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[Display omitted] The performance of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) at sub-ambient temperatures is limited by the resistive interphases due to electrolyte decomposition, particularly on the anode surface. In this study, lithium fluorosulfonate (LFS) was added to commercial electrolytes to enhance the low-temperature electrochemical performance of LiFePO 4 (LFP)/graphite (Gr) pouch cells. The addition of LFS significantly reduced the charge transfer resistance of the anode, substantially extending the cycle life and discharge capacity of commercial LFP/Gr pouch cells at −10 and −30 °C. Compared with the capacity retention rate of the baseline electrolyte at −10 °C (80 % after 25cycles), the capacity retention rate of the LFS electrolyte after 100 cycles under 0.5 C/0.5 C was retained at 94 %. Further mechanistic studies showed that the LFS additive induced the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film comprising inorganic-rich LiF, Li 2 SO 4 , and additional organic fluorides and sulfides to maintain good stability at the Gr/electrolyte interface during low-temperature operation. LFS suppressed electrolyte decomposition by forming a robust and low-resistance SEI film on the anode. These results demonstrate that LFS is a promising electrolyte additive for low-temperature LFP/Gr pouch cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoption of clean electric energy depends not only on administrative regulations, but also on public support, in particular, the public is willing to pay for environmental improvements. However, the increase of solar photovoltaic power generation willingness to pay (WTP) associated with higher education attainment and the identification of their causality has been missing. Present paper used the enactment of the Compulsory Schooling Law as an instrumental variable to solve the causal relationship between education and willingness to pay for photovoltaic power generation. The results are as follows:Heckman two-stage model and instrumental variable both confirmed that higher education has a positive impact on WTP for solar photovoltaic power generation. For each level of public education in the east, the WTP of photovoltaic power generation will increase by 7.540 CNY, 8.343 CNY and 8.343 CNY respectively, the central public will increase by 9.637 CNY, 10.775 CNY and 11.758 CNY, and the western public will increase by 12.723 CNY, 15.740 CNY and 17.993 CNY respectively. The positive influence of education level is smaller among the people who know the ladder price better, but it is bigger among the people who are male, older than 45 years old, healthier, higher income and stronger awareness of safe electricity use. The total socio-economic value of photovoltaic power generation is significantly different in eastern, central and western region China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point cloud-based retrieval for place recognition is essential in robotic applications like autonomous driving or simultaneous localization and mapping. However, this remains challenging in complex real-world scenes. Existing methods are sensitive to noisy, low-density point clouds and require extensive storage and computation, posing limitations for hardware-limited scenarios. To overcome these challenges, we propose LWR-Net, a lightweight place recognition network for efficient and robust point cloud retrieval in noisy, low-density conditions. Our approach incorporates a fast dilated sampling and grouping module with a residual MLP structure to learn geometric features from local neighborhoods. We also introduce a lightweight attentional weighting module to enhance global feature representation. By utilizing the Generalized Mean pooling structure, we aggregated the global descriptor for point cloud retrieval. We validated LWR-Net's efficiency and robustness on the Oxford robotcar dataset and three in-house datasets. The results demonstrate that our method efficiently and accurately retrieves matching scenes while being more robust to variations in point density and noise intensity. LWR-Net achieves state-of-the-art accuracy and robustness with a lightweight model size of 0.4M parameters. These efficiency, robustness, and lightweight advantages make our network highly suitable for robotic applications relying on point cloud-based place recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Registration aims at merging multiple scans to cover all scenes of a large environment. Thus, it is crucial to many civil infrastructure applications based on three-dimensional (3D) models. However, in many real-world scenarios, it is necessary to align point clouds with low-density or small overlaps. It is difficult to extract stable features and enough features for registration, whether keypoint features or overall posture features, under this condition. Existing methods cannot solve this problem well. This work proposed an end-to-end registration network that can self-adaptively focus on the overlap. The network learned to directly encode posture information from the overlapping area instead of using sparse keypoint correspondences, which makes the network more generalized and efficient. This work also proposed a self-supervised overlapping detector as an extension module to expand the use of this network to align large-scale point clouds of indoor building environments. The proposed detector is compatible with any registration approaches to promote their accuracy and efficiency further. The proposed network was experimentally demonstrated to outperform the state-of-the-art methods in registering sparse and low-overlapping point clouds, with higher robustness to point density and overlap ratio change. The proposed detector can reliably detect the overlapping area and empower the network to accurately align the sparse and low-overlapping point clouds of the large-scale indoor scene, thus simplifying and promoting laser scanning practices in civil infrastructure applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • PDS activation process is enhanced by combination of UV and in-situ generated Fe2+. • SO 4 − and OH radicals are responsible for hypophosphite oxidation. • Ferric phosphate precipitates are the major phosphate recovery products. • Mechanism of hypophosphite oxidation and phosphorus recovery is proposed. • UV/Fe2+/PDS system has a promising future for hypophosphite recovery. Abstract Hypophosphite, a reducing agent, has been widely used in metallurgical industry, however, the effective treatment of hypophosphite wastewater with phosphorus recovery remains a challenge. In this work, various systems including control (anode oxidation), PDS, UV, Fe2+/PDS, UV/Fe2+/PDS systems were carried out and compared in terms of oxidation efficiency of hypophosphite and recovery efficiency of total phosphorus. The UV/Fe2+/PDS system demonstrated the optimal performance at the optimized conditions ([H 2 PO 2 −] = 10 mM; pH 0 = 3.0; Current intensity = 0.4 A; [K 2 S 2 O 8 ] = 20 mg/L) by analyzing the effects of the operating conditions of initial pH 0 , current intensity and K 2 S 2 O 8 concentration. The precipitates of the phosphate recovery products obtained at the optimized conditions were investigated by XRD, SEM-EDX, TEM, FTIR and XPS and the results confirmed that the precipitates were ferric phosphate with a high purity. Radical scavengers and ESR spectroscopy were applied to investigate the generated radicals in the UV/Fe2+/PDS system with the results showing that SO 4 − and OH radials were contributable to hypophosphite oxidation. The mechanism of hypophosphite oxidation and phosphorus recovery was proposed as three steps. Firstly, SO 4 − and OH radicals were generated by Fe2+/UV activation and anode, respectively. Secondly, the generated SO 4 − and OH radicals facilitated the oxidation of hypophosphite to phosphate. Thirdly, the oxidized phosphate was recovered by ferric ions with the formation of ferric phosphate precipitates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract Capacitive deionization (CDI) has become a promising technology for water desalination due to its remarkable advantages including low operation cost, no secondary pollution and high rate of ion recovery. However, the majority of commercial CDI electrode materials are carbonaceous materials such as activated carbon with limited capacitance and high charge transfer resistance, which significantly hinders the wide application of CDI. Herein, we demonstrate a N -doped carbonaceous CDI electrode with a maximum ion electrosorption capacity of 19.9 mg/g, a low charge transfer resistance (1.17 Ω) and a robust regeneration performance (2800 min for 28 circles). The N-doped carbonaceous CDI electrode is the commercial activated carbon fiber (ACF) decorated with polyaniline (PANI) (ACF/PANI) electrode fabricated by in-situ electrochemical polymerization. The ACF/PANI electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The pseudocapacitance of ACF/PANI electrode significantly contributed to the effectively improved CDI performance that 90.0% of sodium storage was attributed to the capacitive process and the unique porous structure of ACF/PANI electrode contributed to the other 10.0% diffusion-controlled capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A novel ferrate (VI)-ozone integrated pretreatment process was proposed and applied herein for the