The stability analysis of railway vehicles is one of the classical research areas that takes on increasing importance with the development of high speed railway vehicles. Particularly, hunting stability is the most significant problem in dynamic systems of railway vehicles. Here, "hunting" means the dynamic combination of two (lateral and yaw) degrees of freedom when the behavior of a wheelset is unstable [1] .

Here, "hunting" means the dynamic combination of two (lateral and yaw) degrees of freedom when the behavior of a wheelset is unstable.


PMN hybrids are unique among energy grasses because they can be used as a "seeded-yet-sterile" feedstock. In this system a large quantity of viable F 1 seed are produced from PMN crosses, and these seed produce sterile F 1 hybrids [7, 22] . These sterile F 1 hybrids have sufficient cold tolerance to overwinter and perenniate in regions with temperate climates. Because of this hybrid sterility, seed companies are able to capture the value of PMN varieties due to the elimination of farmer saved seed. This sterility also eliminates the concern of these hybrids becoming invasive weeds.

In this system a large quantity of viable F 1 seed are produced from PMN crosses, and these seed produce sterile F 1 hybrids.


The term "squamous dysplasia" is commonly used among the oral, cervical and bronchial epithelial dysplasias, although the pathological criteria of dividing the grading are different [1] . During embryonic development, the primitive embryonic ectoderm gives origin to the lining epithelium of the palate, gingiva and cheeks while the embryonic endoderm gives origin to the lining epithelium of the trachea and the small air passages. The intraembryonic mesoderm gives origin to the female uterine tube and uterus [2] . The pathological assessment of oral precursor lesions according to WHO classification described the spectrum of dysplasia into mild, moderate and severe categories [3] . Mild dysplasia is the first histological event in the spectrum of these 3 regions. Moderate and severe dysplasias are the subsequent phases that precede invasive carcinoma and there is a good correlation between higher grades of dysplasia and increasing risk of cancer, but studies of the correlation between dysplastic grading and malignancy rate are few [4] .

The term "squamous dysplasia" is commonly used among the oral, cervical and bronchial epithelial dysplasias, although the pathological criteria of dividing the grading are different.

The intraembryonic mesoderm gives origin to the female uterine tube and uterus.

The pathological assessment of oral precursor lesions according to WHO classification described the spectrum of dysplasia into mild, moderate and severe categories.

Moderate and severe dysplasias are the subsequent phases that precede invasive carcinoma and there is a good correlation between higher grades of dysplasia and increasing risk of cancer, but studies of the correlation between dysplastic grading and malignancy rate are few.


We also investigated the autocorrelations of the data with the acf function 7 of the forecast R package [21] . We found significant autocorrelations for all of the questionnaire variables. As a consequence, we entered a lagged variable for all questionnaire variables when they were used as input variables to the equations in our regression models, i.e. the variable itself of the previous day (t-1) when using the same variable, the day (t) as the outcome variable. This has been done in a variety of experience sampling studies to prevent autocorrelation, as advocated by West and Hepworth [60] .

We also investigated the autocorrelations of the data with the acf function 7 of the forecast R package.

This has been done in a variety of experience sampling studies to prevent autocorrelation, as advocated by West and Hepworth.


Significance: As the different affective states are experienced in an individual manner and as individuals might use a different calibration of the Likert-scale, we decided to discretize each respondent's Likert-scale answers into two groups, i.e., high and low. However, instead of using a fixed threshold for each affective state, we calibrated our discretization approach by using a different threshold for each respondent, aiming for as even distribution between the groups for each individual respondent. For a given respondent and affective state, the threshold is obtained by using standard equal probability discretization cite [62] . This respondentaware discretization is done for the questionnaire variables, as well as software repository variables when they are used as outcome variables. I.e. in RQ2 we are trying to predict a binary value of low or high amount of productivity or social interaction, where as in RQ3 we transformed software repository variables to the logarithmic scale because of very large variance in the values.

For a given respondent and affective state, the threshold is obtained by using standard equal probability discretization cite.


Despite this availability of modeling systems for education, computational modeling has not yet become an integrated part of science education. A main reason for this may be found in the fact that despite the attempts to create modeling environments aiming at students, the modeling process as such is still considered as difficult, the problem being that modeling tools require learning their syntax, typically consisting of programming code, equations, or graphical diagrams. At the same time, learners need to grasp the conceptual side of the modeling process consisting of constructing, evaluating, and revising the model [16] , [17] . Constructing the model requires identifying model components and relations; evaluating the model involves model simulation and matching the outcomes to expectations or empirical data; revising the model entails making changes to the model structure or parameter values in such a way that the model improves in matching its expectations.

At the same time, learners need to grasp the conceptual side of the modeling process consisting of constructing, evaluating, and revising the model.


Recall at this point that directed polymers in a Bernoulli random environment are positive temperature versions of oriented percolation. Our bounds here have a flavor similar to the lower bounds for the critical threshold in 2-dimensional oriented percolation (i.e., d = 1 in our notations) in section 6 of Durrett [7] . In that paper, percolation is compared to Galton-Watson processes obtained in running oriented percolation for m steps (m 1), and then using the distribution of wet sites as offspring distribution.

Our bounds here have a flavor similar to the lower bounds for the critical threshold in 2-dimensional oriented percolation (i.e., d = 1 in our notations) in section 6 of Durrett.


Next, we comment on the case of supercritical 1-dimensional oriented percolation. Then, η is Bernoulli distributed with parameter p > p c (1) . The infinite cluster is the set of points (t, x) with t ∈ N, x ∈ Z, P (ω t = x) > 0, which are connected to ∞ by an open oriented path -i.e., a path ω with η(s, ω s ) = 1 ∀s t. It is known that this cluster, at large scale, is approximatively a cone with vertex (0, 0), direction [0, x) and positive angle, and it has a positive density. In words, there is a huge number of oriented paths of length n with energy H n = n − O(1). However, according to the theorem, the polymer measure has a strong localization property. This first seems paradoxical, since there are exponentially many suitable paths on the energetic level. Hence, this is essentially an entropic phenomenon, due to large fluctuations in the number of such paths.

Then, η is Bernoulli distributed with parameter p > p c.


I conducted the study during early dry season, in January and February 1986, at the field station of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The lowland moist forest there has a dry season lasting from December to May. I collected M. coerulatus larvae from natural tree holes before they dried out (Fincke 1992a, b) . Although M. coerulatus larvae range from 2 to 33 mm in size, I limited individuals in this study to intermediate-sized larvae to minimize variation in behaviour due to developmental stage. For example, no final instars were used, because these larvae typically stop feeding 7-10 days before emergence (personal observation), and larvae under about 9 mm are less likely than larger ones to interact aggressively (Fincke 1994) . Because larvae inhabiting the same tree hole were not put together in the same replicate, I assumed that interacting larvae were unrelated. All larvae were individually marked with enamel paint on the legs, and the two that moulted during the study were re-marked a day later. Using callipers, I measured larvae from the head to the end of the final abdominal segment, excluding the caudal lamellae (three leaf-shaped structures used in respiration). So measured, body length was highly correlated with head width, and the size of final instars was correlated with the size of the emerging adult (Fincke 1994) . Hereafter 'size' refers to body length. In any replicate, the largest individual was only 16-24% larger than the smallest individual. I therefore assumed that a larva perceived smaller conspecifics as competitors rather than prey. In all experiments, 'food' refers to newly hatched Physalaemus pustulosus tadpoles (3-4 mm body length), a natural prey (Fincke 1992a, unpublished data) . Throughout, means are presented with their standard errors.

For example, no final instars were used, because these larvae typically stop feeding 7-10 days before emergence (personal observation), and larvae under about 9 mm are less likely than larger ones to interact aggressively.

So measured, body length was highly correlated with head width, and the size of final instars was correlated with the size of the emerging adult.

Hereafter 'size' refers to body length.


The study presented here has further consequences beyond an explanation of planet formation in wide binary systems. Particularly, the model of instability-driven evolution of newlyformed systems into the Kozai resonance has substantial implications for orbital misalignment with the parent star's rotation axis. In fact, Kozai cycles with tidal friction produce a particular distribution of orbit-spin axis angles (Fabrycky and Tremaine, 2007) . This distribution differs significantly from that produced by the planet-planet scattering scenario (Nagasawa et al., 2008) . This distinction has been used to statistically infer the dominant process by which misaligned hot Jupiters form (Morton and Johnson, 2011) . However, the model presented here suggests that the two distributions should be intimately related, as planetplanet scattering provides the initial condition from which Kozai cycles originate. Consequently, a quantitative re-examination of the orbit-spin axis misalignment angle distribution, formed by Kozai cycles with tidal friction that originate from a scattered orbital architecture, and subsequent comparison of the results with observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect will likely yield new insights into dynamical evolution histories of misaligned hot Jupiters.

In fact, Kozai cycles with tidal friction produce a particular distribution of orbit-spin axis angles.

This distribution differs significantly from that produced by the planet-planet scattering scenario.

This distinction has been used to statistically infer the dominant process by which misaligned hot Jupiters form.


In this article, we embark on reinvestigating triple Higgs production at a 100 TeV proton-proton collider to be more confident on the sensitivity of such a machine to the quartic Higgs self-coupling. We focus on the more challenging, branching-ratio-enhanced, bbbbτ + τ − signature. Contrary to the bbbbγγ channel, it receives a severe background contamination that yields a weaker expected sensitivity [14] . However, with the effort of exploiting previously overlooked advantages of the ditau system and a boosted configuration, we show in this work that the bbbbτ τ channel can be promoted to a leading discovery channel for triple-Higgs production.

