Workspace and rotational capability analysis of a spatial 3-DoF parallel manipulator

The analysis on the workspace and rotational capability of HANA, a spatial 3-DoF parallel manipulator, is concerned. The parallel manipulator consists of a base plate, a movable platform, and three connecting legs. The moving platform has three degrees of freedom (DoFs) which are two translations and one rotation, with respect to the base plate. The new parallel manipulator is very interesting for the reason of no singularity in the workspace, the single-DoF joint architecture and high rotational capability of the moving platform. The inverse kinematics problem is described in a closed-form, which is very useful to present the workspace geometrically. The constant-orientation and reachable workspaces for the manipulator are analyzed firstly. The index that is used to evaluate the rotational capability of the manipulator is defined and discussed in detail. Finally, the distribution of rotational capability index on the workspace is presented, which helps us know how much the index is at different point. The parallel manipulator has wide application in the fields of industrial robots, simulators, micro-motion manipulators, and parallel kinematics machines.     

Assessment of water-recharging based on ecological features of riparian forest in the lower reaches of Tarim River

The occurrence and development of riparian forests which are mainly dominated by mesophytes species relate closely with surface water. Since there is no water discharge to the lower reaches of Tarim River in past 5 decade years, the riparian forests degrade severely. Based on the analyses of the monitored data of Yingsu, Argan and Luobuzhuang in 2002 and 2003, the effect of water-recharging is discussed. The water-recharging project neglects the fact that that it is flooding that controls the process of Populus euphratica colonizing on the bare surface, but focuses on groundwater influence on vegetation. The flooding control deviates Inherent laws of riparian forests development, so the natural regeneration of riparian forests is checked. The response scope of riparian plants on groundwater uplift is extremely narrow, and most riparian communities have not been optimized. No seedlings of dominant species are found in flooding areas because their physio-ecological characteristics are ignored. The vegetation changes in vicinities of stream only reflect the demand of mesophytes species on the shallow groundwater, however, the water-recharging fails to provide suitable habitats for the seedlings establishment of riparian plants. The present water-recharging scheme is difficult to realize vegetation restoration.     

Spatial and temporal variations of forest LAI in China during 2000–2010

Forests are crucial terrestrial ecosystems.Their leaf area index (LAI) is a key parameter determining the exchange of matter and energy between the atmosphere and the ground surface.In this study,MOD 09A1 and MCD 43A1 data were input into an inversion model based on the 4-scale geometric optical model to retrieve 8-d 500 m LAI products in China during the period 2000 to 2010.The resulting LAI product was validated using LAI measured in 6 typical areas.The spatial and temporal variations of forest LAI and its relationships with temperature and precipitation were analyzed.The results show that the accuracy of the 500 m LAI product was above 70% in the 6 typical areas,indicating the reliability of this product.From 2000 to 2010,forest LAI in northeast,north,and south central China showed increasing trends.However,forest LAI in southeast and parts of southwest China showed downward trends,mainly because of the significant decrease observed during the period 2008 to 2010.Annual mean forest LAI positively correlated with annual mean temperature (AMT) in northeastern China and negatively correlated with AMT in southwest China.It had positive correlations with annual total precipitation in central south and north China.The abnormal climate conditions in 2001 and 2009 caused forest LAI to be obviously lower than normal in regions south of the Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River.Annual mean LAI decreased by more than 1.0 in some areas.     

Design and Implementation of Hierarchy Cache Using Pagefile

This paper presents a novel hierarchy cache architecture for the purpose of optimizing IO performance. The main idea of the hierarchy cache is to use a few megabytes of RAM and a pagefile to form a two-level cache architecture. The pagefile is equivalent to the cache disk in DCD(Disk Caching Disk). The pagefile outperforms data disks, because data are accessed in different units and different ways. Small writes are collected in the RAM cache first, and data will be transferred to the pagefile in large writes later. When the system is idle, it will destage data from the pagefile to data disks. The performance test results show that the hierarchy cache can improve IO performance dramatically for small writes, and the mail server using the hierarchy cache driver can handle transactions about 2.2 times faster than the normal mail server. The hierarchy cache is implemented as a filter driver, so it‘s transparent to the current Windows 2000/Windows XP operating system.     

