Search

Due to simple calculation and good denoising effect, wavelet threshold denoising method has been widely used in signal denoising. In this method, the threshold is an important parameter that affects the denoising effect. In order to improve the denoising effect of the existing methods, a new threshold considering interscale correlation is presented. Firstly, a new correlation index is proposed based on the propagation characteristics of the wavelet coefficients. Then, a threshold determination strategy is obtained using the new index. At the end of the paper, a simulation experiment is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experiment, four benchmark signals are used as test signals. Simulation results show that the proposed method can achieve a good denoising effect under various signal types, noise intensities, and thresholding functions.

The fabrication and luminescent performance of novel phosphors Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ were investigated by a conventional solid-state reaction method. Under near-UV light, the Na2YMg2V3O12 host self-activated and released a broad emission band (400&ndash, 700 nm, with a peak at 524 nm) ascribable to charge transfer in the (VO4)3&minus, groups. Meanwhile, the Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphors emitted bright yellow light within both the broad emission band of the (VO4)3- groups and the sharp peaks of the Dy3+ ions at 490, 582, and 663 nm at a quenching concentration of 0.03 mol. The emission of the as-prepared Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphors remained stable at high temperatures. The obtained phosphors, commercial Y2O3:Eu3+ red phosphors, and BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ blue phosphors were packed into a white light-emitting diode (WLED) device with a near-UV chip. The designed WLED emitted bright white light with good chromaticity coordinates (0.331, 0.361), satisfactory color rendering index (80.2), and proper correlation to a color temperature (7364 K). These results indicate the potential utility of Na2YMg2V3O12:Dy3+ phosphor as a yellow-emitting phosphor in solid-state illumination.

Animproved particle filter algorithm which based on mean shift algorithm isintroduced. The algorithm makes the particles move towards the high likelihoodregion in posterior distribution with the effect of mean shift algorithm,increases the efficiency of the particles moving, and reduces the phenomenon ofdegradation and dilution of particles

Due to the interference of strong vibration signal, a big error exists in modal parameter identification based on traditional ARMA model. In order to solve this problem, a new method for modal parameter identification based on natural excitation technique (NExT) and ARMA model is presented. Firstly, NExT is used to obtain cross-correlation function of different response sequences. Then, ARMA model of cross-correlation function is established, and the parameters of ARMA model are estimated by least squares method. Finally, the modal parameter identification is achieved using the relationship between the ARMA parameters and structural modal parameters. Experiment shows that the identification results of our method are more accurate than the traditional ARMA model.

The reuse of produced water generated by natural gas extraction from Marcellus Shale for hydraulic fracturing is the dominant management option in Pennsylvania (PA), USA. The advantages and disadvantages of this management approach are reviewed and discussed together with long-term concerns and technology development needs. Abandoned mine drainage is a promising alternative make-up water, but high sulfate concentrations will lead to barite precipitation once it is mixed with the produced water. Bench-scale studies were conducted to optimize barite separation from this mixture that meets the finished water quality criteria for sulfate. Conventional separation processes are very effective in removing these solids but radium (Ra) co-precipitation may be a concern for their disposal in municipal landfills. If the produced water volume exceeds the reuse capacity for hydraulic fracturing, lime–soda ash softening can be used to remove divalent cations, including radium, to enable the production of pure salts using subsequent thermal processes.

Flowback water generated during unconventional gas extraction is of great concern due to its high total dissolved solids (TDS), radioactive elements and organic matter. Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) is a water source that is often located in the vicinity of gas wells and can be mixed with flowback water to reduce fresh water usage for hydraulic fracturing. The feasibility of microfiltration to separate solids created by mixing actual flowback water and AMD was evaluated using a bench-scale setup. Hydrophilic polyvinyldiene fluoride (PVDF) membrane with a pore size of 0.22 μm was as a model polymeric microfiltration membrane. Severe membrane fouling occurred during the first 5 min of filtration with one flowback/AMD mixture while no significant fouling was observed for a different mixture. It was found that the flowback water that caused membrane fouling contained stable iron-based colloids with an average particles size of 0.2 μm, especially in the samples collected early in the flowback period. These colloids were not formed by mixing flowback water containing high barium concentration with AMD rich in sulfate but were originally present in the flowback water. Stability of these sub-micron colloidal particles at high ionic strength of the flowback water is attributed to organic coating on the particle surface.

