Since the State Council declared the major strategic policy on the opening and development of the Pudong New Development Zone in East Shanghai in April 1990, Pudong has become a hot spot for foreign investment. A surv...Since the State Council declared the major strategic policy on the opening and development of the Pudong New Development Zone in East Shanghai in April 1990, Pudong has become a hot spot for foreign investment. A survey report shows that Pudong has made new progress in attracting overseas and domestic funds during 1992 to September 1993. Foreign展开更多
Chi Jishang (1917-1994), female petrologist and professor with the China Univeristy of Geology. A native of Anlu County, Hubei Province, she graduated as a geology major from the United Southwest University in Kunming...Chi Jishang (1917-1994), female petrologist and professor with the China Univeristy of Geology. A native of Anlu County, Hubei Province, she graduated as a geology major from the United Southwest University in Kunming City in 1941 and obtained her Ph.D. degree at the Bryn Mawr College in the State of Pennsylvania of the US in 1949. Since her repatriation in 1950,展开更多
Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) has a wide range of biological functions. We cloned the full-length cDNAs encoding PACAP and PACAP-related peptide (PRP) from the brain of largemouth bass...Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) has a wide range of biological functions. We cloned the full-length cDNAs encoding PACAP and PACAP-related peptide (PRP) from the brain of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and used real-time quantitative PCR to detect PRP- PACAP mRNA expression. The PRP-PACAP cDNA has two variants expressed via alternative splicing: a long form, which encodes both PRP and PACAP, and a short form, which encodes only PACAR Sequence analysis results are consistent with a higher conservation of PACAP than PRP peptide sequences. The expression of PACAP-Iong and PACAP-short transcripts was highest in the forebrain, followed by the medulla, midbrain, pituitary, stomach, cerebellum, intestine, and kidney; however, these transcripts were either absent or were weakly expressed in the muscle, spleen, gill, heart, fatty tissue, and liver. The level of PACAP-short transcript expression was significantly higher than expression of the long transcript in the forebrain, cerebella, pituitary and intestine, but lower than that of the long transcript in the stomach. PA CAP- long and PACAP-short transcripts were first detected at the blastula stage of embryogenesis, and the level of expression increased markedly between the muscular contraction stage and 3 d post hatch (dph). The expression of PACAP-long and PACAP-short transcripts decreased significantly in the brain following 4 d fasting compared with the control diet group. The down-regulation effect was enhanced as fasting continued. Conversely, expression levels increased significantly after 3 d of re-feeding. Our results suggest that PRP- PA CAP acts as an important factor in appetite regulation in largemouth bass.展开更多
Based on finite-deformation elastoplastic theory, a scheme to solve the structural problems of the lap link by using ANSYS is proposed. The analysis results show that the maximum deformation exists at the loading spot...Based on finite-deformation elastoplastic theory, a scheme to solve the structural problems of the lap link by using ANSYS is proposed. The analysis results show that the maximum deformation exists at the loading spot of the lateral pin and the stiffness of this area needs to be enhanced; the maximum stresses occur at the two sides adjacent to the loading spot and the intensity around this region should be strengthened;the materials at the pole and pinhole with relatively low stress are redundant and removing excessive weight is possible. Based on the analysis, corresponding improvements are tentatively made, and the simulation results prove that, the stiffness and intensity of the new structure are improved. Furthermore, the reliability and validity of this design are verified by tensile tests of two types of structure.展开更多
Estuaries and coasts are conjunctions of four spheres (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) and important matter and energy convergence/divergence zones, where developed economy, dense population and hi...Estuaries and coasts are conjunctions of four spheres (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) and important matter and energy convergence/divergence zones, where developed economy, dense population and highly intensive exploitation induce adverse environmental changes and serious destruction of resources, which have great impacts on coastal sustainable development, especially as the highly intensive development in river basins has direct and pronounced effects on estuaries and their adjacent coasts. In the new century, China’s estuaries and coast are faced with four main challenges: sharp decrease of sediment discharge into the sea, rapid increase of pollution matter into the sea, loss of coastal wetland, and the impacts of global sea level rise on the coastal lowlands of China. Therefore, it is undoubtedly very important and urgent to carry out studies on estuarine and coastal environmental changes, in order to resolve the issue of national sustainable development, especially that of rational use of coastal zone resources.展开更多
