Signal-in-space (SIS) continuity and availability are important indicators of performance assessment for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs). The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Open Service Performance Standard (BDS-OS-PS-1.0) has been released, and the corresponding public performance indicators have been provided, but the actual SIS performance is uncertain to users. SIS continuity and availability are primarily related to unscheduled outages (failures). Therefore, based on the existing failure classification system and actual operation modes, four types of failure modes are first analysed: long-term failure related to satellite service period, maintenance failure related to satellite manoeuvring, short-term failure associated with random repairable anomalies and equivalent failure corresponding to a combination of the above three types of failures. Second, based on the failure classification and selected precise and broadcast ephemerides from 2015–2016, the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) of each failure type are obtained using appropriate detection methods. Finally, using a corresponding assessment model, the SIS continuity and availability of BeiDou are calculated for individual and equivalent failure cases, and these are compared with the provided index in the BDS Open Service Performance Standard.

Many invasive species managers state that their objective is to “control” an invader. However, the appropriate choice of a management option requires a more explicit statement of management objectives, in terms of both the relevant time horizon and spatial scale. Using data from a 2-yr mowing experiment, we show that the most effective management strategy for controlling an invasive thistle depends fundamentally on the management goals. We integrate field data from a two-cohort experiment with modeling to assess 14 mowing treatments (differing in intensity, frequency, and timing, and thus also in their required logistical effort) based on their effectiveness in (1) reducing population density of the existing cohort, (2) decreasing projected long-term population growth, and (3) limiting projected population spread of an invasive thistle, musk thistle (Carduus nutans L.). The treatment with high intensity and a single late mow caused the largest reduction in plant survival (and density of existing adult plants); the treatment with high intensity and an early mow in addition to a late mow was most effective at reducing population growth rate and population spread. Against expectation and conventional wisdom, the most frequent mowing treatment did not provide the most effective management outcome for any stated objective. This study highlights the necessity of clearly defined management aims; the term “control” is too vague to be truly useful. The results also provide important insights for the management of this invasive species.

Oxide inclusions such as gray spots are the main defects caused by rail flash butt welding (FBW). An appropriate temperature field and upsetting process are essential for the extrusion of joint impurities. This study constructed a thermomechanical coupling model for the solid-state upsetting process of rail FBW through a combination of finite element simulation and experiment. Subsequently, the effects of different temperature fields and upsetting parameters on the extrusion behavior of impurities were studied. The results show that when the lateral deformation of the joint is not considered, selecting the appropriate upsetting length and increasing the width of the high-temperature plastic zone are beneficial for the extrusion of harmful impurities. Moreover, using variable speed upsetting or increasing the speed of the early upsetting facilitates the extrusion of impurities. However, the impurities in the deeper areas of the rail are difficult to move, and they easily form gray spot defects if the oxide inclusions remain.

Associations have been shown between father’s absence and menarcheal age, but most studies have focused on absence resulting from divorce, abandonment or death. Little research has been conducted to evaluate the effect on menarcheal age of paternal absence through migrant work. In a sample of 400 middle school students, this study examined the association between paternal migrant work and menarcheal age against a backdrop of extensive rural-to-urban migration in China. Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire, including social-demographic characteristics, aspects of family relationships, information about father’s migrant work and age at menarche. After adjusting for BMI, parent marital status and perceived relationship with mother, lower self-perceived quality of father–daughter relationship (both ‘father present, relationship poor’ and ‘father absent, relationship poor’) and lower frequency of contact with the father were associated with higher odds for early menarche. These findings suggest that the assumption that father’s absence for work influences the timing of menarche needs to be examined in the context of the quality of the father–daughter relationship and paternal care, which appear to play a critical role in the timing of menarche. These findings also emphasize the importance of enhancing paternal involvement and improving father–daughter relationships in the development of appropriate reproductive strategy in daughters.

The patterns and drivers of late Quaternary vegetation dynamics in the southeastern United States are poorly understood due to low site density, problematic chronologies, and a paucity of independent paleoclimate proxy records. We present a well-dated (15 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates) 30,000-yr record from White Pond, South Carolina that consists of high-resolution analyses of fossil pollen, macroscopic charcoal, and Sporormiella spores, and an independent paleotemperature reconstruction based on branched glycerol dialkyl tetraethers. Between 30,000 and 20,000 cal yr BP, open Pinus-Picea forest grew under cold and dry conditions; elevated Quercus before 26,000 cal yr BP, however, suggest warmer conditions in the Southeast before the last glacial maximum, possibly corresponding to regionally warmer conditions associated with Heinrich event H2. Warming between 19,700 and 10,400 cal yr BP was accompanied by a transition from conifer-dominated to mesic hardwood forest. Sporormiella spores were not detected and charcoal was low during the late glacial period, suggesting megaherbivore grazers and fire were not locally important agents of vegetation change. Pinus returned to dominance during the Holocene, with step-like increases in Pinus at 10,400 and 6400 cal yr BP, while charcoal abundance increased tenfold, likely due to increased biomass burning associated with warmer conditions. Low-intensity surface fires increased after 1200 cal yr BP, possibly related to the establishment of the Mississippian culture in the Southeast.

