This study looks at MBTI traits that relate to promotion at work. It has "years to promotion" as the criterion variable and MBTI as the independent or predictor variables. It has long been established that personality correlates with many performance indicators at work, but surprisingly few papers have examined the personality and ability factors associated with promotion, preferring to study such issues as gender differences (Almer, Lightbody, & Single, 2012) .

It has long been established that personality correlates with many performance indicators at work, but surprisingly few papers have examined the personality and ability factors associated with promotion, preferring to study such issues as gender differences.


Our findings may also reflect the intervention having an early benefit on cognitive and prelinguistic development. At 6 months infants in the intervention group showed more advanced communication development, compared to infants in the control group. The CSBS DP InfantToddler Checklist, which we used to evaluate communication development, has been demonstrated to relate to later language and cognitive delay [27] . Whilst early markers of possible language impairment only have modest predictive utility before 12 months of age, communication skills (as measured by the CSBS DP Infant-Toddler Checklist) at 12 months have been found to explain one fifth of variation at 24 months [28] .

The CSBS DP InfantToddler Checklist, which we used to evaluate communication development, has been demonstrated to relate to later language and cognitive delay.

Whilst early markers of possible language impairment only have modest predictive utility before 12 months of age, communication skills (as measured by the CSBS DP Infant-Toddler Checklist) at 12 months have been found to explain one fifth of variation at 24 months.


Finally, faction analysis was conducted on the entire network, also using the UCINET software, in order to identify possible network subgroupings. Specific to this study, factions consist of groupings of articles that are more closely connected to one another in their citation ties than to articles in other factions (Borgatti et al., 2002) . Exploratory faction analysis has often been used in conjunction with measures of centrality in an effort to identify cliques or substructures that are more connected to each other than to nodes in other factions (Hanneman & Riddle, 2005) .

Specific to this study, factions consist of groupings of articles that are more closely connected to one another in their citation ties than to articles in other factions.

Exploratory faction analysis has often been used in conjunction with measures of centrality in an effort to identify cliques or substructures that are more connected to each other than to nodes in other factions.


Ultrasonic consolidation (UC) is a layer manufacturing process for fabricating three-dimensional objects by incrementally adding and consolidating material layers using ultrasonic vibrations and pressure [1] . Components are built up by ultrasonically welding thin material layers to previously deposited substrate material, forming a solid part and then shaping that part by removing excess material using computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling. The process is commercially available as the Formation TM machine from Solidica Inc., in the United States.

Ultrasonic consolidation (UC) is a layer manufacturing process for fabricating three-dimensional objects by incrementally adding and consolidating material layers using ultrasonic vibrations and pressure.


A number of time frequency domain techniques have been proposed including the short-time Fourier transform (STFT), the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), and the wavelet transform (WT).Wavelet theory has become one of the emerging and fast-evolving mathematical and signal processing tool for its many distinct merits. Wavelet analysis is capable of revealing aspects of data that other signal analysis techniques miss, like trends, breakdown points and discontinuities in higher derivatives. Furthermore, because it affords a different view of data than those presented by traditional techniques, wavelet analysis can often compress or denoise a signal without appreciable degradation. It is a relatively new signal processing technique, which can be used effectively in condition monitoring applications [2] . The WT is used to represent all possible types of transients in vibration signals generated by faults in a bearing. WT can be classified as Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT).

It is a relatively new signal processing technique, which can be used effectively in condition monitoring applications.


Early fault detection, diagnosis and classification are important topics in the engineering arena. Proper condition monitoring and fault detection methods will result in improved safety, reliability and reduction of manufacturing cost. Bearings are one of the most important and frequently encountered components in rotating machinery. The components of bearing are the outer ring, rolling element, cage and inner ring. Different methods are used for detection and diagnosis of bearing defects. They are vibration and acoustic measurement, temperature measurement and wear analysis. Among these vibration signature analysis is the one which is widely used as it provides important information about anomalies formed in the internal structure of the bearing [1] .

Among these vibration signature analysis is the one which is widely used as it provides important information about anomalies formed in the internal structure of the bearing.


Here we have focused on cases where the number of signal events on the boundary is significant, leading to a "step" function discontinuity in the total density of events as one moves across the boundary. However, there are interesting examples of distributions where the number density is continuous, but exhibits a "kink", i.e., a discontinuity in its derivative (gradient) [110] [111] [112] . In such cases, our methods can still be applied -not directly on the initial data itself, but on a secondary data sample created by taking suitable derivatives. Indeed, while we have identified and studied a promising use of Voronoi tessellations in the analysis of particle physics data, there are many exciting applications yet to be developed. We look forward with anticipation to the future development and adoption of these novel and powerful methods.

However, there are interesting examples of distributions where the number density is continuous, but exhibits a "kink", i.e., a discontinuity in its derivative (gradient).


Despite the fact that science textbooks, lessons and subjects begin with NOS topics and continue with science content, we see the existence of extensive misunderstandings about NOS aspects in textbooks and the minds of students (Blanco & Niaz, 1997; McComas, 2003) . In addition, teachers, preservice teachers and teacher educators do not sufficiently understand and accept NOS as a school subject (Irez, 2006; Tsai, 2006; McComas, 2003; Blanco & Niaz, 1997) . Majority of these studies have been conducted with ordinary pre-service teachers, teachers and students. Therefore problems about NOS understandings of different groups of students who are in current educational system are not clear.

Despite the fact that science textbooks, lessons and subjects begin with NOS topics and continue with science content, we see the existence of extensive misunderstandings about NOS aspects in textbooks and the minds of students.

In addition, teachers, preservice teachers and teacher educators do not sufficiently understand and accept NOS as a school subject.


With the growth of the urban population, traffic demand has gradually increased in China. Urban rail transit has become an important part of urban public transportation with the advantages of safety, high efficiency, convenience, reliability, low energy consumption and light environmental pollution [1] . Making full use of urban rail transit is an important way to relieve the pressure of modern urban traffic and to promote its sustainable development. The urban rail timetable is the core technical content for train operation organization. It is the guidance document for coordination among companies and its quality will affect passenger satisfaction and operation cost [2] . The idea of a reasonable timetable, which can command train operation, ensure traffic safety and improve transportation efficiency, is attracting more and more attention. Therefore, it is significantly important to optimize metro timetables in order to improve operational efficiency.

Urban rail transit has become an important part of urban public transportation with the advantages of safety, high efficiency, convenience, reliability, low energy consumption and light environmental pollution.

It is the guidance document for coordination among companies and its quality will affect passenger satisfaction and operation cost.


For this work we did not try to limit the ad-hoc sampling to the delimited areas sampled by the standardized protocol. Neither did we try to limit the analyses of the first to the short sampling period of the latter. Or to use the same sampling methods in both approaches. We recognize that all these issues-sampling area, phenology and methodology-do influence, even decisively, the outcome of any sampling. However, this seemingly unbalanced comparison was the key issue of this study. We wanted to compare a completely ad-hoc sampling, with no restrictions in area, time or methods, to a fully standardized and optimized approach, with the objective of inventorying a natural area with different habitat types. The optimization involved choosing a minimum number of areas as dissimilar as possible in vegetation structure, to capture a maximum number of species (in this case a riparian corridor and a meadow). It also involved choosing the best time for collecting in order to maximize species richness [21] . Finally, it involved choosing the best possible combination of methods [19] . If we had limited the ad-hoc dataset to any of these restrictions it would be a standardized (although not optimized) sampling and not ad-hoc.

It also involved choosing the best time for collecting in order to maximize species richness.

Finally, it involved choosing the best possible combination of methods.


The results from group 1 show that the final NH 3 TR values achieved lie at the top end of the range expected for those who have never smoked. We are unsure if this represents a rebound phenomenon and if the NH 3 TR, if measured for a longer period, increases or decreases further. This also raises the question of a possible increase in susceptibility to chest infection during this period. However, this range of NH 3 TR is found in many normal patients aged 35-70 yr [5] .

However, this range of NH 3 TR is found in many normal patients aged 35-70 yr.


The present study showed that AX obtained by a modified alkaline extraction method was successfully cross-linked with purified laccases from the basidiomycetes Funalia trogii (LccFtr) and Pleurotus pulmonarius (LccPpu). The new AX gels resembled gelatin gels in terms of storage modulus, loss factor (tanδ < 0.5), high water holding capacity, and digestibility. The AX gels retained their viscoelastic properties during a storage period of up to six weeks at 25 • C (LccPpu, Figure 3 ) and may be classified vegan. However, temperature stability and swelling behaviour of the AX and gelatin gels (Figures 8-10 ) were different and reflected the difference between covalent and hydrogen bond network knots. The thermo-reversible gelatin gels are known as an easy process product, which melt at body temperature. However, they have low stability to heat and are soluble only at higher temperatures [1] . Arabinoxylan gels provide a heat resistant gel, formed at room temperature and as firm as gelatin, which could be applied in pharmaceutical and other industries.

However, they have low stability to heat and are soluble only at higher temperatures.


