Studying and Estimating Visual Pollution in Irbid City (Centre of Irbid City-Case Study)

Despite the global attention towards pollution,it remains a significant global threat and challenge for both developed and developing countries.Urbanization and economic development influence different types of pollution.Visual pollution is considered a new phenomenon referring to the impact of existing and growing mainstream pollution which impairs an individual’s ability to enjoy visits or views.Recently,Jordanian cities have expanded in response to urbanization and ongoing development.Irbid City has the second largest population in Jordan after the capital Amman City highest population density in Jordan.In the modern era,Irbid City dramatically increased in population and dimension.The growth of the demographic population has been significant and has led to overpopulation,rapid urbanization,and unresolved problems associated with spatial planning and infrastructures leading to different types of pollution including visual pollution.The study area focuses on the city center with the most crowded population through field visits and actual observations.The study technique is descriptive and analytical,with a focus on meticulous monitoring and a follow-up-based questionnaire which is a tool for the study,involving data collection,classification,presentation,analysis,interpretation,and exploration to identify new facts and generalizations that can help solve current issues of visual pollution.The study provides recommendations for Irbid Municipal to eliminate visual pollution,in parallel with stricter supervision from the municipality during the building process to ensure proper implementation of the new rules,adopting an integrated policy for the city with the rest of the social,political,sensory,cultural,economic,and functional aspects,so that this policy is in the short and long term.

Metamorphopsia after surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Improvements in surgical techniques have led to 90% success in the surgical repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment(RRD).However,anatomical reattachment of the retina does not ensure complete recovery of visual function.The incidence of metamorphopsia remains the most common postoperative complaint,from 24% to 88.6%.Currently,the risk factors of metamorphopsia are categorized into macular involvement,retinal shift,outer retinal folds,subretinal fluid,secondary epiretinal membrane,outer retinal layer damage,and surgical approach.The associations of metamorphopsia with postoperative best-corrected visual acuity and postoperative vision-related quality of life were still controversial.The most popular methods for assessment of metamorphopsia remain the Amsler grid and M-Charts.Most treatments cannot progress beyond the management of negative visual sensations,through methods such as occlusion therapy and aniseikonia-correcting spectacles.The main treatment approach involves RRD prevention and the management of risk factors that can lead to postoperative metamorphopsia after RRD repair.Additional research concerning metamorphopsia treatment,further upgrades of auxiliary inspection methods,and more accurate microstructural assessments are needed to address this common complication.

Correcting on-chip distortion of control pulses with silicon spin qubits

In semiconductor quantum dot systems,pulse distortion is a significant source of coherent errors,which impedes qubit characterization and control.Here,we demonstrate two calibration methods using a two-qubit system as the detector to correct distortion and calibrate the transfer function of the control line.Both methods are straightforward to implement,robust against noise,and applicable to a wide range of qubit types.The two methods differ in correction accuracy and complexity.The first,coarse predistortion(CPD)method,partially mitigates distortion.The second,all predistortion(APD)method,measures the transfer function and significantly enhances exchange oscillation uniformity.Both methods use exchange oscillation homogeneity as the metric and are suitable for any qubit driven by a diabatic pulse.We believe these methods will enhance qubit characterization accuracy and operation quality in future applications.

Cascaded ELM-Based Joint Frame Synchronization and Channel Estimation over Rician Fading Channel with Hardware Imperfections

Due to the interdependency of frame synchronization(FS)and channel estimation(CE),joint FS and CE(JFSCE)schemes are proposed to enhance their functionalities and therefore boost the overall performance of wireless communication systems.Although traditional JFSCE schemes alleviate the influence between FS and CE,they show deficiencies in dealing with hardware imperfection(HI)and deterministic line-of-sight(LOS)path.To tackle this challenge,we proposed a cascaded ELM-based JFSCE to alleviate the influence of HI in the scenario of the Rician fading channel.Specifically,the conventional JFSCE method is first employed to extract the initial features,and thus forms the non-Neural Network(NN)solutions for FS and CE,respectively.Then,the ELMbased networks,named FS-NET and CE-NET,are cascaded to capture the NN solutions of FS and CE.Simulation and analysis results show that,compared with the conventional JFSCE methods,the proposed cascaded ELM-based JFSCE significantly reduces the error probability of FS and the normalized mean square error(NMSE)of CE,even against the impacts of parameter variations.

