滇南喀斯特典型草本植物化学计量性状对水分变化的响应特点

基于水分添加方法,研究水分胁迫对滇南喀斯特地区典型草本植物芸香草（Cymbopogon distans）和刺芒野古草（Arundinella setosa）叶片营养元素积累和化学计量性状的影响. 研究发现,两种草本植物的元素质量比有较强的相似性,其中K、Ca、Mg和Na质量比均较高. 在旱季,水分添加提高了刺芒野古草叶N、Ca、Al和Mn质量比,特别是显著促进N质量比增加. 在雨季,水分添加促进刺芒野古草N和K富集;与旱季相比,刺芒野古草叶K含量显著下降. 随着土壤水分变化,芸香草叶中大量元素内稳性高于刺芒野古草. 研究结果对气候变化形势下喀斯特断陷盆地植物生态系统的经营具有重要指导意义.       

Structural Decomposition Analysis to Investigate the Changes in Energy Consumption in Pakistan

The world energy demand is increasing due to rapid growth in the global economy, industrialization, and urbanization. Pakistan is also confronted with increasing energy demand on one hand and is confronted with the challenge of energy demand-supply gap on the other hand. Since energy is the major driver for growth, it becomes important to investigate the trends of energy consumption in a country and the factors that are most affecting the changes in the use of energy. This particular study aims to investigate the use of energy by all the economic sectors of Pakistan during 2000–2012.The major contribution is the first time application of structural decomposition analysis(SDA) for energy usage along with using Input-Output data for the period of 2002–2012. The results show the fluctuation of the energy intensity of the sectors throughout the study period. Also, the overall effect of energy intensity is negative on energy consumption and it shows a negative contribution value of-80.90% for the study period. Furthermore, the focus on more energy-intensive products like cement,automobiles, iron, steel products and the increasing final demand of the economy contributes to the growth of energy consumption in Pakistan during 2000–2012.     

Forced Oscillations of a Class of Nonlinear Dispersive Wave Equations and their Stability

It has been observed in laboratory experiments that when nonlinear dispersive waves are forced periodically from one end of undisturbed stretch of the medium of propagation, the signal eventually becomes temporally periodic at each spatial point. The observation has been confirmed mathematically in the context of the damped Korteweg-de Vries （KdV） equation and the damped Benjamin-Bona-Mahony （BBM） equation. In this paper we intend to show the same results hold for the pure KdV equation （without the damping terms） posed on a finite domain. Consideration is given to the initial-boundary-value problem {ut＋ux＋uux＋uxxx=0, u（x,0）=φ（x）, 0〈x〈1, t〉0,u（0,t）=h（t）, u（1,t） = 0, ux（1,t） = 0, t〉0.It is shown that if the boundary forcing h is periodic with small ampitude, then the small amplitude solution u of （＊） becomes eventually time-periodic. Viewing （＊） （without the initial condition） as an infinite-dimensional dynamical system in the Hilbert space L^2（0, 1）, we also demonstrate that for a given periodic boundary forcing with small amplitude, the system （＊） admits a （locally） unique limit cycle, or forced oscillation, which is locally exponentially stable. A list of open problems are included for the interested readers to conduct further investigations.     

Regulation of the bacterial cell cycle by an integrated genetic circuit

How bacteria regulate cell cycle progression at a molecular level is a fundamental but poorly understood problem. In Caulobacter crescentus, two-component signal transduction proteins are crucial for cell cycle regulation, but the connectivity of regulators involved has remained elusive and key factors are unidentified. Here we identify ChpT, an essential histidine phosphotransferase that controls the activity of CtrA, the master cell cycle regulator. We show that the essential histidine kinase CckA initiates two phosphorelays, each requiring ChpT, which lead to the phosphorylation and stabilization of CtrA. Downregulation of CckA activity therefore results in the dephosphorylation and degradation of CtrA, which in turn allow the initiation of DNA replication. Furthermore, we show that CtrA triggers its own destruction by promoting cell division and inducing synthesis of the essential regulator DivK, which feeds back to downregulate CckA immediately before S phase. Our results define a single integrated circuit whose components and connectivity can account for the cell cycle oscillations of CtrA in Caulobacter.     

