To understand the ecology of species and promote biotechnology through beneficial strain selection for improving starch yield in maize wet-milling steeping,bacterial diversity and community structure during the counte...To understand the ecology of species and promote biotechnology through beneficial strain selection for improving starch yield in maize wet-milling steeping,bacterial diversity and community structure during the counter-current steeping process in a commercial steeping system were characterized and investigated.The microbial diversity in the steeping liquor,which consisted of 16 phyla,131 families,and 290 genera,was more abundant compared to those present on the surface of unsteeped maize.As the counter-current steeping progressed,exposing newer maize to the older steepwater,Lactobacillus dominated,replacing Rahnella,Pseudomonas,Pantoea,and Serratia.The thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortia were enriched through adaptive evolution engineering and employed to improve starch yield.Several steeping strategies were evaluated,including water alone,SO2 alone,mono-culture of B.coagulans,microbial consortia,and a combination of consortium and SO2.Combining the microbial consortium with SO2 significantly increased the starch yield to,about 66.4±0.5%,a 22%and 46%increase over SO2 alone and the consortium alone,respectively.Scanning electron microscope(SEM)of steeped maize structure indicated that the combination of consortium and SO2 disrupted the protein matrix and widened gaps between starch granules in maize endosperm.This released proteins into the steepwater and left starch granules in the aleurone layer.The steeping strategy of using thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortium as additives shows potential application as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional maize steeping procedures.展开更多
Steeping is a simple model of studying the activation and modulation of the physiological pathways involved in seed germination. In this study, steeping of grains of the ‘obatanpa’ maize variety in buffers at differ...Steeping is a simple model of studying the activation and modulation of the physiological pathways involved in seed germination. In this study, steeping of grains of the ‘obatanpa’ maize variety in buffers at different pH was monitored through the measurements of lipase activity, oil yield, fatty acid component and unsaturation, and germination capacity. Lipase activity of grains steeped for four days decreased in the order: pH 3 > pH 5 > pH 7 > pH 9 > pH 11. Decreasing lipase activity was corroborated with decreasing free fatty acid components, protein concentrations and oil yields. The unsaturation components of the oil fractions only marginally increased with increasing steeping media pH. Three major components were detected by TLC in all oil fractions. The unique components were confirmed by their uniform UV-absorption spectra converging at an isosbestic point of 290 nm. Germination capacity was much reduced for seeds steeped in buffered media for 24 hours compared with seeds steeped in portable water though the pattern of germination, which was monitored for five days, did not change. This study has demonstrated the use of pH changes of steeping medium to modulate physicochemical properties and germination of seeds. The physicochemical changes were observed after seeds have been submerged under steeping buffer for four days. Practical application: With proliferation of specialty maize hybrids, the study provides an insight into the development of experimental protocols for the selection of types of maize grain for preparation of foods and beverages in terms of general characterization and lipolytic activity, which have implications for flavor, taste and odor of the final products. The imminence of this in some traditional ways of preparing malted and fermented maize foods and beverages, which go through days of steeping, cannot be overemphasized. This study therefore provides another dimension to the manipulation of the steeping stage to develop varieties of maize-based product.展开更多
In this paper,we investigate the following fractional Schrödinger-Poisson system with concave-convex nonlinearities and a steep potential well{(-Δ)^(s)u+V_(λ)(x)u+ϕu=f(x)|u|^(q-2)u+|u|^(p-2)u,in R^(3),(-Δ)^(t)...In this paper,we investigate the following fractional Schrödinger-Poisson system with concave-convex nonlinearities and a steep potential well{(-Δ)^(s)u+V_(λ)(x)u+ϕu=f(x)|u|^(q-2)u+|u|^(p-2)u,in R^(3),(-Δ)^(t)ϕ=u^(2),in R^(3),where s∈(3/4,1),t∈(0,1),q∈(1,2),p∈(4,2_(s)^(*)),2_(s)^(*):=6/3-2s is the fractional critical exponent in dimension 3,V_(λ)(x)=λV(x)+1 withλ>0.Under the case of steep potential well,we obtain the existence of the sign-changing solutions for the above system by using the constraint variational method and the quantitative deformation lemma.Furthermore,we prove that the energy of ground state sign-changing solution is strictly more than twice of the energy of the ground state solution.Our results improve the recent results in the literature.展开更多
0 INTRODUCTION Geohazards in mountainous regions pose significant risks to the construction and safe operation of transportation,water conservancy,and other critical infrastructure projects.Engineering geological inve...0 INTRODUCTION Geohazards in mountainous regions pose significant risks to the construction and safe operation of transportation,water conservancy,and other critical infrastructure projects.Engineering geological investigations are crucial for disaster prevention and mitigation.展开更多
Understanding the active tectonic processes in the Nandakini Watershed is imperative for evaluating geological hazards and seismic risks,as well as for informing land-use planning and natural resource management strat...Understanding the active tectonic processes in the Nandakini Watershed is imperative for evaluating geological hazards and seismic risks,as well as for informing land-use planning and natural resource management strategies in the region.Tectonic geomorphology serves as a vital tool for characterizing recent tectonic movements.This research employs GIS techniques to elucidate tectonic activity and its influence on drainage patterns in the Nandakini Watershed,utilizing morphometric parameters derived from SRTM DEM data.Morphometric indices are employed to assess the tectonic movement within drainage basins,capturing both areal and linear factors such as drainage density,texture,circulatory and bifurcation ratios,and stream length ratios.The linear and areal morphometric indices are categorized into three classes representing varying degrees of active tectonic activity.These classifications are then utilized to compute the relative active tectonic index(IRAT).In addition,geomorphic parameters include hypsometric integral,stream length-gradient index,normalized steepness index,chi gradient index,and swath profiles.The majority of the studied region is in an extremely high to moderately active tectonic zone.Large-scale faults and thrusts within the basins are closely correlated with these zones that have been identified.The integrated methodology of GIS-based morphometric analysis and geomorphic study enables the identification of deformed landforms associated with ongoing tectonic activity.Furthermore,these results offer valuable insights for informing watershed management strategies and promoting sustainable land use planning initiatives.展开更多
