To compute selectional preferences, PONG combines information from a limited corpus labeled with the grammatical dependencies described in Section 2, and a much larger unlabeled corpus. The key idea is to abstract word sequences labeled with grammatical relations into POS N-grams, in order to learn a mapping from POS N-grams to those relations. For instance, PONG abstracts the parsed sentence Pat opened the door as NN VB DT NN, with the first and last NN as the subject and object of the VB. To estimate the distribution of POS N-grams containing particular target and relative words, PONG POS-tags Google Ngrams (Franz and Brants, 2006) . Section 3.1 derives PONG's probabilistic model for combining information from labeled and unlabeled corpora. Section 3.2 and Section 3.3 describe how PONG estimates probabilities from each corpus. Section 3.4 discusses a sparseness problem revealed during probability estimation, and how we address it in PONG.

To estimate the distribution of POS N-grams containing particular target and relative words, PONG POS-tags Google Ngrams.


Derivation of a coarse-grained model for diacylglycerols. The requirement of a new bead (OG) to treat molecules such as DOG (Fig. 1a) at the CG level called for the development of a set of parameters fully compatible with the existent SDK force field. To this end, as a first step, it was needed to identify a series of compounds for which experimental density and/or surface tension data were available in order to determine all the nonbonded Lennard-Jones (LJ) parameters involving OG. The literature values of the selected compounds are collected in Table 1 [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] . Their mapping can be found in Supplementary Fig. 1 .

The literature values of the selected compounds are collected in Table 1.


Clustering is a technique commonly used in several research and application areas, such as social sciences, medicine, biology, engineering, computer science, image analysis, bioinformatics, and marketing. The goal of clustering is to discover or uncover groups in data. To this end, there are essentially two different approaches: distance-based, where a distance or a similarity measure between objects is defined and similar objects are assigned to the same group; model-based, where the data are assumed to be generated by a finite mixture model, and objects are assigned to groups based on the corresponding estimates of the posterior probabilities [1] .

To this end, there are essentially two different approaches: distance-based, where a distance or a similarity measure between objects is defined and similar objects are assigned to the same group; model-based, where the data are assumed to be generated by a finite mixture model, and objects are assigned to groups based on the corresponding estimates of the posterior probabilities.


Urban air pollution is currently a serious environmental problem. The non-uniformity in the building distribution in a city involves complex flow patterns and, therein, heterogeneous pollutant dispersion within the streets. In addition, the high levels of detrimental pollutants in urban areas are mostly dominated by traffic emission. The main related traffic pollutants are NO x (nitrogen oxides; NO + NO 2 ), CO, hydrocarbons and particles. But given the proximity between sources and receptors in the street, only the fastest chemical reactions have an impact on pollutant concentrations. Therefore, some slow reactive compounds like CO or hydrocarbons can be considered as practically inert species at microscale. However, the NO 2 dissociation in the presence of light and the NO titration by reduction of O 3 take place rather fast (Vardoulakis et al., 2003) . Furthermore, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also involved in this complex chain of reactions.

However, the NO 2 dissociation in the presence of light and the NO titration by reduction of O 3 take place rather fast.


The coupled behavior between chemistry and dynamic processes is also a research goal. The relative importance of chemistry vs. turbulent transport has also been investigated for homogeneous surface layers in the past (Galmarini et al., 1997; Molemaker and Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, 1998) . The relative differences between turbulent and chemical timescales were evaluated using the Damkholer number. However, we estimate that this approach is not appropriate in the urban canopy layer (UCL). Basically because the transport is not only turbulent (as it is in the homogeneous surface layer), but also driven by the mean motions induced by the presence of the obstacles. Instead of adding a new timescale -linked to the mean transport -and trying to deal with the strong heterogeneity of the flow and associated timescales typical of the UCL, we found it more straightforward to perform simulations with and without chemical reactions, and to assess the relative importance of chemistry based on the difference between the simulations. In turn, regarding the chemical scheme used, the best compromise between accuracy and computational time required is also part of the main conclusions since a complex chemical scheme implies more than twice the CPU time needed for the photostationary steady state.

The relative importance of chemistry vs. turbulent transport has also been investigated for homogeneous surface layers in the past.


Though a more in-depth and qualitative analysis of differences in scoring behaviour between teachers, peers, and the students giving the oral presentations is beyond the scope of the present study, we have to keep in mind that the requirement to attain a high level of reliability was not completely answered (Price and O'Donovan, 2006; Topping, 2003) . This finding suggests that the training of assessors is very important, and is in line with ideas presented (Van Zundert et al., 2009) . Such training could provide more examples and/or more concrete indicators. The suggestion is also very important for practitioners. They should provide extensive training to learners. Enriching the learning process with an explicit discussion of the assessment approach and criteria between peers and between teacher and learners could enhance the quality of the educational process.

Though a more in-depth and qualitative analysis of differences in scoring behaviour between teachers, peers, and the students giving the oral presentations is beyond the scope of the present study, we have to keep in mind that the requirement to attain a high level of reliability was not completely answered.

This finding suggests that the training of assessors is very important, and is in line with ideas presented.


With regard to the research question focusing on student perceptions of peer assessment, it can be concluded that the results reflect a very positive attitude towards the value of peer assessment. In addition, the results indicate that the actual process of carrying out self-and or peer-assessment affects this perception in a positive way. This is a promising finding in the light of the impact of perceptions on the outcomes of student learning (Struyven et al., 2003) . We might assume that students' perceptions of peer assessments will influence their willingness to take into account the feedback generated by peer assessment and to actually do something with the feedback. This positive attitude is probably also reflected in the ranking of the instructional components when participants declared that they learned most from the feedback.

This is a promising finding in the light of the impact of perceptions on the outcomes of student learning.


Comparison of the teacher and peer assessment rubric scores points at a positive relationship, but also at critical differences. The lower intra-class correlation described here suggests that peers and teachers still interpret the criteria and indicators of the rubric in a different way. This can be explained by differences in the width and depth of their experience basis. Also, within the group of peers, not all students could have applied the same criteria in a comparable and/or consistent way. Lastly, the finding that peers report higher marks as compared to teachers is in agreement with the results of other studies (Langan et al., 2008) .

Lastly, the finding that peers report higher marks as compared to teachers is in agreement with the results of other studies.


In this setting, there are technologies developed that make the real time feedback possible and create an engaging environment for learners. One of these technologies is Personal Response System (PRS) also known as Clickers or Electronic Voting System (EVS). PRS has primarily been adopted to enhance the learning experience. It has been used in different contexts and subject areas (Liu & Taylor, 2013; Masikunas, Panayiotidis, & Burke, 2007; Moss & Crowley, 2011; Voelkel & Bennett, 2014; Wolter, Lundeberg, Kang, & Herreid, 2011) .

It has been used in different contexts and subject areas.


Undergraduate classes are growing in size. The large classes are more common in foundation studies and the courses common between different majors. In these large classes, the lecture is the mainstream format for delivering course material. Students also expect to receive the material through formal lectures. The lecturer in this system is the centre of attention and is responsible for transferring knowledge to students. However, there is well established evidence that one way communication in the lecture setting does not result in good learning outcomes (Gysbers, Johnston, Hancock, & Denyer, 2011) . Students retain only a small percentage of the learning material.

However, there is well established evidence that one way communication in the lecture setting does not result in good learning outcomes.


In C-MICS, microcoaxial phacoemulsification, irrigation, aspiration, and phacoemulsification are performed with the same instruments as those used in C-SICS [3] . As a result, C-MICS inherits nearly all the advantages of C-SICS, while making smaller incisions. C-MICS patients can then expect more rapid wound healing, smaller SIAs, better post-operative visual acuity, lower risk of infection, and more stable corneal biomechanics following their procedures [4] [5] [6] . However, as with other cataract operations, C-MICS may have some disadvantages. Skeptics argue that smaller incisions may be related to decreased followability of the nucleus, reduced efficacy, limited infusions (due to smaller instrument gauges), and increased wound trauma (caused by the relatively tight incisions) [5, [7] [8] [9] . Numerous clinical trials have been designed and conducted to determine whether C-MICS has more advantages than C-SICS; however, a consensus has not yet been reached. We conducted this meta-analysis to quantitatively ascertain if a switch from C-SICS to C-MICS is necessary.

In C-MICS, microcoaxial phacoemulsification, irrigation, aspiration, and phacoemulsification are performed with the same instruments as those used in C-SICS.

C-MICS patients can then expect more rapid wound healing, smaller SIAs, better post-operative visual acuity, lower risk of infection, and more stable corneal biomechanics following their procedures.

Skeptics argue that smaller incisions may be related to decreased followability of the nucleus, reduced efficacy, limited infusions (due to smaller instrument gauges), and increased wound trauma (caused by the relatively tight incisions).


In this paper, we investigate the overall outage probability dependence on different simultaneous effects, like optical link length, distance between RF user and base station (BS), modulation scheme and constellation size used, fading and shadowing severity, turbulence conditions, and pointing errors. The FSO apertures are usually deployed on high buildings, and therefore vibrations of the transmitted optical signal caused by building sway, strong wind, or weak earthquakes causes misalignment between the transmitter and the receiver. The pointing error phenomena is therefore also known as misalignment fading [18] - [20] . The goal of this paper is to optimize the laser beam radius at the waist in the presence of Nakagami-m multipath fading and Gamma shadowing over the RF part, in order to minimize the outage probability. In addition, using the probability density function (PDF) of received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we spread the analysis to determining the overall amount of fading (AF), which is a significant measure of fading severity [5] , [21] .

The pointing error phenomena is therefore also known as misalignment fading.

