A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, ...A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, a merit function method for solving nonlinear complementarity problem is investigated, and the global convergence of the proposed algorithm is proved under some standard assumptions. Some preliminary numerical results are given.展开更多
Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of...Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of foods,enhancing convenience of foods,facilitating food processing,and satisfying other demands. However,excessive and illegal use of food additives will exert adverse influence on food security.Therefore,it is required to take proper measures to bring merits of food additives into full play,and get rid of their demerits.展开更多
We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon senso...We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon sensor is 317 nm/RIU, and the FOM is predicted to be above 8, which is very high for a localized surface plasmon sensor. By employing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis （RCWA） method, we analyze the distribution of the magnetic field and find that the sensing property of our proposed system is attributed to the interactions between the localized surface plasmon around the gold nanostrips and the surface plasmon polarition on the surface of the gold planar metallic film. These findings are important for developing high FOM localized surface plasmon sensors.展开更多
Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of mer...Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of merit analysis was re-examined for a hybrid solar-geothermal power plant. A new definition of the figure of merit was introduced specifically for a solar boosted geothermal plant to include both the technical and economic factors. The new definition was then applied in a case study of a hypothetical demonstration hybrid solar-geothermal power plant in Australia. The power plant was considered to have a typical net power output of 2.2 MW with a solar energy fraction of 27%. The analysis was performed to compare the power output and capital cost of the hybrid plant with the state-of-the-art (SoA) and existing stand-alone solar and geothermal plants. Based on the new definition, the hybrid plant was found to generally outperform the two existing stand-alone plants. Moreover, at an ambient temperature of 5 °C, the hybrid plant was found to outperform the SoA stand-alone plants when the geothermal temperature was greater than 150 °C. For geothermal temperature of 180 °C on the other hand, the hybrid plant outperformed the SoA stand-alone plants at ambient temperatures lower than 33 °C.展开更多
Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this...Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this thesis tends to reveal Aristotle's large and enduring influence on modern literary criticism.展开更多
Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal...Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal with nonlinear complementarity problem where the underlying function is assumed to be a continuous but not necessarily locally Lipschitzian map and gives a descent algorithm for solving the nonsmooth continuous complementarity problems. In addition, the global convergence of the derivative free descent algorithm is also proved.展开更多
Dr. Samuel M. Cohen of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who has recently published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences （Cohen et al., 2016）, is the recipient of the Merit Award from the Society of Tox...Dr. Samuel M. Cohen of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who has recently published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences （Cohen et al., 2016）, is the recipient of the Merit Award from the Society of Toxicology （USA）. ＂The Merit Award is presented to a member of the Society of Toxicology in recognition of distinguished contributions to toxicology throughout an entire career in areas such as research, teaching, regulatory activities, consulting and service to the Society＂ （SOT, 2016a）. Dr. Cohen is professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. He serves in the Depart- ment of Pathology and Microbiology, as well as the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer. He also is staff pathologist with Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Orthopedics Hospital in Omaha. and the Bellevue Medical Center.展开更多
A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition techniq...A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition technique. The structural, thermal and electrical properties are studied and presented in detail, which demonstrate that the material is of semiconductor type, orthorhombic structure, with a band gap in the order of 1.56eV and a free carrier concentration of 1.46 × 10^17 cm-3. The thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conduction mode, Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are determined using the photo-thermal deflection technique combined with the Boltzmann transport theory and Cahill＇s model, showing that the AgsSnS6 material has a low thermal conductivity of 3.8 Wm - 1K- 1, high electrical conductivity of 2.4 × 10^5 Sm- 1, Seebeck coefficient of -180μVK-1 and a power factor of 6.9mWK-2m-1, implying that it is more efficient than those obtained in recently experimental investigations for thermoelectric devices.展开更多
