Based on the available empirical evidence, facility based delivery at primary level, backed by access to referral-level facilities is a priority strategy for reducing maternal mortality [3] . In an effort to reduce maternal mortality, the indicators of progress are Maternal Mortality Ratio and proportion of births attended by skilled attendants [4] . The fifth MDG aims at improving maternal health and targets reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio by 75% between 1990 and 2015 -that is, it seeks to achieve an expected 5.5% annual decline in MMR from 1990 [1] . The recently released 2011 EDHS reported MMR of 676 per 100,000 which is a slight increase from the 2005 DHS which was MMR of 673 per 100,000 [5, 6] .

Based on the available empirical evidence, facility based delivery at primary level, backed by access to referral-level facilities is a priority strategy for reducing maternal mortality.

In an effort to reduce maternal mortality, the indicators of progress are Maternal Mortality Ratio and proportion of births attended by skilled attendants.

The fifth MDG aims at improving maternal health and targets reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio by 75% between 1990 and 2015 -that is, it seeks to achieve an expected 5.5% annual decline in MMR from 1990.

The recently released 2011 EDHS reported MMR of 676 per 100,000 which is a slight increase from the 2005 DHS which was MMR of 673 per 100,000.


The current work is aimed at studying the decomposition process of Cu/Zn hydroxycarbonates by means of coupled TG, DSC and MS techniques. The description of thermal events and the overall picture of calcination with respect to changes occurring in the solid and gas phases are also given. In addition, we performed the formal kinetic analysis of the calcination process of the mixed Cu/Zn hydroxycarbonates under recommendations of ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) [14] . The TG and DSC profiles of the decomposition and the results of a kinetic analysis of the calcination process are compared with transformations taking place in the solid phase, by means of in-situ XRD.

In addition, we performed the formal kinetic analysis of the calcination process of the mixed Cu/Zn hydroxycarbonates under recommendations of ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry).


Maize is a very important crop of Pakistan and ranks third among cereal crops after wheat and rice. In Pakistan, maize is grown in an area of 1,083 thousand hectares with total production of 3,990 thousand tons (Anonymous, 2011 12) . It is consumed as food by humans and as feed for the livestock and poultry. It is also used as raw material in different food, medicine and textile industries, which finally manufacture corn oil, corn flakes, dextrose, and textile dyes etc. Maize has high nutritive values as it contains 72 % starch, 10 % protein, 4.80 % oil, 8.50 % fibre, 3.0 % sugar, and 1.70 % ash (Mustafa et al., 2014) .

Maize has high nutritive values as it contains 72 % starch, 10 % protein, 4.80 % oil, 8.50 % fibre, 3.0 % sugar, and 1.70 % ash.


Supersymmetry can protect the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking from destabilising quantum corrections provided the masses of the Standard Model (SM) superpartners are not too large [1] . The most important states in this regard are those that couple the most strongly to the Higgs fields, namely the scalar top quarks (stops). To give the desired protection, the two stop mass eigenstates should be considerably lighter than a TeV [2] .

Supersymmetry can protect the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking from destabilising quantum corrections provided the masses of the Standard Model (SM) superpartners are not too large.

To give the desired protection, the two stop mass eigenstates should be considerably lighter than a TeV.


Polyethylene oxide (PEO) is water soluble resin, available in different grades under the brand name of Polyox ® . These were explored in melt granulation technology due to lower melting points. Further more high viscosity grades showed matrixing properties similar to hypromellose and hence could be explored for formulation of matrix tablets [15] [16] [17] . They are available in direct compression grade with good flow properties. They are sensitive to oxidation and hence contained antioxidant. These polymers are biocompatible and various grades can be used together to get required properties which attract the researcher to explore them for verity of uses. These have been used for controlling the drug release by few scientists [18] [19] [20] .

Further more high viscosity grades showed matrixing properties similar to hypromellose and hence could be explored for formulation of matrix tablets.

These have been used for controlling the drug release by few scientists.


Venlafaxine HCl is an antidepressant which structurally differs from other class of antidepressants [21] . Hydrochloride salt of venlafaxine is having high aqueous solubility (572 mg/ml) and short biological half-life (5 ± 2 h) which make it, a suitable candidate for the development of once a day formulation. It is difficult to administer the drug to psychotic patient and formulation of extended release dosage form reduces the frequency of administration. Furthermore, it is reported that the extended release formulation of venlafaxine HCl was tolerated well by the patients without side effects like nausea and dizziness [22] . Thus it is logical to develop once a day formulation for improved patient compliance and to reduce side effects.

Venlafaxine HCl is an antidepressant which structurally differs from other class of antidepressants.

Furthermore, it is reported that the extended release formulation of venlafaxine HCl was tolerated well by the patients without side effects like nausea and dizziness.


The problem of fast drug release in earlier phase of dissolution testing can be resolved either by coating the matrix tablet or by formulating layered tablets. Multi- layer tablets have been developed by scientists for obtaining better control of drug release from hydrophilic polymeric systems [6, 31, 32] . The surface area exposed to the dissolution medium is reduced in layered tablets and hence the burst drug release can be arrested. Batches X3 and X4 were formulated as triple layer tablets where drug, part of polymer and part of diluents were granulated and formed the middle layer. The barrier layers were made up of remaining part of polymer, diluent and lubricant ( Table 1) . Burst release was not observed and both the batches showed slower drug release after 2 h then required (Figure 2) . Thus there is need to increase the drug release at later time points without affecting the initial release. This could be achieved either by reducing the concentration of polymer in core layer and barrier layers or by increasing the concentration of Pharmatose DCL, a water soluble diluent to increase number of pore forms in barrier layers. Hence Batches X5 to X8 were prepared as shown in Table 1 . Batch X7 showed drug release comparable to the Effexor ® XR capsules (f 2 = 74) and hence was selected as optimized batch with xanthan gum (Figure 3) .

Multi- layer tablets have been developed by scientists for obtaining better control of drug release from hydrophilic polymeric systems.


To place this result in its proper context, it is necessary to discuss the recent work of Honda, Kazez, and Matić. In late 2005, they found a general criterion for the tightness of an open book, introducing the notion of right-veering diffeomorphisms [8] . Their result is an improvement over Goodman's sobering arc criterion for overtwistedness [7] . In particular, they prove that a contact structure ξ is tight if and only if all of its compatible open books (Σ, φ) have right-veering φ.

In late 2005, they found a general criterion for the tightness of an open book, introducing the notion of right-veering diffeomorphisms.

Their result is an improvement over Goodman's sobering arc criterion for overtwistedness.


Recently, FRIT, which can be used to obtain optimal controller parameters using the input and output data from one-shot experimental data, has been studied by several researchers [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] . The data are used to determine the plant dynamics without knowing the mathematical model of the plant [13] . FRIT is used to obtain optimal controller parameters by optimizing a performance index that consists of the squared error between reference and experimental outputs.

Recently, FRIT, which can be used to obtain optimal controller parameters using the input and output data from one-shot experimental data, has been studied by several researchers.

The data are used to determine the plant dynamics without knowing the mathematical model of the plant.


A high-performance motor control system requires a high-responsivity system and immediate recovery to the steady-state condition when a motor under load is affected by any disturbance [7] . To achieve this aim, a high-frequency pulse-width modulation (PWM) method is needed when using the SiC MOSFET inverter. High-responsivity and optimal disturbance rejection can be achieved using the 2DOF control system with high-frequency PWM. There are many advantages to using high-frequency PWM (in the 50 to 100 kHz range) in motor drive applications, including high motor efficiency, fast control response, reduced motor torque ripple, near-ideal sinusoidal motor current waveforms, reduced filter sizes and lower filter costs [5] .

A high-performance motor control system requires a high-responsivity system and immediate recovery to the steady-state condition when a motor under load is affected by any disturbance.

There are many advantages to using high-frequency PWM (in the 50 to 100 kHz range) in motor drive applications, including high motor efficiency, fast control response, reduced motor torque ripple, near-ideal sinusoidal motor current waveforms, reduced filter sizes and lower filter costs.


All of the above color constancy algorithms are based on specific assumptions about the illumination or the property of object reflectance. As a consequence, none of them can be considered as universal. Therefore, how to combine or select a proper color constancy for a given imaging configuration is an important research direction [12] .

Therefore, how to combine or select a proper color constancy for a given imaging configuration is an important research direction.


One set of CFTs that has been explored for their holographic properties are permutation orbifold CFTs [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] . These theories have a built-in way of satisfying the two restrictions. Having large numbers of copies gives the required large central charge, but at the cost of a large number of low lying states. The orbifold then restricts states, giving a more sparse result.

One set of CFTs that has been explored for their holographic properties are permutation orbifold CFTs.


Given that the OPEs and three point functions appear to depend on an underlying algebra, and that this underlying algebra is essentially the Virasoro algebra, we may be tempted to find the OPE using more algebraic techniques. In a CFT, if we know the coefficient of primary φ p appearing in the OPE of two other primaries φ 1 and φ 2 , then the descendants of φ p must also appear with coefficients that are given by conformal invariance [29] . Explicitly, the OPE is given by are a set of coefficients, {k} and {k} are a list of negative mode Virasoro generators used to excite φ p . The coefficients β andβ are read off by applying an arbitrary L n operator to both sides of the equation, arriving at a recurrence relation for β andβ. These recurrence relations can be solved iteratively to find the the coefficients β and β level by level.

In a CFT, if we know the coefficient of primary φ p appearing in the OPE of two other primaries φ 1 and φ 2 , then the descendants of φ p must also appear with coefficients that are given by conformal invariance.


