Mass change study on Arctic glacier Pedersenbreen, during 1936–1990–2009

Pedersenbreen is a small polythermal valley glacier, located in Svalbard, which has been one of the two glaciers monitored by Chinese Arctic expedition members since 2004. This study estimates its area and volume and analyzes its change during 1936-1990-2009, using field collected GPS/GPR data in 2009 and historical topographic maps published by the Norwegian Polar Institute. We have found that Pedersenbreen is just like many other valley glaciers in Svalbard, having experienced a significant recession since the end of Little Ice Age in the early 20th century. The glacier tongue has retreated more than 0.6 km, while ice volume has decreased by approximately 13%. The overall thinning rate of Pedersenbreen has shown acceleration during the recent decades. Further analysis shows that the ice tongue in the downstream area of Pedersenbreen is melting at the highest rate, while a simultaneous accumulation occurred in the upstream. However, as global temperatures increase, the accumulation area is reducing year by year.     

Allocation of Energy Use in the Biomass-based Fuel Ethanol System and Its Use in Decision Making

The Chinese government is developing biomass ethanol as one of its automobile fuels for energy security and environmental improvement reasons. The energy efficiency of the biomass-based fuel ethanol is critical issue. To investigate the energy use in the three biomass-base ethanol fuel systems, energy content approach, Market value approach and Product displacement approach methods were used to allocate the energy use based on life cycle energy assessment. The results shows that the net energy of corn based, wheat based, and cassava-based ethanol fuel are 12S43MJ, 10299MJ and 13112MJ when get one ton biomass-based ethanol, respectively, and they do produce positive net energy.     

Fluid Flow Behavior of Liquid in Cylindrical Vessels Stirred by One or Two Air Jets

Based on the two-phase model (Eulerian-Eulerian model), the three dimensional fluid flow in water and that liquid steel systems stirred by one or two multiple gas jets are simulated. In the Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase model, the gas and the liquid phase are considered to be two different continuous fluids interacting with each other through the finite inter-phase areas. The exchange between the phases is represented by source terms in conversation equations. Turbulence is assumed to be a property of the liquid phase. A new turbulence modification k-ε model is introduced to consider the bubbles movement contribution to k and ε. The dispersion of phases due to turbulence is represented by introducing a diffusion term in mass conservation equation. The mathematical simulation agrees well with the experiment results. The study results indicate that the distance of two nozzles has big effect on fluid flow behavior in the vessel. Using two gas injection nozzles at the half radii of one diameter of the bottom generates a much better mixing than with one nozzle under the condition of the same total gas flow rate.     

Two different gene loci related to the spatial patterning of brain ventricle in vertebrate

Observations on living embryonic brains and the microstructure of brain ventricle of goldfish revealed that there are two brain ventricle phenotypes in gynogenetic haploid embryos. One phenotype is as normal as that of the control inbreeding diploid embryos, which has normal differentiated forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. Another phenotype is obviously abnormal, the brain patterning is irregular, and no distinct brain ventricle can be observed. The ratio of haploid embryos with normal brain pattern to that with abnormal brain pattern is 1∶3. This ratio indicates that there are two gene loci involved in the spatial patterning of the brain ventricle. Since the possibility that deleterious recessive mutant alleles exist on both of the two gene loci had been excluded in this experiment, the phenotype represented the expressional state rather than the genotype of these two genes. Therefore, the ratio of 1∶3 suggests that the expressing probability for each copy of the two genes is 50%, and the regulatory mechanism of the expression is based on two sets of chromosomes, controlled by the rule of the diploid-dependent regulatory mechanism.     

