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During the drying and processing of raisins, the presence of foreign matter such as fruit stems, branches, stones, and plastics is a common issue. To address this, we propose an enhanced real-time detection approach leveraging an improved YOLOv8 model. This novel method integrates the multi-head self-attention mechanism (MHSA) from BoTNet into YOLOv8's backbone. In the model's neck layer, selected C2f modules have been strategically replaced with RFAConv modules. The model also adopts an EIoU loss function in place of the original CIoU. Our experiments reveal that the refined YOLOv8 boasts a precision of 94.5%, a recall rate of 89.9%, and an F1-score of 0.921, with a mAP reaching 96.2% at the 0.5 IoU threshold and 81.5% across the 0.5–0.95 IoU range. For this model, comprising 13,177,692 parameters, the average time required for detecting each image on a GPU is 7.8 milliseconds. In contrast to several prevalent models of today, our enhanced model excels in mAP0.5 and demonstrates superiority in F1-score, parameter economy, computational efficiency, and speed. This study conclusively validates the capability of our improved YOLOv8 model to execute real-time foreign object detection on raisin production lines with high efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The efficacy and safety of dabigatran etexilate for Chinese patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) has not been well established. Methods: CHOICE-CVT was an exploratory, single-center, randomized, open-label study in the National Center for Neurological Disorders involving Chinese patients with CVT aged 18 to 80 years who were randomly assigned (1:1) to either dabigatran etexilate or warfarin. Oral anticoagulants were initiated after 10–15 days of LMWH. The primary efficacy and safety endpoints included the number of patients with recurrent CVT and/or deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and major clinical bleeding within 180 days. Secondary efficacy endpoints included venous recanalization and change in papilledema at day 180. Secondary safety outcomes comprised death, clinical nonmajor bleeding, and any bleeding. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov under NCT03930940. Results: Between October 2017 and February 2023, a total of 89 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either dabigatran etexilate (n = 44) or warfarin (n = 45). At day 180, the dabigatran etexilate group showed a statistically nonsignificant but likely clinically significant number of patients with recurrent CVT and/or DVT (8 (18.2%; 95% CI, 6.3–30.0) vs 3 (6.7%; 95% CI, 0.0–14.2), p = 0.099, with a power (1-β) of 38.401%) compared with the warfarin group. The dabigatran etexilate group showed a comparable number of patients with clinical major bleeding (0 (0) vs 0 (0) p = 1.000), and clinical nonmajor bleeding (1 (2.3%; 95% CI, 0.0–6.9) vs 1 (2.2%; 95% CI, 0.0–6.7)) but demonstrated a lower risk of any bleeding (1 (2.3%; 95% CI, 0.0–6.9) vs 9 (20.0%; 95% CI, 7.8–32.2)) compared with the warfarin group. Most patients in both groups achieved venous recanalization according to the Modified Qureshi scale (27 (75%; 95% CI, 60.1–89.9) in the dabigatran etexilate group vs 34 (82.9%; 95% CI, 70.9–95.0) in the warfarin group) and exhibited improvement in papilledema as per the Frisén classification (35 (97.2%; 95% CI, 91.6–100.0) in the dabigatran etexilate group vs 37 (88.1%, 95% CI, 77.9–98.3) in the warfarin group). Conclusions: These findings regarding efficacy and safety support the consideration of dabigatran etexilate therapy as a viable treatment option for Chinese patients with CVT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the leather tanning process, chromium (Cr) can interact with different macromolecular organics to generate mixed ligand complexes. The removal of organochromium complexes is one of the main difficulties in the treatment of tannery wastewater. In this study, a gelatin-gallic ac-id-Cr(III) (G-GA-Cr) mixed ligand complex was used to examine the effects of ultrasonic on chromium destabilization and removal from the dissolved complexes. To investigate organic destruction and chromium liberation, alkali precipitation or chelating precipitation assisted with ultrasound were conducted, respectively. The findings demonstrate that ultrasonic-assisted alkali precipitation and chelating precipitation, respectively, removed over 50% and 93% of Cr from the complexes. According to the data, ultrasonication weakened the bonds that bound macromolecular ligands together, and depolymerization took place to the point where Cr could interact directly with hydroxide ions or chelating agents. In addition, by applying ultrasonic-assisted chelating precipitation, the chromium concentration could meet the discharge standard and the amount of precipitation was also noticeably decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the initiation time of anticoagulation after endovascular treatment (EVT) and the outcomes in atrial fibrillation (AF)-related acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Methods: In this prospective registry study, from March 2013 to June 2022, patients with anterior circulation territories AF-related AIS who underwent EVT within 24 h were included. The primary outcome was favorable [modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0–1) at ninety days and the secondary outcome was hemorrhage events after anticoagulants. Factors affecting the outcomes were pooled into multivariate regression and ROC curve analysis. Results: Of 234 eligible patients, there were 63 (26.9%) patients achieved a favorable outcome. The symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), ICH, and systemic hemorrhage events after anticoagulants occurred in 8 (3.4%), 28 (12.0%), and 39 (16.7%) patients, severally. A longer EVT to anticoagulation time (p = 0.033) was associated with an unfavorable outcome (mRS 3–6). An earlier EVT to anticoagulation time was the independent risk factor of sICH (p = 0.043), ICH (p = 0.005), and systemic hemorrhage (p = 0.005). There was no significant difference in recurrent AIS/ transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mortality among patients who started anticoagulation at ≤ 4 days, ≥ 15 days, or 4 to 15 days. The optimum cut-off for initiating anticoagulants to predict a favorable outcome and hemorrhage events was 4.5 days and 3.5 days after EVT, respectively. Conclusions: In AF-related AIS, the time of EVT to anticoagulation is an independent factor of the functional outcome and hemorrhage events after anticoagulation. The optimal initiate time of anticoagulant after EVT is 4.5 days. ClinicalTrialRegister: NCT03754738. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To investigate the predicted factors influencing the outcomes in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients who received tirofiban after endovascular treatment (EVT) and the optimal administration of tirofiban. Methods: In this retrospective study, AIS patients who received EVT followed by tirofiban between January 2017 and October 2021 were enrolled. The dose and duration of tirofiban were adjusted by trained clinicians according to the patient's clinical status. A reduction of at least four points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) after tirofiban compared with that before tirofiban was defined as an effective response. A modified ranking scale (mRS) of 0–2 was defined as a favorable outcome at a 90‐day follow‐up. Results: A total of 260 consecutive patients were enrolled, and 36.5% of patients achieved a favorable outcome. The modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) 2b‐3 occurred in 93.5% of patients. Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) occurred in 6.2% of patients, and the mortality at 90‐day follow‐up was 16.9%. Duration of tirofiban >24 h (adjusted OR: 2.545; 95% CI: 1.008–6.423; p = 0.048) and effective response to tirofiban (adjusted OR: 25.562; 95% CI: 9.794–66.715; p < 0.001) were related to the favorable outcome (mRS 0–2). Higher NIHSS (adjusted OR: 0.855; 95% CI: 0.809–0.904; p < 0.001) and glucose level on admission (adjusted OR: 0.843; 95% CI: 0.731–0.971; p = 0.018) were predictive for the unfavorable outcome (mRS 3–6). Conclusions: An effective response to tirofiban is an independent factor in predicting the long‐term efficacy outcome, and extending the duration of tirofiban is beneficial for neurological improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C−N bond formation takes on a critical significance in reactions of organic synthesis, material production and pharmaceutical manufactory. Chan‐Lam has proposed a useful methodology to furnish secondary arylamides under mild conditions. However, when chiral sulfinamides serve as the coupling precursors, the Cu‐catalyzed coupling reaction is found with low efficacy. Complex side‐products are generated under classic conditions. Moreover, it led to the racemization of the coupling product. In this study, an optimized Ni‐catalyzed Chan‐Lam type coupling conditions were proposed, which resulted in clean conversion from chiral sulfinamides and arylboronic acids to offer N‐aryl sulfinamides efficiently and enantioretentively. The trans‐N1,N2‐dimethylcyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine was proven as the most efficient ligand. Under the optimized conditions, a series of chiral N‐aryl sulfinamides was prepared with high chemical yield without racemization. Furthermore, a plausible and novel mechanism was proposed. Interestingly, the method could efficiently furnish a wide variety of C−X bonds by coupling arylboronic acids with different nucleophiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement solidification was a widely used method to broaden the resource utilization of dredged sludge. However, the organic matter in sludge limit the application of cement solidification. The fulic acid (FA) was used to simulate the natural organic matter in sludge. With the increase in FA content, the sludge gradually changed from low-liquid-limit clay to high-liquid-limit clay. The unconfined compression test showed that the strength of cement-solidified dredged sludge (CDS) decreased with FA content. The influence mechanism of the FA on cement solidification was revealed by a water content test, a hydration heat test, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. FA hindered the conversion of pore water to combined water and reduced the hydration heat inside CDS. The FA in sludge weakened the internal bond within CDS by hindering the development of C-S-H gel from spheroidal to flake. At the same time, the final amount of hydrates such as C-S-H, C-A-H and AFt also decreased in the CDS containing FA. The weakening mechanism of FA on the strength of CDS can be attributed to three aspects: (1) FA adsorbed on the surface of cement minerals and hindered the contact between cement minerals and pore water; (2) acidic FA reduced the pH of the pore liquid in CDS; (3) the carboxyl and hydroxyl functional groups of FA adsorbed calcium ions in pore liquid through ion coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical solidification based on cement is one of the most widely used methods to treat marine dredged silt (DS) with very poor engineering properties. This study investigated the strength and microstructure of cement-solidified salt-rich dredged silt (CSDS) modified by nanoparticles. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test showed that the UCS of CSDS containing 9% NaCl was obviously lower than that without NaCl. Furthermore, the detrimental effect of chloride salt on the UCS increased with its content significantly. The nano-SiO2 (NS) used as cement additives can significantly improve the UCS of CSDS and adding 8% NS can reduce cement usage by at least 40%. Compared with NS, the nano-MgO (NM) mainly improved the early UCS of CSDS within 7 days. The needle-like Friedel's salt (the reaction product of chloridion with cement) and lamellar brucite (expansive mineral) were clearly detected by the X-ray diffraction test. The calcium silicate hydrate and magnesium silicate hydrate mainly contributed to construct the skeleton, which was confirmed by the scanning electron microscopy images. The NS and NM with high reactivity can be used as effective cement additives to overcome the negative effect of chloride salt, so as to increase the strength of CSDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of sludge with different consistency limits solidified by cement was investigated. The results showed that under the condition of constant initial water content, a higher liquid index of soil resulted in higher UCS. A novel strength-evaluation model based on the ratio of the liquid index to the cement content was developed, and the prediction deviation of the model was within 30%. The influence mechanism of the consistency limit of sludge on the cement solidification was revealed by scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, X-ray diffractometer and thermogravimetric analysis. For the cement-solidified dredged sludge (CDS) with a lower liquid index, a large amount of hydrate was interlaced with each other and wrapped soil particles, promoting the formation of a dense structure. For the CDS with a higher liquid index, hydrates such as C-S-H and ettringite challenged each other to play the role of "cementing particles" and "filling pores", resulting in the formation of the porous structure. The mineralogical analyses confirmed that more C-S-H gels and ettringites were generated in the CDS with a lower liquid index, but less calcite was formed due to its denser structure. In engineering applications, reducing the liquid index by adjusting the consistency limit can improve the strength performance of CDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the electrochemical treatment of wastewater polluted by recalcitrant organics and containing chlorides was shown to be significantly improved adopting proper