One reason for the slow adoption of curriculum learning is that its effectiveness is highly sensitive to the mode of progression through the tasks. One popular approach is to define a hand-chosen performance threshold for advancement to the next task, along with a fixed probability of returning to earlier tasks, to prevent forgetting (Sutskever and Zaremba, 2014) . However, as well as introducing hard-totune parameters, this poses problems for curricula where appropriate thresholds may be unknown or variable across tasks. More fundamentally, it presupposes that the tasks can be ordered by difficulty, when in reality they may vary along multiple axes of difficulty, or have no predefined order at all.

One popular approach is to define a hand-chosen performance threshold for advancement to the next task, along with a fixed probability of returning to earlier tasks, to prevent forgetting.


Most notably E&R studies have difficulties identifying alleles starting at a high frequency and E&R studies are highly sensitive to the selection regime. A suboptimal regime may result in a dramatically reduced power to identify QTNs, which makes E&R a more risky approach than GWAS. Moreover, with E&R studies it is not feasible to estimate the fraction of the genetic variation explained by the identified QTNs, a crucial benchmark for GWAS (Yang et al., 2011; Segura et al., 2012) . Finally, due to the requirement for large populations and many generations of selection E&R will only be an option for small organism with a short generation time such as yeast, Drosophila and Caenorhabditis (Long et al., 2015) . Therefore we do not view E&R as an alternative to GWAS but rather as a complementary approach with own strength and weaknesses.

Moreover, with E&R studies it is not feasible to estimate the fraction of the genetic variation explained by the identified QTNs, a crucial benchmark for GWAS.

Finally, due to the requirement for large populations and many generations of selection E&R will only be an option for small organism with a short generation time such as yeast, Drosophila and Caenorhabditis.


In this context, the methodology created allows accessing costs, energy and carbon emissions and the impact of the renovation measures using parametric calculations on some generic virtual buildings (representative of the building stock of each participating country) and on the case studies provided by the participating countries. The methodology comprises Initial Investment Costs (IIC), Life Cycle Costs (LCC) evaluated in a 30 years period, Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and co-benefits assessment of cost effective energy related renovation measures. Besides the methodology, the project also aims to support and motivate decision-makers and experts with scientific information for their future decisions, based on the analysis of different case-studies that proved to be successful renovation projects, which have been analysed in two different levels: the "Detailed Case Studies" and the "Shining Examples" [1] . This paper presents conclusions driven from the Shining Examples that were selected to encourage decision makers and to promote efficient and cost effective renovation processes. With the Shining Examples it is expected to highlight advantages and innovative solutions and strategies in building renovation. These examples also allowed identifying the barriers faced in each example, the solutions found to overcome those barriers and also the co-benefits that come from renovation measures [11] .

Besides the methodology, the project also aims to support and motivate decision-makers and experts with scientific information for their future decisions, based on the analysis of different case-studies that proved to be successful renovation projects, which have been analysed in two different levels: the "Detailed Case Studies" and the "Shining Examples".

These examples also allowed identifying the barriers faced in each example, the solutions found to overcome those barriers and also the co-benefits that come from renovation measures.


RUN 1 is performed without any dissipation at large scales and so the inverse cascade, predicted by the WWT theory, causes condensation at the k = 0 mode. This alters the four-wave dynamics and the system, after a strongly turbulent transient, becomes dominated by weak three-wave dynamics of acoustic fluctuations on background of a strong coherent condensate. The long-time evolution in this case is characterized by the appearance of a large quantum vortex ring in the numerical box. Kelvin waves propagate on this vortex ring, which causes the incompressible kinetic energy spectrum to follow the −5/3 law. We argue that the classical turbulence picture developed for the continuous vorticity fields is inapplicable; the fact that the Kelvin wave turbulence has the same spectrum as the classical Kolmogorov spectrum is coincidental, as it arises from completely different physical processes [27, 49] . The vortex ring in this regime coexists with the random acoustic waves engaged in the three-wave interactions. The vortex shows up as a v −3 tail on the velocity PDF while the random waves make up the Gaussian core of this PDF.

We argue that the classical turbulence picture developed for the continuous vorticity fields is inapplicable; the fact that the Kelvin wave turbulence has the same spectrum as the classical Kolmogorov spectrum is coincidental, as it arises from completely different physical processes.


The limitations of the approach depend on the strength of the underlying logic. In this paper, we illustrated the approach with a simple predicate logic without quantification. The approach does not preclude from using a stronger form of logic. However, the stronger the logic, the more sophisticated the proof engine needs to be. We are currently experimenting with theorem proving approaches (Duffy, 1991) . Beside the need for more sophisticated proof mechanisms, more complex logic systems involve languages farther from natural language.

We are currently experimenting with theorem proving approaches.


From a run scoring perspective, little difference was found between the runs scored by winning and losing teams in the first 10 overs of an innings. Winning teams scored on average 48 run in the powerplay overs, compared to losing teams scoring 45 (ES = 0.27). During overs 7-10 winning teams scored on average 30 runs, compared to losing teams scoring 26 (ES = 0.32). However, differences were evident in the number of runs scored between overs 11-14 (ES = 0.74) and run rate in the last 6 overs of an innings (ES = 0.53). Winning teams scored on average 36 runs in overs 11-14 compared to losing teams scoring 26. In the last 6 overs of an innings winnings teams scored on average 10.3 runs per over compared to losing teams scoring 9 runs per over. Previous research has suggested the middle 8 overs of an innings is the most important period to outscore the opposition (Petersen et al., 2008a) . However, the current study highlights the importance of outscoring the opposition in the final 10 overs of an innings.

Previous research has suggested the middle 8 overs of an innings is the most important period to outscore the opposition.


Based on these results, the batting side should look to retain wickets in the first 10 overs of an innings, without necessarily maximising the number of runs scored in this period. Subsequently, the batting side should look to outscore the opposition in the final 10 overs of an innings. Team selection should look at utilising specialist batsmen in the first 10 overs of an innings, capable of scoring boundary 4's while not taking significant risks looking to score boundary 6's. Previous research has suggested utilising specialist batsmen in the powerplay overs of an innings (Petersen et al., 2008a; Douglas and Tam, 2010) . However, the current study suggests a longer period of retaining wickets, without necessarily outscoring the opposition. This disparity may relate to the current study analysing wickets lost in overs 7-10 and 11-14, rather than just investigating wickets lost in the middle 8 overs of an innings. For the final 10 overs of an innings, batsmen with the highest strike rates, most likely to hit boundary 4's and 6's, and score a low percentage of runs from singles should be utilised. Throughout an innings, teams should focus on at least one batsman contributing a score of 50 or above, which greatly increases the chances of Twenty20 success. The evidence from the current study is also that batsmen from winning teams focus on scoring a high percentage of runs to long-off and the off-side, rather than focusing on hitting to the leg-side. Batting coaches should develop techniques that enable batsmen to score runs and hit boundaries in these areas. An approach of looking to score a high percentage of runs through the leg-side may increase the chances of losing a wicket and will provide technical challenges to a batsman performing the stroke. However, it is acknowledged that this recommendation is obviously dependant upon field placement, which may evolve in light of the context of the match.

Previous research has suggested utilising specialist batsmen in the powerplay overs of an innings.


With this ambitious goal in mind, this paper sets out to extend parallel scheduling mechanisms for multi-class (BE and RT) workloads on clusters. We specifically focus on two job classes in this study: BE parallel jobs, and RT pipelined (and parallel) jobs. The BE jobs are well-understood (such as traditional scientific applications), and have been the target of prior scheduling strategies as well [28] . The RT jobs have been selected based on our experiences with real-time vision applications on clusters [25] . These applications are computationally intense, and the processing capabilities of a uniprocessor system are often insufficient to handle the real-time requirements of such applications. For instance, an obstacle detection algorithm on flying aircrafts (based on a steady input video stream) can demand computation rates higher than 10G operations per second [25] . These requirements are only likely to get more stringent as the applications increase in complexity, and the image resolutions (and data rates) become more demanding. These applications have a sequence of pipelined tasks that need to be performed in such a way that a frame of processed data can be output every d seconds (termed the deadline). We have shown that by partitioning the tasks amongst the workstations of a medium size (16-32 nodes) cluster and streaming the data through these tasks can meet the real-time requirements of this application [26] . Incidentally, the disturbances due to the multiprogrammed nature (shared with other projects) of our departmental cluster during this exercise was in fact the motivation for the work in this paper.

The BE jobs are well-understood (such as traditional scientific applications), and have been the target of prior scheduling strategies as well.

The RT jobs have been selected based on our experiences with real-time vision applications on clusters.

For instance, an obstacle detection algorithm on flying aircrafts (based on a steady input video stream) can demand computation rates higher than 10G operations per second.

We have shown that by partitioning the tasks amongst the workstations of a medium size (16-32 nodes) cluster and streaming the data through these tasks can meet the real-time requirements of this application.


In today's world with rapid technological developments and the increasing complexity of system structure, any failure in any component can lead to malfunction or serious failure to the system. Availability of the system is a suitable scale for measuring the reliability of a repairable system. Repairable system represents a system that can be repaired to operate normally in the event of any failure (Juang et al. 2008) . The importance of designing reliable systems, which normally present high availability, is increasing, due to the engineering requirements of products with better quality and a higher safety level (Castro and Cavalca 2003) .