Wavelet basis selection is an important part in the wavelet denoising of structural vibration signal. However, some defects are present in the existing methods, such as large computation and a single optimal index. In order to solve these problems, a new selection method based on multiple index is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the wavelet basis category which suits for the vibration signal denoising is determined by analyzing the characteristics of wavelet basis and vibration signal. Then, a multiple index evaluation function is constructed by mean square error indicator (MSE), signal-to-noise ratio indicator (SNR) and correlation coefficient indicator (ρ), the weights of index are received by analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the wavelet basis with biggest evaluation function value is considered as optimal wavelet basis. At the end of the paper, a experiment is provided to verify the effectiveness of the new method, the results show that the new method is better than the other four methods in MSE, SNR and ρ index.

Acid-washed activated carbon (AC-A), nitric acid modified activated carbon (AC-NO2), aminated activated carbon (AC-NH2) and cerium-loaded activated carbon (Ce/AC) were prepared and characterized by BET procedure, Boehm titration and SEM. Their performances were investigated for the ozonation of p-chlorobenzoic acid (p-CBA) in its solution and organic compounds in reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC). Nitration and amination had little effect on the surface area of catalyst, but increased the concentration of surface acid and basic functional group respectively. After loading Ce, the surface area of the catalyst decreased, and amount of Ce particles were agglomerated on the surface of activated carbon. All the four catalysts can improve the removal rate of the organics in water. Among the four catalysts, Ce/AC shows the highest catalytic activity. The removal rates of p-CBA, TOC and three target pollutants (e.g., tetracycline, metoprolol, atrazine) are 99.6%, 70.38%, 97.76%, 96.21% and 96.03%, respectively. Hydroxyl radical (&middot, OH) was proved to be the core of catalytic reaction mechanism for Ce/AC, with the contribution rate to p-CBA removal of 91.4%. The surface groups and the Ce loaded on AC were the initiator for the rapid generation of &middot, OH. Electron transfer between electron-rich structures and cerium oxide might be a synergistic effect that can increase catalytic activity of Ce loaded on AC. Catalytic ozonation with Ce/AC is a promising ROC treatment technology due to its efficiency and possibilities for improvement.

Rare earth aluminate phosphors are well-known for being nontoxic and environmentally friendly. In this work, Tb3+-doped SrLaAlO4 phosphors were synthesized via a facile high temperature solid-state reaction method. The Optimum reaction temperature is determined to be 1300 °C based on the results of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM patterns and TEM images correspond with the results of Rietveld refinement and show that the SrLa1-xAlO4:xTb3+ samples present a flaky structure. The results of photoluminescence spectrums (PL) show that SrLa1-xAlO4:xTb3+ phosphors can absorb in the UV–vis spectral region of 228 nm–263 nm and exhibit several emission peaks between 450 and 650 nm, and the highest peak was at 508 nm. The luminescence properties of SrLa1-xAlO4:xTb3+ have a strict dependence on the cation substitution levels. When the doping concentration of Tb3+ was 0.05, the emission intensity of the sample is strongest. The thermal quenching result of the SrLa0.95AlO4:0.05 Tb3+ phosphors shows that these phosphors are relatively sensitive to temperature changes under an excitation of 228 nm, as the temperature increases from 25 °C to 125 °C, the emission intensity (peak at 548 nm) decayed to 55.11% of that at room temperature. However, when the temperature increases to 125 °C, the emission intensity (peak at 548 nm) decayed to 61.16% of the initial value under an excitation of 263 nm, which showed a relatively good thermal stability. The internal quantum efficiency (QE) values of the SrLa0.95AlO4:0.05 Tb3+ phosphors was measured and determined to be 48%. Under excitations of 228 nm and 263 nm, the lifetimes of the optimized sample SrLa0.95AlO4:0.05 Tb3+ were 1.3986 ms and 1.2095 ms, respectively, and the CIE coordinates of the sample were calculated as (0.2971, 0.4981), (0.3056, 0.5329), respectively. Under both excitations SrLa0.95AlO4:0.05 Tb3+ exhibited high-color-purity green emission.

