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BACKGROUND Sepiolite is a very important non-metallic mineral, which is widely used in aviation, animal husbandry, the chemical industry, environmental protection and other fields. Sepiolite is in great demand and needs a lot of analysis and testing. However, the existing sepiolite reference materials are inadequate and do not satisfy the needs of sepiolite composition analysis. Furthermore, there are no sepiolite reference materials in China, making it necessary to develop one. OBJECTIVES To prepare a reference material for composition analysis of sepiolite whose certified value components cover as many elements as possible. METHODS Sepiolite samples were collected from Xiangtan, Hunan Province. The samples were subjected to primary crushing, coarse-grain sieving, inactivation, fine grinding and fine grain sieving. After passing the initial inspection, samples were bottled and numbered. Random samples were taken for homogeneity test, stability test. 24 components were selected for homogeneity and stability test. RESULTS The results showed that the RSD of 20 components were less than 3%, and the F value of the variance test was less than the critical value of the list[F0.05(29, 60)=1.65], indicating that the homogeneity of the reference material was good. During the investigation period, the contents of 24 components had no significant change, indicating that the standard material was stable. Nine laboratories cooperated with traditional chemical analysis methods and modern instrumental analysis methods to determine the value. The final values were 63 components, covering major, trace and all rare earth elements. The contents of characteristic components MgO and LOI were 18% and 8.55%, respectively. These two components form a certain ladder with the existing reference materials, which can better satisfy the requirements of sepiolite composition analysis. CONCLUSIONS The developed sepiolite reference material can be used as the quality control standards for geological prospecting, geochemical investigation and testing of geological and mineral products, as well as for other industries to analyze similar materials. Moreover, in the process of developing the reference material, improvements and developments to the new methods will provide technical support for the subsequent development of the sepiolite reference material.

BACKGROUND Tungsten molybdenum ores are strategic mineral resources. China is a large producer and consumer of tungsten and molybdenum ore. Accurate and efficient analysis of tungsten and molybdenum and its associated beneficial and harmful elements is of great significance for the evaluation and comprehensive utilization of tungsten and molybdenum ore deposits. Acid dissolution and alkali fusion are the general digestion methods in tungsten molybdenum ore analysis. However, the acid solution method cannot be used to overcome the hydrolysis problem when treating samples with high content of tungsten and molybdenum, whereas the alkali fusion method such as sodium peroxide and sodium hydroxide usually introduces a large content of alkali metals, so the determination of potassium and sodium cannot be finished. OBJECTIVES To find an efficient method for the determination of tungsten, molybdenum and 11 other elements in tungsten molybdenum ore. METHODS Lithium metaborate melting-tartaric acid ultrasonic leaching and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used for the simultaneous determination of tungsten, molybdenum, copper, lead, zinc, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium, titanium, manganese, potassium and sodium in tungsten-molybdenum ore. The sample was completely digested by lithium metaborate fusion. No other elements were introduced except for B and Li. Tartaric acid was used to inhibit the hydrolysis of tungsten and molybdenum. Ultrasonic leaching speeds up the dissolution of the frit. RESULTS The experiment optimized the analysis spectrum and observation method of each element, compared the amount of flux and instrument conditions to obtain the best conditions, and used the matrix matching method to draw a standard curve to eliminate the influence of the matrix effect. The linear correlation coefficient of the standard curve of each element was greater than 0.9990, the detection limit of the method was 1.34-46.2μg/g, the relative error of measured results was 0.14%-8.7%, the relative standard deviation (RSD, n=10) of the measured results was 1.4%-7.6%. CONCLUSIONS This method can accurately and efficiently complete the simultaneous determination of multiple elements in tungsten and molybdenum ore samples.

