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In view of the high difficulty in coupling of various electric vehicle parameters, intractable parameter estimation, and unreasonable distribution of vehicle driving torque, the four-wheel hub motor is applied to drive electric vehicles, which can instantly obtain the torque and speed of the hub motor and achieve precise control of the torque of each wheel. According to the vehicle longitudinal dynamics model, a progressive RLS (PRLS) algorithm for real-time estimation of vehicle mass and road gradient is proposed. Meanwhile, by means of taking the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle and the road gradient obtained from the estimation algorithm as the parameter of the torque distribution at the front and rear axles, a dynamic compensation and distribution control strategy of the front and rear axle torques is designed. Moreover, based on hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulation and real-vehicle tests, the effectiveness of the proposed estimation algorithm and the rationality of the real-time distribution control strategy of driving torque are verified.

Northbound interface is the interface for manufacturers or operators to access and manage the network. Through it, the superior network management can obtain a large number of data such as configuration performance and operation and maintenance of optical network. For various reasons, there are usually missing values in real data sets. In order to improve the accuracy of filling missing values. In this paper, from the perspective of data mining, we use a variety of processing methods to fill the missing value of the north interface. In this paper, by analyzing the principle of KNN algorithm, decision tree algorithm, random forest algorithm and extreme random tree algorithm, the four algorithms are simulated in the missing value processing of northbound interface data respectively. The performance differences of various algorithms are compared and analyzed, and their advantages and disadvantages are compared. Finally, the most suitable algorithm for missing value processing of northbound interface data is found. Based on the simulation and experimental results, it is concluded that the extreme random tree algorithm has better filling effect in dealing with the missing values of the north interface.

Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing, and aviation. Visibility prediction is meaningful in guiding production and life. Different from weather prediction, which relies solely on atmosphere factors, the factors that affect meteorological visibility are more complicated, such as the air pollution caused by factory exhaust emission. However, the current prediction of visibility is mostly based on the numerical prediction method similar to the weather prediction. We proposed a method using multimodal fusion to build a weather visibility prediction system in this paper. An advanced numerical prediction model and a method for emission detection were used to build a multimodal fusion visibility prediction system. We used the most advanced regression algorithm, XGBoost, and LightGBM, to train the fusion model for numerical prediction. Through the estimation of factory emission by the traditional detector in the satellite image, we propose to add the result of estimation based on Landsat-8 satellite images to assist the prediction. By testing our numerical model in atmosphere data of various meteorological observation stations in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from 2002 to 2018, our numerical prediction model turns out to be more accurate than other existing methods, and after fusing with emission detection method, the accuracy of our visibility prediction system has been further improved.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:49:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-02-01 Arthritis Foundation Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Objective: To develop a standardized steroid dosing regimen (SSR) for physicians treating childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) complicated by lupus nephritis (LN), using consensus formation methodology. Methods: Parameters influencing corticosteroid (CS) dosing were identified (step 1). Data from children with proliferative LN were used to generate patient profiles (step 2). Physicians rated changes in renal and extrarenal childhood-onset SLE activity between 2 consecutive visits and proposed CS dosing (step 3). The SSR was developed using patient profile ratings (step 4), with refinements achieved in a physician focus group (step 5). A second type of patient profile describing the course of childhood-onset SLE for ≥4 months since kidney biopsy was rated to validate the SSR-recommended oral and intravenous (IV) CS dosages (step 6). Patient profile adjudication was based on majority ratings for both renal and extrarenal disease courses, and consensus level was set at 80%. Results: Degree of proteinuria, estimated glomerular filtration rate, changes in renal and extrarenal disease activity, and time since kidney biopsy influenced CS dosing (steps 1 and 2). Considering these parameters in 5,056 patient profile ratings from 103 raters, and renal and extrarenal course definitions, CS dosing rules of the SSR were developed (steps 3–5). Validation of the SSR for up to 6 months post–kidney biopsy was achieved with 1,838 patient profile ratings from 60 raters who achieved consensus for oral and IV CS dosage in accordance with the SSR (step 6). Conclusion: The SSR represents an international consensus on CS dosing for use in patients with childhood-onset SLE and proliferative LN. The SSR is anticipated to be used for clinical care and to standardize CS dosage during clinical trials. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine The Hospital for Sick Children and The University of Toronto Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences Medical University of South Carolina KK Women's and Children's Hospital Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Hospital for Special Surgery Albert Einstein College of Medicine SRCC Children's Hospital Capital Medical University and National Center for Children's Health Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Nationwide Children's Hospital University College London Cerrahpasa Medical School Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa University of Zagreb School of Medicine IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University Hacettepe University Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago University of Campinas Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco National and Kapodistian University of Athens University Teknologi MARA Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital São Paulo State University Amsterdam University Medical Center Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town Universidade de São Paulo Hospital de la Beneficencia Española Universidade Federal de São Paulo National Medical Center La Raza Aristotle University of Thessaloniki King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center and Alfaisal University University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center São Paulo State University CNPq: 303422/2015-7 FAPESP: FAPESP 2015/03756-4 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: P30-AR-076316 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: P50-DK-096418 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: R34-AR-071651 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences: T32-AR-050958

