However, over shorter inter-electrode distances, the complex processes in the vicinity of the high-tension electrode including development of plasma in the ionization zone, sheath formation, field screening and the space charges can result in less pronounced difference (or complete absence of this difference) in the positive and negative spark breakdown voltages, [2] . Therefore, it is expected that in the case of air-filled self-breakdown closing switch, a critical inter-electrode distance should exist: for inter-electrode gaps smaller than this critical distance, both positive and negative spark breakdown Corona inception voltages will be almost the same, while for gaps larger than the critical distance, the negative spark breakdown voltage will be higher than the positive spark breakdown voltage. This behaviour can be used in practical plasma closing switches in order to provide operational performance independent of stress polarity. In the present paper, the corona ignition voltage, spark breakdown voltage and pre-breakdown corona current have been measured in an air-filled plasma closing switch with a point-plane electrode configuration. Polarity effects on operational characteristics of this switch have been analysed.

However, over shorter inter-electrode distances, the complex processes in the vicinity of the high-tension electrode including development of plasma in the ionization zone, sheath formation, field screening and the space charges can result in less pronounced difference (or complete absence of this difference) in the positive and negative spark breakdown voltages.


A typical on-board communication network is illustrated in Fig. 16 . Multiple user devices inside the vehicle are plugged into an on-board LAN (wireless/wired). A Mobile Router (MR) seamlessly connects the on-board LAN to the Internet using (typically) multiple WWAN services for enhanced capacity and reliability. The MR and the Home Agent (HA) transparently manage the mobility of the on-board network using the NEMO basic protocol [34] . In recent years, several such commercial systems have been deployed for providing Internet services in public transport vehicles (e.g., iComera 1 ) as well as personal automobiles (Autonet Mobile   2 ). According to the NEMO basic protocol, all traffic in the downlink direction is routed through the HA as illustrated in Fig. 16 . Thus, the HA is responsible for scheduling all inbound individual traffic flows (user sessions) to the WWAN links. Similarly, MR schedules all uplink traffic flows. A scheduling decision that does not adapt to the underlying bandwidth conditions of WWAN links may lead to assigning too much traffic on some of the links while leaving the other links underutilized. In the former case, the excessive traffic can lead to congestion, thus increasing the delay and causing packet loss. In the latter, the link capacity is not used optimally. Therefore, the scheduling decisions made by traffic schedulers are crucial to the QoS offered by the on-board networks. However, since the available bandwidth of WWAN links may vary significantly from one road segment to another during the trip (confirmed by our empirical measurements presented in Section 3), it is challenging to dynamically optimize the flow allocation.

The MR and the Home Agent (HA) transparently manage the mobility of the on-board network using the NEMO basic protocol.


The government declared that a hilly region in Sri Lanka (7°07.485' N, 81°02.740' E) was degraded as a result of erosion; the reason given was excessive tobacco cultivation. A decade or more of tobacco cultivation was abandoned due to continuingly decreasing yields, leaving the soils exposed. Fallowing was not possible as the farmers looked for some alternative annual crops due to loosing income from a cash crop, leaving the lands at risk of erosion. Lack of investments on these annuals (e.g., maize and mungbean) made low profits causing a struggle for livelihood. A foundation was set up to introduce an agroforestry system based on Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) in 2001/2002 with the objective of replenishing the degraded landscape and simultaneously providing direct and indirect economic benefits. An important question arose as to the indicators of erosion with respect to soil parameters and plant productivity. Using homegardens as a benchmark for the long-term high input of green manure, it was shown that regional soils are potentially fertile for crop production, at least on flat to moderate slopes [17] . It was concluded that an assumed impact of erosion on soil fertility can only be detected in an on-farm approach, as plant and soil parameters with yield varied widely and proof of a high degree of soil erosion were scanty.

Using homegardens as a benchmark for the long-term high input of green manure, it was shown that regional soils are potentially fertile for crop production, at least on flat to moderate slopes.


The empirical work on ownership change provides us with important insights. For instance, in the Baltic states ownership changes are much more common in firms which started with majority employee ownership than in firms with other type of majority owners (Jones and Mygind, 1998) . Though much of the theoretical and conceptual literature focuses on ownership change from employees to outsiders, the empirical evidence suggests that the internal markets for shares are much more important, and that the direction of ownership change is usually from employees to managers (Gardawski 1996; Blasi, Kroumova and Kruse 1997; Jones and Mygind 1998) .

For instance, in the Baltic states ownership changes are much more common in firms which started with majority employee ownership than in firms with other type of majority owners.

Though much of the theoretical and conceptual literature focuses on ownership change from employees to outsiders, the empirical evidence suggests that the internal markets for shares are much more important, and that the direction of ownership change is usually from employees to managers.


Fibrin deposition and liver necrosis are decreased in FGL2-deficient mice infected with MHV-3 while the survival rate is increased, implying a crucial role of FGL2 in the pathogenesis of HBV infection [27] . FGL2 is involved in the immune responses against HBV infection as peritoneal macrophages from FGL2-deficient mice infected with MHV-3 lack a procoagulant response [27] . The CD3 + CD4 − CD8 − double-negative T cells appear to contribute to the pathogenesis and clinical outcome of MHV-3-induced fulminant viral hepatitis via the immunoactivity of FGL2 in a mouse model [29] . The CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their effector molecule FGL2 play a key role in susceptibility to HBV infection and in regulating the outcome of fulminant viral hepatitis in vivo [11] . Consistently, in a murine model of acute viral hepatitis caused by LCMV-WE, maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and increased CD8 + and CD4 + T cells producing IFN-γ have been observed in FGL2 knock-out mice infected with LCMV-WE, demonstrating a crucial role of FGL2 in the immune response against hepatitis viruses [18] .

Fibrin deposition and liver necrosis are decreased in FGL2-deficient mice infected with MHV-3 while the survival rate is increased, implying a crucial role of FGL2 in the pathogenesis of HBV infection.

FGL2 is involved in the immune responses against HBV infection as peritoneal macrophages from FGL2-deficient mice infected with MHV-3 lack a procoagulant response.

The CD3 + CD4 − CD8 − double-negative T cells appear to contribute to the pathogenesis and clinical outcome of MHV-3-induced fulminant viral hepatitis via the immunoactivity of FGL2 in a mouse model.

The CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cells (Tregs) and their effector molecule FGL2 play a key role in susceptibility to HBV infection and in regulating the outcome of fulminant viral hepatitis in vivo.

Consistently, in a murine model of acute viral hepatitis caused by LCMV-WE, maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and increased CD8 + and CD4 + T cells producing IFN-γ have been observed in FGL2 knock-out mice infected with LCMV-WE, demonstrating a crucial role of FGL2 in the immune response against hepatitis viruses.


To exploit such nested parallelism in GPGPU (general purpose computation on graphics processing units) applications, the latest NVIDIA Kepler architecture in-troduces the support for dynamic parallelism, which enables a GPU thread to invoke another kernel during execution. Although dynamic parallelism reduces the overhead of invoking a GPU kernel from a CPU, two key limitations remain. First, the communication between a parent thread and its child threads has to be through global memory variables. Second, launching a kernel from a GPU thread involves the device runtime 1 ○ and has non-trivial performance overhead [4] . In this paper, we first study a set of benchmarks to show that they contain parallel loops with relatively small loop counts. As a result, the benefits from parallelizing such loops using dynamic parallelism fail to overweigh its overhead. Then, we propose our solution, referred to as CUDA-NP, to exploit nested parallelism within GPGPU applications. Similar to dynamic parallelism, CUDA-NP faces two fundamental challenges: 1) how to have different numbers of threads running in different code sections, and 2) how to enable lowlatency data communication between a parent/master thread and its child/slave threads. To address these challenges, CUDA-NP first re-maps threads in a thread block (TB) into a one-dimensional (1D) organization. Then, for each thread, referred to as a master thread, CUDA-NP adds a set of slave threads along a different dimension. The purpose of the slave threads is to help their master thread on its parallel loops. To do so, CUDA-NP introduces control flow to disable slave threads during sequential code sections. In CUDA-NP, the low cost data communication between a master thread and its slave threads is achieved through registers or shared memory. In a way, CUDA-NP can be viewed as lightweight dynamic parallelism.

Second, launching a kernel from a GPU thread involves the device runtime 1 ○ and has non-trivial performance overhead.


Any effort to understand post-mortem muscle biochemistry should begin with an appreciation for how energy is managed in living muscle, especially under conditions where this highly specialised tissue functions. Muscle cells are uniquely organised and designed to convert chemical energy into movement. Muscle shortens in response to neuronal stimulations that ultimately cause calcium release in the sarcoplasm. Once calcium concentration eclipses a regulatory threshold, myosin and actin interact to create movement through consumption of ATP (via myofibrillar ATPase). Because of the immediate and synchronised nature of contraction and its sensitivity to calcium, ATP-mediated calcium pumps are strategically located throughout the muscle cell on membranous vesicles that rapidly sequester calcium after such a twitch or contraction. These ATPases, as well as those responsible for maintaining membrane potentials and those participating in a myriad of other cellular processes, must function continually; yet under normal resting conditions, energy consumption (ATP turnover) is rather modest, particularly in locomotive muscles, because the major motor proteins remain idle. By contrast, working muscle cells are capable of increasing ATP turnover 100-fold (Hochachka and McClelland 1997) .

By contrast, working muscle cells are capable of increasing ATP turnover 100-fold.


Because Nepal has no fossil fuel resources but is rich in renewable energy resources, it is important that its government and populace take advantage of the renewable energy resources available in the area. Hydro power plants provide 98-99% of Nepal's grid electricity, which enables roughly 25% of the population, mainly in urban areas, to access electricity [1, 2] . But because approximately 80% of Nepal's inhabitants live in areas not reached by the grid, solar photovoltaic and other renewable energy systems are key, and the social and cultural impediments to accessing and fully benefitting from them are important to understand.

