The pattern of plague endemicity in Tanzania is characterized by continuous re-appearance of the disease in some locations, while in other neighbouring villages the disease has never or seldom been observed. To unders...The pattern of plague endemicity in Tanzania is characterized by continuous re-appearance of the disease in some locations, while in other neighbouring villages the disease has never or seldom been observed. To understand the reasons for this pattern, we studied small mammal and flea species composition, diversity and relative abundances in two plague-endemic and two plague-free locations. We asked (a) whether fleas more abundant in plague-endemic locations differ in their characteristic abundance and the degree of their host specificity from fleas more abundant in plague-free locations and (b) whether hosts most abundant in p/ague-endemic locations differ in the diversity of their flea assemblages from hosts most abundant in p/ague-free locations. We characterized (a) each host species by species richness and degree of taxonomic relatedness of its flea assemblages and (b) each flea species by its mean abundance and size, and degree of taxonomic relatedness of its host spectrum and compared their relative abundances between locations. No significant difference between plague-endemic and plague-free locations in either host density or any variable related to flea abundance or diversity was found. However, there was marginally significant effect of taxonomic distinctness of a flea assemblage barboured by a host on its probability to be more abundant in either plague-endemic or plague-free locations. Furthermore, hosts more abundant in plague-endemic locations tended to harbour closely-related fleas. Finally, while opportunistic and specialist fleas were equally distributed in both sets of locations, fleas exploiting distantly-related hosts were found mainly in plague-free locations during the rainy season. We suggest that the observed patterns might arise due to seasonal and spatial differences in local microclimatic conditions and landscape connectivity [ Current Zoology 55 (3) : 200 - 211, 2009].展开更多
Computer simulation models are widely applied in various areas of the health care sector, including the spread of infectious diseases. Patch models involve explicit movements of people between distinct locations. The ...Computer simulation models are widely applied in various areas of the health care sector, including the spread of infectious diseases. Patch models involve explicit movements of people between distinct locations. The aim of the present work has been designed and explored a patch model with population mobility between different patches and between each patch and an external population. The authors considered a SIR (susceptible-infected-recovered) scheme. The model was explored by computer simulations. The results show how endemic levels are reached in all patches of the system. Furthermore, the performed explorations suggest that the people mobility between patches, the immigration from outside the system and the infection rate in each patch, are factors that may influence the dynamics of epidemics and should be considered in health policy planning.展开更多
To overcome the deficiencies of high computational complexity and low convergence speed in traditional neural networks, a novel bio-inspired machine learning algorithm named brain emotional learning (BEL) is introdu...To overcome the deficiencies of high computational complexity and low convergence speed in traditional neural networks, a novel bio-inspired machine learning algorithm named brain emotional learning (BEL) is introduced. BEL mimics the emotional learning mechanism in brain which has the superior features of fast learning and quick reacting. To further improve the performance of BEL in data analysis, genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted for optimally tuning the weights and biases of amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in BEL neural network. The integrated algorithm named GA-BEL combines the advantages of the fast learning of BEL, and the global optimum solution of GA. GA-BEL has been tested on a real-world chaotic time series of geomagnetic activity index for prediction, eight benchmark datasets of university California at Irvine (UCI) and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset for classifications. The comparisons of experimental results have shown that the proposed GA-BEL algorithm is more accurate than the original BEL in prediction, and more effective when dealing with large-scale classification problems. Further, it outperforms most other traditional algorithms in terms of accuracy and execution speed in both prediction and classification applications.展开更多