Aiming at the gas discharge problem in electric aircraft,this work studies the gas discharge characteristics at low-temperature sub-atmospheric pressure.A gas discharge shooting platform was built,and the discharge pr...Aiming at the gas discharge problem in electric aircraft,this work studies the gas discharge characteristics at low-temperature sub-atmospheric pressure.A gas discharge shooting platform was built,and the discharge process was photographed by intensified charge-coupled device(ICCD).A two-dimensional axisymmetric model of needle-plate electrode gas discharge was established,and three sets of Helmholtz equations were used to solve the photoionization.The results show that under the same voltage,the electric field intensity in the discharge process increases first,then decreases and finally increases again.The discharge speed increases with the increase of altitude,and the electron density in the streamer decreases with the increase of altitude.The development speed of the streamer in the middle stage is higher than that in the early stage,and the speed increases more obviously with the increase of altitude.The development speed of the streamer in the later stage is lower than that in the middle stage,but with the increase of altitude,the development speed of the streamer in the later stage is higher than that in the middle stage.展开更多
The coupling effects of rainfall,earthquake,and complex topographic and geological conditions complicate the dynamic responses and disasters of slope-tunnel systems.For this,the large-scale shaking table tests were ca...The coupling effects of rainfall,earthquake,and complex topographic and geological conditions complicate the dynamic responses and disasters of slope-tunnel systems.For this,the large-scale shaking table tests were carried out to explore the dynamic responses of steep bedding slope-tunnel system under the coupling effect of rainfall and earthquake.Results show that the slope surface and elevation amplification effect exhibit pronounced nonlinear change caused by the tunnel and weak interlayers.When seismic wave propagates to tunnels,the weak interlayers and rock intersecting areas present complex wave field distribution characteristics.The dynamic responses of the slope are influenced by the frequency,amplitude,and direction of seismic waves.The acceleration amplification coefficient initially rises and then falls as increasing seismic frequency,peaking at 20 Hz.Additionally,the seismic damage process of slope is categorized into elastic(2-3 m/s^(2)),elastoplastic(4-5 m/s^(2))and plastic damage stages(≥6.5 m/s^(2)).In elastic stage,ΔMPGA(ratio of acceleration amplification factor)increases with increasing seismic intensity,without obvious strain distribution change.In plastic stage,ΔMPGA begins to gradually plummet,and the strain is mainly distributed in the damaged area.The modes of seismic damage in the slope-tunnel system are mainly of tensile failure of the weak interlayer,cracking failure of tunnel lining,formation of persistent cracks on the slope crest and waist,development and outward shearing of the sliding mass,and buckling failure at the slope foot under extrusion of the upper rock body.This study can serve as a reference for predicting the failure modes of tunnel-slope system in strong seismic regions.展开更多
Physics-informed neural networks(PINNs)have prevailed as differentiable simulators to investigate flow in porous media.Despite recent progress PINNs have achieved,practical geotechnical scenarios cannot be readily sim...Physics-informed neural networks(PINNs)have prevailed as differentiable simulators to investigate flow in porous media.Despite recent progress PINNs have achieved,practical geotechnical scenarios cannot be readily simulated because conventional PINNs fail in discontinuous heterogeneous porous media or multi-layer strata when labeled data are missing.This work aims to develop a universal network structure to encode the mass continuity equation and Darcy’s law without labeled data.The finite element approximation,which can decompose a complex heterogeneous domain into simpler ones,is adopted to build the differentiable network.Without conventional DNNs,physics-encoded finite element network(PEFEN)can avoid spectral bias and learn high-frequency functions with sharp/steep gradients.PEFEN rigorously encodes Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions without training.Benefiting from its discretized formulation,the discontinuous heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity is readily embedded into the network.Three typical cases are reproduced to corroborate PEFEN’s superior performance over conventional PINNs and the PINN with mixed formulation.PEFEN is sparse and demonstrated to be capable of dealing with heterogeneity with much fewer training iterations(less than 1/30)than the improved PINN with mixed formulation.Thus,PEFEN saves energy and contributes to low-carbon AI for science.The last two cases focus on common geotechnical settings of impermeable sheet pile in singlelayer and multi-layer strata.PEFEN solves these cases with high accuracy,circumventing costly labeled data,extra computational burden,and additional treatment.Thus,this study warrants the further development and application of PEFEN as a novel differentiable network in porous flow of practical geotechnical engineering.展开更多
Catastrophic geological disasters frequently occur on slopes with obliquely inclined bedding structures(also referred to as obliquely inclined bedding slopes),where the apparent dip sliding is not readily visible.This...Catastrophic geological disasters frequently occur on slopes with obliquely inclined bedding structures(also referred to as obliquely inclined bedding slopes),where the apparent dip sliding is not readily visible.This phenomenon has become a focal point in landslide research.Yet,there is a lack of studies on the failure modes and mechanisms of hidden,steep obliquely inclined bedding slopes.This study investigated the Shanyang landslide in Shaanxi Province,China.Using field investigations,laboratory tests of geotechnical parameters,and the 3DEC software,this study developed a numerical model of the landslide to analyze the failure process of such slopes.The findings indicate that the Shanyang landslide primarily crept along a weak interlayer under the action of gravity.The landslide,initially following a dip angle with the support of a stable inclined rock mass,shifted direction under the influence of argillization in the weak interlayer,moving towards the apparent dip angle.The slide resistance effect of the karstic dissolution zone was increasingly significant during this process,with lateral friction being the primary resistance force.A reduction in the lateral friction due to karstic dissolution made the apparent dip sliding characteristics of the Shanyang landslide more pronounced.Notably,deformations such as bending and uplift at the slope’s foot suggest that the main slide resistance shifts from lateral friction within the karstic dissolution zone to the slope foot’s resistance force,leading to the eventual buckling failure of the landslide.This study unveils a novel failure mode of apparent dip creep-buckling in the Shanyang landslide,highlighting the critical role of lateral friction from the karstic dissolution zone in its failure mechanism.These insights offer a valuable reference for mitigating risks and preventing disasters related to obliquely inclined bedding landslides.展开更多
Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river...Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river systems is highly sensitive to tectonically induced changes, and it often preserves the records of the formation and progression of most tectono-geomorphic processes within its boundaries. Therefore, the evolution of landforms is a consequence of the evolution of individual drainage basins in which they are formed. Assessing the rates of tectonic deformation using geomorphic data is a traditionally adopted method to characterize the nature of active faults. Globally, the Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is widely used as a crucial tool to analyze the morphotectonic features of drainage basins. In this study, some geomorphic indices were applied to investigate the impact of tectonism on landscape along the Karahay?t Fault and its associated drainage areas. These geomorphic indices are mountain front sinuosity(Smf values between 1.17-1.52), valley floor width-to-height ratio(Vf values between 0.25-1.46), basin asymmetry factor(AF values between 15-72), drainage basin shape(Bs values between 3.18-6.01), hypsometric integral and curve(HI values between 0.32-047), channel sinuosity(S values between 1-1.6), normalized steepness index(Ksn values between 1-390) and Chi integral(χ values between 200-4400). The development of drainage areas on the hanging wall and footwall block of the Karahayit Fault differs depending on the uplift. The drainage areas developed on the hanging wall present different patterns depending on the regional uplift caused by the fault. This reveals that the fault contributed significantly to the development of drainage areas and regional uplift in the region. In addition, the maximum earthquake magnitude that may occur in the future on the Karahayit Fault, whose activity is supported by geomorphic indices, is calculated as 6.23. Since an earthquake of this magnitude may cause loss of life and property in the region, precautions should be taken.展开更多
Human activities to improve the quality of life have accelerated the natural rate of soil erosion.In turn,these natural disasters have taken a great impact on humans.Human activities,particularly the conversion of veg...Human activities to improve the quality of life have accelerated the natural rate of soil erosion.In turn,these natural disasters have taken a great impact on humans.Human activities,particularly the conversion of vegetated land into agricultural land and built-up area,stand out as primary contributors to soil erosion.The present study investigated the risk of soil erosion in the Irga watershed located on the eastern fringe of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand,India,which is dominated by sandy loam and sandy clay loam soil with low soil organic carbon(SOC)content.The study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE)and Geographical Information System(GIS)technique to determine the rate of soil erosion.The five parameters(rainfall-runoff erosivity(R)factor,soil erodibility(K)factor,slope length and steepness(LS)factor,cover-management(C)factor,and support practice(P)factor)of the RUSLE were applied to present a more accurate distribution characteristic of soil erosion in the Irga watershed.The result shows that the R factor is positively correlated with rainfall and follows the same distribution pattern as the rainfall.The K factor values in the northern part of the study area are relatively low,while they are relatively high in the southern part.The mean value of the LS factor is 2.74,which is low due to the flat terrain of the Irga watershed.There is a negative linear correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and the C factor,and the high values of the C factor are observed in places with low NDVI.The mean value of the P factor is 0.210,with a range from 0.000 to 1.000.After calculating all parameters,we obtained the average soil erosion rate of 1.43 t/(hm^(2)•a),with the highest rate reaching as high as 32.71 t/(hm^(2)•a).Therefore,the study area faces a low risk of soil erosion.However,preventative measures are essential to avoid future damage to productive and constructive activities caused by soil erosion.This study also identifies the spatial distribution of soil erosion rate,which will help policy-makers to implement targeted soil erosion control measures.展开更多
Steep-slope cropland plays a vital role in food production,economic development,ecosystem diversity,and Eu-ropean cultural heritage.However,these systems are susceptible to extreme weather events.The 2022 summer droug...Steep-slope cropland plays a vital role in food production,economic development,ecosystem diversity,and Eu-ropean cultural heritage.However,these systems are susceptible to extreme weather events.The 2022 summer drought significantly impacted European agriculture,but the specific effects on steep-slope crops remain uncer-tain.Clarifying this is essential for comprehending similar future events and for implementing effective water management strategies to ensure the sustainability of steep-slope agriculture and associated ecosystem services.This study quantitatively analyzes the spatial distribution of twelve major European steep-slope(>12%)crops and assesses agricultural drought severity during the 2022 events using open-access spatial data.The satellite-based Vegetation Health Index(VHI)is utilized to identify critical hotspots.Results show that olive grove is the most widespread crop in steep slope agriculture(34%of total area),followed by wheat(24%),maize(16%),and vineyard(11%).Almost half of the steep-slope agriculture in Europe suffered drought during summer 2022.Vineyards were hardest affected at 79%,primarily in northern Portugal,northern Spain,southern France,and central Italy.Sunflowers followed at 62%,mainly in Spain,central Italy,southern France,and northern Roma-nia.Olive groves ranked third at 59%,with the most impact in northern Portugal,southern and central Spain,and southern Italy.Maize was also significantly affected at 54%.In this paper,we therefore highlight the need to increase steep-slope agriculture resilience by improving water management and promoting sustainable land practices.展开更多
The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has rendered numerous landslides to a global natural disaster issue.It is crucial to rapidly and accurately determine the boundaries of landslides for geohazards evalu...The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has rendered numerous landslides to a global natural disaster issue.It is crucial to rapidly and accurately determine the boundaries of landslides for geohazards evaluation and emergency response.Therefore,the Skip Connection DeepLab neural network(SCDnn),a deep learning model based on 770 optical remote sensing images of landslide,is proposed to improve the accuracy of landslide boundary detection.The SCDnn model is optimized for the over-segmentation issue which occurs in conventional deep learning models when there is a significant degree of similarity between topographical geomorphic features.SCDnn exhibits notable improvements in landslide feature extraction and semantic segmentation by combining an enhanced Atrous Spatial Pyramid Convolutional Block(ASPC)with a coding structure that reduces model complexity.The experimental results demonstrate that SCDnn can identify landslide boundaries in 119 images with MIoU values between 0.8and 0.9;while 52 images with MIoU values exceeding 0.9,which exceeds the identification accuracy of existing techniques.This work can offer a novel technique for the automatic extensive identification of landslide boundaries in remote sensing images in addition to establishing the groundwork for future inve stigations and applications in related domains.展开更多
Ceramic relief mural is a contemporary landscape art that is carefully designed based on human nature,culture,and architectural wall space,combined with social customs,visual sensibility,and art.It may also become the...Ceramic relief mural is a contemporary landscape art that is carefully designed based on human nature,culture,and architectural wall space,combined with social customs,visual sensibility,and art.It may also become the main axis of ceramic art in the future.Taiwan public ceramic relief murals(PCRM)are most distinctive with the PCRM pioneered by Pan-Hsiung Chu of Meinong Kiln in 1987.In addition to breaking through the limitations of traditional public ceramic murals,Chu leveraged local culture and sensibility.The theme of art gives PCRM its unique style and innovative value throughout the Taiwan region.This study mainly analyzes and understands the design image of public ceramic murals,taking Taiwan PCRM’s design and creation as the scope,and applies STEEP analysis,that is,the social,technological,economic,ecological,and political-legal environments are analyzed as core factors;eight main important factors in the artistic design image of ceramic murals are evaluated.Then,interpretive structural modeling(ISM)is used to establish five levels,analyze the four main problems in the main core factor area and the four main target results in the affected factor area;and analyze the problem points and target points as well as their causal relationships.It is expected to sort out the relationship between these factors,obtain the hierarchical relationship of each factor,and provide a reference basis and research methods.展开更多
