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Comparative studies of animal communication systems are particularly important for understanding the origins and evolution of core features of human language like syntax and dialects. Recent studies have begun to develop bats as models for investigating shared traits with human language, given the complex social vocalizations of the former. Our previous research revealed that bat social calls contained almost 20 syllable types and the occurrence of these syllable types in the call sequences followed certain permutation rules. However, the differences in these patterns between populations remain unclear. Here, we examined the syntactic patterns of social calls in greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum , from three geographically distant populations in China. The aggressive calls and behaviours during agonistic interactions of 26 bats were analysed to examine the consistency and variation between two aggression levels and across three populations. Common types of syllables, transitions and sequence patterns were found in all three populations. However, there were significant differences in the occurrence frequencies of shared syllable types, transition types and sequence types. Further, more noisy and composite syllables occurred when aggression was high than when it was low. There were also more transitions between noisy syllables and more repetitions in calls in a high aggression than in a low aggression context. The universal syntactic patterns and differences in social vocalizations of bats across different populations are of interest for fields of animal communication and language evolution. • Shared acoustic elements and patterns existed in social calls across populations. • Occurrence frequencies of vocalization types were different between populations. • High aggression calls were more noisy and complex than low aggression calls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapeseed meal, a nutritious organic fertilizer (OF), contributes to improving soil environment and crop productivity. However, there are also problems, namely slow fertilizer efficiency and low nutrient utilization during the growing season. This 2‐year field trial was conducted to explore the effect of biochar addition on improving the nutrient availability of OF through a comparative study of various biochar application rates under rice‐rapeseed rotation conditions. The findings revealed that, compared to the individual application of chemical fertilizers (CF), OF alone decreased rice yield (2%/2%) and rapeseed yield (6%/10%) in 2019/2020. Compared with OF, combining biochar (15 t ha−1) with OF (OF + B15) significantly increased rice yield (17%/10%) and rapeseed yield (25%/20%) in the first/second year. Additionally, OF + B15 still increased rice yield (14%/7%) and rapeseed yield (12%/13%) for two consecutive years compared to CF. The co‐application of biochar and OF had positive impacts on soil physicochemical properties and enzymes. Compared to OF, OF + B15 elevated soil organic carbon (SOC) by 57%–81%, soil catalase 19%, invertase 14%–20%, urease 17%–19%, and phosphatase 13%–17% during rice season, and similarly increased SOC by 77%–90%, soil catalase 14%–16%, invertase 14%–20%, urease 18%–24%, and phosphatase 16%–17% in rapeseed season. Biochar addition improved soil conditions and enzymatic activities, and the available nutrient supply of OF. Also, the co‐application of biochar and rapeseed meal surpassed the effect of chemical fertilizer alone on the growth and yield of crops. Therefore, biochar coupling with organic fertilizer is an effective fertilization strategy based on resource recycling, which promotes both crop yield and sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquiring clear acoustic signals is critical for the analysis of animal vocalizations. Bioacoustics studies commonly face the problem of overlapping signals, which can impede the structural identification of vocal units, but there is currently no satisfactory solution. This study presents a bi‐directional long short‐term memory network to separate overlapping echolocation‐communication calls of 6 different bat species and reconstruct waveforms. The separation quality was evaluated using 7 temporal‐spectrum parameters. All the echolocation pulses and syllables of communication calls in the overlapping signals were separated and parameter comparisons showed no significant difference and negligible deviation between the extracted and original calls. Clustering analysis was conducted with separated echolocation calls from each bat species to provide an example of practical application of the separated and reconstructed calls. The result of clustering analysis showed high corrected rand index (82.79%), suggesting the reconstructed waveforms could be reliably used for species classification. These results demonstrate a convenient and automated approach for separating overlapping calls. The study extends the application of deep neural networks to separate overlapping animal sounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry direct-seeded rice (dry-DSR) is an efficient, resource-saving and environmentally friendly cropping system. The employment of water-saving and drought-resistant rice (WDR) for dry direct-seeding can better meet the needs of dry-direct seeding systems. However, the decline in seedling emergence rate and poor seedling growth are the main bottlenecks under current direct-seeded rice production. Seed treatment is a sustainable and effective technique to overcome these issues. Therefore, growth chamber and field experiments were conducted to assess the impact of poplar wood vinegar (WV) priming and rice straw biochar (BC) coating on emergence, establishment, growth, physio-biochemical events, and ultimate yield. We treated the seeds of WDR viz., Hanyou 73 with WV, BC, and co-treatment WV + BC. The results showed that seed priming with 1:50 WV concentration and coating with 20% BC content was the optimal ratio for promoting germination and seedling growth. The field evaluation indicated that individual WV and BC markedly promoted the final emergence by 58% and 31%, respectively, while co-treatment WV + BC increased by 67%. Likewise, WV and BC significantly enhanced total seedling biomass by 26% and 10%, respectively, and the respective enhancement of WV + BC was 31%. For ultimate yield, WV and BC produced 12% and 19% higher grain yield, respectively, whereas WV + BC yielded 20%. The above results revealed that WV and WV + BC were the most effective treatment. Our findings may provide new avenues for advancing pre-sowing seed treatments facilitating the stand establishment and grain yield of dry direct-seeded rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar application as an organic amendment has been practiced to reduce soil acidity, enhance nutrient utilization, and improve crop growth and yield. However, uncertainties remain about the long-term effects of organic amendment and chemical fertilizers under crop rotation to ensure the sustainability and conservation of soil fertility and nutrient requirements of crops. A three-year field trial of rice-rapeseed rotation was conducted to investigate the effects of biochar (0, 3, 9, 15, 30, and 60 t ha−1) coupled with compound fertilizer NPK (15-15-15) at the ratio (N: P: K 1:0.8:0.8) for rice and (N: P: K 1:0.5:0.5) for rapeseed. The results showed that biochar amendment consistently improved the soil physiochemical properties such as soil pH, soil organic carbon and soil total porosity, soil enzyme activities, nutrient uptake, and yield of rice and rapeseed compared to plots with no biochar. Compared to control, plots treated with biochar at 30 t ha−1 increased the activity of urease up to 52 % and 39 % and invertase by 15 % and 32 %, while biochar at 60 t ha−1 increased the activity of soil catalase by 34 % and 32 % and alkaline phosphatase by 35 % and 41 % respectively under rice and rapeseed cultivation in the last two years of the study. The findings of the study revealed that coupling of biochar 15 t ha−1 with compound fertilizer significantly improved the grain yield of rice by 12 % and rapeseed by 22 % in the first year, and biochar amendment at 30 t ha−1 improved rice yield by up