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The primary source of soil pollution is a complex mixture of numerous inorganic and organic compounds (including chlorinated compounds, nutrients, and heavy metals, etc.). The presence of all of these compounds makes remediation and cleanup difficult. In this study, the phytoremediation ability of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata was tested to remove nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) from paper mill and municipal landfill contaminated soils, to understand the uptake potential and to estimate the accumulation pattern of Ni and Zn in the vegetative parts of the plant. The experiments were carried out in pots (3 kg capacity) and the different combinations of soil were made by mixing the contaminated soil with a reference soil (forest soil) as T 0 , T 25 , T 50 , T 75 and T 100. The plant biomass, chlorophyll content, proline, nitrate reductase activity and metal removal efficiency (%)were determined after 120 DAS (i.e., the days after sowing). The results of the study showed that with increasing metal stress, there is a reduction in the above-ground biomass content in both the plant species with a slightly less impact on the root biomass. Over a period of 4 months, J. curcas and P. pinnata removed 82–86% and 93-90% Ni, respectively. The removal of Zn was significantly less as compared to Ni as most of the Zn remained in the belowground part (roots) and in the soil. Besides, the phytostabilization capacities of the plants were calculated on the basis of their tolerance index (TI), bioaccumulation factor (BAF) and translocation factor (TF). The low BAF and TF values with increasing heavy metals (HMs) content indicates its higher phytostabilization capacity in the root and rhizospheric region as compared to phytoaccumulation. [Display omitted] • J. curcas and P. pinnata removes 82 - 86 % and 93- 90 % Ni respectively. • High biomass and bioaccumulation factor (BAF) > 1: Suitable for metal phytoextraction. • Low biomass and BAF < 1: Suitable for metal phytostabilization. • Low translocation factor (< 1) indicated the phytostabilization capacity of the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current applications in the energy sector are based largely on fossil fuels which release greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. To face the issue of global warming, the energy sector has to transfer to and develop sustainable energy solutions that do not release carbon emissions. This is one of the primary motivators for the SDEWES conference as well as for this review, and previous ones, examining the most recent works based on sustainable and green energy production in such fields. The 17th Conference on the Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems (SDEWES) was held on 6–10 November 2022 in Paphos, Cyprus. The SDEWES conference aims at solving complex and ongoing concerns that approach a long-term perspective and supporting innovative solutions and continuous monitoring and evaluation. This review paper aims at collecting the main presented papers focused on the following hot topics: low-carbon technologies based on renewable and clean-energy systems, including mainly biomass, solar, and wind energy applications; energy storage systems; hydrogen-based systems; energy-saving strategies in buildings; and the adoption of smart management strategies using renewable energy systems. These topics are investigated in order to propose solutions to address the issues of climate change, water scarcity, and energy saving. From the analyzed works, we note that some key issues for sustainable development remain to be further addressed: such as novel and advanced energy storage systems, green hydrogen production, novel low-temperature district heating and cooling networks, novel solar technologies for the simultaneous production of power and high temperature heat, solar desalination for hydrogen production systems, and agrivoltaic systems for the production of power and food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Er3+ doped TeO 2 -ZnF 2 -BaF 2 -KF-Ta 2 O 5 tellurite glasses with low hydroxyl content (∼0.03 × 10−19 cm−3) were investigated employing both glass composition and glass melting process optimization. The Raman spectra and physical properties were characterized to analyze the structure of the glasses. Under the pumping of 980 nm LD laser, intense up-conversion fluorescence at 1.5 and 2.7 μm of samples and their lifetimes were detected and analyzed, and the related transition mechanisms with gradient-varying Er3+ doping concentrations were discussed. The maximum absorption and emission cross section at 2.7 μm was calculated to be 6.4 × 10−21 cm2 and 6.8 × 10−21 cm2, correspondingly, which were higher than those of traditional tellurite glasses. Using the calculated and measured spectroscopic parameters of bulk tellurite glass, a dual-wavelength pumping model was established to verify the feasibility of mid-infrared laser output in similar tellurite glass fiber. Experimental results support the assertion that the Er3+ doped tellurite glasses hold promise as a candidate laser gain medium for mid-infrared fiber laser systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel double‐cladding Ho3+/Tm3+ co‐doped Bi2O3–GeO2–Ga2O3–BaF2 glass fiber, which can be applied to a 2.0‐μm infrared laser, was fabricated by a rod‐tube drawing method. The thermal properties of the glass were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. It showed good thermal stability and matching thermal expansion coefficient for fiber drawing when Tx−Tg > 193°C and the maximum difference of the