.

Another consideration of this study is the low response rate, even though our 32% return in this study is comparable with previous studies with physician respondents.


This study used the choice experiment (CE) method to elicit the preferences of BMC residents with regard to improving the existing MSW collection service. CE is one of the stated preference approaches, which determines individual preference in some hypothetical scenarios. Respondents are given choice sets with multiple policy alternatives from which to select their most preferred alternative. The CE method is based on the neo-classical economic theory that respondents would select the alternative that gives them the highest utility among a set of alternatives [38] . The alternatives are a set of attributes, which are related to the issue under investigation, and distinguished by the levels of attributes. The levels are measures of changes in quality or quantity of the selected attributes consequent to implementing project activities. It is assumed that respondents would make trade-offs among attributes to select the alternative that best fits their interest. Therefore, CE is built on Lancaster's Characteristics Demand theory [39] . This theory states that consumers derive utility from the characteristics of the good rather than the good itself. In a choice experiment, a respondent is given more than one choice set for the purpose of assessing their consistency from which they select the alternative of their choice.

The CE method is based on the neo-classical economic theory that respondents would select the alternative that gives them the highest utility among a set of alternatives.

Therefore, CE is built on Lancaster's Characteristics Demand theory.


The results of the choice responses indicate that consumers of waste collection services would like to see improved service delivery as they are not satisfied with the current service as evident from their selection of alternatives against the current situation. Among improvements mentioned by respondents was the placing of 20-liter bins at regular intervals in the streets. Street-level bins are indubitably an effective way to keep the city clean and to make MSW collection services more efficient [52] . But, as with other towns in Nepal, respondents have shown a preference for frequency of collection [15] .

Street-level bins are indubitably an effective way to keep the city clean and to make MSW collection services more efficient.

But, as with other towns in Nepal, respondents have shown a preference for frequency of collection.


Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a critical environmental issue in urban areas. Not only does it release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, but its improper management impedes attempts to keep cities beautiful and clean. Unmanaged MSW pollutes the soil, water and atmosphere, which may have adverse impacts on public health [1] [2] [3] [4] . On the other hand, MSW management activities such as composting, combustion and landfills release greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere [5] [6] [7] . In addition, unmanaged waste could clog the drainage system, which would in turn contribute to flooding and water logging in urban areas during the rainy season [8, 9] .

Unmanaged MSW pollutes the soil, water and atmosphere, which may have adverse impacts on public health.

On the other hand, MSW management activities such as composting, combustion and landfills release greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

In addition, unmanaged waste could clog the drainage system, which would in turn contribute to flooding and water logging in urban areas during the rainy season.


The study also suggests that waste separation at the household level without a separate pick up service may not address the problem since all waste goes together in the landfill even though households painstakingly sort it at home, which is one of the major issues of MSW management currently in BMC. Households tend to lose interest in sorting waste when the collector dumps everything in the same truck. The lifespan of the landfill site could be prolonged if waste collection and transfer are carried out separately for degradable and non-degradable waste and degradable waste is either composted or converted to energy [58] . There has been increased interest among South Asian policy makers and stakeholders on converting waste to energy [59] . Further study is needed in order investigate the incentives that would motivate waste collection service providers to collect and transfer degradable and non-degradable waste separately. This may provide cost effective solutions for enhancing the efficiency of MSW management through re-cycling and reusing rather than resorting to the establishment of new waste management facilities as the solution. This could be an effective way to build smart cities in developing economies.

The lifespan of the landfill site could be prolonged if waste collection and transfer are carried out separately for degradable and non-degradable waste and degradable waste is either composted or converted to energy.

There has been increased interest among South Asian policy makers and stakeholders on converting waste to energy.


Our study discusses how the MSW collection service can be improved, which is the primary task of MSW management. Akin to other cities in developing countries, BMC has been facing several challenges in managing solid waste. Their first challenge has been to ensure the participation of all households in MSW management and the second is to address the grievances of households that already participate in the solid waste management programme so that the user fee collection does not diminish. The former can be addressed by revising the service charge for collection by linking it with other utilities or services provided by the city [23] . For instance, the BMC can link the fee for waste management with other service fees that the municipality collects, such as the property tax as in the case of Chile [57] . Doing so will make payment for waste management services mandatory for all residents thus marking a shift from the current practice of voluntary participation.

The former can be addressed by revising the service charge for collection by linking it with other utilities or services provided by the city.

For instance, the BMC can link the fee for waste management with other service fees that the municipality collects, such as the property tax as in the case of Chile.


However, these improvements are not possible without additional expenditure. The financial sustainability of the MSW management system is a crucial aspect to consider in developing countries [4] . In the case of the BMC, the additional cost needed to generate awareness among households to sort waste can be covered by the additional tariff that households are willing to pay, which could amount to between NPR 1.76 million and NPR 5.11 million. The results suggest that respondents with taller buildings in terms of the number of floors have more WTP for the improved scenario. This is in line with existing literature where the size of the house is one of the principal determinants of household waste management [47] . Thus, the MSW management system can be sustained financially if it is designed properly taking into consideration the concerns of stakeholders. These results are consistent with the results of research conducted in other Asian cities [15, 26, 56] .

The financial sustainability of the MSW management system is a crucial aspect to consider in developing countries.

This is in line with existing literature where the size of the house is one of the principal determinants of household waste management.

These results are consistent with the results of research conducted in other Asian cities.


A majority of household partly sort the solid waste, a practice that has many advantages. Sorting allows households to convert waste to resources [19] . For instance, BMC households who separate waste on their premises make compost while selling recyclable items such as plastic items and bottles in the market. Secondly, sorting waste at source and composting the organic part means reducing the volume of waste to be sent out, requiring in turn municipal waste collection services less frequently, ultimately reducing the collection costs. In addition, it also increases the lifespan of the landfill site as the volume of waste in the landfill would significantly decline with such practices [10] . As the data indicates that women members of households play a major role in waste management activities at household level, involving them in awareness raising efforts would ensure more effective waste management.

Sorting allows households to convert waste to resources.

In addition, it also increases the lifespan of the landfill site as the volume of waste in the landfill would significantly decline with such practices.


The government of Nepal is preparing a detailed project report to make BMC as a Smart City. The concept of smart city aims to improve the quality of life for the entire city [48] . Efficient waste management is fundamental to improve the service to citizen [49, 50] . Therefore, this study attempted to understand different aspects of waste generation and collection system in BMC. Our study estimated the average waste generated in the study area to be close to 6 kg per week per household, which is consistent with the previous estimation of average daily per capita waste generation at 170 grams [34] . However, it may increase with increased income. For instance, in Kathmandu valley, which is the capital city of Nepal, the estimated average daily solid waste generation is more than half a kg per capita [22] . Another factor that contributes to increases in total waste volume is the number of households per TLO. Studies have shown that organic waste constitutes more than two-thirds of the municipal waste in Nepal [34, 51] .

