As language embodies the values and meanings of a culture and is the most visible and available expression of a particular culture, it signals people's cultural identity (Byram, 1989) . Understanding learners' struggles in learning the English language involves not just his/her difficulties in the classroom but also an awareness of how sociocultural meanings are linked in complicated ways to sociocultural identities . Due to the fact that language reflects the cultural values of a society, it is important to know how one's culture affects his/her way of learning in an ESL classroom.

As language embodies the values and meanings of a culture and is the most visible and available expression of a particular culture, it signals people's cultural identity.


One of the most apparent challenges in mobile broadband networks will be the handling of the predicted increase in data traffic volume, which is doubling annually in the forthcoming years, with 26 times more mobile traffic in 2015 than in 2010 and reaching 6.3 exabytes in 2015 [1] [2] [3] . This growing consumer demand for higher data rates as well as seamless access to various communication services anywhere and anytime is accelerating the technological development towards the integration of various wireless access technologies, i.e., Heterogeneous Wireless Networks [3] . Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), originally designed for laptops and now often complementing the cellular networks in serving handheld devices, are embracing unprecedented popularity for its superior data rate and cost effective connectivity delivered to mobile Terminals (MTs). Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are turning to WLANs to offload some of the exponentially increased subscriber data traffic such that the demand on both the radio access network and core network are reduced [4] [5] [6] [7] . However, to fully exploit the advantages offered by the WLAN integration and data offload, intelligent and efficient vertical handover decision (VHD) schemes should be carefully made to guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS) while maximizing the usage of the available WLAN connectivity.

One of the most apparent challenges in mobile broadband networks will be the handling of the predicted increase in data traffic volume, which is doubling annually in the forthcoming years, with 26 times more mobile traffic in 2015 than in 2010 and reaching 6.3 exabytes in 2015.

This growing consumer demand for higher data rates as well as seamless access to various communication services anywhere and anytime is accelerating the technological development towards the integration of various wireless access technologies, i.e., Heterogeneous Wireless Networks.

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are turning to WLANs to offload some of the exponentially increased subscriber data traffic such that the demand on both the radio access network and core network are reduced.


Software testing is an important stage of software development life cycle (SDLC). It is an activity that helps finding out bugs and errors in a software system that is under development in order to provide a bug free and reliable system/solution to the customer [2] . Testing has two main types based on the knowledge of the system: black box testing (functional) and white box testing (structural) [2] [3] [4] . The functional testing deals with the system as a black-box that does not explicitly use knowledge of the internal structure; which means it usually makes sure that the system is working according to the system requirements, while the structural testing generates the test data depend on the knowledge of internal code of the system. During structural testing, the goal is to generate a test data which satisfy a given testing criterion to cover given elements of the program. In this paper, the branch coverage criterion is considered, where each branch of the program should be reached by some test data [2] .

It is an activity that helps finding out bugs and errors in a software system that is under development in order to provide a bug free and reliable system/solution to the customer.

Testing has two main types based on the knowledge of the system: black box testing (functional) and white box testing (structural).

In this paper, the branch coverage criterion is considered, where each branch of the program should be reached by some test data.


Web 2.0 has enabled the proliferation of applications such as blogs, social networks, wikis, and social bookmarking systems (SBSs). These allow users to communicate and share resources in a collaborative way in a professional field as well as in an academic or research sphere. These web applications have three common features: user profiles, following other users or adding them as friends or contacts, and adding comments to the generated content (Mason & Rennie, 2008) .

These web applications have three common features: user profiles, following other users or adding them as friends or contacts, and adding comments to the generated content.


Across the globe, medical management of pain and inflammation is still a major challenge for drug discovery researchers and clinicians with an economic impact of billion annually (Wilhelm et al., 2009) . It has been reported that pain, inflammation and pyrexia share common pathways in their development and mediation and often occur simultaneously. The pain receptors are activated by mechanical, chemical, thermal or other stimuli. After injury, histamine, serotonin, bradykinin, prostaglandin and other mediators are released. Histamine takes part in early stage of inflammation. Serotonin and bradykinin activates pain receptors while prostaglandins produce fever and increase pain sensation (Davies et al., 1984) .

Across the globe, medical management of pain and inflammation is still a major challenge for drug discovery researchers and clinicians with an economic impact of billion annually.

Serotonin and bradykinin activates pain receptors while prostaglandins produce fever and increase pain sensation.


Brewer yeast induced pyrexia is considered as pathogenic and release prostaglandin to disturb the thermoregulatory center (Hullati and Sharada, 2007) . In this study, we examined the antipyretic activity of these compounds using Brewer's yeast induced pyrexia model in mice. Our findings suggest significant antipyretic activity comparable to that of aspirin (Figure 8a, b, c) . From our findings, it appears that these compounds may have inhibitory effect on the mediators of pyrexia including prostaglandin-biosynthesis, as prostaglandins are one of important regulators of pyrexia (Ranels and Griffin, 2003) . Accordingly, we carried out molecular modeling simulation study to see the binding mode of our synthetic compounds with cycloxygenase enzymes employing FRED 2.1 package . Molecular docking simulate and facilitate the study of binding of drug to a specific site of protein in the receptor of interest and thus signifying the best-fit orientation of ligand and rational drug design (Rowlinson et al., 2003) . In-fact, COX-2 is one of the major enzymes involved in inflammation due to biosynthesis of prostaglandins (PGs) . Heme is involved in catalysis of PGs biosynthesis. Any substrate can only access the catalytic site (heme) via passing through a narrow pocket surrounded by the important amino acid residues especially Arg120 and Tyr355. These two amino acids play a central part in designing or virtual screening for discovery of new COX inhibitors. In this study, flurbiprofen was used as a reference and co-crystallized ligand, to validate the accuracy of binding mode and binding affinity (in terms of binding energy in Kcal/mol) of our compounds. Best scoring conformation of flurbiprofen was found very close to the experimental conformation (RMSD value: 0.453). In case of compound I [4-(2-hydroxybenzyl) morpholin-4-ium chloride], oxygen of morpholyl group (Figure 9 ) revealed hydrogen bonding with Tyr355 (at a distance of 3.55°A). However a weak dipole-dipole interaction was observed between the cyclic oxygen with Arg120 but no hydrogen was detected. Interestingly, the same compound I, was found in favorable contact with O (oxygen) of Met522 (2.94°A) via phenolic moiety. Surface area of the main binding pocket of COX-2 is generally polar in nature while hydrophobic regions (based on surrounding alkyl and aryl side chains) were also present. In both compounds, no unwanted hydrophobichydrophilic interactions were found (Figure 11 ; A and B), which supported our experimental activity.

Brewer yeast induced pyrexia is considered as pathogenic and release prostaglandin to disturb the thermoregulatory center.

From our findings, it appears that these compounds may have inhibitory effect on the mediators of pyrexia including prostaglandin-biosynthesis, as prostaglandins are one of important regulators of pyrexia.

Molecular docking simulate and facilitate the study of binding of drug to a specific site of protein in the receptor of interest and thus signifying the best-fit orientation of ligand and rational drug design.


Acknowledgements: This paper is extracted from my thesis [12] . First of all, I would like to thank Gunther Cornelissen for his advice during my graduate studies. I would like to thank Frits Beukers and Roelof Bruggeman for their numerous comments on a lecture series about my studies.

Acknowledgements: This paper is extracted from my thesis.


Biogas plants utilizing slaughterhouse waste are operating today below their full capacity [21] . Hence there is a need to improve the performance of these digesters. However, more information is required about how complex substrates perform together with slaughterhouse waste during co-digestion to achieve this goal. It is evidently necessary to assess the performance of the co-digestion process by an experimental evaluation, using a four factor mixture design to estimate a mathematical model and an explanation of the results in terms of biological process. Hence, the strategy in the present study was to apply a four factor mixture design for the evaluation of all two and three factor synergistic and antagonistic interactions in the co-digestion process, and to discuss the biological influence of different substrate compositions on the anaerobic co-digestion of solid cattle slaughterhouse wastes mixed with three different residues from agricultural activities.

Biogas plants utilizing slaughterhouse waste are operating today below their full capacity.


Firstly, the MKR with its ring diameter of~1339.0 µm was obtained by using the flame-heated taper-drawing technique and the knot formation technique [15] . To investigate the characteristics of the add-drop filter and its optical performance dependence on the MKR diameter, we decreased the diameter of the MKR step by step through moving the translation stages. They were fixed with fiber holders, which support the freestanding ends of the tapered fiber. The schematic diagrams of the add-drop filter ( Figure 1a ) and the experimental setup (Figure 1b) are displayed. To clearly show the structure of the MKR, a 650 nm continuous-wave laser was launched into the input port with a maximum optical output power of 5 mW at the drop filter. The photograph of the MKR optically coupled with the lithium-niobate microwaveguide (Figure 1c ) is also shown (Figure 1d ).

Firstly, the MKR with its ring diameter of~1339.0 µm was obtained by using the flame-heated taper-drawing technique and the knot formation technique.


Radio propagation modeling in urban and indoor environments is a complicated electromagnetic problem. Ray tracing and Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD) are already widely applied to radio propagation modeling for wireless applications [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . In most of the cases, the modeling requires a large number of facets to be considered. On the other hand, even a simple mobile communications problem, calls for computation of the field for a large number of points along a predefined path, or on a user-defined mesh.

Ray tracing and Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD) are already widely applied to radio propagation modeling for wireless applications.