Two different gene loci related to the spatial patterning of brain ventricle in vertebrate

Observations on living embryonic brains and the microstructure of brain ventricle of goldfish revealed that there are two brain ventricle phenotypes in gynogenetic haploid embryos. One phenotype is as normal as that of the control inbreeding diploid embryos, which has normal differentiated forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. Another phenotype is obviously abnormal, the brain patterning is irregular, and no distinct brain ventricle can be observed. The ratio of haploid embryos with normal brain pattern to that with abnormal brain pattern is 1:3. This ratio indicates that there are two gene loci involved in the spatial patterning of the brain ventricle. Since the possibility that deleterious recessive mutant alleles exist on both of the two gene loci had been excluded in this experiment, the phenotype represented the expressional state rather than the genotype of these two genes. Therefore, the ratio of 1:3 suggests that the expressing probability for each copy of the two genes is 50%, and the regulatory mechanism of the expression is based on two sets of chromosomes, controlled by the rule of the diploid-dependent regulatory mechanism.     

High temperature oxidation behavior of aluminide on a Ni-based single crystal superalloy in different surface orientations

An investigation on oxidation behavior of coated Ni-based single crystal superalloy in different surface orientations has been carried out at1100 ℃. It has been found that the {100} surface shows a better oxidation resistance than the {110} one, which is attributed that the {110}surface had a slightly higher oxidation rate when compared to the {100} surface. The experimental results also indicated that the anisotropic oxidation behavior took place even with a very small difference in the oxidation rates that was found between the two surfaces. The differences of the topologically close packed phase amount and its penetration depth between the two surfaces, including the ratio of α-Al2O3 after 500 h oxidation, were responsible for the oxidation anisotropy.     

Study of droplet size and velocity of fuel containing CO2 spray by means of PDA

Injection of fuel containing CO2 has potential to reduce NOx and soot emissions in a diesel engine. This paper presents an experimental study on the spray characteristics of fuel containing CO2 as measured by phase doppler anemometry (PDA). Experiments were performed under atmospheric conditions on diesel hole-type nozzles at constant injection pressure. Effects of CO2 concentration in diesel fuel on the spray pattern, droplet size and velocity were measured. Experimental results show that fuel atomization will improve greatly when the concentration of dissolved CO2 in the fuel exceeds the critical value. The axial and radial velocity of the fuel spray containing CO2 is larger than that of conventional diesel fuel spray near the nozzle exit due to flash boiling phenomena. Downstream of the spray, the radial velocity and droplet size of fuel containing CO2 is much more uniform and smaller than that of pure diesel spray. It is attributed to the greatly enhanced liquid-gas mixing resulting from flash separation of CO2 from the liquid. New insight into the atomization of the fuel containing CO2 was obtained and a possible mechanism to explain the phenomena was proposed. The method may be developed into a new technique for controlling diesel combustion and exhaust emis-sions.     

Phylogeny of higher taxa of hexapoda according to 12sRNA sequences

The phylogenetic relationship of Hexapoda has been debated for a long time, which will be resolved mainly depending on the settlement of monophyly, affinities and interrelationships among Protura, Collembola and Diplura. Mitochondrial 12sRNA gene about 355 bp fragments from one proturan species, two collembolan species, two dipluran species and one oribatid species were sequenced. The Kimura 2-parameter distances were calculated and a series of molecular phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by using the N-J method, from which the following points were drawn: (ⅰ) Protura and Collembola compose a monophyletic group representing absent-cerci; (ⅱ) Diplura is not a monophyletic group, in which Campodeoid with filiform cerci belongs to a clade and Japygoid with pincer cerci and Ectognatha compose another clade, that is, Insecta s. str. stemmed from Japygoid. So it would be suggested that the phylogenetic relationship of Hexapoda is [Parainsecta (Collembola + Protura) +Campodeoid +Insecta (Japygoid + Ectognatha)].     

