The effect of M. officinalis extract on lipid profiles: Hypertriglyceridemia is one of the most important factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases [5] . Among effective pharmacological agents in treating these diseases, we can refer to statins, clofibrates and niacin. However, in general these compounds are not effective in reducing cholesterol concentration and are often associated with adverse effects and drug toleration, [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] . Therefore, all efforts have been concentrated on prevention strategies like phytochemical diet.

The effect of M. officinalis extract on lipid profiles: Hypertriglyceridemia is one of the most important factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases.

However, in general these compounds are not effective in reducing cholesterol concentration and are often associated with adverse effects and drug toleration.


In addition to enabling benchmark evaluation, measurable metrics of spatial and temporal locality can have much to offer the greater understanding of application performance, particularly with respect to the deep memory hierarchies of today's machines [4, 3, 7, 25] . Such analysis can lend insight into the memory requirements of given applications as input parameters or processor counts scale, be used as part of a performance model to predict memory subsystem performance, or even expose load imbalance issues with respect to workload difficulty on parallel codes. Section 2 of this paper proposes quantifications of spatial and temporal locality scores whereby we start with classic definitions and arrive at concrete metrics that can be measured of real parallel applications.

In addition to enabling benchmark evaluation, measurable metrics of spatial and temporal locality can have much to offer the greater understanding of application performance, particularly with respect to the deep memory hierarchies of today's machines.


The standardization of G. biloba leaf extract, which is used in the production of medicines, is problematic due to the insufficiently revealed relation between accumulated compounds and a therapeutic response. The composition of the primary plant material becomes significant in the production of nonstandardized phytopharmaceutical products. Pharmaceutical companies prefer using cultivated plants instead of wild-harvested plants because they show smaller variation in their constituents. Furthermore, when medicinal plants are produced by cultivation, the main secondary metabolites can be monitored, permitting the definition of the best period for harvesting [13] . No additives regulating the compositional variation are used in the preparation of the target group of extracts-quantified extracts and final pharmaceutical products. Therefore, the selection of a suitable extraction solvent and procedure, as well as the preparation of appropriately constituted plant raw material, is important in order to ensure a reproducible quality of herbal medicinal products. Research in changing quantities of bioactive compounds of the plants that are grown in specific production areas is applied in order to reduce variation in the possible composition and the therapeutic response.

Furthermore, when medicinal plants are produced by cultivation, the main secondary metabolites can be monitored, permitting the definition of the best period for harvesting.


The celestial mechanical analogue of passive advection is the motion of a small satellite whose mass is negligible compared with those of the celestial bodies and does not influence thus the gravitational field of the latter. The simplest two-dimensional problem of this type is the celebrated restricted three-body problem whose nonintegrability was shown by Poincaré [20] . The celestial bodies in this model are two point sources of equal mass rotating around their common centre of mass on circular orbits with a constant angular velocity.

The simplest two-dimensional problem of this type is the celebrated restricted three-body problem whose nonintegrability was shown by Poincaré.


Phenotypic selection for whiter wool, lower Y-Z T units, will generate correlated improvements in each of the visual traits. The phenotypic correlations between Y-Z and both GFW and CFW were antagonistic but they were favourable for both FD and FDSD. The same general trends were observed for the corresponding genetic correlations and all are consistent with published reports (James et al. 1990b; Hebart and Brien 2009; Smith and Purvis 2009) . Within-flock selection to improve PSTAB is unlikely to have a significant effect on any of the visual and measured wool traits, as none of the phenotypic correlations was significantly different from zero. However, if genetic relationships between animals are taken into account, genetic selection to improve PSTAB (i.e. for a smaller change in colour after UV exposure) will have a favourable effect on each of recorded visual wool traits, particularly DUST. The responses among the measured traits varied; generally, they tended to be favourable, although there was evidence of an antagonistic relationship between PSTAB and FD, FDSD and FDCV. However, the standard errors associated with these correlations were high. Breeders who are currently selecting for SS are indirectly improving the PSTAB of their wool because of the high favourable correlation (-0.68 ) between the two traits.

The same general trends were observed for the corresponding genetic correlations and all are consistent with published reports.


Raccoon populations in Indiana have responded positively to changes in land-use practices that involve conversion of native vegetation to agriculture. Raccoons are more abundant in northern portions of the state where native vegetation is isolated as small woodlots among a matrix of cultivated fields, whereas fewer raccoons are found in the large homogeneous forests of southern Indiana. Raccoons are habitat generalists (Lotze and Anderson 1979) . Thus, one explanation for such a result is that the current patterns of relative abundance could be due to differences in the historical heterogeneity of habitat across the state. However, our analysis indicates that the current distribution and abundance of Indiana raccoon populations is not related to the historical heterogeneity of plant communities throughout the state. Rather, increasing numbers appear to be directly related to changes in land use. Our results demonstrate increased raccoon abundance as a result of the interrelated changes of decreased forest area, increased isolation of forest patches, and increased agriculture. Altered raccoon abundance and distribution as a function of physical changes in the environment may have important implications in the transmission dynamics of B. procyonis.

Raccoons are habitat generalists.


Most attempts to review the research on the management of technological innovations have been restricted to Western contexts (Ahuja et al., 2008; Keupp et al., 2012) . Our research is among the earliest attempts to systematically and comprehensively review innovation management research in two of the largest and fastest-growing emerging economies in the world -China and India. This review makes several contributions.

Most attempts to review the research on the management of technological innovations have been restricted to Western contexts.


It has been reported that the deficiency or dysfunction of ADAMTS-13, the vWF-cp, may result in the survival of uncleaved or partially cleaved unusually large vWF multimers (UL-vWF) and may be the major cause of idiopathic TTP. Our results indicated that the serum ADAMTS-13 activity in patients with both lupus nephritis and TTP-HUS significantly decreased compared with healthy individuals. More importantly, all of the activity increased significantly after clinical remission, and the activity was significantly lower in patients with both lupus nephritis and TTP-HUS than in those with lupus nephritis only. In the literature, it was suggested that pathogenic autoantibodies to ADAMTS-13 might be the major cause of severe deficiency of idiopathic TTP [1, 6] . We demonstrated that the prevalence of ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies was significantly higher in patients with lupus nephritis and TTP-HUS than in patients with lupus nephritis only. Interestingly, five out of the six patients with positive ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies in the TTP-HUS group turned negative after clinical remission. It was speculated that the ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies might neutralize its enzyme activity and thus could lead to the survival of uncleaved vWF, which might subsequently lead to prothrombotic status [1, 6] . Our results highlighted the importance of ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of TTP-HUS in lupus nephritis.

In the literature, it was suggested that pathogenic autoantibodies to ADAMTS-13 might be the major cause of severe deficiency of idiopathic TTP.

It was speculated that the ADAMTS-13 autoantibodies might neutralize its enzyme activity and thus could lead to the survival of uncleaved vWF, which might subsequently lead to prothrombotic status.


Various classes of chemical compounds are identified in hop extracts including terpenes, bitter acids, chalcones, flavonol glycosides (kaempferol, quercetin, rutin) and catechins (catechin gallate, epicatechin gallate) (Zanoli and Zavatti 2008; Sägesser and Deinzer 1996) . The most important compounds of hop essential oils obtained from cones are monoterpenes (myrcene) and the sesquiterpenes including α-humulene and β-caryophyllene (Zanoli and Zavatti 2008; Malizia et al. 1999; Eri et al. 2000) . Bitter acids (5-20 % of hop strobile weight), which are phloroglucinol derivatives, are non-volatile compounds and usually are classified as α-acids and β-acids. Both groups contain a 3-,4-,5-, or 6-carbon oxoalkyl side chain: β-acids are structurally different from α-acids for one more prenyl group. The bitter acids are present in hops as a complex mixture of variable composition and concentrations. The main α-acids are humulone (35-70 % of total α-acids), cohumulone (20-65 %) and adhumulone (10-15 %); the corresponding β-acids are lupulone (30-55 % of total β-acids), colupulone and adlupulone (Zanoli and Zavatti 2008; Kornyšova et al. 2009) .

Various classes of chemical compounds are identified in hop extracts including terpenes, bitter acids, chalcones, flavonol glycosides (kaempferol, quercetin, rutin) and catechins (catechin gallate, epicatechin gallate).

The most important compounds of hop essential oils obtained from cones are monoterpenes (myrcene) and the sesquiterpenes including α-humulene and β-caryophyllene.

The main α-acids are humulone (35-70 % of total α-acids), cohumulone (20-65 %) and adhumulone (10-15 %); the corresponding β-acids are lupulone (30-55 % of total β-acids), colupulone and adlupulone.


It is well known, that environmental and biological data are usually characterized by high variability, because of a variety of natural and anthropogenic influences. The best approach to avoid misinterpretation of environmental and biological objects is the application of chemometric methods for classification and modeling (Kowalkowski, et al. 2006) . The multidimensional data analysis methods are very popular in such studies dealing with measurements and monitoring (Bro et al. 2002; Munck et al. 1998) .

The best approach to avoid misinterpretation of environmental and biological objects is the application of chemometric methods for classification and modeling.

The multidimensional data analysis methods are very popular in such studies dealing with measurements and monitoring.


