Factors affecting the adoption of aquaculture technologies by the farmers

Purpose of the study was to ascertain the extent of adoption of aquaculture technologies by the farmers as well as constraints faced by them in adopting the aquaculture technologies. The study also explored its relationships with the selected characteristics of the farmers. In addition, an attempt was also made to determine some selected attributes of the technologies and their relationships with the adoption by the farmers. The study was conducted with the farmers of 10 upazilas of greater Mymensingh district who were the beneficiaries of three NGOs viz. SARA, ORD, and GRAMAUS. There were 351,241 and 249 beneficiaries under SARA, ORD and GRAMAUS, respectively who adopted the aquaculture technologies under DSAP. About 25% farmers from each of the three NGOs were selected for the study. The total sample size was 212. Pre-designed and pre-tested interview schedules were used for collecting data from the farmers. Field data were collected from the farmers during August-September, 2004. Pearson product moment correlation co-efficient were computed in order to explore the relationships of the selected characteristics of the farmers as well as selected attributes of technology with the adoption of aquaculture technologies by the farmers. The same statistical test was used to determine the relationships between the selected characteristics of the farmers and their constraints in adopting the aquaculture technologies.

Model structure and uncertainty for stochastic non-point source modelling applications

The uncertainty associated with a rainfall-runoff and non-point source loading (NPS) model can be attributed to both the parameterization and model structure. An interesting implication of the areal nature of NPS models is the direct relationship between model structure (i.e. sub-watershed size) and sample size for the parameterization of spatial data. The approach of this research is to find structural limitations in scale for the use of the conceptual NPS model, then examine the scales at which suitable stochastic depictions of key parameter sets can be generated. The overlapping regions are optimal (and possibly the only suitable regions) for conducting meaningful stochastic analysis with a given NPS model. Previous work has sought to find optimal scales for deterministic analysis (where, in fact, calibration can be adjusted to compensate for sub-optimal scale selection); however, analysis of stochastic suitability and uncertainty associated with both the conceptual model and the parameter set, as presented here, is novel; as is the strategy of delineating a watershed based on the uncertainty distribution. The results of this paper demonstrate a narrow range of acceptable model structure for stochastic analysis in the chosen NPS model. In the case examined, the uncertainties associated with parameterization and parameter sensitivity are shown to be outweighed in significance by those resulting from structural and conceptual decisions. © 2011 Copyright IAHS Press.

Cell proliferation tracking using graphene sensor arrays

The development of a novel label-free graphene sensor array is presented. Detection is based on modification of graphene FET devices and specifically monitoring the change in composition of the nutritive components in culturing medium. Micro-dispensing of Escherichia coli in medium shows feasibility of accurate positioning over each sensor while still allowing cell proliferation. Graphene FET device fabrication, sample dosing, and initial electrical characterisation have been completed and show a promising approach to reducing the sample size and lead time for diagnostic and drug development protocols through a label-free and reusable sensor array fabricated with standard and scalable microfabrication technologies. Copyright © 2012 Ronan Daly et al.

A Comparative Picture of Corporate Social Responsibility Approaches by Leading Companies in the United Kingdom and Brazil

Purpose - This paper compares CSR strategy, stakeholder engagement and overseas approaches of six leading companies which have large potential environmental and social impacts, influential stakeholders and notable CSR actions. Design/methodology/approach - It is an exploratory survey based on interviews of senior executives from British and Brazilian companies operating in the steel, petroleum and retail sectors and makes comparisons between and within them. Findings - British companies interviewed are more rule-based, adopt an implicit CSR approach; react to stakeholder’s demands based on moral motives and focus on environmental issues. The Brazilian companies, reviewed in this study, adopt an explicit CSR approach, have relational motives to engage with stakeholders and are more concerned with building a responsible image and narrowing social gaps. Research limitations/implications - The survey is based on perceptions of senior executives interviewed which may or may not correspond to actual practices. The sample size restricts generalization of results and specific firms interviewed may not represent the prevailing CSR business strategy in their respective countries. Practical implications - British companies can learn from the Brazilian experience how to become more innovative in a broader approach to CSR. Brazil should reinforce its legal framework to provide a more systematic and rule-based approach to CSR close to the UK experience. Originality/value - The way CSR is conceived and implemented depends on the ethical, socioeconomic, legal and institutional environment of the country in which the firm operates

