Aiming at the issue of extracting the incipient single-fault and multi-fault of rotating machinery from the nonlinear and non-stationary vibration signals with a strong background noise, a new fault diagnosis method based on improved autoregressive-Minimum entropy deconvolution (improved AR-MED) and variational mode decomposition (VMD) is proposed. Due to the complexity of rotating machinery systems, the periodic transient impulses of single-fault and multiple-faults always emerge in the acquired vibration signals. The improved autoregressive minimum entropy deconvolution (AR-MED) technique can effectively deconvolve the influence of the background noise, which aims to enhance the peak value of the multiple transient impulses. Nevertheless, the envelope spectrum of simulation and experimental in this work shows that there are many interference components exist on both left and right of fault characteristic frequencies when the background noise is strong. To overcome this shortcoming, the VMD is thus applied to adaptively decompose the filtered output vibration signal into a number of quasi-orthogonal intrinsic modes so as to better detect the single- and multiple-faults via those sub-band signals. The experimental and engineering application results demonstrate that the proposed method dramatically sharpens the fault characteristic frequencies (FCFs) from the impacts of bearing outer race and gearbox faults compared to the traditional methods, which show a significant improvement in early incipient faults of rotating machinery. Full article

The Guan-Xin-Shu-Tong capsule (GXSTC) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is used for the treatment of coronary heart disease. Despite its common use in China, basic pharmacological research on its active components is limited. A comprehensive analytical method using quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF/MS), specifically with the Triple TOF 5600 platform, was developed to characterize the compounds in the GXSTC powder itself (in vitro) as well as the active components in healthy and heart disease model rats after its oral administration (in vivo). The 5600 platform was operated in both positive and negative ion modes, before the raw data were processed using the extracted ion chromatography (EIC), mass defect filtering (MDF) and fragment filtering (FF) techniques. With the aid of reference compounds for retention time and fragment ion comparisons, 18 compounds were unambiguously identified in vitro. An additional 56 other compounds were tentatively characterized using the accurate quasi-molecular ion mass and Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragmentation pattern strategies. Among them, 30 compounds were characterized based on the MDF and FF approaches. Normal rats in addition to hyperlipidemic (HL) and acute blood stasis (ABS) model rats were given a single oral dose of GXSTC solution for subsequent blood analysis at 1 and 2 h after administration. A total of 24 prototypecomponents and 20 metabolites derived from GXSTC were differentially detected across the three animal groups, including the absence of four phase II phenolic acid metabolites in the ABS group and the presence of three diterpenoid-related metabolites exclusive to the HL group. The use of reference compounds as well as the mass defect and fragment-filtering strategies were critical to identify GXSTC compounds in vitro and in vivo. This can be used for further quality control and pharmacological studies aimed at characterizing the active and potential beneficial compounds of this ancient medicine. Full article

The marine cone snail Conus gloriamaris is an iconic species. For over two centuries, its shell was one of the most prized and valuable natural history objects in the world. Today, cone snails have attracted attention for their remarkable venom components. Many conotoxins are proving valuable as research tools, drug leads, and drugs. In this article, we present the venom gland transcriptome of C. gloriamaris, revealing this species’ conotoxin repertoire. More than 100 conotoxin sequences were identified, representing a valuable resource for future drug discovery efforts. Full article

With the specialty of improving the water solubility of chitosan, quaternary ammonium salts have broadened the application of this polysaccharide in food, medicine and pesticides. To identify the effect of quaternary ammonium salts’ quantity, single quaternized chitosan N-phenmethyl-N,N-dimethyl chitosan (PDCS), double quaternized chitosan N-(1-pyridylmethyl-2-ylmethyl)-N,N-dimethyl chitosan (MP2MDCS), N-(1-pyridylmethyl-3-ylmethyl)-N,N-dimethyl chitosan (MP3MDCS), and N-(1-pyridylmethyl-4-ylmethyl)-N,N-dimethyl chitosan (MP4MDCS) were designed and synthesized successfully through chemical modification of chitosan. Besides, three kinds of antioxidant activities, including hydroxyl radicals, superoxide radicals, and 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals were tested in vitro. As shown in this paper, the scavenging ability was ranking in order of MP3MDC > MP4MDCS > MP2MDCS > PDCS > chitosan at 1.6 mg/mL in all assays. All double quaternary ammonium salts were better than chitosan or the single quaternary ammonium salt. In addition, MP3MDCS could scavenge hydroxyl radicals totally at 1.6 mg/mL. MP2MDCS and MP4MDCS with more than 90% scavenging indices both had great scavenging ability on hydroxyl radicals or DPPH radicals. Furthermore, these data demonstrated that the increasing number of the positive charge would improve the antioxidant property of chitosan derivatives, and the N-pyridinium position would influence the scavenging radical ability. Full article

The use of catalytic ozonation processes (COPs) for the advanced treatment of recalcitrant petroleum refinery wastewater (RPRW) is rapidly expanding. In this study, magnesium (Mg), cerium (Ce), and Mg-Ce oxide-loaded alumina (Al₂O₃) were developed as cost efficient catalysts for ozonation treatment of RPRW, having performance metrics that meet new discharge standards. Interactions between the metal oxides and the Al₂O₃ support influence the catalytic properties, as well as the efficiency and mechanism. Mg-Ce/Al₂O₃ (Mg-Ce/Al₂O₃-COP) reduced the chemical oxygen demand by 4.7%, 4.1%, 6.0%, and 17.5% relative to Mg/Al₂O₃-COP, Ce/Al₂O₃-COP, Al₂O₃-COP, and single ozonation, respectively. The loaded composite metal oxides significantly increased the hydroxyl radical-mediated oxidation. Surface hydroxyl groups (–OHs) are the dominant catalytic active sites on Al₂O₃. These active surface –OHs along with the deposited metal oxides (Mg²⁺ and/or Ce⁴⁺) increased the catalytic activity. The Mg-Ce/Al₂O₃ catalyst can be economically produced, has high efficiency, and is stable under acidic and alkaline conditions. Full article

