Predicting the spread of nuclear radiation from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

Japan suffered a M9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011, which seriously damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and caused a nuclear crisis. The spread of nuclear radiation from the power plant through the atmosphere and ocean was predicted with a short-term climate forecasting model and an ocean circulation model under some idealized assumptions. If nuclear matter were leaked in the near-ground layer of 992 hPa, the climate model results show that the nuclear radiation would cover North America 10 days after the initial leakage, with the concentration at the forefront dramatically reduced to 10 millionths of the initial model concentration at the source. The radiation would span Europe in 15 days and cover much of the Northern Hemisphere in 30 days. If the initial leakage was assumed to occur in the layer 5000-m above the ground, the radiation would cover Europe in 10 days and cover much of the Northern Hemisphere in 15 days. Moreover, under the assumption that the nuclear matter leaked in the 10000-m layer, the radiation would affect much of China after 10 days. The ocean circulation model indicates that the nuclear material would be slowly transported northeast of Fukushima and reach 150°E in 50 days, and the nuclear debris in the ocean would be confined to a narrow band. Compared with the spread in the ocean, the area affected by leaked nuclear radiation in the atmosphere would be very large. Atmospheric monitors in North America and Europe will be helpful for estimating the effect in China of any leaked nuclear material.     

Newton's Easy Quadratures ``Omitted for the Sake of Brevity'

In the 1687 Principia, Newton gave a solution to the direct problem (given the orbit and center of force, find the central force) for a conic-section with a focal center of force (answer: a reciprocal square force) and for a spiral orbit with a polar center of force (answer: a reciprocal cube force). He did not, however, give solutions for the two corresponding inverse problems (given the force and center of force, find the orbit). He gave a cryptic solution to the inverse problem of a reciprocal cube force, but offered no solution for the reciprocal square force. Some take this omission as an indication that Newton could not solve the reciprocal square, for, they ask, why else would he not select this important problem? Others claim that ``it is child's play' for him, as evidenced by his 1671 catalogue of quadratures (tables of integrals). The answer to that question is obscured for all who attempt to work through Newton's published solution of the reciprocal cube force because it is done in the synthetic geometric style of the 1687 Principia rather than in the analytic algebraic style that Newton employed until 1671. In response to a request from David Gregory in 1694, however, Newton produced an analytic version of the body of the proof, but one which still had a geometric conclusion. Newton's charge is to find both ``the orbit' and ``the time in orbit.' In the determination of the dependence of the time on orbital position, t(r), Newton evaluated an integral of the form ∫dx/x <sup>n</sup> to calculate a finite algebraic equation for the area swept out as a function of the radius, but he did not write out the analytic expression for time t = t(r), even though he knew that the time t is proportional to that area. In the determination of the orbit, θ (r), Newton obtained an integral of the form ∫dx/√(1−x<sup>2</sup>) for the area that is proportional to the angle θ, an integral he had shown in his 1669 On Analysis by Infinite Equations to be equal to the arcsin(x). Since the solution must therefore contain a transcendental function, he knew that a finite algebraic solution for θ=θ(r) did not exist for ``the orbit' as it had for ``the time in orbit.' In contrast to these two solutions for the inverse cube force, however, it is not possible in the inverse square solution to generate a finite algebraic expression for either ``the orbit' or ``the time in orbit.' In fact, in Lemma 28, Newton offers a demonstration that the area of an ellipse cannot be given by a finite equation. I claim that the limitation of Lemma 28 forces Newton to reject the inverse square force as an example and to choose instead the reciprocal cube force as his example in Proposition 41. (Received August 14, 2002) Published online March 26, 2003 Communicated by G. Smith     

A high-resolution environmental change record since 19 cal ka BP in Pumoyum Co,southern Tibet