The concept of smart city aims to improve the quality of life for the entire city.

Efficient waste management is fundamental to improve the service to citizen.

Our study estimated the average waste generated in the study area to be close to 6 kg per week per household, which is consistent with the previous estimation of average daily per capita waste generation at 170 grams.

For instance, in Kathmandu valley, which is the capital city of Nepal, the estimated average daily solid waste generation is more than half a kg per capita.

Studies have shown that organic waste constitutes more than two-thirds of the municipal waste in Nepal.


A majority (53%) of the service seekers did not express satisfaction with the existing MSW collection service due mainly to irregularities in collection as well as inconvenient collection times in the absence of prior notification. Such issues are not uncommon in other developing countries as well where waste collection services are also not efficient due to shortcomings in infrastructure, human resources and route planning [16, 18] . In addition, users of smart city services have about the utility, safety, accessibility and efficiency of those services [50] . This may discourage municipal households from participating in MSW management services, even discontinuing payment of the service fee as a way of registering their protest at the inefficiency. As a result, the municipal authority has to either cover the cost of waste management from other sources at the expense of other public services or face environmental problems in the city due to neglect of solid waste management.

Such issues are not uncommon in other developing countries as well where waste collection services are also not efficient due to shortcomings in infrastructure, human resources and route planning.

In addition, users of smart city services have about the utility, safety, accessibility and efficiency of those services.


Nevertheless, there is a gap between the demand and supply of these services in terms of quality and efficiency [24] . Among the reasons which make MSW management services inefficient in many developing economies are: inadequate human resources; lack of facilities including vehicles and infrastructure; and improper route planning [16, 18, 25] . This has resulted in irregularities in MSW collection requiring extra investment in waiting time on the part households for the collection vehicle. Among the negative outcomes of failure to collect waste on time are improper dumping and burning of waste at the source and for waste pickers, who are in search of reusable and recyclable items, to throw waste elsewhere, further aggravating the solid waste management problem.

Nevertheless, there is a gap between the demand and supply of these services in terms of quality and efficiency.

Among the reasons which make MSW management services inefficient in many developing economies are: inadequate human resources; lack of facilities including vehicles and infrastructure; and improper route planning.


At the top of their list of preferences is rescheduling of collection time in their TLOs to suit their convenience. It is noteworthy that community-based waste management systems have been found to work in parts of developing economies such as Puducherry in India [53] . Since, at present, the TLOs decide the collection frequency, it would be more effective if the waste collection schedule was designed as per their need. However, designing appropriate vehicle routing schedules for waste collection is complicated and may require additional resources [54, 55] . Therefore, in the case of the BMC, motivating households to sort waste and to compost the organic part may not only reduce the volume of waste but require less frequent collection services, which would ultimately contribute towards providing on-time waste collection services at a lower cost.

It is noteworthy that community-based waste management systems have been found to work in parts of developing economies such as Puducherry in India.

However, designing appropriate vehicle routing schedules for waste collection is complicated and may require additional resources.


We applied the D-efficient design to create choice scenarios combining the attributes and their levels as presented in Table 1 . In this approach, the design showing the lowest D-error is selected for the experiment. This design is appropriate for CE as choice responses are analysed using non-linear models such as conditional logit (CL) [42] .

This design is appropriate for CE as choice responses are analysed using non-linear models such as conditional logit (CL).


MSW management is becoming a major challenge for municipal authorities particularly in developing economies because of the exponential increase in the volume of MSW due both to rapid population growth in urban areas as well as economic growth and improved living standards that have contributed to changes in the consumption patterns of urban dwellers [2, [10] [11] [12] [13] . At the same time, the resources available to, and the capacity of, MSW management authorities to collect and safely dispose of waste materials may not match the growing need [14] . In developing countries, rural to urban migration has led to unplanned settlements in the cities. As a result, household solid waste management has become a major challenge in urban planning [15] . Political instability, malfunctioning local authorities and poor MSW collection services have posed challenges in attempts to make cities livable in urban settings [14] . As one of the most challenging issues faced by many developing countries, MSW management undoubtedly requires specific strategies [14, 16, 17] .

MSW management is becoming a major challenge for municipal authorities particularly in developing economies because of the exponential increase in the volume of MSW due both to rapid population growth in urban areas as well as economic growth and improved living standards that have contributed to changes in the consumption patterns of urban dwellers.

At the same time, the resources available to, and the capacity of, MSW management authorities to collect and safely dispose of waste materials may not match the growing need.

As a result, household solid waste management has become a major challenge in urban planning.

Political instability, malfunctioning local authorities and poor MSW collection services have posed challenges in attempts to make cities livable in urban settings.

As one of the most challenging issues faced by many developing countries, MSW management undoubtedly requires specific strategies.


The data were collected in the form of semi-structured thematic interviews in which the interviewees were invited to talk about the involvement of HR managers in the IM&A process in general and about the factors that, from their experience, affect HR managers' involvement. In every company the Senior Vice President of HR, who was a member of the top management team, was interviewed in addition to one other HR manager. Senior HR managers were selected since they work with the CEO on strategic decisions such as IM&As (Jacoby et al., 2005) .

Senior HR managers were selected since they work with the CEO on strategic decisions such as IM&As.


The film thickness and friction tests are generally performed under the assumption that the contact is fully flooded. This condition is ensured using a scoop that continuously feeds the contact with grease by forcing it back into the contact track. However, if no scoop is used, the lubricant supply continually decreases with successive over-rollings because the grease is pushed to the sides [4, 6] .

However, if no scoop is used, the lubricant supply continually decreases with successive over-rollings because the grease is pushed to the sides.


Film thickness measurements were performed in a ball-on-disc device under different operating conditions. In order to promote starvation, the scoop, which is generally used to ensure fully flooded conditions, was removed. Two different tests were performed to measure film thickness under increasing speed or over time. It was common to find a very high deviation in the results and the repeatability was often low, showing that the mechanisms of recovery and the loss of lubricant at the inlet of the contact are extremely random and chaotic [30] .

It was common to find a very high deviation in the results and the repeatability was often low, showing that the mechanisms of recovery and the loss of lubricant at the inlet of the contact are extremely random and chaotic.


Regarding the tests performed with the lithium-thickened greases under increasing entrainment speeds, it was possible to identify the speed at which starvation occurred. This speed seemed to increase with the operating temperature, suggesting that replenishment is better at high temperatures. In fact, the results of all greases were closer to the fully flooded result at higher temperatures [12] .

In fact, the results of all greases were closer to the fully flooded result at higher temperatures.