Electrochemical corrosion behavior of carbon steel with bulk coating holidays

With epoxy coal tar as the coating material, the electrochemical corrosion behavior of Q235 with different kinds of bulk coating holidays has been investigated with EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) in a 3.5vol% NaCl aqueous solution. The area ratio of bulk coating holiday to total coating area of steel is 4.91%. The experimental results showed that at free corrosion potential, the corrosion of carbon steel with disbonded coating holiday is heavier than that with broken holiday and disbonded & broken holiday with time; Moreover, the effectiveness of Cathodic Protection (CP) of carbon steel with broken holiday is better than that with disbonded holiday and disbonded & broken holiday on CP potential -850 mV (vs CSE). Further analysis indicated that the two main reasons for corrosion are electrolyte solution slowly penetrating the coating, and crevice corrosion at steel/coating interface near holidays. The ratio of impedance amplitude (Z) of different frequency to minimum frequency is defined as K value. The change rate of K with frequency is related to the type of coating holiday.     

Effect of electric pulse on the crystal structure of solidified copper ingots

To obtain advanced quality pure copper, the microstructure of solidified copper was optimized by imposing electric pulse on liquid copper in this study. Experiments were performed to determine the effect of electric pulse voltage, arrangement mode of electrodes, and energy input on the microstructure of solidified copper. The results show that, when the energy input of electric pulse is bigger than 28.95 kJ per ton copper, the percent of fine grains increases noticeably with the increase of energy input; but when the energy input of electric pulse is smaller than 28.95 kJ per ton copper, the percent of fine grains decreases with the increase of energy input. The influence order of above factors on grain refinement is electric pulse voltage > arrangement mode of electrodes > energy input. According to the above experimental results, the optimum process conditions are chosen as the voltage being 400 V and the energy input greater than 28.95 kJ per ton copper. Meanwhile, the best arrangement mode of electrodes should be that, one electrode is immerged in the middle of liquid copper in the crystallizer, and the other is connected to the inner wall of the crystallizer, which is divided into two electrode poles for the symmetrical electric field distribution.     

Personification algorithm for protein folding problem：Improvements in PERM

PERM is the most efficient approach for solving protein folding problem based on simple lattice model. In this article a personification explanation of PERM is proposed. A new version of PERM, population control algorithm with two main improvements is presented: one is that it is able to redefine the weight and its predicted value in PERM,and the other is that it is able to unify the calculation of weight when choosing possible branches. The improved PERM is more efficient than the previous version; specifically it can find the known lowest energy states for the four well-known difficult instances and is generally several to hundreds times faster than PERM. It is noteworthy that with the improved PERM we found new lowest energy configurations of three of the four difficult problems missed in previous papers.     

Fuel design real-time to control HCCI combustion

In order to achieve lower emissions and extensive load in the homogeneous charge com- pression ignition (HCCI) engine system, a novel fuel design concept that high-octane number fuel and high-cetane number fuel are mixed real-time to con- trol HCCI combustion is proposed in this study. HCCI combustion fueled with iso-octane/n-heptane mix- tures controlled real-time on a single-cylinder HCCI combustion engine is studied. The test results show that the equivalence ratio of n-heptane in mixtures decides ignition and controls the combustion phase of HCCI combustion. The addition of iso-octane ex- tends knocking limit in equivalence ratio somewhat, but knocking occurrence mainly depends on the total concentration of mixture. Although operating range in equivalence ratio becomes narrow with the increas- ing proportion of iso-octane, the maximum load of HCCI combustion fueled with iso-octane/n-heptane mixtures controlled real-time is increased about 80% more than that of pure n-heptane. When iso-octane/ n-heptane mixtures are controlled in optimized method, it is proved that the load of HCCI combustion can be fully extended and emissions can be de- creased remarkably, while at the same time the higher indicated thermal efficiencies are obtained over the extensive operation range.     

