Intense upconversion luminescence and effect of local environment for Tm3+/Yb3+ co-doped novel TeO2-BiCl3 glass system

We present the results of a study that uses theoretical and experimental methods to investigate the characteristics of the upconversion luminescence of Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped TeO2-BiCl3 glass system as a function of the BiCl3 fraction. These glasses are potentially important in the design of upconversion fiber lasers. Effect of local environment around Tm3+ on upconversion fluorescence intensity was analyzed by theoretical calculations. The structure and spectroscopic properties were investigated in the experiments by measuring the Raman spectra, IR transmission spectra, and absorption and fluorescence intensities at room temperature. The results indicate that blue luminescence quantum efficiency increases with increasing BiCl3 content from 10 to 60 mol%, which were interpreted by the increase of asymmetry of glass structure, decrease of phonon energy and removing of OH- groups. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Learning from implementation of community selection in Zambia, Solomon Islands, and Bangladesh AAS hubs

The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is a research in development program which aims to foster innovation to respond to community needs, and through networking and social learning to bring about development outcomes and impact at scale. It aims to reach the poorest and most vulnerable communities that are dependent upon aquatic agricultural systems. AAS uses monitoring and evaluation to track progress along identified impact pathways for accountability and learning. This report presents an evaluation of the recommended method for selecting communities during the participatory planning process, referred to as AAS “hub rollout,” in the first year of program implementation.

Assessment of some physico-chemical parameters of River Ogun (Abeokuta, Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria) in comparison with national and international standards

This study assessed the physico-chemical quality of River Ogun, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Southwestern Nigeria. Four locations were chosen spatially along the water course to reflect a consideration of all possible human activities that are capable of changing the quality of river water. The water samples were collected monthly for seven consecutive months (December 2011 – June 2012) at the four sampling stations. pH, air temperature (℃), water temperature (℃), conductivity (µs/cm) and total dissolved solids (mg/L) were conducted in-situ with the use of HANNA Combo pH and EC multi meter Hi 98129 and Mercury-in-glass thermometer while dissolved oxygen (mg/L), nitrate (mg/L), phosphate (mg/L), alkalinity (mg/L) and hardness (mg/L) were determined ex-situ using standard methods. Results showed that dissolved oxygen, hydrogen ion concentration, total hardness and nitrate were above the maximum permissible limit of National Administration for Food, Drugs and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), European Union (EU) and World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water during certain months of the study period. Results also showed that water temperature and conductivity were within the permissible limits of all the standards excluding FEPA. However, total dissolved solids and alkalinity were within the permissible limits of all the standards. Adejuwon and Adelakun, (2012) also reported similar findings on Rivers Lala, Yobo and Agodo in Ewekoro local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria. Since most of the parameters measured were above the maximum permissible limits of the national and international standards, it can be concluded that the water is unfit for domestic uses, drinking and aquacultural purposes and therefore needs to be treated if it is to be used at all. The low dissolved oxygen values for the first four months was too low i.e. < 5 mg/L. This is most likely as a result of the amount of effluents discharged into the river. To prevent mass extinction of aquatic organisms due to anoxic conditions, proper regulations should be implemented to reduce the organic load the river receives.

Opengazer: open-source gaze tracker for ordinary webcams

Opengazer is an open source application that uses an ordinary webcam to estimate head pose, facial gestures, or the direction of your gaze. This information can then be passed to other applications. For example, used in conjunction with Dasher, opengazer allows you to write with your eyes. Opengazer aims to be a low-cost software alternative to commercial hardware-based eye trackers. The first version of Opengazer was developed by Piotr Zieliński, supported by Samsung and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Research and development for Opengazer has been continued by Emli-Mari Nel, and was supported until 2012 by the European Commission in the context of the AEGIS project, and also by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

砂砾岩储层流动单元四维模型研究

This article is an important part of "95" technological subject of SINOPEC. It has a large number of difficulties and workloads, and has significant theoretical meanings and practical value. The study area is composed of sandstone & conglomerate reservoir of alluvial fan & fan delta, which belong to Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member of lower tertiary of Yong'an Town Oilfield in Dongying Depression. The target stataum develops in the hanging wall of the synsedimentary fault in the scarp zone of Dongying Depression. The frequently intense movements result in the variation of sandstone and conglomerate reservoir and the evolution of the time and space of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member in Yong'an Town Oilfield. As a result, it is difficult for the individual reservoir correlation at the root of fan, which bring about a tackle problem for the exploitation of oilfield. In this background, the research of fluid units will be more difficult. In this article, the new concepts, the new methods, and the new techniques of sedimentology, petroleum geology, reservoir geology, physics of crystal surface, dynamic & static state reservoir description and well logging geology are synthetically applied, and the computer technology are made full uses of, and the identifying, dividing and appraising of the two-formation-type sandstone & conglomerate reservoir fluid units of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member systemically analyzed in Yong'an Town Oilfield, Dongying Depression. For the first time, the single-well model, the section model, the plane model, the nuclear magnetism log model, the microcosmic network model, the 4-D geology model and the simulation model of the two-formation-type reservoir fluid units of the of sandstone & conglomerate reservoir of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member are established, and the formative mechanism and distributing & enrichment laws of oil-gas of the two type of sandstone and conglomerate reservoir fluid units are revealed. This article established the optimizing, identifying, classifying and appraising standard of the two-formation-type reservoir fluid units of the of sandstone and conglomerate reservoir of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member, which settles the substantial foundations for static state model of the fluid units, reveals the macroscopic & microcosmic various laws of geometrical static state of the fluid units, and instructs the oil exploitation. This article established static state model of the two-formation-type sandstone and conglomerate reservoir fluid units by using the multi-subject theories, information and techniques, and reveals the geometrical configuration, special distribution and the oil-gas enrichment laws of the sandstone and conglomerate reservoir fluid units. For the first time, we established the nuclear magnetism log model of the two-formation-type sandstone and conglomerate reservoir of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member, which reveals not only the character and distributing laws of the porosity and permeability, bat also the formation and distribution of the movable fluid. It established six type of microcosmic net model of the two-formation-type sandstone and conglomerate reservoir of Sha3 lower member and Sha4 upper member in the working area by using the advanced theories, such as rock thin section, SEM, image analysis, intrusive mercury, mold, rock C.T. measure & test image etc., which reveals the microcosmic characteristic of porosity & throat, filterate mode and microcosmic oil-gas enrichment laws of the sandstone and conglomerate reservoir. For the first time, it sets up the 4-D model and mathematic model of the sandstone and conglomerate reservoir, which reveals the distributing and evolving laws of macroscopic & microcosmic parameters of the two-formation-type sandstone and conglomerate reservoir and oil-gas in 4-D space. At the same time, it also forecasts the oil-gas distribution and instructs the oilfield exploitation. It established reservoir simulation model, which reveals the filterate character and distributing laws of oil-gas in different porosity & throat net models. This article established the assistant theories and techniques for researching, describing, indicating and forecasting the sandstone and conglomerate reservoir fluid units, and develops the theories and techniques of the land faces faulted basin exploitation geology. In instructing oilfield exploitation, it had won the notable economic & social benefits.

