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Due to the characteristics of the underwater acoustic channel environment, the development of underwater acoustic communication is faced with the problems of low information transmission rate, small capacity and poor reliability. The latest research shows that orbital angular momentum (OAM) carried by the acoustic vortex field opens up a new degree of freedom of underwater acoustic communication (UAC). In this paper, we first study the basic principles and production methods of OAM and its research status and development trends of UAC. Then, we study the application of OAM and underwater acoustic orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) through two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D-FFT), and propose an UAC system based on OFDM-OAM. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional underwater acoustic OFDM system, the proposed OFDM-OAM system has a significant improvement in system capacity.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a common human γ-herpesvirus, infects more than 90% of adults worldwide. The purpose of this study was to establish a novel EBV detection method by combining the recombinase aided amplification (RAA) assay with an initial enrichment step that utilizes magnetic beads coated with a recombinant human mannan-binding lectin (rhMBL, M1 protein). An M1 protein–protein A magnetic bead complex (M1 beads) was prepared and used to achieve separation and enrichment of EBV from blood. After nucleic acid extraction, DNA was amplified by RAA. Using 388 whole blood samples and 1 serum sample, we explored the specificity, sensitivity and applicability of the newly developed detection method and compared it with commercial quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) following M1 bead enrichment, traditional qPCR and traditional RAA. After enrichment, the positivity rate of EBV was increased from 15.94% to 17.74% by RAA (P P P Graphical abstract

Here, we report the identification of Histoplasma causing an unexplained disease cluster in Matthews Ridge, Guyana. In March 2019, 14 employees of Chongqing Bosai Mining Company, China, working in a manganese mining of Guyana, had unexplained fever, and two of them died. We obtained lung and brain tissues as well as the blood samples from the two deceased cases (patient No. 1 and 2), and bronchoscopy lavages and cerebrospinal fluid samples from one severe case (patient No. 3), respectively. All samples were tested by pathological examination, high-throughput sequencing, and real-time PCR. Pathological detection showed the presence of spore-like structures in the lung tissue of patient No. 1, indicating a fungal infection in this patient. Nanopore sequencing identified the existing of H. capsulatum in the lung tissue sample within 13 h. Next-generation sequencing identified specific fragments of H. capsulatum in all of the samples tested (lung, brain and blood serum from the deceased cases, and plasma from the severe case). Real-time PCR assays did not reveal any viral infection related to transmission from bat feces. We conclude that H. capsulatum was the causative pathogen of this disease cluster based on epidemiologic, clinical, pathological and nucleic acid evidence., Highlights • Scientific question This study reported the identification of Histoplasma as the cause of an unexplained disease cluster in Matthews Ridge, Guyana. • Evidence before this study In March 2019, 14 Chinese employees from Chongqing Bosai Mining Company, China, were engaged in manganese mining in Guyana and presented with unexplained fever. Two of them died. After preliminary examination by the local hospital, some potential infectious pathogens were excluded, including Leptospira, HIV, influenza H1N1, Zika virus, Chikungunya virus, Dengue virus, and Influenza A and B viruses. Histoplasmosis is a fungal disease caused by members of the genus Histoplasma and is mainly prevalent in the American continents. Histoplasma is capable of survival in moist soils and can often be isolated from soils containing decaying feces of bats and birds. Human activities in the surface soil produce aerosols, which in turn are inhaled to cause infection. • New findings In response to the unexplained disease cluster, pathological examination, high through-put sequencing and real-time PCR were implemented. A TGS platform found Histoplasma within 13 hours. NGS was also successfully applied in response to this event. Compared with NGS, the main features of nanopore sequencing are long sequencing ability, simplicity of use, the fastest turn-around time, high portability and real-time analysis of sequencing data. Though NGS had a longer turnaround time (24 hours), it worked well with different sample types (lung tissue, brain tissue and serum from deceased cases and plasma from a severe case) and was more sensitive than nanopore sequencing. Real-time PCR assays did not reveal any infection by viruses related to bat feces transmission. Pathological detection results showed the presence of spore-like structures, indicating fungus infection in this patient. All the results were consistent with the NGS analysis, supporting the fungus infection. • Significance of the study We concluded that H. capsulatum is the causative pathogen for this disease cluster based on epidemiologic, clinical, pathological and nucleic acid supportive evidence.

