Membrane technology has proven to be a mainstay separation technology over the past two decades. Some major advantages of membrane technology are application without the addition of chemicals and a comparatively low energy use. Cell harvesting and virus purification/removal are important processes in many downstream purifications of biopharmaceutical products [1] . In order to avoid membrane fouling ultrafiltration with tangential flow is emplyed because high density cell cultures and the corresponding increase in the level of cell debris cause fouling of membrane systems. Thus membrane fouling by cell debris and or cell-derived proteins presents a serious problem. For this project, ultrafiltration (UF) for virus purification from cell culture broth was used. Recently it has been demonstrated that UF is a powerful tool for purification of other viruses such as Aedes aegypti and virus-like particles [4, 5, 6] . More precisely, high-performance tangential flow filtration (HPTFF) will be used, which was first introduced by Robert van Reis in 1997 [2, 3] . The virus used in this study was the parvovirus Minute Virus of Mice (MVM); characterized by an average diameter of 22-26 nm and icosahedral symmetry. In general, members of parvoviridae are among the smallest known DNA viruses. They replicate in the nucleus of actively dividing cells. The genome of MVM is linear, single stranded, and approximately 5kb long [7, 9] . Environmental extremes, like pH or temperature do not critically damage the virus [8] . MVM has a broad in vitro host range such as NBK324 cells, A9 cells, and T-cell lymphomas producing cytopathic effects. As part of this project, A9 mouse cells were infected with MVM. The experiments were conducted with 50, 100 and 300 kDa Sartorius membranes. The analysis methods included flux measurement, real-time PCR and protein concentration determination (data not shown). , Corning, NY) cells were lysed using three freeze/thaw cycles with freezing at -80°C and thawing in a 37°C water bath. The cell lysate was then centrifuged using a Beckman GS-6R centrifuge (Beckman, Fullerton, CA) at 1500 rpm at 4 °C for 15 minutes to remove large cell debris. The supernatant, containing the virus, was filtered using 0.22 µm bottle top sterilization filters (Nalgene Company, Rochester NY) and stored at -80 °C. Before using the virus solution for experiments, a 1:100 dilution with pure media is carried out, meaning that the amount of FBS in samples collected is low.

Cell harvesting and virus purification/removal are important processes in many downstream purifications of biopharmaceutical products.

Recently it has been demonstrated that UF is a powerful tool for purification of other viruses such as Aedes aegypti and virus-like particles.

More precisely, high-performance tangential flow filtration (HPTFF) will be used, which was first introduced by Robert van Reis in 1997.

The genome of MVM is linear, single stranded, and approximately 5kb long.

Environmental extremes, like pH or temperature do not critically damage the virus.


Wireless power transfer (WPT) using a magnetic field through inductive coupling is steadily entering the market in a broad range of applications, from charging smartphones to electric vehicles [3] . The principle of inductive power transfer (IPT) is based on the generation of a time-varying magnetic field by an alternating current in an inductor. Another inductor captures the energy within this magnetic field for the generation of current.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) using a magnetic field through inductive coupling is steadily entering the market in a broad range of applications, from charging smartphones to electric vehicles.


Instead of the magnetic field, one can use the electric field to transfer energy wirelessly. This can be done by capacitive (also called electric) coupling. A capacitive power transfer (CPT) system uses one plate of a capacitor to generate an electric field by an alternating voltage. The other plate of the capacitor, at a certain distance of the first plate, captures the energy of this electric field for the generation of current. Compared to IPT, research on CPT is more limited, due to some disadvantages. Indeed, for long distances, e.g., 15 cm, several unfavorable attributes are required, e.g., high voltages, large plates, high switching frequencies and high electric fields, which can cause safety concerns for the environment [4, 5] .

Indeed, for long distances, e.g., 15 cm, several unfavorable attributes are required, e.g., high voltages, large plates, high switching frequencies and high electric fields, which can cause safety concerns for the environment.


Due to the booming of farmland rental markets in China, debates over farmland rental are ongoing, especially its correlation with agricultural productivity [18] . An in-depth understanding on the statistical association of rural households' farmland rental behaviors and their input use on farmland, as well as cost efficiency of agricultural production could help policy makers introduce more targeted rural development policies. Based on survey data of 419 wheat and maize farmers in 25 villages in five counties of Gansu Province, this paper used linear regression models and stochastic frontier models to estimate the differences in inputs and outputs of wheat and maize production among households with different farmland rental behaviors, and the consequent impacts on the differences in cost efficiency.

Due to the booming of farmland rental markets in China, debates over farmland rental are ongoing, especially its correlation with agricultural productivity.


The issues related to farmland rental in China have received special attention by economists and policy makers, and many studies have focused on the understanding of the determinants of farmland rental. Some studies found that off-farm employment and migration had critical positive impacts on farmland renting-out behavior of rural households [22, 26, 27] . Not only did availability of off-farm employment significantly improve farmland rental, but tenure security and agricultural ability also played a critical role in farmland rental [28, 29] . In addition, the impacts of credit market development, productive heterogeneity among farmers, institutional building, contract conditions, property rights, household attributes, and institutional building on farmland rental market were extensively studied [23, 30] . Some studies explored the influences of farmland rental and consolidation. For instance, a series of studies focused on the impacts of farmland rental and consolidation on agricultural efficiency and productivity, agricultural investments to land of rural households, occupational diversification, income inequality and household welfare [9, 19, [31] [32] [33] .

Some studies found that off-farm employment and migration had critical positive impacts on farmland renting-out behavior of rural households.

Not only did availability of off-farm employment significantly improve farmland rental, but tenure security and agricultural ability also played a critical role in farmland rental.

In addition, the impacts of credit market development, productive heterogeneity among farmers, institutional building, contract conditions, property rights, household attributes, and institutional building on farmland rental market were extensively studied.

For instance, a series of studies focused on the impacts of farmland rental and consolidation on agricultural efficiency and productivity, agricultural investments to land of rural households, occupational diversification, income inequality and household welfare.


The proportion of the world's people that is hungry has dramatically decreased due to the marked growth in food production in the past half century [1] . Nevertheless, growing population and limited arable land continue to challenge food security [2] . The global population will continue to grow to more than nine billion by 2050, and crop production should be doubled to keep pace with the demands for food due to population growth [3, 4] . How to expand agricultural output without greatly increasing the amount of land and other input use becomes the key issue to ensure food security [3] .

The proportion of the world's people that is hungry has dramatically decreased due to the marked growth in food production in the past half century.

Nevertheless, growing population and limited arable land continue to challenge food security.

The global population will continue to grow to more than nine billion by 2050, and crop production should be doubled to keep pace with the demands for food due to population growth.

How to expand agricultural output without greatly increasing the amount of land and other input use becomes the key issue to ensure food security.


China is the largest developing country with the largest population in the world [5, 6] . Over the past several decades, China has successfully created the "Miracle in China" by feeding 22% of the global human population with less than 9% of the world's arable land, indicating a substantial contribution to global food security [7, 8] . The "Miracle in China" can be attributed to the gains in agricultural productivity obtained through agricultural reform initiated in the late 1970s, which converted collective farming to a household responsibility system [9, 10] . The change in land tenure greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of farmers and it has resulted in a huge growth in agricultural productivity since the late 1970s [11, 12] .

China is the largest developing country with the largest population in the world.

Over the past several decades, China has successfully created the "Miracle in China" by feeding 22% of the global human population with less than 9% of the world's arable land, indicating a substantial contribution to global food security.

The "Miracle in China" can be attributed to the gains in agricultural productivity obtained through agricultural reform initiated in the late 1970s, which converted collective farming to a household responsibility system.

The change in land tenure greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of farmers and it has resulted in a huge growth in agricultural productivity since the late 1970s.


However, it is also worth noting that more than half of the increased crop production in China was based on a rapid increase in the consumption of fertilizers and chemicals [8, 13] . Excessive fertilization in grain crop production has caused low nutrient use efficiency and high environmental costs [14, 15] . On the other hand, as economic development has progressed in China, the contribution of agriculture to economy has declined from 40% in 1970 to less than 10% in 2013, along with a tremendous net loss of the productive agricultural labor force [16, 17] . China's agricultural development is facing many new challenges, including the huge gap between lower-priced imported agricultural products and higher-priced domestically produced agricultural products, aging farmers, declining land area, and deteriorating ecological environment [18] .

However, it is also worth noting that more than half of the increased crop production in China was based on a rapid increase in the consumption of fertilizers and chemicals.

Excessive fertilization in grain crop production has caused low nutrient use efficiency and high environmental costs.

On the other hand, as economic development has progressed in China, the contribution of agriculture to economy has declined from 40% in 1970 to less than 10% in 2013, along with a tremendous net loss of the productive agricultural labor force.

China's agricultural development is facing many new challenges, including the huge gap between lower-priced imported agricultural products and higher-priced domestically produced agricultural products, aging farmers, declining land area, and deteriorating ecological environment.


This principle has been used to consider the possibility of holographic duals to gravitational theories on backgrounds other than AdS space [7, 8, 9] . For example, the asymptotic symmetries of de Sitter space have been studied with a view towards developing a dS/CFT correspondence [10] . Once we have found the asymptotic symmetry group (ASG) of a spacetime, then we can hypothesize that the field theory dual to the theory of quantum gravity on that spacetime transforms under representations of the ASG.