The main aim of this article is to describe the intersubjective relationship between the observer and the subject depicted in a work of art. More precisely, I am interested in the observer's imagination as it is mani...The main aim of this article is to describe the intersubjective relationship between the observer and the subject depicted in a work of art. More precisely, I am interested in the observer's imagination as it is manifested in this relationship. I argue that every act of empathy involves the imagination, but the act of imagination is never understood as an act of empathy. This article will take a new approach towards the perception of a work of art and challenges the traditional notion of empathy as "looking into," "looking in," or "seeing-in." I describe the experience of empathy as a lived experience, where I understand it as a type of intentional act that is distinct from imagination; meanwhile, I show that the imagination plays a role in the empathetic experience of the work of art. How? I understand this situation as one that brings the observer into a new reality, an intersubjective mode of being where she finds a better understanding of her own (as an observer) inner world. I wish to argue that empathy gives a new dimension to experience, where being "here" becomes being "there." Empathy is in fact a special form of meeting the Other. In the case of a work of art, we do not meet the Other as a person who lives their daily life like everyone else; instead we have an independent empathetic experience of the world, taking place within the work of art, in relation to the depicted subject. The nature of empathy is that it enables the observer to enter the deepest intimacy of the work of art and dwell inside it. This depends solely on the observer on how open they are to this world and how much it coincides with the observer's will, as she always retains limitless freedom when interpreting a work of art.展开更多
Toni Morrison's fiction may arguably be characterized as postmodern discourse on memory, history and culture. In her novels, the Nobel laureate frequently returns to the past to search for answers to the questions sh...Toni Morrison's fiction may arguably be characterized as postmodern discourse on memory, history and culture. In her novels, the Nobel laureate frequently returns to the past to search for answers to the questions she poses about African American realities in the contemporary United States. In doing so, Morrison often creates alternative histories or, more specifically, a usable past----one that allows her to engage in a literary (re-)construction of the Black historical and cultural material which traditional histories have chosen to ignore or disremember. Therefore, as a present-day writer of African American descent, Morrison attempts to reassemble all the fragmentary historical and cultural accounts available to her as a novelist and narrate them in the form of a convincing story. With regard to the above considerations, this article seeks to discuss some of the mechanisms employed by Morrison for weaving her postmodern, memory-filled narrative on the example of her eighth novel, Love (2003). In particular, the analysis focuses on the book's central figure, Bill Cosey, and his Southern ocean-side resort--both seen against the backdrop of the pre- and post-World War II racist America, followed by the 1960s decade of the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, it is also demonstrated how the author's use of split narrative as well as the "I" narrator-cum-character technique contribute to recounting in retrospect Love's main, historicized story---one viewed and judged from a present-time perspective.展开更多
After the year of 1944, Von Neumann and Morgenstem published the book "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior", the game theory had gradually become an emerging discipline. At present, game theory has already penetra...After the year of 1944, Von Neumann and Morgenstem published the book "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior", the game theory had gradually become an emerging discipline. At present, game theory has already penetrated to every industry and widespread application in economy, politics and military and so on. The paper introduces the history and the developed situation of game theory about the foreign and domestic state.展开更多
In Vehicle-to-infrastructure(V2I)communication networks,mobile users are able to access Internet services,such as video streaming,digital map downloading,database access,online gaming,and even safety services like acc...In Vehicle-to-infrastructure(V2I)communication networks,mobile users are able to access Internet services,such as video streaming,digital map downloading,database access,online gaming,and even safety services like accident alarm,traffic condition broadcast,etc.,through fixed roadside units.However,the dynamics of communication environment and frequent changing topology critically challenge the design of an efficient transport layer protocol,which makes it difficult to guarantee diverse Quality of Service(QoS) requirements for various applications.In this paper,we present a novel transport layer scheme in infrastructure based vehicular networks,and aim to resolve some challenging issues such as source transfer rate adjustment,congestion avoidance,and fairness.By precisely detecting packet losses and identifying various causes of these losses(for example,link disconnection,channel error,packet collision,buffer overflow),the proposed scheme adopts different reacting mechanisms to deal with each of the losses.Moreover,it timely monitors the buffer size of the bottleneck Road-Side Unit(RSU),and dynamically makes transfer rate feedbacks to source nodes to avoid buffer overflow or vacancy.Finally,analysis and simulation results show that the proposed scheme not only successfully reduces packet losses because of buffer overflow and link disconnection but also improves the utilization efficiency of channel resource.展开更多
