Foreword

In this paper, we show that the consistency of closed-loop subspace identification methods (SIMs) can be achieved through innovation estimation. Based on this analysis, a sufficient condition for the consistency of a new proposed closed-loop SIM is given, A consistent estimate of the Kalman gain under closed-loop conditions is also provided based on the algorithm. A multi-input-multi-output simulation shows that itis consistent under closed-loop conditions, when traditional SIMs fail to provide consistent estimates

The impact of an abandoned mercury mine on the environment in the Xiushan region, Chongqing, southwestern China

Mercury contamination is a serious problem in the Hg mining area of Xiushan County, Chongqing, southwestern China. The concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in paddy soil, surface water, and rice (grain) samples were determined to investigate the regional distribution of Hg contamination. Simultaneously, gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) in ambient air near the sampling sites was measured. The total Hg concentrations in surface water were highly elevated, ranging from 13 to 2390 ng/L, and the total MeHg concentrations varied between 0.17 and 1.1 ng/L. The dissolved Hg and MeHg concentrations in surface water ranged from 4.7 to 470 ng/L and 0.14–0.35 ng/L, respectively. High THg and MeHg concentrations were also obtained in paddy soils from mining areas, ranging from 0.45 to 68 μg/g and 0.13–4.8 ng/g, respectively. Similar to the high concentrations in water and soil, the THg concentration in rice (grain) ranged from 4.7 to 550 ng/g and MeHg from 2.9 to 26 ng/g. Elevated Hg concentrations in rice, as a staple food of local residents, confirmed that rice consumption could be a vital pathway for MeHg exposure to native people. Humic acid and fulvic acid had significant correlations with soil MeHg, implying that they have important roles that influence MeHg production in soil. The spatial distribution characteristics of Hg and MeHg pollution in the local environment indicated their origins from historic Hg mining sites in the Xiushan area.acceptedVersio

The impact of an abandoned mercury mine on the environment in the Xiushan region, Chongqing, southwestern China

Mercury contamination is a serious problem in the Hg mining area of Xiushan County, Chongqing, southwestern China. The concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in paddy soil, surface water, and rice (grain) samples were determined to investigate the regional distribution of Hg contamination. Simultaneously, gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) in ambient air near the sampling sites was measured. The total Hg concentrations in surface water were highly elevated, ranging from 13 to 2390 ng/L, and the total MeHg concentrations varied between 0.17 and 1.1 ng/L. The dissolved Hg and MeHg concentrations in surface water ranged from 4.7 to 470 ng/L and 0.14–0.35 ng/L, respectively. High THg and MeHg concentrations were also obtained in paddy soils from mining areas, ranging from 0.45 to 68 μg/g and 0.13–4.8 ng/g, respectively. Similar to the high concentrations in water and soil, the THg concentration in rice (grain) ranged from 4.7 to 550 ng/g and MeHg from 2.9 to 26 ng/g. Elevated Hg concentrations in rice, as a staple food of local residents, confirmed that rice consumption could be a vital pathway for MeHg exposure to native people. Humic acid and fulvic acid had significant correlations with soil MeHg, implying that they have important roles that influence MeHg production in soil. The spatial distribution characteristics of Hg and MeHg pollution in the local environment indicated their origins from historic Hg mining sites in the Xiushan area.acceptedVersio

Salmonella ubiquitination: ARIH1 enters the fray.