In addition, using the probability density function (PDF) of received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we spread the analysis to determining the overall amount of fading (AF), which is a significant measure of fading severity.


Over the last few decades, many efforts have been focused on the laboratory testing using a bidirectional simple shear apparatus (Jaime, 1975.; Casagrande and Rendon, 1978. and Ishihara and Yamazaki, 1980; Boulanger et al, 1993; DeGroot et al, 1993; Rutherford, 2012) . Unfortunately, only few apparatuses can successfully control the boundary condition. This is mainly due to the difficulties in designing an apparatus that can perform multi-directional shearing, and there are many serious problems on existing bi-directional simple shear apparatus, such as rocking and pinching problem (Ishihara and Yamazaki, 1980) . In addition, these apparatuses developed by researchers have not been widely used.

Over the last few decades, many efforts have been focused on the laboratory testing using a bidirectional simple shear apparatus.

This is mainly due to the difficulties in designing an apparatus that can perform multi-directional shearing, and there are many serious problems on existing bi-directional simple shear apparatus, such as rocking and pinching problem.


Merit of any model is not only in how well it fits the existing observation but in predicting the future observations. Without being comprehensive, we have considered here several cosmological models to explore how well they fit the supernovae Ia observations, which are considered as gold standard for the cosmological model and presented them in Table 1 . All models are able to fit the data very well with two adjustable parameter. First parameter indeed is the Hubble constant H 0 (≡c/R 0 ) and the second parameter is the model dependent parameter, such as Ω m,0 in the ΛCDM model or the luminosity flux correction parameter, such as b in the tired light model. The χ 2 probability P for all these models ranges from a low of 43.9% to a high of 67.3% with most models yielding P values greater than 60%. Statistically, therefore none of the model can be rejected, although the highest P value model is none other than the ΛCDM model. Worth noticing is the EdeS-NA model in Class C in the table that yields over 60% χ 2 probability with a single fit parameter fit (H 0 = 69.05 ± 0.44). This model is also the only model in Table 1 , other than the ΛCDM model, that yields an increase in the χ 2 probability when the sole high redshift supernova at z = 1.914 is added to calculate χ 2 while constraining the model parameter to those already determined using the SNe Ia 580 points dataset. This model therefore may be worth taking seriously when analysing GRB data as well as for predicting future higher redshift supernovae observation with the forthcoming thirty meter telescope (TMT) [33] .

This model therefore may be worth taking seriously when analysing GRB data as well as for predicting future higher redshift supernovae observation with the forthcoming thirty meter telescope (TMT).


For applications with concurrency-bug failures, we perform a head-to-head comparison between PBI and the state-of-the-art instrumentation-based failure diagnosis tool CCI [16] . We have evaluated all the benchmarks examined in CCI paper (Table 2) under the same environment used for CCI. Our evaluation uses the same bug-triggering inputs for PBI and CCI. Further, we use two MySQL benchmarks that are not used in CCI work to evaluate PBI's capability of supporting C++ programs.

For applications with concurrency-bug failures, we perform a head-to-head comparison between PBI and the state-of-the-art instrumentation-based failure diagnosis tool CCI.


In the recent years, information grows rapidly along with the development of social media. The information continues to spread on the internet especially in the form of the textual data type. For a short text data, it requires less amount of time for readers to know its contents. While, for a long text data, the entire text of the document should be reviewed to understand its contents, so it takes more effort and time. One possible solution from this problem is to read the summary. The summary is the simplified version of a document which can be done using a summarization tools. Summarization tools help the user to simplify the whole document and only showuseful information (Munot & Govilkar, 2014) . However, to generate such summary is not that simple, it involves a deep understanding of the documents.

Summarization tools help the user to simplify the whole document and only showuseful information.


Third, our results clearly show that deviations from foreign interest rates disappear rapidly with varying speed of convergence. Results on the half-lives and their corresponding CIs indicate that it is possible to have persistent deviations as well as short-lived deviations. In terms of market dominance, the overall evidence appears to suggest that no single foreign market drives the region's capital markets. All in all, these are more encouraging results than in the past. Our findings have important implications on the progress of the Asian financial liberalization. The evidence reveals a high degree of market integration in all the Asian countries, including China and India. This study confirms that the impact of stabilization policies in the Asian countries has been limited since the choices and the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies in the region will be highly influenced by external factors originating from abroad, including the euro shocks. From another perspective, the higher degree of real returns' synchronization among national financial markets lowers the benefits from international portfolio diversification, including regional portfolio diversification (Liu et al., 2013) .

From another perspective, the higher degree of real returns' synchronization among national financial markets lowers the benefits from international portfolio diversification, including regional portfolio diversification.


So, we see that many factors contributed to the depletion of Chernozem soils in the 19th-early 20th centuries. Separate consideration is given to historical changes in tillage technologies and their impact on soil fertility. According to an analysis of land use history in the study territory, soils before the 1930s were tilled with wooden and iron plows to a depth of 10-20 cm. Mechanical plowing with tractors led to a gradually increasing depth of the plow layer. At present, primary tillage penetrates to a depth of 30-37 cm. The wide using of mineral and organic fertilizers began only after World War II. However, volumes of fertilization were relatively low. The annual input of farmyard manure has never been higher than 4 Mg·ha -at least until the end of the 20th century. Another factor is that, since the 1960s, more sugar beet and other industrial crops have been cultivated in addition to the cereal crops. These crops require higher use of farm machinery on fields. This led to further deterioration of arable Chernozems' physical properties through compaction and destruction of soil structure [12, 13] .

This led to further deterioration of arable Chernozems' physical properties through compaction and destruction of soil structure.


Afforestation of steppe agricultural lands is a well-known practice and it has a long history of practice in cropland management not only in Russia, but within other regions of Northern Hemisphere [5, 14, 15] . In the 19th and 20th centuries, preferences for this practice were connected with protection of croplands from wind and water erosion, improvement of microclimate for crop growth, and creation of new refugia for wild animal and plant habitat. At the end of the 20th to the beginning of the 21st centuries, windbreaks were often viewed from the ecosystem perspective for atmospheric carbon sequestration, having positive influence on the climatic balance of CO2 [16] [17] [18] [19] . Therefore, the current objectives of this study are the collection and analysis of new data, reflecting opportunities for windbreaks to sequester soil organic carbon and rehabilitate degraded soils. One such perspective region, naturally presented by Chernozems, is the Central Russian Upland, situated within the central part of Eastern Europe.

Afforestation of steppe agricultural lands is a well-known practice and it has a long history of practice in cropland management not only in Russia, but within other regions of Northern Hemisphere.

At the end of the 20th to the beginning of the 21st centuries, windbreaks were often viewed from the ecosystem perspective for atmospheric carbon sequestration, having positive influence on the climatic balance of CO2.


Until the end of the 1940s, many agroforestry activities within steppe agricultural lands were concentrated in experimental scientific stations such as Kamennaya Steppe. Only in the 1950-1960s did afforestation become public agricultural policy in the Soviet Union [5] . The "Plan for the Transformation of Nature"-a comprehensive program of scientific management of nature in the Soviet Union was implemented in the late 1940s. The plan was adopted on the initiative of Stalin and put into effect the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on 20 October 1948 as "On the plan of shelterbelts, the introduction of grass crop rotations, construction of ponds and reservoirs to ensure high crop yields in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the European part of the USSR". In print, the document is called "Stalin's Plan for the Transformation of Nature". The plan was unprecedented in the global experience in terms of scale. The program included a plan to plant windbreaks to block the hot, dry winds and together with ponds and reservoirs to increase water storage and ameliorate climate change in an area of more than 120 million hectares, which is equal to the total territory of England, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands (Figure 1 ). The centerpiece of the plan was field-protective afforestation and irrigation. In the course of the project, afforestation of agricultural lands covered four major watershed basins of the rivers Dnieper, Don, Volga, and Ural in the European South of Russia. The first designed windbreak was to stretch from the Ural Mountains to the shores of the Caspian Sea, with a length of more than a thousand kilometers. The most intensive planting of windbreaks took place in 1949-1953 when 2.1 million hectares of windbreaks were planted. In the 1950-1960s, afforestation of the Southern part of Eastern Europe continued, but not as intensively as from 1949-1953. The main result of this State plan for agricultural lands afforestation was an ecological situation of stabilization as well as in increase of crop yields [5] .

Only in the 1950-1960s did afforestation become public agricultural policy in the Soviet Union.

The main result of this State plan for agricultural lands afforestation was an ecological situation of stabilization as well as in increase of crop yields.


Dietary immunomodulators (e.g. CHI) were recognized as indirect growth promoters by enhancing immune function of animals. The published data showed that CHI was helpful in improving the growth of beef cattle (Yu et al. 2012) . To investigate the effects of CHI on immune functions, the levels of immunoglobulins and cytokines in serum were determined in the experiment. The results showed that CHI dose of 500 mg/kg increased remarkably serum IgA, and improved IgM to a slight extent, however, the effects were weakened with increasing the dose of CHI.

The published data showed that CHI was helpful in improving the growth of beef cattle.


