The studies of human motor fitness concentrate on subsequent stages of a person's ontogenetic development as well as of particular social groups worldwide (Caspersen, Powell, & Christenson, 1985; Dishman, Sallis, Orenstein, 1985; Labbe & Welsh, 1993; Howley & Franks, 1997; Przewęda & Dobosz, 2007; Skinner & Oja, 1994; Tomkinson, 2007; Tomkinson & Olds, 2007) . This work has focused on the research investigating the level of motor fitness of Polish students during their first year of study. While describing and explaining the relevant issues, the basic concepts used in the field of motor fitness have been adopted.

The studies of human motor fitness concentrate on subsequent stages of a person's ontogenetic development as well as of particular social groups worldwide.


Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural mucopolysaccharide that consists of alternating residues D-glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. HA plays a key role in the structure and organization of the extracellular matrix, transport of nutrients, a regulation of cell adhesion, morphogenesis, and modulation of inflammation [13] [14] [15] [16] . The immunoneutrality and nontoxicity of HA make it as an attractive building block for new biocompatible and biodegradable polymers [17] . HA has been applied in drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and viscous supplementation [18] . Its major advantages as a drug carrier consist of its ability to bind CD44, a specific membrane receptor frequently overexpressed on the tumor cell surface [19, 20] . That is, targeting of anticancer agents to tumor cells and tumor metastases can be accomplished by receptor-mediated uptake of complexes of these agents and HA. Nevertheless, the poor biomechanical properties of HA prevent generation of new biomaterials, a fact that has given rise to a variety of chemical modifications of HA for providing mechanically and chemically stable materials [21] . The resulting HA derivatives have better physicochemical properties than the native polymer, but retaining the biocompatibility and biodegradability of native HA. Previous studies have been performed on several different HA derivatives, for drug delivery, such as films, hydrogels, bioconjugates, and microspheres [22] [23] [24] [25] . But few studies about nano-scaled HA derivatives have been reported [26, 27] . Nanoparticles as drug carriers have been considered to provide opportunities for the site-specific delivery of drugs by the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, and they have the ability to dissolve hydrophobic agents and protect the bioactive drug from host [28] [29] [30] .

HA plays a key role in the structure and organization of the extracellular matrix, transport of nutrients, a regulation of cell adhesion, morphogenesis, and modulation of inflammation.

The immunoneutrality and nontoxicity of HA make it as an attractive building block for new biocompatible and biodegradable polymers.

HA has been applied in drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and viscous supplementation.

Its major advantages as a drug carrier consist of its ability to bind CD44, a specific membrane receptor frequently overexpressed on the tumor cell surface.

Nevertheless, the poor biomechanical properties of HA prevent generation of new biomaterials, a fact that has given rise to a variety of chemical modifications of HA for providing mechanically and chemically stable materials.

Previous studies have been performed on several different HA derivatives, for drug delivery, such as films, hydrogels, bioconjugates, and microspheres.

But few studies about nano-scaled HA derivatives have been reported.

Nanoparticles as drug carriers have been considered to provide opportunities for the site-specific delivery of drugs by the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, and they have the ability to dissolve hydrophobic agents and protect the bioactive drug from host.


Polymeric amphiphiles derived from hydrophobically modified soluble polymers have recently attracted much attention because of their potential application in drug delivery systems [1] [2] [3] . Such amphiphiles are able to spontaneously form micelles or nanoparticles via undergoing intra-and/or intermolecular association between hydrophobic moieties in aqueous environment. The hydrophobic parts form the core of the nanoparticles, which is a host system for various hydrophobic drugs, while the hydrophilic backbone forms corona or outer shells enwrapping the hydrophobic core. This shell prevents the inactivation of the encapsulated drug molecules by decreasing the contact with the inactivating species in the aqueous (blood) phase [4] [5] [6] . Furthermore, these polymeric nanoparticles exhibit unique characteristics, such as special rheological features, a rather narrow size distribution, considerable lower critical aggregation concentrations (CAC) than surfactant of low molecular weight, and thermodynamic stability [4, [7] [8] [9] . Recently, self-assembled nanoparticles based on natural polysaccharides have been of particular interest because of their good biocompatibility, biodegradability, reduced toxic side effects, and improved therapeutic effects [10] [11] [12] .

Polymeric amphiphiles derived from hydrophobically modified soluble polymers have recently attracted much attention because of their potential application in drug delivery systems.

This shell prevents the inactivation of the encapsulated drug molecules by decreasing the contact with the inactivating species in the aqueous (blood) phase.

Furthermore, these polymeric nanoparticles exhibit unique characteristics, such as special rheological features, a rather narrow size distribution, considerable lower critical aggregation concentrations (CAC) than surfactant of low molecular weight, and thermodynamic stability.

Recently, self-assembled nanoparticles based on natural polysaccharides have been of particular interest because of their good biocompatibility, biodegradability, reduced toxic side effects, and improved therapeutic effects.


Herein the hydrophobically modified HA nanoparticles with favorable physicochemical properties are promising as drug delivery system for the pharmaceutical applications. In this study, chemical conjugates of HA and DOCA were synthesized by covalent attachment of DOCA to HA through amide formation. Physicochemical characteristics of the amphiphilic HA-DOCA conjugates in aqueous phase were revealed by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence probe techniques. Deoxycholic acid is known to form micelles in water as a result of its amphiphilicity [31] . Thus, it is expected that HA, hydrophobically modified with deoxycholic acid, will induce self-assembled aggregates.

Deoxycholic acid is known to form micelles in water as a result of its amphiphilicity.


The increasing incentive to share data for the advancement of biomedical research and the corresponding increasing privacy concerns have led researchers to look for more complex solutions to overcome the bottleneck between data-sharing and privacy preserving means. Solutions such as differential privacy have been proposed [42, 43, 44] . Studies have shown that retrieving summary information from private statistical databases without revealing some amount of an individual's information is impossible [45] . Furthermore, an entire database can be inferred by using a small number of queries. Differential privacy ensures a high level of privacy such that an adversary retrieves a similar result with or without the addition of the individual's data to the database by adding perturbations or noise to the queries [45] . We further studied if the concept of differential privacy can be utilized to create leakage-free raw functional genomics data (see SI Methods). Although such a concept is useful for sharing summary statistics of functional genomics data from multiple individuals, it is conceptually hard to apply to the raw mapped read sharing from functional genomics experiments taken from a single individual. Although further research will be fruitful on how to extract useful information from genomics data that are noisy and perturbed, we envision there will be more applications of privacy concepts like differential privacy in genomics data sharing such as releasing population-based genotype-phenotype data.

Solutions such as differential privacy have been proposed.

Studies have shown that retrieving summary information from private statistical databases without revealing some amount of an individual's information is impossible.

Differential privacy ensures a high level of privacy such that an adversary retrieves a similar result with or without the addition of the individual's data to the database by adding perturbations or noise to the queries.


So far, no theoretical study of the blue line polarisation is available unlike for the red line (Bommier et al., 2011) . Therefore, the magnitude and direction of polarisation for the blue line due to the impact with a precipitating collimated electron beam is unknown while for the red line, it was shown that the polarisation is oriented parallel to the local magnetic field line. Furthermore, an additional complication/difference comes from the rotational structure of the vibronic transition at 427.8 nm, which is only visible at high spectral resolution, well beyond what can be achieved with Premier Cru. In principle, each rovibronic line could have a different polarisation and what will be observed is the integrated value over the band. This paper is therefore exploratory with the aim to present preliminary results of the polarization measured in the full integrated 427.8 nm N þ 2 band using Premier Cru during a campaign organized in March 2017 in northern Norway. Depending on the results, additional instruments with improved designs will be considered as well as the development of the theory of the blue line polarisation.

So far, no theoretical study of the blue line polarisation is available unlike for the red line.


In our study we observed that there was variability between the exponent 'b' and means of condition factors (K, K n ), for both archer and puffer fish ( Table 3) . These differences might have been caused by the methods of measurements, and /or seasonal fluctuations, or variability in sampling. Nevertheless, the numerical values of K are not so important, since K is closely correlated with 'b'. As a matter of fact, for applied ichthyological studies, only 'b' seems to be important as a key parameter in estimating population growth through length-weight relationship [2, 10] .

As a matter of fact, for applied ichthyological studies, only 'b' seems to be important as a key parameter in estimating population growth through length-weight relationship.


The relationship between the length (L) and weight (W) of a fish is usually expressed by the equation W = aL b . Values of the exponent 'b' provide information on fish growth. When b = 3, increase in weight is isometric. When the value of b is other than 3, weight increase is allometric (positive if b > 3, negative if b < 3). This parameters (a, b) are important in stock assessment studies [1, 5, 6] .

This parameters (a, b) are important in stock assessment studies.


Most of the existing electromechanical modeling efforts on vibration-based energy harvesting have been based on the assumption that the vibrational input is deterministic, as in the typical case of harmonic excitation of linear and nonlinear energy harvesters at or around resonance [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] . Closed-form expressions for the optimal conditions have been developed by several authors for deterministic forms of excitation [17] [18] [19] [20] . These efforts contribute to the design and performance evaluation of linear and nonlinear energy harvesters under harmonic excitation.

Most of the existing electromechanical modeling efforts on vibration-based energy harvesting have been based on the assumption that the vibrational input is deterministic, as in the typical case of harmonic excitation of linear and nonlinear energy harvesters at or around resonance.

Closed-form expressions for the optimal conditions have been developed by several authors for deterministic forms of excitation.


