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The hydrology and geology of the Xinzhou geothermal field in South China and its surrounding area have been well studied. Previous studies have indicated that mantle heat, granite radioactive heat, and partial melting are the likely key thermal sources. However, neither the geometry of the geothermal reservoir nor the groundwater circulation pattern has been fully characterized. Toward that aim, a grid of magnetotelluric (MT) data has been acquired to reveal the subsurface distribution of electrical conductivity and to detect the geothermal reservoir. An analysis of the phase tensors suggests that 3D MT inversion is essential for accurate interpretation of the data. We perform a 3D full-impedance MT inversion and observe pronounced low electrical conductivity zones in the inverse model. We interpret these materials as widely developed granites that form the bedrock, which is cut by a crisscross of faults. The cracks in the bedrock provide pathways for the vertical and lateral movement of the hydrothermal fluid. The geothermal reservoir appears as a prominent high electrical conductivity anomaly beneath the hot spring. A northwest-dipping zone of enhanced electrical conductivity reaching approximately 6–7 km in depth is found in the southeast part of the study area, and it is interpreted as the geothermal reservoir recharge channel. We develop an inferred underground fluid circulation model, informed by the electrical conductivity of the area, in combination with hydrologic data. We suggest that the water supply of the Xinzhou geothermal field mainly comes from meteoric water, which is mixed with the invading seawater and shallow cold groundwater as it rises along the fault. The results of our MT study confirm earlier inferences that the Xinzhou geothermal field belongs to an intraplate deep-circulation type originated from the mantle heat flow.

Epidemiological dynamics is a vital method in studying the spread of computer network viruses. In this paper, an optimal control measure is proposed based on the SEIR virus propagation model in point-to-group information networks. First, considering the need for antivirus measures in reality, an optimal control problem is introduced, and then a controlled computer virus spread model in point-to-group information networks is established. Second, the optimal control measure is formulated by making a tradeoff between control cost and network loss caused by virus intrusion. Third, optimal control strategies are theoretically investigated by Pontryagin’s maximum principle and the Hamiltonian function. Finally, through numerical simulations, effective measures for controlling virus spread in point-to-group information networks are proposed.

Proteins generally tend to aggregate with less desirable properties in numerous solvents, which is one of the major challenges in the development of solvents for functional proteins. This work aims to utilize fluorescence spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to understand the effects of ionic liquids (ILs) on the fluorescence and aggregation behavior of superfolder green fluorescent protein (sfGFP). The studied ILs consisted of four different anions coupled with primary, tertiary and quaternary ammonium cations. The results show that the chromophore fluorescence was generally maintained in 1 mol% IL-water mixtures, then decreased with increasing IL concentration. We primarily employed the pseudo-radius of gyration (pseudo-Rg) to evaluate sfGFP aggregation. The sfGFP was less aggregated with nitrate-based ILs compared to in buffer, and more aggregated in the mesylate-based ILs. Further, we show that the polyol additives of glycerol and glucose in IL-water mixtures slightly decreased the sfGFP propensity to aggregate. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC)-SAXS was used to characterize the monomeric sfGFP in ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) and triethylammonium mesylate (TEAMs)-water mixtures. The presence of 1 mol% TEAMs maintained the sfGFP fluorescence, promoted the compact structure, but slightly increased the amount of large aggregates, which contrasted with that of EAN.

Localization of quantum Bernoulli noises(LQBNs) are the family of local annihilation and local creation operator acting on Bernoulli functionals. In this paper, we give the local quantum mutual ent...

In this paper, we prove that ζ cannot be a solution to any nontrivial algebraic differential equation whose coefficients are polynomials in Γ , Γ ( n ) and Γ ( l n ) over the ring of polynomials in C, where l , n ≥ 1 are positive integers.

Summary The one-step antisolvent approach is a widely employed method for fabricating perovskite devices at a low cost. However, the current antisolvent approach requires a strict set of processing conditions to obtain high-quality perovskite layers. Here, we introduce sulfolane as an additive in the perovskite precursor to convert the perovskite phase via a new reaction route, providing a large degree of flexibility to process crystalline perovskite layers with high uniformity on a large scale. As it is revealed by X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy findings, we find that the key concept lies in intermolecular hydrogen-bonding forces’ interaction between sulfolane and methylammonium iodide, which slows down the nucleation and subsequently the crystallization process. As a result, we demonstrate a mini module, 36.6 cm2 active area, and achieve a record PCE of 16.06%. More importantly, the encapsulated mini module retained about 90% of the initial performance after operating at the maximum power point under simulated AM1.5G irradiation for 250 h at 50°C.

Three kinds of Ti3C2Tx modified metal sulfide composites have been prepared via a universal one-step strategy. First, three Ti3C2Tx MXene supported MoS3 composites with different surface F/O ratios and layer distances are synthesized. The abundant –OH groups on the surface of LiOH-treated Ti3C2Tx facilitate the effective bonding with MoS3, forming a robust sandwich-like structure (LF/O-Ti3C2Tx/MoS3). As anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), it shows outstanding long-term cycling performance in comparison with the other two Ti3C2Tx supported MoS3 composites. Its reversible capacity can be maintained at 611 mA h g−1 after 1000 long cycles at 2 A g−1, obviously superior to those of single LF/O-Ti3C2Tx and MoS3. Besides SIBs, LF/O-Ti3C2Tx/MoS3 also exhibits satisfying lithium storage performance. Kinetics analysis and theoretical calculation further explain the outstanding performance of LF/O-Ti3C2Tx/MoS3. Moreover, LF/O-Ti3C2Tx modified CuS/SnS2 composites also show similar and excellent electrochemical results for SIBs and LIBs. This facile synthesis strategy opens a door to prepare high-performance Ti3C2Tx supported conversion-type anode materials for large-scale energy storage.

