Showing papers by "Hong Kong Baptist University published in 2006"
TL;DR: In this paper, a fully discrete difference scheme is derived for a diffusion-wave system by introducing two new variables to transform the original equation into a low order system of equations. And the solvability, stability and L∞ convergence are proved by the energy method.
949 citations
Book•
13 Feb 2006TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss rightful resistance and boundary-spanning claims in the context of China-US relations, and their implications for China's economic and political future.
Abstract: 1. Rightful resistance 2. Opportunities and perceptions 3. Boundary-spanning claims 4. Tactical escalation 5. Outcomes 6. Implications for China.
886 citations
TL;DR: This review covers mainly the understanding of ABA-induced changes in gene expression and their roles in physiological regulation, which has become an important and exciting research field in recent years.
833 citations
TL;DR: If mild soil drying is properly controlled during the later grain-filling period in rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), it can enhance whole-plant senescence, lead to faster and better remobilization of carbon from vegetative tissues to grains, and accelerate the grain- filling rate.
Abstract: Monocarpic plants require the initiation of whole-plant senescence to remobilize and transfer assimilates pre-stored in vegetative tissues to grains. Delayed whole-plant senescence caused by either heavy use of nitrogen fertilizer or adoption of lodging-resistant cultivars/hybrids that remain green when the grains are due to ripen results in a low harvest index with much nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) left in the straw. Usually, water stress during the grain-filling period induces early senescence, reduces photosynthesis, and shortens the grain-filling period; however, it increases the remobilization of NSC from the vegetative tissues to the grain. If mild soil drying is properly controlled during the later grain-filling period in rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), it can enhance whole-plant senescence, lead to faster and better remobilization of carbon from vegetative tissues to grains, and accelerate the grain-filling rate. In cases where plant senescence is unfavorably delayed, such as by heavy use of nitrogen and the introduction of hybrids with strong heterosis, the gain from the enhanced remobilization and accelerated grain-filling rate can outweigh the loss of reduced photosynthesis and the shortened grain-filling period, leading to an increased grain yield, better harvest index and higher water-use efficiency.
639 citations
TL;DR: The authors report the collaborative efforts of 2 research teams that independently investigated the effects of stable personality traits (the Big Five) and specific behavioral competencies (cultural flexibility, task and people orientations, and ethnocentrism) on key dimensions of expatriate effectiveness: psychological adjustment, assignment withdrawal cognitions, and job performance.
Abstract: The authors report the collaborative efforts of 2 research teams that independently investigated the effects of stable personality traits (the Big Five) and specific behavioral competencies (cultural flexibility, task and people orientations, and ethnocentrism) on key dimensions of expatriate effectiveness: psychological adjustment, assignment withdrawal cognitions, and job performance. Analyses of multiple-source and longitudinal data from 3 studies, including a diverse sample of expatriates in Hong Kong and separate samples of Korean and Japanese expatriates posted around the world, indicate several direct effects of individual differences. Further data show reliable distinctions between the traits and competencies as well as incremental prediction by either set of predictors in the presence of the others.
582 citations
TL;DR: Co-composting of pig manure with sawdust was studied in order to characterize the organic transformation during the process, using both chemical and spectroscopic methods and indicated an increase in polycondensed structures and the presence of more stable organic matter in the mature compost.
345 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined organizational antecedents of LMX and the mediating influence of empowerment on the relationships between LM and the work outcomes of job satisfaction, task performance and psychological withdrawal behavior.
338 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the pollution levels generated from electronic waste (e-waste) activities at Guiyu, Guangdong Province, China, and their potential impacts on the environment and human health were investigated.
