Opinion dynamics on directed small-world networks

In this paper, we investigate the self-affirmation effect on formation of public opinion in a directed small-world social network. The system presents a non-equilibrium phase transition from a consensus state to a disordered state with coexistence of opinions. The dynamical behaviors are very sensitive to the density of long-range interactions and the strength of self-affirmation. When the long-range interactions are sparse and individual generally does not insist on his/her opinion, the system will display a continuous phase transition, in the opposite case with high self-affirmation strength and dense long-range interactions, the system does not display a phase transition. Between those two extreme cases, the system undergoes a discontinuous phase transition.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

An improved genetic algorithm for cost-effective data-intensive service composition

The explosion of digital data and the dependence on data-intensive services have been recognized as the most significant characteristics of IT trends in the current decade. Designing workflow of data-intensive services requires data analysis from multiple sources to get required composite services. Composing such services requires effective transfer of large data. Thus many new challenges are posed to control the cost and revenue of the whole composition. This paper addresses the data-intensive service composition and presents an innovative data-intensive service selection algorithm based on a modified genetic algorithm. The performance of this new algorithm is also tested by simulations and compared against other traditional approaches, such as mix integer programming. The contributions of this paper are three folds: 1) An economical model for data-intensive service provision is proposed, 2) An extensible QoS model is also proposed to calculate the QoS values of data-intensive services, 3) Finally, a modified genetic algorithm-based approach is introduced to compose data-intensive services. A local selection method with modifications of crossover and mutation operators is adopted for this algorithm. The results of experiments will demonstrate the scalability and effectiveness of our proposed algorithm

Sustainable Food and Fuel on Yongxing Island by Conversing the Carbon Captured from Ambient Air

AbstractSynthetic hydrocarbon fuel, derived from renewable energy and captured carbon dioxide from ambient air, can thoroughly close its carbon cycle and is a promising option for CCU and an important approach to sustainable energy. We investigate the Yongxing island in south China sea, which offers steady wind resources to provide continuous energy supply for plant factory and fuel synthesis. The energy consumption of MSAC and TSAC is compared and conversion of the captured CO2 to food and fuel are calculated. Powered by wind energy, 200 ton vegetables and 5.2*103 ton diesel will be produced per year, so self-sufficiency of vegetable and fuel demand can be achieved on Yongxing island. Our methodology could provide a new utilization mode for islands like Yongxing island

Fokker-Planck type equations with Sobolev diffusion coefficients and BV drift coefficients

In this paper we give an affirmative answer to an open question mentioned in [Le Bris and Lions, Comm. Partial Differential Equations 33 (2008), 1272--1317], that is, we prove the well-posedness of the Fokker-Planck type equations with Sobolev diffusion coefficients and BV drift coefficients.Comment: 11 pages. The proof has been modifie

Association between adenotonsillar hypertrophy and dentofacial characteristics of children seeking for orthodontic treatment: A cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo compare the dentofacial characteristics of children with and without adenoid and/or tonsillar hypertrophy.MethodsA consecutive sample of orthodontic patients aged 6-12 that took pre-treatment lateral cephalograms were included in this study. Those with history of previous orthodontic treatment, adenoidectomy or tonsillectomy, or craniofacial anomalies were excluded. The diagnosis of adenoid and tonsillar hypertrophy was based on Fujioka's and Baroni's methods, according to which the subjects were divided into four groups: the adenoid hypertrophy only (AHO) group; tonsillar hypertrophy only (THO) group; combined adenoid and tonsillar hypertrophy (AH+TH) group; and no adenoid or tonsillar hypertrophy (NH) group. Cephalograms were used for skeletal and dental measurement. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, LSD post-hoc tests and Chi-square test.ResultsA total of 598 patients were included. Compared with the NH group, the THO group had significantly larger SNB angle (P<0.001), as well as significantly smaller ANB angle (P<0.001) and Wits value (P=0.001). The U1-L1 angle of AHO group was significantly smaller than that in the NH group (P=0.035). The proportion of adenoid hypertrophy in Class II patients was significantly higher than that in Class III patients (P=0.001). The proportion of tonsillar hypertrophy in Class III patients was significantly higher than that in Class I patients (P<0.001) and Class II patients (P<0.001).ConclusionOver 80% of children seeking orthodontic treatment had either adenoid or tonsillar hypertrophy. Children with adenoid hypertrophy tend to have skeletal Class II malocclusion, while those with tonsillar hypertrophy tend to have skeletal Class III malocclusion