The most time and resource consuming operation in ray tracing method, when used to model the propagation for a complex environment, is the ray-facet intersection test [3] . The purpose of this test is to determine if a ray intersects with the specified facet in the environment or not. This test should be performed each time a new ray is generated in the simulation process (after each reflection, diffraction, etc.). And each time, it should be tested for all the facets in the environment! So, when the number of involved facets is large, the ray tracing procedure would be very slow and almost impractical.

The most time and resource consuming operation in ray tracing method, when used to model the propagation for a complex environment, is the ray-facet intersection test.


Morphological analysis is crucial to many modern natural language processing applications, especially when dealing with morphologically rich languages where the enormous number of possible inflected word forms would otherwise lead to severe problems with data sparsity, computational efficiency, and general application performance. Consequently, there has recently been an increasing amount of research on the task of automatic unsupervised segmentation of word forms into smaller useful units, i.e. morphs or morphemes [8] . Many current morphological analysis tools are already capable of extracting ad-hoc morphological segmentations that are of good quality for the purposes of, e.g., speech recognition [2] .

Consequently, there has recently been an increasing amount of research on the task of automatic unsupervised segmentation of word forms into smaller useful units, i.e. morphs or morphemes.

Many current morphological analysis tools are already capable of extracting ad-hoc morphological segmentations that are of good quality for the purposes of, e.g., speech recognition.


In recent years, anthropometry has been used widely in criminal forensics, medical diagnoses and biomedical applications [10] . Anthropometry also plays an important part in the design of clothes and shoes, which need to be fit to the human body. In order to create the best shoes, the focus is always on the measurement of biomechanical behavior of a large amount of human data [12] . However, to analyze such an amount of data is an arduous task. Fortunately, modern computers make it possible to do accurate measurement automatically in three-dimensions (3-D) by computer vision and image processing techniques [6] .

In recent years, anthropometry has been used widely in criminal forensics, medical diagnoses and biomedical applications.

In order to create the best shoes, the focus is always on the measurement of biomechanical behavior of a large amount of human data.

Fortunately, modern computers make it possible to do accurate measurement automatically in three-dimensions (3-D) by computer vision and image processing techniques.


In type 1 diabetes, hepatic gluconeogenesis is dramatically increased due to insulin depletion and amino acid is used as an energy source, causing body weight loss [31] . The improvement of body weight loss is used as an important index that indicates the recovery from type 1 diabetes. In this study, the diabetic control showed more body weight loss than the normal control, indicating weight loss from excessive breakdown of tissue proteins. Meanwhile, the liver is the major gluconeogenic tissue [25] . The diabetic control had excessive accumulation of glycogen in the liver, but normal utilization of carbohydrates through glycogen reserves had failed; leading to a rapid increase of gluconeogenesis resulting in body weight loss. In this study, Pg extract and mixture A reversed the muscle wasting condition, and this was due to the improvements of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia caused by the plant extracts. In particular, the mixture A caused recovery of the abnormal glycogen accumulation within the liver close to normal, and the amount of body weight increase was also higher than that observed with other extracts. Therefore, mixture A was not only effective in recovering from hyperglycemia, hypoinsulinemia, and hyperlipidemia, but also in recovering abnormal glycogen accumulation in liver and the muscle-wasting condition.

In type 1 diabetes, hepatic gluconeogenesis is dramatically increased due to insulin depletion and amino acid is used as an energy source, causing body weight loss.

Meanwhile, the liver is the major gluconeogenic tissue.


By observing the micro/nanostructure of Arapaima gigas scales ( Supplementary Fig. 1 ), we can find distinct twisted plywood structure which is formed by superimposing planar layers of parallel-aligned micro/nanofibers with a tiny angular deviation [4, 5] . Inspired by this special two-level architecture, we proposed a universal, programmed and scalable bottom-up assembly strategy for fabricating macroscopic 3D artificial twisted plywood structures based on 1D micro/nanoscale building blocks. Brushing-induced assembly method was proposed to flexibly arrange 1D micro/nanofibers in polymer matrixes to first construct biomimetic inorganic-organic 2D films with predefined structures (unidirectional or twisted arrangement of micro/nanofibers), controlled periodicities and thicknesses, which were then facilely and efficiently laminated into macroscopic 3D bulks. The resultant bulk composites exhibit comprehensive mimicry of both hierarchical structures and mechanical characteristics of their natural counterparts, demonstrating that high-performance artificial twisted plywood structural materials in practical bulk form can be readily obtained relying on this two-level assembly strategy due to its possibility for precise structural control from micro/nanoscale to macroscale.

By observing the micro/nanostructure of Arapaima gigas scales ( Supplementary Fig. 1 ), we can find distinct twisted plywood structure which is formed by superimposing planar layers of parallel-aligned micro/nanofibers with a tiny angular deviation.


The mid-and longwave-infrared (mid-IR and LWIR) spectral regions from λ = 3-8 and 8-15 µm are critical spectral regions for sensitive spectroscopic analysis of a variety of physical compounds such as complex molecular solids, gaseous species and liquid mixtures [1] . Optical frequency combs in particular have been used to achieve broadband spectroscopy with exquisite frequency resolution [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . However, broadband mid-IR comb technology is still maturing and nearly all systems would greatly benefit from increased spectral coverage, lower power operation and improved robustness. Consequently, there has been a consistent push over the past decade to transition mid-IR comb systems or sub-systems to compact and robust chip-scale platforms [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] . In particular, the small modal area and long propagation lengths of integrated nanophotonic waveguides motivate the development of integrated frequency converters to extend the spectral reach of combs often with negligible power burdens.

The mid-and longwave-infrared (mid-IR and LWIR) spectral regions from λ = 3-8 and 8-15 µm are critical spectral regions for sensitive spectroscopic analysis of a variety of physical compounds such as complex molecular solids, gaseous species and liquid mixtures.

Optical frequency combs in particular have been used to achieve broadband spectroscopy with exquisite frequency resolution.

Consequently, there has been a consistent push over the past decade to transition mid-IR comb systems or sub-systems to compact and robust chip-scale platforms.


Moreover, in this next phase of research we will further put our inversion strategy to the test by applying it to finite temperature lattice data for gluons, ghosts and quarks. An important question to be further addressed there is whether, and to what extent if so, the spectral functions are sensitive to the deconfinement (chiral) transition or which kind of quasi-particle behaviour can be identified [14, 16, 36] . This will be discussed in forthcoming work.

An important question to be further addressed there is whether, and to what extent if so, the spectral functions are sensitive to the deconfinement (chiral) transition or which kind of quasi-particle behaviour can be identified.


Epidemiological studies support the protective effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs) on cardiac death and, more specifically, on sudden cardiac death [1] . The Physicians Health Study reported that eating fish at least once a week was associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, but not of myocardial infarction in men [1] . In particular men with high blood levels of ω3-PUFAs had risk reductions of sudden death up to 90% [2] . As sudden cardiac death is in the majority of cases preceded by ventricular arrhythmias, it has been suggested that ω3-PUFAs are antiarrhythmic.

Epidemiological studies support the protective effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs) on cardiac death and, more specifically, on sudden cardiac death.

The Physicians Health Study reported that eating fish at least once a week was associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, but not of myocardial infarction in men.

In particular men with high blood levels of ω3-PUFAs had risk reductions of sudden death up to 90%.


Xinjiang is one of the important grassland animal husbandry bases in China. It has a total area of 5,725,800 hectares of natural grassland, of which 4,860,800 hectares can be used, ranking third in the country (Yan DJ., 2015) . Grassland rodent pests refer to rodents that inhabit grasslands have exceeded the environmental carrying capacity due to their high population density, which has adversely affected grassland health and animal husbandry development (Yang YP., 2016) . The Yellow Steppe Lemming (Eolagurus luteus) is mainly distributed in northern areas in Xinjiang, and the rodent pests in Ba Yin Gou pasture in Wu Su City is the most typical. Not only do these rodents eat a large amount of the stems and leaves of plants, but also destroy their roots and seeds, seriously endangering the growth of grasses. At the same time, the rodent excavation behavior changed the physical and chemical properties of the surface soil, resulting in deep calcium deposits accumulated in the hole. This not only affects the growth of pasture, but also is vulnerable to eolian erosion, eventually causing a decrease in forage grass cover and exacerbating the desertification process in the steppe.

It has a total area of 5,725,800 hectares of natural grassland, of which 4,860,800 hectares can be used, ranking third in the country.

Grassland rodent pests refer to rodents that inhabit grasslands have exceeded the environmental carrying capacity due to their high population density, which has adversely affected grassland health and animal husbandry development.


In order to be successful, new types of environmentally-friendly production methods (EFPMs) for vegetables require consumer recognition in the market place. While properly functioning markets have existed for a while for organic products, this is not so for vegetables produced by integrated pest management (IPM) and bio-dynamic (BD) (Steiner 1993) methods. In this study we use stated preference methods to assess how much consumers are willing to pay for these lesser known EFPMs when the product is grown by farmers with an established reputation.

While properly functioning markets have existed for a while for organic products, this is not so for vegetables produced by integrated pest management (IPM) and bio-dynamic (BD) methods.


Amongst the various EFPMs organic farming is the method that has been most successful in Italy, while BD agriculture and IPM are still quite uncommon. The recent growth in organic farming in Italy is due to several factors. From the supply side the dominant factor is widely agreed to be the substantial flow of subsidies used to create incentives for organic food production. From the domestic demand side there is increasing consumer recognition manifested via high WTP for organic products, especially in the aftermath of the various food scares which have afflicted Europe (Santucci and Pignataro 2002) .

