Proper Regime Research Articles

Optimal Satellite Sensor Selection Utilized to Monitor the Impact of Urban Sprawl on the Thermal Environment in Doha City, Qatar

In the present study, the most appropriate Landsat and ASTER Image spatial and spectral resolutions were selected to extract thermal infrared data in Doha City, Qatar from 1990-2015. Results indicated Urban Heat Island (UHI) calculated from Landsat sensor data was more consistent with ground truthed temperatures. Landsat TM thermal infrared data with low spatial resolution (60-120 m) was more appropriate for large-scale thermal studies, but was not suitable to assess complex urban thermal environments and establish Land Surface Temperatures (LSTs) for individual buildings. However, ASTER sensor, with a Thermal Infrared (TIR) subsystem of 90 m spatial resolution, showed more accurate determination of thermal patterns and LSTs. Landsat data revealed relatively high temperatures, which exhibited increased congruence with ground truthed measures. In Doha City, LST showed an increased trend from 1990 to 2015; low in 1990, moderate in 2000, to very high in 2015. Furthermore, our results confirmed accelerated urban sprawl during 1990-2015. The evaluated areas increased from 80 km2 in 1990 to 179 km2 in 2015. A strong positive relationship was observed between UHI and urban area intensity. Urban planning absence significantly affected the rural environment. Urbanized areas exhibited high thermal conductivity and radiation heat budgets, characterized by increased atmospheric and surface temperatures compared to surrounding rural areas. Therefore, rapid urbanization rates must undergo proper planning and management regimes to insure positive impacts on the local climate and environment.

Basic Characteristics of Concrete Durability as the Criteria for Curing Classes Selection According to EN 13670:2009

In EN 13670:2009 standard: Execution of concrete structures there are general rules of moisture curing of concrete in structures. In the standard 4 classes of concrete curing are described. Determination of curing class depends on required level of compressive strength immediately after curing (percentage of required characteristic strength after 28 days). Time of curing depends on rate of strength development and concrete surface temperature. In the standard there is a lack of information about influence of curing class on concrete durability characteristics.The main condition to obtain durable concrete is proper curing regime. Not cured on improperly cured concrete has weakened surface layer. Extremely faults in curing process could lead to defects visible on the concrete surface. More often defects are latent inside the concrete and could be revealed during exploitation, leading to durability reduction. The main effect is increase of surface layer porosity (reinforcement cover) and decrease of its protective properties and tightness. Consequently worsening of mechanical properties could be observed as well as water-tightness, frost resistance, chemical aggression resistance, carbonation resistance and diffusivity of chloride.The analysis shown in the paper are the result of 3-yers long investigation conducted by authors, which main goal was to determine appropriateness and way to include durability requirements in designing of curing class according to EN 13670:2009. Thawing-freezing resistance, scaling with salts resistance, depth of water penetration under pressure and absorptivity were adopted as the basic durability factors. Concretes with different cement types, different rate of compressive strength development, air-entrained and non-air-entrained were tested. Time of curing was differentiated in the range of classes 1,3,4 following standard EN 13670:2009 requirements. Practical conclusions were formulated which allows to consider durability presumptions in technological requirements contained in concrete works specifications.

Aggressive periodontitis: A review

The purpose of this review is to highlight the current etiological and therapeutic concepts of aggressive periodontitis which is rapidly progressing and aggressive in nature. It leads to destruction of periodontal tissues and loss of teeth. We need advanced diagnostic techniques to learn about current disease activity and rate of progression. We also require strategies to keep the disease under control with proper maintenance regime and prevent tooth loss, because it can result into complicated prosthetic rehabilitation in a very young patient. The evidence suggests that aggressive periodontitis is influenced by microbiological, genetic, and host factors. This paper reviews clinical, microbiological, immunological, and genetic aspects of pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis, as well as diagnostic criteria of the disease and appropriate nonsurgical and surgical treatment options.

