Experiments are presented on the deformation of free surface induced by water exit of axisymmetric bodies, particular at the moment before body detaching from water. A set of experimental apparatus is designed to provide driving force for the bodies. A high-speed camera is adopted to capture the motion and deformation of the free surface. Bodies of various shapes, including a stretched spheroid, a sphere, a circular cone and a combination of cylinder and circular cone, are lifted out of water with different velocities, by using a straight rod attached on the top of models. It is found that free-surface deformation is affected by the moving velocity a lot. Three wake flow or free-surface spike patterns are generated corresponding to different velocities. When the velocity is larger than a critical velocity, cavitation incepts and bubble is entrapped inside the water spike, which changes the flow pattern and shape of the spike. It is aimed to explore the spike phenomenon of free surface and explain the reasons behind it.

Estimating the feed intake of grazing herbivores is critical for determining their nutrition, overall productivity and utilization of grassland resources. A 17-day indoor feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential use of Medicago sativa as a natural supplement for estimating the total feed intake of sheep. A total of 16 sheep were randomly assigned to four diets (four sheep per diet) containing a known amount of M. sativa together with up to seven forages common to typical steppes. The diets were: diet 1, M. sativa + Leymus chinensis + Puccinellia distans; diet 2, species in diet 1 + Phragmites australis; diet 3, species in diet 2 + Chenopodium album + Elymus sibiricus; and diet 4, species in diet 3 + Artemisia scoparia + Artemisia tanacetifolia. After faecal marker concentrations were corrected by individual sheep recovery, treatment mean recovery or overall recovery, the proportions of M. sativa and other dietary forages were estimated from a combination of alkanes and long-chain alcohols using a least-square procedure. Total intake was the ratio of the known intake of M. sativa to its estimated dietary proportion. Each dietary component intake was obtained using total intake and the corresponding dietary proportions. The estimated values were compared with actual values to assess the estimation accuracy. The results showed that M. sativa exhibited a distinguishable marker pattern in comparison to the other dietary forage species. The accuracy of the dietary composition estimates was significantly (P < 0.001) affected by both diet diversity and the faecal recovery method. The proportion of M. sativa and total intake across all diets could be accurately estimated using the individual sheep or the treatment mean recovery methods. The largest differences between the estimated and observed total intake were 2.6 g and 19.2 g, respectively, representing only 0.4% and 2.6% of the total intake. However, they were significantly (P < 0.05) biased for most diets when using the overall recovery method. Due to the difficulty in obtaining individual sheep recovery under field conditions, treatment mean recovery is recommended. This study suggests that M. sativa, a natural roughage instead of a labelled concentrate, can be utilized as a dietary supplement to accurately estimate the total feed intake of sheep indoors and further indicates that it has potential to be used in steppe grassland of northern China, where the marker patterns of M. sativa differ markedly from commonly occurring plant species.

Global inequity in access to and availability of essential mental health services is well recognized. The mental health treatment gap is approximately 50% in all countries, with up to 90% of people in the lowest-income countries lacking access to required mental health services. Increased investment in global mental health (GMH) has increased innovation in mental health service delivery in LMICs. Situational analyses in areas where mental health services and systems are poorly developed and resourced are essential when planning for research and implementation, however, little guidance is available to inform methodological approaches to conducting these types of studies. This scoping review provides an analysis of methodological approaches to situational analysis in GMH, including an assessment of the extent to which situational analyses include equity in study designs. It is intended as a resource that identifies current gaps and areas for future development in GMH. Formative research, including situational analysis, is an essential first step in conducting robust implementation research, an essential area of study in GMH that will help to promote improved availability of, access to and reach of mental health services for people living with mental illness in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While strong leadership in this field exists, there remain significant opportunities for enhanced research representing different LMICs and regions.

The Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) typically displays bivoltinism at altitudes below 1700 m in the Qinling Mountains, China. The periods of host colonization and larval overwintering are two important phases in the life cycle of bark beetles, as it is during these periods that they have to contend with host plant defences and periods of intense cold, respectively. Although during different seasons, the females and males of Chinese white pine beetles show varying tolerances to host plant terpenoids, the sex ratio and survival physiology condition of the two beetle generations are unknown. We investigated the sex ratio of individuals, and also examined the body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes of males and females in each of the two generations in order to determine the overall population stability of each generation. We identified a female-biased sex ratio among adults in both generations. Furthermore, patterns of body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes were found to differ between the two sexes and two seasons. Compared with the males, the females have a larger body mass and higher amounts of stored lipids, which are assumed to be adaptations designed to overcome host resistance and facilitate subsequent oviposition.