Unlike other parts of the body, jaw defection often involves dental and periodontal tissues, which colonized a great many oral anaerobic bacteria. As a remarkable degradable material, magnesium has become an excellent candidate for orthopedic appliances recently. But the high degradation rate is still a big problem. Making a biodegradable coating with good biocompatibility to slow down the degeneration rate of magnesium is one of the best methods. However, protective coatings will impair the antibacterial effects of magnesium which is caused by the rise of pH value throughout its degradation. To solve this problem, a series of composite coatings with different amounts of CuO particles (3, 5 and 7 wt.%) were fabricated on pure magnesium through plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) to investigate in vitro biocompatibility and the antibacterial abilities against Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis). Surface characterization and degradation behavior of the copper-bearing PEO coatings were also systematically studied. Furthermore, the most optimum coating was also systematically studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical corrosion test. Results of the present research revealed that adding proper amount of CuO into PEO coatings could greatly improve the antibacterial abilities of the PEO coatings. The antibacterial activities of copper-bearing PEO coatings were excellent and revealed concentration-dependent and time-dependent. Biocompatibility of copper-bearing PEO coatings showed that proper amount of Cu could promote cell proliferation. Compared with other PEO coatings in this study, PEO-7Cu showed some inhibition effects on cell proliferation and adhesion for long-term use. Electrochemical corrosion tests and immersion tests showed that PEO-5Cu and PEO-7Cu copper-bearing PEO coatings would provide satisfying corrosion resistance effects, while PEO-3Cu was poorer than PEO coatings without Cu. However, compared with uncoated pure magnesium, the corrosion resistance of the PEO coating was much better. Based on the results of antibacterial ability, biocompatibility, and corrosion resistance of the above copper-bearing PEO coatings, PEO-5Cu in this research was recommended to be used in patients with jaw defects.

The performance of wound dressing determines the effect of wound closure and recovery. Water absorption and bacteriostasis of wound dressings play an important role in wound recovery and healing. In this study, an optimized chitosan wound dressing-tough chitosan dressing (TCS) with high water absorption, high bacteriostasis, and degradability was developed. The chemical structure of chitosan remained stable during the process of optimized treatment, and an increase in mechanical properties was obtained for the dressing. After optimization, the water absorption and antibacterial properties of the chitosan dressing were greatly improved, which is significantly better than sodium alginate dressing. The authors believe that TCS dressing with high hygroscopicity and high bacteriostasis has great potential application value in the field of wound recovery and healing.

The stability of the surrounding rock masses of underground powerhouses is always emphasized during the construction period. With the general trends toward large-scale, complex geological conditions and the rapid construction progress of underground powerhouses, deformation and failure issues of the surrounding rock mass can emerge, putting the safety of construction and operation in jeopardy and causing enormous economic loss. To solve these problems, an understanding of the origins and key affecting factors is required. Based on domestic large-scale underground powerhouse cases in the past two decades, key factors affecting the deformation and failure of the surrounding rock mass are summarized in this paper. Among these factors, the two most fundamental factors are the rock mass properties and in situ stress, which impart tremendous impacts on surrounding rock mass stability in a number of cases. Excavation is a prerequisite of surrounding rock mass failure and support that is classified as part of the construction process and plays a pivotal role in preventing and arresting deformation and failure. Additionally, the layout and structure of the powerhouse are consequential. The interrelation and interaction of these factors are discussed at the end of this paper. The results can hopefully advance the understanding of the deformation and failure of surrounding rock masses and provide a reference for design and construction with respect to hydroelectric underground powerhouses.

The structural characterization of sublayer surfaces of MIL-101 is reported by low-dose spherical aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The state-of-the-art microscopy directly images atomic/molecular configurations in thin crystals from charge density projections, and uncovers the structures of sublayer surfaces and their evolution to stable surfaces regulated by inorganic Cr3 (μ3 -O) trimers. This study provides compelling evidence of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) crystal growth via the assembly of sublayer surfaces and has important implications in understanding the crystal growth and surface-related properties of MOFs.

Perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) have attracted increasing attention due to their global distribution, high chemical stability and persistence. As a powerful reductant, hydrated electron () shows extraordinary reactivity towards halogenated organic substances like PFSAs. In this study, -based photo-decomposition of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) in a VUV/sulfite system was investigated. The kobs of PFHxS decomposition in the studied system was 0.0049 ± 0.0005 min−1, which was 24.5-fold faster than that in a sole VUV system. It was demonstrated that was the main reactive species responsible for PFHxS decomposition. PFHxS decomposition kinetics were accelerated at higher initial solution pH and sulfite dosage, but were restrained when higher initial PFHxS concentration was introduced. Co-existence of chloride showed slight enhancement of PFHxS decomposition, whereas nitrate and bicarbonate suppressed PFHxS decomposition. Accompanying PFHxS decomposition, short chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) were detected as main intermediate products. PFHxS decomposition started with C-S bond fracture, followed by perfluoroalkyl radical hydrolysis reactions and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) formation. Afterwards, PFHxA was defluorinated by stepwise loss of CF2 units to generate other short chain PFCAs.

We prove some uniqueness results of the Riemann zeta-function $$\zeta $$ and the Euler gamma-function $$\Gamma $$ by virtue of shared values via the value distribution theory. In addition, some related problems for families of general meromorphic functions are discussed.

Point-of-use (POU) devices with satisfactory lead (Pb2+) removal performance are urgently needed in response to recent outbreaks of lead contamination in drinking water. This study experimentally demonstrated the excellent lead removal capability of two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 nanosheets in aqueous form and as part of a layer-stacked membrane. Among all materials ever reported in the literature, MoS2 nanosheets exhibit the highest adsorption capacity (740 mg/g), and the strongest selectivity/affinity toward Pb2+ with a distribution coefficient Kd that is orders of magnitude higher than that of other lead adsorption materials (5.2 × 107 mL/g). Density functional theory (DFT) simulation was performed to complement experimental measurements and to help understand the adsorption mechanisms. The results confirmed that the cation selectivity of MoS2 follows the order Pb2+ > Cu2+ ≫ Cd2+ > Zn2+, Ni2+ > Mg2+, K+, Ca2+. The membrane formed with layer-stacked MoS2 nanosheets exhibited a high water flux (145 L/m2/h/bar), while effectively decreasing Pb2+ concentration in drinking water from a few mg/L to less than 10 μg/L. The removal capacity of the MoS2 membrane is a few orders of magnitude higher than that of other literature-reported membrane filters. Therefore, the layer-stacked MoS2 membrane has great potential for POU removal of lead from drinking water.