The results of GC-MS analyses confirm that the hop essential oil as well as extracts from hop cones are a complex mixture of various numbers of constituents. Number of constituents depends on the used extraction method. The most satisfactory results were obtained using the SFE and steam distillation of essential oils. It should be noted, that CO 2 supercritical fluid as an extraction solvent was used at relatively low density 0.3 g/ml (pressure 91 bar, temperature 50°C), which is most suitable for extraction of volatile compounds (Dzingelevičius et al. 2011) . Additionally, to increase recovery of the essential oils, the trap temperature was programmed at 5°C. Both sample preparation methods SPME and ASE allowed to extract only a few compounds from hop cones. That reason, the use of these methods was insufficient and limited to six for SPME and ten compounds to ASE method, respectively. During multiple SFE method, the highest amount of essential oil is obtained in first step of extraction process (over 50 %). On the other hand, steam distillation is useful method for the preparation of hop essential oil. The recovery of volatile compounds from hop cones is highest by using of steam distillation. Results obtained using SFE, steam distillation and ASE methods for the separation of β-myrcene and β-caryophyllene are presented in Fig. 1 .

It should be noted, that CO 2 supercritical fluid as an extraction solvent was used at relatively low density 0.3 g/ml (pressure 91 bar, temperature 50°C), which is most suitable for extraction of volatile compounds.


If some of the L-module structures of a Hopf algebroid is finitely generated projective then the corresponding dual can be equipped with a bialgebroid structure [8] . There is no obvious way, however, how to equip it with an antipode in general. We show that in the case of Hopf algebroids possessing a non-degenerate integral the dual bialgebroids are all (anti-) isomorphic and they combine into a Hopf algebroid-depending on the choice of the nondegenerate integral. Therefore, we do not associate a dual Hopf algebroid to a given Hopf algebroid rather a dual isomorphism class to an isomorphism class of Hopf algebroids. The well-known k-dual of a finite (weak) Hopf algebra H over the commutative ring k turns out to be the unique (distinguished) (weak) Hopf algebra in the dual isomorphism class of the isomorphism class of the Hopf algebroid H .

If some of the L-module structures of a Hopf algebroid is finitely generated projective then the corresponding dual can be equipped with a bialgebroid structure.


We also observe similar changes in the consumption of beverages in other countries. The US per capita consumption of soft drinks has, for example, increased by 111 percent between 1970 and 1995 while the fluid milk consumption declined by 22 percent (Putnam and Allshouse 1997) . The US trend is also toward lower fat milk. The consumption of whole milk was cut by two-thirds between 1970 and 1997 while the use of lower fat milk nearly tripled (Putnam and Allshouse 1998) .

The US per capita consumption of soft drinks has, for example, increased by 111 percent between 1970 and 1995 while the fluid milk consumption declined by 22 percent.

The consumption of whole milk was cut by two-thirds between 1970 and 1997 while the use of lower fat milk nearly tripled.


Nowadays, as more and more vehicles are equipped with wireless devices, positioning systems, and digital maps, largescale vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are emerging as a new technology in the near future. In VANETs, vehicles are allowed to not only exchange messages with each other as vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V), but also exchange messages with roadside infrastructures as vehicleto-infrastructure communication (V2I) [1] . The applications range from driving safety, intelligent transportation as well as information and entertainment applications.

In VANETs, vehicles are allowed to not only exchange messages with each other as vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V), but also exchange messages with roadside infrastructures as vehicleto-infrastructure communication (V2I).


Chemical control and biological control are the two important strategies used in an IPM program (Zhao 2000) . Integration of chemical and biological control systems is a key to the success of any IPM program (Wright and Verkert 1995) . Chemical control should be used only when it is necessary and when it can be least disruptive to biological control (Jepson 1989) . On the other hand, integrated pest management systems attempt to use natural enemies and may also use pesticides, for pest control (Dent 1995; Banks and Stark 1998) . Integrating the application of biocontrol agents and pesticides for pest management requires knowledge about the impact and selectivity of the pesticides, on natural enemies (Croft 1990) .

Chemical control and biological control are the two important strategies used in an IPM program.

Integration of chemical and biological control systems is a key to the success of any IPM program.

Chemical control should be used only when it is necessary and when it can be least disruptive to biological control.

On the other hand, integrated pest management systems attempt to use natural enemies and may also use pesticides, for pest control.

Integrating the application of biocontrol agents and pesticides for pest management requires knowledge about the impact and selectivity of the pesticides, on natural enemies.


Studies in animals indicate that PPAR-α agonists increase hepatic fat oxidation and reduce hepatic fat content in association with enhanced insulin-mediated suppression of EGP [3, 7, 43, 48] . Although hepatic fat oxidation was not measured in the present study, we did not observe a significant reduction in hepatic fat content or an increase in hepatic insulin sensitivity (in contrast to PIO therapy) following FENO therapy. The lack of effect of FENO on hepatic fat content in the present study serves to emphasise further the differences between the actions of PPAR-α agonist in humans vs rodents.

Studies in animals indicate that PPAR-α agonists increase hepatic fat oxidation and reduce hepatic fat content in association with enhanced insulin-mediated suppression of EGP.


In industry, there is a widespread use of motors supplies from several types of solid-state adjustable voltage-frequency controllers (VSDs) [2] . Among these, the pulse width modulation (PWM) motor drives are the most common used because of several advantages compared to various other VSDs [3] . High reliability, robustness, low cost, an efficient and fast induction motors control in many automated industrial applications and the possibility of saving up to 60% of energy, are the main reasons for the extensive use of PWM motor drives [4] - [6] . However, the principle of operation of PWM motor drives and its electronic composition, produce distortion on voltage and current waves with abundant high-frequency harmonics [7] .

In industry, there is a widespread use of motors supplies from several types of solid-state adjustable voltage-frequency controllers (VSDs).

Among these, the pulse width modulation (PWM) motor drives are the most common used because of several advantages compared to various other VSDs.

High reliability, robustness, low cost, an efficient and fast induction motors control in many automated industrial applications and the possibility of saving up to 60% of energy, are the main reasons for the extensive use of PWM motor drives.

However, the principle of operation of PWM motor drives and its electronic composition, produce distortion on voltage and current waves with abundant high-frequency harmonics.


Thus the cost function contains the misfit between the data (a priori and observations) and their control and model counter-5 parts. Minimizing the cost function aims at reaching a compromise in which these errors are as small as possible. The errors can be decomposed into amplitude and position errors. Position errors mean that the structural elements are present in the data, but misplaced. Some methods have been proposed in order to deal with position errors (Hoffman and Grassotti, 1996; Ravela et al., 2007) . These involve a preprocessing step which consists in displacing the different data so they fit better with each other.

Some methods have been proposed in order to deal with position errors.


Then, variational data assimilation methods based on optimal control theory. More recently hybrids of both approaches have 1 been developed (Hamill and Snyder, 2000; Buehner, 2005; Bocquet and Sakov, 2014) . In this paper we focus on variational data assimilation. It consists in minimizing a cost function written as the distance between the observations and their model counterparts. A Tikhonov regularization term is also added to the cost function as a distance between the control vector and a background state carrying a priori information.

More recently hybrids of both approaches have 1 been developed.


Modern premixed gas turbine combustors are usually operated near the lean blowout limit due to emission requirements [1] . Lean premixed combustion decreases the adiabatic flame temperature thus reducing the production rate of nitric oxides which is highly temperature dependent [2] . In this operating range flame holding and thermo-acoustic instability become the two most important considerations.

Modern premixed gas turbine combustors are usually operated near the lean blowout limit due to emission requirements.

Lean premixed combustion decreases the adiabatic flame temperature thus reducing the production rate of nitric oxides which is highly temperature dependent.


Thermo-acoustic oscillations occur because unsteady heat release couples positively with sound waves producing large velocity and pressure perturbations [4] . If the unsteady heat input is in phase with pressure perturbations acoustic waves gain energy and instability takes place. Strength of these oscillations are limited by non-linear effects such as fuel consumption rates, and limit cycle oscillations occur. However, these oscillations can be sufficiently strong that they can cause gas turbines to shut down or cause hardware damage. If the pressure oscillations are strong enough they can cause the flame to enter into the premixing section triggering flashback. This phenomenon is called as thermo-acoustic instability induced flame flashback.

Thermo-acoustic oscillations occur because unsteady heat release couples positively with sound waves producing large velocity and pressure perturbations.


Total serum bilirubin in ruminants is slight elevated in hepatocellular jaundice (Braun et al., 1995) . Total bilrubin has been shown to possess sufficient discriminatory power to differentiate reliably between mild and severe fatty liver in dairy cows (Kalaitzakis et al., 2007) . Our data revealed a non-significant increase in total serum bilirubin in both infected groups in comparison with the clinically healthy one.

Total serum bilirubin in ruminants is slight elevated in hepatocellular jaundice.

Total bilrubin has been shown to possess sufficient discriminatory power to differentiate reliably between mild and severe fatty liver in dairy cows.


University is a type of organization which is aimed to produce students being "knowledge intensive products" to the society. Although KM over the past few decades has evolved as the most prominent field of research in management science, KM in education sector has more or less remained a little-explore domain (Vashisth et al., 2010) . There are two main categories of employee in universities: (i) academic staffs or lecturers whose main job is teaching, and (ii) supporting staffs who perform non-academic functions in such areas as administration, organization and personnel, planning and finance, etc. These two personnel categories are different in some aspects such as work type, work process, work output and therefore, are expected to experience different KM practices.

Although KM over the past few decades has evolved as the most prominent field of research in management science, KM in education sector has more or less remained a little-explore domain.