Incurred but not reported (IBNR) loss reserving is of great importance for Property & Casualty (P&C) insurers. However, the temporal dependence exhibited in the claim arrival process is not reflected in many current loss reserving models, which might affect the accuracy of the IBNR reserve predictions. To overcome this shortcoming, we proposed a marked Cox process and showed its many desirable properties in Badescu et al. (2016).

In this paper, we consider the model estimation and applications. We first present an expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm which guarantees the efficiency of the estimators unlike the moment estimation methods widely used in estimating Cox processes. In addition, the proposed fitting algorithm can be implemented at a reasonable computational cost. We examine the performance of the proposed algorithm through simulation studies. The applicability of the proposed model is tested by fitting it to a real insurance claim data set. Through out-of-sample tests, we find that the proposed model can provide realistic predictive distributions.

A viscous damping model is proposed based on a simplified equation of fluid motion in a moonpool or the narrow gap formed by two fixed boxes. The model takes into account the damping induced by both flow separation and wall friction through two damping coefficients, namely, the local and friction loss coefficients. The local loss coefficient is determined through specifically designed physical model tests in this work, and the friction loss coefficient is estimated through an empirical formula found in the literature. The viscous damping model is implemented in the dynamic free-surface boundary condition in the gap of a modified potential flow model. The modified potential flow model is then applied to simulate the wave-induced fluid responses in a narrow gap formed by two fixed boxes and in a moonpool for which experimental data are available. The modified potential flow model with the proposed viscous damping model works well in capturing both the resonant amplitude and frequency under a wide range of damping conditions.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing different amounts of daidzein in a diet on the growth performance, blood biochemical parameters and meat quality of finishing beef cattle. Thirty finishing Xianan steers were distributed in three groups equilibrated by weight and fed three different dietary treatments (concentrate ratio = 80%): (1) control; (2) 500 mg/kg daidzein and (3) 1000 mg/kg daidzein, respectively. Steers were slaughtered after an 80-day feeding trial. Results showed that daidzein supplementation had no effect on the final body weight, average daily gain and feed conversion rate of steers. Steers fed with 1000 mg/kg daidzein had greater dry matter intake than those fed with control diets. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group had a higher fat thickness, lower shear force and lightness. The pH, drip loss, cooking loss, redness (a*), yellowness (b*), moisture, ash, crude protein and intramuscular fat of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were unaffected by daidzein supplementation. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentrations of insulin, free fatty acid and Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. The 500 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentration of tetraiodothyronine compared with the control group. Supplemental daidzein did not affect the blood antioxidant ability and blood immune parameters in serum. In conclusion, daidzein supplementation above 500 mg/day modifies feed intake and metabolic and hormonal profile, with positive and negative effects on meat quality.

Guangxi, a province in southwestern China, has the second highest reported number of HIV/AIDS cases in China. This study aimed to develop an accurate and effective model to describe the tendency of HIV and to predict its incidence in Guangxi. HIV incidence data of Guangxi from 2005 to 2016 were obtained from the database of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network models, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, generalised regression neural network (GRNN) models and exponential smoothing (ES) were used to fit the incidence data. Data from 2015 and 2016 were used to validate the most suitable models. The model performances were evaluated by evaluating metrics, including mean square error (MSE), root mean square error, mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error. The LSTM model had the lowest MSE when the N value (time step) was 12. The most appropriate ARIMA models for incidence in 2015 and 2016 were ARIMA (1, 1, 2) (0, 1, 2)12 and ARIMA (2, 1, 0) (1, 1, 2)12, respectively. The accuracy of GRNN and ES models in forecasting HIV incidence in Guangxi was relatively poor. Four performance metrics of the LSTM model were all lower than the ARIMA, GRNN and ES models. The LSTM model was more effective than other time-series models and is important for the monitoring and control of local HIV epidemics.

Optimizing the dietary calcium (Ca) level is essential to maximize the eggshell quality, egg production and bone formation in poultry. This study aimed to establish the Ca requirements of egg-type duck breeders from 23 to 57 weeks of age on egg production, eggshell, incubation, tibial, plasma and ovary-related indices, as well as the expression of matrix protein-related genes. Totally, 450 Longyan duck breeders aged 21 weeks of age were allotted randomly into five treatments, each with six replicates of 15 individually caged birds. The data collection started from 23 weeks of age and continued over the following 35 weeks. The five groups corresponded to five dietary treatments containing either 2.8%, 3.2%, 3.6%, 4.0% or 4.4% Ca. The tested dietary Ca levels increased (linear, P <0.01) egg production and egg mass, and linearly improved (P <0.01) the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Increasing the dietary Ca levels from 2.8% to 4.4% increased (P <0.01) the eggshell thickness and eggshell content. The tested Ca levels showed a quadratic effect on eggshell thickness and ovarian weight (P <0.01); the highest values were obtained with the Ca levels 4.0% and 3.6%, respectively. Dietary Ca levels affected the small yellow follicles (SYF) number and SYF weight/ovarian weight, and the linear response (P <0.01) was significant vis-à-vis SYF number. In addition, dietary Ca levels increased (P <0.05) the tibial dry weight, breaking strength, mineral density and ash content. Plasma and tibial phosphorus concentration exhibited a quadratic (P <0.01) response to dietary Ca levels. Plasma calcitonin concentration linearly (P <0.01) increased as dietary Ca levels increased. The relative expression of carbonic anhydrase 2 in the uterus rose (P <0.01) with the increment of dietary Ca levels, and the highest value was obtained with 3.2% Ca. In conclusion, Longyan duck breeders fed a diet with 4.0% Ca had superior eggshell and tibial quality, while those fed a diet with 3.6% Ca had the heaviest ovarian weights. The regression model indicated that the dietary Ca levels 3.86%, 3.48% and 4.00% are optimal levels to obtain maximum eggshell thickness, ovarian weight and tibial mineral density, respectively.