The prevalence of unwholesome land use practices and population pressure exacerbates soil loss which is worsening the problem of sedimentation of the Kubanni dam. This study was conducted at the Kubanni drainage basin...The prevalence of unwholesome land use practices and population pressure exacerbates soil loss which is worsening the problem of sedimentation of the Kubanni dam. This study was conducted at the Kubanni drainage basin covering a spatial area of 56.7 Km2 in Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria to estimate annual soil loss using the RUSLE model. Satellite images of Landsat OLI for December 2014, 2016, 2018, February, July and November 2022;soil data, rainfall data from 2010 to 2022, and DEM of 30-meter resolution were utilized for the study. All factors of the RUSLE model were calculated for the basin using assembled data. The erosivity (R-factor) was discovered to be 553.437 MJ∙mm∙ha−1∙h−1∙yr−1. The average erodibility (K-factor) value was 0.1 Mg∙h∙h∙ha−1∙MJ−1∙mm−1∙yr−1. The Slope Length and Steepness factor (LS-factor) in the basin ranged between 0% and 13.47%. The Crop Management Factor (C-factor) values were obtained from a rescaling of the NDVI values derived for the study area and ranged from 0.26 to 0.55. Support practice (P-factors) were computed from the prevalent tillage practice in the basin and ranged from 0.27 to 0.40. The soil loss amount for the Kubanni basin was found to be 28441.482 tons∙ha−1∙yr−1, while the annual soil loss for the entire Kubanni drainage basin was found to be 49780.257 tons∙yr−1. The study has demonstrated the viability of coupling RUSLE model and Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for the estimation of soil loss in the Kubanni drainage basin.展开更多
In order to clarify the water-saving technologies and standards in large-scale mechanized production of paddy fields, the water-saving effects and cost-benefit situations of paddy field steeping, seedling transplantin...In order to clarify the water-saving technologies and standards in large-scale mechanized production of paddy fields, the water-saving effects and cost-benefit situations of paddy field steeping, seedling transplanting and different land preparation methods were studied. The results showed that the suitable water layer height for the closing period of mechanized operation was 10 cm, which could save water, facilitate weed control, and lead to better effect and the highest yield. The treatment with a water layer height of 1 cm(Huadashui) for the seedling planting operation achieved better quality of seedling transplanting, lower vacancy rate and higher yield and was water-saving. From the perspective of saving water and taking into account the cost of land preparation, the method of steeping and beating the field was better than the method of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and harrowing in spring, but it was very prone to lodging. From the perspective of high yield creation, the method of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and harrowing in spring was significantly better than the method of steeping and beating the field. In order to reduce the cost of land preparation, it is recommended to change the way of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and hallowing in spring to plowing in autumn and rotary tillage in spring or plowing and hallowing in spring to reduce the cost of one time of rotary tillage, and to simultaneously realize deeper plough layer, which is conducive to preventing lodging and obtaining high yield.展开更多
Vascular stenosis is a common cardiovascular disease,and the in-depth study of its biomechanical mechanism will help to explore the occurrence mechanism and law of the disease,which is of great significance in the pre...Vascular stenosis is a common cardiovascular disease,and the in-depth study of its biomechanical mechanism will help to explore the occurrence mechanism and law of the disease,which is of great significance in the prevention and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.Different from previous studies,radial and axial motions are considered in the realistic configuration of the wall,and the wall equation of the stenotic artery is established.On the basis of the wall equation and fluid equation,the KdV-Burgers equation is obtained by scale analysis and perturbation expansion.The effects of axial displacement and wall initial conditions on the propagation of solitary waves in stenotic arteries are discussed.It is shown that with the increase of the axial and radial tension ratios,the amplitude and width of the solitary wave increase,and the solitary wave becomes steeper and more sharp.The results of this study provide a theoretical value for detecting the shape change of solitary wave in blood vessel to predict vascular stenosis.展开更多
To accommodate surrounding rock structure stability control problem in underground mining, we study the coupling effect principle between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, and develop a series of longwall mining...To accommodate surrounding rock structure stability control problem in underground mining, we study the coupling effect principle between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, and develop a series of longwall mining technology and equipment, which solves four common technical problems that significantly undermine coal mining safety, efficiency, and high recovery and extraction rates. Based on the coupling characteristic between mining-induced stress field and supporting stress field of hydraulic support, we identify six controllable factors in the application of hydraulic support to surrounding rock, and further reveal the relationship between hydraulic support and surrounding rock in terms of the strength, the stiffness, and the stability coupling. Our findings provide a plausible solution to the longwall mining technical problem with 6-8 m mining height. By analyzing the dynamic disequilibrium characteristics between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, we propose the intelligent top coal caving control method and the high-coal-recovery-rate tech- nology for fully mechanized caving faces. With the invention of this technology, China is likely to lead the world in terms of the fully mechanized top coal caving mining technology. We are also the first to employ the intelligent coupling technology between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, and automated mining mode, and supporting system coop- erative control with automatic organization. We develop the comprehensive multi-index intelligence adjusting height decision-making mechanism and three-dimensional navigation automatic adjusting straightness technology based on shearer cutting height memory association, cutting power parameters, vibration, and video information, leading to the first set of intelligent longwall mining technology and equipment for thin seam. Our innovation makes a solid contribution to the revolution of intelligence mining technology. With the innovative use of three-dimensional coupling control principle for surrounding rock, we successfully resolve the technological difficulties of longwall mining equipment and surrounding rock control for steep dipping seam, making a breakthrough of longwall mining technology with steep dipping seam.展开更多
基金supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFD2101000/2021YFD2101002).