AIM:To compare the presentation and impact on qual-ity of life of gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)in old and young age groups.METHODS:Data from adult patients with GERD di-agnosed by endoscopic and symptomic char...AIM:To compare the presentation and impact on qual-ity of life of gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)in old and young age groups.METHODS:Data from adult patients with GERD di-agnosed by endoscopic and symptomic characteristics were collected between January and November 2009.Exclusion criteria included combined peptic ulcers,ma-lignancy,prior surgery,antacid medication for more than 2 mo,and pregnancy.Enrolled patients were assigned to the elderly group if they were 65 years or older,or the younger group if they were under 65 years.They had completed the GERD impact scale,the Chinese GERD questionnaire,and the SF-36 question-naire.Data from other cases without endoscopic f ind-ings or symptoms were collected and these subjects comprised the control group in our study.RESULTS:There were 111 patients with GERD and 44 normal cases:78(70.3%)and 33 patients(29.7%)were in the younger and elderly groups,respectively.There were more female patients(60.3%)in the younger group,and more males(72.7%)in the elderly group.The younger cases had more severe and fre-quent typical symptoms than the elderly patients.Sig-nif icantly more impairment of daily activities was noted in the younger patients compared with the elderly group,except for physical functioning.CONCLUSION:Elderly patients with GERD were pre-dominantly male with rare presentation of typical symp-toms,and had less impaired quality of life compared with younger patients in a Chinese population.展开更多
While several studies have documented the large-scale, seasonal movements of horseshoe crabs, little is known about their fine-scale, daily movement patterns. In this study we used a fixed array ultrasonic telemetry s...While several studies have documented the large-scale, seasonal movements of horseshoe crabs, little is known about their fine-scale, daily movement patterns. In this study we used a fixed array ultrasonic telemetry system to track the movements of 12 male and 16 female horseshoe crabs in the Great Bay estuary, New Hampshire. Data were obtained during the mating season, as well as during the remainder of the summer and fall, in the years 2005-2008. During the mating season animals were often, but not always, active during the high tides when they were approaching and leaving the spawning beaches. On average, both males and females approached mating beaches during 33% of the high tides they experienced and they most often made the tran- sition from being inactive to active during the last two hours of an incoming tide. From April-October horseshoe crabs were significantly more active during high tide periods vs low tide periods, with no clear preference for diurnal vs nocturnal activity. After the mating season ended horseshoe crabs continued to move into shallower water at high tide and then return to deeper water at low tide. Observations by SCUBA divers suggest that during these excursions into the mudflats horseshoe crabs were digging pits in the sediment while foraging for food. Thus, the tidal rhythm of activity that has been so well documented during the mating season probably persists into the fall, and primarily involves foraging activities展开更多
This paper examines the relationship between a change of hukou and househoM satisfaction about life based on large-sample China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data. As horizontally shown by cross-section data, signific...This paper examines the relationship between a change of hukou and househoM satisfaction about life based on large-sample China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data. As horizontally shown by cross-section data, significant hukou identity differences exist in the subjective happiness of households reflected in life satisfaction. However, the traditional view that "rural residents are subjectively happier than urban residents" is not verified in this study. From a vertical perspective of tracing data, the estimation results of the DID model and the PSM model indicate that a change of hukou identity for rural residents has a significantly positive effect on their subjective happiness, lending credence to the saying that "cities make life better".展开更多