Abstract: The disposal, recycling, and part salvaging of discarded electronic devices such as computers, printers, televisions, and toys are now creating a new set of waste problems. This study is aimed at identifying the sources and quantifying the pollution levels generated from electronic waste (e-waste) activities at Guiyu, Guangdong Province, China, and their potential impacts on the environment and human health. The preliminary results indicate that total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil obtained from a printer roller dump site was 593 µg/kg dry weight (dry wt.) and in sediment from a duck pond, the PAH concentration was 514 µg/kg (dry wt.). Sediment from the Lianjiang River was found to be contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (743 µg/kg) at a level approaching three times the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines probable effect level of 277 µg/kg. Total mono- to hepta-brominated diphenyl ether homologue concentrations (1140 and 1169 µg/kg dry wt.) in soils near dumping sites were approximately 10–60 times those reported for other polybrominated diphenyl ether-contaminated locations in the world. In-house study on the open burning of cable wires showed extremely high levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans resulting in 12419 ng toxic equivalents (TEQ)/kg of waste input and 15 610 ng TEQ/kg for two separate tests, respectively, which were about three orders of magnitude higher than those for the open burning of household waste. High levels of Cu (712, 528, and 496 mg/kg), exceeding the new Dutch list action value, were determined for soil near the printer roller dumping area, sediment from Lianjiang River, and soil from a plastic burn site, respectively. A more thorough study is underway to elucidate the extent of contamination of toxic pollutants in different ecological compartments to establish whether these pollutants are bioaccumulated and biomagnified through food chains. Assessments of human health impacts from oral intake, inhalation, and dermal contact will be subsequently investigated.
311 citations
304 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors collected air samples of total suspended particles (TSP, particles less than 30-60μm) and thirty samples of particles with aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5μm (PM2.5) at an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling site in southeast China from 16 August 2004 to 17 September 2004.
301 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2006TL;DR: This new edition of Markov Chains: Models, Algorithms and Applications has been completely reformatted as a text, complete with end-of-chapter exercises, a new focus on management science, new applications of the models, and new examples with applications in financial risk management and modeling of financial data.
Abstract: This new edition of Markov Chains: Models, Algorithms and Applications has been completely reformatted as a text, complete with end-of-chapter exercises, a new focus on management science, new applications of the models, and new examples with applications in financial risk management and modeling of financial data. This book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the classical theory on both discrete and continuous time Markov chains. The relationship between Markov chains of finite states and matrix theory will also be highlighted. Some classical iterative methods for solving linear systems will be introduced for finding the stationary distribution of a Markov chain. The chapter then covers the basic theories and algorithms for hidden Markov models (HMMs) and Markov decision processes (MDPs). Chapter 2 discusses the applications of continuous time Markov chains to model queueing systems and discrete time Markov chain for computing the PageRank, the ranking of websites on the Internet. Chapter 3 studies Markovian models for manufacturing and re-manufacturing systems and presents closed form solutions and fast numerical algorithms for solving the captured systems. In Chapter 4, the authors present a simple hidden Markov model (HMM) with fast numerical algorithms for estimating the model parameters. An application of the HMM for customer classification is also presented. Chapter 5 discusses Markov decision processes for customer lifetime values. Customer Lifetime Values (CLV) is an important concept and quantity in marketing management. The authors present an approach based on Markov decision processes for the calculation of CLV using real data. Chapter 6 considers higher-order Markov chain models, particularly a class of parsimonious higher-order Markov chain models. Efficient estimation methods for model parameters based on linear programming are presented. Contemporary research results on applications to demand predictions, inventory control and financial risk measurement are also presented. In Chapter 7, a class of parsimonious multivariate Markov models is introduced. Again, efficient estimation methods based on linear programming are presented. Applications to demand predictions, inventory control policy and modeling credit ratings data are discussed. Finally, Chapter 8 re-visits hidden Markov models, and the authors present a new class of hidden Markov models with efficient algorithms for estimating the model parameters. Applications to modeling interest rates, credit ratings and default data are discussed. This book is aimed at senior undergraduate students, postgraduate students, professionals, practitioners, and researchers in applied mathematics, computational science, operational research, management science and finance, who are interested in the formulation and computation of queueing networks, Markov chain models and related topics. Readers are expected to have some basic knowledge of probability theory, Markov processes and matrix theory.
TL;DR: The values of PAHs isomer indicated that biomass burning might be the major origin ofPAHs in rural soils, but vehicular emission around the heavy traffic roads might contribute to the soil PAHS in urban areas.
TL;DR: In this article, a review of recent progress over the past decade in the development of transition metal-based polymetallaynes and their related molecular model oligomers is presented.