operative conditions such as suitable anodes and cathodes and low current density. In particular, the use of suitable cathodes such as carbon felt or silver could increase the removal of TOC and reduce the formation of chlorinated by‐products. In this study, attention was focused on the utilization of carbon felt cathodes with the main aim to evaluate the effect of air pressure on the process using phenol as model organic pollutant. It was shown that, in the presence of carbon felt cathode, the use of pressurized air allows both to increase the removal of TOC and to reduce the formation of chlorate. Moreover, the effect of the nature of the anode and of the presence of FeSO4, in order to study the involvement of electro‐Fenton process, was evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement-stabilized dredged sediment (CDS) when used as a new road construction material cannot only solve the problem of abandoned sediment disposal, but also effectively save natural soil resources. This study aimed to evaluate the strength and permeability of CDS and establish corresponding prediction models from the perspective of a stabilization mechanism. The soil–water composition and pore size distribution were investigated by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The results demonstrated that more liquid pore water inside the CDS specimen transformed into combined water with cement hydration. The amount of combined water, which essentially characterized the hydration process of cement, presented a linear relationship with log (t). The cementation and filling action of hydrates resulted in the transformation of large pores into smaller ones, hence the optimal pore size decreased with an increasing curing period and cement content. The stress–strain curves and hydraulic conductivity were determined based on unconfined compression and flexible wall penetration tests, respectively. The unconfined compressive strength increased exponentially with the amount of combined water, and the functional correlations of hydraulic conductivity and micropore parameters were established. The reliability of the NMR technique as a new method to study the microscopic evolution mechanism of the strength and permeability of CDS was further verified by scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last years, an increasing attention has been devoted to the utilization of anodic oxidation (AO) technologies for the treatment of wastewater polluted by recalcitrant organics. Recently, Ti4O7 was proposed as a promising anode for AO for the treatment of various organics. Here the potential utilization of commercial Ti4O7 anodes has been evaluated considering the electrochemical treatment of synthetic wastewater contaminated by three very different organic molecules (namely, oxalic acid, phenol and Acid Orange 7), all characterized by a very high resistance to AO. The performances of Ti4O7 were compared with that of two largely investigated anodes: Boron‐doped diamond (BDD), which is probably the most effective electrode for AO, and an Ir‐based anode which presents a relatively low cost. Moreover, the effect of various operative conditions (current density, mixing rate and initial concentration of the organic) was evaluated by both experimental studies and the adoption of a theoretical model previously developed for BDD anodes. It was shown that the performances of the process can be improved by a proper selection of operative conditions. Moreover, it was found that the proposed model can be effectively used to predict the effect of operative parameters at Ti4O7 anodes, thus helping the process optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the continuing effort in investigating the preventive therapies for stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP), which is closely associated with unfavorable outcomes, conclusively effective therapy for the prevention of SAP is still lacking. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) has been proven to improve the survival in the sepsis model and inflammatory responses have been indicated as important mechanisms involved in the multi-organ protection effect of RIC. This study aimed to assess the safety and the preliminary efficacy of RIC in the prevention of SAP in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods: We performed a proof-of-concept, pilot open-label randomized controlled trial. Eligible patients (age > 18 years) within 48 h after stroke onset between March 2019 and October 2019 with acute ischemic stroke were randomly allocated (1:1) to the RIC group and the control group. All participants received standard medical therapy. Patients in the RIC group underwent RIC twice daily for 6 consecutive days. The safety outcome included any adverse events associated with RIC procedures. The efficacy outcome included the incidence of SAP, changes of immunological profiles including mHLA-DR, TLR-2, and TLR-4 as well as other plasma parameters from routine blood tests. Results: In total, 46 patients aged 63.1 ± 12.5 years, were recruited (23 in each group). Overall, 19 patients in the RIC group and 22 patients in the control group completed this study. No severe adverse event was attributed to RIC procedures. The incidence of SAP was lower in the remote ischemic conditioning group (2 patients [10.5%]) than that in the control group (6 patients [27.3%]), but no significant difference was detected in both univariate and multivariate analysis (p = 0.249 and adjusted p = 0.666). No significance has been found in this pilot trial in the level of immunological profiles HLA-DR, TLR4 and TLR2 expressed on monocytes as well as blood parameters tested through routine blood tests between the two groups (p > 0.05). The IL-6 and IL-1β levels at day 5 after admission in the RIC group were lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Interpretation: This proof-of-concept pilot randomized controlled trial was to investigate RIC as a prevention method for SAP. Remote ischemic conditioning is safe in the prevention of SAP in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The preventive effect of RIC on SAP should be further validated in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapidly growing body of evidence supports that neuroinflammation plays a major role in epileptogenesis and disease progression. The capacity to identify pathological neuroinflammation in individuals with epilepsy is a crucial step on the timing of anti-inflammatory intervention and patient selection, which will be challenging aspects in future clinical studies. The discovery of noninvasive biomarkers that are accessible in the blood or molecular neuroimaging would facilitate clinical translation of experimental findings into humans. These innovative and noninvasive approaches have the advantage of monitoring the dynamic changes of neuroinflammation in epilepsy. Here, we will review the available evidence for the measurement of neuroinflammation in patients with epilepsy using noninvasive techniques