Hydro power plants provide 98-99% of Nepal's grid electricity, which enables roughly 25% of the population, mainly in urban areas, to access electricity.


The characterization of the mechanical properties of biomaterials is important not only for in vitro analysis. For example, in MIS operations, tactile information is not available to the surgeon. Therefore, the capability of on-line detecting and identifying tissues could play a fundamental role in the advancement of MIS procedures [3] .

Therefore, the capability of on-line detecting and identifying tissues could play a fundamental role in the advancement of MIS procedures.


Semantic coding involved analysis of what the participant had said, whereas latent coding involved analysis of the reasoning why a statement was made (Braun and Clarke, 2006) . Semantic coding was mostly used, but where body language and group dynamics or tensions impacted verbal responses, latent coding was used. Data for the latent coding were derived from non-verbal communication, such as group agreement or raised eyebrows, noted by the secondary academic facilitator during the interviews. The themes and subthemes of the coding tree were discussed throughout the coding process by the wider research team as a form of peer debriefing and this contributed to analytical rigour (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) .

Semantic coding involved analysis of what the participant had said, whereas latent coding involved analysis of the reasoning why a statement was made.

The themes and subthemes of the coding tree were discussed throughout the coding process by the wider research team as a form of peer debriefing and this contributed to analytical rigour.


The ordinal regression analysis was applied using listwise deletion, which gave a usable sample of 200 respondents. The results of ordinal regression equations including all of the independent constructs, and when operating unit size was measured by either annual sales revenue or number of employees showed that 66.7 percent of the cells between the dependent construct and the independent constructs were empty. This meant that the goodness-of-fit statistics for the ordinal regression equations were unreliable (Norusis, 2005) . In order to increase the dependability of the goodness-of-fit statistics in the ordinal regression analysis it was necessary to reduce the number of empty cells between different values of the dependent construct and different values of the independent constructs, and the number of cells with small expected values on the points on the scales of each independent construct. This was achieved by rescaling the independent constructs, and, by a process of trail and error, this led to the scales of the independent constructs being reduced to three-point ordinal scales.

This meant that the goodness-of-fit statistics for the ordinal regression equations were unreliable.


Maize tassel is an inexhaustible, non-edible, mesoporous and renewable polymeric material resource, which is discarded as waste by most farmers after fertilization [15] . Hence, the present study aims to assess the applicability of acid treated maize tassel for the adsorptive removal of Lead(II) from aqueous solution and to investigate the effect of operating parameters on the adsorption process. The parameters studied include contact time, initial Lead(II) concentration, adsorbent dosage and initial solution pH.

Maize tassel is an inexhaustible, non-edible, mesoporous and renewable polymeric material resource, which is discarded as waste by most farmers after fertilization.


A myriad of biochemical and physical changes can occur in goat milk cheeses after manufacture due to ripening and degradation of nutrients in the products [9] [10] [11] . Positive correlations have been found between lipolyzed flavor, fat acidity and short chain free fatty acid contents [6, 8, 12] . The flavor intensity of Kasar cheese, a hard cheese, was closely related to C4 -C10 free fatty acids [13] . The presence of large amounts of free fatty acids (FFA) can facilitate the rate of lipid oxidation, and free fatty acids oxidize slightly greater rate than esterified to glycerol. Even-numbered fatty acids from butyric to lauric accounted for the major contribution to rancid flavor [11, 14] . Flavor deterioration from lipid oxidation (reaction of milk lipids with oxygen) and/or lipolysis in dairy products creates serious problems in storage stability of the products [8, 11, 15, 16] .

A myriad of biochemical and physical changes can occur in goat milk cheeses after manufacture due to ripening and degradation of nutrients in the products.

Positive correlations have been found between lipolyzed flavor, fat acidity and short chain free fatty acid contents.

The flavor intensity of Kasar cheese, a hard cheese, was closely related to C4 -C10 free fatty acids.

Even-numbered fatty acids from butyric to lauric accounted for the major contribution to rancid flavor.

Flavor deterioration from lipid oxidation (reaction of milk lipids with oxygen) and/or lipolysis in dairy products creates serious problems in storage stability of the products.


When the acid degree values (ADV) were tested for the experimental cheeses, LF cheese regardless of the storage treatment did not have any detectable levels of ADV due to the original very low contents of fat in the cheeses ( Table 2) . However, the FF goat cheese showed continuous increase in ADV as the storage period advanced from 0 month to 3 months, indicating that no detectable lipolysis occurred in LF cheese while gradual increase in lipolysis occurred in FF cheese ( Table 2) . However, there were no differences in pH values between the FF and LF cheeses, nor between 0, 1 and 3 moths storage periods as shown in (Table 2) . In a previous report, pH of hard type goat cheeses were increased as the aging time advanced up to 6 months due to the formation of NH3 by catabolism of cheese proteins [16] .

In a previous report, pH of hard type goat cheeses were increased as the aging time advanced up to 6 months due to the formation of NH3 by catabolism of cheese proteins.


Fat reduction, however, presents a challenging problem because fat is important for texture and flavor of dairy products such as cheeses [2, 3] . Fat reduction in hard and semi-hard cheeses results in undesirable rubbery texture, lack of flavor, and/or presence of off-flavors [3, 4] . Reduced-fat (RF) and low-fat (LF) cheeses which possess the characteristics of traditional full-fat (FF) cheeses have been in demand [5] . Many manufacturing procedures, therefore, have been suggested and investigated to maximize sensory quality of RF cheeses [6] [7] [8] .

Fat reduction, however, presents a challenging problem because fat is important for texture and flavor of dairy products such as cheeses.

Fat reduction in hard and semi-hard cheeses results in undesirable rubbery texture, lack of flavor, and/or presence of off-flavors.

Reduced-fat (RF) and low-fat (LF) cheeses which possess the characteristics of traditional full-fat (FF) cheeses have been in demand.

Many manufacturing procedures, therefore, have been suggested and investigated to maximize sensory quality of RF cheeses.


In light of total FFA to total fatty acids (TFA) ratios of both FF and LF cheeses, LF cheese showed relatively higher ratio than that of FF cheese. However, the actual increase in FFA content of LF cheese was much smaller than that of FF cheese, simply because LF cheese contained substantially lower fat content than FF cheese (Tables 1 and 3; Figure 1 ). Figure 1 demonstrates that total fatty acid concentrations of FF cheeses were substantially higher than those of LF cheeses, regardless of storage times. The figure also shows that the differences in concentration (mg/g cheese) between FFA and TFA are much greater in FF cheese than LF cheese throughout the storage periods. The relatively greater FFA/TFA ratio in LF cheese compared to that in FF cheese can be attributed to the disrupted fat globule membranes of LF cheese which can have a greater chance of exposure to lipolytic enzymes by cream separation as well as cheese processing and storage. The origin of enzymes responsible for lipolysis in cheese include the indigenous milk lipase (lipoprotein lipase: LPL), rennet preparation, and microbes that develop during cheese ripening either intentionally (starter bacteria and specific molds or yeasts) or unintentionally (nonstarter acid bacteria and adventitious molds or yeasts) that should not be present at significant numbers [12, 17, 27] . The LPL activity, although lower in goat than in cow milk, is more bound to the fat globules and better correlated to spontaneous lipolysis in goat milk [28] . On the other hand, the undisrupted fats without cream separation in FF cheese would have less exposure to the lipase enzymes, resulting in less chance of lipolysis in the FF cheese. Although the milk was pasteurized before cream separation, there would be chances of the intentional and unintentional microbial lipases activities during processing and storage of our experimental goat cheeses.

The origin of enzymes responsible for lipolysis in cheese include the indigenous milk lipase (lipoprotein lipase: LPL), rennet preparation, and microbes that develop during cheese ripening either intentionally (starter bacteria and specific molds or yeasts) or unintentionally (nonstarter acid bacteria and adventitious molds or yeasts) that should not be present at significant numbers.

The LPL activity, although lower in goat than in cow milk, is more bound to the fat globules and better correlated to spontaneous lipolysis in goat milk.


Reports also have shown that lipolysis of milk and dairy products can occur by three different sources: 1) induced lipolysis, 2) spontaneous lipolysis and 3) microbial lipolysis [11, 29] . Induced lipolysis is influenced by several factors, such as processing factors including agitation, separation, pumping, mixing, foaming, presence of air, homogenization, activation by temperature changes, freezing and thawing, storage and processing [11, 29, 30] . Spontaneous lipolysis can occur through two main factors, such as milk processing factors, and milking animal factors including stage of lactation, feed, season, breed, mastitis, milk and fat yield, and physiological factors. Microbial lipolysis is caused by many microorganisms that contaminate dairy products. These organisms produce lipase which develop rancid flavor. The psychrotrophic bacteria are most common sources of these lipases [11] . Bacterial lipases are different from milk lipases, are not inactivated by pasteurization, and can attack the intact fat globules in milk [12, 27, 30] . Since LF cheese manufacture after cream separation in this study could be prone to be involved in these three types of lipolysis, higher lipid hydrolysis might have been occurred in the LF cheeses, causing a higher proportional increase of FFAs in LF cheeses even though the FFA amount was small.

Reports also have shown that lipolysis of milk and dairy products can occur by three different sources: 1) induced lipolysis, 2) spontaneous lipolysis and 3) microbial lipolysis.

Induced lipolysis is influenced by several factors, such as processing factors including agitation, separation, pumping, mixing, foaming, presence of air, homogenization, activation by temperature changes, freezing and thawing, storage and processing.

The psychrotrophic bacteria are most common sources of these lipases.

Bacterial lipases are different from milk lipases, are not inactivated by pasteurization, and can attack the intact fat globules in milk.


