Vapor phase explosions: elementary detonations?

Although liquid-vapor explosions are widely observed, there is no established explanation for their initiation and propagation. Thermodynamics admits the possibility that superheated liquids can support detonations analogous to those that occur in chemical explosives. For liquid methane superheated 50 K above its boiling point at 1 atmosphere, the energy of explosion is 2 to 3 percent of that of TNT.     

现代人当防“都市病”

吃精食 吃精细多,常此以往会损失大量的纤维素,造成各种不良后果,使人发生便秘、食欲不振、头痛、烦躁等。高热量的饮食、烟酒等的大量刺激,加上缺少必要的运动,使都市人糖尿病、高血压、冠心病、血管硬化。肿瘤等的发病率呈上升趋势,医学界称之为“生活方式病”。 晚加餐研究表明,人体在夜间血液经常保持高脂肪量,晚间进     

Modelling soil erodibility in mountain rangelands of southern Kyrgyzstan

Soil erosion in mountain rangelands in Kyrgyzstan is an emerging problem due to vegetation loss caused by overgrazing. It is further exacerbated by mountain terrain and high precipitation values in Fergana range in the south of Kyrgyzstan. The main objective of this study was to map soil erodibility in the mountainous rangelands of Kyrgyzstan. The results of this effort are expected to contribute to the development of soil erodibility modelling approaches for mountainous areas. In this study, we mapped soil erodibility at two sites, both representing grazing rangelands in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and having potentially different levels of grazing pressure. We collected a total of 232 soil samples evenly distributed in geographical space and feature space. Then we analyzed the samples in laboratory for grain size distribution and calculated soil erodibility values from these data using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) K-factor formula. After that, we derived different terrain indices and ratios of frequency bands from ASTER GDEM and LANDSAT images to use as auxiliary data because they are among the main soil forming factors and widely used for prediction of various soil properties. Soil erodibility was significantly correlated with channel network base level (geographically extrapolated altitude of water channels), remotely sensed indices of short-wave infrared spectral bands, exposition, and slope degree. We applied multiple regression analysis to predict soil erodibility from spatially explicit terrain and remotely sensed indices. The final soil erodibility model was developed using the spatially explicit predictors and the regression equation and then improved by adding the residuals. The spatial resolution of the model was 30 m, and the estimated mean adjusted coefficient of determination was 0.47. The two sites indicated different estimated and predicted means of soil erodibility values (0.035 and 0.039) with a 0.05 significance level, which is attributed mainly to the considerable difference in elevation.     

融合卷积神经网络与视觉注意机制的苹果幼果高效检测方法

果实表型数据高通量、自动获取是果树新品种育种研究的基础,实现幼果精准检测是获取生长数据的关键。幼果期果实微小且与叶片颜色相近,检测难度大。为了实现自然环境下苹果幼果的高效检测,采用融合挤压激发块(Squeeze-and-Excitation block, SE block)和非局部块(Non-Local block, NL block)两种视觉注意机制,提出了一种改进的YOLOv4网络模型(YOLOv4-SENL)。YOLOv4模型的骨干网络提取高级视觉特征后,利用SE block在通道维度整合高级特征,实现通道信息的加强。在模型改进路径聚合网络(Path Aggregation Network, PAN)的3个路径中加入NL block,结合非局部信息与局部信息增强特征。SE block和NL block两种视觉注意机制从通道和非局部两个方面重新整合高级特征,强调特征中的通道信息和长程依赖,提高网络对背景与果实的特征捕捉能力。最后由不同尺寸的特征图实现不同大小幼果的坐标和类别计算。经过1 920幅训练集图像训练,网络在600幅测试集上的平均精度为96.9%,分别比SSD、Faster R-CNN和YOLOv4模型的平均精度提高了6.9百分点、1.5百分点和0.2百分点,表明该算法可准确地实现幼果期苹果目标检测。模型在480幅验证集的消融试验结果表明,仅保留YOLOv4-SENL中的SE block比YOLOv4模型精度提高了3.8百分点;仅保留YOLOv4-SENL中3个NL block视觉注意模块比YOLOv4模型的精度提高了2.7百分点;将YOLOv4-SENL中SE block与NL blocks相换,比YOLOv4模型的精度提高了4.1百分点,表明两种视觉注意机制可在增加少量参数的基础上显著提升网络对苹果幼果的感知能力。该研究结果可为果树育种研究获取果实信息提供参考。     

Treatment of East Coast fever: a comparison of parvaquone and buparvaquone

Two trials were conducted to compare the efficacy of parvaquone and buparvaquone for the treatment of naturally acquired East Coast fever (ECF, Theileria parva infection) which, if untreated, is almost invariably fatal in European breeds of cattle. In the first trial 28 naive cattle were exposed in a paddock infested with ticks carrying a virulent form of the disease. Twelve were treated with each drug when they developed clinical ECF. All 24 cattle were cured. In the second study, 100 cases of ECF occurring naturally on farms in Kenya were treated, 50 with each drug. Parvaquone cured 44 (88%) buparvaquone cured 45 (90%). Intercurrent infections, predominantly anaplasmosis and bacterial pneumonia or scour, were treated specifically. It is concluded that parvaquone and buparvaquone are similarly effective in curing ECF and cure rates are maximised by accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of both ECF and intercurrent infections.     

Reproductive, metabolic, and endocrine responses to feed restriction and GnRH treatment in primiparous, lactating sows

The current experiment was carried out to determine whether exogenous GnRH treatment in primiparous, lactating sows undergoing feed restriction would improve reproductive performance after weaning. Sows were allocated to one of three treatments: AA sows (n = 8) were fed to appetite throughout a 28-d lactation, AR (n = 12) and AR + GnRH (n = 12) sows were fed as AA sows from farrowing to d 21 of lactation, and feed intake was reduced to 50% of the ad libitum intakes from d 22 to 28. The AR + GnRH sows received 800 ng of GnRH i.v. every 6 h from d 22 to 28 of lactation, and AA and AR sows received saline. Sow weight, backfat, and litter weight were recorded weekly. Within 2 d after farrowing, litter size was standardized to 8 to 10. At d 17 of lactation, an indwelling jugular catheter was surgically implanted in each sow. Blood samples were taken for characterization of plasma LH, FSH, insulin, IGF-I, and leptin by RIA at d 21 and before and after weaning on d 28 of lactation. After weaning, all sows were given ad libitum access to feed, checked for onset of standing estrus twice daily with mature vasectomized boars, and inseminated 12 and 24 h after onset of standing estrus with pooled semen from the same fertile boars (3 x 10(9) sperm/AI). After breeding, feed allowance was reduced to NRC (1988) requirements for gestation. At d 28 +/- 3 of gestation, sows were killed and ovulation rate and embryo survival were determined. Restricted sows lost more weight during lactation than AA sows (P < .02). During the period of feed restriction, plasma IGF-I and postprandial insulin and leptin in AR and AR + GnRH sows, and LH pulse frequency in AR sows, were lower than those in AA sows (P < .04). Associations (P < .004) between plasma insulin and leptin and between leptin and mean LH concentrations were established. The LH pulse frequency in AR + GnRH sows did not differ from that in AA sows before weaning. After weaning, maximum, mean, and minimum LH concentrations in the AA and AR sows, and FSH concentrations in AR sows, increased (P < .05) in response to weaning. Paradoxically, GnRH treatment in lactation seemed to suppress the expected LH and FSH responses to weaning. Ovulation rate and embryo survival were not different among the three groups. In conclusion, although exogenous GnRH therapy restored LH secretion in feed-restricted sows, it did not improve overall reproductive performance.