Unbalanced Exchange Research Articles

Spatiotemporally resolved characterization for analyzing the interfacial behaviors of gelation in aqueous phase separation

Precipitating polymer in a completely aqueous environment is conceptualized as a process of aqueous phase separation (APS) and lends itself to the environmentally friendly fabrication of membranes. In an effort to effectively regulate the morphological formation in APS, it is of fundamental concern to elucidate how asymmetry can be developed in the absence of an unbalanced exchange of the ‘nonsolvent’ and solvent. Therefore, technical modifications were made by this study to essentially improve the in-situ characterization based on optical coherence tomography (OCT). In particular, a process of APS was modeled by passively contacting an acidic aqueous dope of chitosan with another aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide in a mini-coagulation bath, where the OCT scan was implemented in a high speed mode to capture the onset and evolution of gelation at the coagulant-dope interface with a temporal resolution of 6.25 ms. The quantitative analysis indicated that the gelation could be initiated at the interface in a period shorter than ∼10 ms and evolved in an oscillating way; a skin layer with a smaller critical size would be formed by damping the interfacial oscillations. This study not only sheds light on the APS-based fabrication of membranes, but also establishes a novel paradigm for in-situ characterizing the film formation via an OCT-based approach.

Interprovincial inequality between economic benefit and carbon footprint: Perspective from China's Construction industry

Trade between regions not only brings about the exchange of goods and services but also leads to the transfer of emissions. As one of the larger emitting industries, the unequal exchange between environmental costs and economic benefits embodied in trade of the Construction industry has rarely been quantified. This paper applied a multi-regional input-output model to quantify the Construction-related carbon footprint (CF) and carbon emission flows among Chinese provinces. Subsequently, a regional environmental index was built to investigate the unbalanced exchange between Construction-related environmental costs and economic benefits embodied in the interprovincial trade. We found that the provincial per capita CF of Construction was unevenly distributed, with wealthier coastal regions generally having larger CF than poor inland regions. Compared with inland provinces, coastal ones have gained more economic benefits and lower environmental pressure. For example, over 75% of Construction-related carbon emissions in wealthier provinces (Beijing and Shanghai) were outsourced, while 60% of the value-added triggered by these provinces' Construction was retained within the region. However, with the progress of technology and the optimization of trade structure, the REI index decreased by about 30% during 2012–2017. This inequality problem gradually alleviated. Addressing these inequality issues could provide a basis for developing mitigation strategies across different provinces in the Construction industry.

On the Rendering of Intertextuality in Chinese-to-English Literary Translation: A Case Study on the English Translation of Renmian Taohua

Canaan Morse's translation of the novella Renmian Taohua, rendered as Peach Blossom Paradise, was the first translation of Chinese literature shortlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. This paper takes a descriptive approach to examine Morse's translation strategies and methods of rendering the intertextual representations of the source text with the aid of the analytical model proposed by Charles Bazerman. Through close reading, analysis, and comparison, this study indicates that struggling with the inherent tension between foreignization and domestication, Morse used two types of translation methods: retaining the intertextual representations of the source text; intertextually connecting the target text with target language texts or previous English translations of Chinese literature. Whichever method is chosen, the target text is always faithful to the source text at the semantic or functional level. The choice of translation strategies and methods were influenced by both individual and sociocultural factors including the translator's view on literary translation, the marginal position held by Chinese literature within the Western literary systems, and the unbalanced exchanges between China and the West.

Natural ventilation flows established by a localised heat source in a room with a doorway and a high-level vent

Ventilation flows generated by a localised heat source within a room containing two openings to the ambient environment are examined. The openings are representative of a doorway and a high-level vent, and a steady two-layer stratification of well-mixed fluid is established within the room for all cases considered. Classical displacement ventilation flow is observed when the interface between the two layers is above the height of the doorway. Displacement ventilation flow can persist when the interface within the room is below the height of the doorway; in general, however, an unbalanced exchange flow forms across the doorway and the ventilating flow is found to be dependent on the doorway aspect ratio, the doorway height relative to the room height, the effective area of the high-level vent (relative to the square of the room height) and the rate of entrainment into the plume generated by the localised heat source. An analytical model is presented which predicts the ventilation rates and temperature structures within the room for these flows. Results from analogue experiments demonstrate good agreement with the model for a wide range of the parameter space relevant to the full-scale application.