Contrary to the bbbbγγ channel, it receives a severe background contamination that yields a weaker expected sensitivity.


Autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of up to 30% of cases in idiopathic POI [10] . It has been estimated that, in adult patients with POI, 18-30% also have an autoimmune disease and up to 50% have other evidence of autoimmunity [11] . The diagnosis of autoimmunity diseases relies on clinical, biological and histologic parameters. But in our study, all patients and healthy control women had no clinical symptom of autoimmunity disease. Detection of specific autoantibodies remains the most practical clinical research marker of any of autoimmune disease, so we selected a panel of well-established markers which are used in the diagnosis of autoimmunity diseases to investigate serologic autoimmunologic parameters in POI women. To our knowledge, no such data have been published in women with POI.

Autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of up to 30% of cases in idiopathic POI.

It has been estimated that, in adult patients with POI, 18-30% also have an autoimmune disease and up to 50% have other evidence of autoimmunity.


Nevertheless, the tide seems to be turning: more and more fire decisions are being made by individuals, rather than as a group; and Kraho fire knowledge is being lost. The Brazilian government has put major development efforts into the region, and the Tocantins is now one of the agricultural frontiers for soybean and cattle production (Th6ry, 2002) . To export this produce, infrastructural developments, chiefly the paving of major roads, are planned for the region. These advances are moving ever closer to the Kraho, and have significant implications for their livelihoods and landscape management practices. Foremost will be the potential conflicts over natural resources such as water, trees, and game. As more people surround and invade Kraho land, the pressures on the Kraho to abandon their traditional management practices will be significant, risking permanent loss of their culture and their environment. Official acceptance of indigenous landscape management practices for conserving the remaining areas of Brazilian cerrado may not only protect biodiversity and other valuable natural resources, but may give indigenous people the confidence and influence to retain their traditional culture.

The Brazilian government has put major development efforts into the region, and the Tocantins is now one of the agricultural frontiers for soybean and cattle production.


Modifying an energy installation after use has also been observed, suggesting that as well as the disinterested user, there are other households who seek or have a level of expertise in managing their household technology and wish to be able to use it. A Finnish study of heat pump and wood pellet installations identified 192 types of modifications made by users in order to improve the compatibility of the installation with their specific home (Hyysalo et al., 2013) . The desire to understand the technology being adopted was stated by, for example, a biomass adopter in the RECharge case study who, at the time of interview, was trialling a third boiler design after two previous boilers, from two separate manufacturers had failed to function effectively: While the themes described above all focus on the adviser/installer as an individual, other comments on the role of the adviser/installer illustrated important issues in the system in which the adviser or installer operated. All interviewees valued, or believed others to value, the advice offered on technology options through a council arms-length agency, with no sales or commission involved.

A Finnish study of heat pump and wood pellet installations identified 192 types of modifications made by users in order to improve the compatibility of the installation with their specific home.


Energy technology retrofit clearly has potential to deliver significant emission reductions, but in practice, the success of retrofitting existing building stock to low carbon standards is dependent on social, cultural and economic change as much as technical innovation (Ravetz, 2008) . Here, we investigate the role of a largely overlooked change agent in this broadly conceived retrofit process, the energy technology installers and advisers. We explore the interaction of these agents with householders in an effort to better understand their role and influence in the domestic energy retrofit process. We begin by briefly reviewing the factors that affect uptake and use of domestic energy technologies, before moving to the main focus of this paper, the influence of installers and advisers. We explore the role and impact of the adviser and installer through analysis of primary data from five English case studies. We conclude that their role is significant but that some of the characteristics of a large proportion of the advisers and installers mean that they are beyond the reach of current policy interventions. A framework for understanding individual adviser/installer attributes and competencies is developed, which we suggest can help to identify how policy and practice might reach these key individuals and unlock their potential to contribute to, and accelerate, the essential low carbon retrofit of the domestic sector.

Energy technology retrofit clearly has potential to deliver significant emission reductions, but in practice, the success of retrofitting existing building stock to low carbon standards is dependent on social, cultural and economic change as much as technical innovation.


Scheme, 2013; NICEIC, undated). However, the ability to select an appropriate technology is a precursor competence more difficult to assess. In problem solving for their clients, installers and advisers will operate rationally, but according to their own heuristics of risk and acceptability. What has been their particular experience with this kind of problem before? How have others in their networks solved similar problems? These questions are consistent with the findings from other recent socio-technical analysis of SME potential to contribute to low carbon retrofit (Killip, 2013) .

Scheme, 2013; NICEIC, undated).

These questions are consistent with the findings from other recent socio-technical analysis of SME potential to contribute to low carbon retrofit.


Perhaps the simplest class of volumetric multiview reconstruction methods are visual hull approaches (Laurentini, 1994; Matusik et al., 2000; Szeliski, 1993) . The visual hull, computed from silhouette images, is an outer-bound approximation to the scene geometry. Algorithms that compute the visual hull are applicable to scenes with arbitrary BRDFs as long as foreground/background segmentation at each reference view is possible, and are relatively simple to implement since visibility need not be modeled when reconstructing the scene geometry.

Perhaps the simplest class of volumetric multiview reconstruction methods are visual hull approaches.


A soil rock fragment is defined as a particle with a diameter >2 mm. Fragments forming as a result of processes of soil genesis and human activity exist at the soil surface and within the soil. Stony soils are widespread and can reach land-cover ratios up to 60% in the Mediterranean region of Western Europe (Poesen and Lavee, 1994) . The proportion of stony soil is >30% on the Loess Plateau of China (Hou, 1993) .

Stony soils are widespread and can reach land-cover ratios up to 60% in the Mediterranean region of Western Europe.

The proportion of stony soil is >30% on the Loess Plateau of China.


Our work is directly inspired by the psychological studies of audio segmentation in human beings (Saffran, Aslin, & Newport 1996) (Saffran et al. 1999) (Saffran et al. 1997) . These studies show us that the unsupervised segmentation of natural language is possible, and does not require prohibitively long exposure to the audio. However, these studies do little to direct us towards a functioning algorithm capable of such a feat.

Our work is directly inspired by the psychological studies of audio segmentation in human beings.


The issue of electricity-natural gas interdependence it not specific to the one case mentioned and is becoming a major energy policy and regulatory issue in all jurisdictions around the world undergoing the transformation to a lower-carbon and/or renewables-based energy system. Naturally the issue rose to top priority in Japan after the closing down of nuclear power in 2011 and likewise advanced to center stage in North America following the "shale gas revolution", e.g. in PJM (Sotkiewicz, 2012) . Furthermore, the developments of the Arab Spring and the recurrent disputes between Russia and its gas transit countries Belarus and the Ukraine highlighted the issue of supply security of the import dependent European Union. Some countries and regions within the European Union currently are dependent on a very small number of suppliers, which makes them vulnerable to supply disruptions even if they are temporary. The South European countries (Italy and increasingly Spain) strongly depend on pipeline imports from North Africa (Algeria, Libya) and use liquefied natural gas (LNG) to diversify their supplies and respond to short-term demand spikes. The Central and South East European countries import almost exclusively from Russia and the current network topology does not allow them to quickly change this import pattern. For this region, storage and especially reverse flow capacities (to import from the West to the East, opposite the traditional direction from the East / Russia to the West) are put forward as remedies to increase their security of supply, in addition to increasing the number of import routes.

Naturally the issue rose to top priority in Japan after the closing down of nuclear power in 2011 and likewise advanced to center stage in North America following the "shale gas revolution", e.g. in PJM.


In the household appliance industry, as in many other industries, it is crucial to have products with low electricity consumption. Buyers are aware of the positive impact of low electricity consumption on both their personal economy and on the environment (Jeong and Kim 2015) . Manufacturers in Europe are obliged to put a label showing the electricity consumption on the front of a household product. In the case of dishwashers, this consumption must be determined in accordance with the European standard EN50242 (EN50242 2008) .

Buyers are aware of the positive impact of low electricity consumption on both their personal economy and on the environment.

In the case of dishwashers, this consumption must be determined in accordance with the European standard EN50242.


The washing process in a household dishwasher is divided into four operational steps: prewashing, washing, rinsing and drying (Fig. 1) . Simulations showed that between 80 and 90% of all electricity consumption occurs during the heating in the washing and rinsing steps (Bengtsson et al. 2015) . The rest can be attributed to the water circulation pump.

Simulations showed that between 80 and 90% of all electricity consumption occurs during the heating in the washing and rinsing steps.


Hessenberg varieties appear in a number of mathematical fields under a number of names. For example Springer fibers, originally defined by Springer to construct representations of Weyl groups, can be expressed as Spr(X) = Hess(X, b) [12] . Peterson varieties first appeared in the construction of the quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian [9] . Wachs and Shareshian's work on quasi-symmetric functions uses Hessenberg varieties to geometrically encode combinatorial data [11] .

For example Springer fibers, originally defined by Springer to construct representations of Weyl groups, can be expressed as Spr(X) = Hess(X, b).

Peterson varieties first appeared in the construction of the quantum cohomology of the Grassmannian.

Wachs and Shareshian's work on quasi-symmetric functions uses Hessenberg varieties to geometrically encode combinatorial data.