Galla Chinensis has seen extensive use in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diarrhea, prolonged coughing, and spontaneous perspiration [22] . It shows promise in preventing dental caries by inhibiting the cariogenicity of oral biofilm (Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces naeslundii, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus) [31, 32] . Galla Chinensis reportedly inhibits in vitro growth of bacteria [33e36]. Our prior study showed how gallic acid from Galla Chinensis blocks the binding of bacterial toxin to cellular receptors and suppresses toxin-induced diarrhea [23] . This study applied bioluminescent imaging to rate the therapeutic efficacy of GCE in E. coliinfected mice; the data indicate that GCE suppresses the growth of E. coli in vivo. The findings suggest Galla Chinensis for treating diarrhea, by both blocking bacterial toxin and killing bacteria. In summary, Galla Chinensis has long been used for the treatment of diarrhea. Our earlier study demonstrated that GCE suppresses E. coli toxin-induced diarrhea by blocking the binding of toxin to cellular receptors [23] . This study set up in vivo real-time imaging with bioluminescent E. coli and found that GCE suppressed the growth of E. coli and killed E. coli in vitro and in vivo. The findings also suggested in vivo bioluminescent imaging as a rapid and reliable approach for the assessment of antibacterial agents from medicinal herbs.

Galla Chinensis has seen extensive use in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diarrhea, prolonged coughing, and spontaneous perspiration.

It shows promise in preventing dental caries by inhibiting the cariogenicity of oral biofilm (Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces naeslundii, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus).

Our prior study showed how gallic acid from Galla Chinensis blocks the binding of bacterial toxin to cellular receptors and suppresses toxin-induced diarrhea.

Our earlier study demonstrated that GCE suppresses E. coli toxin-induced diarrhea by blocking the binding of toxin to cellular receptors.


This conclusion is, however, somewhat puzzling from the point of view that in closed string field theory, which was the starting point for this construction but which requires only the weak constraint, all O(D, D) transformations can be viewed as (discrete) gauge transformations (see also footnote above) [2] . Therefore, one would expect that if the double field theory discussed here can be generalized to a 'weakly constrained' theory, then all O(D, D) transformations should become gauge transformations and thus all solutions related by T-duality have to be identified. We conclude that it remains as an open question what the precise physical meaning of this theory is and how it will embed into the 'ultimate' formulation of string theory.

This conclusion is, however, somewhat puzzling from the point of view that in closed string field theory, which was the starting point for this construction but which requires only the weak constraint, all O(D, D) transformations can be viewed as (discrete) gauge transformations (see also footnote above).


We close with a few remarks on the physical meaning of the strongly constrained theory. The space of solutions can be easily characterized: it consists of all solutions of (1.3) plus its O(D, D) transformations. Put differently, for any solution of the strongly constrained double field theory there exists an O(D, D) transformation that rotates it locally into a solution of (1.3) depending only on x i . Thus, one might be tempted to conclude that this theory is a physically equivalent reformulation that makes a certain symmetry manifest. This is not obvious, however. First, there might be a non-trivial 'patching' of coordinate charts such that, even though locally the fields depend either only on the momentum coordinates or only on the winding coordinates, globally the solution is non-trivial ('T-folds') [14] . This possibility deserves further investigation. Second, for the theory to be actually equivalent to the standard low-energy theory (1. , then this transformation can be viewed as a particular gauge transformation, as we discussed above. Thus, the two solutions simply represent different parametrizations of the same physics and have to be identified. If we act with a genuine T-duality transformation not belonging to the geometric subgroup (corresponding to the 'hidden symmetries' parametrized by f ), the situation is more subtle. In the case that the solution has an isometry along the direction we T-dualize, the resulting transformation can still be viewed as a gauge transformation, as we saw above. Consequently, the resulting solution (still depending only on the x i ) is physically equivalent to the original one. This is in agreement with our expectation that the physics on toroidal backgrounds related by T-duality is the same. If, on the other hand, the solution does not have an isometry along the direction we are T-dualizing, then this transformation will finally switch on a dependence on the winding coordinatesx i . Moreover, by the analysis of the previous section, this is precisely the case for which the transformation cannot be viewed as a gauge symmetry. Thus, naively there is no reason to identify these two solutions, and so one would conclude that the phase space of double field theory (viewed as the space of classical solutions modulo gauge transformations) is larger.

This is not obvious, however.

First, there might be a non-trivial 'patching' of coordinate charts such that, even though locally the fields depend either only on the momentum coordinates or only on the winding coordinates, globally the solution is non-trivial ('T-folds').


In the semiconductor industry, approaches such as technology computer-aided design (TCAD) have been the subject of intensive research for the last decade [10, 11] . Using this approach, the physical configuration of integrated circuit devices to related device properties are linked to the physics of behaviour models that support circuit design [12] . In this research the TCAD approach is translated to PCB manufacturing and assembly.

In the semiconductor industry, approaches such as technology computer-aided design (TCAD) have been the subject of intensive research for the last decade.

Using this approach, the physical configuration of integrated circuit devices to related device properties are linked to the physics of behaviour models that support circuit design.


The absence of cause and effect or failure modeldriven DfX enabling tools is impacting business decisions and the efficient adoption of emerging technologies. The cause and effect model-based approach has been envisaged to be a solution for design rulebased analyses. For example, in the semiconductor domain, the development of nano-scale chips consists of hundreds of geometric design rules. A 90 nm chip has around 650 rules for the manufacture process and exponential increases are projected as designers move towards 65 nm [6] .

A 90 nm chip has around 650 rules for the manufacture process and exponential increases are projected as designers move towards 65 nm.


Results from this study demonstrate that in discrete situations, certain fear and negotiation behaviors can constrain or diminish the optimal solo hiking experience. Psychological benefits such as personal control, freedom of choice, and autonomy were diminished as participants both psychologically and behaviorally grappled with objective threats and perceived fears. These findings are consistent with flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) . In these situations, the objective and perceived challenges exceeded the ability and skill of the solo hikers to negotiate the encounter, resulting in anxiety and loss of flow. Three negotiation strategies in particular-avoidance, modifying participation, and the use of some aids/protective devices (i.e., those designed to inflict harm to others, but not including hiking with a big dog or using a map)-tended to have a neutral or negative influence on the solo hiking experience. Results from the study also suggest that the leisure experience was not always the primary consideration. For example, certain needs took precedence over the quality of the leisure experience, including survival and not getting hurt or assaulted. Therefore, in many instances, the use of these three strategies may be the prudent, even optimal, response.

These findings are consistent with flow theory.


Interview transcripts were analyzed using the following hand-coding analysis procedure: (1) hand coding the data, (2) sorting the data into re-lated categories, (3) analyzing categories to identify recurring patterns and themes, (4) clustering and specifying the range of participant fears, solo hiking experiences, and coping mechanisms, (5) making contrasts and comparisons, (6) subsuming particulars into generals when appropriate to do so, and (7) ensuring conceptual coherence (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Neuman, 1994; Weber, 1990) . To minimize researcher bias, all hand coding was crosschecked by two other researchers. A qualitative approach allowed researchers to explore the multiple factors that shape a process or a perspective including how these factors interact on a situation-by-situation basis (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Weber, 1990) .

Interview transcripts were analyzed using the following hand-coding analysis procedure: (1) hand coding the data, (2) sorting the data into re-lated categories, (3) analyzing categories to identify recurring patterns and themes, (4) clustering and specifying the range of participant fears, solo hiking experiences, and coping mechanisms, (5) making contrasts and comparisons, (6) subsuming particulars into generals when appropriate to do so, and (7) ensuring conceptual coherence.

A qualitative approach allowed researchers to explore the multiple factors that shape a process or a perspective including how these factors interact on a situation-by-situation basis.


Searching for mechanisms through which they can overcome these barriers, established firms have turned towards corporate entrepreneurship as a means of tapping into the knowledge accumulated within its own boundaries and in external markets (Burgelman, 1983; Hornsby et al., 1993) . Such approaches have become popular as they attempt to simulate the conditions conducive for entrepreneurial innovation and counteract the constraints which inhibit breakthrough innovation in large established organisations. The corporate incubator represents a particular form of corporate entrepreneurship in which, following the identification of fresh technological potential or market opportunities, new ventures are created based on the resources of the parent firm. The strategic purpose of such incubators differs from firm to firm but in many instances the eventual result is for the venture to be spun-out from the incubator. Difficulties arise during this process however, as despite these new ventures having developed market-ready technologies, they often still face the problem of obtaining external funding for spin-out.

Searching for mechanisms through which they can overcome these barriers, established firms have turned towards corporate entrepreneurship as a means of tapping into the knowledge accumulated within its own boundaries and in external markets.


Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common systemic vasculitis in children and involves inflammation of the small vessels of the skin, joints, gut, and kidney [1] . Renal involvement, known as Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN), which most commonly presents with hematuria and/or proteinuria, is the most serious complication of HSP and often determines the prognosis of HSP. It has been reported that approximately 30-50% of children with HSP develop nephritis within 4 to 6 weeks after disease onset [2] . The extent of renal injury is important in evaluating HSPN prognosis and early individualized therapeutic strategies [3, 4] . The pathological findings of HSPN include mesangial cell proliferation, crescent formation in epithelial cells, and mesangial IgA deposition [5] . However, the exact pathogenesis of HSPN is unknown. In the present study, we found high ASIC1a and ASIC3 expression in the vascular endothelium of HSP patients [6] .

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common systemic vasculitis in children and involves inflammation of the small vessels of the skin, joints, gut, and kidney.