Background We describe the treatment strategy for a patient who was found to have a partial hydatidiform mole and coexisting fetus (PHMCF) during the second trimester. The patient was a 38-year-old Chinese woman who had become pregnant following in vitro fertilization and embryo transplantation. We wanted to determine the safest therapeutic strategy to terminate the PHMCF during the second trimester. Case summary In this case, we present a patient who was found to have a PHMCF complicated with serious continuous vaginal bleeding and pre-eclampsia during the second trimester. After careful evaluation, the pregnancy was considered to be unsustainable and was terminated via caesarean section (CS). An infant with weak vital signs and a partially cystic placenta measuring 110 mm × 95 mm × 35 mm were delivered by CS. The patient was discharged after 4 d. The serum levels of β-human chorionic gonadotropin decreased to within a normal range 5 wk after the operation, and no evidence of persistent trophoblastic disease or lung metastases was noticed at the 6-mo follow-up. Conclusion CS termination of PHMCF during the second trimester may be a relatively safe therapeutic strategy.

In this research, nucleic acid amplification enhancers suitable for recombinase-aided amplification (RAA) assay were studied for the first time, and amplification of a long-fragment (509 bp) by the RAA assay was initially explored. Using recombinant plasmids and clinical samples, RAA fluorescence and basic methods were used to evaluate the efficacy. The fluorescence method was evaluated by threshold time (TT) and fluorescence value, and the basic method was interpreted by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. Taking a previously established RAA assay for HPV18 as an example, we demonstrated that the addition of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 M betaine and 10% pullulan could enhance RAA. The new RAA assays with betaine and pullulan were called B-RAA and P-RAA, respectively. In the B-RAA and P-RAA fluorescence methods, TT values could be shortened by 1.72–2.32 and 2.60 minutes, respectively, and fluorescence values could be enhanced by 8847.25–9094.37 and 5250 mv, respectively. In the basic method, sensitivity could be increased by 10-fold. We successfully amplified a long-fragment of 509 bp in a P-RAA assay with a sensitivity of 102 copies/μL (compared with 103 copies/μL in the RAA assay). We thus conclude that betaine and pullulan are effective additives to enhance RAA assays.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have important application value in the research of population genetics, hereditary diseases, tumors, and drug development. Conventional methods for detecting SNPs are typically based on PCR or DNA sequencing, which is time-consuming, costly, and requires complex instrumentation. In this study, we present a duplex probe-directed recombinase amplification (duplex-PDRA) assay that can perform real-time detection of two SNPs (rs6983267 and rs1447295) in four reactions in two tubes at 39°C within 30 min. The sensitivity of duplex-PDRA was 2×103-104 copies per reaction and no cross-reactivity was observed. A total of 382 clinical samples (179 prostate cancer patients and 203 controls) from northern China were collected and tested by duplex-PDRA assay and direct sequencing. The genotyping results were completely identical. In addition, the association analysis of two SNPs with prostate cancer risk and bone metastasis was conducted. We found that the TT genotype of rs6983267 (OR: 0.42; 95%CI: 0.23-0.78; P=0.005) decreased the risk of prostate cancer, while the CA genotype of rs1447295 (OR: 1.89; 95%CI: 1.20-2.96; P=0.005) increased the risk of prostate cancer. However, no association between the two SNPs (rs6983267 and rs1447295) and bone metastasis in prostate cancer was found in this study (P>0.05). In conclusion, the duplex-PDRA assay is an effective method for the simultaneous detection of two SNPs and shows great potential for widespread use in research and clinical settings.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), two of the most prevalent human herpesviruses, cause a wide spectrum of diseases and symptoms and are associated with serious health problem. In this study, we developed an internal control reference recombinase-aided amplification (ICR-RAA) assay for the rapid detection of EBV and CMV within 30 min. The assay had a sensitivity of 5 and 1 copies/test for EBV and CMV, respectively, with no cross reaction with other pathogens. In comparison with those of the commercial quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the sensitivity of the EBV and CMV ICR-RAAs using extracted DNA was 93.33% and 84.84%, respectively; the specificity was 98.75% and 100.00%, respectively; and the Kappa values were 0.930 and 0.892 (