TL;DR: It was found that treatment by ginsenoside Re restored the levels of both glutathione and malondialdehyde in the eye and kidney to those found in the control rats, and prevents the onset of oxidative stress in some vascular tissues.
TL;DR: Application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria and phosphate and potassium solubilizers, might play an important role in the further development of phytoremediation techniques.
TL;DR: An expanded porphyrin [26]hexaphyrin (1.1.2.1) was exploited as a fluorescent chemodosimeter for Ag + ions with high sensitivity and selectivity via near-infrared luminescence above 900 nm, a region that is free from optical interference in the visible wavelength range induced by the commonly used matrix and other organic compounds.
Abstract: An expanded porphyrin [26]hexaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1) was exploited as a fluorescent chemodosimeter for Ag + ions with high sensitivity and selectivity via near-infrared luminescence above 900 nm, a region that is free from optical interference in the visible wavelength range induced by the commonly used matrix and other organic compounds. The association constant for the Ag + –porphyrin complexation was evaluated by spectroscopic titration method to be 7.24 10 10 M 1 .
TL;DR: Plant tissue analysis showed that application of manure compost and sewage sludge could significantly reduce Pb uptake and accumulation, but not Cu in both vetiver and common reed.
TL;DR: The authors identify the rhetorical structure of the LR chapter and compare it with the revised CARS model and find that many LR chapters display an Introduction-Body-Conclusion structure, which suggests that LRs and introductions may not be structurally entirely the same.
TL;DR: PAH concentrations in the Guiyu soil were affected by the primitive E-waste recycling activities, which indicated that PAHs were mainly distributed into three groups in accordance with their ring numbers and biological and anthropogenic source.
TL;DR: More evidence-based research and chemical optimization of these compounds could further enhance the effectiveness of these plant-based medicines in angiotherapy.
TL;DR: The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) E-waste workshop as mentioned in this paper discussed the current status of Ewaste issues in the context of international material cycles and discuss the future tasks related to achieving 3R in the region.
Abstract: Rapid economic growth in Asia and the increasing transboundary movement of secondary resources will increasingly require both 3R endeavors (reduce, reuse, recycle) in each country and appropriate control of international material cycles. Recently, managing electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) has become an important target for domestic and international material cycles from the viewpoints of environmental preservation and resource utilization efficiency. To understand the current status of E-waste issues in the context of international material cycles and to discuss the future tasks related to achieving 3R in the region, we organized the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) E-waste Workshop in December 2004. This article reviews past studies on E-waste and briefly describes the topics presented and discussions held at the workshop. The topics at the workshop included E-waste generation, recycling systems, international trade, and environmental impacts. In addition, we discussed various issues such as terminology, current environmental concerns, and possible solutions. Transboundary shipments of E-waste should be conducted taking into consideration the concept of sustainable development. The direction of future research and possible collaborations are also discussed.
01 Aug 2006
TL;DR: Experimental results show that the difference of the average recognition accuracy between the proposed incremental method and the batch-mode method is less than 1%.
Abstract: Principal component analysis (PCA) has been proven to be an efficient method in pattern recognition and image analysis. Recently, PCA has been extensively employed for face-recognition algorithms, such as eigenface and fisherface. The encouraging results have been reported and discussed in the literature. Many PCA-based face-recognition systems have also been developed in the last decade. However, existing PCA-based face-recognition systems are hard to scale up because of the computational cost and memory-requirement burden. To overcome this limitation, an incremental approach is usually adopted. Incremental PCA (IPCA) methods have been studied for many years in the machine-learning community. The major limitation of existing IPCA methods is that there is no guarantee on the approximation error. In view of this limitation, this paper proposes a new IPCA method based on the idea of a singular value decomposition (SVD) updating algorithm, namely an SVD updating-based IPCA (SVDU-IPCA) algorithm. In the proposed SVDU-IPCA algorithm, we have mathematically proved that the approximation error is bounded. A complexity analysis on the proposed method is also presented. Another characteristic of the proposed SVDU-IPCA algorithm is that it can be easily extended to a kernel version. The proposed method has been evaluated using available public databases, namely FERET, AR, and Yale B, and applied to existing face-recognition algorithms. Experimental results show that the difference of the average recognition accuracy between the proposed incremental method and the batch-mode method is less than 1%. This implies that the proposed SVDU-IPCA method gives a close approximation to the batch-mode PCA method
31 Oct 2006
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a contextualisation of the concept of Contra-flow in the context of post-colonization and transnational cultural studies and argue that the cultural logic of Uneven globalization can be found in the history of transnational cultures.