It has been reported that approximately 30-50% of children with HSP develop nephritis within 4 to 6 weeks after disease onset.

The extent of renal injury is important in evaluating HSPN prognosis and early individualized therapeutic strategies.

The pathological findings of HSPN include mesangial cell proliferation, crescent formation in epithelial cells, and mesangial IgA deposition.

In the present study, we found high ASIC1a and ASIC3 expression in the vascular endothelium of HSP patients.


Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN), the most serious long-term complication of HSP, is one of the most common renal diseases in children and adults. Renal involvement often determines the prognosis of HSP patients [3, 4] . For this reason, it is important to identify the underlying mechanisms of the development of HSPN. The present study is the first to show higher ASIC1, ASIC2, and ASIC3 expression in kidney tissue, predominately in renal tubular cells. We also observed that the more severe renal pathological lesions are associated with higher ASIC1 expression in renal tubular cells was and higher urine protein level. These findings demonstrate that ASIC1 may be correlated with the development of HSPN.

Renal involvement often determines the prognosis of HSP patients.


In endometrial stromal cells, TGF␤2 induced the expression of LIF [20] . Under similar culture conditions, progesterone alone did not stimulate LIF production [20] . However, the inferences drawn from in vitro studies may not reflect the actual relationship between progesterone and these factors. To our knowledge, no information exists concerning the in vivo comparative expressions of LIF, TGF␤2, and TGF␤2R during the peri-implantation period in primates. Such studies should provide a better insight regarding the mechanism regulating endometrial receptivity in vivo.

In endometrial stromal cells, TGF␤2 induced the expression of LIF.

Under similar culture conditions, progesterone alone did not stimulate LIF production.


A significant down-regulation of LIF in antiprogestintreated bonnet monkeys with no luteal insufficiency suggested that the expression of LIF is not directly dependent on progesterone. This confirmed the findings of previous investigations that demonstrated an inability of progesterone to directly stimulate LIF production by endometrial cultures in vitro [20, 25] . It has been reported that the promoter of the gene for LIF lacks progesterone-responsive elements [27] . Therefore, LIF production in vivo does not seem to be under the direct control of progesterone. Expression of LIF during the peri-implantation period is probably regulated by the effect of progesterone on other endometrial factors.

This confirmed the findings of previous investigations that demonstrated an inability of progesterone to directly stimulate LIF production by endometrial cultures in vitro.

It has been reported that the promoter of the gene for LIF lacks progesterone-responsive elements.


We also found that declines in the levels of TGF␤2, TGF␤2R, and LIF were not caused by any nonspecific damage to general transcription or translation machinery in the nonreceptive endometrium. No change was found in the expression of actin, a housekeeping gene in the endometrial samples from both treated and control animals. To further rule out the possibility of antiprogestin-induced, nonspecific alterations in endometrial function, expression of endometrial EGFR was analyzed in the treated and control animals. In estrogen-and progesterone-dominated phases of the menstrual cycle in primates, EGFR has been reported to demonstrate equivalent expression [5] . In the present study, the expression levels of EGFR were equivalent in the endometrial samples from the control and treated groups, thereby suggesting that the endometrial nonreceptivity induced in bonnet monkeys results from dysfunction of specific factors.

In estrogen-and progesterone-dominated phases of the menstrual cycle in primates, EGFR has been reported to demonstrate equivalent expression.


A significant increase in TGF␤2 staining was observed in the glandular epithelium of endometrium from the proliferative to the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle in regularly cycling bonnet monkeys during the present study. Furthermore, endometrial luminal and glandular epithelial cell types were found to be the major cell types showing expression of immunoreactive TGF␤2 protein, whereas stromal cells demonstrated lesser expression. These results confirm the findings of a previous investigation in humans [19] .

These results confirm the findings of a previous investigation in humans.


The increasing demand for electrical devices has stimulated the intensive development of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), which are used in a wide range of industry and daily life applications [1] [2] [3] . Carbon materials, including activated carbons, carbon aerogels, carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and graphene materials, have been extensively investigated for efficient and long-lasting energy storage in EDLCs and LiBs [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . In an EDLC, electrical energy is stored by the electrostatic accumulation of charge in the electric double-layer at the electrode/electrolyte interface, thus making it possible to achieve fast charge-discharge rates and high power values. EDLC performance is strongly related to the electrode material, and can be enhanced by selecting carbons with a high surface area and good electrical conductivity [8] . Generally, the higher the surface area of the carbon material accessible to the electrolyte ion, the higher capacitance value is obtained [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] . However, the capacitance becomes almost constant for carbons with BET surface area higher than 1800 m 2 g -1 [14, 15] . CNFs have been reported to form unique nanostructures, depending on the arrangement of the graphene layers along the fiber axis. Typically, three structural types of CNFs are distinguished based on the angle of the graphene layers with respect to the fiber axis; herringbone, platelet, and tubular CNFs [16] . It has been widely accepted to describe tubular CNFs with graphene layers parallel to the filament axis as carbon nanotubes (CNTs).

The increasing demand for electrical devices has stimulated the intensive development of electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) and lithium-ion batteries (LiBs), which are used in a wide range of industry and daily life applications.

Carbon materials, including activated carbons, carbon aerogels, carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and graphene materials, have been extensively investigated for efficient and long-lasting energy storage in EDLCs and LiBs.

EDLC performance is strongly related to the electrode material, and can be enhanced by selecting carbons with a high surface area and good electrical conductivity.

Generally, the higher the surface area of the carbon material accessible to the electrolyte ion, the higher capacitance value is obtained.

However, the capacitance becomes almost constant for carbons with BET surface area higher than 1800 m 2 g -1.

Typically, three structural types of CNFs are distinguished based on the angle of the graphene layers with respect to the fiber axis; herringbone, platelet, and tubular CNFs.


Traditional networks have rigorous availability and quality control. They have time-tested standards relating to fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security (FCAPS) as embodied in ISO Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) and ITU TMN M.3010 and M.3400 recommendations [7] , [8] . As against this, even though the complexity of NFV implementations is many notches higher, they still require serious work to become carrier grade and this is not going to be trivial [11] , [12] .

They have time-tested standards relating to fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security (FCAPS) as embodied in ISO Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) and ITU TMN M.3010 and M.3400 recommendations.

As against this, even though the complexity of NFV implementations is many notches higher, they still require serious work to become carrier grade and this is not going to be trivial.


Virtualization of network services using NFV can transform a network service provider's business model in many ways. By consolidating appliances and middleboxes onto commercially available, high volume servers, they reduce the time to market new services, provide flexibility of scaling and lower the cost of operation [1] . Cloud technology can multiply the benefits of NFV [2] , [3] . It could provide greater flexibility in obtaining resources, bring Network Service Provider's (NSP's) points of presence close to customers, provide an opportunity to optimize performance and control cost. Deploying virtual resources on clouds, especially multiple clouds, is becoming a key to successful deployment of large real-time and distributed services. However, in this NFV on cloud scenario, concerns about five nines availability (99.999%) and quality of service parameters like latency and packet loss still remain [5] , [6] .

By consolidating appliances and middleboxes onto commercially available, high volume servers, they reduce the time to market new services, provide flexibility of scaling and lower the cost of operation.

Cloud technology can multiply the benefits of NFV.

However, in this NFV on cloud scenario, concerns about five nines availability (99.999%) and quality of service parameters like latency and packet loss still remain.


Once the data is represented in an information network this well-defined structure can be used to discover patterns of interest, extract network summarizations or abstractions and develop tools for the visual exploration of the underlying relations. A general analysis of the structure of complex networks stemming from real-world applications has been conducted by Albert and Barabasi [2] . They have discovered that these networks often share a number of common properties such as the small-world property, clustering coefficient or degree distribution. A survey on link mining has been conducted by Getoor and Diehl [27] .

A general analysis of the structure of complex networks stemming from real-world applications has been conducted by Albert and Barabasi.

A survey on link mining has been conducted by Getoor and Diehl.


In relevant literature, it is not reached a consensus whether self-esteem is a cause or a result of Internet addiction (Niemz at al., 2005; Shaw & Gant, 2002) . In this study, self-esteem is discussed as an antecedent to Internet addiction. As mentioned above, self-esteem is an important determinant of individuals' behaviors and activities. Some of these activities support development of an individual; on the other hand some of them are harmful for personal development. Internet addiction is one of them and with a sense of diminishing self-control, it may cause a further reduction in self-esteem. The general inference we can make is that self-esteem has an influential role on adolescents' development. Thus, adolescents need to gain the belief that they are worthy. An emphatic understanding of their experiences and accepting them as they are may be the first step taken by parents, educators and counselors. Within the school environment, presenting a large number of social and sporting opportunities for adolescents to test and develop their abilities may also be very helpful. As a final recommendation, it is thought that counselors should organize informative and preventive group activities about the proper use of Internet and the results of excessive use.

In relevant literature, it is not reached a consensus whether self-esteem is a cause or a result of Internet addiction.


Another result of this study is emergence of social self-esteem and family-home self-esteem as significant predictors of Internet addiction. At this point, it is necessary to point out the family's role on their children's selfesteem and its possible relationship with Internet addiction. Family support, care and participation is regarded as having strong effects on adolescents' evaluations of themselves. Provided autonomy by family importantly contributes to adolescents' self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs. Purification by family pressure provides adolescents an opportunity to explore the world and to try out development-supporting activities. Also this gives adolescent the idea that her/his family trusts him and accepts him a responsible person (Gecas & Schwalbe, 1986) . In this sense it would not be a surprise to expect adolescents, whose experiences were not supported and paid attention in the family environment, and who are restricted to freedom, hence could not hold a responsibility in personal lives, to direct themselves into a virtual environment where they feel unlimitedly free.

