Comparison of Invariant Metrics

We estimate the boundary behavior of the Kobayashi metric on \C\sm\set{0,1}. We also compare the Bergman metric on the ring domain in \C^{2} to the Bergman metric on the ball.Comment: submitted. Version 2: added grant acknowledgemen

Extracting Product Features from Online Consumer Reviews

Along with the exponential growth of user-generated content online comes the need of making sense of such content. Online consumer review is one type of user-generated content that has been more important. Thus, there is a demand for uncovering hidden patterns, unknown relationships and other useful information. The focal problem of this research is product feature extraction. Few existing studies has looked into detailed categorization of review features and explored how to adjust extraction methods by taking account of the characteristics of different categories of features. This paper begins with the introduction of a new scheme of feature classification and then introduces new extraction methods for each type of features separately. These methods were design to not only recognize new features but also filter irrelevant features. The experimental results show that our proposed methods outperform the state-of-the-art techniques

Performance evaluation of on-chip wavelength conversion based on InP/In1−x_{1-x}Gax_xAsy_yP1−y_{1-y} semiconductor waveguide platforms

We propose and design the high confinement InP/In1-xGaxAsyP1-y semiconductor waveguides and report the results of effective wavelength conversion based on this platform. Efficient confinement and mode field area fluctuation at different wavelength is analyzed to achieve the high nonlinear coefficient. The numerical results show that nearly zero phase-mismatch condition can be satisfied through dispersion tailoring of InP/In1-xGaxAsyP1-y waveguides, and the wavelength conversion ranging over 40 nm with the maximum conversion efficiency -26.3 dB is achieved for fixing pump power 100 mW. Meanwhile, the influences of the doping parameter y and pumping wavelength on the bandwidth and conversion efficiency are also discussed and optimized. It is indicated the excellent optical properties of the InP/In1-xGaxAsyP1-y waveguides and pave the way towards direct integration telecom band devices on stand semiconductor platforms.Comment: 21 page

Genetic variants in ADAM33 are associated with airway inflammation and lung function in COPD

BACKGROUND: Genetic factors play a role in the development and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The pathogenesis of COPD is a multifactorial process including an inflammatory cell profile. Recent studies revealed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within ADAM33 increased the susceptibility to COPD through changing the airway inflammatory process and lung function. METHODS: In this paper, we investigated associations of four polymorphisms (T1, T2, S2 and Q-1) of ADAM33 as well as their haplotypes with pulmonary function and airway inflammatory process in an East Asian population of patients with COPD. RESULTS: We found that T1, T2 and Q-1 were significantly associated with the changes of pulmonary function and components of cells in sputum of COPD, and T1 and Q-1 were significantly associated with cytokines and mediators of inflammation in airway of COPD in recessive models. 10 haplotypes were significantly associated with transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide in the disease state, 4 haplotypes were significantly associated with forced expiratory volume in one second, and other haplotypes were associated with airway inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed for the first time that ADAM33 was involved in the pathogenesis of COPD by affecting airway inflammation and immune response in an East Asian population. Our results made the genetic background of COPD, a common and disabling disease, more apparent, which would supply genetic support for the study of the mechanism, classification and treatment for this disease. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2466-14-173) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

La loi chinoise sur le contrat de travail et les coûts de production liés à la main-d’œuvre

La publication de la loi sur le contrat de travail en Chine a suscité un vif débat à propos du fardeau économique que représentent, pour les entreprises, les coûts de production liés à la main-d’œuvre. S’appuyant sur des données recueillies dans la province du Guangdong, dans le sud de la Chine, les résultats empiriques indiquent qu’en moyenne, pour les entreprises échantillonnées, l’augmentation du coût de la main-d’œuvre pouvant être attribuée à l’entrée en vigueur de la loi est de l’ordre de 2,54 à 4,9 %, ce qui n’est pas si important en termes économiques

China’s Labour Contract Law and Labour Costs of Production

The promulgation of the Labour Contract Law in China has aroused heated debate about the financial burden of the new labour costs for firms. However, based on a data set collected in Guangdong Province in southern China, the empirical findings suggest that, on average, the increase in labour costs per capita in the sample firms due to the effects of the law ranges between 2.54 percent and 4.90 percent, which seems to be economically insignificant

Análise da Percepção dos Discentes sobre Perícia Contábil e Contabilidade Forense Contra Fraudes Contábeis

Objetivo(s): Evidenciar e diferenciar os papéis exercidos por peritos contábeis e contadores forenses e avaliar a percepção dos discentes sobre contabilidade forense e perícia contábil como um instrumento auxiliar nas práticas investigativas desse delito econômico-financeiro. Esta pesquisa pretende evidenciar os conhecimentos dos estudantes, a fim de elucidar conceitos que muitas vezes não são compreendidos devido às similaridades apresentadas. Método(s): Por meio de uma pesquisa descritiva, buscou-se fazer uma análise geral do papel da perícia e da contabilidade forense para combater o crime e auxiliar a justiça com ajuda da coleta de evidências de fraude e de laudos técnicos. Resultados: A partir do questionário mostram que existe uma confusão entre o objetivo do perito contábil e contador forense e destacam a falta de cursos especializados sobre o tema em favor da disseminação da cultura nos campos educacionais no Brasil. Contribuições: Dada a importância de ambas as áreas, estudos comparativos entre as atuações dos contadores forenses e dos peritos contadores devem ser pertinentes para identificar técnicas mais eficientes a serem utilizadas no combate e/ou na investigação às manipulações contábeis

Synthesis and characterization of maleated rosin‐modified fluorosilicone resin and its fluorosilicone rubber

Imide‐containing vinyl fluorosilicone resin (MR‐VFS) was synthesized from maleated rosin (MR). And then, with MR‐VFS as a new polar cross‐linking agent in a heat curable fluorosilicone rubber composition, a series of maleated rosin‐modified fluorosilicone rubbers (MR‐FSR) were obtained. The effects of MR‐VFS on the mechanical properties, oil resistance, thermal stability, and low‐temperature performance were studied in detail. It was found that MR‐VFS could increase the tearing strength and high‐temperature thermal stability of fluorosilicone rubber. When the MR‐VFS weight content reached to 2 wt %, the tearing strength of MR‐FSR increased by 20.1% compared with that of common fluorosilicone rubber. However, MR‐FSR showed a similar low‐temperature resistance and a little worse oil resistance. The morphological study showed that incorporation of maleated rosin could intensify the microphase separation of fluorosilicone rubber. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41888.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110593/1/app41888-sup-0001-suppinfo01.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110593/2/app41888.pd