Plagioclase crystals are generally zoned, i.e., they present a concentric structure with narrow bands of different composition. This structure can be readily observed in thin sections with an optical microscope. The anorthite content normally varies between 1 and 30% within a zoned plagioclase crystal [12] . It is possible to infer the history of the magmatic system by studying the compositional changes along the crystals in a plagioclase, since the composition of a magmatic mineral depends on the temperature, pressure, fluids content and composition of the magma [13, 14] .

The anorthite content normally varies between 1 and 30% within a zoned plagioclase crystal.

It is possible to infer the history of the magmatic system by studying the compositional changes along the crystals in a plagioclase, since the composition of a magmatic mineral depends on the temperature, pressure, fluids content and composition of the magma.


According to a Statistical Yearbook of Serbia in 2009 the estimated total number of pigs in Vojvodina province was 1.364.000. About 70% of pig production is operated by small familly farms with less than 50 sows and backyard pig holders. All large commercial farms with more than 500 sows operated in a farrow-to-finish system. Aujeszky's disease is mandatory notifiable disease in Serbia. The number of the cases occurring per year is reported to O.I.E. On large farms of industrial type MA control is based on the surveillance and vaccination with live attenuated vaccines. The main goal of vaccination is to reduce economic loses caused by clinical episodes of MA. The control of the disease in endemic countries is based on compulsory vaccination with attenuated live vaccines of the entire swine population (Casal et al., 2004) . However, vaccination for clinical purposes has not been successful in preventing the spread of the virus under field conditions (Leontides et al., 1994) . To prevent losses due to clinical illness, vaccination against Aujeszky's disease on an individual herd level is widely practiced (Stegeman et al., 1995) . Pigs from small farms (with a few exceptions) and backyard stocks in Vojvodina are not vaccinated.

The control of the disease in endemic countries is based on compulsory vaccination with attenuated live vaccines of the entire swine population.

However, vaccination for clinical purposes has not been successful in preventing the spread of the virus under field conditions.

To prevent losses due to clinical illness, vaccination against Aujeszky's disease on an individual herd level is widely practiced.


Primary genital HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection in pregnant women can result in abortion, premature labor, congenital and neonatal herpes [12] . HSV-1 is usually acquired through direct contact with infected lesions or body fluids; typically saliva [13] . Primary HSV-1 infections in children are either asymptomatic or following an incubation period of about one week which can gives rise to mucocutaneous vesicular eruptions [14] . Neonatal infection with HSV is symptomatic in almost all cases and divided into localised, central nervous system (CNS) disease and disseminated disease. Localised congenital HSV infection is limited to the skin, eye or mouth; whereas CNS disease results in encephalitis, and disseminated disease leads to multiple organ damage [15] . It has also been reported that 80% of infants with disseminated disease die without treatment, and those who survive are often suffering damaged brain [16] .

Primary genital HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection in pregnant women can result in abortion, premature labor, congenital and neonatal herpes.

HSV-1 is usually acquired through direct contact with infected lesions or body fluids; typically saliva.

Primary HSV-1 infections in children are either asymptomatic or following an incubation period of about one week which can gives rise to mucocutaneous vesicular eruptions.

Localised congenital HSV infection is limited to the skin, eye or mouth; whereas CNS disease results in encephalitis, and disseminated disease leads to multiple organ damage.

It has also been reported that 80% of infants with disseminated disease die without treatment, and those who survive are often suffering damaged brain.


ICG is widely used to identify SLNs intraoperatively. ICG can run rapidly through the lymphatic drainage system because its particle is small. Therefore, we need to become more experienced on SLNNS or SLNB with ICG. In addition, it is low-priced and the procedure is clear. This is why ICG is still used for SLNNS or SLNB for head and neck cancer. Recently, Photodynamic Eye (PDE) and ICG is an effective combination in order to visualize tissue perfusion and SLNs [8] . We can also use a transparent hemispherical device that is effective in order to identify the lymph nodes in the deep part of the neck by shortening the distance from the skin to the target [8] .

Recently, Photodynamic Eye (PDE) and ICG is an effective combination in order to visualize tissue perfusion and SLNs.

We can also use a transparent hemispherical device that is effective in order to identify the lymph nodes in the deep part of the neck by shortening the distance from the skin to the target.


Organ preservation is an important goal in treatment for head and neck cancer, and the modalities such as chemoradiation aiming at coexisting of that purpose and the therapeutic effect are widely adopted. Minimum surgical stress is expected because excellent prognosis is obtained by surgical treatment for early cancer of tongue even though the potential of cervical lymph node metastasis in cN0 neck is focused on in T1/T2 tumors. To overcome this task, the clinical researches on SLNs in the oral cavity cancer are ongoing [5, 7, 11] .

To overcome this task, the clinical researches on SLNs in the oral cavity cancer are ongoing.


To detect SLNs with SPIO, but the removed SLNs were treated with berlin blue stain, instead of the using a magnetometer intraoperatively [9, 10] . The blue granules shown in Fig. (4) indicated the uptake of SPIO in the sinus of SLNs. All the lymph nodes detected as a SLN by a gamma-probe contained those blues granules.

To detect SLNs with SPIO, but the removed SLNs were treated with berlin blue stain, instead of the using a magnetometer intraoperatively.


In Spring 2012, ten high school teachers (all teaching biology) were selected from a pool of teachers who had already expressed an interest to participate in further studies when filling in a questionnaire [3] . Selection criteria were a special interest in environmental education, different years of professional experience, and different location of their schools. The chosen teachers were contacted by phone and asked if they were still willing to participate in a workshop and an observation study. Nine teachers (five men) agreed to do so. They were between 26 and 49 years old (mean age = 43), and had between two and 26 years of teaching experience (mean experience = 17 years). They were from three different regions of Kosovo (Prishtina, Peja, and Prizren).

In Spring 2012, ten high school teachers (all teaching biology) were selected from a pool of teachers who had already expressed an interest to participate in further studies when filling in a questionnaire.


In conclusion, both the new toolkit and the one-day in-service workshop were well received by the non-representative sample of high school teachers in this study. Continuous teacher education is a key aspect to obtain greater educational effectiveness. However, teachers are often not trained to make effective use of textbooks and, as a consequence, might go back to their schools continuing teaching with the same gaps and limitations or stop considering textbooks as a useful resource at all [58] . It is thus imperative that in-service education improves teachers' abilities in making effective use of textbooks and toolkits and helps them to use these materials in class. The results of the present study suggest that teachers indeed realized the value of the toolkit as an important teaching and learning resource. The combined toolkit-workshop-approach may thus be an important first step in integrating ESD in schools in Kosovo and elsewhere. Gradually, with acquired experience, teachers should be able to produce their own ESD teaching material, i.e., material that best suits their pupils' needs and abilities and also that meets the local circumstances and requirements of the national curricula. This would meet one major ESD principle, i.e., the establishment of locally relevant instead of centralised, homogenous programmes [59] . However, the present toolkit could be improved as some activities required materials that were too difficult to find or too long to fit into a lesson period of 45 min.

However, teachers are often not trained to make effective use of textbooks and, as a consequence, might go back to their schools continuing teaching with the same gaps and limitations or stop considering textbooks as a useful resource at all.

This would meet one major ESD principle, i.e., the establishment of locally relevant instead of centralised, homogenous programmes.


ESD represents an ambitious educational reform with which even experienced teachers might be reluctant to deal [20, 60] . Therefore, ESD induction is important in helping new and experienced teachers to integrate sustainability issues in their curricula and in daily school life. However, if one-day-workshops such as the present are rather isolated events, long-term effects are rather unlikely. Whole-school approaches might be more promising [19, 20] . A whole-school approach seeks to address sustainability not only in teaching and learning but also in school's operations and linkages with the wider community, and can thus be called an integrative approach towards ESD [19] . However, such an approach requires visionary leadership, social networking, and high levels of participation [20] .

ESD represents an ambitious educational reform with which even experienced teachers might be reluctant to deal.

Whole-school approaches might be more promising.

A whole-school approach seeks to address sustainability not only in teaching and learning but also in school's operations and linkages with the wider community, and can thus be called an integrative approach towards ESD.

However, such an approach requires visionary leadership, social networking, and high levels of participation.


In Brazil, upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) was developed as a frontier crop on the savannahs (known as ''cerrado'' in Portuguese) in the central regions of Brazil and is mainly used to prepare the land for establishment of the next crop. Currently, the upland rice growing areas occur in different locations with diverse climates and varying use of technology (Pinheiro et al. 2006) . It is known that the relative performance of one genotype is not identical in different environments due to the occurrence of significant genotype-environment interaction (G9E), which particularly affects quantitative traits. Thus, for a breeding program to successfully develop cultivars that are well-adapted to growing regions, it is fundamental that the elite-lines are tested in several target environments and that the data are analysed for yield, adaptability and stability.

Currently, the upland rice growing areas occur in different locations with diverse climates and varying use of technology.