The (Mis)Construction of the European Individual: Two Essays on Union Citizenship Law

European Union law has developed a concept of Union citizenship based on a right of exit from one’s country and a consequential right of entry in another Member State of the Union. ‘Empowering’ European citizens and enabling them to integrate into other Member States’ territories is its main purpose. If we seek to analyse further the concept of Union citizenship, it is almost inevitable that we inquire into the social background of this construction, the individual skills and resources it entails, the state structures and collective goods it affects. This is the puzzle with which the most acute commentators engage. Looked at this way, Union citizenship is about integration of Union citizens into national communities, financial solidarity with other Member States’ nationals and recognition of their personal identities. Ultimately it is about transnational integration and new forms of social justice within the Member States. There is, however, another way to engage with the concept. The focus on social integration is replaced by a somewhat more ambitious project: to empower the Union citizens to connect with Europe as a whole. This approach assumes that a proper regime of Union citizenship constitutes not only a right to free movement but a right to enjoy a common way of living. It would allow Union citizens to live, at least partially, in social and moral conditions which denote a far-reaching European society. If we take this project seriously, the problem, then, is as follows: how are we going to shape this project within a conceptual framework based on transnational integration? What does it mean practically to create ties between individuals who have been allowed to disaffiliate from their country of origin? To which ‘whole’ shall we refer that is not a structured state and yet does not boil down to a mere sphere of individual interests and particular social interactions?The essays presented here suggest two ways to approach this problem. The first explores the concept of ‘the territory of the Union’ enshrined in the EU legal discourse as a possible venue for this shift in understanding the project of European citizenship. The second approach tells the story of an individual who feels strongly about being a ‘European’ with the right to be recognized everywhere in Europe without being part of any definite community. The first paper is an academic article which was commissioned by Dimitry Kochenov for a forthcoming edited volume on EU Citizenship and Federalism: The Role of Rights (CUP, 2015). The second is more of a narrative or a tale and is written in French. The first essay builds upon the second. The reason for bringing them together is to show that the literary form may contribute to an understanding of complex legal issues simply by showing a state of legal affairs in its most stylised form.

Stray Current Corrosion and Mitigation: A synopsis of the technical methods used in dc transit systems

© 2013 IEEE. As a result of the dynamic nature of the stray-current problem, it is challenging to control the stray current within allowable limits. However, with appropriate design decisions, meticulousness during construction, and a proper maintenance and testing regime, the stray-current leakage can be controlled within limits. The recent advances in the stray-current collection have also validated the use of a combination of mitigation methods and collection techniques for the control of stray current. The common application of this approach includes the use of rail boot and other design and construction mitigation techniques such as insulated fasteners, substation spacing in combination with steel reinforcement mesh, and a currentcollection technique. It can be concluded that although the technical advancements have been made in the mitigation and collection techniques for stray currents and new methods have been implemented by transit agencies, most of the mitigation methods used today are the same as suggested by the corrosion committees in the early 1920s. In transit agencies that have a regular maintenance and testing plan along with correctly designed mitigation measures, it was observed that they have a better handle on the stray-current leakage. This makes the regular testing of the tracks an important aspect, and this cost should be accounted in the transit agencies maintenance budget. In fact, assessment of the potential corrosion resulting from stray current should be a part of the planning and design process at the very inception of all projects and the testing of the stray-current corrosion must continue through the revenue service. Another aspect that was realized during the research is the need and importance of having trained corrosion-control staff on the transit agency payroll. Transit agencies are aware that stray current is a serious issue, and it would benefit them greatly if their staff is trained on the fundamentals of the stray current. This would not only help address any potential stray-current issues early on but would also aid the transit agency in conducting early testing of the rail track. Additionally, it was observed that the transit agencies are not keeping a log of the corrosion issues caused by the stray current and the money spent to mitigate those corrosion problems. This kind of tracking would be extremely beneficial to the rail industry in assessing the economic and logistic burden borne by rail transit agencies as a direct impact of stray-current corrosion. Stray-current issues have been around since the first electric railways were placed into operation and can create safety hazards and have serious effects on utility structures and the transit infrastructure itself. Since most of the heavily affected systems are street railways or trolleys, the areas in which the railways were built were also most likely to have underground metallic structures like utility piping, thus making it necessary to have stray-current leakage control. Although more of an issue in embedded tracks and tracks with low soil resistivity, stray-current corrosion is a concern for all kinds of track and needs to be addressed during the design, construction, and maintenance of dc-powered rail transit systems.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the refinement of Hf by EBM