Grease lubrication is extremely complex. Not only is its behaviour fairly difficult to predict, but also, it is extremely application dependent. In this work, the film formation and friction under starved conditions were addressed in a ball-on-disc contact, but the behaviour in a rolling bearing can be considerably different. Although the tested polymer-thickened greases showed better performances in the single contact tests, it cannot be assumed that they should also provide better wear protection or increased rolling bearing life for all applications. There are so many variables involved (consistency, thickener type and/or content, base oil viscosity/nature, additive package, etc.) and so many different performance requisites (load carrying capability, improved oil-bleeding, low and high temperature properties, low friction, etc.) that grease formulation R&D should be increasingly more application oriented [36] .

There are so many variables involved (consistency, thickener type and/or content, base oil viscosity/nature, additive package, etc.) and so many different performance requisites (load carrying capability, improved oil-bleeding, low and high temperature properties, low friction, etc.) that grease formulation R&D should be increasingly more application oriented.


Researchers are in agreement that use of ICT in Education as instructional media does not only enhance learning outcomes but it is also crucial in preparation of the youth for challenges of globalization in the 21st century [11] [13] . With ICT learners engage in higher order thinking which most likely would be transferred to their daily lives to address challenging issues; it provides learners opportunity to construct and process knowledge. Use of ICT therefore does not only impart knowledge and skills but also builds human capital which sets technological innovations and economic growth.

Researchers are in agreement that use of ICT in Education as instructional media does not only enhance learning outcomes but it is also crucial in preparation of the youth for challenges of globalization in the 21st century.


On the other hand effective use of ICTs as teaching learning resources has been associated with significant increase in students' achievement. Students gain confidence as they get engaged by their teachers and sometimes work together with teachers as co workers in attempt to solve some technological problems [4] . The students also get engaged in activities of searching the web, solving problems and conducting other class activities with aid of technology which they find exciting and complete their own learning tasks which they sent back to the teacher through email.

Students gain confidence as they get engaged by their teachers and sometimes work together with teachers as co workers in attempt to solve some technological problems.


Literature by Bryderup and Kowalsk also informed that the development of ICT school plan with clear goals and defined means to realize the goals was a crucial step towards actual ICT integration and a visionary leader was a major requirement as well [3] . A school culture was another variable considered critical in success of an innovation in a school. Above all, success in integration of ICT in curriculum implementation depends on the motivation of individual classroom teachers as expounded by Tonduer [18] . Teachers' atttitudes and beliefs were seen as the main factors influencing implementation of an innovation such as ICT integration in curriculum implementation. Teachers interpret innovations according to their personal beliefs [14] . They accept more easily innovations that are in accordance with their own personal perceptions of teaching and learning.

Literature by Bryderup and Kowalsk also informed that the development of ICT school plan with clear goals and defined means to realize the goals was a crucial step towards actual ICT integration and a visionary leader was a major requirement as well.

Above all, success in integration of ICT in curriculum implementation depends on the motivation of individual classroom teachers as expounded by Tonduer.

Teachers interpret innovations according to their personal beliefs.


The cytochrome bc1 complex (EC 1.10.2.2, bc1) is a vital component of the cellular respiratory chain and the photosynthetic apparatus in photosynthetic bacteria [1] . It is found on the plasma membrane of bacteria and in the inner mitochondrial membrane of eukaryotes [2] . It consists of two heme groups, cytochrome b, iron-sulfur protein (ISP), with a Rieske-type Fe2S2 cluster and cytochrome c1 that undergoes reduction and oxidation during turnover of the enzyme [3] . The role of cytochrome bc1 complex is to catalyze the electron transfer from quinol to a soluble cytochrome c (cyt c), and this electron transfer couples to the translocation of protons across the membrane [4] . Due to its important role in the life cycle, inhibition of the bc1 complex has become an important target in the discovery of new antimalarial agent [5] .

The cytochrome bc1 complex (EC 1.10.2.2, bc1) is a vital component of the cellular respiratory chain and the photosynthetic apparatus in photosynthetic bacteria.

It is found on the plasma membrane of bacteria and in the inner mitochondrial membrane of eukaryotes.

It consists of two heme groups, cytochrome b, iron-sulfur protein (ISP), with a Rieske-type Fe2S2 cluster and cytochrome c1 that undergoes reduction and oxidation during turnover of the enzyme.

The role of cytochrome bc1 complex is to catalyze the electron transfer from quinol to a soluble cytochrome c (cyt c), and this electron transfer couples to the translocation of protons across the membrane.

Due to its important role in the life cycle, inhibition of the bc1 complex has become an important target in the discovery of new antimalarial agent.


HER-2 overexpression is associated with poorer disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients and with a tendency for visceral site metastasis [1] . Despite the positive effect on response rate and overall survival, one third of the patients treated with trastuzumab develop brain metastasis. Trastuzumab is a highly selective monoclonal antibody which targets the extracellular domain of the HER2 receptor and does not fully cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

HER-2 overexpression is associated with poorer disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients and with a tendency for visceral site metastasis.


Our longer term aim for this robot is to use it as a platform to test neural circuit models of Drosophila larvae. Initially this could focus on the motor circuits that generate and control peristalsis and bending. In particular these circuits could form the basis of an adaptative method for learning the control signals needed to adjust to the irregularities and non-linearities in the actuators and their interactions, in the same way that maggots are able to adapt to rapid change and growth in their body while maintaining efficient locomotion. Ultimately we would like to add sensors for environmental signals and investigate the sensorimotor control and associative learning involved in, e.g., odour search [3] .

Ultimately we would like to add sensors for environmental signals and investigate the sensorimotor control and associative learning involved in, e.g., odour search.


The frame size has to be considered carefully due to the low quality wireless channel in sensor networks. In an ARQ (Automatic Repeat request) based scheme, the small frame size would be desired to reduce the frame error rate (FER) with a given bit error rate (BER). However, there is a constant overhead per frame. This overhead includes the physical preamble, the frame header, and the frame CRC. The per-frame overhead ratio has to be minimized to achieve high wireless channel utilization [3] . Thus, a large frame size would be desired. However, if there is a bit error in the large frame, the entire frame has to be retransmitted in the ARQ scheme. The larger the frame size to maximize channel utilization, the greater the increase of FER [4] [5] . Careful framing needs to consider both high utilization of the wireless channel and low frame error rate simultaneously. Traditional framing is unable to provide the optimal frame size to solve the above conflict.

The per-frame overhead ratio has to be minimized to achieve high wireless channel utilization.

The larger the frame size to maximize channel utilization, the greater the increase of FER.


Behavioral freight mode choice models are of great importance for both academia and practice (for example, policy-making). However, it has been mainly overlooked in freight demand modeling primarily due to data limitations. In this paper, we presented the development of binary mode choice models between truck and rail (including intermodal modes) based on the data obtained from an online national level freight survey conducted recently in the US by the research team (Samimi et al. 2010a) . This study modeled modal selection decisions as part of a microsimulation framework, which also shed light on modal selection behavior.

In this paper, we presented the development of binary mode choice models between truck and rail (including intermodal modes) based on the data obtained from an online national level freight survey conducted recently in the US by the research team.


