不同细颗粒含量甲烷水合物沉积物三轴剪切试验研究

海域试开采区域含水合物沉积物的粒度分析结果表明水合物沉积物骨架由粗、细颗粒混合构成,通过开展多组低温、高压三轴排水剪切试验研究细颗粒含量和密度对含甲烷水合物沉积物和无水合物沉积物的强度和变形特性的影响。试验结果表明,含水合物沉积物抗剪强度及剪胀性都随细粒含量提高而显著增强。这是由于细颗粒含量增加改变了颗粒间水合物的样貌和分布特征,形成了由水合物包裹着粗颗粒-细颗粒的团簇状集合体。然而,细颗粒含量对无水合物沉积物的强度和变形特性的影响却表现出相反趋势。另外,含水合物沉积物的剪胀关系可以使用修正剑桥模型中的剪胀关系式进行描述。结果表明,剪胀关系的拟合曲线依赖于水合物饱和度的大小。通过对比研究发现,天然水合物和实验室合成水合物试样在较高饱和度时的峰值摩擦角大小及其伴随水合物饱和度的增长趋势存在差异,这种差异主要来源于水合物在沉积物骨架颗粒孔隙中不同的赋存模式及分布特征。     

内含实体对H型垂直轴风力机气动性能的影响

以H型垂直轴风力机及其内含圆柱形实体为研究对象,对NACA0018翼型的五叶片H型垂直轴风力机的气动性能进行数值模拟和实验验证。分析8种不同直径的内含圆柱体,在内含实体截面积占风轮迎风面积之比分别为21.2%、50.0%和76.9%时,风力机风能利用率的峰值分别下降8.04%、20.7%及74.3%。结果表明：随着内含实体直径的增大,风能利用率的峰值逐渐减小,开始较为缓慢,达到一定值时快速下降。小直径内含实体主要影响叶片在下风区的转矩,对风能利用率的影响较小,而大直径内含实体还会影响叶片在上风区的转矩,其风能利用率迅速减小。对于内含固定直径的实体,比如在现有建筑物外侧安装风力机时,其风轮半径的选择需综合考虑风能利用率和风力机的建造成本两方面的因素。研究结果可为建筑物与垂直轴风力机进行有效结合以提高风能的利用提供参考。     

基准平面垂直断面法在爆破漏斗试验中的应用

系统阐述了基准平面垂直断面法在爆破漏斗试验中测量爆破漏斗体积的基本原理,并将隧道激光断面仪应用于金厂河矿1 750 m水平15^#采场底部切割巷道爆破漏斗试验爆破漏斗体积测量中。通过与传统体重法等计算法所得漏斗体积分析比较,结果表明基于隧道激光断面仪与3D Mine软件分析的基准平面垂直断面法实用性强、操作方便、结果直观可靠,达到试验预期目的。     

四旋翼长续航飞行模式的设计与实现

更长的飞行时间是四旋翼无人机领域研究热点方向之一;在对实际飞行中瞬时消耗电流和电池电压数据的研究中发现,过大姿态角下电池电量消耗显著提升;为了延长飞行时间和提升电池电量使用效率,提出一种长续航飞行模式;在该模式下,基于现有的角速度串级PID姿态控制器,将飞行加速度的控制算法改为飞行速度控制,限制过大姿态角的操作;在无风、微风和强风环境下的飞行实验表明,长续航飞行模式比传统飞行方式飞行时间增加8%~20%;长续航飞行模式可广泛应用于多种无需快速变换飞行路径,但需要更长飞行时间的的应用场景中。     

微通道板表面羟基化工艺研究北大核心

研究了3种微通道板基底羟基化的方法,测量了羟基化处理后微通道板基底表面水接触角及通道端面的形貌变化,分析了各种方法中微通道板基底的亲水性和腐蚀情况。实验结果表明:氨水双氧水溶液对基体表面的亲水性能提升不大,NaOH溶液对基体有腐蚀作用,经食人鱼溶液处理的基体表面亲水性明显提高且无腐蚀作用。研究了微通道板在食人鱼溶液中的浸泡时间和浸泡温度对表面亲水性的影响。结果表明:随着浸泡温度的增加,微通道板表面水接触角先减小后增大,当温度为80℃时达到极小值,浸泡时间对微通道板表面的亲水性影响不大。最终确定了微通道板表面羟基化工艺:浸泡温度为80℃,静置时间为20~60 min。     

高面板坝全寿命周期变形控制方法及应用

高面板坝的变形对面板的安全运行有着特别重要的影响，国内外已建的高面板坝工程中，因坝体变形大导致防渗面板挤压破损，坝体渗漏量大的实例较多，不得不降低水库水位进行修复处理，造成较大的经济损失乃至给大坝的长期运行留下安全隐患。通过发生挤压破损的实例分析，发现变形控制缺乏系统性是发生面板挤压破损的主要因素，为预防面板破损，系统提出了“控制坝体总变形，转化有害变形，适应纵向变形”的坝体变形控制方法，并在使用软硬岩混合料筑坝的董箐面板堆石坝中得到的应用，取得了良好效果，该工程运行至今达十余年，未见面板有挤压破损迹象，该方法对建设200 m以上乃至300 m级超高面板坝具有重要借鉴意义。     