In face to the phenomenon of program, indifference and lack of emotion in furniture design. In this paper, through the analysis of various factors that trigger users' emotional experience, research the specific point...In face to the phenomenon of program, indifference and lack of emotion in furniture design. In this paper, through the analysis of various factors that trigger users' emotional experience, research the specific point of the emotional design classification. According to the furniture design propose the traditional furniture design creative model and design method for the modem life. From the perspective of the specific case, gives the detailed process of modem furniture design and implementation methods, for obtain the results of outstanding design put forward specific ways.展开更多
In this paper, epidemic spread with the staged progression model on homogeneous and heterogeneous networks is studied. First, the epidemic threshold of the simple staged progression model is given. Then the staged pro...In this paper, epidemic spread with the staged progression model on homogeneous and heterogeneous networks is studied. First, the epidemic threshold of the simple staged progression model is given. Then the staged progression model with birth and death is also considered. The case where infectivity is a nonlinear function of the nodes' degree is discussed, too. Finally, the analytical results are verified by numerical simulations.展开更多
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Baduanjin,a traditional Chinese medical exercise, on improving premenstrual syndrome(PMS) symptoms in women.METHODS: Forty reproductive age women with PMS in Macao practiced sta...OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Baduanjin,a traditional Chinese medical exercise, on improving premenstrual syndrome(PMS) symptoms in women.METHODS: Forty reproductive age women with PMS in Macao practiced standardized Baduanjin exercise for three menstrual cycles. A questionnaire,the daily record of severity of problems(DRSP), was used to measure symptom severity. DRSP was filled out every days tarting from the last cycle before exercise(i.e., the first menstrual cycle) to the third cycle after exercise initiation(i.e., the fourth menstrual cycle). The total scores and the scores of each item during the 5 premenstrual days and follicular phase(5-9 postmenstrual days)were calculated.RESULTS: After exercise, the total DRSP scores dur-ing the 5 premenstrual days and differences in the total DRSP scores between the 5 premenstrual days and the follicular phase were both significantly reduced. Of note, the physical symptom total scores in the 5 premenstrual days and the differences between its total score in the 5 premenstrual days and in the follicular phase were both significantly reduced. The differences between the total scores of depressed mood, anxious mood, loss of interest,and reduction in social activity during the 5 premenstrual days and the follicular phase were also reduced.CONCLUSION: Baduanjin exercise was able to improve the mental and especially the physical symptoms of PMS.展开更多
In my paper, I analyse Hume's philosophy of love with the general philosophical idea of a continual flux in the background. My main source is his Treatise of Human Nature published in 1739 where Hume develops in full...In my paper, I analyse Hume's philosophy of love with the general philosophical idea of a continual flux in the background. My main source is his Treatise of Human Nature published in 1739 where Hume develops in full length his purely naturalistic moral theory. First, I recall some basic features of Hume's general concept of a passion. Afterwards, I characterize his concept of love in context of his "principle" of sympathy in order to connect finally Hume's ideas to a basic distinction within traditional philosophy of love between love of benevolence and love of desire.展开更多
In this paper, to better understand the impact of awareness and the network structure on epidemic transmission, we divide the population into four subpopulations corresponding to different physical states and consciou...In this paper, to better understand the impact of awareness and the network structure on epidemic transmission, we divide the population into four subpopulations corresponding to different physical states and conscious states, and we first propose a modified disease- awareness model, then verify the global stability of the disease-free and endemic equilib- ria, and finally present numerical simulations to demonstrate the theoretical analysis. By examining the spreading influences of model parameters, we find that the outbreak scale can be effectively controlled through increasing the spread rate of awareness or reducing the rate of awareness loss. That is to say, all sorts of media publicity are meaningful. Meanwhile, we find that infection will be affected by consciousness through the control variable.展开更多