Background Hypertrophic scar (HS) formation, a type of dermal fibroproliferative condition, is a frequent complication in wound healing resulting from burns, severe trauma, and surgical procedures. The effects of Panax Notoginseng Saponins (PNS) on the HS formation remain relatively under-explored. Hence, this study was intended to interrogate anti-apoptosis and anti-fibrosis effects of PNS on the hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (HSFs) during HS formation and assess the involvement of TRPM7 and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Methods Using MTT and CCK-8 assays, we evaluated cell cytotoxicity and cell viability. Collagen I/III (col 1/3) and α-SMA expression levels were assessed through immunofluorescence and western blot, and cell migration, cell apoptosis and cell cycle were examined with applications of wound healing, TUNEL staining and flow cytometry. TRPM7, PI3K/AKT, TGF-β1 and related-proteins were quantified using RT-qPCR and western blot. Results PNS administration could suppress TRPM7 expression and the viability of HSFs in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, PNS could restrain the HS formation and ECM deposition by decreasing col 1/3 and α-SMA synthesis, suppressing cell migration, and boosting apoptosis and G1 arrest. Notably, this study revealed that PNS inhibited PI3K/AKT activation in HSFs. Besides, knockdown of TRPM7 enhanced therapeutic effects of PNS on HSFs, but overexpression markedly reversed above mentioned effects of PNS on HSFs. Conclusion This study suggested that PNS hampered scar formation might via inhibiting ECM and stimulating cell apoptosis by modulating the PI3K/AKT signaling. Overall, these findings in the present study could support the use of PNS for preventing HS formation, and TRPM7 may be a novel molecular target for treating HS.

Load is one of the main causes of structural failure, and the correlation among loads would affect the evaluation results of structural performance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of the correlation among multiple loads on the structural reliability. In this paper, the nonparametric kernel density estimation (NKDE) method is used to estimate the probability density function (PDF) of related loads. In addition, the mixed copula (M-Copula) model is proposed, which combines Gumbel copula, Frank copula, Clayton copula, and weight coefficient, and the model parameters are fitted by MATLAB software to get the correlation of related loads. The reliability based on the related load combination is calculated according to the constructed model. After analyzing three numerical cases, the results show that the probability characteristics of NKDE estimation are very close to the actual conditions, and the reliability calculated by the M-Copula model is larger than those calculated by JCSS, Turkstra, and Gong methods. Using the M-Copula model for load correlation would avoid underestimating the reliability of the structure, which is conducive to structural economic development.

Four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle was used as the research object to discuss the lateral stability control algorithm, thus improving vehicle stability under limit conditions. After establishing hierarchical integrated control structure, we designed the yaw moment decision controller based on model predictive control (MPC) theory. Meanwhile, the wheel torque was assigned by minimizing the sum of consumption rates of adhesion coefficients of four tires according to the tire friction ellipse theory. The integrated simulation platform of Carsim and Simulink was established for simulation verification of yaw/rollover stability control algorithm. Then, we finished road experiment verification of real vehicle by integrated control algorithm. The result showed that this control method can achieve the expectation of effective vehicle tracking, significantly improving the lateral stability of vehicle.