For the multiple regression analysis, age and length of service in the present cadre were added as predictor variables along with self-efficacy and organizational commitment, when psychological barriers to technological change was the dependent variable. The R 2 value was found to be .34, which indicates that 34.15% variance in the dependent variable variance, is to be explained by the combined predictor variables. Multiplying beta weights by the corresponding r each variable's contribution to the variance is seen (Guilford, 1956) . Out of the total variance of 34.15%, self-efficacy contributed the most i.e., 17.5%, organizational commitment 8% and length of service in present cadre 8% (Table 2 ). The obtained multiple regression equation states that for every unit increase in age (X 1 ) and length of service in present cadre (X 2 ), led to an increase in perceived psychological barriers to technological change by their b coefficients of .01 and .04 respectively whereas for every unit increase in self-efficacy (X 3 ) and organizational commitment (X 4 ) there is the decrease in perceived psychological barriers to technological change by their b coefficients of -.83 and -.16 respectively. The obtained t values indicated that except age other variables were found to be significant predictors of perceived psychological barriers to technological change. When organizational commitment was taken as dependent variable the multiple R=.57 and R 2 =.32 were found. Comparing the relative contribution of different predictor variables, age contributed 16%, psychological barriers to technological change 8%, length of service in present cadre 4% and self-efficacy 3% of the variance in organizational commitment (Table 3 ). The obtained multiple regression equation states that for every unit increase in age (X 1 ), length of service in present cadre (X 2 ), and self-efficacy (X 3 ) there is the increase in organizational commitment by their b coefficients (.70, .04 and .69 respectively) whereas perceived psychological barriers to technological change led to a decrease in organizational commitment by its b coefficient of -.57.

Multiplying beta weights by the corresponding r each variable's contribution to the variance is seen.


Another important implication is that organizations must be able to reinforce employees to stay in the same organization for longer period and increase their organizational commitment. Hence, committed employees would have less barriers to change. High performance of employees will result when there is a positive change in attitudes as a result of elimination of psychological barriers to accept new technology by a planned change process (Ghani & Augustine, 1999) .

High performance of employees will result when there is a positive change in attitudes as a result of elimination of psychological barriers to accept new technology by a planned change process.


The subject of this study presented a clear relaxation of the MFDS approximately 100 ms after the snap of the clicker. She also showed a gradual relaxation of the MED after the snap of the clicker. In other words, there was no active contraction of MED. Throughout the entire shot, the normalized values of the MED and MFDS were significantly different (p < 0.05) at the time intervals of -1000, -900, 100, 200 ms (Fig. 2) . However, an active contraction of MFDS was observed approximately 200 ms after the snap of the clicker and just after the period of sudden relaxation. From high-speed film observation it is known that the bowstring travels past the fingertips within a time period of about 60 ms [2] . The activation of the archer's MFDS consequently does not further influence bowstring travel.

From high-speed film observation it is known that the bowstring travels past the fingertips within a time period of about 60 ms.


The bowstring is released when an audible signal is received from a device called a ''clicker'' which is used to check draw length [1] . Thanks to this device, every arrow can be drawn to an exact distance, and therefore a standard release can be obtained. The clicker is reputed to improve an archer's score and is used by nearly all target archers. The archer should react to the clicker as quickly as possible and for this reason a contraction and relaxation strategy in the forearm and pull finger muscles should be developed for repeatable performance.

The bowstring is released when an audible signal is received from a device called a ''clicker'' which is used to check draw length.


In stressful tropical ecosystems, such as the Restinga forest, some species may play a key role in promoting diversity. The structure and functioning of this ecosystem seems to be dependent on certain species that act as 'nurse' species tolerant to stress that ameliorate the local habitat and enable the establishment of less tolerant species (Scarano, 2009) . One example is the hemi-epiphytic genus Clusia (Franco and Nobel, 1989; Young et al., 1995; Zaluar and Scarano, 2000; Scarano, 2002; Dias and Scarano, 2007) . Because D. sellowiana acts as a substratum for the establishment of Clusia, its contribution is even more important in maintaining the diversity of the Restinga forests. In this case, while many species depend on the genus Clusia for their establishment, our results demonstrate that seedlings of Clusia are more abundant on tree fern trunks than on ground. Our results also reveal Clusia criuva as an indicator species for the "on-away" group, two markedly different habitats in terms of species composition. This result indicates that tree fern trunks may provide a source of nutrients for Clusia development because the growth during the epiphytic phase is dependent on the accumulated nutrient-rich humus in the crown of the host species (Putz and Holbrook, 1989) .

The structure and functioning of this ecosystem seems to be dependent on certain species that act as 'nurse' species tolerant to stress that ameliorate the local habitat and enable the establishment of less tolerant species.

One example is the hemi-epiphytic genus Clusia.

This result indicates that tree fern trunks may provide a source of nutrients for Clusia development because the growth during the epiphytic phase is dependent on the accumulated nutrient-rich humus in the crown of the host species.


Aluminum has been used in many studies as the nontoxic proxy for beryllium. Thanks to the similar electronegativities of Be and Al the formation of compounds, especially the oxides and possibly the hydrides can be studied by replacing Be with Al [19] . In the present study we have compared the laser ablation rates and deuterium retention properties of Al and Be mixture layers with W.

Thanks to the similar electronegativities of Be and Al the formation of compounds, especially the oxides and possibly the hydrides can be studied by replacing Be with Al.


The feasibility of using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) as an analytical method for the detection of deuterium (D) in fusion-relevant materials has attracted much research interest recently [1] [2] [3] . The results obtained by LIBS have also been crosscorrelated with data obtained by various ion-beam methods like Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) [4] . As a part of this work the LIBS method was used for determining the composition of the deposited layers of fusion relevant materials on the samples from the inner divertor tiles of the ITER-like wall of JET. Deuterium * Corresponding author.

The feasibility of using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) as an analytical method for the detection of deuterium (D) in fusion-relevant materials has attracted much research interest recently.

The results obtained by LIBS have also been crosscorrelated with data obtained by various ion-beam methods like Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS).

Deuterium * Corresponding author.


The qualitative analysis of the data followed a set of procedures that provided a logical chain of reasoning and iterative review (Newton Suter, 2012) . Audio-files were listened to several times and detailed notes and transcripts made. Key themes and conceptual linkages were made in the second iteration, before reviewing the results of each transcript again to identify consistencies and differences in the responses between participants. The results presented below are drawn from the interviews and the focus groups.

The qualitative analysis of the data followed a set of procedures that provided a logical chain of reasoning and iterative review.


Here, the introduced methodology is applied to OMI measured reflectances at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), using the aerosol microphysical models of the OMI multiwavelength aerosol algorithm OMAERO. The operational OMAERO product uses a look-up table (LUT)-based technique for the retrieval of aerosol optical properties in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength region. The multidimensional LUT contains pre-calculated aerosol microphysical models having specific optical properties such as AOT and single scattering albedo (SSA). The aerosol microphysical models represent four main types of aerosols: desert dust, biomass burning, weakly absorbing and volcanic aerosols (Torres et al., 2002 (Torres et al., , 2007 Livingston et al., 2009) .

The aerosol microphysical models represent four main types of aerosols: desert dust, biomass burning, weakly absorbing and volcanic aerosols.


Information technology (IT) softwares in healthcare provide clinicians with health-related information and tools, such as clinical decision supportive systems. These softwares are supposed to reduce potential medical errors in any healthcare facility and improve the quality of patient care [1] . The rising demand to improve the healthcare processes via technical products and services has resulted in a huge development of wireless technologies worldwide [2] .

These softwares are supposed to reduce potential medical errors in any healthcare facility and improve the quality of patient care.

The rising demand to improve the healthcare processes via technical products and services has resulted in a huge development of wireless technologies worldwide.


The Southern Ocean krill fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which has adopted an ecosystem-based, precautionary approach towards the krill fishery, taking into account its impact on krilldependent species (Reid et al. 2005) . Annual catch limits are currently well below the estimated total krill biomass, limiting the potential for ecosystem-wide depletion of the krill resource. However, in many areas, the fishery operates in the main feeding grounds of breeding krill-dependent predators, such as seals and penguins (Croxall & Nicol 2004) . As a result, there is a potential for conflict between the fishery and the krill predators at a local scale.

The Southern Ocean krill fishery is managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which has adopted an ecosystem-based, precautionary approach towards the krill fishery, taking into account its impact on krilldependent species.

However, in many areas, the fishery operates in the main feeding grounds of breeding krill-dependent predators, such as seals and penguins.


In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba are a species of primary importance, being the major prey of many species of birds, seals, whales, fish, and squid (Smetacek & Nicol 2005) . A fishery for krill developed in the early 1970s and has been the dominant fishery in the region since the late 1970s (Croxall & Nicol 2004) . Recently, concerns have been raised that catches will increase in part due to new harvesting and processing technologies that allow krill to be continuously pumped from the water and immediately processed, but also due to a likely increase in demand for krill in the near future as the demand for krill-based products, such as aquaculture feed or krill oil for human consumption, increases (Nicol et al. 2000) .

In the Southern Ocean, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba are a species of primary importance, being the major prey of many species of birds, seals, whales, fish, and squid.

A fishery for krill developed in the early 1970s and has been the dominant fishery in the region since the late 1970s.

Recently, concerns have been raised that catches will increase in part due to new harvesting and processing technologies that allow krill to be continuously pumped from the water and immediately processed, but also due to a likely increase in demand for krill in the near future as the demand for krill-based products, such as aquaculture feed or krill oil for human consumption, increases.


Cerasus fruticosa and the hybrids Cerasus × eminens and Cerasus × mohacsyana are taxa of xerophytic vegetation which may play an important role in biocorridors. The fruits of C. fruticosa are used in cooking and for jams and jellies (as a sour cherry), and the species has medicinal uses as an astringent (Dzhangaliev et al., 2003) . The flowers of all taxa support bee-keeping well, and the hardiness of the plants makes them desirable for grafting and for producing cultivars. The roots of the shrubs stabilize soil. C. fruticosa is planted in hedgerows as an ornamental windscreen. It is a potential gene source for drought-and cold-resistant stone fruits (Marhold and Wojcicki, 1992; Dzhangaliev et al., 2003) .