Also this gives adolescent the idea that her/his family trusts him and accepts him a responsible person.


Though LBL multilayers have been intensively studied, these researches focused on fundamental properties [29] [30] [31] [32] . The investigations of their practical applications in many fields are also needed. The p(CM--CD)/PLL in this work was first designed and constructed, aiming at ocular drug delivery. The results of the research would help us to widen the application of multilayer.

Though LBL multilayers have been intensively studied, these researches focused on fundamental properties.


Poor ocular bioavailability and short action duration of eye drugs commonly trouble both patients and doctors. With the development of drug delivery system, the bioavailability is improved and the action duration is prolonged when ophthalmic drug is delivered by drug delivery system [1] [2] [3] [4] . Therefore, the curative effects of ophthalmic drug would be enhanced. Hydrogel is a kind of attractive drug carriers because of its biocompatibility [5] [6] [7] . Moreover, hydrogel had good transparency, which made it have wide applications in ophthalmology [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] . However, traditional copolymer hydrogel as drug carrier had disadvantages of limited drug loading amount and burst release in our previous research work [13] . In order to solve this problem, we attempted to enhance the interaction between drug and hydrogel network by introduction of functional chitosan derivatives and water soluble graphene oxide [14, 15] . Though the method succeeded to a certain extent, it brought some new problems such as limited light transmittance. Therefore, some measures of hydrogel bulk design or hydrogel surface modification for ocular drug delivery are also needed.

With the development of drug delivery system, the bioavailability is improved and the action duration is prolonged when ophthalmic drug is delivered by drug delivery system.

Hydrogel is a kind of attractive drug carriers because of its biocompatibility.

Moreover, hydrogel had good transparency, which made it have wide applications in ophthalmology.

However, traditional copolymer hydrogel as drug carrier had disadvantages of limited drug loading amount and burst release in our previous research work.

In order to solve this problem, we attempted to enhance the interaction between drug and hydrogel network by introduction of functional chitosan derivatives and water soluble graphene oxide.


Layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique is a simple and commonly used method to realize surface modification, which has attracted much attention because of its simplicity in procedure, wide choice of materials, and fine-tuning of the microstructure [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] . LbL assembled multilayer is fabricated by sequential adsorption of materials with complementary functional groups employing electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, or covalent interactions [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] . The electrostatic interaction between cationic and anionic polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) is intensively used [19] [20] [21] . In our previous work, chitosan (CS)/hyaluronic acid (HA) multilayer is constructed on contact lenses using LbL technique to increase the hydrophilicity and reduce protein deposition as well as to deliver ophthalmic drug, but burst drug release within 2 hours still occurred [22] . Therefore, in order to realize drug delivery, new PEMs are required to be designed for ocular drug delivery.

Layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique is a simple and commonly used method to realize surface modification, which has attracted much attention because of its simplicity in procedure, wide choice of materials, and fine-tuning of the microstructure.

LbL assembled multilayer is fabricated by sequential adsorption of materials with complementary functional groups employing electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, or covalent interactions.

The electrostatic interaction between cationic and anionic polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) is intensively used.

In our previous work, chitosan (CS)/hyaluronic acid (HA) multilayer is constructed on contact lenses using LbL technique to increase the hydrophilicity and reduce protein deposition as well as to deliver ophthalmic drug, but burst drug release within 2 hours still occurred.


Interestingly, these effects reversed among weak identifiers, with threat improving rather than impairing their memory. Because weak identifiers are not threatened by the negative news article (see pretest 2), the effect is outside the scope of motivated forgetting. However, it is consistent with a large literature showing better memory for emotional material, negative or positive, over neutral material (Christianson 1992; Ochsner 2000) . For instance, pictures of negative stimuli, like snakes and army tanks, are remembered better than pictures of neutral stimuli, like birds and teapots (Kensinger 2007) . It is reasonable to assume that weak identifiers in the threat condition perceive identity-linked promotions as they would snakes or army tanks-as material that is negative but not ego-threatening. Thus, one may expect weak identifiers' memory to improve under threat. We revisit this issue in the general discussion section.

However, it is consistent with a large literature showing better memory for emotional material, negative or positive, over neutral material.

For instance, pictures of negative stimuli, like snakes and army tanks, are remembered better than pictures of neutral stimuli, like birds and teapots.


Some researchers have investigated the possibility of obtaining agarolytic enzymes from bacteria (Ohta et al., 2005; Lee et al., 2007) . Although many genera of agarolytic bacteria have been identified, mainly from marine environments, since the first isolation from seawater by Gran in 1902, novel and more active agarolytic enzymes are required for industrial applications (Rhee et al., 2010) . Therefore, to investigate the possibility of valuable industrial applications, we isolated a novel agar-degrading bacterium from seawater and characterized its culture properties and enzymatic activity.

Some researchers have investigated the possibility of obtaining agarolytic enzymes from bacteria.

Although many genera of agarolytic bacteria have been identified, mainly from marine environments, since the first isolation from seawater by Gran in 1902, novel and more active agarolytic enzymes are required for industrial applications.


Agarolytic enzymes can be divided into two groups depending on their mode of action, α-and β-agarases, which produce agaro-oligosaccharides and neoagaro-oligosaccharides, respectively (Suzuki et al., 2002) . Neoagaro-oligosaccharides possess various biological activities, including antitumor activity, macrophage-stimulating activity to increase immune function, anti-oxidizing activity, probiotic activity, and a skin moisturizing and whitening effect (Rhee et al., 2010) . The agaro-oligosaccharide produced by α-agarase possesses antioxidative and anti-cancer activities (Ohta et al., 2005) .

Agarolytic enzymes can be divided into two groups depending on their mode of action, α-and β-agarases, which produce agaro-oligosaccharides and neoagaro-oligosaccharides, respectively.

Neoagaro-oligosaccharides possess various biological activities, including antitumor activity, macrophage-stimulating activity to increase immune function, anti-oxidizing activity, probiotic activity, and a skin moisturizing and whitening effect.

The agaro-oligosaccharide produced by α-agarase possesses antioxidative and anti-cancer activities.


Detecting potholes was also the subject in Koch and Brilakis' study. The images were first segmented into defect and non-defect regions using the histogram-based thresholding. The potential pothole shape was then approximated by utilizing morphological thinning and elliptic regression. The texture inside a potential pothole was then compared with the texture of the surrounding area to decide if it represented a pothole or not. The routine was implemented in MATLAB [3] . After the procedure was improved by using a vision tracker to reduce the computational effort and improve the detection and pothole counting [4] .

The routine was implemented in MATLAB.

After the procedure was improved by using a vision tracker to reduce the computational effort and improve the detection and pothole counting.


An approach combining analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy logic theory for pavement condition assessment was developed by Sun and Gu. AHP was used to determine a weight from a paired comparison matrix and an evaluation with fuzzy relations, combining the evaluation of five different indicators: roughness, deflection, surface deterioration, rutting and skid resistance. A maximum grade principle and a defuzzified weighted cumulative index were proposed to assess the condition of a road [5] .

A maximum grade principle and a defuzzified weighted cumulative index were proposed to assess the condition of a road.


Lin and Liu used Support Vector Machine (SVM), a topology of artificial intelligence to detect potholes in pavement pictures. The pavement texture was detected by using the histogram and a non-linear SVM was built to classify target regions into potholes or non-potholes. The experimental results showed that the approach could achieve satisfactory results [2] .

The experimental results showed that the approach could achieve satisfactory results.


The pavement surface condition assessment provides the most important information for a proper pavement management as well as for pavement rehabilitation design. The manual assessments, common decades ago, are no longer viable for many reasons such as high costs, high labor demand, and high risks for staff on current trafficked highways. Over the years different imaging technologies were developed or adapted for automated pavement surveys, including traditional cameras that take an image covering a rectangular area on every shot, line-scan cameras that take one single line of pixels on every shot, and 3D cameras that read one transversal lane profile on every shot. Despite the progress on the hardware used in the field survey, the distresses detection and analysis software for generating field data remains relatively underdeveloped. Koutsopoulos and Downey developed an alternative procedure for automated classification of asphalt pavement distresses recorded in video or photographic films based on a model that described the statistic properties of pavement images. In addition to image enhancement and segmentation, the distresses were detected by searching for primitive blocks of pixels to detect different types of cracks [1] .

In addition to image enhancement and segmentation, the distresses were detected by searching for primitive blocks of pixels to detect different types of cracks.


Given an action of G on an algebra B, every unital ideal of B carries a partial action: if A is such an ideal, with unit 1 A , then a partial Gaction on A is obtained by defining D g as the ideal A ∩ g(A) and α g to be the restriction of the map b ∈ B → g(b) ∈ B to the ideal D g −1 . If a partial action arises in this manner, one says that this partial action is globalizable, and its globalization is the subalgebraÃ = ⊕ g∈G g(A). It is well-known that ifÃ is a (unital) globalization for A then the partial smash product A × α G and the skew group algebraÃ [G] are Morita equivalent [4] . Therefore, since Hochschild cohomology is a Morita invariant, in principle one could substituteÃ [G] for A× α G in order to calculate the cohomology of the former. However there is a downside to this approach: the globalizatioñ A may not be a unital algebra, and the way thatÃ is usually obtained, as the subalgebra generated by vector subspaces of an algebra of functions, makes it hard to describe it explicitly (e.g., by generators and relations). Therefore one needs tools to calculate the Hochschild cohomology of A × α G that do not involve the globalizationÃ, and here lies the main contribution of this work.

