Cosmic‐ray rejection for single spectroscopic CCD images by means of template matching

This article describes a novel algorithm for cosmic‐ray rejection in single spectroscopic CCD images. This algorithm is based on a variation of template matching. It focuses on identifying those pixels belong to spectra, while other conventional algorithms tried to locate the cosmic‐ray hits directly. The main principle is applying template matching to find suspicious blocks, which is followed by surface patching to locate the legitimate pixels accurately. Therefore, the rest pixels are the ones corrupted by cosmic‐ray hits. Meanwhile, almost all the parameters are automatically extracted from the images. Examples of its performance are given for both simulated and observed images. It shows an advantage of significantly low false alarm rate with relatively high detection rate (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Tracing origins of sewage and organic matter using dissolved sterols in Masan and Haengam Bay,Korea

Masan and Haengam Bays in Korea are highly polluted and semi-enclosed. Domestic and industrial effluents are directly or indirectly discharged into the bays through sewage treatment plants (STP) and creeks. In this study, 15 dissolved sterol compounds were determined in order to understand their sources and relative contribution. Freshwater samples were taken from 13 creeks and at two STP sites on a monthly basis. Total dissolved sterol concentrations ranged from 993 to 4158 ng/L. The concentrations of sterols in winter were higher than in summer. Among the sterols analyzed, cholesterol, β-sitosterol, coprostanol and cholestanone were major compounds in creek water. Seawater samples were concurrently collected at 21 stations in Masan Bay. Total sterol concentrations ranged 118–6,956 ng/L. Inner bay showed high concentrations of sterols in summer, while outer bay showed high sterol concentrations in winter. Among the sterols, cholesterol, β-sitosterol and brassicasterol were major compounds in seawater. In order to examine the contribution of urban sewage, the concentration of coprostanol and fecal sterol ratios were calculated. Most of the creek water, inner bay and near STP outlet samples were affected by sewage. Terrestrial organic matters accounted for a high proportion of dissolved organic matter origin. Fecal origins were relatively high in the inner bay areas and in the STP outlet, while sterols of marine origin were high in the outer bay areas.     

Analysis of types and changes of village-level economy in rural Gongyi city,Henan Province since 1990

Based on the research on the rural living standard in China in terms of annual net income per capita, we define six types of village-level economy, i.e. ＂to be extremely poor＂, ＂to make a basic living＂, ＂to dress warmly and eat one＇s fill＂, ＂to try to enrich （to disengage poverty）＂, ＂to be well-off＂ and ＂to be affluent＂. The data of average annual net income of all the 292 villages between 1990 and 2004 in rural Gongyi City, Henan Province were collected, verified and classified. By using standard deviation, coefficient of variation and regression analysis, it is found that the Gongyi＇s rural economy has boosted up remarkably from the relative-poverty and absolute-poverty stages in 1990 to the well-off in 2004. However, the absolute differences between villages present a trend of enlargement, while the relative differences fluctuating. On the other hand, spatial analysis of village-level economy shows that most villages with relatively high economic development level were located along national expressway and most villages with absolute-poverty lay in remote mountainous areas in 1990. Since the 1990s, the rapid urbanization and industrialization have had strongly positive effects on rural economic growth. Initial economic foundation, natural resources and traditional techniques also contribute to village economy. From the perspective of geography, villages with location advantages, such as near urban center or industrial parks, have more chances for their economic development and the ＂core-periphery＂ economic structure has been presented in the process of rural development.     

