Determination of the optical thickness and effective particle radius of clouds from transmitted solar radiation measurements

A method is presented for determining the optical thickness (τc) and effective particle radius (re) of stratiform cloud layers from transmitted solar radiation measurements. A detailed study shows that the cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius of water clouds can be determined from transmission function measurements at 0.75 and 2.13 μm, provided that the scaled optical thickness τ′0.75>1 and re>5 μm. The wavelengths adopted by our study are similar to the channels of the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS). The proposed method is invalid for optically thin clouds since transmission at 2.13 μm is less sensitive to re. The retrieval errors of τ′0.75 and re monotonically decrease with increasing τc. For clouds having τ′0.75≥2, the retrieval errors of τ′0.75 and re are below 10% and 20%, respectively. Transmissions at 0.75 and 1.65 μm can also be used to retrieve τc and re.     

MCloudSim： modeling and simulating distributed clouds

Many distributed clouds which try to integrate the advantages of centralized clouds and distributed systems have been studied in recent years. Traditional cloud simulators focus on large scale data centers with virtualized servers, and cannot meet the needs of distributed cloud simulations. This paper introduces a generalized and extensible simulation framework, named MCloudSim, which is used for modeling and simulating distributed clouds. MCloudSim has the following characteristics： （ 1 ） the overlay protocol in MCloudSim can be freely replaced without affecting the function of other modules; （2） a Petri net workflow theory based task model is proposed to simulate distributed tasks; （3） a distributed cloud can be easily built by assembling and expanding the basic resource entities provided by MCloudSim. Finally, simulation results of scenarios with a 3-tier central-controlled distributed cloud and a P2P based cloud prove that MCloudSim has high efficiency and satisfies performance in supporting large scale experiments and different distributed clouds.     

Experimental investigation on flow characteristics of deionized water in microtubes

The flow characteristics of deionized water in microtubes with diameters ranging from 2 to 30 μm are investigated. The experimental results show that the flow characteristics in microtubes with diameters of 16 μm and larger ones are in agreement with the classical theory. However, as the diameters are de-creased to 5 and 2 μm, the nonlinear flow characteristics prevail and the results indicate significant departure of flow characteristics from the predictions of the conventional theory, and the smaller the diameters, the larger the departure. As the Reynolds number increases, the degree of nonlinear flow characteristics decrease gradually and the experimental results are approximately equal to the theo-retical expectation. The minimum Reynolds number in this study is only 2.46×10~(-5).     

Comments on scaling effect of reciprocity in BRDF study

Reciprocity principle is a common theory in electromagnetics and optics. It is also one of the general principles of the radiation transformation theory. However, in many remote sensing studies, this principle cannot be always supported by experimental data, especially when the scaling effect of the remote sensing image pixel is considered. The debate over the issue of whether the reciprocity principle can be used as a fundamental standard in evaluating the effectiveness of remote sensing observations has lasted for years. Using geometrical optics model, Li and Wan proved the existence of the scaling effect in applying the reciprocity principle to a remote sensing image pixel in 1998. In 2002, Snyder challenged Li's proof, and attempted to prove that reciprocity principle is universally valid without any scale limitation. In this paper, we will argue with Snyder's theory and point out that Snyder's theory had neglected an important condition used in Li's proof and, as a result, drawn the wrong conclusion. Here we will restate Li's condition in his demonstration and offer a further proof to verify that reciprocity principle cannot be applied unconditionally to the study of bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of land surfaces in field or satellite remote sensing observation scale.     

GMOs： The new hotspot in ecological research

Gene flow is an important ecological and genetic process, and the fitness conferred by the insertion of a foreiga gene could be important in ecology after it becomes introgressed into the wild genetic background of organisms,which is the determinative factor for the fate of GMOs or foreign genes in natural ecosystem and for the competition with native species. Trophic interrelation fulfilled by food chains is the most important correlation between species in ecosystem and could be affected by the modified genotypes after the introduction of GMOs. The technology enabling the precise manipulation of genotype is a great opportunity for the stndy of ecological genetics in an unknown way prior to the biotechnology era. Especially interesting is the impact of genes on ecosystem function when GMOs are released into environment. A variety of ecological terminology has been frequently used in assessment of ecological risks related to the release of GMOs in environment, e.g. gene flow, fitness,interspecific competition and food chain. The value of GMOs in ecological research is illustrated through several examples in biasafety assessment related to those terms here. It is proposed that ecolegists should pay attention to the study of gene function in ecosystem and take the opportunity to enrich ecological theory with the release of GMOs.     