Co-receptor tropism has been identified to correlate with HIV-1 transmission and the disease progression in patients. A molecular epidemiology investigation of co-receptor tropism is important for clinical practice and effective control of HIV-1. In this study, we investigated the co-receptor tropism on HIV-1 variants of 85 antiretroviral-naive patients with Geno2pheno algorithm at a false-positive rate of 10%. Our data showed that a majority of the subjects harboured the CCR5-tropic virus (81.2%, 69/85). No significant differences in gender, age, baseline CD4+ T-cell counts and transmission routes were observed between subjects infected with CXCR4-tropic or CCR5-tropic virus. The co-receptor tropism appeared to be associated with the virus genotype; a significantly more CXCR4-use was predicted in CRF01_AE infections whereas all CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC were predicted to use CCR5 co-receptor. Sequences analysis of V3 revealed a higher median net charge in the CXCR4 viruses over CCR5 viruses (4.0 vs. 3.0, P < 0.05). The predicted N-linked glycosylation site between amino acids 6 and 8 in the V3 region was conserved in CCR5 viruses, but not in CXCR4 viruses. Besides, variable crown motifs were observed in both CCR5 and CXCR4 viruses, of which the most prevalent motif GPGQ existed in both viral tropism and almost all genotypes identified in this study except subtype B. These findings may offer important implications for clinical practice and enhance our understanding of HIV-1 biology.

In this work, we investigate misfit dislocations in PbTe/PbSe heteroepitaxial systems using the concurrent atomistic–continuum (CAC) method. A potential model containing the long-range Coulombic interaction and short-range Buckingham potential is developed for the system. By considering the minimum potential energy of relaxed interface structures for various initial conditions and PbTe layer thicknesses, the equilibrium structure of misfit dislocations and the dislocation spacings in PbTe/PbSe(001) heteroepitaxial thin films are obtained as a function of the PbTe layer thicknesses grown on a PbSe substrate. The critical layer thickness above which misfit dislocations inevitably form, the structure of the misfit dislocations at the interfaces, and the dependence of average dislocation spacing on PbTe layer thickness are obtained and discussed. The simulation results provide an explanation for the narrowing of the spread of the distribution of misfit dislocation spacing as layer thickness increases in PbTe/PbSe(001) heteroepitaxy.

The second order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of two different ionic selfassembled multilayer (ISAM) films combined with Ag nanoparticles have been investigated. The plasmon resonances in the Ag particles concentrate the incident light, markedly increasing in the NLO efficiencies of the films. We find that the efficiency enhancement is significantly larger in conventional ISAM films compared to films made using a hybrid covalent ISAM technique (HCISAM), even though the intrinsic bulk second order non-linear susceptibility (χ (2)) is much larger for HCISAM films. We attribute this to the interfaces in HCISAM films being much easier to disrupt by external perturbations such as the metal deposition by which the nanoparticles are fabricated. We conclude that because the plasmon decay length is very short, the plasmonic enhancement of NLO effects primarily occurs at and near the film-particle interface. To discern the importance of the interfaces, we surrounded thin ISAM and HCISAM films with NLOinactive buffer layers, which confirmed this hypothesis, particularly in the case of HCISAM films.

