China Maritime Report No. 28: Bitterness Ends, Sweetness Begins: Organizational Changes to the PLAN Submarine Force Since 2015

“Above-the-neck” reforms in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that began in 2015 directed the development of a new joint operational command system that resulted in commensurate changes to PLA Navy submarine force command and control. Additional changes to tactical submarine command and control were driven by the evolution and expansion of PLA Navy surface and airborne capabilities and the introduction of new longer-range submarine weapons. Follow-on “below-theneck” reforms inspired significant organizational change across most of China’s military services. However, the PLA Navy submarine force, for its part, did not reorganize its command structure but instead focused on significant improvements to the composition and quality of its force. Between 2017 and 2023, the PLA Navy submarine force engaged in a notable transformation, shuffling personnel and crews among twenty-six submarines—eleven newly commissioned and fifteen since retired—relocating in-service submarines to ensure an equitable distribution of newer, more capable submarines across the fleet. Observations of infrastructure improvements at PLA Navy submarine bases portend even more changes to submarine force structure in the coming years.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-maritime-reports/1027/thumbnail.jp

The enormous repetitive Antarctic krill genome reveals environmental adaptations and population insights

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is Earth’smost abundant wild animal, and its enormous biomass is vital to the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Here, we report a 48.01-Gb chromosome-level Antarctic krill genome, whose large genome size appears to have resulted from inter-genic transposable element expansions. Our assembly reveals the molecular architecture of the Antarctic krill circadian clock and uncovers expanded gene families associated with molting and energy metabolism, providing insights into adaptations to the cold and highly seasonal Antarctic environment. Population-level genome re-sequencing from four geographical sites around the Antarctic continent reveals no clear population structure but highlights natural selection associated with environmental variables. An apparent drastic reduction in krill population size 10 mya and a subsequent rebound 100 thousand years ago coincides with climate change events. Our findings uncover the genomic basis of Antarctic krill adaptations to the Southern Ocean and provide valuable resources for future Antarctic research

Cultural trade within the Sino-Hollywood landscape : culture creation and the expansion of empire

China and Hollywood have been on collision course for several years now, with the rise of the Chinese economy impacting the rest of the world and driving the Chinese film industry. The Chinese film industry is slowly growing in size and coming to rival Hollywood on a global scale. Through studying the effects the Chinese film industry has on Hollywood and Hollywood’s imprint on China and the Chinese film industry, I expand on the idea that Hollywood has created a cultural and media “empire” that spreads into China. Through the global flows of media, the creation of a media “empire”, and the dissection of the “global” brand of Hollywood, I posit that Hollywood has not only come to construct a new “empire” across the world, but that the Chinese film industry has aided in this process, and that through the blending of cultures creates a new “third” spaceAsian Studie

Gels for Oil and Gas Industry Applications

This Special Issue includes many advanced high-quality papers that focus on gel applications in the oil and gas industry. The papers in this Special Issue present the new development of gels that can be used as conformance control agents, drilling fluid additives, and hydraulic fracturing agents

Anatomical factors influencing temporomandibular joint clicking in young adults: temporomandibular joint structure disorder or lateral pterygoid muscle dysfunction?

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the selected anatomical factors that can potentially influence temporomandibular joint (TMJ) clicking in young adults by assessing TMJ structures and lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM) function using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Methods: The patients were divided into four groups: the healthy control group; the clicking on mouth opening group; the clicking on mouth closing group; and the clicking on mouth opening and closing group. Additionally, we used clinical palpation to evaluate the masticatory muscles' functional state and employed MRI using the OCOR-T1WI-FSE-CLOSED, OSAG-PDW-FSE-CLOSED, and OSAG-PDW-FSE-OPEN sequences to analyze the texture of the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM).Results: The proportion of any articular disc or condylar morphology class did not differ significantly between the TMJ clicking and HC groups. The articular disc position did not differ significantly between the TMJ clicking and HC groups. In the TMJ clicking group, the presence of masticatory muscle dysfunction differed significantly between the clicking and non-clicking sides. Moreover, the LPM accounted for the highest proportion among masticatory muscles with tenderness in all TMJ clicking subgroups (77.78%–100%). Therefore, in the TMJ clicking group, the LPM texture was less defined, more uniform in gray scale, and more similar to local texture (p < 0.0001).Conclusion: The occurrence of TMJ clicking in young adults is unrelated to the TMJ structure but related to the function of masticatory muscles, particularly the LPM

Seed selection for data offloading based on social and interest graphs

Copyright © 2018 Tech Science Press The explosive growth of mobile data demand is becoming an increasing burden on current cellular network. To address this issue, we propose a solution of opportunistic data offloading for alleviating overloaded cellular traffic. The principle behind it is to select a few important users as seeds for data sharing. The three critical steps are detailed as follows. We first explore individual interests of users by the construction of user profiles, on which an interest graph is built by Gaussian graphical modeling. We then apply the extreme value theory to threshold the encounter duration of user pairs. So, a contact graph is generated to indicate the social relationships of users. Moreover, a contact-interest graph is developed on the basis of the social ties and individual interests of users. Corresponding on different graphs, three strategies are finally proposed for seed selection in an aim to maximize overloaded cellular data. We evaluate the performance of our algorithms by the trace data of real-word mobility. It demonstrates the effectiveness of the strategy of taking social relationships and individual interests into account

U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress

This CRS report, updated as warranted, discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993

U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress

Report that discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993

U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress

This CRS report discusses policy issues regarding military-to-mliitary contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of contacts since 1993. The United States suspended military contacts with China and imposed sanctions on arms sales in response to the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989. In 1993, the Clinton Administration began to re-engage the PRC leadership up to the highest level and including China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Renewed military exchanges with the PLA have not regained the closeness reached in the 1980s, when U.S.-PRC strategic cooperation against the Soviet Union included U.S. arms sales to China. Issues for Congress include whether the current Administration under President Bush has complied with legislation overseeing dealings with the PLA and has determined a program of contacts with the PLA that advances a prioritized list of U.S. security interests

The Recruitment, Education, and Training of PLA Navy Personnel

Looking back at the parlous state of the People\u27s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the early 1980s, Liu Huaqing, its former commander, wrote, All areas [of the navy] required significant strengthening, but I believed the key was developing capable personnel. Indeed, during Admiral Liu\u27s tenure (1982-88), the PLAN embarked on a major effort to improve the quality of its officers and enlisted personnel an effort that continues to this day.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-red-books/1011/thumbnail.jp