and critically analyze the major scientific challenges of noninvasive methods. Finally, we propose the potential for use in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal energy has many advantages, such as being renewable, clean, widely distributed, and without time and weather limitations. Hydraulic fracturing is usually needed for the exploitation of HDR geothermal energy. It has many hidden faults in the reservoir/caprock sequences. Injecting fluid into underground formations during hydraulic fracturing often induces fault slip and leads to earthquakes. Therefore, to well understand the induced fault slip and earthquakes is important for the applications and development of HDR geothermal exploitation. In this study, we investigated the hazardous injection area of the induced earthquakes during hydraulic fracturing. The study was based on a hydraulic fracturing test in Qiabuqia geothermal field in China. According to the field, a fault-surrounding rock-fracturing region system was developed to study the influences of fluid injection on the stability of the specific fault. A total of 60 hydraulic fracturing regions and 180 numerical experiments were designed. The results revealed that the hazardous injection regions that threaten the fault's stability were near to the fault and concentrated on the following four areas: (a) above the top of the fault in underlying strata; (b) above the top of the hanging wall of the fault in underlying strata; (c) near to the fault planes in both footwall and hanging wall; (d) at the bottom of the footwall of the fault in underlying strata. The hazardous injection area can be controlled effectively by adjusting the injection pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot dry rock (HDR) geothermal energy has become promising resources for relieving the energy crisis and global warming. The exploitation of HDR geothermal energy usually needs an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) with artificial fracture networks by hydraulic fracturing. Fault reactivation and seismicity induced by hydraulic fracturing raise a great challenge. In this paper, we investigated the characteristics of fault slip and seismicity by numerical simulation. The study was based on a hydraulic fracturing project in the geothermal field of Yishu fault zone in China. It revealed that fluid injection during hydraulic fracturing can cause the faults that exist beyond the fluid-pressurized region to slip and can even induce large seismic event. It was easier to cause felt earthquakes when hydraulic fracturing was carried out in different layers simultaneously. We also examined the effects of the location, permeability, and area of the fracturing region on fault slip and magnitude of the resulting events. The results of the study can provide some useful references for establishing HDR EGS in Yishu fault zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humic-like substances are essential components of soluble organic matter in tannery wastewater. However, the tannery process can promote the abiotic humification in wastewater. Therefore, it is of great significance to clarify the pathway and degree of abiotic humification and the properties of the as-derived humic acid-like (HAL) complex polymers in the tannery process in order to control the refractory organic compounds. In the present study, considering the catechol-Maillard system and commercial humic acid (HA) as control, the polyphenol-Maillard humification in the tannery process was simulated under the catalysis of MnO2. Moreover, physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the separated fractions of HAL further. As a result, it was found that the catechol-Maillard system with small molecule organic matter as precursor had higher humification degree. Furthermore, the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectrum of humic acid-like 0 (HAL0) derived from it was different from those of humic acid-like 1 and 2 (HAL1 and HAL2) of polyphenol-Maillard system, indicating the differences of polymer structure between them. In the polyphenol-Maillard system, tannin was the skeleton of polymerization or polycondensation reaction, and the high content of N and the H/C value of HAL2 indicated that in adding to amino acids, proteins promoted the humification, forming industry-specific HAL polymers with a high degree of aliphatic nature. Therefore, it can be concluded that controlling the raw materials in the tannery process (especially tannins), in order to reduce the occurrence of abiotic humification may be the key to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It might be of practical significance to recover different metals from the already complicated waste spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) stream by simplified recycling processes. This study is, therefore, focused on the exploration of a simplified process for the simultaneous recovery of different metals from waste cathode materials of mixed types of spent LIBs. It is discovered that the leaching agent phosphoric acid demonstrates natural repulsion for Fe, while valuable metals such as Ni, Co, Mn, and Li can be completely dissolved under optimized leaching conditions, indicating a coupling reaction of selective leaching and precipitating for valuable metals and iron, respectively. Characterization results indicate valuable metal-enriched solution and pure FePO4 in leaching solution and residue, respectively. Kinetics and dynamics studies suggest that the leaching of valuable metals is co-controlled by chemical reaction and internal diffusion, accompanying a spontaneous formation of FePO4. Then, new cathode materials LiFePO4 and LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 with sound electrochemical performances can be re-fabricated from leaching residues and lixivium, respectively, and phosphoric acid can be regenerated during the co-precipitating of valuable metals. This entire recycling process can be a highly selective, closed-loop and simplified alternative for recycling different metals from the current most complicated waste LIB stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer nanocomposites have been widely used in the preparation of coating agents in the leather industry. Considering the complex bio-effect and ecological risk of nanomaterial, research on the biodegradability and biocompatibility of polyacrylate/metal nanocomposites in activated sludge system is of specific significance. We investigated the change of the bacterial community and diversity of activated sludge fed with polyacrylate/ZnO nanocomposites in both low (500 mg COD /L) and high (1000 mg COD/L) doses. COD removal, dehydrogenase activity, and total protein of activated sludge system were monitored in all treatments over 30 days. The results demonstrated that the exposure to both polyacrylate/ ZnO nanocomposite and polyacrylate decreased the dehydrogenase activity at early stage comparing to the control, but had no significant influence on COD removal. Overall, the