Repairable system represents a system that can be repaired to operate normally in the event of any failure.

The importance of designing reliable systems, which normally present high availability, is increasing, due to the engineering requirements of products with better quality and a higher safety level.


In the social web domain, most of the previous work utilizes tag statistics as evidence for learning broader/narrower relations between concepts [19, 15] . Since these works are based on tag statistics, they are likely to suffer from the "popularity vs generality" problem, where a tag may be used more frequently not because it is more general, but because it is more popular among users. Moreover, the approaches only focus on learning pair-wise relations rather than constructing full hierarchies. These are all different from the present work, which focuses on exploiting existing relations and combining them together into full hierarchies.

In the social web domain, most of the previous work utilizes tag statistics as evidence for learning broader/narrower relations between concepts.


Natural polymers such as cellulose, starch, and chitosan have been widely used in ER studies. Chitosan is N-deacetylated derivative of chitin. Its structure is β-(1→4)-linked 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose. Chitosan obtained from the shells of crustaceans like crabs and shrimps. The main properties of chitosan are biodegradability, solubility in organic acids, chemical inertness, biocompatibility, low density and low cost [4] . On the other hand, its low mechanical and thermal stability is a barrier for chitosan's applications. Preparation of chitosan/clay composite is one of the attractive techniques to improve its weak features [5] . ER active properties of Chitosan/Silicone oil suspension was reported in the literature and attributed to the presence of polarizable amino polar groups onto chitosan backbone [6] . Chitosan adipate which is a chitosan derivative, was used as ER material [7] . About 70% of the world's known perlite reserves are located in Turkey. Perlite is a naturally occurring dense glassy volcanic rock which consists mainly of fused sodium, potassium, aluminum silicate (greater than 70%) and 3-5% water. When it is heated at temperatures in the range of 850-1100 °C, it expands 4-35 times of its original volume and is named as 'expanded perlite' [8] . Expanded perlite (EP) is an excellent thermal and acoustical insulator, resists fire, and is an ultralight weight material. EP is chemically inert in many environmental areas. Therefore, they are excellent filter aids and fillers in various processes and materials [9] .

The main properties of chitosan are biodegradability, solubility in organic acids, chemical inertness, biocompatibility, low density and low cost.

Preparation of chitosan/clay composite is one of the attractive techniques to improve its weak features.

ER active properties of Chitosan/Silicone oil suspension was reported in the literature and attributed to the presence of polarizable amino polar groups onto chitosan backbone.

Chitosan adipate which is a chitosan derivative, was used as ER material.

When it is heated at temperatures in the range of 850-1100 °C, it expands 4-35 times of its original volume and is named as 'expanded perlite'.

Therefore, they are excellent filter aids and fillers in various processes and materials.


All activities of a firm are realized through the performance of its employees. The realization of every kind of strategy requires the involvement of employees of a particular structure (a number of employees, their professional and qualified structure) and particular quality (abilities, knowledge, skills), their willingness to the particular kind of performance, which is actually based on the motivation level as well as on the approach of employees to their firm. The determination of these needs, the solution of sources for their satisfaction (the motivation of employees and formation of their "quality") is the basic principle of the personal strategy in a firm, wherein the motivation programme of a firm should form an inseparable part (Hitka, 2009) .

The determination of these needs, the solution of sources for their satisfaction (the motivation of employees and formation of their "quality") is the basic principle of the personal strategy in a firm, wherein the motivation programme of a firm should form an inseparable part.


In the Netherlands, around 14,000 women are diagnosed each year with invasive breast cancer; in addition about 1,900 women are diagnosed with a ductal carcinoma in situ [www.oncoline.nl]. According to the GLOBOCAN series of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide is breast cancer (1.67 million) [1] . Among women in the Netherlands, the cumulative lifetime breast cancer risk is 12-13 % [www.oncoline.nl]. Early detection (particularly via national breast cancer screening and improved systemic therapy) is the main factor to improve breast cancer prognosis [www.oncoline.nl]. In ≥ 60 % of patients, breast-conserving surgery is applied followed by radiotherapy. A boost dose is added in patients with a high risk of developing a true local recurrence.

According to the GLOBOCAN series of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide is breast cancer (1.67 million).


Efficiency of interrupt handling is of particular importance as interrupts need to be processed frequently (e.g. the frequency of the Linux kernel timer interrupt which triggers the process scheduler is typically set between 100-1000Hz) and require fast response. Unfortunately, efficient interrupt handling is at odds with dynamic binary translation (DBT), which is the underlying technology for building high-performance ISS. In a DBT-based ISS control flow is profiled and regions of frequently executed guest instructions are identified and translated to host instructions using a just-intime (JIT) compiler [25] . This generated native code executes much faster than an interpreter can execute guest instructions, thus providing higher simulation performance. Interrupts, however, interfere unpredictably with the "natural" control flow of an application and divert it away from the current region of code to another. To capture this behaviour additional checks need to be inserted into the generated code, which initiate interrupt handling if a pending interrupt request is signalled. These additional checks are costly to perform and can inhibit aggressive region-based optimisations resulting in a reduction of simulation performance by more than an order of magnitude, if inserted naïvely e.g. after each guest instruction.

In a DBT-based ISS control flow is profiled and regions of frequently executed guest instructions are identified and translated to host instructions using a just-intime (JIT) compiler.


It has been reported that the hyposensitivity to dTubocurarine and other non-depolarizing muscle relaxants (NDMRs) in diabetic state [6, 7] . However, the hypersensitivity to acetylcholine (ACh) and succinylcholine due to the decrease of ACh release and the augmentation of presynaptic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) sensitivity was has been investigated [8, 9] . The profound response to muscle relaxants in diabetes needs further investigation.

It has been reported that the hyposensitivity to dTubocurarine and other non-depolarizing muscle relaxants (NDMRs) in diabetic state.

However, the hypersensitivity to acetylcholine (ACh) and succinylcholine due to the decrease of ACh release and the augmentation of presynaptic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) sensitivity was has been investigated.


In the mean time, the hierarchical approach is particularly useful for assessment of numerous Atlantic bycatch species in data-limited fisheries. In spite of the arguments against using a common risk metric for fish, birds, turtles and mammals, the steps involved and the decision criteria used to determine risk levels are transparent and logical and can be applied to a wide range of different fisheries, allowing stakeholders to be involved in the process. This approach allows for a management response at any level, optimizing research and management efforts by identifying and excluding low-risk species from data intensive assessments (Braccini et al. 2006) . In essence, hierarchical ecological risk assessments are useful tools for the ecosystem approach to fishery management in the Atlantic Ocean.

This approach allows for a management response at any level, optimizing research and management efforts by identifying and excluding low-risk species from data intensive assessments.


During the inference of activity recognition, we aggregate the responses from sub-networks while searching for the optimal temporal activity segmentation. This inference will inevitably cause extra computation cost just like traditional latent structured models [24] . It is worth mentioning that we can implement the inference in a parallel manner using GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) programming, in order to counter-balance the extra computational demand.

This inference will inevitably cause extra computation cost just like traditional latent structured models.


First, the configuration of our deep model can be flexibly adjusted to adapt to different input videos, and the significance of this property has been justified for human action recognition [22, 38, 45] . In our approach, we make our model adaptively capture temporal structure by using the latent variables. This motivation finely accords with a batch of existing part-based structured models in visual recognition [24, 27] . More specifically, we utilize the latent variables to explicitly represent the temporal composition of the human activities, i.e. the input video is partitioned into several segments of alterable lengths (each segment indicating a subactivity). The different temporal compositions actually correspond to the different temporal durations of the separated sub-activities. And the frames of different video segments are extracted to feed to the corresponding sub-networks.

First, the configuration of our deep model can be flexibly adjusted to adapt to different input videos, and the significance of this property has been justified for human action recognition.

This motivation finely accords with a batch of existing part-based structured models in visual recognition.


The lexical decision and recognition tasks were presented visually on a Macintosh computer using PsychLab software (Gum & Bub, 1988) . A standard keyboard was used to collect subjects' responses on both the lexical decision and recognition tasks. Responses in the secondary listening task were recorded manually by the experimenter.

The lexical decision and recognition tasks were presented visually on a Macintosh computer using PsychLab software.


Stem cells (SCs) have the ability to self-renew for long periods and to differentiate into specialized cells, through symmetric and asymmetric cell divisions [1] . SCs are classified into two broad types: embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and tissue-specific (adult or somatic) SCs. ESCs are pluripotent cells, found only in the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst during early development, and are capable of differentiating into all derivatives of the germ layers, i.e., ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. On the other hand, somatic SCs are more specialized compared to ESCs, they remain in the body throughout life, and are specific to the tissue or organ in which they occur. Due to their multipotentiality as well as immunosuppressive properties in some cases, adult SCs are regarded as promising candidates in regenerative cell-based therapies and other clinical and experimental applications.

Stem cells (SCs) have the ability to self-renew for long periods and to differentiate into specialized cells, through symmetric and asymmetric cell divisions.