As wheat bran is an abundant industrial by-product generated during milling, it may be considered to be a convenient source of AX, which after cross-linking, may serve as a solid vegan gel [11] . The higher the number of ferulic acid moieties on the polysaccharide backbone, the more covalent cross-links may be generated [9] . AX are generally extracted by hot water and/or aqueous alkali and can be fractionated according to their solubility in different solvents, such as water/ethanol mixtures [12] . The incubation time, concentration of alkaline extracted solution and initial mass of wheat bran has a direct As wheat bran is an abundant industrial by-product generated during milling, it may be considered to be a convenient source of AX, which after cross-linking, may serve as a solid vegan gel [11] . The higher the number of ferulic acid moieties on the polysaccharide backbone, the more covalent cross-links may be generated [9] . AX are generally extracted by hot water and/or aqueous alkali and can be fractionated according to their solubility in different solvents, such as water/ethanol mixtures [12] . The incubation time, concentration of alkaline extracted solution and initial mass of wheat bran has a direct impact on the number of ferulic acids remaining for cross-linking [13, 14] . A recent research on ferulic acid extraction on the laboratory scale indicated that the more wheat bran was used the less ferulic acid was extracted [14] . According to own analyses, little ferulic acid is left in commercial AX, which indicates high pH and/or long extraction times.

The higher the number of ferulic acid moieties on the polysaccharide backbone, the more covalent cross-links may be generated.

AX are generally extracted by hot water and/or aqueous alkali and can be fractionated according to their solubility in different solvents, such as water/ethanol mixtures.

The incubation time, concentration of alkaline extracted solution and initial mass of wheat bran has a direct As wheat bran is an abundant industrial by-product generated during milling, it may be considered to be a convenient source of AX, which after cross-linking, may serve as a solid vegan gel.

The incubation time, concentration of alkaline extracted solution and initial mass of wheat bran has a direct impact on the number of ferulic acids remaining for cross-linking.

A recent research on ferulic acid extraction on the laboratory scale indicated that the more wheat bran was used the less ferulic acid was extracted.


Thermal management systems for enhancing the efficiency of LED lighting should be considered from the chip level to the system level, involving optimum chip design with a patterned sapphire substrate, structures for a direct thermal path to the heat sink, and a cooling method with a fan or thermoelectric cooler to dissipate heat to the surroundings [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] . Among these aspects, the associated heat sink must be considered and optimized for reliable cooling performance in high-power LED lighting. Numerous researchers have analyzed natural-and forced-convection heat sinks with diverse fin configurations in rectangular and radial shapes and heat pipe connections. The natural-convection type is preferred on account of needing no additional fans or electric consumption, even though natural-convection heat sinks are thermally less effective, being consequently less compact and heavier than forced-convection types, and require careful design to achieve the required thermal performance [14] [15] [16] [17] .

Thermal management systems for enhancing the efficiency of LED lighting should be considered from the chip level to the system level, involving optimum chip design with a patterned sapphire substrate, structures for a direct thermal path to the heat sink, and a cooling method with a fan or thermoelectric cooler to dissipate heat to the surroundings.

The natural-convection type is preferred on account of needing no additional fans or electric consumption, even though natural-convection heat sinks are thermally less effective, being consequently less compact and heavier than forced-convection types, and require careful design to achieve the required thermal performance.


This law is an analogue of the ordinary second law of thermodynamics. However, there is a crucial difference between the two. The ordinary second law holds trivially for purely information theoretical reasons in any quantum field theory (QFT), whereas the generalized second law seems to also require some restriction on the stress-energy tensor of the quantum fields. For if it were possible to send a sustained flux of negative energy into a black hole, the area of the black hole would shrink, without necessarily being accompanied by any corresponding increase in the outside entropy S out , violating the GSL. This threat to the GSL is made more credible by the fact that there are many ways to create local negative energy fluxes in QFT [2] . In fact, a black hole could not evaporate in the first place without some negative energy flux. Thus, the truth of the GSL depends on the existence of some sort of constraint on the stress-energy tensor.

This threat to the GSL is made more credible by the fact that there are many ways to create local negative energy fluxes in QFT.


It is a widely held view that the GSL must hold in any semiclassical approximation to a theory of quantum gravity, as a result of the underlying theory's statistical mechanics. On this view the ANEC should hold for any set of minimally coupled matter fields capable of being given a UV-completion in a quantum gravity theory. On the other hand, if there is a general semiclassical proof of the GSL, this would also prove the ANEC for all matter fields in QFT without reference to any UV-completion of gravity. But such a proof would have to apply to the case of rapidly changing quantum fields, which has not yet been done [22] .

But such a proof would have to apply to the case of rapidly changing quantum fields, which has not yet been done.


Orthodontic extrusion is another option to achieve supragingival margins. It has certain advantages over crown lengthening, such as a lower insertion loss and better final crownroot ratio, and non-involvement of the neighboring tooth [1] . These benefits are useful mainly in the anterior sector, where esthetic value and harmony of margins are required. An other alternative is surgical extrusion, which involves creating an atraumatic extraction followed by reimplantation of the tooth in a new position [26] . Its indications are restricted to extreme cases, usually anterior, for which the other 2 treatment options are not viable.

It has certain advantages over crown lengthening, such as a lower insertion loss and better final crownroot ratio, and non-involvement of the neighboring tooth.

An other alternative is surgical extrusion, which involves creating an atraumatic extraction followed by reimplantation of the tooth in a new position.


A design approach based on virtual homologation is proposed in this paper. Here, the suspension of the light rail vehicle is designed by using an optimization method that performs simulations in batch mode. In each simulation performed, which represents the vehicle negotiating a real railway track with prescribed speed, the vehicle response is quantified by three terms: two novel indices related to the dynamic performance for running safety and ride quality, namely, DP rs and DP rq ; and by a penalty term that allows avoiding cases where the vehicle exceeds the limits imposed by the standards [2] . The optimization results propose an optimal design for the vehicle suspension elements and also that the improvement of the DP rs corresponds to the enhancement of DP rq . It may be concluded that the optimal problem can be solved by a uniobjective optimization method. These results provide good perspectives for the application of this methodology to industrial applications, such as vehicle design and model validation.

In each simulation performed, which represents the vehicle negotiating a real railway track with prescribed speed, the vehicle response is quantified by three terms: two novel indices related to the dynamic performance for running safety and ride quality, namely, DP rs and DP rq ; and by a penalty term that allows avoiding cases where the vehicle exceeds the limits imposed by the standards.


An increased coexistence of CRS and GERD has previously been described. In 19 patients with refractory sinusitis, abnormal pH proWles were found in 78% [9] . Patients who had undergone functional endoscopic sinus surgery were evaluated and GERD was statistically signiWcant as a predictor of poor symptomatic outcome [15] . Moreover, a casecontrol study has shown a signiWcant statistical association between GERD and sinusitis in children without neurologic defects or congenital esophageal anomalies [16] .

In 19 patients with refractory sinusitis, abnormal pH proWles were found in 78%.

Patients who had undergone functional endoscopic sinus surgery were evaluated and GERD was statistically signiWcant as a predictor of poor symptomatic outcome.

Moreover, a casecontrol study has shown a signiWcant statistical association between GERD and sinusitis in children without neurologic defects or congenital esophageal anomalies.


The supply of ecosystem services from forested landscapes often relies on the spatial distribution of conditions and activities across several stands. Management activities on one stand often influence the level and quality of ecosystem services that are provided by adjacent stands. Therefore, the ideal provision of ecosystem services from landscapes that encompass multiple stands often requires the consideration of both temporal and spatial interactions among stand-level management options. Forest ecosystem planning is especially complex, with multiple, often competing outputs and goals. Effective multi-objective management planning and development of targets for the supply of diverse ecosystem services relies on the availability of sound trade-off information [1] . There is, therefore, a need for tools that can provide this type of information during the process of developing forested landscapes management plans.

Effective multi-objective management planning and development of targets for the supply of diverse ecosystem services relies on the availability of sound trade-off information.


Chronic heart failure (CHF) is the terminal stage of various structural and functional cardiac diseases, characterized by a progressive reduction in cardiac output. Despite tremendous efforts during the past decades, CHF remains one of the most common, costly and deadly deceases. The pathological cardiac remodeling is characterized by myocardial hypertrophy, cell apoptosis, and myocardial interstitial fibrosis, and resulting structural changes contribute to the process of cardiac dysfunction [1] . Cardiac interstitial fibrosis, the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), is one of the major contributing factors in the pathogenesis of heart failure [2] . The excessive deposition of ECM proteins leads to poor cardiac performance due to disorganized electrical signaling and the inability to contract [3, 4] .

The pathological cardiac remodeling is characterized by myocardial hypertrophy, cell apoptosis, and myocardial interstitial fibrosis, and resulting structural changes contribute to the process of cardiac dysfunction.

Cardiac interstitial fibrosis, the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), is one of the major contributing factors in the pathogenesis of heart failure.

The excessive deposition of ECM proteins leads to poor cardiac performance due to disorganized electrical signaling and the inability to contract.


Results for correlations between grades and the independent variables are presented in Table 2 . Positive, significant correlations exist between grades and the following variables: GPA, number of hours worked, number of economic courses taken previously, SAT scores, expected grade at the beginning of the semester, number of hours spent studying for the class, number of attended classes, instructors' use of graphs and equation, and interest in the course. We estimate a negative correlation between grades and the number of hours per week spent studying. This result is puzzling, but it is consistent with some previous studies (Didia and Hasnat, 1998; Krohn and O'Connor, 2005) . We discuss this result in the conclusion.

This result is puzzling, but it is consistent with some previous studies.


SDMA based techniques as a subclass of MIMO systems, is one of the most promising techniques for solving the limitation of wireless communication systems. SDMA enables multiple users to simultaneously share the same bandwidth in different geographical locations. The exploitation of the spatial dimension makes it possible to identify the individual users, even when they are in the same time/frequency/code domains, thus increasing the system's capacity [1, 4] . Detection techniques especially in over-loaded situation pose many challenging issues. The higher the number of users to be supported, the more challenging the optimization task becomes, due to the exponentially increased number of dimensions to be estimated.