In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance ad...In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance adaptations in recreational runners.展开更多
The beam pointing is the most crucial issue for beam combining to achieve high energy laser output. In order to meet the turbulence situation, a beam pointing method that cooperates with the stochastic parallel gradie...The beam pointing is the most crucial issue for beam combining to achieve high energy laser output. In order to meet the turbulence situation, a beam pointing method that cooperates with the stochastic parallel gradient descent(SPGD) algorithm is proposed. The power-in-the-bucket(PIB) is chosen as the merit function, and its radius changes gradually during the correction process. The linear radius and the exponential radius are simulated. The results show that the exponential radius has great promise for beam pointing.展开更多
With growing tendency and widespread application, TBLT has attracted considerable attention from educator teachers,theorists and researchers. The paper commences by offering some influential definitions of‘task',...With growing tendency and widespread application, TBLT has attracted considerable attention from educator teachers,theorists and researchers. The paper commences by offering some influential definitions of‘task', varying classifications of differ-ent types of task, and criteria for judging a task. Then, compared with teaching approaches before the emergence of CLT, TBLT isnew and has many distinct merits. Meanwhile, since it is a newly-established approach, some problems and difficulties in comple-menting TBLT are inevitable. A number of genuine issues raised in Asian language teaching classrooms are examined.展开更多
Piezoelectric MEMS speakers,an emerging technology with great promise,face significant challenges in performance evaluation and rational design.Their broadband nature means that responses at every frequency point acro...Piezoelectric MEMS speakers,an emerging technology with great promise,face significant challenges in performance evaluation and rational design.Their broadband nature means that responses at every frequency point across the whole operating bandwidth contribute to performance,yet there is no widely recognized weighting approach for fair evaluation.This absence of quantitative criteria makes objective comparisons of different designs difficult,slowing the adoption of new design concepts;and it leads to ambiguous design goals without response balance across frequency bands.Additionally,the current design methods rely on labor-intensive simulations,further prolonging the development process.To address these challenges,two figures of merit(FOMs)obtained via theoretical deduction are proposed in this study.These FOMs facilitate the evaluation of key metrics,such as sound pressure level and energy efficiency over a wide frequency range,enabling quantitative comparisons among various speaker designs.On the basis of FOMs,the design process can be simplified into a single-objective optimization problem,significantly streamlining the speaker design.Using this method,piezoelectric MEMS speakers with ultra-high FOMs and superior performance are demonstrated.The normalized SPLs at 1 and 10 kHz reach an impressive 76.6 and 86.6 dB/mm^(2)/V_(rms),respectively,with normalized sensitivities of 91.2 and 91.5 dB/mm2/mW.This achievement validates our FOM theory,representing a notable advancement in the field.展开更多
A model of a novel 1-3-type composite containing two ferroelectric components is put forward.In this composite,ferroelectric single crystal(SC)rods and ferroelectric ceramic rods are distributed in a polymer matrix.Fo...A model of a novel 1-3-type composite containing two ferroelectric components is put forward.In this composite,ferroelectric single crystal(SC)rods and ferroelectric ceramic rods are distributed in a polymer matrix.For a lead-free 1-1-3 composite based on domain-engineered[Li_(x)(K_(1-y)Na_(y))_(1-x)](Nb_(1-z)Ta_(z))O_(3):Mn SC,effective piezoelectric coeficients d_(3j)^(*);and g_(3j)^(*)and energy-harvesting figures of merit(FOMs)d_(3j)^(*)g_(3j)^(*),are studied taking an active influence of the feroelectric components into account.In a new m-m_(c)diagram,regions of volume fractions of SC(m)and ceramic(m_(c))are determined where FOM d_(33)^(*)g_(33)^(*)changes from 6.10^(-11)to 9·10^(-11)Pa^(-1).Efective parameters of the 1-1-3 and related 1-0-3 composites are compared,and consistency is shown.The large longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient g_(33)^(*)and FOM d_(33)^(*)g_(33)^(*)of the lead-free 1-1-3 composite are to be of interest in piezoelectric sensoricsand energy harvesting.展开更多
A well-functioned society depends on its ability to nurture,attract,and deploy talents in critical sectors.However,the implementation of some meritocratic principles to allocate positions often leads to unjust social ...A well-functioned society depends on its ability to nurture,attract,and deploy talents in critical sectors.However,the implementation of some meritocratic principles to allocate positions often leads to unjust social hierarchies.Is there,then,a solution to meritocracy’s dysfunctional hierarchical effects?This paper attempts to answer this by drawing on the real-world cases of Singapore and the USA to investigate the relationship of toxic social hierarchies with meritocracy.It proposes three solutions to curb the unjustifiable social stratifications and the erosion of social cooperation often associated with social meritocracy.These reflections could help to shed light on the grounds for the ongoing debates on social hierarchies and provide valuable insights into how to weigh up existing socio-political structures.展开更多
