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Background Numerous studies have examined the clinical effectiveness of transforaminal full endoscopic lumbar diskectomy (T-FELD) and interlaminar full endoscopic lumbar diskectomy (I-FELD) for L5–S1 lumbar disk herniation (LDH), with mixed findings. The goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the perioperative outcomes, clinical results, and complications of T-FELD and I-FELD to determine their efficacy and safety for treating L5–S1 LDH and to examine the features of complications in depth. Methods Several databases were searched for articles that matched all of the inclusion criteria. The visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to assess the clinical results. Information on perioperative outcomes and complications was gathered and analyzed. Results Eight studies with 756 participants were included. There were no significant differences in postoperative bed time (p = 0.44) and hospitalization time (p = 0.49) between T-FELD and I-FELD. When compared with I-FELD, T-FELD was associated with substantially longer fluoroscopy time (p < 0.0001) and operating time (p < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in the preoperative and postoperative VAS and ODI scores between T-FELD and I-FELD. The rates for overall complications, postoperative dysesthesia, postoperative lower extremity pain, incomplete decompression, recurrence, and conversion to open surgery were comparable for T-FLED and I-FELD. Conclusion T-FELD and I-FELD had equal clinical results and safety for treatment of L5–S1 LDH. Fluoroscopy and operative times were shorter for I-FELD than for T-FELD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the vibration isolation, environmental adaptability and development efficiency of rubber mounts, a novel rubber mount with adjustable parameters such as stiffness, support height and limit distance was proposed, and its structural composition and working principle were described. And then, a commercial vehicle was taken as the research object to conduct the calculation of mounts stiffness by employing the energy decoupling method and genetic algorithm. On the basis of the influence of cone angle, thickness and height on the ratio of axial-radial stiffness, the detailed structural design of the mounts was carried out, and the relationship between the preloading displacement and axial-radial stiffness was studied by the method of theoretical calculation and test, which made the process of the stiffness adjustment more specific and accurate. Finally, the vibration isolation performance test of the Powertrain Mounting System (PMS) before and after stiffness adjustment was completed. Results show that the adjusted PMS indicates better vibration isolation performance at idle speed and slow acceleration in place, and the new mounts can effectively improve the vibration performance of vehicle, environmental adaptability of mounts and product development efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accurate segmentation of neonatal brain tissues and structures is crucial for studying normal development and diagnosing early neurodevelopmental disorders. However, there is a lack of an end-to-end pipeline for automated segmentation and imaging analysis of the normal and abnormal neonatal brain. Objective: To develop and validate a deep learning-based pipeline for neonatal brain segmentation and analysis of structural magnetic resonance images (MRI). Materials and methods: Two cohorts were enrolled in the study, including cohort 1 (582 neonates from the developing Human Connectome Project) and cohort 2 (37 neonates imaged using a 3.0-tesla MRI scanner in our hospital).We developed a deep leaning-based architecture capable of brain segmentation into 9 tissues and 87 structures. Then, extensive validations were performed for accuracy, effectiveness, robustness and generality of the pipeline. Furthermore, regional volume and cortical surface estimation were measured through in-house bash script implemented in FSL (Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain Software Library) to ensure reliability of the pipeline. Dice similarity score (DSC), the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (H95) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated to assess the quality of our pipeline. Finally, we finetuned and validated our pipeline on 2-dimensional thick-slice MRI in cohorts 1 and 2. Results: The deep learning-based model showed excellent performance for neonatal brain tissue and structural segmentation, with the best DSC and the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (H95) of 0.96 and 0.99 mm, respectively. In terms of regional volume and cortical surface analysis, our model showed good agreement with ground truth. The ICC values for the regional volume were all above 0.80. Considering the thick-slice image pipeline, the same trend was observed for brain segmentation and analysis. The best DSC and H95 were 0.92 and 3.00 mm, respectively. The regional volumes and surface curvature had ICC values just below 0.80. Conclusions: We propose an automatic, accurate, stable and reliable pipeline for neonatal brain segmentation and analysis from thin and thick structural MRI. The external validation showed very good reproducibility of the pipeline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a fifth-order well-balanced positivity-preserving finite difference alternative WENO (AWENO) scheme with the affine-invariant WENO interpolation based on the Z-type nonlinear weights for the hyperbolic chemotaxis models. By using the techniques of source term reformulation, hydrostatic reconstruction of the interpolated conservative variables and modification of the numerical fluxes, the finite difference discretization is fifth-order and well-balanced. Moreover, the first-order interpolation with the Lax-Friedrichs (LF) flux and a reduced time step for the proposed discretized scheme has been shown to satisfy the density's positivity-preserving (PP) property. Thus, a simple positivity-preserving (PP) limiter conjugating the fifth-order hydrostatic reconstructed flux with the first-order positivity-preserving LF flux is introduced for extreme problems. Meanwhile, this improved approach strictly guarantees well-balanced property at the discrete level. Finally, one-, two-, and three-dimensional numerical examples are given to demonstrate the performance of the proposed AWENO scheme for this class of chemotaxis problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinematic vorticity and thermal vorticity are calculated in isobar collisions of 200 GeV 44 96 Ru + 44 96 Ru and 40 96 Zr + 40 96 Zr with different deformation parameters within the framework of Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics model (UrQMD), and a little difference of vorticity between 44 96 Ru + 44 96 Ru and 40 96 Zr + 40 96 Zr collisions is observed. From the ratios of (Zr-Ru)/Ru of vorticity in different deformation cases, it is found that ratios in deformation cases decrease with the increasing of centrality (i.e. more peripheral) but increase in the case without deformation. And an opposite signal is observed for ratios between nuclear collisions with deformation and without deformation. In addition, the effect of deformation parameter β 2 is discussed and it is found that the larger β 2 the deformation of the nuclei has, the higher vorticity the collision system presents in the 40 96 Zr + 40 96 Zr collisions. However, it is insensitive in the 44 96 Ru + 44 96 Ru collisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All vertebrate cells generally self-regulate for sustaining homeostasis and cell functions. As a major regulatory mechanism, regulatory volume decrease (RVD) occurs in hypotonicity-induced cell swelling, and then shrinking by the efflux of intracellular osmolytes and water, in which the ions K+, Cl−, and Ca2+ play a key role in the RVD process. We observed that these pivotal ions could result in novel RVD behaviors under repeatedly hypotonic stimulation. However, there is a lack of valid means for assessing the effect of pivotal ions on RVD. In this work, we proposed an effective measurement process based on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) combined with cell function of RVD for revealing acute variations in cell volume regulation induced by the pivotal ions. A QCM sensor was implemented by adhering MCF-7 cells to a poly-l-lysine-modified gold chip and cyclic stimulation with hypotonic NaCl medium, in which a frequency shift (Δf) showed the superior feasibility