用地震危险性分析方法预测山东地区震害

依据地震危险性分析的思路，提出一种场地震害预测的方法。依此方法，给出山东地区５０ａ超越概率为１０％的震害预测略图     

Origin of a metamorphosed lithic clast in CM chondrite Grove Mountains 021536

Abstract– A metamorphosed lithic clast was discovered in the CM chondrite Grove Mountains 021536, which was collected in the Antarctica by the Chinese Antarctic Research Exploration team. The lithic clast is composed mainly of Fe‐rich olivine (Fo₆₂) with minor diopside (Fs_9.7–11.1Wo_48.3–51.6), plagioclase (An_43–46.5), nepheline, merrillite, Al‐rich chromite (21.8 wt% Al₂O₃; 4.43 wt% TiO₂), and pentlandite. Δ¹⁷O values of olivine in the lithic clast vary from ?3.9‰ to ?0.8‰. Mineral compositions and oxygen isotopic compositions of olivine suggest that the lithic clast has an exotic source different from the CM chondrite parent body. The clast could be derived from strong thermal metamorphism of pre‐existing chondrule that has experienced low‐temperature anhydrous alteration. The lithic clast is similar in mineral assemblage and chemistry to a few clasts observed in oxidized CV3 chondrites (Mokoia and Yamato‐86009) and might have been derived from the interior of the primitive CV asteroid. The apparent lack of hydration in the lithic clast indicates that the clast accreted into the CM chondrite after hydration of the CM components.     

Misconceptions about the Hubble recession law

Almost all astronomers now believe that the Hubble recession law was directly inferred from astronomical observations. It turns out that this common belief is completely false. Those models advocating the idea of an expanding universe are ill-founded on observational grounds. This means that the Hubble recession law is really a working hypothesis. One alternative to the Hubble recession law is the tired-light hypothesis originally proposed by Zwicky (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 15:773, 1929). This hypothesis leads to a universe that is an eternal cosmos continually evolving without beginning or end. Such a universe exists in a dynamical state of virial equilibrium. Observational studies of the redshift-magnitude relation for Type Ia supernovae in distant galaxies might provide the best observational test for a tired-light cosmology. The present study shows that the model Hubble diagram for a tired-light cosmology gives good agreement with the supernovae data for redshifts in the range 0<z<2. This observational test of a static cosmology shows that the real universe is not necessarily undergoing expansion nor acceleration. An erratum to this article can be found at     

PTB220型气压传感器调整方法

1概述目前内蒙古自动站气压传感器使用的输出方式有两种：RS232串行输出和模拟电压输出。当对气压传感器进行检定后,如果发现各检定点测量误差的总平均大于±0.3 hPa,则需要进行调整。     

A comparative study of sequential minimal optimization-based support vector machines,vote feature intervals,and logistic regression in landslide susceptibility assessment using GIS

Landslide susceptibility assessment using GIS has been done for part of Uttarakhand region of Himalaya (India) with the objective of comparing the predictive capability of three different machine learning methods, namely sequential minimal optimization-based support vector machines (SMOSVM), vote feature intervals (VFI), and logistic regression (LR) for spatial prediction of landslide occurrence. Out of these three methods, the SMOSVM and VFI are state-of-the-art methods for binary classification problems but have not been applied for landslide prediction, whereas the LR is known as a popular method for landslide susceptibility assessment. In the study, a total of 430 historical landslide polygons and 11 landslide affecting factors such as slope angle, slope aspect, elevation, curvature, lithology, soil, land cover, distance to roads, distance to rivers, distance to lineaments, and rainfall were selected for landslide analysis. For validation and comparison, statistical index-based methods and the receiver operating characteristic curve have been used. Analysis results show that all these models have good performance for landslide spatial prediction but the SMOSVM model has the highest predictive capability, followed by the VFI model, and the LR model, respectively. Thus, SMOSVM is a better model for landslide prediction and can be used for landslide susceptibility mapping of landslide-prone areas.     

Hα emission objects in Circinus

We present a new survey for Hα emission objects in the Circinus cloud complex and introduce an efficient photometric method for detecting Hα emission via observations in a narrow‐band filter. The observed flux is compared to a blackbody fit of the continuum. Our search strategy reveals 20 stars with strong Hα emission (EW > 10 Å), eight of them being new detections. All Hα stars display infrared excess corroborating their youth. On the other hand, the region contains a number of infrared excess objects that do not show Hα emission. Our results support the picture that accretion – as witnessed by Hα emission – is a highly variable phenomenon. Therefore, Hα surveys can only trace the temporarily active objects. In contrast, infrared excess is a more robust tracer that reveals most of the population of young stellar objects in a star forming region. Our analysis of the general stellar content of the region yields a reliable distance of 450 pc for the Circinus cloud. Moreover, we find a ratio of total‐to‐selective extinction of R^V = 2.8 suggesting that smaller‐than‐normal dust grains may be present. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)