Euler’s First-Order Explicit Method–Peridynamic Differential Operator for Solving Population Balance Equations of the Crystallization Process

Using Euler’s first-order explicit(EE)method and the peridynamic differential operator(PDDO)to discretize the time and internal crystal-size derivatives,respectively,the Euler’s first-order explicit method–peridynamic differential operator(EE–PDDO)was obtained for solving the one-dimensional population balance equation in crystallization.Four different conditions during crystallization were studied:size-independent growth,sizedependent growth in a batch process,nucleation and size-independent growth,and nucleation and size-dependent growth in a continuous process.The high accuracy of the EE–PDDO method was confirmed by comparing it with the numerical results obtained using the second-order upwind and HR-van methods.The method is characterized by non-oscillation and high accuracy,especially in the discontinuous and sharp crystal size distribution.The stability of the EE–PDDO method,choice of weight function in the PDDO method,and optimal time step are also discussed.

First-order primal-dual algorithm for sparse-view neutron computed tomography-based three-dimensional image reconstruction

Neutron computed tomography(NCT)is widely used as a noninvasive measurement technique in nuclear engineering,thermal hydraulics,and cultural heritage.The neutron source intensity of NCT is usually low and the scan time is long,resulting in a projection image containing severe noise.To reduce the scanning time and increase the image reconstruction quality,an effective reconstruction algorithm must be selected.In CT image reconstruction,the reconstruction algorithms can be divided into three categories:analytical algorithms,iterative algorithms,and deep learning.Because the analytical algorithm requires complete projection data,it is not suitable for reconstruction in harsh environments,such as strong radia-tion,high temperature,and high pressure.Deep learning requires large amounts of data and complex models,which cannot be easily deployed,as well as has a high computational complexity and poor interpretability.Therefore,this paper proposes the OS-SART-PDTV iterative algorithm,which uses the ordered subset simultaneous algebraic reconstruction technique(OS-SART)algorithm to reconstruct the image and the first-order primal–dual algorithm to solve the total variation(PDTV),for sparse-view NCT three-dimensional reconstruction.The novel algorithm was compared with other algorithms(FBP,OS-SART-TV,OS-SART-AwTV,and OS-SART-FGPTV)by simulating the experimental data and actual neutron projection experiments.The reconstruction results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the FBP,OS-SART-TV,OS-SART-AwTV,and OS-SART-FGPTV algorithms in terms of preserving edge structure,denoising,and suppressing artifacts.

Visualizing and witnessing first-order coherence,Bell nonlocality and purity by using a quantum steering ellipsoid in the non-inertial frame

A quantum steering ellipsoid(QSE)is a visual characterization for bipartite qubit systems,and it is also a novel avenue for describing and detecting quantum correlations.Herein,by using a QSE,we visualize and witness the first-order coherence(FOC),Bell nonlocality(BN)and purity under non-inertial frames.Also,the collective influences of the depolarizing channel and the non-coherence-generating channel(NCGC)on the FOC,BN and purity are investigated in the QSE formalism.The results reveal that the distance from the center of the QSE to the center of the Bloch sphere visualizes the FOC of a bipartite system,the lengths of the QSE semiaxis visualize the BN,and the QSE's shape and position dominate the purity of the system.One can capture the FOC,BN and purity via the shape and position of the QSE in the non-inertial frame.The depolarizing channel(the NCGC)gives rise to the shrinking and degradation(the periodical oscillation)of the QSE.One can use these traits to visually characterize and detect the FOC,BN and purity under the influence of external noise.Of particular note is that the condition for the QSE to achieve the center of the Bloch sphere cannot be influenced by the depolarizing channel and the NCGC.The characterization shows that the conditions for the disappearance of the FOC are invariant under the additional influences of the depolarizing channel and NCGC.

Investigation of magnetization reversal and domain structures in perpendicular synthetic antiferromagnets by first-order reversal curves and magneto-optical Kerr effect

Perpendicular synthetic-antiferromagnet(p-SAF) has broad applications in spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memory and magnetic sensors. In this study, the p-SAF films consisting of (Co/Ni)3]/Ir(tIr)/[(Ni/Co)3are fabricated by magnetron sputtering technology. We study the domain structure and switching field distribution in p-SAF by changing the thickness of the infrared space layer. The strongest exchange coupling field(Hex) is observed when the thickness of Ir layer(tIr) is 0.7 nm and becoming weak according to the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida-type coupling at 1.05 nm,2.1 nm, 4.55 nm, and 4.9 nm in sequence. Furthermore, the domain switching process between the upper Co/Ni stack and the bottom Co/Ni stack is different because of the antiferromagnet coupling. Compared with ferromagnet coupling films, the antiferromagnet samples possess three irreversible reversal regions in the first-order reversal curve distribution.With tIrincreasing, these irreversible reversal regions become denser and smaller. The results from this study will help us understand the details of the magnetization reversal process in the p-SAF.