Bi-Spectrum Scattering Model for Dielectric Randomly Rough Surface

The bistatic scattering model is often used for remote microwave sensing. The bi-spectrum model (BSM) for conducting surfaces was used to develop a scattering model for dielectric randomly rough surfaces to estimate their bistatic scattering coefficients. The model for dielectric rough surfaces differs from the BSM for a conducting surface by including Fresnell reflection and transmission from dielectric rough surfaces. The bistatic scattering coefficients were defined to satisfy the reciprocal theorem. Values calculated using the BSM for dielectric randomly rough surfaces compare well with those of the integral equation model (IEM) and with experimental data, showing that the BSM accuracy is acceptable and its range of validity is similar to that of IEM while the BSM expression is simpler than that of IEM。     

The preparation and application of microbubble contrast agent combining ultrasound imaging and magnetic resonance imaging

Encapsulated gas microbubbles are well known as ultrasound contrast agents （UCAs） for medical ultrasound （US） imaging. With the development of shell materials and preparation technologies, the application of microbubbles has been enormously popular in molecular imaging, drug delivery and targeted therapy, etc. The objective of this study is to develop Fe3O4 nanoparticle-inclusion microbubble construct. The in vitro US imaging experiment indicates that the Fe3O4 nanoparticle-inclusion microbubbles have higher US enhancement than those without Fe3O4 nanoparticle-inclusion. According to the microbubble dynamic theory, the acoustic scattering properties can be quantified by scattering cross-section of the shell. The scattering study on Fe3O4 nanoparticle-inclusion microbubbles of different concentration shows that within a certain range of concentration, the scattering cross-section of microbubble increases with the addition of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. When exceeding the concentration range, the ultrasonic characteristic of microbubbles is damped. On the other hand, since Fe3O4 nanoparticles can also serve as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging （MRI） contrast agent, they can be potentially used as contrast agents for the double-modality （MRI and US） clinical studies. However, it is important to control the concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the shell in order to realize the combined functions of US and MRI.     

Relationship between Light Scattering Intensity and Basis Weight of Non-Woven Fabrics

The relationship between light scattering intensity and basis weight of nonwoven fabrics is studied by using the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation and scatter-ing in random media.The theoretical analysis shows that the backscattering intensity of nonwoven fabric is closely related to its basis weight,and 2 series nonwoven samples manufactured by spun-bonded and thermal-bounded processing methods are tested for checking the theoretical expression.The study shows that the scattering intensity increases with increasing basis weight of nonwoven fabrics in exponential equation,and theoretical expression is consistent with the experimental data.     

Glutenin macropolymer particles size distribution of six wheat varieties in eastern China

Size distribution of glutenin macropolymer(GMP) particles significantly affects the quality of final products in wheat. Six wheat varieties in eastern China were used for investigating the GMP content, particle size distribution and their relation. The results showed that the particle diameter of GMP changed from 0.38 μm to 269 μm. A typical bimodal curve of volume distribution of particles with peak values ranged from 4.44 μm to 5.36 μm and from 45.76 μm to 116.30 μm, respectively. Number distribution of particles showed the typical population with peak values in the range of 0.57-1.00 μm. Proportions of granules 12 μm, 12-80 μm and 80 μm were in the range of 17.1%-47.8%, 32.1%-50.3% and 10.2%-38.1% of total volume, respectively. The content of GMP was negatively correlated with the volume of GMP particles 12 μm, but positively correlated with the volume of particles 80 μm. The results suggested that the greater percentage of larger GMP particles is, the more GMP content there is in wheat grain.     