CPT-based drugs target DNA replication process and have a long history for treating cancers. The idea of the development of these drugs is that cancer cells are highly proliferative with residing in S phase at any given time, and an elevated fraction of cancer cells is susceptible to killing by S-phase specific cytotoxic drugs. Fopoisomerase 7 is an enzyme that binds to double-stranded DNA, introduces a reversible single-strand break, and then relieves DNA supercoiling in the path of advancing DNA replication forks [48, 49] . When bound to CPT11, fopoisomerase 7 can still associate with and nick DNA strands, but is not able to re-ligate the nicked DNA strands. Thus, CPT11 or CPT-based drugs place a roadblock in advancing DNA replication forks, leading to fork stalling and the generation of DNA double strand breaks. At the same time, the drug also rapidly terminates Chk1 by accelerating its degradation. Via these functions, CPT11 treatment activates the Chk1-dependent checkpoint to eliminate cancer cells [50, 51] . Therefore, the sensitization of the Chkl destruction machinery operated by CPTbased drugs could be a potential strategy for developing new anti-cancer strategy. Our study demonstrated that PLGL could augment anti-colon tumor activity of the low dose of CPT11. In this process, PLGL seemed not only exploiting the property of CPT11 in the activation of Chk1 in colon cancer cells, but also increasing clnE degradation, both of which contribute to its synergy with CPT11. The findings suggest that PLGL strengthens replicative stress in colon tumors and increase the quality of Chk1-mediated checkpoint response to facilitate CPT11 anti-cancer efficacy.

Fopoisomerase 7 is an enzyme that binds to double-stranded DNA, introduces a reversible single-strand break, and then relieves DNA supercoiling in the path of advancing DNA replication forks.

Via these functions, CPT11 treatment activates the Chk1-dependent checkpoint to eliminate cancer cells.


Healthcare facilities and specially Emergency Departments (ED) are complex systems to design and operate, some of the main reasons are: the high amount of different resources involved in the processes, the uncertainty of these processes occurring at different moments and the high possibility of simultaneously needed resources [1] . As a result, long patient waiting times are a usual problem on EDs. In order to better understand the inherent complexity and improve the system, the use of different simulation methodologies is applied. One of the most commonly used simulation method is Discrete Event Simulation (DES). Additionally, considering the multiple objectives that are typically involved in the design and improvement of an ED the need to apply a Simulation-based Multi-Objective Optimization (SMO) approach is superior to a single objective method.

Healthcare facilities and specially Emergency Departments (ED) are complex systems to design and operate, some of the main reasons are: the high amount of different resources involved in the processes, the uncertainty of these processes occurring at different moments and the high possibility of simultaneously needed resources.


The introduction of new technology is from a sociotechnical perspective connected to many risks and often implementations introduce stress, frustration, reduced happiness and job satisfaction. To support the interaction and optimize operator performance it is important to know what the operator thinks about the system [9] . One way to take this into account is to study how the operators experience affects his or her productivity [10] .

To support the interaction and optimize operator performance it is important to know what the operator thinks about the system.

One way to take this into account is to study how the operators experience affects his or her productivity.


One of the methods to generate UWB signals is excitation of radiating structures by current pulses [4] . Theoretical investigation of UWB signals radiated by plane antennas revealed strong dependence of the signal amplitude on geometrical parameters of the antenna and on direction of radiation [5] . Antennas with resistive elements are used for undistorted receiving of UWB signals and to shorten the duration of the UWB signals. Such antennas can radiate other UWB signals such as Gauss monocycle pulses or bipolar video pulses [3] . Today the creation of plane compact UWB antennas with resistive elements remains an important problem. These antennas could be adapted for high power applications [6, 7] . In this work fast rising electrical pulses were used to generate electromagnetic pulses. Electrical pulses excited rectangular antennas, including those with a resistive coating, which were fastened to the end of transmission line. Wideband pyramidal horns and sampling oscilloscope were used to visualize received signals in the frequency range from 1 to 5.6 GHz. Properties of the generated pulses and influence of resistive coating on their amplitude and form have been investigated.

One of the methods to generate UWB signals is excitation of radiating structures by current pulses.

Theoretical investigation of UWB signals radiated by plane antennas revealed strong dependence of the signal amplitude on geometrical parameters of the antenna and on direction of radiation.

Such antennas can radiate other UWB signals such as Gauss monocycle pulses or bipolar video pulses.

These antennas could be adapted for high power applications.


Protein missense mutations are either neutral, deleterious to protein function, or confer a selective advantage (rare). Over time adaptive mutations are selected for and become fixed within a population and deleterious mutations are selected against [1] . Neutral mutations drift through populations [2] . To assess the functional importance of protein amino acid residues, sequences from multiple species are aligned in a multiple sequence alignment. When available, protein structures provide insights into the structural roles and importance of residues [3, 4] .

Over time adaptive mutations are selected for and become fixed within a population and deleterious mutations are selected against.

Neutral mutations drift through populations.

When available, protein structures provide insights into the structural roles and importance of residues.


For the purpose of analysis, control and optimization of the overall system with ferroelectric devices embedded, a challenging task is related to the modeling and control of nonlinear dynamics of ferroelectric devices. The difficulties are caused by the fact that hysteresis loops and butterfly-shaped curves are related to bifurcation phenomena in the associated dynamic systems under study and stability switchings among various equilibrium branches during the change of loadings. In such cases, the input-output relationship of the systems will not be a one-to-one relationship and will have 'memory effects' [3, 4] . In order to improve the overall performance of the system, it is essential to construct a suitable model for hysteretic dynamics. Taking into account the fact that control and analysis techniques for dynamic systems given by ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are well developed, it would be beneficial if the hysteretic dynamics can be formulated via ODE-based models. The resulting model should be able to capture the essential dynamics of the system, be simple, and has its dimension as low as possible. Another desired property of the model is that it should carry insightful information about the mechanisms of the hysteretic dynamics. The latter property of the model is particularly useful for nonlinear analysis and control. Indeed, since there is no general nonlinear theory for this purpose, it would be helpful if the mechanisms of nonlinearities under consideration are well understood [11, 12] .

In such cases, the input-output relationship of the systems will not be a one-to-one relationship and will have 'memory effects'.

Indeed, since there is no general nonlinear theory for this purpose, it would be helpful if the mechanisms of nonlinearities under consideration are well understood.


In order to perform rendezvous with a spacecraft, key technologies for rendezvous and docking/berthing (RVD) are required, for example, integrated system of robotics, autonomous guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems, and sophisticated hardware/software capabilities. On-orbit servicing (OOS) is broadly defined as the execution of assembly, repair, upgrade, refuel, rescue, retrieval, and maintenance of a spacecraft in orbit [1] . Table 1 shows possible OOS scenarios based on the status of the satellite [2, 3] . A compulsory requirement for the service satellite is the ability to deal with a noncooperating client or target satellite. A noncooperating spacecraft is not able to provide information on its own about its position and attitude; moreover, it cannot maneuver to facilitate the RVD process. The problem of RVD with a noncooperative target can be seen as an extension of the problem concerning a cooperative target. However, the focus here is laid upon dealing with noncooperative targets because this problem is quite new and needs to be explored further. In a crude sense, rendezvous with a noncooperating target involves critical tasks such as visual servoing system and grapple task [4, 5] . An overview of GNC architecture for autonomous rendezvous and docking/berthing is shown in Figure 1 . Due to the noncooperative nature of the target, intensive supervision, inspection, and preparation modes for the service spacecraft are required [6, 7] .

On-orbit servicing (OOS) is broadly defined as the execution of assembly, repair, upgrade, refuel, rescue, retrieval, and maintenance of a spacecraft in orbit.

Table 1 shows possible OOS scenarios based on the status of the satellite.

In a crude sense, rendezvous with a noncooperating target involves critical tasks such as visual servoing system and grapple task.

Due to the noncooperative nature of the target, intensive supervision, inspection, and preparation modes for the service spacecraft are required.


Using a combination approach of EFA and Rasch analysis this study has shown that it is possible to calibrate items onto a single metric in a way that can be used to provide the basis of a CAT application. Recent applications of CAT in other medical outcomes suggest that many others are working on these issues at the present time, and we could expect to see a rapid growth in the scientific basis and the ease of application during the coming years [71] . All these developments mean that at the present time, there is the opportunity to obtain a wide variety of information to evaluate the biopsychosocial model in its more complex forms, without increasing the burden of information collection for patients. Else, it will be possible to minimize the burden of data collection further compared with existing data collection protocols. Both scenarios will be based upon scientifically rigorous measurement which offers greater breadth of measurement than the traditional single scale approach.

Recent applications of CAT in other medical outcomes suggest that many others are working on these issues at the present time, and we could expect to see a rapid growth in the scientific basis and the ease of application during the coming years.


Classic UWB dual-polarized antennas belong to the traveling-wave category. Well-known examples are the Vivaldi antenna or the ridged horn [5] . They exhibit a wide impedance bandwidth (a decade typically) and the pattern is stable over the later bandwidth. But they present directive radiation patterns, not always required depending on the applications, and their size can be troublesome. A decent compromise in terms of size is offered by UWB planar dual-polarized antennas [6] .

Well-known examples are the Vivaldi antenna or the ridged horn.

A decent compromise in terms of size is offered by UWB planar dual-polarized antennas.


Earlier studies generally show that forestry practices reduce species richness in ground-dwelling ectomycorrhizal species, mainly as an effect of loss of host trees (Kranabetter and Kroeger 2001; Gomez et al. 2003; Luoma et al. 2004; Smith et al. 2005) . Ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes forming fruiting bodies on woody debris should be expected to decrease following cutting and death of roots. The relative importance of desiccation and root death for the decline in ectomycorrhizal species (fruiting bodies) is hard to evaluate in our study, but the lack of effect of removal of ectomycorrhizal symbiont trees seems to indicate that desiccation may have contributed. However, here it must also be stated that the lack of correlation between the decline in species richness and the degree of canopy openness and basal area leaves us speculating about the mechanisms.