first time in reclaimed water treatment. We demonstrated the synergistic effect of the ferrate (VI)-ozone integrated process in terms of •OH generation and its double-win effects on the improvement of water quality and fouling alleviation of ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) membrane. The concentration of •OH in the ferrate (VI) (0.15 mM)-ozone (10 mg/L) integrated case was almost 3-fold higher compared to the ferrate (VI) (0.15 mM) case, while no obvious •OH was detected in the pre-ozonation case (10 mg/L) in Milli-Q water. The reclaimed water quality was remarkably enhanced with the maximum removal efficiencies of 70.5% (DOC), 80.5% (UV 254), 25.6% (protein) and 65.5% (polysaccharide) in influent achieved by the integrated pretreatment of ozone (10 mg/L) and ferrate (0.15 mM). Biopolymers (molecular weight (MW) of 20–2000 kDa) were the main removed organics with the best removal efficiency of 92.6%. Additionally, membrane fouling was effectively mitigated and the normalized trans-membrane pressure (TMP) was maximally decreased by 89.5% obtained after the integrated pretreatment of ozone (10 mg/L) and ferrate (0.15 mM). The statistical analysis results demonstrated that the increased particle size and the effective reduction of organic matters with ferrate-ozone integrated pretreatment led to a porous fouling layer with high permeability and thus a remarkable reduction of TMP and resistances, which was also in agreement with the modeling results that cake blocking was significantly alleviated. Graphical abstract fx1 Highlights • The synergistic effect of ferrate-ozone with more •OH generated is confirmed. • Ferrate-ozone significantly improves the water quality of reclaimed water. • Ferrate-ozone pretreatment remarkably alleviates ceramic membrane fouling. • A more porous fouling layer is formed with ferrate-ozone pretreatment. • Cake-intermediate fouling is the main fouling mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane fouling is still a critical problem restricting membrane applications in wastewater treatment. Herein, for the first time, the single and synergistic effects of in-situ ozonation and ferric chloride addition on membrane filterability of mixed liquor and ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling in wastewater treatment were quantitatively investigated by statistical analysis including factor analysis, redundancy analysis and canonical correlation analysis. The filterability score of mixed liquor had very strong positive linear correlation with total membrane fouling resistance. Both the membrane filterability of mixed liquor and the ceramic membrane fouling mitigation performance followed the order: in-situ ozonation (10 mg/L)/ferric chloride addition (45 mg/L) > ferric chloride addition (45 mg/L) > in-situ ozonation (10 mg/L) > control. Specifically, ferric chloride addition (45 mg/L) contributed to 45.8% of membrane fouling mitigation as a result of 52.2% of improvement of membrane filtration environment. In-situ ozonation (10 mg/L) contributed to 26.6% of membrane fouling mitigation as a result of 28.6% of improvement of membrane filtration environment. The combination of in-situ ozonation (10 mg/L) and ferric chloride (45 mg/L) further contributed to 26.6% of the mitigation of iron-related membrane fouling. O 3 in the case coupling in-situ ozonation with ferric chloride addition reduced the accumulation of Fe and mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) on the membrane surface and mitigated membrane fouling in comparison to the case with only ferric chloride addition. Our results demonstrated that the combination of in-situ ozonation and Fe dosing with ceramic membrane filtration in wastewater treatment could achieve the synergistic effect in terms of the improvement of membrane filterability of mixed liquor and mitigation of membrane fouling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferrate (VI) is a unique and “green” chemical that can be utilized for oxidation, disinfection and coagulation simultaneously in a single unit without producing by-product. Herein, for the first time, we reported the integrated process of ferrate (VI) pretreatment coupled with ceramic membrane reactor for mitigating membrane fouling in natural reclaimed water treatment. Membrane fouling was effectively mitigated by ferrate pretreatment with the maximum trans-membrane pressure (TMP) reduction of 81.8% achieved at ferrate dosage of 0.15 mM. Moreover, the fouling mechanism changed from intermediate-standard blocking to cake-intermediate blocking with ferrate pretreatment and the contribution of cake layer fouling was significantly diminished with increase of ferrate dosage (≤ 0.15 mM). Statistical analysis including redundancy analysis and clustering correlation analysis showed that chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and polysaccharide were the most important positive factors to R t with their correlation coefficients above 0.92 while SS and turbidity were the most important negative factors to R t with their correlation coefficients below − 0.87. Long-term filtration experiments also confirmed the membrane fouling control performance by ferrate with the significant extension of the onset of membrane fouling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrated process of ozonation coupled with ceramic membrane filtration has been actively utilized to alleviate membrane fouling in water/wastewater treatment, however, the effect of ozonation on protein-based ceramic membrane fouling is still contradictory. Herein, for the first time, we reported the severe protein-based ceramic membrane fouling at high ozone dosage in the integrated process of ozonation coupled with ceramic membrane filtration and the related fouling mechanism was systematically explored. Ozonation at low dosage slightly mitigated membrane fouling, whereas severe membrane fouling occurred at high ozone dosage (10 mg/L for pre-ozonation; 4 and 10 mg/L for in-situ ozonation). At high ozone dosage, the trans-membrane pressure (TMP) remarkably increased (> 40 kPa) within 90 min and both hydraulically reversible and irreversible fouling contributed to the total membrane fouling resistance. Electro kinetic potential and particle size of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution were not the key factors affecting the aggravated membrane fouling at high ozone dosage. The remarkably deteriorated membrane fouling at high ozone dosage can be accounted for the formation of BSA crosslinks ascribed to the oligomerization and agglomeration of BSA and the intermolecular disulfide bridge formation with the crosslinks progressively accumulating on the membrane surface and in the membrane pores during filtration. The modeling results confirmed that the BSA-based membrane fouling mechanism was changed from cake-intermediate to cake-standard with ozonation at high ozone dosage. Meanwhile, the cake layer and/or gel layer played a more important role for the aggravated membrane fouling at high ozone dosage even though the contribution of pore blocking was also significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four pathways for cleaning of iron oxide-fouled membranes, namely i) proton (acid)-assisted, ii) ligand-promoted (citric acid), iii) reductive (ascorbic acid), and iv) ligand-promoted reductive (ascorbic acid-citric acid-mediated) were examined and their effectiveness were compared in this study. The cleaning effectiveness under oxic conditions followed the order: proton-assisted < ligand-promoted < reductive < ligand-promoted reductive. Iron oxide dissolution rate initially increased with increase of citrate concentration in the ascorbic acid-citric acid solutions but declined at higher citrate concentrations indicating that an intermediate citrate concentration was required for optimal cleaning. The mechanism of ligand-promoted reductive dissolution mediated by ascorbate and citrate was investigated through studies of dissolution behaviour under both oxic and anoxic conditions with citrate shown to have a mitigating effect on the consumption of oxygen, apparently by reducing the iron catalyzed oxidation of ascorbate. Kinetic modelling showed that the dynamics of dissolution could be reasonably well simulated with the inclusion of a surface > Fe(III)-citrate-Fe(II) ternary complex which facilitates the detachment of surface Fe(II). Use of dual reagents (ascorbic acid and citric acid) under oxic conditions is recommended for the cleaning of iron-fouled membranes in view of the extreme cleaning effectiveness though it is critical that cleaning conditions be carefully optimised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-ozonation or in-situ ozonation coupled with membrane filtration has been actively utilized for membrane fouling control in water treatment, however, the comparative analysis of these two ozonation processes on membrane fouling control has not been reported so far. In this study, the comparative effect of pre-ozonation and in-situ ozonation on mitigation of ceramic UF (ultrafiltration) membrane fouling caused by alginate was systematically investigated through characterization of TMP, fouling resistance, MW distribution, dissolved ozone concentration, the formation of hydroxyl radical and modeling. Results showed that both pre-ozonation and in-situ ozonation were effective in alleviating the cake layer fouling. Ozonation efficiently broke down the