Outflow and hot dust emission in high redshift quasars

Correlations of hot dust emission with outflow properties are investigated, based on a large z~2 non-broad absorption lines quasar sample built from the Wide-field Infrared Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data releases. We use the near infrared slope and the infrared to UV luminosity ratio to indicate the hot dust emission relative to the emission from the accretion disk. In our luminous quasars, these hot dust emission indicators are almost independent of the fundamental parameters, such as luminosity, Eddington ratio and black hole mass, but moderately dependent on the blueshift and asymmetry index (BAI) and full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of CIV lines. Interestingly, the latter two correlations dramatically strengthen with increasing Eddington ratio. We suggest that, in high Eddington ratio quasars, CIV regions are dominated by outflows so the BAI and FWHM(CIV) can reliably reflect the general properties and velocity of outflows, respectively. While in low Eddington ratio quasars, CIV lines are primarily emitted by virialized gas so the BAI and FWHM(CIV) become less sensitive to outflows. Therefore, the correlations for the highest Eddington ratio quasars are more likely to represent the true dependence of hot dust emission on outflows and the correlations for the entire sample are significantly diluted by the low Eddington ratio quasars. Our results show that an outflow with a large BAI or velocity can double the hot dust emission on average. We suggest that outflows either contain hot dust in themselves or interact with the dusty interstellar medium or torus.Comment: 14 page, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Outflow and hot dust emission in broad absorption line quasars

We have investigated a sample of 2099 broad absorption line (BAL) quasars with z=1.7-2.2 built from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release Seven and the Wide-field Infrared Survey. This sample is collected from two BAL quasar samples in the literature, and refined by our new algorithm. Correlations of outflow velocity and strength with hot dust indicator (beta_NIR) and other quasar physical parameters, such as Eddington ratio, luminosity and UV continuum slope, are explored in order to figure out which parameters drive outflows. Here beta_NIR is the near-infrared continuum slope, a good indicator of the amount of hot dust emission relative to accretion disk emission. We confirm previous findings that outflow properties moderately or weakly depends on Eddington ratio, UV slope and luminosity. For the first time, we report moderate and significant correlations of outflow strength and velocity with beta_NIR in BAL quasars. It is consistent with the behavior of blueshifted broad emission lines in non-BAL quasars. The statistical analysis and composite spectra study both reveal that outflow strength and velocity are more strongly correlated with beta_NIR than Eddington ratio, luminosity and UV slope. In particular, the composites show that the entire C IV absorption profile shifts blueward and broadens as beta_NIR increases, while Eddington ratio and UV slope only affect the high and low velocity part of outflows, respectively. We discuss several potential processes and suggest that dusty outflow scenario, i.e. dust is intrinsic to outflows and may contribute to the outflow acceleration, is most likely. The BAL quasar catalog is available from the authors upon request.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Deformation mechanism of kink-step distorted coherent twin boundaries in copper nanowire

In the construction of nanotwinned (NT) copper, inherent kink-like steps are formed on growth twin boundaries (TBs). Such imperfections in TBs play a crucial role in the yielding mechanism and plastic deformation of NT copper. Here, we used the molecular dynamic (MD) method to examine the influence of kink-step characteristics in depth, including kink density and kink-step height, on mechanical behavior of copper nanowire (NW) in uniaxial tension. The results showed that the kink-step, a stress-concentrated region, is preferential in nucleating and emitting stress-induced partial dislocations. Mixed dislocation of hard mode I and II and hard mode II dislocation were nucleated from kink-step and surface atoms, respectively. Kink-step height and kink density substantially affected the yielding mechanism and plastic behavior, with the yielding stress functional-related to kink-step height. However, intense kink density (1 kink per 4.4 nm) encourages dislocation nucleation at kink-steps without any significant decline in tensile stress. Defective nanowires with low kink-step height or high kink density offered minimal resistance to kink migration, which has been identified as one of the primary mechanisms of plastic deformation. Defective NWs with refined TB spacing were also studied. A strain-hardening effect due to the refined TB spacing and dislocation pinning was observed for defective NWs. This study has implications for designing NT copper to obtain optimum mechanical performance.This research was undertaken with the assistance of resources from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government. This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant Nos. LP130101001

Investigation of CYP1B1 mutations in Chinese patients with primary congenital glaucoma

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the mutation spectrum of the cytochrome P450 gene (CYP1B1) in Chinese patients with primary congenital glaucoma (PCG). Methods: The coding regions of CYP1B1 from 41 Chinese PCG patients were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and heteroduplex analysis-single strand conformation polymorphism (HA-SSCP) followed by subsequent cloning and bidirectional sequencing. New variants were confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis in 80 normal Chinese controls. Results: Six distinct mutations, four of which are novel, were identified in 14.6 % (6/41) of all patients. The CYP1B1 mutations in two patients were homozygous, and the other four patients were compound heterozygous. Beyond the four novel mutations (g.4531_4552del22bp, g.4633delC, p.S336Y, and p.I471S), two reported missense mutations (R469W and R390H) were also identified. The missense mutation, R390H, was involved in 9.8 % (4/41) of patients in our study. None of the novel mutations was observed in any of the 80 controls. Conclusions: Our results support the premise that CYP1B1 is a major gene for PCG, appearing to be responsible for the disease in roughly one in six Chinese PCG patients. The R390H mutation was identified as a predominant CYP1B1 allele among the Chinese PCG patients in our study. This observation emphasizes the importance of mutational screening of CYP1B1, especially for the R390H mutation in Chinese patients