Active disturbance rejection control on first-order plant

Conventional PI control encounters some problems when dealing with large lag process in the presence of parameter uncertainties.For the typical first-order process,an observerbased linear active disturbance rejection control（LADRC） scheme is presented to cope with the difficulties,and a reduced-order observer scheme is proposed further.Some quantitative dynamic results with regard to non-overshoot characteristics are obtained.Finally,the performance boundaries of LADRC and PI control are explicitly compared with each other,which shows that the former is more superior in most cases.

Consensus problems of first-order dynamic multi-agent systems with multiple time delays

Consensus problems of first-order multi-agent systems with multiple time delays are investigated in this paper. We discuss three cases： 1） continuous, 2） discrete, and 3） a continuous system with a proportional plus derivative controller. In each case, the system contains simultaneous communication and input time delays. Supposing a dynamic multi-agent system with directed topology that contains a globally reachable node, the sufficient convergence condition of the system is discussed with respect to each of the three cases based on the generalized Nyquist criterion and the frequency-domain analysis approach, yielding conclusions that are either less conservative than or agree with previously published results. We know that the convergence condition of the system depends mainly on each agent’s input time delay and the adjacent weights but is independent of the communication delay between agents, whether the system is continuous or discrete. Finally, simulation examples are given to verify the theoretical analysis.

First-order Derivative Spectrophotometry for the Determination of Vitamin C in Medicament

A novel method for the determination of vitamin C（Vc） is proposed in this article. After the reaction with Folin-Ciocalteau reagent at ambient temperature, Vc solution was scanned at 750--1100 nm, and its first-order derivative spectrum were obtained from the original spectrum. The values of derivative selected at 995 nm were used for determination. It was proved that Vc could quickly react with Folin-Ciocalteau reagent within 5 min and the product was quite stable for a long time. The conditions required for this method is not very complicated, its precision and accuracy are similar to those of the iodometric titration described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and the limit of detection is 0.312 μg/mL. The determination of the results of vitamin C tablet, pill, and injection demonstrates that this method has wide pharmaceutical applications.

Referring Physicians’ Knowledge on Justification of Medical Exposure in Diagnostic Imaging in a Sub-Saharan African Country, Cameroon

Background: Justification is the process of weighing the potential benefit of the exposure against potential detriment for that individual. Its role has been largely delegated to imaging professionals. Nevertheless, justification process involves referring physicians, radiographers and radiologists. Objective: To assess the knowledge of referring physicians regarding justification of irradiating examinations in medical imaging at the university-affiliated hospitals in Yaoundé Cameroon. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire (18 questions) based on the French guide for the proper use of medical imaging tests in relation to the justification of irradiating examinations, was self-administered to 151 referring physicians in Yaounde (Cameroon) between October 2012 and January 2013. The pre-tested questionnaire was completed in the presence of the investigator. A scoring system was then adopted with a total of 15 points from the level of knowledge on justification which could be classified as satisfactory or not. Results: Referring physicians were 75 (49.7%) GPs, 53 (35.1%) residents and 23 (15.2%) specialists. Knowledge on justification was unsatisfactory for 79.5% of referring physicians with no significant difference in terms of professional experience (p = 0.95) or specialty (p = 0.119). The concepts of “useful exam” and “justified exam” were not known by 113 (74.8%) and 95 (62.9%) practitioners. MRI was selected as irradiating by 62 (41.1%), SPECT and PET-scan as non-radiating examinations by 98 (64.9%) and 115 (76.1%) participants. The main reasons for repeating a giving radiology exam were: unsatisfactory interpretation, unknown of where it was performing and poor quality exam respectively for 23 (15.2%), 37 (24.5%) and 43 (28.5%) referring physicians. Justification was the responsibility of the referring physician alone for 57% of respondent. Only 11 clinicians knew the reference of “Justification-Optimization-Limitation” to radiation protection. Conclusion: The knowledge of physicians on radiating medical procedures and justification of requests for these procedures is inadequate. Training in radiation protection and the introduction of guidelines for the proper use of imaging tests could improve physicians’ justification of radiating examinations.