The u Mhlatuzana, u Mbilo and a Manzimnyama river catchments located on the eastern seaboard of the Kwa Zulu-Natal province, South Africa, form the core of urbanization and industrialization, contributing the only nat...The u Mhlatuzana, u Mbilo and a Manzimnyama river catchments located on the eastern seaboard of the Kwa Zulu-Natal province, South Africa, form the core of urbanization and industrialization, contributing the only natural freshwater inflows to the Bayhead Canal portion of the Durban Harbour. In this study, seasonal discharges and physico–chemical water properties were used to quantitatively determine the material mass transport capacity of the river systems on the basis of hydrographic inputs and chemical loading from the surrounding land use sectors.The mass transport of the total dissolved solids(TDS),ammonia(NH_4), phosphorous(P), aluminum(Al), calcium(Ca), copper(Cu), chromium(Cr), mercury(Hg), potassium(K), magnesium(Mg), sodium(Na), nickel(Ni), lead(Pb), sulphur(S) and vanadium(V) was determined for each river. Results indicated that land use, seasonality and river flow were significant determinants for the material loading in the rivers and the receiving port waters. The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of chemical fluxes indicated that industrial activity associated with the a Manzimnyama canal contributed the most, with regards to TDS, NH_4, Ca, K, Mg, Na, S and V, loading in both wet and dry seasons, as well as Al, Cu, Hg and Pb during the dry season. Similarly, industrial activity associated with the u Mbilo/u Mhlatuzana Canal at the lower reaches accounted for the highest P, Al, Cu and Pb fluxes in the wet season alone. Fluxes of these parameters are used to explain theobserved elemental concentrations and patterns of the receiving port waters of the Bayhead Canal.展开更多
Aiming at the poor performance of speech signal detection at low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),a method is proposed to detect active speech frames based on multi-window time-frequency(T-F)diagrams.First,the T-F diagram o...Aiming at the poor performance of speech signal detection at low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),a method is proposed to detect active speech frames based on multi-window time-frequency(T-F)diagrams.First,the T-F diagram of the signal is calculated based on a multi-window T-F analysis,and a speech test statistic is constructed based on the characteristic difference between the signal and background noise.Second,the dynamic double-threshold processing is used for preliminary detection,and then the global double-threshold value is obtained using K-means clustering.Finally,the detection results are obtained by sequential decision.The experimental results show that the overall performance of the method is better than that of traditional methods under various SNR conditions and background noises.This method also has the advantages of low complexity,strong robustness,and adaptability to multi-national languages.展开更多
Systematic research of the characteristics of late Quaternary activity of the middle part of Kouquan fault has been done through conducting 1∶50000 geologic mapping combining with remote sensing interpretation of spo...Systematic research of the characteristics of late Quaternary activity of the middle part of Kouquan fault has been done through conducting 1∶50000 geologic mapping combining with remote sensing interpretation of spot imaging, field validating and chronology research of the research area. Studies suggest that the middle part of Kouquan fault has had strong activity since the late Quaternary which controls the tectonic evolvement of the nearby mountains and Datong basin. The recent activity of this fault has faulted the sandy gravel layers of T1 terrace and the lower part of dark loessial soils over the terrace on the north of Chanfang village. The maximum vertical displacement is over 3m in the area between Xiaoyukou village and Louzikou village, and to the south of Dayukou village and the north of Emaokou village, the displacement decreases to 0.5m and 0.25m respectively. Based on the recent faulted landforms and combined with dating, we determined the age of recent activity of the fault in the research area to be between 7.71ka B.P. to 3.00 ka B.P. Discussions are made on this in combination with previous research.展开更多
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is one of the most overpopulated city in the world and traffic jam is the most severe and regular affliction in the daily life. Also, the existing vehicles are not sufficient in c...Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is one of the most overpopulated city in the world and traffic jam is the most severe and regular affliction in the daily life. Also, the existing vehicles are not sufficient in compared to the population of the city. People have to spend many hours simply sitting in the traffic jam. This lessens the productivity of people and brings sufferings to them. Gulshan-Banani-HatirJheel area is the busiest regions within the city and face severe traffic jam during working hours. These lakes are totally unused. Therefore, there is a possibility to build a waterways network for passengers transport through these lakes. This will reduce the affliction of people via reducing traffic jam. The proposed transportation networks will also preserve the natural environment of the lakes and bring a source of entertainment in the city life. Many developed cities in the world like London, New York, Paris, Venice, Shanghai etc. already have implemented waterways network inside the city and successfully made the best use of cistern side.展开更多
