Analytical theory of dark nonlocal solitons

We investigate properties of dark solitons in nonlocal materials with an arbitrary degree of nonlocality. We employ the variational technique and describe the dark solitons, for the first time, in the whole range of degree of nonlocality.Comment: to be published in Optics Letter

Analytical theory for dark soliton interaction in nonlocal nonlinear materials with arbitrary degree of nonlocality

We investigate theoretically the interaction of dark solitons in materials with a spatially nonlocal nonlinearity. In particular we do this analytically and for arbitrary degree of nonlocality. We employ the variational technique to show that nonlocality induces an attractive force in the otherwise repulsive soliton interaction.Comment: submitted for publicatio

Porous structure and adsorptive properties of hide waste activated carbons prepared via potassium silicate activation

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. A novel activating agent, potassium silicate, was employed in the preparation of hide waste activated carbon. Effects of different activation temperatures and impregnation ratios on porous activated carbon evolution were evaluated by nitrogen adsorption/desorption. The BET specific surface area and pore volume of prepared activated carbon could attain 2046.12 m2/g and 1.068 cm3/g, when the process of preparation carried out at the best conditions (activation temperature of 700 °C and the impregnation ratio of 2:1). Methylene blue (MB) was selected as the adsorbate to evaluate its adsorption property. Adsorption results can be fitted well by the Langmuir isotherm, indicating the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of MB reached to 769.23 mg/g

Multiport Bidirectional SRM Drives for Solar-Assisted Hybrid Electric Bus Powertrain With Flexible Driving and Self-Charging Functions

The hybrid electric bus (HEB) presents an emerging solution to exhaust gas emissions in urban transport. This paper proposes a multiport bidirectional switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive for solar-assisted HEB (SHEB) powertrain, which not only improves the motoring performance, but also achieves flexible charging functions. To extend the driving miles and achieve self-charging ability, photovoltaic (PV) panels are installed on the bus to decrease the reliance on fuelsbatteries and charging stations. A bidirectional front-end circuit with a PV-fed circuit is designed to integrate electrical components into one converter. Six driving and five charging modes are achieved. The dc voltage is boosted by the battery in generator control unit (GCU) driving mode and by the charge capacitor in battery driving mode, where the torque capability is improved. Usually, an extra converter is needed to achieve battery charging. In this paper, the battery can be directly charged by the demagnetization current in GCU or PV driving mode, and can be quickly charged by the PV panels and GCUAC grids at SHEB standstill conditions, by utilizing the traction motor windings and integrated converter circuit, without external charging converters. Experiments on a three-phase 128 SRM confirm the effectiveness of the proposed drive and control scheme

Characterization of a mannose-binding lectin gene from Typhonium divaricatum (L.) Decne

Monocot mannose-binding lectins (MMBLs) or agglutinins are an extended superfamily of structurally and evolutionarily related proteins and they play important roles in plant defenses. Here the full-length cDNA of monocot mannose-binding agglutinin (designated as TDA, GenBank accession no.: AY347940) was isolated from Typhonium divaricatum, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. Sequence analysis revealed that the full-length cDNA of TDA was 870 bp, and had a 594 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a putative 197-aa agglutinin precursor with a C-terminal domain. Multiple alignments of TDA amino acids with those of seven other MMBLs revealed three highly conserved domains among them, indicating TDA belongs to a member of the MMBL superfamily. Predicted tertiary structure analysis showed that TDA had three potential equal mannose-binding sites. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that 20 MMBLs including TDA belonged to an extended superfamily. Northern blot analysis showed that TDA expressed in T. divaricatum in a tissue-specific manner, with highest expression in tuber and almost no expression in petiole and leaf. The cloning and characterization of TDA will enable us to study its potential insect resistance function in the futur

Nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide emission in surface flow constructed wetlands for treating sewage treatment plant effluent: Effect of C/N ratios

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd In order to design treatment wetlands with maximal nitrogen removal and minimal nitrous oxide (N2O) emission, the effect of influent C/N ratios on nitrogen removal and N2O emission in surface flow constructed wetlands (SF CWs) for sewage treatment plant effluent treatment was investigated in this study. The results showed that nitrogen removal and N2O emission in CWs were significantly affected by C/N ratio of influent. Much higher removal efficiency of NH4+-N (98%) and TN (90%) was obtained simultaneously in SF CWs at C/N ratios of 12:1, and low N2O emission (8.2 mg/m2/d) and the percentage of N2O-N emission in TN removal (1.44%) were also observed. These results obtained in this study would be utilized to determine how N2O fluxes respond to variations in C/N ratios and to improve the sustainability of CWs for wastewater treatment

Aberrant posterior cingulate connectivity classify first-episode schizophrenia from controls: A machine learning study

Background Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is a key aspect of the default mode network (DMN). Aberrant PCC functional connectivity (FC) is implicated in schizophrenia, but the potential for PCC related changes as biological classifier of schizophrenia has not yet been evaluated. Methods We conducted a data-driven approach using resting-state functional MRI data to explore differences in PCC-based region- and voxel-wise FC patterns, to distinguish between patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and demographically matched healthy controls (HC). Discriminative PCC FCs were selected via false discovery rate estimation. A gradient boosting classifier was trained and validated based on 100 FES vs. 93 HC. Subsequently, classification models were tested in an independent dataset of 87 FES patients and 80 HC using resting-state data acquired on a different MRI scanner. Results Patients with FES had reduced connectivity between PCC and frontal areas, left parahippocampal regions, left anterior cingulate cortex, and right inferior parietal lobule, but hyperconnectivity with left lateral temporal regions. Predictive voxel-wise clusters were similar to region-wise selected brain areas functionally connected with PCC in relation to discriminating FES from HC subject categories. Region-wise analysis of FCs yielded a relatively high predictive level for schizophrenia, with an average accuracy of 72.28% in the independent samples, while selected voxel-wise connectivity yielded an accuracy of 68.72%. Conclusion FES exhibited a pattern of both increased and decreased PCC-based connectivity, but was related to predominant hypoconnectivity between PCC and brain areas associated with DMN, that may be a useful differential feature revealing underpinnings of neuropathophysiology for schizophrenia