Engineering structures are generally designed to behave linearly and, consequently, linear models for strain-displacement relations, stress-strain laws, and energy dissipation mechanisms could be considered adequate for the purpose of structural analysis, design, and optimization. Concomitant with the development of methods for mathematical modeling and solution of resulting equations of these problems, extensive efforts have been made in the exiting literature to develop methods for identification of structural model parameters, and to reconcile predictions of mathematical and experimental models [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . Within the framework of linear system modeling, issues related to characterizing damping mechanisms at the structure level, joint flexibility, boundary conditions, and material constitutive laws, are intimately connected with experimental investigations. Also, several algorithmic issues related to non-uniqueness of solutions, spatio-temporal incompleteness of response measurement, presence of measurement noise, modeling uncertainties, and difficulties arising out applicable to only linear systems with Gaussian additive noise and is not directly applicable to problems of nonlinear system identification. In the present study, we extend the scope of adaptive filtering to nonlinear problems by replacing the Kalman filter by a particle filter. By doing so, we systematically extend the scope of adaptive filtering methods to problems of nonlinear structural system identification with, possibly, nonGaussian additive/multiplicative noises. The study first develops the necessary mathematical formulations for this purpose and subsequently illustrates the method proposed by considering three examples involving singleand multi-degree-of-freedom (sdof and mdof) nonlinear systems. As might be expected, if the system on hand is linear and measurement and process noises are Gaussian and additive in nature, the present formulation leads to results similar to those predicted by the adaptive Kalman filter method.

Concomitant with the development of methods for mathematical modeling and solution of resulting equations of these problems, extensive efforts have been made in the exiting literature to develop methods for identification of structural model parameters, and to reconcile predictions of mathematical and experimental models.


Before, the FOV for a HWD was principally discussed based on the single wavelength image source like a laser applied as the light source. So the FOV is directly related to the diffractive angular bandwidth (DAB) of the VHG. And the multiplexing VHGs configuration with different grating periods were proposed to widen the DAB [5] , [6] .

And the multiplexing VHGs configuration with different grating periods were proposed to widen the DAB.


From the point of view of gauge-gravity duality, Einstein Maxwell Dilaton theories have proven to be interesting bottom-up setups either in the modeling of Condensed Matter systems or of QCD-like gauge theories, [97] . In this context, Gauss-Bonnet corrections allow to depart from strong coupling, and getting an analytic handle on these is of great importance. In holographic studies of Condensed Matter Systems, a recurring question is whether the AdS 2 × R 2 near-extremal geometry of the Reissner-Nordström black hole is the true ground state of the theory or not. The fact that it has finite entropy at extremality argues against this. This issue can be resolved in the generic Einstein Maxwell Dilaton setup, [40, 42, 43] . Then, the low energy fixed point displays hyperscaling violation, [36, 37] . Both reductions of section 1 and 4 preserve the scaling symmetries of the Einstein fixed point: the first one remains AdS 2 × R 2 , while the second displays hyperscaling violation (θ = 1, z = 3) as well as logarithmic violation of the area law for the entanglement entropy -signalling the presence of a hidden Fermi surface in the dual system, [38, 37] . As in the Einstein case, it is expected that a much broader range of low energy scalings is possible once other higher-dimensional cases are considered. More generically, one needs to decide on the set of higher-derivative operators to include for the scalar and the gauge field, as these will drive the dynamics to different fixed points, as examplified above. It would be very interesting to study to what extent the generic hyperscaling symmetries of the low energy fixed points of the Einstein Maxwell Dilaton setup survive the inclusion of higher-derivative operators.

From the point of view of gauge-gravity duality, Einstein Maxwell Dilaton theories have proven to be interesting bottom-up setups either in the modeling of Condensed Matter systems or of QCD-like gauge theories.

This issue can be resolved in the generic Einstein Maxwell Dilaton setup.

Then, the low energy fixed point displays hyperscaling violation.

Both reductions of section 1 and 4 preserve the scaling symmetries of the Einstein fixed point: the first one remains AdS 2 × R 2 , while the second displays hyperscaling violation (θ = 1, z = 3) as well as logarithmic violation of the area law for the entanglement entropy -signalling the presence of a hidden Fermi surface in the dual system.


We have then presented a class of exact (scalar-vector-tensor) lower-dimensional solutions, stemming from known higher-dimensional charged Einstein Gauss-Bonnet black holes. The higher-dimensional solutions can have the usual maximally symmetric sections [47, 48, 50, 67] . This is in particular helpful in order to obtain planar horizon scalar-tensor black holes. Indeed we find that for a planar horizon, the higher-derivative solution is quite similar to the Einstein Dilaton case. The horizon positions are independent of the GaussBonnet coupling and hence so is the temperature, both in the higher and lower-dimensional theory.

The higher-dimensional solutions can have the usual maximally symmetric sections.


Here we present a theoretical study of the evolution of the surface Dirac cone for Bi 2 Se 3 in the presence of asymmetric potassium (K) adsorption, using first-principles and tight-binding calculations. We have chosen K adsorption as a model system for general atomic and molecular adsorption, since a large charge transfer can be expected with K. In this way, small and large charge transfers to Bi 2 Se 3 can be studied by varying the concentration or the distance to the surface of the K adatoms, accordingly. Furthermore, K adsorption on Bi 2 Se 3 was experimentally realized [19, 22] . We simulate K atoms adsorbed on the top surface of thin Bi 2 Se 3 films of one QLs using density-functional theory (DFT) including SOC, and study up to 20 QLs using a tight-binding model with an effective band-bending potential.

Furthermore, K adsorption on Bi 2 Se 3 was experimentally realized.


Subclonal reconstruction algorithms attempt to infer the population structure of heterogeneous tumors based on the measured allelic frequency of their somatic mutations. Some methods perform this reconstruction based solely on point mutations (also known as 'simple somatic mutations' or SSMs) [15] [16] [17] [18] 20, 22] . Others use changes in read coverage to identify regions with an average ploidy that differs from normal. They then attempt to explain these changes by copy number variations (CNVs) affecting some of the tumor cells [14, 19, 23, 24] .

Some methods perform this reconstruction based solely on point mutations (also known as 'simple somatic mutations' or SSMs).

They then attempt to explain these changes by copy number variations (CNVs) affecting some of the tumor cells.


Buildings have become a centerpiece for energy and environmental policies due to their large impacts on energy demand and related emissions. Indeed, residential and commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of final energy consumption in industrialized countries. Unlike other sectors, the stock or inertia effect of buildings is of particular concern given that many units were built under old (or without) codes and thus often without significant attention to energy efficiency or environmental issues. Buildings are long-term durable goods; hence, their contributions to future energy consumption and emissions are likely to be large unless specific actions and policies are introduced (Gago et al., 2013) .

Buildings are long-term durable goods; hence, their contributions to future energy consumption and emissions are likely to be large unless specific actions and policies are introduced.


Computer training system was developed, called i2istudy, in the form of a game to implement all three necessary components of spoken communication for training foreign language skills. This game consists of the computer-aided casual conversation with native speakers. For example, English-speaking users can learn Spanish from Spanishspeaking users, and visa versa. The i2istudy allows native speakers to teach others without knowing how to teach and without knowing foreign languages. In other words, i2istudy allows all native speakers, not necessarily professional teachers, to teach their native language in a collegial network game setting [17, 18] .

In other words, i2istudy allows all native speakers, not necessarily professional teachers, to teach their native language in a collegial network game setting.


Modeling of water quality parameters also has many benefits, the most important of which are explained here. The value of data modeling can be demonstrated at the overall savings that it makes in terms of maintenance or development costs. When this issue is considered in broad terms across an organization's total budget, the amount of saving can be truly significant. The value of data modeling can be also seen at a more detailed level in terms of savings it provides through development tasks related to a specific project. Additionally, its value can be determined by identifying specific benefits that data modeling provides and then quantifying those benefits in all projects. Finally, data models can be reused in whole or in part for multiple projects, which can result in significant savings for any organization (Haughey 2010) . Models also can be used to regenerate the missing data (Diamantopoulou et al. 2005) .

Finally, data models can be reused in whole or in part for multiple projects, which can result in significant savings for any organization.

Models also can be used to regenerate the missing data.


So far, the Korean government has responded to such requests through various measures distorting market-based resource allocations between the SMA and the ROK (Lee, 2007) . One of the measures is growth control over the SMA. The SMA is at present subject to the strict land use regulations that discourage a further attraction of population-inducing facilities within the region, such as manufacturing plants and universities (Kim et al., 2004) . A decision to relocate central government departments and agencies to a new administrative capital, away from Seoul in 2005 (150 km from Seoul), is another example of the public responses to the growing regional disparity.

So far, the Korean government has responded to such requests through various measures distorting market-based resource allocations between the SMA and the ROK.

The SMA is at present subject to the strict land use regulations that discourage a further attraction of population-inducing facilities within the region, such as manufacturing plants and universities.


The other approach views a city's size as an outcome of interactions among various economic actors and variables. This approach is more relevant to our research purpose, as it looks at the size of a given city as a certain optimization outcome rather than as a random process determined by the preexisting urban hierarchy. A key assumption underlying this approach is that there exists a certain ideal size for a city to attain high economic efficiency (Fujita et al., 1999) . Early studies taking this approach aimed to find the optimal city size with little consideration of various socio-economic conditions that each particular city may confront (Leven, 1968) . However, more recent works are based on the notion that there can exist multiple optimal sizes for cities (Arnott, 1979) . The rationale for multiple optima is that the extent of external economies that each city can enjoy is likely to vary depending on its economic basealthough many cities may share a similar form of disutility function with regard to their scalebecause (i) each city is specialized in a small but distinct set of industrial sectors; and (ii) the extent of external economies of scale substantially differs across sectors (Henderson, 1974) . The second approach, however, has involved controversies regarding the very definition of optimality.