The fruits of C. fruticosa are used in cooking and for jams and jellies (as a sour cherry), and the species has medicinal uses as an astringent.

The roots of the shrubs stabilize soil.

It is a potential gene source for drought-and cold-resistant stone fruits.


Except nitrates, ascorbic acid concentration is considered as one of the most important nutritional quality factors in many vegetable crops (Lee and Kader, 2000) . In our results, the higher levels of shading seemed to negatively affect ascorbic acid concentration (Table 1) . Furthermore, the ascorbic acid content was significantly lower in lettuces grown during winter compared to those grown during spring (Table 1 ). The statistical analysis of all data indicates that ascorbic acid concentration in lettuce seemed to be light dependent. Several reports concerning the mechanism of light induced ascorbic acid synthesis tend to conclude an indirect effect of light intensity in ascorbic acid concentration rather a direct one. In particular, a close relationship between photosynthetically produced sugars and ascorbic acid concentration is suggested (Lee and Kader, 2000) . If this is true, then it would be expected that photosynthetic rate would be significantly higher in those treatments exhibiting the higher ascorbic acid content. Indeed, in our results the treatments characterised by higher accumulation in ascorbic acid i.e the control treatments also exhibited the higher photosynthetic rates (Figure 1) . Thus, our results tend to conclude that the amount and intensity of light during the growing season might have a considerable effect on the concentration of ascorbic acid probably via its influence on the plants photosynthetic performance. Similar results were also observed in other leafy greens where ascorbic acid concentration was also increased in relation to light exposure (Gruda, 2005; Oyama et al., 1999; Weerakkody, 2003) . Data are means ± S.E of twenty replicates.

Except nitrates, ascorbic acid concentration is considered as one of the most important nutritional quality factors in many vegetable crops.

In particular, a close relationship between photosynthetically produced sugars and ascorbic acid concentration is suggested.

Similar results were also observed in other leafy greens where ascorbic acid concentration was also increased in relation to light exposure.


This section presents the results obtained with the probit model. Econometrical models were computed using R software [32] . Figures and tables were also designed using R and the ggplot library [33] .

Econometrical models were computed using R software.

Figures and tables were also designed using R and the ggplot library.


The second estimated model, Model B, serves to account for interaction effects between gender and the rest of variables. It captures how gender interacts with other explanatory variables, and the results can serve to focus government initiatives to those exposed groups that face the biggest difficulties to climb out of unemployment. The model is presented in Equation (5), which adds interaction terms to the variables already considered in Equation (4) . Results are summarized in Table 3 and confirm that women are negatively affected by unemployment regardless of age. For all three years considered in our research, most coefficients of the gender variable and interactions variables between gender and age are negative and statistically significant. Although the magnitude of the gender variable in Model B is slightly lower than the one observed in Model A, it is compensated with the values reported for interaction effects. Focusing on the age variables of Model B, we can conclude that significance of coefficients is lower in Model B than in Model A. However, interaction effects show a greater gender significance in Model B, and this is due to the fact that difference in the probability of employment are partially explained by age, but better explained when age is jointly considered with gender (thought interaction effects).

The model is presented in Equation (5), which adds interaction terms to the variables already considered in Equation.


The last explanatory variable in model A of Table 3 refers to gender. Coefficients are significant for all years, and indicate that women are on average less likely to find a job than men during the analysed period. The situation is even worsening during the last years: −6.1% in 2013, −7.9% in 2014 and −8.5% in 2015. This highlights that women are not profiting from the employment recovery, and gives new arguments for the long debate about gender exclusion from a sustainable employment perspective [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] . These results are aligned both with Spanish national statistics and Valencian figures given in Table 2 . As previously stated, the financial crisis has certainly served to balance female and male unemployment. However, once the economic recovery was initiated, the historical gender gap returned to unemployment figures.

This highlights that women are not profiting from the employment recovery, and gives new arguments for the long debate about gender exclusion from a sustainable employment perspective.


A great deal of research has gone in to techniques for reducing false positive alarms generally. One such technique is alert correlation. The aim of alert correlation is to analyse the alert stream and discover strategies or attack scenarios using some kind of model of possible attacker strategies [4] . One quite intuitive type of model is an attack graph [5, 6, 7] . The advantage of this kind of correlation is that alerts which do not (yet) conform to a threatening attack strategy are not displayed.

The aim of alert correlation is to analyse the alert stream and discover strategies or attack scenarios using some kind of model of possible attacker strategies.

One quite intuitive type of model is an attack graph.


Active thermography offers a rapid, non-contact and non-destructive testing technique, which can be used to find buried discontinuities in materials [1] . These discontinuities such as the porosity in carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) have a strong effect on a material's physical and mechanical properties. An increase in porosity leads to a decrease in density, modulus and the strength of the composite. As the porosity increases above 0.9 % the interlaminar shear strength decreases significantly in CFRP [2] . For example, the interlaminar shear strength of CFRP decreases by about 7 % per 1 % porosity, up to a total porosity level of 4 % [3] . The porosity Φ is defined as the volume of pores V p over the total volume of the material and voids V by following equation Φ = V p / V.

Active thermography offers a rapid, non-contact and non-destructive testing technique, which can be used to find buried discontinuities in materials.

As the porosity increases above 0.9 % the interlaminar shear strength decreases significantly in CFRP.

For example, the interlaminar shear strength of CFRP decreases by about 7 % per 1 % porosity, up to a total porosity level of 4 %.


Authentic texts, however, are far from optimal, but computational tools such as CohMetrix can also be a valuable resource in aiding material developers with selecting authentic texts that allow maximum potential for language acquisition and textual processing. For instance, the co-referentiality found in simplified L2 texts is considered important in providing helpful redundancy (Swaffar 1981; Crandall 1995; Nuttall 2005; Day & Bamford 1998) . Coreferentiality has also been shown to assist readers in understanding the message and intention of a text and is an important means by which readers can connect to a text (Haber & Haber 1981; Smith 1988) . However, authentic texts lack the same degree of co-referentiality as simplified texts. Measuring the lexical and semantic co-referentiality of authentic texts prior to adoption would allow for the selection of authentic texts that best provide the reader with helpful redundancy. Additionally, authentic texts could be compared and selected on the basis of multiple measures of syntactic complexity beyond the length of the sentence. These more robust indices of syntactic complexity would help in better matching the text to that of the reader's abilities, allowing for greater language comprehension and intake.

For instance, the co-referentiality found in simplified L2 texts is considered important in providing helpful redundancy.

Coreferentiality has also been shown to assist readers in understanding the message and intention of a text and is an important means by which readers can connect to a text.


Recently, many case studies involved in forest ecosystem C storage and dynamics have been conducted by Chinese researchers, using forestry survey data (Fang et al. 2001; Guo et al. 2010) . However, studies about C storage of plantation ecosystems in the semiarid region are scarce, and the quantification of total plant biomass C, including understory vegetation and litter, is even rarer. The objectives of this study were (1) to find which plantation ecosystem has higher C sequestration capacity, and (2) to explore the distribution of C storage in the plant biomass, litter, and soil. The information concerning C storage at the ecosystem level would provide more accurate assessments of the C sequestration.

Recently, many case studies involved in forest ecosystem C storage and dynamics have been conducted by Chinese researchers, using forestry survey data.


The relationship between topological gauge theories for four-manifold invariants and physical supersymmetric theories has attracted a lot of interest. A breakthrough has occurred through the work of Seiberg and Witten on an exact low-energy description of the physical D = 4, N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory [1] . This theory can be topologically twisted in the weak coupling ultraviolet regime to produce the integral over instanton moduli space of certain characteristic classes for the correlation function of topological observables. This provides a description of four-manifold invariants, although a precise compactification procedure of the moduli space instantons is not known in each case.

A breakthrough has occurred through the work of Seiberg and Witten on an exact low-energy description of the physical D = 4, N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory.


Consider the 4 modules shaded setup in Figure 13 , where the maximum power drops significantly from 2346.7 watts to 1924 watts as the shaded modules irradiance drops from 1000 to 700 w/m 2 . This is an 18.65% drop in the maximum power, which is an approximately 6.22% drop for every 100 w/m 2 drop in the shaded module irradiance. However, the maximum power rarely drops when the shaded modules irradiance is below or equal to 700 w/m 2 . When the shaded modules irradiance drops from 700 to 0 w/m 2 , the maximum power drops from 1924 watts to 1890.4 watts, which is only a 1.7% drop in the maximum power. It is an approximately 0.24% drop for every 100 w/m 2 drop in the shaded module irradiance. These results show that the maximum power is susceptible to the shading on the shaded modules when the shaded modules irradiance is above the critical point determined by Equation (3). The maximum power becomes insusceptible to the shading on the shaded modules when the shaded modules irradiance is below or equal to the critical point determined by Equation (3) .

The maximum power becomes insusceptible to the shading on the shaded modules when the shaded modules irradiance is below or equal to the critical point determined by Equation.


The capacity of plants to metabolise herbicides can be ascribed to the adaptation of certain enzymes to exogenous substrates such as herbicides. Some of the transferase enzymes, in particular the glutathione S-transferases (EC 2.5.1.18; named GSTs), have proved to be very active. These are a family of enzymes able to conjugate the tripeptide glutathione with a variety of endogenous and exogenous electrophilic compounds by a nucleophilic substitution reaction. By virtue of this reaction, the GST enzymes are implicated in the detoxification of many herbicides in plants. In fact, plant GSTs have been found to be involved in the conjugation of chloroacetanilides, chloro s-triazines, thiocarbamates, triazinone sulphoxides, solfonylureas, aryloxyphenoxypropionates, diphenylethers, thiodiazolidines and sulphonamides, to give less or no toxic derivatives (Timmerman, 1989; Jablonkai and Hatzios, 1991; Scarponi et al., 1991; Edwards, 1995; Edwards et al., 2000; Deng and Hatzios, 2002a; Scarponi et al., 2003) .