to 14 % and 22 % and rapeseed up to18 % and 21 % in the last two years. However, compared to 15 and 30 t ha−1, 60 t ha−1 biochar was ineffective and reduced the nutrient uptake and yield throughout the study. The soil conditions, growth, and yield of rice and rapeseed were improved in control plots with no biochar in the last two years, indicating crop rotation's positive effect. Altogether, our findings suggest that crop rotation under the combined application of biochar and chemical fertilizer is a promising approach to ensure soil fertility and crop productivity on a long-term sustainable basis. • Chemical fertilization depleted soil's chemical and physical properties. • The nutrient capacity and delivery performance of organic fertilizer were insufficient. • Biochar promoted soil quality and compensated nutrient delivery of organic fertilizer. • Biochar with organic fertilizer under crop rotation enhanced nutrient utilization and crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A tubular membrane capable of capturing CO 2 /O 2 and converting propane to propylene. • Balanced conversion and selectivity. • Extended operation hours. • Mitigated overoxidation and suppressed coke formation. Combined carbon capture and conversion (3C) technologies play a vital role in our battle against global warming and climate. Using electrochemical cells for 3C is an attractive option due to their intrinsically high efficiency and selectivity. Here we report an electrochemical membrane reactor for CO 2 /O 2 capture from flue gas and instant conversion of propane to propylene over a catalyst bed. The membrane consists of a dual metal-carbonate phase, which allows CO 2 /O 2 (in 2:1 mol ratio) co-transport through the membrane. The reactor is in tubular plug-flow geometry, which enables a continuous and gradual addition of CO 2 /O 2 into a flowing propane stream along the axial length of the membrane, thus achieving an excellent balance between conversion and selectivity, while avoiding overoxidation and suppressing coking. The plug-flow membrane reactor exhibits a C 3 H 6 yield of ∼30 %, C 3 H 8 conversion of ∼35 % and C 3 H 6 selectivity of 85 % at 600 °C for an impressive 173 h of continuous operation with minimal degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most MPC (Model Predictive Control) algorithms used in industries and studied in the control academia use a two-term QP (quadratic programming), where the first term is the weighted norm of the output errors, and the second term is that of the input increments. In this work, a DMC (Dynamic Matrix Control) algorithm that uses three-term QP is developed and studied, where the third term is the weighted norm of the output increments. A relationship between the three-term DMC and the two-term DMC is established; and based on that, ideal closed-loop response curves are derived. These results are useful for the tuning of the three-term DMC. Then, a method for comparing two control methods is proposed and it is shown that the three-term DMC outperforms the two-term DMC. The findings are verified using simulation studies. Finally, the three-term DMC is successfully applied to a 1030 MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant. According to simulation study using the identified model, in comparison to traditional two-term DMC, there is a roughly 10% reduction in the standard deviation of load tracking error for similar control efforts. In real-life tests on the power plant, the performance of the three-term DMC is compared to that of the existing PID controller. The load rate of change increased from 0.8%/min to 1.5%/min while the standard deviation of steam pressure decreased 38%; the standard deviations of the main steam temperature and reheat steam temperature decreased more than 40% with their mean values increased by more than 2 ∘ C and 4 ∘ C respectively. • A DMC (Dynamic Matrix Control) algorithm that uses three-term QP is developed and studied. • A relationship between the three-term DMC and the two-term DMC is established. • A method for comparing two control methods is proposed and it is shown that the three-term DMC outperforms the two-term DMC. • The three-term DMC is applied to a 1030 MW coal fired power plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary processes can be influenced by several factors, such as geographic isolation, environmental selection, and sensory variation. For most nocturnal bats, echolocation is the primary sensory system used to prey and communicate, and plays important roles in chiropteran diversification and evolution. Understanding the relative contribution of geography, the environment, and this sensory system to population genetic divergence can elucidate the processes involved in bat incipient speciation and evolution. In this study, we collected spatial and environmental information, echolocation calls, as well as the previously published genetic data (six microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene) of widely distributed Rhinolophus episcopus populations to test three hypotheses for nuclear and mitochondrial divergence (isolation by distance, isolation by environment, and isolation by sensory variation) and unveil the factors that drive intraspecific genetic differentiation. The moderate level of nuclear differentiation was correlated with geographic/spatial distance and acoustic variation, whereas the relatively high level of mitochondrial differentiation was mainly associated with acoustic divergence. No significant correlation was observed between genetic divergence and environmental variables. Among the three factors, acoustic divergence explained the highest percentage of both nuclear and mitochondrial divergence. Thus, our results indicate that sensory variation may have played important roles in driving population isolation early in bat speciation, which is consistent with the hypothesis of isolation by sensory variation. Our study emphasizes the need to consider more factors, especially sensory traits, and combine multiple statistical methods in landscape genetic studies to test their potential contributions to driving population divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an interval sliding mode observer (ISMO)-based sliding mode actuator fault accommodation (FA) framework for non-minimum phase linear-parameter-varying (LPV) systems involving online control allocation (CA) problem. Firstly, a specifically designed coordinate transformation is introduced to deal with the non-minimum phase issue. Then, an ISMO is proposed to estimate the set of admissible values for the states of the faulty LPV systems, which combines the interval observer technique and the sliding mode observer technique. A fault-tolerant control (FTC) law with an online CA scheme is subsequently designed by stabilising the ISMO instead of the original faulty LPV system. Finally, a simulation for an inverter used in China Railway High-speed (CRH) is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnesium/polytetrafluoroethylene/Viton (MTV) fuel-rich pyrolants use the atmospheric oxygen as a complementary oxidizer to sustain and alter the performance of the combustion reaction. The flame diffusion characteristics of MTV fuel-rich pyrolants in the atmospheric environment are studied by a high-speed camera (HSC). The flame temperature and combustion components are measured by using remote sensing Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR). In order to obtain the combustion component distribution more accurately, an aerobic combustion model containing the oxidation reaction of the excess reactant Mg and carbonaceous species with O2 is established in this study. Eddy dissipation concept (EDC) model is applied to the numerical simulation of the three dimensional anaerobic and aerobic combustion field coupled with Realizable k-ε two-equation turbulence model. The research results show that flame temperature is mainly contributed by anaerobic combustion reaction. The flame structure obtained by the aerobic combustion model is closer to the experimental results, and the result of component distribution calculated by aerobic combustion is more consistent with characteristic spectrum. Therefore, the aerobic combustion model is more suitable for describing the actual MTV