The interactions of dihydroquinazolines with human serum albumin (HSA) were studied in pH 7.4 aqueous solution via fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques. In this work, 6-chloro-1-(3,3-dimethyl-butanoyl)-2(un)substitutedphenyl-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one (PDQL) derivatives were designed and synthesized to study the impact of five similar substituents (methyl, methoxy, cyano, trifluoromethyl and isopropyl) on the interactions between PDQL and HSA using a comparative methodology. The results revealed that PDQL quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through a static quenching process. Displacement experiments with site-specific markers revealed that PDQL binds to HSA at site II (subdomain IIIA) and that there may be only one binding site for PDQL on HSA. The thermodynamic parameters indicated that hydrophobic interactions mainly drove the interactions between PDQL and HSA. The substitution using five similar groups in the benzene ring could increase the interactions between PDQL and HSA to some extent through the van der Waals force or hydrogen bond effects in the proper temperature range. Isopropyl substitution could particularly enhance the binding affinity, as observed via comparative studies Full article

Chemical modification of chitosan is increasingly studied for its potential of providing new applications of chitosan. Here, a group of novel chitosan quaternary ammonium derivatives containing pyridine or amino-pyridine were designed and successfully synthesized through chemical modification of chitosan. Pyridine and amino-pyridine were used as functional groups to improve the antifungal activity of chitosan derivatives. The chitosan derivatives’ antioxidant activity against hydroxyl-radical and 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical was tested in vitro. The results showed that chitosan derivatives had better water solubility and stronger antioxidant activity compared with chitosan in all assays. Especially, compounds 3C and 3E (with 3-amino pyridine and 2,3-diamino pyridine as substitute respectively) exhibited stronger hydroxyl-radical and DPPH-radical scavenging ability than other synthesized compounds. These data demonstrated that the synergistic effect of the amino group and pyridine would improve the antioxidant activity of chitosan derivatives, and the position of the amino group on pyridine could influence the antioxidant property of chitosan derivatives. Full article

In the present study, 3-(fluorobenzylideneamino)-6-chloro-1-(3,3-dimethylbutanoyl)-phenyl-2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-one (FDQL) derivatives have been designed and synthesized to study the interaction between fluorine substituted dihydroquinazoline derivatives with human serum albumin (HSA) using fluorescence, circular dichroism and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the FDQL could bind to HSA, induce conformation and the secondary structure changes of HSA, and quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through a static quenching mechanism. The thermodynamic parameters, ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG, calculated at different temperatures, revealed that the binding was through spontaneous and hydrophobic forces and thus played major roles in the association. Based on the number of binding sites, it was considered that one molecule of FDQL could bind to a single site of HSA. Site marker competition experiments indicated that the reactive site of HSA to FDQL mainly located in site II (subdomain IIIA). The substitution by fluorine in the benzene ring could increase the interactions between FDQL and HSA to some extent in the proper temperature range through hydrophobic effect, and the substitution at meta-position enhanced the affinity greater than that at para- and ortho-positions. Full article

Thioredoxins (Trxs) are small proteins with a conserved redox active site WCGPC and are involved in a wide range of cellular redox processes. However, little information on the role of Trx in regulating low-temperature stress of harvested fruit is available. In this study, three full-length Trx cDNAs, designated MaTrx6, MaTrx9 and MaTrx12, were cloned from banana (Musa acuminata) fruit. Phylogenetic analysis and protein sequence alignments showed that MaTrx6 was grouped to h2 type with a typical active site of WCGPC, whereas MaTrx9 and MaTrx12 were assigned to atypical cys his-rich Trxs (ACHT) and h3 type with atypical active sites of GCAGC and WCSPC, respectively. Subcellular localization indicated that MaTrx6 and MaTrx12 were located in the plasma membrane and cytoplasm, respectively, whereas MaTrx9 showed a dual cytoplasmic and chloroplast localization. Application of ethylene induced chilling tolerance of harvested banana fruit, whereas 1-MCP, an inhibitor of ethylene perception, aggravated the development of chilling injury. RT-qPCR analysis showed that expression of MaTrx12 was up-regulated and down-regulated in ethylene- and 1-MCP-treated banana fruit at low temperature, respectively. Furthermore, heterologous expression of MaTrx12 in cytoplasmic Trx-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain increased the viability of the strain under H₂O₂. These results suggest that MaTrx12 plays an important role in the chilling tolerance of harvested banana fruit, possibly by regulating redox homeostasis. Full article

Polyamines, one of the most important kind of biomarkers in cancer research, were investigated in order to characterize different cancer types. An integrative approach which combined ultra-high performance liquid chromatography—tandem mass spectrometry detection and multiple statistical data processing strategies including outlier elimination, binary logistic regression analysis and cluster analysis had been developed to discover the characteristic biomarkers of lung and liver cancer. The concentrations of 14 polyamine metabolites in biosamples from lung (n = 50) and liver cancer patients (n = 50) were detected by a validated UHPLC-MS/MS method. Then the concentrations were converted into independent variables to characterize patients of lung and liver cancer by binary logic regression analysis. Significant independent variables were regarded as the potential biomarkers. Cluster analysis was engaged for further verifying. As a result, two values was discovered to identify lung and liver cancer, which were the product of the plasma concentration of putrescine and spermidine; and the ratio of the urine concentration of S-adenosyl-l-methionine and N-acetylspermidine. Results indicated that the established advanced method could be successfully applied to characterize lung and liver cancer, and may also enable a new way of discovering cancer biomarkers and characterizing other types of cancer. Full article

Aeolian desertification is a kind of land degradation that is characterized by aeolian activity, resulting from the responses of land ecosystems to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances. The source areas of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are typical regions of China’s Tibetan Plateau affected by aeolian desertification. We assessed the vulnerability of these areas to aeolian desertification by combining remote sensing with geographical information system technologies. We developed an assessment model with eight indicators, whose weights were determined by the analytical hierarchy process. Employing this model, we analyzed the spatial distribution of vulnerability to aeolian desertification and its changes from 2000 to 2010, and discuss the implications. Overall, low-vulnerability land was the most widespread, accounting for 64%, 62%, and 71% of the total study area in 2000, 2005, and 2010, respectively. The degree of vulnerability showed regional differences. In the source areas of the Yangtze River, land with high or very high vulnerability accounted for 17.4% of this sub-region in 2010, versus 2.6% in the source areas of the Yellow River. In the Zoige Basin, almost all of the land had very low to low vulnerability. To understand the change in vulnerability to aeolian desertification, we calculated an integrated vulnerability index (IVI). This analysis indicated that the vulnerability to aeolian desertification increased from 2000 to 2005 (IVI increased from 2.1709 to 2.2463), and decreased from 2005 to 2010 (IVI decreased from 2.2463 to 2.0057). Increasing regional temperatures appear to be primarily responsible for the change in vulnerability to aeolian desertification throughout the region. The effects of other factors (climatic variation and human activities) differed among the various sub-regions. The implementation of the ecological restoration project has achieved a noticeable effect since 2005. Our results provide empirical support for effort to protect the ecology of this ecologically fragile region. Full article