Engineering Thermoelectric Performance of α-GeTe by Ferroelectric Distortion

The rhombohedralα-GeTe can be approximated as a slightly distorted rock-salt structure along its[111]direction and possesses superb thermoelectric performance.However,the role of such a ferroelectric-like structural distortion on its transport properties remains unclear.Herein,we performed a systematic study on the crystal structure and electronic band structure evolutions of Ge_(1-x)Sn_(x)Te alloys where the degree of ferroelectric distortion is continuously tuned.It is revealed that the band gap is maximized while multiple valence bands are converged at x=0.6,where the ferroelectric distortion is the least but still works.Once undistorted,the band gap is considerably reduced,and the valence bands are largely separated again.Moreover,near the ferro-to-paraelectric phase transition Curie temperature,the lattice thermal conductivity reaches its minima because of significant lattice softening enabled by ferroelectric instability.We predict a peak ZT value of 2.6 at 673 K inα-GeTe by use of proper dopants which are powerful in suppressing the excess hole concentrations but meanwhile exert little influence on the ferroelectric distortion.

Performance Assessment of a Real PV System Connected to a Low-Voltage Grid

The generation of photovoltaic(PV)solar energy is increasing continuously because it is renewable,unlimited,and clean energy.In the past,generation systems depended on non-renewable sources such as oil,coal,and gas.Therefore,this paper assesses the performance of a 51 kW PV solar power plant connected to a low-voltage grid to feed an administrative building in the 6th of October City,Egypt.The performance analysis of the considered grid-connected PV system is carried out using power system simulator for Engineering(PSS/E)software.Where the PSS/E program,monitors and uses the power analyzer that displays the parameters and measures some parameters such as current,voltage,total power,power factor,frequency,and current and voltage harmonics,the used inverter from the type of grid inverter for the considered system.The results conclude that when the maximum solar radiation is reached,the maximum current can be obtained from the solar panels,thus obtaining the maximum power and power factor.Decreasing total voltage harmonic distortion,a current harmonic distortion within permissible limits using active harmonic distortion because this type is fast in processing up to 300 microseconds.The connection between solar stations and the national grid makes the system more efficient.

船舶进气畸变模拟板结构设计与参数分析

Significant aerodynamic engine instability can occur during the operation of marine gas turbines as airflow enters the compressor through a 90°turning and causes inlet distortion.This study adopts the method of simulating board equivalence to provide the target distortion flow field for ship compressors.The characteristics of the flow field behind the simulated board are obtained through experiments and numerical simulations,through which the relationship between the height of the simulated board and the total pressure distortion is elucidated.Subsequently,the study summarizes the prediction formula to achieve a distortion prediction of 0.8%–7.8%.In addition,this work analyzes the effects of drilling methods and diameters on flow nonuniformity by drilling holes into the simulation board.The results indicate that drilling holes on the board can weaken the nonuniformity of the flow field within a certain range and change the distribution pattern of total pressure in the cross-section.Furthermore,the total pressure distortion no longer changes significantly when the number of holes is too large.The proposed double simulation board structure is capable of obtaining the following two types of distorted flow fields:symmetrical dual lowpressure zones and low-pressure zones with high distortion intensity at the compressor inlet.The distortion equivalent simulation method proposed in this work can obtain various types of distortion spectra,thereby meeting the distortion parameter requirements for the antidistortion testing of marine engines.

Regulation of the quantum barrier and carrier transport toward high-efficiency quasi-2D Dion-Jacobson tin perovskite solar cells

Quasi-2D Dion-Jacobson(DJ)tin halide perovskite has attracted much attention due to its elimination of Van der Waals gap and enhanced environmental stability.However,the bulky organic spacers usually form a natural quantum well structure,which brings a large quantum barrier and poor film quality,further limiting the carrier transport and device performance.Here,we designed three organic spacers with different chain lengths(ethylenediamine(EDA),1,3-propanediamine(PDA),and 1,4-butanediamine(BDA))to investigate the quantum barrier dependence.Theoretical and experimental characterizations indicate that EDA with short chain can reduce the lattice distortion and dielectric confinement effect,which is beneficial to the effective dissociation of excitons and the inhibition of trap-free non-radiative relaxation.In addition,EDA cation shows strong interaction with the inorganic octahedron,realizing large aggregates in precursor solution and high-quality films with improved structural stability.Furthermore,femtosecond transient absorption proves that EDA cations can also weaken the formation of small n-phases with large quantum barrier to achieve effective carrier transport between different nphases.Finally,the quasi-2D DJ(EDA)FA_(9)Sn_(10)I_(31)solar cells achieves a 7.07%power conversion efficiency with good environment stability.Therefore,this work sheds light on the regulation of the quantum barrier and carrier transport through the chain length of organic spacer for qua si-2D DJ lead-free perovskites.