In this paper, we present an experimental and numerical analysis of femtosecond pulse propagation in a highly nonlinear multimode PCF. Most of the works published in this area reported the SC generated by the fundamental mode. In our previous paper, we presented experimental results of SC generated by high-order modes [18] . In this International Journal of Optics contribution, we present a review paper containing a complete and exhaustive numerical and experimental analysis of SCG in a highly nonlinear multimode PCF. We experimentally investigate the initial stage of an ultra-wide-band supercontinuum generation in a PCF under femtosecond pumping in normal and anomalous dispersion regime. We show that when the pump wavelength is close to the zero-dispersion wavelength, a wide and uniform spectral broadening is achieved. Details about the expansion of the blue and red sides of the supercontinuum due to the transfer of energy to dispersive waves are revealed and experimentally confirmed. The dispersion profile has profound influence on the nonlinear processes taking place in the fibre. We present a detailed analysis of the phenomenon through numerical simulations which take into account the effects of high-order dispersion, self-phase modulation (SPM), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), and self-steepening (SS).

In our previous paper, we presented experimental results of SC generated by high-order modes.


In the present paper, it is shown that this instability is the consequence of the TF-approximation, specifically the well-known issue of the divergence of its kinetic energy [7, 8, 17, 18] . To overcome this issue, we examine the time-independent GPE and attempt to solve it numerically without truncations. We develop a new approximation that has the desirable property that the system has negative total energy and it is stable. This approximation has since been incorporated into our simulation code for self-gravitating GPE-Poisson systems.

In the present paper, it is shown that this instability is the consequence of the TF-approximation, specifically the well-known issue of the divergence of its kinetic energy.


An important issue pertains to the validity of correlational approaches in establishing a direct link between two processes. The fact that performance on both illusory tasks was correlated within subjects does not necessarily imply a common mechanism directly related to multisensory integration. Indeed, as was previously shown, a wide variety of factors such as motivation and personality can influence the strength of multisensory integration [5] . It can therefore be assumed that a general mechanism, which varies at the individual level, is involved in the process linking auditory and visual inputs into a meaningful percept. It may be argued that the efficiency with which individual participants focus attention on the different illusions explains the pattern of responses reported here. Indeed, it has been shown that the McGurk illusion can be practically abolished by having subjects perform a concurrent, unrelated task [8] . If one assumes, then, a constant individual level of attention across tasks, the significant correlation between illusions could reflect interindividual differences in attention rather than multisensory integration. A possible way to investigate the role of attentional mechanisms in the pattern of behavioral responses reported here would be to ask subjects to perform a concurrent, attention-demanding task, during the presentation of both illusions. Individual differences in attention could also be evaluated by standard neuropsychological testing and related to the level of multisensory integration.

Indeed, as was previously shown, a wide variety of factors such as motivation and personality can influence the strength of multisensory integration.

Indeed, it has been shown that the McGurk illusion can be practically abolished by having subjects perform a concurrent, unrelated task.


Previous studies have investigated the temperature field in the layers of asphalt pavement structures. However, the theoretical deduction of the heat conduction formula includes many assumptions and some parameters are difficult to obtain, so it has limited practical applications [3] . Statistical formulae based on measured data require large amounts of field data, which are discrete and they lead to problems regarding regional applicability, and thus they are rarely representative [4] . The BELLS3 model has been applied widely to asphalt temperature prediction in the United States, but is not ideal in terms of its accuracy when applied to thick asphalt pavements [5] . Viljoen used a sine function and exponential function to fit the changes in temperature at different depths during the day and night. The fitting effect was better for the surface temperature on sunny days, but it cannot be applied to estimate the pavement temperature during cloudy weather and at different depths because the angular frequency of the sine function and the time of the lowest temperature in the day are fixed values [6] .

However, the theoretical deduction of the heat conduction formula includes many assumptions and some parameters are difficult to obtain, so it has limited practical applications.

Statistical formulae based on measured data require large amounts of field data, which are discrete and they lead to problems regarding regional applicability, and thus they are rarely representative.

The BELLS3 model has been applied widely to asphalt temperature prediction in the United States, but is not ideal in terms of its accuracy when applied to thick asphalt pavements.

The fitting effect was better for the surface temperature on sunny days, but it cannot be applied to estimate the pavement temperature during cloudy weather and at different depths because the angular frequency of the sine function and the time of the lowest temperature in the day are fixed values.


Pol-line stock selected from colonies with outcrossed VSH queens in commercial beekeeping companies retained significant expression of hygiene against V. destructor . The average mite resistance of randomly selected colonies with outcrossed queens would be expected to lie midway between the VSH and Control parents, as has been seen in prior studies (Harbo and Harris 2001; Danka et al. 2011) . However, mite resistance in Pol-line bees was much closer to that of the VSH parent. The good response to V. destructor in the Pol-line population presumably arose because some queens mated with drones from relatively mite-resistant colonies in the local area, and our selection of the best performing colonies identified some of those that derived from these favorable matings. The selection we used (i.e., finding colonies with low end-of-season mite infestations) proved to be useful in lieu of the technically difficult measurements (i.e., measuring rates of hygienic removal of mite-infested brood or percentages of reproducing mites) needed to directly select for high expression of VSH. The technical methods are not well suited for use by commercial bee breeders. Our production of Pol-line honey bee stock using industry-appropriate methods may encourage adoption and further selection of mite-resistant bees with desirable beekeeping characteristics. We note however that the year-to-year and beekeeper-to-beekeeper variation in infestations underscores a need for vigilance when managing Table II . Responses related to resistance to V. destructor of Pol-line and parental VSH bees. Bees were bioassayed by exposing mite-infested brood in test colonies for 1 week. Shown are best estimates of means and SEs, ANOVA results from generalized linear mixed models that account for numbers of colonies 15; VSH, 12) Varroa resistance of Pol-line honey bees V. destructor even in bees with good mite resistance. Furthermore, we would expect rapid diminishment of resistance if Pol-line queens supersede and mate with less resistant bees in production settings.

The average mite resistance of randomly selected colonies with outcrossed queens would be expected to lie midway between the VSH and Control parents, as has been seen in prior studies.


The energy-efficient membrane gas separation technology can play significant roles in performance enhancement and process intensification for the advanced fossil energy systems with CO 2 capture capacity. For the emerging coal-and natural gas-based IGCC power production with CO 2 capture and sequestration (CCS), cost effective air separation unit (ASU) for the gasifier and H 2 /CO 2 separation units for pre-combustion CO 2 capture are critical to commercial success. However, both the O 2 and CO 2 gas separations currently remain challenging that hinders the realization of the IGCC-CCS technology. Traditional industrial O 2 separation by cryogenic distillation or pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is highly energy intensive and involves large capital investment. Membrane separation has shown promises as energy-efficient alternative for O 2 separation in the past few decades [1] . However, because of the very close kinetic diameters (d k ) of the O 2 (d k = 0.346 nm) and N 2 (d k = 0.364 nm) molecules and similarly weak adsorbing behaviors of both gases in common membrane materials, low temperature O 2 separation membranes reported in the literature have been of relatively poor performance with limited selectivity and low permeance. The microporous zeolite membranes, because of their extraordinary stability and molecular sieving effects enabled by their uniform sub-nanometer pore sizes, are promising for separating many small molecule gases. The kinetic molecular theory of gas transport in zeolitic pores suggests that, in order to achieve O 2 /N 2 selectivity by non-adsorptive diffusion mechanism, the zeolite pore size must situate in between or very near the kinetic diameters of O 2 and N 2 [2, 3] . Therefore, in order to achieve size-selectivity between O 2 and N 2 molecules, the zeolite membranes must possess pore diameter (d p ) very close to the kinetic size of N 2 , i.e., <0.4 nm.

Membrane separation has shown promises as energy-efficient alternative for O 2 separation in the past few decades.

The kinetic molecular theory of gas transport in zeolitic pores suggests that, in order to achieve O 2 /N 2 selectivity by non-adsorptive diffusion mechanism, the zeolite pore size must situate in between or very near the kinetic diameters of O 2 and N 2.


Whilst the focus of this paper in terms of gender and participation has been on Triple Award, where there is evidence of disadvantage for girls (all be it decreasing over time), the patterns of participation in other courses tell a different story. Amongst the courses with less emphasis on academic content or where there is no KS4 science achievement at all, the simple analysis of participation rates shows that boys are becoming ever more over-represented. This supports the contention that reforms that introduce more course/choice options can lead to less equitable participation (van Langen et al. 2008) . The role of prior attainment in influencing these changing participation patterns across courses other than Triple and Double/Dual Award has yet to be fully explored, and could form part of future work.

This supports the contention that reforms that introduce more course/choice options can lead to less equitable participation.


Many phenomena in engineering physics, chemistry, and other sciences can be described very successfully by models that use mathematical tools of fractional calculus, i.e. the theory of derivatives and integrals of non-integer order [1] [2] [3] . For example, they have been successfully used in modeling frequency dependent damping behavior of many viscoelastic materials. There are numerous research which demonstrate the applications of fractional derivatives in the areas of electrochemical processes, dielectric polarization, colored noise, and chaos.

Many phenomena in engineering physics, chemistry, and other sciences can be described very successfully by models that use mathematical tools of fractional calculus, i.e. the theory of derivatives and integrals of non-integer order.