In this paper, we investigate a novel composite structure proposing regular gold rings, rather than only disks, with a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) doped with an azo dye. We present the model used to evaluate the effects of the external optical pump and calculate the effects of the boundary conditions and geometrical parameters and shows the MR:LC refractive index distribution in the cell volume. Finally, we present the optical response that shows that an excess of structure behaves as a tunable absorber with an excess of 30 dB absorption that can be geometrically and optically tuned over a broad range of wavelengths. Figure 1 illustrates the structure under investigation, which consists of a 2D array of gold rings on a quartz substrate, with a period T. The thickness, internal radius, and external radius of the rings are denoted with h, a, and b, respectively. The plasmon resonances in the near infrared spectrum region are found for T 800 nm and b 300 nm [15] .

The plasmon resonances in the near infrared spectrum region are found for T 800 nm and b 300 nm.


The new improved clones had high levels of catechins like the other commercialized clones used in this study except for clone TRFK 306. The low levels of catechins in fresh leaves of clone TRFK 306 could be attributed to the up regulation of the anthocyanin synthase in biosynthetic pathway for anthocyanins rather than the leucoanthocyanin reductase in catechin biosynthetic pathway probably due to environmental stimuli (Punyasiri et al., 2004) . This could imply that this variety clones could be commercialized for the production of purple tea which has been considered a medicine and a healthful beverage (Carmen et al., 2006) . Furthermore, some clones had high levels of catechins, especially EGCG, which from the preceding studies done indicated that such high levels of EGCG are important health benefits (Dale et al., 2006) .

The low levels of catechins in fresh leaves of clone TRFK 306 could be attributed to the up regulation of the anthocyanin synthase in biosynthetic pathway for anthocyanins rather than the leucoanthocyanin reductase in catechin biosynthetic pathway probably due to environmental stimuli.

This could imply that this variety clones could be commercialized for the production of purple tea which has been considered a medicine and a healthful beverage.

Furthermore, some clones had high levels of catechins, especially EGCG, which from the preceding studies done indicated that such high levels of EGCG are important health benefits.


Let a and t be integers such that a = −s + rt, t > 0 and a ≥ 0. Set σ(x, c) = x a c t P 1,t (x r c), where P 1,t (x) is the polynomial defined in Proposition 2.11 (2) . Then one easily verifies that σ(x, c) satisfies the above condition, and the assertion follows.

Set σ(x, c) = x a c t P 1,t (x r c), where P 1,t (x) is the polynomial defined in Proposition 2.11.


First, herbivory is reduced with increasing number of workers relative to photosynthetic surface, suggesting that increased`patrolling potential' brings increased bene¢t. Workers patrol young leaves day and night, driving away or killing most of the phytophagous insects they encounter (Gaume & McKey 1998) . But this protection is far less e¤cient when ants tend coccids (¢gure 1).

Workers patrol young leaves day and night, driving away or killing most of the phytophagous insects they encounter.


Ants bene¢t the plant by patrolling and protecting young leaves against phytophagous insects (Gaume & McKey 1998) . In both groups, herbivory decreased with increasing density of ant occupation (number of workers relative to lea£et number), indicating that denser colonies conferred greater protection. However, this relationship was much stronger for colonies tending pseudococcids than for colonies tending coccids (¢gure 1). For the latter, the regression between herbivory and number of workers per lea£et was only marginally signi¢cant (r 2 0.29, F 1,9 3.64, p 0.09). For colonies tending pseudococcids, in contrast, the regression was highly signi¢cant (r 2 0.75, F 1,8 23.66, p 0.0012). Arcsin (square root) transformation of the variable herbivory (a proportion), carried out to normalize the data, did not change the results (r 2 0.32, F 1,9 4.17, p 0.07 for coccid-tending colonies; r 2 0.75, F 1,8 24.08, p 0.0012 for pseudococcid-tending colonies). Colonies tending pseudococcids protected their host trees against herbivores more e¡ectively than did colonies tending coccids.

Ants bene¢t the plant by patrolling and protecting young leaves against phytophagous insects.


Current chemical process industries strive to improve the operation standards of their processes and quality levels of their products, with the central goal of reducing the variability of the main quality features around their target value [1] . Statistical Process Control (SPC) provides a toolbox for conducting such activities, where control charts have a particularly important role (so much so, that quite often the two designations, SPC and control charts, are used interchangeably). The goal of control charts is to provide a simple and objective way to monitor the process variability over time, in order to verify, at each instant, whether it remains "normal", i.e., in a state of statistical control, or whether a special cause of variation has occurred, driving it to an out of statistical control state [1, 2] . The state of statistical control is essentially characterized by process variables remaining close to their desired or average levels, affected only by common causes of variation, i.e., variation sources affecting the process all time and that are essentially unavoidable within the process normal operation conditions [1] .

Current chemical process industries strive to improve the operation standards of their processes and quality levels of their products, with the central goal of reducing the variability of the main quality features around their target value.

The goal of control charts is to provide a simple and objective way to monitor the process variability over time, in order to verify, at each instant, whether it remains "normal", i.e., in a state of statistical control, or whether a special cause of variation has occurred, driving it to an out of statistical control state.

The state of statistical control is essentially characterized by process variables remaining close to their desired or average levels, affected only by common causes of variation, i.e., variation sources affecting the process all time and that are essentially unavoidable within the process normal operation conditions.


The modal pushover analysis (MPA) procedure for estimating seismic demands has been extended to unsymmetric-plan buildings. Based on structural dynamics theory, the MPA procedure retains the conceptual simplicity of current procedures with invariant force distribution, now common in structural engineering practice. The MPA estimate of seismic demand due to an intense ground motion (including a forward directivity pulse) has been shown to be generally accurate for unsymmetric systems to a similar degree as it was for a symmetric building. This conclusion is based on a comparison of the MPA estimate of demand and its exact value determined by non-linear RHA for four structural systems: Los Angeles 9-story steel frame building designed for the SAC project and variations of this symmetric-plan building to create three unsymmetric-plan systems with dierent degrees of coupling between lateral and torsional motions, as characterized by different values of the ratio of uncoupled lateral and torsional vibration periods: torsionally-sti Floor NL-RHA MPA CQC ABSSUM system U1, torsionally-exible system U3, and torsionally-similarly-sti system U2. For the excitation considered, the MPA estimates for two unsymmetric systems, U1 and U3, are similarly accurate as they were for the symmetric-plan building; however, the results deteriorated for system U2 because of (a) stronger coupling of elastic modes and (b) under-estimation of roof displacement by the CQC modal combination rule, which occurs because the individual modal responses attain their peaks almost simultaneously. This implies that for system U2 and the selected ground motion the CQC modal combination rule would not give an accurate estimate of the peak response even if the system were linearly elastic. This points to the need for evaluating the MPA procedure considering an ensemble of ground motions and documenting the bias and dispersion in the procedure applied to unsymmetric buildings, as has been accomplished for symmetric buildings [15] . Such future work will also evaluate the MPA procedure when earthquake hazard is de ned by a design spectrum-typical of building codes and building evaluation guidelines-a situation for which modal combination rules were intended. Simultaneous action of two horizontal components of ground motion and structural plans unsymmetric about both axes also remain to be investigated.

This points to the need for evaluating the MPA procedure considering an ensemble of ground motions and documenting the bias and dispersion in the procedure applied to unsymmetric buildings, as has been accomplished for symmetric buildings.


Utilizing the ROSETTA software suite, we computed energy values for residue interactions along different binding interfaces. This benchmarked computational technique has been shown to provide useful insight in the following studies [16, 17, 26] . Likewise, ROSETTA was used to compute pairwise interactions between individual amino acids within the Gα subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein. This technique allowed us to compare the predicted thermodynamically stabilizing interactions between the basal, receptor-bound and activated conformations of the Gα subunit. Through this analysis we were able to detect intra-protein differences in amino acid interaction networks important for propagating conformational changes.

This benchmarked computational technique has been shown to provide useful insight in the following studies.


With the development of farming by our early ancestors, the value of seeds to start a crop has been an important consideration. Without much knowledge of physiology or genetics, these farmers determined by trial and error which seed characteristics were desirable for optimal performance. In the nineteenth century, Mendel laid the foundation of modern genetics by crossing peas with different seed traits (Mendel, 1866) . Characterization and classification of seed proteins based on their physical characteristics, such as solubility in aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, that started over a century ago set the stage for biochemical analyses of seeds (Osborne, 1894) .

In the nineteenth century, Mendel laid the foundation of modern genetics by crossing peas with different seed traits.

Characterization and classification of seed proteins based on their physical characteristics, such as solubility in aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, that started over a century ago set the stage for biochemical analyses of seeds.


Recently, Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) techniques are developed to avoid the use of textual descriptions [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . These techniques retrieve desired images from a large collection of image database. In CBIR, retrieving of images are based on some features in their contents like textures, colors or shapes which are the low level features of the image [6] . Figure 1 shows the block diagram of basic CBIR system. The CBIR involves two phases: feature extraction and feature matching. The first phase involves extracting the image features while the second phase involves matching these features. Briefly, the features of each image stored in the database is extracted and compared to the features of the query image. If the distance between feature vectors of the query image and the image in the database is small enough, the corresponding image in the database is to be considered as a matched image to the query. The matched images are then ranked accordingly to a similarity index. Finally, the retrieved images are specified according to the highest similarity.

Recently, Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) techniques are developed to avoid the use of textual descriptions.

In CBIR, retrieving of images are based on some features in their contents like textures, colors or shapes which are the low level features of the image.