文摘To understand the ecology of species and promote biotechnology through beneficial strain selection for improving starch yield in maize wet-milling steeping,bacterial diversity and community structure during the counter-current steeping process in a commercial steeping system were characterized and investigated.The microbial diversity in the steeping liquor,which consisted of 16 phyla,131 families,and 290 genera,was more abundant compared to those present on the surface of unsteeped maize.As the counter-current steeping progressed,exposing newer maize to the older steepwater,Lactobacillus dominated,replacing Rahnella,Pseudomonas,Pantoea,and Serratia.The thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortia were enriched through adaptive evolution engineering and employed to improve starch yield.Several steeping strategies were evaluated,including water alone,SO2 alone,mono-culture of B.coagulans,microbial consortia,and a combination of consortium and SO2.Combining the microbial consortium with SO2 significantly increased the starch yield to,about 66.4±0.5%,a 22%and 46%increase over SO2 alone and the consortium alone,respectively.Scanning electron microscope(SEM)of steeped maize structure indicated that the combination of consortium and SO2 disrupted the protein matrix and widened gaps between starch granules in maize endosperm.This released proteins into the steepwater and left starch granules in the aleurone layer.The steeping strategy of using thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortium as additives shows potential application as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional maize steeping procedures.
文摘Steeping is a simple model of studying the activation and modulation of the physiological pathways involved in seed germination. In this study, steeping of grains of the ‘obatanpa’ maize variety in buffers at different pH was monitored through the measurements of lipase activity, oil yield, fatty acid component and unsaturation, and germination capacity. Lipase activity of grains steeped for four days decreased in the order: pH 3 > pH 5 > pH 7 > pH 9 > pH 11. Decreasing lipase activity was corroborated with decreasing free fatty acid components, protein concentrations and oil yields. The unsaturation components of the oil fractions only marginally increased with increasing steeping media pH. Three major components were detected by TLC in all oil fractions. The unique components were confirmed by their uniform UV-absorption spectra converging at an isosbestic point of 290 nm. Germination capacity was much reduced for seeds steeped in buffered media for 24 hours compared with seeds steeped in portable water though the pattern of germination, which was monitored for five days, did not change. This study has demonstrated the use of pH changes of steeping medium to modulate physicochemical properties and germination of seeds. The physicochemical changes were observed after seeds have been submerged under steeping buffer for four days. Practical application: With proliferation of specialty maize hybrids, the study provides an insight into the development of experimental protocols for the selection of types of maize grain for preparation of foods and beverages in terms of general characterization and lipolytic activity, which have implications for flavor, taste and odor of the final products. The imminence of this in some traditional ways of preparing malted and fermented maize foods and beverages, which go through days of steeping, cannot be overemphasized. This study therefore provides another dimension to the manipulation of the steeping stage to develop varieties of maize-based product.
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan(No.2023NSFSC0073)。
文摘In this paper,we investigate the following fractional Schrödinger-Poisson system with concave-convex nonlinearities and a steep potential well{(-Δ)^(s)u+V_(λ)(x)u+ϕu=f(x)|u|^(q-2)u+|u|^(p-2)u,in R^(3),(-Δ)^(t)ϕ=u^(2),in R^(3),where s∈(3/4,1),t∈(0,1),q∈(1,2),p∈(4,2_(s)^(*)),2_(s)^(*):=6/3-2s is the fractional critical exponent in dimension 3,V_(λ)(x)=λV(x)+1 withλ>0.Under the case of steep potential well,we obtain the existence of the sign-changing solutions for the above system by using the constraint variational method and the quantitative deformation lemma.Furthermore,we prove that the energy of ground state sign-changing solution is strictly more than twice of the energy of the ground state solution.Our results improve the recent results in the literature.
基金financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2022YFC3080200)。
文摘0 INTRODUCTION Geohazards in mountainous regions pose significant risks to the construction and safe operation of transportation,water conservancy,and other critical infrastructure projects.Engineering geological investigations are crucial for disaster prevention and mitigation.
文摘Understanding the active tectonic processes in the Nandakini Watershed is imperative for evaluating geological hazards and seismic risks,as well as for informing land-use planning and natural resource management strategies in the region.Tectonic geomorphology serves as a vital tool for characterizing recent tectonic movements.This research employs GIS techniques to elucidate tectonic activity and its influence on drainage patterns in the Nandakini Watershed,utilizing morphometric parameters derived from SRTM DEM data.Morphometric indices are employed to assess the tectonic movement within drainage basins,capturing both areal and linear factors such as drainage density,texture,circulatory and bifurcation ratios,and stream length ratios.The linear and areal morphometric indices are categorized into three classes representing varying degrees of active tectonic activity.These classifications are then utilized to compute the relative active tectonic index(IRAT).In addition,geomorphic parameters include hypsometric integral,stream length-gradient index,normalized steepness index,chi gradient index,and swath profiles.The majority of the studied region is in an extremely high to moderately active tectonic zone.Large-scale faults and thrusts within the basins are closely correlated with these zones that have been identified.The integrated methodology of GIS-based morphometric analysis and geomorphic study enables the identification of deformed landforms associated with ongoing tectonic activity.Furthermore,these results offer valuable insights for informing watershed management strategies and promoting sustainable land use planning initiatives.