The surface topology of biomaterial has a definite effect on the growth behavior of nerve cells for peripheral nerve regeneration. In this study, the silk fibroin (SF) film with different anisotropic microgroove/ridge was constructed by micropatterning technology. The effects of topologies width on the directional growth of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were evaluated. The results showed that the topological structure of the SF film with higher SF concentration was more clear and complete. The microtopography of the SF film with a concentration of 15% and a groove width of around 30 μm could effectively guide the directional growth of the nerve fibers of DRG. And nerve fibers could obviously form nerve fiber bundles which may have a certain pavement effect on the recovery of nerve function. The study indicated that the SF film with a specific width of the topological structure may have potential applications in the field of directional nerve regeneration.

Aptamers have been widely used as recognition elements in electrochemical sensors. However, as the most expensive consumable, the aptasensors regeneration is still a critical challenge for sustainable feasibility and attracting great interest from researchers, due to the high affinity between the aptamers and their targets (the dissociation constant Kd is low to subnanomolar or nanomolar). In this work, we propose a photochromic five-azobenzene-inserted thrombin-aptamer based aptasensor to improve the regenerativity. With ultraviolet light exposure, the trans-structure of azobenzene changes to cis-structure, and open the folded aptamer to realize the aptasensor regeneration. The limit of detection can be sensitive to 3 pM (S/N = 3). The thrombin concentrations were detected to be 2.48 ± 0.02 and 20.26 ± 0.98 nM (n = 3) in duck whole blood and blood serum, respectively. Utilizing surface plasmon resonance, we demonstrated that the certain azobenzene moieties can exactly increase Kd of aptamer-thrombin bounding. The photodriven conversion of thrombin-aptamer from G-quadruplex to loosen structure approaches a convenient regeneration for aptasensor, which will promote its popularization and sustainable feasibility.

Urban Living Labs (ULLs) are widely believed to provide a safe environment for experimentation, co-creation and evaluation of innovations in real-life settings. A growing number of cities have been adopting ULLs to co-create and test Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). However, many of these cities have been facing major barriers in trying to adopt the ULL approach for implementing NBS. In this study, we seek to identify these barriers and provide a systemic understanding. Barriers are identified by means of workshops and interviews. Subsequently, interpretive structural modelling serves to identify the interdependencies among the barriers, resulting in a structural model of barriers in adopting ULLs for NBS. Our results show that political and institutional barriers are significantly limiting the adoption of ULLs. Moreover, knowledge brokers and other intermediaries, as well as cross-sectoral collaboration, play a key role in getting ULLs adopted. The findings from this study can help cities to develop strategies that overcome the main barriers for ULL adoption in the context of nature-based solutions.

Carbon allotropes have been widely investigated in photoelectric applications, including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), graphene, and C60, due to their high carrier mobility and superior o...

All-inorganic lead halide perovskites are ideal platforms to investigate the fundamental physics of the light–matter interactions, due to their strong oscillator strength at room temperature and va...

In this paper, we study the existence and multiplicity results of nontrivial positive solutions to a quasilinear elliptic equation in $\RN$, when $N\geq2$, as \begin{equation} \Lp u+u^{p-1}=\lambda\hspace{0.2mm}k(x)u^{r-1}-h(x)u^{q-1}.\nonumber \end{equation} Here, $h(x),k(x)>0$ are Lebesgue measurable functions, $10$ is a parameter.

Linguistic term sets combining with different types of fuzzy sets to settle decision making problems have been a hot area of decision making research. Linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy sets (LPFSs) and soft sets have strong ability to model uncertainty of decision-making. However, there are still few studies about LPFSs at present and these studies have some deficiencies. Aiming at these problems, we do the following things. Firstly, we give the definition of linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy soft sets (LPFSSs), redefine the entropy for LPFSs and introduce a novel linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy entropy which is more simple and valid. Then we give another way to represent linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (LPFNs) which can better reflect the characteristics of LPFSs. Based on that, we give the definition of distance measures for LPFSs and propose a series of distance measures for LPFNs and LPFSs. Finally, we improve the TOPSIS method with the proposed entropy and distance measure under LPFSSs environment and then apply the method in two cases. Compared with other methods, it's shown that our method has better distinguishability in evaluation results and can deal with group decision-making problems under LPFSSs environment.

This study systematically investigated the performance of ozonation on tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) degradation under different ozone dosages (5.21–83.33 μmoL/L), initial solution pH (3.0–11.0) and temperatures (10–50 °C). At the same time, the generations of inorganic products (bromide ion and bromate) under different experimental conditions were evaluated and the organic products were also identified. Then, the possible mechanism was proposed and verified by the quantum chemical calculation. In addition, variations and controlling of the toxicity were also analyzed, including acute toxicity, chronic toxicity and genotoxicity. Ozonation was proved to be an efficient and promising technology for removing TBBPA from water. TBBPA of 1.84 μmoL/L could be completely degraded within 5 min under the ozone dosage of 41.67 μmoL/L in wide ranges of pH (3.0–11.0) and temperature (10–40 °C). During the degradation of TBBPA, over 65% of the average bromine ion was detected and nine products were identified. The proposed degradation pathways verified that TBBPA might undergo addition and stepwise oxidative debromination, the hydrogen extraction, and the deprotonation. The results of toxicity testing showed that ozonation could effectively control the acute and chronic toxicity of the water samples, although the toxicity increased in the initial reaction stage due to the accumulation of more toxic intermediates.

A widely held hypothesis in evolution is that adaptive specialization constrains the potential direction of future evolutionary change and thus may be irreversible, also known as Dollo's law. However, this hypothesis has long been subject to debate in evolutionary biology. Floral specialization is intriguing as it is usually linked to reproductive isolation and could affect speciation. Here, following the discovery of four new taxa, we observed some interesting phenomena of reversal versus specialization in morphology in a clade with the most specialized flowers in the genus Petrocosmea. In the phylogenetic tree based on sequences of multiple DNA regions, the morphological reversals, especially the regain of a long corolla tube, are nested within the branches characteristic of normally specialized flowers with a short corolla tube and highly specialized zygomorphy. Our results indicate that the highly specialized floral organ of this clade is still actively evolving in multiple branches toward specialization while reversals to different ancestral states occur in some branches. Great disturbance of ecological environment is likely a crucial factor affecting trait reversibility, such as the rapid uplift of the Himalayan–Tibetan plateau. The four new taxa are treated herein taxonomically. The flowers of this clade represent an interesting model to explore the genetic basis underlying the evolutionary reversal versus specialization and the interplay between genetic factors and environmental variables.