Alkylation of toluene with 1,3-pentadiene over silica supported aluminum chloride catalyst in an extracting-distilling reactor

The alkylation of toluene with 1,3-pentadiene to produce pentyltoluene is designed to obtain 2,6-dimethylnaphalene for the monomer production of 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid. The possibility of the reaction is examined by the thermodynamics of the alkylation reaction using Thinh’s group contributions method, and tested over silica supported aluminum chloride catalyst in a newly developed extracting?distilling reactor. The thermodynamics calculation results show that the alkylation reaction is exothermic and can proceed at 298?350 K under normal pressure with an equilibrium constant higher than 106. Based on the thermodynamic calculation and the properties of the reactants and product, the extracting-distilling reactor was designed to allow 1,3-pentadiene to react with toluene at much lower temperature than the boiling point of toluene at the catalyst site. The alkylation product, which has a higher boiling point than that of toluene, is transferred from the catalytic site into the toluene bath and collected. The experimental results show that the reactor functions as designed and promotes the selectivity of the alkylation reaction close to 100%. The effect of raw material ratio of toluene to 1,3-pentadiene and reaction time are discussed in this paper. The suitable catalytic reaction conditions are as follows: at reaction temperature of 338 K and ambient pressure, the reactant ratio of toluene to 1,3-pentadiene is 5:1 for a six-hour reaction.     

The Land Subsidence and Relative Sea Level Rise in Chinese Delta Areas

Based on some experts‘ research effort, the problems of land subsidence and relative sea level rise in three Chinese delta areas(Huanghe, Changjiang and Zhujiang Delta) are analyzed and discussed in this paper. The authors‘ opinion is that the land subsidence is mainly induced by human activity and has made the greater contributions to the relative sea level rise and become one of the geological hazards in these areas. In Tianjin and Shanghai areas where had ever existed serious land subsidence problem, due to the positive and effective control methods, the ratio of man-induced land subsidence to relative sea level rise decreased from 80% - 90% in 1960s - 1970s to less than 60% at present. But it is estimated that in the next tens of years this ratio will still be considerable. So human being must keep its eyes on this phenomenon and take more positive countermeasures to control the land subsidenee.     

A first-principles study of displacive β to ω transition in Ti-V alloys

The ground state properties of β and ω phases in Ti-(0–30 at%)V alloys were calculated, and subsequently thermodynamics and energy barriers of the displacive β to ω transition were investigated by first-principles. The results show that the lattice parameters of β and ω phases decreases with increasing V content in Ti-V alloys. The principal lattice strains for the β to ω transition are highly compositional dependent, and the volume variation decreases with increasing V content. The mechanical stability of the ω phase increases initially at the V content around 10 at% and then decreases with increasing V content. Based on the quasiharmonic Debye model, a metastable diffusionless phase diagram has been established, showing that the ω phase is thermodynamically more stable than the β phase at room temperature, anticipating a spontaneous transition from β to ω phases in Ti-V alloys. The calculations of energy pathways indicate that there is an energy barrier during the displacive βto ω transition in Ti-V alloys at temperatures from 100 to 500 K, but not at 0 K.     

Identification of three major Bemisia tabaci biotypes in China based on morphological and DNA polymorphisms

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a complex species, and many of its biotypes are important agricultural pests. The B and Q biotypes are invasive and coexist with the native Cv biotype on vegetable and ornamental crops in China. In this study, these three biotypes were identified based on their morphological characteristics, RAPD–PCR analysis, and DNA sequences of the COI gene. The anterior and posterior wax fringes of the B, Q, and Cv biotypes significantly differed from each other. Based on this morphological characteristic, the three biotypes can easily be distinguished in greenhouses and fields. Genomic DNA RAPD–PCR band patterns also revealed differences between these biotypes using the H16 primer. The B biotype has three bright DNA bands between 250 and 600 bp, the Q biotype only has one bright band at 300 bp, while the Cv biotype has no band between 250 and 500 bp. Both the Cv and Q biotypes have two bright bands at 750 and 1000 bp while the B biotype has only one band at 1000 bp. Based on the COI gene, the genetic identity between B and Cv, B and Q, and Q and CV was 85.8%, 94.7%, and 86.0%, respectively. The MP tree indicated that the phylogenetic relationship between the B and Q biotypes is much closer than that between the B and Cv or the Q and Cv biotypes. The uses of the morphological, RAPD–PCR, and DNA sequencing methods in biotype identification of B. tabaci are discussed.     