From the domestic demand side there is increasing consumer recognition manifested via high WTP for organic products, especially in the aftermath of the various food scares which have afflicted Europe.


Statistical thinking can also be defined as thought processes, which recognise that variation is all around us and present in everything we do. All work is a series of interconnected processes, and identifying, characterising, quantifying, controlling and reducing variation provide opportunities for improvement (Snee, 1990) . The above principles of statistical thinking within six sigma are robust and therefore it is fair to say that six sigma will continue to grow in the forthcoming years. In other words, statistical thinking may be used to create a culture that should be deeply embedded in every employee within any organisation embarking on six sigma programs. However the total package may change in the evolutionary process. It is important to remember that six sigma has a better record than total quality management (TQM) and business process re-engineering (BPR), since its inception in the mid-late 1980s. The ever-changing need to improve will no doubt create needs to improve the existing six sigma methodology and hence develop better products and provide better services in the future. As a final note, the author believes that companies implementing or contemplating embarking on six sigma programs should not view it as an advertising banner for promotional purposes.

All work is a series of interconnected processes, and identifying, characterising, quantifying, controlling and reducing variation provide opportunities for improvement.


In practice, these potentials are further increased due to overpotentials and kinetic barriers at the electrodes. To overcome these issues, powerful electrocatalysts are required which combine high Faradaic efficiencies and energy yields as well as high turnover. This can be realized by immobilized electrocatalysts which offer large effective surface areas [3] [4] [5] [6] .

This can be realized by immobilized electrocatalysts which offer large effective surface areas.


Consistent with the literature, two transitions with energy gap values are estimated at 1.43 eV and 2.1 eV [16, 31, 32] . Further, a similar transition is extracted from the cyclic voltammogram of Co 3 O 4 recorded in nitrogen atmosphere (see Fig. 4 ). From the calculated valence and conduction band, electrochemical transition with the following energy gap is determined as 1.4 eV [33] . The formula for the calculations of the band gap can be found in the supporting information. The structural and elemental characterization were followed by XRD, EDX and RAMAN techniques, respectively, as shown in Fig. 3b-d The Raman spectrum of the Co 3 O 4 nanofiber is visualized in Fig. 3d . In the recorded range of the spectrum, five bands are observed, located at 190, 470, 516, 608 and 678 cm −1 corresponding to the F 2g , E g , F 2g , F 2g , and A 1g Raman active modes, respectively, in agreement with the crystalline phase of Co 3 O 4 as reported in the literature [37] [38] [39] .

Consistent with the literature, two transitions with energy gap values are estimated at 1.43 eV and 2.1 eV.

From the calculated valence and conduction band, electrochemical transition with the following energy gap is determined as 1.4 eV.

In the recorded range of the spectrum, five bands are observed, located at 190, 470, 516, 608 and 678 cm −1 corresponding to the F 2g , E g , F 2g , F 2g , and A 1g Raman active modes, respectively, in agreement with the crystalline phase of Co 3 O 4 as reported in the literature.


Taking these considerations into account, a Faradaic efficieny for the CO 2 reduction to CO was found to be 65% with Co 3 O 4 nanofiber electrodes. With 27% Faradaic efficiency formate is produced as a byproduct, due to some proton coexistence in the electrolyte solution. No other side products were detected by the applied analytical GC and CAP-IC techniques. The capillary ion chromatography results for the formate production are provided in the supporting information (see ESI, Fig. S8 ). The control experiment with only FTO electrodes at the same electrolysis conditions did not give detectable amounts of CO as a result [3, 42] . Furthermore, bulk electrolysis with FTO/ Co 3 O 4 electrodes under N 2 saturation was performed as well, which lead to no measureable CO amount in the GC analysis (see ESI, Fig. S9 ).

The control experiment with only FTO electrodes at the same electrolysis conditions did not give detectable amounts of CO as a result.


The authors of this paper have a long term concern with assessing the usability of SQL extensions. Though a formal definition of usability does not exist there is a general agreement on its constituent parts [20] . These are best described as efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. Efficiency can be determined by speed of learning and accuracy; effectiveness by memorability and rate of errors whereas satisfaction is a subjective measure.

Though a formal definition of usability does not exist there is a general agreement on its constituent parts.


Query by Example (QBE) is one of the query techniques in CBIR system that gives an example image as query. The features of query will be extracted and compared with features from image databases. The feature can be divided as global feature and local feature. Global feature uses overall image to extract their feature without consider the users interest [2, 3] . While the local feature only uses part of image that users need. Some of the researches find that using local feature based on their region is more effective to satisfy what users require [1] , [4] [5] [6] . Local feature extraction from query image based on region is known as Region Based Image Retrieval (RBIR).

Global feature uses overall image to extract their feature without consider the users interest.

Some of the researches find that using local feature based on their region is more effective to satisfy what users require.


In the last few decades, Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) has become popular research. CBIR is one of the techniques to retrieve image from large image databases based on their visual similarity [1] . Searching images using their content has many advantages than using their annotation text, because not every images have annotation and not every annotations can resemble the images well. Therefore, CBIR is able to overcome the weakness of text-based image retrieval method.

CBIR is one of the techniques to retrieve image from large image databases based on their visual similarity.


In RBIR, some of the regions are created in query image. Not every region is relevant to determine the user interest. Therefore users have to define the Region of Interest (ROI) in image query so that the irrelevant region can be eliminated. ROI chosen by the user is more capable to express user interest, but it becomes less effective if users have to deal with a lot of query. Another approach is creating ROI by system [1, [4] . The method divides image into subblocks in certain size (e.g. 3x3) than determine ROI from every sub-blocks which is overlap with the object [1] . The object is obtained from segmenting between foreground and background. Another research to automatically defined ROI is using Region Important Index (RII) and Saliency Region Overlapping Block (SROB) [4] . However if the image content small object, sometimes the sub-block cannot be detected and become irrelevant sub-block. That can lead to define wrong ROI or selected region. Therefore it is necessary to have a method that can be adapted well in the different size of object.

Another approach is creating ROI by system [1.

The method divides image into subblocks in certain size (e.g. 3x3) than determine ROI from every sub-blocks which is overlap with the object.

Another research to automatically defined ROI is using Region Important Index (RII) and Saliency Region Overlapping Block (SROB).


Because of the late onset of CVID, there are some other (rarer) names for it, such as adult-onset agammaglobulinemia, late-onset hypogammaglobulinemia, and acquired agammaglobulinemia. This disease appears both in men and women. CVID frequency is from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 50,000 persons. The first clinical symptoms, such as recurrent severe or mild infections, can appear at any age: after the second year of life, during adolescence, or in adulthood, most often between the ages of 20 and 30 [2, 3] . In diagnosing CVID it is mandatory to exclude other causes of decreased antibody synthesis. Figure 1 resents some of these.

The first clinical symptoms, such as recurrent severe or mild infections, can appear at any age: after the second year of life, during adolescence, or in adulthood, most often between the ages of 20 and 30.

Figure 1 resents some of these.


All the aforementioned studies attempted to explore spelling errors committed by Arab students in different Arab countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia and Sudan) where English is considered as a foreign language, i.e. not used in everyday written and spoken interactions. The studies revealed that errors of omission and substitution constitute the highest percentage of Arab students' spelling errors. They also indicated that Arab students had grave difficulty in representing English vowels correctly. This could be due the inconsistency between English phonemes and graphemes as well as the students' mother tongue interference. All the studies cited above are related to the current study in that they attempted to accomplish similar objectives, i.e. to examine Arab EFL spelling errors in their writing. However, this study differs from those mentioned studies; this study is devoted to examining the types and causes of the spelling errors made by the Arab ESL secondary school students in the Saudi School in Kuala Lumpur. Unlike in the EFL context, English is used widely in Malaysia and is considered as an official second language used on a daily basis in communication and business contexts after Bahasa Malaysia, the official language of the country (Thirusanku & Yunus, 2014) .

Unlike in the EFL context, English is used widely in Malaysia and is considered as an official second language used on a daily basis in communication and business contexts after Bahasa Malaysia, the official language of the country.


The goal of cloud computing is to provide the appearance of unlimited scalability and storage for less money than the in-house data centers [1] . Its success is based on an economy of scale and the relative ease of administration of services, as an entire cloud-based data center could be configured through, for example, a series of web pages. Many businesses are today looking at cloud computing as a viable and cost-effective alternative to hosting their own data centers internally, with large IT companies like Microsoft, Google, and IBM all having initiatives relating to cloud computing [2] . Popular cloud-based platforms include Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2 and the Google App Engine.

The goal of cloud computing is to provide the appearance of unlimited scalability and storage for less money than the in-house data centers.

Many businesses are today looking at cloud computing as a viable and cost-effective alternative to hosting their own data centers internally, with large IT companies like Microsoft, Google, and IBM all having initiatives relating to cloud computing.


In recent years, health promotion has generally been strongly focused on reducing inequalities, integrating health into public policies and making people to change their lifestyles [5, 33] . This study suggests that migrants do not benefit from positive steps in health promotion (involvement in the public health insurance system) and even disadvantage themselves purely because of lack of awareness. Theoretical equal access to health care is thus not enough in real world, unless it is accompanied by sufficient awareness of the part of migrants about the health care system of the host country. Further research should investigate possible efficient ways to raise migrants' awareness of their equal opportunities and to empower them to utilize these.

