Three-Dimensional Distribution of Turbulent Mixing in the South China Sea*

A three-dimensional distribution of turbulent mixing in the South China Sea (SCS) is obtained for the first time, using the Gregg–Henyey–Polzin parameterization and hydrographic observations from 2005 to 2012. Results indicate that turbulent mixing generally increases with depth in the SCS, reaching the order of 10[superscript −2] m[superscript 2] s[superscript −1] at depth. In the horizontal direction, turbulence is more active in the northern SCS than in the south and is more active in the east than the west. Two mixing “hotspots” are identified in the bottom water of the Luzon Strait and Zhongsha Island Chain area, where diapycnal diffusivity values are around 3 × 10[superscript −2] m[superscript 2] s[superscript −1]. Potential mechanisms responsible for these spatial patterns are discussed, which include internal tide, bottom bathymetry, and near-inertial energy

Exponential Stability of Stochastic Differential Equation with Mixed Delay

This paper focuses on a class of stochastic differential equations with mixed delay based on Lyapunov stability theory, Itô formula, stochastic analysis, and inequality technique. A sufficient condition for existence and uniqueness of the adapted solution to such systems is established by employing fixed point theorem. Some sufficient conditions of exponential stability and corollaries for such systems are obtained by using Lyapunov function. By utilizing Doob’s martingale inequality and Borel-Cantelli lemma, it is shown that the exponentially stable in the mean square of such systems implies the almost surely exponentially stable. In particular, our theoretical results show that if stochastic differential equation is exponentially stable and the time delay is sufficiently small, then the corresponding stochastic differential equation with mixed delay will remain exponentially stable. Moreover, time delay upper limit is solved by using our theoretical results when the system is exponentially stable, and they are more easily verified and applied in practice

Perceptual Video Coding for Machines via Satisfied Machine Ratio Modeling

Video Coding for Machines (VCM) aims to compress visual signals for machine analysis. However, existing methods only consider a few machines, neglecting the majority. Moreover, the machine perceptual characteristics are not effectively leveraged, leading to suboptimal compression efficiency. In this paper, we introduce Satisfied Machine Ratio (SMR) to address these issues. SMR statistically measures the quality of compressed images and videos for machines by aggregating satisfaction scores from them. Each score is calculated based on the difference in machine perceptions between original and compressed images. Targeting image classification and object detection tasks, we build two representative machine libraries for SMR annotation and construct a large-scale SMR dataset to facilitate SMR studies. We then propose an SMR prediction model based on the correlation between deep features differences and SMR. Furthermore, we introduce an auxiliary task to increase the prediction accuracy by predicting the SMR difference between two images in different quality levels. Extensive experiments demonstrate that using the SMR models significantly improves compression performance for VCM, and the SMR models generalize well to unseen machines, traditional and neural codecs, and datasets. In summary, SMR enables perceptual coding for machines and advances VCM from specificity to generality. Code is available at \url{https://github.com/ywwynm/SMR}

Electrical conductivity adjustment for interface capacitive-like storage in sodium-ion battery

Sodium-ion battery (SIB) is significant for grid-scale energy storage. However, a large radius of Na ions raises the difficulties of ion intercalation, hindering the electrochemical performance during fast charge/discharge. Conventional strategies to promote rate performance focus on the optimization of ion diffusion. Improving interface capacitive-like storage by tuning the electrical conductivity of electrodes is also expected to combine the features of the high energy density of batteries and the high power density of capacitors. Inspired by this concept, an oxide-metal sandwich 3D-ordered macroporous architecture (3DOM) stands out as a superior anode candidate for high-rate SIBs. Taking Ni-TiO2 sandwich 3DOM as a proof-of-concept, anatase TiO2 delivers a reversible capacity of 233.3 mAh g^-1 in half-cells and 210.1 mAh g^-1 in full-cells after 100 cycles at 50 mA g^-1. At the high charge/discharge rate of 5000 mA g^-1, 104.4 mAh g^-1 in half-cells and 68 mAh g^-1 in full-cells can also be obtained with satisfying stability. In-depth analysis of electrochemical kinetics evidence that the dominated interface capacitive-like storage enables ultrafast uptaking and releasing of Na-ions. This understanding between electrical conductivity and rate performance of SIBs is expected to guild future design to realize effective energy storage

Analysis of the Global Warming Potential of Biogenic CO2 Emission in Life Cycle Assessments

Biomass is generally believed to be carbon neutral. However, recent studies have challenged the carbon neutrality hypothesis by introducing metric indicators to assess the global warming potential of biogenic CO2 (GWPbio). In this study we calculated the GWPbio factors using a forest growth model and radiative forcing effects with a time horizon of 100 years and applied the factors to five life cycle assessment (LCA) case studies of bioproducts. The forest carbon change was also accounted for in the LCA studies. GWPbio factors ranged from 0.13–0.32, indicating that biomass could be an attractive energy resource when compared with fossil fuels. As expected, short rotation and fast-growing biomass plantations produced low GWPbio. Long-lived wood products also allowed more regrowth of biomass to be accounted as absorption of the CO2 emission from biomass combustion. The LCA case studies showed that the total life cycle GHG emissions were closely related to GWPbio and energy conversion efficiency. By considering the GWPbio factors and the forest carbon change, the production of ethanol and bio-power appeared to have higher GHG emissions than petroleum-derived diesel at the highest GWPbio

