Search

The excessive discharge of nitrogen leads to water eutrophication. The partial nitritation and anammox (PN/A) process is a promising technology for biological nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment. However, applying it to mature landfill leachate (MLL) faces challenges, as the toxic substances (e.g., heavy metal) within MLL inhibit the activity of anammox bacteria. Therefore, most previous studies focused on diluted, pretreated, or chemically adjusted MLL. This study demonstrated at full scale that the two-stage PN/A process can treat raw MLL. Initially, the operational issue of sludge floatation resulted in rapid biomass loss with overflow discharging, which selectively suppresses nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), promoting the achievement of nitrite accumulation. After that, the NOB suppression was self-sustained by the high in situ free ammonia concentration, i.e., 26.2 ± 15.9 mg N/L. In the subsequent anammox tank, nitrogen removal primarily occurred via the anammox process, complemented by denitrification, achieving total nitrogen removal efficiency exceeding 72%. In addition, the nitrogen removal capacity of this system was significantly influenced by temperature with the nitrogen-loading rate above 0.4 kg N/m3/d at 38 °C and approximately 0.1 kg N/m3/d at 21 °C. The optimization of system operation, such as gradually increasing MLL content, remains necessary to enhance nitrogen removal capacity further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Ultrasound (US) is important for diagnosing infant developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). However, the accuracy of the diagnosis depends heavily on expertise. We aimed to develop a novel automatic system (DDHnet) for accurate, fast, and robust diagnosis of DDH. Methods: An automatic system, DDHnet, was proposed to diagnose DDH by analyzing static ultrasound images. A five‐fold cross‐validation experiment was conducted using a dataset containing 881 patients to verify the performance of DDHnet. In addition, a blind test was conducted on 209 patients (158 normal and 51 abnormal cases). The feasibility and performance of DDHnet were investigated by embedding it into ultrasound machines at low computational cost. Results: DDHnet obtained reliable measurements and accurate diagnosis predictions. It reported an intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC) on α angle of 0.96 (95% CI: 0.93–0.97), β angle of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95–0.98), FHC of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96–0.99) and PFD of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90–0.96) in abnormal cases. DDHnet achieved a sensitivity of 90.56%, specificity of 100%, accuracy of 98.64%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 100%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 98.44% for the diagnosis of DDH. For the measurement task on the US device, DDHnet took only 1.1 seconds to operate and complete, whereas the experienced senior expert required an average 41.4 seconds. Conclusions: The proposed DDHnet demonstrate state‐of‐the‐art performance for all four indicators of DDH diagnosis. Fast and highly accurate DDH diagnosis is achievable through DDHnet, and is accessible under constrained computational resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient grating spectroscopy (TGS) based on diffraction gratings is a powerful optical method for studying the transport of energy carriers such as phonons and electrons. The diffraction grating in a TGS system is a key component to form a large-area interference pattern, i.e., transient grating, and to study the mean free path distribution of energy carriers. In this work, a design method for polarization-insensitive diffraction gratings with periods in the range 2–50 µm for TGS by a combination of rigorous coupled wave analysis and genetic algorithm was discussed. The method was tested for pump/probe wavelength of 515/532 or 1030/808 nm. Each ±1st diffraction order carries 35%–40% of the incident energy and the diffraction efficiencies of the other orders are lower than 10%. The optimized diffraction gratings were fabricated by a combination of photolithography and inductively coupled plasma etching, with the processing parameters introduced in detail, and their optical characteristics were evaluated. Finally, as a demonstration, the diffraction gratings for 1030/808 nm were applied to TGS to study the thermal transport properties of Ge. This work provides a useful guide for future applications and the development of TGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochromic performance fading is inevitable upon extended cycling, and the limited lifetime greatly prevents large‐scale commercialization of electrochromism‐based devices. Here the origin of the performance degradation is uncovered and the performance restoration in TiO2 thin films is explored. It is shown that, depending on the applied potential windows, the inserted ions are immobilized in α‐traps resulting in a monotonous degradation of colored state, or immobilized in b‐ and modified α‐traps leading to mutual degradation of colored and bleached state of the films. It is found by releasing the resided ions in various traps, the initial performance can be restored accordingly. Moreover, reversible sites and all traps are demonstrated to be interconvertible through an ion trapping and detrapping process. These results provide a general scope in understanding the electrochromism in oxide thin films and offer the scheme for potential traps control or even elimination, aiming at superior electrochromic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mirid bug Lygus pratensis is an important pest of cotton, and is primarily managed through insecticide application. In this study, conducted in Xinjiang (China), we assessed the relative attractiveness of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) to L. pratensis adults in local cotton plots from 2015–2016 and quantified the associated contribution of inter-planted sunflower strips to suppress field-level L. pratensis populations from 2016–2017. Field-plot trials showed that among six combinations of two sunflower varieties (XKZ6 and SH363) and three planting dates (early-, middle- and late-planted), adult abundance of L. pratensis was highest on early-planted XKZ6 and attained 3.7–5.8 times higher levels than in neighboring cotton plots. In