BACKGROUND Sepiolite is a widely used fibrous magnesium-rich silicate clay mineral. Sepiolite is mainly composed of silicon and magnesium, with minor aluminum, potassium, sodium and other impurities. Determination of the major element of sepiolite usually adopts the classical chemical analytical method. After the alkali melting treatment, the sample is determined by volumetric method, photometry and atomic absorption spectrometry, which is inefficient and time-consuming. Moreover, potassium and sodium cannot be simultaneously determined. OBJECTIVES To find an efficient method for the determination of seven major elements in sepiolite. METHODS The samples were digested by hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid, and perchloric acid. Contents of major elements such as Al2O3 were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The dosage of hydrofluoric acid was optimized. The analytical spectral lines were Al 396.153nm, Ti 334.940nm, K 766.490nm, Na 589.592nm, Ca 422.673nm, Mg 285.213nm and Fe 238.204nm, and elements were determined by axial observation. The content of magnesium in sepiolite was high, and there was a certain matrix effect during ICP-OES analysis. A series of high magnesium mixed standard solutions were prepared to match the matrix. RESULTS The linear correlation coefficient of the standard curve of each element was greater than 0.9990, the detection limits of the method were 0.53-3.25μg/g, the relative standard deviations (RSD, n=10) of the measured results were 0.66%-5.65%, and the recoveries of each element were 95.3%-108.5%. CONCLUSIONS Acid dissolution is easy to operate compared with the alkali fusion method. The results are consistent with those obtained by classical chemical analytical methods and thus meet the analytical requirements of sepiolite samples.

BACKGROUND The dissolution of antimony ore by aqua regia is often incomplete and antimony is easy to hydrolyze in the process of extraction, which leads to inaccurate results. Although atomic fluorescence spectrometry has been widely used in the determination of antimony, it is easy to introduce large dilution error for the determination of high-content antimony (>5%) due to the narrow linear range of the instrument. OBJECTIVES To solve the problem of incomplete dissolution of antimony ores and hydrolysis of antimony in the extraction process, and establish a new method with wider linear range for determination of antimony in antimony ores. METHODS Based on inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), the antimony ore was fully dissolved by hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, and the hydrolysis of antimony was fully inhibited by the complexation of tartaric acid and antimony. RESULTS The results showed that the solution of the mixed hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid can effectively decompose the silicate components in antimony ores, which can make antimony ores dissolve more completely. The determination result of antimony was better than that of aqua regia, and the detection limit was lower (1.10μg/g). The determination result of antimony obtained by the mixed extraction method of tartaric acid and hydrochloric acid was better than that of aqua regia. The precision of the method was 0.11%-1.11%, which was more stable than that of hydrochloric acid or aqua regia. By using an inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer, a wider linear range can be obtained by optimizing the spectrum of antimony element analysis, therefore realizing the accurate determination of high-content antimony. CONCLUSIONS This method can dissolve antimony ore quickly and effectively, and avoid the hydrolysis of antimony. The method is confirmed by national first grade standard materials, and the result is in agreement with the certified values. This method is suitable for the analysis of 0.7%-40% antimony in antimony ores.

BACKGROUND The sampling weight can be as low as milligram level when the contents of rare earth elements in rock and soil samples are determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). However, the size of 200 mesh samples requires 100mg to ensure representativeness, which makes it difficult for ICP-MS to make full use of its advantages of high sensitivity and small sampling volume. OBJECTIVES To establish the method for the determination of rare earth elements in ultra-fine rock and soil samples by ICP-MS with microwave digestion. METHODS A method was developed for the determination of rare earth elements in ultra-fine rock and soil samples by ICP-MS with microwave digestion. The ultra-fine rock and soil samples were prepared by the planetary superfine pulverizing machine with wet grinding. Some parameters influencing the preparation of ultra-fine rock and soil samples, including grinding method, grinding time and the proportion of grinding balls were optimized. Microwave digestion of ultrafine-grained rock and soil samples in a nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid-hydrogen peroxide solution system, the sampling amount was reduced to 5mg, the total acid amount was reduced to 0.25mL and the digestion time was reduced to 25 minutes. RESULTS The results indicated that the samples were best refined when the wet-milling was adopted with ethanol as a dispersant and the milling time was 10 minutes and 15 minutes for 200 mesh soil and rock samples, respectively. The material ratios were 7g materials, 500 grinding balls, 45mL dispersants for the preparation of ultra-fine soil samples, whereas 5g materials, 500 grinding balls, 45mL dispersants for the preparation of ultra-fine rock samples. The particle size distribution D95 of soil standard substance GBW07404 and GBW07447 can be as low as 7.51μm and 7.05μm, and the D95 of rock standard substance GBW07104 and GBW07121 can be 8.42μm and 8.30μm under the optimized conditions. Microwave digestion of ultrafine-grained rock sample GBW07104 in a nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid-hydrogen peroxide solution system, the sampling amount was reduced to 5mg, the total acid amount was reduced to 0.25mL, the digestion time was reduced to 25 minutes, and the measured value of rare earth elements was consistent with the certified value with the relative standard deviation is between 1.64% and 5.21%. CONCLUSIONS This method was used for the detection of rare earth elements in other ultra-fine standard materials (GBW07404, GBW07447 and GBW07121), which yielded the relative standard deviation of 0.17%-6.60%, meeting the first criterion of Geology and Minerals Laboratory Testing Quality Management Standards.