Time-frequency analysis enables to process nonstationary signals overlying in both frequency and time domains in which windowing-and filtrating-based means cannot separate the different signal source components [7, 8] . For analyzing the non-stationary signals, such as LFM signals, time-frequency signal representations and analyses are necessary [9] . We engage in the class of signals where the instantaneous frequency particularly or basically determines the time-frequency signatures of the signal source. A successful application of time-frequency distribution desires prior knowledge for the signal source in order that the most advisable distribution is preferred [10] . In this article, Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) is considered as the timefrequency distribution representation since it provides the most energy concentration in time-frequency domains, displays the non-stationary properties of the signal, and satisfies the marginal conditions [11] . Combining the time-frequency and spatial characteristic is accomplished into a framework named STFDs in time-frequency MUSIC (TF-MUSIC) [12] . This structure applies the signal location characteristic and energy concentration for increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and source signal identification before achieving the highresolution direction-of-arrival estimation [13] . The framework desires the calculations of the WVD from the data obtained at each sensor, for instance, auto-terms of WVD and the cross terms of WVD between sensor antennas.

Time-frequency analysis enables to process nonstationary signals overlying in both frequency and time domains in which windowing-and filtrating-based means cannot separate the different signal source components.

For analyzing the non-stationary signals, such as LFM signals, time-frequency signal representations and analyses are necessary.

A successful application of time-frequency distribution desires prior knowledge for the signal source in order that the most advisable distribution is preferred.

In this article, Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) is considered as the timefrequency distribution representation since it provides the most energy concentration in time-frequency domains, displays the non-stationary properties of the signal, and satisfies the marginal conditions.

Combining the time-frequency and spatial characteristic is accomplished into a framework named STFDs in time-frequency MUSIC (TF-MUSIC).

This structure applies the signal location characteristic and energy concentration for increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and source signal identification before achieving the highresolution direction-of-arrival estimation.


Another interesting issue involves solving a system of differential algebraic equations. The solution is typically represented inside a computer as a finite subset of value-time pairs (x, t). Since the computer resources are discrete and finite, two problems must be addressed: (1) how to select a subset that makes the result meaningful and (2) how to compute the value of x at time t for a generic system of differential equations without relying on the analytical solution [3] . Further, if instead of a single equation we have a system of differential and algebraic equations, then there are many variables that must be computed and the order in which equations are evaluated becomes relevant. Finally, support for expressing algebraic equations makes things more complex due to the possibility of generating algebraic loops. In fact, some languages like Modelica do not define the meaning of an algebraic loop and leave the decision of how to compute the solution of such equations to the simulation engine. Other tools like Simulink/Stateflow and HyVisual return an error message whenever they detect the presence of algebraic loops.

Since the computer resources are discrete and finite, two problems must be addressed: (1) how to select a subset that makes the result meaningful and (2) how to compute the value of x at time t for a generic system of differential equations without relying on the analytical solution.


Sync/Async search engines. This is about the specific way we organize the parallel processing of queries [7] . For plain text, we have observed that for low query traffic it is efficient to use the standard asynchronous message passing approach to parallel computing whereas for high traffic we can take advantage of bulk-synchronous parallel processing of queries. In this paper we show that this also holds for the metric-space context. Our proposal is openMP friendly in the sense that it can allow in-core threads to efficiently cooperate in the solution of queries. For the Sync and Async modes of operation the communication among nodes is performed by using MPI and BSPonMPI respectively whereas within nodes openMP is used to speed-up the processing of queries.

Sync/Async search engines.

This is about the specific way we organize the parallel processing of queries.


GPS and RFID have attracted a lot of attention from construction industry as they can be used for tracking the positions of construction entities such as workers, equipment, materials. As an alternative to GPS and RFID, the vision-based tracking system has also been investigated because of its several potential advantages. For example, it does not require to tag every entity to be tracked, and it can potentially track any entities that appear in the camera view [7] . Continuous research efforts have been made on the image processing and computer vision algorithms to achieve the aforementioned potential advantages. Object detection and object tracking are the main algorithms required to locate the positions of interested objects in the 2D pixel coordinate system.

For example, it does not require to tag every entity to be tracked, and it can potentially track any entities that appear in the camera view.


Truancy has been shown to increase the chances of being bullied [45, 59] . Our study confirmed this in that a higher probability of being bullied was found among adolescents who were truants at school. Truancy may reflect several circumstances of an adolescent, particularly in a poor country, like Ghana, including socioeconomic conditions, parental control, as well as health. In this regards, the relationship between truancy and bullying found here could also mirror these circumstances of the children. On the other hand, it is possible that bullied adolescents shy away from school for fear of being bullied.

Truancy has been shown to increase the chances of being bullied.


The time sweep binder fatigue test was performed using Kinexus Model Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR, Malvern, UK). This model of DSR uses a Peltier system (Malvern, UK) to control the temperature unlike other DSRs that use a water bath which could have an effect on the fatigue process. All tests were carried out under controlled stress conditions and at a frequency of 10 Hz using the 8 mm plate-plate set-up and 2 mm gap. The testing temperature was selected as 0 • C to ensure higher initial complex modules |G*| (larger than 25 MPa) so that the edge effects or plastic flow can be eliminated and the binders fail due to "true" fatigue damage rather than "instability flow" [26] . At these conditions there was no gradual decrease noticed in the radius of the sample after fatigue test, the failure was due to complete fracture through the whole sample as can be seen in Figure 2 . Various stress levels between 160 and 500 kPa were applied on the different binders to induce different initial strains range from 0.5% to 1.5%. To investigate the effect of rest periods (healing) on bitumen fatigue, an intermittent loading sequence was used by introducing short constant rest periods (10 and 20 s) after every 500 load pulses. Using the intermittent loading sequence is believed to provide better simulation of field loading conditions compared with other loading sequences in which a single long stop period is used [18] .

The testing temperature was selected as 0 • C to ensure higher initial complex modules |G*| (larger than 25 MPa) so that the edge effects or plastic flow can be eliminated and the binders fail due to "true" fatigue damage rather than "instability flow".

Using the intermittent loading sequence is believed to provide better simulation of field loading conditions compared with other loading sequences in which a single long stop period is used.


The addition of recycled tyre rubber to the conventional bituminous materials has shown improved fatigue and rutting characteristics and, consequently, the road surface is expected to have longer service life and needs lower maintenance/repair costs [1] [2] [3] [4] . It is well known that fatigue resistance of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures is significantly related to the properties of their bituminous binders and cracking usually starts and propagates within the binder. Thus, it is important to modify the base bitumen and evaluate the modifier effect on the fundamental and functional properties. However, the characterization of binders should be based on test methods and parameters that can reliably rate the binder contribution to fatigue damage resistance. Many studies have suggested that the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) fatigue parameter (G*·sinδ) does not reflect the true binder performance related to asphalt mixture or pavement performance [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . On the other hand, the time sweep repeated cyclic loading using dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) allows the fatigue phenomenon to be simulated and monitored directly. This method defines well the fatigue characteristic of binders and is strongly correlated with asphalt mixture and long-term pavement performance [6] . The dissipated energy approach has been also successfully applied for fatigue analysis and can provide an intrinsic fatigue law for bituminous materials [11] [12] [13] [14] . It gives the inherent resistance of the material to fatigue cracking and it is hypothesized to be independent of the mode of loading. The test also allows evaluating the healing potential of binders by introducing rest periods among the continuous loading sequence in fatigue test [15] [16] [17] [18] .

The addition of recycled tyre rubber to the conventional bituminous materials has shown improved fatigue and rutting characteristics and, consequently, the road surface is expected to have longer service life and needs lower maintenance/repair costs.

Many studies have suggested that the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) fatigue parameter (G*·sinδ) does not reflect the true binder performance related to asphalt mixture or pavement performance.

This method defines well the fatigue characteristic of binders and is strongly correlated with asphalt mixture and long-term pavement performance.

The dissipated energy approach has been also successfully applied for fatigue analysis and can provide an intrinsic fatigue law for bituminous materials.

The test also allows evaluating the healing potential of binders by introducing rest periods among the continuous loading sequence in fatigue test.


It was found 1.786 studies in the five researched databases and 11 more were included through manual search. Of this total, 143 were duplicates, leaving 1.654 studies to be analysed in the title and abstract reading phase. In this stage, 1.575 studies did not present potential to fulfil the eligibility criteria, totalling 79 studies to be fully read. Of those, only 40 contemplated all eligibility criteria and were included in this review. The Figure 2 presents the flowchart of stages of inclusion on the systematic review according to PRISMA (Moher et al., 2009) recommendations.

The Figure 2 presents the flowchart of stages of inclusion on the systematic review according to PRISMA recommendations.


Several methods are used in the phase where all organic S is converted to sulfate. The most frequently employed procedures involve wet or dry-ash oxidation. Wet oxidation can be performed by acid or alkaline digestion. Acid digestion is a frequently used procedure in which the soil samples are heated to 190 to 210 °C in a block digester in the presence of nitric and perchloric acid (Tabatabai, 1982) . This digestion procedure requires precautions since it poses risks of explosion, fire, and material losses, which makes it inconvenient. In the alkaline digestion with an alkaline oxidizing agent, a sodium hypobromite solution is heated in a block digester to 250 °C (Tabatabai & Bremner, 1970) .