Objective To evaluate the performance of an ultrafast single-tube nucleic acid isothermal amplification detection assay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA using clinical samples from multiple centres. Methods A reverse transcription recombinase–aided amplification (RT-RAA) assay for SARS-CoV-2 was conducted within 15 minutes at 39°C with portable instruments after addition of extracted RNA. The clinical performance of RT-RAA assay was evaluated using 947 clinical samples from five institutions in four regions of China; approved commercial fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) kits were used for parallel detection. The sensitivity and specificity of RT-RAA were compared and analysed. Results The RT-RAA test results of 926 samples were consistent with those of qRT-PCR (330 were positive, 596 negative); 21 results were inconsistent. The sensitivity and specificity of RT-RAA was 97.63% (330/338, 95% confidence interval (CI) 95.21 to 98.90) and 97.87% (596/609, 95% CI 96.28 to 98.81) respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 96.21% (330/343, 95% CI 93.45 to 97.88) and 98.68% (596/604, 95% CI 97.30 to 99.38) respectively. The total coincidence rate was 97.78% (926/947, 95% CI 96.80 to 98.70), and the kappa was 0.952 (p Conclusions With comparable sensitivity and specificity to the commercial qRT-PCR kits, RT-RAA assay for SARS-CoV-2 exhibited the distinctive advantages of simplicity and rapidity in terms of operation and turnaround time.

Cervical cancer is primarily caused by persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), and 70% of cases are associated with HPV16 and 18 infections. The objective of this study was to establish rapid, simple, and sensitive internally controlled recombinase-aided amplification (IC-RAA) assays for the detection of HPV16 and 18. The assays were performed at 39 ℃ and were completed within 30 min. A total of 277 clinical samples of exfoliated cervical cells were tested by IC-RAA assays and commercial HPV real-time fluorescent PCR kits using extracted DNA and samples treated with nucleic acid releasing agent. The analytical sensitivity of the IC-RAA assay was found to be 10 copies/μL for the detection of HPV16 and 18 when using recombinant plasmids as targets. The optimal concentration of the internal control (IC) plasmid and 18 was 1000 copies/μL for HPV16 and 100 copies/μL for HPV18. The clinical sensitivity of the IC-RAA assays for HPV16 using extracted DNA and samples treated with nucleic acid releasing agent was 98.73% and 97.47%, respectively, with kappa values of 0.977 (P

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is a widely distributed pathogen in the coastal areas, which causes food poisoning and leads to gastroenteritis and sepsis. Therefore, developing a simple, sensitive, and rapid detection method for V. parahaemolyticus is a major concern globally. This study established a sensitive and rapid technique based on recombinase aided amplification (RAA) to detect V. parahaemolyticus. The RAA reaction was carried out successfully at 39 °C within 30 min. The sensitivity of the RAA assay was 10

