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Co-doped LaFe1−xCoxO3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.9) nanomaterial films were prepared via a citric acidassisted sol–gel method and characterized by various techniques. Compared with pure LaFeO3, the optimum operating temperature of the LaFe0.9Co0.1O3 gas sensor dropped to 110 °C from 140 °C. The response value to 100 ppm acetone was 35.89, with a fast response–recovery time of 14/9 s. The enhanced gas sensitivity may be attributed to the higher number of surface oxygen vacancies and larger specific surface area of LaFe0.9Co0.1O3. Doping with Co ions improved the moisture resistance of the LaFeO3 sensor at 18%–54% relative humidity. Appropriate doping of Co3+ into LaFeO3 nanofibers is a promising method for designing and fabricating an acetone sensor with high gas-sensing performance.

Owing to its remarkable mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, graphene has been a hot area of composites research in the past decade, including the field of energetic materials. Graphene has been widely applied in enhancing the physical properties of energetic materials, such as solid composite propellants. Through the way of adding different forms of graphene into the matrix of solid propellants, their thermal decomposition performance can be effectively improved. In this paper, we reviewed the status and challenges of the application of graphene in the thermal decomposition of composite solid propellant. Moreover, the main preparation methods and material structures of graphene are reviewed. We can conclude that graphene and its derivatives can enhance the catalytic effect remarkably, which can be attributed to the large specific surface area of graphene that makes the uniformly dispersed catalyst particles and the more catalyst active sites. Meanwhile, graphene possesses the high thermal conductivity, making the rapider heat diffusion, which can promote the decomposition reactions of the energetic components in solid propellants. Graphene and catalyst work synergistically in their thermal decomposition. More than this, the main methods to improve the thermal decomposition of energetic components of composite propellants and their effects on decomposition temperature reduction are systematically summarized, respectively.

Three-dimensional (3D) network structure has been recognized as an efficient approach to enhance the mechanical and thermal conductive properties of polymeric composites. However, it has not been applied in energetic materials. In this work, a fluoropolymer based composite with vertically oriented and interconnected 3D graphite network was fabricated for polymer bonded explosives (PBXs). Here, the graphite and graphene oxide platelets were mixed, and self-assembled via rapid freezing and using crystallized ice as the template. The 3D structure was finally obtained by freezing-dry, and infiltrating with polymer. With the increasing of filler fraction and cooling rate, the thermal conductivity of the polymer composite was significantly improved to 2.15 W m-1 K-1 by 919% than that of pure polymer. Moreover, the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and elastic modulus, were enhanced by 117% and 563%, respectively, when the highly ordered structure was embedded in the polymer. We attribute the increased thermal and mechanical properties to this 3D network, which is beneficial to the effective heat conduction and force transfer. This study supports a desirable way to fabricate the strong and thermal conductive fluoropolymer composites used for the high-performance polymer bonded explosives (PBXs).

Polyphosphate (polyP), which is found in various microorganisms and human cells, is an anionic biopolymer consisting of inorganic phosphates linked by high-energy phosphate bonds. Previous studies revealed that polyPs strongly promoted the amyloid formation of several amyloidogenic proteins; however, the mechanism of polyP-induced amyloid formation remains unclear. In the present study using β2-microglobulin (β2m), a protein responsible for dialysis-related amyloidosis, we investigated amyloid formation in the presence of various chain lengths of polyPs at different concentrations under both acidic (pH 2.0 to 2.5) and neutral pH (pH 7.0 to 7.5) conditions. We found that the amyloid formation of β2m at acidic pH was significantly accelerated by the addition of polyPs at an optimal polyP concentration, which decreased with an increase in chain length. The results obtained indicated that electrostatic interactions between positively charged β2m and negatively charged polyPs play a major role in amyloid formation. Under neutral pH conditions, long polyP with 60 to 70 phosphates induced the amyloid formation of β2m at several micromoles per liter, a similar concentration range to that in vivo. Since β2m with an isoelectric point of 6.4 has a slightly negative net charge at pH 7, polyPs were unlikely to interact with β2m electrostatically. PolyPs appear to dehydrate water molecules around β2m under the unfolded conformation, leading to the preferential stabilization of less water-exposed amyloid fibrils. These results not only revealed the pH-dependent mechanism of the amyloid formation of β2m but also suggested that polyPs play an important role in the development of dialysis-related amyloidosis.