Abstract: Part I: Contextualising Contra-Flow 1. Mapping Global Flow and Contra-Flow 2. Diasporas and Contra-Flows Beyond National Centricism 3. Thinking Through Contra-flows: Perspectives from Post-colonial and Transnational Cultural Studies Part II: The Non-Western Media in Motion 4. Contra-Flow or the Cultural Logic of Uneven Globalization: Japanese Media in the Global Agora 5. Bollywood and the Frictions of Global Mobility 6. Brazil and the Globalization of Telenovelas 7. Challenger or Lackey? The Politics of News on al-Jazeera Part III: Regional Perspectives on Flow and Contra-Flow 8. The Rising Korean 'Wave': Korean Media Go Global 9. South Africa as a Regional Media Power 10. Flows and Contra-Flows in Transitional Societies 11. Facing the Challenge of Global Competition: Chinese News in Transition Part IV: Moving Media - From the Margins to the Mainstream? 12. Alternative Re-Framing of Mainstream Media Frames 13. Transnational Feminism and the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan 14. The Islamic Internet: Authority, Authenticity and Reform
TL;DR: An extensive study of the two-segment Frenkel-Kontorova model is conducted, showing that the rectification effect of the heat flux reported in recent literature is possible only in the weak interfacial coupling limit.
Abstract: In this Letter, we conduct an extensive study of the two-segment Frenkel-Kontorova model. We show that the rectification effect of the heat flux reported in recent literature is possible only in the weak interfacial coupling limit. The rectification effect will be reversed when the properties of the interface and the system size change. These two types of asymmetric heat conduction are governed by different mechanisms though both are induced by nonlinearity. An intuitive physical picture is proposed to interpret the reversal of the rectification effect. Since asymmetric heat conduction depends critically on the properties of the interface and the system size, it is probably not an easy task to fabricate a thermal rectifier or thermal diode in practice.
TL;DR: In this article, a bias correction to achieve the standard X2-limit is proposed. But the bias correction is not asymptotically tractable, since the index is of norm 1.
Abstract: Summary. Empirical-likelihood-based inference for the parameters in a partially linear singleindex model is investigated. Unlike existing empirical likelihood procedures for other simpler models, if there is no bias correction the limit distribution of the empirical likelihood ratio cannot be asymptotically tractable. To attack this difficulty we propose a bias correction to achieve the standard X2-limit. The bias-corrected empirical likelihood ratio shares some of the desired features of the existing least squares method: the estimation of the parameters is not needed; when estimating nonparametric functions in the model, undersmoothing for ensuring In-consistency of the estimator of the parameters is avoided; the bias-corrected empirical likelihood is self-scale invariant and no plug-in estimator for the limiting variance is needed. Furthermore, since the index is of norm 1, we use this constraint as information to increase the accuracy of the confidence regions (smaller regions at the same nominal level). As a by-product, our approach of using bias correction may also shed light on nonparametric estimation in model checking for other semiparametric regression models. A simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the bias-corrected empirical likelihood. An application to a real data set is illustrated.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the feasibility of admittance spectroscopy and susceptance analysis in the determination of the charge-carrier mobility in an organic material and found that the susceptance is related to the carrier transport properties of the materials.
Abstract: We examine the feasibility of admittance spectroscopy (AS) and susceptance analysis in the determination of the charge-carrier mobility in an organic material. The complex admittance of the material is analyzed as a function of frequency in AS. We found that the susceptance, which is the imaginary part of the complex admittance, is related to the carrier transport properties of the materials. A plot of the computer-simulated negative differential susceptance versus frequency yields a maximum at a frequency τr−1. The position of the maximum τr−1 is related to the average carrier transit time τdc by τdc=0.56τr. Thus, knowledge of τr can be used to determine the carrier mobility in the material. Devices with the structure ITO/4,4′,4″ -tris[N, -(3-methylphenyl)-N-phenylamino] triphenylamine/Ag have been designed to investigate the validity of the susceptance analysis in the hole mobility determination. The hole mobilities were measured both as functions of the electric field and the temperature. The hole mobi...