In recent years, health promotion has generally been strongly focused on reducing inequalities, integrating health into public policies and making people to change their lifestyles.


Participants were tested in groups of four to 30. The experimenter explained that the purpose of the experiment was to evaluate how well a textbook section clearly conveyed the information; however, first there would be some standard personality inventories to aid in interpreting the results. Participants were first asked to fill out the MCMI-III, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and a brief demographic questionnaire. After completing the questionnaires they were asked to read a brief passage about sleep on which they would be tested. The passage was drawn from an introductory-level psychology text and was approximately 1,000 words in length. Participants were given 10 min to study the material. Following the study period, participants were asked to take a 20-item, true-false test that had been designed to be somewhat ambiguous. A 10-min break followed to allow the experimenter to score the tests. The experimenter randomly assigned one of two scores (90% -A, or 60% -F). After receiving their score participants were asked to fill out the Causal Dimension Scale (Russell, 1982) . After completion of the questionnaires the participants were debriefed and allowed to ask questions.

After receiving their score participants were asked to fill out the Causal Dimension Scale.


The classical thawing method involves plunging an enclosed cryovial tube containing explants into a sterile water bath (~ 40°C) for a short period of time (JOHNSON et al., 2012; N'NAN et al., 2012; WEN; WANG, 2010) . However, this procedure requires specific equipment and precise time control. Conversely, using a small volume of a sterile solution to thaw the embryos at room temperature may be advantageous during embryo cryopreservation. In this context, we aimed to establish a cryopreservation protocol for B. intermedia zygotic embryos by rapidly freezing desiccated embryos and subsequently thawing them at room temperature.

The classical thawing method involves plunging an enclosed cryovial tube containing explants into a sterile water bath (~ 40°C) for a short period of time.


Fiscal response models offer important insights into how donors could expect their aid to impact on the fiscal behaviour of a recipient government, in particular how aid affects government spending, tax revenue and domestic borrowing. In principal, because most of the aid that is spent in a country goes to or through the government, or finances the provision of public goods and services that would otherwise place demands on the budget, aid is a fundamental component of public sector fiscal behaviour (Morrissey, 2015a) . Aid inflows are expected to be associated with a direct and significant effect on public spending, but may also affect taxation either because of influences on tax effort or because reforms linked to aid conditionality affect tax rates or the tax base (Morrissey, 2015b) . Aid may be associated with lower domestic borrowing where this is an element of donor conditionality. This paper investigates the impact of aid on fiscal behaviour in Uganda.

In principal, because most of the aid that is spent in a country goes to or through the government, or finances the provision of public goods and services that would otherwise place demands on the budget, aid is a fundamental component of public sector fiscal behaviour.

Aid inflows are expected to be associated with a direct and significant effect on public spending, but may also affect taxation either because of influences on tax effort or because reforms linked to aid conditionality affect tax rates or the tax base.


In an effort to overcome many of these difficulties, there is now a growing body of empirical literature estimating the FRM within a cointegrated vector autoregressive (CVAR) framework, which provides a tractable framework for the formulation and testing of hypotheses for links between aid and domestic fiscal variables. The CVAR takes into account the interactions between variables over time, allowing a distinction between the long-run (equilibrium) and short-run (adjustment to the equilibrium) relations. There is one equation for each and every variable, so all variables in the system are treated as potentially endogenous and each variable is explained by its own lags and lagged values of the other variables. Assumptions about exogeneity are tested directly, avoiding the need for strong a priori assumptions; by design the econometric model allows the data to identify the statistical relationship between variables (Juselius, 2006) . It is therefore an atheoretical approach in the sense that one does not have to maintain the existence of, estimate or test specific theoretical formulations of the budget planning targets, or to estimate structural parameters. Rather, economic theory is invoked to choose the variables to include in the analysis, select the appropriate normalisations and restrictions to identify particular effects (hypotheses), and to interpret the results. Data requirements are also relatively modest, although as is the case here, obtaining consistent data over a sufficiently long sample period to facilitate reliable estimation may be an issue. In an effort to overcome this, we estimate CVAR models using both annual and quarterly data.

Assumptions about exogeneity are tested directly, avoiding the need for strong a priori assumptions; by design the econometric model allows the data to identify the statistical relationship between variables.


The quality of drinking water in Bangladesh is also at high risk. Problems are acute, especially in the urban areas due to increased migration of rural people and increased economic growth as well. Chittagong, the commercial capital of Bangladesh, is one of the densely populated urban areas which has been suffering from inadequate supply of drinking water often associated with water quality problems too (UNCED, 1992) . The principles that are applied to the prevention and control of the spread of pathogenic bacteria via food will also contribute to the prevention and the spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria. As antimicrobial resistance in food borne pathogens and commensals represents a specific public health hazard, additional control measures for antimicrobial resistant bacteria may therefore be necessary (EFSA, 2008) . In Bangladesh, a large number of people living in major cities and suburbs eat their meals in various roadside restaurants. In recent times, the microbiological safety of drinking water has become a burning issue and public awareness is gradually increasing regarding waterborne diseases.

Chittagong, the commercial capital of Bangladesh, is one of the densely populated urban areas which has been suffering from inadequate supply of drinking water often associated with water quality problems too.

As antimicrobial resistance in food borne pathogens and commensals represents a specific public health hazard, additional control measures for antimicrobial resistant bacteria may therefore be necessary.


The high prevalence of coliforms in salads could be due to, amongst other factors, contaminated water used to clean equipment and cutting/slicing machines leading to cross-contamination especially if used with raw foods, handlers not practicing proper sanitation and faulty pasteurization equipment and monitoring devices. The isolation of coliforms from vegetables was not unexpected since water used to irrigate vegetable crops and the manure used as fertiliser are reported to contain coliforms and other enteric bacteria (Gagliardi and Karns 2000) . The high prevalence and counts of coliforms found in the vegetables studied may, also be explained by the fact that the vegetable samples were not washed before processing. This was because the study was aimed at determining the risk associated with consuming these salads as purchased, bearing in mind that sanitary practices post-purchase and prior to consumption may vary across households in the country, in that a number of individuals consume these products as purchased.

The isolation of coliforms from vegetables was not unexpected since water used to irrigate vegetable crops and the manure used as fertiliser are reported to contain coliforms and other enteric bacteria.


The characterisation of miniature MOX sensors used in this work on a benchtop gas testing rig has previously been reported [12] . It has previously been demonstrated that the novel coatings applied to the sensors used in the module provide excellent sensitivity and good selectivity compared to many commercial devices [13] . It has also been reported that the WO3 coating allows NO2 to be detected in the ppb range, producing stable results over a range of test environments (e.g. low oxygen) [13] .

The characterisation of miniature MOX sensors used in this work on a benchtop gas testing rig has previously been reported.

It has previously been demonstrated that the novel coatings applied to the sensors used in the module provide excellent sensitivity and good selectivity compared to many commercial devices.

It has also been reported that the WO3 coating allows NO2 to be detected in the ppb range, producing stable results over a range of test environments (e.g. low oxygen).


Inside a building, the temperature can reach 600°C close to the ceiling of a room during the occurrence of a flashover [11] . Temperatures at lower levels (within 1 m of the ground) can reach between 200 and 300°C. Fires in multi-storey car parks are considered difficult to tackle and extremely hazardous, where the structures are poorly ventilated and it is challenging to identify the source of the fire [3] .

Inside a building, the temperature can reach 600°C close to the ceiling of a room during the occurrence of a flashover.

Fires in multi-storey car parks are considered difficult to tackle and extremely hazardous, where the structures are poorly ventilated and it is challenging to identify the source of the fire.


Several solvents, such as acetone, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), have been used to extract chlorophyll from plant tissues as described in a number of studies [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] . However, extraction of epidermis chlorophyll of bamboo culm has never been mentioned thoroughly in any literature. In practice, it is not easy to extract chlorophyll from bamboo. There are many capes of silica cells in the cuticular layer of bamboo culm. These capes are rich in SiO 2 that strengthen the outer epidermis of bamboo and prevent external invasions [12] . As a result, it is very difficult to obtain a complete chlorophyll extraction using a conventional grinding method in preliminary work because the bamboo epidermis is very tough. In our previous short, rapid communication that applied ultrasonics in chlorophyll extraction from bamboo culm, it was revealed that ultrasonics might be a feasible method to assist bamboo chlorophyll extraction [13] . In the present study, detailed evaluation of applying ultrasonics in the chlorophyll extraction of bamboo culm is conducted. The results are also compared to the traditional methods in terms of extraction efficiency. Finally, the stability of pigment extracts in different solvents was investigated, and chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were also quantified.

Several solvents, such as acetone, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), have been used to extract chlorophyll from plant tissues as described in a number of studies.

These capes are rich in SiO 2 that strengthen the outer epidermis of bamboo and prevent external invasions.

In our previous short, rapid communication that applied ultrasonics in chlorophyll extraction from bamboo culm, it was revealed that ultrasonics might be a feasible method to assist bamboo chlorophyll extraction.


Bamboo, a perennial lignified plant in the Bambusoideae family, is an important forest resource and grows more rapidly than any other woody plants on earth [1] . There are many genera of bamboos cultivated in Taiwan. Among them, moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) is one of the most popular and valuable species because of its rapid growth rate, excellent flexibility, and easy machinability. It is widely used as an industrial material in pulping, furniture, and construction.

Bamboo, a perennial lignified plant in the Bambusoideae family, is an important forest resource and grows more rapidly than any other woody plants on earth.


