In recent years relativistic viscous hydrodynamical models have been applied with great success to the description of the non-central anisotropic flow measured at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . Despite this success, it is well known viscous hydrodynamics is not an accurate description during early times after the initial impact. The hot and dense matter created after the collision is rather small in transverse extent and expands very rapidly in the longitudinal direction. In addition, transverse expansion of the matter is not expected to become important until times on the order of 3 or 4 fm/c after the collision. As a consequence, large momentum-space anisotropies are developed at early-times. When these anisotropies are large the shear viscous corrections can be of the same order or larger than the isotropic pressure, casting doubt on the validity of viscous hydrodynamics to faithfully model the dynamics. For example, it is known that within the framework of 2nd-order viscous hydrodynamics large momentum-space anisotropies can lead to negative longitudinal pressure at early times [9] .

In recent years relativistic viscous hydrodynamical models have been applied with great success to the description of the non-central anisotropic flow measured at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

For example, it is known that within the framework of 2nd-order viscous hydrodynamics large momentum-space anisotropies can lead to negative longitudinal pressure at early times.


The family Trionychidae, which belongs to the suborder Cryptodira and comprises about 250 named species, is one of the most unusual groups among turtles (Prichard, 1979; Ernst and Barbour, 1989) . Members of this family are aquatic and widely distributed worldwide. Phylogenetic position of Trionychidae is still a matter of controversy: analyses based on molecular and morphological data are inconsistent (Gaffney, 1984; Shaffer et al., 1997) . Recent molecular data, however, are inclined to conclude that this family belongs to a basal group of the cryptodirans (Shaffer et al., 1997) . Trionychids characteristically possess a long and retractile neck as well as three claws on each paddle-like limb, as implied by their family name. They are distinguished from other chelonian families by their unique carapace, which is covered by leathery skin instead of horny scutes. It is generally accepted that Trionychidae are closely related to Carettochelyidae which also lacks horny scutes on the shell. The carapace-plastron complex of one trionychid species, Trionyx ferox, has been shown to contain α-keratin. This distinguishes it from many other families, in which only hard β-keratin is detected in the carapace (Alexander, 1969; Baden and Maderson, 1970; Spearman, 1969) . Despite these unique features, little is known about trionychid embryonic development, which may differ from other chelonian species.

The family Trionychidae, which belongs to the suborder Cryptodira and comprises about 250 named species, is one of the most unusual groups among turtles.

Phylogenetic position of Trionychidae is still a matter of controversy: analyses based on molecular and morphological data are inconsistent.

Recent molecular data, however, are inclined to conclude that this family belongs to a basal group of the cryptodirans.

This distinguishes it from many other families, in which only hard β-keratin is detected in the carapace.


The survival of marine fish larvae is closely linked to how fast they grow through developmental stages that are particularly vulnerable to mortality via starvation and predation (Houde 1987) . Growth rates largely depend on a larva's nutritional state, which can be markedly influenced by changes in food availability and hydrographic features of the environment, especially temperature (Heath 1992) . Although there is always a time lag between cause (good or poor feeding conditions) and effect (fast growth or starvation), larval feeding and growth history can be reconstructed from physiological changes resulting from varying environmental conditions (Bergeron & Boulhic 1994) . We measured a variety of commonly applied nutritional proxies in Baltic sprat to construct a more complete picture of whether bimodal depth distributions were associated with differences in larval condition.

The survival of marine fish larvae is closely linked to how fast they grow through developmental stages that are particularly vulnerable to mortality via starvation and predation.

Growth rates largely depend on a larva's nutritional state, which can be markedly influenced by changes in food availability and hydrographic features of the environment, especially temperature.

Although there is always a time lag between cause (good or poor feeding conditions) and effect (fast growth or starvation), larval feeding and growth history can be reconstructed from physiological changes resulting from varying environmental conditions.


The implementation will be explained using a notation that resembles that of the functional programming language Haskell (www.haskell.org) [3] . In depth knowledge of Haskell syntax is not needed to read this paper, though we assume the reader is familiar with functional programming. Familiarity with the concept of Haskel class and monads will be quite helpful. An actual Haskell implementation of the example is available on request.

The implementation will be explained using a notation that resembles that of the functional programming language Haskell (www.haskell.org).


The B. subtilis membrane contains the glucolipids (monoglucosyldiacylglycerol, diglucosyldiacylglycerol and triglucosyldiacylglycerol) in addition to phospholipids (phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, cardiolipin and lysylphosphatidylglycerol) [8] [9] . Glucolipids are synthesized by the gene product of ugtP, which processively transfers glucose from UDP-glucose to diacylglycerol [10] . UgtP protein is implicated in nutrient-dependent cell size control [11] .

The B. subtilis membrane contains the glucolipids (monoglucosyldiacylglycerol, diglucosyldiacylglycerol and triglucosyldiacylglycerol) in addition to phospholipids (phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, cardiolipin and lysylphosphatidylglycerol).

Glucolipids are synthesized by the gene product of ugtP, which processively transfers glucose from UDP-glucose to diacylglycerol.

UgtP protein is implicated in nutrient-dependent cell size control.


To conclude, we found that absorption dominates high EMI shielding efficiency of nanometrically thin PyC films. Specifically, a free standing PyC film of 110 nm thickness allows less than 20% of incident power to penetrate through because of 50% of absorption and more than 25% of reflection losses. This allows one to propose PyC films as an alternative to graphene-based EMI shields and filters [4, 9] . At the optimal thickness, the absorption losses in the free standing film can be as high as 50%; however, interference effects can make losses even higher in the binary structures, when the PyC film is placed onto the back of the dielectric substrate. This opens opportunities for prototyping EM devices with enhanced absorption by using PyC and other conductive ultra-thin films. It is also worth noting that the absorbance, reflectance and transmittance of the PyC films deposited on silica substrate show very weak dependence on the frequency within the K a -band.

This allows one to propose PyC films as an alternative to graphene-based EMI shields and filters.


As a device for monitoring the marine environment, protecting marine rights and modern military weapons, the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has a wide range of application prospects and has become a hot research topic for intelligent ships [1] . In the complex marine environment conditions, dynamically autonomous collision avoidance is the premise and foundation for the USV to navigate safely and successfully accomplish the assigned tasks [2] . It is also one of the key research contents of the automatic decision-making in USV intelligent control technology.

As a device for monitoring the marine environment, protecting marine rights and modern military weapons, the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) has a wide range of application prospects and has become a hot research topic for intelligent ships.

In the complex marine environment conditions, dynamically autonomous collision avoidance is the premise and foundation for the USV to navigate safely and successfully accomplish the assigned tasks.


There have been few measurements of Hg • over the North Pacific. The first airborne observations were made during the ACE-Asia 2001 campaign over the western Pacific. Plumes containing industrial emissions contained the highest levels that reached 706, 336, and 336 ppqv from China, Korea, and Japan respectively (Friedli et al., 2004) . Background concentrations of Hg • from the surface to 7 km were estimated to be about 146 ppqv. Overall, the vertical distribution of Hg • was ∼224 ppqv at 0.5 km, decreasing slightly to 190 ppqv from 1 to 6 km, and then again sharply to 146 ppqv at 7 km. In a later ground-based study directly downwind of Asian continental outflow at Okinawa, Japan, the mean Hg • concentration was 224 ppqv over the period 23 March to 2 May 2004 (Jaffe et al., 2005) .

Plumes containing industrial emissions contained the highest levels that reached 706, 336, and 336 ppqv from China, Korea, and Japan respectively.

In a later ground-based study directly downwind of Asian continental outflow at Okinawa, Japan, the mean Hg • concentration was 224 ppqv over the period 23 March to 2 May 2004.


The bulk Reynolds number in the flow, calculated as Re ϭ LU F , under the range of rotation rates tested (0.2 to 6.4 rotations per second [rps] ) varied between 10 and 320. Under these conditions flow was expected to be nonturbulent (van Duuren 1968) . Visualization with Kalliroscopic fluid confirmed the flow was laminar.

Under these conditions flow was expected to be nonturbulent.


The relationship between the total bioluminescent response and the shear stimulus was similar between the two isolates and similar to that previously determined in fully developed flow. Integrated bioluminescence varied with the 1.8 power of shear in isolate 104 and with the 2.0 power of shear in isolate HJ. In fully developed laminar Couette flow, bioluminescence varied with the 1.9 power of shear in isolate 70A (Latz et al. 1994) .

In fully developed laminar Couette flow, bioluminescence varied with the 1.9 power of shear in isolate 70A.


Dead leaves in A. annua should be harvested because they have high artemisinin concentrations (Lommen et al., 2006) . Fortunately, dead leaves are not abscised in A. annua. Care should be taken, however, to collect lose leaf material during harvesting and drying.

Dead leaves in A. annua should be harvested because they have high artemisinin concentrations.


It should be acknowledged that the sample sizes were small considering the analytical techniques applied. In addition, using parental reports has some disadvantages such that parent report contains bias and shows only modest correlation with reports from other raters [54] . However, no single source of information could be considered the gold standard and an optimal solution is to have a selection of methods such as in-person testing and multiple raters and account for rater's bias in model fitting [55] . Parents are indeed familiar with child behavior across time and situations. Parental assessment of children's social behavior is a practical option for large samples, especially young children. Although the data for validating the EToMS were obtained from parents, the items are potentially suitable for teachers to assess children's empathy and ToM. Further investigations should consider achieving EToMS reports from multiple informants including parents, teachers, social workers, and/or school psychologists to provide a versatile assessment tool of children's empathy and theory of mind development.