Background Since the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) on H. pylori was published in 1987, many RCTs were reported and major advances have been achieved in H. pylori research. This study aimed to use the PubMed to synthetically analyze the global trends of publication of the RCTs of H. pylori research from 1983 to 2020. Methods A computerized literature search was performed based on PubMed (1983–Dec 31, 2020). The relevant RCTs on H. pylori research were identified. We analyzed the papers and calculated the data with the publishing items of RCTs. Results The literature search involved 25,915 papers and 1,550 RCTs. These 1,550 RCTs were published from 1987 to 2020, with 2 ones in 1987 (the least) and 102 ones in 1999 (the most). These RCTs were published in 266 journals, with 259 ones in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics (AP&T). These RCTs originated from 72 countries, with 236 from China, followed by 184 from Italy and 147 from Japan. The leading productive affiliation was Baylor College of Medicine (34 RCTs). The leading paper of the ten most highly-cited RCTs had 974 citations, and the mean number of citations was 584. Conclusions The publication of H. pylori RCTs reached a peak at 1999 and then declined gradually after 2003. The leading journal publishing H. pylori RCTs was AP&T. The most productive countries were China, Italy, Japan, USA and UK. This bibliometric analysis can help relevant researchers take an overall view of global H. pylori research, and determine the direction of further research.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Structural flexibility of the tetanus neurotoxin has been investigated. • Crystal structures of reduced TeNT, isolated HN and HC were determined. • TeNT undergoes domain rotation via its own rotation linker. • The dynamics of the so-called Belt region in solution was investigated. • These structural information that shed light on transmembrane mechanism of TeNT., Although the tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) delivers its protease domain (LC) across the synaptic vesicle lumen into the cytosol via its receptor binding domain (HC) and translocation domain (HN), the molecular mechanism coordinating this membrane translocation remains unresolved. Here, we report the high-resolution crystal structures of full-length reduced TeNT (rTeNT, 2.3 Å), TeNT isolated HN (TeNT/iHN, 2.3 Å), TeNT isolated HC (TeNT/iHC, 1.5 Å), together with the solution structures of TeNT/iHN and beltless TeNT/iHN (TeNT/blHN). TeNT undergoes significant domains rotation of the HN and LC were demonstrated by structural comparison of rTeNT and non-reduced-TeNT (nrTeNT). A linker loop connects the HN and HC is essential for the self-domain rotation of TeNT. The TeNT-specific C869-C1093 disulfide bond is sensitive to the redox environment and its disruption provides linker loop flexibility, which enables domain arrangement of rTeNT distinct from that of nrTeNT. Furthermore, the mobility of C869 in the linker loop and the sensitivity to redox condition of C1093 were confirmed by crystal structure analysis of TeNT/iHC. On the other hand, the structural flexibility of HN was investigated by crystallographic and solution scattering analyses. It was found that the region (residues 698–769), which follows the translocation region had remarkable change in TeNT/iHN. Besides, the so-called belt region has a high propensity to swing around the upper half of TeNT/iHN at acidic pH. It provides the first overview of the dynamics of the Belt in solution. These newly obtained structural information that shed light on the transmembrane mechanism of TeNT.

Pronation external rotation (PER) fractures are unstable ankle fractures that require anatomically stable fixation. However, due to the long distance between the fibula and the posterior malleolus in PER IV, existing approaches may make it difficult for the fixation of the associated posterior joint and the lateral malleolus. We describe an S-type posterolateral approach for the open reduction and internal fixation of posterior malleolar fractures with an associated lateral malleolar fracture in PER IV.