In the absence of gauge fields, space-time transformations of spinors coupled to GR can be understood by considering pairs (g, ψ) of a metric g, together with a compatible spinor field ψ. The transformation behaviour is then governed not by a spin structure Q → M , but rather by the principal GL + (n, R)-bundle Q → M associated to Q along the inclusion of the spin group in GL + (n, R). Since spinor fields acquire a minus sign upon a full rotation, the action of the space-time diffeomorphism group Diff(M ) does not lift from M to Q. It does, however, lift at the infinitesimal level, i.e. at the level of the Lie algebra Vec(M ) of vector fields. This implies that in the absence of gauge fields, the spinor fields carry an action of the universal cover of the connected component of unity of the space-time diffeomorphism group [8] .

This implies that in the absence of gauge fields, the spinor fields carry an action of the universal cover of the connected component of unity of the space-time diffeomorphism group.


Image processing and morphological operations were also used on three-dimensional cellular representations to simulate etches and deposits based on etch and deposition rates (Strasser and Selberherr 1995) . MEMShapes, another three-dimensional simulator, uses solid modeling techniques to build models of MEMS devices (Dixit et al 1997) . A process algebra was developed that captured all the geometric and material transformations occurring to the MEMS device as it is being fabricated.

Image processing and morphological operations were also used on three-dimensional cellular representations to simulate etches and deposits based on etch and deposition rates.

MEMShapes, another three-dimensional simulator, uses solid modeling techniques to build models of MEMS devices.


In surface micromachining, as is well known, MEMS devices are built up by the deposition and etching of layers of different materials. Each deposited layer can be shaped by etching selected regions of the layer via a photolithographic process. Photolithographic masks determine the regions to be etched. The material properties of each deposited layer can also be modified (wholly or partially through masks) by a process called doping. Any specific surface micromachining process (e.g., the MUMPs process or the Sandia SUMMiT process) comprises a fixed sequence of process steps made up of specific instances of the three generic sub-processes, namely deposits, etches and dopings (Madou 1997) . Thus the degree of complexity of a MEMS device manufactured by a specific surface micromachining process depends on (a) the number and variety of layers offered and (b) the different instances of deposits, etches and dopings supported by that process.

Any specific surface micromachining process (e.g., the MUMPs process or the Sandia SUMMiT process) comprises a fixed sequence of process steps made up of specific instances of the three generic sub-processes, namely deposits, etches and dopings.


Characterization of the prepared materials PET/SWCNTs nanocomposites were prepared in situ during polymerization of PET by the two-stage melt polycondensation method of DMT and ED in a 1 dm nanocomposites. During the first stage of transesterification, oligomers were prepared, while methanol was removed as by-product. In order to prepare high molecular mass polyesters, the polycondensation of these oligomers ensued at higher temperature, with the simultaneous application of high vacuum. The intrinsic viscosity of PET that was prepared was 0.553 dL g -1 . The presence of the SWCNTs in the polymerization mixture affected the reaction, leading to variations of the final intrinsic viscosities of the nanocomposites prepared. As shown in Table 1 , the intrinsic viscosity increased at the SWCNTs concentration of 0.1 mass%, and, then, gradually decreased at higher concentrations. The similar effect was also observed in nanocomposites containing SiO 2 , which can also act as multifunctional additives, it was found that in small amounts SiO 2 nanoparticles could act as chain extender, increasing the molecular mass of the polymer, while at higher contents, due to the extended degree of the aforementioned reaction, branched and crosslinked macromolecules are formed, leading to a reduce of molecular mass [39, 40] . This may explain the gradual decrease observed in molecular mass of the PET samples with concentrations of SWCNTs nanoparticles greater than 0.1 mass%. From TEM micrograph ( Fig. 1) , it was observed that the dispersion of the SWCNTs into the PET matrix was homogeneous, while at higher concentrations of SWCNTs some small aggregates were also formed. This was due to the extremely high specific area of SWCNTs and the strong particle-matrix interactions that take place.

The similar effect was also observed in nanocomposites containing SiO 2 , which can also act as multifunctional additives, it was found that in small amounts SiO 2 nanoparticles could act as chain extender, increasing the molecular mass of the polymer, while at higher contents, due to the extended degree of the aforementioned reaction, branched and crosslinked macromolecules are formed, leading to a reduce of molecular mass.


In order to achieve super-resolution the donut shaped focal spot from the depletion beam must exhibit good quality and have a sufficiently dark central region. Since the central dark region is due to the cancellation of the z-component of the electric field as mentioned above, one cannot judge the quality of the central dark region by observing the focal spot from the CCD camera because the image spot at the camera is not tightly focus and the z-component of the electric field is small anyway. Thus, a good dark central region observed on the camera does not guarantee a sufficiently dark central region of a tightly focused spot created by a high numerical aperture apochromatic objective. We found that a 100 nm aperture NSOM fiber tip can be used for imaging the focal spot, 45 but a 50 nm aperture NSOM fiber tip cannot because the light coupled into the tip is insufficient for producing an image. The straight NSOM fiber tip from Nanonics was inserted inside a standard fiber optic ferrule for protection. Standard fiber optic technologies can then be used for positioning the NSOM fiber and measuring the signal coupled into the fiber tip. Once the tip is protected by the fiber optic ferrule, this method offers better repeatability and is less time consuming to implement than the normal method which uses the light scattered off a nano-particle or a fluorescent bead for imaging the focal spot [14, 16] . Figure 5 (a) shows a 2 μm × 2 μm image of the focal spot by x-y scan of the NSOM fiber tip. The central dark region of the depletion beam spot is verified. Also shown on the right is the horizontal line plot of the intensity profile across the central dark region. A convolution calculation taking into account the 100 nm aperture of the NSOM fiber tip, gives essentially an intensity of zero at the center of the dark region. Note that an Airy ring is also visible. Figure 5(b) shows the image of the focal spot if the vortex phase plate is removed. The spot is quite uniform with a central intensity maximum as it should be. A line plot of the intensity is also given. The optical components listed in Table 1 give excellent beam quality for achieving the required characteristics of the depletion spot.

Once the tip is protected by the fiber optic ferrule, this method offers better repeatability and is less time consuming to implement than the normal method which uses the light scattered off a nano-particle or a fluorescent bead for imaging the focal spot.

Note that an Airy ring is also visible.


The basic principle of PALM and STORM relies on sequential registration of emitting molecules separated by more than the diffraction limit. Their central coordinates are calculated by a fitting algorithm with accuracy better than the diffraction limit. As this procedure repeats, molecules that were turned on in previous cycles will eventually be bleached lessening the likelihood of mistaken molecular positions as the frame accumulation progresses. When sufficient frames have been accumulated, a stack is formed to obtain a superresolution image of the sample. In STORM the photo-switchable probe molecules are switched off between frames using a laser with longer wavelengths [12] . In contrast, STED scans through the sample employing the same method used in confocal microscopy.

In STORM the photo-switchable probe molecules are switched off between frames using a laser with longer wavelengths.


The resolving power of an optical microscope is limited by diffraction effects to about half the wavelength of light. The confocal optical microscope widely used by biologists to examine three-dimensional cellular features has a lateral resolution limit of about 250 nm and an axial resolution limit of 500 nm if a high numerical aperture objective (1.4 NA) is used. In STED microscopy, suppression of florescence emission from dye molecules by stimulated emission effect for breaking the resolution limit was first invented by Stephen Hell in 1994 at the Max Planck Institute [1] . His idea involved the depletion of excited state dye molecules population by a depletion beam via the stimulated emission effect-the same principle responsible for lasing action in lasers. He named the microscope the "STED Microscope", which stands for Stimulated-Emission-Depletion Microscope [2, 3] . Since then STED microscopy has advanced to using birefringent elements to improve resolution and greatly simplify designs [4] . In 2008, Lecia introduced the first comercial STED microscope which had a lateral resolution of 90 nm and currently cost about $700 K. With a novel design, we built a versatile STED microscope that functions like a confocal microscope but is much cheaper.

In STED microscopy, suppression of florescence emission from dye molecules by stimulated emission effect for breaking the resolution limit was first invented by Stephen Hell in 1994 at the Max Planck Institute.

He named the microscope the "STED Microscope", which stands for Stimulated-Emission-Depletion Microscope.

Since then STED microscopy has advanced to using birefringent elements to improve resolution and greatly simplify designs.


In rodents, the lymphoid anatomy and lymphatic drainage have been characterized for many different organs. Surprisingly, the morphology of the main lymphoid organs has not been clearly described. This knowledge is of great importance for allowing an accurate identification and characterization of immune responses to pathogens and for establishing new therapies and models (BARBIER et al., 2012) .

This knowledge is of great importance for allowing an accurate identification and characterization of immune responses to pathogens and for establishing new therapies and models.


Animal models are often used for pre-clinical testing of drugs and vaccines. In order to choose the right species to use in a particular study, its immune system has to be closely related to that of humans. The similarities enable a better understanding of human diseases and they are useful for developing drugs used in human medicine (MERCHANT et al., 2011) .

The similarities enable a better understanding of human diseases and they are useful for developing drugs used in human medicine.


There are few academic literatures on the domestic violence issue in Cambodia Open Access Library Journal collected and published by the NGOs and government for policies [8] . These surveys and reports are fundamentally serving those who want to understand how domestic violence is viewed from women's perspectives, responses, and perceptions and also of those in a policy level. Although laws, policy and actions have been adopted against the domestic violence, the law enforcements are ineffective enough to crack down on the issue and many cases remain unheard. One part is an old Khmer say "Do not bring fire out of home" which keeps reminding women to keep silent and endure the suffering. Furthermore, police and victims are not sure to treat it as a legal problem or family problem. Meanwhile, some experts lay blames police ignorance and culture in the matter [13] . These resulted in many criminal cases were settled outside the court.

