New finite-time synchronization conditions of delayed multinonidentical coupled complex dynamical networks.

In this article, we mainly focus on the finite-time synchronization of delayed multinonidentical coupled complex dynamical networks. By applying the Zero-point theorem, novel differential inequalities, and designing three novel controllers, we obtain three new criteria to assure the finite-time synchronization between the drive system and the response system. The inequalities occurred in this paper are absolutely different from those in other papers. And the controllers provided here are fully novel. We also illustrate the theoretical results through some examples.

Finite-time stability of equilibrium solutions for the inertial neural networks via the figure analysis method.

The existence and finite-time stability (FTS) of equilibrium point (EP) for a kind of inertial neural networks (INNS) with varying-time delays is studied. Firstly, by adopting the degree theory and the maximum-valued method, a sufficient condition in the existence of EP is attained. Then by adopting the maximum-valued approach and the figure analysis approach, without adopting the matrix measure theory, linear matrix inequality (LMI), and FTS theorems, a sufficient condition in the FTS of EP for the discussed INNS is proposed.

Novel Finite-Time Synchronization Criteria for Inertial Neural Networks With Time Delays via Integral Inequality Method.

In this paper, we are concerned with the finite-time synchronization of a class of inertial neural networks with time delays. Without applying some finite-time stability theorems, which are widely applied to studying the finite-time synchronization for neural networks, by constructing two Lyapunov functions and using integral inequality method, two sufficient conditions on the finite-time synchronization for a class of inertial neural networks with time delays are derived. Considering that the method and research results of the finite-time synchronization are different from some existing works, this paper extends the works on the finite-time synchronization of neural networks.

An integrated environmental improvement of marshlands: impact on control and elimination of schistosomiasis in marshland regions along the Yangtze River, China.

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is a global snail-transmitted infectious disease of poverty. Transmission control had been achieved in China in 2015 after the control efforts for over 60 years. Currently, the remaining core regions endemic for Schistosoma japonicum are mainly located in the marshland and lake regions along the Yangtze River basin. METHODS: During the period from 2001 through 2015, an integrated environmental improvement of the marshlands was carried out through the implementation of industrial, agricultural and resources development projects in Yizheng County along the Yangtze River. S. japonicum infection in humans, livestock and snails was estimated by serology, stool examination, hatching technique and microscopy during the 15-year study period to evaluate the effect of the integrated environmental improvement on control and elimination of schistosomiasis. RESULTS: A 0.05% overall rate of S. japonicum infection was observed in snails during the 15-year study period, and no infected snails were detected since 2012. The overall prevalence of S. japonicum infection was 0.09% in humans during the study period, and no human infection was found since 2012. In addition, only 13 bovines were identified with S. japonicum infection in 2003 during the 15-year study period, and since 2004, no infection was found in livestock. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study demonstrate that the implementation of industrial, agricultural and water resources development projects, not only alters snail habitats in marshland regions, and promotes local economic development, which appears a win-to-win strategy to block the transmission of S. japonicum and accelerate socio-economic development along the Yangtze River.

West African monsoon decadal variability and surface-related forcings: Second West African Monsoon Modeling and Evaluation Project Experiment (WAMME II).

The second West African Monsoon Modeling and Evaluation Project Experiment (WAMME II) is designed to improve understanding of the possible roles and feedbacks of sea surface temperature (SST), land use land cover change (LULCC), and aerosols forcings in the Sahel climate system at seasonal to decadal scales. The project's strategy is to apply prescribed observationally based anomaly forcing, i.e., "idealized but realistic" forcing, in simulations by climate models. The goal is to assess these forcings' effects in producing/amplifying seasonal and decadal climate variability in the Sahel between the 1950s and the 1980s, which is selected to characterize the great drought period of the last century. This is the first multi-model experiment specifically designed to simultaneously evaluate such relative contributions. The WAMME II models have consistently demonstrated that SST forcing is a major contributor to the 20th century Sahel drought. Under the influence of the maximum possible SST forcing, the ensemble mean of WAMME II models can produce up to 60% of the precipitation difference during the period. The present paper also addresses the role of SSTs in triggering and maintaining the Sahel drought. In this regard, the consensus of WAMME II models is that both Indian and Pacific Ocean SSTs greatly contributed to the drought, with the former producing an anomalous displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) before the WAM onset, and the latter mainly contributes to the summer WAM drought. The WAMME II models also show that the impact of LULCC forcing on the Sahel climate system is weaker than that of SST forcing, but still of first order magnitude. According to the results, under LULCC forcing the ensemble mean of WAMME II models can produces about 40% of the precipitation difference between the 1980s and the 1950s. The role of land surface processes in responding to and amplifying the drought is also identified. The results suggest that catastrophic consequences are likely to occur in the regional Sahel climate when SST anomalies in individual ocean basins and in land conditions combine synergistically to favor drought.