For our computational experiments, we have used our new graph drawing library which is the basis of the GoVisual layout tools [10] . Our computational experiments ran on a PC with Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz, 512 MB RAM, under MS Windows 2000, and our C++-code has been compiled with MS Visual C++.NET (Visual C++ 7). We used the benchmark set which is commonly known as the Rome library. It contains 11.528 graphs 1 with 10 to 100 vertices, and has been generated from a core set of 112 graphs used in real-life software engineering and database applications. The library is available via http://www.dia.uniroma3.it/people/gdb/ wp12/undirected-1.tar.gz.

For our computational experiments, we have used our new graph drawing library which is the basis of the GoVisual layout tools.


Global climate change represents a new challenge for the prevention and control of biological invasions. Reduced snow cover on the Alps will remove the most important barrier to the range expansion of the crested porcupine in Italy (Klein et al. 2016; Mori 2017) . Given the importance of this large rodent, an integrated and constantly updated monitoring system, which sustains an addressed set of decision-making tools, should be recommended.

Reduced snow cover on the Alps will remove the most important barrier to the range expansion of the crested porcupine in Italy.


Venkatesan's algorithm designates a number of 'leader' processes that are responsible for declaring termination [16] . To tolerate k-process faults, it must have at least k+1 leaders. Each of those leaders receives termination detection signals from all of the processes in the system, and must store and simulate the state of all of those processes to track when they have terminated. This presents a clear sequential bottleneck, and a potential memory overload, that is impractical in a high performance computing environment.

Venkatesan's algorithm designates a number of 'leader' processes that are responsible for declaring termination.


Preparation of exoglucanase-and ovomucoid-gold complexes. The exoglucanase, a ~-1,4-cellobiohydrolase (P-glucosidase; EC 3.2.1.21), was purified in a five-step procedure from a cellulase produced by the fungus Trichoderma harzianum Rifai (Benhamou, 1989) . It was complexed to colloidal gold at pH 9.0 as previously described (Benhamou et al. 1987) . Briefly, 500 pg of the enzyme was mixed with 10ml colloidal gold at pH 9.0, and the pellet recovered after centrifugation was resuspended in 0.5 ml 0.1 M-PBS/PEG (pH 6.0).

The exoglucanase, a ~-1,4-cellobiohydrolase (P-glucosidase; EC 3.2.1.21), was purified in a five-step procedure from a cellulase produced by the fungus Trichoderma harzianum Rifai.

It was complexed to colloidal gold at pH 9.0 as previously described.


At high P, 0.1 mM DODAB BF is sufficient to cover all AmB particles present in dispersion at 0.05 mM AmB with a thin, possibly bilayered, 6-8 nm DODAB cationic shell as previously described [35] . This cationic interface is expected to interact with the oppositely charged CMC polyelectrolyte. At 0.1 mg/mL CMC, AmB/DODAB BF/CMC anionic complexes present high colloid stability, 230 nm mean diameter and -34 mV of zeta-potential ( Figure 6C and 6D). This condition was chosen for further coverage with cationic polylectrolytes.

At high P, 0.1 mM DODAB BF is sufficient to cover all AmB particles present in dispersion at 0.05 mM AmB with a thin, possibly bilayered, 6-8 nm DODAB cationic shell as previously described.


The physical properties of different dispersions such as size and zeta-potential are given in Table 1 both at low and high P. The drug in water exhibits substancial aggregation (Dz = 360-433 nm), as expected from its hydrophobic character. The drug particle presents a negative zeta-potential of -26 mV explained by dissociation of its carboxylate moiety at the pH of water [35] . Upon changing the medium to IGP buffer, as previously reported, a decrease in size for AmB aggregates was observed (Dz = 75 nm) (Table 1) , due to the chaotropic (dispersing) effect of dihydrogenphosphate anion on AmB aggregates [35] . Both types of AmB aggregates interacted with DODAB BF yielding either loaded BF fragments at low P or DODAB covered drug particles at high P. The characteristics of these cationic assemblies before and after their interaction with oppositely charged CMC over a range of concentrations (0.001-1.0 mg/mL) are in Table 1 . At low P, charge reversal took place above 1 mg/mL CMC whereas at high P, it occurred above 0.1 mg/mL CMC (Table 1) .

The drug particle presents a negative zeta-potential of -26 mV explained by dissociation of its carboxylate moiety at the pH of water.

Upon changing the medium to IGP buffer, as previously reported, a decrease in size for AmB aggregates was observed (Dz = 75 nm) (Table 1) , due to the chaotropic (dispersing) effect of dihydrogenphosphate anion on AmB aggregates.


Raman scattering spectroscopy evaluated the chemical structure of the DLC films. Two broad bands compose the spectra for visible light, one centered in ∼1330 cm −1 ( band) and other in ∼1530 cm −1 ( band) [25] . The and band positions were determined by subtracting a linear background and fitting a Gaussian function to the peak of the Raman spectrum ( Figure 1 ). Table 1 summarizes the main parameters obtained through the spectra. The bond stretching of all pairs of sp 2 atoms in both rings and chains causes the band [26, 27] . The breathing modes of sp 2 atoms in rings caused the band and appears only in the presence of defects [26, 27] . The TiO 2 -DLC films presented a shift in and band positions towards higher wavenumbers. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of band measures structural disorder and arises from bond length distortions [27] . The presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles in DLC films results in the increase of the intensity ratio of and area ( / ) and a shift of and bands towards higher wave numbers. These characteristics imply the increase of the graphite-like bonds in DLC matrix [26] [27] [28] .

Two broad bands compose the spectra for visible light, one centered in ∼1330 cm −1 ( band) and other in ∼1530 cm −1 ( band).

The bond stretching of all pairs of sp 2 atoms in both rings and chains causes the band.

The breathing modes of sp 2 atoms in rings caused the band and appears only in the presence of defects.

The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of band measures structural disorder and arises from bond length distortions.

These characteristics imply the increase of the graphite-like bonds in DLC matrix.


The MTT assay is a quantitative method for evaluating a cell response to external factors. It measures the reduction of a tetrazolium component (MTT) into an insoluble formazan product by NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductase enzymes, largely in the cytosolic compartment of the cell, specifically in mitochondrial compartment. The mitochondrial enzyme succinate-dehydrogenase within viable cells is able to cleave the tetrazolium salt into a blue product (formazan). The color produced is directly proportional to the number of viable cells [30] . Figure 2 shows the mitochondrial activity for all the studied samples. Stainless steel shows a significant difference when compared to control (osteoblast cells). The decrease number of viable cells on stainless steel characterizes cell death. There was no significant difference among DLC, TiO 2 -DLC (0.1 g/L), and the control. An increased concentration of TiO 2 nanoparticles (0.5 g/L) in DLC films raised the mitochondrial activity on these samples, which are obviously nontoxic. TiO 2 -DLC (0.5 g/L) is significantly different ( < 0.05) compared to DLC and extremely significant ( < 0.001) when compared to stainless steel. DAPI (blue) labeled the cell nuclei during 24 h (Figure 3 ). All the TiO 2 -DLC samples had a high cell attachment. The DAPI test showed a strong compatibility of the TiO 2 -DLC films. Figure 4 shows the counted osteoblast cells adhered on the samples. The number of cells on stainless steel is considered different from DLC films ( < 0.05) and very different from TiO 2 -DLC films ( < 0.01). There was an increase in cells according to the increased concentration of TiO 2 in DLC films. TiO 2 -DLC films are considered different from DLC films ( < 0.05).

The color produced is directly proportional to the number of viable cells.


A thin native oxide layer formed spontaneously on titanium surface caused by air, water, or any other electrolyte assigns titanium biocompatibility [11] . This layer is responsible for bone-bonding characteristics of titanium implants [12] . The photocatalytic nature of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) enables its use as antibacterial agent for decompose organisms [13] [14] [15] . These properties are strongly depending on the crystalline structure, morphology, and crystallite size [13, 15] .

A thin native oxide layer formed spontaneously on titanium surface caused by air, water, or any other electrolyte assigns titanium biocompatibility.

This layer is responsible for bone-bonding characteristics of titanium implants.

The photocatalytic nature of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) enables its use as antibacterial agent for decompose organisms.

These properties are strongly depending on the crystalline structure, morphology, and crystallite size.


In this paper we introduce the Fvnano numerical workbench. Fvnano focuses on pushing the limits of IMD to steer large systems. Fvnano is a data-flow oriented framework to harness a parallel MD simulator and augment it with interaction capabilities. Here we use the Gromacs simulation code [8] . The system is designed to limit intrusion in the simulation while getting close enough to the source of data production to minimize the overhead when extracting relevant data. These data are then forwarded asynchronously and processed up to the 3D visualization environment. An haptic device enables the user to select and apply constraints to a group of atoms.

Here we use the Gromacs simulation code.


While having an on-chip thermometer with 50 μK temperature precision is, to the best of our knowledge, the state of the art in the field, it is tempting to consider further advancements. The precision scales with the Q-factor and the signal-to-noise ratio. As we have recently reported, silicon MRRs with Q-factors of ∼5 · 10 6 can be achieved [23] . Thus, assuming the same signal-to-noise ratio as in our current demonstration, one may expect temperature sensing precision below 1 μK and refractive index sensing in the 10 −10 regime. Obviously, achieving such fantastic results should require additional system efforts such as thermal management, and mechanical stability. An additional important consideration for implementing a temperature sensor, in contrast to a refractive index sensor, is the need to separate spatially the temperature sensing MRR from the reference MRR. For instance, to probe the variation in temperature across the chip, one would ideally deploy several MRRs in different locations across the chip. Another important issue is the ability to fully calibrate such sensors. Indeed, introducing a highly calibrated refractive index change is highly challenging to achieve, as a fully traceable refractive index standard does not exist. The major challenge to our obtaining a fully traceable sensor will probably be a topic of interest in the years to come.

As we have recently reported, silicon MRRs with Q-factors of ∼5 · 10 6 can be achieved.