In fact, plant GSTs have been found to be involved in the conjugation of chloroacetanilides, chloro s-triazines, thiocarbamates, triazinone sulphoxides, solfonylureas, aryloxyphenoxypropionates, diphenylethers, thiodiazolidines and sulphonamides, to give less or no toxic derivatives.


Another reason to study extremal hypergraphs in the intersecting case, is a recent study by Haxell, Narins, and Szabó of extremal hypergraphs in the r = 3 case of Ryser's Conjecture [8] . Using topological methods, they were able to characterize all hypergraphs which are extremal for the r = 3 case of Ryser's Conjecture (not just intersecting ones). Their main result is that for r = 3, any extremal hypergraph is formed from a vertex-disjoint union of intersecting extremal hypergraphs as well as some "extra" edges. It would be interesting to find similar characterizations for r > 3. An intermediate step towards this is to better understand intersecting extremal graphs.

Another reason to study extremal hypergraphs in the intersecting case, is a recent study by Haxell, Narins, and Szabó of extremal hypergraphs in the r = 3 case of Ryser's Conjecture.


Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a good source of polyphenolic compounds, which have strong antioxidant properties. Green tea and black tea differ primarily in their processing and relative levels of catechins and their oxidized condensation products. The high antioxidant capacity and overall antimicrobial activity of green tea have been attributed to these compounds [6, 7] . Such properties made us use black tea and green tea as our alternatives for coating.

The high antioxidant capacity and overall antimicrobial activity of green tea have been attributed to these compounds.


In order to overcome the above concerns, it is recommended to use edible coatings on fresh-cut fruits to extend their shelf life. For this purpose, natural polysaccharides, proteins, and antioxidants are used as raw materials for edible coatings and films [3] . Edible coatings are thin layers of edible materials that cover the surface of food by dipping or spraying and providing a barrier to gases and water vapor and somewhere are microbial agents and therefore reduce respiration, enzymatic browning, water loss, and deleterious microbial effects [5] .

For this purpose, natural polysaccharides, proteins, and antioxidants are used as raw materials for edible coatings and films.

Edible coatings are thin layers of edible materials that cover the surface of food by dipping or spraying and providing a barrier to gases and water vapor and somewhere are microbial agents and therefore reduce respiration, enzymatic browning, water loss, and deleterious microbial effects.


This work has been carried out within the Horizon2020-funded project CEMCAP, which has as overall objective to prepare the ground for large-scale implementation of CO 2 capture in the European cement industry [20] . An essential element in responding to this objective has been to perform a comprehensive techno-economic comparative assessment of CO 2 capture. With this paper we aim at providing an assessment that can be used as a decision basis for future evaluations of CO 2 capture implementation at cement plants. An extraction of this work is presented as this paper series, where the technical evaluation is in Part 1, and the economic analysis is in Part 2.

This work has been carried out within the Horizon2020-funded project CEMCAP, which has as overall objective to prepare the ground for large-scale implementation of CO 2 capture in the European cement industry.


In this paper, the economic performance of CO 2 capture technologies retrofitted in a Best-AvailableTechnologies (BAT) cement plant are assessed in the context of a coherent techno-economic framework [19] . The investigated capture technologies are MEA-based absorption as reference technology, chilled ammonia process (CAP), membrane-assisted CO 2 liquefaction, oxyfuel technology and two different configurations of calcium looping technology (tail-end and integrated). Besides highlighting the value of the consistent application of the above-mentioned common framework in a comparative investigation of a broad set of CO 2 capture technologies, it is worth noting that for several of these technologies this work represents the first detailed costs analysis for a cement application.

In this paper, the economic performance of CO 2 capture technologies retrofitted in a Best-AvailableTechnologies (BAT) cement plant are assessed in the context of a coherent techno-economic framework.


Additional structural element of TBC's system is thermally grown oxides (TGO) [1] . This zone is formed during high-temperature exposure of TBC's system and it is formed on the bond-coat surface. TGO zone is responsible for long-term durability (key factor is the thickness of this zone) of whole system, and its formation kinetic during oxidation is strongly dependent on temperature in area between ceramic insulation layer and bond-coat [2] . This temperature is dependent on the thickness and insulation properties of ceramic top layer, and it can be determined on the design stages of TBC's systems by numerical simulation [3] [4] [5] [6] . But the accuracy of obtained simulation depends on the quality of the data used to simulation.

Additional structural element of TBC's system is thermally grown oxides (TGO).

TGO zone is responsible for long-term durability (key factor is the thickness of this zone) of whole system, and its formation kinetic during oxidation is strongly dependent on temperature in area between ceramic insulation layer and bond-coat.

This temperature is dependent on the thickness and insulation properties of ceramic top layer, and it can be determined on the design stages of TBC's systems by numerical simulation.


The response of the termination shock to large-scale fluctuations in the solar wind ram pressure is studied using numerical solutions of the gasdynamic equations. The first step in this study is to compute a dynamic equilibrium solution for the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium by using a numerical relaxation procedure. The ram pressure fluctuations are then generated in the solar wind by temporal flow speed oscillations at the inner radial boundary for the computation. The subsequent solar wind ram pressure fluctuations are comparable in amplitude (near the observed minimum) and time scale (near the observed maximum) to those observed by Voyager 2 [Belcher et al., 1993] .

The subsequent solar wind ram pressure fluctuations are comparable in amplitude (near the observed minimum) and time scale (near the observed maximum) to those observed by Voyager 2.


Potential benefits of PCM wallboards have already been demonstrated across multiple full-scale experimental studies [7] [8] [9] . An advantage of wallboards is their proximity with the interior air of buildings, compared to solutions that implement PCMs within the walls. As thermal comfort depends on operative temperature, panels containing PCMs could have a great contribution by keeping wall temperatures within the comfort zone [10] . They can store energy by receiving direct sunlight or according to the convection inside the building [11] .

Potential benefits of PCM wallboards have already been demonstrated across multiple full-scale experimental studies.

As thermal comfort depends on operative temperature, panels containing PCMs could have a great contribution by keeping wall temperatures within the comfort zone.

They can store energy by receiving direct sunlight or according to the convection inside the building.


Based on the results and discussion, we recommend educators and researchers view learning as a self-regulatory process (Butler & Winne, 1995; Pintrich & Zusho, 2002; Zimmerman, 2001) . Students proactively seek, produce, and interpret information as feedback on their learning performance. Feedback changes students' locus of attention and therefore their cognition, motivation, and behavior during learning. Effective instruction should assist students in monitoring and regulating themselves to close the gap between actual and desired performance (Butler & Winne, 1995; Pintrich & Zusho, 2002; Zimmerman, 2001) . Such a perspective of learning accommodates the instructional methods and theoretical phenomena reviewed in this article. For instance, the question-answering activity is implemented to help students gauge their progress and gather feedback at the micro level, and in a timely fashion. The implementation of question-answering activity also primes testing and adjunct-question effects that enhance students' memory and direct their attention to instructional material. Peer discussion enables students to share the monitoring and regulatory processes with classmates. It also primes selfexplanation effect that prompts students to detect and correct errors in their reasoning.

Based on the results and discussion, we recommend educators and researchers view learning as a self-regulatory process.

Effective instruction should assist students in monitoring and regulating themselves to close the gap between actual and desired performance.


The principal difference between the model-based and the classical designbased approach for estimating finite population totals lies in the source of randomness they use (Särndal (1978) ). In design-based sampling, the inference is based on the stochastic structure induced by the sampling design. In the modelbased, or prediction approach, the inference depends on the validity of the model used to describe the data. In this case, the randomness is due to the population model and not to the sampling design.

The principal difference between the model-based and the classical designbased approach for estimating finite population totals lies in the source of randomness they use).


Considering only the output signal power, SS vs. VT competition makes sense only in some frequency bands and for some power levels. For example, in the range of millimeter waves (mmW's) or sub-mmW's and signal power levels greater than kilowatt (KW) no SS vs. VT competition exists: here, VT's like Gyrotrons or Free Electron Lasers (FEL's) have the dominance [10] [11] [12] [13] . Different is the case when the competition is in the microwave range and signal power levels under some KW: here, SSPA's based on the SPC technology can compete with VTPA's, at least in some applications. Even if the signal power level of a VTPA can only be barely reached with SSPA combining many transistors, another big advantage of this last is its graceful degradation: a failure in a VTPA is a failure of the whole system, while a failure of a single transistor inside a combined SSPA is highly mitigated, at least when many transistors are combined to reach the desired signal power level.

For example, in the range of millimeter waves (mmW's) or sub-mmW's and signal power levels greater than kilowatt (KW) no SS vs. VT competition exists: here, VT's like Gyrotrons or Free Electron Lasers (FEL's) have the dominance.


The soft X-ray component we have measured is likely due primarily (but not necessarily entirely) to an accretion disk. We measure a disk temperature which is broadly consistent with results obtained with the RXTE /PCA by SHMS on 12-13 March 2001, and with a short soft state only five months previous to our observation (Goldwurm et al. 2001) . From Table 1 , it is clear that the temperature of the soft component and the 0.6-2.3 keV flux are dependent upon the value of N H which is used. Based on the results of SHMS, and our finding that a power-law component contributes less than 2% of the flux in the 0.6-2.3 keV range, it is possible that in the extended off/soft state the hard power-law flux merely turns-off and reveals the accretion disk.

