Analysis Approach to Durability Based on Material Initial Fatigue Quality and S-N Curve

Based on probabilistic fracture mechanics approach, a new concept of material initial fatigue quality （MIFQ） is developed. Then, the relation between S-N curve and crack propagation curve is studied. From the study, a new durability analysis method is presented. In this method, S-N curve is used to determine crack growth rate under constant amplitude loading and evaluate the effects of different factors on durability and then the structural durability is analyzed. The tests and analyses indicate that this method has lower dependence on testing, and higher accuracy, reliability and generality and is convenient for application.

Initial Rifting Age of the Nearly N–S Rifts in Southern Tibetan Plateau:New Evidence from the Age limit of the Early Sediments

Objective The nearly parallel N-S-trending rifts in southern Tibet represent the E-W extension of the Tibet Plateau. Most data which constrained the age of the extensional deformation come from isotopic dating of the dikes probably related to the activity of the nearly N-S faulting and micas from hydrothermal activity and the low- temperature thermochronology of plateau uplift. Previous research shows that there are at least three different ideas about the age of the rifts： （1） older than 16-12 Ma, （2） 14- 10 Ma, and （3） 8-4 Ma （Fig. la）. For the old sedimentary strata represented the beginning of the rifting, the dating of the sediments helps to better define the initial rifting age.

Discourse Analysis of the Belt and Road Initiative From the Perspective of Central Asian Countries: A Case Study of the Republic of Kazakhstan

This study employs Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis(CDA)three-dimensional model,using the Republic of Kazakhstan as a case study,to delve into the discourse construction of China’s Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)in Central Asian countries.Through detailed analysis of policy documents,media reports,and public discussions in Central Asian countries,this paper reveals how the BRI constructs specific social practices,discourse events,and textual meanings within these nations.The findings indicate that through this global development strategy,China has not only strengthened its economic ties with Central Asian countries but has also exerted profound influences on political,cultural,and social levels.

Features of the Formation of Mineral Deposits at the Initial Stages of Formation of the Earth’s Mantle and Crust

The Purpose of the Work: The modern mantle and crust have a complex structure and, in addition, contain both thermal and material heterogeneities, as evidenced by the results of seismic and electromagnetic studies. Changes are also reflected by the change in the mineralogical and chemical composition of the matter. This structure was formed for the long geological history of the planet’s development and the process continues at the present time. The system remains unsteady. To understand the evolution of such dynamic structures, information is needed about the initial state of the system, in our case, about the state of the Earth at the final stage of its formation. It can be obtained only by the results of numerical modeling based on the results of the investigation of the evolution of isotope systems. Therefore, the purpose of the work is to identify the features of the formation of mineral deposits in the early crust and mantle. For this, it is necessary to obtain variants of the numerical solution of the problem of the formation of the planet. Solution Methods: An algorithm for solving a non-linear system of differential equations for solving a 3D boundary dynamic problem in the sphere of an increasing radius is developed. The numerical method of “through account” is used in the work. Results: Based on methods for solving boundary value problems for a system of differential equations with the use of new results of mineralogical and isotope studies of the oldest material samples, quantitative variants of the thermal evolution of the Earth, directly determining the formation of early metallogeny, are constructed. It is shown that the random distribution of particles and bodies of a protoplanetary cloud during the accumulation of the planet causes the formation of a random material and temperature composition of the growing crust and mantle, which ensured a special metallogeny of the cratons and their framing, which no longer repeated in the geological history of the planet. A special role in it was played by changes in the gravitational field during the growth of the planet and the angular velocity of the Earth’s rotation. Further Research: It is proposed to extend the results obtained to the conditions for taking into account the dynamics of the double Earth-Moon system.

Propagation of Love waves in non-homogeneous substratum over initially stressed heterogeneous half-space

The paper studies the propagation of Love waves in a non-homogeneous substratum over an initially stressed heterogeneous half-space. The dispersion equation of phase velocity is derived. The velocities of Love waves are calculated numerically as a function of kH and presented in a number of graphs, where k is the wave number, and H is the thickness of the layer. The case of Gibson＇s half-space is also considered. It is observed that the speed of Love waves is finite in the vicinity of the surface of the half-space and vanishes as the depth increases for a particular wave number. It is also observed that an increase in compressive initial stresses causes decreases of Love waves velocity for the same frequency, and the tensile initial stress of small magnitude in the half-space causes increase of the velocity.

Modeling protein-protein interactions in axon initial segment to understand their potential impact on action potential initiation

The axon initial segment(AIS)region is crucial for action potential initiation due to the presence of high-density AIS protein voltage-gated sodium channels(Nav).Nav channels comprise several serine residues responsible for the recruitment of Nav channels into the structure of AIS through interactions with ankyrin-G(AnkG).In this study,a series of computational experiments are performed to understand the role of AIS proteins casein kinase 2 and AnkG on Nav channel recruitment into the AIS.The computational simulation results using Virtual cell software indicate that Nav channels with all serine sites available for phosphorylation bind to AnkG with strong affinity.At the low initial concentration of AnkG and casein kinase 2,the concentration of Nav channels reduces significantly,suggesting the importance of casein kinase 2 and AnkG in the recruitment of Nav channels.

