Environmental damage costs from fossil electricity generation in China, 2000-2003

Electricity consumption increases rapidly with the rapid development of China. The environmental damage costs of electricity generation are very important for both policy analysis and the proper management of the environment. A method was developed in this work to estimate gross environmental damage costs according to emission inventory and environmental cost factors, and to extend the costs from provincial to national level with population density. In this paper, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter less than 10 μm in diameter (PM10), and carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fired power plants over 6000 kW were selected as index pollutants to quantify the environmental costs of damages on human health and global warming. With the new developed method, environmental damage costs, caused by 3 types of fired power plants in 30 provinces and 6 economic sectors during the years 2000 to 2003, were evaluated and analyzed. It can be seen that the calculated total national environmental damage costs of electricity have rapidly increased from 94930.87×106 USD in 2000 to about 141041.39×106 USD in 2003, with an average annual growth rate of 14.11%. Environmental damage costs of SO2, NOx, PM10, and CO2 are 69475.69×106, 30079.29×106, 28931.84×106, and 12554.57×106 USD and account for 49.26%, 21.33%, 20.51%, and 8.90% of total environmental costs in fossil electricity generation, respectively. With regard to regional distribution, external costs caused by fossil electricity generation are mainly concentrated in the more populated and industrialized areas of China, i.e., the Eastern Central and Southeastern areas.     

Effect of static magnetic field on α-amylase activity and enzymatic reaction

The effect of magnetic field on α-amylase was studied. Under the experimental conditions, α-amylase solution was treated by 0.15 T, 0.30 T and 0.45 T static magnetic fields for a known period of time, then the activity, kinetic parameters, and the secondary conformation were investigated. The results showed that there was a considerable effect of the magnetic exposure on the α-amylase. The activity was increased by 27%, 34.1%, 37.8% compared with the control. It was also found that both kinetic parameters K _m and V _m could be decreased due to the increasing magnetic field, K _m decreased from 2.20×10^?2 to 0.87×10^?2, whereas V _m decreased from 2.0×10^?3 g/min to 1.1×10^?3 g/min. At the same time, there were some irregular changes in α-amylase secondary conformation.     

Effects of differently polarized microwave radiation on the microscopic structure of the nuclei in human fibroblasts

To investigate the influence of microwave radiation on the human fibroblast nuclei, the effects of three variants of electromagnetic wave polarization, linear and left-handed and right-handed elliptically polarized, were examined. Experimental conditions were: frequency (f) 36.65 GHz, power density (P) at the surface of exposed object 1, 10, 30, and 100 μW/cm², exposure time 10 s. Human fibroblasts growing in a monolayer on a cover slide were exposed to microwave electromagnetic radiation. The layer of medium that covered cells during microwave exposure was about 1 mm thick. Cells were stained immediately after irradiation by 2% (w/v) orcein solution in 45% (w/v) acetic acid. Experiments were made at room temperature (25 °C), and control cell samples were processed in the same conditions. We assessed heterochromatin granule quantity (HGQ) at 600× magnification. Microwave irradiation at the intensity of 1 μW/cm² produced no effect, and irradiation at the intensities of 10 and 100 μW/cm² induced an increase in HGQ. More intense irradiation induced more chromatin condensation. The right-handed elliptically polarized radiation revealed more biological activity than the left-handed polarized one.     

Estimation method for mixed-effect coefficient semiparametric regression model

Consider the mixed-effect coefficient semiparametric regression modelZ=X'α+Y'β+g(T)+e, whereX, Y andT are random vectors onR ^p×R ^q×[0, 1], α is a p-dimensional fixed-effect parameter, β is a q-dimensional random-effect parameter (Eβ=b, Cov(β)=Σ),g(.) is an unknown function on [0, 1], e is a random error with mean zero and variance σ², and (X, Y, T) and (β,e), β ande are mutually independent. We estimate α,b andg(.) by the nearest neighbor and the least square method. In this paper, we prove that estimations of α,b have asymptotic normality and obtain the best convergence raten ^−1/3 for the estimation ofg(.). Project supported by the NSFC and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province.     

Determination of Trace Molybdenum（VI） by Oscillographic Potentiometric Catalyzing Kinetic Method of Simplex Optimization

1　Introduction　Ahugeamountofliteratureexistsonthestudyofi dentifyingtracemetalionsbymeansofspectropho tometry[1 3] ,fluorimetry[4 6 ] aswellas polarogra phy[7 9] ,whichhaveactiononlocatingtheendpointoftheindicatingreaction .Howeverbothspectropho tometryandfluorimetryareeasytobeinterferedbycolororprecipitation ,whilepolarographyhasanissueofmercurypollution .Thecatalyzingkineticanalysishasthecharacteristicsofhighsensitivityandspeedi ness.Oscillographicpotentiometryisasimpleintu itionisticanal…     