It is also possible that a nitrate concentration gradient detectable by the cells in the water column guides the swimming direction of nitrogen-starved cells. Dinoflagellates are known to exhibit chemotactical responses to very low concentrations of various compounds (Levandowsky and Kaneta 1987) . Turbulent mixing might entrain the nitracline and create and maintain small gradients in the water column above the deep nitracline. To evaluate the possibility of a chemotactical response, we used the measured eddy coefficients, nitrate profiles, and the simplified diffusion equation (ץNO 3 )/ ץt ϭ ץ/ץz(K (ץNO 3 )/ץz), where t is time and the z-axis is positive upward. Integration of this equation for 1 d indicates that turbulence could have resulted in concentrations of 1-3 ϫ 10 Ϫ4 mol L Ϫ1 to the depths of 19, 24, and 18 m for the first, second, and third anchor stations, respectively. If we assume that the diel migration was ϳ10 m, the dinoflagellate population could therefore have sensed the nitrate concentration gradient during a diel migratory cycle. Thus, the migratory behavior and the DCM formation can be, at least partly, explained by chemotaxis.

Dinoflagellates are known to exhibit chemotactical responses to very low concentrations of various compounds.


In this work, we construct a new dynamic nonlinear economic model with fractional derivative defined by Jumarie's sense. The corresponding discrete model is drawn by removing the limit operator in Jumarie's fractional derivative. The step size in discretization and the fractional order are regarded as parameters in the obtained discrete model. All the parameters are estimated by the least square method. Based on the macroeconomic data, we calculate the optimal fractional order and step size. We verify that there are lots of choices of values of step size in discretization and every step size has a unique optimal fractional order. The sum squared residuals and the -squared values of estimation in simulation are computed, which demonstrate that the nonlinear discrete model is effective in modelling the macroeconomic variables of USA, and it is better than the linear model proposed in the references [22, 24] .

The sum squared residuals and the -squared values of estimation in simulation are computed, which demonstrate that the nonlinear discrete model is effective in modelling the macroeconomic variables of USA, and it is better than the linear model proposed in the references.


In essence, covariance functions are the 'infinite-dimensional' equivalent to covariance matrices in a traditional, ' finite' multivariate analysis [15] . As the name indicates, a covariance function (CF) describes the covariance between records taken at certain ages as a function of these ages. A suitable function is a higher order polynomial. This implies that when fitting a CF model, we need to estimate the coefficients of the polynomial instead of the covariance components in a finite-dimensional analysis. The number of coefficients required is determined by the order of fit of the polynomials. A finite-dimensional, multivariate analysis is equivalent to 'full fit' CF analysis where the order of fit is equal to the number of ages measured, i.e. the covariance matrices for the ages in the data generated by the estimated CFs are equal to the estimates that would have been obtained in a conventional, multivariate analysis. In practice, however, a reduced order fit often suffices.

In essence, covariance functions are the 'infinite-dimensional' equivalent to covariance matrices in a traditional, ' finite' multivariate analysis.


The electricity energy consumption is forecasted by using genetic algorithms in Turkey [70] . The results were compared with conventional regression techniques, and the estimated values of the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (TMENR). An estimation for the electricity demand in the year 2020 is also provided.

The electricity energy consumption is forecasted by using genetic algorithms in Turkey.


Actually, the electric power markets have become competitive markets due to the deregulation carried out in the last years, allowing the participation of all buyers, producers, investors or traders. Thus, the price of the electricity is determined on the basis of this buying/selling system. Consequently, electricity-producer companies need to develop methods for optimal bidding [6] .

Consequently, electricity-producer companies need to develop methods for optimal bidding.


Genetic programming (GP) is a natural evolution of GA and its first apparition in the literature dates of 1992 [66] . It is a specialization of genetic algorithms where each individual is a computer program. Therefore it is used to optimize a population of computer programs according to a fitness landscape determined by a program's ability to perform a given computational task. Hence, specialized genetic operator that generalize crossover and mutation are used for tree-structured programs.

Genetic programming (GP) is a natural evolution of GA and its first apparition in the literature dates of 1992.


The feature selection problem to obtain optimal inputs for load forecasting has also been addressed by means of ANN [57] . The authors evaluated the performance of four feature selection methods in conjunction with state-of-the-art prediction algorithms, using two years of Australian data. The results outperformed those of exponential smoothing prediction models.

The feature selection problem to obtain optimal inputs for load forecasting has also been addressed by means of ANN.


This is a variant of (1.1) in the non-limit regime. The fourth moment hypothesis is known to be necessary. Consider again a family of matrices whose dimensions m and n increase to infinity, and whose aspect ratio m/n converges to a constant. If the entries are independent and identically distributed random variables with mean zero and infinite fourth moment, then the upper limit of the ratio W /( √ n + √ m) is infinite almost surely [32] .

If the entries are independent and identically distributed random variables with mean zero and infinite fourth moment, then the upper limit of the ratio W /( √ n + √ m) is infinite almost surely.


In the information technology (IT) area, managerial decisions on adoption of new innovative technologies face a number of challenges. The process of technological innovation is characterized by inherent uncertainty. Investments in new technologies have varied levels of risk as newer innovative technologies that offer improved performance may also offer a lower likelihood of successful development (Krishnan and Bhattacharya, 2002) . Furthermore, IT adoption decisions may be influenced by choices of other economic agents. With a network externality, the benefit to a firm of choosing a technology consists of its intrinsic payoff plus the "network" value from others adopting the same technology (Farrell and Saloner, 1986; Katz and Shapiro, 1986) .

Investments in new technologies have varied levels of risk as newer innovative technologies that offer improved performance may also offer a lower likelihood of successful development.

With a network externality, the benefit to a firm of choosing a technology consists of its intrinsic payoff plus the "network" value from others adopting the same technology.


This study complements two separate strands of research on technology adoption. In the economic literature, adoption of new technologies is explored through theoretical models that focus on mathematical modeling of the impact of various factors on the timing of technology choices made by the firm (Katz and Shapiro, 1986; Choi and Thum, 1998; Farzin et al., 1998; Hagspiel et al., 2015) . In contrast, the MIS literature focuses on conceptual models including the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology -UTAUT (Venkatesh et al., 2003) . TAM focuses on factors such as perceived usefulness and ease of use in determining an individual's attitude toward and use of IT. UTAUT integrates key factors including expected performance of the new technology, effort, and social influences, with moderating variables such as age, gender, experience, and voluntariness. These conceptual MIS models are then explored empirically as the impact of specific variables that influence technology adoption behavior is identified (Venkatesh et al., 2012; Kamal, 2006; Ghezzi et al., 2013; Roy, 2017) .

In the economic literature, adoption of new technologies is explored through theoretical models that focus on mathematical modeling of the impact of various factors on the timing of technology choices made by the firm.

In contrast, the MIS literature focuses on conceptual models including the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology -UTAUT.

These conceptual MIS models are then explored empirically as the impact of specific variables that influence technology adoption behavior is identified.


In clonal microorganisms, spontaneous mutations in the DNA sequence are a dominant source of genetic variation (Miller 1996) . The rate and spectrum of mutational events are the outcome of extrinsic environmental conditions (e.g., exposure to DNA damaging agents) and intrinsic cellular processes (e.g., DNA replication fidelity). As natural selection acts on the genetic variation within a population, identifying mutagenic mechanisms is essential in understanding evolutionary outcomes, such as the emergence of antibiotic resistance (Chopra, O'Neill, and Miller 2003) .

In clonal microorganisms, spontaneous mutations in the DNA sequence are a dominant source of genetic variation.

As natural selection acts on the genetic variation within a population, identifying mutagenic mechanisms is essential in understanding evolutionary outcomes, such as the emergence of antibiotic resistance.


According to data from the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration in Turkey, there are approximately 40000 caves in Turkey, but only 1250 of those have been discovered and explored [16] . The aforementioned number of caves is only for Turkey. The number of caves across the world will be much greater.

According to data from the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration in Turkey, there are approximately 40000 caves in Turkey, but only 1250 of those have been discovered and explored.


In general, a differential element along the line will have a non-zero component aligned with the principal axis of maximum strain at some later time and will be stretched accordingly. At exceptional points along the line, the differential element will be orthogonal to the axis of maximum strain. It is at these points where the curvature may have a local maximum (Leonard 2005) . The object of this paper is to determine the curvature as a function of arclength in the vicinity of these points of maximum curvature.

It is at these points where the curvature may have a local maximum.


Time delay in nonlinear systems has been recognized as an important factor affecting various dynamics [34, 35] . Multistability is one of the most interesting properties in dynamic systems. The long-term behaviors of system trajectories with multistability are easily influenced by the external perturbations. A slight change of a system parameter will induce system dynamics switching from one steady-state to another [36, 37] . In this paper, we illustrated a multi-equilibria coexistence in a delayed Hopfield two-neural system with monotonic activation function. The results have shown that the neural system has two pitchfork bifurcations of the trivial equilibrium. Further, analyzing the characteristic equation of the nontrivial equilibrium generated by the pitchfork bifurcation of the trivial equilibrium, we illustrated the saddle-node bifurcation of the nontrivial equilibria. The system exhibits the multi-coexistences of the stable and unstable equilibria employing the multistage static bifurcations. By the static bifurcation curves of the trivial and nontrivial equilibria, we presented the detailed regions having different numbers of system equilibria in the parameter plane. Then, we proposed the stability analysis and exhibited the periodic orbit using the Hopf bifurcation. The stability regions have been shown by the Hopf bifurcation curves. The dynamic behaviors near the Hopf-Hopf bifurcation points have been presented. The system has exhibited the coexistence of the periodic orbits with the different frequencies near the bifurcation points.