high molecular weight (MW) fractions (>150 kDa and 80–150 kDa) of alginate into the low MW fractions (6–80 kDa; 0.4–6 kDa and 0.1–0.4 kDa), reducing the membrane interception of alginate. Pre-ozonation achieved better fouling mitigation performance compared with in-situ ozonation at low ozone dosages of 2 and 4 mg/L. However, in-situ ozonation had better fouling control performance at high ozone dosage of 10 mg/L with the normalized TMP (ΔTMP) maintaining below 0.2 kPa after 60 min filtration. Besides, in-situ ozonation was more effective in hydraulically irreversible fouling control than pre-ozonation regardless of ozone dosage. Integration of in-situ ozonation and ceramic membrane filtration catalyzed ozone decomposition with the increased generation of hydroxyl radical, which further strengthened the oxidation of the accumulated foulants on the membrane surface and within the membrane pores and thus effectively alleviated the reversible and irreversible fouling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of in-situ ozonation on mixed liquor filterability and ceramic membrane fouling in wastewater treatment were systematically studied by evaluating the mixed liquor filterability with a factor analysis method, modeling the membrane fouling process with nine fouling models, and analyzing the mechanism of membrane fouling mitigation with a redundancy analysis method. In-situ ozonation had trade-off effects on the filterability of mixed liquor. On one hand, the filterability of mixed liquor was improved as a result of the remarkable reduction of mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS), sludge volume after 30 min sedimentation (SV 30 ) and extractable extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS). On the other hand, the filterability of mixed liquor deteriorated as a result of the obvious increase of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble microbial products (SMP). The contribution of sludge properties (MLSS, SV 30 , EPS) to the filterability of mixed liquor was nearly doubled compared with that of the supernatant properties (DOC, SMP). The filterability of mixed liquor was effectively improved with increase of ozone dosage (≤5 mg/L). Meanwhile, membrane fouling was effectively mitigated by in-situ ozonation with the maximum normalized TMP (ΔTMP) reduction of 55.6% achieved at ozone dosage of 5 mg/L (1.3 mg-ozone/g-MLSS). The combined intermediate-standard model excellently fitted the experimental data at different ozone dosages and the alleviation of intermediate blocking mainly contributed to the fouling mitigation by in-situ ozonation (≤5 mg/L). The cake layer resistance was maximally reduced by 61.5% at ozone dosage of 5 mg/L mainly as a result of the significantly improved filterability of mixed liquor. The gel layer resistance was maximally reduced by 32.3% at ozone dosage of 5 mg/L mainly as a result of the direct oxidation of organic foulants deposited on membrane surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of mixed liquor properties changed by ozonation especially with high dosages on membrane fouling is very complex and remains unclear. In this study, the effect of mixed liquor properties changed by ozonation especially with high dosages on ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) membrane fouling in wastewater treatment and the corresponding mechanism were systematically studied by characterization of the mixed liquor properties, hydraulic performance, the fouling layers and modeling at different ozone dosages (0, 2, 5, 10 mg/L). The membrane filterability of the mixed liquor after pre-ozonation (⩽5 mg/L) was enhanced and the corresponding membrane fouling was mitigated. After pre-ozonation, activated sludge had the better settleability and larger floc size. Meanwhile, there was a remarkable reduction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), soluble microbial products (SMP) and extractable extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS) after pre-ozonation and the removed organics were mainly belonged to the high molecular weight (MW) (1–10 kDa) and very high MW (10–200 kDa) substances. Intermediate blocking was the main membrane fouling during the mixed liquor filtration process and the best fouling mitigation performance was achieved for the sample with an intermediate ozone dosage of 5 mg/L (1.7 mg-ozone/g-mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS)). Meanwhile, the water quality of permeate was even better after pre-ozonation (⩽5 mg/L) with the lower DOC and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations. Severe cell lysis occurred with the significant increase of the released organics in the mixed liquor and the activated sludge had smaller floc size and worse settleability when the pre-ozonation dosage was above 10 mg/L, which in turn resulted in the deteriorated membrane fouling control performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ascorbic acid (Asc)-mediated cleaning of iron-fouled membranes from submerged membrane bioreactors (MBRs) dosed with iron salts for facilitation of phosphorus removal is investigated here with the cleaning process, involving the reductive dissolution of iron oxides on the membrane surface and within membrane pores, conducted under both oxic and anoxic conditions and in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline, a strong Fe(II)-binding ligand. A significant reduction in cleaning effectiveness was observed when oxygen was present with kinetic modelling of key processes operating in this system indicating that the reduced effectiveness could be attributed to the Fe(III)-catalysed oxidation of ascorbate with Fe(III) being replenished by the relatively rapid heterogeneous oxidation of Fe(II). While either removal of oxygen or addition of Fe(II)-binding agents such as phenanthroline are effective in preventing the Fe(III)-catalysed oxidation of ascorbate, cleaning of iron oxide-fouled membranes under oxic conditions with frequent replenishment of freshly prepared Asc is recommended as a reasonable balance between cleaning effectiveness and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleaning strategies for iron-fouled membranes from submerged membrane bioreactors (MBRs) dosed with iron salts are investigated here. Severe membrane fouling resulting from iron dosing was observed with amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide particles and gelatinous assemblages containing Fe(III) bound to polysaccharide materials responsible particularly for irreversible membrane fouling. Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and citric acid, the most commonly used chemical cleaning agents, were not particularly effective in removing iron species from the membrane surface while the Fe(III) reducing agents ascorbic acid and sodium dithionite were very effective in removing iron-containing deposits under the conditions used in this study. In the presence of oxygen, the Fe(III)-catalysed oxidation of ascorbic acid and direct oxygen-mediated oxidation of dithionite control the dissolution rate constant. Use of NaOCl followed by ascorbic acid at concentrations of 10–20 mM is recommended as a reasonable balance between cleaning effectiveness and cost though further investigation of cleaning of fouled membranes from full scale MBRs is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative communications enhance the performance of wireless networks by allowing nodes to cooperate with each other to achieve spatial diversity gains. To obtain cooperation gains, appropriate relay node(s) should be selected according to network topology and channel state information (CSI). However, in ad hoc wireless networks, the CSI is random, and the network topology is dynamic. This complicates relay selection, and in turn, makes it difficult to implement cooperative communications in ad hoc wireless networks. To tackle the issue, this paper proposes blind cooperative communications (BCC) for multihop ad hoc wireless networks. In BCC, intermediate nodes and the destination node in a multihop path first listen and cache the data from two-hop-away upstream nodes, and then combine the cached data with the data forwarded by the upstream to obtain diversity gains. The performance of BCC is evaluated by analysis and simulations to show that BCC can significantly increase the packet delivery ratio (PDR) and the average end-to-end throughput (AET). Compared with existing cooperation methods, BCC requires neither CSI and topology information nor additional signaling overheads, making it extremely easy to implement in dynamic multihop ad hoc wireless networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ceramic membrane (CM) market is growing with many full-scale applications. • CM is superior to polymeric membrane–high stability & flux, long life, low fouling. • Physicochemical processes (e.g., ozonation) are effective for fouling control. • Catalytic (nano) CMs can enhance antifouling, and pollutant removal capability. • Cost analysis of CMs, fouling control & cleaning should be evaluated at full-scale. Application of ceramic membrane technology in water and wastewater is rapidly growing. Inherent advantages of ceramic membrane including chemical/thermal stability, low fouling propensity and long lifespan make ceramic membrane technology attractive, and the ceramic membrane market is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 12%. Ceramic