Nanostructure reinforced nitride ceramics play an important role in the family of structural ceramics. In this study, large scale of one-dimensional (1D) β-sialon nanostructures and β-sialon-β-Si3N4 composite powders were synthesized simultaneously via a reduction nitridation process by using powders of silicon, aluminum, and silica as raw materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM/HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to characterize the phase composition, morphology, and microstructure of the as-obtained products. As a result, large scale of 1D β-sialon nanostructures can be prepared at 1600 °C. The diameter of the as-prepared nanowires in the range of 80 to 170 nm can be tailored by the addition of aluminum. The growth of 1D β-sialon nanostructures is achieved by a vapor-solid (VS) mechanism. Photoluminescence (PL) of the 1D β-sialon nanostructures was characterized which exhibit violet/blue emission peaks, making it have the potential to be applied in optoelectronic nanodevices. Besides, nitride ceramic composite powders including β-Si3N4 and β-sialon with in situ formed β-sialon nanowires were also achieved. The phase transformation behavior and the thermodynamical analysis of the ceramic composite powders were also studied by characterizing the phase composition of the products synthesized at different temperature. The as-grown β-sialon nanowires and the composite powders have great potential to be applied in nanostructure reinforced structural ceramics.

Optimal sensor placement is a key issue in the structural health monitoring of large-scale structures. However, some aspects in existing approaches require improvement, such as the empirical and unreliable selection of mode and sensor numbers and time-consuming computation. A novel improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO) algorithm is proposed to address these problems. The approach firstly employs the cumulative effective modal mass participation ratio to select mode number. Three strategies are then adopted to improve the PSO algorithm. Finally, the IPSO algorithm is utilized to determine the optimal sensors number and configurations. A case study of a latticed shell model is implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed algorithm and four different PSO algorithms. The effective independence method is also taken as a contrast experiment. The comparison results show that the optimal placement schemes obtained by the PSO algorithms are valid, and the proposed IPSO algorithm has better enhancement in convergence speed and precision.

A new column loaded with modified silica gel-chitosan is proposed as a preconcentration system for adsorption of trace cadmium (II) and copper (II). The optimization steps were performed under dynamic conditions, involving pH, sample flow rate, eluent selection, concentration, volume, and flow rate. Trace Cd(II) and Cu(II) were quantitatively adsorbed by the modified silica gel-chitosan. The metal ions adsorbed on the separation column were eluted with 0.1 M HNO3 and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Under the optimum conditions, this method allowed the determination of cadmium and copper with limits of detection (LOD) of 20 ng L−1 and 38 ng L−1, respectively. The relative standard deviation values (RSDs) for 1.0 mg L−1 of cadmium and 1.0 mg L−1 of copper were 2.62% and 2.85%, respectively.

This paper presents a novel description for factor logic, which puts state description into a factor space, and sets up truth sets for formulae. Along this way, factor space may provide a suitable platform for the development of quantitative logic. Factor logic can be also described as a derivative system of Boolean logic with added hypotheses \(\varGamma \), which can be used in data mining and function-structure analysis in switch systems.

The cross compatibility within and between Yulania Spach and Michelia L. (Magnoliaceae) is relatively good and various such hybrids, obtained by conventional artificial hybridization, are available. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent of genome differentiation between the species involved in these crosses through the observation of chromosome pairing during meiosis in pollen mother cells (PMCs) of the hybrids. Chromosome pairing behavior was studied in five species (2n = 38) and two interspecific hybrids of Michelia, eight species (2n = 38, 76 and 114) and 10 interspecific hybrids of Yulania, and three intergeneric hybrids between Michelia and Yulania. The results showed that chromosome pairing was normal with bivalent formation in diploid parental species and in interspecific hybrids. In addition to bivalents, multivalents were encountered in polyploid parental species and polyploid interspecific hybrids. In the intergeneric hybrids between a tetraploid Yulania and two diploid Michelia, 19 chromosomes, most likely originating from Michelia, were unable to synapse from zygotene to metaphase I. Meiotic chromosome pairing indicated a high degree of homology between species within Michelia and Yulania and less homology between the genomes of these two genera. The differentiation of morphological characters and the distinctness of natural distribution also support the conclusion that these two genera are likely independent monophyletic groups. This suggests that the two genera were split at early evolution of Magnoliaceae and the overlapping characteristics in external morphology and internal structures of the two genera may be the result of parallel evolution or ancient common ancestry.

