Public Housing of Early Modern Tianjin (1928-1937)

Societal reform, the planning and construction of public housing and the introduction of new building typologies went hand in hand in early modern China. Western and Japanese debates on public housing served as models, and Chinese scholars and professionals with the support of the KMT (Kuomintang) developed public housing as a sign of innovation both in terms of societal organization and building typology. Using the under-researched case of Tianjin’s public housing in the so-called Golden Decade (1928 -1937) as a case study, the paper first explores how journals and foreign trained Chinese scholars introduced the concept of modern housing to China through publications, and early constructions. Notably the YMCA Labours Model New Village in Shanghai impressed the KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek. It then explores three public housing projects developed for Tianjin, only one of which was realized. Exploring the locations, architectural designs, renting regulations and management rules of these projects, the paper argues that these projects (both planned and realized) aimed mostly at poor families, and served as a means to solve housing problems and reform society as well as to police the poor. The public housing projects in this period formed the foundation for later public housing in China

Quasi-unit regularity and QB-rings

Some relations for quasiunit regular rings and QB-rings, as well as for pseudounit regular rings and QB ∞-rings, are obtained. In the first part of the paper, we prove that (an exchange ring R is a QB-ring) ⟺ (whenever x ∈ R is regular, there exists a quasiunit regular element w ∈ R such that x = xyx = xyw for some y ∈ R) ⟺ (whenever aR + bR = dR in R; there exists a quasiunit regular element w ∈ R such that a + bz = dw for some z ∈ R). Similarly, we also give necessary and sufficient conditions for QB ∞-rings in the second part of the paper.Отримано деякi спiввiдношення для квазiодиничних регулярних кiлець та QB-кiлець, а також для псевдоодиничних регулярних кiлець та QB∞-кiлець. У першiй частинi статтi доведено, що (кiльце R з властивiстю замiни є QB-кiльцем) ⇔ (якщо x∈R є регулярним, то iснує квазiодиничний регулярний елемент w∈R такий, що x=xyx=xyw для деякого y∈R) ⇔ (якщо aR+bR=dR in R в R, то iснує квазiодиничний регулярний елемент w∈R такий, що a+bz=dw для деякого z∈R). Аналогiчним чином отриманi необхiднi та достатнi умови для QB∞-кiлець наведено у другiй частинi статтi

Physiology of red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees: Implications for management

Resin flow and tree moisture stress, frequently used as indicators of pine susceptibility to pine bark beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm.) attack, were measured in loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf (P. echinata Mill.) pines red-cockaded woodpecker [Picoides boreal& (Vieillot)] cavity trees in the Angelina and Davy Crockett National Forests in eastern Texas. No differences in moisture stress were found, whereas resin flow between different types of cavity trees and control or potential trees varied by site and species. It was concluded that effects of red-cockaded woodpecker activity on host tree susceptibility to southern pine beetle will vary by site, tree species, and host tree condition. Forest management activities and general forest health are much more important for the bird’s long-term survival

Comparison of Tree Condition and Value for City Parks and Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S.

Trees in landscapes are valued for physical as well as aesthetic benefits and biodiversity. Trees on a university campus and in city parks also help to provide an environment in which students and visitors can study and relax. A critical decision facing urban foresters, arborists, and planners involves deciding when an existing tree should be removed and replaced; it is a decision often based on an evaluation of the tree’s health, condition, and safety concerns. This project surveyed a total of 3,335 trees with 79 species on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S.) and 1,572 trees with 44 species in Nacogdoches city parks. Tree health and replacement values of the two groups were statistically compared, as were the diversities of the two. Finally, the tree health conditions and distributions were spatially analyzed using a geographic information system. Although there was statistical evidence indicating that the campus trees were significantly healthier than the city park trees, neither of their biodiversity status was desirable. It is important to identify and remove trees with extensive wood decay and introduce new species when performing forest maintenance and management

Establishment of a Standardized Liver Fibrosis Model with Different Pathological Stages in Rats

Objective. To establish a standardized animal model for liver fibrosis with the same assessment criteria for liver fibrosis studies that have been established on a unified platform. Methods. The standardized liver fibrosis model was established using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats that either received an intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in small dosages or ingested an ethanol solution. Results. The definite corresponding rules among modeling of different weeks and corresponding serology indices as well as different pathological staging can be observed by modeling with small dosages and slow, individualized, and combined administrations. Conclusion. This method can be used for the standardized establishment of a liver fibrosis model in rats across 5 pathological stages, ranging from S0 to S4, with a high success rate (89.33%) and low death rate (17.3%) because of the application of multiple hypotoxic chemicals for modeling. We refer to the criteria of Histological Grading and Staging of Chronic Hepatitis for Fibrosis established by the 10th World Digestive Disease Academic Conference in Los Angeles in September 1994 (revised in November 2000)

Adaptive Initialization Method Based on Spatial Local Information for k

k-means algorithm is a widely used clustering algorithm in data mining and machine learning community. However, the initial guess of cluster centers affects the clustering result seriously, which means that improper initialization cannot lead to a desirous clustering result. How to choose suitable initial centers is an important research issue for k-means algorithm. In this paper, we propose an adaptive initialization framework based on spatial local information (AIF-SLI), which takes advantage of local density of data distribution. As it is difficult to estimate density correctly, we develop two approximate estimations: density by t-nearest neighborhoods (t-NN) and density by ϵ-neighborhoods (ϵ-Ball), leading to two implements of the proposed framework. Our empirical study on more than 20 datasets shows promising performance of the proposed framework and denotes that it has several advantages: (1) can find the reasonable candidates of initial centers effectively; (2) it can reduce the iterations of k-means’ methods significantly; (3) it is robust to outliers; and (4) it is easy to implement

The First Release of the CSTAR Point Source Catalog from Dome A, Antarctica

In 2008 January the 24th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to DomeA, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5degree x 4.5degree field of view (FOV). It operates robotically as part of the Plateau Observatory, PLATO, with each telescope taking an image every 30 seconds throughout the year whenever it is dark. During 2008, CSTAR #1 performed almost flawlessly, acquiring more than 0.3 million i-band images for a total integration time of 1728 hours during 158 days of observations. For each image taken under good sky conditions, more than 10,000 sources down to 16 mag could be detected. We performed aperture photometry on all the sources in the field to create the catalog described herein. Since CSTAR has a fixed pointing centered on the South Celestial Pole (Dec =-90 degree), all the sources within the FOV of CSTAR were monitored continuously for several months. The photometric catalog can be used for studying any variability in these sources, and for the discovery of transient sources such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and minor planets.Comment: 1 latex file and 9 figures The paper is accepted by PAS

The sky brightness and transparency in i-band at Dome A, Antarctica

The i-band observing conditions at Dome A on the Antarctic plateau have been investigated using data acquired during 2008 with the Chinese Small Telescope ARray. The sky brightness, variations in atmospheric transparency, cloud cover, and the presence of aurorae are obtained from these images. The median sky brightness of moonless clear nights is 20.5 mag arcsec^{-2} in the SDSS $i$ band at the South Celestial Pole (which includes a contribution of about 0.06 mag from diffuse Galactic light). The median over all Moon phases in the Antarctic winter is about 19.8 mag arcsec^{-2}. There were no thick clouds in 2008. We model contributions of the Sun and the Moon to the sky background to obtain the relationship between the sky brightness and transparency. Aurorae are identified by comparing the observed sky brightness to the sky brightness expected from this model. About 2% of the images are affected by relatively strong aurorae.Comment: There are 1 Latex file and 14 figures accepted by A