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human Rhinovirus (HRV) and human Metapneumo Virus (HMPV) are important viral pathogens causing acute respiratory tract infections in the hospitalized patients. Sensitive and accurate detection of RSV, HRV and HMPV is necessary for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Results A locked nucleic acid (LNA)-based multiplex closed one-tube nested real-time RT-PCR (mOTNRT-PCR) assay was developed for simultaneous detection of RSV, HRV and HMPV. The sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and clinical performance of mOTNRT-PCR were evaluated and compared with individual real time PCR (RT-qPCR) assay using clinical samples. The analytical sensitivity of mOTNRT-PCR assay was 5 copies/reaction for RSV, HRV and HMPV, respectively, and no cross-reaction with other common respiratory viruses was observed. The coefficients of variation (CV) of intra-assay and inter-assay were between 0.51 to 3.67%. Of 398 nasopharyngeal aspirates samples tested, 109 (27.39%), 150 (37.69%) and 44 (11.06%) were positive for RSV, HRV and HMPV, respectively, whereas 95 (23.87%), 137 (34.42%) and 38 (9.55%) were positive for RSV, HRV and HMPV, respectively, by individual RT-qPCR assay. Thirty three samples that were positive by mOTNRT-PCR but negative by RT-qPCR were confirmed as true positives by sequencing using reported traditional two-step nested PCR assay. Conclusion mOTNRT-PCR assay reveals extremely higher sensitivity than that of RT-qPCR assay for detecting RSV, HRV and HMPV in clinical settings. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12985-018-1061-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The fabrication of porous diamond preforms is a key step for obtain diamond/metal copposites with high proporties by liquid infiltration. In order to prepare porous diamond preforms with high strength and excellent compatibility with liquid metal. The diamond metallization should be treated first usually.In this paper, the microstructure, composition, phase structure and bond strength of tungsten coating on diamond surface by using salt-bath method were observed and analyzed experimentally including scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy spectrometer analysis (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that tungsten start to react with carbon atoms on the surface of diamond at 1100°C while a dense and completely covered coating can be obtained at the temperature of 1150°C with 10-120 minutes dwell time. With this process, the layer on diamond surface can be regulated in the range of 1.18 to 3.24μm. The phase structure of coating from outside to inside is W, W2C and WC phase, respectively. Thermal shock experiments also show that the coatings on diamond surface have excellent bond strength as well as high temperature resistance.

Perovskite structured calcium titanate can be directly synthesized at room temperature. Other partial amorphous phase will have started to crystallize at 600 °C following the incorporation of Pr ion into the lattice. The doping mechanism is studied. The relationship between processing and point defects is found. The lattice cell expends with the annealing temperature until 900 °C, after that, contracts suddenly at 1000 °C and then tends to a constant at the temperature over 1100 °C. The mechanism of photoluminescence of Pr3+ doped CaTiO3 is set up. The powders have the red emission at 613 nm by the activation of UV light. The intensity of the emission increases with the annealing temperature till 1000 °C and then decreases, due to it has a correlation with the concentration of incorporated Pr ion. The decay time increases with the annealing temperature. The photoluminescence behavior is associated with the point defects which can be tailored by the processing of the powders, especially by the annealing temperatures.

Background Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) are the two main etiological agents of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). Simple and rapid detection of EV71 and CA16 is critical in resource-limited settings. Methods Duplex real time reverse-transcription recombinase aided amplification (RT-RAA) assays incorporating competitive internal amplification controls (IAC) and visible RT-RAA assays combined with lateral flow strip (LFS) for detection of EV71 and CA16 were developed respectively. Duplex real time RT-RAA assays were performed at 42 °C within 30 min using a portable real-time fluorescence detector, while LFS RT-RAA assays were performed at 42 °C within 30 min in an incubator. Recombinant plasmids containing conserved VP1 genes were used to analyze the sensitivities of these two methods. A total of 445 clinical specimens from patients who were suspected of being infected with HFMD were used to evaluate the performance of the assays. Results The limit of detection (LoD) of the duplex real time RT-RAA for EV71 and CA16 was 47 copies and 38 copies per reaction, respectively. The LoD of the LFS RT-RAA for EV71 and CA16 were both 91 copies per reaction. There was no cross reactivity with other enteroviruses. Compared to reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), the clinical diagnostic sensitivities of the duplex real time RT-RAA assay were 92.3% for EV71 and 99.0% for CA16, and the clinical diagnostic specificities were 99.7 and 100%, respectively. The clinical diagnostic sensitivities of the LFS RT-RAA assay were 90.1% for EV71 and 94.9% for CA16, and the clinical diagnostic specificities were 99.7 and 100%, respectively. Conclusions The developed duplex real time RT-RAA and LFS RT-RAA assays for detection of EV71 and CA16 are potentially suitable in primary clinical settings.