The principle of operation of such resonative sensors is based on monitoring the wavelength dependence of the resonator subject to minute variation in its surrounding (e.g., different types of atoms and molecules, gases, pressure, temperature). Traditionally, wavelength monitoring has been achieved either by comparing the spectra prior to and after the sensing event, or by monitoring the resonator's temporal intensity variations at a fixed frequency. Yet both techniques are akin to thermal drifts and other noise sources of both the MRR and the interrogating laser, which limit the sensitivity and accuracy of such measurements both in the long and the short terms. Thus, in order to monitor such minute perturbations to the refractive index over time (representing, for example, the temporal changes in a concentration of a molecule), one needs to have both the MRR and the laser fully stabilized. The level of such stabilization will dictate the sensitivity limit of the system. Considering a silicon photonic chip operating as a refractive index sensor, with a target refractive index sensitivity of 10 −8 , which is beyond the current state of the art, one needs to stabilize the MRR to the ∼100 μK regime, while the laser needs to be stabilized to the megahertz level. Stabilization to such values is highly challenging. In order to overcome frequency uncertainties and enable real-time and precise sensing, it is desired to implement a differential sensing scheme. Indeed, such schemes have been explored using either external reference systems or more recently by the use of a reference MRR on-chip [14, 15] .

Indeed, such schemes have been explored using either external reference systems or more recently by the use of a reference MRR on-chip.


Large scale distributed computing technologies such as Cloud, Grid, Cluster and High Performance Computing (HPC) supercomputers are evolving with the revolutionary emergence of many-core designs (e.g. GPU, CPUs on single die, supercomputers on chip, etc.) and significant advances in networking and interconnect solutions [1] . This has led to increase complexity on the integration of such diverse computing environments, infrastructures, platforms and technologies. Moreover, data distribution, hardware availability, software heterogeneity, and also the sheer size of scientific problems, commonly force scientists to resort to Jungle Computing instead of traditional supercomputers and clusters. Jungle Computing (i.e., leveraging multiple computing platforms simultaneously) is a recent distributed computing paradigm based on concurrent combination of various hierarchical and distributed computing environments with large number of heterogeneous resources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] ) .

Large scale distributed computing technologies such as Cloud, Grid, Cluster and High Performance Computing (HPC) supercomputers are evolving with the revolutionary emergence of many-core designs (e.g. GPU, CPUs on single die, supercomputers on chip, etc.) and significant advances in networking and interconnect solutions.

Jungle Computing (i.e., leveraging multiple computing platforms simultaneously) is a recent distributed computing paradigm based on concurrent combination of various hierarchical and distributed computing environments with large number of heterogeneous resources).


Despite economic and social growth, low literacy continues to be a significant issue across the developed world. The 1996 OECD International Adult Literacy Survey found 22% of US adults and 23% of UK adults to be performing at the lowest level of a 5-point scale of functional literacy [1] . Functional literacy was defined for this survey as "the ability to read, write and speak in English, and to use mathematics at a level necessary to function at work and in society in general" [1] .

The 1996 OECD International Adult Literacy Survey found 22% of US adults and 23% of UK adults to be performing at the lowest level of a 5-point scale of functional literacy.

Functional literacy was defined for this survey as "the ability to read, write and speak in English, and to use mathematics at a level necessary to function at work and in society in general".


Overall, the findings of associations between lower functional or health literacy and (a) poorer adherence to recommended/prescribed health care interventions and (b) poorer health are broadly similar for the 'hidden population' of people with lower health literacy as for people who may have language and/or obvious cognitive/communicative impairments in addition to health literacy difficulties [17] [18] [19] [20] . In general, the stigma associated with low literacy skills and the coping mechanisms implemented by those with low literacy are likely to lead to refusal of many individuals from the populations of interest to participate in research. This may underestimate the prevalence or effects in some studies and particularly in the 'hidden population' we have focused on.

Overall, the findings of associations between lower functional or health literacy and (a) poorer adherence to recommended/prescribed health care interventions and (b) poorer health are broadly similar for the 'hidden population' of people with lower health literacy as for people who may have language and/or obvious cognitive/communicative impairments in addition to health literacy difficulties.


In toxicogenic V. cholerae strains C6706 and A1552, both natural transformation and T6S are co-induced under conditions of chitin utilization, starvation, and quorum sensing at high cell density (Watve, Borgeaud) . Specifically, activation of the quorum sensing system by Vibrio-specific autoinducer molecules induces the DNA uptake machinery [29, 30] . This concordance suggests that V. cholerae may have evolved to acquire genes, including T6S effector-immunity pairs, from recently killed competitors. This has, until now, presented a conundrum: why acquire genes from defeated, inferior competitors? Our work demonstrates that the acquisition of novel T6S systems provides an efficient route to means-test novel weaponry, which may be strongly favored by natural selection if competitor T6S efficacy varies widely through time. More generally, our results suggest that the interplay of antagonism and horizontal transfer results in successive rounds of combat, arms-trading, and selective sweeps that may dynamically shape diverse microbial communities.

Specifically, activation of the quorum sensing system by Vibrio-specific autoinducer molecules induces the DNA uptake machinery.


We have demonstrated that toxigenic bacteria can acquire T6SS effector-immunity pairs from nontoxigenic neighbors via natural transformation, consistent with the hypothesis that this frequently occurs in the environment [16, 18] . Once acquired, the novel T6SS effector-immunity proteins are functional and can contribute towards T6SS-mediated antagonism against neighboring cells as well as provide immunity against T6SS attacks by neighbors. Interestingly, transformants that undergo successive HGT of T6SS effector-immunity pairs have increased fitness relative to either parental strain in direct competition experiments, reaffirming the fundamental role of HGT in shaping bacterial ecology and evolution.

We have demonstrated that toxigenic bacteria can acquire T6SS effector-immunity pairs from nontoxigenic neighbors via natural transformation, consistent with the hypothesis that this frequently occurs in the environment.


A line commutated full-wave controlled rectifier can be made to operate in inversion mode by connecting a dc voltage source at the load end and controlling the switching angle (α). It is basically a phase-controlled converter with an RLE load [7] . In some part of the voltage cycle, the power flow is from the ac source to the load and in some part of the cycle it is vice-versa. The average value of the power flow is negative for switching angle greater than 90˚ [7] . Thus, an independent dc source (e.g. storage battery, solar PV cell or an array etc) may be used to convert a dc power into an ac power [6] . Normally, the switching angle is varied up to 165˚ for inversion operation to facilitate the commutation voltage for SCR [7] . The main drawback of the conventional line-commutated inverters is its higher value of THD which causes EMI in the line [1] [2] [3] .

It is basically a phase-controlled converter with an RLE load.

The average value of the power flow is negative for switching angle greater than 90˚.

Thus, an independent dc source (e.g. storage battery, solar PV cell or an array etc) may be used to convert a dc power into an ac power.

Normally, the switching angle is varied up to 165˚ for inversion operation to facilitate the commutation voltage for SCR.

The main drawback of the conventional line-commutated inverters is its higher value of THD which causes EMI in the line.


Experiments have been performed on the Body Motion-Emotion dataset (P-BME), that has been acquired at the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (IN-SERM U960 -Ecole Normale Supérieure) in Paris [9] . It includes Motion Capture (MoCap) 3D data sequences recorded at a high frame rate (120 frames per second) by an Opto-electronic Vicon V8 MoCap system wired to 24 cameras. The body movement is captured by using 43 landmarks that are positioned at joints and other parts of the body as illustrated in Fig. 2 . To create the dataset, 8 subjects (professional actors) were instructed to walk following a predefined "U" shaped path that includes forward-walking, turn, and coming back (Fig. 2) . For each acquisition, actors move along the path performing one emotion out of a set of five different emotions, namely, anger, fear, joy, neutral, and sadness. So, each sequence is associated with one emotion label. In doing so, the emotional gait patterns show to be characterized by different walking velocity, wrist velocity and acceleration, body and head postures. Each actor performed at maximum five repetitions of a same emotional sequence for a total of 156 instances. Though there is some variation from subject to subject, the number of examples is well distributed across the different emotions: 29 anger, 31 fear, 33 joy, 28 neutral, 35 sadness.

Experiments have been performed on the Body Motion-Emotion dataset (P-BME), that has been acquired at the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (IN-SERM U960 -Ecole Normale Supérieure) in Paris.


Automatic analysis of human motion has been an active research topic for several years, with outcomes that have been beneficial to a number of different applications, including security surveillance, health-care at home, athletes training and natural interfaces, to say a few. The variety in human body (size, height, corpulence), in the way different people perform an action, and even in the way a same person performs one action at different times, makes the task of human motion analysis very challenging. In the last decades, a consolidated line of research has analyzed the human motion from RGB and depth data enabling tasks such as action and gesture recognition [8] . However, body movements carry a multitude of information, also indicative of our intentions, inter-personal attitudes, expectations and emotions. Of particular interest are basic emotions (i.e., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise) that are innate in all humans and are cross-culturally recognizable. These basic emotions can be further clustered in active (anger, happiness, surprise) and passive (fear, sadness, disgust). Recently, the study of computational models for human emotion recognition has gained increasing attention not only for commercial applications (to get feedback on the effect of advertising material), but also for gaming and monitoring of the emotional state of operators that act in risky contexts such as aviation. Most of these studies have focused on the analysis of facial expressions, but important clues can be derived by the analysis of the dynamics of body parts as well.

In the last decades, a consolidated line of research has analyzed the human motion from RGB and depth data enabling tasks such as action and gesture recognition.


High speed machining is acquiring a great relevance as it allows not only an improvement of the superficial finishing but also a gain in productivity and a decrease of the associated cost [1] . This type of process imposes work conditions each time more extreme in terms of temperature and induced stresses, and so requires, from the corresponding cutting tools, an excellent thermo-mechanical and tribological behaviour [2] . So, the principal parameter to take into account becomes the wear produced by the high temperature reached in the cutting zone [3] . Indeed, the materials used for cutting tools design must present a set of different properties among which wear resistance, fracture toughness, hardness, mechanical reliability at high temperature, impact behaviour, chemical stability with temperature and friction coefficient can be cited as the more fundamentals ones [4] .