This principle has been used to consider the possibility of holographic duals to gravitational theories on backgrounds other than AdS space.

For example, the asymptotic symmetries of de Sitter space have been studied with a view towards developing a dS/CFT correspondence.


Management, one of the earliest professions, has been practised since time immemorial, as is evident from records of ancient civilizations. The earliest among these include, amongst others, business, legal and historical records kept by Sumerian priests on clay tablets dating back to approximately 3000 BC (Hodgetts, 1975) . Elsewhere, a complete account of management practices throughout the ages is given (Hodgetts, 1975; Witzel, 2002; Wren, 2005) . It is clear from these sources that the principles of the practice of management were not formally documented until the end of the nineteenth century, with the advent of "scientific management" thus making it a relatively young discipline. The early management pioneers realised that technical knowledge alone did not ensure managerial success (Wren, 2005) . They argued that, in addition, "management" education was required to facilitate successful managers and enterprises (Wren, 2005) . In their quest for sound "management" they documented principles, especially those deemed to have contributed to managerial success.

The earliest among these include, amongst others, business, legal and historical records kept by Sumerian priests on clay tablets dating back to approximately 3000 BC.

Elsewhere, a complete account of management practices throughout the ages is given.

The early management pioneers realised that technical knowledge alone did not ensure managerial success.

They argued that, in addition, "management" education was required to facilitate successful managers and enterprises.


The experimental verification of the formulae for the perihelion precession of Mercury and for the bending angle of light passing near massive bodies such as our Sun, are the two most spectacular confirmations of Einstein's theory of general relativity [1] . Furthermore, the efforts of Einstein in order to explain these two phenomena played an important role in the development of general relativity (GR) [2] . It is generally accepted that Newton's universal gravitational law, which cannot account for the observed perihelion advancement and which gives only half of the experimentally observed light bending angle, is not accurate enough under relativistic conditions [3, 4] . However, when employing Newton's universal gravitational law under relativistic conditions, little attention has been paid to the fact that there exist differences between the rest, relativistic, inertial and gravitational masses, of the bodies involved.

The experimental verification of the formulae for the perihelion precession of Mercury and for the bending angle of light passing near massive bodies such as our Sun, are the two most spectacular confirmations of Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Furthermore, the efforts of Einstein in order to explain these two phenomena played an important role in the development of general relativity (GR).

It is generally accepted that Newton's universal gravitational law, which cannot account for the observed perihelion advancement and which gives only half of the experimentally observed light bending angle, is not accurate enough under relativistic conditions.


The National High Blood Pressure Education Program Coordinating Committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in United States released the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC) on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (the JNC 7 report), on May 14 th , 2003 [1] . According to this report, a systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 120 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) less than 80 mm Hg was considered as normal blood pressure and a systolic BP of 120 to 139 mm Hg and/or a diastolic BP of 80 to 89 mm Hg was considered as pre-hypertension. The definition of pre-hypertension remains the same in the latest JNC-8 report published in 2014 [2] . The objective of defining this classification of blood pressure was to draw the attention of clinicians and public in the prevention of hypertension in healthy people in the pre-hypertensive range of blood pressure.

The National High Blood Pressure Education Program Coordinating Committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in United States released the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC) on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (the JNC 7 report), on May 14 th , 2003.

The definition of pre-hypertension remains the same in the latest JNC-8 report published in 2014.


In the o soto gari technique, the first phase (kuzushi), defined as breaking an opponent's balance, begins with the onset of tori's leg drive from the sweeping (right) leg, which allows the supporting (left) leg to move towards uke, and ends with tori's sweeping leg approaching the uke's body. The tsukuri phase (the process of fitting into the throw) immediately follows kuzushi and begins with tori's sweeping leg passing toward uke's body and ends when the tori's sweeping leg makes contact. The falling phase (kake) begins when the tori's leg touch the uke's body, sweeping the back of the thigh of the loadbearing member while creating a lever action with the hip as a fulcrum, and ends when any part of both legs strikes the ground [4] .

The falling phase (kake) begins when the tori's leg touch the uke's body, sweeping the back of the thigh of the loadbearing member while creating a lever action with the hip as a fulcrum, and ends when any part of both legs strikes the ground.


There have been few investigations about the biomechanical efficiency of judo throw techniques in the literature. For each throw technique (hand or arm, leg or foot, hip or sacrifice) different skills are required [2] . In theory, they were intended to be applied using seiryoku zenyo, which means better efficiency with less energy consumption.

For each throw technique (hand or arm, leg or foot, hip or sacrifice) different skills are required.


Zulu uses the same Latin-based alphabetic script as English, but it has a high degree of orthographic transparency and highly salient syllables: it is multisyllabic and has clear syllabic boundaries (Suzman, 1996) . The EL2 data suggests that transfer occurs and that it might be influenced by a bilingual child's L1. Notably, the correlation between onset level of PA and English reading measures in the EL2 group is similar in size to the correlation between the onset level of PA and English reading measures in the EL1 group. In addition, the PA of the EL2 group seems to be consistent with PA for Zulu monolingual children, finding onset and phoneme levels of PA more accessible than rime (Greenop, 2004) .

Zulu uses the same Latin-based alphabetic script as English, but it has a high degree of orthographic transparency and highly salient syllables: it is multisyllabic and has clear syllabic boundaries.

In addition, the PA of the EL2 group seems to be consistent with PA for Zulu monolingual children, finding onset and phoneme levels of PA more accessible than rime.


Phonological processing skills are thought to contribute to language-learning and literacy development and overall level of academic achievement; these skills serve as a building block upon which all other learning takes place. Differences in phonological processing skills might subsequently result in differences in literacy achievement, which in turn impacts on a country's political, educational and social future. Children with poor literacy skills are at a disadvantage in engaging cognitively and socially in a world that is ever-changing and competitive (Bialystok, 2007; Heugh, 2010) . Yet, the different orthographic and phonological systems of different languages may militate against generalising across languages and also exacerbates the problem of bilingual education such as is current in urban South Africa.

Children with poor literacy skills are at a disadvantage in engaging cognitively and socially in a world that is ever-changing and competitive.


The clustering results are evaluated according to their alignment with a gold standard. Alignment is Pearson correlation between corresponding elements of the Gram matrices, which has been suggested as a measure of agreement between a clustering and a distance measure (Christianini et al., 2002) . We are also able to use this measure to quantify the fit between a clustering result and the distance matrix that serves as input to clustering. The evidence is that the spectral technique is more effective than the methods that have previously been tried.

Alignment is Pearson correlation between corresponding elements of the Gram matrices, which has been suggested as a measure of agreement between a clustering and a distance measure.


Microstrip patch antennas are a very important component of the communication systems and widely used as an efficient radiator due to their highly desirable attributes such as low profile structure, light weight, conformal shape, cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, ease of fixing, low volume, and compatibility with microwave integrated circuits (MIC), and : monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) are always sought in wireless systems [1] [2] [3] . However, they suffer from certain limitations such as narrow bandwidth and low gain. Due to recent development in wireless and mobile communications technologies, there exists a big demand of small antennas for applications such as mobile handsets, sensor networks, biomedical, wearable and Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) systems [4] . These shortcomings have been investigated in detail by various researchers culminating in significant level of success [5] .

Microstrip patch antennas are a very important component of the communication systems and widely used as an efficient radiator due to their highly desirable attributes such as low profile structure, light weight, conformal shape, cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, ease of fixing, low volume, and compatibility with microwave integrated circuits (MIC), and : monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) are always sought in wireless systems.

Due to recent development in wireless and mobile communications technologies, there exists a big demand of small antennas for applications such as mobile handsets, sensor networks, biomedical, wearable and Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) systems.

These shortcomings have been investigated in detail by various researchers culminating in significant level of success.


In the Czech context, GDP forecasts prepared by the most prominent institutions, i.e. the Ministry of Finance (MF) and the Czech National Bank (ČNB), have faced increased public scrutiny over recent years. Initially the MF was criticised by the massmedia for allegedly compromising its predictions with an upward bias and failing to foresee the cool down period of 2009; a conjecture also indicated by some of the few empirical works available (Soukup, 2012; Boček, 2012; Polák, 2011) . Lately, the CNB´s forecasting ability and past performance has also been questioned, as part of a wider discussion related to its 2013 monetary intervention. Although more of a technical matter, the overall public interest in the accuracy of central growth forecasts seems to have increased substantially compared to the pre-2009 period.

Initially the MF was criticised by the massmedia for allegedly compromising its predictions with an upward bias and failing to foresee the cool down period of 2009; a conjecture also indicated by some of the few empirical works available.


Materials used in urban environments have strong impacts on urban climates and consequently on pedestrian thermal comfort. Depending on their properties, they contribute more or less to the urban heat island (UHI) effect [1] , [2] . Several UHI countermeasures involving cool materials, urban greening or urban watering have been studied to address these issues with the goal of limiting the health, energy and other effects of UHI [3] - [7] . Previous work by the authors has focused on the field study of pavement-watering as a climate change adaptation measure for Paris against increasing and intensifying heat waves. Field testing conducted every summer since 2013 has helped determine the cooling effects and water consumption of the method under heat-wave conditions [8] - [11] . These analyses have underlined the important role played by the materials being watered on cooling performance. Indeed, while a given watering frequency may be valid for asphalt road surfaces, they are unlikely to be valid for other materials with different water-holding capacities, albedo or other relevant properties. Given the wide variety of materials used in cities, it is important for decisionmakers to be able to account for this when designing a city-wide pavement-watering strategy, with field trials being expensive and impractical for this purpose. Smaller-scale work is therefore required to account for this limitation.