Tissue nutrient analysis. Nutrient analyses of redbud foliage revealed treatment effects for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Zn (Table  6) ; treatments did not affect Fe content of tissue. Nitrogen content of tissue was greater in mulch and bare soil than in turf plots. However, there was only a 0.3% difference in foliar N between the fescue plots, which had the poorest growth, and the mulch plots, which had the greatest caliper, height, and GI. Additionally, all of the N values are within the sufficiency range of 1.14% to 2.86% reported for redbud trees growing in a field production nursery and botanical garden setting (Mills and Jones, 1996) . Foliar P of redbud was greatest in the turf plots and lowest in the mulch and bare soil plots. Again, all P concentrations were within the recommended sufficiency range of 0.09% to 0.82%. Tissue concentration of K was greatest in the redbud trees growing in the mulched plots, all other treatments were within the sufficiency range of 0.76% to 1.43%. The remaining nutrients were all within the sufficiency ranges and generally tended to be greater in trees growing in turf than the trees in mulch or bare soil. Nutrient analysis of the redbud foliage indicates that only N was present in greater concentration in the trees growing in mulch and bare soil, and that difference was less than 0.5%. Since N concentration across all treatments were within the recommended range, it is unlikely that N concentrations are responsible for the magnitude of the growth responses observed.

Tissue nutrient analysis.

Additionally, all of the N values are within the sufficiency range of 1.14% to 2.86% reported for redbud trees growing in a field production nursery and botanical garden setting.


DNA vaccine is one of the most innovative vaccines, which has been reported that DNA vaccines preferentially induced Th 1 -dominant immune response. The exact mechanism of driving Th 1 or Th 2 type response has not been well known, but it has been suggested that CpG motifs from a bacterial plasmid might be responsible for [24] . However, there is still no one DNA vaccine whose immune response could be superior to that of conventional BCG. Hence, in order to improve the DNA vaccines against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, some strategies must be explored to enhance the protective immune response. In our study, we chose Ub to modulate the immune response elicited by HSP65 DNA vaccine.

The exact mechanism of driving Th 1 or Th 2 type response has not been well known, but it has been suggested that CpG motifs from a bacterial plasmid might be responsible for.


Several examples could be found in the literature for the implementation of anode electrocatalysts modified with tungsten-oxides, since in their presence the oxidation of CO shifts towards more negative potential than in case of pure Pt [5] [6] . Furthermore on account of the so called 'spill-over effect' tungsten oxides improve the catalytic activity in the hydrogen oxidation reaction as well [7] . Their application is limited by their instability due to dissolution in both alkaline and acidic conditions. The latter is particularly important, as electrocatalysts of a PEM fuel cell work in an acidic milieu. Nevertheless, the stability issue is expected to be improved by incorporating tungsten into the TiO 2 lattice.

Several examples could be found in the literature for the implementation of anode electrocatalysts modified with tungsten-oxides, since in their presence the oxidation of CO shifts towards more negative potential than in case of pure Pt.

Furthermore on account of the so called 'spill-over effect' tungsten oxides improve the catalytic activity in the hydrogen oxidation reaction as well.


The uniform distribution of spherical Pt particles with mean diameter of 2.3 ± 0.8 nm and 4.5 ± 1.8 nm was verified via TEM imaging for the Pt/Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 -C ( Fig. 7A) and Pt/C (Fig. 7B ) electrocatalysts, respectively. Certain increase of the Pt particle size after electrochemical stability test experiments was demonstrated (see Fig. 7C -D; note the difference in the magnification). After 5000 cycles, some extent of sintering and agglomeration of the Pt nanoparticles was observed for both catalysts. The increase of the Pt particle size to 6.5 ± 2.3 nm and 10.0 ± 5.7 nm was observed on the Pt/Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 -C and the Pt/C catalysts, respectively. These results confirm that upon using of the composite support, more effective protection of Pt nanoparticles from agglomeration can be reached. Figure 8A compares the Ar-purged CO-stripping curves recorded on the Pt/Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 -C sample with those obtained on the Pt/Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 electrocatalyst. For comparison our results obtained on unmodified parent Pt/C and PtRu/C (Quintech) with Pt = 20 wt%, considered as the state-of-the art CO-tolerant electrocatalyst, were also included (see Fig. 8B ). During the first cycle after CO admission on both catalysts supported on the composite material and Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 mixed oxide a "pre-peak" located between ~200 and ~550 mV was observed (Fig. 8A) . It is necessary to mention that the appearance of the "pre-peak" on the Ar-purged CO ads stripping voltammograms obtained on both catalysts resemble those commonly observed in the literature for CO tolerant W-modified Pt catalysts [5] [6] 33] .

It is necessary to mention that the appearance of the "pre-peak" on the Ar-purged CO ads stripping voltammograms obtained on both catalysts resemble those commonly observed in the literature for CO tolerant W-modified Pt catalysts.


Fuel cells are clean and reliable energy sources, which convert the chemical energy content of hydrogen-rich fuels into electricity practically without emission of greenhouse gases. In particular, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells with their high efficiency and low operation temperature are considered as ideal power sources for mobile applications ranging from handhold electronic equipments to transportation vehicles. For the widerange implementation of PEM fuel cells it is most essential to produce low-cost durable units. A significant part of the price belongs to the electrocatalysts, which are required in high amounts with platinum as the material of choice for their active element. The use of platinum also raises questions with regard to stability, since the hydrogen fuel produced by reforming contains small amount of carbon monoxide that poisons the catalysts. In case of direct methanol fuel cells CO is one of the intermediate products of the electrooxidation reaction. In addition, the typical catalyst support, activated carbon tends to corrode under the fast load change conditions encountered frequently in fuel cells used in transportation applications, which rapidly deteriorates the performance of the catalysts [1] . Accordingly, current research on fuel cells catalysts focuses on developing stable, CO-tolerant electrocatalysts with reduced platinum content.

In addition, the typical catalyst support, activated carbon tends to corrode under the fast load change conditions encountered frequently in fuel cells used in transportation applications, which rapidly deteriorates the performance of the catalysts.


Considering the mentioned facts, we decided to develop a novel support consisting of a composite of activated carbon and Ti (1−x) W x O 2 mixed oxide. The presence of the activated carbon makes the synthesis complicated, since earlier studies showed that it prefers the formation of segregated titania and tungstenoxide phases, and the titania is presented in anatase phase that is disadvantageous for the incorporation of W [10] . Accordingly, we have developed a new multistep sol-gel synthesis method optimized for preparation of Ti (1−x) W x O 2activated carbon composites with almost exclusive tungsten incorporation into the rutile lattice. The optimization of the synthesis route, along with a structural and functional assessment of the synthesis products were described in a previous publication [10] . In the present work our aim is to give a more elaborate insight into the formation of the Ti 0.7 W 0.3 O 2 -C composite material. To this end the influence of the heat treatment steps on the chemical states of the components is explored in a series of in situ XPS experiments, during which the inert gas annealing and the reduction were carried out in the preparation chamber of the photoelectron spectrometer, thus air exposure between the steps was avoided. The findings are analyzed in terms of structural development observed by XRD after each heat treatment step. Novel scanning electron microscopy data are shown to demonstrate the improved agglomeration resistance of the carbon-containing composite. Electrochemical data demonstrate the promising performance of the Ti (1−x) W x O 2 -activated carbon composite supported Pt electrocatalysts. The results are completed by the analysis of the electrochemical surface area values for the composite supported catalysts determined from hydrogen underpotential deposition (H-UPD) and CO stripping voltammetry.

The presence of the activated carbon makes the synthesis complicated, since earlier studies showed that it prefers the formation of segregated titania and tungstenoxide phases, and the titania is presented in anatase phase that is disadvantageous for the incorporation of W.

The optimization of the synthesis route, along with a structural and functional assessment of the synthesis products were described in a previous publication.


For the underground bamboo shoots, the changing pattern of sucrose content was similar to that of the emerged bamboo shoots. However, the highest contents of glucose, fructose, and total sugar were observed at Day 0 and then decreased at Days 3 and 6 (Figs. 5D and 6 ). Before a new bamboo culm is able to assimilate carbohydrates, its growth depends on the accumulated substance from older culms, which are either stored in the rhizome or transported directly from the older culms to the growing shoot (Liese, 1998) . Our results also suggest that there were higher sugar contents in the underground bamboo shoots as compared with the emerged bamboo shoots. From this point of view, the accumulating mechanism of carbohydrates in bamboo shoots might be different between harvest maturity stages. In the immature underground bamboo shoots, surrounded by a soil environment, the transported carbohydrates might accumulate as sugars rather than as other forms, and they may be used directly as a major substance to support cellular metabolism during storage after harvest (Kays, 1991) . Moreover, the results suggest that at Day 6 of storage, the sugar content of bamboo shoots stored at 25°C was lower than that of bamboo shoots stored at 5°C. It can be assumed that the lower storage temperature may slow the loss of sugar content in postharvest of bamboo shoots. Previous studies indicated that shelf life of bamboo shoots could be extended by reducing storage temperature and high-temperature conditions could enhance sugar use and respiration of the cell. Postharvest deterioration and changing in cellular components, including discoloration, browning, lignification, and increased PAL activity, were also observed in bamboo shoots stored at relatively high temperature (Chen et al., 1989; Matsui et al., 2004; Shen et al., 2006) . On the other hand, a low temperature seems to slow cellular respiration and quality deterioration (Bron et al., 2005; Jones, 1942; Kattan and Pharr, 1971; Platenius, 1942; Saltveit, 2004; Zhang et al., 2002) .