High speed machining is acquiring a great relevance as it allows not only an improvement of the superficial finishing but also a gain in productivity and a decrease of the associated cost.

This type of process imposes work conditions each time more extreme in terms of temperature and induced stresses, and so requires, from the corresponding cutting tools, an excellent thermo-mechanical and tribological behaviour.

So, the principal parameter to take into account becomes the wear produced by the high temperature reached in the cutting zone.

Indeed, the materials used for cutting tools design must present a set of different properties among which wear resistance, fracture toughness, hardness, mechanical reliability at high temperature, impact behaviour, chemical stability with temperature and friction coefficient can be cited as the more fundamentals ones.


Adsorption involving activated carbon has long been regarded as a conventional treatment process that can remove a multitude of pollutants. However, the high cost of activated carbon has restricted its use, particularly in developing countries. This is the reason why many investigators have studied the feasibility of using cheap, commercially available materials as removal agents for dyes [6, 4, 10] .

This is the reason why many investigators have studied the feasibility of using cheap, commercially available materials as removal agents for dyes.


In order to quickly find damage to chemical plants, nuclear reactors, and other such installations, an actuator capable of free movement in a complex pipe is required. Safety issues have encouraged the use of such actuators in recent years for a variety of tasks, including inspection, maintenance, and cleaning. On the other hand, there is increasing demand for in-piping actuators, which can be used to insert electrical wires into the complex pipe structure of newly constructed buildings. Several studies have investigated possible mechanisms for movement within pipes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] .

Several studies have investigated possible mechanisms for movement within pipes.


The rheological and kinetic properties of the adhesive have to be adjusted to the anatomical features of wood as an anisotropic biocomposite. The penetration in longitudinal direction, for example, is usually higher than that perpendicular to the grain (Siau 1984) . Softwood and hardwood properties vary considerably; significant variations also exist between single species (Kamke and Lee 2007) . Species with a higher density reveal lower penetration due to a smaller lumen size, which results in limited interlocking of the adhesive. A higher density also causes greater dimensional changes (swelling and shrinking), which are leading to higher internal stresses (Suomi-Lindberg et al. 2002) . In addition, wood extractives may reduce the wettability of the surface as well as the flow and penetration of the adhesive (Hse and Kuo 1988) . Mechanical wood properties vary also considerably between species and change under environmental influences, such as moisture and temperature (Niemz 1993) .

The penetration in longitudinal direction, for example, is usually higher than that perpendicular to the grain.

Softwood and hardwood properties vary considerably; significant variations also exist between single species.

A higher density also causes greater dimensional changes (swelling and shrinking), which are leading to higher internal stresses.

In addition, wood extractives may reduce the wettability of the surface as well as the flow and penetration of the adhesive.

Mechanical wood properties vary also considerably between species and change under environmental influences, such as moisture and temperature.


Nitrobenzene and its derivatives (NBDs) are a group of toxic chemicals that are widespread in the environment owing to their worldwide use [1] . Examples include nitrobenzene, 1,3-dinitrobenzene (1,3-DNB), 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (1,3,5-TNB), 2-chloronitrobenzene (2CNB), 3-chloronitrobenzene (3CNB), 4-chloronitrobenzene (4CNB), and pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB) (Figure 1 ). PCNB is commonly known as Quintozene.

Nitrobenzene and its derivatives (NBDs) are a group of toxic chemicals that are widespread in the environment owing to their worldwide use.

PCNB is commonly known as Quintozene.


It is natural to extend the real parameter t > 0 to a complex parameter τ . The extended map τ → E τλ is called bending. We embed H 2 as a vertical upper halfplane above x-axis for the model C × {t|t > 0} of hyperbolic three space H 3 . The bending map E τλ : H 2 → H 3 is given by bending H 2 according to the complex measure τ λ (see Epstein and Marden [5] ). The map E τλ : H 2 → H 3 trivially extends to the boundary of flat pieces (connected components of the complement of the geodesic lamination support of λ) and to the endpoints of the geodesics in the support of λ on S 1 = R. However, we show that it extends to the whole boundary S 1 of H 2 . Namely, E τλ : R → C is well defined for τ ∈ S λ , where S λ is a neighborhood of R depending on the Thurston norm λ of λ. Without loss of generality we assume that E τλ (∞) = ∞.

The bending map E τλ : H 2 → H 3 is given by bending H 2 according to the complex measure τ λ (see Epstein and Marden).


In our paper, faults are considered to disturb the system model (1) . Interestingly, there is no restriction about the type of faults. They may act multiplicatively changing the value of some parameter already present in the model or as additional parameters. FDI then relies on the assumption that the model parametrization is suitably chosen so that the faults of the system can be detected and isolated. The purpose of diagnosability analysis is to verify such property.

In our paper, faults are considered to disturb the system model.


An assembled product may consist of several components. Recently, more and more manufacturing companies start to purchase components manufactured by suppliers instead of producing all components by themselves (Xi & Qin, 2013) . The concept of outsourcing is based on the idea that companies should focus their effort to their core competence (Teeravaraprug, 2008) . This concept provides many benefits to a company such as reducing production cost, doubling before tax income, improving company's performance, and helping companies for being more focus on their core business (Barthelemy, 2003) .

Recently, more and more manufacturing companies start to purchase components manufactured by suppliers instead of producing all components by themselves.

The concept of outsourcing is based on the idea that companies should focus their effort to their core competence.

This concept provides many benefits to a company such as reducing production cost, doubling before tax income, improving company's performance, and helping companies for being more focus on their core business.


The emergence of low power wireless electronics and its applications prompt the active research in finding the alternative power sources to enable long term operations and its employment in remote and hard to reach locations such as internal combustion engines. Different ambient energy sources are available in environment for harvesting energy such as solar, thermoelectric, acoustic and mechanical vibrations. Among these, the mechanical vibration energy source has the highest ability to power low power wireless electronic devices [1] .

Among these, the mechanical vibration energy source has the highest ability to power low power wireless electronic devices.


Second, both survey and interview data confirm the first part of our second proposition in that larger firms are less affected by weak local market formation. We suggest that this is because larger firms have better access to important resources (financial, market access, research). These resources are particularly important in the absence of a home market (Castellacci 2012; Castellacci and Fevolden 2014) . Further, we find that close proximity to the offshore wind markets in the North Sea can diminish some of the challenges associated with weak local market formation. However, we also find that this applies more often to larger firms with existing activities in these markets related to petro-maritime industries. With regards to the second part of the proposition we find that larger firms to some degree have offered opportunities for resource transfer and customer access for small and medium sized firms. However, there remains an unrealised potential as interview data show that smaller firms miss larger firms that can act as intermediaries to enable international market access.

These resources are particularly important in the absence of a home market.


The principal chemical components in tequila are ET and water. Therefore, the fluorescence spectra of fake tequila and of ET-DW mixtures in three distinct proportions (40-60%, 50-50%, and 60-40%) were measured using excitation wavelengths of 255, 330, 365, and 405 nm. In Figure 5 fluorescence spectra are compared. Figure 5 (a) shows the spectral patterns obtained using an excitation wavelength of 255 nm. There, differences in the spectra for different ET-DW ratios are observed, with a maximal fluorescence intensity around 400 nm for the 60% ET-40% DW sample, reported elsewhere at the 240 to 480 nm interval [13] . From Figure 5 it is also apparent that the FT fluorescence is always higher than those of the ET-DW mixtures for every used excitation wavelength.

There, differences in the spectra for different ET-DW ratios are observed, with a maximal fluorescence intensity around 400 nm for the 60% ET-40% DW sample, reported elsewhere at the 240 to 480 nm interval.


The heart of biodiesel chemistry is the process of transforming the vegetable oil esters into the biodiesel esters by adding alcohol (methanol or ethanol), to form fatty acid alkyl esters and glycerol. At this stage, transesterification process is used in order to reduce the high viscosity and at the same time increase the volatility of the vegetable oils as well as animal fats to the desired level. Reversible process is a key feature of transesterification starting with converting the triglycerides into diglycerides and followed by converting diglycerides to monoglycerides. In the last process, monoglycerides are converted to glycerol. Three esters are obtained from one triglycerides molecule, one ester molecule for each glyceride at each step [2] .

Three esters are obtained from one triglycerides molecule, one ester molecule for each glyceride at each step.


Biodiesel, an alternative fuel can always be considered as a sustainable fuel for a greener future. Due to the food crisis, a 2 nd generation of biodiesel or also familiar as nonedible sources is becoming widely recognized as one of the efforts to reduce the dependency on edible sources. These inexpensive 2 nd generation feedstock have recently attracted a great deal of attention. Some examples of non-edible oils that have recently been extensively reviewed are Jatropha curcas, Calophyllum inophyllum, Madhuca indica (mahua), Linseed, Pongamia pinnata (karanja), Hevea brasiliensis (rubber seed) and many more [1] .

Some examples of non-edible oils that have recently been extensively reviewed are Jatropha curcas, Calophyllum inophyllum, Madhuca indica (mahua), Linseed, Pongamia pinnata (karanja), Hevea brasiliensis (rubber seed) and many more.


If the initial value problem for the operator ∂ 2 t − A(x, ∂ x ) admits two initial conditions, then we can eliminate the function w from the right-hand side of equation (12) . For instance, that holds for the Cauchy problem for the second order hyperbolic equation. Thus, we derive the following representation formula for the solution of the initial value problem for the generalized Tricomi equation.

If the initial value problem for the operator ∂ 2 t − A(x, ∂ x ) admits two initial conditions, then we can eliminate the function w from the right-hand side of equation.


