Precise Tide-independent Bathymetric Survey and Application to the Inshore Monitoring of Seabed Evolution

Due to the influences of tidal water level, vessel attitude and wave motion, the traditional bathymetric method of reducing depths by the tidal level makes it difficult to meet precise engineering requirements in the vertical direction. Therefore a precise method, termed a tide-independent bathymetric survey, is presented in this paper. In this method, the quality of the sounding and positioning solution, the influences of time offset and vessel attitude as well as height transformation are considered by taking a series of measurements. The tide-independent method has been used for inshore monitoring of the seabed sediments. The statistical parameters acquired by comparing the traditional method with the tide-independent method used in the monitoring show that the latter is accurate and credible.Debido a las influencias del nivel del agua de las mareas, la actitud de los buques y el movimiento de las alas, el metoda batimetrico tradicional de reduccion de profundidades mediante los niveles de las mareas dificulta el cumplimiento de los requerimientos precisos de ingenieroa en la direccion vertical. Asf pues, en este articulo se presenta un metoda preciso, denominado levantamiento batimetrico independiente de las mareas. En este metoda, la calidad de los sondeos y la solucion del posicionamiento, las influencias del desfase horario y de la actitud de la nave, asl como la transformacion de las altura son consideradas mediante la toma de una serie de mediciones. El metoda independiente de las mareas ha sido utilizado para el control costero de los sedimentos del fonda del mar. Los parametres estadisticos adquiridos comparando el metoda tradicional con el metoda independiente de las mareas utilizado en el control muestran que este ultimo es exacto y creible.En raison de l'influence du niveau de la maree, de l'attitude du navire et du mouvement de l'eau, la methode bathymetrique traditionnelle de reduction des profondeurs par le niveau de l'eau rend difficile la satisfaction d'exigences precises d'ingenierie dans la direction verticale. Cet article presente done une methode precise, appelee leve bathymetrique independant des marees. Dans cette methode, la qualite du systeme de sondages et de determination de la position, les influences des decalages temporels et l'attitude du navire ainsi que la transformation de la hauteur sont pris en compte dans une serie de mesures. La methode independante des marees a ete utilisee pour le controle cotier des sediments du fond de la mer. Les parametres statistiques obtenus en comparant la methode traditionnelle a la methode independante des marees utilisee montre que cette derniere est exacte et credible

The Chinese government\u27s response to drug use and HIV/AIDS: A review of policies and programs

Illicit drug use has become popular in China. Acknowledging the challenge of illicit drug use, China has adopted several new policies on the management of illicit drug use in recent years. This study reviews the current policies on drug use and assesses the harm reduction interventions among drug users in China. The review documents that the new policies on drug use provide a variety of choices of detoxification treatment for drug users. The methadone maintenance treatment and needle exchange programs have been adopted as harm reduction models in China. Most of the reviewed harm reduction programs have been successfully implemented and yielded positive effects in reducing drug related risk behaviors among drug users. Although there remain barriers to the effective implementation of policies on drug use and harm reduction programs, Chinese government has shown their commitment to support the expansion of harm reduction interventions for drug users throughout the country

A Multiobjective Programming Method for Ranking All Units Based on Compensatory DEA Model

In order to rank all decision making units (DMUs) on the same basis, this paper proposes a multiobjective programming (MOP) model based on a compensatory data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to derive a common set of weights that can be used for the full ranking of all DMUs. We first revisit a compensatory DEA model for ranking all units, point out the existing problem for solving the model, and present an improved algorithm for which an approximate global optimal solution of the model can be obtained by solving a sequence of linear programming. Then, we applied the key idea of the compensatory DEA model to develop the MOP model in which the objectives are to simultaneously maximize all common weights under constraints that the sum of efficiency values of all DMUs is equal to unity and the sum of all common weights is also equal to unity. In order to solve the MOP model, we transform it into a single objective programming (SOP) model using a fuzzy programming method and solve the SOP model using the proposed approximation algorithm. To illustrate the ranking method using the proposed method, two numerical examples are solved

Human mesenchymal stem cells exert potent antitumorigenic effects in a model of Kaposi's sarcoma