of the technique in exhibiting RVD behaviors. With the increase in the number of cycles, the RVD values decreased progressively under three stimulation cycles with hypotonic NaCl alone. Compared with the first cycle, the RVD level in the second and third cycles declined by 60.7±1.7% and 82.1±1.6% (n=3), respectively; conversely, it recovered in NaCl-KCl solution, but was significantly enhanced by 52.2±0.8% in NaCl-CaCl2 solution. Moreover, the inhibition of chloride channels to block Cl− efflux also decreased the RVD level by 56.2±3.0%. The results indicate that these ions (K+, Cl−, Ca2+) are all able to affect the function of RVD, among which intracellular Cl− depletion reduced RVD during measurement, but which recovered with K+ supplement, and Ca2+ enhanced RVD due to activation of ion channels. Therefore, this work provides a comprehensive assessment of cellular behavior and offers an innovative method for gaining insight into cellular functions and mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel and simple nonlinear affine-invariant weights (Ai-weights) are devised for the Ai-WENO operator to handle the case when the function being reconstructed undergoes an affine transformation (Ai-operator) with a constant scaling and translation (Ai-coefficients) within a global (WENO) stencil. The Ai-weights essentially decouple the inter-dependencies of the Ai-coefficients and sensitivity parameter effectively. For any given sensitivity parameter, the Ai-WENO operator guarantees that the WENO-reconstructed affine-transformed-function remains unchanged as the affine-transformed WENO-reconstructed-function. In other words, the Ai-operator commutes with the nonlinear WENO operator (Ai-property) as proven theoretically and validated numerically. With a small scaling and a non-zero translation, the Ai-WENO scheme with a typical sensitivity parameter satisfies the ENO-property even when the corresponding classical and scale-invariant WENO scheme does not. In solving the shallow water wave equations and the Euler equations under gravitational fields, the characteristic-wise well-balanced Ai-WENO scheme satisfies the well-balanced property intrinsically without imposing the WENO linearization technique. Any Ai-weights-based WENO operator enhances the robustness and reliability of the WENO scheme for solving hyperbolic conservation laws. • Affine-invariant WENO operator W [ ⋅ ] is designed to satisfy W [ λ f + c ] = λ W [ f ] + c for any Ai-coefficients (λ , c) and function f. • The new nonlinear weights decouple the inter-dependencies of the Ai-coefficients and sensitivity parameter effectively. • The commutativity between the affine transform and the nonlinear WENO operator is validated theoretically and numerically. • Ai-weights-based WENO operator enhances the robustness and reliability of the WENO scheme. • The well-balanced affine-invariant scheme satisfies the well-balanced property intrinsically for shallow water equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shallow water equations (SWEs) admit still water steady-state solutions in which the flux gradients are exactly balanced by the source term. Furthermore, the no-water dry areas make the numerical simulation of the SWEs more difficult since the water height often loses positivity near the dry areas. In this study, we design a high-order well-balanced and positivity-preserving finite-difference AWENO scheme for solving the SWEs with or without dry areas. In this numerical framework, the hydrostatic reconstruction (HR) method is used with two main advantages: 1) The well-balanced property is achieved using the HR method with arbitrary monotone fluxes and the reformulated source terms. 2) The first-order scheme with the Lax-Friedrichs (LF) flux and the HR method maintains the positivity of the water height with an appropriate time step. Therefore, a simple positivity-preserving limiter conjugating the high-order reconstructed flux with the first-order positivity-preserving LF flux is introduced. One- and two-dimensional classical examples with or without dry areas demonstrate that the proposed scheme is high-order, well-balanced, and positivity-preserving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A stable continuous AnDMBR was first applied in codigestion with CS and FW. • Lignocellulase addition improved the CH 4 yield and lignocellulose degradation rate. • Solid-liquid separation efficiency of DM enhanced with lignocellulase as additive. • The addition of enzymes promotes the acetylation ability of microbial communities. To explore the enzyme-enhanced strategy of a continuous anaerobic dynamic membrane reactor (AnDMBR), the anaerobic codigestion system of food waste and corn straw was first operated stably, and then the best combination of compound enzymes (laccase, endo -β-1,4-glucanase, xylanase) was determined via a series of batch trials. The results showed that the methane yield (186.8 ± 19.9 mL/g VS) with enzyme addition was 12.2 % higher than that without enzyme addition. Furthermore, the removal rates of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin increased by 31 %, 36 % and 78 %, respectively. In addition, dynamic membranes can form faster and more stably with enzyme addition. The addition of enzymes changed the structure of microbial communities while maintaining sufficient hydrolysis bacteria (Bacteroidetes), promoting the proliferation of Proteobacteria as a dominant strain and bringing stronger acetylation ability. In summary, the compound enzyme strengthening strategy successfully improved the methane production, dynamic membrane effect, and degradation rate of lignocellulose in AnDMBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Substrate equalization theory and the index of cumulative overload were proposed. • Nitrogen removal performance was increased by optimizing influent patterns. • Residence time distribution and computer fluid dynamics verified the flow patterns. • Substrate and sludge are mixed more evenly as the cumulative overload decreases. • The new substrate equalization theory was verified via flow tests and simulations. To improve nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) and achieve homogenous distribution of anammox sludge and substrate, a new substrate equalization theory and a cumulative overload index was proposed for multifed upflow anaerobic sludge bed (MUASB) reactors with mature anammox granules. The performance and flow patterns of MUASB reactors were investigated under various influent conditions. The results showed that the nitrogen removal performance and stability of MUASB reactors could be optimized by minimizing the cumulative load. The NRE gradually increased from 83.3 ± 2.2 %, 86.8 ± 4.2 % to 89.3 ± 4.1 % and 89.7 ± 1.6 % in feeding flow tests and feeding port tests, respectively. Furthermore, the flow patterns were compared based on residence time distribution and computational fluid dynamics, indicating that a better equilibrium distribution of microorganisms and substrates could be achieved in the MUASB reactors under the lowest cumulative load. Therefore, substrate equalization theory can be used to optimize the nitrogen removal performance of MUASB reactors with low-carbon footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose. Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is the main cause of low back pain, but its pathogenesis has not been studied clearly. Circular RNA is a type of noncoding RNA (ncRNA). In this study, we studied the potential role of circular RNA in the pathogenesis of IDD. Methods. We obtained microarray data (GSE116726, GSE67566) from Gene Expression Omnibus database, and differential expression level of ncRNA in nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues of IDD patients was analyzed. The potential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was analyzed by starBase. The effect of the interaction between hsa_circ_0001658, hsa-miR-181c-5p, and FAS on the proliferation and apoptosis of human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) was studied. Results. hsa_circ_0001658 was significantly upregulated (logFC > 2.0 and adj. P. Val < 0.01) in the NP tissues of IDD patients, and hsa-miR-181c-5p expression was downregulated (logFC < − 2.0 and adj. P. Val < 0.01). Silencing of hsa-miR-181c-5p or overexpression of hsa_circ_0001658 inhibited the proliferation of hNPCs and promoted their apoptosis. hsa_circ_0001658 acted as a sponge of hsa-miR-181c-5p. hsa-miR-181c-5p downregulated the expression of Fas cell surface death receptor (FAS), promoted the proliferation, and inhibited the