There are few academic literatures on the domestic violence issue in Cambodia Open Access Library Journal collected and published by the NGOs and government for policies.

Meanwhile, some experts lay blames police ignorance and culture in the matter.


This study has exploited sociological theories and explained the root causes of violence based on the online users' comments under the article about the domestic violence against the actress that posted on the Facebook page of three famous local Khmer newspapers. By examining only the gender of respondents and analyzing the text, I have debunked the socioeconomic backgrounds of the respondents, such as education, social class, religion, and ethnicity. I went straight forward to examine their opinions responding to the reports using the latent coding method or semantic analysis to analyze each comment [1] .

I went straight forward to examine their opinions responding to the reports using the latent coding method or semantic analysis to analyze each comment.


As much as I can argue, violence against women is classical. It is a product of social and cultural heritage which is prevalent regardless of class, culture, religion, or race. Some scholars believed that this "violence is central to the historical development of mankind" [2] . The contemporary global complex society has been more violent than the previous one with the on-going gender violence occurs to women in all forms.

Some scholars believed that this "violence is central to the historical development of mankind".


This phenomena reflect that domestic violence is one of the serious social problems occurred due to male supremacy ideology placing women in an inferior position. Many victims of domestic violence accepted the physical and emotional abuses by justifying it from social and cultural biases. For instance, study in Pakistan found that a majority of women remained silent because they think they are weak, and out of respect for husbands and the elderly in the family [38] . Another survey study in 25 low and middle income countries indicated wives believed that domestic violence against women was appropriate and necessary in some circumstances [39] . Such justification does not only allow domestic violence against women to occur, but also on children, which teach them to absurd violence as a mean to have the upper hand on any decision in life. Some scholars contended that lack of cultural competence as a main reason concerning the issue [40] [41] .

For instance, study in Pakistan found that a majority of women remained silent because they think they are weak, and out of respect for husbands and the elderly in the family.

Another survey study in 25 low and middle income countries indicated wives believed that domestic violence against women was appropriate and necessary in some circumstances.

Some scholars contended that lack of cultural competence as a main reason concerning the issue.


This study has revealed one positive group of comments from women (20%) regarding their suggestions for legal actions against the abuser and suggested the victim get separated from her abuser, which was higher than the demographic study in 4.7% [11] . These findings reflected a better understanding of women regarding justice provided by laws. Since Cambodia has sufficient laws to tackle domestic violence, family, especially women should seek legal helps from police or authority according to laws and policies made by government to prevent violence against women [43] . These findings could be a positive one which the concerned entities have expected from laws and campaigns and can be best explained by the exchange theory as it views that the lesser consequence of crime motivates high crime rate [20] . Therefore, I argue that when there are more women considered domestic violence a legal offense and seek legal assistance, this will alert men to reconsider twice before abusing their women.

This study has revealed one positive group of comments from women (20%) regarding their suggestions for legal actions against the abuser and suggested the victim get separated from her abuser, which was higher than the demographic study in 4.7%.

Since Cambodia has sufficient laws to tackle domestic violence, family, especially women should seek legal helps from police or authority according to laws and policies made by government to prevent violence against women.

These findings could be a positive one which the concerned entities have expected from laws and campaigns and can be best explained by the exchange theory as it views that the lesser consequence of crime motivates high crime rate.


The research also considered the variation in the magnitude of the relationship between psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Ward and colleagues previously have argued that the nature and substance of this relationship change according to the circumstances of acculturation. For example, research with Japanese students in New Zealand demonstrated that the strength of the correlation between psychological and sociocultural adjustment increases during the first year of residence (Ward et al., 1998) . In addition, the correlation is greater in culturally proximal groups than in culturally distal groups (e.g., Malaysian students in Singapore vs. Malaysian students in New Zealand) and is greater in sedentary groups than in relocating groups (e.g., New Zealand students resident at home vs. New Zealand students abroad). Taken as a whole, the data suggest that the magnitude of the correlation between psychological and sociocultural adjustment increases with proximity to or integration with the host culture. The data reported in this study are consistent with these trends. Differential patterns are observed across the four acculturation modes, with significant correlations found for the integrated and assimilated groups but not for the separated or marginalized groups.

For example, research with Japanese students in New Zealand demonstrated that the strength of the correlation between psychological and sociocultural adjustment increases during the first year of residence.


For that reason, it may be possible to consider a smartphone like a nonintrusive device to obtain activity Context from people [10] . Indeed, smartphones experience almost the same physical forces, temperature, and noise of the person who carries them out. If you track their actions, you are tracking people actions.

For that reason, it may be possible to consider a smartphone like a nonintrusive device to obtain activity Context from people.


Cable-net structure has been widely used in space deployable antenna for light weight, high precision, and small stowed size [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . The deployable antenna studied in this paper mainly consists of three parts: reflector surface cable-net system, rigid beam system, and center truss. The antenna is stowed in rocket before it is launched and deployed when the rocket is in its ideal orbit location. In antenna's deployment state, the cable-net system of antenna can form a long-span reflector with a specific shape, and for structural design of cable-net system in this state, the most important thing is to reduce the difference between cable-net reflector's actual shape and its ideal shape to improve antenna's surface precision. In previous optimization studies for antenna's cable-net system, many try to find a set of feasible prestresses that can make sure the antenna has the optimum surface precision and dynamic performance; others studied optimization methods that can improve antenna's surface precision by adjusting lengths of cable elements [7] . But all these optimization methods are proposed on the same assumption that the antenna has been in its deployment state. And deployment and adjustment properties of cable-net system are not taken into account in these methods.

Cable-net structure has been widely used in space deployable antenna for light weight, high precision, and small stowed size.

In previous optimization studies for antenna's cable-net system, many try to find a set of feasible prestresses that can make sure the antenna has the optimum surface precision and dynamic performance; others studied optimization methods that can improve antenna's surface precision by adjusting lengths of cable elements.


Current consumer demands are primarily directed to healthy foods with no synthetic preservatives that provide benefits to the physiological functions of the human organism (Manach et al., 2005; Ah-Hen et al., 2012) . An alternative to these demands is to include natural active agents such as antioxidants and antimicrobials that not only protect the manufacture of products but also exercise a beneficial effect on human health (Burris et al., 2012) . New natural compounds with antioxidant and/or antimicrobial capacity and how to protect them have promoted interest. Phenolic compounds are the most sought by both agro-industry and consumers for their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that neutralize the action of free radicals, avoid or retard lipid peroxidation processes, and cell damage (Delporte, 2007; Céspedes et al., 2010) . It has been estimated that 2% of the oxygen consumed by a normal organism contributes to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) of which various are free radicals. When ROS generation surpasses the organism's antioxidant defenses, independently of the mechanism (UV radiation, environmental pollution, strenuous physical activity, or other), biological structures suffer damage caused by chemical lesions in an oxidative stress process which is involved in developing degenerative pathologies and low plasmatic antioxidant concentrations (Seeram, 2008) .

Current consumer demands are primarily directed to healthy foods with no synthetic preservatives that provide benefits to the physiological functions of the human organism.

An alternative to these demands is to include natural active agents such as antioxidants and antimicrobials that not only protect the manufacture of products but also exercise a beneficial effect on human health.

Phenolic compounds are the most sought by both agro-industry and consumers for their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that neutralize the action of free radicals, avoid or retard lipid peroxidation processes, and cell damage.

When ROS generation surpasses the organism's antioxidant defenses, independently of the mechanism (UV radiation, environmental pollution, strenuous physical activity, or other), biological structures suffer damage caused by chemical lesions in an oxidative stress process which is involved in developing degenerative pathologies and low plasmatic antioxidant concentrations.


Another hypothesis is that LFPUS increases the degradation rate of CPC. The present study showed that the degradation rate of CPC with LFPUS treatment was at least 2 times that of CPC without LFPUS. It was reported that the weight loss of mass profile for the CPC was only 5% in vivo [23] . A plausible interpretation is that the microstreaming caused by ultrasound increases the solubility of CPC. In the present study, the vancomycin-loaded CPC tended to have a higher degradation rate than non-vancomycin CPC. A previous study reported that the degradation rate of strontium-loaded CPC was decreased compared with that of normal CPC [24] . The physicochemical property of CPC might be changed by loading different chemicals.

It was reported that the weight loss of mass profile for the CPC was only 5% in vivo.

A previous study reported that the degradation rate of strontium-loaded CPC was decreased compared with that of normal CPC.


Serological studies has been confirmed the existence of KFDV in other parts of India including parts of Kutch district, the Saurashtra region in Gujarat state, and in parts of West Bengal state, in forested regions west of Kolkata [8] . An outbreak reported in January, 2016 in Maharashtra has also confirmed 24 KFD cases in human [9] . Number of efforts has been put by the different researchers to make a successful vaccine against KFDV but till date no effective vaccine is available [10] [11] [12] [13] . It is evident from fact that even after the administration of vaccine in a population of particular area, the cases has not been stopped [14] .

Serological studies has been confirmed the existence of KFDV in other parts of India including parts of Kutch district, the Saurashtra region in Gujarat state, and in parts of West Bengal state, in forested regions west of Kolkata.

