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Xinyi Dai, Shu Tang Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jinling Institute of Technology, Nanjing, 210038, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xinyi Dai, Email emma2242020@126.comBackground: Research on the restorative environment has long focused on the natural environment, while the research on the humanistic social environment is still in its infancy. In particular, there has been no special research on the restoration of festival environments.Methods: Based on attention restoration theory (ART), Rites of Passage, and social time, a theoretical model of the restorativeness of folk festival environments was established. Through an empirical study of the Qinhuai Lantern Festival Event, the model was tested by structural equation modeling.Results: Overall, there were two paths, direct and indirect, for the positive prediction of restoration by being away and compatibility; fascination direct positive predict restoration, and extent could indirectly positive predict restoration through liminal experience; time of visiting played a moderating role in the positive prediction of liminal experience by being away; the direct positive prediction of restoration by extent was significant and moderating during the Lantern Festival and the lantern fair period.Conclusion: The folk festival environment is restorative. Folk festival environment restoration has the internal mechanism of “environment restoration feature perception → liminal experience → restoration”. The restoration of the folk festival environment is moderated by social time.Significance: This is the first time that attention restoration theory (ART) has been applied to the study of a “hard fascination” humanistic social environment, thus yielding empirical evidence for the development of this theory. The results suggest management requirements for the improvement of the indication system of festival tourism destinations and the promotion of rest and leisure facilities, and management tips for the timing decision of festival activities against the background of the COVID-19 epidemic.Keywords: restorative environment, folk festival environment, liminal experience, social time

Two new guaiacene-type sesquiterpenes 13α-dihydroixerin acid, ixerin acid and one new secoguaiacene-type sesquiterpene secoixerin Z, along with four known compounds, were separated from ethanol extract of Ixeris sonchifolia. The structures were determined based on the detailed spectroscopic and physicochemical methods. The cytotoxic activity of the isolates was tested against A549 cells. Among them, compound 3 exhibited potent cytotoxicity against A549 cells with the IC50 of 5.6 ± 0.9 µM.

In a power system with a high proportion of renewable energy, sudden increases in wind power or photovoltaic output can lead to huge challenges, such as difficulties in accommodating excess renewable energy and imbalances between supply and demand on the grid. As an important adjustable resource on the demand side, air conditioning load is a flexible load for realizing output consumption. In this paper, a heterogeneous air conditioning load regulation strategy for renewable energy consumption is proposed. Each air conditioning load regulation quantity is obtained based on the day-ahead dispatching mode. Then, the temperature setting value, rated power, and duty cycle are selected as the indexes. The load regulation sequence is obtained by the entropy weight method. Finally, the load regulation time of each air conditioning load is obtained based on the constraint of the quantity of loads during the possible adjustment time. The simulation analysis shows that the temperature regulation strategy presented in this paper can effectively reduce the power fluctuations of air conditioning loads, while ensuring that users with lower temperature settings are selected in the adjustment process.

A new species of Anacardiaceae, Toxicodendron oligophyllum S. L. Tang, Liang Ma & S. P. Chen, from eastern Fujian Province, China, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, the leaf of T. oligophyllum includes only 3–5 leaflets which is the least number in all known species of Toxicodendron. Additionally, the length of inflorescence equal to which of the leaf can also be used as a well diagnostic characters to distinguish the new species from the other Toxicodendron. The phylogeny of Toxicodendron using the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and chloroplast (trnL-F) sequences was reconstructed. The result showed the new species is sister to T. sylvestre (Sieb. & Zucc.) Kuntze.

Fiber-based activated carbons were prepared from phenolic and rayon fibers through physical activation methods. The raw materials were activated using steam and CO2, and the resultant activated carbons were characterized for pore distribution, textural properties and heavy metals removal. Two commercial activated carbon fibers, namely Fe400 and A10 were also employed for comparison. Activated carbon fiber with a higher specific surface area of 2938 m2/g was prepared from phenolic fiber by steam activation at 900 °C for 1 h. The material is microporous with pores concentrated at supermicropore region. The activated carbon fiber also demonstrates a greater removal of copper(II) and lead(II) at 50% and 75%, respectively, tied-up with its textural properties.

The fundamental understanding about dielectric properties is not completely understood even though it is crucial in microwave-assisted heating. The present work was aimed at evaluating the dielectric properties of reagent mixtures and solids of potassium hydroxide-treated castor residue carbons at varying frequencies and temperatures. Chemical treatment at solid mass ratios (KOH pellet:castor residue) of 0.0 to 2.0 in 50 mL water was carried out using a microwave oven at 70% intensity. The dielectric properties were determined using an open-ended co-axial probe. Results show that the dielectric properties of materials changed with frequency, temperature, water content and ionic strength. Also, the presence of potassium hydroxide solution aids in improving the propensity of castor residue to be heated via microwave. The potassium hydroxide-treated carbons exhibit a 90% removal efficiency of methylene blue at Co = 189 mg/L.