Optimized QoS Routing Algorithm

QoS routing is one of the key technologies for providing guaranteed service in IP networks. The paper focuses on the optimization problem for bandwidth constrained QoS routing, and proposes an optimal algorithm based on the global optimization of path bandwidth and hop counts. The main goal of the algorithm is to minimize the consumption of network resource, and at the same time to minimize the network congestion caused by irrational path selection. The simulation results show that our algorithm has lower call blocking rate and higher throughput than traditional algorithms.     

Selectivity of Crystal Growth Direction in Layered Double Hydroxides

Investigation of selectivity of crystal growth direction in layered double hydroxides is helpful to control their particle sizes in different directions. Mg-AI layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were synthesized using a coprecipitation method. The influences of aging temperature, aging time, and Mg/AI molar ratio on the crystal structure, the LDHs particle size, and the selectivity of crystal growth in different directions wereinvestigated. The results show that the size of the crystallites in the a direction is larger than that in the c direction for all experimental conditions, indicating faster crystal growth in the a direction than in the c direction. The crystallite sizes in the a and c directions both increase with decreasing Mg/AI molar ratio but with less difference between the sizes in the two directions. Therefore, the crystal growth rate in the c direction increases more than that in the a direction as the Mg/AI molar ratio decreases. The influence of the aging time, aging temperature, and Mg/AI molar ratio on the selectivity of the crystal growth direction can be used to prepare LDHs with selected sizes in the a and c directions.     

Effect of La0.8Sr0.2Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ morphology on the performance of composite cathodes

In the present work,one dimensional La0.8Sr0.2Co0.2Fe0.8O3 δ(LSCF) nanofibers with the mean diameter of about 100 nm prepared by electrospinning were deposited on Gd0.2Ce0.8O1.9(GDC) electrolyte followed by sintering to form one dimensional LSCF nanofiber cathode. And LSCF/GDC composite cathodes were formed by introducing GDC phases into LSCF nanofiber scaffold using infiltration method. The polarization resistances for the composite cathode with an optimal LSCF/GDC mass ratio of 1/0.56 are 0.27,0.14 and 0.07 Ω cm2at 650,700 and750 1C,respectively,which are obviously smaller than 2.26,0.78 and 0.29 Ω cm2of pure LSCF nanofiber cathode. And the activation energy is1.194 eV,which is much lower than that of pure LSCF nanofiber cathode(1.684 eV). These results demonstrate that the infiltration of GDC into LSCF nanofiber scaffold is an effective approach to achieve high performance cathode for solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs). In addition,the performance of composite cathode in this work was also compared with that of our previous nanorod structured LSCF/GDC composite cathode.     

Activation for Photoluminescence Emission on NanoSilicon Prepared in Oxygen or Nitrogen Environment

The photoluminescence(PL)dynamics of nano-silicon prepared in various environments is investigated,which involves the emission in nanostructures related to a wider band from 550 nm to 900 nm and the localized states emission at 694 nm,605 nm,604 nm and 560 nm.It is observed that the sharp PL peak on the samples prepared in nitrogen has the shape of single tip near 605 nm,but the shape of twin tips always occurs in the two sharp peaks on the samples prepared in oxygen.The threshold behavior and the optical gain are discovered in the PL emission at 694 nm,605 nm and 604 nm.The experiments demonstrate that the optimum pressure to prepare samples in oxygen for the enhancement of emission near 700 nm is about 10~100 Pa,and the optimum one in oxygen for the enhancement of emission near 600 nm is about 1/10~1 Pa,while in high vacuum(10μPa) the PL emission becomes weaker.