To overcome these hurdles, we develop the finite element method with interpolated coefficients (FEIC) for nonlinear POD-ROMs. This method is also known as the group finite element method or the product approximation, which has been successfully applied to find numerical solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations [19, 20, 21, 28, 39, 46, 47, 63, 69, 75] . Indeed, we replace the nonlinear function in the POD-ROM with its FE interpolation directly. This simple change would lead to great savings in the computation: First, the coefficient matrices of the nonlinear terms can be computed beforehand, thus, the evaluation of the nonlinear terms does not involve any numerical quadratures during the on-line simulation; Second, for the ROMs discretized by the new approach, the DEIM can be directly applied in the same manner as that in the finite difference context. In fact, the nonlinear snapshots become a collection of vectors of nonlinear function values, therefore, neither does the nonlinear data generation require any numerical integrations. The accuracy of this approach is, of course, restricted to the smoothness of the nonlinear functions. However, when the nonlinear functions possess certain smoothness ((H2) and (H3) in Section 4), the FEIC can achieve the same accuracy as the standard FE discretization of the ROM. Therefore, the advantages of the new approach over the standard FE discretization of nonlinear POD-ROMs cannot be overemphasized: (i) the FEIC is easier to implement and computationally more efficient; (ii) the FEIC achieves the same accuracy when nonlinear functions satisfy smoothness assumptions; and (iii) the FEIC is more suitable for combining with the DEIM and further reduce the computational complexity.

This method is also known as the group finite element method or the product approximation, which has been successfully applied to find numerical solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations.


There was a significant correlation between lower number of positive cells and higher tumoral grade (p < 0.01). PR was detected in two of 16 metastatic lymph nodes (12%). Specific reaction to AR was found in every cancer but low-grade carcinomas showed a higher positiveness than moderately or poorly differentiated carcinomas (p < 0.01). Metastatic cells in lymph nodes were AR+ in four cases (25%). Two lymph nodes were positives to all the receptors whereas just one was ERα/AR+. We also assessed the number of positive neoplastic myoepithelial cells in complex tumors. The expression of ERα was almost uniform in the three classes of malignancy and not correlated with the grading (p > 0.05). ERβ appeared less detected in high-grade than low-grade carcinomas but this correlation did not come to the statistical significance (p > 0.05). A weak, non statistical significant, direct relationship was observed between grading and myoepithelial expression of PR (p > 0.05). On the other hand, we found a strong inverse correlation Some interesting findings have come out from this study. The spaying has a protective role against the canine mammary cancerogenesis. High level of circulating estrogens during the lifespan can improve the risk of mammary tumors [14, 22] . In this study the majority (70%) of bitches were intact whereas only 4 (6%) were spayed before the second years of age. However, the grade of malignancy appeared without any correlation with spaying status or age at the time of diagnosis. Levels of ovarian hormone receptors were assessed by immunohistochemical assay. Specific nuclear and perinucleare reaction to ERα, ERβ, PR and AR was observed in normal and neoplastic epithelial and myoepithelial cells as well as in few stromal cells. Some cells also showed a weak cytoplasmatic staining; this report is attributed to a trouble of nuclear receptorial transport and was showed by other Authors [12, 23] . The intensity of staining appeared very heterogeneous in the majority of tumors with areas strongly positive close to other nearly negative. This event may be due to a differentiated cellular activity [24, 25] .

High level of circulating estrogens during the lifespan can improve the risk of mammary tumors.

Some cells also showed a weak cytoplasmatic staining; this report is attributed to a trouble of nuclear receptorial transport and was showed by other Authors.

This event may be due to a differentiated cellular activity.


The present study of A. altilis (twigs parts) had been done for the first time. Flavonoids exhibit a wide range of biological activities, one of which is their ability to the hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide anion radicals and thus health-promoting in action (Ferguson, 2001) . Flavonoids also exhibit antiinflammatory, antiangiogenic, anticancer, anti-allergic effects, antiviral and antibacterial agent analgesic, and antioxidant properties (Hodek and Trefil, 2002) . Another finding showed that the methanol extract contains abundance of saponins, which were reported earlier to have some antimicrobial activities (Nabila, 2008) . Terpenoids have also been shown to possess antimicrobial activities (Islam et al., 2003) . Hexane extract of A. altilis showed a moderate result of terpenoids constituents. Tannins which were presented in A. altilis had been observed to have remarkable activity in cancer prevention and anticancer (Li et al., 2003) .

Flavonoids exhibit a wide range of biological activities, one of which is their ability to the hydroxyl radicals, and superoxide anion radicals and thus health-promoting in action.

Flavonoids also exhibit antiinflammatory, antiangiogenic, anticancer, anti-allergic effects, antiviral and antibacterial agent analgesic, and antioxidant properties.

Another finding showed that the methanol extract contains abundance of saponins, which were reported earlier to have some antimicrobial activities.

Terpenoids have also been shown to possess antimicrobial activities.

Tannins which were presented in A. altilis had been observed to have remarkable activity in cancer prevention and anticancer.


While large DM self-interactions at small relative velocities are required to address the small-scale problems, there exist rather strong constraints on the DM self-scattering cross section in high-velocity systems such as galaxy clusters [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] . A scattering cross section which increases towards smaller velocities is therefore preferred observationally. This behaviour is naturally achieved if a light scalar or vector particle mediates this interaction [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] . At the same time the DM relic abundance can naturally be set via thermal freeze-out of DM into these mediators.

While large DM self-interactions at small relative velocities are required to address the small-scale problems, there exist rather strong constraints on the DM self-scattering cross section in high-velocity systems such as galaxy clusters.

This behaviour is naturally achieved if a light scalar or vector particle mediates this interaction.


However, in their simplest forms, these light mediator scenarios are under strong pressure from observations: a vector mediator Z D leads to s-wave annihilation and if it predominantly decays into SM states such as electrons or photons, the energy injection from late-time annihilations ψψ → Z D Z D → SM generically violates the stringent bounds obtained from the CMB [28, 29] . For a scalar mediator, on the other hand, the annihilation is p-wave suppressed such that bounds from the CMB are avoided. Nevertheless, strong bounds from direct detection experiments on the coupling to SM states imply late decays of the scalar, which in turn can spoil the successful predictions of standard BBN [30] [31] [32] .

However, in their simplest forms, these light mediator scenarios are under strong pressure from observations: a vector mediator Z D leads to s-wave annihilation and if it predominantly decays into SM states such as electrons or photons, the energy injection from late-time annihilations ψψ → Z D Z D → SM generically violates the stringent bounds obtained from the CMB.

Nevertheless, strong bounds from direct detection experiments on the coupling to SM states imply late decays of the scalar, which in turn can spoil the successful predictions of standard BBN.


By construction, the CMB constraints arising from ψψ → Z D Z D are avoided; furthermore, the coupling structure of the theory does not permit the annihilation of ψψ into a pair of (unstable) dark Higgs bosons h D at tree-level. However, the presence of the annihilation channel ψψ → Z D h D with the subsequent decay of h D still leads to the injection of SM energy into the CMB, and depending on the values of the different couplings involved, this potentially reintroduces the corresponding constraints. Furthermore, the late-time annihilation of the subdominant DM component Z D into a pair of dark Higgs bosons can also leave its imprint on the CMB, which is actually well-known to be highly sensitive to even very small annihilation cross sections for DM particles with masses in the MeV range [38] .

Furthermore, the late-time annihilation of the subdominant DM component Z D into a pair of dark Higgs bosons can also leave its imprint on the CMB, which is actually well-known to be highly sensitive to even very small annihilation cross sections for DM particles with masses in the MeV range.


In this work we study the possibility that the vector mediator Z D is stable, in which case the annihilation process ψψ → Z D Z D obviously does not lead to energy injection during recombination. The stability can be achieved either by simply postulating that the kinetic mixing of Z D with the SM gauge fields is highly suppressed, or in fact by demanding a dark charge conjugation symmetry [37] . However, in this minimal setup Z D freezes out while still being relativistic and, being stable, would overclose the Universe.

The stability can be achieved either by simply postulating that the kinetic mixing of Z D with the SM gauge fields is highly suppressed, or in fact by demanding a dark charge conjugation symmetry.


Bladder cancer (BC) presents as a malignancy with increasing incidence, a significant impact on quality of life, and the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient [1] . Early detection to prevent progressive disease remains the challenge of the disease. Since specific symptoms are lacking and most patients present with unspecific hematuria (HU), invasive measures are still needed for ultimate diagnosis. Hence, cystoscopy is still the gold standard in the diagnostic workup of BC [2] . Noninvasive tests are restricted to urine markers. Beside urine cytology, molecular markers evolved within recent years and play an emerging role in diagnosis and monitoring of BC [3] . However, the diagnostic accuracy of cytology and of molecular markers remains unsatisfactory. Due to insufficient discriminatory power, urine markers are still not able to replace cystoscopy [4] . Recently, office-based point of care test (POCT) systems became available [5] . They are particularly useful for office physicians without direct access to cost-intensive laboratory equipment.

Bladder cancer (BC) presents as a malignancy with increasing incidence, a significant impact on quality of life, and the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient.

Hence, cystoscopy is still the gold standard in the diagnostic workup of BC.

Beside urine cytology, molecular markers evolved within recent years and play an emerging role in diagnosis and monitoring of BC.

Due to insufficient discriminatory power, urine markers are still not able to replace cystoscopy.

Recently, office-based point of care test (POCT) systems became available.


As a contrast to reducing parental stress, increasing parental optimism is a way of supporting everyday coping. The optimistic way of thinking about and explaining everyday life and the world in general, holds that there are solutions to the challenges of life. The optimistic way of thinking has been shown to be a good predictor of parents' positive attitudes and experiences of their child's capabilities and potential. Optimism has also been shown to be a central predictor in mastering larger life crises and challenges in a constructive way (Baker, Blacher, and Olsson 2005) . Health services of good quality, and especially early intervention, are related to the degree of optimism parents have about the future, and consequently to hope for the future, which is central to family adaptation (Bailey et al. 2007) .

