Search

Gas turbine is a promising device for power generation and propulsion either using traditional or renewable energy fuels. One of its key problems is the flow instability of compressors especially with the increase in blade load and changeable working environment. To intelligently and efficiently inhibit flow separation and enhance the pressure rise ability of highly loaded compressors under variable operating conditions, a novel flow control technique termed as adaptive Coanda jet control (ACJC) is proposed in this paper for a compressor stator cascade with a high diffusion factor of 0.66. To realize the ACJC strategy, an incidence angle (IA) prediction model and an optimal injection mass flow rate (OIMFR) prediction model are established by adopting single factor analysis of variance, principal component analysis and Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) methods. Two inlet Mach numbers including 0.1 and 0.4 are considered to represent incompressible and compressible flow conditions, and different inlet incidence angles are involved to model various off-design working situations of the real compressor. Effectiveness of the ACJC system is evaluated using numerical simulations are performed to understand the effects of the injection mass flow ratio on the flow field and aerodynamic performance of the blade cascade. Results indicate that the ACJC system can accurately predict the optimal injection mass flow ratio that can achieve the minimum flow loss at each incidence angle. Compared to the cascade without ACJC under the incidence angel of 5°, the optimal injection mass flow ratio being 1.27% and 1.20% can reduce the total pressure loss coefficient by 18.88% and 21.56% for incoming Mach number being 0.1 and 0.4, respectively.

This paper considers an inverse initial value problem of diffusion equation with local and nonlocal operators. For this ill-posed problem, we give and prove a result of conditional stability. Meanwhile, Landweber iterative regularization method is used to overcome the ill-posedness, and based on the result of conditional stability, the convergence estimates of Hölder type for regularization method are derived under the a-priori and a-posteriori choice rules for the regularized parameter. Finally, some numerical results are provided to show that Landweber iterative method works well in solving this inverse problem.

Different CO2carbon mitigation strategies are required due to the uneven development of regions. In China, the western region is rich in natural resources, but its industrial technology is not as advanced as other regions. In addition, a few studies have attempted to explore the CO2carbon mitigation strategies for a municipality of this region. In terms of modeling, the current studies often focus on the low-carbon potentials at the country, province, city and sector levels, while the carbon flows and their integration in neighboring regions are not well studied. In this paper, to explore the impact of regional-difference factors on CO2reduction, we propose regional-based CO2mitigation for a municipality and use Chongqing as a case study. In our methodology, the hierarchical structure analysis is conducted to identify the primary contradictions of regional CO2emissions. Then, using system dynamics, CO2emission systems of major industries, including cement, power and transportation, are modeled. Through simulations of baseline and low-carbon scenarios, key influencing factors in each industry are analyzed. They are then generalized to identify the important aspects of CO2emission reduction for this region. Finally, the low-carbon development strategy covering three sub-pathways, i.e., the industrial system, energy structure and socio development is discussed to help the local government for policy-making.

A sideways problem of the time-fractional diffusion equation is investigated. The solution of this problem does not depend on the given data. In view of this, this article uses a Tikhonov-type regularized method to construct an approximate solution and overcome the ill-posedness of considered problem. The a-posteriori convergence estimates of logarithmic and double logarithmic types for the regularized method are derived. Finally, for smooth and non-smooth cases we respectively verify the effectiveness of proposed method by doing the coresponding numerical experiments.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a promising material for the development of scaffold implants for auricle reconstruction. However, preparing a personalized HDPE auricle implant with favorable bioactive and antibacterial functions to promote skin tissue ingrowth is challenging. Herein, we present 3D-printed HDPE auricle scaffolds with satisfactory pore size and connectivity. The layer-by-layer (LBL) approach was applied to achieve the improved bioactive and antibacterial properties of these 3D printed scaffolds. The HDPE auricle scaffolds were fabricated using an extrusion 3D printing approach, and the individualized macrostructure and porous microstructure were both adjusted by the 3D printing parameters. The polydopamine (pDA) coating method was used to construct a multilayer ε-polylysine (EPL) and fibrin (FIB) modification on the surface of the 3D HDPE scaffold via the LBL self-assembly approach, which provides the bioactive and antibacterial properties. The results of the in vivo experiments using an animal model showed that LBL-coated HDPE auricular scaffolds were able to significantly enhance skin tissue ingrowth and ameliorate the inflammatory response caused by local stress. The results of this study suggest that the combination of the 3D printing technique and surface modification provides a promising strategy for developing personalized implants with biofunctional coatings, which show great potential as a scaffold implant for auricle reconstruction applications.