Polyphosphate (polyP), which is found in various microorganisms and human cells, is an anionic biopolymer consisting of inorganic phosphates linked by high-energy phosphate bonds. Previous studies revealed that polyPs strongly promoted the amyloid formation of several amyloidogenic proteins; however, the mechanism of polyP-induced amyloid formation remains unclear. In the present study using β(2)-microglobulin (β2m), a protein responsible for dialysis-related amyloidosis, we investigated amyloid formation in the presence of various chain lengths of polyPs at different concentrations under both acidic (pH 2.0 to 2.5) and neutral pH (pH 7.0 to 7.5) conditions. We found that the amyloid formation of β2m at acidic pH was significantly accelerated by the addition of polyPs at an optimal polyP concentration, which decreased with an increase in chain length. The results obtained indicated that electrostatic interactions between positively charged β2m and negatively charged polyPs play a major role in amyloid formation. Under neutral pH conditions, long polyP with 60 to 70 phosphates induced the amyloid formation of β2m at several micromoles per liter, a similar concentration range to that in vivo. Since β2m with an isoelectric point of 6.4 has a slightly negative net charge at pH 7, polyPs were unlikely to interact with β2m electrostatically. PolyPs appear to dehydrate water molecules around β2m under the unfolded conformation, leading to the preferential stabilization of less water-exposed amyloid fibrils. These results not only revealed the pH-dependent mechanism of the amyloid formation of β2m but also suggested that polyPs play an important role in the development of dialysis-related amyloidosis.

Based on the PWR best estimate program RELAP5/MOD3.3, the reactor coolant system and the passive core cooling system of AP1000 Nuclear Power Plant were modeled and analyzed. Some key transient parameters were obtained, including RCS pressure, break discharge, etc. The result is in close agreement with the result generated by NOTRUMP code from Westinghouse USA. The calculation results show that safeguard system of APl000 can effectively reduce the pressure of the first loop, also can prevent core uncovered. The safety of AP1000 during a small break Loss of Coolant Accident caused by DVI line breaking is verified.

AP1000 nuclear power plant model is founded via RELAP5/mod 3.3 program in detail. Refer to SGTR accident basic assumptions in the safety analysis report, calculations for AP1000 nuclear power plant SGTR accident are carried out. And through comparison between the result got and the result from safety analysis report calculated by LOFTTR2 program, the two results are very consistent. It's found that even if the operators do not interfere, AP1000 nuclear power plant protection systems and passive design measures will trigger an automatic response measures, it can terminate the SG heat transfer tube leaking and make RCS be stable in a safe condition and to prevent SG overflowing and ADS actions occurring.

In this paper, Anhui Agricultural University is taken as an example to study how Anhui dialects influence the English pronunciation of students. The different pronunciation characteristics of Anhui dialects are collected and summarized in this paper. A phonetic test based on the international phonetics is comprehensively designed for the collection of students’ pronunciation. Through contrasts and analysis, the specific influences that Anhui dialects exert on students are discovered, which will help a lot in the improvement of student’s pronunciation.

The nuclear safety became the more important after the Fukushima accident. The development of nuclear safety culture is one of the most effective methods to improve the safety. Also the assessment shows the level of the nuclear safety culture. The nuclear safety assessment model is described. The assessment model was described from its time and space, and it was also discussed from macro and micro levels. The internal and external environment parameters are considered and the assessment of different levels of safety culture is described. According to established principles of nuclear safety culture, the selection rules of the different levels evaluation indicators of nuclear safety culture are discussed too. And it is pointed that the assessment of nuclear safety culture is a long time project and an integrated system.

The reactor pressure vessel is an unchangeable component of the light water reactor. To some extent, the life of the pressure vessel depends on the fast neutron fluence. In addition, the fast neutron fluence is an important parameter for radiation protection. So, the fast neutron fluence is one of the main parameters which should be verifying calculated by the reviewers. The verifying calculation of the fast neutron fluence of one reactor pressure vessel is presented in this paper, and the standard deviation between the verifying and designing calculations is lower than 10%. The reasons for the deviation are discussed.

The ORIGEN-S and ORIGEN2 codes were described in this paper, which were used to calculate the source term in the reactor core. The differences between ORIGEN-S and ORIGEN2 codes were compared and analyzed. The most significant difference was the methodology used to prepare and provide the neutron data for the codes, which directly affected the accuracy of calculation results of the ORIGEN2 code under different values of the parameters. Finally, the radioactivity of the actinide and fission products was calculated by changing the fuel enrichment, burnup and specific power of PWR, which was used to make quantitative analysis of the difference of results calculated by ORIGEN-S and ORIGEN2 and verify the degree of influence of various parameters on the results.

