Wireless power transfer via strongly coupled magnetic resonances

Using self-resonant coils in a strongly coupled regime, we experimentally demonstrated efficient nonradiative power transfer over distances up to 8 times the radius of the coils. We were able to transfer 60 watts with approximately 40% efficiency over distances in excess of 2 meters. We present a quantitative model describing the power transfer, which matches the experimental results to within 5%. We discuss the practical applicability of this system and suggest directions for further study.     

Cilia: activation coupled to mechanical stimulation by calcium influx

Ciliated epithelial cells in the oviduct of Necturus maculosus were stimulated mechanically by brief dimpling with a microstylus. This treatment produlced a transient depolarization of the membrane, and a transient increase in the frequency of ciliary beating. The increase in frequency of ciliary beating was related to the concentration of extracellular calcium ion, decreasing with reductiotn in calcium. Addition of lanthanum was followed by a decrease in spontaneous ciliary aictivity and a hyperpolarization of the membrane. In the presence of lanthanum, the transietnt depolarization in response to mechanical stimulation had a shorter timte course, and the concomitant increase in ciliary frequency was greatly reduced. It is concluded that calciuml ions enter the cell as a result of mechanical stimulationi of the membrane, and that calcium influx leads to an increase in the frequency of ciliary activity.     

高光谱图像与卷积神经网络相结合的油桃轻微损伤检测

[目的]油桃表面轻微损伤的快速检测对提高油桃的品质及市场竞争力具有重要作用。[方法]本研究以"中油四号"油桃为研究对象,提出了基于高光谱图像与卷积神经网络相结合的油桃分块损伤区域检测算法。针对原始图像存在的复杂背景及油桃自身颜色特征,采用基于颜色特征的图像分割算法实现油桃与复杂背景的分离。针对损伤部位占比较小的特点,采用分块算法将原始图像分成64×64的块,并为每个分块制作标签(正常、损伤、背景区域),分块数据与其对应标签共同构成试验数据集。构建卷积神经网络模型,将数据输入该模型进行识别。[结果]油桃损伤区域识别率为88.2%。[结论]基于高光谱图像与卷积神经网络相结合的方法可以较准确地实现油桃表面轻微损伤的检测。     

磁性炭基菌球降解土壤阿特拉津性能的研究

本研究通过海藻酸钠包埋磁性生物炭与降解菌DNS32形成磁性炭基菌球（DMBC-P）,并将其用于阿特拉津（ATZ）污染土壤的修复,探讨其去除ATZ的效能及促进大豆幼苗生长的能力。研究表明,当海藻酸钠与氯化钙的浓度为2%时,DMBC-P对ATZ的去除能力最强。在DMBC-P投加量为2%、温度为30 ℃、pH=7.3时,其对水体中ATZ的去除率可达到99.99%;并且在pH为3.3~7.3、温度为10~50 ℃以及ATZ浓度为30~140 mg·L^-1的环境中,DMBC-P对ATZ的去除性能仍然十分优异且其可以被有效回收。盆栽试验结果表明,施用DMBC-P进行修复后,该处理下大豆幼苗的生理指标显著高于空白对照处理,叶绿素a、叶绿素b、类胡萝卜素和总叶绿素含量分别提高79.14%、45.48%、67.87%和110.78%。研究表明,DMBC-P施用于污染土壤中能够实现ATZ的高效去除和材料有效回收,是一种极具潜力的污染土壤修复材料。     

涡流式轴向啮合永磁调速器磁路结构设计

【目的】针对本研究设计的一种双筒形导磁转子结构的涡流式轴向啮合永磁调速器,对其磁路结构优化设计及传递磁力转矩进行准确计算.【方法】建立了三维运动涡流场的数学模型,推导了涡流损耗及传递转矩数值计算方法;运用电磁场仿真软件分析了磁极数、永磁体厚度、气隙厚度及铜套厚度等设计参数对转矩特性的影响.【结果】有限元及数值分析给出了几个关键参数优化选取原则,通过试验进行了验证.【结论】本研究所采用的永磁调速器磁路结构优化设计及传递转矩计算的方法是一种提升永磁调速器性能的有效方法.     

Optimization of an artificial neural network topology using coupled response surface methodology and genetic algorithm for fluidized bed drying

In this study, an integrated response surface methodology (RSM) and genetic algorithm (GA) are recommended for developing artificial neural networks (ANNs) with great chances to be an optimal one. A multi-layer feed forward (MLFF) ANN was applied to correlate the outputs (energy and exergy) to the four exogenous inputs (drying time, drying air temperature, carrot cubes size, and bed depth). The RSM was used to build the relationship between the input parameters and output responses, and used as the fitness function to measure the fitness value of the GA approach. In the relationship building, five variables were used (number of neurons, momentum coefficient and step size in the hidden layer, number of epochs and number of training times). A polynomial model was developed from training results to mean square error (MSE) of 50 developed ANNs to generate 3D response surfaces and contour plots. Finally, GA was applied to find the optimal topology of ANN. The ANN topology had minimum MSE when the number of neurons in the hidden layer, momentum coefficient, step size, number of training epochs and training times were 28, 0.66, 0.35, 2877 and 3, respectively. The energy and exergy of carrot cubes during fluidized bed drying were predicted with R² values of greater than 0.97 using optimal ANN topology.     

Deregulation: causes and consequences

As a consequence of deregulation, there have been fundamental changes in the way transportation and communications firms are conducting business. Companies are finding that they must be driven by market opportunities and financial needs, not by regulatory considerations. Prices must be based on cost, operations must become more efficient, and consumer-oriented product niches must be found. Moreover, deregulation has added a new element in industrial dynamics, by fostering more relations between the various modes of transportation and by cross-fertilization in computer and telecommunication technology. All in all, a more competitive and innovative spirit emerges from deregulation.     