Unbalanced exchange flow and its implications for the night cooling of buildings by displacement ventilation

Passive ventilation of buildings at night forms an essential part of a low-energy cooling strategy, enabling excess heat that has accumulated during the day to self-purge and be replaced with cooler night air. Instrumental to the success of a purge are the locations and areas of ventilation openings, and openings positioned at low and at high levels are a common choice as there is then the expectation that a buoyancy-driven displacement flow will establish and persist. Desirable for their efficiency, displacement flows guide excess heat out through high-level openings and cooler air in through low-level openings. Herein we show that displacement flow cannot be maintained for the full duration of a purge. Instead, the flow must transition to an ‘unbalanced exchange flow’, whereby the cool inflow of air at low level is maintained but there is now a warm outflow and a cool inflow occurring simultaneously at the high-level opening. The internal redistribution of heat caused by this exchange alters the rate at which heat is self-purged and the time thought necessary to complete a purge. We develop a theoretical model that captures and predicts these behaviours. Our approach is distinct from all others which assume that a displacement flow will persist throughout the purge. Based on this enhanced understanding, and specifically that the transition to unbalanced exchange flow changes the rate of cooling and resultant emptying times, we anticipate that practitioners will be better placed to design passive systems that meet their target specifications for cooling.

Unbalanced Exchange Flow and its Implications

Passive ventilation of buildings at night forms an essential part of a low-energy cooling strategy, enabling excess heat that has accumulated during the day to self-purge and be replaced with cooler night air. Instrumental to the success of a purge are the locations and areas of ventilation openings, and openings positioned at low and at high levels are a standard choice as there's then the expectation that a buoyancy-driven displacement flow will establish and persist. Desirable for his or her efficiency, displacement flows guide excess heat out through high-level openings and cooler air in through low-level openings. Herein we show that displacement flow can't be maintained for the complete duration of a purge. Instead, the flow must transition to an ‘unbalanced exchange flow’, whereby the cool inflow of air at low level is maintained but there's now a warm outflow and a cool inflow occurring simultaneously at the high-level opening. The internal redistribution of heat caused by this exchange alters the rate at which heat is self-purged and the time thought necessary to complete a purge. We develop a theoretical model that captures and predicts these behaviours. Our approach is distinct from all others which assume that a displacement flow will persist throughout the purge. Based on this enhanced understanding, and specifically that the transition to unbalanced exchange flow changes the rate of cooling and resultant emptying times, we anticipate that practitioners will be better placed to design passive systems that meet their target specifications for cooling.

Improvement of mechanisms for innovative development of agriculture in Turkestan region in the context of pandemic

The article presents elements and ways to improve the mechanism of innovative development of agriculture in the Turkestan region in the context of the pandemic. Agriculture is the most important branch of agriculture, which affects the state of food security of the country and serves to develop the raw material base for the agroindustrial complex. However, the worldwide pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the development of agriculture in Kazakhstan, including the development of agriculture. This effect was observed in all sectors of the industry, therefore no doubt that the development of the agrarian economy of the Turkestan region, and accordingly obtaining effective results is impossible without innovative development in the sector and improving the mechanisms of development planning of crop production. The features of the modern development of domestic agriculture are the deterioration of its material and technical base, low investment potential of the industry, high production and financial risks, unsatisfactory condition of land, underdeveloped seed production system, as well as unbalanced intersectoral exchange. All this indicates the need for timely justification of priority areas for planning innovative development of crop production, as well as the need for a comprehensive economic assessment of their implementation. It requires in-depth study of methodological issues of implementation of technical, technological and biological innovations available on the regional, national and global agri-food markets.At the same time, during a pandemic, there is a need to change the functions of government bodies in the field of agriculture. In this regard, much attention is paid to improving the management tools of local executive bodies in the field of agriculture.

Buoyancy-driven unbalanced exchange flow through a horizontal opening

Buoyancy-driven exchange flows occur in a variety of natural and industrial situations, including nuclear and hydraulic engineering, oceanography and building ventilation. Balanced exchange flows, whereby there is simultaneously an equal volume flux transferred vertically upwards and downwards through a horizontal opening, have previously been described theoretically. However, until now there has been no theoretical description of unbalanced exchange flows, whereby the volume flux in one direction through an opening exceeds that in the other. The model developed herein examines the growth of perturbations on the density interface at an opening made in a horizontal plane that connects buoyant fluid below with denser fluid above. By considering the interface as it is advected away from the plane of the opening by a bulk flow imposed in the vertical, we quantify the exchange for the unbalanced case. The model successfully predicts the Froude number criterion, which corresponds directly to the minimum dimensionless flow rate of the imposed flow, for the onset of unbalanced exchange across circular openings found experimentally. Additionally, comparisons made between the exchanges predicted and measured show excellent agreement across the entire range of possible flows, from unidirectional flow, through unbalanced exchange to balanced exchange. Consideration is given to applications of the model to ocean outfall design and to the prediction of building ventilation flows. For natural ventilation, the theoretical model we derive for unbalanced exchange bridges the gap in the prediction of air flow rates between displacement flows, where the flow is unidirectional, and balanced exchange flows.