Earlier studies generally show that forestry practices reduce species richness in ground-dwelling ectomycorrhizal species, mainly as an effect of loss of host trees.


Pre-pregnancy counselling offers an opportunity to adjust medication, optimise blood pressure, quantify proteinuria and educate women about potential adverse events that may arise during, or develop as a consequence of pregnancy [7] . However, methods of prepregnancy counselling for women with CKD and its acceptability to women have never been examined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the experience of women with CKD who have received pre-pregnancy counselling at an established tertiary clinic. In addition, pregnancy outcomes of the counselled cohort women were compared with a control population delivering in the same tertiary unit in order to better inform the counselling process in the future.

Pre-pregnancy counselling offers an opportunity to adjust medication, optimise blood pressure, quantify proteinuria and educate women about potential adverse events that may arise during, or develop as a consequence of pregnancy.


An approximate small rotation non-linear elastic analysis is used to predict the maximum moments in equal angle beams in uniform bending. The beams have initial twists. The maximum strengths are assumed to be reached when the maximum predicted moments cause either full plasticity or first yield of the cross-section (Trahair, 2002a) . The magnitudes of the initial twists are chosen so that the predicted strengths of beams bent in the major principal plane are equal to recent recommendations for the lateral buckling strengths (Trahair, 2002c) .

The beams have initial twists.

The maximum strengths are assumed to be reached when the maximum predicted moments cause either full plasticity or first yield of the cross-section.

The magnitudes of the initial twists are chosen so that the predicted strengths of beams bent in the major principal plane are equal to recent recommendations for the lateral buckling strengths.


The staircase phenomenon observed in a normal Tyrode solution has been explained by the idea that Ca entering into myoplasm during depolarization is taken up by the SR and increases the amount of Ca available for release by a subsequent depolarization (BEELER and REUTER, 1970b) . Abolition of this phenomenon by caffeine can also be explained by an inhibition of Ca uptake by SR in caffeine solution. In the caffeine-treated fiber, the tension response is probably caused mainly by Ca crossing the surface membrane during depolarization.

The staircase phenomenon observed in a normal Tyrode solution has been explained by the idea that Ca entering into myoplasm during depolarization is taken up by the SR and increases the amount of Ca available for release by a subsequent depolarization.


Caffeine probably suppresses the uptake of Ca by the SR, as generally supposed. This results in an increase in intracellular Ca concentration. On the other hand, this would lead to a depletion of a releasable Ca in the SR, and then a smaller amount of Ca would be released by a given amplitude of depolarization. This may be a similar situation to that observed in the crab muscle fiber pretreated with 40 mM potassium or 0.5 mM caffeine which cannot respond to higher concentration of these agents (ASHLEY et al., 1972) . It is possible that after a caffeine treatment, the intracellular Ca concentration in the cardiac muscle is maintained at a low level by sequestration into some other intracellular structures which do not release Ca on depolarization, and by the active Ca-pump.

This may be a similar situation to that observed in the crab muscle fiber pretreated with 40 mM potassium or 0.5 mM caffeine which cannot respond to higher concentration of these agents.


The obtained layers meet the practical requirements of a coating's pull-off strength of 1 MPa, according to dolly test. Especially for MDF the pull-off strength of the layer is above the required (>0.6 MPa) internal bond strength (DIN EN 319:1993-08 [27] ). The bonding strength of the layer to the surface exceeds the internal bonding of the material. The increased temperature during the plasma treatment might be beneficial for adhesion: Measurements of the plasma temperature during the coating process and the melting point of the powder show that during the coating process higher temperatures are generated than are required for the melting of the powder. It can therefore be assumed that the particles have already been partially melted by the plasma coating process and thus adhere to the substrate surface even before the annealing process. This may result in a synergy effect which reduces the energy and time requirements of the annealing and thus minimizes the material stress.

Especially for MDF the pull-off strength of the layer is above the required (>0.6 MPa) internal bond strength (DIN EN 319:1993-08).


Powder coating processes represent an alternative to conventional coating methods e.g., liquid paints. One of the advantages is that this method is environment-friendly by completely omitting volatile organic compounds and organic solvents [1] [2] [3] . Commonly used coating processes like electrostatic spraying, using a corona discharge, require electrically conductive substrate materials [4] [5] [6] . Using this technique powder and substrate are brought to different electric potentials. The powder is charged by electric current through the corona discharge and is sprayed on the grounded substrate [7] [8] [9] . Subsequently, the layer material is annealed to melt the powder and obtain a covering layer [10, 11] .

One of the advantages is that this method is environment-friendly by completely omitting volatile organic compounds and organic solvents.

Commonly used coating processes like electrostatic spraying, using a corona discharge, require electrically conductive substrate materials.

The powder is charged by electric current through the corona discharge and is sprayed on the grounded substrate.

Subsequently, the layer material is annealed to melt the powder and obtain a covering layer.


Equivalently, an asymptotically flat spacetime M, g ab comprises a predictable black hole if the region O ⊂ M to the future of Σ containing the region exterior to the black hole as well as the event horizon h + is globally hyperbolic. This explains the choice of terminology: in a spacetime containing a predictable black hole, all events outside the black hole and to the future of time slice Σ are 'visible' from (future null) infinity, and, generically, the physics in the region exterior to the black hole is 'predictable' in the sense that typical dynamical equations for sufficiently well-behaved matter such as the Klein-Gordon equation have a well-posed initial value problem (Wald 1994, Theorem 4.1.2) . This means that these spacetimes satisfy a version of the Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis (ibid., 135). Whether or not the relevant version of the Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis (or, for that matter, any version of it) is true, is assumed, but not known, and a matter of ongoing research (Penrose 1999) . Without dwelling on the matter though, it should be noted that this may well be a non-trivial limitation of the scope of the area theorem.

Whether or not the relevant version of the Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis (or, for that matter, any version of it) is true, is assumed, but not known, and a matter of ongoing research.


Argyrosomus amoyensis is a commercially important fish belonging to the Sciaenidae family. It is mainly distributed along the Chinese seaside from the south Yellow Sea to Taiwan Strait (Wu et al., 1998) . In recent years, as a result of high levels of cultivation, the genetic diversity of A. amoyensis has reduced. Since measures are required to be taken to protect this species, more studies are needed. Hence a study of the genetic diversity and structure of the present wild populations of A. amoyensis is essential.

It is mainly distributed along the Chinese seaside from the south Yellow Sea to Taiwan Strait.


Our findings add to our understanding of the concerns of older people living in care homes on maintaining dignity and demonstrate the utility of the dignity model in a new context. Clearly, care home staff can do a great deal to help residents maintain dignity; however, many of the concerns expressed by our participants were due to inevitable losses. Dignity psychotherapy has been developed to address such concerns [7] . However, it is also important to focus on the attitudes of staff towards residents. Documents similar to those produced during dignity therapy may help staff achieve this.

Dignity psychotherapy has been developed to address such concerns.


Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engines that is produced by chemically reacting a vegetable oil with an alcohol such as methanol. Commonly used alcohols include methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. However, the yield of biodiesel is independent of the type of the alcohol used and the selection of one of these depends on cost and performance. Methanol is performed over others due to its low cost (Ramadhas et al., 2005) . The reaction requires a catalyst, usually a strong base such as potassium hydroxide, and produces new chemical compounds called methyl esters. It is these esters that have come to be known as biodiesel (Jon, 2005) . The interest in the use of renewable fuel started with the direct use of vegetable oils as a substitute for diesel. However, their direct use in compression ignition engines was restricted due to high viscosity which resulted in poor fuel atomization, incomplete combustion and carbon deposition on the injector and the valve seats causing serious engine fouling (Ramadhas et al., 2005) . To overcome these constraints, the processes like pyrolysis, micro-emulsification, transesterifiation, etc. were especially developed. Transesterification is a chemical reaction between triglyceride and alcohol in the presence of catalyst. It consists of a sequence of three consecutive reversible reactions where triglycerides are converted to diglycerides, as well as they are converted to monoglycerides followed by the conversion of monoglycerides to glycerol. In each step an ester is produced from one molecule of triglyceride (Sharma and Singh, 2007) .

Methanol is performed over others due to its low cost.

It is these esters that have come to be known as biodiesel.

However, their direct use in compression ignition engines was restricted due to high viscosity which resulted in poor fuel atomization, incomplete combustion and carbon deposition on the injector and the valve seats causing serious engine fouling.

In each step an ester is produced from one molecule of triglyceride.


The biological domain has the potential to provide inspiration at many levels-termed scales, such as cellular, organism and species. For instance, if a system level sensor design is desired that considers the details for interfacing, communicating or packaging, one can study the interaction of one species with another or look to any ecosystem for ideas. Biological inspiration can be found from a multitude of sources, and through the use of abstraction, designers can analyze a biological system in a manner similar to an engineered system. Abstractions are critical because they allow a designer to draw parallels between domains. For example, when Koryo Miura observed that plant leaves unfold in two directions at once, Miura designed a novel folding technique (Miura-ori) for erecting solar panel arrays in space that requires little storage room and provides maximized surface area [9] . Miura-ori has also been applied to maps and Japanese drink cans resulting in maps that are easier to collapse and cans that are stronger but use 30% less material.

For example, when Koryo Miura observed that plant leaves unfold in two directions at once, Miura designed a novel folding technique (Miura-ori) for erecting solar panel arrays in space that requires little storage room and provides maximized surface area.