Kinematic optimization of 2D plunging airfoil motion using the response surface methodology

The propulsive efficiency of a plunging NACA0012 airfoil is maximized by means of a simple numerical optimization method based on the response surface methodology (RSM). The control parameters are the amplitude and the reduced frequency of the harmonic sinusoidal motion. The 2D unsteady laminar flow around the plunging airfoil is computed by solving the Navier-Stokes equations for three Reynolds number values (Re = 3.3×10³, 1.1×10⁴, and 2.2×10⁴). The Nelder-Mead algorithm is used to find the best control parameters leading to the optimal propulsive efficiency over the constructed response surfaces. It is found that, for a given efficiency level and regardless of the considered Re value, it is possible either to obtain high thrust by selecting a high oscillation frequency or to reduce the input power by adopting a low plunging amplitude.     

High Speed Column-Parallel CDS/ADC Circuit with Nonlinearity Compensation for CMOS Image Sensors

A high speed column-parallel CDS/ADC circuit with nonlinearity compensation is proposed in this paper.The correlated double sampling (CDS) and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) functions are integrated in a threephase column-parallel circuit based on two floating gate inverters and switched-capacitor network.The conversion rate of traditional single-slope ADC is speeded up by dividing quantization to coarse step and fine step.A storage capacitor is used to store the result of coarse step and locate the section of ramp signal of fine step,which can reduce the clock step from 2 n to 2 (n/2+1).The floating gate inverters are implemented to reduce the power consumption.Its induced nonlinear offset is cancelled by introducing a compensation module to the input of inverter,which can equalize the coupling path in three phases of the proposed circuit.This circuit is designed and simulated for CMOS image sensor with 640×480 pixel array using Chartered 0.18μm process.Simulation results indicate that the resolution can reach 10-bit and the maximum frame rate can reach 200 frames/s with a main clock of 10MHz.The power consumption of this circuit is less than 36.5μW with a 3.3V power supply.The proposed CDS/ADC circuit is suitable for high resolution and high speed image sensors.     

Permeation of dimethyl sulfoxide into articular cartilage at subzero temperatures

Osteochondral allografting has been proved to be a useful method to treat diseased or damaged areas of joint surfaces. Operational long-term stocks of grafts which supply a buffer between procurement and utilization would contribute to the commercialization or industrialization of this technology. Vitrification has been thought to be a promising method for successful preservation of articular cartilage (AC), but high concentration cryoprotectants (CPAs) are used which may cause high cellular toxicity. An effective way to reduce CPA toxicity is to increase CPA concentration gradually while the temperature is lowered. Understanding the mechanism of CPA permeation at subzero temperatures is important for designing the cryopreservation protocol. In this research, the permeation of dimethyl sulfoxide (Me₂SO) in ovine AC at subzero temperatures was studied experimentally. Pretreated AC discs were exposed in Me₂SO solutions for different time (0, 5, 15, 30, 50, 80, and 120 min) at three temperature levels (−10, −20, and −30 °C). The Me₂SO concentration within the tissue was determined by ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometry. The diffusion coefficients were estimated to be 0.85×10⁻⁶, 0.48×10⁻⁶, and 0.27×10⁻⁶ cm²/s at −10, −20, and −30 °C, respectively, and the corresponding activation energy was 29.23 kJ/mol. Numerical simulation was performed to compare two Me₂SO addition protocols, and the results demonstrated that the total loading duration could be effectively reduced with the knowledge of permeation kinetics.     

Random quadralinear forms and schur product on tensors

In this work, we made progress on the problem that lr(○×)lp(○×)lq is a Banach algebra under schur product. Our results extend Tonge's results. We also obtained estimates for the norm of the random quadralinear form A:lMr×lNp×lKq×lHs→ C, defined by: A(ei, ej, ek, es)=aijks, where the (aijks)'s are uniformly bounded, independent, mean zero random variables. We proved that under some conditions lr(○×)lp(○×)lq (○×)ls is not a Banach algebra under schur product.     

Yangxueqingnao particles inhibit rat vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation induced by lysophosphatidic acid