Phyllactinia himalayensis I. Zafar, Afshan & Khalid sp. nov. (Figs 2, 3) MycoBank no. 843800 Diagnosis:— Phyllactinia himalayensis is distinguished from the phylogenetically allied species Ph. betulae and Ph. linderae by its large-sized chasmothecia, up to 280 µm diam., rather shorter appendages, 68‒184 µm, small ascospores, 10‒20 × 7‒13 µm, and its distinct position in the phylogenetic analysis. Type:— PAKISTAN. Azad Jammu & Kashmir: Poonch, 33.76°N, 74.09°E, 1,006 m alt., on leaves of Juglans regia L., 9 Dec. 2021, I. Zafar and N. S. Afshan [AJK-07] (LAH 37119 – holotype). GenBank accession number: (ON 332255). Etymology:— the species epithet refers to the type locality, Himalayan forest, Pakistan. Description:— MYCELIUM hypophyllous, external, effuse, evanescent.CHASMOTHECIA scattered to gregarious, black, globose to subglobose, 190‒280 µm diam. PERIDIUM CELLS conspicuous, regularly hexagonal, sometimes polygonal, 7‒20 µm diam. APPENDAGES equatorial, 6–12, stiff, 68‒184 µm long and 5‒12 µm wide, bulbous basal swelling 21‒27 × 33‒40 µm, apex pointed, 0.5‒1 times as long as the chasmothecial diam., thick-walled, up to 6 µm wide below. ASCI 5‒10, broad ellipsoid, obovoid, clavate, 55‒86 × 20‒38 µm, short stalked, content yellowish, wall up to 3 µm thick, 2‒3-spored. ASCOSPORES ellipsoid to ovoid, 10‒20 × 7‒13 µm, colourless, sometimes yellowish. Additional material examined:— PAKISTAN. Azad Jammu & Kashmir: District Bagh, 33.9735°N, 73.7918°E, 1676 m alt., on leaves of Juglans regia, 9 Oct. 2020, I. Zafar and N.S. Afshan [AJK-30] (LAH 37118). GenBank accession number: (ON 332222).

In this study, we present a subannual–biannual-resolved (0.9–2 years) ASM intensity record spanning from 11.6 to 10.0 ka BP (before 1950 AD) inferred from a 230Th-dated travertine δ18O record at Zhangjia Ravine on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The ZJG-1 δ18O sequence is characterized by high-frequency fluctuations at decadal to centennial scales. Fluctuating between - 11.15‰ and - 14.78‰ over the δ18O sequence, the fluctuation range gradually decreased from 11.6 to 10.0 ka BP. There are several abrupt changes in the δ18O sequence, which indicate that the ASM in the early Holocene was highly unstable. Comparison with marine records suggests that the Preboreal oscillation (PBO) event could be triggered by a freshwater outburst which led to/resulted in a sudden release of thousands of cubic kilometers of the meltwater to the North Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, the climate oscillations during the PBO were associated with the complex interplay of solar activity and freshwater outburst, the freshwater outburst may amplify the effect of solar activity when it was in the minima. The rapid warming after the PBO event may be controlled by the common mechanism that induced the Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events during the last glacial period. The further pronounced increases of the travertine δ18O values occurred at about 10.3 ka BP, coinciding roughly with Bond 7 event, also caused by the freshwater outburst and solar activity. This study is not only important to understand the primary driving force of the ASM intensity in the early Holocene, but also essential for evaluate the probability of abrupt climate changes in the future. &nbsp

Toxicodendron oligophyllum S. L. Tang, Liang Ma & S. P. Chen, sp. nov. (Fig. 2 & Fig. 3: A–G). This new species is similar to T. acuminatum (DC.) C. Y. Wu & T. L. Ming, T. succedaneum (L.) Kuntze and T. sylvestre (Sieb. & Zucc.) Kuntze, but can be distinguished by its glabrous branchlet, leaf and inflorescence, 3–5 leaflets, and the length of inflorescence equal to the leaf. Type: — CHINA, Fujian: Yongtai County, terrestrial in evergreen broad-leaved forests on cliffs formed by weathering of volcanic rocks, alt. 733 m, May 2019, MA 20190519 (holotype, FJFC!; isotype, CSH!). Deciduous trees or small trees to 12 m tall; phloem with white latex and turning black upon air exposure; branchlets and buds purple-brown, glabrous. Petiole 3–5 cm, petiole and rachis slender, glabrous; leaf blade imparipinnately compound, 10–15 cm long; leaflets 3–5, opposite; leaflet petiolule indistinct or 2–7 mm long; leaflet blade ovate to ovate-elliptic, 5–7 × 2–4 cm, thinly leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, adaxially dark-green, abaxially glaucous, margin entire, base ± oblique, broadly cuneate or rounded, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate; lateral veins 15– 20 pairs, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence paniculate, 10–15 cm long, many branched, glabrous. Pedicel 4–5 mm long; flowers yellowish green, ca. 2 mm in diam. Calyx glabrous, lobes broadly ovate, ca. 1 × 0.8 mm, obtuse apically. Petals oblong, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm, obtuse apically, with ± conspicuous featherlike venation pattern, revolute at anthesis. Stamens exserted; filaments linear, ca. 2 mm long; anthers ovoid-oblong, ca. 1 mm long. Disk 5-lobed. Ovary globose, ca. 8 mm in diam., glabrous. Drupe large, asymmetrical, ca. 8 mm in diam., compressed, apex eccentric; epicarp thin, glabrous, lucid, separating; mesocarp thick, waxy, with brown longitudinal resin ducts; endocarp compressed, ca. 3 × 5 mm. Phenology: The species blooms from May to June and fruits from June to October. Etymology: The species epithet refers to its characteristic of having the least number of leaflets in this genus. Chinese name: Ṫ叶¨ (shao ye qi). Distribution and habitat: It mainly grows on cliffs formed by the weathering of volcanic rocks at altitudes of 300– 900 m. It is so far only known from the type locality, i.e. Yongtai County, including Chibi Village, Tianmen Mountain Ecological Scenic Spot and Ximen Village, Fujian Province of China. Conservation State: At present, the new species is only found from its type locality with five populations. Each population of T. oligophyllum is comprised of approximately 200 mature individuals. We believe further observation is needed to find out other locality of the species and therefore, yet we suggest the species to be assessed as Data Deficient (DD; IUCN, 2019).