In contrast with the commonly used TiO 2 or ZnO electron transporters, SnO 2 , which possesses relatively low conduction band and high electron-mobility, is expected to facilitate the extraction of photogenerated electrons from quantum dots (QDs) to oxides in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs), especially for those narrow band gap QDs (e.g., PbS). In this work, hierarchical SnO 2 hollow sub-microspheres have been synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal process, and further studied for near infrared responsive PbS QDSCs. Morphology and structure characterizations reveal that these sub-micrometer-sized spheres (150–200 nm) with hollow interiors are assembled by numerous packed nanograins. The nanometer-sized grains ensure large specific surface area (∼69.2 m 2 g −1 ) and pore size (∼19 nm) for high QD loading, while the sub-micrometer-sized spheres function as efficient light scatters and robust electron transporting structures. As a result, these superior features make such hierarchical SnO 2 architectures very promising candidates for photovoltaic application. Based on the multifunctional photoelectrode constructed with hierarchical SnO 2 hollow architectures, an appreciable power conversion efficiency up to 1.34% has been achieved for a PbS QDSC, coupled with interface engineering through TiO 2 coating and CdS passivation. This work offers a promising design for developing high performance QDSCs.

Background The Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay was a recently developed kit with high sensitivity for the detection of HCV RNA. We aimed to evaluate the analytical performance of the Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay and compare it with the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HCV Quantitative Test, v2.0. Method WHO HCV RNA standard, NIBSC 06/102 standard, and CLSI EP documents were used to evaluate the precision, accuracy, linearity, anti-interference ability, and cross-reactivity of the Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay. Overall 198 clinical serum specimens were used to make comparison between the Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay and the Roche Cobas test. Results The within-run precision (Swithin ), and total precision (Stotal ) for 6.11 log IU/mL, 4.22 log IU/mL, and 2.32 log IU/mL HCV RNA were 0.13 and 0.15, 0.07 and 0.09, and 0.11 and 0.10, respectively. The linear range was 20-108 IU/mL, and the limit of detection was 15 IU/mL. It did not display any interference with commonly encountered conditions and cross-reactivity with some common virus. A good agreement was observed between the Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay and the Roche Cobas test. Conclusion The Daan HCV RNA quantitative assay has shown satisfactory performances and excellent agreement with COBAS HCV Quantitative Test on clinical specimens with lower cost, which provides an alternative choice for the diagnosis and monitoring of HCV infection in developing countries.

In this paper, a hybrid chaos image encryption method which distinguishes the transmission quality of communication network is proposed. The algorithm combines chaos encryption algorithm with wavelet transform. First, the digital image is decomposed by wavelet to generate approximate image, low-frequency horizontal component, low-frequency vertical component and high-frequency component. The communication parties can encrypt only approximate graph in the network with poor transmission quality by using the random hybrid chaos time series proposed in this paper. In the good transmission quality network, each component can be encrypted and transmitted at the same time. Finally, the original image can be restored lossless by wavelet reconstruction. The experimental results show that the auto-correlation, cross-correlation, run-length and balance characteristics of the encryption sequences generated by this algorithm are excellent. On the premise of avoiding the complex operation of high-dimensional chaos mapping, the encryption intensity and cracking difficulty of the system are greatly improved, and the problem of image security requirements under different conditions is effectively solved.