Existence and Continuous Dependence of Mild Solutions for Some Fractional Neutral Differential Equations with Nonlocal Initial Conditions

The existence,uniqueness,and continuous dependence to the mild solutions of the nonlocal Cauchy problem were proved for a class of semilinear fractional neutral differential equations.The results are obtained by using the Krasnoselskii's fixed point theorem and the theory of resolvent operators for integral equations.

A New Weight Initialization Method Using Cauchy’s Inequality Based on Sensitivity Analysis

In this paper, an efficient weight initialization method is proposed using Cauchy’s inequality based on sensitivity analy- sis to improve the convergence speed in single hidden layer feedforward neural networks. The proposed method ensures that the outputs of hidden neurons are in the active region which increases the rate of convergence. Also the weights are learned by minimizing the sum of squared errors and obtained by solving linear system of equations. The proposed method is simulated on various problems. In all the problems the number of epochs and time required for the proposed method is found to be minimum compared with other weight initialization methods.

AN INITIAL PROBE INTO DENG XIAOPING'S GLOBAL STRATEGIC THINKING

As the chief architect of China’s reform and opening up and a leading personalityof world class,Deng Xiaoping played a historical role in China’s political and e-conomic development in the period of its reform and opening.And so did his globalstrategic thinking,which not only had a decisive bearing on the adjustments,andchanges in China’s foreign strategy and policies,but also made a great

Propagation of P-and S-waves in initially stressed gravitating half space

The present paper contributes in studying the phase velocities of P- and S-waves in a half space subjected to a compressive initial stress and gravity field. The density and acceleration due to gravity vary quadratically along the depth. The dispersion equation is derived in a closed form. It is shown that the phase velocities depend not only on the initial stress, gravity, and direction of propagation but also on the inhomogeneity parameter associated with the density and acceleration due to gravity. Various particular cases are obtained, and the results match with the classical results. Numerical investigations on the phase velocities of P- and S-waves against the wave number are made for various sets of values of the material parameters, and the results are illustrated graphically. The graphical user interface model is developed to generalize the effect.

Patterns of medication use for the treatment of menopausal symptoms before and after the women’s health initiative;implications for decision-making practices of women and women’s health professionals

Background: The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) published findings in 2002 that changed the perception of the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the reduction of cardiovascular risks. Menopausal women using HRT for the relief of vasomotor symptoms were advised to use the lowest possible dose of HRT over the shortest possible duration. Objective: This study sought to examine patterns of HRT use for the treatment of menopausal symptoms before and after the WHI among women at least 40 years of age. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on a total of 1367 women in the pre-WHI group and 6467 women in the post-WHI group using the U.S. General Electric (GE) Centricity electronic medical record database. Menopause diagnosis was assessed using ICD-9 codes. Clinical characteristics and medication use were assessed for women with at least 3 years of enrollment (1 year baseline, 2 years follow-up). Results: The proportion of women in the post-WHI group that initiated HRT was significantly less than that of women in the pre-WHI group (31.3% vs. 56.9%, respectively;p < 0.001). Combination HRT use declined significantly (21.9% pre-WHI cohort vs. 7.2% post- WHI cohort, p < 0.001) among increases in non-HRT use, namely SSRIs (15.2% pre-WHI cohort v. 22.3% post-WHI cohort, p < 0.001) and tranquilizers (9.5% pre-WHI cohort v. 15.8% post-WHI cohort, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of the WHI 2002 publication made an impression on the perception of HRT’s role in the relief of menopausal symptoms. Decision-making on the part of women seeking treatment for vasomotor symptoms and women’s health professionals demonstrates that despite HRT precautions, women continue to exhibit a need for HRT use. This study’s findings suggest that women seeking treatment for menopausal symptom relief and women’s health professionals continue to work together to find the appropriate balance between therapy use and adherence to therapy use guidelines.

The"Belt and Road"Initiative:A Chinese Concept for Global Development

China＇s ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative is emerging as the Western-dominated world order is declining. Capitalism has intensified the rich-poor divide and power politics have led to great upheavals. Western values have caused a ＂value dislocation＂ for non-Western countries. The world is calling for new development concepts. The ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative has emerged as an answer. It embodies China＇s ideas on global development. First, it works for the ＂common prosperity＂ of every country, which will ease contradictions between the South and the North. Second, it emphasizes geo-economie integration that will heal the fragmentation of Eurasia. Third, it advocates linkages between people and inclusiveness to create a new kind of civilization. However, many difficulties and challenges lie ahead for the implementation of the ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative.