Due to link additions, small world phenomena exist in tree-based wireless sensor networks. Epidemics on small worlds of tree-based networks are studied, and the epidemic threshold at which the outbreak of the epideIrl...Due to link additions, small world phenomena exist in tree-based wireless sensor networks. Epidemics on small worlds of tree-based networks are studied, and the epidemic threshold at which the outbreak of the epideIrlic occurs is calculated. Epidemiological processes are analyzed when the infection probability is larger than the percolation threshold. Although different epidemiological processes occur on the underlying tree topology, the number of infected nodes increases exponentially as the infection spreads. The uniform immunization procedure is conducted in the homogeneous small-world network. The infection still extends exponentially Mthough the immunization effectively reduces the prevalence speed.展开更多
文摘The pattern of plague endemicity in Tanzania is characterized by continuous re-appearance of the disease in some locations, while in other neighbouring villages the disease has never or seldom been observed. To understand the reasons for this pattern, we studied small mammal and flea species composition, diversity and relative abundances in two plague-endemic and two plague-free locations. We asked (a) whether fleas more abundant in plague-endemic locations differ in their characteristic abundance and the degree of their host specificity from fleas more abundant in plague-free locations and (b) whether hosts most abundant in p/ague-endemic locations differ in the diversity of their flea assemblages from hosts most abundant in p/ague-free locations. We characterized (a) each host species by species richness and degree of taxonomic relatedness of its flea assemblages and (b) each flea species by its mean abundance and size, and degree of taxonomic relatedness of its host spectrum and compared their relative abundances between locations. No significant difference between plague-endemic and plague-free locations in either host density or any variable related to flea abundance or diversity was found. However, there was marginally significant effect of taxonomic distinctness of a flea assemblage barboured by a host on its probability to be more abundant in either plague-endemic or plague-free locations. Furthermore, hosts more abundant in plague-endemic locations tended to harbour closely-related fleas. Finally, while opportunistic and specialist fleas were equally distributed in both sets of locations, fleas exploiting distantly-related hosts were found mainly in plague-free locations during the rainy season. We suggest that the observed patterns might arise due to seasonal and spatial differences in local microclimatic conditions and landscape connectivity [ Current Zoology 55 (3) : 200 - 211, 2009].
文摘Computer simulation models are widely applied in various areas of the health care sector, including the spread of infectious diseases. Patch models involve explicit movements of people between distinct locations. The aim of the present work has been designed and explored a patch model with population mobility between different patches and between each patch and an external population. The authors considered a SIR (susceptible-infected-recovered) scheme. The model was explored by computer simulations. The results show how endemic levels are reached in all patches of the system. Furthermore, the performed explorations suggest that the people mobility between patches, the immigration from outside the system and the infection rate in each patch, are factors that may influence the dynamics of epidemics and should be considered in health policy planning.
基金Project(61403422)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(17C1084)supported by Hunan Education Department Science Foundation of ChinaProject(17ZD02)supported by Hunan University of Arts and Science,China
文摘To overcome the deficiencies of high computational complexity and low convergence speed in traditional neural networks, a novel bio-inspired machine learning algorithm named brain emotional learning (BEL) is introduced. BEL mimics the emotional learning mechanism in brain which has the superior features of fast learning and quick reacting. To further improve the performance of BEL in data analysis, genetic algorithm (GA) is adopted for optimally tuning the weights and biases of amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in BEL neural network. The integrated algorithm named GA-BEL combines the advantages of the fast learning of BEL, and the global optimum solution of GA. GA-BEL has been tested on a real-world chaotic time series of geomagnetic activity index for prediction, eight benchmark datasets of university California at Irvine (UCI) and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset for classifications. The comparisons of experimental results have shown that the proposed GA-BEL algorithm is more accurate than the original BEL in prediction, and more effective when dealing with large-scale classification problems. Further, it outperforms most other traditional algorithms in terms of accuracy and execution speed in both prediction and classification applications.
文摘The main aim of this article is to describe the intersubjective relationship between the observer and the subject depicted in a work of art. More precisely, I am interested in the observer's imagination as it is manifested in this relationship. I argue that every act of empathy involves the imagination, but the act of imagination is never understood as an act of empathy. This article will take a new approach towards the perception of a work of art and challenges the traditional notion of empathy as "looking into," "looking in," or "seeing-in." I describe the experience of empathy as a lived experience, where I understand it as a type of intentional act that is distinct from imagination; meanwhile, I show that the imagination plays a role in the empathetic experience of the work of art. How? I understand this situation as one that brings the observer into a new reality, an intersubjective mode of being where she finds a better understanding of her own (as an observer) inner world. I wish to argue that empathy gives a new dimension to experience, where being "here" becomes being "there." Empathy is in fact a special form of meeting the Other. In the case of a work of art, we do not meet the Other as a person who lives their daily life like everyone else; instead we have an independent empathetic experience of the world, taking place within the work of art, in relation to the depicted subject. The nature of empathy is that it enables the observer to enter the deepest intimacy of the work of art and dwell inside it. This depends solely on the observer on how open they are to this world and how much it coincides with the observer's will, as she always retains limitless freedom when interpreting a work of art.
文摘Toni Morrison's fiction may arguably be characterized as postmodern discourse on memory, history and culture. In her novels, the Nobel laureate frequently returns to the past to search for answers to the questions she poses about African American realities in the contemporary United States. In doing so, Morrison often creates alternative histories or, more specifically, a usable past----one that allows her to engage in a literary (re-)construction of the Black historical and cultural material which traditional histories have chosen to ignore or disremember. Therefore, as a present-day writer of African American descent, Morrison attempts to reassemble all the fragmentary historical and cultural accounts available to her as a novelist and narrate them in the form of a convincing story. With regard to the above considerations, this article seeks to discuss some of the mechanisms employed by Morrison for weaving her postmodern, memory-filled narrative on the example of her eighth novel, Love (2003). In particular, the analysis focuses on the book's central figure, Bill Cosey, and his Southern ocean-side resort--both seen against the backdrop of the pre- and post-World War II racist America, followed by the 1960s decade of the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, it is also demonstrated how the author's use of split narrative as well as the "I" narrator-cum-character technique contribute to recounting in retrospect Love's main, historicized story---one viewed and judged from a present-time perspective.
文摘After the year of 1944, Von Neumann and Morgenstem published the book "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior", the game theory had gradually become an emerging discipline. At present, game theory has already penetrated to every industry and widespread application in economy, politics and military and so on. The paper introduces the history and the developed situation of game theory about the foreign and domestic state.
基金ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This work was partially supported by the Na- tional Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61101121 the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China under Grant No. N110404002+2 种基金 the Key Laboratory Project Funds of Shenyang Ligong University under Grant No. 4771004kfs03 the Educational Committee of Liaoning Province Science and Technology Research Projects under Grant No. L2013096 the National Sci- ence and Technology Support Program under Grant No. 2012BAH82F04.
文摘In Vehicle-to-infrastructure(V2I)communication networks,mobile users are able to access Internet services,such as video streaming,digital map downloading,database access,online gaming,and even safety services like accident alarm,traffic condition broadcast,etc.,through fixed roadside units.However,the dynamics of communication environment and frequent changing topology critically challenge the design of an efficient transport layer protocol,which makes it difficult to guarantee diverse Quality of Service(QoS) requirements for various applications.In this paper,we present a novel transport layer scheme in infrastructure based vehicular networks,and aim to resolve some challenging issues such as source transfer rate adjustment,congestion avoidance,and fairness.By precisely detecting packet losses and identifying various causes of these losses(for example,link disconnection,channel error,packet collision,buffer overflow),the proposed scheme adopts different reacting mechanisms to deal with each of the losses.Moreover,it timely monitors the buffer size of the bottleneck Road-Side Unit(RSU),and dynamically makes transfer rate feedbacks to source nodes to avoid buffer overflow or vacancy.Finally,analysis and simulation results show that the proposed scheme not only successfully reduces packet losses because of buffer overflow and link disconnection but also improves the utilization efficiency of channel resource.
文摘In face to the phenomenon of program, indifference and lack of emotion in furniture design. In this paper, through the analysis of various factors that trigger users' emotional experience, research the specific point of the emotional design classification. According to the furniture design propose the traditional furniture design creative model and design method for the modem life. From the perspective of the specific case, gives the detailed process of modem furniture design and implementation methods, for obtain the results of outstanding design put forward specific ways.
基金supported by Hong Kong Polytechnic University Grant via a Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grant(CERG) under Grant No.PolyU 5279//08Ethe National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.11005001 and 11072136+1 种基金the 211 Project of Anhui University under Grant No.2009QN003A,KJTD002Bsupported by Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project under Grant No.S30104
文摘In this paper, epidemic spread with the staged progression model on homogeneous and heterogeneous networks is studied. First, the epidemic threshold of the simple staged progression model is given. Then the staged progression model with birth and death is also considered. The case where infectivity is a nonlinear function of the nodes' degree is discussed, too. Finally, the analytical results are verified by numerical simulations.
文摘OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Baduanjin,a traditional Chinese medical exercise, on improving premenstrual syndrome(PMS) symptoms in women.METHODS: Forty reproductive age women with PMS in Macao practiced standardized Baduanjin exercise for three menstrual cycles. A questionnaire,the daily record of severity of problems(DRSP), was used to measure symptom severity. DRSP was filled out every days tarting from the last cycle before exercise(i.e., the first menstrual cycle) to the third cycle after exercise initiation(i.e., the fourth menstrual cycle). The total scores and the scores of each item during the 5 premenstrual days and follicular phase(5-9 postmenstrual days)were calculated.RESULTS: After exercise, the total DRSP scores dur-ing the 5 premenstrual days and differences in the total DRSP scores between the 5 premenstrual days and the follicular phase were both significantly reduced. Of note, the physical symptom total scores in the 5 premenstrual days and the differences between its total score in the 5 premenstrual days and in the follicular phase were both significantly reduced. The differences between the total scores of depressed mood, anxious mood, loss of interest,and reduction in social activity during the 5 premenstrual days and the follicular phase were also reduced.CONCLUSION: Baduanjin exercise was able to improve the mental and especially the physical symptoms of PMS.
文摘In my paper, I analyse Hume's philosophy of love with the general philosophical idea of a continual flux in the background. My main source is his Treatise of Human Nature published in 1739 where Hume develops in full length his purely naturalistic moral theory. First, I recall some basic features of Hume's general concept of a passion. Afterwards, I characterize his concept of love in context of his "principle" of sympathy in order to connect finally Hume's ideas to a basic distinction within traditional philosophy of love between love of benevolence and love of desire.
文摘In this paper, to better understand the impact of awareness and the network structure on epidemic transmission, we divide the population into four subpopulations corresponding to different physical states and conscious states, and we first propose a modified disease- awareness model, then verify the global stability of the disease-free and endemic equilib- ria, and finally present numerical simulations to demonstrate the theoretical analysis. By examining the spreading influences of model parameters, we find that the outbreak scale can be effectively controlled through increasing the spread rate of awareness or reducing the rate of awareness loss. That is to say, all sorts of media publicity are meaningful. Meanwhile, we find that infection will be affected by consciousness through the control variable.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.61203144the General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant No.2013M540869the Open Fund of Guangdong Provincial Digital Signal and Image Processing Technologies Key Laboratory under Grant No.2013GDDSIPL-06
文摘Due to link additions, small world phenomena exist in tree-based wireless sensor networks. Epidemics on small worlds of tree-based networks are studied, and the epidemic threshold at which the outbreak of the epideIrlic occurs is calculated. Epidemiological processes are analyzed when the infection probability is larger than the percolation threshold. Although different epidemiological processes occur on the underlying tree topology, the number of infected nodes increases exponentially as the infection spreads. The uniform immunization procedure is conducted in the homogeneous small-world network. The infection still extends exponentially Mthough the immunization effectively reduces the prevalence speed.