West Nile virus (WNV) causes West Nile fever and West Nile encephalitis. Because infection by WNV creates serious public health problems, its simple, rapid, and visual detection is very important in clinical practice, especially in resource-limited laboratories. We have developed a rapid, specific, and highly sensitive internally controlled reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RTRAA) assay to detect WNV, using both real-time fluorescence and the lateral flow dipstick (LFD) at 39.0 °C for 30 min. The analytical sensitivity of the RT-RAA assay was 10 plasmid copies and 1.6 pfu per reaction with real-time fluorescence, and 1,000 plasmid copies per reaction with the LFD. No crossreaction with other control viruses was observed. Compared with the RT-qPCR assay, the RT-RAA assay demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity for WNV.

Based on Bernoulli law, a average flow meter for short duct is usually designed with a rectifying grille, a series of sectional distributed pressure points and a large pressure-averaging vessel. As rectification is one of the key characteristics of this method, the effect of grille on rectifying is numerically simulated. The predicted results show that the grille in the 800mm×500mm section is very effective on regulating the originally disordered flow in the wind box branch duct. The velocity distribution tends to be uniform when the arrayed pitch is decreased while the rectifying effect is not closely associated with the relative location of the grille. The grille thickness plays a determining role as the rectifying becomes gradually weakened when the thickness is over 200mm. When a 5×4 grille with a thickness of 200mm is mounted at 200mm from the main duct outlet horizontally in downstream duct of the main wind box, the averaged pressure of each subsection is in good linear relation with the average gas velocity in the branch duct. The linear relationship is well maintained when the static pressure is measured at specific position and the dynamic pressure point is installed with error of 4o. This indicates that the grille-type flow meter is very reliable on measuring average gas velocity in short ducts. The application of this method on a 200MW industrial boiler shows that it possess promising potentials on optimizing combustion and emission, which could bring admirable environmental, economic and social benefits.

A design of mechanical arm for laser weeding robot is described. The long term objective of the project is the replacement of chemical weeding by laser weeding. The distinguishing feature of this design is the use of a mechanical arm, which is equipped with a laser generator and a control center consisted of a single chip microcomputer and two driver hybrid ICs. The mechanical arm comprises two stepping motors vertically linked together. The robot moves ahead one step, the working area of laser generator is divided into 10×10 grids. Through the inverse operation of mechanical arm, the motor displacement angle of each grid is calculated. Mechanical arm turns to designated position if single chip gets weeds position information. The result of the design is a key executive mechanism of laser weeding. The operation error of mechanical arm is analyzed. The arm can point the laser beam towards the target weeds with small error. After the order of the execution areas is optimized, the length of arm moving path is shorter. Analysis of the running track shows that the sequence of execution area is feasible and reasonable.

An automatic watering controller with AT89S52 single-chip microcomputer was developed. According to the moisture condition detected by soil moisture sensor, the system could control the watering quantity by using fuzzy control rules to limit opening and closing time of electromagnetic valve of the irrigation system. Mamdani inference algorithm was employed as fuzzy control model for this closed-loop control system. Soil moisture sensor was put into the substrate for roots growth to obtain moisture information and used as the input. By comparing the water needed for plant growth, water demand and the electromagnetic valve opening and closing time was determined by the single-chip microcomputer program. Centroid method of defuzzification was used to determine the quantitative level of watering quantity. This fuzzy controller was designed by MATLAB fuzzy logic toolbox. The control system was simulated by Simulink. Simulation results show that this control method has good stability.