BACKGROUND The fluorine content in lithium mica is very high (1.36% to 8.71%), and the leaching rate of lithium during roasting lithium mica minerals decreases gradually with the increase of fluorine content. With increased defluorination of lithium mica, the leaching rate of lithium is also increased accordingly. Therefore, accurate determination of fluorine in lithium mica and control of fluorine content can provide a basis for determining the process conditions, equipment parameters and cost of roasting process. At present, the most common used method for determination of fluorine is the ion selective electrode method. However, the process is complex, the analysis time is long and the blank value is high. X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) is a green and pollution-free method, which is simple, fast and accurate. OBJECTIVES To determine the fluorine content in lithium mica. METHODS The fluorine content in lithium mica was determined by XRF with pressed-powder pellets. The working curve was made from standard material lithium ore and manually prepared calibration material, and the experience coefficient was used to correct the matrix effect and spectral interference. RESULTS The method precision(RSD, n=10) is 1.03% and the detection limit of fluorine is 46±4μg/g. Analytical results of samples synthesized from standard samples acquired by this method are in good agreement with theoretical values. It is demonstrated by actual samples that the determination results are consistent with those of the ion selective electrode method. CONCLUSIONS This method is suitable for determining fluorine in lithium mica with contents ranging from 0.68% to 9.14%.

BACKGROUND Sepiolite is a fibrous hydrous magnesium rich silicate clay mineral with the content of rare earth elements between 1×10-7 and 1×10-5. There is no national standard method for the determination of rare earth elements in sepiolite. Determination of rare earth elements in rocks commonly uses ICP-MS. Sample pretreatments generally use closed digestion and alkaline fusion, but these two treatments are time consuming and inefficient. OBJECTIVES To find an efficient dissolution method for the determination of 15 rare earth elements in sepiolite. METHODS By comparing three sample pretreatment methods of nitrate hydrofluoric acid hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid and nitric-acid hydrogen peroxide, the nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid solution system was selected. Microwave digestion was carried out and the hydrofluoric acid was driven off to avoid the formation of insoluble fluorides from the hydrofluoric acid. The content of 15 rare earth elements was determined by ICP-MS. RESULTS Due to the high content of magnesium in sepiolite, two internal standards of 103Rh and 185Re are selected to compensate for the drift of analytical signals and to correct matrix effects. The recoveries of the method range from 91.2% to 110.9%. The detection limits are 0.002-0.011 μg/L, and the precisions are 0.81%-2.79%. CONCLUSIONS The result of this method is in good agreement with that of the closed acid-digestion ICP-MS method, and with a small amount of acid (7 mL), high digestion efficiency (1 h), and a lower detection limit.

BACKGROUND With advantages of small sample quantity, less acid, and low blank, high-pressure closed digestion-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry became the main method in the determination of rare earth elements. However, the composition of manganese ore is complex with varying manganese contents and different valence states of Mn, often with accompanying (co)producing metals and other impurities. The ore is difficult to digest completely using conventional acid-soluble systems, resulting in inaccurate ICP-MS analytical results. OBJECTIVES To optimize the acid-solution system condition of the high-pressure closed digestion method, in order to completely and effectively digest the manganese ore with complex components and improve the accuracy of the results. METHODS Three standards GBW07261, GBW07263, GBW07266 and an unknown sample of manganese ore were digested using three different acid-solution systems of high-pressure closed digestion:Hydrofluoric acid-nitric acid closed digestion, extracted with nitric acid (Method 1); Hydrofluoric acid-nitric acid-hydrogen peroxide closed digestion, redissolved with nitric acid-hydrogen peroxide, extracted with nitric acid (Method 2); Hydrofluoric acid-nitric acid closed digestion, redissolved with hydrochloric acid, extracted with nitric acid (Method 3). The contents of rare-earth elements were then determined by ICP-MS. RESULTS Methods 2 and Methods 3 can completely digest manganese ore samples. The results of rare-earth elements by ICP-MS were similar, and were consistent with the results of conventional sodium peroxide fusion. However, during the experimental process, for samples with high manganese content, Method 3 required repeated additions of hydrochloric acid before the samples were completely digested, whereas Method 2 need only one repeat. The precision of Method 2 was 0.96%-2.68%, and the recovery was 95.0%-107.0%. CONCLUSIONS For different manganese ore samples, Method 2 can completely digest the samples. The determination of rare earth elements was reliable by ICP-MS. Method 2 was the most suitable sample digestion method for the determination of rare earth elements in manganese ores.