[Improvement of root parameters in land surface model (LSM )and its effect on the simulated results].

In order to improve root parameterization in land surface model, the sub-model for root in CERES-Maize was coupled in the SSiB2 after calibrating of maize parameters in SSiB2. The effects of two improved root parameterization schemes on simulated results of land surface flux were analyzed. Results indicated that simulation accuracy of land surface flux was enhanced when the root module provided root depth only with the SSiB2 model (scheme I). Correlation coefficients between observed and simulated values of latent flux and sensible flux increased during the whole growing season, and RMSE of linear fitting decreased. Simulation accuracy of CO2 flux was also enhanced from 121 days after sowing to mature period. On the other hand, simulation accuracy of the flux was enhanced when the root module provided root depth and root length density simultaneously for the SSiB2 model (scheme II). Compared with the scheme I, the scheme II was more comprehensive, while its simulation accuracy of land surface flux decreased. The improved root parameterization in the SSiB2 model was better than the original one, which made simulated accuracy of land-atmospheric flux improved. The scheme II overestimated root relative growth in the surface layer soil, so its simulated accuracy was lower than that of the scheme I.

[Integration and demonstration of key techniques in the surveillance and forecast of schistosomiasis in Jiangsu Province II Molluscicidal effect of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules in large-scale settings].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the field molluscicidal effect of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules, so as to provide a novel Oncomelania hupensis snail control approach for emergency treatment of high-risk settings. METHODS: Snail control tests with spraying of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules were conducted in two settings of 2 counties, and the dose-, time- and setting-specific field molluscicidal effects were tested. RESULTS: In the small-scale setting, spraying of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules at doses of 30, 40 and 50 g/m2 resulted in 54.55%, 68.41% and 73.45% 1-day snail mortality, 57.27%, 68.59% and 80.28% 3-day snail mortality, and 63.49%, 77.58% and 85.55% 7-day snail mortality, respectively, and no significant differences were detected in 1- and 3-day snail mortality caused by spraying of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules at doses of 30 and 40 g/m2 (all P > 0.05), while significant difference was found in the 7-day snail mortality (χ2 = 4.549, P < 0.05). In addition, spraying of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules at doses of 40 and 50 g/m2 resulted in comparable 1-, 3- and 7-day snail mortality (all P > 0.05). In the large-scale setting, spraying of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules at a dose of 40 g/m2 resulted in 85.29% and 87.70% 3-day snail mortality, 83.89% and 91.02% 7-day snail mortality, and 83.41% and 91.84% 15-day snail mortality in the environment-cleaning group and non-cleaning group, respectively. The overall snail mortality was 90.02% in the environment-cleaning group 3 to 15 days after spraying, which was significantly higher than that (84.28%) in the non-cleaning group (χ2 = 9.950, P < 0.05). After 15 days of spraying with 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules at a dose of 40 g/m2, the densities of living snails reduced from 19.90 and 19.83 snails/0.1 m2 to 0.60 and 2.60 snails/0.1 m2 in the environment-cleaning group and non-cleaning group, with 96.98% and 86.89% reductions, respectively. CONCLUSION: The appropriate dose of 5% niclosamide ethanolamine granules is 40 g/m2 for snail control in the field, and environment cleaning of vegetation with a height of more than 50 cm may improve the molluscicidal efficacy.

[Correlation between schistosomiasis endemic situation and Oncomelania snail status in Yizheng City, Jiangsu province from 2002 to 2011].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the correlation between schistosomiasis endemic situation and Oncomelania snail status, and discuss the control strategy and measures. METHODS: With a retrospective research method, the data were collected and analyzed including the snail area, infected snail area, snail density, density of infected snails, the infection rate of snails, the positive rates of blood tests and stool examinations for schistosomiasis in residents and domestic animals, and the incidence of acute schistosome infection in Yizheng City from 2002 to 2011. The correlation between the infected snails and schistosomiasis was analyzed. RESULTS: There were decline trends in snail area, infected snail area, and schistosomiasis situation. There were positive correlations between the infected snail area and snail area (r = 0.732, P < 0.05), the occurrence of acute schistosomiasis patients and infected snail area (r = 0.678, P < 0.05), and the snail area and schistosome infection rate of residents (r = 0.774, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In order to control schistosomiasis, we need to control infected snails, reduce snail areas, and implement comprehensive control measures.