thermal expansion coefficient is 3.55 × 10−6/°C or less. The 2.0‐μm luminescence characteristics were studied using the central wavelength of 808 nm pump light excitation. The results show that when the concentration ratio of Ho3+/Tm3+ reaches 0.5 mol%:1.0 mol%, the maximum fluorescence intensity was obtained in the core glass, the emission cross section reached 10.09 × 10−21 cm2, and the maximum phonon energy was 751 cm−1. In this paper, a continuous laser output with a maximum power of 0.986 W and a wavelength of 2030 nm was obtained using an erbium‐doped fiber laser as a pump source in a 0.5 m long Ho3+/Tm3+ co‐doped glass fiber. In short, the results show that Ho3+/Tm3+ co‐doped 36Bi2O3–30GeO2–15Ga2O3–10BaF2–9Na2O glass fiber has excellent laser properties, and it is an ideal mid‐infrared fiber material for a 2.0‐μm fiber laser with excellent characteristics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, BaAl 11 O 16 N (BAON) based oxynitride phosphors have been synthesized via the employment of the flux method and Eu2+/Mn2+ co-doped technique. The effects of different fluxes on phase formation of the phosphor have been investigated. It has been found that BaF 2 is the best flux to prepare BAON as it can decrease the pure phase-forming temperature (∼1550 °C) than the normal solid state synthesis (∼1700 °C). It also gives the best luminescence quantum efficiency. The crystallinity, morphology and grain size of the phosphor can be improved when more BaF 2 flux has been added. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra and decay curves for Eu2+/Mn2+co-doped BAON phosphors reveal that an efficient energy transfer (ET) from Eu2+ to Mn2+ takes place in the BAON host. The corresponding ET efficiencies and mechanisms are evaluated and the critical distance (R c) is calculated in terms of the experimental data and analysis. The emission colors of the co-doped phosphors can be tuned from blue to green by simply varying the doping concentrations of Mn2+. White light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) are fabricated by coating the as-prepared samples on a near ultraviolet (n- UV) LED chip to explore the real application potentials. The excellent performance of this WLEDs verifies that the co-doped phosphor can be used as an efficient green component. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • A simple flux fusion routine for synthesizing BaAl 11 O 16 N:Eu2+,Mn2+ oxynitride phosphors. • Energy transfer between Eu2+ and Mn2+ takes a place in the BaAl 11 O 16 N host. • The WLEDs based on the as-prepared phosphors presents excellent warm white light performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, we studied the gamma photon attenuation properties for different germanate glasses systems with composition Sb 2 O 3 –GeO 2 –SiO 2 –Al 2 O 3 , TeO 2 –WO 3 –GeO 2 , GeO 2 –TeO 2 /SiO 2 –PbO–CaO–Tm 2 O 3 and B 2 O 3 –GeO 2 –Gd 2 O 3 –Eu 2 O 3 –GdF 3 –BaF 2. The mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ) for the selected germanate glasses were calculated at different energies (between 0.015 MeV and 15 MeV) using the MCNPX code. The calculated MCNPX μ/ρ values then compared with the WinXCom data to check the accuracy in the results. The results showed that the Sb 2 O 3 replacement by SiO 2 causes a decrease in μ/ρ for Sb 2 O 3 –GeO 2 –SiO 2 –Al 2 O 3 glass system. Also, it is found that for TeO 2 –WO 3 –GeO 2 glass system, μ/ρ decreases as GeO2 content increases from 1 to 20 mol%. While for GeO 2 –TeO 2 /SiO 2 –PbO–CaO–Tm 2 O 3 glass system, the results revealed that the glass samples contain TeO 2 possess higher μ/ρ values than the samples contain SiO 2. For the B 2 O 3 –GeO 2 –Gd 2 O 3 –Eu 2 O 3 –GdF 3 –BaF 2 glasses, we found that the μ/ρ values decrease as BaF 2 is increased from 0 to 15 mol%. Moreover, it is found that 50Sb-0Ge for series 1, TWG0 for series 2, 2G4T for series 3 and X = 0 for series 4 glass samples among the studied glasses have the highest effective atomic number values. On the basis of the results achieved, 50Sb-0Ge, TWG0, 2G4T and X = 0 samples have the best radiation shielding characteristics among the selected glasses. Highlights • Radiation shielding characteristics of different germanate glasses have been investigated. • The μ/ρ for the selected germanate glasses was evaluated by MCNPX simulation code at different energies. • The HVL results for the present germanate glasses suggested that the gamma photons absorption capacity increases as the density of the sample increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of image-based localization (IBL) is to localize the real location of query image by matching reference image in database with GNSS-tags. Popular methods related to IBL commonly use street-level images, which have high value in practical application. Using street-level image to tackle IBL task has the primary challenges: existing works have not made targeted optimization for urban IBL tasks. Besides, the matching result is over-reliant on the quality of image features. Methods should address their practicality and robustness in engineering application, under metropolitan-scale. In response to these, this paper made following contributions: firstly, given the critical of buildings in distinguishing urban scenes, we contribute a feature called Building-Aware Feature (BAF). Secondly, in view of negative influence of complex urban scenes in retrieval process, we propose a retrieval method called Patch-Region Retrieval (PRR). To prove the effectiveness of BAF and PRR, we established an image-based localization experimental framework. Experiments prove that BAF can retain the feature points that fall on the