Reliability of gas holdup measurements using the differential pressure method in a cyclone-static micro-bubble flotation column

Gas holdup is one of the key parameters in flotation process. Gas holdup as measured by a differential pressure method was investigated and the relative errors compared to the average gas holdup from the volume expansion method. The errors were used to establish optimum measurement positions. The results show that the measurement position should be in the middle of the column and in the region half way from the center to the wall (the half-radius). The gas holdup along the axial direction is lower at the bottom and higher at the top of the floatation column. The gas holdup along the radial direction is lower near the wall and higher near the center of the flotation column. The average gas holdup measure- ment can be replaced by regional gas holdup values.

Differentiation of Positional Isomers of Propyl Alcohols Using Filament-Induced Fluorescence

We experimentally demonstrate the recognition of positional isomers of propyl alcohol vapor through nonlinear fluorescence induced by high-intensity femtosecond laser filaments in air. By measuring characteristic fluorescence of n-propyl and isopropyl alcohol vapors produced by femtosecond filament excitation, it is found that they show identical spectra, that is, those from molecular bands of CH, C2, Nit, OH and CN, while the relative intensities are different. By comparing the ratios of the CH and C2 signals, the two propyl alcohol isomers are differentiated. The different signal intensities are ascribed to different ionization potentials of the two isomer molecules, leading to different production efficiencies of fluorescing fragments.

On Skew Triangular Matrix Rings

In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of positive solutions for a system of multi-order fractional differential equations. The system is used to represent constitutive relation for viscoelastic model of fractional differential equations. Our results are based on the fixed point theorems of increasing operator and the cone theory, some illustrative examples are also presented.

Extended tanh-function Method for Solving Traveling Wave Solutions of Nonlinear Kundu Equation

In this paper, we study the existence of multiple positive periodic solutions for the second order differential equation x′′（t） ＋ p（t）x′（t） ＋ q（t）x（t） = f（t, x（t））.By using Krasnoselskii fixed point theorem, we establish some criteria for the existence and multiple positive periodic solutions for this differential equation.

Carrier phase-based ionospheric observables using PPP models

The ionosphere is one of the major error sources in Global Navigation Satellite System （GNSS） posi- tioning, navigation and timing. Estimating the ionospheric delays precisely is of great interest in the GNSS community. To date, GNSS observables for ionospheric estimation are most commonly based on carrier phase smoothed code measurements. However, leveling errors, which affect the performance of ionospheric modeling and differential code bias （DCB） estimation, exist in the carrier phase smoothed code observations. Such leveling errors are caused by the multipath and the short-term variation of DCB. To reduce these leveling errors, this paper investigates and estimates the ionospheric delays based on carrier phase measurements without the leveling errors. The line-of-sight ionospheric observables with high precision are calculated using precise point positioning （PPP） techniques, in which carrier phase measurements are the principal observables. Ionosphere-free and UofC PPP models are applied and compared for their effectiveness to minimize the leveling errors. To assess the leveling errors, single difference of ionospheric observables for a short baseline is examined. Results show that carrier phase- derived ionospheric observables from PPP techniques can effectively reduce the leveling errors. Furthermore, we compared the PPP ionosphere estimation model with the conventional carrier phase smoothed code method to assess the bias consistency and investigate the biases in the ionospheric observables.

Preliminary assessment of the navigation and positioning performance of BeiDou regional navigation satellite system

BeiDou regional navigation satellite system （BDS） also called BeiDou-2 has been in full operation since December 27, 2012. It consists of 14 satellites, including 5 satellites in Geostationary Orbit （GEO）, 5 satellites in Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit （IGSO）, and 4 satellites in Medium Earth Orbit （MEO）. In this paper, its basic navigation and positioning performance are evaluated preliminarily by the real data collected in Beijing, including satellite visibility, Position Dilution of Precision （PDOP） value, the precision of code and carrier phase measurements, the accuracy of single point positioning and differential position- ing and ambiguity resolution （AR） performance, which are also compared with those of GPS. It is shown that the precision of BDS code and carrier phase measurements are about 33 cm and 2 mm, respectively, which are comparable to those of GPS, and the accuracy of BDS single point positioning has satisfied the design requirement. The real-time kinematic positioning is also feasible by BDS alolae in the opening condition, since its fixed rate and reliability of single-epoch dual-frequency AR is comparable to those of GPS. The accuracy of BDS carrier phase differential positioning is better than 1 cm for a very short baseline of 4.2 m and 3 cm for a short baseline of 8.2 km, which is on the same level with that of GPS. For the combined BDS and GPS, the fixed rate and reliability of single-epoch AR and the positioning accuracy are improved significantly. The accu- racy of BDS/GPS carrier phase differential positioning is about 35 and 20 % better than that of GPS for two short baseline tests in this study. The accuracy of BDS code differential positioning is better than 2.5 m. However it is worse than that of GPS, which may result from large code multipath errors of BDS GEO satellite measurements.