membranes could be integrated with advanced oxidation processes such as in-situ ozonation that cannot be applied in the case of polymeric membrane due to their potential degradation during long-term exposure. In addition, the hybrid-ceramic membrane processes such as ceramic membrane bioreactor are superior to polymeric counterparts due to higher flux, higher pollutant removal, lower fouling rate and higher cleaning efficiency. Although ceramic membrane has high capital cost, life-cycle costs of ceramic and polymeric plants are comparable. Notably, full-scale ceramic membrane water/wastewater treatment plants have been installed in many countries such as Japan, USA, Singapore and United Kingdom. Given the attractiveness of this technology, performance of ceramic membrane is critically reviewed with a focus on their applications in water and wastewater treatment under mild conditions. In addition, fouling mechanisms and control strategies are elucidated and are compared with polymeric membranes. Importantly, for the first time, the status of full-scale applications and market prospects of ceramic membranes are critically analysed to show their future potential. Lastly, future research directions such as development of cost-effective ceramic membranes, understanding the biofouling evolution and economic evaluation of physicochemical processes for fouling control are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel tri-functional cycloaliphatic epoxy resin was synthesized starting from dicyclopentadiene. The chemical structures of the resultant epoxy resin and its precursor were characterized with FTIR spectroscopy, EEW, 1H NMR and Mass spectrographic analyses. The thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting polymer were evaluated with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermo-gravimetric and thermal mechanical analysis. Compared to that of the common cycloaliphatic epoxy resin ERL-4221, the cured polymer of the novel epoxy resin exhibited lower thermal degradation temperature with much higher char yield and similar thermal expansion coefficient. These excellent overall performances make it a promising packaging material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The pedestrian stride-length estimation is a crucial piece of personal behavior data for many smartphone applications, such as health monitoring and indoor location. The performance of the present stride-length algorithms is suitable for simple gaits and single scenes, but when applied to sophisticated gaits or heterogeneous devices, their inaccuracy varies dramatically. This paper proposes an efficient learning-based stride-length estimation model using a smartphone to obtain the correct stride length. The model uses adaptive learning to extract different elements for changing and recognition tasks, including Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) modules. The direct fusion method maps the eigenvectors to the appropriate stride length after combining the features from the learning modules. We presented an online learning module to update the model to increase the SLE model's generalization. Extensive experiments are conducted with heterogeneous devices or users, various gaits, and switched scenarios. The results confirm that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods and achieves an average 4.26% estimation error rate in various environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia has been reported in psoriasis. We investigated the effect of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), polymorphism and folic acid supplementation on serum homocysteine levels in psoriasis. Methods: Serum homocysteine levels were detected at baseline and at week 12 in 201 patients who were genotyped with MTHFR rs1801133 without and 93 psoriatic patients with folate supplement. Results: TT genotype carriers of MTHFR rs1801133 had significantly higher serum homocysteine levels at baseline and at week 12, a better PASI 75 response rate at week 8, and a higher PASI 90 response rate at week 12 than the CT and CC genotype carriers. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that serum homocysteine concentration at baseline was significantly associated with sex, weight, PASI score at baseline, and the rs1801133 genotype. The significant upregulation of serum homocysteine levels after treatment with methotrexate (MTX) was only observed in male CT and CC genotype carriers and female CC genotype carriers. In contrast, folic acid supplementation significantly decreased serum homocysteine levels after MTX treatment but only in male psoriatic patients. Conclusions: The effect of MTX on serum homocysteine levels was associated with the polymorphism of MTHFR rs1801133 and sex. Folic acid supplementation only decreased serum homocysteine levels in male psoriatic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are considered potential biomarkers in the pathogenesis and detection of several types of cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the role of hsa_circ_0000129 in the pathogenesis and molecular mechanism underlying breast cancer. A total of 68 pairs of breast cancer and corresponding paracancerous tissue samples, three different breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) and a normal human breast cell line (MCF-10A) were used to investigate the expression of hsa_circ_0000129. The effect of hsa_circ_0000129 on cell proliferation, migration and colony formation was assessed in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 cells, along with the expression of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2). The results demonstrated that hsa_circ_0000129 expression was significantly higher in breast cancer tissues compared with normal tissues. In addition, high hsa_circ_0000129 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and a higher tumor-node-metastasis stage. Comparisons between the breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468) and MCF-10A cells indicated similar results. MCF-7 cells overexpressed with hsa_circ_0000129 significantly increased cell proliferation, migration and colony formation compared with the negative control group, the effects of which were reversed following hsa_circ_0000129 knockdown in MDA-MB-468 cells. Furthermore, EZH2 expression was positively associated with hsa_circ_0000129 expression. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that hsa_circ_0000129 may represent a promising prognostic biomarker for breast cancer. In addition, the role of hsa_circ_0000129 in breast cancer cell lines indicates a mechanism for tumorigenesis, as well as a potent target for the treatment of malignant progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of the Fusarium head blight (FHB) is crucial for wheat yield protection, with precise and rapid FHB detection increasing wheat yield and protecting the agricultural ecological environment. FHB detection tasks in agricultural production are currently handled by cloud servers and utilize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hence, this paper proposed a lightweight model for wheat ear FHB detection based on UAV-enabled edge computing, aiming to achieve the purpose of intelligent prevention and control of agricultural disease. Our model utilized the You Only Look Once version 4 (YOLOv4) and MobileNet deep learning architectures and was applicable in edge devices, balancing accuracy, and FHB detection in real-time. Specifically, the backbone network Cross Stage Partial Darknet53 (CSPDarknet53) of YOLOv4 was replaced by a lightweight network, significantly decreasing the network parameters and the computing complexity. Additionally, we employed the Complete Intersection over Union (CIoU) and Non-Maximum Suppression (NMS) to regress the loss function to guarantee the detection accuracy of FHB. Furthermore, the loss function incorporated the focal loss to reduce the error caused by the unbalanced positive and negative sample distribution. Finally, mixed-up and transfer learning schemes enhanced the model's generalization ability. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed model performed admirably well in detecting FHB of the wheat ear, with an accuracy of 93.69%, and it was somewhat better than the MobileNetv2-YOLOv4 model (F1 by 4%, AP by 3.5%, Recall by 4.1%, and Precision by 1.6%). Meanwhile, the suggested model was scaled down to a fifth of the size of the state-of-the-art object detection models. Overall, the proposed model could be deployed on UAVs so that wheat ear FHB detection results could be sent back to the end-users to intelligently decide in time, promoting the intelligent control of agricultural disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral images (HSIs) are pivotal in various fields due to their rich spectral–spatial information. While convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have notably enhanced HSI classification, they often generate redundant spatial features. To address this, we introduce a novel HSI classification method, OMDSC, employing 3D Octave convolution combined with multiscale depthwise separable convolutional networks. This method initially utilizes 3D Octave convolution for efficient spectral–spatial feature extraction from HSIs, thereby reducing spatial redundancy. Subsequently, multiscale depthwise separable convolution is used to further improve the extraction of spatial features. Finally, the HSI classification results are output by softmax classifier. This work compares the method with other methods on three publicly available datasets in order to confirm its efficacy. The outcomes show that the method performs better in terms of classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Assembling LMO into a catalytic membrane improved performance. • LMO membrane/PMS system achieved 85–96% degradation of several PPCPs. • The (001) surfaces and (100) edges of LMO membrane could spontaneously activate PMS. • LMO membrane performance was stable for 29 h via radical and nonradical pathways. • DFT calculations showed reaction mechanisms of different LMO active sites. Application of peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-based Fenton-like heterogeneous catalysis in water treatment remains scarce due to mass transfer limitation and poor yield of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, assembling reactive CoAl-layered metal oxide (LMO) into the gravity-driven catalytic membrane was carried out to overcome the inherent limitations. Indeed, compared to the conventional batch reactor (less than 35% removal), the LMO membrane/PMS system achieved effective degradation (94.17%) of the probe chemical ranitidine along with several other selected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP, >80%). This, as predicted by density functional theory calculations, could be attributed to remarkable activation of PMS by the exposed (001) surfaces and (100) edges of CoAl-LMO, spontaneously generating ROS for PPCP degradation. Electron charge density difference analysis estimated efficient charge accumulation and depletion between PMS and LMO, implying strong interaction and charge transfer in the LMO membrane/PMS system. Notably, ROS quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed the theoretical findings, which showed that PPCP degradation in the LMO membrane/PMS system is caused by both the radicals (SO 4 •− + •OH = 51.97%) and nonradicals (1O 2 = 20.58%) pathways. The LMO membrane achieved long-term stable performance (>90% removal), and the analysis of the used membrane suggested an increase in the relative distribution of oxygen vacancies or ≡Co–OH species, which is favourable for PMS activation. Overall, this study offers a simple strategy for efficient removal of several PPCPs, which could be applied sustainably in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore whether the variants in non MHC proteasome gene are associated with AS and explain the role of the variant in the disease. Material and methods Case-control analysis to identify AS predisposition genes; dual-luciferase reporter assay, immunoblot analysis and osteoclastogenesis assays to detect the function of the positive variant. Affected individuals were diagnosed according to the modified New York Criteria by at least two experienced rheumatologists, and rechecked by another rheumatologist. Results The study included 1037 AS patients and 1014 no rheumatic and arthritis disease controls. The main age of AS onset is between 16 and 35 years old. HLA-B27-positive subjects comprised 90.0% of patients. A nonsynonymous SNP rs12717 in proteasome gene PSMB1 significantly associated with AS. Individuals with CC genotype had a higher onset risk compared with those with GG/GC genotypes (OR = 1.89, P  = 0.0047). We also discovered that PSMB1 regulates the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL) signalling pathway and the disease-associated variant PSMB1-Pro11 significantly inhibits RANKL-induced NF-κB pathway in osteoclast differentiation via the degradation of IKK-β compared with PSMB1-Ala11. RANKL induced osteoclast differentiation was significantly lower in primary monocyte osteoclast precursor from individuals with genotype PSMB1 31C/31C compared with individuals with genotype PSMB1 31G/31G . Conclusions These results reveal a novel understanding of the bone formation and reabsorbing imbalance in AS. The new bone formation phenotype can be attributed to the inhibition of osteoclast differentiation by a more functional PSMB1 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A paired heterogeneous EF-AO flow-through system was developed. • The real-time diffusion process of H 2 O 2 was visualized. • The spatiotemporal distribution of H 2 O 2 in the paired system was investigated. • The EF-AO flow-through configuration enhanced OH utilization. • Operating costs including electrodes, chemicals and electricity were assessed. Improvement to the synergistic performance of cathodic electro-Fenton (EF) and anodic oxidation (AO) has been severely restricted by the tendency for ineffective decomposition of cathode-produced H 2 O 2 at the non-active anode and poor OH utilization. Herein, a paired heterogeneous EF-AO flow-through system, consisting of an FeOCl-deposited graphite felt (FeOCl/GF) cathode and a Ti 4 O 7 membrane anode, was constructed for rapid degradation of oxytetracycline (OTC). The real-time spatiotemporal distribution of H 2 O 2 was systematically investigated and results revealed that the necessity for H 2 O 2 diffusion was eliminating in the proposed system, thus contributing a 2.66-fold increase with respect to OTC degradation kinetics compared to the conventional homogeneous EF-AO system. Meanwhile, the flow-through configuration demonstrated significantly enhanced OH utilization with a 6.65-fold increase in the OTC degradation rate constant compared to the batch mode system. In addition, the EF-AO flow-through system demonstrated a high OTC degradation rate (>80 %) over a wide pH range from 3 to 7 and with different real water matrices. This work opens new avenues for advanced treatment of refractory wastewater using electrochemical advanced oxidation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Annexin A6 (AnxA6) is a lipid-binding protein that regulates cholesterol homeostasis and secretory pathways. However, the correlation of AnxA6 polymorphism with lipometabolism has never been studied in psoriasis. Objectives: To investigate the impact of AnxA6 polymorphism on lipid profiles and the expression of AnxA6 protein in both peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and lipometabolism in psoriasis. Methods: A total of 265 psoriatic patients received methotrexate (MTX) treatment for 12 weeks, after which their lipid profiles were determined by measuring total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs), lipoprotein (a) [LP(a)], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoprotein (a)1 (ApoA1), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB). In addition, AnxA6 (rs11960458) was genotyped in 262 patients and the expression of AnxA6 in PBMCs was measured by Western blotting at baseline and week 8 post-MTX treatment. Results: The CC genotype carriers of rs11960458 had a lower expression of AnxA6 and lower levels of the pro-atherogenic lipids TC, LDL, and ApoB compared to TC genotype carriers. MTX significantly downregulated the levels of the anti-atherogenic lipids HDL-C and ApoA1 and the level of AnxA6 in TC genotype carriers, as well as the level of TGs in CC genotype carriers. Conclusions: The polymorphism of AnxA6, rs11960458, was statistically associated with the levels of pro-atherogenic lipids and with the downregulation of MTX on the levels of anti-atherogenic lipids and TGs in psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to categorize feature classes by capturing subtle differences, hyperspectral images (HSIs) have been extensively used due to the rich spectral-spatial information. The 3D convolution-based neural networks (3DCNNs) have been widely used in HSI classification because of their powerful feature extraction capability. However, the 3DCNN-based HSI classification approach could only extract local features, and the feature maps it produces include a lot of spatial information redundancy, which lowers the classification accuracy. To solve the above problems, we proposed a spatial attention network (SATNet) by combining 3D OctConv and ViT. Firstly, 3D OctConv divided the feature maps into high-frequency maps and low-frequency maps to reduce spatial information redundancy. Secondly, the ViT model was used to obtain global features and effectively combine local-global features for classification. To verify the effectiveness of the method in the paper, a comparison with various mainstream methods on three publicly available datasets was performed, and the results showed the superiority of the proposed method in terms of classification evaluation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The co-inhibitory molecule B7-H4 is located in the genomic regions associated with type 1 diabetes (T1D) susceptibility. However, the correlation of B7-H4 with glycometabolism and dyslipidemia has never been studied. Objective: To explore the influence of B7-H4 polymorphism on the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and dyslipidemia in psoriasis. Methods: In this single-center cross-sectional study, we recruited 265 psoriatic patients receiving methotrexate (MTX) treatment. Thirteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in B7-H4 were genotyped. Serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), lipoprotein (a) (LP(a)), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) were measured at baseline and week 12. Results: The GG genotype carriers of rs12025144 in B7-H4 had a higher prevalence of DM (57.14% vs. 