Emerging evidence suggests that both human stem cells and mature stromal cells can play an important role in the development and growth of human malignancies. In contrast to these tumor-promoting properties, we observed that in an in vivo model of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), intravenously (i.v.) injected human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) home to sites of tumorigenesis and potently inhibit tumor growth. We further show that human MSCs can inhibit the in vitro activation of the Akt protein kinase within some but not all tumor and primary cell lines. The inhibition of Akt activity requires the MSCs to make direct cell–cell contact and can be inhibited by a neutralizing antibody against E-cadherin. We further demonstrate that in vivo, Akt activation within KS cells is potently down-regulated in areas adjacent to MSC infiltration. Finally, the in vivo tumor-suppressive effects of MSCs correlates with their ability to inhibit target cell Akt activity, and KS tumors engineered to express a constitutively activated Akt construct are no longer sensitive to i.v. MSC administration. These results suggest that in contrast to other stem cells or normal stromal cells, MSCs possess intrinsic antineoplastic properties and that this stem cell population might be of particular utility for treating those human malignancies characterized by dysregulated Akt

Fiber type, meal frequency and colonic cytokinetics

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references.The effects of dietary fiber type (cellulose, pectin or oat bran) and meal frequency (gorge or nibble) on colonic short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), in vivo colonic pH and epithelial cell proliferation were examined in male Sprague-Dawley rats. In vivo cell proliferation was measured by [3H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA. Luminal SCFAs were determined by gas chromatography. ber t e. The pectin and oat bran diets produced higher concentrations of all types of SCFAs and of total SCFA than did the cellulose diet at all sites. The higher the concentration of total SCFA in colonic contents, the lower the pH in cecum, proximal and distal colon (r=- O.92, -0.97, -0.88; p=0.01, 0.001, 0.02 respectively). Dry fecal weights were lowest with pectin supplementation and the highest with cellulose. The oat bran diet resulted in an intermediate fecal weight. There were significant negative correlations between pH and crypt height (HC) (r=-O.833, p=0.04); total cells per crypt (TC) (r=-O.817, p=0.05); labeling index (LI) (r=-O.926, p=0.008); and proliferation zone (PZ) (r=-O.981, p=0.0005) in the cecum. There were significant positive correlations between the concentration of total SCFA and HC, TC and PZ (r=0.961, 0.963, 0.845; p=0.01, 0.002, 0.03) in the cecum. No correlation was found between pH or SCFA and cell proliferation in the distal colon, although there were effects of fiber type on H(@, LI and PZ (p=0.03, 0.03, 0.07). The pectin diet produced a higher HC, TC, and PZ in the cecum and LI in the distal colon than did the cellulose diet (p < 0. 05). The oat bran diet resulted in higher HC, TC, LI and PZ than the cellulose diet in the cecum., but lower LI and PZ and higher HC than the pectin diet in the distal colon (p<0.05). Meal frequency. Effect of meal pattern was observed on HC and TC (p=0.0003, 0.0086) in the distal colon. HC and TC were larger in the gorging group than in the nibbling group (p < 0. 05). The results indicate that dietary fiber type affects the concentrations of SCFAS, pH, and cell proliferation throughout the large intestine; that effects of pH and concentrations of SCFAs on cell proliferation are found predominately in the cecum. Fecal bulking ability of the fibers may play a role in distal colonic cell proliferation. The data show that meal frequency affects cell proliferation in the distal colon only

Equilibrium locations in a mixed duopoly with sequential entry in real time

We investigate a mixed duopoly model where a public firm and a private firm enter a market sequentially over an infinite time horizon, with and without uncertainty over the follower's entry date. We assume that there is a unit-length linear city and show that, if the public firm moves first, equilibrium location falls inside the second and third quartiles. The later the follower is expected to enter, the closer the two firms are. However, if the private firm acts first, it moves aggressively to locate at the middle point (one-half), forcing the public firm to locate nearer the periphery (one-sixth), to minimize consumers' transportation cost. In addition, social welfare is strictly greater when the public firm moves as the leader.Location Sequential entry Time Mixed oligopoly

Application and Clinical Analysis of Remote Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Platform in Continuous Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Images