Physics of ferroelectric differential capacitance based upon free energy, and implications for use in electronic devices

In this paper,it is shown that for stable,steady state operation of devices typical of microwave and millimeter wave electronics,no negative differential capacitance is possible with conventional thinking.However,it may be possible,with strain engineering of materials,to obtain some if not all elements of the differential capacitance tensor which are negative.Rigorous derivations are provided based upon analyzing the physics using thermodynamic phenomenological free energy.It should be emphasized that,even with strain engineering,and possible discovery of some negative capacitive elements,stable operation will not be obtained because the thermodynamics precludes it.

Differential attack on nonlinear combined sequences

By using the coding properties and statistic properties of the plaintext,the differential properties of the key stream sequences generated by a nonlinear combined generator were analyzed.Then a differential attack algorithm on the nonlinear combined sequences was proposed.At last,an attack example adopting the differential attack algorithm was presented.

The first airborne scalar gravimetry system based on SINS/DGPS in China

China has developed an airborne gravimetry system based on SINS/DGPS named SGA-WZ, the first system in which a strap- down inertial navigation system （SINS） has been used for airborne gravimetry in China. This gravity measurement system consists of a strap-down inertial navigation system and a differential global positioning system （DGPS）. In April 2010, a flight test was carried out in Shandong Province of China to test the accuracy of this system. The test was designed to assess the re- peatability and accuracy of the system. Two repeated flights and six grid flights were made. The flying altitude was about 400 m. The average flying speed was about 60 m/s, which corresponds to a spatial resolution of 4.8 km when using 160-s cutoff low-pass filter. This paper describes the data processing of the system. The evaluation of the internal precision is based on repeated flights and differences in crossover points. Gravity results in this test from the repeated flight lines show that the re- peatability of the repeat lines is 1.6 mGal with a spatial resolution of 4.8 kin, and the internal precision of grid flight data is 3.2 mGal with a spatial resolution of 4.8 km. There are some systematic errors in the gravity results, which can be modeled using trigonometric function. After the systematic errors are compensated, the precision of grid flight data can be better than 1 mGal.

Epigenome-wide DNA methylation study of whole blood in patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background:Epigenetics,and especially DNA methylation,contributes to the pathogenesis of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(SALS).This study aimed to investigate the role of DNA methylation in SALS using whole blood of SALS patients.Methods::In total,32 SALS patients and 32 healthy controls were enrolled in this study.DNA was isolated from whole blood collected from the participants.DNA methylation profiles were generated using Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip.Results:We identified 34 significant differentially methylated positions(DMPs)in whole blood from SALS patients,compared with the healthy controls.Of these DMPs,five were hypermethylated and 29 were hypomethylated;they corresponded to 13 genes.For the DMPs,ATAD3B and BLK were hypermethylated,whereas DDO,IQCE,ABCB1,DNAH9,FIGN,NRP1,TMEM87B,CCSAP,ST6GALNAC5,MYOM2,and RUSC1-AS1 were hypomethylated.We also identified 12 differentially methylated regions(DMRs),related to 12 genes(NWD1,LDHD,CIS,IQCE,TNF,PDE1C,LGALS1,CSNK1E,LRRC23,ENO2,ELOVL2,and ELOVL2-AS1).According to data from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database,DNAH9 and TNF are involved in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)pathway.Correlation analysis between clinical features and DNA methylation profiling indicated that the methylation level of ELOVL2 and ARID1B was positively associated with the age of onset(r=0.86,adjust P=0.001)and disease duration(r=0.83,adjust P=0.01),respectively.Conclusions:We found aberrant methylation in DMP-and DMR-related genes,implying that many epigenetic alterations,such as the hypomethylation of DNAH9 and TNF,play important roles in ALS etiology.These findings can be helpful for developing new therapeutic interventions.