We measure a disk temperature which is broadly consistent with results obtained with the RXTE /PCA by SHMS on 12-13 March 2001, and with a short soft state only five months previous to our observation.


In our study, significant spatial heterogeneity in juvenile walleye pollock condition was detected within seasons, which was also shown for walleye pollock in PWS (Paul et al. 1998b) . Although not always consistent among measures of condition or among seasons, there was a general trend for fish from the Kodiak region to be relatively large, heavy, or energy rich, particularly during Aut00 and Win01. By Sum01 and Aut01, length-specific weights and energy densities of fish from the different regions generally converged, suggesting that the relative advantage in condition of Kodiak fish may disappear after winter, although body length may still be greater. Improved condition of walleye pollock near Kodiak Island has been supported by other studies showing that juvenile body length and growth rates in this region were higher than those in other areas to the southwest (Brown and Bailey 1992; Wilson 2000) .

In our study, significant spatial heterogeneity in juvenile walleye pollock condition was detected within seasons, which was also shown for walleye pollock in PWS.

Improved condition of walleye pollock near Kodiak Island has been supported by other studies showing that juvenile body length and growth rates in this region were higher than those in other areas to the southwest.


Based on the review of Table 1 and Table 2 for materials woody and non-woody, it can be concluded that specific surface area of activated carbon produced depends significantly on the type of materials and activating agents used in the adsorption processes. Specific surface area was important parameters used in evaluating many capabilities of powders and porous materials such as activity, adsorptive performance and catalytic performance [50] . The factors affecting on the measured value of specific surface area of activated carbon such as degassing temperature, degassing time and adsorption point number.

Specific surface area was important parameters used in evaluating many capabilities of powders and porous materials such as activity, adsorptive performance and catalytic performance.


Apparently, activated carbons are prepared by physical and chemical activation processes [15] . In physical activation also known as pyrolysis process, the precursor is being carbonized at high temperature and activated by passing CO 2 of steam under pressure to increase the porosity and surface area [8, 28] . Meanwhile, in chemical activation, both activation and carbonization process take place simultaneously in which the raw precursor is impregnated with activating agents and heated at desired temperature [5, 8, 25, 28, 48] . Chemical activation leads to both physical and chemical modifications on produce activated carbon. The agricultural wastes provide both woody and non-woody materials for adsorption methods replaced with commercial activated carbon. For woody materials composed lignocellulose only compared with non-woody materials composed sugar, starch, lignocellulose and oils [49] . Many authors used non-woody materials due to the composition of materials such as starch and lignocellulose which have high pore structure compared with woody materials.

Apparently, activated carbons are prepared by physical and chemical activation processes.

In physical activation also known as pyrolysis process, the precursor is being carbonized at high temperature and activated by passing CO 2 of steam under pressure to increase the porosity and surface area.

Meanwhile, in chemical activation, both activation and carbonization process take place simultaneously in which the raw precursor is impregnated with activating agents and heated at desired temperature.

For woody materials composed lignocellulose only compared with non-woody materials composed sugar, starch, lignocellulose and oils.


As environmental regulations become stricter, the effectiveness and cost of treatment processes for dye becomes more significant. Instead, the dye removal data available in literature suggests that removal of dyes is possible by agricultural waste to a certain extent since some promising results are obtained in some of the studies. Therefore, it is understood that impregnation ratio of chemical activating agents significantly affect to porosity. With low impregnation ratio, the formation of tar is inhibited and the release of volatiles is promoted, producing more mesopores. Rather at higher impregnation ratio, the more swelling impregnated precursor materials and stronger release of volatiles in the activation process will be lead to the widening of pores: micropores formed are subsequently converted to mesopores [55] . The application of activated carbon in adsorption process was mainly depends on the surface chemistry and pore structure or porous carbons. If possible, develop modification of surface chemical activation method on activated carbon prepared by non-woody material should be provided. Various methods should be produced such as acidic treatment and alkaline treatment.

Rather at higher impregnation ratio, the more swelling impregnated precursor materials and stronger release of volatiles in the activation process will be lead to the widening of pores: micropores formed are subsequently converted to mesopores.


To achieve these aims, the paper investigates how goodwill impairment is produced. This is a critical case for IFRS because goodwill is a level three asset that requires being tested for impairment by means of models. It has no market value per se (Bougen and Young, 2012; Macintosh, Shearer, Thornton and Welker, 2000) . Goodwill is difficult for two reasons. First it is a residual value and has no associated discernible and separable asset; and second it is about the future. It is a critical incidence for IFRS. If goodwill accounting is reliable -in the sense of being able to be relied upon -this may also be so for other IFRS based valuations. Accordingly, the specific research questions are: how do financial accounting practices produce goodwill impairment value, and how is the financial accounting calculation reliable?

It has no market value per se.

Goodwill is difficult for two reasons.

It is a critical incidence for IFRS.


It appears that traces produced by external statistical bureaus, external advisors and consultants are preferred to internal ones; internal traces that are negotiated such as budgets or used for several purposes are preferred to individual and singular ones. Individual traces proposed by entrepreneurial managers are not trusted. This matters because traces are then understood to represent an impersonal "view from nowhere" (Nagel, 1986; Porter, 1992; 1994b) . The reliability of the accumulation of traces is helped by many people tolerating it; people who occupy institutionalised positions or roles such as auditors and experts are stronger than financial accountants and managers.

This matters because traces are then understood to represent an impersonal "view from nowhere".


This principle can also be found in other areas of social and economic activity. For example, in the case of genetically modified organisms (GMO), traces can be developed which can identify where and when such substances exist by tracing them from laboratory, through production into markets (Lezaun, 2006) . Traces are here political objects that entice struggles about proper government because firms, regulators and activists disagree about the appropriate identification of such substances. Therefore the methods for tracing are political rules for identifying substances rather than mere representations of these substances. The so-called "transformation events" are the moments and places where GMOs move from one existence to another, and the struggle is about how the trace is to be made, including whether it is a pure scientific reference or also one which imprints the uses of the GMO. The properties of the trace are thus defined by the techno-legaleconomic properties of the GMO as settled by the administrative instruments that produce the trace.

For example, in the case of genetically modified organisms (GMO), traces can be developed which can identify where and when such substances exist by tracing them from laboratory, through production into markets.


Schiff bases are some of the most widely used organic compounds. They are used as pigments and dyes, catalysts, intermediates in organic synthesis, and as polymer stabilisers [2] . Schiff bases have also been shown to exhibit a broad range of biological activities, including antifungal, antibacterial, antimalarial, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antipyretic properties [2, 3] . Imine or azomethine groups are present in various natural, natural-derived, and non-natural compounds (see Fig. 2 for some examples). The imine group present in such compounds has been shown to be critical to their biological activities [4] [5] [6] .

They are used as pigments and dyes, catalysts, intermediates in organic synthesis, and as polymer stabilisers.

Schiff bases have also been shown to exhibit a broad range of biological activities, including antifungal, antibacterial, antimalarial, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antipyretic properties.

The imine group present in such compounds has been shown to be critical to their biological activities.


The solubility of H 2 S in aqueous solutions of MDEA from 11.9 wt.% to 51 wt.% in the temperature range from 10 • C to 120 • C and H 2 S partial pressure from 0.141 kPa-6900 kPa were studied by various authors [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] . All the previous studies of aqueous MDEA showed similar trends like increasing the partial pressure of H 2 S (pH 2 S) increases H 2 S loading at given concentration and temperature, while the increase in amine concentration at a given temperature and pH 2 S decreases H 2 S loading. Surplus to MDEA data, TEA from 0.09-6.32 kPa H 2 S and DIPA at a pressure range of 19-1554 kPa has been reported [28, 29] .

The solubility of H 2 S in aqueous solutions of MDEA from 11.9 wt.% to 51 wt.% in the temperature range from 10 • C to 120 • C and H 2 S partial pressure from 0.141 kPa-6900 kPa were studied by various authors.

Surplus to MDEA data, TEA from 0.09-6.32 kPa H 2 S and DIPA at a pressure range of 19-1554 kPa has been reported.


Beside presentation, there exist different approaches, which address the inspection of views by multiple users. Recently, Mahyar and Tory introduced a tool that supports the communication in collaborative sense-making by revealing relationships between collaborators' findings. In this way, awareness of each other's activities can be maintained [20] .

In this way, awareness of each other's activities can be maintained.


The necessary generation capacity at a given voltage level may result in fault currents such that procurement of adequately rated switchgear is prohibitively expensive, or impossible; furthermore, there are increased safety concerns when fault currents become excessively high. As will be demonstrated later in this paper, fault currents well in excess of 200kA peak can be encountered. The preference for use of low voltage marine electrical systems is driven by the costs of increased insulation associated with higher voltages, employing crew with particular operating qualifications and increasingly stringent safety regulations. Restriction of fault currents by a means that does not add operational constraints during non-fault conditions is therefore very attractive [3] , [4] , [5] .

Restriction of fault currents by a means that does not add operational constraints during non-fault conditions is therefore very attractive.


Several problems of cooling water systems are ccorrosion, scale formation and fouling by micro-organisms. These problems can appear when natural waters are used as thermal fluid and can occur jointly, reducing the thermal efficiency of the circuit with significant economic repercussions (Srisuwan et al., 2008) . To attenuate or eliminate these phenomena, corrosion inhibitors are usually associated with chemical reagents. Now days, due to new laws to protect the environment, these compounds must be non-toxic and biodegradable.