To achieve multi-objective aerodynamics design optimization for a 1.5-stage transonic compressor, a design platform incorporating blade parameterization methods, a BPNN surrogate model, and the NSGA-II optimization method was developed. The stagger angle distribution of three blade rows was selected as the optimization variable, with isentropic efficiency at the new design condition and stall margin set as the goal functions. Results demonstrated that, without altering the blade profile shape and endwall contour, the flow rate at design condition increased by 7.1%, stall margin increased by 1.8%, isentropic efficiency decreased by 0.0087, and total pressure ratio experienced a slight increase. The flow field at different conditions before and after optimization was compared and analyzed. The analysis indicated that the tangential velocity of rotor outlet becomes the determining factor for the compressor’s work capacity. The relative Mach number at the rotor inlet emerged as the key parameter affecting shock wave intensity and shock wave/boundary layer interaction, which directly influenced the efficiency of the rotor passage. At near stall condition, the stator vane root’s stagger angle is crucial for the compressor’s performance.

We investigate a backward problem of the time-space fractional symmetric diffusion equation with a source term, wherein the negative Laplace operator −Δ contained in the main equation belongs to the category of uniformly symmetric elliptic operators. The problem is ill-posed because the solution does not depend continuously on the measured data. In this paper, the existence and uniqueness of the solution and the conditional stability for the inverse problem are given and proven. Based on the least squares technique, we construct a Galerkin regularization method to overcome the ill-posedness of the considered problem. Under a priori and a posteriori selection rules for the regularization parameter, the Hölder-type convergence results of optimal order for the proposed method are derived. Meanwhile, we verify the regularized effect of our method by carrying out some numerical experiments where the initial value function is a smooth function or a non-smooth one. Numerical results show that this method works well in dealing with the backward problem of the time-space fractional parabolic equation.

Abstract Background Cobalamin C deficiency (cblC) caused by the MMACHC mutations is the most common type of the disorders of intracellular cobalamin metabolism. While the c.609G > A mutation is most frequent in Chinese cblC patients, its correlation with phenotype has not been delineated. Here we aim to investigate the factors affecting variable phenotypes and outcomes associated with the MMACHC c.609G > A homologous mutation in 149 Chinese cases to have implications for treatment and prevention. Methods We assessed 149 cblC patients caused by MMACHC c.609G > A homozygous mutation. The clinical manifestations, complications, treatment, and outcomes were evaluated; 120 patients were followed-up till December 2019. Results Two patients (1.3%) were prenatally diagnosed, treated after birth and consequently showed normal development. In 15 patients (10.1%) detected by newborn screening, 10 were treated at the age of 2 weeks and showed normal development, while the other 5 were treated after onset and showed neurologic disorders. All 132 clinically diagnosed patients (88.6%) developed symptoms at age from few minutes after birth to 72 months. Among them, 101 (76.5%) had early-onset (before the age of 12 months) and 31 (23.5%) had late-onset (after the age of 12 months). Totally 5 patients died and 24 were lost to follow-up. Of the 132 clinical diagnosed patients, 92 (69.7%) presented with developmental delay, 65 (49.2%) had seizures, 37 (28.0%) had anemia, 24 (18.2%) had feeding difficulty, 23 (17.4%) had ocular problems, and 22 (16.7%) had hydrocephalus. Compared with the non-developmental delay group, the onset age, the age at treatment initiation and the time from onset to treatment initiation were later in the developmental delay group. Seizure group showed significantly higher urinary methylmalonic acid concentration. During long-term follow-up, plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) levels were significantly higher in patients in the uncontrolled group than those in the seizure-free group. Conclusions Most cblC patients caused by MMACHC c.609G > A homozygous mutation showed early-onset. The clinically diagnosed patients usually showed the presence of irreversible brain disorders. Patients treated from the pre-symptomatic stage showed favorable outcomes. Therefore, newborn screening, prenatal diagnosis and early treatment are crucial and the c.609G > A mutant allele should be listed in the pre-pregnancy carrier screening panel in China.