flame, and the combustion field can be divided into an anaerobic core zone and an aerobic diffusion zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The superiority of garnet‐type solid electrolyte makes it one of most promising candidates for all‐solid‐state lithium batteries. Several studies show that introduction of alumina during synthesis can greatly improve the density and ionic conductivity of garnet electrolyte Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO), but the reason of poor sinterability of LLZO is still unclear. In this study, we reveal that lithium carbonate, which has a high decomposition temperature and covers on the particle surface of LLZO, is the underlying reason that handicaps the sinterability of Li‐Garnet electrolyte in air. The addition of alumina promotes the decomposition of Li2CO3 (down to 400°C) and the concomitant product LiAlO2, as a fast Li‐ion conductor, facilitates the sintering process and bulids a fast Li‐ion conducting network along the grain‐boundaries, significantly increasing the ionic conductivity of Li‐Garnet electrolyte. By the conventional solid state sintering, the 10 mol% Al2O3 modified Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 (LLZT‐10Al2O3) electrolyte reaches a relative density of 96% and shows a conductivity of 0.31 mS cm−1 at room temperature. The prepared LLZT‐10Al2O3 electrolyte exhibits a good wetting property toward metallic Li electrode with an interfacial resistance of 59 Ω cm2 compared to 1270 Ω cm2 for LLZT/Li. This work provides a fundamental understanding and a valuable strategy for developing high performance garnet‐type electrolyte for all‐solid‐state lithium batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Designed a combustion experiment platform that can mimic high-altitude environment. • Revealed the effect of Mg-burning particles on combustion and infrared signatures. • Gas-solid two-phase coupling effects are treated in combustion simulation. • Developed an in-house code to solve the non-isotropic radiative transfer equation. The combustion process of Mg/PTFE/Viton-based pyrotechnics exhibits a complex multiphase flow phenomenon. However, the influence mechanism of metal particles undergoing dynamic diffusion combustion in the flow field on the infrared radiation output characteristics has not yet been elucidated. Systematic experiments and numerical simulations are performed with the combustion and infrared radiation behaviors of the pyrotechnic compositions. A small-scale sealed combustion experiment platform is specially manufactured to mimic the actual ambient pressure at different cruise altitudes. An infrared thermal imager and an infrared thermometer are adopted cooperatively to diagnose the burning process. The Euler-Langrangian method is applied to mathematically describe the gas–solid two-phase interaction in the combustion flow field, and the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) combustion model is employed to simulate the coupling effect of turbulence and chemical reaction in the gas-phase reaction zone. The verified Source Six-Flux (SSF) method based in-house code solves the infrared radiative transfer equation integrating the emission, absorption and scattering effects of participating media. The comparisons with the experimental results demonstrate that the computational model involving heterogeneous reactions established in this paper better approximates the realistic situation. The results reveal that the infrared radiation output capability of dispersed combustion particles in the 2.0–5.5 μm band surpasses that of high-temperature gas molecules under different environmental pressures. The infrared radiation magnitude of both the gaseous phase and the particulate phase decrease significantly with decreasing pressure. The thermal radiation of combustion particles is mainly concentrated in the near- to mid-infrared band, while its emission in the far-infrared band is relatively weak. These scientific findings provide conducive insights for lucubrating the infrared radiation mechanism of pyrotechnics under negative pressure environments, and assist in further promoting the application of MTV pyrotechnics in the field of aerospace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid and sensitive detection of foodborne pathogens is one of the most important issues in food safety control. In this work, we developed a novel fluorescence immunoassay method for the sensitive detection of Salmonella choleraesuis. The method uses the fluorescent signals of histone-ds-poly(AT)-templated copper nanoparticles (His-pAT CuNP) as signal transducers and glucose oxidase as an alternative for horseradish peroxidase for the generation of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) through the catalysis of glucose. The H 2 O 2 is then further converted into hydroxyl radical (·OH) by Fenton reagents. Owing to the ultrahigh sensitivity of His-pAT CuNP synthesis toward ·OH, the proposed fluorescence immunoassay method exhibited excellent sensitivity for S. choleraesuis , with a limit of detection of 8.04 × 101 cfu/mL, which is 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of the tetramethylbenzidine-based traditional immunoassay. The reliability of the proposed method was evaluated by using spiked milk samples with S. choleraesuis concentration ranging from 8.8 × 101 to 8.8 × 104 cfu/mL. The average recoveries for the intra- and inter-assay ranged from 73.52 to 96.59% and from 66.99 to 98.24% with a coefficient of variation from 6.85 to 31.26% and 5.46 to 17.99%, respectively. These results indicated that the proposed fluorescence immunoassay possesses a great potential for ultra-sensitive detection of foodborne pathogens in food safety control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly interconnected porous poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds combined with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) foaming and a polymer leaching process were fabricated by blending PCL with water-soluble poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO) as a sacrificial material. The effects of foaming conditions and the phase morphology of blend on foaming behavior and pore morphology were investigated. Rheological results and phase morphology indicated that the PCL and PEO were immiscible. For both spherical droplets and co-continuous phase morphologies of PCL/PEO blend, batch foaming experimental results indicated that increasing CO2 saturation time and foaming pressure led to significant decreases in pore size, but increasing temperature led to opposite results. The incorporation of PEO not only facilitated the foaming of PCL by increasing its viscosity, but it also improved the porosity and interconnectivity of the post-leached PCL scaffolds. The porosity improved by up to 93.5%, and the open pore content increased by up to 90.9% for the PCL50 blend (50% PCL by weight). The leaching process had more contribution on the open pore content for PCL/PEO porous scaffolds with co-continuous phase morphologies than for the spherical droplet structures due to different cell-opening mechanisms. The results gathered in this study may provide a theoretical basis and data to support research into porous scaffolds for tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature and relative humidity are important environmental factors that greatly affect sound-mediated activities in animals. However, little is known about how changes in temperature and humidity affect animal vocal systems. Echolocating bats perceive their surroundings through acoustic signals. In this study, we investigated the effects of temperature and humidity changes on the audiovocal control system, Doppler shift compensation (DSC), in echolocating bats, Hipposideros armiger. Results revealed that the DSC system was more precise under higher temperature and humidity conditions, while the frequency of calls and echoes decreased under higher temperatures. Atmospheric attenuation and body temperature increased with increasing experimental temperature and humidity conditions. Our results suggest that atmospheric attenuation and body temperature significantly affect DSC precision (DSC P) and the specialized narrow-frequency band of the auditory system (reference frequency). Owing