The exploitation of the spatial dimension makes it possible to identify the individual users, even when they are in the same time/frequency/code domains, thus increasing the system's capacity.


Wind estimates based on global NWP analyses can differ substantially from observed values (Pinson and Hagedorn, 2012) . Here, the difference between the analysis estimate of GB-total wind power generation and the observed power output will be referred to as the unresolved uncertainty since it relates to processes and phenomena that are not explicitly resolved by the global NWP model. Contributions to the unresolved uncertainty include (i) the uncertainty in local wind speed features that are not resolved by the global model, (ii) the uncertainty in the response of the wind farm to those winds, and (iii) the uncertainty stemming from the operational management of the power system, including instructions to curtail power generation, unreported maintenance and metering errors.

Wind estimates based on global NWP analyses can differ substantially from observed values.


A major source of uncertainty in NWP model forecasts is associated with the chaotic behaviour of the atmosphere, whereby the state at a future time is sensitive to small changes at the start of the forecast (Lorenz, 1963) . As the initial state is uncertain, this uncertainty grows with increasing lead time, and it is this uncertainty that global forecast centres attempt to capture using forecast ensembles. The ensemble members are constructed by adding perturbations to the analysis to represent the range of observational uncertainty in the initial atmospheric state. The forecast model is run forward from each of these slightly different initial conditions and the ensemble perturbations are calibrated so that the ensemble spread matches the forecast error (averaged over many start dates) at specific lead times of interest; for example at 2 days ahead for the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecast system. The spatial structure of the perturbations also affects the rate of spread and the locations with the greatest spread. The techniques used to construct the perturbations differ between global forecasting centres, and so the characteristics of their spatial structure differs along with their evolution and the average rate of increase in spread. In addition, parameters describing physical processes in the NWP model can be perturbed stochastically during the forecast calculations, which acts to increase further the differences between ensemble members and the rate of increase in the ensemble spread.

A major source of uncertainty in NWP model forecasts is associated with the chaotic behaviour of the atmosphere, whereby the state at a future time is sensitive to small changes at the start of the forecast.


Up to a few hours ahead of real time, statistical methods are used to predict the future wind power output 1 . Beyond this time horizon, forecasts rely heavily on global numerical weather prediction (NWP) models (Giebel et al., 2011) . NWP model forecasts are initialised from analyses, which represent the observed state of the whole atmosphere represented on the threedimensional NWP model grid by blending observational data with an earlier forecast using a data assimilation method.

Beyond this time horizon, forecasts rely heavily on global numerical weather prediction (NWP) models.


The estimates of the residual coefficient of variation (CVe%) were considered of low magnitude for all evaluated traits (Table 1) , which demonstrates good experimental precision. The CVgi/CVe ratio was higher than the unit only for the character fruit diameter. Thus, this trait might be used without precautions in the cupuaçu breeding program (Laviola et al., 2011) .

Thus, this trait might be used without precautions in the cupuaçu breeding program.


The disagreement with regard to the acceptable pre-scan BGL calls for an accurate and evidence-based answer. As mentioned above, considering the potential influence of prescan BGL on FDG uptake, hyperglycemia during FDG-PET scan may decrease the sensitivity of FDG-PET in detection of malignant tissue. On the other hand, unnecessary interventions aimed at lowering the BGL are time-and resources-consuming, including insulin injection, which may also increase background FDG uptake and therefore decrease PET scan sensitivity [42] . Moreover, rescheduling the scan is troublesome for patients who need to travel long distances to access PET scan, patients who need urgent examination, and patients who are unwilling to be rescheduled. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review and meta-analysis has yet quantitatively evaluated the effect of pre-scan BGL on FDG uptake. Herein, through meta-analysis of individual data, we have tried to elucidate the association between pre-scan BGLs and standardized uptake values (SUV), the most frequently used parameter to measure tissue FDG accumulation [43] [44] [45] .

On the other hand, unnecessary interventions aimed at lowering the BGL are time-and resources-consuming, including insulin injection, which may also increase background FDG uptake and therefore decrease PET scan sensitivity.

Herein, through meta-analysis of individual data, we have tried to elucidate the association between pre-scan BGLs and standardized uptake values (SUV), the most frequently used parameter to measure tissue FDG accumulation.


From the 3D intracorporal electric field distribution pacemaker interference voltages were assessed by determining the electric potential difference between pacemaker electrode tip and pacemaker can. The load-dependence of delivered Taser pulses was accounted for by numerical calculation of position-dependent body impedances and selecting delivered Taser X26 pulses from the results of own measurements accordingly. For this purpose the delivered Taser X26 pulses had been measured [11, 12] . Calculated body impedances have been verified by directly measuring body impedances at volunteers with constant contact pressure.

For this purpose the delivered Taser X26 pulses had been measured.


The vulnerability of capturing interference signals depends on the pre-set sensing level of cardiac pacemakers. The most appropriate sensing setting for EMC tests is assumed to be 2 mV peak-peak for monopolar and 0.3 mV peak-peak for bipolar electrode configurations [17, 18] . However, it is acknowledged that state of the art pacemakers can be adjusted to even more sensitive settings such as 0.1 V peak-peak . However, in such cases devices may become already vulnerable also to intracorporal biosignals, and physicians have to decide upon such a tradeoff. Simulation results demonstrate that Taser X26 interference peak voltages are well above these sensing thresholds. At pectoral implantation (left or right) they are about two orders of magnitudes higher in the thorax region and still the 10 fold at abdominal sites. In case of abdominally implanted pacemakers higher voltages can also be induced by abdominal hits. Therefore, with a pulse repetition frequency of about 18 Hz right in the frequency bandwidth of the ECG sensing of Taser X26 pulses should be expected at almost any hit position at the upper part of the body, thorax and abdomen. This is independent from the orientation of the contact electrodes and includes frontal and dorsal hits.

The most appropriate sensing setting for EMC tests is assumed to be 2 mV peak-peak for monopolar and 0.3 mV peak-peak for bipolar electrode configurations.


However, in daily life sensing and capturing are no rare events. Existing exposure limits of electromagnetic fields such as of electrical appliances and power supply facilities are not set low enough to exclude such interference [19] . The health relevance of such effects depends on the type of the implanted pacemaker. In general, usually via a separate electrode pacemakers monitor the cardiac activity by sensing (residual) electrocardial biosignals. They might either be used to trigger cardiac pacing (triggered pacemakers) or to inhibit pacing as long as an ECG is generated by the heartbeat; pacing is started again if biosignals disappear and own heartbeats are lacking (demand pacemakers). Today, pacemakers are programmable and operation mode and pacing parameters set (and adapted) by transmitted electromagnetic codes.

Existing exposure limits of electromagnetic fields such as of electrical appliances and power supply facilities are not set low enough to exclude such interference.


Taser X-26 weapons deliver 5 s long series of pulses repeated with about 18.4 Hz. After an oscillating onset phase the main pulse lasts for about 100 µs. Pulse parameters including time course and repetition frequency vary with load impedance [11] [12] [13] . Depending on electrode location the pulse peak amplitude extended to 12 kV (the open circuit voltage exceeded 70 kV). A part of delivered voltages is picked up by the pacemaker.

Pulse parameters including time course and repetition frequency vary with load impedance.


The use of the numerical anatomical model of a slim man is already widely accepted and validated for investigations of different kind of electric and electromagnetic interference [8, 12, 14] . It could be expected that CED application at larger and/or more obese persons would lead to lower interference voltages. This was confirmed by additional simulations made with the Visible Human model of an adult man (103 kg, 186 cm) with the body mass index 29.8 (which is higher than NORMAN's 23.6). In that case the worst case interference voltage was found to be reduced by 19.6%.

The use of the numerical anatomical model of a slim man is already widely accepted and validated for investigations of different kind of electric and electromagnetic interference.


Experimental results in swine models reported no significant functional changes due to Taser application [4] . In contrast, from human case reports it was concluded that Taser pulses may cause interference with implanted cardiac pacemakers and functional changes such as tachycardial stimulation, reversion to fix-frequency interference mode and inappropriate sensing [5] [6] [7] . However, in view of the diversity of existing pacemaker models and specific device settings experimental studies do hardly allow general conclusions, and quantitative dosimetric studies are lacking.

Experimental results in swine models reported no significant functional changes due to Taser application.

In contrast, from human case reports it was concluded that Taser pulses may cause interference with implanted cardiac pacemakers and functional changes such as tachycardial stimulation, reversion to fix-frequency interference mode and inappropriate sensing.


For obtaining the tree attributes, previous researchers employed various methods that can be grouped into conventional method and methods that are based on remote sensing technology. Conventional methods of tree attributes measurements for biomass estimation and allometric equation development were based on destructive approach. Tree need to be cut and its individual parts were measured including their weight [14] [15] [16] [17] .

Tree need to be cut and its individual parts were measured including their weight.