文摘Aiming at the gas discharge problem in electric aircraft,this work studies the gas discharge characteristics at low-temperature sub-atmospheric pressure.A gas discharge shooting platform was built,and the discharge process was photographed by intensified charge-coupled device(ICCD).A two-dimensional axisymmetric model of needle-plate electrode gas discharge was established,and three sets of Helmholtz equations were used to solve the photoionization.The results show that under the same voltage,the electric field intensity in the discharge process increases first,then decreases and finally increases again.The discharge speed increases with the increase of altitude,and the electron density in the streamer decreases with the increase of altitude.The development speed of the streamer in the middle stage is higher than that in the early stage,and the speed increases more obviously with the increase of altitude.The development speed of the streamer in the later stage is lower than that in the middle stage,but with the increase of altitude,the development speed of the streamer in the later stage is higher than that in the middle stage.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.52109125)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China (Grant No.BK20231217)the Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety,Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.SKLGME023001).
文摘The coupling effects of rainfall,earthquake,and complex topographic and geological conditions complicate the dynamic responses and disasters of slope-tunnel systems.For this,the large-scale shaking table tests were carried out to explore the dynamic responses of steep bedding slope-tunnel system under the coupling effect of rainfall and earthquake.Results show that the slope surface and elevation amplification effect exhibit pronounced nonlinear change caused by the tunnel and weak interlayers.When seismic wave propagates to tunnels,the weak interlayers and rock intersecting areas present complex wave field distribution characteristics.The dynamic responses of the slope are influenced by the frequency,amplitude,and direction of seismic waves.The acceleration amplification coefficient initially rises and then falls as increasing seismic frequency,peaking at 20 Hz.Additionally,the seismic damage process of slope is categorized into elastic(2-3 m/s^(2)),elastoplastic(4-5 m/s^(2))and plastic damage stages(≥6.5 m/s^(2)).In elastic stage,ΔMPGA(ratio of acceleration amplification factor)increases with increasing seismic intensity,without obvious strain distribution change.In plastic stage,ΔMPGA begins to gradually plummet,and the strain is mainly distributed in the damaged area.The modes of seismic damage in the slope-tunnel system are mainly of tensile failure of the weak interlayer,cracking failure of tunnel lining,formation of persistent cracks on the slope crest and waist,development and outward shearing of the sliding mass,and buckling failure at the slope foot under extrusion of the upper rock body.This study can serve as a reference for predicting the failure modes of tunnel-slope system in strong seismic regions.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42272338 and 41827807)Department of Transportation of Zhejiang Province,China(Grant No.202213).
文摘Physics-informed neural networks(PINNs)have prevailed as differentiable simulators to investigate flow in porous media.Despite recent progress PINNs have achieved,practical geotechnical scenarios cannot be readily simulated because conventional PINNs fail in discontinuous heterogeneous porous media or multi-layer strata when labeled data are missing.This work aims to develop a universal network structure to encode the mass continuity equation and Darcy’s law without labeled data.The finite element approximation,which can decompose a complex heterogeneous domain into simpler ones,is adopted to build the differentiable network.Without conventional DNNs,physics-encoded finite element network(PEFEN)can avoid spectral bias and learn high-frequency functions with sharp/steep gradients.PEFEN rigorously encodes Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions without training.Benefiting from its discretized formulation,the discontinuous heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity is readily embedded into the network.Three typical cases are reproduced to corroborate PEFEN’s superior performance over conventional PINNs and the PINN with mixed formulation.PEFEN is sparse and demonstrated to be capable of dealing with heterogeneity with much fewer training iterations(less than 1/30)than the improved PINN with mixed formulation.Thus,PEFEN saves energy and contributes to low-carbon AI for science.The last two cases focus on common geotechnical settings of impermeable sheet pile in singlelayer and multi-layer strata.PEFEN solves these cases with high accuracy,circumventing costly labeled data,extra computational burden,and additional treatment.Thus,this study warrants the further development and application of PEFEN as a novel differentiable network in porous flow of practical geotechnical engineering.
基金jointly supported by the projects of the China Geological Survey(DD20230092,DD20201119)。
文摘Catastrophic geological disasters frequently occur on slopes with obliquely inclined bedding structures(also referred to as obliquely inclined bedding slopes),where the apparent dip sliding is not readily visible.This phenomenon has become a focal point in landslide research.Yet,there is a lack of studies on the failure modes and mechanisms of hidden,steep obliquely inclined bedding slopes.This study investigated the Shanyang landslide in Shaanxi Province,China.Using field investigations,laboratory tests of geotechnical parameters,and the 3DEC software,this study developed a numerical model of the landslide to analyze the failure process of such slopes.The findings indicate that the Shanyang landslide primarily crept along a weak interlayer under the action of gravity.The landslide,initially following a dip angle with the support of a stable inclined rock mass,shifted direction under the influence of argillization in the weak interlayer,moving towards the apparent dip angle.The slide resistance effect of the karstic dissolution zone was increasingly significant during this process,with lateral friction being the primary resistance force.A reduction in the lateral friction due to karstic dissolution made the apparent dip sliding characteristics of the Shanyang landslide more pronounced.Notably,deformations such as bending and uplift at the slope’s foot suggest that the main slide resistance shifts from lateral friction within the karstic dissolution zone to the slope foot’s resistance force,leading to the eventual buckling failure of the landslide.This study unveils a novel failure mode of apparent dip creep-buckling in the Shanyang landslide,highlighting the critical role of lateral friction from the karstic dissolution zone in its failure mechanism.These insights offer a valuable reference for mitigating risks and preventing disasters related to obliquely inclined bedding landslides.
