Balance of Power in Regional Institutional Framework: Reassessment of the China-U.S.-Japan Trilateral Relationship

Relations among China, the United States, and Japan constitute some of the most complicated and dynamic relations in the contemporary era. Since the end of the second half of the twentieth century, all three nations, which were not in favor of regional multilateralism, have changed their strategy and have actively engaged in regional Asia-Pacific institutions. This research attempts to integrate realist discourse on the balance of power and liberal analysis of institutions to look at the China–U.S.–Japan interactions within regional institutions. This study explores why China, the United States, and Japan have increased their cooperative interaction in regional institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, despite having divergent interests and different visions of the future regional power structure. By searching and analyzing archives documenting China–U.S.–Japan regional policies and policies directed at regional institutions and observing in detail China– U.S.–Japan interactions within Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), this dissertation argues that institutional balancing provides a framework that helps identify countries’ overlooked intention to check and balance targeted powers in regional institutions. Regional institutions not only provide an opportunity for participant countries to discover and address common interests but also provide an opportunity for participant countries to lobby for their own interests and to balance the gains and influences of the other powers. This dissertation explores conditions under which institutional balancing is an optimal choice for countries and notes key methods: controlling membership; shaping institutional norms, rules, and mechanisms; and pursuing balanced alliances that have been practiced by China, the United States, and Japan in regional institutions in the Asia-Pacific region

Professionalisation of Student Affairs Educators in China: History, challenges, and solutions

Student affairs administration in Chinese universities is characterised by a dual-layer system of governance, with student affairs practitioners, i.e. advisors to students, being supervised by either central university administration or by affiliated colleges. In the last decade, government-oriented developments have achieved great success in China. This paper introduces the background and major strategies adopted by the Chinese government in professionalising university advisors. Major challenges are analysed, and solutions to address these challenges are proposed

Clinical significance of HPV-HC2 in diagnosis and prognosis of cervical lesions: a retrospective study

Background: To evaluate the human papillomavirus HC2 different range detection values and their clinical significance in prediction of CIN lesions grades as well as their role in the follow-up outcome after treatment.Methods: Using the hybrid capture 2 to detect and measure the HPV and the viral load quantity, we enrolled a total of 527 HPV positive women. All patients underwent thin prep liquid-based cytology test (TCT) and only 325 underwent colposcopy guided biopsy due to abnormal cytology results. All cytology and biopsy results were collected and analyzed according to the HPV viral load. Among these patients 108 patients were followed during 2years post-operatives and their prognosis results were collected and analyzed.Results: The proportion and severity of cytological abnormalities was positively correlated with the HPV-HC2 viral load (P0.05).Conclusions: High HPV-HC2 viral load is significantly associated with the severity of cervical lesions (CIN), however it does not predict any further prognosis on follow-up after treatment

Three dimensional quotient singularity and 4d N=1\mathcal{N}=1 AdS/CFT correspondence

We systematically study the AdS/CFT correspondence induced by D3 branes probing three dimensional Gorenstein quotient singularity $\mathbb{C}^3/G$. The field theory is given by the McKay quiver, which has a vanishing NSVZ beta function assuming that all the chiral fields have the $U(1)_R$ charge $\frac{2}{3}$. Various physical quantities such as quiver Hilbert series, superconformal index, central charges, etc are computed, which match exactly with those computed using the singularity. We also study the relevant deformation of those theories and find the dual geometry, therefore generate many new interesting AdS/CFT pairs. The quiver gauge theory defined using finite subgroups of $SO(3)$ group has some interesting features, for example, its Seiberg duality behavior is quite interesting.Comment: 43 pages, 15 tables, and 13 figure

Electrochemisty, Spectroelectrochemistry And/Or Electrosynthesis of Pi-Extended Porphyrins in Nonaqueous Media