bacterial communities in activated sludge were resistant to polyacrylate/ZnO nanocomposites, and had higher levels of metabolic activity, protein accumulation and bioavailability when exposed to these chemicals comparing to the control especially at later stages of incubation (15–30 days), which indicated that these polyacrylate/ZnO nanocomposites of certain amount were biocompatible to activated sludge system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a new gas diffusion electrode (GDE) of carbon nanotube/graphitic carbon nitride (CNT/g-C3N4) was prepared, which enables the substantially improved production of H2O2 (up to 1083.54 mg L−1) compared to generation without g-C3N4 (400 mg L−1). Characterized by TEM, XRD and XPS, the synthesized g-C3N4 was proved to be a thin layer sheet with low defects. Important cathode manufacturing parameters including the mass ratio of CNTs to g-C3N4 were optimized, and the dependence of H2O2 generation on pH, current density, aeration rate and performance stability were investigated. Further explored by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis, the presence of g-C3N4 was found to accelerate the electron transfer rate, benefit the oxygen surface reaction, which contributed to the enhanced performance for H2O2 production. Finally, such a CNT/g-C3N4 cathode demonstrated effectiveness for the degradation of alizarin yellow R (AYR) by electro-Fenton (EF), photo-Fenton (PF) and photoelectron-Fenton (PEF) processes. AYR was degraded completely, and 94.8% of the organic carbon was removed, which is more than 5 times the amount removed using PF degradation only. And during the PEF degradation process of AYR, electro- and photocatalysis support and optimize each other, which produces a substantial synergistic effect, proving great potential for practical application in organic wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new graphite felt cathode loaded with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was developed. The resulting electrode showed a very high generation rate of H2O2 (10.73 mg h−1 cm−2) at a relatively low electric energy consumption (6.90 kW h kg−1). These features improved the in situ production of H2O2 by about 20 folds when an optimized ratio of CNTs to carbon black mass (3 : 2) was used. Several manufacturing parameters like the ratio and loads of CNTs were optimized. Also, factors influencing the electro-generated H2O2, such as pH and current density, were investigated. Examination of H2O2 electro-generation mechanisms indicated that some cathode features would accelerate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and enhance the electrochemical behavior during H2O2 production. The removal rate of diclofenac by electro-Fenton (EF) using a CNT loaded cathode reached over 99% within 30 min. The total organic carbon (TOC) removal of diclofenac approached 91.71% at 180 min, which was over 4 folds higher than that obtained with the unloaded electrode (19.05%). LC-MS analyses allowed building a possible mechanism and a degradation pathway of diclofenac. In terms of stability, the CNT loaded electrode revealed excellent stability as the removal of TOC was maintained at 87.4% of the original response after ten runs. Such CNT loaded cathodes with efficient and significantly enhanced H2O2 production offer efficient and low energy consumption degradation of organic pollutants by EF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application or disposal of char derived from tannery sludge is directly influenced by the mobility and bioavailability of Cr during pyrolysis process. This study focused on the changes of Cr speciation and organic matter in tannery sludge during low-temperature pyrolysis (100-400 °C) to evaluate the toxicity of char in terms of the leaching possibility of Cr. The results showed that (1) lower char yield and more porous structure were observed after pyrolysis. (2) Higher pyrolysis temperature increased Cr content in the char; however, Cr in this case was converted into the residual fraction which minimized its bioavailability therefore lowers its potential risk to the environment. (3) Organic matters in the acid and alkali leachates were mainly humic acid-like substance, and condensed organic matter might appear at 200 °C and then destruct. (4) Despite the comparatively high content of Cr in the char, the leaching toxicity of char was within the security range according to the national standard of China. The Cr content in the acid and alkali leachates decreased to the range of 16.5-35.3 and 0.2-6.8 mg/L, respectively. It was suggested that the potential toxicity of tannery sludge from Cr could be reduced before utilization or disposal by pyrolysis, especially under 400 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercapacitors fill the gap between batteries and conventional solid state and electrolytic capacitors. Polypyrrole (PPy) is a very important electrode material for supercapacitors. However, the repeated volume changes usually damage PPy structure and result in PPy poor stability during a long-term charging/discharging process. PPy/carbon material composites were prepared to overcome the defects of pure PPy electrodes, and significant enhancement for the specific capacitance, charging/discharging rate and electrodes stability was demonstrated thereafter. The development of composite electrodes based on PPy and carbon materials is reviewed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Dicrocoelium dendriticum; food-borne parasitosis; hepatobiliary duct EN Dicrocoelium dendriticum food-borne parasitosis hepatobiliary duct 1 2 2 01/24/22 20220101 NES 220101 In September 2019, a 55-year-old man presented to the Gastroenterology Department with poor appetite and jaundice for 2 months. Dancing worm is seen in the abdominal drainage tube Feng Miao and Yajuan Shen identified the diagnosis and tailored the treatment for the patient. [Extracted from the article]

Adsorptive studies were carried out on four synthetic vinyl polymer tanning agents removal from aqueous phase onto wastewater activated sludge (AS). Batch experiments investigated the effects of contact time, dosage of adsorbate, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), coexisted cations, and physical property of sludge flocs on the four vinyl polymers removal by AS to evaluate the kinetics, isotherms, and mechanisms. Almost 96% of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride-acrylic-acrylamide (PDM-AA-AM), 90% of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride-acrylic (PDM-AA), 82% of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride-acrylic-acrylamide-hydroxyethyl acrylate (PDM-AA-AM-HEA), and 56% of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDM) were removed from aqueous solutions. The kinetics process of adsorption can be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and the adsorption isotherms fitted to the Langmuir model very well. The adsorption capacity increases with the increase in initial