Purpose:Accounts for failures of merit pay in educational settings were stagnated by the“political obstruction hypothesis,”which blamed teacher unions for impeding the merit pay schemes from proper function.It requi...Purpose:Accounts for failures of merit pay in educational settings were stagnated by the“political obstruction hypothesis,”which blamed teacher unions for impeding the merit pay schemes from proper function.It required stronger evidence from both public and private schools to refute this hypothesis.Design/Approach/Methods:Accountability typology was conceptualized to uncover the power relations underpinning merit pay schemes,and teachers'motivational status was described from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory(SDT)to analyze the corresponding consequences.One public school and three private schools were purposefully sampled,and data included principal interviews,teacher interviews,school documents,and relevant policy documents.Findings:Our findings suggested an opposite conclusion to the“political obstruction hypothesis”that the more dependent on market,the more intense the conflict between external accountabilities and the nature of teaching.Thus,we supported the“nature of teaching hypothesis”that merit pay was inapplicable in educational settings due to the inherent contradictions between market accountability and professional accountability.Originality/Value:Policymakers and school administrators had been misled by the neoliberal initiative of borrowing merit pay into educational settings to promote the quality of teaching.Our findings provided strong evidence to refute this hypothesis and to restore the appreciation of professional autonomy.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(10871144)the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin(07JCYBJC05200)
文摘A family of merit functions are proposed, which are the generalization of several existing merit functions. A number of favorable properties of the proposed merit functions are established. By using these properties, a merit function method for solving nonlinear complementarity problem is investigated, and the global convergence of the proposed algorithm is proved under some standard assumptions. Some preliminary numerical results are given.
文摘Food additive is a double-edged sword. It has merits and demerits. Food additives have such merits as improving sensory properties of foods,preventing deterioration and extending the shelf life,increasing varieties of foods,enhancing convenience of foods,facilitating food processing,and satisfying other demands. However,excessive and illegal use of food additives will exert adverse influence on food security.Therefore,it is required to take proper measures to bring merits of food additives into full play,and get rid of their demerits.
基金Project supported by the National Key Research Program of China(Grant No.2011ZX01015-001)
文摘We investigate the sensitivity and figure of merit （FOM） of a localized surface plasmon （LSP） sensor with gold nanograting on the top of planar metallic film. The sensitivity of the localized surface plasmon sensor is 317 nm/RIU, and the FOM is predicted to be above 8, which is very high for a localized surface plasmon sensor. By employing the rigorous coupled-wave analysis （RCWA） method, we analyze the distribution of the magnetic field and find that the sensing property of our proposed system is attributed to the interactions between the localized surface plasmon around the gold nanostrips and the surface plasmon polarition on the surface of the gold planar metallic film. These findings are important for developing high FOM localized surface plasmon sensors.
文摘Figure of merit analysis is a general methodology used to evaluate whether a hybrid power plant could produce more power than two stand-alone power plants. In this paper, the assessment methodology using figure of merit analysis was re-examined for a hybrid solar-geothermal power plant. A new definition of the figure of merit was introduced specifically for a solar boosted geothermal plant to include both the technical and economic factors. The new definition was then applied in a case study of a hypothetical demonstration hybrid solar-geothermal power plant in Australia. The power plant was considered to have a typical net power output of 2.2 MW with a solar energy fraction of 27%. The analysis was performed to compare the power output and capital cost of the hybrid plant with the state-of-the-art (SoA) and existing stand-alone solar and geothermal plants. Based on the new definition, the hybrid plant was found to generally outperform the two existing stand-alone plants. Moreover, at an ambient temperature of 5 °C, the hybrid plant was found to outperform the SoA stand-alone plants when the geothermal temperature was greater than 150 °C. For geothermal temperature of 180 °C on the other hand, the hybrid plant outperformed the SoA stand-alone plants at ambient temperatures lower than 33 °C.