An outbreak reported in January, 2016 in Maharashtra has also confirmed 24 KFD cases in human.

Number of efforts has been put by the different researchers to make a successful vaccine against KFDV but till date no effective vaccine is available.

It is evident from fact that even after the administration of vaccine in a population of particular area, the cases has not been stopped.


In this study, participants on OMT were prescribed either buprenorphine or methadone. Whereas we found perfect agreement (100 % sensitivity and specificity) between self-report and UDS for methadone, only 83 % sensitivity with 100 % specificity was observed for buprenorphine. From the purview of social desirability biases, we anticipated high levels of agreement for OMT use given that all study participants were recruited from a specialized prenatal care clinic that administers OMT. Prior studies have shown that interviewing patients who are enrolled in treatment programs improves self-report validity, especially when the particular substance of abuse is believed by the patient to be mutually known or knowable, i.e., through required routine UDS [1, 38] . The lower levels of agreement for buprenorphine was somewhat anticipated. The rising rates of diversion of buprenorphine in the U.S. and other developed countries has been increasingly documented [37, 38] . Thus, we suspect that the lower validity may be related to non-prescription use by some participants. Among illicit drugs, sensitivity of self-report for opioids and marijuana was the highest (58.3 and 57.9 %, respectively), compared to lower sensitivity for amphetamines (37.5 %), benzodiazepines (40 %), and cocaine (47.4 %). However, confidence intervals did overlap. The lower sensitivity of self-report for amphetamines, benzodiazepines, and cocaine was expected, as the known potential harm to the fetus caused by prenatal exposure to these drugs may increase women's perceived risks for stigmatization. Studies in the general population find consistently greater validity for these drugs compared to cocaine and other 'hard drugs' [7, 10] . Thus, our findings among pregnant women are consistent with findings in the general population.

Prior studies have shown that interviewing patients who are enrolled in treatment programs improves self-report validity, especially when the particular substance of abuse is believed by the patient to be mutually known or knowable, i.e., through required routine UDS.

The rising rates of diversion of buprenorphine in the U.S. and other developed countries has been increasingly documented.

Studies in the general population find consistently greater validity for these drugs compared to cocaine and other 'hard drugs'.


In this paper we have not studied how the convergence of a minimisation procedure is affected by the two methods of reconditioning. Previous work has shown that, in the case of NWP applications, the ridge regression method results in fewer iterations for a minimisation procedure than the minimum eigenvalue method (Campbell et al., 2017; Weston, 2011) . In terms of practical applications, speed of convergence is of the utmost importance, so further work is required to investigate the effect of reconditioning on this.

Previous work has shown that, in the case of NWP applications, the ridge regression method results in fewer iterations for a minimisation procedure than the minimum eigenvalue method.


Life satisfaction of the prediction of healthy life attitudes that is related to multiple regression analysis is shown in Table 3 . Variance analysis results show that established regression model is generally meaningful. Relation to meaningfulness of regression coefficients when the "t" test is examined in its result life satisfaction is the meaningful prediction of spiritual growth and it is determined that health responsibility, stress management, interpersonal relation, physical activity and nutrition characteristics are explained by %25 percent of predictive variance (R=496, R2=246; p<01). Life quality about health expresses the mental and social field and healthy individuals' skills that carry on their functions (The WHOQOL Group, 1996) .

Life quality about health expresses the mental and social field and healthy individuals' skills that carry on their functions.


In developing countries, biodiversity offsets generally compensate for the impacts of development on biodiversity by slowing the rate of biodiversity loss at sites not being developed relative to what might be expected to occur in the absence of the activities of the biodiversity offset project. Where the threats targeted by a biodiversity offset project are linked to local livelihood activities, they therefore depend on changing local people's behaviour and thus have the potential to impact local people's wellbeing, especially where people rely heavily on natural resources for their daily subsistence. For example, negative impacts may be felt by households who would have expanded agricultural land into the area designated as an offset. In this way, biodiversity offsets have similar potential for negative social impacts as protected areas (Brockington and Igoe 2006) .

In this way, biodiversity offsets have similar potential for negative social impacts as protected areas.


In previous work, we described the Release Iteration Planning method [24] . This paper considerably expands that work by includ-ing results from three additional Release Iteration Planning events and from six post-project interviews, as well as describing and discussing the benefits and challenges the case organization experienced when applying the method. Additionally, members of the case organization have published an account of the release planning in the project from an insider point of view [25] . Compared with their account, this paper has a similar topic, but it is considerably broader in scope and contains considerably more detailed description and in-depth analysis of the method and the case projects.

In previous work, we described the Release Iteration Planning method.

Additionally, members of the case organization have published an account of the release planning in the project from an insider point of view.


The propensity of humans to develop community-acquired chronic infections with Staphylococcus aureus is well known and is most frequently manifested by chronic suppurative dermatitis or chronic infection in the upper respiratory tract. Therapy of such conditions with antibiotics used to be ineffective and linked to a persisting infection with S. aureus [1] [2] [3] [4] . The role of immune reactions in the pathogenesis of chronic S. aureus infections still remains unclear. In the immune reaction, a very significant role is played by the cytokine response of lymphocytes Th and of monocytes/macrophages [5] . In turn, the pathogenicity of S. aureus is determined by the production of several virulence factors, in the pathogen remaining under the control of the global regulatory system Agr (accessory gene regulator), encoded by the agr locus [6] [7] [8] [9] . Polymorphism of the agr locus allows to distinguish four major different classes of Agr system, referred to as Agr-I, Agr-II, Agr-III and Agr-IV. In parallel, their relationship is examined in relation to the type of human disease caused by S. aureus [10] [11] [12] . Considering the above, this study aimed to evaluate the circulating cytokine levels, mainly those produced by subpopulations of lymphocytes T helper (Th): interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and IL-17A, as well as of cytokines, mainly those produced by monocytes/ macrophages: tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-1β and IL-12, in patients with chronic staphylococcal infection in the context of diversification between Agr classes among the clinically isolated strains of S. aureus.

Therapy of such conditions with antibiotics used to be ineffective and linked to a persisting infection with S. aureus.

In the immune reaction, a very significant role is played by the cytokine response of lymphocytes Th and of monocytes/macrophages.

In turn, the pathogenicity of S. aureus is determined by the production of several virulence factors, in the pathogen remaining under the control of the global regulatory system Agr (accessory gene regulator), encoded by the agr locus.

In parallel, their relationship is examined in relation to the type of human disease caused by S. aureus.


Radio ranging using RSSI provides competitive advantages but further research is needed for improvement. For example, ranging result can be inaccurate and inconsistent especially in indoor environment [4] . In addition, multipath propagation happens frequently and seriously in an enclosed small room. Environmental changes such as temperature / humidity, human activities, and objects arrangement cause parameters deviation. All these problems are combined leading to the need of improvement in accurate radio ranging requirement.

For example, ranging result can be inaccurate and inconsistent especially in indoor environment.


Recent advances in light-emitting diode (LED) lighting have dramatically improved its luminous efficacy, making it a promising solution for street lighting applications. Generally, LED lamps offer better colour rendering, and instant light once switched on, compared to the 15-minute delay before sodiumbased lamps are fully lit. LED lamps therefore permit energy savings through fine-grained temporal control of illumination, and are more cost effective due to their extended lifespan [5] .

LED lamps therefore permit energy savings through fine-grained temporal control of illumination, and are more cost effective due to their extended lifespan.


For the aforementioned idea to work well, the local orientations assigned to our keypoints (sampled with spatial uniformity) should be extremely reliable. Unfortunately, finding such repeatable orientations of local patches immediately calls for local reference frames (LRF), which are by themselves a large source of ambiguity and error [41] . Therefore, we instead choose to learn to estimate relative transformations instead of aiming to find a canonical frame. We find the relative motion to be way more robust and easier-to-train for than an LRF. To this end, we introduce RelativeNet, a specialized architecture for relative pose estimation.

Unfortunately, finding such repeatable orientations of local patches immediately calls for local reference frames (LRF), which are by themselves a large source of ambiguity and error.


Wound infection in orthopaedic surgery carries high morbidity and mortality. Most of these infections are thought to originate from bacterial wound contamination at the time of operation, the incidence of which has been reported to be as high as 58% [7] . The majority of these bacteria are removed by local wound defence mechanisms. Prophylactic antibiotics may also have a role in this bacterial clearance [10] [11] [12] . The presence of bacteria in the wound during the early hours following surgery may be due to their incomplete elimination and may be viewed as a high risk factor for subsequent wound infection [15] . Drain tubes that are kept in close proximity to the bone or implants may be the ideal "swabs" for early detection of these organisms. There is considerable debate over the use of suction drains in orthopaedic surgery. Many surgeons consider wound haematoma to be an ideal medium for bacterial colonisation and post-operative infection. In their views, suction drainage is the best method to get rid of any blood that may accumulate in surgery involving the medullary bone [18] . However, recent studies question the role of drains in uncomplicated orthopaedic operations, and some surgeons consider them unnecessary [1, 6, 8] . In spite of this controversy, drains are still widely used in orthopaedic surgery. The aim of this study was to determine whether culturing the suction drain tip or drain fluid in orthopaedic surgery could predict an early wound infection.

Most of these infections are thought to originate from bacterial wound contamination at the time of operation, the incidence of which has been reported to be as high as 58%.

Prophylactic antibiotics may also have a role in this bacterial clearance.

The presence of bacteria in the wound during the early hours following surgery may be due to their incomplete elimination and may be viewed as a high risk factor for subsequent wound infection.