Problems in wavelet analysis of hydrologic series and some suggestions on improvement

Applying the wavelet theory and methods to investigate the hydrologic processes such as precipitation and runoff is a hot field. However, several aspects in research are usually ignored: the effect of admissible condition of wavelet functions and the disturbance of noises for the detection of periods, the effect of the length of a hydrologic time-series on the final result, and the choice between the anomaly and the original time series for wavelet analysis. In this paper, these issues are fully discussed. Precipitation data from Lanzhou Precipitation Station are taken for case study. The result indicates that in the wavelet analysis of hydrologic series, denoise methods should be used to eliminate the influence of noises. The MexHat wavelet function satisfies the admissible condition, which ensures that the periodic properties of hydrologic processes can be well represented by using the MexHat wavelet for decomposition. The affected range of hydrologic series which should be discarded before analysis is given. It is also suggested that the anomaly series should be used to highlight the actual undulation of the hydrologic series.     

Recipes Prediction by Matching to K/S Values Based on New Two-constant Theory

A concept of new two-constant of colorant, both （ R/St ） and （s/St）, is introduced based on the Kubelka-Munk theory. A new two-constant theory for color matching is presented. Basic equations used in matching to K/S values are given in matrix form based on the new two-constant theory. Algorithm for a least-squares match to K/S values of a sample is developed by use of the new two-constant theory. The algorithm is suitable for single-constant theory as well as two-constant theory. The experimental data show that calculating K/S values of disperse dyes based on new two- constant theory are accordant with the measuring ones. The recipes predicted by new two-constant theory arc closer to the actual recipes of the standard sample than the recipes predicted by single-constant theory. The sample according to the recipe predicted by new two-constant theory has smaller color difference against for the standard than the sample according to the recipe predicted by single-constant theory. The results show that the scattering of disperse dyes cannot be negligible, and that the recipes match to textiles colored by disperse dyes should be predicted by using of new two-constant theory.     

Entrainment-mixing parameterization in shallow cumuli and effects of secondary mixing events

Parameterization of entrainment-mixing pro- cesses in cumulus clouds is critical to improve cloud parameterization in models, but is still at its infancy. For this purpose, we have lately developed a formulation to represent a microphysical measure defined as homoge- neous mixing degree in terms of a dynamical measure defined as transition scale numbers, and demonstrated the formulation with measurements from stratocumulus clouds. Here, we extend the previous work by examining data from observed cumulus clouds and find positive cor- relations between the homogeneous mixing degree and transition scale numbers. These results are similar to those in the stratocumulus clouds, but proved valid for the first time in observed cumulus clouds. The empiricalrelationships can be used to parameterize entrainment- mixing processes in two-moment microphysical schemes. Further examined are the effects of secondary mixing events on the relationships between homogeneous mixing degree and transition scale numbers with the explicit mixing parcel model. The secondary mixing events are found to be at least partially responsible for the larger scatter in the above positive correlations based on obser- vations than that in the previous results based on numerical simulations without considering secondary mixing events.     

Problems in wavelet analysis of hydrologic series and some suggestions on improvement

Applying the wavelet theory and methods to investigate the hydrologic processes such as precipitation and runoff is a hot field. However, several aspects in research are usually ignored: the effect of admissible condition of wavelet functions and the disturbance of noises for the detection of periods, the effect of the length of a hydrologic time-series on the final result, and the choice between the anomaly and the original time series for wavelet analysis. In this paper, these issues are fully discussed. Precipitation data from Lanzhou Precipitation Station are taken for case study. The result indicates that in the wavelet analysis of hydrologic series, denoise methods should be used to eliminate the influence of noises. The MexHat wavelet function satisfies the admissible condition, which ensures that the periodic properties of hydrologic processes can be well represented by using the MexHat wavelet for decomposition. The affected range of hydro-logic series which should be discarded before analysis is given. It is also suggested that the anomaly series should be used to highlight the actual undulation of the hydrologic series.     