Electron beam melting (EBM) in vacuum is one of the most promising technologies for refining and recycling of metals that react with oxygen when heated. Hf is such a metal. Pure Hf (with a small content of gas and metal impurities) is needed for a variety of applications in the aerospace industry and metallurgy, in the production of components of nuclear reactors, microprocessors, optical components etc. We conducted experiments with the ELIT-60 equipment on Hf ingots at electron beam powers of 12, 15, 17 kW and obtained data about the concentration of impurities by the ICP-MS method. For further understanding and optimizing the Hf refining processes, a non-stationary heat model was applied for numerical simulation of the heat transfer processes. Simulation data about the liquid pool variation during the e-beam treatment was thus obtained. The flatness of the crystallization front shape, which is connected to the structure quality, was investigated by optimization criteria related to the curvature of the liquid/solid boundary curve. We also describe an algorithm for calculation of the criteria. One of the criteria was applied to EBM of Hf for different electron beam powers; the results obtained were confirmed by the experimental data. Combining experimental, theoretical and simulation results, a proper technological regime is proposed for better Hf refining.

Influence of topological edge states on the properties ofAl/Bi2Se3/Alhybrid Josephson devices

In superconductor-topological insulator-superconductor hybrid junctions, the barrier edge states are expected to be protected against backscattering, to generate unconventional proximity effects, and, possibly, to signal the presence of Majorana fermions. The standards of proximity modes for these types of structures have to be settled for a neat identification of possible new entities. Through a systematic and complete set of measurements of the Josephson properties we find evidence of ballistic transport in coplanar Al-Bi2Se3-Al junctions that we attribute to a coherent transport through the topological edge state. The shunting effect of the bulk only influences the normal transport. This behavior, which can be considered to some extent universal, is fairly independent of the specific features of superconducting electrodes. A comparative study of Shubnikov - de Haas oscillations and Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy gave an experimental signature compatible with a two dimensional electron transport channel with a Dirac dispersion relation. A reduction of the size of the Bi2Se3 flakes to the nanoscale is an unavoidable step to drive Josephson junctions in the proper regime to detect possible distinctive features of Majorana fermions.

Privacy Harms and the Effectiveness of the Notice and Choice Framework

In the last fifteen years, the Federal Trade Commission and the White House have promoted notice and choice as the preferred mechanism for protecting consumers’ privacy online. But law and policy scholars doubt the efficacy of this mechanism. Research shows that consumers rarely read website privacy policies, that such policies are often too complex for users to understand, and that website policy statements do not match consumers’ privacy expectations. Efforts to ameliorate theses issues through technological tools, such as privacy filters and do-not-track codes, have been unsuccessful. Further, these tools do not address whether notice and choice theory aligns with the actual privacy harms that consumers experience. This alignment remains unexplored. This article, thus, proposes to examine the relationship between the notice and choice theory and users’ actual privacy concerns. The article takes a novel approach that examines privacy litigation and FTC enforcement actions. This focus on the wrongs litigated in the real world reveals the most important harms that consumers experience and provides a better understanding of the efficacy of the notice and choice framework.The data set compiled to support the research for the article consists of all federal class action complaints alleging online privacy violations filed during the last ten years and the Federal Trade Commission complaints and settlements addressing online privacy. The article next addresses the roles that jurisdiction and competence play in framing claims and identifies a typology of the wrongful acts experienced by consumers. The research shows that four types of claims appear in both private litigation and public enforcement with respect to personal information: (1) unauthorized disclosure, (2) surreptitious collection, (3) failure to secure, and (4) undue retention. The article then applies this typology to map “zones of effectiveness” for the notice and choice regime. The article identifies which wrongs a proper notice and choice regime can and cannot address. The research demonstrates that while some wrongful practices might be avoided by the inclusion of specific statements in a notice, others will be incurable through notice. The latter set of wrongs is, thus, outside the “zone of effectiveness” of a notice and choice regime. Lastly, the article concludes with a discussion of whether and how the harms that consumers experience match the outcomes of litigation and FTC settlement orders.This research is supported by the National Science Foundation grant 1330214 “TWC SBE: Option: Frontier: Collaborative: Towards Effective Web Privacy Notice and Choice: A Multi-Disciplinary Prospective.”