In their views, suction drainage is the best method to get rid of any blood that may accumulate in surgery involving the medullary bone.

However, recent studies question the role of drains in uncomplicated orthopaedic operations, and some surgeons consider them unnecessary.


The pair (X, || · ||) is called a quasi-normed space if || · || is a quasi-norm on X [19, 20] . The smallest possible M is called the modulus of concavity of || · ||. A quasiBanach space is a complete quasi-normed space.

The pair (X, || · ||) is called a quasi-normed space if || · || is a quasi-norm on X.


The logging cost of delimbed stemwood was 26% higher compared to the logging cost of whole trees (Fig 4 and 5) . The cost difference decreased when the stem volume increased (Fig  4) , which denotes that the delimbed stemwood harvesting for fuel is feasible with rather big trees (dbh = 7-13 cm). With broadleaved trees the delimbing increases the logging costs less compared to pine or spruce, because usually the proportion of crown biomass of the total tree volume is smaller (Heikkilä et al. 2005) .

With broadleaved trees the delimbing increases the logging costs less compared to pine or spruce, because usually the proportion of crown biomass of the total tree volume is smaller.


In energy wood cutting, with single grip harvesters, the trees are cut and accumulated to the chamber of the multi-tree handling harvester head. Subsequently the tree bunch is moved to an upright position alongside the strip road for the processing of the trees to forwarding length and piling. In whole tree harvesting the tree bunch is fed through the feed rollers and delimbing knives of the harvester head up to the crosscutting point of forwarding length (5-7 meters). After cross-cutting the un-delimbed top bunch is moved by the harvester crane movement onto the base bunch alongside the strip road. In the delimbed stemwood harvesting, both the base and top bunch of the trees is fed through the feed rollers and delimbing knives of the harvester head and piled at the side of the strip road (Fig. 1) . The top bunch is topped at the top diameter of 3-5 cm and the target length of the bolts is usually about 5 meters. After multi-tree delimbing only short bits of branches are left in the tree bunches (Heikkilä et al. 2005) .

After multi-tree delimbing only short bits of branches are left in the tree bunches.


During the last years an increasing interest in the development of ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) for breast cancer detection has been observed. The proposed methods emulate the X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) techniques, using an emitter and receiver in opposite sides to obtain attenuation and velocity maps using single element (Chenevert et al., 1984) Roy et al., 2013) . These are automated approaches that provide tomograms at different coronal planes or whole volume images.

The proposed methods emulate the X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) techniques, using an emitter and receiver in opposite sides to obtain attenuation and velocity maps using single element.


Current practices for breast cancer screening are based on mammography, which uses ionizing radiation, while ultrasound is considered a complementary technique in the further assessment of both palpable and impalpable breast abnormalities (Teh, Wilson, 1998) . However, it has been found that ultrasound provides improved breast cancer detection for mammographically dense breast tissue (Nothacker et al., 2009) . Furthermore, breast cancer is a lobar disease that is spatially localized, arising in most cases within a single ductal tree (Tot, 2011) . This precludes early stage detection from mammograms since they do not provide the required fine spatial resolution in the order of 0.1 to 0.3 mm, as diagnoses are performed in mammograms by the appreciation of some local increase of density over time. By contrast, some ultrasound techniques, such as Ductal Echography, have proved to overcome this problem by directly imaging the ductal-lobular structures using high-frequency scanners (Teboul, 1998; 2010) . Although Ductal Echography provides accurate diagnosis, this technique also has some drawbacks. First, the long time it takes to scan manually the breast to find the lobe distribution surrounding the nipple. Second, the lack of accurate positioning that makes it difficult to track the findings over time. To overcome these drawbacks, automated radial breast scanning has been proposed (Rouyer et al., 2010; Gooding et al., 2010) .

Current practices for breast cancer screening are based on mammography, which uses ionizing radiation, while ultrasound is considered a complementary technique in the further assessment of both palpable and impalpable breast abnormalities.

However, it has been found that ultrasound provides improved breast cancer detection for mammographically dense breast tissue.

Furthermore, breast cancer is a lobar disease that is spatially localized, arising in most cases within a single ductal tree.

By contrast, some ultrasound techniques, such as Ductal Echography, have proved to overcome this problem by directly imaging the ductal-lobular structures using high-frequency scanners.

To overcome these drawbacks, automated radial breast scanning has been proposed.


In this paper, we briefly touch on a number of results related to the celebrated Mittag-Leffler function. Partly, these results are presented in the recent monograph [1] . This topic still needs a more extended and careful description. It is important, since the role of the Mittag-Leffler function as the queen function of fractional calculus has not been overestimated up to now.

Partly, these results are presented in the recent monograph.


Another semantic framework designed with similar goals is Ghica's slot games [7] . There, however, the idea is playing slots in correspondence with any potential redex in a program, while here we focus on exponentials. On the other hand, the idea of using slots to capture intensional properties of proofs (or programs) in an interactive way is one of the key ingredients of this paper. In Section 5 the reader can find a more detailed comparison with Ghica's work. To keep the presentation simple, we preferred to adopt Ghica's way of introducing cost into games, rather than Leperchey's time monad.

Another semantic framework designed with similar goals is Ghica's slot games.


The measured cell concentrations are typically on the order of 10 4 -10 6 particles/ml unless the sample is preconcentrated. The sample needs to be carefully filtered to prevent obstructions of the flow. Other limitations are portability and relatively high cost and for these reasons alternative methods have been proposed (Sakamoto et al 2007) .

Other limitations are portability and relatively high cost and for these reasons alternative methods have been proposed.


The purpose of this work is to present an alternative to optical flow cytometry with a portable, high-sensitive, dual channel fluorescence detection setup. The device is based on the principles of scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), a technique that has been extensively applied for detecting the motion of single molecules and cells (Berland et al 1996) . The setup is similar to a small confocal microscope with the observation volume located inside a cylindrical cuvette containing the sample. Two motors generate fast rotation and slower vertical motion of the cuvette so that particles are detected as they cross the observation volume. In this sense the device looks like a simplified flow cytometer without flow. The device is able to measure the concentrations of fluorescent particles in water even at extremely low concentration (few particles/ml) and in very short sample scanning periods (about 1 min). Our method does not require sample filtration and does not result in loss or degradation of the sample during the analysis. Another advantage of our device is that it is highly portable and easily operated by technicians without extensive training. Samples could be held in sealed cuvettes and the measurement produces no contamination of the instrument or of the environment. Therefore the method could be applied to highly toxic biomaterials or samples that need to be preserved for further analysis.

The device is based on the principles of scanning fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), a technique that has been extensively applied for detecting the motion of single molecules and cells.


This case study is situated at a particular moment in the specific context of Sydney. Its wider resonance and significance needs to be explored. Addressing the dual challenges of environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness has become a globalised imperative, in both the developed and the developing worlds. London and New York, the top two cities in the global city hierarchy, have taken enormous measures to ensure the sustainability of those cities. Despite cultural and geographical differences, both cities have shown more convergence than divergence in sustainability initiatives [7] . The common areas for sustainability initiatives cover energy efficiency, transportation, air pollution, water resource, biodiversity and open space, recycling and waste, green infrastructure, and climate change, despite their different approaches to achieving the sustainability goals [7] . These common areas are shared by other global cities to various degrees, including Sydney. However, the comparison between London and New York reveals that the environmental sustainability approach has become a new avenue of competition, in which New York is determined to close the gap with London [7] . This adds a new layer of environmental competition to the existing economic competition between global cities. Marketising sustainability as Sydney's competitive edge has a resonance here. These practices in global cities substantiate the theoretical advancement of urban competitiveness, moving from an economic-centric conceptualisation to incorporate environmental sustainability [6, 10, 40] .

Despite cultural and geographical differences, both cities have shown more convergence than divergence in sustainability initiatives.

The common areas for sustainability initiatives cover energy efficiency, transportation, air pollution, water resource, biodiversity and open space, recycling and waste, green infrastructure, and climate change, despite their different approaches to achieving the sustainability goals.

However, the comparison between London and New York reveals that the environmental sustainability approach has become a new avenue of competition, in which New York is determined to close the gap with London.

These practices in global cities substantiate the theoretical advancement of urban competitiveness, moving from an economic-centric conceptualisation to incorporate environmental sustainability.


Urban design is a common tool to achieve sustainable urban redevelopment, enhanced connectivity, and liveable space in Sustainable Sydney 2030. Urban design excellence has been imposed by a strong neoliberal planning regime to ensure that central Sydney would continue to act as a national growth engine [28] . The pursuit of good design is further strengthened in Sustainable Sydney 2030. Measures include a "finer-grained" urbanism based around small shops and services, civic spaces oriented towards pedestrians, and the reinvigoration of intra-block laneways by small bars and cafés [36] . The objective is more than creating a global image and amenity space to attract investment and talent. The expanded objective includes improved sustainability, enhanced accessibility, and creation of green space across the City. Utilising urban design for not only globalist but also environmentalist aspirations differentiates Sustainable Sydney 2030 from the previous development strategies that used urban design for globalist goals only.

Urban design excellence has been imposed by a strong neoliberal planning regime to ensure that central Sydney would continue to act as a national growth engine.

Measures include a "finer-grained" urbanism based around small shops and services, civic spaces oriented towards pedestrians, and the reinvigoration of intra-block laneways by small bars and cafés.