Acid digestion is a frequently used procedure in which the soil samples are heated to 190 to 210 °C in a block digester in the presence of nitric and perchloric acid.

In the alkaline digestion with an alkaline oxidizing agent, a sodium hypobromite solution is heated in a block digester to 250 °C.


Dry-ash oxidation using alkaline oxidizing agents is one of the simplest methods for oxidation of soil organic S to the sulfate form. In this method, soil samples are oxidized at 550 °C in the presence of an alkaline oxidizing agent, sodium bicarbonate and silver oxide (Steinbergs et al., 1962) . Another possible alkaline agent is the Eschka mixture, which contains 17 % sodium carbonate, 66 % magnesium oxide, and 17 % potassium carbonate (Mott & Wilkinson, 1953) .

In this method, soil samples are oxidized at 550 °C in the presence of an alkaline oxidizing agent, sodium bicarbonate and silver oxide.

Another possible alkaline agent is the Eschka mixture, which contains 17 % sodium carbonate, 66 % magnesium oxide, and 17 % potassium carbonate.


As a research site, Switzerland was chosen primarily because it is well known as a leader in environmental protectionism, but is also highly regarded internationally for its design and construction industries, in addition to housing a number of respected research and teaching institutions. Seen as a linguistic microcosm of Europe, but also recognized as sharing important parallel governance structures with much larger federal states, the overall transparency of the country's system of regulation, meant that all of the experts interviewed perceived to be working under an interconnected regulatory umbrella [13] . Thus, this location provided a unique opportunity to explore expert perceptions of the relationships between energy research, practice, and sustainable construction. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, 31 experts were asked to reflect on their work in relation to industry trends. From these interviews "snapshots" of the state of sustainable construction implementation from experts working within the Swiss context were developed. Given the small sample size this study is considered as exploratory and intended to gage current trends within the research and professional practices implicated in sustainable construction implementation. Central questions of interest were: What constraints were most explicit to them? What were their concerns, how were they framed and what did this suggest about their working context and expertise? How for example, were regulatory and disciplinary institutions viewed? New types of knowledge integrated? Perceived challenges mediated? Subsequently, the article is structured as follows: after outlining the framework used to shape this research, key terms are defined. Next, relevant aspects of Switzerland are detailed, and an overview of the empirical work is presented. Lastly, findings drawn from the data that show how experts mediate diverse challenges linked to sustainable construction are discussed.

Seen as a linguistic microcosm of Europe, but also recognized as sharing important parallel governance structures with much larger federal states, the overall transparency of the country's system of regulation, meant that all of the experts interviewed perceived to be working under an interconnected regulatory umbrella.

New types of knowledge integrated?

Perceived challenges mediated?


Within the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) the design and construction of buildings have been argued as scientific practices, since "science is nothing but a space that obtains authority precisely from and through sporadic negotiations of its flexible and contextually dependent borders and territories" [9] . Subsequently, a central STS critique of sustainable construction implementation has been regarding the lack "appreciation of the social contexts of energy saving action and of the socially situated character of technical knowledge" [10] . Additionally, scholar Elizabeth Shove argues in her article, "Gaps, Barriers and Conceptual Chasms: Theories of Technology Transfer and Energy in Buildings", that notions of technical potential, the discourse of gaps and barriers, as well as the focus on technology transfer often create a problematic "web of taken-for-granted belief strong enough to encapsulate" the wide range of sectors affiliated with the design and management of the built environment and "elastic enough to span countries and continents" [10] . She suggests that by recognizing differing countries possess varied histories linked to alternate temporal patterns of development and actor networks, technological approaches to energy efficiency and the technologies themselves would be better understood as part of "unique socio-commercial" narratives that defy simple strategies of transfer. It is within this STS perspective of situated actor networks that the research presented in this article was formulated to develop a better understanding of the knowledge practices and concerns of Swiss experts linked to the implementation of energy efficiency measures and green development strategies [11, 12] . Therefore, in alignment with Shove, it is critical to acknowledge that as an analysis of a single case country-Switzerland, universal claims about the building industries cannot be deduced from the set of interviews presented here. Rather, the aim in this article is to situate aspects of the socio-technical process of sustainable construction within a specific country context through: (1) in-depth interviews with a subset of heterogeneous research and design actors and (2) reflection on expert-reported challenges.

Within the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) the design and construction of buildings have been argued as scientific practices, since "science is nothing but a space that obtains authority precisely from and through sporadic negotiations of its flexible and contextually dependent borders and territories".

Subsequently, a central STS critique of sustainable construction implementation has been regarding the lack "appreciation of the social contexts of energy saving action and of the socially situated character of technical knowledge".

Additionally, scholar Elizabeth Shove argues in her article, "Gaps, Barriers and Conceptual Chasms: Theories of Technology Transfer and Energy in Buildings", that notions of technical potential, the discourse of gaps and barriers, as well as the focus on technology transfer often create a problematic "web of taken-for-granted belief strong enough to encapsulate" the wide range of sectors affiliated with the design and management of the built environment and "elastic enough to span countries and continents".

It is within this STS perspective of situated actor networks that the research presented in this article was formulated to develop a better understanding of the knowledge practices and concerns of Swiss experts linked to the implementation of energy efficiency measures and green development strategies.


For a greater degree of fact stabilization than using boundary objects. Simultaneously, however, standardized packages are also similar to boundary objects in that they facilitate interactions and cooperative work between social worlds and increase their opportunities for being transferred into, and enrolling members of, other worlds. They serve as interfaces between multiple social worlds which facilitates the flow of resources (concepts, skills, materials, techniques, instruments) among multiple lines of work [10] .

They serve as interfaces between multiple social worlds which facilitates the flow of resources (concepts, skills, materials, techniques, instruments) among multiple lines of work.


Of those interviewed, an image of multi-headed expertise emerged: practitioners and researchers displayed multiple types of working competence in design, research, management, education and advisory activities. This is consistent with the group of experts that were targeted. As articulated earlier in this section, this finding could also be argued as a general reflection of the nature of disciplines being studied, which are typically conceptualized as 'problem solving professions' or alternatively, that these traits are evident in individuals working close to the borders of professional and research practices which intersect sustainable construction implementation efforts. Although too small of a research sample to substantiate here, the choice of the Swiss "close community setting" of experts as an object of study was carefully considered in relation to its geographic location, system of governance, dense multicultural pattern of urbanization and energy context, in addition to its strong history of design, construction and infrastructure development. No doubt, these combined factors have been central in the "forming and framing" of how these Swiss researchers and practitioners approach sustainable construction as Guy and Shove argue for the respective contexts of Finland, Sweden and Ireland [72] .

No doubt, these combined factors have been central in the "forming and framing" of how these Swiss researchers and practitioners approach sustainable construction as Guy and Shove argue for the respective contexts of Finland, Sweden and Ireland.


Chordoma is a slow-growing, locally invasive, rare malignant tumor restricted to the axial skeleton that occurs with an overall incidence of less than 1 in 1,000,000 people [1] [2] [3] [4] . The condition is thought to arise from remnants (rests) of the embryonic notochordal cells [5] . Histological examination revealed that these tumor cells often contain numerous intracytoplasmic vacuoles (physaliphorous) and are separated by variable amounts of intercellular mucin, accounting for 1% to 4% of all malignant bone tumors [5] [6] [7] [8] . Men appear to be more susceptible to the development of chordoma than women (ratio 2 : 1), and lesions typically arise in the sacrococcygeal area (29-57%), sphenooccipital area (27-35%), and vertebrae (10-33%) [1, 6, 9, 10] . In the spinal columns, the tumor is located in the cervical spine (15-52%), lumbar spine (33-35%), and thoracic spine (14-17%) [2, [10] [11] [12] .

Chordoma is a slow-growing, locally invasive, rare malignant tumor restricted to the axial skeleton that occurs with an overall incidence of less than 1 in 1,000,000 people.

The condition is thought to arise from remnants (rests) of the embryonic notochordal cells.

Histological examination revealed that these tumor cells often contain numerous intracytoplasmic vacuoles (physaliphorous) and are separated by variable amounts of intercellular mucin, accounting for 1% to 4% of all malignant bone tumors.

Men appear to be more susceptible to the development of chordoma than women (ratio 2 : 1), and lesions typically arise in the sacrococcygeal area (29-57%), sphenooccipital area (27-35%), and vertebrae (10-33%).

In the spinal columns, the tumor is located in the cervical spine (15-52%), lumbar spine (33-35%), and thoracic spine (14-17%).


In this article, I am discussing the emerging neoliberal landscape in higher education in Greece, as it is illustrated both in the public discourse, as well as in the text of the new law 4009/2011. There are interesting patterns in the discourse of the law that signal new practices that are not necessarily clearly spelled out. Hegemony over the discourse is an important neoliberal strategy because in this way public consensus is gained (Fairclough & Chouliaraki, 1999; George, 1999) . The current discourse on higher education is taking shape along the lines of a market-driven society, and seems unapologetically to espouse a neoliberal dogma that turns education into training, universities into corporations, knowledge into service or commodity, and students into clients. As the current neoliberal experiment is under development in Greece, I am also looking at the context of a larger assault on the welfare state and the public good, as a strategy of submission for the imposition of the logic of the market, while I attempt to explore an alternative notion of democratic politics.