In addition, using parental reports has some disadvantages such that parent report contains bias and shows only modest correlation with reports from other raters.

However, no single source of information could be considered the gold standard and an optimal solution is to have a selection of methods such as in-person testing and multiple raters and account for rater's bias in model fitting.


In order to improve our insight into the transition to screening, we need to understand, at least qualitatively, what happens to the spectrum of string-like bound states as m → 0. On the one hand, for any m > 0 the theory is confining, hence the spectrum is strictly speaking discrete all the way to infinite mass. On the other hand, in the limit m → 0, one should expect that the spectrum becomes continuous, at least above a certain mass. A heuristic argument for this goes as follows [11] . In a screening theory there is finite range attraction between color non-singlets which may be strong enough to create a few bound states. However, since the attractive potential flattens at infinity, we expect the spectrum to be continuous above a certain mass. In this paper we present numerical results that, indeed, appear to be consistent with this simple picture.

A heuristic argument for this goes as follows.


In this study, we empirically investigate the relationship between CSR dimensions and firm value and test the relative significance of different dimensions on firm value. We address these questions through a study that adopts the aforementioned new research agenda. We explain and hypothesize the link between these CSR dimensions and firm value from both a theoretical and empirical lens. Our study involves companies from the mainland China and Hong Kong region, a regional context on which the literature is in a relatively nascent form [8] . We use independent assessments of CSR dimensions based on major international CSR indices, such as the Dow Jones corporate sustainability index and FTSE4Good index, to develop a segregated view of CSR. Firm value is measured as the adjusted stock market value of a firm taken over three years, and we use an appropriate multivariate statistical analysis method (linear mixed model) to analyze the link between the investigated CSR dimensions and firm value.

Our study involves companies from the mainland China and Hong Kong region, a regional context on which the literature is in a relatively nascent form.


There are a few limitations of the study that must be acknowledged. The first limitation relates to the use of market value as the single measure of firm performance. While this is better than other typically used accounting measures, such as ROA, it does not necessarily capture the full complexity of firm performance. Furthermore, market value computes the overall value of the firm, which in some situations may be inflated or deflated by particular units in a business. Therefore, the use of firm value may not necessarily provide an accurate representation of the returns on investments. A future research opportunity would be to take a more holistic view of firm performance by using multiple criteria that go beyond financial measures [102] . Also, firm performance could be extended to include performance on environmental and ethical dimensions. This could provide useful insights into the impact of CSR dimensions on a firm's overall business performance.

A future research opportunity would be to take a more holistic view of firm performance by using multiple criteria that go beyond financial measures.


This study makes a number of theoretical and practical contributions. CSR, as a concept, is yet to gain a firm foothold in emerging economies with weak institutional systems, standards and appeal processes [7, 10] . A significant gap continues to exist in market development and institutional environment between developed and developing economies. Our work sheds greater light on the relative merits of particular CSR dimensions over others in their ability to boost firm value in the context of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong firms. It also guides managers in the prioritization of their efforts in developing socially and environmentally responsible practices that lead to greater market value for their firms and investors in this region.

CSR, as a concept, is yet to gain a firm foothold in emerging economies with weak institutional systems, standards and appeal processes.


Photonic crystals are three-dimensional periodically ordered structures with the capability of affecting the propagation of electromagnetic radiation by a photonic band-gap [1] . The spectral range in which the reflection of radiation occurs is defined by the spatial ordering of the structure and its refractive index. This selective radiation propagation behavior is attractive for a variety of technological applications, such as thermo photovoltaic energy conversion devices and also next-generation thermal barrier coatings (photonic TBCs) [2] [3] [4] . However, when exposed to performance, there is a driving force for more precise, highresolution characterization methods.

Photonic crystals are three-dimensional periodically ordered structures with the capability of affecting the propagation of electromagnetic radiation by a photonic band-gap.

This selective radiation propagation behavior is attractive for a variety of technological applications, such as thermo photovoltaic energy conversion devices and also next-generation thermal barrier coatings (photonic TBCs).


When analyzing the morphology of inverse opal photonic crystals, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is still the main technique used. Although being a fast and simple tool, several limitations arise when dealing with oxide-based inverse opal photonic crystals. First of all, they are usually non-conductive, thereby prone to charging and mechanical drift, which causes image artifacts and scanning flaws. Furthermore, if the samples are to be further exposed to high temperatures, they cannot be coated with conductive material, which could burn-out, melt or react with the structure. Moreover, the roughness associated to such a conductive coating, or even the thickness (usually 5-15 nm), could conceal some of the nano metric structural features of photonic crystals. On top of that, only qualitative 2D information of either the top view or cross sections with a limited area of investigation are obtained. Meanwhile, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging is only capable of analyzing very tiny areas of the whole inverse opal photonic crystal structure, after very careful and time-consuming sample preparation. Besides that, TEM involves a strong interaction between the electrons of the primary beam and the material itself, which in turn can influence the structure and lead to artifacts, and requires a high-vacuum environment. FIB-tomography on the other hand could be used to obtain high-resolution 3D structural information, however this is a destructive technique. Furthermore, for highly porous materials an infiltration step with epoxy or conductive material is required, in order to avoid excessive sample drift, which would cause variations in the prescribed slice thickness and even loss of information in the z-axis direction (anisotropic resolution) [6] .

Furthermore, for highly porous materials an infiltration step with epoxy or conductive material is required, in order to avoid excessive sample drift, which would cause variations in the prescribed slice thickness and even loss of information in the z-axis direction (anisotropic resolution).


Research suggests that current monitor displays in the hydropower control room are unable to support hydropower controllers' need to work in multiple domains across different time frames (Sanderson et al., 2004) . Two new ecologicalinspired displays, called "Functional Displays", were developed, intended to integrate high level scheme properties over appropriate time frames, as a supplement to the current monitor displays in a large hydropower system control centre (Memisevic et al., 2005) . Figure 1 shows an evaluation trial of the displays in progress with professional controllers.

Research suggests that current monitor displays in the hydropower control room are unable to support hydropower controllers' need to work in multiple domains across different time frames.

Two new ecologicalinspired displays, called "Functional Displays", were developed, intended to integrate high level scheme properties over appropriate time frames, as a supplement to the current monitor displays in a large hydropower system control centre.


Overall, these SA results are informative, and are consistent with the performance findings. The SA measures support and complement each other from different perspectives, providing a clearer and more integrated picture of the dynamic, adaptive in-the-loop interactions between controllers and the hydropower system. The proposed SA measurement framework appears to be sensitive, useful and well adapted to this complex hydropower control environment. Therefore, to assess operators' SA in a full control room or command center environment, the core issue is to capture the dynamic relationship between the "in the head" understanding of controllers and the content of the situations with which they are interacting (Flach, 1995) . Thus, the desired SA measures should be derived from multiple perspectives and should be highly context-specific.

Therefore, to assess operators' SA in a full control room or command center environment, the core issue is to capture the dynamic relationship between the "in the head" understanding of controllers and the content of the situations with which they are interacting.


Thus, we need to look for a richer model of SA to evaluate SA in the hydropower domain. A more general perspective regards SA as a measure of the degree of dynamic coupling between a user's cognitive status and the content of the situation in which they are interacting (Flach, 1995) . This view emphasizes the inseparability of situations and awareness, as well as the dynamic, adaptive, interactive relationship between them, which exactly matches the goal of our display design and the purpose of our evaluation. However, no formal SA measures based on this view have been developed. As a result, we developed a novel SA measures framework to represent hydropower controllers' degree of cognitive coupling with different time frames and with the different properties of the hydropower scheme (see Figure 2 ). The desired measures should address controllers' perception and cognition as traditional SA measures do, and should also reflect their work performance as they interact with the system. In the next section we provide an overview of the experiment we ran and the measures we used to test whether the Functional Displays promote better SA.

A more general perspective regards SA as a measure of the degree of dynamic coupling between a user's cognitive status and the content of the situation in which they are interacting.


Here we will focus only on the observations of global kink modes (Edwin and Roberts, 1983) . Depending on the polarization of the oscillation plane, two types of global kink oscillations can be distinguished: vertical and horizontal. The first type of motion is observed when a loop oscillates in the plane of the loop. This causes the expansion and shrinkage of the loop, i.e., the length of the loop changes. The second type of motion takes place when the loop oscillates in the plane perpendicular to the loop plane. In this case we observe the swaying and we do not observe any changes in its length.

Here we will focus only on the observations of global kink modes.


All these elements could be interesting in order to better comprehend gardeners' features and the differences among them in terms of motivations. As a first consideration, it is possible to highlight how the majority of the respondents fall within the first cluster, the "Confidents". This cluster shows a very positive approach in terms of social and environmental gardening benefits and a low appreciation for the economic ones. A second consideration could be made about the "sociality" variable. In fact, the variable "sociality" appears in the modality of "YES sociality" in the first group as one of the main variables influencing the cluster composition, while the modality "NO sociality" appears only in the second cluster, which is composed of only 15 people. This means that this variable has a strong importance only in its positive meaning (YES sociality), whereas sociality is not considered as one of the main motivations for cluster 3, and at the same time it does not appear as the "NO sociality" modality: the "Savers" group merely prefers the economic motivation to the social one but they do not refuse it or reject it as occurs for the "Individualists" cluster. This seems to suggest that the social function of gardening, even in Milan, still represents an important driver for gardeners, as confirmed by the many results highlighted in the literature analysis [18, 23] .