This dissertation presents the electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry and electrosynthesis of pi-extended porphyrins. The electrochemistry and UV-vis spectral properties of neutral and protonated Au(III) quinoxalinoporphyrins containing one to four beta, beta'-fused quinoxalines were characterized in nonaqueous solvents. Mutiple Au(III)/Au(II) centered reductions were observed in acidic media, with the exact number depending on the number of fused quinoxaline groups on the compounds. Electrochemical and thin-layer spectroelectrochemical properties of mono- and bis-beta, beta'-porphyrins containing a beta, beta'-fused tetraazaanthracene (TA) group were also examined in different solvents. Each TA linked bis-porphyrin exhibits a strong interaction between the two equivalent porphyrin macrocycles, the magnitude of which is dependent upon the specific central metal ion. Finally, meso-naphthalene substituted and meso,beta-naphthalene extended porphyrins with five different central ions were characterized as to the their electrochemistry and UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry in CH2Cl2 and PhCN containing 0.1 M TBAP. All of the naphthalene substituted porphyrins could be converted to a naphthalene fused porphyrin after a two-electron oxidation, independent of the metal oxidation state, metal coordination number or solvent. The electron abstraction site of the second oxidation was shown to be dependent on the porphyrin central metal ion and the naphthalene oxidation potentials.Chemistry, Department o

Analgesic effect and safety of postoperative low-dose ketamine/midazolam combination vis-à-vis dexmedetomidine in non-cardiac surgery

Purpose: To compare the analgesic efficacy and safety of use of postoperative low-dose parenteral ketamine/midazolam combination, and postoperative parenteral dexmedetomidine in major non-cardiac surgeries.Methods: Major non-cardiac surgeries were performed in patients under propofol/morphine anesthesia. After the surgeries, patients received low-dose of ketamine with midazolam (KM cohort, n = 115), dexmedetomidine (DEX cohort, n = 112), or paracetamol infusion (PL cohort, n = 148). When visual analog scale score was > 4 in a resting condition, 3 mg bolus intravenous morphine was administered. Data for total morphine requirements and treatment-emergent adverse effects (within 2 days of postoperative treatment) were collected and analyzed.Results: Thirty-eight patients from KM cohort, 55 patients from DEX cohort, and 109 patients from PL cohort required 3 mg bolus intravenous morphine for postoperative pain management. Patients from KM cohort had nausea, vomiting, blurred vision,  dizziness, and hallucinations, while patients in DEX cohort experienced headache and bradycardia post-surgery. Patients in PL cohort reported drossiness, constipation, urinary retention, and dry mouth.Conclusion: Postoperative low doses of ketamine + midazolam and dexmedetomidine are effective for postoperative pain management, and they produce low adverse effects.&nbsp

Landing dynamic simulation of aircraft landing gear with multi-struts

The landing dynamic modeling technology for aircraft landing gear is based on accurate evaluation of the landing gear landing performance. Aiming to study the post landing gear, a model for dynamic analysis of the gear is established based on the analysis of the structure mechanical features and the characteristics of landing dynamic performance. The landing dynamic analysis of strut landing gear is conducted by using LMS Motion software. According to the comparative analysis between simulation and drop test, the dynamic modeling method is accurate and reasonable. To obtain the load distribution of each landing gear, a full aircraft model of multi-strut landing gear is built, and then the dynamic simulation analysis is carried out in different landing process. The study shows that the rear main landing gear bears the highest proportion of load. The initial pitch angle influences load distribution of each landing gear. A lateral force is exerted on the main landing gear tire, when the plane is landing asymmetrically. With landing condition becoming stable, the lateral force is eliminated

Assessment of Long-Term Watershed Management on Reservoir Phosphorus Concentrations and Export Fluxes.

Source water nutrient management to prevent eutrophication requires critical strategies to reduce watershed phosphorus (P) loadings. Shanxi Drinking-Water Source Area (SDWSA) in eastern China experienced severe water quality deterioration before 2010, but showed considerable improvement following application of several watershed management actions to reduce P. This paper assessed the changes in total phosphorus (TP) concentrations and fluxes at the SDWSA outlet relative to watershed anthropogenic P sources during 2005⁻2016. Overall anthropogenic P inputs decreased by 21.5% over the study period. Domestic sewage, livestock, and fertilizer accounted for (mean ± SD) 18.4 ± 0.6%, 30.1 ± 1.9%, and 51.5 ± 1.5% of total anthropogenic P inputs during 2005⁻2010, compared to 24.3 ± 2.7%, 8.8 ± 10.7%, and 66.9 ± 8.0% for the 2011⁻2016 period, respectively. Annual average TP concentrations in SDWSA decreased from 0.041 ± 0.019 mg/L in 2009 to 0.025 ± 0.013 mg/L in 2016, a total decrease of 38.2%. Annual P flux exported from SDWSA decreased from 0.46 ± 0.04 kg P/(ha·a) in 2010 to 0.25 ± 0.02 kg P/(ha·a) in 2016, a decrease of 44.9%. The success in reducing TP concentrations was mainly due to the development of domestic sewage/refuse collection/treatment and improved livestock management. These P management practices have prevented harmful algal blooms, providing for safe drinking water

