Stable Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Compositions of Lates stappersii Otoliths from Lake Tanganyika,East Africa

In this study, we measured growth trends in oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in whole sagittal otoliths from three adult centropomid fish (Lates stappersii) from each of three sub-basins of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. Sampling density was 20 to 50 samples per otolith. Both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values increase with age. The δ¹⁸O data suggest that otoliths were precipitated near the expected equilibrium with the ambient environment (ca. +3.5‰) and support a migration pattern from surface waters during larval stages to deeper waters (40 to 80 m) for mature fish. Relatively high δ¹⁸O values in the southern sub-basin are consistent with cooler temperatures in the region during seasonal upwelling. The δ13C increase from otolith core to edge is large (up to 4‰) and is interpreted as due to ontogenetic changes in diet and contributions from a decrease in the proportion of respired CO₂ incorporated into otolith carbonate as metabolic rates of the fish dropped with maturity. The data seem to successfully reveal life strategy and migration patterns of L. stappersii, document regional differences in lake conditions, and provide a record of temperature within the water column during which the fish lived. Higher resolution studies and analyses of historical samples could be used to constrain modern and past growth patterns, and to reconstruct past temperature gradients and productivity patterns in the lake.     

A dynamic linear programming approach to market allocation of renewable resources in the italian energy system: The case of solar thermal and biogas technologies

In Italy solar thermal energy and energy from biogas are two possible means of reducing dependence on energy imports. Using a multiperiod LP model (MARKAL) the authors assessed the likely potential of both technologies under various circumstances. The study covered the period 1980–2005, in five segments of five years. It focused only on the subsystem of the energy end-uses which can be substituted for by solar thermal and biogas technologies. The overall non-renewable sources which can be saved in 20 years by these technologies total 450 PJ (1 PJ = 10^{1 5} J) if the fuel prices rise at 0 per cent average annual, 1450 PJ if the fuel prices rise at 4.2 per cent average annual, 1860 PJ if the fuel prices rise at 7.2 per cent average annual and 3780 PJ if the fuel prices rise at 15 per cent average annual. However the most competitive technologies appear to be solar water heaters used mainly in the private and commercial sectors and biogas systems used mainly in the agricultural sector. The study was carried out by APRE under ENEA (formerly CNEN) contract and was intended to serve as an analytical basis for establishing an overall development and demonstration strategy for end-use renewable technologies in Italy.     

Residual Stress Simulation of Injection Molding

In this study, distribution and history of residual stresses in plaque-like geometries are simulated based on linear thermoviscoelastic model, which helps to understand the mechanics and evolution of the residual stresses in the injection molding process. The numerical calculation of direction, combined with the specified boundary conditions. Results show that the stress variation across the thickness exhibits a high surface tensile value changing to a compressive peak value close to the surface, with the core region experiencing a parabolic tensile peak. Residual stress distribution throughout the thickness is almost same along the flowpath and the final residual stresses value near the gate is lower than the value near the end of flowpath.     

Identification of gaps in mangrove forests with airborne LIDAR

Mangrove forests change frequently due to disturbances from tropical storms, frost, lightning, and insects. It has been suggested that the death and regeneration of trees in small gaps due to lightning may play a critical role in mangrove forest turnover; however, the large-scale quantification of spatial pattern and areas of gaps is lacking for investigating this issue. Airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology provides an effective way for identifying gaps by remotely obtaining direct measurements of ground and canopy elevations. A method based on an alternative sequential filter and black top-hat mathematical morphological transformation was developed to extract gap features. Comparison of identified gap polygons with raw LIDAR measurements and field surveys shows that the proposed method successfully extracted gap features in mangrove forests in Everglades National Park. There are 400–500 lightning gaps per square kilometer in mangrove forests at the study sites. The distribution of gap sizes follows an exponential form and the area of gaps with sizes larger than 100 m² account for 55–61% of the total area of gaps. The area of gaps in the mangrove forest in Everglades National Park is about 4–5% of the total forest area and the average gap formation rate is about 0.3% of the total forest area per year, indicating that lightning gaps play an important role in mangrove forest dynamics.     

Necessary optimality conditions in a nonsmooth control problem with variable structure

An optimal control problem with nonsmooth performance criterion described by a system of ordinary differential equations is considered. Necessary first-order optimality conditions are obtained.     

A novel open-loop high-speed CMOS sample-and-hold

A new open-loop high-speed CMOS sample-and-hold is presented. Based on new method for further reduction of voltage-dependent charge injection, a new CMOS sample-and-hold was designed. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of this method. Over 10 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio, compared to the signal-to-noise ratio of conventional bottom plate sampling S/Hs was achieved with this method. A comparison between newly designed S/H and the bottom-plate sampling S/H is presented.     

Cyclamate intake and cyclohexylamine excretion are not related to male fertility in humans

Cyclamate and its metabolite cyclohexylamine affect male fertility in high dose animal studies, but this affect has not been investigated in epidemiological studies. This paper reports the first epidemiological study designed to investigate the possibility of a relationship between cyclamate and cyclohexylamine and male fertility in humans, in which 405 cases of clinically defined infertility in men and 379 controls were surveyed. Semen evaluation, urine analysis for cyclamate and cyclohexylamine and dietary questionnaires were compared between cases and controls. No evidence was found of a significant association between cyclamate intake and male infertility; neither high cyclamate nor high cyclohexylamine excretion were associated with elevated risk. The lack of association remained after adjusting by age, area of residence, education, total energy intake and other variables. No significant correlations were observed between cyclamate intake, metabolism or excretion, and sperm count and motility. The results demonstrate no effect of cyclamate or cyclohexylamine on male fertility at the present levels of cyclamate consumption.     

锌基合金模具的应用及探讨

本文分析了锌基合金模具制造及使用过程中容易出现热裂、翘曲、收缩的问题，并提出了解决这些问题的措施。     

Data mining of resilience indicators

In recent years, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced several financial setbacks, including speculative attacks in 1998 and the SARS outbreak in 2003. Financial stresses of this nature are unanticipated, and not all of the dangers can be predicted by the examination of market information and macroeconomic indicators. The Early Warning System (EWS) that has been adopted by the International Monetary Fund may not be able to predict future financial crises for all possible scenarios, because shocks come in many different forms. To supplement the EWS, this paper proposes a data mining framework to measure the resilience of an economy. The resilience framework does not predict a crisis, but rather assesses the current state of health of an economy and its ability to withstand a financial shock should one occur. The framework is based on a feedback system consisting of two stages. The first stage assigns a resilience score to each economy based on a fuzzy logic scoring scheme that is built on the ambiguous reasoning of experts. The second stage uses the classification tree approach to estimate thresholds for each economic indicator, and examines the quality of the fuzzy score. The result from the second stage is then passed back to the first stage as feedback. The final result is obtained when the feedback system reaches its equilibrium state. The proposed resilience framework is applied to the external-sector and the public-sector economies of several countries to illustrate its applicability.