First-Order Symmetry Energy Induced by Neutron-Proton Mass Difference

The 1st-order symmetry energy coefficient of nuclear matter induced merely by the neutron-proton （n p） mass difference is derived analytically, which turns out to be completely model-independent. Based on this result, （npDM） the 1st-order symmetry energy Esym,1 （A） of heavy nuclei such as 2~spb induced by the np mass difference is investigated with the help of a local density approximation combined with the Skyrme energy density functionals. Although /U（npDM） Esym,1 （A） is small compared with the second-order symmetry energy, it cannot be dropped simply for an accurate estimation of nuclear masses as it is still larger than the rms deviation given by some accurate mass formulas. It is therefore suggested that one perhaps needs to distinguish the neutron mass from the proton one in the construction of nuclear density funetionals.

Characteristic-knowledge-aided spectral detection of high frequency first-order sea echo

To detect high frequency （HF） first-order sea echo spectra contaminated with ships, ionosphere interference, and other, a new characteristic-knowledge-aided detection method is proposed. With 2-D image features in range-Doppler spectrum, the trend of first-order sea echoes is extracted as indicative information by a multi-scale filter. Detection rules for both single and splitting first-order sea echoes are given based on the characteristic knowledge combining the indicative information with the global characteristics such as amplitude, symmetry, continuity, etc. Compared with the classical algorithms, the proposed method can detect and locate the first-order sea echo in the HF band more accurately especially in the environment with targets/clutters smearing. Experiments with real data verify the validity of the algorithm.

A study on equivalence of nonlinear energy dissipation between first-order computational homogenization(FOCH)and re duce d-order homogenization(ROH)methods

Nowadays,studies on the mechanism of macro-scopic nonlinear behavior of materials by accumulation of micro-scopic degradation are attracting more attention from researchers.Among numerous approaches,multiscale methods have been proved as powerful and practical approaches in predicting macro-scopic material status by averaging and homogenizing physical information from associated micro-scopic mate-rial behavior.Usually in mechanical problem,the stress,consistent material modulus,and possible mate-rial state variables are quantities in interest through the upscaling process.However,the energy-related quantities are not studied much.Some initiative work has been done in the early year including but not limited to the Hill-Mandel condition in multiscale framework,which gives that the macro-scopic elastic strain energy density can be computed by volumetric averaging of that in the micro-scale.However,in the nonlinear analysis,the energy dissipation is an important quantity to measure the degradation status.In this manuscript,two typical multiscale methods,the first-order computational homogenization(FOCH)and reduced-order homogenization(ROH),are adopted to numerically analyze a fiber-reinforced compos-ite material with capability in material nonlinearity.With numerical experiments,it can be shown that energy dissipation is the same for both approaches.

Fuzzy stochastic generalized reliability studies on embankment systems based on first-order approximation theorem

In order to address the complex uncertainties caused by interfacing between the fuzziness and randomness of the safety problem for embankment engineering projects, and to evaluate the safety of embankment engineering projects more scientifically and reasonably, this study presents the fuzzy logic modeling of the stochastic finite element method （SFEM） based on the harmonious finite element （HFE） technique using a first-order approximation theorem. Fuzzy mathematical models of safety repertories were introduced into the SFEM to analyze the stability of embankments and foundations in order to describe the fuzzy failure procedure for the random safety performance function. The fuzzy models were developed with membership functions with half depressed gamma distribution, half depressed normal distribution, and half depressed echelon distribution. The fuzzy stochastic mathematical algorithm was used to comprehensively study the local failure mechanism of the main embankment section near Jingnan in the Yangtze River in terms of numerical analysis for the probability integration of reliability on the random field affected by three fuzzy factors. The result shows that the middle region of the embankment is the principal zone of concentrated failure due to local fractures. There is also some local shear failure on the embankment crust. This study provides a referential method for solving complex multi-uncertainty problems in engineering safety analysis.