This seems to suggest that the social function of gardening, even in Milan, still represents an important driver for gardeners, as confirmed by the many results highlighted in the literature analysis.


The smart grid is a new kind of electrical grid where the power system and the IT system are tightly coupled with each other. In the smart grid, various elements of the power system are managed by remote controls, which are performed based on situational awareness [1] . Moreover, the deployment of eco-friendly elements such as renewable energy generators (solar generators and wind generators) and PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) requires a lot of information exchange and processing. The information exchange and processing can contribute to not only providing numerous electricity services, but also making power grid more stable, efficient and eco-friendly. Therefore, it is exceedingly important to investigate how we should apply the advanced computing and networking technologies to the power system in the smart grid.

In the smart grid, various elements of the power system are managed by remote controls, which are performed based on situational awareness.


Therefore, a simulation study is the first choice for investigating both structures and operations of the smart grid. However, since the network system and the power system are tightly coupled with each other in the smart grid, organic combination of simulation tools for both systems is required to carry out an elaborate simulation study. In this paper, the word organic is used to describe a cosimulation in which two simulators are necessary, fit together harmoniously as fundamental parts of a whole, and interact with each other systematically, so that any complex applications can be precisely modeled. However, there are several challenges to achieve the goal. One of the challenges is that the smart grid is an application-centric system [7] . Various applications would be introduced in the smart grid and each application would have different operations. Therefore, we are strongly convinced to build a cosimulation technique through which diverse applications can be easily modeled and simulated. Another challenge is that the smart grid is a mixture of large and complex systems. Therefore, we cannot build a precise cosimulation tool by extending an individual simulation tool for a single system. For example, if we employ a single network simulator which has an extension for the power system, the large scale of the power system might be simplified, so unrealistic assumptions would be introduced. Therefore, integrating independent simulators of each system would be a favorable choice for simulating smart grid. Figure 1 shows the conceptual representation of the proposed cosimulation. The application model defines the control policies, algorithms, and functions, which receive current states of the power system and event signal, and then decide the next states. The transmission of the event signals and control messages can be simulated through the network simulation. As the network simulation is invoked, the network-side information is retrieved by the application model in the context of the cosimulation. Similarly, control policies are applied to the power system simulation, and the new states information are reported to the application model. Moreover, meaningful results of the smart grid application are generated by the power system simulation, which can verify the impact of the application.

One of the challenges is that the smart grid is an application-centric system.


When linear polyelectrolyte (PE) chains are densely grafted on a surface, they form so-called surface PE brushes [1] . The strong electrostatic interactions among the highly charged chains within the brushes lead to substantially different properties with respect to surface monolayers of uncharged macromolecular chains. Thus, great attention has been given recently to these systems [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] .

When linear polyelectrolyte (PE) chains are densely grafted on a surface, they form so-called surface PE brushes.

Thus, great attention has been given recently to these systems.


In the present work, we probe the delayed feedback as a possible tool to control the collective behavior of a large stochastic network of excitable units coupled through the mean field. This is motivated by the fact that, if the size of such a network tends to infinity, although each element behaves randomly, the mean field and other ensemble-averaged characteristics behave deterministically. Moreover, it was recently shown that the mean field of such a network can demonstrate deterministic chaos of various forms [20] . In this case, application of the delayed feedback to the mean field might produce effects similar to those observed in deterministically chaotic systems, implying the possibility of the desirable non-invasive control.

Moreover, it was recently shown that the mean field of such a network can demonstrate deterministic chaos of various forms.


Upon reviewing the data for the cohort, there were outliers in the distribution of change scores for multiple scaled measures, indicating the possibility of an underlying non-normal distribution of outcomes. We determined post hoc to use the nonparametric equivalent of the paired T-test, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, when comparing baseline and end point scores for each measure. It was not necessary to select a nonparametric method for analysis between treatment arms despite the presence of outliers since ANCOVA has demonstrated to be robust against violations of non-normality [20] .

It was not necessary to select a nonparametric method for analysis between treatment arms despite the presence of outliers since ANCOVA has demonstrated to be robust against violations of non-normality.


The treatment of latitude as a continuous variable in this analysis suggests that rates of diversi¢cation also approximate a continuous variation across latitudes, and the global scale of the analysis augments this conclusion. Thus, whereas di¡erences between clades in strictly tropical^temperate comparisons (particularly when limited to a single continent) might be explicable in terms of unique biogeographic histories, the result of this study suggests a causal mechanism which itself varies continuously with latitude. Therefore, this study is not entirely consistent with the idea that increasing land area towards the equator increases the rate of diversi¢cation, as land area does not increase towards the equator in a continuous fashion (Rosenzweig 1975) . There are, however, a number of candidate abiotic explanations for continuously varying speciation and extinction rates across latitudes, which I brie£y outline below, together with some counter arguments.

Therefore, this study is not entirely consistent with the idea that increasing land area towards the equator increases the rate of diversi¢cation, as land area does not increase towards the equator in a continuous fashion.


In the existing work, when applying CCA to image data, the original two-dimensional images have to be reshaped into one-dimensional vectors, as the traditional CCA is based on the vector-space model. However, this matrix-to-vector operation leads to two main problems. Firstly, the intrinsic 2D structure of image matrices is removed, so the spatial information stored therein is discarded. CCA based on these vectors can not fully capture correlations among the original 2D image data. Secondly, each image sample is modeled as a high-dimensional vector so that a large number of training samples are needed to yield a reliable estimation of the underlying data distribution. However, in reality, very limited number of training data are usually available. Actually these problems are shared by other subspace methods such as PCA and LDA. Recently some methods have been proposed to extend these vector-based methods for 2D matrices or high-order tensors [16, 17, 3, 15] . However, all these existing matrix-based methods were developed for learning in one set of variables, and not suited for measuring relationships between two set of variables.

Recently some methods have been proposed to extend these vector-based methods for 2D matrices or high-order tensors.


Microencapsulation can, potentially, offer numerous benefits to active molecules being encapsulated. Various properties of active materials may be changed by this technique. For instance, handling and flow properties can be improved by converting a liquid to a powdered encapsulated form [1] . The main compounds of the essential oils responsible for the flavor and the functional properties are volatiles and chemical unstable in the presence of oxygen, moisture and heat [2] . Stability of essential oils can be enhanced through microencapsulation by differ-ent techniques, like co-extrusion/gelling.

For instance, handling and flow properties can be improved by converting a liquid to a powdered encapsulated form.

The main compounds of the essential oils responsible for the flavor and the functional properties are volatiles and chemical unstable in the presence of oxygen, moisture and heat.


Rosmarinus officinalis L. is widely accepted as one of the spices with the strongest aroma and the highest antioxidant activity. Rosemary has also been extensively studied due to its antimicrobial activity [9] . It has been reported that antibacterial, antioxidant and free radical-scavenging activities were exhibited by rosemary essential oil extracts, using steam distillation.

Rosemary has also been extensively studied due to its antimicrobial activity.


Co-extrusion/gelling is an encapsulation process. This process happens when a fluid flows in laminar state and breaks into droplets of a same size through an overlap vibration. Then these drops transform into a gel in an ionic solution, resulting in encapsulation of the active ingredient (Core) with a polymer (Shell) [3] .

Then these drops transform into a gel in an ionic solution, resulting in encapsulation of the active ingredient (Core) with a polymer (Shell).


Gelation occurs when divalent ions (Ca , etc.) take part in the interchain ionic binding between G-blocks in the polymer chain giving rise to a three dimensional network. Such binding zones between the G-blocks are often referred to as "egg boxes". These ions act as cross-linkers that stabilize alginate chains forming a gel structure, which contains cross-linked chains interspersed with more freely movable chains that bind and entrap large quantities of water. The gelification process is characterized by a re-organisation of the gel network accompanied by the expulsion of water [16] .

The gelification process is characterized by a re-organisation of the gel network accompanied by the expulsion of water.


Algine has been used in microencapsulation process as a wall material. Alginic acid is a linear polymer based on two monomer units, β-D-mannuronic acid and α-L-guluronic acid. The alginate polymer is formed by the joint of these monomers at the positions C-1 and C-4. An ether-oxygen bridge joins the carbon at the position 1, in one molecule to the position 4 of another molecule. It has been shown that the polymer chain is made up of three kinds of regions or blocks. The G blocks contain only units derived from L-guluronic acid; the M blocks are based entirely on D-mannuronic acid and the MG blocks consist of alternating units from D-mannuronic acid and L-guluronic acid [10] - [15] .

The G blocks contain only units derived from L-guluronic acid; the M blocks are based entirely on D-mannuronic acid and the MG blocks consist of alternating units from D-mannuronic acid and L-guluronic acid.


Concrete block pavement (CBP) has been widely used in sidewalks, motorways, and ports because of its aesthetic features and easy maintenance. Unlike continuous concrete pavement or asphalt pavement, CBP can bear traffic loadings with individual blocks constructed in a uniform pattern. The blocks are connected in a continuous structure with joint sand to minimize the rotation and movement of blocks for structural stability. Therefore, CBP should be viewed as a single system in which all components, the surface layer, bedding sand under the joint sand, and underlying layers are taken into account, rather than considering only the blocks as the layer carrying the applied load or providing a wearing layer or roughness [1] .