Risk of human toxocarosis in Poland due to Toxocara infection of dogs and cats.

The purpose of this paper was to present the current data on the risk of toxocarosis in humans in Poland and to give an overview of the clinical and diagnostic aspects of the disease. The number of reported clinical cases of Toxocara infection in children in Poland in medical literature has increased recently. The results of field surveys aimed to evaluate the soil contamination with geohelminth eggs conducted during the last few years showed that Toxocara is the most common zoonotic agent in urban public sites and in rural settlements. The questionnaire revealed rural inhabitants' low awareness of zoonotic parasite threats to humans. In particular parents should be advised as to what proper preventive measures to undertake to eliminate the toxocarosis risk factors for children in rural environment. Prevention of initial environment contamination with Toxocara canis and T. cati eggs, which includes proper treatment regimes to eliminate patent infections in dogs and cats and preventing pets from defecating in public areas and private households is vital. To provide the public with suitably presented information as well as pet owners with uniform recommendations, a close collaboration between veterinary and public health professionals is crucial.

Impact of the Human Activities on the Local Climate and Environment of the Suez City in Egypt

Surface temperature and vegetation are the major land cover changes that significantly affect on the thermal environment. In the present study, remote sensing techniques were applied to identify the relationship between anthropogenic activities and the thermal environment in the North Gulf of Suez area. Results have indicated that the urbanization and agricultural expansion have been increased during the last 25 years. Although urban areas increased from 49 km2 in 1987 to 57 km2 in 2012, the urban heat island-range declined from very high and high, to moderate and low. An expansion in cultivated areas from 3 km2 in 1987 to 26 km2 in 2012 was responsible for the decline. The results of this study provided valuable information for understanding the local thermal changes that associate rapid urbanization and expansion of cultivated areas. Consequently, this work recommends that proper planning and management regimes for land use and cover changes associated with rapid urbanization will result in positive impacts on the local climate and environment.

The factors determining the service length of the lead refining kettles

Continuous process, as well as refining capacity of lead is highly dependent on the quality of kettles for refining lead. The kettles are made from special kettles plate and are generally spherical in shape. Quality kettle plate, the method of construction of the kettle, the kettle operation mode, proper maintenance regime technological refining process is represented by factors of which depends on the overall lifetime of the kettle. The quality of the welding electrode and method significantly influences the lifetime of the kettle, not only in the preparation of the kettle, but also in its reparation.

Terapija poremećaja srčanog ritma u akutnom koronarnom sindromu

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the worst acute syndrome of coronary heart diseases (CHD) with high morbidity and mortality, and it has become a serious threat to human health. A leading hypothesis for a major mechanism of arrhythmias in the acute phase of coronary occlusion is micro-reentry due to inhomogeneity of the electrical characteristics of ischemic myocardium. Arrhythmias could be of ventricular or supraventricular origin and the most often are: ventricular premature beats, accelerated idioventricular rhythm, ventricular tachycardia ventricular fibrillation and supraventricular premature beats and atrial fibrillation. Management of this arrhythmias consists not only of proper drug regime selection but also in their quick recognition or possible prediction and not less important, correction of variuos abnormalities such as: plasma electrolyte concentrations, acid-base balance disturbances, hypoxemia, anemia, and digitalis intoxication.

The Rise of the Posthuman Brain: Computational Neuroscience, Digital Networks and the ‘In Silico Cerebral Subject’

