Bulk Strong Matter: the Trinity

Our world is wonderful because of the normal but negligibly small baryonic part (i.e., atoms) although unknown dark matter and dark energy dominate the Universe. A stable atomic nucleus could be simply termed as ``strong matter'' since its nature is dominated by the fundamental strong interaction. Is there any other form of strong matter? Although nuclei are composed of 2-flavoured (i.e., up and down flavours of valence quarks) nucleons, it is conjectured that bulk strong matter could be 3-flavoured (with additional strange quarks) if the baryon number exceeds the critical value, $A_{\rm c}$, in which case quarks could be either free (so-called strange quark matter) or localized (in strangeons, coined by combining ``strange nucleon''). Bulk strong matter could be manifested in the form of compact stars, cosmic rays, and even dark matter. This trinity will be explained in this brief review, that may impact dramatically on today's physics, particularly in the era of multi-messenger astronomy after the discovery of gravitational wave.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. Accepted by Advances in Physics:

Probing phase transition in neutron stars via the crust-core interfacial mode

Gravitational waves emitted from the binary neutron star (BNS) systems can carry information about the dense matter phase in these compact stars. The crust-core interfacial mode is an oscillation mode in a neutron star and it depends mostly on the equation of the state of the matter in the crust-core transition region. This mode can be resonantly excited by the tidal field of an inspiraling-in BNS system, thereby affecting the emitted gravitational waves, and hence could be used to probe the equation of state in the crust-core transition region. In this work, we investigate in detail how the first-order phase transition inside the neutron star affects the properties of the crust-core interfacial mode, using a Newtonian fluid perturbation theory on a general relativistic background solution of the stellar structure. Two possible types of phase transitions are considered: (1) the phase transitions happen in the fluid core but near the crust-core interface, which results in density discontinuities; and (2) the strong interaction phase transitions in the dense core (as in the conventional hybrid star case). These phase transitions' impacts on interfacial mode properties are discussed. In particular, the former phase transition has a minor effect on the M-R relation and the adiabatic tidal deformability, but can significantly affect the interfacial mode frequency and thereby could be probed using gravitational waves. For the BNS systems, we discuss the possible observational signatures of these phase transitions in the gravitational waveforms and their detectability. Our work enriches the exploration of the physical properties of the crust-core interfacial mode and provides a promising method for probing the phase transition using the seismology of a compact star.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure

Decadal soil carbon accumulation across Tibetan permafrost regions

Acknowledgements We thank the members of Peking University Sampling Teams (2001–2004) and IBCAS Sampling Teams (2013–2014) for assistance in field data collection. We also thank the Forestry Bureau of Qinghai Province and the Forestry Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region for their permission and assistance during the sampling process. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31670482 and 31322011), National Basic Research Program of China on Global Change (2014CB954001 and 2015CB954201), Chinese Academy of Sciences-Peking University Pioneer Cooperation Team, and the Thousand Young Talents Program.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Analytical Calculation for Multi-Infeed Interaction Factors Considering Control Modes of High Voltage Direct Current Links

The multi-infeed interaction factor (MIIF) is used extensively in indicating the degree of interaction among high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converters and is currently calculated by simulation methods according to the definition, or by using the equivalent impedance ratio method. The first method is an experimental calculation method and the second method does not account for the effects of HVDC control modes. An analytical calculation method for MIIF considering control modes of HVDC links is proposed in this paper. First, the voltage variation of converter bus in the context of small disturbance is equated by using the bus impedance matrix. In this way the equations for the solution of MIIF considering HVDC control mode are obtained. Subsequently, based on two rational assumptions, the practical analytical calculation expression of MIIF is deduced in detail. The MIIF calculation method proposed in this paper is an improvement of the equivalent impedance ratio method and reflects the main influencing factors of voltage interaction including HVDC control modes. Moreover, the derived analytical expression can give a fundamental insight into parameter dependencies of voltage interaction. Finally, the validity and accuracy of the proposed approach are demonstrated in both dual-infeed HVDC system and actual large-scale power grid

The Reactive Power Support Strategy based on Dual-loop Control for Three-phase Grid-connected Inverter