GENERAL COMPUTER MODEL FOR SHEET METAL DEEP-DRAWING PROCESS

A new comprehensive computer model was developed for sheet metal deep-drawing process, based on the theory of plastic anisotropy and under consideration of the effects of bending, blank-holding force, strain-hardening, the variation of thickness and tooling geometry. The model could be used to simulate the deforming stages of deep-drawing process and get the continuous distributions of stress and strain from the radial drawing region of material over a die and the stretch-forming region of material over a punch. It is concluded that the total strain theory can be used as a substitute for the incremental strain theory to analyse the force and deformation in sheet metal deep-drawing process. In addition, the effect of bending was also obtained.     

Parameterization for narrow band optical properties of water clouds

The equivalent radius of cloud droplets is an important microphysical parameter in determining the optical properties of clouds. But for the present schemes of parameterization with merely the equivalent radius, the role of small droplets in clouds has not been considered properly. In this paper, several parameterization schemes are pre sented, and their performances have been analyzed through comparison with Mie scattering calculations and accurate ra diative transfer computations. The results show that for the parameterization scheme, in addition to the equivalent ra dius, including also the mean radius of cloud droplets, the role of small cloud droplets might be considered more proper ly and better accuracy could be achieved.     

CFD simulation of fluidization quality in the three-dimensional fluidized bed

Multiphase computational fluid dynamics （CFD） has become an alternative method to experimental investigation for predicting the fluid dynamics in gas-solid fluidized beds. The model of Brandani and Zhang, which contains additional terms in both the gas- and solidphase momentum equations, is employed to explore homogeneous fluidization of Geldart type A particles and bubbling fluidization of Geldart type B particles in three-dimensional gas-fluidized beds. In this model, only a correlation for drag force is necessary to close the governing equations. Two kinds of solids, i.e., fine alumina powder （dp= 60 μm and pp = 1500 kg/m^3） and sand （dp = 610 μm and pp = 2500 kg/m^3）, are numerically simulated in a rectangular duct of 0.2 m （long） × 0.2 m （wide）× 0.5 m （high） size. The results show good agreement with the classic theory of Geldart.     

Automatic Configuration in NTP

NTP is nowadays the most widely used distributed network time protocol, which aims at synchronizing the clocks of computers in a network and keeping the accuracy and validation of the time information which is transmitted in the network. Without automatic configuration mechanism, the stability and flexibility of the synchronization network built upon NTP protocol are not satisfying. P2P‘s resource discovery mechanism is used to look for time sources in a synchronization network, and according to the network environment and node‘s quality, the synchronization network is constructed dynamically.     

COMPUTER DECOUPLE CONTROL OF TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY IN PREPROCESSING CHAMBER OF AIR-CONDITIONING TEST EQUIPMENT

This paper deals with the application of decouple Control theory to temperature and humidi-ty control in air-conditioning system. The decouple control algorithm for bivariable systems isderived applicablly for air-conditioning system. The algorithm is used to design a temperatureand humidity computer control system for the preprocessing chamber of air-conditioning testequipment. The results of the real-time control experiments indicate that the decouple controlalgorithm is feasible, the control quality is improved and high control precision is achieved.     

Determination of the optical thickness and effective particle radius of clouds from transmitted solar radiation measurements

A method is presented for determining the optical thickness (τ_c) and effective particle radius (r_e) of stratiform cloud layers from transmitted solar radiation measurements. A detailed study shows that the cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius of water clouds can be determined from transmission function measurements at 0.75 and 2.13 μm, provided that the scaled optical thickness τ′_0.75>1 and r_e>5 μm. The wavelengths adopted by our study are similar to the channels of the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS). The proposed method is invalid for optically thin clouds since transmission at 2.13 μm is less sensitive to r_e. The retrieval errors of τ′_0.75 and r_e monotonically decrease with increasing τ_c. For clouds having τ′0.75≥2， the retrieval errors of τ′_0.75 and r_e are below 10% and 20%, respectively. Transmissions at 0.75 and 1.65 μm can also be used to retrieve τ_c and r_e.