A key assumption underlying this approach is that there exists a certain ideal size for a city to attain high economic efficiency.

Early studies taking this approach aimed to find the optimal city size with little consideration of various socio-economic conditions that each particular city may confront.

However, more recent works are based on the notion that there can exist multiple optimal sizes for cities.

The rationale for multiple optima is that the extent of external economies that each city can enjoy is likely to vary depending on its economic basealthough many cities may share a similar form of disutility function with regard to their scalebecause (i) each city is specialized in a small but distinct set of industrial sectors; and (ii) the extent of external economies of scale substantially differs across sectors.


In critical driving situations, a tractor-trailer may confront different forms of yaw instability such as jackknife, trailer swing, and trailer oscillation depending on the load, configuration characteristic parameters, steer input, and other external disturbances. The schematic of these instabilities are being shown in Figure 1 [3, 6, 7] . Under situations of braking on slippery road for a tractor-trailer, jackknife often happens at the side slip of the rear wheels of the tractor and trailer swing generally appears at the side slip of the wheels of the trailer while trailer oscillation is primarily related to the characteristic of rearward amplification [8] . Rearward amplification as a typical characteristic for a tractor-trailer vehicle is much related to the vehicle configuration characteristics and load conditions and thereby can cause the trailer to react intensely with a relatively small external disturbance in lateral direction added to the tractor or the trailer. In fact, it is difficult to clearly distinguish jackknife and trailer swing since they have similar destabilizing mechanism that is divergence from the perspective of stability theory of the dynamical system. However, trailer oscillation which is very different is generally referred to as oscillatory instability [7] . Particularly, these phenomena of LOC can be differentiated and interpreted based on nonlinear dynamics theories such as stability of equilibrium, state flow, and bifurcation [8] . In recent years, the lateral dynamics of the multibody vehicles are still a hot research area in academia [9, 10] .

The schematic of these instabilities are being shown in Figure 1.

Under situations of braking on slippery road for a tractor-trailer, jackknife often happens at the side slip of the rear wheels of the tractor and trailer swing generally appears at the side slip of the wheels of the trailer while trailer oscillation is primarily related to the characteristic of rearward amplification.

However, trailer oscillation which is very different is generally referred to as oscillatory instability.

Particularly, these phenomena of LOC can be differentiated and interpreted based on nonlinear dynamics theories such as stability of equilibrium, state flow, and bifurcation.

In recent years, the lateral dynamics of the multibody vehicles are still a hot research area in academia.


Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to find the decomposition temperature of undoped and PA doped PBI nanofibers. As seen in Figure 6a , decomposition temperature of optimized undoped PBI nanofibers were at around 700°C whereas first mass change interpreted from DTG (%/min) took place at around 80°C due to the decomposed LiCl stabilizer [36] . To remove the inevitable entrapped DMAc solvent molecules and LiCl stabilizer, prior proton conductivity measurements, each membrane were dried in vacuum oven at 150°C for 2 hr and conditioned. The effect of doping time on decomposition temperature was studied at time intervals of 24hr, 48hr, 72hr and 96hr (see increased decomposition temperature to 860°C. However, when the doping time was altered to 96hr, two more distinctive peaks (at around 650°C and 800°C) were observed as displayed in Figure 6e . Broader peak at around 650-700°C pointed out the undoped PBI structures which can be seen due to the accumulation of PA molecules. This uneven distribution of PA molecules caused decreased in proton conductivity, was also noted in the morphological changes.

As seen in Figure 6a , decomposition temperature of optimized undoped PBI nanofibers were at around 700°C whereas first mass change interpreted from DTG (%/min) took place at around 80°C due to the decomposed LiCl stabilizer.


Scrotal ultrasound was performed in more than 50% of IgA vasculitis of the present study. We suggest to evaluate this exam in all male patients with IgA vasculitis to accurately diagnose scrotal involvement, excluding testicular torsion. Our IgA vasculitis patients were pre-pubertal subjects without testicular complications. In spite of that, additional evaluation of gonadal hormones, sperm and anti-sperm antibodies analysis will be necessary to assess fertility [7] .

In spite of that, additional evaluation of gonadal hormones, sperm and anti-sperm antibodies analysis will be necessary to assess fertility.


Sheep is a small ruminant, utilized in rural development and in most civilizations with multiple purposes (Karadas et al., 2017) . In sheep breeding programs, it is fundamental to affirm the relationship between target traits and the connected traits due to the fact that the target traits are correlated genetically with the related traits. For example, body weight, as a target characteristic, is predicted through morphological (body length, withers height, punch girth, hearth girth, and chest depth etc.) and testicular (testicular length, scrotal circumference, and scrotal length) characteristics, in which weighing bridges are unavailable (Birteeb and Ozoje, 2012) . Many researchers are willing to predict live body weight from its connected body characteristics in breed characterization of sheep breeds and in the recognition of the ideal drug dose, feed amount, and price of the sheep (Khan et al., 2014; Eyduran et al., 2016) . The prediction plays a fundamental role in flock management and, hence, to obtain more profit in a flock (Birteeb and Ozoje, 2012) .

Sheep is a small ruminant, utilized in rural development and in most civilizations with multiple purposes.

For example, body weight, as a target characteristic, is predicted through morphological (body length, withers height, punch girth, hearth girth, and chest depth etc.) and testicular (testicular length, scrotal circumference, and scrotal length) characteristics, in which weighing bridges are unavailable.

Many researchers are willing to predict live body weight from its connected body characteristics in breed characterization of sheep breeds and in the recognition of the ideal drug dose, feed amount, and price of the sheep.

The prediction plays a fundamental role in flock management and, hence, to obtain more profit in a flock.


High nutrient retention capacity occurs in the section of the river whose riparian wetlands have been greatly modified by stream-bank and stream-bed cultivation and cattle grazing. What if riparian wetlands could be restored and monitored? This will dramatically improve the nutrient retention capacity of the system as demonstrated by numerous studies from other similar systems (Magadza and Masendu, 1986; Barbier et al., 1997; Machena, 1997; Marshall, 1997) . The proper construction, design, monitoring and maintenance of the effectiveness of the riparian wetlands along the Chinyika River and other rivers in Zimbabwe, therefore, holds great potential as cheap and environmentally friendly technology for enhancing riverine nutrient retention and hence control of eutrophication.

This will dramatically improve the nutrient retention capacity of the system as demonstrated by numerous studies from other similar systems.


A small wetland (about 1.5 ha) between Stations 3 and 4, that could not be cultivated because it is very wet, appeared to retain a lot of nutrients annually. Like other wetlands, however, its retention capacity is finite and as Hatcliffe Township continues to grow, a point will be reached where the wetland can no longer cope with nutrients in sewage effluent and this is likely to have an impact on downstream water users. The situation is likely to be further complicated in future by the predicted high frequency with unpredictable occurrence and distribution of extreme weather events such as severe rain storms, droughts, and severe winter spells that are likely to affect the water quality of rivers (IUCN, 2003) .

The situation is likely to be further complicated in future by the predicted high frequency with unpredictable occurrence and distribution of extreme weather events such as severe rain storms, droughts, and severe winter spells that are likely to affect the water quality of rivers.


Approximately 4.5% of the adult US population (8 million adults) suffers from CKD [1] . Among the CKD patients, the highest mortality rate is in those who have ESRD on dialysis with an estimate of 224.5 deaths/1000 patient-years [2] . The single largest cause of death amongst ESRD patients on hemodialysis is sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmic mechanism, as 54.6% die of a cardiac arrest and 8.8% die of a cardiac arrhythmia [3] . Furthermore, the rate of cardiac arrest increases progressively in relation to the duration of dialysis therapy [3] . Despite this extremely high arrhythmic mortality rate, currently there is no effective intervention to prevent cardiac arrest in these patients. ICD implantation may decrease risk of sudden cardiac death in this cohort of patients.

Approximately 4.5% of the adult US population (8 million adults) suffers from CKD.

Among the CKD patients, the highest mortality rate is in those who have ESRD on dialysis with an estimate of 224.5 deaths/1000 patient-years.

The single largest cause of death amongst ESRD patients on hemodialysis is sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmic mechanism, as 54.6% die of a cardiac arrest and 8.8% die of a cardiac arrhythmia.

Furthermore, the rate of cardiac arrest increases progressively in relation to the duration of dialysis therapy.


Though numerous work has been reported on scaling law, few literatures have involved the dominance degree of scaling criteria quantitively, which is important in physical modeling of reservoir. Generally speaking, there are a great many dimensionless variables representing the similarity of multi-phase flow in porous media with physical and chemical processes involved. Moreover, it is often very hard or sometimes even impossible to keep all of them in the laboratory experiment identical to the field test. For example, the precise scaling of both transverse dispersion and geometry may impractically require a huge model and an extremely long time interval in tests [21] . At the same time, modeling the ratios of the capillary and the driving forces to the gravitational force can induce a considerably high permeability, which can scarcely be realized in laboratory [4] .

For example, the precise scaling of both transverse dispersion and geometry may impractically require a huge model and an extremely long time interval in tests.

At the same time, modeling the ratios of the capillary and the driving forces to the gravitational force can induce a considerably high permeability, which can scarcely be realized in laboratory.


