Determining the neutron star surface magnetic field strength of two Z sources

From the extreme position of disk motion, we infer the neutron star (NS) surface magnetic field strength B_0 of Z-source GX 17+2 and Cyg X-2. The inferred B_0 of GX 17+2 and Cyg X-2 are ~(1-5)X10^8 G and ~(1--3)X10^8 G}, respectively, which are not inferior to that of millisecond X-ray pulsars or atoll sources. It is likely that the NS magnetic axis of Z sources is parallel to the axis of rotation, which could result in the lack of pulsations in these sources.Comment: 2 page

Impact of Mountain Pine Beetle-Attacked Lodgepole Pine Logs on Veneer Processing

Pilot plant tests and mill trials were conducted to quantify the impact of using mountain pine beetle(MPB)-attacked lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.) wood on green veneer processing, and determine if it makes economic sense to sort and process MPB logs separately from normal logs of white SPF (spruce-lodgepole pine-alpine fir) mix for plywood manufacturing. The results demonstrated that log dry-out, improper log conditioning, and veneer peeling contribute to the breakage of veneer ribbon, and in turn, loss of veneer recovery at the green end when processing MPB wood. Compared with the green SPF veneer controls, green MPB veneer has lower moisture content (MC) with smaller variation. The MPB veneer can be clipped narrower with an equivalent of 1% increase in recovery due to less width shrinkage, and be sorted more accurately requiring only two green sorts: heart and light-sap. The MPB veneer can also be dried faster with a reduction in drying time by about 25% for the heart veneer and 35% for the light-sap veneer. However, due to higher volume of narrower random sheets and increased waste from manual handling and composing, the net recovery of the MPB logs is about 8% lower than that of the control SPF logs. Furthermore, the color of the stained MPB veneer is lightened after drying, but it still causes interference with visual grading. Since MPB wood has unique MC and processing characteristics, it is recommended that it be sorted in the log yard when its proportion reaches about 10% of the total logs procured

Techniques, Safety, and Therapeutic Effect of Percutaneous Cryoablation for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and the second most common cause in China. The rate of resection of HCC is limited to 20-30%. Therefore, various local ablative therapies such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA), percutaneous cryoablation (PC), microwave, and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy, which play an important role in the treatment of HCC, have been developed [1]. Recently, PC, a local ablative therapy, has been developed with several advantages (such as ability to produce larger and more precise zones of ablation) over RFA and other thermal ablation treatments. This review mainly focuses on the indications, techniques, patient management, safety, and efficacy associated with PC for patients with HCC.[N A J Med Sci. 2016;9(2):66-70.   DOI:  10.7156/najms.2016.0902066

Accessing provincial energy efficiencies in China's transport sector

The transport sector is attracting increasingly attention in the context of climate change and sustainable development, for its rapidly growing demand for energy and heavy reliance on oil products. Especially in China, where the demands for transportation are tremendous and ever-increasing, it is worthy to explore the provincial variations in energy efficiency in the transport sector, in order to enhance energy efficiency and to promote energy savings in this sector. By using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach, this paper calculates the provincial energy efficiency as well as energy saving potential in China's provincial transport sector over 2007–2016. Results suggest that China's national average energy input efficiency in the transport industry is 0.673 during the sample period, which implied that relatively large degree of non-efficiency exists in this sector. Besides, the increase of government support (GS), the improvement of road condition (RC) and public transport (PT) are influencing factors for the improvement of China's provincial energy efficiency in the transport industry. Additionally, energy saving potential in the transport sector is also estimated in this paper. It is shown that, although energy efficiency in the eastern China is the highest (much higher than the country-wide level), the estimated absolute amount of the energy saving potential in the eastern area is significantly larger than those in the central area and western area due to the fact that the eastern area contributes to the largest share of the total energy consumption in this sector.</p