Pharmacological and Genomic Approaches in Management of Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited recessive autosomal disorder that affects the lungs, the digestive system, and secretory glands. It is a lethal condition caused by a mutation in the gene cystic-fibrosis-transmembrane-conductance- regulator (CFTR), which leads to defects in ion channels and results in obstruction of mucus in airway channels. Unbalanced ion exchange causes impaired water transport and accumulation of viscous mucus in the air way leads to bacterial colonization, for example, with Staphylococcus aureus. The most common mutation is the deletion of nucleotides in epithelial membrane; hence, it is a multiple-organ-defective disease that mostly effects the lungs. Researchers are working on gene therapy that aims to introduce a normal CFTR gene copy into the epithelial cells of lungs. Several approaches have been designed to improve transepithelial ion transport in CF patients. Normal CFTR gene delivery has been performed using viral and nonviral vectors, but these approaches are not more efficient against the cell barriers. Enzymes may be used that inhibit the sphingolipid to provide proper microenvironment for the CFTR gene product. Thymosin alpha-1 has also been reported as a potential corrector in treatment of CF.

Family caregiving for older adults: gendered roles and caregiver burden in emigrant households of Kerala, India

ABSTRACTThe Indian state of Kerala leads the demographic transition and characteristically showcases emigration of predominantly male adult children, leaving behind parents, spouses and children. When men emigrate, gendered contexts burden women, especially spouses and daughters-in-law, with caregiving duties including elder care. Employing the social exchange perspective and drawing on in-depth interviews of left-behind caregivers to older adults in emigrant households, we explore reciprocal motives, expectations and perceptions of burden. Findings resonate gendered expectations of care and social sanction that ensure women do much of the caregiving. Daughters-in-law sacrificed careers and endured separation from husbands to transition into caregiving roles, costs borne to effectuate their husband's filial role. Perceived non-reciprocity, unbalanced exchanges and unmet expectations increased perceptions of burden for caregivers. Temporary financial autonomy could hardly alleviate perceptions of burden among women caregivers who perceived emotional and functional support exchanges from husbands, older adults themselves or other family members as supportive.

Revisiting Rolling stones: The procurement of non-local goods in the Epipaleolithic of the Near East

At the end of the Pleistocene, the Near Eastern Epipaleolithic chrono-cultural complex experienced profound cultural changes. Among these, the acquisition of exotic goods becomes one of the hallmarks of the Late Epipaleolithic/Natufian. Research conducted in recent decades has made it possible to better understand this phenomenon. These studies concerned the movement of materials such as shells, basalt, obsidian, ochre, colored stones, as well as chert, allowing us to better define the nature of the materials in question and to propose a possible geographical origin. The research, most notably the archeometric analyses, also enabled us to outline an evolution of these practices from the late Middle Paleolithic to the Epipalaeolithic. The Geometric Kebaran-Natufian complex witnessed much more complex strategies in the acquisition of exotic raw materials and finished products. These practices have been interpreted as the result of more intense contact between groups and long-distance exchanges. The Levantine Epipalaeolithic lends itself to further reflections in the light of recent research on transegalitarian societies of hunter-gatherers. Various hypotheses are thus put forward to better understand the role played by the acquisition and exchange of exotic materials within the diverse communities of the Late Epipaleolithic in the Southern Levant. The end of the Pleistocene could be split into two worlds: a pre-Middle Epipaleolithic world with exclusively shell exchange and a Middle-Late Epipaleolithic world with intensive procurement/exchange of diverse exotic goods. These worlds would be associated with different ontologies and cosmological views. These worlds would notably translate into changes of the nature and quantity of the items exchanged, from balanced reciprocity (“A = A”) to unbalanced exchange (“A = B”). Moreover, the production and intensive movement of exotic items turned into prestige goods in the Late Epipaleolithic might provide an opportunity and be the subject of manipulation by some individuals in order to rise to a higher status.

Anastomosis placentarias intergemelares que no cruzan la membrana divisoria: fotocoagulación láser de vasos comunicantes en el síndrome de transfusión intergemelar.