Predicting impact strength of perforated targets using artificial neural networks trained on FEM-generated datasets

The paper considers application of artificial neural networks(ANNs)for fast numerical evaluation of a residual impactor velocity for a family of perforated PMMA(Polymethylmethacrylate)targets.The ANN models were trained using sets of numerical results on impact of PMMA plates obtained via dynamic FEM coupled with incubation time fracture criterion.The developed approach makes it possible to evaluate the impact strength of a particular target configuration without complicated FEM calculations which require considerable computational resources.Moreover,it is shown that the ANN models are able to predict results for the configurations which cannot be processed using the developed FEM routine due to numerical instabilities and errors:the trained neural network uses information from successful computations to obtain results for the problematic cases.A simple static problem of a perforated plate deformation is discussed prior to the impact problem and preferable ANN architectures are presented for both problems.Some insight into the perforation pattern optimization using a genetic algorithm coupled with the ANN is also made and optimized perforation patterns which theoretically enhance the target impact strength are constructed.

Local tetragonal distortion of Pt alloy catalysts for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction efficiency

Platinum-based alloy nanoparticles are the most attractive catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction at present,but an in-depth understanding of the relationship between their short-range structural information and catalytic performance is still lacking.Herein,we present a synthetic strategy that uses transition-metal oxide-assisted thermal diffusion.PtCo/C catalysts with localized tetragonal distortion were obtained by controlling the thermal diffusion process of transition-metal elements.This localized structural distortion induced a significant strain effect on the nanoparticle surface,which further shortened the length of the Pt-Pt bond,improved the electronic state of the Pt surface,and enhanced the performance of the catalyst.PtCo/C catalysts with special short-range structures achieved excellent mass activity(2.27 Amg_(Pt)^(-1))and specific activity(3.34 A cm^(-2)).In addition,the localized tetragonal distortion-induced surface compression of the Pt skin improved the stability of the catalyst.The mass activity decreased by only 13% after 30,000 cycles.Enhanced catalyst activity and excellent durability have also been demonstrated in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell configuration.This study provides valuable insights into the development of advanced Pt-based nanocatalysts and paves the way for reducing noble-metal loading and increasing the catalytic activity and catalyst stability.

SCATTERING FOR THE FRACTIONAL MAGNETIC SCHRODINGER OPERATORS

In this paper,we prove the existence of the scattering operator for the fractional magnetic Schrodinger operators.In order to do this,we construct the fractional distorted Fourier transforms with magnetic potentials.Applying the properties of the distorted Fourier transforms,the existence and the asymptotic completeness of the wave operators are obtained.Furthermore,we prove the absence of positive eigenvalues for fractional magnetic Schrodinger operators.

Linear magnetoresistance and structural distortion in layered SrCu_(4-x)P_(2) single crystals

We report a systematic study on layered metal SrCu_(4-x)P_(2) single crystals via transport, magnetization, thermodynamic measurements and structural characterization. We find that the crystals show large linear magnetoresistance without any sign of saturation with a magnetic field up to 30T. We also observe a phase transition with significant anomalies in resistivity and heat capacity at T_(p)~140 K. Thermal expansion measurement reveals a subtle lattice parameter variation near Tp, i.e.,?L_(c)/L_(c)~0.062%. The structural characterization confines that there is no structure transition below and above T_(p). All these results suggest that the nonmagnetic transition of SrCu_(4-x)P_(2) could be associated with structural distortion.