Alpha dose matrix effect is the discrepancy of ablation rate and down-hole fractionation induced by the difference of crystal damage degree (alpha dose) between standard zircons and sample zircons. It has been proved to be the cause of systematic bias of zircon U-Pb dating by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Alpha dose is closely related to ablation rate and down-hole fractionation behaviour of zircon. The higher the alpha dose, the faster the ablation rate and more obvious is the down-hole fractionation. However, the correction of alpha dose matrix effect has received little attention thus far. In this study, Laser Raman Spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS were used to analyze zircons from the Badaling Granitic Complex rocks. Results show that the metamictization degree is low when the actual retained alpha dose (DαP) is no more than 0.75×1018 g-1 and the matrix effect is negligible. However, when the actual retained alpha dose (DαP) is larger than 0.75×1018 g-1, metamictization degree is high and the dating results are obviously affected byalpha dose matrix effect. For this reason, U-Pb data of zircons need to be corrected using the'Age offset-DαP'empirical equation such as y=347.8×exp(0.260×10-15x). In conclusion, it was found that this is a feasible method to correct alpha dose matrix effect by using Laser Raman Spectroscopy and a full width at half maximum (FWHM)-DαP correction curve to obtain DαP values of analyzed zircons by using age deviations-DαP empiric formula to determine the systematic deviations of LA-ICP-MS.

Purpose: To develop a method for enriching keratinocyte progenitor cells (KPCs) and establish a limbal niche (LN)-mediated transdifferentiation protocol of KPCs into corneal epithelial cells. Methods: Limbal niche cells (LNCs) were isolated from limbal tissues through enzymatic digestion and characterized. Conditioned medium from LNCs cultures was collected. KPCs were enriched by rapid adhesion of Matrigel and subsequently cultured in either an LNCs-conditioned medium supplemented with KSFM (LN-KS) or SHEM (LN-SH) for 14 days. Corneal-specific marker expression was assessed to evaluate transdifferentiation efficiency. Key transcription factors and signaling pathways involved in the transdifferentiation process were identified through single-cell and RNA sequencing, and were validated by western blot and quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Both LN-KS and LN-SH protocols successfully induced corneal epithelial cell transdifferentiation from KPCs, with LN-KS demonstrating higher efficiency in generating CK12 + and p63 + cells (p < 0.001). RNA sequencing analysis and western blot have revealed significant activation of STAT3 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. Inhibition of STAT3 blocked the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and impaired corneal epithelial cell transdifferentiation. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the ability of LN to promote KPCs transdifferentiation into corneal epithelial cells in vitro, and this process is partially mediated by the STAT3/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corneal limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) play a crucial role in corneal epithelium regeneration. Severe damage to these cells can result in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), characterized by repeated corneal conjunctivalization, leading to corneal turbidity and scar formation. Restoring functional LESCs and their ecological location are essential for treating LSCD. The goal of this review is to provide researchers and clinicians with key insights into LESCs biology and to conclude the current cell-based therapies advancement in LSCD treatments. Therapeutic cell resources mainly include mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), skin keratinocyte stem cells (SKCs), and oral mucosal epithelial cells (OMECs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: To evaluate the efficacy of conjunctival limbal autograft (CLAU) combined with the amnion-assisted conjunctival epithelial redirection (ACER) procedure for patients with unilateral total limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) caused by severe chemical burn. (2) Methods: A retrospective interventional case series of unilateral total LSCD after chemical burn who underwent CLAU combined with ACER surgery between September 2021 and July 2023 was collected. Outcome measures included epithelialization of the cornea with donor limbus-derived epithelium, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and complications. (3) Results: Nine males and one female were included in this study. The mean age was 40.9 ± 9.63 (range, 26 to 55) years. The average duration between injury and CLAU combined with the ACER procedure was 7.67 ± 3.97 (range, 4 to 18) months. All patients achieved corneal epithelialization and improved BCVA. Postoperative complications occurred in four cases, including delayed corneal epithelial healing in