Condensed tannin is a ubiquitous polyphenol in plants that possesses substantial antioxidant capacity. In this study, we have investigated the polyphenol extraction recovery and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity of the extracted polyphenol after litchi pericarp is treated with Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus sojae or Aspergillus oryzae. We have further explored the activity of A. awamori in the formation of condensed tannin. The treatment of A. awamori appeared to produce the highest antioxidant activity of polyphenol from litchi pericarp. Further studies suggested that the treatment of A. awamori releases the non-extractable condensed tannin from cell walls of litchi pericarp. The total extractable tannin in the litchi pericarp residue after a six-time extraction with 60% ethanol increased from 199.92 ± 14.47–318.38 ± 7.59 μg/g dry weight (DW) after the treatment of A. awamori. The ESI-TOF-MS and HPLC-MS² analyses further revealed that treatment of A. awamori degraded B-type condensed tannin (condensed flavan-3-ol via C4–C8 linkage), but exhibited a limited capacity to degrade the condensed tannin containing A-type linkage subunits (C4–C8 coupled C2–O–C7 linkage). These results suggest that the treatment of A. awamori can significantly improve the production of condensed tannin from litchi pericarp. Full article

The Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction is a traditional Chinese medicine formula for the treatment of headache. To reveal its material basis, a rapid and reliable liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry method was established for comprehensive profiling of the chemical ingredients in the Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction. The method was used on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer along with an advanced data processing procedure consisting of mass accuracy screening, mass defect filtering and fragment filtering. After eliminating interference with a filtering approach, the MS data profiling was made more distinct and accurate. With the optimized conditions of only 35 min LC separation and single sample injection of each positive or negative ion mode, a total of 168 compounds were characterized, including 23 evodiamine and its analogous alkaloids, 12 limonoids, 17 gingerols, 38 ginsenosides, 15 flavonoids, 16 organic acids, 14 alkaloids, 5 saponins, 3 2,2-dimethylchromenes and 25 other compounds. The fragmentation patterns of representative compounds were illustrated as well. Integrative qualitative analysis of the Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction by high resolution mass spectrometry was accomplished and reported for the first time. The study demonstrated that the established method was a powerful and reliable strategy for comprehensive detection and would be widely applicable for identification of complicated components from herbal prescriptions, and may provide a basis for chemical analysis of other complex mixtures. Full article

Background: Point-of-sale (POS) tobacco advertising has been linked to youth smoking susceptibility and experimental smoking. However, there is limited evidence of the association between POS advertising bans and youth smoking participation. This study aims to examine how such bans are associated with current smoking, daily smoking, and regular smoking (≥1 cigarettes per day) participation among youth. Methods: one to two waves (primarily one wave) of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey were conducted in 130 countries between 2007 and 2011. These surveys were linked to the WHO “MPOWER” data using country and year identifiers to analyze the association between POS advertising bans (a dichotomous measure of the existence of such bans) and smoking participation in the past month. Weighted logistic regressions were employed to analyze this association while controlling for age, gender, parents’ smoking status, 6 MPOWER policy scores, and GDP per capita. Results and Conclusions: We find that in countries with POS advertising bans, current smoking (OR = 0.73, p ≤ 0.1), daily smoking (OR = 0.70, p ≤ 0.1), and regular smoking (OR = 0.75, p ≤ 0.05) participation in the past month is significantly lower, suggesting that POS promotion bans can potentially reduce youth smoking. This study provides evidence to support the implementation of POS promotion regulations by the US FDA and implementation of the WHO FCTC guidelines regarding restrictions on tobacco POS promotion. Full article

According to the chaotic features and typical fractional order characteristics of the bearing vibration intensity time series, a forecasting approach based on long range dependence (LRD) is proposed. In order to reveal the internal chaotic properties, vibration intensity time series are reconstructed based on chaos theory in phase-space, the delay time is computed with C-C method and the optimal embedding dimension and saturated correlation dimension are calculated via the Grassberger–Procaccia (G-P) method, respectively, so that the chaotic characteristics of vibration intensity time series can be jointly determined by the largest Lyapunov exponent and phase plane trajectory of vibration intensity time series, meanwhile, the largest Lyapunov exponent is calculated by the Wolf method and phase plane trajectory is illustrated using Duffing-Holmes Oscillator (DHO). The Hurst exponent and long range dependence prediction method are proposed to verify the typical fractional order features and improve the prediction accuracy of bearing vibration intensity time series, respectively. Experience shows that the vibration intensity time series have chaotic properties and the LRD prediction method is better than the other prediction methods (largest Lyapunov, auto regressive moving average (ARMA) and BP neural network (BPNN) model) in prediction accuracy and prediction performance, which provides a new approach for running tendency predictions for rotating machinery and provide some guidance value to the engineering practice. Full article

Size- and time-dependent aerodynamic behaviors of indoor particles, including PM_1.0, were evaluated in a school office in order to test the performance of air-cleaning devices using different filters. In-situ real-time measurements were taken using an optical particle counter. The filtration characteristics of filter media, including single-pass efficiency, volume and effectiveness, were evaluated and analyzed. The electret filter (EE) medium shows better initial removal efficiency than the high efficiency (HE) medium in the 0.3–3.5 μm particle size range, while under the same face velocity, the filtration resistance of the HE medium is several times higher than that of the EE medium. During service life testing, the efficiency of the EE medium decreased to 60% with a total purifying air flow of 25 × 10⁴ m³/m². The resistance curve rose slightly before the efficiency reached the bottom, and then increased almost exponentially. The single-pass efficiency of portable air cleaner (PAC) with the pre-filter (PR) or the active carbon granule filter (CF) was relatively poor. While PAC with the pre-filter and the high efficiency filter (PR&HE) showed maximum single-pass efficiency for PM_1.0 (88.6%), PAC with the HE was the most effective at removing PM_1.0. The enhancement of PR with HE and electret filters augmented the single-pass efficiency, but lessened the airflow rate and effectiveness. Combined with PR, the decay constant of large-sized particles could be greater than for PACs without PR. Without regard to the lifetime, the electret filters performed better with respect to resource saving and purification improvement. A most penetrating particle size range (MPPS: 0.4–0.65 μm) exists in both HE and electret filters; the MPPS tends to become larger after HE and electret filters are combined with PR. These results serve to provide a better understanding of the indoor particle removal performance of PACs when combined with different kinds of filters in school office buildings. Full article