apoptosis of hNPCs. hsa_circ_0001658 functioned in hNPCs through targeting hsa-miR-181c-5p/FAS. Conclusion. Circular RNA hsa_circ_0001658 inhibits IDD development by regulating hsa-miR-181c-5p/FAS. It is expected to be a potential target for the therapy of IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four types of reactions from leading vehicles when being tailgated were identified. • Changing lanes was the most prevalent reaction by leading vehicle. • Random Forests analysis showed three main factors related to lead vehicle's reactions. • For 95% of the cases, vehicles change lanes when being tailgated for over two minutes. • Male drivers were overrepresented in the tailgating events. • Middle-aged drivers tailgated more frequently than the other cohorts. Background: Tailgating is a common aggressive driving behavior that has been identified as one of the leading causes of rear-end crashes. Previous studies have explored the behavior of tailgating drivers and have reported effective solutions to decrease the amount or prevalence of tailgating. This paper tries to fill the research gap by focusing on understanding highway tailgating scenarios and examining the leading vehicles' reaction using existing naturalistic driving data. Method: A total of 1,255 tailgating events were identified by using the one-second time headway threshold criterion. Four types of reactions from the leading vehicles were identified, including changing lanes, slowing down, speeding up, and making no response. A Random Forests algorithm was employed in this study to predict the leading vehicle's reaction based on corresponding factors including driver, vehicle, and environmental variables. Results: The analysis of the tailgating scenarios and associated factors showed that male drivers were more frequently involved in tailgating events than female drivers and that tailgating was more prevalent under sunny weather and in daytime conditions. Changing lanes was the most prevalent reaction from the leading vehicle during tailgating, which accounted for more than half of the total events. The results of Random Forests showed that mean time headway, duration of tailgating, and minimum time headway were three main factors, which had the greatest impact on the leading vehicle drivers' reaction. It was found that in 95% of the events, leading vehicles would change lanes when being tailgated for two minutes or longer. Practical Applications: Results of this study can help to better understand the behavior and decision making of drivers. This understanding can be used in designing countermeasures or assistance systems to reduce tailgating behavior and related negative safety consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new adaptive diffusion central numerical flux within the framework of fifth-order characteristicwise alternative WENO-Z finite-difference schemes (A-WENO) with a modified local Lax--Friedrichs (LLF) flux for the Euler equations of gas dynamics is introduced. The new numerical flux adaptively adjusts the numerical diffusion coefficient present in the LLF flux. The coefficient is estimated by a suitable Rankine--Hugoniot condition, which gives a more accurate estimation of the local speed of propagation. To ensure robustness, lower and upper bounds of the coefficient are obtained with the help of the convection-pressure splitting of the Jacobian. The proposed adaptive A-WENO scheme is tested on several one- and two-dimensional benchmarks. The obtained results demonstrate that the use of the adaptive diffusion central numerical flux enhances the resolution of contact waves and improves significantly the resolution of fine-scale structures in the smooth areas of the solution while capturing shocks and high gradients in an essentially nonoscillatory manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By adopting and extending lessons from the air traffic control system, we argue that a nationwide remote monitoring system for driverless vehicles could increase safety dramatically, speed these vehicles' deployment, and provide employment. It is becoming clear that fully driverless vehicles will not be able to handle "edge" cases in the near future, suggesting that new methods are needed to monitor remotely driverless vehicles' safe deployment. While the remote operations concept is not new, a super-human driver is needed to handle sudden, critical events. We envision that the remote operators do not directly drive the vehicles, but provide input on high level tasks such as path-planning, object detection and classification. This can be achieved via input from multiple individuals, coordinated around a task at a moment's notice. Assuming a 10% penetration rate of driverless vehicles, we show that one remote driver can replace 14,840 human drivers. A comprehensive nationwide interoperability standard and procedure should be established for the remote monitoring and operation of driverless vehicles. The resulting system has potential to be an order of magnitude safer than today's ground transportation system. We articulate a research and policy roadmap to launch this nationwide system. Additionally, this hybrid human–AI system introduces a new job category, likely a source of employment nationwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with its high elevation and extreme climate, is a transport artery for a crude oil-importation pipeline in China. However, limited information is available regarding the effect of petroleum hydrocarbon (PH) contamination on soil bacterial diversity. Variations in the bacterial structure and composition after PH pollution were investigated by a combination of artificial simulated pollution and high-throughput DNA sequencing. The results demonstrated that the biodiversity of engine oil-contaminated soil samples was higher than that of diesel oil-contaminated soil samples, and 7 genera were identified from indigenous bacteria as potential oil degraders, including Sulfuritalea, Sphingomonas, Alkanindiges, Rhodococcus, Nocardioides, Rhodoplanes, and Actinobacteria_norank. We present a detailed profile of soil bacteria succession under different oil-pollution conditions, which may help in future studies of in-situ bioremediation in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent article entitled "Full‑endoscopic (bi‑portal or uni‑portal) versus microscopic lumbar decompression laminectomy in patients with spinal stenosis: systematic review and meta‑analysis" written by Pairuchvej et al. (Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 30(4):595–611, 2019) published in "European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology" has aroused our great interest. The authors concluded that compared with minimally invasive decompression surgery, full endoscopic spinal surgery had better pain relief (back pain and leg pain) in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis and had a lower complication rate, but no statistical difference in oswestry disability index score and operative time between both groups. Comparing to minimally invasive spinal surgery, bi-portal endoscopic spinal surgery had better back pain relief in the early stage, while uni-portal full endoscopic spinal surgery had better pain relief in the leg and a lower rate of complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impacts of V2I communication on intersection-approaching behavior were examined. • Field tests under seven intersection maneuver scenarios were conducted. • Contributing factors to the potential behavior changes were explored. • Drivers' reaction to intersection maneuver strategies were modeled by Random Forests. • Intersection-approaching behavior can be predicted about 87.4 m in advance. Connected vehicle technology provides promising opportunities to improve road safety, enhance traffic efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. It has been suggested that if drivers comply with suggested recommendations, connected vehicle technology can introduce huge benefits. However, whether drivers will accept suggestions and what factors will influence their likelihood of accepting the suggestions in a connected environment have not been studied. In addition, few models have been developed to predict drivers' reactions under such conditions. This paper aims to fill the research gap by examining and modeling drivers' acceptance and behavior when receiving energy- and safety-related speed recommendations through vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. A mixed-subject-design experiment was conducted in a closed-loop test track, Mcity, with