Approach Based on Response-Surface Method to Optimize Lining of Dies Used in 3D Free-Bending Forming Technology

In three-dimensional free-bending forming(3D-FBF),the tube is not overly constrained,and the plastic deformation behavior and forming quality of the bent tube are significantly affected by the critical structure of the forming die lining.However,the effects of die-lining structural parameters on the tube quality,and a method to determine the combination of die-lining structural parameters is yet to be devised.This study aims to propose a new framework that allows one to understand the effects of various die-lining structural parameters on tube quality and to propose the best combination of die-lining structural parameters.First,finite-element modeling is performed to simulate 3D-FBF and examine the effects of individual die-lining structures on the quality of tube formation.The simulation results show that the deformation-zone length and die gap are positively correlated with the tube-section distortion and wall-thickness variation,whereas it shows an opposite trend with respect to the bending radius.Additionally,the lining chamfer radius of the bending die and the guide lining chamfer radius minimally affect the tube forming quality.Subsequently,the optimal die-lining structure is obtained using the response-surface method.The tube cross-sectional distortion rate reduced from 2.73 to 2.53%after the die lining is optimized.Additionally,the average inner-wall thickness reduced to 1.06 mm,whereas the average outer-wall thickness increased to 0.97 mm.This paper proposes a method for optimizing the forming-die-lining mechanism and for improving the tube forming quality in 3D-FBF.

A stepwise camera calibration method incorporating compensation for eccentricity error

In visual measurement,high-precision camera calibration often employs circular targets.To address issues in mainstream methods,such as the eccentricity error of the circle from using the circle’s center for calibration,overfitting or local minimum from fullparameter optimization,and calibration errors due to neglecting the center of distortion,a stepwise camera calibration method incorporating compensation for eccentricity error was proposed to enhance monocular camera calibration precision.Initially,the multiimage distortion correction method calculated the common center of distortion and coefficients,improving precision,stability,and efficiency compared to single-image distortion correction methods.Subsequently,the projection point of the circle’s center was compared with the center of the contour’s projection to iteratively correct the eccentricity error,leading to more precise and stable calibration.Finally,nonlinear optimization refined the calibration parameters to minimize reprojection error and boosts precision.These processes achieved stepwise camera calibration,which enhanced robustness.In addition,the module comparison experiment showed that both the eccentricity error compensation and the camera parameter optimization could improve the calibration precision,but the latter had a greater impact.The combined use of the two methods further improved the precision and stability.Simulations and experiments confirmed that the proposed method achieved high precision,stability,and robustness,suitable for high-precision visual measurements.

Ultra‑Efficient and Cost‑Effective Platinum Nanomembrane Electrocatalyst for Sustainable Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production through hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)offers a promising solution to combat climate change by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources.However,the widespread adoption of efficient electrocatalysts,such as platinum(Pt),has been hindered by their high cost.In this study,we developed an easy-to-implement method to create ultrathin Pt nanomembranes,which catalyze HER at a cost significantly lower than commercial Pt/C and comparable to non-noble metal electrocatalysts.These Pt nanomembranes consist of highly distorted Pt nanocrystals and exhibit a heterogeneous elastic strain field,a characteristic rarely seen in conventional crystals.This unique feature results in significantly higher electrocatalytic efficiency than various forms of Pt electrocatalysts,including Pt/C,Pt foils,and numerous Pt singleatom or single-cluster catalysts.Our research offers a promising approach to develop highly efficient and cost-effective low-dimensional electrocatalysts for sustainable hydrogen production,potentially addressing the challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Bulging Distortion of Austenitic Stainless Steel Sheet on the Partially Penetrated Side of Non-Penetration Lap Laser Welding Joint

Non-penetration laser welding of lap joints in austenitic stainless steel sheets is commonly preferred in fields where the surface quality is of utmost importance.However,the application of non-penetration welded austenitic stainless steel parts is limited owing to the micro bulging distortion that occurs on the back surface of the partial penetration side.In this paper,non-penetration lap laser welding experiments,were conducted on galvanized and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel plates using a fiber laser,to investigate the mechanism of bulging distortion.A comparative experiment of DC01 galvanized steel-Q235 carbon steel lap laser welding was carried out,and the deflection and distortion profile of partially penetrated side of the sheets were measured using a noncontact laser interferometer.In addition,the cold-rolled SUS304 was subjected to heat holding at different temperatures and water quenching after bending to characterize its microstructure under tensile and compressive stress.The results show that,during the heating stage of the thermal cycle of laser lap welding,the partial penetration side of the SUS304 steel sheet generates compressive stress,which extrudes the material in the heat-affected zone to the outside of the back of the SUS304 steel sheet,thereby forming a bulge.The findings of these experiments can be of great value for controlling the distortion of the partial penetrated side of austenitic stainless steel sheet during laser non-penetration lap welding.