Forest structure information obtained from LiDAR has been widely used in various applications e.g. forest science and management for inventory analysis, biomass estimation, and wildlife habitat analysis [1] . Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) provides three dimensional (3D) representation of objects' surface that resulting in a very large number of measured points on an object [2] . Three dimensional (3D) scene reconstruction has also attracted interest in the computer vision field, where the trees are reconstructed from the photograph for visualization purposes [3] . Nowadays, there are increasing interests in utilizing terrestrial laser scanner as a method of capturing data for biomass tree estimation [4] [5] [6] . The total aboveground volume, the branch size distribution, and other size and shape parameters of trees are the current scientific and economic interest [7] [8] [9] [10] . For example, forests carbon cycle estimations of require information on branch size distribution of trees for accurate determination of branch decay times. One way to approximate these parameters is to use dense terrestrial laser scanner produced point clouds [11] [12] [13] .

Forest structure information obtained from LiDAR has been widely used in various applications e.g. forest science and management for inventory analysis, biomass estimation, and wildlife habitat analysis.

Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) provides three dimensional (3D) representation of objects' surface that resulting in a very large number of measured points on an object.

Three dimensional (3D) scene reconstruction has also attracted interest in the computer vision field, where the trees are reconstructed from the photograph for visualization purposes.

Nowadays, there are increasing interests in utilizing terrestrial laser scanner as a method of capturing data for biomass tree estimation.

The total aboveground volume, the branch size distribution, and other size and shape parameters of trees are the current scientific and economic interest.

One way to approximate these parameters is to use dense terrestrial laser scanner produced point clouds.


The solvent can be also removed by direct evaporation, which is a simpler and quicker drying process that yields more competitive materials, known as xerogels [9] [10] [11] . However, evaporative drying causes greater shrinkage than supercritical and freezing drying, resulting in materials with less developed porous structures. It is therefore necessary to modify the 3 synthesis process in order to avoid or reduce the effect of collapse of the polymeric structure. As a solution to this problem, some authors have proposed the addition of additives to the precursor solutions of carbon gels to prevent shrinkage during drying and to obtain well developed mesoporous materials [12, 13] .

The solvent can be also removed by direct evaporation, which is a simpler and quicker drying process that yields more competitive materials, known as xerogels.

As a solution to this problem, some authors have proposed the addition of additives to the precursor solutions of carbon gels to prevent shrinkage during drying and to obtain well developed mesoporous materials.


It is evident that more work still is needed to understand fully the constructs of early numeracy skills, how these skills relate to one another, and the developmental trajectories of these skills. However, the identification of the three-factor structure of Numbering, Relations, and Arithmetic Operations provides a platform of knowledge upon which future research on the development of early mathematics skills, including longitudinal and intervention studies, can be built. Ideally, utilizing this structure as a framework for future research will enable researchers to identify the central factors in the development of later mathematics skills and eventually narrow or eliminate early mathematical achievement gaps. Formal mathematics is school taught and involves abstract symbols often in the form of written symbols (Baroody, Gannon, Berent, & Ginsburg, 1984) .

Formal mathematics is school taught and involves abstract symbols often in the form of written symbols.


While the specific problem of designing resilient distribution systems is novel, a number of related problems exist. The flow of electric power in tree-like distribution networks is related to multi-commodity network flows making our problem similar to the design of multi-commodity flow networks with stochastic link and edge failures (Santoso et al. 2003; Garg and Smith 2008) . However, the second stage of our formulation requires binary variables making our problem considerably more difficult than typical second-stage flow problems. The interdiction literature includes related max-min or min-max problems where the goal is to operate or design a system to make it as resilient as possible to an adversary who can damage up to k elements. Such models are similar to ours if a k is chosen that bounds the worst-case disaster (Chen and Phillips 2013; Chen et al. 2014; Salmeron, Wood, and Baldick 2009; Delgadillo, Arroyo, and Alguacil 2010) . Binary variables at all stages make these models computationally challenging and solvable only for small k. Here, we exploit the probabilistic nature of our adversary to increase the size of tractable problems (eliminates a stage of binary variables).

The flow of electric power in tree-like distribution networks is related to multi-commodity network flows making our problem similar to the design of multi-commodity flow networks with stochastic link and edge failures.

Such models are similar to ours if a k is chosen that bounds the worst-case disaster.


The corn-grain ethanol industry accounts for nearly 10% of gasoline consumption in the US transportation sector [1] . However, public pressure on food vs. fuel and the 10% maximum ethanol blend wall are moving biofuel investment toward next generation lignocellulosic biofuels [2] . These second generation biofuels first separate the carbohydrate fraction (cellulose and hemicellulose) from lignin waste and then convert the fermented sugars into fuels [2] [3] [4] [5] . Lignin constitutes 15 to 40% dry weight of lignocellulosic feedstock resulting in a large waste stream [4] . Lignin, an established byproduct of pulp mills, has traditionally been burned for combined heat and power. However, in second generation biorefineries, approximately 60% more lignin is generated than what is needed to meet plant energy needs through combustion [6, 7] . As a result, research efforts are accelerating to identify viable opportunities for lignin valorization.

The corn-grain ethanol industry accounts for nearly 10% of gasoline consumption in the US transportation sector.

However, public pressure on food vs. fuel and the 10% maximum ethanol blend wall are moving biofuel investment toward next generation lignocellulosic biofuels.

These second generation biofuels first separate the carbohydrate fraction (cellulose and hemicellulose) from lignin waste and then convert the fermented sugars into fuels.

Lignin constitutes 15 to 40% dry weight of lignocellulosic feedstock resulting in a large waste stream.

However, in second generation biorefineries, approximately 60% more lignin is generated than what is needed to meet plant energy needs through combustion.


A dearth of literature exists addressing ways to bring value-added lignin products to market. This study introduces a multi-phase, systematic process to evaluate market opportunities for lignin valorization beginning with a thorough review of literature. From the literature, various current applications emerged including vanillin, cement dispersion, and low-grade fuel. Potential ligninbased applications include aromatics, agrochemicals, polymers, and high-performance materials [12] . Ligninbased powdered activated carbon for mercury sequestration was identified as a "low-hanging" value-added opportunity. Mercury is mitigated by injecting PAC into the flue gas through an activated carbon injection (ACI) system, where the PAC adsorbs the mercury into its structure. The high potential for PAC is due, in part, to current US policies leading to market growth opportunities and the porosity of lignin-based PAC. The full rationale for PAC will be discussed in subsequent sections of this paper, but in essence, the lignin valorization process then proceeded with PAC as the product identified for subsequent analysis (Table 1) . Phase I included a vendor content analysis of promotional materials used by vendors to market their PAC for mercury mitigation from power plant flue gas (Table 1) . Finally, Phase II included this vendor content in surveys of PAC buyers/ users to identify salient product and service purchase criteria (attributes) and potential barriers to entry for a new PAC product (Table 1) .

Potential ligninbased applications include aromatics, agrochemicals, polymers, and high-performance materials.


In 1927, Marathon Corporation began efforts to commercialize lignosulphonate products, but outlets did not begin coming to fruition until 1948 [8, 9] . The pulp industry, currently the world's largest producer of lignin, has benefited little from value-added lignin products despite advances in lignin valorization research [4] . Conversion of lignin into commercial chemicals, materials, and fuels is costly due to physical and chemical properties, including its heterogeneous structure, impurity from isolation, and unique reactivity [4, 6, [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] .

In 1927, Marathon Corporation began efforts to commercialize lignosulphonate products, but outlets did not begin coming to fruition until 1948.

The pulp industry, currently the world's largest producer of lignin, has benefited little from value-added lignin products despite advances in lignin valorization research.

Conversion of lignin into commercial chemicals, materials, and fuels is costly due to physical and chemical properties, including its heterogeneous structure, impurity from isolation, and unique reactivity.


Lubricants or cutting fluids are oils and or fluids used to facilitate the motion of cutting machines. The purpose of using lubricating materials is to minimize friction and wear between interacting surfaces and to improve resulting surface finish, and increase tool life. In addition oils are used to decrease heat, prevent corrosion, transfer power, and to remove wear particles. Cutting fluids are of three main types: mineral, semi-synthetic, and synthetic. Generally lubricants are mixed with specific ratio of water to enhance lubricating oil to increase the coverage of surface and to decrease effect of temperature How to cite this paper: Gharaibeh, N. (resist thermal breakdown). However, water is a good conductor of heat but its boiling temperature is low and cause rusting of moving parts and therefore it is not a good lubricant [1] .

However, water is a good conductor of heat but its boiling temperature is low and cause rusting of moving parts and therefore it is not a good lubricant.


Many scientists tested different type of lubricants and their effect on surface roughness of different surfaces. For example different types of sunflower vegetable oils were test compared to two commercial types. The use of such oils was reported to decrease surface roughness value at varying spindle speeds and feed rates during cutting [5] . In another study sunflower oil was compared to standard lubricant on brass alloys. Natural oil (sunflower) results were comparable to that of the standard lubricant with its advantage of having lower cost [6] . The effect of minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) on tool wear and surface roughness used for cutting steel was also investigated. The concept of MQL is important since the use of waste fluids is an important issue in minimization of hazard waste [7] .

The use of such oils was reported to decrease surface roughness value at varying spindle speeds and feed rates during cutting.

Natural oil (sunflower) results were comparable to that of the standard lubricant with its advantage of having lower cost.

The concept of MQL is important since the use of waste fluids is an important issue in minimization of hazard waste.