Based on the extracted fulvic acid (FA) from Lake Wuliangsuhai sediments by sequential alkali extraction, this work studied the effects of FA on the adsorption and fraction distribution of heavy metals (HM) on sediments using original sediments and sediments treated with 30% H₂O₂ as adsorbents. The results showed both organic matter and FA had effects on the HM adsorption onto sediments; The treatments of FA-free conditions and the sediments treated by H₂O₂ showed relatively strong influence on Cu²⁺ adsorption, which decreased the Cu²⁺ adsorption by 17.85%. With the increasing FA addition, the adsorption percentage of HM on both types of sediments showed gradually decreasing trends, with the order of Cu²⁺Cd²⁺Zn²⁺Pb²⁺; when the FA content was more than 5% , FA became the governing factor on the decreasing adsorption percentage of HM. With increasing FA addition, forms distribution of HM showed significant changes in both types of sediments; i. e. FA additions showed significant negative and positive correlations with percentages of metals bound to carbonates and organic matter, respectively, since the FA addition increased the H⁺ concentration of the system, in which H⁺ could activate the metals bound to carbonate from the sediments. As an organophilic weak element, the fraction percentage of Cd bound to organic matter was the lowest with the minimal changes.

Earthworms, one of the most important macroinvertebrates in terrestrial ecosystems of temperate zones, exert important influences on soil functions. A laboratory microcosm study was conducted to evaluate the influence of the earthworm Eisenia fetida on wheat straw decomposition and nutrient cycling in an agricultural soil in a reclaimed salinity area of the North China Plain. Each microcosm was simulated by thoroughly mixing wheat straw into the soil and incubated for 120 d with earthworms added at 3 different densities as treatments: control with no earthworms, regular density (RD) with two earthworms, and increased density (ID) with six earthworms. The results showed that there was no depletion of carbon and nitrogen pools in the presence of the earthworms. Basal soil respiration rates and metabolic quotient increased with the increase in earthworm density during the initial and middle part of the incubation period. In contrast, concentrations of microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass quotient decreased in the presence of earthworms. Earthworm activity stimulated the transfer of microbial biomass carbon to dissolved organic carbon and could lead to a smaller, but more metabolically active microbial biomass. Concentrations of inorganic nitrogen and NO−3-N increased significantly with the increase in earthworm density at the end of the incubation (P < 0.05), resulting in a large pool of inorganic nitrogen available for plant uptake. Cumulative net nitrogen mineralization rates were three times higher in the ID treatment than the RD treatment.

Development and optimizing of friction material formula, oriented to improve the service life and security of brake disk, is largely based on advanced measurement method to accurately provide the friction coefficient. In this study, virtual instrumentation technique was used to design an automation measurement system of friction coefficient. With proper sensors, data of four measured variables such as temperature, rotation speed, pressure and friction torque are acquired by the computer combined with a plug-in data acquisition board. The system work principle, selection of sensors, multi-channel sampling, signal processing and anti-jamming measures have been presented in detail. Those functions of the software such as real-time data acquisition, dynamic wave displaying, high-speed report saving and inquiry, and so on, have been realized by LabWindows/CVI 7.1. The system works safely with high accuracy and friendly user interface in practical operation.

In this paper, using discontinuous deformation analysis, we simulate numerically the processes of the 1975 Haicheng earthquake and the 1999 Xiuyan earthquake in the tectonic environment of North China where blocks restrict each other by DDA+FEM. Based on the research on the distribution of foreshocks and recent aftershocks of Xiuyan earthquake and the results from our study and other study on Haicheng earthquake, we present a tectonic block model of Haicheng and Xiuyan earthquakes. The results from numerical simulation include the variation of principal stress field released by these two earthquakes, contour patterns of maximum shear stress change, variation patterns of displacement vectors before and after the earthquakes and variation of the earthquake fault slip with time, which agree basically with the focal mechanisms, macroscopic isoseismal and horizontal displacement characters from observations.