Toxicodendron oligophyllum S. L. Tang, Liang Ma & S. P. Chen, sp. nov. (Fig. 2 & Fig. 3: A–G). This new species is similar to T. acuminatum (DC.) C. Y. Wu & T. L. Ming, T. succedaneum (L.) Kuntze and T. sylvestre (Sieb. & Zucc.) Kuntze, but can be distinguished by its glabrous branchlet, leaf and inflorescence, 3–5 leaflets, and the length of inflorescence equal to the leaf. Type: — CHINA, Fujian: Yongtai County, terrestrial in evergreen broad-leaved forests on cliffs formed by weathering of volcanic rocks, alt. 733 m, May 2019, MA 20190519 (holotype, FJFC!; isotype, CSH!). Deciduous trees or small trees to 12 m tall; phloem with white latex and turning black upon air exposure; branchlets and buds purple-brown, glabrous. Petiole 3–5 cm, petiole and rachis slender, glabrous; leaf blade imparipinnately compound, 10–15 cm long; leaflets 3–5, opposite; leaflet petiolule indistinct or 2–7 mm long; leaflet blade ovate to ovate-elliptic, 5–7 × 2–4 cm, thinly leathery, glabrous on both surfaces, adaxially dark-green, abaxially glaucous, margin entire, base ± oblique, broadly cuneate or rounded, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate; lateral veins 15– 20 pairs, slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence paniculate, 10–15 cm long, many branched, glabrous. Pedicel 4–5 mm long; flowers yellowish green, ca. 2 mm in diam. Calyx glabrous, lobes broadly ovate, ca. 1 × 0.8 mm, obtuse apically. Petals oblong, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm, obtuse apically, with ± conspicuous featherlike venation pattern, revolute at anthesis. Stamens exserted; filaments linear, ca. 2 mm long; anthers ovoid-oblong, ca. 1 mm long. Disk 5-lobed. Ovary globose, ca. 8 mm in diam., glabrous. Drupe large, asymmetrical, ca. 8 mm in diam., compressed, apex eccentric; epicarp thin, glabrous, lucid, separating; mesocarp thick, waxy, with brown longitudinal resin ducts; endocarp compressed, ca. 3 × 5 mm. Phenology: The species blooms from May to June and fruits from June to October. Etymology: The species epithet refers to its characteristic of having the least number of leaflets in this genus. Chinese name: Ṫ叶¨ (shao ye qi). Distribution and habitat: It mainly grows on cliffs formed by the weathering of volcanic rocks at altitudes of 300– 900 m. It is so far only known from the type locality, i.e. Yongtai County, including Chibi Village, Tianmen Mountain Ecological Scenic Spot and Ximen Village, Fujian Province of China. Conservation State: At present, the new species is only found from its type locality with five populations. Each population of T. oligophyllum is comprised of approximately 200 mature individuals. We believe further observation is needed to find out other locality of the species and therefore, yet we suggest the species to be assessed as Data Deficient (DD; IUCN, 2019)., Published as part of Tang, Shu-Ling, Chen, Xin-Yan, Ma, Liang, Ni, Bi-Yong, Pan, Biao-Zhi & Chen, Shi-Pin, 2022, Toxicodendron oligophyllum (Anacardiaceae), a new species from Fujian, China: evidence from morphological and molecular analyses, pp. 55-61 in Phytotaxa 539 (1) on pages 58-60, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.539.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/6345945, {"references":["IUCN (2019) The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, Version 2019 - 2. Available from: http: // www. iucnredlist. org / (accessed 18 July 2019)."]}

Spent Calgon Filtrasorb activated carbon (SAC) from glycerine deodorization unit was evaluated for the removal of methylene blue (MB). The SAC was used without further modification. The SAC was characterized for BET surface area, pH, pHpzc and FTIR to determine the textural and chemical properties of SAC. The batch adsorption study of MB was carried out under different initial concentrations (5–500 mg/L), pH (2–11) and contact time (0–200 h). The SAC was found to have high BET surface area, pore volume and average pore diameter of 735 m2/g, 0.292 cm3/g and 2.56 nm, respectively. The properties of SAC contributed to high MB adsorption capacity of 283 mg/g. The equilibrium data fitted well with Langmuir model, indicating monolayer adsorption; while the activation energy (Ea) of Dubinin–Radushkevitch (D–R) model is lower than 8 kJ/mol, signifying physisorption. The adsorption kinetics was best illustrated by pseudo-second-order model, while the intraparticle diffusion and Boyd models suggested that film diffusion is the rate-controlling step. These findings showed that Calgon Filtrasorb SAC from glycerine deodorization unit can be potentially reused an adsorbent for the removal of dyes.