to the small differences in sound attenuation between experimental groups, we speculate that the changes in attenuation were not sufficient to induce changes in DSC P. We propose that DSC performance may change concomitantly with frequency adjustment and may be passively affected by body temperature regulation. Our study shows how changes in the weather can affect animal vocal control systems and fitness. • Doppler shift compensation is more precise at higher temperatures and humidity. • It may be affected by call frequency and body temperature changes. • Call frequency is affected by both body temperature and atmospheric attenuation. • The latter drives bats' call frequency changes when a physiological effect also exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a model predictive control (MPC) case study is presented on the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) in a coal-fired power plant. The MPC is used for optimizing the volume of ammonia injection in order to meet the emission standard of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) as well as to prevent ammonia slip. A gain scheduling model is applied to deal with the nonlinearity of the SCR unit. The model gain is developed by kernel density estimation and the dynamic model is estimated by the asymptotic method of identification. The MPC control result shows that the standard deviation of outlet NO x concentration can be reduced by two-thirds, which leads to about 25% reduction of reagent consumption and the prevention of ammonia slip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two novel fault-tolerant control design approaches are proposed for linear MIMO systems with actuator additive faults, multiplicative faults and unmatched uncertainties. For time-varying multiplicative and additive faults, new adaptive laws and additive compensation functions are proposed. A set of conditions is developed such that the unmatched uncertainties are compensated by actuators in control. On the other hand, for unmatched uncertainties with their projection in unmatched space being not zero, based on a (vector) relative degree condition, additive functions are designed to compensate for the uncertainties from output channels in the presence of actuator faults. The developed fault-tolerant control schemes are applied to two aircraft systems to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a dc voltage incipient sensor fault isolation method for single-phase three-level rectifier devices in high-speed railway electrical traction systems. Different incipient fault modes characterizing locations and incipient fault types are parameterized nonlinearly by unknown fault parameters. A new incipient fault isolation method is developed by combining sliding mode technique with nonlinear parameterization adaptive estimation technique. A bank of particular adaptive sliding mode estimators is proposed, which facilitates to derive new isolation residuals and adaptive threshold intervals. The isolability is studied, and the isolable sufficient condition is derived using new functions. For the practical electrical traction system in China Railway High-Speed 2, simulation and experiment based on TDCS-FIB (a software) are presented to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors are concerned with a class of derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation subject to Dirichlet boundary condition, where the nonlinearity f( z , z , ϕ) is merely finitely differentiable with respect to all variables rather than analytic and quasi-periodically forced in time. By developing a smoothing and approximation theory, the existence of many quasi-periodic solutions of the above equation is proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an incipient sensor fault estimation and accommodation method for three-phase PWM inverter devices in electric railway traction systems. First, the dynamics of inverters and incipient voltage sensor faults are modeled. Then, for the augmented system formed by original inverter system and incipient sensor faults, an optimal adaptive unknown input observer is proposed to estimate the inverter voltages, currents and the incipient sensor faults. The designed observer guarantees that the estimation errors converge to the minimal invariant ellipsoid. Moreover, based on the output regulator via internal model principle, the fault accommodation controller is proposed to ensure that the v o d and v o q voltages track the desired reference voltages with the tracking error converging to the minimal invariant ellipsoid. Finally, simulations based on the traction system in CRH2 (China Railway High-speed) are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the generalized KdV equation u t = − u x x x + 30 u 4 u x subject to periodic boundary conditions. We prove that the existence of many 2-dimensional invariant tori under sufficiently small Hamiltonian perturbations by means of infinite-dimensional KAM theory and partial Birkhoff normal form and thus many time quasi-periodic solutions for the above perturbed equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is concerned with the minimum variance (MV) benchmark estimation without a prior knowledge of time-delay. The idea is to use a small high-frequency test signal in order to obtain the accurate time-delay estimation (TDE) result, then the MV benchmark can be calculated from the closed-loop data. Based on the analysis, a well designed test signal for control performance monitoring (CPM) is not only possible but also necessary, as it increases the identifiability of the closed-loop data without having a large effect on routine operation. A new TDE algorithm by using high-order auto regressive exogenous (ARX) model is proposed as well as the multivariable issue is investigated. Simulation examples of performance monitoring with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Designed a combustion experiment platform that can simulate high-altitude environment. • Revealed the intrinsic effect of pressure on the fluorination and oxidation of Mg. • Provided further insight into micro-scale combustion process of Mg particles. • Heterogeneous condensation reactions are innovatively treated in combustion simulation. The exploration of condensed combustion products (CCPs) is essential to reveal the ignition, combustion, and infrared radiation mechanisms of Mg-based (Magnesium/polytetrafluoroethylene/Viton) solid fuels that have been considerably employed in the field of aerospace. Systematic experiments and numerical simulations are performed with the physicochemical properties (including morphology, element distribution, phase composition and particle size distribution) and flow field distribution characteristics of CCPs, respectively. The effects of formulation and pressure on the combustion behaviors of pyrotechnic compositions are thoroughly investigated based on thermal analysis measurements, laser ignition, optical diagnosis and CCPs collection. The results demonstrated that the major solid products for all cases are MgF 2 agglomerates and MgO smoke oxide particles (SOPs). Increasing the Mg content in the formulation is simultaneously beneficial for the reduction of large agglomerates and SOPs. As the pressure is decreased from 0.1 MPa to 0.02 MPa, the volume weighted mean diameter of CCPs increases significantly due to the decrease in burning rate. The numerical model established in this paper better approximates the realistic combustion process by coupling the heterogeneous condensation reactions, and is adopted to predict the distribution of CCPs in the combustion flow field under different experimental conditions. Numerical results reveal that the MgF 2 is mainly distributed in the anaerobic combustion core zone immediately above the burning surface, while MgO is located in the peripheral aerobic combustion diffusion zone. The negative pressure environment has more profound influence on the oxidation reaction of Mg than fluorination reaction. The scientific findings are expected to facilitate the development of more complete combustion and infrared radiation models, while theoretically providing in-depth guidance for the increasing military and civilian application of Mg-based solid fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), which