文摘Aristotle's Poetics represents the first major work of literature criticism. In this masterpiece,Aristotle expresses his literary and aesthetical theories. By introducing the merits in Aristotle's Poetics,this thesis tends to reveal Aristotle's large and enduring influence on modern literary criticism.
基金Supported by the National Science foundation of China(10671126, 40771095)the Key Project for Fundamental Research of STCSM(06JC14057)+1 种基金Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project(S30501)the Innovation Fund Project for Graduate Students of Shanghai(JWCXSL0801)
文摘Under some assumptions, the solution set of a nonlinear complementarity problem coincides with the set of local minima of the corresponding minimization problem. This paper uses a family of new merit functions to deal with nonlinear complementarity problem where the underlying function is assumed to be a continuous but not necessarily locally Lipschitzian map and gives a descent algorithm for solving the nonsmooth continuous complementarity problems. In addition, the global convergence of the derivative free descent algorithm is also proved.
文摘Dr. Samuel M. Cohen of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who has recently published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences （Cohen et al., 2016）, is the recipient of the Merit Award from the Society of Toxicology （USA）. ＂The Merit Award is presented to a member of the Society of Toxicology in recognition of distinguished contributions to toxicology throughout an entire career in areas such as research, teaching, regulatory activities, consulting and service to the Society＂ （SOT, 2016a）. Dr. Cohen is professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. He serves in the Depart- ment of Pathology and Microbiology, as well as the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer. He also is staff pathologist with Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Orthopedics Hospital in Omaha. and the Bellevue Medical Center.
基金Supported by the Scientific Research Deanship of University of Dammam under Grant No 2014264
文摘A new thermoelectric material Ag8SnS6, with ultra-low thermal conductivity in thin film shape, is prepared on indium tin oxide coated g/ass （ITO） substrates using a chemical process via the electrodeposition technique. The structural, thermal and electrical properties are studied and presented in detail, which demonstrate that the material is of semiconductor type, orthorhombic structure, with a band gap in the order of 1.56eV and a free carrier concentration of 1.46 × 10^17 cm-3. The thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, thermal conduction mode, Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity are determined using the photo-thermal deflection technique combined with the Boltzmann transport theory and Cahill＇s model, showing that the AgsSnS6 material has a low thermal conductivity of 3.8 Wm - 1K- 1, high electrical conductivity of 2.4 × 10^5 Sm- 1, Seebeck coefficient of -180μVK-1 and a power factor of 6.9mWK-2m-1, implying that it is more efficient than those obtained in recently experimental investigations for thermoelectric devices.
文摘In a recent issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science,García-Pinillos et al.~1 reviewed evidence on the effects of highintensity intermittent training(interval training)(HIIT)on muscular and performance adaptations in recreational runners.
基金supported by the Changchun Technology Project(No.2013270)
文摘The beam pointing is the most crucial issue for beam combining to achieve high energy laser output. In order to meet the turbulence situation, a beam pointing method that cooperates with the stochastic parallel gradient descent(SPGD) algorithm is proposed. The power-in-the-bucket(PIB) is chosen as the merit function, and its radius changes gradually during the correction process. The linear radius and the exponential radius are simulated. The results show that the exponential radius has great promise for beam pointing.
文摘With growing tendency and widespread application, TBLT has attracted considerable attention from educator teachers,theorists and researchers. The paper commences by offering some influential definitions of‘task', varying classifications of differ-ent types of task, and criteria for judging a task. Then, compared with teaching approaches before the emergence of CLT, TBLT isnew and has many distinct merits. Meanwhile, since it is a newly-established approach, some problems and difficulties in comple-menting TBLT are inevitable. A number of genuine issues raised in Asian language teaching classrooms are examined.
