Two new species of Leymus (Poaceae : Triticeae) from Qinghai, China

Two new species of Leymus, L. pendulus and L. obvipodus, are described and illustrated. These two species are endemic to Qinghai province, China, occurring at the margins of woodlands, wastelands, mountain valleys, and the bases of walls, at 2280-2400 m elevation. Leymus pendulus is unusual in its lax, long, pendent spikes. It is closely related to L. flexus, but differs from that species by pendent spikes, longer rachis internodes, and shorter glumes and lemmas. Leymus obvipodus is unique in the genus in having all spikelets pedicellate. It resembles both L. divaricatus (Drobow) Tzvelev and L. aristiglumus L. B. Cai but differs from the former by lanceolate glumes with 1 to 3 nerves, longer spike-like panicles, taller culms, and lanceolate lemmas with 5 obscure nerves and pubescent margins, and from the latter by lax, longer spike-like panicles, pedicellate spikelets with 4 to 8 florets, narrower glumes, and longer, lustrous lemmas.

移动机器人运动目标跟踪系统设计

利用SONYEV-D31摄像机和自主研发的摄像机控制模块,构建了一套主动视觉子系统,并将该子系统应用于RIRA-II型移动机器人上,实现了移动机器人运动目标自动跟踪功能。RIRA-II移动机器人采用了由一组分布式行为模块和集中命令仲裁器组成的基于行为的分布式控制体系结构。各行为模块基于领域知识通过反应方式产生投票,由仲裁器产生动作指令,机器人完成相应的动作。在设置了障碍、窄通道以及模拟墙体的复杂环境下进行运动目标跟踪实验,实验表明运动目标跟踪系统运行可靠,具有较高的鲁棒性。

双足爬壁机器人壁面凹过渡步态规划研究

针对腿足式爬壁机器人在壁面过渡时的步态规划问题,以一种真空吸附式双足爬壁机器人为研究对象,在步态分析的基础上,基于有限状态机建立了机器人的步态模型,进而提出了基于加权插值和BP神经网络的双足爬壁机器人壁面凹过渡在线步态规划算法,为提高机器人壁面过渡的自主控制能力奠定了基础.仿真分析和实验结果表明,该步态规划算法对于实际的机器人系统是有效的和可行的.

