We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon senso...We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon sensor is 317 nm/RIU, and the FOM is predicted to be above 8, which is very high for a localized surface plasmon sensor. By employing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis （RCWA） method, we analyze the distribution of the magnetic field and find that the sensing property of our proposed system is attributed to the interactions between the localized surface plasmon around the gold nanostrips and the surface plasmon polarition on the surface of the gold planar metallic film. These findings are important for developing high FOM localized surface plasmon sensors.展开更多
Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of mer...Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of merit analysis was re-examined for a hybrid solar-geothermal power plant. A new definition of the figure of merit was introduced specifically for a solar boosted geothermal plant to include both the technical and economic factors. The new definition was then applied in a case study of a hypothetical demonstration hybrid solar-geothermal power plant in Australia. The power plant was considered to have a typical net power output of 2.2 MW with a solar energy fraction of 27%. The analysis was performed to compare the power output and capital cost of the hybrid plant with the state-of-the-art (SoA) and existing stand-alone solar and geothermal plants. Based on the new definition, the hybrid plant was found to generally outperform the two existing stand-alone plants. Moreover, at an ambient temperature of 5 °C, the hybrid plant was found to outperform the SoA stand-alone plants when the geothermal temperature was greater than 150 °C. For geothermal temperature of 180 °C on the other hand, the hybrid plant outperformed the SoA stand-alone plants at ambient temperatures lower than 33 °C.展开更多
Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this...Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this thesis tends to reveal Aristotle's large and enduring influence on modern literary criticism.展开更多
A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, ...A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, a merit function method for solving nonlinear complementarity problem is investigated, and the global convergence of the proposed algorithm is proved under some standard assumptions. Some preliminary numerical results are given.展开更多
Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal...Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal with nonlinear complementarity problem where the underlying function is assumed to be a continuous but not necessarily locally Lipschitzian map and gives a descent algorithm for solving the nonsmooth continuous complementarity problems. In addition, the global convergence of the derivative free descent algorithm is also proved.展开更多
Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of...Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of foods,enhancing convenience of foods,facilitating food processing,and satisfying other demands. However,excessive and illegal use of food additives will exert adverse influence on food security.Therefore,it is required to take proper measures to bring merits of food additives into full play,and get rid of their demerits.展开更多
Background: Physical activity improves quality of life and reduces the risks of breast cancer up to 30 - 40 percent. Qi-Gong is a form of exercise widely acknowledged by Asian survivors as health promoting, despite a ...Background: Physical activity improves quality of life and reduces the risks of breast cancer up to 30 - 40 percent. Qi-Gong is a form of exercise widely acknowledged by Asian survivors as health promoting, despite a lack of research evidence. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Qi-Gong on the Quality of Life (QOL) of survivors. Methods/ Design: A total of 114 women who had been treated for stage I or II breast cancer at least 12 months previously were randomly assigned to supervised aerobic exercise (n = 38), Qi-Gong exercise (n = 38), or usual care (n = 38). Supervised 1.5 hour exercise sessions took place three times per week for 8 weeks (face to face—once a week and home follow up twice a week). Outcomes included QoL (FACT-G), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)], distress [Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)] assessed at baseline and at the 8-week follow-up. Secondary measures included exercise Self Efficacy Scale (ESS), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F) and exercise behavior (log) Two way (group × time) repeated measures ANOVA will examine differences between groups over time. Discussion: This research will provide insights on the efficacy of a 8 weeks structured Qi-Gong program designed for quality of life. The details of the Qi-Gong and the placebo (line dancing) over 8 weeks are delineated, with the study protocol for researcher’s replication. The result of the study can contribute towards understanding how Qi-Gong over other physical activity can be used for self managing physical health for people with breast cancer, an increasingly acknowledged chronic condition. Conclusion: Women with breast cancer need to start engaging in physically healthy-active living on a day-to-day basis for prevention of recurrence, mortality and wellbeing. However, many requires professional support with a structured intervention. This design of this study provides a protocol for 8 weeks Qi-Gong with implications on healthy survivorship, and a possible reduction on healthcare costs related to long-term effects and co morbidities that can be prevented via physical activity.展开更多
Qì Gōng is a type of exercise that involves meditation and is used for health. With a background from the martial arts, it is known also as an auto healing exercise with three main elements according to Traditio...Qì Gōng is a type of exercise that involves meditation and is used for health. With a background from the martial arts, it is known also as an auto healing exercise with three main elements according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): body focus (posture and movement), breathing and mind focus (meditative elements). Heart rate variability is a tool that allows us to measure the autonomic system velocity to detect and respond to unexpected stimuli. So our goal was to build a systematic review of Qi Gong and Heart rate variability. PUBMED, EBSCO and Science Direct data bases were searched. Key terms (MeSH) were Heart Rate Variability and Ch’i Kung OR Qi Gong with a 10-year filter. Four independent reviewers analyzed all articles and excluded duplicated articles, articles in Chinese and articles with no adherence to the subject. The end result was 5 studies selected. Our results showed no significant improvements in HRV with the practice of Qì Gōng, probably because of data heterogeneity. We found 5 types of Qì Gōng, 3 different instruments and different time intervals to measure HRV and 2 different age groups in the studies. We can conclude that there is evidence that Qì Gōng can improve HRV but studies that would use the same parameters are needed to further confirm that.展开更多