Objective: To observe the effect of Yangxueqingnao particles on rat vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation induced by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). Methods: The amount of³H-TdR (³H-thymidine) admixed in cultured rat VSMC was measured and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity and lipid peroxidation end product malondialdehyde (MDA) content of the VSMC were assayed. Results: 1×10⁻⁹, 1×10⁻⁸, 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L LPA in a concentration dependent manner, induced the amount of³H-TdR admixed, MAP kinase activity, and MDA content of the cultured rat VSMC to increase. However, 5%, 10%, and 15% Yangxueqingnao serum preincubation resulted in a decrease of 23.0%, 42.0%, and 52.0% (P<0.01) respectively in the amount of³H-TdR admixed, a decline in VSMC MAP kinase activity of 13.9% (P<0.05), 29.6% (P<0.01), and 48.9% (P<0.01) respectively, and also, a decrease in MDA content of VSMC of 19.4%, 24.7%, and 43.2% (P<0.01) respectively, in the 1×10⁻⁷ mol/L LPA-treated VSMC. Conclusions: LPA activates the proliferation and lipid peroxidation of VSMC in a concentration dependent manner. The LPA-induced VSMC proliferation is related to the activity of MAP kinases, enzymes involved in an intracellular signalling pathway. The results of the present study showed that Yangxueqingnao particles can effectively inhibit LPA-induced VSMC proliferation, MAP kinase activation, and reduce lipid peroxidative lesion. Project (No. 491010-W50339) supported by Chinese Traditional Medicine Administration Bureau of Zhejiang Province, China     

Fabrication of LaAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> film by sol-gel process with corresponding inorganic

Well-cubic perovskite lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO₃) film on (110) silicon substrate was fabricated by sol-gel method with corresponding inorganic salts. Lanthanum acetate and aluminum acetate glacial acetic acid solutions were prepared via ligand exchange starting from lanthanum nitrate hexahydrate and aluminum nitrate hexahydrate after being refluxed. (CH₃CO)₂O removed nitrates and the crystallized H₂O completely, acetylacetone (AcAc) was partially bidentated with metallic ion of the metallic acetates and formed La(OAc)_3−x (AcAc) _x which were hydrolyzed into La(AcAc)_3−x(OH) _x by adding 10 ml 0.4% methyl cellulose (MCL) solution. The La(AcAc)_3−x (OH) _x , polymerizing and combining with MCL, formed the LaAlO₃ sol precursor with heteropolymeric structure and formed film easily. The epitaxial LaAlO₃ film on Si(110) substrate was crystallized after being annealed in thermal annealing furnace for 650–750 °C/30 min. The morphologies and microstructures were characterized. The refractive index of the LAO film was 1.942 to 2.007; the dielectric constant and the dissipation factors were estimated to be 23–26 and 2.1×10⁻⁴−2.4×10⁻⁴ respectively. Project (No. 2002CB613305) supported by the National Basic Research Program (973) of China     

Dependence of electrical and optical properties of IGZO films on oxygen flow

Amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) films were deposited on the corning eagle XG (EXG) glass substrates using magnetron sputtering method. The structure, surface morphology, electrical and optical properties of these films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), semiconductor parameter analyzer and spectrophotometry, respectively. The influence of oxygen flow on the electrical properties of IGZO thin films was studied, showing that increasing oxygen flow changes the resistivity with six orders of magnitude. The contact resistance of ITO/IGZO is 7.35×10⁻² Ω·cm², which suggests that a good ohmic contact exists between In₂O₃: Sn (ITO) and IGZO film.     

Stepwise approach for view synthesis

This paper presents some techniques for synthesizing novel view for a virtual viewpoint from two given views captured at different viewpoints to achieve both high quality and high efficiency. The whole process consists of three passes. The first pass recovers depth map. We formulate it as pixel labelling and propose a bisection approach to solve it. It is accomplished in log2n（n is the number of depth levels） steps,each of which involves a single graph cut computation. The second pass detects occluded pixels and reasons about their depth. It fits a foreground depth curve and a background depth curve using depth of nearby foreground and background pixels,and then distinguishes foreground and background pixels by minimizing a global energy,which involves only one graph cut computation. The third pass finds for each pixel in the novel view the corresponding pixels in the input views and computes its color. The whole process involves only a small number of graph cut computations,therefore it is efficient. And,visual artifacts in the synthesized view can be removed successfully by correcting depth of the occluded pixels. Experimental results demonstrate that both high quality and high efficiency are achieved by the proposed techniques.     

Soup-can Pendulum

In these studies, a vegetable can containing fluidwas swung as a pendulum by supporting its end-lipswith a pair of knife edges. The motion was measuredwith a capacitive sensor and the logarithmic decrementin free decay was estimated from computer-collectedrecords. Measurements performed with nine differenthomogeneous liquids, distributed through six decadesin the viscosity η, showed that the damping ofthe system is dominated by η rather than externalforces from air or the knife edges. The log decrementwas found to be maximum (0.28) in the vicinity ofη = 0.7 Pa s and fell off more than 15 fold(below 2 × 10^-2) for both small viscosity(η < 1 × 10^-3 Pa s) and also for largeviscosity (η > 1 × 10³ Pa s). A simple modelhas been formulated, which yields reasonable agreementbetween theory and experiment by approximating therelative rotation of can and liquid.     

