A fast and automatic full-potential finite volume solver on Cartesian grids for unconventional configurations

To meet the requirements of fast and automatic computation of subsonic and transonic aerodynamics in aircraft conceptual design,a novel finite volume solver for full potential flows on adaptive Cartesian grids is developed in this paper.Cartesian grids with geometric adaptation are firstly generated automatically with boundary cells processed by cell-cutting and cell-merging algorithms.The nonlinear full potential equation is discretized by a finite volume scheme on these Cartesian grids and iteratively solved in an implicit fashion with a generalized minimum residual（GMRES） algorithm.During computation,solution-based mesh adaptation is also applied so as to capture flow features more accurately.An improved ghost-cell method is proposed to implement the non-penetration wall boundary condition where the velocity-potential of a ghost cell is modified by an analytic method instead.According to the characteristics of the Cartesian grids,the Kutta condition is applied by specially computing the gradients on Kutta-faces without directly assigning the potential jump to cells adjacent wake faces,which can significantly improve the solution converging speed.The feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method are validated by several typical cases of sub/transonic flows around an ONERA M6 wing,a DLR-F4 wing-body,and an unconventional figuration of a blended wing body（BWB）.The validation cases demonstrate a fast convergence with fully automatic grid treatment and computation,and the results suggest its capacity in application for aircraft conceptual design.

Objective visual performance evaluation with visual evoked potential measurements based on an adaptive optics system

An objective visual performance evaluation with visual evoked potential （VEP） measurements was first inte- grated into an adaptive optics （AO） system. The optical and neural limits to vision can be bypassed through this system. Visual performance can be measured electrophysiologically with VEP, which reflects the objective func- tion from the retina to the primary visual cortex. The VEP ts without and with AO correction were preliminarily carried out using this system, demonstrating the great potential of this system in the objective visual performance evaluation. The new system will provide the necessary technique and equipment support for the further study of human visual function.

POTENTIAL VORTICITY ADAPTATION PROCESS IN BAROCLINIC ATMOSPHERE

Starting from the primary equations and using the method of multiple timescale, theauthor derives three stages of baroclinic atm ospheric motion, i.e. the stage of geostrophicadaptation the stage of quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity adaptation and the balanced state.The potential vorticity adaptation comes into being through the process in which long wavesdisperse unbalanced energy. It is demonstrated by means of energy variation that under non-linear condition, the quasi-geostrophic evolution in which the potential vorticity conserves in-evitably leads to a quasi-balanced state. In this balanced state isolines of energy, stream lines andisohypses run parallel with each other. The first order approximation of this balanced stateis the so-called balance equation. Thus in nonlinear atmosphere this balanced state is moregeneral than the quasi-geostrophic balance. This result is significant for mid-range and long-range weather evolution.

Correlation of DNA methylation patterns to the phenotypic features of Tibetan elite alpinists in extreme hypoxia

High altitude is an extreme environment that imposes hypoxic pressure on physiological processes,and natives living at high altitudes are more adaptive in certain physiological processes.So far,epigenetic modifications under extreme changes in hypoxic pressures are relatively less understood.Here,we recruit 32 Tibetan elite alpinists(TEAs),who have successfully mounted Everest(8848 m)at least five times.Blood samples and physiological phenotypes of TEAs and 32 matched non-alpinist Tibetan volunteers(non-TEAs)are collected for analysis.Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis identifies 23,202 differentially methylated CpGs(P_(adj)<0.05,|β|>0.1)between the two groups.Some differentially methylated CpGs are in hypoxia-related genes such as PPP1R13L,MAP3K7CL,SEPTI-9,and CUL2.In addition,Gene ontology enrichment analysis reveals several inflammation-related pathways.Phenotypic analysis indicates that 12 phenotypes are significantly different between the two groups.In particular,TEAs exhibit higher blood oxygen saturation levels and lower neutrophil count,platelet count,and heart rate.For DNA methylation association analysis,we find that two CpGs(cg16687447,cg06947206)upstream of PTEN were associated with platelet count.In conclusion,extreme hypoxia exposure leads to epigenetic modifications and phenotypic alterations of TEA,providing us clues for exploring the molecular mechanism underlying changes under extreme hypoxia conditions.

Sensitivity of tropical cyclone damage costs to integrated wind profile

The dramatic tropical cyclone(TC)damages in coastal areas around the world have gained significant attention from asset owners,policy makers and engineers.The estimate of TC damage for a specific region of interest is informative of the preparedness and resilience of the area subjected to TC hazards,and thus should be conducted using a quantitative approach.A reasonable indicator of TC damage should incorporate not only the TC characteristics(e.g.,intensity,frequency and duration)but also the vulnerability of the TC-prone areas.In this paper,a new indicator is proposed to measure the TC threat,which takes into account both the TC characteristics and the vulnerability of the area.The indicator has two forms:the first one considers the maximum wind speed only and the second incorporates the integrated wind speed profile.The historical damage scenarios along the US East Coast,as well as those in Hong Kong,China,are examined to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed indicator.Results show that the proposed indicator is capable of representing the impact of TC wind field profile on the TC damage costs.The proposed indicator could be further used to project the future TC damages for areas subjected to TC hazards.