Recently research on the removal of endocrine-disrupting chemicals from water has intensified due to their serious and acute health effects. Carbon nanocomposites have proven to be effective at entrapping endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This chapter discusses the role of carbon nanocomposites in removing various endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The strategies in synthesis, modification, and characterization of the adsorbents are highlighted. Also, the removal performance and mechanisms are discussed to further future research on carbon nanocomposites.

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS region of the Golovinomyces ambrosiae complex and G. circumfusus. The tree was constructed based on 73 sequences from tribe Golovinomyceteae. One sequence from Erysiphe kenjiana (accession number: MK452611) was used as an outgroup. Bootstrap values based on 1000 replications are indicated above the branches.

Additional file 4: Figure S4. Phylogenetic analysis of Golovinomyces ambrosiae complex and G. circumfusus based on the TUB2 region. The tree was constructed based on 43 sequences from tribe Golovinomyceteae and one sequence from Erysiphe kenjiana (accession number: MK452458) was used as an outgroup. Bootstrap values based on 1000 replications are indicated above/below the branches.

Additional file 5: Figure S5. Phylogenetic analysis of the CHS1 region of the Golovinomyces ambrosiae complex and G. circumfusus. The tree was constructed based on 49 sequences from tribe Golovinomyceteae. Three sequences from Neoërysiphe galeopisidis (accession numbers: MK452438, MK452439, MK452440) was used as an outgroup. Bootstrap values based on 1000 replications are indicated above/below the branches.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. Phylogenetic analysis of the 28S rDNA region of the Golovinomyces ambrosiae complex and G. circumfusus. The tree was constructed based on 74 sequences from tribe Golovinomyceteae. One sequence from Erysiphe kenjiana (accession number: MK452684) was used as an outgroup. Bootstrap values based on 1000 replications are indicated above the branches.

Surface roughness has a profound influence on the microstructure and properties of cladding layer. Clad Inconel625 on AISI8630 surface by using hot-wire TIG and the effect of surface roughness of AISI8630 on microstructure and corrosion resistance was studied. The microstructure and distribution of Fe element of cladding layer were analyzed by means of optical microscope (OM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mass loss method was carried out to determine the corrosion ratio. The results indicate that with the reduction of surface roughness, the light trapping effect, dilution ratio and Fe content are all reduced and the grains become finer and are distributed more uniformly. When the surface roughness is decreased from 12.5μm to 0.4μm, the corrosion resistance of cladding layer is improved by more than 32%.

In this study, the effects of sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) leaves (SL) on the biochemical parameters and metabolomic profiling in Altay lamb (Ovis aries) were observed. Sixty six-month-old male Altay lambs (body weight 28.0 ± 3.5 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups (n=15). The experimental groups were named as CON, 2.5%, 5.0% and 7.5%. The group CON, contained animals fed with a basal diet. Animals of the other groups were fed a treatment diet consisting of 2.5% (Group 2.5%), 5.0% (Group 5.0%) and 7.5% (Group 7.5%) SL. The experimental period lasted 56 days. The results showed that the average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) increased with the increase in the levels of dietary SL. Dietary SL showed a direct relationship with total protein (TP), albumin, globulin and total cholesterol (TC) content of the experimental animals. However, an indirect relationship was observed between dietary SL and the concentration of urea nitrogen (UN). The concentrations of glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) showed quadratic change. Additional changes occurred in the endogenous metabolites involving multiple pathways. The pathways were tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, the metabolism of protein and amino acid and the metabolism of fatty acid and steroid. The changes in metabolites primarily revealed an increase in amino acids and carbohydrates and a decrease in lipid metabolites. These findings provide a comprehensive insight into the effects of the metabolic aspects of sea-buckthorn leaves on Altay lambs. In addition, the present research results provide a better understanding to the development and utilization of sea-buckthorn as a healthy additive for small ruminant production.Keywords: Hippophae rhamnoides L., lamb, metabolomics, growth performance, serum parameters