transforms CH 4 into C 2 products (C 2 H 6 and C 2 H 4) with molecular O 2 as the oxidant, is one of the most studied direct methane conversions (DMCs). However, a major technical hurdle to the OCM process is to achieve high CH 4 conversion at high C 2 (C 2 H 6 and C 2 H 4) selectivity. One rudimentary cause for this "tradeoff" behavior is the high chemical reactivity of the products (C 2 H 6 or C 2 H 4), which can be re-oxidized by O 2. To overcome this thermodynamic challenge, minimizing the oxidizing power of the oxidant and lowering the local oxygen partial pressure are keys. In this work, we demonstrate a new membrane reactor that capture CO 2 /O 2 from a flue gas and uses it for OCM conversion. The results show that the co-captured CO 2 /O 2 mixture converts CH 4 into C 2 H 6 in the presence of a 2%Mn–5%Na 2 WO 4 /SiO 2 catalyst, followed by thermal cracking of C 2 H 6 into C 2 H 4 and H 2. The presence of CO 2 decreases the local partial pressure of O 2 , thus reducing the propensity of C 2 -products re-oxidation and leading to a higher C 2 selectivity. We show that a small button-type membrane reactor can achieve 12% C 2 yield with ∼57% C 2 -selectivity using a diluted CH 4 -Ar mixture as the feedstock. We expect higher C 2 yield with tubular plug-flow membrane reactors in the future. We also highlight the unique advantage of the membrane reactor in intensifying CO 2 capture from both flue gas and OCM purification process into one single step. A dual-phase CO 2 transport membrane for oxidative coupling of methane conversion. [Display omitted] • First demonstration of CO 2 transport membranes for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) conversion. • Identification of CO 2 transport pathways in the membrane. • Thermodynamic analysis of main and side reactions in the OCM conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a stealthy integrity attack detection methodology for a class of nonlinear cyber–physical systems subject to disturbances. An equivalent increment of the system at a time prior to the attack occurrence time is introduced, which is theoretically proved to be effective to detect stealthy integrity attacks. A backward-in-time estimator is developed via the fixed-point smoother design tool to exploit this equivalent increment and allow the detection of the attack. More specifically, an asymptotically stable incremental system is introduced to characterize stealthy integrity attacks, and its backward-in-time solution at a fixed time prior to the attack occurrence formulates the equivalent increment. When running reversely in time, the divergence property of such an asymptotically stable incremental system enables the equivalent increment to detect stealthy integrity attacks. A fixed-point smoother is introduced to estimate the unknown equivalent increment for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear physical plants, such that the estimation error satisfies the H ∞ performance objective. Based on the equivalent increment and its estimation provided by the smoother, suitable residual and threshold signals are generated, allowing the detection of the considered stealthy integrity attacks. A detectability analysis is conducted to rigorously characterize the class of detectable attacks. Finally, a case study is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed backward-in-time attack detection methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-temperature membranes for CO 2 transport and separation has attracted significant interest from academia and industries due to their potential to mitigate the emissions of CO 2 and ultimately global warming/climate change. In this study, we report a dual-phase CO 2 membrane fabricated from a porous proton conducting BaZr 0.8 Y 0.2 O 3-δ (BZY) matrix and eutectic mixture of Li 2 CO 3 –Na 2 CO 3 (denoted as MC). The membrane exhibits a high CO 2 permeation flux density in the range of 550–750 °C in both dry and wet conditions. Through microstructural optimization, a CO 2 flux density as high as 0.34 mL ⋅ cm−2 ⋅ min−1 at 650 °C and 0.53 mL ⋅ cm−2 ⋅ min−1 at 750 °C have been achieved with an 0.8 mm thick BZY-MC membrane containing 52% porosity and 50%CO 2 –N 2 feed gas. The high flux is attributed to synergistic effects of microstructure, MC loading and high bulk conductivity of BZY. In addition, we also demonstrate the positive effect of H 2 O in the permeate side on CO 2 flux density and proposed a reasonable mechanism to explain the H 2 O-enhanced CO 2 flux density. With 3% H 2 O-added into the sweeping gas, the membrane exhibits 30% CO 2 flux density enhancement and good stability over 250 h at 650 °C. A new dual-phase membrane with a porous proton conducting BaZr 0.8 Y 0.2 O 3-δ (BZY) matrix and molten carbonate (denoted as MC) exhibits high CO 2 flux density at 650 °C with H 2 O as a booster. [Display omitted] • A new intermediate-temperature CO2 separation membrane. • Enhanced CO 2 flux by H 2 O in sweep gas. • A new dual-ion transport mechanism for H 2 O-enhanced CO2 flux. • Direct experimental evidence supporting the proposed dual-ion transport mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a data-driven approach for fault diagnosis in the presence of incomplete monitor data. The expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm is applied to handle missing data in order to obtain a maximum-likelihood solution for the discrete (or categorical) distribution. Because of the nature of categorical distributions, the maximization step of the EM algorithm is shown in this paper to have an easily calculated analytical solution, making this method computationally simple. An experimental study on a ball-and-tube system is investigated to demonstrate advantages of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] An implementable charging strategy is developed for electric vehicles connected to a grid. [•] A two-dimensional pricing scheme is proposed to coordinate charging behaviors. [•] The strategy effectively works in decentralized way but achieves the systematic valley filling. [•] The strategy allows device-level charging autonomy, and does not require a bidirectional communication/control network. [•] The strategy can self-correct when confronted with adverse factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Designed a small-scale negative pressure combustion experiment system. • Revealed the effect of pressure on flame structure and temperature. • Demonstrated the pressure sensitivity of the burning rate under 0.02–0.1 MPa. • Predicted the combustion products distribution characteristics. The present study is devoted to comprehensively evaluating the combustion performance of Mg-based (Magnesium/polytetrafluoroethylene/Viton) solid fuels in high-altitude operating environments. A small-scale sealed CO 2 laser ignition experiment system is designed to produce different negative pressure environments. A high-speed camera (HSC) and an infrared thermal imager are used to cooperatively capture the burning process. The results obtained demonstrate that the area of the flame core zone and the flame temperature increase significantly as the pressure increases. It is conducive to the heat feedback of the gas phase reaction zone to the solid phase heating zone, resulting in an increase in the burning rate. As the Mg content increases, the flame temperature is decreased and the burning rate is increased. The burning rate for the Mg-based solid fuels is found to increase monotonically with ambient pressure and to follow the Vieille's law in the pressure range of 0.02–0.1 MPa. Based on the experiment, a three-dimensional combustion-flow coupling solution model is established including the detailed aerobic combustion reaction kinetic model and the eddy dissipation concept (EDC) model. Numerical simulation results reveal that the content of incompletely reacted Mg increases as the pressure decreases. Conversely, the decreasing behavior of oxygen partial pressure at low pressure reduces the probability of reaction of Mg with O 2 , resulting in a dramatical decrease in the mass fraction of MgO. The scientific findings provide useful insight for the deep understanding of the combustion behavior of Mg-based solid fuels, and support for the increasing demands for both military and civilian applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the time dependent Schrödinger operator with a temporal quasi-periodic perturbation which is some function of class Cℓ for any ℓ >= 100(3n + 2τ + 1), by using the KAM technique, we establish a reduction theorem for the above operator and prove that the invariant tori of the nearly-integrable Hamiltonian system with unbounded small perturbation are linearly stable both for d