These problems can appear when natural waters are used as thermal fluid and can occur jointly, reducing the thermal efficiency of the circuit with significant economic repercussions.


Theories of finance and economic growth suggest that the financial functions provided by banks (and other financial intermediaries) are important in promoting economic growth. Empirical research strongly supports the view that banks promote economic growth at the firm, industry and country levels. The recent literature also highlights that not only is the aggregate size of financial intermediaries important for economic growth, but also the institutional framework of the banking sector can significantly affect economic growth [1] .

The recent literature also highlights that not only is the aggregate size of financial intermediaries important for economic growth, but also the institutional framework of the banking sector can significantly affect economic growth.


The goal of the present work was to determine the effect of ferrous ion concentration on sugar yield and degradation product formation for the entire two-step treatment. Firstly, the detailed kinetic data of acid pretreatment, with and without iron, was fitted into a four-step linear sequence of first-order irreversible reactions shown in Equation (2) . Focusing on the mechanistic aspects of the process, the values of Arrhenius activation energy (E a ) were calculated and compared with those found in control experiments and literature. Then, enzymatic hydrolysis of such a pretreated biomass was performed to evaluate the impact of the acid and iron combination on glucose production, thus assessing the total feedstock reactivity.

Firstly, the detailed kinetic data of acid pretreatment, with and without iron, was fitted into a four-step linear sequence of first-order irreversible reactions shown in Equation.


We measured the minimum, maximum and mean F0 of all voiced utterances in the speech software, Praat (Boersma 2001) . The only exception is that we only measured one speech act in the HDS, namely questions. We wanted to compare the two different styles in terms of pitch. We thought that one speech act would be sufficient in order to compare the two styles, but it turned out that there was only one speech act that existed in both the DDS and the HDS, and that was questions. When we measured the F0 of questions, we purposefully omitted the rising intonation at the end, as it would alter the mean F0 value of the total utterance. We did not code any of Amelia's speech that was interrupted by other sounds in the recording, whether by wind noise when we were outside, or by people speaking over her voice.

We measured the minimum, maximum and mean F0 of all voiced utterances in the speech software, Praat.


DDS is both a register that has a higher pitch than HDS and a register with a large pitch range. Our detailed analysis of pitch shows that, at least for this one speaker, DDS is different from HDS, not only because it has an overall higher pitch, but because of how much the pitch varies. This variation depends upon the utterance spoken. Yet the clear differences in pitch between DDS and HDS still overwhelm this variation. Our results from the comparison of questions in both styles strongly indicate that DDS has a higher overall mean F0 than HDS. However, the only utterance type of HDS we considered was questions. Future studies would benefit from comparing all kinds of HDS utterances in order to draw this conclusion. What indicates that DDS has a higher pitch more than anything else is the fact that HDQs had a lower mean pitch than disapprovals, even though interrogatives tend to have a high F0 relative to other speech acts (Syrdal and Kim 2008) .

What indicates that DDS has a higher pitch more than anything else is the fact that HDQs had a lower mean pitch than disapprovals, even though interrogatives tend to have a high F0 relative to other speech acts.


The construction of chimeric cutinases by fusing the cutinase gene with genes coding carbohydratebinding modules (CBM) resulted in higher enzyme concentrations on the surface of the cellulose-based solid substrates. Different gene constructs were obtained so that different CBMs fused independently to the C-terminus of cutinase and produced different substrate affinities. The type B CBM of the endoglucanase C from Cellulomonas fimi is capable of binding to amorphous cellulose and was selected based on substrate affinity. The results demonstrated the hydrolysis of the substrate and increased the reactivity and hydrofilicity of the cellulose acetate fibers with higher reactive dye uptake in fabrics treated when compared to the fibers treated with the wild type of cutinase (Matamá et al. 2010) .

The results demonstrated the hydrolysis of the substrate and increased the reactivity and hydrofilicity of the cellulose acetate fibers with higher reactive dye uptake in fabrics treated when compared to the fibers treated with the wild type of cutinase.


The understanding of high energy scattering in gauge theories is both very important and interesting. Of particular interest is the specific case of the Regge limit, namely the limit of high energy and fixed momentum transfer. The relevant dynamics in QCD depends on the magnitude of the momentum transfer in comparision with Λ QCD . When it is small, we are dealing with the physics of the 'soft pomeron' which is nonperturbative and still remains mysterious from the theoretical point of view. When the momentum transfer is large enough (but fixed), perturbative computations are applicable and the description is in terms of the 'hard pomeron:' the BFKL pomeron [1] . This regime is relevant for applications to Deep Inelastic Scattering processes.

When the momentum transfer is large enough (but fixed), perturbative computations are applicable and the description is in terms of the 'hard pomeron:' the BFKL pomeron.


Currently, the BFKL pomeron intercept is known at leading and next-toleading order both in QCD and in N = 4 SYM [2] . In fact at leading order the results exactly coincide in the two theories. At NLO level, differences appear but still there are many similarities in the structure of the expressions, hence insight into the properties of the BFKL pomeron in N = 4 SYM at any coupling would be also significant for QCD physics.

Currently, the BFKL pomeron intercept is known at leading and next-toleading order both in QCD and in N = 4 SYM.


In some sciences, data are managed by disciplinary or national infrastructures that are responsible for collecting, storing, preserving and providing data to researchers. In fields such as astronomy or physics there are standard data practices and sharing research data is unavoidable. However, in 'small science' disciplines, data are collected in order to provide an answer to a specific research question. In these fields, researchers themselves collect the evidence that supports the research process, and the sharing of research data remains a limited activity (Cragin et al., 2010) .

In these fields, researchers themselves collect the evidence that supports the research process, and the sharing of research data remains a limited activity.


The concept of mode coupling was invented by F. Sacherer in 1977 to explain the longitudinal turbulence observed on dense particle bunches [1] . However, for reasons which took us almost 20 years to understand, it did not help very much in dealing with longitudinal instabilities, whereas it proved extremely fruitful when applied to transverse collective modes. This report addresses exclusively the problem of transverse mode coupling.

The concept of mode coupling was invented by F. Sacherer in 1977 to explain the longitudinal turbulence observed on dense particle bunches.


A first record of what was probably a manifestation of transverse mode coupling appears in 1974: at the e + e − collider SPEAR I (Standford Linear Accelerator Center) a beating pattern was observed on the coherent betatron signal for large values of the bunch current [2] . A year later SPEAR II was commissioned. This machine had a denser bunch than SPEAR I, and fast losses of the bunch were observed above a threshold current. A vertical instability was suspected, although beam position monitors showed only a weak coherent betatron signal, and the phenomenon persisted for zero chromaticity [3] . This remained a puzzle.

A first record of what was probably a manifestation of transverse mode coupling appears in 1974: at the e + e − collider SPEAR I (Standford Linear Accelerator Center) a beating pattern was observed on the coherent betatron signal for large values of the bunch current.

A year later SPEAR II was commissioned.

A vertical instability was suspected, although beam position monitors showed only a weak coherent betatron signal, and the phenomenon persisted for zero chromaticity.

This remained a puzzle.


In fact, transverse mode coupling is just the manifestation in synchrotrons of a phenomenon which had been known in linacs since the 1960s: the Beam BreakUp instability (BBU) [5] . When a dense bunch of particles travels along a linac, the head of the bunch induces electromagnetic wake fields in the linac structure, which tend to deflect the bunch tail. After a while the bunch tail oscillates about the unperturbed trajectory of the head, as shown in Fig. 1 , and can be lost on the aperture. In synchrotrons, the RF longitudinal focusing imposes special patterns of oscillation for the collective transverse motion: the head-tail modes [6] . Examples of head-tail modes are shown in Fig. 2 . For low enough bunch intensity, the headtail modes keep their identity, the wake fields merely change their frequency in proportion to the beam current.

In fact, transverse mode coupling is just the manifestation in synchrotrons of a phenomenon which had been known in linacs since the 1960s: the Beam BreakUp instability (BBU).

In synchrotrons, the RF longitudinal focusing imposes special patterns of oscillation for the collective transverse motion: the head-tail modes.


It is especially important to consider the information perception of PIV when creating such systems. One way is the correct submission and arrangement of information on the screen [26] . In this system, attention is paid to the arrangement on the monitor depending on the psychophysiological characteristics of information awareness and view characteristics. According to the experiment results the possible preferred information arrangement on the screen has been identified in various visual defects (Table 1) and there is a choice of colour schemes for a better perception and understanding information.

One way is the correct submission and arrangement of information on the screen.


In case of treatment failure after the first-line anti-TNF agents, the second-line biologics including alternative anti-TNF agents or biologics with a different mechanism of action (e.g. interleukin-6 inhibitors [tocilizumab], B-cell depleting antibodies [rituximab] , or inhibitors of T-cell co-stimulation [abatacept]) are commonly used [14] . To date, however, no study has been conducted comparing the efficacy among the second-line biologics in Korea. Thus, the objective of this observational study was to investigate and compare the therapeutic effectiveness of rituximab (Mabthera Ⓡ ) and second-line biologic agents in RA patients after failure of the first-line TNF antagonists in the real clinical practice in Korea.

In case of treatment failure after the first-line anti-TNF agents, the second-line biologics including alternative anti-TNF agents or biologics with a different mechanism of action (e.g. interleukin-6 inhibitors [tocilizumab], B-cell depleting antibodies [rituximab] , or inhibitors of T-cell co-stimulation [abatacept]) are commonly used.


