Global Stability of a Rational Difference Equation

We consider the higher-order nonlinear difference equation +1=(+−)/(1++−),=0,1,… with the parameters, and the initial conditions −,…,0 are nonnegative real numbers. We investigate the periodic character, invariant intervals, and the global asymptotic stability of all positive solutions of the above-mentioned equation. In particular, our results solve the open problem introduced by Kulenović and Ladas in their monograph (see Kulenović and Ladas, 2002)

THE EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTATION GARLIC OIL AS AN ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND SALTING TIME ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SALTED EGG

This study has been done to examine the influences of garlic oil, salting time in the characteristics of salted egg. Typical bacterial used in this study were Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, and Staphylococcus aureus. They were obtained from the culture collection of National R&D Center for Egg Processing Laboratory, Food Science and Technology College, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. The experimental design was completely randomized design with factorial factor A x B (3 x 5) for three replications. Factor A were supplementation of garlic oil with different concentration (0%; 0.1%; 0.5%) and factor B were different time for salting process (0; 7; 14; 21; 28 days). The research was done through several activities, the determination of garlic oil as an antibacterial activity and making salted eggs in the presence of garlic oil are performed.  The results showed that garlic oil had antibacterial activity on the three bacteria used in this study. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of garlic oil was used as a determination of the concentration in salted egg presence of garlic oil. Egg white and yolk of duck eggs with different salting time and concentration of garlic oil showed slight differences in chemical composition and textural properties as salting proceeded. Both of treatment could induce solidification of yolk accompanied by oil exudation and the development of gritty texture. Thus both of treatment somehow affected the characteristics of the resulting egg white and egg yolk

Successful thoracoscopic management of iatrogenic left subclavian arterial injury: a case report.

The subclavian artery at the thoracic outlet is in the deepest position of the thoracic cavity and is difficult to repair in this narrow space once injured, even if the surgery is converted to a thoracotomy. This article presents a successful left subclavian artery repair procedure at the thoracic outlet using a thoracoscopic approach, with a video demonstration, and describes its technical characteristics. The patient was planned for a left upper lobectomy through three-port thoracoscopic approach. Severe adhesions were found intraoperatively and an accidental left subclavian arterial injury occurred when dissecting the adhesions. We first clamped the proximal portion of the subclavian artery and then directly clamped the rupture site. Our first suture failed due to the limited suture angle and the mutual restriction between the needle holder and atraumatic vascular clamp. To freely control the needle holder, another assistant port was made in the seventh intercostal space (ICS). The arterial injury was finally successfully repaired using pledgetted suture. The operation time was 235 minutes and intraoperative blood loss was 800 mL. The pulsation of the left radial artery was normal postoperatively, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 6. Appropriate strategies allow attempts to manage intraoperative hyperbaric arterial bleeding from the systemic circulation, such as bleeding caused by subclavian arterial injuries, by means of a thoracoscopic approach without conversion to thoracotomy

Petroleum generation timing and source in the Northern Longmen Shan Thrust Belt, Southwest China: Implications for multiple oil generation episodes and sources

The temporal evolution of hydrocarbons (∼500 million bbl) and its relationship to the orogenic events of the Longmen Shan thrust belt have been extensively debated. The hydrocarbons occur as solid bitumen, as dykes and/or coatings within/along faults/fractures, and as present-day oil seeps. Here, utilizing organic geochemistry, we demonstrate that all of the bitumen exhibit similar organo-geochemical characteristics, and were sourced from the upper Neoproterozoic–lower Cambrian Doushantuo and Qiongzhusi Formations. In contrast, the organic geochemistry of the present-day oil seeps are distinct from that of the bitumen, and suggest that the source is the Permian Dalong Formation. Bitumen Re-Os data indicate that the upper Neoproterozoic–lower Cambrian Doushantuo and Qiongzhusi Formations underwent two temporally distinct oil-generation events; initial oil generation occurred during the Late Cambrian/Early Ordovician prior to the Caledonian orogeny, and secondly during the Jurassic (∼165 Ma) coinciding with the Indosinian-Yanshan orogenies. In contrast, the Re-Os data of the present-day oil seeps are too similar to yield a meaningful age, although the source is considered to have undergone hydrocarbon maturation between the Triassic and Jurassic. The temporal hydrocarbon evolution in the Longmen Shan thrust belt also provides an understanding of the hydrocarbon evolution and future exploration of the adjacent petroliferous Sichuan Basin

Spectrum-effect relationships between high performance liquid chromatography fingerprint and analgesic property of Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim) Pascher (Solanaceae) roots

Purpose: To investigate the spectrum-effect relationships between high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) fingerprint and analgesic activity of Anisodus tanguticus (Maxim.) Pascher (Solanaceae) (AT)  roots.Methods: Analgesic activity of AT roots was evaluated by acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice. Fingerprint of AT roots was established by HPLC-DAD. After oral administration of AT roots extract, intra-gastric contents of caffeoylputrescine, anisodine, fabiatrin, scopolin, scopolamine, anisodamine and atropine in mice were determined by HPLC-DAD. Spectrum-effect relationships between HPLCDAD fingerprint and analgesic activity were investigated using bivariate correlation analysis.Results: Following treatment with different batches of AT roots extract, acetic acid-induced writhing responses in mice were inhibited significantly (p < 0.05 or 0.01), with inhibitions of 26.62 - 55.13 %, relative to the control group. Sixteen common peaks were obtained by fingerprint analysis. Peaks 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 were identified as caffeoylputrescine, anisodine, fabiatrin, scopolin, scopolamine, anisodamine and atropine, respectively. Bivariate correlation analysis between analgesic activity of AT roots and 16 common peaks areas indicated the  contributions of 16 common peaks to analgesic activity of AT roots. Surprisingly, bivariate correlation analysis between analgesic activity of AT roots and intragastric contents of above-named 7 constituents revealed that the contributions of the 7 constituents to analgesic activity of AT roots were different from those based on their peak areas.Conclusion: This study provides scientific justification for the investigation of the active constituents of AT root with a view to its standardization.Keywords: Anisodus tanguticus root, Analgesic activity, HPLC-DAD fingerprint,  Bivariate correlation analysi

Distributed Consensus of Linear Multi-Agent Systems with Adaptive Dynamic Protocols

This paper considers the distributed consensus problem of multi-agent systems with general continuous-time linear dynamics. Two distributed adaptive dynamic consensus protocols are proposed, based on the relative output information of neighboring agents. One protocol assigns an adaptive coupling weight to each edge in the communication graph while the other uses an adaptive coupling weight for each node. These two adaptive protocols are designed to ensure that consensus is reached in a fully distributed fashion for any undirected connected communication graphs without using any global information. A sufficient condition for the existence of these adaptive protocols is that each agent is stabilizable and detectable. The cases with leader-follower and switching communication graphs are also studied.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figue