The impact of the urban morphology on greenhouse gas emission is one of the key issues on global climate change. Since the urban form is directly related to the spatial distribution of urban land use, it is necessary to investigate the relation between carbon emission and different land use categories. In this paper, the city of Eindhoven (230,000 inhabitants) was used as a case study. According to the main road network, the entire city is divided into 6754 irregular patterns. Agglomerative cluster analysis was conducted to classify the patterns into 14 valid land use categories based on their land use function and land cover composition namely: agriculture, transport, retail trade, green space (with 3 sub-categories), residential (with 7 sub-categories), and others. The random forest algorithm was applied to select the significant features and to measure the relation between land use and carbon emission. The results have shown the importance of various landscape metrics on the carbon emission in each land use category. The most significant landscape metric is selected to describe the impact of spatial attributes on carbon emission. The outcomes show the carbon emission distribution of each land use category in the city. The retail trade and residential land use categories contribute a large proportion of carbon emission, terrace houses produce more carbon emission than other residential building categories. The combination of mid-rise buildings and low-rise buildings has a higher probability to produce more carbon emission. The assessment results can provide important support for the low carbon city spatial planning.

Aeromagnetic compensation, elimination of magnetic interferences produced by the aircraft platform, plays a vital role in aeromagnetic applications. Conventional compensation methods are based on the Tolles-Lawson (T-L) model, which accounts for only the manoeuvring interferences. However, magnetic interferences due to other factors, such as currents from electrical systems and movable parts, are found significant in practice. In this study, the authors take these interference factors into consideration, including the strobe light and beacon light, the rudder and elevator. The magnetic interference from constant current is equivalent to the `permanent magnetisation' and has been contained in the T-L model. The interferences due to the strobe and beacon lights are modelled to be proportional to the currents and their temporal variations. The model coefficients can be estimated in advance in a ground experiment. The interferences by the pivoting rudder and elevator are still characterised by the T-L model but in the local rudder or elevator coordinate systems, and the compensated coefficients can be obtained on the ground or in the sky. Onsite experiments both on the ground and in the sky are conducted to illustrate the proposed modelling, and improved compensation results are obtained.

Photocatalytic performance of four tetracycline antibiotics using BiVO 4 /TiO 2 /RGO composites was investigated. To make full use of catalysis, optimum preparation conditions involved RGO content, solution pH and hydrothermal temperature on the structure forming of BiVO 4 /TiO 2 /RGO composites were investigated. Subsequently, the obtained visible light-driven photocatalyst was used to degrade four kinds of tetracycline antibiotics involved tetracycline (TC), chlortetracycline (CTC), oxytetracycline (OTC) and doxycycline (DXC) for wastewater treatment. Results showed that BiVO 4 /TiO 2 /RGO photocatalyst exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and high compatibility due to the enhanced separation efficiency of photo-generated carriers with high reduction and oxidation capability. The degradation process of four kinds of tetracycline antibiotics was traced and detected through identifying intermediates produced in the reaction system. And a possible catalytic mechanism for BiVO 4 /TiO 2 /RGO photocatalyst was put forward based on band gap structure of BiVO 4 and TiO 2 .

Network motif analysis is a useful tool for the investigation of complex networks. We study the profiles of tetradic motifs in horizontal visibility graphs (HVGs) converted from multifractal binomial measures, fractional Gaussian noises, and heartbeat rates. The profiles of tetradic motifs contains the spatial information (visibility) and temporal information (relative magnitude) among the data points in the corresponding time series. For multifractal binomial measures, the occurrence frequencies of the tetradic motifs are determined, which converge to a constant vector $(2/3,0,8/99,8/33,1/99,0)$. For fractional Gaussian noises, the motif occurrence frequencies are found to depend nonlinearly on the Hurst exponent and the length of time series. These findings suggest the potential ability of tetradic motif profiles in distinguishing different types of time series. Finally, we apply the tetradic motif analysis to heartbeat rates of healthy subjects, congestive heart failure (CHF) subjects, and atrial fibrillation (AF) subjects. Different subjects can be distinguished from the occurrence frequencies of tetradic motifs., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

We construct the empirical information network (EIN) of traders using the order flow data of the constituent stocks of SZSE 100 Index in 2013. A statistical validation method is applied to the edges of the network to filter out noises and uncover the intrinsic interaction behaviors of traders. We investigate the correlation between topological structures and statistical properties for their largest connected components. We find that the statistical validated network shows an assortative mixing pattern while the original network exhibits a disassortative mixing pattern. We consider two definitions of edge weight for comparison but there is no significant difference in a same network. We also analyze the mutual relationships among node degree, edge weight and node strength.

Membrane-based filtration is a promising technique to treat the enormous amounts of oily wastewater, specifically those with micron-sized oil droplets. However, the understanding on the effect of the surfactants, that are inevitably present to stabilize the oil emulsion, on the filtration performance remains poor. This study aimed to investigate the effect of surfactant type (namely, non-ionic Tween 20, positively charged CTAB, and negatively charged SDS) on filtration flux and membrane fouling during the microfiltration of the surfactant-stabilized oil emulsion with mean droplet sizes of approximately 20 μm. The Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) was employed to quantify the evolution of fouling, and both the DLVO and XDLVO models were used to quantify the oil droplet-membrane and oil droplet-deposited layer interaction energies. Two key understanding on the correlation between the DLVO and XDLVO predictions with flux and fouling were obtained. Firstly, the steep flux enhancement vis-à-vis a DI water feed by the feed containing CTAB-stabilized oil emulsion was tied to the attractive interaction of the surfactant with the membrane, as evident from the DLVO model. This attraction was not related to the extent of membrane fouling, which was relatively lesser for the CTAB-stabilized oil emulsion. Secondly, the extent of membrane fouling was tied to the repulsive energy magnitudes rather than attractive ones, specifically in that the least repulsive energy values of the Tween 20 – stabilized oil emulsion was linked to the most extensive fouling. Economic Development Board (EDB) Ministry of Education (MOE) We acknowledge funding from the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Funds Tier 2 (MOE2014-T2-2-074; ARC16/15) and Tier 1 (2015-T1-001-023; RG7/15), the GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) – EDB (Economic Development Board) Trust Fund, and the Joint Singapore Germany Research Project Fund (SGP-PROG3-019).