The natural environment is increasingly recognized as an effective counter to urban stress, and “Forest Therapy” has recently attracted attention as a relaxation and stress management activity with demonstrated clinical efficacy. The present study assessed the physiological and psychological effects of a forest therapy program on middle-aged females. Seventeen Japanese females (62.2 ± 9.4 years; mean ± standard deviation) participated in this experiment. Pulse rate, salivary cortisol level, and psychological indices were measured on the day before forest therapy and on the forest therapy day. Pulse rate and salivary cortisol were significantly lower than baseline following forest therapy, indicating that subjects were in a physiologically relaxed state. Subjects reported feeling significantly more “comfortable,” “relaxed,” and “natural” according to the semantic differential (SD) method. The Profile of Mood State (POMS) negative mood subscale score for “tension–anxiety” was significantly lower, while that for “vigor” was significantly higher following forest therapy. Our study revealed that forest therapy elicited a significant (1) decrease in pulse rate, (2) decrease in salivary cortisol levels, (3) increase in positive feelings, and (4) decrease in negative feelings. In conclusion, there are substantial physiological and psychological benefits of forest therapy on middle-aged females. Full article

In this paper, an improved bounce-back boundary treatment for fluid systems in the lattice Boltzmann method [Yin, X.; Zhang J. J. Comput. Phys. 2012, 231, 4295–4303] is extended to handle the electrokinetic flows with complex boundary shapes and conditions. Several numerical simulations are performed to validate the electric boundary treatment. Simulations are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and capability of this method in dealing with complex surface potential situations, and simulated results are compared with analytical predictions with excellent agreement. This method could be useful for electrokinetic simulations with complex boundaries, and can also be readily extended to other phenomena and processes. Full article

A bell-shaped vibratory angular velocity gyro (BVG), inspired by the Chinese traditional bell, is a type of axisymmetric shell resonator gyroscope. This paper focuses on development of an error model and compensation of the BVG. A dynamic equation is firstly established, based on a study of the BVG working mechanism. This equation is then used to evaluate the relationship between the angular rate output signal and bell-shaped resonator character, analyze the influence of the main error sources and set up an error model for the BVG. The error sources are classified from the error propagation characteristics, and the compensation method is presented based on the error model. Finally, using the error model and compensation method, the BVG is calibrated experimentally including rough compensation, temperature and bias compensation, scale factor compensation and noise filter. The experimentally obtained bias instability is from 20.5°/h to 4.7°/h, the random walk is from 2.8°/h^1/2 to 0.7°/h^1/2 and the nonlinearity is from 0.2% to 0.03%. Based on the error compensation, it is shown that there is a good linear relationship between the sensing signal and the angular velocity, suggesting that the BVG is a good candidate for the field of low and medium rotational speed measurement. Full article

Rice false smut is an emerging and economically-important rice disease caused by infection by the fungal pathogen Villosiclava virens. Ustiloxin B is an antimitotic cyclopeptide mycotoxin isolated from the rice false smut balls that formed in the pathogen-infected rice spikelets. A monoclonal antibody (mAb) designated as mAb 1B5A10 was generated with ustiloxin B—ovalbumin conjugate. A highly-sensitive and specific indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) was then developed. The median inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of the icELISA was 18.0 ng/mL for the detection of ustiloxin B; the limit of detection was 0.6 ng/mL, and the calibration range was from 2.5 to 107.4 ng/mL. The LOD/LOQ values of the developed ELISA used for the determination of ustiloxin B in rice false smut balls and rice grains were 12/50 μg/g and 30/125 ng/g, respectively. The mAb 1B5A10 cross-reacted with ustiloxin A at 13.9% relative to ustiloxin B. Average recoveries of ustiloxin B ranged from 91.3% to 105.1% for rice false smut balls at spiking levels of 0.2 to 3.2 mg/g and from 92.6% to 103.5% for rice grains at spiking levels of 100 to 5000 ng/g. Comparison of ustiloxin B content in rice false smut balls and rice grains detected by both icELISA and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) demonstrated that the developed icELISA can be employed as an effective and accurate method for the detection of ustiloxin B in rice false smut balls, as well as rice food and feed samples. Full article

This paper presents a non-linear state observer-based integrated navigation scheme for estimating the attitude, position and velocity of micro aerial vehicles (MAV) operating in GPS-denied indoor environments, using the measurements from low-cost MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) inertial sensors and an RGB-D camera. A robust RGB-D visual odometry (VO) approach was developed to estimate the MAV’s relative motion by extracting and matching features captured by the RGB-D camera from the environment. The state observer of the RGB-D visual-aided inertial navigation was then designed based on the invariant observer theory for systems possessing symmetries. The motion estimates from the RGB-D VO were fused with inertial and magnetic measurements from the onboard MEMS sensors via the state observer, providing the MAV with accurate estimates of its full six degree-of-freedom states. Implementations on a quadrotor MAV and indoor flight test results demonstrate that the resulting state observer is effective in estimating the MAV’s states without relying on external navigation aids such as GPS. The properties of computational efficiency and simplicity in gain tuning make the proposed invariant observer-based navigation scheme appealing for actual MAV applications in indoor environments. Full article