vinyl polymers concentration. Coexisted cations (Ca2+, Na+) in aqueous solution restrained vinyl polymers adsorption on AS. The presence of Cr3+ions slightly improved the PDM-AA, PDM-AA-AM, and PDM-AA-AM-HEA removal, whereas retarded the PDM removal in some extent. AS are more effective than inactivated sludge in the removal of vinyl polymers. All the four vinyl polymers showed a decrease in the degree of removal when EPS was partial extracted from the biomass. The adsorption mechanisms of AS for vinyl polymers included hydrophobic interaction, surface binding, and electrostatic force. Surface binding may play a major role in PDM-AA, PDM-AA-AM, and PDM-AA-AM-HEA adsorption, while electrostatic interaction may play a major role in PDM removal. This study provided strong evidence that AS can be employed for an effective solution for vinyl polymers syntans removal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tannery sludge contained plenty of organic matter, and the organic substance stability had direct impact on its derived chars' utilization. In this paper, the stabilization of tannery sludge and the variation of humic acid-like (HAL) extracted by different methods were investigated in a magnetic stirring reactor under low temperature pyrolysis of 100-400 °C. Results showed that the aromatic structure of pyrolysis chars increased with the increase of temperature and time. The char contained highly aromatic structure and relatively small dissolved organic matters (DOM) at 300 °C. The similar behaviors appeared in two HAL series by different extraction methods. The N content, H/C value, and aliphatic structures of HAL decreased with the increase of pyrolysis temperature, while the C/N value and aromatic structures increased with the rise of pyrolysis temperature. The composition and functional groups of HAL were similar with the purchased humic acid (HA). The fluorescence spectra revealed that two main peaks were found at Ex/Em = 239/363-368 nm and 283/359-368 nm in each HAL series from raw and 100 °C pyrolysis tannery sludge, representing a protein-like matter. The new peak appeared at Ex/Em = 263-283/388 nm in each HAL series from 200 °C pyrolysis tannery sludge-represented humic acid-like matter. The fluorescence intensity increased strongly compared to the other two peak intensity. Therefore, the humification of organic matter was increased by pyrolyzing. Notably, the HAL from 200 °C pyrolysis tannery sludge contained simple molecular structure, and the polycondensation increased but with a relative lower humification degree compared to soil HAL and purchased HA. Therefore, the sludge needs further oxidation. The humic substance was negligible by direct extraction when the temperature was 300 and 400 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexavalent chromium in aqueous environment may result in severe environmental and public health problems. In this study, short-chain polyaniline/palygorskite composites (PANI/PA) were prepared and developed to remove aqueous Cr(VI). Characterized results showed that short-chain polyaniline was successfully incorporated on the surface of PA. The maximum Cr(VI) adsorption amount was found to be 11.54, 14.34, and 16.22 mg/g at 15, 25, and 35°C, respectively, and polyaniline on the adsorbent surface may account for the enhanced Cr(VI) adsorption. Cr(VI) adsorption was highly dependent on both solution pH and ionic strength, which indicates that electrostatic force and anion exchange may account for the increased Cr(VI) adsorption onto PANI/PA. Cr(VI) saturated PANI/PA can be easily desorbed in alkaline solution and regenerated adsorbents still possess high adsorption amount for aqueous Cr(VI). The current study shows that PANI/PA can be used as an effective and recyclable adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) in water and wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Polyaniline/multiwalled carbon nanotube (PANI-MWCNT) was prepared by bounding polyaniline on the surface of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube. The structure and surface properties of synthesized composites were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and its adsorption capability for aqueous Cr(VI) was also studied. Characterized results showed that polyaniline was successfully anchored on the surface of MWCNT. From adsorption experiments the maximum adsorption amount of Cr(VI) onto PANI-MWCNTs was 28.25, 31.75 and 36.76 mg·g at 15, 25 and 35 °C. Thermodynamic parameters showed that the Cr(VI) adsorption process was endothermic, spontaneous and feasible. Cr(VI) adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Cr(VI) adsorption on the adsorbent decreases with increasing solution pH. The presence of anions in solution almost has no effect on Cr(VI) adsorption, indicating good selectivity. XPS analysis confirms that electrostatic interaction, reduction and chelation contribute to enhanced Cr(VI) removal. Cr(VI) loaded absorbent can be readily desorbed in 0.1 mol·L of NaOH solution, and the desorption rate was 84.12%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European 'Community Bureau of Reference' (BCR) sequential extraction procedure, diffusive gradient in thin-films technique (DGT), and physiologically based extraction test were applied to assess metal bioavailability in sediments of Lake Taihu ( n = 13). Findings from the three methods showed that Cd was a significant problem in the western lake whereas Cu, Zn, and Ni pollution was most severe in the northern lake. Results from the sequential extraction revealed that more than 50 % of the Cu and Zn were highly mobile and defined within the extractable fraction (AS1 + FM2 + OS3) in the majority of the sediments, in contrast extractable fractions of Ni and Cd were lower than 50 % in most of the sampling sites. Average Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cd bioaccessibilities were <50 % in the gastric phase. Zn and Cd bioaccessibility in the intestinal phase was ∼50 % lower than the gastric phase while bioaccessibilities of Cu and Ni were 47-57 % greater than the gastric phase. Linear regression analysis between DGT and BCR measurements indicated that the extractable fractions (AS1 + FM2 + OS3) in the reducing environment were the main source of DGT uptake, suggesting that DGT is a good in situ evaluation tool for metal bioavailability in sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the removal potential of vinyl polymer/ZnO nanocomposite (PDM/ZnO) by activated sludge (AS) biomass was investigated. PDM/ZnO was effectively removed by AS adsorption (90.3% of total PDM/ZnO removed). The effects of contact time, temperature, pH of the solution, PDM/ZnO production method, initial adsorbate concentration, and properties of the adsorbent were studied. The experimental results are fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The adsorption kinetics closely followed the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔH°, ΔS°, ΔG°) indicate that the adsorption of PDM/ZnO onto