El síndrome de transfusión intergemelar (STIG) resulta de un intercambio desbalanceado de sangre a través de anastomosis vasculares entre las circulaciones de ambos fetos en embarazos monocoriales. La fotocoagulación láser de vasos comunicantes se ha utilizado para detener el desarrollo del síndrome. Algunos autores han propuesto que los vasos que cruzan la membrana divisoria son ‘sospechosos’ de participar en el desarrollo del síndrome y que la fotocoagulación láser de estos es capaz de revertirlo. Presentamos dos casos de STIG tratados exitosamente con fotocoagulación láser de anastomosis intergemelares, en los cuales los vasos comunicantes no cruzaban la membrana divisoria.

Replica exchange with guided annealing for accelerated sampling of disordered protein conformations

We critically examine a recently proposed convective replica exchange (cRE) method for enhanced sampling of protein conformation based on theoretical and numerical analysis. The results demonstrate that cRE and related replica exchange with guided annealing (RE-GA) schemes lead to unbalanced exchange attempt probabilities and break detailed balance whenever the system undergoes slow conformational transitions (relative to the temperature diffusion timescale). Nonetheless, numerical simulations suggest that approximate canonical ensembles can be generated for systems with small conformational transition barriers. This suggests that RE-GA maybe suitable for simulating intrinsically disordered proteins, an important class of newly recognized functional proteins. The efficacy of RE-GA is demonstrated by calculating the conformational ensembles of intrinsically disordered kinase inducible domain protein. The results show that RE-GA helps the protein to escape nonspecific compact states more efficiently and provides several fold speedups in generating converged and largely correct ensembles compared to the standard temperature RE.

Way to calculate the time to spontaneous combustion of deposits substances having unbalanced heat exchange with the environment

The authors developed the technique, allowing to calculate the induction period of thermal spontaneous combustion of deposits having unbalanced heat exchange. Using it, it is possible to determine the thickness of the fire-prone and fire-resistant deposits on the surface of various technological equipment and the time to spontaneous combustion deposits in the given conditions.

The Role of the Altruistic Unbalanced Chain in Exchange Living Donor Renal Transplantation: Single-Center Experience

BackgroundThe exchange donor program in renal transplantation is an efficient solution for recipients with a blood type or crossmatch-incompatible donor. However, this program has some difficulties to define unacceptable human leukocyte antigen matches, deteriorating clinical potential recipient condition, and withdrawal of donor consent. We analyzed the outcomes of exchange donor renal transplantation through the altruistic unbalanced chain. MethodsAmong 152 cases of exchange donor renal transplantation from 1991 to 2010 in our hospital, we performed 58 procedures through altruistic unbalanced chains. We compared their outcomes with the direct and balanced chain group. We analyzed retrospectively whether this program expanded the donor pool, seeking better immunologic, size, and age matching. ResultsThe graft survival and acute rejection rates did not differ significantly in the two groups. Of 152 cases, 58 (38.2%) renal transplantations were performed through an unbalanced chain. Seventeen waiting list recipients were transplanted through an altruistic unbalanced chain. In blood type O recipients (n = 32), the causes of registration in the exchange program were ABO incompatibility (93.3%), and positive crossmatch (6.7%). Nine altruistic blood type O donors and 9 (28.1%) type O recipients underwent transplantations through this chain. ConclusionsWe suggest the altruistic unbalanced chain may expand the donor pool with advantages for difficult-to-match pairs. The disadvantages of type O recipients may be overcome through the use of an unbalanced chain. The altruistic unbalanced exchange transplantation program can help easy-to-match subjects, shortening the waiting periods.