Depending on their properties, they contribute more or less to the urban heat island (UHI) effect.

Several UHI countermeasures involving cool materials, urban greening or urban watering have been studied to address these issues with the goal of limiting the health, energy and other effects of UHI.

Field testing conducted every summer since 2013 has helped determine the cooling effects and water consumption of the method under heat-wave conditions.


A handful of studies are conducted in the lab and include a radiation source with a heat-up and cool-down period, i.e. day and night phases [17] , [18] . The radiation source is an infrared lamp in both studies, neither of which control other climate conditions, e.g. air temperature or humidity, though wind speed is controlled in one study [18] . Similarly, only single material layers up to 14 cm thick are considered and climate cycles are less than 24 hours long. In some cases, measurement strategies use temperature a few centimeters deep as a proxy for surface temperature, a vital indicator of the climatic behavior of the materials under study. However, better understanding of the thermal and climatic behavior of paving materials remains necessary to assist decision-makers and urban designers. This paper presents a lab experiment used to characterize the thermal behavior of Parisian street materials under heat-wave conditions. Temperature and heat flow measurements conducted at different depths on samples of five Parisian pavement structures are used to study and compare their thermal behavior. Their contribution to the urban climate is also evaluated and discussed. Lab findings are validated against field observations for the asphalt road structure.

A handful of studies are conducted in the lab and include a radiation source with a heat-up and cool-down period, i.e. day and night phases.

The radiation source is an infrared lamp in both studies, neither of which control other climate conditions, e.g. air temperature or humidity, though wind speed is controlled in one study.


This may be because imports of machinery facilitate the international transmission of technical innovations or lead to increased export competitiveness (Coe et al., 1997; Xu and Wang, 1999; Mody and Yilmaz, 2002) . It is not uncommon for governments to encourage investment through tax breaks and other incentive programs. Although exchange rate policy is not typically considered to be an investment incentive program, currency valuation changes can affect the profitability of investment by, for example, altering the prices of imported investment goods.

This may be because imports of machinery facilitate the international transmission of technical innovations or lead to increased export competitiveness.


Social factors impact is controversial. A country with a very large population should provide many more online access points to its citizens than a country with a small population [5] . The bigger number of people in vulnerable groups (number of unemployed, retirement age population, recipients of social assistance benefit) should encourage the development of municipal websites' as these people are users of many public service. Result of this research confirms this especially in the group of urban municipalities.

Social factors impact is controversial.

A country with a very large population should provide many more online access points to its citizens than a country with a small population.


Increased urban temperatures have a significant impact on the energy consumption of buildings [1] . UHI negatively affects the indoor thermal environments during the summer months, and therefore encourages the occupants to use more AC to achieve their thermal comfort [2, 3] . This situation will be aggravated by increasing demand of AC, thus leads to the further growth of CO2 release [4] .

Increased urban temperatures have a significant impact on the energy consumption of buildings.

UHI negatively affects the indoor thermal environments during the summer months, and therefore encourages the occupants to use more AC to achieve their thermal comfort.

This situation will be aggravated by increasing demand of AC, thus leads to the further growth of CO2 release.


The statistical analysis of the local current j ω showed that the fluctuations are wider than experiments suggested and they reach to negative values. The reduction in width of the fluctuations could be explained by an averaging over space: this suggests that future measures of these fluctuations require smaller probes. The fact that the fluctuations can become negative indicates that locally in space and time there can be fluctuations that do not take energy out of the mean flow but actually deposit energy there. This is consistent with observations on plane shear flow where a connection to fluid structures could be established (Schumacher & Eckhardt 2004) .

This is consistent with observations on plane shear flow where a connection to fluid structures could be established.


To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to describe perioperative nausea and vomiting during endoscopic or microscopic tympanoplasty. According to our results, the endoscopic approach (Group 2) patients experienced statistically significantly lower perioperative nausea (38% vs. 68% in Group 1) and vomiting (13% vs. 42% in Group 1). Nausea and vomiting are unpleasant experiences after surgery, and may be the main sources of discomfort in postoperative recovery [7] . Nausea and vomiting can also expand recovery room time, increase nursing care requests and hospital stays, and can further increase total health care costs. The high levels of patient discomfort and dissatisfaction should also be considered [8] .

Nausea and vomiting are unpleasant experiences after surgery, and may be the main sources of discomfort in postoperative recovery.

The high levels of patient discomfort and dissatisfaction should also be considered.


Another possible explanation for the inconsistent findings is that the effectiveness of work-family balance practices in easing work-family conflict depends on the types of stresses that are experienced by the employees. Researchers distinguish between stress that individuals perceive as rewarding (challenge stress) and stress that is viewed as constraining (hindrance stress). This is because these two types of stress are differentially associated with job attitudes and behavioral intentions (Cavanaugh et al., 2000) . Despite evidence showing the effect of these two types of stress, there has been no attempt to integrate them with work-family and workfamily interfaces to explain the relationships between best practices and perceived work-family conflict.

This is because these two types of stress are differentially associated with job attitudes and behavioral intentions.


A key point is the specification of the class in which we look for first integrals. In the algebraic case, we follow the classical way of "Integration of differential equations in finite terms" [17] [18] [19] . In this frame, it seems reasonable to consider the class of all Liouvillian elements over the differential field C(x, y, z) of all rational fractions in three variables on the constant field C of complex numbers. We follow the definition of Liouvillian elements given by Michael Singer [20] .

In the algebraic case, we follow the classical way of "Integration of differential equations in finite terms".

We follow the definition of Liouvillian elements given by Michael Singer.


While seated on a comfortable chair, a study participant completed assessments for demographics and filled in the questionnaire concerning their subjective preference ratings related to the bottles. In the following, all sensors were attached and physiological signals were visually inspected to check for acceptable signal-to-noise ratios. The actual experiment consisted of 12 consecutive conditions (3 × emotion image and 3 bottles × 3 emotion images), each 5 minutes in duration. All conditions were counterbalanced between study participants (random condition order). During each condition, six startle probes (1 test stimulus for baseline measurement and 5 target stimuli) were presented with an inter-stimulus interval of 40 s to 70 s to minimise startle habituation (Filion et al., 1998) .

During each condition, six startle probes (1 test stimulus for baseline measurement and 5 target stimuli) were presented with an inter-stimulus interval of 40 s to 70 s to minimise startle habituation.


Imagine a man buys a bottle of wine for dinner. His choice falls on the one, which in his opinion has the most attractive design since he has no knowledge about wines whatsoever. At home his partner is not only disappointed about the wine, but also asks him if he couldn't have bought a bottle with at least a pretty design. Does this ring a bell? This anecdote highlights well-known variable aspects of perception (and/or the appreciation of aesthetics), which, inter alia, influence human preference (Holbrook & Schindler, 1994) . It seems obvious that even the design of a bottle can be evaluated in different ways depending on various factors including the perceivers' gender.

Does this ring a bell?

This anecdote highlights well-known variable aspects of perception (and/or the appreciation of aesthetics), which, inter alia, influence human preference.


Nondestructive inspection of structures for the identification of hidden defects that may occur due to abrupt impact or sequential accumulation of defect under fatigue loading during their operation has always been of great industrial interest. The flaws are a real threat for the reliability of a structure, as they can rapidly grow to cause catastrophic failure of the whole system. Hence, a significant amount of work has been conducted in order to determine the location and size of defects in structures which is vital for further investigation about remaining life or residual strength of the damaged structure. This work is always done in parallel with the development of nondestructive techniques [1] . Much effort is being taken to find the most reliable NDE methods for this task.

This work is always done in parallel with the development of nondestructive techniques.


Research studies demonstrate that ultrasound treatment has very little value, despite its known effects upon living tissues (Berry et al., 1980) . This is due to the chronic and degenerative nature of the lesion, and also to individual variations. For this reason it was not included in the present study.

Research studies demonstrate that ultrasound treatment has very little value, despite its known effects upon living tissues.


Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have received considerable attention over the past few decades. The rapid deployment of wireless MANETs in many emergency cases such as disaster areas, rescue operations, and battlefield operations make these types of networks more attractive than other solutions. A MANET network is a collection of mobile nodes that temporarily communicate to form a special sort of wireless network. The nodes in the MANET organize and configure themselves dynamically without the need of an administrator. Each node in the MANET can join or leave the network arbitrarily and is free to move at any speed and in any direction independently. Battery powered devices, such laptops, PDAs, or smartphones, are widely used in MANETs as mobile nodes. The limited energy resources of these devices force the wireless MANET developers to adapt a multi-hop route communication strategy in order to preserve the node's energy and prolong the MANETs lifetime [1] . Unfortunately, route failures frequently occur in MANETs because of the mobile nodes' mobility and limited energy resources. For this reason, therefore, an efficient routing protocol is needed to reconnect the source-destination route whenever routes are broken, and the routing protocol algorithms must react rapidly to environmental changes.

The limited energy resources of these devices force the wireless MANET developers to adapt a multi-hop route communication strategy in order to preserve the node's energy and prolong the MANETs lifetime.


