Techniques for the transport and maintenance of scleractinian coral

Several small scleractinian coral colonies were collected from a remote reef and transferred [to] the Louisiana Universities Marine Center (LUMCON) for in vitro reproductive and larval studies. The species used here were Porites astreoides and Diploria strigosa. Colony size was ~20 cm in diameter. Colonies were brought to the surface by liftbag and stored in modified ice coolers. They were transported from Freeport, TX to Cocodrie, LA by truck for nearly 15 hours where field conditions were simulated in waiting aquaria. This document describes the techniques and equipment that were used, how to outfit such aquaria, proper handling techniques for coral colonies, and several eventualities that the mariculturist should be prepared for in undertaking this endeavor. It will hopefully prevent many mistakes from being made.

Emergency department crowding: prioritising quantified crowding measures using a Delphi study.

AimsEmergency department (ED) crowding has been associated with a number of negative health outcomes, including unnecessary deaths, increased waiting times and a decrease in care quality. Despite the seriousness of this issue, there is little agreement on appropriate crowding measures to assess crowding effects on ED operations. The objective of this study was to prioritise a list of quantified crowding measures that would assess the current state of a department.MethodsA three round Delphi study was conducted via email and an Internet based survey tool. The panel consisted of 40 professionals who had exposure to and expertise in crowding. Participants submitted quantified crowding measures which, through three rounds, were evaluated and ranked to assess participant agreement for inclusion.ResultsThe panel identified 27 measures of which eight (29.6%) reached consensus at the end of the study. These measures comprised: (1) ability of ambulances to offload; (2) patients who leave without being seen or treated; (3) time until triage; (4) ED occupancy rate; (5) patients' total length of stay in the ED; (6) time to see a physician; (7) ED boarding time; and (8) number of patients boarding in the ED.ConclusionsThis study resulted in the identification of eight quantified crowding measures, which present a comprehensive view of how crowding is affecting ED operations, and highlighted areas of concern. These quantified measures have the potential to make a considerable contribution to decision making by ED management and to provide a basis for learning across different departments.

基于最终用户开发的表格数据分析关键技术研究

“最终用户开发（End-User Development，EUD）”研究如何使作为非专业软件开发者的软件系统用户，在一定程度上开发或修改软件。EUD的研究主要有三类，即EUD的理论研究、通用的EUD技术研究和面向领域的EUD技术研究。作为一个面向领域的EUD研究，本文以电子政务中常见的表格数据分析问题为背景，研究表格数据分析的EUD方法和技术。 表格数据分析是一种广泛存在的日常应用问题，除了各种业务系统中的表格分析系统，工业界也引入了EUD，比如“电子表格（Spreadsheet）”，但无论专用分析系统，还是Spreadsheet，都不足以应对表格数据分析问题在规模和复杂度方面的迅速增长。 本文在对表格数据分析问题进行建模的基础上，提出一种基于EUD的表格数据分析方法（Methodology of EUD-Enabled Tabular-data Analysis，META），并就META方法的应用和所需的关键支撑技术开展了研究，其贡献包括以下七个方面： 1）在Spreadsheet模型的基础上，对大规模表格数据分析问题进行了建模，该模型以数据层、逻辑层和表示层的分离为特征，对表格数据、表格展示和表格数据分析计算的表达能力，都超过已有的各种模型。 2）提出一种以EUD为核心的表格数据分析方法（META），该方法有三种应用模式，分别适用于不同的用户熟练程度和需求复杂度，既适用于简单的表格数据生成问题，也能支持复杂的EUD生命周期过程。 3）在对表格数据分析问题进行建模的基础上，通过扩展传统Spreadsheet语言，设计了一种支持最终用户开发的表格数据分析语言ESL（EUD-Enabled Spreadsheet Language），该语言继承了Spreadsheet语言的最终用户可编程性，同时，在表格数据分析方面的表达能力优于已有的其他语言。 4）在将ESL公式依赖关系建模的基础上，深入研究了影响Spreadsheet计算性能的各种因素。提出了基于拓扑排序的重算消减算法，解决了传统算法中存在的重算问题；以拓扑排序算法为基础，提出了ESL语言的并行计算方法；针对大规模表格数据访问，实现了能够显著降低SQL数据访问代价的缓存机制。这些研究，经实验验证，提高了ESL语言的执行效率。 5）为降低EUD中SQL编程的复杂度，通过引入领域语义和上下文（Context）配置的方法，解决了SQL自动生成中连接选择的二义性问题，实现了精确查询的SQL自动生成。其结果也可用于其他访问关系数据库的EUD系统。 6）有效性是ESL编程中的重要问题，由于缺乏合适的研究对象和用户群体，EUD有效性研究受到限制。在社会关系网络上开发Web插件，是一种典型的EUD活动，其中的“发行前错误”问题是一种重要的风险来源。本文提出的Release-Waiting Farm（RWF）技术，能够有效地引导最终用户对Web插件进行测试，并规范最终用户的开发过程。 7）本文总结了RWF技术在社会关系网络中得以成功的关键因素，基于RWF技术，为META方法设计了支持最终用户开发的协作环境和测试环境，并在全国组织系统软件框架开发项目中进行了实现和验证。