It is well-known that ifÃ is a (unital) globalization for A then the partial smash product A × α G and the skew group algebraÃ [G] are Morita equivalent.


We have presented an effective and optimal KNN detector which can improve the overall performance whether the symmetric or asymmetric OPC system. Meanwhile, the effectiveness is discussed in a 112-Gb/s 16QAM symmetric or asymmetric OPC system with 800-km DM link and 1280-km DSF link. The KNN detection is basically similar to soft detection such as maximum likelihood (ML) based detector based on the probability density function (PDF) of the received signal [23] . The ML based detector is effective for the circularly symmetric Gaussian impairments, such as ASE noise, I/Q imbalance, and nonlinear phase noise of the dispersion-unmanaged link [16] . However, for non-Gaussian impairments (i.e., laser phase noise and nonlinear phase noise of the zero-dispersion link and dispersion-managed link), the ML based detector is unable to perform optimal performance. Here, the KNN detector is a type of instance-based learning which can construct the hypotheses directly from the training instances themselves. Owing to the learning capacity, the KNN detector can overcome various system impairments whether symmetric or asymmetric Gaussian impairments. Therefore, we believe that the KNN detector would be a potential detection way for performance enhancement. Note that we only consider the single channel and single polarization case in this paper. However, the present KNN detector would be capable of wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) polarization-division-multiplexing (PDM) systems by using the dual-polarization OPC component. It is also desirable to investigate the performance of multiple optical phase conjugation system in the near future.

The KNN detection is basically similar to soft detection such as maximum likelihood (ML) based detector based on the probability density function (PDF) of the received signal.

The ML based detector is effective for the circularly symmetric Gaussian impairments, such as ASE noise, I/Q imbalance, and nonlinear phase noise of the dispersion-unmanaged link.


Of particular interest is the study of black hole phase transitions, the first example of which was discovered by Hawking and Page in 1983 [1] . That black holes can undergo phase transitions just like ordinary thermodynamic systems is interesting in its own right, but also provides us with a powerful new tool to study strongly coupled systems like quark-gluon plasmas and superfluid systems through the AdS/CFT correspondence [2] [3] . The formulation of the AdS/CFT correspondence, which relates a (d + 1)-dimensional gravitational theory in anti-de Sitter space to a d-dimensional conformal field theory on the boundary of AdS, has motivated a broad range of investigations into asymptotically AdS black holes, where a wealth of interesting phenomena occur. One subject of particular interest has been the thermodynamic phase structure of these black holes, which we discuss in more depth below.

Of particular interest is the study of black hole phase transitions, the first example of which was discovered by Hawking and Page in 1983.

That black holes can undergo phase transitions just like ordinary thermodynamic systems is interesting in its own right, but also provides us with a powerful new tool to study strongly coupled systems like quark-gluon plasmas and superfluid systems through the AdS/CFT correspondence.


In recent years, the idea that the cosmological constant can act as a thermodynamic pressure has been extensively studied [9] . In this extended phase space, the cosmological constant acts like a pressure according to the identification 1 Λ = −8πP . The variation of Λ requires the presence of a pressure-volume term in the first law, which leads to novel thermodynamic behavior. In de Sitter space, the cosmological constant is positive, so the variable P is better thought of as a tension rather than a pressure. For Λ < 0, these extended phase space systems have been found to have a wealth of interesting new features such as triple points, reentrant phase transitions, and the emergence of polymer-like and superfluid-like phase structures, providing a wealth of new phenomena to study [10] . In particular, much attention has been given to the striking analogy these systems make with the classical van der Waals fluid [11] .

In recent years, the idea that the cosmological constant can act as a thermodynamic pressure has been extensively studied.

For Λ < 0, these extended phase space systems have been found to have a wealth of interesting new features such as triple points, reentrant phase transitions, and the emergence of polymer-like and superfluid-like phase structures, providing a wealth of new phenomena to study.

In particular, much attention has been given to the striking analogy these systems make with the classical van der Waals fluid.


Cumulative curves and histograms are presented in Figures 6 to 10 for some of the operational conditions used in this study. The full lines in those figures contain the raw (model independent) results as measured by the Malvern. The dotted lines represent results calculated by imposing a RosinRammler distribution. In each case, the X and n parameters were found by the least squares method, minimizing the distance between the raw results and the calculated results. Several statistical functions have been used to describe spray distributions, the Rosin-Rammler function being one of the most common (Lefebvre, 1989) .

Several statistical functions have been used to describe spray distributions, the Rosin-Rammler function being one of the most common.


Inertial impact with the droplets is the main collection mechanism for dust particles with diameters over 0.5 m. For particles under 0.1 m, the collection mechanism is not yet clear, though it is probable that a mechanism involving turbulent diffusion predominates. Collection efficiency is a complex function of many parameters, including droplet size and concentration distribution, liquid-togas ratio, jet penetration, and liquid film fraction. In particular, droplet size is of fundamental importance for the performance of the Venturi scrubber (Mayinger and Neumann, 1978) . A spray of small droplets provides a higher surface area per volume of liquid than a spray of large drops, which favors the collection of dust. On the other hand, small droplets accelerate faster, so the average relative velocity between the dust and the droplets, which is directly proportional to the collection efficiency of a single droplet, is lower.

In particular, droplet size is of fundamental importance for the performance of the Venturi scrubber.


Environmental protection has attracted considerable attention worldwide due to the tremendous economic and population growth recorded within the last century. The need to keep a clean environment is widely acknowledge with academia and the papers analyzing the measures to be done in this context are numerous [1] [2] [3] . Additionally, a series of papers have addressed consumers' attitudes towards recycling and the adoption and use of eco-friendly products [4] [5] [6] . Among the causes that might influence the consumers' behavior in adopting the use of eco-friendly products, social influence is mentioned along with other subjective and objective aspects related to environmental attitude, product attitude, and subjective and objective knowledge, etc [7] .

The need to keep a clean environment is widely acknowledge with academia and the papers analyzing the measures to be done in this context are numerous.

Additionally, a series of papers have addressed consumers' attitudes towards recycling and the adoption and use of eco-friendly products.

Among the causes that might influence the consumers' behavior in adopting the use of eco-friendly products, social influence is mentioned along with other subjective and objective aspects related to environmental attitude, product attitude, and subjective and objective knowledge, etc.


We have hypothesized that the formation of soil aggregates is determined by soil organic matter, which is affected by the processes in rhizospheric zone of common dandelion, while iron oxides and clay minerals are the factors providing the stability of aggregates. To demonstrate the effect of plant roots on the transformation of organic matter into humic substances and the formation of a stable aggregate structure, the physical and chemical Rs properties of common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) with the parameters of root-free soil were compared. Common dandelion is a perennial mycotrophic weed and a good companion plant in pastures and meadows; however, it develops an extensive root system and, in the next years, it may begin to compete with the main crop. Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallow-rooting plants and add nitrogen to soil environments. Common dandelion also has a beneficial effect on mycorrhizal colonization, P content and growth of a subsequent plant crop (Kabir and Koide 2000) .

Common dandelion also has a beneficial effect on mycorrhizal colonization, P content and growth of a subsequent plant crop.


The basic properties (texture, pH, CaCO 3 , TOC, Nt, DOC, and exchangeable Ca Table 2 ). The content of TOC and DOC in the analyzed Rs was higher than in nRs. Organic carbon cycling is especially intensive in the rhizosphere, and it differs from root-free soil by a high amount of carbon that is easily available for microorganisms (Kuzyakov 2002) .

Organic carbon cycling is especially intensive in the rhizosphere, and it differs from root-free soil by a high amount of carbon that is easily available for microorganisms.


The concept of the A-category of a manifold was introduced by Clapp and Puppe [1] . For a closed, connected n-manifold M it is defined as follows: Let A be a closed connected k-manifold, 0 ≤ k ≤ n − 1. A subset B in the 3-manifold M is A-contractible if there are maps ϕ : B −→ A and α : A −→ M such that the inclusion map i : B −→ M is homotopic to α · ϕ. The A-category cat A M of M is the smallest number of sets, open and A-contractible needed to cover M . Note that 2 ≤ cat A M ≤ n + 1. For A a point P we obtain the classical Lusternik-Schnirelman category cat M = cat P M . We are interested here in the case A = S 1 .

The concept of the A-category of a manifold was introduced by Clapp and Puppe.

Note that 2 ≤ cat A M ≤ n + 1.


Perhaps of greater methodological implication is the higher response inconsistency observed for the BWS than DCE task. The potential implications of this for model inference requires exploration; however, it is plausible this may indicate greater randomness in decision-making with the BWS task when applied within this specific priority setting context and might result in a preference model with a lower explanatory and prediction power for the BWS than the DCE data. Such a finding would be consistent with the greater acceptability of the DCE than BWS for the majority of participants in this study, but inconsistent with claims for the potential benefits of BWS over the DCE, which include that the BWS task is likely to lead to less respondent burden and randomness in decision-making [4, 8] . Reasons for this trend were not explored in this study. It may be that the questions raised by this study relate to a priority-setting context only, since previous work indicates the profile BWS to be a feasible method for valuing health states [4, 7, 22] . Further qualitative research and replication of this study in a larger comparative study is important to explore and test these possible phenomena and reveal whether they are specific to the context of priority-setting in health care, or apply more broadly.

