236,514 research outputs found
Method and device for the detection of phenol and related compounds
A method is described which permits the selective oxidation and potentiometric detection of phenol and related compounds in an electrochemical cell. An anode coated with a gel immobilized oxidative enzyme and a cathode are each placed in an electrolyte solution. The potential of the cell is measured by a potentiometer connected to the electrodes
Regional estimation of daily to annual regional evapotranspiration with MODIS data in the Yellow River Delta wetland
Evapotranspiration (ET) from the wetland of the Yellow River Delta (YRD) is one of the important components in the water cycle, which represents the water consumption by the plants and evaporation from the water and the non-vegetated surfaces. Reliable estimates of the total evapotranspiration from the wetland is useful information both for understanding the hydrological process and for water management to protect this natural environment. Due to the heterogeneity of the vegetation types and canopy density and of soil water content over the wetland (specifically over the natural reserve areas), it is difficult to estimate the regional evapotranspiration extrapolating measurements or calculations usually done locally for a specific land cover type. Remote sensing can provide observations of land surface conditions with high spatial and temporal resolution and coverage. In this study, a model based on the Energy Balance method was used to calculate daily evapotranspiration (ET) using instantaneous observations of land surface reflectance and temperature from MODIS when the data were available on clouds-free days. A time series analysis algorithm was then applied to generate a time series of daily ET over a year period by filling the gaps in the observation series due to clouds. A detailed vegetation classification map was used to help identifying areas of various wetland vegetation types in the YRD wetland. Such information was also used to improve the parameterizations in the energy balance model to improve the accuracy of ET estimates. This study showed that spatial variation of ET was significant over the same vegetation class at a given time and over different vegetation types in different seasons in the YRD wetlan
The nature of the KFR08 stellar stream
The origin of a new kinematically identified metal-poor stellar stream, the
KFR08 stream, has not been established. We present stellar parameters, stellar
ages, and detailed elemental abundances for Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Ni,
Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, and Eu for 16 KFR08 stream members based on analysis of
high resolution spectra. Based on the abundance ratios of 14 elements, we use
the chemical tagging method to identify the stars which have the same chemical
composition, and thus, might have a common birthplace, such as a cluster.
Although three stars were tagged with similar elemental abundances ratios, we
find that, statistically, it is not certain that they originate from a
dissolved star cluster. This conclusion is consistent with the large dispersion
of [Fe/H] () among the 16 stream members. We find
that our stars are enhanced and that the abundance patterns of the
stream members are well matched to the thick disk. In addition, most of the
stream stars have estimated stellar ages larger than 11 Gyr. These results,
together with the hot kinematics of the stream stars, suggest that the KFR08
stream is originated from the thick disk population which was perturbed by a
massive merger in the early universe.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Numerical studies of interacting vortices
To get a basic understanding of the physics of flowfields modeled by vortex filaments with finite vortical cores, systematic numerical studies of the interactions of two dimensional vortices and pairs of coaxial axisymmetric circular vortex rings were made. Finite difference solutions of the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations were carried out using vorticity and stream function as primary variables. Special emphasis was placed on the formulation of appropriate boundary conditions necessary for the calculations in a finite computational domain. Numerical results illustrate the interaction of vortex filaments, demonstrate when and how they merge with each other, and establish the region of validity for an asymptotic analysis
Representations and classification of traveling wave solutions to Sinh-G{\"o}rdon equation
Two concepts named atom solution and combinatory solution are defined. The
classification of all single traveling wave atom solutions to Sinh-G{\"o}rdon
equation is obtained, and qualitative properties of solutions are discussed. In
particular, we point out that some qualitative properties derived intuitively
from dynamic system method aren't true. In final, we prove that our solutions
to Sinh-G{\"o}rdon equation include all solutions obtained in the paper[Fu Z T
et al, Commu. in Theor. Phys.(Beijing) 2006 45 55]. Through an example, we show
how to give some new identities on Jacobian elliptic functions.Comment: 12 pages. accepted by Communications in theoretical physics (Beijing
Chemical abundance analysis of 19 barium stars
We aim at deriving accurate atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of
19 barium (Ba) stars, including both strong and mild Ba stars, based on the
high signal-to-noise ratio and high resolution Echelle spectra obtained from
the 2.16 m telescope at Xinglong station of National Astronomical
Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The chemical abundances of the
sample stars were obtained from an LTE, plane-parallel and line-blanketed
atmospheric model by inputting the atmospheric parameters (effective
temperatures, surface gravities, metallicity and microturbulent velocity) and
equivalent widths of stellar absorption lines. These samples of Ba stars are
giants indicated by atmospheric parameters, metallicities and kinematic
analysis about UVW velocity. Chemical abundances of 17 elements were obtained
for these Ba stars. Their light elements (O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr,
Mn and Ni) are similar to the solar abundances. Our samples of Ba stars show
obvious overabundances of neutron-capture (n-capture) process elements relative
to the Sun. Their median abundances of [Ba/Fe], [La/Fe] and [Eu/Fe] are 0.54,
0.65 and 0.40, respectively. The YI and ZrI abundances are lower than Ba, La
and Eu, but higher than the light elements for the strong Ba stars and similar
to the iron-peak elements for the mild stars. There exists a positive
correlation between Ba intensity and [Ba/Fe]. For the n-capture elements (Y,
Zr, Ba, La), there is an anti-correlation between their [X/Fe] and [Fe/H]. We
identify nine of our sample stars as strong Ba stars with [Ba/Fe]>0.6 where
seven of them have Ba intensity Ba=2-5, one has Ba=1.5 and another one has
Ba=1.0. The remaining ten stars are classified as mild Ba stars with
0.17<[Ba/Fe]<0.54
Phase Diffusion in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Josephson Transistors
We investigate electronic transport in Josephson junctions formed by
single-walled carbon nanotubes coupled to superconducting electrodes. We
observe enhanced zero-bias conductance (up to 10e^2/h) and pronounced
sub-harmonic gap structures in differential conductance, which arise from the
multiple Andreev reflections at superconductor/nanotube interfaces. The
voltage-current characteristics of these junctions display abrupt switching
from the supercurrent branch to resistive branch, with a gate-tunable switching
current ranging from 50 pA to 2.3 nA. The finite resistance observed on the
supercurrent branch and the magnitude of the switching current are in good
agreement with calculation based on the model of classical phase diffusion
Design and analysis of a wire-driven flexible manipulator for bronchoscopic interventions
Bronchoscopic interventions are widely performed for the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases. However, for most endobronchial devices, the lack of a bendable tip restricts their access ability to get into distal bronchi with complex bifurcations. This paper presents the design of a new wire-driven continuum manipulator to help guide these devices. The proposed manipulator is built by assembling miniaturized blocks that are featured with interlocking circular joints. It has the capability of maintaining its integrity when the lengths of actuation wires change due to the shaft flex. It allows the existence of a relatively large central cavity to pass through other instruments and enables two rotational degrees of freedom. All these features make it suitable for procedures where tubular anatomies are involved and the flexible shafts have to be considerably bent in usage, just like bronchoscopic interventions. A kinematic model is built to estimate the relationship between the translations of actuation wires and the manipulator tip position. A scale-up model is produced for evaluation experiments and the results validate the performance of the proposed mechanism
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