文摘Understanding the topography in active tectonic areas and assessing the rates and models of active deformation in the upper crust are primary objectives in tectonic geomorphology studies. The drainage pattern of river systems is highly sensitive to tectonically induced changes, and it often preserves the records of the formation and progression of most tectono-geomorphic processes within its boundaries. Therefore, the evolution of landforms is a consequence of the evolution of individual drainage basins in which they are formed. Assessing the rates of tectonic deformation using geomorphic data is a traditionally adopted method to characterize the nature of active faults. Globally, the Digital Elevation Model(DEM) is widely used as a crucial tool to analyze the morphotectonic features of drainage basins. In this study, some geomorphic indices were applied to investigate the impact of tectonism on landscape along the Karahay?t Fault and its associated drainage areas. These geomorphic indices are mountain front sinuosity(Smf values between 1.17-1.52), valley floor width-to-height ratio(Vf values between 0.25-1.46), basin asymmetry factor(AF values between 15-72), drainage basin shape(Bs values between 3.18-6.01), hypsometric integral and curve(HI values between 0.32-047), channel sinuosity(S values between 1-1.6), normalized steepness index(Ksn values between 1-390) and Chi integral(χ values between 200-4400). The development of drainage areas on the hanging wall and footwall block of the Karahayit Fault differs depending on the uplift. The drainage areas developed on the hanging wall present different patterns depending on the regional uplift caused by the fault. This reveals that the fault contributed significantly to the development of drainage areas and regional uplift in the region. In addition, the maximum earthquake magnitude that may occur in the future on the Karahayit Fault, whose activity is supported by geomorphic indices, is calculated as 6.23. Since an earthquake of this magnitude may cause loss of life and property in the region, precautions should be taken.
基金the financial support received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the form of a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)。
文摘Human activities to improve the quality of life have accelerated the natural rate of soil erosion.In turn,these natural disasters have taken a great impact on humans.Human activities,particularly the conversion of vegetated land into agricultural land and built-up area,stand out as primary contributors to soil erosion.The present study investigated the risk of soil erosion in the Irga watershed located on the eastern fringe of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand,India,which is dominated by sandy loam and sandy clay loam soil with low soil organic carbon(SOC)content.The study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE)and Geographical Information System(GIS)technique to determine the rate of soil erosion.The five parameters(rainfall-runoff erosivity(R)factor,soil erodibility(K)factor,slope length and steepness(LS)factor,cover-management(C)factor,and support practice(P)factor)of the RUSLE were applied to present a more accurate distribution characteristic of soil erosion in the Irga watershed.The result shows that the R factor is positively correlated with rainfall and follows the same distribution pattern as the rainfall.The K factor values in the northern part of the study area are relatively low,while they are relatively high in the southern part.The mean value of the LS factor is 2.74,which is low due to the flat terrain of the Irga watershed.There is a negative linear correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and the C factor,and the high values of the C factor are observed in places with low NDVI.The mean value of the P factor is 0.210,with a range from 0.000 to 1.000.After calculating all parameters,we obtained the average soil erosion rate of 1.43 t/(hm^(2)•a),with the highest rate reaching as high as 32.71 t/(hm^(2)•a).Therefore,the study area faces a low risk of soil erosion.However,preventative measures are essential to avoid future damage to productive and constructive activities caused by soil erosion.This study also identifies the spatial distribution of soil erosion rate,which will help policy-makers to implement targeted soil erosion control measures.
基金funding from the European Union Next-GenerationEU(PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA(PNRR)-MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2,INVESTIMENTO 1.4-D.D.103217/06/2022,CN00000022).
文摘Steep-slope cropland plays a vital role in food production,economic development,ecosystem diversity,and Eu-ropean cultural heritage.However,these systems are susceptible to extreme weather events.The 2022 summer drought significantly impacted European agriculture,but the specific effects on steep-slope crops remain uncer-tain.Clarifying this is essential for comprehending similar future events and for implementing effective water management strategies to ensure the sustainability of steep-slope agriculture and associated ecosystem services.This study quantitatively analyzes the spatial distribution of twelve major European steep-slope(>12%)crops and assesses agricultural drought severity during the 2022 events using open-access spatial data.The satellite-based Vegetation Health Index(VHI)is utilized to identify critical hotspots.Results show that olive grove is the most widespread crop in steep slope agriculture(34%of total area),followed by wheat(24%),maize(16%),and vineyard(11%).Almost half of the steep-slope agriculture in Europe suffered drought during summer 2022.Vineyards were hardest affected at 79%,primarily in northern Portugal,northern Spain,southern France,and central Italy.Sunflowers followed at 62%,mainly in Spain,central Italy,southern France,and northern Roma-nia.Olive groves ranked third at 59%,with the most impact in northern Portugal,southern and central Spain,and southern Italy.Maize was also significantly affected at 54%.In this paper,we therefore highlight the need to increase steep-slope agriculture resilience by improving water management and promoting sustainable land practices.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42090054,41931295)the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China(2022CFA002)。
文摘The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has rendered numerous landslides to a global natural disaster issue.It is crucial to rapidly and accurately determine the boundaries of landslides for geohazards evaluation and emergency response.Therefore,the Skip Connection DeepLab neural network(SCDnn),a deep learning model based on 770 optical remote sensing images of landslide,is proposed to improve the accuracy of landslide boundary detection.The SCDnn model is optimized for the over-segmentation issue which occurs in conventional deep learning models when there is a significant degree of similarity between topographical geomorphic features.SCDnn exhibits notable improvements in landslide feature extraction and semantic segmentation by combining an enhanced Atrous Spatial Pyramid Convolutional Block(ASPC)with a coding structure that reduces model complexity.The experimental results demonstrate that SCDnn can identify landslide boundaries in 119 images with MIoU values between 0.8and 0.9;while 52 images with MIoU values exceeding 0.9,which exceeds the identification accuracy of existing techniques.This work can offer a novel technique for the automatic extensive identification of landslide boundaries in remote sensing images in addition to establishing the groundwork for future inve stigations and applications in related domains.