© 2017 EMBO. Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification in which ubiquitin, a 76-amino acid polypeptide, is covalently bound to one or more lysines of a target protein. Ubiquitination is mediated by the coordinated activity of ubiquitin activating (E1), conjugating (E2), and ligating (E3) enzymes. Ubiquitin is widely investigated for its ability to regulate key biological processes in the cell, including protein degradation and host-bacteria interactions. The determinants underlying bacterial ubiquitination, and their precise roles in host defense, have not been fully resolved. In this issue of EMBO Reports, Polajnar et al discover that Ring-between-Ring (RBR) E3 ligase ARIH1 (also known as HHARI) is involved in formation of the ubiquitin coat surrounding cytosolic Salmonella. Evidence suggests that ARIH1, in cooperation with E3 ligases LRSAM1 and HOIP, modulates the recognition of intracellular bacteria for cell-autonomous immunity

Closed-loop subspace identification and fault diagnosis with optimal structured residuals

textThe development of system identification and fault diagnosis theory is of great practical significance. Systems are concerned with a broad spectrum of human-made machinery, including industrial production facilities (power plants, chemical plants, oil refinery, semiconductor fabrication plants, steel mills, paper mills, etc.), transportation vehicles (ships, airplanes, automobiles) and household appliances (heating/air conditioning equipment, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.). This dissertation is focused on subspace identification algorithms and optimal structured residuals approach for processes modeling and diagnosis. Main contributions of this work include: 1. Novel subspace identification methods (SIMs) with enforced causal models are implemented. It has been shown that proposed algorithm has lower estimation variance compared to traditional SIMs. Meanwhile the rigorous analysis shows that the proposed algorithms are consistent under certain assumptions. 2. The feasibility of closed-loop subspace identification is investigated. Novel closed-loop subspace identification methods with innovation estimation are proposed. The new algorithms are shown to be consistent under closed-loop conditions, while the traditional SIMs fail to provide consistent estimates. 3. A new optimal structured residuals (OSR) approach for unidirectional fault diagnosis is proposed. The necessary and sufficient conditions for unidirectional fault isolability with OSR approach are introduced. 4. The OSR for unidirectional fault diagnosis is extended to multidimensional fault diagnosis. The sufficient condition for deterministic multidimensional fault isolability is investigated.Chemical Engineerin

On Consistency of Closed-Loop Subspace Identification with Innovation Estimation

In this paper, we show that the consistency of closed-loop subspace identification methods (SIMs) can be achieved through innovation estimation. Based on this analysis, a sufficient condition for the consistency of a new proposed closed-loop SIM is given, A consistent estimate of the Kalman gain under closed-loop conditions is also provided based on the algorithm. A multi-input-multi-output simulation shows that itis consistent under closed-loop conditions, when traditional SIMs fail to provide consistent estimates

A Novel Subspace Identification Approach with Enforced Causal Models

Subspace identification methods (SIMs) for estimating state-space models have been proven to be very useful and numerically efficient. They exist in several variants, but all have one feature in common: as a first step, a collection of high-order ARX models are estimated from vectorized input-output data. In order not to obtain biased estimates, this step must include future outputs. However, all but one of the submodels include non-causal input terms. The coefficients of them will be correctly estimated to zero as more data become available. They still include extra model parameters which give unnecessarily high variance, and also cause bias for closed-loop data. In this paper, a new model formulation is suggested that circumvents the problem. Within the framework, the system matrices (A,B,C,D) and Markov parameters can be estimated separately. It is demonstrated through analysis that the new methods generally give smaller variance in the estimate of the observability matrix and it is supported by simulation studies that this gives lower variance also of the system invariants such as the poles

A Novel Subspace Identification Approach with Enforced Causal Models

Subspace identification methods (SIMs) for estimating state-space models have been proven to be very useful and numerically efficient. They exist in several variants, but all have one feature in common: as a first step, a collection of high-order ARX models are estimated from vectorized input-output data. In order not to obtain biased estimates, this step must include future outputs. However, all but one of the submodels include non-causal input terms. The coefficients of them will be correctly estimated to zero as more data become available. They still include extra model parameters which give unnecessarily high variance, and also cause bias for closed-loop data. In this paper, a new model formulation is suggested that circumvents the problem. Within the framework, the system matrices (A,B,C,D) and Markov parameters can be estimated separately. It is demonstrated through analysis that the new methods generally give smaller variance in the estimate of the observability matrix and it is supported by simulation studies that this gives lower variance also of the system invariants such as the poles