The official reauthorization of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) in February 1999 represents a substantial achievement for an agency that has been under the near constant threat of abolishment since its inception in 1965. The federal government's commitment to the development of distressed regions has been effectively re-affirmed, at least temporarily. To implement Public Law 105-393, the amendment to the founding Public Works and Economic Development Act, EDA undertook a substantial revision of its regulations, including a review of its area eligibility criteria for its two largest programs, Public Works grants and Economic Adjustment assistance. One important focus of the review was on out-migration and population loss as potential indicators of economic distress. Congressmen and development officials from slow-growing states were questioning whether EDA was neglecting distress associated with out-migration induced population decline; i.e. that some regions in the U.S. may be deserving of development aid even if they fail to qualify for assistance based on the agency's two traditional core distress criteria: low income and high unemployment (Feser and Sweeney 1998) . The issue is acute for states such as Maine, Mississippi, and North and South Dakota.

Congressmen and development officials from slow-growing states were questioning whether EDA was neglecting distress associated with out-migration induced population decline; i.e. that some regions in the U.S. may be deserving of development aid even if they fail to qualify for assistance based on the agency's two traditional core distress criteria: low income and high unemployment.


An outline of this presentation is as follows. In section 2 we i n troduce the mathematical model used for simulating cracks and we give a brief discussion of our computational reconstruction method. In section 3 we present the formulae derived by Andrieux and Ben Abda and we briey describe the selection of the initial crack. Section 4 contains a description of the experimental equipment used to collect the actual data for our reconstructions, and in particular we describe the few modications that were made when compared to the equipment used earlier to collect data for the reconstruction of a single crack [17] . In the fth and nal section we provide a number of examples of reconstructions of multiple cracks based on the collected experimental data.

Section 4 contains a description of the experimental equipment used to collect the actual data for our reconstructions, and in particular we describe the few modications that were made when compared to the equipment used earlier to collect data for the reconstruction of a single crack.


To overcome the difficulty of realizing non-planar structures as practical monolithic circuits, many configurations of star mixers have been developed [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . However, the use of symmetrical dual baluns may still have large circuit dimensions. In order to overcome this problem, attention has been drawn to the design of miniature dual baluns. A number of spiral transformer baluns can provide an efficient method for shrinking chip area [8] . Subsequently, monolithic star DBMs using new miniature dual baluns have been proposed [9] . The DBM design still has a critical issue of IF extraction. For this reason, a new configuration of DBM is designed and fabricated in a 0.15 µm GaAs pHEMT with more compact in layout design and also more effective in improving the mixer's performance as compared to the conventional DBMs.

To overcome the difficulty of realizing non-planar structures as practical monolithic circuits, many configurations of star mixers have been developed.

A number of spiral transformer baluns can provide an efficient method for shrinking chip area.

Subsequently, monolithic star DBMs using new miniature dual baluns have been proposed.


Mixer is one of the important components of communication systems to convert signals from one frequency to another. Accordingly, it demands broadband operation, compact size, low cost, and lowpower consumption for high performance transceiver solutions. Doubly balanced mixers (DBMs) are usually the choice because of their high dynamic range, even-order mixing product suppression, and inherent port-to-port isolation. The star configuration is commonly used for DBMs because of its low IF parasitic inductance, which enables wider IF bandwidth [1] . However, the star configuration in monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) design is difficult to implement because it uses two rather large half-wavelength Marchand dual baluns and also occupies a larger chip dimension. Moreover, the IF extraction of the MMIC based star DBM is more complicated. This leads to the increase of IF parasitic inductance and the degradation of IF bandwidth. Therefore, it is cost-effective if a star DBM could simplify IF extraction with small-chip-size requirements within the bandwidth.

The star configuration is commonly used for DBMs because of its low IF parasitic inductance, which enables wider IF bandwidth.


Breathing is a variable under unconscious as well as conscious control. People can easily shift from one to the other mode, but mostly, under normal circumstances, we do not pay attention to our respiration (Harver & Lorig, 2000) . The normal breathing cycle has 3 phases, which in the ideal case, have an equal length: inspiration, expiration and pause. Respiration consists mostly of situational aspects (Wientjes, 1993) . The respiratory parameters are thus, to a greater extent, state variables.

People can easily shift from one to the other mode, but mostly, under normal circumstances, we do not pay attention to our respiration.

Respiration consists mostly of situational aspects.


It was recognized recently that the requirement of second-order Euler-Lagrange equations is too strong to avoid ghost DOFs [11] [12] [13] . This is because the highest orders of derivatives in the Euler-Lagrange equations do not necessarily give a correct number of initial conditions: Even if Euler-Lagrange equations directly derived from an action a priori include higher-order time-derivative terms, there is no ghost instability as long as they can be recast into second-order system without introducing extra variables. Ghost-free condition can be thus investigated in a more explicit way in the Hamiltonian picture. Under the assumption that a Lagrangian involves multiple variables and all the variables have up to n-th order derivatives (n ≥ 2), the Ostrogradsky theorem states that if the Lagrangian is nondegenerate with respect to the highest order derivatives, the Hamiltonian is unbounded due to the existence of ghost DOFs, which develops instabilities when the system couples to normal systems [7] .

It was recognized recently that the requirement of second-order Euler-Lagrange equations is too strong to avoid ghost DOFs.

Under the assumption that a Lagrangian involves multiple variables and all the variables have up to n-th order derivatives (n ≥ 2), the Ostrogradsky theorem states that if the Lagrangian is nondegenerate with respect to the highest order derivatives, the Hamiltonian is unbounded due to the existence of ghost DOFs, which develops instabilities when the system couples to normal systems.


Let us now recall that the study of supersymmetric quantum field theories has uncovered a series of unexpected relationship to various fields of mathematics. One such relationship exists between 3d supersymmetric theories and 3d hyperbolic manifolds, pioneered by Dimofte, Gaiotto and Gukov [4] . To appreciate the relationship, let us quickly recall the bare basics of the geometry of 3d hyperbolic manifolds.

One such relationship exists between 3d supersymmetric theories and 3d hyperbolic manifolds, pioneered by Dimofte, Gaiotto and Gukov.


Multiple families that contain similar cystine-knot fold GF domains also emerged at the dawn of metazoans, but the TGF-β family multiplied more than any other. TGF-β has a larger prodomain than any other cystine-knot fold cytokine, and it has been argued that this size, combined with the capacity for diversification of the prodomain, contributed to the evolutionary success of the TGF-β family [2] . It has become increasingly clear that prodomains are of key importance in the physiology of the TGF-β family. The study here, and comparisons to other procomplexes, extends our understanding of how TGF-β family prodomains interact with and regulate their GFs.

TGF-β has a larger prodomain than any other cystine-knot fold cytokine, and it has been argued that this size, combined with the capacity for diversification of the prodomain, contributed to the evolutionary success of the TGF-β family.