17.71% vs. 18.67%, p = 0.0018), and had a poorer response to MTX in diabetic patients (p < 0.05), compared with AA or AG genotype carriers. The AG genotype of rs2066398 was associated with higher levels of pro-atherogenic lipids. MTX significantly downregulated the level of anti-atherogenic lipid ApoA1 in AA genotype carriers of rs2066398. Conclusions: The genotypes rs12025144 and rs2066398 in B7-H4 were correlated with a higher prevalence of DM and dyslipidemia in psoriasis, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gorlin-Goltz syndrome (GS) is an inherited disease characterized by predisposition to basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and various developmental defects, whose numerous disease-causing PTCH1 mutations have been identified in the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. Methods: In this study, whole exome sequencing was used to screen for both somatic and germline deleterious mutations in three sisters with a lethal GS. The mutations we found were confirmed by subcloning and Sanger sequencing of the genomic DNA. RNA-seq was performed to profile gene expression in paired BCCs samples and the expression levels for selected genes were validated by quantitative PCR. Results: The clinical and histopathologic features were analyzed for the proband in the three-generation GS family. We identified the insertion mutation PTCH1 c.1341dupA (p. L448Tfs*49), which segregated with BCC phenotype and contributed to the death of two in four patients from a Chinese family with GS. Compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCT), four second-hit mutations were found in four of the six pairs of BCC from three patients. Of note, somatic genomic alterations in all six BCC samples were mainly clustered into non-clock-like Signature 7 (ultraviolet mutagenesis) and 11 (related to certain alkylating agents). Both RNA-seq and quantitative RT-PCR confirmed that the mRNA levels of PTCH1 and its effector GLI1 were markedly upregulated in six pairs of BCC samples versus ANCT. Conclusions: The distinct non-clock-like signatures of BCCs indicated that GS was not a life-threatening illness. The main reasons for untimely death of GS patients were PTCH1 mutation, exposure to intense ultraviolet radiationand the poor economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soluble extracellular organic matters (EOM) resulting from algal blooms in water sources can cause severe membrane fouling in water treatment. The effect of pre-ozonation on mitigation of ceramic UF membrane fouling caused by EOM released from Microcystis aeruginosa and the associated fouling mitigation mechanism were investigated through the characterization of hydraulic performance, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectra, molecular weight (MW) distribution, hydrophilicity and model fit of five combined fouling models. Pre-ozonation achieved a remarkable effect of hydraulically reversible fouling mitigation as a result of the selective oxidation of the very high MW hydrophobic biopolymers (⩾20 kDa) to lower MW and more hydrophilic compounds. However, pre-ozonation had a very limited effect on mitigation of hydraulically irreversible fouling dominated by the high MW (1–10 kDa) hydrophilic organics. Modeling results indicated that the EOM-related membrane fouling mitigation by pre-ozonation was more likely ascribed to the alleviation of cake layer and standard pore blocking with standard pore blocking playing a more important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of seasonal algal blooms with harmful algae-derived organic matters threatens the performance of ultrafiltration in drinking water treatment. The hybrid process of in-situ ozonation with ceramic ultrafiltration membrane was proposed for the treatment of algal-rich water with effective removal of algal cells and mitigation of membrane fouling. The mechanism of membrane fouling mitigation with in-situ ozonation was systematically investigated from the perspective of cake layer, gel layer and membrane pore blocking. The results showed that in-situ ozonation treatment can effectively mitigate membrane fouling. For instance, transmembrane pressure was reduced by 75.8% with in-situ ozonation at 1 mg/L. In-situ ozonation resulted in the formation of a more porous and thinner cake layer due to the disintegration of extracellular organic matters that attached on the algal surface. Besides, the portion of very high molecular weight biopolymers (around 100 kDa) and the hydrophobic fraction of algae-derived organic matters, the main component intercepted by the ceramic membrane, were reduced with in-situ ozonation and thus leaded to less severe gel layer fouling. Furthermore, in-situ ozonation induced the accelerated organics degradation within the ceramic membrane pores, alleviating the membrane pore blocking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf area index (LAI) is one of the indicators measuring the growth of rice in the field. LAI monitoring plays an important role in ensuring the stable increase of grain yield. In this study, the canopy reflectance spectrum of rice was obtained by ASD at the elongation, booting, heading and post-flowering stages of rice, and the correlations between the original reflectance (OR), first-derivative transformation (FD), reciprocal transformation (1/R), and logarithmic transformation (LOG) with LAI were analyzed. Characteristic bands of spectral data were then selected based on the successive projections algorithm (SPA) and Pearson correlation. Moreover, ridge regression (RR), partial least squares (PLS), and multivariate stepwise regression (MSR) were conducted to establish estimation models based on characteristic bands and vegetation indices. The research results showed that the correlation between canopy spectrum and LAI was significantly improved after FD transformation. Modeling using SPA to select FD characteristic bands performed better than using Pearson correlation. The optimal modeling combination was FD-SPA-VI-RR, with the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.807 and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.794 for the training set, R2 of 0.878 and RMSE of 0.773 for the validation set 1, and R2 of 0.705 and RMSE of 1.026 for the validation set 2. The results indicated that the present model may predict the rice LAI accurately, meeting the requirements of large-scale statistical monitoring of rice growth indicators in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpine meadows constitute one of the major ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with livestock grazing exerting a considerable impact on their biodiversity. However, the degree to which plant diversity influences community stability under different grazing intensities remains unclear in this region. This study conducted controlled grazing experiments across four levels of grazing intensity (no-, low-, medium-, and high-grazing) based on herbage utilization rate to assess the influence of grazing intensities on plant community structure and diversity-stability relationships. We discovered that high-grazing reduced plant diversity and attenuated the temporal stability and resistance of above-ground biomass. No- and low-grazing could alleviate plant biomass loss, with community resistance being optimal under low-grazing. The direct effects of livestock grazing on temporal stability were found to be negligible. Plant characteristics and diversity accounted for a substantial proportion of livestock grazing effects on community resistance (R 2 = 0.46), as revealed by piecewise structural equation model analysis. The presence of plant diversity enhances the resistance of alpine meadows against disturbance and accelerates the recovery after grazing. Our results suggest that low-grazing intensity may represent a judicious option for preserving species diversity and community stability on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. • Lower grazing intensity can mitigate biomass loss and optimize resistance. • Warm-season grazing maintains or increases plant height, biomass, and diversity. • Grazing-induced changes in plant community structure determine resistance. • Grazing indirectly affects intra-annual temporal stability via plant diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclostationary feature detection is one of the widely used spectrum sensing techniques. Its greatest advantage is that it can effectively separate the signal from the noise under the condition of a low signal‐noise ratio (SNR). Although cyclostationary feature detection is not affected by noise uncertainty like energy detection (ED), conventional cyclic stationary feature detection needs to know the prior conditions of signal cycle frequency (CF), cycle period, and so on. Moreover, the communication signals of authorized users are generally weak, which greatly affects the detection efficiency of cyclic stationary features. Therefore, this paper proposes a blind detection technique of cyclostationary characteristics based on conventional beam synthesis multi‐antenna. The principle is to enhance the signal receiving intensity of the antenna by using beamforming technology, and realize the blind detection of cyclostationary signals by forming the direction of arrival angle. Not only that, the authors also make full use of the Wilk's approximation theorem and the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) to derive the detection probability and false alarm probability. The simulation results show that the proposed cyclic stationary signal detector based on beam synthesis multi‐antenna can realize blind detection of unknown cycle signals in a low SNR environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study to identify of two genes associated with Generalized Pustular Psoriasis (GPP) approved by the Ethics Committee of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Topics discussed include identifying single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the linkage disequilibrium (LD) region using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, analyzing mass spectrograms with MassARRAY TYPER software and detecting allelic by employing the Armitage trend test using Plink 1.07 software.