The multipath effect and Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) reception of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals both serve to degrade performance, particularly in urban areas. Although receiver design continues to evolve, residual multipath errors and NLOS signals remain a challenge in built-up areas. It is therefore desirable to identify direct, multipath-affected and NLOS GPS measurements in order improve ranging-based position solutions. The traditional signal strength-based methods to achieve this, however, use a single variable (for example, Signal to Noise Ratio (C/N0)) as the classifier. As this single variable does not completely represent the multipath and NLOS characteristics of the signals, the traditional methods are not robust in the classification of signals received. This paper uses a set of variables derived from the raw GPS measurements together with an algorithm based on an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to classify direct, multipath-affected and NLOS measurements from GPS. Results from real data show that the proposed method could achieve rates of correct classification of 100%, 91% and 84%, respectively, for LOS, Multipath and NLOS based on a static test with special conditions. These results are superior to the other three state-of-the-art signal reception classification methods.

Heavy metal contamination in the paddy soils of China is a serious concern because of its health risk through transfer in food chains. A field experiment was conducted in 2014–2015 to investigate the long-term effects of different biochar amendments on cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) immobilisation in a contaminated paddy field in southern China. Two types of biochar, a rice-straw-derived biochar (RB) and a coconut-by-product-derived biochar (CB), were amended separately to determine their impacts on rice yield and their efficacy in reducing Cd and As in rice. The two-year field experiment showed that biochar amendments significantly improved the rice yields and that CB is superior to RB, especially in the first growth season. Using a large amount of biochar amendment (22.5tha–1) significantly increased soil pH and total organic carbon, and concomitantly decreased the Cd content in rice grains over the four growth seasons, regardless of biochar type and application rate. Arsenic levels in rice were similar to the control, and results from this study suggest that there was a sustainable effect of biochar on Cd sequestration in soil and reduction of Cd accumulation in rice for at least two years. Biochar amendment in soil could be considered as a sustainable, reliable and cost-effective option to remediate heavy metal contamination in paddy fields for long periods.

An analytical research is developed using the averaging technique of composites for the macroscopic behaviors of porous shape memory alloy (SMA) beam with different porosity under pure bending. The whole material is regarded as a composite beam of porous SMA and dense SMA, in which the component fractions of the porous SMA show gradient changes over geometric dimension. To get the theoretical solution of such material under pure bending, the Mises yield theory and the ideal elastoplastic model are used to describe the phase transition of the material. The macroscopic behaviors of the porous SMAs beam with different porosity are then simulated using the averaging technique of composites. Examples for a porous SMA beam with gradient porosity from 0 to 50% considering the tension compression asymmetry of the SMAs are then supplied; the results show that after transformation the stress distribution in the whole material is lower than in the case of the pure elastic gradient porous materials, and for different part of the SMA with different porosity shows different strength characters.

The 2Cr13/316L multilayered composite plates were fabricated by hot rolling with recycle heating step. The effect of rolling reductions on microstructure and properties was investigated. The 2Cr13 layer consists of martensite and lath ferrite, but the middle layer has less ferrite than both sides. The content and grains of ferrite increase with the increase of the reduction and number of reheating, which leads to a decrease in the hardness of the 2Cr13 layer. The hardness of the 2Cr13 layer is determined by the volume ratio of martensite and ferrite. Tensile strength of the specimens with the rolling reduction of 72% and 82% reached 815.8 MPa and 763.4 MPa, while elongations were 20% and 20.8%, respectively. With the increase of the rolling reduction, the fracture mode also changed from cleavage fracture to dimple fracture. There were no cracks and delamination when the 2Cr13/316L composite plate bent to 130° and 180°, which indicated better interfacial bonding.

Sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1) has a central regulatory effect on milk fat synthesis. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) can induce mastitis and cause milk fat depression in cows. SREBP1 is also known to be associated with inflammatory regulation. Thus, in the current study, we hypothesized that LPS-induced milk fat depression in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells (DCMECs) operates via decreased SREBP1 expression and activity. To examine the hypothesis, DCMECs were isolated and purified from dairy cow mammary tissue and treated with LPS (10 µg/ml). LPS treatment of DCMECs suppressed lipid-metabolism-related transcription factor SREBP1 mRNA expression, nuclear translocation and protein expression, leading to reduced triglyceride content. The transcription levels of acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 and fatty acid synthetase were significantly down-regulated in DCMECs after LPS treatment, suggesting that acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 and fatty acid synthetase involved in de novo milk fat synthesis was regulated by SREBP1. In summary, these results suggest that LPS induces milk fat depression in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells via decreased expression of SREBP1 in a time-dependent manner.

