On the asymptotic equilibrium of a population system with migration

In the analysis of economic and social issues of a country (or any larger or smaller socio-economic unit) the demographic dynamics of the considered population often play a crucial role. Very current emergencies in this respect are e.g. ageing, longevity risk, state-run healthcare etc. Over the last decade migration between EU countries also became an important issue, and in recent years the uncontrolled migration from non-EU countries is also a major concern. Therefore, the better theoretical understanding of the evolutionary mechanism of age-classified populations interacting via migration, is a timely modelling-methodological task. This paper is a preliminary demographic methodological contribution to a further research in support of socio-economic modelling and decision making concerning migration issues.It is known that in the framework of the classical age-specific Leslie model, under simple demographic conditions, a closed population in the long term tends to an equilibrium age distribution. As the main theoretical result of the paper, a similar convergence is proved for a system of several populations with migration between them, and this long-term behaviour (convergence theorem) is extended to systems of sex-structured populations. Based on the latter model, medium term projections are also analysed concerning the effect of migration among countries on the development of the old-age dependency ratio (the proportion of pensioner age classes to active ones), which is an aggregate scalar indicator of ageing, a major concern in most industrialized countries. Illustrative simulation analysis is carried out with data from three European countries.     

Relationship between Age and Value of Information for a Noisy Ornstein–Uhlenbeck Process

The age of information (AoI) has been widely used to quantify the information freshness in real-time status update systems. As the AoI is independent of the inherent property of the source data and the context, we introduce a mutual information-based value of information (VoI) framework for hidden Markov models. In this paper, we investigate the VoI and its relationship to the AoI for a noisy Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) process. We explore the effects of correlation and noise on their relationship, and find logarithmic, exponential and linear dependencies between the two in three different regimes. This gives the formal justification for the selection of non-linear AoI functions previously reported in other works. Moreover, we study the statistical properties of the VoI in the example of a queue model, deriving its distribution functions and moments. The lower and upper bounds of the average VoI are also analysed, which can be used for the design and optimisation of freshness-aware networks. Numerical results are presented and further show that, compared with the traditional linear age and some basic non-linear age functions, the proposed VoI framework is more general and suitable for various contexts.     

中学化学教师探究教学效能感的结构与影响因素研究

以286名职前、职后中学化学教师为研究对象,通过调查法、访谈法、统计法,探讨中学化学教师探究教学效能感的心理结构及其可能的影响因素。经因素分析发现中学化学教师的探究教学效能感存在着一定的心理结构,它包含对探究的理解、对探究教学的理解、探究与探究教学能力、对探究教学成果的期望等4个方面。教龄因素对中学化学教师探究教学效能感有显著影响,探究教学效能感随教龄的增加而表现出上升的趋势。性别、任教阶段、学校所处行政区划、学校所处地区经济发展水平、学校类型等5个因素对中学化学教师的探究教学效能感无显著影响。     

BA对大豆子叶培养物器官分化的影响及其与子叶离体时苗龄的关系

苗龄显著影响大豆子叶培养物器官分化的能力,其中３ｄ苗龄子叶的器官分化率最高．ＢＡ促进不定芽和抑制不定根形成的作用没有改变苗龄对子叶器官发生的影响趋势．ＢＡ对器官发生的影响幅度随苗龄而异,表明不同苗龄子叶对ＢＡ的反应不同．子叶器官发生的适宜苗龄和ＢＡ生理影响幅度最大的苗龄是有区别的．     

Nd-isotopic composition of Phanerozoic sediments in the Inner Zone of Southwest Japan Arc: implications on provenance characteristics and contribution to formation of mature island arc system

The Nd-isotopic data on sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of SW Japan Arc allow their discrimination into five different depleted mantle (Tdm) model age clusters, 2.6-2.45 Ga, 2.3-2.05 Ga, 1.9-1.55 Ga, 1.45-1.25 Ga, 1.2-0.85 Ga. The 2.6-2.45 Ga and 1.9-1.55 Ga model ages are also coincident with U-Pb inherited zircon ages of the above two epochs as well as the major magmatic activity in the Sino-Korean Craton (SKC). The 2.3-2.05 Ga model ages can be considered as the initial formation ages for the precursors of sedimentary rocks. The Nd-isotopic data suggest that the Hida Belt was most likely formed as a part of the SKC. The mantle underlying the Ryoke Belt had continental lithospheric signature during Triassic-Jurassic period. The 1.9-1.55 Ga model ages, especially 1.8 Ga~, can be associated with the formation of this belt. The source material for the sedimentary rocks occurring in the accretionary terrane of northeastern areas in the SW Japan Arc was probably in and around the SKC of the Ryoke Belt itself. The sedimentary rocks occurring in southwestern areas of the Arc were mainly composed of materials derived from a relatively younger source (1.45-0.85 Ga).     