Hegemony over the discourse is an important neoliberal strategy because in this way public consensus is gained.


Here we are witnessing a glorious implementation of the Gramscian 'common sense' concept. The Greek Ministry of Education's regime of truth and its discourses are redefining what is 'common good' and 'public interest'. In this discursive framework, it is considered self-evident to make 'sacrifices' for the sake of optimizing capital accumulation through privatization of the public good. The language of common sense (or self-evidence) appears to be natural (and neutral) and works to justify policies, political decisions and practices that are largely designed to oppress, debase and block dissent while imposing the logic of the market. This is why these extremely important changes in higher education are presented as 'technical recommendations', using the language of quality and excellence. The goal is for people to not only embrace this commonsensical, self-evident language but, at the same time, recreate and reproduce it along the same lines. It is through the construction of consent that neoliberalization gets accomplished -that is, by 'democratic means' (Harvey, 2005) . Interestingly, the current neoliberal takeover of higher education is promoted as 'progressive' since it also aligns with the Bologna Process, and Greek higher education can finally pride itself that it is part of the European higher education 'family'. The opening up of the university to market interests is crafted as a large reform to 'change the logic of the system' since 'we are freeing higher education from statism' (Papandreou, 2011) . The State is seen as an obstacle only when it sponsors the public good (education in this case), yet when it bails out Greek banks with 28 billion euros, statism is not seen as much of a problem.

It is through the construction of consent that neoliberalization gets accomplished -that is, by 'democratic means'.

The opening up of the university to market interests is crafted as a large reform to 'change the logic of the system' since 'we are freeing higher education from statism'.


Exclusive breastfeeding was defined as giving the infant no other food or drink -not even water -except breast milk, but allowing the infant to receive oral rehydration salt, drops and syrups (vitamins, minerals and medicines). Early initiation of breastfeeding was also defined as the proportion of children who were put to the breast within one hour of birth [1] . Since we included infants less than 12 months, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was determined by using since birth dietary recall method. In this method, the participants were asked if any liquid or food item had been given to the infant, and if so, when that was done for the first time. This also allows to avoid overestimation in determining prevalence. The prevalence is based on women who had babies in each age group at the time of interview. The prevalence of EBF was calculated based on the respective age of the infants. But for infants of 6 months and above, for example, if the infant age was 7 months and the women practised EBF only for the first three months, we did not consider it as the infant received EBF. To say that the infant received EBF, he/she must have received EBF for the first six months for those aged six months or more.

Early initiation of breastfeeding was also defined as the proportion of children who were put to the breast within one hour of birth.


In addition to traditional risk factors, new markers appear to have a role in the onset and evolution of both CAD and PAD. In previous studies, lower levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) were found in hypertensive and CAD nondiabetic patients when compared to healthy subjects [13] [14] [15] . RAGE is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and is expressed by ECs, SMCs, monocytes, and lymphocytes with enhanced expression in atherosclerotic lesions. The soluble form of RAGE, sRAGE, is a product of both alternative splicing of the gene for RAGE (esRAGE) and cleavage of membrane-bound RAGE [16] . While the biological function of sRAGE has not been clearly defined, one proposed pathological role is that it may act as a competitive inhibitor of ligand-RAGE interaction and the subsequent downstream signaling.

In previous studies, lower levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) were found in hypertensive and CAD nondiabetic patients when compared to healthy subjects.

The soluble form of RAGE, sRAGE, is a product of both alternative splicing of the gene for RAGE (esRAGE) and cleavage of membrane-bound RAGE.


Pain assessment in this vulnerable population is further complicated when patients are admitted to, moved from, or transferred between levels of care, such as from the home or nursing home to the hospital. Qualitative data suggest that the family caregivers who are most familiar with the patient with dementia are in a position to inform healthcare providers about the patient's history, idiosyncratic expressions, and specific needs [9] . To date, the use of informal caregivers as resources for pain management information when patients move between care settings has not been explored. Hence, the purpose of the current study was to learn family caregivers' perspectives on pain management after their family members with dementia were admitted to unfamiliar healthcare environments.

Qualitative data suggest that the family caregivers who are most familiar with the patient with dementia are in a position to inform healthcare providers about the patient's history, idiosyncratic expressions, and specific needs.


Other authors have discussed the need to teach both formal (healthcare) and informal (family or nontrained) caregivers about pain assessment in their patients with cognitive and communication impairments. Snow and colleagues described distinct strategies that care providers can use to elicit pain assessment information from all important persons (e.g., nursing staff, family caregivers). Their method includes the saying "No BODIES in Pain!," where B asks for pain-related behaviors, O asks for how often the behaviors occur, D asks for duration of pain as indicated by the behaviors, I asks for intensity of pain as indicated by the behaviors, E asks for effectiveness of pain treatment, and S asks what stops the behaviors [6] .

Their method includes the saying "No BODIES in Pain!," where B asks for pain-related behaviors, O asks for how often the behaviors occur, D asks for duration of pain as indicated by the behaviors, I asks for intensity of pain as indicated by the behaviors, E asks for effectiveness of pain treatment, and S asks what stops the behaviors.


For the removal of toxic chromium, the conventional methods can include chemical reduction followed by precipitation, ion exchange, and adsorption on activated coal, alum, kaolinite, and ash. However, most of these methods require either high energy or large quantities of chemical reagents. These also affect aquatic lives. Alternatively, bioremediation through microbial reduction of toxic hexavalent chromium has practical importance, because biological strategies provide green technology that is also cost effective. More specifically, chromium tolerant bacteria are prominent source of chromium reductase enzyme (Fendorf et al., 2000) .

These also affect aquatic lives.

More specifically, chromium tolerant bacteria are prominent source of chromium reductase enzyme.


Expert panels have been used in the areas of agricultural education, extension, and agricultural safety and health to identify learning outcomes, develop curriculum, and provide a form of consensus for making training recommendations [6, 14, [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] . Based on a review of literature, four studies that identified learning outcomes specifically for tractor and machinery certification were utilized for analysis in this paper. Three of these studies translated their research into development of up-to-date educational curricula while the fourth focused only on identification of learning outcomes. For this reason, any of the collective four studies will now be referred to as programs or studies instead of curriculum.

Expert panels have been used in the areas of agricultural education, extension, and agricultural safety and health to identify learning outcomes, develop curriculum, and provide a form of consensus for making training recommendations.


Since 1970, the US Department of Labor (US DOL) has provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to oversee child labor where it applies to farms and ranches [1] . This public policy is known as the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders (AgHOs). Although agricultural practices and technology have changed, the AgHOs have remained largely unchanged since their inception.

Since 1970, the US Department of Labor (US DOL) has provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to oversee child labor where it applies to farms and ranches.


In September 2011, the US DOL posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register [29] . The proposal sought to update the plus 40-year old legislation language in the AgHOs, as well as provide stricter regulation, or enhanced protection for youth working in agriculture. The NPRM suggested removing the "24-h" training exemption and placing responsibility solely on high school agricultural education programs when training was provided. The US DOL proposed that students complete 90 h of systematic instruction at or above the eighth-grade level prior to being eligible to perform certain agricultural tasks. At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NPRM was withdrawn, leaving the 1970 AgHOs in place.

In September 2011, the US DOL posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register.


The use of expert panels in consensus building is a well-established practice in the area of agricultural safety and health [6, 14, [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] . Future certification programs and enhancements of current programs can be analyzed utilizing expert panel methods. The findings from this research were designed to assist individuals with involvement in public policy, curriculum design, youth development, and agricultural training programs. Ultimately, sound educational methods and understanding of fundamental student competence are essential components for satisfying exemptions to the US Department of Labor's Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders (AgHOs), in addition to similar certification programs for youth.

The use of expert panels in consensus building is a well-established practice in the area of agricultural safety and health.


At the same time as the US DOL NPRM discussion, a national study of tractor and machinery certification programs found instructors to be more interested in student competence than total hours of instruction [30] . This study of 330 course instructors (both Extension and high school agricultural education teachers) reported spending a total time-weighted average of 30.05 h of instruction towards Tractor, Machinery, and General Safety and Health topics. This amount of time was higher than the current US DOL program requirements and merely one third of the 90 contact hours proposed in the NPRM. Regardless of the hours spent on student instruction, teachers felt strongly that priority be given to standardized teaching materials as well as up-dated teaching materials, and not focus on hours of student instruction. These instructors also identified key programmatic factors that play a role in the successful delivery of the tractor and machinery training, such as instructors' awareness of the federal certification program requirements, their amount of administrative support to offer training programs, and their available time and flexibility to address subject matter outside of their state performance standards.

At the same time as the US DOL NPRM discussion, a national study of tractor and machinery certification programs found instructors to be more interested in student competence than total hours of instruction.


In 2013, the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded the Safety in Agriculture for Youth (SAY) initiative [31] . This national project sought to improve and increase safety education resources for youth. Such resources were categorized and placed into an electronic, accessible National Clearinghouse, for access by formal and non-formal program instructors. A significant contribution of this effort was to develop a process that aligned curricula and resources to current nationally recognized learning outcomes that educators could also match to their state educational standards or guidelines. Specifically, content on the National Clearinghouse was aligned to the National Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Cluster Standards, developed by The National Council for Agricultural Education (NCAE) [32] .

