A review of the ICT-enabled development literature: Towards a power parity theory of ICT4D

ICT projects are considered an important means of achieving development goals in developing countries. Although voluminous, the research to date is inconsistent in theorizing how, or why, development outcomes do or do not occur following the introduction of ICT4D. To better understand how and why ICT projects succeed, and even what success means in the ICT4D context, we conducted a literature review of ICT4D studies published during the period 2000–2016. We find that the very meaning of development varies, with four meanings of development emerging from the literature: (1) development as increased freedom, (2) development as expanded inclusion, (3) development as increased economic productivity, and (4) development as improved well-being. An ICT might succeed according to one meaning of development while simultaneously hindering achievement according to another meaning. As revealed by our analysis of the literature, these four perspectives suffer from some limitations, not least among them being the imposition of colonialist views of development on the recipients of the ICT4D. To address the limitations, we employ postcolonial theory to derive a new theory of ICT4D in which development is defined as an increase in power parity between dominant stakeholders and intended beneficiaries.     

Controlled Secure Direct Communication Protocol via the Three-Qubit Partially Entangled Set of States

In this paper, we first re-examine the previous protocol of controlled quantum secure direct communication of Zhang et al.’s scheme, which was found insecure under two kinds of attacks, fake entangled particles attack and disentanglement attack. Then, by changing the party of the preparation of cluster states and using unitary operations, we present an improved protocol which can avoid these two kinds of attacks. Moreover, the protocol is proposed using the three-qubit partially entangled set of states. It is more efficient by only using three particles rather than four or even more to transmit one bit secret information. Given our using state is much easier to prepare for multiqubit states and our protocol needs less measurement resource, it makes this protocol more convenient from an applied point of view.     

Super-Resolution Reconstruction of Images Based on Microarray Camera

In the field of images and imaging, super-resolution (SR) reconstruction of images is a technique that converts one or more low-resolution (LR) images into a highresolution (HR) image. The classical two types of SR methods are mainly based on applying a single image or multiple images captured by a single camera. Microarray camera has the characteristics of small size, multi views, and the possibility of applying to portable devices. It has become a research hotspot in image processing. In this paper, we propose a SR reconstruction of images based on a microarray camera for sharpening and registration processing of array images. The array images are interpolated to obtain a HR image initially followed by a convolution neural network (CNN) procedure for enhancement. The convolution layers of our convolution neural network are 3×3 or 1×1 layers, of which the 1×1 layers are used to improve the network performance particularly. A bottleneck structure is applied to reduce the parameter numbers of the nonlinear mapping and to improve the nonlinear capability of the whole network. Finally, we use a 3×3 deconvolution layer to significantly reduce the number of parameters compared to the deconvolution layer of FSRCNN-s. The experiments show that the proposed method can not only ameliorate effectively the texture quality of the target image based on the array images information, but also further enhance the quality of the initial high resolution image by the improved CNN.     

Self-consistent kinetic theory with nonlinear wave-particle resonances

We have developed, based on the oscillating-center transformation, a general theoretical approach for self-consistent plasma dynamics including, explicitly, effects of nonlinear(higherorder) wave-particle resonances. A specific example is then given for low-frequency responses of trapped particles in axisymmetric tokamaks. Possible applications to transport as well as nonlinear wave growth/damping are also briefly discussed.     

Influence of lanthanum on enhancement of mechanical and electrical properties of Cu-Al_2O_3 composites

Two kinds of Cu-Al_2O_3 composites(with and without La) were prepared via mechanical alloying-spark plasma sintering(MA-SPS) method. Microstructure, mechanical properties and electrical resistivity were investigated systematically using metallography, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, mechanical and electrical properties testing. The results indicate that an appropriate amount of La can homogenize the distribution of Al_2O_3. As such, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation of Cu-Al_2O_3-La are greatly increased. Some semi-coherent interface between Cu and Al_2O_3 is found, which means a low interface energy. The grain shape of Cu changes to irregular band with the addition of La. This change results in a density decrease of grain boundary and reduces electrical resistance. Lanthanum may exist in the form of La_2O_3.     

On the existence and origin of sluggish diffusion in chemically disordered concentrated alloys

Concentrated single phase solid solutions, including medium- and high-entropy alloys, represent a new class of materials that have recently attracted significant interest due to exceptional functional and structural properties. Their fascinating properties are mainly attributed to the sluggish atomic-level diffusion and transport, but its controlling mechanisms are largely unknown and there is certain skepticism about its very existence. By using microsecond-scale molecular dynamics, on-the-fly and conventional kinetic Monte Carlo, we reveal the governing role of percolation effects and composition dependence of the vacancy migration energy in diffusion. Surprisingly, an increase of concentration of faster species (Fe) in face-centered cubic Ni-Fe alloy may decrease the overall atomic diffusion. Consequently, the composition dependence of tracer diffusion coefficient has a minimum near the site percolation threshold, ～20?at.%Fe. We argue that this coupled percolation and composition-dependent barriers for vacancy jumps within different subsystems in medium- and high-entropy alloys leads, indeed, to the sluggish diffusion. A fast method for preselecting materials with potentially desired properties is suggested.     

Use of nets treated with food-grade coatings on dry-cured ham to control Tyrophagus putrescentiae infestations without impacting sensory properties

Dry-cured hams may become infested with the ham mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae during aging. Food-grade coatings have been developed to control mite infestations as a potential alternative to replace methyl bromide, but dipping or spraying these coatings requires additional labor and processing steps. Nets composed of polyester, a polyester/cotton blend and cotton were infused with coatings that consisted of propylene glycol, and either propylene glycol alginate and carrageenan or xanthan gum. Results indicated that the polyester/cotton blend and cotton nets that contained propylene glycol were effective at controlling mite infestations in assays with ham cubes covered in nets. The polyester nets slowed mite growth but were not effective at controlling mite reproduction due to low absorbance of the coatings. Polyester/cotton blend nets treated with coatings on whole hams were not different from control hams with respect to flavor, texture and moistness. Mite infestation tests on whole hams indicated that coated nets with greater stitch densities were effective at controlling mite growth. Future research will include the optimization of coating formulations and scaled-up testing in dry-cured ham plants.     

Isolation,purification, and antioxidant activities of polysaccharides from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao

In the present study, crude polysaccharides from Ziziphus Jujuba cv. Muzao were isolated and purified using DEAE cellulose-52 and Sephadex G-100 size-exclusion chromatography; four fractions were collected, namely GZMP-1, GZMP-2, GZMP-3, and GZMP-4. The molecular weights of these four fractions were measured to be 111.2, 95.1, 84.2, and 571.4 kDa, respectively, using high-performance gel permeation chromatography. Gas chromatography analysis of the monosaccharide composition confirmed that GZMP-1 was composed of rhamnose, arabinose, glucose, and galactose. Rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose were the main components present in GZMP-2 and GZMP-3, whereas GZMP-4 was composed of only rhamnose and arabinose. Scanning electron microscopy showed relatively smooth surfaces for GZMP-1 and GZMP-4, whereas GZMP-2 and GZMP-3 had more folds on their surfaces. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses indicated that GZMP-1 and ZMP mainly had α-type glycosidic linkages. The in vitro antioxidant activities of the polysaccharides revealed that jujube polysaccharides exhibit remarkable antioxidant activity, and can scavenge DPPH radical and OH radical in a concentration-dependent manner. The results of this work suggest that polysaccharides from Z. Jujuba cv. Muzao have potential to be used as functional food and in the development of natural antioxidant drug carriers.