On Improper Machine Translations in Press Reports

Machine translation, also known as automatic translation, is the process of converting one natural language (source language) into another natural language (target language) by using networks. There are some language errors in current machine translation in news releases. Having compared human translators’ translation texts and machine translation results, improper machine translation results are found. They are inaccurate use of words, rigid sentence patterns and unclear expression of specific cultural meanings. Accurate machine translation needs the assistance of human translators

“And they all lived happily ever after”: The Failure of a Happy Ending in The Piano (1993) and Barbe Bleue (2009)

Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) and Catherine Breillat’s Barbe Bleue (2009) are film adaptations of the tale Bluebeard, both of which have a seemingly bright closure — “and they all lived happily ever after”. “They”, as the female, are in the becoming process since “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” (de Beauvoir 1956: 273), which changes the nature of the film denouement. By looking at the female protagonists Ada McGrath in The Piano and Marie-Catherine in Barbe Bleue, this research aims to deal with how female “decisions” in attempting to accomplish themselves in the face of a crisis affect the understanding of the film’s ending. First, female characterisation and plot development are investigated with the construction of women’s feelings and perceptions at a given moment, influencing the subsequent outcomes. Second, the significance of narrative techniques is expounded with audience’s affective interaction with characters. The conclusion reached is that in both films, repressed female temperament allows women to make judgements and choices that predetermine the tragic core of the happy ending. The significance of this study is to draw attention to the plight of women in the undercurrent, to make it possible for the silent cries behind the beautiful fantasies to be heard

DisLoc: A Convex Partitioning Based Approach for Distributed 3-D Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

Accurate localization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is fundamental to many applications, such as geographic routing and position-aware data processing. This, however, is challenging in large scale 3-D WSNs due to the irregular topology, such as holes in the path, of the network. The irregular topology may cause overestimated Euclidean distance between nodes as the communication path is bent and accordingly introduces severe errors in 3-D WSN localization. As an effort towards the issue, this paper develops a distributed algorithm to achieve accurate 3-D WSN localization. Our proposal is composed of two steps, segmentation and joint localization. In specific, the entire network is first divided into several subnetworks by applying the approximate convex partitioning. A spatial convex node recognition mechanism is developed to assist the network segmentation, which relies on the connectivity information only. After that, each subnetwork is accurately localized by using the multidimensional scaling-based algorithm. The proposed localization algorithm also applies a new 3-D coordinate transformation algorithm, which helps reduce the errors introduced by coordinate integration between subnetworks and improve the localization accuracy. Using extensive simulations, we show that our proposal can effectively segment a complex 3-D sensor network and significantly improve the localization rate in comparison with existing solutions

Control of astrocyte progenitor specification, migration and maturation by Nkx6.1 homeodomain transcription factor.

Although astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the central nervous system (CNS), little is known about their molecular specification and differentiation. It has previously been reported that transcription factor Nkx6.1 is expressed in neuroepithelial cells that give rise to astrocyte precursors in the ventral spinal cord. In the present study, we systematically investigated the function of Nkx6.1 in astrocyte development using both conventional and conditional Nkx6.1 mutant mice. At early postnatal stages, Nkx6.1 was expressed in a subpopulation of astrocytes in the ventral spinal cord. In the conventional Nkx6.1KO spinal cord, the initial specification of astrocyte progenitors was affected by the mutation, and subsequent migration and differentiation were disrupted in newborn mice. In addition, the development of VA2 subtype astrocytes was also inhibited in the white matter. Further studies with Nkx6.1 conditional mutants revealed significantly delayed differentiation and disorganized arrangement of fibrous astrocytes in the ventral white matter. Together, our studies indicate that Nkx6.1 plays a vital role in astrocyte specification and differentiation in the ventral spinal cord

Electroacupuncture at LI11 promotes jejunal motility via the parasympathetic pathway

Background: Gastrointestinal motility disorder has been demonstrated to be regulated by acupuncture treatment. The mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture stimulation of abdominal and lower limb acupoints on gastrointestinal motility have been thoroughly studied; however, the physiology underlying the effects of acupuncture on the forelimbs to mediate gastrointestinal motility requires further exploration. The aim of this study was to determine whether electroacupuncture (EA) at LI11 promotes jejunal motility, whether the parasympathetic pathway participates in this effect, and if so, which somatic afferent nerve fibres are involved.Methods: A manometric balloon was used to observe jejunal motility. The effects and mechanisms of EA at LI11 were explored in male Sprague-Dawley rats with or without drug administration (propranolol, clenbuterol, acetylcholine, and atropine) and with or without vagotomy. Three types of male mice (β1β2 receptor-knockout [β1β2 −/−] mice, M2M3 receptor-knockout [M2M3 −/−] mice and wild-type [WT] mice) were also studied by using different EA intensities (1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 mA). A total of 72 rats and 56 mice were included in the study.Results: EA at LI11 increased the contractile amplitude of jejunal motility in the majority of both rats and mice. However, EA at LI11 did not enhance jejunal motility in rats administered atropine, rats that underwent vagotomy, and M2M3 −‍‍/− mice (at all intensities). In WT mice, EA at LI11 significantly increased jejunal motility at all intensities except 1 mA, and a plateau was reached at intensities greater than 4 mA.Conclusion: Our results suggest that EA at LI11 promotes jejunal motility primarily by exciting the parasympathetic pathway, and that Aδ-fibres and C-fibres may play important roles in the process

Remote sensing and environmental assessment of wetland ecological degradation in the Small Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

IntroductionThe plain marsh wetland ecosystems are sensitive to changes in the natural environment and the intensity of human activities. The Sanjiang Plain is China’s largest area of concentrated marsh wetland, the Small Sanjiang Plain is the most important component of the Sanjiang Plain. However, with the acceleration of the urbanization and development of large-scale agricultural reclamation activities in the Small Sanjiang Plain in Northeast China, the wetland has been seriously damaged. In light of this degradation this study examines the Small Sanjiang Plain.MethodsFrom the four aspects of area, structure, function, and human activities, we try to construct a wetland degradation comprehensive index (WDCI) in cold region with expert scoring methods and analytic hierarchy process (AHP), coupled with network and administrative unit. The objective was to reveal the degradation of wetlands in Northeast China over three decades at a regional scale.ResultsThe results showed that (1) the overall wetland area decreased between 1990 and 2020 by 39.26×103 hm2. Within this period a significant decrease of 336.56×103 hm2 occurred between 1990 and 200 and a significant increase of 214.62×103 hm2 occurred between 2010 and 2020. (2) In terms of structural changes, the fractal dimension (FRAC) has the same trend as the Landscape Fragmentation Index (LFI) with little change. (3) In terms of functional changes, the average above-ground biomass (AGB) increased from 1029.73 kg/hm2 to 1405.38 kg/hm2 between 1990 and 2020 in the study area. (4) In terms of human activities, the average human disturbance was 0.52, 0.46, 0.57 and 0.53 in 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, with the highest in 2010. (5) The composite wetland degradation index shows that the most severe wetland degradation was 49.61% in 2010 occurred between 1990 and 2020. (6) Among the severely deteriorated trajectory types in 2010–2020, mild degradation → serious degradation accounted for the largest area of 240.23×103 hm2, and the significant improvement trajectory type in 1990–2000 accounted for the largest area of 238.50×103 hm2.DiscussionIn brief, we conclude that the degradation of the Small Sanjiang Plain wetland was caused mainly by construction, overgrazing, deforestation, and farmland reclamation. This study can also provide new views for monitoring and managing wetland degradation by remote sensing in cold regions