Therefore, CBP should be viewed as a single system in which all components, the surface layer, bedding sand under the joint sand, and underlying layers are taken into account, rather than considering only the blocks as the layer carrying the applied load or providing a wearing layer or roughness.


NGAL is not just a binding transport protein but also a protein synthesized in the renal tubular epithelium with many physiological functions, mainly in the synthesis of prostaglandins [27] . NGAL is usually synthesized from cells under stress conditions. Therefore, it is believed that in cases of ischemia, inflammation and infection, the expression of NGAL increases [6] . In inflammation, acute kidney failure and/or renal epithelium damage, blood and urine have increased concentrations of NGAL. After experimental renal tubular damage, the expression of renal NGAL mRNA and proteins in the urine and plasma were shown to increase [28] . In our study, the level of NGAL was increased parallel with the diabetes-associated inflammation. This suggests that the increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines causes an increase in NGAL expression. The normalization of the level of NGAL with the resveratrol treatment can be associated with the decreased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

NGAL is not just a binding transport protein but also a protein synthesized in the renal tubular epithelium with many physiological functions, mainly in the synthesis of prostaglandins.

Therefore, it is believed that in cases of ischemia, inflammation and infection, the expression of NGAL increases.

After experimental renal tubular damage, the expression of renal NGAL mRNA and proteins in the urine and plasma were shown to increase.


In a study that tested the assumption of universality of the psychological needs across gender in secondary school students, boys tended to score higher in perceived positive feedback, perceived competence, perceived interest, and perceived effort in physical education (Koka & Hein, 2005) . These findings suggest that boys were able to demonstrate more competence in the physical context and that they were more likely to receive positive feedback than girls. Thus, such perceptions are likely to lead to girls perceiving physical settings as more controlling because it is not an area where they feel capable of demonstrating competence (Koka & Hein, 2005) . Since these studies were conducted on young children, it is possible that in young adults competence must be perceived in women in order for them to continue in physical activity, whereas men do not require this need.

In a study that tested the assumption of universality of the psychological needs across gender in secondary school students, boys tended to score higher in perceived positive feedback, perceived competence, perceived interest, and perceived effort in physical education.

Thus, such perceptions are likely to lead to girls perceiving physical settings as more controlling because it is not an area where they feel capable of demonstrating competence.


The theory of adaptivity has grown out of a variety of disciplines, including biology, psychology and artificial intelligence. Adaptation is usually understood as a means which generates better-performing solutions through interaction with the environment [7] . Thus, an adaptive system is a system that is able to adapt its behaviour according to changes in the environment.

Adaptation is usually understood as a means which generates better-performing solutions through interaction with the environment.


It is possible to model simple agents which derive their emergent behaviour from the system as a whole. Notice that a system decomposed into a number of parts which interact in a common environment is a feature that allows the system adapt itself in a changing environment [5] . However, specifying complex adaptive systems with the multi-agent metaphore for modeling is not an easy task and it remains as an open issue. This is the reason why in the last years, the interest on adaptive MAS (AMAS) has increased.

Notice that a system decomposed into a number of parts which interact in a common environment is a feature that allows the system adapt itself in a changing environment.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the Western World with >500 000 new cases diagnosed each year. The prognosis for these patients depends mainly on the tumour stage at diagnosis. Despite the fact that more than twothirds of patients undergo surgery and often receive adjuvant therapy, a significant number of these patients will develop tumour recurrence as distant metastasis, local recurrences or second primary colorectal cancers (SPCRCs) [1] .

Despite the fact that more than twothirds of patients undergo surgery and often receive adjuvant therapy, a significant number of these patients will develop tumour recurrence as distant metastasis, local recurrences or second primary colorectal cancers (SPCRCs).


To adapt with the newly introduced smart manufacturing process technologies which are capable of failure prediction rather than prevention strategy, such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and cyber physical systems (CPS) technologies, we have proposed a conceptual model for detection of critical machine failure more promptly and efficiently. Today's modern era demands a failure prediction strategy and for this purpose, a new approach which can support failure control system with a high level of accuracy and fast delivery is proposed. A smart factory which uses emerging technologies such as IoT and CPS is proposed in this research which will yield significant reduction in failures, enhancing productivity and process efficiency for the entire manufacturing industry [23] .

A smart factory which uses emerging technologies such as IoT and CPS is proposed in this research which will yield significant reduction in failures, enhancing productivity and process efficiency for the entire manufacturing industry.


Another limitation is the non-random nature of the study sample. The non-equivalent group design presents a potential selection threat to internal validity. However, the inclusion of pre-test scores as a covariate provides a statistical control for that threat by accounting for group differences at pre-test. Another potential limitation is the difference in pre-training parent ratings on three measures: remembering, visualization, and basic reading skills. The results of changes in those variables should be interpreted with caution. Additionally, cognitive test scores were only available for the intervention groups. However, other studies on LearningRx programs reported statistically significant differences following the intervention on standardized measures of intelligence and cognitive functioning compared with controls (Gibson et al., 2015; Carpenter et al., 2016; Hill et al., 2016) . The current findings simply supplement the parent-reported improvements in the intervention groups by providing an additional dataset to consider.

However, other studies on LearningRx programs reported statistically significant differences following the intervention on standardized measures of intelligence and cognitive functioning compared with controls.


The main goal of endodontic treatment is to prevent and, when required, to cure apical periodontitis and maintain or reestablish periapical tissue health [1] . To accomplish this objective, it is mandatory to control the microbial load inside the root canal system. The chances of a favourable outcome with endodontic treatment are significantly higher if infection is eradicated effectively by chemomechanical preparation before the root canal is obturated. However, if positive cultures can be obtained from the root canal at the time of root filling, there is a higher risk of treatment failure [2] . In an attempt to improve disinfection, an interappointment dressing has been advocated to diminish the percentage of root canals with no cultivable microorganisms in comparison to those only treated with chemomechanical preparation. Nevertheless, the two-visit treatment protocol did not improve the overall antimicrobial efficacy of the treatment [3] . Indeed, in all cases where viable microorganisms remain in the root canal system, the prognosis for repair is adversely affected [2, 3] .

The main goal of endodontic treatment is to prevent and, when required, to cure apical periodontitis and maintain or reestablish periapical tissue health.

However, if positive cultures can be obtained from the root canal at the time of root filling, there is a higher risk of treatment failure.

Nevertheless, the two-visit treatment protocol did not improve the overall antimicrobial efficacy of the treatment.

Indeed, in all cases where viable microorganisms remain in the root canal system, the prognosis for repair is adversely affected.


Organizational innovation can be viewed as a value added structure, practice, or technology new to the organization adopting it [75] . Organizational innovation has also been defined simply as "the adoption of an idea or behavior that is new to the organization adopting it" [17] . Diffusion, a related subject, is a process by which innovation spreads among or within organizations [63] . Supply chain managers adopt and integrate innovatively new structures, practices, and technologies and diffuse them in areas of responsibility throughout their organizations. In this paper we study the diffusion of an innovation (i.e., a customer relations management (CRM) software application) within supply chainoriented organizations.

Organizational innovation can be viewed as a value added structure, practice, or technology new to the organization adopting it.

Organizational innovation has also been defined simply as "the adoption of an idea or behavior that is new to the organization adopting it".

Diffusion, a related subject, is a process by which innovation spreads among or within organizations.


There are implications for practitioners concerned with CRM adoption as well. The results of this study suggest user's perceptions of the characteristics the system offers are significantly related to the adoption and diffusion of technology in general and more specifically in CRM. In the context of a firm that is dependent on supply chain success, the CRM adoption decision can be influenced by the software decision maker's perception of how the software provides system quality, ease of use, system reliability, and authorization in the transactions that support the firm and its supply chain. Specifically, the more positively perceived these characteristics are in providing service to the organization, the more likely the firm will adopt and successfully diffuse the CRM software. This suggests supply chain managers should focus on promoting and educating potential adopters of the CRM software with regard to these four characteristics to overcome the perception of CRM adoption failure rates ranging from 55 to 75 % [37] .

This suggests supply chain managers should focus on promoting and educating potential adopters of the CRM software with regard to these four characteristics to overcome the perception of CRM adoption failure rates ranging from 55 to 75 %.


Additional in vivo studies are needed to further characterize cytochrome P450 induction associated with hypertrophy of zone 3 cells. For our purposes, smooth ER proliferation detected by EM is compatible with phenobarbitone-like P450 induction and rules out peroxisome proliferation as the cause of hypertrophy (Greaves, 2000) . The observed focal clusters of tightly packed smooth ER may represent a late stage of hepatocellular drug tolerance by drug-handling enzymes (Ghadially, 1982) . The enlarged zone 3 cells at least partly explain the elevated ALP detected in these mice via cholestasis. Both the centrilobular and periportal changes likely contributed to the increases in ALT and AST, however, overt hepatocellular necrosis was not observed. A similar pattern of centrilobular hypertrophy was associated with a dose-dependent increase in liver weight in nude mice treated with OSU03012 for 6 weeks at 100 and 200 mg/kg/day (unpublished research).

For our purposes, smooth ER proliferation detected by EM is compatible with phenobarbitone-like P450 induction and rules out peroxisome proliferation as the cause of hypertrophy.

The observed focal clusters of tightly packed smooth ER may represent a late stage of hepatocellular drug tolerance by drug-handling enzymes.