Effect of Newtonian heating/cooling on free convection in an annular permeable region in the presence of heat source/sink

The influence of Newtonian heating/cooling in the presence of heat source/sink has been investigated on laminar free convective flow in a vertical annular permeable region. The mathematical model for the problem has been considered as a boundary value problem consisting of two simultaneous ordinary differential equations. The boundary value problem has been transformed to nondimensional form. This has given rise to a number of parameters representing both geometrical and physical features of the problem. Closed‐form analytical solutions of the governing equations have been obtained for two different cases of internal heat generation/absorption. To assess the effects of governing parameters on the fluid velocity and temperature, a number of profiles of these field variables have been presented. The efficacy of the distinct processes on the field variables has been discussed extensively. The main outcome obtained in this study is that the velocity as well as temperature is enhanced in the case of the Newtonian heating while the opposite behavior occurs in the Newtonian cooling for both cases of source and sink. Furthermore, the influence of the governing parameters has been shown on the skin friction, volume flow rate, and the Nusselt number.     

Human DDX17 Unwinds Rift Valley Fever Virus Non-Coding RNAs

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-transmitted virus from the Bunyaviridae family that causes high rates of mortality and morbidity in humans and ruminant animals. Previous studies indicated that DEAD-box helicase 17 (DDX17) restricts RVFV replication by recognizing two primary non-coding RNAs in the S-segment of the genome: the intergenic region (IGR) and 5′ non-coding region (NCR). However, we lack molecular insights into the direct binding of DDX17 with RVFV non-coding RNAs and information on the unwinding of both non-coding RNAs by DDX17. Therefore, we performed an extensive biophysical analysis of the DDX17 helicase domain (DDX17_135–555) and RVFV non-coding RNAs, IGR and 5’ NCR. The homogeneity studies using analytical ultracentrifugation indicated that DDX17_135–555, IGR, and 5’ NCR are pure. Next, we performed small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments, which suggested that DDX17 and both RNAs are homogenous as well. SAXS analysis also demonstrated that DDX17 is globular to an extent, whereas the RNAs adopt an extended conformation in solution. Subsequently, microscale thermophoresis (MST) experiments were performed to investigate the direct binding of DDX17 to the non-coding RNAs. The MST experiments demonstrated that DDX17 binds with the IGR and 5’ NCR with a dissociation constant of 5.77 ± 0.15 µM and 9.85 ± 0.11 µM, respectively. As DDX17_135–555 is an RNA helicase, we next determined if it could unwind IGR and NCR. We developed a helicase assay using MST and fluorescently-labeled oligos, which suggested DDX17_135–555 can unwind both RNAs. Overall, our study provides direct evidence of DDX17_135–555 interacting with and unwinding RVFV non-coding regions.     

Crosstalk between MicroRNA and Oxidative Stress in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), a chronic neurodegenerative disease that damages the trabecular meshwork (TM) cells, inducing apoptosis of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC), deteriorating the optic nerve head, and leading to blindness. Aqueous humor (AH) outflow resistance and intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation contribute to disease progression. Nevertheless, despite the existence of pharmacological and surgical treatments, there is room for the development of additional treatment approaches. The following review is aimed at investigating the role of different microRNAs (miRNAs) in the expression of genes and proteins involved in the regulation of inflammatory and degenerative processes, focusing on the delicate balance of synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) regulated by chronic oxidative stress in POAG related tissues. The neutralizing activity of a couple of miRNAs was described, suggesting effective downregulation of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic signaling pathways, including nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB), transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-β2), Wnt/β-Catenin, and PI3K/AKT. In addition, with regards to the elevated IOP in many POAG patients due to increased outflow resistance, Collagen type I degradation was stimulated by some miRNAs and prevented ECM deposition in TM cells. Mitochondrial dysfunction as a consequence of oxidative stress was suppressed following exposure to different miRNAs. In contrast, increased oxidative damage by inhibiting the mTOR signaling pathway was described as part of the action of selected miRNAs. Summarizing, specific miRNAs may be promising therapeutic targets for lowering or preventing oxidative stress injury in POAG patients.     

Investigating the effect of silver nanorods embedded in polydimethylsiloxane matrix using nanoindentation and its use for flexible electronics

The stretchable electrodes with excellent flexibility, electrical conductivity, and mechanical durability are the most fundamental components in the emerging and exciting field of flexible electronics. This article proposes a method for fabrication of such a stretchable electrode by embedding silver nanorods (AgNRs) into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix that is grown by a unique glancing angle deposition technique. The surface, mechanical, and electrical properties of PDMS are significantly changed after embedding the AgNRs in it. The results show that surface roughness and polarity increase after AgNRs are embedded in the PDMS matrix. Elastic modulus (E) and hardness (H) decrease with an increase in the indentation load as a result of the indentation depth effect. Due to strong interfacial adhesion of AgNRs embedded in the PDMS matrix, the E and H of nanocomposite are increased by 167.6 and 93.3% compared with PDMS film, respectively. Furthermore, the AgNRs-PDMS film has an electrical resistivity value in the order of 10⁻⁷ Ωm. It remains conductive during various mechanical strains such as bending, twisting, and stretching, which is demonstrated using a light-emitting diode circuit. Simultaneously, the antimicrobial activity of silver could make it a promising candidate for wearable electronics.