In this work, we propose and numerically demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, an on-chip QWP based on pure dielectric waveguides, in which the concept of birefringence is used to realize the conversion between a quasi-linearly polarized mode and a quasi-circularly polarized mode. Importantly, unlike the situation in free space, where the spin and orbital angular momentums are widely believed to be independent, the spin of light does indeed affect its orbital motion and vice versa in nanophotonic waveguides [27] - [29] . For that reason, the quasi-circularly polarized mode in nanophotonic silicon waveguides is not purely transverse, but instead, accompanied with a longitudinal vortex component. The underlying principle of this phenomenon is spin-orbit interaction, which can occur when the light field is strongly confined in the transverse direction [26] , [28] , [29] . The quasi-circularly polarized mode in nanophotonic waveguides is an optical analogue of a strongly focused circularly polarized beam in free space, where a considerable longitudinal optical vortex component is found in the vicinity of the focused spot [30] . Remarkably, the proposed device is ultra-compact (2.3 μm) with low insertion losses (around 0.05 dB) and ultra-broadband operation (280 nm) around the telecom wavelength of 1.55 μm. Also, we propose a half-wave plate (HWP) structure which can be used to switch the handedness of a quasi-circularly polarized mode and rotate the polarization of a quasi-linearly polarized mode. These results are expected to open new perspectives for polarization handling in nanophotonic silicon waveguides, and they may find important applications in many optical systems with limited physical space, such as integrated quantum information processing and nano-optical manipulation. Fig. 1(a) shows the schematic of the proposed QWP that converts a quasi-linearly polarized mode (ϕ = π/4) into a right-handed quasi-circularly polarized one, where ϕ is the angle down from the positive x-axis. For practical implementation, a fiber-optic polarization controller is required for the control of input mode polarization and the optical energy can be coupled into the input port by using a tapered fiber lens tip [31] , [32] . The proposed device consists of three sections: an input and output port where the height and width of the silicon core are equal (h = w = 0.34 μm) and a birefringence section where w ࣔ h = 0.34 μm. The whole structure is surrounded by silica (SiO 2 ).

Importantly, unlike the situation in free space, where the spin and orbital angular momentums are widely believed to be independent, the spin of light does indeed affect its orbital motion and vice versa in nanophotonic waveguides.

The underlying principle of this phenomenon is spin-orbit interaction, which can occur when the light field is strongly confined in the transverse direction.

The quasi-circularly polarized mode in nanophotonic waveguides is an optical analogue of a strongly focused circularly polarized beam in free space, where a considerable longitudinal optical vortex component is found in the vicinity of the focused spot.

For practical implementation, a fiber-optic polarization controller is required for the control of input mode polarization and the optical energy can be coupled into the input port by using a tapered fiber lens tip.


Soil nutrient data from soil testing and research laboratories is a valuable tool available to producers and research scientists. Currently, soil test procedures require at least two soil extractants to analyze for ammonium (NH 4 ), nitrate (NO 2 )/nitrite (NO 3 ), and phosphorus (P). Generally, 1 -2 M KCl or water is used for NH 4 /NO 2 /NO 3 , and Bray, Mehlich 3, and Olsen for P, although others can be used depending on soil type, soil pH, and climatic conditions. The use of a single extractant would increase laboratory productivity and decrease analysis cost. Few of the soil extractants currently available are capable of multinutrient extraction without sacrificing accuracy for one nutrient or another (Holford 1980) . Soils are highly variable and complex; therefore, developing a multinutrient extractant that does an acceptable job of accurately identifying plant-available nutrients is difficult and time consuming. However, the need for such an extractant does exist.

Few of the soil extractants currently available are capable of multinutrient extraction without sacrificing accuracy for one nutrient or another.


Dendroclimatic data used for indication of different processes have long become the main source of information on geographical phenomena covering a long period of time [16] . Determination of the relationship between physical-geographical characteristics, and climatic characteristics in particular, and dendrochronological data is complicated by the integral manifestation in the ecosystem of: 1) multilevel factors of ambient environment; 2) different-quality laws, and 3) the individual properties of objects-indicators. To obtain an accurate idea of regional climate changes, it is necessary to take into account all these effects and abstract from them using algorithms based on sophisticated mathematical models (polymodels) of bundle of diverse conditions. As a result, such work must involve comparing the data series for differently located objects in order to obtain dendroclimatic indices in a refined form. Are these differences serious enough to distort the climatic signal? There arises a problem of checking similarity of dendroclimatic series of individual objects by the criterion of their homology and homotopy.

Dendroclimatic data used for indication of different processes have long become the main source of information on geographical phenomena covering a long period of time.


Our study was carried out in a rural area where the majority of people work as farmers. This is in contrast to many RDS studies which are carried out in towns or cities. In these settings, travel times using available transport and travel costs may be more important than distances. For instance, one urban RDS study recruited few men from a certain area of a city. They suggested that this was due to the fact that the neighbourhood was geographically isolated by highway systems and poor public transport access [8] . In addition to this, individuals in urban areas may have multiple sites they visit regularly in addition to their homes (eg work places), and the locations of all these sites may influence recruitment. Overall patterns of recruitment may therefore be more complex in urban settings. They are nevertheless likely to include many of the same basic patterns (eg recruiters recruiting contacts who are geographically more accessible to them in some way), and so the conclusions of this study may be generalisable to RDS studies of urban populations. Social geography may also need to be considered in addition to physical geography in many populations however, for instance if certain groups in the target population have little social contact with other, geographically close, groups. Urban populations may also be more geographically heterogeneous than our rural population, meaning that patterns of recruitment by location and distance may have a greater potential to result in bias.

They suggested that this was due to the fact that the neighbourhood was geographically isolated by highway systems and poor public transport access.


The BSA model has been widely used in land subsidence susceptibility mapping. In a study by , the FR model was applied and compared with the machine learning of decision tree (DT). The BSA is a method that is commonly used in natural hazard investigations. Although this method is not novel, the use of BSA has increased in recent years. Remote sensing (RS) and GIS have revolutionized the domain of natural hazards (Jebur et al., 2013a, b) . A spatial database consists of different data types that are required to be transferred from one format to another because specific programs accept only specific data formats. Scientists have started to develop new programs in hazard studies because of the vital role of early warning systems in such applications (Osna et al., 2014; Pradhan et al., 2014) . GIS is capable of storing, analyzing, and showing geographic information. It makes it possible to collect, organize, explore, model and view the spatial data for solving complex problems (Barreca et al., 2013) . Different types of spatial data analysis range from the simple overlaying of various thematic layers to identify the region to the more complex use of mathematical equations or combined statistical models for the prediction of natural hazards. The importance of GIS in catastrophic evaluation was proven by many studies related to the usage of the GIS tools in exploration of various types of data (Steiniger and Hunter, 2013) .

Remote sensing (RS) and GIS have revolutionized the domain of natural hazards.

Scientists have started to develop new programs in hazard studies because of the vital role of early warning systems in such applications.

It makes it possible to collect, organize, explore, model and view the spatial data for solving complex problems.

The importance of GIS in catastrophic evaluation was proven by many studies related to the usage of the GIS tools in exploration of various types of data.


Our first evaluation challenge is to assess whether the hidden units that DeepBase scores highly are indeed correct. To this end, we first present an accuracy benchmark to study DNI under conditions when we "force" parts of a model to learn a hypothesis function. Following this analysis, we present scalability experiments using a SQL auto-completion RNN model to show how DeepBase (and its optimizations) scales as we vary the number of hidden units, hypotheses, and records. Finally, we run DeepBase on a real world English-to-German translation model from OpenNMT [33] . Additional details and benchmarks are in Appendix C.

Finally, we run DeepBase on a real world English-to-German translation model from OpenNMT.


A foundational problem in cosmology is to characterize de Sitter solutions of string theory. Tremendous efforts have been expended in the study of flux compactifications of weakly-coupled type II string theories on orientifolds (see e.g. the reviews [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] ). Non-supersymmetric vacua necessarily remain more difficult to analyze than supersymmetric ones, if only because fewer theoretical tools can be applied there. However, we can take heart by recalling that the entirety of real-world physics is strictly nonsupersymmetric, and progress has nonetheless been possible in a few areas, beginning with the work of the non-supersymmetric theorists of antiquity.

Tremendous efforts have been expended in the study of flux compactifications of weakly-coupled type II string theories on orientifolds (see e.g. the reviews).


The dispute over the expansion of the Darlington nuclear site in Ontario is formally studied in this paper for two different points in time: the fall of 2008 and spring of 2010. According to the background information about this conflict in 2008, four DMs were considered to be involved in the game: the Federal and Ontario Governments, AECL, and green groups. However, after several sensitivity analyses, the authors arrived at the conclusion that the key DMs are the Federal and Ontario Governments. The status quo analysis is also provided and the evolution of the conflict from March to fall 2008 is explained. The conflict did not terminate at this point and is still ongoing. The results and information of the (Babbage, 2011; McCarthy, 2011) . The decision of the Ontario Government is still unknown, but the analyses suggest that Ontario will buy its reactors from AECL. In addition, in the attitude analysis, it is discovered that if the Federal Government has a negative attitude towards the Ontario Government, it is possible that the final outcome is a state that is among the least preferred states for both DMs.

The results and information of the.


Some authors suggest to determine somatotypes, i.e. to differentiate them according to extent of development of the total sizes of body: individuals with small body sizes are microsomatics (asthenics); macrosomatics (hypersthenics) are individuals with big sizes. Average position is held by mesosomatics (sthenics) [29] . The analysis of scientific and methodical literature shows that orientation of certain motor skills development of the person has to be based on somatotypes [17, 30, 31] .

Average position is held by mesosomatics (sthenics).

The analysis of scientific and methodical literature shows that orientation of certain motor skills development of the person has to be based on somatotypes.