Data compression is a technique of encoding information using fewer bits than an unencoded representation would use through specific encoding or compression algorithm. All forms of data, which includes text, numerical and image, contain redundant elements. Through compression, the data can be compressed by eliminating the redundant elements [21] . Data compression techniques use a model to function. The input stream, generated from a data source, is fed into a compressor. The compressor then codes and compresses data. To regenerate original data from the compressed data, decoder is used. The decoder applies the reverse algorithm of that used by the compressor. Moreover, the decoder has some prior knowledge as to how the data is being compressed [4] . Data compression is divided into two major categories, which is lossless compression technique and lossy compression technique. In lossless compression, no information is lost and the decompressed data are identical to the original uncompressed data. While, in lossy compression, the decompressed data may be an acceptable approximation to the original uncompressed data [9] . Lossless compression technique is grouped into two, statistical analysis based compression and string matching compression algorithm. This project focuses on analyzing string matching compression algorithm.

Through compression, the data can be compressed by eliminating the redundant elements.

Moreover, the decoder has some prior knowledge as to how the data is being compressed.

While, in lossy compression, the decompressed data may be an acceptable approximation to the original uncompressed data.


All forms of data contain redundant elements. Through compression, these redundant elements can be eliminated. First algorithm for compressing data was introduced by Claude Shannon [3] . At present there are lots of techniques available for compressing data, each tailored to match the needs of a particular application.

First algorithm for compressing data was introduced by Claude Shannon.


In Kosovo, the air quality is polluted in developed urban areas and especially in industrial areas. The biggest impact on the environment is caused by Kosovo Energy Corporation power plants, the mining industry Feronikeli, and building industry Sharrcem, altogether with small capacity plants, resulting with heavy activities for energy demand in the winter season. "While air pollution is obviously a global environmental issue, there is a strong will of the Kosovar communities for sustainable awareness, aiming to live healthier. Municipality of Prishtina have a potential for urban environmental planning, and civil society actions further strengthen this objective permanently" [1] .

Municipality of Prishtina have a potential for urban environmental planning, and civil society actions further strengthen this objective permanently".


Researched model of one housing unit, surveyed for energy efficiency with a solid 70 m 2 area, dedicated for a single-family, according to conceptual and calculated findings, with a proper implementing of bioclimatic passive principles, indicates that the energy savings can go up to 60 % in a year compared to the actual state, thus saving a family's budget evaluated for one-year period, using average annual climate conditions. Hence, according to actual climate conditions we expect to abstain from heating in the period from October to November. Implementing bioclimatic strategies with cross ventilation features, we expect to gain savings in energy for cooling, from May to June and from September to October. In the summer season by implementing a total renovation to a surveyed structure, through painting a facade with a light colour and gaining from nearby vegetation freshness and cooling breeze we expect to gain some considerable savings for air-condition or mechanical ventilation. Based on the presented findings, strengthened with the best practices of literature review and World Bank Group studies, we recommend implementation of the bioclimatic passive principles, hence, from conceptual recommendations of this study, more specifically we recommend:  Adopting, developing and documenting monitoring, reporting and evaluation procedures, as well as sustainable approaches in the urban and architectural energy efficiency design;  By incorporating the new design strategies in the existing legal guidelines, it is expected to have a significant positive impact in the community by raising the quality of life and energy efficiency in Prishtina. Architectural structures have a very long existence, and surely the power system will change substantially in the coming decades. Politicians and decision makers should have knowledge about how energy efficiency can contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their life span [20] .

Politicians and decision makers should have knowledge about how energy efficiency can contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their life span.


In this paper, we study the line reachability problem: given a target line in the program, can we find a realizable path to that line? Since program lines can be guarded by conditionals that check arbitrary properties of the current program state, this problem is equivalent to the very general problem of finding a path that causes the program to enter a particular state [16] . The line reachability problem arises naturally in several scenarios. For example, users of staticanalysis-based bug finding tools need to triage the tools' bug reports-determine whether they correspond to actual errors-and this task often involves checking line reachability. As another example, a developer might receive a report of an error at some particular line (e.g., an assertion failure that resulted in an error message at that line) without an accompanying test case. To reproduce the error, the developer needs to find a realizable path to the appropriate line. Finally, when trying to understand an unfamiliar code base, it is often useful to discover under what circumstances particular lines of code are executed.

Since program lines can be guarded by conditionals that check arbitrary properties of the current program state, this problem is equivalent to the very general problem of finding a path that causes the program to enter a particular state.


In order to manipulate a small component, the appropriate optical, electrostatic, or magnetic field (i.e., trap) needs to be created to trap the component. The field is then controlled to move the component. In this paper, we focus on the optical force fields and traps associated with them. Optical trapping takes place in a fluidic workspace. The interaction between the optical field and the component is stochastic in nature, due to the Brownian motion of the component, as well as the presence of uncertainty in the component location as a result of sensor errors. Unfortunately, the offline planning approach that works well at the macroscale does not work at the small scale. To cope with the stochastic nature of the problem, automated microscale assembly requires a real-time and automated planning paradigm that takes actions based on the estimated state of the workspace in a feedback loop [9] .

To cope with the stochastic nature of the problem, automated microscale assembly requires a real-time and automated planning paradigm that takes actions based on the estimated state of the workspace in a feedback loop.


Confirmatory factor analysis testing the integrity of the factor structure for all psychometric instruments yielded satisfactory results. In particular, the CFI and RMSEA indices were as follows: for HCAS .963 and .055, for PCEGO .942 and .056, for BNSS .938 and .045, and for CCBS .938 and .055. Analyses of internal consistency also supported the reliability of the scales. For most scales Cronbach's alpha values were satisfactory (above.70), and for three of the scales they were above 0.65 which is considered acceptable (DeVellis, 1991) . The Cronbach's alpha coefficients are presented in Table 1 .

For most scales Cronbach's alpha values were satisfactory (above.70), and for three of the scales they were above 0.65 which is considered acceptable.


The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the role of sport for the acculturation process and, particularly, the perspective of the host population regarding migrants' acculturation. To that end, the attitudes and perceptions of the host population as a function of sport participation were explored. In addition, for those participating in sport, the role of the motivational climate in relation to acculturation attitudes was investigated. Overall, our findings suggest that participation in organized sport may be linked to attitudes favoring an adaptive acculturation attitude, but this also depends on the climate wherein the activities take place. These results can contribute to the discussion about social missions through sport, in particular with regard to cultural competencies (Ryba et al., 2017; Ryba, Stambulova, & Ronkainen, 2016) .

These results can contribute to the discussion about social missions through sport, in particular with regard to cultural competencies.


Especially post-Maastricht, EU member-states have been reluctant to delegate powers to the Commission, resulting in a reduction of its resources and capacity for independent action. EU agencies and networks are preferred because they contain mechanisms for member-state representation as part of their governance structure, to ensure member-state control and avoid supranational decision-making (Bickerton et al. 2014; Kassim et al. 2013; Kassim and Menon 2010; Kelemen 2002) . In this perspective, administrative decision behaviour is conditioned by formal delegation and legal arrangements. As a consequence intra-network behavioural patterns remain intergovernmental and administrative decision-making decentralized.

EU agencies and networks are preferred because they contain mechanisms for member-state representation as part of their governance structure, to ensure member-state control and avoid supranational decision-making.


Networks have become a pervasive feature of the EU's administrative system. Since the 1990s the number of EU administrative networks has increased rapidly, in multiple policy fields (Levi-Faur 2011) . Networks constitute organizational settings within which EU executive bodies co-operate with regulatory authorities from EU and EEA member-states on EU policy formulation and implementation. They are characterized by varying degrees of formality, institutionalization and decision-making competencies.

Since the 1990s the number of EU administrative networks has increased rapidly, in multiple policy fields.


The lack of changes in joint angles, position of the foot at landing, and step time characteristics is interesting. Neither men nor women showed any differences in lower leg kinematics despite overall decreases in step length and cadence, which was similar to findings in previous research [13] . Overall, athletes maintained their techniques (whether efficient or inefficient) at each pace. The only joint angle which showed any changes over the course of the race was the elbow. The reduction in the elbow angle as the race progressed brought the arm segments closer together and the resulting decrease in the moment of inertia may have made shoulder flexion and extension easier when fatigued. The elbow was also of interest as it had by far the greatest standard deviation of all angular measurements. Visually, there were large variations in the upper body positions adopted by athletes: some had very flexed elbows (the minimum angle was 42°) while others maintained much greater angles (a maximum of 102°). Athletes are recommended to develop efficient technique as well as the local muscular endurance of the upper body through appropriate strength and conditioning exercises. This assists in preventing changes in running mechanics that may exacerbate the effects of fatigue [14] .

Neither men nor women showed any differences in lower leg kinematics despite overall decreases in step length and cadence, which was similar to findings in previous research.

This assists in preventing changes in running mechanics that may exacerbate the effects of fatigue.


Recently, it was reported that mice with genetic and high fat-induced obesity and diabetes displayed increased intestinal permeability [3] [4] [5] . The endotoxemia resulting from this permeability are thought to result in the development of inflammation and metabolic disorders [3, 4] . However, the relationships between the occurrence of metabolic disorders and intestinal permeability, and the mediator(s) of the increase in permeability in cases of obesity remain unclear. The present study demonstrated that obesity by itself did not increase intestinal permeability in OLETF rats, a genetic obesity and type 2 diabetes model, whereas the feeding of a high fat diet increased intestinal permeability in both OLETF and their lean counter strain, LETO, rats. The increases in intestinal permeability were associated with reductions in TJ protein expressions in the small intestine, but not the large intestines (cecum and colon). In addition, the treatment of intestinal Caco-2 cells with a fat emulsion and rat bile juice remarkably increased epithelial permeability concomitantly with reductions in the expression of some TJ proteins.