Underground displacement monitoring is a key means to monitor and evaluate geological disasters and geotechnical projects. There exist few practical instruments able to monitor subsurface horizontal and vertical displacements simultaneously due to monitoring invisibility and complexity. A novel underground displacement 3D measuring sensor had been proposed in our previous studies, and great efforts have been taken in the basic theoretical research of underground displacement sensing and measuring characteristics by virtue of modeling, simulation and experiments. This paper presents an innovative underground displacement joint inversion method by mixing a specific forward modeling approach with an approximate optimization inversion procedure. It can realize a joint inversion of underground horizontal displacement and vertical displacement for the proposed 3D sensor. Comparative studies have been conducted between the measured and inversed parameters of underground horizontal and vertical displacements under a variety of experimental and inverse conditions. The results showed that when experimentally measured horizontal displacements and vertical displacements are both varied within 0 ~ 30 mm, horizontal displacement and vertical displacement inversion discrepancies are generally less than 3 mm and 1 mm, respectively, under three kinds of simulated underground displacement monitoring circumstances. This implies that our proposed underground displacement joint inversion method is robust and efficient to predict the measuring values of underground horizontal and vertical displacements for the proposed sensor. Full article

We previously found that carbamate pesticides induced significant apoptosis in human natural killer cells. To investigate whether carbamate pesticides also induce apoptosis in human T lymphocytes, in the present study Jurkat human T cells were treated in vitro with thiram, maneb, carbaryl or ziram. Apoptosis was determined by FITC-Annexin-V/PI staining. To explore the mechanism of apoptosis, intracellular levels of active caspase 3 and mitochondrial cytochrome-c release were determined by flow cytometry. We found that thiram, ziram, maneb and carbaryl also induced apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner in the human T cells. However, the strength of the apoptosis-inducing effect differed among the pesticides, with the: thiram > ziram > maneb > carbaryl. Moreover, thiram significantly increased the intracellular level of active caspase 3 and caspase inhibitors significantly inhibited apoptosis. Thiram also significantly caused mitochondrial cytochrome-c release. These findings indicate that carbamate pesticides can induce apoptosis in human T cells, and the apoptosis is mediated by the activation of caspases and the release of mitochondrial cytochrome-c. Full article

We demonstrate a simple force-based label-free strategy for the highly sensitive sensing of adenosine. An adenosine ssDNA aptamer was bound onto an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe by covalent modification, and the molecular-interface adsorption force between the aptamer and a flat graphite surface was measured by single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS). In the presence of adenosine, the molecular recognition between adenosine and the aptamer resulted in the formation of a folded, hairpin-like DNA structure and hence caused a variation of the adsorption force at the graphite/water interface. The sensitive force response to molecular recognition provided an adenosine detection limit in the range of 0.1 to 1 nM. The addition of guanosine, cytidine, and uridine had no significant interference with the sensing of adenosine, indicating a strong selectivity of this sensor architecture. In addition, operational parameters that may affect the sensor, such as loading rate and solution ionic strength, were investigated. Full article

There has been increasing attention on the therapeutic effects of the forest environment. However, evidence-based research that clarifies the physiological effects of the forest environment on hypertensive individuals is lacking. This study provides scientific evidence suggesting that a brief forest walk affects autonomic nervous system activity in middle-aged hypertensive individuals. Twenty participants (58.0 ± 10.6 years) were instructed to walk predetermined courses in forest and urban environments (as control). Course length (17-min walk), walking speed, and energy expenditure were equal between the forest and urban environments to clarify the effects of each environment. Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate were used to quantify physiological responses. The modified semantic differential method and Profile of Mood States were used to determine psychological responses. The natural logarithm of the high-frequency component of HRV was significantly higher and heart rate was significantly lower when participants walked in the forest than when they walked in the urban environment. The questionnaire results indicated that, compared with the urban environment, walking in the forest increased “comfortable”, “relaxed”, “natural” and “vigorous” feelings and decreased “tension-anxiety,” “depression,” “anxiety-hostility,” “fatigue” and “confusion”. A brief walk in the forest elicited physiological and psychological relaxation effects on middle-aged hypertensive individuals. Full article

Time spent walking and relaxing in a forest environment (“forest bathing” or “forest therapy”) has well demonstrated anti-stress effects in healthy adults, but benefits for ill or at-risk populations have not been reported. The present study assessed the physiological and psychological effects of forest therapy (relaxation and stress management activity in the forest) on middle-aged males with high-normal blood pressure. Blood pressure and several physiological and psychological indices of stress were measured the day before and approximately 2 h following forest therapy. Both pre- and post-treatment measures were conducted at the same time of day to avoid circadian influences. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), urinary adrenaline, and serum cortisol were all significantly lower than baseline following forest therapy (p < 0.05). Subjects reported feeling significantly more “relaxed” and “natural” according to the Semantic Differential (SD) method. Profile of Mood State (POMS) negative mood subscale scores for “tension-anxiety,” “confusion,” and “anger-hostility,” as well as the Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score were significantly lower following forest therapy. These results highlight that forest is a promising treatment strategy to reduce blood pressure into the optimal range and possibly prevent progression to clinical hypertension in middle-aged males with high-normal blood pressure. Full article

This paper presents a real-time motion planning approach for autonomous vehicles with complex dynamics and state uncertainty. The approach is motivated by the motion planning problem for autonomous vehicles navigating in GPS-denied dynamic environments, which involves non-linear and/or non-holonomic vehicle dynamics, incomplete state estimates, and constraints imposed by uncertain and cluttered environments. To address the above motion planning problem, we propose an extension of the closed-loop rapid belief trees, the closed-loop random belief trees (CL-RBT), which incorporates predictions of the position estimation uncertainty, using a factored form of the covariance provided by the Kalman filter-based estimator. The proposed motion planner operates by incrementally constructing a tree of dynamically feasible trajectories using the closed-loop prediction, while selecting candidate paths with low uncertainty using efficient covariance update and propagation. The algorithm can operate in real-time, continuously providing the controller with feasible paths for execution, enabling the vehicle to account for dynamic and uncertain environments. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach can generate feasible trajectories that reduce the state estimation uncertainty, while handling complex vehicle dynamics and environment constraints. Full article

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is one of the large-scale energy storage technologies utilized to provide effective power peak load shaving. In this paper, a coal-fired external combustion CAES, which only uses coal as fuel, is proposed. Unlike the traditional CAES, the combustion chamber is substituted with an external combustion heater in which high-pressure air is heated before entering turbines to expand in the proposed system. A thermodynamic analysis of the proposed CAES is conducted on the basis of the process simulation. The overall efficiency and the efficiency of electricity storage are 48.37% and 81.50%, respectively. Furthermore, the exergy analysis is then derived and forecasted, and the exergy efficiency of the proposed system is 47.22%. The results show that the proposed CAES has more performance advantages than Huntorf CAES (the first CAES plant in the world). Techno-economic analysis of the coal-fired CAES shows that the cost of electricity (COE) is $106.33/MWh, which is relatively high in the rapidly developing power market. However, CAES will be more likely to be competitive if the power grid is improved and suitable geographical conditions for storage caverns are satisfied. This research provides a new approach for developing CAES in China. Full article