Abstract: This work introduces a method of multivariable model error detection in model prediction control (MPC). The idea is to use non-disturbing small sinusoidal test signals to obtain accurate estimates of process frequency responses at several frequency points. Then, the differences between estimated frequency responses and the frequency responses of current MPC model are used to form the model error index matrix which is used to access the model error of the MPC controller. An upper error bound is developed for quantifying the error of frequency response estimation. The method works in closed-loop operation with the MPC controller online. Simulation studies are used to demonstrate the use of the method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the literary works and contributions of Chinese Americans in contemporary Chinese literature. Their works were divided into two categories including novels that are translated into English, defining the history and the lives of Chinese Americans and the works written in Chinese published in mainland China, Hongkong and Taiwan, pertaining to the lives of ethnic Chinese in the U.S. Both categories grew from the lives of Chinese Americans and also play two directional role.

As a basic electronic component, the diode has drawn much attention in single-molecule electronics. However, the single-molecule diode is limited to the conventional diode mode, switching to "on" with a forward voltage and to "off" whenever an opposite voltage is applied. We report on a paradigm for designing a single-molecule tidal diode, which enables gate-controlled reversible rectifying behavior. In the Au25-R single-molecule transistors constructed by us, we observed clear rectification and achieved an electrically controllable reversible diode effect. The backward rectification ratio reached the maximum value of 30 at a negative bias voltage of −30 mV, while the forward rectification ratio was slightly smaller. We used an asymmetrical coupling model and a Landauer resonant tunneling model to explain the reversible diode effect and its dependence on temperature. The integration of bidirectional tunable diodes in a single-molecule device creates an avenue of research and allows the discovery of a set of traffic rules for the electronic world in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compensating nitrogen input and increasing nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUtE) are necessary for sustainable crop production. Research studies on the co-application of biochar and nitrogen to promote rapeseed growth, soil fertility, and improve nutrient utilization efficiency are found to be limited. This study aims to examine the integral effects of biochar and nitrogen over soil fertility, rapeseed growth and nitrogen utilization efficiency. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design to assess various morphological, physiological and biochemical traits of rapeseed and soil chemical properties under the application of four nitrogen levels (0, 75, 225, and 450 kg ha−1 equivalent to 0, 133, 400 and 800 mg nitrogen pot−1) and four biochar levels (0, 5, 10, and 15 MT ha−1 equivalent to 0, 10, 20 and 30 g biochar pot−1 soil by weight basis). The results of this study showed that the integral application of biochar at 30 g pot−1 and nitrogen at 800 mg pot−1 at 45 days after sowing (DAS) and 60 days after sowing (DAS) compensated the amount of nitrogen and increased soil organic carbon (SOC 69%), total nitrogen accumulation (TNA) (93% and 62%), leaf biomass (60% and 33%), stem biomass (20% and 22%) and photosynthesis (20% and 17%) at 45 DAS and 60 DAS, respectively as compared to a single application of nitrogen. However, under the conditions of no nitrogen or 75 kg ha−1 nitrogen application, the application of biochar to promote the growth of rapeseed plants is limited due to the less nitrogen supply. In contrast, the application of nitrogen at 800 mg pot−1 and biochar at 10 or 20 g pot−1 showed that the growth of early seedlings was adversely affected due to high nitrogen concentration in soil. The findings of the present study imply that within the appropriate nitrogen application range, the interaction of biochar and nitrogen might have an economical approach towards better utilization of nitrogen and sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic signals play a crucial role in transmitting information and maintaining social stability in gregarious animals, especially in echolocating bats, which rely primarily on biological sonar for navigating in the dark. In the context of foraging without relying on tactile, visual or olfactory cues, acoustic signals convey information not only on food but also on ownership and defense of resources. However, studies on such information remain fragmentary. In the present study, we aim to document the social vocal repertoire of Myotis macrodactylus at natural foraging sites. Multiple acoustic analyses and spectrographic classification revealed a rich foraging vocal repertoire comprising 6 simple syllables and 2 composites. Discriminant function analyses associated with a subset‐validation procedure provided an optimal method to spectrographically classify all recorded sounds into different syllable types. Multidimensional scaling of median values of multiple parameters further confirmed notable differences among these syllables in a 3‐D space. In addition, Euclidean distance analysis showed that there were some spectral similarities between specific social vocal syllables and feeding buzzes, which implied a potential jamming role. Altogether, the data indicate that bats at foraging sites under natural conditions used variant social vocalizations with different functions in addition to echolocation calls, providing supporting evidence for further work on the function and vocal mechanisms of acoustic communication in mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we reported a novel direct competitive fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (dcFLISA) for the ultrasensitive detection of aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1) in pasteurized milk, yogurt, and milk powder using 150-nm quantum dot beads (QB) as the carrier of competing antigen. Large QB were applied to decrease the binding affinity of the competing antigen to antibody and enhance the fluorescent signal intensity. The aflatoxin B 1 molecule was used as the surrogate of AFM 1 to label with BSA on the surface of QB because of its 63% cross reaction to anti-AFM 1 mAb. The binding affinity of the competing antigen to mAb was tuned by changing the labeled molar ratios of aflatoxin B 1 to BSA. Through combining the advantages of QB as the carrier of the competing antigen, including low binding affinity to mAb and highly fluorescent signal output, the proposed dcFLISA exhibited an ultrahigh sensitivity for AFM 1 detection, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 3.15 pg/mL in 0.01 M phosphate-buffered saline solution (pH 7.4), which is substantially lower than that of the traditional horseradish peroxidase-based ELISA. The proposed method also exhibited very low detection limitations of 0.5, 0.6, and 0.72 pg/mL for real pasteurized milk, yogurt, and milk powder, respectively. These values are considerably below the maximum permissible level of the European Commission standard for AFM 1 in dairy products. In summary, the proposed dcFLISA offers a novel strategy with an ultrahigh sensitivity for the routine monitoring of AFM 1 in various dairy products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequently, individuals of one species respond to alarm calls produced by another species. This form of interspecies communication can be critical for survival. How animals recognize and respond to heterospecific alarm calls is, however, still poorly