Housing Pricesand General Economic Conditions： An Analysis of Chinese New Dwelling Market

This paper presents an investigation of the interaction between housing prices and general economic conditions in China for the period of 1986-2002, The empirical results indicate that housing prices in China are predictable by market fundamentals, which could explain most of the variations in housing prices. The results of Granger causality tests confirm that unemployment rate, total population, changes in construction costs, changes in the consumer price index (CPI) are all Granger causalities of housing prices, with feedback effects observed to affect the vacancy rate of new dwellings, changes in CPI, and changes in per capita disposable income of urban households, Studies with impulse response functions further illustrate these relationships in terms of the degree of the impact on housing prices from the determinants and the feedbacks, The findings indicate that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between housing prices and market fundamentals in China and it is the identified fundamentals that drive housing prices up, rather than a bubble,     

Structural Fault Tolerance of Scale-Free Networks

The fault tolerance of scale-free networks is examined in this paper. Through the simulation on the changes of the average path length and network fragmentation of the Barabasi-Albert model when faults happen, it can be observed that generic scale-free networks are quite robust to random failures, but are very vulnerable to targeted attacks at the same time. Therefore, an existing optimization strategy for the robustness of scale-free networks to failures and attacks is also introduced. The simulation similar with the above proved that the so-called (1,0) network has potentially interconnectedness closer to that of a scale-free network and robustness to targeted attacks closer to that of an exponential network. Furthermore,its resistance to random failures is better than that of either of them.     

High-quality hydrocarbon source rock in the Paleogene sequence of the Ping Chau Formation, Hong Kong

Although petroleum exploration is being conducted in the Hong Kong region, high-quality hydrocarbon source rocks have never been found in this area. The Ping Chau Formation is only Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary rock exposed in Hong Kong and its surrounding areas. The hydrocarbon source rock of the Ping Chau Formation is very rich in organic matters, which has an average total organic carbon (TOC) of 1.9% and chloroform bitumen ““A““ range from 0.14% to 0.24%. The total hydrocarbon content varies from 880 to 1800 ppm and the transformation ratio is specific from 5 to 9. The index of pyrolytic hydrogen is up to about 600 mgHC/gTOC. These data demonstrate the characteristics of the high-quality hydrocarbon source rock. The lamalginite is the major maceral of the source rock of the Ping Chau Formation, and geochemical characteristics also suggest that the organic materials of the source rock are of type I and type Ⅱ1, with abundant gammacerane, γ, β-caro-tane and C24 tetracyclic terpane, which indicate that it was formed in the salt water and brackish water sedimentary environment, and the source rock has evolved into a mature phase. The organic inclusions are found within calcite veins in cracks of the source rock, indicating that hydrocarbon has been generated and a secondary migration has happened. The source rock in the Ping Chau Formation is about 200-300 m thick, thus having considerable hydrocarbon potential. The discovery of the high quality hydrocarbon source rock in the Ping Chau Formation will certainly provide insight on hydrocarbon resource exploration in the South China Sea area.     

Analysis of the global T_m–T_s correlation and establishment of the latitude-related linear model

In this study,the correlation between Tm,a key variable in GNSS water vapor inversion,and surface temperature(Ts)was calculated on a global scale based on the global geodetic observing system(GGOS)atmosphere Tmdata and European centre for medium-range weather forecasts(ECMWF)surface temperature data.The results show that their correlation is mainly affected by latitudes,and the correlation is stronger at high latitudes and weaker at low latitudes.Although the correlation is relatively weak in the tropic areas,the temperature changes so little in a year in these areas that we can still achieve good Tmresults by linear regression model.Based on these facts,‘‘GGOS atmosphere’’Tmdata and ECMWF Tsdata from 2005 to2011 were used to establish the global latitude-related linear regression model.The new model has root mean square error(RMSE)of 3.2,3.3,and 4.4 K,respectively,compared with respect to the‘‘GGOS atmosphere’’data,COSMIC data,and radiosonde data and is more accurate than the Bevis Tm–Tsrelationship.     