Recently, it was reported that mice with genetic and high fat-induced obesity and diabetes displayed increased intestinal permeability.

The endotoxemia resulting from this permeability are thought to result in the development of inflammation and metabolic disorders.


Herbal drugs are obtained from various plant parts like stem, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, root and a variety of plant products like gum, oil, resins etc. Very low number of medicinal plants is cultivated. About 90% of the medicinal plants for trade are harvested from the wild sites [6] . Continuous exploitation of several medicinal plant species from the wild without proper replenishment resulted in the population decline of the concerned species [7] [8] [9] . Medicinal plant collectors prefer to uproot the entire plant in the field rather to gather the specific parts selectively which is a time-consuming process. As a result a number of important medicinal plants have disappeared from large patches in natural habitats. Other factors like overpopulation, pollution, urbanization, shrinking forest cover and overharvesting have worsen the situation.

About 90% of the medicinal plants for trade are harvested from the wild sites.

Continuous exploitation of several medicinal plant species from the wild without proper replenishment resulted in the population decline of the concerned species.


Quantum theory and general relativity are the two pillars of modern physics. However, they are incompatible. Attempts to quantize gravitation in the frameworks of string theory or loop quantum gravity inevitably lead to a violation of the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) and thus to a breakdown of the metric nature of gravitation [1] . Although there exist attempts to preserve the unquantized status of gravitation, they have not created a compelling case so far [2] . Tests of the EEP are therefore of primary interest to characterize any unified theory of interactions.

However, they are incompatible.

Attempts to quantize gravitation in the frameworks of string theory or loop quantum gravity inevitably lead to a violation of the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) and thus to a breakdown of the metric nature of gravitation.

Although there exist attempts to preserve the unquantized status of gravitation, they have not created a compelling case so far.


Based on the experimental results in this study, the enhanced NP uptake behavior will disappear after 13 h. This may be related to the response of cell to mechanical strains. Other studies also reported that repeated stretches resulted in the trafficking and remodeling of caveolin-3-rich membrane domains and accelerated turnover of membrane glycosphingolipids [29] . The mechanical strain effects on the cytoskeleton also play an important role in mechanotransduction [30, 31] . The changes in the arrangement of the cytoskeleton and the stretch-induced unfolding of caveolae might reflect the mechanisms of the cellular adaptation to mechanical strains which may affect endocytosis events [32] . This may lead to a changed uptake rate of NPs in BAECs in a strain-dependent manner. When the mechanical strains disappear, the cellular uptake of NPs recovers to normal condition after 13 h.

Other studies also reported that repeated stretches resulted in the trafficking and remodeling of caveolin-3-rich membrane domains and accelerated turnover of membrane glycosphingolipids.

The mechanical strain effects on the cytoskeleton also play an important role in mechanotransduction.

The changes in the arrangement of the cytoskeleton and the stretch-induced unfolding of caveolae might reflect the mechanisms of the cellular adaptation to mechanical strains which may affect endocytosis events.


There was an analysis and assessment of the dissolution of 3D printed lattice-based bioactive ceramic scaffolds (LBBCS) [7] . In an in vitro setting, it is of value to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze and observe any possible phase changes, which can possibly occur during the fabrication process or dissolution process [8, 9] . In the past, there has been work done to try to interpret as well as predict the long-term effects of the dissolution of CaP ceramics. This study is set out to determine the relative dissolution behavior of four experimental groups (Table  1) specifically the mean concentrations (mg/dL) of Ca and PO 4 ions which were released from the 3D printed grafting devices in a Tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane-HCl buffer environment [4] .

There was an analysis and assessment of the dissolution of 3D printed lattice-based bioactive ceramic scaffolds (LBBCS).

In an in vitro setting, it is of value to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze and observe any possible phase changes, which can possibly occur during the fabrication process or dissolution process.

This study is set out to determine the relative dissolution behavior of four experimental groups (Table  1) specifically the mean concentrations (mg/dL) of Ca and PO 4 ions which were released from the 3D printed grafting devices in a Tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane-HCl buffer environment.


XRD spectra were collected of the individual raw materials for crystalline verification. Their spectra were matched to the theoretical HA and β-TCP. After confirmation of the materials was complete, and the experimental colloidal gels were fabricated and subjected to sintering at 1100 ℃, XRD spectra were obtained from the groups for crystalline phase determination and verification ( Fig. 3(a) ). The β-TCP phase is indicated by three high intensity peaks located at 27.9°, 31.2°, and 34.4°, while the highest peaks for HA are 31.8° and 32.9° (Fig. 3(b) ). High crystallinity is indicated by the narrow diffraction peaks described as sharp peaks. This result is in good agreement with other researchers' works that found that biphasic mixing on a crystallite level is feasible [16] [17] [18] .

This result is in good agreement with other researchers' works that found that biphasic mixing on a crystallite level is feasible.


While geographical information systems (GIS) have attracted many attentions for its strong functions of managing spatial information and providing spatial decision-making tools to users, there has been little change in the functionality of the systems (Guesgen and Albrecht, 2000) . The way in which they perform spatial reasoning, i.e., the extraction of new information from stored spatial data, has been intuitively quantitative in nature. On the other hand, humans often prefer a qualitative analysis over a quantitative one, as this is more adequate in many cases from the cognitive point of view (Clementini et al., 1997) . For instance, in the sentence "to find a parcel of wasteland which is not far from a reservoir", extension space of the word "not far" is so vague that current spatial analysis functions of GIS software face difficulty to solve analogous problems.

While geographical information systems (GIS) have attracted many attentions for its strong functions of managing spatial information and providing spatial decision-making tools to users, there has been little change in the functionality of the systems.

On the other hand, humans often prefer a qualitative analysis over a quantitative one, as this is more adequate in many cases from the cognitive point of view.


Optical frequency comb (OFC) has attracted great attentions because of its applications in the fields such as optical orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (O-OFDM), microwave signal processing, and arbitrary waveform generation [1] - [4] . Many approaches have been reported to generate flat OFC [5] - [14] . For example, OFC with large bandwidth can be obtained using mode-locked lasers [5] . However, sophisticated thermal and acoustic isolation is required. The OFC can also be produced by four-wave mixing (FWM) in a nonlinear medium [6] . Usually, it is very hard to flatten the OFC lines due to the low power efficiency of the FWM. Another promising method for the generation of OFC is based on the nonlinearity of external modulators [7] - [14] . The external modulator driven by a radio-frequency (RF) signal generates a series of sidebands which can be regarded as an OFC. Unfortunately, flat OFC is hard to obtain since the power for each OFC line is governed by a Bessel function of different orders. This problem has been solved by cascading two or more external modulators [7] - [9] . Although the OFC is flattened, the system is very complicated and costly due to the joint use of multiple modulators, RF power dividers, and RF phase shifters.

Optical frequency comb (OFC) has attracted great attentions because of its applications in the fields such as optical orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (O-OFDM), microwave signal processing, and arbitrary waveform generation.

Many approaches have been reported to generate flat OFC.

For example, OFC with large bandwidth can be obtained using mode-locked lasers.

The OFC can also be produced by four-wave mixing (FWM) in a nonlinear medium.

Another promising method for the generation of OFC is based on the nonlinearity of external modulators.

This problem has been solved by cascading two or more external modulators.


In the last few decades small, attractive and cheap packages of betel quid substitutes (the so-called pouches) have become widely available, often claimed to be safer products. Promoted by a slick, high profile advertising campaign and aggressive marketing, pouches of panmasala and gutkha have become very popular within all sections of Indian society, including school children. For most children, teenagers and women, cigarette smoking still remains a taboo in India. Conversely, areca nut chewing enjoys social acceptance and is also popular among men and women as well as among teenagers. It has been noticed that young school and college children have become the victims of these packages; most of them start using more and more pouches a day as an experiment or due to the pressure from friends [6] . These alternative tobacco products are often advertised as being safer than conventional cigarettes, leading to a much higher frequency of use, so that these younger chewers constitute an alarming prevalence for a new epidemic of oral cancer [6] . In particular, young children start using sweetened areca nut products, often adding tobacco later in their adolescence [6] .

It has been noticed that young school and college children have become the victims of these packages; most of them start using more and more pouches a day as an experiment or due to the pressure from friends.

These alternative tobacco products are often advertised as being safer than conventional cigarettes, leading to a much higher frequency of use, so that these younger chewers constitute an alarming prevalence for a new epidemic of oral cancer.

In particular, young children start using sweetened areca nut products, often adding tobacco later in their adolescence.


Betel quids with or without tobacco and areca nut have been classified as carcinogenic to humans [8] . Indeed, tobacco use (both by smoking or chewing) is a major risk factor for cancer, having caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century [8] . India also has one of the highest rates of oral cancer in the world, partly attributed to high prevalence of tobacco chewing [6, 9] . It has also been shown that regular chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a higher risk of damaging their gums and acquiring cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus and stomach [7, 10] . Studies have found that tobacco and caustic lime increase the risk of cancer from areca nut preparations [1, 7, 10] .