understood. This is especially true for bats, which are highly vocal and possess a specialized auditory system. We hypothesized that, among bat species, acoustic similarity between heterospecific and conspecific alarm calls is a key factor that underlies call recognition. However, this ability could also be acquired via associative learning from prior exposure or result from phylogenetic relatedness among caller and receiver species, as shown by others. Here we focused on distress calls of bats as representing a certain type of alarm call. To test our hypothesis, we recorded distress calls of 11 bat species from four families at five different sites. We broadcast the recorded calls to three of these species (Rhinolophus sinicus , Myotis badius and Myotis laniger). For all three species, neither prior exposure (familiarity) nor phylogenetic relatedness explained the variation in the response strength, as measured by echolocation vocalizations of receiver species in response to playback of heterospecific distress calls. In contrast, acoustic similarity, especially in peak frequency, between conspecific and heterospecific distress calls, was positively correlated with response strength in the receiver species. Thus, our findings emphasize that, at least among bats, acoustic similarity is a key factor allowing recognition of heterospecific alarm calls. It remains unclear whether evolutionary, genetic and/or neurophysiological mechanisms entrain an individual to respond selectively to a specific acoustic feature. Highlights • We investigated recognition of heterospecific distress calls in bats. • The recognition of heterospecific distress calls is an unlearned behaviour. • Acoustic similarity elicits responses to heterospecific distress calls. • Peak frequency plays a key role in the response to heterospecific distress calls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An engineered cementitious composite (ECC) belongs to a type of high-performance fiber-reinforced materials. Fiber alignment causes the anisotropy of such materials. Herein, the influence of the fiber orientation on water and ion penetration into an ECC was studied. Fiber alignment was achieved using an extrusion approach. Water absorption, sorptivity, chloride penetration resistance, sulfate attack resistance, and freezing–thawing resistance of specimens with fiber aligned horizontally (AH), vertically (AV), and randomly (R), corresponding to the direction of the exposure surface that was studied. The results showed that fibers oriented perpendicular to the water path delayed water migration into the ECC matrix. The sorptivity was significantly affected by the fiber direction. The sorptivity of the AH specimens was 35% and 13% lower than that of the AV and R specimens, respectively. After 180 days of exposure, the chloride penetration depth of the AH specimens was 5.7 mm, which is 13.6% and 20.8% lower than that of the AV and R specimens, respectively. The sulfate ingress profile indicates that the fiber–matrix interface oriented perpendicular to the penetration path can effectively delay sulfate migration. The fiber orientation also influences the compressive strength gain under immersion conditions (Na2SO4 solution, Na2SO4 + NaCl solution, and water). Compared with the AH and R specimens, the AV specimens are more sensitive to the immersion condition. In contrast, the fiber orientation has no significant effect on ECC specimens under freeze–thaw cycles. These findings indicate that controlling the fiber alignment and orientation in an ECC can improve its durability under certain exposure conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Myotis is one of the most diverse and widely distributed mammals, providing a good model for studies of speciation and diversification across large geographic scales. However, the classification within this genus has long been chaotic. Taxonomic revisions based on multiple data sources are essential and urgent. In this study, morphometrics and genetic markers with different modes of inheritance were used to clarify the taxonomy of Myotis distributed in China. Based on 173 mitochondrial Cytb sequences and five morphological characteristics, 114 specimens collected nationwide over the past 20 years were assigned to 11 Myotis species. All Chinese samples classified into M. davidii and M. longipes were revised to M. alticraniatus and M. laniger. Then, two nuclear fragments (Rag2 and Chd1) and Cytb sequences from representative individuals of Chinese Myotis were used for multilocus phylogeny reconstruction and genetic divergence evaluation. The phylogenetic relationships were clearly demonstrated in the species tree: M. alticraniatus and M. laniger; M. fimbriatus, M. pilosus, M. macrodactylus, and M. petax; and M. pequinius, M. chinensis, and M. blythii formed three strongly supported monophyletic clades. Mitochondrial divergence was almost 10 times that of nuclear divergence, with interspecific K2P distances ranging from 8% to 20% for Cytb and 0.3% to 2.3% for concatenated nuclear genes. Low levels of genetic divergence were observed between M. alticraniatus and M. laniger, as well as M. fimbriatus and M. pilosus. These results provide new insights into the taxonomy and phylogeny of Myotis bats in China and are important for the future research and conservation of Chinese Myotis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study gives the mathematic model of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and then proposes a robust nonlinear controller which combines the sliding-mode control technique and the backstepping control technique. To achieve Cartesian position trajectory tracking capability, the construction of the controller can be divided into two stages: a regular SMC controller for attitude subsystem (inner loop) is first developed to guarantee fast convergence rapidity of Euler angles and the backstepping technique is applied to the position loop until desired attitudes are obtained and then the ultimate control laws. The stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed by stabilizing each of the subsystems step by step and the robustness of the controller against model uncertainty and external disturbances is investigated. In addition, an adaptive observer-based fault estimation scheme is also considered for taking off mode. Simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed robust nonlinear controller and the fault estimation scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Natural gas (NG) fired power plants emit low concentration (4–5%) of CO 2 , which presents additional technical and economic challenges to the current benchmark amine absorption technology. The newly emerged high-temperature multiphase membranes operated on molten carbonate (MC) chemistry for CO 2 capture/separation/conversion have been demonstrated with great potential to meet this challenge. In this study, we report on the CO 2 capture performance of such a membrane in tubular geometry from a mockup NG flue gas. The membrane is comprised of a mixture of Gd 0.20 Ce 0.80 O 1.95 (GDC) and MC, in which GDC forms a porous skeleton to contain MC. We show that the membrane with a dimension of 6.1 mm in outer diameter, 5.1 mm in inner diameter and 5 cm in effective length (resulting in 4 cm2 effective surface area) can achieve a CO 2 flux density of 0.46–0.55 mL/min·cm2 at 650 °C, capturing 97% pure CO 2 at a rate of 37–42% from 5%CO 2 –N 2 using moistened Ar as the sweep gas. The level of performance demonstrated by this study suites the membrane well for stationary CO 2 capture from NG power plants. [Display omitted] • Demonstration of high-performance of tubular membrane for low CO 2 capture. • Demonstration of beneficial effect of steam on CO 2 flux. • Confirmation of CO 2 –H 2 O co-transport mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freezing severely impacts potato production. Deciphering the pathways and metabolites that regulate the freezing tolerance of potato is useful in cultivation and breeding for hardiness. In the present study, Solanum acaule was identified to be more freezing tolerant than S. tuberosum. Furthermore, the two genotypes before/after exposure to 4 °C for 7 d with additional −1 °C for 12 h were analysed by RNA-seq and metabolomics, and