Application of a neural network model with multimodal fusion for fluorescence spectroscopy

In energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy,the estimation of the pulse amplitude determines the accuracy of the spectrum measurement.The error generated by the amplitude estimation of the pulse output distorted by the measurement system leads to false peaks in the measured spectrum.To eliminate these false peaks and achieve an accurate estimation of the distorted pulse amplitude,a composite neural network model is proposed,which embeds long and short-term memory(LSTM)into the UNet structure.The UNet network realizes the fusion of pulse sequence features and the LSTM model realizes pulse amplitude estimation.The model is trained using simulated pulse datasets with different amplitudes and distortion times.For the pulse height estimation,the average relative error of the trained model on the test set was approximately 0.64%,which is 27.37% lower than that of the traditional trapezoidal shaping algorithm.Offline processing of a standard iron source further validated the pulse height estimation performance of the UNet-LSTM model.After estimating the amplitude of the distorted pulses using the model,the false peak area was reduced by approximately 91% over the full spectrum and was corrected to the characteristic peak region of interest(ROI).The corrected peak area accounted for approximately 1.32%of the characteristic peak ROI area.The results indicate that the model can accurately estimate the height of distorted pulses and has substantial corrective effects on false peaks.

A thermo-mechanical damage constitutive model for deep rock considering brittleness-ductility transition characteristics

This paper developed a statistical damage constitutive model for deep rock by considering the effects of external load and thermal treatment temperature based on the distortion energy.The model parameters were determined through the extremum features of stress−strain curve.Subsequently,the model predictions were compared with experimental results of marble samples.It is found that when the treatment temperature rises,the coupling damage evolution curve shows an S-shape and the slope of ascending branch gradually decreases during the coupling damage evolution process.At a constant temperature,confining pressure can suppress the expansion of micro-fractures.As the confining pressure increases the rock exhibits ductility characteristics,and the shape of coupling damage curve changes from an S-shape into a quasi-parabolic shape.This model can well characterize the influence of high temperature on the mechanical properties of deep rock and its brittleness-ductility transition characteristics under confining pressure.Also,it is suitable for sandstone and granite,especially in predicting the pre-peak stage and peak stress of stress−strain curve under the coupling action of confining pressure and high temperature.The relevant results can provide a reference for further research on the constitutive relationship of rock-like materials and their engineering applications.

Digital cancellation of multi-band passive inter-modulation based on Wiener-Hammerstein model

Utilizing multi-band and multi-carrier techniques enhances throughput and capacity in Long-Term Evolution(LTE)-Advanced and 5G New Radio(NR)mobile networks.However,these techniques introduce Passive Inter-Modulation(PIM)interference in Frequency-Division Duplexing(FDD)systems.In this paper,a novel multi-band Wiener-Hammerstein model is presented to digitally reconstruct PIM interference signals,thereby achieving effective PIM Cancellation(PIMC)in multi-band scenarios.In the model,transmitted signals are independently processed to simulate Inter-Modulation Distortions(IMDs)and Cross-Modulation Distortions(CMDs).Furthermore,the Finite Impulse Response(FIR)filter,basis function generation,and B-spline function are applied for precise PIM product estimation and generation in multi-band scenarios.Simulations involving 4 carrier components from diverse NR frequency bands at varying transmitting powers validate the feasibility of the model for multi-band PIMC,achieving up to 19 dB in PIMC performance.Compared to other models,this approach offers superior PIMC performance,exceeding them by more than 5 dB in high transmitting power scenarios.Additionally,its lower sampling rate requirement reduces the hardware complexity associated with implementing multi-band PIMC.

Similarity Criterion and Scale Effect for Ship Distortion Model Under Combined Loads

For the ultimate strength model test evaluation of large ship structures, the distortion model with non-uniform ratio between the main size and the plate thickness size is usually adopted. It is the key to carry out scale model test to establish a distortion model similar to the real ship structure under combined load. A similarity criterion for ship distortion model under the combined action of bending moment and surface pressure was proposed, and the scale effect for the criterion was verified by a se ries of numerical analysis and model tests. The results show that the similarity criterion for ship distor tion model under combined loads has a certain scale effect. For the model tests of ship cabin struc tures, it is suggested that the scale range between the plate thickness scale and the main dimension scale should be controlled within 2:1, which can be used as a reference for distortion model design and ultimate strength test of large-scale ship structures.