高邮凹陷陈堡及陈堡东地区油气成藏规律研究

With the development of petroleum exploration in Gaoyou Depression, both old and new areas have been the active exploration targets, so the study of petroleum accumulation is significant to the petroleum exploration in the study area and the integrated oil and gas accumulation theory. Based on hydrocarbon accumulation theory and systematical research methods and combined with the structural characteristics of Gaoyou Depression, Chenbao and East of Chenbao were selected as the study areas in this dissertation, oil and gas migration pathways, accumulation periods, as well as accumulation models were studied, and favorable exploration targets were proposed. There develop three sets source rocks, which are Tai-2 Member, Fu-2 Member and Fu-4 Member respectively. Tai-2 Member is the predominant source rock in the eastern part. Fu-2 Member mainly occurs in the northern slope, while Fu-4 Member develops in the deep depression. In the study area, oil mainly comes from Fu-2 Member of Liuwushe subsag. The lower limit of TOC is 0.4%, and active source rock mostly distributed in the south fault-step zone. The source rock in Liuwushe subsag began to generate hydrocarbon in the late of Dainan depositional stage and the threshold was 2300m. The macro and micro characteristics of reservoirs and the reservoir heterogeneity characteristics of the Fu-1 Member were studied systematicly. The results show that Fu-1 Member, which has better reservoir properties, are medium porosity-medium permeability reservoir. The reservoir permeability has good correlation with porosity connectivity. The reservoirs have strong dissolution, pores are mainly thin to medium throat, and throat radii are distributed concentratedly, the sorting is good and pore structures are homogeneous. Sandstone reservoirs whether in the plan view, interlayer or in layers have a certain degree of heterogeneity, in particular, the heterogeneity in layers directly affect and control the oil and gas migration and accumulation. By analyzing the lithology correlation of the fault walls, shale smear, cross section stress, the configuration of fracture active periods and hydrocarbon generation and expulsion periods and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, the main faults sealing were evaluated. The results show that the faults in Chenbao and East of Chenbao had poor sealing properties in Sanduo period and could be used as the migration pathways at that time. After Sanduo period, the tectonic stress fields in the area changed largely, and, consequently, the fault properties converted from tensional shear to compressive shear, the faults changed progressively from close to open, so the faults sealing became better and were conducive to the preservation of oil and gas reservoirs. According to the seismic event suspension modes and profile configurations above and under the unconformities, combined with tectonic evolutions of the study areas, the unconformity types can be classified into truncation unconformity, overlapped unconformity and parallel unconformity and the distribution characteristics of unconformities in the plan view was also studied. The unconformity structure was divided into basal conglomerate, weathered clay and semi-weathered layer vertically in the study area and this kind of structure make unconformities to be effective oil and gas migration pathways and is significant to hydrocarbon accumulation in a parts of areas. With the analyses of typical oil and gas reservoirs in the study area, combined with the research results of pathway systems, hydrocarbon accumulation models were established and the oil and gas accumulation laws in Chenbao and East of Chenbao analyzed. The oil and gas came from Liuwushe subsag and Liuliushe subsag. The oil and gas from Liuwushe subsag mainly migrated from the structural high parts into the fault-step zone along strata in northeast direction, a part of them migrated upward into the fault-step zone and the Wubao low uplift along Wu-1 Fault in northeast direction. The oil and gas from Liuliushe subsag mainly migrated into the upper reservoirs through Wu-2 fault, and lesser oil and gas migrated into the fault-step zone because of the controls of cross-section orientation, depression center and the hydrocarbon formation tendency. The favorable exploration targets in Chenbao and East of Chenbao have been concluded: the southern fault-step zone is a favorable oil and gas accumulation zone of Liuwushe subsag, and they are fault block reservoirs where fault acted as the barriers, the main target intervals are Fu-1 Member and Fu-3 Member in palaeocene; Oil and gas in the middle and northern fault-step zone mainly laterally migrated from the south areas, and the main target interval is Fu-3 Member in palaeocene; Fu-1 Member and the reserviors above the Wubao subsag are still the focuses in future explorations. The results of this study have important guiding significance for the future oil and gas exploration.