seven intersection maneuver scenarios. A generally high compliance rate to the recommended speed strategies was observed that during 72% of the events, drivers changed their intersection-approaching behavior to follow the recommendations. Mixed models were conducted to explore the impacting factors while Principal Component Analysis was used to classify subjective (i.e., self-reported) data into four categories. To predict drivers' reactions when offered a speed suggestion, Random Forests were built with 13 independent variables, derived from four categories: vehicle kinematic features, device information, driver characteristics, and subjective data. Using this model, drivers' reactions during each intersection maneuver could be predicted with a reasonably high accuracy about 87.4 m away from the intersection, where the vehicle started to receive signal phase and timing information. Findings in this study can contribute to the optimization of energy-saving algorithms and the improvement of driving safety by using connected vehicle technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract An alternative formulation of conservative weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) finite difference scheme with the classical WENO-JS weights (Jiang et al. (2013) [6]) has been successfully used for solving hyperbolic conservation laws. However, it fails to achieve the optimal order of accuracy at the critical points of a smooth function. Here, we demonstrate that the WENO-Z weights (Borges et al. (2008) [1]) should be employed to recover the optimal order of accuracy at the critical points. Several one- and two-dimensional benchmark problems show the improved performance in terms of accuracy, resolution and shock capturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long-term performance of codigestion in an AnDMBR was compared with that of a CSTR. • Higher CH 4 yield and coenzyme F 420 were achieved in the AnDMBR than in the CSTR. • The codigestion system stability in the AnDMBR was superior to that in the CSTR. • Substrate and archaea retention in AnDMBR was realized in the codigestion of WAS/FW. • Microbial community and functional abundance after long-term operation are analysed. To enhance the substrate conversion efficiency and further improve the reactor stability of codigestion with waste activated sludge (WAS) and food waste (FW), a new type of anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) was designed and operated in parallel with a conventional continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for approximately 500 days. The results showed that a higher methane yield (330–350 mL/g COD) was realized in the AnDMBR than in the CSTR (96–326 mL/g COD) under the same organic loading rates (OLRs) in the range of 8.16–22.8 g COD/L/d, which was consistent with the high methane production, specific methanogenic activity, coenzyme F 420 concentration, and stable pH in the AnDMBR. Furthermore, the dynamic membrane performance of the AnDMBR was compared with that of the CSTR system; the measured characteristics, including the particle diameter and suspended solid concentration in the permeate or discharge sludge, suggested that the substrate and microorganisms can both be effectively intercepted by the dynamic membrane during long-term periodic operation. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing analysis indicated that the microbiological community structures in the AnDMBR and CSTR were similar, but the relative abundances of dominant bacteria (Treponema and Lutispora) and archaea (Methanoculleus) in the AnDMBR were both higher than those in the CSTR. This difference in relative abundance is the main reason why the AnDMBR enhanced the biogas conversion efficiency and stability of mesophilic codigestion with WAS and FW, other than substrate retention by the dynamic membrane. A comparison of the microbial metabolism functions of the AnDMBR and CSTR showed that the proportions of carbohydrate/coenzyme transport and metabolism and signal transduction mechanisms in the AnDMBR with stainless steel mesh were significantly improved after long-term parallel operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A low‐temperature solution‐processed strategy is critical for cost‐effective manufacture of flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Based on an aqueous‐processed TiO2 layer, and conventional fullerene derivatives replaced by a pristine fullerene interlayer of C60, herein a facile interface engineering for making all‐solution‐processed TiO2/C60 layers in flexible n‐i‐p PSCs is reported. Due to the improvement of the perovskite grain quality, promotion of interfacial charge transfer and suppression of interfacial charge recombination, the stabilized power conversion efficiency for the flexible PSCs reaches as high as 16% with high bending resistance retention (≈80% after 1500 cycles) and high light‐soaking retention (≈100% after 100 min). In addition, the stabilized efficiency is over 19% for the rigid TiO2/C60‐based PSCs. The present work with the facile low‐temperature solution process renders the practicability for high‐performance flexible PSCs applied to wearable devices, portable equipment, and electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates a unique and promising approach to study driver-bicyclist interactions from a driver’s perspective by using in-vehicle sensory data from naturalistic driving studies. A total of 4789 events of drivers overtaking bicyclists were extracted from an existing naturalistic driving study in Michigan, United States. The vehicle lateral placement at the time of passing bicyclists was used as a surrogate safety measure. A number of factors were examined, including the lane marking type, the presence of a bike lane or paved shoulder, the presence of traffic, lane width, and driver distraction. Some notable findings include that (1) when a bike lane or paved shoulder was present, a dashed non-center line (i.e., a dashed line separating two lanes in the same direction) was associated with significantly less vehicle lane-crossing and closer distance to the bike lane/shoulder compared to a solid centerline; (2) an alarming 7.8% of the overtaking occurred when the drivers were distracted within five seconds prior to passing bicyclists. From a bicyclist’s perspective, that translates to one overtaken by a distracted driver for every thirteen times they are overtaken. In addition, drivers manipulating a cell phone were associated with significantly less vehicle lane-crossing when overtaking bicyclists. The results of this work could be potentially used by traffic engineers, policymakers and legislators to support the designs of better road infrastructures, education programs, policies, and traffic laws that aim to improve the safety of all road users. The quantitative results could also be potentially used as a baseline to develop and benchmark automated vehicle technologies on how to interact with bicyclists on the road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To facilitate the use of partial nitritation (PN) in nitrogen removal processes for livestock wastewater, this work investigated the inhibitory effects of heavy metals and antibiotics on the nitrifying bacterial activities of the PN processes. Biomass was collected from a continuous-flow internal-loop airlift reactor and cultured with fixed ammonium concentrations of 921 mg N L −1 . Batch activity tests were conducted to determine the specific oxygen uptake rate. The individual and interactive inhibitory effects of Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ , oxytetracycline (OTC) and sulfamethazine (SMZ) were evaluated using an orthogonal test. The results showed that the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) values of Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ , OTC and SMZ on PN sludge were 50.1, 35.4, 447 and 1890 mg L −1 , respectively. The joint toxicities of heavy metals (Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ ) and antibiotics (OTC and SMZ) in the PN mixed culture were generally synergistic, except for between Zn 2+ and Cu 2+ , which was antagonistic. In joint toxicity tests, the significance of the inhibitory effect of Zn 2+ (15.3–164.3 mg L −1 ), Cu 2+ (13.8–90.9 mg L −1 ), OTC (27.0–866.5 mg L −1 ) and SMZ (290–3490 mg L −1 ) on the nitrifying bacterial activity can be ranked in the following order: SMZ > Cu 2+  > Zn 2+  > OTC. Additionally, different exposure times (1 h, 3 h and 24 h) with or without aeration were also comparatively studied. These results show that