In 2013, the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded the Safety in Agriculture for Youth (SAY) initiative.

Specifically, content on the National Clearinghouse was aligned to the National Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Career Cluster Standards, developed by The National Council for Agricultural Education (NCAE).


We will show examples of topology-disturbing objects (Section 2), briefly review the principles of ambiguous cylinders (Section 3), and apply these principles to the design of topologydisturbing objects (Section 4). Next, we summarize a general condition for the constructability of the topology-disturbing object (Section 5), and give concluding remarks (Section 6). We also present a diagram that shows the unfolded surfaces of a simple example of a topology-disturbing object; from this, one may construct the object by paper crafting (Appendix A). Videos of topology-disturbing objects can also be found on YouTube [18] . Fig. 1(a) shows an example of a topology-disturbing object. The direct view of this object consists of two rectangular cylinders that are separated from each other. A plane mirror is positioned vertically behind the object, and the object can also be seen in the mirror. However, in the mirror, the two cylinders appear to intersect each other. Thus, the direct view and the mirror image have different topologies, which seems impossible.

Videos of topology-disturbing objects can also be found on YouTube.


Biodiesel, the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) obtained via the transesterification of triglycerides with methanol, typically represents between 15-25% of annual global biofuel production [1] [2] [3] . Approximately 95% of global biodiesel is derived from edible, first generation oils such as palm, rapeseed and soybean [4] . While the technology is well developed there is simply not enough arable land to increase biofuel production to meet global need and alternative feedstocks are being urgently sought.

Biodiesel, the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) obtained via the transesterification of triglycerides with methanol, typically represents between 15-25% of annual global biofuel production.

Approximately 95% of global biodiesel is derived from edible, first generation oils such as palm, rapeseed and soybean.


Prior research has implemented several algorithms that function as document fingerprints to detect plagiarism such as rabin-karp algorithm, winnowing algorithm, smith-waterman algorithm and so on [5] - [8] . However, these algorithms can only check every word in the document file and can not check the action of plagiarism done by taking other people's work in foreign language written by another language. In this case researchers will use the winnowing algorithm to detect plagiarism and this study can only check plagiarism in the category of translated plagiarism and plagiarism ideas in English sentences translated into Indonesian. Winnowing algorithm is an algorithm that has a function to check the similarity of words using hashing techniques and will be collated with dictionary English-Indonesia technique that serves to translate the writings from english to Indonesia.

Prior research has implemented several algorithms that function as document fingerprints to detect plagiarism such as rabin-karp algorithm, winnowing algorithm, smith-waterman algorithm and so on.


The results presented here clearly show that the error function (2) has many local minima. When dealing with a small region around the global solution (i.e. for the results shown in table 8) the situation is not too critical, as in all 15 cases examined here all local solutions were found (with the probability of 95%). However, when the region is increased in size, the efficiency of the method quickly deteriorates. It is only when a reasonably small box around the solution can be used that the clustering algorithm becomes a practical method for seeking the global minimum of function (2) . This shows the need for a good initial estimate of the particle radius and refractive index, which may be particularly important when dealing with experimental measurements of scattered light. The initial guess may be provided, for example, by looking at peak positions in the experimental scattering pattern [3, 8, [25] [26] [27] .

It is only when a reasonably small box around the solution can be used that the clustering algorithm becomes a practical method for seeking the global minimum of function.

The initial guess may be provided, for example, by looking at peak positions in the experimental scattering pattern.


Two different global optimization methods were used for solving an inverse scattering problem. Deep's method seeks only one minimum in the region of interest. Although this method is much faster, the clustering method appears to be more reliable and it gives a clearer picture of the behaviour of the error function in terms of both the number of local minima and the values of the error function. These features may be particularly valuable when dealing with experimental data. In this case the error function cannot be expected to be zero at the global solution because of measurement inaccuracy and noise. Moreover, for the same reason, the solution with the smallest error may not be the correct one [18] . On the other hand, since Deep's method is faster it could be used for initial search in certain areas of the solution space, followed by the application of the clustering approach for a more thorough analysis in the neighbourhood of the newly found solutions.

Moreover, for the same reason, the solution with the smallest error may not be the correct one.


Substantial advances have been made over the last century or so in the development of the theory of light scattering from small particles. Computation of the properties of scattered electromagnetic fields-the direct scattering problem-is now possible in many situations. Rigorous solutions exist for numerous particle types, such as homogeneous and inhomogeneous spheres, ellipsoids, cylinders, generalized axisymmetric particles and others. Of far greater practical importance, however, is the determination of properties of particles from the knowledge of scattered fields-the inverse scattering problem. Solving it is required in numerous applications, ranging from astronomy and remote sensing, through aerosol and emulsion characterization, to non-destructive analysis of single particles and living cells [1] [2] [3] [4] .

Solving it is required in numerous applications, ranging from astronomy and remote sensing, through aerosol and emulsion characterization, to non-destructive analysis of single particles and living cells.


Another concern is large heat dissipation in such a high power package. Silicon wafer-levelpackage (WLP) can be a good solution for thermal management and a cost effective integration [6] , [8] , [9] . Using silicon-based infrastructures, IC technologies, and MEMS toolset and processes allows us to integrate different functional sub-blocks on the same die.

Silicon wafer-levelpackage (WLP) can be a good solution for thermal management and a cost effective integration.


To address the above issues, a light feedback control system including sensors, control circuit, and power transistor for driving LED is monotonically integrated in a low-cost process. It controls the light output of the package with a real-time feedback signal from light sensor that receives emitted blue light of LED chips. The fabrication is done through a simple and low-cost 7-mask BiCMOS process (BiCMOS7). This integrated package incorporates a blue selective photodiode (as the light sensor) that was previously published by the authors [7] . Implementation of sensors (and potentially rectifier) requires a BJT process. The best process choice for the analog/digital control circuit is CMOS. Therefore, we used a BiCMOS process for monolithic integration of this system. The package guarantees a stable light output that is linearly controllable with a reference input voltage. This paper is organized as follow: in Section 2, system level design of feedback control circuit is discussed which explains: feedback circuit, design of operational amplifier (opamp), power transistor, target LED, and the blue selective photo diodes. Section 3 summarizes system implementation. In Section 4, test procedure and measurement results are deliberated. Finally, the conclusion is in Section 4.

This integrated package incorporates a blue selective photodiode (as the light sensor) that was previously published by the authors.


The paper is organized as follows. First of all, we recall the results recently established by Bercu and Proïa [2] . In Section 2, we propose moderate deviation principles for the estimators of θ and ρ and for the Durbin-Watson statistic, given by (1.2), (1.4) and (1.5) , under the normality assumption on the driven noise. Section 3 deals with the generalization of the latter results under a less restrictive Chen-Ledoux type condition on (V n ). Finally, all technical proofs are postponed to Section 4.

The paper is organized as follows.

First of all, we recall the results recently established by Bercu and Proïa.


The regulatory intervention as a reaction to the problem of low quality on the EEC market has added an incentive to acquire additional knowledge. To receive the certification enabling the application for subsidies, firms gain a low standard of knowledge. Apart from this function, the newly acquired knowledge can hardly be commercialized and customers correctly assume that the certification is not a quality signal. Thus, overall, the limit to the market through a certification system has only provided a low incentive to improve quality through knowledge spillovers. This result is in line with the literature on certification in the energy sector (Brounen and Kok, 2011; Gram-Hanssen et al., 2007; Stieß and Dunkelberg, 2013) . Previous studies have found a low acceptance of certificates among customers due to the complexity of the indirect link between quality and the certificates. Therefore, the knowledge level of companies is maintained to merely fulfil the minimum certificate requirements and no additional resources are invested in knowledge acquisition.

This result is in line with the literature on certification in the energy sector.


Knowledge networks can offer an opportunity to reduce the impact of knowledge filters, which has only recently been addressed by a smaller number of studies discussing the role of networks as a transmission channel facilitating knowledge-based entrepreneurship (Hayter, 2013; Huggins et al., 2012; Huggins and Thompson, 2015; Shu et al., 2014) . Integrating the role of networks in the KSTE thus offers the opportunity to more comprehensively explain successful entrepreneurial decisions (Hayter, 2013) . The initial results are that knowledge spillovers in inter-firm networks improve the overall performance, with mixed effects on the individual firm level (Shu et al., 2014) . However, network capital and its spatial distributionparticularly network relations between companies and other knowledge-producing institutions account for regional differences in innovative capabilities (Huggins and Thompson, 2015) .

Knowledge networks can offer an opportunity to reduce the impact of knowledge filters, which has only recently been addressed by a smaller number of studies discussing the role of networks as a transmission channel facilitating knowledge-based entrepreneurship.

Integrating the role of networks in the KSTE thus offers the opportunity to more comprehensively explain successful entrepreneurial decisions.

The initial results are that knowledge spillovers in inter-firm networks improve the overall performance, with mixed effects on the individual firm level.