The evolution of the cake during dead-end microfiltration of different compositions of bidisperse feeds was investigated using network modeling and three-dimensional (3D) optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. The foulant particles were latex of two different sizes (namely, 3 and 5 µm) and the membrane was polycarbonate track-etched with nominal diameter of 2 µm. The results from the network model indicate that (i) the deposition of the smaller particles on the non-porous area was reduced by the presence of larger particles, whereas that of the larger particles was not affected by the concentration of the smaller ones; and (ii) monodisperse small particles gave a greater specific cake resistance than monodisperse large particles, and the specific cake resistance of the bidisperse mixture can only be reduced with a sufficient proportion of larger particles. OCT results substantiated the model by revealing that (i) bidisperse feeds tended to form homogeneous cakes, but the presence of a higher concentration of large particles led to heterogeneous cakes; (ii) the presence of a lower concentration of larger particles enhanced clustering, while a higher concentration reduced that; and (iii) in the longer-term filtration, the monodisperse feed of small particles dynamically deposited and detach continuously, while the bidisperse feed with the highest concentration of larger particles exhibited negligible deposition and detachment. Economic Development Board (EDB) Ministry of Education (MOE) We acknowledge funding from the Ministry of Education - Singapore Academic Research Funds Tier 2 (MOE2014-T2-2-074; ARC16/15) and Tier 1 (2015-T1-001-023; RG7/15), the GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) – EDB (Economic Development Board - Singapore) Trust Fund, and the Joint Singapore-Germany Research Project Fund (SGP-PROG3-019).

The Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped Y7O6F9 phosphor is synthesized by a typical hydrothermal method. The Y7O6F9: 0.6%Er3+/0.2%Tm3+/15%Yb3+ phosphor is selected for the study. The up-conversion characteristics and temperature sensing performances of the phosphor are investigated under the excitation of 980 nm laser. The temperature sensing performances are investigated in the temperature range of 306–546 K based on thermal and non-thermal coupled levels by using fluorescence intensity ratio technology. The maximum sensitivity is 54.3 × 10−3 K−1 at 546 K, which is based on 3F2,3 (red emission at 695 nm of Tm3+) and 4S3/2 (green emission at 545 nm of Er3+) levels. After comparison, it is found that the sensing sensitivity of Y7O6F9: 0.6%Er3+/0.2%Tm3+/15%Yb3+ phosphor is relatively high. The excellent temperature sensing performances of the phosphor are verified. What's more, the white luminescent emission of the phosphor is achieved by adjusting excitation power and sample temperature during the experiment. And the luminescent emission color of the phosphor can be modulated widely. The above experimental results not only enable us to have a deeper understanding of tunable upconversion luminescent emission and optical temperature sensing, but also provide a significant step for high sensitivity thermometry, white light illuminating and color displaying.

Due to its potential application in nuclear cladding system, Fe-Cr-Al alloys have attracted significant interest recently. Thus, it is of importance to acquire the classical interatomic interaction potential in order to predict the mechanical behavior of FeCrAl structures at the microscopic scale. In this work, the particle swarm optimization method has been applied and improved to develop the interatomic potentials for Fe, Cr, Al unitary systems and Fe-Cr, Fe-Al binary systems. The potential parameters are fitted to experimental elastic constants, first principle calculated lattice information and defect formation energies with consideration of force matching. The developed Fe-Cr-Al ternary potentials are used to predict the phase stability region for FeCrAl ferrite alloys. The bulk modulus for the single crystal and the plastic behavior under grain boundary tensile stress are also modeled to find the influence of Cr and Al contents on the mechanical properties of FeCrAl alloys. The solutes Cr would improve the mechanical properties while high Al content would lead to poor elastic and plastic properties. The predictions from the newly developed potential are in good agreement with experimental results.

Cadmium (Cd), a hazardous environmental contaminant with irreversible toxicity to fish, has been detected in aquatic environment of many countries. The common carp is one of the most widely distributed fish in the world, so we used common carp to assess environmental contaminant risk. In present study, we investigated effects of Cd on immune function, oxidative defense, and glycometabolism in the spleens of common carp by transcriptome analysis. Obtained 3794 differentially expressed genes (including 1848 up-regulated and 1946 down-regulated genes) were enriched using databases of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and Gene Ontology in David bioinformatics software (version 6.8). The pathways and gene functions of immune, oxidative defense, and glycometabolism were obtained and identified. Some relative genes were validated using qRT-PCR and gene expression of IL-1β, INF-γ, IL-6, Cxcl18b, HO-1a, CAT, GPx1, GCK, and FBA decreased; and gene expression of B4GALT1, GPAT3, and CYP26B1 increased. Our results indicated that Cd exposure led to immunosuppression, oxidative stress, and glycometabolism disorder in the common carp spleens. The present study gives a novel insight and method on environmental risk assessment.

The distribution, source and fate of the heavy metals mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in surface sediments from the East China Sea (ECS) were studied using mercury, lead and strontium (Sr) isotopic ratios. Hydrodynamic circulation and the sedimentary depositional process within the ECS were the dominant factors controlling the distribution and fate of heavy metals, referring from relationships of heavy metals (Hg and Pb) concentrations and total organic carbon (TOC) and clay contents. Spatial variations in Hg isotopic compositions (δ202Hg) were observed in the ECS, with δ202Hg ranging from −1.86 to −0.83‰ and Δ199Hg ranging from −0.07 to +0.26‰. The high δ202Hg values and relatively negative Δ199Hg values in estuarine and inner shelf sites indicated that the riverine inputs from Changjiang River played an important role in delivering Hg to ECS. In contrast, Hg isotopic signatures in outer shelf sediments had relatively low δ202Hg and positive Δ199Hg, implying that atmospheric Hg deposition could be a relatively dominant source for Hg. Using these Hg isotope compositions, the source attributions of sediments in ECS were estimated based on a triple mixing model, suggesting that river-dominated inputs, discharging pollutants from industrial sources, and atmospheric deposition could dominate in the occurrence and fate of Hg in surface sediments of ECS. Moreover, the results of Pb and Sr isotopic ratios in surface sediment samples and potential sources showed that the Pb accumulated in the ECS was mainly from background and anthropogenic sources, with the contribution rates of 45% and 55%, respectively.