beta-Delayed proton decays in the rare-earth region near drip line

The history of experimental study on beta-delayed proton decays in the rare-earth region was simply reviewed. The physical results of the beta-delayed proton decays obtained at IMP, Lanzhou over the last 10 years were summarized, mainly including the first observation of 9 new beta-delayed proton precursors along the odd-Z proton drip line and the new data for 2 waiting-point nuclei in the rp-process. The results were compared and discussed with different nuclear model calculations. Finally, the perspective in near future was briefly introduced.

Understanding the branching ratios of chi(c1) -> phi phi,omega omega,omega phi observed at BES-III

In this work, we discuss the contribution of the mesonic loops to the decay rates of chi(c1) -> phi phi, omega omega, which are suppressed by the helicity selection rules and chi(c1) -> phi omega, which is a double- Okubo- ZweigIizuka forbidden process. We find that the mesonic loop effects naturally explain the clear signals of chi(c1) -> phi phi, omega omega decay modes observed by the BES Collaboration. Moreover, we investigate the effects of the omega - phi mixing, which may result in the order of magnitude of the branching ratio BR(chi(c1) -> omega phi) being 10(-7). Thus, we are waiting for the accurate measurements of the BR(chi(c1) -> omega omega), BR(chi(c1) -> phi phi) and BR(chi(c1) -> omega phi) which may be very helpful for testing the long- distant contribution and the omega - phi mixing in chi(c1) -> phi phi, omega omega, omega phi decays.

Voltammetric study of vitamin K-3 at interdigitated array microelectrodes

Cyclic voltammetry of Vitamin K-3 (V-K3) was measured with Pt disk electrode, platinum interdigitated array (Pt-IDA) and Au-IDA microelectrodes in single and dual modes. The effects of pH, scan rate and collector potential on the current of generator and collector were studied. The collection efficiency of V-K3 at IDA electrodes was measured. The linear ranges for current response as a function of V-K3 concentration were found to he 10 mu M-1 mM (i(g)) and 1 mu M - 1 mM (i(c)) for the generator and collector of the Pt-IDA electrode, respectively. The effects of waiting time, potential difference and pulse electrolysis time in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) on the peak current of V-K3 were studied to get the optimal condition at 0.1 M Na2HPO4, pH 11.50 and 11.0 for Au-IDA and Pt-IDA, respectively.

