Electro-acupuncture and Chinese herbs for treatment of cervical intervertebral disk disease in a dog

A non-ambulatory dog with tetraparesis following a pain episode that had evolved over 2 months was submitted for medical treatment and diagnosed with intervertebral disk disease at C3-C4 and dorsal extradural compression at C1-C2 and C3-C4 using myelography and computed tomography. The dog experienced ambulation recovery after 15 days of treatment with only electroacupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, with marked improvement occurring after only 10 treatments. Six months of follow-up demonstrated that the dog was stable and had no recurrence of symptoms. Therefore, it was concluded that the combination of electroacupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine was responsible for motor rehabilitation.     

Prediction of watermelon quality based on vibration spectrum

Judging watermelon quality based on its apparent properties such as size or skin color is difficult. A non-destructive method is employed here, based on vibrational response spectrum, to determine the quality indices of watermelon (Charleston gray). The responses of samples to vibration excitation were recorded by laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV). The phase shift between input and output signals were extracted over a wide frequency range. The total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and TSS/TA ratio also measured as watermelon quality characters. Stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) as well as partial least square regression (PLS) was applied to extracted vibration spectrums to construct prediction models of watermelon quality. The results showed that performance of SMLR models were better than PLS. The determination coefficients (R²) of SMLR validation models were 0.9976, 0.9985 and 0.9542 for TSS, TA and TSS/TA respectively. It is likely that reduction of cell wall materials to soluble solids during ripening process changes viscoelastic properties of watermelon reflected by vibrational response. This study demonstrated the feasibility of mentioned method for predicting the quality of watermelons in an industrial grading system.     

BP神经网络在静力触探确定单桩承载力中的应用

运用BP神经网络建立了静力触探成果与单桩承载力的相关关系，并通过工程实例将BP神经网络预报值与线性回归数学模型、规范公式方法计算值进行对比，说明BP神经网络在利用静力触探成果确定单桩承载力中是一种行之有效的方法，具有精度高，信息处理智能化等特点，计算结果明显优于传统的线性回归数学模型和规范公式方法，具有较好的应用价值。     

直接进给机构摩擦力特性研究

以直线电机驱动的直接进给机构为研究对象,进行直接进给机构摩擦力特性分析。搭建了直接进给机构摩擦力测试实验平台,采用激光干涉仪和高频电流传感器等设备进行位移和电流数据收集,进行数据处理;得到摩擦力与位移、摩擦力与速度的关系,建立摩擦力特性模型。结果表明,预滑动阶段,摩擦力存在明显的迟滞现象,且摩擦力随进给速度的增加呈线性增长,增长过程中摩擦力表现为粘滞摩擦。为直线进给机构摩擦情况的研究提供了支持和参考。     

利用广义线性模型预测家畜离散性状育种值

将广义线性混合模型(GLMM)引入动物离散性状的遗传分析及个体的遗传评定,初步比较了GLMM方法与一般线性方法(LM)的估计效果。模拟研究的性状为单阈值二项分类性状,选用的连接函数为对数连接μi=eη/(1+eη),方差函数为V(μi)=μ(i1-μi)/n,试验设计为全同胞-半同胞混合家系,参数估计采用Fisher迹法。结果表明:GLMM方法能较准确地估计公畜的个体育种值,在个体的遗传评定效果方面要明显优于常规的线性方法,其预测的育种值排序结果与真实育种值的排序之间存在极显著的相关性(P<0.001)。     

岷县黑裘皮羊体尺与体重的多元线性回归分析

为了有效保护和利用国家二级濒危动物--岷县黑裘皮羊这一地方畜禽品种,试验选取116只3～12月龄的岷县黑裘皮羊为研究对象,其中公羊42只,母羊74只。测量岷县黑裘皮羊的体长、体高、胸围、胸宽、尾宽和尾长等体尺指标,并称量其体重;采用逐步线性回归的方法建立岷县黑裘皮羊体重与体尺的多元线性回归方程。结果表明:各性状之间的表型相关均达到了显著水平(P<0.05);岷县黑裘皮公羊和母羊的多元线性回归方程分别为y=-30.672+0.033x1+0.147x2+0.729x3-0.241x4,y为体重x1,为体高,x2为体长,x3为胸围,x4为胸宽;y=-33.715+0.273x1+0.366x2+0.255x3,y为体重,x1为体高,x2为体长,x3为胸围,回归方程x与y的关系极显著。试验表明,研究所得多元线性方程可以应用于岷县黑裘皮羊良种选育实践。     

Comparing multipurpose forest management with timber management,incorporating timber,carbon and oxygen values: A case study