Optimism has also been shown to be a central predictor in mastering larger life crises and challenges in a constructive way.

Health services of good quality, and especially early intervention, are related to the degree of optimism parents have about the future, and consequently to hope for the future, which is central to family adaptation.


The results of this study suggest that mothers with increased stress levels can achieve stress reduction and increased feelings of optimism through participation in an intensified habilitation programme including a limited number of group and couple counselling sessions. The fathers in this study did not show a reduction in stress levels or increased feelings of optimism. The PIH project's ideological background is based on a belief that children with disabilities have the best opportunities if their parents cope with their disability and if the parents are able to manage the stress they experience. The link between stress management and family functioning is also well established in research (Raina et al. 2004; King et al. 1999) .

The link between stress management and family functioning is also well established in research.


The importance of stress levels in the family is demonstrated in studies showing that level of parenting stress is positively correlated with level of depression among parents of children with CP (Wanamaker and Glenwick 1998) . Often, behaviour problems are an additional source of difficulties and stress in families with children with CP (McDermott et al. 1996) . Studies show that the incidence of behaviour problems in offspring is the single most important predictor of parents' psychological and somatic health (Raina et al. 2005) .

The importance of stress levels in the family is demonstrated in studies showing that level of parenting stress is positively correlated with level of depression among parents of children with CP.

Often, behaviour problems are an additional source of difficulties and stress in families with children with CP.

Studies show that the incidence of behaviour problems in offspring is the single most important predictor of parents' psychological and somatic health.


The method deals with unilateral signorini's conditions and the dry friction law of Coulomb. A numerical treatment is developed in this paper. The discretized frictional contact problem is solved using a non linear Gauss Sei-3 del algorithm and derives from the 'Non Smooth Contact Dynamics' method, developed by J.J Moreau and M. Jean [13] . The non linearities come from the frictional contact operator which deals with the wear conditions. Here we focus on the method developed to solve the three-dimensional problem.

The discretized frictional contact problem is solved using a non linear Gauss Sei-3 del algorithm and derives from the 'Non Smooth Contact Dynamics' method, developed by J.J Moreau and M. Jean.


The result showed that the mycelia growth of Ganoderma lucidum was very active against all the test organisms. Table 1 shows that the zone of inhibition by mycelia of Ganoderma lucidum on the test organisms increased daily. Escherichia coli showed the highest susceptibility of 10.6 mm on the first day which increased to 14.9 mm on the fourth day and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the least susceptible with zone of inhibition of 5.7 mm on the fourth day. Table 2 shows the total inhibition of all the test organisms as the organisms were totally suppressed by the 7day -old culture of mycelia of Ganoderma lucidum. None of the pathogenic bacteria grew when the mushroom was introduced into the media 48 hours before the pathogens were inoculated. This activity could be because when the polypore was inoculated into the medium 48hrs before the introduction of the bacteria pathogens the mycelia of the mushroom secreted some metabolites which totally suppressed the growth of the test organisms (Ofodile et al., 2005) .

This activity could be because when the polypore was inoculated into the medium 48hrs before the introduction of the bacteria pathogens the mycelia of the mushroom secreted some metabolites which totally suppressed the growth of the test organisms.


The Yemen e-commerce sector has witnessed rapid growth and has exceeded expectations, and become a new way of shopping compared with previous years (Almotamar, 2014) . In the last year, the first electronic store website was established called (Warzan) and became arguably the best e-commerce site in the scope of e-commerce in Yemen. Although there are many individuals using Facebook pages to promote their products, those pages do not have sufficient confidence due to not being considered an entity and not officially registered compared to the Warzan company which is a registered company and has earned the confidence of consumer rights (Almotamar, 2014) .

The Yemen e-commerce sector has witnessed rapid growth and has exceeded expectations, and become a new way of shopping compared with previous years.

Although there are many individuals using Facebook pages to promote their products, those pages do not have sufficient confidence due to not being considered an entity and not officially registered compared to the Warzan company which is a registered company and has earned the confidence of consumer rights.


BAF's mineral composition is relevant, since zinc is especially important for normal nervous system activity (Stelmashook et al., 2014) . The low sodium content of baru almond and BAF (Table 3) can be considered similar to that of in natura BAF. Throughout the 14 days of experiment, body weight gain of the animals was positive and linear, except for the protein-free diet group, which showed body weight loss (Figure 2 ). Determination coefficient (R²) values ranged from 0.69 to 0.97 for the body weight curves. The in natura BAF diet group showed a very low weight gain, and the autoclaved BAF diet group's weight gain was similar to that of the reference group.

BAF's mineral composition is relevant, since zinc is especially important for normal nervous system activity.


The oil constitutes one of the baru almond's co-products, with social and commercial importance, including exportation. Baru oil extraction is handmade, performed in cooperatives by mechanical pressing, and generates the partially defatted baru almond flour (BAF), which is commercialized for animal feed. BAF presents nutritional relevance, mainly due to its high protein contents (49 g/100g) and ashes (5 g/100g) (Guimarães et al., 2012) . However, there are no studies on bioactive potential and protein quality of this flour.

BAF presents nutritional relevance, mainly due to its high protein contents (49 g/100g) and ashes (5 g/100g).


Microfinance can contribute to female empowerment, but can also lead to the feminization of debt (Mayoux, 2001) . Moreover, good repayment performance may not necessarily correspond to client satisfaction but, conversely, can be indicative of debt traps (Cull et al., 2008) . As suggested here, improved repayment performance can stem from enforcement practices that are more feared by women than men. The implications of regulation on female repayment should thus be examined more closely.

Microfinance can contribute to female empowerment, but can also lead to the feminization of debt.

Moreover, good repayment performance may not necessarily correspond to client satisfaction but, conversely, can be indicative of debt traps.


It is not the purpose of this paper to review all these dc plasma torches since they were described in details in previous review papers encompassing their applications [4, [12] [13] [14] . Moreover, recent papers concerning thermal plasma modelling were also written reviewing thermodynamic and transport properties, and also advanced numerical simulations in thermal plasmas [15] [16] [17] [18] . Instead, this paper will focus on the description of standard (subsonic) dc plasma torches involving blown arcs related to the Suspension Plasma Spraying process.

It is not the purpose of this paper to review all these dc plasma torches since they were described in details in previous review papers encompassing their applications.

Moreover, recent papers concerning thermal plasma modelling were also written reviewing thermodynamic and transport properties, and also advanced numerical simulations in thermal plasmas.


We have plotted, in Fig. (16) , X/f 1 2 as a function of f 1 2 for the different cathode volumes. Fig. (16) shows present a consistent distribution of experimental points following the previous simplified model. Note that b H is almost zero. In Fig. (17) , power spectra of the arc voltage are shown for the three cathode cavity configurations. It can be seen that when the volume is large ("no ring"), the amplitude of the peak is high and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is weak. When volume decreases, the amplitude decreases and FWHM increases. This means that the quality factor of the resonator decreases and the arc oscillation is damped. Moreover, the Helmholtz frequency increases as predicted by the equation (26) .

Note that b H is almost zero.

Moreover, the Helmholtz frequency increases as predicted by the equation.


In many cases, model forecasts are judgmentally revised before they are fed into the inventory system (Figure 1(b) ). Previous studies have compared the performance of model vs. expert forecasts on both accuracy and inventory implications (Syntetos et al. 2009; Syntetos, Nikolopoulos, and Boylan 2010) . They used empirical demand and forecast data as input to an inventory system model and observed via simulation the performance of the inventory system in terms of stock levels and service levels. However, an important characteristic of the inventory system is the cost brought by changes in ordering and production, which has been overlooked.

Previous studies have compared the performance of model vs. expert forecasts on both accuracy and inventory implications.


The pressure drop of the porous tortuous structure of the regenerator has been modelled and validated by the results obtained from experiment carried out in an apparatus where a control could be achieved over the phase angle between velocity and pressure thus enabling a travelling-wave condition to be imposed. The values of computationally determined permeability coefficient, K, that represents the hydrodynamic loss of the regenerator investigated, are shown in Table 3 . Friction factor correlation has been developed based on a porous medium model. A simplification offered by Darcy's law has been used for the low speed condition studied. The results from this correlation appear to match the results calculated through the correlation proposed by Swift and Ward [7] . This indicates that steady flow assumptions, used by them when developing their correlation, apply to the travelling-wave conditions investigated here.

The results from this correlation appear to match the results calculated through the correlation proposed by Swift and Ward.


However, most of the past experiments have not considered specific phase angles between pressure and velocity oscillations. Therefore, their effect on the regenerator hydrodynamic condition is still unknown. This necessitates the development of an appropriate closure model for a regenerator working in the travelling-wave mode since a hydrodynamic correlation based on an unspecified phase angle may introduce unknown errors. Since the regenerators are porous media they can be studied theoretically on the grounds of the porous medium theory [4] . This allows modelling a porous structure through the use of additional parameters in the transport equation that represent the resistance to the flow.

Since the regenerators are porous media they can be studied theoretically on the grounds of the porous medium theory.


Whether or not humans are causing severe changes in the environment, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, is nowadays no longer a question [1] . The rising importance of humanity to act responsibly towards environmental, social and economic realms is an essential topic in politics as well as academia [2] . Due to this, sustainable entrepreneurship is increasingly geared towards the sustainable development of society, environment and economy [3] . To this end, it is critical to understand how entrepreneurs can succeed sustainably. Firms which seek to address social and environmental challenges by engaging in entrepreneurial practices are growing in numbers, while many existing companies are shifting their focus to include both monetary and social benefits [4] .

Whether or not humans are causing severe changes in the environment, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, is nowadays no longer a question.

The rising importance of humanity to act responsibly towards environmental, social and economic realms is an essential topic in politics as well as academia.

Due to this, sustainable entrepreneurship is increasingly geared towards the sustainable development of society, environment and economy.

