Simulation study on giant panda population dynamics model with due consideration for deforestation

AbstractDeforestation has destroyed the home of giant panda and poses a direct threat to their survival. Based on the idea of habitat protection of the trinity of “forest-bamboo-giant panda”, a “forest-bamboo-giant panda” nonlinear dynamics model is established with due consideration for pulse deforestation. Computer numerical simulation is used to study the periodic solutions of this dynamics model and chaos strange attractor, and the ecological significance of the dynamic results. A threshold value in deforestation is thus obtained. That is, when the pulse intensity of deforestation is beyond a given threshold, the giant panda population will be almost extinct even though some forest still remains. When the pulse intensity of deforestation is within a given threshold, an ecological balance among “Forest-bamboo-giant panda” will kept for them to continue to exist

Global attractivity and permanence of a SVEIR epidemic model with pulse vaccination and time delay

AbstractIn this study, we propose a new SVEIR epidemic disease model with time delay, and analyze the dynamic behavior of the model under pulse vaccination. Pulse vaccination is an effective strategy for the elimination of infectious disease. Using the discrete dynamical system determined by the stroboscopic map, we obtain an ‘infection-free’ periodic solution. We also show that the ‘infection-free’ periodic solution is globally attractive when some parameters of the model under appropriate conditions. The permanence of the model is investigated analytically. Our results indicate that a large vaccination rate or a short pulse of vaccination or a long latent period is a sufficient condition for the extinction of the disease

Interoperability framework for supporting information-based assistance in the factory

The aim of this paper is to propose new interoperability solution, based on Info-Engine framework and web services technology to support data exchange and extraction from PLM system, specially the Windchill tool. This solution will be implemented as a connector module of more generic framework, named Digital Factory Assistant (DFA). The DFA framework aims to provide factory workers by a set of knowledge and information based decision support to improve their activity performance

Rural Hospital Mergers Increased Between 2005 and 2016—What Did Those Hospitals Look Like?

The objective of this study is to determine whether key hospital-level financial and market characteristics are associated with whether rural hospitals merge. Hospital merger status was derived from proprietary Irving Levin Associates data for 2005 through 2016 and hospital-level characteristics from HCRIS, CMS Impact File Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System, Hospital MSA file, AHRF, and U.S. Census data for 2004 through 2016. A discrete-time hazard analysis using generalized estimating equations was used to determine whether factors were associated with merging between 2005 and 2016. Factors included measures of profitability, operational efficiency, capital structure, utilization, and market competitiveness. Between 2005 and 2016, 11% (n = 326) of rural hospitals were involved in at least one merger. Rural hospital mergers have increased in recent years, with more than two-thirds (n = 261) occurring after 2011. The types of rural hospitals that merged during the sample period differed from nonmerged rural hospitals. Rural hospitals with higher odds of merging were less profitable, for-profit, larger, and were less likely to be able to cover current debt. Additional factors associated with higher odds of merging were reporting older plant age, not providing obstetrics, being closer to the nearest large hospital, and not being in the West region. By quantifying the hazard of characteristics associated with whether rural hospitals merged between 2005 and 2016, these findings suggest it is possible to determine leading indicators of rural mergers. This work may serve as a foundation for future research to determine the impact of mergers on rural hospitals

Entropic Interactions in Suspensions of Semi-Flexible Rods: Short-Range Effects of Flexibility

We compute the entropic interactions between two colloidal spheres immersed in a dilute suspension of semi-flexible rods. Our model treats the semi-flexible rod as a bent rod at fixed angle, set by the rod contour and persistence lengths. The entropic forces arising from this additional rotational degree of freedom are captured quantitatively by the model, and account for observations at short range in a recent experiment. Global fits to the interaction potential data suggest the persistence length of fd-virus is about two to three times smaller than the commonly used value of $2.2 \mu {m}$.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PRE rapid communication

Effects of dimensionality and anisotropy on the Holstein polaron

We apply weak-coupling perturbation theory and strong-coupling perturbation theory to the Holstein molecular crystal model in order to elucidate the effects of anisotropy on polaron properties in D dimensions. The ground state energy is considered as a primary criterion through which to study the effects of anisotropy on the self-trapping transition, the self-trapping line associated with this transition, and the adiabatic critical point. The effects of dimensionality and anisotropy on electron-phonon correlations and polaronic mass enhancement are studied, with particular attention given to the polaron radius and the characteristics of quasi-1D and quasi-2D structures. Perturbative results are confirmed by selected comparisons with variational calculations and quantum Monte Carlo data

Polaron Effective Mass, Band Distortion, and Self-Trapping in the Holstein Molecular Crystal Model

We present polaron effective masses and selected polaron band structures of the Holstein molecular crystal model in 1-D as computed by the Global-Local variational method over a wide range of parameters. These results are augmented and supported by leading orders of both weak- and strong-coupling perturbation theory. The description of the polaron effective mass and polaron band distortion that emerges from this work is comprehensive, spanning weak, intermediate, and strong electron-phonon coupling, and non-adiabatic, weakly adiabatic, and strongly adiabatic regimes. Using the effective mass as the primary criterion, the self-trapping transition is precisely defined and located. Using related band-shape criteria at the Brillouin zone edge, the onset of band narrowing is also precisely defined and located. These two lines divide the polaron parameter space into three regimes of distinct polaron structure, essentially constituting a polaron phase diagram. Though the self-trapping transition is thusly shown to be a broad and smooth phenomenon at finite parameter values, consistency with notion of self-trapping as a critical phenomenon in the adiabatic limit is demonstrated. Generalizations to higher dimensions are considered, and resolutions of apparent conflicts with well-known expectations of adiabatic theory are suggested.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figure

The effect of oxygen stoichiometry on electrical transport and magnetic properties of La0.9Te0.1MnOy

The effect of the variation of oxygen content on structural, magnetic and transport properties in the electron-doped manganites La0.9Te0.1MnOy has been investigated. All samples show a rhombohedral structure with the space group . The Curie temperature decreases and the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic (PM-FM) transition becomes broader with the reduction of oxygen content. The resistivity of the annealed samples increases slightly with a small reduction of oxygen content. Further reduction in the oxygen content, the resistivity maximum increases by six orders of magnitude compared with that of the as-prepared sample, and the r(T) curves of samples with y = 2.86 and y = 2.83 display the semiconducting behavior () in both high-temperature PM phase and low-temperature FM phase, which is considered to be related to the appearance of superexchange ferromagnetism (SFM) and the localization of carriers. The results are discussed in terms of the combined effects of the increase in the Mn2+/(Mn2++Mn3+) ratio, the partial destruction of double exchange (DE) interaction, and the localization of carriers due to the introduction of oxygen vacancies in the Mn-O-Mn network.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure

The Kuiper Belt and Other Debris Disks

We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the Terrestrial and giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks" observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the Solar system provides a level of detail that we cannot discern in the distant disks while observations of the disks may help to set the Solar system in proper context.Comment: 50 pages, 25 Figures. To appear in conference proceedings book "Astrophysics in the Next Decade