Renewable energy sources (RESs) generally connected with electric power system via power electronic interface. This paper presents a reactive power and voltage (Q/V) control strategy of three-phase photovoltaic (PV) system to offering reactive power based on the typical dual-loop control topology. It is worth mentioning that control strategy can support reactive power when a low voltage fault occurs in AC bus without additional compensation device. With the help of the decoupling control, the PV array can generate active power as much as possible in variable external solar radiation conditions. The voltage of PV arrays is adopted as the objective, which on account of the easy availability and controllability of voltage, to control output active power. Besides, accurately modeling process from a PV cell to PV array is described in the beginning to acquire the P-V and V-I characteristics of PV arrays, which promote the designment of Q/V control

Analytical Calculation for Multi-Infeed Interaction Factors Considering Control Modes of High Voltage Direct Current Links

The multi-infeed interaction factor (MIIF) is used extensively in indicating the degree of interaction among high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converters and is currently calculated by simulation methods according to the definition, or by using the equivalent impedance ratio method. The first method is an experimental calculation method and the second method does not account for the effects of HVDC control modes. An analytical calculation method for MIIF considering control modes of HVDC links is proposed in this paper. First, the voltage variation of converter bus in the context of small disturbance is equated by using the bus impedance matrix. In this way the equations for the solution of MIIF considering HVDC control mode are obtained. Subsequently, based on two rational assumptions, the practical analytical calculation expression of MIIF is deduced in detail. The MIIF calculation method proposed in this paper is an improvement of the equivalent impedance ratio method and reflects the main influencing factors of voltage interaction including HVDC control modes. Moreover, the derived analytical expression can give a fundamental insight into parameter dependencies of voltage interaction. Finally, the validity and accuracy of the proposed approach are demonstrated in both dual-infeed HVDC system and actual large-scale power grid

Sedative and adverse effect comparison between oral midazolam and nitrous oxide inhalation in tooth extraction: a meta-analysis

Abstract Objective Oral midazolam and nitrous oxide inhalation were commonly used sedative and analgesic techniques during tooth extraction. It is still controversial whether oral midazolam can replace the nitrous oxide inhalation for sedative and analgesic treatment of tooth extraction. Therefore, we conducted this study in order to provide a reference for doctors to choose effective sedative and analgesic treatment in tooth extraction. Methods We searched the Chinese and English databases including PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and VIP information databases. Results Through this meta-analysis, we found that the success rate of sedation and analgesia treatment with oral midazolam during tooth extraction was 75.67% and the incidence of adverse reactions was 21.74%. The success rate of sedation and analgesia treatment using nitrous oxide inhalation during tooth extraction was 93.6% and the incidence of adverse reactions was 3.95%. Conclusion The use of nitrous oxide inhalation for sedation and analgesia during tooth extraction is very effective, and oral midazolam can be used as an alternative to nitrous oxide inhalation

Predictive role of endothelin in left ventricular remodeling of chronic kidney disease

Background: In chronic kidney disease (CKD), endothelin-1 (ET-1) always increases and there are changes in cardiac ultrasonography. In the present study, we aimed at investigating the role of serum ET-1 in predicting cardiac complications in patients with CKD. Methods: The level of serum ET-1 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and cardiac ultrasonography was performed in enrolled patients. Indexes of heart failure, such as left ventricular mass index, interventricular septum thickness and left ventricular end diastolic diameter, were measured in patients with CKD. Results: In the present study, we found that the level of serum ET-1 was significantly correlated with left ventricular mass index, interventricular septum thickness and left ventricular end diastolic diameter (p < .001) in non-dialysis patients with CKD. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicated that the level of serum ET-1 is closely related to the cardiac complications of CKD and is a useful predictor of cardiac complication

Insect Detection and Classification Based on an Improved Convolutional Neural Network

Regarding the growth of crops, one of the important factors affecting crop yield is insect disasters. Since most insect species are extremely similar, insect detection on field crops, such as rice, soybean and other crops, is more challenging than generic object detection. Presently, distinguishing insects in crop fields mainly relies on manual classification, but this is an extremely time-consuming and expensive process. This work proposes a convolutional neural network model to solve the problem of multi-classification of crop insects. The model can make full use of the advantages of the neural network to comprehensively extract multifaceted insect features. During the regional proposal stage, the Region Proposal Network is adopted rather than a traditional selective search technique to generate a smaller number of proposal windows, which is especially important for improving prediction accuracy and accelerating computations. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves a heightened accuracy and is superior to the state-of-the-art traditional insect classification algorithms