The study of the material strength is an important subject because it is the first characteristic comes in mind when used in industrial applications specially that subjected to shock loading. Steel is a good example for the most strength materials, but its high density restricts its uses. Recently, aluminum alloys are increasingly employed in many important manufacturing areas, such as the automobile industry, aeronautics and the military [1] . Currently, it offers the greatest potential for cost effective weight savings in automotive body structures and closures. With a density of only 33% of that of steel and a greater strength-to-weight ratio, there is the possibility for a weight savings of 40% to 50%. Also, Mg alloys are very attractive materials for producing lightweight components for automobiles because they have densities that are 66% of Al alloys and 22% of steel. With their lower density and moderate strength, Al-Mg alloys are well suited for a number of applications, ranging from steering wheels and instrument panels to engine and transmission components. The mechanical properties of the AlMg plastically processed alloys depend on the content of magnesium in the alloy. With an increase of magnesium from 0.5% to 5% the properties increase; this rise is greater when magnesium increases from 3% to 6% [2] . There are many studies characterize the strength and mechanical properties of Al-based and Mg-based alloys with different elements [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . The present paper aims to characterize corrosion and mechanical properties of the quaternary alloy Al-1.5Cu-9.5Zn-3Mg as an example for a high strength material.

Recently, aluminum alloys are increasingly employed in many important manufacturing areas, such as the automobile industry, aeronautics and the military.

With an increase of magnesium from 0.5% to 5% the properties increase; this rise is greater when magnesium increases from 3% to 6%.

There are many studies characterize the strength and mechanical properties of Al-based and Mg-based alloys with different elements.


In our research, we have used confocal microscopy images of individual sets of GFP-labeled Drosophila neurons [10] . Each image is acquired in focal planes from dorsal to ventral. As can be seen from figure 1(b), the neuron images are characterized by low contrast, filament discontinuity, and poorly defined boundaries. Therefore, usual seed growing and edge finding algorithms described above fail to give reliable segmentation. We have developed Tree2Tree, an automatic neuron segmentation and morphology generation algorithm that does not require manual seed points, is not dependent on edge consistency and filament continuity, and handles neuron branching naturally. Tree2Tree gets its name from the fact that it attempts to fit a graph-theoretic tree to the neuronal tree.

In our research, we have used confocal microscopy images of individual sets of GFP-labeled Drosophila neurons.


With advances in technology and our understanding of the human body, upper-limb prosthetic technology has advanced and become more effective. Nonetheless, the cost of conventionally manufactured prosthetic hands is very high, ranging from $4,000 to $75,000 [1] . The high cost of upper-limb prostheses is a significant barrier to their usage among amputees. To overcome this barrier, 3D-printed prostheses are being made for those who cannot afford an expensive commercial prosthesis. The establishment of e-NABLE has stimulated the worldwide development of 3D-printed prostheses over the last 5 years. Designs of 3D-printed upper-limb prostheses are mostly opensource and freely available on the web. However, no evidence has been reported showing that short-or long-term use of 3D-printed myoelectric interface prostheses has improved the daily life of patients [2] . The objective of the present preliminary study was to evaluate whether 3D-printed upper-limb prostheses could provide higher functionality among transradial amputees, while meeting their financial requirements. The study was designed to evaluate patient-reported outcomes after using the prostheses.

Nonetheless, the cost of conventionally manufactured prosthetic hands is very high, ranging from $4,000 to $75,000.

However, no evidence has been reported showing that short-or long-term use of 3D-printed myoelectric interface prostheses has improved the daily life of patients.


In addition, non-organized physical activity participation individually predicts lower levels of loneliness in this study. This activity may include some of the same characteristics as sport participation in a self-organized informally structured arena that may or may not be carried out in the company of peers or adults. This type of leisure activity may also work as an environment that provides adequate resources to meet individuals' social provisions (Ernst and Cacioppo 1999) .

This type of leisure activity may also work as an environment that provides adequate resources to meet individuals' social provisions.


The use of the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale shows that it is possible to identify ecocentrism-anthropocentrism as a concept and gradient across a highly diverse visitor population. It supports the idea that more basic environmental attitudes can be compared across different cultures and settings [70] . In this study we found effects of an ecocentric orientation on some, but not all the issues examined. A higher degree of ecocentrism was associated with a stronger interest in experiencing nature in general, interest in wilderness and ecosystems and local culture. A higher degree of ecocentrism was also associated with more support for controlling tourism activities and the development of tourism infrastructure. We interpret these results to be in line with our assumptions, namely that visitors to Serengeti expressing a high degree of environmental orientation are also more interested in experiencing nature and ecosystems, and they are more concerned about human impacts on the environment. This is expressed as opposition to future tourism infrastructure development and support for controlling access to parts of the national park.

It supports the idea that more basic environmental attitudes can be compared across different cultures and settings.


In this paper we discuss how we evaluated the effectiveness of our model supporting an ill-defined and a well-defined task. The first study investigated the effectiveness of our model in database design (an ill-defined task), in the context of EER-Tutor [8] . In database design, students design database schemas using the EER model. Students need to know the concepts of the EER data model, use world knowledge about different realworld scenarios (i.e. enrolling students in a university etc.) and be able to handle the illdefinedness of the task. In the second study, we evaluated our model in data normalization, using NORMIT [8] . Data normalization is the process of refining a relational database schema in order to ensure that all relations are of high quality. This task requires normalizing a given database schema using the specified procedure. NORMIT contains a page for each step of this procedure, and students are requested to complete one step before continuing with the next one. The following two sections present the results of the study, followed by discussion and conclusions.

The first study investigated the effectiveness of our model in database design (an ill-defined task), in the context of EER-Tutor.

In the second study, we evaluated our model in data normalization, using NORMIT.


Nevertheless, the findings provide strong evidence on the uncertainty about the future availability of DAH in malaria elimination settings and the wide variation in support for malaria programmes by governments [12] . Many malaria-eliminating countries could risk facing funding gaps, which could be compounded if countries face funding cliffs with multiple donors phasing out simultaneously. These disruptions in service delivery could also confer negative cross-border externalities to neighbouring countries, compromising regional elimination targets and ultimately global eradication.

Nevertheless, the findings provide strong evidence on the uncertainty about the future availability of DAH in malaria elimination settings and the wide variation in support for malaria programmes by governments.


Most of the empirical studies are based on cross-sectional data within cross-country growth regressions, and, hence, provides only pooled estimates of the relationship between government expenditure and national income. The major shortcoming of these studies is that these kinds of regressions do not capture the dynamics of the relationship between these two variables and ignore country-specifi c factors (Ghali, 1998) . Thus, empirical studies aiming to test the validity of Wagner's law should base on time-series analysis of public expenditure in any country for as long a time period as possible.

The major shortcoming of these studies is that these kinds of regressions do not capture the dynamics of the relationship between these two variables and ignore country-specifi c factors.


According to Wagner there is a positive relationship between economic activities and government expenditure (Henrekson, 1993) . By an increase in economic activity, an upward trend in government activity occurs. In contrast with Wagner's proposition, Keynesian view assumes that growing government expenditure may lead to a higher level of aggregate demand, which in turn promotes economic growth.

According to Wagner there is a positive relationship between economic activities and government expenditure.


The pre-intervention to post-intervention testing did not reveal any significant changes in the participants' PYD scores, but this group already possessed high levels of PYD characteristics before the intervention. These high pre-test findings may be reflective of the positive and supportive environment of the school. In fact, the willingness of school administration to take part in this research project may indicate that this school is atypical. The fact that there were no significant decreases in PYD scores after the intervention may be noteworthy as a longitudinal study of PYD found that scores tend to decrease slightly during adolescence [36] . A decrease was not seen in this study. Furthermore, the qualitative themes that emerged from the study are indicative of increased PYD.

The fact that there were no significant decreases in PYD scores after the intervention may be noteworthy as a longitudinal study of PYD found that scores tend to decrease slightly during adolescence.

A decrease was not seen in this study.


The random assignment study of the three-year Framing Student Success project, in which three schools were assigned to receive the project (treatment schools) and three to serve as controls, assessed the impact of Framing Student Success instruction on students' literacy, math, and visual arts skills, and on the cognitive capacities exemplified by the Studio Habits of Mind (Hetland et al., 2007) . Impact of staff professional development experiences on teacher, specialist, and administrator competencies and attitudes was also assessed over time. Thus, the project was designed to study the impacts of rigorous, standards-based arts integrated instruction in urban, high-poverty elementary schools.

The random assignment study of the three-year Framing Student Success project, in which three schools were assigned to receive the project (treatment schools) and three to serve as controls, assessed the impact of Framing Student Success instruction on students' literacy, math, and visual arts skills, and on the cognitive capacities exemplified by the Studio Habits of Mind.


Every engineering design is subject to variations that can arise from a variety of sources, including manufacturing operations, variations in material properties, and the operating environment. When variations are ignored, nonrobust designs can result, which are expensive to produce or fail in service. Besides, the robustness of a mechanism is important when calibration is necessary because the lower the sensitivity of the mechanism to dimensional variations, the easier its calibration [1] .

Besides, the robustness of a mechanism is important when calibration is necessary because the lower the sensitivity of the mechanism to dimensional variations, the easier its calibration.