Boron (B) has great potential to be the primary fuel in energetic systems for its high heating values per unit volume and mass. The existence of B2O3 layer on its surface holding the combustion of B back has limited its extensive utilization. Adding magnesium (Mg) into B can improve its poor combustion performance according to the previous research. A new technique, cryomilling, was employed to prepare Mg and B (Mg/B) composite powders. The powders were cryomilled with a ball-to-powder ratio (BPR) of 80: 1(w/w) and an impeller rotation speed of 400 rpm, 500 rpm and 600 rpm. The cryomilling time is 5 h, 6 h and 7 h. A small amount of ferrum (Fe) is introduced into the powders in spite that the main phases are Mg and B. The effects of cryomilling parameters, such as cryomilling time and rotation speed on Mg/B composite powders were investigated. The results show the amount of active Mg and B is over 80%. The bonding mechanism during the process is analogous to mechanical alloy.

The spatial and temporal variations of wind field and the atmospheric turbulence characteristics are important factors that affect the migration and dispersion of local atmospheric pollutants. Since the numerical meteorological forecasting system with high resolution is the foundation of atmospheric dispersion simulation, more and more attention has been drawn to the application of numerical weather prediction systems in wind field prediction and atmospheric simulation. This paper reviewed the widespread application of numerical weather prediction systems in wind field prediction and atmospheric simulation with the focus on the mesoscale weather forecasting system with high resolution, for instance WRF and MM5, as well as the requirement for numerical weather prediction in the simulation research of wind field prediction and atmospheric dispersion.

With the increase in demand for electricity in inland provinces because of economic growth, construction of inland nuclear power plant (npp) has become a trend. Inland npps discharge into the water bodies where may be some drinking water sources downstream, so the impact of radioactive liquid effluent released from inland npps is far greater than that come from coastal npps, and it is necessary to know the hydrodynamic characteristics of the water bodies clearly. A proposed inland npp near the Yangtze River and another near a reservoir were simulated by Cormix respectively. Then analyse the simulation results and suggest to use diffusers to help to initial mixing of contaminants in near field.

Mechanical soil aeration is an effective and low cost ex-situ remediation technique suitable for large areas of volatile organic contaminated sites. To understand the effectiveness of the remediation technique, the current study remediated an abandoned industry site for a typical chlor-alkali chemical using this technology. The results showed that the technology is effective in the remediation of volatile organic compounds with a pass percentage greater than 90%. The results also showed that a lower vapor pressure or higher molecular weight with the similar concentration of pollution resulted in higher residual concentrations, which need increasing agitation frequency or machine power to promote the volatilization of pollutants. In addition, we found that the more pollution or water or organic matters (more than 1%) contained, the higher concentration of residual. These type of soils should be remediated not only by physical agitations but also by other strengthen measures and long period. The present study aims to promote the remediation of contaminated sites, especially large areas contaminated by volatile contaminants.

There are some coupling methods based on Finite Element Method and some other numerical methods, such as Infinite Element Method, Boundary Element Method, Finite Difference Method, etc. But these methods have their own limitations on simulation the foundation. For overcome these disadvantages, a coupling method is presented in this paper, which be proposed to analyze the effect of soil - foundation on seismic response of structures. In this coupling method, the structure and the surrounding soil are simulated with Finite Element method, and the other part of the soil with Explicit Finite Element - Finite Difference Method. Compared to other coupling methods, it is more flexible and its calculation amount is acceptable. The accuracy and effectiveness of the coupling method have been verified through Numerical experiment in this paper.

Source term is an important input parameter for evaluation of the radiological consequences in the severe accident and can affect the level of emergency response. The research methods of severe accident source term mainly include numerical simulation and experiments inside and outside reactor. The simulation and experiment research progress of the severe accident source term and the results were discussed, mainly including the migration and release behavior of radioactive nuclides in severe accidents, their existing forms and distribution, the effect of engineering measures on the radioactive source term, the sensitivity analysis of parameters, model verification, etc. Finally, the problems needed to be solved in the severe accident source term research currently were proposed, which could be used to provide reference for the further research.

This impact of heat rejection on cooling tower plume dispersion was studied in this paper by applied SACTI (Seasonal Annual Cooling Tower Impact) model. In order to analyze the impact of heat rejection (HR), we set five scenarios including observed, HR decrease 5% (HR-5) and 10% (HR-10), and increase 5% (HR+5) and 10% (HR+10). Results showed that plume length frequency, plume height frequency and plume radius frequency will present different variation trend when heat rejection increase and decrease scenarios. On the whole, the plume character parameter will decrease as heat rejection decrease, but will increase as heat rejection increasing.