Imprinted genes uniquely drive and support fetoplacental growth by controlling the allocation of maternal resources to the fetus and affecting the newborn’s growth. We previously showed that alterations of the placental imprinted gene expression are associated with suboptimal perinatal growth and respond to environmental stimuli including socio-economic determinants. At the same time, maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy (MPSP) has been shown to affect fetal growth. Here, we set out to test the hypothesis that placental imprinted gene expression mediates the effects of MPSP on fetal growth in a well-characterized birth cohort, the Stress in Pregnancy (SIP) Study. We observed that mothers experiencing high MPSP deliver infants with lower birthweight (P=0.047). Among the 109 imprinted genes tested, we detected panels of placental imprinted gene expression of 23 imprinted genes associated with MPSP and 26 with birthweight. Among these genes, five imprinted genes (CPXM2, glucosidase alpha acid (GAA), GPR1, SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains 2 (SHANK2) and THSD7A) were common to the two panels. In multivariate analyses, controlling for maternal age and education and gestational age at birth and infant gender, two genes, GAA and SHANK2, each showed a 22% mediation of MPSP on fetal growth. These data provide new insights into the role that imprinted genes play in translating the maternal stress message into a fetoplacental growth pattern.

Let $G$ be a group, $p$ be a prime and $P\in \text{Syl}_{p}(G)$ . We say that a $p$ -Brauer character $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ is monolithic if $G/\ker \unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ is a monolith. We prove that $P$ is normal in $G$ if and only if $p\nmid \unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(1)$ for each monolithic Brauer character $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}\in \text{IBr}(G)$ . When $G$ is $p$ -solvable, we also prove that $P$ is normal in $G$ and $G/P$ is nilpotent if and only if $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(1)^{2}$ divides $|G:\ker \unicode[STIX]{x1D711}|$ for all monolithic irreducible $p$ -Brauer characters $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ of $G$ .

In quantitative x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the reference intensity ratio (ki or RIR) is one of the most important parameters of the reference intensity method (RIM). The ki is a function of the intensity of x-ray reflection and the mass attenuation coefficient of the sample for the “Lki” method (Davis, 1992). The intensities for 00l reflections have been calculated, and also the reference intensity ratios corresponding to the 001 reflection have been estimated in this part of the work, which is very important for investigating the iron influence on the XRD analysis of smectites. The Reynolds’ proposed glycol-expanded montmorillonite structure was used as a basis for the calculations.

The coming era of reduced defense funding will dramatically alter the way in which advanced materials develop. In the absence of large funding researchers must concentrate on reducing the time that the R&D of a new materia) consumes. One way in which speed may be achieved is via the development of very fast dynamic characterization procedures which can rapidly and intelligently monitor and optimize the formation of a desired microstructure. Another potential advantage to this approach is its ability to characterize the actual amount of material which goes into a final product; permitting a rapid transition from R&D to manufacturing by avoiding the problems associated with scale-up. Example high-temperature dynamic characterization procedures have been applied to the problem of trying to improve the current carrying capacity of the YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-8 ceramic superconductor by melt-texturing. These procedures have led to a technique for the preparation of specimens with J c on the order of 10,000 A/cm2.

Determination of the species of compounds present in ambient aerosols has received increasing interest in recent years (Harrison and Pio, 1983; Davis, 1984; Davis and Maughan, 1984; Harrison and Sturges, 1984; Sturges et al, 1989; Possanzini et al, 1992; Havliek et al., 1993), but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's conversion to the PM10 standard in 1987 has made quantitative analysis of fine particle aerosols more difficult because of the much smaller deposited mass on these filters, as well as the increased proportion of carbon-bearing material naturally present in the smaller diameter portion of the atmospheric aerosol size distribution. Under the old TSP (Total Suspended Particulate) collection protocol, filter loads of 400-2000 μg cm-2 of 10-20 μm mean diameter particles, corresponding to 24-hour collections at ambient concentrations of 100 to 500 μg m-3 at 40 CFM flow rates, resulted in excellent diffraction patterns scanned directly from filter segments.

In smectite analyses, the investigation of the attenuation contribution to quantitative x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis is a most important topic, including Fe content and distribution. This is the first part of a comprehensive study on smectite analysis addressing the nature and location of Fe atoms within the octahedral sites, interlayer regions, and intergranular interfaces. This first paper treats the mass attenuation measurements and calculations (Davis and Johnson, 1987). Additional reports will be made in the future on Fe studies involving measured and calculated reference intensity ratio measurements and structural studies based on SEM and TEM analysis.

Real time observations of the YBa2Cu3O7-δ (123) melting process by high temperature XRD and optical microscopy reveal a reaction sequence which does not correspond well with the literature. CO2 gas, present in the air, reacts with 123 to produce the Y2CU2O5 phase. This reaction begins well below 800°C and persists up to 970°C when BaCuO2 begins to form. The previously unreported BaCuO2 reaction occurs in either air or oxygen and this phase grows at the expense of the 123 until both rapidly disappear at 1050°C with the appearance of Y2B2CuO5 (211), Formation of Y2O3 from the 211 melt occurs more slowly, beginning at 1150°C. Dynamic 00ℓ orientation has been observed at 950°C upon cooling from the melt. The orientationa) growth is believed to be a surface tension dependent, liquid assisted sintering reaction.