Before a new bamboo culm is able to assimilate carbohydrates, its growth depends on the accumulated substance from older culms, which are either stored in the rhizome or transported directly from the older culms to the growing shoot.

In the immature underground bamboo shoots, surrounded by a soil environment, the transported carbohydrates might accumulate as sugars rather than as other forms, and they may be used directly as a major substance to support cellular metabolism during storage after harvest.

Postharvest deterioration and changing in cellular components, including discoloration, browning, lignification, and increased PAL activity, were also observed in bamboo shoots stored at relatively high temperature.

On the other hand, a low temperature seems to slow cellular respiration and quality deterioration.


Results in the Extended Tyre Domain: The handcrafted version of the extended tyre domain has 26 objects in 9 sorts, with 22 operators. We engaged a researcher (who was not the author of Opmaker2 software) to create 7 sequences of tasks of between 2 and 5 actions in length, encapsulating useful subtasks such as taking a wheel off a hub, or bringing tools out of the car's boot. When input to OpMaker2 with the initial partial domain model, procedure generate did not have enough information to discover unique sequences of states for all objects in the training sequences. However, adding extra 'common sense' invariants to the partial domain model (shown in the appendix) was sufficient to allow DetermineStates to generate a unique set of state sequences, leading to a set of 22 operator schema generated (Richardson, 2008) . On inspection, these were identical in structure to the original hand crafted version. This was confirmed by running the full domain model with a planner and ensuring that all tasks were correctly solved. In addition to operators, the 7 sequences of training tasks input lead to 7 methods being output. For example, one of the 7 generated methods encapsulating solution heuristics is as follows: Generating plans up to 10-12 operations in length was possible with standard planning engines, but tasks demanding solutions of greater length were not possible with the planning engines at our disposal. However, when the induced operator schema and the methods were used together with HyHTN, plan times were significantly shorter. For example, a complex planning problem for this extended domain is paraphrased as: "A car has two flat tyres: one is intact and can be fixed by use of the pump, whilst the other is punctured and requires a full tyre change". No solution was found to this problem after 36 hours using FF or HyHTN without the induced methods. However, using the induced domain schema and methods a correct solution of length 24 was found by HyHTN after only 11 seconds. It is not surprising that HTNtype domain models are so efficient: this is supported by fielded planning applications. What is significant here is that both the operator schema and the HTNtype methods used in the domain model were generated by Opmaker2.

However, adding extra 'common sense' invariants to the partial domain model (shown in the appendix) was sufficient to allow DetermineStates to generate a unique set of state sequences, leading to a set of 22 operator schema generated.


The standard diet contained (g/kg) casein (Isofar, Duque de Caxias, Brazil), 120; salt mixture, 50; vitamin mixture, 10; soybean oil, 80 (Sadia, São Paulo, Brazil); cellulose 10 (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany); cornstarch, 730.0 (Unilever Bestfoods, Mogi-Guaçu, Brazil). Total energy was 17.18 kJ/kg. The high-lipid diet was the same, except for soybean oil, 250; cornstarch, 546; cholesterol, 10, with total energy 20.57 kJ/g (Matos et al., 2005) . After 60 days, animals were fasted overnight and killed by decapitation. Blood samples were collected from brachial plexus, immediately centrifuged and assayed. Liver and abdominal fat were removed and weighed. Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol, total protein, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, urea, uric acid, glucose and iron were assayed with colorimetric or enzymatic methods using kits (Labtest Diagnóstica, Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The VLDL-and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were calculated using the Friedewald equation: LDL-C = total cholesterol -(HDL-C + VLDL-C), and VLDL-C = triglycerides/2.175.

Total energy was 17.18 kJ/kg.

The high-lipid diet was the same, except for soybean oil, 250; cornstarch, 546; cholesterol, 10, with total energy 20.57 kJ/g.


We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed approach with a large-scale offline evaluation. To evaluate the recommendations for news and for local events we used large-scale datasets of Medium.com and Meetup.com users. We generated a profile for each user with their public Twitter traces and compared the discriminative power of the proposed CA-LDA model with that of the standard LDA and doc2vec [26] . The result showed that CA-LDA outperformed the previous algorithms by up to 77.4% in terms of mean Average Precision (mAP) in discriminating items the user liked and did not like in this specific task.

We generated a profile for each user with their public Twitter traces and compared the discriminative power of the proposed CA-LDA model with that of the standard LDA and doc2vec.


Most of the species showed pronounced changes in the slope of crown width vs. tree height for large vs. small individuals. We therefore computed separate slopes for trees ≤ 25 m tall and trees > 25 m tall, the approximate height at which the shift in slopes was most evident. As neither covariate is strictly dependent on the other in allometric relations, we computed standardized major axis (SMA) regression slopes and tested for differences using SMATR (Warton et al. 2006) . This approach minimizes the variance perpendicular to the regression line and the resulting slope is equal to the standard regression slope divided by the Pearson correlation coefficient r. To compare crown widths for trees of specified heights we used standard regression, as is appropriate for predicting y given x.

As neither covariate is strictly dependent on the other in allometric relations, we computed standardized major axis (SMA) regression slopes and tested for differences using SMATR.


The uptake of primary (N, P, K) and secondary (Ca, Mg) macronutrients in different plant organs greatly depend on fauna activities presents in the rhizosphere soils together with the capacity of the soil to refill in the given soil solutions [5] . Primarily, N is necessary for the formation of amino acids which are building blocks of protein also aid for plant growth which triggered through cell division. Besides N is directly involved in photosynthesis and is a necessary component of several vitamins in legumes [1] . The demand for N in a deficient soil is normally achieved by the use of chemical fertilizers. However, the high cost of mineral N fertilizers may be counteracted by other alternative means to meet the N demand through the use of beneficial bacteria such as Rhizobium [6] .

The uptake of primary (N, P, K) and secondary (Ca, Mg) macronutrients in different plant organs greatly depend on fauna activities presents in the rhizosphere soils together with the capacity of the soil to refill in the given soil solutions.

Besides N is directly involved in photosynthesis and is a necessary component of several vitamins in legumes.

However, the high cost of mineral N fertilizers may be counteracted by other alternative means to meet the N demand through the use of beneficial bacteria such as Rhizobium.


Crop plants need food for their growth and development. They require essential elements of which carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are derived from the atmosphere and soil water [1] . Plants require 17 nutrients, which are known as essential elements [2] . Every nutrient plays different functions which allow the plant to grow and reproduce. Each plant nutrient is needed in different amounts by the plant, and varies in how mobile it is within the plant. Mineral elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, molybdenum, and chlorine are supplied either from soil minerals and soil organic matter or by organic or inorganic fertilizers [3] . However, continuous cultivation of the soil without nutrients replenishment may result into severe deficiency of most of the major nutrients [4] .

They require essential elements of which carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are derived from the atmosphere and soil water.

Plants require 17 nutrients, which are known as essential elements.

Mineral elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, molybdenum, and chlorine are supplied either from soil minerals and soil organic matter or by organic or inorganic fertilizers.

However, continuous cultivation of the soil without nutrients replenishment may result into severe deficiency of most of the major nutrients.


To integrate data truthfulness and privacy preservation in a practical data market, there are four major challenges. The first and the thorniest design challenge is that verifying the truthfulness of data collection and preserving the arXiv:1812.03280v1 [cs.DB] 8 Dec 2018 privacy seem to be contradictory objectives. Ensuring the truthfulness of data collection allows the data consumers to verify the validities of data contributors' identities and the content of raw data, whereas privacy preservation tends to prevent them from learning these confidential contents. Specifically, the property of non-repudiation in classical digital signature schemes implies that the signature is unforgeable, and any third party is able to verify the authenticity of a data submitter using her public key and the corresponding digital certificate, i.e., the truthfulness of data collection in our model. However, the verification in digital signature schemes requires the knowledge of raw data, and can easily leak a data contributor's real identity [9] . Regarding a message authentication code (MAC), each pair of a data contributor and a data consumer need to agree on a shared secret key, which is unpractical in data markets.

However, the verification in digital signature schemes requires the knowledge of raw data, and can easily leak a data contributor's real identity.


The data and reports related to pathosystems are commonly focused on two or fewer organisms involved in plant disease complex. Moreover, this information is typically dispersed across a variety of journals and data repositories. There is a growing need for curating and connecting such resources so that the information is organized in standardized ontologies and is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (Sansone et al. 2019; Harper et al. 2018) . Unified portals such as Citrusgreening.org can be used to provide a centralized data mining resource for a plant disease research community and stakeholders such as policy makers, farmers, extension agents, growers and regulatory authorities.

There is a growing need for curating and connecting such resources so that the information is organized in standardized ontologies and is findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.


Carbonate and bicarbonate compounds are considered as a new promising agent as phosphate replacer. Some recent studies showed that bicarbonate compounds can be reduce by the drip loss and shear force, which improve the yield as well as phosphates. This effect could be explained because bicarbonates have higher buffering capacity and ionic strength than phosphates [9] [10] [11] .

This effect could be explained because bicarbonates have higher buffering capacity and ionic strength than phosphates.


Beside to the former unique characteristics, phosphates improve the oxidative stability, flavor and retard the microbial growth in meat products [7] . Recently, the use of phosphates has being diminished in meat industry due to some nutritional drawbacks of phosphates that come from their ability to interfere the absorption of some minerals in the gut by forming insoluble complexes with calcium and magnesium. Several countries have banned their use in raw meat production [8] . In response to these nutritional drawbacks, many studies started to evaluate some functional ingredients to replace the use of phosphate in meat products [9] .