Abstract The article investigates a Riesz–Feller space-fractional backward diffusion problem. We develop a generalized Tikhonov regularization method to overcome the ill-posedness of this problem, and then based on the result of conditional stability, we derive the convergence estimates of logarithmic and double logarithmic types for the regularized method by adopting a-posteriori choice rules of regularization parameter. Finally, by using the finite difference method, we solve a direct problem to construct the data, and some corresponding results of numerical simulations are presented to verify the convergence and stability for this method.

Among numerous flow resistance formulae for sand-bed channels, this study selected five for evaluation and in order to cover flow conditions in sand-bed river channels as widely as possible, a total of 1,636 sets of field measures were collected from the hydrological stations of two large river systems of China—the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, in addition to the data compiled by Brownlie. The performance of the selected formulae in yielding the values of Manning resistance coefficient n was evaluated against the total of 6,805 datasets. In many cases, the formula of Ma et al. yielded unreasonable n values of 1, it can be found that, for all five selected formulae, ARE occurred in the group 0.2–0.5 occupied the largest percentage, while in each of the adjacent groups of 0.5–1 and 0.1–0.2 it also occupied a very large percentage. Hence, all five formulae still need to improve their predicting ability.

To investigate the influence of blade aspect ratio and solidity on the performance of heavy-duty gas turbine transonic compressors, a multi-objective optimization design platform was built by adopting the blade parameterization method based on the superposition of thickness distribution on the suction surface, the Kriging surrogate model, and the NSGA-II optimization method. The spanwise distribution of solidity and number of blades were the optimization variables. The multi-objective optimization was carried out with isentropic efficiency and stall margin as the objective parameters for the inlet stage transonic rotor of an F-class heavy-duty gas turbine compressor. The results show that the isentropic efficiency and stall margin at design condition with a constant mass flow rate can be improved by 0.96% and 18.7%, respectively, and the total pressure ratio can also increase. The analysis shows that, for regions where the shock wave–boundary layer interaction is obvious, increasing the solidity can reduce the shock wave loss, the shock wave–boundary layer interaction loss, and the end wall loss, and reducing the aspect ratio can reduce the blade boundary layer loss. The spanwise distributions of solidity and aspect ratio determine the stall margin by affecting the radial matching of the load of each blade section. Tip solidity near the tip region needs to be determined according to the pressure field established by the bulk of the flow.

Vertically-stacked black phosphorus/molybdenum disulfide (BP/MoS2) heterostructures have broad prospects in flexible electronics. Bending is a common and highly concerned deformation for these flexible devices. However, the discrepancy in structures and properties among the components of 2D heterostructures often induces complex bending deformations. Here, the bending behaviors of BP, MoS2 and BP/MoS2 are investigated based on a molecular dynamics simulation. Compared with the constant bending stiffness of individual BP and MoS2, that of BP/MoS2 varies with the bending angle. Notably, a self-bending configuration induced by the lattice mismatch and size difference is found in BP/MoS2. The corresponding self-bending amplitude depends on the degree of size difference of each component and the “soft/hard” competition between them. Moreover, the size difference leads to a weakened bending stiffness, which is ascribed to the reduction in interlayer interaction. A prediction formula is proposed to evaluate the bending stiffness of BP/MoS2 with the size difference. This finding reveals novel ways for regulating the bending properties of 2D heterostructures, including the bending angle, characteristic size and stacking order. It offers an effective strategy for designing flexible devices with tunable bending performance.