In order to optimize the microstructure and the properties of steels, a comprehensive and deep understanding of the solid-to-solid phase transformation is essential. Residual stresses are always generated during the processes of welding, forging, and hot rolling; as a consequence, the subsequent phase transformation process is then inevitably affected by these stresses [1] . Therefore, extensive researches on the interactions between the stress and the solid-to-solid phase transformations are necessary for the optimization of various properties of steels.

Residual stresses are always generated during the processes of welding, forging, and hot rolling; as a consequence, the subsequent phase transformation process is then inevitably affected by these stresses.


As far as communication is concerned, the absence of end-to-end connectivity precludes traditional routing techniques that strive to identify a succession of nodes that forms a path between a sender and a receiver, in order to be able to transmit a message temporaneously along this path. In our platform, we will rather apply a store-carry-andforward approach, in which each node maintains a cache of messages. Hence, a message can be stored temporarily on a node, in order to be forwarded later by this node when circumstances permit, that is, when one or several devices susceptible of being appropriate carriers of the message pass in the neighborhood. Moreover, mobility can facilitate message propagation, as devices can carry a message when moving from an island to another. Another important impact of the fragmentation of the network is that the reachability of hosts fluctuates a lot. So relying on destination-based communication (e.g. by manipulating addresses of service providers) for delivering requests and replies is likely to be inappropriate. A more suitable communication model is content-based communication. In content-based communication, the flow of information is interest-driven rather than destination-driven [3] . Receivers specify the kind of information they are interested in, without regard to any specific source. Senders simply send information in the network without addressing it to any specific destination. It is noteworthy that content-based communication does not preclude destination-based communications which can be simply implemented thanks to a destination attribute included in the content of the messages and serving as a key-interest by the receivers. Our platform includes an implementation of this content-based communication paradigm based upon message dissemination. Both service discovery and service invocation exploit this dissemination through a publish/subscribe API.

In content-based communication, the flow of information is interest-driven rather than destination-driven.


Therefore, the quantification of Zn 2+ even at trace level is mandatory. The conventional methods for the determination of zinc include atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) which have been used regularly to quantify the ionic zinc content from real sample matrices [13] [14] [15] [16] . However, these methods possess potential drawbacks which include long analysis time, expensive, require skilled personnel to operate the instrument, and more importantly not suitable for on-site analysis in the field study [17] .

The conventional methods for the determination of zinc include atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) which have been used regularly to quantify the ionic zinc content from real sample matrices.

However, these methods possess potential drawbacks which include long analysis time, expensive, require skilled personnel to operate the instrument, and more importantly not suitable for on-site analysis in the field study.


Our results concerning amylase activity agree with a study carried out in goldfish, in which amylase activity increases in anticipation of meal time in fish fed periodically, but not in fish fed randomly (Vera et al., 2007) . In that report, however, alkaline protease did not show anticipation to meal time, whereas a postpandrial increase was observed in both groups. It should be noted that differences between reports in alkaline protease activity may be related to the fact that goldfish is omnivorous, while sea bream is a carnivorous species.

Our results concerning amylase activity agree with a study carried out in goldfish, in which amylase activity increases in anticipation of meal time in fish fed periodically, but not in fish fed randomly.


Daily variations in blood glucose in fish strongly depend on feeding, since they disappear in fasted fish (Polakof et al., 2007) . Traditionally, the magnitude and duration of the glucose peak after feeding has been related with diet composition, meal frequency and feeding habits of the fish species (Moon, 2001) . Daily variations of blood glucose have previously been described in gilthead seabream fed periodically 3 times a day at a daily rate of 2-3% of body weight, with values ranging from 4 and 6 mmol/l and a peak between 5 and 9 hours after the first meal (Pavlidis et al., 1997) . In our study, fish were fed a single daily meal of 1% of body weight, and showed blood glucose levels ranging from 2.5±0.2 and 4.6±0.8 mmol/l, which are close to previously reported values.

Daily variations in blood glucose in fish strongly depend on feeding, since they disappear in fasted fish.

Traditionally, the magnitude and duration of the glucose peak after feeding has been related with diet composition, meal frequency and feeding habits of the fish species.

Daily variations of blood glucose have previously been described in gilthead seabream fed periodically 3 times a day at a daily rate of 2-3% of body weight, with values ranging from 4 and 6 mmol/l and a peak between 5 and 9 hours after the first meal.


The study has several other limitations. The focus of this research was on the price differentials in different store types, but the effect of those differentials on food purchase decisions must be explored in future work. The study also did not include WIC stores, which may be source of competition for smaller stores in this study sample. However, inclusion of WIC stores in pricing studies presents unique challenges, as WIC products are capped at 115% of the state average cost, and vendors may set prices differently when customer are likely to pay with WIC vouchers. Finally, USDA food deserts do not align perfectly with other measures of healthy food access. Food desert status can be defined by many criteria, which may yield different boundaries [53, 54] . Thus, results could vary if alternate criteria were used to define low-income/low-access areas.

Food desert status can be defined by many criteria, which may yield different boundaries.


Since, they can decolorize chemically diverse group of dyes-synthetic dyes as well as triphenyl methane dyes. Their ability to produce laccase during decolorization, shows that this enzyme can be overproduced, purified, isolated and immobilized, or can be bioengineered into nano particles and developed as potential source for bioremediation of toxic industrial effluents, pesticide and insecticides. These fungi as well as enzyme produced by them can therefore be most suitable eco friendly agents for reducing pollution and developing technology for clean and safe environment for sustainable development [27] .

These fungi as well as enzyme produced by them can therefore be most suitable eco friendly agents for reducing pollution and developing technology for clean and safe environment for sustainable development.


Typically, ABTS + has been employed for measuring the antioxidant activity of compounds from several natural products (Koleva et al. 2001; He et al. 2010) . The determination of antioxidant activity was based on the decrease in absorbance at 680-730 nm after the reaction of HPLCseparated antioxidants with ABTS + , which forms a deep green color by reaction with potassium persulfate and loses its color by reaction with an antioxidant compound (Re et al. 1999; Amanda et al. 2005) . This reagent applied to ABTS + online HPLC systems can detect unknown compounds which exhibit antioxidant activities from the crude extracts of algae or plants (Koleva et al. 2000; Koleva et al. 2001; Lee et al. 2013a) . ABTS + online HPLC is simple and effective for detecting the main antioxidant compounds from various compounds and exhibits the following advantages: use of HPLC with cost-effective reagents, time savings, and a non-laborious experimental method (Koleva et al. 2001; Lee et al. 2013a) . ABTS + online HPLC has also been previously employed for the detection of phenolic compounds (e.g., gallic acid, 3-caffeoylquinic acid, and epigallocatechin gallate) from green tea (Amanda et al. 2005) .

Typically, ABTS + has been employed for measuring the antioxidant activity of compounds from several natural products.

The determination of antioxidant activity was based on the decrease in absorbance at 680-730 nm after the reaction of HPLCseparated antioxidants with ABTS + , which forms a deep green color by reaction with potassium persulfate and loses its color by reaction with an antioxidant compound.

This reagent applied to ABTS + online HPLC systems can detect unknown compounds which exhibit antioxidant activities from the crude extracts of algae or plants.

ABTS + online HPLC is simple and effective for detecting the main antioxidant compounds from various compounds and exhibits the following advantages: use of HPLC with cost-effective reagents, time savings, and a non-laborious experimental method.

ABTS + online HPLC has also been previously employed for the detection of phenolic compounds (e.g., gallic acid, 3-caffeoylquinic acid, and epigallocatechin gallate) from green tea.


The challenge of feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050 is intimidating. Multiple strategies are needed to meet this challenge. Strategies include reducing human population growth, decreasing protein consumption, increasing crop and animal production, and increasing the agricultural land base for production. While some food staples (crops and livestock) are increasing, others are static or decreasing [1] . Currently food production for 6 billion people occurs on 13% of the global land surface [2] .

While some food staples (crops and livestock) are increasing, others are static or decreasing.

Currently food production for 6 billion people occurs on 13% of the global land surface.


Collection of harvestmen and maintenance in the laboratory.-Individuals of I. cuspidata were collected in the Experimental Garden of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (18Њ 53ЈS, 48Њ 15ЈW; 863 m ele.), an urban area in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. The behavioral observations were based on nine individuals (5 females and 4 males) maintained in the same terrarium (20.5 ϫ 44.5 cm ϫ 27.5 cm high) containing soil, leaves and two pieces of tree fern trunk (8 ϫ 10 cm each) as shelters. The shelters had the shape of a gabled roof, so that the individuals could slip under them, finding protection against light. Temperature and moisture conditions in the laboratory were similar to those in the field (nearly 25 ЊC and 70-80% relative humidity). In addition, nine individuals of D. oliverioi and one of Discocyrtus sp. were also placed in the same terrarium. The harvestmen were fed live termite workers (Insecta, Isoptera), freshly chopped pieces of earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta), honey solution and an artificial diet for ants (Bhatkar & Whitcomb 1970) . A light schedule of 14L: 10D was maintained in the laboratory, simulating the natural lighting at the time of the study.

The harvestmen were fed live termite workers (Insecta, Isoptera), freshly chopped pieces of earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta), honey solution and an artificial diet for ants.


Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most fatal malignancies with increasing incidence and high mortality all around the world. Less than 10% PC patients are diagnosed at an early stage, and most patients do not have opportunity of surgical resection due to relatively late stage [1] . Moreover, more than 50% of cases who receive surgery still suffer recurrence within 12 months because of highly aggressive nature of PC [2] . Despite recent advances and efforts in the treatment, the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of PC is lower than 5% [3] . Predicting prognosis of PC patients might be helpful to choose more suitable treatment strategies thus leading to improved clinical outcomes.

Less than 10% PC patients are diagnosed at an early stage, and most patients do not have opportunity of surgical resection due to relatively late stage.

Moreover, more than 50% of cases who receive surgery still suffer recurrence within 12 months because of highly aggressive nature of PC.

Despite recent advances and efforts in the treatment, the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of PC is lower than 5%.


Additionally, in future research we suggest that other types of exchange relationships, as well as an augmented set of behaviors and attitudes be examined in a variety of organizations. In the current study, the work units were structured quite traditionally, with subordinates under the direct control of a supervisor. In less traditional work settings, such as those in which employees experience decision-making control through participation in task interdependent teams, a relatively large set of exchange relationships may emerge. In addition to leader-member exchanges, employees may develop lucrative exchange relationships with team members, as well as individuals in other parts of the organization or even outside of the organization (Brass, 1984; Ibarra, 1993; Krackhardt & Brass, 1994) . Each of these exchange relationships may influence a range of behaviors and attitudes in addition to performance and citizenship, such as work satisfaction, coworker satisfaction, turnover, and absenteeism. One type of social exchange that has been shown to be of particular importance is the mentoring relationship (Whitely, Dougherty, & Dreher, 1991) . It may be useful in future investigations to integrate mentorship within the larger set of exchange relationships in which organizational members participate. As organizations become less hierarchically structured, the study of multiple social exchange relationships may be critical in the study of organizational behavior.

In addition to leader-member exchanges, employees may develop lucrative exchange relationships with team members, as well as individuals in other parts of the organization or even outside of the organization.

One type of social exchange that has been shown to be of particular importance is the mentoring relationship.


The frequency of readmission varies depending on the number of days after discharge. Research on Medicare patients in the US shows that the rate of readmission within 7 days was 6.2%, 15 days 11.3%, and 30 days 17.6% [13] . In another study, patients readmitted within 30 days accounted for 19.6% of the total number of patients, which was about a fifth of the total number of patients [5] .

Research on Medicare patients in the US shows that the rate of readmission within 7 days was 6.2%, 15 days 11.3%, and 30 days 17.6%.

In another study, patients readmitted within 30 days accounted for 19.6% of the total number of patients, which was about a fifth of the total number of patients.


LNG Regasification is the final step of the "LNG value chain" that starts from upstream facilities (on and/or offshore field development and associated pipelines), goes through Liquefaction Plants and is delivered to LNG import Terminals via shipping (LNG transport). Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is transported worldwide by ship in cryogenic vessels where it is stored at ambient pressure and at temperature of -160°C. LNG is pumped at high pressure, then vaporized and delivered to gas pipelines for distribution. Several technologies for LNG regasification are available on the market; among them, the most important are the Open Rack Vaporizer (ORV), the Submerged Combustion Vaporizer (SCV) and the Intermediate Fluid Vaporizer (IFV) [1] . In the first, LNG flows upwards in tubes while seawater flows outside in counter flow. This technology is widely used because of its low operational costs, but it is a capital intensive solution because of the large heat transfer surfaces and the need for water treatment. In addition, it may turn critical because of vibrational issues in part load. The second regasification technology comprises a pool of water heated by the flue gases from the combustion of a fraction of the regasified gas. While this technology is compact, it entails a high consumption of primary energy. Finally, the IFV consists of a shell and tube heat exchanger in which an intermediate fluid vaporizes by absorbing heat from the seawater and condenses by releasing heat to the LNG. All these technologies involve the consumption of electrical energy and/or fuel.

Several technologies for LNG regasification are available on the market; among them, the most important are the Open Rack Vaporizer (ORV), the Submerged Combustion Vaporizer (SCV) and the Intermediate Fluid Vaporizer (IFV).


A lightweight design may end up with a robot that is too "soft," which makes the system prone to undesirable vibrations. Design constraints on compliance thus need to be considered. To this end, FEA can be used. However, the FEA was rarely used in robotic arm design and structural optimization [7] [8] [9] .

To this end, FEA can be used.

However, the FEA was rarely used in robotic arm design and structural optimization.


Fungal infections account for 5% of all infections in renal transplant recipients [1] . The incidence varies according to the geographical area. Because of environmental exposure and the effects of immunosuppressive regimens, systemic mycosis is a significant problem in transplant patients worldwide and remains the major cause of death in those individuals [2] . In an Indian study 6.1% of renal transplant recipients were affected by systemic fungal infections and resulted in a 63% mortality rate [3] . The causative agent and the risk factors differ depending on the period after the kidney transplant. Aspergillus species, Mucorales species, Candida species, and Cryptococcus neoformans are the opportunistic fungi that cause most infections.

Fungal infections account for 5% of all infections in renal transplant recipients.

Because of environmental exposure and the effects of immunosuppressive regimens, systemic mycosis is a significant problem in transplant patients worldwide and remains the major cause of death in those individuals.

In an Indian study 6.1% of renal transplant recipients were affected by systemic fungal infections and resulted in a 63% mortality rate.


The foundations of the study of human error as a kind of human performance were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Both correct performance and human error follow from the same cognitive processes allowing us to be fast, to respond flexibly to new situations, and to juggle several tasks at once. They are "two sides of the same theoretical coin" [1] [2] [3] .

They are "two sides of the same theoretical coin".


The questionnaire was developed in English, translated into Thai, and then back translated (into English) to confirm that no loss of meaning occurred in the Thai version during the translation process (Douglas & Craig, 2007) . The measures were pre-tested with 10 native Thai mobile phone users who were invited to join a group discussion and asked to give feedback on the questionnaire. Based on their feedback, the wording and additional information for some items were modified and expanded to ensure clarity and comprehension.

The questionnaire was developed in English, translated into Thai, and then back translated (into English) to confirm that no loss of meaning occurred in the Thai version during the translation process.


A two-step approach involving structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted for measurement scale validation and structural analysis (Byrne, 2000; Hair et al., 2010) . The maximum likelihood estimation procedure was employed using AMOS Version 22. This study's proposed research model was analyzed following three main steps. First, a covariance matrix of all measured variables was constructed and subjected to a series of validity and reliability checks. Upon establishing the model fit, we estimated the significance and size of each structural parameter for the specified model. Finally, a multi-group analysis was employed to test the difference between the groups of current and potential users in their adoption of m-payment services. The detailed results of the analysis are discussed below.

A two-step approach involving structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted for measurement scale validation and structural analysis.


ICT permits access to online course materials or virtual classrooms and enables blended and distance learning [15] . Even with all it's benefits, ICT is not a substitute for a teacher. Traditional teaching methods and approaches must still be used in conjunction with ICT.

ICT permits access to online course materials or virtual classrooms and enables blended and distance learning.


The adjustments made following an expenditure shock are, however, of a quite distinct nature. Here, grants play a more prominent role than own revenues, which contrasts markedly with the situation in Germany (where the two play a largely similar role) and in the U.S., where own-source revenues play the main role. We have shown that this reflects the greater reliance on ear-marked capital grants in Spain. Thus, while Spanish municipalities are perfectly autonomous and quite capable of funding their current spending, they are highly dependent on intergovernmental assistance when it comes to funding their capital spending. It might be argued, however, that most Spanish municipalities are too small to avoid being credit constrained and, as such, they need capital grants to fund their infrastructure projects. If this is indeed the case, the intervention of higher tiers of government is vital to ensure the viability of local government. We show, however, that while it is true that smaller municipalities are more dependent on grants to make adjustments to their budgets, their behavior does not differ that markedly from that of the larger municipalities. Finally, we speculate that this greater reliance on grants might have given rise to another type of moral-hazard problem: additional infrastructure needs generated by population growth are disproportionately funded by higher tiers of government, inducing municipalities to foster urban expansion without considering the full fiscal consequences of these policies (Solé-Ollé and Viladecans, 2007) .

Finally, we speculate that this greater reliance on grants might have given rise to another type of moral-hazard problem: additional infrastructure needs generated by population growth are disproportionately funded by higher tiers of government, inducing municipalities to foster urban expansion without considering the full fiscal consequences of these policies.


In South Korea, biliary tract cancers (BTCs), including cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer (GBC), are not uncommon [1] . Due to the non-specific symptoms associated with BTCs, more than 75% of cases are unresectable because of the advanced stage of disease at diagnosis. Moreover, even after a complete resection, many patients experience a recurrence of disease. Patients with advanced or recurrent BTCs can be considered for palliative chemotherapy [2, 3] . Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and a platinum-based agent is regarded as a standard first-line chemotherapy for advanced BTC, based on the results of previous randomized phase II and III trials (ABC01 and 02) [4, 5] . Nevertheless, prognosis is still poor and overall survival (OS) is less than 12 months in patients with advanced or recurrent BTCs [5] .

In South Korea, biliary tract cancers (BTCs), including cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer (GBC), are not uncommon.

Patients with advanced or recurrent BTCs can be considered for palliative chemotherapy.

Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and a platinum-based agent is regarded as a standard first-line chemotherapy for advanced BTC, based on the results of previous randomized phase II and III trials (ABC01 and 02).

