Comparison of the spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation between the Changbai Mountains of eastern Eurasia and the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America

The Changbai Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains have similar spatial contexts.The elevation,latitude,and moisture gradients of both mountain ranges offer regional insight for investigating the vegetation dynamics in eastern Eurasia and eastern North America.We determined and compared the spatial patterns and temporal trends in the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)in the Changbai Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains using time series data from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies 3^(rd) generation dataset from 1982 to 2013.The spatial pattern of NDVI in the Changbai Mountains exhibited fragmentation,whereas NDVI in the Appalachian Mountains decreased from south to north.The vegetation dynamics in the Changbai Mountains had an insignificant trend at the regional scale,whereas the dynamics in the Appalachian Mountains had a significant increasing trend.NDVI increased in 55% of the area of the Changbai Mountains and in 95% of the area of the Appalachian Mountains.The peak NDVI occurred one month later in the Changbai Mountains than in the Appalachian Mountains.The results revealed a significant increase in NDVI in autumn in both mountain ranges.The climatic trend in the Changbai Mountains included warming and decreased precipitation,and whereas that in the Appalachian Mountains included significant warming and increased precipitation.Positive and negative correlations existed between NDVI and temperature and precipitation,respectively,in both mountain ranges.Particularly,the spring temperature and NDVI exhibited a significant positive correlation in both mountain ranges.The results of this study suggest that human actives caused the differences in the spatial patterns of NDVI and that various characteristics of climate change and intensity of human actives dominated the differences in the NDVI trends between the Changbai Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains.Additionally,the vegetation dynamics of both mountain ranges were not identical to those in previous broader-scale studies.

Novel approach for active vibration control of a flexible missile

This paper investigates the feasibility of using an active dynamic vibration absorber(ADVA) for active vibration control of a flexible missile system through simulation.Based on the principles of a dynamic vibration absorber(DVA),a ring-type ADVA is first designed to attenuate the elastic vibration of the flexible missile,and the design of the active controller adopts the proportional-integral-derivative(PID)control algorithm.The motion equations of a flexible missile with an ADVA,which is subjected to follower thrust at its aft end,are derived using the Lagrangian approach.Taking the minimum of the root mean square(RMS) of the lateral displacement response of the center of mass as the objective function,a genetic algorithm(GA) is used to optimize the parameter of the DVA and PID controller.The numerical calculations show that the ADVA and DVA are effective in suppressing the vibration and provide approximately 41.2% and 17.6% improvement,respectively,compa red with the case of no DVA,The ADVA has better performance than the DVA,When the missile is subjected to follower thrust,the effect of vibration reduction is more effective than the case without follower thrust.It is feasible to reduce vibration and improve the stability of flexible missiles by means of the ADVA.

Vehicle path tracking by integrated chassis control

The control problem of trajectory based path following for passenger vehicles is studied. Comprehensive nonlinear vehicle model is utilized for simulation vehicle response during various maneuvers in MATLAB/Simulink. In order to follow desired path, a driver model is developed to enhance closed loop driver/vehicle model. Then, linear quadratic regulator(LQR) controller is developed which regulates direct yaw moment and corrective steering angle on wheels. Particle swam optimization(PSO) method is utilized to optimize the LQR controller for various dynamic conditions. Simulation results indicate that, over various maneuvers, side slip angle and lateral acceleration can be reduced by 10% and 15%, respectively, which sustain the vehicle stable. Also, anti-lock brake system is designed for longitudinal dynamics of vehicle to achieve desired slip during braking and accelerating. Proposed comprehensive controller demonstrates that vehicle steerability can increase by about 15% during severe braking by preventing wheel from locking and reducing stopping distance.

Identification,characteristics and classification of cryogenic block streams

Cryogenic block streams consist of a stream of rocks superficially resembling a stream deposit but lacking a matrix, usually occurring on a valley or gully floor or on slopes that are less steep than the maximum angle of repose of coarse sediments. They are usually formed on perennially frozen ground, but can also occur as relict landforms. There are three main active kinds forming today, viz., Siberian and Tibetan dynamic rock streams and lag block streams. During their formation, the blocks in the active Siberian and Tibetan dynamic block streams move downslope at up to 1 rn/a. They are forming today on the Tibetan Plateau and in the more arid parts of south-central Siberia, although the processes involved in the movement are different. In the case of the Tibetan type, individual blocks slide downslope over the substrate in winter on an icy coating in areas of minimal winter precipitation. The Siberian type develops in areas of 15-80 cm of winter snow cover and an MAAT （mean annual air temperature） of-4 ~C to -17 ~C. The movement is due to creep of snow and ice and collapse of the blocks downslope during thawing. Lag block streams are formed by meltwater flowing over the surface of sediment consisting primarily of larger blocks with a limited amount of interstitial sediment. The erosion of the matrix is primarily in the spring in areas of higher winter precipitation on 10^-30~ slopes. The blocks remain stationary, but the interstitial sediment is washed out by strong seasonal flows of meltwater or rain to form an alluvial fan. The boulders undergo weathering and become more rounded in the process. Lag block streams can also develop without the presence of permafrost in areas with cold climates or glaciers. Block streams also occur as relict deposits in older deposits under various climatic regimes that are unsuitable for their formation today. An example of relict lag block streams with subangular to subrounded blocks occurs in gullies on the forested mountainsides at Felsen in Germany, and is the original ＂felsenmeer＂. Similar examples occur near Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. The ＂stone runs＂ in the Falkland Islands are examples of the more angular relict lag block streams. In both Tasmania and the Falkland Islands, they mask a more complex history, the underlying soils indicating periods of tropical and temperate soil formation resulting from weathering during and since the Tertiary Period. Block streams have also been reported from beneath cold-based glaciers in Sweden, and below till in Canada, and when ex- humed, can continue to develop.