Comparison of metallogenesis and resource potential on the eastern margin of the Jiangnan Upheaval between south Anhui (Wannan) and northeast Jiangxi (Gandongbei) provinces

The southern and northern parts of the eastern margin of the Jiangnan Upheaval, located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province (Gandongbei) and the south of Anhui Province (Wannan) share many similar characteristics of basement composition and structural evolution. However, the two areas have very different metal endowments and ranges of deposit types. The aim of this paper is to compare the metallogenic conditions of the two areas in order to analyze the reasons for these differences and to estimate the preliminary resource potential of the studied areas. It is concluded that difference of the crust-mantle interactions, especially the Yanshanian magmatism in the two areas, is the main reason resulting in difference in the ore-forming processes between Wannan and Gandongbei. The resource potential of Gandongbei is significantly greater than that of Wannan.     

Dynamic Changes of the Farmers and Herdsmen＇s Income Sources in the Tibet Autonomous Region

Based on the Tibet Autonomous Region‘s statistic yearbooks and the data from the two household surveys in 2002 and 2004, this paper has comprehensively analyzed the pattern of changes on the farmers and herdsmen‘s income sources in the Tibet Autonomous Region since 1990 with the main findings as follows: ① The change of income from the labor payment is the fastest;② There is no regular pattern of income variation for the household economic activities, the farmers and herdsmen‘s household income generation projects are impacted by the elements like prices and returns, and there is a lack of appro-priate direction; ③ The income structure of labor payment shows that the income from the farmers and herdsmen working outside grows fastest; ④ The income from the farmers and herdsmen‘s labor payment correlate positively to their net income per capita; ⑤ From the perspective of the variation by region, labor payment income has changed fastest in the counties of Rutok, Nyerong and Khangmar compared the data from the household survey in 2002 with that of 2004.     

New feature extraction in gene expression data for tumor classification

Using gene expression data to discriminate tumor from the normal ones is a powerful method. However, it is sometimes difficult because the gene expression data are in high dimension and the object number of the data sets is very small. The key technique is to find a new gene expression profiling that can provide understanding and insight into tumor related cellular processes. In this paper, we propose a new feature extraction method based on variance to the center of the class and employ the support vector machine to recognize the gene data either normal or tumor. Two tumor data sets are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods. The results show that the performance has been significantly improved.     

Assessment of rice fields by GIS／GPS-supported classification of MODIS data

The new Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite image offers a large choice of opportunities for operational applications. The 1-km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) image is not suitable for retrieval of field level parameter and Landsat data are not frequent enough for monitoring changes in crop parameters during the critical crop growth periods.A methodology to map areas of paddy fields using MODIS,geographic information system (GIS) and global position system (GPS) is introduced in this paper. Training samples are selected and located with the help of GPS to provide maximal accuracy.A concept of assessing areas of potential cultivation of rice is suggested by means of GIS integration. By integration of MODIS with GIS and GPS technologies the actual areas of rice fields in 2002 have been mapped. The classification accuracy was 95.7% percent compared with the statistical data of the Agricultural Bureau of Zhejiang Province.     

Structure and kinematic analysis of a novel 2-DOF translational parallel robot

This paper addresses the analysis of a novel parallel robot with 2 translational degrees of freedom (DOFs). The robot can position a rigid body in a plane with constant orientation. The kinematic structure of the robot is first described in detail. Some kinematic problems, such as the inverse and forward kinematics, velocity, and singularity are then analyzed. The working and assembly modes are discussed. Since it is the most important index to design a robot, the workspace of the robot is studied systematically in this paper. Based on the analysis of reachable workspace and singularity, a kind of workspace concept characterizing the region that the end-effector of the robot can reach in practice is defined. The results of this paper will be very useful for the design and application of the robot.     