Author present the interplay between different neuron types in the spontaneous electrical activity of low density cortical in vitro networks grown on MEA (multielectrode arrays) of glass neurochips. In 10% of the ne...Author present the interplay between different neuron types in the spontaneous electrical activity of low density cortical in vitro networks grown on MEA (multielectrode arrays) of glass neurochips. In 10% of the networks, the continuously spiking activity of some neurons was inhibited by synchronous bursts or superbursts of the majority of the other neurons. Immunohistochemical staining subsequent to MEA recordings suggest that the synchronously bursting neurons are parvalbumin-positive interneurons with abundant axonal ramifications. Blocking chemical synaptic transmission by Ca2+-free medium revealed that the curbed spiking neurons are intrinsically active. It is assumed that these neurons are pyramidal cells which may be inhibited by groups of synchronously bursting interneurons. It is propose that the observed burst-induced inhibition is an important principle in the temporal organization of neuronal activity as well as in the restriction of excitation, and thus essential for information processing in the cerebral cortex.展开更多
文摘Since the State Council declared the major strategic policy on the opening and development of the Pudong New Development Zone in East Shanghai in April 1990, Pudong has become a hot spot for foreign investment. A survey report shows that Pudong has made new progress in attracting overseas and domestic funds during 1992 to September 1993. Foreign
文摘Chi Jishang (1917-1994), female petrologist and professor with the China Univeristy of Geology. A native of Anlu County, Hubei Province, she graduated as a geology major from the United Southwest University in Kunming City in 1941 and obtained her Ph.D. degree at the Bryn Mawr College in the State of Pennsylvania of the US in 1949. Since her repatriation in 1950,
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31201985)the National Key Technology R&D Program of China(No.2012BAD26B03)
文摘Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) has a wide range of biological functions. We cloned the full-length cDNAs encoding PACAP and PACAP-related peptide (PRP) from the brain of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and used real-time quantitative PCR to detect PRP- PACAP mRNA expression. The PRP-PACAP cDNA has two variants expressed via alternative splicing: a long form, which encodes both PRP and PACAP, and a short form, which encodes only PACAR Sequence analysis results are consistent with a higher conservation of PACAP than PRP peptide sequences. The expression of PACAP-Iong and PACAP-short transcripts was highest in the forebrain, followed by the medulla, midbrain, pituitary, stomach, cerebellum, intestine, and kidney; however, these transcripts were either absent or were weakly expressed in the muscle, spleen, gill, heart, fatty tissue, and liver. The level of PACAP-short transcript expression was significantly higher than expression of the long transcript in the forebrain, cerebella, pituitary and intestine, but lower than that of the long transcript in the stomach. PA CAP- long and PACAP-short transcripts were first detected at the blastula stage of embryogenesis, and the level of expression increased markedly between the muscular contraction stage and 3 d post hatch (dph). The expression of PACAP-long and PACAP-short transcripts decreased significantly in the brain following 4 d fasting compared with the control diet group. The down-regulation effect was enhanced as fasting continued. Conversely, expression levels increased significantly after 3 d of re-feeding. Our results suggest that PRP- PA CAP acts as an important factor in appetite regulation in largemouth bass.
文摘Based on finite-deformation elastoplastic theory, a scheme to solve the structural problems of the lap link by using ANSYS is proposed. The analysis results show that the maximum deformation exists at the loading spot of the lateral pin and the stiffness of this area needs to be enhanced; the maximum stresses occur at the two sides adjacent to the loading spot and the intensity around this region should be strengthened;the materials at the pole and pinhole with relatively low stress are redundant and removing excessive weight is possible. Based on the analysis, corresponding improvements are tentatively made, and the simulation results prove that, the stiffness and intensity of the new structure are improved. Furthermore, the reliability and validity of this design are verified by tensile tests of two types of structure.
文摘Estuaries and coasts are conjunctions of four spheres (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) and important matter and energy convergence/divergence zones, where developed economy, dense population and highly intensive exploitation induce adverse environmental changes and serious destruction of resources, which have great impacts on coastal sustainable development, especially as the highly intensive development in river basins has direct and pronounced effects on estuaries and their adjacent coasts. In the new century, China’s estuaries and coast are faced with four main challenges: sharp decrease of sediment discharge into the sea, rapid increase of pollution matter into the sea, loss of coastal wetland, and the impacts of global sea level rise on the coastal lowlands of China. Therefore, it is undoubtedly very important and urgent to carry out studies on estuarine and coastal environmental changes, in order to resolve the issue of national sustainable development, especially that of rational use of coastal zone resources.