The stable and radioactive isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C and δ2H) of black carbon (BC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the sediment from the western coastal areas of the Yellow Sea (i.e. the Jiangsu coastal areas (JCA)) were examined to identify the sources these environmental pollutants in the JCA. The results presented that the spatial heterogeneous characteristics of BC and PAHs were markedly presented in the JCA. This was suggestive of presence of the contributions of multiple potential environmental pollution sources. This can be solved and decoupled by applying the Bayesian mode. Accordingly, the statistical model showed that the major environmental pollution contributions is considered as coal combustion (39%) in the JCA. The liquid fossil fuels, petrogenic sources, and biomass combustion were accounted for 27%, 19%, and 15% in the JCA, respectively. The stable and radioactive carbon isotopic ratios (δ13C and Δ14C) of BC collected from the JCA are also applied to discriminate quantitatively the source of contamination. It is demonstrated that the BC in this study originates mainly from combustion of fossil fuels. And rock-derived BC as well as C3 and C4 plants combustions are also numerically predominant for BC and PAHs pollution in the coastal area. It is implied that the environmental PAHs and BC in the JCA seem to origin relatively homologies sources. Furthermore, it is suggested that the stable and radioactive carbon isotopes as well as hydrogen isotopes may be powerful and useful method to source apportionment, and have much advantages to clarify quantitatively BC and PAH pollutions in the coastal environment, but also detailed insights into the source apportionment and fate of the organic carbon in the marginal sea.

As the spatial carrier of carbon emission from land ecosystems and human activities, land use plays an important role in representing the spatial distribution of carbon emissions and carbon sinks. The intension of CO2 emission is closely attached to the fundamental unit of urban form—land use patterns. The exploration of the low-carbon oriented spatial optimization provides new scope for solving the high carbon emission in the urban area through spatial planning. In this paper, Eindhoven in the Netherlands was selected as the case study to implement spatial optimization. A set of parameters containing the spatial attributes of buildings and vegetation were introduced to classify the land use patterns into six categories through a combined random forest algorithm and regression tree approach. The results show the geographic features of vegetation are the crucial factors for the carbon emission. The multi-objective spatial optimization model integrated carbon emission, population, and constraint conditions. It is solved with non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), in which each gene represents a specific type of land use category. The optimal solutions were incorporated with a regression model to analyze the impact of the variation in each land use category. Three categories were proved to be more influential on carbon emission performance. The optimized land use structure shows the potential to reduce the carbon emission and offer valuable consults to low carbon land use plan.

Nanofiltration (NF) with high water flux and precise separation performance with high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity is ideal for lithium brine recovery. However, conventional polyamide-based commercial NF membranes are ineffective in lithium recovery processes due to their undesired Li+/Mg2+ selectivity. In addition, they are constrained by the water permeance selectivity trade-off, which means that a highly permeable membrane often has lower selectivity. In this study, we developed a novel nonpolyamide NF membrane based on metal-coordinated structure, which exhibits simultaneously improved water permeance and Li+/Mg2+ selectivity. Specifically, the optimized Cu-m-phenylenediamine (MPD) membrane demonstrated a high water permeance of 16.2 ± 2.7 LMH/bar and a high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity of 8.0 ± 1.0, which surpassed the trade-off of permeance selectivity. Meanwhile, the existence of copper in the Cu-MPD membrane further enhanced anti-biofouling property and the metal-coordinated nanofiltration membrane possesses a pH-responsive property. Finally, a transport model based on the Nernst-Planck equations has been developed to fit the water flux and rejection of uncharged solutes to the experiments conducted. The model had a deviation below 2% for all experiments performed and suggested an average pore radius of 1.25 nm with a porosity of 21% for the Cu-MPD membrane. Overall, our study provides an exciting approach for fabricating a nonpolyamide high-performance nanofiltration membrane in the context of lithium recovery.

Cadmium (Cd) is a typical pollutant and carcinogen in environment. Exposure assessment of contaminants is an important component of occupational and environmental epidemiological studies. Early studies of Cd have focused on aquatic animals, chickens and rats. However, toxicological evaluation of Cd in pigs has not been reported. Therefore, twelve pigs were randomly divided into two groups (n = 6): the control group and the Cd group (Cd content: 15 ± 0.242 mg/kg feed) in this study, the experimental period was 30 d, and the toxic effects of Cd on the liver of weanling piglets were examined by antioxidant function, liver function, Cd content, histological examination and transcriptomics. The results showed that the changes of antioxidant function, liver function and Cd content were significant in the liver. Transcriptional profiling results showed that 399 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly up-regulated while 369 DEGs were remarkably down-regulated in Cd group, and which were concentrated in three ontologies: molecular function, cellular component and biological processes. Interestingly, significant changes in some genes of the cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP450) and solute carrier (SLC) families have been observed and were consistent with qRT-PCR results. In conclusion, Cd could cause liver injury in weanling piglets and change the transcriptomic characteristics of liver. CYP450 and SLC families play an indispensable role in Cd-mediated hepatotoxicity. Importantly, changes in mRNA levels of CYP2B22, CYP7A1, CYP8B1, SLC26A8, SLC11A1, SLC27A2 and SLC22A7 induced by Cd have been reported for the first time. Our findings will provide a new insight for better assessing the mechanism of Cd toxicity to the liver.