Epoxy composite with high thermal conductivity by constructing 3D-oriented carbon fiber and BN network structure

As electronic devices tend to be integrated and high-powered, thermal conductivity is regarded as the crucial parameter of electronic components, which has become the main factor that limits the operating speed and service lifetime of electronic devices. However, constructing continuous thermal conductive paths for low content particle fillers and reducing interface thermal resistance between fillers and matrix are still two challenging issues for the preparation of thermally conductive composites. In this study, 3D-oriented carbon fiber (CF) thermal network structures filled with boron nitride flakes (BN) as thermal conductive bridges were successfully constructed. The epoxy composite was fabricated by thermal conductive material with a 3D oriented structure by the vacuum liquid impregnation method. This special 3D-oriented structure modified by BN (BN/CF) could efficiently broaden the heat conduction pathway and connected adjacent fibers, which leads to the reduction of thermal resistance. The thermal conductivity of the boron nitride/carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite (BN/CF/EP) with 5 vol% 10 mm CF and 40 vol% BN reaches up to 3.1 W m(-1) K-1, and its conductivity is only 2.5 x 10(-4) S cm(-1). This facile and high-efficient method could provide some useful advice for the thermal management material in the microelectronic field and aerospace industry

Epoxy Composites with High Thermal Conductivity by Constructing Three-Dimensional Carbon Fiber/Carbon/Nickel Networks Using an Electroplating Method

Heat dissipation problem is the primary factor restricting the service life of an electronic component. The thermal conductivity of materials has become a bottleneck that hinders the development of the electronic information industry (such as light-emitting diodes, SG mobile phones). Therefore, the research on improving the thermal conductivity of materials has a very important theoretical value and a practical application value. Whether the thermally conductive filler in polymer composites can form a highly thermal conductive pathway is a key issue at this stage. The carbon fiber/carbon felt (CF/C felt) prepared in the study has a three-dimensional continuous network structure. The nickel-coated carbon fiber/carbon felt (CF/C/Ni felt) was fabricated by an electroplating deposition method. Three-dimensional CF/C/Ni/epoxy composites were manufactured by vacuum-assisted liquid-phase impregnation. By forming connection points between the adjacent carbon fibers, the thermal conduction path inside the felt can be improved so as to improve the thermal conductivity of the CF/C/Ni/epoxy composite. The thermal conductivity of the CF/ C/Ni/epoxy composite (in-plane KO is up to 2.13 W/(m K) with 14.0 wt % CF/C and 3.70 wt % Ni particles (60 min electroplating deposition). This paper provides a theoretical basis for the development of high thermal conductivity and high-performance composite materials urgently needed in industrial production and high-tech fields

Genome-wide gene expression analyses reveal unique cellular characteristics related to the amenability of HPC/HSCs into high-quality induced pluripotent stem cells

is Table S2 presenting characteristics of the SF-iPSCs and TTF-iPSCs. (DOC 28 kb

Optical properties of atmospheric fine particles near Beijing during the HOPE-J3A campaign

The optical properties and chemical composition of PM1.0 particles in a suburban environment (Huairou) near the megacity of Beijing were measured during the HOPE-J3A (Haze Observation Project Especially for Jing–Jin–Ji Area) field campaign. The campaign covered the period November 2014 to January 2015 during the winter coal heating season. The average values and standard deviations of the extinction, scattering, absorption coefficients, and the aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) at λ = 470 nm during the measurement period were 201 ± 240, 164 ± 202, 37 ± 43 Mm−1, and 0.80 ± 0.08, respectively. The average values for the real and imaginary components of the effective complex refractive index (CRI) over the campaign were 1.40 ± 0.06 and 0.03 ± 0.02, while the average mass scattering and absorption efficiencies (MSEs and MAEs) of PM1.0 were 3.6 and 0.7 m2 g−1, respectively. Highly time-resolved air pollution episodes clearly show the dramatic evolution of the PM1.0 size distribution, extensive optical properties (extinction, scattering, and absorption coefficients), and intensive optical properties (SSA and CRI) during haze formation, development, and decline. Time periods were classified into three different pollution levels (clear, slightly polluted, and polluted) for further analysis. It was found that (1) the relative contributions of organic and inorganic species to observed aerosol composition changed significantly from clear to polluted days: the organic mass fraction decreased from 50 to 43 % while the proportion of sulfates, nitrates, and ammonium increased strongly from 34 to 44 %. (2) Chemical apportionment of extinction, calculated using the IMPROVE algorithm, tended to underestimate the extinction compared to measurements. Agreement with measurements was improved by modifying the parameters to account for enhanced absorption by elemental carbon (EC). Organic mass was the largest contributor (52 %) to the total extinction of PM1.0, while EC, despite its low mass concentration of ∼ 4 %, contributed about 17 % to extinction. When the air quality deteriorated, the contribution of nitrate aerosol increased significantly (from 15 % on clear days to 22 % on polluted days). (3) Under polluted conditions, the average MAEs of EC were up to 4 times as large as the reference MAE value for freshly generated black carbon (BC). The temporal pattern of MAE values was similar to that of the OC / EC ratio, suggesting that non-BC absorption from secondary organic aerosol also contributes to particle absorption