commercial cotton fields, the combined deployment of sunflower strips at field edges and the periodic application of insecticides directed to those strips was found to (1) reduce the mean abundance of L. pratensis population on cotton by 41.9–44.0%, (2) lower the rate of cotton leaf damage by 27.3–30.6% and boll damage by 44.8–46.0%, and (3) increase the number of mature bolls by 7.5%-8.0%. Our work emphasizes how sunflower can be an effective trap crop for L. pratensis and that the establishment of sunflower strips could contribute to its effective and environmentally-sound management in cotton crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the morphological and optical properties of LTO/TaOx composite structure films and electrochromic properties of “ITO/NiOx/LTO/TaOx/WOx/ITO” electrochromic devices (ECDs) based on LTO/TaOx composite structure films are reported. The composite films are deposited on the ITO substrate by reactive magnetron sputtering. The results of XRD, SEM, and AFM show that LTO film is amorphous and the performance of films prepared by sputtering power of 100 W for 5 h is the best. The optical transmittance of the multilayer structure is tested using an ultraviolet-visible spectrum and the refractive index dispersion is calculated using the relationship between the peaks in the spectrum based on equal inclination interference theory. Optical transmittance and refractive index dispersion are changed with the increase of magnetron sputtering power. Electrochromic tests show that all-solid-state ECDs based on composite films have 13 s coloring and 14 s fading response time, and the average optical modulation amplitude is 58%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiopulmonary adaptation during exercise was compared in patients with an extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection and controls with biventricular repair of Fallot's tetralogy. Heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory frequency, and transcutaneous oxygen saturation increased with treadmill exercise intensity below grade 3 in patients who had undergone extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection. When exercise intensity exceeded grade 4, blood pressure and oxygen saturation decreased continuously, respiratory rate kept increasing, and heart rate showed no significant change. In cases of fenestrated cavopulmonary connection, heart rate peaked at grade 5 exercise intensity, and blood pressure at grade 4; but both peaked at grade 3 in non-fenestrated patients. During all exercise testing, fenestrated patients had a higher respiratory rate but lower oxygen saturation than those without fenestration. Exercise tolerance was below normal after a cavopulmonary connection, but patients still adapted to exercise below grade 3 with appropriate increases in heart rate and respiratory rate. Due to insufficient right heart systems, patients with a cavopulmonary connection showed obvious exercise limitation at exercise intensity grade 3 or more. Total exclusion of the right heart system may also have adverse effects on the sinoatrial node, leading to impaired heart rate regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Cotton has been increasingly harmed by the mirid bug (Lygus pratensis Linnaeus) in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Using trap plants within or around the border of the cotton may be a beneficial management strategy for this pest of cotton., Results: The potential of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius Linn) as a trap plant for managing L. pratensis was evaluated in laboratory and field experiments. Y-tube olfactometer assays demonstrated that L. pratensis was highly attracted to volatiles derived from safflower. Field experiments showed that safflower plots hosted more L. pratensis (adults and nymphs) than cotton plots. Early-sown safflower had more L. pratensis than mid-sown or late-sown safflower, and was more conducive to the settlement and reproduction of L. pratensis. The density of L. pratensis on safflower trap crops in three sowing patterns was significantly higher than on adjacent cotton. The pattern of intercropping safflower trap crops was more effective at reducing densities of L. pratensis on cotton than placing safflower as 'spot' trap crops or peripheral trap crops. However, this result also may be related to the overall area of the safflower trap crops. With regular chemical control of L. pratensis on safflower trap crops, the number of cotton bolls was increased by 10.04%, whereas the rate of boll damage was reduced by 33.44%, compared to cotton without safflower trap crops and insecticide sprays., Conclusion: Safflower shows promise as an effective trap crop for L. pratensis, and may contribute to controlling L. pratensis in cotton. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Bacillus velezensis AL7, isolated from cotton soil, had strong antagonistic activity to Verticillium dahlia Kleb. The AL7 genome consisted of one chromosome with 3,894,709 bp (46.64% G+C content). Genome annotation predicted 3,706 protein-coding genes, 86 tRNAs, and 27 rRNAs. We sequenced and annotated the complete AL7 genome to help us better understand use of this strain., (Copyright © 2020 Liu et al.)

Pulsatile pulmonary blood flow plays an important role in regulating shear-stress-mediated release of endothelium-derived nitric oxide and endothelin-1, and it reduces pulmonary vascular resistance by passive capillary recruitment. The aim of this study was to demonstrate changes in pulmonary capillary structure and endothelial function induced by the chronic nonpulsatile flow of the Fontan circulation. A canine model with nonpulsatile flow in the right lung was established, and sacrificed 3 months later. Compared to the left lung, wall thickness of the pulmonary arterioles was thinner, endothelin-1 expression was weaker, endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity was stronger, and there was a good correlation between the histomorphometric and immunohistochemical findings. These data indicate that long-term nonpulsatile flow can lead to endothelial dysfunction, which may be involved in distention and vascular structure remodeling due to the increase in pulmonary vascular resistance; but it also can lead to increased patency of the arteriovenous shunt, which might be at least partly involved in pulmonary arteriovenous fistula development and exercise limitation after the Fontan operation.