The textile and clothing industry generates much pollution and consumes a large amount of resources. Improper uses and disposal of clothing products make the problems much more severe. Fast fashion products shorten the valid lifecycle and generate more waste than regular clothing products. Considering the features of fashion products, a system of a rent-based closed-loop supply chain is developed to improve the sustainability of fashion products. The supply chain processes (fashion design and manufacturing, laundry, logistics and disposal), the operations management issues (inventory management, closed-loop logistics, human-clothing matching, booking system and the rental pricing) and the sustainability promotion aspects (customization, responsive system, culture and policy aspects) are investigated by devising sustainable strategies. The rationalities of the developed system and strategies are reviewed and elucidated in detail. The results may contribute to building sustainable closed-loop fashion supply chains, the related information systems and operational and managerial mechanisms. Full article

Two colonies of Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée), artificially selected from a Bt-susceptible colony (ACB-BtS) for resistance to Cry1Ab (ACB-AbR) and Cry1Ac (ACB-AcR) toxins, were used to analyze inheritance patterns of resistance to Cry1 toxins. ACB-AbR and ACB-AcR evolved significant levels of resistance, with resistance ratios (RR) of 39-fold and 78.8-fold to Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac, respectively. The susceptibility of ACB-AbR larvae to Cry1Ac and Cry1F toxins, which had not previously been exposed, were significantly reduced, being >113-fold and 48-fold, respectively. Similarly, susceptibility of ACB-AcR larvae to Cry1Ab and Cry1F were also significantly reduced (RR > nine-fold, RR > 18-fold, respectively), indicating cross-resistance among Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, and Cry1F toxins. However, ACB-AbR and ACB-AcR larvae were equally susceptible to Cry1Ie as were ACB-BtS larvae, indicating no cross-resistance between Cry1Ie and Cry1Ab or Cry1Ac toxins; this may provide considerable benefits in preventing or delaying the evolution of resistance in ACB to Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac toxins. Backcrossing studies indicated that resistance to Cry1Ab toxin was polygenic in ACB-AbR, but monogenic in ACB-AcR, whilst resistance to Cry1Ac toxin was primarily monogenic in both ACB-AbR and ACB-AcR, but polygenic as resistance increased. Full article

The present study investigated the well-being effects of short-term forest walking and viewing (“forest bathing”). The hypothesis in our study was that both environment (forest vs. urban) and activity (walking and viewing) would influence psychological outcomes. An additional aim was to enhance basic research using several psychological methods. We conducted the experiments using 45 respondents in four areas of Japan from August to September, 2011. The hypothesis in our study was supported, because significant interaction terms between the environment and activity were confirmed regarding the Profile of Mood States (POMS) indexes, Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS) and Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS). No statistical differences between the two experimental groups in any of the ten scales were found before the experiment. However, feelings of vigor and positive effects, as well as feelings of subjective recovery and vitality were stronger in the forest environment than in the urban environment. Full article

Underground displacement monitoring is an effective method to explore deep into rock and soil masses for execution of subsurface displacement measurements. It is not only an important means of geological hazards prediction and forecasting, but also a forefront, hot and sophisticated subject in current geological disaster monitoring. In previous research, the authors had designed a novel electromagnetic underground horizontal displacement sensor (called the H-type sensor) by combining basic electromagnetic induction principles with modern sensing techniques and established a mutual voltage measurement theoretical model called the Equation-based Equivalent Loop Approach (EELA). Based on that work, this paper presents an underground displacement inversion approach named “EELA forward modeling-approximate inversion method”. Combining the EELA forward simulation approach with the approximate optimization inversion theory, it can deduce the underground horizontal displacement through parameter inversion of the H-type sensor. Comprehensive and comparative studies have been conducted between the experimentally measured and theoretically inversed values of horizontal displacement under counterpart conditions. The results show when the measured horizontal displacements are in the 0–100 mm range, the horizontal displacement inversion discrepancy is generally tested to be less than 3 mm under varied tilt angles and initial axial distances conditions, which indicates that our proposed parameter inversion method can predict underground horizontal displacement measurements effectively and robustly for the H-type sensor and the technique is applicable for practical geo-engineering applications. Full article

A bell-shaped vibratory angular rate gyro, which is inspired by the Chinese traditional bell, is a kind of axisymmetric shell resonator gyroscope. Its sensitive element is a vibratory-like Chinese traditional bell, using a piezoelectric element on the wall of the vibrator to detect the standing wave’s precession to solve the input angular rate. This work mainly studies the circuit system of a bell-shaped vibratory angular rate gyro. It discusses the process of circuit system design, analysis and experiment, in detail, providing the foundation to develop a bell-shaped vibratory angular rate gyro. Since the bell-shaped resonator’s curved structure has the characteristics of large noise in the piezoelectric signal and large harmonics, this paper analyzes its working and signal detection method, then gives the whole plan of the circuit system, including the drive module, the detection module and the control loop. It also studies every part of the whole system, gives a detailed design and analysis process and proves part of the circuit system using digital simulation. At the end of the article, the test result of the circuit system shows that it can remove the disadvantages of the curved structure having large noise in the piezoelectric signal and large harmonics and is more effective at solving the input angular rate. Full article

Papillomavirus E2 is a multifunctional viral protein that regulates many aspects of the viral life cycle including viral episome maintenance, transcriptional activation, and repression. E2 is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Cellular bromodomain protein Brd4 has been implicated in the stabilization of the E2 protein. E2 normally shuttles between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. In this study, we demonstrate that E2 ubiquitylation mostly occurs in the cytoplasm. We also find that the interaction with Brd4 promotes nuclear retention of papillomavirus E2 proteins and contributes to their stabilization in the nucleus. Compared to wild type E2 proteins, nuclear-localization-defective mutants are rapidly degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway; however, co-expression of Brd4 redirects these mutants into the nucleus and significantly increases their stability. We further demonstrate that tethering E2 proteins to chromatin as either double-bromodomain fusion proteins or histone 2B (H2B) fusion proteins significantly stabilizes the E2 proteins. Our studies suggest that chromatin recruitment of the E2 protein via interaction with Brd4 prevents E2 ubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation in the cytoplasm, leading to its stabilization in the nucleus. These studies bring new insights for understanding Brd4-mediated E2 stabilization, and provide an additional mechanism by which the chromatin-associated Brd4 regulates E2 functions. Full article