Mapping wind by the first-order Bragg scattering of broad-beam high-frequency radar

Mapping wind with high-frequency(HF)radar is still a challenge.The existing second-order spectrum based wind speed extraction method has the problems of short detection distances and low angular resolution for broadbeam HF radar.To solve these problems,we turn to the first-order Bragg spectrum power and propose a space recursion method to map surface wind.One month of radar and buoy data are processed to build a wind spreading function model and a first-order spectrum power model describing the relationship between the maximum of first-order spectrum power and wind speed in different sea states.Based on the theoretical propagation attenuation model,the propagation attenuation is calculated approximately by the wind speed in the previous range cell to compensate for the first-order spectrum in the current range-azimuth cell.By using the compensated first-order spectrum,the final wind speed is extracted in each cell.The first-order spectrum and wind spreading function models are tested using one month of buoy data,which illustrates the applicability of the two models.The final wind vector map demonstrates the potential of the method.

A POSTERIORI ERROR ESTIMATE OF THE DSD METHOD FOR FIRST-ORDER HYPERBOLIC EQUATIONS

A posteriori error estimate of the discontinuous-streamline diffusion method for first-order hyperbolic equations was presented, which can be used to adjust space mesh reasonably. A numerical example is given to illustrate the accuracy and feasibility of this method.

First-order reversal curves of magnetic recording tapes

The interaction and its variation between magnetic grains in two kinds of magnetic recording tapes are investigated by first-order reversal curves （FORC） and the 5M method. The composition and microstructure of the samples are characterised by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The FORC diagram can provide more accurate information of the interaction and its variation, but the 5M curves cannot. The positive interaction field and the large variation of the interaction field have opposite effects on the δM curve.

Efficient Mean Estimation in Log-normal Linear Models with First-order Correlated Errors

In this paper, we propose a log-normal linear model whose errors are first-order correlated, and suggest a two-stage method for the efficient estimation of the conditional mean of the response variable at the original scale. We obtain two estimators which minimize the asymptotic mean squared error （MM） and the asymptotic bias （MB）, respectively. Both the estimators are very easy to implement, and simulation studies show that they are perform better.

First-order approximate analytical expressions of oblique incident elastic wave at an interface of porous media saturated with a nonviscous fluid

The analysis technology of Amplitude Variation with Offset(AVO)is one of the important methods for oil and gas reservoir prediction.Zoeppritz equation and its approximations are the theoretical basis of AVO analysis,which assumes that the upper and lower media of a horizontal interface are single-phase media.Limited by this assumption,AVO analysis has limited prediction and identification accuracy for complex porous reservoirs.In view of this,the first-order approximate analytical expressions of oblique elastic wave at an interface of porous media are derived.Firstly,the incident and scattering characteristics of various waves at the interface of porous media are analyzed,and the displacement vectors generated by these elastic waves are described by exponential function.Secondly,the kinematic and dynamic boundary conditions at the interface of porous media are discussed.Thirdly,by substituting the displacement vectors of incident and scattered waves into boundary conditions,the exact analytical equation is derived.Then,considering the symmetry of scattering matrix in the equation,the exact analytical expressions of each scattered wave are obtained.Furthermore,under the assumptions of small incident angle,weak elasticity at an interface of porous media,and ignoring the second-and higherorder terms,the first-order approximate analytical expressions are derived.Establishing a model of sandstone porous media with different porosity in upper and lower media,the correctness of the approximate analytical expressions is verified,and the elastic wave response characteristics of lithology and pore fluids are analyzed.

Fast First-Order Methods for Minimizing Convex Composite Functions

Two new versions of accelerated first-order methods for minimizing convex composite functions are proposed. In this paper, we first present an accelerated first-order method which chooses the step size 1/ Lk to be 1/ L0 at the beginning of each iteration and preserves the computational simplicity of the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm. The first proposed algorithm is a non-monotone algorithm. To avoid this behavior, we present another accelerated monotone first-order method. The proposed two accelerated first-order methods are proved to have a better convergence rate for minimizing convex composite functions. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed two accelerated first-order methods.

SEVERAL CLASSES OF INTEGRABLE NONLINEAR ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS(Ⅰ)FIRST-ORDER EQUATIONS

In this paper we give some results of integrability and several classes of integrable equations of first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Many known results of integrability and integrable equations are special cases of them. They may be applied in physics and mechanics, and to derive soliton equations and find soliton solutions.

First-order optimality condition of basis pursuit denoise problem

A new first-order optimality condition for the basis pursuit denoise （BPDN） problem is derived. This condition provides a new approach to choose the penalty param- eters adaptively for a fixed point iteration algorithm. Meanwhile, the result is extended to matrix completion which is a new field on the heel of the compressed sensing. The numerical experiments of sparse vector recovery and low-rank matrix completion show validity of the theoretic results.