Creating new functional materials derived from the structures seen on butterfly wings has achieved interest in a variety of research topics. However, there need a concision approach could result in a high-quality, precise, and convenient process for the fabrication of complex nanostructures replication with unique functionalities based on the butterfly wings. Here we developed a pithy approach based on a magnetron sputtering metal Ti process for biotemplating used to refine hierarchically porous titanium dioxide photonic crystal nanostructures (TiO 2 PCN), themselves derived from nanostructures present on the wings of Sasakia Charonda Formosana (S. Charonda) butterflies. For the first time, the TiO 2 PCN were deposited on the top of the P25 active layer and were used to fabricate DSSCs as the light-scattering layers of photoanodes with power conversion efficiencies of up to 8.7%. Remarkably, a much enhanced photocurrent density and a prominent photoelectrochemical conversion capability have been achieved, which are exceeding most of the previously reported photoanodes as well as a similar butterflies replication-based device structure. Our study suggests many exciting opportunities of developing artificially engineered butterfly wing-based solar-to-fuel conversion.

In order to use lithium battery as energy storage device in DC operating power supply system, and optimize the performances of lithium ion battery such as efficiency, etc., an on-line charging and discharging control scheme for lithium ion battery in DC operating power supply is proposed. Firstly, the internal equivalent state of lithium ion battery is estimated by the output voltage and current of lithium ion battery. Secondly, the expected charging and discharging state and current value of lithium ion battery is determined by the internal equivalent state of lithium ion battery. Finally, the output voltage of AC/DC converter is adjusted according to the internal equivalent state of lithium ion battery and the expected charging and discharging state and current value. The actual charging and discharging current of lithium ion battery is forced to tend to the expected current value, so as to optimize the performances of lithium ion battery. Theoretical analysis and case study show that the scheme is feasible.

Wearable devices have appeared in every aspect of our lives, from small items such as wristbands and eyeglasses to finished garments as shoes and clothing. With the promoting of scientific development, intelligent technology is also combined with wearable devices to form a unique network that depends on the human body. The increasing demand for equipment has made smart wearable devices a research hotspot. Such equipment is usually small, light-weight, good flexibility, and can be adapted to the complex use of the environment. But these advantages just become the limitations of power supply for equipment. Generally, the fixed charger can not be used to charge the device during use, and the volume of such a special battery can not be increased in order to increase the storage capacity. Therefore, how to solve the problem of power suppling for the wearable device effectively is a big challenge. Based on this, the paper proposes a distributed system of smart wearable energy harvesting, which considers the human body as the core and uses a variety of ubiquitous energy sources such as solar energy, thermal energy and mechanical energy. The system makes a combination of wearable and distributed design to form a wireless body area network, and provides a stable power output for smart wearable devices.

An image fusion metric is commonly used to evaluate a fusion scheme because subjective evaluation cannot work in an intelligent manufacturing information system. In this study, an objective image fusion metric based on a log-Gabor filter (LGIMF) is presented. This metric can be calculated in five steps: (1) filtering the source and fused images into sub-bands, (2) constructing an ideal synthesis image by applying the maximization principle from the sub-band of the source images, (3) capturing the variation information between the real fused image and the ideal synthesis image in each sub-band, (4) measuring the sub-band fusion visual information by using the signalto- noise ratio model, and (5) weighting the sub-band fusion visual information to determine the overall quality. In our experiment, the proposed fusion metric is compared with other well-known metrics by using a subjective test dataset. We found that the LGIMF was more consistent in subjective perception compared with the other metrics.