In this paper, we consider the problem of finding the visualization of the data which achieves the optimal trade-off between the precision and recall. For this, we use a more general class of divergences, called α-divergence, as the cost function. This choice leads to a wider range of values, including the cost function of NeRV. For estimating the optimal value of α, we present a statistical framework based on a recently proposed distribution called Exponential Divergence with Augmentation (EDA) [8] . EDA is an approximate generalization of Tweedie distribution, which has a well-established relation to β-divergence. With a nonlinear transformation, an equivalence between β and α-divergences can be shown and EDA can also be used for estimation of α. As our contributions, we provide a proof that minimizing the α-divergence is equivalent to maximizing the geometric mean between precision and recall, parameterized by α. This provides an upper bound for the trade-off, achieved by NeRV. By an extensive set of experiments on different types of datasets, we also show that the visualization obtained by using the optimal value of α provides a faithful representation of the original data, attaining the optimal trade-off between precision and recall.

For estimating the optimal value of α, we present a statistical framework based on a recently proposed distribution called Exponential Divergence with Augmentation (EDA).


Lastly, the results are based on Pakistan public sector employees of higher education institutions and may not be generalizable to other contexts. Using these contributors bounds the generalizability of the results to a greater population. Workforce from different cultures and characters should be studied to acquire thorough contrasts. However, studies of leadership are largely reliable across diverse national settings (Avolio et al., 2004) .

However, studies of leadership are largely reliable across diverse national settings.


In fast pace competitive environment, public as well as private sector organizations of Pakistan are facing dilemma of employee citizenship behaviors, motivation, job satisfaction and meaningfulness of workplaces (Ramlall, 2004) . In the last two decades, Pakistan has displayed substantial growth in higher education sector. There are 177 universities and degree awarding institutions in Pakistan scattered across its atlas and the quantity is rising at a high pace. Amongst the 177 universities, 103 are from public sector, whereas, remaining 74 have been established by the private sector. The government has also shown greater concern over the spending on university sector. A large number of initiatives have been taken to advance higher education. A significant development is noticeable, a lot needs to be taken care of especially in terms of teacher's commitment and their extra role behaviors. It is an undeniable reality that teachers in higher education play a central role in advancing and development of a society. With the increasing attention and reforms in this sector, teachers are not only responsible for teaching students, but they also have to carry out the duties of academic development and scientific research. Bearing in mind all these core functions performed, teachers are the central resource available to the universities as their performance and contributions are indispensable in achieving institutional goals. Leadership style of head of departments is an integral factor that can have a positive and profound impact on spirit de corps of the teachers.

In fast pace competitive environment, public as well as private sector organizations of Pakistan are facing dilemma of employee citizenship behaviors, motivation, job satisfaction and meaningfulness of workplaces.


The main purpose of this article is to provide empirical evidence that behaviors exhibited by transformational leaders can contribute positively to teachers' OCB and also to extend mainstream research on transformational leadership and its impact on OCB. Overall the key drive of this study is to offer empirical evidence that behaviors exhibited by transformational leaders can contribute positively to teachers' OCB. This study also aims to shape a model by theoretically and empirically linking transformational leadership, emotional intelligence and OCB in response to calls for additional work and wide-ranging, thoughtful understanding of a specific leadership methodology that transmits citizenship behaviors (Crossman, 2011) .

This study also aims to shape a model by theoretically and empirically linking transformational leadership, emotional intelligence and OCB in response to calls for additional work and wide-ranging, thoughtful understanding of a specific leadership methodology that transmits citizenship behaviors.


Building on Cartan's work, JD Moore showed the existence of global asymptotic coordinates and the flatness of the normal bundle for such an immersion [13] . The existence of these coordinates, which had been used in the proof of Hilbert's theorem, led to the conjecture that the higher dimensional analogue should hold. Moreover, for space forms, these results only depend on the fact that the extrinsic curvature (the sectional curvature of the source minus that of the target) is negative. Thus, a corollary of the existence of asymptotic coordinates, which give a covering of the immersed space by Euclidean space, is that, on topological grounds, there can be no global isometric immersion of a sphere of dimension n ≥ 2 into a sphere of smaller radius and of dimension 2n − 1. We call this the compact version of the non-immersion problem.

Building on Cartan's work, JD Moore showed the existence of global asymptotic coordinates and the flatness of the normal bundle for such an immersion.


The generalized loop group problem is investigated comprehensively in the article [2] . In this note, we extract the conclusions which are relevant to generalizations of Hilbert's theorem. One concludes that, within this context, the only other possible generalization, besides that of isometric immersions with flat normal bundle of H n into E n+k , is the problem of isometric Lagrangian immersions of H n into C n . For these cases, local solutions can be constructed by integrable systems methods, and the author does not know whether global solutions exist. In all other potential cases (described below) local solutions do not exist.

The generalized loop group problem is investigated comprehensively in the article.


One notable example under development is the SEEP in India where financial incentives will be provided to fan manufacturers to produce and sell highly efficient fans: fans that consume less than half of the energy consumed by fans typically sold on the Indian market . Even if the entire incremental cost of the highly efficient fans is covered by the financial incentives, the cost of the conserved electricity for efficiency improvements over 50 % is just 0.7 rupees per kilowatt hour (US$ 0.014/kWh) which is about one sixth of the cost of supplying electricity in India (Sathaye and Gupta 2010) . SEEP or a similar upstream incentive program for ceiling fans would be costeffective even assuming higher costs and lower hours of use as discussed earlier. Therefore, there remains significant scope for improved policy design and implementation for aggressive and cost-effective ceiling fan efficiency improvements.

Even if the entire incremental cost of the highly efficient fans is covered by the financial incentives, the cost of the conserved electricity for efficiency improvements over 50 % is just 0.7 rupees per kilowatt hour (US$ 0.014/kWh) which is about one sixth of the cost of supplying electricity in India.


Studies on the crushing behavior of foam filled tubes were particularly aimed at determining the effect of foam filling on the average crushing load and the specific energy absorption [1, 2, 5, [8] [9] [10] . In designing with foam filled tubes, knowledge of upper and lower limits of the strengthening may be however required for the accurate prediction of the specific energy absorption of any tube-filler combination. The method used in this study to predict the energy absorption in foam filled tubes was based on the experimentally determined strengthening coefficient of foam filling. For this purpose, relatively high and low density foams of Al and polystyrene closed cell foams were used to fill a circular thin-walled Al tube. The energy absorption in Al foam filled tubes was then predicted as function of tube mass for the fillers of higher densities. The predicted energy absorption was finally compared with that of wall-thickening of empty tube in order to analyze the efficiency of foam filling.

Studies on the crushing behavior of foam filled tubes were particularly aimed at determining the effect of foam filling on the average crushing load and the specific energy absorption.


Previous papers have reported on the motivation and design of OpenORB, our component-based reflective middleware architecture [1] [2] . Prototypes of this architecture have also been developed using the Python language [4] . This paper reports on OpenCOM; an efficient, lightweight and reflective component model that we have used to efficiently re-engineer OpenORB.

Previous papers have reported on the motivation and design of OpenORB, our component-based reflective middleware architecture.

Prototypes of this architecture have also been developed using the Python language.


We used the paired Wilcoxon signed-ranked test to examine if the group-reported and self-reported depth of integration scores for each institution were significantly different at the 5% level of significance [27] . This test was adopted because it is nonparametric, appropriate for ordinal measures and non-random samples, does not assume normality and it is suitable for small sample sizes (n=15 in this case<30). Since each institution scores all other members of the network, it was assumed that there is homogeneity in the responses; therefore the paired test procedure was adopted. The significance of this test will imply that individual members' perception and the groups' perception with regard to level of integration are significantly different, which will imply inconsistencies with regard to how members of the network perceive their level of integration. The Mann-Whitney test, which is the unpaired alternative of the Wilcoxon signed-ranked test, was used to examine if the total-observed depth of integration scores differ significantly between the two districts [27] . The unpaired test was used in this case because the scores from the institutions in the two districts are independent.

We used the paired Wilcoxon signed-ranked test to examine if the group-reported and self-reported depth of integration scores for each institution were significantly different at the 5% level of significance.

The Mann-Whitney test, which is the unpaired alternative of the Wilcoxon signed-ranked test, was used to examine if the total-observed depth of integration scores differ significantly between the two districts.


Methanation under transient reaction conditions has been performed to gain a better understanding of the mechanism, investigating the adsorbed species while switching between different gas mixtures [23, 24] . Simulations of dynamic methanation reactors have been conducted to gain kinetic data and to address problems such as overheating during the transient process [25, 26] . Other systems that have been studied under transient reaction conditions are, e.g., the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, where the influence of unsteady state conditions on the process itself was investigated [7, 8, 27] . Various spectroscopic, microscopic and diffraction techniques applied under reaction conditions revealed different structural changes of catalysts used in processes operated under changing reaction atmospheres [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] .

Methanation under transient reaction conditions has been performed to gain a better understanding of the mechanism, investigating the adsorbed species while switching between different gas mixtures.

Simulations of dynamic methanation reactors have been conducted to gain kinetic data and to address problems such as overheating during the transient process.

Other systems that have been studied under transient reaction conditions are, e.g., the Fischer-Tropsch reaction, where the influence of unsteady state conditions on the process itself was investigated.

Various spectroscopic, microscopic and diffraction techniques applied under reaction conditions revealed different structural changes of catalysts used in processes operated under changing reaction atmospheres.


In Figure 14 we give a breakdown of the size of our proofs for our foundational TAL with certified GC. For each component we give the number of non-empty lines of Coq proof scripts. The work took several man-months (by programmers who are familiar with the Coq system) to complete. Interested readers can obtain the Coq implementation from our project web site [16] .

Interested readers can obtain the Coq implementation from our project web site.