Fetal heart sound is an important part of fetal monitoring and has attracted extensive research and attention from scholars at home and abroad in recent years. The fetal heart rate, extracted from the fetal heart sound signal, is one of the important indicators that reflect the health of the fetus in the womb. In this study, a maternal-fetal Holter monitor based on f ECG technology was used to collect maternal heart rate, fetal heart rate, and uterine contractions signals, isolate the fetal heart rate, and design an algorithm to extract the fetal heart rate baseline, acceleration, variation, wake-up cycle, and nonlinear parameters. Using statistical methods to analyze the average value and range of various characteristic parameters of fetal heart rate under continuous long-term monitoring, the results show that the baseline has a downward trend from 10 o’clock in the night to 4 o’clock in the morning and is the lowest around 2 o’clock in the morning. The area and acceleration time were significantly higher than those in the suspicious group. However, there was no significant difference in the number of acceleration values between the two groups; the proportion of small mutations in the normal group was lower than that of the suspicious group and the proportion of medium mutations was higher than that of the suspicious group. There is no statistically significant difference in maternal age, gestational age at childbirth, pregnancy comorbidities, and complication rates in the five-level interpretation system of ACOG (2009), RCOG (2007), SOGC (2007), and the United States (2007). The difference of pregnancy and parity in various images was statistically significant, P < 0.05. The second type of fetal heart rate monitoring images appeared in the highest among the diagnostic standards, and the difference in the second type of fetal heart rate monitoring images between the various diagnostic standards was statistically significant, P ≤ 0.001

Second CUBE Filtering Algorithm and Its Application in Sounding Data Processing of Slope Riprap Area

Traditional CUBE (combined uncertainty bathymetry estimation) filter generally fails to estimate the depth of the water accurately, and produces blur terrain feature in underwater slope riprap area by the multi-beam sounding data filtering with poor ability to remove gross error.Based on the sounding data characteristics of slope riprap area, a secondary CUBE filtering algorithm is proposed. The key idea is to estimate the plane position and depth synchronously, taking account of the transfer model of plane and water depth uncertainty related to terrain gradient. It is based on the second depth estimation model which considers geometric gradient and an optimization method of reference depth to accurately estimate the depth of water in underwater riprap areas and to detect gross error automatically.A set of meaningful experiments are also presented. And the experimental results have shown that the proposed method provides an automatic and accurate elimination for gross error. Specifically, the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is a few times higher than that of the traditional CUBE. It also demonstrates that the proposed filter shows superiority in preserving terrain features with better efficiency and robustness

High-Efficiency Determination of Coastline by Combination of Tidal Level and Coastal Zone DEM from UAV Tilt Photogrammetry

To meet the needs of coastline efficient extraction and dynamic monitoring, this paper proposes a new method for coastline extraction by combining the tidal level and the digital elevation model (DEM) of the coastal zone from tilt photography. Firstly, the DEM of coastal zone was obtained by using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tilt photography; at the same time, the accuracy of aerial triangulation(AT) is improved referencing to the constraint of water boundary points, and then the mean high water spring tide was obtained by combining tidal harmonic analysis and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tidal level. Finally, the coastline and the dynamic water-surface line are extracted from the DEM of the coastal zone by tracking the contour lines with the elevation of the mean high water springs (MHWS) and the instantaneous sea-surface elevation, respectively. The experiments carried out in the coastal zones of Liaoning Province, China, proved the proposed method and achieved better than 0.2 m of horizontal position accuracy and 0.1 m of the vertical accuracy

Side-Scan Sonar Image Mosaic Using Couple Feature Points with Constraint of Track Line Positions

To obtain large-scale seabed surface image, this paper proposes a side-scan sonar (SSS) image mosaic method using couple feature points (CFPs) with constraint of track line positions. The SSS geocoded images are firstly used to form a coarsely mosaicked one and the overlapping areas between adjacent strip images can be determined based on geographic information. Inside the overlapping areas, the feature point (FP) detection and registration operation are adopted for both strips. According to the detected CFPs and track line positions, an adjustment model is established to accommodate complex local distortions as well as ensure the global stability. This proposed method effectively solves the problem of target ghosting or dislocation and no accumulated errors arise in the mosaicking process. Experimental results show that the finally mosaicked image correctly reflects the object distribution, which is meaningful for understanding and interpreting seabed topography