Australia’s Fear and Greed over China’s Rise:A Discourse Analysis of Mainstream News Coverage of the Belt and Road Initiative

China’s rise has stirred up world-wide debate.In Australia,China has been one of the keywords in its foreign and strategic policies and on news media.Its rise intensifies the dual functions―benefit provider and security offender to Australia and the tensions between greed of economic gains and fear of China’s increasing geopolitical strength and influence.The“fear and greed”narration is well-presented on Australian mainstream media.Such ambivalence can also find its expressions in the recent typical case of China’s rise―the Belt and Road Initiative.It is worthwhile to find out how Australia’s ambivalence to BRI and China’s rise is represented on media and to draw the sociopolitical inferences behind“fear and greed”.The thesis is going to take BRI as a typical example of China’s rise to examine the ambivalent“fear and greed”narration on Australian mainstream news media.Data sample includes news reports of BRI from ABC News,The Australian,The Australian Financial Review,The Sydney Morning Herald,and The Age from September 1st,2013 to October 31st,2017.The discourse analysis on China’s images finds that Australia is rather biased against China,regarding China both as a lucrative friend and a threatening enemy.The bias lingers on for centuries and generates misunderstanding,mistrust,and anxiety.Profit drives Australia to establish closer economic ties with China,while value differences would not allow too much proximity but help to maintain a robust alliance with its allies.Australia’s position between its major economic partner and traditional allies has caused much concern and will have a long-term influence on its policy-making decisions.

Ethanolic Extract of <i>Nigella sativa</i>Seeds Lacks the Chemopreventive Efficacy in the Post Initiation Phase of DMH-Induced Colon Cancer in a Rat Model

Nigella sativa, belonging to the Ranunculacea family, is a versatile phytochemical mine bestowed with multi-dimensional medicinal effects. The current study was performed to investigate the chemopreventive efficacy, if any, of the ethanolic extract of indigenous Nigella sativa seeds (ENS) and to evaluate its potentials on tumor progression during the initiation and post initiation phases of Dimethylhydrazine-induced colon carcinogenesis in a rat model. ENS treatment during the initiation phase unveiled chemopreventive effect manifested by significant reductions in tumor incidence, multiplicity and tumor volumes. Histopathological findings and modified Duke’s classification of tumors provided evidence that ENS, administered in the initiation phase, is capable of delaying progression, restricting invasion and attenuating aggressiveness of colon tumors. These results imply that ENS may be a promising candidate in the primary prevention of colon cancer. On the contrary, we demonstrated that ENS lacked chemopreventive and tumorigenesis inhibitory effects in the post initiation phase. We speculate that the chemopreventive effect of ENS might be due to the synergistic actions of various constituents present in the extract. However, extensive studies are warranted and more efforts need to be dedicated to fractionate, analyze and to further appraise the anticancer effect of ENS before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.

The Belt and Road Initiatives and China＇s Middle East Energy Policy

The paper analyses the roots of the Belt and Road Initiative as well as China＇s Middle East Energy Policy in an age of great transformation. China＇s rapidly progressed economic growth leading to a dramatic increase in China＇s energy demand in recent years. The Middle East countries play a critical role in the international energy markets. Stable relations with the Middle East countries become increasingly important for Chinese energy security, and the continued development. The protection of these relations lies at the core of the Belt and Road Initiative. Within The Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Middle East energy policy proceeds according to the energy cooperation framework known as ＂1＋2＋3＂, which seeks to build a reliable China-Arab strategic cooperative relationship based on long-term friendship. To avoid over dependence on the energy resources of the Middle East, China will also continue to search for other overseas energy sources and protect transportation channels. Despite risks and challenges associated with energy imports from the Middle East, China has cultivated strong relations with states in the region and will develop these economic ties further in the coming years.

The Belt and Road Initiatives and China＇s International Energy Cooperation： Progress, Mechanisms, and Recommendations

China＇s international energy cooperation and energy security are important parts of The Belt and Road initiatives. China and the countries along the Belt and Road continue to promote cooperation, actively use the existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms to promote the regional and inter-regional energy cooperation. Countries along the Belt and Road are rich in oil and gas resources; their demand on the diversification of export meet with the diversification demand on imports of consumption countries; and their oil refining and chemical technology as well as construction capacity is weak, which provides a lot of new opportunities in cooperation for Chinese enterprises. However, the energy cooperation of Chinese enterprises are also facing some challenges in the complex environment of energy cooperation, the interference of big powers, non-traditional security threats, and energy policy factors. Finally, the paper puts forward the strategic thinking of China＇s international energy cooperation under the new situation.

TBE EFFIGIENGIES OF THREE INITIATORS OF Fe^(2+)—H_2O_2, K_2S_2O_8, KMnO_4 AND TBE KINETIC EQUATION IN THE GRAFTING OF AGRYLAMIDE ONTO STARCH

A comparative study is made on the efficiencies of three initiators of Fe^(2+)-H_2O_2, K_2S_2O_8 and KMnO_4 in the grafting of acrylamide onto starch. Of the three initiators the best one is KMnO_4. Moreover, the kinetic equation is also studied.

The Awakening of Self: A Postcolonial Study of Initiation Theme in Miguel Street

Miguel Street is a collection of linked short stories by the Nobel Laureate V.S.Naipaul.To interpret the initiation theme inMiguel Street,this paper uses Rui Yuping’s theory structure to analyze the three major parts of the growing progress of the narra tor“I”.This paper also uses postcolonial criticism to interpret the confusing situation which“I”was in and the narrative strategy in this novel.The conclusion is that the only solution for“I”and even the whole country is to escape from the confusing situation.