A template of rat brain based on fMRI T*2 imaging

The development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has made it possible to carry out functional brain imaging experiments in small animals. Usually, group data is required to form the assessment of population, which can not only increase the sensitivity of the overall experiment, but also allow the generalization of the conclusion to the whole population. In order to average the signals of functional brain images from different subjects, it is necessary to put all the mapping images into the same standard space (template image). However, up to now, most animal brain templates remain unavailable and it must be done by ourselves. In this study, a template image based on the brains of eight male Wistar rats is obtained, and it is successfully used in our present Alzheimer disease (AD)-like rat model studies as template for spatially normalizing images to the same stereotaxical space. The fMRI results processed with statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) software are in agreement with the results from immunohistochemical experiment, which proves that this method is universally applicable to the pathologic models of other small animals and to human brain lesion studies.     

Broadcast Scheduling Strategy Based on the Priority of Real-Time Data in a Mobile Environment

Data broadcast is an important data dissemination approach in mobile environment. On broadcast channel, scalability and efficiency of data transmission are satisfied. In a mobile environment, there exists a kind of real-time database application in which both the transactions and data can have their timing constraints and priorities of different levels. In order to meet the requirement of real-time data disseminating and retrieving, a broadcast scheduling strategy HPF-ED F (Highest Priority First with Earlier Deadline and Frequency) is proposed under the BoD (Broadcast on Demand) model. Using the strategy, data items are scheduled according to their priority the transaction imposed on them or system set for them. The strategy also considers other characteristics of data items such as deadline and popularity of data. The extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Results show that it can achieve excellent performance compared with existing     

Reconstruction and analysis of time series of ENSO for the last 500 years

This paper reports the classification of ENSO into seven categories according to annual (March to February of next year) mean SST of Ni(n)o 3.4 and composite index (ΔI) for the period of 1861～2000. Categories +3, +2, and +1 denote very strong, strong and weak warm episodes (E), -3, -2, and -1 mean very strong, strong and weak cold episodes (A). Absolute SST anomalies are about 1.5 ℃, 1.0 ℃ and 0.5 ℃ respectively for the categories 3, 2, and 1 (or -3, -2, and -1). The normal years are expressed as category 0. Annual categories of ENSO are estimated on the basis of proxy data from AD 1501 to 1860. And a series of ENSO category is established for the period of 1501～2000 in conjunction with the observational data. Comparison of proxy data with observations for 1874～1973 indicates that about 80% of the El Ni(n)o years and La Ni(n)a years can be reconstructed from proxy data, and the reliability of the reconstruction is verified. Analysis of the power spectrum of the reconstructed ENSO series shows significant peaks at QBO, 3～4a (year), 5～6a, and 10a period, the former three are in accordance with the observations for the last 100 years or more. Studies on long term variability of ENSO indicates that ENSO frequency is relatively stationary during the last 500 years, including the Little Ice Age (LIA) (1550～1850) and Modern Warming Period (the 20th century). However, the frequency of E is a little higher in the 20th century and that of A is somewhat higher during the LIA.     

Simulation of the climatic effects of natural forcings during the pre-industrial era

The MPM-2,an Earth system model of intermediate complexity,is employed to study the climate sys-tem response to natural forcings during the pre-industrial era (1000-1800 AD),with a special focus on the surface air temperature (SAT) evolution. Solar radiation and volcanism are the primary natural forcings during this period. In the MPM-2,the solar radiation forcing determines the long-term trend of the climate system change,and the volcanic forcing intensifies (weakens) this trend. Ultimately,the combination of solar and volcanic forcings dominates the long-term changes of the climate system. These results are in good agreement with other model data or temperature reconstructions. Natural forcings can well explain the Little Ice Age (LIA) and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). At the large regional scale,the SAT response to natural forcings is almost coincident with that of the Northern Hemisphere. Based on MPM-2 model results,it is concluded that the global climate gradually became cold during the pre-industrial era. However,MPM-2 model results substantially correlate with recon-structed solar and volcanic forcings. Namely,to some great extent,these results strongly rely on the forcing series data we choose. Therefore,in order to accurately simulate the secular variation of the historical climate,it is very important to reconstruct well the solar radiation change and volcanic forc-ing data are well reconstructed for the past 10000 years,at least for the past 2000 years,in addition to the model improvements. The sensitivity study on the abrupt solar radiation change indicates that the increased solar radiation not only strengthens the nonlinear response of SAT,but intensifies the global hydrological cycle. At the same time,the biosphere is also affected obviously.     