a greater PN sludge activity loss than when exposure without aeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a simple and feasible electrochemical sensor based on Au nanoparticle-functionalized graphene for the determination of sulfanilamide. Au nanoparticles were deposited on graphene, which acted as a platform to prepare excellent nanocomposites. Attributed to the graphene's large surface area and the Au nanoparticles' strong conductivity, many sulfanilamide molecules were enriched on the sensor surface and the signal response became more sensitive. Under the optimal conditions, the electrochemical sensors could be used for the efficient detection of sulfanilamide. Good linearity was observed in the range of 0.1-1000 μmol·L-1 and the detection limit was 0.011 μmol·L-1. Most importantly, the Au nanoparticle-functionalized graphene-modified electrode could be successfully applied for the detection of sulfanilamide in animal meat, and exhibited good stability, acceptable recovery, and offered a promising platform for point-of-care detecting in real samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Visual attention to the driving environment is of great importance for road safety. Eye glance behavior has been used as an indicator of distracted driving. This study examined and quantified drivers' glance patterns and features during distracted driving. Method Data from an existing naturalistic driving study were used. Entropy rate was calculated and used to assess the randomness associated with drivers' scanning patterns. A glance-transition proportion matrix was defined to quantity visual search patterns transitioning among four main eye glance locations while driving (i.e., forward on-road, phone, mirrors and others). All measurements were calculated within a 5 s time window under both cell phone and non-cell phone use conditions. Results Results of the glance data analyses showed different patterns between distracted and non-distracted driving, featured by a higher entropy rate value and highly biased attention transferring between forward and phone locations during distracted driving. Drivers in general had higher number of glance transitions, and their on-road glance duration was significantly shorter during distracted driving when compared to non-distracted driving. Conclusions Results suggest that drivers have a higher scanning randomness/disorder level and shift their main attention from surrounding areas towards phone area when engaging in visual-manual tasks. Practical applications Drivers' visual search patterns during visual-manual distraction with a high scanning randomness and a high proportion of eye glance transitions towards the location of the phone provide insight into driver distraction detection. This will help to inform the design of in-vehicle human-machine interface/systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the efficacy of single-channel percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) and conventional open surgery in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods: This is a retrospective study. A total of 66 patients with LDH admitted to Tianjin Medical University from June 2017 to June 2018 were divided into two groups: the observation group (single-channel PELD) and the control group (posterior lumbar interbody fusion), with 33 cases in each group. The two groups were compared in terms of visual analogue scale(VAS), oswestry disability index (ODI), Japanese Orthopaedic Association Score(JOA), perioperative indicators, clinical efficacy, postoperative complications, changes in inflammatory factors and serum T lymphocyte subsets. Results: The operation time, incision length, intraoperative blood loss, time in bed, hospital stay in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group. At 7d after treatment, the improvement of ODI, VAS and JOA in the observation group were better than that in the control group. At the last follow-up, there was no significant difference in Cobb angle and lumbar lordosis angle between the two groups. The levels of serum IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α in the observation group were lower than those in the control group. The degree of reduction of serum CD3+ and CD4+ in the observation group were higher than those in the control group. And the level of elevation of CD8+ in the observation group was lower than that in the control group. Moreover, there was no significant difference in CD4+/ CD8+ level between the two groups. The excellent rate of surgical results in the observation group was higher than that in the control group. Complications occurred in both groups, with no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Single-channel PELD can achieve superior clinical efficacy over conventional open surgery in the treatment of LDH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the characteristics of vehicle longitudinal jerk (change rate of acceleration with respect to time) by using vehicle sensor data from an existing naturalistic driving study. The main objective was to examine whether vehicle jerk contains useful information that could be potentially used to identify aggressive drivers. Initial investigation showed that there are unique characteristics of vehicle jerk in drivers’ gas and brake pedal operations. Thus two jerk-based metrics were examined: (1) driver’s frequency of using large positive jerk when pressing the gas pedal, and (2) driver’s frequency of using large negative jerk when pressing the brake pedal. To validate the performance of the two metrics, drivers were firstly divided into an aggressive group and a normal group using three classification methods (1) traveling at excessive speed (speeding), (2) following too closely to a front vehicle (tailgating), and (3) their association with crashes or near-crashes in the dataset. The results show that those aggressive drivers defined using any of the three methods above were associated with significantly higher values of the two jerk-based metrics. Between the two metrics the frequency of using large negative jerk seems to have better performance in identifying aggressive drivers. A sensitivity analysis shows the findings were largely consistent with varying parameters in the analysis. The potential applications of this work include developing quantitative surrogate safety measures to identify aggressive drivers and aggressive driving, which could be potentially used to, for example, provide real-time or post-ride performance feedback to the drivers, or warn the surrounding drivers or vehicles using the connected vehicle technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, carboxyl groups were introduced by liquid oxidation methods onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to improve the MWCNTs’ electrocatalytic properties. A platinum wire microelectrode (ME) was corroded using aqua regia and subsequently embedded with MWCNTs to achieve more active sites, producing a so-called powder microelectrode (PME). Compared with conventional MEs, the PME has a larger specific surface area and more active sites. When PME was used to detect ascorbic acid (AA), the AA oxidation potential shifted negatively and current peak was visibly increased. The calibration curve obtained for AA was in a range of 5.00 × 10−6~9.50 × 10−4 mol·L−1: Ipa(μA) = 3.259 × 10−2 + 1.801 × 102 C (mol·L−1) under the optimum testing conditions. Moreover, the detection and quantitation limits were confirmed at 4.89 × 10−7 mol·L−1 and 1.63 × 10−7 mol·L−1, respectively. When the fabricated PME was practically applied to detect AA, it was shown a recovery rate of 94~107% with relative standard deviation (RSD) <5%. The proposed strategy thus offers a promising, rapid, selective and low-cost approach to effective analysis of AA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Crash warning systems have been shown to provide safety benefits, but no studies have examined how teenagers respond. This study sought to find out whether young, inexperienced drivers change behavior in response to warnings. Methods Forty 16–17 year-olds drove an instrumented vehicle equipped with a system that warned for lane departures and potential rear-end and lane change/merge crashes. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups, and their driving was monitored for 14 weeks during 2011–12. For the experimental group, this included a treatment period, when crash alerts were received by drivers, and baseline and post-treatment periods, when warnings were recorded but not received. The control group never received warnings. Data were analyzed to determine whether warnings were associated with changes in driving behavior. Results A total of 15,039 trips were analyzed. Lane drifts accounted for 73% of warnings. Forward collision warning rates doubled for all drivers during the treatment period and continued at an increased rate post-treatment. This was likely a result of the fact that, as time went on, all drivers spent more time following vehicles at close distances. Receiving alerts was associated with effects on following and lane-changing behavior, including more time spent following at close distances (17%), fewer lateral drifts (37%) and fewer unsignaled lane changes (80%). Receiving warnings wasn't associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in secondary tasks. Conclusions Warning systems may result in improved lane-keeping and turn-signal behaviors by novice drivers, but there is some indication they may result in more close-following behaviors. Practical applications There is some evidence that lane departure warning may improve turn-signal use for young drivers. While there is no evidence of safety benefits from the other types of warnings, there is some evidence of an increase in close-following behavior but no increase in secondary tasks due to the presence of those capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intervertebral disc herniation is a common cause of spinal cord compression, especially for the thoracic and thoracolumbar spinal cord, which has limited buffer space in the spinal canal. Spinal cord compression usually causes decreased sensation and paralysis of limbs below the level of compression, urinary and fecal incontinence, and/or urinary retention, which brings great suffering to the patients and usually requires surgical intervention. Thoracotomy or abdominothoracic surgery is usually performed for the thoracolumbar cord compression caused by hard intervertebral disc herniation. However, there is high risk of trauma and complications with this surgery. To reduce the surgical trauma and obtain good visibility, we designed athoracic endoscopic-assisted mini-open surgery for thoracic and thoracolumbar disc herniation, and performed this procedure on 10 patients who suffered from hard thoracic or thoracolumbar spinal cord compression. During the procedure, the thoracic endoscopy provided clear vision of the surgical field with a good light source. The compression could be fully exposed and completely removed, and no nerve root injury or spinal cord damage occurred. All patients achieved obvious recovery of neurological function after this procedure. This technique possesses the merits of minimal trauma, increased safety, and good clinical results. The aim of this study is to introduce this thoracic endoscopic-assisted mini-open surgery technique, and we believe that this technique will be a good choice for the thoracic and thoracolumbar cord compression caused by hard intervertebral disc herniation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) has attracted much attention in China as a way to rapidly transform and upgrade aquaculture ponds to realize zero-emissions of pollutants in aquaculture tail water. Tail water purification ponds (TWPPs) play an important role in the treatment of aquaculture wastewater. However, until now, there have been few reports on the occurrence of antibiotics in RAS and the removal of antibiotics from the TWPPs of RAS. Therefore, this study focused on the occurrence of antibiotics in a typical ecological RAS. For comparison, the same measurements were simultaneously carried out in nearby open aquaculture ponds and rivers. The pollution level and spatial distribution of antibiotics in the RAS and the removal of antibiotics in the TWPPs were explored. The results showed that (1) eleven and twelve antibiotics were detected in water and sediment samples in the RAS, respectively, but no antibiotics were found in fish muscles and feed. Erythromycin (ERY), lincomycin (LIN), and ciprofloxacin (CFX) were the three main types of antibiotics found in water and sediment samples. (2) The TWPPs of the RAS can effectively remove antibiotics in aquaculture water. The antibiotic concentration in recirculating aquaculture ponds of the RAS was as high as 180 ng/L. After treatments in the TWPPs, the antibiotic concentration of aquaculture water decreased to 81.6 ng/L (3) The antibiotic concentrations in recirculating aquaculture ponds (25.2–180 ng/L) were lower than those in the nearby open aquaculture ponds (126–267.3 ng/L), and the concentration of antibiotics in the sediments of recirculating aquaculture ponds was up to 22.9 ng/g, while that in TWPPs was as high as 56.1 ng/g. In conclusion, the antibiotic residues in the RAS were low after antibiotics were banned in feed in China, and the removal of antibiotics in the TWPPs was more pronounced. Furthermore, cross-contamination was found between the RAS, surrounding open aquaculture ponds and the river, and the water supply of the RAS was likely to be the main contributor of antibiotics in the aquaculture environments. This study can help the government formulate discharge standards for antibiotics in aquaculture and also provide a reference for the transformation and upgrading of aquaculture ponds to achieve a zero-emission aquaculture mode. • Antibiotic concentration was the lowest for recirculating aquaculture ponds. • Water supply was main source for antibiotics in recirculating aquaculture system. • Tail water purification ponds were effective for removal of antibiotics. • Cross-contamination between recirculating aquaculture ponds, open ponds and river. • Crucial challenges for extension of recirculating aquaculture system were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance and stability of mesophilic codigestion of waste activated sludge (WAS) and food waste (FW) were compared in two parallel, continuously stirred tank reactors using high- and low-magnitude loading increments for the loading regimes. The results indicated that a high methane (CH 4) production of 6.98 L L−1·d−1 was realized without volatile fatty acid accumulation via low-magnitude loading increments at a high loading of 26.5 g-COD·L−1·d−1, and this system was more stable and achieved a higher efficiency than the codigestion system that used high-magnitude loading increments at similar loading and operating conditions. Furthermore, higher CH 4 yields of 258–334 mL-CH 4 ·g-COD−1, TCOD removal efficiencies of 64–79%, conversion ratios of 62–88%, and methanogenic activities of 0.37–0.40 g-CH 4 -COD·g-VS−1·d−1 were consistently maintained via the low-magnitude loading increments during the high-rate period. High abundances of the phyla Firmicutes (63.3%) and genus Methanosarcina (94.5%) contributed to the high rates and stable operating conditions of the mesophilic system for WAS and FW codigestion using low-magnitude loading increments. [Display omitted] • Two CSTR codigestion systems with different incremental loadings were compared. • Low-magnitude loading increments can lead to stable and high rates of codigestion. • A high abundance of Methanosarcina was induced via low-magnitude loading increments. • Low-magnitude loading increments provides an easy-to-apply and promising approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preserving active anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) biomass is a potential method for securing sufficient seeding biomass for the rapid start-up of full-scale anammox processes. In this study, anammox granules were cultured in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor (R), and then the enriched anammox granules were preserved at 35, 20, 4, and −30 °C. The subsequent reactivation characteristics of the granules were evaluated in four UASB reactors (denoted R, R, R, and R, respectively) to investigate the effect of preservation temperature on the characteristics of anammox granules and their reactivation performance. The results demonstrated that 4 °C was the optimal preservation temperature for maintaining the biomass, activity, settleability, and integrity of the anammox granules and their cellular structures. During the preservation period, a first-order exponential decay model may be used to simulate the decay of anammox biomass and activity. The protein-to-polysaccharide ratio in the extracellular polymeric substances and the heme c content could not effectively indicate the changes in settleability and activity of the anammox granules, respectively, and a loss of bioactivity was positively associated with the degree of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria cell lysis. After 42 days of storage, the anammox granules preserved at 4 °C (R) exhibited a better recovery performance than those preserved at 20 °C (R), −30 °C (R), and 35 °C (R). The comprehensive comparison indicated that 4 °C is the optimal storage temperature for anammox granular sludge because it promotes improved maintenance and recovery performance properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to introduce a technique for lumbar intervertebral fusion that incorporates mobile microendoscopic discectomy ( MMED) for lumbar degenerative disc disease. Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is frequently performed to treat degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine; however, the scope of such surgery and vision is limited by what the naked eye can see through the expanding channel system. To expand the visual scope and reduce trauma, we perform lumbar intervertebral fusion with the aid of a MMED system that provides a wide field through freely tilting the surgical instrument and canals. We believe that this technique is a good option for treating lumbar degenerative disc disease that requires lumbar intervertebral fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated that hydrogen-rich saline (HS) protects against bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced liver injury by suppressing oxidative stress and inflammation. Mitochondria, which are targets of excessive reactive oxygen species and central mediators of apoptosis, have a pivotal role in hepatic injury during obstructive jaundice (OJ); however, the implications of HS in the hepatic mitochondria of BDL mice remain unknown. The present study investigated the hypothesis that HS could reduce OJ-induced liver injury through the protection of mitochondrial structure and function, as well as inhibition of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three experimental groups: Sham operation group, BDL injury with normal saline (NS) treatment group, and BDL-injury with HS treatment group. Mitochondrial damage and apoptotic parameters were determined 3 days post-BDL injury and treatment. The results demonstrated that mitochondria isolated from the livers of NS-treated BDL mice exhibited increased mitochondrial swelling, cytochrome c release, and oxidative damage. In addition, liver samples from NS-treated BDL mice exhibited significant increases in B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein expression, caspase activities, and hepatocyte apoptosis compared with livers from sham-operated controls. Notably, treatment with HS reduced the levels of these markers and alleviated morphological defects in the mitochondria following injury. In addition, HS markedly increased the antioxidant potential of mitochondria, as evidenced by elevated adenosine triphosphate levels, mitochondrial respiratory function, and increased levels of active Bcl-2. In conclusion, HS attenuates mitochondrial oxidative stress and dysfunction, and inhibits mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in the livers of BDL mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starvation of biomass is common in the biological wastewater industries. To investigate the influence of starvation on the sludge characteristics and reactivation performance of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process, the starvation process of high-activity anammox granules over 50 days and the subsequent reactivation characterization of the granules were evaluated in two upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors at 20 °C and 4 °C, respectively. The results showed that the starvation temperature had a significant impact on the morphological and physical properties. Anammox granules stored at 4 °C achieved a relatively low decay rate, excellent nitrogen removal capacity, and a low protein-to-polysaccharide (PN/PS) ratio after reactivation. Those results demonstrated that 4 °C was more suitable for the maintenance of structural integrity and granule stability during long-term starvation. The nitrogen removal performance of anammox granules after starvation could be recovered after 4 days of operation, and the anammox activity could be fully restored within 8 days. Furthermore, anammox granules preserved at 4 °C obtained a better recovery performance than those at 20 °C. In summary, anammox granules could be stored up to 50 days without running the risk of losing the integrity of the granules and metabolic potentials. And anammox performance after prolonged starvation could be fully revived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microwave permeability in a soft magnetic FeCoB film as a function of the external magnetic field is measured in the frequency range from 0.2 to 8 GHz. When the field applied parallel to the orientation of the magnetization varies from 90 to −90 Oe, the permeability spectrum shows hysteretic behavior. Double magnetic resonance peaks come forth and evolve in the imaginary part of the permeability when the field approaches the coercive field of the sample. This phenomenon is attributed to the formation of domains, the resonance frequency of the reversed domains being different than that of the non-reversed domains. Both peak frequencies and peak amplitudes are interpreted quantitatively using simple considerations based on the Landau–Lifshitz equation and the knowledge of the static magnetic properties of the film. The ratio of the reversed magnetic moments to the non-reversed ones is estimated by fitting curves of the permeability spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of realistic seasonal temperatures on the nitrogen removal performance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and the properties of the anammox granules were comparatively investigated for 330 days. The results demonstrated that the nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE), nitrogen loading rate (NLR) and nitrogen removal rate (NRR) were decreased dramatically, as the temperature decreased from 31.2 to 2.5 °C. However, the nitrogen removal performance recovered andante as the temperature increased gradually. After low temperature exposure, the settleability tended to worsen, and granules appeared to be more irregular with a smaller average granule diameter, and the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content increased slightly, while the specific anammox activity (SAA) decreased obviously. This realistic seasonal temperatures based research was an illation of the actual operation, and could be potentially implemented to maintain stability for the application of anammox technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the effects of temperature, salinity and calcium concentration on the properties of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) granules were comparatively investigated using four upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. The results demonstrated that the metabolic pathway of the anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacterium (AnAOB) with its inner structure was changed following the addition of salt. The reaction ratios shown a considerable change. Both low ambient temperature and cell lysis reduced the activity, diameter and strength of the granules. A calcium concentration of 152 mg Ca 2+ L −1 protected AnAOB from lysis and deformation under salinity stress. The precipitation of calcium improved the strength and density of the anammox granules, resulting in amelioration of settleability but a reduction in the diameter and the ratio of volatile suspended solids to suspended solids. In addition, the precipitation of calcium also reduced the activity of AnAOB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient biological nitrogen removal from high salinity wastewater has been focused recently. The present study comparatively investigated the effects of temperature, salinity and calcium concentration on the performance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) processes using anammox granular sludge to treat synthetic wastewater. Four upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors were operated in parallel at ambient temperatures evolving from 25 to 9 °C (reactor R 1 ) and thermostatic room temperatures of 35 ± 2 °C (reactors R 2 , R 3 and R 4 ). The results demonstrated that low ambient temperature and high sodium levels impair the nitrogen removal performance of anammox granular sludge. The anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria gradually adapted to a salt concentration of 15 g L −1 at low ambient