As soybean plays an indispensable role in the supply of vegetable oil and protein, balancing the relationship between seed quality and yield traits according to human demand has become an important breeding goal for soybean improvement. Here, 256 intraspecific recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from a cross between Qi Huang No.34 (QH34) and Ji Dou No.17 (JD17), were used for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping with remarkable four chemical and physical properties with a purpose for exploring the distribution of excellent alleles in germplasm resources in China. A total of 25 QTLs were detected, of which 10 QTLs inherited the alleles from the parent QH34. Pedigree research on favorable alleles on these QTLs showed the process of excellent alleles pyramided into QH34. Meta-analysis of the 25 QTLs by comparing with existed QTLs in previous study identified 17 novel QTLs. QTLs with pleiotropic effects have been detected. Furthermore, three representative elite recombinant inbred lines in different locations that have great potential in soybean breeding were selected, and finally, four seed weight-related candidate genes were identified. The discovery of these QTLs provides a new guidance for combining the diversity and rarity of germplasm resources, which can effectively increase population genetic diversity and broaden genetic basis of varieties.

Viscoelastic polymer solution shows shear thinning behavior at low shear rates and shear thickening behavior at high shear rates in reservoirs. However, models that ignored shear thickening behavior were commonly employed to interpret transient pressure data derived from tested wells in viscoelastic polymer flooding systems; although, viscoelastic polymer solutions show shear thickening behavior in the near-wellbore region due to high shear rate. To better characterize the oilfield with pressure transient analysis in viscoelastic polymer flooding systems, we developed a numerical model that takes into account both shear thinning behavior and shear thickening behavior. A finite volume method was employed to discretize partially differential flow equations in a hybrid grid system including PEBI mesh and Cartesian grid, and the Newton-Raphson method was used to solve the fully implicit nonlinear system. To illustrate the significance of our model, we compared our model with a model that ignores the shear thickening behavior by graphing their solutions on log-log plots. In the flow regime of near-wellbore damage, the pressure derivative computed by our model is distinctly larger than that computed by the model ignoring shear thickening behavior. Furthermore, the effect of shear thickening behavior on pressure derivative differs from that of near-wellbore damage. We then investigated the influence of shear thickening behavior on pressure derivative with different polymer injection rates, injection rates, and permeabilities. The results can provide a benchmark to better estimate near-wellbore damage in viscoelastic polymer flooding systems. Besides, we demonstrated the applicability and accuracy of our model by interpreting transient pressure data from a field case in an oilfield with viscoelastic polymer flooding treatments.

A specific functionality in the adsorbent materials plays a significant role for the selective capture of heavy metals based on Pearson's Hard-Soft-Acid-Base (HSAB) concept. Herein, we introduced single and double amino- and thiol-functionalities into the UiO-66 framework, which acted as hard and soft base sites for heavy metal adsorption, respectively. The synthesized adsorbents (labelled as NH2-UiO-66, (NH2)2-UiO-66, SH-UiO-66 and (SH)2-UiO-66) were applied for the selective removal of lead (Pb) ions from contaminated water. The removal efficiency of Pb was about 64, 85, 75 and 99% (pH = 6, T = 30 °C, sample dosage = 10 mg, Pb concentration = 100 mg L−1), respectively, based on available number of interacting sites in the respective adsorbent. To elaborate HSAB concept, the interacting sites of these functional groups towards Pb were explored by identifying their possible types of interactions in terms of soft acid-base affinity, coordinate and covalent bonding, chelation, π-π interactions and synergetic effect of bonding. Density functional theory (DFT) simulation was used to confirm these interactions and to help the better understanding of adsorption mechanism. Model fitting and characterization of Pb-sorbed adsorbents were also performed to reveal kinetics, order of adsorptive reaction, thermodynamics and adsorption mechanism. Moreover, the optimization of adsorptive removal was performed by controlled parameters including time, initial concentration, pH and temperature. The reusability and selectivity of these adsorbents along with recovery of Pb(II) were also assessed. This study presents the conceptual framework for the design of functional adsorbents in the removal of heavy metals using the HSAB principle as an intended guideline.

Thermal modification (TM) improves the hydrophobicity, dimensional stability, and durability of wood, but TM commonly results in severe color change and mechanical strength loss as wood is treated at higher temperature. In this study, Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz wood was thermally modified at moderate temperature (150 &deg, C) and higher temperature (200 &deg, C), and subsequently TM wood at 150 &deg, C was subjected to wax impregnation (WI), the effect of a combination of TM and WI on the hygroscopicity, dimensional stability, and mechanical properties, as well as the micro-structure of wood, were investigated and compared. The results showed that the mass loss of wood was slight at 150 &deg, C TM, while it became severe at 200 &deg, C TM conditions. TM conditions affected the amount of the subsequent wax impregnation, the equilibrium moisture content (EMC), water absorption ratio, and adsorption and absorption swelling of the 150 &deg, C TM + WI group were lower than that of 200 &deg, C TM, and presented the lowest value. Moderate temperature TM could improve the hydrophobicity and dimensional stability of wood, but WI played a key role in the improvement. TM decreased the modulus of rupture (MOR) of wood, while WI improved the MOR. TM increased the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of wood, but WI had little effect on MOE, Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that the wax was successfully impregnated into the wood interior, and presented an even distribution on the internal surfaces of wood cells, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra verified the changes of &ndash, OH and C=O after TM and TM + WI, which contributed to decreasing hygroscopicity and improving the dimensional stability of the wood. Impregnated wax improved wood mechanical strength, but decreased the lightness, and deepened the color of wood. The combination of thermal modification at moderate temperature with subsequent wax impregnation is a practical approach for improving wood properties.