Copyright © Korean Carbon Society http://carbonlett.org Over the years, the furnace has been used as a common heating method to manufacture activated carbon. In a furnace, heat is transferred through conduction and convection. The outer surface of the sample is in contact with the generated heat, which slowly diffuses inwards as a result of the thermal gradient between the surface and the core of the material’s particles. Another method of heating employs microwave irradiation. Even though it is less energyand time-consuming, the microwave method has several critical issues with respect to temperature control and thermal runaway, especially in the scaling-up of the microwave heating process [1]. Generally, the activation of a carbonaceous precursor can be performed through physical (steam, air or CO2) or chemical activation (activators such as ZnCl2, KOH, etc.) or a combination of both. The chemical activation is normally preferable over physical activation since it is a faster process with a lower activation temperature. Moreover, the activated carbon produced via chemical activation usually possesses high specific surface area (as determined by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, BET method), good pore development and high carbon yield [2,3]. In recent years, potassium salts such as KOH and K2CO3 have been widely used in the manufacture of low cost activated carbon. It has been found that activated carbon prepared by KOH activation is highly microporous when compared to that produced through ZnCl2 or H3PO4 activation [4-6]. Besides, KOH also enhances the specific surface area and the formation of—OH functional groups on the carbon surface [7]. Over the past 5 years, many advantages of KOH activation have been revealed in the literature [8]. However, the adverse drawbacks of employing KOH have been overlooked in many of the published studies. In this paper, the preparation of activated carbon by KOH activation using conventional heating is reviewed and discussed. The limitations and implications of using KOH in the activation process are highlighted. The selection of appropriate potassium salts for activated carbon preparation is also recommended. The physical preparation of activated carbon is comprised of two major processes, namely, carbonization and activation of the carbonized sample [4]. Chemical activation is a single step process, as both carbonization and activation occur simultaneously at temperatures ranging between 400oC and 700oC, which is lower than that of physical activation [9]. However, in some cases, additional carbonization or a pre-carbonization step is performed to produce char prior to chemical impregnation and activation [5,4,10-13]. Thus, potassium hydroxide activation can be achieved through either direct chemical activation or char-impregnated chemical activation. In direct chemical activation, a selected carbonaceous precursor is first dried overnight to remove moisture and then chemically treated at a desired impregnation ratio (weight of KOH over weight of precursor). The impregnated solid is then heated in a furnace at a specified temperature and time. Carbonization of the precursor is often omitted when the impregnated solid is already suitable for activation. Table 1 exhibits recently developed activated carbon preparation methods using various precursors and KOH activation with conventional heating. From Table 1, it can be seen that DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ DOI:10.5714/CL.2015.16.4.275

This article considers the pricing strategies of a manufacturer in a two-echelon supply chain with service leveldependent demand. This chain consists of one manufacturer and two retailers. The manufacturer decides the wholesale prices as a Stackelberg leader, and the retailers determine their service levels as the Stackelberg followers. We discuss the segmented and unified pricing strategies of the manufacturer. We also compute the optimal service levels and profits of the retailers, as well as the optimal wholesale prices and profits of the manufacturer associated with different pricing strategies. We conclude that the segmented pricing strategy benefits the manufacturer, whereas it cannot benefit the two retailers simultaneously. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous to the profit of the entire supply chain. Moreover, the increase in service cost coefficient adversely affects the earnings of the customers, the retailers, the manufacturer, and the entire supply chain. However, an increase in diffusion intensity benefits the customers, the manufacturer, and the supply chain.

A high-order hybrid regularization method for image blind restoration was proposed to restore blurry-noisy images blindly.Because of the sparse edges in a natural image,the Total Variation(TV) regularization restriction was applied to the edge texture component.According to the variation regulation of pixels in homogeneous smooth regions of the natural image,a high-order Tikhonov-like regularization restriction was applied to the smooth regions of the image,and a new model which combines the TV regularization restriction and the high-order Tikhonov-like regularization restriction was proposed.Finally,a multi-variable Split-Bregman(MSB) optimized iterative scheme was proposed to recover the image.A large number of experiments have been performed.The results prove that the proposed method is able to preserve the image edges while avoiding staircase effects and false edges in the smooth regions.The proposed method is compared with several recent image blind restoration methods,and results show that the Increment of Signal-to-noise Ratio(ISNR) has been improved between 0.03 dB and 2.5 dB.

The traditional regularization blind restoration methods employ the same norm of the fidelity term and the regularization term for both the image and the Point Spread Function(PSF),which decreases the quality of restored image as well as the accuracy of estimated PSF.Therefore,this paper proposes a multi-norm hybrid constrained regularization method for image blind restoration.First,the L1 norm and the Total Variation(TV) norm are respectively adopted as the fidelity term and the regularization term for the image to eliminate the stair-casing effects and preserve the edges.Then,the L2 norm and the H1 norm are respectively adopted as the fidelity term and regularization term for the PSF to reduce the difficulty of the PSF estimation.Finally,the split Bregman iteration method is used to address the proposed model.Experiments are conducted on both synthetic and real-life degradations,and the results indicate that the proposed method can effectively restore a variety of artificial blurs such as motion blur,out-of-focus blur etc and can estimate the corresponding PSF accurately.Comparing to some other recent blind restoration methods,the proposed method can drastically improve the image quality in term of subjective visual and the Improved Signal-to-noise Ratio(ISNR) is improved from 0.36 dB to 14.66 dB.