Beside to the former unique characteristics, phosphates improve the oxidative stability, flavor and retard the microbial growth in meat products.

Several countries have banned their use in raw meat production.

In response to these nutritional drawbacks, many studies started to evaluate some functional ingredients to replace the use of phosphate in meat products.


The impact of different heat treatments on the quality traits of marinated poultry meat had been evaluated. Air-steam treatment was one of the best methods for obtaining more tender chicken slices. It was found that the effect of cooking time on cooking loss was more than cooking temperature [12] . Low relative humidity-heat treatment showed higher quality traits for cooked turkey meat when compared to high steam treatment [13] . Cooking conditions (temperature and cooking time) have massive impact on physical characteristics of meat and eating quality.

It was found that the effect of cooking time on cooking loss was more than cooking temperature.

Low relative humidity-heat treatment showed higher quality traits for cooked turkey meat when compared to high steam treatment.


Bicarbonate compounds have evaluated as a phosphate replacer under the same conditions of heat treatment [10, 11] . Scarce in formations are available about the effect of bicarbonate in comparison to phosphates under different conditions of heat treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different heat treatments on breast fillets marinated with bicarbonate versus phosphates.

Bicarbonate compounds have evaluated as a phosphate replacer under the same conditions of heat treatment.


Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pharmacologic management of pain requires the use of analgesic drugs. These drugs, though effective, can cause serious side effects. The search for potent analgesic agents with minimal side effects remains the goal of many scientific studies [1] .

The search for potent analgesic agents with minimal side effects remains the goal of many scientific studies.


The tail flick test measures complex responses to acute nociceptive activity and is one of the models used for studying centrally acting analgesics [14] . The extract showed a potent activity on this model, similar to the effect of morphine. The effect of the extract in the tail flick and hot plate models indictates a central analgesic effect.

The tail flick test measures complex responses to acute nociceptive activity and is one of the models used for studying centrally acting analgesics.


Alstonia boonei (De Wild, Apocynaceae) is a large deciduous tree found in various parts of Africa. It is known as Awun among the Yorubas of southwestern Nigeria, Egbu-ora among the Igbos of southeastern Nigeria and Ukpukunu by the Urhobos of south central Nigeria. Parts of the plant are employed in the treatment of various ailments. While the stem bark is used as an astringent, alternative tonic and a febrifuge for relapsing fevers, the leaves and latex are used for the treatment of rheumatic and muscular pain, and hypertension [3, 4] .

While the stem bark is used as an astringent, alternative tonic and a febrifuge for relapsing fevers, the leaves and latex are used for the treatment of rheumatic and muscular pain, and hypertension.


As more transactional services became provided electronically via HRIS, HR personnel obtained greater opportunities to focus on human relations tasks, such as training, development, employee relations, and total rewards. By the end of the 1980s, personnel departments had generally been renamed HR departments. This development marked the first wave of the transformation of HR departments [4] . However, HRIS were insufficient for the new role of HR departments. Line managers and employees increasingly believed that information systems should not only improve HR processes technologies to involve different stakeholders in co-delivering HR services. With v-HRM, the HR value is a co-production by engaging both internal and external stakeholders.

This development marked the first wave of the transformation of HR departments.


McKinsey & Company suggests that virtual worlds such as Second Life will become an indispensable business tool [50] . Many companies are starting to explore opportunities for v-HRM. This research asserts that the development of v-HRM allows stakeholders to participate, observe, and interact in the HR process in a manner that may be regarded as the next step in the evolution of HR beyond HRIS and e-HRM. The case study shows that v-HRM will lead HR departments out of the ivory tower over the course of the next few years, driving HR professionals towards delivering more valuable services to companies' stakeholders and transforming HR departments into strategic assets that serve external stakeholders, customers, and investors.

McKinsey & Company suggests that virtual worlds such as Second Life will become an indispensable business tool.


In anchoring the findings of this study in the larger literature, some of its limitations must be acknowledged, which could also be suggestions for directions of future research. First, there may be problems in generalizing the research findings to a wider population than the one representative in a particular study. Second, many of our findings may be specific to the IBM model in Second Life, in which the scope of v-HRM initiatives may be restricted, such as the teamwork phenomenon that was not discussed in this study. Third, stakeholders at different companies or industries may vary a lot in terms of technology literacy, preferences, and HR expectations from person to person. Also, companies are diversified in terms of technology adoption, culture, and HR practices. A heterogeneous grouping of the stakeholders with diverse companies, industries or non-profit organizations will help the understanding of effective v-HRM models. A longitudinal study involving a longer time span may reinforce the current findings and meanwhile offer some other v-HRM initiatives or interesting discoveries. In addition, the age of the participants in our purposive sample varied only slightly: most were in their 30s, with only one individual over the age of 40, and only one individual younger than age 30. This sample may not represent the stakeholder values perceived by older or younger participants. Moreover, several security issues within virtual worlds for future research will need to be dealt with, such as data protection and integrity, unlawful activities, and information security and threats. It would be detrimental for virtual worlds if organizations and their stakeholders that have invested resources withdraw their support and reduce their participation [51] .

It would be detrimental for virtual worlds if organizations and their stakeholders that have invested resources withdraw their support and reduce their participation.


A tropical cyclone (TC) is the generic term for a nonfrontal synoptic-scale low-pressure system originating over tropical or subtropical waters with organized convection and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation [1] . In North Indian Ocean (NIO), the occurrence of TCs is not as many as in other basins (northwest Pacific Typhoons or Northwest Atlantic Hurricanes), only few cyclonic storms form each year [2] . NIO is a potentially energetic region for the development of cyclonic storms. The Bay of Bengal contributes 7% of the global annual tropical storms, at the same time; Arabian Sea contributes 2% of the global annual tropical storms [3] . Much of the TCs-related damage is attributed to storm surges, high winds, and damage associated with strong thunderstorm complexes, in addition to the contribution of tropical cyclone-induced rainfalls [4] .

A tropical cyclone (TC) is the generic term for a nonfrontal synoptic-scale low-pressure system originating over tropical or subtropical waters with organized convection and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation.

In North Indian Ocean (NIO), the occurrence of TCs is not as many as in other basins (northwest Pacific Typhoons or Northwest Atlantic Hurricanes), only few cyclonic storms form each year.

The Bay of Bengal contributes 7% of the global annual tropical storms, at the same time; Arabian Sea contributes 2% of the global annual tropical storms.

Much of the TCs-related damage is attributed to storm surges, high winds, and damage associated with strong thunderstorm complexes, in addition to the contribution of tropical cyclone-induced rainfalls.


In order to avoid the complexity problem, a distributed architecture has recently been proposed by the robotics research community which adopts the advantages of Internet technology and software engineering. Using a distributed platform, the computing will run asynchronously off-board the robot, saving precious onboard processing capacity [3] . However, traditional distributed applications like Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) have witnessed a lot of problems, such as tight-coupling and synchronization [1] . To attain the required degree of flexibility and interoperability, the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm has been introduced and has become a common method for data exchange between distributed systems. The key idea behind SOA is that different companies offer their services in the form of modular and loosely coupled software components exchanging data over HTTP, which can be consumed by other companies through the Internet with no human intervention [4] .

Using a distributed platform, the computing will run asynchronously off-board the robot, saving precious onboard processing capacity.

However, traditional distributed applications like Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) have witnessed a lot of problems, such as tight-coupling and synchronization.

The key idea behind SOA is that different companies offer their services in the form of modular and loosely coupled software components exchanging data over HTTP, which can be consumed by other companies through the Internet with no human intervention.


In recent years, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and tablet PCs have become commonplace at meetings. Ubiquitous access to personal devices has led to situations where multiple people interact through multiple computers in the same room. In addition, rooms are being augmented with group displays such as large interactive walls or tabletop displays that can act as shared public spaces to facilitate group work [14] .

In addition, rooms are being augmented with group displays such as large interactive walls or tabletop displays that can act as shared public spaces to facilitate group work.


Hypothesis (2), however, was refuted when they still measured an increase in response reliability when applying a nicotinic antagonist to the visual cortical neurons. Knowing that the NB modulation of responses must be happening before information gets to the cortex, they then recorded from lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons and discovered that these neurons also had an increase in reliability with NB stimulation. Since the NB does not project directly to the LGN, it was suggested that the NB's influence on LGN was indirect and that the increase in reliability occurs as a result of the NB disinhibiting the LGN through its GABAergic projections to the thalamic reticular nucleus [1, 2] . The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is composed of inhibitory neurons and receives topographically organized collaterals from both the cortex and the thalamus [15] [16] [17] . In turn, the TRN projects to first and higher order thalamic nuclei, including the LGN. The LGN relays all visual sensory information to the cortex and is typically referred to as the gateway to the cortex. Due to its inhibitory projections to LGN, the TRN has been referred to as the "guarding to the gateway" [18, 19] . The inhibitory projections from the basal forebrain could then regulate the flow of information to the cortex by inhibiting TRN neurons.

Since the NB does not project directly to the LGN, it was suggested that the NB's influence on LGN was indirect and that the increase in reliability occurs as a result of the NB disinhibiting the LGN through its GABAergic projections to the thalamic reticular nucleus.

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is composed of inhibitory neurons and receives topographically organized collaterals from both the cortex and the thalamus.