These experiments were designed to determine whether growth CO 2 substantially affects g m , and whether using C c rather than C i influences the calculation of photosynthetic parameters and the interpretation of their response to elevated CO 2 . We made gas-exchange measurements on trees growing in two different elevated CO 2 experiments. These included a complete set of gas-exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements to quantify g m using the constant J method (Loreto et al . 1994) . Further measurements were made on herbaceous plants grown in environmental chambers at elevated CO 2 . We analysed the CO 2 effects on g m and on the relationship between photosynthetic capacity (assessed as both net photosynthesis rate at a standard C i as well as by Rubisco content) and g m . We used g m measurements to re-analyse gas-exchange derived measurements of photosynthesis, V c max and J max , to compare the estimates based on C i and C c . We also investigated the relationship between acclimation to CO 2 treatments as calculated from gas-exchange measurements compared with those measured by biochemical methods.

These included a complete set of gas-exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements to quantify g m using the constant J method.


Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) impact society by producing a large number of flash floods, along with many other types of severe weather, including high winds, large hail, and sometimes tornadoes (Fritsch and Forbes 2001) . The total local rainfall accumulation, and hence the severity of flooding from an MCS can be largely related to its organizational mode and motion relative to a point (Doswell et al. 1996) . To better understand the commonality of various MCS organizational modes, Parker and Johnson (2000, hereafter PJ00) investigated the reflectivity patterns of 88 midlatitude linear convective systems. They classified the observed MCSs into three archetypes: those with convective lines and predominantly trailing stratiform precipitation (TS), leading stratiform precipitation (LS), or parallel stratiform precipitation (PS). They found that TS systems were most common, accounting for nearly 60% of their sample. However, roughly 20% of their cases were classified as LS systems, and another 20% were classified as PS systems. PJ00 unexpectedly found that, on average, LS MCSs had mean lowertropospheric inflow that passed through their preline precipitation. Such systems, hereafter referred to as "front-fed" LS (FFLS) systems, are the focus of the present study.

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) impact society by producing a large number of flash floods, along with many other types of severe weather, including high winds, large hail, and sometimes tornadoes.

The total local rainfall accumulation, and hence the severity of flooding from an MCS can be largely related to its organizational mode and motion relative to a point.


The conventional methods of MFC extraction from cellulosic materials typically involve mechanical treatments such as homogenizing, microfluidizing, cryocrushing or grinding. However, the drawbacks of these techniques are high energy consumption and low output. To solve this problem, pretreatments such as enzymatic treatments, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) mediated oxidation and carboxymethylation have been developed to overcome the strong cohesive hydrogen bonding among adjacent microfibrils [22, 23] .

To solve this problem, pretreatments such as enzymatic treatments, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) mediated oxidation and carboxymethylation have been developed to overcome the strong cohesive hydrogen bonding among adjacent microfibrils.


In this work, the preparation of MFC was modified based on dissolution techniques. These techniques are commercially employed in the rayon process and tencel process. Solvent systems such as aqueous inorganic complexes (e.g. cuoxam, cuam, cuen), aqueous bases (e.g. 10% NaOH), mineral acids, melts of inorganic salt hydrate, N, N-dimethylacetamide/LiCl, dimethylsulfoxide/triethylamine/ SO 2 , NH 3 /NH 4 SCN, CF 3 COOH, HCOOH and N, N-dimethylformamide/N 2 O 4 have been selected for dissolving the cellulose fiber [24, 25] . However, some solvents were tried a laboratory only due to the volatility, toxicity and high cost [26] . Common aqueous NaOH systems including NaOH/urea and NaOH/thiourea solution are widely used for cellulose dissolution. In practice, cellulose could be dissolved in a pre-cooled solution containing a 7 wt% NaOH / 12 wt% urea system [27] [28] [29] .

Solvent systems such as aqueous inorganic complexes (e.g. cuoxam, cuam, cuen), aqueous bases (e.g. 10% NaOH), mineral acids, melts of inorganic salt hydrate, N, N-dimethylacetamide/LiCl, dimethylsulfoxide/triethylamine/ SO 2 , NH 3 /NH 4 SCN, CF 3 COOH, HCOOH and N, N-dimethylformamide/N 2 O 4 have been selected for dissolving the cellulose fiber.

However, some solvents were tried a laboratory only due to the volatility, toxicity and high cost.

In practice, cellulose could be dissolved in a pre-cooled solution containing a 7 wt% NaOH / 12 wt% urea system.


A decline in cognitive function is considered an inevitable consequence of the ageing process. Even in healthy ageing adults, a small but definite decrease in most aspects of cognition is evident, particularly in processes that involve cognitive control or memory (Van Hooren et al., 2007) . Despite well-documented decrements in cognitive function with age, and the potentially devastating effects of age-related decline on the individual's quality of life, the mechanisms of age-related decline are not well understood.

Even in healthy ageing adults, a small but definite decrease in most aspects of cognition is evident, particularly in processes that involve cognitive control or memory.


The authors believe that the measured efficiencies presented here are low principally because the siphon height was limited by the available roof height in the test facility. With a higher siphon, much higher efficiencies could be achieved under certain operating conditions -as indicated in the analysis of the theoretical model developed by French and Widden [7] . Therefore, it is concluded that the HAP-based low-head hydropower system deserves further investigation as a low-head, large-volume flow technology for small hydropower applications. Experimental test data for HAP systems are limited but the analysis given here explains the poor results achieved by Bellamy [6] . The experiments conducted by the authors, described in sections 4 and 5, show that the HAP principle is operating as expected, although performance was weaker than predicted because of discrepancies between the measured and predicted pressure ratios, to which the isothermal efficiency is very sensitive.

With a higher siphon, much higher efficiencies could be achieved under certain operating conditions -as indicated in the analysis of the theoretical model developed by French and Widden.

Experimental test data for HAP systems are limited but the analysis given here explains the poor results achieved by Bellamy.


We explain, how to visualize the propagation wave vector of a finite periodic structure in the reciprocal space thanks to the time or frequency domain electromagnetic (EM) fields components [13] . This numerical technique can be implemented easily if we have an EM simulator and a visualization software. The method is widely described and finally, we present some results to show the propagation modes.

We explain, how to visualize the propagation wave vector of a finite periodic structure in the reciprocal space thanks to the time or frequency domain electromagnetic (EM) fields components.


The substance of this claim is that r * 1 cannot be equal to 0. This statement would have been trivial, if φ * − is uniformly bounded away from 0. In our case, however, It is tempting to conclude that we can invoke the law of large numbers to conclude that the sample average has a finite but strictly positive rate function. However, log At(0) At(1) − E log At (0) At (1) Σ is not a martingale difference. Although its mean converges to 0, we cannot invoke Cramér's theorem to show the existence of a positive rate function. Instead, we shall invoke Gärtner Ellis theorem (Dembo and Zeitouni (1998) ).

Instead, we shall invoke Gärtner Ellis theorem).


It was not possible to obtain full measurement sets for all four angles in two cases: 35°for the roller sports protector mounted on the geometric surrogate and 90°for the long snowboard protector mounted to the scanned surrogate. When the roller sports protector was mounted on the geometric surrogate, the start angle of the hand exceeded 35°(47.5 ± 2.2°). Similar behaviour was observed in an earlier study; different protectors designs hold the hand at a different neutral angle [19] . The long snowboard protector mounted on the scanned surrogate exceeded the limit of the load cell (500 N) before the hand could be displaced to 90°, resulting in an extension angle of 84 ± 0.2°at the end of the test. In these cases, alternative statistical tests to compare two surrogates rather than three were used like independent t test (if data were normally distributed) or Mann-Whitney test (if data were not normally distributed).

Similar behaviour was observed in an earlier study; different protectors designs hold the hand at a different neutral angle.


Nevertheless, this result has been obtained assuming particular values for the neutralino mass and annihilation cross sections σ i , and therefore a more detailed analysis computing explicitly σ i in the framework of SUSY must be carried out. It has also been discussed recently that another way of increasing the gamma-ray flux produced by the annihilation of neutralinos is to consider the possibility of non-universality in the scalar and gaugino sectors of the MSSM [20, 21, 26, 28] . In particular, in the context of supergravity (SUGRA) the flux can be increased significantly. This is so when departures from the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) scenario, where the soft terms of the MSSM are assumed to be universal at the unification scale and radiative electroweak symmetry breaking is imposed, are taken into account. Using non-universal soft scalar and gaugino masses the annihilation cross section of neutralinos can be increased, producing a larger gamma-ray flux [26, 28] .

It has also been discussed recently that another way of increasing the gamma-ray flux produced by the annihilation of neutralinos is to consider the possibility of non-universality in the scalar and gaugino sectors of the MSSM.

Using non-universal soft scalar and gaugino masses the annihilation cross section of neutralinos can be increased, producing a larger gamma-ray flux.


Concerning the nature of WIMPs, the best motivated candidate is the lightest neutralino, a particle predicted by the supersymmetric (SUSY) extension of the standard model [35] . In particular, in most of the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is the lightest neutralino. Thus it is absolutely stable and therefore a candidate for dark matter. In addition, the neutralino is an electrically neutral particle, and this is welcome since otherwise it would bind to nuclei and would be excluded as a candidate for dark matter from unsuccessful searches for exotic heavy isotopes.

Concerning the nature of WIMPs, the best motivated candidate is the lightest neutralino, a particle predicted by the supersymmetric (SUSY) extension of the standard model.