The bell-shaped vibratory angular rate gyro (abbreviated as BVG) is a novel shell vibratory gyroscope, which is inspired by the Chinese traditional bell. It sensitizes angular velocity through the standing wave precession effect. The bell-shaped resonator is a core component of the BVG and looks like the millimeter-grade Chinese traditional bell, such as QianLong Bell and Yongle Bell. It is made of Ni43CrTi, which is a constant modulus alloy. The exciting element, control element and detection element are uniformly distributed and attached to the resonator, respectively. This work presents the design, analysis and experimentation on the BVG. It is most important to analyze the vibratory character of the bell-shaped resonator. The strain equation, internal force and the resonator's equilibrium differential equation are derived in the orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system. When the input angular velocity is existent on the sensitive axis, an analysis of the vibratory character is performed using the theory of thin shells. On this basis, the mode shape function and the simplified second order normal vibration mode dynamical equation are obtained. The coriolis coupling relationship about the primary mode and secondary mode is established. The methods of the signal processing and control loop are presented. Analyzing the impact resistance property of the bell-shaped resonator, which is compared with other shell resonators using the Finite Element Method, demonstrates that BVG has the advantage of a better impact resistance property. A reasonable means of installation and a prototypal gyro are designed. The gyroscopic effect of the BVG is characterized through experiments. Experimental results show that the BVG has not only the advantages of low cost, low power, long work life, high sensitivity, and so on, but, also, of a simple structure and a better impact resistance property for low and medium angular velocity measurements. Full article

Forests are one of the most important components of the global biosphere and have critical influences on the Earth’s ecological balance. Regularly updated forest cover information is necessary for various forest management applications as well as climate modeling studies. However, map products are not widely updated at continental or national scales because the current land cover products have overly coarse spatial resolution or insufficiently large training data sets. This study presents the results of forests distribution and variation information over China using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data with the first layer of MODIS Land Cover Type product (MODIS LC-1). The NDVI time series histogram characteristic curves for forestland were estimated from MODIS LC-1 and MODIS NDVI time series data. Based on the differences of histograms among different forests, we obtained the 2001–2011 forests distribution for China at a spatial resolution of 500-m × 500-m. The overall accuracy of validation was 80.4%, an increase of 12.8% relative to that obtained using MODIS LC-1 data. The 2001–2011 forestland pure and mixed pixels of China accounted for an average of 33.72% of all pixels. There is a gradual increase in China’s forestland coverage during 2001–2011; however, the relationship is not statistically significant. Full article

This paper presents a coordinated control method for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind-power generation system with a series grid-side converter (SGSC) under distorted grid voltage conditions. The detailed mathematical models of the DFIG system with SGSC are developed in the multiple synchronous rotating reference frames. In order to counteract the adverse effects of the voltage harmonics upon the DFIG, the SGSC generates series compensation control voltages to keep the stator voltage sinusoidal and symmetrical, which allows the use of the conventional vector control strategy for the rotor-side converter (RSC), regardless of grid voltage harmonics. Meanwhile, two control targets for the parallel grid-side converter (PGSC) are identified, including eliminating the oscillations in total active and reactive power entering the grid or suppressing the fifth- and seventh-order harmonic currents injected to the grid. Furthermore, the respective PI-R controller in the positive synchronous reference frame for the SGSC voltage control and PGSC current control have been developed to achieve precise and rapid regulation of the corresponding components. Finally, the proposed coordinated control strategy has been fully validated by the simulation results of a 2 MW DFIG-based wind turbine with SGSC under distorted grid voltage conditions. Full article

In a health management system, prognostics, which is an engineering discipline that predicts a system’s future health, is an important aspect yet there is currently limited research in this field. In this paper, a hybrid approach for prognostics is proposed. The approach combines the least squares support vector regression (LSSVR) with the hidden Markov model (HMM). Features extracted from sensor signals are used to train HMMs, which represent different health levels. A LSSVR algorithm is used to predict the feature trends. The LSSVR training and prediction algorithms are modified by adding new data and deleting old data and the probabilities of the predicted features for each HMM are calculated based on forward or backward algorithms. Based on these probabilities, one can determine a system’s future health state and estimate the remaining useful life (RUL). To evaluate the proposed approach, a test was carried out using bearing vibration signals. Simulation results show that the LSSVR/HMM approach can forecast faults long before they occur and can predict the RUL. Therefore, the LSSVR/HMM approach is very promising in the field of prognostics. Full article

Bell-shaped vibratory angular rate gyro (abbreviated as BVG) is a new type Coriolis vibratory gyro that was inspired by Chinese traditional clocks. The resonator fuses based on a variable thickness axisymmetric multicurved surface shell. Its characteristics can directly influence the performance of BVG. The BVG structure not only has capabilities of bearing high overload, high impact and, compared with the tuning fork, vibrating beam, shell and a comb structure, but also a higher frequency to overcome the influence of the disturbance of the exterior environment than the same sized hemispherical resonator gyroscope (HRG) and the traditional cylinder vibratory gyroscope. It can be widely applied in high dynamic low precision angular rate measurement occasions. The main work is as follows: the issue mainly analyzes the structure and basic principle, and investigates the bell-shaped resonator’s mathematical model. The reasonable structural parameters are obtained from finite element analysis and an intelligent platform. Using the current solid vibration gyro theory analyzes the structural characteristics and principles of BVG. The bell-shaped resonator is simplified as a paraboloid of the revolution mechanical model, which has a fixed closed end and a free opened end. It obtains the natural frequency and vibration modes based on the theory of elasticity. The structural parameters are obtained from the orthogonal method by the research on the structural parameters of the resonator analysis. It obtains the modal analysis, stress analysis and impact analysis with the chosen parameters. Finally, using the turntable experiment verifies the gyro effect of the BVG. Full article