The purpose of this paper is mainly diagnostic. It investigates current research projects in computational neuroscience to emphasize a shift from a life science approach (biology and medicine) to a computer science approach in the epistemology of the human brain. This shift updates and preserves the “posthuman view” (N. Katherine Hayles) to render a proper regime of knowledge of the brain in the digital age. Moreover, the massive impact of digital media and digital networks in particular cause essential modifications of the concept of the (post-)human subject in the 21st century. At first, the paper will present an analysis of the “Human Brain Project” to highlight the shift from the human to the posthuman brain in one of the most influential projects in computational neuroscience at the moment. What follows is a discussion of the relations between the “Human Brain Project” and the transhumanist-impelled “Substrate-Independent Mind Project” to emphasize the rise of the posthuman brain between visions of treatment and enhancement. Finally, the paper draws attention to recent theory of digital networks to expose some broader transformations of the concept of the (post-)human subject. In the information-driven ‘century of the brain’ that is dominated by (computational) neuroscience, the human as a “cerebral subject” (Fernando Vidal) turns into an ‘in silico cerebral subject.’ As a programmable and networked model of/for human properties the ‘in silico cerebral subject’ becomes the main epistemic object in computational neuroscience to re-conceptualize the human (brain) out of a multi-level system with brain-like artificial intelligence.

Factors affecting the use of waste-stabilization ponds by birds: A case study of conservation implications of a sewage farm in Europe

The progressive loss of natural wetlands globally means that anthropogenic water reservoirs are increasingly important as habitat for wetland bird species. During yearly bird counts (in one-week intervals) on seven waste-stabilization ponds (size range=0.379–4.450ha; total=8.392ha) located on a large sewage farm in a Wrocław city suburb (south-west Poland), I recorded a total of 7776 individuals from 84 bird species. The most numerous bird guild was waterbirds (45.8% of the community), followed by shorebirds (35.7%), passerines (14.9%) and aerial feeders (3.5%). In general, the density (including all bird guilds) and species diversity of birds was positively related to the bed exposure and ‘naturalness’ (artificial≈small ponds with preliminary treatment versus natural≈large ponds after preliminary treatment) of the waste-stabilization ponds. The compulsory European Union (EU) law regulating urban wastewater treatment (The Council Directive 91/271/EEC, Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive) does not permit use of open sewage farms as a method of treatment for domestic and other wastewater. In many new EU member states, the sewage fields are still used, although this method of sewage treatment will function only until 2015, and after that all wastewater must be purified in modern sewage treatment works. It is recommended that areas historically used as sewage farms located on the outskirts of large cities should be converted into protected areas. However, due to the contamination of invertebrates that inhabit and emerge from sewage treatment works, and the potential high risk of detrimental effects on bird species that feed on such prey, empty waste-stabilization ponds should be re-filled with clean natural water sources such as rain and spring water or alternatively with well-treated waste water. The strategy for managing such areas requires a proper water regime and maintenance of the periodically dry bottom, a crucial feeding area for birds.

Interannual variability of the Black Sea Proper oxygen and nutrients regime: The role of climatic and anthropogenic forcing

The Black Sea is a unique, stratified, enclosed ocean basin of great importance. The water column provides a wealth of information concerning aerobic-anaerobic biogeochemistry, the responses of which can have links to anthropogenic and climatic forcing. Herein, we synthesize dissolved oxygen (DO) and nutrient data (phosphate, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and silicate) for the period 1984–2010 received in the northeastern and western areas of the Sea. In the subsequent analysis we discuss the role of anthropogenic and climatic forcing in the context of the Black Sea oxic layer and oxic/anoxic interface characteristics.The DO concentration in the surface layer and in the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL) decreased in warm periods and increased in cold periods, correlating to North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index variation. The biogeochemical regime of the Black Sea oxygenated upper layer has notably changed since 1999. After 1999 DO concentration in the CIL decreased by 20% while the concentrations in the surface layer changed very little. This provides evidence that the CIL waters were not fully replenished during the winters of the last decade.The nutrient concentrations (DIN and phosphate) in the surface layer decreased significantly in the 2000s compared with the 1980s–1990s. This decrease is regarded as improvement of the Black Sea ecosystem state. Oxygen and nutrient dynamics in the middle pycnocline have been decoupled since 1999. Presently physical (climatic) forcing is the dominant affecting factor controlling the Sea oxygen and nitrogen regime.

