The Diesel Soot Particles Fractal Growth Model and Its Agglomeration Control

Based on the fractal growth physical model of soot particles from large diesel agriculture machinery, this chapter simulates the morphological structure of collision for the single particles and single particles, single particle and clusters, clusters and clusters, firstly. Moreover, combining with the collision frequency, the fractal growth is controlled to agglomeration using the main environmental factors interference for diesel engine soot particles, in order to make them condensed into regular geometry or larger density particles, reduce the viscous drag for capturing by the capturer or settlement and to realize the control of the pollution of the environment. The results of numerical simulation show that the proposed method is feasible and effective, which will help to understand and analyze the physical mechanism and kinetics of non-equilibrium condensation growth behavior of the actual carbon smoke particles and provide the solution to further reduce emissions of the inhalable particulate matter from diesel engines

Self Adaptive Artificial Bee Colony for Global Numerical Optimization

AbstractThe ABC algorithm has been used in many practical cases and has demonstrated good convergence rate. It produces the new solution according to the stochastic variance process. In this process, the magnitudes of the perturbation are important since it can affect the new solution. In this paper, we propose a self adaptive artificial bee colony, called self adaptive ABC, for the global numerical optimization. A new self adaptive perturbation is introduced in the basic ABC algorithm, in order to improve the convergence rates. 23 benchmark functions are employed in verifying the performance of self adaptive ABC. Experimental results indicate our approach is effective and efficient. Compared with other algorithms, self adaptive ABC performs better than, or at least comparable to the basic ABC algorithm and other state-of-the-art approaches from literature when considering the quality of the solution obtained

Mapping Spatial Variations of Structure and Function Parameters for Forest Condition Assessment of the Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve

Forest condition is the baseline information for ecological evaluation and management. The National Forest Inventory of China contains structural parameters, such as canopy closure, stand density and forest age, and functional parameters, such as stand volume and soil fertility. Conventionally forest conditions are assessed through parameters collected from field observations, which could be costly and spatially limited. It is crucial to develop modeling approaches in mapping forest assessment parameters from satellite remote sensing. This study mapped structure and function parameters for forest condition assessment in the Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve (CMNNR). The mapping algorithms, including statistical regression, random forests, and random forest kriging, were employed with predictors from Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)-2, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 satellite sensors, digital surface model of ALOS, and 1803 field sampled forest plots. Combined predicted parameters and weights from principal component analysis, forest conditions were assessed. The models explained spatial dynamics and characteristics of forest parameters based on an independent validation with all r values above 0.75. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of canopy closure, stand density, stand volume, forest age and soil fertility were 4.6%, 33.8%, 29.4%, 20.5%, and 14.3%, respectively. The mean assessment score suggested that forest conditions in the CMNNR are mainly resulted from spatial variations of function parameters such as stand volume and soil fertility. This study provides a methodology on forest condition assessment at regional scales, as well as the up-to-date information for the forest ecosystem in the CMNNR

Photonic crystal fiber half-taper probe based refractometer

A compact singlemode - photonic crystal fiber - singlemode fiber tip (SPST) refractive index sensor is demonstrated in this paper. A CO2 laser cleaving technique is utilised to provide a clean-cut fiber tip which is then coated by a layer of gold to increase reflection. An average sensitivity of 39.1 nm/RIU and a resolvable index change of 2.56 x 10-4 are obtained experimentally with a ~3.2 µm diameter SPST. The temperature dependence of this fiber optic sensor probe is presented. The proposed SPST refractometer is also significantly less sensitive to temperature and an experimental demonstration of this reduced sensitivity is presented in the paper. Because of its compactness, ease of fabrication, linear response, low temperature dependency, easy connectivity to other fiberized optical components and low cost, this refractometer could find various applications in chemical and biological sensing

Mapping Forest Cover in Northeast China from Chinese HJ-1 Satellite Data Using an Object-Based Algorithm

Forest plays a significant role in the global carbon budget and ecological processes. The precise mapping of forest cover can help significantly reduce uncertainties in the estimation of terrestrial carbon balance. A reliable and operational method is necessary for a rapid regional forest mapping. In this study, the goal relies on mapping forest and subcategories in Northeast China through the use of high spatio-temporal resolution HJ-1 imagery and time series vegetation indices within the context of an object-based image analysis and decision tree classification. Multi-temporal HJ-1 images obtained in a single year provide an opportunity to acquire phenology information. By analyzing the difference of spectral and phenology information between forest and non-forest, forest subcategories, decision trees using threshold values were finally proposed. The resultant forest map has a high overall accuracy of 0.91 ± 0.01 with a 95% confidence interval, based on the validation using ground truth data from field surveys. The forest map extracted from HJ-1 imagery was compared with two existing global land cover datasets: GlobCover 2009 and MCD12Q1 2009. The HJ-1-based forest area is larger than that of MCD12Q1 and GlobCover and more closely resembles the national statistics data on forest area, which accounts for more than 40% of the total area of the Northeast China. The spatial disagreement primarily occurs in the northern part of the Daxing'an Mountains, Sanjiang Plain and the southwestern part of the Songliao Plain. The compared result also indicated that the forest subcategories information from global land cover products may introduce large uncertainties for ecological modeling and these should be cautiously used in various ecological models. Given the higher spatial and temporal resolution, HJ-1-based forest products could be very useful as input to biogeochemical models (particularly carbon cycle models) that require accurate and updated estimates of forest area and type

Experimental Study of Closed System in the Chlorine Dioxide-Iodide-Sulfuric Acid Reaction by UV-Vis Spectrophotometric Method