Efficient mode transition control for DM-PHEV with mechanical hysteresis based on piecewise affine H∞ strategy

A dual motor plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (DM-PHEVs) can achieve higher power and better fuel economy through Mode Transition Process (MTP) from pure electric to hybrid driving modes. In a DM-PHEV, the MTP is more complex, with more components to be managed. As well as being a combination of a discrete stage transition and a system with continuous state evolution, the several actuators exhibit significant discontinuous dynamics and different characteristics from each other, particularly mechanical hysteresis. This makes the design of a coordinated controller challenging. In this paper, a two-layer coordinated control strategy is proposed. The upper layer is based on a stage-dependent piecewise-affine (PWA) model which is used to develop a PWA-static output feedback H ∞ strategy (PWA-SOF). The lower layer is based on a simplified actuator lag model, and a H ∞ design technique is used to develop a robust torque controller that reduces the effect of mechanical hysteresis. The resulting strategy is described as a piecewise-affine modified static output feedback (PW-MSOF) algorithm. (While the individual elements are not novel contributions to control theory, the combination and application to this problem is.) Performance indices are defined and hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) test shows that the new controller can effectively suppress the vehicle jerk without adversely affecting other aspects of system behaviour

Layer-by-Layer Assembly and Photocatalytic Activity of Titania Nanosheets on Coal Fly Ash Microspheres

In order to address the problem with titania distribution and recovery, series of Ti0.91O2/CFA photocatalysts (Ti0.91O2/CFA-n, n=2,4,6, and 8) were fabricated by assembling Ti0.91O2 nanosheets on coal fly ash (CFA) microspheres via the layer-by-layer assembly (LBLA) process and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), N2-sorption, and ultraviolet-visible absorption (UV-vis) techniques. The SEM images and UV-vis spectra illustrated that Ti0.91O2 nanosheets were immobilized successfully on the CFA by the LBLA approach and changed the characteristics of CFA noticeably. The photocatalytic activity of Ti0.91O2/CFA was evaluated by the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation. The results demonstrated that Ti0.91O2/CFA-6 showed the best photocatalytic activity among the series of Ti0.91O2/CFA irradiated for 60 min, with a decoloration rate above 43%. After photocatalysis, the Ti0.91O2/CFA could be easily separated and recycled from aqueous solution and Ti0.91O2 nanosheets were still anchored on the CFA

Characterization of Corrosion Behavior of TA2 Titanium Alloy Welded Joints in Seawater Environment

Titanium alloy has been widely used in Marine pipeline system because of its excellent corrosion resistance. However, there are differences in microstructure and electrochemical properties because of the heterogeneous structure of the welded joint, the corrosion behavior is often different. In this paper, the corrosion behavior of TA2 titanium alloy welded joint in seawater at different temperatures was studied by traditional macro electrochemical test analysis combined with microelectrode array test and surface morphology analysis. Conventional macroscopic electrochemical analysis results show that the corrosion resistance of heat-affected zone is always the best, followed by the base metal and the weld. And the higher the temperature, the easier the formation of passivation film. The results of microelectrode array test show that the heat-affected zone is always the cathode region of the whole welded joint, and part of the cathode near the base metal region has the largest current density, which acts as the main cathode to slow down corrosion. At slightly higher temperatures, the polarity deflection will occur in the base metal zone and weld zone due to the different formation speeds of passivation film in early corrosion stage. With the prolongation of corrosion time, the base metal eventually becomes the cathode zone and the weld zone eventually becomes the anode zone

Comparative genomics reveals adaptive evolution of Asian tapeworm in switching to a new intermediate host

Taenia saginata, Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica (beef, pork and Asian tapeworms, respectively) are parasitic flatworms of major public health and food safety importance. Among them, T. asiatica is a newly recognized species that split from T. saginata via an intermediate host switch ∼1.14 Myr ago. Here we report the 169- and 168-Mb draft genomes of T. saginata and T. asiatica. Comparative analysis reveals that high rates of gene duplications and functional diversifications might have partially driven the divergence between T. asiatica and T. saginata. We observe accelerated evolutionary rates, adaptive evolutions in homeostasis regulation, tegument maintenance and lipid uptakes, and differential/specialized gene family expansions in T. asiatica that may favour its hepatotropism in the new intermediate host. We also identify potential targets for developing diagnostic or intervention tools against human tapeworms. These data provide new insights into the evolution of Taenia parasites, particularly the recent speciation of T. asiatica