Cognitive neuroscience meets mathematics education: It takes two to Tango

1. IntroductionAgainst the background of the organization of an EARLI Advanced Study Colloquium on Cognitive Neuroscience MeetsMathematics Education, we argued that the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience and education should be conceived as atwo-way street with multiple bi-directional interactions between educational research and cognitive neuroscience(De Smedt et al., 2010a).In his response to our paper, Turner (2011) provided a critical examination of the possible connections between educa-tional research and neuroscience and argued that there is currently a very unbalanced one-way exchange and dominance ofcognitive neuroscience rather than a two-way street between neuroscience and education, if, at all, such a two-way streetcan be possible. This unbalanced exchange arises because the limitations of neuroimaging research are not always clearlyarticulated and because the findings that it generates are often taken for granted and not open to critical evaluation, partic-ularly not by educational researchers. In the enthusiasm for promoting connections between neuroscience and education,behavioral studies are undervalued and neuroscience is often credited for data that are actually obtained by means of behav-ioral studies.We appreciate Turner’s (2011) efforts to undertakethis critical examination, especially because, as also highlighted by theauthor, a critical interrogation of cognitive neuroscience from within the field of education is currently missing. Withoutdoubt, neuroimaging research has its limitations, most of which are highly similar to any quantitative research method,as we will discuss further below. The important role of behavioral studies needs to be emphasized and it is inappropriateto assume that the results of one approach, such as cognitive neuroscience, are more informative or valued than the resultsof any other studies of that behavior.The author proposes that if the field of neuroscience and education wants to move forward, a critical acknowledgement ofthe strengths and weaknesses of each subfield and mutual respect for both research traditions, that (might) have distinctphilosophical backgrounds, are crucial. This aim for a balanced and complementary relationship represents exactly whatwe wanted to highlight with the idea of a two-way street scenario between neuroscience and education (De Smedt et al.,2010a). The connection between both disciplines should not be limited to a one-way street view in which findings from cog-nitive neuroscience are applied to educational theory. This would be the imbalance that Turner’s (2011) is pointing to, whereone of both partners is dominant. Clearly, the two-way street scenario is not something that has been achieved so far. Edu-cational researchers and cognitive neuroscientists should understand each other more fully than is currently the case, a chal-lenge for the future in which the role of education of researchers both in education and in cognitive neuroscience will befundamental.

Discordant Blood Chimerism in Dizygotic Monochorionic Laser-Treated Twin–Twin Transfusion Syndrome

Twin-twin transfusion syndrome occurs in 10% of monozygotic monochorionic twin gestations and results from an unbalanced exchange of blood from the donor to the recipient fetus through placental anastomoses. We present a case of twin-twin transfusion syndrome with differing fetal sex treated with in utero laser surgery. Genetic analyses showed 46,XX/46,XY hematologic chimerism in both twins at birth and at 6 months, with the recipient twin being significantly more chimeric than the donor. Placental pathologic examination confirmed monochorionicity and laser ablation of all anastomoses. Despite in utero separation of the fetal circulations remote from delivery, hematologic chimerism persisted after birth. We speculate that the greater degree of blood chimerism in the recipient compared with the donor was related to the pathophysiology of twin-twin transfusion syndrome before laser surgery.

Reciprocity in Intergenerational Support: A Comparison of Chinese and German Adult Daughters

This study investigates how Chinese and German adult daughters evaluate the norm of reciprocity and the unbalanced exchange of support in relation to their aging parents. Women from rural and urban China ( n = 292) and from Germany ( n = 264) have participated in this study. Results show that for the German daughters, differently from rural Chinese daughters, perception of imbalance is strongly related to their intention to support their elderly parents. The results for the urban Chinese daughters are closer to those of the German sample than those of the rural Chinese daughters. The results are discussed in light of theoretical approaches to intergenerational relations taking into account the Confucian concept of filial piety and influences of social change.

Os sintomas depressivos e as relações sociais na terceira idade

O artigo testa a hipótese, originada da teoria da Equidade e da teoria da Integração Social, sobre o efeito das trocas sociais nos sintomas depressivos dos idosos. A base de dados amostral original é formada por 871 idosos pesquisados no Rio Grande do Sul em 1995, dentre os quais, 551 foram re-entervistados em 1999. Análises multivariadas transversais e longitudinais estimaram efeito de duas dimensões das relações sociais (as trocas com familiares e a integração social) nos sintomas depressivos. Os resultados indicam que o desbalanço nas trocas aumenta os sintomas depressivos, e a integração social contribui para um decréscimo dos mesmos.

Spin-polarized photoelectrons from half-filled-shell atoms

A spin-polarized beam of photoelectrons of significant intensity from a closed ns{sup 2}-subshell of a spin-aligned atom having a multielectron half-filled subshell in its ground state is predicted. The polarization results from the specific properties of a half-filled shell atom due to the unbalanced exchange interaction between spin-up and spin-down electrons in the atom, both at the independent-particle and multielectron correlation levels. This mechanism causing the preferable spin orientation of outgoing photoelectrons differs from the commonly known mechanisms yielding spin-polarized photoelectrons from atoms. Calculated results for the photoionization of the valence 4s{sup 2} subshell of a spin-up oriented Mn(4s{sup 2} {sup 6}S) atom employing spin-polarized Hartree-Fock and random-phase approximation with exchange are presented, but the results are inherent properties of any half-filled subshell atom. The importance of electron correlation effects is emphasized.