Asphalt concrete is a typical rheological material, which is hard brittle at low temperature and reflects soft plastic facture at high temperature; the temperature has a great influence on the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete. In order to eliminate the environmental pollution caused by hot asphalt construction, cationic emulsified asphalt can be used. This paper transforms the temperature control system for static and dynamic triaxial test equipment, which has achieved static and dynamic properties of emulsified asphalt concrete under different temperatures, and researched the temperature sensitivity of emulsified asphalt concrete materials including static stress-strain relationship, static strength, dynamic modulus of elasticity, damping ratio, and so on. The results suggest that (1) temperature has a great influence on the triaxial stress-strain relationship curve of the asphalt concrete. The lower the temperature, the greater the initial tangent modulus of asphalt concrete and the higher the intensity; the more obvious the softening trend, the smaller the failure strain of the specimen and the more obvious the extent of shear dilatancy. When the temperature is below 15.4°C, the temperature sensitivity of the modulus and strength is stronger significantly. (2) With the temperature rising, the asphalt concrete gradually shifts from an elastic state to a viscoelastic state, the dynamic modulus gradually reduces, and the damping ratio increases. When the temperature is above 15.4°C, the temperature sensitivity is obviously stronger for the dynamic elastic modulus and damping ratio. (3) The static and dynamic properties of asphalt concrete are very sensitive to the temperature. The test temperature should be made clear for the static and dynamic tests of asphalt concrete. The specimen temperature and the test ambient temperature must be strictly controlled.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive tumors in humans. T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells are the body’s first line of defense to prevent tumor cell growth. Previous studies have demonstrated that transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with argon–helium cryosurgery system (AHCS) can effectively treat liver cancer. However, the mechanism of the treatment is unclear yet. In the current study, we investigated the effects of TACE combined with AHCS on the changes of T cell subsets and NK cells in peripheral blood of HCC. Our data show that alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels in peripheral blood were significantly up-regulated in HCC patients before treatment when compared with healthy people and reduced after TACE combined with AHCS treatment (P

Badly lit roads lead to vehicle accidents and encourage crime. Therefore, it is important to rapidly detect and report faulty streetlights (FSLs) to the relevant authorities to keep roads safe. Currently, communities primarily depend on electrical inspectors to check streetlights regularly, which may result in long and unnecessary delays prior to repair. Recent studies have focused on adding a networking capability (i.e., a wireless sensor network) into street light poles to enable real-time status reports. However, a smart system that would incorporate sensors and network modules into every streetlight would be expensive; therefore, it would be nearly impossible to realize this system quickly. In this paper, we propose a noninvasive method for detecting faulty lights that involves designing special equipment, called the Hitchhiker, which could be installed on vehicles and would collect information about streetlights’ intensity. This system would not require the modification of conventional streetlights. The collected data would be used to create illumination maps ( IMaps ), the analysis of which could help identify changes in lighting intensity in specific regions. As far as we know, this is an unprecedented approach; no other approaches use IMaps to find FSLs and consider cost and invasiveness. The proposed system could be extended to a citywide scale with minimal cost, and could be used as a complementary system for electrical inspectors possibly identifying FSLs sooner and shortening the duration of poor lighting on streets.

To support online index and range queries, the Distributed B-tree is adopted to index the mass and rapidly in- creasing data in cloud computing. But current Distributed B-tree has three defects: low degree of concurrency, frequent node splitting and high cost of updates in clients. For above mentioned defects, this paper presents efficient distribute B- tree index in cloud computing environment, which effectively enhances the performance of the distributed B-tree index. First, it improves concurrent access by the distributed B-tree high concurrency access method based on node split history. Second, it reduces the splitting frequency by the method of dynamic changing node size. Finally, it reduces node update cost in all client buffers by the regional delayed update method. Experimental results show that, this method has high per- formance in cloud computing environments.

This paper proposes a three-dimensional vapor chamber (3D VC) to solve heat dissipation of LED (light-emitting diode) automotive headlamps, which can be installed in a very limited setup space and a high heating load. The proposed 3D VC can be regarded as a combination of a flattened heat pipe and a circular vapor chamber. A test system was implemented to study the effects of different heating modes on thermal performance, power distribution characteristics, the temperature distribution and thermal resistance of the 3D VC. The experimental results show that the thermal performance of the 3D VC by both-sides heating is better than that of the one-side heating under the same total heating load. The 3D VC exhibits a favorable temperature uniformity, and the minimum thermal resistance of the 3D VC is 0.125 °C/W at a 50 W heating load.

Based on the mode of eco-network planning, this text expounds three aspects about ecological nodes in university campus, including two general features those are heterogeneity and mosaicism, three common types can be respectively named Intersectional, Affiliated and Separate and their three important planning and construction principles: strictly protect virgin nature ecological factors, create an symbiotic environment for both human and nature, regenerate ecological elements located on the key position in eco-network of campus such as planting a cluster of regional trees to be a grove for animals.