Changes in the frequency and return level of high ozone pollution events over the eastern United States following emission controls

In order to quantify the impact of recent efforts to abate surface ozone (O3) pollution, we analyze changes in the frequency and return level of summertime (JJA) high surface O₃ events over the eastern United States (US) from 1988–1998 to 1999–2009. We apply methods from extreme value theory (EVT) to maximum daily 8-hour average ozone (MDA8 O₃) observed by the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet) and define O₃ extremes as days on which MDA8 O₃ exceeds a threshold of 75 ppb (MDA8 O₃>75). Over the eastern US, we find that the number of summer days with MDA8 O₃>75 declined on average by about a factor of two from 1988–1998 to 1999–2009. The applied generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) fits the high tail of MDA8 O₃ much better than a Gaussian distribution and enables the derivation of probabilistic return levels (describing the probability of exceeding a value x within a time window T) for high O₃ pollution events. This new approach confirms the significant decline in both frequency and magnitude of high O₃ pollution events over the eastern US during recent years reported in prior studies. Our analysis of 1-yr and 5-yr return levels at each station demonstrates the strong impact of changes in air quality regulations and subsequent control measures (e.g., the 'NOₓ SIP Call'), as the 5-yr return levels of the period 1999–2009 correspond roughly to the 1-yr return levels of the earlier time period (1988–1998). Regionally, the return levels dropped between 1988–1998 and 1999–2009 by about 8 ppb in the Mid-Atlantic (MA) and Great Lakes (GL) regions, while the strongest decline, about 13 ppb, is observed in the Northeast (NE) region. Nearly all stations (21 out of 23) have 1-yr return levels well below 100 ppb and 5-yr return levels well below 110 ppb in 1999–2009. Decreases in eastern US O₃ pollution are largest after full implementation of the nitrogen oxide (NOₓ) reductions under the 'NOₓ SIP Call'. We conclude that the application of EVT methods provides a useful approach for quantifying return levels of high O₃ pollution in probabilistic terms, which may help to guide long-term air quality planning

STAGE: Span Tagging and Greedy Inference Scheme for Aspect Sentiment Triplet Extraction

Aspect Sentiment Triplet Extraction (ASTE) has become an emerging task in sentiment analysis research, aiming to extract triplets of the aspect term, its corresponding opinion term, and its associated sentiment polarity from a given sentence. Recently, many neural networks based models with different tagging schemes have been proposed, but almost all of them have their limitations: heavily relying on 1) prior assumption that each word is only associated with a single role (e.g., aspect term, or opinion term, etc. ) and 2) word-level interactions and treating each opinion/aspect as a set of independent words. Hence, they perform poorly on the complex ASTE task, such as a word associated with multiple roles or an aspect/opinion term with multiple words. Hence, we propose a novel approach, Span TAgging and Greedy infErence (STAGE), to extract sentiment triplets in span-level, where each span may consist of multiple words and play different roles simultaneously. To this end, this paper formulates the ASTE task as a multi-class span classification problem. Specifically, STAGE generates more accurate aspect sentiment triplet extractions via exploring span-level information and constraints, which consists of two components, namely, span tagging scheme and greedy inference strategy. The former tag all possible candidate spans based on a newly-defined tagging set. The latter retrieves the aspect/opinion term with the maximum length from the candidate sentiment snippet to output sentiment triplets. Furthermore, we propose a simple but effective model based on the STAGE, which outperforms the state-of-the-arts by a large margin on four widely-used datasets. Moreover, our STAGE can be easily generalized to other pair/triplet extraction tasks, which also demonstrates the superiority of the proposed scheme STAGE.Comment: Accepted by AAAI 202