The mode of the impeller of steam turbines vibration frequency is recorded by simulated experiment of the impellers vibration in the exciting method. And the main negative effects for the impeller of steam turbines vibration are analyzed through the simulated experiment, so the impellers vibration can be avoided through modulating the targeted elements. The accident during the steam turbines running caused by the impellers vibration can be decreased.

Radioactive waste disposal is one of the most sensitive environmental problems. As the arriving of decommissioning of early period nuclear facilities in China, large amounts of very low-level radioactive waste will be produced inevitably. The domestic and abroad definitions about very low-level radioactive waste and its disposal were introduced, and then siting principles of near surface disposal of very low-level radioactive waste were discussed. The near surface disposal sites’ natural barriers were analyzed from the crustal structure and the radionuclide adsorption characteristics of natural barriers. The near surface disposal sites’ engineering barriers were analyzed from the repository design and the repository barrier materials selection. Finally, the improving direction of very low-level radioactive waste disposal was proposed, which would promote the study of very low-level radioactive waste disposal in China.

CORMIX obtaining the approval from USEPA is widely used in the environmental evaluation of US inland nuclear power plants. Carry out 3-d simulation for the low level radioactive liquid effluent released from an inland nuclear power plant in rivers through surface by CORMIX. Compare the diluent effect of different discharge capacity (2 and 4 units) and different season (summer and winter). Dilution ratios of these four simulation conditions are all reach 10 at 500m downstream. The 0.1C0 isoconcentration line range of four units is much larger than two units. It is found from the concentration distribution of cross-section at 1km downstream that the diffusing vertically of effluent in summer is better than it in winter. The accuracy of the software will be confirmed by actual measurement.

The SACTI model (Seasonal Annual Cooling Tower Impact) as the environmental impact assessment of cooling tower was applied in this paper, which was used to simulate the plume characters under different kinds of relative humidity. The three kinds of relative humidity were 70%, 80% and 90% and it was analyzed that the plume character under these three kinds of relative humidity. Results showed that the plume length, plume height and plume radius will present different change trend when relative humidity changed. Additionally, the plume dispersion character in different seasons presented obviously variations and the different wind direction also play important role in prediction of cooling tower plume dispersion.

Wind speed was an important impact factor when simulating the cooling tower plume dispersion. The SACTI model was selected in this paper and this model was used to predict the plume dispersion character discharging from cooling tower under normal operation and three different kinds of wind speeds. The three kinds of wind speeds were 2 m/s, 4 m/s and 6 m/s and it was analyzed that the plume character under these three wind speeds. Results showed that the plume length, plume height and plume radius will present different change trend when wind speed changed.

The SACTI model (Seasonal Annual Cooling Tower Impact) as the environmental impact assessment of cooling tower was applied in this paper, which was used to simulate the plume characters under different cooling tower heights. The results showed that the plume length, plume height and plume radius presented noticeable differences with variances of different distances and wind directions under different cooling tower heights. The comparisons of differences of plume characters indicated that the relative change of plume length frequency displayed obvious decreased trend with increased distance when distance was greater than 500m, and that of plume height frequency appeared parabolic curve with increased distance. The relative change of plume radius frequency expressed totally descended trend.

Questions related to zonal disintegration such as difference between results from laboratory test and field monitoring test, as well as the effect of multi-axial stress level on zonal disintegration were discussed through numerical modeling by using a 3D numerical code called RFPA3D. Results show that the much smaller fracture spacing captured by laboratory test on zonal disintegration is due to the heterogeneity extent of the tested material. Zonal disintegration is an inherent character of heterogeneous rock mass, the more the heterogeneous the rock is, the larger the spacing between the adjacent fractures will be. The configuration of zonal disintegration is influenced by combination of stress level in three directions. Intact fracture rings can not be formed unless a nearly hydrostatic stress state exists in directions perpendicular to tunnel axis.

A modified Fourier descriptor was presented. Information from a local space can be used more efficiently. After the boundary pixel set of an object was computed, centroid distance approach was used to compute shape signature in the local space. A pair of shape signature and boundary pixel gray was used as a point in a feature space. Then, Fourier transform was used for composition of point information in the feature space so that the shape features could be computed. It is proved theoretically that the shape features from modified Fourier descriptors are invariant to translation, rotation, scaling, and change of start point. It is also testified by measuring the retrieval performance of the systems that the shape features from modified Fourier descriptors are more discriminative than those from other Fourier descriptors.