Such a finding would be consistent with the greater acceptability of the DCE than BWS for the majority of participants in this study, but inconsistent with claims for the potential benefits of BWS over the DCE, which include that the BWS task is likely to lead to less respondent burden and randomness in decision-making.

It may be that the questions raised by this study relate to a priority-setting context only, since previous work indicates the profile BWS to be a feasible method for valuing health states.


T ODAY'S wireless networks are characterized as a static spectrum assignment policy. Recently, because of the increase in spectrum demand, this policy is faced with spectrum scarcity at particular spectrum bands. On the contrary, a large portion of the assigned spectrum is still used sporadically leading to underutilization of the significant amount of spectrum [9] . Hence, dynamic spectrum access techniques have recently been proposed to solve these spectrum inefficiency problems.

On the contrary, a large portion of the assigned spectrum is still used sporadically leading to underutilization of the significant amount of spectrum.


Physics is one branch of natural science that is closely related to everyday life. However, many students consider physics subject matter is very difficult because the physics subject matter not only deals with something that can be observed but also something abstract like in the material of blackbody radiation. As already known, physics is a science learning category that requires experimental activities to understand the concepts or principles. In addition to increasing critical thinking skill, it also increases students' learning achievement, because the students independently learn to get the results of the experiment which they do to prove a theory. This process can help students develop their knowledge because of the conduct the experiment by themselves which is later perfected by the teacher's explanation (Wartono, Hudha, & Batlolona, 2018) . For that, it is required tools or media such as electronic books that can visualize or illustrate the concept and improve students' critical thinking skills according to the demands of the 2013 curriculum.

This process can help students develop their knowledge because of the conduct the experiment by themselves which is later perfected by the teacher's explanation.


Indeed, Afro-American groups have been characterised by a high HLA allele diversity as well as HLA class I-II associations have not been observed in other ethnic groups [9, 24, 26, 30] . In general, HLA genetic distances between Black Africans and Mediterranean Caucasoids are short [34] . The number of studied individuals is considered sufficient for this very particular San Basilio de Palenque population [2, 3, 6] .

Indeed, Afro-American groups have been characterised by a high HLA allele diversity as well as HLA class I-II associations have not been observed in other ethnic groups.

In general, HLA genetic distances between Black Africans and Mediterranean Caucasoids are short.

The number of studied individuals is considered sufficient for this very particular San Basilio de Palenque population.


To raise the per capita cereal production, we need a sound agricultural/food policy that would be a central focus in relieving food shortage [10, 11] . It is evident that most agricultural policies in the region are obscured by other sectoral policies such as environment, tourism, water and population which sometimes have contrasting procedures and regulations. Thus, a robust food policy that harmonizes other allied policies is very important in closing the yield gap (see Figure 1) . Further, advanced technology should be well explicated in this policy to allow rational implementations of various agricultural plans and programs [12] .

To raise the per capita cereal production, we need a sound agricultural/food policy that would be a central focus in relieving food shortage.

Further, advanced technology should be well explicated in this policy to allow rational implementations of various agricultural plans and programs.


The robust implementation of a well-articulated food policy can address the key issues that have been causing poor yields in the region [13] . The impacts of climate change, weak labor, weak technology and inadequate agricultural systems are among the key challenges that should be well addressed in the policy. Despite of having low agricultural productivity, the Sub-Sahara Africa has not taken satisfactory efforts to elevate food security [9] . Instead, food requirement has increased for about 100 million tons of cereal food crops (maize, millet, sorghum etc.). For the past two decades, the food requirement gap has widened in the region despite the increase in food imports and aids to 180% and 290% respectively (from 16 to about 36 million tons) [14] . Theoretically, low production has been happening because of ineffective utilization of the endowed environmental resources i.e., especially land [15] . For instance, there has been increased soil degradation and deforestation by 16% and 70% respectively despite of being prohibited in most policies [7, 9] . Therefore, there should be mechanisms to synthesize the policy formulation and implementations.

The robust implementation of a well-articulated food policy can address the key issues that have been causing poor yields in the region.

Despite of having low agricultural productivity, the Sub-Sahara Africa has not taken satisfactory efforts to elevate food security.

For the past two decades, the food requirement gap has widened in the region despite the increase in food imports and aids to 180% and 290% respectively (from 16 to about 36 million tons).

Theoretically, low production has been happening because of ineffective utilization of the endowed environmental resources i.e., especially land.

For instance, there has been increased soil degradation and deforestation by 16% and 70% respectively despite of being prohibited in most policies.


One of the primary design goals for environmental autonomy is to simultaneously create comfortable conditions while maintaining high levels of energy efficiency. The understanding of the integrated effect of building performance criteria (i.e., luminous, thermal and air quality) is critical to achieve a high level of environmental autonomy. However, these three metrics are at very different stages of development. Among the three, the concept of luminous autonomy is relatively well understood, and refers to the percentage of occupied time over a year in which daylight levels meet the required lighting range for a space [8] . In comparison, thermal autonomy is a relatively new concept, and is defined as the percentage of occupied time over a year where a thermal zone meets a given set of thermal comfort criteria through passive means only [7, 9] . The concept of autonomy regarding indoor air quality is not yet developed at all, and we define it here for the first time regarding ventilation. We propose that ventilation autonomy should represent the percentage of occupied hours over a year in which a minimum ventilation rate can be achieved by natural ventilation only.

Among the three, the concept of luminous autonomy is relatively well understood, and refers to the percentage of occupied time over a year in which daylight levels meet the required lighting range for a space.

In comparison, thermal autonomy is a relatively new concept, and is defined as the percentage of occupied time over a year where a thermal zone meets a given set of thermal comfort criteria through passive means only.


Effected by water-rock interaction, Evaporationconcentration and human activity etc., the evolution of the inland salt groundwater quality goes through a process of salinization slowly and continually [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] . Studies have confirmed that formation of brackish water were main relation to low-lying terrain, small precipitation, strong evaporation, and high salt content of aquifer medium in Ningnan area [6] . The high mineralized groundwater was formed with a process of Na-Ca exchange and accumulation of solutes in south-western Sicily, Italy [7] .

Effected by water-rock interaction, Evaporationconcentration and human activity etc., the evolution of the inland salt groundwater quality goes through a process of salinization slowly and continually.

Studies have confirmed that formation of brackish water were main relation to low-lying terrain, small precipitation, strong evaporation, and high salt content of aquifer medium in Ningnan area.

The high mineralized groundwater was formed with a process of Na-Ca exchange and accumulation of solutes in south-western Sicily, Italy.


The experiment was carried out in the Göttingen Laboratory of Experimental Economics (GLOBE) at the University of Göttingen from October 2011 to January 2012 using the software z Tree (Fischbacher, 2007) . We observed decisions of 135 subjects in ID treatments and 42 subjects in control treatments. The sessions took approximately 1.5 hours and the subjects earned 14€ on average including a show up fee of 2.50 €.

The experiment was carried out in the Göttingen Laboratory of Experimental Economics (GLOBE) at the University of Göttingen from October 2011 to January 2012 using the software z Tree.


The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we provide an overview of the multiquadric scheme with integral formulation [19] . The adaptive scheme is introduced in Section 3. Section 4 provides detailed numerical results for three problems: a singularly perturbed boundary value problem with an extremely small perturbation parameter , namely = 10 −12 ; an exponentially ill-conditioned boundary layer problem; and an interior layer problem with a moderately small perturbation parameter .

The paper is organized as follows.

In Section 2, we provide an overview of the multiquadric scheme with integral formulation.


Grammatical competence involves fostering student knowledge of language features, including vocabulary, word and sentence formations, and spelling. Sociolinguistic competence considers developing students" ability to use appropriate spoken and written language, whereas strategic competence involves enhancing student communication strategies to overcome their communication problems (Canale and Swain, 1980) . Besides implementing CLT and its component, another important terrain in helping student get involved in communicative interaction is to engage EFL teachers in an exploration of their emotional sates and self-efficacy levels that inform their classroom practice (Richards, 1998) .

Sociolinguistic competence considers developing students" ability to use appropriate spoken and written language, whereas strategic competence involves enhancing student communication strategies to overcome their communication problems.

Besides implementing CLT and its component, another important terrain in helping student get involved in communicative interaction is to engage EFL teachers in an exploration of their emotional sates and self-efficacy levels that inform their classroom practice.


Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma, CC) is a rare tumor with an incidence of about 3-5 per 100,000 in Western Europe and shows perihilar extension in nearly two thirds of cases [1] [2] [3] . The chance for curative resection of hilar CC is limited by the extent of perihilar tumor spread along the bile duct branches/segments and/or involvement of portal venous or hepatic arterial branches. Most patients become symptomatic at an advanced stage of perihilar tumor extension, and therefore hilar CC is resectable for cure only in the minority of patients (approx. 30%). Resection techniques have considerably improved due to en-bloc resection combined with extended liver resection and/or portal vein resection, and in selected cases with pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) and/or liver transplantation (OLT). Optimized tumor imaging, indication criteria, and surgical techniques have improved five-year survival rates up to 50% after curative resection of hilar CC [4] [5] [6] . Nevertheless, current surgical strategies provide R0 resection in only 60%-78% of patients considered to be resectable and tumor-free margins tend to be short, which may be partly explained by the fact that even during surgery, tumor extension is often difficult to define [7] [8] [9] . However, even after complete (R0) resection, recurrence rate can be as high as 50%-76%, in particular at the anastomosis or in the liver [10] [11] [12] .

Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma, CC) is a rare tumor with an incidence of about 3-5 per 100,000 in Western Europe and shows perihilar extension in nearly two thirds of cases.

Optimized tumor imaging, indication criteria, and surgical techniques have improved five-year survival rates up to 50% after curative resection of hilar CC.

Nevertheless, current surgical strategies provide R0 resection in only 60%-78% of patients considered to be resectable and tumor-free margins tend to be short, which may be partly explained by the fact that even during surgery, tumor extension is often difficult to define.

However, even after complete (R0) resection, recurrence rate can be as high as 50%-76%, in particular at the anastomosis or in the liver.


Stochastic resonance (SR) proved to be an effective tool in processing signals with low signal-to-noise ratio by utilizing noise to enhance signal weak characteristics [16] . Adaptive stochastic resonance (ASR) was first introduced by Mitaim and Kosko in his study on the SR optimality conditions [17] . It can be seen as an improvement of the SR. Based on SR or ASR unique advantage of using noise to enhance weak signals instead of eliminating noise, its application to mechanical fault diagnosis has been studied extensively [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] . It is very difficult to detect blade fault feature by means of conventional signal processing techniques since the blade crack vibration signal is very weak due to strong noise interference in the practical working centrifugal fan. Therefore, ASR method can be applied to characteristic signal detection of blade cracks because it can enhance weak signal feature to some extent. This paper applies the weak vibration signals collected by ASR method to blade crack detection. Experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of this method in a test rig. The paper is organized as follows. The theory of characteristic extraction for blade crack is introduced in Section 2. Section 3 describes the experimental setup for blade crack monitoring. Then experimental studies on two cases of cracked blade and normal blade signals are conducted to confirm the effectiveness of the ASR method for extracting weak feature frequency in comparison with traditional Fourier transform and EEMD methods in Section 4. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Section 5.

Stochastic resonance (SR) proved to be an effective tool in processing signals with low signal-to-noise ratio by utilizing noise to enhance signal weak characteristics.

Adaptive stochastic resonance (ASR) was first introduced by Mitaim and Kosko in his study on the SR optimality conditions.

Based on SR or ASR unique advantage of using noise to enhance weak signals instead of eliminating noise, its application to mechanical fault diagnosis has been studied extensively.

The paper is organized as follows.


As an efficient tool, vibration analysis has attracted considerable interest and has been widely applied to fault diagnosis of mechanical equipment in the past decades, since vibration signals carry a great deal of information representing mechanical equipment condition. If there is a crack in the blade, it will result in abnormal blade vibration. The vibration information is a typical characteristic for blade fault diagnosis. When an impeller rotates, air, the communication medium between the blade and the casing, can deliver blade vibration information on the casing for air inside centrifugal fan and will glide on the blades resulting in a dynamic pressure difference. Based on vibration signals, different methods of blade crack detection have been investigated by many researchers. Rao and Dutta investigated blade crack condition classification by using characteristic vibration signal information for assessing health of compressor blades in two operating plants [1] . Witek experimented with the helicopter turbo-engine compressor blades and analyzed crack propagation process of gas turbine blades with the help of vibration signals to recognize blade cracks [2] . By analyzing the acquisition data of the wind turbine, Yan and Xu calculated the correlation dimension of blades' vibration signals and used the method to classify the difference at working state of blades effectively [3] . Gubran and Sinha investigated the distinct difference between the healthy and the faulty blade conditions via the measured shaft torsional vibration through experiments [4] . Most of the above research is focused on gas turbine blades; however, the study on blade crack detection of centrifugal fan is rare, despite the similarities between the two kinds of machines. Therefore, it is very important to carry out experiments on centrifugal fan test rigs.

Rao and Dutta investigated blade crack condition classification by using characteristic vibration signal information for assessing health of compressor blades in two operating plants.

Witek experimented with the helicopter turbo-engine compressor blades and analyzed crack propagation process of gas turbine blades with the help of vibration signals to recognize blade cracks.

By analyzing the acquisition data of the wind turbine, Yan and Xu calculated the correlation dimension of blades' vibration signals and used the method to classify the difference at working state of blades effectively.

Gubran and Sinha investigated the distinct difference between the healthy and the faulty blade conditions via the measured shaft torsional vibration through experiments.


Recently, PDE4 inhibitors have been shown to promote cholesterol efflux from cells by enhancing the expression of ATP cassette binding protein 1, which controls the apolipoproteinmediated cholesterol efflux pathway [36] . Thus, it might be speculated that enhanced cholesterol efflux alters Gb3 clustering in lipid rafts of Caco-2 plasma membranes. However, it has been shown that disruption of lipid rafts by cholesterol depletion does not inhibit the binding of Stx1-B but does affect Stx1-B internalization and translocation across the intestinal epithelia [37] . Since the expression of Gb3 in mouse intestinal epithelia is very low, the findings of these studies suggest that the combination reduces the quantity of Stx2 in cecal epithelial cells by suppressing internalization of Stx2 in synergy with its ability to suppress production of TNF-a, rather than by affecting Stx2 binding to the cells. In fact, differences between the D2 group and the vehicle control group, in the quantity of cellbound Stx2 in the cecum on day 6 (table 1), appeared to be greater than expected from the results of the Stx2-binding assay. Further investigation is necessary to elucidate how the combination reduces the quantity of Stx2 in intestinal epithelial cells.

Recently, PDE4 inhibitors have been shown to promote cholesterol efflux from cells by enhancing the expression of ATP cassette binding protein 1, which controls the apolipoproteinmediated cholesterol efflux pathway.

However, it has been shown that disruption of lipid rafts by cholesterol depletion does not inhibit the binding of Stx1-B but does affect Stx1-B internalization and translocation across the intestinal epithelia.


This approach allows for the crises probability to occur any time within a crisis window of twelve months. Such a crisis window should provide a good trade-off between two important countervailing effects (Comelli 2013) . On the one hand, economic variables show deterioration 12-19 months before a crisis and on the other hand, the earlier it is possible to identify signs of vulnerability, the more time there is for policy makers to take effective corrective actions.

Such a crisis window should provide a good trade-off between two important countervailing effects.


A promising solution for these problems is Complex Event Processing (CEP). CEP defines a set of technologies to process large amounts of events, utilizing them to monitor, steer and optimize the business in real time [2] . Such an event-based system continuously process and integrate the data included in events without any batch processes for extracting and loading data from different sources to a data warehouse for further analysis. CEP solutions capture events from different sources, with different time order and take events with various relationships between each other into account.

CEP defines a set of technologies to process large amounts of events, utilizing them to monitor, steer and optimize the business in real time.


Business processes evolved to networked workflows that are complex and executed in parallel with little human involvement to meet the needs of today's agile and adaptive business environments [1] . Such contemporary business requirements call for agility, flexibility and service orientation. A simplified summary of this widely discussed and necessary trend can be reduced to the demand that today's businesses have to adapt their processes and organizations faster than their competitors. Organizations that are able to handle critical situations faster than their competitors will end up us winners in today's globalized and fast-paced business climate.

Business processes evolved to networked workflows that are complex and executed in parallel with little human involvement to meet the needs of today's agile and adaptive business environments.


As the technique for interfacing multiple energy sources at a DC distribution bus, the droop-based control method is widely used for energy management and bus voltage control [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] . Droop controls have many advantages, including communication independency and expandability, therefore, they can be widely used in microgrid environments requiring stable and reliable control. However, these benefits come at the cost of decreased bus quality owing to voltage regulation and transient response on the bus and, accordingly, incur high bus impedance [14] [15] [16] [17] 26] . These problems may result in difficulties of overall system optimization in terms of efficiency and stability.

As the technique for interfacing multiple energy sources at a DC distribution bus, the droop-based control method is widely used for energy management and bus voltage control.

However, these benefits come at the cost of decreased bus quality owing to voltage regulation and transient response on the bus and, accordingly, incur high bus impedance.


Mental health is associated with authoritative parenting, but not with authoritarian parenting. It seems that authoritarian parenting within an dictatorial culture is not as harmful within a liberal culture (Dwairy & Menshar, 2006) . Parenting style is a significant factor in disease severity and the quality of life in children with cerebral palsy (Aran et al., 2007) .

It seems that authoritarian parenting within an dictatorial culture is not as harmful within a liberal culture.

Parenting style is a significant factor in disease severity and the quality of life in children with cerebral palsy.


Simple sequence repeats (SSR) or microsatellite markers have been widely used for characterizing species, especially due to their co-dominant nature, repeatability, and easy data interpretation (Creste et al., 2003) . Genetic diversity is usually estimated considering, separately, quantitative data -such as plant height and pseudostem girth -and qualitative data, including anthocyanin content, leaf position, pulp color, and molecular marker data (Cabral et al., 2010) . Moreover, strategies to rank genotypes considering combined data have also been proposed using clustering methods, such as the Ward method and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) (Gonçalves et al., 2009) .

Simple sequence repeats (SSR) or microsatellite markers have been widely used for characterizing species, especially due to their co-dominant nature, repeatability, and easy data interpretation.

Genetic diversity is usually estimated considering, separately, quantitative data -such as plant height and pseudostem girth -and qualitative data, including anthocyanin content, leaf position, pulp color, and molecular marker data.

Moreover, strategies to rank genotypes considering combined data have also been proposed using clustering methods, such as the Ward method and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA).