The aim of this article is the partial axiomatization for 1-level universal logic. A propositional calculus formal deductive system UL−hɛ(0,1) based on 1-level universal AND operator of universal logic is built up. The corresponding algebra is introduced. The soundness and the completeness of system UL−hɛ(0,1) are proved.

Chromosomal abnormalities including cytomixis occurred in meiotic process of pollen mother cells of many angiosperm species at high frequency, but similar phenomenon was rarely reported in low vascular plants. This study we investigated the microsporogenesis of Isoetes sinensis Palmer, a quillwort of ancient heterosporous lycopsids Isoetaceae plants. Irregular chromosomal behavior especially cytomixis was emphasized. It appeared in each stage of meiotic division from prophase I to telophase II. The cytoplasmic channels between microspore mother cells were narrow and stretched. The genetic material connection was maintained mainly by visible chroma- tin fiber. The cytomixis was just occurred between two adjacent microspore mother cells of same stages. A variety of other abnormal chromosomal behaviors including chromosomal stickiness, fragmentation, bridge, laggards, micronucleus, were observed, albeit with low frequency. All sorts of chromosomal abnormalities were counted at two stages, anaphase I and anaphase II. They were approximately 24.4% and 26.9% respectively. This number was slightly higher than that of microspore abortion which was about 14.8%. I. sinensis was listed as a critical endangered species due to habitat fragmentalization, water pollution and wetland degradation. Human being activities are without doubt the immediate forces resulting in the population decreasing of I. sinensis. Whether the individual numbers dropping or habitat withdraw has consequently caused the producing of the overall high abnormalities of chromosomal behaviours is not determined yet. However, cytomixis and other irregular chromo- somal phenomenon seemed not to be a natural process.

Chromosome behavior during meiosis of the tetraploid Isoetes sinensis was observed to be similar to that of basic diploid Isoetes species. This observation was consistent with the previous report that polyploid species of Isoetes are allopolyploids. Meiosis was generally similar in both megaspore and microspore mother cells, but differences were observed. Due to the smaller size of the microspore mother cells, during prophase I, chromosomes are not as dispersed as those in megaspore mother cells. Cytomixis was observed in all stages of meiosis in microspore mother cells, but it was not seen at any stage of meiosis in megaspore mother cells. Cytomixis, lagging chromosomes, chromosome bridges, chromosome fragments, and micronuclei, observed during meiosis in I. sinensis, can affect sexual reproduction, but it does not appear to be a major cause of population decline in this species. The major cause of decline is habitat degradation from human disturbance. The few remaining populations of the Chines...

Davidia involucrata Baill. and Camptotheca acuminata Decne were investigated and compared karyomorphologically. Their idiogrammatic formulae are, respectively, 2n = 42 = 20m (2SAT) + 16sm + 4st + 2t and 2n = 42 = 22m (2SAT) + 14sm + 4st + 2t. The plants are very similar: both belong to the 2B asymmetry karyotype (the karyotypes are reported here for the first time) and in both the prophase chromosomes are of the interstitial type. Davidia is believed to be closely related to Camptotheca. We do not consider it appropriate to remove Davidia from Camptotheca into a different family or subfamily. The cytological data support Davidia and Camptotheca forming a subfamily (Davidioideae) of the broadly circumscribed Cornaceae. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 144, 193-198.

Background: Although step counters are popularly employed for physical rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, their effectiveness is inconsistent and even questioned. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether step counter use increases physical activity or improves exercise capacity in COPD patients. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials that assessed the efficacy of step counter use in increasing physical activity or in improving exercise capacity. Data were aggregated using a random-effects model to get the overall effect sizes [standard mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI)], and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: A total of 15 trials enrolling 1316 patients with moderate to severe COPD were included. Step counter use increased physical activity compared with controls (SMD = 0.57, 95% CI 0.31–0.84), which is equal to a magnitude of 1026 steps/day in daily steps. It also enhanced exercise capacity with an effect size of 0.30 (95% CI 0.16–0.45), approximating to a magnitude of 11.6 m in the 6-min walking distance. Step counter use could augment physical activity (SMD = 0.64, 95% CI 0.19–1.08) and exercise capacity (SMD = 0.32, 95% CI 0.01–0.62) for patients receiving pulmonary rehabilitation. Yet it cannot enhance physical activity or exercise capacity in patients with severe COPD or among studies with intervention durations ⩾6 months (both p > 0.50). Conclusions: Step counter use increases physical activity and improves exercise capacity in COPD patients, at least in the short term, which supports the notion of recommending step counter use in COPD management.