Finally, several splinter groups within the CHI umbrella arose in part as a reaction to evaluation expectations. ACM UIST emphasizes novel systems, interaction techniques, and algorithms -while evaluation is desired, it is not required if the design is inspiring and well argued (although they too are debating about how they are falling in the evaluation trap [23] ). ACM CSCW and UBICOMP incorporate and nurture ethnography and qualitative methods as part of its methodology corpus, for both realized the importance of culture to understanding technological innovations. ACM DIS and DUX favors case studies that emphasize design, design rationale, and the design process.

ACM UIST emphasizes novel systems, interaction techniques, and algorithms -while evaluation is desired, it is not required if the design is inspiring and well argued (although they too are debating about how they are falling in the evaluation trap).


In N = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFT's), correlators of a special type of scalar operators known as chiral primaries (CPO's) can be computed exactly from a deformed matrix model obtained by adding suitable source terms to the theory on S 4 [1] . Since the construction involves a conformal map from S 4 into R 4 , and because the regulated theory on S 4 breaks the U(1) R symmetry, mixings among operators with different R-symmetries are possible. Alternatively, since the radius of the S 4 sets a scale which can soak up dimensions, operators of different dimensions can mix. These mixings can be viewed as a manifestation of the conformal anomaly.

In N = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFT's), correlators of a special type of scalar operators known as chiral primaries (CPO's) can be computed exactly from a deformed matrix model obtained by adding suitable source terms to the theory on S 4.


Solutions of gravity coupled to the dilaton typically have a naked singularity at a finite distance from the UV brane. The introduction of the IR brane can thus be avoided in this case as the geometry ends naturally at the position of the singularity. These singular models were initially introduced in an effort to explain the smallness of the cosmological constant [7] . It was subsequently understood that this singularity had to be resolved by a yet unknown stringy configuration, possibly equivalent to a 3-brane, in a way that spoils the self-tuning of the cosmological constant [8] . One reason for using soft-wall models is that, in contrast to standard AdS/QCD, they can predict a linear Regge spectrum for the masses of hadrons and glueballs [9] [10] [11] . This property is intimately related to the behaviour of the warp factor near the singularity.

These singular models were initially introduced in an effort to explain the smallness of the cosmological constant.

It was subsequently understood that this singularity had to be resolved by a yet unknown stringy configuration, possibly equivalent to a 3-brane, in a way that spoils the self-tuning of the cosmological constant.

One reason for using soft-wall models is that, in contrast to standard AdS/QCD, they can predict a linear Regge spectrum for the masses of hadrons and glueballs.


Datasets preparation. We have mainly focused on classification task and evaluated the model first on MNIST as a proof-of-concept, and afterwards on a publicly available medical dataset, i.e. CheXpert [9] . Since MNIST does not contain labels from multiple experts, the inter-observer variability was simulated. It was assumed that annotations of four experts are available, by replicating the ground truth for each of the assumed experts. For each replication, a certain part of the provided labels was changed to simulate different scenarios. The parameters such as the number of experts, the percentage of changes classes, and the number of changed classes are validated for MNIST dataset.

Datasets preparation.

We have mainly focused on classification task and evaluated the model first on MNIST as a proof-of-concept, and afterwards on a publicly available medical dataset, i.e. CheXpert.


Small changes in temperature are therefore expected to cause signi¢cant changes in the distribution of di¡erent vegetation types. Not only will these changes in climate in£uence vegetation, the changes in vegetation functioning (e.g. evapotranspiration, net primary productivity (NPP), nutrient cycling, and net ecosystem productivity) and structure (e.g. vegetation height, albedo, distribution) will also exert a feedback on climate itself (Shukla et al. 1990; Bonan et al. 1992; Lean & Rowntree 1993; Foley et al. 1994) . The degree, the sign (negative or positive), and the geographical distribution of the vegetation feedback on climate will all play a role in determining the ¢nal distribution and functioning of vegetation.

Not only will these changes in climate in£uence vegetation, the changes in vegetation functioning (e.g. evapotranspiration, net primary productivity (NPP), nutrient cycling, and net ecosystem productivity) and structure (e.g. vegetation height, albedo, distribution) will also exert a feedback on climate itself.


In this study, we employed a convenient and effective approach to obtain large amounts of ssDNA by using asymmetric PCR. A commercially available plasmid, pUC19, was employed as the template, and asymmetric PCR protocol was performed, which generated amplified ssDNA rather than dsDNA. It was demonstrated that long ssDNAs amplified from asymmetric PCR could easily wrap and make SWCNT dispersible (Scheme 1). We also demonstrated that the DNA/SWCNT complex could facilitate the electron transfer reaction of hemoglobin (Hb) at the electrode surface, showing this new material's great potential in construction of novel electrochemical biosensors [15] .

We also demonstrated that the DNA/SWCNT complex could facilitate the electron transfer reaction of hemoglobin (Hb) at the electrode surface, showing this new material's great potential in construction of novel electrochemical biosensors.


This study focuses on comparison of three common methods of personalized heating and a way of controlling of the heaters. The three compared methods of personalized heating e heated chair, heated desk mat, and heated floor mat e have been previously identified as the most promising ways of mitigating cold discomfort in mild cool environment [4] . Although some studies [5,13,23e25] have demonstrated the benefits of these methods in terms of increased thermal comfort and energy savings, a comprehensive comparison of them is still lacking. This study provides data on improved comfort in relation to the energy consumption. These results are fitting into a framework that should support application of PCS in the design practice. Also a user interaction is compared to automated control with a hand skin temperature as a feedback signal in order to determine, whether an automated control can substitute the user interaction.

The three compared methods of personalized heating e heated chair, heated desk mat, and heated floor mat e have been previously identified as the most promising ways of mitigating cold discomfort in mild cool environment.


In this sense, the speech corpus should be useful for emphasis analysis, cross-lingual emphasis and intent transfer, crosslingual adaptation with parallel speech from same speakers, cross-lingual studies in general. It has already been exploited successfully for emphasis detection evaluation [4, 5, 6] . The bilingual aspect of the database also enabled investigation on speakers' prosody when they speak different languages [7] .

It has already been exploited successfully for emphasis detection evaluation.

The bilingual aspect of the database also enabled investigation on speakers' prosody when they speak different languages.


Considering the literature data presented above, and accounting for the presence of aqueous polymer compositions: PAA, CMS, and D, an attempt was made to determine the course of their thermal degradation. The knowledge obtained from TG-DSC thermal analysis on thermal stability of the polymer binders analysed will allow for passing onto the next phase of research on determining their thermal properties in the binder-mineral matrix (foundry sands) system. Thermal analyses (TG-DSC, TG-MS, and TG-IR) to determine the course of thermal degradation process in respect of new binders in the foundry sands, including thermal effects accompanying the process and the impact of gases generated during thermal destruction of moulds on the quality of the final casts, as well as environmental impact, will be the subject of Part 2 of the publication. Results of the study will also prove helpful to verify physical and chemical properties in order to create a database of materials used in foundry technology of products. Information contained in the database will make it easier to search for materials by their physical and chemical properties (search criteria). The material database can be one of the modules of a technological knowledge management system [16] .