Optimization of RP-HPLC analysis of low molecular weight organic acids in soil

RP-HPLC analysis for low molecular weight organic acids in soil solution has been optimized. An Atlantis (TM) C-18 column was used for the analyses. An optimal determination for eleven organic acids in soil solution was found at room temperature (25 degrees C) and 220 nm detection wavelength, with a mobile phase of 10 mM KH2PO4 -CH3OH (955, pH 2.7), a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min and 10 mu L sample size. The detection limits ranged 3.2-619 ng/mL, the coefficients of variation ranged 1.3-4.6%, and the recoveries ranged 95.6-106.3% for soil solution with standard addition on the optimal conditions proposed.

Occurrence of Bothriocephalus acheilognathi in cyprinid fish from three lakes in the flood plain of the Yangtze River, China

Cyprinid fish, Hemiculter leucisculus, Cultrichthys erythropterus and Culter dabryi, were sampled from Liangzi, Honghu and Tangxun lakes in the flood plain of the Yangtze River. The cestode Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 was found in the 3 lakes, but C. erythropterus sampled from Liangzi lake was found uninfected due probably to the small sample size. Findings of the cestode in the 3 lakes represent the first record of the parasite in the flood plain of the Yangtze River, indicating that B. acheilognathi may be distributed much wider in China than previously recognized.

A Cancer Recognition Method Based on DNA Microarray

The accurate cancer classification is of great importance in clinical treatment. Recently, the DNA microarray technology provides a promising approach to the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer types. However, it has no perfect method for the multiclass classification problem. The difficulty lies in the fact that the data are of high dimensionality with small sample size. This paper proposed an automatic classification method of multiclass cancers based on Biomimetic pattern recognition (BPR). To the public GCM data set, the average correct classification rate reaches 80% under the condition that the correct rejection rate is 81%.

A VSLMS Style Tap-length Learning Algorithm for Structure Adaptation

Compared with the ordinary adaptive filter, the variable-length adaptive filter is more efficient (including smaller., lower power consumption and higher computational complexity output SNR) because of its tap-length learning algorithm, which is able to dynamically adapt its tap-length to the optimal tap-length that best balances the complexity and the performance of the adaptive filter. Among existing tap-length algorithms, the LMS-style Variable Tap-Length Algorithm (also called Fractional Tap-Length Algorithm or FT Algorithm) proposed by Y.Gong has the best performance because it has the fastest convergence rates and best stability. However, in some cases its performance deteriorates dramatically. To solve this problem, we first analyze the FT algorithm and point out some of its defects. Second, we propose a new FT algorithm called 'VSLMS' (Variable Step-size LMS) Style Tap-Length Learning Algorithm, which not only uses the concept of FT but also introduces a new concept of adaptive convergence slope. With this improvement the new FT algorithm has even faster convergence rates and better stability. Finally, we offer computer simulations to verify this improvement.

Evolution of Localized Damage Zone in Heterogeneous Media

Evolution of localized damage zone is a key to catastrophic rupture in heterogeneous materials. In the present article, the evolutions of strain fields of rock specimens are investigated experimentally. The observed evolution of fluctuations and autocorrelations of strain fields under uniaxial compression demonstrates that the localization of deformation always appears ahead of catastrophic rupture. In particular, the localization evolves pronouncedly with increasing deformation in the rock experiments. By means of the definition of the zone with high strain rate and likely damage localization, it is found that the size of the localized zone decreases from the sample size at peak load to an eventual value. Actually, the deformation field beyond peak load is bound to suffer bifurcation, namely an elastic unloading part and a continuing but localized damage part will co-exist in series in a specimen. To describe this continuous bifurcation and localization process observed in experiments, a model on continuum mechanics is developed. The model can explain why the decreasing width of localized zone can lead stable deformation to unstable, but it still has not provided the complete equations governing the evolution of the localized zone.