文摘Ceramic relief mural is a contemporary landscape art that is carefully designed based on human nature,culture,and architectural wall space,combined with social customs,visual sensibility,and art.It may also become the main axis of ceramic art in the future.Taiwan public ceramic relief murals(PCRM)are most distinctive with the PCRM pioneered by Pan-Hsiung Chu of Meinong Kiln in 1987.In addition to breaking through the limitations of traditional public ceramic murals,Chu leveraged local culture and sensibility.The theme of art gives PCRM its unique style and innovative value throughout the Taiwan region.This study mainly analyzes and understands the design image of public ceramic murals,taking Taiwan PCRM’s design and creation as the scope,and applies STEEP analysis,that is,the social,technological,economic,ecological,and political-legal environments are analyzed as core factors;eight main important factors in the artistic design image of ceramic murals are evaluated.Then,interpretive structural modeling(ISM)is used to establish five levels,analyze the four main problems in the main core factor area and the four main target results in the affected factor area;and analyze the problem points and target points as well as their causal relationships.It is expected to sort out the relationship between these factors,obtain the hierarchical relationship of each factor,and provide a reference basis and research methods.
文摘The prevalence of unwholesome land use practices and population pressure exacerbates soil loss which is worsening the problem of sedimentation of the Kubanni dam. This study was conducted at the Kubanni drainage basin covering a spatial area of 56.7 Km2 in Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria to estimate annual soil loss using the RUSLE model. Satellite images of Landsat OLI for December 2014, 2016, 2018, February, July and November 2022;soil data, rainfall data from 2010 to 2022, and DEM of 30-meter resolution were utilized for the study. All factors of the RUSLE model were calculated for the basin using assembled data. The erosivity (R-factor) was discovered to be 553.437 MJ∙mm∙ha−1∙h−1∙yr−1. The average erodibility (K-factor) value was 0.1 Mg∙h∙h∙ha−1∙MJ−1∙mm−1∙yr−1. The Slope Length and Steepness factor (LS-factor) in the basin ranged between 0% and 13.47%. The Crop Management Factor (C-factor) values were obtained from a rescaling of the NDVI values derived for the study area and ranged from 0.26 to 0.55. Support practice (P-factors) were computed from the prevalent tillage practice in the basin and ranged from 0.27 to 0.40. The soil loss amount for the Kubanni basin was found to be 28441.482 tons∙ha−1∙yr−1, while the annual soil loss for the entire Kubanni drainage basin was found to be 49780.257 tons∙yr−1. The study has demonstrated the viability of coupling RUSLE model and Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for the estimation of soil loss in the Kubanni drainage basin.
基金Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province(LH2019C063)National Key R&D Program(2016YFC0400108-3)+4 种基金Heilongjiang Provincial-level Project of National Science and Technology Major Project(GX17B010)Heilongjiang Provincial Postdoctoral Research Startup Fund(LBH-Q15134)lHeilongjiang Provincial Leading Talent Echelon Reserve Leader Project(2017)Academy-level project of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences(2018KYJL021)Heilongjiang Provincial Modern Agricultural Industry Technology Cooperative Innovation Extension System(2019)。
文摘In order to clarify the water-saving technologies and standards in large-scale mechanized production of paddy fields, the water-saving effects and cost-benefit situations of paddy field steeping, seedling transplanting and different land preparation methods were studied. The results showed that the suitable water layer height for the closing period of mechanized operation was 10 cm, which could save water, facilitate weed control, and lead to better effect and the highest yield. The treatment with a water layer height of 1 cm(Huadashui) for the seedling planting operation achieved better quality of seedling transplanting, lower vacancy rate and higher yield and was water-saving. From the perspective of saving water and taking into account the cost of land preparation, the method of steeping and beating the field was better than the method of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and harrowing in spring, but it was very prone to lodging. From the perspective of high yield creation, the method of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and harrowing in spring was significantly better than the method of steeping and beating the field. In order to reduce the cost of land preparation, it is recommended to change the way of plowing in autumn and rotary tillage and hallowing in spring to plowing in autumn and rotary tillage in spring or plowing and hallowing in spring to reduce the cost of one time of rotary tillage, and to simultaneously realize deeper plough layer, which is conducive to preventing lodging and obtaining high yield.
文摘Vascular stenosis is a common cardiovascular disease,and the in-depth study of its biomechanical mechanism will help to explore the occurrence mechanism and law of the disease,which is of great significance in the prevention and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.Different from previous studies,radial and axial motions are considered in the realistic configuration of the wall,and the wall equation of the stenotic artery is established.On the basis of the wall equation and fluid equation,the KdV-Burgers equation is obtained by scale analysis and perturbation expansion.The effects of axial displacement and wall initial conditions on the propagation of solitary waves in stenotic arteries are discussed.It is shown that with the increase of the axial and radial tension ratios,the amplitude and width of the solitary wave increase,and the solitary wave becomes steeper and more sharp.The results of this study provide a theoretical value for detecting the shape change of solitary wave in blood vessel to predict vascular stenosis.
文摘To accommodate surrounding rock structure stability control problem in underground mining, we study the coupling effect principle between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, and develop a series of longwall mining technology and equipment, which solves four common technical problems that significantly undermine coal mining safety, efficiency, and high recovery and extraction rates. Based on the coupling characteristic between mining-induced stress field and supporting stress field of hydraulic support, we identify six controllable factors in the application of hydraulic support to surrounding rock, and further reveal the relationship between hydraulic support and surrounding rock in terms of the strength, the stiffness, and the stability coupling. Our findings provide a plausible solution to the longwall mining technical problem with 6-8 m mining height. By analyzing the dynamic disequilibrium characteristics between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, we propose the intelligent top coal caving control method and the high-coal-recovery-rate tech- nology for fully mechanized caving faces. With the invention of this technology, China is likely to lead the world in terms of the fully mechanized top coal caving mining technology. We are also the first to employ the intelligent coupling technology between hydraulic support and surrounding rock, and automated mining mode, and supporting system coop- erative control with automatic organization. We develop the comprehensive multi-index intelligence adjusting height decision-making mechanism and three-dimensional navigation automatic adjusting straightness technology based on shearer cutting height memory association, cutting power parameters, vibration, and video information, leading to the first set of intelligent longwall mining technology and equipment for thin seam. Our innovation makes a solid contribution to the revolution of intelligence mining technology. With the innovative use of three-dimensional coupling control principle for surrounding rock, we successfully resolve the technological difficulties of longwall mining equipment and surrounding rock control for steep dipping seam, making a breakthrough of longwall mining technology with steep dipping seam.