A polarization sensitive interferometer:Delta interferometer

A new type of polarization sensitive interferometer is proposed,named the Delta interferometer,inspired by its geometry resembling the Greek letter Delta.The main difference between the Delta interferometer and other existing interferometers,such as Michelson,Mach-Zehnder and Young's double-slit interferometers,is that the two interfering paths are asymmetrical in the Delta interferometer.The visibility of the first-order interference pattern observed in the Delta interferometer is dependent on the polarization of the incidental light.Optical coherence theory is employed to interpret this phenomenon and single-mode continuous-wave laser light is employed to verify the theoretical predictions.The theoretical and experimental results are consistent.The Delta interferometer is a perfect tool to study the reflection of electromagnetic fields in different polarizations and may find applications in polarization-sensitive scenarios.

Application of the monitoring and early warning system for internal solitary waves:Take the second natural gas hydrates production test in the South China Sea as an example

Internal solitary waves(ISWs) contain great energy and have the characteristics of emergency and concealment. To avoid their damage to offshore engineering, a new generation of monitoring and early warning system for ISWs was developed using technologies of double buoys monitoring, intelligent realtime data transmission, and automatic software identification. The system was applied to the second natural gas hydrates(NGHs) production test in the Shenhu Area, South China Sea(SCS) and successfully provided the early warning of ISWs for 173 days(from October 2019 to April 2020). The abrupt changes in the thrust force of the drilling platform under the attack of ISWs were consistent with the early warning information, proving the reliability of this system. A total of 93 ISWs were detected around the drilling platform. Most of them occurred during the spring tides in October–December 2019 and April 2020, while few of them occurred in winter. As suggested by the theoretical model, the full-depth structure of ISWs was a typical current profile of mode-1, and the velocities of wave-induced currents can reach 80 cm/s and30 cm/s, respectively, in the upper ocean and near the seabed. The ISWs may be primarily generated from the interactions between the topography and semidiurnal tides in the Luzon Strait, and then propagate westward to the drilling platform. This study could serve as an important reference for the early warning of ISWs for offshore engineering construction in the future.

The second natural gas hydrate production test in the South China Sea

Clayey silt reservoirs bearing natural gas hydrates(NGH)are considered to be the hydrate-bearing reservoirs that boast the highest reserves but tend to be the most difficult to exploit.They are proved to be exploitable by the first NGH production test conducted in the South China Sea in 2017.Based on the understanding of the first production test,the China Geological Survey determined the optimal target NGH reservoirs for production test and conducted a detailed assessment,numerical and experimental simulation,and onshore testing of the reservoirs.After that,it conducted the second offshore NGH production test in 1225 m deep Shenhu Area,South China Sea(also referred to as the second production test)from October 2019 to April 2020.During the second production test,a series of technical challenges of drilling horizontal wells in shallow soft strata in deep sea were met,including wellhead stability,directional drilling of a horizontal well,reservoir stimulation and sand control,and accurate depressurization.As a result,30 days of continuous gas production was achieved,with a cumulative gas production of 86.14×104 m3.Thus,the average daily gas production is 2.87×10^4 m^3,which is 5.57 times as much as that obtained in the first production test.Therefore,both the cumulative gas production and the daily gas production were highly improved compared to the first production test.As indicated by the monitoring results of the second production test,there was no anomaly in methane content in the seafloor,seawater,and atmosphere throughout the whole production test.This successful production test further indicates that safe and effective NGH exploitation is feasible in clayey silt NGH reservoirs.The industrialization of hydrates consists of five stages in general,namely theoretical research and simulation experiments,exploratory production test,experimental production test,productive production test,and commercial production.The second production test serves as an important step from the exploratory production test to experimental production test.

Preliminary results of environmental monitoring of the natural gas hydrate production test in the South China Sea

Natural gas hydrate (NGH)is considered as one of the new clean energy sources of the 21st century with the highest potential.The environmental issues of NGH production have attracted the close attention of scientists in various countries.From May 10 to July 9,2017,the first offshore NGH production test in the South China Sea (SCS)was conducted by the China Geological Survey.In addition,environmental security has also been effectively guaranteed via a comprehensive environmental monitoring system built during the NGH production test.The monitoring system considered sea-surface atmosphere methane and carbon dioxide concentrations,dissolved methane in the sea water column,and the seafloor physical oceanography and marine chemistry environment.The whole process was monitored via multiple means, in multiple layers,in all domains,and in real time.After the production test,an environmental investigation was promptly conducted to evaluate the environmental impact of the NGH production test. The monitoring results showed that the dissolved methane concentration in seawater and the near-seabed environment characteristics after the test were consistent with the background values,indicating that the NGH production test did not cause environmental problems such as methane leakage.