自有品牌成功的先决因素和影响效应研究

自有品牌已经成为零售商竞争的有效手段,如何创建成功的自有品牌是零售商迫切需要解决的问题． 众多学者研究了自有品牌成功的先决因素和影响效应,在不同研究中,这些先决因素和影响效应,在程度和方向上有明显差异． 单独研究很难有效地解释这些差异性,而元分析方法将能解决这一问题,并能同时受益于研究者和管理实践者． 采用元分析方法对自有品牌成功的先决因素和影响效应进行整合性研究,提炼出自有品牌成功的概念框架,对先决因素与自有品牌成功、自有品牌成功与影响效应的二元关系进行评价,采用分群研究探讨品类特征、市场环境、研究方法等调节变量对先决因素与自有品牌成功二元关系的影响,在研究结果基础上,给出了相应的管理启示以及未来研究方向．     

Insecticide use: Contexts and ecological consequences

Constraints to the sustainability of insecticide use include effects on human health, agroecosystems (e.g., beneficial insects), the wider environment (e.g., non-target species, landscapes and communities) and the selection of insecticide-resistant traits. It is possible to find examples where insecticides have impacted disastrously on all these variables and others where the hazards posed have been (through accident or design) ameliorated. In this review, we examine what can currently be surmised about the direct and indirect long-term, field impacts of insecticides upon the environment. We detail specific examples, describe current insecticide use patterns, consider the contexts within which insecticide use occurs and discuss the role of regulation and legislation in reducing risk. We consider how insecticide use is changing in response to increasing environmental awareness and inevitably, as we discuss the main constraints to insecticide use, we suggest why they cannot easily be discarded. Gregor Devine has an MSc in pest management and a PhD in applied entomology from Imperial College, London. He is a Senior Research Scientist employed by Rothamsted Research, UK. He is currently investigating novel disease vector control methods in Peru in association with the US Naval Medical Research Center Detachment, the Peruvian Ministry of Health, the University of California-Davis, and the US Centers for Disease Control. Michael Furlong has an MSc in pest management and a PhD in applied entomology from Imperial College, London. He is a Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include biological control, and the design and implementation of sustainable Integrated Pest Management strategies for international development. He works in Australia, China, North Korea and the Pacific Islands.     

Mass mortality and its environmental and evolutionary consequences

The latest Mesozoic and earliest Tertiary sediments at Deep Sea Drilling Project site 524 provide an amplified record of environmental and biostratographic changes at the end of Cretaceous. Closely spaced samples, representing time intervals as short as 10(2) or 10(3) years, were analyzed for their bulk carbonate and trace-metal compositions, and for oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions. The data indicate that at the end of Cretaceous, when a high proportion of the ocean's planktic organisms were eliminated, an associated reduction in productivity led to a partial transfer of dissolved carbon dioxide from the oceans to the atmosphere. This resulted in a large increase of the atmospheric carbon dioxide during the next 50,000 years, which is believed to have caused a temperature rise revealed by the oxygen-isotope data. The lowermost Tertiary sediments at site 524 include fossils with Cretaceous affinities, which may include both reworked individuals and some forms that survived for a while after the catastrophe. Our data indicate that many of the Cretaceous pelagic organisms became extinct over a period of a few tens of thousands of years, and do not contradict the scenario of cometary impact as a cause of mass mortality in the oceans, as suggested by an iridium anomaly at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.     

Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems

Dead zones in the coastal oceans have spread exponentially since the 1960s and have serious consequences for ecosystem functioning. The formation of dead zones has been exacerbated by the increase in primary production and consequent worldwide coastal eutrophication fueled by riverine runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production results in an accumulation of particulate organic matter, which encourages microbial activity and the consumption of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters. Dead zones have now been reported from more than 400 systems, affecting a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers, and are probably a key stressor on marine ecosystems.     

The evolutionary fate and consequences of duplicate genes

Gene duplication has generally been viewed as a necessary source of material for the origin of evolutionary novelties, but it is unclear how often gene duplicates arise and how frequently they evolve new functions. Observations from the genomic databases for several eukaryotic species suggest that duplicate genes arise at a very high rate, on average 0.01 per gene per million years. Most duplicated genes experience a brief period of relaxed selection early in their history, with a moderate fraction of them evolving in an effectively neutral manner during this period. However, the vast majority of gene duplicates are silenced within a few million years, with the few survivors subsequently experiencing strong purifying selection. Although duplicate genes may only rarely evolve new functions, the stochastic silencing of such genes may play a significant role in the passive origin of new species.     

Newcastle disease virus-based MERS-CoV candidate vaccine elicits high-level and lasting neutralizing antibodies in Bactrian camels

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERS-Co V),a member of the Coronaviridae family,is the causative pathogen for MERS that is characterized by high fever,pneumonia,acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS),as well as extrapulmonary manifestations. Currently,there are no approved treatment regimens or vaccines for MERS. Here,we generated recombinant nonvirulent Newcastle disease virus(NDV) La Sota strain expressing MERS-Co V S protein(designated as r LaMERS-S),and evaluated its immunogenicity in mice and Bactrian camels. The results revealed that r La-MERS-S showed similar growth properties to those of La Sota in embryonated chicken eggs,while animal immunization studies showed that r La-MERS-S induced MERS-Co V neutralizing antibodies in mice and camels. Our findings suggest that recombinant r LaMERS-S may be a potential MERS-Co V veterinary vaccine candidate for camels and other animals affected by MERS.