油气运聚动力学的模拟分析——以准噶尔盆地为例

The petroleum migration, happening in the geologic past, is the very important and complex dynamic processes in the petroleum systems. It plays a linking role among all static factors in a system. The accumulation is in fact the result of the petroleum migration. For the petroleum geology, the dynamics research of the petroleum migration refers to the mechanism and process research, as well as the use of the quantitative methods. In this thesis, combining with the qualitative analysis and quantitative modeling, the author manages to discuss theoretically some key problems dealing with migration processes, which have not been solved yet, and to apply the studied results in petroleum system analysis in actual basins. The basin analysis offers the base of the numerical modeling for geological phenomena occurring in sedimentary basins, that consists of the sedimentary facies analysis, the section reconstructing technique, eroded thickness estimating, etc. The methods to construct the geologic model, which is needed in the research of oil and gas migration and accumulation, are discussed. The basin analysis offers also the possibility for the latter modeling works to get and select the parameters, such as stratum's thickness, age, stratigraphy etc. Modeling works were done by using two basin modeling softwares: Basin_Mod and TPC_Mod. The role of compaction during the secondary migration and the heterogeneity of migrating paths within the clastic carrier are modeled. And the conclusions were applied in the migration studies in the Jungaer Basin, lying on the Northwest part of the China. To construct a reliable migration model, the author studied the characteristics of the sedimentation, the pore fluid pressure evolution, as well as the distribution and the evolution of fluid potential, following the tectonic evolution of the Jungaer Basin. The geochemical prospecting results were used to evidence and to calibrate the migration processes: the oil-source correlation, the distribution of the properties of oil, gas and water. Finally, two important petroleum systems, Permian one and Jurassic one were studied and identified, according, principally, to the studies on the petroleum migration within the Jungaer Basin. Since the oil, as well as the gas, moves mainly in separate phase during the secondary migration, their migrating behaviors would be determined by the dynamics conditions of migration, including the driving forces and pathways. Based on such a consideration, the further understandings may be acquired: the roles played by permeable carriers and low-permeable source rock would be very different in compaction, overpressure generation, petroleum migration, and so on. With the numerical method, the effect of the compaction on the secondary migration was analyzed and the results show that the pressure gradient and the flux resulted from compaction are so small that could be neglected by comparing to the buoyancy of oil. The main secondary migration driving forces are therefore buoyancy and capillary within a hydrostatic system. Modeling with the commercial software-Basin_Mod, the migration pathways of petroleum in clastic carriers seem to be inhomogeneous, controlled by heterogeneity of the driving force, which in turn resulted from the topography of seals, the fabrics and the capillary pressure of the clastic carriers. Furthermore, the direct and indirect methods to study fault-sealing properties in the course of migration were systemically summarized. They may be characterized directly by lithological juxtaposition, clay smear and diagenesis, and indirectly the comparing the pressures and fluid properties in the walls at two apartments of a fault. In Jungaer Basin, the abnormal pressures are found in the formations beneath Badaowan or Baijantan Formation. The occurrence of the overpressure seems controlled by the stratigraphy. The rapid sedimentation, tectonic pressuring, clay sealing, chemical diagensis were considered as the principal pressuring mechanisms. The evolution of fluid pressure is influenced differently at different parts of the basin by the tectonic stresses. So the basin appears different pressure evolution cycles from each part to another during the geological history. By coupling the results of thermal evolution, pressure evolution and organic matter maturation, the area and the period of primary migration were acquired and used to determine the secondary migration time and range. The primary migration in Fengcheng Formation happened from latter Triassic to early Jurassic in the main depressions. The main period of lower-Wuerhe Formation was at latter Jurassic in Changji, Shawan and Pen-1-jing-xi Depression, and at the end of early Cretaceous in Mahu Depression. The primary migration in Badaowan and Sangonghe Formation is at the end of early-Cretaceous in Changji Depression. After then, the fluid potential of oil is calculated at the key time determined from area and time of the primary migration. Generally, fluid potential of oil is high in the depressions and low at the uplifts. Synthetically, it is recognized that the petroleum migration in the Jungaer Basin is very complex, that leads us to classify the evolution of petroleum systems in Northwestern China as a primary stage and a reformed one. The remigration of accumulated petroleum, caused by the reformation of the basin, results in the generation of multiple petroleum systems. The faults and unconformities are usually the linkers among the original petroleum systems. The Permian petroleum system in Jungaer Basin is such a multiple petroleum system. However, the Jurassic petroleum system stays still in its primary stage, thought the strong influences of the new tectonic activities.