The meridional distribution of the flow parameters inside the centrifugal compressor is of great importance to its overall performance, as well as its matching performance under a thermal cycle. A time-marching throughflow method for the off-design performance analysis of the centrifugal compressor is described. The method is based on the strictly conservative throughflow-governing equations, and an improved method of boundary-condition enforcement is developed based on Newton’s method to achieve a robust and fast throughflow simulation. An inviscid blade force model was adopted to obtain the flow deflection inside the blade passage. Empirical loss models were integrated into the throughflow model to simulate the viscous force effects in the real three-dimensional flow. Two test cases are presented to validate the throughflow method by comparisons with the experimental data or CFD results, including the NASA low-speed centrifugal compressor (LSCC) and the Allison high-performance centrifugal compressor (HPCC). The simulation indicated that the developed enforcement method for the inlet and outlet boundary conditions significantly improves the computational robustness. For both the LSCC and HPCC cases, reasonable flow-parameter distribution was obtained and accurate overall characteristics were also predicted under the off-design conditions. The results indicated that the developed time-marching throughflow method is effective and efficient for the performance analysis of centrifugal compressors.

Emerging evidence highlights the role of gut microbiota in regulating the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease. Here, we performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing and UPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based metabolomics to investigate the gut microbiome and metabolomes of cecal contents in the isoproterenol (ISO)-induced acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) rats. As expected, considerable gut microbiota alterations were observed in the AMI rats compared with the control rats, paralleling with intestinal inflammation and apoptosis. At phylum level, the abundance of Firmicutes was significantly decreased, whereas the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetae was strikingly enriched in the AMI group. At genus level, the significant alteration of genera Treponema 2, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, Prevotellaceae UCG-003, and Bacteroides may contribute to the pathogenesis of AMI. These altered microbiota might influence the intestinal permeability and subsequently impair intestinal barrier and stimulate gut inflammation. Consistently, significantly metabolic differences of cecal contents between the AMI and control groups were revealed, and threonic acid, L-urobilin and L-urobilinogen were considered the most associated cecal metabolites with AMI. These strikingly altered metabolites were mainly related to energy metabolism and oxidative stress which could lead to apoptosis and further affect gut barrier. Ultimately, we revealed the potential link of these altered gut microbiota/metabolomes and intestinal inflammatory factors and apoptotic proteins and further confirmed their intimate connections with intestinal inflammation and gut barrier. Our findings depict uncovered potential relationship among the gut microbiome, cecal metabolomes and AMI.

This article researches an ill-posed Cauchy problem of the elliptic-type equation. By placing the a-priori restriction on the exact solution we establish conditional stability. Then, based on the generalized Tikhonov and fractional Tikhonov methods, we construct a generalized-fractional Tikhonov-type regularized solution to recover the stability of the considered problem, and some sharp-type estimates of convergence for the regularized method are derived under the a-priori and a-posteriori selection rules for the regularized parameter. Finally, we verify that the proposed method is efficient and acceptable by making the corresponding numerical experiments.

The immature fruit of Citrus aurantium L. (Zhi-Qiao, ZQ) has been used as a traditional medicine in China. Our previous study has shown that ZQ decoction may contribute to the antidepressant-like action of Chaihu-Shu-Gan-San. However, there are no reports on the chemical constituents of ZQ aqueous extract or its anti-depression effects. Firstly, this research reported the on-line identification of the chemical constituents in the aqueous extract of ZQ by coupling ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS). A total of 31 chemical constituents were identified in ZQ aqueous extract, including one tannic acid, five flavones, 13 flavanones, one limonoid, three coumarins, three cyclic peptides, and five polymethoxylated flavonoids. The antidepressant effect of ZQ aqueous extract was evaluated in vivo and the results indicated that the mice immobility time during the forced swimming test and the tail suspension test were significantly reduced with ZQ treatment. MTT assays showed both ZQ aqueous extract and its major constituents (naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, and nobiletin) had neuroprotective effect on corticosterone-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells. The in vivo and in vitro results suggest that ZQ has an antidepressant effect.