the results were compared with the previous −1 °C for 12 h. The results showed that S. acaule activated numerous genes that differed from those of S. tuberosum. Among the genes, five pathways, such as the hormone signalling pathway, which includes salicylic acid, were enriched. Further metabolomics analysis showed that the content of salicylic acid was improved in S. acaule in response to −1 °C for 12 h. Moreover, exogenous application of 0.1 mM salicylic acid to potato was shown to improve constitutive freezing tolerance and increase the expression of HSFC1. Following transcriptome and metabolome analyses, it was documented that the content of SA that increased in freezing-tolerant S. acaule after exposure to cold condition, associated with the SA signalling pathway, enhanced potato freezing tolerance, probably through HSFC1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature seriously affects the growth of crops and poses a huge threat to food production. The application of wood vinegar can be used as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly strategy to promote crop growth and enhance stress resistance, and the physiological resistance to low-temperature stress of rapeseed still needs further research. The present study investigated the effects of spraying wood vinegar on the growth, photosynthesis, osmotic adjustment, and antioxidant enzymes of rapeseed seedlings under low-temperature stress. The results showed that spraying wood vinegar at normal temperature reduced the stomatal conductance but increased the leaf area and total biomass of rapeseed and enhanced stomatal density and water use efficiency. The leaf area and total biomass of rapeseed sprayed with wood vinegar at low temperature improved by 22% and 31%, respectively, and stomatal density and water use efficiency increased by 14% and 83%, respectively, and intercellular CO2 concentration and stomatal conductance were reduced by 9% and 41%, compared to the low-temperature, respectively. Besides, the application of wood vinegar liquid improved the proline, soluble protein, and soluble sugar content of leaves by 208%, 38%, and 115%, respectively, and the activity of superoxide dismutase increased by 27%, the content of malondialdehyde decreased by 46%, compared to the low-temperature. Spraying wood vinegar could alleviate low-temperature stress by improving the anti-oxidant enzyme content and osmoprotectants, reducing the stomatal conductance, and enhancing water use efficiency. These results provide new insights for wood vinegar to relieve the low-temperature stress of rapeseed, and this strategy can be used for low-temperature rapeseed cultivation and management, and benefit farmers' plant profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Drought stress negatively affect the sustainable crop production in various ways. • Moisture deficits drastically reduced crop yields and regional economies. • Understanding the drivers of yield levels under deficient water is required. • Biochar with high carbon is being recognized by scientists for its potential role. • Biochar improve soil status and enhance utilization of soil water and nutrients. The depletion of soil fertility and freshwater reservoirs in dry and arid conditions of the world are alarming for food and crop productivity. Although many research studies have explored the effect of biochar on plant growth and soil fertility, however, information on the role of biochar on rapeseed under drought stress is limited. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of biochar on photosynthesis, antioxidants activities, osmolytes contents, growth and yield of rapeseed under drought stress. Rapeseed plants at the flowering stage were subjected to two moisture conditions, no stress (NS) and drought stress (DS) along with four biochar treatments (B0:0, B15:15, B30:30 and B60:60 t ha−1). Drought stress negatively affected rapeseed growth due to the over-production of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) by increasing 45 %, malondialdehyde (MDA) 21 % and electrolyte leakage (EL%) 40 % in (BO + DS) treatment as compared to control (BO + NS). However, the addition of biochar at 30 t ha−1 alleviated the hostile effects of drought stress in rapeseed to reduce the contents of MDA, H 2 O 2 , EL by increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 63 %, peroxidase (POD) 48 %, and catalase (CAT) 62 % compared to stress-controlled treatment (BO + DS). The results revealed that biochar could alleviate the harmful effects of drought stress by enhancing the activities of antioxidants, osmoprotectants, soil fertility, and the physiological processes of rapeseed which indicate that the biochar application might be a sustainable strategy to enhance rapeseed growth under drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality and nutritional status of agricultural soils are depleting gradually, and biochar is widely used in soil quality improvement. A sustainable approach of biochar application needs a better understanding of its interaction with nitrogen application and the final effect on crop growth. In our study, the effect of different biochar application levels (0, 15, 30, and 60 tons ha−1) in combination with nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 150, 300, and 450 kg ha−1) on soil properties, rice growth, and nitrogen use efficiency were investigated. The results showed that sole application of biochar (B60) did not promote the rice growth except the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen, total phosphorous, and available potassium compared with no biochar addition, while a single application of 450 kg N ha−1 (N450) adversely affected the rice physiological and yield traits by destroying rice leaf ultrastructure and reducing the stomatal length by 13%, stomatal width 3% and density 12%, plant height 5%, dry biomass plant−1 4%, spike weight plant−1 8%, and grain weight plant−1 9% compared to N300 unless it was treated in combination with biochar. Biochar can significantly compensate the toxicity of excessive nitrogen and deficiency of low nitrogen fertilizer on rice growth. Compared to a single application of B0+N450 (450 kg N ha−1), combined application of biochar and nitrogen B30+N450 could elevate rice plant nitrogen content by 13%, plant height 30%, aboveground dry biomass plant−1 136%, spike weight plant−1 34%, and grain weight plant−1 36% while increments in total nitrogen accumulation (TNA 79%%) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE 35%) were noted in B30+N300 treatment. These results suggest that biochar amendment combined with a proper amount of nitrogen fertilizer is an effective approach to promote soil conditions, manage nitrogen utilization, improve plant growth and increase crop yield on a sustainable basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper introduces the design and presents the research findings of the identification and control application for an industrial Circulation Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler. Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) model is used in the model identification where steam flow is selected as the operation-point (scheduling) variable. Three kinds of weighting functions, namely linear, cubic splines and Gaussian functions are compared. LPV model based Model Predictive Control (MPC) is also simulated. Test results show that LPV model is more accurate than linear model, and LPV MPC yields a better control effect than linear MPC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Topological insulators and their characteristics are among the most highly studied areas in condensed matter physics. Bi2Se3 nanocrystals were synthesized via chemical vapor deposition at different temperatures on a silicon substrate with a gold catalyst. The effects of temperature on the obtained Bi2Se3 nanocrystals were systematically investigated. The size and length of Bi2Se3 nanocrystals change when the temperature increases from 500 °C to 600 °C. We found that the crystallization quality of the Bi2Se3 nanocrystals synthesized at 560 °C is optimal. At this temperature, we can get the desired thickness and length of the nanocrystals, which is quite suitable for nanoscale fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]