Time delay in nonlinear systems has been recognized as an important factor affecting various dynamics.

A slight change of a system parameter will induce system dynamics switching from one steady-state to another.


The likelihood ratio statistic is asymptotically pivotal and chi-squared distributed so that we can form the confidence interval by inverting the likelihood ratio. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric likelihood function for the parameter β * defined in the three step estimation problems by using the method of empirical likelihood (Owen, 1988) . In particular, we show that by modifying the moment functions to account for influences from the first and second step estimation, the resulting empirical likelihood ratio statistic becomes asymptotically pivotal and chi-squared distributed. Our statistic allows to conduct inference on β * without estimating the asymptotic variance. Additionally, in contrast to inference based on the t-ratio, another desirable feature of our empirical likelihood inference is that it does not require undersmoothing for the bandwidths in the first and second step estimation.

In this paper, we develop a nonparametric likelihood function for the parameter β * defined in the three step estimation problems by using the method of empirical likelihood.


Yoga has multiple benefits, including; injury prevention and increased performance, body awareness, balance, core strength, breath awareness, mental focus, stress relief, recovery time, and endurance (LaMeaux, 2011) . With the many benefits derived from the practice of yoga, it is important for badminton athlete to exercise yoga. The benefits of yoga include: injury prevention, increased performance, body awareness, balance, core strength, breathe awareness, mental focus, stress relief, recovery time, and endurance.

Yoga has multiple benefits, including; injury prevention and increased performance, body awareness, balance, core strength, breath awareness, mental focus, stress relief, recovery time, and endurance.


Rhadinorhynchus dorsoventrospinosus sp. nov. (Figs 1-20) A total of 34 adult specimens of the new species of Rhadinorhynchus was collected from the intestines of 4 infected out of 5 examined specimens of redtail scad, Decapterus kurroides, collected in Halong Bay, Vietnam, in May, 2009 . Twelve males and 4 females were processed and whole mounted for microscopical studies. The remaining specimens were used for SEM studies. Scads were 18.5 to 22.0 long (mean of 20.7 cm). The redtail scad is a reef associated pelagic marine fish that occurs in inshore waters of the continental shelf and continental slope into deep waters with a depth range of 100-300 m where it feeds on small planktonic invertebrates. It is an Indo-West Pacific species that extends from East Africa to the Philippines, north to southern Japan and south to western Australia (Paxton et al. 1989) .

It is an Indo-West Pacific species that extends from East Africa to the Philippines, north to southern Japan and south to western Australia.


In our study, in the morning until before noon, the impact of T above 1 • C with a lag of 0-2 days was nonsignificant after adjustment for seasonal differences. In the studies on the links between weather and blood pressure, a higher personal-level environmental temperature index during nighttime and early morning hours was associated with an increased blood pressure during the ensuing days [42] . In an Italian study, nighttime systolic pressure was positively related to temperature, and hot weather was associated with an increase in systolic pressure at night in treated elderly hypertensive subjects [43] . Because at night people are less exposed to outdoor temperature, nighttime blood pressure is possibly less sensitive to the outdoor air temperature. This may explain the absence of a negative association between T and the risk of EACs for EABP in the morning until before noon. In the afternoon, a warmer air temperature decreased the risk of EACs. It is likely that in the afternoon or several hours before, people were more exposed to the air temperature.

In the studies on the links between weather and blood pressure, a higher personal-level environmental temperature index during nighttime and early morning hours was associated with an increased blood pressure during the ensuing days.

In an Italian study, nighttime systolic pressure was positively related to temperature, and hot weather was associated with an increase in systolic pressure at night in treated elderly hypertensive subjects.


In our study, a greater risk of EACs was associated with a lower BP or with daily changes in BP. Many of the authors also stated a negative effect of lower BP and BP reduction on blood pressure. A negative effect of low BP on blood pressure levels was also reported in hypertensive patients who did not respond to treatment [6] . A significant inverse relationship between atmospheric pressure and blood pressure during the spring days, and only for systolic blood pressure, during winter nights, was observed in Poland [7] .

A negative effect of low BP on blood pressure levels was also reported in hypertensive patients who did not respond to treatment.

A significant inverse relationship between atmospheric pressure and blood pressure during the spring days, and only for systolic blood pressure, during winter nights, was observed in Poland.


The valuation exercise found that the best state defined by the CAMPHOR items was below 1. It is clear from this and other studies that individuals valuing the best health state (i.e. that with no health problems) are still judged to have impaired health status as reflected by a mean utility value lower than 1 [26, 27] . It is interesting to note that in the development of the EQ-5D the state of perfect health was not valued and was assumed to be 1 [19] . This anchoring meant that in the PH validation sample around 8% of patients had perfect health according to the EQ-5D. It is questionable whether any individuals with PH would consider themselves to have perfect health given the severe nature of the symptoms, the fact that the condition is often not diagnosed until late in its progression and the poor prognosis. Given these factors, it is possible that the CAMPHOR utility scale provides a more realistic estimate of utility in PH.

It is clear from this and other studies that individuals valuing the best health state (i.e. that with no health problems) are still judged to have impaired health status as reflected by a mean utility value lower than 1.

It is interesting to note that in the development of the EQ-5D the state of perfect health was not valued and was assumed to be 1.


Another limitation is the small sample size of the pilot study. Repeating the study with more course sections would allow for a more robust data set. However, it is challenging to identify true A/B courses where all factors (e.g., instructor, course content, librarian) are similar except for the variable being measured. Literature on SoTL recognizes this common limitation (Bartsch 2013) . This is why the current study attempted to amplify the statistical power of the small population through the pre-post-test methodology, which allows for detecting how students change from before the study to after the study, rather than only comparing the pathfinder group to the pedagogical group.

Literature on SoTL recognizes this common limitation.


In this framework we will compute the leading term of the Seidel element. We will also show that in some cases all the other terms vanish. For instance, this is the case for the (monotone) totally real lagrangians in toric manifolds. These computations can be seen as the relative counter-part of the computation done by McDuff and Tolmans for the Seidel elements of an S 1 -Hamiltonian action on M [16] .

These computations can be seen as the relative counter-part of the computation done by McDuff and Tolmans for the Seidel elements of an S 1 -Hamiltonian action on M.


The development of new technologies for high-throughput phenotyping has allowed increasingly precise measurements of many traits through vastly increased sample sizes, as well as the ability to explore previously intractable traits, such as the extent to which genetically identical individuals raised in the same environment vary (Geiler-Samerotte et al., 2013) . Automated microscope stages can be combined with immobilized organisms to collect large amounts of data on cell shape, internal structure, and growth patterns (Levy et al., 2012; Ohya et al., 2005; Rusconi et al., 2014) . However, subsequent data analysis often presents a significant challenge, as machine-vision approaches must be applied to automatically extract useful data from the large number of images created.

The development of new technologies for high-throughput phenotyping has allowed increasingly precise measurements of many traits through vastly increased sample sizes, as well as the ability to explore previously intractable traits, such as the extent to which genetically identical individuals raised in the same environment vary.

Automated microscope stages can be combined with immobilized organisms to collect large amounts of data on cell shape, internal structure, and growth patterns.


When considering the duration of a single cough, it can be seen that there is a significant difference between the two groups of cough sounds, i.e., a mean duration of 0.53 to 0.67Ăs for App and Pasteurella coughs, while 0.43 s was observed for non-infectious coughs. This trend was also observed by other researchers, who concluded that the duration of infectious coughs is longer compared to non-infectious coughs due to airway obstruction by infection and inflammation for both humans and pigs (Korpáš et al., 1996; Van Hirtum, 2002b) . Little information is available in the literature concerning the duration of a single cough or a cough attack. Further analysis should be done to clarify these findings. Although a connection between the time and frequency domain characteristics and the physical parameters of pig vocalizations is not yet known, the present results indicate that such a connection exists and remains to be determined.

This trend was also observed by other researchers, who concluded that the duration of infectious coughs is longer compared to non-infectious coughs due to airway obstruction by infection and inflammation for both humans and pigs.


In our study, endomyocardial biopsy specimens were sampled from different septal regions although some earlier publications already recommended targeted biopsy from potential sites of inflammation suggested by late enhance-ment on MR images [5, 12] . Non-targeted biopsy increases the sampling error, resulting in lower sensitivity [13] . Our biopsy technique may have distorted the MRI results as the immunohistological examination defined the group of patients with myocarditis in our study. The second problem directly following from this procedure is that we classified borderline myocarditis as positive for myocarditis. This milder form of disease may lead to less pronounced changes in the MRI parameters investigated, which also affects our results.

In our study, endomyocardial biopsy specimens were sampled from different septal regions although some earlier publications already recommended targeted biopsy from potential sites of inflammation suggested by late enhance-ment on MR images.

Non-targeted biopsy increases the sampling error, resulting in lower sensitivity.


In a CAI test, a compressive load is applied to a damaged laminate. As the applied load becomes greater, local buckling occurs, generating out-of-plane stresses around the delaminated area [3] . When the load increases, more out-of-plane stresses appear around the delaminated area. The post-buckling continues until out-of-plane stress exceeds the critical strain-energy-release mode I value or interlaminar strength. Final failure occurs because the delamination propagates perpendicularly to the applied load, and the laminate collapses [4] .

As the applied load becomes greater, local buckling occurs, generating out-of-plane stresses around the delaminated area.

Final failure occurs because the delamination propagates perpendicularly to the applied load, and the laminate collapses.