镇海棘螈和大凉疣螈年龄结构研究

通过趾骨切片可以准确鉴定年龄，了解一个物种的最长寿命，也为我们研究确定一个物种的生长特点、性成熟期,以及一个地区一个物种的年龄结构、种群生态(Marnell，1998)和群落生态提供重要信息(Morrison，et a1.，2004)。 本论文使用骨骼鉴龄法对中国浙江省宁波市北仑瑞岩寺林场的镇海棘螈（Echinotriton chinhaiensis）雌性繁群进行了年龄结构研究。结果显示：第一次参加繁殖的年龄为3龄；繁群中数量占优势的是5龄、6龄。而在6龄以后参加繁殖的雌性个体数便开始随着年龄的增大而逐渐减少。参加繁殖的雌性年龄最大个体为8龄。平均年龄为5.13龄。同时对其年龄和头体长、体全长的相关性检验,发现其年龄与头体长和体全长不相关,镇海棘螈雌性的生长方式表现为性成熟后能量主要用于繁殖。 另外,对李子坪大凉疣螈(Tylototriton taliangensis) 雄性繁群进行了年龄结构研究。结果显示：大凉疣螈雄性第一次参加繁殖的年龄为4龄；繁群中数量占优势的是5龄、6龄、7龄。而在7龄以后参加繁殖的雄性个体数便开始随着年龄的增大而逐渐减少。参加繁殖的雄性中年龄最大的个体为10龄。平均年龄为6.7龄。对其年龄和头体长、体全长的相关性检验,发现其年龄与头体长和体全长不相关,大凉疣螈雄性生长特点也表现为性成熟后生长缓慢的特点。 研究材料方面，本文采用野外采样与标本馆标本相结合的方式获得了中国蝾螈科2个重要保护物种繁殖群体的剪（指）趾材料，使得建立于其上的年龄结构工作更加可靠、更加具有代表性。 此外,本论文讨论了镇海棘螈瑞岩寺种群繁殖总量年度间的差异及其产生原因。将1998、1999、2000、2008、2009年镇海棘螈（Echinotriton chinhaiensis） 瑞岩寺种群的繁殖量进行比较，发现虽然雌性平均窝卵数比较稳定，但繁殖总量小于1998、1999、2000年任何一年总产卵量的50%。对2008年镇海棘螈繁殖量大幅下降的原因分析发现, 2007年9、10月影响严重台风的两次强台风、瑞岩寺景区开发等因素可能是造成近年该种群繁殖量大幅下降的原因。而2008年初50年不遇的低温是否影响镇海棘螈的繁殖值得进一步追踪研究。2009年繁殖量较2008年没有明显的增长，可能是由于2007年的台风影响了其繁殖营养的积累。台风的影响可能存在滞后现象,对此有待进一步监测证明。 本研究首次对中国蝾螈科物种进行的年龄结构鉴定，为进一步了解中国蝾螈科动物的种群生态打下了坚实的基础。 Using skeletochronology, we can know the life span of a species, age of reaching sexual mature, and of course age structure, which are vital(Morrison，et a1.，2004). Skeletochronology was performed on Echinotriton chinhaiensis Ruiyansi female population. The result shows that: The oldest individuals were 8 years old and the youngest ones were 3 years old. Individuals of age class 5(39.13%) and 6(21.74%) were most numerous. The number of individuals participated in reproduction decreased with the increase of age after the sixth year. Average age is 5.13 years. There is no correlation between age and body size (SVL and TL). For female chinhai salamander, energy is devoted to reproduction after reaching sexual maturation. While using skeletochronology to study Tylototriton taliangensis Liziping male population, the oldest individuals is 10 years old, and the youngest ones is 4 years old. Individuals of the age class 5, 6, and 7 dominat this population. The number of individuals decrease with the increase of age also after the seventh year. Average age is 6.7 years old in this population. there is also no correlation between age and body size (SVL and TL).It turned out that T. taliangensis tend to grow slowly after reaching sexual maturation. In this thesis, specimens from both wild and museum were used to gain enough toe clipping samples. A big sample size guarantees the reliability of this study. In the meantime, E. chinhaiensis’s annual reproduction of the year 1998, 1999, 2000 ,2008,and 2009 was compared. The result shows there is a huge decline in E. chinhaiensis’s annual reproduction in 2008,even the egg clutch is very stable. After analyzing, it turned out the huge decline in 2008 was probably caused by typhoon in 2007, besides the effect of tourism development and cash crop planting. While the impact of extreme weather of 2008 on reproduction needs further investigation. In the year 2009, there is no obvious increase in annual reproduction. It maybe due to lasting impact of typhoon in 2007. It is the first age-structure study on these two Chinese salamanders. A solid foundation was laid for further population ecology study of these two species.