Objective: Qi Gong is a mind-and-body intervention to improve health and relieve disease conditions,which has been practiced for thousands of years. Lack of quantitative measures to monitor the quality and progress of...Objective: Qi Gong is a mind-and-body intervention to improve health and relieve disease conditions,which has been practiced for thousands of years. Lack of quantitative measures to monitor the quality and progress of Qi Gong practice has hindered the high-quality study to evaluate its health benefits.Methods: To develop such quantitative measures, vital sign changes in Qi Gong meditation practice of a single individual were monitored for 5 years by wearable devices.Results: This retrospective and exploratory analysis revealed significant changes in blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, respiration rate, and perfusion index in response to Qi Gong practice and physiological adaptation to its long-term training. Among the physiological changes in vital signs, a physiological state with a significant 2-fold increase in pulse-respiration rate ratio was detected during Qi Gong meditation while the ratios were maintained at 4 under resting, sleeping, and mild cycling conditions.Conclusion: This is an inaugural report of a five-year longitudinal observation of this kind. Once validated in a well-designed cohort study, these non-invasive and easily obtained vital signs may be used as biomarkers to assess the adherence to breathing control during Qi Gong practice and can be applied to quantify the quality of Qi Gong practice in clinical trials with Qi Gong intervention.展开更多
A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition techniq...A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition technique. The structural, thermal and electrical properties are studied and presented in detail, which demonstrate that the material is of semiconductor type, orthorhombic structure, with a band gap in the order of 1.56eV and a free carrier concentration of 1.46 × 10^17 cm-3. The thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conduction mode, Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are determined using the photo-thermal deflection technique combined with the Boltzmann transport theory and Cahill＇s model, showing that the AgsSnS6 material has a low thermal conductivity of 3.8 Wm - 1K- 1, high electrical conductivity of 2.4 × 10^5 Sm- 1, Seebeck coefficient of -180μVK-1 and a power factor of 6.9mWK-2m-1, implying that it is more efficient than those obtained in recently experimental investigations for thermoelectric devices.展开更多
In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance ad...In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance adaptations in recreational runners.展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Key Research Program of China(Grant No.2011ZX01015-001)
文摘We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon sensor is 317 nm/RIU, and the FOM is predicted to be above 8, which is very high for a localized surface plasmon sensor. By employing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis （RCWA） method, we analyze the distribution of the magnetic field and find that the sensing property of our proposed system is attributed to the interactions between the localized surface plasmon around the gold nanostrips and the surface plasmon polarition on the surface of the gold planar metallic film. These findings are important for developing high FOM localized surface plasmon sensors.
文摘Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of merit analysis was re-examined for a hybrid solar-geothermal power plant. A new definition of the figure of merit was introduced specifically for a solar boosted geothermal plant to include both the technical and economic factors. The new definition was then applied in a case study of a hypothetical demonstration hybrid solar-geothermal power plant in Australia. The power plant was considered to have a typical net power output of 2.2 MW with a solar energy fraction of 27%. The analysis was performed to compare the power output and capital cost of the hybrid plant with the state-of-the-art (SoA) and existing stand-alone solar and geothermal plants. Based on the new definition, the hybrid plant was found to generally outperform the two existing stand-alone plants. Moreover, at an ambient temperature of 5 °C, the hybrid plant was found to outperform the SoA stand-alone plants when the geothermal temperature was greater than 150 °C. For geothermal temperature of 180 °C on the other hand, the hybrid plant outperformed the SoA stand-alone plants at ambient temperatures lower than 33 °C.
文摘Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this thesis tends to reveal Aristotle's large and enduring influence on modern literary criticism.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(10871144)the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin(07JCYBJC05200)
文摘A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, a merit function method for solving nonlinear complementarity problem is investigated, and the global convergence of the proposed algorithm is proved under some standard assumptions. Some preliminary numerical results are given.
基金Supported by the National Science foundation of China(10671126, 40771095)the Key Project for Fundamental Research of STCSM(06JC14057)+1 种基金Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project(S30501)the Innovation Fund Project for Graduate Students of Shanghai(JWCXSL0801)
文摘Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal with nonlinear complementarity problem where the underlying function is assumed to be a continuous but not necessarily locally Lipschitzian map and gives a descent algorithm for solving the nonsmooth continuous complementarity problems. In addition, the global convergence of the derivative free descent algorithm is also proved.
