The bioavailability of nutrients in sediments is one of the most important factors controlling ecological and physiological processes in the mangrove ecosystem (Alongi et al. 2002; Feller et al. 2002; Cheeseman & Lovelock 2004; Krauss et al. 2008). Although mangroves are highly productive, they are generally nutrient-deficient, relying on microbial and plant cycling processes for nutrients (Hol...

A number of studies have been conducted on structural health monitoring for buildings and civil engineering structures in recent years (Spencer et al. 2002, Spencer 2003, Dyke et al. 2000, Fujino & Abe 2002, Iwan 2002, Mita & Takahira 2002). In addition, the interest in sensing technology for various uses has been growing, and new kinds of sensors have been developed by micro electro mechanical...

C. Huygens’ observation of the antiphase synchronization of two pendulum clocks mounted together on the same beam [Huygens, C., 1665] was one of the first observations of the phenomenon of the coupled harmonic oscillators, which stimulated a great number of studies of the systems which can synchronize [Pikovsky, A., et al., 2001; Blekham, I.I., 1988]. Recently, Huygens’ original experiment has ...

Recently, titanium compounds with one-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanotubes and nanofibers, have recently attracted much attention. Among these 1-D compounds, nanotubes composed of titanium dioxide and titanate are now being studied actively. Titanium dioxide nanotubes can be synthesized using porous anodic alumina membranes (Imai et al., 1999; Yamanaka et al., 2004), organic molecules ...

1 Bush A, Hedlin G, Carlsen KH, et al. Severe childhood asthma: a common international approach? Lancet 2008; 372: 1019–1021. 2 Hedlin G, Bush A, Lødrup Carlsen K, et al. Problematic severe asthma in children, not one problem but many: a GALEN initiative. Eur Respir J 2010; 36: 196–201. 3 Lang AM, Konradsen J, Carlsen KH, et al. Identifying problematic severe asthma in the individual child – do...

K inship among animals has important implications for their behaviour, as it determines their opportunities for nepotism and their risk of inbreeding (e.g. Hamilton 1963; Wade 1979; Trontti et al. 2005). The most accurate way to assess kinship is through complete knowledge of pedigrees (we use the term kinship to refer to categorical levels of coancestry, as would be derived from pedigree const...

Most ecological studies of fungi associated with tropical plants have focused on the rhizosphere or phyllosphere of seedlings, saplings and adult trees (Augspurger 1983, 1984; Bell et al. 2006, Gilbert 2002, Gilbert et al. 2002, Husband et al. 2002, Kiers et al. 2000, Mangan et al. 2004). However, fungi also infect the seeds of tropical trees, reducing seed survival and potentially affecting ad...

When designing a usability evaluation, choices must be made regarding methods and techniques for data collection and analysis. Mobile guides raise new concerns and challenges to established usability evaluation approaches. Not only are they typically closely related to objects and activities in the user’s immediate surroundings, they are often used while the user is ambulating. This paper prese...

The control of the core-shell structure at the nanometer is one of the most fundamental chal‐ lenges in condensed matter science [Deville et al., 2009; Woodley et al., 2008; Bannin, 2007; Ji et al., 2007; Lauhon et al., 2002]. One of the fundamental concepts regarding the synthesis of nanowires via the spontaneous self-organization of individual nanoparticles, called spontane‐ ous organization ...