Solar greenhouses have recently become a quite popular solution in temperate climates to improve the energy behavior of the building envelope. As well known, they are a solar passive system constituted by a southward oriented external room, made mostly by transparent walls. The greenhouse has the effect (in winter time) of constituting a buffer zone between the house and the external environment, allowing the entrance of a large quantity of solar radiation [1] . To avoid summer overheating, sunspaces have to be equipped with shading devices or they have to be opened.

The greenhouse has the effect (in winter time) of constituting a buffer zone between the house and the external environment, allowing the entrance of a large quantity of solar radiation.


The situation of customer satisfaction is closely related to the core competitiveness of the bank. Therefore, many experts and scholars have conducted a series of studies on this. Rust and Zahorik constructed a mathematical model for urban retail banks to assess the value of customer satisfaction [17] . Hallowell studied the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and customer loyalty to profitability through the use of multiple measures of achievement, reliability, and profitability [11] .

Rust and Zahorik constructed a mathematical model for urban retail banks to assess the value of customer satisfaction.

Hallowell studied the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and customer loyalty to profitability through the use of multiple measures of achievement, reliability, and profitability.


The true essence of lean is to leverage the enthusiasm and knowledge of frontline employees and enable them to focus on ensuring that as much activity as possible in the end-to-end process supports delivering value to customers [30] . Therefore, we believe that customer identification is a valuable intangible asset of commercial banks, and customer satisfaction surveys are closely related to the development of commercial banks. Thus, the introduction of the Six Sigma method for the design of bank management processes is of strategic importance.

The true essence of lean is to leverage the enthusiasm and knowledge of frontline employees and enable them to focus on ensuring that as much activity as possible in the end-to-end process supports delivering value to customers.


In Groningen, an area in the Northeast of the Netherlands, earthquakes occur because of gas production from the Groningen field. Decades of gas production led to the depletion of the pressure of hydrocarbon gas within the reservoir pore space, causing the reservoir to compact. In turn, this compaction increases the mechanical loads acting on pre-existing geological faults within and close to the reservoir. Some small fraction of these faults become unstable and are therefore prone to slip. Abrupt slip on such a fault results in an earthquake that radiates seismic energy (Bourne and Oates 2017) . Although the magnitude of these induced earthquakes on Richter's scale is relatively low (< 3.5), they have a big impact on the buildings in the region due the soft surface soils in the area and the shallow depth (3 km beneath earth's surface) at which they occur (Van Thienen-Visser and Breunese 2015) . As the majority of the buildings in Groningen are composed of cavity walls with single whyte load bearing walls of unstrengthened clay brick masonry, and are designed to only resist wind loads, it is essential to improve the earthquake resistance of the existing buildings in the area to prevent collapse, with likely casualties. A broad range of strengthening techniques for enhancing the capacity of Unstrengthened Masonry (URM) walls are available nowadays. Traditional strengthening methods such as reinforced concrete jacketing and steel frames, however, add considerable mass to the structure, are labor intensive, and generally alter the esthetics of a building (Triantafillou 1998) . These disadvantages led to the idea of using Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) composites for strengthening of masonry. Typically, these materials are made of Carbon (CFRP), Glass (GFRP), Basalt (BFRP) or Aramid (AFRP) fibres bonded together by an epoxy-resin. The main advantages of FRP include high strength, high stiffness, low weight and immunity to corrosion (Ianniruberto and Rinaldi 2001) . Initially, FRP was used in the form of Externally Bonded (EB) sheets for both in-plane and out-of-plane strengthening of masonry. In this method firstly the surface of the substrate is prepared by removing contamination and weak surface layers, after which a FRP sheet is adhesively bonded to the substrate by means of an organic resin. This strengthening system has proven to be highly effective in enhancing both the shear capacity, the flexural capacity and the ductility of masonry walls. The main disadvantages of this method were however found to be vulnerability to environmental influences, vulnerability to fire, high cost of epoxies, lack of vapor permeability, inability to install the system on damp substrate and inability to install the system at low temperatures (Papanicolaou et al. 2008; Petersen 2009; Banijamali et al. 2015) .

Abrupt slip on such a fault results in an earthquake that radiates seismic energy.

Although the magnitude of these induced earthquakes on Richter's scale is relatively low (< 3.5), they have a big impact on the buildings in the region due the soft surface soils in the area and the shallow depth (3 km beneath earth's surface) at which they occur.

Traditional strengthening methods such as reinforced concrete jacketing and steel frames, however, add considerable mass to the structure, are labor intensive, and generally alter the esthetics of a building.

The main advantages of FRP include high strength, high stiffness, low weight and immunity to corrosion.

The main disadvantages of this method were however found to be vulnerability to environmental influences, vulnerability to fire, high cost of epoxies, lack of vapor permeability, inability to install the system on damp substrate and inability to install the system at low temperatures.


A schematic overview of the proposed combined reinforcement concept is shown in Fig. 1 . Previously static-cyclic in-plane shear tests were performed on full-scaled masonry specimens strengthened with this combined reinforcement system (Türkmen et al. 2018) . Within the full-scale wall experimental program rocking and sliding failure were observed, but no shear failure was observed in the surfaces for any of the specimens. It was therefore considered essential to perform additional tests to determine the in-plane shear capacity of 1 3 walls strengthened with this combined system. The diagonal compression test was selected for this purpose. While the influence of FRCM reinforcement on the in-plane behaviour of masonry wallettes has been a popular subject of research for the past years, the influence of the aforementioned combination of retrofit measures on the in-plane shear capacity of masonry has not been investigated before. Moreover, this experimental program aims to investigate the possible degrading effect of the proposed out-of-plane strengthening system on the in-plane shear strength of masonry panels. Finally, the experimental results will be compared to the outcomes of existing analytical models and design codes, to check the validity of these models for this combined retrofit system.

Previously static-cyclic in-plane shear tests were performed on full-scaled masonry specimens strengthened with this combined reinforcement system.


CNFs, despite their many CNT-like features and electrical characteristics, are often overlooked for potential interconnect applications where CNTs are considered a leading candidate to replace copper. Moreover, the differences between CNTs and CNFs are not always easy to discern even from highresolution imaging, and the distinction appears infrequently in the literature [8, 9, 19] . In the next two sections, where the interface nanostructures are discussed in conjunction with contact geometries, the differences and similarities in nanostructure and electrical behavior between CNT and CNF will become apparent. Due to this inconsequential and unnecessary distinction, CNF will be grouped together with CNT in the ensuing narrative, unless the discussion specifically calls for such distinction.

Moreover, the differences between CNTs and CNFs are not always easy to discern even from highresolution imaging, and the distinction appears infrequently in the literature.


Staggered grid schemes automatically couple the grid scale pressure to the remainder of the solution, and thus do not suffer from the problem of pressure oscillation [3] . Figure 5 shows the layout of the standard staggered grid, where the velocities are stored at locations offset from the pressure storage locations in their respective directions. The staggered scheme does have a number of disadvantages when compared to the non-staggered scheme. Each of the velocity components and the pressure have separate control volumes, leading to more complex coding, and additional interpolations are needed to obtain quantities on control volume boundaries.

Staggered grid schemes automatically couple the grid scale pressure to the remainder of the solution, and thus do not suffer from the problem of pressure oscillation.


In contrast to the iterative non-staggered grid solvers, it has been found that non-iterative fractional-step Navier-Stokes solvers, that is schemes in which the momentum/pressure equations system is only solved once at each time step, do not require the explicit modification of the continuity equation to ensure good performance and to prevent pressure oscillations. The nonstaggered fractional-step Navier-Stokes solver has previously been shown to be second-order in time [8] . Here the computational efficiency and spatial accuracy of the non-staggered grid scheme is compared directly to that of an equivalent staggered grid scheme for the bifurcated 8:1 cavity natural convection flow.

The nonstaggered fractional-step Navier-Stokes solver has previously been shown to be second-order in time.


Litman"s study found the science fiction genre to be positively associated with movie success and Prag and Casavant found the drama genre to be negatively associated with box office performance. This study hypothesized that action, animated, horror, and science fiction movies would enjoy greater box office success, but this hypothesis was not supported. While these findings suggest that genre may have some influence on movie success, the inconsistencies in research findings also suggest that genre may be less important than producing the right movie at the right time (Mayer, 1973) . While neither a science fiction nor an action film, Titanic succeeded by offering the right content at the right time, and the film had a special appeal among certain demographic groups. The story so successfully captured the imaginations of teenage girls that many of them saw the movie nine or ten times (Fitzpatrick, 1998) . Similarly, over the last two decades, Disney and other studios have come to recognize the enormous value of developing animated films targeted at young children and their parents (Brown, 2000; Corliss & Ressner, 1997) . And, the success of the Spider-Man movies has been attributed to the films" ability to capture the teenage imagination (Gabler, 2002) . Like Litman"s findings, but unlike the study by Prag and Casavant, this study suggests that star power ratings are not an important influence on box office revenues. Logic suggests that R rated movies will necessarily have a smaller audience base and therefore be at a disadvantage relative to other motion pictures with respect to box office revenues; thus this study hypothesized that R rated movies would be associated with lower box office revenues. While the correlation matrix shows a fairly high and negative correlation between R rated movies and motion picture revenues, the variable had no significant association with motion picture success in the regression results as shown in Table 3 . Similarly, the studies by Litman and Prag and Casavant found no significant relationship between ratings and movie success, so again we may conclude that producing the right movie may be a more significant influence than the ratings that are assigned. The final product attribute considered in this studywhether a movie was a sequel -was also examined by Prag and Casavant, and both that study and the current one found this factor to be positively associated with box office success.