We investigate the expected discounted penalty function in which the discount interest process is driven by markov process. We obtain the integro-differential equation satisfied by the expected discounted penalty function when interest process is perturbed by standard Wiener process and Poisson-Geometric process. A system of Laplace transforms of the expected discounted penalty function, given the initial environment state, is established from a system of integro-differential equations. One example is given with claim sizes that have exponential distributions.

Based on the identification of rock slice and cast thin sections, the observation of scanning electron microscopy, the technology of high pressure Hg injection and X-ray diffraction analysis of clay minerals, the Siegenian Formation reservoir in Devonian, X block, was evaluated and classified. The reservoir is a tight sandstone reservoir with relatively poor porosity and low permeability and it is divided into three types: mesopore-ultra low permeability reservoir (type I), low-middle porosity-ultra low permeability reservoir (type II) and low porosity-ultra low permeability reservoir (type III). The type II is the main reservoir in this area. The conclusions are useful for the petroleum exploration in future.

The structural, elastic, and thermodynamic properties of the cotunnite-type phase of hafnium dioxide (HfO2) under high pressure are investigated using pseudopotential plane-wave methods within the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) form of generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The obtained results are consistent well with the experimental data and those calculated by others. The elastic properties under high pressure are studied for the first time. We note that the elastic constants, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus, compressional, and shear wave velocities as well as Debye temperature increase monotonically with increasing pressure. By analyzing G/B and Poisson's ratio, the brittle–ductile behavior is assessed. In addition, polycrystalline elastic properties are also obtained successfully for a complete description of elastic properties. Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the pressure P and temperature T dependence of the bulk modulus B, variation of the thermal expansion α, heat capacity CV, and Gruneisen constant γ are studied systematically. At low temperatures, CV is proportional to T3, and CV tends to the Dulong–Petit limit at higher temperatures.

This paper addresses a novel hybrid data-fusion system for damage detection by integrating the data fusion technique, probabilistic neural network (PNN) models and measured modal data. The hybrid system proposed consists of three models, i.e. a feature-level fusion model, a decision-level fusion model and a single PNN classifier model without data fusion. Underlying this system is the idea that we can choose any of these models for damage detection under different circumstances, i.e. the feature-level model is preferable to other models when enormous data are made available through multi-sensors, whereas the confidence level for each of multi-sensors must be determined (as a prerequisite) before the adoption of the decision-level model, and lastly, the single model is applicable only when data collected is somehow limited as in the cases when few sensors have been installed or are known to be functioning properly. The hybrid system is suitable for damage detection and identification of a complex structure, especially when a huge volume of measured data, often with uncertainties, are involved, such as the data available from a large-scale structural health monitoring system. The numerical simulations conducted by applying the proposed system to detect both single- and multi-damage patterns of a 7-storey steel frame show that the hybrid data-fusion system cannot only reliably identify damage with different noise levels, but also have excellent anti-noise capability and robustness.

In this paper, a new eigen-level data fusion model, whereby rough set data and a probabilistic neural network (PNN) are integrated using a data fusion technique, is proposed for structural damage detection. This model is used for structural damage detection and identification, particularly for cases where the measurement data has many uncertainties. More specifically, structural modal parameters derived from vibration responses are first discretized by the K-means clustering technique and the rough set technique is then employed to deal with the great volume of data and to extract optimal feature parameters. After that, the processed data and information are input to the fusion centre of the data fusion technique and fused with the PNN to give a fusion-based damage detection result. To verify the proposed method, two numerical examples are presented to identify both single and multi-damage case patterns. The effects of measurement noise and of non pre-processed rough set data on the damage detection results are also discussed. The results show that the proposed model not only has good damage detection capability and noise tolerance, but also significantly reduces data storage memory requirements and saves runtime as a consequence of the data fusion processing.

