Compensation of pressure enthalpy effects on temperature fields for throttling of high-pressure real gas

For the pressure enthalpy of high pressure pneumatics, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation based on ideal gas assumption fails to obtain the real temperature information. Therefore, we propose a method to compensate the pressure enthalpy of throttling for CFD simulation based on ideal gas assumption. Firstly, the pressure enthalpy is calculated for the pressure range of 0.101 to 30 MPa and the temperature range of 190 to 298 K based on Soave-Redlich-Kwong (S-R-K) equation. Then, a polynomial fitting equation is applied to practical application in the above mentioned range. The basic idea of the compensation method is to convert the pressure enthalpy difference between inlet air and nodes into the compensation temperature. In the above temperature and pressure range, the compensated temperature is close to the real one, and the relative temperature drop error is below 10%. This error is mainly caused by the velocity difference of the orifice between the real and ideal gas models. Finally, this compensation method performs an icing analysis for practical high pressure slide pilot valve.     

Effect of orthogonal stiffeners on the stability of axially compressed steel jacking pipe

Load conditions for steel pipe-jacking are complex during the construction stage. The stability of steel jacking pipe has been an increasingly important problem as jacking forces, pipe diameters and jacking distances increase. However, there are no standards for pipe reinforcement, for prevention of buckling, or for remedying pipe that buckles when being jacked axially. Past experience suggests that stiffeners can effectively reinforce the structure. This study analyzes the effect of different stiffeners on the stability of steel jacking pipe under axial compression using finite element analysis. The results suggest that the stability of steel jacking pipe can be significantly improved by using orthogonal stiffeners, in terms of engineering costs and construction space inside the pipe. Based on current engineering practice, the application of orthogonal stiffeners is discussed. This study provides a useful reference for the design and construction of steel jacking pipe.     

Chaff cloud jamming suppression based on wavelet transform

Radar target signals and chaff cloud jamming signals have different characters by the wavelet transform. The wavelet coefficients of radar target signals are highly correlated with its near-and-near-scale wavelet coefficients, however the correlativity between the wavelet coefficients of chaff cloud jamming signals and its near-and-near scale wavelet coefficients is less significant. Based on the binary-base discrete wavelet transform and the correlation algorithm, the method of target entropy to estimate standard variance of the jamming signals and each scale is proposed to ensure reasonable threshold, to suppress chaff cloud signals and finally to reconstruct mixed signals by the improved spatially selective noise filtration (ISSNF) method. The extensive simulation results show that the proposed method can availably suppress chaff cloud jamming and decontaminate target echo.     

The enforcement of shipping standards under UNCLOS

This article discusses the enforcement of shipping standards, with a particular focus on Part XII of UNCLOS. Section 6 of Part XII contains the only comprehensive set of vessel-related enforcement provisions in the Convention, but the Part’s scope is limited to “the preservation and protection of the marine environment.” Therefore, not all shipping standards fall clearly within Part XII’s ambit, including those centered on safety, security, and crewing considerations. The enforcement provisions of Section 6 are favorable to flag states and their vessels, and Section 7 contains a number of safeguards for their benefit, so it is in the interests of these parties to have coastal state enforcement governed by Part XII. However, the ability of coastal states to establish and enforce shipping standards that apply within the territorial sea extends to more than just environmental matters. The result is that different standards give rise to different enforcement powers, depending on the maritime zone in which a vessel is located, even if those standards arise from the same international agreement. It is suggested that to remedy these problems, UNCLOS would need to be amended in order to provide a comprehensive enforcement regime for the enforcement of shipping standards.     

Color image segmentation by edge linking and region grouping

A novel method toward color image segmentation is proposed based on edge linking and region grouping. Firstly, the edges extracted by the Canny detector are linked to form regions. Each of the end points of edges is connected by a direct line to the nearest pixel on another edge segment within a sub-window. A new distance is defined based on the feature that the edge tends to preserve its original direction. By sampling the lines to the image, the image is over-segmented to labeled regions. Secondly, the labeled regions are grouped both locally and globally. A decision tree is constructed to decide the importance of properties that affect the merging procedure. Finally, the result is refined by user’s selection of regions that compose the desired object. Experiments show that the method can effectively segment the object and is much faster than the state-of-the-art color image segmentation methods.     

Efficient democratic group signatures with threshold traceability

Democratic group signature (DGS) is a group-oriented primitive with great flexibilities, i.e., no group manager, anonymity, and traceability. In a DGS scheme with (t, n)-threshold traceability, any subset of not less than t members can jointly reveal the identity of the signer while preserving security even in the presence of an active adversary can corrupt up to t − 1 group members. This paper proposes an efficient DGS scheme. We use publicly verifiable secret sharing (PVSS) to distribute the trapdoor via which the real signer is revealed. The computation cost and communication overhead of our DGS signatures are greatly reduced, compared with the existing work. For example, the size of the resulting signature contains only 2n + 1 elements of Z _q , except the PVSS output.     

An analysis of the determinants of children’s weekend physical activity participation

This paper examines the out-of-home, weekend, time-use patterns of children aged 5–17 years, with a specific emphasis on their physical activity participation. The impact of several types of factors, including individual and household demographics, neighborhood demographics, built environment characteristics, and activity day variables, on physical activity participation is analyzed using a joint nested multiple discrete–continuous extreme value-binary choice model. The sample for analysis is drawn from the 2000 San Francisco Bay Area Travel Survey. The model developed in the paper can be used to assess the impacts of changing demographics and built environment characteristics on children’s physical activity levels.     

Effects of economic disincentives on private car use

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of economic disincentives on private car use. Eighty two-adult households who were owners of at least one car were randomly assigned to three experimental groups and one control group. Both experimental and control groups logged their car trips during one week before, one week during, and one week after treatment. The treatment consisted of charging two of the experimental groups approximately 100% of normal cost per kilometer of driving during 2 weeks, and charging the third experimental group this amount per kilometer of driving during 4 weeks. With the purpose of investigating whether deliberate planning increases the effect of economic disincentives, the households in one of the former and in the latter group were asked to fill out a prospective car log for the following week. The control group was not charged or requested to fill out a prospective car log but was in other respects treated in the same way. Analyses of the car logs and odometer readings during and at the end of treatment showed a weak reduction of car use due to the economic disincentives that however were almost completely dependent on planning.     

Seabed scene simulation and its realization in extending Vega

Realistic simulation of underwater scene is always difficult because of the special and complex vision effects in underwater space. Seabed is an important part of underwater environment. This paper describes the methods for seabed scene simulation based on OpenGL. It includes construction of fluetuant terrain based on the random sinusoidal algorithm, simulation of seabed flicker effect by means of circular texture mapping and generation of turbidity effect by using fog techniques. For the application based on the leading high level 3D development environment-Vega, underwater scene simulation is still a difficulty since there is no module for it. Based on the analysis of Vega software and the research on seabed scene simulation methods, a Vega extending module named “Underwater Space” was created through developing module class and extending lynx interface. The module class was designed through developing DLL written in C . The Lynx was extended through developing keyword configure file, GUI configure file and lynx plug-in DLL. The problem that Vega can‘t simulate underwater space, is elementarily resolved. The results show that this module is efficient, easy using, and the seabed scene images am vivid.