The material database can be one of the modules of a technological knowledge management system.


Many emerging distributed applications, platforms, and architectures, such as Web services and grid architectures, attempt to take advantage of the concept of service. A service is an autonomous platform-independent unit of work done by a provider to achieve desired end results for a consumer. The purpose of increasingly popular Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) is often to promote the use and reuse of application-neutral services and components, and to achieve loose coupling between the participating entities. Such architectures contain three main parts: a provider, a consumer, and a registry. Providers publish or announce their services on registries, where consumers find and then invoke them. To support such Service-Oriented Computing, several protocols and languages have been developed to characterize, register, discover, invoke, and compose services [16] .

To support such Service-Oriented Computing, several protocols and languages have been developed to characterize, register, discover, invoke, and compose services.


In China, the one month postpartum is called zuo yuezi. The literal translation means "doing the month". Traditionally, a woman remains at home during this period. During this time, her behaviour in relation to diet, activity and hygiene is determined by tradition, and the theory behind traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) underlies some of these beliefs and practices [9, 10] . Health is seen as harmony between yin qi and yang qi; and illness an imbalance between the two forces [10] . Pregnancy is a yang state, but during childbirth the woman loses heat and becomes yin. The behaviour around diet, activity and hygiene that comprise "doing the month" is to restore the equilibrium [2, 9, 11, 12] .

During this time, her behaviour in relation to diet, activity and hygiene is determined by tradition, and the theory behind traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) underlies some of these beliefs and practices.

Health is seen as harmony between yin qi and yang qi; and illness an imbalance between the two forces.

The behaviour around diet, activity and hygiene that comprise "doing the month" is to restore the equilibrium.


The fusion of electronics and mechanics is an ongoing process, which benefits from by downscaling and reduced production costs for various kinds of sensor technologies. For monitoring of machine states, all sorts of physical quantities are captured and analyzed. An even more sophisticated task is the prediction of future machine states and of temporary and instantaneous production steps, such as processes in milling machines. This leads to the notion of collision avoidance in automated machine tools in order to prevent damages and downtimes, which cause high maintenance and material costs (Wächter et al., 2014) .

This leads to the notion of collision avoidance in automated machine tools in order to prevent damages and downtimes, which cause high maintenance and material costs.


Among the studies conducted in vitro aiming the selection of agents for biological control and plant growth, characteristics such as antagonistic activity against pathogens, capacity of colonizing the root system, production of siderophores, hydrolytic enzymes, and plant growth regulating substances are of fundamental importance (Cattelan, 1999) . In addition, soil salinity and pH levels are abiotic factors which can interfere with the competitive capacity of these selected biological agents. Therefore, the tolerance for high salinity and low pH should be criteria for the selection of microorganisms aiming their adaptation in saline or acid soils, and their capacity to protect plants from these stressing environments (Drozdowicz, 1987) . This study has the objective of morphologically and physiologically characterize six isolates of streptomycetes with potential to promote plant growth and to control plant pathogens.

Among the studies conducted in vitro aiming the selection of agents for biological control and plant growth, characteristics such as antagonistic activity against pathogens, capacity of colonizing the root system, production of siderophores, hydrolytic enzymes, and plant growth regulating substances are of fundamental importance.

Therefore, the tolerance for high salinity and low pH should be criteria for the selection of microorganisms aiming their adaptation in saline or acid soils, and their capacity to protect plants from these stressing environments.


Consequently, three decades later, the central message of the Commission -the need to make inconvenient sustainability considerations a part of global politics as much as of everyday life -has been sidelined (Borowy, 2014) . In the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015, Transforming Our World, the central message is the need to make a win-win strategy which can bring huge gains to all countries and all parts of the world. Thus, the inconvenient truth from the 80s has been replaced by an action plan for new opportunities and prosperity. The result is a political acceptable concept with an ambiguous content. By going back to the sustainable development concept's origin: Our Common Future, we aim at reducing this ambiguity and at recapturing the concept's initial focus on limits, equity and needs.

Consequently, three decades later, the central message of the Commission -the need to make inconvenient sustainability considerations a part of global politics as much as of everyday life -has been sidelined.


The new solution is the hot machining, which combines a heating source with conventional machining methods. Hot machining has emerged as a promising technique for hard materials that are difficult to cut. Besides, the workpiece is softened by heating during machining. It is showing a great promise in increasing the productivity and improving the quality due to a remarkable reduction in both cutting forces and tool wear [6] [7] [8] .

It is showing a great promise in increasing the productivity and improving the quality due to a remarkable reduction in both cutting forces and tool wear.


It is considered as a new and innovative way of machining the materials that are difficult to cut in the hardened state, such as ceramics, nickel based super alloys, titanium alloys and hardened ferrous alloys. Effectiveness of the laser assisted machining has already been demonstrated by different researchers [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] . Although scientific work on this area has contributed to understanding the process, there are still unresolved problems. Deep understanding of this process fundamentals including temperature distribution at material removal zone as a function of laser and machining parameters as well as material physical properties is of considerable importance regarding the machining quality. It is extremely difficult or impossible to directly measure the parameters of interest such as heat depth or temperature distribution inside the workpiece during machining. In comparison with experimental work, modeling and simulation are of remarkable importance regarding accuracy and economy aspects. Numerical modeling has been proven to be an efficient method to understand physical phenomena and to predict control parameters of a certain process [16] [17] [18] . Mathematical models do not only allow an estimation of such parameters but also have the ability to lead into new directions due to the detailed analysis that can be achieved.

Effectiveness of the laser assisted machining has already been demonstrated by different researchers.

Numerical modeling has been proven to be an efficient method to understand physical phenomena and to predict control parameters of a certain process.


HONO can be directly emitted into the atmosphere via combustion process (e.g., vehicle exhaust) when temperature of produced NO (from nitrogen thermal fixation) is decreased [14] . Measurements of HONO emission from combustion system are mainly focused on motor vehicles, especially diesel vehicles. HONO/NO x emission ratio from different engines was reported on average to be 0.3∼0.8% [19] [20] [21] . Direct HONO emission source can possibly play an important role over heavily polluted areas with high traffic volume.

HONO can be directly emitted into the atmosphere via combustion process (e.g., vehicle exhaust) when temperature of produced NO (from nitrogen thermal fixation) is decreased.

HONO/NO x emission ratio from different engines was reported on average to be 0.3∼0.8%.