文摘AIM:To compare the presentation and impact on qual-ity of life of gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)in old and young age groups.METHODS:Data from adult patients with GERD di-agnosed by endoscopic and symptomic characteristics were collected between January and November 2009.Exclusion criteria included combined peptic ulcers,ma-lignancy,prior surgery,antacid medication for more than 2 mo,and pregnancy.Enrolled patients were assigned to the elderly group if they were 65 years or older,or the younger group if they were under 65 years.They had completed the GERD impact scale,the Chinese GERD questionnaire,and the SF-36 question-naire.Data from other cases without endoscopic f ind-ings or symptoms were collected and these subjects comprised the control group in our study.RESULTS:There were 111 patients with GERD and 44 normal cases:78(70.3%)and 33 patients(29.7%)were in the younger and elderly groups,respectively.There were more female patients(60.3%)in the younger group,and more males(72.7%)in the elderly group.The younger cases had more severe and fre-quent typical symptoms than the elderly patients.Sig-nif icantly more impairment of daily activities was noted in the younger patients compared with the elderly group,except for physical functioning.CONCLUSION:Elderly patients with GERD were pre-dominantly male with rare presentation of typical symp-toms,and had less impaired quality of life compared with younger patients in a Chinese population.
基金supported by NSF IOB 0517229 and NSF IOS 0920342 grants to WHW Ⅲ and CCC
文摘While several studies have documented the large-scale, seasonal movements of horseshoe crabs, little is known about their fine-scale, daily movement patterns. In this study we used a fixed array ultrasonic telemetry system to track the movements of 12 male and 16 female horseshoe crabs in the Great Bay estuary, New Hampshire. Data were obtained during the mating season, as well as during the remainder of the summer and fall, in the years 2005-2008. During the mating season animals were often, but not always, active during the high tides when they were approaching and leaving the spawning beaches. On average, both males and females approached mating beaches during 33% of the high tides they experienced and they most often made the tran- sition from being inactive to active during the last two hours of an incoming tide. From April-October horseshoe crabs were significantly more active during high tide periods vs low tide periods, with no clear preference for diurnal vs nocturnal activity. After the mating season ended horseshoe crabs continued to move into shallower water at high tide and then return to deeper water at low tide. Observations by SCUBA divers suggest that during these excursions into the mudflats horseshoe crabs were digging pits in the sediment while foraging for food. Thus, the tidal rhythm of activity that has been so well documented during the mating season probably persists into the fall, and primarily involves foraging activities
文摘This paper examines the relationship between a change of hukou and househoM satisfaction about life based on large-sample China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data. As horizontally shown by cross-section data, significant hukou identity differences exist in the subjective happiness of households reflected in life satisfaction. However, the traditional view that "rural residents are subjectively happier than urban residents" is not verified in this study. From a vertical perspective of tracing data, the estimation results of the DID model and the PSM model indicate that a change of hukou identity for rural residents has a significantly positive effect on their subjective happiness, lending credence to the saying that "cities make life better".
基金the National Research Foundation(NRF)for financial support during this study
文摘The u Mhlatuzana, u Mbilo and a Manzimnyama river catchments located on the eastern seaboard of the Kwa Zulu-Natal province, South Africa, form the core of urbanization and industrialization, contributing the only natural freshwater inflows to the Bayhead Canal portion of the Durban Harbour. In this study, seasonal discharges and physico–chemical water properties were used to quantitatively determine the material mass transport capacity of the river systems on the basis of hydrographic inputs and chemical loading from the surrounding land use sectors.The mass transport of the total dissolved solids(TDS),ammonia(NH_4), phosphorous(P), aluminum(Al), calcium(Ca), copper(Cu), chromium(Cr), mercury(Hg), potassium(K), magnesium(Mg), sodium(Na), nickel(Ni), lead(Pb), sulphur(S) and vanadium(V) was determined for each river. Results indicated that land use, seasonality and river flow were significant determinants for the material loading in the rivers and the receiving port waters. The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of chemical fluxes indicated that industrial activity associated with the a Manzimnyama canal contributed the most, with regards to TDS, NH_4, Ca, K, Mg, Na, S and V, loading in both wet and dry seasons, as well as Al, Cu, Hg and Pb during the dry season. Similarly, industrial activity associated with the u Mbilo/u Mhlatuzana Canal at the lower reaches accounted for the highest P, Al, Cu and Pb fluxes in the wet season alone. Fluxes of these parameters are used to explain theobserved elemental concentrations and patterns of the receiving port waters of the Bayhead Canal.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.12174053,91938203,11674057,11874109)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.2242021k30019).