46 monocot chimeric jacalins (MCJs) were mined from wheat genome. They were divided into three subfamilies with the activity of mannose-specific lectins and had effects on dehydration tolerance or disease resistance. Monocot chimeric jacalin (MCJ) is a newly identified subfamily of plant lectins that exclusively exists in Poaceae. The MCJs are modular proteins consisting of a dirigent domain and a jacalin-related lectin domain. Their unique evolution and various functions are not fully understood as only few members of MCJ have so for been investigated. From wheat, 46 MCJs were identified and phylogenetically classified into three subfamilies, in which subfamily I represented the early evolutionary cluster. MCJ genes are evenly distributed among three subgenomes of wheat, indicating that MCJ might be an ancient gene in Poaceae. qRT-PCR analysis showed that TaMCJ1 and TaMCJ2 were mainly expressed in leaves while TaMCJ3 in root tissues. All these TaMCJ genes are JA or ABA inducible. All three proteins exhibited agglutinating activity but different preference to mannose-binding. The overexpression of TaMCJ3 in tobacco increased dehydration tolerance, while TaMCJ1 enhanced wildfire disease resistance. The lignin biosynthetic genes were temporarily induced after pathogen inoculation in transgenic tobacco overexpressing TaMCJ, but the specific association with TaMCJ was not established. This evidence argued against the notion that the dirigent domain in TaMCJ is directly linked with lignin metabolism. Taken together, these results pave the way for a better understanding of the manifold functionality of MCJs and offer important insights to the evolutionary history of MCJ.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide membranes have entered the spotlight for nanofiltration application owing to the novel mass transport properties in nanochannels. However, further improving the water permeability with high molecular separation rate simultaneously is challenging. In this work, to achieve ultrafast molecule separation, MoS

Cities increasingly have to find innovative ways to address challenges arising from climate change and urbanization. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been gaining attention as multifunctional solutions that may help cities to address these challenges. However, the adoption and implementation of these solutions have been limited due to various barriers. This study aims to identify a taxonomy of dominant barriers to the uptake and implementation of NBS and their relationships. Fifteen barriers are identified from the literature and expert interviews and then ranked through a questionnaire. Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) serves to identify the mutual interdependencies among these barriers, which results in a structural model of six levels. Subsequently, Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC analysis) is used to classify the barriers into four categories. The results suggest that political, institutional and knowledge-related barriers are the most dominant barriers to NBS. Cities that intend to apply NBS can draw on these findings, especially by more effectively prioritizing and managing their actions.

Solvents that support protein functionality are important for biochemical applications, and new solvents are required. Here we employ FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopies, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray crystallography to understand conformational changes of lysozyme with ionic liquids (ILs) added. Spectroscopic techniques identified that the secondary structure of lysozyme was maintained at the lower IL concentrations of 1 and 5 mol%, though the Tryptophan environment was significantly altered with nitrate-based ILs present. SAXS experiments indicated that the radius of gyration of lysozyme increased with 1 mol% IL present, and then decreased with increasing IL concentrations. The tertiary structure, particularly the loop regions, changed as a function of IL concentration, and this depended on the IL type. The crystallographic structure of lysozyme with the IL of ethylammonium nitrate present confirmed the loop region was extended, and identified three specific binding sites with nitrate ions, and that the positively charged areas were IL sensitive regions. This work provides a detailed understanding of lysozyme conformational changes in the presence of ILs. This approach can be extended to other functionally-important proteins.

Significance Hyperpolarized 129 Xe NMR/MRI is a useful method for diagnosis of diseases of the respiratory system. However, the sensitive detection of specific compounds in blood remains a challenge because of the weak 129 Xe signal in aqueous solution. We developed a way, Hyper-SAME, to promote the 129 Xe signal in aqueous solution. The 129 Xe signal intensity is four times beyond that of free 129 Xe in water and 200 times better than the benchmark molecular cage, cryptophane-A, in its saturated aqueous solution. Additionally, the hyperpolarized 129 Xe signal can be amplified further by combining Hyper-SAME with hyperpolarized 129 Xe chemical exchange saturation transfer.

The universal blind quantum computation (UBQC) is a scheme to allow a client to delegate a computation to a remote server while concealing the input, output and algorithm. However, the qubit errors are inevitable in the practical application. In this paper, a fault-tolerant quantum error correction code preparation protocol with weak coherent pulses is proposed for fault-tolerant UBQC. Furthermore, the $$\epsilon $$ -correctness and $$\epsilon $$ -blindness of the protocol are fully proven. The simulation results show that the required number of pulses in our protocol is much less than that of the remote blind qubit state preparation protocol with two decoy states in case of the same probability of successful preparation, and is closer to asymptotic case.

Low-bit quantization is challenging to maintain high performance with limited model capacity (e.g., 4-bit for both weights and activations). Naturally, the distribution of both weights and activations in deep neural network are Gaussian-like. Nevertheless, due to the limited bitwidth of low-bit model, uniform-like distributed weights and activations have been proved to be more friendly to quantization while preserving accuracy. Motivated by this, we propose Scale-Clip, a Distribution Reshaping technique that can reshape weights or activations into a uniform-like distribution in a dynamic manner. Furthermore, to increase the model capability for a low-bit model, a novel Group- based Quantization algorithm is proposed to split the filters into several groups. Different groups can learn different quantization parameters, which can be elegantly merged into batch normalization layer without extra computational cost in the inference stage. Finally, we integrate Scale-Clip technique with Group-based Quantization algorithm and propose the Group-based Distribution Reshaping Quantization (GDRQ) framework to further improve the quantization performance. Experiments on various networks (e.g. VGGNet and ResNet) and vision tasks (e.g. classification, detection, and segmentation) demonstrate that our framework achieves much better performance than state-of-the- art quantization methods. Specifically, the ResNet-50 model with 2-bit weights and 4-bit activations obtained by our framework achieves less than 1% accuracy drop on ImageNet classification task, which is a new state-of-the-art to our best knowledge.

We report a series of nickel-substituted tungstophosphoric acid on Y-ASA (NixH3-2xPW/Y-ASA, x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5), prepared by a (co)impregnation method, which are efficient catalysts for dehydration of gas-phase glycerol to acrolein. Characterization including FT-IR, TEM-EDS and XRD demonstrated that the NixH3-2xPW nanoparticles were successfully immobilized onto the Y-ASA support. Pyridine IR (Py-IR) and H2-TPR studies reveal that the acidity and reducibility of NixH3-2xPW/Y-ASA catalysts are Ni content-dependent. The total acid content, pore size and reducibility were improved for NixH3-2xPW/Y-ASA (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5) as compared to H3PW/Y-ASA. The elaborately fabricated Ni1.0HPW/Y-ASA has a maximum acid content and an optimized reducibility. Accordingly, Ni1.0HPW/Y-ASA exhibits the best catalytic performance when examined as catalysts for the dehydration of gas-phase glycerol to acrolein, showing the highest selectivity to acrolein of 74.5% as 81.8% of glycerol was converted.