Low Distortion of Noise Filter Realization with 6.34 V/µs Fast Slew Rate and 120 mVp-p Output Noise Signal.

In order to reduce Gaussian noise, this paper proposes a method via taking the average of the upper and lower envelopes generated by capturing the high and low peaks of the input signal. The designed fast response filter has no cut-off frequency, so the high order harmonics of the actual signal remain unchanged. Therefore, it can immediately respond to the changes of input signal and retain the integrity of the actual signal. In addition, it has only a small phase delay. The slew rate, phase delay and frequency response can be confirmed from the simulation results of Multisim 13.0. The filter outlined in this article can retain the high order harmonics of the original signal, achieving a slew rate of 6.34 V/µs and an almost zero phase difference. When using our filter to physically test the input signal with a noise level of 3 Vp-p Gaussian noise, a reduced noise signal of 120 mVp-p is obtained. The noise can be suppressed by up to 4% of the raw signal.

Antioxidative response to Cd in a newly discovered cadmium hyperaccumulator, Arabis paniculata F.

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study the effect of cadmium (Cd) on growth, Cd accumulation, lipid peroxidation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content and antioxidative enzymes in leaves and roots of Arabis paniculata F., a new Cd hyperaccumuator found in China. The results showed that 22-89 microM Cd in solution enhanced the growth of A. paniculata after three weeks, with 21-27% biomass increase compared to the control. Cd concentrations in shoots and roots increased with increasing Cd supply levels, and reached a maximum of 1662 and 8670 mg kg(-1) Cd dry weight at 178 microM Cd treatment, respectively. In roots, 22-89 microM Cd reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide (O(2)(-1)) and H(2)O(2) as well as the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR). In leaves, the contents of MDA, O(2)(-1) and H(2)O(2) remained unaffected by 22-89 microM Cd, while 178 microM Cd treatment significantly increased the MDA content, 69.5% higher than that of the control; generally, the activities of SOD, catalase (CAT), GPX and APX showed an increasing pattern with increasing Cd supply levels. Our present work concluded that A. paniculata has a great capability of Cd tolerance and accumulation. Moderate Cd treatment (22-89 microM Cd) alleviated the oxidative stress in roots, while higher level of Cd addition (178 microM) could cause an increasing generation of ROS, which was effectively scavenged by the antioxidative system.

[Effects of cadmium and lead on subcellular distribution and chemical form of zinc in Potentilla griffithii var. velutina].

Using the differential centrifugation technique and sequential chemical extraction method, effects of Cd, Pb and different Zn salts on subcellular distribution and chemical form of Zn in Zn hyperaccumulator Potentilla griffithii var. velutina under nutrient solution culture were analyzed. Under all treatments except for the control, 46%-74% and 16%-33% of total Zn in the plants are distributed in cell wall and in soluble fraction, respectively. Further, 74%-95% of total Zn are localized in these two parts under all treatments, which suggest that cell wall and soluble fraction in the plant are major storage sites for Zn. Compared with the control, Zn percentage significantly increases by 9%-38% in the cell wall and decreases by 6%-40% in the soluble fraction with addition of Zn, Cd and Pb treatment (p < 0.05). Although the addition of Cd and Pb has no influence on the pattern of Zn subcellular distribution presenting cell wall > soluble fraction > karyon and chloroplast > mitochondrion, it generally reduces Zn percentage in the chloroplast, karyon and mitochondrion and increases that in the cell wall or soluble fraction, suggesting that Cd and Pb promote the transferring processes of Zn from organelle to either cell wall or vacuole. As to the chemical forms, 61%-87% of total Zn exist as ethanol- and water-extractable forms in plants under control and only leaves under Zn addition treatment; while 62%-73% of total Zn exist as NaCl- and ethanol-extractable forms in leafstalks and roots under Zn addition treatment. NaCl-, ethanol- and water-extractable forms are also the main chemical forms in the plants, occupied almost 70%-89% of total Zn under Zn/Cd and Zn/Pb compound treatments. The addition of Zn, Cd and Pb generally increases the percentage of NaCl-extractable Zn forms, but decreases that of ethanol-extractable Zn, which facilitates Zn chemical form transferring from relatively higher active forms to less active ones. These results mentioned above indicate that cell wall binding, vacuolar compartmentalization and reduction of total percentage in higher active chemical forms are main tolerance mechanisms for Zn in Potentilla griffithii var. velutina in response to Zn, Zn/Cd and Zn/Pb treatments. Additionally, different Zinc salts have no obvious influence on Zn subcellular distribution in the plant, whereas the treatment of Zinc nitrate turns Zn ethanol-extraction to a dominant chemical form.

[Effects of cadmium on the growth and nitrogen metabolism in Brassica chinensis].

Hydroponic culture was conducted to study the effect of Cd on the growth, metal accumulation and nitrogen metabolism in Brassica chinensis. The enzymatic activities of nitrogen metabolism including nitrate reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS) and GS-transferase as well as the concentrations of chlorophyll, free proline, soluble protein, NO3(-) -N, NH4+ -N and nutrients in Brassica chinensis were determined. Results indicated that the addition of Cd reduced the content of the soluble protein and the accumulation of Cu, Ca, Fe and Mg, but promoted the P uptake. Low level of Cd (1 mg x L(-1)) could significantly increase the biomass and the content of chlorophyll of Brassica chinensis and the activities of NR, GS and GS-transferase when compared to control plants. However, when the Cd levels were above 2.5 mg x L(-1) in the culture medium, the activities of these enzymes were inhibited. Accordingly, the contents of NO3(-) -N, NH4+ -N, free proline and the activity of protease in the leaf of Brassica chinensis increased significantly. These results suggested that Cd addition could interfere with the assimilation of N in Brassica chinensis. The increase of free proline might alleviate the toxicity of ammonium in Brassica chinensis.

Neuro-sliding mode control with its applications to seesaw systems.

This paper proposes an approach of cooperative control that is based on the concept of combining neural networks and the methodology of sliding mode control (SMC). The main purpose is to eliminate the chattering phenomenon. Next, the system performance can be improved by using the method of SMC. In the present approach, two parallel Neural Networks are utilized to realize a neuro-sliding mode control (NSMC), where the equivalent control and the corrective control are the outputs of neural network 1 and neural network 2, respectively. Based on expressions of the SMC, the weight adaptations of neural network can be determined. Furthermore, the gradient descent method is used to minimize the control force so that the chattering phenomenon can be eliminated. Finally, experimental results are given to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the approach.