An Efficient Sensitivity Analysis Method for Optimization of Vehicle Random Vibrations

AbstractAn efficient and accuracy sensitivity analysis method for optimal analysis of random vibration of vehicle-bridge coupled system is purposed. The pseudo-excitation method is used to transform random road surface roughness into a series of deterministic harmonic excitations, and then the precise integration method is adopted to compute vehicle/bridge system response. The pseudo-excitation method and the precise integration method are both accurate and efficient, so that the first and second order sensitivity information of the responses can be obtained very conveniently. Taking ride comfort as the objective function, an optimal analysis for a vehicle/bridge system is performed

Why doorstepping can increase household waste recycling

AbstractIn this study we report on a doorstepping intervention which produced a 12.5%, statistically significant, increase in the recycling capture rate. More importantly, we investigate why doorstepping caused the increase, through focus groups, structured interviews and questionnaires. By analyzing the findings with respect to a pragmatic set of eleven clusters of determinants of behaviour change, we find that social norms and emotion were important, with prompts as a more minor determinant. We can now plan further doorstepping knowing an emphasis on these is useful. Knowledge, skills, belief of consequences, belief of capability, action planning, role clarification, feedback, and motivation were determinant clusters found not to be important in this case.Recycling behaviour change interventions often do not generally produce transferable learning because they are usually presented as case studies and not broken down into key elements. Our analytical approach of breaking down a poorly defined activity – doorstepping – into elements which influence different clusters of determinants, and then exploring their separate impacts, allows some predictive planning and optimization for other interventions. The specific context here was residential food waste recycling in apartment blocks of communities in Shanghai, China

Elastic scattering and breakup reactions of the proton drip-line nucleus 8 B on 208 Pb at 238 MeV

Elastic scattering and breakup angular distributions of the weakly bound radioactive nucleus 8 B on a 208Pb target at an incident energy of 238 MeV, which corresponds to four times the Coulomb barrier, have been measured at the HIRFL-RIBLL facility (Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou). The data have been analyzed using the optical model and the continuum discretized coupled channels (CDCC) formalism. The measured and calculated elastic scattering angular distributions do not show any significant Coulomb rainbow suppression. The angular distribution for the breakup reaction was measured for the first time at this energy. The angular distribution of the 7 Be fragments could be reproduced considering elastic plus nonelastic breakup contributions, with the former evaluated with the CDCC calculations and the latter with the model of Ichimura, Austern, and Vincent [Phys. Rev. C 32, 431 (1985)]. The comparison of the breakup cross section of 8 B with that of 11Be suggests that the Coulomb and centrifugal barriers encountered by the valence proton may suppress the breakup cross section.Fundación Nacional Programa clave de I + D de China (Subvención No. 2018YFA0404403)Fundación Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de China (Subvenciones No. 11947203, No. 11775013, No. 11575256 y No. U1632138)Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS de China (No. 2020411)Fundación de Investigación de São Paulo (FAPESP) (Becas No. 2016/17612-7 y No. 2018/04965-4)Ministerio español de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (incluyendo FEDER fondos) bajo el proyecto FIS2017-88410-PUnión Europea programa de investigación e innovación Horizonte 2020 de la Unión Acuerdo de Subvención No. 654002

Perceived key elements of a successful residential food waste sorting program in urban apartments: stakeholder views

AbstractA large, successful, residential food waste sorting (recycling) program in urban high-density housing was studied to elicit perceptions of the key elements of its success. An embedded mixed-methods approach was used with rigorous quantitative measures of weights and compositions of the waste to confirm the success of the program, combined with in-depth semi-structured interviews of stakeholders to reveal their opinions of the elements key for success. The program produced a 70% food waste capture rate slowly decreasing to 45% over 54 weeks, with <1% contamination. The key elements for success were found to relate to clarification of roles and responsibilities, and the usefulness of a ‘broker’ (here, an NGO (non-governmental organisation)) to co-develop new boundaries for stakeholder responsibilities. Residents first needed to be convinced of the serious intention of the local government to implement the policy, but then viewed waste sorting as a civic duty. This is different to the moderator of “authority’ in earlier studies. The use of volunteers to demonstrate and interact on a personal level with residents was seen as a key element. The three month period of volunteer involvement was seen as key to good habit forming

Information strategy failure:personal interaction success, in urban residential food waste segregation

AbstractDirect measurements were taken of residential food waste sorting in a sample from over 5000 communities (5 million households) assigned to a pilot program delivered by government branches in Shanghai which relied on an information strategy for implementation. The results are compared to a population of N = 36 similar communities (36,000 households) assigned to a different program which involved considerable personal interaction. The results show that the information–based program communities did not noticeably sort their waste, whereas those given personal interaction approaches were very successful, with purity rates of 95%(8) and extra costs of about 50 RMB (8 USD) per household. This is a rare direct comparison of two different programs at such large scales, 6–36 months after launch, and suggests that personal interaction approaches should be considered by policy makers. Qualitative key informant interviews yielded data on each program's activities, which provide suggestions for further studies of the underlying behaviour change determinants involved

