Two-Dimensional Numerical Modelling of a Moored Floating Body under Sloping Seabed Conditions

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Two-dimensional wave radiation and diffraction problems in a flat or sloping seabed environment

Two-dimensional water wave problems are investigated in an environment with a flat or sloping rigid seabed adopting a continuous Rankine source method. All the fluid domain surfaces, that is the free, body and seabed surfaces, are discretized using continuous panels. These panels are positioned exactly on the fluid boundary surfaces and no desingularization technique is required. A new seabed source panel distribution method is developed to accommodate both symmetric and asymmetric seabed profiles. To validate the numerical model comparisons are made with published findings from other mathematical models and experimental data. The presence of a sloped seabed alters the symmetry of the fluid domain, causing wave reflection and shoaling, and therefore, significantly affects the hydrodynamic characteristics of water wave problems. The influence of these topographies on the responses in all three degrees of freedom (heave, sway and roll) of a rigid floating body are investigated and discussed accounting for wave radiation and diffraction problems

A comparative photocatalytic study of TiO2 loaded on three natural clays with different morphologies

[EN] In this work, a sol-gel method was used to load TiO2 nanoparticles on three clays (kaolinite, halloysite and palygorskite) with different morphologies (plates, tubes, and rods with micro tunnels), and then the photocatalytic performance of obtained clay-TiO2 composites for degradation of methyl orange was comparatively investigated. The results surprisingly show that the trend of photocatalytic performance of composites is opposite to that of special surface area of corresponding clays. By concentrated analysis of the loading status of TiO2, the lowest photocatalytic efficiency of palygorskite-TiO2 composite is mainly ascribed to (1) the aggregation of TiO2 nanoparticles on Pal surface, not the amount of TiO2 and (2) the relatively weak adsorption of Pal to methyl orange. The additional adsorption of hydroxyl surface of Kaol to methyl orange and little TiO2 in the lumen of Hal tube leads to the better photocatalytic performance of kaolinite-TiO2 composite than halloysite-TiO2 composite. Finally, kaolinite is proved to be an excellent carrier to support nano TiO2 resulting in a good photocatalytic performance and cycle stability, and the study can provide a direct guidance to select appropriate clay-photocatalyst composites for different practical applications.This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41502032) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2019XKQYMS76).Wu, A.; Wang, D.; Wei, C.; Zhang, X.; Liu, Z.; Feng, P.; Ou, X.... (2019). A comparative photocatalytic study of TiO2 loaded on three natural clays with different morphologies. Applied Clay Science. 183:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2019.105352S11218

Draft genome sequence of the mulberry tree Morus notabilis

Human utilization of the mulberry–silkworm interaction started at least 5,000 years ago and greatly influenced world history through the Silk Road. Complementing the silkworm genome sequence, here we describe the genome of a mulberry species Morus notabilis. In the 330-Mb genome assembly, we identify 128 Mb of repetitive sequences and 29,338 genes, 60.8% of which are supported by transcriptome sequencing. Mulberry gene sequences appear to evolve ~3 times faster than other Rosales, perhaps facilitating the species’ spread worldwide. The mulberry tree is among a few eudicots but several Rosales that have not preserved genome duplications in more than 100 million years; however, a neopolyploid series found in the mulberry tree and several others suggest that new duplications may confer benefits. Five predicted mulberry miRNAs are found in the haemolymph and silk glands of the silkworm, suggesting interactions at molecular levels in the plant–herbivore relationship. The identification and analyses of mulberry genes involved in diversifying selection, resistance and protease inhibitor expressed in the laticifers will accelerate the improvement of mulberry plants

Kinetics of the Leaching Process of an Australian Gibbsitic Bauxite by Hydrochloric Acid

Gibbsitic bauxite from Australia was leached by hydrochloric acid in this work. Analysis on kinetics for the extraction of Al2O3 was quantitatively studied. It was concluded that the hydrochloric acid leaching process of gibbsitic bauxite was controlled by chemical reaction. Moreover, the mechanism for the dissolution followed the equation, ln⁡k=39.44-1.66×104(1/T), with an apparent activation energy of 137.90 kJ/mol, according to the equation of k=Ae-Ea/RT. This work aims to provide a good theory support for the process control by using a new method of alumina production from the low grade bauxite