Different crimes elicit different stereotypes about the race of the perpetrator (Hurwitz & Peffley, 1997) . What was unknown until now, however, was whether these stereotypes differentiate between perpetrators within these overarching racial categories. That is, research has overlooked the possibility that the applicability of these stereotypes vary based on the fit between the PS of the perpetrator and the given crime.

Different crimes elicit different stereotypes about the race of the perpetrator.


We propose the utilisation of Char-CNN to sift the most salient features because of the prevalence on deep neural network and its applications to various domains like the challenging online text classification and clustering [6] , [7] , [8] . Char-CNN also adds confidence to accuracy by learning subword information, misspelling or grammatical errors. These issues are likely to happen in a human derived works such as newswire streams and social media data sources [6] , [7] , [8] . By feeding the most atomic characters in the deep neural model, grammatical errors and misspelling keywords can be interpreted in such a way that appropriate linguistic knowledge can be learned. The systematic comparison against the four challenging benchmarking data-sets demonstrates the high level of performance obtained through our model.

We propose the utilisation of Char-CNN to sift the most salient features because of the prevalence on deep neural network and its applications to various domains like the challenging online text classification and clustering.

These issues are likely to happen in a human derived works such as newswire streams and social media data sources.


In our study, EPCs occurred within long-established pair bonds as well as with newly paired birds. Half of the observed EPCs occurred prior to the return of the previous year's mate. They may have been a way of assessing a potential mate, if needed, as has been observed in other species (Wagner 1991) .

They may have been a way of assessing a potential mate, if needed, as has been observed in other species.


These results are comparable with the reported values in which many researchers have carried out the characterization of different seed oil waxes, and present research results are in range for SFW, CW, and CSW compared with other seed oil waxes [13] [14] [15] . Fatty alcohols and fatty acids separated were found to contain saturated even-numbered carbon chain, ranging from C 14 to C 30 (Table 4) as analyzed by GC-MS as fatty alcohol acetates and fatty acids methyl esters. The major FAL acetate present in the seed oil wax ester is from C 20 to C 28 , and high percent of FALs were present in SFW 60% as compared to the other three seed oil waxes. For all the waxes, lignoceryl acetate was the major FAL acetate. The major fatty acids present in the seed oil wax ester are from C 20 to C 28 , and the two major fatty acids present in the SFW, CW and CSW (behenic and lignoceric acids) were identified as methyl behenate and methyl lignocerate with molecular weights of 354 and 386, respectively.

These results are comparable with the reported values in which many researchers have carried out the characterization of different seed oil waxes, and present research results are in range for SFW, CW, and CSW compared with other seed oil waxes.


The third ranked barrier is a "Lack of clear guidance and strategies" (B2). This indicates that SR within mega-construction projects is non-strategic, ad hoc and unfocused. It seems possible that these results are could be ameliorated by the KSA government ensuring that mega-construction projects are properly monitored in addition to ensuring that SR strategies accompany development plan applications for mega-construction projects. This could lead many construction companies to seriously consider the government requirements when it comes to their commitment and attitude towards SR. Social responsibility is still not embedded as a central corporate strategy and there is a narrow understanding of the role of SR in achieving long-term corporate objectives. This is consistent with previous literature which indicates that SR in the construction sector is poorly implemented because it is integrative, narrowly focused (mainly on environmental activities), immature, non-strategic and compliance-based [7] . This is due to the lack of accessibility of SR tools along with no specific framework developed to target the construction industry [94, 100] . Therefore, there is a critical need for the KSA government to establish a platform for SR implementation by developing guidelines and benchmarks. Effectively, a lack of guiding principles for SR has left organizations to decide what, when and how to incorporate SR activities.

This is consistent with previous literature which indicates that SR in the construction sector is poorly implemented because it is integrative, narrowly focused (mainly on environmental activities), immature, non-strategic and compliance-based.

This is due to the lack of accessibility of SR tools along with no specific framework developed to target the construction industry.


The barrier "lack of training" (B9), is also important. This could be attributed to contract bids and tenders within the KSA that are awarded based on the economic rationalist model with the lowest bid winning [160] . However, this is usually at the expense of social considerations, such as the use of child labour and compromised health and working conditions, lack of training and environmental sustainability issues. As a result, the national skills base has weakened which has left limited job opportunities and pathways for the younger generation who have witnessed the apprenticeship system failing; this has ultimately caused widespread inequality within society [71] . Therefore, it is essential to develop appropriate training for all levels of workers in order to develop their skills and knowledge to accomplish SR goals [138] . This training could improve awareness of SR and its impact on the organization, its staff and the environment around them. The absence of an appropriate training program could have a negative effect on SR within the organization's business practices [138] .

This could be attributed to contract bids and tenders within the KSA that are awarded based on the economic rationalist model with the lowest bid winning.

As a result, the national skills base has weakened which has left limited job opportunities and pathways for the younger generation who have witnessed the apprenticeship system failing; this has ultimately caused widespread inequality within society.

Therefore, it is essential to develop appropriate training for all levels of workers in order to develop their skills and knowledge to accomplish SR goals.

The absence of an appropriate training program could have a negative effect on SR within the organization's business practices.


One of the investigated compounds, Genervon's GM6 has been evaluated in vivo in a mouse model and also in humans. It has shown an effect in the SOD1 mouse model for ALS and in ALS patients [42] . As predicted, the peptide has been detected in the cells, especially in the motoneuron cells and was strongly associated with the cell membrane as confirmed using immune imaging technology. GM6 (LP4) has also been detected in the cerebrospinal fluid in mice after 4 hours.

It has shown an effect in the SOD1 mouse model for ALS and in ALS patients.


Lipophilicity of molecules, expressed as an octanol/water partition coefficient (log D), has been used traditionally to model biological distribution processes [20] . It was found that the traditional octanol/water partition coefficient measurements were not suitable for the lipophilicity determination of peptides as peptides are charged and very polar and do not partition into octanol at all [21] . Moreover it is likely peptides could be concentrated on the interface between the octanol and the water. For instance, surface active peptides may help to form foams and emulsions that make the log D determination very difficult.

Lipophilicity of molecules, expressed as an octanol/water partition coefficient (log D), has been used traditionally to model biological distribution processes.

It was found that the traditional octanol/water partition coefficient measurements were not suitable for the lipophilicity determination of peptides as peptides are charged and very polar and do not partition into octanol at all.


However, there are several issues with peptide therapeutics that have to be resolved. In spite of usually being water soluble, their oral absorption is compromised because of peptide hydrolysis occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. Proteolytic enzymes can decompose peptides quickly resulting in short plasma halflife even when the peptides are administered intravenously [4] . Approaches to extend the plasma half-life include substitution of cleavage sites by other amino acids, or to change the folding through enhancement of the secondary structure of the peptide. It is common to use lactam bridges, cyclisation and acylation. Another approach is to increase the serum albumin binding of peptide therapeutics to potentially increase the plasma half-life [4] . Therefore, measurements of albumin binding of potential peptide therapeutics are very important.