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. Fourier has been a powerful mathematical tool for representing a signal into an expression consist of sin and cos. Recently a new developed signal decomposition theory is proposed by Pro. Tao Qian named Adaptive Fourier Decomposition, which has the advantage in time frequency over Fourier decomposition and without the need for a fixed window size problem such as short-time frequency transform. Studies show that AFD can fast decompose signals into positive-frequency functions with good analytical properties. In this paper we apply AFD into image decomposition and reconstruction area first time in the literature, which shows a promising result and gives the fundamental prospect for image compression.

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) is an important part in the structural health monitoring. Due to the ability of ensuring the linear independence of the tested modal vectors, the minimum modal assurance criterion (minMAC) is considered as an effective method and is used widely. However, some defects are present in this method, such as the low modal energy and the long computation time. A new OSP method named IAGA-MMAC is presented in this study to settle the issue. First, a modified modal assurance criterion (MMAC) is proposed to improve the modal energy of the selected locations. Then, an improved adaptive genetic algorithm (IAGA), which uses the root mean square of off-diagonal elements in the MMAC matrix as the fitness function, is proposed to enhance computation efficiency. A case study of sensor placement on a numerically simulated wharf structure is provided to verify the effectiveness of the IAGA-MMAC strategy, and two different methods are used as contrast experiments. A comparison of these strategies shows that the optimal results obtained by the IAGA-MMAC method have a high modal strain energy, a quick computational speed, and small off-diagonal elements in the MMAC matrix.

Formation of mineral scales in industrial and municipal systems causes service interruption, performance decline, and often a complete system failure. Control of mineral scales may include costly water purification to remove scale-forming components or a simple addition of antiscaling chemicals. Although the use of antiscalants has very long history, it still relies more on experience and empirical solutions than on fundamental understanding of mechanisms by which these chemicals can reduce or prevent scale formation. Challenges for scale control include fairly complex interactions in aqueous systems, changing water chemistry, pH and temperature changes, and application of corrosion and biofouling strategies that could compromise the effectiveness of antiscalants. It is generally accepted that antiscalants do not completely eliminate scaling tendency but can inhibit the nucleation and/or crystallization phases. The main mechanisms by which antiscalants can control the formation of mineral precipitates include threshold inhibition, crystal modification, sequestration (chelation), or dispersion. It is desirable to utilize antiscalants that rely on more than one mechanism to ensure reliable performance. The dominant classes of antiscaling chemicals nowadays include polyphosphates, organophosphonates, and various polyelectrolytes. Depending on the application in question, there are several experimental approaches that may be utilized to evaluate the optimal control strategy that is compatible with other goals of water treatment. They range from simple beaker tests to recirculating systems with and without heated surfaces, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and dynamic tube blocking experiments for high pressure and temperature applications. It is important to note that these experimental systems are effective in demonstrating relative performance of different antiscaling approaches but that the final adjustments have to be performed during field applications. Case studies discussed in this chapter include the application of specific chemicals for the control of mineral scales in cooling systems using secondary-treated municipal wastewater, scaling control in reverse osmosis desalination, and inhibition of barium sulfate scaling on the production casing during unconventional shale gas extraction.

Inflammation in the brain, characterized by the activation of microglia, is believed to participate in the patho- genesis of Parkinson's disease. Biochanin A, an O-methylated isoflavone, is a natural organic compound and is classified as a phytoestrogen. In this study, using murine BV2 microg- lial cells, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of biochanin A and the possible mechanisms involved. BV2 microglial cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce pro-inflammatory responses and the cells were then treated with biochanin A. Cell viability was examined by MTT assay. The production of nitric oxide (NO) was examined using Griess reagent and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS production) was measured by DCFH-DA assay. The mRNA expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was examined by RT-PCR. The expression of p-ERK, p-JNK, p-p38 and iNOS was measured by western blot analysis. In addition, the protein and mRNA and phosphorylation levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined by western blot analysis and RT-PCR, respectively. The results revealed that biochanin A attenuated LPS-induced microglial activation and the production of TNF-α, IL-1β, nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species in a dose-dependent manner. Biochanin A significantly decreased the LPS-induced mRNA expression of TNF-α and IL-1β, and inhibited iNOS mRNA and protein expression. Furthermore, biochanin A significantly inhibited the LPS-induced phosphorylation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38. These findings suggest that the inhibitory effects of biochanin A on LPS-induced proinflammatory responses may be associated with the inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways in BV2 microglial cells.