Bisphenol A (BPA) has many toxic effects on aquatic organisms, of which the most obvious effect is the estrogenic effect. The data collected in the study were divided into two parts, based on the response of the tested organisms to the estrogenic effects of BPA and their exposed time, and the risk of BPA to Chinese aquatic water was assessed by using quotient method, quotient exponent and probability method, safety threshold value method and joint probability risk assessment, respectively. Similar results were derived from the above four methods. Aquatic organisms were more sensitive to the estrogenic effects of BPA than other toxic effects. The results of risk assessment from safety threshold value method were more accurate and confident than the other three methods. Using the chronic data of BPA's estrogenic effect on tested organisms as the endpoint for risk assessment in safety threshold value method, it was found that in 64.70% of the Chinese freshwaters more than 5% of aquatic organisms were affected by the estrogenic toxicity of BPA, and the maximum allowable concentration of BPA was 15.72 ng x L(-1). Using the acute data of such effects as endpoint in safety threshold value method, in about 20.43% volume of the Chinese freshwaters more than 5% of aquatic organisms were affected by the estrogenic toxicity of BPA, and the maximum allowable concentration was 2.24 x 10(2) ng x L(-1).

Probabilistic approaches, such as Monte Carlo Sampling (MCS) and Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS), and non-probabilistic approaches, such as interval analysis, fuzzy set theory and variance propagation, were used to characterize uncertainties associated with risk assessment of sigma PAH8 in surface water of Taihu Lake. The results from MCS and LHS were represented by probability distributions of hazard quotients of sigma PAH8 in surface waters of Taihu Lake. The probabilistic distribution of hazard quotient were obtained from the results of MCS and LHS based on probabilistic theory, which indicated that the confidence intervals of hazard quotient at 90% confidence level were in the range of 0.000 18-0.89 and 0.000 17-0.92, with the mean of 0.37 and 0.35, respectively. In addition, the probabilities that the hazard quotients from MCS and LHS exceed the threshold of 1 were 9.71% and 9.68%, respectively. The sensitivity analysis suggested the toxicity data contributed the most to the resulting distribution of quotients. The hazard quotient of sigma PAH8 to aquatic organisms ranged from 0.000 17 to 0.99 using interval analysis. The confidence interval was (0.001 5, 0.016 3) at the 90% confidence level calculated using fuzzy set theory, and the confidence interval was (0.000 16, 0.88) at the 90% confidence level based on the variance propagation. These results indicated that the ecological risk of sigma PAH8 to aquatic organisms were low. Each method has its own set of advantages and limitations, which was based on different theory; therefore, the appropriate method should be selected on a case-by-case to quantify the effects of uncertainties on the ecological risk assessment. Approach based on the probabilistic theory was selected as the most appropriate method to assess the risk of sigma PAH8 in surface water of Taihu Lake, which provided an important scientific foundation of risk management and control for organic pollutants in water.

We have fabricated atom-molecule contacts by attachment of single Cu atoms to terpyridine side groups of bis-terpyridine tetra-phenyl ethylene molecules on a Cu(111) surface. By means of scanning tunneling microscopy, spectroscopy, and density functional calculations, we have found that, due to the localization characteristics of molecular orbitals, the Cu-atom contact modifies the state localized at the terpyridine side group which is in contact with the Cu atom but does not affect the states localized at other parts of the molecule. These results illustrate the contact effects at individual orbitals and offer possibilities to manipulate orbital alignments within molecules.

In this paper, depending on the interrelation of condenser's operational parameters, the factors which affect the vacuum of condenser are analyzed. And a soft-sensing model for condenser vacuum is given by using Support Vector Regression (SVR), then the model is verified and parameters are discussed based on the data of the 300MW steam turbine unit, and the prognostication precision is compared with a RBF model. The results indicate that model based-on SVR has forcible generalization ability and stability and can be adapted to application. The condenser vacuum can be calculated by using the soft-sensing model when the vacuum measuring point is fault, so the model based-on SVR provides a redundancy method for the measurement and diagnosis of condenser vacuum.

The main idea of multi-class support vector machines (SVMs) is described. a multi-class model for regenerative water heater fault diagnosis is presented combining the fuzzy logic and SVMs. The typical faults set of regenerative water heater is built after thoroughly analyzing the relationships between performance parameters and faults. Finally, the model is inspected and verified by an example in a regenerative water heater of the turbine unit, the result of diagnosis shows that it is simple and practical; it can identify the regenerative water heater faults effectively.