Other authors use sandwich specimens made by joining a damaged laminate to a core that stabilizes it, and test the ensemble under compression [16, 17] . The sandwich structure is much more stable for being thicker, and this would allow the testing of very thin laminates. The problem with this test methodology is the interaction of the damaged area of the laminate with the core of the sandwich, producing failure modes that are not representative of the actual structure. The sandwich stabilizes the sub-laminates created by delamination, delaying its progression, so that there is a risk of finding higher and deceptive residual-strength results.

Other authors use sandwich specimens made by joining a damaged laminate to a core that stabilizes it, and test the ensemble under compression.


Composite laminates are particularly sensitive to low-velocity impacts due to low out-of-plane strength. No clear definition of a low-velocity impact is available, nor is a distinction between highor low-velocity impact. Usually, if the duration of the impact is long enough so that the response of the structure plays a role, the impact is considered to be low velocity. In this case, the beha-viour of the laminate is highly influenced by the boundary condi-tions [1] . Impact damage begins by the matrix cracking, which generates delamination at the interfaces between layers with dif-ferent fibre orientations, and this could eventually lead to fibre fail-ure [2] . Fibre failure (intra-laminar damage) affects mainly tensile strength, while delamination (inter-laminar damage) decreases mainly compression strength.

In this case, the beha-viour of the laminate is highly influenced by the boundary condi-tions.

Impact damage begins by the matrix cracking, which generates delamination at the interfaces between layers with dif-ferent fibre orientations, and this could eventually lead to fibre fail-ure.


Design of experiment (DOE) is one widely used experimental study method on many processes in engineering. It is a statistical approach in which a mathematical model is developed through experimental runs. Besides, it provides the researchers or users with the opportunity to optimize and predict possible output based on the parameters setting [6, 7] . Response surface methodology (RSM) is a statistical technique used for mathematical modeling and analysis of problems in which a response is influenced by multiple variables and the aim is to optimize the response [7] . RSM also helps to reduce the number of required experimental runs to generate statistically validated results and avoid repetition of experiment for multiple factors experiments [8] . A combination of modified formula E.C. Harrington desirability function and RSM, called desirability optimization methodology (DOM), was used to optimize the overall product quality among multiple quality properties [9] . The desirability function was used to combine multiple responses into one response called the "desirability function" by choice of value from 0 (one or more product characteristics are unacceptable) to 1 (all product characteristics are on target) [10] . The method is attractive because it is simple and intuitive.

Besides, it provides the researchers or users with the opportunity to optimize and predict possible output based on the parameters setting.

Response surface methodology (RSM) is a statistical technique used for mathematical modeling and analysis of problems in which a response is influenced by multiple variables and the aim is to optimize the response.

RSM also helps to reduce the number of required experimental runs to generate statistically validated results and avoid repetition of experiment for multiple factors experiments.

A combination of modified formula E.C. Harrington desirability function and RSM, called desirability optimization methodology (DOM), was used to optimize the overall product quality among multiple quality properties.

The desirability function was used to combine multiple responses into one response called the "desirability function" by choice of value from 0 (one or more product characteristics are unacceptable) to 1 (all product characteristics are on target).


In the past 20 years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the most exciting new materials that have been discovered. Their remarkable properties have attracted huge interest from the scientific community and industry [1] . With the good mechanical properties, a high electrical and thermal conductivity due to their graphite-like structure of CNTs, and in combination with a high aspect ratio, it allows the development of conductive polymer thin film composites using only very low filler contents in which the composites retain or improve on mechanical performance of the matrix [2] . Spin coating method is selected to produce the epoxy-based thin film instead of various thin film deposition methods such as dip coating, drop coating, capillary immersion force, and electrophoretic deposition [3] . Spin coating method is more prominent in producing high uniformity films with specific thickness. By controlling the parameters such as spin rate and viscosity of the mixture, the film in range of micron to nanometers in thickness can be easily produced [4] .

Their remarkable properties have attracted huge interest from the scientific community and industry.

With the good mechanical properties, a high electrical and thermal conductivity due to their graphite-like structure of CNTs, and in combination with a high aspect ratio, it allows the development of conductive polymer thin film composites using only very low filler contents in which the composites retain or improve on mechanical performance of the matrix.

Spin coating method is selected to produce the epoxy-based thin film instead of various thin film deposition methods such as dip coating, drop coating, capillary immersion force, and electrophoretic deposition.

By controlling the parameters such as spin rate and viscosity of the mixture, the film in range of micron to nanometers in thickness can be easily produced.


Fifthly, mechanical properties of the specimens were assumed to have been maintained over the duration of the study. However, a prior study on human femoral fracture fixation showed a 30% decrease in stiffness of repair constructs over several months during the testing period [34] . This may have been due to device migration/settling within the host bone, cumulative bone damage over time, and/or repeated thawing/freezing. The authors did not monitor these phenomena at present.

However, a prior study on human femoral fracture fixation showed a 30% decrease in stiffness of repair constructs over several months during the testing period.


Teaching and learning in this online environment, however, involves shifts in both understanding and in behavior (Salmon, 2005) . This paper explores whether the expectations of the role teachers and students play in the modern, tertiary institution have kept pace with the adoption of online technologies. Although this research is a case study, it is expected that the results and recommendations will be of interest to those involved with the delivery of elearning in the higher education context.

Teaching and learning in this online environment, however, involves shifts in both understanding and in behavior.


With the rapid progress in hand-held photographic mobile devices, images and videos are becoming increasingly more popular on the web, due to their rich content and easy perception. However, limited by optical imaging systems, most images exist as low-resolution (LR) versions degraded from the source. There is a huge need for improving the perceptual image quality, among which resolution enhancement technology is called super-resolution [1] , [2] . Instead of imposing higher requirements on hardware devices and sensors, it can offer us high-resolution (HR) images in more detail economically. This paper focus on Single Image Super-Resolution (SISR) problem because of its potential effectiveness and flexibility for different applications [3] - [5] .

There is a huge need for improving the perceptual image quality, among which resolution enhancement technology is called super-resolution.

This paper focus on Single Image Super-Resolution (SISR) problem because of its potential effectiveness and flexibility for different applications.


Other studies have documented the positive impact on patient satisfaction and health care consumption when POCUS is used in an ED [13] [14] [15] [16] . That patients generally have a positive attitude towards POCUS is further supported by the study results showing that nearly all included patients would accept being examined using POCUS if it was a standard diagnostic procedure. This seems also to apply for patients experiencing an increased level of discomfort during the examination.

Other studies have documented the positive impact on patient satisfaction and health care consumption when POCUS is used in an ED.


The oldest heat treatment is documented at Pinnacle Point in South Africa (164-72 ka BP) [15] . Besides this, heat treatment phenomena are also recorded in Europe from 100 to 30 thousand years ago [16, 17] . In the Upper Paleolithic period, this technology was widely dispersed in the human world, including Africa, Europe, America, Oceania, West Asia, Middle Asia and South Asia [18, 19, 36] . Heated stone artifacts at SDG are the earliest evidence of Paleolithic heat treatment in East Asia, which filled in a gap in this research area and shed new light on the study of the dispersal of this technology.

The oldest heat treatment is documented at Pinnacle Point in South Africa (164-72 ka BP).

Besides this, heat treatment phenomena are also recorded in Europe from 100 to 30 thousand years ago.

In the Upper Paleolithic period, this technology was widely dispersed in the human world, including Africa, Europe, America, Oceania, West Asia, Middle Asia and South Asia.


The genus Artemisia is one of the largest and most widely distributed genera of Asteraceae family includes 400 species (Judd et al., 2002) . Artemisia species are of great socio-economic thanks to their antioxidant potential besides antimicrobial and anti-parasital activities of their essential oils (Eos). Artemisia herba-alba is a medicinal and aromatic dwarf shrub that grows wild in arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin, extending into northwestern Himalayas (Mohamed et al., 2010) . In Tunisia, Artemisia herba-alba is found from the mountains around Jebel Oust to the south of the country (Mighri et al., 2009) . Herbal tea from this plant has been used as analgesic, antibacterial, antispasmodic and hemostatic agents (Laid et al., 2008) .

The genus Artemisia is one of the largest and most widely distributed genera of Asteraceae family includes 400 species.

Artemisia herba-alba is a medicinal and aromatic dwarf shrub that grows wild in arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin, extending into northwestern Himalayas.

In Tunisia, Artemisia herba-alba is found from the mountains around Jebel Oust to the south of the country.

Herbal tea from this plant has been used as analgesic, antibacterial, antispasmodic and hemostatic agents.


Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to have ability to differentiate into multiple mesodermal lineages such as adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes, as well as non-mesodermal lineages such as neural cells [1] [2] [3] . Thus, MSCs are potentially very useful for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine [4] [5] [6] . Human MSCs have been isolated from several tissue sources, including bone marrow, amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, umbilical cord blood, placenta, and adipose tissues [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] .

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to have ability to differentiate into multiple mesodermal lineages such as adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes, as well as non-mesodermal lineages such as neural cells.

Thus, MSCs are potentially very useful for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Human MSCs have been isolated from several tissue sources, including bone marrow, amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, umbilical cord blood, placenta, and adipose tissues.


The structural properties of CdS NPs have been investigated by X-ray diffraction technique using CuKα radiation. The typical XRD patterns of as-synthesized CdS NCs are shown in Figure 1 . Diffraction peaks correspond to cubic structure of CdS. The average size of grains has been obtained from the X-ray Diffraction pattern by use of the Scherrer's formula [22] .