Proteolytic enzymes can decompose peptides quickly resulting in short plasma halflife even when the peptides are administered intravenously.

Another approach is to increase the serum albumin binding of peptide therapeutics to potentially increase the plasma half-life.


Wason also explained the results of his selection task experiment using facts based on confirmation bias [5] . In this task, Wason gave subjects partial information about a set of objects, and asked them to specify what further information they would need to tell whether or not a conditional rule ("If A, then B") applies. It has been found repeatedly that people perform badly on various forms of this test, in most cases ignoring information that could potentially refute the rule.

Wason also explained the results of his selection task experiment using facts based on confirmation bias.


This particular investigation reveals that the guidance issued in Scotland and England/Wales has been diverging, and provides evidence for the belief that a lack of protocol leads to different interpretations in the evaluation of interventions [6] . This is particularly apparent in the attitude towards the retrofitting of SPDG panes into original window frames. In Scotland this is considered to be a worthwhile procedure. Comments from the survey and evidence from the planning database of Edinburgh council suggest that this has resulted in joinery firms becoming skilled in this type of work. In England, the guidance has been sceptical towards the retrofitting of SPDG panes and, as a result, conservation professionals tend not to support it.

This particular investigation reveals that the guidance issued in Scotland and England/Wales has been diverging, and provides evidence for the belief that a lack of protocol leads to different interpretations in the evaluation of interventions.


Although the results of the present study strengthen our confidence in the FFPI, no doubt much work remains to be done. The available samples consisted mainly of younger subjects with an above-average level of education. These sample characteristics are reflected in the relatively moderate percentages of Acquiescence variance (on average: 4.8%) in the data. Findings in samples showing a larger variety in age and educational level suggest that Acquiescence variance increases with age and decreases with higher levels of education (Hendriks et al., 1999a) . Whether the same amount of replicability and generalizability of the factor structure holds for older people and lower levels of education is still to be investigated. Also, non-normal samples and specific settings (e.g. clinical and selection contexts) have not yet been included.

Findings in samples showing a larger variety in age and educational level suggest that Acquiescence variance increases with age and decreases with higher levels of education.


In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that the FFPI can be used with confidence in general-population samples in a large variety of countries. Its good psychometric properties may in part be due to the fact that, in contrast to other personality inventories, the FFPI relies, exclusively, on principal components scoring. That is, a person's standing on each of the five dimensions is calculated by (differentially) weighted sums of this person's 100 item responses, resulting in uncorrelated scale scores. Principal components explain a maximum of variance and are maximally reliable (Hofstee et al., 1998) . As predictors, they are maximally efficient (Saucier, 2002) . Unless the FFPI has been validated in a particular language and item weights have been established in a large (normative) sample, it is advised to make use of the matrix of item weights established in the Dutch normative structure, which can be obtained from the first author, together with a stand-alone (Pascal) scoring program to easily arrive at the intended (five) factor scores. A Windows version of the scoring program will be available in the near future.

Principal components explain a maximum of variance and are maximally reliable.

As predictors, they are maximally efficient.


The replicability and generalizability of the five-factor structure indicate that the relationships among the 100 trait variables in the FFPI are largely invariant across cultures. Cross-culturally invariant relationships among variables have been found before with other personality inventories (Benet-Martínez & John, 1998; Eysenck, 1991; Katigbak, Church, & Akamine, 1996; McCrae & Costa, 1997) . This means that imported (etic) personality measures can be useful tools, although they may not fully cover local reality (Yang & Bond, 1990) . Moreover, the existence of cross-cultural equivalents for behaviours may point at the universality of personality constructs. It would be undue, however, to conclude from the results of the present study that the lexically based Big-Five factors, as represented and measured here by the FFPI, are universally the most important (basic) personality dimensions. Evidence regarding the universality of basic dimensions of personality must come primarily from trait-taxonomic (emic) studies. Comparisons among such studies suggest that lexically based cross-lingual universal Big Five factors are not to be expected (De Raad, Perugini, Hřebíčková, & Szarota, 1998; De Raad et al., 1997; Hofstee, Kiers, De Raad, Goldberg, & Ostendorf, 1997) . On the other hand, much method variance exists between trait-taxonomic studies, which seriously hampers conclusions on replicability of the Big Five factors (Goldberg & Somer, 2000; Saucier, Hampson, & Goldberg, 2000) .

Cross-culturally invariant relationships among variables have been found before with other personality inventories.

This means that imported (etic) personality measures can be useful tools, although they may not fully cover local reality.

Comparisons among such studies suggest that lexically based cross-lingual universal Big Five factors are not to be expected.

On the other hand, much method variance exists between trait-taxonomic studies, which seriously hampers conclusions on replicability of the Big Five factors.


A difference was observed in the number of components to be retained for rotation according to the scree test, the -criterion, and parallel analysis. Whereas the former two criteria almost always suggested five components to be retained, parallel analysis suggested seven to nine. This difference can be attributed to the aim and stringency of the criteria: whereas parallel analysis indicates the absolute maximum number of components to be retained, both scree test and -criterion establish their optimal number, i.e., take parsimoniousness of the model into account. Parallel analysis shows at which point additionally extracted factors in the real data would explain less variance than those extracted in simulated random data and, thus, at which point it would no longer make sense retaining them (Reise et al., 2000) . Both the scree test and the -criterion indicate the point of deminishing returns for additionally extracted factors in the real data, notwithstanding the fact that they may cover content: the scree test considers total amount of explained variance; the -criterion considers expected stability of the components. The -criterion is thus the most stringent one and, we think, should be given priority.

Parallel analysis shows at which point additionally extracted factors in the real data would explain less variance than those extracted in simulated random data and, thus, at which point it would no longer make sense retaining them.


A more interesting situation occurs when S (λ) has a regular expansion in (λ − λ 0 ) which agrees with perturbative expansion in b of some field theory with local action A (b), but at the point λ 1 the S-matrix tends to some "rational" scattering matrix corresponding to the S-matrix of a non-linear sigma model on a symmetric space. Near the point λ 1 it can be considered as a deformation of a symmetric scattering. In this case it is natural to search for the dual theory as sigma model with target space looking as a deformed symmetric space. The metric and other characteristics of sigma model on the manifold is subject to very rigid conditions, namely non-linear renormalization group (RG) equations [12] . If one has found the solution of RG equations which gives the observables in the sigma model theory, coinciding with those derived from the factorized S-matrix theory one can conclude that field theory with the action A (b) is dual to a sigma model on the deformed symmetric space. The short distance behaviour of such theory can be studied by RG and conformal field theory (CFT) methods. The agreement of the CFT data, derived from the action A (b) (considered as a perturbed CFT) with the data derived from RG for sigma model gives an additional important test for the duality ("nice" duality).

The metric and other characteristics of sigma model on the manifold is subject to very rigid conditions, namely non-linear renormalization group (RG) equations.