The Business Talents Cultivation of Cross-border E-commerce under “the Belt and Road Initiative”

Along with “the Belt and Road Initiative”, China’s cross-border e-commerce has been developed rapidly, which will certainly bring new challenges for talents cultivation in the Higher Education. The paper analyzes the new requirements for business talents under cross-border e-commerce. And then a cultivation system was proposed by examining the five major programs in our university. The cultivation objectives, the curriculum and the practical module are elaborated. Finally, some suggestions on the implementation of this cultivation system are put forward

A Collaborative Jamming Algorithm Based on Multi-UAV Scheduling

In this paper, we consider the problem of multi-unmanned aerial vehicles' scheduling for cooperative jamming, where UAVs equipped with directional antennas perform collaborative jamming tasks against several targets of interest. To ensure effective jamming towards the targets, we formulate it as an non-convex optimization problem, aiming to minimize the communication performance of the targets by jointly optimizing UAVs' deployment and directional antenna orientations. Due to the unique structure of the problem, we derive an equivalent transformation by introducing a set of auxiliary matrices. Subsequently, we propose an efficient iterative algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers, which decomposes the problem into multiple tractable subproblems solved in closed-form or by gradient projection method. Extensive simulations validate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm

Estuarine plastisphere as an overlooked source of N2O production

“Plastisphere”, microbial communities colonizing plastic debris, has sparked global concern for marine ecosystems. Microbiome inhabiting this novel human-made niche has been increasingly characterized; however, whether the plastisphere holds crucial roles in biogeochemical cycling remains largely unknown. Here we evaluate the potential of plastisphere in biotic and abiotic denitrification and nitrous oxide (N2O) production in estuaries. Biofilm formation provides anoxic conditions favoring denitrifiers. Comparing with surrounding bulk water, plastisphere exhibits a higher denitrifying activity and N2O production, suggesting an overlooked N2O source. Regardless of plastisphere and bulk water, bacterial and fungal denitrifications are the main regulators for N2O production instead of chemodenitrification. However, the contributions of bacteria and fungi in the plastisphere are different from those in bulk water, indicating a distinct N2O production pattern in the plastisphere. These findings pinpoint plastisphere as a N2O source, and provide insights into roles of the new biotope in biogeochemical cycling in the Anthropocene

CharacterGLM: Customizing Chinese Conversational AI Characters with Large Language Models

In this paper, we present CharacterGLM, a series of models built upon ChatGLM, with model sizes ranging from 6B to 66B parameters. Our CharacterGLM is designed for generating Character-based Dialogues (CharacterDial), which aims to equip a conversational AI system with character customization for satisfying people's inherent social desires and emotional needs. On top of CharacterGLM, we can customize various AI characters or social agents by configuring their attributes (identities, interests, viewpoints, experiences, achievements, social relationships, etc.) and behaviors (linguistic features, emotional expressions, interaction patterns, etc.). Our model outperforms most mainstream close-source large langauge models, including the GPT series, especially in terms of consistency, human-likeness, and engagement according to manual evaluations. We will release our 6B version of CharacterGLM and a subset of training data to facilitate further research development in the direction of character-based dialogue generation.Comment: Work in progres

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

A Case Study Of Price Premiums For Local Foods

This study uses econometric techniques to assess price premiums for local foods, including five fresh products and four semi-processed/processed products. In our model, the natural logarithm of retail price is a function of product attributes (local, organic, and product type), retail outlet types, and seasons. In our model, a local food product is produced, processed and distributed within a 30-mile radius of Ithaca, New York. The model allows us to determine the value of the attribute local, control for other sources of price variability. Our results suggest that the attribute local enjoys price premiums for two out of five fresh products (strawberries and potatoes) and for three out of four semi-processed/processed foods (whole chickens, eggs, and two percent milk)

Cost of Establishment and Production of Hybrid Grapes in the Finger Lakes Region of New York-2013

E.B. 2014-11The Finger Lakes region, which stretches from Rochester to Syracuse in upstate New York, has been a center for wine production since the 1860s. Today New York is the second largest wineproducing state in the United States, and the Finger Lakes region is the state’s largest wine-growing region. Furthermore, the region has perhaps the most diverse array of native Labrusca, Vitis vinifera, and interspecific hybrid cultivars of any production area in the Northeast, with over 30 varieties of grapes covering its 9,393 acres used in wine production. For interspecific hybrid cultivars, French-American hybrid grapes are mainly grown in the Finger Lakes region, which combine native varieties with excellent climate adaptations with the great-tasting winemaking varieties from Europe. In upstate New York, hybrid cultivars have flourished because of their excellent tolerance to powdery mildew, other fungal diseases, nematodes, and phylloxera. Examples of hybrid varieties are the French-American hybrids, Cayuga White and Vidal Blanc. These hybrids have stronger winter hardiness and are more resistant to fungal diseases These are great grape features for a region such as the Finger Lakes, given it cold climate and exposure to early frosts. As a result of their desirable characteristics, many hybrid varieties have seen increased acreage in the Finger Lakes region over the years. Acreage of Vidal Blanc increased by 58% (to 153 acres) in the most recent Orchard and Vineyard Survey compiled conducted by the New York Agricultural Statistics Services in 2011. That said, not all hybrids have seen such increase: acres planted to Corot Noir, Cayuga White, and Seyval Blanc hybrids have all decreased from the 2006 survey. Overall, Hybrid grapes play as an important role in grape production in the Finger Lakes region