The lack of Autonomous Aerial Refueling capability is one of the greatest limitations of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). The estimation of the relative position, velocity and attitude is the key issue in this research area. This paper proposes a novel method for relative navigation. We focus on the need for the rendezvous phase. The structure of this paper is as follows. Firstly, we shall briefly introduce the autonomous aerial refueling phases and the related navigation sensors. Then we establish the error equation. After using the Kalman filter, we obtain the estimation of the relative state error. The employed algorithm based on the SINS/GPS/IRST integrated relative navigation, it has advantages of both autonomous navigation and passive target positioning. In simulation experiments, the results show that our algorithm can track the relative state variation and restrain the error divergency effectively.

Near space vehicle (NSV) is a nonlinear, multivariable and strongly coupled system. During the arbitrary trajectory tracking of NSV, the employment of conventional sliding mode variable structure control often results in steady-state errors, if there is some certain external disturbance. In this paper, an integral sliding mode variable structure controller is designed to eliminate the steady state error. Since the inputs of most actuators are restricted, the control performance will deteriorate or fail when the control signals are input directly into the controlled object. Therefore, the saturation limit is introduced to the controller design process to limit the input. Finally the proposed control scheme is applied to the attitude motion mode of the NSV and the simulation results confirmed its effect.

This paper proposes a dynamic model and performance analysis method of hose-drogue aerial refueling system based on Kane equation by rigid multibody dynamics. In this method, the hose is divided into finite segment rigid joint of bars. To depict spatial state of each hose-bar, system generalized coordinates and generalized rates are defined. A set of multi-level recursive formulas and dynamic equations are derived to describe the dynamic properties of the hose-drogue under a prescribed motion of tanker. To calculate the external aerodynamic loads of each hose-bar, the effects of tanker wake, steady flow and atmospheric turbulence are considered. Numerical simulation results show a good correctness of the dynamic model by steady-state characteristics of the balance drag trajectory of hose-drogue in different flight conditions. Furthermore, the dynamic characteristics of the hose-drogue resulting from atmospheric turbulence are investigated.

In the dynamic time-history analysis of structural elastoplasticity, it is important to develop a universal mathematical model that can describe the force-displacement characteristics for restoring force. By defining three control parameters (stiffness degradation, slip closureγ, energy degradationβ), the Park restoring force mathematical model can simulate various components. In this study, the Park restoring force has been improved by adding two control parameters (energy-based strength degradationβeand ductility-based strength degradationβd). Based on the testing data, the constitutive model is input and 55 numerical models are developed to analyze the effects of various parameters on structural behavior.Conclusion. (1)βhas determinative effect on structural behavior; the effect ofβeis basically consistent with that ofβ;αhas significant effect on shear forces and bending moments;γhas significant effect on displacements and accelerations;βdhas significant effect on shearing forces, acceleration, and total energy consumptions. (2) Based on the classification of four types of damage level, the recommended values forα,γ,β,βe, andβdare presented. (3) Based on the testing data of high-strength columns, the recommended values for the five control parameters of the improved Park restoring force model are presented.

EUV sources based on discharge produced plasma (DPP), one of which is based on xenon gas jet discharge and the other is based on laser assisted tin discharge, are being developed for the next generation lithography. To get a high power source demanded by manufacturers, the understanding of pinch dynamics corresponding to emission is important and hence fundamental investigation, such as the simulation of gas density distribution or the measurement of electron temperature and density, is conducted. Soft X-ray laser using recombination scheme is also being studied to realize a shorter wavelength nitrogen laser at 13.4 nm. The results of spectroscopic measurement are shown.

The first industrial-scale CO 2 capture plant in China has been demonstrated at Huaneng Beijing power plant has shown that this technology is a good option for the capture of CO 2 produced by commercial coal-fired power plants. The commissioning and industrial tests are introduced in this paper. The tests show that in the early stages of the passivation phase, the concentration variations of amine, anti-oxidant and Fe 3+ are in the normal range, and the main parameters achieve the design value. The efficiency of the CO 2 capture was about 80–85%, and by the end of January 2009 about 900 tons of CO 2 (99.7%) have been captured. The equipment investment and consumptive costs, including steam, power, solution and others, have been analyzed. The results show: the cost of the absorber and the stripper account for about 50% of main equipment; the consumptive cost is about 25.3 US$ per metric tons of CO 2 , of which the steam requirement accounts for about 55%; the COE increased by 0.02 US$/kW h and the electricity purchase price increased by 29%.