one case, delayed amniotic membrane dissolution and detachment in two cases, and recurrence of symblepharon in one case. No complications were noted in the healthy donor eyes. (4) Conclusions: CLAU combined with ACER is a safe and effective treatment for unilateral total LSCD caused by severe chemical burn. This combined surgery restores visual function for patients with corneal blindness caused by chemical burn, reducing the burden on the families and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the characteristics of in vitro culture and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in patients with fungal keratitis (FK) presented in a tertiary referral hospital in central China. Methods: In this noncomparative retrospective study, patients with the diagnosis of FK between October 2021 and November 2022 were reviewed. An IVCM and fungal culture (corneal scraping specimens) were performed, and the characteristics were analyzed. Results: During October 2021 and November 2022, 85 patients were diagnosed with FK. From 63 culture-positive cases, 8 species of fungus were identified. The proportions of isolated fungal species were Fusarium and Aspergillus equally accounting for 33.3% (21 of 63), Alternaria 9.5% (6 of 63), Curvularia 6.3% (4 of 63), Scedosporium apiospermum 6.3% (4 of 63), Paecilomyces lilacinus 3.2% (2 of 63), Exserohilum 3.2% (2 of 63), and Candida 4.8% (3 of 63), respectively. In positive culture cases, IVCM was found to be positive for hyphae or spores in 61 of 63 patients (96.8%). Different fungal species had a variety of cultural characteristics and IVCM manifestations. Conclusions: In a tertiary referral hospital in central China, Fusarium species, Aspergillus species, and Alternaria species were the 3 most common isolated fungal pathogens, and the proportion of Aspergillus species was significantly higher than that in other regions of China. Careful lesion depth examination by IVCM and OCT should be taken before lamellar keratoplasty to avoid postoperative recurrence. Identifying the IVCM image and culture characteristics will facilitate rapid diagnosis and proper treatment, but IVCM cannot yet replace fungal cultures to distinguish between different fungal species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blepharospasm patients often have dry eye manifestations. Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) injection has been the main management for blepharospasm and absorbable punctal plug (APP) insertion is shown to be effective in the treatment of dry eye. However, there have been no studies investigating the combined treatment of BoNT-A and APP in blepharospasm patients with dry eye. In this retrospective study, 17 blepharospasm patients with dry eye treated by BoNT-A injection and 12 receiving BoNT-A plus APP treatment were enrolled. The efficacy was evaluated according to the Jankovic rating scale, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), fluorescein staining (FL), fluorescein tear break-up time (FBUT) and Schirmer I test (SIT). Both BoNT-A and BoNT-A+APP treatment effectively reduced the functional impairment of blepharospasm. At baseline, all the patients had high OSDI scores (BoNT-A group: 82.48 ± 7.37, BoNT-A+APP group: 78.82 ± 4.60, p = 0.112), but relatively low degrees of FL (BoNT-A group: 3.18 ± 1.01, BoNT-A+APP group: 3.50 ± 1.24, p = 0.466), FBUT (BoNT-A group: 1.71 ± 0.77, BoNT-A+APP group: 2.17 ± 0.58, p = 0.077) and SIT (BoNT-A group: 2.53 ± 0.99, BoNT-A+APP group: 3.17 ± 1.23, p = 0.153). After treatment, OSDI, FL, FBUT and SIT were all obviously restored in the two groups. When comparing the changing rates, only OSDI (BoNT-A group: −52.23% ± 15.57%, BoNT-A+APP group: −61.84% ± 9.10%, p = 0.047) and FL (BoNT-A group: −22.55% ± 25.98%, BoNT-A+APP group: −41.94% ± 14.46%, p = 0.016) showed significant differences between the two groups. This study suggests that OSDI is not applicable in the diagnosis of dry eye among blepharospasm patients. For blepharospasm patients with severe dry eye symptoms, especially those with fluorescein staining in the cornea, the combined treatment of BoNT-A and APP is more effective than using BoNT-A alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcome of Sandwich (Amnion/Conjunctival-Limbal Autograft/Amnion) transplantation for recurrent pterygium with restrictive strabismus. (2) Methods: This retrospective study included 11 eyes in 11 patients diagnosed with recurrent pterygium with restrictive strabismus who received sandwich transplantation. The outcomes were measured by pterygium recurrence, best-corrected visual acuity, esotropia (prism diopters), and treatment complications. (3) Results: Eleven patients (six males, five females) had a mean age of 60.5 (range 36–80) years. The previously received pterygium excision surgery number was 1.8 ± 1.02 (range 1–4). The mean follow-up period was 19.9 ± 8.41 (range 12–36) months. All patients had a restriction of abduction in the previously operated eye, causing esotropia in the primary position. Pre-operative esotropia