AS was feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic. The effects of PDM/ZnO production method and pH value both indicate that electrostatic force may main mechanism in PDM/ZnO adsorption process. The decrease in the adsorption capacity of inactivated sludge suggests that the increase of adsorbent surface area also plays a significant role in the removal process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The potential carbon sequestration ability of biochar was investigated. The results indicated the amendment of biochar to soil could reduce the CO2 emission and increase the organic matter of soil effectively. The influence extent enhanced as the increase of biochar and the influence extent on soil with lower organic matter content is much obvious than soil with higher organic matter content. After incubated 7 months, soil CO2 emission was suppressed significantly by the amendment of biochar. The CO2 release amount in soils with 8% biochar decreased 29%∼39% compared with control. Organic matter content in soils with 8% biochar increased 41%∼75%. In addition, biochar promoted the formation of soil aggregates. Mean weight diameter of micro-aggregates in soils with biochar increased obviously compared with the control, indicating that stability of soil aggregates improved as the increase of biochar. The research demonstrated that biochar had potential ability on soil carbon sequestration, which was realized by enhance organic matter content, suppressing CO2 release and improving micro-structure characteristic of soil. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 33: 941-946, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective arsenic removal from highly laden industrial wastewater is an important but challenging task. Here, a combined coprecipitation/nano-adsorption process, with ferric chloride and calcium chloride as coprecipitation agents and polymer-based nanocomposite as selective adsorbent, has been validated for arsenic removal from tungsten-smelting wastewater. On the basis of operating optimization, a binary FeCl (520 mg/L)-CaCl (300 mg/L) coprecipitation agent could remove more than 93 % arsenic from the wastewater. The resulting precipitate has proved environmental safety based on leaching toxicity test. Fixed-bed column packed with zirconium or ferric-oxide-loaded nanocomposite was employed for further elimination of arsenic in coprecipitated effluent, resulting in a significant decrease of arsenic (from 0.96 to less than 0.5 mg/L). The working capacity of zirconium-loaded nanocomposite was 220 bed volumes per run, much higher than that of ferric-loaded nanocomposite (40 bed volumes per run). The exhausted zirconium-loaded nanocomposite could be efficiently in situ regenerated with a binary NaOH-NaCl solution for reuse without any significant capacity loss. The results validated the combinational coprecipitation/nano-adsorption process to be a potential alternative for effective arsenic removal from highly laden industrial effluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitate adsorbent was produced from aluminum tanning wastewater by alkali precipitation and characterized by XPF, XRD, and FTIR. The results showed that the main components of the precipitate were Al, Ti, and Zr. The adsorption equilibrium for Cr on the precipitate was reached within 60 min. The precipitate had better removal for Cr from wastewater at pH 7.0. The kinetic process of adsorption can be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation, and the adsorption isotherm fitted to the Langmuir model very well. Co-existed cations (Na, Ca) in aqueous solution restrained Cr adsorption on the precipitate. The adsorption of Cr on the precipitate was mainly through the complexation and ion-exchange mechanisms, and oxide may play a major role in Cr adsorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel 5,15-di-[4-carboxylatomethoxy]phenyl-10,20-diphenylporphyrin, its copper complex and the corresponding metalloporphyrin-TiO photocatalyst were synthesized and characterized by DRS, SEM, XRD, and FT-IR. The photocatalytic effects of anataseTiO impregnated with this copper(II) porphyrin was investigated by photodegradation of 4-nitrophenol(4-NP) in aqueous solution under Xenon lamp irradiation. The results indicated that the photoactivity of copper(II) porphyrin-TiO composite was evidently enhanced by the interaction between carboxyl of the porphyrin molecule and hydroxyls anchored on the TiO. Futhermore, the copper(II) carboxylic porphyrin displayed good adsorption behavior and activity of the dye-sensized TiO system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aim and scope: Tank-to-Wheels (TtW) makes the largest contribution to the total Well-to-Wheels (WtW) energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil-derived transportation fuels. The most commonly adopted TtW methodologies to obtain vehicle energy consumption, energy efficiency, and GHG emissions used to date all have significant limitations. A new TtW methodology, which combines micro-scale virtual vehicle simulation with macro-scale fleet modeling, is proposed in this paper. The models capabilities are demonstrated using a case study based on data from the passenger car sector in Great Britain. Methods: A simplified internal combustion engine model was developed in-house to simulate engine behaviors across a wide range of engine capacities and technologies. Vehicle simulation was then carried out using the efficiency map output by the simplified engine model for any given gasoline or diesel engine; the simulation was validated for 37 vehicles available on the UK market in terms of their vehicle-certification fuel consumption, with a discrepancy generally within 3%. Real-world fleet and driving data from the Great Britain's car fleet was extracted from the Transport Statistics Great Britain (TSGB) database between 2001 and 2007TSGB . A virtual fleet was constructed with the validated virtual vehicles to represent the real-world passenger car fleet in terms of its composition and operating characteristics. This fleet model was shown to match the real-world fleet-averaged fuel consumption within 3% for the gasoline fleet and within 6% for the diesel fleet. Finally, several scenarios were analyzed using the validated fleet model, covering a projection for 2008, driving pattern, lubrication, and fuel. The vehicle-to-vehicle variation was found to be significant in some scenarios, indicating that a fleet-based methodology would be more rigorous and flexible. Discussion: Energy consumption and CO emission figures from previous, well-recognized Europe-oriented studies (e.g., the 2008 JRC/EUCAR/CONCAWE study) were significantly lower than the TSGB real-world results based on the new TtW methodology. It is apparent that using a single vehicle to represent the whole fleet could be misleading; in particular, the relative energy efficiency and CO emission of diesel over gasoline cars might follow a different trend with time for the real-world fleet