Influence of alkaline treatment and fiber loading on the physical and mechanical properties of kenaf/polypropylene composites for variety of applications

Due to current trend and increasing interest towards natural based fiber products, Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) fibers have been used for the developments of many products. Therefore, Kenaf fiber-reinforced composites have been widely used in engineering and industrial applications. The present work deals with the fabricating and characterization of untreated and treated kenaf/polypropylene (PP)-reinforced composites. Composites of PP reinforced with treated and untreated kenaf fibers were fabricated using the injection molding technique. Different fiber loadings of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 wt% treated and untreated kenaf composites were also prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed on the treated, untreated kenaf fibers and kenaf/PP composites. Moreover, the alkaline-treated kenaf composites exhibit better physical, morphological, and mechanical properties because of the compatibility of kenaf with PP. However, variations in tensile and flexural properties depend on treatment and kenaf fiber contents. The percentage increase in the mechanical properties of the treated kenaf/PP composites relative to that of PP was also measured. In addition, 40 wt% kenaf fiber loading resulted in higher mechanical properties. By contrast, kenaf/PP composite with 50% fiber loading was not successfully prepared because of improper mixing and the burning of kenaf fibers in the PP matrix. To conclude, 40% kenaf/PP composites with superior physical and mechanical properties may be used in variety of applications such as automotive, sports, construction, animal bedding, and mass production industries.     

Predicting multistage financial distress: Reflections on sampling,feature and model selection criteria

This research proposes a prediction model of multistage financial distress (MSFD) after considering contextual and methodological issues regarding sampling, feature and model selection criteria. Financial distress is defined as a three‐stage process showing different nature and intensity of financial problems. It is argued that applied definition of distress is independent of legal framework and its predictability would provide more practical solutions. The final sample is selected after industry adjustments and oversampling the data. A wrapper subset data mining approach is applied to extract the most relevant features from financial statement and stock market indicators. An ensemble approach using a combination of DTNB (decision table and naïve base hybrid model), LMT (logistic model tree) and A2DE (alternative N dependence estimator) Bayesian models is used to develop the final prediction model. The performance of all the models is evaluated using a 10‐fold cross‐validation method. Results showed that the proposed model predicted MSFD with 84.06% accuracy. This accuracy increased to 89.57% when a 33.33% cut‐off value was considered. Hence the proposed model is accurate and reliable to identify the true nature and intensity of financial problems regardless of the contextual legal framework.     

Investigation of functional, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of TiO2 embedded polyester hybrid composites: A design of experiment (DoE) study

This paper presents a study on the Design of Experiments(Do E) approach to optimize the fabrication parameters of titania(TiO_2) embedded glass fiber reinforced polyester hybrid composites(HCs). HCs of unsaturated polyester resin(UPR) were fabricated using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide(MEKP) as the curing agent by hand lay-up process(HLUP) and compression molding technique(CMT). The fabrication parameters were optimized by Taguchi Do E(an orthogonal array of L25) using 3 control factors(concentration of TiO_2, concentration of MEKP and curing temperature) having 5 levels each. Statistical tools were employed to identify significant factors affecting tensile strengths and its reproducibility during HLUP. It was found that the concentration of TiO_2 in HCs significantly influenced the tensile strength(TS) followed by MEKP concentration and curing temperature. The highest value of TS was obtained at 3 wt% TiO_2, 2 wt% MEKP and 80 °C. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of TiO_2 concentration was basis for fabrication of polyester titania glass fiber hybrids(PTGFHs), which were further investigated for density and void fractions, linear shrinkage, flexural strength, impact strength, hardness and thermal behaviors. Moreover, cross-linking and hydrogen-bonding between polymeric chains, styrene, silica content of glass fiber and TiO_2 particles in PTGFHs were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.     

Tunability of physical properties of (Cd:Zn)S thin film by Close Space Sublimation Process (CSSP)

The present paper reports on a systematic study of the influence of Zn alloying on the structural and optical properties of Cd1 xZnxS thin films. X-ray diffraction study for structural analysis reveals that the two binary compounds have been completely transformed into ternary compound with hexagonal (wurtzite) structure with preferred orientation along c-direction with (002) planes. The optical properties such as optical constants and band gap energy of the films were examined by using spectroscopic ellipsometer and Photospectrometery. It was found that the optical constants (n and k) decrease with the addition of Zn content in the alloy. It was also confirmed that the band gap increases with increasing Zn amount in the alloy and is attributed to quantum size effect in the grain size. Raman spectroscopy analysis shows one dominant phonon band at 326 cm 1, the so-called longitudinal optical (LO) mode for all the alloy composition (x). The appearance of a single phonon band in the Raman spectra established the formation of single phase hexagonal structured Cd1 xZnxS thin film. The LO band is asymmetrically broaden and high frequency shifted due to potential fluctuation caused by the dopant material. The AFM results showed that the surface roughness was decreased with increasing Zn content.