Global asymptotic stability to a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays.

In this paper, we first discuss the existence of a unique equilibrium point of a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays by means of the Homeomorphism theory and inequality technique. Then, by applying the existence result of an equilibrium point and constructing a Lyapunov functional, we study the global asymptotic stability of the equilibrium solution to the above Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type. In our results, the hypothesis for boundedness in the existing paper, which discussed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks of neutral type on the activation functions, are removed. Finally, we give an example to demonstrate the validity of our global asymptotic stability result for the above neural networks.

[Effect of water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects in rivers and estuaries connecting with the Yangtze River on Oncomelania snail control].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects in rivers and estuaries connecting with the Yangtze River on Oncomelania snail control. METHODS: Three water conservancy schistosomiasis control projects of Laobianmin River, Panjia River and Bianmin River were chosen for the objects of the study. The concrete slope protection and the overflow dam, the concrete slope protection and the check sluice, and the simple concrete slope protection were built respectively in above mentioned three rivers. The changes of the area with snails and density of snails were investigated before and after the interventions, and the results were compared among the three projects. RESULTS: In the condition of the routine snail control with the molluscicide, the snails were eliminated in the main riverway of the Laobianmin River, but the snails still existed in the target protected area (tributaries of the river and irrigation areas); the snails were eliminated in the Panjia River and its irrigation areas; in the Bianmin River, the areas with snails dropped by 89.22% in the main river and still remained in the tributaries and irrigation areas after the project implementation. CONCLUSIONS: The sluice and overflow dam more contribute to control and eliminate snails in the project areas and the target protected areas in the rivers and estuaries connecting with the Yangtze River. The priority of consideration should be given to the water level control and prevention of snail spreading in the water level instability rivers connecting with the Yangtze River.

Existence and global exponential stability of a periodic solution to interval general bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with multiple delays on time scales.

In this paper, we first investigate the existence of a periodic solution to interval general bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with multiple delays on time scales by the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory. Then, by constructing a Lyapunov functional, we discuss the global exponential stability of the periodic solution for such neural networks on time scales. The paper unifies periodic discrete-time and continuous-time BAM neural networks under the same framework.

Global exponential stability of interval general BAM neural networks with reaction-diffusion terms and multiple time-varying delays.

In this paper, we first discuss the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium point of interval general BAM neural networks with reaction-diffusion terms and multiple time-varying delays by means of using degree theory. Then by applying the existence result of an equilibrium point and constructing a Lyapunov functional, we discuss global exponential stability for above neural networks. In the last section, we also give an example to demonstrate the validity of our global exponential stability result for above neural network.

Fine mapping and isolation of Bc7(t), allelic to OsCesA4.

Several brittle culm mutants of rice were identified and characterized. In this study, we characterized a brittle mutant (bc7(t)) identified from japonica variety Zhonghua 11 by means of 60Co-gamma radiation. This mutant displays normal phenotype similar to its wild type plants except for the fragility of all plant body, with approximately 10% decrease in the cellulose content. The genetic analysis and gene fine mapping showed that the bc7(t) mutant was controlled by a recessive gene, residing on an 8.4 kb region of the long arm of chromosome 1. The gene annotation indicated that there was only one putative gene encoding cellulose synthase catalytic subunit (CesA) in this region, which was allelic to OsCesA4. Furthermore, the sequence analysis was carried out and 7 bases deletion in the junction of exon 10 and intron 10 was done in bc7(t) mutant, resulting in the change of reading frame and the consequent failure to generate functional protein. In addition, the result of RNA interference experiment showed that when the Bc7(t) was knocked down, the transplants exhibited fragility, similar to bc7(t) mutant. The finding of novel allele of OsCesA4 locus will facilitate the understanding of the mechanism of cell wall biosynthesis. The potential utilization of the bc7(t) mutant in animal food was discussed as well.