While these findings suggest that genre may have some influence on movie success, the inconsistencies in research findings also suggest that genre may be less important than producing the right movie at the right time.

The story so successfully captured the imaginations of teenage girls that many of them saw the movie nine or ten times.

Similarly, over the last two decades, Disney and other studios have come to recognize the enormous value of developing animated films targeted at young children and their parents.

And, the success of the Spider-Man movies has been attributed to the films" ability to capture the teenage imagination.


Notably, the growth, development, and phenological stage of the plants can influence photosynthesis and change the plant's response to variations in environmental factors (RIBEIRO et al., 2004) . Thus, the evaluation period can interfere with the photosynthetic responses of the plants as shown herein, where differences between the evaluations at 30 and 40 DAT were observed. However, because the negative effects of competition were believed to a determinant in the responses obtained in this study, we decided to not perform a comparison between the evaluation periods and instead characterized them as distinct variables.

Notably, the growth, development, and phenological stage of the plants can influence photosynthesis and change the plant's response to variations in environmental factors.


Various studies have shown a correlation between lipid peroxidation and the chlorophyll level, indicating that the damages to the cell membranes trigger adverse effects on the photosynthetic apparatus (SUNOHARA et al., 2010; TRIPATHY et al., 2007; YIN et al., 2008) . In this case, a negative correlation between Chla/Chlb and TBARS (-0.97*) was observed for the low-level resistance biotype competing with the soybean plants (data not shown). Conversely, the main positive correlations occurred between the phenol levels and Chla/Chlb (0.95*), A and Gs (0.99* for evaluation at 30 DAT), A and CE (1.00* and 0.97* for evaluation at 30 and 40 DAT, respectively), and A and WUE (0.99* and 0.98* for evaluation at 30 and 40 DAT, respectively) (data not shown).

Various studies have shown a correlation between lipid peroxidation and the chlorophyll level, indicating that the damages to the cell membranes trigger adverse effects on the photosynthetic apparatus.


Scenarios regarding the impact of climate change on agriculture in Poland indicate a high probability of reducing the average yield of arable crops by 5-15% of the multi-year averages in almost the entire territory of the country. One exception may be the submontane areas that are located in the central part of the south of the country, where a slight increase in yield is predicted. In the Lower Silesian Voivodship, according to the scenario that was developed in the PESETA project, assuming an average increase in the surface temperature of the Earth by 3 °C (HadCM3/HIRHAM A2 scenario), there may be a 5% reduction in yields; in contrast, when there is a 7 °C increase in this temperature (scenario ECHAM4/RCA3 A2), the reduction in yield can reach 5-15%. According to the forecasts that were developed for Poland using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and the Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS) scenarios, the yield reduction may be much higher for plants with relatively small thermal requirements, such as: potatoes, sugar beets, but also wheat [51] .

According to the forecasts that were developed for Poland using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and the Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS) scenarios, the yield reduction may be much higher for plants with relatively small thermal requirements, such as: potatoes, sugar beets, but also wheat.


Scenarios regarding the impact of climate change on agriculture in Poland indicate a high probability of reducing the average yield of arable crops by 5-15% of the multi-year averages in almost the entire territory of the country. One exception may be the submontane areas that are located in the central part of the south of the country, where a slight increase in yield is predicted. In the Lower Silesian Voivodship, according to the scenario that was developed in the PESETA project, assuming an average increase in the surface temperature of the Earth by 3 • C (HadCM3/HIRHAM A2 scenario), there may be a 5% reduction in yields; in contrast, when there is a 7 • C increase in this temperature (scenario ECHAM4/RCA3 A2), the reduction in yield can reach 5-15%. According to the forecasts that were developed for Poland using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) and the Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS) scenarios, the yield reduction may be much higher for plants with relatively small thermal requirements, such as: potatoes, sugar beets, but also wheat [51] .


In this study, we investigate the effects of different seriesparallel connection modules on DSSCs. If the DSSC module uses only series connections and no parallel connections, which can obtain easily higher voltage, but a module assembly is impossible to convert electrically because of lower current. Thus, an appropriate level parallel connection in the DSSC module assembly must be fabricated to produce current, composing parallel module assembly with minimum loss that is essential. That is to say, it is important to maintain large internal shunt resistance ( SH ) in the module assembly. The current loss is caused by decrease of internal shunt resistance, which can be inhibited by proper series connected [1] .

The current loss is caused by decrease of internal shunt resistance, which can be inhibited by proper series connected.


City developmental levels are influenced by topographic features, top-planning coordination between local and higher levels of government, and the degree of social and economic development in different regions of an urban agglomeration. Regional transportation infrastructure development helps connect neighboring cities and enhances the exchange of material and energy flows between cities. Currently, there are more miles of highways than of railways throughout the world, but the long-term growth rate of railways is higher than that of highway systems [9, 10] . In urban agglomeration studies, unlike the studies of single cities, we need to focus on the external connectivity of the transportation system, including development of the railway and arterial road networks between cities. Therefore, the developmental impact of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the railway network, on the urban agglomeration ecosystem must be considered.

Currently, there are more miles of highways than of railways throughout the world, but the long-term growth rate of railways is higher than that of highway systems.


It was reported recently that the spin transition can be tuned by varying coligands in the basic skeleton of the complexes of [Fe III L 5 X] type; here L 5 stands for a pentadentate Schiff base whereas X − is a monodentate pseudohalido coligand (KRÜGER et al., 2013; KRÜGER et al., 2015; MASÁROVÁ et al., 2015; NEMEC et al., 2011; ŠALITROŠ et al., 2009) . Although chemists try to rationalize ΔH by changing the ligand field strength, the aspects influencing the ΔS cofactor are unclear so far. To our hypothesis some magnetostructural relationships could bring an answer of how to get the spin crossover with a desired transition temperature.

It was reported recently that the spin transition can be tuned by varying coligands in the basic skeleton of the complexes of [Fe III L 5 X] type; here L 5 stands for a pentadentate Schiff base whereas X − is a monodentate pseudohalido coligand.


In addition to purely theoretical attempts to improve CNT or related theories, during the last two decades computational methods have given much insight into the nucleation process. Density functional theories, Monte Carlo methods and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have all been applied with success to give more realistic description of nucleation than CNT. Of these, MD is probably the most versatile method because it does not assume equilibrium conditions or pose any geometrical constraints on the nucleating clusters. On the downside, MD can be a very time-consuming method. The advances in computer technology have alleviated this problem greatly and in recent years nucleation simulations in very large systems have become possible for relatively simple (atoms or) molecules [3] .

The advances in computer technology have alleviated this problem greatly and in recent years nucleation simulations in very large systems have become possible for relatively simple (atoms or) molecules.


A criterion is required to distinguish vapour atoms from cluster atoms. We used the Stillinger definition: an atom belongs to the cluster if it has at least one neighbour within the distance r s ¼ 1:5s. Only the largest cluster in the simulation box is regarded as the cluster, smaller entities that satisfy the Stillinger definition are considered to be part of the surrounding vapour. It has been shown that a small variation of Stillinger radius in the neighbourhood of 1:5s does not lead to a significant change in the cluster equilibrium size distribution [4, 25] .

It has been shown that a small variation of Stillinger radius in the neighbourhood of 1:5s does not lead to a significant change in the cluster equilibrium size distribution.


Shared memory multi-processors, and multi-core systems, are a common architecture to harness parallelism. Though the shared memory abstraction is useful to provide a unified version of data-structures across cores, the requisite cache-coherency traffic can prohibit scalability. A cacheline modified on a single core, while accessed or modified in parallel on other cores, can result in significant overheads on the order of microseconds [27] . Consistency of such datastructures often involves lock hierarchies, and liveness of nodes requires reference counting. Both locks and reference counts have been significant impediments to scalability in existing systems [6] .

A cacheline modified on a single core, while accessed or modified in parallel on other cores, can result in significant overheads on the order of microseconds.

Both locks and reference counts have been significant impediments to scalability in existing systems.


Cartesian grid methods with local refinement have been in the literature for a number of years. Their main advantages are in the simplification of the grid generation process and the ease with which local refinement of the grid can be accomplished through recursive cell-splitting operations. These methods have enjoyed the majority of their success when applied to the Euler equations, where they are commonly combined with an interpolation or cut-cell technique to handle embedded boundaries and compute the inviscid flow around complex geometrical configurations [1] [2] [3] .

These methods have enjoyed the majority of their success when applied to the Euler equations, where they are commonly combined with an interpolation or cut-cell technique to handle embedded boundaries and compute the inviscid flow around complex geometrical configurations.