溶蚀岩体渗透水力学特性研究

Seepage control in karstic rock masses is one of the most important problems in domestic hydroelectric engineering and mining engineering as well as traffic engineering. At present permeability assessment and leakage analysis of multi-layer karstic rock masses are mainly qualitative, while seldom quantitative. Quantitative analyses of the permeability coefficient and seepage amount are conducted in this report, which will provide a theoretical basis for the study of seepage law and seepage control treatment of karstic rocks. Based on the field measurements in the horizontal grouting galleries of seepage control curtains on the left bank of the Shuibuya Hydropower Project on the Qingjiang river, a hydraulic model is established in this report, and the computation results will provide a scientific basis for optimization of grouting curtain engineering. Following issues are addressed in the report. (1) Based on the in-situ measurements of fissures and karstic cavities in grouting galleries, the characteristics of karstic rock mass is analyzed, and a stochastic structural model of karstic rock masses is set up, which will provide the basis for calculation of the permeability and leakage amount of karstic rock mass. (2) According to the distribution of the measured joints in the grouting galleries and the stochastic results obtained from the stochastic structural model of karstic rock mass between grouting galleries, a formula for computation of permeability tensor of fracturing system is set up, and a computation program is made with Visual Basic language. The computation results will be helpful for zoning of fissured rock masses and calculation of seepage amount as well as optimization of seepage control curtains. (3) Fractal theory is used to describe quantitatively the roughness of conduit walls of karstic systems and the sinuosity of karstic conduits. It is proposed that the roughness coefficient of kastic caves can be expressed by both fractal dimension Ds and Dr that represent respectively the extension sinuosity of karstic caves and the roughness of the conduit walls. The existing formula for calculating the seepage amount of karstic conduits is revised and programmed. The seepage amount of rock masses in the measured grouting galleries is estimated under the condition that no seepage control measures are taken before reservoir impoundment, and the results will be helpful for design and construction optimization of seepage curtains of the Shuibuya hydropower project. This report is one part of the subject "Karstic hydrogeology and the structural model and seepage hydraulics of karstic rock masses", a sub-program of "Study on seepage hydraulics of multi-layer karstic rock masses and its application in seepage control curtain engineering", which is financially supported by the Hubei Provincial key science and technology programme.

The 1990 AI Fair

This year, as the finale to the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory's annual Winter Olympics, the Lab staged an AI Fair ??night devoted to displaying the wide variety of talents and interests within the laboratory. The Fair provided an outlet for creativity and fun in a carnival-like atmosphere. Students organized events from robot boat races to face-recognition vision contests. Research groups came together to make posters and booths explaining their work. The robots rolled down out of the labs, networks were turned over to aerial combat computer games and walls were decorated with posters of zany ideas for the future. Everyone pitched in, and this photograph album is a pictorial account of the fun that night at the AI Fair.

Dynamic response of a geotechnical rigid model container with absorbing boundaries.

One of the major challenges encountered in earthquake geotechnical physical modelling is to determine the effects induced by the artificial boundaries of the soil container on the dynamic response of the soil deposit. Over the past years, the use of absorbing material for minimising boundaries effects has become an increasing alternative solution, yet little systematic research has been carried out to quantify the dynamic performance of the absorbing material and the amount of energy dissipated by it. This paper aims to examine the effects induced by the absorbing material on the dynamic response of the soil, and estimate the amount of energy reduced by the absorbing boundaries. The absorbent material consisted of panels made of commercially available foams, which were placed on both inner sides of end-walls of the soil container. These walls are perpendicular to the shaking direction. Three types of foam with different mechanical properties were used in this study. The results were obtained from tests carried out using a shaking table and Redhill 110 sand for the soil deposit. It was found that a considerably amount of energy was dissipated, in particular within the frequency range close to the resonance of the soil deposit. This feature suggests that the presence of foams provides a significant influence to the dynamic response of the soil. The energy absorbed by the boundaries was also quantified from integrals of the Power Spectral Density of the accelerations. It was found that the absorbed energy ranged between a minimum of 41% to a maximum of 92% of the input levels, depending mainly on the foam used in the test. The effects provided by the acceleration levels and depth at which the energy was evaluated were practically negligible. Finally, practical guidelines for the selection of the absorbing material are provided.

Sole plate fixing details for modern methods of timber construction.

In order to resist lateral loads, modern methods of timber construction are reliant on the in-plane shear strength of the walls orientated parallel to the applied action. In closed panel systems, the shear stresses are transferred to the foundations by the sole plate through the sheathing board, which is usually mechanically jointed to the timber frame. Since closed panels are delivered to site as single units, access to the internal bottom rail is rather restricted and novel, efficient solutions to secure the panel to the substrate are required. Sole plate fixing components for open and closed panel systems were tested in isolation and combination in order to validate a simplistic version of the weakest link theory. As a result, findings were embedded into a software database with a direct link to a previously developed sole plate and racking design application. This integrated process facilitates the structural optimization of the sole plate detail.