temperature, and a nitrogen removal rate of 1.34 ± 0.12 kg N m −3 d −1 was achieved. A nitrogen removal rate of 1.90 ± 0.01 kg N m −3 d −1 in R 4 was achieved at a salt concentration of 15 g L −1 . Moreover, 152 mg L −1 calcium relieved the high salinity inhibition of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. Furthermore, the fractal dimension and permeability of anammox granules were also investigated with settling experiment, which indicated that the anammox granules were porous and permeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a driver’s use of turn signals is sufficiently reliable to forecast a vehicle’s future path around an intersection, when detailed information about the intersection is unavailable. Naturalistic observations of turn signal use among 108 drivers on surface streets were extracted from the baseline portion of a field operational test of a safety system. Left and right turns that resulted in heading changes of between 70 and 110° and turn radii between 18 and 90 m were selected from the dataset. The odds that a driver would signal a turn were modeled as a function of road type, turn direction, presence of a forward vehicle, whether the vehicle stopped before the turn, and driver age and gender. Overall, 25 percent of left turns and 29 percent of right turns were not signaled. Road type, turn direction, and presence of a forward vehicle were found to influence the odds that a turn is signaled, while gender and age of the driver did not. The results suggest that situational factors like road type and turn direction are more powerful predictors of whether a turn will be signaled than either age or gender. Signaling on major and minor surface roads was about 5 times more likely than on local roads and 1.5 times more likely when a forward vehicle was present, suggesting a possible effect of traffic volume. It was concluded that turn signal activation alone may be insufficiently reliable to forecast a driver’s path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive even order weighted essentially non-oscillatory polynomial reconstruction procedure (WPR) with Z-type weights (WENO-Za) is proposed to reduce the numerical dissipation and improve the resolution of the fine-scale structures in a long-time simulation of the hyperbolic conservation laws. The new spatial solver combines the even and odd order (even order plus one) WENO finite difference schemes together. The novel WENO-Za scheme adapts the ideal weights, instead of the nonlinear weights, between the even and odd order based on a nonlinear transition function, which is a function of the odd order global smoothness indicator and a user-adjustable parameter. The dissipation and dispersion behaviors of the WENO-Za scheme is illustrated by the approximate dispersion relation technique. For the Euler equations, the WPR procedure is performed on each positive and negative split flux variable in the characteristic space. The performance of the WENO-Za scheme, in terms of resolution, essentially non-oscillatory shock-capturing, and efficiency, are evaluated by solving several benchmark shock-tube problems, such as the extended shock-entropy interaction problem, the extended shock-density interaction problem, the two blast-waves interaction problem, the Riemann problem, and the forward-facing step problem. The results show that the WENO-Za scheme can 1) retain the fine-scale structures in the smooth regions better due to the reduction of numerical dissipation of the even order scheme in exchange for a slightly larger dispersive error in a long-time simulation and 2) capture localized strong gradients and shocks in an essentially non-oscillatory manner due to the strong sub-stencil biasing in the odd order scheme. The space-time evolutions of the transition functions demonstrate the robust adaptive nature of the WENO-Z4a5 scheme in the regions of shock, contact discontinuity, and rarefaction waves. • The new spatial solver combines the even- and odd- orders WENO schemes together (WENO-Za) with the adaptive ideal weights. • The adaptivity is based on a transition function of the odd-order global smoothness indicator. • The WENO-Za scheme's substantial reduction of numerical dissipation is verified by the ADR analysis. • It maintains the fine-scale structures in long time simulation and captures strong shocks in an ENO manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the individual and interactive effects of influent substrate concentration ( TN inf ), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and upflow velocity ( V up ) on the performance of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) in a granule-based upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor were investigated by employing response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design. The purpose of this work was to identify the optimal combination of TN inf , HRT and V up with respect to the nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) and nitrogen removal rate (NRR). The reduced cubic models developed for the responses indicated that the optimal conditions corresponded to a TN inf content of 644–728 mg N L −1 , an HRT of 0.90–1.25 h, and a V up of 0.60–1.79 m h −1 . The results of confirmation trials were similar to the predictions of the developed models. These results provide useful information for improving the nitrogen removal performance of the anammox process in a UASB reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance and hydrodynamic features of a staged up-flow ANAMMOX (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) sludge bed (SUASB) reactor was evaluated. When the reactor was at steady-state conditions, the nitrogen loading rate (NLR) and nitrogen removal rate (NRR) were 5.63 and 4.82 kg N m-3 d-1, respectively. The reactor could withstand a 1.5-fold substrate or hydraulic shock. The modified Stover-Kincannon model was used for the kinetic analysis, and the saturation value (KB) and maximum total substrate utilization rate (Umax) were 14.5 and 14.8 kg N m-3 d-1, respectively. Moreover, the C(t)-Θ curve showed the existence of dead zones in the SUASB at the hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 3 and 12 h, and the flow pattern performance of the SUASB fell between those of a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a plug flow reactor (PFR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A novel CNin–PNsub strategy was successfully applied to start up the PN process. [•] Stable nitritation was maintained by combined the control of DO and FA/FNA. [•] A high ammonium concentration was realized in the influent (1232mgNL−1). [•] An appropriate effluent ratio of 1.15±0.06 was achieved. [•] The modified Stover-Kincannon model well simulated the kinetics of the PN process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The ANAMMOX performances of multi- and single-fed UASBs were compared. [•] The kinetic characteristics of multi- and single-fed UASBs were analyzed. [•] The stability of the two UASBs was assessed. [•] The properties of the ANAMMOX granules in the two UASBs were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A central composite design (CCD) was applied. [•] The factors influencing the -Neff/ -Neff ratio and NAR were investigated. [•] Optimal conditions regarding DO, Alk/ -N and -Ninf were determined. [•] The validity of the response surface models was confirmed in verification trials. [•] Different types of alkali were compared for use in the PN process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The influence of the substrate ratio on the nitrogen removal performance of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) process was evaluated using an upflow biofilter fed with different ratios of substrates. The influent substrate ratio of nitrite-to-ammonium (R IS) was shown to be a key factor in the Anammox process, and the optimal R IS level was 1.2. When the influent ammonium or nitrite level was relatively high, residual substrate over-consumption was observed. The free ammonia was not significantly inhibitory to the Anammox biomass at a concentration of 17±2mgNL−1; however, a high level of residual nitrite reduced the activity of Anammox bacteria. The activity that was depressed by nitrite inhibition was revived within 5 days following the reduction of the R IS. In this study, the Haldane, Edwards and Aiba models, which were used to simulate nitrite inhibition of the Anammox process, were workable, and the parameters for these models were determined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]