Given the importance of characterizing a time-varying risk premia, affine term structure models have become a very popular framework to achieve this. The key idea behind this type of models is the relevance of the predictability of interest rates in a framework that rules out the possibilities of arbitrage. The most basic elements of affine term structure models will be explained later, but here we will mention their components. First of all, we assume a law of motion of factors, that could be observed or latent. Given these factors, the short-term interest rate is assumed affine (linear plus a constant) on those factors (Duffie & Kan (1996) ). We also assume that the pricing kernel (which is a strictly positive random variable that price any asset at any point in time) is log-normal, conditional on the short-term interest rate and the factors. These assumptions make that yields at maturities are all affine on the factors. Three branches of literature have worked with the basic model and modified its assumptions.

Given these factors, the short-term interest rate is assumed affine (linear plus a constant) on those factors).


In this ethnically diverse population of 6,780 individuals aged 45-84, the first principal component derived from elements of the MetS explains 33% of the variance of the metabolic measures. This continuous metabolic syndrome score (MetS-PC) is a significant predictor of 5.5-year incident clinical cardiovascular events in the total population, and in each of the four major race/ethnicity subgroups separately. Additionally, a binary definition of the MetS based on this continuous measure was a better predictor of clinical cardiovascular events compared to the NCEP definition. It should be acknowledged that MetS is not an absolute risk indicator, because it does not contain many of the factors that determine absolute risk, for example, age, sex, cigarette smoking, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels [6] . Risk predictors such as the Framingham risk score are much superior if risk prediction is the goal; however, the primary goal of this analysis was not risk prediction per se, but rather improving upon the current NCEP definition of MetS, using the same components that make the MetS and comparing the two definitions using incident CVD events as a criteria measure. The current binary definitions of the metabolic syndrome, including the NCEP definition, were developed by expert committees as a clinically useful means of identifying high-risk individuals [1, [3] [4] [5] [6] . However, dichotomization of the continuous variables leads to loss of information [7, 8] . A minor improvement in one component could result in an individual no longer being classified as having MetS, despite no meaningful change of actual cardiovascular risk [11] . Additionally, the NCEP MetS may not predict risk of CVD events in all ethnicities equally as the data for constructing the NCEP definition were derived from predominantly Caucasian populations [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] . The evaluation of the MetS as a continuous score derived from a multiethnic population is potentially a more informative and generalizable approach to defining the syndrome and determining its clinical correlates. Additionally, a continuous measure may also improve the ability to identify lifestyle, environmental, molecular, and genetic etiologic factors that are specific for the MetS, and in future, these etiological factors could be incorporated in the definition of the continuous measure providing a stronger CVD predictive value [7] .

It should be acknowledged that MetS is not an absolute risk indicator, because it does not contain many of the factors that determine absolute risk, for example, age, sex, cigarette smoking, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

The current binary definitions of the metabolic syndrome, including the NCEP definition, were developed by expert committees as a clinically useful means of identifying high-risk individuals.

However, dichotomization of the continuous variables leads to loss of information.

A minor improvement in one component could result in an individual no longer being classified as having MetS, despite no meaningful change of actual cardiovascular risk.

Additionally, the NCEP MetS may not predict risk of CVD events in all ethnicities equally as the data for constructing the NCEP definition were derived from predominantly Caucasian populations.

Additionally, a continuous measure may also improve the ability to identify lifestyle, environmental, molecular, and genetic etiologic factors that are specific for the MetS, and in future, these etiological factors could be incorporated in the definition of the continuous measure providing a stronger CVD predictive value.


Pressure from payers is usually linked with financial incentives (or disincentives) [24, 40] . In this study, we found that the PR interventions are more likely to have an impact on the use of oral administered antibiotics compared with those administered via IV injection or infusion. This is perhaps because there are no financial incentives directly linked to reduction in irrational use of antibiotics, and fewer prescriptions of oral antibiotics (with zero-profit attached) are less likely to have a negative consequence on organisational revenues than reduced prescriptions of injected antibiotics (where a service fee can be charged). Clearly, these are demonstrable examples of perverse incentives.

Pressure from payers is usually linked with financial incentives (or disincentives).


The number of available features that can be linked with a website are massive (Basnet et al., 2012; Thabtah and Abdelhamid, 2016) . This is since there are large numbers of features that may relate to the URL, domain, source code, etc. One primary challenge in minimising the phishing problem is to identify the smallest set of features before intelligently classifying the website as phishing or legitimate (Zuhir et al., 2015) . This problem may cause deterioration in the predictive accuracy especially when many irrelevant features are kept in the dataset. These irrelevant features increase the search space for the intelligent method during building the classi¯er and may also participate in several useless rules (Thabtah and Hammoud, 2013) . Furthermore, the search space for n features in the training dataset may reach 2 n À 1 di®erent non-empty subsets. This indeed may trigger the intelligent algorithm to fail during feature processing from the data (Hadi et al., 2007; Thabtah and Abdelhamid, 2016) .

The number of available features that can be linked with a website are massive.

One primary challenge in minimising the phishing problem is to identify the smallest set of features before intelligently classifying the website as phishing or legitimate.

These irrelevant features increase the search space for the intelligent method during building the classi¯er and may also participate in several useless rules.

This indeed may trigger the intelligent algorithm to fail during feature processing from the data.


The attractive mechanism of thermal leptogenesis has been thoroughly investigated in recent years. Most of the focus has been on the extended model of the Standard Model (SM) with 3 right-handed (RH) neutrinos [1] . This simple model which can explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe (BAU) and provide appropriate values for neutrino masses and mixing angles is based on the out-of-equilibrium decay of a RH neutrino, in a CP violating way, such that an asymmetry in the leptonic decay products is produced. The leptonic asymmetry is then converted into a baryonic asymmetry due to (B + L)-violating sphaleron interactions which are in equilibrium above the electroweak breaking scale.

Most of the focus has been on the extended model of the Standard Model (SM) with 3 right-handed (RH) neutrinos.


In this paper, we propose a (one-dimensional) model of the Boltzmann equation for hard-spheres performing partially inelastic collisions, where the coefficient of restitution h depends on the relative speed. The choice of a one-dimensional Boltzmann equation represents a compromise between the requirement to have a good approximation of dilute granular systems from the physical point of view, and reasonable difficulties of solutions both from the mathematical and numerical point of view [18] . In fact, on the contrary to elastic collisions, partially inelastic collisions have a nontrivial outcome as well in one dimension, and the one-dimensional idealization is a nontrivial adjunct to more realistic studies [16] .

The choice of a one-dimensional Boltzmann equation represents a compromise between the requirement to have a good approximation of dilute granular systems from the physical point of view, and reasonable difficulties of solutions both from the mathematical and numerical point of view.

In fact, on the contrary to elastic collisions, partially inelastic collisions have a nontrivial outcome as well in one dimension, and the one-dimensional idealization is a nontrivial adjunct to more realistic studies.


The study on gelatin extraction from fish skins had been carried out from several fishes, such as cucut, tuna, and snapper, and from fresh water fishes like patin and nile. In other countries, the gelatin had been extracted from sea fishes like cod, haddock, pollock, sin croaker, nile perch, snapper, hake, salmon, tuna, mackerel, shortfin scad, megrim, flounder, dover sole, and shark (Rahmawati, 2008) . Right now, there is no report on gelatin extraction from fivelined threadfine bream skins. Therefore, the objective of the study was to define an optimum temperature for gelatin extraction from fivelined threadfine bream skins.

In other countries, the gelatin had been extracted from sea fishes like cod, haddock, pollock, sin croaker, nile perch, snapper, hake, salmon, tuna, mackerel, shortfin scad, megrim, flounder, dover sole, and shark.


From a PDE point of view a further important project is the study of the stability of solutions. More precisely an open question is what happens to the stability of the ESs when they cross the critical parameter value to become structurally stable objects. For a variety of model equations, including two of the examples studied in this paper, the property of semi-stability of embedded solitons has been established by a mixture of numerical, asymptotic and rigorous arguments [28, 33, 34, 35] . Does this semi-stability necessarily transform into true exponential stability when the embedded soliton becomes a gap soliton? A general rigorous answer to this question is of course beyond the realm of the finite-dimensional dynamical systems theory used in this paper.

For a variety of model equations, including two of the examples studied in this paper, the property of semi-stability of embedded solitons has been established by a mixture of numerical, asymptotic and rigorous arguments.


R. planticola is a gram-negative, nonmotile bacilli primarily considered to be environmental bacteria. Raoultella was proposed as a genus in 2001, following the analysis of the genus Klebsiella [1] . A comparative analysis of the sequences of the 16S rRNA and rpoB genes were analysed, showing the taxonomic heterogeneity of Klebsiella which form three clusters; cluster II organisms were characterised by growth at 10 degrees Celsius and utilisation of L-sorbose as a carbon source, and the name Raoultella was created as a genus name for this species of cluster II organisms [2, 3] . Until this time, this organism was known that was being part of the Klebsiella genus which was first described in 1981 as Klebsiella planticola and later in 1983 as Klebsiella trevisanii.

Raoultella was proposed as a genus in 2001, following the analysis of the genus Klebsiella.

A comparative analysis of the sequences of the 16S rRNA and rpoB genes were analysed, showing the taxonomic heterogeneity of Klebsiella which form three clusters; cluster II organisms were characterised by growth at 10 degrees Celsius and utilisation of L-sorbose as a carbon source, and the name Raoultella was created as a genus name for this species of cluster II organisms.