Effects of coarse-graining on the scaling behavior of long-range correlated and anti-correlated signals

We investigate how various coarse-graining methods affect the scaling properties of long-range power-law correlated and anti-correlated signals, quantified by the detrended fluctuation analysis. Specifically, for coarse-graining in the magnitude of a signal, we consider (i) the Floor, (ii) the Symmetry and (iii) the Centro-Symmetry coarse-graining methods. We find, that for anti-correlated signals coarse-graining in the magnitude leads to a crossover to random behavior at large scales, and that with increasing the width of the coarse-graining partition interval $\Delta$ this crossover moves to intermediate and small scales. In contrast, the scaling of positively correlated signals is less affected by the coarse-graining, with no observable changes when $\Delta1$ a crossover appears at small scales and moves to intermediate and large scales with increasing $\Delta$. For very rough coarse-graining ($\Delta>3$) based on the Floor and Symmetry methods, the position of the crossover stabilizes, in contrast to the Centro-Symmetry method where the crossover continuously moves across scales and leads to a random behavior at all scales, thus indicating a much stronger effect of the Centro-Symmetry compared to the Floor and the Symmetry methods. For coarse-graining in time, where data points are averaged in non-overlapping time windows, we find that the scaling for both anti-correlated and positively correlated signals is practically preserved. The results of our simulations are useful for the correct interpretation of the correlation and scaling properties of symbolic sequences.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure

Novel D-hordein-like HMW glutenin sequences isolated from Psathyrostachys juncea by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR

New high-molecular-weight glutenin (HMW glutenin) sequences isolated from six Psathyrostachys juncea accessions by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR differ from previous sequences from this species. They showed novel modifications in all of the structural domains, with unique C-terminal residues, and their N-terminal lengths were the longest among the HMW glutenins reported to date. In their repetitive domains, there were three repeatable motif units: 13-residue [GYWH(/I/Y)YT(/Q)S(/T)VTSPQQ], hexapeptide (PGQGQQ), and tetrapeptide (ITVS). The 13-residue repeats were restricted to the current sequences, while the tetrapeptides were only shared by D-hordein and the current sequences. However, these sequences were not expressed as normal HMW glutenin proteins because an in-frame stop codon located in the C-termini interrupted the intact open reading frames. A phylogenetic analysis supported different origins of the P. juncea HMW glutenin sequences than that revealed by a previous study. The current sequences showed a close relationship with D-hordein but appeared to be more primitive

Modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in a dual-wavelength dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring laser

We report on the observation of modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in a dual-wavelength operation dispersion-managed soliton fiber ring laser with net negative cavity dispersion. The passively mode-locked operation is achieved by using nonlinear polarization rotation technique. A new type of dual-wavelength operation, where one is femtosecond pulse and the other is picosecond pulse operation, is obtained by properly rotating the polarization controllers. When the dual-wavelength pulses are simultaneously circulating in the laser ring cavity, a series of stable modulation sidebands appears in the picosecond pulse spectrum at longer wavelength with lower peak power due to modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation between the two lasing wavelengths. Moreover, the intensities and wavelength shifts of the modulation sidebands can be tuned by varying the power of the femtosecond pulse or the lasing central wavelengths of the dual-wavelength pulses. The theoretical analysis of the modulation instability induced by cross-phase modulation in our fiber laser is also presented.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure

Characterization of a novel 4.0-kb y-type HMW-GS from Eremopyrum distans

A novel 4.0-kb Fy was sequenced and bacterially expressed. This gene, the largest y-type HMW-GS currently reported, is 4,032-bp long and encodes a mature protein with 1,321 amino acid (AA) residues. The 4.0-kb Fy shows novel modifications in all domains. In the N-terminal, it contains only 67 AA residues, as three short peptides are absent. In the repetitive domain, the undecapeptide RYYPSVTSPQQ is completely lost and the dodecapeptide GSYYPGQTSPQQ is partially absent. A novel motif unit, PGQQ, is present in addition to the two standard motif units PGQGQQ and GYYPTSPQQ. Besides, an extra cysteine residue also occurs in the middle of this domain. The large molecular mass of the 4.0-kb Fy is mainly due to the presence of an extra-long repetitive domain with 1,279 AA residues. The novel 4.0-kb Fy gene is of interest in HMW-GS gene evolution as well as to wheat quality improvement with regard to its longest repetitive domain length and extra cysteines residues