A preliminary study on the navigation capacity improvement of the Yangtze River Waterway based on the joint dispatching optimization of the upstream reservoir group

The Yangtze River, which has the largest freight volume in the world, is a golden waterway of most importance in China. But there are still some sections with poor navigation standards that impede the potential of the channel from being fully exploited. This paper aims to investigate the possibility of navigation capacity improvement through the joint dispatching optimization of the controlled reservoir group in the upper Yangtze River. The construction and operation situations of the controlled reservoir group are introduced, and the contribution of the current joint dispatching scheme to the Yangtze River Waterway is then analysed. Based on the growing demand for inland water transportation, the possibility of navigation capacity improvement through the joint dispatching optimization is further investigated. The results show that the channel dimension of Yibin-Chongqing and Yichang-Chenglingji section has improved to a certain degree under the current joint dispatching mode, further promotion is possible through the optimization of joint dispatching for those years when the amount of suppliable water during dry seasons is much greater than the shipping demand. Policy suggestions on joint dispatching are finally proposed

A preliminary study on the navigation capacity improvement of the Yangtze River Waterway based on the joint dispatching optimization of the upstream reservoir group

The Yangtze River, which has the largest freight volume in the world, is a golden waterway of most importance in China. But there are still some sections with poor navigation standards that impede the potential of the channel from being fully exploited. This paper aims to investigate the possibility of navigation capacity improvement through the joint dispatching optimization of the controlled reservoir group in the upper Yangtze River. The construction and operation situations of the controlled reservoir group are introduced, and the contribution of the current joint dispatching scheme to the Yangtze River Waterway is then analysed. Based on the growing demand for inland water transportation, the possibility of navigation capacity improvement through the joint dispatching optimization is further investigated. The results show that the channel dimension of Yibin-Chongqing and Yichang-Chenglingji section has improved to a certain degree under the current joint dispatching mode, further promotion is possible through the optimization of joint dispatching for those years when the amount of suppliable water during dry seasons is much greater than the shipping demand. Policy suggestions on joint dispatching are finally proposed

A dataset of human and robot approach behaviors into small free-standing conversational groups

The analysis and simulation of the interactions that occur in group situations is important when humans and artificial agents, physical or virtual, must coordinate when inhabiting similar spaces or even collaborate, as in the case of human-robot teams. Artificial systems should adapt to the natural interfaces of humans rather than the other way around. Such systems should be sensitive to human behaviors, which are often social in nature, and account for human capabilities when planning their own behaviors. A limiting factor relates to our understanding of how humans behave with respect to each other and with artificial embodiments, such as robots. To this end, we present CongreG8 (pronounced 'con-gregate'), a novel dataset containing the full-body motions of free-standing conversational groups of three humans and a newcomer that approaches the groups with the intent of joining them. The aim has been to collect an accurate and detailed set of positioning, orienting and full-body behaviors when a newcomer approaches and joins a small group. The dataset contains trials from human and robot newcomers. Additionally, it includes questionnaires about the personality of participants (BFI-10), their perception of robots (Godspeed), and custom human/robot interaction questions. An overview and analysis of the dataset is also provided, which suggests that human groups are more likely to alter their configuration to accommodate a human newcomer than a robot newcomer. We conclude by providing three use cases that the dataset has already been applied to in the domains of behavior detection and generation in real and virtual environments

Revealing the microstructures and seepage characteristics in the uncured rubber-cord composites using micro-computed tomography and lattice Boltzmann approach

The internal microstructure distribution of cord-rubber-air during the processing of uncured rubber-cord composites (URCs) determines the finished product's performance. For the first time, we used computed tomography (CT) and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to establish a geometrical representation model of the real microscopic pore-fracture structures of URCs and investigate the seepage law of fluid in porous URCs, where the reinforced rubber formula was originally designed to reduce CT artifacts of cord. The results showed that the average porosity and pore radius of the original cord (0.2711 and 15.53 μm, respectively) were considerably larger than those of the URCs (0.0509 and 4.46 μm, respectively); the pore number of the cord was the largest when the pore radius was 5–10 μm, accounting for 29.36% of the total number; however, the pore number accounted for 31.36% of the total number of the URCs when the pore radius was 2–3 μm. Moreover, the characteristics of the pore/throat surface area and pore volume/throat length exhibited perfect consistent patterns with those of the pore radius. Furthermore, the fluid flow velocity increased in both cord and URCs as the displacement differential pressure increased, but decreased dramatically as the fluid kinematic viscosity increased. The critical values of displacement differential pressure and kinematic viscosity were different in the cord and URCs samples, presenting 11.1209 Pa/1.3696 × 10−3 m2/s and 14.2984 Pa/2.8869 × 10−4 m2/s, respectively. This phenomenon should be attributed that when the uncured rubber was injected into the original cord sample, its porosity decreased, its pore radius decreased, the number of micro-scale pores increased, and flow resistance became larger, resulting in a higher critical value of displacement differential pressure and a lower critical value of kinematic viscosity

Thermophilic Nucleic Acid Polymerases and Their Application in Xenobiology

Thermophilic nucleic acid polymerases, isolated from organisms that thrive in extremely hot environments, possess great DNA/RNA synthesis activities under high temperatures. These enzymes play indispensable roles in central life activities involved in DNA replication and repair, as well as RNA transcription, and have already been widely used in bioengineering, biotechnology, and biomedicine. Xeno nucleic acids (XNAs), which are analogs of DNA/RNA with unnatural moieties, have been developed as new carriers of genetic information in the past decades, which contributed to the fast development of a field called xenobiology. The broad application of these XNA molecules in the production of novel drugs, materials, and catalysts greatly relies on the capability of enzymatic synthesis, reverse transcription, and amplification of them, which have been partially achieved with natural or artificially tailored thermophilic nucleic acid polymerases. In this review, we first systematically summarize representative thermophilic and hyperthermophilic polymerases that have been extensively studied and utilized, followed by the introduction of methods and approaches in the engineering of these polymerases for the efficient synthesis, reverse transcription, and amplification of XNAs. The application of XNAs facilitated by these polymerases and their mutants is then discussed. In the end, a perspective for the future direction of further development and application of unnatural nucleic acid polymerases is provided