Background: Biomarkers for distinguishing psoriatic arthritis (PsA) from psoriasis without arthritis (PsO) are still lacking.Methods: We applied isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) and LC-MS/MS to analyze the proteome profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from patients with PsO, patients with PsA, and healthy controls. Bioinformatics analysis and western blotting were performed to identify and validate differentially expressed proteins.Results: We identified 389, 199, 291, and 60 significantly differentially expressed proteins (adj.p < 0.05) in the comparison of all psoriatic patients versus healthy controls, PsO group versus healthy controls, PsA group versus healthy controls, and PsA group versus PsO group, respectively. Among these proteins, 14 proteins may represent promising biomarkers for PsA: SIRT2, NAA50, ARF6, ADPRHL2, SF3B6, SH3KBP1, UBA3, SCP2, RPS5, NUDT5, NCBP1, SYNE1, NDUFB7, HTATSF1. Furthermore, western blotting confirmed that SIRT2 expression was significantly higher in PBMCs from PsA patients than PsO and healthy controls, and was negatively correlated with the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK; p = 0.006, r = - 0.582).Conclusions: This pilot study provided a broad characterization of the proteome of PBMCs in PsA as compared to PsO and healthy controls, which may help to provide prospective strategies for PsA diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The anti-inflammatory effect of glycyrrhizin has been widely recognized, while the specific mechanism of glycyrrhizin in psoriasis remains poorly understood. Results: In the imiquimod-induced mouse model of psoriasis (IMD), we found that glycyrrhizin can substantially improve the adverse symptoms in mice. The hematoxylin-eosin staining results showed that glycyrrhizin can also improve the pathological state of skin cells in IMD mice. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we found that glycyrrhizin substantially inhibited the expression of IL-17A and IFN-γ in the serum of IMD mice. In order to simulate the effect of IL-17A on keratinocytes in psoriasis, we treated HaCaT cells with 100 ng/mL IL-17A (IL-17A-HaCaT cells) for 48 h. Then, using cell-counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and ELISA assays, we found that glycyrrhizin inhibited the proliferation of IL-17A-HaCaT cells and reversed the promotion of IL-6, CCL20, and TNF-α induced by IL-17A. Further, western blotting (WB) results indicated that glycyrrhizin promoted the expression of SIRT1 and inhibited the expression of STAT3 and phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3). By treating IL-17A-HaCaT cells with EX-527 (a potent and selective inhibitor of SIRT1), combined with CCK-8 and WB experiments, we initially found that EX-527 inhibited the proliferation of IL-17A-HaCaT cells and promoted the expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, and acetylated STAT3 (a-STAT3). However, when glycyrrhizin was added at the same time, the proliferation of IL-17A-HaCaT cells increased, and the expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, and a-STAT3 reduced. We then knocked down the expression of SIRT1 via small interfering RNA in IL-17A-HaCaT cells, and the results were consistent with those of EX-527. Conclusions: Together, these results indicated that glycyrrhizin improved psoriasis by inhibiting the expression of IL-17A and IFN-γ in vivo and suppressed the proliferation of IL-17A-HaCaT cells and the expression of STAT3, p-STAT3, and a-STAT3 by upregulating SIRT1 in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials (NMs) have received tremendous attention as emerging adsorbents for environmental applications. The ever-increasing release into aquatic systems and the potential use in water treatment processes heighten the likelihood of the interactions of NMs with aquatic dissolved organic matter (DOM). Once DOM is adsorbed on NMs, it substantially modifies the surface properties, thus altering the fate and transport of NMs, as well as their toxic effects on (micro)organisms in natural and engineered systems. The environmental consequences of DOM-NMs interaction have been widely studied in the literature. In contrast, a comprehensive understanding of DOM-NM complexes, particularly regarding the controlling factors, is still lacking, and its significance has been largely overlooked. This gap in the knowledge mainly arises from the complex and heterogeneous structures of the DOM, which prompts the urgent need to further characterize the DOM properties to deepen the understanding associated with the adsorption processes on NMs. This review aims to provide in-depth insights into the complex DOM adsorption behavior onto NMs, whether they are metal- or carbon-based materials. First, we summarize the up-to-date analytical methods to characterize the DOM to unravel the underlying adsorption mechanisms. Second, the key DOM characteristics governing the adsorption processes are discussed. Next, the environmental factors, such as the nature of adsorbents and solution chemistry, affecting the DOM-NM interactions, are identified and discussed. Finally, future studies are recommended to fully understand the chemical traits of DOM upon its adsorption onto NMs. Image 1 • Traditional and advanced analyses for DOM adsorption are fully reviewed. • Major factors to control DOM-NMs interactions are identified through literature review. • DOM properties governing DOM adsorption behaviors on NMs are highlighted. • Future studies are recommended of better understanding of DOM adsorption onto NMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MoS 2 /NOMC electrode exhibited an electrosorption capacity of 28.82 mg/g. • Porous architecture of electrodes facilitated the desalination performance. • Increased conductivity and hydrophilicity were beneficial to the CDI process. • Capacitive and diffusion-controlled processes contributed to electrosorption. • A good regeneration property of MoS 2 /NOMC was demonstrated. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising technology for seawater and brackish water desalination but still suffers from several drawbacks, such as low electrosorption capacity and less efficient desalination performance. In this study, MoS 2 /NOMC (nitrogen-doped highly ordered mesoporous carbon) composite with enhanced hydrophilicity, conductivity and capacitance was successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal process. The MoS 2 /NOMC electrodes showed efficient desalination performances with an electrosorption capacity of 28.82 mg/g at 1.6 V in 250 mg/L NaCl solution and a maximum electrosorption capacity of 30.49 mg/g based on Langmuir fitting. The mechanism of the enhanced desalination performance of MoS 2 /NOMC electrodes was explored through the characterization of the contributions of the capacitor-controlled (electrical double layer capacitor without charge transfer) and diffusion-controlled processes (charge transfer with N-doping of NOMC as well as the various oxidation states (from + 2 to + 6) of molybdenum atoms (Mo) in MoS 2). Capacitor-controlled process played a major role (with the contribution of 73.17%) for the improved desalination performances of MoS 2 /NOMC electrodes compared to the diffusion-controlled process (with the contribution of 26.83%). In addition, MoS 2 /NOMC electrodes showed an excellent regeneration performance, indicating the potential of MoS 2 /NOMC composite as a promising CDI electrode material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mesoporous CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs (M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs) exhibited a long-lasting catalytic reactivity. • M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs with strong surface adsorption capacity avoid the risk of cobalt-metal leaching. • E H -pH diagram revealed the evolution mechanism of M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs at various pH conditions. • A new perspective for the oxidation behavior and eco-toxicity change of ranitidine (RAN) was proposed. • Theoretical calculations coupled with experiments demonstrated the mechanism of PMS activation. The sluggish redox cycle occurring during the oxidation processes and the biological toxicity caused by the leaching of dissociated cobalt ions dramatically hinder the practical application of cobalt-based catalysts. Herein, we synthesized the hydroxylated multi-walled CNTs coated with mesoporous CuCo 2 O 4 (M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs) to enhance peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The