If we only push our ideas and tell [other managers abroad] what to do, we will never understand whether we found a good solution. We need to listen . . . . Therefore, communication structures such as the European HR directors committee provided a quasi-democratic discussion and decision forum. It was less of an international centre of HRM excellence and more the persuasion that all countries could contribute to HRM innovations. The wish to learn from HRM practices developed in elsewhere has been attributed to German companies, especially with regard to an "Anglo-Saxon way" (Ferner and Quintanilla, 1998; Ferner et al., 2001) . This was also argued by the trade union and employer association representatives interviewed in Germany. The European HR directors' committee was part of the infrastructure which allowed forward, reverse and multi-directional diffusion, that increased the chance of overcoming the "stickiness" of established HRM approaches caused by different interest groups and the costs of change (Edwards and Ferner, 2004) . In giving its foreign units the ability to reject head office ideas, FMCG-Co effectively prioritised responsiveness and innovation over efficiency.

We need to listen . . . .

The wish to learn from HRM practices developed in elsewhere has been attributed to German companies, especially with regard to an "Anglo-Saxon way".

The European HR directors' committee was part of the infrastructure which allowed forward, reverse and multi-directional diffusion, that increased the chance of overcoming the "stickiness" of established HRM approaches caused by different interest groups and the costs of change.


The research on which this paper draws involved two case studies of German MNCs with significant operations in Great Britain and Spain. The study used a qualitative method because it allows issues to be investigated in context and deals with a variety of forms of evidence (Miles and Huberman, 1994) . A case study approach was adopted to allow causes, processes and consequences of behaviour to be investigated (Yin, 2003) . German MNCs operating in Spain and the UK were chosen for this study for the following reasons. First, the German business system has a number of distinct features, such as initial vocational training and co-determination, which shape the HRM practices of indigenous companies, but are not present in most host countries (Müller, 1999; Dickmann, 2003) . This makes it likely that they will be confronted with issues of diverging HRM policies and practices in their foreign subsidiaries, which is likely to influence the companies' choices about standardisation and knowledge networking. Second, German MNCs are amongst the biggest and most international companies in the world and size impacts positively on knowledge transfer (Bresman et al., 1999) . Third, the choice of countries was also influenced by practical considerations such as access and language skills of the principal researcher. Finally, the emergence of EU wide regulations may provide an incentive for MNCs operating in the EU to knowledge network and integrate their HRM approaches across Europe.

The study used a qualitative method because it allows issues to be investigated in context and deals with a variety of forms of evidence.

A case study approach was adopted to allow causes, processes and consequences of behaviour to be investigated.

First, the German business system has a number of distinct features, such as initial vocational training and co-determination, which shape the HRM practices of indigenous companies, but are not present in most host countries.

Second, German MNCs are amongst the biggest and most international companies in the world and size impacts positively on knowledge transfer.


In order to reduce the weight and achieve a high performance of the structural components, lightweight materials such as aluminum have been increasingly used in the automotive and aerospace industries [1] [2] [3] . However, joining Al-Li alloys by fusion welding is challenging due to the associated solidification defects such as hot cracking and porosity [4, 5] . Friction stir welding (FSW) is an innovative solid-state process which has several advantages over traditional fusion welding, such as uniform microstructure, sound mechanical properties, and small thermal deformation [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] .

In order to reduce the weight and achieve a high performance of the structural components, lightweight materials such as aluminum have been increasingly used in the automotive and aerospace industries.

However, joining Al-Li alloys by fusion welding is challenging due to the associated solidification defects such as hot cracking and porosity.

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an innovative solid-state process which has several advantages over traditional fusion welding, such as uniform microstructure, sound mechanical properties, and small thermal deformation.


As an inhibitor of VEGFR, PDGFR and FGFR angiogenic signalling pathways, nintedanib may have the potential to overcome acquired resistance seen with other antiangiogenic TKIs. A recent Phase III study of the FGFR inhibitor dovitinib did not show a significant benefit over sorafenib in patients with metastatic RCC who had failed one prior VEGF pathway-targeted agent and one prior mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor (Motzer et al, 2014) . However, the vast majority of patients (92%) entered the study having received mTOR inhibitor therapy after VEGF-targeted therapy, and FGF2 levels were not increased at baseline. It is conceivable that FGF2 levels may have risen during VEGF pathway-targeted therapy, reflecting FGFR-mediated resistance, only to fall again during mTOR inhibitor therapy. Thus, further study of FGFR inhibitors that includes rigorous biomarker analysis is required to determine the true role of FGFR inhibitors in overcoming resistance to VEGF-targeted therapy.

A recent Phase III study of the FGFR inhibitor dovitinib did not show a significant benefit over sorafenib in patients with metastatic RCC who had failed one prior VEGF pathway-targeted agent and one prior mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor.


VDR expression with variable intensity has been confirmed in virtually every human tissue [18] . A broad set of microarray studies performed to unravel the molecular pathways involved in the biological action of ligand activated vitamin D receptor VDR indicate that VDR regulates directly or indirectly a very large number of genes (0,5-8% of total genome) and appears to be involved in a variety of cellular functions including growth regulation, DNA repair, differentiation, apoptosis, membrane transport, metabolism, cell adhesion, and oxidative stress [18] . Besides the direct regulation of gene transcription VDR exerts its function through nongenomic actions. This activity includes a number of transitient changes in transmembrane transport of ions (such as calcium and chloride) or intracellular signaling pathways (such as changes in cAMP, protein kinase A, protein kinase C, phospholipase C, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, and MAPK activities). Nongenomic actions are transmitted by receptors localized in the cellular membrane [18] . Different transcript variants of VDR gene encode either 427 aminoacid long classic isoform VDRs or alternatively spliced 50 aminoacid extended isoform VDRl [17, 18] . Low levels of endogenous VDRl protein have been detected in osteoblasts, colon cancer, and kidney cell lines. VDRl protein has reduced transcriptional activity compared with classical VDRs [29] .

VDR expression with variable intensity has been confirmed in virtually every human tissue.

A broad set of microarray studies performed to unravel the molecular pathways involved in the biological action of ligand activated vitamin D receptor VDR indicate that VDR regulates directly or indirectly a very large number of genes (0,5-8% of total genome) and appears to be involved in a variety of cellular functions including growth regulation, DNA repair, differentiation, apoptosis, membrane transport, metabolism, cell adhesion, and oxidative stress.

Nongenomic actions are transmitted by receptors localized in the cellular membrane.

Different transcript variants of VDR gene encode either 427 aminoacid long classic isoform VDRs or alternatively spliced 50 aminoacid extended isoform VDRl.

VDRl protein has reduced transcriptional activity compared with classical VDRs.


Leukoplakia is a predominantly white lesion of the oral mucosa that cannot be characterized as any other definable lesion [5] . It is a clinical term and it is recommended that a histological report should always include a statement on the presence or absence of ED, along with assessment of its severity [6] . ED is more or less correlating with a clinical nonhomogeneous erythroleukoplakic subtype, which seems to be the most important indicator of malignant potential [7] .

Leukoplakia is a predominantly white lesion of the oral mucosa that cannot be characterized as any other definable lesion.

It is a clinical term and it is recommended that a histological report should always include a statement on the presence or absence of ED, along with assessment of its severity.

ED is more or less correlating with a clinical nonhomogeneous erythroleukoplakic subtype, which seems to be the most important indicator of malignant potential.


In what follows we start with a formulation of the problem (in Section 2) and discuss the various possible choices of α and the known corresponding limiting theories. In Sections 3 and 4, we present our main results, namely, the asymptotic behavior of the elastic energies when h → 0, for the case 0 < α < 1, and put forward the corresponding matching property and density results as the main technical tools. In Sections 5-6, we present the details of our proofs. Section 7 is dedicated to the study of not necessarily convex W 2,2 solutions of the Monge-Ampère equation, using some key observations byŠverák from his unpublished manuscript [35] . These results are a necessary ingredient of the density result in Section 6.

Section 7 is dedicated to the study of not necessarily convex W 2,2 solutions of the Monge-Ampère equation, using some key observations byŠverák from his unpublished manuscript.


The LH1 possesses the absorption band at approximately 875 nm, whereas the LH2 absorbs maximally at approximately 800 nm and 850 nm [5] . LH1 and LH2 are constructed in a remarkably similar fashion and the primary component is the α/β-subunit. It has been well characterized that the LH1 is made up of 16 α/β-subunits [6] . However, the LH2 is comprised of 8 or 9 α/β-subunits depending on bacterial species as revealed by electron microscopy or other techniques [7] . Both LH1 and LH2 non-covalently bind carotenoids (Crt) and Bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) which play crucial roles in light absorption, the assembly of the two pigment-proteins and the process of photosynthesis [8] .

The LH1 possesses the absorption band at approximately 875 nm, whereas the LH2 absorbs maximally at approximately 800 nm and 850 nm.

It has been well characterized that the LH1 is made up of 16 α/β-subunits.

However, the LH2 is comprised of 8 or 9 α/β-subunits depending on bacterial species as revealed by electron microscopy or other techniques.

Both LH1 and LH2 non-covalently bind carotenoids (Crt) and Bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) which play crucial roles in light absorption, the assembly of the two pigment-proteins and the process of photosynthesis.