As a significant step for vertical handover, optimal decision for network selection has been attracting high and sustaining attention over the past decade, especially on the topic of meeting user's rapidly increased requirements. However, the instability of the basic decisive parameters is ignored in most of the investigations, which might finally lead to a high misjudgement ratio. Therefore, great effort was made to dissect the relationship between misjudgement ratio and the volatility of parameters in this paper. Herein, quantitative analytical for single-parameter network selections and multi-parameter network selections based on linear algorithms was achieved and testified, and qualitative analytical for non-linear multiparameters algorithms was exemplified as well. The simulation results show that the proposed analytical method could depict the trends of misjudgement ratio. Especially, in the case of great amount attributes or obvious differences among the subnets, it exhibits excellent accuracy in the estimation of misjudgement ratio.

Contamination of aqueous environments by hazardous chemical compounds is the direct cause of the decline of safe clean water supply throughout the globe. The use of unconventional water sources such as treated wastewater will be a new norm. Emerging nanotechnological innovations have great potential for wastewater remediation processes. Applications that use smart nanomaterials of inorganic and organic origin improve treatment efficiency and lower energy requirements. This book describes the synthesis, fabrication, and application of advanced nanomaterials in water treatment processes; their adsorption, transformation into low toxic forms, or degradation phenomena, and the adsorption and separation of hazardous dyes, organic pollutants, heavy metals and metalloids from aqueous solutions. It explains the use of different categories of nanomaterials for various pollutants and enhances understanding of nanotechnology-based water remediation to make it less toxic and reusable.

To promote the rational development and use of clean coal resources in China, data on the regional and age distribution of sulfur, arsenic and other harmful elements in Chinese coal was broadly collected, tested for content, and analyzed. Coal in northwestern China is characterized by low to extremely low levels of sulfur; the coal of the Taiyuan Formation in northern China mainly has high-sulfur content; that of the Shanxi Formation is mainly characterized by low sulfur coal; and the Late Permian coal in southern China has overall higher sulfur content; other regions have low sulfur coal. The average content of harmful trace elements in the bulk of China's coal is similar to the corresponding content in the coal of the North America and the rest of the world, whereas the content of various elements (Hg, Sb and Se) is different in magnitude to the corresponding percentage in the crust. The average content of the elements Cr, Se, Co, Be, U, Br in Late Permian coal in S China ranks first in the country whereas the average content of Hg and CI in the coals of Late Carboniferous to Early Permian age in N China are the highest. The average content of Mn in Early and Middle Jurassic coal is higher in NW China. The high content of harmful elements in some coal should cause particular concern both in the development and utilization of coal.

The coalbed methane (CBM) resources in North China amounts up to 60% of total resources in China. North China is the most important CBM accumulation area in China. The coal beds of the Upper Paleozoic Taiyuan and Shanxi formations have a stable distribution. The coal reservoir of target areas such as Jincheng, Yanquan-Shouyang, Hancheng, Liulin, etc. have good CBM-bearing characteristics, high permeability and appropriate reservoir pressure, and these areas are the preferred target areas of CBM developing in China. The coal reservoirs of Wupu, Sanjiaobei, Lu'an, Xinmi, Anyang-Hebi, Jiaozuo, Xinggong and Huainan also have as good CBM-bearing characteristics, but the physical properties of coal reservoirs vary observably. So, further work should be taken to search for districts with high pressure, high permeability and good CBM-bearing characteristics. Crustal stresses have severe influence on the permeability of coal reservoirs in North China. From west to east, the crustal stress gradient increases, while the coal reservoirs permeability decreases.

Coalbed methane reservoir (CBMR) evaluation is important for choosing the prospective target area for coalbed methane exploration and production. This study aims at identifying the characteristic parameters and methods to evaluate CBMR. Based on the geological surveys, laboratory measurements and field works, a four-level analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model for CBMR evaluation is proposed. In this model, different weights are prioritized and assigned on the basis of three main criteria (including reservoir physical property, storage capacity and geological characteristics), 15 sub-criteria, and 18 technical alternatives; the later of which are discussed in detail. The model was applied to evaluate the CBMR of the Permo-Carboniferous coals in the Qinshui Basin, North China. This GIS-based fuzzy AHP comprehensive model can be used for the evaluation of CBMR of medium-high rank (mean maximum vitrinite reflectance >0.5%) coal districts in China.

Combining quadrant detector and fast steering mirror,a new measuring method of the positional error of laser beam on moving platform is proposed.In this method,the fast steering mirror is used to stabilize axis direction of outputting laser beam and the quadrant detector is used to measure the corresponding change of return laser position,then the coupling action between fast steering mirror and the movement of tracking platform is separated in order to get the angle between laser axis and line-of-sight of target.According to this,it can be concluded that the axis of the laser at the target steadily and guide the missile attacking precisely.This method is suitable for real time processing and it is suitable to the laser guided weapons with second class guiding time at last stage trajectory.