Analysis of Clothing Image Classification Models: A Comparison Study between Traditional Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models

Clothing image in the e-commerce industry plays an important role in providing customers with information. This paper divides clothing images into two groups: pure clothing images and dressed clothing images. Targeting small and medium-sized clothing companies or merchants, it compares traditional machine learning and deep learning models to determine suitable models for each group. For pure clothing images, the HOG+SVM algorithm with the Gaussian kernel function obtains the highest classification accuracy of 91.32% as compared to the Small VGG network. For dressed clothing images, the CNN model obtains a higher accuracy than the HOG+SVM algorithm, with the highest accuracy rate of 69.78% for the Small VGG network. Therefore, for end-users with only ordinary computing processors, it is recommended to apply the traditional machine learning algorithm HOG+SVM to classify pure clothing images. The classification of dressed clothing images is performed using a more efficient and less computationally intensive lightweight model, such as the Small VGG network

Unsteady hydrodynamics of a surface piercing and fully submerged body when entering a lock

Ship hydrodynamics in a constant waterway have been well studied. With a coordinate system fixed on the moving ship, the boundary value problem (BVP) is usually treated as a steady one. However, the hydrodynamics of a ship moving in confined waterways with abrupt changes in width or depth are complex due to their unsteady nature. The studies on such unsteady problems are insufficient. In the engineering practise, the hydrodynamic unsteadiness can be fully reflected by a scenario when a ship enters a lock. Prior studies have predominantly focused on predicting the ships’ hydrodynamic forces without considering the unsteady terms on the free-surface boundary conditions. Obviously, such steady or quasi-steady methods overlooked the crucial unsteady phenomenons on free water surface. To address this gap, the present study introduces a novel three-level difference scheme to discretize the free surface condition, preserving unsteady terms while maintaining temporal continuity of cells on the free surface. With the implementation of such fully unsteady BVP, we observed some interesting unsteady free surface motions which were not well documented in the existing literature. To verify our new observations, as well as to validate the numerical method proposed in this study, two physical model tests were designed and conducted in a towing tank: a submerged ellipsoid enters into a deep lock at relatively high speeds, and a box enters into a shallow and narrow lock at very low speeds. The discussions are highlighted on the unsteady waves in front of the moving bodies, as well as the unsteady resistance induced by such waves

Function analysis of anthocyanidin synthase from Morus alba L. by expression in bacteria and tobacco

Background: Flavonoids are a kind of important secondary metabolite and are commonly considered to provide protection to plants against stress and UV-B for a long time. Anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), which encodes a dioxygenase in the flavonoid pathway, catalyzes the conversion of leucoanthocyanidins to anthocyanidins, but there is no direct evidence indicating that it provides tolerance to stress in plants. Results: To investigate whether ANS can increase tolerance to abiotic stress, MaANS was isolated from mulberry fruits and transformed into tobacco. Our results suggested that the bacterially expressed MaANS protein can convert dihydroquercetin to quercetin. Overexpression of MaANS remarkably increased the accumulation of total flavonoids in transgenic lines and anthocyanins in corollas of flowers. Transgenic lines showed higher tolerance to NaCl and mannitol stress. Conclusions: These results indicated that MaANS participates in various dioxygenase activities, and it can protect plants against abiotic stress by improving the ROS-scavenging ability. Thus, this alternative approach in crop breeding can be considered in the improvement of stress tolerance by enriching flavonoid production in plants.Include the following: How to cite: Li J, Zhao A, Yu M, et al. Function analysis of anthocyanidin synthase from Morus alba L. by expression in bacteria and tobacco. Electron J Biotechnol 2018;36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2018.09.001 Keywords: Anthocyanidin synthase, Anthocyanins, Dioxygenase, Ectopic Expression, Flavonoids, Mulberry, Pigments, Plant tolerance to abiotic stress, Quercetin, Secondary metabolites, Transgenic tobacc