文摘Aiming at the poor performance of speech signal detection at low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR),a method is proposed to detect active speech frames based on multi-window time-frequency(T-F)diagrams.First,the T-F diagram of the signal is calculated based on a multi-window T-F analysis,and a speech test statistic is constructed based on the characteristic difference between the signal and background noise.Second,the dynamic double-threshold processing is used for preliminary detection,and then the global double-threshold value is obtained using K-means clustering.Finally,the detection results are obtained by sequential decision.The experimental results show that the overall performance of the method is better than that of traditional methods under various SNR conditions and background noises.This method also has the advantages of low complexity,strong robustness,and adaptability to multi-national languages.
基金jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation ( Grant No. 40972143)the Key Research Project of the 11th "Five-year Plan"of China Earthquake Administration( 1520945024)
文摘Systematic research of the characteristics of late Quaternary activity of the middle part of Kouquan fault has been done through conducting 1∶50000 geologic mapping combining with remote sensing interpretation of spot imaging, field validating and chronology research of the research area. Studies suggest that the middle part of Kouquan fault has had strong activity since the late Quaternary which controls the tectonic evolvement of the nearby mountains and Datong basin. The recent activity of this fault has faulted the sandy gravel layers of T1 terrace and the lower part of dark loessial soils over the terrace on the north of Chanfang village. The maximum vertical displacement is over 3m in the area between Xiaoyukou village and Louzikou village, and to the south of Dayukou village and the north of Emaokou village, the displacement decreases to 0.5m and 0.25m respectively. Based on the recent faulted landforms and combined with dating, we determined the age of recent activity of the fault in the research area to be between 7.71ka B.P. to 3.00 ka B.P. Discussions are made on this in combination with previous research.
文摘Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is one of the most overpopulated city in the world and traffic jam is the most severe and regular affliction in the daily life. Also, the existing vehicles are not sufficient in compared to the population of the city. People have to spend many hours simply sitting in the traffic jam. This lessens the productivity of people and brings sufferings to them. Gulshan-Banani-HatirJheel area is the busiest regions within the city and face severe traffic jam during working hours. These lakes are totally unused. Therefore, there is a possibility to build a waterways network for passengers transport through these lakes. This will reduce the affliction of people via reducing traffic jam. The proposed transportation networks will also preserve the natural environment of the lakes and bring a source of entertainment in the city life. Many developed cities in the world like London, New York, Paris, Venice, Shanghai etc. already have implemented waterways network inside the city and successfully made the best use of cistern side.
文摘Author present the interplay between different neuron types in the spontaneous electrical activity of low density cortical in vitro networks grown on MEA (multielectrode arrays) of glass neurochips. In 10% of the networks, the continuously spiking activity of some neurons was inhibited by synchronous bursts or superbursts of the majority of the other neurons. Immunohistochemical staining subsequent to MEA recordings suggest that the synchronously bursting neurons are parvalbumin-positive interneurons with abundant axonal ramifications. Blocking chemical synaptic transmission by Ca2+-free medium revealed that the curbed spiking neurons are intrinsically active. It is assumed that these neurons are pyramidal cells which may be inhibited by groups of synchronously bursting interneurons. It is propose that the observed burst-induced inhibition is an important principle in the temporal organization of neuronal activity as well as in the restriction of excitation, and thus essential for information processing in the cerebral cortex.