Northeastern China is a region of high tick abundance, multiple tick-borne pathogens and likely human infections. The spectrum of diseases caused by tick-borne pathogens has not been objectively evaluated in this region for clinical management and for comparison with other regions globally where tick-transmitted diseases are common. Based on clinical symptoms, PCR, indirect immunofluorescent assay and (or) blood smear, we identified and described tick-borne diseases from patients with recent tick bite seen at Mudanjiang Forestry Central Hospital. From May 2010 to September 2011, 42% (75/180) of patients were diagnosed with a specific tick-borne disease, including Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, human babesiosis and spotted fever group rickettsiosis. When we compared clinical and laboratory features to identify factors that might discriminate tick-transmitted infections from those lacking that evidence, we revealed that erythema migrans and neurological manifestations were statistically significantly differently presented between those with and without documented aetiologies (P < 0.001, P = 0.003). Twelve patients (6.7%, 12/180) were co-infected with two tick-borne pathogens. We demonstrated the poor ability of clinicians to identify the specific tick-borne disease. In addition, it is necessary to develop specific laboratory assays for optimal diagnosis of tick-borne diseases.

The Carrier-Phase (CP) technique used in the Global Positioning System (GPS) has proved to be a useful spatial tool for remote precise time transfer. Galileo is a Global Navigation Satellite System like GPS. However, currently, given the low number of satellites at any one observation epoch, Galileo's accuracy and continuity of time transfer leave much to be desired. To achieve better performance of time transfer for Galileo, this study has developed a new approach for Galileo CP time transfer, using prior constraint information such as precise coordinates and troposphere zenith delay constraints. The new approach was applied for precise time transfer in real-time mode and post-processed mode for short baseline and long baseline observations. For the short baseline time link in real-time mode, compared with the standard Galileo CP, the standard deviation improved by 51·4% for the troposphere zenith delay constraint, 47·6% for the station coordinates constraint, and 49·5% when considering both constraints simultaneously. At a 10,000 s time interval, in comparison to the standard CP, the three constraint approaches show stable results as well as improvements of nearly an order of magnitude. In post-processed mode, the constraint approach for Galileo time transfer showed little improvement compared to the standard CP technique for both the short baseline and long baseline time links.

The internal buckling is a common phenomenon in the as-grown carbon nanotube arrays. It makes the physical properties of carbon nanotube array in experiment lower than that in theory. In this work, we analyzed the formation and evolution mechanism of the internal buckling based on quasi-static compression model, which is different from collective effect of the van der Waals interactions. The self-restriction effect and the different growth rate of carbon nanotubes verify the possibility of the quasi-static compression model to explain the morphology evolution of vertical carbon nanotube arrays, especially the phenomenon of the quasi-straight and bent carbon nanotubes coexisted in the array. We generalized the Euler beam to wave-like beam and explained the mechanism of high-mode buckling combined with the van der Waals interaction. The calculated result about the link between compressive stress and strain confirms with the stage of collective buckling in the quasi-static compression test of carbon nanotube array. Preparation of well-organized carbon nanotube arrays was strong evidence verified the effect of self-restriction in experiment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether hesitant or preoccupied people (state-oriented) have different goal content and motives compared to initiative or disengaged people (action-oriented). People rated the degree of autonomous versus controlled feelings for extrinsic or intrinsic types of goals. Results showed that action-oriented people had a higher autonomous motive than state-oriented people for intrinsic goals, but not for extrinsic goals. Moreover, action-oriented individuals were related to a more internalised goal content (intrinsic goal) than state-oriented individuals. Implications for goal internalisation are discussed.

This paper proposes a model for combined Global Positioning System (GPS) and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning. The approach uses only one common reference ambiguity, for example, that of GPS L1, and estimates the pseudo-range and carrier phase system and frequency biases. The validations show that these biases are stable during a continuous reference ambiguity period and can be easily estimated, and the other estimated double-differenced ambiguities, such as those of GPS L2, BDS L1, and BDS L2, are not affected. Therefore, our approach solves the problems of a frequently changing reference satellite. In addition, because all the carrier phase observations use the same reference ambiguity, a relationship is established between the different systems and frequencies, and the strength of the combined model is thus increased.

A coaxial-output rolled strip pulse-forming line (RSPFL) with a dry structure is researched for the purpose of miniaturization and all-solid state of pulse-forming lines (PFL). The coaxial-output RSPFL consists of a coaxial-output electrode (COE) and a rolled strip line (RSL). The COE is characterized by quasi-coaxial structure, making the output pulse propagate along the axial direction with a small output inductance. The RSL is rolled on the COE, whose transmission characteristics are analyzed theoretically. It shows that the RSL can be regarded as a planar strip line when the rolling radius of the strip line is larger than 60 times of the thickness of the insulation dielectric layer of RSL. CST modeling was carried out to simulate the discharging characteristic of the coaxial-output RSPFL. It shows that the coaxial-output RSPFL can deliver a discharging pulse with a rise time <6 ns when the impedance of the RSL matches that of the COE, which confirms the theoretical analysis. A prototype of the coaxial-output RSPFL was developed. A 49-kV discharging pulse on a matched load was achieved when it was charged to 100 kV. The discharging waveform has a pulse width of 32 ns, with a rise time of 6 ns, which is consistent with the simulation waveform. An energy-storage density of 1.9 J/L was realized in the coaxial-output RSPFL. By the method of multi-stage connection in series, a much higher output voltage is convenient to be obtained.