基于谓词不变性的状态反馈控制在机器人遥操作中的应用

传统的基于事件遥操作系统虽然巧妙地避开了变化时延问题[8] ,但是它具有“走走停停”的特点 ,即机器人将当前状态发送出去之后直到操作者的下一个指令到来之前机器人必须保证状态没有变化。对此本文首次提出了利用基于谓词不变性的状态反馈控制来对原有的方法进行改进 ,使机器人能够对动态环境具有适应性

基于PMAC开放式数控系统软件开发

基于PC和多轴运动控制器的开放式数控系统是理想的开放式数控系统。介绍了基于PMAC的开放式数控系统结构形式,PMAC的差补、位置控制、伺服功能、以PMAC和PC机为硬件平台搭建了数控系统,并对其硬件构成和软件设计结构进行了分析。着重从软件设计的角度,介绍了PTALK控件的功能和作用,对数控系统软件构成进行了详细的阐述。并设计出了友好的用户界面,在实际应用中具有重要意义。

慢性海洛因成瘾者的冲动性和行为抑制缺陷脑机制

In recent years, the deficit of inhibition has become an important reason for explaining addiction. Response inhibition resembles the compulsive drug seeking behavior and it is the basement of addiction inhibition deficits. However, there were no enough evidence for the relationship between addiction and response inhibition deficits and the results of the neuro mechanisms studies remains unclear. Few studies has focused on the exploring the heroin users. Among those paradigms for study response inhibition deficits, stop signal is a very suitable model for the representation of compulsive drug seeking, but only a few researches has worked on this paradigm. In this study, we selected about 100 heroin abusers and had behaviour and neuro imaging scannings for investigating the response inhibition deficits. The behaviour researches found: first, the chronic heroin users had longer reaction time than control group and this reaction time were not affected by stop signals in heroin users. Second, heroin users had less waiting time than control group and they were more impulsive but less flexibility. Their erro monitoring and flexibale adjustment ability decreased. Third, the SSRT of heroin users was significantly longer than control group. These results suggested that the inhibition of heroin users were impaired. Further investigation showed that the SSRT of heroin users had positive correlation of four factor scores of ASI and the macro correlation coefficient was factor three of drug use. This correlation suggested that drug use was the main reason of inhibition deficits. fMRI results mainly focused on the ANOVA analysis for group difference. First, there was no intensity difference in M1 and SMA brain areas between the two groups. Second, heroin users had less activation in right dorsalateral prefrontal cortex, right inferior prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulated cortex, while in bilateral striatum and amygdala, heroin users had more activation than control group. The right prefrontal cortex was indentified as the main inhibition brain area. The anterior cingulated cortex has relationship with erro monitoring and amygdale was an important brain area for impulsivity and emotion control. The network of these brain areas was envovled in impulsivity and inhibition and it was suggested the mainly damaged network for heroin users’ disinhibition. We also investigated the gray matter changes of heroin users and found that chonic heroin use made their gray matter density decreased in prefrontal cortex (including bilateral dorsalateral prefrontal cortex, obital frontal cortex, inferior prefrontal cortex) and anterior cingulated cortex. The gray matter density in these brain regions had negative correlation with drug use duration. In conclusion, we indentified the disinhibition of heroin users and its neuro mechanism. Their compulsivity brain areas had more activation than control group and their inhibition brain areas had less activation than normal control. On the other side, the biological mechanism of this activation changes was the gray matter density decrease in these brain areas.

网上协同工作中的等待时距知觉研究

A newly developed experimental model called simulation of real mission was used to explore law of time perception and user endurance for feedback delay under Network-Supported Co-operative Work. Some non-technological factors influencing time perception and user endurance (mission type、difficulty level、feedback method、partner type、gender and A type behavior pattern) were also examined. Results of the study showed that: (1) Under condition of waiting without feedback, mission type and difficulty level demonstrated significant main effects on judgment of waiting duration. People will wait more time to receive partner's feedback if he or she perceives that partner's task is difficult, and the longest waiting duration (LWD) in the mission of computation is longer than the LWD in the mission of proof searching. (2) Under condition of waiting with feedback, experimental data perfectly supported Vierordt's Law: short duration is underestimated, long duration is overestimated, only proper duration (2-6 second) can be estimated correctly. The proper duration will vary with the changing of difficulty levels of mission. More long the waiting duration is, more estimation error will be occurred. The type difference of partner has no significant effect on the law of time perception. (3) Under condition of waiting with feedback, non-technology factors can significantly effect user's endurance. When subjects were told their partner was human, mission type and difficulty level of mission could significantly effect user's endurance. When subjects were told their partner was computer, A type behavior pattern and difficulty level of mission could significantly effect user's endurance. The two-way interaction effect between A type behavior pattern and gender was detected.