In the present work, the adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution by textile sludge activated with potassium salts and a composite-KI, KCl, K2SO4 and KOH+KCl-was investigated. The impregnation ratio for all activating agents was set at 1:1 and the impregnated textile sludge samples were activated at 500oC for 1h in a furnace. The specific surface area of the activated carbon (AC) was evaluated using BET analysis. The BET surface area varied from 78.8 to 321m2/g, where it decreased in the order of K2SO4-AC > KCl-AC > KI-AC > KOH+KCl-AC. Under room temperature condition and a shaking time of 72h, the batch adsorption results show that the minimum and maximum adsorption capacities were recorded as 39.1 and 85.0mg/g for textile sludge activated with KCl and KI, respectively. Langmuir isotherm model gave the best fit to adsorption equilibrium compared to Freundlich isotherm model indicating a monolayer adsorption at homogeneous sites on the adsorbent. The Langmuir mechanism yielded a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 90.9mg/g. Among the four prepared activated carbons, textile sludge activated with potassium iodide (KI-AC) gave the best performance on the adsorption of methylene blue.

SUMMARY This pilot project in Zhejiang Province, China, aimed at improving the nutrition and health status of students, school personnel and parents, and developing a model project for nutrition interventions for the development of healthpromoting schools (HPS) in China. Three primary and three secondary schools participated. Interventions included establishing school-based working groups, nutrition training for school staff, distribution of materials on nutrition, nutrition education for students, student competitions, schoolwide health promotion efforts and outreach to families and communities. Results of a pre- and post-intervention survey one and a half years apart showed improvements in nutrition knowledge, attitudes and behavior among all target groups. Primary school students at the pilot schools made the greatest knowledge gains in the areas of Chinese dietary guidelines (increased from 49.2 to 78.0%, p � 0.01) and adequate dietary principles (increased from 42.9 to 68.0%, p � 0.01). Scores of secondary school students who reported liking school lunches rose at pilot schools from 17.9 to 45.2% (p � 0.01). School staff at control schools who reported taking breakfast declined from 81.4 to 66.6% (p � 0.01), while staff who reported taking lunch at school increased in pilot schools from 87.5% at baseline to 93.9% (p � 0.01). The largest increases in nutrition knowledge among all target groups occurred among parents and guardians. At the pilot schools parents increased their knowledge in the areas of nutritional deficiencies (from 35.0 to 66.2%, p � 0.01) and nutrient-rich foods (from 38.8 to 66.8%, p � 0.01). Talks with target groups confirmed changes in attitudes and behavior, and school visits revealed improvements to school facilities and school health services, establishing of school policies and a positive school climate. This study suggests that nutrition can effectively serve as an entry point to establish HPS in China and that the HPS concept is feasible to improve the dietary knowledge, attitudes and behavior of students, parents and school personnel.

HMGB1 is a necessary and critical mediator of acute lung injury and can act as a chemoattractant and anti-apoptosis factor in injury or repair in diseases. In this study we sought to determine whether HMGB1 is involved in the remodeling of pulmonary artery and investigate the mechanism. A rat model of pulmonary artery remodeling was successful induced with LPS infusion and the increasing of pulmonary arteries media was obviously inhibited in rats treated with thrice inject of HMGB1 neutralizing antibody. The percent of areas of tunica media to total artery wall was (0.53 ± 0.15), (0.81 ± 0.10) and (0.59 ± 0.11) in control, LPS and antibody group respectively (p0.05). Meanwhile, treatment with HMGB1 neutralizing antibody not only decreased the level of HMGB1 mRNA and protein significantly, but inhibited the expression of PCAN and Bcl-2 as well. On the contrary, Bax, a gen which represented the apoptosis, revealed an absolutely reversed trend to Bcl-2 in pulmonary arteries. Experiments in vitro showed that HMGB1 could stimulate the proliferation of hPASMC in MTT test and increase the number of migrated cells in a concentration-dependent manner in chemotaxis assay using modified Boyden chambers. In conclusion, data from this study support the concept that HMGB1 is involved in the remodeling of pulmonary artery by enhancing proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cell. Inhibiting HMGB1 may be a new target to deal with the remodeling of pulmonary artery.

Emerging evidence from recent studies suggest that HDL and apoA-I have anti-diabetic functions. This thesis aims to determine whether HDL and apoA-I improve glycaemic control by increasing glucose uptake into skeletal muscle, the major site of glucose disposal in the human body. In order to address this question, a series of experiments were carried out in two models: a cell model using cultured primary human skeletal muscle cells (HSKMCs), and an animal model using the leptin receptor knockout (Lepr(db/db)) mouse. The results from this thesis have established that lipid-free apoA-I increases both insulin-dependent- and independent- glucose uptake into HSKMCs in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The increased glucose uptake was accompanied by enhanced activation of IRS-1/PI3K/Akt/AS160 insulin signaling pathway. Type 2 diabetic db/db mice that were treated with apoA-I had significantly improved glucose and insulin tolerance when treated with a single intraperitoneal infusion of lipid-free apoA-I, accompanied with increased glucose uptake by the gastrocnemius muscle. In conclusion, this thesis establishes that apoA-I increases glucose disposal in skeletal muscle under both normal and type 2 diabetic conditions. These findings suggest that therapeutic agents that increase plasma HDL and apoA-I levels may improve glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes.

With the growing communication requirements of users, integration of various kinds of networks has become an inevitable trend. However, it is still a problem how to guarantee the QoS requirements, measure the performances of each sub-network, while making a reasonable network selection. In order to solve this problem, a SNR-based access algorithm in CDMA/WLAN heterogeneous networks is proposed, by which, SNR is measured and related with PER so that the user terminal can determine which sub-network to access. Simulation results show that this algorithm can effectively reduce call dropping probability and call blocking probability in the CDMA/WLAN heterogeneous networks.