Flowback water from natural gas extraction in Marcellus Shale contains very high concentrations of inorganic salts and organic chemicals. Potential reuse of this water in subsequent hydraulic-fracturing operations may be limited by high concentrations of divalent cations (e.g., Ba, Sr, and Ca). Kinetics of barite and celestite precipitation in flowback waters from different well sites was evaluated in this study. Ba reacted rapidly with sulfate and reached equilibrium within 30 min, whereas Sr reacted slowly and took days to reach equilibrium. Equilibrium concentrations of Ba and Sr predicted by thermodynamics models were compared with experimental results. Activity corrections based on the Pitzer equation provided the best agreement with experimental data for both Ba and Sr. Comparison of barite and celestite precipitation kinetics in actual and synthetic flowback water revealed that there was no observable impact of organics and other minor components in actual flowback water on barite precipita...

To explore associated proteins involved in age-related changes of the testis and better understand the roles of these proteins in the human testis.We used two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spec trometry analysis to identify differentially expressed proteins between the aged and the normal control groups. The L-lactate dehydrogenase C chain (LDHC) protein, a previous testis-specific protein, was found to be downregulated in the aged testis and was further tested with western blot and immunohistochemical analysis to verify the result of the LDHC protein in 2-DE.Twelve differentially expressed proteins were identified. Among those proteins, 3 were upregulated and 9 were downregulated in the aged group. The results of western blot and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the expression of LDHC downregulation in the aged testis. Some proteins identified had little well-known function in the human testis, as follows: AKR7A3, FDXR, PGAM1, SEPT2 and HMGCS2.Our results imply that the aged testis can be a good model to find associated proteins involved in age-related changes of the testis. It can be useful to understand the roles of those proteins in the testis.

The kinetics for complete iron release showing biphasic behavior from pig spleen ferritin-Fe (PSFF) was measured by spectrophotometry. The native core within the PSFF shell consisted of 1682 hydroxide Fe3+ and 13 phosphate molecules. Inhibition kinetics for complete iron release was measure by differential spectrophotometry in the presence of phosphate; the process was clearly divided into two phases involving a first-order reaction at an increasing rate of 46.5 Fe3+/PSFF/min on the surface of the iron core and a zero-order reaction at a decreasing rate of 6.67 Fe3+/PSFF/min inside the core. The kinetic equation [C(PSFF-Fe3+)max - C(PSFF-Fe3+)t](1/2) = Tmax - Tt gives the transition time between the two rates and represents the complex kinetic characteristics. The rate was directly accelerated twofold by a mixed reducer of dithionite and ascorbic acid. These results suggest that the channel of the PSFF shell may carry out multiple functions for iron metabolism and storage and that the phosphate strongly affects the rate of iron release.

Bacterial ferritin of Azotobacter vinelandii (AvBF) is directly able to pick electrons up for iron release from or transfer them for storage to a platinum electrode in the absence of mediator or other reducer. The ferritin containing the structure of heme-Co2+ in part shows weakened activity to electrode and decreases the rate of iron release greatly. A reversible reduction process of the ferritin is observed by the spectral change regularly ranging from 310 to 260 nm under mixed gases containing 98% H2 and 2% to O2. The activity of nitrogen fixation from the whole cell of A. vinelandii increases greatly by H2 reduction with potentials ranging from -397 to -425 mV vs. NHE, indicating two important roles of H2-uptake reaction of the ferritin in increasing activity of nitrogen fixation and in supplying iron to synthesize nitrogenase.