Cosmic-ray data of 90 M events have been collected and used for calibration, alignment as well as detector tuning. A special tracking algorithm for the BESIII muon counter is developed and verified with Monte-Carlo simulation and then further confirmed with the cosmic-ray data. The obtained strip resolutions are in good agreement with the design values. A new alignment approach for the BESIII muon counter is confirmed with the cosmic-ray data and proposed to be used in future analysis of experimental data.

Software alignment is quite important for a tracking detector to reach its ultimate position accuracy and momentum resolution. We developed a new alignment algorithm for the BESIII Main Drift Chamber using the Kalman Filter method. Two different types of data which are helix tracks and straight tracks are used to test this algorithm, and the results show that the design and implementation is successful.

Material effect of inner-detectors on the performances of the BESIII Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMC) is investigated. The BESIII Time-Of-Flight counters (TOF) have been utilized to improve the energy resolution and detection efficiency for photons after a careful energy calibration. A matching algorithm between TOF and EMC energy deposits is developed, and the effects of beam-related background are discussed. The energy resolution is improved and the photon detection efficiency can be increased by the combined measurement of EMC and TOF detectors.

A multilayered perceptrons' neural network technique has been applied in the particle identification at BESIII. The networks are trained in each sub-detector level. The NN output of sub-detectors can be sent to a sequential network or be constructed as PDFs for a likelihood. Good muon-ID, electron-ID and hadron-ID are obtained from the networks by using the simulated Monte Carlo samples.

Due to the demand to realize shorter wavelength light sources, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources and soft x-ray laser (SXRL) are under development. The development of EUV sources at the wavelength of 13.5 nm started to realize light sources to be used for next generation lithography. Xenon was used at the beginning of development, however, to attain higher conversion efficiency, tin is now used as fuel. As a coherent light source, capillary discharge SXRL is under development. After the demonstration of Ne-like Ar SXRL by using electron collisional excitation scheme, the effort to shorten the wavelength has been made by adopting recombination scheme such as H-like N. Though the challenge has not yet been successful, the source has potential to be used as a SXR source in the water window wavelength region. Current status of EUV and SXR sources based on discharge produced plasma will be given.

A new method of characterizing the damage of high strength concrete structures is presented, which is based on the deformation energy double parameters damage model and incorporates both of the main forms of damage by earthquakes: first time damage beyond destruction and energy consumption. Firstly, test data of high strength reinforced concrete (RC) columns were evaluated. Then, the relationship between stiffness degradation, strength degradation, and ductility performance was obtained. And an expression for damage in terms of model parameters was determined, as well as the critical input data for the restoring force model to be used in analytical damage evaluation. Experimentally, the unloading stiffness was found to be related to the cycle number. Then, a correction for this changing was applied to better describe the unloading phenomenon and compensate for the shortcomings of structure elastic-plastic time history analysis. The above algorithm was embedded into an IDARC program. Finally, a case study of high strength RC multistory frames was presented. Under various seismic wave inputs, the structural damages were predicted. The damage model and correction algorithm of stiffness unloading were proved to be suitable and applicable in engineering design and damage evaluation of a high strength concrete structure.

By using the biopurifying technology, the organic waste gas in low concentrations emitted from the rubber-regeneration process was purified in this research. The result of the 100-day continuous running test of the industrial test device indicated that the purification efficiency of toluene in the rubber-regeneration waste gas could be maintained at about 90% for a long period of time and the treated waste gas could meet the China National Emission Standard. The cost of waste gas biotreatment was about 0.12~0.14% of rubber-regeneration production value of the factory. The biopurifying technology of waste gas displayed its excellent technical advancement and economic rationale. The following industrialized device was run continuously and passed the examination and acceptance by the local EPA.