The mole ratio r(r = [I−]0/[ClO2]0) has great influence on ClO2-I−-H2SO4 closed reaction system. By changing the initiate concentration of potassium iodide, the curve of absorbance along with the reaction time was obtained at 350 nm and 297 nm for triiodide ion, and 460 nm for iodine. The changing point of the absorbance curve's shape locates at r = 6.00. For the reaction of ClO2-I− in the absence of H2SO4, the curve of absorbance along with the reaction time can be obtained at 350 nm for triiodide ion, 460 nm for iodine. The mole ratio r is equal to 1.00 is the changing point of the curve's shape no matter at which wavelength to determine the reaction. For the reaction of ClO2-I−-H+ in different pH buffer solution, the curve of absorbance along with the reaction time was recorded at 460 nm for iodine. When r is greater than 1.00, the transition point of the curve's shape locates at pH 2.0, which is also the point of producing chlorite or chloride for chlorine dioxide at different pH. When r is less than 1.00, the transition point locates at pH 7.0

Beneficial Metabolic Effects of 2′,3′,5′-tri-acetyl-N6- (3-Hydroxylaniline) Adenosine in the Liver and Plasma of Hyperlipidemic Hamsters

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical research of hyperlipidemia has been commonly pursued using traditional approaches. However, unbiased metabonomics attempts to explore the metabolic signature of hyperlipidemia in a high-throughput manner to understand pathophysiology of the disease process. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: As a new way, we performed (1)H NMR-based metabonomics to evaluate the beneficial effects of 2',3',5'-tri-acetyl-N(6)- (3-hydroxylaniline) adenosine (WS070117) on plasma and liver from hyperlipidemic Syrian golden hamsters. Both plasma and liver profiles provided a clearer distinction between the control and hyperlipidemic hamsters. Compared to control animals, hyperlipidemic hamsters showed a higher content of lipids (triglyceride and cholesterol), lactate and alanine together with a lower content of choline-containing compounds (e.g., phosphocholine, phosphatidylcholine, and glycerophosphocholine) and betaine. As a result, metabonomics-based findings such as the PCA and OPLS-DA plotting of metabolic state and analysis of potential biomarkers in plasma and liver correlated well to the assessment of biochemical assays, Oil Red O staining and in vivo ultrasonographic imaging suggesting that WS070117 was able to regulate lipid content and displayed more beneficial effects on plasma and liver than simvastatin. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work demonstrates the promise of applying (1)H NMR metabonomics to evaluate the beneficial effects of WS070117 which may be a good drug candidate for hyperlipidemia

Chlorine Dioxide-Iodide-Methyl Acetoacetate Oscillation Reaction Investigated by UV-Vis and Online FTIR Spectrophotometric Method

In order to study the chemical oscillatory behavior and mechanism of a new chlorine dioxide-iodide ion-methyl acetoacetate reaction system, a series of experiments were done by using UV-Vis and online FTIR spectrophotometric method. The initial concentrations of methyl acetoacetate, chlorine dioxide, potassium iodide, and sulfuric acid and the pH value have great influence on the oscillation observed at wavelength of 289 nm. There is a preoscillatory or induction period, and the amplitude and the number of oscillations are associated with the initial concentration of reactants. The equations for the triiodide ion reaction rate changing with reaction time and the initial concentrations in the oscillation stage were obtained. Oscillation reaction can be accelerated by increasing temperature. The apparent activation energies in terms of the induction period and the oscillation period were 26.02 KJ/mol and 17.65 KJ/mol, respectively. The intermediates were detected by the online FTIR analysis. Based upon the experimental data in this work and in the literature, a plausible reaction mechanism was proposed for the oscillation reaction

Interference of steroidogenesis by gold nanorod core/silver shell nanostructures: Implications for reproductive toxicity of silver nanomaterials

Silver nanomaterials are widely used in personal care products. Recent studies have indicated that these nanomaterials may penetrate the blood-placental barrier and gain access to the ovaries. It is largely unknown how silver nanomaterials influence ovarian physiology and functions such as hormone production. This study examines the in vitro toxicology of silver nanomaterials, focusing especially on cytotoxicity and steroidogenesis while exploring their underlying mechanisms. In this study, primary rat granulosa cells were exposed to gold nanorod core/silver shell nanostructures (Au@Ag NRs), which were compared to cells exposed to gold nanorods only. The Au@Ag NRs generated more reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, and decreased production of adenosine triphosphate. Au@Ag NRs promoted steroidogenesis, including progesterone and estradiol, in a time and dose-dependent manner. Chemical reactivity and transformation of Au@Ag NRs were then studied by electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) and X-ray absorption near edge structure, which identified the generation of free radicals and intracellular silver species. These results suggested that both particle-specific activity and intracellular silver ion release of Au@Ag Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Cloud Control of Connected Vehicle under Bi-directional Time-varying delay: An Application of Predictor-observer Structured Controller

This article is devoted to addressing the cloud control of connected vehicles, specifically focusing on analyzing the effect of bi-directional communication-induced delays. To mitigate the adverse effects of such delays, a novel predictor-observer structured controller is proposed which compensate for both measurable output delays and unmeasurable, yet bounded, input delays simultaneously. The study begins by novelly constructing an equivalent delay-free inter-connected system model that incorporates the Predictor-Observer controller, considering certain delay boundaries and model uncertainties. Subsequently, a stability analysis is conducted to assess the system's robustness under these conditions. Next, the connected vehicle lateral control scenario is built which contain high-fidelity vehicle dynamic model. The results demonstrate the controller's ability to accurately predict the system states, even under time-varying bi-directional delays. Finally, the proposed method is deployed in a real connected vehicle lateral control system. Comparative tests with a conventional linear feedback controller showcase significantly improved control performance under dominant bi-directional delay conditions, affirming the superiority of the proposed method against the delay