HEATING IN VASCULAR TISSUE AND FLOW-THROUGH TISSUE PHANTOMS INDUCED BY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can be used to control bleeding, both from individual blood vessels as well as from gross damage to the capillary bed. This process, called acoustic hemostasis, is being studied in the hope that such a method would ultimately provide a lifesaving treatment during the so-called "golden hour", a brief grace period after a severe trauma in which prompt therapy can save the life of an injured person. Thermal effects play a major role in occlusion of small vessels and also appear to contribute to the sealing of punctures in major blood vessels. However, aggressive ultrasound-induced tissue heating can also impact healthy tissue and can lead to deleterious mechanical bioeffects. Moreover, the presence of vascularity can limit one’s ability to elevate the temperature of blood vessel walls owing to convective heat transport. In an effort to better understand the heating process in tissues with vascular structure we have developed a numerical simulation that couples models for ultrasound propagation, acoustic streaming, ultrasound heating and blood cooling in Newtonian viscous media. The 3-D simulation allows for the study of complicated biological structures and insonation geometries. We have also undertaken a series of in vitro experiments, in non-uniform flow-through tissue phantoms, designed to provide a ground truth verification of the model predictions. The calculated and measured results were compared over a range of values for insonation pressure, insonation time, and flow rate; we show good agreement between predictions and measurements. We then conducted a series of simulations that address two limiting problems of interest: hemostasis in small and large vessels. We employed realistic human tissue properties and considered more complex geometries. Results show that the heating pattern in and around a blood vessel is different for different vessel sizes, flow rates and for varying beam orientations relative to the flow axis. Complete occlusion and wall- puncture sealing are both possible depending on the exposure conditions. These results concur with prior clinical observations and may prove useful for planning of a more effective procedure in HIFU treatments.

A FLOW-THROUGH ACOUSTIC WAVEGUIDE FOR TWO-PHASE BUBBLY FLOW VOID FRACTION MEASUREMENT

In the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the deposition of a high-energy proton beam into the liquid mercury target forms bubbles whose asymmetric collapse cause Cavitation Damage Erosion (CDE) to the container walls, thereby reducing its usable lifetime. One proposed solution for mitigation of this damage is to inject a population of microbubbles into the mercury, yielding a compliant and attenuative medium that will reduce the resulting cavitation damage. This potential solution presents the task of creating a diagnostic tool to monitor bubble population in the mercury flow in order to correlate void fraction and damage. Details of an acoustic waveguide for the eventual measurement of two-phase mercury-helium flow void fraction are discussed. The assembly’s waveguide is a vertically oriented stainless steel cylinder with 5.08cm ID, 1.27cm wall thickness and 40cm length. For water experiments, a 2.54cm thick stainless steel plate at the bottom supports the fluid, provides an acoustically rigid boundary condition, and is the mounting point for a hydrophone. A port near the bottom is the inlet for the fluid of interest. A spillover reservoir welded to the upper portion of the main tube allows for a flow-through design, yielding a pressure release top boundary condition for the waveguide. A cover on the reservoir supports an electrodynamic shaker that is driven by linear frequency sweeps to excite the tube. The hydrophone captures the frequency response of the waveguide. The sound speed of the flowing medium is calculated, assuming a linear dependence of axial mode number on modal frequency (plane wave). Assuming that the medium has an effective-mixture sound speed, and that it contains bubbles which are much smaller than the resonance radii at the highest frequency of interest (Wood’s limit), the void fraction of the flow is calculated. Results for water and bubbly water of varying void fraction are presented, and serve to demonstrate the accuracy and precision of the apparatus.

Dutch influence in the urban landscape of Cork City pre-1800: Fact or myth?

The early years of the eighteenth century Irish port town, Cork saw an expansion of its city limits, an era of reconstruction both within and beyond the walls of its Medieval townscape and a reclamation of its marshlands to the east and west. New people, new ideas and the beginnings of new wealth infused the post Elizabethan character of the recently siege battered city. It also brought a desire for something different, something new, an opportunity to redefine the ambience and visual perception of the urban landscape and thereby make a statement about its intended cultural and social orientations. It brought an opportunity to re-imagine and model a new, continental style of place and surrounding environment.