Betel quids with or without tobacco and areca nut have been classified as carcinogenic to humans.

Indeed, tobacco use (both by smoking or chewing) is a major risk factor for cancer, having caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century.

India also has one of the highest rates of oral cancer in the world, partly attributed to high prevalence of tobacco chewing.

It has also been shown that regular chewers of betel leaf and areca nut have a higher risk of damaging their gums and acquiring cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus and stomach.

Studies have found that tobacco and caustic lime increase the risk of cancer from areca nut preparations.


The areca nut, the fruit of the Areca catechu tree of the 'palmacae' family, is the fourth most commonly used drug in the world after caffeine, tobacco and alcohol [1] . It is commonly consumed by betel quid (folded leaf package of nut slices and cut tobacco) chewing or betel nut (a little cigarette formed by the same ingredients of quid) smoking by Asian populations both men and women, and Asian communities living in Europe and North America [1] [2] [3] . Having an ancient history, they are an integral part of the culture and sometimes erroneously believed to have medicinal benefits [4, 5] .

The areca nut, the fruit of the Areca catechu tree of the 'palmacae' family, is the fourth most commonly used drug in the world after caffeine, tobacco and alcohol.

It is commonly consumed by betel quid (folded leaf package of nut slices and cut tobacco) chewing or betel nut (a little cigarette formed by the same ingredients of quid) smoking by Asian populations both men and women, and Asian communities living in Europe and North America.

Having an ancient history, they are an integral part of the culture and sometimes erroneously believed to have medicinal benefits.


Should the current demographic trends persist, we would expect a profound change in the size and composition of the labour force in Austria. Current demographic projections foresee a decline in the working age population by 700,000 persons or 13 percent between 2002 and 2050 (Hanika et al., 2004) . Actual labour supply may be somewhat less affected due to an increase in female participation rates and that of elderly males. The overall effect of the above factors on labour supply is uncertain. Its consequences for the labour market and the long-term production possibilities and economic growth for Austria are the subject of this study.

Current demographic projections foresee a decline in the working age population by 700,000 persons or 13 percent between 2002 and 2050.


The implementation uses the python threading API to create background threads where the asynchronous reads and writes happen. Python threads are known to suffer from issues relating to the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL). However, python releases the GIL when doing IO-bound operations [2] . Hence, this implementation is expected to be asynchronous despite, if not even due to, the python GIL.

However, python releases the GIL when doing IO-bound operations.


Biosensors are critical elements in a wide variety of applications, from medicine, biotechnology, environmental monitoring and military technology to industrial food processing [1] . Recently, significant efforts have been made using microfluidics to miniaturize conventional biosensors for lab-on-a-chip platform applications [2] . Microfluidics offers unprecedented benefits, including low consumption of costly reagents, minimal handling of hazardous materials, short reaction time, multiple sample detection (performed in parallel), increased portability and design versatility [3, 4] . Most chemical and biological sensors used today are based on classical standard enzymatic or fluorescence-labeled methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or fluorescent microscopy, where target molecules are modified by labeling. The labeling procedure, however, is timeconsuming and labor-intensive; furthermore, it is often difficult to accurately quantify results because there are differences in labeling efficiency for targeted proteins [5, 6] .

Biosensors are critical elements in a wide variety of applications, from medicine, biotechnology, environmental monitoring and military technology to industrial food processing.

Recently, significant efforts have been made using microfluidics to miniaturize conventional biosensors for lab-on-a-chip platform applications.

Microfluidics offers unprecedented benefits, including low consumption of costly reagents, minimal handling of hazardous materials, short reaction time, multiple sample detection (performed in parallel), increased portability and design versatility.

The labeling procedure, however, is timeconsuming and labor-intensive; furthermore, it is often difficult to accurately quantify results because there are differences in labeling efficiency for targeted proteins.


In this paper we are concerned with the celebrated Lukacs characterization of the gamma distribution, [28] . It says that if X and Y are positive, non-degenerate and independent random variables and such that The direct result: If X ∼ G(p, a) and Y ∼ G(q, a) are independent then U and V , defined through (1), are independent; is rather simple. It suffices just to compute the jacobian of the bijective transformation (0, ∞) 2 ∋ (x, y) → it follows also that V ∼ G(p + q, a) and U is a beta random variable B I (p, q), which has the density f (x) = Γ(p + q) Γ(p) Γ(q) x p−1 (1 − x) q−1 I (0,1) (x).

In this paper we are concerned with the celebrated Lukacs characterization of the gamma distribution.


The prediction of wind power has become an important issue on power system planning and many researchers have established mathematical models with which to predict in recent years [5] [6] [7] [8] . But the most models to study wind power are based on linear theory. Because of its complicated and nonlinear characteristics, the results will be inaccurate with wind power predicted by linear theory.

The prediction of wind power has become an important issue on power system planning and many researchers have established mathematical models with which to predict in recent years.


Since recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in macroeconomic variables and development of stock market for different countries. Macroeconomic factors have a significant impact on stock market performance. Many studies have been related to the economic factors and their interrelation with the stock market development. The financial system faciliate the trading, hedging, diversifying, pooling risk and mobilize saving. It can help to improve resource allocation problem (Levine, 1997) . Well functioning the financial regulation and government management provide financial sector development. New European countries passed substantial alteration during the transitional period. Many countries carried out important reforms after the collapse of communism in Soviet Union, successfully adapted to European structures and after the earlier stage of transition experienced steady growth (Horvath & Petrovski, 2013) .

It can help to improve resource allocation problem.

Many countries carried out important reforms after the collapse of communism in Soviet Union, successfully adapted to European structures and after the earlier stage of transition experienced steady growth.


We now examine the fully ordered Si/Al SOD framework containing Al-and Si-centred tetrahedra. Initially, we define two forms of regular tetrahedral template, with ideal bond lengths of 1.61 Å for SiO 4 and 1.75 Å for AlO 4 units, an approach which was previously successful in investigating the pressure behaviour of wairakite [16, 17] . However, this introduction of two differently sized tetrahedra in SOD causes intrinsic strain in the framework at all densities. A central low-strain region can be distinguished from high-strain regions in compression and extension, as illustrated in figure 2a. Within the central region, the distortion varies linearly with the a parameter, and is minimized by expansion to a = 9.37 Å. In compression, the strain increases slowly until the region of a = 7.70 Å, and then rises much more rapidly on further compression. The folding mechanism, of in-plane counterrotations of adjacent tetrahedra, retains the same character as in the hypothetical SiO 2 -SOD framework; however, the magnitude of the rotation is greater for the Si tetrahedra and less for the Al tetrahedra, in inverse proportion to their bond lengths. Rotations for the Si/Al framework cases are measured relative to the maximally expanded structure at a = 9.37 Å and are illustrated in figures 3 and 4.

Initially, we define two forms of regular tetrahedral template, with ideal bond lengths of 1.61 Å for SiO 4 and 1.75 Å for AlO 4 units, an approach which was previously successful in investigating the pressure behaviour of wairakite.


The mission using solar-electric propulsion was initially strongly supported but later on due to escalating cost the propulsion was dropped [6] . The Russian company NPO Energia deployed a spinning 20 m reflector in February 1993 and further refinement of the reflector mission continued. Recently European space agency (ESA) and German aerospace agency (DLR) cofounded the fabrication of a 20 m × 20 m solar sail which was successfully ground tested in December 1999 [7] . After the ground test the agency funded a series of mission studies and later it is being funded in USA and other centers of cosmic research. Looking to future it is being planned to set up a mission to study the various inner and outer planets by means of establishing artificial stations in their neighborhoods.

The mission using solar-electric propulsion was initially strongly supported but later on due to escalating cost the propulsion was dropped.

Recently European space agency (ESA) and German aerospace agency (DLR) cofounded the fabrication of a 20 m × 20 m solar sail which was successfully ground tested in December 1999.


Solar sail is a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion that takes advantage of the radiation pressure to propel a spacecraft by means of a large membrane mirror. The impact of the photons emitted by the sun on the surface of the sail and its further reflection accelerates the spacecraft. Although this acceleration produced by the solar radiation pressure is smaller than the one achieved by the traditional propulsion systems, this one is continuous and unlimited. This makes long-time missions more accessible [1] . It also opens a wide range of possible mission applications that cannot be achieved by a traditional spacecraft [8] .

This makes long-time missions more accessible.

It also opens a wide range of possible mission applications that cannot be achieved by a traditional spacecraft.


In this paper, we propose to find a candidate summary such that the language concepts (e.g., bigrams) in this candidate summary and the reference summary can have the same frequency. We expect this restriction is more consistent with the ROUGE evaluation metric used for summarization (Lin, 2004) . In addition, in the previous conceptbased ILP method, the constraints are with respect to the appearance of language concepts, hence it cannot distinguish the importance of different language concepts in the reference summary. Our method can decide not only which language concepts to use in ILP, but also the frequency of these language concepts in the candidate summary. To estimate the bigram frequency in the summary, we propose to use a supervised regression model that is discriminatively trained using a variety of features. Our experiments on several TAC summarization data sets demonstrate this proposed method outperforms the previous ILP system and often the best performing TAC system.

We expect this restriction is more consistent with the ROUGE evaluation metric used for summarization.


