Revisit the Pitot static tubes in the standards

A Pitot tube is a popular device used for the measurements of flow fields. To control the accuracy of the Pitot tube coefficient, the international standard organization (ISO), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) issued guidelines that recommended the shape and working conditions of these devices. However, many Pitot tubes on the market do not follow these guidelines. In the present study, various types of Pitot tubes in the market were tested at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) to determine the effects of the geometry and flow characteristics. The results revealed certain limitations in the existing ISO and JIS standards, specifically with regard to the recommended design parameters of the AMCA Pitot tube, the reference coefficient value for the JIS Pitot tube, and the redefinition and limitation of Reynolds numbers pertaining to Pitot tube working conditions.     

Preparation and electrical conductivity of KTaO3-based proton conductor

KTaO₃ and KTa_0.9M_0.1O_3-α (M = Ti, Hf, Zr) were prepared by solid state reaction at 1330 °C for 2 h and characterized by x-ray diffraction. The AC impedance technique was used to analyze the sintered solid electrolytes in 1%H₂/Ar and dry air atmosphere. Among KTa_0.9M_0.1O_3-α (M = Ti, Hf, Zr), KTa_0.9Zr_0.1O_3-α displays the highest conductivity in 1%H₂/Ar atmosphere. The carriers transport numbers of solid electrolytes were measured by concentration cell method. The results show KTa_0.9Zr_0.1O_3-α is a pure proton conductor below 525 °C. Stability tests show that KTa_0.9Zr_0.1O_3-α has good chemical stability against CO₂ and H₂O.     

As the number falls,alternatives to the Hagberg–Perten falling number method: A review

This review examines the application, limitations, and potential alternatives to the Hagberg–Perten falling number (FN) method used in the global wheat industry for detecting the risk of poor end-product quality mainly due to starch degradation by the enzyme α-amylase. By viscometry, the FN test indirectly detects the presence of α-amylase, the primary enzyme that digests starch. Elevated α-amylase results in low FN and damages wheat product quality resulting in cakes that fall, and sticky bread and noodles. Low FN can occur from preharvest sprouting (PHS) and late maturity α-amylase (LMA). Moist or rainy conditions before harvest cause PHS on the mother plant. Continuously cool or fluctuating temperatures during the grain filling stage cause LMA. Due to the expression of additional hydrolytic enzymes, PHS has a stronger negative impact than LMA. Wheat grain with low FN/high α-amylase results in serious losses for farmers, traders, millers, and bakers worldwide. Although blending of low FN grain with sound wheat may be used as a means of moving affected grain through the marketplace, care must be taken to avoid grain lots from falling below contract-specified FN. A large amount of sound wheat can be ruined if mixed with a small amount of sprouted wheat. The FN method is widely employed to detect α-amylase after harvest. However, it has several limitations, including sampling variability, high cost, labor intensiveness, the destructive nature of the test, and an inability to differentiate between LMA and PHS. Faster, cheaper, and more accurate alternatives could improve breeding for resistance to PHS and LMA and could preserve the value of wheat grain by avoiding inadvertent mixing of high- and low-FN grain by enabling testing at more stages of the value stream including at harvest, delivery, transport, storage, and milling. Alternatives to the FN method explored here include the Rapid Visco Analyzer, enzyme assays, immunoassays, near-infrared spectroscopy, and hyperspectral imaging.     

Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable.     

极限工况下的管网“互联互通”改进方案

在全国天然气管道“主干互联、区域成网”(以下简称“互联互通”)基础格局逐渐形成的背景下,天然气管网规模日益扩大、管道分支和气源增加,并且分布不集中、输送方向可变,使得输气方案更加灵活,可以更好地解决某些地域的供气紧张问题;但受现有站场和设备的限制,暂不能满足某些多线组合极限工况,使得“互联互通”的初衷难以全部实现。为了使得现有的各输气干线在实现“互联互通”之后可以满足更多的多线组合工况,在分析“互联互通”背景下M管网工况变化的基础上,研发了可以进行水力仿真和压气站方案制订的计算软件,并对3种极限工况下的不同输气量情况进行了可行性试算,进而基于试算结果提出了相应的管网改进建议。研究结果表明:(1)经验证,软件计算误差满足要求;(2)在M管道某处增设压气站或在某些输气站场配置压缩机组;(3) M管网改进调整后,可以完成大部分的多线组合极限工况,真正实现“互联互通”的输气方案。结论认为,该研究成果有助于推进全国天然气管网早日实现“互联互通”。     