Thermal Activation Analyses of Dynamic FractureToughness of High Strength Low Alloy Steels

A formula is derived for determining the influence of temperature and loading rate on dynamic fracture toughness of a high strength low alloy steel (HQ785C) from thermal activation analysis of the experimental results of three-point bend specimens as well as introducing an Arrhenius formula. It is shown that the results obtained by the given formula are in good agreement with the experimental ones in the thermal activation region. The present method is also valuable to describe the relationship between dynamic fracture toughness and temperature and loading rate of other high strength low alloy steels.

Stochastic optimal control of cable vibration in plane by using axial support motion

A stochastic optimal control strategy for a slightly sagged cable using support motion in the cable axial direction is proposed. The nonlinear equation of cable motion in plane is derived and reduced to the equations for the first two modes of cable vibration by using the Galerkin method. The partially averaged Ito equation for controlled system energy is further derived by applying the stochastic averaging method for quasi-non-integrable Hamiltonian systems. The dynamical programming equation for the controlled system energy with a performance index is established by applying the stochastic dynamical programming principle and a stochastic optimal control law is obtained through solving the dynamical programming equation. A bilinear controller by using the direct method of Lyapunov is introduced. The comparison between the two controllers shows that the proposed stochastic optimal control strategy is superior to the bilinear control strategy in terms of higher control effectiveness and efficiency.

Kinematic properties of the dual AGN system J0038+4128 based on long-slit spectroscopy

The study ofkiloparsec-scale dual active galactic nuclei （AGN） provides important clues for understanding the co-evolution between host galaxies and their central supermassive black holes undergoing a merging process. We present long-slit spectroscopy of J0038 ＋4128, a kiloparsec-scale dual AGN candidate, discovered recently by Huang et al., using the Yunnan Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera （YFOSC） mounted on the Lijiang 2.4-m telescope administered by Yunnan Observatories. From the long-slit spectra, we find that the average relative line-of-sight （LOS） velocity between the two nuclei （J0038＋4128N and J0038＋4128S） is about 150 km s-1. The LOS velocities of the emission lines from the gas ionized by the nuclei activities and of the absorption lines from stars governed by the host galaxies for different regions of J0038＋4128 exhibit the same trend. The same trend in velocities indicates that the gaseous disks are co-rotating with the stellar disks in this ongoing merging system. We also find several knots/giant H II regions scattered around the two nuclei with strong star formation revealed by the observed line ratios from the spectra. Those regions are also clearly detected in images from HST F336W/U-band and HST F555W/V-band.

Directly targeting BAX for drug discovery:Therapeutic opportunities and challenges

For over two decades,the development of B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)family therapeutics has primarily focused on anti-apoptotic proteins,resulting in the first-in-class drugs called BH3 mimetics,especially for Bcl-2 inhibitor Venetoclax.The pro-apoptotic protein Bcl-2-associated X protein(BAX)plays a crucial role as the executioner protein of the mitochondrial regulated cell death,contributing to organismal development,tissue homeostasis,and immunity.The dysregulation of BAX is closely associated with the onset and progression of diseases characterized by pathologic cell survival or death,such as cancer,neurodegeneration,and heart failure.In addition to conducting thorough investigations into the physiological modulation of BAX,research on the regulatory mechanisms of small molecules identified through biochemical screening approaches has prompted the identification of functional and potentially druggable binding sites on BAX,as well as diverse all-molecule BAX modulators.This review presents recent advancements in elucidating the physiological and pharmacological modulation of BAX and in identifying potentially druggable binding sites on BAX.Furthermore,it highlights the structural and mechanistic insights into small-molecule modulators targeting diverse binding surfaces or conformations of BAX,offering a promising avenue for developing next-generation apoptosis modulators to treat a wide range of diseases associated with dysregulated cell death by directly targeting BAX.

Co-regulated Protein Functional Modules with Varying Activities in Dynamic PPI Networks

Current methods for the detection of differential gene expression focus on finding individual genes that may be responsible for certain diseases or external irritants. However, for common genetic diseases, multiple genes and their interactions should be understood and treated together during the exploration of disease causes and possible drug design. The present study focuses on analyzing the dynamic patterns of co-regulated modules during biological progression and determining those having remarkably varying activities, using the yeast cell cycle as a case study. We first constructed dynamic active protein-protein interaction networks by modeling the activity of proteins and assembling the dynamic co-regulation protein network at each time point. The dynamic active modules were detected using a method based on the Bayesian graphical model and then the modules with the most varied dispersion of clustering coefficients, which could be responsible for the dynamic mechanism of the cell cycle, were identified. Comparison of results from our functional module detection with the state-of-art functional module detection methods and validation of the ranking of activities of functional modules using GO annotations demonstrate the efficacy of our method for narrowing the scope of possible essential responding modules that could provide multiple targets for biologists to further experimentally validate.