On smart cards, NVM sizes are usually restricted. Even the future visions for the next two decades predict at most a few gigabytes of NVM storage [8] . In most cases, NVM also stores program memory, which has to be accessed with very low latency for seamless execution of the program. Standard memory encryption techniques usually require several clock cycles in order to decrypt the page header, calculate the tweak, and then use this information to further decrypt consecutive block data. This is unacceptable for low latency access demanding smart card NVM applications. Therefore, either the existing techniques have to be improved, or new memory encryption techniques have to be introduced together with supporting cryptographic primitives.

Even the future visions for the next two decades predict at most a few gigabytes of NVM storage.


In this study, we have investigated the existing memory encryption schemes and their suitability for smart card memory encryption. XEX and CTR-modes were selected as suitable schemes for their proven security and relatively simple structure. Two memory encryption units were designed for each of these schemes, and they were implemented for different versions of AES and PRESENT. PRESENT seems to be an ideal choice for memory encryption when used in CTR-mode. It is possible to implement a PRESENT-based CTR-mode memory encryption module in less than 6K gates with zero additional latency. The proposed architecture is not only suitable for today's applications, but also capable of fulfilling requirements set forth in the 2023 vision of Eurosmart [8] . We furthermore enhanced our memory encryption module via a block-cipher based address scrambling scheme, where we implemented a small scale variant of PRESENT. For commercial applications, which require even more security, it is also possible to replace the standard PRESENT S-Boxes with secret proprietary S-Boxes to achieve higher levels of security.

The proposed architecture is not only suitable for today's applications, but also capable of fulfilling requirements set forth in the 2023 vision of Eurosmart.


These are all very powerful finite multiplicity theorems for branching laws. However, in each case, the finite multiplicity theorem only applies to the discrete part of the direct integral decomposition π| H . In this paper, we attempt to study the continuous spectrum of branching laws in a very special case. In order to do this, we make use of many recent ideas of Ørsted and Vargas [30] , [31] , [38] .

In order to do this, we make use of many recent ideas of Ørsted and Vargas.


Despite climate burdens are uncertain and not fully predictable, it is believed that continued gas flaring in the Niger Delta and increasing local fossil energy consumption would further exacerbate global warming effects causing more regular flood activities in the region. Implications are that infrastructure could be more vulnerable throughout the 21st century [11, 12] . Existing frameworks for vulnerability assessment focus on policy choice, adaptation planning and ecosystem management emphasis on established systems. However, apparent exclusion of new or developing systems can lead to premature exposure and subsequently increase the vulnerability of the region. Hence, what inclusive framework could aid the assessment of prevailing climate burdens and vulnerability of both established and planned critical assets? Could planned (new) assets be vulnerable? What methodological approach could be applicable in the assessment process?

Implications are that infrastructure could be more vulnerable throughout the 21st century.


However, about 80% of government's revenue is generated from fossil energy resources. The production in the Niger Delta provides energy supplies to Western Africa and to most other economies across the world [6, 7] . Oil/gas industry contributes to the local economy by providing an enabling environment for the hospitality industry, supporting local commerce through educational services provision and developing contractual partnerships and other corporate social services within the region. Prevailing extreme climate events show that activities related to the oil and gas business in the region are being subjected to unprecedented environmental and economic crisis. The impacts are aggravated by a complete absence of a clear industry-focused conceptual framework for the assessment of vulnerability. Such assessment underpins the intensity and effects of extreme climatic events on all critical infrastructure [8] . This study demonstrates the assessment of climate change vulnerability of oil and gas industry using a pragmatic framework with the involvement of stratified stakeholders from the industry.

The production in the Niger Delta provides energy supplies to Western Africa and to most other economies across the world.

Such assessment underpins the intensity and effects of extreme climatic events on all critical infrastructure.


Climate change constitutes one of the greatest contemporary environmental menaces impacting the oil and gas industry in the Niger Delta. Extreme weather events, such as rising temperature, Atlantic tides and thermal expansion of the ocean, lead to frequent heavy downpours, increased frequency of storms and regular occurrences of flood, which severely affect critical oil and gas infrastructure [1] [2] [3] . These events have placed enormous burdens on infrastructure, hindering adaptation strategies and causing an overall negative impact on the Nigerian oil dependent economy [3, 4] . The Nigerian economy relies on the functioning of upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the oil/gas value chain ( Figure 1 ) for its survival as crude oil revenue constitutes about 75% of foreign export earning of the country. The vulnerability of infrastructure due to extreme weather events implies a high risk to the economy, environment and social systems. More so, the inter-linkages between the infrastructure across streams demonstrate the severity of threats as the impact on assets in the downstream has the capacity to trigger cascading effect on the upstream and midstream sectors of the industry.

Extreme weather events, such as rising temperature, Atlantic tides and thermal expansion of the ocean, lead to frequent heavy downpours, increased frequency of storms and regular occurrences of flood, which severely affect critical oil and gas infrastructure.

These events have placed enormous burdens on infrastructure, hindering adaptation strategies and causing an overall negative impact on the Nigerian oil dependent economy.


Climate impact assessment paves the way for a timely identification of risks and estimation of impact severity. Assessing climate vulnerability through the application of a multi-stakeholder approach leads to the identification of sustainable adaptation strategies that could significantly improve infrastructure resilience [9] . It is being argued that impacts forced by extreme weather events in the Niger Delta are partly due to low awareness and understanding of climate related risks magnitude. Our conceptual framework provides a systematic evaluation that is intrinsically designed for the climate investigation of oil and gas critical infrastructure [8, 10] .

Assessing climate vulnerability through the application of a multi-stakeholder approach leads to the identification of sustainable adaptation strategies that could significantly improve infrastructure resilience.

Our conceptual framework provides a systematic evaluation that is intrinsically designed for the climate investigation of oil and gas critical infrastructure.


This paper presents a conceptual framework for vulnerability assessment of critical oil/gas assets that emphasises the scoping of prevailing climate burdens and evaluation of their impact levels on both existing and emerging oil/gas infrastructure in a hierarchical order. Multi-criteria decision-making processes have been used in vulnerability assessments previously [13] . In this paper, Climate 2018, 6, 11 3 of 18 the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is suggested as a useful methodology for participatory ranking of infrastructure based on their vulnerability using multiple stakeholders and multiple attribute system. Stakeholder inputs through a participatory process make AHP application valuable for such an analysis.

Multi-criteria decision-making processes have been used in vulnerability assessments previously.


Clusiaceae (Lindl.) includes 50 genera and 1,200 species distributed in tropical regions as well in northern temperate zones of the globe. This family includes trees, bushes, lianas and herbs of economic interest by timber production, edible fruits, chemical derivatives of pharmaceutical interest and others. Among the genera, there is Calophyllum L., which produces hardwoods (GASPAROTTO JÚNIOR et al., 2005) .

Among the genera, there is Calophyllum L., which produces hardwoods.


Wettability of a solid surface describes the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with the surface, which is important in the bonding or adherence of two materials [1] . Dependent on both roughness and chemical heterogeneitym, wettability is a very important characteristic in nature as well as in our daily life. Hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity are two principal wettablility conditions. The surfaces of materials are hydrophilic if the water contact angle (WCA, θ) is in the range of 0° ≤ θ < 90° and they are hydrophobic if the WCA is 90° < θ ≤ 180°. Hydrophobicity is observed in nonpolar substances, which tend to aggregate in aqueous solutions and exclude water molecules.

Wettability of a solid surface describes the ability of a liquid to maintain contact with the surface, which is important in the bonding or adherence of two materials.


We are given a noisy observation g ε = g + η ∈ H 2 with noise level g − g ε ≤ ε and try to reconstruct the solution f of Af = g from the knowledge of g ε . We are especially interested in the case in which (1) is ill-posed in the sense of Nashed, i.e. when the range of A is not closed. In particular this implies that the (generalized) solution of (1) is unstable, or in other words, that the generalized inverse A † is unbounded. In this context, regularization has to be employed to stably solve the problem [13] .

In this context, regularization has to be employed to stably solve the problem.


Lithium-ion batteries are playing an increasingly significant role in more aspects of our daily lives, such as in portable communication devices including smart phones and laptops, portable medical information devices, and now electrified transportation systems. For light weight and high energy density, and clean environmental considerations, lithium-ion batteries stand up among various existing rechargeable batteries due to their long lives and low self-discharge as well as their memory-less property [1] . Therefore, they are a prime candidate for a portable device's battery as well as those of electrical vehicles (EVs) of different kinds [2] . With the increasingly widespread application of lithium-ion batteries, a range of issues raised by a lithium-ion battery's lifespan are beginning to emerge. As the number of charges/discharges of the battery increases, battery performance will gradually degrade or fail, and disaster may even occur. For example, in 2006, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Mars Global Surveyor stopped working due to the failure of its batteries. In 2013, all Boeing 787 Dreamliners were indefinitely grounded due to battery failures that occurred on two airplanes [3] . It will cause the failure of the overall function of the system under an unexpected end of the battery's life. Moreover, to ensure batteries are reliable and capable of delivering These methods often utilize capacity or internal resistance as the health indicator to build the degradation model and make an RUL prediction. However, capacity and internal resistance are too difficult to measure on-line due to batteries' internal state variables being inaccessible to sensors under operational conditions. Moreover, directly and precisely measuring the internal parameters is very expensive, which means that on-line monitoring almost impossible to achieve. Thus, it is important to extract some of the performance parameters reflecting the health state of a battery from the available monitoring parameters.

For light weight and high energy density, and clean environmental considerations, lithium-ion batteries stand up among various existing rechargeable batteries due to their long lives and low self-discharge as well as their memory-less property.

Therefore, they are a prime candidate for a portable device's battery as well as those of electrical vehicles (EVs) of different kinds.