However, network capital and its spatial distributionparticularly network relations between companies and other knowledge-producing institutions account for regional differences in innovative capabilities.


Pleural effusion is a diagnostic challenge often unsolved after clinical and laboratory assessment. The differential diagnosis may include a variety of disease such as malignancy, congestive heart failure, tuberculous pleurisy and empyema. The etiology of a pleural effusion can be established in most cases with a careful history, physical examination, evaluation of pleural fluid obtained by thoracentesis including fluid cultures, cytology and TBC testing [17] . Approximately 20% of pleural effusions are caused by neoplastic processes [1, 2] .

The etiology of a pleural effusion can be established in most cases with a careful history, physical examination, evaluation of pleural fluid obtained by thoracentesis including fluid cultures, cytology and TBC testing.

Approximately 20% of pleural effusions are caused by neoplastic processes.


Studies show that HCV impairs glucose metabolism directly via viral proteins and indirectly by altering proinflammatory cytokine levels. The direct effect is due to HCV core protein that prevents the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) association with its insulin receptor by increasing IRS-1 degradation through upregulation of serine/threonine phosphorylation or increased activity of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) [6] [7] [8] . These direct actions on the insulin-signaling pathway impair downstream signalling and appropriate regulation of glucose metabolism [9] . An indirect effect of HCV on insulin sensitivity has also been suggested to be due to increased production of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor α) from sinusoidal liver cells that interferes with insulin-signaling pathways and leads to IR [10] [11] [12] .

The direct effect is due to HCV core protein that prevents the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) association with its insulin receptor by increasing IRS-1 degradation through upregulation of serine/threonine phosphorylation or increased activity of suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3).

These direct actions on the insulin-signaling pathway impair downstream signalling and appropriate regulation of glucose metabolism.

An indirect effect of HCV on insulin sensitivity has also been suggested to be due to increased production of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor α) from sinusoidal liver cells that interferes with insulin-signaling pathways and leads to IR.


This paper introduces a new term-scoring function that is based on the differences between the distribution of terms in (pseudo) relevant documents and the distribution of terms in all documents. A computationally simple and sound method is proposed to assign scores to candidate expansion terms. The method is based on the Kullback-Leibler divergence measure well known in Information Theory [Losee 1990; Cover and Thomas 1991] .

The method is based on the Kullback-Leibler divergence measure well known in Information Theory.


Contrary to expectations, we found in both studies that the prompted contemplation of all place images was robustly associated with the report of significantly less sense of control, the anticipation of significantly more threat, and the report of reduced consideration of the future. While unexpected, these general place contemplation findings might be explained by the effects of uncontrolled variables, such as SES and/or generic aspects of the study design. For example, it has been found that people with lower SES perceive more threat and less control generally (Chen & Paterson, 2006) . Although it is unlikely to account for the findings in this study involving university students, future research should certainly take into account self-reported SES and area of residence to address criticisms premised upon "mere exposure" effects (Zajonc, 1968) . In terms of generic aspects of study design, it is possible that the contemplation changes found across all photo types resulted from unavoidable order effects associated with measuring variables pre and post stimuli. However, we consider that the most likely explanation for this generic finding is related to the type of questions used to prompt active contemplation. These focused on specific judgments about the nature of the people who may live in these places. As such, these social-psychological prompts may have elicited negative changes in social self-perspective. Even so, the augmented contemplation effect of AoT associated with the less desirable residential images existed over and above these general place contemplation effects. Although we consider the active contemplation aspect of this research design to be a positive feature as it is likely to mimic an everyday consideration of places, future research could explore the overall explanatory role of the prompted contemplation by presenting the photographs without the questions in a pure priming methodology.

For example, it has been found that people with lower SES perceive more threat and less control generally.

Although it is unlikely to account for the findings in this study involving university students, future research should certainly take into account self-reported SES and area of residence to address criticisms premised upon "mere exposure" effects.


It can be assumed that predators do not selectively ingest upper or lower beaks and that their ratio should, therefore, be 1:1 in diet samples. Consequently, there is no need to duplicate effort by trying to identify both beaks (Clarke, 1986) . However, beaks can remain in the stomachs of predators for up to several months, which can affect the upper and lower beaks differently (Ashmole and Ashmole, 1967; Imber and Russ, 1975; Furness et al., 1984; Duffy and Jackson, 1986; Jackson and Ryan, 1986; Gales and Cheal, 1992; Votier et al., 2003; Xavier et al., 2005) . Although some studies have assessed the number of upper and lower beaks in diet samples, to date there has been no critical examination of the potential biases, e.g. with respect to different cephalopod species, and no general implications for diet studies of marine predators.

Consequently, there is no need to duplicate effort by trying to identify both beaks.

However, beaks can remain in the stomachs of predators for up to several months, which can affect the upper and lower beaks differently.


Cities are experiencing a fast-rising demand for mobility linked both to urban and logistics sprawl. Furthermore, e-commerce, and especially B2C, generates a strong demand for home delivery services provoking, in turn, both social and environmental costs increase [48] . Proposing solutions that might contribute to improving the environmental sustainability of "last mile" delivery is fundamental especially due to the e-commerce-related trips, which, together with urbanization, is increasing substantially [1] .

Furthermore, e-commerce, and especially B2C, generates a strong demand for home delivery services provoking, in turn, both social and environmental costs increase.

Proposing solutions that might contribute to improving the environmental sustainability of "last mile" delivery is fundamental especially due to the e-commerce-related trips, which, together with urbanization, is increasing substantially.


Quality and productivity are an integral component of organisations' operational strategies (Juran, 1988) . In the globalisation of markets and operations, focus on quality and productivity is of utmost importance (Feigenbaum, 1991; Elshennawy et al., 1991) . Quality improvement in operations and production has been one of the most significant influences for organisation to be successful (Pande et al., 2000) . Corporate consistently strives to build quality into their products based on customer needs (Juran, 1988) . For manufacturing quality products, continuous improvement (CI) methodologies have been developed to get better productivity of the operations (Hobbs, 2004; Nave, 2002) . During the past two decades, the quality progress has provided a broad collection of CI methods to accelerate the process of improving quality and productivity that supports the business growth (Cox et al., 2003) .

Quality and productivity are an integral component of organisations' operational strategies.

In the globalisation of markets and operations, focus on quality and productivity is of utmost importance.

Quality improvement in operations and production has been one of the most significant influences for organisation to be successful.

Corporate consistently strives to build quality into their products based on customer needs.

For manufacturing quality products, continuous improvement (CI) methodologies have been developed to get better productivity of the operations.

During the past two decades, the quality progress has provided a broad collection of CI methods to accelerate the process of improving quality and productivity that supports the business growth.


The semiarid region of Brazil extends over an area of 928 km². The soils are shallow and settled on the crystalline substrate, predominantly covered by vegetation caducifoliar of caatinga, typical of the region. The precipitation generally ranges between 250 and 600 mm year . The semiarid region has high temperatures with little annual variation, added to strong sunlight, exert a strong effect on evapotranspiration, causing shallow water reservoirs are depleted rapidly (FERREIRA et al., 2009) .

The semiarid region has high temperatures with little annual variation, added to strong sunlight, exert a strong effect on evapotranspiration, causing shallow water reservoirs are depleted rapidly.


In addition to finding the answer to (Q3), other work remains. We wonder if the result presented here applies to other spacetimes, such as Kerr-Newman, which also contain closed timelike curves but no closed timelike geodesics [26] . The more general question is this: (Q5) In any spacetime, if there exists a smooth non-geodesic closed timelike curve γ , does there also exist a kinked closed timelike curve γ such that T A(γ ) < T A(γ )? The following is an argument sketch in support of an affirmative answer.

We wonder if the result presented here applies to other spacetimes, such as Kerr-Newman, which also contain closed timelike curves but no closed timelike geodesics.


Fieldwork was carried out by a team of four professors and postgraduates studying for master's degrees and doctorates in Physical Education. These assessors were trained in all of the procedures in advance in order to standardize data collection. Each team member was made responsible for data collection related to one test in order to avoid interobserver variability, thereby increasing the reliability of data. Furthermore, a pilot study was conducted at a school that was not part of the definitive sample in order to test the used instruments and general logistics in the field. Anthropometric measurements were taken by anthropometrists who had been trained and certified by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). All of them had a Technical Error of Measurement within acceptable limits for anthropometric measurements [16] .

All of them had a Technical Error of Measurement within acceptable limits for anthropometric measurements.


The present study did not compare relative and absolute oxygen consumption, but restricted the analysis to the proportion of a sample of schoolchildren who met the minimum criteria for good health, using lower cut-off points for females than for males [16] . Prospective studies that take direct assessments of aerobic fitness into account are needed before further conclusions can be drawn. In addition, this study does suffer from certain limitations. The sample was drawn exclusively from state-funded secondary schools. Therefore other sectors of the educational system, such as municipal schools, private schools and technical schools were not assessed. The conclusions arrived here are thus only related to the population studied. Another limitation is the number of children who refused to take the physical tests, which is evidence of a lack of motivation to exercise on the part of the participants and may have affected the results.

The present study did not compare relative and absolute oxygen consumption, but restricted the analysis to the proportion of a sample of schoolchildren who met the minimum criteria for good health, using lower cut-off points for females than for males.