Muscle, hemolymph and hepatopancreas transketolase activities and their thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP) effects were assessed for their potential to determine the thiamin status of juvenile Penaeus monodon after a 9-week feeding trial. Transketolase activity increased in response to increasing thiamin supplementation, while TPP effects decreased with increasing dietary thiamin levels. The TPP effect showed a significant increment when the dietary thiamin was reduced from 20 mg/kg diet to no supplement. Thiamin requirement assessed by TPP effect as the criterion was lower than that by transketolase activity; the thiamin requirement estimated by the TPP effect of the muscle (13.3 mg/kg) and hemolymph (18.3 mg/kg) was similar to that of the growth results (12.9 mg/km). These data suggest that, like vertebrates, measurement of the TPP effect in the tissues of the marine crustacean is a more sensitive indicator of thiamin status than measurement of transketolase activity. Among all criteria examined, the hemolymph TPP effect was the most sensitive and specific indicator of thiamin status.

Described a laser range-gating imaging principle, pointed out the key issues in system design, design and implementation of FPGA-based laser range-gating images systems. System uses the rangefinder, adjustable pulsed laser active Illuminating and ICCD technology combined. Pulse characteristics of laser light source, single pulse energy and the strobe imaging device performance will determine the range-gating imaging of the range resolution, detection range properties. FPGA implementation of the synchronization control process to explore in detail the role. Experiment to verify the theoretical analysis of the accuracy and efficiency of the technology of gated confirmed laser range-gating laser technology is to overcome the backscattering enhance-gated imaging system signal to noise ratio of the effective method.

Oxidation of sodium sulfite plays an important role in the development of sodium desulphurization process. In this paper, the influence factors of the oxidation rate of sodium sulfite, such as pH, the concentration of sodium sulfite, airflow rate, and temperature were investigated by a bubbling reactor. The results showed that airflow rate and temperature had significant influences on the oxidation rate of sodium sulfite while pH and the concentration of sodium sulfite almost had no effect on it. These results would provide useful references to the design of sodium desulfurization process.

In this paper, from the Angle to predict, take hydro-generating operation condition parameters (head, power) as input sample, take unit head cover vibration as output sample, create BP and GANN neural network prediction model. Train the established models, through comparing the two models. GANN model Has better precision.

Substrate-dependent inhibition of CYP3A4 might influence the extrapolation of drug interactions from the in vitro to in vivo situation. The aim of the present study is to investigate reversible and time-dependent inhibition of CYP3A4-mediated nifedipine oxidation by noscapine. Furthermore, in vitroin vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) was performed using in vitro parameters. The results showed that CYP3A4- mediated nifedipine oxidation activity was strongly inhibited with an IC50 of 25.7 ± 5.4 μM. Kinetic analysis showed that inhibition of CYP3A4-mediated nifedipine oxidation by noscapine was best fit to a noncompetitive manner with Ki value of 10.9 μM. IC50 shift experiment showed that IC50 was significantly decreased from 25.7 ± 5.4 μM to 0.34 ± 0.07 μM after pre-incubation with noscapine for 30 min, which indicated that time-dependent inhibition existed for inhibition of CYP3A4 by noscapine. The AUC of (R)- warfarin was predicted to increase by 0.5 % using Cmax or 0.2 % using unbound Cmax with reversible inhibition prediction equation, while the AUC of (R)-warfarin was estimated to increase by 23.1 % using Cmax or 10.4 % using unbound Cmax with TDI prediction equation. Inhibition of CYP3A4 by noscapine showed substrate-dependent inhibition behaviour. However, the results obtained from IVIVE are very similar using testosterone or nifedipine as probe substrates., Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

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The principle and characteristics of laser active imaging system and factors affecting the detection range are introduced. The laser active imaging model and ICCD detector performance and sensitivity index conversion is analyzed. The formula of detection range and the distance estimation method for incident irradiance, which must be greater than 2 times detector's irradiance sensitivity, are established. Laser active imaging experiment conducted with 808nm laser proves the validity of the theoretical analysis.

The extraction separation of germanium from indium raffinate in hydrometallurgical zinc process was discussed. The conditions and mechanism of the extraction with hydroxamic acid HGS98 have been investigated in detail. The results show that using 2% (mass fraction) hydroxamic acid HGS98 and 5% D2EHPA as synergist, germanium is extracted (1-stage) over 99% in 5 min at phase ratio (V o: V a) of 1:5 from indium raffinate with original acidity. Then, using 2 mol·L−1 NH4F as strip liquor, the stripping recovery is over 98% in 15 min at phase ratio of 1:1. This process has the following advantages: easy to operate, high recovery and selectivity, and lower investment cost. It provides a new way to recover rare metal — germanium from metallurgical spent residues.

This paper was removed by arXiv admin due to 94% plagiarism from uncited reference hep-th/0507153., Comment: This paper was removed by arXiv admin due to 94% plagiarism from uncited reference hep-th/0507153