In order to create mesoscale porosity, the silica spheres were etched by NaOH in the presence of PVP which served as a polymeric capping ligand that can bind to the silica surface [28] . After refluxing in distilled water for 3 h, the surface of Stöber silica colloids was covered by PVP, which prevented a complete dissolution of the silica by NaOH in subsequent etching step, leaving behind a mesoporous silica framework. The porosity can be controlled by the extent of etching. The porous silica spheres were then transferred to a Se-TOP stock solution and formed a good dispersion. TOP molecules were found to play an important role in this modification, as they intensively coordinated with the oxygen from the silanol groups and rendered the silica particle hydrophobic characteristics and ensured particle dispersity in the solution [35, 36] . Such coordination also took place on the mesopore framework, which helped to stabilize the Se precursors within the mesopores. Finally, the Se-loaded silica spheres were swiftly injected into the reaction flask containing cadmium precursor at high temperature (~320°C) to initiate the growth of CdSe. Samples taken out at different reaction time were washed by toluene, centrifuged to remove the free CdSe nanocrystals generated during the growth. Finally pure CdSe loaded silica spheres were collected and dispersed in toluene. Fig. 1a shows a typical TEM image of the porous silica spheres with diameter about 450 nm after etching for 2 h. The overall size did not decrease obviously during the etching process because of the PVP protection; while the rough surface and the low contrast of the spheres can be clearly observed, indicating the porous nature of the spheres. Following the incorporation of CdSe, the silica spheres collected by centrifugation became reddish, providing the first evidence of entrapment of CdSe QDs. As shown in Fig. 1b , regular bright field TEM image of the sample cannot clearly reveal the presence of CdSe QDs, although the contrast of the spheres seemingly increases and the spheres especially near surface regions becomes denser after loading with CdSe QDs. A better evidence is provided by the HAADF image in Fig. 1c , which shows a small portion of a composite sphere [37] . As the contrast of HAADF imaging is highly sensitive to the atomic-number of the materials, one can clearly appreciate the uniform size of CdSe dots (bright spots) and their homogeneous distribution inside the porous silica matrix.

In order to create mesoscale porosity, the silica spheres were etched by NaOH in the presence of PVP which served as a polymeric capping ligand that can bind to the silica surface.

TOP molecules were found to play an important role in this modification, as they intensively coordinated with the oxygen from the silanol groups and rendered the silica particle hydrophobic characteristics and ensured particle dispersity in the solution.

A better evidence is provided by the HAADF image in Fig. 1c , which shows a small portion of a composite sphere.


Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals-so called quantum dots (QDs)-are widely used nanoscale fluorescent probes in biomedical applications due to their unique optical properties, such as size-dependent band gaps, extremely bright emission, a wide range of accessible colors, and remarkable photo-stability comparing to the organic dyes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] . In order to enhance fluorescent response, decrease toxicity, and enable multi-functionalities, the quantum dots are frequently incorporated into a host matrix such as polymer or silica microspheres [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] . Among all the host materials, silica has been intensively investigated and broadly utilized, which is believed to benefit from its low reactivity, colloidal stability, biological compatibility and easy surface modification. Conventionally, semiconduct-ing QDs are synthesized first and then incorporated into silica microspheres through impregnation or other methods [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] . Often the silica microspheres are very large (several micrometers), which may increase the loading of QDs to some extent, but on the other hand may limit their application in biomedical field.

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals-so called quantum dots (QDs)-are widely used nanoscale fluorescent probes in biomedical applications due to their unique optical properties, such as size-dependent band gaps, extremely bright emission, a wide range of accessible colors, and remarkable photo-stability comparing to the organic dyes.

In order to enhance fluorescent response, decrease toxicity, and enable multi-functionalities, the quantum dots are frequently incorporated into a host matrix such as polymer or silica microspheres.

Conventionally, semiconduct-ing QDs are synthesized first and then incorporated into silica microspheres through impregnation or other methods.


When no cellulose solvent is used in the chemical modi®cation of cellulose, cellulose reactivity is severely decreased. Indeed, the accessibility of the reactive sites is reduced due to the intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl groups. This limita-tion can be reduced in two ways. First, by using a cellulose-swelling organic compound that can break some of the intermolecular hydrogen bonds in cellulose. These compounds are proton acceptors of low molecular weight such as dimethylformamide (DMF), pyridine or dimethyl sulfoxide (Robertson, 1970) . However, the toxicity of such swelling compounds is comparable to that of the cellulose solvents. The second alternative is the use of a dispersing agent in which the cellulose derivative dissolves progressively as the reaction advances. Thus, the hidden hydroxyl groups become accessible as a result of the``peeling'' of cellulose. This strategy has been successfully applied in the industrial production of cellulose acetate and other short aliphatic ( 6 C 4 ) cellulose esters (Serad and Sanders, 1979) . In this case, the corresponding carboxylic acid, which is relatively inexpensive and innocuous, is used as a dispersing agent. Even if the solid dissolves in the dispersing agent, we refer to such techniques as``solvent-free'' since the dispersing agent is intrinsically present in the reaction medium (i.e., as a reagent or a product) and it is not a toxic added solvent.

These compounds are proton acceptors of low molecular weight such as dimethylformamide (DMF), pyridine or dimethyl sulfoxide.

This strategy has been successfully applied in the industrial production of cellulose acetate and other short aliphatic ( 6 C 4 ) cellulose esters.


A partially completed experiment is shown in Figure 3 (b). Although the puzzles look small in the figure, they were displayed on a 2 m high by 2.5 m wide (6' × 7.5') projection screen, which the subject was facing. To reduce the chance of simulator sickness, the perspective was fixed, and did not change as the subject moved [18] . Thus, as the subject moved his or her arm, a disembodied arm and shoulder was displayed moving about the virtual environment. The arm was shown translucent (α = 0.5) so that the subject could see the parts of the puzzle it occluded. Although the translucent arm is difficult to see in Figure 3 (b), it is more visible in Figure 4 (b). This particular puzzle perspective was chosen so that, in some of the puzzles, it was difficult or impossible to see all of the hand when it was inside the puzzle.

To reduce the chance of simulator sickness, the perspective was fixed, and did not change as the subject moved.


Traditionally, structural topology optimizations are conducted in a deterministic manner, known as deterministic topology optimization (DTO), where the design is determined without taking into account various sources of uncertainties [6] . However, uncertainties are unavoidably observed in real-world applications due to insufficient knowledge, manufacturing errors, changeable environment, and so forth. This may lead to the vulnerable optimum structure or infeasible topologies due to the fluctuation of the structure performance. Therefore, there is a strongly increasing requirement to take the effect of uncertainty into consideration for optimal topologies in structural design.

Traditionally, structural topology optimizations are conducted in a deterministic manner, known as deterministic topology optimization (DTO), where the design is determined without taking into account various sources of uncertainties.


Mathematics education programs and textbooks are other factors affecting the development of number sense. Mathematics education programs have a major place in the development of number sense. While the concept of number sense and its importance is emphasized in the education programs of many countries, this concept is virtually absent in the mathematics education program used in Turkey, and there are no objectives and activities to develop number sense (Umay et al., 2006) . The same applies to textbooks. Therefore, it is believed that the integration of number sense activities into mathematics education programs and textbooks will play a crucial role in increasing the performance levels of students on number sense.

While the concept of number sense and its importance is emphasized in the education programs of many countries, this concept is virtually absent in the mathematics education program used in Turkey, and there are no objectives and activities to develop number sense.

The same applies to textbooks.


For this study, the survey method was used to conduct the research. With the use of this method, the aim is to describe a past or present situation in its own terms. It is unlikely for the issue being researched to change or be changed (Can, 2012) . More particularly, it was decided that the descriptive survey design be used in the study, as the purpose was to determine the number sense performance of secondary school students who had received no prior education on number sense.

It is unlikely for the issue being researched to change or be changed.


Salicylic acid or ortho-hydroxy benzoic acid is ubiquitously distributed in the whole plant kingdom. Salicylic acid is an endogenous plant growth regulator of phenolic nature that possesses an aromatic ring with a hydroxyl group or its functional derivative. SA is a potential signalling water-soluble non-enzymatic antioxidant; this material plays a crucial role in regulating various physiological processes such as growth, plant development, photosynthesis, ion uptake, inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis, transpiration and stress tolerance [Arfan et al., 2007] . SA is a tool to increase plant tolerance against the adverse effect of biotic and abiotic stresses [Bosch et al., 2007] . The present study was aimed to evaluate the biochemical contents and some physiological parameters of Sorghum bicolor under drought and drought with PCZ and SA treatments.

SA is a potential signalling water-soluble non-enzymatic antioxidant; this material plays a crucial role in regulating various physiological processes such as growth, plant development, photosynthesis, ion uptake, inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis, transpiration and stress tolerance.

SA is a tool to increase plant tolerance against the adverse effect of biotic and abiotic stresses.


Propiconazole is one of the most important triazole fungicides which have been used successfully in plant protection since early 1970s. Triazole compounds are the chemicals belongs to a class of compounds known as ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors and are used as fungicides as wells as plant growth regulators (Fletcher et al., 2000) . Triazole plays a role in the morphological and physiological changes associated with triazole-treatment in various plants, which includes the inhibition of plant growth, decreased internodal elongation, increased chlorophyll levels, enlarged chloroplasts, thicker leaf tissue, increased root to shoot ratio, increased antioxidant potentials and enhancement in alkaloid production (Jaleel et al.,2009) .