PPAR regulates adipogenesis with the help of C/EBP family of proteins [37] . Studies conducted on mammary tumor samples show that increased expression of PPAR results in a corresponding increase in C/EBP , and subsequent increase in cancer cell proliferation [38] . In contrast, other studies showed that C/EBP was not involved in cancer progression [17] . Additional reports have shown that PPAR regulates the SREBP family of transcription factors that are associated with adipocyte differentiation, cholesterol synthesis, and lipid metabolism [39, 40] . PPAR induces ectopic expression of AAD/SREBP-1c and a related transcription factor SREBP 2 in 3T3L1 cells and HepG2 cells [41] . SREBP-1c and SREBP 2 in turn regulate lipid metabolism by activating FASN [42] . Studies show that there is an increased expression of SREBP-1c and FASN mRNA levels, while SREBP-2 showed less variation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells [18] . Furthermore, targeting SREBP-1c and FASN has recently been recommended as a treatment against breast cancer [43] . PPAR regulates nuclear translocation of SREBP-1c by controlling lipin 1, a phosphatidic acid phosphatase in 3T3-L1 adipocytes [44] . Lipin 1 is also associated with insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in human samples [45] . The decreased level of lipin 1 in the present study suggests that combination treatment may also have a potential role in decreasing glucose metabolism in breast cancer cells. Additional experiments are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

PPAR regulates adipogenesis with the help of C/EBP family of proteins.

Studies conducted on mammary tumor samples show that increased expression of PPAR results in a corresponding increase in C/EBP , and subsequent increase in cancer cell proliferation.

In contrast, other studies showed that C/EBP was not involved in cancer progression.

Additional reports have shown that PPAR regulates the SREBP family of transcription factors that are associated with adipocyte differentiation, cholesterol synthesis, and lipid metabolism.

PPAR induces ectopic expression of AAD/SREBP-1c and a related transcription factor SREBP 2 in 3T3L1 cells and HepG2 cells.

SREBP-1c and SREBP 2 in turn regulate lipid metabolism by activating FASN.

Studies show that there is an increased expression of SREBP-1c and FASN mRNA levels, while SREBP-2 showed less variation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Furthermore, targeting SREBP-1c and FASN has recently been recommended as a treatment against breast cancer.

PPAR regulates nuclear translocation of SREBP-1c by controlling lipin 1, a phosphatidic acid phosphatase in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Lipin 1 is also associated with insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in human samples.


A unit cell composed of two different spheres with the same radii and different materials or the same dielectric materials and different radii can provide the required electric and magnetic dipole modes [6, 12, 13] . The low dielectric material of the nanospheres in optical regimes generates some difficulties in tuning optical double negative (DNG) medium. There are also other works where one set of dielectric nanoparticles has been used to accomplish the backward wave behavior in optical spectrum [7] . In such works a 3-D array of dielectric particles are used where the spheres operate in their magnetic modes and their couplings offer electric modes. Bringing the dielectric spheres close to each other, increases their electromagnetic coupling in such a way that both electric and magnetic resonances can be achieved around the same frequency region. Yet, we do not have complete control over the position of the resonances.

A unit cell composed of two different spheres with the same radii and different materials or the same dielectric materials and different radii can provide the required electric and magnetic dipole modes.

There are also other works where one set of dielectric nanoparticles has been used to accomplish the backward wave behavior in optical spectrum.


Significant amount of research has been performed to realize metamaterials for novel applications. A large variety of the physical effects associated with double and single negative metamaterials and some of their very interesting impacts have been addressed [2] . Among these interesting features are negative index and negative refraction behaviors, usually known as left handed materials (LHMs) [3] . Unique applications have been highlighted, such as phase compensation, electrically small resonators, negative angles of refraction, subwavelength waveguides with lateral dimension below diffraction limits, high-performance focusing, backward-wave media, photon tunneling and electrically small antennas [1, [3] [4] [5] .

A large variety of the physical effects associated with double and single negative metamaterials and some of their very interesting impacts have been addressed.

Among these interesting features are negative index and negative refraction behaviors, usually known as left handed materials (LHMs).

Unique applications have been highlighted, such as phase compensation, electrically small resonators, negative angles of refraction, subwavelength waveguides with lateral dimension below diffraction limits, high-performance focusing, backward-wave media, photon tunneling and electrically small antennas [1.


In order to obtain the desired response, the sliding mode technique changes the structure of the controller in response to the changing state of the system. This is realized by the use of a high speed switching control forcing the trajectory of the system to move to and stay in a predetermined surface which is called sliding surface. The regime of a control system in the sliding surface is called Sliding Mode. In sliding mode a system's response remains insensitive to parameter variations and disturbances [6] . Unlike other robust schemes, which are computationally intensive linear methods, analogue implementations or digital computation of sliding mode is simple.

In sliding mode a system's response remains insensitive to parameter variations and disturbances.


Electronic power converters are used as an actuator for electromechanical systems. The buck type dc-dc converters are used in applications where the required output voltage is lower than the source voltage. Different control algorithms are applied to regulate dc-dc converters to achieve a robust output voltage. As dc-dc converters are nonlinear and time variant systems, the application of linear control techniques for the control of these converters are not suitable. In order to design a linear control system using classical linear control techniques, the small signal model is derived by linearization around a precise operating point from the state space average model [1] . The controllers based on these techniques are simple to implement however, it is difficult to account the variation of system parameters, because of the dependence of small signal model parameters on the converter operating point [2] . Variations of system parameters and large signal transients such as those produced in the start up or against changes in the load, cannot be dealt with these techniques. Multiloop control techniques, such as current mode control, have greatly improved the dynamic behavior, but the control design remains difficult especially for higher order converter topologies [3] .

In order to design a linear control system using classical linear control techniques, the small signal model is derived by linearization around a precise operating point from the state space average model.

The controllers based on these techniques are simple to implement however, it is difficult to account the variation of system parameters, because of the dependence of small signal model parameters on the converter operating point.

Multiloop control techniques, such as current mode control, have greatly improved the dynamic behavior, but the control design remains difficult especially for higher order converter topologies.


Cables for high current applications consist invariably of many superconducting strands in the form of a cable bundle where the strands are connected in parallel. In order to reduce the induced currents and the corresponding losses when exposed to external field changes, the strands are twisted to achieve transposition. This fabrication technique results in a wide variety of cable configurations of which Rutherford cables for accelerator magnets and Cable-in-ConduitConductors (CICC) for fusion magnets are two typical examples. For any possible configuration the question on how the current distributes among the parallel strands may be of vital importance. Several experiments and theoretical works have shown that non uniform current distribution among the strands of Rutherford cables can lead to the development of a longitudinal oscillation of the field harmonics in the bore of accelerator dipoles, usually referred to as "magnetic field pattern" [1] . It has also been shown that the decay of the field harmonics measured during constant field phases such as the phase of injection of particle beams into the accelerator is related through strand magnetization to the current distribution among the cable strands [2, 3] . These phenomena must be predicted and corrected for the safe operation of a particle accelerator.

Several experiments and theoretical works have shown that non uniform current distribution among the strands of Rutherford cables can lead to the development of a longitudinal oscillation of the field harmonics in the bore of accelerator dipoles, usually referred to as "magnetic field pattern".

It has also been shown that the decay of the field harmonics measured during constant field phases such as the phase of injection of particle beams into the accelerator is related through strand magnetization to the current distribution among the cable strands.


The wave nature of light which explains the Poisson's spot ("Tache de Poisson-Fresnel-Arago") has an interesting history. In the beginning of the 19 th century, Fresnel submitted a paper on the theory of diffraction supporting the wave nature of light for a contest sponsored by the French Academy. Poisson, a member of the judging committee, used Fresnel's theory to show the odd prediction that a bright spot should appear behind a circular obstacle. Arago, another member of the committee, thus observed the spot experimentally. Fresnel won the competition, and the phenomenon is known in history as Poisson's or Arago's spot [1] .

Fresnel won the competition, and the phenomenon is known in history as Poisson's or Arago's spot.


Temozolomide (TMZ), a DTIC derivative, is a secondgeneration imidazotetrazine alkylating agent that is hydrolyzed to the active metabolite 5-(3,3-methyltriazen-1-yl) imidazole-4-carboxamide which further decomposes into a DNA methylating species [5] . TMZ represents a new analogue of DTIC with more desirable properties because it can enter the cerebrospinal fluid and does not require hepatic metabolism for activation. It has the same cytotoxic activity as DTIC, which results from its ability to add a methyl group to the O 6 position of guanine in genomic DNA [6] . TMZ has been approved for the treatment of brain metastasis and has demonstrated clinical activity against melanoma, but overall it yields response rates similar to that of DTIC.

Temozolomide (TMZ), a DTIC derivative, is a secondgeneration imidazotetrazine alkylating agent that is hydrolyzed to the active metabolite 5-(3,3-methyltriazen-1-yl) imidazole-4-carboxamide which further decomposes into a DNA methylating species.

It has the same cytotoxic activity as DTIC, which results from its ability to add a methyl group to the O 6 position of guanine in genomic DNA.


Gray-scale lithography is an efficient technique for the fabrication of microlens arrays, gray-scale photomasks, highresolution optical images for micro/nano image storage, and micro-artworks [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] . In order to fabricate high-quality gray-scale images, material systems need to possess continuous-tone gray-scale levels. Thus, high-energy beam-sensitive (HEBS) glass was used for gray-scale lithography [1] . However, gray-scale patterns on the HEBS glass were determined by expensive electron beam exposure, which suffers from high cost. Organic photoresists such as SU-8 also were utilized to fabricate micro/nano structures, for instance, bridges, cantilevers, and micromixers by grayscale lithography [7] . However, the molecular weight of organic photoresists was large, and the boundary between unexposed and exposed areas is unclear after laser exposure [8] .