ART-EMAP: A Neural Network Architecture for Learning and Prediction by Evidence Accumulation

This paper introduces ART-EMAP, a neural architecture that uses spatial and temporal evidence accumulation to extend the capabilities of fuzzy ARTMAP. ART-EMAP combines supervised and unsupervised learning and a medium-term memory process to accomplish stable pattern category recognition in a noisy input environment. The ART-EMAP system features (i) distributed pattern registration at a view category field; (ii) a decision criterion for mapping between view and object categories which can delay categorization of ambiguous objects and trigger an evidence accumulation process when faced with a low confidence prediction; (iii) a process that accumulates evidence at a medium-term memory (MTM) field; and (iv) an unsupervised learning algorithm to fine-tune performance after a limited initial period of supervised network training. ART-EMAP dynamics are illustrated with a benchmark simulation example. Applications include 3-D object recognition from a series of ambiguous 2-D views.

Interaction of Cryptococcus neoformans Rim101 and protein kinase A regulates capsule.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a prevalent human fungal pathogen that must survive within various tissues in order to establish a human infection. We have identified the C. neoformans Rim101 transcription factor, a highly conserved pH-response regulator in many fungal species. The rim101 multiply sign in circle mutant strain displays growth defects similar to other fungal species in the presence of alkaline pH, increased salt concentrations, and iron limitation. However, the rim101 multiply sign in circle strain is also characterized by a striking defect in capsule, an important virulence-associated phenotype. This capsular defect is likely due to alterations in polysaccharide attachment to the cell surface, not in polysaccharide biosynthesis. In contrast to many other C. neoformans capsule-defective strains, the rim101 multiply sign in circle mutant is hypervirulent in animal models of cryptococcosis. Whereas Rim101 activation in other fungal species occurs through the conserved Rim pathway, we demonstrate that C. neoformans Rim101 is also activated by the cAMP/PKA pathway. We report here that C. neoformans uses PKA and the Rim pathway to regulate the localization, activation, and processing of the Rim101 transcription factor. We also demonstrate specific host-relevant activating conditions for Rim101 cleavage, showing that C. neoformans has co-opted conserved signaling pathways to respond to the specific niche within the infected host. These results establish a novel mechanism for Rim101 activation and the integration of two conserved signaling cascades in response to host environmental conditions.

NAFTA and the apparel commodity chain: Corporate strategies, interfirm networks, and industrial upgrading

The apparel industry is one of the oldest and largest export industries in the world, with global trade and production networks that connect firms and workers in countries at all levels of economic development. This chapter examines the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as one of the most recent and significant developments to affect patterns of international trade and production in the apparel and textile industries. Tr ade policies are changing the institutional environment in which firms in this industry operate, and companies are responding to these changes with new strategies designed to increase their profitability and strengthen their control over the apparel commodity chain. Our hypothesis is that lead firms are establishing qualitatively different kinds of regional production networks in North America from those that existed prior to NAFTA, and that these networks have important consequences for industrial upgrading in the Mexican textile and apparel industries. Post-NAFTA crossborder production arrangements include full-package networks that link lead firms in the United States with apparel and textile manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers in Mexico. Full-package production is increasing the local value added provided by the apparel commodity chain in Mexico and creating new opportunities for Mexican firms and workers. The chapter is divided into four main sections. The first section uses trade and production data to analyze shifts in global apparel flows, highlighting the emergence and consolidation of a regional trade bloc in North America. The second section discusses the process of industrial upgrading in the apparel industry and introduces a distinction between assembly and full-package production networks. The third section includes case studies based on published industry sources and strategic interviews with several lead companies whose strategies are largely responsible for the shifting trade patterns and NAFTA-inspired cross-border production networks discussed in the previous section. The fourth section considers the implications of these changes for employment in the North American apparel industry. © 2009 by Temple University Press. All rights reserved.