building, and selectively lessen the feature points that fall on other things. While this effectively compresses the storage amount of feature index, we can also improve recall of localization results; implemented in the stage of geometric verification, PRR compares matching results of regional features and selects the best ranking as final result. PRR can enhance effectiveness of patch-regional feature. In addition, we fully confirmed the superiority of our proposed methods through a metropolitan-scale street-level image dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Q960 high-strength steel is widely used in pressure vessels, bridges, offshore platforms and other important steel structural components because of its high strength and good plastic toughness, but alloy elements added to this kind of steel have strong hardenability, especially after welding, so the strength and toughness cannot meet the requirements, which limits its application in a wider range. In this paper, from the point of view of the metallurgical treatment of the weld, the goal is to improve the strength and toughness of the Q960 high strength steel weld metal In order to analyze the influence of Zr on the welding process of Q960 steel and the strengthening and toughening effect of weld metal, this paper takes Fe-Mn-Mo-Cr-Ni as the main alloy system, BaF2-CaF2-Al-Mg as the basic slag system, and adopts the method of melting consumable electrode self-shielded for welding, and analyzes the welding process, microstructure, tensile property and impact toughness of the welded joint. The experimental results show that when the weld metal contains 0.0061% Zr, the minimum spatter rate is only 7%, the maximum slag removal rate is 95%, the maximum hardness is 357HV, the maximum elongation is 34%, and the impact toughness is the highest. At this time, the acicular ferrite content in the weld microstructure is the highest, and there is a certain amount of equiaxed fine-grained ferrite, and the content of proeutectoid ferrite is the least, which effectively improves the strength and toughness of the weld metal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A simultaneous denitrification and biogas desulfurization process (SDBD) was proposed. • 0.9%–1.5% hydrogen sulfide in biogas was completely removed. • More than 85% COD, 98% NH 4 +-N and 81.65% TN was removed from real domestic sewage. • Hydrogen sulfide introduction altered the pathway of nitrate removal. • Economic assessment enables SDBD system to be a promising way in biological N removal. This paper proposed a novel simultaneous denitrification and biogas desulfurization (SDBD) process for domestic sewage treatment and biogas upgrading. The process consisted of an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) for integrated autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrification (IAHD) and a biological aerated filter (BAF) for nitrification. The experiments were firstly conducted to investigate the performance of the lab-scale SDBD system with real domestic sewage at various hydraulic retention times (HRT). The system successfully achieved 83.0 ± 1.8% chemical oxygen demand (COD), 96.2 ± 1.8% ammonia (NH 4 +-N) and 67.3 ± 4.1% total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency without biogas introduction, and the optimal HRT of EGSB and BAF was determined to be 6 h and 4 h, respectively. Then, biogas with three different hydrogen sulfide concentrations (1.5%, 1.2% and 0.9%) was introduced into the system. Almost complete removal of hydrogen sulfide in biogas was achieved in all the tested scenarios and the removal efficiency of COD, NH 4 +-N and TN maintained at around 86.8%, 98.4% and 83.4%, respectively. Microbial community analysis results showed that biogas introduction notably increased the bacterial diversity and particularly enriched the nitrate-reducing, sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, which forms the major contribution to the hydrogen sulfide removal in the system. Finally, we put the SDBD system in the whole treatment system of domestic sewage and discussed its economics. The results indicated that the total operating cost of sewage treatment plant could be saved to 0.59 RMB/m3, which proved SDBD system to be a promising alternative way in biological nitrogen removal and biogas desulfurization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-meter-long DNA is compressed into chromatin in the nucleus of every cell, which serves as a significant barrier to transcription. Therefore, for processes such as replication and transcription to occur, the highly compacted chromatin must be relaxed, and the processes required for chromatin reorganization for the aim of replication or transcription are controlled by ATP-dependent nucleosome remodelers. One of the most highly studied remodelers of this kind is the BRG1- or BRM-associated factor complex (BAF complex, also known as SWItch/sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) complex), which is crucial for the regulation of gene expression and differentiation in eukaryotes. Chromatin remodeling complex BAF is characterized by a highly polymorphic structure, containing from four to 17 subunits encoded by 29 genes. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of BAF complex in chromatin remodeling and also to use literature mining and a set of computational and bioinformatics tools to analyze structural properties, intrinsic disorder predisposition, and functionalities of its subunits, along with the description of the relations of different BAF complex subunits to the pathogenesis of various human diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]