Acremoniumterricola milleretal mycelium (AMM) exerts numerous protective effects on organs, and has been used in Chinese herb prescriptions to treat refractory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AMM on immunological hepatic fibrosis induced by porcine serum (PS) in rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were administered 0.5 ml sterile PS by intraperitoneal injections twice a week for 18 weeks. AMM (175, 350 or 700 mg/kg) and colchicine (0.1 mg/kg) were administered intragastrically each day until the rats were sacrificed. PS administration resulted in marked hepatic fibrosis, as assessed by increased oxidative stress and hepatic collagen content, as well as α‑smooth muscle actin (α‑SMA) expression. AMM significantly reduced liver damage and fibrosis. In addition, AMM decreased the elevation in hydroxyproline, hyaluronic acid, laminin and procollagen type III; increased the activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase; decreased α‑SMA expression; and eliminated hepatic collagen deposits. Furthermore, AMM inhibited Smad2/3 phosphorylation and Smad7 expression. These results indicate that AMM is able to reduce oxidative stress, inhibit collagen synthesis and block the transforming growth factor‑β/Smad signaling pathway in a dose‑dependent manner.

To establish a stable and reliable model of Sertoli-cell-only syndrome in mice.We randomly divided 60 NIH mice into two groups of equal number to receive intraperitoneal injection of busulfan (30 mg/kg) and 30 or 60 minutes of testis cooling. At 2, 4 and 8 weeks after treatment, we recorded the survival rate of the mice, weight of the testis and Johnsen scores, and conducted quantitative analysis on the degrees of spermatogenetic failure.There were no significant differences in the baseline body weight and survival rate between the intervention and control groups (P0.05). At 4 and 8 weeks, the testis weight and Johnsen score were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control ([0.04 +/- 0.01] g and [0.05 +/- 0.01] g vs [0.09 +/- 0.03] g and [0.11 +/- 0.02] g, P0.05; 3.86 +/- 0.50 and 2.70 +/- 0.67 vs 9.60 +/- 0.25 and 9.76 +/- 0.43, P0.01). At 2, 4 and 8 weeks, the testis weights were (0.07 +/- 0.02) g, (0.06 +/- 0.01) g and (0.09 +/- 0.01) g, respectively, in the 30-min cooling group and (0.05 +/- 0.01) g, (0.04 +/- 0.02) g and (0.04 +/- 0.02) g in the 60-min cooling group, significantly lower than in the control side at the same time points ([0.11 +/- 0.01] g, [0.11 +/- 0.01] g and [0.12 +/- 0.00] g) (P0.05), and the Johnsen scores were 4.70 +/- 0.67, 2.70 +/- 0.84 and 6.10 +/- 1.14 in the 30-min and 1.67 +/- 0.58, 1.20 +/- 0.45 and 1.00 +/- 0.00 in the 60-min cooling group, remarkably lower than in the control side (9.60 +/- 3.23, 9.60 +/- 0.55 and 9.70 +/- 0.45) (P0.01). Histopathological examination of the cooled testes revealed considerable atrophy of seminal tubules, necrosis of seminiferous epithelia and peritubular fibrosis.Administration of busulfan has no obvious influence on the survival of mice, and is a reliable method for constructing a mouse model of Sertoli-cell-only syndrome.

Optimal sensor placement is an important part in the structural health monitoring of bridge structures. However, some defects are present in the existing methods, such as the focus on a single optimal index, the selection of modal order and sensor number based on experience, and the long computation time. A hybrid optimization strategy named MSE-AGA is proposed in this study to address these problems. The approach firstly selects modal order using modal participation factor. Then, the modal strain energy method is adopted to conduct the initial sensor placement. Finally, the adaptive genetic algorithm (AGA) is utilized to determine the optimal number and locations of the sensors, which uses the root mean square of off-diagonal elements in the modal assurance criterion matrix as the fitness function. A case study of sensor placement on a numerically simulated bridge structure is provided to verify the effectiveness of the MSE-AGA strategy, and the AGA method without initial placement is used as a contrast experiment. A comparison of these strategies shows that the optimal results obtained by the MSE-AGA method have a high modal strain energy index, a short computation time, and small off-diagonal elements in the modal assurance criterion matrix.