A 380-cm-long sediment core was acquired from the deep water area of Pumoyum Co, southern Tibet. Twenty-five plant residue samples were selected, and organic carbon stable isotopes were obtained using the AMS ¹⁴C chronological method. The ¹⁴C age and carbon reservoir effect were calibrated with surface sedimentation rate measurements using ²¹⁰Pb dating. Results showed that the core sediment deposited over 19 cal ka BP. Based on a multi-proxy analysis of TOC and IC contents, grain size and pollen assemblage data, the palaeoclimatic evolution of Pumoyum Co was reconstructed since the last glacial. Pumoyum Co was a shallow lake prior to 16.2 cal ka BP; although the glacier around the lake began to melt due to increasing temperatures, climate was still cold and dry. In the interval of 16.2–11.8 cal ka BP, the sedimentary environment fluctuated drastically and frequently. Two cold-events occurred at 14.2 and 11.8 cal ka BP, and these may correspond to the Older Dryas and the Younger Dryas events, respectively. After 11.8 cal ka BP, Pumoyun Co developed into the deep lake as it is now. The lake water temperature was relatively lower at that time because of influx of cold water from glacial meltwater entering the lake. As a result, the multi-proxy indicators showed no sign of warm conditions. Comparisons between the sedimentary record of Pumoyum Co with that of other lakes of the same age in southern Tibet indicate a warmer climate following the last deglaciation influenced the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. These results imply that the southwest Asian monsoon gradually became stronger since the deglaciation during its expansion to the inner plateau. The glacial-supplied water of the lake responded sensitively to cold-events. The entire southern Tibet region was dominantly influenced climatically by the southwest Asian monsoon during the Holocene.     

An organic junction between the vein and membrane of the dragonfly wing

A dragonfly wing consists of membranes and both longitudinal and cross veins. We observed the microstructure cross-section at several locations in the dragonfly wing using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The organic nature of the junction between the vein and the membrane was clearly identifiable. The membrane was divided into two layers, the upper epidermis and the lower epidermis. These layers extend around the sandwich structure vein, and combine with the adjacent membrane at a symmetrical location along the vein. Thus, we defined this as an organic junction between the vein and the membranes. The organic junction is able to form a tight corrugation angle, which dramatically increases both the warping rigidity and the strength of the wing, but not the torsional rigidity. The torsional deformation is primarily controlled by the microstructure of the longitudinal veins, and is based on the relative rotation angle between the epidermal layer and the inner layer of the vein that forms the zigzag section.     

Preparation of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous perovskite materials

In this paper,we use La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 and La0.7Ca0.2Sr0.1MnO3 as examples to demonstrate a preparation method for threedimensionally ordered macroporous(3DOM) perovskite thermochromic materials.Polystyrene spheres with an average diameter of 220 nm were self-assembled into a three-dimensionally ordered colloidal crystal template.A mixed metal nitrate solution prepared using La(NO3) 3·6H2O,Ca(NO3) 2·4H2O,Sr(NO3) 2,Mn(CH3COO) 2·4H2O and an ethanol precursor was used to fill the interstitial voids of the polystyrene colloidal crystal templates.3DOM La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 and La0.7Ca0.2Sr0.1MnO3 materials were then obtained after the sphere templates were removed via drying and calcination.The results show that the framework of the 3DOM materials can have different thicknesses and pore shrinkage rates by varying the filling times.In addition,the Curie temperatures of the 3DOM and bulk La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 materials can be varied by altering the preparation method.     

Aero-optical wavefront measurement technique based on BOS and its applications

A collimated light beam will be refracted if it propagates through a flow-field with index-of-refraction variations,and its wavefront will be distorted.If we measure the deflection angle of the light beam,the gradient of the wavefront can be obtained using the Malus law,and the wavefront aberration can be computed with a reconstruction algorithm.Two characteristics of background oriented schlieren(BOS) are conducive to wavefront aberration measurement:BOS can be used to measure the deflection angle of a light beam by measuring the displacement field between the reference image and the experiment image.Moreover,in a BOS system of Schlieren mode,only the ray perpendicular to the background image can be captured with a camera.This is helpful to measure wavefront aberrations that occur after a planar wavefront has passed through the flow-field.Based on these characteristics of BOS of Schlieren mode,a new wavefront measurement technique,which is called the BOS-based wavefront technique(BOS-WT),is proposed in this paper.It works by constructing the relationship between the displacement of the background image and the aero-optical wavefront gradient and uses the Southwell wavefront reconstruction algorithm.A BOS-WT system was assembled,and its temporal resolution was found to be 6 ns,and its temporal-correlation resolution reached 0.2 μs.A BOS-WT can measure the time-correlation transient wavefront quantitatively.It is simple and easy to operate.In this paper,we also present a study of the aero-optical performance of supersonic mixing layer based on our BOS-WT transient wavefronts at an interval of 5 μs.The results showed the wavefront was transient and distorted after it had passed through the mixing layer.Through the analysis of the data at the 5 μs interval,the temporal evolution of wavefront can be obtained.     

Plant grafting and its application in biological research

Grafting is widely used for various aspects of plant biological research. We reviewed grafting methods and graft development processes for herbaceous plants. We introduced also methods of investigating the development of graft union and compatibility, and the application of grafting in understanding translocation of substances and long-distance signaling in plants.