Cyperi Rhizoma (CR) is a well-known functional food and traditional herbal medicine in Asian countries for the treatment of menstrual or emotional disturbances in women. Recent studies have shown the pharmacological effects of CR on neuronal diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and depression. Thus, the neuroprotective effect of CR might play a vital role in exerting its effect. Here, corticosterone-induced PC12 cells were applied to screen the active fraction of CR and evaluate its neuroprotective effect. The results indicated that the fraction containing medium-polarity chemical constituents (CR-50E) displayed the best protection effect. CR-50E could increase the cell viability and reduce cell apoptosis through inhibiting oxidative stress and decreasing the lactate dehydrogenase LDH release induced by corticosterone. Further, the mechanism of action was explored by cell metabolomics. The result showed CR-50E mediated the sphingolipids metabolism of corticosterone-induced PC12 cells, which suggested inhibition of Ca2+ overloading may involve the protection of CR-50E against cell damage. The expression levels of three key proteins in calcium transport, including phospholipase A2 (PLA2), calcium/calmodulin independent protein kinase II (CaMK II), and caspase-3, confirmed the above result by Western blot. The findings suggest that CR-50E can suppress the disequilibrium of calcium homeostasis-mediated apoptosis by improving the abnormal sphingolipids metabolism as well as remedying the damage of the cell membrane.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

We investigate a Cauchy problem of the modified Helmholtz equation with nonhomogeneous Dirichlet and Neumann datum, this problem is ill-posed and some regularization techniques are required to stabilize numerical computation. We established the result of conditional stability under an a priori assumption for an exact solution. A generalized Tikhonov method is proposed to solve this problem, we select the regularization parameter by a priori and a posteriori rules and derive the convergence results of sharp type for this method. The corresponding numerical experiments are implemented to verify that our regularization method is practicable and satisfied.

In this article, we study the asymptotical stability in p-th moment of mild solutions to a class of fractional impulsive partial neutral stochastic integro-differential equations with state-dependent delay in Hilbert spaces. We assume that the linear part of this equation generates an alpha-resolvent operator and transform it into an integral equation. Sufficient conditions for the existence and asymptotic stability of solutions are derived by means of the Krasnoselskii-Schaefer type fixed point theorem and properties of the alpha-resolvent operator. An illustrative example is also provided.

We study the existence of mild solutions for a class of impulsive fractional partial neutral stochastic integro-differential inclusions with state-dependent delay. We assume that the undelayed part generates a solution operator and transform it into an integral equation. Sufficient conditions for the existence of solutions are derived by using the nonlinear alternative of Leray-Schauder type for multivalued maps due to O'Regan and properties of the solution operator. An example is given to illustrate the theory.

In the present work, lattice Boltzmann models are proposed for the computer simulation of normal grain growth in two-dimensional systems with/without immobile dispersed second-phase particles and involving the temperature gradient effect. These models are demonstrated theoretically to be equivalent to the phase field models based on the multiscale expansion. Simulation results of several representative examples show that the proposed models can effectively and accurately simulate the grain growth in various single- and two-phase systems. It is found that the grain growth in single-phase polycrystalline materials follows the power-law kinetics and the immobile second-phase particles can inhibit the grain growth in two-phase systems. It is further demonstrated that the grain growth can be tuned by the second-phase particles and the introduction of temperature gradient is also an effective way for the fabrication of polycrystalline materials with grained gradient microstructures. The proposed models are useful for the numerical design of the microstructure of materials and provide effective tools to guide the experiments. Moreover, these models can be easily extended to simulate two- and three-dimensional grain growth with considering the mobile second-phase particles, transient heat transfer, melt convection, etc.

In this article, we study a Cauchy problem for an elliptic equation with variable coefficients. It is well-known that such a problem is severely ill-posed; i.e., the solution does not depend continuously on the Cauchy data. We propose a modified quasi-boundary value regularization method to solve it. Convergence estimates are established under two a priori assumptions on the exact solution. A numerical example is given to illustrate our proposed method.