论携号转网行为的私法规制

以电信用户入网协议为切入点,电信用户的携号转网行为应受到《合同法》《消费者权益保护法》等私法规范的保护与限制。该行为引起的格式条款解释、合同终止、违约责任、损失赔偿等问题,不能仅靠《电信条例》等公法规范来调整。应当积极引导广大消费者用户以私法领域相关规定为依据,转变争议解决思维,拓宽纠纷处理途径,合理选择维权手段,以保护自身合法民事权益,与行业监管部门共同推动电信行业有序发展。     

Design and experimental investigation of the high efficiency 1.5 W/4.2 K pneumatic-drive G-M cryocooler

The development of a high cooling power and high efficiency 4.2 K two stage G-M cryocooler is critically important given its broad applications in low temperature superconductors, MRI, infrared detector and cryogenic electronics. A high efficiency 1.5 W/4.2 K pneumatic-drive G-M cryocooler has recently been designed and developed by ARS. The effect of expansion volume rate and operation conditions on the cooling performance has been experimentally investigated. A typical cooling performance of 1.5 W/4.2 K has been achieved, and the minimum temperature of the second stage is 2.46 K. The steady input power of the compressor at 60 Hz is 6.8 kW, while the operation speed of the rotary valve is 30 rpm. A maximum cooling power of 1.75 W/4.2 K has been obtained in test runs.     

Event-triggered distributed receding horizon control for tracking and formation of homogeneous multi-agent systems

This paper proposes an event-triggered distributed receding horizon control (DRHC) approach for the formation and tracking problems of homogeneous multi-agent systems. For each agent, an event-triggering condition, based on assumed predictive information of the neighbours, is derived from stability analysis. Considering the uncertain deviation between the assumed and true predictive information, we design a time-varying compatibility constraint for the individual optimization problem. In the event-triggered DRHC algorithm, each agent solves the optimization problem and communicates with its neighbours only when the event-triggering condition is satisfied, so the communication and computation burden are reduced. Moreover, guarantees for the recursive feasibility and asymptotic stability of the overall system are proved. A simulation example is provided to illustrate effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Assessing students' conceptual understanding using an online three‐tier diagnostic test

When solving a mathematical problem, students who do not have sufficient conceptual understanding may perform poorly and exhibit misconceptions. This study was aimed to examine students' conceptual understanding and significant misconceptions when solving number sense‐related problems. An online three‐tier diagnostic test was administered to 125 fifth‐grade students with varied socio‐economic backgrounds in Hong Kong. Only 14.40% of the students exhibited high performance with high confidence, indicating that these students had a profound conceptual understanding of number sense. In addition, the majority of the students (66.40%) did not demonstrate number sense; these students exhibited several significant misconceptions and could solve the questions only by using a rule‐based method or guessing. Accordingly, most students performed unsatisfactorily on number sense‐related problems. This study is imperative in identifying early predictors and provides information for further compatible interventions in the teaching and learning of number sense in Hong Kong in particular and worldwide in general.     

Modeling and analysis of passive worm propagation in the P2P file-sharing network

A number of worms, named P2P (peer-to-peer) passive worms, have recently surfaced, which propagate in P2P file-sharing networks and have posed heavy threats to these networks. In contrast to the majority of Internet worms, it is by exploiting users’ legitimate activities instead of vulnerabilities of networks in which P2P passive worms propagate. This feature evidently slows down their propagation, which results in them not attracting an adequate amount of attention in literature. Meanwhile, this feature visibly increases the difficulty of detecting them, which makes it very possible for them to become epidemic. In this paper, we propose an analytical model for P2P passive worm propagation by adopting epidemiological approaches so as to identify their behaviors and predict the tendency of their propagation accurately. Compared with a few existing models, dynamic characteristics of P2P networks are taken into account. Based on this proposed model, the sufficient condition for the global stability of the worm free equilibrium is derived by applying epidemiological theories. Large scale simulation experiments have validated both the proposed model and the condition.