A Novel 3D Cultured Model for Studying Early Changes in Age‐Related Macular Degeneration

Various in vitro culture systems have been used to investigate the pathogenesis of age‐related macular degeneration (AMD). However, many still rely on oversimplified monolayer culture models. AMD is a complex disease, associated with the pathological changes to multiple structural components such as the Bruch's membrane, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and choroidal endothelial cells. This study aims to construct a novel 3D coculture model using the polycaprolactone (PCL)‐gelatin electrospun scaffold, with human RPE cells (hRPE) and primate choroidal cells (RF‐6A). Results from this study show that PCL‐gelatin scaffolds have a highly porous ultrastructure that supports the attachment, proliferation, differentiation, and migration of the hRPEs and choroidal endothelial cells. It is also demonstrated that the PCL‐gelatin 3D coculture model may be useful in exploring the molecular interplay between the hPRE and the choroidal endothelial cells, and their effects on growth factor modulation, which may be important in the pathogenesis of AMD.     

Pulse Probiotic Superfood as Iron Status Improvement Agent in Active Women—A Review

Active women or women of reproductive age (15–49 years old) have a high risk of suffering from anaemia. Anaemia is not solely caused by iron deficiency, however, the approaches to improve iron status in both cases are greatly related. Improving the iron status of active women can be done by dietary intervention with functional food. This review aims to provide insights about the functional food role to increase iron absorption in active women and the potency of pulse probiotic superfood development in dry matrices. Results showed that the beneficial effect of iron status is significantly improved by the synergic work between probiotic and prebiotic. Furthermore, chickpeas and lentils are good sources of prebiotic and the consumption of pulses are related with 21st century people’s intention to eat healthy food. There are wide possibilities to develop functional food products incorporated with probiotics to improve iron status in active woman.     

Scheduling to Minimize Age of Incorrect Information with Imperfect Channel State Information

In this paper, we study a slotted-time system where a base station needs to update multiple users at the same time. Due to the limited resources, only part of the users can be updated in each time slot. We consider the problem of minimizing the Age of Incorrect Information (AoII) when imperfect Channel State Information (CSI) is available. Leveraging the notion of the Markov Decision Process (MDP), we obtain the structural properties of the optimal policy. By introducing a relaxed version of the original problem, we develop the Whittle’s index policy under a simple condition. However, indexability is required to ensure the existence of Whittle’s index. To avoid indexability, we develop Indexed priority policy based on the optimal policy for the relaxed problem. Finally, numerical results are laid out to showcase the application of the derived structural properties and highlight the performance of the developed scheduling policies.     

新石器时代古陶器的化学计量学研究

本工作采用化学计量学方法抽提古陶器发明和技术演变的历史信息。数据分析表明:若干早期陶器的烧制是用在土中掺入未燃烧完全的植物茎叶灰,采用含铁较高的粘土,使之含有能形成低温共熔体的氧化亚铁、磷酸盐等组分,成为能在较低温度烧结的制陶原料。因此,当时能在700~800℃低温烧制成功。其后随着窑的发明和窑技术的进步,达到1000℃以上的烧成温度,所用制陶原料亦相应发生改变。但类似的易熔组分和添加草木灰又成为配制原始瓷铀的配方,从而过渡到原始瓷器的发明的一个重要因素。     

Numerical study of short-circuiting flow and particles in a gas cyclone

Short-circuiting flow is an important secondary flow in gas cyclones, which has a negative impact on the separation performance. To improve the understanding of the short-circuiting flow and guide the optimization of gas cyclones, this paper presents a numerical study of a cyclone using computational fluid dynamics. Based on the steady flow field, three methods were adopted to investigate the formation mechanism and characteristics of the short-circuiting flow and particles. The temporal variation of the tracer species concentration distribution reveals that the formation mechanism of the short-circuiting flow is the squeeze between the airflows entering the annular space of the gas cyclone at different times. The short-circuiting flow region, distinguished through the spatial distribution of the moments of age, is characterized by a small mean age and a large coefficient of variation. The proportion of the short-circuiting particles increases with the increase of the inlet velocity only for small particles. But with the increase of particle size, the proportion of the short-circuiting particles decreases faster at higher inlet velocities, resulting in significant differences in collection efficiency curves.