In 2013, all Boeing 787 Dreamliners were indefinitely grounded due to battery failures that occurred on two airplanes.


There were a number of limitations in this study that limit generalization and call for additional research. First, the sample in this study was a convenience sample; the majority of the participants were from one high school, also limiting the generalizability of the results. Second, the two high schools are similar to each other in that they are top-ranking high schools in Beijing, and their students have similar future plans. Therefore, the results of this study may not apply to other geographic areas in China, especially rural areas, because a difference exists in educational conditions between economically developed areas (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) and underdeveloped areas (e.g., rural areas in West China). Students from different geographical areas in China may encounter different mental health problems, and the development of school counseling in urban and rural China may be different (Yan, 2003) . The position of school counselor may not even exist in some areas in China. Third, the sample lacks diversity in terms of gender and grade level. Most of the participants in this study were female students and senior 2 students. Gender may be a variable that influences how students perceive counseling and school counselors. Future research utilizing more diverse and larger samples from across the country will be able to provide a more detailed and general picture of school counseling in high schools across China. Lastly, the instrument used in this study was adapted from an instrument that was developed several decades ago. Although some modifications were made, the validity and reliability of the scale used for Chinese students are not clear at this time. Future studies may investigate the validity and reliability of this instrument and also develop new instruments that are specially designed to measure students' perceptions of Chinese school counselors' effectiveness, competence, expertise and contributions.

Students from different geographical areas in China may encounter different mental health problems, and the development of school counseling in urban and rural China may be different.


To expand this methodology to other types of block copolymers, including noncrystalline block copolymers, investigators have introduced magnetically sensitive additives into a specific polymer block of block copolymers. For example, introduction of a ligand containing a biphenyl moiety that interacts with the poly(acrylic acid) block of a poly(styreneblock-acrylic acid) block copolymer by hydrogen bonding has been shown to impart magnetic susceptibility, which in turn facilitates magnetic alignment of the block copolymer-ligand composite [25] . However, this method is limited by the need for a specific interaction (i.e., hydrogen bonding) between the block copolymer and the ligand.

For example, introduction of a ligand containing a biphenyl moiety that interacts with the poly(acrylic acid) block of a poly(styreneblock-acrylic acid) block copolymer by hydrogen bonding has been shown to impart magnetic susceptibility, which in turn facilitates magnetic alignment of the block copolymer-ligand composite.


We are aware that direct comparison to an active control treatment will diminish the magnitude of observed effects because we expect the relaxation exercises to lead to substantial improvements as well. This could become particularly challenging, as our pilot study showed only medium-sized effects from pre to post for the unmodified version of the SOL [50] . However, our response was not to dilute the study design, but to put effort in optimizing the treatment and selecting appropriate outcomes. We would like to encourage all readers to interpret the upcoming results of the study accordingly: Non-significant findings would not mean "not effective" but rather "not more effective than relaxation exercises", while significant findings in the expected direction would mean "even more effective than relaxation exercises".

This could become particularly challenging, as our pilot study showed only medium-sized effects from pre to post for the unmodified version of the SOL.


In regions with strong winds and heavy precipitation higher genotypes are exposed to lodging, which reduce yield and seed quality . In order to have a hybrid which can be grown in different agro-ecological environments optimum plant height should be between 150-170 cm. By developing hybrids 120-150 cm in height, it is possible to improve resistance to lodging and make harvesting easier (Schneiter et al. 1988) .

By developing hybrids 120-150 cm in height, it is possible to improve resistance to lodging and make harvesting easier.


Sixteen years after the initial calibrations, the JET-X FM2 has been re-tested at the PANTER X-ray facility. The main scope of the measurement campaign was to build a first prototype of imaging polarimetric telescope, coupling a high-performance optical module to a focal plane instrument with imaging and polarimetric capabilities at the same time (GPD). The tests were hitherto performed with a non-polarized source, aiming at measuring the angular resolution of the optics + GPD system. In this paper we have reported the results of the tests performed on the sole JET-X optical module using the imaging detectors available at PANTER. We have verified that the effective area values and the angular resolution have changed only slightly over 16 years of storage. Even if the 1996 data do not allow a comparison in the 2-5 keV energy range, we have found an effective area excess in this band that we interpret as a slight contamination of hydrocarbon on the Gold surface. The origin of this contaminant is unknown, because the FM2 was always kept stored in pure Nitrogen atmosphere. We expect this layer to have grown extremely slowly over time, therefore no effective area change should have occurred between the FM2 test and the subsequent characterization of the GPD in its focus. However, this result should be considered in future calibrations of X-ray optical modules, especially if a considerable time has elapsed since the manufacturing. We have also provided a modeling of the surface roughness in the millimeter range of spatial frequencies, in order to explain the HEW degradation with increasing energy, in terms of the surface roughness power spectrum. The results of the second part of the campaign, with the GPD in the focal plane of the JET-X FM2, is reported in another paper [11] .

The results of the second part of the campaign, with the GPD in the focal plane of the JET-X FM2, is reported in another paper.


Modern transfemoral prostheses can be classified in three major groups: passive, dynamically damped, and powered, each of which exhibits fundamental deficiencies. Passive and dynamically damped knees are by their nature capable only of negative mechanical power and therefore cannot replicate the generative phases of the natural knee [1] . As a result, the adequate locomotion of above-knee amputees is impaired; leading to asymmetric gait and elevated metabolic energy consumption relative to healthy subjects [2] [3] [4] .

Passive and dynamically damped knees are by their nature capable only of negative mechanical power and therefore cannot replicate the generative phases of the natural knee.

As a result, the adequate locomotion of above-knee amputees is impaired; leading to asymmetric gait and elevated metabolic energy consumption relative to healthy subjects.


Powered prostheses can significantly improve these problems; nevertheless they still face challenges in weight, energy efficiency, and range of motion. Current approaches to the design of powered knee prostheses have focused mainly on the use of single actuator-transmission systems directly coupled to the knee joint [5, 6] . Ossur's "Power-Knee" is an example of such commercially available device.

Current approaches to the design of powered knee prostheses have focused mainly on the use of single actuator-transmission systems directly coupled to the knee joint.


The first hypothesis, an increase in overall self-esteem and personal value in the BGBT group but not in the control group, could be partially supported. As expected, women with obesity disorder reported an increase of overall selfesteem and personal value during the treatment in the BGBT group. In the control group we found a tendency of increased overall self-esteem and personal value, but no significant effect. The second hypothesis, an increase in slimming and oral inhibition and a decrease in overeating in the BGBT group but not in the control group, could be partially supported. As expected, women participated in the study reported an increase of slimming and oral inhibition and a decrease of overeating during the treatment in the BGBT group. In the control group we found no significant effect. As a third hypothesis, perceived control of emotions and feelings should increase in the BGBT group, but remain unchanged or even decrease in the control group, participants in the BGBT group reported an increase of perceived control of emotions and feelings, whereas the members of the control group did not. The results showed that the Buckroyd's group-based therapeutic programme was effective in increasing the self-esteem and eating attitude among the study participants. Having a good feeling about self can effectively affect mental health and how the person can behave. In the programme, participants learned that individuals with high self-esteem have a better understanding of themselves; they more realistically confront with issues and find those who love and appreciate them for their own sake. A person with high self-esteem is able to praise others, grateful and open-faced, independent in offering votes and opinions, a person with a sense of security, sure to do his job. These persons accept their mistakes easily and do not blame others for their obesity or misconceptions. In the current study, the relationship between selfesteem and obesity was noted and participants learned that self-esteem can affect their lifestyle, including receiving food and physical activity. Also, in order to increase self-esteem, the test group repeatedly repeated the emphasis phrases for self-esteem by providing relevant solutions. The other finding of the present study is the positive effect of the Buckroyd's group-based therapeutic programme on eating attitudes among women participated in the study, which is consistent with the results of similar studies (Rother and Buckroyd, 2004) .

The other finding of the present study is the positive effect of the Buckroyd's group-based therapeutic programme on eating attitudes among women participated in the study, which is consistent with the results of similar studies.


Multiple regression analysis further revealed that greater scores were found in teachers who worked full time. We can only hypothesize that the limited days or months part-time teachers spend with one class prevents them from engaging in deep relationships with their students, either because they cannot afford the time, or simply because they prefer to keep it that way since they know that they will soon have to work somewhere else. The presence of students in need of special education also seemed to affect self-reported empathy in Greek educators; the ones who had such students performed better in the TEQ. Empathy's association with interpersonal sensitivity could explain those teachers' higher levels of empathy on TEQ. Lastly, teachers who had received mental health promotion training also exhibited higher self-reported empathy according to the multiple regression analysis; this finding was somewhat expected since active listening is often an important part of such training programs (Kaminski et al. 2008; Ragozzino et al. 2003) .

Lastly, teachers who had received mental health promotion training also exhibited higher self-reported empathy according to the multiple regression analysis; this finding was somewhat expected since active listening is often an important part of such training programs.


The first section outlines the numerical formulation used herein, which is an enhancement of a model previously developed and implemented exclusively for vertical piles [31, 32] . In the following two sections, the parameters needed to define the geometry are described, the problem at hand (i.e. the impedance problem) is defined, and a series of validation results are presented. Then, stiffness and damping functions corresponding to single raked piles and 2 2 and 3 3 groups with inclined elements are shown in a set of dimensionless plots. The importance and main trends observed in the influence of the rake angle in the dynamic response of the foundations are pointed out.

The first section outlines the numerical formulation used herein, which is an enhancement of a model previously developed and implemented exclusively for vertical piles.