Gray-scale lithography is an efficient technique for the fabrication of microlens arrays, gray-scale photomasks, highresolution optical images for micro/nano image storage, and micro-artworks.

Thus, high-energy beam-sensitive (HEBS) glass was used for gray-scale lithography.

Organic photoresists such as SU-8 also were utilized to fabricate micro/nano structures, for instance, bridges, cantilevers, and micromixers by grayscale lithography.

However, the molecular weight of organic photoresists was large, and the boundary between unexposed and exposed areas is unclear after laser exposure.


For the purpose of more clearly understanding phase evolution, Fig. 5 shows XRD patterns of TeO 0.7 thin film by different laser energy irradiations. It is clearly seen that the as-deposited TeO 0.7 thin film was amorphous while diffraction peaks corresponding to crystalline Te occurred when samples were irradiated by laser energy. Moreover, the diffraction peaks become stronger with the increment of laser energy from 0 to 4200 mJ∕cm 2 . When the laser energy was higher than 4200 mJ∕cm 2 , the diffraction peaks of Te crystals become weaker. It is reported that the as-deposited TeO 0.7 thin film consisted of finely dispersed, partly agglomerated crystalline Te particles embedded in an amorphous TeO 2 matrix [22, 23] . However, laser irradiation led to the melting of Te and TeO 2 composites, followed by segregation and crystallization of Te. When laser energy was too high, the large temperature gradient of the melting of Te and TeO 2 composites resulted in partly amorphization Te, again. Thus, weaker diffraction peaks appeared.

It is reported that the as-deposited TeO 0.7 thin film consisted of finely dispersed, partly agglomerated crystalline Te particles embedded in an amorphous TeO 2 matrix.


Thus, gray-scale levels were fabricated as well as reflectivity spectra of TeO 0.7 thin film irradiated by various laser energy densities, as shown in Fig. 8 . The inset of Fig. 8 displays gray-scale tones. It is clear that the gray-scale become lighter first and then was deeper with increasing laser energy. It was found from reflectivity spectra that the reflectivity in visible light range enhanced with the increment of laser energy from 0 to 2800 mJ∕cm 2 . However, further increasing laser energy from 2800 to 5600 mJ∕cm 2 led to the gradual reduction of reflectivity. The segregation of Te from TeO 2 matrix was responsible for the reflectivity changes [23] . In general, thin films showing Te segregation tended to have larger reflectivity increases after laser irradiations than films not showing such segregation. Moreover, the reflectivity changes were in good agreement with "virtual" bandgap energy of TeO 0.7 thin films, as shown in Fig. 7(b) . Thereby, we were capable of achieving a gray-scale image recording by adjusting the bandgap of TeO 0.7 thin films, and adjusting "virtual" optical bandgap can be realized through changing laser irradiation energy. Figure 9 presents the images recorded in TeO 0.7 thin film, where the laser energy was changed from 0 to 5600 mJ∕cm 2 . The recorded patterns were clear, and the appearance was lifelike. Results suggested that as-deposited TeO 0.7 thin film can be used as image recording material.

The segregation of Te from TeO 2 matrix was responsible for the reflectivity changes.


Chalcogenide material, such as Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 and AgInSbTe, have been widely applied to data storage because of the obvious difference in electrical and optical reflectivity between its amorphous and crystalline states [9] [10] [11] . Chalcogenide thin films have been experimentally verified to be excellent inorganic resists through the etching selectivity between crystalline and amorphous states [12] [13] [14] . Besides, a transient superresolution effect also can be realized on chalcogenide materials based on nonlinear saturation absorption characteristics [15] [16] [17] . TeO x thin film, as one of chalcogenide materials, has been used for an optical disk memory and heat-mode inorganic photoresist [18] [19] [20] . Telluride suboxide TeO x with x < 2, which was prepared by either the co-evaporation of Te and TeO 2 or radio-frequency reactive magnetron-control sputtering technique, was found to have sufficient sensitivity to laser energy and excellent stability.

Chalcogenide material, such as Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 and AgInSbTe, have been widely applied to data storage because of the obvious difference in electrical and optical reflectivity between its amorphous and crystalline states.

Chalcogenide thin films have been experimentally verified to be excellent inorganic resists through the etching selectivity between crystalline and amorphous states.

Besides, a transient superresolution effect also can be realized on chalcogenide materials based on nonlinear saturation absorption characteristics.

TeO x thin film, as one of chalcogenide materials, has been used for an optical disk memory and heat-mode inorganic photoresist.


Oral hypoglycemics and insulins are the mainstay of pharmacotherapies for treating both type 2 and type 1 diabetes [2] . While these may be regarded as relatively inexpensive pharmaceutical products by well-funded health systems in industrialized countries, it is not so in resource-limited countries. New oral hypoglycemic medications (thiazolidinediones and dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitors) and new insulin molecules and delivery formulations (insulin analogues, human insulin and insulin analogues administered via pens) have become available over the last decade; these are more expensive than older products (e.g., metformin, human insulins in vials and syringes).

Oral hypoglycemics and insulins are the mainstay of pharmacotherapies for treating both type 2 and type 1 diabetes.


As one of the most excellent gain media for solid state lasers, the neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO 4 ) has attracted much attention owing to its outstanding features (e.g., high emission cross section, broad absorption bands, good mechanical and thermal properties) [1] . Optical waveguides can confine light propagation in small volumes, in which higher optical intensities could be reached in respect to the bulks [2] . Benefiting from high intracavity intensity owing to the reduced active volumes, waveguide lasers show many advantages when compared to their bulk counterparts, such as lower threshold and higher laser slope efficiencies [3] [4] [5] [6] . In addition, the waveguide laser components are basic minor light sources that can be integrated in single photonic circuit for diverse applications [2] . As of yet, highly efficient waveguide lasers have been realized in a wide range of materials [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] .

As one of the most excellent gain media for solid state lasers, the neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO 4 ) has attracted much attention owing to its outstanding features (e.g., high emission cross section, broad absorption bands, good mechanical and thermal properties).

Optical waveguides can confine light propagation in small volumes, in which higher optical intensities could be reached in respect to the bulks.

Benefiting from high intracavity intensity owing to the reduced active volumes, waveguide lasers show many advantages when compared to their bulk counterparts, such as lower threshold and higher laser slope efficiencies.

In addition, the waveguide laser components are basic minor light sources that can be integrated in single photonic circuit for diverse applications.

As of yet, highly efficient waveguide lasers have been realized in a wide range of materials.


In Korea, age-standardized incidence rate of cervical cancer has been steadily decreasing with the rate of 18.6 per 100,000 in 1999 to 11.7 per 100,000 in 2011 [1] . As of 2012, the agestandardized incidence rate of cervical cancer in Korea was lower than that of Japan whereas higher than that of other developed countries such as United States or United Kingdom [1] . Moreover, according to the National Cancer Registry statistics in 2012, the survival rate of cervical cancer was high compared to other cancers with the 5-year survival rate of 80.1% from 2007 to 2011 [1] . It was estimated that 4 of 5 people would survive more than 5 years after their initial diagnosis. One of the substantial factors that led to this critical change is the National Cancer Screening Program in Korea. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection was found to play a crucial role in cause of cervical cancer and HPV test is being presented as a new screening method for cervical cancer; therefore, the review on cervical cancer screening guideline was necessary.

In Korea, age-standardized incidence rate of cervical cancer has been steadily decreasing with the rate of 18.6 per 100,000 in 1999 to 11.7 per 100,000 in 2011.

As of 2012, the agestandardized incidence rate of cervical cancer in Korea was lower than that of Japan whereas higher than that of other developed countries such as United States or United Kingdom.

Moreover, according to the National Cancer Registry statistics in 2012, the survival rate of cervical cancer was high compared to other cancers with the 5-year survival rate of 80.1% from 2007 to 2011.


Transesterification of vegetable oil with noncatalytic supercritical alcohol provides a new way of producing biodiesel due to the reaction of free fatty acids and triglycerides simultaneously. The process does not require a catalyst and takes place in a shorter reaction time and almost no sensitivity to water content. Besides, this method is susceptible to polymerization [51] . Several weaknesses of supercritical alcohol technology are the high cost of processing equipment, high energy requirement, and high pressure and temperature leading to safety issue [52] . This process also requires extreme reaction temperatures and pressures so that purification step becomes difficult due to the increase in viscosity. To overcome the high cost and energy consumption, transesterifica-tion process used two-stage supercritical reaction, instead of conventional single-step reaction [51, 53] . Meanwhile, the utilization of cosolvents, such as carbon dioxide, hexane, and calcium oxide, can decrease the reaction temperature and pressure [54] [55] [56] . However, the supercritical technology is a high-risk process and unsafe. If there were any leakages on the reactor at the reaction pressure higher than 8.1 MPa would adequate to cause catastrophe effect [52] .

Besides, this method is susceptible to polymerization.

Several weaknesses of supercritical alcohol technology are the high cost of processing equipment, high energy requirement, and high pressure and temperature leading to safety issue.

To overcome the high cost and energy consumption, transesterifica-tion process used two-stage supercritical reaction, instead of conventional single-step reaction.

Meanwhile, the utilization of cosolvents, such as carbon dioxide, hexane, and calcium oxide, can decrease the reaction temperature and pressure.

If there were any leakages on the reactor at the reaction pressure higher than 8.1 MPa would adequate to cause catastrophe effect.