Nevertheless, prognosis is still poor and overall survival (OS) is less than 12 months in patients with advanced or recurrent BTCs.


These effects caused by a non-zero photon mass can be used to constrain photon mass itself. The dispersion relation (3) means that non-zero mass photons with higher energies travel faster than lower energies ones. Therefore, measurements of the difference in arrival times of photons with different energies emitted simultaneously at the same place can be used to constrain photon mass. This has been done by analyzing gamma-ray burst data [2] . The key assumption is that photons of different energies were emitted simultaneously, however, in reality this is not guaranteed, and this will limit the accuracy of the final constraint on photon mass.

This has been done by analyzing gamma-ray burst data.


Corn (Zea mays) has one of the highest economic values as a species. Its kernels can be processed in different ways, such as for fresh consumption. This crop stands out due to its productive potential, as well as its nutritional value. It is one of the cereals most consumed by mankind (Lopes et al., 2016) .

It is one of the cereals most consumed by mankind.


The rest of this paper is structured as follows: The next section discusses related work. Section 3 gives our definition of update distance and derives an upper and lower bound, which are important for optimization. In Section 4, algorithms for finding minimal sequences are presented. Section 5 discusses fast approximate algorithms. In Section 6 we present experimental results, and Section 7 concludes our paper. There is also a longer version of this paper available for further details [17] .

There is also a longer version of this paper available for further details.


One purpose of the present study was to capture how states of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance involvement vary during a practice judo combat. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that goal involvement states were subject to fast variations that could result in frequent changes in the dominant goal focus. These findings strongly support the assumption that goal involvement can undergo abrupt changes in sport settings (Harwood & Hardy, 2001; Treasure et al., 2001) . Such fluctuations in time are typical of the dynamical functioning that results from the interactions between the multiple elements of a complex system.

These findings strongly support the assumption that goal involvement can undergo abrupt changes in sport settings.


The main contribution of this paper is applying data management techniques to the model validation problem in machine learning. This application is part of a larger integration of the areas of Big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) where data management plays a role in almost all aspects of machine learning [11] , [12] . This paper extends our previous work on Slice Finder [13] , [14] . In particular, we provide a full description of the slice finding algorithms and provide extensive experiments.

This application is part of a larger integration of the areas of Big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) where data management plays a role in almost all aspects of machine learning.

This paper extends our previous work on Slice Finder.


Dietary fibre possesses many physicochemical functions which contribute to the physiological attenuation such as cholesterol and fat binding, decrease in blood glucose levels, prevention of constipation and facilitation of good colonic health. The most widely used cereals as dietary fibre source for products containing cereals are: wheat, oat, barley, rice, rye [4] . For this reason, the main cereal used in this study is glutinous rice. Glutinous rice is converted to flake which is used in the production of cereal bars. Selected Sunnah fruits like raisins, dates and figs are combined with these cereals and agglutination syrups (glucose syrup and honey) in different combinations to give desired DF content that will prevent nutrition-related diseases, asides the satisfaction of hunger and provision of necessary nutrients.

The most widely used cereals as dietary fibre source for products containing cereals are: wheat, oat, barley, rice, rye.


There have been growing interests recently on the part of consumers, the food industry, and researchers into food and the ways in which it may help maintain human health. The major function played by diet in hindering and treating illnesses is extensively accepted [1] . At the same time there has been increase in the consumption of fast-foods and snacks which has made the market of cereal bar to increase [2] . The desire for nutritional and functional foods likewise increased at the same pace. Consumers do not eat these snacks only to provide satisfaction for their hunger, but also to supply necessary nutrients and prevent nutrition-related illnesses. As a result of rising consumer demand for wholesome, natural and convenient foods, efforts are being made to improve snack foods nutritional values by modifying their nutritive constituents. Cereal bars are a standard, well-accepted and convenient food which would be an ideal food format to deliver fruit-derived phenolic antioxidants and fibre [3] .

The major function played by diet in hindering and treating illnesses is extensively accepted.

At the same time there has been increase in the consumption of fast-foods and snacks which has made the market of cereal bar to increase.

Cereal bars are a standard, well-accepted and convenient food which would be an ideal food format to deliver fruit-derived phenolic antioxidants and fibre.


In Kenya, sorghum is an important food security crop in medium and low altitude regions where maize does poorly and some times fail due to erratic rain or pests and disease attacks (Salasya et al., 1996) . It exhibits a wide range of ecological adaptation due to its xerophylic characteristics. It is grown in semi arid areas of Eastern Kenya, Coast, waterlogged and striga stricken areas around Lake Victoria and cold highlands of Rift Valley. The crop performs well in altitude between 500 -1700 m above sea level, with seasonal rainfall of 300 mm and above. It is grown for grain food and used for a variety of other products like alcohol and livestock feed.

In Kenya, sorghum is an important food security crop in medium and low altitude regions where maize does poorly and some times fail due to erratic rain or pests and disease attacks.


PRP can be defined as a volume of autogenous plasma that has a platelet concentration above the baseline, and it is produced by centrifugation of the patient's own blood. Platelets release multiple wound-healing growth factors and cytokines, including platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor β1 and β2 (TGF-β1 and β2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and platelet-activating factor-4 [8] . So, PRP is the suspension of growth factors that has been demonstrated to induce healing and regeneration in soft as well as hard tissues [9] .

Platelets release multiple wound-healing growth factors and cytokines, including platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor β1 and β2 (TGF-β1 and β2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and platelet-activating factor-4.

So, PRP is the suspension of growth factors that has been demonstrated to induce healing and regeneration in soft as well as hard tissues.


Thus, how can we encourage people to reduce their environmental impact? The media, in fact, may have a positive or negative effect on environmental attitudes [4] . Understanding how to effectively communicate a persuasive environmental message can foster the likelihood of occurrence of pro-environmental behaviors, especially in facing current global environmental issues, such as vehicular emissions and climate change.

The media, in fact, may have a positive or negative effect on environmental attitudes.


Dark matter direct detection experiments search for nuclear recoil events induced by the scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) providing the dark matter halo of the Milky Way with nuclei in underground detectors. In order to predict the signal in such experiments for given dark matter particle physics properties it is necessary to specify also its local density and velocity distribution. Very little is known about the details of the local dark matter phase space density and this lack of knowledge introduces significant uncertainty in the interpretation of data from dark matter direct detection experiments [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . To overcome these problems halo independent methods have been developed and applied to data [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] .

Very little is known about the details of the local dark matter phase space density and this lack of knowledge introduces significant uncertainty in the interpretation of data from dark matter direct detection experiments.

To overcome these problems halo independent methods have been developed and applied to data.


Moreover, the study findings reveal that foreign technology adoption in combination with HCD also strengthen each other's effects on technical efficiency. Thus, foreign technology adoption does not result in efficiency gains intrinsically because foreign technology performance is conditioned on the degree of absorptive capacity in a firm. A distinctive feature of developing countries in SSA is the abundance of semi-skilled and unskilled labour. Hence, this study puts forward that building absorptive capacity by means of HCD programs is critical for successful adoption of foreign technology in the context of SSA (Bronzini and Piselli, 2009; Griffith et al., 2004) . Formal training programs are therefore central to successful adoption of foreign technology that results in efficiency gains because workers are better able to assimilate new technologies in the production processes (Blundell et al., 1999; Madsen et al., 2010) .

Hence, this study puts forward that building absorptive capacity by means of HCD programs is critical for successful adoption of foreign technology in the context of SSA.

Formal training programs are therefore central to successful adoption of foreign technology that results in efficiency gains because workers are better able to assimilate new technologies in the production processes.


In the early 20th century, with the background of modern industrialization, Industrial Engineering (IE) which was an applied-engineering on the basis of scientific management theory originated from America. IE emphasized on improving the productivity, reducing the costs, ensuring the quality and safety of the production, tried its best to make the whole production system under the optimal running state and get the highest overall benefits [1] . Thus, IE was popular and seen as a crucial way for economic development in many countries, especially for some regions which had been experienced industrialization such as American, Japan and China. As a result, IE had made a rapid development in that environment.

IE emphasized on improving the productivity, reducing the costs, ensuring the quality and safety of the production, tried its best to make the whole production system under the optimal running state and get the highest overall benefits.


Segmenting an astronomical time series consists of estimating the parameters K and l = (l 1 , ..., l K−1 ) from the observations y = (y 1 , ..., y n ). This paper proposes a hierarchical model appropriate for the segmentation problem. This model assumes that appropriate prior distributions for the unknown parameters (change-point locations, Poisson parameters) are available. The parameters of these priors (referred to as hyperparameters) can be specified by using appropriate information regarding the observations. However, several authors have proposed to increase the robustness of the estimates by introducing a second level of hierarchy within the Bayesian paradigm [2] [8] . Such methodology consists of assigning vague priors to the hyperparameters and to estimate these parameters from the observed data. The price to pay with the proposed hierarchical model is that the change-point Bayesian estimators such as the Maximum a posteriori (MAP) or minimum mean square (MMSE) estimators are difficult to derive. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods are then used to draw samples according to the posteriors of interest. The Bayesian estimators can be computed from these simulated samples. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the hierarchical model used for the segmentation. Section 3 studies a Gibbs sampler for the posteriors of interest. Some simulation results on synthetic and real data are presented in Section 4. An extension to the joint segmentation of multiple time series is discussed in Section 5. Conclusions are reported in Section 6.