Nano-urchin: The formation and structure of high-density spherical clusters of vanadium oxide nanotubes

We report the observation of urchin-like nanostructures consisting of high-density spherical nanotube radial arrays of vanadium oxide nanocomposite, successfully synthesized by a simple chemical route using an ethanolic solution of vanadium tri-isopropoxide and alkyl amine hexadecylamine for 7 days at 180oC. The results show that the growth process of the NanoUrchin occurs in stages, starting with a radial self-organized arrangement of lamina followed by the rolling of the lamina into nanotubes. The longest nanotubes are measured to be several micrometers in length with diameters of ~120 nm and hollow centers typically measured to be ~75 nm. The NanoUrchin have an estimated density of nanotubes of ~40 sr-1. The tube walls comprise layers of vanadium oxide with the organic surfactant intercalated between atomic layers. The interlayer distance is measured to be 2.9 ± 0.1 nm and electron diffraction identified the vanadate phase in the VOx nanocomposite as orthorhombic V2O5. These nanostructures may be used as three-dimensional composite materials and as supports for other materials.

Work experience in transition year: a mixed methods study of subject and career choices

Transition Year (TY) has been a feature of the Irish Education landscape for 39 years. Work experience (WE) has become a key component of TY. WE is defined as a module of between five and fifteen days duration where students engage in a work placement in the broader community. It places a major emphasis on building relationships between schools and their external communities and concomitantly between students and their potential future employers. Yet, the idea that participation in a TY work experience programme could facilitate an increased awareness of potential careers has drawn little attention from the research community. This research examines the influence WE has on the subsequent subjects choices made by students along with the effects of that experience on the students’ identities and emerging vocational identities. Socio-cultural Learning Theory and Occupational Choice Theory frame the overall study. A mixed methods approach to data collection was adopted through the administration of 323 quantitative questionnaires and 32 individual semi-structured interviews in three secondary schools. The analysis of the data was conducted using a grounded theory approach. The findings from the research show that WE makes a significant contribution to the students’ sense of agency in their own lives. It facilitates the otherwise complex process of subject choice, motivates students to work harder in their senior cycle, introduces them to the concepts of active, experience-based and self-directed learning, while boosting their self-confidence and nurturing the emergence of their personal and vocational identities. This research is a gateway to further study in this field. It also has wide reaching implications for students, teachers, school authorities, parents and policy makers regarding teaching and learning in our schools and the value of learning beyond the walls of the classroom.

Structural carpentry in medieval Ireland: continuity and change

The study of medieval carpentry is probably one of the most neglected aspects of archaeological research in Ireland. The principal difficulty is the nature of the evidence, in that timber, unless the conditions are right, rarely leaves a trace above ground. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that not a single medieval timber-framed building has survived in Ireland. Nevertheless, in recent years, in addition to the medieval roof of Dunsoghley, which up to quite recently was thought to be the only surviving roof structure in Ireland, a further eight medieval roof structures have been identified. Furthermore, an extensive corpus of early medieval mills, with evidence for advanced Roman carpentry techniques, has been excavated, while evidence for Viking houses, on what is probably the largest extant Viking settlement in Europe, have also been recovered. Although post and wattle structures dominate the archaeological record of the Viking period, nevertheless, it will be shown that the Roman tradition of carpentry, evidenced in the early medieval mills from the early seventh century, continued in use in the wider Gaelic community. And it is one of the pivotal points of this study, that with the takeover of Dublin by the Gaelic Irish in the late tenth century, this Roman carpentry tradition was gradually assimilated into the carpentry tradition of the Viking towns, which were now largely inhabited by a mixed population of Hiberno-Norse. Evidence for this Gaelic influence can be seen not only in the gradual replacement of the Viking post and wattle house by timber houses with load-bearing walls, but more importantly by the evidence for waterfront structures founded on baseplates with mortise and tenoned uprights on the pre-Norman waterfront in Cork. Furthermore, it will be shown, that the carpentry techniques used to build the Wood Quay revetments, shortly after the Anglo-Norman conquest in AD 1170, supports this contention.