A local loss model and an integral loss model are proposed to study the irreversible flow loss mechanism in a linear compressor cascade. The detached eddy simulation model based on the Menter shear stress transport turbulence model (SSTDES) was used to perform the high-fidelity simulations. The flow losses in the cascade with an incidence angle of 2°, 4° and 7° were analyzed. The contours of local loss coefficient can be explained well by the three-dimensional flow structures. The trend of flow loss varying with incidence angle predicted by integral loss is the same as that calculated by total pressure loss coefficient. The integral loss model was used to evaluate the irreversible loss generated in different regions and its varying trend with the flow condition. It as found that the boundary layer shear losses generated near the endwall, the pressure surface and the suction surface are almost identical for the three incidence angles. The secondary flow loss in the wake-flow and blade-passage regions changes dramatically with the flow condition due to the occurrence of corner stall. For this cascade, the secondary flow loss accounts for 26.1%, 48.3% and 64.3% of the total loss for the flow when the incidence angles are 2°, 4° and 7°, respectively. Lastly, the underlying reason for the variation of the secondary flow loss with the incidence angle is explained using the Lc iso-surface method.

Several fundamental concepts with respect to the second-law analysis (SLA) of the turbulent flows in gas turbines are discussed in this study. Entropy and exergy equations for compressible/incompressible flows in a rotating/non-rotating frame have been derived. The exergy transformation efficiency of a gas turbine as well as the exergy transformation number for a single process step have been proposed. The exergy transformation number will indicate the overall performance of a single process in a gas turbine, including the local irreversible losses in it and its contribution to the exergy obtained the combustion chamber. A more general formula for calculating local entropy generation rate densities is suggested. A test case of a compressor cascade has been employed to demonstrate the application of the developed concepts.

The Pinus armandii and Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata mixed forest is one of the major forest types in the Qinling Mountains, China. P. armandii is considered to be a pioneer species during succession and it is usually invaded by late successional Q. aliena var. acuteserrata. However, the mechanism that underlies its invasion remains unclear. In the present study, we tracked seed dispersal of P. armandii and Q. aliena var. acuteserrata using coded plastic tags in the western, middle and eastern Qinling Mountains to elucidate the invasion process in the mixed forests. Our results indicated that the seeds of both P. armandii and Q. aliena var. acuteserrata were removed rapidly in the Qinling Mountains, and there were no differences in the seed removal rates between the two species. There were significant differences in rodent seed-eating and caching strategies between the two tree species. For P. armandii, seeds were more likely to be eaten in situ than those of Q. aliena var. acuteserrata in all plots. By contrast, the acorns of Q. aliena var. acuteserrata were less frequently eaten in situ, but more likely to be removed and cached. Q. aliena var. acuteserrata acorns had significantly longer dispersal distances than P. armandii seeds in all plots. Although P. armandii seeds were less likely to be dispersed into the Q. aliena var. acuteserrata stands, over 30% of the released acorns were transported into the P. armandii stands where they established five seedlings. Based on the coupled recruitment patterns of P. armandii and Q. aliena var. acuteserrata, we suggest that the animal-mediated seed dispersal contributes to the formation of Pinus armandii-Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata forests.

We study the dynamic mathematical model for an infinitely long cylinder composed of an isotropic incompressible Ogden material with a microvoid at its center, where the outer surface of the cylinder is subjected to a uniform radial tensile load. Using the incompressibility condition and the boundary conditions, we obtain a second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation that describes the motion of the microvoid with time. Qualitatively, we find that this equation has two types of solutions. One is a classical nonlinear periodic solution which describes that the motion of the microvoid is a nonlinear periodic oscillation; the other is a blow-up solution. Significantly, for the isotropic incompressible Ogden material, there exist some special values of material parameters, the phase diagrams of the motion equation have homoclinic orbits, which means that the amplitude of a nonlinear periodic oscillation increases discontinuously with the increasing load.