Triazole compounds are the chemicals belongs to a class of compounds known as ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors and are used as fungicides as wells as plant growth regulators.

Triazole plays a role in the morphological and physiological changes associated with triazole-treatment in various plants, which includes the inhibition of plant growth, decreased internodal elongation, increased chlorophyll levels, enlarged chloroplasts, thicker leaf tissue, increased root to shoot ratio, increased antioxidant potentials and enhancement in alkaloid production.


IVUS (Atlantis, Boston Scientific Corp., Minneapolis, MN, USA) was performed and interpreted by the physician. IVUS images were obtained after administration of 200 mcg of nitroglycerin. After preinterventional or post-ballooning IVUS was performed, stent size and diameter were determined according to IVUS parameters. When postdilation was required to optimize stent expansion or apposition, a balloon shorter than the stent length was used with careful positioning of the balloon inside the stent to avoid injury at the edge. Stent underexpansion was defined as minimal stent area (MSA) < 6.5 mm 2 for BMS and 5.0 mm 2 for DES [16] . Coronary angiography results were analyzed using a computer-assisted system for quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) analysis (Digital Cardiac Imaging System, Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands) using end diastolic frames and a contrast-filled guiding catheter for calibration. The percent diameter stenosis was defined as [1 -(minimal lumen diameter/reference vessel diameter)] × 100. The primary endpoint was defined as the incidence of MACEs including all cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and ST at 3-year follow-up. MI was defined as an elevation in creatinine kinase-MB ≥ 3 times the upper normal value. TVR was defined as percutaneous or surgical revascularization of the stented vessel. ST was defined using the Academic Research Consortium definition [17] .

Stent underexpansion was defined as minimal stent area (MSA) < 6.5 mm 2 for BMS and 5.0 mm 2 for DES.

ST was defined using the Academic Research Consortium definition.


Workers with occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) may have adverse outcomes. Not only may they continue to have disease and their overall quality of life may be impacted, but they may also have significant work disruption. A number of studies have provided disease outcome information and more recently there have been studies demonstrating an impact on quality of life. There are some studies reporting on work outcomes in populations of workers with OCD and one study examined barriers to return to work [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] . Most studies examine work outcomes a number of years after diagnosis [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] . A recent study examined outcomes six months after diagnosis [9] . While overall work status has been reported, there is little information about the return to work process. The objective of the study was to describe the work outcomes and return to work process in workers with OCD over a six-month period following diagnosis.

There are some studies reporting on work outcomes in populations of workers with OCD and one study examined barriers to return to work.

Most studies examine work outcomes a number of years after diagnosis.

A recent study examined outcomes six months after diagnosis.


AMMI statistics was therefore used to quantify the total G×E interaction effect of yield data of each genotype and also to partition it into interaction effects due to individual environments . Linear regression model is the commonly used method for determination G×E interaction and identification of stable cultivars (Eberhart and Russel, 1966; Mani and Singh, 1999; Babic et al., 2006) . This model states that a stable genotype should have low deviation from regression. Considering this criterion, a high yielding genotype often gets rejected due to high deviation from regression over the range of environments. It is likely that high deviation from regression may occur when a genotype showing high positive interaction in some environments and negative interaction in others and therefore the genotype is classified as unstable. However, data analysis with AMMI model provides estimate of total G×E interaction effect of each genotype and also further partitions it into interaction effects due to individual environments . Low G×E interaction of a genotype indicates its stability over the range of environments. A genotype showing high positive interaction in an environment obviously has the ability to exploit the agro-ecological or agro-management conditions of the specific environment and is therefore best suited to that environment.

Linear regression model is the commonly used method for determination G×E interaction and identification of stable cultivars.


The 2009 reform was comprehensive and involved multiple aspects of healthcare (e.g., financing, payment systems, pricing regimes, and organization of public hospitals). Nevertheless, definite measures were not constructed in a fixed manner but were established according to constant exploration of different provinces and cities. The first of five major targets in the 2009 reform plan focused on basic medical insurance, and the two main objectives were wider insurance coverage and higher funding levels [4] . Consideration of changes in costs and hospital service use by members of different MI schemes could reflect policy defects and the need for ongoing reform.

The first of five major targets in the 2009 reform plan focused on basic medical insurance, and the two main objectives were wider insurance coverage and higher funding levels.


Catechol (1,2-benzenediol) is a natural polyphenolic compound that widely exists in higher plants such as tea, vegetables, fruits, tobacco and some traditional Chinese medicines. It has a biological importance such as antioxidation, anti-virus, flower stimulating effect and affecting the activities of some enzymes [1] [2] [3] . Reactions between oxidized polyphenols and proteins are thought to be partly responsible for the so called enzymatic browning in plants [4, 5] . Catechol is also used in a variety of applications such as a reagent for photography, dyeing fur, rubber and plastic production, pesticides and in pharmaceutical industries [6] . Recent epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of tea prevent cancer in humans because the tea leaf contains abundant groups of polyphenols [7] . Despite the fact that catechols are ubiquitous and posses multiple advantageous, their toxicity has been observed in a variety of organisms, and toxic concentrations have been found in the environment. Further, catechol is readily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract causing renal tube degeneration and decreases in liver functions. Even at low concentration in foods and cigarette smokes, catechol may cause mutagenesis and cancerous alterations [8, 9] . Many different reactions can occur with biomolecules such as DNA, proteins and membranes, ultimately leading to non repairable damage [6] .

It has a biological importance such as antioxidation, anti-virus, flower stimulating effect and affecting the activities of some enzymes.

Reactions between oxidized polyphenols and proteins are thought to be partly responsible for the so called enzymatic browning in plants.

Catechol is also used in a variety of applications such as a reagent for photography, dyeing fur, rubber and plastic production, pesticides and in pharmaceutical industries.

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that the consumption of tea prevent cancer in humans because the tea leaf contains abundant groups of polyphenols.

Even at low concentration in foods and cigarette smokes, catechol may cause mutagenesis and cancerous alterations.

Many different reactions can occur with biomolecules such as DNA, proteins and membranes, ultimately leading to non repairable damage.


Acrolein has also been reported as a mitochondrial toxicant, suggesting that it participates in mitochondrial dysfunction [14] . The mitochondria are one of the most important organelles involved in the production of ROS because the respiratory chain in the mitochondria is one of major sources of ROS production [15] . Additionally, these are also the main targets of ROS and oxidative stressinduced damage, as observed in various pathological states [16, 17] . Under normal physiological conditions, cell viability and function are critically dependent on the continued balance between mitochondrial ROS formation and removal [18] . ROS can be eliminated by antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutases, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and peroxiredoxins (Prxs) [19] . In this regard, knockdown or inhibition of antioxidant enzymes can disrupt redox balance and exacerbate ROS-induced cell death. To maintain GSHdependent mitochondrial antioxidant defense systems, the availability of the mitochondrial NADPH pool is critical [20] . In addition, the mitochondrial thioredoxin system, which includes thioredoxin 2 (TRX2) and thioredoxin reductase 2 (TRXR2), provides a disulfide reductase activity that is required for maintaining mitochondrial proteins in their reduced state. The mitochondrial thioredoxin system can interact with Prx3, exclusively detected in the mitochondria. Reduced TRX2 is regenerated by TRXR2 at the expense of NADPH [18] . The major enzyme to generate mitochondrial NADPH is the mitochondrial isoenzyme of NADP + -dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH2) [21, 22] . Thus, suppression of IDH2 activity may induce an imbalance of the mitochondrial redox state that subsequently increases the vulnerability of lung cells and tissues to acrolein-based modulation of the redox status.

Acrolein has also been reported as a mitochondrial toxicant, suggesting that it participates in mitochondrial dysfunction.

The mitochondria are one of the most important organelles involved in the production of ROS because the respiratory chain in the mitochondria is one of major sources of ROS production.

Additionally, these are also the main targets of ROS and oxidative stressinduced damage, as observed in various pathological states.

Under normal physiological conditions, cell viability and function are critically dependent on the continued balance between mitochondrial ROS formation and removal.

ROS can be eliminated by antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutases, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and peroxiredoxins (Prxs).

To maintain GSHdependent mitochondrial antioxidant defense systems, the availability of the mitochondrial NADPH pool is critical.

Reduced TRX2 is regenerated by TRXR2 at the expense of NADPH.

The major enzyme to generate mitochondrial NADPH is the mitochondrial isoenzyme of NADP + -dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH2).


Acrolein is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant that arises from cigarette smoke, incomplete combustion of plastic materials, and pyrolyzed animal and vegetable; it is also endogenously produced during inflammation or oxidation of unsaturated lipids [1] . Acrolein inhalation results in the induction of gene regulation, inflammation, and lung cell apoptosis and necrosis [1] . It has been reported that exposure to acrolein leads to acute lung injury, disruption of alveolar capillary barrier integrity, pulmonary edema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [2, 3] .

Acrolein is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant that arises from cigarette smoke, incomplete combustion of plastic materials, and pyrolyzed animal and vegetable; it is also endogenously produced during inflammation or oxidation of unsaturated lipids.

Acrolein inhalation results in the induction of gene regulation, inflammation, and lung cell apoptosis and necrosis.

It has been reported that exposure to acrolein leads to acute lung injury, disruption of alveolar capillary barrier integrity, pulmonary edema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.