It is worth of being figured out that interactions between photopigments and LH2 α/β-subunits predominantly determines the spectral properties, which could be the primary approaches to elucidate changes of spectrum of light harvesting complexes. On the other hand, major advances have been made to better understand the factors that determine membrane protein folding and assembly in recent years [33] . Hydrogen bond exerts effects on the electronic structures of LH1 and also is applicable for LH2 and LH3, it may change the disorder of the environment of the BChl [34] . Hydrogen bonding interactions have been proposed to be closely related to the stability of membrane protein and intermolecular hydrogen bonding probably be involved in the assembly of transmembrane helices in detergent and biological membranes [35] . As we described in Figure 6 , no significant differences has been observed in the FT-IR spectrum of LH2 and LH2 with β-subunit-GFP fusion protein complexes, suggesting the interactions between BChl and LH2 α/β-subunit could not be greatly influenced by the introduction of GFP protein. However, their interactions probably might be changed, as the spectral peaks are lowered in the spectrum of LH2 with β-subunit-GFP fusion protein complexes. However, experimental findings in our present study may help to better understand the interactions between photopigments and LH2 α/β-subunits and provide a novel aspect to elucidate bacterial photosynthesis.

On the other hand, major advances have been made to better understand the factors that determine membrane protein folding and assembly in recent years.

Hydrogen bond exerts effects on the electronic structures of LH1 and also is applicable for LH2 and LH3, it may change the disorder of the environment of the BChl.

Hydrogen bonding interactions have been proposed to be closely related to the stability of membrane protein and intermolecular hydrogen bonding probably be involved in the assembly of transmembrane helices in detergent and biological membranes.


The provision of cervical cancer screening among homeless women is complex, and optimal outcomes remain elusive [3, 4, 12, 13] . Barriers to homeless women's access to care include lack of knowledge of services, long waiting times, difficulty scheduling care, stigmatization, comorbid conditions, and poor health [13, 14] . Elimination of financial and other access barriers may not fully accomplish screening uptake [12] . Gaps in knowledge remain about screening decisions among this population.

The provision of cervical cancer screening among homeless women is complex, and optimal outcomes remain elusive.

Barriers to homeless women's access to care include lack of knowledge of services, long waiting times, difficulty scheduling care, stigmatization, comorbid conditions, and poor health.

Elimination of financial and other access barriers may not fully accomplish screening uptake.


Model predictive control (MPC), also known as moving horizon control (MHC), is an advanced control algorithm that solves on-line a dynamic optimization problem based on an explicit model of the process. Although a sequence of control inputs is computed at each sampling instant, only the first computed input is implemented in the process. Since model is only an approximation of the real process, it is important for MPC to be robust to model uncertainty and disturbance [1] [2] [3] [4] .

Since model is only an approximation of the real process, it is important for MPC to be robust to model uncertainty and disturbance.


The cyber-physical system (CPS) concept has been developed under the umbrella of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to integrate computational and physical capabilities and provide useful information for operators [1] . This integration relies on the fact that the data produced by a machine are useful for understanding and fine-tuning the theoretical models (e.g., finite element analysis). Additionally, it gives the designers or maintenance personnel information about failures. As a result, CPS are now integrated into machine tools as a performance monitoring tool.

The cyber-physical system (CPS) concept has been developed under the umbrella of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to integrate computational and physical capabilities and provide useful information for operators.


In this paper, a low-order controller based on improved BT method is proposed and the structural high-order modal information is considered, and the influence of transfer functions and orders of a low-order model on the control system's performance is analyzed. As a result, the performance of this system can be guaranteed and the order of the controlled structure can be reduced in maximum extent. The design problem of a time-delay compensation control gain based on GGC algorithm can be expressed as a group of nonlinear matrix inequalities. It can be further transformed into a group of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) through variable substitution method [31] . Finally, the design of the reducedorder controller with GCC algorithm for high-rise buildings is performed to compensate its long time-delay. A numerical example of ten-storey frame and an experiment of a single span four-storey steel frame will be presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

It can be further transformed into a group of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) through variable substitution method.


Active Mass Damper (AMD) can be used to control the dynamic response of highly flexible building horizontally under strong wind or earthquake [1] [2] [3] [4] . At present, several problems restrict the development of AMD control system, such as slow calculation speed and long time-delay [5, 6] . They mainly resulted from data acquisition, control force calculation, and actuator response.

Active Mass Damper (AMD) can be used to control the dynamic response of highly flexible building horizontally under strong wind or earthquake.

At present, several problems restrict the development of AMD control system, such as slow calculation speed and long time-delay.


The recent development in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology has made possible a much higher resolution to be achieved using a small antenna. SAR is a technique which uses signal processing to improve the resolution beyond the limitation of physical antenna aperture [1] . In SAR, forward motion of actual antenna is used to 'synthesize' a very long antenna. SAR allows the possibility of using longer wavelengths and still achieving good resolution with antenna structures of reasonable size.

SAR is a technique which uses signal processing to improve the resolution beyond the limitation of physical antenna aperture.


The use of SAR for remote sensing is particularly suited for tropical country such as Malaysia. By proper selection of operating frequency, the microwave signal can penetrate clouds, haze, rain precipitation with very little attenuation, thus allowing operation in unfavorable weather condition that preclude the use of visible-light/ infrared system [6] . Since SAR is an active sensor, which provides its own source of illumination, it can therefore operate day and night, illuminate the earth surface at variable look angle, and wide area coverage can be selected. In addition, the topography change can be derived from phase difference between measurement using radar interferometry. For national monitoring and management of earth resources, limited number and untimely supply of the required SAR images have been a major problem. Therefore the need for developing our own SAR technology and sensor system is apparent.

By proper selection of operating frequency, the microwave signal can penetrate clouds, haze, rain precipitation with very little attenuation, thus allowing operation in unfavorable weather condition that preclude the use of visible-light/ infrared system.


Dementia has become a priority global health issue in the context of an ageing population. It is estimated that there were around 47 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2016 and this number will increase to 131 million by 2050 [1] . The majority of people with dementia live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and are cared for by family members at home [2] . China shows a faster growing ageing population than most other nations in the world. The 2015 World Alzheimer Report revealed that around 9.5 million people with dementia lived in China, comprising 20% of the total number of people in the world with dementia [2] . This disease burden places great pressure on the Chinese healthcare system as well as a level of demand for health professionals to provide competent dementia care greater than exists in other nations [2, 3] . Community health professionals have a significant role to play in dementia care, however, studies on their capability to provide dementia care are limited and mainly come from high-income countries. This study addressed the gap in research by examining the knowledge, attitudes and dementia care approach of community health professionals from one LMIC.

It is estimated that there were around 47 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2016 and this number will increase to 131 million by 2050.

The majority of people with dementia live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and are cared for by family members at home.

The 2015 World Alzheimer Report revealed that around 9.5 million people with dementia lived in China, comprising 20% of the total number of people in the world with dementia.

This disease burden places great pressure on the Chinese healthcare system as well as a level of demand for health professionals to provide competent dementia care greater than exists in other nations.


Ecological restoration of recreation impact in highelevation-protected areas has received little attention. This is unfortunate because recreation can damage vegetation and soil on campgrounds and other nodes of concentrated use, compromising preservation goals of protected areas. Protected area managers attempt to close and restore damaged recreation sites, often with little success (Moritsch & Muir 1993) . Restoration of impacts can be unusually challenging, given the remoteness of sites, unfavorable growing conditions (e.g., short growing seasons, shallow soils), and high standards for success (restoration of natural conditions).

Protected area managers attempt to close and restore damaged recreation sites, often with little success.


A durable all-glass bifurcation microfluidic chip was fabricated using a glass molded microchannel plate. An AC mold with microchannel cavities was fabricated by the carbonization of a replicated furan precursor, which is a low-cost and large-area patterning process for achieving high surface quality. During the AC mold fabrication process, a large and inevitable shrinkage (~22%) occurred in carbonization process due to the thermal decomposition process, and~4% of shrinkage also occurred in PMDS and furan replication due to polymerization. To compensate the total shrinkage (~25%) during the fabrication of the AC mold, an enlarged photoresist master pattern was fabricated by photolithography on a silicon wafer. A PDMS mold was replicated from the silicon master and a furan precursor was replicated from the PDMS mold by the thermal curing process. The AC mold was obtained by the carbonization of the furan precursor. The shape difference between the AC mold and the silicon master was~25.2%, which is similar to the value used for the compensation process. Although an inherent large shrinkage occurs in the AC mold fabrication process, the dimensional error between the designed value and the measured value from the fabricated AC mold was 2.9%, which is acceptable in a microfluidic device. Furthermore, almost half of the dimensional error (1.6%) occurred during the photolithography process. It clearly shows that the large amount of shrinkage occurring in the AC mold fabrication process is predictable and can be compensated. Finally, a glass microchannel plate with high fidelity was replicated using the glass molding system, and a flat glass plate was bonded to the replicated glass microchannel plate using the thermal fusion bonding method. The long cycle time issues of glass molding and thermal fusion bonding in this research are mainly due to our stand alone type glass molding system, and it can be solved by using a progressive type glass molding system [38] . Thus, we fabricated an all-glass bifurcation microfluidic chip using the glass molded microchannel plate and measured the blood plasma separation efficiency of 74% in the fabricated chip at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. Although the applied flow rate and the achieved plasma separation efficiency were not higher than those reported using the conventional PDMS chip because of the limitation of our injection system, it shows that the feasibility of the proposed all-glass chip fabrication process for microfluidics application. The application of the developed device to the whole blood plasma separation with high pressure injection system and real-time monitoring of the contents in the separated plasma using Raman analysis is the subject of our ongoing research.

The long cycle time issues of glass molding and thermal fusion bonding in this research are mainly due to our stand alone type glass molding system, and it can be solved by using a progressive type glass molding system.