introduction of CNTs enabled M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs with a much better thermal stability. M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs with dual electron-rich active sites (≡Co and ≡Cu) exhibited a long-lasting reactivity for the rapid degradation of micropollutants under mild conditions. In the process of PMS activation, the Cu+/Cu2+ redox couple as an electron donor participated in the conversion of Co3+ to Co2+ through rapid charge transfer. More importantly, this functional material with a highly interconnected conductive network and a strong surface adsorption effect significantly limited the leaching of cobalt ions. Meanwhile, the acute toxicity (LC 50 and EC 50) and the chronic toxicity (ChV) of the intermediates of RAN were significantly reduced compared with RAN after the treatment of the M-CuCo 2 O 4 @CNTs/PMS reaction system. DFT calculations were coupled with experiments to prove that PMS molecules were more favorable to be activated at ≡Co sites compared with ≡Cu sites. Finally, this study offered a new perspective for the activation mechanism of PMS-induced heterogeneous oxidation and an attractive alternative for micropollutants elimination in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developments on TiO 2 -based photocatalytic reduction of oxyanions are presented. • The TiO 2 -based photocatalysts for oxyanions reduction are summarized. • Operational parameters and reduction mechanisms are discussed in detail. • The perspectives of TiO 2 -based photocatalytic reduction of oxyanions are proposed. Nowadays, an increasing discharge of oxyanions to the natural environment has been attracting worldwide attention. TiO 2 -based photocatalysis is regarded as one of the most promising technologies for the conversion of toxic oxyanions (such as chromate, nitrate, nitrite, bromate, perchlorate and selenate) to harmless and/or less toxic substances in contaminated waters. Various types of TiO 2 -based catalysts have been developed, and each of them exhibits its own advantages in catalytic reduction of oxyanions. However, the application of these nanostructured TiO 2 in real water bodies remains a challenge, with limitations associated with sunlight harvesting abilities, production costs, reuse stability and exposure risks. Herein, we aim to present a critical review on reported TiO 2 -based photocatalytic reduction of aqueous oxyanions, provide a comprehensive understanding of the possible reaction pathways of formed active species, and evaluate the reduction performance of different types of TiO 2 -based catalysts. In addition, the impact of operating parameters (such as solution pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and coexisting substances) on catalytic reduction performance is discussed. Furthermore, the perspectives of TiO 2 -based photocatalytic reduction of oxyanions are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the defects of the nonlinear optimization algorithm and the complexity of the physical constraints of the distribution network reconfiguration, the speed and the convergence of the algorithms are usually poor. A fast algorithm for distribution network reconfiguration based on feasibility analysis unit is presented. Firstly, the network simplification method is presented based on the radial construction of the distribution network, and then the conception of basic loop is proved by using the impedance-branch dissipation power theory. By analyzing the quantitative relationship between load and branch power loss and the characteristics of the nodal impedance matrix, the basic loop that is just the minus feasibility analysis unit of the physical reconfiguration optimization is verified. Based on this theory, the path dissipation factor is presented which formed a novel heuristic rules and an improved branch exchange method in order to solve the distribution network reconfiguration problem. In this proposed method, the processing sequence of all the basic loops is firstly defined by the load dissipation component, and then optimal reconfiguration scheme is simply obtained by repeating the above operation until there is no branch need to exchange. Test results of IEEE-69 buses system verified the efficiency and reliably of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis-2 (PSORS2) is caused by the heterozygous mutation of the caspase recruitment domain 14 (CARD14) gene on chromosome 17q25. To evaluate the contribution of CARD14 variants in psoriasis of the Chinese Han population, we performed deep sequencing of the CARD14 gene in 372 Chinese Han patients with psoriasis. The exonic nucleotide variants were confirmed by Sanger sequencing in the affected individuals and 1114 controls. In 27 patients with psoriasis, we identified 15 variations, including three novel variants: c.381C>G (p.Cys127Trp), c.712A>G (p.Met238Val) and c.2260_2261delinsGG (p.Gln754Gly). These findings could enrich and update the Human Gene Mutation Database of CARD14 variants for psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants can be used to produce reclaimed water through membrane distillation (MD), providing a potential solution to the current global water crisis. However, membrane fouling over extended periods of operation reduces the separation performance of MD systems and significantly shortens the operational life-span of the membrane. Herein, in order to overcome these limitations, a novel surface-modified PTFE membrane was fabricated by depositing polydopamine and grafting dextro (d)-tyrosine (Tyr/PDA@PTFE). This synergistic coating was designed to reduce surface hydrophobicity of the PTFE membrane and provide anti-adhesive properties for bacteria, while enhancing flux and anti-fouling performance during MD. The Tyr/PDA@PTFE membranes demonstrated enhanced MD performance and the Tyr-300/PDA@PTFE membrane (with d -tyrosine coating solution concentration of 300 μM) exhibited the best MD performance during direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) of the secondary effluent, with the highest flux (49.1 LMH) compared with the pristine PTFE membrane (34.7 LMH), achieving a flux increase of 41.5%. Long-term DCMD operation showed that the Tyr-300/PDA@PTFE membrane exhibited improved anti-fouling performance compared with the pristine PTFE membrane, with 43.8% flux decay observed after three cycles of use, while the pristine PTFE membrane was unable to complete three cycles of use with an 87.2% decrease in flux observed by middle of the third round. The quality of permeate formed by the Tyr/PDA@PTFE membranes during MD, indicated that they could be operated stably for three cycles of use over a 40 h period, intercepting organic matter in the feed solution. The Tyr-300/PDA@PTFE membrane was especially effective for the removal of low molecular weight and humus-like substances, achieving rejection rates of 89.5% and 86.7%, respectively. Additionally, the Tyr/PDA@PTFE membrane carried the more negative charge and exhibited a high level of resistance to bio-adhesion. This study demonstrates the feasibility of use of this novel Tyr/PDA@PTFE membrane in MD, for the effective treatment of secondary effluent from wastewater treatment plants and the production of reclaimed water. [Display omitted] • Dopamine and d -tyrosine-functionalized PTFE membranes (Tyr/PDA@PTFE) were prepared. • Membrane distillation (MD) performance of Tyr/PDA@PTFE membranes was investigated. • Secondary effluent from a WWTP was selected for MD to produce reclaimed water. • The Tyr-300/PDA@PTFE membrane demonstrated the best MD performance. • Tyr/PDA@PTFE membranes showed enhanced flux and anti-fouling performance during MD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the expression of p53 in ground-glass nodule (GGN) of lung cancer and non-lung cancer patients, and explored the correlation with prognosis. A total of 120 GGN patients admitted to the Department of Respiratory Medicine in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine during the period from March 2010 to March 2014 were selected. These patients included 60 lung cancer patients and 60 non-tumor patients. Biopsy or surgical specimens were collected. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect p53 gene and protein expression in the two groups of GGN tissues. All patients were followed up for 3 years and the relationship between p53 protein expression and the overall survival (OS) of the two groups of patients was analyzed. In GGN cells of non-cancer patients, p53 absence was observed in 6 cases and the absence rate was 10.0%. In GGN cells of cancer patients, the absence rate was significantly higher than that of non-cancer GGN group (p<0.05). The positive rate of p53-positive cases in non-tumor patients GGN group was lower than that of in GGN tissues of lung cancer patients (p<0.05). There were no deaths in the GGN non-cancer group (n=60) within 3 years, while 43 deaths occurred in GGN lung cancer group. The median survival time and the 3-year survival rate of patients with p53 positive was lower than that of p53-negative patients (p<0.05). p53 was overexpressed in GGN of lung cancer patients, and p53 overexpression is significantly correlated with poor prognosis of lung cancer patients. p53 plays an important role in transformation from GGN to lung cancer. Detection of p53 expression in GGN tissue may provide guidance for the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]