was 17.2 (range 10–30) prims diopter (PD). Five eyes (45.5%) had symblepharon before surgery. All patients were orthotropic until the last follow-up. Symblepharon was released in all eyes. Free ocular motility was present in all eyes. No donor site scar formation, scleral melt, or corneal ulcer was noted. (4) Conclusions: Sandwich transplantation for recurrent pterygium with restrictive strabismus is safe and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To ex vivo expand oral mucosal epithelium cells (OMECs) on acellular porcine corneal stroma (APCS) without using feeder cells and serum and to compare the morphologic and phenotypic characteristics of cultured oral cells on APCS to those of cells on deluded human amniotic membrane (HAM). Methods. SD rat oral mucosal biopsies were cultured on APCS and HAM. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze the characterization of stem cells and epithelial differentiation of the outgrowth products. Results. Stratified and optimal transplantable OMECs were obtained after being cultured three to four weeks. Both RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry showed that cultured OMECs expressed markers of epithelial differentiation cytokeratin K3 and epithelial stem cell markers of p63 and ABCG2. Conclusions. OMECs can be successfully cultured on APCS without using xenobiotic feeder cells and serum. Characterization showed that these sheets retain the morphologic and phenotypic characteristics of OMECs within differentiated cells and stem cells. The optimal transplantable sheets can prove to be particularly beneficial to both bilateral limbal stem cell deficiency and deep corneal lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attitude estimation approach based on the hybrid particle swarm optimization (HPSO) and radar cross section (RCS) precise prediction for the three-axis stabilized satellites in space is presented in this paper. The modified strategies with quantum behavior operator and cloud mutation based on the multi-phase particle swarm optimization are used to increase the diversity of particles, reduce the objective function evaluation times and improve the global searching ability. The simulated RCS sequences of three-axis stabilized satellites at the specified epoch are determined by the method combined the precise orbit and the RCS of satellites calculated by fast multipole method. The mean square error between measured RCS sequences and simulated RCS sequences is considered as the objective function. The attitude estimation problem is transferred to an optimization problem by minimizing the objective function with attitude angles, which is solved by HPSO. The operation procedure is shown clearly, and the set of measurement is analyzed. The numerical results of optimizing the test functions showing better behavior of the proposed algorithm method than standard particle swarm optimization in terms of accuracy are provided. Representative examples validate the accuracy and the anti-noise jamming ability of the proposed algorithm for attitude estimation of three-axis stabilized satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: A study was carried out by using the numerical simulation method to obtain the total concentration of a specific objective street canyon for different layouts with the different aspect ratio of Hd/Hu (windward-building-height-to-leeward-building-height) under a specific street width. It is shown that the concentration distributions and the total concentration values are strongly dependent on the number and rotating direction of vortices within and out of the street canyon due to the variation of geometric configurations of the street canyon. The preliminary study for the limited street canyon configuration shows that there may exist a critical aspect height ratio to make the total concentration of the specific street canyon be small. Generally the strong step-down canyon is a good layout relative to the other types. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A wind direction frequency weighted (WDFW) method based upon the atmosphere wind direction frequency characteristics, combining with solving the 3D Navier-Stokes equations, the mass and heat transfer equations as well as the standard κ-ε turbulence models was proposed to model the local airflow and the dispersion of vehicular exhausted plume under real atmospheric conditions. The numerical results were compared and validated with the measured concentration and a good agreement was achieved. It is shown that the pollutant concentration is decreased rapidly with the distance from the tailpipe in a range of 1~4m behind the tailpipe and the dispersion charactersitics are mainly controlled by the exhaust flow rate and plume concentration, whilst those in a far region from the tailpipe exit are influenced by the ambient air and local weather conditions. However, the concentration still has high level at a height close to the breathing region along the tailpipe axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]