The Ultraviolet/optical variability of steep-spectrum radio quasars: the change in accretion rate ?

Context. The steep-spectrum radio quasars (SSRQs) are powerful radio sources, with thermal emission from accretion disk and jet nonthermal emission likely both contributing in the Ultraviolet (UV)/optical luminosity, however the former may play a dominant role. While the UV/optical variability of SSRQs has been poorly studied, little is known on the mechanism of their variability. Aims. We investigate the mechanism of the UV/optical variability of SSRQs. Methods. A sample of eighteen SSRQs has been established in SDSS Stripe 82 region in our previous works, in which the flux and spectral variability have been studied. In this work, we construct the flux-flux diagram using SDSS u and i multi-epoch data for these eighteen SSRQs. The standard accretion disk model is used to fit the flux-flux variations, in order to explore the variability mechanism. Results. The model fit to flux-flux diagram are tuned with fixed black hole mass and varying accretion rate. We found that the flux-flux diagram of all our SSRQs can be qualitatively described by the standard accretion disk model with change of the accretion rate. Although non-thermal jet power-law emission can also qualitatively reproduce the variability, the reasonable accretion rates and black hole masses required to fit the flux-flux variations suggest that a disk emission with variable accretion rate is a plausible description of the data.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted to A&A, title change

Black Hole Fundamental Plane in Low-Excitation Radio Galaxies

The radio-X-ray slope in the fundamental plane of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is found to be steeper compared with that of radio-quiet AGNs in previous works. In this work, we reinvestigate the fundamental plane in radio-loud AGNs by compiling a sample of 13 low-excitation radio galaxies (LERG) from the 3CR radio galaxies, for the reason that the accretion mode in LERG is believed to be a radiatively inefficient accretion flow. All the sources in our sample possess the data available at both the 5 GHz core radio luminosity detected by VLA/VLBI/VLBA and the core X-ray luminosity detected by Chandra/XMM-Newton. Surprisingly, we find the slope in the fundamental plane ($\log L_{\rm R}=0.52 \log L_{\rm X}+ 0.84 \log M_{\rm BH} + 10.84$) of LERG is well consistent with that reported by \citet{m2003}. However, the normalization is found to be shifted by about 0.7 dex, which can be due to the difference on magnetic field strength in different objects. A shallower slope of $L_{\rm R}-L_{\rm X}$ relation ($L_{\rm R}\sim L_{\rm X}^{0.63}$) is also given by our sample, which demonstrates that the X-ray emission in LERG may come from accretion disc instead of jets as suggested by previous works.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted by MNRAS Letter

Forecasting Method for Urban Rail Transit Ridership at Station Level Using Back Propagation Neural Network

Direct forecasting method for Urban Rail Transit (URT) ridership at the station level is not able to reflect nonlinear relationship between ridership and its predictors. Also, population is inappropriately expressed in this method since it is not uniformly distributed by area. In this paper, a new variable, population per distance band, is considered and a back propagation neural network (BPNN) model which can reflect nonlinear relationship between ridership and its predictors is proposed to forecast ridership. Key predictors are obtained through partial correlation analysis. The performance of the proposed model is compared with three other benchmark models, which are linear model with population per distance band, BPNN model with total population, and linear model with total population, using four measures of effectiveness (MOEs), maximum relative error (MRE), smallest relative error (SRE), average relative error (ARE), and mean square root of relative error (MSRRE). Also, another model for contribution rate of population per distance band to ridership is formulated based on the BPNN model with nonpopulation variables fixed. Case studies with Japanese data show that BPNN model with population per distance band outperforms other three models and the contribution rate of population within special distance band to ridership calculated through the contribution rate model is 70%~92.9% close to actual statistical value. The result confirms the effectiveness of models proposed in this paper

Nozzle design in a fiber spinning process for a maximal pressure gradient

The thickness of a spinneret is always a geometrical constraint in nozzle design. The geometrical form of a nozzle has a significant effect on the subsequent spinning characteristics. This paper gives an optimal condition for maximal pressure gradient through the nozzle

Pressure distribution on spinning spinnerets

A two-dimensional model is used to study the pressure distribution in a chamber of a spinneret system. Darcy’s law is adopted for determining the inlet and outlet velocities of the flow. The pressure distribution on the spinneret plate is obtained, and the dead zone, where no nozzle exists, can be optimally determined

A Magnetically and Thermally Controlled Liquid Metal Variable Stiffness Material

Smart materials that can actively tune their stiffness are of great interest to many fields, including the construction industry, medical devices, industrial machines, and soft robotics. However, developing a material that can offer a large range of stiffness change and rapid tuning remains a challenge. Herein, a liquid metal variable stiffness material (LMVSM) that can actively and rapidly tune its stiffness by applying an external magnetic field or by changing the temperature is developed. The LMVSM is composed of three layers: a gallium–iron magnetorheological fluid (Ga–Fe MRF) layer for providing variable stiffness, a nickel–chromium wire layer for Joule heating, and a soft heat dissipation layer for accelerating heating and rapid cooling. The stiffness can be rapidly increased by 4 times upon the application of a magnetic field or 10 times by solidifying the Ga–Fe MRF. Finally, the LMVSM is attached to a pneumatically controlled soft robotic gripper to actively tune its load capacity, demonstrating its potential to be further developed into smart components that can be widely adopted by smart devices

Online Bridge Crack Monitoring with Smart Film

Smart film crack monitoring method, which can be used for detecting initiation, length, width, shape, location, and propagation of cracks on real bridges, is proposed. Firstly, the fabrication of the smart film is developed. Then the feasibility of the method is analyzed and verified by the mechanical sensing character of the smart film under the two conditions of normal strain and crack initiation. Meanwhile, the coupling interference between parallel enameled wires of the smart film is discussed, and then low-frequency detecting signal and the custom communication protocol are used to decrease interference. On this basis, crack monitoring system with smart film is designed, where the collected crack data is sent to the remote monitoring center and the cracks are simulated and recurred. Finally, the monitoring system is applied to six bridges, and the effects are discussed