Broadcast Scheduling Strategy Based on the Priority of Real.Time Data in a Mobile Environment

Data broadcast is an important data dissemination approach in mobile environment. On broadcast channel,scalability and efficiency of data transmission are satisfied. In a mobile environment, there exists a kind of real-time database application in which both the transactions and data can have their timing constraints and priorities of different levels.In order to meet the requirement of real-time data disseminaring and retrieving, a broadcast scheduling strategy HPF-ED F (Highest Priority First with Earlier Deadline and Frequency) is proposed under the BoD (Broadcast on Demand) model. Using the strategy, data items are scheduled according to their priority the transaction imposed on them or system set for them. The strategy also considers other characteristics of data items such as deadline and popularity of data. The extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Results show that it can achieve excellent performance compared with existing strategies.     

Unburned Carbon Loss in Fly Ash of CFB Boilers Burning Hard Coal

The unburned carbon loss in fly ash of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers, most of which are burning active fuels such as lignite or peat, is normally very low. However, most CFB boilers in China usually burn hard coals such as anthracite and bituminous coal and coal wastes, so the carbon content in the fly ash from these boilers is higher than expected. This paper investigates the source of unburned carbon in the fly ash of CFB boilers burning hard coal through a series of field tests and laboratory investigations. The char behavior during combustion, including fragmentation and deactivation, which is related to the parent coal, has an important impact on the carbon burnout in CFB boilers. The research shows that char deactivation occurs during char burnout in fluidized bed combustion, especially for large particles of low rank coal. The uneven mixing of solids and air in the core region of the furnace also causes poor burnout of carbon in CFB fly ash. An index describing the volatile content (as dry ash free basis) over the heating value is proposed to present the coal rank. The coal combustion efficiency is shown to be strongly connected with this coal index. Several changes in the CFB boiler design are suggested to reduce the unburned carbon loss in the fly ash.     

An Index mechanism for multi-scale view in spatial databases

There are numerous geometric objects stored in the spatial databases. An importance function in a spatial database is that users can browse the geometric objects as a map efficiently. Thus the spatial database should display te geometric objects users concern about swiftly onto the display window. This process includes two operations：retrieve data from database and then draw them onto screen. Accordingly,to improve the efficiency,we should try to reduce time of both retrieving object and displaying them. The former can be achieved with the aid of spatial index such as R-tree,the latter require to simplify the objects. Simplification means that objects are shown with sufficient but not with unnecessary detail which depend on the scale of browse. So the major problem is how to retrieve data at different detail level efficiently. This paper intrrduces the implementation of a multi-scale index in the spatial database SISP (Spatial Information Shared Platform ) which is generalized from R-tree. The difference between the generalization and the R-tree lies on two facets ： One is that every node and geometric object in the generalization is assigne+ with a importance value which +enote the importance of them,and every vertex in the objects are assigned with a importance value,too. The importance value can be use to decide which data should be retrieve from disk in a query. The other difference is that geometric objects in the generalization are divided into one or more sub-blocks,and vertexes are total ortiered by their importance value. With the help of the generalized R-tree,one can easily rtrieve data at differnt detail levels. Some experiments are performed on real-life data to evaluate the performance of solutions that separately use normal spatial index and multi-scale spatial index. The results show that the solution using multi-scale index in SISP is satisfying.