Treatment of Post-traumatic Pediatric Ankle Varus Deformity with Physeal Bar Resection and Hemi-Epiphysiodesis

Children presenting with partial physeal arrest and significant remaining growth may benefit from physeal bar resection,although the operation is a technique demanding procedure.This study evaluates the treatment of post-traumatic pediatric ankle varus deformity using physeal bar resection and hemi-epiphysiodesis with the assistance of two operative methods.Forty-five patients presenting with a distal tibial medial physeal bridge as well as ankle varus deformity following traumatic ankle physeal injury between 2009 and 2017 were followed.These patients were treated w让h physeal bar resection and hemi-epiphysiodesis,with the assistance of either fluoroscopy (10 cases) or intraoperative three-dimensional navigation (35 cases).Of the 45 cases,the median age was 9.0 years (range:3-14 years) with 28 male and 17 female patients.The median of pre-operation ankle varus angle was 20 degrees (IQR 15-25) and 5 degrees (IQR 0-20) at the time of final follow up,representing a statistically significant difference (P<0.05).No differences were observed with regards to age,gender,and surgical history between effective group and ineffective group (P>0.05).The median of pre-operative ankle varus angles of the navigation and fluoroscopy groups were both 20 degrees (P>0.05).The median correction angle of the navigation and fluoroscopy groups was 10 and 15 degrees,respectively (P>0.05).Our results indicate that physeal bar resection and hemiepiphysiodesis are effective treatments for correcting ankle varus deformity due to traumatic medial physeal arrest of the distal tibia.We observe no difference in outcome between fluoroscopy group and three-dimensional navigation group during the procedures.

Forest characteristics and population structure of Glyptostrobus pensilis, a globally endangered relict species of southeastern China

The Chinese water pine Glyptostrobus pensilis is the sole surviving species of the genus Glyptostrobus. It is endemic to southern China, central Vietnam, and eastern Laos, and today it is nearly extinct in the wild. Forest community characteristics and population structure of G. pensilis in China have remained un-known up to now. We investigated six swamp forest stands and analyzed their forest community characteristics (i.e. vertical stratification, species composition, and diversity) and population structure, including the frequency distribution of DBH (diameter at breast height) and age-classes as found in Fujian Province, southeastern China. The vertical stratifications of all the forest stands were rather simple. The remaining wild specimens ranged from roughly 15 to some 357 years for an average of ca. 85 years, with only a few individuals less than 20 years old. Compared with the stands and populations of G. pensilis in Vietnam, the taxonomic compositions of the stands in the two regions were different, except for the dominant species-G. pensilis. The Shannon-Wiener index showed the overstory of each stand had much lower diversity (0.26 on average) in Fujian Province than that (1.97 on average) in Vietnam, whereas the diversity indices were about the same (around 2.41) for the understories in the two regions. Furthermore, we discovered 18 G. pensilis seedlings at the study sites in Fujian Province. This discovery demonstrates that G. pensilis regeneration is extremely poor and its populations are declining, although these populations are rela-tively healthier than those in Vietnam.

Stability analysis of seabed strata and casing structure during the natural gas hydrates exploitation by depressurization in horizontal wells in South China Sea

Natural gas hydrates(NGHs)are a new type of clean energy with great development potential.However,it is urgent to achieve safe and economical NGHs development and utilization.This study established a physical model of the study area using the FLAC^(3D) software based on the key parameters of the NGHs production test area in the South China Sea,including the depressurization method,and mechanical parameters of strata,NGHs occurrence characteristics,and the technological characteristics of horizontal wells.Moreover,this study explored the law of influences of the NGHs dissociation range on the stability of the overburden strata and the casing structure of a horizontal well.The results are as follows.With the dissociation of NGHs,the overburden strata of the NGHs dissociation zone subsided and formed funnelshaped zones and then gradually stabilized.However,the upper interface of the NGHs dissociation zone showed significant redistribution and discontinuity of stress.Specifically,distinct stress concentration and corresponding large deformation occurred in the build-up section of the horizontal well,which was thus prone to suffering shear failure.Moreover,apparent end effects occurred at the end of the horizontal well section and might cause the deformation and failure of the casing structure.Therefore,it is necessary to take measures in the build-up section and at the end of the horizontal section of the horizontal well to prevent damage and ensure the wellbore safety in the long-term NGHs exploitation.

Study of the gluonic quartic gauge couplings at muon colliders

The potential of muon colliders opens up new possibilities for the exploration of new physics beyond the Standard Model.It is worthwhile to investigate whether muon colliders are suitable for studying gluonic quartic gauge couplings(gQGCs),which can be contributed by dimension-8 operators in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory,and are intensively studied recently.In this paper,we study the sensitivity of the processμ^(+)μ^(-)→jjν■to gQGCs.Our results indicate that the muon colliders with c.m.energies larger than 4 TeV can be more sensitive to gQGCs than the Large Hadron Collider.