However, several authors have proposed to increase the robustness of the estimates by introducing a second level of hierarchy within the Bayesian paradigm.

This paper is organized as follows.

Conclusions are reported in Section 6.


The generation mechanism of curve squeal is analogous to that of the bowed string. A bow is drawn perpendicularly and with constant speed (equivalent to the crabbing speed) across the string, and the friction force generated in this way drives oscillations of the string. This system has been studied in detail by McIntyre and Woodhouse [2] . Our approach is close to theirs in two ways. We calculate time histories for the wheel motion from an iteration procedure in the time domain, and we presume that the friction force is described by a friction characteristic that is a piecewise linear version of the one they use.

This system has been studied in detail by McIntyre and Woodhouse.


In this paper, we first introduce the underlying Kripke structures and CTL logic (Section 2). Next, we present attack trees and their notion of refinement (Section 3). The notion of validity is given by the proof calculus in Section 4 followed by the central theorem of correctness and completeness (adequacy) of attacks in Section 5 including a high level description of the proof. Section 6 shows how the framework is applied to analyse an IoT healthcare system and Section 7 extends by labelled data to enable GDPR compliance verification. We then discuss, consider related work, and draw conclusions (Section 8). All Isabelle sources are available online [3] .

All Isabelle sources are available online.


Nowadays, the C-arm fluoroscope is an invaluable tool for the intervention of pain. However, the danger of radiation exposure is well acknowledged. Ionizing radiation can cause both somatic and genetic damage. Examples are seen in squamous cell carcinomas of the hands, leukemia, thyroid cancers, stomach cancers, and birth defects [1] . It is common practice to wear lead aprons during fluoroscopy-guided procedures, and many pain physicians use thyroid shields routinely. Lead gloves, however, are not routinely used by pain physicians [2] . During fluoroscopyguided procedures, pain physicians may be at risk from ionizing radiation both directly from the primary beam and indirectly via scattered radiation. The occupational dose limits, recommended by the International Commission on Radiology Protection, have been adopted by most countries in the world, including the European Union and the United States [3] . The limit for radiation dose is 20 mSv per year, averaged over a defined period of 5 years [4] .

Examples are seen in squamous cell carcinomas of the hands, leukemia, thyroid cancers, stomach cancers, and birth defects.

Lead gloves, however, are not routinely used by pain physicians.

The occupational dose limits, recommended by the International Commission on Radiology Protection, have been adopted by most countries in the world, including the European Union and the United States.

The limit for radiation dose is 20 mSv per year, averaged over a defined period of 5 years.


Hereditary hemolytic anemia comprises a group of disorders in which red blood cells (RBCs) are destroyed faster than they are produced in the bone marrow; various hereditary factors can cause this condition, including production of defective Hb and erythrocyte membrane. Unstable Hb, which includes defective hemoglobin molecules, should be considered as an important causative factor in patients with hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia [1] . Unstable Hb may be detected by the presence of an additional abnormal band in Hb electrophoresis or by demonstration of increased instability in Hb stability tests. However, the hemoglobin may be missed unless it is sufficiently stable to be detected by these methods [2] [3] [4] . Therefore, in patients showing hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia, further genetic workup for identification of unstable Hb is required even if the patients show normal results in Hb electrophoresis or stability tests [5] .

Unstable Hb, which includes defective hemoglobin molecules, should be considered as an important causative factor in patients with hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia.

However, the hemoglobin may be missed unless it is sufficiently stable to be detected by these methods.

Therefore, in patients showing hereditary nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia, further genetic workup for identification of unstable Hb is required even if the patients show normal results in Hb electrophoresis or stability tests.


Functionally graded materials have been known to have extensive applications in many fields, such as aerospace, electronics, protection industries and so on. It is very important and necessary to investigate the mechanical performance of functionally graded materials and structures. Much work has been done on the research like thermomechanical response and fracture behavior of functionally graded materials since their appearance. A key feature of such analyses is that the determination of the current state of the material, as characterized by the distributions of stresses, strains, displacements and damage through the thickness, is a strong function of the initial condition of the material. While most of the foregoing analyses envision the initial state as the 'stressfree' condition at which the sintering, diffusion bonding or spray deposition of the material is accomplished, it is widely recognized that essentially all processing methods produce 'intrinsic' or 'quench' stresses, over and above the 'thermal stresses' induced during temperature excursions from the 'stress-free' processing temperature (or relaxation temperature) to service temperature (Suresh and Mortensen, 1998) . A considering of 'initial mechanical state' during the research of functionally graded materials is vital to the success of design with high performance.

While most of the foregoing analyses envision the initial state as the 'stressfree' condition at which the sintering, diffusion bonding or spray deposition of the material is accomplished, it is widely recognized that essentially all processing methods produce 'intrinsic' or 'quench' stresses, over and above the 'thermal stresses' induced during temperature excursions from the 'stress-free' processing temperature (or relaxation temperature) to service temperature.


Magnetorheological (MR) material is a class of smart materials whose rheological properties can be controlled rapidly and reversibly by the application of an external magnetic field. Traditionally, it is composed of MR fluids and MR foams, while MR elastomers become a new family member recently. MR materials typically consist of micron-sized magnetic particles suspended in a non-magnetic matrix. The magnetic interactions between particles in these composites depend on the magnetization orientation of each particle and on their spatial relationship, coupling the magnetic and strain fields in these materials and giving rise to a number of interesting magnetomechanical phenomena [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] .

The magnetic interactions between particles in these composites depend on the magnetization orientation of each particle and on their spatial relationship, coupling the magnetic and strain fields in these materials and giving rise to a number of interesting magnetomechanical phenomena.


MR elastomers (MREs) are composites where magnetic particles are suspended in a non-magnetic solid or a gel-like matrix. The particles inside the elastomer can be homogeneously distributed or they can be grouped (e.g. into chain-like columnar structures). To produce an aligned particle structure, the magnetic field is applied to the polymer composite during crosslinking so that the columnar structures can form and become locked in place upon the final cure. This kind of processing imparts special anisotropic properties to the viscoelastic materials. Only recently has the field responsiveness of the viscoelastic properties of these elastomers been explored [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] .

Only recently has the field responsiveness of the viscoelastic properties of these elastomers been explored.


In order to make shared memory programming possible in distributed architectures, a shared memory abstraction must be created. This abstraction is called Distributed Shared Memory (DSM). The first DSM systems tried to give parallel programmers the same guarantees they had when programming uniprocessors. It has been observed that providing such a strong memory consistency model creates a huge coherence overhead, slowing down the parallel application and bringing frequently the system into a thrashing state [10] . To alleviate this problem, researchers have proposed to relax some consistency conditions, thus creating new shared memory behaviors that are different from the traditional uniprocessor one.

It has been observed that providing such a strong memory consistency model creates a huge coherence overhead, slowing down the parallel application and bringing frequently the system into a thrashing state.


To assess its validity, we simulate the proxy method by supplementing limited information from a recent household auto ownership survey with zonal census aggregates, resembling data that could be constructed using information from the DMV and the Census. Census information is reported at a range of spatial levels, specifically census block group, tract, and zipcode. A census block group, representing about 1,000 people, is the smallest unit for which detailed socioeconomic and demographic information is aggregated. Census tracts, composed of a set of block groups, contain 4,000 people on average. Census tracts are specifically designed to group individuals relatively homogeneous in terms of demographics and economic status (US-Census-Bureau 1994) . According to the U.S. Census Bureau, census tracts are intended to be permanent statistical subdivisions, increasing their usefulness in empirical applications. Zip codes, which were introduced by the U.S. Postal Service for operational reasons rather than to represent similar individuals, contain on average 30,000 individuals. Accordingly, we estimate three ownership choice models using these three separate zonal proxy groups and compare our results to a parallel model using only data drawn from a household survey. We evaluate the proxy models on the bases of their predictive ability and their approximation of household model coefficients.

Census tracts are specifically designed to group individuals relatively homogeneous in terms of demographics and economic status.


Another well-known and recent sentiment lexicons for English is SentiWordNet (SWN) [5] . In SentiWordNet, three scores are assigned to each of WordNet synsets showing how positive, negative and objective these synsets are. These scores are derived from combining the results of eight ternary classifiers. The major idea behind constructing SentiWordNet is the classification of WordNet synsets using semi-supervised classification of synset glosses. An important point that should be considered regarding the scores assigned to each synset is that these scores do not show the strength of the polarity. They only show that how much a synset is going to be positive, negative or objective. As a result, the sum of these three scores for every synset is equal to 1.0.

Another well-known and recent sentiment lexicons for English is SentiWordNet (SWN).


Sustainable forms of transport are a key issue for cities across the globe, including smart cities. Cycling is an important element of sustainable and urban transport. At the same time, transport plays a major role as part of the increasing number of objects that are connected and online-often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, " [t] he first quarter of 2016 was the first time ever in history that more cars than phones were newly connected to US mobile networks" [1] (p. 48). Increasingly, only those modes of transport/mobility that are smart/intelligent/networked and engage with data are 'visible' in the socio-economic context-and this tends to be discussions of smart and autonomous cars for the most part. This provides new challenges for sustainable modes of transport such as cycling, and their visibility in the policy context, underlining the significance of this research.

For example, " [t] he first quarter of 2016 was the first time ever in history that more cars than phones were newly connected to US mobile networks"(p. 48).