文摘Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of foods,enhancing convenience of foods,facilitating food processing,and satisfying other demands. However,excessive and illegal use of food additives will exert adverse influence on food security.Therefore,it is required to take proper measures to bring merits of food additives into full play,and get rid of their demerits.
文摘Background: Physical activity improves quality of life and reduces the risks of breast cancer up to 30 - 40 percent. Qi-Gong is a form of exercise widely acknowledged by Asian survivors as health promoting, despite a lack of research evidence. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Qi-Gong on the Quality of Life (QOL) of survivors. Methods/ Design: A total of 114 women who had been treated for stage I or II breast cancer at least 12 months previously were randomly assigned to supervised aerobic exercise (n = 38), Qi-Gong exercise (n = 38), or usual care (n = 38). Supervised 1.5 hour exercise sessions took place three times per week for 8 weeks (face to face—once a week and home follow up twice a week). Outcomes included QoL (FACT-G), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)], distress [Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)] assessed at baseline and at the 8-week follow-up. Secondary measures included exercise Self Efficacy Scale (ESS), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F) and exercise behavior (log) Two way (group × time) repeated measures ANOVA will examine differences between groups over time. Discussion: This research will provide insights on the efficacy of a 8 weeks structured Qi-Gong program designed for quality of life. The details of the Qi-Gong and the placebo (line dancing) over 8 weeks are delineated, with the study protocol for researcher’s replication. The result of the study can contribute towards understanding how Qi-Gong over other physical activity can be used for self managing physical health for people with breast cancer, an increasingly acknowledged chronic condition. Conclusion: Women with breast cancer need to start engaging in physically healthy-active living on a day-to-day basis for prevention of recurrence, mortality and wellbeing. However, many requires professional support with a structured intervention. This design of this study provides a protocol for 8 weeks Qi-Gong with implications on healthy survivorship, and a possible reduction on healthcare costs related to long-term effects and co morbidities that can be prevented via physical activity.
文摘Qì Gōng is a type of exercise that involves meditation and is used for health. With a background from the martial arts, it is known also as an auto healing exercise with three main elements according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): body focus (posture and movement), breathing and mind focus (meditative elements). Heart rate variability is a tool that allows us to measure the autonomic system velocity to detect and respond to unexpected stimuli. So our goal was to build a systematic review of Qi Gong and Heart rate variability. PUBMED, EBSCO and Science Direct data bases were searched. Key terms (MeSH) were Heart Rate Variability and Ch’i Kung OR Qi Gong with a 10-year filter. Four independent reviewers analyzed all articles and excluded duplicated articles, articles in Chinese and articles with no adherence to the subject. The end result was 5 studies selected. Our results showed no significant improvements in HRV with the practice of Qì Gōng, probably because of data heterogeneity. We found 5 types of Qì Gōng, 3 different instruments and different time intervals to measure HRV and 2 different age groups in the studies. We can conclude that there is evidence that Qì Gōng can improve HRV but studies that would use the same parameters are needed to further confirm that.
文摘Objective: Qi Gong is a mind-and-body intervention to improve health and relieve disease conditions,which has been practiced for thousands of years. Lack of quantitative measures to monitor the quality and progress of Qi Gong practice has hindered the high-quality study to evaluate its health benefits.Methods: To develop such quantitative measures, vital sign changes in Qi Gong meditation practice of a single individual were monitored for 5 years by wearable devices.Results: This retrospective and exploratory analysis revealed significant changes in blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate, respiration rate, and perfusion index in response to Qi Gong practice and physiological adaptation to its long-term training. Among the physiological changes in vital signs, a physiological state with a significant 2-fold increase in pulse-respiration rate ratio was detected during Qi Gong meditation while the ratios were maintained at 4 under resting, sleeping, and mild cycling conditions.Conclusion: This is an inaugural report of a five-year longitudinal observation of this kind. Once validated in a well-designed cohort study, these non-invasive and easily obtained vital signs may be used as biomarkers to assess the adherence to breathing control during Qi Gong practice and can be applied to quantify the quality of Qi Gong practice in clinical trials with Qi Gong intervention.
基金Supported by the Scientific Research Deanship of University of Dammam under Grant No 2014264
文摘A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition technique. The structural, thermal and electrical properties are studied and presented in detail, which demonstrate that the material is of semiconductor type, orthorhombic structure, with a band gap in the order of 1.56eV and a free carrier concentration of 1.46 × 10^17 cm-3. The thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conduction mode, Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are determined using the photo-thermal deflection technique combined with the Boltzmann transport theory and Cahill＇s model, showing that the AgsSnS6 material has a low thermal conductivity of 3.8 Wm - 1K- 1, high electrical conductivity of 2.4 × 10^5 Sm- 1, Seebeck coefficient of -180μVK-1 and a power factor of 6.9mWK-2m-1, implying that it is more efficient than those obtained in recently experimental investigations for thermoelectric devices.
文摘In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance adaptations in recreational runners.