Prosperous development of smart devices pushes the evolution of the mobile communication techniques. While fourth-generation (4G) techniques have become more mature recently, it is then reasonable to investigate the challenges of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks to meet the bandwidth demand of mobile data services. The predicting features of the 5G systems includes 1000 folds of the capacity density of the 4G systems, peak capacity of tens of Gigabits per second, and efficiency improvement [1] , [2] . To meet the high capacity density requirement, deploying massive small cells is inevitable. Optical fibers have the characteristics of high bandwidth and low transmission loss; hence it is beneficial to use optical fibers as the transmission media between the mobile sites and their central office (CO). Though optical fibers can provide sufficient bandwidth and transmission distance for the mobile backhaul networks, deploying new fibers is costly [3] . In the early stage of 5G development, it is uncertain if these deployment cost can be balanced in acceptable time ranges. Hence, looking for economical schemes for the 5G mobile backhaul networks are important.

The predicting features of the 5G systems includes 1000 folds of the capacity density of the 4G systems, peak capacity of tens of Gigabits per second, and efficiency improvement.

Though optical fibers can provide sufficient bandwidth and transmission distance for the mobile backhaul networks, deploying new fibers is costly.


The logarithmic growth is again something that would be interesting to understand further on the field theory side. On the gravity side it comes from surfaces that probe near the extremal horizon, which has a double zero in the metric function. A throat opens up at the horizon, producing a smooth geometry that is AdS 2 × R 2 . It is tempting to speculate that for our electromagnetic quench, the growth of entropy in the intermediate region might be captured by an effective lower dimensional theory captured by AdS 2 physics, as has been shown to happen for aspects of the physics of studying Fermi surfaces holographically in a related context [30, 31] .

It is tempting to speculate that for our electromagnetic quench, the growth of entropy in the intermediate region might be captured by an effective lower dimensional theory captured by AdS 2 physics, as has been shown to happen for aspects of the physics of studying Fermi surfaces holographically in a related context.


The concept of views has been suggested as a vehicle for design of the user interface. For a given task, the designer defines how many views are needed to support that task. Then the sub-tasks of that task are distributed on the views [23] . This idea is similar to interaction spaces in the sense that an abstract concept forms the basis for design. However, a view represents a screen or part of a screen and thereby, it is less abstract than an interaction space that can represent any mean for interaction..

Then the sub-tasks of that task are distributed on the views.


Individuals with SCI, particularly those with tetraplegia, are highly susceptible to glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, all of which have been associated with excessive VAT accumulation (Gorgey and Gater, 2011; Fox et al., 2007) . Improving health outcomes such as adiposity and metabolic biomarkers can potentially decrease the associated long-term cardiometabolic disease risk and observed morbidity and mortality in this population D r a f t (Cragg et al., 2013) . Overall, our multivariable model that included injury and body composition correlates was able to explain 67% of the variance in VAT. After controlling for WC, androidgynoid ratio, and time post injury, individuals who self-reported participation in any moderateto-vigorous LTPA had reduced VAT area; inferring potential health benefits and reductions in cardiometabolic risk.

Individuals with SCI, particularly those with tetraplegia, are highly susceptible to glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, all of which have been associated with excessive VAT accumulation.

Improving health outcomes such as adiposity and metabolic biomarkers can potentially decrease the associated long-term cardiometabolic disease risk and observed morbidity and mortality in this population D r a f t.


The widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has substantially improved the prognosis of patients infected with HIV [1] . As a consequence of the reduction of AIDS-related events, non-HIV-related diseases now account for about half of all deaths [1, 2] . Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a leading cause of non-HIV-related mortality and morbidity among HIV-infected patients [3] . HIV coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been associated with an increased risk of drug-related hepatoxicity in the first cART era [4] . Moreover, the extent of liver fibrosis in HIV-infected patients with CHC seems to be an important determinant of the risk of hepatotoxic events due to altered hepatic drug metabolism [5] . Additional data on the durability of different antiretroviral (ART) drugs according to the presence of HCV coinfection, in terms of overall ART discontinuation and long-term toxicities, and on the effect of HCV-treatment on the rate of ART discontinuation in HIV/HCV coinfected patients are needed [6, 7] . The aim of the study is to evaluate the incidence rates of and risk factors for discontinuation of different ART drugs due to any reasons and due to toxicity by HCV status in a large Italian cohort of HIV-infected patients.

The widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has substantially improved the prognosis of patients infected with HIV.

As a consequence of the reduction of AIDS-related events, non-HIV-related diseases now account for about half of all deaths.

Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a leading cause of non-HIV-related mortality and morbidity among HIV-infected patients.

HIV coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been associated with an increased risk of drug-related hepatoxicity in the first cART era.

Moreover, the extent of liver fibrosis in HIV-infected patients with CHC seems to be an important determinant of the risk of hepatotoxic events due to altered hepatic drug metabolism.

Additional data on the durability of different antiretroviral (ART) drugs according to the presence of HCV coinfection, in terms of overall ART discontinuation and long-term toxicities, and on the effect of HCV-treatment on the rate of ART discontinuation in HIV/HCV coinfected patients are needed.


Preliminary Analyses. In order to replicate prior research on the antecedents of subjective ambivalence, we examined the influence of manifest conflicting and dominant reactions on feelings of ambivalence. In accordance with prior research, below the threshold dominant reactions influenced feelings of ambivalence ( ; (Priester and Petty 1996) .

Preliminary Analyses.

In accordance with prior research, below the threshold dominant reactions influenced feelings of ambivalence (.


Note that although the findings of experiment 1 are consistent with the hypotheses, three questions arise. The first question has to do with the valence of the attitude object. As noted in the analytic approach section, the vast majority of dominant reactions were positive for the attitude object used in experiment 1. Prior research has demonstrated that negative information can carry more weight in evaluative processes than positive information (Ito et al. 1998; Taylor 1991) . This research, in combination with the data of experiment 1, raises the question of whether the results of experiment 1 extend to situations where the valence of dominant reactions is negative, as well as positive. That is, perhaps when there is dominant negative information, the power of this negativity is sufficient to reach an evaluation, and no anticipation of positive reactions is warranted or necessary. As such, it would be preferable to demonstrate the effects for both positive and negative dominant reactions.

Prior research has demonstrated that negative information can carry more weight in evaluative processes than positive information.


Furthermore, the gauge symmetry must be free of anomalies [10] . The SM quarks are chiral fermions, so if they are charged under the new symmetry 1 , then there are also mixed gauge anomalies that need to be canceled. In addition, to avoid large flavor-changing neutral currents induced by gauge boson exchange, the left-handed quark doublets must carry the same charges. It turns out that any color-singlet 2 leptophobic gauge boson whose couplings to quark doublets are generation-independent requires new fermions to cancel the anomalies [13] . Such fermions are usually referred to as "anomalons". The severe LHC constraints on additional chiral fermions imply that the anomalons must be vectorlike with respect to the SM gauge group and chiral with respect to the new gauge symmetry.

Furthermore, the gauge symmetry must be free of anomalies.

It turns out that any color-singlet 2 leptophobic gauge boson whose couplings to quark doublets are generation-independent requires new fermions to cancel the anomalies.


Acetic acid plus pylorus ligation model was utilized in our study. Acetic acid was employed as an ulcerogen and was capable of inducing severe haemorrhagic lesions due to penetration of the gastric mucosa when administered intragastrically. It also suppresses mucosal defense by reducing mucus secretion. Acetic acid induced lesions bear a close correspondence to clinical ulcers in terms of location, chronicity and severity (Okabe & Pfeiffer, 1992) . A tangible impact on the gastric mucosa can be induced by acetic acid and pyloric ligation.

Acetic acid induced lesions bear a close correspondence to clinical ulcers in terms of location, chronicity and severity.


Transient ischemic attack (TIA) has long time been one of the most important risk factors for severe ischemic stroke, the incidence of which is dramatically high during the early stage of ischemic stroke [1] [2] [3] . Thus, advanced evaluation and management of TIA is imperative. With the development of new neuroimaging modalities, such as CTA, MRA, and DSA, increasing imaging records on TIA can be found, especially with the application of MRA, which can be used to improve the determination of patients with high risk of having recurrent stroke or TIA [4] . Application of neuroimaging modalities have revealed that stenosis or occlusion of a large proximal intracranial or extracranial symptomatic artery were significantly associated with recurrent stroke/TIA [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . Most previous studies concentrated on the imaging results of brain tissues and vascular lesions, and the degree of artery stenosis and plaques, but few researchers have paid attention to the difference of vascular characteristics between TIA and infarction patients. A hypoplastic vertebrobasilar system can lead to posterior circulation ischemia [9] [10] [11] . The mechanism underlying occurrence of TIA in vertebral artery lesions, such as hypoplasia should be studied. In the current study, we present a heuristic model of determination of TIA patients by utilizing MRA, CE-MRA, and DWI. The contributing factors of TIA attack are explained in terms of the entire circulatory system.

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) has long time been one of the most important risk factors for severe ischemic stroke, the incidence of which is dramatically high during the early stage of ischemic stroke.

With the development of new neuroimaging modalities, such as CTA, MRA, and DSA, increasing imaging records on TIA can be found, especially with the application of MRA, which can be used to improve the determination of patients with high risk of having recurrent stroke or TIA.

Application of neuroimaging modalities have revealed that stenosis or occlusion of a large proximal intracranial or extracranial symptomatic artery were significantly associated with recurrent stroke/TIA.

A hypoplastic vertebrobasilar system can lead to posterior circulation ischemia.