254 research outputs found
Bruno Dallago & John McGowan, Crises in Europe in the Transatlantic Context: Economic and Political Appraisals
Book Revie
Interprovincial disparities in China since the reforms: convergence or divergence?
This paper investigates the extent of disparities amongst the provinces of China since the economic reform in 1978 up to the most recent year for which data is available. After a brief review of theoretical and in particular recent empirical literature on regional inequality in China it investigates whether or not the dynamic economic growth in China has been coupled with increasing disparities amongst the Chinese provinces. The paper utilises a few models of convergence along the lines of those hypothesised by neoclassical economists. It employs per capita income and per capita consumption to identify the possible absolute and conditional convergence since the economic reforms. The coverage and impact of the disparities in terms of the relative size of population affected are then taken into account in the analysis of inequality in income and consumption.China, Regional disparities, inequality, convergence
Computation and visualization of invariant manifolds
In this thesis, we start with the basic concepts of dynamical systems. Then we introduce the general types of problems that the well-known software package AUTO solves. AUTO uses a boundary value algorithm with Gauss collocation and pseudo-arclength continuation. These two features distinguish AUTO from other general ODE solvers for dynamical systems. In order to compute 2D solution manifolds, AUTO uses orbit continuation. With these tools, we study two famous problems, the Lorenz system and the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP). We briefly discuss the basic bifurcation and stability analysis of general ODE systems. The numerical analysis of the two problems leads to the newest algorithm to compute the 2D stable manifold of the origin of the Lorenz system and the 2D unstable manifold of appropriate periodic orbits of the CR3BP. We utilize Python for the flow control of AUTO. We also implement two visualization packages, QTPlaut and MATPlaut. They make possible the processing of large quantities of AUTO solution data with the OpenGL graphical library, dynamic memory allocation and interpolation methods. We conclude with prospect for future research
Fault Tolerant Free Gait and Footstep Planning for Hexapod Robot Based on Monte-Carlo Tree
Legged robots can pass through complex field environments by selecting gaits
and discrete footholds carefully. Traditional methods plan gait and foothold
separately and treat them as the single-step optimal process. However, such
processing causes its poor passability in a sparse foothold environment. This
paper novelly proposes a coordinative planning method for hexapod robots that
regards the planning of gait and foothold as a sequence optimization problem
with the consideration of dealing with the harshness of the environment as leg
fault. The Monte Carlo tree search algorithm(MCTS) is used to optimize the
entire sequence. Two methods, FastMCTS, and SlidingMCTS are proposed to solve
some defeats of the standard MCTS applicating in the field of legged robot
planning. The proposed planning algorithm combines the fault-tolerant gait
method to improve the passability of the algorithm. Finally, compared with
other planning methods, experiments on terrains with different densities of
footholds and artificially-designed challenging terrain are carried out to
verify our methods. All results show that the proposed method dramatically
improves the hexapod robot's ability to pass through sparse footholds
environment
Semibrittle seismic deformation in high-temperature mantle mylonite shear zone along the Romanche transform fault
Oceanic transform faults, a key element of plate tectonics, represent the first-order discontinuities along mid-ocean ridges, host large earthquakes, and induce extreme thermal gradients in lithosphere. However, the thermal structure along transform faults and its effects on earthquake generation are poorly understood. Here we report the presence of a 10- to 15-kilometer-thick in-depth band of microseismicity in 10 to 34 kilometer depth range associated with a high-temperature (700\ub0 to 900\ub0C) mantle below the brittle lithosphere along the Romanche mega transform fault in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The occurrence of the shallow 2016 moment magnitude 7.1 supershear rupture earthquake and these deep microearthquakes indicate that although large earthquakes occur in the upper brittle lithosphere, a substantial amount of deformation is accommodated in the semibrittle mylonitic mantle that resides at depths below the 600\ub0C isotherm. We also observe a rapid westward deepening of this band of seismicity indicating a strong lateral heterogeneity
A novel training program: laparoscopic versus robotic-assisted low anterior resection for rectal cancer can be trained simultaneously
BackgroundCurrent expectations are that surgeons should be technically proficient in minimally invasive low anterior resection (LAR)—both laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery. However, methods to effectively train surgeons for both approaches are under-explored. We aimed to compare two different training programs for minimally invasive LAR, focusing on the learning curve and perioperative outcomes of two trainee surgeons.MethodsWe reviewed 272 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic or robotic LAR by surgeons A and B, who were novices in conducting minimally invasive colorectal surgery. Surgeon A was trained by first operating on 80 cases by laparoscopy and then 56 cases by robotic-assisted surgery. Surgeon B was trained by simultaneously performing 80 cases by laparoscopy and 56 by robotic-assisted surgery. The cumulative sum (CUSUM) method was used to evaluate the learning curves of operative time and surgical failure.ResultsFor laparoscopic surgery, the CUSUM plots showed a longer learning process for surgeon A than surgeon B (47 vs. 32 cases) for operative time, but a similar trend in surgical failure (23 vs. 19 cases). For robotic surgery, the plots of the two surgeons showed similar trends for both operative times (23 vs. 25 cases) and surgical failure (17 vs. 19 cases). Therefore, the learning curves of surgeons A and B were respectively divided into two phases at the 47th and 32nd cases for laparoscopic surgery and at the 23rd and 25th cases for robotic surgery. The clinicopathological outcomes of the two surgeons were similar in each phase of the learning curve for each surgery.ConclusionsFor surgeons with rich experience in open colorectal resections, simultaneous training for laparoscopic and robotic-assisted LAR of rectal cancer is safe, effective, and associated with accelerated learning curves
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