Diffraction peaks correspond to cubic structure of CdS. The average size of grains has been obtained from the X-ray Diffraction pattern by use of the Scherrer's formula.


The paper begins by introducing the concept of a rugged fitness landscape, taken directly from a model proposed in evolutionary biology (Kauffman, 1993) . Then the research design is presented, which involves a qualitative search for interactions across four key areas of the course context: instructor characteristics, content characteristics, design/delivery characteristics, and student characteristics. Each class is presented, with details provided in two appendices, and the key interactions that were observed are identified. Because the first of these courses-referred to as Ism3232.A-evolved dramatically over time, it is presented in both longitudinal and cross sectional terms. The remaining two courses-Ism3232.B and Ism6155.A-experienced relatively few design changes from the time they were first offered. Both are therefore presented only in cross sectional terms. By comparing time slices and cross sectional observations, observational evidence of high levels of interaction between areas is acquired. The paper concludes by considering how this evidence might change the conduct of future research into IT education.

The paper begins by introducing the concept of a rugged fitness landscape, taken directly from a model proposed in evolutionary biology.


The above facts indicate that once the cross-linking zone is formed via intermolecular association at the initial freezing process, the network structure of CG gels is maintained and no further molecular association occurs by repeating freezing. It can be concluded that the size of ice initially formed inside the gel is memorized and crystallization occurs in a similar manner by successive freezing and thawing. Cooling rate kinetically affects the aggregation of polymer chains, and, therefore, polymer concentration decreases with increasing cooling rate. Size of ice depends on cooling rate, and quick cooling forms a small size of ice which induces a dense network structure, although this effect on CG is not marked compared with that of LBG as shown in Fig. 8b . According to computer simulations of FG, GG, Tara-G and LBG, it is thought that the galactosyl side groups have the effect of lowering the chain dimension. The intra-chain associations via H-bonding along the side groups are also ascertained [4] . The galactosyl side groups associate and form a crosslinking area or junction zone. According to M/G ratio, the stiff chain attributed to the unsubstituted region of CG is longer than that of LBG. Accordingly, it is considered that once H-bonding is established, further molecular association is disturbed by stiff main chains, since the molecular chain distance between cross-linking area of CG is considerably large. The difference between LBG and CG observed in E 0 can be explained by mannose/galactose ratio. At the same time, it is reasonable to assume that FG, GG and Tara-G do not form hydrogels by freezing and thawing, since molecular conformation is too compact for ice crystallization which induces inter-molecular H-bonding.

The intra-chain associations via H-bonding along the side groups are also ascertained.


Military service frequently results in shift work. Despite this, few studies have assessed the acute and chronic effects of shift work on service members. What is known is that active duty service members tend to have short sleep duration [2] . Herein, we report a case of a young man whose military responsibilities exposed him to chronic circadian misalignment. The patient was initially diagnosed with mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that aided in the diagnosis of his circadian rhythm disorder.

What is known is that active duty service members tend to have short sleep duration.


Plants play vital role in the medicinal field, because of its healing capacity. Phytochemical screening is the major tool to bring about the wonderful potential of plants. Plant metabolites such as alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, flavonoids, tannin, saponin were responsible for potential activities (Nittya, 2016) . Flavonoids might be responsible for multi potential activities. The seasonal change of flavonoids may alter the anti-diabetic activity of herbal plants. Nowadays so many potentially active anti-diabetic herbal plants were identified by researchers (Stalin, Vivekanandan, Bhavya, 2013; Arumugam, Gunasekaran, Perumal, 2014) . But, the growing population creates demand for herbal medicines. This is due to cheap and has no side effects. The present study was carried out to investigate the anti-diabetic herbal activity of aqueous stem extract of S. oblonga and the identification of natural chemical constituents which were responsible for the bioactivity. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy is most commonly used method for the identification of new phytochemical compounds and for the quantification purpose. In this method the availability of unknown organic compounds can be found by matching the spectra with reference spectra.

Plant metabolites such as alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, flavonoids, tannin, saponin were responsible for potential activities.

Nowadays so many potentially active anti-diabetic herbal plants were identified by researchers.


Similar to several countries in the sub-Saharan region, these have not yielded the desired impact as the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is still low [14, 15] . In 2008, the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) estimated Ghana's EBF rate to be 63 % [16] . Forty-six percent of Ghanaian children aged less than 6 months were exclusively breastfed in 2011 [17] . Obviously these estimates fall short of the WHO's recommendation of 90 % coverage [7] .

Similar to several countries in the sub-Saharan region, these have not yielded the desired impact as the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is still low.

In 2008, the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) estimated Ghana's EBF rate to be 63 %.

Forty-six percent of Ghanaian children aged less than 6 months were exclusively breastfed in 2011.

Obviously these estimates fall short of the WHO's recommendation of 90 % coverage.


Another key finding from the Pilot was that although domestic abuse can only be effectively addressed within a multi-agency framework, the absence of single agency accountability or responsibility meant that responses are often fragmented. Too often domestic abuse is subsumed by other competing priorities or concerns, either organisationally or within families/cases. Women's specialist services make an important contribution, but a perception of marginalisation at both operational and strategic levels in multi-agency domestic abuse work, was evident. The work also found that professionals did not fully understand or engage with formal multi-agency structures such as the MARAC and indicates that better understanding of MARAC 18 processes for all those concerned with safeguarding children is required (Steel et al. 2011) . Indeed links between MARAC and safeguarding children processes have not been systematically addressed in research and is an area of work that would benefit from further examination.

The work also found that professionals did not fully understand or engage with formal multi-agency structures such as the MARAC and indicates that better understanding of MARAC 18 processes for all those concerned with safeguarding children is required.


The averaging effect of the finite size pixels were shown to limit the system performance by an amount related to the system parameter D andα c . As a guideline one should ensure that the bandwidth of the signal, BW, is less than 1/T, see Eq. (23) and (25) . It was shown that the value of D could be varied by changing the curvature of the reference wavefield and this was explored in Section 2.3.

As a guideline one should ensure that the bandwidth of the signal, BW, is less than 1/T, see Eq. (23) and.


These algorithms map N x × N y samples in the capture domain to M x × M y samples in the reconstruction domain. The effect of discretizing R N (X) in Eq. (29) produces a periodicity of the sampled camera distribution. Although no information is destroyed by using these fast algorithms care needs to be taken when implementing them so that other sampling rules are not violated, [27, 31, 59, 60] .

Although no information is destroyed by using these fast algorithms care needs to be taken when implementing them so that other sampling rules are not violated.


Public transport, by definition, connotes the act or the means of conveying a large number of people en masse, as opposed to conveyance in individual vehicles carrying very few people at a time. Public transport comprises mainly rail systems, light rail systems, tramways and monorails, bus systems, and, where possible, water transport. The choice of any or a combination of these public transport systems could be influenced by the population and area of a city. Given the low level of technological development in Nigeria, the bus system was chosen in this study. The bus system is the transport system that uses buses that may have a range of passenger capacities and performance characteristics and may operate on fixed routes with fixed schedules or may be flexibly routed (Smerk 1974) . Bus systems have the potential of extending transport services to greater proportions of urban residents who do not have private cars and cannot afford frequent taxi fares (Andeleeb et al. 2007) . They have the potential of being used as policy tools to reduce the number of cars on urban roads and thus reduce traffic chaos in cities. Despite the vital role that buses are able to play in any urban area, their services in Nigerian cities are frequently insufficient to meet demand, and the services provided suffer from low output (Ali and Onokala 2009) . As a result, often, they have a negative public image.

The bus system is the transport system that uses buses that may have a range of passenger capacities and performance characteristics and may operate on fixed routes with fixed schedules or may be flexibly routed.

Bus systems have the potential of extending transport services to greater proportions of urban residents who do not have private cars and cannot afford frequent taxi fares.

Despite the vital role that buses are able to play in any urban area, their services in Nigerian cities are frequently insufficient to meet demand, and the services provided suffer from low output.


Transport needs of major cities in Nigeria now present significant challenges for policy makers as unpredictable shifts in population dynamics in response to the need for employment, housing, and sustenance continues. The expansion of the cities in Nigeria, coupled with increasing urban population, results in greater demand for transport provision. This demand has, however, not always been met, and efforts to provide adequate transport infrastructural facilities are ad hoc, uncoordinated, and poor (Aderamo 2008) .

This demand has, however, not always been met, and efforts to provide adequate transport infrastructural facilities are ad hoc, uncoordinated, and poor.


Bacteria in lake ecosystems can be classified as free-living and attached. Aggregated bacteria are often larger, present in higher local concentrations and are more active on a per-cell basis than free-living bacteria in surrounding water (Griffith et al., 1994) . Higher specific exoenzyme activities have also been found with macroaggregates (Karner & Herndl, 1992) . Thus, they may have an important role in carbon cycling in aquatic ecosystems.

Aggregated bacteria are often larger, present in higher local concentrations and are more active on a per-cell basis than free-living bacteria in surrounding water.

Higher specific exoenzyme activities have also been found with macroaggregates.


In March 2004 the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research, with the support of the Health Council inaugurated the National Program for Quality Indicators in Community Healthcare in Israel (QICH). This program began in 1999 as a research project by Avi Porath, Gad Rabinovitch and Anat Raskin-Segal from Ben-Gurion University. Its success has been, first and foremost, a result of the full support and cooperation of all four health plans between each other and with the program in developing, assessing and publishing the national quality indicators. Many of the QICH indicators are based on definitions from existing international measures, such as those in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in the United States, and with the intention of international comparison. Since QICH's establishment, four national reports on the quality of healthcare in Israel have been published [4] [5] [6] [7] .