An integrated virtual geographic environmental simulation framework:a case study of flood disaster simulation

Dynamic flood disaster simulation is an emerging and promising technology significantly useful in urban planning,risk assessment,and integrated decision support systems.It is still an important issue to integrate the large assets such as dynamic observational data,numerical flood simulation models,geographic information technologies,and computing resources into a unified framework.For the intended end user,it is also a holistic solution to create computer interpretable representations and gain insightful understanding of the dynamic disaster processes,the complex impacts,and interactions of disaster factors.In particular,it is still difficult to access and join harmonized data,processing algorithms,and models that are provided by different environmental information infrastructures.In this paper,we demonstrate a virtual geographic environments-based integrated environmental simulation framework for flood disaster management based on the notion of interlinked resources,which is capable of automated accumulating and manipulating of sensor data,creating dynamic geo-analysis and three-dimensional visualizations of ongoing geo-process,and updating the contents of simulation models representing the real environment.The prototype system is evaluated by applying it as a proof of concept to integrate in situ weather observations,numerical weather and flood disaster simulation models,visualization,and analysis of the real time flood event.Case applications indicate that the developed framework can be adopted for use by decision-makers for short-term planning and control since the resulting simulation and visualization are completely based on the latest status of environment.

Breakthrough CO_2 adsorption in bio-based activated carbons

In this work, the effects of different methods of activation on CO2 adsorption performance of activated carbon were studied. Activated carbons were prepared from biochar, obtained from fast pyrolysis of white wood, using three different activation methods of steam activation, CO2 activation and Potassium hydroxide（KOH） activation. CO2 adsorption behavior of the produced activated carbons was studied in a fixed-bed reactor set-up at atmospheric pressure, temperature range of 25–65°C and inlet CO2 concentration range of10–30 mol% in He to determine the effects of the surface area, porosity and surface chemistry on adsorption capacity of the samples. Characterization of the micropore and mesopore texture was carried out using N2 and CO2 adsorption at 77 and 273 K, respectively.Central composite design was used to evaluate the combined effects of temperature and concentration of CO2 on the adsorption behavior of the adsorbents. The KOH activated carbon with a total micropore volume of 0.62 cm3/g and surface area of 1400 m2/g had the highest CO2 adsorption capacity of 1.8 mol/kg due to its microporous structure and high surface area under the optimized experimental conditions of 30 mol% CO2 and 25°C. The performance of the adsorbents in multi-cyclic adsorption process was also assessed and the adsorption capacity of KOH and CO2 activated carbons remained remarkably stable after50 cycles with low temperature（160°C） regeneration.

Hydrogen storage thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of PrMg12-type alloys synthesized by mechanical milling

To improve the hydrogen storage performance of PrMg12-type alloys, Ni was adopted to replace partially Mg in the alloys. The PrMgllNi＋x wt.% Ni （x=100, 200） alloys were prepared via mechanical milling. The phase structures and morphology of the experimental alloys were in vestigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that increasing milling time and Ni content accelerate the formation of nanocrystalline and amorphous structure. The gaseous hydrogen storage properties of the experimental alloys were determined by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and Sievert apparatus. In addition, increasing milling time makes the hydrogenation rates of the alloys augment firstly and decline subsequently and the dehydrogenation rate always increases. The maximum capacity is 5. 572 wt. % for the x = 100 alloy and 5. 829 wt. % for the x = 200 alloy, respectively. The enthalpy change （ △H ）, entropy change （△S） and the dehydrogenation activation energy （Exde） markedly lower with increasing the milling time and the Ni content due to the generation of nanocrystalline and amorphous structure.

Synthesis of newly cationic surfactant based on dimethylaminopropyl amine and their silver nanoparticles:Characterization;surface activity and biological activity

The chemical structure of newly synthesized cationic surfactants based on Schiff base was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy,and mass spectroscopy.The synthesized surfactants were used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by a simple one-step method.The silver nanoparticle（AgNPs） formation was confirmed using transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,electron diffraction（SAED）,dynamic light scattering（DLS）,and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy（EDX）.The structure of the surfactant played an important role in the synthesis process.Increasing the hydrophobic chain length,the stability,and the amount of surfactant increased the quantity of AgNPs formed.The surface activity of the synthesized cationic surfactants was determined using surface tension measurements at three different temperatures.The synthesized surfactants showed a high tendency toward adsorption and micellization.Increasing the hydrophobic chain length of the synthesized surfactant increased its adsorption.Screening the synthesized cationic surfactants and their nano-form against bacteria and fungi showed that they are highly effective.The silver nanoparticles enhanced the biological activity of the synthesized cationic surfactants.