Supreme Court Watch: Upcoming Employment‐Related Cases Range from the Proper Remedial Regime for Age‐Discrimination Claims to the Standard for Employee Retaliation Claims

Employment Relations TodayVolume 40, Issue 2 p. 71-76 Key Court Cases Supreme Court Watch: Upcoming Employment-Related Cases Range from the Proper Remedial Regime for Age-Discrimination Claims to the Standard for Employee Retaliation Claims Harold M. Brody, Harold M. Brody hbrody@proskauer.com Proskauer Rose LLPSearch for more papers by this authorTracey L. Fagelbaum, Tracey L. Fagelbaum tfagelbaum@proskauer.com Proskauer Rose LLPSearch for more papers by this author Harold M. Brody, Harold M. Brody hbrody@proskauer.com Proskauer Rose LLPSearch for more papers by this authorTracey L. Fagelbaum, Tracey L. Fagelbaum tfagelbaum@proskauer.com Proskauer Rose LLPSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 July 2013 https://doi.org/10.1002/ert.21414AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume40, Issue2Summer 2013Pages 71-76 RelatedInformation

Parental Knowledge of Pre-school Child Oral Health

The dental health of preschool children has extensive implications on the oral heath of the individual as he grows into an adult. Parents/guardians of preschool children play a central role in enforcing proper oral hygiene and preventive regime in these children. This study was conducted with the aim of describing the views of parents/guardians about the dental health of pre-school children. Response was obtained on a 21 point questionnaire from randomly visiting parents of the outpatient section of Rajah Muthiah dental college and Hospital, Annamalainagar, India. The findings of the present study point towards poor awareness among the parents/guardians of preschool children, pertaining to their childs' oral health and this could directly translate to poor oral health among the children in this area.

Comparative Study of Maize Bran and Chicken Manure as Fish Feed Supplement: Effects on Growth Rate of <i>Oreochromis niloticus</i> in Pond Culture Systems

Aquaculture is an emerging reasonable answer to overexploitation of wild fish stock as the demand for wild fish stock is outstripping supply due to several geo-socio-economic reasons. However, productivity and profitability of aquaculture in Zimbabwe is affected by high costs of fish feeds. This study was done to compare and evaluate the effects of maize bran and chicken manure on growth of Oreochromis niloticus cultured in ponds at Lake Chivero. Three replicate spherical concrete ponds were each applied with chicken manure, maize bran and others left to be the control ponds. A complete randomized experimental design was used. Fish sampled from maize bran fed ponds had the highest growth rate, followed by fish fed with chicken manure ponds and, the control ponds respectively. The use of locally available waste products and feed materials in can be useful in the profitability of O. niloticus culture locally as cereal bran such as maize bran is generally cheap and chicken manure are readily available in Zimbabwe. Further studies should be undertaken on how maize and chicken manure should be applied with proper feeding regimes and ratios to stimulate algae production as well as to prevent fish mortality.

Statistical fluctuation analysis for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with a finite number of decoy states is analyzed under finite-data-size assumption. By accounting for statistical fluctuations in parameter estimation, we investigate vacuum+weak- and vacuum+two-weak-decoy-state protocols. In each case, we find proper operation regimes, where the performance of our system is comparable to the asymptotic case for which the key size and the number of decoy states approach infinity. Our results show that practical implementations of this scheme can be both secure and efficient.

Three-Dimensional Orientation Sensors by Defocused Imaging of Gold Nanorods through an Ordinary Wide-Field Microscope

Gold (Au) nanoparticles, particularly nanorods, are actively employed as imaging probes because of their special nonblinking and nonbleaching absorption, scattering, and emitting properties that arise from the excitation of surface plasmons. Herein, we report a novel sensing method that detects feature orientation at the nanoscale via the defocused imaging of individual Au nanorods (AuNRs) with an ordinary wide-field optical microscope. By simultaneously recording defocused images and two-photon luminescence intensities for a large number of individual AuNRs, we correlate their defocused images with their three-dimensional spatial orientations. The spatial orientation of many individual AuNRs can be monitored in situ and in real-time within a single frame, enabling its use as a technique for high-throughput sensing. The probe size can be as small as several nanometers, which is highly desirable for minimization of any potential interference from the probe itself. Furthermore, the sensing property is insensitive to the excitation polarization and the distribution of the probe aspect ratio, which allows AuNRs of any length within a proper regime to be used as orientation sensors without changing the laser frequency and polarization. These unique features make the orientation probes proposed here outstanding candidates for optical imaging and sensing in materials science and biological applications.