In order to detect distributed ground surface deformation, an elastic helical structure Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) sensing cable is shown in this paper. This special sensing cable consists of three parts: a silicone rubber rope in the center; a couple of parallel wires coiling around the rope; a silicone rubber pipe covering the sensing cable. By analyzing the relationship between the impedance and the structure of the sensing cable, the impedance model shows that the sensing cable impedance will increase when the cable is stretched. This specific characteristic is verified in the cable stretching experiment which is the base of TDR sensing technology. The TDR experiment shows that a positive reflected signal is created at the stretching deformation point on the sensing cable. The results show that the deformation section length and the stretching elongation will both affect the amplitude of the reflected signal. Finally, the deformation locating experiments show that the sensing cable can accurately detect the deformation point position on the sensing cable. Full article

Deep displacement observation is one basic means of landslide dynamic study and early warning monitoring and a key part of engineering geological investigation. In our previous work, we proposed a novel electromagnetic induction-based deep displacement sensor (I-type) to predict deep horizontal displacement and a theoretical model called equation-based equivalent loop approach (EELA) to describe its sensing characters. However in many landslide and related geological engineering cases, both horizontal displacement and vertical displacement vary apparently and dynamically so both may require monitoring. In this study, a II-type deep displacement sensor is designed by revising our I-type sensor to simultaneously monitor the deep horizontal displacement and vertical displacement variations at different depths within a sliding mass. Meanwhile, a new theoretical modeling called the numerical integration-based equivalent loop approach (NIELA) has been proposed to quantitatively depict II-type sensors’ mutual inductance properties with respect to predicted horizontal displacements and vertical displacements. After detailed examinations and comparative studies between measured mutual inductance voltage, NIELA-based mutual inductance and EELA-based mutual inductance, NIELA has verified to be an effective and quite accurate analytic model for characterization of II-type sensors. The NIELA model is widely applicable for II-type sensors’ monitoring on all kinds of landslides and other related geohazards with satisfactory estimation accuracy and calculation efficiency. Full article

In this paper, a feedback control mechanism and its optimization for rotating disk vibration/flutter via changes of air-coupled pressure generated using piezoelectric patch actuators are studied. A thin disk rotates in an enclosure, which is equipped with a feedback control loop consisting of a micro-sensor, a signal processor, a power amplifier, and several piezoelectric (PZT) actuator patches distributed on the cover of the enclosure. The actuator patches are mounted on the inner or the outer surfaces of the enclosure to produce necessary control force required through the airflow around the disk. The control mechanism for rotating disk flutter using enclosure surfaces bonded with sensors and piezoelectric actuators is thoroughly studied through analytical simulations. The sensor output is used to determine the amount of input to the actuator for controlling the response of the disk in a closed loop configuration. The dynamic stability of the disk-enclosure system, together with the feedback control loop, is analyzed as a complex eigenvalue problem, which is solved using Galerkin’s discretization procedure. The results show that the disk flutter can be reduced effectively with proper configurations of the control gain and the phase shift through the actuations of PZT patches. The effectiveness of different feedback control methods in altering system characteristics and system response has been investigated. The control capability, in terms of control gain, phase shift, and especially the physical configuration of actuator patches, are also evaluated by calculating the complex eigenvalues and the maximum displacement produced by the actuators. To achieve a optimal control performance, sizes, positions and shapes of PZT patches used need to be optimized and such optimization has been achieved through numerical simulations. Full article

A high-frequency ultrasonic transducer for copper or gold wire bonding has been designed, analyzed, prototyped and tested. Modeling techniques were used in the design phase and a practical design procedure was established and used. The transducer was decomposed into its elementary components. For each component, an initial design was obtained with simulations using a finite elements model (FEM). Simulated ultrasonic modules were built and characterized experimentally through the Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) and electrical resonance spectra. Compared with experimental data, the FEM could be iteratively adjusted and updated. Having achieved a remarkably highly-predictive FEM of the whole transducer, the design parameters could be tuned for the desired applications, then the transducer is fixed on the wire bonder with a complete holder clamping was calculated by the FEM. The approach to mount ultrasonic transducers on wire bonding machines also is of major importance for wire bonding in modern electronic packaging. The presented method can lead to obtaining a nearly complete decoupling clamper design of the transducer to the wire bonder. Full article

Aromatic compounds are among the most prevalent and persistent pollutants in the environment. Petroleum-contaminated soil and sediment commonly contain a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic aromatics. Aromatics derived from industrial activities often have functional groups such as alkyls, halogens and nitro groups. Biodegradation is a major mechanism of removal of organic pollutants from a contaminated site. This review focuses on bacterial degradation pathways of selected aromatic compounds. Catabolic pathways of naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene are described in detail. Bacterial catabolism of the heterocycles dibenzofuran, carbazole, dibenzothiophene, and dibenzodioxin is discussed. Bacterial catabolism of alkylated PAHs is summarized, followed by a brief discussion of proteomics and metabolomics as powerful tools for elucidation of biodegradation mechanisms. Full article

With the development of the Highway Transportation and Business Trade, vehicle weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology has become a key technology and trend of measuring traffic loads. In this paper, a novel capacitive flexible weighing sensor which is light weight, smaller volume and easy to carry was applied in the vehicle WIM system. The dynamic behavior of the sensor is modeled using the Maxwell-Kelvin model because the materials of the sensor are rubbers which belong to viscoelasticity. A signal processing method based on the model is presented to overcome effects of rubber mechanical properties on the dynamic weight signal. The results showed that the measurement error is less than ±10%. All the theoretic analysis and numerical results demonstrated that appliance of this system to weigh in motion is feasible and convenient for traffic inspection. Full article

Heat transfer between a thermoacoustic engine and its surrounding heat reservoirs can be out of phase with oscillating working gas temperature. The paper presents a generalized heat transfer model using a complex heat transfer exponent. Both the real part and the imaginary part of the heat transfer exponent change the power versus efficiency relationship quantitatively. When the real part of the heat transfer exponent is fixed, the power output P decreases and the efficiency η increases along with increasing of the imaginary part. The Optimization zone on the performance of the thermoacoustic heat engine is obtained. The results obtained will be helpful for the further understanding and the selection of the optimal operating mode of the thermoacoustic heat engine. Full article