基金the funding from National Key Research and Development Program(No.2020YFB2008800)。
文摘Piezoelectric MEMS speakers,an emerging technology with great promise,face significant challenges in performance evaluation and rational design.Their broadband nature means that responses at every frequency point across the whole operating bandwidth contribute to performance,yet there is no widely recognized weighting approach for fair evaluation.This absence of quantitative criteria makes objective comparisons of different designs difficult,slowing the adoption of new design concepts;and it leads to ambiguous design goals without response balance across frequency bands.Additionally,the current design methods rely on labor-intensive simulations,further prolonging the development process.To address these challenges,two figures of merit(FOMs)obtained via theoretical deduction are proposed in this study.These FOMs facilitate the evaluation of key metrics,such as sound pressure level and energy efficiency over a wide frequency range,enabling quantitative comparisons among various speaker designs.On the basis of FOMs,the design process can be simplified into a single-objective optimization problem,significantly streamlining the speaker design.Using this method,piezoelectric MEMS speakers with ultra-high FOMs and superior performance are demonstrated.The normalized SPLs at 1 and 10 kHz reach an impressive 76.6 and 86.6 dB/mm^(2)/V_(rms),respectively,with normalized sensitivities of 91.2 and 91.5 dB/mm2/mW.This achievement validates our FOM theory,representing a notable advancement in the field.
基金supported by the Southern Federal University(research topic“Development and Materials-Science Substantiation of the Creation of Materials and Products Based on Piezoelectric Ceramics Using Additive Technologies,”Contract No.176/22-D,July 11 th,2022).
文摘A model of a novel 1-3-type composite containing two ferroelectric components is put forward.In this composite,ferroelectric single crystal(SC)rods and ferroelectric ceramic rods are distributed in a polymer matrix.For a lead-free 1-1-3 composite based on domain-engineered[Li_(x)(K_(1-y)Na_(y))_(1-x)](Nb_(1-z)Ta_(z))O_(3):Mn SC,effective piezoelectric coeficients d_(3j)^(*);and g_(3j)^(*)and energy-harvesting figures of merit(FOMs)d_(3j)^(*)g_(3j)^(*),are studied taking an active influence of the feroelectric components into account.In a new m-m_(c)diagram,regions of volume fractions of SC(m)and ceramic(m_(c))are determined where FOM d_(33)^(*)g_(33)^(*)changes from 6.10^(-11)to 9·10^(-11)Pa^(-1).Efective parameters of the 1-1-3 and related 1-0-3 composites are compared,and consistency is shown.The large longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient g_(33)^(*)and FOM d_(33)^(*)g_(33)^(*)of the lead-free 1-1-3 composite are to be of interest in piezoelectric sensoricsand energy harvesting.
基金the Research programme‘Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies’,the Gravitation programme of the Dutch Ministry of Education,Culture,and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research,(Grant No.[024.004.031]).
文摘A well-functioned society depends on its ability to nurture,attract,and deploy talents in critical sectors.However,the implementation of some meritocratic principles to allocate positions often leads to unjust social hierarchies.Is there,then,a solution to meritocracy’s dysfunctional hierarchical effects?This paper attempts to answer this by drawing on the real-world cases of Singapore and the USA to investigate the relationship of toxic social hierarchies with meritocracy.It proposes three solutions to curb the unjustifiable social stratifications and the erosion of social cooperation often associated with social meritocracy.These reflections could help to shed light on the grounds for the ongoing debates on social hierarchies and provide valuable insights into how to weigh up existing socio-political structures.
文摘Purpose:Accounts for failures of merit pay in educational settings were stagnated by the“political obstruction hypothesis,”which blamed teacher unions for impeding the merit pay schemes from proper function.It required stronger evidence from both public and private schools to refute this hypothesis.Design/Approach/Methods:Accountability typology was conceptualized to uncover the power relations underpinning merit pay schemes,and teachers'motivational status was described from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory(SDT)to analyze the corresponding consequences.One public school and three private schools were purposefully sampled,and data included principal interviews,teacher interviews,school documents,and relevant policy documents.Findings:Our findings suggested an opposite conclusion to the“political obstruction hypothesis”that the more dependent on market,the more intense the conflict between external accountabilities and the nature of teaching.Thus,we supported the“nature of teaching hypothesis”that merit pay was inapplicable in educational settings due to the inherent contradictions between market accountability and professional accountability.Originality/Value:Policymakers and school administrators had been misled by the neoliberal initiative of borrowing merit pay into educational settings to promote the quality of teaching.Our findings provided strong evidence to refute this hypothesis and to restore the appreciation of professional autonomy.