It is proposed in this paper a novel two-stage structural damage detection approach using fuzzy neural networks (FNNs) and data fusion techniques. The method is used for structural health monitoring and damage detection, particularly for cases where the measurement data is enormous and with uncertainties. In the first stage of structural damage detection, structural modal parameters derived from structural vibration responses are fed into an FNN as the input. The output values from the FNN are defuzzified to produce a rough structural damage assessment. Later, in the second stage, the values output from three different FNN models are input directly to the data fusion center where fusion computation is performed. The final fusion decision is made by filtering the result with a threshold function, hence a refined structural damage assessment of superior reliability. The proposed approach has been applied to a 7-degree of freedom building model for structural damage detection, and proves to be feasible, efficient and satisfactory. Furthermore, the simulation result also shows that the identification accuracy can be boosted with the proposed approach instead of FNN models alone.

We investigate the expected discounted penalty function in which the discount interest process is driven by markov process. We obtain the integro-differential equation satisfied by the expected discounted penalty function when interest process is perturbed by standard Wiener process and Poisson-Geometric process. A system of Laplace transforms of the expected discounted penalty function, given the initial environment state, is established from a system of integro-differential equations. One example is given with claim sizes that have exponential distributions.

This text is on the basis of the investigation of the 42MN flatting mill’s higher beam, establishing the flatting mill’s higher beam’s finite element model and the mathematical model which has optimum structure. According to the results of their structure finite element analysis, weaved the relevant procedures and optimized them, obtained ideal structural parameters, this text provide better ideas and ways for the structural design of the flatting mill’s higher beam.

A modified criterion γ’ (=Tx/(1.5Tg+Tl) of glass-forming ability (GFA) for metallic glasses is suggested on the basis of present criterion γ (=Tx/(Tg+Tl) that correlates well with some systems including metallic glasses, some glassy oxides and some cryo-protective aqueous solutions. Results show that the modified criterion γ’ shows stronger correlation with the critical cooling rate Rc for metallic glasses than the criterion γ, which is demonstrated by a value increase in the statistical correlation parameter R2 from 0.9022 to 0.9037. Furthermore, a modified equation is given to reflect the relationship between γ’ and Rc.

Satellite systems are going to be an important part of the future personal communication infrastructure. The first-generation candidates for satellite personal communication networks (S-PCN) will rely on low earth orbiting (LEO) and medium earth orbiting (MEO) constellations. For LEO satellite systems employing intersatellite links (ISLs), we present a iteration-based algorithm to identify faulty links, which applies to a satellite network assuming a connection-oriented network structure, e.g., ATM or ATM-type switches on-board satellites. In the algorithm a management satellite can autonomously and real-time identify a ranked list of the most probable failed network links through building discrete-time dynamic virtual topology graph (DT-DVTG), then testing can be used to quickly pinpoint the actual faulty links. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated through simulations.

A bioreactor packed with chitosan immobilized sulfide-oxidase from Streptomyces species LD048 was developed to treat a liquid stream of sulfide. The inoculation system was composed of glass with a 0.7 L working volume and enzyme activity of 2 mmol S g −1 carrier. The sulfide removal efficiency was almost 100% when the volumetric loading was increased up to 3.9 mmol S L −1 h −1 at a space velocity of 18 h −1 . The maximal elimination capacity was 22.1 mmol S L −1 h −1 with a space velocity of 72 h −1 . When the aeration was increased from 0.05 to 0.1 L min −1 , the average removal efficiency improved from 81% to 94%. A removal efficiency of 90% was obtained after 15 days of operation with a load rate of 8.9 mmol S L −1 h −1 and a space velocity of 14.28 h −1 . An operational equation based on the ideal plug flow bioreactor and the Michaelis–Menten model predicted the performance of this bioreactor.

Over the past two decades, multi-sensor data fusion method has attracted increasing attention to structural health monitoring due to its inherent capabilities in extracting information from different sources and integrating them into a consistent, accurate and intelligible data set. Meanwhile, since the probabilistic neural network (PNN) describes measurement data in a Bayesian probabilistic approach, it has been successfully applied to structural damage detection (Jiang et al. 2004; Klenke et al. 1996; Ko et al. 1999; Ni et al. 2001). In order to make full use of multi-sensor data (or information) from multi-resource and to improve the diagnosis accuracy of the health conditions for complex structures, it is advisable to combine these methods and exploit their individual advantages. In this paper, a 5-phase complex structural damage detection method by integrating data fusion and PNN is developed and implemented. The proposed method is then applied to damage detection and identification of two simulation examples. The result shows that the proposed method is feasible and effective for damage identification.