However, despite the obvious advantages, this technique presents some clear limitations. The control over internal scaffold architecture cannot approach that of, for instance, the 3D printing technique. Also the range of polymer types for which supercritical fluids (SCFs) are applicable might be limiting in some applications, particularly where high mechanical strength is required [11] . The ability to plasticize polymers at close to 37 • C and the inherently low solubility of proteins in scCO 2 provides a key processing advantage; thermal and solvent labile species can be processed easily whilst preserving protein structure and function [11, 25] .

Also the range of polymer types for which supercritical fluids (SCFs) are applicable might be limiting in some applications, particularly where high mechanical strength is required.

The ability to plasticize polymers at close to 37 • C and the inherently low solubility of proteins in scCO 2 provides a key processing advantage; thermal and solvent labile species can be processed easily whilst preserving protein structure and function.


For the wideband mutual coupling compensation, the research is relatively little. The system identification method was verified as an available one to obtain the wideband mutual coupling compensation matrix [12, 13] . And this method has been combined with RMIM and EPR methods to get the analytical expression for each entry of the wideband compensation matrix against frequency, respectively [14, 15] . However, when there is more than one extreme point in the entry curves of the wideband compensation matrix against frequency, the system identification method is almost invalid. Additionally, the calculation of the polynomial coefficients is complex, and orders of the entries are indeterminate, which are not suitable for real-time requirement.

The system identification method was verified as an available one to obtain the wideband mutual coupling compensation matrix.

And this method has been combined with RMIM and EPR methods to get the analytical expression for each entry of the wideband compensation matrix against frequency, respectively.


In conclusion, we have found that OT levels negatively affect adaptation abilities in all ASD subjects. No relationship among T and autism symptoms or behavioral characteristics was observed. Both examined hormones are related to social bonding properties in human and nonhuman species. According to the steroid/peptide theory of social bonds, specifically defined behavioral patterns affect levels of steroids and neuropeptides and these in turn facilitate or inhibit social bonds [25] . Further studies are needed to define these behavioral patterns and the way they may facilitate or inhibit expression of particular phenotypes underlying ASD.

According to the steroid/peptide theory of social bonds, specifically defined behavioral patterns affect levels of steroids and neuropeptides and these in turn facilitate or inhibit social bonds.


In addition, different autism traits may have several etiologies, which may differ between sexes. Nevertheless, profound social deficits represent a core symptom in all ASD patients. Several studies show a correlation of social deficits with oxytocin system, i.e. polymorphisms in oxytocin receptor gene [22] . Moreover, these social deficits seem to be at least partially improved after oxytocin administration in autism patients [7, [10] [11] [12] . All of these findings strengthen the importance of the oxytocin system in ASD etiology. However, exact mechanisms of OT actions remain to be clarified.

Several studies show a correlation of social deficits with oxytocin system, i.e. polymorphisms in oxytocin receptor gene.

Moreover, these social deficits seem to be at least partially improved after oxytocin administration in autism patients.


Information about correlations of actual sex steroid levels in autism and behavioral parameters and autism symptoms are lacking. However, a recent study in healthy children showed that higher postnatal testosterone levels in early infancy were predictive of more male-typical behaviors in the second year of life with more autism spectrum behaviors [23] . In addition, number of studies connects prenatal testosterone levels measured in amniotic fluid or predicted from 2D:4D ratio and various types of autism spectrum behaviors in healthy population [24] . In fact, actual circulating hormones are possible predictors of special types of behavior, however, this effect seems to be an activation of early prenatal brain organization. Thus it is important to consider also prenatal organizational hormonal influences. However, this is very difficult to study and only indirect measures are usually available in narrow populations like ASD.

However, a recent study in healthy children showed that higher postnatal testosterone levels in early infancy were predictive of more male-typical behaviors in the second year of life with more autism spectrum behaviors.

In addition, number of studies connects prenatal testosterone levels measured in amniotic fluid or predicted from 2D:4D ratio and various types of autism spectrum behaviors in healthy population.


Both of these approaches require massive human effort and hence prevent information extraction from becoming more widely applicable. In order to minimize the huge manual effort involved with building information extraction systems, we have designed and developed URES (Unsupervised Relation Extraction System) which learns a set of patterns to extract relations from the web in a totally unsupervised way. The system takes as input the names of the target relations, the types of its arguments, and a small set of seed instances of the relations. It then uses a large set of unlabeled documents downloaded from the Web in order to build extraction patterns. URES patterns currently have two modes of operation. One is based upon a generic shallow parser, able to extract noun phrases and their heads. Another mode builds patterns for use by TEG (Rosenfeld, Feldman et al. 2004) . TEG is a hybrid rule-based and statistical IE system. It utilizes a trained labeled corpus in order to complement and enhance the performance of a relatively small set of manually-built extraction rules. When it is used with URES, the relation extraction rules and training data are not built manually but are created automatically from the URES-learned patterns. However, URES does not built rules and training data for entity extraction. For those, we use the grammar and training data we developed separately.

Another mode builds patterns for use by TEG.


Managers and coaches have found it worthwhile to learn about their teams' relative advantages and/or disadvantages during the course of the season. For example, corrective measures such as trading players and/or hiring or firing professional staff members can improve the team's situation provided, of course, that the predictions are accurate. For this purpose, managers and coaches have to process information and make judgments that may substantially influence managerial or coaching decisions. However, similar to other judgmental tasks, human performance may depart significantly from the prescriptions of formal decision theory [2] .

However, similar to other judgmental tasks, human performance may depart significantly from the prescriptions of formal decision theory.


The guiding principle of any judgment and decision aid system is to relieve decision makers of the cognitive flaws and biases related to the process of judgment and decision making. For example, decision makers have great difficulty in weighing and combining (i.e., aggregating) information [8] . Hence, judgment tasks are often decomposed into a number of presumably simpler estimation tasks [9] . In fact, most decision aids rely on the principle of 'divide and conquer', according to which a decision aid fractionates the total problem into a series of structurally related parts, and the decision maker is asked to make subjective assessments for only the smaller, simpler components. Through such evaluations, a manager or a coach may be better informed about the team's relatively weaker attributes in order to be able to conduct more appropriate corrective measures. Such breakdown of information has been shown to be more manageable than assessing global entities [7] .

For example, decision makers have great difficulty in weighing and combining (i.e., aggregating) information.

Hence, judgment tasks are often decomposed into a number of presumably simpler estimation tasks.

Such breakdown of information has been shown to be more manageable than assessing global entities.


In our paper we employ AHP for ranking basketball teams. AHP has been applied to problems in decision analysis, forecasting, strategy formulation, allocation of resources, project selection, social sciences, and engineering conflict resolution and planning [1, 14] . The advantage of the AHP is that it breaks down a complex unstructured problem into its components and then constructs a hierarchy of the system components in order to evaluate them. It is also easy to implement, it can handle tangible and intangible criteria, and it imposes a discipline on the thought process.

AHP has been applied to problems in decision analysis, forecasting, strategy formulation, allocation of resources, project selection, social sciences, and engineering conflict resolution and planning.


Evaluating different subdomains of total quality of life, we have shown that quality of life is multifac-torial and very complex individual perception. It is a broad ranging concept, depending on person's physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and their relationship to salient features of their environment. These results are in positive correlation with previous studies (Brasile, Kleiber, & Harmisch, 1991; Cox & Davis, 1992; Martin, Eklund, & Mushett, 1997; Martin & Mushett, 1996; Wood 2013) .

These results are in positive correlation with previous studies.


This systematic review has some limitations. Firstly, the identified studies were concentrated in a few (11 out of 47) countries in the studied region. While a lack of research into this area in parts of Africa may have contributed to this; it may have also been due to the inclusion of only articles published in English and also the exclusion of grey literature. Around one-third (32.6 %) of studies included in the review involved patient encounters <600 and were deemed to be small per recommendations outlined in the WHO guidelines [10] . This review also took the assumption that the African region is homogenous, although, in reality, there may be differences in disease burden, health system challenges, socio-cultural and political climates across countries which all can affect how medicines are used. Majority of the studies (74 %) also collected data retrospectively. We consider that retrospective analysis may result in the overestimation of polypharmacy (average number of medicines), antibiotic utilization and injection use because patients who were not given a prescription are likely to be excluded [25] . In our analysis we stratified results by key sector (public and private) but did not control for differences in prescriber characteristics. Therefore, the apparent differences in the prescribing indicators between the two sectors may be due to multiple factors. We assessed prescribing indicators at two time points and this is unlikely to reveal much about prescribing trends. Importantly, this review reports indicator-based studies which are unable to ascertain whether the reported prescribed medicines were actually taken by the patients involved. Indicator-based studies while able to identify medicine use problem areas, do not answer the question of rationality or appropriateness of treatment which may require a different methodology and analysis [23] . It is also important to reiterate that while the prescribing indicator reference values are useful, these have not been empirically determined and the extent to which different factors influence them have not been thoroughly investigated [25] .

Around one-third (32.6 %) of studies included in the review involved patient encounters <600 and were deemed to be small per recommendations outlined in the WHO guidelines.

We consider that retrospective analysis may result in the overestimation of polypharmacy (average number of medicines), antibiotic utilization and injection use because patients who were not given a prescription are likely to be excluded.

Indicator-based studies while able to identify medicine use problem areas, do not answer the question of rationality or appropriateness of treatment which may require a different methodology and analysis.

It is also important to reiterate that while the prescribing indicator reference values are useful, these have not been empirically determined and the extent to which different factors influence them have not been thoroughly investigated.