Recent advances in the study of biomolecular interactions by capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been abundantly used in the study of molecular interactions owing to such advantages as short analysis time, low sample size requirement, high separation efficiency, and flexible applications. The focus of this paper is to 2 review recent studies and advances (mainly from 1998 to now) in biomolecular interactions using CE. Five CE modes: zone migration CE, affinity CE, frontal analysis (FA), Hummel-Dreyer (HD) and vacancy peak (VP) are cited and compared. Quantitative aspects of the thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecular interaction are reviewed. Several biomolecular binding systems, including protein-protein (polypeptide), protein-DNA (RNA), protein(polypeptide)-carbohydrate, protein-small molecule, DNA-small molecule, small molecule-small molecule, have been well characterized by CE. CE is shown to be a powerful tool for the determination of the binding parameters of various bioaffinity interactions.

Deformation Monitoring and Forecasting Model Study Based on Grey System Theory

The grey system theory studies the uncertainty of small sample size problems. This paper using grey system theory in the deformation monitoring field, based on analysis of present grey forecast models, developed the spatial multi-point model. By using residual modification, the spatial multi-point residual model eras developed in further study. Then, combined with the sedimentation data of Xiaolangdi Multipurpose Dam, the results are compared and analyzed, the conclusion has been made and the advantages of the residual spatial multi-point model has been proved.

Simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos from marine sediments using Ludox-QPS method

The Ludox-QPS method is a newly developed technique, which combines the Ludox HS 40 density centrifugation and quantitative protargol stain, to enumerate marine ciliates with good taxonomic resolution. We tested the method for simultaneous enumeration of diatoms, protozoa and meiobenthos and compared its extraction efficiency for meiobenthos with that of the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation and a modified protocol using Ludox HS 40. We conducted the evaluation with a sample size of 8.3 ml each from sandy, muddy-sand and muddy sediments collected from the intertidal area of the Yellow Sea in summer 2006 and spring 2007. The Ludox-QPS method not only produced high extraction efficiencies of 97 +/- 1.3% for diatoms and 97.6 +/- 0.8% for ciliates, indicating a reliable enumeration for eukaryotic microbenthos, but also produced excellent extraction efficiencies of on average 97.3% for total meiobenthos, 97.9% for nematodes and 97.8% for copepods from sands, muddy sands and mud. By contrast, the routine Ludox-TM centrifugation obtained only about 74% of total meiobenthos abundance with one extraction cycle, and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation yielded on average 93% of total meiobenthos: 89.4 +/- 2.0% from sands, 93 +/- 4.1% from muddy sands and 97.1 +/- 3.0% from mud. Apart from the sediment type, sample volume was another important factor affecting the extraction efficiency for meiobenthos. The extraction rate was increased to about 96.4% when using the same modified Ludox centrifugation for a 4 ml sediment sample. Besides the excellent extraction efficiency, the Ludox-QPS method obtained higher abundances of meiobenthos, in particular nematodes, than the routine Ludox centrifugation, which frequently resulted in an uncertain loss of small meiobenthos during the sieving process. Statistical analyses demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the meiobenthos communities revealed by the Ludox-QPS method and the modified Ludox HS 40 centrifugation, showing the high efficiency of the Ludox-QPS method for simultaneous enumeration of diatom, protozoa and meiobenthos. Moreover, the comparatively high taxonomic resolution of the method, especially for diatoms and ciliates, makes it feasible to investigate microbial ecology at community level.