The nature of emotional support and counselling provision for people with sight loss in the United Kingdom

People with sight loss in the United Kingdom are known to have lower levels of emotional wellbeing and to be at higher risk of depression. Consequently ‘having someone to talk to’ is an important priority for people with visual impairment. An on-line survey of the provision of emotional support and counselling for people affected by sight loss across the UK was undertaken. The survey was distributed widely and received 182 responses. There were more services offering ‘emotional support’, in the form of listening and information and advice giving, than offered ‘counselling’. Services were delivered by providers with differing qualifications in a variety of formats. Waiting times were fairly short and clients presented with a wide range of issues. Funding came from a range of sources, but many felt their funding was vulnerable. Conclusions have been drawn about the need for a national standardised framework for the provision of emotional support and counselling services for blind and partially sighted people in the UK

Życie po wybuchu. Refleksy transformacji w czeskiej dramaturgii po 1989 roku

Niniejszy esej poświęcony jest analizie czeskich, teatralnych refleksji na temat rzeczywistości po transformacji politycznej. Przegląd wybranych sztuk, powstałych w latach 1994-2006, zawiera krótkie literaturoznawcze opracowania tekstów M. Bambuška, L. Baláka i J. Topola, dopełnione uwagami na temat dzieł D. Drábka i M. Urbana. Skatalogowano powtarzające się w sztukach wymienionych autorów motywy: czekania na barbarzyńców, poczucia epistemologicznego i społecznego chaosu, neotrybalizmu i spustoszenia w dziedzinie międzyludzkiej komunikacji (kryzys języka). Pomocną kategorią, wywodzącą się z amerykańskiej socjologii, jest backlash: stan po wybuchu. Backlash jest stanem psychologicznym (również w sensie psycho- logii społecznej), który skłania do podejmowania decyzji nieracjonalnych i niebezpiecznych, służących wyłącznie zniesieniu poczucia niepewności i tęsknoty. Ten stan obserwują i komentują wymienieni autorzy sztuk teatralnych.

Determining WWW User's Next Access and Its Application to Pre-fetching

World-Wide Web (WWW) services have grown to levels where significant delays are expected to happen. Techniques like pre-fetching are likely to help users to personalize their needs, reducing their waiting times. However, pre-fetching is only effective if the right documents are identified and if user's move is correctly predicted. Otherwise, pre-fetching will only waste bandwidth. Therefore, it is productive to determine whether a revisit will occur or not, before starting pre-fetching. In this paper we develop two user models that help determining user's next move. One model uses Random Walk approximation and the other is based on Digital Signal Processing techniques. We also give hints on how to use such models with a simple pre-fetching technique that we are developing.

To Queue or Not to Queue: When Queueing is Better Than Timesharing in a Distributed System

We examine the question of whether to employ the first-come-first-served (FCFS) discipline or the processor-sharing (PS) discipline at the hosts in a distributed server system. We are interested in the case in which service times are drawn from a heavy-tailed distribution, and so have very high variability. Traditional wisdom when task sizes are highly variable would prefer the PS discipline, because it allows small tasks to avoid being delayed behind large tasks in a queue. However, we show that system performance can actually be significantly better under FCFS queueing, if each task is assigned to a host based on the task's size. By task assignment, we mean an algorithm that inspects incoming tasks and assigns them to hosts for service. The particular task assignment policy we propose is called SITA-E: Size Interval Task Assignment with Equal Load. Surprisingly, under SITA-E, FCFS queueing typically outperforms the PS discipline by a factor of about two, as measured by mean waiting time and mean slowdown (waiting time of task divided by its service time). We compare the FCFS/SITA-E policy to the processor-sharing case analytically; in addition we compare it to a number of other policies in simulation. We show that the benefits of SITA-E are present even in small-scale distributed systems (four or more hosts). Furthermore, SITA-E is a static policy that does not incorporate feedback knowledge of the state of the hosts, which allows for a simple and scalable implementation.