Abstract

This paper comparatively examines two forest management planning approaches: multipurpose forest management and traditional timber management, with carbon, timber and oxygen production objectives in mind. The effects of both approaches on carbon and oxygen values were estimated with an oxygen and carbon flow matrix, while timber production was modelled through a growth and yield model. The estimated values were simultaneously integrated into a linear programming model developed for this study. The objective was to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the profits of timber, oxygen and carbon under the constraints of an even flow of timber production and ending forest inventory for each planning approach. The results showed that the ecological and environmental regulations in multipurpose management substantially decreased the NPV of timber production even though they increased the NPV of carbon and oxygen flow. The results also indicated that over a 100 year planning horizon the total NPV of all forest ecosystem values including carbon, timber and oxygen is almost the same (only 1.9% reduction in multipurpose management approach) in both management approaches. Although multipurpose management creates more NPV of carbon and oxygen than timber management does, the latter provides better results in terms of timber production. It is therefore important to take into account the NPV of all apparent and quantifiable forest values in preparing forest management plans, particularly in developing new management planning approaches.     

Development of a linear mixed-effects individual-tree basal area increment model for masson pine in Hunan Province,South-central China

ABSTRACT

An individual-tree basal area increment model was developed for masson pine based on 26276 observations of 13,138 trees in 987 sample plots from the 7th (2004), 8th (2009), and 9th (2014) Chinese National Forest Inventory in Hunan Province, South-central China. The model was built using a linear mixed-effects approach with sample plots included as random effects since the data have a hierarchical stochastic structure and biased estimates of the standard error of parameter estimates could be a consequence of applying ordinary least square (OLS) for regression. In addition, within-plot heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation were also considered. The final mixed-effects model was determined according to the Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), log-likelihood (Loglik), and the likelihoodratio test (LRT). The results revealed that initial diameter (DBH), the sum of the basal area (m²/ha) in trees with DBHs larger than the DBH of the subject tree (BAL), number of trees per hectare (NT), and elevation (EL) had a significant impact on individual-tree basal area increment. The mixed-effects model performed much better than the basic model produced using OLS. Additionally, the variance structure of the model errors was successfully modeled using the power function. However, the autocorrelation structures were not defined because there was no autocorrelation amongst the data. It is believed that the final model will contribute to the scientific management of the masson pine.     

Application of the Tweedie distribution to zero-catch data in CPUE analysis

We focus on the zero-catch problem of CPUE (catch per unit effort) standardization. Because the traditional CPUE model with a log-normal error structure cannot be applied in this case, three methods have often been utilized as follows:

(1) Ad hoc method adds a small constant value to all response variables.

(2) Catch model with a Poisson or negative-binomial (NB) error structure.

(3) Delta-type two-step method such as the delta-normal model (after estimating the ratio of zero-catch using a logit or probit model, a model such as CPUE log-normal or Catch-Poisson is applied to CPUE without zero-data).

However, there are some statistical problems with each of these methods.In this paper, we carried out the CPUE standardization mainly using the Tweedie distribution model based on the actual by-catch data (silky shark, Carcharhimus falciformis, in the North Pacific Ocean caught by Japanese training vessels) including many observations with zero-catch (>2/3rd) and tuna fishery data as a target (yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, in the Indian Ocean caught by Japanese commercial vessels) where the ratio of zero-catch is not so high (<1/3rd). The Tweedie model is an extension of compound Poisson model derived from the stochastic process where the weight of the counted objects (i.e., number of fish) has a gamma distribution and has an advantage of handling the zero-catch data in a unified way.We also compared four candidate models, the Catch-NB model, ad hoc method, Delta-lognormal model (delta-type two-step method) and Tweedie distribution, through CPUE analyses of actual fishery data in terms of the statistical performance. Square error and Pearson's correlation coefficient were calculated based on the observed CPUE and the corresponding predicted CPUE using the n-fold cross-validation.As a result, the differences in the trend of CPUE between years and model performance between the ad hoc method and Tweedie model were found to be not so large in the example of yellowfin tuna (target species). However, the statistical performance of Tweedie distribution is rather better than Delta-lognormal model, the Catch-NB distribution and ad hoc method in the example of silky shark (by-catch species). Standardized CPUE year trend of ad hoc method was found to be quite different from that of the Tweedie distribution and other two models. Model performance of the Tweedie distribution is good judging from the 5-fold cross-validation using the fishery data if including many zero-catch data such as by-catch species.     

洛阳高山种植区牡丹花期预测模型构建与检验

针对洛阳牡丹花期与牡丹花会开幕时间不相吻合这一现象,通过研究洛阳高山种植区1992-2010年迎日红、洛阳红和首案红牡丹花期资料与气象资料,采用SPSS软件分析大气温度、地温、有效积温等与牡丹花期之间的内在关系,构建洛阳高山种植区牡丹花期预测模型。结果表明:15cm土层厚度处地温稳定通过4℃的平均温度和积温与牡丹花期有极显著的相关性。采用晚花品种构建模型预测误差范围在-2.375 2～2.456 5d,误差较小,效果较好。