In this research, ordered silver nanowires (NWs) were transferred to flexible, freestanding nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) thin film. Silver NWs were synthesized via a solution chemistry method and arranged by a novel assemble method at the oil–water–air, three phase interface. The transparent nanopaper was made of NFC through vacuum suction filtrated method. Then the arranged Ag NWs were transferred to the surface of the nanopaper using a relatively simple method to form a compound, nanopaper/Ag NWs. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscope were taken to characterize the phase and the morphology of the as-prepared products. Characterization of the as-synthesized nanopaper/Ag NWs indicated that they were compounded physically and the Ag NWs were well crystalline. The as-synthesized nanopaper showed well translucency. The nanopaper/Ag NWs showed excellent flexibility and conductivity. The as-synthesized products have the potential application in flexible conductor. This study may provide an effective strategy to design and construct nano-metallic materials with multitudinous features and potential applications in electric devices sensors, flexible devices and conductive materials.

A new image encryption algorithm is proposed based on scrambling chaotic sequence in Contourlet domain. Firstly, several sub-band images are obtained by using multiple-level decomposition of Contourlet transform. Then, combing with coupled logistic map in nonlinear dynamics system, according to some methods, we can get scrambled chaotic sequence by using keys and give the operation of xor to the scrambled chaotic sequence and the coefficients of low-order in low frequency sub-band. At the same time, we use Arnold scrambling to process the high-order coefficients of low frequency sub-band. At last, the encryption image is obtained by means of anti-process of low frequency coefficients and anti-transform of Contourlet. The experimental results suggest that the algorithm proposed not only has the advantages of good encryption effects, big key space and consistency of decrypted and original image, but also can resist the attack of JPEG compression, the effects of noise and cropping to some extent.

Logic algebra is important to establish the basis of mathematical logic, so in this paper, complete continuous-valued logic algebra is proposed, the definitions of seven kinds of integrity cluster of logical operation model that may exist in continuous-valued propositional logic are given, which can directly include and deal with the four uncertainties that may exist in continuous-valued propositional logical operator model. They are the uncertainty of propositional true degree arising from true /false contradictions, the uncertainty of logical operator model arising from enemy / friends contradictions, the uncertainty of logical operator model arising from loose/strict contradictions, the uncertainty of logical operator model arising from familiar/unfamiliar contradictions. Continuous-valued logic algebra is the important basis for further establishment of continuous-valued of dialectical logic.

Ternary logic optical processor which is completed according to Decreased-Radix Design Principle (DRDP) can construct all dualistic ternary logic operators (add up to19683 kinds). There is no carry propagation of addition of Modified Signed Digit (MSD) representation and the computation only needs several dualistic ternary logical transformations. Thus, MSD addition completed by ternary logic optical processor can be fully-parallel and no carry. The principle, working steps and experiment results of this new method are discussed. Keywords-parallel additon; MSD; ternary logic optical processor; DRDP

As a general purpose system in optical computing,optical vector-matrix multiplier (OVMM) can be applied in a variety of fields. After recalling Goodman’s classic principle of OVMM we proposed a new method taking advantage of liquid crystal array, which can solve the flaws of the former. Here we explain in details the principle of this new method and use our new developed ternary logic optical processor as the equipment to realize it. By experiments the correctness and feasibility of this method are verified. At last the advantages are discussed and the future study work is planned.

As a general purpose system in optical computing, optical vector-matrix multiplier (OVMM) can be applied in a variety of fields. In 2007 a novel ternary logic optical processor has been developed in our lab. We combine light intensity and polarization to denote ternary notation and use liquid crystal array to complete the state transformation among ternary values. Here we describe a new method to realize binary vector-matrix multiplication using this optical processor and the advantages of this method are discussed in comparison with the traditional one.

The lack of heuristic information is the fundamental reason that affects the attribute selection in data mining. Spatial hypersurface plays a very important role in the classification problem which reflects the characteristic of class attribute and condition attributes. In this paper, a new measure for determining the importance level of the attributes based on partial derivative distribution of the output corresponding to the inputs is presented. For more convenience, we present a new SVM model called TCA-SSVM which could use simple algorithm to solve the optimization problem to acquire the classification hypersurface. The proposed approach is experimentally evaluated in two datasets and the results prove that it can improve the validity of the problem and lead to interesting results.

For controlling the triple inverted pendulum, a flexible intelligent controller based on universal logics is proposed. The core part of this new controller is zero-order universal combination operation model in [a,b]. The relations between the inputs and the measurement errors are taken into account during the decision-making procedure of control output. And the decision threshold could change continuously. The two kinds of stable control experiments and anti-jamming control experiment for the triple inverted pendulum show that this flexible intelligent control method is valid and the control system has good ability of anti-jamming.