Determination of Diffusion Coefficient and Analysis of Diffusion Factors of Cr（Ⅵ） Ion in Clay Soil

Some laboratory diffusion tests were conducted with diffusion device to determine the diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) ion passing through Dalian red clay samples. The concentrations of Cr(Ⅵ) at different places of the samples were then measured spectrophotometrically after a standing time of 1 000 d. A one-dimensional solute transport equation was used to simulate the transport of Cr(Ⅵ) through clay samples. Back-calculation of diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) was made with finite difference method. Parametric analysis was conducted to simulate variations in soil dry density, temperature, pH and standing time. The results show that the method used in this paper is simple and effective. The diffusion coefficient of Cr(Ⅵ) in Dalian red clay varies from 1.50×10-7 cm2/s to 2.08×10-7 cm2/s. After 1 000 d diffusion, the concentration of the source solution drops down to 1.27 mg/L from 62.5 mg/L, and the diffusion distance is only 3.5 cm. Under the assumption that diffusion coefficient is constant, the diffusion effect becomes more obvious with lower density, lower temperature, higher pH value, and much more time.     

Study on NO2 absorption by ascorbic acid and various chemicals

INTRODUCTION Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is one of the main air pol- lutants found in the flue gases from chemical and power plants belching acid rain and photochemical smog. Over 90 percent of all man-made nitrogen ox- ides that enter our atmosphere are produced by the combustion of various fuels. Compared with the ad- vanced stage of SO2 gas removal technologies devel- opment, the removal of NOx gases is still in the initial stages of development as roughly 90 to 95 percent of NOx emitted i…     

Petrological study of the western Iratsu mass from the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, central Shikoku, Japan

The western Iratsu mass, the largest tectonic body in the Sambagawa metamorphic belt, central Shikoku, is mainly composed of epidote amphibolite with minor amounts of eclogite. Systematically, a majority of garnets show bell-shaped chemical zoning of pyrope contents and Mg/(Mg Fe2 ) monotonously increasing outward. The grossular component in zonal garnet increases outwards, maximizes at an intermediate part, and then decreases towards the outermost rim, reflecting a process from increasing to decreasing pressure conditions during the prograde metamorphism. Jadeite contents of omphacite range from 25～20mole% within the cores to 15～10 mole% at the rims, implying a pressure-decreasing process (from 11 × 105 Pa to 8 × 105 Pa). The peak pressure-temperature (P-T) condition of 630～680 ℃ and ca. 15× 105 Pa in the western Iratsu mass is much higher than that of (610±25) ℃ and (10± 1)× 105 Pa of the Sambagawa oligoclase-biotite zone schists. The authors suggest a clockwise P-T-t path for the western Iratsu mass.     

Lusage de la compensation additionner-soustraire et multiplier-diviser par les eleves de onze ans

A class of 32 11-year-olds (grade 4) was given three written tests, each followed by an interview. As students of grades 1–3, these children used text-books with numerous instances of explicit use of inverse operations (e.g. 3×2=6, 6:2=3, 6:3=2). The purpose of the research was to examine the extent to which these students understood and used relations between inverse operations in order to simplify computations. Samples of results:

A majority (21 students) was not able to find the value of 28+75?75 or 14×15:14 without performing all the operations.

About half fell in the preprogrammed traps writing e.g. that 100?19+100 equals 19 or 3×3/4?3/4 equals 3.

     

Demonstration of a new biosensing concept for immunodiagnostic applications based on change in surface conductance of antibodies after biomolecular interactions

We report an important observation that the surface conductivity of antibody layer immobilized on polylysine-coated glass substrate decreases upon the formation of complex with their specific antigens. This change in conductivity has been observed for both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. The conductance of monoclonal mouse IgG immobilized on polylysine-coated glass substrate changed from 1.02×10⁻⁸ Ω⁻¹ to 1.41×10⁻¹¹ Ω⁻¹ at 10 V when complex is formed due to the specific biomolecular interactions with rabbit anti-mouse IgG F(ab′)₂. Similar behavior was observed when the same set up was tested in two clinical assays: (1) anti-Leishmania antigen polyclonal antibodies taken from Kala Azar positive patient serum interacting with Leishmania promastigote antigen, and (2) anti-p21 polyclonal antibodies interacting with p21 antigen. The proposed concept can represent a new immunodiagnostic technique and may have wide ranging applications in biosensors and nanobiotechnology too.     

Bread wheat varieties as influenced by different nitrogen levels

INTRODUCTION Dera Ismail Khan lies in Pakistan’s arid zone (71.07° longitude, 31.57° latitude and 500 m above sea level). This zone is in the extreme south of (NWFP) Pakistan at the bank of the River Indus. Dera Ismail Khan is bounded by Sulaiman Range to the West, the Indus River on the East, Marwat and Bhit- tani Ranges on the North and Vehowa Nala (Punjab) on the South. Besides certain local variability the area is comprised of four basic divisions viz mountains, a series …