Effects of artificial substrates on the growth, survival and spatial distribution of Litopenaeus vannamei in the intensive culture condition

In order to investigate the effects of artificial substrates (vertical surface of polypropylene fabrics) on cultured shrimp, we reared 28-day old Litopenaeus vannamei post-larvae (PL28) intensively for 90 days at a density of 510 shrimp/m^2 in each of 8 tanks. Two tanks containing no artificial substrate were a control group, and 1, 3 and 5 artificial substrates were present in other 6 tanks. The volume of each tank was 100 L. In the tanks with artificial substrates, the percentage of shrimp distribution on the bottom was less significant (P<0.05) than that in the control tanks. The percentage of shrimps attached to the artificial substrates increased and fewer shrimp occupied the tank bottom as more artificial substrates were added to the tanks. Moreover the trends were more significant as rearing days increased. These results showed that artificial substrates could disperse the shrimp from the tank bottom onto the artificial substrates and thus alleviate the negative effect of high stocking density on shrimp growth in the tanks. Both the average weight and survival in the tanks with artificial substrates were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those in the control tanks. Furthermore, weight and survival increased when more artificial substrates were added. Because the shrimps in all tanks were supplied with suitable water quality and adequate nutritional food, we suggest that the differences of growth and survival were affected mainly by living space added with the addition of artificial substrates

Robust H

This paper deals with the robust H∞ filter design problem for a class of uncertain neutral stochastic systems with Markovian jumping parameters and time delay. Based on the Lyapunov-Krasovskii theory and generalized Finsler Lemma, a delay-dependent stability condition is proposed to ensure not only that the filter error system is robustly stochastically stable but also that a prescribed H∞ performance level is satisfied for all admissible uncertainties. All obtained results are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities which can be easily solved by MATLAB LMI toolbox. Numerical examples are given to show that the results obtained are both less conservative and less complicated in computation

A Survey on the Status of Smart Healthcare from the Universal Village Perspective

This survey paper discusses the condition of smart healthcare implementation. It discusses the current healthcare problems and how smart healthcare technologies ease the problems. Our group, Universal Village, realizes that the integration and interaction between parties in a system will maximize the effectiveness and benefit for the system. Based on this idea, this paper considers the smart city system as a whole, and talks about how smart healthcare interacts with infrastructures and functions inside and outside of the smart healthcare field. Then, it analyzes how a more powerful integrated system can be built from the smart healthcare system. In the end, several case studies are listed. Based on our analysis and the case studies, this paper then ended with the future prospects of the smart healthcare.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Transcribing Latin Manuscripts in Respect to Linguistics

Current text detection software, although can transcribe modern languages with high accuracy, has flaws detecting texts and transcribing original Latin manuscripts sufficiently. This paper proposes a general approach for transcribing Latin manuscripts in respect to linguistics and develops a system to transcribe Latin manuscripts containing intricate abbreviations, which combines basic object detection algorithms with linguistics. We used methods from image processing and made changes based on the characteristics of Latin.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Nanoscale domains in strained epitaxial BiFeO3 thin Films on LaSrAlO4 Substrate

BiFeO3 thin films with various thicknesses were grown epitaxially on (001) LaSrAlO4 single crystal substrates using pulsed laser deposition. High resolution x-ray diffraction measurements revealed that a tetragonal-like phase with c-lattice constant ~4.65 {\AA} is stabilized by a large misfit strain. Besides, a rhombohedral-like phase with c-lattice constant ~3.99 {\AA} was also detected at film thickness of ~50 nm and above to relieve large misfit strains. In-plane piezoelectric force microscopy studies showed clear signals and self-assembled nanoscale stripe domain structure for the tetragonal-like regions. These findings suggest a complex picture of nanoscale domain patterns in BiFeO3 thin films subjected to large compressive strains.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Extraction and purification of antioxidative flavonoids from Chionanthus retusa leaf

In this work, flavonoids from the leaves of Chionanthus retusa were extracted using alcohol, and the extraction yield was optimized by single-factor and orthogonal experiments. Then, the extracted solution with flavonoids was purified via macroporous resin by elution with different concentrations of ethanol. The antioxidative activity of total flavonoid in purified extracted solution was evaluated by detecting its ability to scavenge DPPH free radicals. The results demonstrated that ethanol with a concentration of 60%, ultrasonic power of 140 W, liquid–solid ratio of 25:1 ml g−1, and water-bath temperature of 80°C were the optimal conditions for the extraction of total flavonoids from C. retusa leaf, achieving a yield of 121.28 mg g−1. After purification by macroporous resin using different concentrations of ethanol, the highest content of total flavonoids (88.51%) in the extracted solution can be obtained with the 50% ethanol eluant. The results of scavenging DPPH free radicals suggest that the purified flavonoids in the 50% ethanol eluant had the best antioxidant capacity over the flavonoids in other ethanol eluants. In addition, it is confirmed the antioxidant capacity of the extractives was associated with the content of total flavonoids and kinds of flavonoids. These results may provide a feasible pathway to make full use of total flavonoids from C. retusa leaf

FEM/Wideband FMBEM coupling based on subdivision isogeometry for structural-acoustic design sensitivity analysis

A computer simulation approach known as the isogeometric (IGA) method may directly use the surface information of geometric model. In 3D computer graphics, Loop subdivision surfaces are a common method for creating complicated shapes. In this study, we propose a coupling algorithm that utilizes Loop subdivision surfaces and a direct differentiation method for the computation of acoustic-fluid-structure interaction and the performance of structural-acoustic sensitivity analysis. This algorithm combines the finite element method (FEM) and wideband fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM). Because of that the proposed method is of a great ability of integrating the numerical calculation and computer-aided modeling, the current technique can deliver results quickly and accurately. The numerical prediction of the effects of vibrating structures with arbitrary shape within sound field is made feasible by the FEM/Wideband FMBEM technique. Calculation examples are provided to show the applicability and effectiveness of the suggested method

Coexistence of Ferroelectric Triclinic Phases and Origin of Large Piezoelectric Responses in Highly Strained BiFeO3 films

The structural evolution of the strain-driven morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) in BiFeO3 films has been investigated using synchrotron x-ray diffractometry in conjunction with scanning probe microscopy. Our results demonstrate the existence of mixed-phase regions that are mainly made up of two heavily tilted ferroelectric triclinic phases. Analysis of first-principles computations suggests that these two triclinic phases originate from a phase separation of a single monoclinic state accompanied by elastic matching between the phase-separated states. These first-principle calculations further reveal that the intrinsic piezoelectric response of these two low-symmetry triclinic phases is not significantly large, which thus implies that the ease of phase transition between these two energetically close triclinic phases is likely responsible for the large piezoelectric response found in the BiFeO3 films near its MPB. These findings not only enrich the understandings of the lattice and domain structure of epitaxial BiFeO3 films but may also shed some light on the origin of enhanced piezoelectric response near MPB.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures and 1 tabl