Due to the diminution of fossil fuel supplies and increment of energy expenditure, the combustion of renewable fuels derived from biomass became gradually important [1] . Landfill gas (LFG) is a kind of biogas, produced by bacterial decomposition, volatilization, and chemical reaction of animal and other type of solid waste [2] . The raw materials can be municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops. In the late of 1980s, it was found that LFG is flammable and can be used as a fuel for generating electricity, domestic, and industrial purposes [3] .

Due to the diminution of fossil fuel supplies and increment of energy expenditure, the combustion of renewable fuels derived from biomass became gradually important.

Landfill gas (LFG) is a kind of biogas, produced by bacterial decomposition, volatilization, and chemical reaction of animal and other type of solid waste.

In the late of 1980s, it was found that LFG is flammable and can be used as a fuel for generating electricity, domestic, and industrial purposes.


The GMRT consists of an array of 30 antennae, each of 45 m diameter, spread over a region of 25 km diameter, and operating at 5 different wave bands from 150 MHz to 1450 MHz [14] . Amongst the multi-element earth rotation aperture synthesis telescopes operating at meter wavelengths, the GMRT has the largest collecting area. The GMRT can also be configured in array mode, where it acts as a single dish by adding the signals from individual dishes [5] . This mode of operation is used for studying compact objects like pulsars, which are effectively point sources even for the largest interferometric baselines. The maximum instantaneous operating bandwidth at any frequency band is 33 MHz. Each antenna provides signals in two orthogonal polarizations, which are processed through a heterodyne receiver chain and brought to the central receiver building, where they are converted to baseband signals and fed to the digital backend consisting of correlator and pulsar receiver. The existing GMRT hardware backend uses Application Specific Integrated Circuit based design approach, which is fairly efficient and optimized for its prime scientific goals, but has limited flexibility. It also suffers from some limitations due to quantization effects in the hardware pipeline. The pulsar receiver, which uses Digital Signal Processing chips, is somewhat more flexible in its configuration and capabilities. With the growing impact of the GMRT, there is a strong need felt by the user community for a flexible and more powerful backend which can support new regimes of observations. Some examples of these are : (i) spectral line observations requiring higher frequency resolution over larger bandwidths (ii) pulsar searches and surveys for transient sources requiring higher time resolution across a wide field of view, including the capability of forming multiple phased array beams within the primary field of view. Furthermore, like most low frequency radio telescopes, the GMRT is also affected by local radio frequency interference (RFI) -both narrow spectral lines and broadband, impulsive signals. To produce data with high dynamic range and low noise, it is essential to detect and filter out such RFI signals, at various stages in the processing pipeline. The existing GMRT hardware backend is not designed to address such issues. A software based backend can be an attractive option to overcome these limitations.

The GMRT consists of an array of 30 antennae, each of 45 m diameter, spread over a region of 25 km diameter, and operating at 5 different wave bands from 150 MHz to 1450 MHz.

The GMRT can also be configured in array mode, where it acts as a single dish by adding the signals from individual dishes.


This paper proposes a Microgrid Platform, an EMS for a microgrid, by taking into account both the functional requirements and the engineering challenges. The MP is flexible and extensible in the sense that it supports plug-and-play of DER devices, loads, and functionalities by adopting the resource-oriented architecture style. The MP fulfills interoperability via energy service interfaces. We develop and deploy a prototype system both in the UCLA and KIER testbeds and run experiments to show the feasibility of the microgrid management and control in real-world settings. Our experimental results demonstrate that the MP is able to (i) manage various devices in the testbed; (ii) interact with external systems; and (iii) perform efficient energy management. Integral parts of our future works include conducting more experiments for statistical analysis and implementing/evaluating various control algorithms. We note that this work has extended our previous research [40] .

We note that this work has extended our previous research.


One of the important problems in matrix model formulations of superstring theory is to identify gauge symmetries which are expected in closed string theory [1] [2] . In particular, we must identify local symmetries of supergravity. In the case of IIB matrix model, we expect to find local supersymmetry, local Lorentz, general coordinate transformation and three other gauge symmetries. Since the rest follows from local supersymmetry, it is expected to shed light on other gauge symmetries as well.

One of the important problems in matrix model formulations of superstring theory is to identify gauge symmetries which are expected in closed string theory.


In the verbal false belief task, both 4-and 5-year-old children failed to select the correct box on the first response. The results were consistent with the reports that the performance of Japanese children in the false belief tasks was worse than children in other countries (Naito & Koyama, 2006) . At first glance, the results appeared to suggest that Japanese children have more difficulty with false belief reasoning than children in other countries. However, we found that their performance in the nonverbal task was significantly better than in the verbal task. In addition, the performance of 5-year-old children in the task was significantly above chance. These results supported the hypothesis that the poor performance of Japanese children in the standard false belief task may be partly caused by their difficulty with answering questions asked by an adult.

The results were consistent with the reports that the performance of Japanese children in the false belief tasks was worse than children in other countries.


One could argue that Japanese children may improve their performance in the nonverbal false belief task, but their performance may still be worse than that of children from other cultures. However, in the present study the performance of 4-year-old children in the nonverbal task was about 60%, and that of 5-year-old children was about 76%. These results were comparable with those of Western children in the nonverbal task (Call & Tomasello, 1999) . In the Western study, the performance of 4-year-old children was below 50%, and the performance of 5-year-old children was about 80%. Given this, we suggest that the performance of Japanese children in the nonverbal false belief task might be comparable with children in other cultures.

These results were comparable with those of Western children in the nonverbal task.


In this study, we also considered different indicators of locomotor performance that may possibly be affected by axial musculature. First, we estimated individual traction force using a dynamometer. This technique has been previously used in snakes to quantify individual responses to manipulation (Schwaner & Sarre, 1988) . Maximal traction strength was highly repeatable and showed a low coefficient of variation. We found a close relationship between epaxial width and traction force that was most notable in the posterior sections (3 and 4), which were the least muscular. This result suggests that traction force involves a whole body effort. In this context, the weakest region (i.e. posterior sections) in the serially arranged force generator will impose the limit on the force that can be generated by the whole structure. We also assessed constriction capabilities using an original technique based on a compressible lure. This method provided detailed information on constriction patterns, with a notably distinct peak in pressure during and shortly after prey agitation. Though it was not possible to control for inter-individual differences in coiling posture (i.e. position of body coils, number of coils), a significant relationship was found between axial muscle width and constriction maxima. Consistent with this was a significant correlation detected between constriction and traction maxima. Interestingly, posterior sections were also significantly related to constriction while only the anterior part of the body is involved in coiling around the prey. This result may only reflect cross-correlation in musculature values among body sections. Alternatively, it may suggest that constriction also involves a whole body effort as well. For instance, after seizing the prey the snakes typically moved the posterior parts of their bodies to find support against the side of the testing box. Such behaviour may be functionally important and may influence the overall strength deployed during a constriction bout. Further study is necessary to examine the validity of this statement.

This technique has been previously used in snakes to quantify individual responses to manipulation.


Lattices Λ achieving this bound are called extremal. For all l ∈ N there is a unique extremal strongly l-modular lattices of dimension 2k l and this is the lattice Γ l described above. All the genera are presented in the nice survey article [17] .

All the genera are presented in the nice survey article.


Political connections are highly relevant in emerging markets. Malaysia is an appealing setting in this study for various reasons. It is a multi-ethnic and cultural country with concentration of ownership in the hands of a few politically connected Government-Linked Companies (GLCs). Ownership of Public-Listed Companies (PLCs) is identifiable along ethnic lines (Yatim et al., 2006) . There are three main indigenous groups in Malaysia, namely Malays (Bumiputras), Chinese, and Indians. As of the 2010 census, the population of Malaysia was 28.3 million, and of that number, 50.4% were Malays, 24.6% were Chinese, 7% were Indians, and the remaining 18% were other natives. Each ethnic group differs economically, culturally and socially. The diverse nature of Malaysian society has become a competitive advantage for many Malaysian firms. The issues of sustainability and inter-generational equity are of great concern in order to achieve the Malaysian government's vision to achieve developed nation status by 2020. We argue that demographic incidents of shareholder activism significantly impact politically connected directors' decisions that ultimately affect commercial bank performance. To what extent demographic diversities of politically connected directors influence the performance of the firm, both observable demographic diversity (e.g., age, ethnicity and qualification) and non-observable cognitive diversity (e.g., education, experience, knowledge, values, perception, affection and personality characteristics), is the focus of our interest.

Ownership of Public-Listed Companies (PLCs) is identifiable along ethnic lines.


For the control variables, results reveal a positive relationship between performance and firm size at p<1. This finding is consistent with the argument that larger firms are expected to perform better because they are able to diversify their risks (Ghosh, 1998) . In addition, directors are closely monitored by more analysts and thus they are under more pressure to perform well (Haniffa & Hudaib, 2006) . However, there is no evidence to support the assertion that larger boards hinder communication, coordination and eventually the performance of the firm.

This finding is consistent with the argument that larger firms are expected to perform better because they are able to diversify their risks.

In addition, directors are closely monitored by more analysts and thus they are under more pressure to perform well.


Polymer multimode waveguides on or in printed circuit boards can provide low cost, high bit rate communications overcoming the cross-talk, loss, and distortion inherent in copper tracks [1] . To minimize the cost, optical connectors must align passively and precisely to the waveguides, have a low part count, use few processing steps and provide multiple duplex, communication channels in a compact unit. Passively self-aligning, MT-sockets give high alignment precision without the need for skillful assembly.

Polymer multimode waveguides on or in printed circuit boards can provide low cost, high bit rate communications overcoming the cross-talk, loss, and distortion inherent in copper tracks.