TL;DR: The molecular structures of the (p-R-phenyl)dimesitylboranes, which have been determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements, offer evidence of increased conjugation in the ground state with increased donor strength of the R substituent.
Abstract: The (p-R-phenyl)dimesitylboranes (R=Me(2)N, MeO, MeS, Br, I), (p-R-phenylethynyl)dimesitylboranes (R=Me(2)N, MeO, MeS, H), (E)-[2-(p-R-phenyl)ethenyl]dimesitylboranes (R=Me(2)N, H(2)N, MeO, MeS, H, CN, NO(2)), (E)-[2-(2-thienyl)ethenyl]dimesitylborane, and (E)-[2-(o-carboranyl)ethenyl]dimesitylborane have been prepared through the reaction of the appropriate p-R-phenyl- and p-R-phenylethynyllithium reagents with dimesitylboron fluoride and by hydroboration of the appropriate p-R-phenylacetylene, 2-ethynylthiophene, and o-ethynylcarborane with dimesitylborane. Their UV/Vis absorption and emission spectra have been recorded in a range of solvents with the fluorescence maxima of the donor-substituted compounds in particular exhibiting large bathochromic shifts in highly polar solvents, indicative of charge transfer leading to large dipole moments in the excited state. The molecular structures of the (p-R-phenyl)dimesitylboranes (R=Me(2)N, MeO, MeS, Br, I), the (E)-[2-(p-R-phenyl)ethenyl]dimesitylboranes (R=Me(2)N, H(2)N MeO, MeS, H), (p-R-phenylethynyl)dimesitylborane (R=Me(2)N), and (E)-[2-(2-thienyl)ethenyl]dimesitylborane, which have been determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements, offer evidence of increased conjugation in the ground state with increased donor strength of the R substituent. Their first- and second-order molecular hyperpolarizabilities have been obtained from EFISH and THG measurements, the first-order hyperpolarizabilities being largest for the strongest R-substituent donors. AM1 calculations have been performed on these compounds, showing reasonable agreement with the experimentally obtained bond lengths and hyperpolarizabilities, as well as on several related hypothetical compounds containing multiple C==C bonds, most of which are proposed to have even larger hyperpolarizabilities.
TL;DR: Data underpin the anti-tumor property of Rg3 through its angiosuppressive activity.
TL;DR: In this paper, two new phosphorescent iridium(111) cyclometalated complexes, [Ir(DPA-Flpy) 3 ] (1) and [Ir[DPA]-Flpy 2 (acac)] (2) have been synthesized and chaaracterized.
Abstract: Two new phosphorescent iridium(111) cyclometalated complexes, [Ir(DPA-Flpy) 3 ] (1) and [Ir(DPA-Flpy) 2 (acac)] (2) ((DPA-Flpy)H = (9,9-diethyl-7-pyridinylfluoren-2-yl)diphenylamine, Hacac = acetvlacetone), have been synthesized and chaaracterized. The incorporation of electron-donating diphenylamino groups to the fluorene skeleton is found to increase the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) levels and add hole-transporting ability to the phosphorescent center. Both complexes are highly amorphous and morphologically stable solids and undergo glass transitions at 160 and 153°C. respectively. These iridium phosphors emit bright yellow to orange light at room temperature with relatively short lifetimes (< 1 μs) in both solution and the solid state. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) fabricated using 1 and 2 as phosphorescent dopant emitters constructed with a multilayer configuration show very high efficiencies. The hoinoleplic iridium complex 1 is shown to be a more efficient electrophosphor than the heleroleptic congener 2. Efficient electrophosphorescence with a maximum external quantum efficiency close to 10 % ph/el (photons per electron), corresponding to a luminance efficiency of ∼30 cd A -1 and a power efficiency of ∼21 1m W -1 , is obtained by using, 5 wot.-% 1 as the guest dopant.