There are many concurrency control mechanisms in the literature, which can ensure that all executions are serializable (no matter what transactions are run). In practice, however, it is clear that the strict two-phase locking mechanism (with index locking of some variety) is the dominant way to guarantee serializability [6] . Many commercial systems, including IBM's DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server and Sybase's ASE have been built based on this algorithm. Unfortunately, even with all the wrinkles system designers have been able to invent, the performance impact (from the reduced concurrency when executing with two-phase locking) is still seen as heavy, and indeed most transactions on these engines use lower isolation levels, where shared locks are released early or not taken at all.

In practice, however, it is clear that the strict two-phase locking mechanism (with index locking of some variety) is the dominant way to guarantee serializability.


Low fertility of soil is one of the major constraints limiting crop productivity [8] . The success of legume grain crops is dependent on their capacity to form effective nitrogen-fixing symbioses with root-nodule bacteria. However, many soils may do not have adequate amounts of native rhizobia in terms of number, quality, or effectiveness to enhance biological nitrogen fixation [29] . Rhizobium-legume association can be manipulated, through inoculation under N-limiting field conditions, to improve crop production easily and inexpensively [35] . Where natural N 2 fixation is not optimal, inoculation is essential, ensuring that a high and effective rhizobial population is available in the rhizosphere of the plant [36] . The use of Rhizobium inoculants in legumes is the oldest agro-biotechnological application [37] . Several reports demonstrated significant improvement of yield and yield components in faba bean with Rhizobium inoculation [29, [38] [39] [40] .

Low fertility of soil is one of the major constraints limiting crop productivity.

However, many soils may do not have adequate amounts of native rhizobia in terms of number, quality, or effectiveness to enhance biological nitrogen fixation.

Rhizobium-legume association can be manipulated, through inoculation under N-limiting field conditions, to improve crop production easily and inexpensively.

Where natural N 2 fixation is not optimal, inoculation is essential, ensuring that a high and effective rhizobial population is available in the rhizosphere of the plant.

The use of Rhizobium inoculants in legumes is the oldest agro-biotechnological application.

Several reports demonstrated significant improvement of yield and yield components in faba bean with Rhizobium inoculation.


The precession-nutation motion of the Earth's rotational axis in space, or, more precisely, in a celestial or inertial (quasi-inertial) coordinate system, is one of the main components of Earth's rotation. From a practical viewpoint, it is used in the procedure of the transformation of coordinates and vectors of terrestrial and celestial objects between the coordinate system tied to Earth's body and an inertial coordinate system, as required when one solves any astronomical, geophysical, or navigation task involving observations of celestial bodies from Earth's surface and observations of terrestrial objects from space. The motion of the axis of Earth's rotation in space is described by the theory of precession-nutation, which is now accurate to 0.1 milliarcseconds (mas) (IAU2000A model recommended by the International Astronomical Union). However, a comparison of this theory to very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations reveals periodic components with amplitudes as high as 0.3 mas. The main component is due to the free nutation of Earth's liquid core (FCN, free core nutation) with a nominal period of about 430 sidereal days. Figure 1 shows the differences between the observed coordinates X and Y of the celestial pole and the position of the pole determined from the IAU2000A theory of nutation according to data from the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) (Schlüter et al., 2002) . Unlike the lunisolar and planetary terms of the IAU2000A theory, this component of Earth's rotation behaves irregularly and cannot be predicted theoretically for any sufficiently long time interval at the required level of accuracy. Free nutation of Earth's liquid core was predicted as early as more than a century ago as one of Earth's rotational eigenmodes. The frequency of free core nutation is a fundamental quantity, which appears in the equations of the transfer function that relates the amplitude of nutation oscillations of the absolutely solid Earth and the real Earth. The FCN period and amplitude depend on a number of parameters of Earth's internal structure, such as the constitution and dynamic flattening of the core, its moments of inertia, the differential rotation of the core and mantle, and the dynamic interaction of Earth shells and their rheological characteristics (Dehant and Mathews, 2003; Brzeziński, 1996; Krasinsky, 2006) . However, our knowledge of all these factors is so far insufficient to construct an FCN model of sufficient accuracy. Therefore, observational data and empirical models based on these data provide important information for refining the parameters of theoretical models, putting the further refinement of FCN models at the top of the agenda. For example, the IAU1980 nutation theory developed before the beginning of regular VLBI observations used a hydrostatically equilibrium model of the liquid core, which predicted an FCN period of 460 d, which differs significantly from the modern value of 430 d. On the other hand, the improved accuracy of the empirical models increases the accuracy of the computation of the nutation motion of Earth's rotational axis, which is important for many practical applications. Finally, the need for highly accurate forecasts of the nutation angles, which are necessary for many practical applications, is a factor of no minor importance that stimulates efforts in the development of FCN models.

Figure 1 shows the differences between the observed coordinates X and Y of the celestial pole and the position of the pole determined from the IAU2000A theory of nutation according to data from the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS).

The FCN period and amplitude depend on a number of parameters of Earth's internal structure, such as the constitution and dynamic flattening of the core, its moments of inertia, the differential rotation of the core and mantle, and the dynamic interaction of Earth shells and their rheological characteristics.


All FCN models that we consider in this paper are based on the analysis of the differences between the coordinates of the celestial pole determined from VLBI observations and the coordinates determined from the IAU2000A theory. This approach assumes that these differences are mostly due to the contribution of FCN, which is sufficiently justified by the fact that this component dominates in the part of Earth's rotational motion that is not modeled by the IAU2000A theory. At the same time, the resonance effect of other nutation terms with periods close to that of FCN may affect the FCN parameters determined from observations (Brzeziński, 1996; Vondrak et al., 2005) . This effect must be taken into account in the geophysical interpretation of observational data, but can also be incorporated into the empirical model intended for practical applications.

At the same time, the resonance effect of other nutation terms with periods close to that of FCN may affect the FCN parameters determined from observations.


In this paper, we consider the three most well-known empirical FCN models (Herring et al., 2002; Malkin, 2004; Lambert, 2009) . We are the first to compare models from the viewpoint of how they represent the observed variations of the FCN amplitude and phase. The results of our comparison have shown that our model is superior to other models in this respect. Our comparative analysis also covers a number of FCN models obtained by simple smoothing of observational data. We found this procedure to ensure minimum residuals in the observations of nutation angles.

In this paper, we consider the three most well-known empirical FCN models.


For firms in the food industry, many of the important climate change impacts/opportunities occur in parts of the value chain which are outside their formal operational control. It is therefore an imperative that climate adaptation be approached from a value chain perspective. However, there has been identified a general lack of operational tools to support firms in taking this approach [31] . Many businesses in the food industry are becoming increasingly aware of product carbon and water footprinting and there are now a considerable number of protocols, structured programs and private sector consultants available to support their implementation. However, the focus of their use is rarely climate change adaptation despite the apparent relevance of the information obtained. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of carbon and water footprints as a diagnostic tool to assist firms in the food industry to formulate a value chain-based adaptive response to climate change.

However, there has been identified a general lack of operational tools to support firms in taking this approach.


Influenza A virus is a main cause of winter epidemics that results in increments in respiratory morbidity. It constitutes a public health concern due to the burden that it represents for the health system and labor market, and for its potential to evolve into a pandemic [1] [2] [3] . The virus is sub-classified based on its surface glycoproteins, hemaglutinin and neuroaminidase, which confer the pathogenicity [1, [3] [4] [5] [6] . Its high antigenic mutation capability is responsible for the cyclic outbreaks observed annually [1, 5] .

It constitutes a public health concern due to the burden that it represents for the health system and labor market, and for its potential to evolve into a pandemic.

The virus is sub-classified based on its surface glycoproteins, hemaglutinin and neuroaminidase, which confer the pathogenicity.

Its high antigenic mutation capability is responsible for the cyclic outbreaks observed annually.


The results of the unit root test in levels and first difference are shown in Table 3 . The results of the ADF test point to the fact that both series, IARR and FDI_T, are stationary after the first difference. Thus, both the series are denoted as I (1) .

Thus, both the series are denoted as I.


In our study, adolescents from the lower middle SES consumed significantly less of all food groups as well as snacks and had a higher number of underweight adolescents than those in other SES groups did. However, evidence from several developed countries on SES and diet have found that those with a higher SES tend to have a healthier diet, characterized by a greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat milk and with a lesser consumption of fats overall [25] . Thus, US children from low SES were found to consume more of the less expensive junk foods and are prone to be overweight [26] .

However, evidence from several developed countries on SES and diet have found that those with a higher SES tend to have a healthier diet, characterized by a greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat milk and with a lesser consumption of fats overall.

Thus, US children from low SES were found to consume more of the less expensive junk foods and are prone to be overweight.


Differential scanning calorimetry, DSC is an important tool of thermal analysis in the experimental characterization of the physical and thermal properties of materials. This analysis provides information on the enthalpy of physical and chemical thermal transitions analogous to, Tg, phase transitions temperatures, degradation temperatures and behavior of materials under thermal conditions. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) provides an easy to use, and sensitive means of characterizing the thermal and thermo-oxidative process of polymeric materials as well as the performance of the antioxidants activity [20] . As can be seen in the DSC scan of pure HDPE (Figure 4) , the thermal transition appear as first or second order transitions. One of these transitions is the melting behavior of HDPE, as determined from the peak of the endothermic melting transition in the DSC scan. The thermal transition can be observed at 138˚C. It was recognized that the melting point remains unaltered even after blending with PVC-tannin as appear in Figure 5 and Figure 6 . The result means that the PVC-tannin doesn't make any noticeable effect on the onset and end-set temperatures of the melting region of HDPE.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) provides an easy to use, and sensitive means of characterizing the thermal and thermo-oxidative process of polymeric materials as well as the performance of the antioxidants activity.