Firms which seek to address social and environmental challenges by engaging in entrepreneurial practices are growing in numbers, while many existing companies are shifting their focus to include both monetary and social benefits.


ESI-MS, and nano-spray techniques in particular, have been successfully employed for detection of folding intermediates. These studies showed that these methods can increase the resolution at which we describe protein conformational transitions. Two distinct partially folded forms were found to populate the cyt c molten-globule state [26] . Similar intermediates were detected at pH ∼ 2 in the presence of glycerol, pH ∼ 3 in the presence of methanol or TFE, and at pH 2.4-2.5 in the absence of additives. The consistence of results from different solvent and experimental conditions strongly suggest that this method monitors protein-specific structural features. The high sensitivity of ESI-MS to protein tertiary structure not only discriminates folded and unfolded states, but also allows monitoring minor conformational changes, like the transition from molten globule to native state or structural compression associated to protein stabilization [21, 26] .

Two distinct partially folded forms were found to populate the cyt c molten-globule state.

The high sensitivity of ESI-MS to protein tertiary structure not only discriminates folded and unfolded states, but also allows monitoring minor conformational changes, like the transition from molten globule to native state or structural compression associated to protein stabilization.


The average cluster sizes of sim_cosine, sim_result, sim_com1, sim_com2 and sim_com3 were 7.86, 4.01, 6.62, 4.10 and 3.96 respectively. The maximum query cluster sizes are 59, 23, 31, 26 and 23 respectively. This indicates that for a query cluster, the content-based approach (sim_cosine) can find a larger number of queries for a given query than the other approaches. Stated differently, the content-based approach can provide a greater variety of queries to a user given his/her submitted query. Here, note that the hybrid approach sim_com1, ranks second in terms of both the average cluster size and the range of cluster sizes. Further, the results show that sim_cosine ranks highest in coverage (77.63%), demonstrating that the content-based approach has a better ability to find similar queries from a given query. In other words, users have a higher likelihood to obtain a recommendation to a given query than using other approaches. Note again that the hybrid approach, sim-com1, ranks second (65.69%) while the results-based approach, sim_result, ranks last (43.93%). Table 2 also indicates that the hybrid approach is better able to cluster similar queries correctly than the other approaches. In terms of precision, sim-com3 (99.00%) performs best, indicating that almost all of the queries in the cluster were considered similar. Close behind are sim_com2 (96.97%), sim_result (92.71%) and sim_com1 (87.13%), while sim_cosine's precision is the worst (66.72%). The good precision performance of the hybrid approach can be attributed to the boost given by the search results URLs since sim_result's precision is much better when compared with sim_cosine. For recall, sim_com1 has the best performance at 100%, indicating that all similar queries were contained in query clusters. This time, sim_cosine (90.92%), sim_com2 (68.93%), sim_com3 (67.97%) rank second to fourth respectively, while sim_result ranks last (64.45%). Note that although the recall used in this experiment is not the same with the traditional definition used in information retrieval research, it does provide useful information to indicate the accuracy of clusters generated by the different similarity functions [20] . That is, the modified recall measure reflects the ability to uncover clusters of similar queries generated by different similarity functions on the sample set queries used in the experiments.

Note that although the recall used in this experiment is not the same with the traditional definition used in information retrieval research, it does provide useful information to indicate the accuracy of clusters generated by the different similarity functions.


We can control the finishing times-and in this way also the fulfillment of the due dates-by scheduling the jobs. In many cases the production planner is mainly concerned with the due dates, and the minimization of the set-up times may sometimes conflict with this goal. The construction of a feasible and, preferably, an efficient schedule is one of the most difficult tasks in production planning. It has been shown that the problem is too complicated to be solved accurately (even in theory) [2, 3] . Therefore, the problem is usually approached by the use of approximative algorithms.

It has been shown that the problem is too complicated to be solved accurately (even in theory).


The temperature of mother particles at present time T M0 can be estimated by taking into account of the decoupling temperature T d of mother particles [38] . The temperature which corresponds to the mass of the mother particle m M = 1 TeV is so high that all species of standard particles such as eight gluons, W ± , Z 0 , three generations of quarks and leptons, and one complex Higgs doublet are relativistic at the decoupling of mother particles. We define g * as the total number of effectively massless degrees of freedom. In the epoch that the mother particles are in thermal equilibrium, we expect g * (early) = 106.75, while g * (now) = 3.36 at present. The comoving number density of photons when the mother particles are in thermal equilibrium is n γ = g * (now) g * (early) n γ0 .

The temperature of mother particles at present time T M0 can be estimated by taking into account of the decoupling temperature T d of mother particles.


There are numerous astronomical phenomena which indicate the existence of cold dark matter (CDM), such as flat rotation curves of galaxies, anisotropies of cosmic microwave background (CMB), and measurements of gravitational lenses [1] . However, we know little about the nature of cold dark matter. In fact, at sub-galactic scales, there are some discrepancies between CDM model predictions by numerical simulations and astronomical observations, such as the abundance of substructures in dark matter halos and the inner matter distribution in galaxies [2, 3] .

There are numerous astronomical phenomena which indicate the existence of cold dark matter (CDM), such as flat rotation curves of galaxies, anisotropies of cosmic microwave background (CMB), and measurements of gravitational lenses.

In fact, at sub-galactic scales, there are some discrepancies between CDM model predictions by numerical simulations and astronomical observations, such as the abundance of substructures in dark matter halos and the inner matter distribution in galaxies.


The maximum peak's "d" values of the dolomite and calcite phases in "structure/hkl phase" of program are controlled from JPDS cards. Peak shift can be the problem for lattice parameters therefore it must be corrected with Eva or similar programs. In all phases, values of the scale factor must be refined to minimize to 0.001. Preferred orientations in scan must be determined in PO March-Dollase page of the cif extension file menu of the program [18] . Preferred orientation correction for up to two directions. The TOPAS Structure Database contains the typical preferred orientation direction for most of its entries. Here, for calcite and dolomite crystal minerals, this direction (1 0 4) is included and therefore automatically entered into the hkl field of the PO March-Dollase page. This correction decreases importantly the RWP value. In case of doubt the March-Dollase parameter and its refinement code should be set to 1 and "Fix", respectively, unless preferred orientation has always to be considered for the present phase.

Preferred orientations in scan must be determined in PO March-Dollase page of the cif extension file menu of the program.


By comparing the technology employed in the earliest copper mines in Thrace and Eastern Serbia as well as the similar examples in other regions the striking similarity could be encountered. The use of pebble-hammers with transversal groove is identical; the veins of copper ore were followed to the border of the oxidation zone at the exploited deposit and generally using same technology in the quest for malachite, azurite and native copper. The introduction of copper, therefore, implies identical or very similar exploitation of the carbonate or oxide ores regardless of the geographic location but there is a considerable difference in the absolute chronology [6] .

The introduction of copper, therefore, implies identical or very similar exploitation of the carbonate or oxide ores regardless of the geographic location but there is a considerable difference in the absolute chronology.


The hydrogen economy is a hypothetical future energy system, where hydrogen will be used as an energy storage carrier for end users, especially in the transport sector. Electrochemist John O'M. Bockris coined the term "hydrogen economy" in his speech given at General Motors (GM) Technical Center in 1970 [1] . Two of the major advantages of the hydrogen economy are (i) much higher energy conversion efficiency from chemical energy to electricity through fuel cells compared to internal combustion engines, whose maximum efficiencies are restricted by the Second Law of thermodynamics, and (ii) nearly no pollutants generated at the sites of end users [2, 3] . In addition, hydrogen can be produced by a number of approaches, and multiple energy sources from fossil fuels (e.g., natural gas, oil, coal) to renewable energy sources (e.g., biomass, solar energy, wind energy) in the future. Implementation of the hydrogen economy must address several challenges-low-cost sustainable hydrogen production, high density hydrogen storage, affordable hydrogen distribution infrastructure, durable and affordable fuel cell systems, and eliminating safety concern [4] . Among them, hydrogen storage is the most important challenge that we must solve [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] .

Electrochemist John O'M. Bockris coined the term "hydrogen economy" in his speech given at General Motors (GM) Technical Center in 1970.

Two of the major advantages of the hydrogen economy are (i) much higher energy conversion efficiency from chemical energy to electricity through fuel cells compared to internal combustion engines, whose maximum efficiencies are restricted by the Second Law of thermodynamics, and (ii) nearly no pollutants generated at the sites of end users.

Implementation of the hydrogen economy must address several challenges-low-cost sustainable hydrogen production, high density hydrogen storage, affordable hydrogen distribution infrastructure, durable and affordable fuel cell systems, and eliminating safety concern.

Among them, hydrogen storage is the most important challenge that we must solve.


Speech motor learning causes changes to both sensory and motor function (Nasir and Ostry 2009) . However the neural mechanisms of sensory plasticity associated with speech motor learning are little understood. A recent study demonstrated that perceptual learning associated with speech sounds discrimination modified auditory evoked potentials in response to speech sounds (Tremblay et al. 2001) . Speech motor adaptation in the context of externally applied sensory errors can also modify speech-related somatosensory and auditory processes. We here focus on cortical sensory processing using event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with auditory stimulation that involves vowel sounds and somatosensory stimulation that involves orofacial skin deformation. We examined whether speech motor training associated with altered auditory feedback modifies auditory and somatosensory ERPs.

Speech motor learning causes changes to both sensory and motor function.

A recent study demonstrated that perceptual learning associated with speech sounds discrimination modified auditory evoked potentials in response to speech sounds.


The structure of the paper is as follows. First we rehearse the concept of stability radii in the context of robust stability of time-delay systems, based on (Michiels and Roose, 2003) . Then we describe a numerical procedure to compute real stability radii. Finally we outline an algorithm for the optimization of real stability radii and present an example.

First we rehearse the concept of stability radii in the context of robust stability of time-delay systems, based on.