Due to its inhibitory projections to LGN, the TRN has been referred to as the "guarding to the gateway".


Previous research conducted at Loughborough University was focused on the modeling of crowd movement to improve the design of sport stadia and schools, and demonstrated the importance of capturing dynamic information related to crowd movement on the design of such spaces [5, 6] . The research on which this paper is based is concerned with the design of buildings for the safety of users in emergency events and builds on the above work to establish the scope for enhancing safety through the improved design of the built environment to better cope with extreme events. It also seeks to study evacuations in order to develop new design guidelines to enhance the safety of occupants. The focus of the research presented here was on the exit preferences of building occupants. This paper summarizes the methodology and presents the findings from two case studies-Observation Case Studies (OCS) and Simulation Case Studies (SCS)-conducted on three office buildings. The use of computer assisted evacuation modeling to identify the differences between the assumptions in current building guidance and real life circumstances was highlighted via SCS.

Previous research conducted at Loughborough University was focused on the modeling of crowd movement to improve the design of sport stadia and schools, and demonstrated the importance of capturing dynamic information related to crowd movement on the design of such spaces.


Investigating geomechanical effects requires the ability to model the interplay between fluid flow, pressure, mechanical stresses and strains, as well as the impact of deformation on rock properties. The theoretical framework of poromechanics was first introduced in the forties by the work of Karl von Terzaghi and Maurice Biot. Significant attention has later been paid to how this framework can be applied to reservoir engineering, and how the resulting system of coupled equations describing pressure and mechanical displacement can be efficiently solved [37, 36, 22, 11, 19, 23, 18] .

Significant attention has later been paid to how this framework can be applied to reservoir engineering, and how the resulting system of coupled equations describing pressure and mechanical displacement can be efficiently solved.


Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using maximum likelihood estimation was used to assess model fit and test hypotheses using Mplus 7. Before testing hypotheses, the factor structure was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Item parcels were utilized as indicators of latent constructs. The use of parcels is common practice and has found to have negligible effects on bias in parameter estimates and standard errors (Alhija and Wisenbaker, 2006) . We averaged items with highest and lowest factor loadings to achieve three indicators for each construct for all variables except TL, given its multi-dimensionality.

The use of parcels is common practice and has found to have negligible effects on bias in parameter estimates and standard errors.


Because of the nested data structure (411 employees in 37 hotels) we examined the data using multi-level modeling. We estimated empty multilevel models to obtain the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for all variables, an index of the proportion of the variability at the hotel level relative to the total variability (Raudenbush and Bryk, 2002) . In general, ICCs were very low across all variables (.00 to .08). Thus, over 90% of the variability was due to differences between individuals rather than organizations.

We estimated empty multilevel models to obtain the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for all variables, an index of the proportion of the variability at the hotel level relative to the total variability.


The results showed the potential to generate or extend rainfall records and establish continuous data sets using satellitebased rainfall data. The procedure followed was the calibration of the hydrological model against historical spatial gauge data from 1920-1990, followed by an assessment of the model forced with satellite rainfall data estimates for the period 2001-2006. As expected, for the satellite data to be used with the calibrated model parameters, some form of transformation was necessary. However, there are too few gauges with data that overlap the satellite-derived estimates period and the uncertainties associated with such estimates could potentially bias results. Even if gauge data are combined through interpolation approaches and satellite data are scaled in some way to account for local recalibration, there would still be substantial differences between two rainfall inputs to the hydrological model (Hughes, 2006a) . Therefore, a methodology based on rainfall frequency curves has been developed that makes use of already existing spatially averaged rainfall time series (WR90 database) to correct satellite derived rainfall estimates in the later periods. The methodology is useful because it preserves the frequency characteristics of the historical (gauge-based) rainfall. The application of the non-linear transformation technique based on frequency of exceedance generally improved the simulation results in most of the sub-basins used within the study (Table 2) . However, in some sub-basins, even after the satellite data transformation, no improvement was observed. This is evident, for instance, in sub-basins G40J-K, T34A-H, S60C and Q94C, all of which are partly affected by frontal rainfall systems. This might be partly related to inadequacies in the RFE2.0 algorithm used to derive the CPCAPC data. The RFE2.0 algorithm was reported not to capture warm cloud rainfall especially along coastal regions, where warm cloud effects dominate (Love et al., 2004) . On the other hand, significant under-estimations of spatial rainfall in orographic rainfall regions (for instance, V70A sub-basin) may be attributed to satellite-based estimates ignoring the rainfall variations due to altitude. Spatial rainfall variations are likely to be quite high in both mountainous and coastal regions. The systematic over-and under-simulation of peak flows for the 2001, 2004 and 2005 years (wet years) may be associated with CPCAPC data not able to accurately estimate high monthly rainfall values, a problem that is also frequently evident with ground-based rainfall observations. Therefore, none of the currently available rainfall sources can be said to be ideally suitable for input to the hydrological model as they are all associated with some form of uncertainties in their estimations (Hughes, 2006a) .

Even if gauge data are combined through interpolation approaches and satellite data are scaled in some way to account for local recalibration, there would still be substantial differences between two rainfall inputs to the hydrological model.

The RFE2.0 algorithm was reported not to capture warm cloud rainfall especially along coastal regions, where warm cloud effects dominate.

Therefore, none of the currently available rainfall sources can be said to be ideally suitable for input to the hydrological model as they are all associated with some form of uncertainties in their estimations.


Selection of bacterial culture medium and inoculant stabiliser solution. The development of improved culture media and carrier material for enhancing survival of rhizobial inoculants is important for ensuring the maintenance of inoculant quality during storage and transport to the field (Bashan et al., 2013) . For production of Bradyrhizobium inoculant, a low-cost medium is preferable. Currently available culture media use yeast extract and manitol as essential components (Balatti, 1992; Bashan et al., 2013) . In this study, the greatest number of viable cells and growth rate for all strains were reached in the balanced medium (Table 3 ; Fig. 2 ). Furthermore, J-81 reached the stationary phase faster than the other tested strains, when growing in this medium. Therefore, the balanced medium was chosen for bacterial growth. An advantage of the use of balanced medium, instead of YEM medium is that it is less expensive. Peat is the most frequently used carrier in the rhizobial inoculant industry due to its large water holding capacity and surface area that support rhizobial growth and survival (Singleton et al., 2002) . However, peat is not available in many countries, and peat-based inoculant production requires a significant amount of processing before use in a commercial production system (Tittabutr et al., 2007) . Liquid inoculant formulation is a solution to the problems associated with processing solid carriers, since it can be sprayed onto the seed. This formulation may use various broth cultures amended with additives that promote cell adhesion to seed and enhance rhizobial survival during storage and after exposure to extreme environmental conditions (Deaker, 2004) . Different inoculant stabiliser solutions were evaluated in this work to determine which maintain greatest J-81 and J-237 bacterial viability after storage. The greatest post-storage bacterial viability (2.10 8 CFU mL -1 ) occurred with arabic gum as stabilising solution. The number of J-81 viable cells was maintained during 6 months, while J-237 could be maintained for 2 months (Fig. 3) .

The development of improved culture media and carrier material for enhancing survival of rhizobial inoculants is important for ensuring the maintenance of inoculant quality during storage and transport to the field.

Currently available culture media use yeast extract and manitol as essential components.

Peat is the most frequently used carrier in the rhizobial inoculant industry due to its large water holding capacity and surface area that support rhizobial growth and survival.

However, peat is not available in many countries, and peat-based inoculant production requires a significant amount of processing before use in a commercial production system.

This formulation may use various broth cultures amended with additives that promote cell adhesion to seed and enhance rhizobial survival during storage and after exposure to extreme environmental conditions.


Bacterial competitiveness. In a previous evaluation of 220 native isolates, obtained from nodules of peanut plants, growing in different (Angelini et al., 2011) . In this work, the competitiveness of these strains was evaluated and compared with the reference strains Bradyrhizobium sp. SEMIA 6144 and Bradyrhizobium sp. C-145. Bradyrhizobium sp. J-237 showed the greatest occupancy when compared with all other strains, while J-81 showed a greater occupancy than the reference strains (SEMIA 6144 and C-145) ( Table 2 ). These results support the hypothesis that among indigenous populations, rhizobia that are more competitive than reference strains may be selected, since they are adapted to local ecological conditions (Svenning et al., 2001; Rangin et al., 2008; Duodu et al., 2009) . Comparison between the reference strains reveals that SEMIA 6144 was more competitive than C-145, occupying almost all the nodules formed in co-inoculated plants (Fig. 1) .

Bacterial competitiveness.

In a previous evaluation of 220 native isolates, obtained from nodules of peanut plants, growing in different.

These results support the hypothesis that among indigenous populations, rhizobia that are more competitive than reference strains may be selected, since they are adapted to local ecological conditions.


Given any nonzero a, b, c ∈ F and any integer n ≥ 0, an (n + 1)-dimensional △ q -module Since an algebraically closed field is infinite, for all 0 ≤ n ≤d − 1 there are infinitely many nonzero a, b, c ∈ F satisfying the condition (2) . This establishes the existence of irreducible △ q -modules with dimensions between 1 tod. Therefore the bound given in Theorem 1.2 is sharp.

Given any nonzero a, b, c ∈ F and any integer n ≥ 0, an (n + 1)-dimensional △ q -module Since an algebraically closed field is infinite, for all 0 ≤ n ≤d − 1 there are infinitely many nonzero a, b, c ∈ F satisfying the condition.