铂族元素分析方法研究及其在有关地质问题中的应用

Characterization of Platinum Group Elements (PGE) has been applied to earth, space and environmental sciences. However, all these applications are based on a basic prerequisite, i.e. their concentration or ratio in the research objects can be accurately and precisely determined. In fact, development in these related studies is a great challenge to the analytical chemistry of the PGE because their content in the geological sample (non-mineralized) is often extremely low, range from ppt (10~(-12)g/g) to ppt (10~(-9)g/g). Their distribution is highly heterogeneous, usually concentrating in single particle or phase. Therefore, the accurate determination of these elements remains a problem in analytical chemistry and it obstructs the research on geochemistry of PGE. A great effort has been made in scientific community to reliable determining of very low amounts of PGE, which has been focused on to reduce the level of background in used reagents and to solve probable heterogeneity of PGE in samples. Undoubtedly, the fire-assay method is one of the best ways for solving the heterogeneity, as a large amount of sample weight (10-50g) can be hold. This page is mainly aimed at development of the methodology on separation, concentration and determination of the ultra-trace PGE in the rock and peat samples, and then they are applied to study the trace of PGE in ophiolite suite, in Kudi, West Kunlun and Tunguska explosion in 1908. The achievements of the study are summarized as follows: 1. A PGE lab is established in the Laboratory of Lithosphere Tectonic Evolution, IGG, CAS. 2. A modified method of determination of PGE in geological samples using NiS Fire-Assay with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is set up. The technical improvements are made as following: (1) investigating the level of background in used reagents, and finding the contents of Au, Pt and Pd in carbonyl nickel powder are 30, 0.6 and 0.6ng/g, respectively and 0.35, 7.5 and 6.4ng, respectively in other flux, and the contents of Ru, Rh, Os in whole reagents used are very low (below or near the detection limits of ICP-MS); (2) measuring the recoveries of PGE using different collector (Ni+S) and finding 1.5g of carbonyl nickel is effective for recovering the PGE for 15g samples (recoveries are more than 90%), reducing the inherent blank value due to impurities reagents; (3) direct dissolving nickel button in Teflon bomb and using Te-precipitation, so reducing the loss of PGE during preconcentration process and improving the recoveries of PGE (above 60% for Os and 93.6-106.3% for other PGE, using 2g carbonyl nickel); (4) simplifying the procedure of analyzing Osmium; (5)method detection limits are 8.6, 4.8, 43, 2.4, 82pg/g for 15g sample size ofRu, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, respectively. 3. An analytical method is set up to determine the content of ultra-trace PGE in peat samples. The method detection limits are 0.06, 0.1, 0.001, 0.001 and 0.002ng/mL for Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir and Pt, respectively. 4. Distinct anomaly of Pd and Os are firstly found in the peat sampling near the Tunguska explosion site, using the analytical method. 5. Applying the method to the study on the origin of Tunguska explosion and making the following conclusions: (1) these excess elements were likely resulted from the Tunguska Cosmic Body (TCB) explosion of 1908. (2) The Tunguska explosive body was composed of materials (solid components) similar to C1 chondrite, and, most probably, a cometary object, which weighed more than 10~7 tons and had a radius of more than 126 m. 6. The analysis method about ultra-trace PGE in rock samples is successfully used in the study on the characteristic of PGE in Kudi ophiolite suite and the following conclusions are made: (1) The difference of the mantle normalization of PGE patterns between dunite, harzburgite and lherzolite in Kudi indicates that they are residual of multi-stage partial melt of the mantle. Their depletion of Ir at a similar degree probably indicates the existence of an upper mantle depleted Ir. (2) With the evolution of the magma produced by the partial melt of the mantle, strong differentiation has been shown between IPGE and PPGE; and the differentiation from pyroxenite to basalt would have been more and more distinct. (3) The magma forming ophiolite in Kudi probably suffered S-saturation process.

On the Dirichlet Prior and Bayesian Regularization

A common objective in learning a model from data is to recover its network structure, while the model parameters are of minor interest. For example, we may wish to recover regulatory networks from high-throughput data sources. In this paper we examine how Bayesian regularization using a Dirichlet prior over the model parameters affects the learned model structure in a domain with discrete variables. Surprisingly, a weak prior in the sense of smaller equivalent sample size leads to a strong regularization of the model structure (sparse graph) given a sufficiently large data set. In particular, the empty graph is obtained in the limit of a vanishing strength of prior belief. This is diametrically opposite to what one may expect in this limit, namely the complete graph from an (unregularized) maximum likelihood estimate. Since the prior affects the parameters as expected, the prior strength balances a "trade-off" between regularizing the parameters or the structure of the model. We demonstrate the benefits of optimizing this trade-off in the sense of predictive accuracy.