Since QICH's establishment, four national reports on the quality of healthcare in Israel have been published.


We tested for an association between water mite host-species range and their general and specific habitat use by relating the host-species range with the habitat preferences (marsh or bog) of a given Arrenurus clade. We also tested whether the extent of the clade's regional occurrence (number of sites where the water mite was present, irrespective of wetland type) was associated with host-species range. Not all odonates are widespread across a diversity of habitats, some are restricted to certain wetland types; there is, however, also some overlap in odonate communities in bogs and marshes (Corbet 1999) . We expect that there would be a positive correlation between host-species range and habitat breadth, as well as between host-species range and regional occurrence.

Not all odonates are widespread across a diversity of habitats, some are restricted to certain wetland types; there is, however, also some overlap in odonate communities in bogs and marshes.


Entity resolution (ER) is a very common task in Big Data processing, where different entity profiles, usually described under different schemas, are mapped to the same real-world object. Beyond the deduplication and cleaning problems that appear in traditional data integration, such as data warehouses, ER is a prerequisite for many Web applications, posing several challenges due to the volume and variety of the data collections. In general, ER constitutes an inherently quadratic task; given an entity collection, each entity profile must be compared to all others. Several approaches exist that aim to reduce the set of possible comparisons to be performed between two data collections [1] . Blocking is a typical method that reduces the number of pairwise comparisons by placing similar entity profiles into blocks and performing only the comparisons within each block.

Several approaches exist that aim to reduce the set of possible comparisons to be performed between two data collections.


Recently, a new assessment tooldevaluation of asymmetry in hemifield macular thicknessdhas been introduced for the early diagnosis of glaucoma [8] . Additionally, it was reported that retinal arteriolar narrowing is associated with long-term risk of POAG [9] . The aim of this study was to evaluate the peripapillary RNFL thickness, macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness, posterior pole asymmetry, and retinal arteriolar caliber (RAC) in young relatives of POAG patients. One of our starting points was that it is possible that relatives of glaucoma patients have fewer retinal ganglion cells at the start of their lives and are therefore more likely to display thinner retinal layers. In contrast to previous reports, we included only young adults in order to eliminate age-related glaucoma risk [5, 6] . We hypothesized that new early diagnostic techniques may show some defects in the posterior pole retina of young relatives of POAG patients.

Recently, a new assessment tooldevaluation of asymmetry in hemifield macular thicknessdhas been introduced for the early diagnosis of glaucoma.

Additionally, it was reported that retinal arteriolar narrowing is associated with long-term risk of POAG.

In contrast to previous reports, we included only young adults in order to eliminate age-related glaucoma risk.


To develop the WSN a suitable Microcontroller (MCU) with integrated transceiver was chosen. The transmission range was tested in water and shown to be robust upto 35m at 25cm depth, which was found to be suitable for the application. The integrated MCU contained an in-built wireless protocol stack used for the development presented within this paper. The topology of the chosen network architecture was a star configuration with multiple sensor nodes acting as End Devices (ED) and a single coordinator node or Access Point (AP). The sensor nodes transmit the data at a configurable sampling rate (currently set to 50Hz) with 10bit resolution. The current protocol is based on a single-hop network, which has been adapted for the swimming application. The protocol stack is presented in Figure 2 . The board hardware consists of a radio, microprocessor and general purpose inputs/outputs (GPIO). The MCU was chosen due to its low power consumption, built in memory and processing power. The network applications on the ports are objects used to manage the network. The Ping application detects the presence of a specific device. It sends a message from one device to another. The receiver echoes the payload contents back to the transmitter. A timeout parameter is also applied [7] . The link application is the means by which an application connection is established. Once the link has been established the ED can send messages to the AP. When the network has an AP, each device must join the network. Upon joining, a device is supplied with an encryption context to prevent intrusion by rogue devices, and a join token to ensure that, when there are two APs, that they do not both respond to a new device trying to join a network [7] .

A timeout parameter is also applied.

Upon joining, a device is supplied with an encryption context to prevent intrusion by rogue devices, and a join token to ensure that, when there are two APs, that they do not both respond to a new device trying to join a network.


The soil volume to be considered for the water balance is determined arbitrarily (Hillel, 2003) . This may lead to uncertainties in the estimation of ET since the soil moisture variation in the crop root zone is not fully controlled. There is a wide variation in the number of points used to monitor soil moisture in studies for determining the depletion of soil water storage when estimating evapotranspiration or crop water extraction (Andreu et al., 1997; Green and Clothier, 1995; Wu et al., 1999; Green and Clothier, 1999; Palomo et al., 2002; Coelho et al., 2007; Silva et al., 2009b; Silva et al., 2013) .

The soil volume to be considered for the water balance is determined arbitrarily.

There is a wide variation in the number of points used to monitor soil moisture in studies for determining the depletion of soil water storage when estimating evapotranspiration or crop water extraction.


The ages of these clusters were calculated (Aliev et al., 2010) . The most plausible results can be expected when calculating the age of the E1b1b1c1* cluster, whose samples were genotyped with numerous microsatellite markers. Its estimate age was 3850 ± 450 years. Parts of the descendants later migrated to Europe, which confirms the close age proximity of the E1b1b1c1*-A cluster (equal to 3525 ± 650 years). Apparently the emergence of these two clusters were linked to the same period in the history of the Middle East. To determine the age of the common ancestor of all E1b1b1c1 members of the cluster, authors have compiled samples (with involvement of about 10 microsatellite markers) of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Turkish haplotypes. The modal haplotypes of all noted clusters and haplotypes are not related to any of the five previous clusters, and are designated as E1b1b1c1*-miscellanous. Age of the most recent common ancestor of all modern carriers of E1b1b1c1* is 7000 ± 850 years. This sort of analysis suggests the presence of haplogroup E1b1b1c1 in the peoples of Western Asia Minor since V millennium B. C.

The ages of these clusters were calculated.

Its estimate age was 3850 ± 450 years.


Food is the most basic requirement of any society and having sufficient food is a prerequisite for maintaining social stability. The most important source of food is terrestrial ecosystems, which supplies more than 99% of global food production [1] . By 2030, the world is expected to require at least 50% more food and 45% more energy to sustain the global population growing in numbers and affluence [2] . Understanding the interactions between food and energy supply and demand is, therefore, important for planning of a future sustainable development for agriculture. Industrialisation of agriculture made it possible to increase food production at roughly the same pace as demand and thus helped the human population to increase by more than 400% in the 20th century. However, since the mid-1980s, the availability of cereal grains (accounting for 80% of the worlds food supply) per capita has been decreasing thus indicating that demand is growing faster than supply [3] . The industrialisation of agriculture was a transition from an agricultural practice that mainly relied on flow-limited resources to a practice that increasingly relied on stock-limited resources [4] . A flow-limited resource is plentiful in stock but only available a little at a time, whereas a stock-limited resource has a finite stock which can be used at high pace. In effect, local, flow-limited energy sources like sun and wind and local nutrients such as soil-bound phosphorus and nitrogen from microbial fixation were subsidised by the stock-limited resources of fossil energy, synthesised nitrogen based on natural gas and mineral phosphorus.

The most important source of food is terrestrial ecosystems, which supplies more than 99% of global food production.

By 2030, the world is expected to require at least 50% more food and 45% more energy to sustain the global population growing in numbers and affluence.

However, since the mid-1980s, the availability of cereal grains (accounting for 80% of the worlds food supply) per capita has been decreasing thus indicating that demand is growing faster than supply.

The industrialisation of agriculture was a transition from an agricultural practice that mainly relied on flow-limited resources to a practice that increasingly relied on stock-limited resources.


Phosphorus fertiliser (P) is predicted to become increasingly scarce. Unlike the volatile N, P rarely occurs in gaseous forms, and therefore it is ultimately washed out of the continents and accumulates in aquatic sediments. In geological times, these deposits have been made available to terrestrial ecosystems with the grand geotectonic-uplift leading to the formation of mountains and volcanoes [9] . Currently, global P production comes from only a handful of countries and research has suggested that the mining rate of P might peak around 2030 [10, 11] . In theory, P can always be recovered, for instance by mining it from the seabed, as P is not used or lost, but moved and diluted. However, the more diluted it becomes, the more energy will be required to recover it, and in a foreseeable future with fossil energy constraints this seems out of reach. In addition to N and P commercial fertiliser usually also includes potash (K); another essential nutrient. However, K is not expected to cause supply limit concerns as the deposits are large and K is primarily incorporated in crop residues and as such not removed from the ecosystem to the same extent [12] .

In geological times, these deposits have been made available to terrestrial ecosystems with the grand geotectonic-uplift leading to the formation of mountains and volcanoes.

Currently, global P production comes from only a handful of countries and research has suggested that the mining rate of P might peak around 2030.

However, K is not expected to cause supply limit concerns as the deposits are large and K is primarily incorporated in crop residues and as such not removed from the ecosystem to the same extent.


Fossil energy and specifically refined oil plays a key role in directly powering agricultural machinery and the transport system that connects local production to the global market. Further, fossil energy is used to produce commercial fertilisers and machinery needed to produce and process the food. Fossil oil is a limited resource and consequently, at some point in time, oil production will go into a terminal decline [13] .

Fossil oil is a limited resource and consequently, at some point in time, oil production will go into a terminal decline.