from that shown in previous studies. Conclusions: Future WtW studies can benefit from the modeling toolset and methodology reported herein in a number of ways: Recommendations and perspectives: The virtual engine/vehicle/fleet model developed in this work can readily be expanded and upgraded in the future, in terms of model details, coverage, and data quality. The methodology itself is generically applicable to any defined fleet (passenger cars, commercial vehicles, etc.) with any operating characteristics at any given timeframe from any geographic region. Various subjects and their implications for fleet energy consumption and GHG emissions could be studied including, but not restricted to, the following: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An investigation was carried out into the crop uptake of Cr(III) and its accumulation in two alkaline soils that have received tannery sludge as organic fertilizer for many years. The Cr(III) concentrations in the soils did not exceed the safe levels. However, Cr content in wheat and rice straw was up to 17 mg kg-1 in recently sludge-applied soils, and Cr content in wheat grain exceeded the hygienic standard of China for food. After the sludge application, Cr(III) remained in top soil in the first few years and its transfer to a depth of 60 cm was discovered in the soils with application of the sludge for over 15 years. A sequential extraction procedure and seedling culture experiment were used to assess the Cr(III) chemical forms and their phytoavailability. The results showed that Cr in straw and wheat grain was significantly correlated with total Cr(III), H2O-NH4OAc and DPTA extractable Cr(III). 2 mol L-1 HCl extractable Cr(III) was an important source of soil Cr available to the crops. In the seedling culture experiment, it was discovered that 1 mol L-1 NH4OAc and 0.05 mol L-1 DPTA exhibited higher extraction capacities for Cr(III) than plant uptake at lower soil Cr(III) concentration, while they were coincident at higher Cr(III) concentration. Cr content in wheat seedlings reached a maximum of 23.5 mg kg-1, which was hardly attainable under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the correlation between non-metallic organic tanning agents (NOTAs) and wastewater containing double-triazine (bistriazine). Specifically, high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze how the physical and chemical properties of the bistriazine-containing wastewater affected the microbial community. In total, 9995 operating taxonomy units (OTUs) were detected at a similarity level of 97%. According to the taxonomy results and relative bacterial richness, the non-metallic organic tanning agent (NOTA) wastewater communities showed significant differences. Clostridium sensu stricto and Turicibacter bacteria were dominant in NOTA T2, T3, and the blank control (KB) wastewater; Trichococcus and Aeromonas were dominant in NOTA T4; and Pseudomonas was dominant in T2, T4, and the blank control (KB). Thus, the addition of bistriazine ring derivatives altered the composition of the bacterial community. Furthermore, Spearman's correlation analysis revealed a substantial correlation in the composition of the communities and the physicochemical properties of the wastewater. Acidocella and norank c Cyanobacteria correlated positively with Total Phosphorus (TP) (p ≤ 0.001) and Mycobacterium showed a positively held correlation with pH (p ≤ 0.05). Conversely, norank_f__Elev-16S-1332 indicated a negative correlation with TP, Total Nitrogen (TN), and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) (p ≤ 0.05), whereas Zoogloea correlated negatively with NH3–N, TOC, and TN (p ≤ 0.05). Regarding water quality, a significant correlation between microbial communities and the physicochemical properties of bistriazine wastewater was also observed (p ≤ 0.05). We concluded that Trichococcus, Clostridium sensu stricto, Turicibacter, Pseudomonas, Intestinibacter, Acidocella, Bacillus, and Tolumonas showed a high tolerance for bistriazine wastewater, which could offer insight into its bioremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halophytes have been studied as a model for morphological traits of adaptation to saline environments. However, little information has been given on plant growth, chlorophyll fluorescence responses, and change of ion content in halophytes grown in an aniline–salinity coexistent environment. This study hypothesized that aniline could induce alterations in plant growth, chlorophyll fluorescence, and ion content in Suaeda salsa, but salinity could promote the tolerance of halophytes to aniline. A 6 (aniline) × 3 (NaCl) factorial experiment (for a total of 18 treatments) was conducted to test the above hypothesis. After 30 d of cultivation, roots and shoots were harvested separately to analyze the effects of salinity on the seedling growth under aniline stress. Biomass accumulation was inhibited by aniline treatment, and the inhibition was significantly alleviated by 200 mM NaCl. The change in chlorophyll fluorescence in leaves with aniline stress was moderated by the addition of NaCl. The removal efficiency of aniline was significantly enhanced by moderate salinity. Aniline stress decreased the accumulation of Mg2+, but various concentrations of NaCl increased the accumulation of Mg2+, especially with 200 mM NaCl in both roots and shoots. Both aniline and salinity decreased the content of Ca2+. There was a negative correlation between the K+ and NaCl concentrations and between the Cl− and aniline concentrations. Our results indicated that Suaeda salsa may be suitable for the remediation of salinity and aniline-enriched wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the concept of microbial community multi-processing in integrated spatial bacterial succession (ISBS), this study constructs a highly efficient cellular fixed-bed bioreactor that follows the growth of biological flora in the wastewater treatment process. The reactor is organically partitioned based on synergistic laws and in accordance with environmental and microbial metabolic changes, and sewage is subjected to unitized and specialized biological treatment under direct current conditions. The results show that the ISBS reactor exhibits stable nitrogen removal performance under a low-carbon source. Compared with traditional sewage biochemical treatment technology, the microbial concentration is increased by 2–3 times and even up to 12 times, and the ammonia nitrogen removal rate is maintained at 99%. The removal rate reaches 90% (hydraulic retention time of 14 h). High-throughput sequencing analysis based on 16S rDNA reveals the microbial community structure succession at different depths of the same section of the reactor. The microbial community is rich under the influence of environmental factors and exhibits different responses. The intervals vary. An analysis of the microbial community function explains why the ISBS reactor has high nitrogen removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]