In this paper, an algorithm using adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) to estimate four-wheel independent drive (4WID) electric vehicle key states is proposed. The algorithm estimates unknown noise by use of the modified Sage-Husa noise statistic estimator. Its recursive form is combined with unscented Kalman filter (UKF) algorithm for real-time estimation and correction of noise statistic property in filtering process so as to reduce the error in state estimation. The non-linear vehicle dynamics system which contained constant/time-variable noise and four degrees of freedom, including longitudinal, lateral, yaw and rolling motion is established. The estimator based on AUKF is compared with that based on UKF. The results of virtual experiments by using both Simulink and Carsim software and real vehicle experiments demonstrate that the AUKF-based algorithm can estimate quite accurately the key driving state parameters of 4WID electric vehicle.

Road lighting management, i.e., finding a faulty street lamp or street lamps blocked by overgrown trees for example, can improve road illumination and reduce traffic accidents. Based on previous work [1], which explores the use of illumination maps to detect faulty lamps, we present a road lighting management system for detecting significant changes in road lighting automatically. This system is characterized by eliminating any need to modify conventional street lamps. Therefore, the cost is extremely low compared to other approaches, e.g., Wireless sensor network for street lamp monitoring. We design a special embedded system, the Hitchhiker, for installation on fixed-route vehicles, such as shuttle buses, to collect illumination readings along the vehicle's route. All data from the Hitchhiker is uploaded to the Google App Engine (GAE) server for data storage, analysis, and user query; this allows identification of possible locations of faulty street lamps on the web-based management interface. We designed and implemented a prototype of the Hitchhiker and GAE server to demonstrate the practicability of this system; we are working toward enabling this design for automatic faulty street lamp detection in the near future.

Study design Retrospective consecutive case series. Objective To review and analyze clinical presentations and radiological imaging of 326 consecutive patients with spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) from 2 institutions. Summary of background data The clinical presentations of SDAVF are nonspecific. Patients may be initially diagnosed with other spinal diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reveal spinal cord changes associated with the disorder, but neurosurgeons often overlook these changes. Methods From 1989 to 2009, 326 patients were diagnosed with SDAVF and treated at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University and the Xuanwu Hospital of the Capital University of Medical Sciences. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records and radiological images of all patients, and collected and analyzed the related data. Results Two hundred eighty-two males and 44 females (male/female ratio 6.4:1; mean age, 53.9 yr; SD, 12.1) were included in the study. Fistulas were located at the T7 spinal segment (41, 12.6%), but were more typically found at T5 to L5 (273, 82.5%). The most common initial symptoms were lower extremity weakness (234, 71.8%), sensory disturbance (229, 70.2%), and sphincter disturbance (87, 26.7%). These percentages increased to, 85.6%, 80.8%, and 52.5%, respectively, until patients were properly diagnosed. The mean diagnostic time to SDAVF was 19.9 months (SD, 25.2). Two major changes noted on magnetic resonance images were intramedullary T2-weighted signal hyperintensity (284, 87.1%) and perimedullary dilated vessels (251, 77%). Fistulas were often located outside of the vertebral segments of T2-weighted signal change (P = 0.005). Magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography of 33 (71.7%) patients revealed perimedullary dilated vessels and precisely located fistulas in 19 (41.3%) patients. Magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography studies of the perimedullary vessels also led to identification of a second fistula through angiography. Degenerative disc disease and myelitis were the most common misdiagnoses, and the patients were often treated incorrectly. Conclusion "Worsening" and "symptoms combination" are progression characteristics of SDAVF. Patients should undergo spinal magnetic resonance imaging when they are first suspected to have SDAVF. Magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography as noninvasive angiography are helpful for diagnosis.

This paper looks into the issues in the preliminary disciplinary construction of local universities and colleges, and discusses the thoughts and countermeasures in this regard from the aspects of team building, discipline management, quality of personnel training, construction of basic discipline and specialty cluster, and academic exchange, etc, and provides suggestions to deal with these issues.