The present paper is part of the first comprehensive study dealing with the community structure, habitat preferences and biodiversity of the metazoan meiofaunal community associated with coldwater coral degradation zones (Raes and Vanreusel, 2005) . The main conclusions of this study, which dealt with meiofauna at higher (i.e. coarser) taxonomic levels, are briefly as follows. The meioinfaunal community composition in the sediment beneath the large biogenic substrata was similar to that of other slope sediments. However, the meioepifaunal community associated with the large biogenic substrata was significantly different from the meio-infauna: it was characterized by a lower dominance of nematodes and higher abundances of several other taxa. This indicates a positive influence of large biogenic substrata on the number of taxa present in the whole ecosystem. In particular, coral fragments housed a characteristic community that was significantly different from that found in the sediment. Nevertheless, the meio-epifauna was composed of a typical sediment-dwelling background community, supplemented with taxa adapted to an epifaunal life strategy. This was attributed to the presence of sediment infill within the framework of both substrata and the close contact with the underlying sediment. Densities in the underlying sediment were low. In contrast, both large biogenic substrata were thought to be lowdisturbance habitats, rich in food and hence densely populated. Because of these properties of the two substratum types, the high microhabitat diversity and the low dominance of nematodes, cold-water coral degradation zones were assumed to be biologically diverse. Of all microhabitat types, coral fragments supported the most diverse communities, whereas the underlying sediment was the least diverse. Whether the same conclusions can be drawn for the nematode community at a generic level will be discussed next.

The present paper is part of the first comprehensive study dealing with the community structure, habitat preferences and biodiversity of the metazoan meiofaunal community associated with coldwater coral degradation zones.


A particular application of the gravity model is to explain and predict the effects of Free Trade Agreements on trade flows [5] . Free Trade Agreements are forms of trade pacts between countries; these agreements eliminate tariffs, quotas and other barriers for a number of goods (if not for all), traded between involved partners. The aim of FTAs is obvious: increased trade between two countries as a result of relaxing or removing existing institutional and economic barriers. FTAs have been a tool widely implemented for enhancing trade between countries; examples include the North American Free Trade Agreement between the USA, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA), the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), the ASEAN FTA between eastern Asian countries and the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement (EMFTA).

A particular application of the gravity model is to explain and predict the effects of Free Trade Agreements on trade flows.


Antiseptics and disinfectants are used extensively in hospitals and other health care centres to control the growth of microbes on both living tissues and inanimate objects. They are essential parts of infection control practices and aid in the prevention of nosocomial infections (Larson et al. 1991) . But a common problem is the selection of disinfectants and antiseptics because different pathogens vary in their response to different antiseptics or disinfectants (Russell 1996) .

They are essential parts of infection control practices and aid in the prevention of nosocomial infections.

But a common problem is the selection of disinfectants and antiseptics because different pathogens vary in their response to different antiseptics or disinfectants.


Dettol is widely used in homes and healthcare settings for various purposes including disinfection of skin, objects and equipments, as well as environmental surfaces. With prior cleaning before application, the number of microorganisms colonizing the skin and surfaces are greatly reduced (Rutala 1996) . The antimicrobial properties of chloroxylenol, the main chemical constituent of Dettol and other chlorinated phenols have been extensively studied (Hugo and Bloomfield 1971a) . The antimicrobial properties of the disinfectant against some pathogenic bacteria have earlier been reported (Mellefont et al. 2003) . Moreover, microorganisms are continuously acquiring resistance to new antiseptics and disinfectants, as a result, no single antiseptic or disinfectant will be appropriate for all pathogens (Tortora et al. 1998) . Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of an antiseptic or disinfectant against a specific pathogen so that an appropriate agent can be easily selected. In this paper, antibacterial activity of six groups of antiseptics and disinfectants against five pathogens using filter paper disc diffusion method are discussed.

With prior cleaning before application, the number of microorganisms colonizing the skin and surfaces are greatly reduced.

The antimicrobial properties of chloroxylenol, the main chemical constituent of Dettol and other chlorinated phenols have been extensively studied.

The antimicrobial properties of the disinfectant against some pathogenic bacteria have earlier been reported.

Moreover, microorganisms are continuously acquiring resistance to new antiseptics and disinfectants, as a result, no single antiseptic or disinfectant will be appropriate for all pathogens.


Cronbach's α is a measure of the internal consistency of the scale, which directly corresponds to both the number of items and their magnitude of intercorrelation (Spector 1992) . A widely accepted rule of thumb is that α should be above 0.7 to demonstrate internal consistency (Nunnally 1978) . All items had high reliabilities with Cronbach's α ≥ 0.7 (see Table 2 ). Based on the results of corrected item-total correlations and Cronbach's α, it was decided that all items should be retained. Step 7: Survey summary statistics Index scores for categories were formed by averaging responses for items across each category. For example, in the survey tool there are three items that measure proactive planning. The three items were added together and averaged to get the average score for proactive planning. Once average criterion scores were obtained for each survey, survey scores were added together and averaged to produce an overall score for each of the 15 water management survey criterion (see Table 3 ).

Cronbach's α is a measure of the internal consistency of the scale, which directly corresponds to both the number of items and their magnitude of intercorrelation.

A widely accepted rule of thumb is that α should be above 0.7 to demonstrate internal consistency.


Voluntary turnover often results in departing employees migrating to competing firms, creating an even more critical situation since this knowledge can now be used against the organization. Voluntary turnover has in fact been accelerating over the past decade as recent studies have shown that employees on average switch employers every six years (Kransdorff, 1996) . This situation demands senior management to consider the repercussions of voluntary turnover, and immediately create contingent plans. Otherwise, senior management may be caught unprepared if (or when) their best performers leave. There is recent research that supports the notion that organizations generally do not manage their turnover effectively as it relates to knowledge management (see Stovel and Bontis, 2002 in this issue).

Voluntary turnover has in fact been accelerating over the past decade as recent studies have shown that employees on average switch employers every six years.


Another important antecedent to human capital development rests with general employee sentiment. Employee sentiment gain be defined as the inter-relationship between employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation. Of course, these all relate with an organization's overall culture. Organizations that have a culture that supports and encourages cooperative innovation should attempt to understand what it is about their culture that gives them a competitive advantage and develop and nurture those cultural attributes (Barney, 1986) . Culture constitutes the beliefs, values, and attitudes pervasive in the organization and results in a language, symbols, and habits of behaviour and thought. Increasingly it is recognized as the conscious or unconscious product of the senior management's belief (Hall, 1992) . Barney discussed the potential for organizational culture to serve as a source of sustained competitive advantage. He concluded that "firms that do not have the required cultures cannot engage in activities that will modify their cultures and generate sustained superior performance because their modified cultures typically will be neither rare nor imperfectly imitable " (1986: 656) . Human capital development as it relates to culture can be managed if the organizational membership is relatively stable. This task becomes much more difficult when there is mobility in the employee base. This transient change in an organization's employee profile -also called turnover -is a significant challenge when attempting to leverage human capital.

Organizations that have a culture that supports and encourages cooperative innovation should attempt to understand what it is about their culture that gives them a competitive advantage and develop and nurture those cultural attributes.

Increasingly it is recognized as the conscious or unconscious product of the senior management's belief.


ALA uptake kinetics of B16-BL6 melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo ALA that has entered the cytoplasm may enter the heme synthesis pathway and transiently accumulate PpIX. PpIX converted from ALA preferentially accumulates in tumors, the accumulation depending on the kind of tumor or administration method. To estimate the behavior of ALA in B16-BL6 cells in vivo, porphyrin levels were examined in vitro. Although other kinds of porphyrin were detected by this method, PpIX is the major porphyrin in cells or tissues (Fritsch et al. 1997) . Figure 1A shows porphyrin kinetics in B16-BL6 cells incubated with 10 μg/mL ALA. Porphyrin levels increased with incubation time. Figure 1B shows the porphyrin concentration in B16-BL6 cells incubated with ALA for 24 h. The porphyrin concentration was plotted as a function of ALA concentration. Porphyrin accumulation increased with increasing ALA concentration in B16-BL6 cells after 24 h incubation in vitro.

Although other kinds of porphyrin were detected by this method, PpIX is the major porphyrin in cells or tissues.


A simple test for the model adequacy is to compare the overall (Kaplan-Meier) survival curve to the modelbased predicted survival. Ideally, for any group of patients the two should be close, if not identical [19] . As Kaplan Meier curves provide a visual depiction of the raw data, the failure times (the "steps" down) and the censoring times (the vertical bars), they also provide a mathematical estimate of the underlying probability distribution. The survival functions obtained are then compared graphically with the traditional Kaplan Meier estimate. The estimates of the survival functions obtained under the two links and, by applying Kaplan Meier method are found to be approximately same.

Ideally, for any group of patients the two should be close, if not identical.


Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all diabetic cases and is the main driver of diabetes epidemic [23] . DN is one of the serious, progressive, complications associated with diabetes and is the leading cause of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in the United States [24] . Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of kidney disease in patients starting renal replacement therapy and affects approximately 40% of type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients [25] . The complexity of renal complication, challenges the research community to apply technological advances to develop prevention treatment programs which will lighten the burden of diabetes. The present study focused on estimating the survival functions of type 2 diabetic patients who develop renal complication.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all diabetic cases and is the main driver of diabetes epidemic.

DN is one of the serious, progressive, complications associated with diabetes and is the leading cause of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in the United States.

Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of kidney disease in patients starting renal replacement therapy and affects approximately 40% of type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients.