Vegetation is the main component of the terrestrial ecosystem and plays a key role in global climate change. Remotely sensed vegetation indices are widely used to detect vegetation trends at large scales. To understan...Vegetation is the main component of the terrestrial ecosystem and plays a key role in global climate change. Remotely sensed vegetation indices are widely used to detect vegetation trends at large scales. To understand the trends of vegetation cover, this research examined the spatial-temporal trends of global vegetation by employing the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer(AVHRR) Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies(GIMMS) time series(1982–2015). Ten samples were selected to test the temporal trend of NDVI, and the results show that in arid and semi-arid regions, NDVI showed a deceasing trend, while it showed a growing trend in other regions. Mann-Kendal(MK) trend test results indicate that 83.37% of NDVI pixels exhibited positive trends and that only 16.63% showed negative trends(P < 0.05) during the period from 1982 to 2015. The increasing NDVI trends primarily occurred in tree-covered regions because of forest growth and re-growth and also because of vegetation succession after a forest disturbance. The increasing trend of the NDVI in cropland regions was primarily because of the increasing cropland area and the improvement in planting techniques. This research describes the spatial vegetation trends at a global scale over the past 30+ years, especially for different land cover types.展开更多
Transporting hatching eggs from Hungary and incubating them abroad revealed lower hatchability compared to when the eggs were incubated in Hungary. Following transport, there were higher embryo losses and, notably, mo...Transporting hatching eggs from Hungary and incubating them abroad revealed lower hatchability compared to when the eggs were incubated in Hungary. Following transport, there were higher embryo losses and, notably, more malformed embryos. The aim of these initial trials was to determine if a testing device (crazy fit massage machine (CFM machine)) was able to replicate and model the mechanical impacts experienced during transport and reproduce the reduction in hatchability and increase the level of malformed embryos as observed in commercial practice. Tinytag~ high sensitivity shock and vibration loggers were used to monitor the impacts under field and trial conditions. Applying single 10 min treatments on the CFM machine, which used the same frequency (10-30 Hz) as the eggs experience under field conditions, induced the negative effect of transport, and lower hatching results were experienced. Three trials were conducted. Treated eggs in Trials 1 and 2 received automatically and periodical changing vibration in a range between 10-30 Hz for 10 min while in Trial 3 two different levels of impact were applied at 20 Hz and 30 Hz, respectively. Hatchability decreased due to the treatment significatly only in Trial 3. Significant differences were also detected in early dead levels in Trials 2 and 3 and the occurrences of malformation in Trials 1 and 3. All these results are in accordance with the field experience. Thus, the trials which examined the equipment were able to produce mechanical impacts that were repeatable in order to set up statistically reliable trials on hatching eggs.展开更多
The paper considers the problem of testing for a change point in the parameters of AR(p) models.It is shown that the asymptotically limiting distribution of the residual CUSUM of squares test(RCUSQ) is still the s...The paper considers the problem of testing for a change point in the parameters of AR(p) models.It is shown that the asymptotically limiting distribution of the residual CUSUM of squares test(RCUSQ) is still the sup of a standard Brownian bridge under null hypothesis.We also show via simulations that our asymptotic results provide good approximations in finite samples.展开更多
The density of asphalt was measured with the pycnometer and densitometer. Creep properties of the asphalt were investigated with the bending beam rheometer at temperatures ranging from 0 ~C to -36 ~C. The asphalt dens...The density of asphalt was measured with the pycnometer and densitometer. Creep properties of the asphalt were investigated with the bending beam rheometer at temperatures ranging from 0 ~C to -36 ~C. The asphalt density data used to correlate with the creep properties were calculated from the regression equation of density and temperature. The asphalt sample used to determine the creep property was aged by the standard RTFOT test and the PAV test. The test results showed that the asphalt density had a linear relationship with temperature changes. The logarithm of the creep stiffness and the slope of the logarithm of the stiffness at 60 seconds all demonstrated a linear relationship with the density, and the regression coefficient of these data was around 0.99. The creep stiffness and the slope of the creep stiffness can be calculated from the asphalt density at the same temperature.展开更多
AIM To develop a fast, low-cost diagnostic strategy to identify single point mutations in highly variable genomes such as hepatitis C virus(HCV).METHODS In patients with HCV infection, resistance-associated amino acid...AIM To develop a fast, low-cost diagnostic strategy to identify single point mutations in highly variable genomes such as hepatitis C virus(HCV).METHODS In patients with HCV infection, resistance-associated amino acid substitutions within the viral quasispecies prior to therapy can confer decreased susceptibility to direct-acting antiviral agents and lead to treatment failure and virological relapse. One such naturally occurring mutation is the Q80 K substitution in the HCV-NS3 protease gene, which confers resistance to PI inhibitors, particularly simeprevir. Low-cost, highly sensitive techniques enabling routine detection of these single point mutations would be useful to identify patients at a risk of treatment failure. Light Cycler methods, based on real-time PCR with sequencespecific probe hybridization, have been implemented in most diagnostic laboratories. However, this technique cannot identify single point mutations in highly variable genetic environments, such as the HCV genome. To circumvent this problem, we developed a new method to homogenize all nucleotides present in a region except the point mutation of interest. RESULTS Using nucleotide-specific probes Q, K, and R substitutions at position 80 were clearly identified at a sensitivity of 10%(mutations present at a frequency of at least 10% were detected). The technique was successfully applied to identify the Q80 K substitution in 240 HCV G1 serum samples, with performance comparable to that of direct Sanger sequencing, the current standard procedure for this purpose. The new method was then validated in a Catalonian population of 202 HCV G1-infected individuals. Q80 K was detected in 14.6% of G1 a patients and 0% of G1 b in our setting. CONCLUSION A fast, low-cost diagnostic strategy based on real-time PCR and fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe melting curve analysis has been successfully developed to identify single point mutations in highly variable genomes such as hepatitis C virus. This technique can be adapted to detect any single point mutation in highly variable genomes.展开更多
To disclose the grain crushing effects on the weathered granular soil rheological behavior,a series of rheological tests (odometer compression and triaxial shearing) were carried out.At the same time,the sieving analy...To disclose the grain crushing effects on the weathered granular soil rheological behavior,a series of rheological tests (odometer compression and triaxial shearing) were carried out.At the same time,the sieving analysis tests of these specimens were also executed before and after tests,and the grain crushing degree,Br and n5,were collectively adopted to estimate the grain crushing.The grain crushing degree depends on the stress path,stress level,and load time,especially,the longer load time and more intensive gradient shearing path will increase the grain crushing quantity.The Hardin crushing degrees Br are 0.191,0.118 and 0.085 in the ordinary compression,rheological compression and triaxial rheological shearing,respectively;The grain crushing degrees n5 are 1.9,1.4 and 1.32,respectively.The strain softening phase indicates the grain crushing and diffusive collapse,and the strain hardening phase indicates the rearrangement of these crushed grains and formation of new bearing soil skeleton.The rheological deformation of granular soil can be attributed to the coarse grain crushing and the filling external porosity with crushed fragments.展开更多
The research was carried out with 9 triticale, 3 bread wheat, 3 durum wheat and 3 barley varieties and advanced lines in Tekirdag, Edime and Silivri locations during three years. In the study, the data obtained from c...The research was carried out with 9 triticale, 3 bread wheat, 3 durum wheat and 3 barley varieties and advanced lines in Tekirdag, Edime and Silivri locations during three years. In the study, the data obtained from combined variance analysis were performed and the significance of the differences between the averages was determined by LSD multiple comparison test. GGE biplot analysis and graphics were made by using the statistical package program. The genotypes G2 and G3 for thousand kernel weight, genotype G1 for the heading time and test weight, genotypes G14 and G15 for the maturation time, number of spikelets per spike and grain weight per spike and G13 for the plant height, spike length and grain yield per hectare decare revealed the highest values. The genotypes G6, GS, G4, G14, G9, G8 and G7 gave lower values than the average in terms of grain yield, whereas the other genotypes gave higher values than the general average. According to biplot graphical results, while locations 1 and 8 were closely related, locations 9, 2 and 7 were positively related to these environments. Although the location 7 is slightly different from the other 4 locations, these 5 locations can be seen as a mega environment. Genotypes G12, G2, G3 and G10 for this mega-environment showed the best performances. According to the results of grain yields obtained from 9 different locations, the location 5 was the most discriminating area while the location 1 was the least discriminating. Location 2 was the best representative location, while locations 4 and 7 were with the lowest representation capability. The locations that are both descriptive and representative are good test locations for the selection of adapted genotypes. Test environments, such as location 8, with low ability to represent are useful for selecting genotypes that perform well in specific regions if the target environments can be subdivided into sub-environments.展开更多
A new double-yield-sarface (DYS) model was developed to characterize the strength and deformation behaviors of coarse granular materials (CGMs). Two kinds of deformation mechanisms, including the shear and compres...A new double-yield-sarface (DYS) model was developed to characterize the strength and deformation behaviors of coarse granular materials (CGMs). Two kinds of deformation mechanisms, including the shear and compressive plastic deformation, were taken into account in this model, These two deformation mechanisms were described by the shear and compressive yield functions, respectively. The Lode angle dependent formulations of proposed model were deduced by incorporating a 3D nonlinear unified failure criterion. Some comparisons were presented between the numerical predictions of proposed model and test data of true triaxial tests on the modeled rockfills. The model predictions are in good agreement with the test data and capture the strain hardening and plastic volumetric dilation of CGMs. These findings verify the reasonability of current DYS model, and indicate that this model is well suited to reproduce the stress-strain-volume change behavior of CGMs in general.展开更多
Many stock exchanges around the world enforcing daily price limits on the amount asset prices can change to prevent the market from overreacting and to reduce volatility. Price limits are artificial boundaries set by ...Many stock exchanges around the world enforcing daily price limits on the amount asset prices can change to prevent the market from overreacting and to reduce volatility. Price limits are artificial boundaries set by market regulators who restrict price changes of a stock to a pre-specified range during a trading day or a single trading session. The primary aim of price limit rules is to stabilize the markets during panic trading, to moderate vitality by repressing excessive speculation, and to allow stocks to be traded at prices close to their fair value. However, their impact on the market is a somewhat unresolved issue (Harris, 1998). Using a methodology of comparing volatility based on the extreme value technique, the authors empirically investigate the impact of price limits on the volatility of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The empirical results support price limits advocates, suggesting that price limits rules moderate stock price volatility.展开更多
Numerous articles have examined archival weather observations and attributed climate changes on time scales ranging from centuries to decades and in one case even days to human activity. This article gives examples sh...Numerous articles have examined archival weather observations and attributed climate changes on time scales ranging from centuries to decades and in one case even days to human activity. This article gives examples showing how climate variability and sudden changes in instruments affect trend determination. In particular, surface temperature and water vapor pressure trends in North America during 1948-2010 are discussed. Over 1/4 billion hourly observations taken at 309 stations, were first carefully examined for inhomogeneities. Positive and negative steps, for both temperature and water vapor pressure were found to not be evenly distributed in time. Inclusion of such data in a trend analysis would overstate decadal changes in temperature and water vapor. Time series free of such discontinuities show a statistically significant warming has primarily affected the western Arctic, Canadian prairies and the Midwestern U.S. during winter. Increases in water vapor pressure are most pronounced in summer in the eastern U.S. The decadal water vapor pressure trends are somewhat smaller than found in other studies that examined data for far shorter time periods. The claim of a change in the DTR (diurnal temperature range) during the 3 day flight ban following Sept. 11, 2011, is not substantiated. The observed change in the DTR was likely caused by a reduction in cloudiness during the flight ban.展开更多
A self-adaptive learning based immune algorithm (SALIA) is proposed to tackle diverse optimization problems, such as complex multi-modal and ill-conditioned prc,blems with the high robustness. The SALIA algorithm ad...A self-adaptive learning based immune algorithm (SALIA) is proposed to tackle diverse optimization problems, such as complex multi-modal and ill-conditioned prc,blems with the high robustness. The SALIA algorithm adopted a mutation strategy pool which consists of four effective mutation strategies to generate new antibodies. A self-adaptive learning framework is implemented to select the mutation strategies by learning from their previous performances in generating promising solutions. Twenty-six state-of-the-art optimization problems with different characteristics, such as uni-modality, multi-modality, rotation, ill-condition, mis-scale and noise, are used to verify the validity of SALIA. Experimental results show that the novel algorithm SALIA achieves a higher universality and robustness than clonal selection algorithms (CLONALG), and the mean error index of each test function in SALIA decreases by a factor of at least 1.0×10^7 in average.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41771179,41871103,41771138)the National Key Research and Development Project(No.2016YFA0602301)
文摘Vegetation is the main component of the terrestrial ecosystem and plays a key role in global climate change. Remotely sensed vegetation indices are widely used to detect vegetation trends at large scales. To understand the trends of vegetation cover, this research examined the spatial-temporal trends of global vegetation by employing the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer(AVHRR) Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies(GIMMS) time series(1982–2015). Ten samples were selected to test the temporal trend of NDVI, and the results show that in arid and semi-arid regions, NDVI showed a deceasing trend, while it showed a growing trend in other regions. Mann-Kendal(MK) trend test results indicate that 83.37% of NDVI pixels exhibited positive trends and that only 16.63% showed negative trends(P < 0.05) during the period from 1982 to 2015. The increasing NDVI trends primarily occurred in tree-covered regions because of forest growth and re-growth and also because of vegetation succession after a forest disturbance. The increasing trend of the NDVI in cropland regions was primarily because of the increasing cropland area and the improvement in planting techniques. This research describes the spatial vegetation trends at a global scale over the past 30+ years, especially for different land cover types.
文摘Transporting hatching eggs from Hungary and incubating them abroad revealed lower hatchability compared to when the eggs were incubated in Hungary. Following transport, there were higher embryo losses and, notably, more malformed embryos. The aim of these initial trials was to determine if a testing device (crazy fit massage machine (CFM machine)) was able to replicate and model the mechanical impacts experienced during transport and reproduce the reduction in hatchability and increase the level of malformed embryos as observed in commercial practice. Tinytag~ high sensitivity shock and vibration loggers were used to monitor the impacts under field and trial conditions. Applying single 10 min treatments on the CFM machine, which used the same frequency (10-30 Hz) as the eggs experience under field conditions, induced the negative effect of transport, and lower hatching results were experienced. Three trials were conducted. Treated eggs in Trials 1 and 2 received automatically and periodical changing vibration in a range between 10-30 Hz for 10 min while in Trial 3 two different levels of impact were applied at 20 Hz and 30 Hz, respectively. Hatchability decreased due to the treatment significatly only in Trial 3. Significant differences were also detected in early dead levels in Trials 2 and 3 and the occurrences of malformation in Trials 1 and 3. All these results are in accordance with the field experience. Thus, the trials which examined the equipment were able to produce mechanical impacts that were repeatable in order to set up statistically reliable trials on hatching eggs.
基金Supported by NSFC(70783094)Supported by XUST(2010039)
文摘The paper considers the problem of testing for a change point in the parameters of AR(p) models.It is shown that the asymptotically limiting distribution of the residual CUSUM of squares test(RCUSQ) is still the sup of a standard Brownian bridge under null hypothesis.We also show via simulations that our asymptotic results provide good approximations in finite samples.
文摘The density of asphalt was measured with the pycnometer and densitometer. Creep properties of the asphalt were investigated with the bending beam rheometer at temperatures ranging from 0 ~C to -36 ~C. The asphalt density data used to correlate with the creep properties were calculated from the regression equation of density and temperature. The asphalt sample used to determine the creep property was aged by the standard RTFOT test and the PAV test. The test results showed that the asphalt density had a linear relationship with temperature changes. The logarithm of the creep stiffness and the slope of the logarithm of the stiffness at 60 seconds all demonstrated a linear relationship with the density, and the regression coefficient of these data was around 0.99. The creep stiffness and the slope of the creep stiffness can be calculated from the asphalt density at the same temperature.
基金Supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III,No.PI13/00456,No.PI15/00829,No.PI15/00856,and No.PI12/01893 cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF)the Miguel Servet program of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III,No.CP14/00121 cofinanced by the ERDF+1 种基金Gilead,No.GLD14/00296Instituto de Salud Carlos III,CIBERehd(Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas)
文摘AIM To develop a fast, low-cost diagnostic strategy to identify single point mutations in highly variable genomes such as hepatitis C virus(HCV).METHODS In patients with HCV infection, resistance-associated amino acid substitutions within the viral quasispecies prior to therapy can confer decreased susceptibility to direct-acting antiviral agents and lead to treatment failure and virological relapse. One such naturally occurring mutation is the Q80 K substitution in the HCV-NS3 protease gene, which confers resistance to PI inhibitors, particularly simeprevir. Low-cost, highly sensitive techniques enabling routine detection of these single point mutations would be useful to identify patients at a risk of treatment failure. Light Cycler methods, based on real-time PCR with sequencespecific probe hybridization, have been implemented in most diagnostic laboratories. However, this technique cannot identify single point mutations in highly variable genetic environments, such as the HCV genome. To circumvent this problem, we developed a new method to homogenize all nucleotides present in a region except the point mutation of interest. RESULTS Using nucleotide-specific probes Q, K, and R substitutions at position 80 were clearly identified at a sensitivity of 10%(mutations present at a frequency of at least 10% were detected). The technique was successfully applied to identify the Q80 K substitution in 240 HCV G1 serum samples, with performance comparable to that of direct Sanger sequencing, the current standard procedure for this purpose. The new method was then validated in a Catalonian population of 202 HCV G1-infected individuals. Q80 K was detected in 14.6% of G1 a patients and 0% of G1 b in our setting. CONCLUSION A fast, low-cost diagnostic strategy based on real-time PCR and fluorescence resonance energy transfer probe melting curve analysis has been successfully developed to identify single point mutations in highly variable genomes such as hepatitis C virus. This technique can be adapted to detect any single point mutation in highly variable genomes.
基金Project(50908233) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(200413) supported by Communication Science and Technology Fund of Hunan Province,China
文摘To disclose the grain crushing effects on the weathered granular soil rheological behavior,a series of rheological tests (odometer compression and triaxial shearing) were carried out.At the same time,the sieving analysis tests of these specimens were also executed before and after tests,and the grain crushing degree,Br and n5,were collectively adopted to estimate the grain crushing.The grain crushing degree depends on the stress path,stress level,and load time,especially,the longer load time and more intensive gradient shearing path will increase the grain crushing quantity.The Hardin crushing degrees Br are 0.191,0.118 and 0.085 in the ordinary compression,rheological compression and triaxial rheological shearing,respectively;The grain crushing degrees n5 are 1.9,1.4 and 1.32,respectively.The strain softening phase indicates the grain crushing and diffusive collapse,and the strain hardening phase indicates the rearrangement of these crushed grains and formation of new bearing soil skeleton.The rheological deformation of granular soil can be attributed to the coarse grain crushing and the filling external porosity with crushed fragments.
文摘The research was carried out with 9 triticale, 3 bread wheat, 3 durum wheat and 3 barley varieties and advanced lines in Tekirdag, Edime and Silivri locations during three years. In the study, the data obtained from combined variance analysis were performed and the significance of the differences between the averages was determined by LSD multiple comparison test. GGE biplot analysis and graphics were made by using the statistical package program. The genotypes G2 and G3 for thousand kernel weight, genotype G1 for the heading time and test weight, genotypes G14 and G15 for the maturation time, number of spikelets per spike and grain weight per spike and G13 for the plant height, spike length and grain yield per hectare decare revealed the highest values. The genotypes G6, GS, G4, G14, G9, G8 and G7 gave lower values than the average in terms of grain yield, whereas the other genotypes gave higher values than the general average. According to biplot graphical results, while locations 1 and 8 were closely related, locations 9, 2 and 7 were positively related to these environments. Although the location 7 is slightly different from the other 4 locations, these 5 locations can be seen as a mega environment. Genotypes G12, G2, G3 and G10 for this mega-environment showed the best performances. According to the results of grain yields obtained from 9 different locations, the location 5 was the most discriminating area while the location 1 was the least discriminating. Location 2 was the best representative location, while locations 4 and 7 were with the lowest representation capability. The locations that are both descriptive and representative are good test locations for the selection of adapted genotypes. Test environments, such as location 8, with low ability to represent are useful for selecting genotypes that perform well in specific regions if the target environments can be subdivided into sub-environments.
基金Project(50825901)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholar of ChinaProject(2009492011)supported by State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering,Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute,China+1 种基金Project(GH200903)supported by Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering(Hohai University),ChinaProject(Y1090151)supported by Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province,China
文摘A new double-yield-sarface (DYS) model was developed to characterize the strength and deformation behaviors of coarse granular materials (CGMs). Two kinds of deformation mechanisms, including the shear and compressive plastic deformation, were taken into account in this model, These two deformation mechanisms were described by the shear and compressive yield functions, respectively. The Lode angle dependent formulations of proposed model were deduced by incorporating a 3D nonlinear unified failure criterion. Some comparisons were presented between the numerical predictions of proposed model and test data of true triaxial tests on the modeled rockfills. The model predictions are in good agreement with the test data and capture the strain hardening and plastic volumetric dilation of CGMs. These findings verify the reasonability of current DYS model, and indicate that this model is well suited to reproduce the stress-strain-volume change behavior of CGMs in general.
文摘Many stock exchanges around the world enforcing daily price limits on the amount asset prices can change to prevent the market from overreacting and to reduce volatility. Price limits are artificial boundaries set by market regulators who restrict price changes of a stock to a pre-specified range during a trading day or a single trading session. The primary aim of price limit rules is to stabilize the markets during panic trading, to moderate vitality by repressing excessive speculation, and to allow stocks to be traded at prices close to their fair value. However, their impact on the market is a somewhat unresolved issue (Harris, 1998). Using a methodology of comparing volatility based on the extreme value technique, the authors empirically investigate the impact of price limits on the volatility of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The empirical results support price limits advocates, suggesting that price limits rules moderate stock price volatility.
文摘Numerous articles have examined archival weather observations and attributed climate changes on time scales ranging from centuries to decades and in one case even days to human activity. This article gives examples showing how climate variability and sudden changes in instruments affect trend determination. In particular, surface temperature and water vapor pressure trends in North America during 1948-2010 are discussed. Over 1/4 billion hourly observations taken at 309 stations, were first carefully examined for inhomogeneities. Positive and negative steps, for both temperature and water vapor pressure were found to not be evenly distributed in time. Inclusion of such data in a trend analysis would overstate decadal changes in temperature and water vapor. Time series free of such discontinuities show a statistically significant warming has primarily affected the western Arctic, Canadian prairies and the Midwestern U.S. during winter. Increases in water vapor pressure are most pronounced in summer in the eastern U.S. The decadal water vapor pressure trends are somewhat smaller than found in other studies that examined data for far shorter time periods. The claim of a change in the DTR (diurnal temperature range) during the 3 day flight ban following Sept. 11, 2011, is not substantiated. The observed change in the DTR was likely caused by a reduction in cloudiness during the flight ban.
基金Project(2010ZC13012) supported by the Aviation Science Funds of China
文摘A self-adaptive learning based immune algorithm (SALIA) is proposed to tackle diverse optimization problems, such as complex multi-modal and ill-conditioned prc,blems with the high robustness. The SALIA algorithm adopted a mutation strategy pool which consists of four effective mutation strategies to generate new antibodies. A self-adaptive learning framework is implemented to select the mutation strategies by learning from their previous performances in generating promising solutions. Twenty-six state-of-the-art optimization problems with different characteristics, such as uni-modality, multi-modality, rotation, ill-condition, mis-scale and noise, are used to verify the validity of SALIA. Experimental results show that the novel algorithm SALIA achieves a higher universality and robustness than clonal selection algorithms (CLONALG), and the mean error index of each test function in SALIA decreases by a factor of at least 1.0×10^7 in average.